The Devil Upon One's Shoulder
- Dying Regrets -

The piercing veil of the night, darkness ran across the surrounding area leaving only the moonlit sky to break through and give way to the shelter that came before. The winds were active, blowing gusts through the air enough to pick up stray items, blast hair flying out some, but not enough to be overly disruptive even so. An overcast, that the moon could barely break through, keeping the atmosphere dark, dreary, and void of the twinkling stars that tend to radiate and filter in the sky above.

In that night, the main focus held nothing more then a simple cottage, alone and to itself, the evening nights affairs winding down in what appeared to be an establishment of rest and relaxation, a tavern and inn. A place where weary travelers could come together to lay their heads down for the evening, to unwind, before their various travels would pick back up and their travels begun anew. At the edge of small, farming village, there wasn't much in way of activity or even high traffic in the area typically.

In that night the small family of four that tended to run the inn and live within the bottom floor, had but one weary travelled, cloaked, face hidden under elaborate hat and mask, at first they held distant from the traveler, but they swiftly warmed up to them and now on the top floor in a private room, they held capable of spending the night in solitude to their own relaxation, to their own devices.

...Yet lingering in the shadows, much as the expectations of life never held certain, the winds of change were flowing through the area indeed. With every gust of wind, blowing through the leaves of the trees, there was someone watching, waiting, stalking, prowling within the shadows themselves, keeping her distance and merely watching. Pressed with her backside to a tree facing the inn, her Jade-cast gaze was illuminated within the atmosphere.

She seemed to be staring outward, in wait, or perhaps stalling forth in whatever she must do next. There was a soft grumble from behind a soft fabric that masked her features, the stalling nature of the woman. Each passing moment seeming to cause further almost anxious notions within the lithe woman. "Something about this job doesn't feel right." She stated to herself, a soft murmur following, her brows tensed, furrowed as she tried to better keep herself from returning to that pace she so often found herself within.

An odd voice, soft, demure, almost...delicate, yet sharp, smooth, eerie all the same seemed to radiate from around. "You poor, simple girl..." It stated in it's silence, "What do you mean the job doesn't 'feel right'...? Have you forgotten why you're -here-...?" The very words lingered, echoing out 'Why you're -here-' almost sound like a whisper in her ear before 'flaring' outward. The girl's eyes widened, her head turning to the side, in the vague direction of the voice, yet nothing was there, though it was reactionary at best, she -knew- there wasn't something so easy staring back upon her in that moment.

Shaking her head briefly, she cleared her very throat, "N-no. I...I'm aware how important this is, what is on the line. The information and such. But of course. I-" Silenced by a soft murmuring giggle, a flow of wind particularly violent in that moment, pressed forth, blasting her lock ebony locks forth from left to right, whipping her hair to the side which made the little Assassin reach back and gather it up swiftly, with a soft gasp escaping her lips. That same melodic, dark feminine voice returned. "-Hush-, Little girl...You say nothing but excuses...." The word 'Excuses' once again echoing out around her, it was causing shivers to run up and down her very spine, berated, lowered, referenced as a 'little girl' by the overwhelming sense of the voice that spoke aloud. "I...I'm not..." She tried to fight back yet once again, she was silenced before she could get a word outward.

Once more her voice was cut off, her hand had gathered and still clutched her own long locks of hair but the wind tried to violently send them flying in the air once more, only her grip denying it, keeping it from occurring as it was. "I said silence, girl! NO more excuses...! You -must- do this and for your insolence, your job requires you to kill the girl inside...but I have a task beyond just that...You must learn to hold the sharpest blade amongst this land if you ever desire to remove the head of the serpent that has taken EVERYTHING... from you..." The words cut forth, the quiet whispers once again ringing into her ear, the Jade-Gaze of the woman's waivered, falling downcast by her own feet. She didn't try to reply, as the words once again echoed 'everything from you' again and again, her psyche felt as if it was cracking, risking shattering under the weight of the words themselves. The harshness of it all seeming to bring forth a feeling of sharp disdain, tinging inside her heart, creating a sense of disbelief within her. There was a feeling of disdain, of unworthy sorts, dirty, shallow.

With soft breaths, becoming and spanning quickly erratic she just nodded her head. The voice knew better. "Y-yes Master...A-as your disciple I will...I will do as you s-say...." She whispered out, trying to breath in, to take the moment forth, despite the verbal onslaught she'd taken on already. Her will was slowly being etched into, stricken with disdain and disgust, broken from her very nature and replaced with a sharp compliance. Reforged into what was being asked of her. "T-the one who has tasked this of me, Lian Po, wants her body delivered. What is your task that you would require of me...?" She asked in a near whisper. Her heart pounding in that moment, as her gaze remained shut, head tilted downcast, never once letting her jade gaze lift or radiate outward once more, lingering in her broken shell of self.

"Mm...Man, woman, or child...I desire whoever resides in that building to be left un-waking~ Life will hold shallow within those walls. You will strike and I will lead you to the succor you -Need-." The blaring tone in her ear once again ringing, shivers ran down her spine. She'd been watching this location for hours now, her heart sank in her very chest, as she realized what was indeed being asked of her, what was being demanded. Her eyes shifting upward finally breaking that docile stance she once maintained and instead her gaze settled over her shoulder, once again maintaining a stare within the direction of the lingering voice.

