From the Author: For those of you who've faithfully checked back on this story for updates: Thank you! I've been so busy with school... this quarter has been a whirlwind for me. All the midterms, homework, readings, and studying I've had to do has taken a serious toll on my schedule and free time.
If you haven't checked my profile since the last update, you wouldn't have known that my old computer (with this chapter and other story-related documents) completely died on me. I think it's a problem with the CPU or the motherboard. I've gotten a laptop since then (am I'm loving it) but found myself unable to find a large block of time where I could work on writing. Fortunately, I was able to remove the harddrive and retrieve important files, so I was finally able to finish this chapter. But every day, I was thinking about this story, planning, and laying out the groundwork for the plot, developing the characters, etc.
I think I can say for certain that I WILL be working on a sequel to this story; I've unwittingly invested so much into this story that I find myself unable to pull myself out of this world I've created. At the very least, I wouldn't be satisfied with publishing only one fanfiction about Argos, Kristoph Reinbach and their friends. I've actually written part of the first chapter for the sequel but it'll probably be a long time before you see it. (Graaargh! I've gotten into the habit of pressing ctrl+s whilst typing!)
The next time you (the readers) find yourselves waiting for the next chapter for huge blocks at a time with no word of an update; check my profile. I'll probably have an excus- explanation on why I haven't updated the story.
Next week will be finals week for me, and I'll hopefully be devoting myself to grueling four-hour study sessions in preparation for my exams. After that will be spring break; I'll try to work on chapter 15 by then!
FireyFlames: Fun meanie! Ahaha! That's probably the first time I've ever heard of a meanie described with such an adjective! Thanks for the positive feedback~~
seiyo: Finally, a resolution to this cliffhanger! To be honest, I didn't plan on Tabby having as large of a role she has when I first introduced her into the story... I guess Tabby as a character forced her way into a larger role!
And without further ado, the resolution to the cliffhanger you've been stuck with for at least three months!
Assassins Guild Headquarters
In the central room of the guild headquarters, a shaft of moonlight cascaded downwards from a window nestled squarely in the vaulted ceiling, illuminating the cast-iron statue standing in the center. Whoever had wrought Guile's image from whatever huge slab of iron must have had an enormous heaping of talent. Guile's statue stood seven feet tall, elevated on a massive pedestal, almost as if a perfect reflection of his likeness was captured into iron and frozen. Whirling around from behind his shoulder and clutched in his left hand, an iron-wrought cloak hovered while a curving dagger perched in his right hand, ready to strike.
Hama knew a work of art when he saw one. And this Statue of Guile, the most notorious assassin in the history of the guild, was a masterpiece of masterpieces. He had barely become a greenhorn assassin himself when the statue was carried into the headquarters. The previous Guild leader had requested the statue not long before he was assassinated by the current leader in a swift, violent, and bloody coup d'état, at least two decades ago.
But the era of Guile? Those years were by far, the bloodiest years in the history of the Kingdom of Rune-Midgard, and it was all because of one man, one assassin cross.
Eremes Guile.
He couldn't help the shiver from traveling down his spine every time he thought of the man's name. Back when the cities were struggling to emerge victorious over each other, struggling to gain more power in a desperate and grueling race, Guile singlehandedly carved a bloody path for Morroc, enabling the transformation of the withered, desert nomadic tribe into a threatening city with a sizeable army of assassins. Had the other rising cities not joined forces and intervened against Morroc...
Well, let's just say that all the other cities would have been under Morroc rule today.
Fortunately, Guile was long dead, and his violent campaign of blood with him. Hama was content to polishing the man's statue; after all, he did respect him as much as he feared him. There was only one other living person who could even hope to hold a candle to Guile's talent – How fitting that it should be that man.
Somewhere between Comodo and Morroc Desert
He trampled back to the clearing, swearing with each step. The sun had long since set, and the moon rose high in the sky, nestled amongst twittering stars. There was no chance that Reinbach could ever hope to track down Daphne's abductor; ever since the daylight faded, it became too dark to attempt to search for anything. Wordlessly, he stomped back to the tree where Eurie and their injured companions lay, reached into his bag and pulled out a roll of bandages.
