What's in a Name

[Requiem of Insanity]

Cassandra stalked along the hallways of Sei’s tomb, a red face and urgent motion to her movements. She clutched tightly something bound by several strings to her left hand, her other hand slamming her tight fist into those stupid enough to be in her way. The ever growing Ixian Knights had learned, and learned well, to keep out of her way when she walked the tomb.

Today however she seemed to be on the verge of running at the hurried pace her footsteps carried her. Her dark companion, her twisted desires made manifest, tried to sooth her with soft words and gentle promises of sweet nothings. Yet her ire was burning his generosity away as she glanced down at the package before with a snarl of impatience she rounded another corner.

At last she heard the conference room in her ears, the sounds of many members of the Ixian Knights laughing or talking. Normally when Sei called the Ixian Knight’s all were to attend, but he gave permission to Cassandra to do as she pleased so long as she followed a very strict set of rules. They were very taxing on her otherwise carefree soul, the biggest one being she couldn’t go around killing whatever, or whomever she wanted. Not that she hadn’t slipped out in the caves at night looking for potential playmates to her midnight hobbies.

In those few waking hours of the night she traveled the cave network and managed to find several annexes and holes that would lead to various parts of civilization. This was pleasing to her, as she could run out, kill someone, and run back into the hole she crawled out of to enjoy her trepidations as the wet works leader of Sei’s army. She was his chief assassin, and he was loathe to use her but when she was needed the job was always done. In two weeks from her assignment the papers would herald the coming of the Coronian Calamity, the Midnight Monster, the Gisela Reaper, the Moonlit Mistress, regaling her latest deed to serve Lord Orlouge.

Today however the papers didn’t bring the good tidings of a job well done, but instead a very dark, and dirty secret to Sei’s operations.

The door thundered open and the Council of Sei’s army all looked up to her. His personal warriors and hand picked generals from some tablet or something, directed by the winds of fate. Cassandra eyed each one and took a measure of pleasure form the discomfort she brought in most of them. Kyla Orlouge wouldn’t even meet her gaze, William Arcus looked like he didn’t care, Benjiro Taka always gave her a scrutinizing eye, and Sei Orlouge himself seemed to sigh in frustration just to see her.

“And what do we owe the pleasure of your company, Ms. Remi?” Sei asked, motioning for her to relax and sit. Instead she unbound the papers in her hand and shoved them on the table as they spilled out in front of the council. Then she angrily picked up a copy of the morning post from today’s newspaper and tossed it so it landed square in front of Sei.

“This is what brings the pleasure of my company!” She chided. “It’s a wonderful article depicting me in a negative light. I found it very informative and the details made my skin crawl in delight, but then it goes and tells the WHOLE WORLD where I live!” she was trying very hard not to screech, but her claim should have been easy to figure out. Sei took a moment as he read the article, moving the paper open to read each line before tossing it to the table.

“I see,” Sei said after a moment closing the paper. “Indeed, this is a problem.” he looked up to her with a blank stare.

“Well at least I have your agreement, you simpleton fool!” Cassandra mouthed as she saw a seat next to Taka and took it. The Ronin scooted his chair back as she sat, and looked upon the other members of the council with equal disdain. “Now I want to know what you will do about it?” Taka turned to Sei.

“My apologies, Sei-Sama, but what does this entail?” Cassandra looked to Taka with a curious eye.

“Samurai boy toy not know abut me?” Cassandra asked, jerking her thumb to him. Sei shook his head.

“I figured it was a need to know basis what you are.” he shrugged. Taka looked to her confused. Cassandra rolled her eyes.

“Ever heard of the Akashiman Serial Killer; Sono Getsuei-Oni?” She said in perfect Akashiman with a cute smile. “Ya know, the Moon Demon?” she added offhandedly. Taka’s eyes narrowed as he softly nodded. “Pleased to meet you,” she said carelessly as Taka shot straight up and started cursing in his native tone at her. Cassandra reached for the pitcher of tea and poured some, listening to the soft sound of the cup being filled. Sei calmed Taka down long enough for him to take control again.

“It’s just a smear campaign to get the general population to detest me.” Sei said reassuringly. “Only a matter of time before it would happen. This means our aggressors are starting to rise against us. Only a fool would think the Ixian Knights were the only ones preparing for the battle to save the soul of Corone.” he flexed his fingers into each other gently.

“I’m not following, papa,” Anita said stepping into the room and taking a seat next to Cassandra and next to Taka. Cassandra noted she was carefully placed between the two of them, probably by Sei to defuse the mounting tension. The only Orlouge Cassandra could tolerate for growing periods of time was Anita Orlouge, the girl and Cassandra sharing similar qualities that are rare in the world these days. Cassandra gave her a paternal smile, moving to let her sit next to her.

“A name, my dear child, has much power.” Cassandra spoke like a teacher. “A name, a simple title, can move mountains. Does not the forces of darkness tremble when they hear the name of Sei Orlouge? Does not the Aleran people rejoice to hear he is in the area? Does not Taka get uncomfortable when you mention a certain noble princesses name?” She added cruelly as she eyed Taka’s glare. “Or perhaps the name of a dead wife?” She turned her gaze to William. With a vile smile she turned her attentions back to Anita.

“A name has power. Be it for good or evil. People grow angry, terrified, upset to hear of the many names I have, and so to hear that I am living within Sei’s army as one of his nine legendary warriors is monumental. This will sow confusion and panic. My names, all of them, far outweigh the name of Sei. This is because the weak minded are far more afraid of the dark, than trusting of the light.”

She tapped her finger on Anita’s nose and the girl smiled pushing her away. Cassandra looked up to Sei.

“Now we have-” before she could talk a loud crash ran through the door, Jensen’s body crashing up and down as he tumbled into the room shortly followed by a tumbling Adolph who was cursing at Jensen, with Stephanie marching in with hand over face in the middle of a deep apology. Cassandra gave them all a dark look of hostility as Jensen straightened up, punched Adolph in the gut before the knight could speak, and shouted at Sei.

“Hey, there’s a huge mass of people at the mouth of the cave, all wanting psycho creepy chicks blood. Ta’gaz and Hotouri are keeping things civil with a few other Ixian Knights. I say let’s give the people what they want, since you’re a man of the people,” Jensen rolled his sleeves up looking to Cassandra. “Heh, maybe we can do it public execution style! I’d happily sacrifice myself to kill her for you!” Jensen said stupidly.

Sei lifted his hand up to hold Jensen back. Cassandra looked to the immortal and then softly turned her gaze to Sei.

“What are you going to do about this?” She asked.

[Revenant]

“Can’t handle yourself when you’re not jumping out at people in the dark, killer?” William answered before Sei could. The revenant’s voice dripped scorn and only a fool could miss the mocking sarcasm behind his words. In fact, every spine in the room straightened a little as the buzz of deadly menace in the room increased that much more; every spine except for Jensen’s that was, much to William’s complete lack of surprise.

“I’d be a gentleman and deal with the lady’s problem myself,” he continued, turning back to Sei, “but as we were talking about before we were so rudely interrupted, I’ve got to make the preparations for my squad to deal with the Buffalax creature that’s been sighted outside Terramis. Besides, I doubt you’d approve of my methods.”

Receiving the slightest nod from Sei that he was free to go about his business, William dismissed himself from the tense gathering. “By the way,” he poked his head back in the door just before it closed, “I say you just let her deal with the crowd. It should be no problem for a big, spooky thing like her.”

Waves of nearly unbearable heat released from William as he stalked away from the command room, the result of the demonic aura of heat that he gave off when he was wound up. “The nerve of that harlot,” he snarled when he had moved far enough away from the room to be heard. The words startled one of the random guards who just happened to have turned the wrong corner at the wrong time, sending the man scuttling back around the stony, dimly lit corridor where he had emerged from. The man would no doubt later tell all of his buddies about the run-in that he’d had with the Ixian Monster Hunter Captain, but William had little care for what horror stories the rank-and-file troops told of him. There were times when the powers raging through his veins made him feel like a wrathful god, and the petty concerns of the mortals beneath him were of no more concern to a god than were the concerns of a rat to a bear.

William’s frenetic, hurried rush through the twisting maze of Sei’s Tomb was one of those times. He and Sei had been finalizing the plans to slay the beast mentioned in Sei’s latest intelligence report when she had burst into the room as if no problems in the world mattered but her own. The irony of his anger was lost on William as he snarled, sending yet another passerby backpedaling to get away.

“Thinks she owns the place because everyone is afraid of her,” he muttered, continuing his solo rant. It was an undeniable fact that Cassandra Remi held some sort of hypnotically terrifying sway over the general populace, a terror that William didn’t share. Instead, as much as it galled him, William was actually impressed by some of the stories he heard about the woman. The sheer delight that she was said to feel in taking another’s life matched his own, a rarity in the peaceful, cooperative atmosphere fostered by the Ixian Knights. It was as if the two of them were more alike than either would ever allow themselves to admit. Too much alike to ever be friends.

But the bitch had to go and bring up William’s wife. That his past had become common knowledge was both a source of curiosity and boundless rage for the revenant. He wasn’t sure which of the few people he had told had leaked William’s most painful memory to the general Ixian populace, but they would certainly find themselves in a conundrum if he ever found out.

“Probably that Octane piece of shit,” William spat, referring to Andrew Octance, a weasely little man who somehow possessed the ability to know everything about everyone, a trait which had earned him not only his continuing life, but the close confidence of Sei himself. Just another name on the list of people who William would rather see rendered into an unidentifiable mass of meat and bone. It was of little consequence, as Andrew was currently shielded by Sei’s good graces, still there was always the distant hope that he would someday fall out of favor.

A solid obstruction filled the passage at William’s next turn and the revenant realized that he was at his destination. Slight guilt intruded upon his thoughts as he realized that he’d let Cassandra get under his skin, something she was good at in more ways than one, and that he’d brooded his way entirely across the long track through Sei’s Tomb. Get a hold of yourself, he mentally scolded himself, you’re acting like a damned petulant child. Taking a few seconds to compose himself and pushing the last vestiges of his boiling rage back under his skin, William opened the door and entered the room beyond.

The door was unlike any other In the Tomb, an enormous thing of chemically treated wood bound tightly in iron and steel. There was no counterweight system to the thing, so the sheer size and weight of the thing meant that it was awkward to lift and difficult to open for a single man, though William’s inhuman strength meant that it was no problem for him. All in all, the door’s design seemed to nearly border on the excessive. But then, William liked his squad to have privacy.

“On your feet maggots,” a voice roared through the crack at William easily swung the massive portal open. Another unexpected benefit of the door’s design was that it was easy for those to tell who was entering by how easily he handled the door.

The interior of the room was as unique to Sei’s Tomb as the door was. The thin padded mat on the rough hewn floor indicated that this was one of the Tomb’s many martial training rooms, but this particular pad’s worn, threadbare appearance was unlike what could be expected from any of the others. William wanted to enforce a standard of maximum toughness on anyone training in this room, though anyone setting foot in this room could already be called one of the toughest soldiers in the Ixian Knights. Coddling his monster hunters was something that William was not about to do.

This training room’s individualistic nature wasn’t limited to the pads on the floor however. Hotouri’s training rooms held various wall scrolls and incense burners to help the recruits find their inner harmony, and Ta’Gaz’s rooms were filled with a variety of wooden dolls and obstacles for his trainees learn quickness and agility. And all of the other rooms held a variety of padded and wooden weapons in the training racks for combatants to choose from. The training room of William’s monster hunting squad held no ornaments, and no training equipment, and certainly no wooden weapons. The bare, sweat dampened walls of this chamber held only real, lethal weapons, and the six muscular warriors who wielded them.

“Enough,” William said, gesturing for the six warriors standing at rigid attention in the center of the room to carry on about their business. Though William had served in an army, his purpose there had been one completely unaccustomed to the rigidity of military orders. He didn’t exactly care for the proper protocol and decorum that came with command and Sei demanded nothing of the sort, but William’s second-in-command, a rough, former mercenary named Jerrick, had nonetheless whipped his squad into perfect, regimented discipline. Seeing as Jerrick was in direct command of the unit far more often than William was, and that he handled most of the squad’s affairs, William wasn’t about to force a change on that discipline.

“What’s the word Captain?” Jerrick asked, coming over to William while the rest of the team went back to their training. William appreciated that Jerrick knew him well enough not to offer a salute or any other form of greeting. It was one of the many perks of having the giant as his second.

“The word Jerrick,” William grinned for the first time since before Cassandra had interrupted his day, “is that we’ve got a monster to kill.”

[Silence Sei]

The sudden outburst of Cassandra Remi in the middle of war strategies did not please the Ixian Knights leader in the slightest. Sei was about to let Cassandra have it, making the Midnight Mistress think she was a seven year old boy for a day or two, before Anita walked in and asked Cassandra all sorts of different questions. With his priorities now straightened out thanks to Anita, Sei stood and pondered for a moment. There was an information leak in the Knights.

Sei's eyes instinctively settled on Andrew Octane. The teenage boy shook his head and shrugged as he looked to the mystic. "I promise it wasn't me. Since I got captured I've been tight lipped about everything you do. Even you-know-what." Octane said no more, causing Sei to nod and the other comrades in the room to raise their eyebrows questioningly.

Octane was referring to Sei's wetworks team. Cassandra Remi had been assigned a special team of assassins to do what was needed in order to get the job done. Though the team primarily consisted of her for the time being, Sei had planned on making a few additions to the team. There was simply one rule about Sei's personal hit squad; Nobody could know. Not even the other Ixian Knight leaders that sat at the long livol table before them. As far as the group knew, Cassandra was just a killer trying to kill, with Sei 'stopping' her.

In truth, Cassandra had been killing who Sei had told her to kill in order to advance the agenda of the knights. War came with sacrifices, and nobody could see the legendary Hero of Radasanth bloody his own hands to accomplish his goals.

Octane began to leave the room as Sei shifted his eyes towards Cassandra, an idea forming into his head. Shifting his eyes over to Jensen Ambrose, Sei thought of something incredible that would keep everybody happy.

"Jensen," Sei said to the knight, who merely looked towards his boss with a grumble on his lips, "I need to talk to you privately. If they want an execution of Cassandra Remi, I plan to fully give them an execution of Cassandra Remi. As for whoever our spy is, I'll make sure to do some mind sweeps in the area over the course of the next few days." Sei looked back to Cassandra as he began to motion both her and Jensen out of the room.

"As for right now, I think we'll start planning for your death, Gisela Reaper." Sei left the room with that, Anita’s face painted with a mixture of disgust and shock towards her father.


As William looked towards his men with pride, he heard a knock on the massive door leading towards the training room. William spun around, snarling at what he saw before him. “What are you doing here?!”

“I’ve been assigned to your monster hunting team,” the arrogant Octane spoke to the revenant, “Sei thought it best if he kept it private until last minute. You fly off at the handle too easily when provoked. Furthermore, that eye-decay thing you got going on isn’t going to help you if the Buffalax is really as powerful as they say. I expressed my concerns for going after the thing, but if the intelligence is right, then I’m game to watch you do your thing from the sidelines. Just don’t get too much blood on the jacket, okay? I hate having to wash blood stains out of leather.”

Octane shuddered at the thought as if it were the worst thing on Althanas. While Andrew Octane himself was a pacifist, he could literally turn people into either crazy homicidal maniacs who accidentally took themselves out, or would transform them into outright suicide kids, ready to off themselves the first chance they got. Octane had a way with words the way Sei had a way with people. Warriors were good and all for a monster hunting team, but William’s men were going to need someone who didn’t look like a reject from a hobo ninja convention to smooth things over with the townspeople.

“Should we head out before Cass gets axed? Metaphorically and literally, of course.”

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen sat inside of Sei’s office, looking at his lord with shock, Cassandra sitting next to the immortal with a wide grin on her face. The lord of the Ixian Knight’s flexed his fingers over and over as he gazed at Jensen with intentful eyes, and the immortal had to blink before he could comprehend the words he just spoke. After he recognized the words in question, the knight of Apocalypse slammed one fist on the hard oak desk and swiped his hand across it, shuffling papers up into the air in a whirlwind.

“WHAT?” He bellowed, glaring daggers at a man he thought was sane and sound of mind. Apparently that had changed in the span of thirty seconds. Cassandra laughed at his outburst, and he already was heated enough to give her a threatening backhand. The woman merely grinned to him, as if challenging the immortal while a wave of dread exuded from her in full force. Now pissed off and creeped out Jensen pondered what he would do next. Glancing at Sei, who hadn’t even budged from Jensen’s outburst, continued to flex his fingers.

“This is the only sound way to solve the problem at hand.” Sei mentioned. Jensen felt betrayed on a level that was new even to him. In his past experiences he should have realized this was eventually going to happen, but from Sei Orlouge? Not even in a nightmare had he dreamed he would offer this plan to the man who was his body guard.

“No, this is the stupidest way to solve a problem!” Jensen argued, pointing to the midnight monster. Cassandra merely giggled as she watched the proceedings, and Jensen felt like slapping her upside the head.

“Nobody would know the difference, and if this doesn’t get resolved soon a deep seeded hatred will grow in the general area. We need to have the people’s trust, Jensen, this is the best way to do that.” Jensen felt the air of finality in his tone, like his mind was made up and wouldn’t waver. That made Jensen’s blood boil even hotter as he gripped his fingers into two tight balls of hate and rage.

