The Last Knight

Prologue:

1340 AoK (Age of Kings)

2000 Years before Revelations

The sun was about to set and would not rise again for a whole year. In that time the grass would brown, the trees would lose their leaves, and animals would starve. Many a man and beast would die or go mad in such a time of darkness and much of the world that had been known would be lost. At the center of such a catastrophe are an old man and a giant spider standing side by side in the desert.

“After all that I’ve said you still won’t reconsider Kale?”

The spider’s hissing voice filled Kale’s mind like grating sand and even though the creature hadn’t spoken out loud, Kale could still hear the slight spit filled lisp in its tone.

“If it’s such a big concern to you why don’t you stop me?”

“It’s of no concern to me either way as you well know. I merely wish for you to reconsider for the lives of those you’ll be dooming, as well as yourself.”

Kale turned from the sun which had not yet set and faced the monster standing next to him. It always seemed ridiculous that such a thing possessed so much power. The giant seven-foot-tall bright blue spider known as “Oreo” which was known mostly for its uncontested power and unique ambivalence to all things worldly was Kale’s only companion to watch the sun die. He hated Oreo, especially the idiotic name which it had apparently named itself, but couldn’t deny that the creature also fascinated him. How had it attained such magic and strength? Had it been born with such power? How long had it lived? Such thoughts always plagued him, but prevalent above all was why? Why did such a strange, stupid and useless creature have more power than any thing known in the world? Oreo would never answer such questions even when Kale bothered to ask.

His recent suspicion was that the creature’s entire existence was as a joke; a constant mockery to order, natural selection and the idea of power. It served to infuriate all those who would seek to control, to dominate and be proclaimed supreme; in other words it existed to enrage Kale and to forever plague his thoughts.

“Deep in thought are we? You always have such an angry stare when you’re thinking; so wrinkly and crude looking.”

“It is the face I was born with. It’s not my fault that now it’s old and wrinkled and crude.”

“Lots of old men have kindly faces. I think it’s because they smiled more in life than others. You should try doing that sometime. Smiling is one of the few things I’m jealous of with humans and other animals. My mouth doesn’t quite do it right.”

“If it bothers you so much why don’t you just change your mouth? Change your whole damn body while you’re at it, I mean it’s not like you couldn’t. Who wants to be a spider forever?”

“I suppose a spider would, much as a young man wants to be a young man forever.”

Kale gritted his yellow crooked teeth, feeling the gigantic smile in the spider’s words in the back of his mind like slap.

“Only a few minutes left to reconsider.”

“There’s nothing to reconsider. This is happening, the world be damned or not.”

“Such a grumpy old man. Oh well, I’ll just have to make due with the starlight for a year, though I will miss the sun.”

“Is a year still such a noticeable length of time for you? After all the years you’ve seen, all the things you’ve done?”

“Sometimes just an hour is a long time to wait. Age doesn’t change that. I thought you’d have picked up on that by now.”

“On this we disagree spider. I see the world through decades and centuries now, an hour, a day, even a year are inconsequential.”

“Well “old man”, since you refuse to use my name like a descent person, I’m sorry to hear that. It’s no wonder you’re such a bad conversationalist with your mind so far from the moment.”

“I feel no need to worry about my manners when talking to a spider.”

“Interesting point of view. You seem to imply that spiders have no manners and therefore no need for them. However, I must inform you, that spiders actually do have a few “manners”. Not eating another is one of our usual manners, though there are exceptions. For example, it is very bad manners to not offer food to a guest, especially a guest who is bigger that you and in such a case, the larger spider would simply eat the smaller, unmannered spider. A larger spider might also simply eat the smaller spider out of boredom or feeling insulted…but such are the manners of spiders. I suppose we are much less sophisticated than your kind and therefore unworthy of minor courtesies. I suppose this is why so few of us try to converse with your kind. Such a shame.”

“You are the only talking spider I have come across, if the term “spider” does even apply to you, and I have lived for a very, very long time. Spiders do not converse.”

“They don’t? Such a shame indeed.”

Kale again eyed the spider standing next to him. It always spoke oddly through his thoughts, he sometimes wondered if its entire body was not simply an odd illusion meant to confuse and frighten others.

As the last sliver of sunlight disappear the land turned to darkness and the year of starlight had begun. Kale had labored hard to force such an event to occur and now he would have to wait to reap the fruits of his labors.

