Sage

Liv

As Liv and Wayne rode the truck down the empty streets, Wayne tried to start a conversation.
"Where are we going?" He asked.
"To see some of my family." She reluctantly answered.
"Why?" Wayne prodded.
"You ask too many questions."

He disappointingly sighed "I was hoping to get more than that. Y'know, Sage never really told anyone who you were. We kind've just let you do whatever. You could be working with Lucas right now for all we know!"
Liv glanced away and quickly looked back to the road.
"Wait...you aren't right?"
"No...not anymore."
"What do you mean by 'anymore'?"
"Fine. I'll humor this." She decided. "Do you want the long version or the short version?"
"Short. I don't care for stories that drag on forever."
"Alright. So...my adopted dad murdered my family and then raised me to be an assassin.-"
"Wait, what?!"
"What?"
"You can't just gloss over that like there is nothing crazy about it!" He exclaimed.
"You wanted the short version."
"I've changed my mind..."
"Fine. I'll start over."

Four-year-old Liv was startled from her slumber, by a horrible migraine. She quietly groaned in agony, trying not to wake her family. She could slightly, through the migraine, hear a voice.
"Let's hope no one cares for them too much. If the neighborhood guide is correct, they shouldn't have any other family."
Liv quickly hid in her closet, quiet instead of shouting a warning, for she was afraid for her own safety. She heard the voice getting closer. Listening closely, it seemed as though the voice entered her room. After a couple moments, which felt like an eternity, she developed an even worse headache. It felt like all her worst fears rushed through her body, giving her chills and scared thoughts. A wave of sadness suddenly washed over her. A devastation so great she couldn't help but let out a wail. After a short period of tears, Liv saw a light coming from the entrance to her closet. Liv thought she was going to die and made instant peace with it. The door slowly opened. Liv braced for an attack but...one didn't come. Liv timidly raised her eyes to the light, liquid crystals in her eyes, to see a young man, probably in his late twenties, staring down at her, also crying. He crouched down and to his surprise, Liv didn't move away. She sat on the ground with tears drying on her cheeks. He made a move toward her and swooped her up in his strong arms. He carried her to their car, but before placing her in, he asked her if she was okay with leaving. She only nodded a small affirmative and was gently set on the middle of the back seat. He didn't let anyone else sit with her, only him and Liv in the vehicle. He started the car and began to drive off as absolute silence consumed them.

When Liv was seven, after she had completed her training, she was given an opportunity to put her skills to use. The task was to find something worth $100 in an abandoned house. Liv was sure this would be easy. She got to the shack and immediately started searching.
After about an hour, Liv decided to take a break. She sat down on the floor and leaned on a box.
"Ow!" Someone whispered
Turning around, Liv saw a young girl about her age, leaning on the other side of the box. She was a terrible sight, ragged clothes, a rats nest for hair and dirt all over her scrawny figure.
"I'm Alice. What's your name?" A small, high-pitched voice asked.
Liv gave her name to the little lady, Alina, but she asked to be called Liv.
"Oh! Cool! Um...sorry, but this is where I live. What are you doing here?" Liv explained her job for her dad but left out that she was part of the 'Dark Rose Assassin League'.
"Huh. I wonder why your dad would tell you to do that." Liv ignored her comment and asked a question of her own, was Alice homeless?
"Sorta...this is my home!"
Alina grabbed this girl's hand and started for the secret entrance to the Dark Rose HQ.

Liv took Alice to meet her father, telling him that she was homeless and needed care.
"Hmm...only if she follows orders and keeps out of trouble." He decides.
She pleaded that he wouldn't make little Alice into an assassin.
"It depends, my child, if she wants to be accepted by the members of D.R, or be an outsider. I can't make their decisions for them." Liv brought the news to her friend and Alice accepted becoming a member of the organization.

One day, after Liv's eighth birthday, she woke up to a massive pounding in her head. After minutes of pain, her hand maid came in, who was a blessing from her father. She thought she could hear her maids voice saying that she was tired of the same thing every day and that she wished for a break. Liv asked about what she had said but her maid, Dorothy, said that no words came out of her mouth.

After her morning coca, Liv opened the door to her room and out into that hall, to get some fresh air. Then a mountain of pain rushed through her mind. A migraine, even worse than before, had begun. It reminded her of the night she joined the league. Even though she was hurting, Liv started on her morning ritual, first, to check on her adoptive dad.

He nodded as she entered his office, showing that he had noticed her. She greeted him and asked what he was doing for the day. He said the usual, he would check on the trainees and make sure the secret entrance was still a secret, along with other leader things. She then told him of her migraine and he had suggested her take some Advil.
After she left her father, she went to visit her now-adopted sister, Alice, to have breakfast with her, as she did every morning.

While eating eggs and toast, Liv tried to tell her sister and best friend about her strange discovery.

Alice said to maybe see a counselor.

Liv didn't want someone to talk with about her problems, she would rather act and forget, but she would see what someone, with a way with words, could do about this newly developed complication.

Alice said she agreed and would find a therapist that would be specialized for her.

Liv and Wayne continued down the primarily empty street in silence. Liv searched the sidewalk and street suspiciously, but Wayne didn't question it, he had already learned she didn't like him to ask too many questions. Suddenly she caught sight of something and slammed on brakes, she then creeped the truck into a parking place keeping her eyes on whatever it was she had caught sight of.

"Get out and follow me!" She turned back around to face him "and don't question it!" she added.

"Wasn't going to." He sighed while trailing behind her.

Wayne looked around to see what she may be looking for. He then spotted a young, fairly pretty girl with bleach blonde hair walking straight towards them. She got right next to them, looked over her shoulder and whispered

"Come on, this way!" She lead them to a dark alley and put her back against the wall. A cloud of mist fell over her when she re-appeared was practically the opposite of what she had been no more than 5 seconds ago. She now had black hair, purple lips, a small top hat perched crookedly on the top of her head, she had dark lines under her eyes as if she hadn't slept in days, and her large spiked boot probably added 6 inches to her height. "The names Alice! And you are?"

"Umm I'm Wayne."He turned to face Liv, who seemed to be enjoying his confusion. "Do you know this girl?" He said frantically to Liv. "I said no questions but I guess this one is acceptable, this is Alice, the girl I told you about earlier."

"Is this your boyfriend or something?!" Alice interrupted

"He asks a lot of questions I'd be surprised if you haven't slapped him yet!" She said while looking Wayne dead in the eye. Wayne looked fearfully at Liv then back at Alice who had a slightly psychotic look in her tired eyes.

"Not the point, Alice! This is Sage's friend, he is going to help us fight Lucas."