“You would do this for her?” Jensen asked confused and snarling. “You would do this for a mass murderer who has no good in her heart at all?” Jensen snorted his disgust and continued in a mocking tone. “Today in the news: Sei Orlouge spares the life of known Serial Killer Cassandra Remi because he’s a fucking faggot fairy king and has nothing better to do!”

Cassandra looked to Sei as she pointed to Jensen like her were a object. “Obedience in a beast like him must be taught at a young age. Give me four nights with him and I’ll give him a few deaths that will remind him to be a good dog.” She smiled crossly to Jensen, who snarled to her while crossing his arms over his chest.

“Seriously Sei? You going to spare the life of this bitch? What good could possibly come from her? I’ll tell you what it is! Her death! That’s the only good thing that could be associated with her!” Jensen spelt it out for his lord as he pointed back to her like she were a parasite.

“Enough, both of you!” Sei ordered. Both glared to him as if his interruption was the worst thing in the world, both hating each other something fierce. The hatred exuding from them would have made William Arcus most pleased to watch. “Jensen, I’m not doing this lightly! I have to do this for the good of the Ixian Knights. I’m sorry you don’t understand that right now but it’s what has to happen.” Sei looked to Cassandra. As for you, once this is done we’ll begin the real work, and then you’ll be out of everyone’s hair. I was hoping, praying that you would be able to work and play well with others, but alas, that doesn’t seem likely.”

“To associate myself with clowns like this asshole and the demonkin William and Taka? Yes, my life would be so complete just sitting and having a drink with those two wonder dummies.” She smirked at the thought. “Neanderthal William and Stoic lap dog Taka…Exactly where did you think I fit into the picture with them?” She challenged.

“On your knee’s…” Jensen mumbled, though by mumble more like shout it to her as he grinned. “All the talent I can see coming-” Cassandra’s closed fist walloped Jensen right across the chin ending his insult. He stumbled backwards, tripping over the chair and landing awkwardly with one foot in the air and his back in pain.

As he began to scramble to get up Sei swooped to his side, helping him up, but holding Jensen in place. “Go get ready for your mission.” Jensen looked at Sei and saw the seriousness of his order, and he lifted a solid finger as his response to Sei, before bringing it over to Cassandra to look at.

“Enjoy it, blessed immortal…” Cassandra taunted, bringing up an old nickname Jensen had that reminded him of darker times. The title he was given by his order that led to his brutal torture by the hands of his own heroes he worshipped. That title mocked him, taunted him, showed him he was nothing and that his immortality was a curse rather than a gift.

Jensen made a move on her, but Sei pushed him outside and pointed for him to go before turning back to look at Cassandra. When the door slammed shut Jensen rubbed the back of his head angrily, seeing Stephanie looking at Jensen with expectant eyes.

“Everything okay, love?” she asked moving to his side. Jensen waved her off and walked away, but stopped turning around. Jensen rubbed the back of his head again. Stephanie walked up to him again and he welcomed her embrace this time. She kissed his cheek and whispered for him to speak his mind.

“Sei has a mission for me, and I have to get going on it right now. He pulled rank on our plans tonight.” Stephanie’s face became full of irritation as she looked back to Sei’s door. When she looked back to Jensen she saw the immortal wasn’t kidding about the sudden mission he had to do.

“But…what about Azza? We promised her she could go to Underwood.” Jensen shrugged before breaking off. “Jensen, come on!” He looked back to her and she bit her lower lip apologizing.

“I don’t want to do this mission, at all. It’s fucking retarded and I’d love nothing more than to spend this time with you and Azza, but I don’t a choice apparently because a fucking serial killer is more important than me. Take Azza, use a back exit, and go to Underwood. I’ll leave you my coin purse, go ahead and spend the night there to.” Stephanie looked to Jensen, and she saw the disappointment in his eyes.

“He’s sending you to die?” She asked, bringing a hand to her mouth in shock. Jensen nodded. She suddenly grew violent, her fists raising into balls of rage as she turned to Sei’s door. One quick tug on the back of her shirt brought her back into Jensen’s embrace. She protested, but his grip only intensified.

“I’m sorry, but that’s the mission. I don’t want Azza to wonder or know yet that I’m immortal. It’s important for her not to. This way at least she’ll be by her friends and not have to wonder why I didn’t come home. Stay out late, use that as an excuse.”

“I know, I know…we went over this a hundred times.” Stephanie looked up to Jensen with sorrowful eyes. With a quick peck on her cheek Jensen was off to find Kyla, for she was probably the only woman outside Stephanie who could do a good job at making Jensen feel like a lady.

“I hate my job…” Jensen muttered.

[Revenant]

“Fucking Sei,” William snarled and slammed his fist into the rough stone of the training room’s wall hard enough to break several bones in his hand. The act drew worried looks from the rest of his squad, now busily engaged in the preparation for their hunt at Jerrick’s command. Though the Ixian Knights were Sei’s army, handling off squad missions were supposed to be in the hands of the individual leaders but Octane was proof that it didn’t always go that way.

“Well if you insist on coming with us then make yourself useful and help move some of these weapons.” William waved his battered hand at the pacifist, the cracked bones already knitting as William’s supernatural physique repaired the wound. “Or does your aversion to violence extend to touching weapons as well?”

Octane, still smirking, offered William a depreciating shrug. “Oh I’m sure I can find some way to keep myself busy.” Octane thrust his hands into his pockets and walked towards where the work was heaviest.

“Fucking Sei,” William snarled again, though this time in a barely audible mutter. Across the room, Octane began his ‘help’ by pointing out to William’s man Sergei how his father always told him that it was better to lift with his knees and that he should listen to his father. In all honesty, William’s anger with Sei over the situation with Octane wasn’t purely because the revenant despised the arrogant bastard. It was because Octane was an unknown, a variable that hadn’t been taken into account by William’s squad.

The thought of being a monster hunter appealed to many of the Ixian Knights, most of them young and full of a desire to make a name for themselves by slaying some massive beast or by single-handedly saving a town full of innocents. Fortunately, the threat of having to work under William weeded out most of the applicants who just wanted these things. William took those who remained and tested each of them through a one-on-one hunt in the Citadel. Radasanth’s most famous landmark was the perfect place to conduct such a test. Not only could the magic of the Ai’Bron monks who ran the place shape the fighting chambers in any fashion required, but it could also heal whatever damage was inevitably done to the combatants within. In there, William was able to fully loose his demonic power without fear of causing any permanent harm.

William watched as the six members of his squad, Jerrick, Sergei, Lorelai, Heigei, Kyron, and Rawls, did their best to ignore Octane’s pestering while going about their preparations. Each of these six had fought with William in the Citadel, and each had spent hours training together. They were a cohesive team, drilled into strict formation under Jerrick’s command, and bound by a common thread. Despite the disdain for Octane that all of them obviously shared with William, the six of them would follow his orders, and right now those orders were to tolerate the weasel in their midst. Frustrated by the entire endeavor, William fully intended to give Sei a piece of his mind once this mission was finished, and the sooner his squad got on their way, the sooner he could do so. Unfortunately for the revenant, another knock on the door to his training room interrupted him.

Now what? William threw up his hands in defeat, turning back to the door. First Cassandra, then Octane, and now this; is everyone going to interrupt me today? This interruption however, was something that William would never have expected.

“Stephanie?” William’s surprise was evident, enough so that the usual scorn his voice held when addressing one of the Knights of the Apocalypse was barely noticeable. Not that Adolph was such a bad character, though he was far too stuck up for William’s taste, but Stephanie was with Jensen, and the only person in the world that William hated more than Jensen was the man who had ruined William’s life and turned him into a demonic abomination.

“William,” Stephanie returned William’s greeting with a matching scorn.

“What do you want?” William was fully prepared to lash out at the woman with the most venomous insults that he could think of, but the sight of a young girl clinging to Stephanie’s shadow pulled him up short. William didn’t have any particular fondness for children, but the memory of his dead wife’s pregnancy was usually enough to cause him to at least act with a modicum of respect around the little ones. “You’d better have a good reason to be bothering me.”

“Believe me, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have a good reason.” The female Knight sneered, as if dealing with William were just above making love to a porcupine on her list of things to do. “Azza and I need to catch a ride with your squad when you leave the Tomb.”

William looked back at the members of his squad, who were just about finished packing despite Octane’s best efforts. Having one hanger-on was already almost too much. Having two more of them, with one being a child, would definitely be out of the question.

“No,” was all he said.

“Too bad,” Stephanie shot right back, knowing full well what William’s response would be. “I didn’t say we want to go with you. I said we need to go with you.”

“Don’t worry,” she added, “we’re not intending to go play hero with the rest of your Neanderthals. We just need a ride out the back door that you’ll be taking.”

“Why not just use the front door?” William asked, glaring daggers at the warrior-woman.

“It stinks in here,” Azza chirped suddenly, seeming not to notice the wire tension between her guardian and the man on the other side of the door.

“I know sweetie.” Stephanie patted her head softly with a warmth and affection that had been completely absent from her only moments before. “We’re not using the front door because I’m not taking her through the mob that’s formed outside, that’s why.”

A dark, sorrowful look came suddenly over Stephanie’s features. “Well that and other reasons.”

William remembered what Octane had said about Cassandra getting the axe. “Fine,” he said finally, relenting. “Just stay out of our way.”

“As if we had to be told,” Stephanie snorted derisively.

William turned back to the six members of his squad, standing at rigid attention and waiting for instructions despite the heavy bundles and packs that they carried. William hefted the pack that had been prepared and set aside for him by his subordinates.

“All right, you all know the drill. Let’s go kill a monster.”

[Tainted Bushido]

It had taken Taka several moments to calm down, even as Hoturi had commented that while a few of the other knights didn’t speak Akashiman, he did. Taka of course was forced to watch as his leader went into overdrive, trying to protect the woman who had no reason to be protected. As he looked upon her he could feel cold tendrils of malice grip his heart, even as he narrowed his eyes. He never took them off the vixen, even as she continued to taunt and ridicule the others.

Her feud with Jensen was lost upon him as he pondered the words she had spoken. Names were powerful, but the fact she had known the Ronin had a run in with Sakurazuka Anila, princess of the north, was even more frustrating. How long had she known of his existence? Or had she tracked down information on him after he had joined the Knights? He didn’t know but her information was good enough to hit the mark on one such annoyance, even if that was all she was.

Looking up he noticed most had left, he remained seated at the table as he rested his head upon the palm of his hand. A sigh left his lips even as she shook the cobwebs of anger from his system, feeling the last vestiges disappear. Anita was still in the room, and she seemed to look at Taka worriedly. Taka gave her a brave smile before he spoke, “That woman, cost the Eastern Guard much…”

“Cassandra? What did she do?” Anita asked politely. She knew Taka spoke very little of his time in the eastern guard, and even Hoturi picked up on the rare occasion Taka would open up at all about it. His time in the Benjiro Family was often left as a mystery, even if he was not allowed to don the name anymore by pain of death.

“She killed one of our superiors right under our noses. Many men were forced to commit seppuku over the stain to the Eastern Guard’s honor. Even worse, was the seppuku’s committed over that leader’s…indiscretions…” Taka explain softly. He shook his head remembering it as if it was only yesterday, “Because of that, the Eastern Guard shrunk considerably, and the already taxed Samurai had to pick up the dropped duties of their fallen brethren. I don’t think the Guard has ever recovered fully from that unfortunate incident. Even Hantei-taicho was almost forced to perform the three cuts…”

Hoturi stiffened his only noticeable reaction to the news. Looking upon his student he sighed before he said, “You know the old saying, an enemy of my enemy-“

“-is still my enemy,” Taka countered, “However that is not what is important. I’ve received my mission, and I shall have to assemble the mercenaries to go on a bandit hunt. While I would rather they be preparing more, this is a good first mission to gauge where they are at. If they can get through this, there may be hope for the unit yet…”

Anita looked at Taka for a moment before she spoke up, “What do you mean Taka?”

“I fear that the glory seekers that did not join Arcus-san’s group fell into mine. Also the distasteful emphasis on money in this division makes it harder for us to focus on the important things. Still, I have managed to get them to at least agree that training harder will ensure they live to spend their money. No small feat since Arcus-san has been requesting Hoturi-sensei for training sessions…” Taka explained before he grabbed the small stack of papers. For Taka’s convenience they were actually two copies of the same papers, one in Akashiman, and the other in Tradespeak. This was because while he could speak the language, he had only a basic grasp of the way it was written. Even then he couldn’t make out what was said upon the pages.

Slowly yet surely, Taka would overcome the language barrier.

Moving out of the room he heard Hoturi speak out loud, “Taka-san.”

“Nani-deska?” Taka replied quizzically, he turned to face his teacher a look of bewilderment upon his face.

“<Spend little time on the plan, for the only certain thing is that something will go wrong…>” Hoturi said sagely.

Taka nodded before he grinned, recognizing the bit of wisdom, “<Spend all your time on contingencies.>”

“<Good, now go.>” Hoturi said shooing Taka away.

[Silence Sei]

As Jensen was preparing for his 'engagement' in his room, a firm hand was placed upon his shoulder. When the immortal turned around, he would find Sei with a most serious look on his face. "I don't trust whether or not she's a telepath," Sei explained, referring to Cassandra, "but now that she's out of earshot, I can talk to you about this. We're not killing you silly. You have a family to take care of. With your luck, it would be the one death you didn't come back from."

Sei's statement made it blatantly obvious that the mute had no faith in Cassandra. Sure, Sei had given the Midnight Mistress a shot in the Nine because the prophecy had told him to, and he had seen a side of her that Sei thought nobody else had seen. Yet, with every passing night and more rumors of bodies piling up, Sei was starting to worry that his darkest knight had no chance for redemption.

"So we're gonna really kill the bitch then?!" Jensen said enthusiastically. The immortal's ears probably would have perked up had he been a dog. Sei gave a very confused and disturbed look to his bodyguard before shaking his head slowly. While Sei was becoming more worried about Cassandra, the mute still upheld his policy of not killing unless it was a last resort.

"No, I have someone in mind to put this thing to bed. He's an old acquaintance of mine. I just had to make sure Stephanie and Azza didn't know what we were getting into. This man can be quite crude at times, and while the thought of introducing you to, well, another you, doesn't appeal to me, and it must be done. Also, Stephanie would have never allowed you to go if she knew the party traveling to find this person was you, me, and Cassandra..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Straight an formal troops," the gruff voice said among the chatter in the mercenary barracks. The hard but low tone came from Oreo Jones, a blind gunslinger that had been one of the first people to sign on to Taka's team when it became open registration time. "I said the boss is coming, so look presentable!"

Of course, Jones was still ignored by the soldiers. Why shouldn't he be? Outside of Taka, there were no ranks in the merc unit so far. Furthermore, Jones deceivingly short silver hair tucked neatly underneath his cowboy hat gave the illusion that the young man was too old to know what he was talking about.

Jones reached into his brown trench coat, throwing his hand to the ground and releasing the barrel on his six-shooter as he did so. Luckily, the rubber bullet did not hit anybody, but the sound of thunder in the small barracks brought all heads straight towards the outlaw. As Taka walked in the door, the room had become silent.

Turning to Taka, Jones nodded to where he thought the samurai's head was. Although Jones was a top-notch gunman, he had the distinct disadvantage of being blind. This accredited to his nickname 'The Blind Sniper', but also managed to not get people to take him as seriously as they should have. What Jones lacked in those silver orbs of his was made up for by a heightened sense of hearing, said to be so good that he could actually hear people's heartbeats. This earned him his second nickname of 'The Heartbeat Kid'.

"They're all ready if you prepared some speech for tomorrow, sir," Jones said, adjusting his hat as he appeared to stare aimlessly through Taka.

[Tainted Bushido]

Taka looked about the barracks for the mercenaries, a certain reserved hostility in his eyes as he took in the features of each member. They had been training under Hoturi who quickly stamped out any dreams of slaying a dragon first week out. When he had done so with a wooden sword to their metal ones, it certainly went a long way to curbing their pride.

The blind gunman had shown up rather unexpectedly one day. He had asked to join Taka’s group and the Ronin had no reason to turn him away. While he certainly couldn’t fight in the traditional sense, Hoturi had told Taka the man was ready for action, all it would take is putting him in the rough area and he’d do fine on his own. Taka still held a bit of reserve at this “Oreo Jones’, but kept his reservations to general dislike of his unit. While he had taken it upon himself to lead them, he certainly didn’t like who he got.

Hoturi was quick to remind him that no one ever truly got what they wanted.

Moving through the barracks he studied the beds, a few card strewn on one in what was certainly a gambling game. Another bed had coins upon it and he raised an eyebrow, his men were usually more vigilant about hiding their gambling from the ronin. He reached down and picked up one of the coins and looked upon it carefully. Finally with a flick the coin went shooting off into the room and his voice spoke, his accent thick, “Everyone who followed the coin’s flight rather than kept their eyes on me, leave. Your services aren’t needed anymore.”

