The Assassin's Way

part 5 Meet a Dead Man

"If the Porcupine were a little smarter, it wouldnt need all those needles"

-Princess Fang

CIA Sacermento headquarters

4 June 0600 local time

The door to the office opened "We got a problem"

The Director set his folder he was reading down on his desk "Do tell"

The agent set a file on the desk. "Oslo report. Couldnt find anything in the Records or APF. But there's more" The agent motioned to the TV which came on showing a news report of a bus getting bomed and a nearby casino staff found dead. "CCTV picked up two groups of people."

The screen then highlighted a woman, Sazhori, moving through the crowd with speed seconds before the bus went up. Then a six wheel drive troop transport normally used for water landings pulling into view and three people getting out, two men and a woman.

The agent paused the video and focused on the image of the three "This man matches one in our pold APF storage. Agent Scorpion, the woman with him was one of the targets of thhe Cleaner, Davies,... we found his body. He was shot in the back of the head, execiution style." The agent set the last paper on the desk, "It was the targets last bullet. There was no sign of the targets body"

"Anything else ?" The director asked as he stood from his desk and went to the nearby coffee maker and poured himself a cup of coffee

"Well there's reports out of Sacremento Airport of dead bodies in the rental car parking lot..." The agent began

"Get a low level agent on that, tie it up nice and tight" the Director said. "Do we have CCTV of the bodies location ?"

"uh... yeah, the others are pulling it up now." The Agent said

"Anything from Agent Key ?" The Director gave the agent a look,

"Nothing yet other then a Off Duty notice for the next five days for a funeral" The Agent replied

"Good have Agent Hornigold go to Crescent City find Agent Key and speak with her only, we need her input on this." The Director said. When the man failed to leave the Director looked at him, "Something else ?"

"Yeah, the Agent in command of Gilja is here, was told to speak to you" Agent Dodge said.

"Send him in"

Marcus didn't need to hear anything else, and entered without being motioned to do so. "Director." He greeted, shaking the man's hand before taking a seat. "What do you want?" he asked, in a curt, yet respectful tone all the same.

The Director offered Marcus a coffee then after shaking the mans hand, also sat down behind his desk."A few things. Langley sent you to me, and I have questions of why. According to our APF one of our agents have resurfaced. the attack on Gilja, you. You're the only one that we can speak to as the rest of your team is in the ICU or in surgery." The Director brought up two images, one of Mark with Serenity, the other of Mark and Vivian by a burning bus taken the day before "Our files have let us ID this man, Agent Scorpion, stationed in Cairo, the woman with him we cant identifiy in either shot. Can you ?"

Marcus took the pictures in stridfe, the first, of Mark and Serenity entering the Gilja base, he nodded. setting the picture on the desk "Yeah. they raided Gilja, made off with a prisoner. Langley said to bury it, mission never happened"

"Do you know them ?"

"Yeah, he and I, the guy in the picture, we fought. Its why I'm the only one able to do the mission debrief"

"And the woman ?"

"She was there, but I have yet to see her in action. the other woman." Marcus tapped the photo of Mark and Vivian, "Never seen her before"

"Do you know their names ?"

"Maybe I do, maybe I dont"

"Maybe you do, maybe you dont ? I do not follow your logic."

Marcus smirked, "Best you dont try to."

The Director smirked "Alright, I'll play along. Keep your secrets. YThere's an opening, command post, one a ACR 14. The commander was on shore leave when he was found dead in his room, pacemaker stopped his ticker. On the list of replacements, yours was at the top."

"Give me a day"

"See you tomorrow"

Crescent City

Big Residence field

At that same moment

Mark sat leaning back against a tree, his hood up, his chin down, and his gun in his hand. Staring blindly at the dirt beneath him, he was still. A bird landed on his shoulder, then flew off, and still, he was unmoving. Another life. Gone. A life under his command, under his protection. Extinguished. The Muscles in his fingers twitched, and his grip around his gun tightened.

Looking up, he saw the face of the man who killed Viv. Pointing his gun at it, he fired. Again. Again. Another. Again. More. Five more times. Pause. His hand was deathly still. The barrel was steaming.

