Author's Note: Here's another installment of Betrayal: An Assassin's Tale. Hope you like it!
-Chapter III-
Zan was burying Silent in the sands of Alberta's beach. The air was getting cooler and cooler, as the sun sank deeper and deeper into the abyss, thus making the world of Midgard darker and darker.
"Brrr……..Zan! What time is it?" Silent mumbled, as the sand was getting in his mouth. Only his head was exposed as Zan had buried his whole body.
"Ahh…..let's see…….7:23"
"Hm…..I guess it's time for us to go…….time sure flies when you're having fun!"
They looked around the beach, and saw no one. They were the only ones on the beach. Zan dug Silent out, they both covered themselves in towels, and headed towards the inn. As they were both covered in sand, they took a cool, refreshing shower to remove all the sand from their bodies. Silent went first, and as he was taking a bath, Zan looked out the window. He could see the residents of Alberta drinking, gambling, typical night life. A glisten in the darkest parts of Alberta bothered him. Then another one on the opposite side. Apparently, they were people sending messages to each other in the form of blinking lights, something like Morse code. Finally, Silent stepped out of the shower. It was Zan's turn.
"Don't make the water too cold! You'll freeze to death!"
Zan just chuckled, and said "Alright"
Zan was taking his shower, thinking of those lights he had seen earlier, when Silent shouted to him "I'll just have dinner! I'll be at Rochelle's!!"
"I'll follow! You go on ahead!"
"What should I order for you?"
"Hmm……I think I'll just have crab!"
"Ok!"
Silent left the inn and walked down the streets. It was actually noisy, not like the days of 10 years ago when everyone would be asleep at this time. It was now 9:00. People were gambling and drinking, among other things. He was walking down the streets full of life, and saw Rochelle's, when a drunken old man approached him, put his left arm on his shoulder and said, "Have a drink!"
"No thanks" Silent said, disgusted, removing the man's arm from his shoulder
"Why not!?"
"Because!"
The man forcibly made Silent drink the beer. Unsuccessful. And that was the last thing the man ever did. Silent grabbed the bottle before it hit his mouth, and rammed it at the man's chest, it broke. What was left of the bottle was the bottom, the edges were very sharp. With that part of the bottle, he rammed it unto the man's forehead, killing him. Silent was panting. He looked around. Everyone was looking at him in both astonishment, and fear. He took a step, the party in front of him moved away from his path, he walked towards the restaurant, while all eyes were on him.
Zan looked outside, bothered by all the commotion. He saw Silent walking down towards Rochelle's, and all the people eyeing him fearfully.
"Is this what Silent's nature really is?" he thought to himself as he got dressed and headed towards their meeting place.
Silent had already finished ordering when Zan had found him and sat down on the same table.
"Did you cause all that commotion?" he asked, mysteriously
"Yeahhh…..stupid old man! I hate beer! Why did he have to make me drink it?? Serves him right!"
Zan had a mixture of emotions as shown on his face. His mouth showed that he was agreeing with him, but at the same time, his eyes showed disappointment. They heard screams from the village. The assassins have arrived. Silent grabbed Zan's hand and ran towards the exit, when the waitress called out to them. She took off her uniform, revealing that she was actually an acolyte.
"This way!"
"Why should we go there?" Zan questioned the acolyte.
"To save you from the assassins. Quickly! Follow me!" and they did. She led them to a dark tunnel. With a clap of her fingers, a blue flame circled around her.
"Quickly! We must run!" they ran towards an intersection, with tree choices, forward, left or right.
"Where now?"
"Right! Hurry!" they ran towards the right, while hearing the cries of many from up above.
"Should we really have left them up there?" Silent suddenly said as they sat down for a rest.
"I know that was wrong, but trust me. YOU must be saved!"
"I can take care of myself you know!"
"You've already betrayed two of your friends! Decipher, and an assassin in your clan!"
"H-How did you know about that!?"
"Never mind that now!"
The assassins were searching for Silent drastically. Their "Lady Dy Phawn" must get the Eye of Dullahan for a reason they did not know. They killed everyone in their path, women and children included. When they were done, the whole city of Alberta was dead, quiet as ever. But they had not yet seen the assassin cross, Silent Storm.
