[AuroraSky]

Arcane took just the slightest of breaths and gently lifted her arm cannon, taking aim in the temples darkness. Surely she would be going to hell for starting some violence in a shrine, but she was sure the Gods would make an exception. Or she just wanted to believe they would.

Her head cocked just a smidge to the left, sizing up her target before closing her eyes. Although she would miss the great "fun" they had had together, Seeksoul just had to go.

So she fired.

Immediately there was a blast and Arcane was sure she could hear little shrieks from far off in a distance. The whole section of the temple tunnel was up in flames, the torches not doing any favors. Arcane paused for a second and jumped down, guard still on high alert as she drew her sword, looking to claim the head of her ex captor. She looked around.

Something was wrong.

There was no Barghest body lying in the heaps of disgruntled stone, and there certainly were no bloody chunks of her opponent scattered on the walls. And it was impossible that the assassin missed, so where could he be?

She had an eerie feeling she would soon find out.

[AuroraSky]

Stupid, silly girl. Didn't she know that she would have to be a lot stealthier than that to try and kill Seeksoul?

He watched from underneath some rubble, not moving a single inch and praying the flames wrapped around his figure were either a) too weak to actually show or b) blending in with the little piles of fire scattered about. My my, the Lucain had surely made a mess of things. He could hear the shrill screams of the monks and nuns from way down the hallway, the sound piercing his ears.

Jesus, he should have killed them all while he was cooped up in that dastardly infirmary.

He watched Arcane spin around in wild circles, clearly starting to sweat now. Of course that wasn't very surprising; the female knew how powerful the Barghest could be. His tail whipped in anticipation, and immediately he mentally hit himself. Just that small movement could have given him away!

He hissed as the female locked eyes with him. Given him away it had.

[AuroraSky]

Fire.

She did not even waste any time with Ready and Aim, which would only prolong his death. But although Arcane was as highly a skilled assassin as she was, it made no difference. In a millisecond Seeksoul was out of the way and all that was left were pieces of flying debris. Damn.

"Halt." She said firmly, as if that would stop the Barghest. Instead he slyly smiled at her, waiting for her next move. Arcane watched him momentarily before sheathing her sword. Seeksoul watched in confusion, caution, and slight amusement. She put up her fists in a display, signaling now she knew weapons were useless against her tricky killer.

The Barghest raised an eyebrow, clearly amused at this. This sparked a small fire in Arcane, but she tried to keep calm. Some would consider this move rather foolish, but she was relying on her body armor to protect her and be able to vanquish her foe.

"Bring it."

[AuroraSky]

Seeksoul paused. Sure a pause could be deadly here, but he was still dumbfounded by the female. Who did she think she was, actually challenging him to a hand-to-hand combat duel? Could she not see that he was ten times bigger than she, or that he was a million times stronger? But then again, why was he questioning her very foolish choices? The sooner that he finished up here, the sooner he would be able to return and find out his next assignment. He leaned his head to the side, cracking his neck, and braced himself.

He waited a very few moments, both of them making pretty heavy eye contact, before using all of his might and charging at her. His weight suddenly made contact with her small body, but her bionic arm seemed ready as it gripped him around his waist and pushed back. Not as effective, but it still kept him from ramming her into the shattered stone pieces laying in ruin behind her.

Before Seeksoul could react, Arcane was suddenly on him, claws digging into his back as he howled in pain. A little skin was broken, but after a few bucks the female was sent flying into a burned out torch before sliding back down to her opponent.

[AuroraSky]

"You got balls, kid." The Barghest said to Arcane, strolling over to her side. She would have liked to stand up and hit him right now, but that last attack had knocked the wind out of her and she was still recovering. As he continued to approach her, Arcane finally found the strength to at least move. Her legs were wobbly and her body ached, but she moved nonetheless.

"Kid? I believe we are around the same age." She winced through gritted teeth. Seeksoul laughed and shrugged nonchalantly, as if he had already won the battle. Arcane glared at him and slyly reached for a stone beside her, bionic arm flexing. Luckily he was too busy bantering with her to notice.

"Fine fine, I will give you that one. But why don't you just lay there like a good girl and let me finish you off?"

"Not. A. Chance." She hurled the stone.

[21][21]

[AuroraSky]

...

...

"Ugh." Seeksoul twisted his body slightly, and immediately a rush of pain shot through ever fiber of his body. He howled in agony and relaxed himself again, not eager to repeat the experience. It was then he noticed that something was very, very wrong here. He could feel some sort of restraint on his wrists and legs, and one around his neck.

"What the hell?" His eyes flew open as he looked around his surroundings, trying to break free. But as he moved again there was more pain, and he was forced to relax again. "Hello?" Maybe someone was in here with him.

"Yes?" Arcane asked, flicking on a light.

