A New Reality - Chapter 9

The man wailed in agony as the one armed phantom descended upon him. The man didnt stand a chance, in a moment he was dead, a husk of a man he once was. The cloaked figure stood above the lifeless body and pulled its hood off revealing the scarred face of The Assassin. He looked down at the mangled body and sneered, men like that didnt deserve to live happily. He melded into the shadows and made his way back to the man's illustrious house to sift through the blackmail and illegal documents in hopes he could find some clue as to where he could find his goal. The Thief popped up from behind a desk, mischief sparkling in her green eyes. "Look what i found!" She exclaimed to him. He walked soundlessly over to her and took the document in his hand, reading over the context. It described a burial chamber of a once ancient king that wielded a dagger gifted to him by the god of the underworld. "Bingo." The Assassin stuffed the paper in his coat, walked up to The Thief and kissed her on the forehead. "What would i do without you." He said as he stepped towards the door. The Thief, now turning red, giddily skipped after him to catch up as they left the building. They walked through the streets of the smaller town, enjoying the sights and sounds of something thats not a big city. The ring was working well, The Assassin noticed, she kept touching it and blushing slightly. He turned away, noticing he had started blushing too. He was enjoying this time, though he still wasnt very sure he was allowed to with all he had done in his life. Still, he turned to his engaged and smiled at her, she smiled back, hers full of innocence and joy. He thought to himself how he almost wished he could frame it so she never had to be sad again. He turned back to his goal though, a dagger worthy of a god, something like that was not only difficult to come by but wanted by any adventurer or merchant able to get their hands on it. He pulled the document out of his coat again and looked it over once more. The burial chamber wasnt too far from this town, his only guess as to why that merchant hadnt gone to get it was because the information had been lost among the rest of his papers. "His loss i suppose." The Assassin mumbled as they walked along the main road towards the outer gate. Once outside the city they set upon their journey, straight towards the place where the dagger should be laying. They walked for a couple miles until they came upon a pond, where they stopped for a rest and a some water. The crystal clear blue pond stretched out under an open canopy of trees letting the sunlight glitter off the surface of the water. The Thief turned to The Assassin and giggled, grinning wider than hes ever seen her smile. In an instant she had thrown off her clothes, revealing her slender but sensual body, and had run down and jumped into the pond. The Assassin, not sure as to what just happened, just sat there in stunned silence. "Cmon in!" She yelled back at him, beckoning. He hesitated for a moment but then got up and took off his coat and shirt, revealing his rippling chest and muscular arm. Not worried about the scars or the missing arm, he got unclothed and went to join her in the pond. She stared on at the spectacle with red cheeks and wide eyes, enjoying every moment. He waded in and closed his eyes, soaking in the cool water, listening to the sounds around him, letting his guard down for once. Suddenly he was hit in the face with a wave of water, he wiped it off and turned to look at The Thief, a playful grin on her face. He turned towards her and started walking her way, she started back peddling, splashing him the whole while, after a minute or so he finally caught up to her, completely drenched. He lunged at her and tackled her into the water. They stayed like that for a moment, suspended in the water, looking at each other, naked, everything still and calm. They both leaned in and kissed each other in the sunlight filtered blue water. Then they both came up and wiped the water from their faces and held each other, enjoying each other's presence and intimacy, foreheads touching, eyes closed. After a little bit of time they both started getting cold so they got out and got dressed before starting a fire and cooking some food they had stolen from the town. They finished their meal and laid together in the dying light of the fire, enjoying the cool of the night and the quiet around them as The Thief drifted off to sleep. The Assassin stayed awake, keeping his eyes on the underbrush while The Thief slept soundly against his chest. Something with this dagger of death didnt sit well with him, his senses were telling him not to go. He didnt like it. The morning sun crept over the tree-line, temporarily blinding The Assassin and rousing The Thief. She sat up groggily and snuggled up to The Assassin before he reminded her that they were on the clock for this relic. They both got up and finished getting ready before setting out once more towards the tomb. A few more miles later and they came upon what seemed like a deserted home in the forest. It was covered in vines and vegetation, windows were broken and the door had fallen off its hinges. The Assassin's senses tingled, his hair stood on edge, this place was wrong, it wasnt safe. He turned to look at The Thief who had slowly gotten more behind him and was holding a few of her throwing daggers, she felt it too, this place wasnt meant to be found. They slowly crept inside the house, The Thief's hand on The Assassin's coat, letting him know she was behind him. The interior looked about as they imagined, dark, dingy, wet. Broken tables and chairs, torn wood and beams, a run down house. The Assassin's senses only tingled more, he was scared, for once in his life he feared what was in that house. Suddenly he realized that he couldnt feel The Thief's hand on his jacket anymore. He spun to see her gone from behind him. In fact, it was all gone, the house, the doorway, the outside, it had all vanished. He readied his dagger and looked around in the blackness, hoping to catch a glimpse of anything. "Welcome Dark One, i was hoping we would meet someday." The voice boomed to him from out of the darkness, then at once it cleared. A looming figure towered over The Assassin. The figure was cloaked in shifting darkness and the only discernible features were its bony fingers and red glowing eyes socketed in its dark skull. The Assassin then noticed his body trembling, he then tried and failed to stop himself from shaking. He had never met a creature like this before, so powerful, so cloaked in bad tidings, it was almost as if this creature was.... "Yes, you are right, i am Hades, the God of The Underworld." The cloaked figure answered as if reading The Assassin's thoughts. He stood ready, as if anything he could do would affect the god. "Im pleased that we are finally able to meet, i have been hoping to speak with you." The Assassin stood cautious, curiosity caught his attention though. "Why would you want to speak to me, im merely myself." The figure roared with laughter as if something The Assassin said was humorous. "You, a man that leaves death in his wake, a man that is elated to kill, a man that when a drug was used on him to reveal his true nature, he almost killed his beloved, a man that killed just to kill, you think you are just yourself, how very incredulous." The Assassin, a little bit worried now, looked around himself once more, hoping to find some way to escape. "No, you wont get away until you've understood what you are." The god swept his hand, revealing The Thief, bound in front of him, The Assassin went to run to her but the god slammed his hand between the two and The Assassin stopped dead in his tracks and stared back up at the glowing red sockets. "You are no mere mortal." The villainous figure informed, "As i am The God of The Underworld, you are The One that sends them to me." The Assassin looked confused, hoping that what the god said wasnt what he thought it meant.