During the aftermath of Rex's attack, Rose carries Vuella off to one of the palace’s spare bedrooms for interrogation. The room appears to be nearly identical to Rose’s own bedroom, with different paintings on the walls. For the first few minutes, the two girls sit there staring at their new surroundings in silence.
“Sooooo… What do you want to ask me? You brought me all the way here so we could talk without those freaks listening in, but now that we’re here, you decide not to say anything. Also, when are you going to untie me!” Vuella rants to Rose about her situation.
“Sorry to ignore you like that, but I needed to gather my thoughts for a sec. But I’m ready now so let’s get down to it. First question: Would you happen to know why your cohorts decided to let me take you away?”
“They let you take me? Without resistance?”
“Yeah. I knocked you unconscious and got into a bit of a scuffle with Elajuel. But before anything too serious happened, your other partner told Elajuel to stop. Specifically, ‘not here and not now’. After that, they told me your name, asked me to spare your life, and let me take you as a hostage. I’m assuming you know what he meant by that?”
“I guess I do owe you some kind of information for protecting me. Firstly, my other ‘partner’ is named Velajul, and we’re all siblings. As for that last part you said, Velajul said that because we were in an orphanage of sorts.”
“An orphanage? It looked like a regular old abandoned building to me.”
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“That’s because it is an abandoned building. After a mass execution of underworld figures in our village, we, along with several other children were left orphaned. Elajuel, being the oldest of those who remained, took care of us by becoming an assassin. After the adults were gone, word got around that there was a village filled with defenseless children and loot left behind by their dead parents, causing bandits to raid what was left of it. The first few attacks weren’t too bad, but after a year or so they started coming in bigger groups and more frequently, so we had to leave. We came here afterwards with all of the other orphans and started hiding out in that building.”
Rose was both shocked and relieved at hearing this. She wanted anything to grab onto to help plead their case to Hiro for a peaceful capture and this was more than enough to do that, but by the same token, this was definitely more than she thought she was going to get from them. They’re doing this for more than themselves, and have been in dire need of help since it started. But if they came clean, they would all be arrested and likely executed, so they simply stayed their course. She begins to feel a bit more empathetic to the assassins' case, seeing her previous situation in theirs.
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“Oh. I uhh… didn’t expect that… Why did you tell me all of that? I still am your enemy, as well as the one who captured you and is holding you hostage.” Rose says, still in a bit of shock from Vuella’s past.
“I said it because I feel like I owe you somewhat of an explanation. That, and the way you protected me from that freak back there. It was hard to believe that you two were on the same side. To me, it looks like you’re a bit different from those other two. Like you’re the friendlier one of the bunch.”
“Thanks for the praise, but I’m more like them than you think. You just don’t really know them like I do.” Rose says, giving her a light smile.
“After hearing that, I’ve got one more question for you. Is there anyway to contact your brothers? I need to bring them here and have an audience with the king.”
“I can, but that sounds like a fight waiting to happen. Why put them face to face all of a sudden?” Vuella asks skeptically.
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“I can’t plead you guys’ case without all of you present.” She says nonchalantly.
“I’m on board with pleading our case so that we don’t die here, but I can’t really convince myself that you’re not lying or setting us up for something worse.”
“That’s fair. If I were in your shoes I wouldn’t trust me either. If you really want to know why I'm doing this, it's because I want to save you. Back when I was still some petty thief living on the street, I’d seen some downright evil people before, and I can tell that you and probably your brothers too aren’t like those people. You’re doing what you do out of necessity, not because you want to. I knew someone that was the same way, but they were executed for their crimes and left the one they were providing for to fend for themselves. I would hate to see someone else go down the same path without a chance to get their life right."
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Vuella was stunned at the sincerity in Rose's voice. She had been in her situation for several years and no one had reached out to help them. She really didn't want to be an assassin, but she had to do it to help Elajuel, and in turn, help the children in their care. For her, the risk in it was simply too large for her to reasonably accept, but she had to to help her siblings. They needed the money to provide for the village children. And up until now, she had just been stuck in it. For once, she felt like the solution to their long standing problem was standing right in front of her, in a girl named Rose.
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Tearing up a bit, Vuella says, “You’re a crazy one alright. If you want me to contact them, I’ll do it. Is there anything else you need for this grand plan of yours?”
“Nope. At least nothing else from you. Wait, actu-” Rose is cut off by the sudden appearance of Elajuel and Velajul next to her, as they attack her.
“WAIT! Don’t do it!” Vuella shouts as they attack. Elajuel had already begun his assault on Rose before hearing Vuella’s plea and as a result, she is struck by multiple fierce blows. Recognizing what his sister said, he stops his assault and pulls away from Rose as she falls to the floor. However, once she makes contact with the ground, she feels something on her belt break and the room instantly fills with a light fog. “We have to lea-” Elajuel starts as he reaches out towards Vuella, but is cut off by an arm appearing out of the fog and wrapping around his neck. “Found you, my assassin friend.” Hiro says as the fog manifests his form.