The more honest of the men quickly grabbed their things grumbling about the harsh taskmaster and how they would make him regret his decision later. Still a few remained as Taka moved about the room some more. Finally he spoke, “Those of you that stayed will come to regret not being honest. I will force the greed out of this unit any way I can. We are warriors; the money is secondary to anything else we do. The second it becomes our primary objective, we lose any semblance of discipline.”

A few men fidgeted at those words, before a couple grabbed their bags and left, allowing the Ronin to nod at them for finally being honest. He then moved down the line to the end before he touched the far wall, and made his way back. He then began talking, “I don’t think you men are ready, but a task has been assigned to us. This is your chance warriors, to prove to me you are worth the time I put into you. We are doing a mere bandit hunt, something that would be low casualty and considered a warm up back in Akashima. I am not expecting a perfect fight, nor am I expecting you to come out unscathed. You are not the Eastern guard who trained me to fight, and you are not the peasantry who I have trained personally to fight.”

He moved along the barracks before he stopped at the door and spoke, “We leave tonight. Gather your things and be ready within two hours. That should give you plenty of time to deal with your problems. If I do not see you out there in two hours, I will take that as your sign of resignation. We haven't been active long, but I don't think I have given you reason to believe me to be a joker.”

He started moving through the door before he stopped and turned, looking at Oreo Jones for a moment before he said, “And I would suggest for all your sakes, that you listen more to Jones-san. He certainly has a warrior's approach to this, and it may save your lives yet.”

[Requiem of Insanity]

Cassandra walked with a poise and grace through the hallways now that she had known Sei was about to do something for her. It was his proper place to protect her from the outside nuisance of the world. Had she not shackled her ankles to the madman’s whims, this situation would never have presented itself. So it was just that the hero of Radansath don his armor and protect the Black Archipelago Assassin.

She turned down the corner to her own private sanctum, notably further away from most other people in the cavern. The hallway had a fork that split to the training halls, the other to her own rooms. She smelled Hotouri’s incense and the sweat of Ta’gaz and his idiot pupils. Her nostrils flared to smell such equally repulsing qualities in the hallways, and her delicate senses wanted to churn a vomit upon the floor. She kept her poise as she reached her door, seeing the unmistakable signs that Sei left for people to know not to go near her door. A sign, a few chains and caution tape.

She entered her room and looked to her tables of various poisons and items, her fingers running along the edge of a chess board that had placed upon it the damned black and white pieces that tore into people’s minds. She had won this set from a maddened fool named Kingmaker, one of the King of All’s minions and idiot pawns. She hadn’t forgotten about that man, but for now, he was no longer her concern.

Her fingers gripped the edges of the ringlet under her shirt, feeling the Anima Revixi’s warmth as it continued to do its job. The item was a pre-demon war artifact, and it was capable of netting a soul back from the sea of the dead and restoring it to her body, as if she had never died. It was needed when in fact she had perished, Serentiy Dahlios using a powerful Hex Spell to end her forever. Her servant, Kane, had traveled to find the Anima Revixi. For his troubles she gave him a kiss and a knife in the heart.

Currently her soul was busy retuning itself to her body, but soon, so very soon she wouldn’t need it anymore. She was practically counting the days in her mind that she wouldn’t need to depend on such a useless trinket. She smiled to herself vilely. How amusing it was to think so wondrous an item that had saved her soul countless times was nothing but a mere trinket, such was her vanity.

As she stripped out of her clothing and walked around her room half clothed she checked on her latest batch of Blood Sire, her deadliest poison to date. She had attempted to build it up from scratch several times, and never did the poison work the way it was supposed to. Frustrated that Catrina Ferman still was able to hold something over her head in death infuriated her. She wanted to prove to that dead bitch of a woman that to even test Cassandra in a duel of darkness was a mistake, but while Cassandra had defeated her mind body and soul, she still felt it was a hollow deed until she could unlock the mysteries of Catrina’s diary.

She lazily let her finger swirl the noxious fumes around the tip, creating tiny swirls in the air as she sighed a pouty sigh. Her lover, her dark companion, moved to her placing his chilly hands upon her arms and wrapping himself around her.

“Why, why my love, why do we put up with such….miscreants? I do not want to be cooped up like this, you know this!” she pleaded as she continued to play with the Blood Sire. She heard a few gentle whispers and promises of sweet nothings, but she let her love’s words fall flat on her. She wasn’t in the mood to be serenaded by him. With another sigh she turned her body towards her bed, walking over to her closet and grabbing a few garments before digging deeper for her sneaking suit. She put it on, then placed the short skirt over her hips, and wore the tunic flawlessly on her chest, tying it taught to leave her curves revealed. Then with a practiced motion she whipped her cloak over her shoulders, putting the hood above her head as she looked to poisons on her desk.

“I should probably take some with me,” she replied absently. Her hands reached for a box filled with empty vials, and with quick movements she filled them each, stopping and labeling them with a black marker along the tops of the corks. After she filled them all up she put them onto a wrap and tied them all into place, rolling it together and jiggling the contents. Content none would fall out and sure they wouldn’t break, (she hadn’t purchased the thicker vials just on a whim) she placed them in her bag along with a set of clothing. She placed the bag over her shoulder, turning back to her table and turning off all but three of the burners. Cassandra then looked to her door and waited before a soft knock hit the door.

“Please enter, Lord Sei,” she said timidly as her Dark Companion alerted her to his presence.

[Revenant]

Escaping from the riotous horde that, even now, knocked on the very doorstep of Sei’s Tomb was not an easy task. Fortunately, the task was made easier by the fact that while the cave’s central opening in Radasanth Park was the most well-known and used, it was not the only entry that the Ixian Knights’ headquarters had.

“All clear,” said Heigei, the sole Akashiman on William’s team and the squad’s best scout. Though the exit that the monster hunters were using was secret and out of the way, Jerrick had sent Heigei out to watch for strays wandering into or out of the gathering rabble. William thought it was unnecessary, his violent second nature silently hoping to have a ‘problem’ to deal with, but he knew that such a solution would only serve to cause more trouble in the long end. As dedicated as his men were to hunting monsters next at his side, even the hardest of them hadn’t signed up to kill civilians. And there was also the matter of having to deal with Sei’s fallout over such an incident, and there was no hiding anything from the telepathic mystic.

“Good job, Heigei,” William said, nodding at the wiry, black haired Akashiman despite his feelings on the matter. Jerrick had made it clear that a little hint of praise from the stern Captain every now and then would do wonders for morale.

“Hai Captain,” Heigei grinned, partially reverting to his native tongue. Several good natured jabs from the remaining squad members greeted Heigei’s success, indicating that Jerrick’s advice had been solid.

Within moments, the six monster hunters, William, and their three guests were making their way cautiously through the boughs and fallen leaves of Radasanth Park. The slow grind and rattle of the weapon laden cart along the dry summer leaves had all of them standing on edge. While they would easily be able to blend in with the general travelling crowds that frequented Radasanth once they reached the market streets surrounding the forest, there would be no hiding their affiliation from any random passerbys. Heigei’s scouting showed nothing near the Tomb’s secret entrance, but things had a way of changing for the Ixian Knights at a moment’s notice, and they weren’t the most popular people at the party today.

A sudden cheer of bloodlust, anger, and violence erupted from the assembled crowd, loud enough for William to hear the individual slurs and curses even though they were nowhere near. “What’s going on?” Azza asked, questioning the pale, hate-filled look of determination plastered on Stephanie’s face.

“Nothing sweetie,” Stephanie whispered, “I want you to get in the cart and cover your ears now, ok?”

“But,” Azza questioned, looking from her adopted mother to the stoic faces of those around her, all of whom had been informed by Stephanie of Sei’s plans and whose faces showed the same distaste that hers did. All, that was, except for William and Andrew Octane. William grinned wickedly, grateful for any harm that came upon the enigmatic immortal’s head, and Octane grinned because he knew better.

“No buts, Azza,” Stephanie cut the girl off curtly. “Don’t question me, just do it.” She hated being so abrupt with Azza, and with William, which was completely uncharacteristic of her, but love and worry did strange things to a stressed out person. Not willing to argue with Stephanie, especially not in the Knight of the Apocalyspe’s current mood, Azza nodded and climbed under the wagon’s covering tarp, closing her hands over hear ears as she lay next to the weapons within.

Jerrick dropped back to lay a comforting hand on Stephanie’s shoulder, showing solidarity between her and the ‘common’ Ixian troops. Not a single monster hunter or any of the regulars within the Knights that they knew had anything but disdain for Cassandra Remi, but while most of them disliked Jensen’s annoying antics, he was one of them. All of the Ixian Knights had heard of the prophecy of how Sei’s Nine would save Corone, but that their leader would so casually throw away a ‘common’ soldier to protect someone like Cassandra, even with her status as one of the Nine, didn’t sit right with them. Such an act, they knew, would only serve to increase dissention in the ranks.

Another bloodthirsty cry filled the air and Stephanie cringed, pulling away from Jerrick. “How much longer?” she asked, the strain on her plainly visible in the taut lines on her face.

“Not much,” Octane smirked, “we’re here.”

[Tainted Bushido]

The Men were assembled quickly, each one in the line he had expected them, with only Oreo Jones slightly out of line. It was something he expected, and something he’d address after the mission. They had obviously not understood what he meant by ‘form a line’. Packs filled with a change of clothing and basic traveling necessities were present, and Taka was sure a few personal effects had made their way into their packs as well. He didn’t begrudge them such things, so long as it didn’t interfere with the mission.

Taka’s own Silk Sack had been hoisted over a shoulder, even as his armor was on and prepared for battle. He looked upon his men, moving up and down the rows slowly before he spoke, his voice stern, but friendly, “We have been given the task of hunting down bandits in the Concordia Forest. I wished to be under way as fast as possible, and so we leave tonight, though we are not expected until tomorrow. I feel this may give us a bit of a head start on rooting out the bandit problem. Any questions?”

“Sir, how many?” Came one man’s reply.

Taka gave a small smile in response to the question before he nodded softly, “We were told the band of bandits would number no more than twenty. From what I know of bandits, they rarely gather in such large groups. It makes them unwieldy, ungraceful in the intricate raids they must commit themselves to. A group so large is either several smaller groups working alongside each other...”

“…or hiding their true numbers and is an army.” Came the response down the line. Taka stopped in his tracks hearing the words before he turned swiftly on his heel and moved down the line. He came to a stop before Oreo Jones before he appraised the man firmly and nodded;

“That was my belief as well. Jones-san, lead the men out; we shall be taking the rear exit. Surely the monster hunting squad will have left by now,” Taka replied before he gestured to the doors. Jones nodded as he called for the men to march forward. The one towards the rear also making sure the men moved. Taka was heartened in part to have two men who seemed to focus on the work more than the money.

His eyes moved about the area as he took up the rear listening to the men make their small talk. He didn’t impede it at all, understanding the need to blow stress. The men were now under the knife, being watched for any failures, any drawbacks that would hinder the group. This was their most important test yet, the test of working as a unit. They had all worked hard under Hoturi, training alongside his sensei as he sought to show them how they needed to act in a fight.

Hoturi had said they were ready a month ago. Taka for the first time ever had expressed his disbelief of that notion, telling Hoturi they were no farther along than the initiates that had eventually replaced the retiring members of the Eastern Guard. Hoturi of course had argued Taka was holding these men to a standard they would need years to meet. Taka had responded that it was what these men needed to survive.

That had been the first and last argument the two had had over that issue. Hoturi had never bothered Taka again with reports of the men’s readiness. Perhaps he had told Sei, and that was why the Mystic had ordered Taka to take the mission, but Taka couldn’t help but feel in his heart they weren’t ready.

Taka had already strapped the Rat’s Tail to the back of his breastplate, ensuring the blade would not scrape the ground, nor the ceiling with its height. While he certainly could not draw the No-dachi in its current state, indoors, he could certainly remain deadly with the daisho that sat upon his hip. Rengoku seemed to sense the Samurai’s solemn mood and remained quiet as to its feelings towards him. Ever since the fight with Shiryko on the back of the Root Walker, Taka had felt his connection with the Katana deepen. It had bordered on the empathic now, and it felt odd not to feel anything come from the blade.

Perhaps that was the first sign he might be too clouded in judgment.

Moving through the hallways the men kept their talk to a few jokes, nothing too deep, but nothing so light as to be trite or meaningless. Taka could appreciate the friendly jabs, the camaraderie that it built. He watched silently the men, studying their stances, feeling their readiness.

Perhaps the Ronin was misjudging his unit, and they were ready.

It was at that moment he felt Rengoku’s relief.

[Revenant]

There was a squeak in one of the supply wagon’s wheels; a slow, ponderous squeak that accompanied echoed for long hours down the rural path leading through the heart of the Coronian countryside. So many people discounted the seemingly endless miles of rolling countryside as they travelled Corone, intent only on the route between Radasanth and the ferry to Scara Brae which landed near the southern city of Gisela. It was easy for travelling adventurers and sightseers to forget the small, backwater villages and off the path trails that made up the true bulk of the island nation.

“Alright, break time,” William called at last, his patience worn away by that steady endless squeaking as a trickle of water gradually wears a canyon in the soil. The wheel made another high pitched protest as Jerrick tugged the reigns, brining the laboring cart off to the trail’s edge. “Fifteen minutes people,” William grumbled, hopping down into the knee-high underbrush. “And someone fix that Thayne damned wheel.”

William walked a ways out from the wagon; grousing at how his trousers became instantly sodden from the dew laden brush. Though he and his squad were a team, the Revenant held no desire to stretch out, pass gossip, and break morning bread with them. Jerrick might have disapproved, though he would never voice such to his commander, but this was William’s way. And in a way his squad respected him for it.

“Not quite the rousing start to such a monumental trip, eh,” Octane’s voice broke the stillness around William. Sighing for the memory of his lost peace, William turned his head to acknowledge Sei’s liaison. Octane held his heavy cloak tightly about him to ward off the worst of the morning’s chill, not having a natural immunity to it like his fiery host, and stayed well within the beaten trail that William had forged through the wet grass.

“It’s still early,” William shrugged, looking at the gloomy, cloud filled sky. “We’ve got plenty of time for that excitement to burn through.”

“Truer than you think,” Octane said, the smirk on his face always seeming to suggest that he knew more than William. And damn him if he didn’t.

“Two more hours to Hauberlak if we keep up this pace. I’m fairly certain I understand our time frame fairly well Octane.” William turned to fully face the young pacifist, putting his hands on his hips as if to tell the young man to get to the point. Assuming anything that Octane did had a point beyond the youth’s own amusement.

“And once you get there?” he left the question hanging in the chill morning air as a tantalizing thread, daring William to follow it past its obvious conclusions.

“Simple,” William snorted derisively, not taking the word-smith’s bait, “we find the Buffalax and kill it.” He threw his hands up mockingly, “all glory to Sei Orlouge and the Ixian Knights.”

Octane shook his head sadly, deprived of his chance at some fun. “Why, may I ask, have you only brought such limited cargo? Surely such limited equipment cannot account for all of the possibilities involved in dealing with an unknown threat of such magnitude.”

“Magnitude,” William laughed. “By all accounts, this creature hardly fits into the category of a magnitude level threat. We’re just out here for some field training and routine Ixian public relations.”

“Indulge me, please. I am, after all, a pacifist. I wouldn’t know of the nature of such things.”

Again, the mocking tone, implying that Octane knew the answer faster and far more intricately that William did. Still, there was no harm in humoring the man at least somewhat. Plus, William knew that Octane wouldn’t leave him alone until he got what he wanted.

“It’s a simple matter,” William explained, turning to face the wagon. He was pleased to see that Lorelai and Kyron were putting the last fastening bolts back on the afflicted wheel, hopefully having solved William’s squeaking nag. “We hunt monsters, Octane, and though each beast has unique capabilities, there’s one thing that they all have in common.”

“Oh?” Octane asked, perfectly playing the role of ignorant student.

“They’re all tougher than a witch’s titty.”

“Not entirely true,” Octane interrupted, grinning, “And I’m sure Aislinn wouldn’t appreciate the metaphor, but close enough. Remind me to tell you about the great Fallien Hephalump some time.”

“I’ll do that,” William said wryly, rolling his eyes. “Regardless, because toughness is one of the most common threads among the creatures we have to kill, I want to make sure the weapons we bring are heavy enough to pierce them.”

“Thus the crossbows and spears,” Octane nodded, as if all had suddenly been made clear.

“Thus the heavy crossbows and boar spears,” William corrected.

“I see,” Octane nodded. “But what if the creature you’ve come to kill is impervious to mundane weaponry? That is a common enough myth for these creatures, is it not?”

William grinned at Octane then, the firelight blazing in his burning eyes. “Who said that the weapons are what’re supposed to do the killing?”

Octane shuddered at that, as if his pacifistic nature were being soiled by mere proximity to the Revenant, and left William to return to the wagon. Smiling out at the gloom, William turned to enjoy his solitude once more.

[Silence Sei]

The forest was lively today, and not just with the sounds of rioters all the way over in Radasanth Park. The mute traveled lightly, packing only what was needed to find the thing required to save Cassandra Remi's life. As the footsteps of both the Midnight Mistress and the Enigmatic Immortal trailed behind, Sei's eyes darted back and forth through the skies of Corone. It was obvious that the telepath was trying to locate something, but neither of the others knew just what.

