Timeless Winds - Chapter Thirteen

Aisuru slipped out of the room that Doctor Darrow had offered he and I and made his way down the hall, keeping to the shadows so that nobody could see him. He explored the place but didn’t make it too far before the little girl from before, Emily, appeared before him, her weirdly glowing eyes finding him immediately. “What are you doing?” She asked curiously.

Aisuru stepped out of the shadows, towards her. “I’m making sure whoever it was that burned down your house won’t try to come back.” He replied honestly. “What about you, what are you doing? Why are you still awake?”

“I don’t sleep.” She replied. “Are you a demon?”

“I don’t sleep either. And, no, I’m not a demon. I’m just different than most people. What about you, are you a demon?” Aisuru replied, motioning towards her eyes.

“What is different?” Emily questioned.

“Unique; not the same as the others; different is like comparing a fruit to a vegetable. It’s like humans, demons and angels – all are different from one another.” He explained.

“No, how are you different?” She demanded in annoyance.

“Because I can do things that normal people can’t. For example…” He started and faded from view before reappearing. “I can also move faster than most people.”

“What about your friend? Is she different too? And what are you carrying?” Emily asked, bombarding him with questions.

Aisuru eyed the girl suspiciously. “Let’s talk about you. Why are you asking so many questions?”

“I like questions.” She harrumphed testily. “I know you’re not human and your friend’s not human and you’re carrying something that smelled funny.” Emily explained.

“Some of the food we had with us probably spoiled or had a scent that you’re not used to smelling.” Aisuru explained realistically.

“I know when people lie. You carried something that smelled like rotten eggs and silver.”

“You really are a curious child, indeed.” He observed, crouching down in front of the eight year old. “Why should it matter? What we carry had nothing to do with anything, aside from the fact that we choose to carry it.” He said.

“I want to know why I can feel something from what you’re carrying.” She replied and pursed her lips. “Your friend is weird… She feels like fire; bright and warm. I want to know why.”

“Well, she was just in a burning house.” He joked lightly, noting her ‘bright and warm’ remark. “Why is it you say that she’s weird?”

“She feels like fire, acts like it. Dangerous but warm… She glows, too.”

“Perhaps it’s her personality.” He proposed.

Emily studied him for a moment in silence. “Why do you wear a mask?”

“I wear it to protect those I care about. If I didn’t, people around me would…never talk to me again.” He said, mostly honestly.

“If people care about you, they won’t care what you look like.” She said, wisdom making her eyes sparkle in the moonlight.

“Aye, that is true. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with me, really.” He paused, thinking how to explain it. “Let’s just say that a similar thing will happen to them if my friend and I hadn’t gotten there to help you.” He said carefully.

Emily nodded silently and stayed that way for a few seconds before looking back up. “What was it that smelled like rotten eggs and silver?” She asked.

“To be honest, we’re trying to figure it out ourselves. While we’re doing that, though, we’re gathering party supplies for a party with our friends.” He explained.

Emily watched the assassin uncertainly, not liking how he kept mentioning a party. She looked towards where he’d approached from. “Where is your friend?” She asked.

“She’s sleeping. Why do you ask?”

“I want to see her.” She replied, giving him a look as if it were the most obvious reason in the world.

“Why do you want to see her?” He asked, confused.

“I want to see her glowing again.” Emily replied without a second of hesitation.

Aisuru thought for a moment before shrugging and turning back towards their room. He led the little girl there and stepped inside, kicking Aidan’s box under the bed so that Emily didn’t see it.

Emily eyed him oddly before stepping into the room, moving over to the bed and gazing at me, watching in silence before cocking her head. “That’s weird…” She said softly.

“What’s weird?” Aisuru asked.

