"Do you mind if I take a break to stretch out a bit?" Chaos asked his two listeners
"Go ahead assassin we've got all the time in the world" Guran responded
"Hmm when you put it like that I'm suddenly more depressed, are you sure nobody's going to come and break me out?" Chaos asked desperately as he stretched
"We're sure besides only the Chairman and now me know about his place so don't get your hopes up" Lahar answered
"Whatever guess I'll just put myself in the trance again and wait another hundred or so years, still depressing though. Alright I'm done stretching now back to the story which will get far more interesting now that I'm involved once again" Chaos began
Chaos walked through the large city and began remembering why he loved Crocus so much: the city had every type of store he could imagine, every food he liked, oh and it was filled with people which meant it was easy to hide after you just killed someone. He knew the city well although he still managed to get himself lost several times along the way to his mentor's house, but he blamed that more on thinking about what to do with the Council. He didn't really know how to go about bringing down the Council after getting his squad which was another reason he was going to his mentor's house, as much as they tended to disagree on many things his mentor was pretty smart. He finally got to his mentor's house after managing to get lost once again although he didn't really like what he saw when he got there.
"Oh great, Council guards I wonder what they're doing here… I'm pretty sure the Council's given up on finding me unless they're here for another reason." Chaos thought idly
He decided that it wasn't really that important as he doubted that the Council was in a mood to fight him in the middle of Crocus. He walked through the gates of his mentor's house past the guards who didn't make a move to stop him. He walked up to the door and began knocking at a consistent rate not stopping even though the voices inside told him to wait a few minutes. As he meticulously knocked the door he wondered who was at his mentor's house, the amount of guards indicated that there was someone of importance but he didn't know how important the person inside was.
"Sheesh a little patience would go a long way" a voice inside muttered with a frustrated tone as the door was finally opened for Chaos.
"Sup kid haven't seen you in a while" Chaos said barging past the surprised youth
Chaos ignored the protests of the youth as he made his way to the living room of the house that he used to train at as a kid. He found his mentor sitting on a couch drinking something from a cup, next to him was his semi-attractive niece Catherine who looked pleasantly surprised to see Chaos.
"Okay, I need to ask what does semi-attractive mean?" The chairman asked curiously
"Well she was attractive enough that I wouldn't exactly mind waking up next to her, but she wasn't that attractive where I'd be too happy with my decisions that led up to that moment" Chaos responded
"That makes some sense I guess; wait a minute how old was she at the time?" the chairman asked
"Don't worry she was about two years younger than me I think; she was of legal age that if I did in fact wake up next to her I would not be prosecuted… granted her uncle would have murdered me" Chaos responded
His mentor didn't look too surprised to see his former student barge in like this at all, the kid never did care about things like social norms or common courtesy. The man had gray hair going down to his shoulder, was nearly six feet tall, and had an average build which didn't say much about his skills as an assassin. His face was clean shaven with multiple scars along his cheeks and one across his forehead; the most interesting thing about this man was his heterochromic eyes one was silver the other one black. The girl next to him had looked a bit more surprised although looked fairly calm; she had blonde hair that she had style in a short ponytail; she had fair skin, black eyes, and was around five and a half feet; to sum it up semi-attractive.
"Well this is surprising to say the least, now two of my former students come to visit" His master said over his cup
"Two? Oh you mean blondie over there" Chaos said pointing to the youth who had opened the door for him
"Don't blondie me, it's Kieran and what are you doing here?" Kieran said angrily
"Now don't get so angry now blondie I had some business to conduct with Jax over here and it's kind of important so if you'd kindly leave" Chaos began
"Like hell I'm leaving I was here first!" Kieran protested
"What are you five? Didn't your parents teach you to respect your elders even if they are only two years older than you? Oh right I forgot that Mr. Rich kid over here's parents never bothered to teach him anything let alone pay attention to him" Chaos taunted
"I'm going to kick your ass if you don't shut up soon" Kieran responded furiously
"Oh, how cute it seems that little Kieran Heartfilia has grown a pair in the past few years, but just because you've finally gone through puberty doesn't mean you can beat me let alone touch me" Chaos said confidently while assuming a fighting stance
"Just because you used to be one of the Chairman's favorite assassins doesn't mean I can't handle you I am a Councilor after all" Kieran said
"Oh yeah tough talk, except that you forgot to bring your lances with you and even with them I wouldn't have a problem with you!" Chaos said charging towards Kieran
"Enough both of you" their master said suddenly appearing in between them thrusting his palms to block both of them. Chaos was able to block his master's blow unfortunately Kieran wasn't fast enough and got hit straight in the ribs sending him flying out the still open door.
