If there was one thing Jason Brody could say about himself it would be that he was good at hurting people. Not that he enjoyed it, well not always. These were the idle thoughts that drifted through Jason's mind as he planted an arrow in a pirate's eye. The screaming pirate fell to the ground thrashing in pain as Jason casually walked towards him. With a disturbing crunch and a bloodstained boot Jason continued down the tunnel. His normal indifferent expression was being replaced by an annoyed scowl. He hated exploring the ruins on Rook Island, they were always filled with dangerous animals and seemed to fall apart at any given moment. Still it needed to be done, rumor on the Island was that there was an artifact here even more powerful than the dagger. And he would not allow the Raykat to get it before he did. Not after what they had done to his friends.....
Shaking his head Jason continued down the tunnel trying to think about happier things. Sadly for him the 'happier' things in his life involved learning new ways to gut a man before they could blink. And Jason didn't think he could get any faster. Continuing down the twisting path he noticed the walls becoming more and more in-lined with strange glyphs and carvings. Perhaps if he had been here for a different reason he would have taken note of the strange horse-like creatures that seemed to be carved into every wall but he had a mission and by god he would stop at nothing to achieve it.
The hallway slowly began to expand outwards forming a large almost chapel-like room, Jason took very little note of this as his eye's locked onto his target. A large door was planted at the back of the room and surrounded by several woven baskets filled with gems and other treasures. Normally Jason would've plundered the gems and continued on his way but something about this door set him on edge and not in his normal 'there's guys I get to kill behind it' way. He slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out the compass he had found while hunting for the knife for Buck. His vision flashed red for a second as thoughts of Buck's threats rolled through his head, only to return to normal when he remembered burying his knife hilt deep in his chest, that had been a good day.
The compass pulsed and glowed with the same eerie green energy it had regained when Jason entered this strange temple. Jason looked between the indent on the door and the compass before pushing it into the slot, expecting to find the artifact behind the door
"Moment of truth" he twist the compass, the door slowly began to slide open as a piercing white light burst out from behind the door. Jason felt a searing pain as the light hit his skin and tried to move away from the door only to find his feet locked in place. As the door open fully Jason became aware of only two things in his life
Pain and Light.
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Celestia was not having a good day or month for that matter. The Diamond dogs had been rather pushy about the borders around the Applosian mountains. After several attempts at convincing Celestia to give-up the mountains peacefully they had resorted to one of the most oldest and most effective methods of getting what one wants; hostages. And that's where the problem lay, if they had taken a caravan or even a town Celestia would have sent the army forward and hoped for minimal casualties, but she couldn't afford to have any casualties. Not now, not when they had taken the bearers of the elements. She gritted her teeth, how dare these dogs attempted to force her into submission? She was a God among men! She would show these dogs, she already had several candidates selected for a possible rescue mission. But every time she was ready to select one she found a flaw and put it off in hopes of finding a better option.
But not anymore, today would be the day she would choose! She poured back over her files hoping to find the right soldier for the job and yet. She growled in frustration, each of these soldiers had flaws! A second of delay, a lapse in judgement, a split second of hesitation! She could afford to have any of these flaws, she needed a soldier that had more experience than boot camp, she needed someone that wouldn't crack under pressure, she needed someone that didn't hesitate. In short she needed a professional killer.
Footsteps were heard moments before her door was nearly flung off the hinge by a guard.
"Princess someone has appeared in the west tower!"
Jason was having one of the nicest meals he had had in a long time. Which was a shame since he was currently sitting in a prison cell. Jason wasn't complaining too much especially since he had gotten fresh bread! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get fresh anything on Rook island? And clean water too! And these people probably didn't want him dead since they hadn't killed him in his sleep! They had taken most of his weapons though, but he was less than concerned considering that he had already turned the metal spoon they had given him for lunch into a shiv. If they did try to kill him he was sure he could take out enough of them to get his hands on his guns again and then well...... Game over for them.
Several guards in what appeared to be gold armor marched to his cell door, armed with short swords and crossbows.
"Wow the recession must be hitting you boys pretty hard huh?" A harsh glare from the guard was his only answer.
"Prison 104 you are to report to the throne room for interrogation immediately" Jason frowned slightly, he didn't recognize the uniforms or actions of whoever this faction was. But that might be a good thing, who know maybe I'm getting payed to kill some people today Jason thought with a dark smile.