"Hey faggot fairy king," Jensen spoke as he shoved his shoulder in front of Remi, "Why the hell are you looking up? Shouldn't you be watching where you're going?"

"He's a telepath, moron," the voice of Cassandra Remi took point now, being way more subtle as she brought a foot out in an attempt to trip Jensen, "I've heard that the stronger ones can pick up the residual thoughts of those who were once in the area. Sei's obviously at that level, look at him."

Jensen's eyes focused back on his boss, who was ducking and weaving through the various trees. Indeed, as Sei continued down their makeshift path, he never ran into a single bush or oak that was in front of him. Jensen was temporarily mesmerized by the display, even more so when he realized Sei had not even responded to the duo's antics.

Suddenly, it flickered past the eyes of the mute. A small black orb, faster than most things Sei had ever seen. Without informing either of his fellow Knights, Sei darted off in the direction of the black blur. Keeping his vision locked on the entity, Sei made sure that he kept up with the speed of the small unidentified object. The mute was fortunate to be wearing the shoes bestowed upon him by the Thayne Y'edda that day, or he would not have been able to keep pace with such speed.

Suddenly, the blot flew downwards, quickly joining what appeared to be a living armor of black. Red trimming surrounded the armors entire form, except for the white gloves. The original blackness, now seen more clearly as a bat, was perched upon the shoulder of the dark armor. The beams of light reflected off of the body of the construct as a green visor fell upon where the face should be. Part of the black gave way to make room for a more human face behind the armor. Stretching out the two arms, the mechanism let out a bellowing yawn before looking to the bat.

"Morning Dizzy, how are things?" The robot spoke as his vision caught a glimpse of the mute before him. Turning his visor back over to the Mystic, he spoke. "Sei Orlouge? What are you doing here?"

"Laconic, you and I need to have a long talk...."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"They can take anything you throw at 'em," Oreo Jones spoke as he walked behind Taka. The gunman wanted to reassure his leader of the skill of the men. "We may be a mercenary team, but we're the best mercenary team anybody has to offer." Jones couldn't quite see the faces of each man that went on ahead of him, but he could hear their hearts. Even the pounding of the organ seemed to be in tune with one another. Despite Taka's doubts, they were ready.

"Been thinkin' about this mission sir. It seems kind of iffy. If these guys are real bandits, they'll use guerilla tactics to pick us off one by one. I may have good hearin', but I can't hear traps that are already laid. We'd be better to lure them out of their territory before we ask them to submit."

Taka nodded his response to this, his eyebrow raising towards the Heartbeat Kid. "How should we do that, Jones-sama? It is not as if we can just ask them politely."

"Oh, I don't intend to," Jonen said with a grin, withdrawing his twin pistols and twirling them around in his fingers. The anticipation of hunting down some gutless bandits was getting Jones' own heart racing. "My boys will lure them out with some bangs. They'll think we have the better tech, and may give up then and there. Now, I know you samurai are all about gun control, so I'll let you think on it before I pester ya with it anymore. Just a thought." Jones quickly joined his comrades in line, making sure he was in on whatever perverted joke the boys were telling this time.

Though he had his own honor code, Oreo Jones was still one of the guys through and through.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You're wrong about one thing," Octane commented as he eyed through his book. "The Buffalax, or any creature for that matter, isn't naturally tough. You just have to find its sweet spot, and its natural predator. Seriously, why did Sei appoint you to this position? I'd have a better shot at taking this thing down than you."

William growled at the words of the teen, sensing a challenge in the orators words. "Alright then, Mr. Smarty pants, can you tell me what the weakness to the Buffalax is?"

"I could, but that would take all the fun out of it, Mr. Grumpy Head. I'm not always going to be around to hold your demonic hand. If youre going to beat the Buffalaxes, the Cassandra Remis, the Trap Masters..." Octane grinned as he wtached the twitch in William's fingers. Now the youth had the woodsmans full attention, "you're going to have to figure out their weaknesses yourself. I can aide you here and there, but there's no way I'm outright telling you 'The Red Spot below the left shoulder!'. It's not like they aren't obvious if you just step back and take the time to look."

Octane continued to grin as he read his novel further. Now it was time for a comfortable (but awkward) silence caused by something the liason had said.

"So eat it, bitch."

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen watched as the Mystic talked to the robot, his eyes wide in disbelief that the things were actually around. He had seen airships running off of some pretty weird tech, but a full fledged robot? It was too cool not to gawk at!

Yet the mood seemed to damper as miss rains-on-the-parade Remi indignantly spoke. Her face seemed to be fuming, and it was a bit of joy on his face to see her so flustered.

“You brought us all the way out here for a bucket of rust?” She shouted. Jensen rolled his eyes, but silently had to admit she had a point. This was rather strange for Sei to ask a general of his Nine to join him for a simple task like this. Though it did strangely make sense the more he thought about it. Could Cassandra’s darkness and creepy nature effect a robot? They didn’t have blood or emotions last he checked. Maybe Sei was going to kill the bitch with the robot.

That would be SOOOO cool! He mused.

Looking to Sei for answers he leaned his back against the tree and pulled out his Redraze deck, scanning through the cards and waiting for further instructions.

~*~*~

Stephanie was grateful to William, for he didn’t have to take her along with him. It wasn’t that she hated the lug, but…Well what he brought out of Jensen was just enough to make her dislike the man at times. Jensen always reverted back to all his bad habits when near the guy, laughing insanely and trying to get under his skin. Azza had once seen Jensen and William face to face, and the girl was scared that her daddy would get into a fight with the bad man.

She sighed loudly as she looked towards the distant tomb, the sound of the mob long since died out. A few of the men had tried to cheer her up with cheesy pick up lines and jokes, and in a way they did help her feel a little better. Two of the monster hunter team played with Azza, letting her run around the grass as they all looked for flowers. That was Azza’s favorite game; who could find the flower with the most petals. She was astonishingly good at it, and the flowers she located were beautiful.

“Not easy with Ambrose, is it?” Jerrick said leaning next to her on the cart, offering her a water canteen. She lifted her own up and jiggled it, and the man shrugged taking a swig of his own. Stephanie thought about his question and her response was a nod of agreement, but a heart warming smile.

“No, I suppose not, but he’s the love of my life. I know most people don’t get him, and I won’t defend the immortal, but there is something to him that I can’t deny that makes it all worth it.” Jerrick smiled back to her as he looked to his boss. “Arcus not making it any easier, is he?” Jerrick gave her a funny face.

“Hell no, Captain's a cupcake!” He teased. Stephanie felt a giggle escape her lips and she shoved her canteen into her face to stifle the noise. “Honestly the boss is just who he is. The man is a serious person, and you can’t be anything less than serious when tackling monsters. Someone like Jensen would be eaten alive, and I don’t say that in jest.”

“Oh, I agree,” Stephanie said wholeheartedly. And she meant it. Jensen and monsters had a very skewed ratio of win loss, mostly because the immortal spent the time laughing instead of fighting. Jerrick looked back to his commander.

“It’s strange,” Jerrick said, as if confessing something deep. “I don’t think he’s a bad person, but you can’t help but feel, well, at edge around him. No matter how much I try to relieve the tension, it just follows wherever he goes.”

“Like that stupid bitch Remi and her creepy aura,” Stephanie sassed. “I know what you mean. I think William isn’t too bad once you get to know him, but well…”

“Yup, Jensen, we know,” He said speaking for her. "Every time he and Jensen meet in the halls we know all about it. All about it.” He repeated with a hint of joviality. They both laughed. “But in the end, we are all brother’s in arms. Even the bad ones. If we don’t stand shoulder to shoulder when it’s time…well I think we’ll fail this so called war that’s brewing. I’d gather your little girl, time to pack up.” He said noticing that William was getting rather short tempered with Andrew Octane.

“Hey, let’s pack it in, guys! We got a lot of distance to cover!” Jerrick ordered. Stephanie moved over to Azza and picked her up by the shoulders. She had several flowers in her hand, and she had attached them all to a small little wreath she fashioned.

“I made it for the bad man!” Azza said happily. Stephanie smiled. “You can’t be mad when you got flowers in your hair! Do you think he’ll like it?” Stephanie gave her a wry smile, coughing loudly as she watched William walk by them both. Had he heard her daughter’s comments? Silently she prayed he didn’t, but was curious what he would do if he had.

“Come on sweetie, back in the cart,” Stephanie replied ignoring the question.

[Revenant]

William’s temper flared, the wave of heat that accompanied it running through his sodden trousers so that he was bone dry by the time he remounted the wagon. He was tired of putting up with the shit that others forced on him, shit like Octane, Stephanie, and Azza. Sure the cocky bastard Octane might know everything, but what use was he if the only use he had for that knowledge was to hold it over people’s heads? His relationship with Stephanie was highly variable, they had their good and bad days, but having to lug her adopted child to a monster hunt was just ridiculous. The girl obviously thought that her excursion was nothing more than a game and it was only with the greatest effort that William had kept himself from trashing her childish flower wreath.

It’s not her fault, William grumbled, gesturing impatiently for Kyron to whip the wagon’s ox back into motion. But try as William might, he just could not calm the molten heat burning in his veins. What would be the consequences of failure brought on by one of these hangers on? How would he deal with the death of one of his well-trained squad because of the meddling on inexperienced outsiders? How much dissention would be wrought in the Tomb if the Buffalax killed Azza today? Question after morose question filled William’s mind as the high grasses of Corone’s rolling plains passed them by.

The minutes passed swiftly for William’s cadre, everyone finding something to occupy their time. Azza giggled away the miles as Stephanie played a word game with her, Octane was completely lost in the book he was reading, Kyron drove the wagon, William brooded, and the rest of the squad went over their weapons for the fourth time that day.

“Captain,” Kyron spoke up after a time, rousing William from his ruminations. William came to and grunted to indicate that he was listening and that Kyron should go ahead with whatever he had to say.

“I think that’s Hauberlak in the distance,” Kyron continued at William’s unspoken command, inclining his head towards a small settlement in the distance. “And those are the burrow mounds mentioned in the report.” Kyron again gestured with a small jerk of his head, indicating the small kill-like raises of earth that broke the flat stillness of the grass.

“So it would seem,” William nodded his agreement and then turned to address the rest of the squad. “Alright people, I don’t want to waste any time playing heroes here, so we’re going to go in, hit this hard, and then head back to the Tomb. Stephanie, I want you to keep Azza in the wagon while we do this, we’ll keep the BUffalax away from you. Octane, you’re to do the same. Sei forced you on us, and since I don’t think your smartassness will do much against a rampaging beast, I’d prefer it if you stayed out of the way.”

William paused then, as if pondering an idea, “though if you want to get yourself killed, I’m not going to complain.” Returning his attention to his soliders, William continued, “Kyron, I want you to stay at the wagon with Steph and Azza. You’re going to be the last line of defense if the creature gets through the rest of us.” Kyron frowned at not being included in the assault party, but nodded that he understood and would comply, a consummate soldier through and through.

“Initial report claims that these burrows have been built by the people of Hauberlak to house their dead for generations,” Jerrick broke in, shifting to take command as William finished. “The Buffalax, whatever it is, is said to have taken up residence in one of them and has been using Hauberlak as a convenient food source. It’s supposedly about the size of the wagon and has a nasty temper.”

“Can’t we find one that has a pleasant temper for once,” Rawls asked, causing a round of laughter.

“Shut it Rawls,” William snapped, instantly silencing the squad. “Kyron, we’re close enough here. Pull the wagon off the road and we’ll walk the rest of the way.”

Kyron did as instructed, pulling the wagon gently off the dusty trail. The rest of the squad leapt quickly from the wagon, not even waiting for it to come to a full stop before they were in motion, running in practiced concert through the high grass, each bearing a heavy spear on their back and a crossbow at hand. And so it was, a mile from the village of Hauberlak, that the Ixian Knights’ hunt for the Buffalax began.

[Tainted Bushido]

They had moved quietly through the Concordia forest without much event. Taka was ever vigilant, especially after the harrowing experience with the Root Walker and the fight that had ensued upon the massive beast. His eyes roamed the forest, looking for the signs of a missed foe, a hidden nemesis. While his paranoia was at a heightened state, he still moved about nonchalantly. The men had picked up on the tactic quickly and even Oreo Jones was keeping his ears open for the sounds of anything out of the ordinary.

Taka looked upon the trees before he frowned. He held up a hand causing the group of men to hold up before he turned to the assorted collection of would be warriors. His eyes darted to the man who had spoken up earlier, the first to redeem himself, or perhaps prove himself would have been the better term, in the Ronin’s eyes. The man nodded softly before he drew his sword, the other men following suit. Taka kept his blade resolutely upon his hip, though the men knew better than to assume he was any less dangerous for it.

With the sounds of steel upon steel humming through the breeze Oreo Jones looked upon Taka’s direction before he held up a gun and mimed shooting it off in a harmless direction. Taka shook his head holding up a solitary finger as he moved through the forest. The men followed suit, hunching lower to the ground, taking up ready stances as they advanced. Taka had done a few things outside the mission parameters. The first and foremost break from the plan being was entering the target area ahead of time. He was fairly certain that he would either be rewarded or punished for his desire to get this over with, but none-the-less, he continued to push forward, his left hand hovering over the hilt of Rengoku, even as he frowned and froze.

If they were near the bandit camp…

Immediately Taka hopped back a step, almost as if he had been fired upon. Eye eyes narrowing as he looked about the area. Kneeling down he looked before he nodded. Sizing up the target he slashed out quickly, before the sound of a faint metallic twang filtered through the area. Eying about he was rewarded for his diligence with the sight of a log hitting the ground, not two feet from the metal strand he had cut. Frowning he looked to the men before he tapped his brow next to his eyes. The men nodded and began to search for traps as they continued deeper.

His paranoia assuaged the Ronin moved about slowly, making sure that one of the men stayed with Oreo Jones, who would be unable to see or perceive such traps, as they had no component easily audible. His eyes darted through the area as he let out a disgusted sigh, breaking the silence only momentarily. While the men looked to him he shook his head and waved a hand, unbothered by their concern. They were ready, he was more than certain now. The fact they had picked up on the silence that he had shrouded them in meant they could pick up on cues. The fact they were even now carefully disabling the traps in a direct line, meant they knew that disabling all of them was merely going to broadcast their presence. By doing so in a direct line towards the target zone, they had a clear cut escape route should it be needed, and the enemy would be harder pressed to find their point of entry.

He let out a soft smile as he moved through the brush, Rengoku carefully held in hand, feeling lighter than he had ever remembered the blade being. He could feel the muted sense of joy from the spirit that dwelled within, happy to see Taka was back to some semblance of his old life. Still, vigilance was necessary, and the Ronin would rather fall to the oni in his very blood, than be caught unaware of a trap. He looked to Oreo Jones before he whispered softly, knowing the gunman could hear it, “It would seem they were expecting us, keep us appraised Jones-san if you hear anything. We may have need of your guns yet, as distasteful as that may be.”

If the blind gunman heard the grin spreading across Taka’s face, he certainly didn’t show it.

[Silence Sei]

The robot turned his head towards Cassandra. After a slightly longer than needed awkward silence, the machine began to speak. "I assume you, Madame, that as the only Designation LAC0N1C model ever created, I run saily diagnostics upon my systems to make sure I am not malfunctioning. Furthermore, my nanomachines keep me in peak physical condition during these diagnostics, preventing anything that would make you consider me a 'bucket of rust'."

Laconic then turned to Sei, and flash an informal smile at the mute. "So who's the bitch?"

The question sent Jensen into a fit of laughter, and even brought a smile across Sei's lips. Looking towards the Gisela Reaper, the Mystic could tell that she was getting frustrated. She had been one upped by something that technically wasn't even human. Who would not be mad about that?

"This is Cassandra Remi." Sei spoke in answer to the machine's crude questions. Laconic nodded and several lines of text began to appear on the inside of his visor, visible to all those outside. "Cassandra Remi. Primarily suspected of being the Midnight Mistress, a notorious serial killer whose victims number in the triple digits." As the text finished, Laconic looked back to Cassandra, shrugging his shoulders.

"Doesn't look very frightening to me," he said, lifting up his right arm towards the girl. As he did so, his fist sank into his forearm, creating some sort of beam like weapon. Energy began to shine from within the gun, causing panic to rise up in Cassandra, and excitement in Jensen. Sei stuck out a hand and shook his head frantically at the cyborg.

"No Laconic! I don't want you to kill her! I need you to help her!" Sei's statement instantly caused the energy to disperse from the machine's arm. As Laconic turned to Sei, the mute sighed as he began to explain everything from the beginning.

((Not much for Octane and Jones to do right now, so I'll let Rev and Taka continue to bunny them.))

[Tainted Bushido]

The men moved slowly through the forest, moving painfully slow as they cleared out the debris that would make noise. Their advance was almost perfect in its attention to detail, even as Taka carefully moved forward. Finally he held up his hand into a fist as he looked about. Even with the finding of the traps, there should have been someone to maintain them. Things were quickly not adding up, if the bandit group was twenty or so, that meant they had the manpower to set up the traps. This much Taka could tell from similar problems in his homeland.

