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Many days had passed since Percy had boarded the small carriage to Benay with Mizu. Percy knew now that Mizu, too, had gone under a false name, and false pretenses, to the Kingdom of Air. Or what was left of the Kingdom of Air, rumors all along the long journey said that the Kingdom of Air had fallen after the tragic death of Prince Tentsu, and his fiancé Princess Lita. Percy wondered how far off the rumors were, for she knew that she was still alive. She looked up at Tenshi, once known to her as Mizu, and wondered why he had agreed to come with her on her quest to destroy the Society of Assassins, to which she had previously belonged. "Percy, we're crossing into Benay now." Tenshi said through closed eyes. Percy was startled that he was even awake.
"How do you know?" Percy asked, there were no markers across the green fields for miles.
"A knack I picked up in Saya." Tenshi said, not opening his eyes. The fact that he claimed to be a normal person unnerved her, no normal person had lived as long as he had.
"Do you know where this friend of yours will be staying? Benay may be small, but it is a large place to search. Even for one such as yourself." Tenshi opened one eye, and starred at Percy. Percy nodded in agreement.
"The only pace an assassin would show up, the royal palace. Though, if she got the news before we arrive, she would have high tailed it out of there. She may be clumsy, but she's not stupid. But she will be dead." Percy began twiddling with a small knife that she pulled out of the dresses pocket. Before leaving for Benay, Tenshi had suggested that she dress as one who was not about to kill someone, and Percy threw on her mint green party dress once more. She wondered where the last assassin, Kera, would be. Probably the last place Kera had been sent, the uppermost point of Tanza. Easily found, and easily killed. Percy looked out the coaches window as they began passing small buildings. They would be arriving at the palace soon.
"Are you sure you know what to do once you get inside?" Tenshi asked and, even with his eyes closed, Percy could see concern cross his face.
"I know what to do, you stay out here. I'll be back within an hour, or not at all." Percy said harshly, and picked up a small traveling bag that contained her basic ware. A deep black ninja like outfit. Tenshi grinned at Percys boldness. The carriage pulled up at the small palaces gate.
"Sir, Miss. We have arrived." said the driver, calling out over the noise of the city. Percy got out of the coach, and started talking to one of the guards. Tenshi signaled the driver to go into the city.
"But I need to see my sister! It's urgent, our Father is dying!" Percy said, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. The two guards looked at each other nervously, and relented, opening the gate to allow the young Percy inside.
"This way, miss." One of the guards said, taking her toward the palace. The palace was small, only two stories high, and made of some kind of terra-cotta stone. Percy wondered why Asera had been sent to this dump. The guard arrived at the main door, and tapped three times, a butler emerged from the tiny palace.
"Yes?" the butler asked with his monotone nasal voice.
"This lady has come to see one of the guests, a Princess Almalthia. It is very urgent." the guard said, and the butler nodded, taking her inside. They went up one flight of stairs, and down a long corridor, arriving at a single sitting room.
"Please wait here, I shall return shortly with your sister, Lady..." the butler trailed off, not knowing Percys name.
"Princess Lita." Percy said, hoping that the butler hadn't heard the name before.
"Yes, Princess Lita. I shall return shortly with your sister, Princess Almalthia." the butler said, leaving the small room, and closing the door soundly behind him.
Percy looked around the room, it was small and a tasteless soft mint green. Percy thought, for a brief second, that her dress could blend in perfectly with the walls color. She went and sat down in one of the three identical chairs in the room. But first she made sure the heavy white gauze curtains were closed. She sat down in the pale blue chair, facing the door. She kept her knife hidden, but at hand.
Minutes later, a woman about Percys height, wearing a wig and a pale blue tea dress burst into the room. Tears were streaming down her face.
"Oh, sister! Is it true?" Asera wailed, waiting for the butler to leave. The butler left, and closed the door soundly behind himself once more.
"You haven't changed much." Percy said, she got up and went to greet her old friend.
"Nor have you." Asera said, taking off her pale blue wig. She revealed that her white hair was still short cropped. "Why did you come? I could have handled this recon on my own." Asera said, her fake tears were long forgotten.
