here you go @eminerale and @fredhincanada (and anyone else of course LOL):
“…so, you’re saying that the Twins have no light of Their own?” Neeku asked as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop, making her way from the 2nd Circle back down to the 3rd Circle. The buildings up here weren’t packed as tightly together as they were further below, but with her enhanced strength and agility making these leaps was no trouble at all. Besides, most people didn’t tend to look up as they made their way out and about, which made it much easier for her to avoid notice. And, if by chance someone looked up and saw her blurred movement, by the time they could make it to where she had been, they would believe their mind was playing tricks on them and shrug it off, which always worked in her favor. People didn’t see what they didn’t WANT to see…usually.
That’s correct, daughter; their light is simply a reflection of the light of Frea, much to their chagrin, Sheeba replied.
“So then, how is it that vampires can run around at night, when the moons are out?” Finally, having reached the wall that separated the 3rd from 2nd Circle, Neeku took a moment to watch for patrols along the wall. She knew she was going to shadowstep from this 2-story shop and home (an apothecary, judging by the smells of various herbs and plants coming out of the vents) to its counterpart past the wall, but she didn’t want to do it in front of guards. They were less likely to ignore sudden movement than regular people, and they were still on high alert from earlier this morning.
You know, that is a very good question. It doesn’t make much sense, the Goddess thought back as Neeku watched for five minutes until she felt confident that she’d timed the marching of the patrols correctly. Maybe since it’s a reflection, and not Frea’s light directly, that’s why it doesn’t burn them, Sheeba finally offered up.
“If that’s the case,” Neeku started to say before she finished counting down in her head and shadowstepped across the distances. Nighttime really was an assassin’s best friend, she thought to herself before continuing her conversation. “If that’s the case, then why was I able to use a mirror to burn that fang a couple years ago? You remember, they’d had their servants lock their coffin, secure that nobody could break into it in time, but the crack in the top allowed me to angle the sunbeam in and burn them to ash before their servants could unlock the coffin? That was a fun assignment for sure.”
And one of your rare daytime jobs; but you managed to surprise the local priestess and complete the task, even though she was loathe to pay you afterwards. I can’t believe she honestly thought that trying to make you feel guilty would make you refuse payment, Sheeba chuckled.
“I know! It irritated me that she would even attempt that; hells, I barely wanted to take the job as it was, but since that vampire tended to prey on harlots and young children, I couldn’t let that stand.” Neeku kept up her steady pace, moving from rooftop to rooftop, until finally she reached the edge of the city. Like most cities, the mortician was located on the outskirts of town, and that meant that the cemetery was past the gates; usually, morticians had a tunnel that led from their building underground to come up right before the cemetery gates, so people wouldn’t have to see the dead carted away in front of them. People claimed it was about respect, but it was more to keep regular people from being confronted with their own mortality.
Dropping down to the ground, Neeku crept up to the mortuary, hugging the walls of nearby buildings. Unfortunately, there was a good distance between the last building and her target, having a wide road in a part of town where land was at a premium; fortunately, the city’s gates were a good sixty feet away, and even with her enhanced vision she only spotted one guard, their back turned to her. The young assassin sprinted across the road and went up the marble steps toward the front door and the archway covering the entrance.
She had just made it to the top of the steps when she spotted a guard nodding off in the corner of the archway. Her rushed movement interrupted their slumber, and their eyes shot open. Muttering a curse to Nyx, Neeku had no choice. Her right hand summoned her Nightblade without thought and she slashed across the guard’s throat with no resistance while her left hand pressed up and kept his mouth shut as she pushed her body against his, lessening his jerky movements as his lifeblood pumped out through the now gaping hole in his neck. Flashbacks of last night’s murder went through her mind; the only difference was this death she regretted. He’s just a kid, she thought to herself as the guard’s eyes became glassy and dull. Sorry kid, you picked a bad spot to take a nap. May Ara have mercy on your soul.
Quietly laying his body down on the landing, Neeku pulled her lockpicks out of her hidden sleeve compartments, crouched down to have a better angle, and got to work on the front door. Thankfully, the mortician relied more on people’s superstitions than fancy locks, and it only took her a few seconds to get the tumblers in place and unlock the door. The lockpicks went back in their hiding place as fast as she pulled them out. The young assassin slowly opened the door, remaining crouched down to present a lower target in case anyone was waiting inside. She peeked around the corner, grateful to not even see a slumbering guard at the receptionist’s desk. Standing up, she grabbed the guard’s body, tossed it over her shoulder, and rushed inside, making sure to close the door as silently as she’d opened it.
Still with the body on her shoulder, Neeku looked around; but, unable to locate a supply closet, she did the next best thing and put the body down on the black and white checkered rug in the entryway and rolled it up. Then, picking up the rug and body, she went down the hall until she found the water closet and shoved the body in, closing the door after locking it from the inside before summoning Nightblade once more and carving up the handle on the outside of the door. That should keep them from opening it quickly when they arrive in the morning, she thought to herself. “You’re unusually quiet,” she thought to her Goddess.
