Mind Slayer

It was then, when I was tied to a metal bed, that I fought. I didn't want experiments done on me, obviously who would? I struggled, I fought, and in the end, there was a mask over my face making me breathe something funny, I couldn't figure out what was so special about me. I knew I was the Mind Slayer but still! All the mask did was it made it impossible to move, I could still feel everything all my senses were intact. So, I could feel it when the slizzard, with its razor-sharp teeth, bit my forearm. I screamed. I heard laughing.

"Calm down, Mind Slayer, soon you'll remember nothing," the slizzard cackled ominously. That, ladies and gentlemen, was what made me mad. And it's not smart to make me mad. I closed my eyes and concentrated on what tied me to the bed. My bonds broke, my attackers thrown into the wall and knocked unconscious.

"Well, you didn't have to go that far," a voice located somewhere near my head said. I craned my neck to get a better look. It was Max. That girl got me in and out of trouble faster than anyone I'd ever met.

"What the hell you doing, Max? I thought you'd crossed over to the dark-side," I asked sourly. She started to let her hazel eyes wonder and they flashed back when I finished talking.

"Just in the neighborhood, heard your screams, came to see what was wrong." She ran her finger along the edge of the bed. I sat up. I saw something out the corner of my eye. They were waking up.

"Let's go!" I yelled, running toward the window. There was no other way out, what else was I supposed to do? Blow the wall up? Max strayed by the bed. I groaned. So many choices I didn't want to make. The room started shaking, time to go. "Max!" I called.

"I'm staying here."

"No, you're not," I growled. I grabbed her arm and threw her out the open window. She screamed as I followed. The entire dungeon collapsed on itself. "You idiot," I snarled at her.

"Hey, now. There's no need for that," a familiar voice said. I whirled. There stood Haseieus. He smiled at me, "I missed you." He said playfully.

"I've only been gone a little while," I reminded him.

"I still missed you."

"I'm still here you guys know," Max snapped. I grimaced. Haseieus looked up and smiled apologetically at her. I rolled my eyes. She could be so annoying sometimes. When I was five, and she was three at the time, I had some friends over; Max picked up rocks and threw them at my friends and me. When Haseieus came along, about four years later, she fell head-over-heels in love with him. But he always treated her like no more than a friend. He started walking her and I home from school, and then he started inviting me to go with him whenever his mom took him to the park.

So, Haseieus and I were going steady and... man that sounds sappy, doesn't it? I turned to Max and narrowed my eyes, "You can go home now, you know."

"You're my ride," she replied coolly.

"You can walk," I said just as cool as she did. I felt a hot, wet hand wrap around my neck as Max backed away in fright. My hands instinctively flew to my neck to grab the hand. I smelled blood. A slizzard had survived the basement crumbling. I tried to turn my head to look for Haseieus; that wasn't such a good idea.

"Don't move," the slizzard hissed into my ear. He spat when he talked. Yuck. Ignoring the warning I wiped the slizzard spit off my ear. Max was nowhere in sight and I still hadn't heard from Haseieus. I growled, a low guttural sound, and the slizzard's grip relaxed for half a second. That was all the time I needed to pry his hand off me and wrench it backwards so it's right behind his neck. And if you think that it didn't hurt; you're insane.

I looked once more for Haseieus and saw nothing. Max was also MIA. What was a girl to do when she's alone with her mortal enemy? The only thing she should do. Break them. I wretched his arm further back and heard an awful ripping sound, followed by the slizzard's scream. I let go and it fell to the ground writhing in pure agony. I shook my head. I was absolutely pissed. I shut my eyes and tried to find them. East. I opened my eyes and ran east. I sensed him. Haseieus. I couldn't sense Max, but I could sense him. I scowled into the darkness that was now rising. No point in trying to find something in the dark. But, as I had nothing with me and my arm was still bleeding from that stupid slizzard bite, I climbed a tree, so no wolverines would come in the night and attack.

In the morning I set out east again and I sensed the trail was stronger than last night. I heard a scream and turned to my right. I'd know that scream anywhere. It's Max. I ran toward the sound of her scream and found them both suspended. Haseieus from a tree and Max over a boiling pot of water. I growled quietly. Haseieus's head snapped in my direction. I knew he heard me. He had excellent hearing. Max screamed again. I jumped onto a nearby boulder and arced an arrow, aiming at the goblin that had his spear aimed at Max. I glared at the pot until it fell apart; splashing hot boiling veggie stew all over the vomit yellow goblins.

