Indeed… about time. I apologise to everyone SO much for the wait, it went against absolutely everything I was striving for… a world where authors updated regularly, a world where no review went unanswered… yet the act of a computerless few years ruined my dream. Alas! And yet…
I return. Let us see how long it takes me to get back into the swing of things.
…With review ReSpOnSeS!!!
2sides: I hope you enjoy the next chapter, if indeed you're still reading. I think a lot of people would like to see Latii again… I might have to do Class Returns, to use the characters again.
Melo: The only thing I regret is not really using the lancer's Jump skill effectively… or dragonheart, or many of the others for that matter. The battle, while cool, wasn't what I pictured… glad you liked it though. :)
ChaoticRetribution: Yeah, the first chapter's not my favorite either, lol. Go ahead and read the next few chapters, and try not to read #3… my Archer was really rushed.
Mastery: WAKE UP!!!!!
Materia Knight: Thanks, dude. I owe you a favor, lol.
Will: High praise. I plan to make MUCH more, delays aside.
Anime-Keeper: EVERYONE WANTS MORE LATII! Lmao. I guess I can't fault you though. Note they weren't twins, just siblings… but that's about it.
gasps for air flexes
Here we go...
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Chapter 11: Ninja
"Shinobi des geworfenen Messers"
The city of Ku… They called it the City of Towers. This was not a descriptive name with no meaning, for there was not a single building inside the walls of Ku that did not reach under twenty stories high. There were no thieves within Ku, no assasins nor the robbers and bandits that plagued so many other cities and towns to the west. Ku was inviolate… under control, patrolled perfectly by four separate guilds of law enforcement. The air, the sea, the land, the sewers, and roofs themselves each watched by the four guilds.
Above it all ruled the Emperor... The Emperor Kiakru VII, who had hand-picked his bodyguards, built the grandest palace known to the western cities, ruled Ku with a hand that ruled only with a hand of justice. Compassion was not known to exist within Kiakru, nor mercy... but Kiakru was uncorruptible.
But let us not focus upon the nature of Ku further... no, there is a far more interesting action that takes begins farther away from the aristocrat's district, to the south of Rega gate. A happening that, in the dead of night, would mark the beginning to a series of occurances that would go unknown to many and make others shiver.
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"I can't decide which is worse. The rain, or the cold..."
"Quit griping, Shu. Be grateful you do not guard the city gates. Not only would you be wet and frigid, but you would be forced to stay aware."
"Nobody would attempt to sneak past a Ku guardsman... especially not the Wakao guild... why do we have to stand guard on a roof of all things?"
"Because we keep it that way. The citizens and guests stay in line BECAUSE we, the Wakao and the Takire and the Fllu and the Le'Shuku KEEP the citizens and the guests in li-"
"Stop! Did you hear that?"
The rooftop was empty. The flat roofs of differing height were a testament to the skill of whoever had laid plans for the city's architecture. Once upon a rooftop, there was nowhere to hide... and all the two guards would need to do would be to stand back-to-back, then survey the entirety of their platform. It was basic training, one that kept the guards on edge even when relaxed, that kept them watchful.
Both guards, Shu and the other, seemed, however, to neglect this portion of their training in the Wakao. Such an action would normally have had them executed... but given the nature and timing of their transgression, it seemed that the punishment for their deeds would arrive on swifter wings than the guild's culling.
Shu barely made any noise at all, as he first slumped to knees and gurgled, then fell upon the body of his comrade who bled most profusely from the kunai lodged into his left temple.
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But who had committed this act? Who had slain the two guardsmen, and now perched atop a flagpole attached to the side of the tower where two fresh corpses lay for more to find in the morning? For the purposes of the mission, he had no name... but such a thing makes it quite difficult for the teller of a story, so for the sake of argument we shall call him 'Cloth'... Cloth was a tall man. This fact was not readily apparent, for the man in black fabric was hunched over quite a substantial amount of the time, making an accurate depiction of his thin stature difficult. He carried two weapons, one a rather wicked-looking crosspiece-less shortsword more reminiscent of a katana than anything else, the other a long-chained flail that he had coiled about his shoulders and body to let the head and handle dangle free.
Now let us look, instead, to see the man we have named to be 'Cloth' leap from the flagpole to his next stop, the top of Rega Gate. He would be unseen... the ground-patrolling Takire guild had full trust in the roof-watching Wakao to not let a would-be lawbreaker to traverse the rooftops. Hence, they did not look up.