A soft breeze passed by, leaves scattered along the dirt, the smoke was whisked away.

Slowly, the muscles and tendons twitched, the nerve impulses were slow and smooth, and ever so gently, the barrel of the gun came to sit against his temple. It'd be so easy. One twitch. Gone. Off to join his comrades. Templars, non existant. Assassin's, not a problem. The Clan, reunited. The World, what it should be. So simple. Too simple. The gun fell to the ground and his head dropped, chin to his chest as he stared at the dirt.

Nothing.

He felt nothing. Not anger, not fear, not sorrow nor agony, not remorse or regret. Nothing. He couldn't smell the dirt and the pollen in the air as the breeze rushed by. He couldn't hear the birds singing in the trees now that his gunshots were done. He couldn't see the dirt in front of him, he couldn't feel the tree at his back.

There was nothing. He was nothing.

He blinked, and a tear fell to the ground. Startled, he blinked again, and another tear fell, this time from the other eye. The pain all rushed back to him now, welled up in his throat while his chest was tight and his eyes burned. He hugged his knees to his chest and cried. Sobbed silently where no one would hear him, where no one would see him. Where no one would care. He was exhausted and hungry. He was angry yet in anguish. He was everything, and yet nothing.

He was broken, and it would take a long time to put him back together.

After a solid hour of sobbing in the wildnerss two miles from the house he was calling his home for the moment, he grabbed his gun, and holstered it, flipping the saftey on, and stood. With a hand, shaking like a dying leaf, he opened a transport array to his room in the house, and stepped through, immediately collapsing on his bed.

He'd need his sleep.

"That's it then?" Kalda stood over Mark's bed. Mark didn't respond. "Almost kill yourself and then lay here like a child?" again, no response. "Look, I may not know what you're going through, but sitting here isn't going to help you." Nothing. "People are out there suffering, starving and being tortured and raped, and you're sitting here, moping because someone else died under your command." Again, Nothing. "One day you'll realize how Childish this is, and what you are sinking to." Kalda growled, vanishing without another word. Mark moved then, but only to kick off his boots, the heavy thuds of the steel-toes hitting the ground reassuring him that he was somewhere safe. Grabbing the sheets and blankets of his bed, he slithered underneath, and with his hood still up, slept.

Two hours later

0800 hours Crescent City local time

"Is that boy still asleep ?" Ruthie asked whiel she cooked breakfast in the kitchen. She had welcomed Sazhori in to the house right off the bat when she first arrived. The Raven nodded simply at the question. "Alright, take this up to him" Ruthie handed Sazhori a tray filled with food. With it was a note

Sazhori knocked on Marks door once it was pointed out to her, Ruthie was a nice woman and offered to let her use the shooting range in the basement to practise her knife throwing as the elder woman watched the raven use a feather to help chop and cook meat for breakfast. Nobody had seen Mark since he took Roys car for a spin and let it taste the pavement under its wheels after so many years.

She set the tray on the dresser and went to the bed, the mess of blankets normalyl told most people to stay away a man was sleeping. She saw his feet and went to work. A snap of the fingers numbed first one then the other leg before nailing him dead in the heart to wake him up. "Wake up sleeping beauty!" Mark reacted swinging his fists madly, she easily ducked out of the way and grabbed one of them, for a woman so frail and thin Sazhori was strong as fuck

Sazhori held his fist tight and unmoving as Mark focused on her, she saw two things, pain, and extreme anger in his eyes. "Calm down, wake up. Think. Is this what she would have wanted ?" She, meaning Elsa, would she have Mark to be a wreck like this ?

The mention of Elsa stopped him for a moment, his eyes looking down before he only grunted, forcing past her strong arms and grabbing her under the armpits, lifting her and then tossing her across the room before dropping to a knee, panting. He was silent for a moment, a feeling of dread filling the room. Seems Sazhori touched a nerve she would have been better off leaving alone. Mark turned his head towards her, the rage still in his eyes, now silver with Draconian slits for pupils. His mouth opened, and in a deep, gutteral, growling voice, he uttered a single word in Draconian.