"Ew," Max whimpered. Uh, oh, her bonds were about to break. I zipped up there, grabbed her, and tore the rope that held her. I freed Haseieus; soon after we had our weapons at the ready.

"Surrender, or we take you off, one by one," I growled loudly. They came forward anyway although they had no weapons. The leader came forward. I knew it was the leader because he was wearing a leaf crown on his head. Why were goblins so stupid? Urgh! They tried talking to us in their native language but soon realized we understood none of it. The goblins had some teeth; I'll give them that. A few of them bit me. When all but one was dead, I decided to let it live with a warning. Like me, Max also had some cool abilities. She's super strong and fast. I could do absolutely anything with my mind. Haseieus and I both had super sensitive hearing. Whenever we tried to do something together, we all ended up with headaches. And when it came to working like that we were out for a while. I smiled and turn to face Haseieus and Max.

"Sorry I was late, I was just a bit tied up," I shuddered, remembering the slizzard's hand around my neck. "Want to go grab a smoothie?"

"Yeah," Haseieus said.

"Whatever," Max closed her eyes and shook her head, like getting a smoothie after getting hung over a boiling pot of stew was the last thing she wanted to do. It would be the only thing I'd want to do.

"Or, we could just go rest at home and order in?" I tried to make amends. Haseieus and Max shrugged. Well that just sucked. I grabbed their hands. "Let's go." I thought about home, I pictured it in my mind. Our battered brown couch. The mini fridge in the corner. Stocked full of our favorite drinks. And we were there. We were sitting on our couch. Just like I pictured it. My abilities were weird. But super useful.

"Anyone up for a drink?" Haseieus put on a funny face and held out a bottle of orange soda to both of us. We giggled and took them out of his hands. I smashed the bottle against his shoulder. "Hey!" he yelled. Max opened her bottle, took a swig, and dumped what was left on my head.

"I'll get you for that," I swore. "Hey Haseieus? Can you be a dear and grab the phone?" I dialed up the number of the pizza place. "Hello? Yes, this is she; can we have an extra-large cheese and pepperoni pizza? ''Kay thanks." I hung up and smiled at Max.

She looked at me and slowly started backing away. Haseieus grabbed her and pinned her to the chair she was backing into. I carefully looked through the weapons cabinet. Ah, the perfect thing. I picked up a grabbing claw; one of them plastic ones. Sometimes the best way to get rid of an enemy was to incapacitate them. I walked over to where Haseieus had Max pinned and I started with her stomach, pulling her shirt up so her belly button was exposed. Moving so the grappler was centered right over it, I slowly closed it. She giggled and squirmed as I tickled her. Here's a hint: don't underestimate the power of incapacitation. It's quite useful. I sighed as I hear someone walk up to the door and hesitate. Now, it's time to pull off the "my mother's not feeling well and she's lying in bed" trick. Trust me, that trick has worked so many times it's scary. I walked up to the door with $40.

"I apologize, but my mother is sick in bed and told me to give this to you. Keep the change," I smiled sweetly, and the delivery boy crumbled. I grabbed the pizzas before he dropped them on his way to the ground. Haseieus hauled the poor guy to his car. I opened the box and immediately threw a piece at Max. She caught it and bit off the tip. I smiled. Just then, I heard a knock at the door. I froze. I murmured, "Evasive maneuver eight dash seven." They heard and understood. Max dashed behind the hidden door across from the front one on the left side of the stairs. Haseieus clung to the ceiling above the doorframe. I crossed my arms having my hidden daggers on each side of my ribcage.

"Who's there?" I called out loud. There wasn't an answer, but a powerful energy field swept through the house. The source of it came from right outside the door. "Who's there?" I called out again, this time mentally.

"My name is Ezio."

"Why won't you talk aloud?" I asked the one who called himself Ezio.

"Much less convenient." I heard his real voice. I relented and opened the door. Ezio was tall with dark brownish hair and dark chocolate brown eyes with a honey golden tint to them. He seemed to have deformity with his chest. Maybe once side of his ribs was bigger than the other?