"H-how did it go?" Eurie asked tentatively. Reinbach wanted to hurl something.
"How do you think!?" he snapped, wincing as he wrapped his wrist tightly. Eurie fell silent.
Wrapping an injured limb with a bandage was in no way a proper remedy for a fracture, but it helped nonetheless; it was nowhere as restricting as a cast, and it allowed for light usage. Reinbach tossed his head back to gulp down a white potion, grimacing at the bitter taste that crawled down his throat.
"I just don't understand," he said. "Why you would just let a complete stranger take Daphne away from here."
Eurie seemed as though she was ready to burst into tears again at any moment, but she held her mouth defiantly.
"Even if you say that," she countered. "By the time I came to, Daphne had already been long gone."
Reinbach had nothing to say to that; there was no use getting angry at her for that. He scowled and gently rubbed his wrist.
"So what now?" Eurie asked.
What now indeed? There was no point in continuing their journey to Comodo without Daphne; Eurie was unable to guide them to the beach city without Nicholas anyways. They couldn't simply leave behind their injured companions; it would be tantamount to leaving them to their deaths.
"The way I see it," Reinbach admitted begrudgingly. "The only thing we can do right now is wait for our injured to get better."
Seven years ago, Morroc Slums
This time, he would do it. He fingered the dagger tucked in a holster in his tattered sleeve – it was heavily poisoned and the slightest cut would leave a grown man in a coma. The afternoon Morroc sun stared downwards at the desert town at a slant, casting long shadows that stretched across along the ground.
He would kill the assassin who murdered his mother. He endured that man's training, this suffering, this humiliation, for one year just for this; an entire year's worth of experience culminating for this one moment.
This time, he wasn't naive enough to hide under a shoddy tarp for a cover; most trained assassins were well wary of potential hiding spots the moment they laid eyes on them.
Richard had set up a beautiful, yet simple trap. With a yank of his wrist, a wire would trip a carefully perched barrel from the roof of the building overhead, pouring gallons of cheap oil to the ground below. Even if his trap missed his target completely, it would serve its purpose by making the ground slick, erasing any even footing. He had prepared in ahead of time a pair of spiked boots, ensuring that only he would be able to maneuver properly.
That wasn't all. His footsteps could still be heard, especially with spiked soles... but the oil would completely dampen the sounds. He could sneak up behind that man completely unnoticed, and stab him in the back with his dagger, while the assassin's attention was on the oil. He himself was soaked in the fluid, making it difficult to grab hold of him with grappling techniques, as that man was so fond of doing.
There! He caught a glimpse of a familiar gray cloak slinking through a small crowd of people, walking his direction to their scheduled training. His heart racing and breath quickening, Richard swallowed anxiously and gripped his dagger by the hilt. Everything seemed to shift deeper into focus: the oil slipping over the pores on his arm, the baking warmth of the sun, the sliding desert breezes…
Only a handful of feet… only a few more steps… NOW!
Richard gave a sharp jerk of his wrist and the barrel tripped, spilling its contents, splattering oil onto the ground. A couple of onlookers stared bewildered, while the man in the gray cloak seemed to lock up.
"Wha – "
Without wasting another second, the young boy dashed towards his mentor and plunged his knife into the man's back. The blade sunk deep between his ribs, penetrating his vitals. Without so much as a groan of pain, the man collapsed to the ground face down in a boneless heap.
He stood over the man's body, his eyes screwed shut, panting, then fell to the oily ground as well.
It was over. His hellish nightmare was finally finished.
Somewhere between Comodo and Morroc Desert
"Good evening," a man's voice greeted from behind his ear. Reinbach's stomach nearly leapt to his throat and he almost grabbed his Zephyrus with his broken wrist out of habit. He snapped his head towards the voice, but the man only raised his arms defensively.
"Hey now," he said. "Easy."
Only part of the man's lined face was visible under the gray hood of his cloak. He appeared to be a simple traveler, with a brown, bulky satchel clinging to his back.
"Who are you?" Reinbach demanded testily.
