"A jug of water, please."

The middle aged Nord man frowned. This wasn't a sight he saw every day: two young youths, travelling alone, with their hoods cast over their eyes. Mostly, if he saw children, especially in this remote place, they would be accompanied by harassed looking adults, desperately trying to keep their offspring under control. These two... were not like that. Mostly silent, apart from the boy who had just asked for water, and still. Almost eery. Somehow, Hadring felt a little entranced, especially by the boy, as he, slightly dazed, reached under the counter to grab a jug full of clear liquid. He was handsome; the girl was pretty, too, but the boy... almost ethereally beautiful. The man could think of half a dozen brothels in the Dawnstar area who would be glad to employ him. Leaning over the counter, Hadring tried to smile in a kind way at him, as he slipped the water across the bar. The boy took it, with a small nod of thanks, and also took the two glasses he gave him, and handed them to the young girl. Then, they went to sit by the window, and the boy poured the drink. Then, they both began to sip at the water... But, oddly, the drink never seemed to go down. Hadring was strangely hypnotised by them... Then, realising he must look rude, blushed and looked away. He desperately wanted to listen to their conversation, being a notorious gossip (and two strange visitors like these certainly seemed like good gossip) but stopped himself. Somehow... it didn't seem right. Becoming more calm, the Nord walked over to the broom in the corner, and slowly began to sweep the floor.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Only a few hours." Phoenix wasn't sure whether to be excited or terrified. His heart could not beat, anymore, but... He wasn't sure, if he was still alive, whether it would be beating fast, for terror. Or a little slower, for anticipation. The idea that, in only a few short hours, he would be an assassin of the Dark Brotherhood... it was overwhelming to him. With a small shiver of fear, he wondered when he'd be sent out on his first contract... To murder someone. Phoenix felt the glass clink against his teeth as he sipped slowly. He was swallowing extremely slowly and Babette didn't seem to be swallowing at all. In fact, he watched her with a kind of rapt interest, as she stared straight at him. Silently, Phoenix wondered what she was thinking in her mind. She'd been mostly silent in their journey to Dawnstar, and when they stopped off at the Nightgate Inn, she'd been completely silent. Ever since Scarlett came. The youth wondered why ever since he'd been initiated into the Brotherhood, Babette had kept to herself so much. He liked her, and the girl had just been answering his questions with shrugs, grunts, and outright ignoral. But her crimson eyes had never left his own.

Shivering slightly at her gaze, Phoenix put the glass down on the table, and looked away. He was feeling a little awkward. He didn't really know what his feelings were towards his friend, and now she was ignoring him... Were girls always like this? Was she just going to ignore him forever? Turning away, the youth coughed politely. He didn't quite know what to say anymore. It had been easy, before, but now...

"We should go in a minute, if we want to be in Dawnstar before nightfall." he said awkwardly, pushing the water away. Silently, out of her dress, Babette pulled a few septims, and put them down unnecessarily hard on the table. They made a clinking sound, and one rolled away off the table, onto the floor. It span away on the floorboards, but neither of them wanted to go after it. Phoenix had shifted, when he'd heard the coin fall, and he was now looking directly into those cold pits of fire she called eyes... and she was staring back into his. It was an unspoken contest: who would look away first. For a few moments they just sat there, proudly exchanging gazes, unwilling to look away and admit defeat. Neither knew why they were contending, but it was happening, and both had too much pride to ever give in.

Phoenix's eyes were watering. He'd thought, being a vampire, that most of his bodily fluids would have drained away, by then, but apparently he had enough liquid to stop his eyes glazing over. Narrowing them, not wanting to blink, he watched her steadily. But she wasn't giving up. He couldn't let her win, he couldn't... And his eyes snapped shut. When he opened them again, he saw the triumphant look on Babette's face, and scowled at her, before slipping off the bench and walking towards where the septim had stopped. Picking it up between his thumb and forefinger, he flicked it at his friend, hitting her squarely in the chest. She giggled, and Phoenix knew he'd won. Although she'd beaten him in the staring contest, he'd won the bigger game: making her talk (or in this case- laugh) to him. Her face immediately turned deadpan again, after she saw the smug look on his face, but a hint of a grin remained.