"Like what you see?" his voice was in my head once more. So, he'd seen me ogling. I wanted to see if he was doing the same. I investigated his mind. I saw a picture of myself in his thoughts. I looked hot damn gorgeous. I blinked back into the real world and saw him smiling at me.

"Gorgeous you are," Ezio said smiling like a rabid hyena.

"I know, but I'm also taken so, thanks for the compliment." I rolled my eyes at the troll.

"No, you aren't," he said quietly, slowly coming closer. "Put away those knives before you hurt yourself."

How did he know? I realized how painfully tight my hands were clenched around the dagger hilts. Never the less, I stuck it out until I knew who this man was, "So... Ezio is it?"

"Yes."

"How do you know me?"

"Oh, that's an easy one, try again."

"Ok, um, what are you doing here?"

"Too dull, and honey unless you can come up with a better question in the next few hours I'll be kicking these two out and holding you captive until you think of one." Then to Haseieus, "Bro, I mean you no harm, but I need to speak with Jadisenahne alone."

My name...he knew my name. How? I never told anyone my name. I usually just went by Jade. To know a name was to have power over the one who it belonged to. And I didn't like anyone having power over me. Haseieus looked at me, shocked. I shook my head, feeling weak and weary. Then everything got dark. When I passed out, I had a memory.

I held my head. What was this major headache? Ridiculous. The girl next to me stared uneasily, like she should've moved seats or something. I glared at her and took out my Tylenol bottle to pop two in with a drink of Dr. Pepper. Not helping. The boy sitting behind sneezed. Before I knew what was happening, I had a sword in my hand and its point at his throat. Where did I get the sword? It wasn't mine! I slowly put the sword in the sheath that appeared at my left side. I sat back down. The man in the front of the room, behind the podium on the stage was saying something about mental cases. The girl next to me muttered, "I think we have one right here." That's it. I stood up and grabbed her wrist. She looked at me like she was scared. Wow. I dragged her out of the auditorium.

"What is your problem?" I demanded angrily.

"Oh, you mean right now? My problem is you. You're not everything you think you are!" the girl shouted. I remembered her name was Dominique. She thought that her name was beautiful. I thought it belonged in a sewer. My dad walked out into the hallway from the teacher's lounge.

"What's going on out here?" he asked as sternly as possible as he buttoned his jacket without looking. I busted out laughing. My dad was 6 foot one but he wore flats in hope that he'd look shorter. He was also wearing a salmon colored shirt. His dark brown hair unruly.

"Hey, Dad." I said, wincing. I hated making him mad.

" She threatened me and this other boy with her sword!" Dominique said loudly.

"Sword?" Dad asked. I reached to pull the sword out and found that it wasn't there. Neither was the sheath. What the heck? My dad shook his head and put his hand on her back, ushering her into the principal's office. Yes! Dad came back, looking grim. His pointy nose wrinkled like he smelled something nasty.

"Honey..." he started. "We have to get you home now; your mother will explain things as soon as we get there. Okay?"

I nodded mutely, wondering what the heck he was talking about. He continued to look grim as he got his keys and his coat. Shouldn't I have asked him what was wrong? I thought not because the less I knew the better. Dad looked me in the eye and motioned for me to follow. So, I did.

"Dad, will you please start explaining?" I asked curiously. I couldn't help it.

"Sorry, dear. I'd better let your mother do it. Well, after you've explain what exactly happened."

So, I explained exactly what happened down to the point where my headache started. He looked at me in the rearview mirror. Dad's eyes were dark. Mom was waiting outside the house when we got home. I raised one of my eyebrows questionably. She looked dark as well. I got out of the car and marched over to my mother.

"Ok, explain. Now." I crossed my arms over my chest. Thunder cracked overhead.

"Oh, dear. We'd best get inside." Mom ushered Dad and I into the house. I sat on the cozy chair in the corner.

"Explain." I said, partially growling.

"Ok, um, honey will you do it?" Dad asked.

"Yes, I suppose. Jade, you know how you were born under 'special' circumstances? Well the truth is you basically just appeared into the doctor's arms. Yes, you did come out of me but not directly. You developed over nine months like most babies. But when you were inside of me strange things happened. Food appeared whenever you were hungry. Whenever you didn't like someone touching me or something I ate or something I did you kicked extremely hard. We didn't know what was wrong until a few months after you were born. You floated out of your crib often. When you slept it'd be as if we had an awake two-year-old running around laughing. You always got what you wanted even if we didn't give it to you," Mom said.