"Captain! We have not yet found Silent!"
"Shoot! Search for a possible way out for him, and explore it! Move! Move! Move!" and once again, the assassins split in different directions. They searched everywhere, the inn, the armory, the merchant guild, everywhere. Nothing. Nothing at all. Sevi even had to blast the inn to show Faquir there was no possible way out from there. Suddenly, one of them shouted
"Over here! There's a tunnel! Quickly!" they all ran towards that tunnel, and explored it. Silent and his party heard there shouts and quickly ran. The acolyte clapping her hands once again so that a light would guide them. They ran towards the end of the tunnel where they saw a light from above and a ladder.
"Ladies first." Zan said to the acolyte. She touched the ladder, it was cold. Nevertheless, she climbed it. Zan and Silent followed. Silent being the last to ward off any assassins that might have caught them. When they got out of the tunnel, they looked around. It was quiet. A freezing breeze went around the land, and a eerie mist covered the land. They looked around some more. Buildings. In a Japanese style.
"We're in Payon?" the acolyte asked.
"It seems that way." Zan replied.
"Let's go. No one would take us in at this time. Zan and I will gather logs for a fire, but you………..by the way, what IS your name?" Silent said
"Oh, it's Faerore."
"Right, anyway, Faerore, you just stay here, while we set up camp."
"Alright!" the two guys searched for logs, using Zan's sight skill as a flashlight, and as something to keep them warm. They found enough logs and brought it to where Faerore was, then laying them on the ground in the way logs are supposed to be set when making a bonfire. Zan conjured a fireball, and set it gently on the logs, creating a bonfire. The three sat closer to the fire, warming themselves, as they exchanged stories.
"Silent, are you, like, a nomad or something?" Faerore kindly asked
"Sort of. I travel from town to town as a fugitive to hide from the gypsy, Dy Phawn."
"Why are you hiding from her?"
"Back at the assassin temple, she gave me a request: to assassinate my childhood friend, Decipher. I did it, although I was under the influence of her mesmerization. She told me to bring back the Eye of Dullahan after I had killed him. I didn't. I just ran away from Decipher's corpse and never went back to the temple."
"What a tragic tale." Zan noticed something happening between the two of them. They were looking at each other straight in the eye. Then it hit him. A relationship was starting. He decided not to get in their way.
"Um……I'll just turn in now." He said to the two of them.
"Ok. Good night!" Faerore said to Zan.
"Oh, uhh…..Silent? I have something to tell you."
"Hm?"
"I'm not actually an acolyte."
"But you're wearing the clothes of one!" She stood up. And chanted
"Goddess Freya, with your permission, I shall reveal my true form to these two: Silent Storm and Zan. I am Faerore, the oracle of the goddess Freya."
Her clothes changed from the normal acolyte's into a high priestess' attire. Silent jumped back, surprised.
"Whoa!"
"I know, I know, shocking. Zan I know you saw this. There's nothing more to see…..go back to bed."
"Hehe….." and Zan instantly fell asleep.
"W-Well….I think it's time for you to go to sleep. I'll keep watch for the night. You have a good night's sleep."
"A-Are you sure?"
"Absolutely."
"Ok then. Good night." And she kissed him on the lip. Silent blushed. She went to bed, and Silent soon found himself being rocked to bed by the cool, gentle breeze and the swaying of the trees. But no, he could not, as he had promised Faerore. He looked at her. She looked like she was about to freeze from death, and for the first time ever, he felt love for another person. He took off his shirt, even though he would be freezing himself, and put it on top of Faerore, to use as a blanket. She opened one eye and saw what he had done for her. She was so happy. Time was passing by, and Silent was freezing. He went closer and close to the fire with every second until such a time that he was only an inch away from the flames.
"brrr……….." he checked the time using Zan's watch on his wrist. 3:47 am. He was very, very sleepy now. He couldn't resist, and he did. He dropped to the ground, and fell asleep. A blast of wind killed the fire.
