𝟐𝟕
"Kilian!!!"
Kilian jumped at the sound of his name, looking around in alarm and flinching when he spotted Zain hurrying back over.
'💩!' Kilian looked back at Anya, "I've gotta go, Anya, but stay alert! If you see my Aunt, do everything you can to distract her from Miss Yor!"
"Huh? But why?" Anya questioned.
"I... I can't tell you." Kilian mumbled, "But if you can't do that, then Miss Yor is going to die!"
'Die?!' Anya internally shrieked, "Ian-!"
The boy was already running off, ushering a puzzled and annoyed Zain away to go get food. He hated making Anya worry, but Kilian knew he wouldn't be able to get anywhere near as long as Zain was looking after him.
'I'll have to find a way to lose him tomorrow, but I'll have to remain alert for now...!' Kilian reminded himself, 'Rest for now, so you can work with a clear head!'
Kilian did not sleep well at all.
He barely got three hours of rest, and awoke feeling groggy and weak. Zain brought him breakfast, Elena seeming hesitant to touch anything in the room that Kilian would or could make contact with.
Kilian could hardly keep his head up, and just ended up going back to sleep. After sleeping basically the whole day away, he awoke to find Elena gone again.
Him and Zain ate dinner together, he got to watch Zain gamble half of his week's pay away (he couldn't stand to see someone lose so miserably, so Kilian may have done a bit of cheating), and they went out to watch the fireworks while enjoying ice cream.
'I'm not supposed to know that Auntie is on the ship, but I think I could get some information out of him if I mention Grandpa.' Kilian thought, "Hey, Mister Bodyguard, when is Grandpa gonna join us?"
"Not until we get to the island." Zain replied with a wave of his hand, "The old man had to make some calls to some friends and handle some business first, but he's going to ensure that it'll be worth the wait."
"Hm." Kilian looked at his ice cream, his aunt's favorite flavor which recently became his own, "I wonder where Miss Elena is."
"Me too, kid." Zain huffed, resting his head on his hand as he looked out at the sea, "Probably with your Grandfather."
"Mm..." Kilian began to enjoy his ice cream again, his brows slightly furrowed, only to get bumped and nearly knocked off the 🚚ing boat.
The only reason he didn't fall off was because Zain caught him by the back of his clothing, turning his head to give the idiot a glare and a, "Watch where you're going, moron!"
Kilian wasn't paying attention as the man returned Zain's glare, saying something that the boy didn't quite catch as his attention was drawn further up.
His eyes darted up and above where he briefly caught sight of Yor. Was she alright? Y/n hadn't made her move already, had she? Kilian needed to slip away, just to be sure!
He shuffled away from Zain and the angry man as the two started bickering, the bodyguard's look of surprise shifting to annoyance when this dude grabbed him by the front of his clothing.
Kilian thought a simple apology to the young man as he fled, 'Sorry about this, Mister, but Auntie comes first!'
Masked by the booming of the fireworks, and safely out of the other passengers' sight, Yor was facing off against countless enemy assassins while Olka, her son, and her friend Zeb were all *mostly* safe hidden beneath a hatch.
She was putting up quite the fight, a terrifying assassin indeed. The bloodshed would most definitely scare any normal person, but...
Elena glanced at y/n as the two of them watched from afar. Her gaze moved to the young woman's hands which idly fiddled with the gun in her hands.
The assassin smirked, 'It's truly amazing how grief impacts humans. I'm curious to see how else it'll impact her behavior.' "Would you like me to step in?"
"Don't bother, I'd rather not have Olka, her friend, and Gram get caught in the crossfire." y/n replied, her gaze not once leaving the fight below, "We ensure their safety first, then we handle Yor elsewhere."
"I hope you don't mind, I'm getting a little antsy..."
"Do what you want, just don't start trouble."
Elena let out a happy hum as she hopped down from where her and y/n had been watching, simply a shadow cutting through the night as she rapidly approached Yor and the other assassins.
The h/c haired inhaled deeply, then exhaled.
She didn't like the feeling of a gun in her hand.
It felt heavy. Not just in her hands, but her whole body. As if the weight of what she was going to do was already crushing her before she even did it.
The world around her seemed to become fuzzy, sound taking on that annoying tone as if it'd been dunked underwater.
Cold. The gun was too cold in her hands.
It made her hands tremble. Ah— it couldn't have been cold enough to make her hands, tremble, right?
'It's all in your head, y/n, all in your head.' she thought, though the trembling in her hands did not cease.
"You've gotta stay calm, otherwise you'll end up hurting yourself. Take deep breaths, relax."
