"You heard him," Triskix sighed. "Two days. No more, no less. This meeting is done. Do what you want for the remainder of the time but remember....TWO days.” Everyone in the room gave a swift nod, and most opened their own portals to exit the hall to accomplish whatever agenda they desired. After ten or so minuets the only ones that remained in the room were Triskix, Tamex, Minx, and I. All throughout this time my mind turned itself into a battleground of conflicting ethics. Looking through the eyes of an assassin, this manner of assignment was my forte and to deny it would be career-suicide. However, when I thought of taking Kage no Kokoro and…“collecting” the man I loved to be used for some vague end, I found myself torn between being in a state of shock and pure rage.
Triskix interrupted my thought process by saying, "Tamex, Minx, Xakiah, I need you to keep an eye on the castle. I'm going off for a day or a day and a half. I will be back."
"What...." started Minx with a look of disparity about her.
"I'll be back," answered Triskix with determination. Minx in return gave him a fierce nod.
Tamex, on the other hand, jumped in to say with a twinge of intensity in his voice, "You'd better not make this little Lady Minx cry flame-guy because if you do, I'll drown you in the deepest sea." This took me pleasantly by surprise and even made me forget my earlier flux of emotions, even if only until I thought of how much that boastful comment reminded me of Etxel.
Barely fazed by Tamex’s remark, Triskix smirked, nodded, and then took off without another word. After that I felt his presence descend into the very depths of Castle Oblivion. I would’ve personally followed him out of curiosity—if not for a chance to teasingly stick it to him—if not for the fact that I was still in the presence of an old comrade. Well…actually when I think about it, the term “comrade” is more of an exaggeration of how close we were. Truthfully, our relationship never did expand farther than the odd acquaintance that you talk to on the side for no apparent reason other than to kill time.
“Umm, Xakiah,” started Minx timidly.
I was in the middle of considering my options when she began speaking, and thus it took me a while to snap out of my train of thought before giving her a reply. “…Hmm? What is it Minx?”
“It’s about what the Leader of Oblivion just ordered all of you to do. Tell me: what are you going to do about it?” she asked sternly but with an obvious tone of concern.
“Now…why would you ask a question like that?” I asked suspiciously.
“Because I’m worried about what this order will do to you and Sir Etxel, that’s why.”
“Sir Etxel?” asked Tamex inquisitively. “Who’s that?”
Ignoring him, I smiled and answered, “My dear Minx, you needn’t trouble yourself over the affairs of an assassin. It will only…cause you more grief than one needs in a lifetime.”
Minx chucked, “Too late Xakiah—Triskix beat you to it. Seriously though, are you sure you’re okay with this?”
“Will somebody please tell me who this Sir Etxel guy is already?” annoyingly asked Tamex yet again.
“Sir Etxel,” I responded brazenly, “is an immensely handsome gentleman that both Minx and I know very well. Isn’t that right Minx?”
I don’t know if this was because she caught on to what I was up to or because she was truly that dense, but either way she grinned wide, blushed, and exclaimed, “Right!” Tamex’s face went blank upon her response.
“Anyway,” I continued gravely, “here’s the answer to your question Minx: I am a master assassin. When I am asked to kill, it becomes my job to do so or die trying. No exception.”
Shocked, Minx exclaimed, “What?!”
“Hold on!” said Tamex in an effort to intervene. “The Leader never said you had to kill the people you’re bringing back. So why—?!”
Cutting him off, I materialized in front of him to ask him directly to his face, “What part of ‘master assassin’ do you not comprehend? My job is to kill. I don’t have the time—let alone the patience—to be taking prisoners. If you have a problem with that, I suggest you hold your tongue. Unless of course,” I said more maliciously, “you’re just that interested in bringing a sudden end to your existence.”
With that, I faded into the shadows and left the room without saying another word to the both of them. As far as I was concerned, how I was going to handle these outrageous orders was none of their concern, not to mention that they had no right to judge me in such a condoning manner. Besides, I hadn’t the time to be dealing with either of them at that moment. No…what I needed to do immediately was plan my next moves—both concerning this assignment and the favor for Morgan le Fay—with the upmost caution. All it would take was one small blunder to unravel everything…my attempts at providing salvation for my king…my new-found goal of extinguishing the rotten soul that tore my life apart…and, more importantly, to finally grant myself—or rather, my true self—a second chance at the one thing we were denied.
