Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Two Pearls on A String ❯ Seperation ( Chapter 1 )

Two pearls on a String

In the narrow bed, two girls huddled beneath a thin blanket. One of them had her arm bandaged tightly, and the strips of cloth around her limb shone whitely in the light of the moon streaming through the window.

The room they were in was austere, to use the kindest adjective. It was little more than a prison cell with two beds, a rickety set of drawers and a window with no curtains. The pillows the girls laid their heads on were thick, and filled with hard cotton. Even though they were both wiry and thin, skinny even, they were both falling off the bed.

The one with the bandaged arm shifted slightly and whimpered as the movement sent jolts of pain rocketing through her arm. Her sister sat up immediately. "Oh Qin, I'm sorry I hit you. I misaimed."

Qin Er, or `Qin' to her sister, reached out with her good arm to Jun Ling. "Don't worry about it, Jun," she paused, then went on savagely. "I think it's foul of them to make them practice on each other."

Jun Ling's codename was `Firebrand'; Qin Er's was `Jolt'. This was because of their respective `talents', the ones that had resulted in their being shanghaied from their home in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at age five, to Esset's training grounds, which was well known for turning out people like Schuldich, codenamed `Mastermind', and Bradley Crawford, or known as `Oracle'. Jun Ling and Qin Er's talents were nothing like theirs though. They were looked down on by the other `trainees'. Jun Ling was called `Firebrand' because she could control fire; shoot it at her opponents if necessary, today she had burned her twin sister's arm. Qin Er could control power currents, or send electric bolts ripping through her adversary's body, hence earning her the her the nickname `Jolt'. Most of the others were psychics, or telepaths, enabling them to twist a few minds, or bend a few ideas to make their lives easier. But Jun Ling and Qin Er could do none of that. And to attack an instructor was unthinkable, or else, Qin Er would have done it long ago.

There were two different categories for the trainees' `talents'. `Subtle' and `physical'. Jun Ling and Qin Er's powers were classed under `physical' and were sneered as clubs were to rapiers.

Because of this, they clung together, sisters, twins. Qin Er was older by fifteen minutes, and that seemed to have made all the difference. She was the hotheaded one, fiercely protective of her sister, whereas Jun Ling was colder, more level headed, and devoted to her Qin Er. "I wish we could get away from here," she whispered to Qin Er, as she had done every night since they arrived.

"Maybe…one day…" And from the tone of Qin Er's voice, Jun Ling knew there was a maniacal glint in her dark brown eyes. "One day Jun, we'll attack the guards, hijack the first car we see, then get away, and take over the world!"

Overcome by the magnificence of this vision, she threw her arms wide open, forgetting her injury and giving a sharp yell, as pain seemed to rip her flesh apart. In practice today, Jun Ling had been trying to destroy the electric balls Qin Er sent her way and had accidentally burnt her sister's arm badly.

"Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!"

The heavy iron door opened, and an imposing figure stood, framed in the harsh light. Qin Er and Jun Ling, their eyes used to the darkness by now, blinked as sudden light flooded their room. The woman was the one who supervised most of their practicing together. She was a stern, sophisticated, dominatrix looking woman, complete with stiletto heels. "Qin Er," she said stridently, scowling. "What are you doing in Jun Ling's bed again? Get back to your own, or I'll separate the two of you."

Feeling like a dog, but not daring to disobey, Qin Er got out of Jun Ling's warm bed, and settled down into her own stone cold one. She was scowling as fiercely as the woman. Twin dark eyes glared at her, wanting the woman to close the door and leave them alone. The woman smiled predatorily, and prodded at their grey matter with her mind's finger. Instantly, instinctively, the girls' mind defense went up, as they had been trained since young to do. But Jun Ling's was far steadier than her sister's. Qin Er let herself be distracted by emotions. She would easy prey for an accomplished telepath.

The woman tutted mentally, and made a note to have a little talk with their instructor. Much as she detested Qin Er, as she detested every other trainee there, Esset had a good reputation for turning out assassins and bodyguards. Their graduates were well turned out, and their distinctive `talents' nicely groomed, and Esset was not eager to have that reputation toppled. It was not a weakling's job to kill the powerful or protect them. She turned abruptly and left.

Twin sighs of relief greeted her departure.

"When I take over the world," said Qin Er grumpily from her bed, "I'm going to tear Esset to pieces, and dump everyone in here into the sea with cement bricks tied to their smelly feet."

"Very sensible," agreed Jun Ling dryly. "But, how do we hijack the car first?"

"Just go out and grab one of course."

