A Ball Worth Remembering [Guild Leaders only]

People were gathering from afar, coming together in a grand celebration. They even came from as far as other cities, traveling maybe even weeks to get to this event. They were coming over to celebrate one major thing, one major event in someones life. What was this, well, to be honest...

Alarick wasn't paying attention to the details. He just wore his normal formal suit-like outfit and, even then, this was more fancy than the majority of what everyone else was wearing. Sadly, security devices meant that he had to relinquish his sword while he entered the ballroom. No one in the building would have access to such things while they were here in celebration. With a graceful act of passing his invitation over to the group of bouncers that stood guard at the doorway, the man finally made his way inside. It was quite a large area, housing dozens of large round table, some which surrounded a dance floor of grand sizes as well. Against the wall on the opposite side of the dance floor were long tables, already having steaming hot... Containers? of food there. Alarick didn't know the technical term. Glancing at a board near him, he quickly read the times again.

Currently, there were people still predicted to arrive for the next two hours or so. Alarick smiled lightly to himself as he weaved through the scattered tables and towards the staircase which spiralled up to the second story. Girls were already giving him looks of admiration, their hushed words pushing forth how gorgeous he was to one another. Of course, there were a few men with the girls and they didn't exactly appreciate it when their looks were compared to someone as perfect as Alarick. But, back to what he was thinking of. The balcony. Right. Really, the balcony was there, but he wanted the vantage point.

And that's exactly where he got when he went there.

Crossing his foot behind his leg, the man leaned lightly over the railing, his spiked hair surprisingly flowing with his every move. His cape-like vest stroked the back of his leg as he looked over the guests as they entered one by one. There was a girl wearing an eye catching red velvet dress which tightly hugged her rather curvy figure. Alarick wouldn't deny that she was a damn sexy girl. Shaking his head, he looked back down to the guests... Why was he doing that again?

His mind wandered for a few moments, trying to remember exactly why he was here, on this balcony. But unfortunately, the sight of snacks being placed on the table distracted him. He was hungry, not really have eaten for the past few hours. Alarick made a mental note as to not tell Az that, or she would probably scold him heavily for that. A frown creased on his forehead as he continued to look forth upon the people. They were chatting, having a good time, sorta, and here he was just watching like an eagle awaiting their prey to fall right into their trap. Hmm, sounds a bit morbid... Wait.

Morbid. Violence.... Assassination...?

Oh! Right! That's why he was here! He was one of three guilds hired to actively attempt to kill someone here, someone by the name of Alex Baker. Maybe he was good at baking, if he was, Alarick should hire him for cooking back at his guild. Alarick mused in his own thoughts for a while, purple eyes scanning for people who potentially looked like him as he stood there, standing partially proud and drawing all the attention of the younger women there. They always fell for his good looks and charm, perhaps he would be able to manipulate their feelings and get some information out of them.

With an internal shrug, Alarick started to move around the room upon the balcony. Waiters and waitresses served who they could, carrying those circle things with glasses of expensive wines on them. Alcohol, who could stand such cheap drinks like that. Wine was just destroying the whole thing. Grumbling mentally at his own spontaneous nature, Alarick attempted to concentrate on the task at hand... In reality, he was mildly grateful. Up on the balcony, he could see other females come up before they started to talk to him, which always gave him the chance to better prepare himself in order to impress them and whoever went up with them. No one had come up yet to talk with him, but he didn't mind that, his eyes just searching the grounds and area below him for Alex Baker.

Maybe he should actually keep an eye out for other people from other guilds, if they decided to show up. Mind you, with the bounty they offered for his head, it would be a wonder if no guild showed up to this event.

Find Alex Baker. Kill him with that drug Az had given him. Leave. Claim the bounty on his head. Help the guild survive for the next few months.

It was as simple as simple could be...

Or so he hoped.

Yuuki smoothed down her dress, eyeing the ball from on top of the balcony with a mixture of disdain and wariness. Dressed in a rather simple and long black dress, Yuuki had made sure this dress would cover her back completely so the brand on her back would not be shown. Cradling her water (she was not one to consume alchol anyways, especially on a mission), she took a few sips.

As she tapped her fingers on the wooden bar idly, her eyes scanned the vicinity. She was pleasantly surprised to see this celebration hosted in such an.. old-fashioned environment. She had envisioned something sleeker, more *modern*, to fit in with the technology that everyone carried nowadays. She was early; visitors would continue to trickle in for the next couple of hours, she estimated. Under her breath, she absentmindedly hummed a song under her breath, a simple tune that her mother had sang to her when she was little.

