The Monster and the Immortal

[Requiem of Insanity]

“Did I just hear that correctly, Lord Orlouge?” Cassandra spoke with such shock her voice seemed to shrivel upwards into the deepest depths of her throat and come out nearly as a squeak. Her hazel eyes were as wide as two copper coins, and even her Dark Companion felt outraged as it hissed in the corner of her ear.

“I do not think I stutter when using my telepathy,” Sei said softly.

“But, but,” Cassandra was at a loss for words and she couldn’t form a sentence for the first time in her life. Had she anything in her hand she surely would drop it, so shocking was the news she just heard. The rest of the Ixian Knights council seemed to laugh at her predicament, and each obnoxious chuckle was a grating razor on her nerves.

“I don’t think it’s a terribly bad thing, Lady Remi, to ask each of my Nine generals to demonstrate their current level of fighting prowess. I wish to assess each of you and ensure that you are all in accord and capable of protecting yourselves and the people under your care,” Sei spoke as if this was as natural a reason as breathing. “William has already been training with Ta’gaz and Hotouri, and Duffy just the other day had a go with Jensen Ambrose.”

“But they are Neanderthals!” Cassandra seethed. “They are meant for lifting heavy objects and punching things! I am not meant for that kind of combat!” Cassandra felt her blood boil and for once her dark intentions didn’t try to calm her. Even her love was royally upset with this decision to test her skills.

“What’s the matter, Remi?” William said in a grating voice, like two pieces of coal grinding against each other. His black eyes looked to her and he smiled vilely as she to turned him, a look of disgust on her features as if his gaze was dirty and unwanted. “Afraid you can’t fight when your fact to face with your opponent? Can’t fight when they aren’t sleeping or have their back isn't turned to you?”

Strangely enough it was Duffy Bracken who came to her aid on the matter. He looked right at Sei and spoke in his thick Scara Braen accent. "Hypoc'criti'cal old git, he 'ad a go at ME 'bout sending Blank ti 'is death!" Sei merely let the words wash him as he ignored the Tantalum Troupe leader.

“I do not do this as a silly notion, Lady Remi. The very real fact of life is that what were to happen if the enemy wasn’t caught flat footed, or was able to reverse your actions? I have no use for dead generals and I do not wish to send you out if you can’t prove you can hold your own.”

“You assume I wouldn’t do my homework, Lord Orlouge?” Her tone was bitter as she felt insulted by the Mystic’s claims. To think she of all people would be unprepared when the time came to take out an enemy! It was ludicrous to even conceive the notion. “What do you take me for, a simpleton like that child who plays with shadows?” She spoke of the young boy, Talen, and then pointed to Kyla. “If anybody here is in danger of dying because of a lack of training, it would be her!”

“Kyla has taken the necessary steps to improve herself,” Sei said evenly. “Do not point figures in this room, Lady Remi, unless you wish to have some pointed to yourself,” The generals all chuckled as for the first time ever she was squirming. Usually she owned the meeting room, whenever she was forced to attend. She had always had this infallible face of confidence that couldn’t be broken, but today she was not on her A-game. She had no other options, and angrily she looked to Sei getting up with a huff, very much like a child would when they couldn’t convince their parents to let them have the shiny new toy.

“Very well, my Lord,” Cassandra gave an over exaggerated bow. “But I get to set up the arena and the circumstances!” Sei shook his head. Her face dropped as she glared daggers at the man. “What do you mean?” She breathed darkly.

“The arena will be designed by a lucky random solider, chosen at random from this hat,” Sei said as Kyla held up the straw hat, a satisfied smile on her face. He fidgeted his fingers inside the hat, ruffling it loudly as Cassandra felt all her ire grow to a boiling point, reaching her hand out and swatting the head piece out of his hands.

“I will not have my life be determined by some stupid piece of paper!” Cassandra breathed cruelly. Yet Sei played his part coolly as he lifted up the one piece of paper he managed to keep hold of.

“Well then I suppose you picked this name yourself,” Sei said opening the paper. He looked to it, then to Cassandra, and he began to grunt loudly as if he was laughing. Kyla peaked to it and she started to giggle as well. He passed the paper to Duffy, who looked to the slip and then looked to Cassandra, beginning some estranged monologue about how life can be so cruel as William dragged the paper to his face and looked to it, laughing as he tossed it to the other Generals.

“You’re dead, Remi,” William teased. Cassandra walked towards the exit, stopping to rip the slip out of Talen’s fingertips as she read it. She looked back to Sei and muttered her next words under her breath.

“You’re an asshole, Sei Orlouge,” And she ripped the paper up into thousand of tiny pieces, the name Jensen Ambrose fluttering in the air as she tossed the pieces behind her.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen felt his world come full circle. His steps were light as he walked on his tip toes, dancing it seemed as he moved about the hallways. He stopped before the soup Nazi, smelled his wonderful new flavor of soup, and told the man he simply was the best. TSN was so impressed by Jensen’s words he swelled with pride and offered to let him lick the spoon. Jensen did so, and today of all days it tasted better than he ever would have imagined.

He teetered away from the kitchen, catching a ball in mid air and tossing it around to a few knights in the off hours, all of them enjoying the happier Immortal’s time. Jensen smiled as he kicked the ball down the hall and made way towards the family section of the cave network. He felt so good he started whistling and even Tobias felt his good vibe.

“What’s the news, smelly human?” Jensen linked his arm around hers, dragging down the hall with him as she laughed, skipping with him as he seemed to glow. She noticed for once he wasn’t mentioning she was a filthy lead licker and bush humper.

“Nice day today, no…not nice. GLORIOUS!” Jensen sang as he moved in front of Tobias, willing her forward with his charismatic charm. She giggled as he led her forwards, getting lost in his good cheer.

“And what, pray tell, makes this day so marvelous?”

“Glorious!” Jensen corrected her with a laugh. “And that’s a secret I can’t tell yet, but if you help me pick up Azza and take her home I’ll tell you!” Tobias shrugged and followed the eccentric knight, skipping with him as the two veered a corner over to the day care. Azza was playing with a few other children, but once she saw her dad she waved to him and ran over to him lifting up a pretty necklace made of flowers.

He didn’t even hesitate as he lifted it up and tossed it onto Tobias head, scooping up his little girl and giggling with her. Tobias fixed the necklace into a tiara as she walked back with Jensen, all three laughing and having a great time fooling around. When they reached home Stephanie was picking up a few discarded mission folders and she looked to Azza and Jensen and smiled. Azza ran to her mom, hugged her tight, and then retreated to her room as Tobias took a seat on the couch, lifting her legs up and resting them on the table. Jensen held Stephanie tightly in his arms as he spun her around in a circle.

“At long fucking last!” Jensen said in a hopeful tone. “We waited forever it seemed, and now I get the opportunity of a life time! I just got the greatest news in the history of Althanas!” Jensen let Stephanie sit down next to Tobias, and the two looked to him expectantly. He waited a moment, felt the jitters of the moment pass through his body and he giggled as his limbs twitched in excitement. Stephanie and Tobias both laughed at him, but he just looked to them both with a huge grin.

“I just got special orders to fight Cassandra Remi in the Citadel, and kill her if necessary!” He said at last. There was a pause of reflection, and then suddenly Stephanie squealed with delight as she jumped upwards into his arms and hugged him tightly. Tobias stood up as well, feeling the joy of the moment.

“Really? Honest and true?” Stephanie asked him in a breathless voice as she looked to his eyes. Jensen nodded and the woman squeezed him hard as she let out a sigh of relief. “At last that bitch gets what she deserves!” Tobias shook Jensen’s hand like he had won the lottery, and the immortal beamed with joy. He couldn’t get over the fact he was going to be ordered to beat the crap out of the person he hated the most. “When does this happen?” Jensen smiled to her as he lifted a hand.

“Tonight, after the dinner!” He couldn’t contain his excitement. “And the best part is Duffy, being an honest and true gentlemen, has been promoting the shit out of it to the masses! The citadel is going to close two rooms to allow an audience to watch! This is going to be EPIC!” Jensen pumped his fist in the air and felt like jumping.

“Well you go and prepare yourself with Ta’gaz. Though I don’t think she can hold a candle to you I want you so limber and ready that you can beat her within an inch of her life! Then with that last inch I want you to do what you do best, Jensen,” Stephanie's tone turned vile and cold as she looked to her love, and Jensen pondered what she was saying. “I want you to forget everything that holds you back and I want you to break her!” Jensen looked to his loving girlfriend, and without even a word he kissed her passionately. Tobias grinned as she punched Jensen playfully on the arm.

“Give her hell, Immortal,” Tobias said. “From all of us who get creeped out by the crazy gal.” Jensen smiled to her.

“Consider it done,” He said without batting an eye. Stephanie leaned on him, then looked carefully into his eyes.

