The Nova Ranker - The Sword Almighty

Epilogue

A girl stood quietly in the middle of a room. The building was the tallest in the entire city of Bilbao. It stood in the middle of a nature park that had been renamed Wolf's Den. Olivia Pizarro glanced out the window, but only saw her reflection on the glass. She had returned to normal. Only two hours ago, her body had been magically altered to its normal look. She was no longer a tall and imposing 18 year old.

Right now she was staring at a 14 year old, toned and muscular, covered in scars and knicks and cuts. Extending from the left side to the right side of her face, crossing the bridge of her pointy nose was a scar. She wore this scar with shame. This was a scar given to her by her mother. Her commander. Her leader. For failing a mission. For daring to hesitate when time came to kill a target. For letting her brother die. But now, a new scar crossed her face. This new, fresh scar extended from her left cheek to the right side of her forehead, drawing an unsightly, ugly "X" across Olivia's young face.

As she looked at her own reflection, Olivia had forgotten to pay attention to the door, and she'd be kicked out of her daydream by a voice sharply calling out to her. "Olivia, on your knees!"

Immediately, Olivia dropped, placing her left knee on the floor, keeping her head down. "Yes mother." she would say softly, trying to keep the shaking out of her voice. She wasn't supposed to be scared of Mother. She was supposed to be thankful of mother's actions, no matter how mother treated her.

"Your mission report. Now."

Olivia spoke succinctly, eyes closed as she ran through the events of her time with Nova Ranker. Her assassination attempts on Avigdor Cohen. Her success in causing the death of Calev Dohan. Managing to break and steal the magical sword that belonged to Mitchell Rose's young apprentice.

"And you did not find anything on the relic Dawn Bringer was supposedly taking care of?"

"Not at all, mother." Her face was a stony mask of discipline as she spoke. She didn't want to lie to mother. But she had to. She had promised to leave this lifestyle. To never betray another guild. To fight for good rather than for mother's selfish gains. "I did hear of it. But I was found out before I could wrest the information from Avigdor."

Silence. The silence was deafening. Olivia could feel the sweat trickling down her neck. She could hear the sound of a sword being unsheathed. "... And what happened after that, Daughter?"

"I withdrew our forces from Israel and allowed the members of Nova Ranker to get the sword." She gave Mother a nervous look. "I believe Mitchell Rose's apprentice is in possession of the sword."

Mother stood silently, walked up to young Olivia and placed her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Ah, my little Olivia. Did he defeat you?" Mother's voice was sweet. "Is that why you didn't kill him? Have you finally found someone who tugs at your heart?"

Olivia did not answer. Hot shame washed over her, but she maintained her stoic face. "... his skill with the sword is formidable." she nodded finally, and shook her head.

Mother rose from her kneeling position and broke into laughter, a hand on her stomach. As she laughed, lightning illuminated the room and thunder crashed outside. In a second, all of the windows shattered. The sky had been clear just a minute ago, and yet, it was now cloudy, and lightning was crashing all around Wolf's Den. Olivia stayed on her knees silently, only slightly twitching as shattered glass flew all over the place, and left new little knicks and scratches on her skin.

"My little girl has found love!" Mother cackled manically, and glanced down at Olivia. "Oh, I can't blame you or punish you. Your failure was a matter of the heart!"

Olivia bit her lip hard enough that she felt blood falling into her mouth. She felt the crushing weight of her mother's words pushing her into the ground. Very literally. Every word that her mother spoke caused the ground to crack underneath her, and she could feel gravity slamming down on top of her. It took every bit of energy Olivia could muster to keep herself from collapsing to the ground.

"But I cannot kill you for your failure just yet." She shook her head with disappointment. "I still have much use for you. I believe you should have a reunion with Mitchell Rose's apprentice."

The weight was suddenly lifted off her, and Olivia collapsed onto the ground, her entire body aching and twitching, blood dripping down her nose. "Why do you want me to see him?" There was a wistful inkling of hope in Olivia's voice.

"He has something that belongs to me, Olivia. If there's anything left when I'm done with him, you're free to take him."