My mouth hung open. Wow. "So... I have...powers?"

"Yes."

The answer was so short. So simple. So why couldn't I grasp it? "How?"

"We don't know." Mom said.

"Well...How do they work?" I asked.

They looked at each other uneasily, "We don't know that either. Why don't you try doing something on command?"

I shrugged and focused on my Dad, wondering what he would look like as a pug dog. I'd always liked pugs. I kind of willed it to happen and suddenly there was a pug dog sitting next to my mom.

"Cool!" I grinned from ear to ear. Mom looked as if she was about to faint and Dad even pouted. He's looked like a dog would if it wanted a bone. Consequently, a bone appeared in front of him. Dad the pug dog cheered up. Mom looked at me with an amused twinkle in her eyes.

"You did that when you were five years old you know." She said. I laughed. "You were whining that you were bored and there was a pug dog at this one birthday you were invited to. The next week there was a pug dog running around and you father was nowhere to be found."

"Mom..."I said before passing out on the back of the chair. I shook myself awake. Mom fanned a handkerchief in my face. Dad was lying across my stomach, still in pug form. I thought him back to normal. If you didn't think that was a weird sentence, read it again. I sat up. Dad brushed his jacket off. I smiled slightly.

"Perhaps you shouldn't have tried something so big at first, but you do have to exercise your powers. You know, that right?" Mom said smiling. I nodded and laughed a little bit. Dad scowled at Mom.

"You shouldn't have let her do that," he said. Mom giggled.

"Yes, I'll be sure to punish our all-powerful daughter next time she turns you into a pug dog," Mom said without a straight face. I laugh. Dad glared at both of us.

"I'm an innocent victim of my daughter's antics!" Dad pretended.

"Innocent the toaster!" Mom said. Which made no sense whatsoever but hey, my parents were weird like that.

"Stop arguing or I'll turn you into a toaster, Dad." I giggled. His face turned pale as he shook his head, hard.

"Hmmm, we could use a new toaster, what do you say Jade?" Mom asked.

"Yeah, okay." I looked at a blank patch on the floor and pictured an elaborate, fancy toaster. It appeared in the blink of an eye.

"Didn't need one so elaborate but thank you dear," Mom said gratefully as she, Dad, and the house faded into darkness.

I snapped awake. What in Hades was that? I'm warm, too warm. I sat up and looked at my surroundings. I'm in my bedroom. The lights are dimmed. And I'm not alone in my bed. Immediately freaking out, I zipped into the adjacent bathroom and slammed the door shut. I locked it. I looked in the mirror to see my cheeks were flushed. I was wearing my blue lacy nightgown. How did this happen? Last I checked, I was wearing my jeans and black tee shirt. I needed to calm down a little. My mind was all fuzzy.

"Are you okay in there, baby girl?" I heard a male voice call from outside the bathroom.

"Who....who's there?"

"I'm coming in," and with a click he opened the locked door. He seemed to scan my appearance and think it wasn't a healthy one. He walked over to me and gently took my face in his hands. His touch... so familiar...

"Who are you?"

"Baby, it's me. It's your Wolfy..."

I shook my head furiously causing him to lose his grip. "I don't know what's going on. Where's Haseieus? I need to talk to him."

"You can't talk to him right now," Ezio said. I growled and stepped away from him. His face hardened. "Look, it's not like I can help circumstances. You were a little busy with a Troll Demon when your mother wanted to introduce me to you." I blinked, now uneasy as I kept my distance. I felt light-headed and then his arms were around me. Pinky...

It started when I was out doing my usual thing, hunting wildlife and other beasts I happened to cross. I flew into Trolland on my glider. I landed on cliff edge, deactivated my glider and slid it into my pack. Pulling my sword, I targeted the largest of all the trolls and prepared to pounce. It wasn't much of a fight, the troll died in three swift strokes of my sword. And that's when I saw him. Pinky was working on a machine that seemed to breed trolls. I smiled like the warrior I was and waited for him to be alone.

About five hours after I first saw him, he finally was alone. I hopped off my cliff edge and sheathing my sword I snuck up on him; when he turned away from his demonic device he glared at me like I was something sent straight from his personal hell. I just stood there smiling like the devil. I thought he was something different than the other humans I've seen, and it was proved when he spoke to me in Hungarian. When I stared at him like he was the weirdest person on Earth he repeated what he said before, but this time in English:

"Who are you, and why do you think you can just come in here and kill my trolls?" he asked angrily.

