Job: Mercenaries

job info:

There was no easier job than guarding a stupid old noble man. Even this kind of 'stealth' she could manage with no problem. A nobleman always had guards in the first place right? Well all they would have to do was get guards uniforms from this guys wife, and take their places guarding him. It would be boring, but it would be an easy paycheck.

Today Nakiya was dressed quite plainly, which was strange for her... she had a tight fitting pair of black pants with a long dark pink shirt that reached down just under her bum. A black belt hung around her waist to adorn the garment, while a black pin was placed in her long hair to hold her bangs out of place. They were meant to look inconspicuous while approaching the castle... what better way than to dress in every day plain clothes.

"So... think this jobs actually going to be any fun?"
The red headed mage asked her partner as they approached the royal castle. Nakiya whitls softly at the size of the building, immediately looking around for all the different visible entrances they would need to be aware of.

As they walked up to the two first guards, Nakiya handed off the job request with the royal seal still on it ans watched as the two guards looked baffled at such an official document. One of the guards stayed at the entrance, while the other opted to escort the pair inside where they were ushered to a servants quarter. There, they came face to face with Mrs. Strauss.

Nakiya gave a polite bow of her upper torso to the woman who only nodded her head in return. Nakiya would have scoffed at her if her paycheck didn't come from this woman.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Strauss. If we may cut the pleasantries and jump straight into the plan to defend your husband, I believe that would be the best use of our time."
She stated bluntly, glancing over at Za'cha to see what he was up too.

Za'cha had chosen to attire himself in a loose fitting white long sleeved shirt with black leather jeans, taking his cue from Nakiya's departure from her usual sexy schoolgirl outfit to dress casually. But damn if he didn't miss his hooded cloak. He shrugged at the red-heads question about how much fun this would be. "Don't know. Historically speaking, assassinations tend to be relatively quick affairs. The fact this guy's survived eight of them... that's a bit of a record." he said before rolling his eyes. "That or the assassin's so far have been about as capable as a wet paper bag." he sighed.

"And here I thought you enjoyed stupid foes?" remarked Pride, earning a scowl from the human. "There's stupid and then there's stupid." muttered the human, not wanting to appear too insane in front of the client, to whom he gave a respectfully low bow, receiving only a nod in return. "Charming bint ain't she?" Za'cha muttered to himself, Pride shrugging as he breathed in the air. "A mere appetiser... oh well." the Dark Spirit shrugged.

"Yes, quite young lady." said the duchess. "My husband is quite the important man, as I am sure you are quite aware." she said, not giving the time for any sort of corrections to the statement. "However... I'm afraid he does not know you have been hired..." she admitted. "So we're to guard your husband from here to where it is he's going to, without him knowing we were even there to begin with... that about sum it up milady?" asked Za'cha, already knowing that Nakiya wasn't going to like that plan... it meant she'd need to be quiet... which in turn meant none of the noisier spirits could be used. That pretty much takes out over half of her arsenal then... mused the Ex-Quip mage, who was already going through a mental inventory.

Nakiya couldn’t help but flinch as the duchess told them that they couldn’t be detected while guarding her husband. That was going to make things significantly harder for her. She looked back up to the duchess with the light lick of her lips. An emergency plan suddenly occurred to her, however she didn’t want to reveal t to Za’cha… or more specifically Pride. With a sigh however she reached to the keys at her side and brought them up.

“With your permission my lady. I have a spirit that I would like you to meet. In the event that our cover is blown, this spirit can provide an adequate distraction for us, however he needs to see you to provide that cover.”
She waited for approval from the duchess, who took a few steps back, giving Nakiya enough space to summon this spirit of hers. She took in a deep breath before extending the key in font of her.

“I summon thee from the darkness of the Celestial world, show yourself from the darkest parts of my heart. Envy, come to me in my own form”
She chanted as a swirl of darkness appeared before her, creating a doorway that allowed the Celestial Spirit to walk out from. This spirit looked exactly like Nakiya, except for her outfit. She had the same face, the same hair, eye color, scars, everything. She was even wearing her usual school girl like outfit.

