The Assassin's Crown

Part 3

2022, June 15th

King Sireno Leofing, age left unknown but a face that is marked with pain, black hair with white stripes with gold once danced. He was a king, a ruler, but had no trust in people. He was a monarch with immortality. A king who forgot how to live.

Aerlic Montgomery, an age left to the times he has spent as a heartless assassin. After 478 years he was a shell of the man who died in the necromancer's magic. He still watched his lover from afar, the only part of his life he could seem to remember anymore was the king. His body became riddled with marks of past jobs, the most notable was the one that covered his chest. A blast scar. His face grew dull as the endless days continued, a curse to live forever possessed upon both men, a curse both blamed on Aerlic.

Aerlic is pulled from his daunting thoughts about that day by a simple buzz in his pocket. It was a new job. 'Kill the king' written in simple letters across his phone's screen. He got the same job that started this mess. His chest swarmed with anxieties and the same dread he felt just before that night.

"Not again." he cursed. How could he kill an immortal king with a vengeance to kill him. He was horrified. He readies his guns and places them along the roof in front of him, they vary in size and design, but the one he wanted was his prized possession of guns, a small antique that has lasted the decades of his dreadful life. A small pistol, wooded finish with gold attachments that showed off its specialness. He anchored it into his belt and wrapped the others back up and into the satchel.

Enveloped in a mask of strength the broken man catapulted off of the roof he was just perched upon. The world around him buzzed with children running between adults who paid no mind, trapped in their technology. His outdated clothes match the castle more than the bustling city illuminated in light and everlasting creatures. He swayed past street lights and open shops, the ring of bells on bicycles chimed as their riders raced past him.

He reminisced about how that used to be him and his lover, running along the streets in a race as they would try to beat the monsters entering the square. He smiled at the thought knowing it was a memory that was soon to fade, dreaming about it before it vanished, turning his face into one full of solemn. It was happening a lot fast these days, he yearned to keep the memories, everytime he tried to grasp onto them, the faster they would dissipate. Soon he would forget the king, he would forget everything.

"Joe." his gravely unused voice rang out as he approached the paying butler.

"Hello Aerlic, I see you conveyed my message about the king. He has become far more hostile these past few weeks. He needs to be put down." The elder man had become the castle butler at age 20 and now at the ripe age of 97 he grew to fear the king. His voice quivered as he stood before the assassin, he knew he would never be able to kill the king, but with the recent events he could kill the veil in him. "If you could just kill the evil in his heart, he has begun to forget, he forgets why he hates you. He forgot."

"He forgot? How could he?" Aerlics eyes grew in rage, how could the one memory he could never forget be so forgettable to someone else.

"He did, he has been wretched since, his anger has doubled now that he knows he's forgetting." The man hands him a black and worn box. Aerlic opens it and his heart plummets, in the box lies the broken crystal necklace he wore the day they died. Broken, just like his heart, just like the day it all took place.

"Does he know you have this?" Aerlic pulls it from the box and kisses the matching crystals. The chain was still broken, now withered and rusted. The crystals and their wraps had begun to wear and fall apart.

"No he does not."Joe speaks up, "he doesn't remember."