The Order's Inauguration Ceremony

The door closed behind us with a resounding bang. I gulped down my fear, yet realized I had far more still gathering up in my arsenal. The assassins' gazes were like prickling stings on my exposed skin, and for once, I wanted to be dressed in conservative girl's wear so I could hide away from their attention.

"Uh..." the assassin girl murmured beside me, probably realizing the reason for their hostile looks. Fidgeting even more, she turned to me with panicking eyes, and whispered hurriedly, "I don't think you're allowed here..."

"You think?" I whispered back with a slight glare, although I knew I was far too frightened to ever look threatening.

'So, what am I supposed to do now?'

I looked around the room and found about one familiar face, and even so, I doubt she would help me out. Eleina and I had only met a handful of times, and even then, we didn't talk much aside from the usual niceties...

'Wait, did she just shake her head at me quite disapprovingly just now?' I sighed inwardly. 'I don't suppose I could just slowly back away and leave through the door?'

With not much of a choice, I did just that. Like I was backing away from a pack of hungry lions, I stepped a foot back, ever so slowly, inching away gradually...

''Well, isn't this a surprise?" a woman's deep voice filled the candle-lit room, coming from a body so small I had completely glanced over her in my earlier inspection of the surroundings. "Princess Eleftheria, is it not?"

I've probably never been more grateful to a powerful murderer as I was right now. I managed a curtsy even though I wore no skirts. Bowing low, I said, "It is indeed I, Princess Eleftheria of Saule. I am deeply sorry for having intruded upon your ceremony. Having been lost in the impressively... complex corridors of the Order, I had forcibly asked for this young assassin to guide me until I had gained my bearings. Alas, I have stumbled here unwittingly and quite..."

"Stupidly?" the white-haired child of an assassin offered. I grunted, and saw as her lavender eyes widened a bit. She whispered in disbelief, "Wait, did you just say Princess??"

I ignored her, and continued on without missing a beat, "Indeed, I must say I had a lapse in judgement to have barged in straight into this hall. For that, I apologize gravely, and beg your leave that I may disgracefully make my egress." I bowed even deeper, not even daring to look up to observe their reactions.

A few, dreadfully heavy seconds passed by...

'I suppose silence is a universal signal for agreement?' I wondered, and was about to stand to exit quietly...

"Oh, none of that, princess." High Monk Eva had approached my bowing form, and gently allowed me to straighten up with her tiny hands. "Did I not ask that old man to bring you here for a meeting? It may be pushed back a bit earlier, but I suppose we might as well do it now."

"Eva, we can't push back the inauguration until later just because of your scheduling mishaps," Eleina uttered monotonously from behind her. "We have guests from the ground level branches right now, and they have busy schedules."

"Oh, not any more busier than that old merchant and his little liege, perhaps?" the tiny woman replied, as though actually thinking about the possibility of her words seriously.

I observed how interesting it was to sense the annoyance from the silent Eleina, even though there were no great changes to her facial expression. Eleina told the head assassin levelly, "And the High Monk can never be too busy to organize her schedules a little less chaotically."

I gasped quietly.

However, to my surprise, the tiny woman didn't murder the brunette right on the spot. Instead, she laughed amiably as though Eleina's words weren't disrespectful at all. "Oh, what would I ever do without you, dear Eleina? I suppose you should be the one in charge of my daily schedules from now on?"

"... As you wish, head assassin." Eleina bowed with her left palm on her heart.

"So, then!" Eva announced grandly. "Since it is my fault that this little girl has found herself in here, and we cannot simply delay the ceremony any longer, then I suppose we can just have her here as a special guest!"

I paled as Eva's words were met with loud grumbling and glares from most of the people in the room. A particularly noticeable man, his skin sunken to the bones and hue as grey as a living person's can never be, complained the loudest in a high pitch wail, "Absolutely not, High Monk! The inauguration ceremony is one of the Order's most sacred rituals! How can we allow an outsider, and even worse, a Saulian princess, to join in! Absolutely not!"