Y/n let out a shaky breath and gave Yuri a wry smile, "You sure seem to know a lot about firing a gun, Yuri. You sound like a professional, you know?"
A little meetup had led to the two of them visiting a shooting range. It was the first place they could duck into when they spotted those troublemakers who'd usually pop up during their dates, and they figured it'd be safer to stay there until they were sure the troublemakers were gone.
The young man returned her smile with a much warmer one of his own, "In the uncertain times we live in, it's a good idea to have a few methods of defending yourself. Here."
Y/n's cheeks heated up when the young man stood behind her and covered her hands with his, adjusting her hold on the firearm before moving his hands to her shoulders.
"Keep a good hold on it, be firm, but don't be tense either." Yuri told her before pausing with a, "Is... this alright?"
Y/n didn't move her gaze away from her hands which had ceased their trembling. The was new... what was it? Yuri's instruction? His hands on hers? His voice?
The young woman nodded once, glancing over her shoulder so her e/c gaze could meet Yuri's. Huh. He had very captivating eyes, eyes that reminded her of rubies.
"Yes." she grinned, "This is more than alright."
The trembling in y/n's hands stopped, her breathing steadied, and the world around her was pulled from the water as she came back to her senses.
She... wasn't shaking anymore.
No. She still was. Just elsewhere this time.
The trembling of her hands wasn't gone, it had simply moved on to her already unstable resolve instead.
A deep breath in, a long breath out. E/c eyes, cold and without mercy fixed themselves upon Yor once more.
Far below, Yor whipped around sensing killing intent from behind, only for nobody to be there. Her confusion was brief, but enough for another enemy to come up behind her with a whole axe in hand.
Before he could strike the woman, he was struck in the neck with something that caused him to stumble out of shock.
Yor immediately looked back, ready to fight this new enemy only for him to drop to the ground seemingly out of nowhere. He was dead. That quick?
"Thorn Princess, right?"
Yor looked up and found Elena, the woman perched on the side of the ship with a small smile.
The blond woman waved, "Good Evening!"
She didn't seem strange aside from the fact that she'd appeared out of nowhere. Any normal individual would believe she was just another civilian, but Yor picked up a familiar and unmistakable scent from the friendly looking woman.
'This smell... death.' Yor frowned as Elena lowered her hand, her gentle yet empty gaze not once straying from the ebony haired woman, 'This woman has killed many people.'
"You seem to be in quite the predicament." Elena chimed as she hopped down from her spot and approached Yor, "Need a hand."
'She appears relaxed, but she's left herself in a position to attack or defend at a moment's notice.' Yor noted, "Were you also sent to kill Olka?"
"Kill Miss Gretcher? Of course not!" Elena protested with a frantic wave of her hands, "I'm actually here to help you protect her! I may not be from your organization, but my boss has goals that align with yours. Will you allow me to offer my assistance?"
Yor let out a breath of relief, "That'd be great."
'I need to be careful with this woman.'
✄ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Kilian took longer than he would've preferred to reach the site of the conflict, curse his six year old legs, but he was glad to see that Yor was still standing.
It was her, Elena, a few remaining enemy assassins— WAIT A MINUTE, ELENA?!
Kilian gawked from his hiding spot, shocked to see his nanny standing alongside Yor. Bloody... so much blood, how come she was so bloody?
'Because she's an assassin too, you idiot!' Kilian scolded himself, 'But she's here, helping Miss Yor. Did Auntie change her mind?'
No... no, most definitely not.
Yor was up against four people.
A dude with a whole sword, a dude with a gun, another dude you a gun hiding, and another attempting to get to Yor.
Elena was not helping, she was simply within the shadows cleaning something shiny that Kilian couldn't see all the well.
She was humming.
It was rather ominous, despite the voice being the same one that would hum to him and read stories when y/n wasn't available to do so.
'Miss Yor is in trouble, I have to do something!' Kilian thought anxiously, beginning to take a step forward, 'I can act like I wandered here by coincidence, fortunately for me Miss Yor doesn't seem to be able to put pieces together very well, I just have to—!'
A hand rested itself on Kilian's shoulder and the boy froze in his tracks. He'd been caught. No, no, it was fine. He could get out of this and still warn Yor—
"Kilian?"
Ah. Damn it.
Kilian grimaced and looked back up at Elena, ready to spout some 🐂💩 to get himself out of this situation only for the words to catch in his throat.
The woman's green gaze made his blood run cold, the lack of any clear emotion on her face causing the boy's thoughts to falter. For a second, he'd failed to register this woman as his nanny, or even a human at all.