"Yes, you could have. But alas, there isn't a need for you mission anymore." Percy said, and threw her knife straight at Aseras throat. Asera gasped as the cold metal went through her throat, and plunged into the wall behind her. "Say hello to Mkote and Treslin for me." Percy said, and stepped over the dead body of her former friend. She pulled the small silver knife out of the wall, and changed into her black outfit. This time, though, she made sure it was only her eyes that could be seen.
Tenshi sat in the carriage, whistling a small tune to himself, and waiting for Percy to return. Tenshi wondered to himself what his sister, Kaya, would be like at Percy's age. Had she survived that long. Tenshi felt tears trickling down his cheeks for his lost family, and brushed them away. He knew where Percy intended to head next, and was desperately afraid of it. The northern reaches of Tanza. In his time, the small land had been known as Nanza.
"Let's go, they'll find her soon for sure!" Percy said as she slithered into the carriage, Tenshi whistled to the driver.
"Northern Tanza!" Tenshi shouted, and the driver cracked his whip.
The two travelers stayed quiet until they were safely out of the city.
"So, you have any plan to track down your associate in Nanza?" Tenshi asked, and then realized the slip he had made.
"What is Nanza? And for that part, what are you?" Percy asked suspiciously. Tenshi avoided her eyes. He just shrugged, but Percy would not have her questions avoided so easily. "Spill, or I'll spill you." Percy pulled out her knife, there was still a red glint on it. Tenshi sighed, and decided it was time he told.
"Nanza was a small province where Northern Tanza lies. It's were I was born, and where I lived until I was forced out." Tenshi said, looking out at the rolling fields. Confusion crossed Percys face.
"Forced out? Did someone find out that you were, well, immortal?" Percy asked, Tenshi just smiled and shook his head.
"No, nothing like that. And, you see, I was only eighteen. My family, though, had just been killed. And I was next in line. You see, in the world of Saya, people could not control elements, and this small group was looking for a girl who could. They thought this girl would destroy the world in a Blaze of Flames, the Fire Princess. And they had thought my sister was her. So, they killed her, my Mother, and left me for dead. After they left, I stumbled to our house to find it nothing but ashes, and then stumbled into the wilderness." Tenshi said, a tear trickling out the side of his eye. Percy smiled weakly, knowing that, even after all these centuries, it must be very difficult to talk about. Tenshi continued. "After two or three days, I was too weak to walk. I was barely standing, and when I saw the water, I didn't stop to think. Nor did I notice that I was on top of the waterfall, and that the water was at the bottom. So I fell nearly five stories over a waterfall, and landed amongst the rocks in a shallow pool." Percy stopped herself from gasping, she could already imagine the pain Tenshi must have felt. And then Percy stopped to wonder how Tenshi had survived. Tenshi answered the question that was burning in his eyes.
"The waterfall, you must know, had an old myth behind it. It was said that the water could rejuvenate a person to perfect health, and youth, while making them immortal. The waterfall had never been found before, and I had stumbled across in my delirium what grown men had searched their entire lives for. Unfortunately, only part of the myth was right. In my fall, I had become immortal. And rejuvenated as well, but I shall never know about the youth. As I was eighteen when I fell in, and eighteen when I climbed back out. I lay by the side of the lake for a few days, and wondered off to find food. The rest of the story isn't really important." Tenshi said, shrugging his shoulders. Percys eyes perked up.
"But why go searching for the Fire Princess?" Percy asked, she would have left the Fire Princess alone, and to her Fate.
"Because, I knew how serious these people were. They were out for blood, and I never wanted anyone to feel the pain I did. All I've ever done since that day was search for her, and protect her."
"Did you ever find her?" Percy asked, wondering if Tenshi ever did. She had never heard of the Prophesy of Flames, but she had heard of how Ergo had turned to Era. With a giant burst of Fire.
"Yes, many times. Once in Tansa, and again in Ergo. But I always kept my distance. I would not do to have the same people who killed my sister alerted by me." Tenshi said sadly, shaking his head.
"Oh. I am sorry, but as they say, the Past is behind us and we must stroll down our road to the Future. Death comes to those who wait." Percy said, knowing that old assassin proverbs wouldn't help matters.
"I'm no assassin, I can't leave the memory of what happened on a dust covered road to get trampled by the occasional traveler. No, if I forget my family, they will truly die. I prefer to shed tears over them rather that to shed tears over nothingness." Tenshi said, and the two travelers didn't talk for many hours.
