~ .A. .S. .S. .A. .S. .S. .I. .N. ~ .G. .U. .A. .R. .D. .I. .A. .N. .S. ~
"You don't understand!" he shouted. "I love her. I would die for her. I can't kill her."
"You do? You…love Misty?" Paul demanded, using the word 'love' as if he was referring to something disgusting. His tone was furious.
Victoria knew it. She thought for a moment and figured out where each person was in their emotions. Gradually, she narrowed it down to this:
Paul: hates Dawn and wants to kill her, and Dawn is blind to his hatredand can't help herself from being annoyed by him and unconsciously is falling for him.
Drew: loves May but is torn between his love for her and his stronger duty, while May is confused about Drew.
Gary: blind to his love for Leaf, but whois a perfect match for him.
Ash: is totally in love with Misty and is angry because of his Assassin position.
Ash glared at Paul. "I do. I'm not going to kill her. You'll have to go through me first."
Paul snarled at him and turned around, abruptly walking out the cafeteria.
"Whoa…since when has Paul been angry like that?" Gary asked, sounding uneasy.
Ash glared after Paul, his furious gaze fixed on his plate. He then glared up at Drew and Gary. "What are you going to say?" he demanded heatedly. The lighter-brown portion of his eyes were more visible, which meant he was in an emotional state.
Gary had been Ash's best friend almost since they were born. Since before they became Assassins, since before all this mess started. He knew how Ash felt and what he's thinking most of the time, but this was the exception. It was pretty safe to say Gary was stunned.
"We have to kill them," Victoria replied. "Well, you guys have to, actually."
"I'm not killing Misty!" Ash shouted at her. "I can't!"
"Then we can switch the girls," Drew suggested. Ash's eyes flamed.
"I mean I don't want to see her die!" Ash spat, and raced out the door.
It went against how they were supposed to feel, but Gary surprisingly felt the same way as Ash did. Leaf didn't deserve to die. He needed to find out why the Commander wanted them to kill them so much. Dawn's murder would be understandable, and maybe even Misty's and May's, but Leaf…just was innocent. Why would she be mixed up in this?
Gary wondered how Ash was feeling. He felt sympathy; Ash's 'love' seemed to be angry and a swirl of emotions that upset him and change him from his usual act. Gary wondered…if he was feeling as Ash did, maybe less of a raging love, however, and it was Leaf…would he would kill the Commander and sacrifice himself for her?
Leaf looked over to Ash as he was shouting at his friends, and she caught a fragment of his words.
"Kill her" he shouted. Leaf's eyes widened. Kill her? The 'her' was obviously Misty…but Ash wouldn't hurt her, much less kill her, would he?
"What did you hear?" Dawn asked Leaf, looking over to Ash.
"'Kill her,'" Leaf replied dully. Dawn shook her head.
"I heard, 'Can't kill her,'" Dawn corrected. Leaf's eyes widened and then went back to its regular size in an instant.
"I'm going to find out what's happening," Leaf said determinedly. "Wish me luck, Dawn."
"Good luck," Dawn replied automatically, giving Leaf a hug.
I'll need it, Leaf thought as she went to her room.
"Okay, to lay out the facts," Leaf said aloud to herself as she lay on her stomach on her bed, a hard-cover notebook and pencil in front of her. She promised herself to burn the paper she wrote on when she was finished.
"Let me help," Misty said, coming in. "I've had a…history of the Assassins."
"Me too," Barry added, following her. His usual cheerfulness was gone, and Leaf was shocked at how different Barry was.
"Okay then." Leaf wrote at the top of the page.
"Hey, Leaf, I wouldn't do that if I were you," Misty cried out quickly, and pulled Leaf's pencil out of her hand. "Pull out the paper and wrote on the cover of the notebook, so you don't leave any mark behind." Misty pulled out the paper and pointed to the paper behind the one Leaf had written on. The 'A' was apparent in an imprint on the next page.
"Oh, whoa. I never knew that," Leaf muttered, and closed the notebook. She placed the piece of paper on top and continued writing 'Assassin Information' on the top of the page.
"Okay, so what kind of information do you need?" Misty asked, leaning back. Leaf tapped the end of the pencil against her chin thoughtfully.
"Um…" She quickly wrote Assassin Evidence, on one side, and Assassin Disapproval on the other.
"Disapproval?" Barry repeated.
"Hey, it works," Leaf replied.
"So…the boys have been acting weird," Misty said. "You can put that in the middle." Leaf nodded and wrote it in.
