Jacquelyn had just arrived at Crex, during this time she was apart of the Ancord. An Assassin's Guild. Her target? King Xeon. There was no doubt in her mind that the newly appointed C.O of The Sonar was behind this contract, but it wasn't her place to ask. He was paying big and now it was her job to make sure it got done.

Jacquelyn took pride in the fact that she had never failed a contract before, which is why they sent her. They, being the headmasters of her guild. There were three of them total, and whatever they said was law. And right now, their law said that if she somehow failed, she would be forced to submit to her punishment or die as repentance. She was the only female vaulkarian halfbreed that did any fieldwork, others just bribed for information and were told what to do and where to go. She on the other hand would spend days studying her target so she could decide a proper death for them. Some were quick and clean. Others were taken and killed slowly, their bodies left as an example.

Shaking her head clear and returning to the task at hand, she casually strolled around the streets of Elusia, Crex's Capital where all the royals lived. Or more importantly, where her target lived.

She had spent weeks planning all of the escape routes, all the worst case scenario's, and finally she sharpened all of her tools she would require as she meditated the night before.

It was during this time she would purposely let the blade of her dagger cut through her fingertips, for every little blood drop that spilt onto the floor she prayed she could only begin to repent for all the lives she had taken. The Gods did not bless or favor the sinners, only the demonic princes and kings did. Where their blessings were just as powerful, Jacquelyn still hoped that one day she would be able to walk in the light rather than the shadows. What were a few drops of blood if it meant she could get that much closer to her goal.

With every drop however, I will still have to pay back another thousand more for every life I've taken...

She had a lot to atone for.

She sat silently, her breathing like that of the dead as she waited for the first sound of life to stir just outside her window. She had been staying within an abandoned shack she'd been fortunate enough to find, and now, she waited for her time to strike. Finally, the softest fluttering of a bird's wings sounded in her ears. She opened her eyes and greeted the rising sun. It was time.

Gathering her things she threw a light cloak over her, finding comfort in the shading within the large hood. She pet the black fabric with her hands before wrapping it around herself and escaping the building from the window.

When she arrived at the palace they had just finished signing the peace treaties, the people were cheering, cloaking her hidden figure even more. She was like a shadow with no physical object to cast her as she moved through the crowd, and she only got closer to her prey.

Her pulse quickened now, as it always did before the hunt really began. It quickened her breathing, made her that much more precise in her steps and slight twists of her body. She thought she would make it until somewhere from in the crowd someone screamed, out of joy or horror she could not tell, but it had drawn the attention of the people around her and now her window was rapidly closing. The King was being rushed into the palace in case the scream was indeed a signal for danger, Jacquelyn very much aware that once the doors closed she'd have had failed and would have missed her chance.

No!

Her body moved on it's own, forcing her to push the people out of her way and bringing herself that much closer to her target. The guards were beginning to become suspicious of her and were now trying to block her way, she had no choice but to kill them too.

Full speed now, the guard's bodies falling to the ground as she sprinted now, the screams had only truly began when she burst through the doors before they could be properly shut.

One, two, finally three more guards she had quickly slain lay dead on the marble floor leaving the King defenseless to his fate.

She was so close now...

She held her blade tightly within her fist and lunged. The blade was so close to the throat, the tip turning the brighter fur a dark red, she froze, unwillingly so as she processed the woman that now stood between her and her prey. Her blade pressed against the woman's throat harder.

We do not slay the innocent...

The creed screamed inside her. She was about to kick the woman to the side until she began to cry.

"Please do not take my husband, me! Take me instead!" Her words were so emotionally heavy it had been difficult for her to understand. But she didn't have to hear her words to understand, she already knew.

The scene had been so shockingly familiar Jacquelyn found herself taking a step back, memories of her deceased mother began to play before her. The memory of her mother crying for her father to return.

"Let him come home!" She had cried, "please do not take my husband! It should have been me! Me instead! Take me!"

Jacquelyn would hear her mother desperately praying to any God that might show mercy, every night for her husband to come home. She had prayed until Death came and took her too.

Jacquelyn didn't have the heart, out of all the lives she had mindlessly taken, this one she knew she could not. Maybe it was for the sake of her own mother, or maybe it was for herself, Jacquelyn sheathed her dagger and ran away.

When she had made it back to the shack she had been staying at, she was greeted with a disappointed face, a sister in the Ancord.

"I should kill you, that's what I was sent here to do... but you already know that," A blonde haired human woman hissed as she sat on a barrel, her own dagger glinting in the light of the room as she twirled the tip on her fingertips, her dark clothes and armor a shocking contrast against her pale skin and silvery hair.