"Jaseve"

"Leave" he repeated, his normal human voice booming as he stood and faced her, fists clenched tightly enough for the knuckles to crack by themselves. He was still for a while after saying that, before looking towards the nightstand, the food waiting for him.

The note was something Sazhori couldnt read, She wasnt exepcting him to get out of the numbing novements so quickly, maybe she should have aimed for the neck instead of the legs directly ? Nah that'd render him dead. When he picked her up, she was surprisingly light, as a feather actually as she slammed into a wall with a soft smack before easily landing on the floor in a heap of feathers.

In the darkness of the room Mark couldnt see the loose feathers regrow onto the womans shoulders and arms as she got to her feet softly. His eyes went to the note with the breakfast, english muffins, waffles, a ferw pancakes with maple syrup, what had to have been something akin to BBQ sauce in smell but was actually honey mixed with cinnamon and a note. A plain gray paper. written in Assassin Code iMeet at Crescent City Library, Bring Her as it concerns her too. - Ruthie"

When he spoke to her Sazhori smirked, knowing Draconian thanks to Light's blessing she said simply "Thric" meaning no with a shake of her head. "You need breakfast, after the drive yeterday you left to the fields, now you're here in bed asleep. You look an absolute damn wreck."

Mark took a bite and swallowed. "The car's in good shape. That's all that matters." he said with a hoarse voice. "Now shoo. I need to eat..." he said, He looked at the note and grunted in acknowledgement. "Actually..." He crumpled the note, figuring that "Her" meant Sazhori. "Get ready to head out, meet me in the barn by the car. I'll be out in ten minutes. Oh and, bring your library card." he said as he then began to scarf down the food in front of him. He had something to do now, something to take his mind off of the fact that he hated himself for every mistake he ever did.

Within ten minutes he'd eaten, brushed his teeth, combed back his hair, washed his face used the bathroom, reloaded the magazines of his Desert Eagle, contemplated shooting himself in the face at least five times, put his boots on, almost cried, chugged his milk, combed his hair again before tying it back, stared at himself in the mirror, fixed his jacket, contemplated shooting himself in the foot just so he didn't have to do anything, holstered his gun, wrote a note to clean said gun, thought about shooting the note, went down stairs, Nodded in farewell to everyone there, walked out the house, remembered he needed the keys, walked back in, grabbed his keys, walked back out, then down the road to the barn, into the barn, and to the car he now called his own. In that order.

He lifted his hood and cleared his throat, looking as good as ever. "Y'like books?" He asked as he got into the driver's seat.

Sazhori had started to leave when he said to shoo, Ruthie had already left the place leaving in it the care of members of the Crew when he said to stop, well at the word actually she stopped her hand on the doornob. She nodded then "Ok" meet at the car in the barn, easy enough. She raised an eyewbrow... the fuck was a library card ?

Sazhori didnt have too long to ewait, easily waiting in the barn for long moments and once sure nobody else was around she sjhifted her form a bit, ink black feathers coated her back and arms for a moment as she ran them under a hose. It was barely nine in the morning, and it was already unbearbly hot. But thankfully her feathers could dry out quickly.

By the time Mark arrived in the barn Sazhori was waiting, her hair still wet from her 'shower' while her feathers were dry. As they got into the car and mark asked his question "Sometimes, my sisters raised me most of my life, spent a lot of time at the bookshops or with friends." Sazhori as a baby Raven had been surrounded by all sorts of books. her favorite books however were novels of Mortal history books, espeically those written by Mortals about Dragons "So yeah, I like books... why ?"

Mark got them on the road and they were off to the library. But it was on the way to the library when a unnatural cloud floated overhead and they were caught in its shadow.

Mark blinked as the road went dark. He slowed down a bit and looked up through the sunroof as it opened slowly. "What is that?" He asked idly before putting his eyes back on the road, the engine purring as he pressed the gas down a bit to accelerate, getting himself around a truck as it lumbered down the high-way. His fingers tightened around the steering wheel gently and he smiled. He loved the feel of this car around him.