"Let's go." he said, with a smirk. Babette stuck her tongue out at him, and got up, edging her way out of her seat. Then, the two of them walked out of the tavern, not looking at each other, and into the cold Skyrim afternoon.

It was a freezing day, and flakes of snow fell from the heavens, obscuring the children's visions. Phoenix batted the stuff out of his face, freeing his vision, and pulled on the cowl Babette had given him the day before, pulling his hood down lower over his face. He didn't have the armour of the Dark Brotherhood, not yet, but he was wearing a long black coat with a hood, and black felt boots, and, of course, the new cowl that covered the bottom half of his face. Phoenix had noticed the looks that the barkeeper had given him, and, quite honestly, he thought he could get used to them. As an acrobat, he'd had his fair share of pain, but this... This was something else. Fear. Awe. Whatever it was, Phoenix liked it.

Walking forwards into the snow, Phoenix heard the pleasant sound of crunching snow. He wasn't used to the sound, as he was mostly in Cyrodiil, and it was nice to his ears. With a low laugh, he ran forwards, and kicked some of the snow, now heavily settled onto the ground, into the air. With another childish giggle, he leaned to the ground, and cupped some of the white substance in his hands. It was so cold it hurt, but he didn't care. He could hear Babette getting closer and closer, and he had a hilarious idea... Then, when he could hear her breathing, he leapt to his feet and threw the snowball as hard as he could. It hit her on the side of the head. For a moment, she just looked at him, dazed as the snow ran down her face for a second. Then, realising what he was doing, let out a wild scream of laughter, and grabbed her own snowball. Phoenix ran for it, grinning madly, and knowing that the tension was gone, as he felt an icy ball hit him in the back. In mid run, he dragged his hand across the floor, and scooped up some snow in his palm. Without properly shaping it, he chucked it over his shoulder, and, hearing Babette's squeal, knew that it had hit her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It had been a few hours since the snowball fight, and the two vampires had become much more friendly again. Although Phoenix couldn't quite work out why Babette had been in a mood with him in the first place, he didn't honestly care. He was just glad she wasn't angry at him anymore. Babette had been very chatty, actually- she'd described every single last detail of the sanctuary, and how much he was going to love it, and all that. They'd been trudging, soaking wet from the snow, for about three hours, and it was getting dark. Although Phoenix was glad she wasn't annoyed anymore, he was getting rather tired. He hoped that when they arrived at the place, it would be warm and dry... He doubted both. From what he could guess from the gossip he'd heard about the Dark Brotherhood, it would be a cave infested with pet frost-bite spiders. Babette had told him that fact wasn't true, but he certainly had his suspicions. He would probably arrive to find Scarlett meditating on the back of a giant spider... The thought made him chuckle. Babette looked at him, with an amused expression on her face.

"What's so funny?" she asked.
"Nothing, nothing..." Phoenix replied, winking at her. The girl laughed, and gave him an affectionate look. Reaching out her hand, she took his. Silently, Phoenix suffered- he enjoyed the feeling of her hand in his, but, to be frank, her hands were FREEZING- and listened to her babbling on. She really didn't know how to stop talking, except from before when she hadn't talked at all. It was slightly getting on Phoenix's nerves. He zoned out slowly, so all he could hear was a mumble; it was quite soothing that way.

He could smell salt in the air, and guessed they were near the sea. The sound of seagulls cawing and snapping at each other was loud in the air, and vaguely, Phoenix could hear the lapping of the sea on the shore. He smiled, softly. Babette hadn't told him the sanctuary was on the coast! Maybe there would even be a beach... Blissfully, he strode on ahead, new feelings of excitement filling him. He could already picture it! Skimming stones, swimming in the sea... And killing... Maybe the murder could be a side-occupation. What with this, he could train himself up. He was strong and wiry, as an acrobat, but he was only mediocre with a sword or dagger... He would need to train. Perhaps he could put off the whole "contract kill" thing for a few weeks, while he learnt the basics...? Or maybe Scarlett, or whoever was leader, would want to plunge him immediately into the business- he wasn't quite sure.

