PM to join A Wrong Turn Somewhere [Mortuus]

[Lexa Maze]

Lexa nodded "Yeah, my thoughts exactly." She agreed. She could see the woman seemed to feel a bit weird about being thanked. It was just something lighhearted to start off conversation really. The woman then went on to ask of her her name, and to tell her that her's was Mortuus. Lexa didn't know what she meant by 'The closest thing I've got to a name', but she disregarded it and said "My name is Lexa" Lexa sat back, looking at the woman with somewhat sad eyes. She obviously didn't think anything of killing, but she didn't do it because she liked to spill blood, like her brothers, she apparently did it to survive. What would make a person choose a life like that? A life as an attack dog on a lead. A tool. A weapon for others to use as they wish. "Did you choose this path for yourself, Mortuus? To become nothing but someones deadly tool?" Lexa didn't even realise how forward this was, and was genuinely curious about it. Lexa wasn't angry and the woman for her profession, but it did make her feel sick. There must be something that brought about this choice. She didn't look bloodthirsty in the same way that she had seen in her eldest brother. Maybe Lexa could do something positive for this woman, like her mother had done for her. It might be too late, but you never know.

[Mortuus]

Mortuus glanced away from the woman for a long while, contemplating how best answer the rather forward question, bitting her lip slightly. Her thoughts drifted to her old slave master, the beatings, the training, making her fight and kill other slaves just to eat. They were not pleasent memories, but they were the only ones she really had. The killer remembered slight flashes of her life before her one in chains, a smiling woman, a kind bearded man. Were they her parents? She was never able to answer that question, it probably didn't matter anyway Boris probably had them killed.

She hated talking about the past, still the question deserved an answer. Mortuus sighed and prepared the sordid tale.

"This path, the path of an assassin was chosen by my former slave master, a man known as Boris." She began, shifting her gaze back to Lexa.

"It was he who gave me my current name, replacing whatever one my parents had given me. From a young age he had me fight the other slave children for food. I think I killed my first person by age six, a boy of the same age." The woman continued, her eyes becoming colder and her tone nearing feezing levels.

"Boris decided to train me proper, teach me how to kill, grooming me to become his personal assassin. If I messed up, if I showed weakness or pity he had me whipped, if I did what was expected of me I was rewarded." Mortuus said.

"To make this pathetic story of pity and woe short I killed for him, and then when he died at the hands of another slaver and I was free I found that I was not good at anything else. That is not the full story but it should answer your question. Killing is all I am good for, I am a weapon to be used, nothing more." She finished bitterly.

Mortuus could feel her emotions bashing themselves against the walls she had carefully crafted around them. Anger, sadness, self-loathing struggled to break free but she kept them contained behind her cold expression.

[Lexa Maze]

The woman was a lot more damaged than herself. The way her father had taught her to fight was bloody, and harsh, but she was never forced to end a life. Her story made Lexa feel angry. The world truly was full of such scumbags, who turned other into scumbags. The Mortuus had such cold, unhappy, woeful eyes that Lexa had to look away from them to even begin to formulate a response. Lexa was over come with anger, sadness, self-lotheing herself, but at least she had something to cling to: Her morality. She had an example she could use to help her never revert to her fathers ways. His teaching. It was what kept her sane. What kept her from really hurting others. This woman needed someone who believed in her, just as Lexa needed someone who believed in her. "You are not a trained dog, Mortuus" She bluntly "You have your freedom. And that means, you are free to choose your own pathway." Lexa sighed. "Let me tell you what kept me from becoming like you." Lexa geared herself for the tale. She did not particularly want to tell this tale at all. Especially not to such a woman, but she had to help her. It was necessary. "I too was brought up watching the blood of others be spilt. I wasn't a slave, but I may as well have been, as I was forbidden to leave, and go off by myself. I wasn't free to choose my own destiny." She closed her eyes, and raked a hand through her hair and then continued "My father was a brute, who loved pain. It was a joy for him to hurt people. My mother was the complete opposite. She was so naive when she married him, and she desperately wanted a family. My father wanted kids too, or a better word would be successors." She paused, as images flashed through her mind "As soon as we could all walk he began to train us, although I was not favoured, as fighting didn't come naturally to me, like it did to my three older brothers. Because of this I was ignored. My father would leave me out, or abuse me, tell me that I'm nothing if I'm weak. So I earned his favour by challenging and beating one of my brothers. When he accepted me, everything changed... ...I beat up strangers, I was always looking for a fight, I began to enjoy it. Enjoy the power I felt as someone would fall to the ground, knowing they were losing. I enjoyed the fear in their eyes. And I would watch as my father, or my oldest brother would either kill, or spare them, more often the latter." Lexa was looking down at the table, her fists were clenched on her lap. "The reason I am still myself today is because I had one person who believed in me. One person who was kind. Someone who made me SWEAR not to lose my morality. My mother." Of course she didn't finish the story yet. She couldn't bring herself to talk about it any more. Instead she looked into the killers eyes and said "All of my brothers became bloodthirsty slavers, and criminals like their father, aside from one, who was just a coward, and who betrayed me out of fear. But I swore I would be different." She smiled sadly and said "And so could you," Shelooked away again, feeling a little unnerved at what she had just given away. "I can't believe I just told you all of that... I've never told a soul"