"You said that you fell into a waterfall and became immortal. Is there any chance that you were not the only one?" Percy asked, the thought of more like Tenshi frightened her. She did not like what she could not kill.
"To my knowledge, no. But most probably. I would be very surprised if I was the only one." Tenshi said, wondering, not for the first time, if anyone he knew had become like he had.
"But what if someone had. How would you kill such a person?" Percy asked. Tenshi looked at her, narrowing his eyes.
"I don't like the where this conversation is headed."
"Can't stand a threat?" Percy jeered.
"No, I just don't like showing my cards to a player who has an ace up their sleeve."
"Oh, I don't have an ace up my sleeve. Only a knife." Percy pulled a small dagger out of her what seemed to be her sleeve, and started tossing it around. Tenshi shuddered, a renegade assassin, or any assassin for that matter, was not the best of traveling company. They always seemed to have an air of death about them.
"You have a knife up your sleeve, and that's enough for me. I'd rather not find it sheathed in my back."
"I would never stab you in the back." Percy said with a grin.
"Really?" Tenshi asked, raising his right eyebrow questioningly.
"No, I'd rather go for the throat. It's a sense of style. You might like to try it some time, it's very relaxing."
"I prefer other methods. Who is we're looking for, any ways?" Tenshi asked, trying to draw Percys conversation from her work.
"An old teacher of mine. I never really liked Senku, he always seemed to be wary of things. Never could blend in with the crowd." Percy said, a deep frown crossing her face.
"I know the type." Tenshi said, and Percy nodded. She was flying through her own little world, and looked as if it contained nothing but nightmares. "Percy?" Tenshi asked warily. He didn't know how well Percy was as an assassin, but she had proved to be good enough to make even him wary.
"Hmm? Sorry. Thinking about something. I wonder what he's doing so far north, this place is practically a dead zone."
"Yes, but it was burned into a dead zone. When I was here last, it was a lush valley. A paradise." Tenshi sighed happily at the thought of his old home, but was brought back to reality by the passing image of a stark, lifeless desert.
"If it was such a paradise, why did it burn? Not many people would live in Heaven, and burn themselves to Hell, without a reason." Percy asked, and Tenshi could see the truth in what she said.
"True, but people are always doing such things. Hell has a way of attracting us more than Heaven ever will. But no, the people who did this did it not purposely. The land grew old, as all things must, and died. Many a family died with this land, starvation and death walked openly for many years. The only thing up here now is military camps. Places to turn soft men hard, where the weak come to train and die." Tenshi said, sadly shaking his head.
"Oh." Percy said, looking out the window once more. She gazed at the barren land, and tried to imagine it with green fields, and deep forests. She couldn't. "When did it happen?"
"Long ago. In the time before a princess was killed for her love, but after a world united for another." Tenshi said, and Percy looked at him, wondering what he could be talking about.
"May I be clear when I say what the - are you talking about? What princess?" Percy felt her temper taking a grip on her. She liked riddles, but only when she found them possible.
"Surely you know the story of Kyoko, and maybe the tale of Akia?" Tenshi asked in disbelief, and then remembered that he was not talking to a book, but to someone who had not survived through centuries of War and Love. But who had barely survived sixteen years of Death.
"I think you blew your brain. But I do like a good story. Do tell." Percy said, grinning as she raised her knife.
"Well, I think I'll start with the story of the Fire Princess Akia...(Before Hand of the End)" Tenshi droned on, telling the story as if he was once more in the world Tansa, locked in the war for the world.
The carriage traveled on for hours, not stopping for even a nights rest. And still Tenshi's story rolled on, bringing Percy into it. And, had someone noticed the carriages passengers in the hellish depths of night, they would have thought that their minds really had traveled back through the depths of time. Lingering on old stories, swirling past long intermissions. And, as the suns yellow face began showing itself over the mountains peaks, turning the sky a glories pink, the long tale ended. And once more Percy was Era.
"My god, you survived all of that! You mean that you..., and you..., and that...!" Percy stuttered. Tenshi merely nodded his head.
