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The Last Midnight
“I thought I told you I wasn’t taking anymore missions this week?”
Yakov jumped at the annoyed, lightly accented voice coming from the dark entryway of his office. He glanced up from his pile of mission reports scattered across his mahogany desk, making eye contact with glowering blue eyes glowing from within the shadows.
This was nothing new.
As a trained spy, and only Shadow Summoner within the syndicate, Victor Nikiforov was literally the master of darkness. He was silence, the whispers on the breeze, the feel of eyes penetrating your back. No one ever saw him unless he wanted them to, and usually it was too late to do anything about it.
“You are the only one that can complete this mission. It requires your...expertise. Also, they requested you, specifically. “
Victor emerged from the dark hallway and strode into the room ; the warm light from Yakov’s office highlighting his moonlight hair cascading over his shoulder in a solid plait. His ombre pink-magenta jacket hugging his broad shoulders, black leather pants molding to his muscular legs, gold accents reflecting the light in the room. When one looked close enough, the outline of daggers could be seen strapped to Victor’s arms inside his jacket sleeves, the only indication he was a threat. Victor’s daggers were forged from high density black steal, mined from the the caves of Hasetsu. It was the sign of a Master class summoner, and a high ranking officer of the Royal Syndicate. They had been personally crafted and delivered by the Prince himself, Prince Yuuri Katsuki: Master Summoner of Light. They had been gifted to Victor upon his successful return from a covert and dangerous operation to infiltrate a major branch of the dark faction Quad Axel; thus leading to the subsequent arrest of Quad Axel’s number two wanted leader: Michele Crispino.
Yakov watched Victor with a critical eye. As always, Victor stood at attention, carefully eyeing his surroundings, focusing mostly on the shadows in the room, as if waiting for an assassin to jump out and attack. Lethal. Focused. Serious. Attributes that were trained with a heavy hand into him when he was a child. As long as Yakov had known Victor, he has never seen him do anything other than stare directly ahead, showing no emotion on his face when he was being given an assignment. His dedication to every mission was the leading contributing factor to the continuous prosperity of the kingdom of Hasetsu, and the peaceful reign of the Katsuki family. He was the ideal spy, a loyal comrade, and the perfect role model, everyone in the Royal Syndicate wanted to be like him. Victor never turned away the younger members, always giving them helpful advice when he saw them struggling. Always serious during a mission assignment, unless-
“It involves Prince Yuuri, Victor.”
And just like that Victor looked Yakov in the eyes with a gentle smile, “What does my Prince request of me?”
“Actually, Victor, it’s his parents that are requesting you and your expertise. They received word from Lord Chulanont that his Hamsters were able to intercept and translate an encrypted transmission between Quad Axel’s leader Cao Bin and someone called “Salchow”. It appears that Cao Bin is looking to hire an assassin to take out Prince Yuuri. And he wants it to look like you did it.”
“Mission Accepted.”
“Victor--”
“No, Yakov. I will not hold on. I’ve already heard enough. My Prince is in danger. Whatever else you have to tell me about this assignment can be added to the dossier that I’ll pick up after talking to Lord Chulanont and Their Majesties. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have important people to see.” With a snap of his fingers and flick of his wrist, the lights flashed and Victor was gone.
“You never cease to surprise me Vitya. Good luck.”
~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~
Lord Phichit Chulanont was amongst the most trusted intel gatherers in Hasetsu. Intelligent beyond his years, Phichit had designed and created the leading technology that aided in reconnaissance missions and security of Hasetsu. His number one creation: Hamsters. Made to look like actual rodents, Hamsters were microbots equipped with tracking, recording, translation, and navigation functions. The microbots were able to slip in and out unseen; easily deployed throughout the kingdom and usually left behind at key locations during missions. Able to relay information back-and-forth between other Hamsters, they were integral to the security of the Kingdom. The data contained and shared within each Hamster was only retrievable by Phichit and a mysterious individual within the Royal Syndicate known only as “Eros”.
It was during a routine data collection that a Hamster left behind at a thought-to-be-abandoned Quad Axel base, that Phichit was notified that a Hamster had intercepted and translated an encrypted transmission between Cao Bin and someone going by “Salchow”. In the transmission Cao Bin had specifically stated that he wanted Prince Yuuri to be assassinated in a way that made it look like Prizrak was the culprit.
Knowing that everything was now second to the newly received information, Phichit made his way to the central office to send the information to Their Majesties. He knew it would be a matter of minutes before they created the mission request and sent it to Yakov to inform Prizrak. Phichit could only hope that when he arrived, he wouldn’t cause a massive blackout like last time. Shivering to himself, Phichit started to prepare for the imminent arrival of Prizrak. He wasn’t going to be happy.
As Phichit predicted, it was only minutes before Prizrak appeared.
“Prizrak, so nice of you to not cause a blackout like last time.”
“Cut the crap Phichit, not in the mood for formalities. Yakov said that your Hamsters translated a encrypted transmission talking about assassinating Yuuri. Give me all the information you have. I already talked to Their Majesties and they only told me they will have Eros protect Yuuri until I return and that they want me to find out who “Salchow” is and prevent them from getting to Yuuri. I am not to engage Cao Bin, nor am I to engage “Salchow”. This is purely an information retrieval. Upon my return I am to contact Their Majesties so they can set up a meeting with Eros, who will then be the one to take out “Salchow”.”