“And most importantly, be safe,” She said in warning. “Who know’s what the hell she can do.” Jensen looked to her, and with a wild smile he waved her off as he turned to get ready.

“Come on, she’s the fucking Gisela Reaper, what the hell can she do to me?” Jensen asked coyly as he sauntered off.

[Requiem of Insanity]

What the hell am I going to do? Cassandra thought dimly as she slammed her door open. She moved inside, startling her daughter as she looked up from the vats of poisons and cocked her head to the side in confusion.

“What’s wrong, mother?” Aerith asked. Cassandra just kept her thoughts to herself as she moved to her closet. She quickly stripped to her under garments, a baleful gale slamming her door shut from peering eyes. Aerith looked to her and waited for an answer, looking only to one vial of poison and stirring it twice before letting it go back to stewing. Cassandra looked to her closet and angrily she began ripping everything out of it in a temper tantrum. Some articles of clothing hit Aerith in the face, and she just let the shirts and pants fall to the ground off her. The serial killer breathed heavily, realizing that action didn’t settle her mood at all and violently she turned to her stuff on the floor and began kicking at them.

“Mother?” Aerith asked, lowering her eyes in concern. Cassandra seethed as she spoke to herself, a soft grumble that her daughter couldn’t make out as she looked to her table in the center of the room. Positive nothing of value was on the surface she lifted her foot up and kicked at it. Naked and not wearing any of her normal attire she looked more like a goddess of hatred and malice as her hair rose behind her and draped her face like a veil. The table teetered and with a snarl she stepped forward and flipped it over to get her desired effect.

“Just perfect!” She shouted. “I can’t even kick over a table! Oh yes, Sei, this is perfectly reasonable thing to ask someone like me!” She spoke in such high bitterness that Aerith felt rather uncomfortable. She could tell the dark companion of her mother watched her, attempting to calm her down, but Cassandra was in rare mood today. Her quiet intensity had scared Aerith half to death, but this violent rage of emotions brought a whole new meaning to the word terror.

“Mother?” Aerith asked one last time, and this time Cassandra turned on her, glaring so hatefully at her daughter and fuming with barely contained spite. She wiped her hand across her face removing a few strands that got in her way, and waited a moment. Aerith suddenly wished she didn’t say a word at all and figured if she was in the wishing department anyway she wanted to wish she was a small mouse, or a fly.

“WHAT?” Cassandra bellowed. Aerith took a deep gulp, the sound audible in the silence as she looked to her mother. She was already this far in, to late to back down now.

“I want to know what’s wrong, mother,” Aerith sheepishly asked. Cassandra took in a deep breath, and let it out turning to the floor and looking down upon it. She watched as her mother took a few more deep breaths, and at last Cassandra answered.

“Sei in his infinite wisdom thinks it is well within the realm of good ideas to send his chief assassin out to fight one on one against that mangy mongrel Jensen Ambrose!” Cassandra kicked a sock across the room. Aerith listened and her face contorted into confusion.

“What ever for?” Cassandra shrugged, overly so as she began to pace around the room.

“Probably because he’s bored and wants to see people fight for his entertainments. Maybe because he doesn’t like my methods and feels the need to remind me of that. Perhaps it is for the morale of his silly army. Come one come all!” Cassandra mocked Duffy’s voice. “Come ‘n see ‘th Moonlit Mistress git killed!” She crossed her arms over her breasts as she leaned on her back leg sighing in a pout.

“Well, do you have a plan?” Aerith ventured out into unknown territory in an attempt to be helpful. Cassandra nodded after a moment, stooping down and picking up her sneaking suit. She lifted the material in front of her, smiled, and began to get dressed.

“I have ideas. Do me a favor and fill up my vials with the latest batches of poisons, child,” Cassandra ordered politely. Aerith immediately jumped off her stool and ran towards the back of the room opening a large chest. She fiddled around with a few things until she found a large rolled up sack filled with empty vials. These vials were designed to be crush resistant, and needed a bit of umph to break them. However Cassandra knew the glass was weaker at the bottom, and so she prepared them to break at her whim. She unraveled the sack on the tables of various poisons while Cassandra reached down and began kicking her clothing towards the closet as she turned the table back over.

“First vial is Umbra,” Cassandra nodded as she unlatched the Velcro on her leg and stood behind her daughter. She picked up the filled vial and placed it in the special holder. Then she turned to her knives and began playing with which one she wanted.

Aerith lifted a red concoction up. “Second potion is The Howling,” Cassandra immediately sat upright.

“That will be useless to me, child. It requires the moon to set off the triggers. Find me another one.”

“How about Duality?” Aerith offered. Cassandra shook her head. “Love potion?” Cassandra thought about it, but shook her head. “Mother, you don’t have many ready,” Aerith said in a soft whisper.

“Fine, I’m not sure half of them would work on him. I wish the Blood Sire was ready, but so far it’s still in stage three.” Cassandra looked to her prize poison, but without wasting much more time she turned to a drawer and opened it. She pulled out a container that was filled with a dust. “Where is the antidote for your Gelidness?” Aerith produced a small pill and Cassandra shoved it down her throat. Then she waited for five minutes and continued to place different knives in her holders. She stopped what she was doing and looked at Absolute Zero. If the information she drugged out of Andrew Octane was reliable, it would prove useful in smoking out a few memories from the immortal’s past.

She turned to her bed and lifted the mattress, pulling out a long Dehlar blade that looked more like a butcher’s knife than a sword. She tested the weight, feeling the warmth from her cherished playtime friend, The Butcher’s Bill. Many lives were taken with this sword, and she hoped she could take one of Jensen’s infinite with it tonight.

She placed the weapon on her back with a bit of effort, silently thinking that if she was having trouble planting her weapon on her back than she was in more trouble than she would like to admit. Aerith lifted the dust and began to place it all over Cassandra’s body as she chewed the bottom of her lip in irritation. When she felt good and ready that the poison was in place she looked to her door.

“Go ahead of me, child. I want you to do something at the citadel. Talk to a monk, whichever one you can convince to help you. I don’t care if you use my love potion to do it, but there are plans that need to be set into motion first. Jensen may be immortal but immortal’s have weaknesses…” She said whispering her plan to her daughter.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

The crowd was far larger than the citadel expected. Almost every off duty Ixian Knight had shown up and Duffy and Ruby were highlighting the show. The generals all had front row seats, of course, and Stephanie elbowed her way to take a seat next to William Arcus. Tobias sat behind her, Ta’gaz next to her and even Taka and Hotouri showed up and sat. Sei was merely talking to his daughters as Kyla seemed energetic despite her pregnancy, but Anita on the other hand was telling Sei how much a jerk he was being. Anybody but Jensen, she argued. But Sei merely shook his head continually repeating that it was Cassandra who swiped the hat away and left him with Jensen’s name.

“Big turnout,” Ta’gaz whispered to Stephanie. She looked behind her and saw Pell and Jamie, the guards usually assigned to the uncharted areas of the cave, both eating a bag of popcorn. Next to them were some pupils of Hotouri’s class, all talking excitedly to each other. She spotted Aislinn sitting with Felicity on her shoulders, a few of her medics next to her as she talked lightly with them and some other knights she didn’t know. Behind them however were some villagers from the nearby town. Apparently Duffy knew how to promote.

“But dad!” Anita whined. “Look at this, this is not a test of her strength but a public execution!” Stephanie looked to Anita, wishing the girl didn’t have such a crush on Cassandra Remi, debating whether or not she should say something. Sei however spoke to her in a one way message and the girl pouted, turning from her father and storming out. As far as Stephanie was concerned Cassandra Remi was going to get what was coming to her.

“It is a public execution,” Tobias leaned forward as she whispered loudly to all who would listen. “And she deserves it. Heard she likes to gut her victims and tease them with their intestines in front of their face.”

“Thank god I left Azza at home,” Stephanie muttered. At last there was the sound of cheering as a long mirror was brought forward. The Aibron monks did a few chants and the mirror showed them the arena that Jensen had designed for the midnight monster. The sight was rather off for the Enigmatic Immortal.

The arena looked like a ruin, stone work walls and thatched ceilings of wood and mortar that had long since caved in. Moss grew over each column and the sky was dark, as if deep in a jungle. There were a few dead ends, and a few passages that looked like they had hidden tunnels. There was a wide open space off to the left, where dozens of small markers were left and a few statues. A graveyard. The other side had a central sacrificial alter, raised upon a dais of pure obsidian stone with raked steps.

Duffy and his gang all took their seats as they whooped in excitement, cheering for Jensen to give her hell. Tobias joined the other chants to kill Cassandra Remi and she felt the desire to do so as well. However Ta’gaz remained dour in his look. She looked to see Taka and Hotorui keeping their reservations as well.