After a while he sighed..."I wonder if I could have the boys make this car nearly indestructable...that'd be fun." he licked his lips then looked back up at the dark cloud above. "No seriously, what the fuck is that?"

"Something I nearly got sucked into the intake vent of when flying here to get to that casino" Sazhori grunted giving a dark look through the sunroof, if looks could kill even machinery the airship, a 14 kilometer long sucker of an aircraft carrier would have been falling down around them

"Interesting...any Templars on it?"

"That one... possibly" Sazhori said still looking up, she took in all the underside details. Nothing out of the ordinariy there... Then she saw another one not far off, also a 14 kilomter sucker... a huge red cross painted on the bottom... She pointed at it as she spoke. "Now that one... I'd say so"

Then she looked at Mark as the man hit the gas again, "Why ?"

Mark took a glance at the one with the red cross on it. With the stylized ends of each arm of the cross, there was no doubt it was Templar. "I'm gonna blow one up...Just to see what happens." he said simply, pressing the button to close the sun roof. "Ain't no birds shitting in my car, no sir..." he said. He pointed then, and noted the presence of Ulnaus about a mile out. "Imagine the size of the turd coming from that ass-hat of a bird...Take weeks to get the smell out of the car, let alone the stain." he said, nodding before putting the blinker on and turning off the high-way.

Sazhori smirked the sunroof closed, plunging the car into darkness in the shadow of the massive flying aircraft carrier overhead as Mark turned onto a side road. "From what I understand of the one I flew on, a passenger version... I... you... well... Rigging a passenger shuttlebus to blow up in the intake vent of one of those inges could bring it down..." She mused, already thinknig like an Assassin

They passed a roadside, several things listed "Downtown, Library, Center Park, High School" Sazhori pointed "Library, next left" She said. Mark turned at the next light to thel eft into a business complex.

A Humvee was parked in the lot, along with other transports and cars, most of them minivans or bigger. There was nodoubt who owned that matte black Humvee eithewr. But Ruthie was nowhere to be seen. Sazhori opened her door and stepped out of the car as Mark turned off the motor once he parked and looked around, pointing at a centeral almost oriental like building. "There it is"

Looking to Mark as she shut the door "lets go in, Mrs Big might be in there already waiting for us" Sazhori started for the library doors, Mark in tow. The building was a single floor, long and narrow, designed like an old Chinese style pagoda type building with high windows and thick wood walls. Stepping to the door Sazhori pushed the thing open, the frenchstyle doors parted with a creak of hinges, stepping over the lip of the door which was just over ankle hight to keep out things from getting in when the doors were propped open. the light filtering through the windows lit up a table they saw a bit of.

The table ran the length of the single room, a bathroom was in one corner, the library desk was by the door. As the two stepped to the table Sazhori could sense they were the only two in the building as the door closed behind them both with a clack as something locked the door.

But as Sazhori's attention went to getting out, Marks attention was drawn to the table where a single book sat. A book he recognised as a journal of some form. Reaching in to his coat he removed the journal of both Diadem and Yaeko, the symbol on both journals matched the book on the table

As Mark reached for the book Sazhori returned. It was as Marks fingers touched the book when all hell broke loose as mystical fire began to burn on Marks arms and shoulders, as well as Sazhori's back and neck. Books flew from the shelves. the table broke into many tables and flew through the air as time seemed to slow.

A gentle old experienced hand halted a chair and pushed it aside, another grabbed a wayward book and set it back on the shelf. The hand then pushed the table back into its proper place. Everything went back to how it was, no pain, no fire, no mess. Ruthie stood on the other side of the table. A smile on her face as Sazhori was staring at her own hands, What just happened ?

"It looks like She was right on who to give her Blessing to." the older woman mused. Seeing Marks dark look she said simply "Relax, alright, both of you. For one thing boy, you look like you're ready to pull the trigger on a keg of dynamite with you standing on it just to see how high you'll go when the bottom blows out from under you"

Sazhori smirked, Ruthie looked at her "You dont know the half of it" She muttered in a weird accent of some form. Her voice shrill, like a bird

Ruthie looked at her "And you young lady, I thought you knew how to wake up a man with proper manners, not going in and numbing his legs before jump starting his ticker."

