Chapter Three: The Worm Turns
A month must've passed and I was better now, stronger. I still thought about Kane everyday, but I found something occupying my thoughts more and more as time went on, the bastards that did this to us. Their faces would often haunt me, floating across my vision, their expressions as they stood above me and watched me. Yes, it was these things that seemed to occupy my thoughts now.
I had recurring dreams in which I could see the blood dripping from Darum's Katar's, the blood plastered over Hinata's body. I could see things I didn't see then, the blood on Alexander's chin, the tear on Lillith's clothes. I relived that night over and over in my dreams, and each night, my anger intensified, my hatred towards the scum that ruined my life grew stronger. I was starting to find it harder and harder to sustain this anger, my personality changing to adapt it. I was getting snappy and unsympathetic, even to the point of laughing cruelly at a female merchant who dropped all the apples from her cart.
I guess the final straw was when I eventually saw Alexander. I was walking through Prontera again, heading towards the fountain. I'd taken up to spending most of my afternoons at Prontera fountain and watching the merchants argue over prices, I found it quite amusing. On my walk, I passed a group of people wearing patches on their outfits signifying they were part of a guild. The patch was blue and was the point of a bloodstained Sword shattering a Cross. I knew of this guilds reputation, they were supposedly ruthless. They were known as the Advocate. I glanced for a while before continuing my walk towards the fountain.
Later, while I sat eating an apple and stared into the fountain, I pondered upon a way to control my temper when I heard immense cheering and laughter coming from one of the side streets. I tried to ignore it, thinking someone had just bought something valuable or became a new class, but, as the cheering grew louder and closer, it interrupted my thought pattern. I turned to shout at them to keep the noise down when I dropped my apple; there he was, in all his glory, Alexander.
He looked exactly the same, his Crusader outfit gleaming in the sunlight with a large Advocate badge imprinted on the left shoulder signifying he was the leader of the guild. I stared in disbelief at how happy he seemed. He was chatting and laughing and joking with one of his friends, nudging them in the direction of a female Knight in the group. He turned to a Huntress beside him and put his arm around her, pulling her closely.
I stared at the pair, it was obviously his girlfriend. She snuggled closely against him and continued to walk with him, leaning against his heavy armor. She was stunning, long white hair falling wildly around her shoulders, beautiful tanned skin and long legs. She smiled at him as they turned a corner and left cheering.
I don't know what Alexander would've done if he had saw me, but I thank god he didn't because seeing him was enough to make me realize how the shift of balance had moved. Alexander and the others were happily living their lives as if nothing had happened, where as I had suffered and Kane had died.
I stood up, leaving my stuff on the floor and began to walk back to my room, 'I couldn't let this happen' I thought. There were loud protests behind me about littering the area to which I replied by turning around, snarling 'Shut Up' and giving them the finger before continuing on my walk back to the room.
I couldn't believe the lack of remorse they were showing. I bit my lip in rage, all the anger I had built up finally bubbling over the surface. I stormed into my room, grabbing my Staff and heading back out into the streets. I ran back down the street, passing the fountain and pushing past merchants and shoppers, hunting for the guild, hunting for Alexander, but he was nowhere to be seen. I continued to run through the streets, the blood pumping through my veins and my adrenaline coursing through my body. I searched everywhere I could think of, inside the Inn, inside the shops, by the Sanctuary, even by the Knight guild, but to no avail. They were gone.
Hours later, I lay slumped on my bed, sighing, my anger now under control. As I thought over what I had done, I realized that it would've been foolish to attack Alexander in broad daylight anyways. I would've been arrested, not to mention all Alexander's guild mates were there. I continued to muse, remembering that out of all six of us in the party, Alexander was the strongest.
'Still, that doesn't stop me getting my revenge, does it?' I questioned myself. 'Hell no.' was my answer. I smiled cruelly and pulled out some parchment and a pencil, I wrote down the names of my four ex-party members across the top and then proceeded to write their names in larger writing down the center, starting with the weakest to strongest. "Darum, Hinata, Lillith and Alexander" the list read. I smiled at the list, yes, this will do perfectly. I looked at my Staff; it was getting old now. "I'll upgrade that tomorrow." I thought.
That night, the same dream occurred, this time instead of their faces haunting me, their faces slowly faded and all I could hear were the whimper of their voices.