"Sherry." Jacquelyn couldn't bare the thought of killing someone who had become like family after leaving the only one she had left.

"I owe you for that Weisan job, so I won't be the one to kill you," Sherry looked up, her emerald eyes burning with a unquenchable blood lust. "Don't come back to the guild Jacquelyn. You'll be dead if you do." The blonde haired human took a deep breath and shook her head. "What happened?"

"I wish I could tell you... But I don't know myself."

There was a long silence between the two until Jacquelyn finally spoke again. Feeling a lot like a lost child again Jacquelyn couldn't help but to ask, "what do I do now?"

"Run Jacky. It's the only thing you can do. I can't help you anymore than this. I'm reporting back in a week. I hope you're long gone by then."

Jacquelyn had meant to leave the next day, the very night even, but something had been bothering her. There were never more than one Ancord in each system, so why had Sherry been there? Did the headmasters know she would fail? Was she passing through?

The last one seemed unlikely, taking detours wasn't on an Ancord's agenda. They went to the target, killed, went home. A never ending cycle stuck on repeat. Sherry was much like herself and didn't have any family that was currently alive, well any that she spoke of.

Grabbing her gear she traveled to wherever her gut was telling her to.

The palace.

Sure enough, just as the sun set behind the building, Jacquelyn spotted the small shadow of Sherry scaling the side of the palace.

The Ancord always finished a job. Even if it took multiple attempts.

The thought ran through her like a hot wire and suddenly her skin broke out in a cold sweat. She was going for the King she realized.

I should just run, who cares about what happens here?

You do... Her inner conscious screamed at her.

Growling in frustration Jacquelyn leapt into action and charged for the palace. She knew she'd never scale the palace walls in time, climbing was never her strong suit, but running was. She began shouting, screaming at the guards that there was an assassin on the way, but they pushed her aside telling her that whatever game she was playing at wasn't funny. It then occurred to Jacquelyn that the difference between her and them was that she was trained to see the smallest details when it came to these things. Of course they wouldn't be able to see Sherry free climbing the building, it would be the equivalent of I-Spy for them, and a game they would win too late.

Having no other choice, she faked her retreat only to turn around and spin kick the poor man in the face. It was enough for the guard behind the locked fence to open the gate for her, of course he did so with the intent to grab her and opened the gate for only that reason, but it was enough. She leapt over him and pulled the gate shut behind her letting it lock the two guards out.

"Get back here!"

"Sorry! Can't do that!" She had called behind her shoulder as she sprinted into the palace. She knew this place well considering. She had spent the precious week memorizing every detail, therefore she knew she had to reach the top.

The palace itself was a mixture between an Earth hotel and a castle. A building within a building almost. Upon entering the front doors, you were greeted with balconies that showed every floor, the glass railing giving cool reflections from the giant chandelier that hung at the top. It was trimmed elegantly with golds and yellow silken drapes along mosaic windows, the chandelier itself a large gold and white crystallized ball of light. The floor was a dark rust color, polished and shiny so it too reflected the light from above.

The quickest way would be scaling the railings, that is if she could get up high enough to reach the first one.

A startled gasp and the sound of a tray clattering caught her attention, making her turn to the left to see a terrified serf shivering with fear before her.

"Don't. Scream," Jacquelyn warned. "There's an assassin coming for the King, I need to get to him before she does."

The serf seemed to snap out of it, no doubt entering a protective mode when it came to her King's life.

"Who are you?" The female demanded.

"An ex-assassin who's already dead. I know what's going to happen and what will happen if I'm too late! So if you think calling for the guards is going to stop me, think again!" Jacquelyn placed her hand onto the hilt of her dagger in a threatening gesture. Hopefully if the female was smart enough she would just get out of her way.

The female Physoldi seemed to contemplate her words before finally giving a stiff nod. "If what you say is true then... Take this. Use the key when you enter the elevator and you'll go straight there." She offered a single copper key with a clawed hand.

"You're helping me? Just like that?" Jacquelyn was skeptical.

"Is there a reason I shouldn't? The guards didn't believe you, that's why you're trespassing?" Leaving no time for Jacquelyn to respond she threw the key at her. "Go save our King!"

Jacquelyn wasn't sure how to feel, only that it was greatly out of character. But maybe that was because she was so used to being the bad guy instead of the hero. Whatever the case, time was wasting.

She ran to the elevator, suddenly very grateful she wouldn't be free climbing up eighty plus stories to get to where she needed, she twisted the key into the only keyhole available, halfheartedly surprised at the jolt it gave as it raced to the top floor.