“You summoned me for what? That? Tch…”
Nakiya stated in annoyance, glancing over to the form of the dutchess and eyeing her jealously. She was a beautiful woman, a beautiful human woman. It sent waves of anger through the clones body who simply took in a deep breath before she stepped forward, walking around the dutchess and getting a good look at her, so that she would be able to copy her form later.

Spoiler:

When Nakiya mentioned she had a plan involving a spirit, an uneasy feeling seeped into Za'cha's stomach. "Hope this isn't another insane one... seems to be a damned trope with you Dark Spirits." he muttered so only Pride could hear him. The Dark Spirit simply watched until Nakiya uttered the name of the Spirit in question. "So, it was the skinshifter she held in her possession..." he mused as the Dark Spirit appeared, making it appear like there were two Nakiya's, only the difference in clothing allowing Za'cha to tell the two apart.

"...This is like Gemini isn't it?" he asked of Pride who simply nodded. "There are differences of course, but the premise is the same. Whilst Gemini can only take on the last form it recalls, Envy can store those memories to take on their shape and power. He is deception incarnate in a manner of speaking." the Dark Spirit of Pride informed his host, Za'cha counting them off. "So, she's got Envy, Greed and Wrath so far... that means she's half-way there to getting you." the human remarked, Pride frowning at the summary of events.

"She moves too quickly... she can be no more than what mortals consider a C-Rank mage by now... and yet here she is, commanding three of the seven Black Keys..." the Dark Spirit frowned. Za'cha looked on as the Envy Nakiya appraised everything of the Duchess. "So... guessing the back-up plan is that if we get found out, Envy here'll pretend to be the missus right? Oh, and your big brother says hi." he said, nodding at Envy. He looked to Nakiya, a plan formulating in his mind before he looked back to their client. "Milady, may we take a look at your husband itiniary? We may be able to make some suggestions as to how we can undertake this task."

The Duchess nodded and walked over to a table which held a series of books, Envy watching her walk all the while. "Here you go young man." she said, handing the journals to him. Za'cha flicked through the pages, both him and Pride reading their contents quickly before he smirked. "Perfect. This route here... convince your husband to go by train instead of magi-car. The sudden change in route will not only throw off any assassins for a while, but also allow us to blend in and keep close to him without being obvious about it." said the Ex-Quip mage. The Duchess nodded and began setting the plan into motion after calling some servants and aides.

“Oh he does, does he?”
Envy stated with a crooked grin as he tilted his head back to look at Za’cha. However, his eyes weren’t on the man, instead they seemed to stare directly at the spirit himself. Envy couldn’t help but chuckle, and even sneer at the spirit, turning up his nose as if he was superior to him before looking back towards the woman in front of him. He would get to boast all about how Pride was stuck in a filthy human’s body later. As for him… he only got to play pretend. As if on cur, the cloned form of Nakiya’s body seemed to dance with a form of red lightning where his body began to shift and change into that of the Duke’s beautiful wife, down to the last freckle on her face. He watched as the woman gasped in surprise, placing her hand on her chest as she hardly expected the spirit to change into her.

“That’s quite clever… both of you. Please, I am counting on you to do whatever it takes to save my husband, even if it mean’s taking on my form.”
She stated to the two mages, as she began to put the plan in motion, summoning her servants and aids to her side.

Meanwhile, Nakiya looked over at Za’cha and Pride with an unmistakeable smugness playing her lips. She had to stop herself from full out smirking lest her behaviour ruin their mission.

“We should get a head start then, I need to send Envy back now so that we can use him later.”

“Oy, bimbo.”
Envy’s voice suddenly changed to his own as he approached the woman.

“You can’t use me, got it. If anything I’m the one using you!”
He threatened the girl who rolled her eyes at the easily agitated spirit and drew up his key, indicating that he should return to the spirit world.

“Tch”
Envy hissed before he disappeared in a flash of green smoke.

“Let’s go…”

"Wow, and here I thought you were the one with the ego." remarked Za'cha towards Pride who's face was dark and brooding regarding Envy's behaviour towards him. "After this mission is done, I intend to teach him a lesson." said the Dark Spirit, Za'cha scowling at the Spirit possessing him. "Hey, keep the family fighting till later alright? Or at least until that is sorted." he said, glancing over towards Nakiya for a moment before looking at Pride sternly. The Dark Spirit slowly nodded at the humans words. "That would be an excellent time to reaffirm my dominance over them yes... and far more pleasurable as well." mused Pride.

