Fantasy Project Anima

[From Darkness]

The rat-like man was still scurrying around outside the bar, still glancing around nervously. It's as if he was looking for someone, or something, but he didn't want anyone else to know. His eyes jumped from one person to another, trying to guess whether this was the right one or not. His eyes fell once more to Crimson, who had just walked out of the bar. He winced.


-----


Gills walked around the downtown area, posing himself as a young man who loved to mess around. He drank, ate, and danced around with random strangers, quickly blending in with the commoners. It was a good way to find informations, actually. Rumors were abound among citizens, even more so when the royalties were involved.


"Hmm, so there's a loud explosion from the direction of the capital..."


"Yeah," a young man said to him. "Apparently the military made a mistake with their explosives storage. The King was mad as hell."


"Interesting," Gills nodded.

 

[Srion Receno]

Spotting the man she smiled and walked up to him. "hello there" she only said this not knowing what he wanted in there. "you looked really nervous so I thought I would come check on you" as she said this sweetly she had her arms behind her back making her look cute.

 

[From Darkness]

The man shivered when he realized that Crimson was walking up to him, but he didn't run away. Either he was interested with her, or he was too scared to try. Nevertheless, there she was in front of him. His eyes gave off the vibe of a man who can no longer walk away and just want to do it.


"i-i-..." He stuttered a bit as he pulled out his knife, more discreetly this time, and did the same gesture he'd made to the bartender before. "it's a nice d-day today, i-is it not?"


It was the secret sign for assassins.

 

[Srion Receno]

Hearing his words and seeing his actions her eyes lit up and her smile became brighter. "only when the sun is back and the sky rains red" she said happily as she turned and started to walk down a quiet ally. Finally a job and from this guy it will ether be good or a strange one. She was still smiling when she leaned on the wall and looked at him happily.

 

[From Darkness]

The guy's eyes suddenly lit up with a mix of relief and fear. He followed Crimson to the narrow alley, still feeling nervous, but decided to go in the end. Staring at her with his big round eyes, the man finally broke out tears. "A-are you an a-a-assassin...? p-please, help m-me!" He fell to his knees and prostrated before her, sobbing all the time.

 

[Srion Receno]

"yes yes I am stop crying people will start to look over here" she said quietly as she patted his head. "Red Fang at your service what can I do for you?" she asked squatting down in front of him with a smile. Seeing him crying was a bit iterating even if he had a job for her, though sadly this will was not the first nor last time she has someone cry as they are giving her a job.

 

[From Darkness]

The man told his stories, interrupted by his occasional sob. He was a clerk for the city state, maintaining data for citizen's tax. As a clerk, he had the access to management and thus he had forged kickbacks for himself, taking a few coins for each tax collected. His entire department had performed this corrupt deed for a long time without being found. That was until he heard that an agent was sent from the capital to check their bookkeeping. This agent was known as strict and clean, and surely they would found out about this fast.


"I-if they found out.. we...no, I will be dragged and executed! I have children, I can't let it happen! I just took a little for my hard work. I don't deserve this!" Tears was flowing down his cheek now. "Please, please help me!"

 

[Srion Receno]

She nodded as she listen to him tell his story. "if your paying me I'll do any job...so are you wanting me to kill them?" she leaned against the wall still squatting. "I'll need what he looks like and were he will be as well as half the Payment up front...unless you don't want his head then I need it all" this was the deal she would give and nothing more.

 

[From Darkness]

The rat-like man looked up as if looking at his savior. "Yes...yes, I want you to kill them. He's only one guy, but he brought his servant, a young woman, along with him. So if we want to be safe, I would need you to kill them both. I'll pay any price...as long as you can give me the proof that you have killed him. I'll pay half the price first and then the rest after you bring that proof to me. I-is that okay?"


He stuttered along his words, more so when he asked the next question. "H-how much does it cost.. ?"

 

[Srion Receno]

"how much dose two life's cost" she smiled I'm in a good mood so fifty gold coins should do it" she stood up and held out out her hand. "so do we have a deal?" she would get what she wanted and so would he if he took this deal. "would you like there heads or something else?" she tipped her head as she waited for him to take her hand.

