A Suzanne production:
Nineteen and Twenty
Published at Friday, November 20, 2009, 8:05 AM
Cedric, Hirei, Penelope and Aalaiyah started to look around, searching for the source of the voice but they saw no one. Eventually, they noticed Ace kneeling down on one knee, his golden eyes planted on the wall of a building nearby where the shadows on the wall started to shift and materialized, an outline of a human started to gain its colours as the light finally caught its figure and allowed others to see its owner, a cloth-like veil dispersed into the air before revealing it to be an elder and more matured woman. She leaned backwards with her short brown hair pressed against the wall and her arms crossed casually, opening her eyes to show a pair of blue eyes. The woman had an abnormally, unhealthy tone of pale white skin and was dressed in a dark, tight outfit wrapped in bandages along with shoulder pads, recognizably the outfit of a female Assassin. Cedric unsheathed his sword and took a step in front of his friends, wary of the newcomer. He was nervous, being his first time face-to-face with an assassin, said to strike swiftly from the shadow, but he was prepared to fight for his comrades.
‘Mistress Cecilia Thyride,’ said Ace with his head bowed down. ‘You’ve heard, haven’t you.’
‘Of course I heard, silly. What do you think I’m Cloaking here for, watching the Merchants spit over their products?’ said the Assassin in a surprisingly upbeat manner, who seemed to have Ace’s respect. She looked over at Cedric and the others who stood behind him, armed and ready to defend themselves. She laughed. ‘Oh gosh, what a bunch of quick-to-move kids you found here. Haven’t I proven that I’m Ace’s master? I shouldn’t be any harm, right?’
They withdraw the weapons, but were still keeping a close eye on the Assassin’s movements, somehow an amusement to the latter. She turned back her attention to Ace, tapping her feet impatiently on the ground. ‘So, the day you decide to abandon your Morroc life and the Thief Society has finally come, huh?’ she said. ‘You’re even gonna leave me, your dear master, who took you under my wing for so many years.’
‘You have been too kind to me, Mistress Thyride, too kind compared to the masters and mistresses the other Thieves,’ Ace said simply, his voice never faltering. ‘I’m fortunate to have met you. I’ll forever be indebted to you, and I’ll definitely repay you in the near future.’
Cecilia sighed, a cheeky smile spreading across her pale face. ‘I guess you could say that I’m one-of-a-kind, huh?’ she said cheerfully. She then raised her gloved arm, beckoning Ace towards her with her long fingers. ‘Come closer, would you? You know I’m not a fan of sunlight.’
Ace stood up obediently and approached his mistress, who wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer into a hug. ‘Aaaah… I’m gonna miss you so much, Ace. You know I’ve already approved of your departure long ago. Just don’t die before I do, although that’d be a pretty hard feat,’ she laughed jokingly once more before shifting her attention. ‘Before I’ll allow Ace to join the four of you, I’ll have to borrow him a bit for an errand, alright?’
Cedric raised his eyebrows, taken aback by the master behaved more childishly than her apprentice and had just asked for the permission of a group of strangers to get the assistance of her own student. To all this, they simply answered with a nod.
‘Good, Ace will see you tomorrow at the North Gate when the sun rises, that is if you trust him and me, and still want him in your party,’ said Cecilia, dragging Ace off by his shoulders, waving one arm in the air with her back facing them. ‘So long kids!’
Hirei ran forward to chase Ace and Cecilia as they made a turn behind the building, but they had went out of sight and disappeared into the shadows.
***
‘Shall we wait a while more?’ asked Nellie who was holding tightly to her baggage and documents she had spent the whole night packing up. Thankfully, they had dropped by at Nellie’s place to inform her about their new plans before heading back to the inn last night, as the room was still in a horrible mess and she needed their help for her preparation to Al de Baran the next morning. She managed to make it to the North Gate on time where the other four had been waiting, but their party was still missing of their newest member.
‘That Thief guy better show up,’ Hirei muttered as he fiddled with his bow. ‘I hope we weren’t wrong trusting him. I don’t want him to take our money and run off half way through our journey.’
‘Don’t worry Hirei,’ said Penelope as she smiled silently. ‘I’m sure we can put our faith in him. He looked sincere enough, and he had a nice mistress too.’
