Names

"W-We have to help the people outside." Amaranth said to Sora as the screams got louder and louder. Sora laughed once more at her words. "Help? Honey, I am an assassin, the only 'help' I will be giving them is a quick death." Sora retorted back.

They kept walking forward, the faint lighting of the candles as well as the dark alleys made Amaranth feel unbearably scared. This was the first time that she had ever been to such a place, she did not even realize that it had existed. She inched closer and closer to Sora in the process.

"What's the matter, a little darkness scares you?" Sora teased her. "It is a healthy fear of the unknown that has made mankind live farther than what is possible, Sora." Amaranth retorted back.

Amaranth noticed a figure approaching from behind her. She turned around immediately, still frightened. "Alright, you can show yourself, Victor, no need to scare the rookie." Sora said as she shook her head in dismay.

"But I was just starting to have some fun!" A young male's voice exclaimed shortly after. He appeared from the shadows in front of them, much to the amazement and surprise of Amaranth. "W-Where did you come from?" She asked him.

Victor was a blonde young man in his early twenties. He stood tall and always carried himself with the right amount of elegance and carefreeness. He was indeed quite handsome as well, he wore the same black light armor and mask that Sora wore, only his mask was a black face mask that only covered the lower part of his face, only his mouth.

"Who is this? She looks pretty." Victor said with no hesitation at all. Amaranth turned red and looked away. "H-How dare you compliment me out of thin air just like that! Where are your manners?!" Amaranth replied.

Sora looked at Amaranth and then looked at Victor. "You really do not know who this is?" Sora asked Victor, to which the latter shrugged both of his hands and shoulders. "Meh. Not really." Victor retorted back, which made Amaranth turn white in embarrassment.

"That is a good thing, then. One does not need to know about one's own past right here in the sewers of Anathema. We come from all walks of life, it is up to you to open up about who you were in your past life before you became a member." Sora said as she patted Amaranth's head.

"Unbelievable! This guy just up and scares me like that and now he is saying that he does not know me!" Amaranth thought to herself as she desperately held her anger back from Victor. "Wait. I think I do remember you. Those lush black hair, that piercing cerulean blue eyes, that dagger-like gaze from afar…you are the maid girl from the tavern in Sixth Street, aren't you?" Victor uttered out in all seriousness, he was not even kidding.

Amaranth waited until he could utter her name, but once again, he was wrong. Sora sighed and walked right past him, holding Amaranth's hand as she did so. "Where are you taking her, Sora?" Victor shouted from behind. "Where else? To the quarters, of course." Sora replied.

"What an insensitive jackass!" Amaranth exclaimed after Victor was gone from their field of view. Sora lightly chuckled. "You should really not take Victor seriously. He might be a goofy kid, but his skills as an assassin is apparent and top notch." Sora added.

"He does not strike me as an assassin at all…" Amaranth replied. "Is that not a good thing? The best way to disguise yourself is to blend in with others, it would be a problem if everyone could point out that you are an assassin every single time you walk out on the streets." Sora corrected her politely. She looked at Amaranth and noticed that her eyes had gone red and swollen from crying.

"Teach me. Sora. Teach me how to kill. I will murder Uncle Garamond and make him answer my questions, one knife thrust at a time." Amaranth was seething with rage and looked like she embodied the spirit of vengeance itself, it was enough to give Sora, a bona fide assassin for two decades now, the shivers.

Sora shook her head and stopped walking, pulling Amaranth back. "There is no way you are getting close to someone as prolific as Garamond Ellis, at least no way with the kind of physique and skill you have right now. And, I cannot just keep calling you by your birth name, it would be problematic if the Council of Bones knew I took in someone as high maintenance as you. We are going to give you an alternate name, one wherein we can use freely in these quarters." Sora uttered to Amaranth.

Amaranth stopped idly and thought about it for five seconds before coming up with the name. "Mona. Mona Alistair." She replied. "Mona, huh? Borrowing the late Empress' name, eh?" Sora remarked.