Unfortunately, entering this event meant surrendering her weapons and devices. This meant giving up her communication device as well, but Yuuki would manage. She tended to do missions alone anyways. Alex Baker was her target, but the man had not arrived yet, so all Yuuki could do at the moment was lie in wait before finding the best time to strike, and claim the bounty. She knew two other guilds were invited: Shadow Raiders and Crimson Legion. No faces could be anointed to these guilds however, so the woman would not be able to tell who were also after her mission.

As Yuuki's gaze drifted lazily across the top floor, there was only one mildly interesting scene, an undeniably handsome, raven-haired stranger was surrounded by a posse of females, all sidling up by his side with glasses of wine held daintily in their hands as they showcased their cleavage for the world to see. Yuuki wrinkled her nose in slight disgust. Why were they trying so hard? The man's gaze slid up, and they made eye contact. Yuuki offered him a small smile and nod, turning away quickly as she finished off her water.

Well. All she could do was just wait, she supposed.

A ball. It was like she was born for this. The princess had attended many balls in the past with her mother, most of them a bit more fancier than this. But, who was she to judge. Whoever had put this together was relatively successful. They had a theme, people came... Although she forgot what exactly they were holding this for. The lady was just glad that someone had contacted her guild to take out Alex Baker. Normally she'd have Stri come along but he wasn't one for fitting in with crowds. This task required fineness and delicacy, both things she got from her mother.

The only thing that slightly peeved her was the fact that she couldn't have her weapons. But, alas, it made sense. Don't want people killing anyone, right? The thought would make her internally laugh. At least she knew hand-to-hand combat enough to be useful in this situation. Kes would have just thanked her dad for that, but her mom had made one of the guards teach her a bit of offensive combat. Either way she had tried to sneak at least her daggers in, but the bodyguard at the entrance had to check her over and confiscate them. Apart from that, it was rather easy to get in with her royal status, yet another perk from her mom. Maybe she deserved more recognition than what Korie normally gave her.

The princess thought she was downplaying her attire, but it seemed as if she was one of the more fancier people in the room. Her black dress was strapless and had some peacock designs on the top, while also being shorter in the front than the back. Her hair was up in a loose braid, a branching ornament flowing down with it. She had even manged to find some black heels with peacocks on the backs of them. Maybe her outfit would help attract the man... along with most likely attracting others that she wouldn't care for. Oh well, she dealt with it a lot in her day-to-day life.

Korie found herself drifting towards the bar and had to stop herself. Even though a drink sounded nice right now, she couldn't have them fogging up her mind. The princess had heard rumors that she wasn't the only guild asked on this mission. She was a bit sceptical on why someone would need three guilds to murder one person. Did they want them to get into a big fight and ultimately ruin the party as well? The bounty on his head had to be too big to ignore, and she was curious what he had done to get one so big. Maybe she'd be able to chat with him before his life would come to an end. That should be entertaining.

Before that could happen, she had to wait and find him first.

Sure, the man wasn't really dressed completely appropriate for a ball, but his more stylish appearance seemed to attract all the attention which he wanted. Soon girls were flocking over to him, talking with him and wanting to know why he was there. Of course, it was all small talk and Alarick held himself with pride as he spoke to the others there. But despite the rather large packaged woman that had barely anything keeping her bosom in, Alarick somewhat disliked the attention which he was being given. It was rather distasteful to have all the noisy and revealing girls there. However, he also adored it, something that he couldn't help.

But his eyes kept wandering, mind fleeting from one thought to another. He had to remind himself several times as to why he was there.

Somewhat aware that the girl was speaking to him, he nodded to what she was saying. Whatever that was or whatever he was suddenly agreeing to, Alarick had no idea, in all honesty. He wasn't paying attention. At all. Huh, they were serving more alcohol down there... Maybe he should get some. His purple eyes wandered, before catching sight of two rather new people who entered the place. One of them walked just as high and mighty as himself- and her hair was styled rather fabulously for the occasion. And, to top it off, she was wearing shoes and a gorgeous dress to match it.

However, it was strange, he'd expect someone close to royalty to wear something that fancy. Of course he was wearing something that was a little lower class, wait, did he cover that already? Grand he was losing his own thoughts once more. Oh well. His eyes glanced across to the other woman and, rather surprisingly, the two's eyes locked. He tilted his head to the side, purple orbs narrowing a little as he looked to her. She gave him a smile and a nod of the head. His heart caught in his chest. Damn she was cute in her black dress, the simplicity causing her auburn hair to really stand out. He'd definitely need to get to know her later as someone who had a smile like that was certainly worth know.

Or so he thought.

However, that other girl was gorgeous and was currently heading towards the drinks. Or what he assumed were the drinks. He needed to pay more attention. If Az were here, they would get a brick and smack it over his head to clobber some sense into him. No! Focus!