What did not add up, was the lack of tracks in the area. This area was relatively unused. There should have been a trail, perhaps even a large one to accommodate horses or the occasional wagon heisted. Further, the traps all seemed jury rigged for he most part. The tug of a metal wire would cause something to happen. While the construction of traps was expected, the roughshod nature of them was not. Most seemed keen on being more annoyance than any true threat. This meant the bandits wanted to catch who they tricked. Bandits rarely if ever took prisoners, and often the ones they did were found killed later or were used as human shields for the next raid.

“You okay boss?” Oreo Jones’ voice filtered into his ears as Taka felt a cold sliver of fear trail down his spine. Memories, unbidden and unwanted of the last time he had dealt with Bandits returned. He dismissed it with a wave, the man accommodating for the gunman’s disability whispering Taka was fine. Still the ronin was dead set on making sure they got through this relatively unscathed. His mind had raced through contingencies, hoping to use a few of the traps to their advantage.

They reached the clearing where the camp should have been, and in that moment, Taka knew the truth…

…there were no bandits.

The clearing was wide and opened, the foliage pulled back. A few of the mercenaries moved confused into the center of the clearing, spinning about in utter disbelief. Taka took mental note of those who would need to be lectured on doing stupid things, and moved briefly to the edge of the clearing. The other men who had remained behind took that as their cue to move slowly forward, a few pulling out crossbows as they moved about the area looking for targets. The ronin had no time to react when he heard the call, a shrill whistle that made it clear just why the clearing had been cleaned out.

An explosion ripped through the air, as the men in the middle of the clearing were thrown skyward, left to learn the mysteries of flight far too late in life. They collapsed to the ground, more than one dead. Arrows flew through the air, some ricocheting off the armor that Taka wore, thankful for the presence of mind to order full kit on the assignment. Moving back behind a tree he was shocked to discover that some arrows continued to fire upon him, sinking into the tree about him. One such arrow hit the porcelain mask and shattered it, losing all its force from the fragile piece of armor.

Taka hit the ground, ignoring the pain of the fragments of clay now embedded in his skin as he shouted out in Akashiman, “<Get down they’ve got us surrounded!>”

He noticed that a couple had already taken up positions low to the ground, one even firing back before a shout was heard deeper into the woods. Taka let a sneer cross his face as he finally took the time to fling off the broken mask and clear some of the fragments form his skin. His anger evident as the initial barrage of arrows came to a sudden halt. Taka looked about and noticed Oreo Jones listening keenly to the area almost seeming to listen for his opponents, what they were saying.

“Jones-san, what do you hear?” Taka hissed softly, finally returning to the Tradespeak he had been taught.

“They’re arguing over who killed more, the archers or the mage,” Was the soft reply.

Taka looked into the clearing behind him to see a few of the men groaning in pain, three were on the ground and not moving. Their charred bodies emanated smoke in silent signal of their departure from the mortal coil. Two other men had been filled with arrows, and it was obvious that they were not taking the attack seriously. Had they have wished to, Taka’s unit would have died in the initial onslaught, perhaps the Ronin dying as well. That was what they would require to take advantage of in order to come out of this alive.

There would be time for revenge later.

[Revenant]

Kyron made himself busy while the rest of his squad made for the Buffalax’s burrow, double-checking the stringing of his crossbow, oiling down the sliding mechanism, and then fitting the heavy bolt into place. He went through the maintenance mechanically, his hands keeping idle with the ritual while his mind wandered ahead with Rawls, his twin brother. Despite their mutual status as some of the most hardened members of the Ixian Knights, Kyron always felt a little smaller when Rawls wasn’t around. It didn’t help that his twin was heading into the lair of some monstrous beast, though the presence of Jerrick and the others was somewhat reassuring. That Rawls would be with Captain Arcus at the same time was somewhat less so.

“You want one?” Kyron asked Stephanie as his mind came back to the present. Without waiting for an answer, the tawny haired hunter fish one of the spare crossbows that had been left behind from under the tarp. “I’m sure you’re familiar enough with it not to break it completely,” he joked, tossing the heavy weapon to his fellow warrior. “Idle hands are N’Jal’s work as they say. Besides, Azza needs to know how to work one of these if she wants to grow up big and strong like her mommy.”

An amused snort came from behind Octane’s book, along with the muttered words, “her mommy,” but Kyron ignored the stuck-up youth, knowing that it was nothing more than bait. When he realized that there would be no response, Octane coughed loudly and sunk his head deeper into his book. Stephanie, also having ignored Octane’s cry for attention, smiled appreciatively to Kyron and took up the crossbow, bringing it across her knee so that she could point out the all the weapon’s parts to Azza. Kyron smiled at the pair and then went back to start his ritual again, his thought drifting once more to Rawls and the rest of his squad.

The rest of his squad, for the most part, was grimly focused on the ever expanding mound of dirt in which the Buffalax lie. William led the pack, holding his crossbow ahead of him more as a means to push the field’s high grass out of the way than as a killing tool. He preferred to do his killing the old fashioned way, with claws and teeth.

It took less than ten minutes for the squad to cover the mile between their launch point and the burrow, and despite their rapid approach they made less noise running through the grass than the wind did. William gestured as they approached, indicating that the squad should spilt and round the barrow from opposite sides. Not a word was uttered as the group broke into two equal groups with practiced ease, William leading one and Jerrick the other.

The open entrance to the burrow was closer to William’s group. A rough, gouged hole, the entrance leered from the earthen mound like a silly, toothless smile. Such was the angle of the passageway that the light only penetrated the first half dozen feet, the rest of the lair lost in burying shadow. William halted his team near the entrance’s side, giving Jerrick’s group a few moments to circle further around. If the fight was joined too soon then he at least wanted reinforcements to be timely.

A deep rumbling sound emanated from inside the darkened tunnel, life a foghorn being dragged over jagged rocks. William grimaced at the sound, which couldn’t be mistaken for anything other than snoring by anyone with their hearing intact. And from the sound of the snoring, the Buffalax wasn’t a tiny creature.

But then, small creatures rarely attracted enough attention to earn a death at William’s claws.

“Wait here,” William growled to Lorelai and Sergei, the two hunters who had followed him. There was no use in remaining silent with snoring quite so potent. Lorelai and Sergei nodded, flattening themselves against the side of the burrow and readying their crossbows.

William waited just long enough for Jerrick’s group to come into view on the other side of the great mound before slinking into the warm darkness of the Buffalax’s lair. The rumbling snores continues unabated for half an minute before halting suddenly, replaced by a sleepy, quizzical groaning which in turn was overrun by a tremendous roar.

A mile away, Kyron’s hands tightened on the worn stock of his crossbow as the potent yell washed over the wagon. The Buffalax had awoken.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

“So…robots, and bats and uh…” Jensen spoke confusedly before shrugging. “I’m lost, what the hell is going on Sei?” Jensen looked to the leader of the Ixian Knights.

“These are comrades of mine, Izzy and Laconic.” Sei spoke as if this was supposed to be blatantly obvious and the immortal didn’t understand it one bit.

“So which one do I hang out with?” Jensen asked looking at the robot. “Can I have the robot?” Laconic merely gave a sideways glance to Sei.

“Must I serve, the meat bag, sir?” Laconic asked. “And more importantly, why am I not with Andrew? Where is he, Lord Orlouge?” Jensen began to clap wildly in excitement as he looked to Laconic, thinking of all sorts of buddy robot things to do.

“Listen, I’m not sure how much you know, but there is a war coming to Corone, and we need to save this island. I have assembled my Nine generals but I still need people I can trust to get certain duties accomplished.” Cassandra turned to walk back to the cave.

“This is ridiculous. I am wasting my time searching for robots and bats…” Cassandra looked back to the immortal. “If Sei has taught me anything with his presence, it’s that whatever you want Jensen, and I don’t want, he’ll do the exact opposite. Am I correct, Lord Orlouge? Am I to inherit the services of the creature and robot?”

“WHAT?” Jensen blurted. “HELL NO! I WANT THE ROBOT! I CALLED DIBS!”

“No, you called dibs on the scantly clad amazons, which I tried to tell you don’t exist.” Sei cleared the matter up before looking to Cassandra. They had a few moments to look at each other before a twig snapped off in the woods behind them. Laconic raised his arm, Jensen pulled out his throwing knives, Cassandra drew the Butcher’s bill and Sei placed his hands to the Gemeni blades pommel.

What they saw wasn’t what they would have ever expected.

~*~*~*~

“Mom?” Azza whispered in a scared tone as the Buffalax roared into the air. Stephanie turned to her daughter and quickly lifted her up by the arms and placed her within the cart. Carefully she pulled the covers over her daughter’s face and gently rubbed Azza’s head. Andrew seemed to have lifted his head from his book, quiet contemplation on his face.

“It’s been startled,” He observed loudly, offering absolutely nothing of value to the situation. Stephanie looked to her daughter under the tarp before retreating her hand.

“Just be quiet, and do not come out until one of the Ixian Knights say to, got it?” Azza nodded, her maroon eyes tearing up with fear as Stephanie looked down at the crossbow. “These shitty bolts won’t harm a beast that makes that much noise!” The monster hunter agreed as he quickly unloaded his bolt and ran to the front of the cart. Stephanie kept an eye out on the horizon, fearing the beast may charge through at any second despite how silly the odds of such an event would be.

“Here,” Kyron shouted tossing a large bolt. Stephanie grasped it in one hand and could feel the weight of the iron core. This was a heavier bolt meant for impaling. “Honestly, if things turn sour take the cart and flee with your daughter.” Stephanie loaded the bolt, clicked the chamber, pulled back until taught, and lifted the weapon to her shoulder and aimed all in a span of a few seconds.

“I appreciate the thoughts, but I’m not leaving a fellow warrior behind.” Kyron gave her a weak smile as if to protest, but Stephanie gestured to Octane. “Besides, if danger comes Azza knows how to pull on the reins of a carriage. She can escape with Octane, right sweetheart?” Azza poked one hand out, waved to her mother, and quickly retracted it back under the tarp. If the situation wasn’t so tense it would have been adorable.

Andrew looked to Stephanie and gave her a sincere nod that if things indeed turned sour he would abandon ship with Azza in tow. Kyron seemed satisfied with that answer and stood next to her, prepared for anything. Stephanie looked to the weapon again and adjusted the site on the edge to her needs. Kyron gave her a glancing look before chuckling.

“Two things about monsters, no matter what kind they are. Even if they have impenetrable skin, or malleable bodies,” Stephanie lifted the weapon to aim again, fingering the trigger before replying casually.

“You can always take an eye.”

[Silence Sei]

The breaking of the twig, as it turned out, belonged to Adolph, the compatriot of Jensen when they were part of the Knights of Apocalypse. Cassandra, Jensen, and Laconic all seemed relatively shocked that the warrior had followed the group. Sei on the other hand, had remained completely calm at the situation, almost as if he knew he was being trailed.

"It's time," Adolph told the group, which caused the others to share three awkward glances, and a complacent nod from the mute. The telepath looked towards the robot, smiling a bit as he moved his head to indicate time to go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The crowd outside of Sei's Tomb had grown to gigantic proportions. The quiet of the area was anything but thanks to all of the chatter and shouts. Protesters held signs picketing the base of the army before them. Eventually, the forms of Sei, Cassandra, and Jensen had approached the crowd, Sei opening up one of his battle fans and addressing the crowd.

"My people, if it truly means so much to you that the Midnight Monster is found guilty of her crimes and executed, so be it." Cassandra's eyes widened as she looked to Sei. The telepath looked over to Jensen and nodded, the immortal returning the confirmation and withdrawing his gunblade. The sound of the blade whistling through the air could be heard, followed by the thud of a disembodied head. The crowd quickly quieted as the top of Cassandra Remi rolled along the ground, the neck that once held the part squirting out a geyser of crimson. Sei quickly took the long vlince cloth draped over his shoulder and placed it over the decapitated body.

The white of the fur-like cloth began to stain a colorful red. Sei continued to wrap the rest of the body in the cloak, and placed it in his arms. He then turned to the stun crowd, some of the on-lookers still splattered with speckles of Cassandra's blood. Jensen smiled as he walked over to the head and picked it up, spinning it as if it were a ball. The immortal then followed suit, whistling happily after his leader.

"That was surprisingly satisfying."

"I agree," Sei smiled as he turned around, standing the body straight up as Jensen began to place the head back on the newly executed form of Cassandra Remi.

"What did you think, 'Cassie'?" Sei asked the person in the shadows, the true Cassandra Remi...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Octane had been thumbing through his book vigorously as the sounds of carnage continued to go on from afar. Azza happened to peer over the shoulder of the teen, who was constantly trying to wave the girl off. "Whatcha reading?" Azza finally managed to get out of her mouth between shoos.


"I'm trying to figure out what exactly this Buffalax creature is," Octane said, "I've heard it somewhere before, but if my hunch was right..." Octane trailed off as he turned the next page of the tome, gasping at what he had seen. He quickly closed the book and hopped off of the wagon, rushing towards the cave.

"Where are you going?!" Stephanie seemed angry that their back-up driver had abandoned them.

"There's been a mistake, and I have to tell Willie before he does something that will doom us all!" Octane bellowed out within a matter of a few seconds, and before Stephanie knew it, the smart-ass was gone.

[Tainted Bushido]

"General, they're talking again!" Oreo hissed, even as the ronin readied his blade. They had been stuck in the clearing for a full minute since the arrows had impaled two of his men. He had entered the forest with fifteen and already five were dead. One had hurt someone using a crossbow, one was blind, and the other eight were hugging the ground praying they would get out of there. It only reminded Taka of the first western proverb he had been taught;

There are no atheists on the battlefield.

Taka however shook his head, clearing it of the noise before he looked to the gunman and hissed for jones to continue. The man scuttled forward before he said, "There's an argument, some woman is demanding to get in here and kill you personally."

Taka frowned not understanding why a woman would want him dead. He would have understood if Shiryko Benimaru, his rival in this war had desired to fight Taka himself. It wouldn't have been a risk to the group, and if anything would have ensured they captured Taka, now that Shiryko knew that Taka could revive. Sei would have been hard pressed to fight a war when a general went missing, and the prophecy would fail, brining about an age of darkness.

Taka looked to see the man from before had already loaded his crossbow and seemed to be scanning the tree line. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he focused keenly on the trees. Finally Taka heard it, the snapping of a twig before he heard the shout;

"Banzai!"

Taka stiffened, hearing the word in his native toungue. The men immediatly looked to the leader who cursed under he breath even as he rose from the dirt. It didn't take long to see the source of the noise, a woman dressed in armor similar to the Akashiman's. Her black hair danced in the wind even as it occasionally flew into her bone white face. Naginata in hand she held it ready behind her, waiting for the initial blow that would hopefully see the ronin dead. Taka froze, much as a deer upon spotting a predator, even as the man leveled the crossbow and struck. Oreo detected the rapid beating heart, the quickened breathes of the rushing target and leveled his gun, firing a bullet. Both would be difficult to dodge for anyone, but Taka knew, that woman wasn't anyone.

Naginata was brought about in a swipe that saw the arrow knocked off course, spiraling away as a shattered fragments of wood. The bullet continued undeterred on its course even before she pirouetted avoiding the piece of metal entirely. Another bullet was fired, as Taka recovered from the sight of the woman and readied his blade to receive the charge. Both knew the fight was inevitable as the woman moved again. Taka acted firmly, and slashing out with Rengoku he hissed, "<Why does my former family seek to do me harm? I atoned for my dishonor!>"

Steel caught the blade before Taka was forced back, the floor of the forest providing no cover as the woman laughed bitterly. Her eyes glared into the Ronin's own before she pressed the attack and swung again. By now the other mercenaries had realized what was going on, and the few who had drawn steel rushed in to attack. Taka barely had time to defend against the polearm's impressive reach, before he realized the folly. Two men rushed in, and Taka realized he didn't even know their names, before they too joined the rapidly growing list of the dead. Over half his unit wiped out in a manner of moments. Neither could comprehend the skill that the pole arm required, being a shaft of wood that had a katana blade affixed to the tip. It gave her cuts an impressive amount of force, and also allowed her a reach that made sword fighting against it difficult.

Taka almost wished he was holding an Ono, so he could take the giant axe and cleft that shaft in twain.

She brought the polearm about in a move that cleared Taka from the her personal space before she hissed in Akashiman, "<You who leads an army and is tainted, seek to ask why their family wishes to cleanse the stain of dishonor? You who even now enjoys the benefits of the Benjiro name, by your disgusting revelry upon that name? Do you seek to insult me with your coy words cousin?>"

Taka parried the incoming blow from the naginata before he spoke firmly, "<I never once gained anything by my former association with the Benjiro name! Only one man knew that I was from that family, and I have never told anyone including him. If his words are the venom you seek, you seek a gaijin tongue, never mine!>"

He already knew the argument was over when she accused him. Those who bore the white paint were those who sought death for their sins. Their desire to leave Taka be and his subsequent initiation into the Ixian Knights had caused them to become Death Seekers, disposable warriors who would do anything to cleanse the shame their family bears for their indiscretion. If that was the case, they were zealously intent on Taka's death, and even the most logical of arguments would not deter them. They had all but cast their family name aside, to cleanse the shame, and in doing so, became another pawn in the enemy army.

He still had to try.