Za'cha merely rolled his eyes before looking over at Nakiya. "Please tell me you haven't had Envy copy anyone who'd actually be able to kick either of our arses right?" he asked her as they began to leave the mansion. "And yeah, I'll admit it, I'm worried. I'm even a little bit damn scared. Why do you think I made a set of armour and weapon that hurts Spirits eh?" he asked Nakiya before sighing and running a hand through his silver hair.

"After having Pride in my head for so long, I've learned at least one thing about these Black Keys that is the same for all of them... If given the chance, they will turn on us. Wrath almost ate you back at the wedding job, Greed... well, you saw how he acted in that desert... And Envy..." he trailed off before twisting the Black Key around his neck between his fingers. "Only reason I've got a handle on Pride is cus he needs me alive. Neither of us has any clue what the hell would happen if I died whilst he's stuck in me."

The Ex-Quip mage shook his head and rolled his shoulders before looking at Nakiya. "Anyways, we've got a train to catch."

“Trust me I know better than anyone what these keys can do. To be honest I have a deeper history with Wrath than I’m telling you. Don’t forget however that I was created to control them, and that’s exactly what I am going to do.”
The spirit mage stated, this time not even looking back at Pride as she led the way towards the train they were supposed to take to guard this duke.

“And yeh you’re armor’s a pain in my ass for sure, but I don’t know how much it’ll do ya if you wind up in their world”
She commented on the armor, seriously pondering what sort of effect it might have… or what sort of abilities it might gain by being refuged by a spirit. She pondered this thought long and hard as they made it to the train, keeping a strange and uncomfortable silence between them.

As they began to board, Nakiyas eyes darted sideways, catching a glimpse of the Duke as he stepped into his VIP car. The two Save Skull mages however, boarded the car behind that which was dedicated to the Duke’s regular personnel.

“You think this idea of yours to keep him safe is going to work? I doubt they would fall for such an easy ploy…”
She muttered, glancing threw the small window that allowed you to just peer within the VIP class car. There, she could just make out the form of the Duke making himself comfortable in a very big plush recline able chair. Wow, it must be nice to have life so easy.

Za'cha nodded at Nakiya's words concerning her and Wrath. "Don't doubt it. But remember, Dragon Slayers were made to kill dragons... and look how that fight turned out with just Zargan and the girl." the mage reminded the red-head. The rest of the trip to the train station was made in silence till they boarded the transport. "Not really no. Doubt they would fall for it that easily. At best, I'd say it buys us two to three hours. At worst... maybe thirty minutes. Give or take." summarised Za'cha with a shrug.

"Depends really on how skilled these assassins are... the fact they've tried eight times already and failed all eight times says something about their own abilities, and very little about the security of the Duke. We could have been the assassins for all they knew, and they let us inside the place with a smile and a wave." sighed the human, momentarily despairing at the sheer idiocy of this whole situation.

He followed Nakiya's eyes towards the Duke's VIP carriage, tilted his head in thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Tell you what... play nicely on this job without killing the client at the end of it, and I'll snag us some VIP carriage tickets for the trip back eh?" he offered her, smirking a little.

"Hey, don't look so surprised. I make my own armour remember? Got to be able to afford the materials. And before you ask, I didn't spring us the seats in there cus it would be a bit of a blow to our cover if we were in there with him, the assassins turn up, and we start fighting them when they go after him." explained the Ex-Quip mage, before he glanced upwards at a dull thud on the rooftop. "Show time. You or me?" he asked of the Dark Celestial Wizard.

The member 'Za'cha' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

"She was also a child who looked like she could barely fight her way out of a paper back, let alone take on a dragon king"
She retorted with a grumble and a sneer at the other mage for insinuating that any of her dark spirits would take her over or destroy her. The idea was ridiculous, she was in no way similar to that little dragon slayer, or her fire breathing brother.

"Right... don't worry I wont kill this guy... yeah 30 minutes can still be a long time..."
She stated just as she heard the *thump thump* noise of people landing on the roof of the train. There was no way she was going up there, unlike Za'cha she had no ability to fly or to keep herself anchored down on a moving train.

