In the Den of Sins, the Fun Begins

In Kakos, after you take a few wrong turns and find yourself in the worst possible place in town you can be, there was an alleyway with a big black circle drawn on the wall. In this alleyway was a steel door with the same symbol, and if you have the money or know the right people you were given entrance. Inside, after a flight of stairs leading down, was a den of debauchery and sin. A place were criminals came to drink and be merry, and where some unfortunate women came to work when they were at rock bottom. To Hitori, it was where he met all his clients for the first time and since he was the right people he got in without an issue.

He sat in waiting for people to meet his call, for the best and the willing to do something stupid for a great profit. Many had already come to his corner table. Walking through the haze of smoke and telling him they wanted in. Most were two-bit criminals who Hitori held back from killing only because he respected the owner of this place. He wanted useful people, not bandits and brigands.

Hitori had a few days ago, right before returning to Kakos used as many of his contacts that still respected him in the guild to spread the word of his. Asking for powerful people willing to do something rash in return for glory and monetary reward. What he got was pitiful.

After a long day of shit, Hitori stood up and and brushed off his red cloak, the spiked shoulder pads having gathered some ash from the air. He put the hood back over his head and walked out annoyed. As he was leaving some crook bumped into him and then pushed him against the bar, the entire place went silent. Everyone was looking and the two-bit crook suddenly realized who he pushed. Hitori grabbed him by the neck and raised him into the air, "Barkeep, has he purchased anything yet?" The barkeep shook his head, "Good. I am not allowed to hurt paying customers," he said as he tightened his grip and crushed the mans windpipe, dropping him and leaving him to slowly die as he walked away.

He stepped outside the steel door, the dim light of the evening hitting his cloak.

He was not a particularly nice man. He was not a particularly charming fellow. His slick, black hair and nice smile that framed a handsome face afforded him many avenues for communication, however. This individual that so high-and-mighty walked through the bad part of town, flaunting himself as though he was daring people to attempt something-- anything, from arguments to a fight. Something he could do to punish the lesser filth. 

He was an old, old man. He didn't look to be, but he was ancient and this sense of superiority was well earned. He wasn't in a position of power per say, but he had enough money amassed from his time alive that he was able to buy mostly anything, and people were no exception. He bought politicians, corrupted them, and now Megalo was on the verge of war with the immensely powerful Iota. No, he didn't cause it. But, he definitely had a hand in helping it along. 

Kakos was a garbage dump, and it's people were the trash. It wasn't a particularly rich city, nor a poor one, but contained enough people of lower class that the few rich had lost value by their proximity. As he strolled down cobblestone paths and sneered at beggars, he stopped at one in particular. Or, two really. A woman and her baby. They made eye contact, and she spoke. Trite and cliched, she spoke. "Please, can you give me money to feed my baby?"

The man tasted her request, his tongue lulling and flopping over it while he gnashed in in his teeth, chewing it to bits for easy digestion. He knelt down with a serious expression, and stared her right in the face. "How much?"

The woman's face lit up. "Oh, anything would be fine! Just enough to buy some--"

"No," he cut her off. "For the baby. How much do I have to pay you for it?"

Her face became horrified, then uncertain and disgusted. "She's not for sale." She didn't sound very convinced of her own words. Had she considered such a deal before? Or was this so off-guard that she had no other reaction? 

"Wrong answer," he replied, eyeing her and her filthy clothes. They were tattered and torn, hanging loosely from the woman's dirty and emaciated form. She might have been beautiful once, but now she was a rat like the rest. "Hypothetically," came the follow proposal, "if you were to be willing to sell me your daughter, how much would you need me to pay you? Or rather, what would you want in return?" He didn't really want the little girl, he just wanted the pleasure of making somebody sell their daughter to him, of making somebody carry with them a certain kind of guilt forever. It was an amusing idea, to say the least.