"You can say I'm a wandering sightseer," he said, smiling slightly. "You have injured companions, I see. They seemed poisoned."
Eurie cocked her head slightly, listening to this newcomer. It was strange; usually Eurie was very sociable no matter whom it was, but she seemed intent on observing the traveler.
"If you're fine with it, do you mind if I take a look at your friends?" he asked. "I happen to know a bit about herbal remedies and poisons."
If he had any malicious intentions, he could have attacked them long ago, when my back was turned, Reinbach thought. It should be okay.
"Sure..." the young knight said. Without further ado, the traveler lowered his hood and took a closer look at Argos and dabbed gingerly on the assassin's wound. He had long, gray hair pulled back in a ponytail, but from the lines on his pale, worn face, he couldn't have been more than forty years of age. His well-defined hook nose twitched as he took a sniff of Argos's blood. A sudden, curiously indescribable expression crawled onto the man's face, replacing the one of clinical interest.
Reinbach had a sudden notion that there was much more to the traveler than seemed. Was it from the way the man carried himself? Perhaps it was the way he moved? It was hard to say.
"Poor coloring," the traveler murmured. He checked the assassin's pulse. "Erratic pulse, and... oh my. It seems as if..."
"He drank a strange red poison earlier," Reinbach said. "It increased his physical ability but..."
"My, my," the man murmured under his breath. "How surprising. What have you been doing, hmm?"
"I didn't catch your name, by the way," said the knight.
The traveler busied himself by rummaging through his bag.
"Oh, me?" he asked mildly. "Like I said earlier... I'm just a wandering traveler who happens to know a thing or two about... poisons." He pulled out a glass vial of a clear fluid and held it up towards the pale moonlight. "Ah… this should be it. Antidote to the deadly poison your friend drank."
Yanking out the cork stopper of the vial, the traveler hummed tunelessly and hovered his hand over the stomach wound. A few drops fell and sizzled immediately, causing a small plume of steam to rise. Argos grunted and his brows furrowed, but remained unconscious.
Once again, Reinbach had a nagging feeling in the back of his head that there was much more to the man than met the eye. He definitely dodged that question just now.
He stood up and stepped closer to Nicholas's body. Eurie stirred anxiously.
"Hmm..." the traveler said. "I'm assuming that these cuts are poisoned as well?"
"We're quite certain," responded Eurie. "An assa-" she bit back a cry. Reinbach tried his best to inconspicuously elbow the dancer before she let out any more.
"...Do you happen to know who did this to him?" the man asked. "I need to know."
"The first ranked assassin cross, Remiel," the young woman continued defiantly.
"Eurie!" Reinbach snapped.
"Now, now," the traveler said. "Let's not be rude to the young missy… Remiel, Remiel, Remiel... Good grief! That man will be the end of me some day!"
"You know him?" Reinbach asked, too surprised to be on his guard.
"Know him? I spent eight straight months trying to develop an antidote to his poisons! Meanwhile, countless targets drop like flies and my client kept nagging me to work faster. You'd have to be a fool if you haven't heard of Remiel if you're in my field of work." He rummaged through his bag again and pulled out another vial; this one marked with a large, red X on the side, lifted Nicholas's chin and poured a few drops down the other man's throat. Instantly, the clown's ragged breathing evened out. "He'll recover in due time, he will."
"Thank you!" Eurie exclaimed. The traveler beamed.
"Now for this fellow here," he continued, moving onto Grant. "Hmm? He doesn't have any surface cuts."
"It was Remiel again," Reinbach said, relenting. Now that the man knew, there wasn't much point in denying the obvious. "I'm not sure what he did, but he planted his palm into his breastplate and a violet..." he was unable to find the words to describe the attack.
"Remiel again," the traveler sighed. "Probably Soul Breaker,"
"So can you do anything about it?" asked Reinbach.
"Unfortunately, no," the man replied. "As much as I would like it to be true, my knowledge of poisons doesn't solve everything. Your friend will have to recover on his own."
"I... I see," said the knight. "But he will definitely recover?"