[Mortuus]

Mortuus listened to Lexa's tale quitely, in some ways the two were very much alike. She imagined that the other woman saw her as a dark reflection, what she could have become were it not for her mother. However she was wrong about one thing, she was a trained dog. Mortuus hated to admit it but that was just how it was, she knew how to kill others, it was what she had been doing for most of her life. There was no good that could be accomplished though being an instrument of death, morality was an alien concept to her.

An long silence existed between the two for a while, before Mortuus opted to break it.

"I appreciate you trusting me with this story, and for your faith in me. You think too highly of me I fear, I don't know any life other than this one." Mortuus said quietly, shaking her head slightly.

"Trust me when I say that it would be best for you to simply forget about me when you leave East Street. I am, in the end, just like those jackels outside." The assassin said, hardening her expression.

The words sounded too much like self pity to her but they were the truth, she was just another killer, just another East Street preditor. It was what she had been raised to be, it was difficult for her to imagine being anything else.

[Lexa Maze]

Lexa felt like she had to help this girl. If she could do this, or at least make her somewhat more happy with herself, anything, a small improvement would be enough. "If you give up on yourself, no one can help you" Lexa said "I am a little younger than you, it seems, but I hope you will consider what I have to say." She said, nothing that hardened expression on Mortuus's face. "My oldest brother eventually killed my mother and I was to cowardly to turn back and to stop him. He didn't feel a thing it seemed. You still have emotions, Mortuus. You are still young. Only you have the power to turn your life around." Lexa closed her eyes, feeling so many things at once it was hard to pinpoint one emotion "Why don't you try thinking about the people you kill." She said, feeling a little bitterness in her voice "They may very well be bad people, but you can't know that for sure." Lexa was trying to remain calm now "They might have a family. They might have people who love them." Her voice was raising ever so slightly. Lexa looked away, a fire in her eyes "I have experienced loss first hand." She said "You don't know what it does to a person." Lexa was tense, somehow unable to look at the woman sitting before her without anger clouding her vision. "Try thinking about all of that, when you next kill, try to see it as something quite significant. and then... just maybe we could become friends." "I believe people can change their fate and choose their own destiny." Lexa found herself wanting to leave this dreadful street soon. But she was glad she met Mortuus. Maybe, just maybe she wasn't too far gone. Even if there was just the slightest chance, at least she could say she tried. She would never form a bond with someone who takes the lives of others, but she may make an exception, because she believed this woman was not unlike herself. She had a conscience that has been hidden away, she just needed to find it.

[Mortuus]

Mortuus felt something, a tugging sensation in her chest. It was highly unpleasent, it made her feel vulnerable and weak, like she was out in the open for all to see. Already this woman had done more for her than anyone else had, trying to find a sliver of conscience within the assassin. However the more she seemed to think about the job that Mortuus did and the lives she ended by doing it the angerier she had seemed.

Still she did as she was asked and tried to remember some of the people she'd murdered over the years. Some assassins might remember every face, every little emotion that took place during an assassination. Mortuus was not one such assassin, at some point the kills seemed to blend together and become less significant. She did remember a few that were very clear.

Whe she had been ten the assassin had formed a bond with another slave girl, often sneaking her left over food that she had managed to find. It might have been accurate to say that she liked this girl, loved her even. It hadn't taken long for Boris to find out about it so he told her to kill the girl. It had taken three days of beatings and food deprivation for her to break but she had done the deed. The kill had somehow hurt more than anything else Mortuus had done, maybe it was because the girl had trusted her and she had shattered that trust.

As she relived the very unpleasent memory she looked away from Lexa, dangerous emotions burning in her eyes. Other than that one incident she couldn't remember having felt anything for her kills. She had learned quickly that she had to push emotions like guilt and sorrow in a dark courner, they were inefficiant for an assassin have. Often times, when she sat at the edge of the hearth in her small abode she wondered what would happen if the wall around her emotions suddenly came crashing down.

