A/N: I do not own To Love Ru.
Azenda stares down Lala with cold eyes and a look of disdain, sizing up the captured princess in her gilded cage. That was all she was after all, a pretty bird for Lacospo to strut around and become King of the universe with, but never really love. Azenda knew she would never love him, not as a person, and especially not after forcing her into this loveless marriage. Lala was just so full of love towards that human child, one of her many friends who would no doubt be coming after them as they went to legalize Lacospo's marriage to the Devilukean princess. It was sickeningly sweet how predictable her friends were, especially Golden Darkness, and it began to dredge up memories she would rather forget of her youth.
"You and I are going to have some problems, are we not?" Azenda states, uncrossing her arms and entering into Lala's doorway, "Lacospo's marriage to me was one of convenience, there is no love between us besides the love of seeing the ones you care about hurt." Lala becomes stone faced at the mention of Lacospo, giving Azenda a feeling of satisfaction and allowing her a smirk. "You and him, on the other hand, are going to have a very long future ahead of the both of you, if he gets his way," Azenda states leaning against the nearest wall, still smirking, before covering her face with a hand and staring out the side of the gap between the thumb and forefinger, "And I would find so much pleasure in letting such a beautiful girl like you end up with him..." A sudden look of fear comes across Lala's face, one that does not escape Azenda's predatory eyes.
"N-No!" Lala stammers out, blushing as she does so, "That t-toad, he won't lay a single finger on me before- before-" Azenda laughs out loud at Lala's attempts at fighting back, causing Lala to stop and glance up in fear of the wicked assassin. Before Lala can make a reply, Azenda has already moved closer to where Lala was sitting on her bed, and has trapped her in a corner blocked by a wall and her own arm.
"Despite whatever you think of me, Lala-hime, this role I play was merely a part of the marriage contract I signed with that stupid man,"Azenda states, leaning in close to a frightened Lala, "This was all revenge and business to me, dear." She licks her lips and stares down at the frightened girl before her, Lala having closed her eyes and begun to whimper as she shrinks into herself. Azenda stares down at her for a few seconds before the memories start to flood back, causing her to yell out in frustration and aim for a nearby bookcase aimed away from Lala. With a deft smack, one of the metal shelves have a newly pressed dent, and Azenda is trying to catch her breath back up to her. Biting her lip with a pointed canine, Azenda turns back to Lala with sullen eyes, as the girl in turn searches her new facial expression.
"Are you alright?" Lala asks curious to Azenda's shift in expression. Azenda finally regains her coherence, and smooths herself over, straightening up and giving Lala the cold stare she had been subject to minutes before.
"Yes," Azenda practically growls out, "Just some bad memories..." She once again approaches Lala, arms drawn behind her this time, until she gently grabs Lala's chin in her hand and forcing her to look her in the eye. "My, my, you do have your mothers wonderful spirit," Azenda states, staring into the aquamarine pools, "You see, she and I still have unfinished business after all these years..."
Some Time Ago
Talha Galactic Cluster
Temis Sector
Azenda, apprentice to Norhn, quickly withdrew her blade from her side pocket and palmed it into her hand. Her target was a Fruhle diplomat who had begun to rack up favor and power with others, and a body count to match it. He had came to the attention of the Assassins Guild after he crossed one of the initiates infiltrating his cabinet's inner circle as a less than scrupulous secretarial aide, which ended abruptly with her body being found in a shallow grave outside city limits. Now her job was to remove this man and anyone who tried to get in her way. It was cleaner that way, and would leave a message for anyone who would dare try to cross the Guild again. She quickly veers off and pulls her hood tighter around her face, as a sudden commotion fills the area outside the marketplace, where the diplomat had been trying to negotiate a broker between the Merchants Guild and the sailors traveling the shipping lanes.
