♦•~Chaos~•♦

I chuckled softly as I watched over my newest recruit. As he trained with three of my assassins, I heard some of his thoughts complain about running as merciless torture, about how he wished to just lie down and die and about how he badly wanted blue waffles. I promised him that I'd stop reading his mind, but I can't help it. His mind is very colourful and optimistic for someone who suffered so much.

"Erm, sir is there something... funny?"

I coughed and put on a grim face, "Er, no. Nothing. Anyway, since the other three are quite busy with training, I have called you three here to discuss with you about Perseus." The three assassins in the room were silent, "You have known him in your past lives, right?" I began, "It might be an odd request but, please do not reveal yourselves to him yet. He is still disoriented and new to Ende, and he is still having second thoughts about joining us. You may reveal yourselves in the near future to him, but not now."

"We understand, my Lord." Priestess said, Death and Moon nodded in agreement. "Brilliant. Please inform Han, Sun and Justice about this matter later. You may take your leave." The three assassins bowed and exited the room. I stood up and paced up and down the room.

The Prophecy has now begun, and I have little time left. If not for this prophecy, then Percy would've suffered less. I sighed heavily, I wish I didn't have to place upon him a heavy burden. What were the Fates thinking? What was Apollo thinking? He shouldn't have revealed The Prophecy yet, why did he? The only thing I could do for him is to train him, and get him ready for what's to come. I contacted Han in his mind.

I'm summoning you. Bring Perseus with you.

•

♣•~Han~•♣

"Alright, Justice that's enough. Cut him some slack." I walked towards him and Percy, who was currently pinned down. "Okay," Justice replied, he got up and offered a hand for Percy to take. He took it and sat up, "Woah," Percy said in awe, "I should never have underestimated you guys." he said.

"Do you want us to go easy on you?" I asked him. "No. I could do this all day." he picked up his sword and readied himself. I chuckled lightly, he's never been the type to give up. I'm glad he hasn't changed. "Alright, be ready." I warned. His body was calm and collected, his stance ready for any sort of attack. I advanced, slashing my sword at him. He blocked the blade, then swung his sword at me, which I blocked.

Swing. Block. Parry. Hack. We seemed to be dancing a dangerous waltz, our blades met each other in a rhythmic pattern of an unheard melody. I was so caught up with our duel that I let my guard down when Chaos spoke to me.

I'm summoning you. Bring Perseus with you.

I hesitated for a moment, which was probably when Percy saw an opening. He disarmed me, using the method that a certain swordsman taught him all those years ago. Man, it seemed like a lifetime has passed since then. "Woah." Justice said in awe, Sun clapped in delight for Percy's victory. "Good job." I held out my hand, Percy shook it and grinned at me, "Thanks." I smiled back.

"Alright, that's it for today. I'm being summoned by Lord Chaos." I announced, "Oh, and Perseus-"

"Percy. Just Percy is fine."

"Okay, I'll take note of that. You're coming with me." He nodded. Justice and Sun said farewell, I said goodbye to them as they left, they were talking about grabbing a few drinks as they walked away. I would have went with them, but duties are duties. "Come, Percy." I called out. "I'm coming!" he replied, he picked up my sword and handed it to me. I held out my hand for him to take, "Hurry, Chaos probably has some urgent matter to discuss with us." I said impatiently, he reluctantly held my hand, then we were in Chaos's office.

Percy stumbled forward, but I caught his arm before he could kiss the floor. "Alright, I'll see what I can do, Agustus." Chaos was speaking with Agustus, the Army's best Intelligence spy. He waved him off, I nodded in greeting with him as he left the office, "Nice to see you too, Han." Agustus chirped as he left. "Ah, good. Finally, you're here. I have a mission for you, Han." Chaos smiled widely at us, "I just received information from Agustus about mysterious happenings in the village of Fushi in the Dyrr province. I must send you there to... eliminate the problem, and prevent any more lives being taken." I nodded in understanding, "And as for Percy here, take him with you. Experience on the field may benefit him greatly. I hope you are willing to accompany Han, Percy."

Percy nodded stifly, then he raised his hand, "Is this the type of work I signed up for?" he asked. Chaos laughed, "This is one of the types of work you signed up for. Being my Assassin doesn't mean that I would only send you out whenever I want someone killed, sure most of the time I'd send you out to kill some evil entity, but I would also send you out to accompany The Army whenever there is a Tier 10 war somewhere in the Universe, or send you out to recruit potential Army soldiers or save a planet from destruction."

"However, the Universe is mostly at peace as of now, so the chances of sending you Assassins anywhere is low." Chaos finished. "But, why send us to this village if the problem is so minor?" Percy asked once again. "Like I said, experience on the field is good for you." Chaos answered. "Now, off with you!" the Primordial waved us goodbye with a cheerful tone.

