Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ By the Hand of Destiny: Book One; The Journey to Destiny ❯ Chapter Four; Hell Seraph Latermia ( Chapter 4 )

Hell's only love in life is the thrill of the kill, and she is very good at what she does. Having accepted an assignment from employers unknown, Hell travels through the forests of Zaibach seeking her prey. But she, like so many, has her own dreams. Will Hell finish her mission and return to Palas to collect the remainder of her fee, or will she embark on a new journey to follow a different destiny and capture her dream

Chapter Four: Hell Seraph Latermia

Written by Dilandaus_girl

Silently I slipped through the dense forest, every step I made was only apparent by the tiny noise of the bracken shifting under my weight. My goal was simple as I slipped between the mighty trees, my black cloak allowing me to shift in and out of the shadows with ease, I was to track down and kill my victim in any way necessary. But this was no mere mortal that I had been paid to dispose of. This victim was as cold and ruthless as I was.

I hid my true nature under the cool exposure of my chocolate brown eyes, while his was immediately apparent to those who looked into his. To any man who crossed my path I seemed to be nothing more than a normal docile female, but they would soon discovered that I was far from normal. Once I held a sword in my hand I became a completely different person, ruthless and unforgiving. You could almost see the blood lust in my normal tranquil eyes as they changed from light placid brown to a deadly dark chocolate. For I loved the sound of steel upon steel, it was what I lived for. For that reason I had spent my life training with a sword to master my skills, constantly trying to surpass my already deadly technique. And sword fighting was not my only strength for my skills included many other ways of defending myself. To be truthful I excelled in most things but I preferred to use my long sword when it came down to mortal combat, for it was far more personal to kill someone that way, in my opinion.

Being an assassin by trade suited me perfectly. It allowed me to constantly experience the insatiable emotions brought on by killing another being. My reputation in the underworld of Gaea allowed me to choose between which missions I accepted and declined, only ever accepting my employers offer if I felt that my victim could defend himself or herself. I believed that any fool could kill another if their opponent was weaker and I still looked to the day when I would find a worthy opponent, whether it meant that that person ended my life or not. For I was no common assassin, one who lacked the principles by which I stood by. I was one of the elite assassins who seemed to be immune to human weakness such as feelings. Such things interfered with ones mission and were deemed inappropriate in my line of work. I was a killing machine trained to shed blood, and I excelled at it. The blood lust, pure adrenaline rushing through every crevice, every particle of my self-being, the need for death and destruction every time I ended one of my victims lives. It was an urge, which increased whenever I drew my sword.

I licked my lips in anticipation. I knew that my man was a fine warrior; he had out classed many men twice his age and it was said that no one ever escaped the wrath of Dilandau Albatou and lived. Just the mere thought of it sent a shiver of pleasure down my spine for I was determined that if I, like so many others, were to die by his hand he himself would not part from the battle unscathed. When I fought few escaped my wrath, yet as long as blood had been spilled my thirst would usually be quenched, for the time being.

It was at this time that I heard faint noises to the east of where I stood. I could hear the constant sound of metal colliding with metal; it was music to my ears. I moved closer determined to find out what was going on. A male voice was clearly audible above the din of the fight. It was filled with purpose and a slight hint of frustration.

"No Viole!" I heard the voice shout, "Put more aggression into it. Do I have to come down there and show you how its done?"

"No Sir," was the simple, stuttered reply and the fight seemed to proceed.

I reached the source of the noise, pushing back the foliage of a near bush and observed the scene in front of me. Twelve young men stood before me and watched silently as two of their comrades fought in a training match. It intrigued me as I watched as one young man barked out orders to the fighters, instructing them on the correct moves to make. In the light his hair seemed to shine lightning white and even from his distance I could see his magenta eyes shining with a blood lust that I could relate to only too well.

To get a better view at the group before me I effortlessly scaled the large oak, which overlooked where they stood. I stayed there happy to let my mind momentarily be taken from my mission, watching this young silver haired youth order the others as if it was his sole purpose in life to do so. It was clear he was a born leader and he held himself with such pride and power that I found that my attention was solely directed at him, totally captivated with everything about him. The longer I stared the more I felt like I'd seen him before, but couldn't quite place his face.