“What’s up?” Stephanie at last asked. “Why you guys all solemn and stoned faced.” They all looked to her, and it was Hotouri who answered first.

“A snake slithers upon its belly in the grass to catch the prey off guard and inject its poison, but when you corner a snake it still has its teeth and venom.” Taka nodded and Ta’gaz looked to Stephanie and elaborated.

“Cassandra is being forced into the battle, but she still has all the desires to kill. Do you think she’ll not fight back with everything she has at her disposal?” Stephanie sighed giving into his point.

“Still, it’s Jensen,” She mumbled to him, as if this was the secret key to answer the problem.

“All the more reason to keep an eye out for her venom,” Taka said, overly macabre. Stephanie kept quiet after that as Tobias pointed to the floor, and the crowd cheered twice as loud as before as Jensen walked into the arena. He looked radiant in his trench coat and he sauntered into the arena like he owned the place. His confidence put her at ease and she pushed aside the doubt the three warriors had.

Jensen was immortal, he would be fine.

~*~*~

“Oh yeah,” Jensen said happily as he twirled to take in the environment. The air was hot and humid, sweat already starting to form on his back. The smell was of fresh vegetation, the plant life almost alive in its stoic watch over the fallen ruins. Damn did the Aibron monks knew how to deliver. Yet he didn’t like how the lighting in the ruins was dimmer than he intended. It was almost as if night was in the ruins, and he wanted to catch Cassandra in the day. He was pretty sure he asked for a daytime battle, but he was here anyway and it wasn’t like he was afraid of the dark.

Jensen moved into the ruins, feeling the dried out leaves and plants crack under his footsteps. He observed the floor and found the first out of place sight, scooping down and picking up a rock. Easily he skipped it so it landed on an off colored panel, and the weight pushed the switch down enough that a large spike shot upright into the air. He felt the rush of terror tingle down his spine and he let out a chuckle as he moved onwards towards finding his target. He pulled out one of his throwing daggers and twirled the weapon lazily in his fingers.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Jensen taunted as he turned a corner looking to every shadow. “I’ll find you one way or another, Cassandra Remi, just you wait and see…”

[Requiem of Insanity]

Cassandra already hated the arena. It was hot and smelly and the jungle life didn’t suit her at all. She stepped through the portal into the room, looking about her surroundings and coming to the conclusion she wasn’t in for an easy fight. Still, Jensen had arrogantly gave her time to hide, and time to plan. These were mistakes she would capitalize on.

She lifted a finger and hooked it to the front of her mask, lifting it up and over the bridge of her nose. She pulled her hair into a tight ponytail and tucked it into the back of her suit before lifting up the hood over her head. She entered the shadows, and became one with them. First thing she noticed was that there were going to be traps on the floor. Her steps had to be precise and careful, which was fine with her. She had patience on her side, a desire to make Jensen suffer. He would lose his cool eventually and begin making mistakes.

She smiled under her face mask as she heard him calling out to her from the other side of the arena. He had made his first mistake already, in alerting her of his position. She looked to her surroundings, checked for traps, and began to toe the edges of the wall as she moved silently forwards. She looked to the ruins and found a small crumbling pillar that may or may not have been a statue at one point. Either way there was sufficient darkness covering the top and she crawled her way up it to hide in a nook. The elevation allowed her to see a bit deeper into the ruins, charting out the land and committing it to memory. She found the graveyard and made a point to avoid that place at all costs. Anywhere she was left out in the open would be a deadly gambit she wasn’t sure she could win.

Her legs began to wobble as her footing slipped, pushing fiercely on the pillar to keep her suspended until she could grip her feet in place again. The ruins were old enough that they would crumble, it seemed, if provoked. That was another advantage she could use if she had the proper time to set up this place. She gazed a few more moments to see if she could find the damnable immortal, but after his initial taunt he kept his comments to himself.

Figures the one time the loud mouth isn’t barking, She thought dimly as she lowered herself. She slipped on the ground, falling prone and she let out a soft sigh as she picked herself up, feeling tiny rocks that had imbedded themselves in her hand fall to the ground. She checked to see if any lasting damage had been done, but other than a stinging sensation in the palm of her hand, she was fine.

She closed her eyes as she retreated to a shadow, mentally thinking of the lay of the land. She mapped the area where the sacrificial table was and looked to her bag of tricks she kept tied to her waist. Inside was two pouches, each holding the damned pieces to the chess board she inherited from a man she fought in this very building. She looked over the area, peaked around the corner and made her move towards the alter.

I do hope you like games, Mr. Ambrose.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

The heat was a lot more of a factor than he intended. He was sweating at the armpits now, and he still didn’t have a clue where his prey was. He looked around every corner, swatted at every shadow with his knife, and sighed in frustration as he couldn’t get a beat on her. Still, he kept his wits about him as he continued to crawl deeper into the ruins, climbing over some rubble and avoiding a wall trap and a cleverly disguised pitfall.

He observed the new area he was in, a small courtyard it seemed, with a fountain full of murky water and a few overturned totems of various faces long since weathered away by time. Jensen moved slowly in the open, feeling particularly vulnerable to be exposed, but at the same time what really could he do? Cassandra was going to probably get the jump on him, all he had to do was survive the encounter. Then the bitch was in his grips.

He walked towards the right, where the sacrificial alter was located. He was positive she would head there, as any good serial killer of her caliber would want to defeat Jensen in a demonstrative way to show her superiority. He stalked the area, darting at anything that moved and his foot grazed a trip wire. It snapped and down fell a large log, nearly rolling over him as he jumped backwards. It came to a stop at large a grouping of broken wall stones, and Jensen had to take a moment to get his bearings back.

“Gotta stop setting them off like that, Jensen,” He said to himself. “You’ll kill yourself at this rate.” He let out a soft snort of mirth as he moved forwards in the tunnel, coming out and under the walkway above ground that led to a dead end. He observed the floor plan pondering if he could trap Cassandra in such a place, and mentally made sure he would remember the steps to reach that position.

Stepping forwards again he found the first signs of Cassandra being in the area. It was a feint sign, but anybody with skills in tracking would notice the disturbance of the dust in such a large quantity. He looked up and saw the pillar and noticed that it had a nice little hole where somebody could hide. He tossed his dagger into the hole, but it bounced harmlessly back at him and on the ground where it clattered loudly. It fell right where the dust was disturbed and he figured she had fallen out of that hole. He looked to the shadows, now more cautious than ever as he stalked forwards.

There was movement up ahead, but all he managed to find was a snake slithering across a stretch of stone pavement leading down to another corridor. He carefully moved to the corridor, peaked half his face around the corner, and instantly retracted as his neck hairs rose up quickly. A loud metal sound echoed as something scraped the stonework and fell to the floor. He peaked again and didn’t immediately see her and his danger intuition didn’t seem to be warning him.

“Where you at, Midnight Monster?” Jensen taunted scooping down and lifting her thrown weapon. It was a small kitchen steak knife. Had it him in the body it wouldn’t have pierced his skin, but as she had aimed for his eye he figured it would have done the trick. He tossed it aside as it was useless to him. He looked to the shadows, narrowed his eyes as he tried to find something that was odd to him, but nothing struck out. He lifted a throwing glaive and tossed it at the shadows, but it hit the stone creating a small spark. It bounced back and landed near his feet two steps away.

“GRAH!” Jensen seethed his frustrations. “Damn whore! Stop hiding and come out and play!”

[Requiem of Insanity]

Cassandra felt her limbs burn from the sudden exertion she was forcing her body to do. She hadn’t in a long time used any of the muscles she was using now, but as she held herself aloft in the shadows, keeping two hands and two feet pressed against the wall, she looked to Jensen as he began to grow irritated.

She willed the immortal to walk away, as her arms began to weaken and her body started to shake. She was sorely out of shape for this sort of hunting, and she figured Sei had a point or two in his words. Still, she wouldn’t admit it to him, ever. Her Dark Companion was with her the entire time, softly giving her encouragement. He lent his hand to her shoulder to steady her nerves, and she focused on the love she had for her dark desires. Jensen at long last gave up looking to the shadows, and walked away.

She held herself for at least a minute longer, than with a gasp of pent up exertion she collapsed, landing on the floor feet first before she moved to one knee and then sat on her butt, scooting into the shadows. Her suit was doing a marvelous job of keeping her safe in the darkness, and it was in the darkness she planned her next move. Jensen was last seen turning to his left, so she naturally would go right after a few minutes of recuperating and basic hunters knowledge. There was no point to go the second he did, as that would attract the already paranoid immortal. Better to let him wander out of sight before moving.

