Paris, France (Earth) Year 2142

So... this is Paris? Huh, not what I expected, but, as always, nothing ever lives up to my expectations. Literally.
I haven’t been to Earth in so long... at least, not since the Renian’s came and taught the earthlings magic. Almost 300 years ago. That’s all in the past though. There are few people on the street and they all look at me with hostility. I was the stranger here. I wonder what they would think if they could see what I really look like. With my deep, blue skin, glowing white eyes, snow-white hair. All they see of my true form are my long, elfin ears. They didn’t see many elves around here, especially one with ears so long.
But that wasn’t the reason. When earthlings were taught Magika, most were delighted. However, France, Germany, and England were openly hostile to all Magika users and had a tenuous pact to drive out the Renian’s.
Thus the war, the Magika war, occurred. The three countries were easily crushed; with the other countries uniting with the Renian’s to sweep them aside.
France suffered the most, since it was at the head of the rebellion. Most of the city, not to mention it economy, was in ruins. Half of the buildings were in tatters; the streets had holes the size of horses.
But France will be put out of her misery in twenty-seven years. The company that owns me, Dalan, will make sure of that. They also want to make sure she stays dead. It seems that a man named Jean-Claude Belmonte rose up, rebuilt the city and made a whole world a much better place. Bad, bad idea. So now the company ordered me, their personal assassin slave, to go back in time and eliminate him. There is only one spot in time where killing him ensures France would remain lifeless, and it was when Jean-Claude was but a boy of 12, in the year 2142.
I hastily checked my reflection on the window of a broken down shop... blonde hair, casual street clothes, blue eyes and pale skin... nothing out of order. The makeup even covered the scar on my chin. One more block.
Finally, I’m here. This will be easy; large windows facing a yard that no other housing complex has visual access to, and the yard is connected to an alley perfect for hiding... ah, a terrace, and the door is open. Perfect, just perfect.
All right then; target = Jean-Claude Belmonte.
Target’s age and sex= twelve, male.
Relatives and threat level? Older brother, Edward Belmonte, 18, male. No threat from either.

Such comfort one can find in routine... I jumped up onto the terrace and muttered a shadow spell under my breath. If anyone happened to look outside, all they’d see would be the open night sky. I stood still as the shadows enveloped me, and listened. A loud ringing noise penetrated my ears, a telephone.
“Hello?” An unknown male voice, definitely not Jean-Claude, perhaps the older brother?
“Oh, hey Gerard. Yeah, Jean-Claude is pretty sick. So you close by? Good, then I’ll leave and stop by the doctor’s place and grab his medicine. Thanks for this.”  Damn French speak quite fast; thankfully, I caught the gist of it.
The new development troubled me; I may have to kill this Gerard and who knows what ripples this will have in the future. Oh well.
The door opens and the brother leaves, and new, lighter steps make their way inside.
“Hey Gerard,” A sickly voice calls out. Definitely Jean-Claude.
“Hey little buddy. I brought some games to play with you. Feel like some checkers?” A gruff, friendly voice called back.
“Sure, but could you grab me some water please?”
“Anything for you, kid.”
The footsteps start walking to my left and I soon hear a refrigerator door opening.
I knew this was my chance. I dare not risk any unpleasant ripples, so I chose to spare Gerard. I let myself change into a rather large cat and slipped inside. I could see a tall man with short-cropped dark hair looking inside a refrigerator not too far from the terrace door, obviously Gerard. I skipped him and followed the sound of coughing. I entered a darkly lit, stuffy room, where a young blonde boy was sitting up in his bed, reading a copy of Les Miserables. Before the boy had time to blink, the cat that had so suspiciously entered his room changed into a full grown, blue skinned, white haired elf. And before he could open his mouth, his neck was broken. A job well done. Smiling to myself, I slipped back into my cat shape and left the house.





Earth, year 2169. Beijing, China.

“Ah, Furan. I was wondering what took my precious killer so long.” My master, said, grinning. We slaves learned to fear the smile, for it usually meant one of us was in deep, deep shit.
“I have a job for you.” ...They’ll probably kill me quickly
“Do you remember the boy you assassinated, Jean-Claude?” Maybe if I’m lucky they’ll just hack my head off.
“It seems that his brother, Edward Belmont has taken over his dreams.” Or I’ll just be... wait, what?
“I said, that his brother has now-
“I hear you, master. When must I move to eliminate him?” I couldn’t help but smile inside.
“Mabwe, Africa, 2145. He will be taking out a gang known as the Wild Riders. After he claims his bounty, he will be left defenseless. That is when you dispose of him.”
I bowed and left hastily.