The stars lit up and the monster known as Oreo’s bight blue body began to glow and light the area around them. Strange flowers, which seemed as dead buds in the desert around them, suddenly bloomed into life, all bright fluorescent colors bringing life to the desert around them. From inside each flower tiny insects began to crawl outwards and flutter off into the night, the silver and pearl bodies reflecting the light around them in a dance of colors and light. It was beautiful, even to Kale’s old hate filled eyes, and infuriating. Kale gasped at the now, alive and luminescent world surrounding him, the desert which had seemed devoid of life moments earlier, and then the old man smiled.

“I see now…make due with starlight…clever trick spider.”

“Ah this is no trick Kale my old friend. You see this was simply all lying in wait for a day such as this. A day where the sun would die and only starlight, not even the reflection of the moon, would light the night sky. I had but a small hand in this, speeding things along a little as it were, but no this is mainly you’re doing old man.”

Kale clenched his fists and meant to turn and swing at the spider, but it was no longer there, nor was any of the blooming flowers or reflective insects, nor the starlight; there was only blackness.

“One thing to remember my dear old friend; spiders thrive in the dark.”

Kale screamed in pain as the starlight returned around him, revealing the flowers and insects once more as well as a large wound oozing blackish blood on his upper right shoulder; a giant spider bite.

430 AR (After Revelations)

Chapter 1: Fairy Magic

Pate felt his legs go numb and his throat tighten as the hooded man behind him increased the pressure of the knife he held to Pate’s back.

“Calm yourself boy, if I meant to kill you’d already be dead. I have a need of you, nothing overly complex, just a small favor. You do this favor for me and you’ll be well rewarded.”

Pate heard the man rustle though his pockets, the sounds of metals clinking together, and then a hand was next to Pate’s eye dangling a small diamond on a chain of gold.

“This and more should you prove useful,” the man twisted the knife at Pate’s back, tearing his ragged shirt and puncturing the skin lightly, “this and worse should you prove otherwise. Are we of an understanding boy?”

Pate swallowed the lump in his throat and gave a shaky nod of agreement.

“That’s a clever lad. Now then as for this favor I’m wanting, can you read boy? Can you follow a map?”

“Yes…yessir I been taught since I was young, and my master keeps me well practiced.”

“Good, then that makes this all the easier. Now I’ve watched you these past few days, and I’ve seen how quick you are with your hand, no doubt another skill your master keeps you well practiced at, but let me ask, could you place an item in someone’s pocket as easily as I’ve watched you remove one?”

Pate could feel his hands clamming up, his whole body perspiring with nervousness and panic. He wasn’t sure how he even managed to breathe, let alone answer the man’s question.

“I…I suppose so sir. I’ve never tried before….or that is…I’ve never been told to before sir.”

“Mhmmm…well then if I were you I’d be hoping for some beginner’s luck then, because I wouldn’t want you to fail and prove yourself….expendable.”

He slid the knife higher up Pate’s back, the warm blood trailing down the fresh wound.

“Now I’m going to place a small envelope in your right pocket, inside is a note with directions and a map on the backside of it, as well as a vile of a certain liquid. The note will give you specific instructions for the vile and what to do with it, as well as what to do once the task is complete, and where to meet me to receive your reward. I remind you….should you fail your life will be of little use to me, and the next time you see me, our talk will be most unpleasant. Are we clear boy?”

Again Pate gave a stuttered nod, and even though he couldn’t see the man behind him, he could sense him smile at this.

“Good, now once I’ve given you the letter you are to walk forward and not look back until you’ve left the alley. I’ll be watching and if I see you look back before reaching the street, I will take it as a failure of your task, and will act accordingly.”

Pate felt the knife vanish from his spine simultaneously as a hand deftly placed something in his right pocket, and then there was nothing and he felt the entire presence of the anonymous man behind him disappear. His head began to turn and he was almost turned around when he heard the softest whisper just behind his right ear.

“I told you not to turn around until you reach the street. You get one warning. Now go…and do not fail me boy.”

Pate felt the saliva in his agape mouth dry in an instant and his sweat went cold as the whisper vanish and again he felt alone in the dark city alley. He let out a breath and began walking forward briskly; his eyes glued forward, his only goal escaping the nightmare that was the alleyway.

It wasn’t until the he was fully in the light of the streetlamp that he allowed himself to let out his breath and tried to calm his nerves. His limbs all felt itchy and stiff from his continued clenched state in the alley and he shook himself to rid himself of this discomfort.

