The days would become dull from here on out. There was a comfort in dull things that was not lost on Asher. He'd spend the mornings with Clara and the nights with Stephan. On days when Stephan was out gods know where he spent the entirety of the day with Clara and today was one such occasion.

Time with Clara was occupied with helping her around the shop. She'd teach him the same old history, math, and potion-making. Clara never asked what went on with Stephan during the nights. She was content to see Asher brighter for it.

On that particular afternoon, Asher was manning the counter while Clara was doing an inventory check in the back. He didn't like being at the forefront, but he was getting better at interacting with new people even if he liked to pretend otherwise.

Clara made him stand there regularly. She said it was good practice for when he decided to leave but Asher never wanted to leave the Midnight Hour…at least not until he was confident at protecting himself.

The shop was like his own little haven. It was safe and warm. Clara and Stephan were here. Their constant presence…their voices began to slowly drown out those that spoke on their own.
Lost in reverie Asher didn't notice a large man entering the shop. He walked over to the counter and slammed it with his hands making the boy snap back to the present.

"Hey, kid where's the lady who's usually here?" The man spoke with a Southern accent. He was almost six feet tall and barely fit through the glass door. Long black tattoos ran across his thick arms.

"She's-She's not here. How can I help you?" Asher pinched himself. He tried to remain calm and collected. He said what he practiced in his head over and over.

"Good-good…see all that stuff behind you?...stuff it in a bag." The man ordered with a calm tone. It was so nonchalant that Asher almost did as ordered only to snap back.

"Those are not for sale. You can…" Before he could continue the man punched Asher straight in the face. It was a hefty punch that contained the man's weight, but he'd been punched harder before and remained conscience.

He grabbed onto his bloated nose which began to run with snot and blood. He shivered as he stared at the huge man leaning over the counter.

"Awake…good...I'm robbing you kid…do what I say, and I won't have to hurt you again." Asher's body tightened. He was shaken to his core. He found the idea that his haven was being disturbed revolting and the thought of helping the man do it even more.

'Just do as he says…you can't handle this.' Fear spoke up. Asher hadn't heard from the boyish voice in a while but here it was. It told him to comply even if the mere thought made him vomit.

The boy held himself up and turned around to do as he was told albeit very slowly. The large man laughed and jumped over the counter kicking the boy towards the other side of the room near the corridor.

"Expecting constables or help?...Don't get your hopes up…my boys got the street on lock." He smiled smugly at Asher who spat a bit of blood to the side. 

In the corner of his eye, he noticed Clara sneaking by the corridor and holding a vial in her hand. She put her finger to her mouth motioning to Asher to remain silent. Asher nodded but did the exact opposite. 

"Hey prick…that's not yours!" He shouted at the man. Asher was tired of being useless. He was going to help Clara by giving her the opportunity to use the vial in her hands.

Asher ran to the counter and grabbed the dagger tucked to his back. It was a trick Stephan taught him. His teacher said to always keep a weapon at hand and it paid off.

With a swift motion, Asher stabbed the surprised man in the back only for the tattoos to slightly glow and the blade to break. Before the stunned Asher could regain his footing and back away the man grabbed the boy by the neck and pinned him to the wall.

"Funny kid…let me teach you some manners." He began to choke Asher who simply smiled muttering the words… "be…hind..you" much to the man's confusion.

Before he could react Clara slammed the potion into the man's face glass and all. The man's eyes grew bloodshot and turned around to pursue Clara leaving Asher to stumble to the ground coughing.

A few steps in and the robber fell face-first into the ground. Clara rushed to Asher's side to check if he had any major injuries. Asher on the other hand stared right at the man a little repulsed by how easy it was to take him down.

"Poison…nasty thing always comes in handy…Don't worry about the body…Stephan will take care of it…and everything else." Clara began to drag the body to the side while Asher returned everything to place.

When done she dragged him to his room much to the boy's reluctance.

"You know things like this don't normally happen…Stephan works real hard to make sure they don't...Once he finds out this happened…let's just say the constables will have a field day."

She smiled as she brought a few potions and cotton to treat Asher who was sitting on the bed.

"I haven't been here in a while." She began to tidy the room. Just as he was about to protest she flipped around the mirror in the corner. Asher froze. There she was. Longing stood there. She watched the boy mouthing one word in silence.

"Weak…Weak…Weak." She kept on repeating almost hypnotizing the boy until…

"Hey…Asher…you alright?" Clara asked, snapping him back to reality. When he looked back Longing was gone. 

"Teach me how to make poisons." Asher retorted. He needed more strength. He wanted more till that damned thing never bothered him again. He didn't want to stare at her in that form. It made him feel like crying.

Clara chuckled softly, but when she noticed Asher's serious expression, her tone shifted. She pulled up a chair, sitting in front of him and blocking the mirror from view.

"When I told you to ask a lady about her hobbies, I didn't mean this," she said, a teasing edge in her voice. "You know," she began, her voice light but pointed, "you have to know a lass before asking her something so private."