 

[From Darkness]

"F-fifty..." The man was shocked upon hearing her price. It was such a huge sum, a number only few could've gained. For a moment he hesitated, but finally he gave up and took her hand. There was no going back.


"Deal. I'll ask my colleagues as well. We'll provide you with twenty five gold for now, and the rest...will be after you kill him." He shuddered when she mentioned about their heads. "N-nonono! Not t-that, please! Simple proof is fine, m-maybe his royal seal or something..." He trailed off, still uncomfortable with this. Even if this is to help himself, killing people still left a bad taste.


"D-do you need to see them personally? The-they're staying at the city office now. I-I can arrange for the building to be emptied at night except for the two. I can bring you to see them from afar, they should be in the building right now."

 

[Srion Receno]

She shook his hand as she nodded "yes to both I need to see him and if you want no one else to die if they see then clearing the building would be good" she smiled as she let go of his hand. This would be fun if it was not easy but if it was then she could get back to the inn faster. Even for a small job she felt excitement to do this.

 

[From Darkness]

The rat-like man nodded. "T-then, p-please follow m-me, act natur-r-ral..." He scurried away and led the way toward downtown. Although...if someone looked at the two, he was the more suspicious one rather than Crimson, since he looked so scared and nervous. Perhaps that was the normal reaction of someone who was planning for murder? Nevertheless, he somehow managed to reach the regional office without much hitch. It was a large building made of white marble, giving off the feeling of importance. The inside was a large hall with tables all over the place, partitioned to be workspaces for tens of clerks moving around the floor. One of them noticed the man and walked over to him.


"You're back, Lucus, and this is..."


"Shush," he put his finger to his lips, telling the person to keep it down. "I got 'it'," he gave Crimson a slight glance, "tell the others to keep it quiet. If anyone ask, this is...err...a new candidate for the storage room clerk."


"...I see. We'll talk about this later. The guy is there," he pointed at the furthermost desk on the end of the hall. "He's fussing over the payment documentation over the past ten years and how there are lots of gaps in it. Damnit, we need to do it fast, or else we all can kiss our neck goodbye."


"Agreed, leave it to her, okay? Now don't raise suspicion," the man left them. Lucus looked back at Crimson. "Most of us here are in on this, so no worries. Now look over there. That's the target," he pointed at the one towering over a sad-looking clerk sitting at the desk, wincing everytime the man screamed at her.


It was a man with brown hair and good-looking build, wearing a glasses which suggests him as a literate person. He didn't look old, seemingly in his twenties. Standing beside him was a small woman with a flat expression, doing nothing but glaring dagger at the clerk. The woman looked younger, and the simple dress she was wearing told of her lower status compared to the man.


"T-that's the man, Andrew Maes, the auditor from the capital. And that little woman over there was his servant...I don't really remember the name. She's just a servant, maybe even a slave, I don't bother to know," Lucus explained nervously.

 

[Srion Receno]

The walk over there was easy but with this man it was a tad strange. When they had gotten into the building she looked around and almost whistled, until a man came up to them. She smiled at him then watched as he left.


Seeing her new targets she nodded then looked away from them and back at the man. "when will my first payment for this job be? " she gave off an innocent look like she was actually here for the job he had said.

 

[From Darkness]

"Oh..." the man looked at her funny for a while before finally realizing what she had wanted to say. "Oh, yes, hmm. Your work officially start tomorrow," implying that it was tonight, "but we can offer you the starting salary for now. How about you come to my table and I'll help you for that," he led her to the side of the room and took a few silver coins from his table. At the same time, he slipped her gold coins from inside his pouch, which he had prepared beforehand for this occassion. Twenty-five gold coins, just like promised, without anyone else noticing.


"I...didn't expect it to be this expensive, actually..." he whispered. "F-for the rest of the payment, I'll gather it as fast as I could. Tomorrow morning...no, at the most tomorrow evening it will be ready. But please, you have to kill that guy as fast as you can. He's already digging deep into our affair, in a day or two he would've exposed us all."

