Hear You Me

Here I stand, helpless and left for dead

Close your eyes, so many days go by, easy to find what's wrong and harder to find what's right.

I believe in you, I can show you that I see right through all your empty lies, I won't stay long in this world so wrong

Say goodbye, as we dance with the devil tonight. Don't you dare look at him in the eyes, as we dance with the devil tonight

The young woman closed her smoky grey eyes and prayed a quick prayer to the goddess as she took a running start and jumped off a cliff.

She landed quietly on the top level of the pagoda and slowly leapt onto a lower level. The assassin landed in the garden in the midst of delicate cherry trees. She crept along the side of the structure, weary of guards and with a pin she unlocked a window and stealthily jumped in. She checked to see if there was anyone in the room.

" No one." She whispered and she walked to the door and poked her head out to check the hallway. She sighed quietly as she saw that it was empty.

" Thank you Goddess." She whispered as she made a dash to another unoccupied room. The young woman untied her long blond hair and started unpacking some equipment. She strapped several knives to her leg and unrolled maps of the pagoda as she memorized the route to the general's room.

She quickly changed into a dress to blend in. She put her gun blade and other gear into her pack, then tossed the bag onto the roof.

She passed by many guards in the hallway and some of them leered at her suggestively but she just kept walking. She had a mission to do.

Finally she arrived at the general's room. Without hesitating she walked into the room where a fire was burning in an attempt to give the room a romantic feeling. Her lip curled with disgust as her hand went to one of her knives.

Going deeper into the room she saw that there was an emperor sized bed in the middle and yet her target wasn't there. Her eyes narrowed as she wondered where the bastard was when she heard footsteps.

Two hands wrapped around her waist and she was repulsed. No one, absolutely NO ONE could ever touch her. Okay Minerva, she thought to herself, keep your cool. Don't kill him just yet.

He turned her around and leaned in to kiss her. Out of instinct Minerva stepped back. His eyes were small and beady, filled with greed and lust. She itched to get his grimy hands far away from her. Slowly her knife wielding hand started going up to stab his carotid artery.

" What?" The revolting pig asked. " Am I not you're type?" He leaned in again but this time Minerva jabbed the knife deep into his neck severing the artery.

" Does that answer your question ?" She asked as he fell to the floor soundlessly.

She stared at the lifeless body before checking the pockets for a disk that contained important information on the Wutain army.

A sharp knock interrupted her searching and a gruff male voice called out to the General.

" Shit." Minerva cursed while the male kept calling the now dead general. Realizing that she was about to be found out Minerva climbed out of the window and onto the roof. She located her pack and got out her gun blade as an alarm rang.

Minerva smiled grimly and raised her weapon as she saw soldiers coming towards her. She closed her eyes and tried to get into what she called her fighting mode.

She opened her eyes and blocked out everything else apart from the soldiers that now ran towards her. In her head she imagined an orchestra.

To her, fighting was like a complicated and fiery dance accompanied by equally intricate and passionate music.

With every stab there was a crescendo and with every gun shot there was a daring violin trill. Soon it was just a piano playing in her head as she surveyed the bodies that surrounded her. She sighed and wiped the blood off her blade.

Just she did that she heard the slight hiss of a bullet and leapt into the air. With the agility of a gymnast she spun and located the gunman. She let a single bullet fly and he soon dropped down.

Minerva was about to jump off of the roof when she head more footsteps and saw even more Wutain soldiers.

" Some people just don't get the message." She muttered as she once again dashed into battle. The orchestra in her head resumed at full volume bringing with it the dangerous dance of death.

The deadly assassin was too absorbed in her deadly dance that she didn't notice the cowardly soldiers sneaking up behind her and she turned around to hear the clang of two swords connecting.

Standing in front of her was a crimson clad warrior with auburn hair and brilliant blue eyes that sparkled with intensity in the dark night.

" Who are you?" Minerva asked as they continued blocking and delivering blows.

He gave her a cocky grin as he stabbed another soldier. " Does it matter?"

Minerva took a few seconds to answer. " To me it does at least…."

" Why, so you can thank your knight in shining armor?"

