Chapter Five: Worship Me

Lei's chest heaved sporadically as his eyes widened, pupils dilated extravagantly. His mouth parched with the repercussions of battle. His body physically shattered, skin broken in multiple areas, giving way to blood and sweat that set him ablaze with pain. But he didn't care. Not even in the slightest. He'd won, so why should he? He'd conquered his foes, Venom and Yu. He'd won his master's heart: Zato's heart. And as he stood, the world caved in on him. No! What was happening? He'd won, fair and square! This couldn't be…!

"AAH-Ah! Hn…!"

Silence. Lei sat up in bed, staring into the darkness ahead. So, it was only a dream. Or perhaps a nightmare? Sighing in frustration, he sank back into bed, sliding his hands over the sweat-covered sheets so that he may pull them up over his frame.

"Master Zato," he croaked into the still air. "Will you ever understand why it is I do as I feel I should for you?"

There was no answer. And why should there be? Why should Master Zato even want to understand his logic? Or even acknowledge his existence, for that matter? For all Lei knew, Zato could care less. All he was was a simple trainee who was progressing up the ladder of assassins, to be promoted to an elite. Zato was at the top of the food chain, surveying his subjects with the eyes of a hawk. But then again…Lei was forgetting how easily he could manipulate his way to the top of that same food chain—to attain the coveted title of assassin—to be seen in all the assassin worlds' eyes—and to rip Zato's heart from the mangy paws of the dog that was Venom and make it his! Yes, Lei only doubted himself. He could do this. He would attain godly power in a matter of months, and Zato most certainly would worship him.

-

"I'm worried," Terra abruptly stated, breaking the awkward silence that she and Yu shared for some time now. The two had been sitting in the commissary for a little over an hour now, eating slowly…sadly…quietly. Almost as though there had been a death in both their families, and neither of them wanted to speak of it. But this was not so. It was Lei that caused such a disturbance betwixt them. His erratic behavior as of late had shocked the both of them—not because of his attraction to the master, Zato, but more so out of his inexplicable, fanatical obsession of the master that sometimes bordered on sheer insanity. At her sudden outburst, Yu looked up at Terra.

"About?" he said nonchalantly.

"Lei."

"Why?"

"You know why, Yu."

" 'I know why', yes, but I'm asking why you're worried because you shouldn't be. Lei isn't your problem right now. He has no quarrel with you. It's me and master Venom that he hates right now. If anything, I should be worried."

"Well, why aren't you? If Lei wanted to really be spiteful, he could kill you during a simple spar and say that you were simply too weak an adversary, and the entire thing would be dismissed."

Yu chuckled a little.

"I know," he said. Terra frowned.

"Then why aren't you worried!" she demanded. Yu sighed a little as he propped a hand upon his cheek.

"Because…somehow..in an odd kind of way, I knew that this would happen. I just got that feeling the first time I met him. I never was really fully trusting of Lei, to tell the truth. And in the same way that master Venom and master Zato forever will detest the former master Slayer and the now-dead former rogue, Millia Rage, somehow I feel that in the future, he and I will be bitter enemies too someday, even if we seem to be simple rivals now."

Terra bit her lip a moment before she began to clench her hands into fists. How could he just…give up like that? Did he even care that Lei needed their help?

"How can you say that?" she muttered. Yu arched a brow. But before he could ask anything of Terra, she burst into an uproar.

"How can you say that about him? He's your friend! Don't you even care that he's losing his mind? That he might get his heart broken? That he might even kill himself! All you have to say is that you accept everything as it is, and you don't even care if one say you might have to kill him, or that he might even kill you? HE'S YOUR FRIEND, YU! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO HELP HIM! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO CARE!"

Yu sat there, speechless. He was…obligated? Obligated to help a madman? To allow that very same madman to go on about his lunatic rampage and only…console him?

"Terra…I'm sorry—."

"SORRY FOR WHAT? FOR GIVING UP ON HIM! WHAT IF YOU WERE IN HIS PLACE? DO YOU THINK HE'D GIVE ON YOU, YU!" she screamed.

Yu didn't respond. He was too furious with her at the moment. Rather than respond, he slowly rose from his seat and trudged out of the commissary, toward the dormitory halls.

No…I'm sorry you can't understand.

-

Lei stopped abruptly before reaching for the door that would lead him back into the manor of the Guild of Assassins. Something was amiss…but he couldn't quite place it. Dismissing the feeling, he reached anyway and opened the door. The halls were empty. And dark. Apparently, he'd spent a little too much time training tonight, for twilight had approached. As he slipped inside the building silently, he noticed that the candle that lit the many halls had been blown out. But why? Every night, the elite members stood guard, also, yet they did not now. Anyone could easily slip into the manor from the outside—namely an enemy assassin, and attempt a coup de grâce

"Good evening, Lei," A voice echoed throughout the empty manor. Lei's brows furrowed as he quickly assumed an offensive stance, eyes alert as he surveyed the dakness.

"Good evening to you too, demon," he sneered. "To whom should I pay my respects to after your funeral?"

"Why…you should already have that person in mind," the hauntingly smooth voice teased as shadows danced in the moonlight, apparently ethereal in origin. "Seeing as how that person would be in your family--KKRRYYYAAARRGH!"

Lei quickly performed an evasive backflip as the moonlit shadows shot from the ground and towards him, solidifying in the process. The screaming, demonic tone began to cackle maniacally as the bladelike shadows twisted about the room, slashing at the air while Lei quickly and efficiently dodged them accordingly. He may have been at a disadvantage, being weaponless, but he wasn't about to die now! Not when he had yet to prove himself to master Zato! Suddenly, the shadows stopped attacking him and retrated back into the ground. But Lei still did not let his guard down. And as the shadows slithered away, something else slithered forth. From outside a nearby window. And as it poured itself onto the moonlit floor and formed a humane shape…it resembled someone very, very familiar.

"That was well done…for a practice run."

Lei's eyes nearly fell out of his skull. It was…

"M-m-master…"

The being smiled sadistically as an arm raised forward…and a finger pointed toward him.

"In the flesh."

Master Zato.

-End Ch 5-