‘But come on, don’t you think that they’re a bit odd?’ Hirei reasoned, partly out of boredom. ‘I mean, Ace tried to steal our money the day before yesterday, and he has this big wish of changing everyone’s bad impression of Morroc Thieves. And then his mistress is just this weird character, and she’s an Assassin too! Aren’t Assassins dangerous and shouldn’t be trusted?’
‘Oh hush Rei,’ said Cedric. ‘Aren’t you a pretty shady character yourself? With your weird white hair and huge mouth, especially unusual for you people from the islands.’
‘I think white hair is fine. It’s a beautiful and pure colour.’
Hirei rotated his head in surprise and delight, looking for the person who had complimented his hair colour. Everyone shook their head or waved in denial, sending everyone in confusion.
‘Aaaaaah!’ yelled Aalaiyah as she saw a red-haired head wrapped in a ragged, coral scarf that was floating in the air. With her telekinetic powers, she started sending the bits of debris on the ground to attack the strange head.
‘Hey, I’m not gonna attack you. It’s alright, it’s just me,’ said the red head, a pair a hands shielding it from the sand and stones. Upon closer inspection, they realized that the red head was attached normally to a body which was suspended upside-down by its legs. The hanged man did a flip and landed cleanly and silently on his feet, brushing his scarlet red hair which covered his golden eyes. The man was draped in an Assassin’s garb similar to Cecilia’s, bandages wrapping around his upper arm, calves and torso. He nodded in acknowledgement, exchanging looks with Nellie as they made a silent greeting.
‘You came, it’s you!’ said Penelope in a happy tone, scanning the man with her emerald eyes, jaw dropping as she went. ‘You’re an Assassin now! That’s the errand your mistress wanted you to carry out, isn’t it.
Ace signature smile widened as he nodded. ‘I never break my promises, especially to sweet girls like you,’ he said, sending Penelope’s cheeks flushing in red before he threw his old tan cloak over his body. ‘Let’s leave before the Society learns of my departure. It’ll cause too much unwanted trouble for us and Mistress Thyride.’
‘Definitely, we can introduce ourselves once we get out of Morroc. But before that, let’s finish something I haven’t been able to do yesterday,’ said Cedric, walking forward towards Ace as he extended his right hand. ‘Welcome to our party, Ace!’
The Assassin took Cedric’s gauntleted hand gracefully with his gloved ones. ‘My “Ace” days are over now,’ said the Assassin, shaking his head playfully as he smiled. ‘My name is Arsen.’
***
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Current Word Count: 29,206
‘Mistress Cecilia Thyride,’ said Ace with his head bowed down. ‘You’ve heard, haven’t you.’
‘Of course I heard, silly. What do you think I’m Cloaking here for, watching the Merchants spit over their products?’ said the Assassin in a surprisingly upbeat manner, who seemed to have Ace’s respect. She looked over at Cedric and the others who stood behind him, armed and ready to defend themselves. She laughed. ‘Oh gosh, what a bunch of quick-to-move kids you found here. Haven’t I proven that I’m Ace’s master? I shouldn’t be any harm, right?’
They withdraw the weapons, but were still keeping a close eye on the Assassin’s movements, somehow an amusement to the latter. She turned back her attention to Ace, tapping her feet impatiently on the ground. ‘So, the day you decide to abandon your Morroc life and the Thief Society has finally come, huh?’ she said. ‘You’re even gonna leave me, your dear master, who took you under my wing for so many years.’
‘You have been too kind to me, Mistress Thyride, too kind compared to the masters and mistresses the other Thieves,’ Ace said simply, his voice never faltering. ‘I’m fortunate to have met you. I’ll forever be indebted to you, and I’ll definitely repay you in the near future.’
Cecilia sighed, a cheeky smile spreading across her pale face. ‘I guess you could say that I’m one-of-a-kind, huh?’ she said cheerfully. She then raised her gloved arm, beckoning Ace towards her with her long fingers. ‘Come closer, would you? You know I’m not a fan of sunlight.’