"Please, please, can you all calm down!" the bug-eyed diplomat states out loud to the crowd, "I'm sure there can be an agreement; Tigris Industries will relieve all your concerns, of that I have no doubt!" The name catches Azenda off guard, having recognized the famous shipping company that recently began expanding into the space lanes of Talha. What were they doing so far out of the way of major industry? Azenda knew this world was barely Class E, having been exposed to non-terrestrial invaders some centuries ago, ancient slavers that had impacted many civilizations located within the Talha Galaxy. She wondered if this was the reason the initiate had been killed for; by all means this kind of interaction with a less advanced world was illegal throughout the three known galactic clusters.
The so-called Galactic Police had been keeping there eyes on Tigris Industries, ever since they had begun to expand out of their own galaxy and into the Talha and Andromeda clusters. Now she had ample opportunity to not only kill an enemy of the guild, but also get dirt on Tigris Industries that the guild could use to their advantage at a later date. Slipping her weapon back into its pocket, Azenda decided to approach the ruckus and scout out her opportunities. Walking up to the outside of the crowd, her eyes grazed over the crowd and noticed the presence of another suspicious individual doing the same reconnaissance she was. Moving deeper into the crowd, so as t get closer to both her target and the other out of place individual, Azenda got a better look at both of them.
The diplomat was sweating, his arms and shirt pit-stained and hidden by the jacket he wore. It wasn't hot out for most species, very cool and partly cloudy, so it wasn't weather. More than likely that meant he was nervous, either he was holding something back or being coerced into doing this for some reason. It wasn't the body count, the man didn't even look like he could give the order to kill, let alone do it himself, meaning that whoever killed that initiate was in deeper with this man than even the guild acknowledged. Perhaps they held his family hostage to influence his decision, since he was overseeing the contract negotiations between Tigris and this planet. He didn't seem to be focused on anyone in particular in the crowd, though his eyes seemed to stray to the bodyguard at his side. Perhaps not a bodyguard, but rather an enforcer, since he obviously didn't look like one of the blue-furred, bug eyed natives.
The unknown variable that neither looked like the enforcer nor the diplomat, seemed to be watching from among a group of children that gathered around him. Her, Azenda corrected herself, seeing the hair straying from the hood and full face mask that she wore. Pink hair edged its way out of the fringe of the hood, which caught Azenda unaware at the unnatural hair color. Most of the Talha cluster was comprised of blue or yellow dwarfs and the few red giants or the occasional binary system necessary to produce such an odd coloration. Those yellow suns usually led to the darker hair colors of black and gray, or lighter tones of brown and blonde in the general endothermic populace, and an array of skin pigmentation covering the whole spectrum throughout the galaxy.
Azenda narrows her eyes at her newly acquired target, noting everything that was off about her. She seemed to be avoiding crowds, keeping her face obscured, and never looking at the same person twice. If she hadn't known better, she almost would have assumed the young teen to have been a fellow spy, or at least skilled in the art of obscuration. She was deflecting peoples attention away from her by never meeting eye contact, though she seemed to have a purpose in being there that Azenda just couldn't quite figure out. Slipping up behind her and acting casual, she slips the weapon into her, she and quickly grabs the girl from behind, and pulls her into the alleyway between the stalls in the marketplace.
"Don't make a sound, don't even try to break free," she hisses in the girls ear, trying to sound threatening, "You and I both seem to want to avoid drawing attention to ourselves, and I would kindly like to know why?" As she holds the girl at blade tip, she pats down her sides and searches her for a weapon with her free hand. Finding none, she lets the girl get some breathing room by loosening her grip, but keeping it tight enough she could not easily break free. "Who are you?" Azenda demands, "Why are you so nervous to be here?" The girl is biting her lip to keep down her retorts, no doubt, but she finally cracks when Azenda digs the tip of the blade into her back just a little bit.
"Alright, alright, that's enough!" the teen girl cries out, "I'll talk, as long as you let me go." Azenda quickly lets her go, brandishing the knife forward incase she tried anything funny. Her hood had fallen from her head, freeing the tightly restricted waves of hair from the loosely kept bun, as Azenda noticed the girls pink eyes as well. "My name is S-Sephiria M- Arks, Sephiria Arks," the girls says hastily to cover her slip up, "I'm a merchant within a local traders guild near here, we're stopping our caravan here for supplies and repairs." She holds up her hands to show she wasn't hiding anything. "When I heard the local boss was supporting a new guild in this sector, I decided to come check it out-" she hesitates, "-against my fathers wishes, of course." Azenda sees the look of guilt that flashes in the girls eyes, and recognizes the truth of her words as well.
