“Help me!” a small girl cried out.

Her small figure shook as the sobs came forward, not stopping. The tears streamed down her cheeks. No one would look for her in the attic. Soft moans travelled up through the wooden floorboards. She looked left and right. No one was there. “How do you see child? How do you see in the dark?” She knew that no one was there. How did she see through the darkness of the attic? Her tears, she was cursed. Her tears glowed blue, illuminating the dark attic. She collected them in jars.

When she saw her, she knew. “You…”

“I don’t want to be like this!”

The girl opened the door and saw the sobbing child. “Where were you… you betrayed me… I thought that you were my friend…”

The name that she didn’t want to hear fell from the chained girl’s lips.

-.-

“Hey.” A voice snapped her awake. “We can’t have you asleep on the job, T,” it said to her. The voice was deep and full of masculinity.

Suddenly she remembered that she was on a mission.

She turned her head to see a young man, only several years older than her, in his dark uniform. His eyes were always a mystery to her. They were a turquoise color, with the pupils strangely shaped, they resembled those of a snakes. His hair was a darkish brown, so dark it could be mistaken as black if not for the sunlight. His skin was deathly white, close to the color of paper.

“Sorry Blade, I was just thinking about something,” she replied. Unlike him, she had beautiful silvery-blue hair that sparkled in the sunlight. She had it in a braid to keep it from flying loose. She wore a uniform similar to his, a black uniform.

“About what?” he asked her.

She turned away, not wanting to show him her regretful expression. “That day…”

Topaz felt a hand on her head. “Heh, I thought that you forgot about that by now. Try not to dwell on the past, okay sweetie?” he asked.

She elbowed him in response. “How can I forget? It’s the only thing I remember from the past!” She laughed at her companion. “By the way, how long will it be until he comes back?”

Suddenly, Blade wrapped an arm around her and pulled her down. “Now,” he said quietly. He crouched down and carefully watched another dark-haired man coming towards them, his hands filled with supplies. Blade put up a thumb, signaling their presence. The dark-haired boy nodded and jumped towards their hiding place.

“Get back, sweetie,” Blade said quickly, moving the girl out of the way. The other boy jumped on target. “Now, we better get back to headquarters. Boss is going to get mad if we show up late again…” He looked at the loot the other boy recovered. “Wow, you scored us enough to last us another week,” Blade told him.

The other dark-haired boy glared at him, taking away the bag of supplies. “Shut up, Blade,” he said quietly before looking up at their female companion.

“Guys, come on, let’s not fight now. When we get back, you can do what you want with each other. Right now, we have a mission, and a curfew.” She tugged the boys’ arms carefully and the three quickly and quietly escaped the premises.

When the coast was clear, Topaz turned back towards the boys, who seemed to be fighting again. She sighed as she looked at them fighting each other over petty things. “Can’t you all get along?” she asked them.

“Not if I’m assigned with him, princess,” the dark-haired boy said, small horns suddenly poking out of his hair. “He’s not exactly the most cooperative.”

Blade scoffed at his remark. “I’m not cooperative? Are you sure that you’re not talking about yourself, Abaddon dearest?” he laughed at the boy. Topaz groaned as the two suddenly began to argue again. She didn’t have any time for any of the boys’ arguments. Topaz then took Abaddon’s loot and carried it over her shoulder.

She then began to walk a couple of feet more ahead of them. “If you want something done, then you get it done yourself,” she grumbled to herself. She didn’t notice the two boys slowly creep up on her, Abaddon snatched the bag from behind her, and Blade hoisted her up, carrying her like a princess. “What the hell?”

Both of the boys smirked at the girl. “You know if you weren’t careful, then someone could take advantage of you,” Blade told her mischievously. She sent him a deadly glare and struggled in his arms. She huffed and let him carry her. “There, that’s a better hostage, sweetie,” he said softly.

Topaz’s cheeks burned a bright red. She pulled her captor’s hair, and immediately he released her. She smiled triumphantly before looking at Abaddon, who was busy glaring at the two of them. She walked alongside him and stared at the bag. Abaddon noticed this, his black eyes staring into her gray ones.

“You look tired, Abby,” she snickered. It was Abaddon’s turn to blush and she giggled at him. He didn’t say a word to her, but she knew that he was secretly embarrassed.

Blade suddenly stopped and held her collar, thrusting her back. “We’re here,” he said, earning another look from the girl, who didn’t understand—

“Why did you stop us then?” she growled at him. He gave her a blank expression and nudged her. He lifted her head up —she didn’t even know that she was looking down— and there she saw it. The camp, all there, before her in shining glory.

“We really need to clean up the place,” Abaddon commented as he observed their temporary home. The camp, while not exactly dirty or messy, seemed extremely bleak. Their tents were black, covered with a white clothing to shield them from the sun. Stones marked the pathways between the tents and other sites, some more permanent than others.

The three noticed that a lot of people were at the center of it, a large circular area with a big pole at the top. All of them wore black clothing, and hid themselves from the sun.

“What’s going on?” Topaz asked. The two boys shrugged. “Whatever it is, we better get down there, now.” She began to take off and left the two behind as she made her way to camp. She knew they were going to follow suit anyway.

As she entered, she noticed a lot of people emptying from their tents carrying supplies. If that was happening, then the Royals must’ve found their hideout. If that was the case, then, they really must be desperate. They never went outside the skirt of their city.

She looked back at her friends, Abaddon and Blade, who looked just as confused as she did. They entered the circle along with the other people. One of them, another boy, she didn’t remember his name, whispered to her, “Where have you been?”

“Sorry, I was on a mission!” she replied.

“Okay, I see that we are now gathered here,” a voice boomed from the crowd. Topaz looked up to see that Blade’s father up in the center of the crowd. “Okay then, first things first…”

Blade grabbed Topaz’s hand and led her towards the center. The crowd, upon seeing him, parted the way for him. He dragged Abaddon and Topaz over to the front to have a clearer glimpse of him.

“Unfortunately, the Royals have found us, again,” he said to everyone, receiving gasps from the crowd. “We have to move quickly.” He then ushered the crowd away. He turned to the adolescents. “As for you, you got the supplies?”

Abaddon held out the bag of supplies. “Right here sir.”

The man nodded and led the three into his tent. He looked at his son, and placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Listen here, my son. I… I am going to be away for a while.”

Blade’s eyes widened, and so did Topaz’s. “It’s the king. He managed to bug me. Those soldiers are going to be coming for me and I am afraid that I have to go away for a while.”

“Father, but, you…” Blade began, only for him to place his other hand on the boy. “You will have to be the temporary leader until I return. And son, I promise that I will return. Do you think you can take the responsibility?”

Blade sighed and nodded. His father then turned to Topaz.

“Ah, and you,” he said quickly.

Topaz nodded at him. “Yes sir?”

He gave her a meaningful smile. “Promise to take care of my son for me. I don’t want him to do anything reckless while I’m gone.”

“Yes sir?” she said again, with a bit of confusion. The man chuckled. And patted her head. Then he left the three of them alone and exited the tent, disappearing into the chaos. Topaz had a bad feeling that they would never see him again. But she couldn’t tell her friend that.

Besides, this was only a feeling. It wasn’t like her hunch would come true, right?