This chapter is brought to you by Novocaine by Fall Out Boy.
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Being "blooded" for the first time was... exhilarating.
She was supposed to be the good one of the Calypto House—the gentle and kind heiress who had not yet tainted herself with death.
But she felt her nerves set alight as the thrill of her first murder thrummed in her veins.
Was this how Rasa and Father felt? How Toby felt?
It was a good feeling, born and bred into her from generations of Calyptos before her. The guilt would set in when it was ready to be felt, but there was none of that at the moment.
Not when she had slit the throat of several people and dragged their bodies into a room.
Jovette removed her gloves and stuffed them into her pocket.
Rowan and Mercury were waiting for her to clean up.
She opened the door and found Rowan dragging in their last target.
The man was foaming at the mouth and his movements were seizing up like a death dance. His eyes were rolled so far into his skull to the point that Jovette could only see the white of his eyes.
"Oh, hey," Rowan smiled awkwardly at her as he roughly pushed the man into the room.
"What happened to that one?" Jovette asked.
He shrugged. "I gave him a larger dose. He should be dead soon."
She nodded and went to help him.
They carried the target into the middle of the room.
Rowan fed him another dose of his poison and they watched as the man finally died.
"Pluto, mission complete."
"Good job, Happy Dagger. Go ahead and enjoy the rest of the ball with Apothecary and Dreamer. Peacemaker and Cat are still working on their objectives."
"Will do, Pluto."
Jovette turned to Rowan and saw he had held out a hand for her.
There was a bashful smile on his face as he looked at the floor with interest.
"I was wondering, since we still have some time, would you like to go for another spin on the dance floor?"
Jovette smirked. "I would love to."
---
"Mem nom ist Peacemaker... Ago hic ad aux te... sed oporte me quoqu."
"Your pronunciation sucks, but I think the children are getting it. Somehow."
"They're aware that I'm helping them and that I need their assistance. What do I want me to do? Recite poetry?"
The children were all staring at him like he was stupid, but little did they know, Bel was used to it.
"Quid opus ist nubis facere?" one of the children asked.
"He said 'What do you want us to do?'"
Bel pulled out the tracking stones from his coat and held it in front of the children. "How do you say 'Can you keep these in your pockets and wait for the Imperial soldiers to arrive?'"
Pluto repeated the translation back to him, and he slowly delivered the words.
"Sic."
He passed the stones out.
The children warily took them but still looked at him with suspicion.
Bel continued smiling in a friendly manner.
He was no Tobus. If the other man was here, he would have gained their trust in a matter of seconds.
"Grati," Bel said, thanking them for their cooperation.
He hadn't said anything about leaving the cells, but he hoped the children would understand why.
Their mission wasn't to rescue the victims. Lord Eartha had impressed this upon them during the briefing.
The Imperial Family will handle the displacement of the children.
Bel held himself back from releasing the children from their cells. He locked the doors and placed the key back on the guard he had knocked out.
"Where are the documents?"
"Twenty feet ahead, turn right. You will find a tunnel."
He climbed onto the ceiling and made his way to the location of the records.
---
Nine was once again in direct combat. This time, he was facing off against the target's personal guards and two other Mantle agents.
For a lowly slave trader, the target had gone all out to protect himself.
He slashed a bloody red line down on a guard's chest and performed a roundhouse kick on another.
The injury on his back flared up in pain. Nine felt blood slowly soaking his clothes, a mix of his own and that of his opponents.
There was an opening through the tight cluster of men. They were in a tight formation, trying to keep him cornered and prevent him from going any further.
Three men attacked him at once, their swords raised to kill.
Nine stabbed a dagger into the shoulder of one of them and slashed another man near his eyes to keep him at a distance.
The third one evaded a kick and managed to cut his side.
Nine did not hesitate to swing his dagger back around to parry the sword away before he kicked him down.
The opening was now clear!
He jumped over another opponent and climbed onto the ceiling beams.
There was the sound of two more pairs of feet landing on the beams seconds after him.
Nine looked behind him and saw it was the extra Mantle agents.
He clicked his tongue and got ready to defend himself.
"Cat, can you here me?" Pluto's voice came to life.
"Yes."
"Good. The three Mantle agents called for backup after you poisoned them. The two others are high-ranking agents of Mantle. You have permission to take them out."
An arrow shot passed his ear.
Nine turned and blocked another one aiming for his head and had no time to recover when another pair of daggers met his own.
The agent bared his teeth at him, his smile sharp and dangerous.
"You're pretty good, for someone bleeding out." He eyed the daggers with interest and put more strength into his blade.
Nine withstood it without breaking a sweat.
"I've seen those blades before. You're from Vesna, aren't you? Cal-something. Assassins, huh?"
Nine didn't answer him.
He pushed off the other's blades and threw a small knife at the Mantle agent.
His partner caught it and scowled.
"We don't have time for this. He's trying to kill the client."
The agent playfully smirked. "Now, don't be like that, Shrew. You have to enjoy the thrill of the kill. Cat, right?"