[22][22]

[AuroraSky]

"What is the meaning of this? Release me. Now."

Arcane laughed, her finger tracing over the blade of her knife and shook her head. She casually strolled to his side, enjoying the way he was writhing in pain and anger. "Now now, Seeksoul, the game have just begun."

"What? I don't play games."

"What about our little game of cat and mouse a while ago?"

He smirked. "Fair enough. But why don't you just finish me off already. You have me right where you want me." He tried to move again but Arcane's clever trap had him pinned, making her smile again. She sat on the edge of the operating table he was laying on and crossed her legs.

"I plan on finishing you off, don't you worry. Just...I have a few questions for you, if you don't mind." She said, twirling the knife around and trying to make her voice seem as innocent as possible.

[23][23]

[AuroraSky]

Questions? What possible questions could this crafty female have for him? Seeksoul winced in pain and his chest rose and fell heavily with the effort of having to speak. Why couldn't she just be like a normal killer and finish him off already? Was watching her victim suffer some sort of fetish she had?

Like his?

"Fine. I'll answer your stupid questions."

"Oh Seeksoul it was never really an option." She got up from her seat and gripped his chin tightly in her hands. They were strong, strongly than any other woman he had encountered before. He winced again and gave her the dirtiest glare he could muster up, but Arcane only laughed. She twirled the knife again. "Who hired you?"

"..."

"Time is of the essence." Arcane hissed, this time her voice lower and more menacing. However Seeksoul did not think the pain could get any worse than this so instead he gave her a very challenging look and pushed his lips together, signaling he wasn't going to say a word. Arcane glared and gripped his throat, aiming her dagger at his eyes.

"Talk."

[24][24]

[AuroraSky]

"This is kind of sexy."

"UGH." For just the slightest of moments, Arcane let her teenage girl side slip out. And even worse, she hated the way he looked so amused, despite his pain, like he was witnessing a toddler having a tantrum. Arcane bit her bottom lip and gripped the dagger harder, wondering if she could just let herself go and stab this monster to death. But of course, that would put her in too much danger. "Who hired you?" She asked again.

The Barghest looked up at her and studied her emotions, and the Lucain had to admit to herself she was feeling a bit nervous under his emotionless gaze. "You really want to know, eh?"

"You have nothing to lose now. I'm going to kill you, you know that."

"Fine then." Seeksoul said, but Arcane saw that little glimmer in his eye that she knew there was a sort of catch. "I don't know who they are."

[25][25]

[AuroraSky]

Seeksoul savored the moment on the Lucain's face as he said those words. She choked a little bit and her hand fell a little bit, the dagger nearly slipping from her grip. But in a second she composed herself and her gaze hardened."You're lying."

"No I am not." He said calmly. "They had me meet with some middle man. He paid me and told me the target. I don't fail, so there was no need to pay me after the job."

Arcane laughed at this, and Seeksoul couldn't help but see her point. Here he was, world infamous assassin, strapped to an operation table by a female? How embarrassing. "Look Seeksoul, I do not have all day. The sooner you tell me who is after me and why, the sooner I can put you out of your misery!"

"And miss all of this? No no, I think I'll tinker with you a bit more."

And that is when he felt the first stab.

[26][26]

[AuroraSky]

She enjoyed his howl of pain. Clearly the Barghest didn't realize that she was serious about every threat, and did not learn from the past few hours of their fighting. She had warned him, so that was his mistake. She withdrew the knife from his leg and wiped the blood off of her sleeve as if it was nothing.

Then again, killing meant nothing to her.

"So are you ready to talk?" Arcane asked him simply, returning to her seat on the table beside his head. Seeksoul was sweating profusely and taking short, jagged breaths. He inhaled for a few moments before his dark eyes looked up at her in pure hatred. Arcane had to admit the look he was giving was a little frightening and intense.

"Talk? You stab me and expect me to talk? My my, you're not very bright." Arcane have a wry little laugh and gripped the dagger even more tightly, shaking her head. This man was going to be extra tough today now wasn't he? Well no matter, she would match his toughness.

She traced the knife along his pelt and smirked as he flinched, clearly realizing the pain that was soon to come. She bent down closer to him so her lips were just centimeters away from his ear. Her voice got low and seductive. "Seeksoul baby, please."

She didn't want to resort to this, but she needed the information. And with the previous interest and stupidity Seeksoul had expressed for her, he sure be pretty easy to manipulate.

[27][27]

[AuroraSky]

The girl was good.

Perhaps a little desperate, but Seeksoul had to admire her ability to manipulate. He smiled at her, his grin turning out crooked from the searing pain he was feeling at the moment. "So let me understand something here. You expect me to lie down and obey you because you're getting all sexy with me? Well, love, I'll admit you are sexy." He gave her a quick once over, which only confirmed his statement. "But I'm not sure you're really into me."

