Fantasy Project Anima

[From Darkness]

"Whoa, whoa, don't move too much!" Argillys half-shouted against the fierce wind blazing past them. The fall was getting harsher and her struggling around wasn't helping. Whenever she pushed him up he would just fall back down due to gravity. However, the dark tunnel suddenly grew brighter. He could see a rectangular light at the far end, and it's getting bigger. The exit was near. "Hang on tight!" He grabbed her tight, fighting against her push, and brace himself for the impact.


SPLOSH!


He knew that the secret tunnel lead outside the castle, but not here...a hole had opened in the wall which lead them to fall into the castle moat. Unfortunately it also doubled as sewage system, and so the smell was nigh-unbearable.


"Ugh...ah, don't go out yet!" He pushed the assassin's head down into the water, right at the moment when a huge booming sound came from above. "That Golem did make a large explosion, haha..."

 

[Srion Receno]

She couldn't stand it anymore but as he grabbed a hold of her tightly she froze. why was he doing this to her? She couldn't understand, until felling the sting of falling into the moat out side.


Closing her eyes she pushed back up to tale a breath but was pushed back down by him just as she closed her mouth. Hearing a large boom and him laugh she pushed him away from her and sufficed. Taking a deep breath she clutched her dagger "I should kill you right here!" her face was still red as she grabbed his shirt and put the dagger to his neck.

 

[From Darkness]

Any feeling of relieve after the ordeal suddenly went away when he realized she had the dagger on his neck. Oops, totally forgot about that. "Wait, waitwaitwaitwait!" He quipped, his hands trying to stop hers from choking him out of air. "I have a good reason for this! I was just testing you! And look, you managed to exceed my expectation. Congratulations!"


He gave her a big grin, but the feeling of blade on his neck turned it into a nervous one. Oh well. "I...actually, I have something that I want you to do. It's a job. A big job befitting of an assassin of your caliber." He didn't know whether she would buy that, but might as well try. "...What do you say?"

 

[Srion Receno]

His hands touching hers only made her face turn a darker red. "not after what you did!" she said then pushed him away, she was angry yet not at the same time. She had no idea what to feel at this moment. Turning away from him she looked for a way put of the moat.


Finding one she started to wade to the spot. He could of just told her or something why did he have to push against her? She stopped were she was shaking a bit, him just doing that messed with her mind. "come on I want to get cleaned up" she snapped not looking back at him, then started to make her way back out of the moat.

 

[From Darkness]

Argillys fell down into the moat with a big splash. Damn, that would smell. "Gah!" Popping back to the surface, he watched as the assassin climbed out from the moat. "Hey, wait. Does that mean you'll accept my request?" He waded through to where she had just climbed from, then followed her steps. The sewage water dripped from his entire clothes. Uwah. That really smell. "Not to mention...how long do you want to hold to that dagger, oi? That belonged to us!"

 

[Srion Receno]

She turned around and glared at him as she pointed it at his chest " as long as I want to I lost one of my swords and I didn't finish my job" she growled "if you want it back try to take it!" she gave him another glad before then started to walk again. This was bad not only did she now have one sword but she will have to buy a matching one in a different kingdom.


"Were do you want to discus this...job?" she asked starting to get irritated as she walked. She needed a bath and a change of cloths, these ones were now ruined. She clutched the dagger as she bit the inside of her cheek. It seamed this one job is costing her almost as much as it would to complete it,


She glanced back at him for a moment, just with out the satisfaction of seeing his cute face...cute face? She shook her head trying to rid her self of the thought, seeing the light leave his eyes.

 

[From Darkness]

His face lightened up when she mentioned about taking his "job". Strangely, the mention of her taking the dagger didn't seem to disturb him at all. "Ah, thank you! Then, you can take that dagger as a collateral. Whether the job succeeded or not, it's already yours. And," he flap open his now damp coat, revealing gold bars shoddily shoved into the pockets. "This will be your payment. I've hidden the rest somewhere in the forest, so all of that will have to wait until this request is done. Now then, as for the detail..."


As he kept on talking, he noticed the darkness slowly receding. The night had went full shift and the sun had started to take over. "Damn, it's dawn. I shouldn't be seen here. And I don't think you should be as well. How about we go to the city and get some place to rest for a bit. Just tell them we fell to the river or something, they won't suspect much. My treat," he pulled something else from inside the pocket, a pouch which, from the sound of it, was full of coins.