The woman simply glared at him with fierce eyes. "My offer to pay you is a kindess," he elaborated, "because I could just as easily kill you and take her anyway. Think of it like this: I'm giving the choice between life and money, or death, and either way your daughter comes with me. Simple enough?" The woman's defiant face showed that she was on the verge of tears, but fighting the expression so characteristic of the defeated. "Simple enough." He produced from his expensive, black coat a large leather back, easily the size of the woman's head. Oddly enough, it had not shown from beneath the jacket.

"Count it, if you like," he informed her, setting the bag down at her side. "Give me the child, then."

"I never said yes."

"That's really too bad, then." He raised his hand, and it began to glow. The woman flinched as a fist flew towards her, waiting for some kind of strike. Instead, nothing came. She looked at the man in the nice coat and black hair, his fist near her head and a grin spread across his expression. "You're a feisty one. I like that. I bet you were beautiful at one point. I'm almost curious enough to ask what happened." He opened his hand to her. "Here's another offer: I buy you and the child. You both come with me."

"I'll be beggar before a slave."

"Not as a slave."

"Then what?"

He shrugged. "I'm open to suggestions on the matter."

She looked at him hesitantly, the child still quiet in her arms. A hand slowly reached from her side towards his hand.

"Good choice..."

A figure furtively stode through the underbelly of decadence, slipping from one pool of shadows to the next. This figure was making his clearly towards a specific alleyway, with a specific door, but was still a decent way off. The figure had heard the call to arms as it were, and was in dire need of funds, to the point where he stooped to criminal activities to keep his family alive. Unlike usual the man only had two of his blades with him this evening, allowing him to move quicker than he normally did.

As the figure entered each lengthening shadow he changed, and as he strode out, a different man stood in his place. More out of habit than anything else the shapeshifter could not hold one form, and constantly was shifting his appearance. At one point he passed a very richly dressed man, pausing long enough to notice the bag of what Andeddo assumed to be money. Marking this man mentally he snuck closer, spying a woman at his feet with a baby, and she took his hand.

Andeddo hissed between his suddenly feline teeth, and bounded into the darkness of the alleyway of his choice. Approching the door inscribed with a black circle Andeddo began to shift back, looking behind him, as a man bumped into him coming the opposite way, he was leaving the criminals bar. Which was odd, in the teenagers mind, considering it was still early evening. Most of the scum that inhabited that hole stayed until the wee hours of the night.

Andeddo placed a hand on the man's shoulder, careful to avoid the spikes from his pauldrons. "Sorry friend, didn't notice you there."

If you ever took a stroll into Kakos, those people that look out of the ordinary, but gave that aura that they meant business, were typically regarded as the people, that people of Kakos don't even want to mess with if they know what is coming to them. One very specific individual would be a very skilled Pyromancer that wandered and lived within this city, and for the most part is not screwed with for the fact that many people in this city are at the very least aware of his status and power even though he doesn't appear as such. The burn marks that were on his forehead and the burnt tips of his hair was a really good tip off to who he was. For the unfortunate group that did try to attack him, they were heard to have become the center of Thorn's first bonfire for this city. It was also for the fact that he could probably burn this city to the ground that people also kept him be. With the poor conditions present throughout, it was already a mystery as to how, Thorn hasn't burned it to the ground. A mystery however, that was not important to him or the situations that we at hand in this city. He had choose to stay in this city because of it's lack of true law, but also that it provided the materials needed to advance him in his magic. These materials typically came in the form of requests for Arson you mass killing on a group of people, however this latest job that was traveling across the city was definitely an interesting one none the less.

It was how he found himself, now wandering towards a specific spot in town where he could find himself, the origins of this request, a request to assassinate the leaders of various cities, as such, if this even didn't have something to do with Kryo, it could very well help him with his goals for there. He now approached this meeting place, this den that would offer many opportunities to the likes of him and others, however he had no idea what the man that organized this was like. He could be anything from the most mad of men to the most sly and dangerous of foxes, or even the most angry of warriors. As he approached the building that was noted to be the meeting place, he paused for a moment and studied it a little bit closely to make sure, if one thing it was a separate thing to walk among the streets, but walking into the wrong place could be all the trouble. As such, he watched as an abnormal fellow exited through the door of the place, if anything, he could question this person, with this request seeming to spread like wildfire a little in this section of the city, he should at least be aware of it. "Ey, you two there, any idea if this the place to ask to partake in a certain request?" He could only hope that this man that stood out would hold the answers, it was always like that, the odd man out always knew the answers in Thorn's mind, not that this was a bad or good thing, just something that came quite easily to his mind. He did not after he had exited the door that he had also bumped into someone, that person eventually turned around and apologized to them from what he could see and hear. However he kept a bit of distance between him and this man and the other, in case that he did something wrong, he needed the distance to use any spells in his defense. If he didn't have his magic, he would be devoured by those that were considered even the lowest of Kakos.