"Yes, I lived through that, and many a time worse since. No Percy, I think you have found your match, only this time it was Time who taught me, not man." Tenshi spoke the words softly, but Percy caught their meaning. If it was the last thing she did, she would find that waterfall. She would wander around forest after forest until she died, but she would not rest.
"Would you show me this waterfall of yours? Would you tell me where it is?" Percy pleaded. Tenshi shook his head.
"You could make no bigger mistake in your life than I did. And I don't think the world could stand another Death walking its face." Tenshi said. Percy narrowed her eyes, staring at him with an evil glint in her eyes.
"I have been called many things..." Percy was cut off by Tenshi.
"That's nice, having names is good. But if you don't mind, I'd like some sleep." Tenshi closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. Percy, finding that it was hard to even keep her eyes open, yawned and followed suit.
Many days passed, and still the northern tip was just out of their reach. Every day they would follow the bogged down, dead roads of ancient past. Hoping, with every days journey, that they would finally find themselves at the camps of the deadly north. And at Senku's doorstep. But always, from the rare passerby, they were told that it was still a long way before they would come close to the far north.
"When I grew up here, the land seemed much smaller and..." Tenshi drifted off in shock, sittiing up straight in his seat.
"What is it... Oh my god!" Percy said, letting out a whistle. There, in the middle of the stark, dead land was a forest. "Stop the coach! Stop the coach!" Percy yelled at the driver, and the coach slowed to a stop. "How could a forest survive here? I thought you said the land was dead?" Percy said, turning toward Tenshi as she stepped on to the ground.
"It is dead. But I know what keeps that forest alive." Tenshi said, his voice growing very soft, and very harsh. His eyes narrowed as he starred at the forest, old memories flowing into his head. "Only evil lurks there, Percy. And only evil is bred there. Come, let us go." Tenshi said, taking hold of Percys black clothed arm. She twisted free of his grasp.
"The waterfall! It must be the waterfall!" Percy said, rushing toward the forest.
"Percy, no!" Tenshi yelled, but it was to late. Percy had already sprinted to far ahead.
"Why is she going there? And what waterfall does she speak off?" Asked the driver. He, too, was curious about the strange forest.
"Nothing you need know of." Tenshi said, turning and plunging Percys dagger into the drivers chest. The driver staggered back, landing next to the carts dingy wheels with surprise printed across his face. He clutched at the dagger, pulling it weakly from his chest.
"Tenshi isn't keeping this secret from me!" Percy whispered under her breath as she sprinted toward the forest, her feet kicking up clouds of sand behind her, leaving her dark form to appear only as a wraith to those who would look.
"Percy!" Tenshi shouted, running after the assassin, swearing under his breath. He sprinted toward the tree line, crashing through the thick under brush, the sodt roar of a waterfall attacked his senses, and he swallowed in fear, increasing his pace. But he knew it was too late, it would always be too late now, there was no way he could stop Percy. She had too much of a lead on him.
"Tenshi! It's beautiful!" Percy whispered, looking over her shoulder as Tenshi burst forth from the tree's. She was standing above the waterfall, her hair flapping in the wind. She turned around, looking back at him.
"Percy! Don't!" Tenshi roared, lunging forward to grab her.
"See you at the bottom!" Percy smiled, crossing arms over her chest, and falling over the waterfall's edge backward, closing her eyes as she sailed downward, freeing herself to gravity, and immortality.
"Oh God, Percy! You are going to regret this for the rest of your Life...." Tenshi whispered, sitting down heavily on the ground, tears streaming down her face. He looked at the cliff edge, and stood up, walking around the waterfall to the calm pool of sweet water below. Percy was floating among the debri, face down in the water.
"I told you, you fool. I told you that you would regret this!" Tenshi sobbed as he waded into the icy water, catching hold of Percy's corpse, and hauling it to shore. No sign of Life emanated from her water soaked form.
The afternoon sun dipped in the sky, and evening washed over the two forms, and the small fire Tenshi had lit. Percy had yet to awaken, but Tenshi had seen her chest begin to rise and fall. He cursed her every moment for it, for the fact that she had jumped over the falls, and the fact that she would now have to deal with everything.
Percy began coughing, curling up in a ball as water spewed from her lungs. Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked up drowsily. Tenshi sighed, and tossed her an apple that he had managed to find nearby. Percy caught the fruit, and looked at it warily.