"We're close now." Phoenix could not pick out emotions in his friend's voice. She did not sound particularly enthusiastic, as he had presumed she may be... she sounded flat. Her previous happiness had gone, apparently, and, as he looked at her carefully, he saw the moodiness had reappeared on her pretty face. Frowning, the youth turned around, halting them both in their tracks, and spinning her around to face him.

"Bet... What's wrong?"

She was silent for a few moments. Phoenix could hear the wind whistling through the air, as she stared at him, slightly accusing. She was thinking, he could tell, and her eyebrows furrowed together in thought. She swallowed. Then, slowly, replied in a harsh voice. "Nothing is wrong. What lead you to think that, boy?" "You've been on and off angry at me for days. I'd rather know if I've hurt you in some way, than just deal with you snapping at me every few seconds..." "Snapping at you? Snapping at you?" replied Babette, glaring at him, doing just what she claimed she was not. "I'm trying to protect you, you ungrateful bastard! You don't understand any of this, do you?"

Phoenix didn't want to reply. Anger boiled up in him- why was she suddenly being so disgusting to him? And patronising him? Of course he understood! He wasn't quite sure WHAT he understood, but he was sure if Babette explained it properly rather than just being a bitch about it, then he would understand perfectly well. Now she was just treating him like an unintelligent little child... Perhaps, compared to her, he was. But he didn't care. That didn't give her a right to act all high and mighty all of a sudden, just over something that she had decided was a huge problem. It wasn't a problem! If only she would tell him what was troubling her, maybe he could help in some way...

"I don't understand what you're going on about." retorted Phoenix, clenching his fists. Babette did not miss his little movement, and laughed sarcastically. "Of course you don't! You're just a kid..." "I'M a kid?" he wanted to strangle her. He wanted to take his hands, and rip her stupid throat out. All of his affection had disappeared- all he wanted was to KILL her! And he wasn't even sure why! This new aggression inside of him was just building up and up until, like a volcano, he felt like it would explode out of him and kill everyone! Fighting the urge to strike her, he gritted his teeth. "YOU are the one who is starting out a petty argument about bullshit that you won't even explain to me! You just want a fight don't you, Babette? Want a match?"

She growled and then, without warning, launched herself at him, tackling him to the ground. With a startled yell (he hadn't thought she'd take him up on his offer) he felt sharp nails on his neck. He didn't want to hurt Babette! What was she doing? Knowing that he had to defend himself, Phoenix grabbed one of her clawing hands, and pinned it to the ground with his foot. Flipping her over, whilst she kicked and screamed, he straddled her, making sure she couldn't move. Maybe he could reason with her... A feeling of panic filled him, as he struggled to control the screaming wildcat beneath him. Then, he was thrown into the air as, with all her might, she pushed upwards. Landing on his back, Phoenix felt all the air go out of him, and let out a low hiss. Shutting his eyes in pain, he felt cold steel on his neck and, opening his eyes, saw Babette leaning over him, a dagger at her neck.

"Fight back." she sneered, pressing the dagger into his neck. Phoenix let out a scream of pain as blood beaded up from his neck. Then, fury built up in him. It was small at first, like a cooking fire, and then, as the blade bit deeper and deeper into his flesh, it grew into a huge inferno. And then, as the pain grew unbearable, the youth let out a death scream and launched imself into the air, pushing her backwards. The dagger flew into the air, and Phoenix caught it in his left hand. He could barely recognise Babette anymore: all he saw was his prey. And he was a predator. Narrowing his eyes evilly, he advanced on her, huddled on the floor, raising the dagger high above her terrified form. Then, plunging it downwards...

He stopped. The smile on her face... it was not daring, or scared. It was congratulatory. And he could feel his own willpower stopping his hand, as the anger evaporated from him. Aghast, he threw the blade into the air, and looked down at his hands... Covered in his own blood, and maybe even a bit of Babette's too. He sank to his knees, staring at her. Her face went from happy to anxious. "Boy? Are you alright?" she asked, biting her lip. She looked even more upset as tears began to stream from Phoenix's eyes, and he sobbed softly into his clenched hands. Red liquid dripped off his neck and hands onto the snow, creating a beautiful contrast of red and white. "Boy..." she screwed up her face, upset, and her eyes glazed over with tears. "Please don't cry!"