"No, we need something…more subtle."

In the darkness of the night, Qin Er smiled, and their little fantasy game continued till they both fell asleep.

Sleep, unfortunately, was not something the Esset trainers did much of the time. Today, after listening to their tape of Qin Er and Jun Ling's conversation, they were in the meeting room, trying to decide what was to be done.

Some of them thought it were no big deal, since the twins had been planning their dramatic escape since they were five, but others were worried.

"Their plans are getting more detailed," said one, a man, tall, muscle-bound and wearing silver rimmed spectacles. "More plausible."

"Well, ten years of planning, what else could they be?" said another.

"The simple thing to do is, of course, separate them."

"Not good," argued the muscle-bound man. "If we did that, then they'd find more motivation for escaping."

"Our guards are strong," protested the woman who had interrupted Qin Er and Jun Ling's conversation. "Do you seriously think that two girls could break through them? And hijack a car?" She gave a snort of contempt.

"They have trained well," replied the muscle-bound man. The others fell silent. The argument was between the woman and him now. "And they are strong. Besides, an escape could lower morale. Esset is not a high-class hotel. There are other antagonistic feelings seething, an attempted escape would bring them to the surface. Can you face runaways every day of the week?"

"Then what do we do?" asked the woman, beaten down by the man's passionate arguments.

"Who is the alpha of those two?" asked the man, seeing a flicker of victory.

"Qin Er. She is by far the more rebellious."

"In that case, I would suggest getting rid of her."

"As in…?"

"No, not killing her. I would suggest farming her out now, before she gets another funny ideas, and can encourage her sister further. Perhaps she will do us a favor and get killed early."

"Who could take her?"

"Takatori wants another bodyguard."

"He already has four!"

"One of whom he disable with a golf club…"

"Yes, Schuldich was one of the more rebellious ones, and he was wreaking havoc. Can you imagine what those twins could do?"

"So… we give Qin Er to Takatori?"

"Yes." There were smiles all around. "After all, he is getting more power, and more paranoid with it. And there are no other trainees we can spare. And she is well trained, certainly."

"But she's a bit shaky in the mental department," said the woman, finding a foothold at last.

The man shrugged. "All we want is for her influence to be taken away from Jun Ling. That's all. Agreed then?"

Nods from around the table.

The next day, Qin Er was taken from her sister.

"Wait, where are you taking me?" she asked as she was dragged along the corridors. She felt sick. Qin Er and Jun Ling were seldom separated, and certainly not by people who wore dark clothes, and equally dark looks on their faces. She had seen people like that before, people who would storm in, during class and take someone away.

Why were they taking her?

Why didn't they take Jun Ling as well?

Were they being separated?

She was shoved into a small dark room. Qin Er recognized the woman, but not the tall, spectacle-wearing man. "Chen Qin Er," he rasped hoarsely, "We have a boss for you already. His name is Takatori. He is coming in…" he checked his watch. "In exactly fifteen minutes. You are now graduated, and your alliances belong with Takatori. You will be working alongside four others. Your belongings are all here."

He gestured at the small black bag on the desk. In her fifteen years here, Qin Er hadn't collected very much. A small bitter smile alighted her mouth. She looked at him.

"What about my sister?"

"She will remain here."

At that moment, before Qin Er could kick up a fuss, there was a rap on the door. "Takatori is here," said a crisp voice.

"Behave yourself," snapped the woman.

The man handed Qin Er her bag, and then she marched out between them, her heart numbed.

The old politician looked her up and down shrewdly. Qin Er just stood and submitted to the stare. He finally gave a nod. "Good. She'll do."

He turned and waddled off. The aides at his side escorted Qin Er to the long sleek limousine outside. She was given no chance to escape. Takatori slid in first, and then it was apparent that Qin Er was supposed to go in too. She had never sat in such a car, but wasn't able to enjoy it. In making sure Qin Er couldn't fight back, the woman telepath had temporarily disabled her nerves. There was another man inside the car. Takatori waved a bejeweled finger at Qin Er, inviting the other man to inspect her.

"Well, Mr. Crawford?"

The man, tall, black haired and also wearing glasses, nodded. "You have good taste, sir," he said softly.

Takatori turned back to Qin Er. "Girl," he said, addressing her. "This is Bradley Crawford. He is your leader. You will be living in the same apartment with four others. Bradley here will answer your questions later, if you have any."

Qin Er, detached for the moment, only nodded dumbly. Later, when the effect wore off, she would be in a raging fury. But as the woman telepath rightly thought, she wouldn't be their problem anymore.