"Well I assume you're free to talk then master?" Chaos asked shaking his hands which still had some lingering pain
"I should say goodbye to my other apprentice although it seems clear which one of you listened to me more attentively" his master said walking outside
"So how have you been Catherine?" Chaos asked trying to make some small talk
"I've been fine it's been a while since you've come back here what made you decide to come back?" Catherine asked him
"Oh this and that I just need to talk with your dear Uncle Jax about some stuff nothing too important" Chaos answered
Chaos took a seat across from Catherine who continued to drink her tea while they both waited for Jax to return from saying his goodbyes. He came back with the same expression he had started with, took his seat next to his niece, and resumed drinking his tea.
"Did you really have to hit so hard? My hands still sting like hell" Chaos asked annoyed
"Yes, now what brings you here are you here to say hello as well?" Jax asked Chaos without looking up
"Not really if I wanted to say hi I would have done that a while ago, I'm here because I'm in need of your help Master" Chaos answered
"Is that right? And what do you need from me now; I left you with nearly everything I knew and the only reason you didn't learn everything was because you thought it was boring." Jax said
"Don't be like that Master it's just the boring stuff didn't have any real world use… I see no reason to pray after you kill someone you're just doing your job." Chaos explained
"Just say why you're here otherwise we'll be here all day" Catherine interjected knowing how long it would take for them to actually talk about what they wanted to.
"Right, so to keep things short the Council is doing shady rituals to unlock ancient sources of power enabling them to take over the world and have our 'glorious' chairman rule over us" Chaos said quickly
"I see, do you have any proof or are you rambling again?" Jax asked still not looking up from his cup
Chaos nodded, pulled out the papers from the pocket dimension he had stored them in, and then handed them over to Jax. Jax took a moment to read the papers he was given then tossed them to Catherine who read them quietly before giving them back to Chaos.
"Well?" Chaos asked
"You're certainly right and it does seem our noble Councilors have all signed off on this plan, including my other apprentice. Hmm but how did you get your hands on these, I doubt they gave it to you willingly?" Jax asked now looking at Chaos
"Eh, I got them from not so subtly over hearing their conversation… and they may have been sending assassins at me over the last week although they're all dead and I think the Council might be out right now" Chaos answered
"Weren't you trained to be not be noticed by people, how were you caught so easily? Especially when my uncle trained you?" Catherine asked
"Look when after a successful mission I have to repot back to our 'illustrious' chairman and when you hear his voice you tend to go to it and find him" Chaos explained
"That doesn't explain how you got the papers either you were stupid enough to not hear what he was saying and walked in blindly before taking their plans which doesn't make any sense. Or more likely you eavesdropped on them and decided to get their plans and use them as blackmail which you love to do to people" Jax interrupted coldly
"Oh you can read me like a book master. Point is I got the plans and they know I have it but strangely are leaving me alone right now so yeah" Chaos responded with a cheerful smile
"No I won't join you" Jax told him
"Do you have to be so direct?" Chaos asked kind of hurt inside
"Yes if you don't have anything else to talk about I'll ask you to leave then" Jax replied
"Well so your 'favorite' apprentice decides to help the Council initiate a bloody takeover of the world and you're completely fine with it?" Chaos asked
"Who said he was my favorite?" Jax replied
"Oh come on uncle we all know he's your favorite I mean you've only had two apprentices and you absolutely hate Chaos so it's kind of by default that it's Kieran… and even then you were oddly less harsh in Kieran's training" Catherine interjected
"What's your point?" Jax asked