Ace stood up obediently and approached his mistress, who wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer into a hug. ‘Aaaah… I’m gonna miss you so much, Ace. You know I’ve already approved of your departure long ago. Just don’t die before I do, although that’d be a pretty hard feat,’ she laughed jokingly once more before shifting her attention. ‘Before I’ll allow Ace to join the four of you, I’ll have to borrow him a bit for an errand, alright?’
Cedric raised his eyebrows, taken aback by the master behaved more childishly than her apprentice and had just asked for the permission of a group of strangers to get the assistance of her own student. To all this, they simply answered with a nod.
‘Good, Ace will see you tomorrow at the North Gate when the sun rises, that is if you trust him and me, and still want him in your party,’ said Cecilia, dragging Ace off by his shoulders, waving one arm in the air with her back facing them. ‘So long kids!’
Hirei ran forward to chase Ace and Cecilia as they made a turn behind the building, but they had went out of sight and disappeared into the shadows.
***
‘Shall we wait a while more?’ asked Nellie who was holding tightly to her baggage and documents she had spent the whole night packing up. Thankfully, they had dropped by at Nellie’s place to inform her about their new plans before heading back to the inn last night, as the room was still in a horrible mess and she needed their help for her preparation to Al de Baran the next morning. She managed to make it to the North Gate on time where the other four had been waiting, but their party was still missing of their newest member.
‘That Thief guy better show up,’ Hirei muttered as he fiddled with his bow. ‘I hope we weren’t wrong trusting him. I don’t want him to take our money and run off half way through our journey.’
‘Don’t worry Hirei,’ said Penelope as she smiled silently. ‘I’m sure we can put our faith in him. He looked sincere enough, and he had a nice mistress too.’
‘But come on, don’t you think that they’re a bit odd?’ Hirei reasoned, partly out of boredom. ‘I mean, Ace tried to steal our money the day before yesterday, and he has this big wish of changing everyone’s bad impression of Morroc Thieves. And then his mistress is just this weird character, and she’s an Assassin too! Aren’t Assassins dangerous and shouldn’t be trusted?’
‘Oh hush Rei,’ said Cedric. ‘Aren’t you a pretty shady character yourself? With your weird white hair and huge mouth, especially unusual for you people from the islands.’
‘I think white hair is fine. It’s a beautiful and pure colour.’
Hirei rotated his head in surprise and delight, looking for the person who had complimented his hair colour. Everyone shook their head or waved in denial, sending everyone in confusion.
‘Aaaaaah!’ yelled Aalaiyah as she saw a red-haired head wrapped in a ragged, coral scarf that was floating in the air. With her telekinetic powers, she started sending the bits of debris on the ground to attack the strange head.
‘Hey, I’m not gonna attack you. It’s alright, it’s just me,’ said the red head, a pair a hands shielding it from the sand and stones. Upon closer inspection, they realized that the red head was attached normally to a body which was suspended upside-down by its legs. The hanged man did a flip and landed cleanly and silently on his feet, brushing his scarlet red hair which covered his golden eyes. The man was draped in an Assassin’s garb similar to Cecilia’s, bandages wrapping around his upper arm, calves and torso. He nodded in acknowledgement, exchanging looks with Nellie as they made a silent greeting.
‘You came, it’s you!’ said Penelope in a happy tone, scanning the man with her emerald eyes, jaw dropping as she went. ‘You’re an Assassin now! That’s the errand your mistress wanted you to carry out, isn’t it.
Ace signature smile widened as he nodded. ‘I never break my promises, especially to sweet girls like you,’ he said, sending Penelope’s cheeks flushing in red before he threw his old tan cloak over his body. ‘Let’s leave before the Society learns of my departure. It’ll cause too much unwanted trouble for us and Mistress Thyride.’
‘Definitely, we can introduce ourselves once we get out of Morroc. But before that, let’s finish something I haven’t been able to do yesterday,’ said Cedric, walking forward towards Ace as he extended his right hand. ‘Welcome to our party, Ace!’
The Assassin took Cedric’s gauntleted hand gracefully with his gloved ones. ‘My “Ace” days are over now,’ said the Assassin, shaking his head playfully as he smiled. ‘My name is Arsen.’
***
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Current Word Count: 29,206
Labels: NaNoMadness, The Eminent Guardians