"Forget ladies first, they're all yours fly boy"
She stated, though she still reached for the sword hilt she had now tied around her waist. She freed it from it's holster though didn't ignite it yet, instead just bracing herself for what would come next. No doubt there were more than what sounded like two people up there...

"Take care of the one's on the room, and I'll do a sweep of the train to make sure none of them are on board. And just so you know, no I wont make a huge scene down here so stop worrying about it."
she stated, knowing that the other mage fully expected her to try and summon Zargan from inside a train. If Zargan was any smaller, than she definitely would try, but as big as he was it was a horrible idea and she hated Za'cha for thinking it... if he was even thinking it...

The member 'Nakiya' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

"Admit it, you just want to hog the caviar and champagne for yourself." smirked Za'cha before he stood up from his chair and made for the opposite door from the VIP carriage. Once through it, he found the roof hatch and made his way up to the top before closing it behind him as he stood on the rooftop. He looked over at the two assassins on the roof of the Duke's carriage. "Hidden Saber." he intoned, calling the longsword into being, resting it on his shoulder. "Only two? Oh well." he said to himself, the wind whipping away his words as he took aim. "Crescent Wave!"

Za'cha slashed through the air in a horizontal arc with his blade, the dark bow of his magic singing through the air as it collided with the unsuspecting assassin pair, sending them hurtling off the trains sides. The Ex-Quip mage looked over the edges from where he was stood to make sure they were actually gone. "Well that was boring." he bemoaned, before raising an eyebrow at the sight of an embedded blade. His eyes followed it along sighting a chain attached to it, and looked down along the chain to see one of the pair still hanging on... and running alongside the train as they held onto their chain.

"Well alright then... Just prolongs the inevitable." he said as he made his way towards the blade and began to work on prying it loose. The assassin began to pull themselves back along the chain as they saw Za'cha at work. The second one was rolling away as the train streamed past them.

Spoiler:

Nakiya rolled her eyes at Za’chas comment, watching as he moved away from her to confront the two assassins on the roof. Meanwhile, she slipped to the back of her car, looking out the back window to see if anyone was acting strangely or out of place. So far there was nothing odd, regular passengers sitting properly and chatting away with their friends or family. Nakiya frowned at the peaceful look they all carried before looking back to those guards within the car. She looked from one to the other and couldn’t help but wonder how thy were being so lazy… wasn’t their charge just targeted eight times? It didn’t make sense for them not to be keeping a constant alert.

She walked through their ranks once more to peer into the Duke’s cabin again only to feel herself suddenly pushed up against the side wall of the cargo train with something cold and sharp pressed against her neck while the man held fast to her arms behind her back.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Nakiya demanded, peering back just enough to see the guards helmeted head. She glared at him angrily as she stayed still, not wanting the knife to be dug further into her, as it had already begun to draw blood.

“Rather easy to get in, wasn’t it precious?”
The gruff man responded with a chuckle and a hiss as he pressed himself closer against Nakiya, giving her even less room to move. In the background, she could hear the other guards chuckling at the situation that Nakiya had found herself in. It seemed it had been much easier than they thought to find their little scapegoat.

Za'cha soon had the blade removed from the train's exterior, and smirked at the assassin who was frantically pulling themselves forwards. He gave a little wave before releasing the blade, chuckling as he watched them fall away into the passing dirt. "Well that was mildly amusing." he mused before he gave the roof one more sweep, and was about to dismiss Hidden Saber when he heard a brief thump from below. "The hell?" he asked aloud before looking at Pride who merely shrugged.

With sword in hand, Za'cha went to the ladder and descended back down into the train before peering around the corner of the door, to see Nakiya being cornered by six of the guards. "The hell is she-" began to hiss the human when Pride drew his attention to something. "Their boots." he said to his human host, who looked at the guards boots.

They were all dirty.

He had to resist the urge to smack his forehead. "Alright, ideas?" he asked the Spirit. "Since we cannot be allowed to be seen..." said Pride, earning a groan from Za'cha. "I -hate- resorting to that..." he bemoaned before sighing. "No... besides, if that didn't work, we'd be out of weapons for a while... Too many to take on with brute force..." he mused before rolling his shoulders. "Guess we get to give her a test run after all." he said, a red cloud enveloping him, grey lightning arcing about. "Camlann Array, Haematoclarent." invoked the Ex-Quip mage, a set of red and grey armour encasing him, and a second sword appearing in his free hand.