"Tigris Industries, hmmph," Azenda states, "Maybe you and I have something in common after all, girl." That appeared to be the wrong thing to say, as the girl suddenly seemed to become livid at being called 'girl'.
"I'll have you know I'm sixteen cycles old, thank you very much, I'm not some kid!" Sephiria says, positively livid, "And you aren't much older either, sister!" She points a finger into one of Azenda's flat breasts, as if to make a point. Azenda nearly takes her finger for that slight, but holds back and merely sighs in protest.
"Very well,child, we may be the same age, but that doesn't make you more mature than I," Azenda states to the girl, "I no longer consider myself one of those innocent sheep young children are, not after what I endured as a courtesan on Kaled IV." Azenda gains a smirk of satisfaction seeing the strike of horror pass on Sephiria's face. "That, dear, is why you are a child, and I am who I am," Azenda states looking over the woman, noticing her clean white robes without a speck of grime or dirt, and the stunning pink cloak she wore, "You don't even look like you've spent a day planet side." Sephiria merely crosses her arms and grows red in the face, but says nothing in response.
"We could continue arguing until we are out of breath," Sephiria says after calming down, "But we both seem to have interest in the dealings of Tigris Industries; might it not be better to work together and figure out just what they are doing out here?" Azenda crosses her arms and contemplates.
"I know why I am looking towards them; people I have... worked with have disappeared in places where Tigris Industries have popped up," Azenda states to Sephiria, "But why does Tigris Industries threaten a merchant's caravan, why would a little bit of competition in the space lanes threaten you?" As she speaks Sephiria looks as if she is going to talk, an commotion seems to break out at one of the larger crowded areas they had just left.
As soon as Sephiria heard the crowd begin to panic, followed by screams, she quickly covered her face once more with the hood of her cloak. Azenda, too, turned to the excited noises from the crowd, grabbed onto the other girl's arm, and dragged them both to the source of the fray. Keeping her hood pulled tight as well as Sephiria's, Azenda quickly halted at the mouth of the alleyway and surveyed the chaotic scene.
Azenda noted that the diplomat was no longer standing where he once was, now lying in a pool of his own blood, surrounded by a group of people Azenda recognized as the local Galactic Police's medical team, along with one or two of their enforcers. They must have came to this meeting after hearing about Tigris Industries interest here, meaning they were no doubt supposed to be additional security surrounding the diplomatic event. Now their charge was dead, and it wasn't by Azenda's own hand, that was for sure. She did notice a weapon being confiscated, coated with blood and grass, and obviously been the tool that killed the diplomat, and it looked suspiciously like a duplicate of her own. Unfortunately it seemed the killer was still out there, since the enforcers seemed to be searching the crowd for accomplices and suspects. Azenda quickly deemed that the best course of action was to slip away with the girl in this chaos, and figure out exactly where she was needed next and why she had been set up to take the fall. It seemed the girl had the same idea, and Azenda quickly found herself being pulled towards the offworlder slums.
Later
Sephie was doubled over, gasping in breath as she slumped against the nearest retaining wall. They had run for a little over an hour to get where they were, and she was beginning to think this worlds gravity wasn't doing her natural figure any benefit. She must have weighed twenty to thirty more pounds heavier than she normally was on other planets, but she was sure with her perfect metabolism she would come out more stunning and beautiful than when she came her. Such was the curse of having a Charmian sinful beauty, able to go into a horrible situation like espionage and murder, and still come out looking gorgeous. She turned to the beige haired girl, who thought she was more mature than her, but was probably just jealous she didn't have as great of a body as hers. Though Sephie notes she wasn't as out of breath as herself, nor was she feeling safe in the merchants sector, still looking over her shoulder and staring down everyone around them.