Mabwe, Africa, year 2145.
(http://www.maplandia.com/democratic-republic-congo/kasai-occidental/mabwe/)

Just bloody wonderful. If the heat didn’t melt my skin, the damned bugs would burrow in it. They flew all around me, sometimes buzzing against my ear. Damned things. At least I was able to scout Mabwe in its entirety, and no sign of the elder brother. From what little information I’ve gathered, the gang “Wild Riders” (ridiculous name, that) is in a hideout but twelve miles north-east from here. I changed into a vulture and flew in that direction as fast as large, ugly wings could get me there.

This is perhaps the easiest hunt I’ve been on. The ‘hideout’ was really a small hut, barely big enough to hold in four people and whatever tools they used. A few boulders and cacti were scattered around the area. I perched on one of the larger boulders that overlooked the northern entrance to the hideout, and waited.
I didn’t wait long, since I soon heard gunshots. The man was apparently taking out the supposed Wild Riders in their own hidey-hole.
Four loud shots and then silence. No screams, no shots in retaliation. Just lovely dead silence.
He was cleverly hidden; actually buried in the hot sand, except for his rifle sticking out slightly, camouflage hiding it quite well. His shoulder-length brown hair clung to his neck, sticky with sweat and he definitely looked like he could his own in a fight, his bare arms rippling with muscle. He might have looked intimidating, since he stood an easy six feet, were it not for a ridiculous dark leather cowboy hat he had. After making sure no one else was left inside, he pressed a button in his watch, whispering something that looked like. ‘‘Get over here.” Then he turned his face in my direction, and I saw his eyes. They carried no life inside them, and he had a wave-like white tattoo under each eye. Then he turned away again, and I saw nothing more of interest.
A silver, sleek hover-cart came into view from the direction I came from. I patiently watched as a skinny, dark-skinned man came out of the cart and invited the target inside. Once both were in, the hover-cart sped in direction of Mabwe. I followed, using my wind-based magika to cheat and be able to keep up with them. So what if it’s cheating? What works, works.


Four Hours Later

It’s night now, and most of the residents are asleep, including Edward. I watched (sitting on a lamp post still as a vulture) as the lights in his room went out. I waited one more hour before I flew to his window. The idiot had left it open, probably because he liked to sleep in the cold. I quickly and silently changed back into my real form and unsheathed my talon-blades. Even in the very faint light, I could see light reflect from the metal, giving it a glowing aura.
I walked silently around this small apartment, until (by sound) I located the target’s bedroom. I quickly opened the door with my blades, careful not to make a single sound.
He was fast asleep, that stupid cowboy hat of his covering his face, his arms spread out over the bed, a foot touching the floor. I made my way to him and aimed my right talons at his throat. I clenched my fist and made to kill him, but my muscles would not respond. The mark on my back began to burn, wracking my body with pain. I couldn’t understand why, the mark should only burn if I was violating a direct order, not when I was fulfilling it!
The burning intensified, until it felt like my whole body was on fire. A soft whimper escaped my lips and the target started, reaching for a gun underneath his pillow. He saw me and shot at me, but I dodged to the left and began to run out. He jumped out of the bed, hat falling to the floor and tackled me to the ground. I began to cast a spell to change shape and wriggle out, but he smacked me hard on the head with the butt of his revolver, slurring my thoughts and stopping the spell.
He aimed the gun at me, but I kicked him in the knee and he let go for an instant, which was enough for me to get out. The tattoo began to burn horribly, as if it would kill me at any moment. But I had a more important matter at hand, how to avoid dying at the hands of a wannabe cowboy.
He recovered quickly and stood up. I slashed at him, aiming for his head, but he was fast. I merely cut his face, even though it was a deep wound. Blood dripped freely down his neck and unto his naked chest, and he raised his gun again and fired. This time, I was not so lucky. The shot hit me squarely in the right shoulder and I howled with pain. I slashed at him again, and this time my blade came in contact with his chest. It quivered right above his heart.
He stared at me square in the eye, as if daring me to kill him. But I could not. The pain of my wound coupled with the tattoo was unbearable and I could barely stand. He saw my weakness and knocked the claws away. He grabbed my right arm and twisted it behind my back, once again aiming at me, the muzzle pushed against the back of my head.
He asked coldly, slowly, “Who are you?” I ignored his question, but he only squeezed the wound harder, making me cry out softly in pain.
“Who are you?” He asked again, pressing the gun tightly against my head. The tattoo on my back seared once more, making me feel as if something was slowly devouring my insides.
“I will ask only one more time, and you will answer me. Who. Are. You.” The mark burned even more and sweat began to form freely all over me. “F-Furan.” I whispered softly. The mark stopped searing me. But why, why did it make me obey a human?
He looked startled, surprised at how easy I gave in.
“Why are you here?” Well, brilliant question! Dumbass...
“Are you blind? Or are you just stupid?” I snapped back.
The upper corners of his lips twitched, but he asked again, “Why are you here?”
“Well, it seems I have to spell it out for you. To kill you, Mr. Wannabe Cowboy.” There! That should shut him up!
“... Then who sent you?” And there goes the million-dollar question.
“A very wealthy man.” I replied vaguely.
“And why the fuck does he want me dead?” He asked angrily.
“Why don’t you ask him? I’m sure he’d /love/ to meet you.” I bit back. This guy, was really getting on my nerves. What’s worse, the mark was hurting even more now, and his foot on my back was making it even worse and his arm twisting mine really weren’t helping either.
“Answer the question.”
“How about this, go fuck yourself.” I said through gritted teeth.
“I told you to answer the fucking question.” He twisted even more now. I heard an ugly, snapping sound and screamed. The searing pain and the fact that my arm was now broken was too much. Sweet darkness enveloped me.


