IV: Dupe

"Is that it?" Lilith replied, finally looking at Jaxon, who nodded right away.

"Yeah. That's it." He said, meeting her gaze. They start to stare at each other. Seconds, minutes passed and no one seem to be moving.

For a quick moment, Lilith looked like she forgot how much he hated men. She was just being swallowed whole by his alluring eyes that kept calling her attention.

Lilith fake coughed looking away, mentally questioning herself on why the hell she just thought of that. "Oh, sorry for being rude." Jaxon wiped his right hand on his suit jacket before offering it to Lilith. "I think we didn't have a formal introduction. Hello once again, I'm Jaxon Park." He gave her another confident smile.

Lilith looked over his hand before eyeing him suspiciously. "Fine. Lilith Jung." She finally introduced herself properly.

She was still doubtful but the guy didn't do any harm to her ever since they met. He didn't even get irritated with all the sarcasm and ignorance that she did, which most males would normally do because it messes up their egos, but this guy remained unusually calm.

She was about to shake hands with Jaxon but was suddenly stopped when she heard a loud bang. They both looked towards the rooftop's entrance, where the sound emitted from. "Was that a gunshot?" Jaxon asked, his face quite surprised.

Lilith immediately went down from the cemented edge that she was sitting on, dropping the bottled whiskey in the process. The bottle cracked into pieces.

A bad sign... She thought.

She was about to run towards the door when Jaxon suddenly grabbed her arm to stop her. "Hey, what are you doing?" He asked her. Lilith looked back at him with a questioning look because a specific memory flashed in her mind. She couldn't help but wonder why she suddenly remembered the guy he met on the rooftop the other day when she was on top of the Underwood Casino. They didn't sound the same, nor they did do the same thing, but they acted so oddly similar.

It felt like a different kind of déjà vu.

She pulled her arm away from his grip, ignoring her thoughts. "You should leave the building." That was all she answered before running towards the exit.

"Wait! Lilith! It's dangerous!" He shouted, quickly following behind her. He's concerned with how fast the lady dashes, wearing high heels and at the same time, he was also scared that the girl might be hurt because of the continuous gunshots that the both of them were hearing downstairs.

Sven eyed the stack of papers on his table. The king had been sitting in his office for quite some time. It's the busiest time of the year in Realm City, the kingdom. He needed to review and revise some scrolls for the events that occurred during the year.

One court lady went inside the office to hand him his coffee. The royal highness gratefully took it, and immediately sipped the bitter liquid. He embodied a small smile, as the taste of his favorite americano drink exploded on his taste buds.

"Your royal highness, I've found what you were asking for." Nathan suddenly entered his room holding a thick file of papers in his hand. Casually dropping some pieces on the floor as he does.

Sven gently placed his gold ceramic cup down as he watches his loyal right hand be busy picking up and dropping a paper a few couple times, while he was walking towards him. He knows his right hand the best, and one characteristic that the man would usually show would be carelessness. Especially if the man was too excited or nervous about something.

Nathan finally placed the pieces of paper in front of the King after a good three minutes. "Your royal highness, you might be surprised." He said, catching his breath.

"She's remarkable isn't she?" Sven gave him a knowing smile that shows that he already predicted that the girl he was curious about was anyone but ordinary.

Nathan eyed him weirdly with the soft emotion he would show once the woman was mentioned. "At least, listen to me first, your royal highness." He said, before placing two adjacent pieces of paper in front of the smiling king. "I investigated for the symbols we found in the flask." He pointed at the first paper. "The color of the flask was one with the symbol. Both of them are in the color red, so that means the symbol is a red spider lily or a higanbana in Japanese. In the mafia land, a big gang represents this symbol. It's a gang named, Vercetti, who is being led by this man," He pointed towards the next paper, to a photograph of a man who was sitting on a red throne wearing a red suit. "Jung Huxley. Also known as Jung Kenji, is his Japanese birth name. He is one of the leaders that run the Coterie City." He explained.

"A Japanese symbol." The king nodded, absorbing the details his right hand has been giving him. "Since the Coterie City is a mix of all races ever since it was founded, is Vercetti a family of Japanese ancestry?" The curious king questioned. Nathan only nodded in response.

"How about the bullhorn?" Sven asked.

Nathan placed another piece of paper on top of the symbol. "This is where it's going to get interesting." He pointed at the symbol on the paper. "This bullhorn symbol isn't from a gang, but an assassin. A lot of crime investigation photos were related to this sign." He took out various pictures on the table, all of them of dead people taken during crime scene investigations that were all registered in the Coterie's law department files. "This other sign goes hand in hand with it." He pointed to another symbol, which was random numbers carved on some victims. "These two assassins seem to be always working together. They leave their unique symbols as marks on every person they kill. Both of them are females working for the Montana Cartel." He continued.