The naginata stabbed forward, and the Ronin brought the blade over in a parry before he pushed forward, hoping to strike the woman before she could cause anymore deaths today. His mean cheered him on, taking solace in the fact Taka was fighting for them, to avenge and protect them for the wrongs the enemy brought to their doorstep. Still Taka knew the disgusting truth, and hoped they would never know, he was outmatched. The woman in question was a Benjiro by the name of Matsu, and she was far more skilled at ending sword wielder's careers on her pole arm, than Taka was at fighting pole arms. He made a mental note to find a pole arm master to train against, if only to get used to it. That of course hinged on him being able to defeat her.

"<The words of a Ronin are as worthless as a candle to a blind man!>" She hissed even as she brought the butt of her pole arm up in a blow that sent Taka off his feet. His teeth clacked together in pain as white light exploded in his skull. He grunted softly before hitting the ground in a daze, even as he heard more men throw their lives away trying to help their fallen leader. Had he the presence of mind to shout he would have warned them off, but more blood fell upon his crimson hands, clotting and choking away what innocence of the situation he had left.

Taka had failed.

[Revenant]

Both sides of the monster hunting squad held their crossbows at the ready, their sense of excitement increasing with each passing moment. The Buffalax’s roars turned from peals of surprise to grunting roars of anger, frustration, and pain. There was no sign of William, but this hadn’t been the first time that the monster hunting Captain had taken his time in drawing a creature out of its den. If there was one thing that the team had come to know about their Captain, it was that he enjoyed a fight.

Still, one minute dragged into two and two into four with no sign of William and no letup from the Buffalax’s roars. Even the normally stoic Jerrick let his face slip into a mask of worry before William’s body hurtled out of the burial mound. Still in human form, William’s body made a meaty thud as he landed in the dust. His crossbow was nowhere to be seen, but his squad could see that he still held the broken haft of his heavy spear.

No one had any time to wonder where the other end of his spear was, as the Buffalax roared into view. It was a massive creature, looking like a cross between a crocodile and a bison, with six long legs and a flat tail. The shattered head of William’s spear poked out of the Buffalax’s dense, shaggy fur, trailing just the faintest hint of crimson. Needing no order, the rest of his crew loosed their bolts at the rampaging beast. Five broad-headed shafts struck the Buffalax in tandem, forcing their way into the creature’s flesh.

The Buffalax stopped charging at William, trashing about it pain. It turned away from the prone Revenant to face Jerrick’s team. Well-trained, Jerrick’s team scattered, forcing a moment of indecision in the beast’s mind. Each pulled their spear out as the ran, ready for the beast to charge. The other members of William’s team retreated back around the edge of the mound, straining to reset their bolts so that they could fire at the beast again.

William, meanwhile, had rolled back to his feet and had summoned his power, letting his demonic transformation flow through him. Jerrick jumped out of the way as the Buffalax charged him, allowing Heigei and Rawls to score light slashing stabs at the beast. The Buffalax reared back on its two hind legs and then spun violently, knocking all the hunters aside before they could react. But before it had a chance to trample over any of them, Lorelai and Sergei returned, drawing the creature’s attention again with their heavy bolts.

William looked around quickly, noting that the creature’s roars had not only drawn attention from Hauberlak but had caused Octane to come running as well.

“The idiot,” William growled, not sure why the pacifist was running in their direction with his arms flailing wildly, but annoyed that he hadn’t chosen to stay in the wagon where he was told to stay put. And then, as if to make things even more complicated, the Buffalax broke free and began running towards the horde of curious villagers who had come out to see the commotion.

Knowing that their mission would be a complete failure if the creature tore through the innocent villagers, William ran up to the sprawling Heigei and grabbed the Akashiman warrior’s spear. He trailed after the sprinting Buffalax faster than any normal human could ever hope to run and, when he finally felt close enough, he leaned back and hurtled the weapon at the creature. The spear flew true, striking the Buffalax in the back of the head with enough force to drive it deep into the beast. The Buffalax immediately stiffened and fell, its roars drowned out in a burbling groan.

It was only after he looked at the villagers as the Buffalax fell that William realized what Octane had been trying to say. He had been trying to stop them.

[Silence Sei]

A single gunshot filled the forest. What birds had remained through the commotion the traps had set off were now scattered to the winds. There was a deafening silence as the weapon of Taka's relative hit the soft dirt. Following the naginata, Matsu fell to her knees, a large red trail of blood seeping out of the exit wound in her chest. The girl turned her head, coughing a few more small streams of liquid rubies as she did so.

What she would see would be Oreo Jones, holding both of his guns towards her. One of them was still hissing out smoke from the bullet that ate Matsu's flesh. A slight grin crept across the face of the gunslinger as he holstered his unused weapon.

"Maybe so," Jones said, twirling his other gun upwards and blowing the smoke out of it, "But you can't hold a candle to a blind man." The girl looked back to Taka, reaching out as if she were trying to strangle the ronin with her last breaths. Her arms trembled as she neared his esophagus, but then fell limp. Her body slumped onto the ground beside the ronin she was just seconds ago ready to dispatch.

Oreo ran to his team leader, lifting him up and putting the man's arm around his neck. "Erikson! Brigs! I need you guys to help me move Benjiro!" The gunslinger was shouting at the only other two warriors he knew were alive. Brigs, his guide, had managed to keep Jones away from any traps, while Jones kept Brigs away from any would-be attackers. Erikson, Jones had only heard his heartbeat, indicating that he was alive somewhere in this forest. It was just a matter of where.

Eventually, Brigs had found the ronin and the gunslinger, and Jones had his help getting Taka moving once more. Of course, the entire trip home, Takas spoke in his native tongue, presumably obscenities that would make even the rudest of sailors blush. When the man finally stilled his voice, Jones smiled.

"So....mission success?" The cowboy asked jokingly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"He was their God, not their demon, Willie..." Octane spoke in a hushed whispered. The sight of seeing their beloved Buffalax slain before their eyes horrified the villagers immensely. Women cried tears of sorrow; men went to their houses to get weapons, and the children.

The children just stared.

"I knew something was off about this mission," Octane spoke as he approached William, his eyes never leaving the vacant expression of the kids. "That's what the book I was reading was about. It was a mythology book. There were two opposing forces in this area. The Buffalax, a beast who brings prosperity and good fortune, and the Buffalex, who brings, well, the opposite."

The male villagers returned with what they had. Pitchforks, torches, rocks, basically anything that could cause bottely harm to the group. By this point, the rest of the Monster Hunting Team had reunited with their leader, just long enough for Octane to explain things.

"With the Buffalax gone, the Buffalex has nothing to keep it in check. A new era of hopelessness is about to over wash this town, and it's our entire fault."

The first stone was thrown, narrowly missing Jerrick's face. The youth looked to William and shoved him away from the villagers, not paying attention to the way the demonic form burned his hands. "Get out of here!" Octane screamed, William, in such a daze from not realizing what he had truly done, nodded and took off with the rest of his team, straight towards the direction of the carriage.

"Maybe I can smooth things over," Octane said, talking to himself. In truth, he was trying to build up confidence. Another stone came flying, beaming the boy in the forehead. The force was such that it caused the child to crumple to the ground like paper. Yet, he got back up, despite the heavy bleeding out in his forehead, and began to walk towards the villagers.

"Let me explain what happened!"

If William or any of his team turned back to see Octane, they would find the mob dog piling his form...

[Tainted Bushido]

The ride back into the city of Radasanth was long a long one for Taka. He didn’t even realize what was going on, one second he was at the point of his cousin’s Naginata, and the next he was being hauled away by the remaining three members of the Mercenary squadron. They made their way back through the forest, trading fire, but being a much less large group, were able to push through the enemy lines, mainly due to their increased mobility. While the enemy had to avoid their own traps, Taka’s Mercenaries had managed to clear a path back to the main roads.

Reaching the wagons, the men threw the still recovering Taka onto the cart. He remained there in a daze, and the men probably thought it was due to his injuries. He hadn’t even realized he was babbling in Akashiman, and yet the remaining men seemed to not care. Finally he shook his head, and returned to the moment he was currently living in, even as he saw the hatred in his cousin’s eyes, even as he saw her attempt to kill him with her last breaths. He heard the jocularity in Jones-san’s voice and shook his head slowly.

“No, utter failure, I was not ready…” Taka replied.

The two other men looked worriedly at each other even as Jones patted the ronin on the armored shoulder plate. Taka only shook his head again as he looked to the other three, and saw the wagons being towed behind. It had taken them four wagons to house all the troops when they had left. Even then it had been a tight fit, and a few of the men complained about the cramped quarters. Taka had made a note of the whiners, even if he didn’t know their names. He heard the men whispering in Tradespeak, and only vaguely caught what was said between them.

Finally, Taka began to take responsibility for his actions, “My first mistake was in not training with you. I never got to know the men, and their limits. I instead pushed them as I had been pushed when I traveled in Akashima, and made the first sin, pride. When we were ambushed in the Forest, instead of shouting orders I was waiting for orders, and failed you men again. Desire clouded my judgment, for I knew that I was in charge, but had not yet fully grasped what that entailed.”

“General, with all due respect sir, this was our first mission. You can’t lay the blame entirely on yourself,” One of the men, Taka vaguely remembered as Brigs, spoke up to soothe the General’s discourse.

Taka shook his head, “I was afraid, for you and myself. I was afraid to fail more than to die. Because of that fear, the very fear that underlined every judgment I made, I failed you men. There is an old saying in the Eastern Guard, ‘I fear more readily a hundred sheep lead by a wolf, than a hundred wolves lead by a sheep.’ If I do not have the courage to put my men into action, then I lose men to indecision and the result is today’s fight. We did not even begin to gain revenge for our lost men, how many did we take for the amount we lost?”

“I’d say we got maybe four or five, six counting that pole arm wielding maniac…” The other man counted as he looked at his fingers. He shook his head before he said firmly, “It’s a good thing I had my crossbow loaded, or we might have had more problems, I think I got the mage in return fire.”

“One mage is not worth twenty nine men,” Taka replied firmly, he felt shaken to his core, but nodded softly before he gestured to Brig’s satchel, “Get out a piece of paper and ink. We shall write down the names of the men who died today. That list will stay up in Hoturi’s Dojo, and until we take ten men for each of the ones who fall, we shall not call this vengeance complete. I will train beside you men, and we shall train the new recruits. Together we will reforge this clumsy sword into the steel that Sei shall use to fight the enemy.”

“Yes, sir,” Brigs replied as he reached into the satchel preparing to follow orders.

Taka paused before he spoke softly, the stern edge worn out of his voice, “Perhaps it is time I met you men, my name is Taka, and I am a Ronin from Akashima.”

The men looked at each other, with Oreo snickering at the straightforward comment before he nodded and gestured to the ronin, “Well boys, seeing as how your leader wants to lead, let’s get the pleasantries over with, shall we? I’m Oreo Jones, one of the best gunslingers Althanas has ever seen.”

“Lucas Brigs, I was an apprenticing blacksmith before I grabbed a sword and joined the knights,” Brigs replied. Taka nodded smiling.

“Axel Erikson at your service, I may not know much about swords, but I can fire a crossbow straight enough. I was a caravan guard through Fallien for awhile, decided to join a cause worth protecting, rather than some fat sultan in a city that hates my kind,” Erikson said carefully running a hand through his blonde hair.

“Very well men, I am supposed to be in charge of this unit, but it seems I don’t have much of a unit to be in charge of at the moment. Let’s talk about what we’re going to be looking for in our recruits. Atop this, let’s talk about how we’re going to cut the…wheat from the chafe? Is that the correct saying?”

“Yeah, that’d be the long and short of it,” Oreo replied a chuckle escaping his lips.

[Revenant]

If any of the monster hunters had any doubts about leaving Octane in the hands of an entire village of murderously angry people then they did a very good job of hiding that fact. Each of the six hunters who had taken part in the slaying of the Buffalax ran back to the wagon where Kyron , Stephanie, and Azza waited with the full weight of Hauberlak pressing on their backs. Where it had taken the team a quarter of an hour to make their way across the full mile between the wagon and the Buffalax’s barrow mound on their way to hunt the beast, but the return trip took them less than ten minutes. Even William was out of breath as he leapt on the wagon, signaling for Kyron to wheel the cart around and head back towards Radasanth at full speed.

“Mommy what’s going on?” Azza asked, slightly worried at the stern haste that the hunters’ return.

“Don’t worry sweetie,” Stephanie said, patting Azza on the shoulder, “just sit down at the bottom of the wagon and stay there.” Azza nodded and did as she was told, dutifully hunkering down and putting her hands over her ears. Seeing that her adopted daughter was safe, Stephanie hopped over the bench to take a seat at the back of the wagon with William. She brought the crossbow that Kyron had given to her, cocking and loading it as she cocked an inquisitive eyebrow at William.

“Sei’s intel was wrong,” William answered her unasked question. “Octane warned us too late that we had been sent to hunt the wrong creature.”

“The wrong creature?”

“Yeah, apparently we killed Hauberlak’s guardian and not the creature terrorizing it. The Ixian Knights have heralded a new age of darkness or something.”

“How the fuck could Sei make a mistake like that?” Stephanie swore, looking back at the mob pursuers from Hauberlak who had left Octane and were running in their direction. Their frantic speed was no match for the wagon however, and soon there was nothing left of them but their rage filled, hateful curses.

“What about Octane?” Stephanie asked, suddenly seeming to realize that the cocky youth hadn’t returned with them.

“He wanted to stay behind and try to calm them down,” William shrugged, “explain it to them somehow.”

“Dumbass,” Stephanie muttered, “someone as all-knowing as him should easily have known that those people weren’t in a mood to be calmed down.”

William shrugged again. “No real big loss.” Stephanie nodded her agreement and went back to monitoring the road to Hauberlak behind them.

While the trip to Hauberlak had been long and grim, the trip back to Radasanth was downright depressing. There was little conversation between the monster hunters. It was well past dark by the time that the team returned to Sei’s Tomb. The team solemnly greeted Jaime and Pell, the Tomb’s night watchmen as they passed, but the normally cheerful duo knew better than to attempt to strike up any light-hearted conversation.

Stephanie took the sleeping form of Azza and left the hunters without comment. There was little to speak of between them anyway. Knowing what needed to be done, Jerrick took the rest of the team, along with their equipment, back to the training room for cleanup and debriefing. William quietly watched them all leave, his face a stony, emotionless mask. It was only after the last of them was well away that a sly smile crept over the Revenant’s face. They had technically succeeded in their mission, after all, and had brought a little more chaos and destruction to the world in the process. He would never admit it to anyone else, but he took a certain joy in the destruction that he had wrought.

His moment of enjoyment was, by necessity, brief. Having let his true feelings out to play, William bottled them back up, put his stoic face back into place, and then headed to Sei’s office to report on the death of the Buffalax.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

The sound of liquid being poured filled the small cave room of Sei’s office. Amber ale as thick as malt bubbled up with a glug-glug sound until the tip of a green bottle lifted away tenderly, a cork being squished into place with a pop. It had been only twenty four hours since the death of the Buffalax, Cassandra Remi, and the mercenaries. Similar problems arose from other would be harmless missions, and the Radansanth Herald had splotched images of the Ixian Knights in their darkest hour, words painting a very, very ugly image of Sei and his warriors. The Mystic didn’t even dwell on the fact that their happened to be reporters and journalists at most of the incidents.

The Mute was face down in the newspaper, eyes cast upon the words as several copies were held open, covering the entirety but the very edges of his desk. Dirty boots kicked up and covered the section Sei had been gazing upon and the mute sighed looking elsewhere as Seth Dahlios took a long sip of his Lavinian Ale. Tobias sat in a chair next to the rouge, her own lips softly letting the ale pass by them. Drinking had been a very new past time of the Ixian Knights as of late. Anita was sitting next to her father on the arm rest of his chair, looking at the pages mostly covering the news of Taka and the reports from the mercenary captain.

“Ya know,” Seth said sagely. “Looking at those papers doesn’t change the print.” Seth pointed out over the rim of his glass with a solitary finger. Sei sighed, loudly, and slumped into the back of his chair. Seth took another sip of his ale as he noticed Tobias’ ears shift and the elf ever so gently turned her head towards the door. “I’m going to say this, Sei, because we are friends. The immortal’s boots are quaking in rage, and he’s making his way over here. I can hear from my seat. When he comes in and starts shouting, do yourself a favor,” Seth sipped his drink and lowered his chin to look at the near empty glass with a dissatisfied look. “Shut up and take it.”

Anita shot the Lavinian a rather dirty look as Tobias merely drank her ale to remain silent on the matter. There was the sound of scuffling, the voice of Adolph telling someone that nobody was to see the Lord Orlouge, followed by Jensen’s anger as he screamed to be let in. Adolph rose his tone to his fiery oratory state, and then there was a loud pop sound, followed by the doors quaking. Anita jumped at the sound as did Tobias, but Sei merely sighed, sent a mental message to Adolph, and there was a brief moment as Adolph opened the door, eye swollen as Jensen rubbed his fist and stormed into the room. Adolph shut the door behind him, glaring daggers into the immortal’s skull.

Jensen stood in front of Sei’s desk, eyes looking like two flaming pits of hell, as he glared at his lord. He remained silent as if debating how he would proceed, but Sei attempted a diplomatic approach by speaking first. “Jensen,” And that was the last Sei said for a long, long while.