"What happened to me?" his voice wasn't unsteady. It was just weak with agony. How could he have done that? For a few moments, he had been unhuman. Like an animal. All he'd wanted was blood... to taste blood... to smell blood... to see blood on his hands... But now, it was perverse. He hated the feeling of it staining him bright crimson, like a murderer. He WASN'T a murderer! He WASN'T! Thinking of that made him cry harder. For in his heart of hearts, Phoenix knew that, truly, he was a murderer. "What... did... you... do... to... me...?" he breathed, face in his hands. The sweet tang of blood was on his lips, but he would not let himself have the ecstasy of the taste. He had to control himself! Gulping back another sob, Phoenix looked at Babette through teary eyes. Babette's heart melted for him- the look of betrayal on his face as he looked at her. She hadn't presumed he'd take it like that. She had to check if he had the evilness, the murder in him to be able to try and kill his own friend... And he had. It had all been careful acting on her part. But seeing his reaction tore her heart in half.

"I'm sorry, I... Phoenix. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." For a moment, there was silence. The same silence that Phoenix had heard only minutes earlier. But then, he lifted his head, and looked at her steadily. "It's fine." he replied. His voice sounded genuine, but Babette could hear the flat, bitter undertones. "Now would you care to tell me WHY you just did that?"

They begun to walk again. And, to Babette's surprise, Phoenix reached for her hand again, and enveloped it in her own. He was strangely warm for a vampire, and Babette, reassured by his physical affection, smiled up at him. But he did not look back down at her- the look on his face was of pure determination. Those few minutes had changed him. And, in his mind, he was thinking hard.

He would be silent. And when he was forced to talk, he would speak slowly, like that. Being an assassin would mean he would have to kill thoughtlessly, like an animal... It would be better if he did not think about what he did. And not talk about it either. His heart ached for Babette, despite her recent betrayal, but, perhaps, maybe he could seperate his life with her from his life with the Brotherhood, although they were intertwined. Soon, he knew, his life would belong to the Dark Brotherhood. His soul to Sithis in the Void. He would be silent, and would just die inside, like he had when he'd become a vampire. He could, then, be able to live with himself.

"Well, I needed to see, before we got to the Brotherhood, if you truly could kill without remorse." Babette began slowly. Honestly, she hadn't enjoyed upsetting Phoenix at all. She'd hated it, in fact. The night-spawn had feelings for him, and was sure what they were. She loved him. Somehow, Babette felt tentative introducing Phoenix to Scarlett (she'd done a similar thing to Silvanus and Astrid and they'd fallen in love and Silvanus had forgotten all about her), and she wondered how he'd take it. Before, she had seen the admiring looks Phoenix had given the Speaker, and how he had admitted his blatant obsession with her... But the way he'd held her, Babette, and told her he loved her... He wouldn't just forget about that, would he, for a pretty, no, beautiful face? Babette knew that Scarlett would never purposely attract Phoenix, as she loved Babette dearly as a best friend and sister, but, like mother like daughter, because she always managed too. And now, she'd done something Phoenix could never forgive. She'd corrupted him.

Up ahead, Babette could see the pile of rocks that covered the Black Door. Nobody who didn't know it was there would be able to see it- it was extremely well obscured. There was still blood stains from where Silvanus had killed Arnbjorn on the rocks, and the vampire girl liked them there. It reminded her of her old Listener and, occasionally, she would go out there and just stare at the deep red marks he had left behind. For a long time, she had pined for him, and seeing him with Astrid or Scarlett was always a dagger in the heart for her... Perhaps, she still loved him, inside. But this boy was her new love, and he commandeered her heart now, not Silvanus. But maybe Phoenix would not love her anymore... She put the thought out of her head. It was just a test! Just to make sure he was up for killing, and Scarlett wouldn't...