 

[Srion Receno]

"I would of kept it anyway" she mumbled as she turned slightly to look at him. Seeing the gold she shook her head, he has no idea how this works. Turning back she had started to walk again as he talked, he talks a lot...she sighed and was about to say something about it when he mentioned it was turning Dawn. Looking over at the sun she bit the inside of her lip ,she should of already been done and back by now.


Hearing him say something about them going to the city. Though that's were she was heading she turned to him as she heard a bad shake. "it would be your treat anyway prince" she mumbled then started to walk again. He was lucky that she was not like the others and would just kill him take everything and his head.


She shook her head and put the dagger on her belt next to her empty sheath and her sword. "you will also be buying me a new sword" she said in a flat tone "and cloths" she was not in the mood for a prince falling her around, it was mostly because when he got cleaned up people would realize who he was.

 

[From Darkness]

Argillys whistled merrily, while hurrying his steps a bit to match her pace. "Yosh, don't worry about that. I don't want to be discovered either. With that fire and explosion back then, they surely thought that I was dead. Say what, let's go to this inn that I know downtown. Not many people go there so it's perfect for...you know, backroom deals. I used to go there on my night stroll."


"Oh yeah," he stopped suddenly, remembering something. He bowed slightly with his right arm on his chest, like addressing a lady in a dance court. "I don't think we've properly introduced each other. I'm Argillys Frauvert Serion, although you might've already known that. What about you? Can you tell me your name?"

 

[Srion Receno]

She nodded she knew of a few places but an inn would be a place were she could wash up and lay In a bed. Smiling a bit at the thought of being in a bed she heard him stop. Frowning she turned around to see him bowing a bit to her. She crossed her arms and turned slightly away so her blush was not seen in the light.


"Yes I know who you are and I gave you a name to call me" she said before turning around as she started to walk again. "why would I tell you my real name when I have no trust of you?" she asked as they got close to the city.


Hearing running water she turned, if they went into town like this they would be stopped and questioned. "come on there is a creak over here a ways" she mumbled as she turned to the woods that skirted the out side of the city a bit.

 

[From Darkness]

Argillys was a bit disappointed when she didn't reveal her real name. "Oh well, I guess Red Fang would do..." He mumbled, more to himself. He didn't want to ask her anymore question and so just silently followed her into the wood. The creek she was talking about soon came to view, being a small stream that led to the town in the far distance.


He washed his body the water, not bothering to take off his shirt. They need to be cleaned up anyway. He would still be wet, but at least the smell wasn't that bad. After thinking for a bit, he decided to take the gold off and bundled them all together using the coat like a makeshift bindle. After making sure that the smell was gone, he then went a bit farther into the wood and dug a small hole on the ground. The rest of his accessories, things that would connect him with the royal family, was put inside before being reburied.


Now that everything had been done, he deliberately shook his hair, making them look messy. He now looked like a regular town boy. Well, not really, but he could pass it from a distance. "Disguise complete!", he said rather proudly when he got back to where she was. On his right hand was the coat bundle, hanging rather sloppily. People won't notice that there were gold bars inside on the first glance.

 

[Srion Receno]

She watched him for a moment until he walked off in the woods, shaking her head she took off her over shirt then pants. She only had on tight shorts and her chest and stomach had wrappings on to cover her chest and wounds from her last assignment.


Walking a bit into the water she sat down on a rock and started to rinse out her hair and wipe off her body. Hearing him say something about a disguise she shook her head again. He was a prince and everything about him said this. She closed her eyes after she slid into the deeper part of the water. Wile she was in the water she heard him coming back, but ignored him.

 

[From Darkness]

When he returned, he saw her deep inside the water, and a slight blush escaped to his cheek. Well...what did he expect, really? Although she was mostly concealed by the water, a man's fantasy would always assume the worst.


"Ah, s-sorry! It wasn't on purpose!" He exclaimed, then turned back in a hurry. He then sat on the edge of the creek, his back facing her. His messed up hair was still dripping water, though, and the constant trickle of droplet somewhat irritated him. The silence moreso.


"So," he spoke up after a few seconds, "You're not actively killing me, so that means you're taking my request, right?"

 

[Srion Receno]

She shook her head again then got out of the water. "you don't have to be sorry I'm not naked" she said with a smirk as she moved her pants and over shirt into the water. After putting some stones on her clothing she walked over to him.