I already had an idea as to how I was going to confront Etxel, so I devoted my energy into locating partners for the venture to New York City. Making my way to the Alter of Naught, I closed my eyes with my head pointed directly at the moon above to get a good reading at all still present in the castle. Hmmm…there are presences here that I’ve never felt before. Given the time, I shall have to research them. For now though, I might as well pin-point the ones I am aware of. More specifically, I was attempting to locate RaXi and Nyx for they were the only ones that I had most confidence with to aid me in combat, even though I had never actually fought alongside them. When I found their energy signals missing, I cursed my luck and discontinued that venture.
Well…I suppose I shall have to look into the other inhabitants after all. Opening my eyes to the brilliance of the moon I suddenly realized that I was forgetting Lerxia, the demon Nobody who assisted me prior to reuniting with Múinteoir. Her fighting skills were certainly commendable and would have aided me greatly in the battle ahea, but what made me drop that option was my deduction that it would be to my advantage to widen my exposure to the other members.
But, I thought objectively, having an ally that can manipulate darkness would be fortuitous, especially in a place such as New York. Elemental powers will draw too much attention. Now for the other ally…if the ones that stole the Orb of Supremacy are who I think they are I’m going to need somebody that knows computers. If there isn’t somebody like that in the castle, then I’ll have to look for someone that relies primarily on their weapon in combat rather than their powers. Alright, I thought taking in a deep breath, time to go searching.
~*~
“I—I can’t believe it…” said Archimedes in petrified awe.
“I don’t see how you can be. You were already aware of him being alive prior to this moment.” I said matter-of-factly. Truth be told, though, I was still just as dumbfounded as he was. After all, Mordred was supposed to have perished at the fall of Camelot well over ten years ago.
Taking a rare tone of concern, Archimedes asked, “What do you suppose we’ll do now? You’re not thinking of taking him on by yourself, are you?”
I shook my head at this. “No…although I do outrank him in power and stature, and as much as I would like to take care of this matter myself, this is Xakiah’s fight. Besides,” I chucked humorlessly, “I’m just a frail old man; I wouldn’t last very long in a fight against someone so young.” Archimedes said nothing and just stared at me the whole time as I was saying this and judging by the look in his eyes he felt just as sour about this crisis as I did.
Changing the topic, I continued, “In any event, we should be ready to great our guest.”
“Guest? What guest?” asked Archimedes skeptically.
“Oh, the one that will be here in…five seconds?” And sure enough, right on schedule, popped in the very soul that I was referring to in all of his stand-up comedy glory.
“Here there, Merlin ol’ buddy ol’ pal! How’s my favorite wizard in the universe doing today?” beamed the Genie.
“Oh, no! Not you!” whined Archimedes.
Without skipping a beat, as was typical of him, the Genie popped up directly in front of my companion, who was perched on top of my globe at this time, and exclaimed in that same loud and optimistic tone of his, “Hey, Archimedes! I see you’re as cantankerous as ever.” And with that, Genie began to shake Archimedes’ wing in the closest thing to a handshake that could be pulled off with him.
“Oh, gully-fluff!” spat Archimedes. Turning his attention to me he stated, “I want no part of this side show. If you need me, I’ll be in my house.” He then flew on over to his destination and added just before he slammed the door, “Just don’t count on an answer!”
After a brief moment of silence, the Genie asked rather hurt, “He still doesn’t like me, does he?”
“Oh don’t worry Genie, Archimedes doesn’t like anyone.” I reassured him, waving my hand. I should’ve added that using the term “cantankerous” didn’t help his situation, even though it was true. Alas, it has always pained me to see such a bright fellow low on his spirits, so I didn’t bother to bring up the matter. On the contrary, what I wanted to do was to get down to the point of summoning him to my home in the first place.
~*~
As fate would have it, not long after I left the Altar of Naught was when I came across someone that generously fit the description of someone that would be of use to me in my mission. He was slightly taller than I was, possessed pure white hair with black at its roots, and carried himself like a rock, solid in stature and void of any emotions. These features, naturally, weren’t the reason why I thought he’d be reliable; what drew me to him were those silver eyes of his. Though steely on the surface, they contained a quality within them that seemed smoothly sinister, a trait that only those who wield the darkness own.
Just to make certain that my first analyses was indeed accurate I decided to directly confront him from where he stood. “My, my…I don’t believe I’ve met you before. Might I ask your name?”
He stared at me for a while without saying anything. When none of us made a move, he broke the silence to say, “You know, it’s very rude to ask for one’s name before giving your own.”
Smiling, I said, “But of course.” Curtsying a little, which was a custom that I had yet to break out of from by days in Camelot, I continued, “Hello, then. My name is Xakiah. And you are?”
~Xakiah
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Sorry this took so long! ^^; Anyway, since I’m still not that familiar with your character, I deem their conversation all yours darkittylove! Just PM me if you need some assistance.
Pop Quiz! What does “Múinteoir” mean?