She felt her love flutter away, going towards the last spot Jensen was and with a dark chuckle he returned, telling her that the immortal was good and gone. She strained to stand, but did so. She turned to her right and picked up The Butcher’s Bill, placing it to her back once again. She was grateful the moron hadn’t noticed it in the corner. She moved with silent footsteps to the left and moved towards the end of the long passageway. As she rounded out the corner she found herself looking to the obsidian steps of the sacrificial table and she quickly ran up them. She had scant time to perform her trick.

She pulled the two chess pieces out and scattered them on the table before looking around for something, anything she could use to write with. She found a small discarded piece of chalk that was used to make runes and sigils on the tables surface and brought it up to the table quickly scrabbling an eight by eight square board. It took two minutes and it looked rather awkward, but it would serve her purpose.

“I challenge you to a game, Jensen Ambrose. I will be white, you will be black. In this game I set the rules,” She spoke the words like a mantra as she set the pieces up over the board. “There is no checkmate, there is only taking pieces. You get points for taking a piece. The winner of this game is the person who has the most points.” She smiled to herself as she made up the new rules to the old game.

The power of the chess set lay dormant within the pieces when a game wasn't being played. White pieces, when captured, would make someone forget a cherished memory, a memory of a fond, happier time, something they wouldn't want to lose, ever. The captured black pieces would bring out a forgotten memory, a memory so dark and horrible you hid it so deep in your soul that you forgot it even existed. To use the powers of the chess pieces it was demanded the rules be set in advanced. If she eliminated the rule of checkmate, then she would need to create a new win condition.

She had no intention of playing the game herself, just Jensen. “The game ends when I declare it over.”

She set up a black bishop on the table, and put a pawn directly a square before its line of attack. She waited a moment, whispered, “game start,” and moved the black Bishop so it was threatening the white Pawn. She then turned to the remaining space on the table and pocketed her unused pieces. With the chalk in hand she wrote on the table: Save your Pawn! and turned towards the walls. She hit the stones and frantically began pushing her hands on a few odd looking rocks and at last found one that gave and rattled the stonework. She closed her eyes, pressed firmly against the stone, and waited. A hidden hole opened up and a few darts flew outwards towards the other end of the room just above her face. She sighed, pushed another rock, and slowly a small hole in the wall opened up. She peered down, found a rather interesting looking golden dagger, and pulled it out and crawled in it. She moved a few rocks ahead of her and waited.

“Find me, you miserable, mangy mongrel,” Cassandra shouted. “I would think even a dog like you wouldn’t take so long to find me!”

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen walked along the floor, wiping sweat from his face as he moved. Still no more signs surfaced of Cassandra and he grew impatient. He turned another corner, saw a dead end, and began to violently mutter curses under his breath. Just when he was about to lose his cool he heard Cassandra’s voice call out over the ruins. The sound came from behind him and quickly he back tracked until the fork in the road he had last seen her. He moved down the right path and it was a long one. Far longer than he liked being exposed in a narrow hallway. Each step he took was careful and he noted several traps along the way, but as he moved he started seeing a familiar shape of what looked like footsteps. Shrugging he followed in them, step for step, and found he had little trouble in avoiding the traps altogether.

He turned and found himself inside the room with the sacrificial alter, his goal all along and with a lick to his lips he moved inwards holding both throwing knives in his hand. He stepped up to the table, seeing the oddest sight ever. A makeshift chessboard was upon the surface, etched in with child like handwriting next to it. He read the message and looked around the surrounding area. No signs of Cassandra, which meant she was hiding and watching. But where he couldn’t be sure. He looked to the walls, saw nothing out of place, and began to observe the room in careful details. There were a few stone faced masks on the walls, probably some heathen gods or what not from a time long ago. A few weapons, spears and such, were on the left wall, but nothing that showed signs of Cassandra Remi. Sadly, this room was eerily cleaner than the rest of the ruins, and he had no footprints to go off of.

There were two options now. He could leave the message alone and stalk Cassandra elsewhere, or he could spring the obvious trap. He knew she wasn’t stupid enough to think he would just play her games, but what he was already debating was what she was gambling on. Would he lose patience and get her into the open by springing the trap? The options were limited, and he was already getting annoyed with the inactivity. Angrily he stepped back to the table, looked to his pawn, and sighed lifting it up and with a causal flick of his wrist he smashed his pawn into the bishop knocking it into next Tuesday.

What he expected he didn’t know, but what he saw he wasn’t ready for.

There was a memory that was smoked out his mind, and he fell to his knees in exasperation as the pain was tremendous, like a million hammers banging upon his skull. Jensen gripped his mind and let out a silent scream and he rolled to his back and felt the memory take shape.

Alone in a room a man looked own upon a crying baby. He was a burly man, every part of his body was muscular and he wore a pair of loose jean shorts and a shirt that was hanging to the left side of his pants. His bare chest was covered in scars and his face was contorted in equal parts of displeasure and confusion. The baby continued to cry, it’s wails grating his every nerves.

“What are you crying about?” He shouted to the child. Still it wailed. “Well?” He continued to shout.

“Nathanial, the kid is probably hungry or tired,” A disembodied voice spoke from the shadowy corners of the memory.

“Shut the hell up, Xavier, I don’t give a rats ass what he wants! Damn Cry Baby has no reason to whine! Why should he be whining when my wife is dead?” He looked to the baby, a vile disgusted look on his features. “She’s dead, and you cry because you want something?” His voice was barely controlled anger. “What more do you want? You took my wife’s life, you miserable runt! I hate you, I fucking hate you, Cry Baby!”

“NATHANIAL DON’T!” Xavier screamed. But it was to late. Nathanial lifted his hand into the crib, grabbed the baby Jensen by his face, and shoved it into the wall creating a large hole.

Jensen wailed in terror and pain as he gripped his head, screeching like a newborn babe.

[Requiem of Insanity]

Cassandra felt his screams strike a core inside her and she nearly passed out from the pleasure of his wails. Never before, never had she heard anything so sweet and so pure as Jensen’s agonizing screams. She didn’t know what to expect when he took the bishop on her behalf. He was a loyal pawn, alright, and he played the game very well. The memory was a bonus, a great insight into the mind of the immortal. Daddy didn’t love him at all, it seemed. She looked as Jensen’s wails began to die down, and she realized she was wasting precious time. She pushed the rocks out of her way and began to crawl out of the space.

As she was about to stand she felt a painful tug on her ankle. Looking back she realized the hole was closing on her foot. She tried to pull her ankle free, but it wasn’t enough. The mechanism was far stronger than she and angrily she snarled her irritation as she unlatched The Butcher’s Bill and used it as a wedge to free her leg. It took far longer than she wanted, but she was freed long enough to turn to find Jensen slowly getting to his knees.

She stood up, putting as much pressure off her injured ankle and rushing towards him in a half run, half wobble. Her sword clanged off the obsidian with a click, and she was nearing Jensen when suddenly she saw him turn, eyes full of a fire she had never seen.

“I’ll rip your god damn head off!” He breathed as his fist came outwards and landed right on her jaw. She had seen him perform the so called Shoryuken before, the move rather uninteresting in her opinion. It was just a jumping uppercut, but now to experience it first hand made her realize why people tended to avoid the move. Her teeth slammed into her tongue and blood pooled her mouth as the immortal shut her mouth with his fist. Her back arched as she lost her feet and went upwards a foot in the air before falling backwards. She landed hard on her back right between two steps and she rolled down them in agony as she let out a shocked gasp of air.

Jensen was already on her, grabbing her by the back of her suit and hooking his arms around her waist, but she lifted one leg into his crotch hitting hard. He stumbled for a second, fingers grasping to keep its hold he began clawing at her suit. She thought that it was all over at that moment, but suddenly he stopped, his body starting to shiver uncontrollably. The contact poison of Aerith’s Gelidness took its toll, starting to freeze his blood and shorten his actions. However he didn’t seem to inhale the poison, which would have done further, more severe damage. This was all she could get from her attack. A stalemate of sorts. Mental anguish had been dealt to the immortal, and the Gisela Reaper had lost first blood to Jensen Ambrose.

She retreated, her steps forced as her breath ran shallow down into the hallway. She had only a few precious minutes to disappear.

~*~*~

Outside of the Citadel, back in Sei’s tomb was Aerith, looking to the children as they played in the day care. Most, if not all, of the Ixian Knights were at the historical building, wanting to witness the murder of her mother. True, she would live thanks to the powers of the Aibron monks, but the damage would be done. She would be proven fallible, and her fearsome reputation would crumble to dust. That above all else had to remain intact. Jensen Ambrose couldn’t win.

That was why she was with the day care guards, smiling to them and flirting with the man in charge. He spoke to her, gently, and she let him in for a kiss, but one whiff of her perfume and he started to feel very, very tired. He passed out into her arms where she held him in a deep embrace and gently put the man on the bench. Glad you liked the perfume so much, she thought to herself.