I woke up to the sound of an unfamiliar voice going, “Why did you bring him here Eddi? Jesus, this thing tried to kill you!”
That voice sounded familiar, but my head was killing me, so I couldn’t quite place my finger on it. I opened my eyes and saw I was sitting in a bedroom. My right arm was in a sling and my left was tied to the bed. My legs were both bound and two people were standing outside the door.
“Ger... Please...” That was definitely /his/ voice.
“Eddi, just listen to me.” Gerard Lemoine, Edward Belmonte’s best friend. Now I remember.
I must have made some noise though, because then they both stopped talking and looked at me. I heard their footsteps as they walked away and let myself relax a bit. I felt the bindings on my arm and legs and realized they were nothing more than mere rope. Sure, it scratched and burned my skin, but rope can be so easily destroyed. While the two men were distracted in their conversation, I concentrated a spell of freezing on the ropes and felt the coils stiffen. After I was certain they were sufficiently brittle, I moved my arm and legs and they broke into tiny frozen shards.
Since my right arm was useless, I had to avoid all conflict to get out of here. I concentrated on shifting spell, and changed into a cat. Softly on padded legs, I swiftly left the room and entered what seemed to be a living room. A dirty, ragged couch was facing a broken down TV. There were cracks on the wall, yet even though the furniture certainly wasn’t in the best condition, at least everything was remarkably clean. Creepy clean actually, the one that made you think neat freak.
I heard their voices again, “Eddi, please listen to me. No good can come out of anything he’d tell you.”
“I have to know why, Ger. Whoever wants me dead might’ve been the same one who wanted Jean-Claude dead...”
“That’s why we should get rid of it. It’ll kill you at the first chance.”
“Ger, please...”
“*sigh* All right then, but at the first sign of harm, I’ll pull the trigger.”
Then they both stepped out of whatever room they were in, and immediately saw me. Edward just stared at me confused, but Gerard looked as if he had seen a ghost, his almond eyes alight with fright.
“Eddi, there is a very good chance that that cat is your thing. I’ve heard of shape-shifters, and I’m pretty sure it is one of them.”
Then Edward lunged at me. I dodged him with ease, even though I couldn’t use my right paw. I ran to the open door, praying it was a way outside, when suddenly Gerard appeared right in front of me and closed it.
Edward lunged at me and grabbed my tail. It /hurt/ when he yanked my tail. I found my magika fading away, as if a giant vacuum sucked it. Soon I had none left to maintain my form and felt the small cat shape fade away. Gerard picked me up and held my one good arm behind me, I was amazed that this relatively small and slim (he barely reached 5’6) man had such strength. “Why were you sent to kill me?” He asked one more time.
Well, I could see that I had only two choices:
1) Tell him the bloody fucking truth and get this show over with.
2) Lie and continue having a hellish life.
Obviously, I went with number 1, as any /sane/ person would do.
“In thirty-seven years, you will bring France back from the dead. My master does not want to see that happen.”