-Boys acting weird around us
"'Us'?"Barry demanded. "What do you mean by 'us'?"
"Uh, by me, Misty, May, and Dawn," Leaf said, surprised at the sudden change of attitude of her friend.
"Not a good sign," he muttered, leaning back against May's bed.
"What's not good?" Misty asked sharply. "Barry. I know you were once an Elite member of the Assassins. Spill."
"What?" Leaf exclaimed. "Barry, you were once an Assassin? I don't believe it."
"I was one, too," Misty said quietly. "Just not an Elite, but near that position." Leaf gaped, looking from one to another.
"Are you two…related?" she questioned shakily. Misty and Barry shook their heads.
"Just close friends," Misty replied. She turned to Barry. "I think May and Dawn should know this."
"I kinda already do…" May's voice called a little sheepishly from behind the door adjoining Misty's and Dawn's room to Leaf's and May's.
"Get over here," Barry called. "Or I'm fining you a million dollars!" May stepped through the door.
"Sorry, but I was wondering what was wrong," May apologized.
"Alright, this is the scoop," Misty elaborated. "Paul, Drew, Gary, a-and A…Ash…" Her voice choked in her throat as she tried to continue.
"Are the Ice-types, the most Elite group of the Elite members of the Assassin organization," Barry finished bluntly. May's eyes widened.
"I know Drew is," she mused. "He and I were friends when we were younger. I guess…I guess it was easy to say back then I loved him. But he moved away, and my parents and younger brother had no recollection of him…so I assumed he had finally left for good to the Assassin organization. I had went into his house, looking for him…" May was lost in her memories. "That was probably the turning point."
"Turning point?"
FLASHBACK
A younger May went to Drew's home back in Petalburg City. She knocked on the door and found that it was ajar.
'Maybe Drew's inside?' May thought to herself. Maycautiously went in and walked quietly into Drew's room. Shocked, she saw the many papers that contained the word 'Assassins' on it. In disbelief, she shuffled through the papers.
There was a detailed list of previous murders, some that May recalled from the news. It hadn't been in Drew's handwriting, but it was obvious that it was about Drew…
Frightened, she ran out of the house. Unfortunately, the door slammed shut behind her with a loud noise.
END
"Oh boy," Leaf muttered. She wrote in the 'Assassin Evidence' side: Drew is Assassin (confirmed by May who knew firsthand).
"Paul is the killer of Dawn's parents," Misty continued bleakly. "He…was sent by the Commander of the Assassins."
"Do you know the identity?" May asked Misty curiously. Misty swallowed and shook her head.
"No…but Barry does." They turned to look at Barry.
"So many memories," he murmured. Then he looked up at the girls. "The identity is known by few, and only shown to those who will die in a matter of minutes. I managed to escape."
"Who is it?" Misty asked.
"Why do you need to know?"
Dawn looked around and realized with surprise that Misty, May, and Barry were gone as well as Leaf, who had gone to her room. Not that she was surprised.
She looked over to the new students. They were pretty impressive, and the purple-haired one was intimidating. Somehow, she felt as if she knew him, but she didn't recall seeing him.
He snarled at the raven-haired boy and stalked out of the room, his stance obviously angry. Dawn shot a look at his friends—the raven-haired boy, the spiky-haired boy, the green-haired boy and the black-haired girl—and followed him.
"What's wrong? Why are you angry?" Dawn called, almost running to keep up with his fast, strong strides. He turned to glare at her but Dawn was undaunted. "Is it something the raven-haired boy did?"
The purple-haired boy stopped, turned around, and glared full-force at her, causing her to step back. "Leave me alone," he growled, turning around once more and continuing on his way.
"But I want to help," she protested, trying to keep up.
"Troublesome girl."
"I'm serious!" Dawn persisted.
"You'll help me better by leaving me alone."
"That's no way of helping someone!" Dawn cried.
"It'll help me."
"But—" Dawn didn't understand why the boy—Paul, she remembered—kept blowing her off.
"Just leave me alone," Paul snapped. "Annoying girl. Stop following me!"
Dawn was about to protest again when Paul turned and fixed her with his intimidating glare once more. She finally took the hint and stayed standing where she was instead of trailing after Paul.
Stop following me.
Where had she heard those words?
Stop following me!
Many years ago…her darkest memories. The ones she didn't recall…
Stop following me!
Her head throbbed. Maybe she'd go lie down and see if that would help.
Why do you need to know?
"Well…I have a hunch about that Victoria girl," Misty said uneasily. "I have a feeling she's very well-connected to the Commander."
"She is," Barry replied. "But yet she's not an Elite."