"Lead the way." Jason said with obvious sarcasm. The cell door opened and he was quickly surrounded by guards. As he was led out of the cell he noticed the surrounding cells like it was some kind of old fashion dungeon. But that would be ridiculous there were only dungeons in castles and there were no castle on Rook Island. At least he didn't think there were....
"Keep moving" A rough shove from behind him ignited his anger; He was Jason FUCKING Brody he had killed more people than that little fuck had seen in his entire life.
"You'll be the first" Jason muttered under his breath
"What was that?"
"Where are we going?" The guard snorted
"The Princess has ordered us to bring you to the throne room for an interview" Jason giggled, royalty huh? That would definitely be a new one. He snickered
"Oh dear, I do feel underdressed" he snickered while motioning at his bloodstained blue jeans and polo. The guards said nothing as they walked towards two large double doors. An unseen force opened the door and he was ushered towards a small table and several empty chairs.
"Sit" the guards roughly shoved him into the chair, before spread across the room and making a perimeter. Jason scowled, he knew exactly what was going on here; they would make him wait trying to either get him nervous or to show how important they were so he would be more likely to work with them. He wasn't going to have any of it, he focused solely on examining the room and every possible escape route. He quickly noticed the stained glass windows that none of the guards seemed to be worried about. He smiled, should this meeting go south he had an escape plan.
Someone cleared their throat, Jason turned back to face forward. In the seat across from him was a woman; she seemed about early thirties, with magenta eyes that radiated power, however the most interesting fact was her flowing multi-colored hair, well that and the wings.
"Oh dear I didn't think I'd go to heaven when I died" Jason laughed
"Excuse me?" The strange woman seemed only slightly perturbed
"You're an angel, and I don't mean that in the pick-up line sense although...... Nevermind, so tell me am I here to be judged?"
"Judged?" Jason nodded
"Since I'm dead." She frowned
"You're not dead." Jason giggled
"In that case I seem to have a very bad case of insanity, but I have been expecting to lose my mind for quite a while now."
"You're not imagining this" Jason just smiled
"Whatever you say love" She scowled
"My name is Princess Celestia and you will address me as such." Jason's smile grew wider
"I wouldn't bet on it" He failed to notice the guard walking up from behind
*SMACK*
Something hit Jason in the back of the head, no more specifically a gauntleted hand had smacked him in the back of the head. The mirth in Jason's eye extinguished in a heartbeat and was replaced with a smoldering rage
"You will respect the Princess" The guard's words fell on deaf ears
"You really shouldn't have done that" The guard smirked, while raising his hand into the air. Too any untrained eye watching the would have been confused as to why the guard's throat had erupted in a spray of red, if they had looked closer they would have seen a shiny spoon handle slick with blood embedded in the guards jugular.
Too everyone else in the room they had seen Jason move with lightning speed and implant the shiv with practiced ease.
Jason sat back down smiling widely at the Princess not caring in the slightest about the blood that coated half his face. The Princess simply raised an eyebrow before turning towards one of the other guards rushing towards them.
"Go fetch a medic, and return to your posts." The guard ran out the door, while the other stopped mid-step unsure as what to do, Celestia glared
"Do I need to repeat myself?" The guards slunk back to their posts, while Celestia turned to face the still smiling Jason
"I do hope you had a good reason for trying to kill my guard"
"I don't tolerate being hit."
"So you stabbed him?" Behind Jason the guard was being carried out of the throne room by several people in white medical coats.
"Oh yes, though I would have rather shot him but alas you took all my weapons." Celestia raised her brow
"Apparently not, where do you hail from where behavior such as this is allowed Mr....?" Jason's smile never left his face
"Brody, Jason Brody, and as for where I'm from..... Ever heard of Rook Island? No? Aren't you lucky! Well Rook Island is this wonderful little vacation spot that is overflowing with murderous slavers and insane locals. Imagine my surprise when I got stuck there and killed my way through most of its inhabitants."
"You killed most of them?" Jason giggled
"Well to be fair they started it"
"How's that?" An image of Grant bleeding out flashed through Jason's mind. The smile left his lips and a cold hardness settled in his eyes.
"You don't need to worry about that" Celestia raised her brow but dropped the subject. Her mind drifted; He had casually tried to kill one of her guards, and done so without a moments hesitation. He obviously wasn't from around here and if he was caught then she could just deny sending him with little backlash. A small smile graced her lips
"Tell me Jason is someone of your 'Talents' available to be hired for a bit of a job?" Jason's smile was all the conformation she needed.
