Chapter 14: The Assassin Meets The Sleepwalking Sword [Bonus - ]
Having his blood vessels torn apart by a vicious heat and restitched together by that same vicious heat was painful. Perhaps painful, at this point, was an overwhelming understatement.
Theo experienced a surge of it so sharp that he collapsed on the ground and began to writhe, rolling across the parlor floor until his shoulder knocked the low table and set it scraping. At some point he was actually worried about waking Estea and Sesan, so he tried to keep his body still while enduring it. His heels dug into the boards. His jaw locked until his teeth ached.
It was at that point that his environment began to blur out. Everything seemed to be vanishing into the background, and at the same time, his senses were picking up information at an insanely magnified level. The settling of dust. The old roof beams cooling. A dog somewhere three streets down.
But he could process none of it, because he felt like his consciousness was being pushed behind a reinforced glass gate.
And slowly he was being forced into some kind of sleep, feeling his consciousness dive deeper even though he was still awake. He was in some kind of trance.
In such a state of trance, Theo lay on the ground while his muscles and bones were restructured by that supreme heat.
It was then that some strange footsteps entered his ears. It was very clear that the person had just landed on the rooftop outside, and they moved with the delicateness of a feather drifting along the ground, but Theo’s ears picked it up so quickly. Still he lay there. His subconscious was active, but his consciousness was too overwhelmed to do anything about it.
The door to the parlor opened and the intruder cast a look at Theo lying on the ground. He tilted the mask of his face toward the shape in the dark and thought to himself.
’That’s not her...’
Then he walked past the parlor going into the room, and before he took another step past, Theo’s hand subconsciously shot out and held the intruder’s leg tight. The man glanced down and frowned.
He did a simple leg twist, hoping to break Theo’s wrist and leave him writhing, however, the hand held strong, tightening like a vicious vice.
A dark grimace covered the man’s face.
’What is this grip...’
He tried to yank his leg free, however, Theo’s locked grip did not budge, so the man gritted his teeth within his black facial mask and spun a dagger out into the air and brought it down on Theo’s arm. Before it pierced through, Theo released the leg and shoved it backwards, destroying the man’s momentum. The man staggered back, fell against the wall, and was on his feet again immediately.
He now held two daggers, his gaze locked in. Theo stood up as well. He held nothing. His eyes were closed and he looked like he was sleepwalking. Then Theo extended one hand and a fine, simple longsword appeared in it, plain-hilted, the blade catching what little light came through the window.
He held it with both hands and lowered his legs, his eyes still closed.
The moment he went low, the assassin perceived an incredibly ominous aura from him, like the shadows of the dark room were drifting over to support Theo. But the man shook his head to sober himself out of that fear.
’He has to be bluffing, the information about him can’t be incorrect.’
The man inhaled sharply and vanished. He appeared behind Theo, his dagger tearing down diagonally to bite into Theo’s neck. Theo did not move at first.
A hair’s breadth from piercing his neck, Theo jerked the sword back and blocked the dagger with the pommel. He jerked it back again in the same breath, but this time the pommel travelled further and smashed into the assassin’s nose. Cartilage gave and the man’s eyes flooded.
Theo caught his sword by the blade, spun it, and slammed the pommel down on the assassin’s head. The man staggered, his vision blurring for a moment. Every blow resounded against his ears and all his senses, as if his skull were a bell being rung by someone who had never been taught how.
"Wait, wait—"
Theo did not answer him. He spun the sword again, but this time he stepped forward to catch it at the pommel while it whirled in the air, then he brought it down on the man’s shoulder. Before the sword could bite in deep, the man caught it.
However, he strained, gritting his teeth, and Theo, with his eyes closed and a relaxed expression, was still pushing the sword deeper. The edge sank a finger’s width into the leather of the man’s guard, and then another.
’Damnit! This is definitely misinformation! I was told he was a powerless scumbag, why the fuck is a powerless scumbag giving me a hard time while sleeping!’
The man had a horrified expression on his face. He gritted his teeth painfully. And when he saw that he could not win a contest of strength against Theo, he kicked him, shoving him away. Theo only went back a step though.
But it was enough for a stealth specialist to vanish. The man simply was no more, and Theo stood there with his eyes closed, sword still raised at nothing.
Then he settled into a lotus position and continued the process.
So when Theo finally opened his eyes, he could barely remember that any of this had gone down. It was strange for him to see blood on the boards, a dark smear of it drying by the doorway with the drag mark of a boot heel through the middle. He didn’t know how to explain it.
But when he breathed and thought hard about how the assimilation had gone, Theo could faintly remember an intruder. It was like trying to remember all the bullshit you perpetrated after a very alcoholic night. The memories came in parts and pieces, out of order, none of them holding still long enough to be looked at properly.
He sighed and quickly went to check up on Estea and Sesan, who were still asleep, he thought, until he saw Estea’s amber gaze burning at him through the dark room. He was startled for a moment, because it was as though a ghost was glaring at him from the pit of the shadow.
He sighed again and asked her.
"Do you need anything?"
"Help me up..."
Theo went over to her, lifted her, and settled her into her wheelchair, tucking the blanket back over her knees because it had slipped.
"Push me there..." She pointed to the door in the room.
Theo obeyed, pushing her across, opening the door and pushing her through. As he expected, it was the toilet.
They were inside now. It was an awkward silence for a moment, then Theo spoke with a plain tone.
"I will help you on the seat. You can call my name when you’re done."
Estea said nothing. But that also meant she did not say no. So Theo carried her gently and placed her on the seat, and without waiting to see the rest of what to do, he went out and shut the door behind him.
Now he had to think about what to do with this blood and assassin situation.