He dismissed Hidden Saber and then entered the carriage. "Oi, I think the lady wishes to be left in peace." called out Za'cha, gesturing to the assassins. "Let's see whos the cat and who's a lion eh?" he taunted, smirking beneath his helmet. Hopefully Nakiya understands the reference, he thought to himself.

Spoiler:

"and don't try to pull any funny business with us girly. We're onto you and your boyfriend."
One of the men stated as he slipped his knife around to the front of her throat and finally pulled her back like a proper hostage.

"Tch, he's not exactly my type."
Nakiya retorted, moving along carefully with how the assassin moved her. Whenever Za'cha came into the carriage however, she had to use every ounce of will power not to smile at his presence, a sensation that crossed her as extremely odd. Why the hell would she be happy to see this idiot? She could get herself out of her own situations. However, as he spoke, Nakiya raised an eyebrow and let her arms fall to her side, looking as if she had gone completely submissive. In truth, she grasped the entire keychain at her side and closed her eyes. If she spoke, chanted any sort of magic he would cut her throat, and so she had to do what she could while remaining still and quiet.

Suddenly, from behind the dark Celestial Spirit, a large black gate suddenly appeared behind the assassin, allowing both Leo and Luna to step out of the gate, the small cat perched comfortably on top of Leo's head. The leader of the zodiac used his split second of suprise to grab the dagger at his masters throat (cutting himself in the process) and pulling it away from her while using his enhanced strength to dig the dagger deeply into the man's hip.

The man cried out in pain as the blade moved deeply into his flesh, finding himself unable to do anything as the lion spirit followed through with a kick behind his knees to knock him to the floor and a punch to the head to knock him out.

"Don't you dare ever lay a hand on her again"
He growled angrily, a dark aura surging around the jealous lion spirit. Meanwhile, Luna leaped from her perch and landed on Nakiya's shoulder, however she was looking towards Za'cha and pride. Two stellar magic circles were cast before her as she cast her grace and power on the man, enhancing his physical abilities.

Spoiler:

Za'cha held his ground as they used Nakiya as a hostage, his sword tapping at the carriage floor. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. On and on he tapped in a steady rhythm, only stopping when Leo and Luna made their grand entrances. He could feel the surge in speed and power coming from the cat even as he charged towards the assassin's dressed as guards. "Remember, quick and down." said the Dark Celestial Spirit inhabiting Za'cha's body.

The human swung Haematoclarent in a reverse-gripped swing from right to left, before flipping the grip quickly to bring the blade back down in an arcing cleave that bisected one assassin. "One." he said, before spinning around to slam his armoured fist into the face of an assassin that had gotten to his side, plunging the sword upwards through their gut, the blade issuing out through their upper spine.

"Two." he continued counting, grabbing the corpses head and using his embedded sword as a handle, used the corpse as a makeshift barrier against a third assassin, before sending it to the side. He kicked the third one in the groin with an armoured foot, before he beheaded them as they doubled over. "Three. How're you doing Leo?" he asked of the Corrupted Golden Lion.

Spoiler:

Leo's eyes seemed to glow red with his anger as he dived towards the nearest enemy, punching him in the head with a right hook then grabbing his throat with his left hand and aqueezing on his windpipe until he could hear the man gargling. Angrily, he walked over to the door and opened it. He was greeted with a large blast of cool wind from the moving train, and not hesitating to throw the man outside, watching as his body collided awkwardly with a tree. He then turned around to the last remaining assasin, the dark aura around his body growing and darkening as he stard at him.

"I could use an opinnion on how best to deal with this last one."
He stated in responce to Za'chas question, bringing his hand to his fist and craking his knuckles in anticipation. The man in front of them looked like he might wet himself at any moment, his knees shaking as he stuck to the back of the trains car.