"So, that means?" Leaf asked impatiently.
"So it's not right. There's something wrong about it," Barry sighed.
"Yeah…why would Victoria be related to the Commander if she isn't an Elite?" Misty asked. Her eyes widened. "Unless…unless…it can't be."
"What? What can't be?" May cried.
"Have you ever seen the Commander, Barry?" Misty was grinning—she had obviously solved the problem.
"Uh, yeah….why?"
"Does he have black hair and dark eyes?" Misty prodded. Barry's eyes widened as well as he came to the conclusion.
"Yes he does," Barry responded.
"That must be it!" Leaf exclaimed. "Victoria is the Commander's daughter!"
Paul looked over his shoulder after the 'troublesome' girl. He remembered her name: Dawn. Dawna Berlitz. The daughter of the Berlitz couple who were his first victims. He growled under his breath as he recalled the reason why. They had been trusted members of the Assassin organization, but had betrayed them, putting the Commander in a terrible position.
Revenge was always the base of the Assassin murders. Paul was sent to kill Mr. and Mrs. Berlitz, and kill River and his meddling younger sister if they were present. 'Shadow' had successfully murdered Mr. and Mrs. Berlitz and River had been put to death by Paul's and the Commander's combined attacks. But the annoying younger sister, Nessa, had escaped. The last Paul had ever seen of her was her hair billowing behind her as 'Missy' had dragged her to safety.
His fists clenched and tightened. The Commander had sent them on this mission on false pretenses. He had proclaimed (it was surely a he, wasn't it?) that the girls' parents had killed their parents…but what did they care for that? An old debt was an old debt and was better discarded than held onto.
Paul was reluctant to admit it, but the Commander was a genius. Whereas Paul had no idea of the Commander's true reasons for sending them to assassinate the girls, the Commander had placed them carefully.
Each Assassin was perfect against the girl they had chosen to kill. The Commander knew the girl they would choose, and therefore sent them to do the task instead of any other Elite members or any other group.
Paul started sorting through the information in his mind as he leaned against a tree, gazing without seeing across the school grounds.
Drew was perfect for the job of murdering May in cold blood. He had known May before when he was younger and had once loved her, but had stopped loving her. Drew resisted her when his position as an Assassin became priority over loving May, and had almost succeeded with wiping out her memories. Unfortunately, he failed, but had managed to keep the tie hidden for more than two years. May was blinded by Drew since her love has obviously not faded over the years, and made Drew's task easier to complete. 'Forest' was a perfect code name for him, for he kept his feelings dense and was shrouded in how he truly felt, along with seeming to mock those that had gotten lost in the trees while often pointing out paths for those intelligent enough to find the concealed trails leading out.
Gary versus Leaf was often thought of. It was a challenge for both, since Gary has never met Leaf, even before he had joined with the Assassins. The Commander knew as well as the rest of the Ice-types that Gary hadn't had a challenge in many missions and was getting too cocky for his own good, which was a trait valued in small portions only in the Assassin standards. Leaf provided a perfect chance for Gary to prove himself. Leaf, too, was a perfect match for Gary unknowingly. 'Auburn' was an ideal code name for Gary, other than the fact that it was indeed the color of Gary's own hair, the color auburn is tinged with two colors, indicating that Gary had two sides: one red, one brown. Gary preferred showing the more common 'color'—brown—and was similar in those aspects (the color and preferred shade) to the color auburn.
Ash was always acting dumb. The stupid one, the dense one, and the one with his 'head in the sky'. He was just right for Misty, because the fiery carrot-top would be paying him special attention since he got her angry unnecessarily almost all of the time. The Commander specially placed Ash in the position of accepting Misty as his victim (as picked unconsciously by Drew and Paul), knowing full-well that Ash would somehow either grow fond of Misty or fall in love with her, ruining the mission, or causing him to act rashly and kill to get her out of his life, or gain better intellect and manage to overcome his emotions, or even destroy himself with the raging feelings that threatened to overcome him. 'Sky' was the right code name for Ash, one who caused the turbulence without managing to prevent or start it and being blamed for it without his own consent or defense, and whose judgment was sometimes clear, and sometimes cloudy. He often went between being cheerful (sunny), dense (cloudy), angry (lightning), protective (not as much; thunderstorms), and cold (snowing).