Would she cry and scream in pain and sorrow? Would she go mad? Would she simply drown under the wheight of her emotions? Whatever the answer was it was unwise to consider doing that in an East Street bar.

Mortuus turned her attention back to Lexa, struggling to calm herself, damn this woman and her way confusing her. Everything had been fine before meeting her, she didn't question the morality of her kills, she had been a perfect weapon and she came along and dented her. The prospect of friendship was... strangly inticing and more than a little frightening. Whenever people got close to the assassin they tended to get hurt, badly. The killer was reminded of the girl she had killed, her friend. If forced to do the same with Lexa, could she? Perhaps it was too early to say but she liked to think that the answer was no.

"Perhaps there is... something to what you say." The assassin admitted, looking down at the table.

"If nothing else you've piqued my interest, Lexa, no easy feat if you ask the few priests I've met." She said.

Mortuus stood from her seat and looked towards the door.

"I believe the jackels have probably left by now, I can escourt you out of East Street, its the least I can do." The killer said gesturing to the door.

"Also if you find yourself on the docks look for a small cottage with a chain hanging on the door, if you ever need a place to stay or lay low stop by, it would be no trouble." Mortuus offered.

[Lexa Maze]

Lexa felt like she had done something. It felt like the beginning of something more. If someone had told Lexa she would meet a beautiful and down-trodden assassin, and reveal her most presious secrets to her in an attempt to help her, she would have labeled them completely insane. Her chest was more than a little tight, and there was definantly a lump forming in her throat, she even caught her hand shaking in her lap. It was too much. Too much had happened in this day. She was open. Her walls and padlocks lay broken and scattered. But her will, her fire, her cause had become clearer. Her morals had surfaced, and she felt like she had learnt more about her self on this day than anything else. The woman was struggling to contain herself. Struggling to keep herself calm. Lexa could see it in her eyes. She could see it in her shaking hands. She saw it in the way she would not meet her eyes. Lexa never would have believed the power her words could possibly have on someone. Lexa remained quiet while Mortuus battled with herself, observing her with a fierce intent. If Lexa had lived a slightly different life, that could be her. It was all so overwhelmingly easy to picture. But this would change. Lexa would change her. She made it her ambition. Eida, the Ethafal she had met in the wild had said that you should fight for others. Her mother had said the same. She would fight for Mortuus. And Mortuus finally worked herself up to speaking again, eyes turned down to the table in front of her. Admitting something that Lexa thought she'd never hear her say out loud. And she knew Mortuus was correct in her words: it was no easy feat to make a person guarded open up. "I've told you more than I have ever told anyone before, you know..." It was almost as though she was just thinking aloud. Eventually it was time to leave. Lexa stood as well, following her gaze. "Yes, of course." She said "You don't need to thank me, Mortuus. I think it helped me as well." She smiled, genuinly at the woman "I wish you all the best." Lexa was surprised when she was offered a place to stay if she needed it. But it made her feel happy. This was not a bad woman, but a good one hidden inside a cold hard shell that others build around her. Lexa would break that shell. "Thank-you. I'm staying in worlds end grotto, you can find me there if you need someone to talk to." After that last exchange, the two of them walked back into the dreary atmosphere of the East street of Zeltiva. They would reach the end of the street and Lexa would stop for a final goodbye. "I'll see you again, Mortuus" she said, mouth curve of a smile. She stuck out her hand for a handshake "Don't you give up on yourself, you. I haven't." With that Lexa would wave goodbye, still smiling "until next time!" She called before disappearing into the throng.

[Mortuus]

For a while Mortuus simply stood in the middle of East Street, watching the woman depart. She had a number of conflicting emotions warring inside of her, confusing and irritating feelings that she forced back behind the wall. Still she did not regret meeting Lexa or opening up to her, it had ultimately given her some perspective if nothing else. The assassin decided that she would indeed take the woman up on her offer to meet her at the World's End Grotto at a later date.

Perhaps she could dare to form something of a bond with this woman. It would not be easy but she felt as though she needed to at least give it a shot. Lexa had opened up to Mortuus just as she had with her, maybe that was the foundation for something greater.

Finally after a long while Mortuus returned her thoughts back to where she was, pushing aside her distracting thoughts for now. She had a meeting with a potential contact later, another person who needed a dagger in someone elses back. Though it seemed more distasteful after her conversation with Lexa it was currently her only way to make a living.

With one last glance in the direction the woman had departed in Mortuus turned and vanished into the squalor of East Street.