I sat in a small basement I rented out for the night with blood money I had earned from my last assignment, cleaning the wound in my arm and reapplying bandages. It had been days and I was still replaying what I had done in my mind.

You idiot, I reprimanded myself once again, why would you save those girls? Why draw that kind of attention to yourself?

I had always told myself, and been told, to stay in the shadows and always watch my own back and my back only. That's the way I had survived for years. But even after all this time, I was still the same stupid girl I was before my tenth birthday, before everything I ever cared about shattered. Before I met both traitors and friends...

___

A foot hit my stomach and I stumbled back with a grunt. I tried to throw a punch at Shadow but she grabbed my fist and spun me around so my back was against her chest and my arm twisted uncomfortably behind me. I squirmed and tried to wriggle out of her grasp but she held her grip forcefully.

I gave up and went limp. "I'm done. I'll never beat you. I might as well stop now."

She released me silently. I looked away, ashamed. I knew she was disappointed in me. But who's to say I wouldn't end up like my parents, gone and helpless? I was not a fighter, I had never been a fighter. I couldn't just change who I was with a snap of my fingers.

I sat against one of the four walls that held up the ceiling of the dimly lit training room. It was a bare and empty room, only partly filled with us and the mat in the center of the room, the very one I had spent day and night on, taking hits and failing miserably.

Still, I knew Shadow was holding back. She was the infamously feared and mighty Shadow after all. She was The Assassin's Queen, a killer so deadly there were already myths written about her.

"You should quit with me now. I'm useless. And everyone knows it." I sighed.

She knelt down in front of me and leaned forward so her mouth was inches beside my right ear.

"Flowers make the world beautiful and a dead body is a shield of sacrifice." she says in her firm voice.

I shot her an exasperated look. I didn't need to hear another one of her incomprehensible metaphors. "What are you talking about?"

She stood silently. Her expression was hidden by her cloth mask. It covered up to the arch of her nose, leaving only her forehead and eyes exposed. Her eyes were darker than glittering black diamonds and she had an intimidating vibe that surrounded her like a vicious shark circling its prey.

Just then, her son walked into the room. His small, obnoxiously perfect nose, shining olive skin, dark hair and bangs that almost reached his eyelashes were clearly visible. As soon as he caught sight of me, Ash glared hatefully. 

My usual response would be to glare back, but today I just shifted my view away. What was the point? I was going to die soon anyway. Those awful murderers would soon find me and kill me, along with everyone else I'd ever loved .

I could practically feel the tense, argumental looks Shadow and her son exchanged. Finally, she walked out of the room and her son sat next to me with a sigh, his back against the wall and his muscled legs sprawled out in front of him.

"Come on, Osiris. You need to quit acting like a spoiled baby and just get up and try again." He finally said in a firm way that reminded me of his mother.

"You telling me to get a grip, Ash?" I said, glancing at him.

"I'm telling you that, if you give up now... every death," pain sprang at the words, "every painful moment your loved ones endured for you... will be for nothing." He looked at me, waiting for a reply. I was silent.

After a few minutes, he muttered something incomprehensible under his breath and stood up. I looked up at him with furrowed eyebrows.

He held a hand out and after a moment, I took it. His fingers laced with mine in a surprisingly strong but gentle way. He pulled me up with a burst of strength and led me to the center of the room.

At first I thought he was going to snap at me with one of his trademark insults, but he did nothing of the sort. 

"Get into your starting position," he told me with surprising kindness.

I sighed and did as he said; raising my arms, clenching my hands into fists, and grounding my feet.

Unexpectedly, he wrapped his arms around me and I stiffened.

"Relax." He muttered in my ear. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Slowly, he adjusted how high I raised my arms, how straight I stood, and how low I bent my knees. He made me transition in and out of the same positions until I could easily move into each of them.

Once he was satisfied, we faced off with arms raised and threw punches and jabs at each other. I still lost, but I managed to last longer in the arena.

After hours and hours of calculated attacks and defensive positions, we took a well-earned break.

I had never felt the way I felt that afternoon before, so alive and strong. Finally not helpless. I felt unstoppable, as if I could accomplish anything. For the first time, I felt confident in myself to be able to protect myself and the people I care about.

"You're getting better." Ash said as he handed me a bottle full of water.

"Thanks to you," I said back between gulps.

