1. A Fresh Start
As he turned down the back of one of many Ostian alleys his hand shot straight to his belt where he had two concealed silver daggers. He chuckled to himself realising the toll this newfound anxiety was taking on him.
Ever since he left Eliwood and the rest of the group moments before the final battle with Nergal, Matthew was constantly looking over his shoulders, waiting for one of Eliwood's loyal soldiers to come out and attack him. He relaxed a little. Eliwood wasn't the kind to hold grudges and from what had reached his ears, Eliwood and his small army of warriors had defeated Nergal and his minions.
This certainly wasn't the only thing troubling Matthew. A few days after news reached his ears of Eliwood's victory, he found himself confronted by two people he knew very well. Jaffar and Legault had searched for him with the intent to have him join their ranks. They told him how, after the battle with Nergal, they had run away to Ostia with a plan to make themselves rich men. They were going to become crime lords, and when Matthew scoffed at the notion he remembered that all three of them had become incredibly skilled and more powerful during their time with Eliwood's put-together army. So Matthew, always up for new things - which Matthew often found himself laughing at, knowing before his time with Eliwood that would've been a completely untrue statement – had decided to go along with them.
So now Matthew's current journey was to his friends' hideout having come from a meeting with their possible first business dealing, except he had only bad news - or at least to him it was and was hoping it would be to them too. The man who he had met with had a quite blunt proposition, he wanted his two sons killed in such a way that no questions would be asked. Matthew found this unsettling as when he joined with Jaffar and Legault, that hadn't specified to what extent their crimes would be. Certainly Jaffar, who had shown so much compassion after befriending Nino, would not go along with such a proposition, and Legault, even though that man kept so much of himself to himself, was in no way a murderer. Yes, all three of them had killed people, and Jaffar is most definitely an assassin but a redeemed one at that. All these thoughts and more nearly overwhelmed him as he uttered the secret password through a slit in his new gang's hideout's door.
As the door swung open Matthew was greeted by a most astounding sight. Behind a large desk on the right side of the (newly) luxuriously furnished room, were two naked girls scrambling to get their clothes on, but stopped abruptly as Legault entered the room via a back door which Matthew didn't remember being there when they had 'purchased' the building.
"So you finally return to us Matty" Legault dramatically exclaimed. Matthew shuddered visibly at the word 'Matty', how he hated that name which Legault so often called him nowadays. "Yes I do return Leggy," Matthew said sarcastically, "and to a rather confusing sight", he finished by nodding in the direction of the girls who he assumed where whores of some kind.
"These girls," Legault said following Matthew's gaze "are new recruits, and have just finished proving themselves as worthwhile". Legault chuckled at the obvious joke, but ground his glee to a stop when he saw Matthew wasn't showing any signs of amusement.
"Where is Jaffar at this late hour, I believe he will want to hear the news I bring from my meeting" Matthew said after the pause that followed Legault's fading laughter. "I have absolutely no idea where that confused assassin is, and I don't think it any of my care where he goes" Legault added with a smile "as long as he returns to us in one piece". "We aren't going to make a very efficient group if we do not keep check of each others' whereabouts" Matthew stated, staring hard at Legault, trying to discern what was putting Legault in this unusual happy mood – apart from his obviously pleasurable experiences involving the 'new recruits'.
Later that night all three companions were sitting around discussing what Matthew told them about his meeting and how the man wanted his two sons killed. This was only a little while after Jaffar returned from some 'unfinished business' and wearing a rather fancy looking necklace that had one slightly off-centre centrepiece that was as black as night, making it compliment his dark attire quite splendidly.
"You can't seriously be contemplating carrying out this man's wishes Legault" Jaffar shouted incredulously, "I know for a fact that murder is beyond you… and don't you dare even think that I would undertake such a task". Matthew felt greatly relieved that his assumptions about Jaffar hating the idea were correct.
After a few seconds pause Jaffar spoke up again. "I agreed to go along with you Legault, because no matter what I say, I have nothing if I don't have work to do, and what you have offered is indeed good use for my skills, but, never again will I kill someone without what I consider to be good reason, and some fat, wealthy man wanting his sons killed is completely without reason".
Jaffar exhaled loudly and then sat down and turned his head away, thinking that he wasn't getting through to Legault.
Legault sighed and was about to speak when he paused and moved back into his contemplative, seated pose. After a long while he finally sighed again and got up and started to pace the large, yet surprisingly sparse room.
"I am assuming from what you have told me Matty that you agree with Jaffar?"
"Yes, stealing, treasure hunting, and bounty hunting - which I assure you is different to hired killings - are all within my abilities, but until we have proper reason to kill this man's sons, I suggest we put our efforts into something else." Matthew considered his words and was pleased with the way they came out. He looked over to Jaffar hoping to lock eyes with him, to let the powerful Jaffar know that Matthew was on his side.
"Then I believe we would all benefit from going out and exploring this city, making contacts and finding your so-called 'suitable dealings'. I have business to attend to if we plan on getting this little, shall we call it, gang of ours properly recognised." Legault tapped his fingers together, pondering the expected but surprisingly strong opposition to the idea of killing. As far as Legault was concerned, anything was worth it for more power, and he liked nothing better then killing people.
Matthew looked to Jaffar and when their eyes met they nodded at each other then conferred the agreements on Legault. He bid them a hasty goodbye and amusingly made his way to his bedroom where Matthew and Jaffar knew he had left sleeping the two 'new recruits'.
Being the pragmatists that they were, Matthew and Jaffar decided between themselves that Matthew would work the eastern side of Ostia doing what Legault bade them, and Jaffar would do similarly in the western side of Ostia. They both departed the hideout to the accompaniment of screams of pleasure coming from Legault's room. Another shadow exited the door and followed Matthew down and out of the alleyway.