"Most definitely, though I can't really say when; if he's hardy enough, he might wake up quite soon. It could be five minutes from now or it could be five days from now."
The traveler turned around and faced Reinbach and Eurie.
"Now," he said, his face turning a bit more business-like. "Now that I've answered your questions, I've got a few for you."
He gestured to Argos's body. "Your friend there... how long has it been since you first met him?"
Reinbach was surprised by this choice of topic. "A-a few days," he said, blinking. What did Argos have to do with anything?
"I see," the traveler mused. "Not very long. Has he mentioned anything about his past?"
"No..." said Reinbach slowly, unsure where the line of questioning was headed. "He and I never really talked much."
"Nothing of perhaps, about former mentors, or trainers? How about you?" he continued, looking directly at Eurie.
The dancer edged away slightly, confused.
"No..." she said quietly. "He kept to himself mostly."
The traveler looked quite disappointed. "Nothing at all, I see."
"Do you know him?" Eurie ventured.
"Your friend Argos here is an excellent assassin, He endured hellish training when he was younger. Monstrous training, and at such a young age..." his voice trailed off and his gaze turned vacant.
For the third time, warning bells rang in Reinbach's head. How does he know Argos's name?
"I suppose you really don't know anything about Argos," the traveler said. "Very well. I suppose I should ask you this instead."
He leaned forward, a strange glint gleaming in his eyes.
"Where is Daphne Trenton?"
Both Reinbach and Eurie jumped backwards in alarm. Reinbach snatched up his Zephyrus spear in his left hand. His heart was pounding furiously.
"How do you know about Daphne!?" he demanded.
"Everyone is so rude nowadays," the traveler sighed. "Have you forgotten? It's my turn to ask the questions."
"Who are you!?" Reinbach shouted.
"Maybe I haven't given you enough information to warrant the disclosure of Daphne Trenton's current location?" the traveler pondered aloud. "Well I suppose it couldn't be too easy..."
"WHO ARE YOU!?" Reinbach bellowed.
"Very well. You may refer to me as Ghost. I am the second ranked assassin in the Assassins Guild. Now, how about it? Will you tell me where Daphne Trenton is hidden?"
Reinbach felt his inside writhe wildly. SECOND RANKED!?
"Still no? How about I tell you about my relation to your friend Argos? Is that an acceptable offer?" Ghost dodged an awkward left-handed thrust from Reinbach's Zephyrus.
"Forgive me, I have been too insulting." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Ah! I will tell you something interesting. The reason why I am second ranked."
"LEAVE US!" Reinbach continued to jab clumsily with his left hand to the assassin cross, who continued to dodge.
"The reason why I am only second ranked," Ghost explained. "Is because I often toy with my targets and interfere with other assassins' hits. Remiel? That excuse for a human shouldn't even be alive. He's an abandoned failure. He couldn't even finish his job properly because of Orpheus."
Eurie gasped, trembling. "H-how do you know my brother's real name?"
Ghost looked towards the dancer, while evading Reinbach's attacks. "Oh, shall I tell you? Will it be an acceptable trade?"
"DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!" Reinbach roared, trying to land a hit.
"Shall I tell you about Orpheus or Remiel? Or even better, how the two of them are related?"
"SHUT UP!"
"It's quite comical, really. You think your merry little band of misfits managed to fend off the first ranked assassin? Do you think Remiel would go all out against a few teenagers? It's only because Orpheus happened to be amongst your number that you're still alive today. Remiel is the first ranked assassin for a reason, you see."
Comodo bound airship
Tabby pulled out a thin, navy-blue booklet from her bag. There was nothing on the cover, except a large white circle.
"What is that, Professor?" Neptunia asked.
"While you're traveling with me, you need to be cautious of a few things," Tabby explained, her face turning grim. Caroline peeked over from behind the seat in front of them.
She flipped the booklet open to the first page. A picture of a man with shadowed eyes and ragged indigo hair glowered back at them.
"Wh-who is that?" Caroline asked. Tabby looked around furtively.
"About ten years ago, the city of Lighthalzen was researching certain methods to increase their own military strength. It was all highly illegal of course, and it is the primary reason why the Prontera Church is so vehemently opposed to the idea of homunculus research among many other things."