"Yeah well. You've got that fire inside you. I can't tell if it makes you stubborn or tenacious."

"And I can't tell if that was an insult or a compliment."

"A little bit of both, I think." He took a quick sip of his own water.

"You're like a baby turtle slowly fighting its way towards water." Shadow's voice came from the doorway. 

I whipped my head towards the sound to find her leaning against the wall. I raised my eyebrows at her. "What is it with you and confusing metaphors?"

She continued, ignoring me, "The question is: will the baby turtle reach the sea?"

"Let's hope," Ash answered.

I could see the knowing smile glinting in his mother's eyes as she slipped out of the room.

I looked at him in disbelief. "You can understand her?!"

He looked back at me in a mocking impression of my surprise. "You can't?!"

I glared at him. "Jerk."

"There are worse things to be called," he replied as he started to follow his mother out of the room. When he reached the doorway, he spoke just loud enough to be heard. "And there are far worse things to be."

___

Adrenaline pumped through me, powered by strong emotions - ones I was not ready to acknowledge yet - as I traveled in the night, across the flat roofs of buildings with bursts of breath and quick, lengthy sprints.

A noise, faintly heard through the loud, thumping sound of my heartbeat pounding in my ears, made me pause and listen. The noise kept getting louder and I scanned the ground below me, but the streets were empty except for the parked cars that lined up along the sides and a few drunks coming home late after a long night of who-knows-what.

A light washed over the rooftop behind me and I whipped around, realizing that the unfamiliar sound was coming from a helicopter. I crouched behind a chimney just in time for the light to brighten the spot I was standing in a moment ago. The light moved away and I peeked from behind the chimney to see a rope ladder spilling down from a navy-blue helicopter with bold, white letters painted on one side. But the night was dark enough that it was impossible for anyone to decipher them.

A woman, holding her long, little green dress with one hand, slowly made her way down the swaying rope, towards the opposite corner of the rooftop from where I hid. Once she reached the rooftop, she helped a younger girl with a white outfit down. As their faces were illuminated by the helicopter's headlights for a single moment, I caught a glance of their familiar features and stiffened. It was Violetta and Charity.

As the helicopter sped away, a new one came into view from the foggy clouds above. It was similar to the first, the only difference being the size, for the second helicopter was almost twice the size of the first. Another rope ladder spilled down from the helicopter and three men and a woman made their way down quickly.

When they all had both feet on the rooftop, they turned and I saw the men were wearing suits and the woman wore a light blue dress. Two of the men were more muscular than the other and looked like security of some sort for the woman and the third man, who they stood on either side of.

When the woman caught sight of Charity and Violetta, she looked relieved. She practically ran to them, scooping up Charity into her arms and kissing Violetta on her forehead lovingly.

The man signaled to his security and they nodded in sync and walked over to a corner of the rooftop. Their boss, the third man, walked over to the woman and the two girls she was hugging as the helicopter flew away, disappearing into the cloud once more.

When the woman was finished hugging and kissing Violleta and Charity, who had to be her daughters - the baffling amount of worry and love she was expressing said so, she began speaking rapidly in an anxious voice.

"Are you two alright? I heard what happened at the market! Were you hurt? How did you get away? Oh, I was so worried. Imagine what could've happened! I haven't been able to focus all day because there was a possibility you were killed! Oh my, you could've been killed!"

"Rose... " the man beside her muttered in a barely-audible volume.

Rose fell silent. When the man beside her spoke again, his voice was louder and booming in the air.

My mind sharpened around his voice. It was familiar, as if I had heard it before. My mind flashed back to a few days ago, about a day before the fight at the marketplace

"Not now Charity."

The booming voice I heard hiding in the alley belonged to this man! I studied him carefully.

He had icy blue eyes with dark brown hair that was slicked back with gel and streaked with a few gray hairs. He held himself arrogantly and had that unforgettable, powerful presence.

"Your mother is just relieved that you were unharmed." he said, and a flicker of anger sparked at the irritation in his voice. Why shouldn't Rose be happy to see her daughters were okay after an attack against them? She was their mother after all!

But I swallowed my anger - I had to, to keep quiet - and looked over at Rose.

I could definitely see resemblance in her daughters. She had Charity's blonde hair and Violetta's hazel eyes, with a round face and thin arms that wrapped around her and seemed to be the only thing keeping her standing. She seemed to shrink back when her husband, whose name is a blank in my mind, made any move to speak or act. Surely, that cowering woman wasn't the mother to the chatty Charity and determined Violetta.

