”I do but now’s not the time I would say” the assassin mentioned, unlocking the door and opening it. However, it was a bit harder to open the door and upon seeing what was blocking the door, he leaned down and helped Wissian up.
”Are you alright?” the masked Vincent asked, now it was clear that the mask had changed his voice and even his hair color. He now had a raspy and crisp voice with fully black hair.
Wissian opened his eyes, squinting at how bright everything was. “Vincent…?” his voice cracked as he winced. The pain in his chest stung harder with every word he spoke. His heart had stopped, every analogue clock on his body had stopped. This wasn’t uncommon, what was uncommon was the fact someone was there with him while he was going through it. “I’m fine, time differences are just a pain.” And as if to prove his point, he showed Vincent the clock around his neck. The second hand wasn’t moving, then suddenly it would jump backwards. Every time the hand moved backwards, a harsh breath of air escaped the magician’s lips.
“Everyone is searching for you, the sorceress of Setriutan is searching for me. If she finds me, she will execute me.” He couldn’t tell Vincent that he was a time bomb.. that was completely out of the question.
The assassin noted what the magician had said. This was not great. He helped the magician to a more comfortable place, namely his couch. He went to his equipment box and got out a pistol, two smoke bombs, and a glowing knife which he kept on his belt.
He unlocked the front door and stepped out of the house, turning to the magician who was outside. He was still in his ‘disguise’, unnatural clothing, a mask, non-similar features, and a different set of weapons.
Closing the door… he turned and looked Valerie in the eye.
”Do you need something?“ his voice was altered to the point where it no longer sounded like him.
Valerie scanned the figure who exited the house. He didn't appear to be one of the magicians and the locator spell had directed her here. While he wasn't who she remembered, but the events didn't lie. She readied a capturing spell, since killing him didn't feel right, "You, Vincent, alive preferably. However I'll take your body back to my sorceress if need be."
These goddamn magicians… the assassin thought but didn’t exactly react to the words of the magician. He opened his hands in a welcoming manner before shaking his head, not allowing the white mask crossed with red fall off his face.
”If that is the person you seek, he is not present here unfortunately… if anything, I can tell you where he went” the ‘figure’ offered. That wasn’t the smartest move, he knew, but he wanted to be peaceful at least for the time being.
(I want to have some fun with Atruxiavir…)
”Hey, has anyone here seen Varsha?” one of the other royal guards asked.
”Now that you said that, no, actually” one answered as the others either nodded or agreed in some manner.
”She might’ve gotten lost? That happens a lot” another royal guard suggested with a shrug.
They were all talking behind the queen.
Valerie raised an eyebrow at Vincent trying desperately to act like someone he wasn't. She would play along for the moment, buy him time till his inevitable end, "Oh really. Then do say where did he go?"
Upon hearing some of the guards talking about Varsha, the Queen realised that she hadn't told others where her guard had gone.
Though to be fair, she should have been back some time ago. What had happened?
She left one of the guards to round up the folk who were willing to fight, while she herself ran back to her palace.
Upon returning to her palace, she ran down hundreds of stairs before coming to a wooden door at the bottom. A long corridor awaited her, the room she needed was at the very end. A blood room as she liked to call it. It held blood samples of all her people, including the guards. She scanned over all of the shelves until finding the bottle of Varsha's blood. It swirled slightly as she picked the bottle up, but Maerda didn't have time to think about what her guard was doing and focused on her coming home. She popped the cork, sticking her pinky finger into the blood while thinking about Varsha coming home. At this point it would have been foolish not to obey the queen.
Vincent smiled under the mask, though he was aware that the magician knew that under the mask and the new clothing was him. Now was probably an appropriate time to use that. The masked figure gestured to their right.
”If my memory is correct, that way is where he went” and true to his words, a figure that looked exactly like Vincent was in the distant, fighting off the last two of the Cershestin scouts who were after him.
He had his sword in his hand and his gun strapped to his back. When the questionable figure turned his face just enough for the magician to see, he looked like himself.
While Varsha was meditating she suddenly felt strange, her body didn't obey her, she felt as if her blood stream was stopping for a second. She was sure that something like this happened to her before. ”Oh…right, Its the queen’s power”. She then realized it was already a day that she left the castle, the queen must’ve worried about her, but at the moment she still had no way of getting back to the castle, her wyvern mount has already been killed by the magicians. She concentrated hard and tried to communicate to her queen using the magic flow, ”Your majesty, right now I am unable to return because my wyvern has been slain by that pesky magicians from Setriutan. But I will be back as soon as possible”
Maerda pushed deeper into the bottle, signalling her frustration. "You have an hour. Do NOT be late, you know the consequences."
She put the cork back in the bottle and replaced it back on the shelf, leaving the room promptly. Now, more than ever, she needed Varsha to lead her officers. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought perhaps Varsha was consorting with someone from another kingdom, based upon how the guard's blood was acting, however it was something she didn't want to think about.
