Lonely Angel: Chapter One- Part Two

As she walked away from him and exited the stables, she reflected on the strange boy- for he was still a boy, although he was certainly tall enough to be a man. He was perhaps two years older than her. She thought on the last few hours, and thought back on the huge change her life had taken. Meandering slowly back to the house, she remembered his eyes. They had been a green that was nearly brown, a very light hazel. Funny, her mother had once told her that her eyes were a light brown, nearly hazel. Were all these similarities simply in her mind?

“Sytheia!” Her musings were interrupted by the loud call that issued forth from the lungs of her eleven-year-old brother. Somehow he managed to catch her at her most private thoughts, when she most needed solitude. True, she enjoyed a good company, but her brother was overwhelming in his need for attention.

“What is it now?” She asked, irritated, as he ran up to her. If he lost some of that pudginess, he might not be so out of breath…

“Sytheia- a strange man is coming up the front walk, and Mam said to fetch you!”

“Calm down, I’m coming.” What strange man? He couldn’t mean the one she had in the stables. What other strange men would she meet today?

“I wonder who it is!” The remark didn’t seem to require a response, so Sytheia pushed her annoyance towards the back of her mind and walked on silently.

“Sytheia, who do you think it might be? Sytheia?”

They had walked all the way around the side of the cottage and stopped short when she arrived at the vine-covered trellis which hung over the path leading to the front door. The man who imposed there was indeed strange; for from the top of his pointed hat all the way down to the boots resting on the cobblestones he was dressed in a deep purple. His cap was cocked in a perfect upside-down V on his gossamer hair, his veins visible in his translucent skin, which stretched tightly over the angular bones of his face. The man had an overall effect of being ethereal. Nearby, Mam fidgeted, most likely fretting over the appearance of cleanliness of her cottage in front of a stranger. Mam didn’t like unprecedented guests; they didn’t give her a chance to clean the cottage to gleaming perfection before their arrival.

The man’s eyes swept over Sytheia coldly. Sytheia noted with a shock that his eyes were silver as the winter frost. His whole demeanor indicated winter. She decided not to stand too close to him for fear of freezing.

“You are Sytheia?” His peculiar eyes narrowed.

“Yes, I am. May I help you?” she said with only a hint of sarcasm.

“I was sent here on account of recent suspicions of a Hybrid residing here.”

Sytheia felt herself growing pale. How had the Guild discovered it already? Just barely had she left the stable. She chanced a glance at Mam, whose eyes were wide. But why would Mam be frightened? Normally, if someone said something as ridiculous as a statement that was just said, Mam would simply laugh and deny it flatly. It wasn’t as if she knew about the boy. Perhaps if she played dumb…

“What do you mean?” Sytheia fought to keep her voice steady.

“Do you not know what a Hybrid is?” There were miniscule wrinkles in the corners of his eyes, as if he’d used to laugh. But Sytheia could not imagine the middle-aged man standing in front of her now ever in a good humor.

“Of course I do!” She replied, indignant. He ignored her outburst and went on speaking.

“Let me enlighten you: We the Guild have had a recent discovery, a discovery which has led us to believe that there is a person of questionable lineage in our midst, attending our academies-”

“What?”

“-and overall contaminating our society with her tainted presence.”

If Sytheia had been more adept at interpreting facial expressions, she would’ve been angered by the triumphant gloating on the man’s unpleasant face. As it was, she was speechless in confusion.

“Her?” Sytheia managed to sputter. What was this Guilder talking about? She had been fairly positive the strange boy was male.

“Yes, her. The records do say you are female. Are they mistaken?”

Then it dawned on Sytheia: he meant her! The Guilder thought she was a Hybrid! She felt like laughing, but refrained when she saw the livid look on Mam’s face. Sytheia knew that look; it was her mother’s way of warning those in close proximity that she was about to blow.

“You are suggesting that my daughter is a Hybrid? You do realize what that implies about me!” Mam had risen to her full height, and her usual soft features were transformed into a mask of fury.

“Yes, of course I realize. Actually, to be precise, I was stating not suggesting. You, as her mother, had to have cavorted with one from the opposite Element, so-”

Sytheia stood dumbfounded; oblivious to everything surrounding her except for the shock of realizing she was a Hybrid. Never in her life had she imagined something so exciting might happen to her. It was unbelievable until she recalled how nobody she’d ever seen had the same shade of skin as her and how much she stood out among her peers because of her small stature and unfamiliar coloring. Despite all his animosity, Sytheia knew the Guilder was right. With her sooty skin, red hair, and gold eyes, her mother was clearly a Fire.