Now for himself. Paul, who was named 'Shadow'. Anyone who knew him would agree that it fit him. A shadow was pretty much just darkness and often was blocking the heat, making it cold, which described Paul perfectly. He was cold and hateful, and never showed any emotion other than necessary, and didn't usually get angry. Dawn was bubbly, cheerful, and blind to the tragedies of the world, the complete opposite of Paul. The Commander knew that Dawn wouldn't remember, but her friends Barry and Misty would. And that Paul would find out about River and Dawn and everything and want to kill her. On the contrary, the Commander didn't expect it to happen: Paul didn't exactly want to kill her. Sure, he hated her, and wanted nothing to do with her. But he sure didn't want to kill her…or would he? It was revenge, and that was the base of the Assassin motives…
Unfortunately, 'shadow' can also mean protection or a sanctuary, which was the category that Paul was feeling right now.
All the feelings that I get
But I still don't miss you yet
Only when I stop to think about it
He groaned and shook his head, trying to clear it. He had to find out why Dawn was mixed up in this. She had no recollection of the murders…well, not much. Was it because the Commander was afraid that Dawn would find out on her own?
I hate everything about you
Why do I love you
I hate everything about you
Why do I love you
Paul didn't know why, but he did hate her. There wasn't a specific reason to why he felt that way, but he did. Maybe it's because the first murder he committed was a nightmare, and Dawn brought back memories of it. Or maybe it was because Dawn was the one who inflicted his wound so many years ago…
But that didn't mean he loved her! He hated her so much…didn't he?
Only when I stop to think
About you, I know
Only when you stop to think
About me, do you know
Dawn went into her room and heard Misty, Leaf, May, and Barry talking on the other side. She pushed open the door.
"Hello?" she asked tentatively as she poked her head into the room.
"Dawn!" May came over to her and gave her a hug.
"What's wrong?" Dawn inquired, surprised.
"Burn that page," Misty directed Leaf, who looked at Dawn.
"Could you bring out your Cyndaquil?" Leaf requested, and Dawn did so.
"Quil!" Cyndaquil's back flared up and reduced the paper to nothing.
"Thanks, Cyndaquil," Dawn thanked cheerily, returning it and pocketing the Poké Ball.
"Dawn, there's something you need to know," Barry told her. "Unless you want to die, of course."
"Die?" Dawn looked at him with horror. "What?"
"Yeah, die. Dawn, do you remember anything that happened in the past?" Misty asked.
Dawn closed her eyes. "Darkness, a forest, a scream, and…" Her eyes flew open at once. "River," she whispered. "Who's River?"
"Lucas," Misty replied softly.
"Assassins!" Dawn cried. "I recognize…Barry, Misty…and…Paul?"
Her eyes were filled with tears of anger and grief. "Mom and Dad were killed by Paul's hand, weren't they?"
"They were," Misty agreed sadly. "Barry, Lucas, and I were all Assassins."
"What?" Dawn exclaimed.
"We were Assassins but we left them and betrayed them," Barry added with a hint of mischief in his voice.
"Oh boy," Dawn muttered. "So you're guessing that Paul, Drew, Gary, and Ash came to kill us?"
"Unfortunately, yeah," May sighed.
"I hate Paul!" Dawn cried. "He's an Assassin, he's cruel, and he's the one that is responsible for my family's death!" Tears rolling down her face, she raced out the room.
"That went well," Leaf remarked bitterly.
"Let's see what happens," Misty sighed.
Dawn flashed past Paul and he could hear her crying. She collapsed a few feet away from him and Paul could hear everything she whispered.
"Hate…love…thought…wrong…" Dawn murmured.
Paul went over to her, deliberately making his steps loud. Dawn shot up and cried out when she realized who it was.
Barry and Misty had told her.
"Get away from me!" Dawn screamed. Paul rolled his eyes.
"If you wanted to keep it a secret that you knew who I was, that's really discreet," he said sarcastically. Dawn's eyes widened and she stepped back.
"Go away!" she shouted. Paul didn't move.
"Relax, I'm not going to kill you…yet." Paul grumbled. Dawn stepped back once more.
"That's comforting," she muttered.
"Good to know," Paul retorted. He stuck his hands in his pockets and turned around, walking towards the boys' dormitory.
"Jerk!" Dawn yelled. "I hate you!" Somehow, though, she knew that there was some part inside of her that hated the thought of merely hating the Assassin...some part of her that loved him.
I hate everything about you I hate I hate everything about you
Why do I love you
You hate everything all about me
Why do you love me
You hate
I hate
You love me
Why do I love you
Phew, finally over! Longest chapter so far in this story…I think.
Anyways, I guess this chapter is named well…hatred.
Review please!
Who do you think the Commander is? And do you think Victoria will betray the Ice-types?