I know how you feel about unnecessary death, Sheeba thought back. I’m truly sorry you had to end that young man’s life. But, like you thought earlier, you had no choice. It was either his life or yours.
“Yeah, well, I know I’m just an assassin and all, but taking a life should never be something you just…do. As Jonah used to say, anyone can kill, it takes no skill or talent; but recognizing that ending a life stains the taker of said life is something that responsible assassins must grapple with, to keep us from being just killers.”
He was as smart as he was bald, Sheeba thought, and Neeku chuckled as she pictured her former mentor’s shiny bald pate and his salt-and-pepper bristly beard, his grey eyes twinkling as he taught her some trick or maneuver, his dark skin starting to wrinkle with his age.
Down the hall from the water closet was steps leading into the basement, so Neeku ignored all the other doors as she went underground. Subtle signs of this being the domain of Ara decorated the walls in the stairway: murals depicting circles, reflecting how life and death were firmly intertwined; shovels and pickaxes crossed over each other, the tools of the faith; and the most common depiction of death’s domain, a circle split diagonally, the bottom part black and the upper part white. “You know, I’m surprised your sisters didn’t try and usurp Ara’s place when They tried to take over mortal worship.”
Oh, They tried, Sheeba responded, but once Ara stopped taking souls to their respective afterlives and let them pile up as angry vengeful spirits, They quickly saw the error of their ways. It’s an uneasy truce, but a truce nonetheless.
“Also, didn’t you tell me that Ara predates even you Gods?” Neeku asked, and the uneasy affirmative nod she got back let her know that even deities could fear being undone. The thought turned her bowels to ice, and she quickly stopped thinking about it. Thankfully, they’d arrived down in the morgue, a few tables with holes in them throughout the room. The floor itself all slanted gently down towards a drain in the center of the room, which would lead to the sewers. Across from her was a ramp leading upwards, the left wall had various desks and cabinets, and the right was covered in small doors with latches on the outside. Even from here, she could feel the chill of the right wall, and assumed it was magic or alchemy giving off the frigid air to help keep bodies from decomposing before their final resting place.
As she reached the right wall, Neeku began pulling open drawers at random, hoping she didn’t have to open all of them. Granted, there was only sixteen drawers, but still, she thought to herself, I don’t want to be here for hours. It was the eighth drawer before she found what she was looking for: a young woman, about her height and build, with similar hair color and length. Running over to grab a gurney, Neeku wrestled the body onto it and began taking off the grey robe she was wearing.
I just hope that they don’t burn the body after it’s discovered, Neeku worried as she started disrobing herself and putting on the corpse’s robe. It’s not like wyvern leather is easy to procure. Before she put her outfit on the corpse, there was one final step. It didn’t take her but a second to find a bone saw in the sink, and she put it to use, cutting off the right hand of the corpse. Embalming fluid was all that came out, and she used a dirty rag to stop the flow until she was able to bring one of the two candles in the room over and burn the stump. It’s not like they have a perfect picture of what I look like anyway, not like they know my stump isn’t burnt like charcoal, she thought as she looked at her work. Satisfied that it would have to do, she then began the arduous process of dressing the corpse in her leathers, only pausing to remove Bloodmoon and its sheath and tying it under her robe. It was uncomfortable, but she wouldn’t be noticing it if things went as planned. The body was stiff, and Neeku was sweating by the time it was over, but finally it was done.
What now? Sheeba asked.
“Now, it’s time for the charade,” Neeku responded, wheeling the gurney over to the ramp leading up and dropping it face down on the floor. The wyvern leather was still covered in the guard’s blood, as she hadn’t wiped it off, and it would look like ‘she’ had succumbed to her wounds after that fight. Then, she took a needle and catgut and sewed the corpse’s right hand to her right wrist stump, wincing with each stitch. Even with all the work she had learned to do with her left hand, it was sloppy. Thankfully, the robe had long sleeves, so it would cover up her quick work from a cursory glance.
She blew out the two candles, plunging the room fully into darkness, and finally she climbed up and laid down on the rolling drawer, rolling it back until she was in as far as she could go. Using her bare feet, she managed to grasp the handle on the inside of the drawer door and pulled it shut behind her. It disturbed her that the drawers had handles on the inside, but she couldn’t let herself think of that now. Somehow, it felt even more dark inside there than it was in the morgue, and airflow was minimal at best.
Are you going to use that trick I taught you a few years ago? The Goddess asked. The one that does what the version Jonah taught you doesn’t?
“Yeah, his version is impressive, but using magic to slow down my heartbeat and breathing to the point that very few people would think I’m alive is even more impressive,” Neeku thought back. “Now, please, let me concentrate. I don’t need any distractions.”
See you on the other side, Sheeba said before going silent.
One way or another, Neeku thought with gallows humor, appropriate considering the circumstances. Embracing the darkness, she slowed her breathing, focusing on each beat of her heart, and reducing each beat per minute until she was able to let go. The last thought she had before she slipped away was faith that her Goddess wouldn’t fail her. And then, darkness.