I've never seen Eva angry before, so I wasn't prepared at all for the sudden burst of malicious aura that came from her tiny body. She didn't even need to glare at the skinny man. "I've told you to address me as 'head assassin', did I not, Vincentus?"

The man turned an even ghostly gray. He sputtered an apology and backed away.

With that, the hall turned silent and no one dared to complain any longer. Eva smiled cheerfully. "That settles it then! Princess Eleftheria can join in as a guest!"

Someone took my hands, and I nearly jumped in shock. I looked to find the white-haired girl grinning at me. "This is great! You can stay to watch me get inaugurated!"

"... Yeah. How nice," I murmured, although I felt not the slightest bit of joy. And as much as I was grateful to her for her helping me out, I was just as annoyed that she would bring me into a room full of deadly assassins. But, oh well... It's not like I wasn't at fault, either. I wasn't the child out of the both of us.

Then, Eva led me to a seat right beside her, as though to make me even more uncomfortable. The hall we were at wasn't particularly huge. It was much like a small chapel, actually. There were two big rows of seats and cutting through the middle was a dark red carpet, almost black in the dim light. At the far center of the room, elevated from the rest of the floor, was a white basin held high on a beautiful, marble stand.

The head assassin sat diagonally from the basin, facing the whole group... and I sat right next to her.

Eva. Basin. Me.

The dozen assassins didn't have much to stare at as they sat there, so I wasn't too surprised when more than a few eyes looked at me with curiosity or hostility, or both. I tried not to look too bothered.

Thankfully, the last few guests had probably already arrived because Eva stood up not too long after, her aura yet again transforming into a demeanor of seriousness. She addressed the whole party with her clear, sultry voice, "The Master has whispered through the dreary night, and the northern winds have carried them by. I, the seventy-fourth mistress of Death, and low pontifex of the fourth Order, lead through this inauguration to welcome these new blood into our ranks."

I didn't even know what I was supposed to be doing, so when they all suddenly stood up the moment she had finished speaking, I hastily moved to follow as well.

And like that, there was an elaborate moment where three young children, all around my age, marched slowly down the aisle in a grave procession. At the center was the white-haired girl who had brought me here. It was the first time I had seen her so quiet and reserved. This new version of her almost made me not recognize her, not to mention how she was suddenly already dressed in a plain white robe like the two others.

After the three had arrived at the front of the basin, Eva had ordered us to sit, and throughout the whole ceremony, it seemed like I had become a simple audience member, watching as a quiet play unfolded in front of me.

I remembered how my own childhood ceremony had been like. I had walked through a much emptier and larger hall and simply held a magical orb. This ceremony, however, was much more elaborate. A dance was performed without music, the three children's gliding forms filling the gravely quiet room, their shadows flickering and ever-changing in the candle light. Little hands were cut with a wicked sharp dagger, red blood dripping down the pure white basin. And heads were anointed with a brackish water from the white basin. All of these done in complete and utter silence.

I would find myself holding my breath at the most shocking parts.

And finally, the last parts of the ceremony included a most intriguing moment when the children were given a piece of parchment and a quill each. And then, Eleina and two other women came around and covered the eyes of every other person in the room with pieces of dark cloth. I shivered as Eleina finally came upon us. She bowed slightly at Eva before covering the tiny woman's eyes, and then she came upon me. I looked up at her with wide eyes.

Very slightly, she gave a small smile. It might have been a show to comfort me, but at that moment, I only felt fear.

I was soon shrouded in darkness, the rough feel of the cloth reminding me of its presence every time I breathed. My senses heightened. I tried to gather notes into my body, but my magic seemed to have failed me. The silence and the seconds stretched on, and I felt a great fear, one that seemed much greater than simple and pure terror, as it wallowed up inside me...