"Point is you like Kieran and won't help me bring him down because god forbid you're favorite apprentice is actually an evil bastard, and even worse would be if he used your training to do so" Chaos said harshly
"My training is for assassinating people anyway" Jax replied
"For maintaining peace or getting rid of people the Councilors don't like NOT taking over the world" Chaos said
"You're not going to guilt me into joining you" Jax said
"Damn" Chaos thought "Fine then I'm going to leave nice seeing you again Catherine" he said while getting up to leave
"Stop by again if you have other problems" Jax said
"Hey Catherine how's your magic training been going?" Chaos asked suddenly returning to his seat
"Oh that? Umm fine I'm done learning under my master and she's said I'm a full fledged blood mage now" Catherine replied surprised that Chaos cared
"Blood magic huh, now that is an interesting type of magic very dark and powerful. Would you mind giving me a demonstration" Chaos replied with a smile
"Sure, let's go to the practice area in the back and I'll show you" Catherine said
Catherine got up and walked towards the practice area outside leaving Chaos and Jax alone, Chaos got up slowly to follow her before he stopped he looked at Jax once more and gave a disappointed nod before leaving. He walked towards the very familiar area that he used to train at when he was a mere twelve year old starting out as an assassin in training. Catherine was waiting for him in the middle of the area and he walked towards the seat where Jax used to sit and watch him practice.
"Anything specific you want me to show you?" Catherine asked
"Not particularly just show me the basics I'm quite curious as to what blood magic actually does and how effective it can be" Chaos replied
"Okay then" Catherine said
She took a deep breath and then pulled out a small knife and then slashed her own arm which caused Chaos to pay even more attention to the display. She waited for a few seconds to let the blood run down her arm a bit before she began; she started by casting a spell to multiply the amount of blood that was there originally. Next she manipulated the large amount of blood to move into one stream that she controlled easily with her hands, she continued the display doing a variety of tricks which impressed Chaos enough to give her a small round of applause.
"Well done my dear I should be asking you to come with me instead of your uncle" Chaos congratulated
"Oh that's nothing I can do much better if you want heck I can cut through steel easily" Catherine bragged
"Alright then" Chaos said getting up and drawing his hidden sword
"Wait are you going to spar with me?" Catherine asked
"Of course I am unless you're afraid" Chaos said
"Like hell I am I can take you easily… just to make sure this isn't to the death got it?" Catherine said
Chaos nodded and suddenly charged towards Catherine taking her by surprise and began a quick offensive. He aimed multiple sword slashes at Catherine at a quick rate but she was able to block every one with her blood magic although she was being forced back. Catherine was able to block the last one and forced Chaos into a deadlock he tried pushing against the blood but was surprised to see he wasn't able to push forward. Catherine gave a smile and now changed the blood's properties to go around Chaos' blade and to envelop him, but he immediately drew back flipping to avoid the blood that was chasing him he jumped back and noticed that the blood actually was burning through the places he was.
"What kind of blood does that? I really should take Catherine with me but perhaps I can also get my mater to come with us as well" Chaos thought to himself
He nimbly dodged the repeated strikes Catherine aimed at him and noticed that she was slowing down on her strikes. He figured she was conserving energy as manipulating this much blood must have been taking a toll on her by now. He ran towards Catherine dodging her attempts to bring him down and began attacking her again; she blocked his downward slash and Chaos noticed that his sword had a scratch on it but continued to attack. Catherine parried his last blow and aimed a blood slash at his abdomen which he tried blocking with his sword but his sword broke from the impact leaving him defenseless at the time being.