Two minutes later

Both men were still unmoving. Apparently, I gave them a nasty shock.
Gerard was the first one to speak, “Elf has lost it’s damn mind...”
I grinned slightly, looking at Edward. His face was still the same, but confusion swirled in his amber eyes. “Why do you humans never believe the damn truth? Must I explain it to you slowly?” I sneered.
“Shut up.” Gerard commanded.
“Oh, fancy that. The French boy telling me to shut up. Go drop of a cliff, Gertrude.”
Edward’s eyes hardened and he said, “What did you call him?”
“Oh, the other French man has finally grown a pair. Gertrude’s what I called him, the name suits him, don’t you think? Are you two fucking each other or something?” Bad choice of words, I soon found out. Never piss off wannabe cowboys, especially those who seem to be mentally unstable with damn big guns.
Edward punched me straight in the stomach and Gerard just held me there. Wonderful, ganging up on a poor, crippled elf. He then hit my face hard, making my teeth ache like bloody fucking hell. Afterwards, he cooled down a bit, and asked, “Is it true?”
“You’d make an awful investigator, and of course it’s true, dumbass.”
“Elf, don’t play games with us.” Gerard, oh I’m so sorry, /Gertrude/ said behind me.
“I’m not. And I have a name Gertrude.”
“Oh yeah, well, guess what? I have a name too. It’s Gerard, not Gertrude.” Gerard said angrily.
“Oh? I’m tickled pink to meet you Gerard. Mind letting me go now?”
“...Smartass...” Gerard muttered. I grinned again.
“What are you?” Edward asked me, his voice tilting with anger.
“Up yours.” He punched me in the face.
“What are you?” He asked slowly this time.
“Go fuck yourself.” This time, another blow to the gut. And the tattoo was acting up again. It felt like something was crawling inside my skin and slowly devouring it.
“Tell me right now, what the fuck are you.” The worms in my skin began to crawl even faster, and a hoarse cry of pain escaped my lips. They looked at me confused, wondering what the hell was going on with me.
“Maybe you punched the kid a bit too hard.” Gerard suggested, concern touching his voice. Kid, /kid/?! Oh, and I suppose you two are grandmothers? I’m bloody older than the two of you put together!
The mark kept dishing out its infernal pain on me and soon it became too much to bear. No, I did not black out, but my entire body was quivering. Then Gerard said, “It looks as if his back is troubling him. Help me take its vest off.”
/It/... /IT/. Gertrude, when my arm has healed, I will kill you. I don’t care what ripples it might have in the future, I /will/ do it. Then, working together like a marvelous little team, they managed in taking my stupid vest off. I was too damn drained to do anything except barely stand.
The first one to see my slave mark was little Gertrude. He was surprised to see the Renian word for slave tattooed onto my back and tightened his grip on me.
“Eddi, this thing belongs to those bird-men.”
“Renians?” Edward asked in surprise.
“Yes, I am their slave. Now let me go before you risk the wrath of my master!” I shouted, bluffing.
“Shut up.” Edward said softly.
“Why should I?” The mark began to burn into my skin. The worms increased their pace.
“Eddi, the slave mark.” Little Gertrude said softly. Oh /fuck/.
“What?” He asked.
“It’s burning. Like they say it does when a slave refuses to obey an order.”
“You serious?” Oh shit oh shit oh shit, ran through my head a dozen times.
“But I...” Mr. Cowboy hesitated. I was in deep crap now.
“Give him an order.” Gertrude suggested. I could fucking kill the man!
“...Sit down.” Me? Sit down? Fuck you!
“He gave you an order.” Thank you for pointing out the obvious Gertrude!
“I said, sit down.” He said calmly, slowly. The mark burned once more. With stiff muscles, I sat down on the chair next to me, Gertrude loosening his grip enough so that it wasn’t too uncomfortable.
“If someone wanted to kill you, why would they send you a slave that obeyed your orders?” Gerard asked softly.
“...” Oh bloody fucking hell.
“Does anybody want to hear my side of the story?” I asked with a bit of a smirk.
“...Speak.” Edward commanded.
“Woof, woof.” I grinned. Apparently, they didn’t understand the joke, so I felt obligated to clarify it for them. “You did tell me to speak, did you not?” Yes, lame, who cares?
“Smartass...” Gertrude muttered behind me. My grin grew about a few more inches.
“Why, if you were sent to kill me, do you obey my orders?” Edward asked.
“Well, I don’t know either... Perhaps he wanted to play a prank on you, although, that doesn’t suit him (stiff bastard, he is). Like I told you before, why don’t you go and ask him yourself?” I was getting very tired of this.
“Answer him truthfully.” Gertrude threatened.
“Fuck off...” The tattoo began to burn horribly. My master was trying to contact me.
“Eddi, it’s happening again...” Gertrude said, a bit nervous. I guess I scare him quite a bit, eh?
“What?” Dumbfounded? I thought so. The master’s voice tore through my brain, “What is taking you so long? Why do you dawdle, boy?! Dispose of your target and get back here immediately!” The Master could not know the predicament I was in, and he shouldn’t know. Ever. I had to find a way out of this hole and finish my objective. I have no intention of dying.
I came to as someone shook my left shoulder rather vigorously. I opened my eyes slowly, praying that I was in my miserable room. But no, the gods hate me. I was back on the bed, but this time I wasn’t chained. Seems that the men trusted little Eddi’s ability to use me.... bastards.
Well, at least I had time to think. First of all, how could I escape when one of them could force me to obey him? And second of all, there was something completely off with said man. Never have I heard of a human with elfin ears, unless he had elf blood in him.
Which is impossible, no human would ever bond with an elf, especially since all elves they have come in contact with were just slaves. Slaves are forbidden from having sex with anyone unless their master requests it, and even then, if a child is conceived, it was to be destroyed immediately. However, my brain and body were just too damn tired. I needed to rest.

