"I just have one other condition." said Terya. She spoke from behind a corner in a darkened alley, to prevent her face from being seen.
"I don't normally do special conditions. I'm an assassin, I just kill." responded Terya's assassin. She was a woman with long brown hair, a Thief.
"I know, but it's important. I'll throw in an extra 1000 gold."
"... What is it?"
"I need you to not kill her in your Thief clothes. I need you to wear a special piece of clothing while you do it."
"What?"
"This." Terya handed the assassin a box from around the corner. The assassin looked into it. She would have laughed if it weren't so stupid.
"This is a dress."
"I know."
The assassin took the dress from the box and held it out. It was an exceptionally frilly yellow dress, the kind you might find on a girl's doll. "I'm not wearing a dress while I kill a woman for you. It's not stealthy."
Terya had been afraid of this, but it was critical the assassin wore the dress. "'Stealthy'? You're a Thief. You wear green, yellow, black, and red, and you're going to the desert. What do you need 'stealth' for?"
The assassin sighed. "5000 gold total?"
"That's right."
"Done."
Terya handed her 2500 gold. "Come to me in Zeltennia in three days for the rest."
Two Days Later
It was a hot day in Bed Desert, but if all went as planned, it would be worth it. Despite the heat Terya found the energy in herself to shiver with excitement. She'd never done anything like this before; never even considered the possibility of doing something like this before. But the way things had ended up, the specific way everything had come together without any effort on her part, she was almost ready to believe that someone higher up wanted her to act on her plan.
Terya licked her lips and stretched her fingers. They crackled with magical energy, and tiny arcs of yellow lightning danced across her palms. She was ready.
Terya had had, of course, gone into battle many times before; all mercenaries had. She was a Time Mage. Not the best Time Mage ever, maybe not even a very good one, but her skills were adequate for her purposes. She had, of course, been practicing her magic for seven years: she was twenty-five years old. Terya promised herself that this would be the final battle she'd get involved in: she was going to do this one thing, and move back to her home city of Igros Castle and settle down. But she had to do this. She would never feel complete without it.
She had left Zeltennia Castle the previous day and set out for the Bed Desert. She was going to be attacked by the assassin, she knew it. She was depending on it, of course, it was part of the plan.
Terya regretted not learning the assassin's name. All she knew was that she was a woman with long brown hair. Terya hated brown hair; she'd have to fix that.
Terya's chocobo trotted the road through the desert: it was less a road and more a series of occasional ruins and flags between them to guide travelers, but everyone called it 'the road'. The assassin was going to try to kill her in a very specific set of ruins, and Terya was going to be ready.
Terya's heart was pounding; it always did before a battle. She had actually done it: she had hired a female assassin in a dress to kill herself. This was it. This was the plan. She was going to have to rely on her own time magic to deal with the assassin, but she was a lv. 35 master class Time Mage, and the assassin was only a lv. 32 Thief without the element of surprise.
Terya took out the Eternity Ring and stared at it. So simple a thing: a round band of gold, but it alone made her plan possible. She put it back into a pocket in her robe: she'd need to be able to access it quickly and easily.
It was twilight in the ruins, the sun was beginning to set. This was not only where she'd meet the assassin, it was also where she was going to sleep for the night.
Suddenly, Terya spotted the assassin. She stood in a shadow in one of the ruined buildings but it was definitely her: the dress really wasn't stealthy. Not only was critical to Terya's plan but it had also just saved her life.
Terya got off her horse and the assassin realized the element of surprise wasn't going to be hers. Not recognizing the trap of her employer also being her target, she charged.
"Nothing personal, ma'am, but I have a job and you're it!"
Terya smiled and began chanting her spell. This was it. This was it!
"Oh hell!" she thought, as the assassin was suddenly next to her. The assassin was fast: she must have had Move +2 and not mentioned it to Terya.
A knife was unceremoniously inserted into Terya's gut, and when the assassin took it out blood coated the thing. It was okay though: Terya still had most of her HP--
The assassin slashed at her with another knife.
"Hell! Hell! Hell!" thought Terya. The assassin also had Two Swords, a Ninja skill. Things were not going as well as they were supposed to be! Terya had now only 34 HP of her original 91: if the assassin got another turn Terya was going to find out what being a crystal feels like.
"Spirits of time, hide us from the judging hand of God! Stop!" The magic arced from one hand to another, and then to the assassin. A transparent clock appeared over her, and suddenly the assassin froze. Terya nearly fell over in relief: the Stop spell worked.
She fumbled in her robes for the Eternity Ring, the key item and the one that made this all worthwhile. Upon locating it, she took off the assassin's Elf Mantle accessory and put on the ring. Then she removed the assassin's headgear, some type of leather hat, and put on the Blue Ribbon accessory.
Finally she took the magic-less white gloves out of her robes. She put them on the assassin's arms: they stretched from her fingers to just below her elbows. They were pretty, but their real purpose was to obscure the ring.
