No...

As I made my way back to base, I realized this could've been a lot more fun if Theo was here. I'm definitely going to pester him into joining me on a mission, I won't be taking no for an answer anymore.

Since I wasn't briefing myself on a mission while running this time, it took me around 45 minutes to arrive at the mission hall. There the presence felt heavy, I hadn't noticed it before, but after being around mundane humans for the better half of 2 hours, it was obvious.

I decided to ignore it; probably something emotional I couldn't understand because books and research just couldn't teach me for whatever reason. Extensive research never failed me until it came down to human emotion, some papers even just straight up told me they don't know.

I was strolling my way towards the front desk, expecting to have to turn down the poor girl again, when.

"Well if it isn't the best assassin in the Crypt" a voice mocked. A voice I prayed to God I wouldn't have to hear everyday, and everyday I heard the voice; God really didn't like me.

"What do you want Tarin?" I replied as I turned around to face the figure without attempting to mask the disgust in my voice.

Tarin was a tall, blonde male, with blue eyes and a seemingly permanent smirk on his face that most likely originated from his confidence and obsession with himself.

"Oh my apologies, your excellency, I was just wondering if you could teach an old man a few tricks today, you know, since you're the best around."

This garnered a few laughs from the surrounding people as they listened in. Tarin has always harbored the most hatred for me. He was the one who was the cherished prodigy before I came along, everyone was certain he'd reach sovereignty within no time.

That is until I was brought in as a young child with no recollection of my past and a talent for fighting, perfect, for the higher-ups to indoctrinate. Not only did I take over Tarin's resources, but I even broke all of his records and surpassed him in every way despite him being here years before I was.

"Tarin I have nothing to teach you, if bothering me brings you this much joy you have truly reached a new low in life." I responded before turning to continue heading towards the front desk.

"Pity, your friend had fun teaching me in the Woods, I thought you'd be just as benevolent." A malicious smile crept across Tarin's face

I froze, {what had he meant by that?} "What did you do?" I said through gritted teeth.

"Now Ciar, I, did nothing" Tarin said as sauntered past me

I raced out through the front door and charged into the Woods where I knew Theo would be training. Although the Woods were ancient and seemingly had a mind of its own, at times, purposefully led strayers deep into the forest, never to be seen again. I never had any issues with navigating the dense forestry.

As I neared Theo's secret training spot, a strong scent of iron hit my nose, nearly sending me sprawling.

I was no newbie to blood, but this smell was putrid and off-putting. This only made me hasten my steps, I had to put a stop to whatever was occurring.

As I ran out into the clearing, the sight I beheld was rage-inducing.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Theo was laying in a pool of blood and barely breathing while 4 guys were kicking and cursing him.

"Hahahaha, where's your little friend now?"

"So pathetic, I thought this would be harder"

"Theodore Trash-a-lot is your new nickname"

"I have nothing to say to trash"

Everything in me raged at the sight of it all.

I dashed toward the group of hooligans.

I could've used daggers to kill them from where I stood, but I didn't, I was going to bare-knuckle it.

As I accelerated, I felt I was going slower than I normally could, but it didn't matter, my current speed was more than enough to straighten these nails sticking out of the wood.

As I arrived behind the closest male, I grabbed the back of his head and slammed him into the dirt.

During his moment of intense pain and confusion, I kicked him in his ribs and sent him skidding across the greenery, however, once I turned around to dish out the same treatment, the remaining males had already backed up by 40 feet; a distance I could cover in seconds.

Before I could continue giving out retribution, a groan sounded behind me. When I peeked, it wasn't Theo making that sound, but the man whose chest should've collapsed upon impact with my foot.

{I seemed to have underestimated his defensive capabilities or overestimated my ability. A simple, yet grave mistake if I was out on the field.}

Alive or not, the man was out of commission and would not be rejoining the fight, I will deal with him after these last 3.

"You know killing another assassin goes against the code of conduct right, Ciar," the middleman said without an ounce of fear.

"My actions are justified in the name of avenging my wronged friend" I replied with narrowed eyes.

