Keeping her safe

Lia sat cross-legged on a mat, her eyes closed and her mind free from every ravaging thought. The incense burned close to her nose, the smell of Rosemary helping to keep her focused on what was most important - trying to find Vincent. 

She had been sitting for hours, trying to see with her mind but still...nothing. She opened her eyes in frustration - she needed to find him, everything depended on it. 

She proceeded to close her eyes again, but a knock distracted her. 

"Come in." She said. 

The door opened and the grandmaster came in. He seemed troubled and Lia understood why, everything that had happened recently was a cause for worry. Moreover, he probably had a fight with his daughter again. 

"Theodore," She greeted. 

He sighed and paced quietly. 

"Your pacing is not going to help issues. You should sit." She added. 

He shook his head, "I can't sit still. I try to understand it but it is beyond my comprehension. If the demon is as powerful as they claim, then, this is serious trouble. Hell is planning something."

Lia nodded, "Yes. I have been having visions..."

Theodore whipped his head to look at her so fast that it might have fallen off. "You are? And you never said anything?" He demanded surprisingly.

"They're not clear and you know I don't like to make assumptions." She explained softly.

He sighed, "How long?"

"Immediately her powers awakened. I am having visions about an evil so deep, it might shake the core of the earth itself." She said.

"We do not need any more evidence. The fact that a demon powerful enough to possess a templar is roaming the Earth, is enough proof that your visions mean exactly what they are...or did Akai lie?" He asked.

She shook her head, "No. Everything your daughter and the junior templar had said were true. They were attacked by a very powerful demon and Vincent got possessed, but the challenge now is that I can't seem to reach him." 

"You can't reach him?" Theodore asked curiously. 

"No. It is as though there is some sort of barrier stopping me from seeing where they are, I only ever heard of something like that when the Scudo di Pietra is involved." She said seriously. 

"The Scudo di Pietra? I thought it was lost..." He trailed off in confusion. 

"Do not worry about that, I'm merely speculating," She stated quickly.

He nodded. 

"And I came here because I felt you would have answers...what do we do now?" He asked in frustration. 

"You have to send out a search party. We need to find them as soon as possible...have you spoken to Akai about what she needs to do?" 

He nodded. 

"She isn't too keen on taking on the responsibility." He said quietly. 

"Give her time." Lia comforted him. 

He hummed and seemed to be lost in thoughts for a while. Then, as though someone snapped their fingers in front of his face, he suddenly came back to reality. 

"I'll send out a search party as you said. For the meantime, keep trying to reach out, okay? I will be off." He said and with a nod, exited her room. 

Lia watched him go and when the door latched close, she reverted back to her meditation. 

* 

Vincent looked at the girl. She had been sulking in a corner all day and stubbornly refused to say anything. It was quite dark now and her hair was still messy, her clothes still had dirt stains and she hadn't eaten anything. It was annoying how helpless she looked. 

"Are you just going to sulk all day?" He asked. 

She looked at him emotionlessly but didn't speak.

"Aren't you even going to ask questions?" He pressed. 

She scoffed, "You're a madman, why would I want to question someone who's psycho?" 

At least she said something, even though it was a bit upsetting. 

"I am no madman, you do have great power." He repeated what he had said earlier. 

As though she had had enough of him and his 'nonsense' talks, she stood up and proceeded to walk out the door. He blocked her way. 

"You can't leave." He said. 

She threw daggers at him with her eyes, "Watch me." She spat and moved to walk past him. 

He grabbed her hand to pull her back and it happened so fast - the moment his hand touched hers, the dim light bulb became so bright that it exploded and a powerful force threw him across the room. The girl screamed and stared at him in shock. 

She ran towards him in panic, "Are you okay?!" 

He coughed and tried to stand, "I am fine."

She quickly took a step backwards as though realizing he was the 'enemy'.

"What the hell was that?!" She yelled out. 

"I told you, you had great power." He stood up and went back to seat on his chair. 

She gasped in disbelief, "That's impossible." 

"You just threw a man across a room and in case you need any more evidence, the light bulb exploded." He pointed to the jagged edges of the broken bulb, still connected to the lampholder.

Still refusing to believe what she had seen, she looked down at the glass fragments that had fallen from it. Vincent could see she was trying to make sense of everything. 

"What does this have to do with me going home?" She asked finally. 

He sighed, "You are not safe and going home, could put your family in danger." 

Her eyes brimmed with tears. "How?!" She shouted angrily. 

"There are demons after you, okay?! The one that attacked you is not the only one that will, and you're not ready to fight them yet. You need to learn to control that power, that is the only way you, me and everyone around us can live!" He exclaimed softly. 

She gasped angrily and turned away from him, "And you're what? My teacher?" She taunted. 

He nodded. "Yes, for now..." He answered. 

"Why should I believe you, huh? You could be the bad guy." She spat angrily. 

"One of your abilities is discernment. You would know if I had evil intentions towards you." He replied. 

She went back to her corner, to continue sulking quietly.

Vincent sighed and got up from his chair. "You should freshen up, I'll make you something to eat." He said quietly and walkedaway from her.

She ignored him, but he heard her stomach growl in defiance. 

*

The girl finally showered and ate. She wore his shorts and shirt, and looked much better than she did before. She sat cross-legged on the bed quietly. He didn't speak to her and kept reading his book on the basics of hand combat. 

"My name is Rose." She said suddenly, but kept her eyes lowered.  

Rose. 

He liked her name and her red hair reminded him of the rose flower, where it had originated from. 

"You can call me Vincent." He replied. 

She scoffed, "You honestly didn't think I would call you commander now, did you?" 

He concealed a smirk. He actually hadn't expected her to, she was too obnoxious to be proper and it reminded him so much of Akai.

He sighed, he missed her. She probably thought he was dead and he couldn't bear to think about how much hurt she would be feeling.

"Are you in the army or something?" She asked curiously. 

"I am part of a secret order called the order of the templars. Summarily, we are warriors that fight against evil." He replied. 

"Templars? So like, there are more of you?" 

"Yes." 

"Where?" 

Her curiousity was perplexing but he understood that she had a right to know, so he patiently answered her questions. 

"At the Island of Malta." He answered. 

She kept silent for sometime. "Then, why are we here, alone?" 

"What do you mean?" He asked in confusion. 

"Why are we here, instead of at the Island of Malta? Wouldn't I be safer there from whatever demon?" 

"No," He answered harshly, "just know that you're safe here."

"Okay, jeez..." She yawned and laid down on the bed, "I'm just going to take a short nap, please, don't strangle me in my sleep." 

Vincent nodded absentmindedly. He still didn't understand why he had taken Rose here, instead of the temple.

All he knew was that he had to keep her safe.

He got up quietly, so he didn't wake the girl and went outside. A full moon stood in the center of the sky, casting its silvery light on everything including the trees and bushes, creating different daunting shadows enough to cause a person to panic but Vincent was way beyond being afraid of the night. Although, he was a templar also known to be warriors of light, he still felt trapped in the darkness of his past.

He held a torchlight, and walked to where he had buried the small crystal which he later found out to be the Scudo di Pietra, proclaimed to have been lost for centuries.

This was the only thing protecting him and the girl from whatever evil wanted them, and how he had found it was something he still didn't understand.

He sighed, he would start training her tomorrow.

As soon as he thought this, he heard her scream.