With a mild sigh, the man excused himself from the group, holding himself proudly as he descended the short staircase. Or maybe he should have talked to the girl at the top first? Maybe? Dammit there were too many decisions to made. It was a real wonder as to how this man was a guild leader. However, if people really got to know him... They would understand why he was, who he was and what he stood for. And that he actually wasn't lazy with his paperwork, but mind you, he ensured that there wasn't too many incidents that needed that. Why? Because paperwork sucked.

Wait, why was he thinking about paperwork at a ball where he was meant to be planning the assassination?

Far out.

With a smirk, the man took a glace of wine. Why not spoil himself a little? After all, he had an incredibly high tolerance to pain and if something were truly going to happen, well, he was amazing at coming up with a plan in the heat of the moment. Approaching the glamorously dressed girl near the drinks, why her, he didn't know, probably because she was closer, he gave a small bow to her.

"I haven't seen someone of your beauty around here in quite some time, may I have the privilege of knowing who might you be...?" He asked casually, but his purple eyes kept glancing over her shoulder and to the plainly dressed girl on the balcony and over this woman's shoulder. For some bizarre reason, his mind decided that she was more important than socialising...

No.

Focus.

Damn son.

Alarick returned his attention to the woman with a smile, "My apologies, I'm... basically a business man. Alarick, at your service." With that, he gave a slightly dramatic bow.

Little did he know the group of girls which followed him earlier scowled at the woman who he gave his attention to. But it was too at that moment that someone walked through the entrance as well. Tall, tanned skin, shorter black hair, something that was almost like a long jacket with a white shirt, an armed bodyguard, walked in. He seemed disinterested with whatever was happening around him, however, his eyes constantly darted, assessing every single person in the room, looking for any form of potential danger for the one who was hosting this event. He was on his guard and for a good reason as well. However, this man was also someone that the three guild leaders would recognise in a heart beat. The reason as to why was incredibly simple.

He was their target.

Alex Baker.

Alex took a few dozen steps into the room, moving towards the staircase which lead up to the balcony. Since Alarick left there, the other ladies had left as well, somewhat still flocking towards Alarick, but they at least were scattered. The guild leader had caught on to the target entering the building, but ensured that the subtle eye flick towards him wasn't noticed by anyone. However, there was one thing that was for certain.

There was no way that man was as handsome as Alarick.

This sexy guild leader would leave him in the dust.

People were starting to fill in, more coming by the minute. She kept track of the entrance, waiting for when he might enter. The thought of drinks were getting more persistent the more she saw others with them. The princess wondered what they even had stocked at the bar. Before she was able to swing by a man came and began to talk to her. The bowing reminded her of the servants, or about anyone who saw her family. This man didn't know her though, as he asked who she was. The comment on her beauty made her smile- Kes wasn't one to ignore a compliment. "Keskorie," The princess said, offering just her name. She wanted see if he'd be able figure out who she was based on just that.

At that moment her eyes lingered towards the entrance again, catching sight of the man she was looking for. While the man, Alarick, was attractive their target was just as handsome. Something about the disinterest in his eyes made her think of all the other balls she's been too. At least at this one she could have a bit of fun. Korie realized she might have been staring a bit, and decided to use that to get closer to him.

"Excuse me for a moment," she said, keeping her gaze fixed on the new man as if transfixed. Of course, that's just what she wanted him to think. The princess started to make her way over to Mr. Baker, making sure not to lose him.

Of course what she didn't realize what that she wouldn't be the only one.

Heh, of course she wouldn't be interested in him, especially when that man came over. Oh, that looked familiar. Alex? Yea, that was his name. With a small internal shrug, he dipped his head to the girl in front of him. Kes...no...y? Keskary? Keskorie? Whatever the name was too hard to try and spell or even repeat in his mind. He allowed her to go rather easily, before he continued to look around. However, this time, he really didn't want to be around the girls that were already looking to flock back to him and lather him in attention. They were distracting him far too much.

With a shake of his head, he made his way up another staircase and back onto the balcony, slipping free from the hordes of women that were there. Sure, they were attracted to his gorgeous features, but enough was enough sometimes. Especially when he actually had to concentrate... Wait, what was he concentrating on again? He walked over to the railings, before glancing down casually to the area below. Sweeping his eyes across the surface, he found the one that he was actually suppose to assassinate. Baker.

Baker? Does that mean he bakes cookies?

He began to wander around the outskirts of the balcony, towards the other side. If Alarick had to decide, his favourite cookies would be anything which had chocolate in them. Anything which had chocolate, even if Vik and Az said his obsession with chocolate would be the death of him, he adored them too much to just let it go like they said he should. After all, what was better than the creamy richness of brown liquid that trailed down the back of your throat and made all your taste buds hyper reactive to anything which was sweet.

Wait, what? No, Alex Baker wasn't a damn baker.