She squeezed her hair to get the water out of it as she sat down cross legged in front of him. "I haven't decided yet if I should take a job from a prince when you head is worth a lot." she stretched then leaned back in the grass. "looking at that blush you don't normally have girls around" she teased giving him smirk, as she brushed her long hair away from her face.

 

[From Darkness]

He rolled his eyes on her remarks. "Heh. Well, sorry for being the indoor type..." The Prince replied. Argillys was always the oddity in his family, favoring study and research compared to the party and gatherings frequented by royalties and nobles. "You don't strike me as the type whom men will swoon over either, taking the fact that you threaten to stab a blade on their flesh."


After making sure that it was safe for him to look, well...not exactly safe, but manageable, he went on to elaborate his earlier question. "My request...I'm sure that you will be interested. I'm not asking you to be my bodyguard or helping our military. You are an assassin, and a talented one at that. As such, there can only be one job befitting your ability."


"I want you to kill someone." When he said that, there was not a hint of naughtiness from earlier. One can tell from his eyes that he was serious.

 

[Srion Receno]

" hey I get men when I want them" she mumbled as she sat up and crossed her arms under her chest. Sighing she leaned back again, she really didn't care what this man thought of her even if he had invaded her personal space.


"I may be an assassin but I do take other jobs though killing is my best, I'll take your job. " she said then stood up. Putting her hair back up before holding her hand out to him. "the details can wait until the inn" she said as she looked down at the prince. She had no reason to call him by his name, they would not know each other long enough for them to get to know each other.

 

[From Darkness]

When she affirmed her acceptance for his request, he sighed with relief. The mischievous light returned to his eyes as he stood up with a new spirit. "Great, it's settled then!" He whistled merrily, motioning for her to follow him. Now that they were cleaned up, they would be more presentable to the city. He can only hope that nobody will notice him, although his "disguise" was...shoddy, at best.


His worry wasn't much of a concern, though, as when he reached the city gate, he could see that it was swarmed with people trying to get in. The guards had seemingly given up on filtering them and just ushered everyone inside. Any disturbance can be dealt with inside. As expected of the capital of Serion in busy hour.


"Hey, let's get in by joining the crowds. With this much of a mess, nobody will even notice us," he said to Fang.

 

[Srion Receno]

He could of at least shook her hand, she rolled her eyes and ran back to grab her cloths and weapons. Picking them up out of the water she ran after him, with put putting them on. She mumbled to her self about killing him as she caught up to him.


Getting to the city she looked at the crowded city. "wow you are really a genus you know that" she rolled her eyes as she walked past him and into the crowed. She passed through the people with out even touching anyone as she walked. Even if he did not keep up he knew were it was and she wanted to pass through with out being seen.

 

[From Darkness]

"Hey, wait...omph," Argillys was stunned to see how fluid her movement was, skillfully dodging people even in such tight crowds. He himself was struggling to move forward. He was sure that some people even noticed him as he elbowed people here and there. Although, nobody took more than a few seconds to see him before refocusing on their own effort. There was simply too many people here, he was nothing but another faceless strangers for them.


After some grueling minutes, he managed to slip past the gate and keep up with her. Before going too far into the city, he pat her on the shoulder and silently pointed toward a shady alley to his left. "This way," he waved for her to follow. It was your typical dark alley frequented by never-do-well of society. On the far end of this alley was a door, with a dilapitated sign saying "Norman Inn" hanging above it.


"Oh yeah, if you ever need to call me, don't call my name. Just call me Gills, okay?" He flashed her a charming smile before opening the door.

 

[Srion Receno]

She had almost cut him as she felt his hand on her shoulder, but as she turned and seeing it was only him she sighed. He should know not to touch her after pushing her down that hole.


Walking down the alley she kept her hand on her sword keeping the dagger hidden. As they stopped she looked up at him and frowned. "well gills don't move around so much and I won't call" she said then fallowed h inside.

 

[From Darkness]

"Yes ma'am," he replied jokingly as he led her inside the raggedy inn. The usually homely looking lobby of a typical town inn had been converted into a bar, with the bartender on the far end of the entrance. The stair to the upper floor was beside the counter. Shady people were abound; most were concealed in cloak and overcoat, keeping to their own business. In places like this, a man's death will not be known to the world. They would've been shoved under and nobody would know better.


