Shadowborn

With a steely glint in her eye, Aurelia shot forward with as much force as her stubby legs could grant her; like a blur, she was upon her opponent, cleaving down her sword. Unphased by the speed no mortal human held, Zariel calculated everything from her rapid heart rate to the number of breaths, along with the ever-so-contracting of her pupils. He moved. In a single breath, he whirled around her blade, spinning on the balls of his feet, narrowly dodging her wooden sword as his blade spun with all the momentum he could muster, seamlessly cracking across the young girl's temple. 

*Pow

Struck by a blow that did not seem like it held that much force, Aurelia was pulled off her feet and blasted over the lake, skipping over the still water like a stone. Her body was suddenly seized mid-air and dragged back to the shore. 

Blinded by the light in a daze, Aurelia laid on the shores, thunderstruck for a good while before she pulled herself up with only a small bruising on her temple. 

"I told you never to let your guard down!" Zariel said, reprimanding the little girl, tossing his shattered wooden sword away. "You are several times my speed. You should have been able to dodge or parry. What the hell happened?"

"Your sword vanished," said Aurelia, confused. 

"That's because you weren't using your Spirit to see, but the eyes. Until you are able to control your Spirit perfectly, channeling it into your eyes, you need to use your Spirit Domain. Yours is thirty feet. And it allows you to perceive things far better than your eyes. Idiots use their eyes; Master uses their Spirits. I hid my sword beneath my Spirit so anyone who saw it would think it vanished just like you did." 

Aurelia winced, massaging her temple, which was beginning to swell. "That hurt. When did you start hitting so hard?" 

"that blow had fifty pounds of force behind it." he said, looking at the girl strangely. " it was supposed to kill you. Or at least cripple you!" 

"Dumb-Dumb, you bastard!"

Zariel shrugged. "Not my fault you forgot to use [Resist]. Good to know you can take a good beating, though." 

"you ass!"

"Someone's got a potty mouth." 

Aurelia went red, but as she tried to stand, she toppled back down. Blood came rushing down from her nose, staining her snow-white tunic a vibrant red. Aurelia felt the world spin as she fell to her back, still and unconscious.

"I guess she's not that sturdy." he evilly smiled. "Those who don't learn, feel," he said, lifting her small body with his telekinesis. Zariel delivered her to Genny with the command to heal her before making his way to his cigar lounge to get baked. 

***

In the later hours of noon, Aurelia awoke clutching her bandage head. The ache paled in comparison to the anger she felt towards her defeat as she hopped out of bed. Chunky vomit spewed from her lip over the ground, sending her head spinning as she wobbled, clutching the bed so that she wouldn't fall. 

"Aurelia doesn't feel so good," she mewled, staggering out of the medical wing, bonking her head over a few tables and doors on her journey to find Zariel. Aurelia stumbled upon him standing in the middle of the fall.

"who's house is this?" he idly asked, his eyes bloodshot. 

"Dumb-Dumb?" 

"Brah…"

"Dumb-Dumb, you ok?"

"I want some chicken nuggets right now… and some tacos. Shout out to Mexico." he stumbled forward, stopped, and looked around. "Who's house is this? It's low-key lit. They got some nice stuff in that room down the hall."

"Zariel?" Aurelia muttered, unsure what was going on. 

"... I feel so good right now. I lowkey want a man-size teddy bear to lay on. A panda. I fucking love pandas. Damn. I'm super hungry right now. Where's that Maid? Maid-sama!!!" 

***

Sprawled out in the bed, snoring away with a bright smile, Aurelia couldn't help but stare. She'd never seen Zariel so happy or playful. 

"wow… just… wow," she let out, having learned so many new things today about Zariel than the last few months they were together.

"You remind me so much of my little sister! She'd like you." he'd said before falling asleep.

Aurelia stared at his sleeping face, wondering what made him so cold. She bit her lips, shaking her head after tucking him in, making sure he slept on his side. 

It was a familiar routine, one she had done for her drunken father when her mother had enough.

She sighed, turning in for the night. 