"Ten years ago..." Neptunia muttered. His eyes flew wide open in shock. "Y-you mean there was a reason why the Church went on that –"
"Quiet! This isn't public knowledge!" Tabby hissed. She looked around nervously again, then continued on. "There was an idea of using blood from highly talented... individuals, soldiers, mercenaries, and warriors to create copies of the original, artificial life forms that were easy to mass produce and mobilize."
"Clones... a cloned army…" Caroline murmured.
"Yes," Tabby whispered. "For a moment, it seemed that the Lighthalzen laboratory researchers would succeed, but near the verge of completion, the Prontera Church intervened and the laboratory was shut down. The project was a failure."
"So... how does that relate to this man?"
"First of all, this is who we like to call threat #1. He's an assassin cross with deadly skill, and a remnant of the biolabs project."
Somewhere between Comodo and Morroc
""It all comes back to Remiel again," said Ghost.
"Him!?" Eurie asked. "Why him?"
"Your brother was involved in a Lighthalzen project ten years ago. Orpheus's magic-infused songs were necessary for animating the lifeless clones for the army they were trying to create."
"DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!" Reinbach shouted.
"I suppose you can call Remiel the prototype," the assassin cross mused. "But he was a failure, and he retained none of the original memories of the person the researchers wanted to clone. The only thing he had of his identity was a half-broken, rusted wrist-tag with R-E-M written on it. So he finds the delusional idea to claim the name Remiel in order to escape from his past."
"R-E-M?" Eurie asked.
"That's right," Ghost leered, a diabolic grin forming on his face. "R-E-M from Eremes Guile! He is the man who reflects the most notorious assassin!"
Seven years ago, Morroc Slums
The sound of clapping roused Richard from his daze. He snapped his attention to the source of the sound and nearly gasped when he saw his gray-cloaked mentor clapping several feet away, very much alive. His mouth went dry.
"Excellent!" the assassin lauded. "A beautiful plan, executed flawlessly! Virtually no hesitation and not a single wasted movement!"
Richard hurriedly rolled the corpse in front of him face up. A man with an unkempt, weary face gazed back at him, quite dead.
"But…" he protested. "You… this cloak…"
"Oh that?" the man asked. "I gave a homeless beggar a spare cloak and told him to come to this location. I knew you were planning something, you see. Your eyes gave it away."
"Why…" Richard muttered. "Why would you do that!? Because of you, he's dead!"
The assassin paused and cocked his head.
"Because of me?" he asked curiously. "No, no, you are quite mistaken. This man died because of you. You're the one who stabbed his vitals with a poisoned dagger."
Richard screwed his eyes shut and clamped his hands over his ears.
"You tricked him!" he shouted.
"You killed an innocent man!"
A part of him knew fully well that he could deny the facts as much as he wanted, but there was no avoiding the truth. Ultimately, the one who did the deed was…
"Murderer!" the man whispered. "Congratulations! You're well on your way to becoming an assassin."
"NO!" Richard screamed, his face contorted.
"How does it feel? To have taken a life with your own hands?"
"SHUT UP! IT'S YOUR FAULT!" howled the boy. "STOP IT!"
"Why are you denying this?" asked the man, as if cold-blooded murders were something to be proud of. "You've executed a flawless kill."
"Stop… get away from me…" Richard sobbed. "Get out of my life…"
"Ah, you see… that is another thing you're quite mistaken about." The man took off his hood, revealing his face for the first time to Richard. The boy edged backwards away from his mentor in fear.
"Your life? Your life doesn't belong to you anymore."
Somewhere between Comodo and Morroc
Reinbach almost dropped his spear as his heart almost crawled out of his throat.
"You expect me to believe this nonsense about clones and Eremes Guile?" he stammered. "There's no way that can be possible!"
"That's exactly what I'm saying," Ghost said. "Why don't you try asking your lady friend here?"
Despite the threat that the assassin cross presented, Reinbach glanced over to the dancer, who was standing nervously by the tree where their injured companions lay.
"Is it true?" he asked.