She laughed. " Hardly likely. More like to tell you that you're just a nosy pest. By the way, do I really seen like a damsel in distress to require assistance from you?" She asked mockingly as she kept the soldiers at bay.

" Do you really want the truth…." The crimson warrior asked and without waiting for an answer he plowed on. " You're too rude to be a damsel in distress."

Minerva gave small cry of indignation. " Excuse me?" She asked as she parried blows. " How exactly am I rude?"

He flashed her another charming grin. " You tell me that I'm being a pest when quite obviously I'm here to help you."

" Well I never asked for your help anyways!" Minerva responded as she blew a lock of her hair out of her face.

"I know." He said as he stepped in front of her and pushed a man off of the roof. " But that still doesn't give you the authority to be rude." The with a single swipe of his blood red rapier he killed four men allowing them a brief respite.

" May I have the honor to know the name of the beautiful lady I have the pleasure to fight with?" he asked still smiling his same insolently charming smile.

Minerva shot him a glare that would have sent other men running. " No you may not…At least not until you tell me who you are."

He smirked. " Don't you know by now? If you don't then you must be living under a rock."

She scowled. " You're such an egocentric conceited jerk."

" It's not being conceited if it's true."

She rolled here eyes as she saw that no more soldiers were being sent up. " Well as some great person must have once said- Sayonara!" With that she jumped off of the roof leaving the crimson warrior looking at her.

She turned to run but before she could her wrist was grabbed. She turned to punch whatever moron that had had the guts to touch her before she realized it was the same auburn haired man who had helped her. She frowned, how had he gotten so fast off of the roof?

" Before you make your daring escape would you at least care to tell me your name?" he asked.

She raised an eyebrow. " Why should I?" She challenged.

He shrugged. " I think I deserve a compensation for saving your life."

Minerva debated with herself but against her better judgment she relented. " Minerva."

" Is that your name or who you are?" He asked quizzically.

" Both." She replied, jerking her hand from his grip. She was about to bolt into the woods when she decided to ask her "savior" something.

"Why did you help me?"

The question had obviously caught him off guard. " I don't know….. I guess it's because I'm supposed to be the knight in shining armor for all the damsels in distress." He said with a carefree grin.

Minerva smiled. " Right. Well then since that wasn't a satisfying answer can I ask you another question?"

His aqua blue eyes bore into her smoky grey ones. " You already did." He pointed out in a smart-alecky way.

" Can I know who my…."savior" is?" She asked.

Her grin became a dazzling smile. " I don't doubt you'll soon find out, Minerva."

" Well until then, my crimson knight." She said with another smile as she dashed off, disappearing into the woods.

The blue eyed warrior watched her. " Even if the morrow is barren of promise, nothing shall forestall my return." He whispered to himself. " Until soon, Minerva." He said as he walked back to his camp.

Genesis smiled as he remembered the defiance in those eyes. " Still the same…" He chuckled. It truly was refreshing to see his childhood friend hadn't lost her spark and that arguing with her was like dancing with the devil. You had to be careful in order to not get burnt.

The only thing that unsettled him was the fact that she didn't recognize him. The feeling made him uneasy but he shrugged it off.

Now that the Goddess had intertwined their fates, he had no doubt that they would be together this time.

" Just like we promised."

A/N- You guys have no idea of how many time I restarted this chapter and how many nights I spent awake trying to figure out how to make them meet but I'm glad to say I did it! Even if it means I sacrificed several hours of sleep….but hey, I'm insomniac so it's no loss.

The song lyrics are from Dance With The Devil by Breaking Benjamin (which I do not own). In my opinion this song fits because to me Genesis and Minerva are kind of playing with fate and with each other, in a way. But if they push it too far they can both get hurt which is what dancing with the devil means to me. It could also be trying to resist temptation and all that jazz….eh, it sounded like a load of cow droppings but I blame my cold medicine and lack of sleep. If you have a better idea of why it fits then just review and write it in.

And speaking of reviewing- review pretty please. It really makes me feel good when I see you guys review. I apologize in advance if I don't get the next chapter out soon but I'll try to get it out before next Tuesday since I have four day weekend, three actually since I have a Jazz festival on Saturday. So just in case I don't make put it up, I'm terribly sorry.

So you know what to do, just press the green button and you become my new best friend.