The next morning, I awoke and wiped the sleep out of my eyes. I washed as quickly as I could; I wanted to miss the queue for the Blacksmith. I got dressed, my black sage outfit freshly washed from the previous evening. I grabbed my Staff, locked my door and headed down to the Kafra.
The morning was fresh and there weren't many merchants around. The birds sung sweetly in the trees and smoke poured gently from the chimneys of homes. I walked to the Kafra, who was yawning and straightening her outfit, her blue hair newly cut.
"Good morning," she said, rubbing her eyes. "How can I help you?"
I handed her my Storage Card and asked to remove five Elunium. She smiled and checked the information before promptly handing me over my five Elunium and my Storage card.
"Come again." She smiled.
I walked through Prontera, my head still dizzy as thoughts poured into my head from yesterday. I couldn't think where to begin. Darum was my first target and I had no idea where to find him. I finally decided I'd pay for a Kafra to warp me back to Comodo and I'd check there, if I asked around I could maybe get some clues.
The blacksmith's workshop was open, the double-doors opened wide so that air could circulate. There were a few people inside, a Dancer, an Archer and a Knight. I walked up to the counter and a counter and waited patiently, large sounds of metal connecting with metal filling the room. I handed over my Staff and Elunium and was told to come back within the hour. "I'll come back," I thought, "if it's the last thing I'll do, I'll come back". My mind wandered to those four sons of bitches that did this to me. "You won't know what will have hit you when I come back."
A few hours later, I stood before the Kafra, the sun spilling its rays onto my creamy skin and handed over the zeny. I'd cleared out my room, thrown everything in storage, I was ready to get my own back, make them pay for what they did to me. I licked my lower lip in anticipation and felt the familiar feel as the floor was swept from beneath me soon to be replaced by the sandy streets of Comodo, hopefully, soon to be replaced by the bloody streets of Comodo.
Dusk was starting to fall as I began to wander around the streets of Comodo, passing group after group of drunken knights who would be taunting a dancer or priest, none of who knew of an Assassin named Darum. I wandered into the Casino's and asked around, but still, not anyone had seen him. Any chances of hope were starting to fade away.
I sat on a wall and sighed, it sounded strange that I was on a path for revenge, I sounded like some crazy boy who was heartbroken over his partner's death and now wanted revenge just for the sake of it. As stupid as it may sound, part of me felt like that, but the other part, the dominating part of my body, was overruling me and I felt the chilly iciness in my stomach indicating that revenge is what I wanted, what I needed. How dare they live happy lives while my man was six feet under and I barely had the drive to get up in the morning? Sure, punishing the guilty wasn't my job, but at least I get the satisfaction of doing it.
My search was fruitless, even the Kafra hadn't seen him, however, this did give me hope, Darum refused to walk, he made us travel almost everywhere by Kafra, which means he was still in Comodo. I decided to wait until morning and search the market, right now, I was going to go book myself up in the Inn again, this time, I choose a different one, I didn't want to be seen by people who could recognize me.
I walked into the inn and headed to the bar, the sun finally giving up hope and setting behind me. I waited patiently for the barman and I leaned on the bar, using my elbow as support. There was a loud squeal behind me and my frustration bubbled over, I turned to confront the culprit when my mouth dropped open. Standing a few feet ahead of me was Darum, he was surrounded by a few dancers, one of which being the culprit of the scream.
He lifted his gaze and it caught mine, the connection like static electricity through the air. He excused himself and walked over to me, smiling broadly. "Hello squirt," he said, his deep voice almost commanding. He reached out and put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it gently. I glared up at him, my heartbeat racing. I shrugged his arm off me. "How are ya doing?" he asked cockily. I didn't answer and the silence between us was growing larger, almost impossible to ignore yet he remained smiling.
"What can I get you?" interrupted the barman.
I wet my lips, my mouth dry from rage. "Water" I replied.
"I'll get that," Darum said to the barman.
I stared at Darum in shock, is he really pretending nothing has happened? The barman placed the water on the bar, which Darum passed to me.
"Hey squirt, once you've finished your water you can come over and spend some time with me. I think I could set you up with someone, about time you got laid." Darum winked at me, squeezing my shoulder affectionately, myself visibly flinching under his touch. Darum turned on his heel and walked back over to the three dancers who were delighted to see him return. I held my water in my hand, my knuckles white with rage, completely in shock.