Sazhori was about to retort when Mark broke in with a question while rubbing his right arm, "What was that ?"

"What was what ?"

"That, just now, We get locked in here, suddenly my arms are on fire when I'm reaching for this journal. What was that ?"

Ruthie thought a brief moment, all that was heard was Sazhoris heavy panting. "That, was Her Blessing at work." Ruthie then smacked the edge of the table, and the table crumbled, as did the ground under it, and the floor tumbled away crumbling even around where they stoof, leaving them floating on air it seemed on pieces of remaining flooring.

Struggling to keep her balance Sazhori held onto Mark and vice versa as Ruthie simply stood calm, for once with out her cane. "Relax, both of you. The life you lead may not persist, the death you fear my not exist." as she spoke the floor broke out from under them completely leaving them on nothing but air for a brief moment as stonework of unknown make, lined with dark greenish light formed under their feet forming a room around them.

There was another table in the room to their left, Ruthies right.

Mark let go of Sazhori and took a breath, feeling his balance return as his eyes flashed bronze, his Eagle Vision showing him the truth of where he stood. His eyes returned to normal as he looked down, then up to Ruthie. "This is a vault."

"Yes. But not like any of the Wolfe Vaults you'll find in Arendelle." Ruthie said. Mark didn't ask how she knew about the Wolfe Vaults, she was old enough to have seen World War Two, some times are better left un asked. He nodded.

"What does it contain, then, if it is unlike the vaults of my family?"

"Who's to say? That's for you to find out. I wasn't chosen by Her. You two were." Ruthie's eyes focused on the two, the brown iris's dark but full of vibrant life. "Go then. Uncover the secret of this Vault. You'll find some answers."

Once Sazhori was sure of her footing she looked around, ancient stonework unlike anything she had ever seen until she came upon designs carved int tohe walls... And then came the ghosts ?... OK... what the ? Sazhori started walking around the outer ring of the vault, the inner most ring, the center of it held a table that mark and Ruthie stood near. "What are these ?"

"Spirits of the past Vault Guardians" Ruthie said as Sazhori came to a halt before one of them that looked strangely familar to her.

"What is my cousin doing here ?" She asked seeing her cousin Andan standing regal with a spear and clearly raven sheild on one arm

"He was a Guardian. Maybe not of this vault, but of one of many." came the reply The floor formed as Sazhori moved through the vault as if anticipating where she was taking the next step. She halted however when around the middle ring of the vault room they were in flickered into a disaplay of different scenes of war and bloodshed. From ancient days to the present.

"I never got to know what Andan did before he left on his dfirst mission and never came home. We left out hope for his return. Guess he never came back." Sazhori mused.

She stepped on a stone. Light spread from it, more parts of the floor formed under her feet and seemed to make a trail, forming a perfect ancient hallway. Sazhori turned to Mark, but the man seemed more focused on something else a bit further away. Another hallway. Sazhori then felt a mental map of the place, where they were was the centeral chamber, but there was a bunch more chambers set up in a ring formation with the room they were in as the center of it all.

Mark began to move towards the hallway he was transfixed on. "What's down these hallways?" he asked, not turning to look at Ruthie, who continued to stand in the center. There was an eerie gush of cold wind, which flared out the bottom of Mark's coat, and his head tilted ever so slightly as he peered into the darkness before him.

"That which you need to see." Ruthie answered quietly.

As he took the first step into the cavernous hallway, it began to glow, and his armor slowly manifested on his body, the sword in its sheath on his back, the claws of each of his gauntlets glowing.

"And that which you may not want to see." Ruthie added as the wall collapsed behind Mark, a single slab of stone slamming shut behind him, separating him and Sazhori and Ruthie. The old woman turned to the young Raven. "You have your path to go down as well, young lady. I suggest not straying from it."

Sazhori stared at Ruthie, her gaze watching the wall slide down and seal behind Mark. What ? She finally nodded, turning to her own hallway lit before her the raven drew two feathers off her shoulders and stepped into the darkness in front of her. Her eyes adjusted quickly as she moved smoothly forwards.