- 6,000 years ago-
A war had broke out between the kingdoms of Morocc and Prontera. Now was the day before the final battle of the Pronteran Knights against the Moroccian Assassins. It was night. Loki was pacing the temple floor, not knowing what to do.
"We will just slaughter thy souls of thy Pronterans."
"My Lord, thou wouldst not only bring in Knights, but Wizards and Priests as well"
"Dost thou have any other plan?"
"I haveth an idea!" an assassin from behind said
"Hm?"
"Why don't we use thy offense as OUR offense?"
"What dost thou mean?"
"Like for example, a Knight with a peco is going to ram you, evade it at the last moment so that thy cannot react quick enough and thy hits the wall…..that is the time when thou shall slaughter him!"
"Good! Very good! Ok! We will follow thy plan!" and the whole clan cheered in excitement. The assassins turned in for the night. None of them could sleep well as tomorrow was the final battle; the winner drives the loser into the depths of the dessert, to starve and grow thirsty and eventually die. Several hours passed. It was now time for the final showdown. The assassins ran towards the fields of Prontera and into Prontera itself. No knights in sight.
"Captain! I don't see any knights!"
"I know that! Go ask one of thy locals! Quickly!"
"Yes sire!" that particular assassin ran off into the distance, and found a young man, who probably had the age of 17.
"Where art thou Knights!?"
"I-I don't know." The assassin drew his katar and showed it to the guy, threatening to slice him up.
"I asketh again, WHERE ART THOU KNIGHTS!?"
"Okay, okay, they're at Mt. Mjolnir." The assassin pointed his katar at the guy, about to stab him, but he stopped when the guy said:
"But I told thou where thy were!"
"So?"
"S-So thou wouldn't kill me!"
"When didst we make that arrangement!?" and he stabbed the guy in the head, then the body, and threw his corpse aside. He ran back to Loki and reported everything.
"Alright! Everyone! To Mjolnir!" they all ran in such a speed that the space each of them occupied a while ago was now air. After a few minutes, they arrived, and saw the knights there, laughing at them.
"Thou was actually smart enough to find us!" one of the wizards sneered
"Wow! Thou assassins are advancing quickly! What age art thou in now? Thy stone age?" a priest exclaimed, laughing so hard.
"Hmph! How arrogant! Dost thou knoweth what time it is?" Loki asked.
"Umm…..8:32 pm" one of the wizards replied. Loki and the others disappeared and reappeared at the back of the enemies.
"8:32's the time thou dies!" and stabbed one of the knight in the back with such force that the blood spat out unto Loki's body. He didn't care. He moved on to another one, slaughtering them all. The wizards and priests could just watch there, in awe and fear. All the knights have been killed in a matter of seconds. There was no one left to protect these wizards and priests.
"So………..WHO was in thy stone age?" and the assassins slaughtered the wizards and priests one by one. They heard footsteps. Reinforcements. This time they had sent paladins, lord knights, high priests, professors and the such…..even King Tristran the first himself was there! The assassins targeted numerous enemies. But each time, a paladin would always use devotion, then heal himself. Useless.
"Argh!"
"Not so powerfuleth now are we?" his majesty said. And drew a sword that stabbed an assassin about to hit him from behind.
"Attacketh!!!!!" and with this, the paladins and everyone else moved forward to attack the assassins. The professors burnt the souls of the assassins, while the paladins killed them with the might of their swords. And if that wasn't enough, the high wizards were casting Lord of Vermillion, Meteor Storm and Storm Gust while the others engaged in hand-to-hand combat. The assassins had a new strategy: kill the wizards first. And they did. They did it in such a way that the paladins thought they were being targeted. After a while, the high wizards were disposed of. The sky turned darker and darker with each lost soul. Their next targets were the high priests, then the professors and finally, the paladins, the backbone of this whole assault. Many assassins died while killing the paladins. Soon it was a final showdown between His Majesty and Loki.