"She meant what she said you know. Scarlett." Babette said quietly, as they neared the rocks. "That if you couldn't kill... she'd kill you. She's a demon... Well, not literally. But she's evil. Pure evil. She loves her family, us, but anyone who gets on her bad side..." it was a warning, as well as conversation. Phoenix listened hard. Then, for a few moments, he just watched her. Then, slowly, he said,

"So am I. Evil. So are you. You kill for money, and so will I soon. I promise you, Babette, I will not die."

They continued along. Those words had stung Babette- what did he mean, calling her evil? Perhaps her morals weren't THE best on Nirn, but she wasn't evil, not like Scarlett. She didn't kill other family members, for example, if they couldn't kill. She loved her best friend deeply, and would die for her, but... She took almost too much pleasure in murder. Like Astrid had.

The two of them reached the rocks, and the vampire girl took his arm, signalling him to wait. Crossing around to where the Black Door was, she looked around to make sure nobody apart from the two of them was there, then gestured for him to come forwards and join her. He did so, and stood beside her, staring almost blankly into the door. Secretly, it terrified him. What did she have to do to get in? Bleed herself? Bleed him? He dreaded what evil ritual she would have to perform... The fear must have shown on his face, because she gave him a slightly amused look, and put her fingers around the handle.

Then, Phoenix nearly fell backwards, as a low, dark voice filled his head. It didn't even go through his ears, like real, human voices... It appeared in his head, like a bad dream. For a moment, he was nearly knocked out with the pressure of having something demonic and evil in his head. Then, he made out some words. "What is life's greatest illusion?"

It was like they were being carved into his mind, one by one, causing immense pain as each word appeared... He was dizzy, he was dying, what was going on? And why was Babette just standing there, like everything was normal? He was possessed! He couldn't control himself! He was... he was... "Innocence, my brother." Babette said. And then, the pain receded immediately, and Phoenix was left feeling a little light headed, but otherwise, normal. It took a few seconds for Phoenix to find words, but when he did, he stuttered out, completely forgetting his vow to be a silent, dark assassin, "What the actual fuck was that?"

Babette smirked at his choice of language and twisted her hand on the black door, opening it up. "Black Door. Passphrase. Doesn't hurt so much once you get used to it. Shall we?" and she gestured towards the staircase revealed below. The stairway leading to a group of dangerous assassins, and the sanctuary of the Dark Brotherhood. The place where Phoenix, himself, would grow to be an assassin. The youth swallowed, shutting his eyes for one last time. In a way, the Black Door was ironic. Because, truly, his innocence was an illusion. And now, when he entered the hellish place, it would become extinct...

Phoenix smiled. In a way, there was some sort of sick pleasure of losing one's innocence. And so, when his friend held out her hand for him to enter the sanctuary, he only hesitated for a second. His strategy was going through his head over and over again.

Train hard. Be silent. Kill well.

"Train hard, be silent, kill well..." he whispered to himself, so none but his own ears could hear. He was unwilling, suddenly, to shut the door behind him, and stayed, rigid and frozen, at the top of the stairs. Phoenix wanted to run, to escape this place... But at the same time, something in his heart was compelling him to go onwards. To discover what lay within. He felt Babette brush past him to shut the door for him. When it closed softly, with a creak, Phoenix felt well and truly trapped. There was no going back. This was his future. His future was bound in blood. The youth followed his friend downwards, knowing that he was taking the final steps of his innocence. When he spoke to Scarlett, and truly accepted his path in life as an assassin... Then, his innocence would be lost. As he walked down the steps, he silently pondered what his parents would be thinking, from wherever they were. Would they be ashamed? He'd been told that his mother had abandoned him, and his father had been too cowardly to protect him... So they probably wouldn't care. They'd be too busy caring about themselves to notice what he was doing.

What Phoenix, or Lukos, didn't know, was that his parents were doing exactly the opposite. They were not, as he presumed, some whore and a coward. They were the deceased Listener and Mistress of the Dark Brotherhood. And they could not have been more proud that their son was embracing his destiny.

The two children entered a candelit room. It was quite small, with a door leading off it that clearly lead to the rest of the sanctuary. It was a plainly decorated room: a large table with a gigantic map dominated the room, with a few chairs, a small chest of drawers, and a few cases with rather gruesome looking things on them. Banners with the Black Hand on them were hung off the walls. But what impressed Phoenix most of all was the young woman leaning against the wall, giving them both a dark smirk.