Gerard (Gertrude *snicker* PoV)

I just couldn’t relax, not with that thing in here. Sure, he was out cold, but I was still worried. Those eerie glowing eyes and that attitude of his... Not to mention, there was something so familiar about him. Maybe it was that cat... I had seen it before... But also, the things he said sounded insane. An assassin! Every time I think over what he said, the less probable it seems. And they way he looked, the deep blue skin and short length snow-white hair.... reminded me of a ghost....
God I needed to sleep. But even though I needed it, I couldn’t leave Eddi alone right now. He needed to talk to someone, even though in the end he’d only say a few words.  I had made up my mind. I stood up from the couch and walked to the kitchen, where I knew Eddi would be. After all, he probably hadn’t eaten anything.
I wasn’t at all surprised to find Eddi preparing himself a bowl of Easy Mac, heck, if the food wasn’t instant, he wouldn’t be able to cook it. I smiled at the memory of trying to teach him how to cook spaghetti, and failing utterly. I woke up from my daydream to the sounds of Eddi cursing under his breath. He couldn’t find the sugar, and Lord knows how he loves sweet macaroni. Thankfully, I had the foresight to hide all things sugary.
“Ger, where’s the sugar?” He asked me.
“I honestly don’t know. Just eat your food without sugar.” I suggested.
“But then it won’t taste so good…” Eddi pouted. He may be twenty-one, but there are times when he still acts like the little kid I once knew.
I smiled, then said, “So, what do you think of our current state of affairs?”
He ignored my question as he pulled out his steaming hot bowl of macaroni and cheese from the microwave. Opening the pouch of cheese, he replied, “…I’m worried.”
“About what?”
“I think… he was telling the truth.” That made me laugh. Dear Eddi, you need to sleep more often!
“Eddi, we have an insane slave elf, probably a no-good runaway who claims he was sent to kill you. That doesn’t sound very likely.”
“Don’t make fun of me Ger…” He pouted again.
“I’m not Eddi, I just want you to listen to reason.” I pleaded with him, praying he’d listen.
He merely began to eat his sugarless macaroni, ignoring me.
“Eddi…”
“I think he’s telling the truth.” I sighed, has he finally lost it?
“Eddi, you need sleep.” I said firmly.
“I just… don’t know. I feel like he’s saying the truth Ger. What should I do?”
“Eddi, you haven’t slept in at least three days, maybe that’s why you think that madman is telling the truth.” The glare he sent my way told me that wasn’t the case.
“Then why do you believe him?” I asked. No answer. I tried again, yet he still remained stubbornly silent. I reverted to desperate measures. I stole his hat.
He glared at me and said, “Give it back, Ger.”
“Not until you tell me why you think the crazy’s telling the truth.” I teased, putting the hat on my head and backing slowly out of the kitchen.
“Give it back!” He lunged at me. I moved to the right and he landed on the floor, face first. I almost fell since I laughed so hard. He looked just so ridiculous!
“Come on Eddi, you can do better than that!” I shouted at him while running away.
“Give me back my hat Gerard!” Oh he was mad now, he never called me that.
“You’ll have to catch me first!” Laughing, I dodged a wild swipe aimed at my head. I know Eddi would never really hurt me, even in times like this.
“Get back here!”
“Then tell my why you trust him.” I pleaded.
“… Fine.” With a triumphant smile, I gave him back his hat, and we both sat down the floor. A chuckle escaped my lips, and I waited for Eddi to tell me his reasons.
“ He said that sometime in the future, I would bring France back from the dead. The thing is, that is what I’m doing.”
“…Come again?” I stared at him, dumbfounded.
“When I first told you I was taking up this job, you were angry at me. You told me no good would come out of all this killing. But there is good coming out of it. Many of the jobs I’ve taken involved people who are keeping our home in ruins. Don’t you see?” The fact that he used so many words meant this was extremely important to him.
“But… why?”
“One day, when…when Jean-Claude was sick, he told me he wanted to see the France that Mama and Papa always talked about.”
“So this is for him?”
“… Yes.”
“And just how do you know those people you’re murdering are guilty?”
“I’ve done my homework, Ger. I know what I’m doing.”


