Converging Destinies: Part 1

Chapter 87

       The two woke up in the mid morning of the next day. The noise outside the window was gradually getting louder as more and more people went out on their daily business. Cedric and Eris awoke, got dressed for the day, went downstairs for breakfast, and went back up to their room.

       "Eris, I am going to help you with this, but, you do realize how messed up it is, right?" Cedric asked.

       "How so?" Eris asked.

       "He said it himself, it's illegal to do this, to kill someone off due to their religious practices. And yet, he can just throw money out and the law suddenly doesn't exist." Cedric said. Eris pondered for a moment.

       "Well... I'm not sure it's quite like that." They started.

       "What do you mean?! He has money, and therefore he suddenly has a way to bypass the law."

       "Are you going to help me do this job or not?!" Eris asked, losing their patience.

       "I am going to help you! But in the future, I'm asking you to use judgement here! Realize that these people can just kill whoever they want whenever they want without having to worry about the consequences. Sure, maybe this time it's for a good cause. But do you realize how quickly this could go wrong?!" Cedric asked. Eris paused.

       "I do, but I can't change it, Cedric." They said.

       "And how do you know that?" Cedric asked.

       "It's like you said, they kill whoever they want, whenever they want. They would all just kill me if I tried to change the system that let them get away with what they want." Eris explained.

       "So, theoretically we could, though." Cedric said.

       "We'd have to be very powerful individuals capable of rallying people behind us, but it can be done. I mean, it has happened before I suppose." Eris said.

       "Okay, so. Regarding this... job? I have a few spells that might help, but I'm going to need a few things first." Cedric said.

       "That's why we're having one more meeting before we do the actual job." Eris said.

       "Okay, I'll just have to check if I have the right materials. If not, then I'll just prepare for stealth when the new moon comes." Cedric said.

       "Okay, I'll just make sure these daggers are sharp, although I think that's part of the enchantment on them, they're always sharp." Eris said.

       "Huh, once we get enough money for Ara' Sei's diamond we should probably buy some other magical trinkets to help us." Cedric said.

       "Yeah, I suppose that would be pretty helpful." They replied.

       "Given, we don't know how much gold Ara' Sei will need for her diamond." Cedric said.

       "Yeah, but five hundred gold is a lot. I'm sure we'll have enough for ourselves." Eris said.

       "Also, how do you think the other members of the group will react to this?" Cedric asked.

       "Well, preferably we wouldn't bring it up. But, Ella's a mercenary, so she would understand. I'm most worried about Ara' Sei. Her and Zerai are tied in all that angel stuff so I doubt they would like it." Eris said.

       "That seems about right." Cedric responded.

       "Don't worry too much about it. Morality is... messy... even more messy than what we're about to do. Maybe I'm just desensitized, but what we're doing is far from the worst that goes on out there." Eris said.

        "I suppose you're kind of right. You know, when I was learning this magic, I was taught many things. I was taught that the natural world was cruel and unforgiving, but there was a level of fairness to the cruelty. It's just, this feels different... worse." Cedric said.

       "I can understand that. You know, after this, I... I promise I'll never be an assassin for hire again." Eris said. Cedric looked at Eris, walked up to them, and kissed them on the forehead.

"Thank you."