//------------------------------// // Chapter 63: Blurring Allegiance // Story: A Long Way to Fall // by Cinders of War //------------------------------// Frigid Night sat alone in the bureau’s lobby, watching the front door. His guard partner had upped and left when he found out that Frigid was going to be on watch with him. He didn’t blame the guy. He’d done a lot to deserve their animosity as of late, so he volunteered to keep watch by himself. The Mentor probably wouldn’t have let him do it alone, but Wreckhouse and Tangent were watching from the roof, so she let it be in the end. At least there were two others, should the Templars decide to attack them now. He had almost dozed off when he heard the roar of a car’s engine and then the screeching of tires. Frigid got up to investigate as he heard the sound of scuffling feet. He peered out the front door and saw Rose Petal, hauling out Trueshot around her shoulders, his chest, arm and hands bandaged all across, red already staining the white cloth. Rose herself was covered in small cuts on her face, arms, and legs. “Help! Someone get over here and help me!” Frigid wasted no time in running out to help his old friends. He scooped Trueshot under the other arm and supported him in. “What happened, Rose? Where’s Sparkplug?” “He’s still in the car.” She looked up to the other two Assassins of watch and waved for them to come down. “You two! Can you get Sparkplug? He’s still in the car!” Wreckhouse nodded and the two Assassins wasted no time in scaling down the building. After entering the bureau doors, Rose sighed. “We were attacked,” she answered his previous question. “You won’t believe it. I still don’t believe it…” “Mirror Match?” Frigid asked worriedly as they escorted the wounded Assassin towards the medic wing. “Mirror got Sparkplug while we weren’t watching. I’m sorry. That was our mistake, leaving him by himself. But no, she didn’t attack us. We had to fight off a… a vampire.” “Sounds rough. Wait, what?” “The vampire Satin’s younger sister told us about,” Rose shook her head disappointedly. “We should’ve believed her… Now Sparkplug and Trueshot are dying.” Frigid had already lost Dust Fencer and Satin Breeze. He wasn’t ready to lose another good friend. “Don’t worry, Rose. We’ll get him to Patch. She’ll know what to do.” “But Sparkplug,” she mumbled as they carried Trueshot up the staircase. “He’s going to end up like Broadside and Frenzy. We have to find a way to help them.” Frigid nodded in agreement. They had to get the cure, but was it possible? Mirror knew of it, but she refused it give it to him. As soon as Patch saw the Assassins bringing in the wounded, she directed a few of the other Assassins to get the beds ready while moving to meet them. “What happened?” she asked as she helped to put Trueshot on one of the beds. She inspected his injuries and only then did Frigid realize the sniper was missing a few of his fingers. “What are these wounds…?” Patch said, disbelief in her voice. “It’s like he was in a fight with an animal. These are claw and bite marks…” “Vampire marks to be precise.” Rose shrugged when Patch looked at her. “It’s true.” “Nothing can be more serious than Mirror’s poison, I guess,” Patch sighed and began grabbing supplies from her racks. Wreckhouse and Tangent laid Sparkplug on another bed, facing his body down. Frigid looked with disgust at his back, which was scrawled with green marks all over. He didn’t want to look any more and returned his attention to Trueshot. “Thanks for the help,” Rose nodded faintly to the three Assassins. “But you better get back to your posts. No one else is guarding the entrance.” “Right!” Wreckhouse smacked the side of his head. “C’mon, Tangent! I don’t want to get in trouble with Star Lance!” The two younger Assassins ran ahead of Frigid, heading back up the stairs to the roof. The yellow-skinned Assassin kept a good pace towards the lobby, his mind going through a swirl of different thoughts. Vampire? How did Mirror get her hands on a vampire? And why did she hurt Trueshot like that if she was only after the Assassins who destroyed the machine. Looks like he had plenty to talk to his ex-girlfriend about the next time he saw her. "So for real. There was a vampire?" Twilight drew a pair of fangs in her notebook. "I didn't think they existed in your world." "Neither did I." Morning Blade pulled her braid in front of her shoulder. "I haven't seen it myself, but you know me, I'm a historical type of person. All these tales of mythical creatures, they don't exist. But then I saw what Sombra and Mentor Steel Shine could do. Perhaps vampires are not so far off after all?" "Yeah... Well, lead on, Morning Blade." The next night, Frigid Night sat in his secret cave, looking out into the darkness, waiting. No matter what time, Mirror always came to him when he sat here; Frigid still had no idea how she did it, but she just did. Maybe the Fillydelphia Assassins were right and she was a witch. A sharp inhalation at the mouth of the cave announced the arrival of Mirror Match. Unlike the other times, the ex-Assassin looked as if the world had done something to personally offend her. “Mirror,” he stood up to greet her as she walked towards him. She didn’t answer, instead taking out a dagger that Frigid recognized as Satin’s and tossing it onto the floor of the cave, where it landed point first in the sand. “Well? What do you think I should