Today was the day they would bring terror and horror to the population. It was a wedding, something that would inspire happiness in anyone. Family, friends, they were all there. Music was playing, everyone was happy. All of this would soon come to an end. Such happiness could not be tolerated, because it violated our ideals. I looked down at the dancing crowd. I thought they looked ridiculous. What were they so happy about? How could they be so happy in such a terrible world? Losers. They deserve to die, because they don't want to face the reality of this world. Scum like this doesn't deserve to live anymore. They made me so much angrier than I already was. I grit my teeth and clenched my fist. Everyone here was ignorant. I couldn’t wait to see them all torn apart.

I looked sideways and saw one of our men give me the opening sign. I turned around swiftly and held out my sword. I closed my eyes and gathered the magical energy that filled the air. My sword vibrated as it sucked in the strength of the magical energy, it became heavier but I had no trouble holding it. The glow was massive, the people at the wedding could no longer ignore the radiance. They seemed to wonder, they seemed to be confused. The music stopped and so did their dancing. Did they fear this light? Or did they think this was something divine that would bless their petty wedding ceremony? Well, whatever it was they thought, their answer would be given within seconds. I smashed my sword into their direction, the light now fell upon them and within seconds eradicated them without mercy. Their blood and guts was splattering all over the place. There were those who survived and tried to run away, but even they were slashed down by my comrades who jumped into the mixture of wedding guests and attacked them with their swords. It was a cruel massacre. If I weren’t already so used to this misery, I would be horrified by the screams and cries of the people. But I was already at the point where I didn’t care much. My goal was the only thing that mattered.

I leaped down into the mass of people, I landed on my two feet and slashed down anything that moved. The ground was covered in red, the blood was flowing, there did not seem to be an end to the river of red. I wondered, would it make sense to gather more magic and send another blast into the masses to get rid of them? When I looked around I realised that my comrades were too close to the guests, they’d get eradicated too if I went that way. Hmph, fine then this will be done the old way. Not that I mind. It was rather refreshing to fight physically like this. Though, it would be even more fun if the opponents could actually defend themselves.

I slashed.

And slashed.

And slashed.

It was like a job I carried out. It actually was a job, I was getting paid for this, I was able to fill my stomach by doing this. But this wasn’t what I was after, if it was money I wanted then I could have done any other job. It was the information about my sister I desired. And yet, I felt relief killing all these people. How could they be so careless? Celebrating a wedding when people like my sister were gone without a trace.

FUCK THEM.

I thought as I slashed a guest's skull in half.

‘KEEP IT UP MY HONOURABLE COMRADES! KILL THEM ALL AND SHOW THEM ALATUARION IS THE ONLY TRUE GOD OF MERCY!’ My comrade screamed as he held his bloodied sword up. The other comrades roared, they were enjoying this, they were full of blood lust. They even laughed as they slashed the guest’s apart.

This went on for about an hour, not longer. The guest’s didn’t have any way to defend themselves, and they were stupid enough to throw this party without any security guards.

Hmph. So all was done now.

‘Haxamanis.’ I raised an eyebrow as I heard this familiar voice call out to me. Huge breasts were jumping up and down as the redhead rushed towards me. Oh.. really now? This annoying woman again.

‘Hey are you alright?’ She asked as she grabbed my arm. Ugh, did she always have to be this pushy and annoying?

‘I am. Like I’d get injured in a one sided fight like this.’ Was my reply. I hope she realized just how annoyed I was.

‘Great! I was worried about you! But then again, these screams were just the enemies and not yours! I wouldn’t ever forgive myself if you got injured here!” She hugged my arm between her large breasts. Ugh. Really now, was this necessary? We were at a battlefield here, I did not need this type of attention!