With a smile on his face, he made his way over to the female perfectly simplistic outfit before doing a small bow of the head. Or was it an incline? He had no idea. "And may I just say you are looking absolutely fabulous on this fine day? The names Alarick, pleasure to meet you." Out of habit, he extended a hand to her. Wait, he wasn't meant to socialise... Right?

Oh whatever.

Alex Baker on the other hand watched closely as the over dressed lady came closer. So this would be Keskorie, or someone like that. She was... A princess from memory. He inclined his head to her. "Good evening. I trust it you are so far enjoying your stay?" Ergh, politeness. Why did he have to be polite in situations like this?

Yuuki's eyes watched as the handsome man before made his way to a specific woman, greeting her with what could be seen as a flirty smile. The woman, she recognized clearly. Keskorie, the princess of Almor. Of course, she wasn't very surprised to see the elegant woman here; she was of royalty after all. With such a grand celebration like this, there was no reason for her not to come. Yuuki hummed, closing her eyes, opening them just in time to see her target walk in.

Alex Baker had arrived.

One armed bodyguard accompanied him, flanking him on his left side, but Yuuki wasn't entirely worried about that. She watched as the princess, Keskorie, made her way towards the man, and Yuuki frowned. It was going to be difficult getting Baker alone so Yuuki could retrieve his bounty, but....

Her eyes shifted to the side as that handsome man that had been surrounded by the women sidled up next to her, a hand extended. Yuuki eyed the hand warily for a few seconds, before offering her own small smile and shaking his head firmly. "Thank you," she replied. "My name is Yuuki. A pleasure." He really was handsome, no doubt, but Yuuki really needed to focus on her mission..

She needed to get to Alex Baker before the other guilds.


(lol short post)

Keskorie smiled after Baker acknowledged her presence, leaning an arm against the balcony rail. "The party is nice, yes," she said, wishing that she had a glass of wine to swirl in her other hand. Did Alex drink? If so then that would be amazing.

But no, she couldn't lose sight of her mission. Not when there could be other guilds roaming about.

"So... what's your name?" The princess still wanted to talk with him a bit before he came to his unfortunate end. Even though she already knew who he was, she couldn't let him know that. Too suspicious. Then again, if he knew that he was being hunted maybe asking for his name wasn't the best either...

But what was a harmless princess going to do?

She was skipping a bit of her formalities. The useless things weren't needed in this setting, or at least that's how she felt. If she had decided to listen to her mother and teachers then she most likely would have started with introducing herself and then asking for his name. She never really got the point of it, but apparently they covered that with the politics advisor. But they were so boring...

Korie mentally brushed it off. Something about him just seemed like he wasn't one of those people who cared for it. Like those rich people, wanting to see a 'proper' princess. Ugh, they had to be the worst. Hopefully he wasn't, that would be nice. And if he wanted a drink, well, she wouldn't argue...

Interestingly, her eyes were partially squinted in that of distrust. However, the few moments that she held the look for were destroyed in a few more moments, her hand taking Alarick's in a vice-like grip. Despite her looks, she was surprisingly strong, yet her hands... The man struggled to keep the surprise from his face, her soft skin something that would make even a baby's backside look rough. However, they spoke a history behind them. But what sort of history? Was it that she too was a baker? Maybe something more fancy, a dancer? But then again, if she were a dancer then she wouldn't be wearing such a simplistic dress, she would be more inclined to show it off. No, this spoke from experience of sorts. Or did it? Was he reading too much into the situation.

Reading, he liked reading. Books of fantasy, books where people could go from one place to another in their travels. Those things, plus others information or whatever they were called type of books, they kept a fire burning within him that, one day, he would be able to meet up with his sibling again. Or would he?

Was she trapped in a cage, never to be revealed again? Was she already dead and gone, buried and turned to dust already? What if he would never see her long and gold hair again, what if she wouldn't even recognise him? It'd been such a long time since the two had met...

Wait.

No.

What was he on about, socialise!

All those thoughts went through his mind through the moments which Yuuki were speaking. With a smile, he gave her a wink. He could almost feel the glares of the others digging into the back of his skull with that gesture. "I've never really seen you around here before, so, what's the go with you?" He asked casually, letting her hand and dropping it back to his side. In the same moment, he raised his glass to his lips. However, it only partially reached there before something hit into it. Hard.

Glass and liquid sprayed to his left, between himself and Yuuki as he let the the remaining parts of the wine glass go. Instantly, he was alert, but didn't act too quickly. Judging by the spray, where the glass fragments fell and the positioning of the dart that had appeared in the wall behind the pair, they were on the lower level of the room. However, they had mistimed and, instead of striking his hand, struck the glass which he held. A simple mistake which he would have beaten any of his students for doing. Speaking of students, he wondered just what Az and Vik were teaching them, or if they had even chosen potential recruits from the training grounds like he requested them to do during his absence.