“Shut your fucking faggot fairy mouth!” Jensen seethed. Tobias and Anita’s eyes widened at the venom in the words and Sei merely leaned back in his chair. Seth chuckled, popping the cork, pouring more ale, and muttering how this was ‘gonna be good‘.

“What the hell is going on, Sei? I thought the Knights of Apocalypse was helping to organize an army, not play clubhouse!” Jensen actually let spit fly out his mouth as his fists slammed onto the table. “Forty people just died yesterday! A creature of spiritual significance is now a fermenting pile of compost. I thought about hiring some Mercenaries for a gig but they are all dead!”

Jensen lifted himself back up to his full height, glaring at Sei. “So what the hell are we doing, Sei?” Jensen asked again. “We sure as hell aren’t acting like an army! That’s for fucking sure!” Anita lifted her head as if to speak, but Jensen pointed to her cruelly. “Don’t open your mouth, you uppity bitch! What the fuck do you even do around here anyways? Aren’t we still missing one of our Nine generals?”

“We have a strong lead on-” Jensen laughed at Anita before she could finish her sentence.

“Than go find them! Don’t sit around this poor excuse for a clubhouse called a cave to wait for the general to appear! You found Taka-Laka-Ding-Dong and Cassandra Remi on your own, so clearly you don’t need daddy to hold your hand! Stop sitting on your ass, fingering around to find your G spot and go find them!” Jensen cursed loudly so all could hear his words. Sei looked more than past his limits of acceptance for Jensen’s crude mouth as Tobias did her best not to be noticed. Seth however laughed while Anita’s jaw dropped in shock to be spoken to in such a manner.

“Jensen, I will not tolerate-” Sei interjected.

“Shut your damn pie hole and listen!” Jensen bellowed, pushing Sei out his thoughts as the mute leaned back again in his chair, a very forced cleansing breath to remain calm in his sigh. “You don’t have the foggiest fucking clue what you are doing, Sei! You assembled all these warriors and then what? You thought we win the war automatically? Once the nine are gathered the world is saved?” Jensen chuckled darkly.

“Try again, Faggot Fairy King,” Jensen taunted. “Let’s stop and take a look at your so called Nine generals, shall we?” Jensen pantomimed sincere interest as he turned to look at an imaginary chalk board. “You got Taka-Laka-Ding-Dong who’s so busy helping Anita find her G spot that he has no clue how to lead men! He wasn’t even remotely ready to lead them out to battle today, but you pushed him out the door and then guess what?” Jensen pulled out a piece of paper, written in Akashima as he slapped it with a loud echo, his hand stinging from the impact. “Twenty Nine people! They all died because Taka wasn’t ready!”

Jensen’s twirled on his feet, grabbed Tobias’ glass and downed the whole thing, punched his chest, and turned to Sei tossing the cup back to her. “You got William Arcus, The Revenant, who just ran forwards and killed at your command! Seriously, Sei, what the fuck man?” Jensen stressed his disappointment. “Willie is not of the kind to ask first, then act. He’s built to destroy and that’s what he’ll do, regardless of the situation.”

“Look him in the eyes Sei,” Seth said softly. “And you’ll see he doesn’t give two shits about killing that Buffaloo,”

“Buffalax,” Tobias politely corrected as Seth poured her a new glass.

“Yeah, Buffaloo,” Seth replied as Jensen took control of the floor again.

“We got Cassandra Remi,” Jensen said taking a deep breath. “Who is SO out of control that we had to kill her! We had to kill one of the nine generals, Sei!” Jensen was near hysterics at this point. “We had to kill her because you couldn’t control her anymore than you could control Willie!” Anita’s face scowled at that, her anger towards her father for killing Cassandra clear that she was not on board. But what the main room didn’t know was that was a set up, for Cassandra was to damaging to keep around.

“You got a freaking 13 year old bed wetter who plays with shadows as your leader of investigations! A child, Sei,” Jensen moved towards the desk and palmed the edges in hands to keep from ruthlessly shaking Sei. “He’s a fucking kid! His bad intel just smeared crap all over the Ixian’s Knight’s faces! SETH!” Jensen said whirling to look at the old thief.

“Yo!” Seth hollered in good nature.

“Ya smell that shit?”

“Sure do!” Seth said sniffing the air.

“That’s the fucking shit storm we just got ourselves into! Get used to that smell, everyone, cause it’s going to be under our noses for a long, long time!” Jensen whirled back to Sei, eyes cast in hate towards the mute.

“Duffy Bracken! Dear fucking gods almighty, we got an actor for a general! Sei, we can’t pretend to play general, we need the real thing! He’s not going to lead men with a straight face! Nobodies going to take him seriously! I don’t take him seriously!”

“What do you take seriously?” Seth pondered loudly.

“Shut it, boogeyman, I’m in a solo rant here!” Jensen said to the Lavinian as he looked back to the Mystic.

“Kyla, poor, sweet innonect Kyla is one of your generals! Dear god Sei her only redeeming quality is her wonderful, sweet ass! She’s not ready to lead anyone, nor more so than the thirteen year old boy and Taka!” Jensen’s eyes looked to Sei with such sorrow that the Mute could feel the wave of guilt emenating from Jensen.

“These fucking people aren’t immortal Sei! They die, they die forever! What if Taka didn’t come home? Who’d help Anita find her G spot then?” Jensen looked to Sei with firey eyes as his voice softened. “What if Kyla was on mission, Sei, and she didn’t come home?” There was a long pause as Jensen looked to Sei, before slumping into himself and pulling back.

“The point is, Sei, the enemy has been gutting us like a fish. Sure we stopped a few skirmishes that we had proved victorious in. But now, Sei? The enemy just repaid us the blood shed. We got a big black eye and a bloody nose from their actions. And the reason isn’t because of the Nine generals, Sei.” The immortal said crassly.

“The number one fucking reason that Taka wasn’t ready, and William isn’t thinking, and Cassandra is dead, and Zerith, and Duffy, and Kyla, and every single warrior under your command isn’t ready,” The knight’s tone nearly cracked as it was shameful to admit this. “Is because you aren’t ready.” The accusation made Anita gasp as Tobias whistled lowly, Seth merely looking to his drink. Sei’s eyes blinked a few times, and the immortal continued on with passion.

“You aren’t leading an army Sei, you’re running a club house! The enemy hasn’t been sitting around doing good will tours! They aren’t playing grab ass and hosting costume parties, they searched for their generals and built their resources. The enemy is ready, Sei, they’ve been ready! And the reason why Sei, I think you haven’t gotten ready is a simple fact.” Jensen took a moment to straighten up to his full height. His next words were steeped with such venom that he sounded disgusted to even utter them. “You’re a fucking coward.”

“Watch it, immortal!” Anita hissed.

“Who’s the ninth general, Anita?” Jensen said crossly. She remained quiet, ready to start shouting at him but Jensen spoke over her pitiful attempts as he silenced her. “Until you figure out who they are, keep fucking digging your fingers up your ass in search for your holy G spot. And let me give you a hint, G doesn’t stand for general, so if you‘ve been looking in there for them, try again!” Anita’s face turned beet red as she huffed at the immortal.

The room stayed silent as Jensen glared to Sei. “The reason this army isn’t ready Sei, is because your to afraid to commit an action. You’re afraid to start the war. Once you start this war, there’s no going back. People will die. Your life, my life, everyone’s life will change forever. Your afraid to start the war, cause you yourself aren’t ready to go to war…” Jensen tapped the names of the twenty nine dead mercenaries. His hands moved to Cassandra’s dead image on the front page, to the Buffalax’s rotting corpse on the third page.

“Guess what Sei,” Jensen whispered. “The war’s started without you. Blood’s already been shed, and I can tell you of a towns who’s lives will change forever. We’re already in the war. It’s time to stop pretending we have time, and start getting into the thick of it. We’re moving into a new castle, and we’re going to have new soldiers coming to bolster our ranks from my order, the Knights of Apocalypse. We have more trainers, and more materials to build weapons with. It’s time to go to war.”

“Stop being the Fucking Faggot Fairy King,” Jensen hissed. “And be the Fucking Faggot Warrior King.”

[Silence Sei]

"Are you quite done?" Sei asked his immortal friend, who was breathing heavily after his ranting. Jensen nodded, and quickly found himself being forced into a chair. It wasn't as if Jensen had been pushed into the furniture, but moreso like somebody had manipulated his mind into making the immortal -want- to sit down. Jensen's face still held bits of anger as he looked to Sei. The mute merely took up one of his battle fans and placed it over his face. Now it was his turn.

"Even from this venture in failure, we have won," Sei spoke the words, but nobody in the room seemed to believe it. "Through these events, we've learned several things about the enemy. We've learned they attack through publicity currently, indicating that they don't feel confident enough to attack us head on. We've learned that they have troops from Akashima in their ranks, which means we can send someone from Talen's team to infiltrate. We've learned that they falsify information in the hopes of making us look bad, hinting that they don't want to pick us off and destroy us outright, they wish to humiliate each of us."

"Now wait just a min---" Jensen attempted to stand, before he sat back down, seemingly a lot calmer.

"It's my turn to speak. I'm mentally nudging you to keep your cool, Jensen. If I have to, I'll shut off all your brain functions to where you can only listen and breathe, should you interrupt me again. You had your turn."

"You can do that? Tobias asked, fearful of this new ability Sei seemed to have in his mental arsenal.

"I can. I've just never been pushed so far as to manipulate my telepathy as such." It seemed Sei's threats had a hold on Jensen, who took a deep swallow and continued to nod. Being immortal and in a coma didn't seem like a very happy future.

"Taka's team were ill trained for the mission at hand. While I take responsibility for the deaths at my doorstep, Taka and Hotouri must also share the blame to some extent. Taka spent so much time under his master's tutelage, he never once got to know his people, and thus it was the responsibility of others to train the men. That person could have cared less about who was proficient with what skills. Honestly, the only reason Brigs is alive is because Taka had him guarding Jones from traps. Jones, unlike his team leader, got to know the strengths and weaknesses of his people. I don't care how good you are with a crossbow, its useless if your leader gives you a sword you have no experience in and says 'go get them!'. Taka has been humbled by these events, and even Hotouri has seen that he must diversify in training to include the new batch of troops. We lost many in that ambush, but I assure you, we will not be caught like that again."

"It's true," a voice came from the door. The source was none other than Oreo Jones. After he had made sure that the rest of the Mercenary Team was resting, the blind gunmen had come in to see what backlash Sei would be getting for stuff that, for all intents and purposes, were not his fault. "If Taka had spent simply one day training with the rest of the guys, he would have been able to arm them accordingly. When I first signed on, they tried to train me in sword use. What the hell use do I have with a sword?! It's only cuz I refused to relinquish my guns that we came out of that fight with four men, instead of none. The only reason they let that slide is cuz Sei personally went to our trainer and pretty much demanded I keep using my babies. Not like it matters much, cuz our 'teacher' was one of the casualties."

Jones went and sat between Jensen and Tobias as the mute nodded. He looked back to the immortal, who seemed to be changing colors at his foolishness.

"William attacks like a wild animal. This I will admit. I sent Octane for the express purpose of stopping him should he lose control. From what I heard of the reports, it is only because Octane stayed behind that the rest of the team managed to get out of there alive. Otherwise, the villagers would have overwhelmed Williams’s people. Furthermore, they would have gone out to search for any stragglers. They would have found Azza and Stephanie. They were angry people who just watched their God get slaughtered ."

"They would have killed them without hesitation," Octane's voice entered the room next. The boy limped into the conference, one eye swollen shut by the beating he had gotten. A clear scar was across his forehead from the rock that had hit him, and his trademark leather jacket suffered several burns as damage. It was nothing the citadel couldn't fix, but it drove the point home that these people would not have held back simply due to a woman and child being in the carriage. The Boy shuffled his way towards Sei, looking back towards Jensen. "I'm alive because halfway through my lynching, I managed to convince them that they were going to get ambushed by my allies. They ran around looking for them and it gave me enough time to escape. In sending me, Sei managed to save his entire Monster Hunting Team. Dumbass."

Upon realizing the mortal danger Stephanie and Azza would have been put in, Jensen seemed a bit sorry for his comments. His facial expressions seemed to have completely changed from this epiphany. Sei went on and continued.

"Now, before I go about talking about my generals, there is the little issue of Anita."

Anita looked to her father, and suddenly the whole room turned to Jensen as he screamed a pain unheard of since his fight with Cassandra Remi. The immortal gripped his head, and Sei, the only one with a calm demeanor, carefully approached the man. A hand grabbed Jensen's shoulder, though he was too busy with his mental pains to noticed, and Sei gripped hard into his hands resting spot. The Mystic's nails dug into Jensen's flesh, causing red to seep out of his cloth.

"If I -ever- hear that kind of vulgarity used again in my presence when referring to Anita, I will make sure that every second of your life is spent living in pain. Unable to die, unable to stop reliving your past. You will be useless to all. Do you understand?"

Surprisingly enough, Jensen managed out a nod after about a minute of the pain. Suddenly, Sei released his grip and Jensen was hastily returned to normal, so it seemed.

"First off, Duffy's acting abilities work well with us, for what grander stage to show ones ability than that of war? Furthermore, if I'm not mistaken, he has managed to hold his own alongside you several times in the past, as well as given me a run for my money. Any man who can do that and balance an actual career is a man I'd want on my team any day."

"Talen is on the Information Team, not Investigations, you idiot. A 13 year old boy is the perfect spy for almost any situation. Furthermore, he can shadowmeld, giving him extra cover in the midst of battle. He has proven himself in Underwood as a respectable warrior in his own right on several occasions. Despite what you may think, I'm sure Talen Shadowalker could take you in a fight, not that such a feat is incredibly hard to do."

The rest of the crew tried to stifle their giggles at Sei's insults. It was obvious that the immortal had pissed his leader off.

"William will kill at my command, he does have a demon inside him after all. So long as that demon is listening to me, and obeying my orders, that’s all I need. He can be used as a force for good, with the right motivations. As for Cassandra..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sei placed the head of Cassandra Remi back upon her decapitated body. As he did so, the shape of Laconic the Robot began to take form once more. Wires whizzed about inside the cyborg, nanomachines building themselves back up to heal the android. As Sei looked to the shadows, he knew that Cassandra Remi was here, inside her sneaking suit, with Jensen somewhere in the shadows.

"You have to leave, Cassandra. If this venture has taught us anything it is that your living here has made you a liability. I truly apologize for having to send you away, but I see no other choice, goodbye Cassandra..."

Sei walked out of the cave entrance with Laconic and Jensen following, sure that he had heard the immortal make some snide remark to the woman upon their departure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Is....that...all?" Jensen managed to ask between grinding teeth. Whether it was because Sei was still slightly hurting him, or because he was genuinely enraged was yet to be seen.

"One more thing. It seems that out of all the people here to cause me the most trouble, it was never William Arcus, Seth Dahlios, or even Cassandra Remi. It has been you Jensen Ambrose. Your attitude up until now has been nothing but, for lack of a better term, insulting. I requested specific help from the Knights of Apocalypse and they sent me you. I almost feel as if it were some way to allow the enemy to beat us. You've insulted and berated my men, tried to beat some of them to death, and do not truly care about anybody but yourself. While I'm completely aware that being immortal makes you, pardon my language, a dick, I will not tolerate it anymore. You are no longer welcome to live in Ixian Castle until you apologize to Anita, myself, and my army as a whole. Azza and Stephanie are more than welcome to stay, they have not slighted me in the least, but I will not put up with your foul language and crude tactics any longer."

Sei's termination of Jensen's services seemed to have shocked the whole room, and where there was once slight giggles, there was now a deafened silence. Sei looked behind him to the one person who had remained silent this entire time. The one person who managed to keep her mouth shut despite her sister and father being constantly insulted. Kyla Orlouge's eyes shot daggers at Jensen as she stood up. Sei was obviously done, but Kyla had one more thing to add.

"If. You ever. Talk like that. About my family again...."

"You'll what, -Kylana-?!" Jensen spoke angrily, using the girl's nickname with a hiss on his lips. The girl never had to respond with words, as a flower pot from out of nowhere dropped on the immortals’ head as if it were a ton of bricks. And with that, until Jensen apologized, the Orlouges were completely done with the enigmatic immortal.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen looked to Sei as the room’s tension seemed to raise several notches. The flower pot that had hit him made his head spark with pain as he slowly got to his feet. The ultimatum was set up and masterfully executed, and even Seth managed to lower his boots to see how the events would play out. Jensen’s eyes mirrored an intensity that rivaled an active volcano. Anita slowly lowered herself from Sei’s chair, standing as she coughed ever so quietly to prepare for Jensen’s apology. Kyla walked the room’s length to stand with her family, the motion of her actions clear. If Jensen wanted to be a part of her life, he had to make a choice. The Orlouge’s stood together in this particular instance. It was rather imposing in its sight, but Jensen looked to them and merely lowered his eyes to the floor.

It was so soft that Anita had to lean in to hear it. Sei looked to Jensen, his eyes lowering into small slits as he figured out what the immortal was up to. Kyla took a moment to listen, and when she figured out what was going on she sniffled, holding back a tear.