He placed another piece of paper on top of the photo, which is of a blonde-haired lady in a navy blue dress. "The one who owns the random numbers as a symbol is someone whose name is Nathalie Stone. Her background is unknown. It was blocked by the intelligence agencies. The other female assassin who owns the bullhorn symbol is named... Jung Lilith." Nathan placed another paper on top of the assassin named Nathalie.

"It's her." That was the only answer Sven could manage, looking at the photo of a girl that resembled the description he provided to Nathan.

Now every dot started to connect. With the woman jumping from the building, the bandana covering her face, and the quick panic she expressed before asking if he saw her face. All of that happened so quickly because the woman she saw yesterday was an assassin.

"But wait. Jung?" Sven asked again, about the family name that the mysterious woman had.

Nathan nodded once more. "This female assassin is Jung Huxley's only family left. Their parents were murdered when she was fifteen." Nathan explained.

"But Vercetti and Montana Cartel are the biggest business rivals in their land right?" Sven remembers.

"Yes. That is correct. And I tried looking for some information on why she was working for his brother's rival instead of her own family's gang, but I can't seem to find an answer." Nathan sighed. Sitting on the chair in front of the King's table. "I tried looking for some family feud, or disloyalty that might have occurred, but it seemed like they never fought, and Lilith and Huxley still have a good relationship as siblings until now." He added, leaning back on his chair.

Sven nodded, understanding. "She might just be born to be mysterious, huh?" He also sighed, suddenly feeling a little frustrated. He was expecting to fully know the woman behind that red bandana mask, but instead, it just urged him to add up more questions on the unending list his mind made up about the said woman.

"And why was the other assassin's background blocked from the intelligence agencies?" Sven also asked, with his stacking piles of curiosity.

"I will continue to research it, your royal highness." Nathan gave him a small bow. Sven just nodded.

"Your royal highness! We have an emergency!" His head royal guard suddenly opened the doors to his office, which made him and Nathan look in his direction in a quick panic.

"King Sven..." A sobbing lady who was wearing a white hooded cloak suddenly entered through the door. She revealed herself in an instant, removing the hood of her cloak, before falling on the floor.

"Princess Adelaide..." Sven called out, standing up to talk to the crying woman. He kneeled in front of her.

"King..." The girl helplessly called out, burying her face in her own shaking hands. "They killed her." She said, in between her sobs.

Sven looked at her in alarm. "They killed who? Princess, look at me." The concerned king gently held the trembling girl's face to lift her face. The lady looked up at him with teary eyes.

"My mother, your majesty. They killed my mother.." She said, getting something from her inseam pockets, before handing it to the man holding her. "This paper was found beside her dead body. And I don't know what it means so I quickly went here." She explained, trying to stop herself from crying.

Sven looked at the small piece of paper that was on the lady's small hands. It was of two colors; red and gold, with two symbols, that the king thought were familiar. Nathan took the piece of paper from the young highness' hand, before scanning through the stack of papers he was holding earlier. He finally landed his eyes on the proof he was looking for. He compared the two papers in his hand, while the sobbing girl and Sven were just watching him.

"King. This symbol is of Coterie City. It's a combined symbol of the two gangs, Montana Cartel and Vercetti. " He proclaimed, holding the two papers in each hand for the two people to see.

Sven stared at it for a few seconds, his expression indescribable, before motioning the princess to stand up, holding her small frail shoulders to support her body. "Prepare the guest room," Sven said towards the court lady, before looking over his most trusted man. "Nathan, prepare for a royal meeting with the advisors. I'll just take Adelaide to her room." He directed. Nathan gave him a bow, and the head guard did too before the both of them left the room.

Sven held the crying princess by his side once the door was already closed. Adelaide buried her face in his chest in return. "Your royal highness... What is happening?" Adelaide started breaking down in front of Sven. She seem to want to collapse badly but thankfully, the man was holding her in place.

He gently stroked her hair with his free hand, shushing the poor lady. "I'll figure it out, my princess. Don't worry.." He assured her.

Lilith slid down the stairs in a quick motion, Jaxon trying to keep up with her speed. The lights in the building were down, so he couldn't see clearly.

"Lilith, we should just stay here until the lights are back," Jaxon whispered. Lilith shushed him as they walk down the fire exit stairs slowly.

"Shut up." She commanded. Lilith was trusting her hearing senses to observe the dark surrounding them. She could only hear more gunshots and screams from below the pavement they are in.

When they were on the floor where the super club was located, she sensed a certain movement behind the fire exit door. She halted Jaxon from walking. The lights went back too but it was still flickering. "Stay back." She said to the man who is just following her every move. Jaxon just nodded, trusting her, because honestly, he didn't even know what to do.

She walked towards the door quietly, before opening it with rapid force. She was suddenly attacked by a man wearing a gray suit. The man was also listening from the other side of the door, anticipating her attack. She immediately dodged the man and grabbed his hand that was holding a gun and quickly shoved him down to the floor, making him land on his stomach. The gun flew away from his grip and it slid towards Jaxon with the impact of his fall.