"I told you I could do it" Catherine said
"Only took you several minutes to do so" Chaos said
"If this was a fight to the death I would have won you know" Catherine remarked
"Oh, this wasn't a fight to the death? Woops" Chaos said surprised dropping the several daggers he had telepathically placed behind Catherine causing her to turn around in surprise
"Why am I not surprised that you forgot?" Catherine asked sarcastically
"It's just what's ingrained in me I can't help it. But the good news is that you proved that you could at least hang with me while I was trying to kill you so I'd like to extend an offer for you to join us" Chaos said
"Me? I thought you were here for my uncle?" Catherine asked
"I was originally but you'd be extremely helpful for our mission" Chaos answered
"Who else is with you?" she asked
"It's me, another assassin who's nearly as good as me, Kazuo the Thunder God, a dragon slayer trained by Acnologia, and my sister" he answered
"Your sister? I thought you said she died when you were younger" she responded
"No not that one I found another one to take care of while working for the Council. Anyway it's a solid group that would easily be bolstered by someone of your caliber" He said casually stepping near her and putting his arm around her shoulder
"I'd uh have to ask my uncle" Catherine said quietly surprised at Chaos being so forward with her
"Come now my dear you're a woman now you don't need your uncle's permission to do things anymore" Chaos said soothingly
"Need my permission for what?" Jax asked standing from the door
"Oh nothing really I just asked her if she would like to come with me on my little journey seeing as you refuse to do the right thing" Chaos said with a smirk
"Is that so? Well it's my house so my rules Catherine I won't allow you to join him he's only going to use you for whatever he wants" Jax told her
"But Uncle Jax the evidence is clear the Council is going way beyond their authority here someone needs to stop them, and besides it's good people standing by that lets evil deeds happen" Catherine said
"Exactly Jax she knows what to do but I'll let you two talk it out, I'll be in Crocus for a few more days before I meet up with the rest of my group in Balsam Village for some relaxation and further planning. I'm staying at the Blooming Inn, room 213 so if you make up your mind you can visit me there" Chaos said
Jax was angry enough with Chaos that he had offered Catherine a chance to join them to challenge the Magic Council, what made him even more angry was that Catherine was being used to make him go with them. Chaos didn't really care about what happened to Catherine just as long as Jax would come, and even more infuriating was that Chaos knew Catherine had feelings for him and was playing to that to further manipulate her, the only thing that stopped him from ending Chaos right there was that he had placed Catherine in front of him to keep him safe.
"Fine we'll talk but I'll ask you to leave now" Jax said
"As you wish, until we meet again my dear" Chaos said giving Catherine a small hug which caused her face to redden
Chaos exited the practice area, picked up the Council plans, stored them back in the dimension he kept them in, and then left the house. Jax closed the door behind him, sat down gave a sigh, and picked up his tea and drank the rest of it. Catherine was still standing looking at the door for a moment before she sat across from her uncle whose face looked worried. Jax could tell from the look on her face that she badly wanted to go with Chaos and fight the Council; she was stubborn like that just like her late father who was Jax's older brother. The last thing he wanted to do was see her end up like her parents while he was still alive; he loved her dearly and only wanted what was best for her.
"He's using you to get me to join him you know?" Jax said
"Maybe he is what's your point?" Catherine asked
"I know you do have some feelings for him but he doesn't feel that way about you at all" Jax said directly
"He… just shows it in his own way I think, in that battle I felt something from him that was nice almost like he was having fun with me. When I would watch him spar with you all I could sense was hatred coming from him, he's a better man now" Catherine replied boldly
"That may be what you think of him but he's still an assassin at heart so he doesn't care who has to die as long as his main objective is completed he'll be fine with it." Jax said
"So? As long as the greater good is accomplished it'll justify the means you're the one who taught him that" Catherine replied
"I didn't expect him to take it that literally though" Jax said
"All the more reason why I should go with them if I was there I could make sure he's mostly ethical about the things he does" Catherine said
"Do you really think he'd listen to you?" Jax asked
"Yes I do" Catherine replied
"I can see I can't reason with you" Jax sighed after a brief pause
"It's not reasoning Uncle I'm doing the right thing by joining him I just wish you would understand" she replied
"So you're going to join him?" he asked
"Yes" she replied firmly
"Fine then we'll tell him tomorrow" Jax said picking up his cup and heading towards the sink
"We?" Catherine asked
"I'm not letting you go on your own on this dangerous mission I couldn't dare face your father's grave if I didn't do my best to protect you" Jax said with a small smile still seething at Chaos inside.