It had worked! Terya was trembling with excitement, but she wasn't done yet.
Terya took out the final item she needed and equipped it: taking Equip Change all those years ago back when she was just a fledging Chemist had finally paid off. The Shrink Staff was in her hands.
The Shrink Staff had actually been the most expensive item to obtain, even more valuable the assassin, at 12000 gold, but again, it was a key part of her plan.
Terya whacked the assassin over the head with the staff, and suddenly, the once 5'4" woman stood only 2'7": she had shrunk. Terya whacked her again, and again, and again, and each time the assassin grew tinier until finally she was a mere five inches tall: small enough to be held in Terya's palm.
Terya picked up the assassin and the battle ended. She looked into the assassin's now tiny eyes and wondered what was going through her head. Was she scared? Did she know Terya was the employer and that this was all a trap?
Terya walked over to her chocobo and tied it to a low wall. She set the tiny assassin on the wall and removed from her pack her tent, and wordlessly set it up, making sure the assassin could see her but otherwise not interacting with her in any way. It was necessary: Terya wasn't going to be able to reach another city by the time the sun set, so stopping here for the night was the only choice. The whole thing took about an hour.
By the time she was done the sun had set and it was dark. Terya walked over to the assassin, picked her up, and entered the tent. From her pack she removed a sleeping bag and lantern. The lantern she set up, and then the sleeping bag. Finally she took out the important part: a pack of paints and a paintbrush.
Terya knew she shouldn't, but she couldn't resist talking to the assassin.
"Hi." It was a stupid thing to say, but she couldn't think of anything else as she set up the paints.
"Well, if you hadn't guessed, Ms. Assassin, I'm the woman who hired you." What was the assassin thinking? What was going through her head?! Terya would have given nearly anything to know.
Having finished with her paints and the brush, Terya removed her robes, stripping down to her bra and panties. She lay down on her belly, and took the assassin in her hand.
"Thank you, truly, for being kind enough to wear the dress. I know you didn't want to, but it made this a lot easier."
Terya took the assassin in one hand and the brush in the other, and put some purple paint onto it. She knew a lot of women preferred pink, but Terya had always liked the color purple more; it was just a thing with her. She then started painting over the ugly yellow dress. The dress itself was good, but the color was jus unusable! Purple was obviously the way to go.
Terya took her time. She had actually practiced how to paint for a month just for this moment, and while she was far from an expert her painting skills were now paying off: her brush turned every part of the ugly yellow into beautiful purple.
Terya didn't realize how much fun she was having doing this and started to absentmindedly hum, as though she wasn't holding a woman in her hands. After a while she finished, and the yellow was now a deep purple.
"I know you're probably wondering what I'm doing and why." said Terya. "I suppose you deserve an explanation, maybe. Okay, so here it is: a year ago I got hold of a valuable and rare accessory: an Eternity Ring. Basically, it makes any status effects you get last forever until the ring is removed. So if you get something like Protect or Shell, that's what you want, but something like Stop, well..." She smiled. She didn't mean to sound this evil, but she couldn't resist. She knew perfectly well what she was doing was wrong.
She took the white paint and started painting over the gloves. They were already white, of course, but since the dress was painted pure deep purple they wouldn't look right, they'd look too real, unless they were painted pure white instead of their natural slightly off-white. She also had to paint the dress' white frills white. She happily hummed while doing it, until she finished. Only the skin and hair remained.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you what I really wanted you for, but, y'know, you wouldn't have gone along with it. I couldn't do this to someone, you know... good. I mean, it would be easier to just kidnap a commoner woman or something, I guess, but that's not right. So I got you: the assassin. I feel, y'know, less guilty, since you obviously don't value human life and I swear I'll value yours." She felt this needed elaboration. "So I'm still the better person!" she said cheerily.
She mixed paints until she had a good skin color, and painted over the assassin's upper arms. Only the face and hair remained. Terya mixed some paints until she had a decent color for blonde: if it didn't work as well as she planned, no big deal, she could just repaint her hair.
As she painted the assassin's ugly brown hair blonde, she kept talking.
"I swear this is for a good cause: me!" she giggled. "I guess you still might not understand, huh?"
Terya looked the assassin in the eyes: Terya inspected them for any emotion, but found none: the Stop spell rendered her completely immobile, and she had control not even over her eyes. That wasn't right: if Terya could, she would have left control over the eyes, but it wasn't her fault the Stop spell worked the way it did, was it? She sighed at the world's cruelty.
Terya knew it would be pressing her luck to try and paint the face while the rest of the paint still dried, so she sighed and removed from her pack the final item: a stand. It was just a wooden circle with a pole, both painted white, but it was critical. She inserted the pole up the dress and behind the assassin's back and let her rest: the assassin now stood perfectly on the stand, looking like a porcelain doll except for her face. Luckily, even though the assassin was wearing flat shoes and not high heels, the dress made it impossible to tell.
