Poppy was gracefully walking through the halls of the academy, her first day here was going to be tomorrow.
A handheld note was folded up inside of her soft glove.
She padded the leather to make sure that the paper had not fallen out.
'A boy named Chase...'
She thought curiously.
Poppy had never killed someone before, even though she was raised in order to act as the private assassin of The House of Aries.
She had never met her real father, but her mother had promised to tell her about him when she returned with the head of this "Stray" boy.
Directly in front of her, a boy with muddied brown hair and an oversized hoodie was leaning against one of the walls.
It looked like he was waiting for someone.
She stopped at looked at him for a moment.
He seemed nervous, and extremely out of place inside of the grand halls of such a prestigious academy.
Poppy had originally wanted to attend Orion Academy with all of her sisters, but her mother made it clear that she was never going to be on the same level as them.
Then again, she was quite happy that she had gotten a chance to be a normal girl for once.
The marble pillars stood like giants, and the pretty mosaics that had been carved into the floors looked as if they had been created after scenes that had taken place within these very halls.
When she finally looked up, the boy was gone.
She frantically looked all over for the pale malnourished boy.
Poppy had checked all of the hallways, ventured into the darkest branches of the grand school, and even studied every single one of the magical staircases.
It had gotten quite late when she had finally spotted him once again.
She found it strange how angry he looked.
In fact, she actually felt bad.
Part of her wanted to go up to him and ask him what was wrong; however, that was quite cruel considering that he was going to die in only a few moments.
She followed him up the stairs, trying her best to remain quiet.
Then after the boy cursed about some giant snake, she realized that she did not want to kill him.
It was strange, as if it should have been obvious to her that she was going to make that decision.
She turned around, and began walking down the stairs.
A tear dropped from her eye.
Then a pained groan echoed through the halls behind her.
She quickly turned, only to see that her worst fears had come true.
The Queen had left her palace.
And the boy named Chase was kneeling, as he tried to scream in pain but the woman's hand had covered his mouth swiftly muffling any noises he tried to make.
Her mother had pierced the back of his knee with one of her many collectable daggers.
This one had a topaz gemstone in it's pommel.
It looked as if the blade had been cut from fire itself.
"Where are you going...?"
Her mother asked her, nothing but disappointment was revealed within her tone.
Poppy tried to speak, but no words came out.
It was like the words had evaporated from a heat that wasn't there.
She stumbled forward, realizing just how much she hated the sight of blood as a pool of it had built up below the boy.
"I'm sorry..."
Was the only thing that she could make herself say, but she wasn't looking at her mother when she had said it.
She was looking into the beautiful emerald eyes of the pained boy.
Even though it was not her who had tore through his flesh with a dagger, she still felt the strange instinct that she needed to apologize for something.
"Come on Poppy, you can make the pain go away... Summon the spear!"
Her mother demanded.
Poppy stepped forward slowly.
White light caused everyone to look away from her right hand, for only a moment.
An Ivory spear rested within her grip as she got closer to the boy.
"You can be one of us... If you just kill the boy... Show me you are as strong as your sisters."
Her mother said slowly, with an unfamiliar smile on her lips.
Poppy raised the spear, feeling as if she was not in control of her own body.
The tip of the diamond-shaped blade rested only inches from the boy's throat.
All she had to do in order to gain acceptance from her own mother, was pierce the throat of this boy that she did not know.
The blade trembled, and the boy had gone strangely quiet.
His eyes said it all, it was as if he was silently telling her that it was okay.
She felt wrong, as if this was not at all how it was supposed to go.
A powerful surge filled her body, and for a moment she thought that it was going to cause her to rip the blade into the boy's neck.
Then steeling her nerve, she looked up into her mothers eyes.
Everything was silent.
Her heart was racing.
She could feel pains in her abdomen, and even her soul was aching from an unknown pain.
Her bones trembled, and her hands shook.
Then she shut her eyes for a moment.
When she opened them, she finally spoke.
.
.
.
"I- I ca- I won't do it."
She said, with a vein popping in her forehead.
The entire room quaked, and the boy began to fade to dust.
She then drove the spear into her own mother's eye.