The other guards turned to her suspiciously and began to approach her, arms going right to their weapons. She knew this would happen, and had planned for it. She was fast running out of her Sleep potions, but the mission was worth the depletion. Carefully she moved backwards, turning into the hall way where a few other guards were stationed. There were six men in all as the guards of the day care began to corner her. With a smile she produced two cylindrical vials filled with a swirling grey mass and tossed it at the ground towards their feet. They all moved quickly when the glass shattered, but in moments they all had fallen down and out for the count. Aerith looked down the hallway, checking to make sure she wasn’t going to have any more unexpected trouble and proceeded back into the day care.

She looked at the grassy knoll and the ceiling hole where the sun beamed down. It was nearing sunset and that meant the battle was well underway. She had to move quickly, and she looked down at the map of which exit to take. Her mother mentioned she used the route several times and nobody seemed to notice her screaming victims as she dragged them home. She turned towards the kids and looked for white hair. Once she spotted it she walked over to the child and bent at the knees so she looked her in the eye. “Hello, are you Azza Ambrose?” The girl looked to her, concerned and quiet. Aerith waited patiently and put on a cheerful smile.

“Yeah,” Azza whispered, unsure what to do.

“I came to get you, your dad wants to give you something,” Azza was quiet for a moment and Aerith moved out her hand to take the girl. “Don’t worry, I promise to take you right to your father...”

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Stephanie’s hands had instinctively clutched onto William’s arm when she watched her love fall to his knees, screaming. She had no clue what poison or drug or magic Cassandra was using to make him collapse like that, and the entire audience all gasped in shock. When she came scrambling up some of the Ixian Knights began to shout for Jensen to get up, and she closed her eyes thinking the worst as she dug her face into William’s arm.

“He’s not out yet,” William grunted, his voice cutting through the sudden roar of cheers. She opened her eyes and turned to find Jensen standing again, his face full of rage as he scrambled to grab her. She lifted her hands up in triumph as he managed to wrap his arms in a deep embrace, but his momentum was shifted when she did the low blow. A few knights began wincing in fear and Tobias whispered loudly, “That ain’t right,” as they watched Jensen scramble to keep his hold.

“He’s got her!” A warrior shouted.

“No wait! Look!” Another bellowed. Stephanie felt her heart start to pound heavily in her chest and again she clutched Williams arm for support as she watched the man she loved fall over, his body shivering as if he was eternally cold. The bitch ran for the hills at the first opportunity and she watched Jensen roll on the floor, foaming at the mouth with curses.

“Is this going to be a reoccurring thing?” William asked, his tone irritated as his charred gaze turned to her. She looked to him, then without any sudden warning she began shouting at the monster hunter.

“I’m scared half to death right now because of that bitch and I need something to hold onto so if you can’t handle it than move aside so I can grip Tobias’ arm!” William merely raised his hands in defense and she sighed loudly looking back to the battle arena. She watched Jensen and her emotions began to swirl again.

She began to wish she was as confident now as she was before.

~*~*~

Jensen’s head swam with pain as he let out one last shuddering breath. Part of him hated to see Cassandra go, but the more rational side was grateful. Had she the experience of fighting in live combat she would have known she had the upper hand and could have ended this fight.

With a loud groan he felt warmth return to his limbs once again. Never more would he complain about the heat in the ruins. One knee propped up and from there he pushed to his feet, slowly and confidently regaining his bearings. His head throbbed from the vision that was yanked out of his skull like a barbed hook. Then he wondered just what the hell he saw. The names meant nothing to him, save Xavier, but somehow the other guy had familiarity to him. The more he thought, the more he couldn’t remember and so he dropped the matter all together.

Painfully he took a few steps, inhaling deeply the air of the jungle and regaining his composure. He took a few test jabs and bounced a bit on his feet. He didn’t seem to have any issues with fighting and so with his body squared away he advanced forwards. He had no idea where the serial killer had gone, and so once again he was back to chasing shadows and pondering his next move.

[Requiem of Insanity]

Cassandra’s jaw ached badly. It ached so badly she resorted to dwelling in a particularly large area with several pillars and hid amongst the highest one in the shade to find some relief. She lowered her mask and put the steel blade of Absolute Zero to her jaw line, feeling the icy enchantments of the blade numb her pain. She turned to the entrance of the room, making sure Jensen hadn’t followed her, and when she was positive he wasn’t around she sighed leaning back.

This wasn’t her best hunt, but she kept reminding herself that Sei put her up to this. She would never have taken Jensen on without first gathering the necessary information and tools to make sure he would go down swiftly. With a groan of effort she picked herself up and started the next phase of her plan. Cassandra moved towards the end of the room, found a small hallway and walked down it being careful to avoid anymore traps the ruins had to offer.

She scanned ahead looking to see a room towards the right that was still in decent shape. The Serial Killer entered into what she had to assume was a high priests room, for there was gold lining the edges of a wooden shelf, stone tablets placed upon them reverently. There was a large mask of two eyes leering at her and four devilishly smiling grins looking back to her and she found some robes of rainbow colored feathers upon a hook.

There was a book in the center of a table, and she flipped it open finding different incantations and rituals using the art of pictography. Her eyes looked to the crude rituals using the golden knife she held and her feet relaxed as she saw the detailed drawings of the victims screams. Her Dark Companion began to urge her to move, but she ignored him. Her obsession with torture override her normally rational behavior, and she wanted to see more about these people and their increasingly interesting history. She stood there for five minutes reading the tome, smiling to herself as she envisioned the screams the people must have made.

At last her love gripped her mind, his talons raking into her skull as he hissed into her ear. Cassandra angrily turned from him and shut the book, picking it up and turning to leave when she found something blocking her path. Her eyes widened and she nearly dropped the book from her hands, but her grip on it was what had just saved her life as a throwing knife impaled deeply into the pages.

She quickly discarded the book and pulled out the Butcher’s Bill cursing her estranged habits and obsessions. She hadn’t much more time to dwell on that as Jensen came rushing at her, weapons in hand and a wild smile of pleasure on his face.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen had searched hard and listened for anything that could have been the Moonlit Mistress, and all his efforts had paid off. He knew he was on the right trail when the creepy aura she exuded washed over him a few feet from the door, and slowly he made his way towards her. There she was, back turned to him stupidly reading from a book.

He was going to end it there and then, but a rush of dread impacted his senses, making him hesitate for only a fraction as something snarled into his ear. When he had thrown the weapon it impaled whatever Cassandra was reading, and she had enough where-with-all to draw her sword.

Jensen felt his blood rage inside his veins just to look at her face; everything that made her beautiful was ugly to him, and he would break the foundations she had built in her soul and send them crashing down with his maddening laughter. Before that however, he had to beat her into submission.

Her giant Dehlar weapon came crashing down and the iron knife he had in his hand was bit deep, almost cut into two pieces by the ferocity of her attack. He jerked both weapons to the side and stepped into her personal zone, knee rising up and slamming into her stomach. She grunted loudly and doubled over. Now that she was prone, the immortal hooked his arm around the side of her head and released his hold on his throwing knife grabbing her hip, bunching up her sneaking suit to make a suitable hold. With an exertion of effort he lifted her up off the ground and snapped his body back guiding her upwards and downwards like a human pendulum.

Now she screamed in pain, her back taking the brunt of the attack. Jensen felt his back tighten from the impact, but he rolled to his side and back onto his feet, shuffling in place. The room was a bit small to effectively use his Caeiporiea battle stance, so he adopted sticking to Salvarian Greco Wrestling and Boxing. He stepped forwards, lifting down to grab her again, but she lifted up a small kitchen knife, a pairing knife, that cut the palm of his hand wide as a spray of blood flooded out his hand. The hot droplets splashed the floor and a bit managed to land like a violent scar across her left eye.

“Bitch!” Jensen cursed bringing his hand in and cradling the wound. Cassandra was on her knees as she reached out for her sword, and Jensen twirled in place kicking the weapon away from her grubby fingers. She wasn’t without a backup plan, however, her body moving up as she lifted both hands to his shoulder and pushed. Jensen’s balance shifted wildly and he nearly fell, but he came back to a vertical base using a wide roundhouse kick.

Cassandra again let out another agonizing grunt, her screams muffled from the shock of her jaw getting hit by the heel of his boot. She stumbled in her advance, and Jensen took advantage rushing at her and tackling her to the ground. He felt the muscles in her stomach contract, and her chest heaved up and then went flat as a rush of hot breath washed over his scalp. Winded and down once again Cassandra could only feebly roll side to side, gripping her sides and curling into the fetal position, coughing.