All 3 men began to cackle. Gut-wrenching laughs as they struggled to breathe.

"He said friend, hahaha" the one on the right wheezed.

The man on the left suddenly focused his attention "Oi, Ciar"

"Duck"

My senses flared, as I felt killing intent flying at me from behind, but it was too late as I felt pain explode in my back.

I tried to reach for a dagger in one of my hidden sheathes, yet my unknown attacker reached there first and stole my dagger and plunged it into the palm of my hand.

{How did they know that was there??}

Yet, to my horror, I felt all of my daggers get snatched up and slid between gaps in my suit that didn't contain any body armor beneath it.

{But how did they know where those locations were?? I meticulously picked those spots to be incredibly hard to locate by even skilled assassins with decades of experience.

Plus my body is moving leagues slower than normal, was I poisoned by one of the daggers? No poison I know sets in that quickly while being this detrimental yet remaining painless.

This is most likely a sovereign attempting to off me for some reason, no one could figure out my armor layout and disarm me this quickly, the question is why.}

Suddenly the attacker put a hand on my chest and slammed me into the ground.

The pain hit my body immediately and I felt like I was dying. Since when was I so weak or were sovereigns this strong...

My vision blurred and I tried my best to focus on my attacker's face, to gain some semblance of an identity. But what I saw...

"Theo?"

"Why hello there Ciar" a familiar voice chimed.

{He was ok. That solved at least one of my worries, but where was the sovereign? Could I just not see them? Is that how they got the drop on me?}

"Theo, where is the sovereign?" I asked.

"Sovereign?" He looked at me inquisitively, but there was something else in his eyes.

"Yea, the sovereign who attacked me just now. Actually, don't worry about it, just get out of here in case they attack you. I'll figure this out" I sternly told him.

"Oh Ciar, you poor thing. There is no sovereign, I attacked you. I'm going to kill you." Theo declared coldly.

{Why was Theo joking around at a time like this? Whatever was in my system had set in and I couldn't move anymore, he had to run.}

"I've been planning this for a while, Ciar. I'll give you credit where credit is due, you're a very guarded person and very hard to get close to. That's what I initially thought at least. However, I came to find out, you were so desperate for a companion that I didn't have to break down too many barriers."

{What does he mean? What barriers? What desperation}

"I don't understand," I said quietly

Theo began to laugh

"Of course, you don't. Too busy hoping someone will accept you to realize you were being played, but it's over now, the game is done, and you're the loser" Theo grinned savagely.

{Theo wanted to kill me? He was my attacker?

But it couldn't be him, that was his best friend, a brother. Why would Theo attack him? Was there some sort of plan? A way to get us out of this? But there was no reason for that because I had it under control...}

"But... why?" I asked, hurt.

This couldn't be happening. While I trusted Theo more than your average person, I wasn't stupid. I kept tabs on all of his accounts used to accept money so I would be warned should he ever mysteriously receive a large sum of money.

"Because you're a stuck-up, well-fed prodigy that thinks you're better than everyone else. We all got sick of looking at you and decided to do something about it."

{There was no way..}.

But then, he thought back to the way Theo always watched him in his sleep...

{He was wondering if he could kill me right then, but he knew I'd sense it. The lack of eye contact, he didn't want me to realize he was lying. Tarin this morning was meant to bait me into running into the Woods. The smell, the smell was the poison in the air. That's why I was moving slower, why the man lived; why Theo could sneak attack me.

The men were so I'd lower my guard around Theo.

Theo knew where all my knives were because I told him...

Theo knew how my armor was situated because I'd shown him...

Theo knew everything because I trusted him and was led right into the slaughterhouse…

I didn't know because this wasn't a paid assault, it's just out of pure hatred, another stupid human emotion!

Now I'm going to die here...}

"Awww, poor Ciar, I promise I'll make it quick, the least I could do since you so valiantly ran into this trap that I set for you, to save me. A trap that would've never worked on you had you just used your head instead of your heart. Live with your regrets in the next life."

The last thing I saw was Theo lift a dagger and plunge it right int-