Terya yawned and fell asleep while her work dried, offering the assassin no explanation. Before she closed her eyes she made sure the assassin could see her face.
Terya awoke to the chocobo's squawking, and immediately turned her head to see her work: the assassin stood there, perfectly still, with the same frown on her face she'd had when she was trying to kill Terya. Terya wondered if the assassin would be able to sleep.
She picked up the assassin and rubbed the paint: perfectly dry, and it looked perfect, exactly as she had wanted it to. She smiled.
"Okay, now for the final part!"
She took the paintbrush and the skin-colored paint and painted over the assassin's entire face: not just the skin, but the eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth as well. The assassin had had hardened features on her face and looked to be in her mid-thirties, but with the paint she had that eternally youthful look dolls had. She then took a pin and poked a hole in each ear: it was too cruel, even for Terya, to cut the assassin off completely from the world, and she knew that since the assassin's eyes were covered with paint she wouldn't be able to see.
While the face paint dried, Terya took some more purple paint and carefully painted over the bow in the assassin's long, now-blonde, hair: it was blue, and it had to match her dress. After a few minutes it was the same deep purple, and no purple paint stained her blonde hair.
She licked her lips. It was actually happening. In fact, it had already happened. The assassin was hers.
While waiting for the face paint to dry, Terya fed her chocobo. She knew she wouldn't be able to continue her journey today: it was too windy, and sand blew through the air. Just a single speck of sand getting on the wet paint on the assassin would ruin everything, so she had to stay in the tent.
After two hours of playing with her chocobo and reading, Terya returned to the tent and felt the paint: completely dry. The eyes, eyebrows, and mouth were the only remaining parts. She took the blonde paint and turned the assassin's eyebrows from skin-colored to blonde.
Some red paint made it look as through the assassin was wearing lipstick, and instead of the frown the assassin had had Terya thought a doll would more appropriately have a full smile, like she was enjoying herself. Terya certainly was.
Some white paint over where her eyes were, and stop. She had to wait for the paint to dry, so she decided to talk.
"Okay, so, the bow. The bow in your hair is called a Blue Ribbon, and it's important, too. Blue Ribbons are for female adventurers: they make it so you never need to eat, drink, or breathe. It's magic, see? So you can go for however long you want and not have to worry about supplies like stuff, and even drowning isn't a problem. So you'll be able to live even with all that paint on you. The last part was that staff, it's called a Shrink Staff. Each time you hit someone with it, they shrink to about half their size. It only lasts like three rounds, but with the Eternity Ring..." She smiled, not remembering that the assassin couldn't see through the paint.
Terya decided to take a nap, having nothing else to do.
She awoke a few hours later, and immediately felt the eye paint: dry.
"Great!" she bubbled.
She took the blue paint and made two circles over the eyes. Only one part was missing, but Terya was going to have to wait for the iris paint to dry now. She groaned: life was so unfair.
She played around with her chocobo for a bit, but couldn't keep her eyes off the tent for more than a few minutes. She couldn't wait! Her doll was nearly perfect.
After an agonizing hour, she returned to the tent and checked the irises: dry. Excellent. She finally took the finest brush she had and painted two black dots for pupils over the irises, and checked her work.
It was perfect. The assassin looked like a porcelain doll now: shiny, happy, and in a girly dress with blonde hair and blue eyes. Terya was almost astounded at how perfectly everything had gone.
She sat down and took the doll in her hands, moving it from one hand to the other.
"Well, I guess that's it. I painted you, stuck you on the stand, and that's about it."
What was the assassin thinking about?
"I'm going home to Igros Castle, and you're coming with me, little dolly. I've been wanting to settle down for years, and the money I made as a mercenary will let me. I'm going to buy a house, make some friends, marry a good guy, I'm sure I'll meet one eventually, and that'll be that. You're going to be a souvenir."
She thought of something funny.
"Oh, don't frown!" she said to her now-eternally smiling doll. "You'll be the centerpiece on my fireplace's mantle, I promise. Everyone I invite over will be all 'Oh, where'd you get the doll?', and I'll be all like 'Zeltennia, I used to live there years ago.'"
Terya wrapped up the doll in a long strip of cloth and stuck it into her pack; she couldn't risk it falling and the paint chipping. It was going to be about a two week journey to Igros, but it was worth it for this doll. She couldn't wait to show off her new doll to all the friends she'd surely make once she made it back to Igros.
As Terya rode the long road back to Igros, she wondered to herself if it would be better to talk to her doll every so often to remind her that she still loved her, or to just ignore her and treat her like a doll: that is, an inanimate object. On the one hand, surely the doll would want some interaction, on the other, Terya had already ensured that the doll couldn't feel because of the paint over her skin, couldn't see because of the paint over her eyes, couldn't smell because of the paint over her nostrils, and could only just barely hear, and only through the extremely tiny holes in her ears
"Well," she thought. "It is a doll, and I'm a grown woman. I can't be seen speaking to a toy."