Jensen lifted up his punch knife, prepared it for the killing blow and lowered it when again that vibe of Cassandra washed over him. It felt like murky, disgusting water running down his body and he twitched uncontrollably. Cassandra let out a yelp of exasperation, her foot coming out and tripping the immortal as she kicked the back of his knees. He fell to the floor on his stomach and his wounded hand spiked in pain as dirt rubbed into the open wound. Cassandra scrambled to her feet, slipping several times nearly collapsing with exhaustion as she pushed her body to limits unheard of before.

“No you don’t!” Jensen hollered, and he felt the pit of his stomach gurgle in anticipation of chasing down the woman he despised. As he hounded her steps he began to chuckle, reaching out and slapping her on the shoulder to let her know he was steps away.

“Run, run as fast as you can!” Jensen taunted, and this time he let out a roar of laughter, rushing to be side by side with the Gisela Reaper. When he looked at her face he felt a rush of satisfaction run through him, giving him even more energy as he howled out a joyous chorus of mirth. She had terror in her eyes, terror that the immortal was going to get her.

“I’m the boogeyman, Cassandra,” Jensen chuckled. “I’m coming to get you! Run-run!” He paced with her, and she darted like a wild rabbit being hunted by a fox. She turned down sharp corners, damning all traps they encountered. They set of several of them in their run, poisonous darts falling harmlessly against the wall they were at four steps ago. She nearly slid into a hole, having to jump and roll over it. Jensen jumped towards the side wall, extending a foot out and kicking off the stone and back to the other side.

He ran at her heels, barking savagely like the dog she claimed him to be, laughing as he gave her a thrill of terror. When she veered off course he tossed a throwing glaive to put her back on the right track, and slowly, carefully, he herded her movements towards the spot where all her tricks would mean nothing.

“Pray I don’t catch you, Cassandra!” Jensen shouted to her. “I’ll do things that will make even you blush!”

[Requiem of Insanity]

Cassandra had experienced many things in her life, including being hunted by her father, Jebb Remi, and killing him, to being outright killed by Serenity Dahlios. She had seen her skin being ripped to shreds before her eyes, watching and feeling the extreme brutality of the Hex Magi. She had spent time in a dark cold hell, prayed upon the monsters there, and spent long months screaming her song in the River of the Damned. Cassandra was born again, returned from the dead sea and extracted revenge on the woman who had killed her. She had even fallen in love with someone who wasn’t her Dark Companion, and killed him.

Cassandra had experienced many things, but never before had she been so terrified in her life. This was never the way it was supposed to be as she was the one who did the chasing, but to be chased? That was the first out of place moment for her. Then to be attacked and beaten, that was again, another new feeling. Though what Jensen was doing to her now was harrowing and made her feel vulnerable and frightened like a small little girl. He barked at her, laughed with her screams as she tried to escape from the insane immortal. Everywhere she went was either Jensen’s arm, his throwing weapons, or an obnoxious bark and a dark chuckle in her ear.

She turned several corners, getting lost within the ruins and unable to think clearly thanks to the maddened knight. She had no clue where her steps lead her and even the calming voice of her darling dark desires were not able to drown out the constant barrage of insults, cat calls, and that damning laugh. When she jumped over an obstacle he would slide under it. When she turned a corner he would spin her in a different direction. The entire time he hounded her he could have ended the fight, but this was her punishment for embarrassing him all those times.

At last they ran down a narrow corridor, the stone walls were etched with several unintelligible writings and even some pictures of mighty warriors and fell beasts. It all meant nothing to her as she ran, her feet turning slowly and steadily into rubber. She was losing her speed, but each time she softened her pace Jensen was there, encouraging her forwards with his own unique charm of threats and giggles. At last she veered into what looked like moonlight, and with a breath of exhaustion she collapsed upon something and her chin pounded into the dirt. She scrapped her fingers into the dirt, crawling forwards as she reached up and clawed at a stone statue, breathing and whimpering as Jensen let out another, long luxurious cry of mirth.

“Say Baa for me, bitch! Can you say Baa, Baa, Baa, you little black sheep?” Jensen called to her as he turned and motioned to the surrounding room they were in. Wearily Cassandra looked around and her spine shivered, all her fears coming back that had settled down, her heart beating rapidly in terror. “I, like the good Shepard, have led you to the place of your eternal damnation! And in front of these hollowed graves I shall end you, Cassandra Remi. No more shall they, the people, look to you with fear, for Jensen, the slayer of the monster Cassandra Remi, will defend the people!”

Cassandra felt her body stiffen and grow heavy, realizing she was in the worst spot she could possibly be in. There were but a handful of shadows, all small, and two entrances. The other entrance was about twenty yards to her left, but she would never get there in time. Like a good little farm animal, she allowed the dog to herd her in into the graveyard.

The sudden knowledge of knowing she was going to die sprang her limbs back into action, however, as she reached for her fillet knife and Absolute Zero. She twirled them up to her chest, holding them across her breasts as she snarled to Jensen, removing her hood and letting her long black hair out. “Then come at me! Show me, mighty hero, how you will slay this monster!” The two charged at each other, Cassandra feeling her love near her side as he howled out a challenge to Jensen so strong the wind picked up and blew towards the immortal.

She thrust her weapons forwards, both at the same time and Jensen did a backwards skip, bringing up a throwing glaive and letting it fly. It hit her right shoulder and Absolute Zero fell to the ground as she let out a frustrated cry of anguish. She clenched her teeth and seethed as she ran at him again, but it was more in a blind rage at this point. She watched as Jensen ducked low and jumped upwards, doing a vicious flip kick that smacked her in jaw. The pain in her cheeks and chin was to much for her to bare, and with a childish whimper and blood oozing out her mouth she fell to her knees, releasing her grips on the weapons she held.

Jensen looked to her, saw she was beaten down and took advantage of the moment by rushing ahead. He let out a mighty cry, his body moving in a complex dance rhythm. He was back in his Caeiporiea stance, and now she knew she had lost. Her body slumped as her butt sat on her ankles, arms draping to her side as she fell to her hands, head held low for the execution.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

The whole room watched in a stunned silence as Jensen found Cassandra, and when he began the chase it quickly turned once again. The room was screaming for the immortal, everyone’s lips calling out for him to ‘get her’ and ‘give it to her, give it to her good!’

Stephanie felt her own blood run in time with the immortal’s, her heart racing in her chest despite she was sitting only in a padded chair. William and Ta’gaz watched, seemingly in a trance as Jensen gave chase, and when the immortal began laughing it echoed inside the halls. William let out a groan so audible it was like he was standing before a sound amplifier orb, his eyes closing as the laughter gave him bad memories. The room got even louder to hear the immortal taunting Cassandra as they did their high speed dance, and Tobias gripped the female knight’s shoulders in an excited manner, leaning in on her arm and watching.

“Don’t worry, he’s got her now!” The elf reassured her. Stephanie smiled and nodded. When Jensen managed to file the Emprean Eviscerator into the graveyard she stood for a final stand. Cassandra's words and speech were like a witch at the stake; meaningless and empty as the serial killer ran to him. Jensen easily thwarted her attack and moved into his favored fighting stance. Stephanie at last gave in to her joy, letting her voice lift up with the others.

“DO IT DARLING! RAKE HER BACK AND THEN BREAK HER!” The room echoed her emotional outburst, and Jensen moved in to deliver the final blows.

~*~*~

Jensen felt the beat in his soul resonate with the music of his heart, all flowing as a slave to his blood as his body moved side to side. He shuffled around, saw her crumble to nothing, and with a joyous laugh he came at her. He had stored up a lot of his frustrations in this match, and the few hits he got weren’t enough to take away his rage at the memory she smoked out of his mind. Simply put, she was going to get annihilated.

He twirled on his feet towards her, dropping to his knee and coming up with a flip kick that rose Cassandra to her feet. When he landed back to his feet he bounced twice and did a fierce roundhouse that hit the side of her cheeks so hard it sounded like wood snapping. Cassandra teetered and Jensen followed up his hit with a pinwheel kick, laughing like a hyena as he kept her suspended to the one spot. When his foot touched down he came up with another flash kick, catching her jaw and feeling it slam on the roof of her mouth. She didn’t make a peep as the beating came, her eyes full of a lifeless exhaustion. Jensen felt his bitterness overwhelm him and did another flash kick, letting out a roar of hate as he connected. When she was about to collapse he rolled into two stiff stomach kicks, and then ended his Flash Dance with a final roundhouse.

Cassandra’s face turned into a crimson mask as blood pooled out all around her, and Jensen shuffled around her body, laughing as she drunkenly punched out at him. He caught her arm, twirled her into his arms and led her around the graveyard like they were ball room dancers, laughing into her ear as she coughed up blood, her boots dragging on the ground. He gracefully let his hands wrap around her waist, careful not to touch to much of her body for her poison, and tenderly felt her stomach in his clasped fingers. He pulled with all his might, lifting her light frame over his shoulder and landing her hard with a crunch on a stone tablet, obliterating it. She let out a hoarse whimper, coughing as dust cleared the area.

