9
Chapter One
Thunder shook the walls, rattling the windows of the small inn, but it was warm and dry inside. While rain pelted the roof overhead, sailors and other men sat at the tables, drinking ale and gambling with dice or cards. Ten sailors from a docked schooner and four unknown men called the inn home for the night, gathered in one corner while laughing and singing songs known only to men of the sea. Though the inn was also full of other guests, these loud and gruff men were the ones who kept the poor innkeepers daughter busy refilling cups with ale ever minute. Her eyes were heavy lidded and she moved sluggishly, obviously very tired. She had been on her feet, working, for twelve hours now.
During one of her few breaks, she sat down with a cup of cold, watered down ale. Sighing in exhaustion, she twirled her fingers in her knee-length blonde hair, tangled and frizzed from a hard day of work. Playing with one of the blonde ringlets, she sipped her drink and looked out the window into the pitch black of the storm. There was a blast of lightning which lit up the darkness outside, and she jumped back. Her cup shattered on the wooden floor, and she cried out, "Papa! It's Mitsurigi!"
The owner of the inn went rigid upon hearing his daughter scream. After his daughter had retreated behind him, he sat down the ale he was pouring and pulled a double barreled musket from under the bar. Everyone in the small building kept their eyes on the door except the sailors and the four strangers, who kept on drinking and laughing. Tension in the room tangibly rose as the door flew open and a tall figure walked in; it was a man wearing a long rain coat that covered everything except his head. His piercing eyes, one icy blue and the other lime green, scanned the room. Slowly, he stalked over to the sailors' corner, and sat down amongst them. Finally they were silent, staring with a mix of anger and shock at him. He nodded to the blonde girl, "Issa, an ale please." While his drink was prepared, he ran his fingers through his waist-length purple hair, pushing out any excess water before he put it into a ponytail with a red ribbon. He then smiled at the men when his drink was served, "How about a game of dice, men?"
Gulping loudly, the captain of the sailors gathered his dice into a cup and began to shake it, as did the other two sailors who were playing. Downing his drink in one gulp, Mitsurigi then pulled out a set of crystal dice and dropped them in the empty cup, shaking it. As he did so, the one eyed captain said in a cold voice, "I heard you was dead, Wolf..." When he slapped his cup down on the table, a vein on his bald head twitched just above his eye patch. Everyone in the inn watched the game closely.
Once the first cup hit the table, the others did the same. The smooth, deep voice of Mitsurigi sent shivers down a few spines, "I heard the same thing. You cannot imagine how excited I was when I found out that it was not true." He tilted his cup a little and looked at his dice, then stared the captain in the eye, "Twelve sixes."
This sent a hush over the crowd, then the sailors began to chuckle; that would mean every dice on the table would have to be a six, which was a nearly impossible wager. The captain roared loudly, "Mitsurigi, you are a liar and I call you out on it!" One by one, the four men lifted their cups from the table, showing their dice. On the table was an impossible bunch, all twelve dice showing clear sixes. "Damned demon!"
The bald man jumped up, pulling out a large musket which he aimed at Mitsurigi. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, he flew back and slammed into the wall before sliding down unconscious. Mitsurigi cracked his knuckled after the punch, then threw off his coat as the rest of the men moved to attack him. White and black metal streaked through the air as he pulled out his twin swords, Yin and Yang. Before they could move his coat aside, he killed half the sailors with a quick succession of slashes. He then spun, ignoring the two musket balls that blew through his neck. With a flurry of attacks, he took the lives of the remaining men. Once done, he put up his swords and popped his neck, the bullet wounds in it closing up quickly, leaving unmarked skin. Wiping blood off of his creamy, paper white skin, he stepped over corpses to the injured captain. Kneeling down, he took a piece of paper from the pack on his waist, reading it coldly, "This document ensures the payment of exactly one thousand gold to Mitsurigi "The Wolf" Aikoto upon his assassination of Captain Erin Lurick and his men. Signed, John Silver." He folded the contract and put it back up before picking up a discarded musket. He cocked the small pistol, and then shot Lurick in the heart, killing him quickly. He tossed the gun aside and broke off the dead man's necklace, tucking it in his pocket for proof.
