ONE-SHOTS [Ejen Ali]

5 | Frostchild [Now a Book]

For centuries, MATA has always been well-known for their influence, power, and power. They have kept the world safe from the Supernatural, always acting immediately to the drop of the hat. Hunters around the world were respected, though it was unclear how they were chosen.

Alicia has always wanted to be a Huntress ever since she'd learned how to spell. She'd read her father's reports in secret and learn how they operate. She'd trained with her father's friends, often mimicking their styles and begging to go on missions. She was always rejected, but they would always say, one day.

When she finally was approved to missions, she was ecstatic. Unfortunately, she had the task of being paired with a rookie, who'd barely joined the organization for a week. He was only here because he'd accidentally stolen enchanted weapons, and was forced to join in exchange for his life.

Ali was careless, ignorant, and selfish. Alicia hated him the moment she met him. He would always get in trouble, and she would have to abandon their mission to save him. Her father hadn't scolded her for the failed tasks, but the way he sighed, the way he shook his head, it was one of disappointment. That alone was enough to taint her cheeks red and hang her head in shame.

Hunters were given missions through scrolls. They would appear in mid air, as if paper burning rewound, and drop to the floor in front of them. Simple magic that every hunter saw every day. But somehow, Ali was always fascinated by it, always eagerly waiting for the moment for it to appear in front of him, hands cupped around his cheeks in anticipation. He reminded Alicia of a child waiting for sweets from the baker's.

He'd squeal in glee whenever the scroll appeared, but his expression soured when he opened it, reading the dreadful mission that was tasked to them. He wasn't the slightest bit motivated, always hesitating and procrastinating whenever it came to the final kill.

Ali was the person that unlocked the Enchanted Sword, but he refused to even glance at it. He'd given it to Alicia, he himself using a bow and arrow instead, even if his aim was crap and he'd shot her father's bottom during practice. He earned extra time that day, scraping away the splinters from his arrows from the stone floorboards.

Alicia had lost count of times when he'd shot her by accident. She was lucky that he wasn't allowed lethal tips, only with ends that had small packs of garlic powder with a hint of witch hazel. It wasn't poisonous either; just enough to stun Supernatural beings.

Ali hated that too, but he had no choice. The only thing he was interested in were the simplest bits of magic that Alicia could do. She was still struggling to master advance magic, but she could handle basic spells just fine. Ali wasn't capable of magic, either. He would beg her to do spells all day long, even for the most trivial reasons.

To make things worse, Ali was a complete, total, absolute coward. He would always drag Alicia down, because he was always hesitating and running away from the mere sight of a supernatural. Even when they're facing simple beings such as pixies (the size of a palm, mind you) or fairies (sizes may vary, but Alicia hasn't seen a human-sized one yet), Ali would be gone before she would realize.

She would be impressed by his stealth if it wasn't for him ditching her every time.

But somehow, Ali wasn't completely heartless. Even if he would always run away, even if he was always the first to drop out of every mission, he would never leave her to die. He would always return last minute, and pull her to safety. He'd hug her and apologize how he couldn't get there sooner, how she had to suffer because of him. He never once begged her to keep his behavior secret, but Alicia didn't tell on him.

She'd also seen him snap. When they faced betrayal from one of their strongest Hunters: Rizwan, their strongest Magic User, Ali snapped. Rizwan was the one that trained Ali for a short time, and it appeared to Alicia that Ali was attached to Rizwan within the span of days. When he betrayed MATA, Ali acted like a completely different person.