Assassin's Blood

Chapter 1 – Assignment and Knowledge

You know, I thought becoming an assassin would have been hard work; it's not. You're hired by the person who has a grudge, you find the target, Kill, and then come back and collect your pay after disposing the body of the victim. It's all very easy; at least it was until he up on my doorstep…

The man came to me when it was, basically, in the middle of the night, and it was pouring down buckets of rain. He knocked on my door of my 'home' before letting himself in on his own accord. I was seated at the table located in the small room I called the 'Living Room'. Currently I was going over papers and sorting through books to keep up my records.

"How can I assist you?" I asked, not turning around, even as he was behind me and peering over my shoulder at what I was doing. He wouldn't understand any of it, I had placed it in a code only I knew of, or so I hoped, because of the people who I dealt with and their slimy hands.

"I am in need of your abilities my dear -"

I cut the man saying, "The only person who has said that, is not with us anymore, so I suggest you don't call me that."

"I am in need of your abilities, then, because there is a man that has been causing some trouble for me over the years. You may have heard of this man that I am referring to. Does the name Vincent Valentine strike you in anyway?" The pencil I had been writing with stopped it movements over the half-filled paper. I did recognize the name; Vincent Valentine was the name of the man how basically saved the world when Deepground summoned Omega four years ago. I set my pencil down and turned around on the wooden stool I was using.

My employer was a man in his late sixties, maybe early seventies, with greasy black hair that was rapidly turning grey; his black rimmed glasses slid down his nose, forcing him to push them up so they wouldn't fall and shatter. He wore a white dress shirt with a black tie and black slacks and a pair of black shoes. Over all of that was a white Lab coat that you would find on scientists; it was soaking wet though due to the rain.

"Who are you?" I asked while leaning back on the table with my elbows. I was wearing a medium sleeved green turtle necked shirt with a pair of black cargo pants and boots that had a small heel. My dirty blond hair was pulled up into a high pony tail and it would normally reach my mid back, though it rested on the table at the present. My brown eyes remained emotionless as I studied the man in front of me.

"That, you will find out later. I don't want you to say who employed you to do the job while tracking down Valentine. I want to live just a little bit longer." That was the second red flag that shot up in my mind. The first was just his appearance.

"Have a picture of him? I do recognize the name, but I have never seen him, so I would be going on blank here." I stated, raising an eyebrow; The Man then pulled out a wrinkled up photo from his pocket and handed it to me. Grabbing it, I flipped it over and saw Vincent Valentine. He was dressed in a red cape that buckled in front of his chest and extended in the back to the ground almost. He had on a black button up shirt and a pair of black pants that had two belts, one of the belts was attached to a gun holstered, and said gun was a triple barreled gun held in his left hand, which was covered in a gold metal. He wore a pair of gold boots, and once I looked at his face I felt like I should know him. He had crimson colored eyes that didn't give anything away, even in a photo. A band of red cloth was wrapped around his forehead, to keep the hair out of his face; a high red collar from the cape hid the bottom portion of his face. I set the picture down behind me on the table and looked at the man.

"Since you know what I do and where I am, you must know how I do business." I said calmly.

"Of course, here's half the payment," The man took out a bag from his pocket and handed it to me.

"Thank you for doing business. Come back in about a week and it'll most likely be done." I told him, grabbing the bag of Gil as he left my 'house'. I turned around and threw the bag of Gil into the nearby trash bag. The bag was full of fake money, I could tell without even looking at it. Picking up the photo, I turned it over and looked at the back to see if it held the man's name. In black, was a message; I couldn't read it, but I did get some words here and there; like "Kill" "Vincent" "Project" and "Hojo".

Thinking nothing of the writing except that the man held a huge Grudge against Valentine, I set the picture down and went back to what I had been engaged in previous.

The next afternoon, I had the table cleaned off and was currently putting all the paper, books and writing utensils into a carrying bag that would attach at my hip. I then set the bag down on the floor near the door and went back a hallway and into a 'bedroom'. My bed was a couple of blankets and the pillow was a bag of my clothes. I rolled up the blankets and stuffed them in with my clothes. From the bag I pulled out a holster and my double barreled hand gun I called Hades. I attached the holster to my hip and slid the gun in place. I then picked up my bag and walked back to the door where the other bag was currently located and the one in my hands down next to the other one. The banister I had set my things next to was holding onto my cloak, putting it on I brought the hood up and let it cover my whole face. Opening the door I grabbed the bags and left the 'house' I was currently occupying while it's owners were away.

I walked westward where the city of Edge was located. I had a good shot of seeing my target there as rumors had said that he hung out at Seventh Heaven, a local bar. So that was my destination. In an hour I could see the outline of edge and then in another two hours, I was walking into the bar. By now it was around eight O'clock, so the bar was just starting to get busy. I walked to a back booth and set my bags down next to me. Peering around, I saw no sign that Vincent was here, or had been here lately. So I decided to perk my ears in case someone was talking about him. All the conversations that I heard were from drunken men who were discussing who they would have sex with next. How Pleasant.

"Excuse me; what would you like to drink?" A voice asked next to me. Turning to her I saw that she had long black hair and was wearing a black tank top that zipped in the front. Underneath that she wore another tank top that was white; she also wore a pair of black short with a black skirt like cloth that came mid-thigh in the front and then in the back went to the ground almost. She wore a pair of dark colored Tennis shoes. On her right bicep was a red ribbon; she was a member of AVALANCHE.

"Water it all" I answered her question, looking back at the table. I heard her leave and then return shortly with the water. She set it down in front of me and left as I thanked her. She returned to the bar as the door opened and closed. A man with spiky blonde hair that looked like it belonged to a Chocobo. The man went up the woman to talk with her. I strained my ears to listen to the conversation.

"Any luck Cloud?" The woman asked, cleaning out a shot glass.

Cloud, the man with spiky hair, shook his head, "No, I don't think he wants out help at the moment. He keeps avoiding me whenever I try to talk with him."

The woman sighed and set the glass down, "I wonder why he's acting so cold, not that he was always so friendly, but still…"

"He'll come around Tifa, he always does. He just needs time." Cloud responded.

Tifa, the woman, nodded, "I guess. He still hiding in the city?"

Cloud nodded his head and sighed before heading up stairs, Finishing my glass of, I pulled out some Gil and paid for my drink before standing up and attaching my two bags to a belt at my waist. I nodded to Tifa as she came over to the table I just vacated. I could hear a gasp as I left the bar, smiling. It was near eight-thirty and it was beginning to get dark out.

Slowly I walked to the edge of Edge before taking off at a full blown sprint towards the Forgotten city. I knew who and what they were talking about even if they didn't exactly say it aloud. Cliffs, mountains, everything flew by in a blur of color. When I finally put the skids on, I was surrounded by glowing white trees. A river was quietly flowing next to me as I got my bearings. I was definitely in the Forgotten City and it was time for me to do what I was hired to do. Kill Vincent Valentine.