"Do- do you have to keep doing that?" Sephie voices, the beige haired girl giving her a sharp look in response, "We left the Galactic Police behind, they didn't even spot us as we ran in that crowd." The girl crosses her arms and goes back to looking around at the aliens traversing their daily lives around the slums. "So you can take a rest and let me take you somewhere safer than out here in the open around all these..." she lowers her voice and grabs the girls arms to drag her closer, "Men." She speaks it like it is poison dripping off her youngest, much to the confusion of the girl, who looks at her like she grew a pair of wings.
"Are you not afraid that all these people will know where we are, that they could turn us in at any moment?" The girl responds, "Are you so foolish as to ignore the fact that the first place Galactic Police will be looking at, is right here in the heart of the spacers slums?" Sephie smiles at that, and grabs her arm once more, dragging her towards the place where her own people have taken refuge.
"Don't worry about it too much, where we are going, not even the GP can get in," Sephie states, as they pass through the slums and into the area cordoned off by the older guards and automatic shielding, "We'll be safer once we're inside my room, where we can talk freely." Guiding her past the older men and women, past bargainers and suppliers trading and loading goods and supplies, until she reached her lonely little corner of the ship. Only she was allowed back here with the older women, once joined by her Mother and Father before... Before.
Despite the lack of interaction with other children her age, Sephie Michaela Arks grew up to be a fine young woman, at least one she hoped her parents could be proud of. Her natural charm, the divine beauty blessed upon the Charmian race as a whole and passed on as a dying curse, kept her lonely despite being among the older women whose beauty faded but whose own charm never did. Now she had a new friend here, besides the boy she had met not so long ago now, and maybe she could finally make friends with someone who could understand her. If this assassin girl was as frightened and afraid as she was, it meant she would be willing to listen to her at least. She hoped.
The girl was pacing and looking back through the doors, much to Sephie's annoyance, and finally she had enough and went to get a hold of the girl by her shoulder. As quick as she did that, the girl suddenly whirls on her with that knife she had threatened her with earlier, and Sephie found herself squeaking in response. "Why did you bring me here?" the girl asks, "Why do you think the Galactic Police can't just barge in here anytime they feel like it?" Sephie glances down at the knife slowly, then back to the girl. She notices the movement, and then reluctantly and very slowly, removes the knife from her and takes a half-step backwards into a defensive posture.
"My name is Sephie Michaela Arks, I'm one of the last pure blooded females of my species, and we're protected under the self-defense act within galactic law," Sephie states, "Our people have had to defend ourselves from marauding space pirates, restless natives, and even those who would be our protectors at times." She walks over to a section of her room, where a picture of her and her family sits gathering dust on a shelf. "We are vagrants without a home, wanders who have lost loved ones and family to slavers and butchers, and I am the last descendent known in the universe at large," Sephie states, grabbing the "Though we are new to this sector of the Talha Galaxy, perhaps the name of my species has reached even these far stellar banks; tales of the Charmian race spread swift and colorful, like the fires of Magros." Surprisingly the lack of recognition in the assassin's eyes was enough to make Sephie speechless.
"I'm afraid I've never heard of you, but then again the people of this galaxy have only recently begun to realize the universe expands beyond the edge of the galaxy," Azenda states, "My own world is not too unfamiliar to slavers and warlords; my current... situation is due to my family selling me off as a child to a local warlord, who made too many debts to my new 'owners'." Sephie sees the sourness of the memories as they wash over the girls face, and she feels her heart ache in sympathy.
"Your own family sold you as a slave to pay off their debts?" Sephie states quietly, "Were you ever...?" The question hangs in the air, but the look of shock replaced by smoldering anger in the girls eyes, that confirm what Sephie would have asked. "I-I can't believe anyone would ever do that to their own daughter..." Sephie states, but then she looks to the picture in her hands and laughs ironically, "Then again, I can see how that could easily be turned on its head." The other girl merely raises her eyebrow in confusion, before Sephie hands her the picture. "I don't remember too much of my Father or my Mother, I lost them when I was just young enough to begin to appreciate them," Sephie continues, "The older women told me that void pirates, thieves that hunted and raided ships passing between the gaps between galaxies, took many of our young women for their own pleasure harems, and killed some of the remaining crew in an attempt to leave us dead in space to pick off our bones." Azenda studies the picture, and notices the man and woman with the young girl in the picture, seemingly very happy and without a care in the world.