do?” Frigid scratched at his head. “What do you mean?” “Don’t make a girl a promise you know you can’t keep, Frigid Night. I trusted you to keep Satin safe. You had one job, and I still ended up having to attend her funeral.” Frigid looked down at his boots. “Mirror… I’m so sorry… I didn’t reach her in time. By the time Dewdrop told me the situation… I’m sorry.” Mirror wiped her hands on her black robes, which were becoming increasingly torn and stained with each meeting. “Sorry doesn’t cut it. Sorry won’t bring back Satin, or any of the others you Assassins have lured to their deaths. How do you expect to win this war if even a hired killer can take you on?” “Hired killer?” Frigid looked up at his old partner’s face. “Was it Wolfgang?” He balled up his fists as a picture of that man’s smiling face appeared in his mind. “He did this, didn’t he?” “He and a group of Talon’s men. Those I already took care of, and I’ll get Wolfgang in due time.” Mirror poked Frigid in the chest. “The question is, why didn’t you all train Satin to fight better? You’ve made an orphan of her younger sister.” Frigid felt as if that wasn’t a fair claim. “You were her teacher, Mirror. Why did you leave without training her?” The Templar tossed back her hair. “Do you really think she could match my standards?” The question was a good one and silenced Frigid’s tongue. “We all did our best, Mirror.” Frigid sat back down. “We taught her what we knew. Even we don’t hope to win against overwhelming odds.” “Overwhelming odds be thrown out the window, Frigid!” Mirror hissed. “You’re Assassins. If you have to fight openly, then you’ve pretty much already failed at your job, haven’t you? I knew a woman once, Posey I think her name was, she could clear an entire castle without being spotted. And she was self taught!” “We’ve hit a stump. It’s like the Templars know our every move lately. You didn’t tell them our plans did you?” Mirror inhaled and exhaled. “Now why, would I do that? We’ve been out of touch for years now. I’m sure whatever plans you had when I left are greatly outdated.” “On my last mission, the Templar I was hunting had gassed the room I hid in,” Frigid told her. “I doubt he prepared that without knowing he was being followed. Satin might have had it the same.” “I told them nothing of any of your schemes, Frigid. At this point, I know as much about your goings-on as Rovena does. Which is to say absolutely nothing short of what I can guess.” “Rovena…” Velvet Breeze had told them the name of the mysterious vampire that dropped by and now Trueshot was lying in the medic wing in critical condition. “Why do you have a vampire with you? And why did she tear Trueshot up like that. He’s not one of your targets.” For the first time that evening, Mirror Match’s face twisted into a mockery of a smile. “Rovena’s neutral, Friggy dear. She’s just a friend who owed me a favor, and since I had to attend Satin’s funeral in Hollow Shades, I asked her to fill in for what I usually do after an execution. Whatever she did had nothing to do with me whatsoever. And from what I hear, Sparkplug’s crew were rather negligent anyway. She was rather cross about her dress being ruined too.” Frigid sighed and looked at his reflection in the water. Things had changed. They weren’t the Assassins they used to be. Frigid wasn’t the Assassin he used to be. “And you needn’t worry about Rovena anymore anyway.” Mirror twirled a throwing knife between her fingers before making it disappear up her sleeve. “She’ll be in Trotsylvania by now, where all the real hunters are. If anyone was bitten, you’d best give them an infusion of garlic and holy water mixed with the ashes of burnt incense to keep them from turning, I might add.” Frigid made sure to remember to do that later. “Hunters… Mirror, tell me where to find Wolfgang. Let me avenge Satin.” He stood up and took Mirror’s hands in his. “Please.” Mirror looked at him critically. “No, I don’t think so. I have my own score to settle with him, and if he survives that, then you can do what you like.” Frigid lowered his eyelids, unsure of what he wanted to do. He continued to stand there, holding on to the hands of the woman he loved. “Mirror… I don’t know what to think anymore.” “What, did you know about the werewolf already?” Mirror said sneakily. “Werewolf!” Frigid was aghast. “You’re kidding, right?” “You’re right, I am,” Mirror winked at him. “They’re extinct.” “Oh, Mirror,” Frigid smiled. “I’m sorry. I still miss having you around, spending time with you day and night.” His hands moved to her shoulders. “Hmm, yes. I know. We could be together every day if you came with me.” “I already said I would, Mirror. If you were to leave the others alone. That’s all I asked.” Mirror Match shrugged and stepped away, back to the mouth of the cave. “Yeah. Not going to happen. You tell Pierce Network that he’d better get used to staying in that bureau of yours for the rest of his life, or to get his affairs in order because the next time I see him it’ll be the last.” Frigid chased her to the entrance, but the Templar was much faster, leaping up into the air before disappearing out of his line of sight. “Mirror…” It was only then that he remembered that he hadn’t asked her for a cure for Sparkplug. Maybe he hadn’t wanted to after all. Was being with her more important than saving his friends? Frigid didn’t know anymore. He took a long sigh and headed out of the cave.