I tried speaking to him in Elvish, but he just got madder. I rolled my eyes and spoke in 'the common tongue'.

"Well, I'm sorry but I did not realize this territory was claimed. And to answer your question, I can kill whatever I like, for any who contradict me can just write their wills," I replied with a snort. He got so flustered about that I just had to laugh. He muttered something in Hungarian, which sounded like curses, so I strung a few of my own curses at him; I pulled my sword. Pinky glowered and pulled his weapon, it looked like a scythe, and pointed it at me. I pulled my sword in response.

"Leave now," he commanded.

"I leave on my own free time," I sniffed the air as it filled with his pungent odor, "What are you anyway?"

He smiled at me. Pinky's form vibrated, and in his place stood a demon. "What do you think, stupid elf?"

I growled at him in an inhuman way. Pinky growled back. Two trolls came to his flanks; more surrounded us. I was trapped, and that's how I like it. I stood up out of my defensive crouch and sheathed my sword. He seemed puzzled, so I bowed. "My name is Isena Star, Elf princess of the third realm. I do a little fighting," I told him.

"Well, my name is Daemon Wergy, Demon prince of the underworld," he put away his scythe and I smiled, "I, too, do a little fighting."

I grinned even wider. He was about four feet tall with blond hair, and brown eyes. "Could you turn back into your human form?" I asked him. He nods and complies as I asked.

"So, what are you doing' here in Trolland?" Pinky asked me.

"Anything I like," I started to answer, "Well, actually I'm only exploring everything I can. And I just happened to see you and got curious."

"Anything in particular?

"No, I'll be on my way in a minute," I turned away. He put a hand on my shoulder and I grit my teeth.

"Do you mind if I come with you?" Pinky asked quietly. I turned to him, stunned.

"I guess but get your filthy hand off my shoulder," I say through grit teeth. He releases me. I reached into my pack and pulled out my glider. I activated it and stepped on. "You coming?"

He hesitated. "I-I guess so," he stutters. I rolled my eyes and pulled him up by his ears. "Ow!" he cried. We flew over the remnants of Trolland. Whizzing by tree stumps, and trolls as big as small mountains. I looked down on him once to see if he hadn't fallen off yet, Pinky was clutching the glider for dear life. I stopped the glider in midair. We were over 500,000 feet in the air.

"You don't have to do that you know," I told him. He just glared at me. "Unless you'd like me to go full speed. . .?" I didn't finish knowing he'd go as pale as a sheet. And I was right. I hit the gas gently and the glider jerked forward, and we sped on. I looked down over the edge of the glider and saw a forest. "There's our destination," I proclaimed.

"A forest?"

"You got a problem with that?" I asked severely.

Pinky shook his head. I landed us on a nice cliff edge. He was off before I was even four feet off the ground. I deactivated my glider and slipped into my pack. I put my right hand on his back between his shoulder blades. "It's ok, you get used to it after a few rides," I said. With my left hand I took my sword out and jumped off the cliff taking my hand off Pinky's back. I landed on a bush. A hydra looked my way but didn't see me. I heard Pinky land behind me, "What the blazes are you doing?" he asked me in a hushed whisper.

"What I do best," I answered a bit smugly, "Got your scythe with you?"

He nodded and pulled his scythe out. I closed my eyes and whistled long and low. The hydra heads turned toward us. I jumped out from behind the bush, sword raised. I jumped onto the middle head and almost got singed.

"Yee-Haw!" I yelled.

"You're crazy!" I heard Pinky yell. I stuck my sword into the hydra head and right through the skull. It shrieked in pain and blood spurted out and all over me. I jumped onto the next of four remaining heads. I got bucked off and thrown into the air. I land on a high tree branch and smile for all I'm worth.

"Pinky you really gotta try this!" I yelled down at him. I jumped back onto the head I got bucked off. I stuck my sword through the hydra's skin and slid down the back of the neck. Slicing the whole thing open and got attacked by the last three heads. I growl. My sword got lost somewhere in the hydra's stomach. I screamed. "A little help?" I practically screeched. I felt teeth in my torso and was no longer awake.

