Assassin brats were pompous gits.
Blaise decided on that in an instant as she sat in the corner of the kiddies' ballroom, keeping a close eye on her two youngest siblings exactly like her mother had ordered her to. The pair were notorious for getting into trouble, and the second eldest Deryn was fairly sure they were both fairly close to causing some form of drama.
"Tch." She scowled. "How did I get dragged into this?!" She stood, making her way over to her two siblings, dimly hearing the sounds of their conversations.
"I go to the Assassin's School." The boy smirked, clearly trying to impress the two as they stood there, wearing the necklaces which designated them as mere civilians.
Blaise sighed deeply, knowing her two sisters wouldn't be impressed in the slightest. In fact, they'd be more likely to-
Two pens wound up stuck up his nostrils.
"Shut up, would you?"
"Huh?!"
Reyna scowled, flicking the pens out, smiling as blood leaked down from his nostrils. "See ya around, kiddo." She said, patting him on the head as she discarded her two weapons rather casually, pretending not to spy an exasperated Blaise walking over to her.
"Rey-"
The sound of a shot ringing out made the entire ballroom freeze.
Doors swung open, guests fleeing from the other room where the commotion was taking place, but unlike the rest of them, the three siblings moved closer towards the sounds of shrieks and screams. Curiosity was plastered across their faces, which soon turned to horror when they heard the whispers.
"Thank the gods it was just a low-ranking assassin..."
"What was his name again?" The snooty gentleman asked, turning to his wife who was clearly a spoilt brat.
"Jason Deryn."
The name made the three sisters sprint through the oncoming tidal wave of people frantically trying to escape what looked to be a rather bloody scene... with their father playing the main role.
"Dad..." Rogue whispered, racing to his side from across the room, her eyes wide when she saw the amount of blood surrounding him. "No..."
"You..." Lillian stared at the man who'd killed their father. The same man who was currently holding their mother's limp form.
"Come on." Rogue whispered, patting their father's lukewarm cheek. "Wake up, dammit."
"Ro..." Blaise ran up to her side, staring between her older sister and their father's crumpled form on the ground, gritting her teeth as the eldest Deryn sibling shook her head.
"This isn't happening." Reyna shook her head. "Dad wouldn't die. He wouldn't let mum be carried off in the arms of another man..." She said, staring at their mother's unconscious form, only able to watch as the brunette turned, bursting through the stained-glass window behind him, fleeing into the forest. "Wait." She yelled, stepping forwards, blinking when a group of twenty black-cloaked figures blocked her path.
Ruby appeared beside her sister. "Get out of the way." She hissed, glaring at shattered window, not missing the twenty or so figures that slipped past.
The so-called elite assassins who's been attending the ball.
Ruby didn't want them to catch him, though.
No.
She wanted to be the one who did that. She wanted to be the one to rip him limb from limb. She wanted to watch him die right in front of her.
She wanted his blood.
Her younger sister apparently agreed with her too, judging from the fact that she too had drawn her weapon.
"Reyna. Ruby." Rogue sighed. "Enough. Remember what mum and dad told us."
A small pool of tears formed at Reyna's feet, her hands tucking her daggers back into their sheaths. "Rube." She said, turning to face her sister, pausing when she saw the expression on the girl's face.
"I'll make them beg..." She muttered, fondling her twin axes she'd pulled from underneath her dress. "You'll scream, won't you?" Ruby grinned, staring at the twenty opponents between her and her mother's trail.
"Reyna!" The eldest Deryn sibling yelled, but it was already too late.
Blood was already flying, garbled screams ringing around the ballroom as the blood-crazed brunette made quick work of her opponents.
"Ruby!" Rogue yelled, staring after her sister's retreating form as she rushed past the broken glass. "Stop her, Rey!"
"What do you think I'm trying to do?!" Reyna yelled back, scowling as she was dragged along behind the white cloaked figure. She'd always prided herself on being the lightest Deryn – a feat she was cursing silently at that moment as she all but floated behind her sister.
"I can smell mum's blood." Ruby sighed, her shoulders sinking as she felt Reyna stiffen behind her. "We've lost a father tonight..." Her eyes bit back tears, her mind simply blaming it on the wind she was charging headlong into. "I don't want to lose a mother too..."
"Dammit." The youngest Deryn scowled, letting go of her sister's cloak, running behind her instead.
"REYNA! I thought you said you were trying to stop her!" Rogue's voice echoed through the trees, the dim figure of their eldest sister sprinting up behind them.
She stuck out her tongue in answer, earning an enraged snort from their pursuer.
"Get back here!"
"Why'd you have to annoy the miniature dragon?"
"WHO'RE YOU CALLING A DRAGON?!" Rogue bellowed, shattering the stillness of the forest, terrifying the birds out of the trees.
"I always forget how good her hearing is..." Ruby grumbled.
"Don't dragons have good hearing?" Reyna grinned like a Cheshire Cat, moving her legs even faster as their sister's voice rang out again.
"THAT'S IT!"
"Oy!" Another voice stopped the pair in their tracks, their heads swivelling to find the thirty-odd people standing in the clearing. "What are you brats doing out here?!" The blonde-haired man scowled at them. "It's not safe! There are assassins here to kill people!"
"No kidding." The youngest sibling pulled out two daggers, charging at the eighteen people she assumed weren't on their side.
The uniform sort of gave it away.
They were dressed in dark green, short hooded robes, and rather tight-fitting pants which left nothing to the imagination.
"I can make them scream, right, sis?" Ruby grinned, sick excitement in her eyes as she walked forwards calmly.
The group fending off the greenies blinked, staring at the brunette in confusion as she cut off the bottom of her dress along with Reyna's. "Is it me, or does she remind you of a certain somebody...?"
"Yep."
"Oy, kiddos. The Elites have already gone ahead, so you should head back to the Ball. There's no reason for you to be out here." One man said, simply watching in utter shock as the two girls charged into the enemies ranks armed with two daggers and a pair axes they'd pulled from under their torn skirts.
"Block my way and you die." Reyna muttered, a wide grin on her face as the first one fell with a red slit across his throat.
"Rey..." The third oldest Deryn appeared on her other side rather abruptly. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop with the creepy grin while killing?"
"Hypocrite."
"If you're going to smile, then it should be a nice smile." Lillian said, a soft smile on her face as she calmly took down three opponents at once with her own set of small blades. "Send them off to the Netherworld with a nice final image ingrained in their minds..."
Reyna paused, her eyes drifting over to the other sibling on the scene. "Are you sure I'm the only one you should be saying this to?" She asked, staring over at her older sister, a hint of fear in her eyes as she saw the amount of blood flying through the air. Screams filling the air as the Deryn children threw their civilian covers to the side, revealing their true natures for every assassin to see.
Ruby cracked a grin, having heard her sister's words. "Stop messing around, would you?" She sighed. "I want to go and rescue mum... and then dismember the man who tried to take her from us..."
The other four Deryns simply stared at their sister, already well accustomed to her ways. "OK..."