It was always a tad worrying that when you live in a city like this with on allies, and certainly very little of favor among the people besides slight respect to his power, it could easily be overturned by something else.

"Don't touch me." Hitori grunted as he lifted the mans arm hand off his shoulder and let it drop away. He was headed into the den which Hitori wondered whether or not he was there for him, but it mattered not. He was probably like all the others and just did not come up to par. Plus if he was there to see Hitori he would know it was who he seeked. The red cloaked man who hides his face.

He analyzed the boy, his magic searching him for anything unusual but there was none to note. Normally this same magic sight would have allowed Hitori to see him coming from quite a distance away and in this instance it still did, but he assumed the person would not be so dumb as to bump into him. He was wrong, but oh well, sometimes people just were not used to looking where they are going.

Just as he was about to turn and walk away an annoying voice hit his deformed ears, another individual who had shown up. He was already facing away from the two, but simply because he was normally blind and could already see them he did not turn back around when he spoke, "It was, but the man is leaving now. Get lost unless you have something to offer that is not shit. Maybe some of the scum inside can give you a good hard workin', some of the guys in there have a taste for the more... masculine meat." His harsh but loud voice echoed throughout the alley, it was clearly raspy and weak but at the same time had a proudness and a strength too it and when he finished speaking he laughed, a horrid and twisted laugh.

Andeddo let his hand drop to his side, furrowing his brow at the other man who yelled at the two men near the entrance of the bar. He realized that this man and himself were here for the same purpose, and apparently the man he had moments before bumped into was the contact he sought. Turning his gaze onto the distant man, he raised his own voice to reach over to him. "Go home, the jobs mine."

He stepped closer to the man, his hands resting threateningly on the hilts of his twin blades. He smirked at the man, and gave him a once over look. "Besides that you don't exactly look like the type for this kind of work."

Andeddo himself may not have looked the part either at the moment, but thats mostly just due to the fact that he left most of his swords at his temporary hideout. However, he wasn't exactly defenseless, magic tingled through his body, ready for use at a moments notice. The Shapeshifter was itching for a fight, and he really couldn't care less who it was that was at the opposite end of his blades. Though he glanced back at Hitori, sparing a moment to ensure he hadn't just walked off. Andeddo didn't even reply to the comment made by the red clad male, choosing to focus his intention on the third man.

To Thorn, this would of been a simple matter if they had just told him no, and he would of been out of their lives, but instead they insulted him and afterwards the one that stood closest to him was seeming to want to start a fight. At first he stood silent, taking it all in, no smile or entertained look was on his face, and the truly emotionless look made him all the more unhappy looking. As the man approached him, he quickly took a step back, but that was not in an attempt to back down from this, at least he wouldn't be back down, no actually, the magical energy of the earth that they stood on began surging into him and from there he held his hand out towards the closest man. "You want a show? I'll give you a Fireworks show!" He exclaimed in anger and within those moments flames poured forward from within him. But these flames wouldn't stop there, they would stretch forward and begin to for a long spear shape, and from their he would draw his hand. "From the Pyromaster of Kakos is this special gift." He yelled out and actually wanted to begin enjoying this after he blew these two the kingdom come. However, if they should survive, they should properly find their respect for him. So with that, the spear would launch, but the idiot would be the one that lets it fly on forever, and as such he lifted up his hand to make sure that when he tossed this spear that it would curve down as flew.