“That was unsettling. You’re lucky he didn’t just kill you right then and there. You remember I did tell you to head back before it got too dark. If you had listened to me we’d be back home by now warming up and eating soup, instead of cold, nauseous, and holding the instructions of some anonymous madman, and a vile of unknown liquid.”

The familiar, yet always unwelcome voice of Sybil was all Pate needed to shake the feeling of uneasiness that had overtaken his body, and return him to normal, or as normal as could be after having had a knife at his back.

“Thanks Poppy.”

A sudden stabbing pain filled Pate’s head and he clenched his hands to his head and let out a small cry.

“How many times must I tell you not to call me that Pate? I haven’t made any ridiculous name for you have I? Do I call you “Piglet” or “Nancy”? No, I call you Pate, your name. The least you can do is return the favor you insolent little fool. I’m almost of a mind to leave you entirely and let you struggle on your own without my help.”

“What help? He had a knife in my back? Why didn’t you help me then? I thought fairies are supposed to help when kids are in danger? He coulda killed me right then. He even cut my back and got me bloody and you didn’t even do nothin. Some help.”

Pate’s eyes were tearing up now with frustration as well as stress from his current predicament, and the still stinging pain in his head.

“You’re right.”

As quickly as it had come, the stabbing sensation filling his head ceased and Pate was let out a small sniffle and rubbed his eyes which had watered over slightly.

“Sorry.”

Even though he’d never actually seen Sybil with his own eyes he seemed to have an exact image of her in his mind, and he could always tell what kind of facial expressions and gestures she made, even when she said nothing at all. It had always been that way, since his earliest memory; Sybil had been there in his head, as much a part of him as his hands or feet.

He wasn’t sure how exactly it had worked when he was too young to talk or understand words, whether Sybil had actually been there, or whether she had simply stayed silent, or perhaps they had communicated in some form other than words, he couldn’t be sure. What he did remember was the day she had first made herself known to him.

He was five, and he was out on the steps of the orphanage crying.

“What’s wrong Pate? Why are you crying?”

Pate slowed his sobbing and looked for the voice that seemed to coming from right beside him

“Why are you so sad?’

He knew he hadn’t imaged it. It was too loud and clear, and the voice was unfamiliar and feminine, not a voice from his imagination.

“Who…who’s there?”

“It’s me silly. It’s you’re fairy, Sybil, Sybil Bethany Greyscale.”

“My….my fairy? Where are you? Why can’t I see you?”

“You can see me Pate. I’m in your head, you just have to think about me and you’ll see me.”

“You’re in my head….like imaginary then?”

That was the first time he saw her. He suddenly caught the image of her pouting in his mind, as clear a picture as the world he saw before his eyes, yet all around her was a world of mist, as if she was living in a cloud.

He had to admit, even to this day, that the sight of her always startled him a little and made him a little uneasy for she was far from how one would expect a fairy to look, especially how a small boy would expect one to look.

She was very beautiful that was expected, most people would assume for a fairy to be beautiful, yet where as most would expect a somewhat pure, almost magical beauty, hers was a much more sensual deliberate beauty. She had long pitch black hair which was always ornately done up, usually leaving a few long locks to trail down the sides of her face and down to her neck. He face was elegant, with strong bone structure while remaining entirely feminine. Her eyes were perhaps the only thing magical like about her appearance, for they were a glowing ruby red, which seemed to give her a rather sinister look, again unexpected of the typical fairy. The most unsettling thing for Pate though was her was her wardrobe, which as every changing but always sticking to a similar provocative fashion, showcasing every curve body and leaving little to the imagination. Most outfits left her ornately tattooed legs and cleavage fully exposed, and some seemed so ludicrously obscene, Pate wondered how they could even be considered clothing. The tattoos were perhaps the most intriguing yet disturbing part of her appearance as they were constantly changing even as you looked at her, as if they were alive.

When he had first glimpsed this devilish looking vixen as a five year old boy distressed out in the rain, he let out a little yelped and fumbled backwards, as if trying to escape the image in his mind.

He had been hoping to see some motherly figure to comfort him and make him feel safe yet the figure that greeted him was not the fantasy of a lonely boy looking to be loved, but that of a grown man’s fantasy sex goddess.

As he rubbed his eyes and tried to remove the image of her from his mind she laughed and snapped her fingers and the image was gone.

“I almost forgot how young you are my sweet little Pate. I suppose I’m not exactly what you expected your fairy to look like hmm?”