And then it was gone. Eva had untied my blindfold and I saw the room as it was. Perfectly normal. Yet, I can easily see the two darkened slips of paper on Eva's lap that I clearly remembered weren't there before.

I wanted to ask about them, but the ceremony still continued. Eva and another man, tall and large and silent, stood up quietly and approached one of the taller candles that surrounded the room. Together, they slowly held up the papers into the flame and...

The papers simply burned. The whole Order of assassins stared silently as the pieces of parchment slowly burnt and turned into a pile of pure white ashes. Then, these ashes were gathered into a thin, round tray of silver, and Eva carried this towards the three children, all standing gravely in a perfect row.

She stared at each of the children, one by one, and taking her time. And, finally breaking the long going silence, she spoke, "Mitchen of Bron, third Order, blessed by Torno."

A smallish man stood up and approached the head assassin, bowing before gathering a pinch-full of ashes with his fingers, dipped it slightly into the basin, and anointed the forehead of one of the children. When he moved away, I could finally see the pattern he had drawn clearly on skin: a disjointed cross, or a tilted pair of crossing lines, one line stretched farther than the other.

Two other names were called and a woman stood to do the same thing on the other child. And then, it was finally the white-haired girl's turn.

"... Zepherin, fourth Order, blessed by the Order Mistress herself," Eva said, before turning towards me. Feeling like I was supposed to do something, I stood up. The rest of the people in the room looked quite as shocked as I was, but still didn't disturb the silence. Eva gestured for me to come closer and I walked as silently as I could.

She offered me the tray, and I was about to foolishly pinch at the ashes myself before I stopped myself. I breathed in a shaky breath and carefully took the tray from her hands, mindful not to show how my own hands shook. Eva gratefully bowed deeply at me and took a generous amount of ashes, dipped them slightly into the brackish water, and approached the white-haired child. I noticed how I wasn't the only shaking child in the room.

Eva anointed her forehead, slowly and gently, and from my standpoint, I could finally see the process up close. For a group that killed as their purpose, they did seem to have such holy and serene practices.

I kept staring at the pattern even after Eva had moved back. I only broke out from my fascination as I felt a cold hand on my arm. I flinched slightly, and I found Eva smiling at me. I bowed slightly and made myself move back, placing the tray back into the crevice on the wall, and returning to stand by my seat.

With a few more words from the assassin, the ceremony was finally over.

"We welcome these new additions to our Order," she announced loudly. "New blood to shed evil blood!"

""NEW BLOOD TO SHED EVIL BLOOD!!!""

Hearing the sudden loud cheer from the assassins, I felt the great beating of my heart. Never have I been in such a heavy silence, only to be so suddenly followed by such booming and thundering sound.

I let out a shaky breath, and feeling all of my energy slip out of me, I could no longer keep my balance. Like a heavy sack, I crumpled down onto my seat, suddenly so exhausted. There were dark spots at the corner of my eyes, but I can still clearly see the absolutely contagious happiness that the white-haired girl was exuding.

I managed a small chuckle, and mouthed to her, even though I couldn't clearly see if she was even looking at me, "Congratulations."

Then, Eva, who was speaking tenderly with her, somehow felt my gaze on them because she had excused herself from the other assassins and came towards me.

"Well, how did you like our ceremony, Princess Eleftheria?" she asked me as she bent her waist down to look at me.

"I-... It was fascinating," I murmured. "... But exhausting."

"Well, that's because you weren't trained to deal with such dark magic," she replied cheerfully, as though she couldn't notice how tired I was.

I could only look at her, barely even able to open my mouth again. Sleep was calling out to me now, her inviting hands pulling the lids of my eyes down.

"But, I suppose you can always get trained for these things. I mean, this was part of the reason why I had you come here, anyway," she said quite loudly enough for the whole room to hear, or maybe it just seemed like that to my muddled consciousness. But, I could never have been more unprepared for her next words.

"How about it, then, Princess? Will you train under us and be one of the Order?" she asked. "Will you become an assassin like us?"