“I believe that is the most I have ever heard you say during a mission briefing. I don’t blame you.” Phichit turned his back to gather the data. “The transmission came from the base where you caught Michele Crispino. My first guess would be his sister, but she’s been traveling with Mila and Yurio for months now. Not to mention, she was cleared of any affiliation to Quad Axel and her brother. I think it is someone else that has ties to Michele. The enthusiasm of which “Salchow” is taking in this request tells me it is someone looking for revenge.” Phichit handed the data to Victor, staring at him intently.
“Find them Victor. Stop them. I will help Eros protect Yuuri. But remember, Yuuri is also a master summoner. He will be fine.”
“I know Phichit. Tell him I will see him soon.” Once again with only a flicker of the lights, Victor had merged with the shadows and disappeared.
“Sooner than you think, Victor. Sooner than you think.”
~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~
Prizrak emerged from the shadows of the trees overlooking the cave entrance of the previously “abandoned” hideout. Thinking back to the last time he was here, Prizrak recalled all the people that were constantly surrounding Michele. He thought about who amongst them would desire revenge against the royal family. Remembering one individual that was consistently hovering around Michele, Prizrak believed he now knew who “Salchow” was. He only needed to confirm his suspicions. He slipped back into the shadows and made his way into the hideout.
There! Huddled next to a dying fire was Michele’s lover, Emil Nekola. Next to Emil was a dark blade engulfed in cursed magic. He could feel the malice coming off the blade. With his suspicions confirmed, Prizrak slipped back out of the hideout to report back to Their Majesties and to meetup with Eros. He never saw the knowing look that followed him out.
~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~
Like everyone else, Victor didn’t know much about Eros other than the essentials. Eros was male. He was a well trained assassin, only used for high priority targets. He was Prince Yuuri’s personal bodyguard, his identity unknown to everyone but Yuuri, Phichit and the rest of the royal family. It occasionally bothered Victor that he couldn’t be Yuuri’s personal bodyguard, but he accepted it because no one else in the Syndicate could do what he did, nor were they as trained. Victor took pride in being the only Master Shadow Summoner in Hasetsu, able to move without being detected, command shadows to do his bidding, track down would be assassins of his Prince.
In full mission operative mode, Victor was no longer himself, he was Prizrak, the ghost that lurked in the shadows. He was The Master Shadow Summoner. Someone had threatened his Prince, and now they were going to pay with their life.
Prizrak made his way cautiously through the shadows of the street. He was scheduled to meet Eros in ten minutes and it appeared that he would be early. When he approached the meeting area he double checked the surrounding area, making sure that the area was clear before stepping out of the shadows and on to the dimly lit sidewalk.
“Took you long enough, Prizrak.”
Prizrak quickly turned around to face the direction of the voice. It was coming from the single lit street lamp. “I had no idea you were a light summoner, Eros. It does make sense why you would be Prince Yuuri’s bodyguard though. You won’t interfere with his own abilities incase he needed to escape, and would easily be able to follow him. Tell me Eros, is Prince Yuuri safe?”
A lithe hooded figure dressed in all white stepped out of the light and approached Prizrak. Strapped to his back was a quiver of arrows and a bow slung over his shoulder. At his waist was a whip made of the richest leather. Just like Prizrak, the figure had daggers hidden within the sleeves, additional blades were strapped to his thighs. Eros was here, and he came ready for battle.
“He is as safe as he can be given that Quad Axel is trying to have him assassinated. Now give me the information you were sent away for. The sooner this is done, the sooner I can return to being by Prince Yuuri and you can go back to lurking in the shadows.”
Prizrak glared at Eros, the shadows growing darker around him, “If you weren’t my Prince’s personal bodyguard, I would cast you into darkness. ”
“You wouldn’t be able to even if you tried,” Eros scoffed under his breath.
“Just hurry up and give me the information. I feel like there are more than just your shadows trying to swallow me.” Eros looked around carefully, zeroing in on the shadows moving in opposite directions of Prizrak. He saw them shift, multiple bodies jumping out, too many for the two of them to handle. “AMBUSH!”
Prizrak jumped into action. He grabbed the wrist of Eros and made to shadow jump away, only he couldn’t. There was only one reason why he couldn't shadow jump with someone--
“Your a Master Class Light Summoner, which means you can’t light jump either. Guess we have to run.”
Had he been alone, Prizrak would have fought with the other shadow summoners, but he was given strict orders by Their Majesties to not engage in any battles while in the company of Eros. Not wanting to disappoint his Prince’s parents, he grabbed Eros and took off down the street, dodging in and out of allies as magical blast were being hurled at them. It appeared that the ambushers brought other summoners. A ball of fire, followed by a bolt of lightning shot overhead as they dove behind some hedges. Prizrak felt Eros jerk his wrist out of his grip and heard him swear.
“Shit! This is not how I wanted to start my weekend! My parents are never going to trust me with anything other than assassination jobs. Phichit was right. I should have let Medved handle the exchange.” Eros continued on, never realizing his identity had been discovered.
“YUURI?!”
“...Shit”