Once a Failure: ch.3

Once a Failure: ch.3

Chapter 3

Anlhwen finally returned to the ruined temple he called home. Radi and Sonya weren’t back yet. No one was back. Where was everyone? He couldn’t bare the thought of being all alone. He stumbled over to where they usually slept and curled up. He cried openly with is arms around his legs and burying his face in the ground. He cried himself to sleep.

The next day was the first of his last week living a life of fear. By the end of this one week he would finally have what he always wanted. Power… Power enough to never feel afraid again; He would have the strength to never rely on cowardice or on others. Again, no one was around. He got up, he though he saw blood where he slept but didn’t pay attention.

Still drowsy he got up and walked out of the ruined temple. Everything was empty, there was no one anywhere. Rubbing his eyes, he turned around to look at the temple. Blood was everywhere. Large smears on the wall and fallen pillars. Shallow puddles covered the ground and hardening in cracks. He looked at himself. Blood covered his arms up to his elbows. The left half of his face was painted with blood. He looked at his legs blood went up to his knees. His bright blond hair was a bloody mess in his head.

“What…? What the hell happened?” Anlhwen asked, half expecting an answer but none came. “When did this happen?” He asked, this time fully expecting answer but no one was around. He turned round to look at where merchants usually worked. Now he saw why no one was here. Homes and shops had large holes through their walls. Blood was everywhere. Was it still fresh or did he imagine it still dripping. He sniffed and stench of death was heavy in the air. He began coughing and tried to hold back vomit but was unsuccessful.
“No… No this has to be dream. None of this real, they’re all still alive…!” He started crying into his hands as he dropped to his knees. He thought he heard something from one of the merchant stands. He lifted his head from his hands and saw a hand scratching at the top of the stand. Anlhwen ran over to the stand. It was a horrible bloody mess, the man’s stomach was split open, blood still pouring out. His face was destroyed, a horrible gory image in his mind. A thin wire was tied tightly around his neck.

“What is it, what happened? Who did this?” Anlhwen cried urgently. The man stopped all sorts of moving, the blood from the wound in his stomach stopped pumping and slowly slid down into the puddle below him. The man’s hand fell useless and his body grew cold in Anlhwen’s hands.

An idea finally hit the boy. ‘If someone had really done all this so soon, where were all the bodies?’ He stood up behind the stand and finally saw them. Some where sprawled out in the streets then he looked right at the temple. A pile of all the kid’s bodies were heaped in a big pile of death. At first glance he didn’t recognize anyone, and then his eyes focused. He could make Radi and Sonya they’re bodies lifeless and limp.

It was as if he was in a daze. He walked over to the piled of bodies and fell to his knees. He felt the blood starting to crust on his arms and legs. A horse fly landed Sonya’s hand.

“No! Get off of her! She’s not dead! She can’t be!” He screamed as he swatted the insect off of dead girl’s hand. He grabbed the hand gently and stroked it tenderly. He held it on his clean cheek and cried on it. “I- I still can’t say it… I still can’t say the words I’ve always tried to tell you… Even after what happened. You talked because of me. Your first words were screaming… I was the one that made you scream… I’m sorry for everything I’ve done…” He stood up and placed the hand down gently on the ground.

He started walking away. He didn’t know where he was going, he just new he had to get away from that place. He didn’t how long he’d been walking when he finally reached a river. The whole way there he didn’t see anyone. He knelt by the river and put his legs in. He started rubbing the now dried blood off. He did the same with his arms. He walked into the river the water was up to his waist. He stuck his head under the water and started cleaning the blood from his face and hair.

A man in dark clothes watched Anlhwen as he rubbed the blood from his body. “I heard what happened kid… I guess you’re mind’s been made up…” The man whispered to himself as Anlhwen went back under to finish getting the blood out of his hair.

A few years later Anlhwen is dead, he had to die so he could get stronger. Now fifteen years old, Zetsumei Sansaku is under Shinsui Kabane’s tutelage and is about to take on his first mission as an assassin.

Growing up was a challenge, he trained everyday with Shinsui in any kind of combat from no weapons to long range. Mr. Kabane even taught him how to read in write when they weren’t fighting or practicing assassination on dummies. The rest of the time was dedicated to learning about poisons. Using the right amount on different people and body types. Which ones work best with what age person. The effects of poisons and irritants taken from different plants. Which plants to use and which ones not to use. And what poisons counter other ones and so on.

The years were filled with hard work but it all paid off. He sometimes slipped when it came to poisons but he made up for it in his accuracy with a well timed dart. Lock picking proved to be a challenge at first but he got used to it. When it came to close combat he was average, that wasn’t acceptable so worked and worked at it and became exceptional in all kinds of fighting and with any weapon, at any range. No matter how good he got he still always lost to his teacher who was a professional at everything the job entailed. The one time Zetsumei was close to winning Shinsui turned the tables in an instant. The two were like father and son at sometimes but more often than not they seemed more like brother despite the age difference.