"I-It's true…" whispered Eurie, just audibly enough for them to hear. "As far as I know…"
"So how about it?" Ghost offered. "Now will you tell me where Daphne Trenton is hidden?"
A snarl crawled out of the young man's throat and his reassumed his sloppy left-handed attacking stance.
"Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you!" Reinbach growled.
Ghost sighed and shook his head disappointedly.
"Well that's all right," he shrugged. "I wasn't planning on letting you live after telling you so much confidential information anyways." He drew from under his cloak a strange jagged pair of sandy brown katars. "It is time for you to die."
A cold sweat broke on the knight's brow and his breath became irregular. He had no idea what sort of attack to expect from the second strongest assassin cross.
"Calm down," he muttered to himself. "…Deep breaths." He forced himself to stop hyperventilating by gritting his teeth together.
In all likelihood, he was probably going to die within a matter of seconds if Ghost was serious about the battle, but he didn't want to die without a fight.
"Eurie," the knight called. "I don't know how long I can hold him off. I'm sorry, but if you want to live, you'll need to run and hide to the best of your ability."
"But –"
"No complaints! If you try to carry Argos, Captain Graves, or Nicholas with you, he will definitely catch up to you. And if that happens… Anyways, I'll try to hold him off for as long as I can."
"You?" Ghost snorted, as if the very prospect was ridiculous. "A mere knight, holding me off? You can barely even hold your weapon."
"Goodbye Daphne, wherever you are…" he whispered. "Don't stop running. Live on…"
To his surprise, the assassin cross dove and burrowed deep into the sand and out of sight.
Wha… what's going on?
Without warning, a row of yard-long spikes erupted out of the ground, kicking up a cloud of sand. It was the last thing that Reinbach managed to catch a glimpse of before his eyes filled up with grit and screwed shut in pain. A couple of searing, lancing cuts slashed up his calves and shins through his boots.
"Argh!"
He stumbled clumsily and painfully, and propped himself up with the butt of his spear. Blood from his legs leaked out onto the sand, leaving partial footprints scattered in an erratic pattern.
"Kristoph!" Eurie shouted. "Be careful!"
"You fool! Why are you staying here?!" Reinbach shouted. "RUN!"
He heard the next attack instead of seeing it; his eyes were full of sand and grit. Another three spikes slashed his legs. He grunted in pain and fell to his knees, panting heavily.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" Ghost voice asked him, somewhere to his left. "I prefer this method of killing because it's the most efficient and easiest way for me. If I can help it, I use methods that don't get my hands and clothes bloody."
"Kristoph!" Eurie called. He heard her muffled footsteps on sand approaching him. He wasn't sure how, but the dancer managed to find him and kneel beside him despite her blindness.
"I thought I told you to run," he panted. His eyes watered in pain, washing some of the grit out.
"There's nowhere for me to go," she said. "If Nicholas or any of you died, there would be nothing left for me."
"How touching. But you've just signed your own death warrant, young lady," Ghost deadpanned.
"Oh really?" Eurie countered. "Because just now, one of our friends woke up. Instead of worrying about me, you should pay attention to him!"
"What?" Ghost snapped his head towards the trees. There was no one in sight.
"YOU!" Argos bellowed, materializing into visibility behind Ghost. "YOU!!" He gave Ghost a vicious slash of Remiel's Moonlight daggers.
"Oh, if it isn't Richard!" Ghost greeted almost cheerfully, swaying out of reach. "Feeling better, are we?"
"SHUT UP! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO GET OUT OF MY LIFE!" he screamed with rage.
"Your life? Have you forgotten? I thought I told you that your life doesn't belong to you anymore!"
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" the assassin roared. He faded from sight again while Reinbach felt Eurie carefully lead him away from the other two.
"Don't be ridiculous," Ghost scoffed. "I taught you everything you know about fighting. It's because of me–" he stumbled backwards as Argos rematerialized and slashed with his drill katars.
"Hmm? It looks like you've picked up a couple of tricks."
Argos disappeared again.