PoV: Furan (Ger: the crazy kid)


It’s been two days since I’ve been here. Two days of me doing absolutely nothing but sleeping, eating, and thinking, in that order. All my thinking provided me with only more questions not answers. Like, why are Edward’s ears pointed like an elf? How does Gerard know about slaves? Is he suspicious of me, after all, the cat form that I used to help kill Jean-Claude was the same one I used in trying to get away. Why does a mere touch from Edward seem to drain me of all my Magika?  And the winner, why am I being forced to obey Edward’s every command?
A bright light suddenly invaded my dark corner; one of the men had opened the door.
“Rise and shine, sunshine.” That annoying tenor voice… Gertrude. How I hated him. In all the time I’ve been here he’s treated me more like an object, just like my despicable master. And, he treats Edward like a child. Why?
“Mrrf.” I replied, angry at being woken up.
He ignored my rather witty remark and let down a plate of something on the nightstand. I opened my eyes and looked at Gertrude. He stared at me expectantly, and I noticed the stubble on his pointed chin. Then I looked away and focused what was on the plate.
Buttered toast with milk, yum yum… I waited until little Gertrude left before I nibbled on it, hesitant. I wasn’t surprised to find it was actually tasteless. But beggars can’t be choosers…
After a tasteless, dull breakfast, I settled down on the bed again. I didn’t even bother with thinking about escaping. The last two times I tried, I failed utterly. I closed my eyes and just started thinking. I decided to see if I could solve on the small-scale questions, namely, Edward’s ears. Only an elf has pointed ears, and I’ve never heard of an elf sleeping with a human, at least, not a case where a child was born. According to Renian (and human law) any child of human and elf mating was to be immediately killed.
So how in bloody hell does he have those ears? Although it’s rather easy how he escaped notice, since in France there is almost no law. Plus, that dammed hat of his hides their unusual shape.
Okay, so that mystery has been explained a bit. Now for the next one, how the hell does Gerard know so much about slaves? I pondered on it for a few minutes, but nothing came. Sighing, I went to the next question. As to if Gerard suspected me in Jean-Claude’s murder…. It’s entirely too likely. I saw the ghost of recognition float through his eyes. It’s only time before he puts two and two together.
All right then, some mysteries have been solved, now to tackle the big ones. Whenever I tried to use a spell, I had enough magika for it, but once Edward touched me, it felt as if something was draining it. I've never heard of any machine that can absorb magika (at least not a small one) and very few cases of people with the ability to absorb it. Was he one of them? If so, then there must've been a reason why the Renians haven't noticed him yet. They did monthly sweeps for any Magika wielders in every city. Even those who had participated in the Resistance. There must be someone who has been helping him escape their notice!
However, there were too many unknowns in this… It seems the only way I’d be able to get all my answers was by observing him. After all, I really did have nothing better to do. I wonder if I qualify for parole…

Three days later…

It’s been five days now, and I’ve learned absolutely nothing (except that Gertrude has a permanent stick up his ass). At least my arm doesn’t hurt anymore, just feels sore now. I’m surprised my master hasn’t contacted me anymore. Probably means he decided to hire someone to kill Edward. Which is a bit of a surprise, considering he’s a stingy bastard.  
And if this new killer is successful, it means I’ll be free. Sure, the master will probably punish me, but what he has in store I will endure. As I’ve always done and always will.
My train of thought stopped abruptly at a soft knock on the door. Only one person bothered knocking, Edward.
“Come in…” I said.
He opened the door and walked inside. He looked around and then settled his gaze on me.
“Ger wants me to turn you in to the Renians…” He said softly.
“Then why haven’t you?” I bit back.
“I want to know…” He bit his lip and looked away.
“… Sit down. - He sat on a chair by the bed- What is it you want to ask me?”
“Do you know someone by the name Jean-Claude?” He asked, hesitant.
For a second, my heart stopped beating, but I recovered quickly and said, “No, why?”
“…Curious…”
“Is that it then?” He was such a coward.
“No. The ones who sent you, will they send others as well?”
“Yes, they would. They won’t stop until you’re dead, and they will use anything available to reach that objective. Even hurt your precious Gertrude.”
“… You have to obey my orders, don’t you? - He didn’t wait for a reply - Then I command you to protect Gerard at all costs.”
Oh fuck it. Keep Gertrude safe, God! I’d rather be killing him.
“Do you under-
“Yes, I get it! Keep Gertrude safe. Anything else you desire, master?”
He smiled a bit and shook his head. Then he got up and left. His visits were always so odd.
Apparently, Gertrude was more important to him than I thought…