Waking to a bright light in my face can really put a person on edge. I sat bolt upright. "Calm down, will you? It's just me!" I heard Pinky cry out.

"Pinky?"

"Yes, don't freak out."

I smiled. "What happened? Where are we?"

"The hospital wing," he said.

"Do I know this place?" I looked around at the familiar surroundings.

"You should," said a voice from the doorway. Mother.

"What are you doing here Mom?" I asked her.

"Is that anyway to talk to your mother?"

"Shut up Mom I don't wanna hear it." I said with my arm over my eyes.

"This is all your fault!" I heard her shout.

"Don't pin this on me! It was her idea!" Pinky defending himself; oh boy.

"Leave him alone." I groaned, muttering a few Elvish cuss words after it.

"Honey don't stress yourself," my mother cooed, "He deserved to be punished for he's allowed to happen to you."

"For the last time it wasn't my fault! I had just met her and now you're blaming me for her injuries, oh boy what's next?" Pinky complained.

"Mother, for the last time: LAY OFF!" I all but screamed at her.

She left after that. I looked at Pinky, "So? What happened? And how'd I end up here?" I questioned him.

"You were fighting that monster with the five heads and after you killed the first two the rest of them attacked you, you didn't have your sword, I-I reacted instinctively. How do you do that? Just make someone love you? The middle of the three bit into you and I had thought you were gone. I didn't know what to do. I saw a place nearby and I... I just..." he blubbered on. I held my hand up.

"I understand, just calm down, will you?" I said.

He nodded, his mouth too dry to say any more. I tried to sit up. White-hot pain shot up my nerves. I winced. A look of worry from Pinky. I gave him a reassuring smile. I felt around my abdomen, looking for tender spots. Yep, I could feel the holes. I looked up at Pinky's face and started taking all the needles IVs and whatever out of my arms.

"I'm going hunting wanna come?" I asked Pinky.

He looked at me like I was insane. "You bet, but uh, won't your mom be really peeved when she sees that bed empty?" he said. I shrugged.

"Who cares?" I challenged.

"You're not going," I heard my dictator of a mother say.

"I can do what I want," I said, "Like this." I did a back flip out the five-story window.

"Kinny!" Pinky cries.

I land on the ground on my feet. That was fun, but painful. My torso is killing me, but I'm ignoring it. I started walking into the forest, when I heard a pair of running feet behind me. I turned on my heel and growled. There stood Pinky, scythe drawn, and bracing himself for a fight.

"You can't stop me," I told him.

"Yes, I can," he spoke quietly.

I snorted.

Not even my mother's most powerful guard could take me, but I was injured so I didn't argue. "I'm not going back there, you can't make me."

"Kinny, I'm not going to force you to do anything. Your mother told me to follow you, and as I don't fancy going home to mine..." he said.

I stared at him, and then I just nodded. Using my left hand, I pull my spare sword. I reached into my pack with my right hand and pull out the glider. "You wanna fly somewhere or do you just want to stay in this area?" I asked Pinky.

"Fly somewhere, please," he begged. I nodded and activated the glider.

"Where to?" I asked, "Because I'm in the mood to go kill that hydra who did this," I motion to my bandaged torso, "And I'm going to take its heart."

We flew on to where we saw the hydra. I deactivated the glider and hopped into a tree. I saw Pinky scurry behind a bush with scythe at the ready, as I was holding my sword. There it was, the hydra with three heads. I killed two of them.

Pinky made the first move; he sent shadows, out of his scythe, at the heads. I jumped onto the middle head and held on tight. Let me just tell you, fighting a hydra is better than it sounds. I eventually got tired of playing with my head and stabbed it. I jumped onto the last one, Pinky was also attempting to kill it. "Don't cut the head off!" I yelled down at him, "Just kill it!"

I cut the heart out of the dead beast. And I burnt it. The fire glowed purple then went out. I looked up at Pinky with a very calm expression, "That was fun. What's next?" Truth be told I'm a little dizzy.

"Kinny..." he started. I didn't hear the rest, because I was taking a long dirt nap.

I had a dream. An odd dream it was, but a dream nonetheless. Pinky was there, that was new; and we were in a large thing of woods. I narrowed my eyes and strung out a lot of Elvish curses.

"Why are you here?" I spat.