Now that it flew out, the hand came down and the spear hitting the ground as well, but this wasn't the end of it, for he had it land if it should get that far between that of the two men, and from their an explosion of flames that could easily toss men away ensued, the alley way would probably be wrecked by the chaos, but he didn't care in the least bit, he also didn't care for the fact that he also felt a bit of the force push him back as it would most likely land. "So shall we continue pass the opening act?" He asked, a desire was with his heart, the desire to burn that which was in his sight. He showed a small grin now, and his own magic energy now began channeling within his body so that he could now use it properly, and effectively, should either of these men begin a counter attack. But if they had any idea of what he was capable of, no where was truly a safe spot, just a more dangerous spot for him to cast, he waited a listened, backing away little by little from the alley way, only the full extent of his magic could be understood in much bigger area, but he did have a few other tricks that he could pull out if he should get stuck within this alleyway. He could careless of those that were far from surviving this, those that were in that bar would probably now be within a place that was wrecked beyond belief, but he did have to say, that was probably already a good amount of this city, but now flames were all over the place from the impact area that he choose, Thorn could only wonder if that place had a second entrance.

Admittedly what happened after Andeddo's taunting was what he had essentially asked for. The man charged magic in his body, using it to create a flaming spear which he threw towards the Shapeshifter. Andeddo reacted immediately, jumping at the wall to his left, pushing off of it to give himself some air. The moment his foot left the wall his body began to semble, and change. Midair instead of the teenage human male was now a medium sized bird, which flew up over the blast.

Though it didn't stay up high for long, as it dove towards the pyromancer, who was backing away from the explosion he had just caused. Andeddo shrieked mid dive, pulling up and over the man, turning back into a bipedal form, landing behind the man, and drew one of his blades, pointing it at the man's neck, bare millimeters from the skin. "I suggest you stop right there, unless you want to skewer yourself."

Andeddo had no idea what had happened to the man who had been behind him, which was unfortunate, since he was his prospective employer, and the Shapeshifter badly needed the money this job offered. He peaked around the Pyromancer, trying to catch a glimpse of the man still in the alley.

Hitori never looked back as he walked away, but he did take pause when it seemed both were up for the job and one wanted to fight for it. He may have found someone at least interesting enough to watch, and his money was on the jerk that bumped into him. He had decided to wait a minute when his aura of sight began to pick up a magic disturbance in the air and he saw what the other man was doing. He seemed to be a competent mage at least, which was more or less frowned upon in Megalo. If he did something stupid they would have something even worse than criminals on their hands. Corrupt members of the police force in town.

He sensed much power behind the attack and as the spear was launched, Hitori raised a hand as the stone beneath his feet formed a protective barrier behind him, the concussive blast of the spear knocked parts of the shield loose but it remained mostly intact. due to a magical hold. Hitori then leaped high into the air, nearly thirty feet, and doing a backflip and turning around to face them, landing in the middle of the flames as they parted to meet him. He raised a hand and the fire on the ground began to swirl around and condensed into the area on his bandaged palm where he closed his palm, snuffing it all out.

"You idiot. Using magic so destructively and blatantly in a major city in Megalo?!" He had to admit though, the man passed his entrance exam, reckless and stupid but a competent weapon. He noticed on the other end of an alley way a woman hidden behind the wall watching, a living witness. Most others scattered and saw almost nothing of note, especially when barely anyone was around, and the crooks were not getting out of this side of the alleyway, maybe the other. He focused and silently from the bricks a brick shifted into a spike, impaling her through the neck.

His attention was quickly back on the pair, and one was a shapeshifter which immediately peeked his interest even more. He wanted there two, if he could keep them from killing each other and make them work for him it would be all he needed in his plans. Artillery, and infiltration.

"Stop fighting you two. I need you both alive, because your both hired."

