The Assassin's Change

An apple…Red? Green? Yellow? How can it change colors so easily? How can the taste change so easily? What is an apple? Why is it here? Why not something shaped differently with the same taste? Why not something shaped the same with a different taste? Can the colors not be combined? An orange…An orange doesn’t change. Why doesn’t it change? Can it simply not? ? Does it not want to change? Why can’t it change? What is an orange? Does it even want to be here? If it can’t change, then why be here at all? Can it only change when it is eaten?

Wouldn’t it change for the worse? Why is it so hard to change? What does that require? Do you truly change at all?

If something was placed on this world by a higher being…What requires it to change? Are people the same? Can we be placed in this world the same way that fruit does? Can we truly change…Or…Do we remain always with a sliver of who we are…?

Dante Retsu sat in darkness. Not the physical world of dark, but a devil in his mind that he could not escape. He killed and killed and killed and killed and killed…

???: “Dante! Your mission was to return the hostage unharmed while avoiding suspicion. Yet, you returned her head along with all the heads of the assassins at the Heo Ji Temple.”

Dante looked at the man with disdain. His eyes looked lifeless.

Dante: ““Kill me. I don’t care. See what happens.”

The man responded, “Is that a threat?”

Dante: “It is whatever you want it to be. Pierce me with a thousand blades. Tramp on my soul. Burn my blood.” He continued murmuring, “kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill…Just give me a reason to kill.”

Akatsu looked around at his guards and assassins he controlled with utter violence in his eyes.

Akatsu: “Fellow brethren…Kill this man for his dishonor.”

The rest of the assassins darted at Dante with swords aimed at his neck. A woman screamed in the background, “Father, No!”

Dante reactively reflected all the blades and attacked the men one by one. He pierced one’s heart, then sliced through his body. In his mind, ‘Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill,’ until all had dropped dead to the ground.

Akatsu: “Wh-What?! All men to the center! That’s an order!”

He continued.

Akatsu: “Aki! Leave this place! This man is no longer human. He has forsaken his humanity. I’ll take him on. Run!”

Aki: “I don’t believe it, father! You never give him the chance to change. I watched him sit in a cell as you tortured him day after day…He did his job, yet…you…you.”

He interrupted her saying,“I did what? This man disregards everything in the mission and kills anyone he sees. You really think he is worthy of anything?”

Aki: “Look at the poor man. You took the life he had! You made him murder innocent people! This is the result of your orders!”

Aki began to walk over to Dante who now lay on his knees covered in blood.

Akatsu: “Aki, no! Do not approach that man!”

She disregarded her father and sat down in front of the man.

Aki: “You’re not where you want to be, am I right?”

Dante’s eyes didn’t leave the floor as she continued to speak.

Aki: “I’m sorry. I don’t know what you’ve been through and I don’t know how to take it back, but this…this isn’t you. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you suffered, but I’m here now. Let me help you, please…”

Dante slightly raised his head, but his swords moved instinctively. 2 samurai swords swung at the young girl’s head.

Akatsu: “Aki! Run!”

Aki stood still with resolve in her eyes, still looking at Dante. The swords stopped centimeters away from her head. Dante fully looked up at the woman, crying like a kid and spoke honestly.

Dante: “H-How? How do I fix myself?”

Aki: I can show you. Leave this place. Leave with me.”

Aki’s father blurted out, “What! Aki! Are you insane? You will not leave this place with that man!”

Aki: “And how is he supposed to understand?! How is he supposed to know what this world offers?! All you taught him was death!”

She broke down in tears as Dante spoke again, still crying and speaking like a 10 year old boy.

Dante: “I-I don’t understand myself…All I know is pain. I have hatred…but for what? I have anger…but for what? Nobody did anything to me and yet I kill them and…I-I blame them for what I am. But…What am I?”

Dante took a sword in his hands and stabbed himself in the stomach.

“No!” Aki screamed out. “Father, get me a horse. I’m taking him to the nearest infirmary.”

Akatsu: “I will not. That man is dangerous, Aki. Don’t do this.”

Aki: “If you don’t get me a horse, I’ll never forgive you!”

Akatsu: “Tch! Aki! You’re making a mistake.”

With the thought of that, the man ran to bring a horse for them. Aki rode off with Dante in the pouring rain to find help. Before getting to the infirmary, the horse tripped on a rock in the road, unable to see far out ahead of him in the dark. They all flew off onto the sharp gravel. Aki squealed in pain, unable to move, reaching her hand out towards Dante. “No. Please. Don’t die…”

Aki’s eyes blacked out.

She awoke hours later in a small shack in a bed next to Dante who remained asleep.

Aki: “Dante! Are you okay?”

He didn’t answer, but a voice called out.

???: “He’s fine. Don’t worry.”

A man with flat brown hair and white eyes walked towards them. He wore a similar outfit to Dante’s.

Aki: “Who are you?”

???: “Just a traveler. I found you guys on the road pretty beat up. Luckily my carriage could fit both of you. This is my friend’s place by the way, although I was the one that healed you both. I do know a little bit about medicine and injuries.”

Aki: “Thank you. Thank you…for saving both of us. How long until he wakes up?”

???: “Shouldn’t be long now. I have to get going though. I have somewhere to be. I’ll be on my way. Both of you take care.”

Aki: “What do I owe you? I have money.”

???: “Nothing. You owe me nothing. I saw someone in need of help. That is all.”

The man left without another trace. ‘That was strange. He helped us and left? Maybe there are still nice people in the world,’ Aki thought. Dante started to groan as his eyes opened.

Aki: “Dante! Are you okay?”

Dante woke up still dizzy and confused, but grasped his bearings quickly. His eyes fluttered back and forth before turning completely white for a moment and then switching back to normal color. ‘What was that?’ Aki wondered. Dante sat up spitting up dark blue blood.

Aki: “Dante!”

Dante: “I didn’t ask you to save me.”

Aki: “I didn’t ask you to stab yourself.”

Dante: “You don’t know me.”

Aki: “Who says I don’t want to know you?”

Dante smirked.

Aki: “That’s the first time I’ve seen you laugh.”

Dante: “It wasn’t a laugh.”

Aki: “What was it then?”

Dante: “I don’t know. Just a realization.”

Aki: “Of what?”

Dante: “Of…peace.”

Aki: “Is that directed towards me?”

Dante: “I don’t know. I guess it is.”

Aki smiled and laughed.

Aki: “Come on. Let’s get out of here. I know a place way up in the mountains. We can talk more.”

Dante: “I…I think I’d like that.”

The two walked out as the sun shone bright on them, holding hands while the door shut on the small room.