Jensen looked down to Cassandra Remi and slid to her side, grabbing her black hair and jerking it so she could look at the inferno his eyes barely contained for her. “You in there, bitch?” Jensen punched her lower lip. A tooth fell out. “You look lost!” Jensen let out a high pitch laugh as he slammed his clenched fist into her nose. She weakly blinked, her eyes rolling in their socket. “Come on, Monster, you’re boring the crap outta me!” Jensen yawned for added effect as he slammed her face into the ground.

He stood back up, watching her weakly roll to her side, a shuddering breath escaping her lips. “Are you wishing you were dead yet? ‘Cause you’d be surprised what the human body can tolerate! I’m just beating the shit out you, we haven’t even started the lethal injuries yet!” Cassandra looked like she was shivering, tears mixing with her blood making her face look like a bad paint job from a blind clown. Her makeup she wore ran with it, crating a little torrential black and red waterfall effect on her face. She was pathetic.

“Let’s have some more fun!” Jensen let out a cry of laughter, lifting up Cassandra to her feet where she wobbled side to side. Jensen shuffled in place and began to punch her in the gut, one fist rolling over the other in a series of jabs. Each hit that connected let out a painful grunt of hot air, blood oozing out her lips and splashing his face. “One-Two-One-Two,” Jensen repeated like a mantra several times, his body a slave to the beat in his head.

When Cassandra was at her limit Jensen veered back and let out a wild right haymaker. The hit blasted a tooth out of Cassandra’s face and she shuffled awkwardly to her left. Jensen retaliated with a left haymaker and another tooth flew out, and Cassandra pirouetted on her feet. Jensen did one last right haymaker and the serial killer fumbled as she barely had the energy to keep up on her feet.

When he was about to deliver the final blow a scream erupted in the graveyard, a terrible cry of pain from a small voice Jensen knew all to well. The voice was frightened as it let out another cry, and Jensen turned rapidly to find his little daughter, Azza, tied up with a knife to her throat by somebody in a sneaking suit.

[Requiem of Insanity]

Cassandra’s world was just a blur, a blur that she couldn’t escape from. Her eyes were glossy and faded, and her lips had cracked and bled so much it made her palette overwhelmed with the coppery sensation. She had trouble breathing, as the life fluid gushed from her nose, and to close her mouth was a painful experience as if she was being hit over and over again.

Jensen Ambrose had thoroughly beaten her, her spirit to fight had given up and she was getting used to the idea of death once again. Her consciousness fled her and she felt like she was outside her body, watching some corpse being beaten to a pulp. The feeling was strange and she could feel her dark companion wailing in terror as Jensen attacked her, her desires unable to stop the immortal from destroying the monster in his hands.

Something, however, returned her to her senses. A scream, a beautiful and fearful scream of a small girl had awoken the dormant part of her psyche. While she never enjoyed causing a small child to scream for her using her normal methods, their wails of terror were something immensely pleasurable and couldn’t describe. It was raw in power, full of unknown fear and innocent ignorance of the coming doom. She felt her world sharpen back into focus and while her head still swam she was able to regain control of her actions.

Jensen was standing before her daughter Aerith, cleverly disguised in a sneaking suit. Most people didn’t know that the woman was associated with Cassandra, and to keep her identity and relationship a secret was a smart move on her part. As she was instructed she had brought the little brat Jensen was in love with, and the leverage she gained was immeasurable. As bloodied and beaten as she was, she suddenly felt like she was on top of the world as the queen.

“Let my daughter go! She has nothing to do with this!” Jensen swiped his hand before him, like a hero in those old stories she used to read as a kid. It was as if by swiping the air a magical force would make the kidnapper change their mind. Aerith let out a cruel chuckle as the blade danced dangerously close to the girls jaw. A soft, gentle caress of the steel licked at the girl, and a tiny bead of blood dripped down onto the surface of the grey blade. Jensen broke down instantly, making a few steps to try and stop Aerith. Wisely her daughter took a step back, lifting the knife to right under the little girl's neck. Azza did her best not to make a fuss, tears streaming down her face as she cried.

Cassandra noticed that the night had come, and lifting her hood and mask once again she retreated into the shadows of a statue nearby. She looked to Jensen, watching as his eyes greedily searched back and forth for something to use to his advantage. Cassandra smiled, now to add a little confusion to his thought process.

“Let her go?” Cassandra said loudly, though her body protested at the exertion. She had to will herself to speak, and focusing on her hatred for Jensen Ambrose seemed to help. Her darling lover moved towards Jensen’s ears, hissing and casting doubt upon him. Jensen’s world began to slowly crumble.

“I will do no such thing! What did you expect me to do, Jensen? Come into this fight with kitchen utensils and a chess set?” Cassandra laughed at the audacity of such a stupid notion. “I will not come into this engagement with such an ill conceived plan. I arranged to make sure I had something ready in the event you got your disgusting paws on me!” She took in a deep breath and held the statue for support as she felt light headed. Jensen’s beating had really taken a lot out of her.

“Look at her, daddy, see her tears. How she weeps so,” She pretended to show remorse for the immortal in her tone as her dark companion chuckled in his ears. “Why isn’t daddy stopping the bad monster? Why isn’t daddy protecting me?”

“SHUT UP!” Jensen screamed, searching for Cassandra. As if she received some inaudible cue, Aerith yanked on Azza’s hair and hit her on the side of the head with the pommel of her knife. She let out a cry of pain again and it snapped Jensen’s focus to his daughter. Cassandra carefully moved, her feet making no sound as she shifted from one shadow into another.

“You want me to let her go? I could do that, I suppose…on certain conditions, of course.” Cassandra let out a cruel, vile giggle. Jensen snarled as he watched Aerith lift the blade again to his daughter's eye. “Beg, immortal. Beg for you daughter’s life. Show me that dogs have no honor,” Cassandra said breathlessly as her words carried over to him. There was a silence, and then Jensen got down upon his knees, slowly, one at a time, and spoke in a soft voice.

“Please, Cassandra, let my daughter go,”

“No!” Cassandra said rudely, like a little girl.

“You bitch!” Jensen called out turning to find her, but Azza let out another painful yelp and Jensen re-focused, breathing heavily as his frustrations built up within his chest. “Stop it, leave her out of this! She isn’t a part of this fight!” Cassandra merely laughed again.

“I don’t think you meant it, which is sad. How do you feel, Azza, knowing your father wouldn’t do everything he can to protect you from harm?” Jensen let his rage consume him as he turned to search for Cassandra once again, but Aerith tugged on her little voice box and the scream from Azza and the loud whimpering made Jensen at last lose himself as he beat his fist into the ground.

“Dammit, Dammit, Dammit, PLEASE LET HER GO!” Jensen’s body shuddered as he cried. “I give up, you win! Let my daughter go, please,” Jensen’s voice strained and Cassandra drank in his despair. She stepped forwards, her feet gently crossing the ground as she lowered herself up and picked up the blade Absolute Zero.

“What do you think, Azza? Is daddy done begging?” Azza sniffled loudly and cried, fighting her restraints, but Aerith just held her to prevent her from moving away. Jensen lifted himself up, looking to his daughter. “Tell her everything is going to be alright,” Cassandra demanded. “I want to hear you promise her that this is going to be okay. That this nightmare will end. Tell her, NOW!”

“Kiddo, don’t worry,” Jensen said in a whisper. Cassandra lifted her hand to Aerith, then to Azza and Aerith caught on quickly, making Azza scream again. “Don’t worry, Azza, Daddy’s here.” Jensen said louder now, looking to his daughter and locking his eyes on hers. “I won’t let them hurt you, okay, kiddo?” He even feigned a smile.

“Let her go,” Cassandra said softly. “And remember, Azza, that Daddy‘s death is your fault.” With a flick of her arms she grabbed one hand over Jensen’s forehead and swiped the other hand, blade first, over the immortal’s throat, slitting his neck so that the blood dripped down softly into his sweaty shirt.

He fell to the floor, and then to his face, and died as Azza screamed once again, running towards her father. Cassandra walked past the child, ignoring her as she retrieved one of her knives and walked to Aerith before turning back to Jensen. Azza continuously poked him, pushing his arms and whispering in his ear. Cassandra looked up to the sky and shouted,

“Lord Orlouge,” The serial killer bowed in a mocking fashion. “I do hope you find my talents up to par! If I do not have a poison or a blade that can cut their flesh, then I will find a way to cut their mind. Let this be known to all the Ixian Knights. My song will find a way to add your screams to the chorus of my requiem!”

She turned leaving the graveyard and drinking in all the delicious sounds of Azza’s wails. Nothing was ever as sweet as the tormented anguish of a daughter who let her father die. Cassandra would know, for she screamed them herself. Aerith looked to the scene, then turned and followed her mother in silence.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

The whole room was silent. Not a voice peeped in the void of sound, and at last one soul broke the barrier of quietness.