Emily shook her head. “Her glow is smoky… They’re normally solid. And it’s reddish-silver, warm too. It’s weird…”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“I don’t think so.” She responded and reached out, gently touching her finger to my cheek. When she did, light erupted from where she touched and I immediately awoke, sitting up far too quickly and gasping when my shoulders tried to buckle. I was glowing with, as Emily had said, a smoke reddish-silver light. Emily, in turn, shone with a fairly solid yellow glow that quickly darkened into a yellowish green shade.

Aisuru blinked and looked between us. “Emily, what’s going on here?” He questioned.

“Can you see the colors now?” Emily asked, surprised herself.

Aisuru and I both nodded. “Aye, we can.” He said.

“Everybody has an aura that, usually, is a basic color, depending on their personality and emotion. The darker your color, the more ‘bad’ you are. The color can shift between hues depending on your emotion as well. But I’ve never seen a smoky aura.” Emily explained, studying me but not quite looking at me. The colors slowly blinked out and neither Aisuru nor I could see them.

The doorway suddenly opened and Mary appeared, her eyes immediately finding her young daughter. She hurried forward and gripped her daughters arm, towing her towards the door. “I am so sorry if she troubled you two in any way.” She apologized.

“It was no trouble.” Aisuru tried to say, but they were already gone. There was a long moment of silence before he turned towards me. “Well, what do you think of that?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure I feel weirder than I did before.” I replied and fell back against the pillows. “I also think that Emily is more unique than we ever would’ve guessed. Why did you let her in here?” I asked curiously.

“Curiosity,” He replied simply, sitting down in the chair across from her. “She found me in the hall and started spouting questions like there was no tomorrow. Though, she caught my attention when she said something about your aura and wanted to see it again. I wanted to see what would happen, so I let her in. Though, I never would’ve guessed that we’d see it too.”

I nodded and scrubbed a hand down my still-sooty face. “Judging by her reaction, I don’t think she expected that either.” I said before absently rubbing my shoulder. “Dare I ask what time it is?”

“It’s only been an hour or two after you feel asleep. I’d say it’s around midnight.” He said.

“Good, that means I can sleep some more.” I said and closed my eyes again, turning onto my good side before hugging a pillow. It didn’t take too long before I was sound asleep again. Aisuru, not wanting to cause any more trouble, elected to stay in the room for the rest of the night.




It was around seven o’clock in the morning when a knock sounded at the door, echoing a moment before swinging open. A young woman dressed in a maid’s uniform entered the room and smiled warmly in Aisuru’s direction. “Good morning, sir. My name is Sophia. I had not expected you to be awake after the ordeal you and the others went through.” She stated.

“After such an ordeal, it was difficult to fall asleep.” He said easily, standing up and stretching. “Good morning to you, as well; is it time for breakfast?” He asked.

“Oh, not quite yet, I am afraid. Dr. Darrow asked me to offer you both showers if you wanted one. I could always start a hot bath for you.” She offered. Her smile was as warm as before.

Aisuru thought quietly for a moment before deciding. “She probably won’t want to feel or smell like soot for the next several days. Please, I think she’ll want a shower.”

Sophia nodded and left the room just as I stirred from my sleep, opening my eyes and turning to look up at Aisuru. “Morning,” I breathed sleepily, my voice slurred with sleep.

“A hot bath is being drawn for you, dear hero-in-soot.” Aisuru teased, though his voice was soothing. “It’ll be ready in a minute or two.”

I chuckled softly and sighed, sitting up painfully. “Washing up is going to be a pain with these stitches.” I said, hoping there would be some rags in the bathroom. I reached back and took my hair down from its braid. When I did, I tried to stretch but instantly gasped and quickly dropped my arms, the movement pulling my skin painfully. “This…is going to be a problem.” I observed.

“If you’d like, I could-” He stopped, blinking, then shook his head, as if realizing where it was that sentence was going. My face reddened, knowing where he was going as well. “I could get the maid to help.”

My cheeks were still a wonderful shade of pink as I responded. “I-I’ve got it.” I said softly, really thankful when Sophia returned to the room and I could turn my flushed cheeks towards her instead of the assassin.