"Well, my apologies, someone seems for me not to want to have my glass of wine..." He almost sounded disappointed, not even caring that the drug which was implanted into the dart would have knocked him out in a few moments. Instead, he turned an annoyed look down to see- oh. Apparently there were multiple people down there, males and females, looking to him as if he had committed a rather bad crime. A frown pulled on his face as he turned to face them. "Sorry, I'll get this mess cleaned up." He called out to them, however, his guard was up. Was this women in on whatever they had planned as well?

Planned? Wait, people actually organise things don't they. Mind you, the bounty on one mans head was suspicious... wait. WAIT A MOMENT. As he was picking the glass up, his hand naturally went to where his sword was. His hand grasped empty air. Shit. Right. They took that off him because it was a weapon.  

---

Alex inclined his head to the princess. Slowly, the man smiled to her. A venomous smile. "If you were one of the people who were scheduled to be here... you would know." His hand lashed out, an attempt to grab the princess's wrist. "The only people who weren't to know... Were the guild leaders."

A shot fired from the lower levels, smashing into a man's glass and spraying it across the floor. Alex smirked. Their plan was working. Two of the three guild leaders had turned up...

With that, he raised two fingers. Instantly, doors slammed shut, however, several more opened, allowing what would be considered mages and other people such as that to pour in. Alex grinned. "You should have skipped the invitation... princess." He smirked, watching as the man on the top balcony looked a little stunned from the noises that were made, before he leaped to his feet and tore the dart free from where it was embedded in the wall.

Oh how perfectly things were going according to plan~

---

"And of course I have no weapon, dammit!" Alarick snarled quietly while his hand pulled out the dart. People, probably an additional dozen, had come in through concealed doors, threatening to take their lives as different magics of sorts were being activated. Flames. Ice. Shadows. Creature summoning. Alarick grimaced, standing to face them.

If he could just get to his sword. . .

But what about this lady behind him?

Wait. Shit.

Was she one of them?!

The princess watched as his features turned into more of a predator look, her face falling as well. This wasn't what she had expected, no, everything seemed wrong. Her head was telling her to run, but she stayed put. Maybe she could get herself out of this. It was just one guy...

A shot rang out and she turned her head, feeling him grab her wrist. Kes turned towards him and tried to yank it away, but ended up looking back towards the shot. It looked like it was directed at the man from earlier, Alarick, was it? But what did he have to do with this?

Then doors shut. Others were opened and more people came out, filling the room. They started to unleash their hidden powers, everyone different from the last. But no one had any weapons that she could take. Hers had been taken from the start. She took a breath. The dots were lining up.

It was a trap.

Kes swore. She should have known. The bounty on his head was too good to be true. If Stri had said anything about that then she was in trouble when she got back. If she ever got back. There were heavily outnumbered. If she had brought Stri along then she could have had at least a bigger chance of getting out of this. She looked at the other man, Alarick. If he was part of the guild leaders that were supposed to show up, then she hoped he, or whoever else was supposed to be here, was able to at least dwindle the numbers. Kes might be able to fight without her weapons, but in this crowd of magic users, it was next to hopeless.

Well, she had one last resort. "If you think that I'm one of them, then you're wrong. If you so much as harm me then all of Almor will be after you and all of our allies. Then you'll have a bounty on your head that no one could ignore," The princess exclaimed. It wasn't false, Kes could easily convince the Queen, her mom, to place a bounty on him if he harmed her. Then again, it was his ridiculous bounty that brought her here in the first place. She should have done her research, see if Alex Baker was even a real name. If he still had her wrist then she'd attempt to pull away again, this time with more force and concentration.

What did he want with the guild leaders anyways?

Yuuki examined the man in front of her slowly. He seemed to have realized the few seconds of hesitation she had put in before shaking his hand. She had to give him credit for that. Not many people caught on, but it was obvious he was a lot more intelligent than he initially seemed. Yuuki would have to keep a careful eye on him. His hand was large; it encased her entire palm in a warm grip, but it was firm, and slightly callused, specifically in the upper palm. Weapons? It just might be...

The woman opened her mouth, but before she could speak, the telltale whistle of *INSERT HERE* sped past her and slammed into Alarick's wine glass, and the glass erupted into thousands of small, sharp fragments. It missed, Yuuki realized. What terrible aim. What sort of idiot would have sent such an untrained individual out to snipe? And the man--Alarick, Yuuki should use his name--did not even seem remotely surprised. His expression seemed lackluster, having somewhat of a disappointed lilt to it. Yuuki glanced around. The rest of the guests seemed to be staring at him in a mixture of wariness and horror. Something was wrong.