Two days later…

They seem to trust me a bit now, or at least aren’t as afraid of me. I’m allowed to leave the bedroom, and they were surprised to see that my broken arm had now fully recovered. It seems that they don’t know that elves recover much faster than humans. Whatever. It seems little Eddi (although he glared daggers at me when I called him that) is a bit on the paranoid side.  At every and any slight sound he flinches, eyes flying to see where it came from. It became an amusing pastime, me scratching a random object and him whirling around to see where it came from. It was incredibly funny, til’ one day he shot the lamp a few inches from my face.
I was walking aimlessly around when I heard a door close. The living room door creaked and groaned horribly as it was slammed shut. Someone left, Edward. Gertrude was asleep on the couch.  So he left me here alone? Well, not exactly alone, but without him here, I could easily escape. Keeping an eye out for Gertrude, I walked from the kitchen on to the living room. However, as I was about to open the door, the mark began to burn horribly. So, the order still stands… Apparently, I couldn’t leave the apartment since it would be a violation of the order to keep Ger safe… god damn it.
Well then, this would be a perfect chance to see if Gertrude really is without a sense of humor. After all, fifteenth time’s the charm, no?
I went back to the kitchen, careful not to wake up Gertrude, and grabbed a can of cheese spray from the shelf above the stove. I sneaked up on the couch in the living room, where Gertrude was sleeping. He was face up, mouth open as he lightly snored.
One of his hands was over his chest, palm up. I sprayed some cheese on it, keeping an eye on Ger if he awoke. After I sprayed enough, I blew on his face a few times. After a few tries, he slapped at his face with his hand, successfully spreading cheese all over his sharp features. I could barely contain my laughter, and proceeded to run away as he woke up with cheese clinging onto his eyebrows.
He screamed and shouted, “You fucking elf bastard! Get over here!”
He really was so funny. I couldn’t help it as laughter bubbled up inside. My sides actually hurt from how hard I laughed. God I could do this forever.
Unfortunately, it seemed Gertrude didn’t share those sentiments. He found the can of cheese spray and promptly threw it in my direction. Obviously I dodged it. He kept throwing anything he could get his hands on, but they all missed me. He had bloody awful aim.
After he ran out of ill-fated objects, he charged towards me, narrowly avoiding the furniture in his path. Once again, I jumped out of the way, and his momentum made him crash against the wall. It was hilarious to see him almost crumple to the ground.
It took him a few seconds to get back up and re-orient himself. By then I had vanished form the living room and hidden in the kitchen. This was just so much fun! Gertrude was so easy to tease and toy with, I felt a grin crack my face again as I remembered the antics I had done to him yesterday.
However, the good feeling vanished as I heard clicking noises outside the apartment. The sounds pricked my senses, and I knew someone was about to force his (or her) way in.
But in the seconds it took me to realize this, Gertrude had come inside the kitchen and was about to punch me in the face. I grabbed his fist and pulled him underneath the kitchen counter. He opened his mouth in protest and I pressed my hand against it, silencing him.
“There is someone outside the apartment, and it sure as hell isn’t Edward.” I whispered.
He pulled my hand away from my mouth and whispered back, “How do you know?”
“It doesn’t feel like him.”
“It doesn’t feel like Eddi? Are you insane?” He accused.
“No, I’m not. Now shut up and let me do my job.” I hissed.
Just then the door squeaked very softly as it opened. Gertrude didn’t hear it, but I motioned for him to keep silent and stay still. The intruder was definitely male, and light. He tried to be quiet, and probably was, by human standards, but to me his feet screamed whenever they stepped on the wooden floor.
The man headed towards the bedroom and opened the door, but found no one inside. Then he began to head towards the kitchen. I checked the area around me for any weapons, since I didn’t have my talons. I found a few forks and plastic knives, till my eyes settled on a lovely, sharp, and long steel knife. Perfect.
I grabbed it and then settled back under the counter. It would give me a moment’s cover while the intruder opened the door, long enough for me to surprise him.
Which is exactly what happened. He opened the door and scanned the area, cocking his gun. At first he saw no one, since the place where we were hiding is faced against the door, He was about to walk around the counter, right to where we were hiding, when I lunged. I sliced his Achilles’ tendon and he fell, screaming. I grabbed his gun from him, a semi-automatic pistol with a suppressor and a silver barrel and black grip.
I aimed the gun again, but he charged at me, his whole body crashing upon mine. We both fell to the floor, with him on top. He scrambled to get the knife that was still clenched tightly in my left hand and we struggled wildly, He almost succeeded in taking the damn thing, but I kneed him in the groin; he howled in pain. Then all hell broke loose.
Gertrude, instead of staying hidden and safe, decided to play the hero.
He grabbed a metal plate that had been left on the counter and was about to use it to beat the intruder’s head to a pulp.
However, a wild kick (from my part) sent him falling to the floor.
At this point, I’m just trying to make sure I survive, but the mark began to burn, punishing me for harming someone I was ordered to protect.