Once this deed was done, he stood and turned to the rest of the inn, most of them too terrified to speak or move. He asked calmly, "He was here to meet some girl tonight. Who knows who she is or what he was meeting her for?" As he waited for an answer, he walked over to the bar and sat down ten gold. The innkeeper's eyes, as well as his daughters, went large with shock as they scooped up the gold, enough to feed them for two months. The man told her to put it in their safe, and then bowed to Mitsurigi. The lilac-haired assassin nodded to him, and then asked once more, "The girl, who and where is she? And is she a pirate as well?"
` No one answered and he squinted, laying his right hand on his black sword, pulling it to show a few inches of the ebony blade. The people all shrunk back, and then a voice came from the top of the stairs that led to the second floor, "It was me he was meeting, Mitsurigi." His eyes went wide for a second then went back to their icy squint. He spun around as he pulled out the sword, yelling something in Japanese that created a wave of black energy in the shape of a crescent moon, sending it towards the woman at the top of the stairs. The woman gasped in shock and jumped over the mass of dark power that smashed into the wall and blew out a large portion of it, leaving a hole to the outside that showed the storm clouds receding, moonlight pouring in.
"Watch it, old man!" The woman who had evaded the powerful attack growled and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at Mitsurigi while she barred her own fangs, small and petite compared to his. She chuckled as he put up his sword, sitting down at a table. As he slowly began to tap his claws on the table top, she sauntered down the stairs and sat across from him. "So, fancy meeting you here, Mit."
Giving the faintest hint of a smile, he rolled his colorful eyes, "Old man? I still look younger than you do, kid." He laughed a little and picked up some random ale that a runway patron had not finished. He took a few gulps of it before offering her the drink. Everyone seemed to calm down, most of them interested in the fact that Mitsurigi, the legendary assassin had a friend.
She scoffed a little at his retort, waving off his offer to drink. As he downed the liquor in a few gulps, she said quietly, "It was you who asked me to stop aging at twenty. I wanted to stop at seventeen like you, but you would not allow it, remember?" Noticing the people staring at them, she felt her cheeks darken a little. By the way that his face looked and the fact he was not replying, she did have the joy of knowing she had won the argument. "Anyways, what are you doing here? I was supposed to meet Lurick to receive an assassination contract, but it seems you just put me out of a job," she murmured while looking over her shoulder at the dead captain.
"That's right; I was going to ask you something, Phoenix. Who is this John Silver man who hired me?" Mitsurigi asked her, pulling out the assassination contract. He opened it and slid it to her across the table while motioning for another mug of ale. The woman, Phoenix, picked up the paper and then looked up at him with an inquisitive expression. He blinked and shrugged, "I have not been here in England in four years, kid. I do not keep up with current events." Which was true: Mitsurigi had never much cared what was going on in the world, as long as he was getting paid and he was safe, he saw no reason to follow the news.
Phoenix rolled her eyes once more and sighed softly, "John Silver was a privateer up until three years, when he became a pirate. Rumors say he has robbed and sunk over one hundred ships in just three years, and manages to vanish, without a trace. He is now the most feared criminal in all of England, and most of the American Caribbean," she said with a doubtful look on her face, folding the paper and handing it to him. As he tucked it away in his kimono she asked, "Are you sure it was the real Captain John Silver? What did he look like...?" She spoke quietly and fidgeted, eager to hear if Mitsurigi had really been hired by the famed criminal. Equally eager were all the other people who remained in the inn, leaning towards Mitsurigi to hear him better.
"He was a tall man, with long gray hair hanging it braids. He was tan, and a little heavyset though he seemed pretty muscled as well. He seemed dangerous, but he had a metal peg from his right knee down, and a solid gold right eye. Does this sound like Silver?" He did not even need to ask, because everyone was looking surprised and not speaking. So, my first day in England and I am hired by a legendary criminal. Things are off to a great start. He had already finished his ale, and Issa sat him down another one without being asked, earning her a gold coin which she clutched like a gift from the heavens before running to show her father.