"Lord Dilandau!" called a young man with shoulder length straight brown hair, donned in the blue uniform the other young men wore. "Lord Folken wishes us to return to the Vione." I gasped slightly stunned that the person I was mesmerized with was the very person whom I had been sent to kill. I vividly remembered the day I accepted this very assignment.

"This is your victim Hell! His name," the cloaked form of my employer spoke sharply presenting me with a shadowgraph of a young man, "He is Dilandau Albatou, the leader of the Dragon Slayers Unit. It is up to you how you dispose of him and do it at your own discretion, but beware his reputation of blood shed is as well know throughout Gaea as is yours is in the world of Assassins. He is deadly and not to be overlooked because of his age." l nodded as I accepted a bag of gold cast gidaru coins.

"I have heard many a tale about this Dilandau." I replied cold and coolly. "I know where I stand with him although it is not as if I have not faced those like him in the past."

"He is not ordinary. He has been trained as a killing machine for Zaibach's needs but the mutual feeling among my colleagues is that he has overstepped his boundaries once to often." The man paused thoughtfully. "His weaknesses are few and far between. We know he has them but I'm afraid not even I know what they are. His main purpose is to fight, kill and train others to have the same deadliness he has and he excels at it. If given the chance he will not hesitate to kill you."

"A pretty one, at least!" I remarked upon the shadowgraph image I held before me.

"And he knows it, an Adonis above all others. Perhaps," he spoke as the edges of his lips twitched at his attempt to smile. "Perhaps you could call that his only known weakness. Now go! Once your task is completed you may return for the rest of your reward. And don't forget to bring a memento for evidence of your deed." I nodded, turning gracefully and exited into the darkness and out of sight.

I grinned to myself. 'I knew I recognized his face. Now how shall I deal with this?' I pondered. 'It wouldn't be any fun if I went ahead and killed him right now, even though it would be so easy to do so. Everything comes to she who waits.' I moved further down the thick tree branch till I was right above my victim.

"Yes," I whispered as a plan formed in my head. "I want this game to last as long as possible. So maybe I'll let some others play too." And with that I allowed myself to free-fall from my position and landed directly in front of my prey.

Although I had landed not three inches from him Dilandau did not move an inch. It was obvious he could never be intimidated in such a way. His hand reached for his sword as his Slayers crowded around the two of us.

"I wouldn't draw if I was you, Lord Dilandau!" I spoke sweetly. "If you do I won't be sated until I draw blood."

"A woman," he mocked when he heard my voice. "Does anyone dare challenge this mighty warrior?" Jovial laughter rang among Dilandau's men at their leaders mocking remark.

"Do you not care to try your luck, Sir?" I replied my voice showing only a hint of menace in its tone.

"All in due time, but if you can't handle one of my men then you have little chance against me!" With that a young man with short spiked hair, blond colouring highlighting its tips, stepped forward. He seemed to be about my age, seventeen maybe eighteen and seemed highly capable of defending himself.

"If I may, Lord Dilandau I would show this woman not to mess with the Dragon Slayers!" Dilandau nodded his consent and the Slayer drew one of his swords from his back and discarded the other three to relieve some weight.

"Foolish boy!" I chided as I drew my own rapier from its sheath. My blade gleamed as the sunlight shone onto it and the magenta gems that embellished either side of its hilt and handle caused rainbow beams to refract onto the neighbouring trees. I clasped the red leather bound around the handle and shrugged off my bag and cloak to reveal no mere woman but a dangerous fighter, my stance sure and ready for battle.

I smiled, at least this guy had some signs of talent, but it would be a good year before his real talent was uncovered, perhaps with a little help on my part. Seeing my obvious advantage I decided to toy with him and watched with merriment as he charged.

"Having fun," I laughed as our blades locked. "Like I said, you won't leave this battle unscathed. That's a promise." His eyes glared into mine as he tried to push me against the nearest tree to no avail. "That won't work!" I laughed as he tried everything he could to get an advantage over me. Even when he managed to cut the side of my arm I showed little sign of fatigue.

"Touché!" I shouted as I moved effortlessly to my left as he countered my next attack. I widened my distance and thrust suddenly with my blade point. Perceiving the immediate danger he backed away. I pushed on aggressively but watched with satisfaction as the youth moved his body away from the line of my attack and my weapon slipped past him and collided with his own. He had been trained well. "Your stronger than I thought." I complimented sharply, struggling slightly as he placed more pressure on the swords.