Jensen was softly laughing.

It grew as he began to tremble, that same inhuman mirthful wail he always howled as if he was deep in combat. The pathetic wheezes as he took in a lungful of air exhaled into a chorus of dark laughter. Jensen doubled over, eyes brimming with tears, but his eyes were not showing any happiness in them. Tears of sorrow dripped down his face as he continued to build up into a crescendo of vile, crude laughter. He dropped to a knee, slapping his sides as he lost breath, laughing wildly as Tobias and Seth eyed him carefully. Jones shook his head disapprovingly as Sei leaned forward. Andrew Octane just looked uncomfortable at the whole situation.

“So, this is the showdown, Sei?” The immortal managed to giggle out. “Apologize? Let me tell you why that won’t happen…” Jensen lifted two fingers up in the air as he stood up quickly. His hands hovered before the Mute’s face. “I’ll never apologize for being who I am! Fuck you for even asking me to!” Jensen lowered one finger, leaving the solid middle finger standing tall before the Mystic. “And I’ll never apologize for speaking the truth.” Jensen’s laughter died as his tone turned to ice, venom enriched words seething out like poison from his lips.

Andrew looked at Jensen, seeing the hostility flaring in his eyes and leaning closer to Oreo Jones as the gunman looked towards Sei with a confused face. Tobias shook her head as Seth merely drained the last of his ale. When jensen looked to them all he smiled a devilish grin. “Dear me, ignorance is bliss, isn’t it?” Jensen howled in distasteful laughter. A forced, crude chuckle.

“You think you’re a good leader, Sei,” Jensen spat darkly, turning his back on the mute. “A good leader doesn’t shove the blame on others. And I’m not even talking about me,” Jensen chuckled again turning to wink to his previous employer. “But it’s cute how I’m the bane of your army! You really believe that shit, don’t you? But no, what I’m talking about is blaming Hotouri and Taka and their training. I’m talking about blaming Octane for being late to realize he couldn't stop William even if he wasn't a pansy pussy pacifest! You blame the entire army for failure, but ya know, Sei, last I checked, the Ixian Knights was your army.” Jensen shot him a vile look as he twirled back to face his old comrades.

“You are the one in charge of everyone. If they fail, guess what. You fail too! But that was assuming you were a good leader to ever begin with!” Jensen said off-handedly waving a hand in the air dismissively. The room seemed to get even more tense and Jensen rode the currents of the mood. “Go ahead and use your stupid mind raping technique on me, prove I’m right!” Jensen shouted to him in challenge. “All you did today was prove to me you aren’t ready to lead this army! You have no fucking clue what you are doing, and if you consider what you did today victory than I’m sorry, my old pal, you are a deluded fool!”

“So fuck you Sei,” He flipped Sei off again. “Fuck your daughter,” He flipped the finger to Anita. “Fuck your Mystic race, and by all means, don’t let me forget to FUCK your holier than thou attitude. I‘m out!” Jensen walked away from Sei towards the door.

“Jensen…” Kyla whispered to him.

“Sorry babe,” Jensen called back to her with his most dick like fashion. “But until Sei shows he is a competent leader I‘m not going to play ball anymore! I thought I was in an army. Not a friendship circle-jerk camp! Though feel free to come on over and circle jerk me, Anita and Kyla!” Jensen felt a soft pain starting to grow in his mind. To that he merely laughed louder as he glared to Sei, his words coming out in painful grunts as he spoke to Sei. “Shove it up your ass, Sei! I’m done with your legion- God damn that hurts!” Jensen dropped to one knee but swung back to a standing position. “Ta-Ta Faggot Fairy King!” He laughed wildly as the door opened, Adolph looking to Jensen with a curious eye.

“Limelight’s all yours, Adolph. I’m packing my bags and heading home!” The Chaplain looked to the immortal and shook his head.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Adolph said lightly. “We’ll talk,” Jensen shook his head.

“Nope, don’t want any part of a faggot failure army led by a faggot fairy king and his nine mentally retarded playmates! Join the circle jerk, Adolph! It feels mighty good to touch that massive egotistical penis of Sei ‘I’m to damn self righteously convinced I’m the fucking shit’ Orlouge!” Adolph shook his head as he tried to restrain the immortal, but Jensen just danced out of the way. He made his way down the hall, screaming profanity at all who got caught in his way of his wrath.

He insulted Pell and Jaime, the night guards who generally liked the immortal. He entered the soup kitchen and pushed all the soup vats over laughing hysterically to the confused mess hall, “NO SOUP FOR YOU, MINDLESS SHEEP!” Then falling into another fit of giggles as he headed towards his home.

“Attention all Ixian Knights, this is Sei Orlouge, Gthe mute spoke into everyone’s minds as one entity, and Jensen bellowed his laughter even louder so it echoed down the halls. It pains me to say this, but effectively immediately Jensen Ambrose is no longer a member of the Ixian Knights. Do not regard him as your comrade anymore and treat him with no more than the barest essential respect. If he proves to rowdy, kick him out of the caves immediately, that is all.”

“Fuck the faggot fairy king! Fuck the faggot fairy king!” Jensen sang as he walked through the mess hall. He eyed the monster hunters all looking at the immortal make a complete and total ass of himself. “Stay little sheep! The wolf is really Sei! He’s going to kill you all just like those mercenaries who died!”

“Your orders, sir?” Jerrick asked his commanding officer. William looked to Jensen as the immortal eyed several guards making their way over to him. He watched the immortal flip them off, darting over a table as he continued to move towards the family section of the halls. He looked back to his men, shrugged, and walked away from the immortal. Jerrick looked to the other members and motioned for them to follow William, leaving Jensen behind.

“Sir, please leave the cave, immediately,” A guard asked. Jensen knew the guy, he was a nice sparring partner when drunk. He had a family as well, a little boy about seven. Cute guy. His wife wasn’t much a looker though. She served the army by tailoring uniforms. Jensen eyed him with a sick grin.

One fist flew out and punched the guard on the nose, knocking him flat as he laughed riotously, turning and punching another guard forcing the others to back off. “You keep doing your thing, Willie! Don’t worry, we’ll meet again! We’re destined to do our thing forever!” Jensen joked as he called to the disappearing Revenant. Jensen continued to haul his way towards his home, and when he got there he found Ruby La Roux and Duffy Bracken waiting at the door like body guards.

“Blimey, mate!” Duffy said awkwardly. “Ya just pissed off one of da bigg’st names in the world! What did ya do?” Jensen merely shrugged, smiling to Ruby and patting Duffy on the back as they turned with him to enter his home. When he opened his door he found Azza and Stephanie looking to him with confused and tear filled eyes. His heart pained to look to them, and he smiled warmly opening his arms for a big hug.

Immediately both ran to him, hugging him tightly. Stephanie's fingers gripped his jacket as Azza's hands found their way around his waist. Jensen kissed Stephanie on the forehead and held Azza tightly with one hand resting on her head. “Jensen, what did you do? I heard Sei‘s announcement and…oh by the gods, Jensen what is going on?” Stephanie asked with tears glistening down he face. Jensen pushed Stephanie away lightly, but continued to hold Azza as she looked up to him.

“I lived up to my name!” Jensen said, prideful of his deeds. “I told Sei off, told him he wasn’t a leader. I insulted Anita in the process, and Sei acts like he’s untouchable and the events were some grand victory! He’s blind to the things I told him, and is so sure that he didn’t do anything wrong. And whatever could be traced to him, is simply put, not his fault but others. Well, I don’t think I can get behind an idiot that shoves the blame onto other people. Especially me!” Jensen rolled his eyes, snorting angrily as Duffy let out a chorused chuckle muttering about Sei being a bloke. “Did you know I’m the sole reason this army sucks?"

“He blamed you?” Stephanie blurted. “For what? That Cassandra Remi is a murderous bitch? That Taka didn’t train with his men? That Talen got bad intelligence? The army’s piss poor performance was because of you?” She nearly laughed in stress. Ruby made way to Stephanie to offer her support as Stephanie's eyes looked to him, searching for some hideous joke. Part of her pined to see Sei walk around the corner and have Jensen explode into a fit of laughter. Anything to end this living nightmare.

Jensen's eyes didn't show he was kidding. Duffy walked back to the front of his door, the sound of someone running fast lifting all's ears to the door. Jensen ignored it motioning for Ruby to give them time. The red head nodded once and passed by, tapping Jensen twice on his chest for support as she stood stoically next to Duffy, returning to the place they stood sentinel before.

“I won’t fight next to a coward, Stephanie.” Jensen spoke with conviction as he finally released Azza, the girl retreating a step back and looking up to him. Her hat tilted showing a bit of her horns and the immortal smiled to her fixing the thing she sought to hide.

“But Jensen, what about Azza and our family?” Stephanie was in hysterics as tears brimmed her eyes, her mind trying to force her emotions aside so she could act rationally and quickly. "What will happen to us? Should we pack our bags? I could send a letter to my mother and father! Azza, pack your bags, and hurry!" Stephanie turned to run down the hall, but Jensen grabbed them both by the back of their shirts, bringing them in for another hug.

“No, you two have to stay. But I have to go. It won’t be forever, I promise!” Jensen kissed the woman he loved again. Stephanie held her daughter's hand tightly as they heard the sound of boots walking forwards in a deadly gait. Quickly a green haired blur ran into the room, slamming into Jensen and retreating a few steps back as she wasn't paying much attention to anything, so focused she was to catch the immortal.

“Jensen you moron, just apologize!” Tobias said rapidly. “Adolph and some of his Chaplains are coming to remove you if you don’t! Sei’s not backing down and you’re being a stubborn asshole! Just apologize already!” Duffy looked into the room.

“There’s a lot of them, bro!” Duffy called the immortal. Jensen waved his brother in arms away to deal with it impatiently as he looked to Tobias. He could hear Ruby and Duffy immediately going into a play fight to detain the guards, Adolph's voice cutting through the air clearly as he asked them to move.

“Do you think I’m wrong?” Jensen asked her sincerely.

“What? Jensen, what-” The immortal cut the elf off.

“Look, all your bush humping ways aside, I like you Tobias! I really, really do! To the point I don’t even consider you an elf when we hang out! I think I masturbated twice about you, but that’s besides the point!” Jensen smiled to her as the elf and Stephanie gave him confused, but half smiling looks. “If you think, in your heart of hearts, that the words I said were false, than I’ll apologize. But tell me truthfully, leaf licker!” Tobias looked to Jensen and then to her feet as Adolph began to shout at Duffy to move. His voice easily carried over Ruby’s and Duffy’s combined as the sound of people being forcefully moved filled the air. Ruby even yelped in protest, her hand batting away at something.

Tobias looked to him one last time, and then with a sigh she moved forwards, hugging the immortal tightly. “I don’t think what you said was wrong, but god dammit Jensen, the way you said it wasn’t right either!” Tobais held him tightly as he hugged her back.

“It wouldn’t be me if I didn’t add that Jensen charm!” He chuckled. “Keep fighting the good fight, Tobias.”

“I’ll try and talk Sei out of this! Maybe after everyone’s heads cooled down!” Jensen looked behind the elf to see Adolph, his second in command Harold, four of his newly formed warrior priests, Steppanwolf, and Ta’gaz all looking to him.

“Holy shit Sei brought the enforcers!” Jensen laughed as he pushed Azza into Stephanie who held her tightly with both arms. “You guys going to rip me outta my home in front of my daughter?” He clucked his tongue. “No better than Remi…” He chuckled to them, eyes darting to each one in turn.

“Jensen Ambrose, you must leave this cave unless you adhere to Lord Orlouge’s wishes.” Adolph said forcefully. Steppanwolf stepped forwards, menacingly until he was nose to nose with the immortal.

“What you said about my neice,” He spoke seriously and Jensen gulped despite himself at the imposing giant. It didn’t even matter the man had pink hair. “I should break you in half…”

“As should I,” Ta’gaz said next. “Your conduct was unbecoming a warrior,” Ta’gaz said darkly. “And your blatant disrespect was uncalled for. Shameful is the word I’d use.” Jensen looked to all four of them and softly pushed Tobias behind him. The elf nimbly moved next to Stephanie, grabbing her hand and holding it tightly as she pushed them gently away towards Stephanie's room. Jensen watched them head inside and he looked back to Steppanwolf with a wild grin.

“I want my name to be immortalized in this Cave, guys,” Jensen said. They all gave him a dark look, preparing to detain him before Jensen spoke again. “Anita’s a whore, Steppanwolf.“ Jensen’s fist flew out as he punched right at Steppanwolf’s nose. The sound of crystal breaking echoed in his ears, and Jensen shouted in hysterics as he charged forward, feeling the Mystic protection shatter against his skin in bloody shards as he slammed his fist into the giant’s chin lifting up in the air and pushing him into Ta’gaz. He landed on his knees and felt Adolph’s hands grip his shirt as he tossed him into the hall where Harold hit him with the flat edge of his sword.

With a pitiful grunt of laughter Jensen shoved the hilt of his blade into Harold’s stomach, turning into a roundhouse kick at Ta’gaz. The legendary warrior caught his foot and Steppanwolf ran forwards. The immortal swung his fists futilely, laughing and screaming Sei Orlouge’s name like a curse as he was beaten to death.

[Requiem of Insanity]

What’s in a name? A name holds much, more so than the average mortal can ever dare to think or comprehend. A name is power, knowledge, and so much more. A name signifies who one is, and what one has done. A name determines the character the person will be, shapes the way they will be seen. A name is everything.

Cassandra flipped the page of the morning paper with a wide Cheshire grin, reading all about the latest exploits of the Ixian Knights most recent failures. She looked over the images of William Arcus killing the Buffalax, bold letters stating with cold efficiency Sei’s Legion Full of Demons? The Moonlit Mistress pondered how The Revenant was doing after that embarrassing display of poor judgment. Chances were he was sitting at home, reading a book without even the smallest word about his misbehavior from Sei. She assumed Sei didn’t think much of these things, but then again, Sei never valued the power of a name.

Aerith’s eyes lit up as she re-read the paperwork on the Mercenary Massacre in the woodlands of Concordia. Taka would be neck deep in blood and the Ronin would be so enthralled with his dishonor that the very notion of suicide wasn’t to far a stretch to consider for himself. The news was absolutely enthralling in its descriptions of how much a failure Sei Orlouge was. While he sat in his office, the enemy had done a mighty blow that crippled the Ixian Knights. Both thought to the other if the Mystic even comprehended the deed.

Still, this was but the first step in the enemies actions towards the Knights, and Cassandra could only wonder what more names would be added to the title of the Ixian Knight.

What is more powerful than a name? I cannot tell you, for nothing in the world is as influential as a name.

[Duffy]

What's In A Name Judgement

I would firstly like to apologise, on two fronts. One, for taking so long to attend to my judging, and two, for the brevity of the commentary contained within. I have read this thread back and forth since it was submitted, and it is a very entertaining and well written story. As such, the commentary for Story and Character, except critical failures, will be let loose in favour of mechanics.

If you have any questions concerning the judgement, or indeed, if you require further clarification regarding anything said or the nature of the spoils, please contact me via personal message.

Story (18/30)

Continuity – 6

Setting – 5

Pacing – 7: Well paced, considering the number of participants and the various scene transitions. Although this in turn hampered clarity, it was handled well and didn't skip a beat.

Character (18/30)

Persona – 7

Action – 8: The shining, tour de force of the thread. Whilst persona was strong in terms of non-dialogue, you portrayed the dynamism between characters and the events around them well. Excellent effort from you all.

Dialogue – 3: This was the only failing of the thread on the whole. Jensen played it typical, and stuck to his guns, but the dialogue from all the other members was either contrived (Sei especially, the war metaphors were too stringent and out of place) or were too colloquial, too, well, too Jensen I guess. There is scope for relaxation from the more serious characters, but Taka especially did not do well under this transition. Remi, I expect a little more salacious banter and sniping, and a little less subservience - you are a mass murdering psycopath (or sociopath, I can never remember), play to your strengths!

Writing (15/30)

Technique – 6

Mechanics – 5: Come ladies, please proof read more thoughtfully, it was a shame to see typing errors in something so well wrought and chuckable!

Clarity – 4: Lower than average as the nature of the thread, the number of participants and the sheer number of NPC's drawn upon didn't do you any favours.

Wild Card (9/10)

What can I say, I'm in this thread, and I can see the funny side of judging writing that mocks my own characters, but it was well written and I enjoyed the company.

Total Score = (60/60)


Spoils:

Union Of Ages:

Once per thread, where any of the characters present is fighting along side a member of the Tantalum, they may gain the use of one non skill ability for the duration of one post, which is treated in terms of strength and duration as if the character using it were two levels lower than the owner. For example, Jensen could do a quick witted rap to conjure a minor healing flame at Level 0 (two levels lower than Ruby's current level). This ability may require further adjustment and restriction pending Realm of Greeting Approval.

Experience:

Requiem Of Insanity gains 1758 experience and 350 gold.

Silence Sei gains 2756 experience and 500 gold.

Tainted Bushido gains 1125 experience and 200 gold.

Enigmatic Immortal gains 2182 experience and 400 gold.

Revenant gains 1758 experience and 375 gold.

[Silence Sei]

EXP-GP added, and next time Duffster, don't forget about Rev.