"Why, if it isn't thy very first king to fight thy own battles! How surprising!" Loki arrogantly said
"Shut upeth! Just….just die already! Right now!" His Majesty drew out the royal sword, Bazerald, and attempted to stab Loki. He was too quick, and dodged it, jumping overhead the king, and as he did, stabbed him in the shoulder. He dropped to the ground. Dead. The king of Prontera was dead, and the moroccians were suppose to drive away the pronterans when……
"My lovelies! Erm…..lovely!" a voice from the heavens shouted
"……." A whole in one of the clouds appeared, light passing through it, and from this blinding light came a woman.
"Loki, I art thy goddess Freya!" the woman said
"What dost thou want!?"
"I wanteth to test thy inner strength. Go on! Slaughter me!" Loki quickly reappeared behind Freya, even though she could still see him right in front of her.
"A Hallucination? How typical!" she dodged the move right in time, and Loki missed, obviously. She conjured a fireball in between her hands and hurled it at him. He dodged it as well.
"Dost thou thinketh this is a game of dodging!?" Loki shouted
"Thou art so arrogant….even whilst fighting against a goddess!" she replied.
Loki hurled a purple wave straight at her. He hit a goddess. Still, not much damage, she was just shocked that she, a goddess, got hit. Loki took this opportunity and stabbed her in the stomach.
"Urk!" was all she could say, but then
"Hmhmmm…….thou art really powerful!" and she healed her wounds almost instantly
"I now appoint thee, Loki, with my authority as thee goddess Freya, as the Lord of Death!" and she conjured a black hole from beneath him, and the hands of those he had slaughtered grabbed him and pulled him downwards, into the abyss below. Freya waved goodbye, saying "Buh-bye"
"Thou art a bastard!" and that was Loki's last words as his whole body disappeared from sight.
-The Present-
Silent woke up, surprised to see Faerore already up, made breakfast, and was already eating. Zan, as usual, was still asleep. Scratching his head, Silent said
"What's for breakfast?"
"Well, there's bacon, eggs and bread." Silent grabbed a plate and got some food. Faerore remembered his shirt as Silent was half-dressed: topless.
"Oh, yeah, umm…..right, here's your shirt. Thanks for letting me use it." And she gave it to him, blushing.
"T-Thank you" and he blushed as well. He put on his shirt, and then the two of them stared at each other for around a minute, then finally started to eat. While eating, Silent asked Faerore
"Say, do you know who Loki is?" Faerore dropped her sandwich, shocked.
"I-I'm sorry…but did I h-hear you right? L-Loki?" she nervously said
"Yes." She looked at Zan. He was still asleep, so she started telling Silent everything she knew about Loki
"Loki, the assassin who killed King Tristran I in a gruesome war between Morocc and Prontera is, umm……..well……now he's the lord of death, ruler of Niflheim."
"I though Hel was the queen of the underworld"
"You really believe that crap??" and she just giggled. Zan woke up because of the noise the two were making, squinting his eyes, he stood up, sat on the table and ate. As he was, he asked
"So……where're we going today?"
"I really don't know. Maybe Payon?" Silent replied
"No, we can't." Faerore butted in, right after she swallowed her food.
"I sense an evil in the region of Morocc."
"Morocc!? We can't go there! The assassins are there!" Silent stood up and shouted
"No, relax, we'll stay far away from their temple. It's the sphinx I'm referring to."
"Silent sat down, calming himself down."
"After that, we should go to Ayotaya, where I will show you the importance of life"
"haaa…..Ayotaya" the two guys said in chorus. Silent looked at the sky, Faerore watching his gazing in to the sky.
"The sky….it has a such calming effect on me. Look at the clouds. They are constantly moving from place to place, never tiring, and nothing obstructing their path." He gazed deep into the sky, Faerore and Zan looking strangely at him
"I want to be a cloud: an Adventurer"
"Riiiiiiight…….." Zan sarcastically said. They packed up their stuff after breakfast, and wandered around the forests for a while and saw a clearing. There it was. The dessert. A region of a thousand tales to tell. Silent was back here in this accursed place. Back to his roots. Back to the days…..of killing.
-End of Chapter 3-
Author's Note: back to morocc, as an author of another RO fanfic would say, the "jewel of the dessert". I hope y'all liked the first chapter, 'cause if you did, you'll love the next. Till next time!
-Lord Decipher