Surprise. I bet you thought you'd seen the last of me.

To be honest I thought I'd seen the last of myself too. I had pretty much abandoned this fic. 5 months without updates. I know it's horrible. I literally had zero time to put into this. Now things are smoother and since I received a new review recently, I see some people are still expecting new chapters. A lot of people following me since the beginning have probably abandoned this fic, and I understand. You can't expect people to follow you with such horrible updates. You guys probably don't even remember what happened up until now XD

It's alright. I take the blame. It's all on me. But here I am again, trying again. I hope I can start this over and keep you interested. I still have so many chapters for this fic. easily 50 chapters. Maybe even more. Some might say it's too much and that I'll never see the end of it. You may be right. But it'S my fic and I do what I want. You're free to stick with me until the end or leave if I'm boring you :)

So here. Let's try this again, shall we? I'll try to make shorter chapters this time, but update more often maybe ^^; this one is very very small and not very well proof-read but I wanted to post it as soon as possible to show you this was not dead :/

Chapter 37 A life for a life

"Get that thing off me!"

Verica squirmed on the chair as she tried to get the bucket away from her stomach, despite the man keeping it firmly in place. The tarou inside was frenetically trying to escape the heat building up inside its prison. His claws scratched rapidly on her skin as if it was dirt, drawing more blood out of her stomach with each stroke, along with a sharper pain.

"You talk and I remove it. It's simple." The assassin replied calmly as he lit another match.

"I can't tell you what I don't know!"

"That's too bad." He let the match fall on the bucket with a smile, watching her expression of fear with an unsettling fascination. Verica did her best to keep the pain from showing but it was getting more and more uncomfortable.

She resisted as long as she could. But when the skin of her stomach was completely shredded and she felt the tarou's claws in her insides, she started screaming in utter panic. The pain grew exponentially from there. It hurt and itch and burn. The sides of her stomach were coated in a thin layer of blood, streaming down from under the bucket. She could feel the creature trying to bury itself in her guts. Tears ran down her face as she sobbed in fear and pain, pleading the man to make it stop. But always he would repeat the same thing. "talk". Well if he wanted her to talk, then she would talk…

"A-alright…" She yelled between sobs, catching the man's attention. "I'll talk! I'll talk! Get it off please!"

"Where is he going?" The assassin asked quickly.

"Juno! He's heading toward Juno!" She had no idea where he was going. But if they wanted her to talk then she would tell them whatever came up to her mind. No matter what she tells them, she just wanted that thing out of her guts.

"Juno? That make sense. Juno is a safe, neutral ground. He knows it's harder for assassins to have it their way in this city. He can move around more safely there..."

The man made a quick gesture to tell his man to remove the creature, which he did. Verica exhaled deeply and shakily in relief, crying even more in happiness. But the pain stayed and as she looked down, the hole in her stomach almost made her throw up. She looked away quickly, feeling dizzy and breathing heavily as tears still fell down her temples.

She didn't have much time to rest before the man assaulted her with other questions.

"Where is he now?"

"I...he's probably... still in the city." She replied, panting."H-his clothes were shredded… he'd… he would have n-needed new ones…."

"Why were you with him?"

"I-I didn't lie to you." She continued, closing her eyes to try to calm down, to no avail. "I did save his life. I asked him to escort me as payment of his dept. I swear it's the truth."

"And where was he escorting you?"

She hesitated a moment. She needed to stay coherent. "Here.. he was escorting me here. I wanted him to escort me further.. but he didn't want to. He… he didn't want to travel with me. He only brought me here because I saved him… and it was on his path anyway…"

The assassin considered her a moment. He seemed to believe her, but he was still suspicious.

"You're not lying to me are you? I'll know if you lie."

"NO! I swear it's the truth! I have no reasons to lie! I'll help you! I'll do whatever you want I'll help you catch him. Please just don't-"

She didn't have time to finish her sentence as the lights suddenly went off. The men all stood up in surprise, weapon ready.

"What now?"

The door opened, another assassin entering the room. Apparently he was guarding the door. "The corridor is dark too. I think the whole inn blacked out."

"Damn it! This is not the time!" The leader cursed.

"I'll go downstair to check wh- Arg!" The man at the door screamed briefly before moaning. They heard his body fall on the floor, unable to see anything in the dark.

"What?" another man screamed and fell with a loud thud. The leader tried to retreat to the door, but it closed before he could reach it. He heard another of his man scream, and another. He stood back against a wall with his dagger in front of him, trying to see in the darkness but in vain. He moved to the window as he heard his last man fall to the floor. He opened the curtains to let the moonlight in and see what the hell was going on.

He saw Verica with her eyes closed, her head turned to the side and her breathing shallow in panic. Then his eyes settled on the assassin cross beside her, his katar buried in the chest of the man under him. The shadow of his sakkat covered his face, but the man already knew who he was…

He used sneak to become invisible and tried to get out by the window. A hand grabbed him by his scarf and threw him on the ground before he could flee. He found himself pinned down to the floor with a blade on his neck before he could do anything.

Verica opened her eyes and looked around, recognizing Meiji immediately.

"You…. you came…" She whispered to herself in disbelief.

Meiji pressed his blade against the man's throat as he spoke. "Trying to catch me?"

"M-Meiji.. I-I… look, we can work this out-"

"I doubt that."

"I-if you let me go I can help you! We can both win in this!"

"I suspect your master wouldn't be pleased to hear that. Who do you work for? Is it my father?"

"N-no… I work for the black family…"

"So you want me dead then. I hope you realize how ridiculous it is for YOU to try to kill me."

"I-I.. I didn't-"

"You wear assassin cross' clothes while you don't have the skills of one. You're just an assassin playing with clothings too big for him. Playing with players too experienced for him too. This whole situation is way beyond you." Meiji said in irritation. He sounded like he was pissed about wasting his time. He got closer to the man's face before continuing. "Did you tell someone I was here?"