He looked at Nine, who remained silent.
"I heard all about you. You have quite the reputation for someone who started off so young. The boy with nine lives finally found his calling, aye?"
Nine froze.
How did they know his identity?
And his time in the Arena... it should have been wiped from the records long ago.
His eyes narrowed, and his body loosened.
"Hey, relax. We're all doing our job, here. You don't have to look so offended, my friend. I get the whole tragic backstory with the village and all, but still. We're all adults now and we should all be civilized."
What?
"Cat, we're losing time. The target is on the move."
How did he know what about the village?
"Tamer, you need to shut the fuck up right now. That shit is supposed to be confidential."
"Oh, come on. We all know that was illegal. Hey!"
Nine glared at the man.
The smile he wore grew strained, and he paled slightly as he raised his hands in a display of surrender.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" his partner yelled.
"Something that might get us killed," he answered brightly and then turned to Nine. "You know, I expected you to go and avenge your loved ones after what happened, but you're pretty cold-hearted, huh?"
"Cat, you need to hurry."
"Tamer!"
The agent known as Tamer ignored his partner's warning and continued, "You should get that uncle of yours to look into it. Let's just say some people weren't happy when Lord Thibault married an Arcadia woman."
Just as Tamer finished his words, his body suddenly seized together like he was being electrocuted.
"Piet!" his partner yelled out his real name before quickly catching him.
They glared venomously at Nine and scowled.
"Paudu's yours."
The two agents disappeared before Nine could stop him.
For the first time, he was left not knowing what to do.
"We can discuss this at the debrief! Go kill your target!"
---
Giannini was having a great day.
Sales of the goods had skyrocketed since he first started his business.
Lots of clients liked foreign goods, and the ones he had down in the cells were from a tribe near the borders of the Frank Kingdom.
Though they were young, he was told the adults could sing like songbirds and dance fairies.
Giannini kept a few for himself, as a result.
He stared at the mirror and saw a handsome middle-aged man with the finest mustache and salt and pepper hair. His hair was properly styled, the thick strands making him look like a fine bachelor even at his age.
Now, for the mask...
He heard the door open just as he was thinking this.
Perfect timing. As expected of his personal assistant.
Giannini admired himself some more in the mirror and he put his wrist cuffs on.
"Alright, Ladi, give me the mask."
There was no answer.
Giannini rolled his eyes.
Admittedly, Ladi was still a bit daft and slow. Thankfully, he was pretty, or Giannini would have never bought him.
"Ladi!" he turned and paused.
A man dressed similarly to that of the agents from Mantle stood behind him.
"Who are you--"
Giannini saw the blade flash, but his body couldn't move.
The next thing he knew, he was suddenly on the floor.
But...
His body was still in front of the mirror.
It... fell to the ground...
Then... his head was...
"Objective three is complete."
That was the last thing he heard before there was darkness.
---
Rowan was having a great day.
Dancing with Jovette was nice. He liked dancing with Jovette. He hoped she liked dancing with him, too.
She was very handsome, and although the sting of Rasa's rejection still lingered, the puppy crush didn't even hold a candle to Jovette staring at him with those emerald eyes that were so mesmerizingly beautiful.
The music swelled into a crescendo and Rowan was dipped.
His heart felt ready to burst with how fast it was beating.
Yes, he hoped the day never ended.
"I hate to interrupt the moment, but the Imperial soldiers will be making their way over in less than an hour. Cat and Peacemaker has completed their objections. Dreamer, Happy Dagger, and Apothecary, please leave as naturally as you can."
Rowan dropped into a swoon without a second thought.
There were the sound of gasps as Jovette held him worriedly.
"Lord Jove, is your lady alright?" a woman asked, concerned.
Jovette sighed in dismay and shook her head. "I'm afraid not. My darling Rowana has a rather weak constitution. Our families insisted on coming to this ball without any care for her health. We must take our leave now."
"Oh, of course, my Lord. Please get the poor dear home."
"Your concerns warm my heart," Jovette smiled, placing her hand over her heart. "Parting is such sweet sorrow, but I shall say good night till it be morrow."
The woman chuckled and bid them goodbye.
They quickly left the compound and met Tobus and Bel by the carriage.
"Where's Mercury?" Tobus asked.
As if summoned, Mercury popped out from behind a grove.
His half-dressed state was not missed by any of them.
They all stared at him.
"What?" Mercury asked, offended. "I'll have you know, we did not go all the way. Just some... intimate lip-locking."
Tobus made a face and jumped onto the passenger seat of the carriage. Bel was driving the horses this time.
"Let's go. Extraction is in thirty minutes."
And just like that, Rowan's first mission was over.
The magical night ended with his heart beating abnormally and his hands stained with the blood of Vesna's enemies.
It was nice.
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The author has something to say:
The language that Bel is speaking to the kids is just bastardized Latin. I ran English through the translator and then switched up some letters. Don't try to translate it. It doesn't make sense.
Can you guess who the two Mantle agents are supposed to be? They're from another Shakespeare play.