Dead Men Smiling

They burnt the orphanage," he mummered while stroking the white kitten in his arms. He suddenly stopped stroking it and reached into the pocket of his robes and pulled out a scroll. Setting the kitten down, he handed it the scroll with a small smile.The feline seemed to know what to do; with a twitch of its ears, it ran away.The wind blew through his hair as he knelt by the ashes hoping to find something- anything."Do not touch those," a voice whispered urgently, breaking him out of his reverie. He stared at the owner of the voice whose eyes held genuine concern, "Ne- er, The Emperor will have your head.""What happened?" he asked, ignoring the warning as his fingers inched towards the ash.When he realized she wouldn't answer, he placed his palm on the ash only for images of gasoline, fires, locked doors, and people- children to be specific- screaming. He frowned at the images. "What happened?" he found himself asking for the second time that night."The people. Where are they?"

Mirror, mirror on the wall,Whom is the most broken of them all?---------------Sora stabbed the dummy, completely disarming it causing their instructor to call it quits for the day."Didn't you say disarming these ugly dolls would be easy?" Sir Nicholas tsked. The others stared at the shoes, suddenly wondering if they had always been that interesting.Sora let out a silent sigh, perhaps he shouldn't have tried to disarm the dummy; he would not live to hear the end of it.Sir Nicholas immediately spotted him in the crowd and called him in front where he announced that the only reason they would all be going their homes that day was that he was the only one who managed to disarm a dummy.He faced Sora, "You know what? You can come tomorrow but not for training.""Uh... ok," Sora nodded before bowing slightly and following the many other soldiers; he was never going to live this down.He kept his head down as he walked past them in the locker room and went to have a shower to relax his

There will always be three sides of a story: yours, theirs and the truth.-----"Heroes never lie," she whispered with a fond smile."Perhaps they don't have the time and energy to," Rowan retaliated, "I mean, they clean up after everyone and fight villains all the time. They barely have time for themselves as it is."I'm no hero, mum. I'm not good enough to be one."You probably hate me for putting you in an orphanage despite being alive."You aren't wrong there.But did Rowan hate the woman who carried him for nine months and birthed him?He didn't; he just wanted to know her reasons for abandoning him and only paying visits to the orphanage but never asked for him back.Normally, the thought of someone abandoning him made him livid but the woman in her bed in her shabby home loved him unconditionally and because of that, he was more than willing to forgive her.He smiled sadly at her. She wasn't going to make it. "Why didn't you go to a hospital, mum?" he asked as he grabbed her f

Devils don't fly, so don't expect me not to fall._____Sora let out a sigh as he wrapped his wings around his body, enjoying the warmth. All the other Angels were playing various games, happy to finally leave their classes for the day as Sora watched while making a flower crown.When he noticed the attention wasn't on him, he slipped out of the garden and went into the palace, not allowing himself to get seen or caught.As he treaded through the forbidden hallway, his eyes landed on a plain door.That's curious. He thought as he pushed the door only to enter a room with the world and on the surrounding walls were tiny screens. "Oh My Creator," he breathed, looking around in awe. His wings fluttered in excitement and he was soon flying towards the globe to take a closer look.He placed his hand on the Sahara Desert and smiled at the sand he collected, "This must be where dad works."He then furrowed his brow; his father made diseases, calamities and disasters. Where in the skies coul

I can kill for you, I can die for you but asking me to live for you; that's impossible.______Dolan settled on a couch and let out a heavy sigh as he felt his body relax. Reign placed his head on the young sorcerer's lap, tail thumping against the floor as the latter scratched the back of his ear. Dolan stared at the book seated next to the dagger, picked it up and opened it, smiling at the title Ensnare the Mind: Non-Human Edition."Thanks," he muttered as he read the first chapter.After two hours Dolan placed the book back on the table, pulled his wand from its sheathe and waved it, causing a notepad with all the information he dubbed from the book as important to appear. He studied the notes with a frown, "Thinking is now making me thirsty. May I please have a drink?"Silence followed his words, making it seem like he was talking to himself. Reign tilted his head in curiosity just as Dolan stopped to scratch his head, ceasing when a glass of coconut milk appeared on the table ne