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Pointing to Velajul, He says, “If your cohort over there moves, you die.”.
“If the teleporter moves us, the girl dies.”. As he says this his left hand disappears and reappears at Vuella’s neck. In this now floating hand fog begins to funnel fog in its palm, forming a small knife made of water in the hand, angled at Vuella’s throat. “Rose, are you alright? Can you move?” Hiro says in a concerned tone. “I’m fine, but you shouldn’t have come here yet.” She says, straining herself through coughs, eventually spitting blood from her mouth. “I told you I would handle it, and I have a solution, but it would’ve been easier to do if you hadn’t popped up and escalated things.”
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“Well based on the situation, it appears that your peaceful solution didn’t work. Taking into account your condition, I’ll take over their execu-”, “No! Don’t kill them! My plan is still good to go.”
“Then what will you do now? Did you convince them to turn themselves in?”
“I have a proposal. Through Vuella, I found out that these three assassins have been keeping several kids with them in an abandoned building, because of a mass execution that was held in their native village, and haven’t been able to get respectable jobs that paid enough to take of them, and as such, turned to lives of crime.”
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Hiro shows a glimpse of concern before straightening himself up again. Unlike Hiro, Elajuel drops to the ground to take a seat. “Is it that hard to listen to your own story?”
“It’s not that. I’m simply feeling like this is where it ends for us.”
“But it won’t end in death, at least not today. Mr. H- um, I mean My Lord, I propose that we pardon their crimes, give them a home large enough to accommodate themselves and their children, and give them jobs here in the capital.”
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“Rose, your naivete is showing. That’s not a punishment, that’s an increase in their quality of life. How does this get rid of our problem? You’re going to have to convince me of how this benefits us or else this plan of yours is getting dismissed.” Hiro says while shaking his head in disapproval.
“Since you seem so insistent on killing us, how about this Lord Azor? You can kill me, but let my siblings go. They'll leave the country after my death so you won't have to worry about them coming back to harm you or your family. How does that sound?" Says Elajuel.
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"Why would you say that?!" Says Rose and Vuella in unison.
"No one here has to die. I'm fighting for you guys to live."
"Yeah, she wants to help us! We talked about it earlier, and… I feel like we can trust her to do it."
Hiro makes a very loud, exaggerated sigh, leaving the room speechless.
"Hmm… Have you all thought about why he said what he just said? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you want to die, don't you?"
The room is left silent once again. A few moments pass before Elajuel speaks. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't. After taking as many lives as I have, it starts to get to you. The faces of innocents you've killed… they haunt you in your nightmares and take hold of your dreams. If it means that I can atone for what I've done, as well as keep my family safe, I think that would be enough for me."
"TO HELL WITH THAT!" Rose shouts at Elajuel.
"If you feel bad enough to kill yourself, then why didn't you do it before?!"
"It was because… um… beca-"
"Because of the kids! You love them, and you love your siblings. If you die here, do you know what they are going to think about it? That it's their fault that you died! That they killed you!"
"Shut up! You have no idea what your tal-"
"Yes I do, because it happened to me! I was that kid whose mother died trying to provide for her through crime! I know exactly what it feels like, and I'll be damned if I have to watch you do the same to someone else!"
Hiro cracks a slight smile at the situation before speaking. "This is all well and good, but Rose, you still have yet to tell me more about how you're going to save them, while also stopping them from further assassinations."
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Still hurt and exhausted from her action packed night, now sitting up leaning against a bookshelf starting to calm down from her earlier outburst. "I got it now. Using the same conditions as earlier with few changes to them. Instead of pardoning their crimes and giving them jobs, we should give them a debt to pay, and then work off said debt in the palace, working directly under you. And for the children, we let them stay in the palace's extra bedrooms. Is that good enough for you, Elajuel? This way you still have a way to atone for your crimes, without dying. If you want to atone for killing innocents, then do it by living."
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"I am not opposed to this plan for them. The only thing left to do is to see if they agree to your terms."
He scans the room looking at each assassin individually for their answer.
"This is more than enough for me." Vuella happily agrees with the terms.
"I, Velajul, agree to the terms." Says Velajul after a sigh.
"And you?" Says Hiro to a sobbing Elajuel. He had to think long and hard about his decision. After a few moments of silence, he speaks.
"Yes… I also agree to the terms."
"Excellent. Glad we could settle that. But before you all get too comfortable, I will let you know that I reserve the right to execute you on the spot should you ever betray any of us in the Royal Family. Am I understood?"
In unison, the three assassins respond, "Yes Sir.".
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Once they give their response, Hiro promptly lets go of Elajuel and removes the knife from Vuella's neck. As he walks out the room he dispels the fog. Vuella gives a sigh of relief and falls over on the bed, while Velajul slumps to the floor out of anxiety.
Rose scoots over to Vuella and gives her a smile and says, “I think it’s safe to say this was a success.”, as she passes out from exhaustion leaning on the bed next to Vuella.
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