•

Chaos teleported us to the central square of Sárna, sure it would've been fine if the weather was clear, but right now, in a middle of a storm? That isn't cool. We were drenched in rain instantly, "Man, I just had my cloak washed!" I groaned, for an ancient being, Chaos can be really childish sometimes. "Is he always like this? Teleporting people to random rainy places?" Percy asked me, who was (unsurprisingly) dry.

"No, not really. One time he teleported Justice to a mouth of a volcano, this is just a regular Tuesday."

"Oh, I guess I'll have to get used to that then."

"Yep. Let's find a method of transportation to take us to Dyrr." I scanned my surroundings for someplace dry, but the rain stopped suddenly. I looked up and saw an invisible umbrella shielding me from the downpour, I raised my eyebrow at Percy. "Oh," he said, a smile forming on his lips, "It's just a little quirk of mine."

Huh, so he could do that now.

"Thank you.".  I said to him. We walked side by side, then Percy asked a question, "Hey, um I hope you don't mind me asking but, can't we just teleport to Dyrr?" I shook my head, "No, teleportation in Ende is prohibited, unless it is an emergency or if Chaos wants to mess with you. This one is not an emergency, so teleportation isn't necessary."I answered. "Oh, that's a bummer. What're we going to ride anyway?" he asked me once again, "Dyrr is only half an hour away from Sárna, it's best for us to ride on horseback," then I saw someone riding a cart filled with produce and supply, "or we could hitch a ride."

I grabbed Percy's arm and ran after the cart, then I jumped onto the cart and pulled Percy up into the cart with me. "My good man, are you headed out of Sárna?" the asked the man driving the cart, "Yessir. 'M headed towards Der'vynn, back to my farm. Are ye headed there guv?"

"No, we'll get off when we pass Dyrr."

"What business fine men like you have in Dyrr, if you don't mind me asking, guv?"

"Let's just say, I have an appointment with someone in Fushi."

"Ah," the man's voice lowered, "Fushi. I've heard of strange tales coming from that village these days. Some say that no ones ever come out from that village to sell produce or even barter for necessities."

"That's strange."

"Aye," the man replied, "strange indeed."

The rest of the ride was spent in silence, the man driving the cart (whom I realized was a Gervish; a race of bronze-skinned humanoids from the planet Gerva, thirty-six thousand lightyears away from Ende.) began to hum a cheerful tune. Percy was silent, but I was sure that he had just about a million questions that he wanted to be answered. "Hey, if you have any questions, you know you could ask me." I told him. "I have so many, I don't think you'd want to answer all of them." he said.

"Don't worry, ask away."

"Okay," he seemed to think for a moment, "why Hanged man?" he asked.

"I beg your pardon."

"Why did you choose the name Hanged man?"

I kinda regret saying that he could ask me anything. "Well, the reason I chose that name, was because of my first life. I had been a very bad man. I did many bad things that deserved me to burn in hell. I only did what I did because I felt unnoticed and insignificant and powerless. I became bitter with anger and revenge. And there is not one day I don't regret everything that I have done." a small lump formed in my throat, "I even hurt the only people that I wanted to protect, my family."

I paused for a bit, it really felt ironic talking to Percy. "The Hanged man, if you've seen tarot cards, is usually hung upside down by the ankle, which was a form of torture for traitors in Italy. However, the solemn expression on his face suggests that he is there by his own accord. The card is meant to represent self-sacrifice rather than corporal punishment or criminality." I chuckled softly, "That pretty much described my first life. A traitor who in the end sacrificed himself for salvation." I ended bitterly.

Percy sat silently beside me, he bit his lip, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked you that."

"Oh, it's fine. I have come to terms with my past, there is not a day I don't regret my past actions, but the past is past, and sulking over the past will get you to nowhere." I told him. "Your story reminds me of a friend I once had." Percy said, a faraway look appeared in his eyes. "He tried to kill me, my friends and practically wanted the world to end, but in the end, he realized that even though he had done everything to protect the two people he cared about, he only ended up hurting them. So he did what he could and sacrificed his life to make the two of them happy. He was honored as a hero, and I hope the afterlife is treating him well."

I sat silent next to him, my breath quivered for a moment before I said something back to him. "For someone who had done so many terrible things to you, why do you speak of him with utmost respect?"

"It's because I understood why he did it. Kids like me, are caught up in the middle, and sometimes we just wish we weren't. And if he hadn't done what he did, he would've been a great big brother." he finished. Neither of us spoke. The words he said stung like daggers stabbed into my chest. "Well," I said, trying to break the silence, "I hope he is well."

"Yeah, he probably tried rebirth or something." Percy muttered. Then we were silent once again. "Do you mind me asking another question?"

"No, I don't mind."

"Is time different here from Earth?"