"Ah. I've been eagerly awaiting your arrival." her voice gave Phoenix chills. He didn't love or like her in that way, certainly not, but he couldn't help admiring her and having a tiny amount of lust... After all, she was extremely desirable and beautiful. Wasn't he allowed a crush? Despite her stunning looks, it was always her voice that got him. It was like... like poisoned honey. Dark and quiet and gentle... but gentle in the way that an insane murderer croons to you as they stab you in the back. That was the only way that Phoenix could sum her voice up. "I've been bored." she stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth, and Babette laughed, moving forward to embrace her leader. Scarlett hugged her back, but her red eyes were firmly on Phoenix. He felt himself blush under her intense gaze.

"Ready to lose your innocence?" Scarlett teased, smiling at him. Phoenix heard the innuendo, and turned brick red, making the woman laugh even more. She shook her head at him, a mocking grin on her face. "Sorry, couldn't help it. Wait a second, I'll find you some armour. We don't do any of that vow shit, I'm sorry to tell you." She got up, and made her way over to the chest of drawers. Pulling it open, she rummaged through the armours. It took her a few moments to find some his size. She threw assorted bits at him, one by one, until he finally had a full set. "There are weapons inside." she thumbed over towards the door. "Don't worry about that."

Then, she walked over to him, and looked down at him with a flirtatious smile on her face. "Remind me of your name?" she purred. Phoenix swallowed, and then, taking care not to stammar, said in a quiet voice, "Phoenix. It's a pleasure."

Scarlett raised her eyebrows, and then, seeing he was being sarcastic, chuckled lightly. "That's good. I like men with a sense of humour."

Babette rolled her eyes to herself. Why did Scarlett always manage to flirt with every single thing wearing trousers? The night-spawn would have sworn the woman would have flirted with her own brother if it came down to it... The funny part was that Scarlett was so childish when not around men, like her mother had been. In fact, the girl spent most of time when not around her kids and men, doing handstands in her room and playing childish pranks on Nazir. Honestly, she was like a different person when she was being "Mistress/Speaker". It amused Babette, nevertheless, and the vampire always appreciated the drama Scarlett managed to cook up. But Phoenix was off limits. She would give her best friend a very, very stern talking to once Phoenix was gone.

"My name is Scarlett, and I am the Speaker and Mistress of this Sanctuary. Well... technically of the Dark Brotherhood, seeing as we only have one sanctuary at the moment. I run this sanctuary. You will come to me for contracts, and if you have a problem with anyone. I'll run through the bullshit quickly. Follow the Five Tenets... Babette will explain to you what they are." she winked at the young vampire, who gave her an evil glare. It was just like Scarlett to offload the boring parts of the job... "If you don't, you'll answer to me. Here's the big question. Can you kill things?"

"Y-Yes." Phoenix found himself stuttering and immediately cursed internally. Why was he always so AWKWARD? "Yes I can kill."

"Good. Come to me when you're ready for your first contract... I'll hope to see you soon."

She gave him one last look, and then went over to the map, where she began to run her finger over it. Every single movement she made both made him terrified and curious... It was something of a relief to feel Babette's soft hand on his shoulder, leading him through into the sanctuary. Babette was safe.

Scarlett was evil.

!NOTE FROM LACHANCE!

IF ANYONE READS HUNGER GAMES, PLEASE APPLY FOR MY SYOT! I'VE ONLY GOT A FEW MORE TO GO... COME ON YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO... ;) HEHEH, RIGHT, TODAY IS TIME FOR VOTING. I HAVE A HARD DECISION FOR SCARLETT'S PAIRING:

SCARLETT/XINDAL- THEY GET BACK TOGETHER, AND EVERYONE IS LIKE AWWW, AND SERO GETS TOGETHER WITH MORTAS,

OR

SCARLETT/MORTAS- THEY GET TOGETHER, AND EVERYONE IS LIKE AWWWW, AND SERO AND XINDAL GET TOGETHER

PLEASE PM ME OR LEAVE IN REVIEWS!

Astrid :)