“N-n-no mam. I mean…I’m sorry. I just thought…”

“You thought I’d be wearing a dress made of leaves and twigs and be all sparkly and cute and have wings right? You don’t have to be sorry. It’s ok. It’s what most people think of, especially little boys and girls when they think of fairies. We’re all supposed to look like little forest creatures, leaving trails of magic dust behind as we flutter about. Well just like everyone else in the world, we all look different and this is how I look.”

“Oh….I’m sorry I didn’t mean to…”

“Don’t apologize Pate. I told you that you don’t have to be sorry. It’s my fault really; I forgot how… unsettling my appearance might be to a five year old boy. How bout from now on, whenever you want to see me or think of me you’ll just see my face. That way it won’t make you so uneasy. How’s that sound Pate?”

“Umm..”

“Good. You should be able to see your fairy after all, and who knows, in a couple of years you may want to go back to seeing the rest of me.”

Pate caught a glimpse of her mischievous smile as she let out another laugh and he couldn’t help but blush, which made him uneasy and desperate to divert her attention from him.

“So why…why are you in my head? Aren’t fairies supposed to be…out of my head? If you’re real why aren’t you…out here?”

Again he caught her pouting yet this time, to his relief, it was just her face that appeared.

“Are you saying you don’t want me with you Pate? If I were outside we wouldn’t be able to talk in secret and I couldn’t help you as much. In here I can hear all of your thoughts and see everything you see. This way you’ll never be alone, not even when you’re sleeping. I’m always here for you if I stay in your head.”

“Oh….but..um…so can you come out? What if I need you to come out?”

“Why would you need me to come out?”

“What if I’m in danger? What if someone’s trying to hurt me and I need you?”

“Hmmm? Well I suppose I could come out if you really needed me to, but I’m not here to fight for you Pate. I’m here to help, but not to do the work for you. If you’re in trouble its up to you to get yourself out, otherwise how will you ever learn?”

“Oh…right”

Sybil let out a sigh and smiled in a way that Pate saw on few occasion. It was a soft smile, the smile a mother might give her child when they’d scraped their knee or fallen down, it was the type of smile that made her look like more like the fairy she was supposed to be.

“How bout this then Pate, I’ll stay in here and try to guide you through any trouble you find yourself in, and if even with my advice, you find yourself in a situation you truly can’t get out of, I’ll come out and help you. Now that doesn’t mean I want you relying on me to come save you when things seem hard, but…if you really need me…I’ll be there. Ok?”

“Ok….thanks.”

“I’m your fairy, I’m here to help you. Now then, you still haven’t told me what’s got you crying out here in the rain for no good reason.”

Pate rubbed his runny nose and felt embarrassed now, knowing that there had been someone watching him being pitiful out in the rain.

“Jade’s leaving. She…she got adopted. Her new parents are comin to get her tomorrow.”

“And you’re going to miss this Jade is that it?”

“I dunno…maybe.”

“Hmmmm. Or is it that you wish it was you getting adopted instead of Jade?”

“No”

“Are you sure? You don’t want some nice family to come and take you home with them and make you their son?”

Pate stifled another sob and shook his head and rubbed his wet eyes.

“It’s alright you know Pate…to want a family. All young boys and girls want a family…someone to love them and take care of them. It’s nothing to be ashamed of…you just want to be happy…to be like Jade.”

“No! I don’t want a family! I don’t need one! We promised we didn’t want one! She…(more sobs and tears rose up in Pate’s angry distraught face) we…we both promised. We sore that we didn’t need em…a family…parents. We swore and she…she said it’d just be us. SHE SWORE!”

Pate let out a wail and tucked his head in between his knees, no longer holding back the cascade of tears and sorrow. Then he felt a warm touch on his shoulder, which then turned to a warm embrace from behind him. His eyes were shut tight with tears, but in his mind he could see…and feel Sybil holding him in a motherly embrace, her in a long gown, one which covered her overly sexual physique, and she was soothingly brushing his hair wispy blonde hair.

“There, there Pate. It’s going to be ok. I know you loved Jade like a big sister and that you’ll miss her…but you know what? No matter who comes and goes into your life…you’ll always have me.”

“Always?”

“Always Pate. I’ll never leave your side, no matter what. You may not have parents or siblings…but you’ve got me…I’ll be your family and I won’t ever leave you behind.”

