Struggle

Note: I do not own Ragnarok or any what so ever. I also do not own any songs from Audioslave ("Like a stone"). The excerpt included in this chapter is placed there for emphasis...I wrote this down and placed it here to give entertainment to those who would care to read. Please be kind enough to tell me the wrong grammar/s and the other wrong things here in this crap, and tell me also what you think about it. Tell me din if I have to upload the next few chapters.

Chapter 1: Condemnation

In your house I long to be

Room by room patiently

I'll wait for you there

Like a stone I'll wait for you there

Alone.

There was plain darkness, emptiness and silence. The condemned assassin was there sitting in the dark corner of high security cell. The cell was spacious, and was in the lower abyss of the castle. Little light came through the little opening near the ceiling, and the main source of light in his place was the flames of the torches in the hallway behind the thick steel bars. He wasn't to be treated like any ordinary violator of the law since he was far more excellent and skilled in this craft. Every single legal assassin and thief feared his name; children in Morroc imitate his signatures on the city walls. Priests and priestesses avoided any conversation about him. Novices and 1st jobs think of him as someone who'd be the best to give them a hand. Royal knights mocked him and cursed him for the so called "Violations and crimes" he has committed.

"Rain, you have a visitor."

The assassin's head turned to his side, surprised with the news, but was not interested at all. He remains seated in the dark corner, face concealed from the light.

"Mr. Assassin, it is me." The priestess said as she entered the cell, guided by the royal Guard. The cell door closes with a loud clasping of metal locks, and the priestess looks at the condemned assassin, thinking wishfully that he'd respond to his survival instincts and save himself from nearing death.

The royal guards had told her that he had not been eating for almost a week; and he remained there in his corner without asking for anything or even saying anything. They were even thinking that the assassin could have died there in the corner; or he went insane. But Leia objected openly and said that the assassin still had little honor and would not allow himself to die that way.

The royal Guard laughed mockingly. Leia kept her composure and said nothing. She was concerned for him—a perplexing brotherly concern. She did not want him to die.

Now, she walks near to the sullen prisoner, and stops at the vision of the heel of his boots.

"So, you're happy that way."

No reaction from him. She breathed deeply and said, "Your final trial will be tomorrow morning, and it will be presided by King Tristam. It is your last chance of saving yourself from sure death."

"I don't care anymore."

"Where have you been?" Raphael asked plainly.

"I—I visited the assassin."

"It is not good for a young lady like you to be scolded by someone else. I don't need to remind you anymore. I can't be following you forever and soon you have to face your own life without me."

"I know that, and I'm sorry. It's just that I feel that I have a responsibility to take and accomplish. It seems as if someone is calling me to come to that assassin—"

"You're not dealing with a novice with a running tantrum. You're not dealing with an ordinary mage or wizard who made an ice wall in the streets. Leia, he's Nightmare Assassin. He's not to be compared to the clerics who call for priests and priestesses. He's definitely something else."

Leia had her head down, and admitted to herself that her brother was correct. Yet she knew the calling was strong and clear. It was there, waiting and hoping. It was so impossible that her hunches and intuitions were correct—

"My brother, may I ask. If ever you die in your battles, what am I supposed to do? I mean, I've been a novice and an acolyte with your support even though our Zennies weren't even enough to buy a biretta. And I became a priestess with you financial aid and moral support. Even though we were apart those transition days of mine you never faltered in fulfilling your responsibility to me as your younger sister. So may I ask you again, what will I do when you're gone?"

"When I'm dead and gone—you're ensured. We don't lack Zennies anymore and they're sufficient to last for the next 20 years. Of course, you'll receive an additional amount since I died in battle. When I'm dead, you're free to do as you wish in your life."

"I'm serious and I want my Petit."

The knight stood up.

"When I'm dead, I want you to look for someone. He is someone significant for both of us, and I'm sure he'd be most willing to look after you in my place. I just can't confirm if he's still alive. If he's dead, then go and resurrect him. My chance of being resurrected is low since it is the tradition of Rune knights to be burned."

Leia tried to change the topic that was bringing fright to her.

"How about my petit? How come you have a munak and I don't?"

"Shut up."

She breathed deeply.

"But who—is this person?" she asked.

"You will know in time."