"What is a Republican doing in this city?" Lilith asked, bending forward to move closer to the man's face, since he was wearing a grey suit, she knows who he was right away.

The enemy's body and face were still on the ground. The man didn't answer her, instead, he just attempted to spit on her face, which made Lilith's blood boil in an instant, so she started to press on his nape with her right arm, giving him a hard time to breath. His both hands were locked in Lilith's thighs as she was strangling him on his back.

"I think your confidence isn't needed right at this moment, since you're trapped in this situation, so spill it out." She spat. "What are you doing in my city?" She asked once again, loosening the weight of her arms on his nape a little bit for the man to be able to speak.

"I'd rather die than speak to you." The man said glaring at Lilith. She started to be more pissed off by the audacity of the guy so she just chuckled in response.

"Be careful what you wish for." She said before using her free hand to tightly pull the man's hair, and then she started banging his skull on the cemented floor repeatedly without hesitance until blood started to ooze out of the man's now cracked forehead. She finally remembered why she hated men with the immediate anger that rose throughout her body.

When the man was already dead, she breathed out exhaustingly, before standing up on her two feet. She wiped her bloody arms in her sequined dress, before looking at Jaxon who just stared at her in horror.

"Who.. the hell are you?" Jaxon muttered, blinking his eyes a couple of times to check if he did see a small woman kill a man that was twice her build.

"I told you to shut up." She said, rolling her eyes. "Now follow me." She added before moving out of the exit door to walk towards where the super club was.

She finally saw familiar faces and the club was already empty. Only the gangsters and their leaders were to be seen. Carina was punching a man on the floor, while Nathalie was choking a man with a floor-length curtain hanging from the VIP area. Travis and Julian were also busy fighting some men in white suits. They started walking towards their location.

When the others finished killing the last man alive, it was the moment that Lilith and Jaxon arrived near them. "What happened?" Lilith asked the two women who were both catching their breaths.

"Some people in white suits got in and started firing guns. It's a good thing that the commoners evacuated right away. But some of them didn't make it out." Carina started explaining.

"Where's my brother?" Lilith looked around the room, as the other leaders and gangsters were slowly coming towards them in a circle.

"I'm here," Huxley spoke from the entrance of the club, holding a Thompson submachine gun in his hand. He unbuttoned a couple of buttons on his red polo shirt while panting. He walked towards them and eyed Lilith right away.

"Are you hurt?" He asked, checking any bruises on her sister. Lilith shook her head 'no' as she was also checking if his brother was injured.

Jaxon felt a bit uncomfortable being surrounded by people holding different firearms with blood on their clothes. So he just stood there, a million questions flooded his mind once again.

Huxley took out a piece of paper from his inner pocket and placed it on the table that they were surrounding. They started to sneak a look at the paper.

"Mr. Capone was murdered in his VIP room upstairs. This paper was beside him." The man mentioned, making the people around him feel alarmed, especially Mr. Capone's gang members. He was the third most powerful gang leader in the city. So his death is indeed shocking news for everybody in the room.

Sure, they were all business rivals but they're allies when it comes to protecting their city.

Carina looked closely at the piece of paper. It was white colored, with blood splattered on it, assuming that it was Mr. Capone's when he was killed. The prominent thing on the paper wasn't the blood though, but it was the symbol printed on it.

It was an armor that was divided into four; each division represented an iceberg, a rose, lightning, and an eclipse, consecutively.

Jaxon was quite surprised by the symbol. He couldn't even believe his eyes, because the symbol was so familiar to him. So familiar that he knows it by heart, more than anyone in the room.

Travis moved beside Carina to check the symbol. He immediately grabbed his phone in his pocket to scan a particular picture in his mobile's gallery.

"Boss... I know this symbol." Travis finally found the photo and showed it to Carina.

"It's the Realm City's symbol." She proclaimed, looking at the piece of paper and the phone screen back and forth. Huxley and the others made a questioning look. Travis making a more prominent one.

"The kingdom?" Huxley asked, staring strongly at Carina, who was also giving him the same intensity back. It seemed like they were talking with their eyes.

"Call the police to clean this place up, then call all leaders for a mafia meeting," Carina commanded. "I'll call Mr. Capone's son to tell him about the bad news." She added, before removing her gaze from Huxley.

Everybody started to move, following what Carina told them.

Lilith on the other hand heard what everything happened but she felt like something was wrong. She looked at the dead bodies around her. All of them were wearing white.

So, if the Kingdom was the one who wants to start a war with the Mafia land, then why was the man she killed earlier wearing a gray suit, and not a white one?

Colors and symbols were important in this world. They represent what you are and where you came from. So Lilith couldn't seem to find the knot in this conclusion.

She wanted to confirm if the color she saw earlier was gray so she looked back at Jaxon to ask him since only the two of them saw it. But she was surprised when the blonde man couldn't be found anywhere in the room anymore.