As the man reached for a spot next to his hip, but came up empty-handed, and snarled under his breath, Yuuki's suspicions were confirmed. Most definitely swordsman. Could he be...?

But Yuuki's thoughts were interrupted, as Alex Baker grabbed the princess by the wrist, who attempted to wrench away from his grasp. The doors were kicked open and at least a dozen more personnel poured in through the wide gates. Magic was activated all around, surrounding her and Alarick on all sides. With the wary look that Alarick had seemingly shot her, he seemed to be thinking that she was also against him, sided with Baker.

"I am not with them," she intoned. "I wouldn't be wrong to assume you are one of the guild leaders, would I?"

Alarick seemed less than disturbed by the chaos that suddenly erupted around him, just a little angry that he didn't have his sword. The one time he actively needed the thing was, of course, the one time that he didn't have it to aid him. He sighed before a smile, even though it was a little stressed, bloomed on the mans face once more. He'd deal with everything around him one way or another, it wasn't like he was going to just drop down dead- especially when he had a numbing dart thing in his hand. He'd use that on the first person he saw that had a sword... He'd need it to retrieve his own sword. Upon her asking, the handsome man stood, a hand partially rubbing the back of his head. "Although I know that I really don't look the part, that is correct. Alarick, guild leader of Crimson Legion- we're new to the area." He said with a grin- just as another dart flew past him.

Darts. He use to be able to play that when he was younger- he always won it. However, when those idiots decided to stand in front of the board when he threw it. . . Well, in all honesty, that never ended according to plan.

Dude. Now wasn't the time to be distracted.

"But hey, glad to know that you're not going to kill me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I am in a dire need of retrieving my sword... Then I can deal with these elemental bastards." The sexiest man alive grumbled, a tone which was apparently becoming rather frequent for the man. With a small inward shrug, he turned away from Yuuki. Oh, apparently people were already setting up the area ready to kill him. With a smirk, he turned away from all of them, hands moving to carefully grip the railing. "If you don't want to be killed by those things coming straight for us- those weird dog-like summons, then copy me." With a huff, he threw himself over the railings and dropped right down from the edge of the balcony.

He broke the rather large fall with a roll, thanking his lucky stars that the shock from the fall didn't snap his legs. However, Az would give him a scolding later for doing something so reckless. Pushing himself from the fall, some idiot decided to come at him with a knife while several others near Alex were pulling out some form of something from their jackets. Maybe they were grabbing their phones to take pictures of this sexy man... Alarick wanted to think that, however, sadly, it was highly unlikely that that was the case.

With a snarl, he used his right hand to deflect the blade primed for his side, before his left hand cracked against the back of their elbow. A sickening sound came as the force somehow managed to snap his arm- somehow. So fricking random that Alarick actually felt bad for the man.

However, it gave him a knife to use.

Snatching it from the man's grip, he casually flicked it to a more proper grip and struck him to the ground with a swift kick to the stomach. That man certainly wasn't going to be getting up any time soon. But that wasn't what Alarick had his eyes fixed upon. His sword was still at the entrance, leaning against the wall which he had to remove it and place it down there. If he could just reach it he could deal with these idiots and get back to talking with that lass...

---

Alex smirked. Everything was going to plan. "Listen, girl, I don't care if you are a princess or not, you have violated dozens of crimes. All you damn guild leaders have, you people that think you're so on top of everything. You do what you want without restraint, and we don't care if your 'mother' comes and puts bounties on our heads. After all, the guilds will be without leaders and you all will be in your graves before the day is through." He snarled, holding onto her arm with that tight vice grip.

With a forceful tug, he began to drag Keskorie away, his other hand snatching up a blade which belonged to one of the unfortunate guild leaders as he made his way back towards an exit. His illusions had hidden that from the three of them, they weren't to know that he had that blade. To them, it would simply seem as if he hadn't done the action at all.

"Besides, your mother would be bitterly disappointed with you. You're a stupid, spoilt brat that made their guild simply to get more money. You're greedy. So fucking filthy and greedy." The disgust was evident in his voice, hating that stupid 'princess' before him.

She didn't deserve the title.

---

Alarick's thoughts currently weren't on if she were okay or not, however, he glanced back up upon remembering that she existed and, for a few moments, wondered where she was.

Upon seeing she was still fine... ish... He shrugged to himself before turning his eyes back to the blade. However, there were two things that he could choose to do... There were eighteen people between himself and the weapon, with that man, Alex, taking Keskorie out towards a back entrance. With an annoyed look in his eyes, Alarick decided to make a move, making a beeline straight for Keskorie and Alex as he broke into a run. Dodging the flames, the ice which were thrown towards him, he made it within a distance to-

Alex Baker threw Keskorie to the ground. Alarick cursed, skidding down onto his knees to grab her and stop the fall. "Sorry." He muttered, before the illusion failing where Alarick had just been looking. Wait what? Illusions? Wait. Fuck.