“You pompous-”

And of course, this Guilder was of Ice Element, the very opposite of Fire Element.

“So, judging from your obvious inability to contain anger, the most unappealing emotion, and that unattractive red hair, you are of Fire Element.”

Sytheia knew she didn’t resemble Air, for she was neither powdery pale nor tall, or gray eyed. She had acquaintances at the Academy who were Electric, and it could be certain she wasn’t of the same Element as them. They were all shorter than she with frizzy hair the color of summer sunlight, with skin that shone like the copper of a coin, and eyes that were strangely violet.

Water Element was out of the question, for they had limp, brackish green hair, aquamarine eyes and blue tinted skin.

That left only Stone and Earth. With Stone being considered the royal Element, she would’ve been notified had she been Stone. Besides, her hair wasn’t dark enough, or her skin thick enough to be Stone.

Earth seemed to be the most plausible Element for her to be, for she had always considered herself to be a sort of washed out version of them, but her hair wasn’t curly or her skin as dark and earthy, her eyes certainly not a vibrant green.

Then… if she wasn’t Fire, Ice, Air, Lightning, Water, Stone, or Earth, what was she? Could this Guilder actually be correct? Could she actually be a Hybrid?

The thought sent an unexpected thrill through her. It made her life a bit more like one of those novels she spent hours poring over; with a new twist of the plot in each chapter. Sytheia knew she should be ashamed of herself, or even more so of her mother, but she couldn’t bring herself to it. It was illegal to mate with someone of the opposite Element because if the woman bore a child, it would be a Hybrid. And Hybrids were rumored to have strange, mutated bodies and extraordinary powers. If it was true, and if she was, indeed, a Hybrid, then she might have powers.

“Why are you smiling, girl?” The Guilder scowled at her. She hadn’t even realized she’d been smiling.

“Sorry.” Not really.

“I am sure you are.” He shifted his leer from her to her mother. “And so is your mother, for giving birth to a Hybrid. I am afraid I will have to take this girl into the Guild’s custody until her trial to be sure she doesn’t further endanger the Academy’s environment. Visitation rights are granted to the birth mother only-”

“You aren’t taking me anywhere! You can’t! I have to stay here to-” Sytheia broke off, about to tell this Guilder about the boy in the barn. “Mam! Tell him he can’t!”

“Sytheia, be quiet. You’ll only make it worse.” Mam said, much to Sytheia’s chagrin.

“But-”

“You’d do well to listen to your mother, girl. Now, you are permitted to bring a single trunk of personal items, including any clothing. Of course, it will be inspected, but I am sure you won’t mind…” The Guilder had pulled out a parchment from his coat and seemed to be scanning it for anything he might’ve missed mentioning.

“What would you have me do?” Sytheia was frantic. “Just don’t take me away!”

“Oh, I suppose I must read you your other option. Of course, it is unheard of to take it, but if it will satisfy you…” He paused.

“Are you taunting me?” She scrutinized his cold expression for any sign of deceit.

“No, I am not. However, if you don’t want to hear the other option, I will just go, and notify you…”

“Yes! Tell me!” she said urgently.

Mam sent her another scolding glance. “We would like to hear the other option, if you please.”

“I am pleased to see that the birth mother has learned some manners, but the girl still needs a bit more reprimanding…”

Sytheia grit her teeth. He was trying to get her to do something rash so that her sentence would be worse. “Just get to the point.”

“There is one condition. You must agree to the second option prior to hearing it.”

“We agree.” Mam said, surprising Sytheia.

“Then it is done.” The Guilder paused melodramatically. “You will be enlisted in the Guild’s service.”

“What sort of service?” Sytheia asked suspiciously. She wasn’t about to go around murdering people just to save her own skin from the very government hiring her to be their murderer.

“I was getting to that. You will be a sort of… specialist, serving specifically to track down criminals and certain unlawful people, such as other Hybrids.”

“In other words, a spy for the Guild. Well, that’s pleasant.” Sytheia let her astonishment turn into sarcasm.

The Guilder shrugged almost imperceptibly. “If you want to put it that way.”

Sytheia looked back at Mam. Her gold eyes were fringed with anger and worriment. She could tell that Mam didn’t approve of the idea, but she had already agreed. Sytheia wasn’t frightened, in fact, she was actually rather eager for some excitement. But the idea of serving the Guild was rather repulsive.

“I have to, Mam. Otherwise-”

“Yes, Yes, I know. Just as long as it’s safe.”

She rolled her eyes. Of course Mam would be worried about her safety; she was a mother. It was what mothers did best.

“I’ll be fine.” She turned to the Guilder. “So, when do I start?”