Pate’s sobbing and eased and he raised his head, staring at nothing, but looking directly into Sybil’s ruby red eyes, which somehow seemed comforting…not demonic to him now.

“How do I know you won’t leave like Jade? She swore…she promised me...and still…”

Pate felt his stomach turn and tears begin to well up in his eyes again, unsure if he could hold them back even for a moment.

“I’ll tell you what Pate I’ll let you in on a little secret but you have to promise me something…you have to promise to trust me and trust my judgment…can you promise me that Pate? Can you promise to trust me no matter what…to trust me blindly?”

Even though Pate’s five year old mind didn’t fully grasp the meaning of this concept, he could still sense the gravity of this question. He knew that if he answered yes he could never go back on his word…no matter what. Could he trust some magical voice in his head that he had never seen nor heard from before? It was a decision he should have weighed on for days, but a five year old is far too impatient for such things, and too him all he wanted now was someone to trust in, and be trusted in, to love and to be loved by, and this mysterious creature in his head was that person to him.

“Ok.”

“Ok? This is no childish thing Pate. If you agree to this it will mean you will have to trust my judgment even if you don’t understand it… you must listen to me above all others…even yourself…are you sure?”

“Yes…I mean…yes, I’m sure. I trust you …”

“Sybil.”

“Si…subell?”

Again he saw her pouting face, but this time with a hint of laughter behind it.

“Well it won’t do having you try to talk to me if you can’t pronounce my name so how about you can call me a nickname for now until you’re older? You can even choose.”

Pate tried to think of something clever, some unique nickname to impress his new friend, but a five year old mind is what it is, and his mind easily latched onto something red and pretty and the name was born.

“Poppy.”

Sybil made a slight startled gesture but then smiled in the way all parents smile at the innocence of children.

“Poppy is it? Very well, but know that when you’re older I expect to be called by my real name…are we understood?”

“Yes…Poppy.”

A smile crept over his haggard tear stained face and Sybil couldn’t help but laugh, this time a much more pure and impish laugh, the laugh of a loving mother, and it made Pate’s smile grow.

“Ok Pate…I’ll tell you my secret then…you see unlike regular people fairies have a few…rules shall we say that we can’t break…no matter what. Anyways, one of them is that if we are asked any question in a certain way we have to tell the truth. So, if you ask me any question…for instance, “Will I stay with you for the rest of your life?” in this special way, I’d have to tell you the truth. There in lies my condition of trust, you see even fairies, need their secrets, and I’d like to keep mine, so I’ll tell you the special command, only if you promise to trust me when I tell you some questions should not be asked, and so if I tell you that I don’t want to answer certain questions, I want you to trust that I have a good reason for it. Does that sound fair to you?”

It was hard for Pate to grasp it all at the time, but from he could gleam, he knew that he was being given a special “power” to know the truth from Sybil, but that he could only use it when she said it was ok. Most adults would have never agreed to such a proposal, or would have been skeptical at least, but Pate only heard “truth” and “trust” and these were the things he wanted most after his friend Jade’s recent betrayal…so the answer came easy.

“Yes…I’ll trust you Poppy.”

“You have always been such a good boy Pate. Now then…if you ever need to know the truth you need only ask me a question then say this, “Answer thee my fairy dear, whisper truth into mine ear” and I will always tell the truth. Understand?”

Pate was beaming with anticipation and excitement now, his past miseries forgotten in an instant, and he nodded with glee.

“Well then Pate…ask away?”

Pate was near bursting. To a five year old boy who had been lied to, abandoned, and felt unwanted his whole life, the power to have absolute truth was a thing of dreams. It was the greatest present he could’ve asked for and yet, he was terrified at what his first question should be. He had a million questions on his mind but which one mattered most, and which would impress his new friend and not disappoint her. He tried to form his thoughts, and he took on a thoughtful facial expression, but as with all children, patience is a virtue not yet learned, and one question above all came to mind. The question every orphan child with nothing in the world wants an answer to.

“Do you love me Poppy?”

He caught her face turn from mild amusement to open shock and he felt a hint of embarrassment but before she could respond or he could retract his question, he remembered his secret and mustered what courage he had to use it.

“Answer thee my fairy dear, whisper truth into mine ear.”

She made no response, the moment lingered, and a lump rose in Pate’s throat, the tears on the verge of returning. Then Sybil’s face softened and he felt a warm wet feeling on his cheek and the image of Sybil giving him a soft smiling kiss filled his head.

