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 Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 9:27 am
[imgright]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v462/Miclee222/Gaia%20Album/Characters/L__Assassino-1-2.jpg[/imgright]
[align=right][size=24][color=darkblue]The [b][color=black]Black[/color][/b] [b][color=silver]Blade[/color][/b][/align][/size][/color][/size][/align]
[color=darkblue][size=10]The assassin's stare was intense and leering towards the royal children after their obvious contentions with him. They had a very low opinion of him, even after what he had been put through to help them in their time of need. [b]"How ungrateful..."[/b] He hissed between his clenched teeth, then walked towards the door after them, slamming it shut after they left and bolting it. [b]"Indeed, your Grace, this is most important. Not meant for any other's ears other than yours."[/b] He said as he tossed off his hood and showed his full features to the man. This was a formality to insist the seriousness of the matter. However, being polite, he allowed the king to speak first. It was his right, afterall.
Dante waited patiently for the King to let out his first thought. Of course, he wanted to know who his true master was. Though he would likely shock the royal elf with his response. [b]"Your world once called him the Old Man of the Mountain, a long, long time ago. He has withdrawn himself from your world's petty squabbles since the last war. Instead, he introduced me to the arts of warfare and the Art of the Kill, or assassination, if it please you, Sire. I am meerly his tool. His hand that acts throughout the world in his stead. Were his hand to be forced personally, it would be a very grave matter indeed. Alas, this war is of a mild nature in comparison to his grand schemes. Therefore, he trusts me to handle the situation. If this is acceptable to you, my Liege, I'd rather not speak of my master further. He is of no consequence to you as of yet."[/b]
Dante let the silence permeate the room once again, til the King continued. He was clearly upset and troubled beyond measure over these issues, and yet he was still in the dark. There was no one that could likely gather the information he truly needed in order to have a full grasp of the situation. [b]"The Duke is the one that placed this burden on Verbrith."[/b] the hooded man answered swiftly in response. He smiled at the King warmly, satisfied that he was able to be one step ahead of the King's concerns. [b]"He placed a very powerful and rare spell bound by a blood contract on the Queen and her people. One that if she were to break, would cause the deaths of every citizen in that country by means of an unimaginable cataclysm. The disaster itself is not specified, but it is conjured by the broken contract, which, to my knowledge, would originate from the pits of hell itself. The Queen, would dare not allow this to occur to her people by any means. She was tricked into this deal. Needless to say, they used her daughter as a bargaining chip."[/b]
The assassin let this grave news sink into the King's mind for a short time before he let himself continue. This would be hard for anyone to believe, let alone understand how it could possibly come about. [b]"From what I know of the General of Charridas, he is unfamiliar with magics of any kind. Neither has he had enough years of study poured into his lifetime in order to even dream of casting such a hex. The General would be of no help to you regarding dispelling this curse. The Duke of Charridas, from what I have seen, is a being born of the other-world. He is not a human, not unlike myself. It is very possible that he may understand this sort of magic, and seeing that he is the caster, this contract originates from his hand. However, I fear that this is a situation I cannot control. Charridas' influences have now spread to the far west, and you now have an enemy on each side of your walls. The Queen is unwilling, and she will do what she can to delay. Still, her only wish is to preserve the lives of her people. If Lymeret must fall in exchange, she will not likely chance her kingdom to save yours. It is as simple as that."[/b]
The news got all the worse from each minute he continued. As it seemed, there was no good news to be had from this. Though, Dante still had a smile on his face throughout it all. [b]"I also suspect it may be possible that Wered could side with Verbrith, seeing as it is a very powerful Kingdom. I have no information that can confirm this, it is simply a likelihood based on my own opinion."[/b] Even still, the man was smiling. [b]"War is upon you King, and it seems you are running out of allies quickly. I wonder how soon it will be before Evant sides with Charridas as well. You and I both know they get along far better than you have in the past."[/b] And yet he smiled still. He waited for the King to become as distressed as possible before he would tell him the good news.
[b]"I have a plan, Your Grace. I'm afraid you are not a part of it for any more than to be a piece on the board, as it were. Granted, you are quite an important piece, but not the King. For that reason, I shall aid you in what ways I am allowed. That is limited to suggesting to you what your next move shall be for now. In that regard, since your children are already on their way to Ancelsier, arm them with the information I have given to you. But, do so tactfully. If Charridas becomes aware that you know the reason for Verbrith's alliance with them, their deal will have been broken, and their entire people will perish. That is the reason this must remain a secret for only trusted ears and sealed mouths."[/b] Dante then proceeded to begin drawing a very ominous symbol into the air. A pentagram with an inverted cross sealed into its center. He then grasped the evil design and openned his shirt, pressing the seal against his heart. When he lifted his shirt, scars and cuts beyond calculation were riddled over his body came within sight. As the symbol became burned into his chest, he let his shirt fall back over his chest, and covered himself against with the cape.