"P...please! Don't... d...don't hurt me!... I surrender!"
He stutered, bringing his hands up in fright. Nakiya walked up and placed her hand on Leo's shoulder, leaning forward and giving the lion spirit a peck on the cheek. That act alone seemed to calm the spirit down, the dark aura growing dimmer until it finally faded away and the lion looked back to his mistress curiously.

"Let's keep this one tied up. We can leave him here for the real guards to find and let them question him. We're getting paid to protect this guy and that's it, im not sullying my hands... or either of yours with how deep this mess goes."
She stated as she glanced over to Za'cha, nodding gently in gratitude for his help.

Spoiler:

Za'cha nodded at Nakiya, dispersing the armour and weapon. "Think that went well actually for a test run of the new stuff." he said as he began to restrain their captive with some nearby rope. Once the assassin was tied up and gagged, the human set about searching the corpses pockets, emptying them of whatever they contained. "Alright... let's see... jewels, jewels, jewels... all well and fine, but not what I am loo- aha." he said with a smirk as he pulled out a scroll of parchment. "Perfect. Their contract for the kill." explained Za'cha as he held up the scroll for Nakiya to see. "Shall we adjourn to the carriage then? I think they're about ready to start serving lunch, and the menu looked interesting." said the mage, as he led the way back to their seats in the upper carriage.

Once they were re-seated and Za'cha had checked their target was still alive through the window, he unfurled the contract scroll beside the menu and looked it over. "Hmm... clever. It's in code. Old sand script dialect mixed with northern runic sigils... Interesting combination..." he mused, Pride looking over his shoulder, reading the scroll as well. Za'cha looked up at Nakiya. "Feel free to order anything off the menu. I'll probably be a touch engrossed with translating this... If we can find out who hired these assassins, we could probably get even more of a reward. Blackmail is clichéd, but oh so rewarding." he said, before quickly ordering a drink and getting to work.

"Thank you Leo"
She said to the spirit gently, closing his gate with only the slightest movement of protest to the act. She then suddenly felt Luna rubbing against the side of her face, the cat then quickly leaping down from her shoulder and seeming to fade into nothing before she even hit the ground.  

Nakiya then proceeded to following Za'cha up to their car, making sure that she had no blood trailing off her this time, and followed Za'cha to where they were seated and pulled out menu's. This felt absolutely strange to her, being able to look at a list of foods and being able to chose anything she wanted. The problem with this whole situation was... she still couldn't read.

Her lips quickly turned into into a frown as she squinted at the menu as if the words would suddenly make sense before looking up above it to Za'cha who had warned her he would be lost in translation. The last thing sh wanted was to look like an idiot about this.

"As long as I get to openly kill something I don't care how cliche it is... by the way what are you going to eat? I don't really care so I might as well have the same"
She stated, closing the menu and moving it away so it could stop pissing her off.

Za'cha looked up at Nakiya when she questioned about his own order, noticing that she was moving her menu away from her. "Well..." he said, taking a look back at the menu, before a thought occured to him. "Wait... are you... huh." said the Ex-Quip mage as the truth dawned on him. "Then how... wow, alright then... Guess I'll add that to the list of things to do when we get back." he said, before perusing the menu whilst Pride looked at the assassin's contract. "Hmm... I think you'd enjoy the sirloin, or perhaps the venison would be more to your tastes..." he mused before flagging over a waiter. "I'll have the sirloin steak, medium rare please with peppercorn sauce, and the lady will have the venison, rare if you'd please." he ordered, the waiter nodding and heading to the kitchen. "This way, if you don't like one, you can try the other." said the mage with a shrug.

Za'cha returned his attentions to the contract, checking with Pride. "Anything?" he asked the Dark Spirit. "Yes, most interesting. The sand script is from the fifth dynasty, a personal favourite of mine. What's curious is that it's in the feminine form rather than the masculine." he said, making Za'cha raise a brow. "So a woman hired them? Huh... That would explain the strokes in the nordic runes... would have to be someone though familiar with both linguistics, and fluent." he remarked, Pride nodding in conclusion. "Eight attempts already, and this is the ninth..." mused the human as he sought the answers to this riddle.

Nakiya's face went bright red as Za'cha spoke, so easily figure out what she had been attempting to hide for quite some time. She had always relied on Vulpix to read everything out to her, not caring much to learn how to read either as it seemed like such a useless skill for her to have. When Za'cha finally ordered for her, she cleared her throat and crossed her arms as she looked over to the man sitting across from her.