"You're supposed to be with Zain."
A statement.
"I... uh..." Kilian's voice was shaky, uncertain.
His throat felt dry, his heart was racing in his chest. He knew this was Elena, but every cell in his body screamed danger. Run... he needed to get away-!
Elena smiled, "Ah... this is no good. You're not supposed to be here right now. How troublesome."
Kilian stumbled a little as the woman turned him around and carefully adjusted his clothes which had been ruffled in his haste to reach the scene of the conflict.
He was too aware of the sharp smell of blood on her, and the unmistakable glint of the crimson liquid on her hands.
"You're a very inquisitive young boy, Kilian. Being inquisitive is a good thing." Elena continued before she paused, and locked gazes with him again. "It could also get you killed. You understand, right?"
Kilian nodded hastily.
"Now, I want you to be good and go back to Zain. It's too dangerous here right now, so it'd be better if you were with him." Elena instructed, "Can you do that?"
"M-Miss Yor." the boy mumbled, "Will she be okay?"
Elena blinked, almost appearing surprised before that smile which was no longer comforting to the boy reappeared.
"She'll be just fine."
Kilian knew 💩🐂 when he heard it.
He retreated, only far enough to remain out of sights as he sent off an illusion to rejoin Zain. Ignoring his nausea and forcing down the fear which had begun to bubble up within him after that scary encounter with Elena, he returned to look for Yor.
Except... she want there.
There was no signs of that fight from earlier, no dead bodies or blood. No sign of Elena or Yor. They were just gone.
That couldn't be good.
✄ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Y/n and Achille were like kittens in comparison to their father. At least, that was how Elena viewed them.
She was sure others could agree with her perspective.
Achille was too kind for his own good, too concerned with looking after others, too trusting of those he kept close. He was always watching other people's back without asking for a thing in return.
With that in mind, it was no surprise it was his back which had been the one to be stabbed in the end.
Y/n... oh y/n.
Elena liked her.
She was kind when she needed to be, unforgiving when it was required. Merciful and ruthless when necessary. Fairly balanced with some room for improvement, but excellent nonetheless.
Mm... y/n happened to be a bit of a glass cannon, when it came to her late brother, however.
Elena fiddled with the gloves on her hands as she watched Yor and y/n, somewhat eager to witness the exchange which would occur between the two of them next.
She stood near the exit to the cabin, also positioned to attack if Yor made the wrong move. Elena had to administer a heck of a ton of poison to do something to the woman. The amount would've killed a normal human being instantly, but all it did to Yor was slow her down.
'I suppose I should be grateful.' Elena thought to herself with a small smile, 'Any less and we'd have a problem.'
"Why'd you do it?"
Y/n's voice was so quiet, even Elena thought she'd been hearing things until she saw the surprise on Yor's face. Apparently, she hadn't been the only one.
Yor's reason had been very different. She believed y/n was being held hostage by the mystery assassin, and intended to help her sister-in-law escape safely no matter how tired she was.
But... she wasn't stupid enough not to tell that something wasn't right when the blond assassin had addressed y/n as "Boss".
And this question, out of the blue?
Yor was in a bit of a panic.
'She's knows I'm an assassin doesn't she? Is she asking why I killed all those other assassins? Ohh... how do I explain this?' the woman thought frantically.
"Elena, please leave." y/n said quietly and the blond woman poured, wanting to complain but deciding better of it as she nodded and backed out of the room.
Guess her part was over, eh?
Elena left the room silently, closing the door behind her and remaining still in the hall for a moment longer.
"I want dessert." she decided as she turned away from the door and began to stride down the hall, "Maybe some cake will do."
As she disappeared around the corner, all was still before Kilian peered out from behind another corner and gazed at the door to the room where y/n and Yor were.
'This is stupid.' he told himself, 'I'm gonna get caught for sure. There's no other outcome.'
His desire to keep Yor alive was greater than his fear as he approached the cabin door anyways, reaching up to open up the door.
His wrist was grabbed, and his heart plummeted to his stomach. Despite the fear that washed over him, he was still feeling exasperated enough to think, 'Knew it.'
"You really don't take warnings well." Elena sighed as she moved Kilian's hand away from the door, her voice hushed yet all the boy could hear as she gave him a disappointed look.
"Like father like son, huh?"
(Yikes)
(Don't you hate it when you look at the times, it's 12, and you tell yourself you'll go to sleep at 1 only to look again and see that it's almost 5:30 in the morning?)
(Me too)
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