Her Reflection

"Let us have the boy. This is none of your business." The assassin leading the pack snarled, a frightening scowl on his face. "You girl, you don't know what you're getting yourself into. So leave before it's too late."

He motioned for Code X to hand the boy over, his callused fingers balling into a fist when he saw that she hadn't immediately obliged out of fright.

Thumping his iron pitchfork against the ground, he half expected the woman to escape from her state of shock, drop the boy's hand, and scamper away from the scene with her head to the ground.

"We're giving you one last chance."

His eyes narrowed into thin slits.

"Now," he barked.

A silver dagger landed squarely in the middle of the assassin's forehead, piercing his skull on impact. He opened his mouth, but he barely had time to register what had hit him before he dropped to the floor — dead.

A woman screamed in the distance.

The merchants scrambled away from the crime scene, taking what they could from their broken stalls, and the passerby ran home as fast as they could, throwing whatever goods they had been previously examining.

Code X smiled coldly at the five remaining assassins, her eyes glittering dangerously. "So who's next?"

She flexed her wrists, simultaneously dipping her head from side to side to stretch her neck. Perhaps it was her imagination, but she could feel her muscles tensing with power.

She eyed for the boy to hand her his blade, and without any words, he understood her gaze and did as she had requested.

"Let your grandma see what you're really made of." She swirled the dagger between her fingers, holding it in her favorite position and pointing it at the crowd before her.

After exchanging a few glances with one another, the assassins dropped their wooden sticks and pitchforks, instead taking out their hidden weapons and blades.

They circled Code X and the boy.

Smoothly, she cut through the arms of the first assassin, taking advantage of how he had raised his forearms a tad too high to properly and swiftly swing at her. Wincing, he dropped his knife with a yelp of pain, and the boy immediately scrambled to pick it up from the ground, using his small physique to his own benefits.

Code X was glad to see his actions from the corner of her eye. This kid she was saving was no fool, and he knew how to survive out on the streets.

A dagger flew before her eyes, and bending her entire body backwards, she barely had time to dodge the piece of sharpened metal. She gasped as she felt the wind whistle by the side of her face. If she had been a second late, it would have hit her squarely in the eye.

Blood pumped in and out of her heart with pulsing rhythms, and a rush of adrenaline coursed through every single bloodstream in her body. For the first time since she arrived in this world, she felt truly alive, almost like her former self.

She dodged another attack.

Suddenly, she realized that her left hand was still bound to the little boy.

"Go duck under the broken table over there," she hissed to him, swinging her own blade towards one of her opponent's neck, missing by a few centimeters since the kid hadn't moved with her fast enough.

If he stayed her, he would only prevent her from unleashing her true potential. For the both of them to survive, she had to win this battle. And with him clinging onto her, it would be harder for her to protect herself, much less the both of them.

"But I cannot let go of you," he whispered. "If I do…"

"Just go!" Seizing the opportunity that a gap had formed between two assassins, she motioned for the boy to escape. In response, his grip on her hands only grew stronger.

Just then, a long silver sword swung by her face, and for a second, staring into the polished blade, she was dumbstruck.

Her heart stopped beating, and her mind went blank.

Her reflection…

No… it couldn't be.

She couldn't look like that…

She knew that now was not the time to be distracted, but she couldn't stop her mind from running…

SLASH

Dodging a move a bit too late, a blade cut into her thighs. Although it was only a shallow cut, it stung, and she struggled to move as efficiently as she had before.

Her breathing grew more disordered, and her muddled brain did not help her in the situation. No matter how she reminded herself to focus, all she could see was her image in the reflection.

It really couldn't be…

A sword pointed right for her heart. It moved too fast, too fast for her to avoid in time.

Before she could register the full situation, crimson blood dripped to the ground, running along the edge of the silver sword in beads of scarlet before seeping into the dirt and staining it red.