"Don't misunderstand me... I just don't know what half of this fancy food is..."
She blatantly lied, attempting to save face one last time before leaning her arms on her table and looking over at the assassination order he held.

"It's the Duchesse... who else learns some fancy pantsy language hardly anyone else knows, and fail 8 times at his assassination? Either our lady is either very unhappy, or wants more power. I"m liking her already."
She stated with a light crooked smile before a thought dawned on her.

"translate that thing faster would you... you don't suppose the reason we were actually hired is different than what she's told us do you..? Maybe we're meant to off him?"
She asked curiously, her interest suddenly peaked once more as she sat up straight in he chair. As her partner continued to decifer the order, the food finally came and she wasted no time in digging into her meal in a very un-ladylike manner. She would never get used to this fancy dinning bit.

"Mhm. Sure." said Za'cha as Nakiya tried to defend her inability to read the menu. He made a frown though when Nakiya suggested who could be behind it. "It's possible. Could also be as likely to be a rival though in politics..." he said as he continued to read the scroll, showing a much more well-mannered etiquette in his dining experience. It wasn't until they neared the end of the meal that both Za'cha and Pride frowned in anger. "Well... seems you were half right Princess." he said with a vague snarl before composing himself.

"It was the Duchess who hired the assassins to kill her husband. Would appear that she's backing something that he's opposed to." he explained, tracing a finger along the contract the killers had been given. "The previous eight times were feints. An excuse to lure in someone with the job... so that on the ninth time... the ones who took the job? They'd be the ones to get the blame, to take the fall." he said. "She hired us to protect her husband, with the intention of laying his death at our feet. Now, I don't mind bumping off a politician or two... but to be the fall guy for someone elses dirty work?" snarled the human. "I don't know about you, but I am damn well pissed..."

The member 'Za'cha' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Nakiya finished eating... whatever it was Zacha had ordered her before using the napkin to clean up anything left behind on her face. She listened to his explanation as a crooked smile suddenly crossed her lips.

"You're right, I don't mind killing off a politician or too either... but to watch someone who's tried to use us like this take credit... I don't think so."
She stood up from her seat, reaching to her thigh and retrieving her blade. Her eyes darted to the left where she noted a fancy dressed man was approaching them, at no alarming speed, but she wasn't stupid. With her free hand, she withdrew Envy's key and quietly whispered the incantation that summoned the dark spirit.

When Envy appeared, he was already in the duchesses form which made stage 2 of her plan even easier.

"Envy... go after the Duke"
She said softly, her eyes darting back to the finely dressed man who had pulled  knives from his coat, each strategically placed between his fingers as he launched them at the dark mages...

"Lord Duke! There is an assassin on the train! Get down!"
She called out, alarming everyone to the man attacking them. She was going to twist this situation around... have Envy kill the Duke while in the Duchesses form, and let that bitch take all the credit she wanted.

She brought her sword up, activating it to block the daggers aimed at her and throw them off track before lunging at the would be assassin.

job info:

Za'cha saw the man as well as Nakiya did, catching site of three others in proximity. When the "Duchess" appeared, the human sighed when the Dark Celestial Spirit Summoner's plan came to light. "So that's her game eh?" he mused, before he blinked at her sudden yelling declaration. Za'cha briefly thumped his head against the back of his chair and sighed. "So much for getting paid then..." he grumbled before striding towards an assassin as they tried to get past Nakiya. "Shadowsworn." he invoked, the draconic looking armour encasing him in a burst of smoke that gave the Dark Mages a brief measure of distraction and cover, even as he threw a punch at the killer's jaw.

"Too close, and too many for my swords." he informed Nakiya as he cracked his armoured knuckles. "But," said Za'cha, using the armours tail to grab the third assassin's arm as they tried to stab him with a hidden dagger to get past, "doesn't mean I'm out of it."

Meanwhile the Duke blinked at the sight of his beloved wife coming towards him on the train. "My dear, what are you doing here? And do you know what all that commotion in the next carriage is? I must simply have words with the conductor if such bawdry ruckesses are allowed on these lines."