"You too!" was the simple reply causing me to smile as I lunged drawing my hind foot forward half a pace for a stronger blow. I hit on target and my rapier slid across his amour, scaring the blue metal.

"Should hope so," I continued, "I've trained a long time to become as good as I am." He pushed forward and watched as I defended myself. He turned to parry with his sword edge and thrust towards my face and placed his body behind his sword.

"Well your not the only one, I've gone through a lot to get this far myself." He smiled at me. "And I'm surprised a mere slip of a girl could have such strength." We talked like this during the fight as if we were fond friends and it was obvious that we were both enjoying ourselves. But however friendly we became I was not going to let this young warrior win. I had faced far stronger than he and come out the victor. I had never and would never let a man get the better of me, unless they were in extenuating circumstances.

The young Slayer was tired for he had fought hard and his pride refused to let him back down but his body thought other wise and his movements gradually slowed.

The fight continued till both of us had a thin sheen of perspiration on our skin, which glistened in the sunlight. I was pleased with my opponent's skill, he had slightly surprised me with what technique he had and for a few moments during the fight had seemed to get an upper hand, although not for long. I was in my element and although I looked slightly tired, on the inside I was practically burning with energy. Every thrust I deflected only to counter with equally powerful lunges causing sparks to fly as the metal collided. Finally tiring of this fight I brought my rapier down onto his larger long sword causing it to fall from his grip onto the ground. I smiled wickedly as my body and heart were telling me, begging me to go in for the kill and I brought my sword down towards the frozen slayers face with great force.

"Kuja!" I heard the startled cries of his comrades as they saw what my intentions were. As my sword made contact with his flesh I stopped the blade from going any further. Once motionless I pushed down pulling the blade across the bridge of his nose, causing blood to flow. I sheathed my weapon placed my hands onto his shoulders and leaned over to look into the Slayers blue eyes. A seductive smile replaced my wickedness as I placed a tender lingering kiss on his nose.

"All better! Now we're even." I whispered in his ear as I pushed myself back up and chuckled as I heard the slayer hit the ground in shock. I watched Dilandau motion to two of his slayers and they ran past me to help their friend and I licked my lips, savouring the taste of Kuja's bittersweet blood on them. "Told you I always shed blood!" I said quietly but loud enough for all to hear as I walked away from Kuja. "But no harm done. I doubt there will even be a scar." I could see Dilandau watching me carefully, only turning his attention from me when the two previous fighters brought a stunned Kuja up to him. A muffled cry came from Kuja as Dilandau's hand made contact with his face with such force that it sent the young Slayer hurtling back onto the ground.

"I think you need to improve your technique Kuja if you can let a mere woman beat you." He spat at the form bowed low before him.

"That may be so if that is he had just faced a mere woman, but he wasn't." I whispered as I straightened the strands of hair that had fallen over my face. I felt the urge to say more, something about Dilandau's unorthodox conduct with his men but decided against it. This was his jurisdiction not mine and so I would respect it. But I refused to do nothing. I bent down and helped my fallen opponent off the ground and lifted his head so that I could check that he was uninjured. The cut on his nose was already healing but his cheek looked red and painful. No doubt there would be a bruise the next morning. I ran a hand across Kuja's cheek just to make sure that it was ok.

"Nothing damaged." I whispered into his ear. A sudden chill went down my spine. I sense Dilandau's cold eyes fixed on me and when I turned my attention away from Kuja I found his eyes lock with my own showing an emotion which a could not identify. Normally I would never let anyone look at me that way, but I would have to let this one pass if I wanted my plan to work. I could always do something about it later on.

"What is your name and purpose here, woman." He asked me with a deadly tone; so similar to the tone I had used many a time myself.

"My name, Sir, is Hell. Hell Seraph Latermia." I spoke calmly with but a hint of danger in it and lightly bowed my head for a moment. My eyes flickered between light and dark chocolate showing how much I was loving the day's occurrence as I stood up proudly, showing my boldness, holding my head high. "I have come to serve you, for a time being and further my training under your tutelage, my Lord. If that is, you consent."