Phoenix was at a loss for words for a few moments, and then finally asked under her breath, hushed with anticipation, "When you meet him to get paid, will you take me? Captain Silver is something of an idol to me." She drummed her short claws on the table, excited to a great extent. His ale began to slosh and swirl and eventually foamed so it spilled from the cup and onto the table. When it splashed her hand, she calmed down and said quietly, "Still have trouble controlling my magic sometimes, as you can see. See? That is another reason for you to keep me around for the time being." His face hardened and he squinted, and was about to talk. She cut him off, "I have not seen you in nearly five years Mitsurigi... Don't you miss me at all?" She reached over, laying her cold hand on his, wrapping her slender fingers around his.
"Of course I miss you, kid. But you know how dangerous it is if we travel together," he replied, sounding a little forlorn and distant. He squeezed her hand, trying to comfort himself as much as her now that she had him thinking about their past. When he looked up from their hand to her face, the tears in her purple eyes broke his resolve. With a defeated sigh, he said slowly, "Alright, you can come with me to meet my client." He let go of her hand, though she let hers linger for a few seconds before pulling it away. Drinking what ale that she had not spilled out, he stood and left the inn, leaving everyone to loudly chatter and gossip about his client, the damages to the inn, and the woman who rushed off to keep up with him.
"Hey, wait up Mit!" He slowed down and looked over his shoulder, not surprised to see that she was tagging along. When she caught up, she looped her arm around his and tugged on it a little, "I have a small house on the docks, and you can stay there until you have to go meet Silver. I am sure it will beat staying in some inn or safe house." He did not reply, only sighed and nodded to her offer. Smiling as he turned, she led him along, resting her head on his shoulder. God I missed you Mitsurigi. It is so good to see you again. She was a little surprised when she felt his fingers intertwine with hers, but then just accepted the small show of affection with a slight reddening of her cheeks. Both of us are demons, powerful beyond imagination. Killers, tactical and hardened, and he has me feeling like a giddy schoolgirl.
The sky had cleared up by the time they got to her home, a small but luxurious two-level on the city's eastern docks. As she unlocked the door to let them in, Mitsurigi looked up at the shimmering stars and then asked quietly, "Phoenix, how have you been?" The question caught her off guard and he nearly dropped her key as she put it in her pocket. Upon not getting a response, he added, "I often wondered what you would make of yourself. I knew you would be fine, being a demon and all, but I had no idea you would follow in my footsteps and become an assassin." He followed her inside once the door was open, and lit her lanterns with a quick spell. As he walked through the small house, admiring it, he continued, "You were always so kind, and hated violence. How did you get into this business?"
So he does care... She smiled a little and spoke as she dug around in her cabinets for some bread and dried meat, "Well, to be honest, I have only been an assassin for about a half year now. Up until now, I have tried to keep my jobs to assassinating corrupt people or those who do harm to the innocent, to self-justify the job. But Lurick was offering so much money that I could not help but at least see who he wanted dead. He said it was the Wolf and Silver; I knew he meant you, so I turned him down and waited there for you to show up." As she finished speaking, she sat a tray of bread-sticks and dried beef on the table. He immediately dug in, eating in copious amounts, explaining it had been a month since he had eaten, not wanting to eat any of the disgusting food from the ship that brought him from Japan. While he was bolting down food like some starved animal, she giggled and asked in a mocking tone, "And what of you, Demon Lord Mitsurigi? What have you been doing the last five years?"
Swallowing down the food, he began to recount their time apart as it was to him. After a while, she brought out a tall bottle of wine, and they both drank from it and exchanged stories of the last few years. By the time morning broke, they were both red-faced drunk and just heading to bed. They lay in her small bed, his arms around her, holding her to his bare chest so he could feel the warmth he had grown to miss so much.