‘We’re done Haxamanis. Let’s gather all the riches these bastards are hiding here and leave. We send the message we came to send. The newspapers will be full of this.. massacre.’ A comrade of ours smirked. He was quite the sinister fellow. I didn’t know why but for some reason I admired that about him. He didn’t need to act like a hero of some kind, he just acted out on what his true desires were. How could I blame an honest person like him? Too many people try to act good because they consider it the norm and society forces them to act good. This causes pressure and frustration in many people and those who are forced to suppress their true desires most of the time end up maddened.

We worked on gathering all the riches, though I didn’t care about any of them. What did all this mean if my sister was still separated from me? My head hurt as I thought about it.

‘Hey look Haxamanis, isn’t this a pretty necklace? If only I had a husband who’d give me such expensive gifts, then I wouldn’t need to worry about anything in life.’ There was her blabbering again. She was the healer of our organisation, Medina. An orphaned girl from a village in the East that was completely eradicated by the Dominus Generis. She was cheerful and goofy, but I often wondered if there was more she hid behind her facade. There might be more to her, but I wasn’t a saint or a saviour, I wouldn’t be able to deal with her miseries when my own were eating up at me so much.

When we finally returned, I felt exhausted. The gathering of so much magical energy always puts a large stretch on my overall well being. I removed my shirt and sat myself down on the bed. Having a bath after this would probably be wise, but I felt like strength to do so was lacking me.

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I never cared much.. but this was one of the moments when I wished she was near me… Even though I left her in Pardesia so she would never be involved in any of these cruelties. In my own way, I protected her by keeping her out of my missions. She probably had our child by now. I closed my eyes as I remembered the woman I got married to, Minu. She was known for her beauty, many guys of our village showed an interest in her. But from a young age, she rejected all of them. She was devoted and obedient, a wife anyone would wish for, and yet he felt like he didn’t appreciate her enough. And in the end, he even left her alone. With a child on top of that. The regret over my decision wasn’t as painful as the regret over having lost my sister however, so I was able to deal with this. At least I had an informant who made sure my wife and child received more than half of my monthly payment. I would never forget them, but I also didn’t assure them I’d come back home alive. I just wanted to find my sister and bring her back to safety, anything else didn’t matter as much. If I died, that was fine, because if I died after finding her, then that meant I fulfilled my mission. I wouldn’t ever allow myself to die without finding her though. I swore that to himself.

I opened his eyes. I did wonder what my child would look like and how many of my aspects it might have inherited. Maybe I can see him or her one day.. funny, I didn’t even know the gender of his child, but that was because I never bothered to write to them. I wanted to avoid doing so, because any contact could be dangerous. If any of my enemies discovered I had a wife and a family, they would be exposed to danger. Minu probably was sad about this, but I couldn’t change how things were.

‘Haxamanis?’ Ugh. This familiar voice again. What did she want here now? Why during such a time of exhaustion and memories returning to me did she of all people have to call out to me?

‘I am coming in okay?’ Well, it’s not like she would have asked anyway, and it’s not like if I said no she would stay outside either.

She stormed into the room with her usual cheerful attitude.

‘WOOOHOOO Haxamanis! Soo! I thought you might be exhausted! I made you a meal! And! I thought maybe you want to take a bath? If you want to, then I brought everything to make your bathing experience the best in years!’ She declared cheerfully.

‘...’ I looked at the food from the corner of my eye. It smelled nice. And I was hungry after all this.

‘Oh? Did your stomach just growl Haxamanis? Now that’s cute! Wouldn’t expect that from a handsome lad like you!’ She held her stomach and laughed.

How stupid.

How was this funny at all? Some people and their strange sense of humour. I frowned and began to eat the food. It tasted surprisingly good. Wouldn’t have expected such high level cooking from an airhead like her.

‘You seem to like it!’ She watched me eat. This was most uncomfortable. I didn’t need anyone to monitor my eating. If only she could leave my room. But then again, it would be rude to tell her to leave after she went out of her way to make this food for me. She had many duties, and I wasn’t the only warrior she had to take care of. There were others who were injured and needed healing. She was probably exhausted too and in need of rest.

‘Thank you for the food, it was delicious.’ I said after I ate up.