“Oh Pate…I love you more than you’ll ever know and I couldn’t be happier with the question you asked…you are… (Pate couldn’t help but notice a slight misting of those impenetrable red eyes)…you will always be loved by me Pate. I love you now and for always.”

From that moment on, Sybil, or “Poppy”, was his entire world; his family, his friend, his mother, his father, his brother, his sister, his love and his life, she was the one constant in an ever changing world, and he would always love and trust her as she did him…even now, even when they fought or argued…she would still always be his “Poppy” he brought a smile to his face when he was crying in the rain.

“Drifting off are we Pate…I wouldn’t have thought now was exactly the time for daydreaming?”

Her silky smooth, yet always strong voice brought Pate back to his current predicament. A note, map and a vial of…poison, drugs, who knew, lay in his pocket, he was two hours late to see Master Vik and there was some strange hooded man, somewhere nearby, watching him to make sure he did as he was bid. He may have learned many different tricks and talents in the past ten years since he first came to know Poppy, but even with fifteen years of knowledge he was well out of his depths.

“What to do, what to do? Do you go off on the assassin’s errand and dig yourself further into a hole we both know there is no way out of, or do you return to your Master, to face the consequences we both know are due, and possibly fail your new assassin friend? Decisions, decisions!”

No matter how much his memories told him he loved her…he couldn’t help but hate her sometimes. She and he both knew from the tone of her voice that she had come up with a plan, a plan which they both also knew would be superior to his own, but she would keep it to herself unless asked, even in this dire of a situation.

“Well let’s hear it then…we both know you’ve been scheming away up in there so clue me in on you’re genius plan.”

“You know I have half a mind to keep it to myself with you talking to me like I’m some sort of evil trickster or mischievous plotter.”

“What’s the plan Sybil? Answer thee me fairy dear, whisper truth into mine ear.”

“Well you’re no fun. I was at least looking forward to a little back and forth there for a minute, after all you hardly every talk to me anymore, but fine, I’ll help you out and tell you what you should do.”

He knew she would be upset now. She was right of course, he had been ignoring her more and more recently; avoiding long conversations and even shutting her from his mind, trying not to picture her or hear her as much as possible. It probably wasn’t fair…but then again she wasn’t known for being fair to him. In most ways he looked at it, it was entirely her fault that he had begun to distance himself from her. She was the one who had crossed the line; she was the one who had…interrupted. Pate shook it off, he could dwell on such thoughts later, right now he had much more pressing matters, than the relationship between him and his fairy, like who he was going to kill, and how.

“We both agree that our hooded killer is most likely watching you yes?”

Pate didn’t respond, she knew he agreed, and he wasn’t in the mood to play her games. He face began to form in his head, a frustrated hot headed look, but before he pouting form could assemble he shut it from his mind, a trick he had learned from living with an invisible woman in his head for eleven years.

“Fine…I’ll make it short and sweet then. Read the instructions and the map on your way back to Master Vik. No matter how determined our assassin friend is, he won’t be able to follow into Master Vik’s. Give the vial to the Master in apology for being late and say you took it from a foreign diplomat and that you suspect it’s a drug. We both know that he’ll take it from you…and soon enough…test it out for himself. Once he does we’ll know if it’s poison or not. If it is we take what we can from the Master, find whoever the note’s target is and slip the note in his pocket and make a deal. If it isn’t poison and turns out to be some sort of drug; well then we give the Vik the note and tell it will lead him to the dealer and let him weed out the assassin for us. It’s simple and sweet and the best way for us to stay out of danger.”

Pate allowed himself a small smirk. It was in almost every detail, the plan he had come up with himself. He knew his time with Vik was coming to an end, and he also knew that you didn’t exactly quite your employment with a man like Vik. The assassin was obvious, he needed to be dealt with, and making a deal with his intended target made the most sense, it would take the heat off Pate and put the heat on the hooded man. He almost wanted to laugh at how similar he and Sybil now thought; maybe it was her rubbing off on him, after all she had practically raised him, or maybe it was them becoming more and more of a singular mind after sharing one head, one space for so long. This only distracted him again, thinking of the recent events that had…confused his and Sybil’s relationship. He knew why he had distanced himself from her…but was that what he really wanted…with their thoughts so similar, their deepest secrets so easily shared. He shook the thought off again.

“Sounds good to me.”

“That’s it…no argument…no discussion…no “thanks Sybil””

His smile returned again.

“No discussion needed. The plan is good. Thanks…Poppy.”