The assassin then looked down to the door. [b]"As it is, I am also a piece of this game, and an expendable sacrifice. Therefore, I plan to take full advantage of my resources to preserve my life and achieve this objective. I must have the princess of Charridas. The most important piece of all, as it would seem. She cannot be returned to her father freely, as I have suspected you intend to do as a means to beg for peace. It will not work. You will buy only a skin-deep ceasefire which will break the moment your armies have left their midst. I must take responsibility for her once again, My master has decided that you are not meant to be her caretaker. She will not be safely held here for very long. At least not for the purpose she is meant to serve. I am afraid that this is all that I can tell you, Sire. From now on, my only assistance to you will be as a spy and informant. All my other actions and orders are clearly laid out for me. I am truly sorry, SIre."[/b][/size][/color]
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 1:30 pm
seiana_zi Borax turned his attention to Eles as he settled, playing with the starseeds in his hand. They felt nice, there; he could feel the tempting power flowing through them, and while he knew he needed to have restraint, to say there wasn't the occasional urge just to pop one wouldn't be a lie. It even coursed under the surface now. He needed these for other things, though. He needed them for recognition, for Laurelite, for Metallia, for whatever Eles may be under the surface of his skin. Who was he? Borax felt desperately like he was on the edge of answering a question that had no solid answer. Why was he so familiar?“Would you like it to be?” No, Borax hadn't pulled the one Eles was speaking about, simply pulling two out of his subspace pocket without any further thought. He eyeballed what he was holding quickly before putting one back and withdrawing a different one of a different colour that he recognized from a yet different experience. “This one is that boy’s, yes.” Borax had kept it as a remembrance of a fascinating night with a fascinating recruit, but perhaps it could be his bargaining chip, now. Borax leaned back. “You will. Anyone who joins gets access to the same. Along with other aspects you may be familiar with, such as teleportation and weaponry.” That was, arguably, one of the more mundane aspects he found the most useful. He had trained up his ability to use it in more stressful situations, but he also used it to get to places like bars quickly without having to concern himself with his car. … He did like his car, though. “You will need to learn those aspects, but the subspace pocket doesn't take training to use.” Borax rolled the starseeds in his fingers once more. “Primarily, adjusting to.”
But if there was yet a chance that the quality of a person reflected in the quality of their starseed, Eles shook his head. He wasn't revolted by that starseed, particularly since it held the same glittering gleam as the other two. He wouldn't risk compromising Malory, however.
Eles's attention remained on the starseeds while Borax listened to himself talk. It wasn't an altogether moving speech, but he did shift his attention to Borax when the boy mentioned weaponry. He hadn't encountered many of the Negaverse, but those he did lacked any visible weaponry. Goth Cheerleader, Borax and Villaumite each looked unarmed. Save for, maybe, Borax's knife belt.
The boy wasn't holding up his end of the bargain by standing there and flapping his gums, however.
I'm not going to remember any of that by the time I return. You already have the starseeds and my agreement. The longer we stand around talking about it, the longer it's going to take for my boy to recover and the longer it'll take for you to make an employee out of me.
Eles held out his hand, expectant, for those two shining starseeds that Borax initially summoned to hand.seiana_zi “Fair enough,” and the boy’s starseed from the original night they had crossed paths was swapped out for the original one he had been holding. Two glittering starseeds in hand, neither with histories that Eles knew anything about. To say Borax knew anything of either story was a bit of a stretch. He could name where these ones came from too, though. One was a coworker at the bank he worked for that he had gotten particularly tired of. The other was an alleyway pickup where someone was trying to shortcut away with a wallet in their hand that wasn't theirs. Borax wasn't particularly moral, but it did give him a motivator to collect the starseed. He hadn’t returned the wallet. Borax rolled the starseeds in his fingers one last time. There was a moment where he considered pulling them back, but that got overridden by the promise of a promising underling that could bolster his status. There was another moment where he considered a warning; that consideration did get held. “Be careful with these. They can have addicting properties.” Would be a waste to try and recruit someone who was he and maybe his boy who was that? only for them to be consumed by something else. With that, he dropped them into Eles’ waiting palm. “Good luck with healing your boy.”
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