The doors opened with a ting when the sound of something crashing came from inside the room.

She couldn't be too late could she?

Bracing herself for the worst she raced to the sound and was instantly relieved at the sight of the Queen and King fussing over what appeared to be an accident of a clumsy Physoldi female.

"I'm sorry, my tail sometimes just..."E'ga let her words trail off which quickly became a gasp of horror. Xeon turned around and shoved his mate behind her.

"How did you get in here! Guards!" Xeon called, but soon realized he was responded with silence.

Damn, Sherry must have already taken them out.

Not paying any attention to the royal cats behind her, she pulled her blade out just in time to be attacked by her former sister.

"I told you to run half blood!" Sherry screamed as she attacked over and over again.

"I guess I've had a change of heart!" Jacquelyn managed to push Sherry back enough to wedge some space between them, leaving them short of breath as they struggled to get it back.

"C'mon Jacky. Where's the ripper?" Sherry gave a chilling chuckle that sent fear running down Jacquelyn's spine. "You can still finish this, I'll help you make up a story and we can go back to normal. The headmasters will never know."

Normal...

Was this normal? Could she even truly consider this a normal lifestyle?

Jacquelyn looked over her shoulder at the Physoldi's, E'ga was silently sobbing, fear rolled off of her in waves while Xeon remained calm, a hardened look was on his face like a mask as he watched the confrontation. She thought back to all the lives she had previously taken and suddenly wondered why she had even accepted to do them in the first place, because the Ancorda told her so?

The Ancorda had taken her in willingly after she had left her stepmother's, she had the talents required, the skill; but was she so naive then? She'd repaid them for what they've done for her, more than enough even. Besides, they wanted her head now anyway just for a single failure, why would she want to remain loyal now anyway? Besides, she was hardly anything close to normal. Far from it.

"I'm sorry Sherry." Jacquelyn brought her blade up into a fighting position and readied herself. "But I can't go back with you."

"Tch." Sherry's once friendly facade was washed away and now disgust and annoyance remained. "You know why there are never any Vaulkarian assassins in the Ancord? Because they're all weak like you, so fucking pathetic." The human blonde bared her flat teeth and hissed. "I hoped your human blood would take over but I guess not. You're a mutt, a half-breed. You'll never be enough!"

Jacquelyn swallowed the anger that was beginning to boil under her skin, "you done yet?"

Sherry didn't give a verbal response, instead she gave a war cry and lunged for Jacquelyn who was barely successful in blocking her strikes.

The blonde was skilled with dual blades, but her weakness was in her defense. Keeping this in mind Jacquelyn kept out of range, only going in to strike when Sherry had to change posture lest she get dizzy and collapse onto the floor.

Then finally...

Jacquelyn stared at the blonde's blue eyes, watched as they burned with hatred towards her. Instead of the guilt Jacquelyn normally got whenever she took a life, she felt satisfied. She had succeeded her own mission; Protect the King. The blue eyes burnt out and eventually the blonde under her stopped fighting and her last breath gurgled out.

She hadn't been completely unscathed, Jacquelyn suffered from minor head trauma when Sherry had knocked her into the mirror on the wall, the blood still ran into her eyes as she sat there on top of the corpse of the former assassin. Her body was greatly fatigued, it was all she could do to continuously dodge and weave and leap over furniture, and then take her strikes when she could. She ended up with a stab into her side, thankfully it missed her kidneys but the pain was near unbearable at this point. She wished she could find someplace to nap and soon.

"You... saved us." E'ga said after a long moment's silence.

Whatever Jacquelyn had felt before, it seemed to change and manifest into something else entirely when she heard the grateful tone in her Majesty's voice. She slowly stood up and sheathed her blade away, she felt dizzy, she doubted her ability to even make it out of the room but even still she stood and turned around and gave the King and Queen a warrior's bow.

"Dear Gods child!" E'ga exclaimed. "You can hardly move! Let me take care of that for you!" E'ga had tried to move forward, Jacquelyn was prepared to stop her, but it was Xeon who held his mate back instead.

"You are that assassin from this morning," he had said it more as a statement rather than a question, Jacquelyn gave a weak nod anyway.

"Why would you try and save us now? So you can get the kill? Is there some sort of sick prize you Ancorda get for successfully doing a job?" Xeon only sounded more and more riled up which was bad news for her. If he got too worked up he might choose to attack and she wouldn't have the strength to fight back. She would die.