"…What an annoying fighting style. Did Spider teach you this?" He shook his head disappointedly. "But even so, in the end, Spider is less battle-capable than I. Why you even choose to mimic someone who can't defeat me is beyond my comprehension."
Just as Argos rematerialized behind Ghost, ready to strike, the older man pivoted around, snatched Argos's wrists and threw him over his shoulder and face-up onto the sand. Argos's red eyes squinted in pain.
"Don't get too full of yourself just yet, Richard," Ghost said, looking downwards at the younger assassin. "You've a long path ahead of you before you will even be close to hurting me." He dove deep into the sand again.
"Argos!" Reinbach called. "He can attack from underground!"
No sooner had Argos stood up back on his feet, a row of razor sharp spikes shot out of the ground, racing to the assassin.
"Tch!" Argos sidestepped the attack by a matter of inches, but growled irately as a cloud of grit burst into his face. A second row of spikes erupted out of the sand.
"Wha – AARGH!"
One spike had lanced completely through his left calf at an angle. Blood spurted out onto the ground, mixing with the grains of sand.
"Disappointing, Richard," Ghost said, shaking his head from side to side as he emerged from underground, brushing off his gray cloak. "I hit you with my second Grimtooth attack. You're relying too much on your eyesight." He began walking towards Argos.
"G-get away from me!" Argos panicked. "Stay away!"
"Do I have to train you from the basics again?" threatened Ghost. He grabbed a fistful of cloth at Argos's neck and dragged the young man closer to him. "Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy!"
"…Do it," growled Argos.
"What?"
"Kill me! You know you want to! At least this way I won't have to look at your face again!"
The assassin cross shook his head.
"No. I'm not done with you yet." He dropped Argos and kicked him sharply in the midsection. "Stay there while I finish off those other two."
He turned and faced Reinbach and Eurie, walking casually towards them.
"Try to fight back while I kill you slowly," he smiled conversationally. "That way, it is more interesting."
Is this it? Reinbach thought. Is this how I'll die? Is this how far I was able to go?
"Eurie," he said. "Run, now. Leave me behind; I can't move anymore."
The dancer stood from his side and stepped in front of him, blocking Ghost's path to the knight.
"I can't do that," she said defiantly.
"That's enough!" Reinbach snapped. "Are you doing this because of some crazy sense of duty as our guide? Then you're fired! Go home!"
She shook her head.
"I can't do that," she repeated.
Reinbach wanted to rip his hair out. Of all the times she could have chosen to be stubborn…
"Give it up!" the knight growled. "You're trying to fight the second ranked assassin cross! What can you possibly hope to accomplish!"
Eurie turned and smiled sadly at him.
"All this time, I've been a burden to you," she said apologetically. "But now, it's time for me to support you. Please believe in me."
"Don't worry about us!" Reinbach shouted at Eurie. "We're going to die anyways! Get away while you can!"
Ghost sighed, his arms crossed, tapping his foot impatiently.
"Are you two finished?" he asked.
"Oh my," Eurie exclaimed pleasantly. "You were polite enough to wait for us to finish."
"Do I look like the kind of person who would need to take advantage of a cheap opening?" he frowned. His eyes narrowed
"Well, I wouldn't know," the dancer smiled. "But I do not ever recall asking you to wait for us to finish, good sir."
Ghost's face darkened.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" yelled Reinbach. "DON'T PROVOKE HIM NEEDLESSLY!"
"You're pretty cheeky for a girl," Ghost sneered. "Very well. Since you wish to die by my hands so much, I have no choice but to oblige!" Once again he dove into the sand.
Oh God, Reinbach thought. It's over now…
"YOU STILL HAVE TIME TO RUN!" the knight shouted. "SAVE YOURSELF!"
He heard the telltale hissing sounds of spikes erupting out of sand, rushing to Eurie. All he could do now was watch helplessly as Eurie flirted with death, walking closer to the epicenter of the Grimtooth attacks.
To his surprise, the dancer stepped out of the path of the first row.
"EURIE!" he called. "You don't know how close you were to being hit!"
A second wave of spikes raced towards her. She twisted out of harm's way once more.