"...N-no"

"You hesitated..." Meiji replied, narrowing his eye and tightening his grip on the man.

"I…" the man evaluated the situation quickly and decided it was in his best interest to be honest. "Alright… yes. I told the guild you were here…Anders' on his way…"

Meiji froze for a moment before glaring down at the man. "When did you contact them?"

"W-when you entered the city… He's probably already in Al De Baran now…"

The assassin cross took a deep breath, deep in thoughts as to what to do next considering this new information. The man on the floor squirmed uncomfortably.

"B-but I can help you. I can help you escape…just let me go and I'll help you out."

Meiji looked back at the man for a short moment before replying. "As if I could trust you."

He let the blade of his katar fall on the man's throat, cutting his scream of protest with a disgusting choking sound. Meiji sighed heavily before returning his attention to Verica. Her eyes were fixed on him, full of tears. She didn't even realize that Daniel had cut the binding on her legs. He got up slowly and straightened her chair before untying her hands. But even when she was free, she stayed on the chair, looking up at Meiji in fear and confusion.

"Why… why did you come back for me?"

The assassin looked back at her with his lone exposed eye, hidden in the shadow of his sakkat.

"A life for a life, little monk. It was only fair." He looked down at the blood pouring down her stomach unto her thighs. "You should tend to your wound."

That made Verica jump out of her torpor as she looked down. The sight made the panic rise in her chest again. She brought her shaking hands to the hole quickly, healing herself as best as she could while whispering "oh good god…" and her breathing out of control. Meiji looked toward the window that Daniel was already opening. The small demon looked down and made a sign to Meiji, telling him no one was there.

"Get up, we can't stay here." He said to Verica as he walked to the exit, but upon realizing that she was not coming, walked back to her with a sigh. She was still on the chair trying to heal herself, but not doing a very good job as she had trouble keeping her calm and concentrating. He pulled on her arm impatiently, making her whine in protest, and caught her by the waist to force her out of the room.

He jumped down the window after his demon pet, landing in the back alley as gracefully as he could with the girl panicking in his arm. He didn't waste time and quickly made his way further, but as he turned the corner, he came face to face with what he didn't want to see.

"Long time no see, Meiji."

A group of assassin cross blocked his path. Too many of them. And at the head of the group, a black haired man with a bright smile on his face stood confidently.

Meiji frowned as he let go of Verica, who let herself fall to the ground still holding her stomach and trying to stitch her skin back together. He stepped in front of her as he activated his katar, ignoring the man's earlier attempt at a conversation. His attitude only made the other man laugh.

"Are you really thinking about fighting your way out of this? I'm not like the guy you just killed up there and you know that. Neither are my men. You can't win this. Just surrender now and let me end this. I'll let the girl go if you do, I swear."

"Like I care about that." Meiji replied, not moving from his battle stance.

"Of course you do! You came back to save her! Somehow you must care."

"I came back because it was the honorable thing to do…"

"Right!" The man exclaimed, half laughing." You and your honor… you're probably the only person left in your family who still care about that you know. Well, not that there are many people left in your family anyway."

"I'm not part of this family anymore."

"Oh yes you are…" The man replied quickly as his laughter died, glaring at Meiji and clenching his jaw in irritation. "I wouldn't have to track your fucking ass down all around Rune Midgard if you fucking weren't!" He yelled, pointing his dagger toward Meiji.

"Are you planning on talking me to death Anders? You hate all this as much as I do, so get on with it." Meiji replied, his tone matching the other man's in anger.

"Very well." Anders said, his smile back on his face. "I'll make sure to keep your severed head with me. Maybe your father will want to buy it off me later."

The black-haired man got ready to attack, but before he could move, smoke bombs exploded at his feet and two poison knifes went flying on each side of his head to land on two of his man.

Meiji's eye widened and he quickly looked behind him to see a clothed figure looking back at him. He nodded, recognizing the person. It didn't stay there long before running away toward another alley, inviting Meiji to follow. The assassin cross grabbed Verica and followed, noticing two rogues jumping down the roof behind him to distract the assassins.

Following the mysterious friend through different alleys, they finally arrived at the back of a tavern. They entered the basement quickly, passing by guards who let them in immediately without questions. Verica barely registered what was going on. When she finally had the presence of mind to look up from her wound, she was in a secret place underground, below the tavern. Meiji let go of her and put her against a wall before turning to face the hooded person.

Verica looked around her, seeing only a table with two chairs in the room. Two closed doors, no window. It smelled alcohol and humidity and it took her a moment to really collect her thoughts to realize what had happened…

Their mysterious savior removed her cloak, throwing it in a corner of the room carelessly. A beautiful woman wearing assassin's cross clothes with two swords turned around to face Meiji with a smile, leaning on the table. She had very long burgundy hair tied at the base of her neck, with shorter bangs on the front. The assassin cross suit hugged her like a second skin. For what little fabric there was, she could have been wearing nothing at all it wouldn't have done a big difference...

"That was very careless of you, Meiji."

Verica froze when she heard her spoke. She recognized that voice. From a very long time ago, in prontera forest. And as she looked at the assassin, she recognized her yellow eyes as well…

Now. I realize some of you are thinking "where the hell is this story going this is not even about monks anymore :(" It's true we're going away from the main plot line for a while. But this is how I wanted to do it since the beginning and it's all going to come back together in the end. You could see this as… another story inside the one we already have. Because obviously mister assassin is going to stick with us and is important. So…. I hope you can get attached to him like you were attached to other characters. I really hope you'll appreciate where I'm going, even if it might be confusing or even disappointing. But anyway… thanks for coming back.