‘Heh! For sure it was delicious! I spent about two hours cooking this for you!’ She smiled proudly.

Oh? So she really did spend a lot of time making this.

‘So now then, how about taking a bath?’ She seemed excited asking that, in an almost creepy way.

‘No I’m fine. I think I’ll be able to go for it by myself. How about you go and take some rest yourself? To me, you look pretty exhausted.’ I got up and walked towards the bathroom.

Though, something was weird. It’s like I couldn’t feel my feet properly. Why was… What was..?

Before I realised it, I stumbled over.

‘Haxamanis watch it!’

…….

I looked at the annoying woman in front of me. So.. I didn’t hit the ground did I? No.. Actually, this airhead held me. She used her own body to support my weight. It was clear how difficult it was for her. She was sweating.

Was there even a limit to how stupid she was?

‘Look Haxamanis? You aren’t strong enough to take a bath on your own. Don’t be so stubborn. Just take my offer will you? Besides, you’re heavy! I can’t keep holding you forever!’

‘And I never asked you to hold me, consider your own health a little more. It’s not like I would have died if I hit the floor.’ I allowed myself to slide down onto the floor, so my weight would be lifted from her. I heard her release a sigh of relief.

‘Ugh, you sure are heavy. But that’s to be expected from a man so muscular and hot!’ She squeaked. This was somewhat uncomfortable. And the last thing I’d want to hear.

‘I swear, you’re pretty hot! If I was your wife, I wouldn’t leave you alone, not even for a single night!’ She stared at my exposed chest.

‘How about we both just go to bed and leave the bathing for tomorrow?’ I asked, actually it was more a demand than a question.

‘Huh? So I’m not getting to wash your abs?!’

‘No, you won’t.’ Sigh, she made me frown again. If only she would shut up and leave already.

‘That’s a shame. But I’ll just give in. Let me help you back into your bed then at least. I wouldn’t want you to lose your feet again.’ She smiled and helped me up. I accepted her support and murmured a thank you. She placed me into my bed and put the sheets over me.

‘Good night Haxamanis. Make sure you get plenty of rest. We don’t know how tough our next mission will be.’

With these words, she finally left.

It was strange, just a moment ago I was crazily annoyed by her presence here. But just after she left, I felt like the silence was going to kill me.

Was it because she reminded me of someone? Something? The warmth of a family maybe? The family I was welcomed into after I lost my own?

Dawood?

Sanaaz?

Lapis?

When I closed my eyes, I saw their happy faces in front of me. Memories from my childhood flashed through my mind.

Those were the happier days in my life after having lost my family. After I lost everything, I never thought that I’d be able to be happy again. But then our kind neighbour Rhoozbeh Saidi took me in and I had a big family again. Siblings and cousins. We weren’t related by blood, but it didn’t change anything about our deep connection and bonds.

If I was to be honest, I’d admit to missing these carefree days. But like everything in life, these days weren’t going to last forever. That was an undeniable fact from the start.

I saw many scenes that happened sometime in the distant past before my eyes.. Warmth, smiles.. peacefulness.

These were things I had lost when Dawood, Sanaaz and Lapis left. When they left, it was like I experienced the death of my parents and disappearance of my sister all over again. I wondered, was I ever going to be happy? Was I not allowed to be happy? Was this to be my fate from when I was born?

Laughable.

I wasn’t even worth happiness.

Hahahaha!

I really couldn’t do anything but laugh to myself about this.

Everyone was gone. No one cared.

Medina was the only one who cared.

She was an airhead.. but she cared.

Never mind. This was never about me to begin with. This is about finding my sister. I committed the greatest sin by not being able to protect her. Now I have to deal with the consequences of my failure. Everything is my punishment. And I deserve all of this. There was no need to pity myself.

I finally drifted off into a sleep. My mind wouldn’t have allowed me to fall asleep with such thoughts.. but my body needed the rest and took it, ignoring the troubles in my mind.

Sleep was one of the things that helped me escape the devastating reality.