"…You're getting lucky!" he shouted, as she sidestepped a third row. "You're…" his shouts died off.
The dancer dodged a fourth and a fifth wave of spikes.
"You're… getting…" Reinbach stared in numb shock as she spun away from the sixth row.
What… what's going on?
The grimtooth attacks began to pick up speed, erupting more and more frequently, urgently. And Eurie twisted out of the way each time, her seemingly random steps gradually resembling a dance routine.
Is she really blind?
Finally, the attacks stopped and Ghost burst out of the sand, gasping slightly for air, a strangely neutral expression on his visage.
"You –" he was cut short when Eurie lashed out towards his voice with a whip. She continued to attack relentlessly.
Ghost stumbled backwards out of range, staring carefully at Eurie, who stopped attacking once she realized that the assassin cross was outside of her range. Her eyes were focused on the ground, but she appeared to be paying close attention to something else.
"Now I see," he said, dodging as Eurie once again whipped the source of his voice. "You're not using your eyesight at all. You're using your ears."
He fell silent and circled around quietly.
"TO YOUR LEFT!" Reinbach shouted.
Before Eurie could react, Ghost closed in swiftly and locked her in a grappling hold.
"Not too different from what I rely on while using Grimtooth," Ghost muttered. "But had you used your eyes, you would definitely have evaded me just now. You're blind, aren't you?"
Eurie struggled and squirmed against the assassin cross's hold.
"Very interesting," Ghost muttered. "Too bad I'm going to kill you; you would have been an interesting assassin."
"NO!" yelled Reinbach.
An arrow shrieked through the air, burrowing into the sand in the spot where Ghost had been crouching just moments before.
"Get away from my sister!" a hoarse voice rasped.
Nicholas emerged from the trees, nocking another arrow onto his bowstring. He fired again, almost hitting Ghost squarely between the eyes before the assassin cross twitched his head out of the way.
"Nicholas? Is that you?" Eurie gasped. "Your voice!"
"Like insects, they come one after another –" snarled Ghost.
A swift shadow leapt from the tree canopy overhead towards the second ranker. The sound of metal striking metal split the air, and Ghost leaped backwards away from the other newcomer.
"A spider isn't an insect, Ghosty-boy," the cloaked figure said. His hood slid off, revealing shoulder-length chestnut brown locks of hair and twinkling green eyes.
"Spider!" Argos gasped.
"Hello there, sport!" Spider greeted. "You look like you've seen better days."
Just then a massive horizontal blue arc of lightning streaked from the trees, striking Ghost directly on his strange brown katars. The lightning crackled and faded. Had Ghost not defended in time, the spell would have struck him squarely in the chest.
"Kristoph!" Daphne's voice called. "Oh my God, you're hurt!" She stepped closer to the edge of the trees, the tip of her wand smoking and crackling with residual magic. It was the most welcoming sight that Reinbach could think of for months.
"Daphne!" Reinbach called. "I thought you'd been kidnapped!"
"No, I hadn't! Spider arrived and took me to a safer place temporarily. He knew that Ghost was on our trail! More importantly… your injuries!"
"And I told her to stay there, but she just wouldn't listen at all…" Spider sighed resignedly.
"Ah!" Ghost exclaimed. "Daphne Trenton!"
"Oh no you don't," Grant Graves said, stepping in front of Daphne and planting his tower shield into the ground. "You're not getting past me!"
Ghost surveyed his surroundings, counting his opponents.
"…The only way insects could hope to win," he spat, looking uncharacteristically angry. "By sheer numbers!"
With a whirl of his cloak, he faded from sight. Light footprints in the sand raced away.
Reinbach sighed deeply; he wanted to cry in relief. "Everyone's okay," he murmured. "Everyone's alright…"
"Is he gone?" Grant asked. He wobbled and fell to his knees; apparently, he was still recovering from Remiel's attack.
Spider tilted his head in the air, listening carefully.
"Yes, he's gone. But we need to start moving." He clapped his hands together and glanced around. "So, everyone! How have your days been?"
[A/N] So concludes chapter 14! Ghost is a meanie! :(
...A nice meanie? He's kinda polite.