"What was their answer?" the master demanded to know, when he stood before him to report his mission.
"They were eager to join you." He replied simply, thinking it was the easiest task he was ever given.
"I'm glad to hear you handled your mission well," his voice was pleased, "Kotake and Koume are important alleys. I've known them since my youth; in fact, they even taught me much of what I know now." A sense of nostalgia was carried with his voice.
"There's one thing," Dark cut into the reminiscent moment, "I took the liberty to ask if they could recommend on other powerful sorcerers," he said hesitantly, examining his master's expression. "Unfortunately, most of the elders abstain of this kind of conflicts. But there was one particular girl they insisted you consider."
The master watched him with blank expression, pondering, "I appreciate your initiative, Dark, you rose above my expectations." He complimented in a warm voice, and Dark felt like he could breathe again. "Who is that girl?"
"Her name is Arien; they said she was quite famous for her abilities." He replied shortly.
"A peculiar name, it does ring familiar. I've heard of someone by that name who researched the dark spells." He rubbed his temples thoughtfully, eyes narrowed.
"It is probably her," Dark confirmed, "She was said to be practicing research of ancient spells, among others."
"Well, since we know very little of her, I would like you to sniff around, see what you can learn of her, stalk her if it's necessary." His master ordered, "But before you do that, I have a real challenge for you." He said cunningly, and a tight smile twisted his face, "An assassination."
Dark nodded, attentive, recalling Nabooru's guess, "Xino will give you more details. Meet him the western tower."
He headed towards the tower, walking through the dim corridors of the castle, drowning in his thoughts. Things seemed to become more interesting lately, and soon he would have plenty of opportunities to see the outside world; he was fascinated by the different cultures and people. Many things kept bothering him, thoughts that once cost him painful price if he dealt with them for too long, forbidden thoughts. But as time progressed he learnt how to mused over these prohibited matters without being punished, as if he was hiding those thought from his own self, the secret to it was to convince himself he shouldn't feel guilty for it. He understood awhile ago that guilt was the source of his pain.
He was too lost in thoughts to notice their grating voices before, and now it was too late to take a turn and lose them; a few officers were heading in his direction, and he wished to avoid them. He was treated respectfully and fearfully by the lower ranked soldiers, but the superior officers seemed to give him a hard time; he pressed himself inside a dark corner, and wished to merge into the shadows. Surprisingly it worked, they passed him without noticing; he waited long enough to be safe and then slid out of his hiding, appearing again in the corridor.
"How did you do that?" a familiar voice cried out. He looked back to see Xino, who probably came around looking for him.
"Did what?" he asked innocently, shrugging his shoulders.
"You just appeared in the corridor, I couldn't see a trace of living soul a second before, and I was standing right here." He exclaimed, walking to Dark and touching his arm, as if to check that he was real.
"I'm not exactly sure…" he hesitated, wondering what had happened.
"You better figure it out soon, this is one handy skill, especially for your next mission." He said, rubbing his together excitedly, "Let's get some privacy first." He led him to a small, hidden room, and shut the door behind him. "We need you to assassinate the queen." He said in a low voice.
Dark leaned back in his chair, exhaling heavily.
I know it's kinda short, but as usual another chapter will be published tomorrow.
Or maybe even today, if my mood is cheerful.