She dared him to push further with another question, but Asher didn't like the idea of delving deeper. The Reason their relationship worked was the fact that neither asked the other of their past.

Leaning forward, Clara flicked his forehead. "You'll never win a lady's fancy with that attitude, you know." This prompting Asher to throw the first thing that came to mind.

"Ummm…were you always a witch?" He asked an easy question. Nothing too hard if she decided to ask a question of her own.

"Yeaah...I was quite the prodigy...left ma's womb with the mask on." She chuckled and flicked his forehead again.

"Nobody is born a witch....I was a Grishan girl with a single father, living in Pyre's Peak. With dreams of the wider world, I ran away from home, met a kind old man who taught me his creed and initiated me into his coven."

"It was a traveling coven...we never settled anywhere. It was years later that I became a full member and received my mask. We were in Solon at the time."

"We spent a long time studying old texts and ruins in that kingdom. In fact, that was how I met my teacher, he was looking for some old texts in the church of Pyre's Peak. He always went on and on about the importance of history."

"It was a nice life. We were a big family that was until...until stuff...yeah stuff...the kind of stuff that forces you to leave and leave I did until I met the nicest chap in the world...Stephan and settled in Mercia's capital...the old bitch herself Lethica."

"Putting a pin on the mushy stuff...What i really wanted to tell you was about the first time I poisoned someone."

"I watched the fellow fall over and crawl in agony. His bloodshot eyes slowly melted, and blood cascaded down the sockets....but do you know the worse of it...he kept crawling...he didn't stop till he reached my heels...

"That day I lost both arms but do I regret it?...not in the least but the shame after was a whole other monster...that shame is something nobody should feel...especially a 12 year old."

Clara narrated the entire story with a uniform tone. The memories didn't sadden her. She found comfort in her present. He envied the calmness in her reverie. He wanted to ask her more but felt that maybe inquiring too much was also rude.

"The moral of the story is that even without arms I was handy to have around." She laughed. He still didn't feel comfortable with the idea of sharing, but he felt closer to the masked woman.

"I'm sorry if I made you recall difficult memories." His apology was genuine. Asher felt the weight of his own memories and couldn't imagine the weight of hers who was far older than him.

"Don't apologize…I wouldn't share if I didn't want to. What you should have done to a proper lady is hug her and stay silent. Pity is a harsh pill but you can never go wrong with a hug." She berated the boy about proper manners again. He smiled seeing her back to her old self, but the conversation wasn't done.

"Now do you understand why I don't want to teach you about poisons?"

"Because…they cause misery to both parties?" The boy tried to understand it from her point of view.

"You'd think that but as I watched the fellow spasm on the ground…turn left and right. As he slowly became a mess of tears blood, vomit, and piss...I felt relief…power…only after the fact that I felt the misery as ashamed as I am to admit it."

"Poisons are convenient tools. Not many care to admit how easy it is to poison someone with a little ingenuity and…" She stopped mid-sentence and laughed.

"Sorry…heh…it just dawned on me that I was discussing murder with a child."

"You know Asher there is only one reason a boy would learn how to make use of poisons…how to fight…how to kill. Once you achieve it…you'll realize how empty the pursuit was." Asher remained silent. He understood what she meant but it was difficult not to want power. With each day that passed he felt a tinge of relief that he was growing stronger...a tinge enough to make him look forward for tomorrow.

"Listen…I honestly don't know what your goal is. I understand enough not to ask. I'll teach it to you for the vain reason of not wanting to die not having passed my knowledge on...only if you promise me not to use it except for a very good damned reason." She stared Asher straight in the eyes. She didn't blink as the boy stared back at her with his mellow yellow eyes. 

He swallowed his saliva and uttered the words she wanted to hear. 

"I promise." It startled him a little how easily the words rolled off his tongue. Maybe breaking the first promise set a bad precedent. It was not like he intended to break this one but when push came to shove, he'd use what he learned to protect himself. 

'Living was a damned good reason.' He figured. Asher was naïve at times…he was 12 after all but he knew that Clara acknowledged how much power she was giving to a child.

Clara sighed and didn't say anything for a while. She Stood up slowly the usual cheer in her steps nowhere to be seen. It was as if age had caught up to her.

"Hmph…good enough…we'll start tomorrow…now excuse me while I grab a bite to eat myself."
--------

It was dark. It was not a nightmare. The darkness there had a familiar touch to it but here the darkness was a mere lack of light and not the living terror which tried to consume him each night. 

This wasn't his room. He could tell that he'd been kidnapped. Although that seemed like an exaggeration. He could feel Stephan's grubby taste all over this situation.

'Where was it this time.' He thought sarcastically. He tried to find humor in this turn of events.

'Always trusting people…A prison…a lab…and now another prison…you only learn when its too late.' Asher muttered to himself, anticipating Regret's words. He'd rather hear them from his own mouth than deal with her suffocating voice.

When he tried to move his body he realized that his arms were shackled.