Aetius Varius Septimus took care to clean every detail that he could reach on his Schiavona sword to remove the crusted blood from it: the rag stained a thorough crimson red by the time he was finished.

The clockwork assassin discarded the rag, then sheathed the blade back at his side. After all, a weapon was a part of the soldier, especially a soldier under the command of the Supreme Commander Kane the Second.

Fingers interlocked, Aetius' thoughts wandered off when he realized there was now no singular objective for him to focus to within this chamber - his personal quarters - everything seemed so much more noticeable and the silence that much more deafening.

He rose in a single slow movement from behind his desk, resting his bare hand upon the top of the fine mahogany surface; his gauntleted hand by his side.

The silence had also allowed him to recall some of the more recent events which had transpired.

Just that much had forced Aetius' lips into a scowl.

Argentius Septimus.

This name alone brought along a surge of memories that the Assassin did not, he did not wish to examine. Far too many times already had he seen those images zoom pass his field of vision, those images of Assassin corpses in various states of mutilation laying in pools of their own blood. That, and another name.

"Atticus Mercilus."

His voice came out in a deep, throaty growl which surprised even Varius himself.

Varius' gaze went down to his hands, one bare and the other encased in a gauntlet of metal and leather with stylized metal plates. Those same metal plates were linked together as a full suit of armor which covered his entire torso: a complete and entire replica of the being he had known to be the Supreme Commander and his father and creator.

A replica with all of the capability to feel the entire scale of the human emotional spectrum.

And therefore feel the entire sensation of hatred which came along with the memories given to him by the blood of his father and creator, Ulysses.

He turned his gaze to the only window in his quarters. Outside, green storm clouds churned in the Valencian skyways, some of them partially concealing the many Armada ships patrolling the world ever so vigilantly. Briefly, Varius wondered how many others would understand the extent of his hatred against Mercilus as well as the traitor's creation -

Argentius Septimus was a creation of his creator's greatest enemy, Atticus Mercilus, now made to be the assassin of the Supreme Commander of the Armada. Just how many knew that the current Commodore Septimus was once a Templar, the sworn enemy of the Assassins and of the Armada, Aetius did not know.

What he did know, however, was that Argentius must be disposed of.

His hand clenched around the hilt of his sword at his hip.

Even though Argentius appeared loyal to the Supreme Commander now, Aetius doubted that this would last for much longer.

The Assassin pivoted sharply on his heel, although something within him made him stop before he could open the door and step out into the hallways. It did not feel right, it just did not feel right at this time to do so, and his fingers loosened from around the hilt of his weapon.

His robe rustled softly with each of his steps he paced around the chamber before he finally settled behind his desk.

Pale, dexterous digits undid the straps of the gauntlet around his right arm, sliding it off and laying it down before him; the razor sharp blade inside extending with a simple tap on the hidden mechanism inside, that voice within him whispering a rather tempting suggestion -

He could very well just sneak into the Templar clockwork's quarters and take him out right now and there, and no one would realize it. After all, he had disposed of so many Resistance agents in the world of Valencia and no one ever came to the conclusion it was he who was working behind everyone's backs, cutting them down left and right at the command of his creator and the Emperor of the Spiral Ulysses.

All it takes was one stab of this Hidden Blade, bearing its black tribal designs, laying on the desk before him. One well aimed stab of this Hidden Blade into the main bloodpath located at the side of his neck and all would be over -

Aetius traced his fingers along the edge of the blade. While this drew a little droplet of blood from his synthetic skin, the assassin felt no pain even as he wiped the blood on the dark fabric of his robes; his skin sealing up immediately while leaving no hint of the minuscule wound save for a minute patch of bronze - colored skin.

How easy it would be to claim a life with this blade, and in the name of his Creator as well - !

Vividly, Aetius could recall the sight of Argentius' amethyst eyes - those pleading eyes that both threatened and adored, with his body just barely supporting himself in a way that Varius could not quite describe -

But what he could describe was how protective he felt over his Commander and his creator, the one being he was made to serve.

It was more than just a little difficult to hold back, Aetius mused as he strapped his gauntlet back onto his right forearm, from what every inch of his inner programming was suggesting him to do - to get rid of this potential bomb which threatened his Commander.

Then and only then, however, did Aetius recall the strange behavior of the Armada Commodore when the Templar Grandmaster was brought in for questioning before the elite court of Valencia.

If the clockwork Assassin was a human with a fully functional face, his eyes would have narrowed in hatred at just remembering how he was: there was no mistaking the recognition in his gaze, the way his eyes widened at the sight of the bound and doomed traitor Assassin. Aetius was almost certain no one else had seen it, but he certainly had - he had seen the way that Argentius had tensed up and turned away when the Templar's gaze turned towards his.

As paranoid as his thoughts seemed, Aetius knew he could not take any chances of letting the Templar - made clockwork get too close to the Supreme Commander.

His reflection within the blade of his weapon seemed to only confirm this further - he would act, yes - but not until the opportune moment.

Reviews are much appreciated :D until next time!

-Hades