Steel bit through his skin, straight through his back and through his lungs, scraping along the edges of his organs. Blood threw itself onto the ground, Alex standing over him, Keskorie still in the grip of his hand. The dart and dagger fell from Alarick's hand, the thin dart rolling towards her boot as Alarick rose his hand to his chest, the howl of pain not escaping his lips.

Alex smirked, twisting the blade and shoving it and Alarick forward, into the ground, contempt the only thing he would show.

"How does it feel to die by your own blade?"

Keskorie gritted her teeth, still putting up some resistance with 'Alex.' Her focus was on him, the main threat at the moment. She heard his words, but let them roll off, or at least attempted to. The last sentence made her stomach turn. The princess could pretend that there was no way that she was going to die today, but with all these people against them doubt came to her mind.

The man began to drag her off, and despite her best efforts, she had little choice but to follow. She was starting to really hate this Alex person, if that was even his real name. Soon enough he spoke again, these words hitting a little closer to home. Kes already knew her mother was disappointed, but hearing them from another person hurt even more. It wasn't the money part that she was disappointed with, but not taking more responsibility in her future job, playing with danger, doing all these unprincess-like things.

But she wouldn't show it to him. Her heart had already began pumping, adrenaline running through her since she had realized that it was a trap. Anger was building, but before she could let out a torrent of words Alex moved, and she realized that Alarick was there on his knees as if stopping someone from falling. It looked strange, but that thought didn't stick as Baker drove a sword, of which she had no clue where he got it, right through the man. Surprised overwhelmed her reaction to say anything, but she could still feel the anger and fear rise in the background. Looking down she noticed the dart, Alex being distracted with his new victory. At least he wasn't lying about them going to their graves.

Korie quickly grabbed the dart, aiming to stab it somewhere in his neck. She let out a cry of anger and frustration, not even caring if the dart didn't do more than stab him. It would at least be something.

Alex smirked, the blade twisting further into the tip of the blade touching the ground as the twisted guild leader, who's teeth ground together firmly. With a laugh, the man released the blade with a giant smirk pulling at his face. One of these bastards were gone, and that just would mean that the other two would be going down soon. Although, he'd leave that other guild leader for the others to deal with, as he already had these two under his belt. Stupid people, they always fell for their own money, their own greed. With a growl, he went to pull Keskorie further away- only for the grief stricken girl to let out a cry of anger and frustration.

Something stung in his neck, and two things happened in rapid succession.

"YOU BITCH!"

His fist moved to slam into that annoying woman's face, however, his vision quickly darkened, limbs becoming like that of jelly as the sedative overflowed from the dart. It didn't take long before the darts contents overwhelmed his system, making him black out. But that wasn't going to be the final thing that he saw as, out of the corner of his eye. Something... Unexpected happened.  

From the wound of the sword, darkness poured forth as Alarick's laugh came from him. "To die by my own sword... That will never happen, so long as I live!"

For the next few moments, an inky darkness came over himself, before the shadows themselves began to rise around him. The form stood, before breaking free from the bubble. His hand lashed out, clasping the scythe that tore from his chest and appeared in his grasp. With a smirk, his hand twisted, turning to face the others in the room. "Keskorie and Yuuki, aye? You two'd best stay out of my way." The advice was simple, his voice firm and sounding like a cracking whip against the silence as the entire group stared at him. The Reaper. A slayer of hundreds. Thousands. Some here would know of him, the chaos he brought. The sheer terror.

His amber eyes gleamed as his mouth twisted into a larger smirk.

Those who saw him here...

None of them would be allowed to live and tell the tale.

Yuuki hummed as the chaos rumbled around them. She was not too heavily perturbed, and it seemed Alarick wasn't either. Crimson Legion, hm? She had done some research on them; not much, but she knew enough that they were a guild that had moved into the area rather recently, and had taken it upon themselves to protect the city they lived in, filled with only the elite of the elite, if she remembered correctly. If this Alarick was their guild leader, she had to wonder just how much power he possessed. He could be a useful ally...

Snapping back to the present, she glanced around. If she could react fast enough to grab one of their weapons, she would have a better chance against them, even with her magic already on hand. The only problem was her dress. While somewhat flow-y, it still restricted quite a lot of her movement, and Yuuki frowned at that. If only she could change as well... but not everything was always available. She would have to make do.

And make do she did.