"You know what's going to be into you in a second-"

"Whoa there dearest, calm down. Is that anyway to treat someone you're trying to extort information from? Let's take things slow, perhaps a date some dancing and then some...dessert?" He raised his eyebrows suggestively and Arcane gasped at him, standing and disappearing into the shadows to cool off.

Seeksoul smirked to himself, but then it turned quickly into a frown. What was he doing? Acting so...so, playful with his victim? Mother always taught him never to play with his food but clearly the lesson plan hadn't gone through like she would have hoped.

[28][28]

[AuroraSky]

That stupid, pig-headed, ignorant, pervert, son of a bitch-

Arcane didn't know why she was letting her opponent get to her, since she never had before, but for some reason this one was just not letting up. Now that she was in the shadows and away from his gaze she could mouth all of the obscenities she was thinking about spitting out to him. How could he crawl under her skin like that?! The time for games had run out, and Arcane was ready for answers. She promised herself she would not let him get to her, or make her loose her cool. Didn't she understand he was praying on her weaknesses?

Taking a deep and well deserved breath, Arcane spun on her heel and emerged from the shadows. Seeksoul was whistling cheerfully and her eyes narrowed as she resisted the urge to rip his heart out. His gaze fell upon her and he smiled. "Oh goody, you're back!" He exclaimed.

"Seeksoul, enough is enough." She said firmly. "Tell me who hired you. Now."

She studied his face, his lips quivering a little bit as he was pondering his choices. Arcane's patience was running thing, and at this rate would be extinct in a matter of seconds. She gritted her teeth harder, waiting for him to just be out with it. He sighed, and she raised her eyebrows.

His red eyes locked with her yellow ones, and neither of them spoke for a second. When the silence was broken, it was Seeksoul who had done so. "Fine. I will tell you all I know."

[29][29]

[AuroraSky]

At first when he said those words, Seeksoul had been completely convinced that he had gone mad. Since when did he actually give in to empty threats, like some sort of coward?...But then again with the anger that had been flaring in Arcane's eyes, he no longer assumed that those threats were empty. She seemed kinda crazy like that. But the way Seeksoul saw it, he was going to die either way. If he didn't tell her the information, she would give him a very slow and painful death, and there was no way he would be able to hide the pain much longer. And then if he did tell her, then she would give him a quick death and he could assume his role as a ghost. "I will tell you everything you need to know. You may not believe me, but this is the full account."

Arcane's eyebrows were raised, and Seeksoul could tell that she was unsure of whether or not to trust him. He certainly hadn't really proved himself worthy yet, but at the same time she was all the lead he had. Arcane nodded at him slowly, and he cleared his throat. "It all begins with my past. Are you sure that you're ready for this story?"

Arcane's reply was to pull out a wooden chair and sit gracefully upon it. It intrigued Seeksoul the way she was so delicate and beautiful, and yet had so much power. In a way it...turned him on?

[30][30]

[AuroraSky]

So many questions running through her mind, it seemed impossible. No matter how composed she was trying to seem, inside Arcane's heart and stomach were churning. Now the truth was going to come out, and she wasn't sure if she was scared or happy. Instead she took a breath and gestured for Seeksoul to begin his story.

"I think you should release me from my bounds, you know-"

"Quiet." Arcane said roughly. She had grown incredibly tired of his games and right now just wanted the full out truth. "Now you said you needed to tell me about your story, so spit it out already!"

"Alright, alright." He leaned back in his chair and took a dramatic pause, driving Arcane mad. "It all started when I was just a small boy of five years old. I lived in a village, not even on the map, right off the coast. It was the type of place where instead of houses, people had huts and the like. We didn't have many luxuries, such as your TV and radio, instead we relied on each other for entertainment. A few times a month, a group of adults would put on a play for all of the townspeople. I remembered the moon was so very bright..." His voice trailed away and Arcane wondered if he was actually feeling something right now.

Seeksoul took a breath and continued. "So, so very bright. It was beautiful; full. I was sitting in the very front row, Mother had taken me extra early so we would get good seats. We didn't have that much of a stage; basically just a raised plank of wood. A large plank, mind you, but a plank nonetheless. Our only light, other than the moon, who a few torches sticking out of the ground on either side of the stage. There were these curtains, my mother made them. They were simple pieces of cloth stained red with berries. I remember being so close I could still smell them. My Mother and I would laugh about their scent."

"I remember the curtains were being pulled back and the play had begun. It was called 'The Mikado'. It was a Japanese play, and all of the people in the play painted their faces white. My Mother leaned over and told me how silly they looked."

"We were about halfway through the play when I noticed a shadow on the curtain; I was the only one. I looked behind me and on one of the huts was...a man. Not from the village. Dressed in all black with a bow and arrow."

[31][31]