Darkness 1

It was another busy night at the Coven; a plentiful crowd, joyful atmosphere and noise that could be heard from several hundreds of meters away. This was to be expected however, it was one of the main attractions of this area; one of the shining lights in the gloomy township by the Lake of Tears.

Business seemed to be going as it usually would in the heart of night. Yet at this moment a little figure was on their way to this point of gathering. An unusual guest for a place which did not often receive lone children, especially at such a late hour.

It was a little girl. From the tattered clothes covered by dirt, the messy hair which was easily noticeable, the apparent tiredness on her face and short breaths which seemed to called for more air, one could tell that she was either extremely tired, very distraught or maybe even both.

"Look at the little twerp over there." one of the patrons seated by the door pointed out this his fellow table-mates in a mix of surprise and curiosity. He had apparently been the first one to notice the little girl that had just entered the establishment.

"Hey twerp! Shouldn't you be..." he made an attempt to strike up a conversation with her, although in a rude manner, before he was struck on the forehead by a flying coin. It was apparent from its motion that it had been thrown at him and did not miss at all.

Not exactly pleased by this, he gathered himself and prepared to go confront the person that had done this. Yet the moment he located the perpetrator who had not made an effort to hide their deed, almost as if begging him to do something about it, he thought better and quietly stayed in his seat.

"Did you forget the rules or do you think that they don't apply to you?" a lady said addressing him in a pretty relaxed manner considering her violent action just a moment ago. She was the owner of the Coven and one of the few people in the township that no one dared mess around with. Be they nobles, common-folk, criminals or anything else, no one that had ever attempted it had done so successfully.

"Sorry. Seems like I got a bid carried away." the patron promptly apologized. Knowing exactly who he was against he did not hesitate for a moment before expressing his apology. The loss wasn't worth it, and there was nothing to gain.

"Strike one." she answered paying him no further mind as she made her way to her new guest.

"Here you go my little friend. It's on the house." she said to the girl, squatting down and handing her a cup. She had easily observed the state of this child prior to making her way and her years of experience had taught her the most appropriate way to approach these situations.

"Thank you." the girl responded nervously as she took the cup that was handed to her and began drinking.

"Can I ask what brings you here at such an odd time?" the lady asked. It was something she had to ask. After all, it was quite strange to have a child enter this place at such a time, all by themselves at that.

"I'm on my way to the the academy." the girl answer still nervous. There was a bit more energy in her voice however. It seemed that the drink had aided in providing her some refreshment.

"I see. Why don't you stay over here for the night? I'll have one of the guys contact them so that they come pick you up tomorrow." the woman offered.

"Can I really?" the girl asked with a hit of joy to her voice. She couldn't recall the last time she had slept indoors. Her trip had been quite long after all.

"Of course. Why don't you go over there and I'll have some food brought to you." the woman said with a smile, pointing to one of the few empty seats within the place.

"We'll be closing up in just about an hour. I'll show you to your room after." she continued.

"Ok. Thank you so much." the girl answer.

And so the night continued as usual with a new and young patron in the mix of chaos which was the crowd. She sat there by herself, replenishing herself with food and observing this place.

---

"Sorry for the wait. I hope you weren't too bored." the lady said to the girl. She had just finished sending out the last remaining patrons and the workers had all left. Only this tiny guest was left before she could head to bed and get some well deserved rest.

"Not at all. I had fun watching everything that was happening." the girl replied with a happy smile.

"It's been a while hasn't it sis'." the girl continued before the woman could reply. Although the smile was still on her face, her vibe had changed after she uttered this sentence. The sunny innocent smile had turned into a cold, mocking grin instead.

"Seems like you definitely need to get some rest. It seems like you're hallucinating." the woman replied calmly.

"We both know that's not true. The others wouldn't recognize you but there's no way I would make such a mistake my dear sister." the girl followed up, the cold smile still on her face.

"Fine you got me. What do you want?" the woman relented. Although she had tried to brush it off, she knew that this one wouldn't go away so easily.

"You don't seem excited to see me. Such a shame, I missed you so much." the girl said, fake tears dropping from her eyes as she teased the woman in front of her.

"Who would've thought that a fugitive would become the richest woman in the area. Not only that but to think of all places you would dare to come back here." this time, her words seemed honest as there was still a hint of surprise at the fact that she had found her here of all places. She had been tracking down this woman for months after all and until she found her and completed her mission, she would have no way of going home.

"Try having some flies follow you around everywhere for a few years and see how you like it." the woman responded. Since the girl opposite to her had made no effort to keep good manner, neither would she.

"Ouch. That hurts. Is that really how you see me." the girl continued to tease.

"Cut the crap. Tell me what you want or get out." the woman said.

"As if you didn't know. What else would I do with a traitor like you except what we've always done?" the girl retorted with a tinge of anger in her voice.

"I'm the traitor?" the woman was quite surprised by the statement. It was them that had forced her into this situation in the first place. Either this girl was lying to catch her off guard or she truly didn't know.

"I think you don't exactly understand what's happening here." she tried to diffuse the situations.

"What's so difficult to understand about someone killing your family?" the girl replied, the anger even more apparent.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about. First of all, I don't recall killing anyone related to you and secondly family members cannot be mission targets if I remember correctly. Use your brain a little." the woman defended her point. It was clear to all the members of the academy that the rules protected those related to them. It was one of the perks of joining it after all.

"Do you take me for an idiot. I still remember following you back that very night. I even watched as you snuck through the window instead of coming back through the gates. Obviously you were trying to hide it." the girl was incensed. The vivd memories of that night haunted her to this day. It was the very reason why when others gave up on finding this woman, she persisted and one of the reasons why she would never mistake her for anyone else no matter how she tried to hide it.

"I think I remember the night that you're talking about. You're definitely confused. Let me tell you what happened." the woman realized that this girl had no idea about what was going on at all. She opted to try to persuade her one last time to see if this could still be resolved in a civil manner.

"Go for it. I'd like to see what you can come up with at this point." the girl said calmly. It seemed that she had calmed down, but this was just the last calm before a great storm.