Since their deaths, Rezef had grown. She now shrouded her face with a cloak, hide her identity behind a veil of shadows none may look past. Nox. The Shadowalker. She took lone jobs, growing even more deadly as each day went by, sharpening her hate for those who had killed her family. Punishing herself for failing them as well.

Every day, she would draw her blood in an attempt to cope with the guilt. Had she been quicker. Had she lingered less by the dead bodies of her family, she could have reached Midnight in time. She WOULD have reached him in time. Had she never mentioned Nirvana in the first place, none of this would have happened. Midnight would still be there, Cobra would still be there, Angel would still be there. Heck, even Zero would still be there. But what was left? Nothing. No one. She had failed them, she had as good as killed them herself. She was a murderer. A curse.

Nox was not as stupid as to believe what the guilt was telling her, and she often tried to remind herself that she could not have done anything differently. None could have foreseen what happened, none could have warned them.

None would have wanted to.

They were the assassins of the goddamn King of Fiore, his personal hit men. Known throughout the country as one of the darkest of guilds, one of the three most influential for their members counted amongst the strongest, they were feared by all and hated by many. Even the King had sent his Guilds against them. Nox closed her eyes, as the silver metal dug into her side once more. She was a failure. She could smell her own blood on the air, her own disasters. She inhaled sharply.

Failure. Failure.

The word repeated inside her head.

Traitor. Coward.

No. she was not a coward. Neither was she a traitor.

Murderer. Murderer.

A pang of pain ripped her heart.

MUDERER!

Her eyes flew open under the violence of her gasp. The cut at her side was deeper than any other. Blood was already starting to smooth it out, leaving frozen traces on her shirt and on the fur of her jacket. She couldn't resist the urge of taking Midnight's spare jacket out of his pack before throwing it away. It still smelled faintly of mint. Her eyes hardened.

Had she been quicker...

The sound of crushed paper made her rise quickly, before she caught sight of the request she had snatched away from a "Guild-free" board in a train station. Eliminate a dark guild for 100 000 jewels, it read. Dark Lullaby. It had been under the Oracion Seis' control before... before she had failed them.

She would bring them down. To the last one. And if it wasn't enough to quench her thirst for revenge, she would bring them all down. One by one. She would Kill Them All.


Under a moonless night, Nox found it always easier to work. The darkness was her ally, it never failed her before. It was her friend, her comfort. Her most perfect weapon, her deadliest army. Fear.

Her steps were inaudible when she approached the entrance of the building. Not that she was trying to be quiet, but it was always an advantage. A man was standing by the door, looking into the night. She saw him jump when he heard her cold, cruel laughter and saw his eyes widen in fear when he crossed her gaze, under the shadow of her hood. She unsheathe Vazeriel, her beloved sword and smirked.

"_hello."

The first man had been rather easy to get rid of, his surprise bringing her an advantage. Her sword had quickly pierced through his skin as she had relished in the smooth, warm feeling of his blood spattering on her face. Her tongue darted out to lick a drop that had fallen on the corner of her lips. Metallic. That was the taste of human blood. She had tasted it, long ago. Never had she forgotten the liquid that tasted so foreign and yet so right on her tongue. She closed her eyes for an instant, trying to calm the beast in her. When they opened again, all sympathy for her victims had gone from them, replaced with a cold indifference. Their death. That was what she had come for, what she had wanted. It was what she was going to get.

When she stepped into the opening, no one noticed her at first. Then, as gradually the light began to flicker out, their gaze turned to her. When the last one died, she acted. Vazeriel was ringing for blood, singing out in glorious violence as her blade embedded itself in the throat of a man. She drew it out to block a blow coming from her left, before slithering under the guard of the man opposite and piercing his heart. The clamour of the metal was praising the blood spilt, as Nox sidestepped another blow, from behind this time. She pushed the man a little, and him and another impaled each other. She soon fell into her step. Stab, parry, slice, sidestep, pierce, knock out, stab. Her face was marred with blood, her blade sick in her singing glory. The metal was clashing with one another as, slowly, the men's number dwindled away until only the chief was left. Nox must have appeared like a demon to this man, who had nowhere to hide but in the shadows that would strangle him. She strode towards him, a confident smirk amidst the blood on her face. Her blade poised under his throat, she heard him beg.

"_please... I will pay. I can give you money. Power."

She grinned, before she removed her sword from his neck. Only to bring it back down in an arc of light. The head rolled to the floor, eyes still opened wide in fear. The thump of the body hitting the floor did not faze Nox, as she turned to the door.

Once her foot had passed the door step, the building burst ablaze. She turned around, watching the beautiful flame cleanse the woods from the evils of her past. She licked her blade, now content with blood. As the wooden structure began to collapse, she turned around and began to walk away. When the men from the villages nearby would arrive, there would be nothing left but a stack of burning embers which would slowly fade to ashes.

Everything a god gives, he takes it back.