"My mother..." Jacquelyn felt too weak to beat around the bush and decided to tell them everything even if they didn't believe it or not.

"My mother..." She took a deep breath. Was it always this hard to breathe? "She begged the Gods to not take away her mate... To take her in his place..." Jacquelyn coughed and winced suddenly feeling woozy. It was getting harder to speak. "A man came to the house and told her he was gone... She died with him 6 months later."

"I try... But may never be able to atone for the lives I've taken... But I still wanted to try. I saw my mother again... in you." Jacquelyn gasped for air and held her bleeding wound tighter as if that was her only lifeline. Xeon's expression was somewhat softer now. At least he wasn't roaring at her anymore, she was starting to develop an awful headache.

"Will there be more attacks?" Xeon asked.

She didn't hesitate to tell them the truth and rasped out her response, "yes."

"How many?"

Jacquelyn gave a grim laugh at this but winced at the pain it caused her. "The Ancorda are feared... not because they kill, but because they always succeed. Even if it takes many assassins."

"What do we do?" E'ga spoke up, horror written upon her face once more.

"You can't do anything..." Jacquelyn fell to her knee but still fought for her consciousness.

"There has to be something, how do your people work? Is there a contract or something that binds you to the kill?" Xeon seemed frantic to Jacquelyn, but he played it off well.

"Contract... might work." Black spots began to fill her vision, she knew she wasn't going to last much longer.

"Xeon help her!" E'ga pushed him out of the way and barely caught Jacquelyn in time before her head hit the floor.

"She tried to kill us!" Xeon exclaimed in disbelief.

"And now she has saved us! Hurry now! Call the medics!"

Jacquelyn awoke many days later, the trauma to her head had placed her into a small coma. When she awoke she had wasted no time leaving. She never did make it far however, she stayed within the Palace's shadows and delayed the King's inevitable fate. The Ancorda were not dumb, they immediately knew that Jacquelyn had betrayed them. Within the same week as the King's death, Jacquelyn had been overwhelmed by a group of highly ranked Ancorda and was held captive within a cage until those that left to kill the King returned.

For a week, Jacquelyn slowly starved inside the cage, and to top things off she was hundreds of miles away from the capital. Even if she broke free now, she knew it would be too late.

Xeon would fall.

Upon one midnight, the camp was silent, the only sounds were the deep breathing of the wind in the trees above them and the crackling of the fire that threatened to die out. A raid of bandits came upon the camp suddenly, screaming and killing. Taken entirely by surprise, the Ancorda were nearly wiped out. Jacquelyn took this opportunity and managed to escape. With how poor her health had become, it took all she had to even crawl to the Palace.

As soon as she reached the city however, whispers of the assassination floated everywhere. The stores were closed, candles and the royal colors were spread all throughout the streets. The King was dead.

Jacquelyn had managed to make it all the way into the royal gardens that surrounded the outskirts of the palace. She found herself within a gazebo and finally allowed herself to collapse, letting the cool shade bask over her like a gentle blanket. She heard the unmistakable sounds of footfall, and it only got louder until it stopped completely right beside her head.

"He's gone..." The Queen whispered. Her voice was rough, weak. Jacquelyn didn't have the strength to see with her own eyes, but knew that the mask the Queen wore would no doubt be the same as her mother's when her own mate had passed. The pain in her voice told her. "They poisoned him. The poison was unknown, so they could not get the antidote... It took him so quickly..."

Lover's Pain. Jacquelyn knew that poison. She used it often herself. It lived up to it's name and quickly ended the lives of many targets, the Ancorda was quite fond of the lethal mixture. If she had the strength she was sure she would cry with the mourning Physoldi who sat on the wooden floor beside her. The only antidote that she was aware of was a mixture of Thelas and Merry Glade. Both plants were found in complete different solar systems.

Jacquelyn reached over with a frail hand and rested it upon the Queen's.

"I'm sorry," was all she could manage to whisper, her throat so raw with lack of usage made her wince. Tears somehow managed to slip past Jacquelyn's eyes, leaving dark trails of dirt on her cheeks. The female Physoldi gently wrapped her clawed fingers around the weak Vaulkarian's hand gently. "It's not your fault child... It's not your fault," she said.

The kind woman's words echoed in Jacquelyn's mind, it touched her heart, embraced her gently. The malnourished Vaulkarian closed her eyes with a shaky sob and began to cry. It didn't matter how many times she heard those words, she failed. She couldn't bring him back, she couldn't fix what was wrong. She couldn't stop what had happened to her mother, and now she couldn't even stop this...

But she had still tried.