"You wouldn't believe it, but my father foolishly risked his life and the rest of the dying crew, in an attempt to get our people back and steal the supplies we desperately needed to get to the next habitable star system," Sephie says, as she walks to a drawer and opens it, before reaching inside, "For two weeks he searched for any trace of our people or any clue where they could be, until he came across a rogue planetoid, frozen and hurtling through the void between galaxies, and coincidentally the pirates base," she continues, searching through clothes and neatly piling them on the floor to reach her prize, "What the pirates expected to find was a half starved man, a lunatic driven mad by the loss of his relative or lover, desperate to prove himself and die for his foolishness." Smiling at finding her prize, Azenda watched as Sephie retrieved a long object wrapped in many garments, patched and sewn into one large holder, and noticed how gingerly she acted in setting it on the floor to unwrap it.
"What they instead found was a man who had gone to great lengths to find survivors, a warrior devoted to a forgotten way of life to our people, trained from birth to be the defender of those who needed protection from the beastly men who threatened our peaceful way of life, and our self exile," Sephie states as she uncovers a gleaming blade from its cobbled together sheath, much to the interest of Azenda, "This is the weapon that not only saved my mothers life, but the lives of seventeen others, and allowed him to defeat the pirates who had stolen the lives of loved ones from us all." Azenda noted the curvature of the blade, the golden hilt and ruby red gem encrusted into it, the gleaming metal of the blade's body sharp and well polished, given evidence it was well taken care of and cherished. "The First's Cutlass, rumored to be the first weapon ever used against those who bring harm to others; a weapon meant to bring peace to those it was championed for and a symbol of defeat to all those with evil in their hearts," Sephie states, awe in her voice and on her face as she brandishes the cutlass, taking it in her hands and holding it tightly, "My father wielded this blade only twice in his life: the first time with the pirates, and the second when he went against a man who sought to steal my mother and I away to utilize as lab experiments in some great endeavor."
Azenda met Sephie's eyes, and swallowed as she listened to the tale. "A man who went by the moniker of 'Number Zero', stole my mother and myself away while we were supplying on the outer edge of the Andromeda Galaxy, in preparation for the trip between it and the next," Sephie swallows hard and then continues, "He only wanted me, because I was young, moldable for their endeavors, I would have become the perfect pawn for him to utilize; until he unfortunately managed to get a glimpse of my mothers exposed face, having been undone in the 'safety' of her personal quarters." Azenda's knuckles gripped her own weapon hard figuring where this was heading. "He took her, at first using the excuse that 'a mother should be with her child', until it became clear to himself and my mother, what he really wanted from her," Sephie pales a little as she continues to speak, her voice becoming raspy, "She was... violated, in secret in the beginning, then at his whimsy; I was too young then to understand, thankfully, but those first few days haunt my nightmares even now that I know..." She swallows, then replaces the blade onto the folds of cloth. "My father did rescue us, and he even managed to rig the mans ship to explode and take them all down in one fell swoop," she says with a charged awe, "Then we made it to the ship, and he took me inside, set the autopilot up, gave me the sword... and I watched, screaming, as he disconnected the docking port from the other side, with my mother smiling in his arms and both of them crying."
Azenda doesn't want to hear anymore of it, not that Sephie could speak another word. Azenda merely walks over to Sephie and hugs her, a foreign feeling, but not an unwelcome comfort to the Charmian girl. "I- I can not express in words the feelings you must be facing, the courage you posses, Sephie Michaela Arks," Azenda states, "But I can understand some things, better than others; no doubt, if your father was as honorable as you say, he knew what he was sacrificing to keep you safe." She doesn't get a response, but hot tears tell her enough, as she pulls away with a smile. "Let us introduce ourselves again, Sephie Michaela Arks," Azenda states, "My name is Azenda, Apprentice to Norhne, of the Talha Assassin's Guild, an organization that protects its interests from those they deem a threat, takes in those society deems outcasts, and knows the value of honor and family." She looks at the sword, then removes her own dagger from her belt and holds it out to her over her own outstretched palm. Drawing a small line across her hand, fresh blood wells up and Azenda motions for her to do the same, whereupon she places her hand in Sephie's own.