"Y-you cannot be serious!? I...That is, insanity! You know I will not take the life of a child and we both know one remains within! H-how dare you even suggest that I-" Her outraged tone, disdainful, shutting down the very idea that held presented toward her was so swiftly, so suddenly, cut off by yet another sudden angry gust of the chilling wind, once more her hair blasted across her face, waving and marring her features, once again her hand lifted to that tangled mess, obscured and tried to shift it around to her base. She let a soft whimper out, no ability to do anything other than remain silenced. Her own psyche at a loss, as once again that powerful voice sharply resided over her, "Do you not GET it, Little girl? You are NOTHING right now..." That dark reprimanding tone once again cracked against her very essence, her mind shivering, retreating. The very overwhelming tone, torturous, impacting against her psyche keeping her incapable of fighting back as it so often did. Once again she tried to take in soft breaths, trying her best to keep herself from falling over that 'edge' and into the abyss below.

The voice continued, "You are the Phantom of 'Xuetong' by my grace alone, you...have failed again and again, lead your father into despair and disgrace, your ancestors would look down upon you with SHAME, for you haven't the fortitude, the courage, the RESOLVE that your father did, your grandfather before him, even your mother weeps with shame for your constant source of disgrace..." 'Disgrace' rung again and again.

"All...I want to do is 'guide' you, to become the perfect blade...the girl capable of ending the lives of those that haunt your very 'dreams', where...everyone else you run across views you as a tool to be used, to me, my dear girl...you are like my child. My precious daughter...to whom I will ease into her role, I wish to nurture you, protect you...embrace you into a warrior, to whom will never falter in the face of her tasks. No matter if her pride, honor, or empathy tries to keep her from doing what she -must-...For I am simply your Master, your greatest ally. You have -no one else-..."

These words from anyone else may've held nothing to them, made the Jade-eyed beauty simply roll her eyes, yet coming from that voice, it caused her entire body to quiver, lost onto itself, into an oblivion of putrid emotion. Lost will, lost soul, her essence was fading. Tears formed within her gaze, flooding her eyes even more so as she swallowed down, the flicker of wings could finally be seen, penetrating the darkness, as an oddity at night, the wings of a butterfly, trailed, the elaborate shape landed with grace and ease upon her opposite shoulder, shifting as it did, a corruptive disdainful aura seemed to practically radiate from the tiny creature, "You cry because you know it's true..." 'True' rung free, the source of the eerie voice seemed wholly attached to the little butterfly perched, staring, breaking down the woman with it's very presence, keeping her at a total and complete loss. A hand lifted to wipe at her tears, trying to clear the watery nature of the tearful state of his very expression. "I...I'm sorry, Master...P-please, forgive me...M-my insolence..."

She stammered some, keeping her silence but her mind had been made malleable, shifted and broken then repaired under those false pretenses, the words themselves weren't as important as the one that spoken them aloud. The essence of that malevolent creature, whatever it was settled on her shoulder, misleading, poisoning, breaking her down, word by word, cutting off every emotion that couldn't be controlled or twisted into what was desired. Until she let her guard down, her morals down, and clutched the hilt of her blade. "I...I'm ready, Master. I will do your task, I will do Lian Po's task too...I...w-will do what I must. For the mission...f-for my revenge..." She whispered quietly, her resolve, felt wholeheartedly her own, yet it was so fully forcefully placed within, rebuilt, restructured, redesigned. Just like that, she moved forth, as that dark, mysterious little butterfly with the twisted blackened designs across it's wings, faded, melded back into the shadows around her and disappeared with every motion she took.

The moment had only just begun, the task she set out upon was finally at hand and she walked into the shadows before the inn, fading into the darkness for whatever was to come. The lone wanderer sighed softly inside her room, mask settled over her face as she fixed the brim of her hat within the structure of the room. She'd been asked to come down bright and early within the morning light barely holding high within the early morning sky. She'd got herself situated, her hat set upon her very head, the talisman themselves slightly twirling, dangling ever so briefly in the limited motion. Her mask settled perfectly across her features, covering most of her face as she started to walk downward, the sound of the inn itself held quiet, much more quiet then she would've expected. The small family that lived in the bottom floor of the establishment surely was up by now, given they'd asked her to come to begin with around this time for a decent offered breakfast of sorts.

Yet the halls themselves held vacant, stepping on the wood left a silent creak, nothing else of note going about. The two young children weren't running about nor playing, the mother wasn't working about and cleaning up anything to open for any potential early morning customers, nor was the father running the front end of the establishment. Silence. Eerie silence was the only thing that held. Each step forth left an uneasy feeling starting to build, this was far from a normal atmosphere suddenly, the warmth she'd felt coming from this family just the day prior had been sapped entirely. Yet thoughts rushed through her mind, the potential that they had to leave early for -some- form of an emergency flashing through her mind, yet she couldn't help but think of the potentiality of the worst.

Her hand was lingering upon the edge of her weapon ready to draw it in but a moment should she have to, again she was stepping downward, the stairs creaking under her weight and she still heard nothing but the birds swarming about the trees that surrounded the lovely little tavern itself. Caws could be heard, distinct. Perhaps one didn't believe in the omens of the days, perhaps one did, yet it was clear the bird of note held ever distinct in it's sound and any who travelled about may have heard it, an Omen of Misfortune heard, loud, plentiful, at first perhaps it was easy to ignore the sounds but as she wandered further and further down the sound became more and more obvious until it dug deeply into her very psyche.

The very Heavens brought this ill omen forth, what did it mean? Who would harm this innocent young couple and their lovely children? These thoughts ran through her mind, yet the absurdity of it all, the malice that felt in the air, almost as if she were being watched clung to her very sense of self in that moment. Yet when her eyes darted around there was -nothing-, no one, just the lingering darkness, not quite removed from the limited light of the sun still lifting into the remnants of the night sky itself.