It seemed that Thorn had gotten himself into a sticky situation, as the man just seemed to stop as he was doing all that he was doing, the worse part was when he saw the wall that appeared in resistance of his spear, he had not expected the man to be a capable spell user as well, but that wouldn't scare him to submission, but the other tricks shown by the shapeshifter, definitely put him into an end game scenario. It was not something that he was proud of and he let his anger get the best of him, but they had called him weak and incompetent of the task, making him pissed, for all that he has done is this city has been to improve his skills to higher, and higher levels. He was glad that he was at least channeling his magic as the shapeshifter flew over him and appeared behind him with the knife to the back of his neck. "Hmm, I'm guessing we could bargain here or shall I blow us both to hell?" He asked in case the man did go for his life. To back up what he meant, the magic within his hands was showing sparks as if they were ready to release something big at any moment. and to make sure that the were the way that he wanted he put them down and facing back behind himself.

After so, he took notice once more of the other man as he yelled out to him, telling him he was an idiot for using magic in the middle of Megalo and so destructively. "This is not the first time that this city has seen my flames or many others, however, I suppose this would be the first time that I've ever done so without being asked by an employer or a person in higher power. But, I say they can come and try to strike me down, they shall find that I will not fall easily." He stated still angered a bit and not wanting to lose his life to that of the shapeshifter behind him.

But shortly after so, the man explained his actions of just defending from his magic and eventually taking down a witness, that he took note of only moment prior. He wanted them both alive, for they were both hired for the task that he needed accomplished. Which turned the anger of Thorn's to an end for the moment. "Ah, I'm glad that my power has come to an understanding for you, I will say though besides a few knife tricks, I don't have much else beside my magic." He replied with. "So how about this shapeshifter, we respect each others capabilities and go along with this man." He suggested hoping that the man would move away from him or at least the knife was removed from it's current spot. If any thing Thorn would step away and the sparks that were on his hands were vanishing, but magic would still be in his body, unsure of what this shapeshifter had in mind, whether he wanted the the money or his life.

Andeddo cocked an eyebrow as the man threatened to blow them both to the next life. The Shapeshifter had no intention of dieing this day, not any time in the near future, but was still a cocky bastard. He knew he could have his sword through the other mans throat before he could unleash the spell, the problem though was if his magic would still detonate with his death. If that was the case Andeddo didn't have the time to change into a more fire resistant creature. He sighed, then smirked. This was a stalemate. "I'm open to suggestions."

Andeddo waited and listened patiently as the third man, the one he bumped into, spoke and demeaned the man whose throat was still positioned before his sword. The Shapeshifters smirk widened, and restrained himself from chuckling. HE himself had unleashed no magic, and yet both these men had, in all fairness should one of the local authorities arrive right now, Andeddo might be seen as a vigilante, rather than an accomplice.

Though the Armored males next statement changed that, as he said that they were both hired. He sheathed his blade and stepped back from the mage. He smiled slyly at him and shrugged. "I guess we don't need to come to an understanding afterall. It's bad for business to kill your partners." He walked past the man, over towards their employer. "Though, might I suggest that we leave the area before people come snooping around, it would most likely be better for the job if we weren't apprehended, or killed, before we even started."

"Good. Now, run and meet outside Anthropinos in one week." He directed his attention to Thorn, lifting his bandaged arm and hand and pointing at him, "You will run, I'll let you blow up as much as you want later but for now just leave the city." He put his arm down and frowned, this would be a hard pair to control, but not impossible.

Hitori tensed his body and then after a few seconds released, launching himself into the air and landing on top of the building next to them. He stared down at them and reached into his coat, pulling out two kunai, each one with a note attached. He threw them at the feet of the two, "This contains all you need to know for now." Inside the notes would be certain information. How much they are getting paid, what exactly they are meant to do, and when they are meant to meet and where.

Within his vision he caught the problem a few blocks away. Grunting he looked back at the two, hoping they had already started to make their escapes as well. With great speed he ran to the edge of the rooftop and leaped to one across the street, landing gracefully. He jumped to another rooftop and then one more before being content that he had put enough distance. He jumped down and casually began to walk to the outer gates of the city.

His job would begin soon. His fists clenched tightly, so tightly he broke the skin and began to bleed. He would get power, enough of it that he would easily break and bow those beneath him until ever person paid for their sins. The sin of living.