"We are now Blood Sisters, a bond we make between each other in the Guild, stronger than any oath or contract we make," Azenda states, "As such, you and I may request something from each other, and return in kind the day it is asked from the other." Sephie is shocked, surely, and doesn't have the words to express her feelings. Azenda on the other hand looks solemn and pleading as she faces Sephie with a fresh face. "I hate to ask this of you, Sephie, for you have already done much more than that, by bring one who would have killed you were you stood mere hours ago," Azenda states hesitantly, but growing bolder as she is listened to, "But I beg your help, you and this sword, if it is a symbol as you say."
Sephie looks to the blade, then back to Azenda, nodding. "I thank you Azenda for this honor, and I would never leave someone in need who was only doing what they could to survive; for though I may be beautiful, I am ever humble and willing to help, as my father and mother did," Sephie states, "What is it you need help with?" Azenda takes a deep breath, then looks straight into Sephie's unquestioning gaze.
"I believe I have been framed for the first murder I did not commit, which also means the Guild will have disowned my life as forfeit, unless I can bring in proof of the one who framed me," Azenda states, "I believe that Tigris Industries, despite proclaiming to be a force for unification, for change and free trade, is attempting to frame me for the death of a beloved diplomat, in an attempt to get the Galactic Police onto the trail of the Assassin's Guild." She takes a breath and continues. "While talk of your species is unknown to us, the guild has heard rumors of Tigris Industries being one of many companies buying up properties and planets for their resources,supposedly to go to Galactic Police 'war efforts'," Azenda continues, "But in reality only a small force is being shipped out, instead resources are being funneled to other planets, other galaxies, to fund a larger network of terror cells that collectively form a group that has been trying to muscle in on the Talha Crime Worlds." At that Sephie's eyes light up.
"Solgam," Sephie states, and Azenda nods, "Zero had been working for them as well, it was... they were responsible for my mother and I being taken..." With renewed resolve in her eyes, and a fire that seemed to grow inside her, Azenda watched as Sephie took another look at the First Cutlass. A smile growing on her face, Sephie looked up at Azenda with a smile. "Teach me how to use this properly, and I will provide you with protection as we travel the Talha Galaxy," Sephie offers the assassin, "Then, one day when we both are ready, we take down Tigris Industries, prove you didn't kill that man, and take down any chances Solgam has of expanding into Talha." Azenda nods and approves.
"For your parents!" Azenda states, holding out her hand. Sephie looks at it for a moment, before grinnign and returning the handshake and then hugging the beige haired assassin, her new sister.
"For my parents!" she mumbles into Azenda's shoulder. Azenda merely smiles in return, a new feeling edging its way into her mind and heart.
Azenda stops staring down the Devilukean princess, and begins to turn around. She stops, and looks over her shoulder to the young girl. "You better prepare yourself, Lala-hime," the Tyrant states, "One day, very soon, you will find yourself in a position to escape... do not hesitate to take advantage of your charms and wit to distract Lacospo, for he is one of the most vile and ruthless men you will ever meet." She begins to turn but stops to throw out one more warning. "He will not take no for an answer, either, so be prepared to defend yourself from his... advances," she states, "May I suggest a swift kick in the testis, nestled within his kidney system?" Lala merely stares as the silver haired assassin leaves behind a platter of food she had not noticed at first. Lala nearly smiles when she sees the spoon left behind, to eat her now cold soup with.
A/N: I'm alive!
Thanks for the positive reviews so far, I'm glad to see people still come here to read my writing! Man, 5,000 views, how time flies. Don't forget to review!