"How strange. Because it seems you didn't even attempt to make sure we were unharmed until days after the attack." Violetta suddenly snapped with a harsh and accusing tone.

"I was quite busy with business." her father said as his slightly irritated expression was turning into one full of pure anger.

"Oh yes. Business. You are correct. Quite important. But not more important than your family." Violetta answered in a fierce way. Unusual compared to the unwavering calmness she seemed to have had when we first met.

"Where are Lizzy and Kacen?" Charity intercepted softly.

Kacen Elrod. I had heard of him. He's said to be even bigger than his father - who he was inheriting his family's world-famous and billion dollar company from - and even crueler too.

The man said sharply, "Your brother is busy. He's learning how to take my position when I am no longer able, so he will have less time from now on."

Charity's face fell, and Violetta placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly before looking back at her parents. "And Elizabeth?"

Rose sighed. "Your sister wasn't able to come as well. She seems to be going through something."

"Again." her husband growled.

I raised my eyebrows. I had not heard of another child in this family. I had been busy lately, but I would think I would've at least heard of her once. In fact, I don't think I've seen or heard the name of a young Elizabeth Elrod anywhere. But shouldn't I have? She is an Elrod after all.

Rose touched his arm. "She will come around, Helmer."

Helmer. Helmer Elrod. That was the name of this dangerous man.

"NO, SHE WON'T, ROSE!" Helmer suddenly started yelling and Rose cowered in fear, "I'M FINISHED WITH THAT CHILD! SHE'S A FAILURE!"

"D-Daddy?" Charity said with a trembling voice.

"It has been a long day for your father." Rose spoke when her husband didn't answer. Rose's eyes didn't lift from the ground.

"Did something happen?" Violetta asked cautiously.

"Elizabeth is... ," Rose sighed, "...resistant to her duties. We have not heard from her since yesterday."

"Is Lizzy okay?" Charity asked quietly, again referring to her other sister as what I assumed was her nickname.

"I'm sure she's fine, Charity," Rose reassured her, but her eyes were still drowning with worry and stress.

"It's none of our concern regardless." Helmer said. His rage seemed to disperse as quickly as it had risen.

"Father!" Violetta said as her soft features twisted with alarm.

I was ripped from the conversation when suddenly a hand grabbed my shoulder roughly.

I whipped around and found the two muscular men who worked security for Helmer and his family.

They each grabbed one of my arms and twisted them behind my back painfully.

I tried to jerk away, but I was no match for them. They outweighed me by at least double my strength and size.

They dragged me over to the family of Elrods, who were all staring at me.

"Easy!" I said when I almost fell flat on my face.

"Who are you and why are you here?!" Helmer towered over me.

"Let. Me. Go." I glared at him.

"Answer. Me." he replied with the same ferocity.

When I stayed silent, he nodded to the left bodyguard, who punched me in the stomach before I had any time to react. I doubled over, groaning.

When I still kept my silence, I got hit in the stomach again, coughing up drops of blood. I struggled against the muscled men's grip. "Stop!" Violetta yelled. I lifted my eyes to her slack face. "You look familiar." she whispered, stepping towards me.

I let out a short laugh. "I'm surprised a spoiled, rich High Rank like you can even remember anything important." This time it was a knee that hit my stomach.

"Wait! Don't hurt her!" Charity yelped. Without warning, she rushed towards me and threw her arms around my waist. I froze.

"Charity!" Rose said.

"Get back here!" her husband roared.

"What are you doing?" I asked Charity softly, looking down at her.

She looked up at me and, as her chin rested on the curve of my stomach, gave me a toothy grin. "Thank yuh for saving us."

"Save you?! She was about to attack us!" Rose looked alarmed.

"No, Mother. This is the one who saved us from those horrible criminals." Violetta said, coming to the same realization as Charity.

"But-But she's a criminal!" Helmer roared.

"With all due respect," everyone looked at me, "I'm not a criminal." Everyone stared and a cold grin slid onto my face. "I'm much worse."

Taking the opportunity of everyone's shocked expressions - except for Helmer, who only wore a hard, cold one - I gently untangled myself from Charity and jumped right off the roof of the building.