The words from Ruthie, not to stray from the path before her rang in her mind as she heard something to her right, but turned back forwards and continued on. She came upon a normal looking door. One that looked familar. Letting one of her feathers faded to her shoulder she reached a hand to the nob...

Stepping into the sitting area of the massive house on the hilltop that belonged to her family, Sazhori felt instantly out of place. For two reasons, the first was, the place was very ornate, everything had its space, everything was clean, healthy, beautiful

The second thing was the woman dressed in black and gray, long black raven feathers adorned her ink black hair. Most notably her face. A deep scowl was upon it. And Sazhori knew in heer heart she was the reason for that scowl.

"Abel... Siv... what is this... Raven... doing in our home ?" Apparently, Sazhori's mother didnt like her, didnt want her there, or refused to acknowledge that Sazhori was her daughter

"You know who she is Mother. She is Sazhori, your youngest Hatchling" Siv replied calmly, crossing her arms

The Elder Raven turned her angered gaze to her second born "I do not recognise her as part of our family. Nor does your father." She said, she looked back at Sazhori "Do you know me ?"

Sazhori shook her head. "I know who you are. My mother. But I do not know you, because you did not want me when I hatched" It was true, Sazhori was very ill as a newborn Raven. Barely able to breathe, many thought her dead, her Mother left her for dead on their own doorstep. Kicked her out of the house as a frail newborn

But Abel didnt want that, nor did Siv, they had implored their father to let them raise Sazhori themselves, their own money was spent caring for her. And for all the twins knew, it was money very well spent. Because just moments before entering their home to speak to their mother concerning why Light herself, the All-Mother; had visited. She had given her Blessing to Sazhori, healing the raven of her illness that never stopped, strengthening her frail bones, brightening her feathers. Even the hematite of Sazhori's eyes glittered with asn inner fire

Before the Elder Raven could speak at Sazhori's words Abel stepped between them, her hands up, feathers ready to defend against her own mother "We implored Father to let us raise her, to care for her, everything, we did it ourselves, no servantae, no Parrots, nothing, just Siv and I cared for her. It was time and money well spent. For the All-Mother rewarded us for our work, and bestowed her Blessing, before even Emperor Tilr. Who pronounced Sazhori jhis son, Prince Talon's bodyguard. The All-Mother said to see you before our mission at the Eagle Palace begins"

For long moments the Elder Raven simply stared daggers at Sazhori, even with Lights blessing Sazhori couldnt turn fully human. Finally her gaze softened "Your survival had been forseen, even though I cut you from our home. You survived against the odds. You are worthy to serve the Eagle Emperor. For what it is worth to you, you have my blessing."

Sazhori bowed to her mother "I accept it, Mother."

The Elder Raven turned to her two eldest children, "Abel, Siv; You are also of my flesh and blood, While it pains me that for the last nineteen years you went against my word and raised your sister. I should cut you from our family, yet I will instead only insist that you too go with Sazhori, aid her in whatever she needs as bodyguard to the Eagle Prince"

Abel nodded, Siv looked sick, their mother was effectively banishing them from their home unless the Emerpor, Tilr, sent them home with his letter and seal as proof! But Abel nodded, accepting her mtohers conditions, after a moment, Siv too Nodded, and the three left.

Meanwhile in the darkness around Mark...

Sand.

Mark smelled the familiar scent of sand. Cairo. Stopping, the memory faded into view in puffs of dust. There he was, young and full of life, barely sixteen, the most rowdy of his years, the most disobedient to his adoptive family. His beard had only just started to come in, he hadn't even earned his Gauntlet, and he wore standard Assassin Gear as Blackmane and Snowfeather both stood in front of him. His sisters stood behind, their arms also crossed.

"No." Snowfeather grunted.

"Why not?"

"Your job is to uproot evil, not get sidetracked." Blackmane interjected.