Stephanie screamed a pitch so high it made those around her flinch. She charged the mirror, beating her fists onto Cassandra’s face as she clawed at her image, seething and violently trying to beat her way into the arena inside the Citadel. The room remained quiet as they watched her, and slowly Ta’gaz rose himself up to his feet and walked towards Stephanie, gently grabbing her wrists so she could not use them. She fought against his grip, screaming at him as she gently held her in place. She kicked, even bit at his fingers, but Ta’gaz didn’t move. She continued to bellow her rage until it turned into a sorrowful scream of loss.

“My baby, why did she take my baby?” Stephanie fell apart at the seams as she lost the ability to stand, her feet corkscrewing into themselves as Ta’gaz calmly put her down. Stephanie cried, sobbing as she watched the Aibron monks enter the room and make their way towards Jensen. There was an uncomfortable tension in the air and at last Sei stood, his own face covered in outrage and barely contained rage.

“William, would you please be so kind as to escort my daughter Kyla home," Sei spoke his thoughts loudly, the hint of his fury edging each word. “Tobias, please tend to Stephanie. Aislinn, would you be so kind as to collect Azza and send your team to have Jensen returned to your medical center.” Aislinn nodded as Felicity hopped off her shoulder, running towards Stephanie and softly purring as she sat, watching her and offering a gentle paw on Stephanie’s knee as the woman wept.

“For the rest of you, please return to your quarters and stations, there is no more to see tonight.” Sei was abrupt with his last orders as he made his way to Stephanie, kneeling down as Ta’gaz made room for the leader of the Ixian Knights. The entire assembly room was in a state of movement, Duffy walking to Stephanie and offering his support should she need it. The woman was to distraught to even reply or nod her head. Kyla made for Stephanie, but William gently urged her forwards and out of the room. Tobias sat behind Stephanie, wrapping her arms around the knight and holding her tightly as Stephanie just sobbed.

It took several minutes, but after another round of sniffles Stephanie’s red face looked to Sei. “You let this into the order. She’s here because you asked her to be! How can someone so vile and evil help save Corone?” She asked, helplessly. Sei remained quiet, placing a warming hand on her shoulder.

“The tablets said who my nine generals would be, and each one has a fulfilled roll to perform. Though I absolutely despise her actions and character, she is necessary to the bigger picture,” Stephanie nodded, but she wasn’t convinced. “Besides, the tablets said who the nine would be, but it never said I would love them.” Stephanie looked to Sei, saw his gentle smile, and she let out a soft laugh. Tobias rubbed her shoulders and stood up as Ta’gaz watched her stand on her own two feet.

“I want to be with my daughter now,” Stephanie whispered. They all turned to leave the room as Sei nodded.

“I think that is a grand idea.”

~*~*~

Darkness, that was all he saw. Eternal darkness. There was nothing more but the void of the abyss, and Jensen felt his spirit echo in this timeless emptiness. He called back his spirit, like one would call back a small hound, and slowly, painfully he felt his body begin to tingle as his blood ran through his system yet again.

The world returned into focus as Jensen took in a deep breath of new life, his back arching as he relaxed and fell back into the bed. His eyes fluttered several times, until he could see everything sharply in his vision. When he did so he found Aislinn standing at the foot of his bed.

“Hey Ais,” Jensen muttered weakly. His throat felt like it was on fire, and he edged one finger along where he was cut. Nothing, no scars or reminders of Cassandra's dark deed. The Orlouge medic smiled to him as she came over, lifting up a pitcher and pouring a cold glass of water. She turned to the immortal and gently put the cup into his hand, encouraging him to drink it. It took effort and time, but he did so and the refreshing liquid felt smooth going down pipes. He sat up in the bed and looked around to see who else would be in this room.

“Nobody but you and me,” Aislinn said.

“Finally had the courage to get with me, huh?” Jensen teased. Aislinn playfully slapped his arm, but smiled brightly.

“I did not want anyone around you when you woke up. I am sure you want to rest much longer before you have to talk to everyone in the Ixian Knights about your battle.” Jensen’s demeanor changed to one of anger at the mention of his fight. “What she did-” Aislinn started to say, but Jensen cut her off.

“What she did wasn’t necessarily wrong,” Jensen said, and Aislinn lifted her eyebrows in confusion. Jensen looked dead ahead. “She showed me…she showed me I wasn’t indestructible.” Jensen at last looked to the doctor. “I use to walk this earth thinking I wasn’t able to be touched. That nobody could hold me down, but that’s all changed.” Jensen sighed loudly. “I have family now, a girlfriend, a daughter, friends…” He trailed as he looked to Aislinn with shame. “Anyone of those things can be used against me! Though I can't die, they can, and through them I'll die a thousand more times!”

“For a person to do what she has done, it would require them to have removed all concepts of such of a thing!” Aislinn retorted. “Cassandra Remi has no soul, she showed that today. She has no friends, no family, nothing! All she has are tools and knives and her imaginary boyfriend!” Jensen looked to Aislinn, then turned his face away.

“She’s untouchable then,” Jensen admitted. “You can’t break her…I can’t break her. She has nothing to care about in her soul that hasn’t already been discarded by her own hand. To try was foolish of me.”

“No it is not,” Aislinn said, but even that sounded forced to her. Jensen let out a huff of amusement. “I like you far more than she. I wish she was not part of this damn army…”

Jensen waited a moment before he looked to the door, and then he swung his legs to the side and sat on the edge of the bed. “She has a purpose,” Jensen said to her in a whisper. “She has the ability to look at this coming war with a detached, cold, baleful eye. She has no soul, and thus has no care how to get the job done. She’s defiantly needed in this army, for she‘ll do the things no one else will.” Jensen stood up, weakly, and found his legs after a few steps.

“Stephanie have my things?” Jensen asked. Aislinn nodded. “Thanks for watching me, Aislinn.” Jensen walked towards the door and stopped, looking back at the medic. “I hate that bitch,” Jensen said darkly. “And I swear I’ll find a way to make her pay.” Jensen opened the door and left. He walked down the empty hallways towards the back of the cave, and he looked down upon the hallway, looking deep into the darkness seeing the edges of Cassandra’s door. He felt into his pocket, finding a glaive in it. He thought about going after Cassandra, roughing her up now that she wasn’t holding his daughter hostage. Eye for an eye.

He pocketed the glaive and sighed, turning and heading towards his home as he looked behind him to see Sei stepping out of the shadows. He waved to the mute, lifting one finger to him with a smile as he rounded a corner and headed for the family hall. When he reached his door he opened it gently, walking into his bedroom. There he found Stephanie asleep with Azza held tightly in her arms. Both were softly snoring, and a little throw up pale was next to the bed. Jensen rubbed the back of his head, remembering that Azza threw up when she cried. He kicked off his boots, put his trench coat on the hook and said goodnight to his dead friends, then moved into his bed and wrapped his arms around his family.

Stephanie stirred in her sleep, looking to Jensen and smiling. “I love you,” She whispered to him. Jensen kissed the tip of her nose and nudged her face so it moved to where it was before as he whispered his love in her ear.

She has no soul, Jensen thought. So she’ll never have what I have… He shut his eyes, and peacefully went to sleep.

[Silence Sei]

• STORY

Roi ~ 20/40 You kept Cassandra’s story going well, Used your settings to your fullest advantage, and did an overall great job.

EI ~ 20/40 Same thing, but replace Cassandra with Jensen.
• CHARACTER ~ RoI ~ 17/20 Your dialogue seemed a bit off at times, but nothing too bad. Just an awkward phrase here or there. Everything else was pretty darned average.

EI ~ 16/20 The conversation in Jensen’s flashback seemed kind of odd to me and affected me for the rest of the thread, but other than that you did a good job, especially with Jensen saying his tearful words to Azza.
• WRITING STYLE ~ Roi ~ 16/20 Few spelling mistakes, a decent amount of literary techniques, Nothing that really earned my ire.

EI ~ 17/20 Probably the best thread I’ve seen from you without a ton of miswordings of things.

Wild Card

RoI 6/10 ~ Cassandra at her cruelest. Sei will have something to say about this.

EI 5/10 ~ Imagining baby Jensen being slammed against a wall by his own father after his mother had just died was good, but it was the only thing I could really focus on until Cass slit your throat. Try to make it to where if you’re going for sad, don’t completely overdo it. Jensen’s mother dying rather than already being dead would have made all the difference in this thread.

Totals

RoI 59
EI 58

RoI gets 2230 exp, Sei’s rage, and no GP for her acts of cruelty in front of a live studio audience.

EI gets 675, Sei’s apologies, and 200 GP for emotional suffering.