This moment’s distraction was enough for the assailant to take my knife and grab at Gertrude. He took the disoriented man by his knees, and pulled him closer. But before he could slash at Ger’s throat, I kicked him solidly in the face. Blood and saliva spurt out and he almost toppled.
I made a mistake as I lunged to take the knife away from him. Apparently, he wasn’t as dazed as I thought he was, and he slashed my chest; a deep gash from which blood poured freely from. But as poetic as that might have sounded, it also really fucking hurt.
Thankfully, by now Ger had realized what was going on and made himself scarce.  The man tried to follow him, but at this point I knew I had gained the upper hand. When he tried to get up, I grabbed his leg and kept him down. He slashed wildly again, scoring a deep, long cut on my arm, but this time I sucked in the pain.
He swung at me one more time, and I grabbed his wrist with my left hand. I took the blade from him with my right, and before he could make retaliate, I buried it in his throat. He made a few more savage swings, but they were weak and soon he was dead.
I let out a long, ragged sigh and stood up. The blood loss and fatigue were already worming their way through my body, and my vision was light, swirling. I barely noticed Gertrude coming back inside the kitchen. He gave me a hard look and ordered me to sit down. I happily complied, unceremoniously dropping onto the floor. He told me to stay where I was, and I slowly nodded. He left the room and soon came back with some gauze and alcohol.
“You a doctor?” I teased.
“No, but I had basic medical training.”
“Good enough for me…”
He then applied the alcohol to my injuries and I hissed at the painful sting.
“You just faced a six foot tall monster who slashed at you and almost shot at you, and you never made a single sound. Now you’re hissing at a bit of alcohol?”
His words caused my cheeks to heat up with shame, and I looked away.
“Take that damn vest off so I can properly dress your wounds.”
What the fuck do they have against my clothing?? I obediently took it off and he began to wrap gauze around my upper torso, then he taped it together. He repeated the same procedure for the bleeding cut on my arm, and then I was all fixed up.
“Thanks...” I mumbled softly.
“Well, it was the least I could do to thank you for saving my life.”
“Hmm…”
“Well I-
“What is Eddi’s problem?” I asked suddenly.
“Don’t call him Eddi, he only lets me call him that. And as for his ‘problem’, he’s had a very tough life. Much more so than someone like you could imagine.” And with that he angrily stalked off, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
After a few minutes, I got up and went to check the body for anything of use. A few pieces of gum, ammunition, and lint, that was all he carried with him. I sighed and settled down next to him.
“Rotten amount of good you did. Waltzing in here like you were all that. Did put up a bit of a fight though. I’ll give you that much.”
Then I realized I was talking to a dead body, and I was planning on continuing this. Until I heard Ger scream, “Get rid of that thing!” Certainly, mom.
And then I heard the door open. The living room door, as in someone came in. As in Edward decided to pop up right now. Bad timing much?
The first things he noticed were probably all the broken objects strewn about, from when Gertrude was trying to get back at me for the cheese. Afterwards, I heard him speaking softly to Ger, who told him to go into the kitchen. Bastard knew I hadn’t yet cleaned up.
For the first fifteen seconds, Edward merely stared at me, then at body, then at me again. Finally, he said, “Did you do this?” I smirked, did he think Ger could have done this?
“I did just as you asked me to. I kept Gertrude safe at all costs.” Then I stood up to grab a mop to clean up all the blood, which wasn’t much, except around the dead man’s body.
“Don’t call him that.” He said softly. I shrugged and began to clean up, and Edward left the kitchen.
A few hours later, the kitchen was brand new, I had cleaned up the blood and disposed the body. I even pitched in a little extra and washed the dishes. I was about to leave the kitchen when I picked up an interesting conversation. I peeked through the doorway and saw Ger with an exasperated look on his face, staring at an oblivious and content Edward.
“What were you doing, Eddi?” He asked.
Edward just pulled his hat down and covered his face in a rather (dare I say it?) adorable manner. Gertrude probably know what this meant, because he began to shout in French. I was able to understand the basic problem.
Apparently, little Eddi sometimes goes out to have sex with people. Total strangers, just because he wants to. For someone who wants to liberate France, this doesn’t seem like proper behavior; but to each his own.
I stored this bit of information away for future use then sat down on a chair by the counter. I mulled over my thoughts once again and looked at my options. None of them seemed good.
Option A) Fulfill original mission and Kill Edward: Fuck no. It seems that I’m being forced to obey him, and even if I could survive the pain from delivering the fatal blow, his death would result in my own. A slave dies once his or her master dies, thanks to that bloody slave mark.
Option B) Attempt to escape and report to master: Suicide, even if I could make it through all the pain of violating a direct order, master would probably kill me. Yes assassin slaves are valuable, but not irreplaceable.
Option C) Play along with the humans: Seems like my best choice for now.
Option C seemed the most reasonable at the moment, and really was the only path that didn’t seem to end in certain destruction. So I really was stuck with them, and for how long... Who knows?