"No, I don't believe you ever did your highness," Phoenix responded watching the princess curiously. She was unaccustomed to the princess so willingly undress in front of Phoenix, but Mara's tunic and leggings were still on. So all was well.
"Well…" Mara fingered her hair, before straightening her chin, looking firm. "My mother, shortly before I was born, was sent to Atruxiavir, before she became the Queen. She was supposed to be married to one of the so-called heirs of the place. And then, she met my father." Mara looked Phoenix straight in the eye, the pulled down her tunic slightly to reveal a crimson rune on her collarbone, one that if stared directly at, made the starer's eyes water, and go unfocused. "He was a-."
She choked on the word, and couldn't say it. She shook her head and started to pace around the room, lips pursed. "My mother's infidelity was discovered, and my grandmother died of shock. So my mother was Queen."
She made a face. "Then, my father came back, to visit my mother, shortly after I was born, to claim me. When she refused, he sent several people from Atruxiavir to her, and they - they… they hurt her."
"And now she's dead," Mara said. "She died last night. And I can tell no one who cannot tell others, because of my father's curse. She is dead. That means I am the - "
She gasped suddenly, choking, and fell to her knees, coughing out blood. The branded rune on her collarbone stood out, glowing and contracting, on her skin, and she grasped at it, before jerking her hand away, hissing in pain. The scent of burning flesh filled the room, and she cried out in agony, collapsing to the ground.
As Varsha got the message back from her queen, she got off the bed and left Vincent’s golden pendant and a silver ring that she created using her Ring of Durandal on the bed then walked out of the bedroom. She knew that Vincent was trying to trick the magician in the front of the house. She used her ring to put away her heavy armor and left her with only her inner layers, her vambrance, and the clothes around her waist. She then got out the window from the back of the house, ”This reminds me of those elf rangers training ages ago, it never gets old hehehe” as she said that, she leaped up on to the tree and dashed off to Atruxiavir.
Valerie could tell that was a convincing imitation, but the cogs in her head whirled as she wasn't fooled by the trick. Though she was quite impressed he had done that so well. She gave him a smile and nodded, "Thank you. Though I don't believe that is Vincent, he isn't quite the same as the one I encountered earlier."
Phoenix was still in shock. She couldn't, that wasn't, things started to make more sense. She watched as her princess began to cough blood and rushed to Mara's side. She went to hold the princess and asked her hoping for some response, "I, do you, I'll call for a medic."
"That won't do anything," Mara coughed out, heaving herself to a sitting position and clenching her fists, as if to fight off the pain. "The instant they come, it will all disappear. I've tried."
"Do, do you recover if they come?" Phoenix asked Mara softly. She was kneeling on the ground in front of Mara, "Because if that's the case I will call for them. But may I ask, who did this to you?"
Mara shook her head. "They just don't see it. It's part of your blood to be able to see it." She sighed and heaved herself up, ignoring the twinges of pain that shot through her entire body as she did so. "My father," she said, her voice tinged with so much bitterness you could almost feel it. "My father did this to me."
Phoenix stood and moved to help Mara. Of course it was because of her blood, most of her problems were because of her bloodline. She let out a deep breath, "This is an awful thing for a father to do to his daughter. Allow me to help you your highness."
"With what? How can you possibly help me?" Mara turned away, to hide her face, which she was sure had broken from her usual calm demeanor. "It's no use. Don't bother to try."
"Help make you comfortable," Phoenix responded quietly and respected Mara's wish to hide her face. She knew she couldn't help with the pain, "May I help you in that way?"
"It's fine," Mara said, finally composing herself. "I like the pain. It focuses me." She flexed her hands, clenching them so that her nails dug into her palms. "We should go see the reports for the war. Will you find something for me to wear?"
Phoenix nodded and stepped around the room grabbing a dress for Mara to change into. She looked at the shirt and trousers her princess was wearing, "Of course. Would you like for me to grab fresh underclothes for you as well?"
Vincent had realized that that trick wasn’t going to work as simply as he would’ve wanted. However, it was still worth the try. He sighed under his mask before taking it off. His natural light gray hair faded back into reality and the man was stood there, quite confident was his stature.
”At least that was an attempt” he snapped his fingers as the ‘Vincent’ in the woods fell onto the forest’s grounds. The real Vincent took out the pistol and fired at the two scouts, both went through their heads.
”So, I’m aware that I’m wanted by everyone, is that true?” the assassin asked before doing anything else. His gun was still at hand but it didn’t look like he was going to use it on Valerie.
Valerie nodded as she saw Vincent transform back into is original appearance. She silently congratulated herself on not falling for the tricks even though it hadn't been particularly difficult, "If the Cershestin Scouts and myself don't say enough already, but yes you are wanted by everyone to my knowledge."
(I'm going to back out. It's been like 8 pages since I've posted. And I have no idea what's going on.)