"Who knows? Ende is a special planet because all time outside of Ende is irrelevant. A day here could probably be one minute on Earth, or a single second here is already ten years on Earth. Residents of Ende age much slower than any other place in the universe, since there time here isn't the same as the time outside the planet."

"Wow, all of this sounds like something from a fantasy."

"You're living in one, kid." I chuckled, thankful that the mood lightened up. "Alright, next question..."

•
♤~3rd person~♤

The pair waved goodbye to the man driving the cart, they have arrived at their location on time. The two of them walked side by side, cracking jokes and asking questions. Percy and Han grew close after their trip, Percy was glad to have made a friend while Han was glad that he had rekindled something lost long ago. Fields of wildflowers spread on each side of the road, the skies have cleared and the raindrops left from the past downpour sparkled when the rays of light from the nearby star struck them. In short, it was a perfect, quiet afternoon. However, it was too quiet.

"That's odd." Percy said, "We should be hearing at least the sound of animals from the village." he pointed out. "You're right." Han agreed. They continued their journey into the village and were surprised to find not a single soul on the streets. No stores were open, all of the windows were shut, curtains drawn and doors locked. It was as if all the villagers left.

They surveyed the houses, and were relieved that the villagers were in their homes, well and alive, albeit quiet. But whenever they knocked on their doors, they were driven away by the people living in the home, as if they didn't want to receive any guests.
They approached every house until they arrived at the last house, the home of the village elder. Han knocked on the door, he was answered by a grey-skinned elderly man, his ears were pointed and his eyes magnified by his spectacles, he was stunted so Percy thought that the elderly man before him was Grey Nerdy Yoda.

"Sir, are you the village eld-" Han began but he was cut off the the Grey Nerdy Yoda, "SHHHH! Come in before anyone sees." He then proceeded to pull both men into his home and locking his door. He leaned on his door and exhaled in relief, then he turned his olive eyes examined the two men he pulled into his home. "What do you think you're doing here? You aren't supposed to be here! Why have you come?" the old man asked Han and Percy. "We were sent by Lord Chaos to help your village." Han explained. "Oh thank Chaos," the old man cried, "but you shouldn't be wearing such bright colors in the open!" He pointed at Percy, who looked down at his bright orange Camp Half Blood T-shirt. " The Kemono would've seen you boy!" he told Percy, as if the demigod was a misbehaving child.

"Anyway, I'm Uta, and yes I am the village elder." Uta introduced himself. "I'm Han, Assassin of the Universe, and this is Perseus, my squire."

"Hey, I'm not a squire!" Percy protested, "Well, today you are." Han smirked as Percy pouted behind him. Uta ushered his guests towards his living room, "I'll be preparing tea, please make yourselves at home." Uta shuffled towards his kitchen. Percy was confused, since he didn't see any couch to sit in, only a stack of pillows and blankets scattered on the floor and a single wooden table in the middle. "Please take off your shoes, I don't like it whenever my floor is dirtied." Uta called out from the kitchen. Percy and Han followed Uta's request then sat cross-legged in the living room.

"It smells like vanilla and burnt incense here." Percy noted, Han nodded in agreement. The fragrance was very calming and relaxing, it was almost dreamlike. Uta entered the room with a tray in his hands, he settled it down on the table and knelt on the blanket covered floor, "Please, have some tea." he insisted. Percy passed, since he wasn't really a fan of tea, but Han drank tea out of respect.

"So, what is this Kemono?" Han inquired, Uta sipped his cup before he answered the assassin. "It's an ancient creature that terrorized the village ancestors, we believed that it was only a myth, a silly folktale used to scare children. But we were wrong. A few days ago, the abductions began. Children were being abducted whenever they are alone, then a day after a child goes missing, we would find their bodies in the middle of the village, their faces mangled beyond recognition, the only way we could recognize the victim would be through the clothes they were wearing last."

Percy grimaced as he heard Uta's tale, Han cleared his throat, "We are very sorry to hear that. We will do what we can to avenge the children and slay the Kemono." Han stood up and motioned for Percy to follow, "When does the Kemono hunt, Uta?" Han asked. "The Kemono usually hunts during the night, but the past few days, it has been claiming its victims during the day. Three days ago, a young girl who was only drawing water from the well was taken by the monster, in broad daylight!" Uta sobbed. "The whole village is in lockdown, no one even dared to venture out of their homes, soon all will perish if we stay like this!" the old man dabbed his eyes with his own shirt. "Don't worry sir, we're going to give it our all to stop this monster from wrecking havoc on your village." Percy told Uta, his voice solid with assurance.

"Oh, Chaos bless you both!" Uta cried, "We shall be on our way then. Thank you for your hospitality. It's been a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Uta."

"It has also been a pleasure meeting you both. May Chaos be with you! Good luck slaying the Kemono!" Uta waved goodbye at Han and Percy as they exited the old man's home.