"I jumped off the cliff, didn't I?" Percy asked. Tenshi nodded. "I fell in the water, right?" Tenshi nodded again, adding some more wood to the fire. The evening air was fast becoming nippish. "I'm immortal, aren't I?" Tenshi sighed, and nodded. "Then why don't I feel any different!?" Percy demanded, glaring at Tenshi, as if it were his fault.
"Wiat for the memories to come. Wait for the years to pass, and the generations to blur into a single mass of people. Then you feel different." Tenshi sighed, trying to explain that which is unexplainable. The only way for him to show Percy was to let her experience what he had already felt for so many centuries.
"I can't die, can I? I mean, nobody's going to be able to stab me, or poison me, right?" Percy demanded, needing to know her full advantages.
"You can be stabbed, and you can poisoned. You can become sick, and you can fall off a building. The only immortality that accursed water brings is the ability to stay young forever, but be no more than human forever. You stab yourself in the heart, you will die. You drink Hemlock, you won't wake up ever again. You're an immortal mind trapped in a mortal's body." Tenshi whispered softly, rubbing another tear from his eyes.
"What good is that!? What bloody good is that!?" Percy demanded, standing up, throwing the apple into the fire.
"It just takes a little longer, and a little more effort. A sprained anckle will last days instead of months. But Death, Death is permanent, unless you happen to be swimming in a certain waterfall." Tenshi nodded over to the Waterfall. Percy glared at him, but sat back down, a grim mask hiding her expression.
"At leat it's not all bad." Percy muttered. Tenshi sighed. "This dumb fire is nowhere near warm enough!" Percy whispered, snapping her fingers upward. The flames grew, fed by her anger. Tenshi took a step back in caution. A knife whizzed through the flames, landing in the tree trunk beside Percy's head.
"Percy, Percy. You always were a Stupid Pyro!" a figured, garbed in black, hissed, stepping out of the darkness. Percy glared at him, something about his voice rubbed her the wrong way, but she could not identify it.....
"Who are you?" Tenshi asked nonchalantly, yawning to cover up his anger at being disturbed by another knife-thrower.
"Senku, by name. But it would be interesting to see how Percy and I faced off. The odds are so much the more in my favor now, I di believe!" Senku whispered, sitting down by the fire side, revealing his now youthful face. Tenshi groaned, and Percy glared.
"Is there anyone alive who is not so greedy that they would jump into that damn Pool from Hell!" Tenshi asked. Another knife flew, and Senku caught it inches from his face. A look of pure boredom crossed his face.
"Percy, Percy, my dear Percy. Is that all you can offer. I expected better. But, alas, I guess that I am to remain the master, you merely the apprentice!" Senku laughed, a knife catching Percy in the rib. Percy gasped as she felt the blade eat through flesh, and bury itself deep in her chest.
"Percy!" Tenshi shouted as he jumped to his feet, sending a knife hurtling through the fire and into the unthinking Senku's throat.
"Bu.....t...." Senku gurgled, falling to the ground, quite dead.
"Percy!" Tenshi shouted, trying to shake his friend awake. Percy's head shook back, her eyes glazing over.
"M...i....z....u...." Percy stuttered, blood dribbling from her mouth. Tenshi did the only thing he could think off, and prayed silently that it would work. He tossed her into the Pool, listening to the sickening splash with a grim calmness.
"I told her she would regret coming here!" Tenshi whispered, sitting in front of the fire, letting the warmth lull him to sleep.
The sun rose over the dew stained scene, it's light flowing down in heat loaded waves, soon to parch the desert air. Tenshi stirred, and sat up, looking over at the cold corpse of Senku. Percy had crawled out od the water, and fallen asleep on the grassy bank. Tenshi sighed, and walked over to her, lifting her gently in his arms.
"Sleep....." Percy muttered, her eyes remaining closed.
"Yes, you may sleep. You have an eternity of time to sleep now, Assassin." Tenshi muttered as he carried her to the coach, settling her comfortably inside. "But I have a Fire Princess to find. You may come along for the ride, if you wish." Tenshi whispered, taking the reigns of the vehicle, and turning it around, heading back toward civilization, and back to his search........
Flames? Comments? Contact me at denki@angelfire.com