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In the end, it was a simple matter for Cloth to reach the Palace. In the aristocratic district, security was far more lax. What guards there were happened to be more ceremonial, less trained and tended to salute you rather than ask you the important 'who/what/where/when/why/how's that graced any soldier questioning an innocent civilian carrying two wagonloads of taxes. Yeah, taxes. Cloth couldn't help but smirk under the silk of his fabric mask, his blue eyes calmly watching the red-armored warriors mill about in semi-decent patrol. It was only a matter of timing to slip inside the palace's kitchen entrance.
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Even late as it was, a lone cook was busy for tomorrow morning. The breakfast laid for the garrison had already been completed, and all that remained was the Emperor's own meal. Nimble and slender hands worked tiredly at the multitude of spices, separating and grinding carefully as well as diligently. She was fatigued, that was to be certain... But how could she not be happy? Tonight was the first night of Fa's new position as head cook, and she would be able to feed each of her family members, buy a sizable house, grow her own garden and even pay for her daughter's schooling as a geisha with a single week's worth of wages! No, nevermind that. To the task at hand, Fa! You still have to wash up, after you're done with all of thi-
"Who is there? Please, Vuri, if you wish to play night-time tricks, bother someone else..."
But the night guard was not there. Funny, Fa could have sworn that she felt something... as if the wind from someone's passing blew just so much to set her on edge. She couldn't help but become distracted, gripping the long herb-chopping knife in her right hand as worried brown eyes flicked across the room... and widened, for a long chain had wrapped about her arms and neck, pulling her back into the constricting arms of someone very strong indeed. She couldn't breathe... the chain on the man's extended flail was too tight, and she could not even utter a scream to save her life.
"I am sorry, but I cannot allow you to give testament as to what you have seen. May your soul find peace in the heavens."
As the Cloth's wakizashi cut soul free from its tether, there was no measurement for the amount of regret poor Fa felt.
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The main hall... there was not a grander place in all of Ku, save perhaps the throne room itself. In the dark, it was as dead as the night itself. So how strange it was, that a man dressed in grey came rushing panicked into the room itself, one hand pressed to his spectacles and the other blindly searching in the dark for a candle to light.
"I can't believe this... absolutely ridiculous... what kind of idiot loses the wages chit? Apparently me..."
A single match was struck, placed to one of the candles at the foot of the stairs and blown out... as gentle light flickered some semblance of life into the room, the grey-wrapped elder sighed. To search this room would take an age, one that he'd liefer not have spe-
"WH-gkk!"
And the flame was blown out again, but not before the gentle glint of a shuriken shined within candlelight.
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Cloth was close, now. The large double doors of the Emperor's chambers loomed in his vision, but there was a slight issue. So far, passage within the palace had been an easy matter, but now three guards stood outside the only entrance to within... his target. So far, he had avoided open combat, but now Cloth had little choice...
"I spy, with my little ey-"
"Do shut up, Hagai. It is boring, yes, but it beats being wet outside."
"That was uncalled for. Here am I, finding a way to pass the time until shift change, and you have to go ordering me to silenc-"
"Both of you, suffer in silence. If the Emperor were to awaken, he would have all of our jobs to recruits. I know nothing of either of you, but I have a family to feed, thank you very much."
"Sorry Captain."
"Don't apologize, keep up the banter... I could swear I saw that shadow move while you two argued."
"What?"
"Look alive, Hagai!"
When Cloth struck, it was as if lightning had closed its eyes in sheer terror. The speed was fast, the attacks were deadly, and the cold, calculating poise of Cloth held many advantages the bushido of Kiakru's bodyguards did not... for example, the ability to spring sideways, deflect one long katana with a spinning flail and slip a wicked knife into the joint between pauldron and helmet.
"Hagai! Damn it!"
The aerial maneuver was not finished, however. Cloth was still spinning, the flail's long chain wrapping around the falling katana and flinging the sword sideways, Cloth pulling free his half-length'd weapon to fling it in an opposite direction with his rotations as momentum. Both the captain and underling would fall in mid-attack, matching eyesockets plugged by blades. Cloth knew they would never have had a chance... all their training was as moot without consistent field effort... and the strict guard of Ku eradicated most chance of that. Cloth, on the other hand...