Breakfast the following day had been oddly silent, with a bone-chilling whisk of air. 

Sitting across from each other, Aurelia was all smiles while Zariel poked and prodded at his omelet. 

"We're not ever going to talk about this," he said, his voice especially colder than usual. 

"But Aurelia got all the hugs yesterday. We even got to–" Catching the knife he'd thrown aimed at her head, Aurelia crackled. "Dance to some music."

Genny was in tears, watching over them. 'Why is no one normal?!'

The tips of the silver-haired boy's ears turned a bright red. He glared. "laugh it up."

"Aurelia will." 

Zariel tsked. "After breakfast, I'll…" he frowned, turning to Genny to where two shadows hung beneath her feet, and ignored it. "help you form your core." 

Aurelia glanced over at Genny but saw nothing out of the ordinary. The sun had been hitting her at just the right angle, and many things carried more than one shadow. 

"Maid set the table. Seems we have a guest."

"A guest?" said Aurelia. " and you know her name is Genny, right? Not Maid."

Zariel looked startled. "really? Genny, is that true?"

With a teardrop in her eye, Genny nodded. "Yes, m'lord. My name is Genny Ervings."

"damn. I, for real, thought your name was Maid. Hmmm. Well, Genny set the plate for our guest. And Mr Guest, would you mind showing yourself." 

From the distant silence, he appeared from the shadow of the table, rising with a half bow. He was fully cloaked, barring his features from showing, though that wouldn't matter as Zariel was never good with faces. 

"contract killing or information gathering?" Zariel asked, startling Aurelia, who tried to get up. Zariel signaled for her not to. 

The Stranger found a seat at the far end of the table and said, "Both," in a hoarse voice. 

Genny, who'd been setting his plate, shuddered. She hurried along. 

"Well, you'll not be getting anything today aside from a warm breakfast." 

The Stranger beneath his cloak frowned. "how can you be sure? " 

"I owe you no explanation," Zariel said calmly. "though I do believe you'll die a painful death. They always do."

With a pensive stare, the Stranger frowned. "How can you be so sure?" 

"You've lost your element of surprise. And to a child, no less. You'd be stupid to continue or greedy. So tell me, Mr. Assassin. Which one are you?" Zariel gave a light chuckle when he saw the Stranger turn silent.

"This is weird." Aurelia was the first to say. "Shouldn't we like… you know… be fighting?" 

Already missing the knife he'd thrown at Aurelia, Zariel began cutting up his omelet with his fork into small, perfectly appeasing squares. "He's just an assassin. Kill one, and there is sure to be another. And it's my first time seeing someone with such an attunement towards the Darkness. It's like the night has weaved itself into your blood. I kind of want to carve you up to see how you tick."

The Stranger felt a cold sweat slither down his back. "I—" 

"Relax. I'm not going to kill you." Zariel said, mused by the greyish-black string of intent whirling around the assassin. He gave a short, derisive laugh, "Not unless you do something stupid. Are you going to do something stupid?" 

The air turned stiff and froze. No one moved, no one spoke. 

Aurelia could not even breathe, unsure who would attack first. Slivers of sweat treaded down her brow, sinking into her white tunic as she stared dead at the Stranger. 

"You are no child." The Stranger's rasped voice betrayed by the cracks of unease in his voice. "Who are you." 

Zariel gave a disappointed tsk and began eating his perfectly proportion eggs. "Of course, I'm a child. Why else would I be so small." 

"Or cute," Aurelia added, pointing to the fat of his cheeks. "Dumb-Dumbs cheeks are super fluffy. It's like pudding." 

"How…How do you know that?" 

Aurelia made a squeezing gesture. "After I tucked you in last night, I—" 

"This breakfast is over. Mr. Assassin," Zariel began, his ears a light pink. 'You may enjoy the rest of your breakfast, but after which, you've ten minutes to leave my property. Less you risk losing your head. Aurelia, let's go from your core." 

When Genny returned holding the Stranger's plate of food, she cried seeing the table empty. 

"I need a raise."