"And yet you have a fam-" He was on the ground in a second, the handprint of a smack clear on his cheek. He stood immediately, only to be sent back to the ground by another smack, this time to the other cheek. He stood again, a gut punch. Again, back of the knees kicked. Again, slammed into the ground by sheer force. He stayed there, groaning as Blackmane stood on his chest, Snowfeather squatting so that she looked down at his pained face.

"I am centuries old. You are barely sixteen. I am a fully grown adult Tigris, you are a hormonal boy who doesn't want to follow orders, but instead wants to let his dick do all the talking for him." Snowfeather was furious. This was the last time he'd angered her, truly. She smacked him twice more. "What is your job?"

Silence. Two more slaps, the question repeated. Again. And Again.

"To kill Templars."

"What else?"

"Ensure freedom of the people."

"What. Else?"

"To follow orders."

Silence filled the room. For good measure, Blackmane dropped a knee into his gut before standing and walking out of the room, taking her neices with her. In his pain, he rolled onto his side, watching his sisters leave with a glare, Serena didn't look back, following closer to her aunt. Serenity paused, looking back as a single tear streaked down her face, at a glance from her mother, she turned and followed her aunt. Snowfeather then stood, and walked out as well. Leaving Mark with the harsh reality of his job. There was no time for lust or petty emotions. Only his orders. A philosophy that until Arendelle, he'd follow without question.

Blinking, Mark watched the image fade, leaving him in darkness again. He stared down at his boots, the glowing stone beneath them showing him the way to walk. Looking up, he swallowed the knot in his throat, and kept walking. Watching that happen from outside the pained eyes of the strong-willed, defiant boy he was, he noticed Serenity's face distort with each hit to his stubborn-body, and that Serena remained unfazed. He gripped his hands into fists, the metal claws grinding into the armored palms of the gauntlets as he continued forward. Was he wrong in blaming her ?

At that same moment in another hallway

Sazhori blinked as the memory faded. She remembered it clearly. her mother had banished she and both her sisters from their home. But unless Emperor Tilr had sent them back with his seal, they couldnt return home. For all Sazhori knew, she'd been cut off completely from her parents and other siblings aside from Abel and Siv.

She walked on.

She heard laughter and looked around, finding herself on a carnival type fairground she halted. A knife slammed into the wall directly in front of her she turned and stared, what the ?

Another knife, this one closer to her. Or was it ? Sazhori stepped onto a stage and saw... herself, against a wall, chained to it, barely able to move. Bleeding from a dozen wounds. A carnival freakshow. Another knife slammed into the wall. centimeters from her throat as she watched. She looked around, then wished instantly that she hadnt done so. The people she saw were other Birds. Eagles, Ravens, Parrots, Hawks, Doves... and some of the Doves were carrying out two dead Ravens on stretchers.

Sazhoris heart hammered as she recognised the feathers dangling from the strechers. Then she saw her mother, standing near the knife thrower. Sazhori couldnt move. Her mother lifted the knife. And threw it.

Time slowed to a halt as Ruthies words rang in her ears again, but not the words of straying from the path, but something else entirely as the knife made contact with the wall she heard clearly "The life you choose may not persist, the death you fear may not exsist" As those words rang in her ears Sazhori reached up as the second knife flew at her, and plucked it from the air. firing it right back at her mother. Nailing the older Raven in the throat dead on

The vision collapsed around her, the laugher, the gaity, the death. Surrounded then by light she found herself staring at a image on a wall of steel and stone. It shifted, showing that she had apparently made it to the end of the hall. And was staring at another plain door. Stepping through she saw Ruthie waiting at the center of the vault. Sazhori felt stronger, calmer. Not as freaked out as she was, but when she threw the knife, mystical fier flared on her fingertips and along the blade, breaking the fears hold on her heart.

At that same moment in the darkness surrounding Mark

Mark stopped, a large pair of wooden doors before him. Furrowing his eyebrows, he opened them, the doors to the Arendellian throne room. Entering the Throne Room, he looked around, and blinked. The walls were draped with the Templar Flag, spikes of Ice impaling Templar and Assassin alike filled the room, and on a singular throne sat Elsa, who stood.

"Mark?"