"I'm not here of my free will trust me," he retorted. I rolled my eyes and stalked off into the woods. Undoubtedly, I ran into him in another clearing. I looked away towards a hole in the ground. A white witch came flowing out.

"Who's she?" I asked Pinky suspiciously.

"Beats me, but she's pretty," he started walking towards her.

"Pinky!" I hiss and arc an arrow.

He turns to me. "Everything's OK, Kinny."

The witch's pale face turns upward in I think is supposed to be smile. Oh, dear. She really is a witch. The white witch turns to me and snarls in a form of Elvish I try to avoid, "I will enjoy devouring his soul. The soul of your brother."

"No!" I shouted. What the heck was she talking about? My only brother was a pain in the butt. I shot the arrow and it zipped right through her. That's it. (I had a bad temper mental issue.) I rushed forward and yanked Pinky back by his shoulders. He turned to me and I gasped. His eyes were pitch black. Pinky flung me back into a tree. I couldn't help but cry out. It didn't stop me from pulling my sword though. I closed my eyes and tried to think of a spell that would revert him back to normal. A quick shove to the ribs told me that making him normal was going to take a whole lot of effort. I pried him off and threw him back so hard it rendered him unconscious. The witch snarled at me. I smiled. Time to end this. My mind found the right spell and my mouth muttered it. Pinky's natural eye color came back, and I could see his pain. It nearly ripped my heart out. I looked at the witch, she glared at me so hard it was funny. Time to wake up. I took out my knife and walked over to Pinky. I grabbed his arm, slit his wrist, and he disappeared. I did the same on my arm and woke up with a crescent moon shape on my wrist. I glanced over at Pinky who was cradling his arm.

"Baby," I said under my breath; he glared at me and I smiled. He stumbled toward me and I caught him before he fell flat on his face. Patching up his arm I said, "You know for the risks you've taken, and you being a demon and all, I thought you were tougher than the average two-year-old."

"Yeah, well, life isn't a picnic for everyone," he tried to defend himself. I rolled my eyes. Silence.

Grr. That boy. I turned. "Hello, slizzard, I didn't see you there," I said in mock calm; I was really reaching for my sword which, unfortunately, was behind me on the ground.

"Ssssso nissse to ssssssee you again Jade," the slizzard hissed at me as it pulled its weapon out. I growled. I looked over at Pinky; he was staring at me with real horror washed over his face. I tilted my head and regretted it. I lunged for the slizzard and nearly tackled Pinky in the process. Slizzard fell under my weight and I felt his claws dig into my skin. I couldn't stand it. I strangled the slizzard until I knew it was dead.

"K-K-Kinny?" I heard Pinky stammer. I turned to him and my hand was almost at his throat before I regained control of my body. I had been about to kill him. I didn't wait, I ran to my sword, sheathed it, and took off running out into the forest, I was very fast, but so was he. Pinky caught up easily. I had lost control of my reflexes a lot and it's hard for me to regain it. I was over a few states before I finally calmed down. Pinky kept up the entire time. It was unnerving. I turned to him hoping my eyes had return to normal.

"Pinky," I began. "Up for a little challenge?" He looked at me with mock horror then snickered.

"Of course, I'm with you, aren't I?"

I laughed, "C'mon then," I activated my glider. Pinky hopped on immediately. We flew until we reached the one elf kingdom I knew would give Pinky a quest to prove himself. I deactivated the flying contraption and walked through the big gates. Bad idea. About twenty or so guards pointed their spears at us. I was smiling the whole time, knowing they wouldn't really hurt us. "Now, now," I chided them. "You wouldn't want the elders to know you harmed a princess?" Having a queen for a mother was handy in situations like this.

One guard stepped forward, "Name?" it asked.

"Jade Muccuff daughter of-" I got interrupted. Oh, how I hated when people did that!

"We know who you are, milady," the guard said. I almost growled. Pinky did growl though, that got him several unnecessary glares. I giggled. It was hardly a treat when I got someone to glare at Pinky.

"This way," the guard pointed out the way. I glanced at Pinky and he looked kinda keyed up. His eyes were looking around frantically. Hairline matted with sweat, hardly material for going on any quest. I walked in the direction the guard pointed, but when he wasn't looking I turned back to Pinky and gave him a reason to be afraid.

"Pinky if you don't calm down the elders will never give a quest," I told him.

"I am calm!"