Yuuki lashed out quickly, a fist powered by *strike* lunging forward and punching the guy back through the crowd as he knocked over other people like bowling pins. Yuuki dodged a knife whizzing past her face and grabbed the wrist, twisting it so that the attacker would drop the knife and she could scoop it up herself. As she continued to hold back against the rest of her opponents, she noticed out in the corner of her eye she saw Keskorie being dragged away by Baker, and Alarick following behind closely. But her attention was pulled back to the rest of the attackers; she couldn't afford to be distracted now, not while she was at a disadvantage.

Yuuki slowly made her way through the crowd, kicking away and dodging magical attacks as she neared the trio by the back door. But before she could do anything else, Alarick had been stabbed, and Yuuki's eyebrows shot up towards her hairline.

Did he just get stabbed so easily? Was he that.. *weak*? No, it couldn't be. Yuuki had felt the aura around him; while relaxed and easy-going, he had the atmosphere of a killer, someone experienced with battles and death. And her gut feeling was right. Instead of blood pouring out of the wound, smoky black darkness writhed around Alarick's form and enveloped him completely as a scythe was created out of nowhere.

She furrowed her eyebrows.

Well then. He wasn't so useless after all, huh?

Upon making contact with the man a victorious smile spread across the princess's face, although it was short lived as he moved to strike her and she braced for the impact, not wanting to let go of the dart and him having a hold on her other arm. It never came, though, him falling to the ground once the effects of the dart took over. She quickly moved away from him limp body before remembering about Alarick, instinctively moving to help him before realizing that something was... happening to him.

Instead of bleeding out like a normal person, he began to change, something that reminded her of smoke coming out from himself. It tore the scythe out before it spoke, its voice full of authority. All she could do was gape at it and take its advice. The princess took a step back, leaving his path open, unable to think of what else to do in the moment. His form was intimidating to say the least, and she wondered if her sword or pistol would even have an effect on him. The feeling was unpleasant, but she couldn't help but feel the fear creep up on her.

Once he would leave she would regain her thoughts, looking down at the still unconscious Baker. Kes had no clue how long the effects of the dart would last, and while she still felt anger against him she wasn't going to kill him while he couldn't defend himself. The princess looked around for whatever she could use to restrain him, and also checked him for any hidden weapons. She just wanted to stay out of his way but still do something, she wasn't just going to sit around. Once Kes was done attending to the wonderful Mr. Baker, she cautiously checked on any progress going on, making sure to watch for when he woke back up.

Alarick could feel the fear in the room, the surprise from the people around him. A wide smirk stretched onto his face, unseen by the thickened black shadows around his mouth. A laughter left him, his hand curling around the scythe, fingers tightening. The woman closest to him took a few steps backwards, as if to clear a way for him. His hand flicked to the side, releasing then re-clasping around the edge of the pole. "Pathetic. Each and every one of you." He said quietly, his voice tugging at the deeper end of the normal hearing range. Alarick could almost feel his skin bubbling with the anger which he felt, the feeling of someone even trying to use his beloved blade against him.

A perpendicular swing, a twist and a small taste of Alarick's power and the glowing scythe spun through the air, before releasing a crescent silver arc. This rapidly grew, tearing through the air as if it were made of some substance softer than a cats fur. Alarick groaned inwardly, feeling his power draining rapidly from the move, and for being forced into this transformation a little earlier than he would have liked. He ripped the scythe back towards himself, other hand clasping beneath the dual blades. The man, or was he a man, or was he a ghost by this point in time? He took a step forward, walking forward just what would seem like two steps. That was, until he lunged forward. The summons which had been cleaved by the silver arc laid open before him as he cleared the distance between himself and three people behind that girl on the second story. Or who had been.

Whatever.

His scythe came down, slamming through the group and down against the wooden floor. Splinters exploded from the impact, covered in blood as the impact cut through them. Silver objects rolled by him, but he didn't care. His eyes turned to the arc as it'd slammed against the second story. A 50ft rift broke through the wood, causing another thirteen to fall down to the first story. Flames, water, plants, earth, orbs of magic, it all fell down, becoming extinguished as the mages fell. He laughed happily, drawing himself up just that little bit higher as he turned looked towards the grovelling humans before him as they staggered to their feet, madly trying to call upon their flimsy magic before Alarick acted again. He lowered the tip of his scythe, gesturing towards the group.

"Who's next?" The ghost asked angrily, his orange, flaring eyes narrowing as he looked towards the pathetic creatures....

He was going to enjoy bathing in their blood!

Towards Yuuki, several small orbs rolled towards her. If she were to take them up, she'd notice a small button. Pressing that would result in rather... Helpful things, as it scanned the mind and would form an object that she truly needed.

A few people had managed to skip past Alarick, towards Keskori. Honestly, they'd hoped that she hadn't seen them, their eyes primed towards "Alex", wanting to try and get them out. One was armed with a blade of some sort, the other two appearing unarmed.