 

[Srion Receno]

"you want me to take two lights out just like that and expect it to be cheep?" she giggled a little as she moved her hand to a small pouch on her hip. "I'll return the extra in the morning when I finish the days work" she turned around to leave. "I'll try to stay longer in town but if you don't have it I might have to take out another light" she smiled at him before she started to walk out of the building

 

[From Darkness]

The rat-like man shuddered upon hearing her threat. That's the price of hiring an assassin. Both your wealth and your life was at stake. Clearly that man wasn't ready for that.


Gills had finished his walking around and now enjoyed his alone time within the crowd, slipping around without bothering anyone. He had found this kind of activity enjoyable after the festival at Serion capital. Upon seeing Crimson coming out from the office-like building, though, he raised his eyebrows. Didn't that woman ask for a bar before? What's she doing over there?


"Yo," he called to her casually, "watcha doing here? Processing some paper?" He offered the meat-on-stick he held on his right hand. "Want a bite?"

 

[Srion Receno]

Seeing the prince walk up to her she gave him a small smile. "you can say that" she said before taking his hand as she took a bite from the top of the meat. She let go of his hand and chewed on it. "thank you" she said after swallowing it, she was in a good mood so she was ok with his company.

 

[From Darkness]

"...?" Gills was a bit frightened at her sudden mood swing. Usually she was all grumpy toward him, but now she was all smile. What the heck happened. "...I don't think you want to tell me about this paper processing thing that you do, but okay. Just remember not to catch attention. We still have to move to the capital. When do you think we should go?" He scratched his neck. "Personally I want to let Arty rest more. Maybe a day or two. Her body is still weak, no matter what she said about it, and I don't think this long journey is good for her health."


He bit the rest of the meat-on-stick, then threw the now-empty stick away. "Well, I'm returning to the inn. Are you coming? It's almost dusk."

 

[Srion Receno]

"yes a day would be nice then we should move on you know she would not want to stay in one place for to long" she smiled ignoring his comment about the paper processing, she would not catch attention....well not much anyway. nodding she took his arm in hers as she hummed to her self wile they walked. she figured she would freak him out and actually wanted to see his face when she did, she glanced up at him as there arms were linked.

 

[From Darkness]

"I see...well then," he was about to walk away when he suddenly feel something touching and pulling his arm. What the...there's nothing over there except...don't tell me...! when he looked over as fast as his neck humanly allowed, his face started to flush red, his lips trembling.


"W-wh-what are you doing, woman?!?" His other arm flailed around like mad, but he ultimately didn't push her hands away.

 

[Srion Receno]

watching him flail around like there was something dangerous on his arm was actually kind of annoying, she liked the look on his face....but seeing him act like this was slightly hurtful. she let go and moved away from him "you dont have to freak out" she mumbled and walked ahead of him. Her mood was now no longer happy or excited it was just annoyed.

 

[From Darkness]

When his arm was let go by her, he felt a weird sense of disappointment, although he didn't know why and quickly shoved it away. Looking at her walking away with worsening mood just got him more confused. What the hell?


"I just can't even...why does woman have to be so confusing?" He sighed, making sure she couldn't hear him, and followed her a bit behind. He wanted to retire for the day and would go back to the inn upon reaching the road leading there. The sun was already far on the horizon, slowly sinking away into the sea, and the sky had grown reddish brown color.

 

[Srion Receno]

making it to the inn she stopped before going in but did not look at him. "im guessing you got me a different room then the two of you?" she asked looking at the door waiting for him to tell her a room number or something. even when she knew she didn't know if she would rest she may end up just going in to leave again after looking around the room. she was not sure, she just didn't want to be around him at this moment.

 

[From Darkness]

Gills tilted his head slightly, still wondering what the heck had worsened her mood. He sighed. "Yeah, room 203, right beside us. You can get the key from the innkeeper. I'll go first, I want to see how Arty is doing..."


He walked in, going past her, before bumping with the small figure going out to greet them. "Owwie..." The small figure squeaked. It was the young princess. She flashed them both a bright smile.


"Welcome back, big brother, miss Crimson. Did you enjoy your day?"