He stopped at the foot of the stairs, his face stern. He felt...cold. "Is that you, Mark?" Elsa repeated, she isounded/i happy to see him, but she didn't move. Turning away, he found her mere feet in front of him, an Ice Dagger to his throat. Still his face was stern. "It is you. I'd recognize that handsome beard anywhere. And that scar I gave you while we sparred." She reached forward with another hand, caressing his cheek, her thumb running over the scar on his upper lip.

"I had a little...help, freeing my Kingdom from oppression. There was some regrettable casualties..." her sapphire eyes moved to the pile of Assassin Corpses. Among them were Snowfeather, Arm, Diana, Georgina, his sisters, and leaning against it was Blackmane, bleeding out as she struggled to stay alive, gasping for breath with an ice-pick in her chest.

"The life you choose may not persist, the death you fear may not exist."

Mark turned his head back to what appeared to be Elsa. "Y'know, it's a good thing you only know how to fight fair." was all he said before engulfing himself in Lightfire, slamming a foot down on Elsa's knee, and bringing her own knife to bear on her throat. As it sank home the vision faded, and Mark was left alone, the Lightfire blazing on his body as the darkness surrounded him. The flames snuffed out, and he turned again, his eyes staring into the abyss in thought. What on earth was going on in Arendelle if that was what he feared? If that was a possible outcome?

He had a feeling he was supposed to be done, that he should be exiting the hallway and returning to the Light, but it seems that the Vault was not finished with him just yet.

Entering another room, this time a stone door, he paused, a single pedestal in the middle, fire lighting the room around him coming from said pedestal. Slowly he approached, and his left Gauntlet began to vibrate. The closer he went, the more it did so, the rest of his armor joining in as well. It stopped when he finally touched the Stone Structure in the middle, the fire steady, the coals red. Suddenly the fire snuffed, and the coals died. He was left in darkness once more.

A light caught his eye, and he turned to look. Then another, and another. Scores of lights, circling him and spiraling up the walls. All of them, a sarcophogas of Duradaeden. All of them, Wolfe. From the ceiling came a single coffin, floating down, the metal stopped an inch off the stone ground, a singular line in the middle splitting, as the coffin opened. It was empty.

This was his coffin.

Mark closed his eyes, the smell of the fire was still there, and he inhaled the smell of the coals, the soot and smoke and heat...he could feel it still. Opening his eyes, he noticed a coal beginning to glow once more. With a clawed finger, he poked at it, the thing igniting the other dead coals around it, the fire slowly coming back. The Flames were small, and weak. Blue and greens mixed with the weak flames. Mark looked to the coffin, then back to the flames, leaning back away from them, they grew. Orange replaced blue and green, and flicks of red and yellow were added. He took a step back, away from the coffin, and the flames grew again, a great pillar of fire roared in front of him.

The Coffin closed.

Taking another step back, the coffin began to rise, and the flames turned white. One more step completed the trial, completed the vision. The Flames exploded, covering Mark's vision with white. After a few seconds, his vision adjusted, and there stood Sazhori and Ruthie in front of him where that pedestal was.

"Welcome back." Ruthie said. "I was afraid you wouldn't return."

"How long have I been there?"

"Five hours."

"Where...where was I?"

Ruthie paused for a moment. "Your past...a possible, feared future...and by the looks of your boots...the land of the dead. The vault tested you, my boy. Tested your resolve to live. It seems you have passed this trial...but there will be more, I assure you." she said.

With a motion that could only be described as Slight-of-Hand, Ruthie brought forth her cane, and tapped the ground twice. Within moments they were back in the Library, just as it was when they first entered. And people were beginning to come in as the clock tolled the hour. Mark looked to said clock. 4PM.

"Interesting." was all he had to say.

Sazhori looked around almost scared to reach out and touch one of the library patrons "Relax, as far as anyone was concerned we were in a meeting room by the bathroom over there." Ruthie said simply. "I am sure you are both hungry so I will see you at home, feel free to pick up something on the way back. When you get the chance, speak to Tony, he may need you for something." With that Ruth took her leave, ambling out usin ther cane for support as a patron held the door open for her.