Cloth still had no wound, and life left in him to push open the doors to the Emperor Kiakru's chambers. There would be small reason for silence... his entrance had been noisy.
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"I had wondered why the lives within my city were vanishing, without cause of pestilence nor age. You have broken the law of Ku."
"I have broken many laws, Kiakru. You are to die tonight, for you have made yourself unpopular."
"By whose creed must this occurrence happen, assassin?"
"Mine. You have no compassion for man, do not understand that mistakes are made on occasion, that mercy is a need."
"You speak of things that I have not the luxury of, as both Emperor and man. What gives you the right to judge me, when I must judge alone? It is only MY right."
The emperor turned to face Cloth, in that huge, dimly-lit room... He stood in front of his bed, overhung by expensive fabric and rare wood. A room fit for royalty... obviously. Kiakru himself, despite his apparent wealth, was emaciated... thin, his brown skin drawn taut over his flesh and covered in rich dyed furs from exotic lands. A single red stone dangled from his neck, one emblazoned with a symbol akin to the yin and yang of spiritual energy. His own red eyes found Cloth's narrowed gaze, something like a smile drawing over those thin lips.
"For too many years have I ruled Ku with a perfect hand, always picking and pruning with carefulness and the might of a true ruler... What right is higher than that of the Judge?"
There was a gleam, from about Kiakru's neck. The aristocrat laughed, his echo deep from the skinny body. Cloth could not help but back instinctively for the door, sapphire eyes wavering to note just how the colors within the room seemed to bend and sway, then be yanked within the gem... and almost yell in surprise, to see the ruler begin to warp, and twist.
"Foolish ninja... You cannot hope to overcome the rule of Ghal, the Judge... The stone of Cancer will drink your blood, as well as all the blood that resides within Ku!"
The beast was monstrous... Chaos incarnate. The left arm was only a seething mass of long, thick tentacles, attached to some hulk of a body that claimed a three-fingered hand on thick, beefy arm for the right side. The legs were numerous, each spidery and hairy, carapace'd. And the head... misshapen and lumpy, it might have been reminiscent of the emperor's own visage... but perhaps it would have been best to not dwell upon its appearance.
"What manner of beast are you... How long have we been ruled by a demon?!"
"What difference does it make, when the ruling given is the same? You have taken a life, assassin! Your sin determines your sentence... Death! Death to the sinners! Hehahaha! The city will BLEED!"
It came quickly... Cloth was forced to leap, to move skyward above a swift punch from Kiak- Ghal's right arm, to course above the monster's stinking breath and over its head onto the bed. Fabric slid under his tabi'd feet, bringing him onto the floor with the momentum...
SMASH
The bed was crunched by squirming black tentacles, the ninja knocked aside. Black-clothed body slid across the ground, then slammed into the far wall. It hurt... Cloth almost yelled, almost cursed... but instead expelled the energy into regaining his feet, refocusing as the monster reared back its head and gurgled in assumed victory imminent.
Victory imminent indeed... but it was the flail's head that caught Ghul's malformed noggin directly, causing the skull to fracture and the flesh to tear. But Cloth had been twenty feet away from the beast, how had he struck it from that distance?
He'd thrown it.
The wakizashi soon followed, finding a home deep within the lucavi's neck, sinking with the sickening sound of a keen edge separating meat. Next to follow were two kunai, several shuriken, a number of broken and sharp wood planks from the shattered bed... Ghul staggered, the spidery legs slumping as that huge arm attempted in vain to fend off the flying projectiles.
"Your reign has ended."
And next to fly was Cloth himself... those sapphire eyes blazed with a cold vengeance, hands reaching out to grab the long knife's handle... and ripping upwards to separate the gruesome head in twain.
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The city is no longer ruled by the Kiakru dynasty. In the series of events following the assassination of Emperor Kiakru VII, there was argument over who the next ruler should be. What followed were a number of battles within the city itself amongst the four guilds of law enforcement, the deaths numbering into the thousands... though no guild suffered so much as the guildless. In the end, Each of the guild leaders met the same fate as the late emperor, and each fell to in-fighting and dissolution.
Ku is now leaderless... armyless... lawless... but how is it that each member of 'society' seems to be that much happier, without security? Though every man and woman carries a weapon and is taught from birth on its use, you will almost always be greeted with a smile...