"Gills, my man. I haven't seen you in ages. I got some "rare" materials here for you. Whaddya say?" The bartender called at Argillys when he saw the two entering. He looked like a man on his fifties, yet the muscles showing through his shirt spoke of his strength. "Hmm? You got some broad with you? Looking for some action, eh?"


"Cut it, Norman, or you'll...err...literally be cut," Gills laughed nervously. It didn't sound like something so far from what this woman would do. "I'll see your things later. For now I need a table. That corner would do."


"He only know me as a rich fool, no worries," Gills remarked as he sat down, keeping his voice down so that only Fang could hear him. "I used his connection to procure foreign books and parchments. Mostly illegal stuff, but nothing valuable for him. As long as he thought I was just exchanging gold for worthless papers, he won't bother digging further in my affair. he seemed to be a former bandit, from what I've heard around here, so more the reason to not sticking his nose on people's business lest they stuck theirs on his."

 

[Srion Receno]

Entertaining she glared at 'Gills' back he said nothing about this, though now she has more information on him so it was sorta alright. It was slightly funny how the bartender didnt recognise her when she walked in, though she didn't have her normal clothes on.


She smirked at the comment of him getting lucky, she would never sleep with this man or any other. Fallowing him to the table she nodded "yes I believe he is but then again I don't look into anyone other then my targets" she mumbled as she placed her sword and dagger on the table, before she sat down.


Looking at her clothes she shrugged, they were dry enough. Sliding her pants on she buckled them then slipped on her shirt. She turned to him as she pulled her collar up above her mouth and nose. "would you like to discus this here or later in a room? " she asked then took her blades and started to put them in her belt.

 

[From Darkness]

He was already conscious with her rather...open clothing from before that when she finally put back her overshirt, he avoided eye contact. Only when she had finished and asked the question that he looked back at her. Meanwhile, Norman was glancing toward them with a big grin on his face. He couldn't hear what they were talking, so he must've thought Gills got really lucky tonight. Yeah, pops, lucky as in getting his neck decapitated by the blade, that is.


"Here's fine. We're less prone of being spied here rather than in the privacy of a room. Then I'll tell you about the request. Oh but before that, you do know about the Six Great Kingdom, right?"


He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket, which was damp from their previous adventure in the moat, yet still barely readable. It was a map of the continent, something you can get from the guides in town. He pointed at the large region on the center of the map. The word "Serion" was written on it.


"Our Kingdom, Serion, is the largest Kingdom among the Six. There are lots of skirmishes between us and smaller nations, but among the Six there has never been a large-scale war, only a few skirmishes on the borders at best. Though, with the Six starting to overwhelm the entire continent, it wouldn't be long before they were the only ones left, and a great war will soon follow. But well, enough with history lesson. I'll jump to the request first and I can explain it better to you if you agreed to do this."


"I told you that I want to kill a man," his tone suddenly reverted to the serious one he'd shown on the river. Although, there was something else beneath. A tinge of malice. And anger. And resentment. "I don't really care how you do it. You can kill him silently, or explodes his house, any method is fine. But I want him to die."


"And that man, is..." He paused for a bit, lowering his voice more that it was barely an audible whisper, and slowly spelled the name. "...the High Priest of Serion, Arthur Lancwein."

 

[Srion Receno]

She nodded she didn't really care were they did it as long as it was done, and were ever it was if someone wanted to spy on them they would do it anyway. seeing him pull out the map she sighed, she knew all about the kingdoms she had worked in them all. She nodded as she waited on him to become quiet but he had kept walking about the kingdoms.


she leaned on the table with her arms under her chest and looked at him curiously. The change in him was interesting and made her more interested in him and his job. "why would you want to kill the High Priest?" she didn't care who the target was but knowing why he wanted to kill him helped with the killing.

 

[From Darkness]

He gave her a vile smirk. "...Do you really need to know? The High Priest is strong. Perhaps even stronger than the royal family. He has the trust of the people, and in return they are readily following his command. If he declare that anyone is a heretic, even us, then people will take it blindly as truth. I...want that power to go away."


"He is a threat to us and he shall be dealt with. But I can't move as a Prince. If the words are out that the Serion royalty tried to kill someone from the priesthood, then it'll be all over for us. And that's where you come in. Think about it. The ghost of a dead prince, and an assassin hidden in shadow. There is nothing for the people to point their finger at."