I rolled my eyes, boys can be so cryptic sometimes. And for any of you boys out there who strongly disagree I suggest you ask a close friend or relative. I'm sure they would agree. Pinky glared at me. I swear he looks like a real demon when he does that. It's funny. I saw the elders up ahead and sped up, standing on my tip-toes to whisper into the middle one's ear.

"Could you give my friend Troll Master here a quest to prove himself?" I asked. The elder nodded. Pinky looked at me. I smiled and said nothing. I walked over to him and led him to the armory while the elders conferred.

"What was all that about?" Pinky asked while we were looking at some spears.

"You won't be able to use your scythe for a little while," was my reply.

I heard a growl and looked over at Pinky who was staring at the door. I held a finger up to my lips and crept up to the door. When I opened it, I saw something unexpected; another demon. I pulled my sword out in a nanosecond and had it at the demon's throat. The demon put his hands up in surrender and looked at Pinky.

He mumbled something that sounded like, "Go away." Only I heard it clear as day. As did the demon it seemed. The demon at the doorway put his index finger on the tip of my sword and pushed it down.

"You wouldn't really hurt your own kindred, would you?" it asked.

I stared dumbfounded and Pinky growled, "You bet she would."

That made me mad. No one, and I repeat no one, insinuated something of me when I'd barely just met them. Yet I trusted Pinky's judgment, so I just growled. Pinky sighed and told me to put my sword away; I complied and went to stand in front of the throwing daggers. Pinky and the other, spindlier demon talked for a while in Hungarian. I took two throwing daggers and hid them behind my back. No way was I going anywhere with him now.

Pinky turned to me, "This is my brother Damon, he told me our mother sent him from the underworld to 'check' on me." I glared at him frostily until he looked away. Then I turned my gaze to the other demon, Damon. I started saying an old elvish curse, but Pinky put his hand over my mouth. I growled, and he let go. I didn't resume the curse, I couldn't, once a curse in started, the person who said it either must finish it or send the unfinished curse at the person that is going to be cursed by the curser. I chose to send the unfinished curse at Damon, who immediately dropped to the floor screaming. Pinky snapped for me to stop and I replied that I couldn't.

"Why?"

"Because I can't leave an unfinished curse laying around, besides it's already starting to fade," and in fact it was. "You have five seconds to explain how you never told me you had a brother. "

So, he explained it A to Y. I could tell there was something he was holding back, but no matter how hard I badgered him about it, he said it was nothing important.

"Morph," I commanded. And he did. I compared him to Damon; let me tell you, there wasn't much difference. Both spindly, Pinky had like little horns right above his ear. Damon had no horns, but he did have like itsy bitsy circle ears. I set the knives down. "Okay that's just strange, dude."

"Not really," Pinky's ears turned red. "Can I have my clothes back?"

I looked him over then down at my arms. "Oops." I tossed him his clothes back.

That Damon dude growled at me and I smiled. "I could have kept them and sold them at market. Or I could have made him take yours. Now which would have preferred I do?"

"Neither."

"That wasn't one of the options," I smirked. The corners of my vision went fuzzy.

I once more snapped awake at home in my own bed. Ezio was there, and he's fanning my face with something that smelled funny. Not having the strength to push him away, I just sat up. My throat was dry, but I managed to ask him, "Who are you?" He'd better not lie. I'd know if he does.

"My real name is Marcel." He said. That rang a bell. I peered at him then smiled. So, he had found me after all. I wrapped my arms around his neck, feeling everything inside of me click into place. He hugged me close to him and pulled me onto his lap. "Well, hi there!" He laughed.

"Now that wasn't quite fair, mister!" I scolded. "You gave me a heart attack!"

Marcel's indignant expression had me giggling before he started talking, "How was I supposed to know that witch wiped your memory of me?"

"What else could have happened?" I asked right as he kissed me, pressing me up against his torso. I pulled away, "Okay, okay! I missed you too!"

There was a knock on the door downstairs. Who could that have been? I went to change into more appropriate clothing while Marcel went downstairs to check. Not even five minutes later Max was in my room and Haseieus stood in the doorway. He took in my flushed cheeks and chuckled, shaking his head slightly.

"You need to come back home," Max said. "Jance and Iridite are driving Mom up the wall."

I raised an eyebrow, "What makes you think they'll listen to me?"

"They always have," she replied.