Hey there, it's TheOneAndOnlyT, and this is Two Angels, which I'm sure a lot of you have been looking forward to. For those of you that don't know, this is a Jaffar-centered story about his experiences with Nino. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get on with the story!

Chapter One
Assassin

He was waiting.

The great, green stone and enormous wyrm-shaped statues of the Dragon's Gate would have seemed majestic to anyone beholding it for the first time. No human could see this spectacle of architecture without being impressed.

Except for him.

His eyes did take in the surroundings—but only so that he might see places to conceal himself, to remain unnoticed until he was needed.

He stood in one of those places at that very moment, in the shadow of a pillar that seemed to stretch upwards forever. His eyes were focused on the two people standing in the light, his gaze upon them so intense that it seemed he could not sense anything outside of them. Yet he could sense anything around him; the softest footfall would not go unnoticed by his ears.

He was an assassin. More than that, he was the perfect assassin. His incredible skill in the killing arts had earned him the title of "Angel of Death," though titles meant nothing to him. No matter how well-defended or alert his target was, if he was told to kill someone, that person would be dead within the night.

He had another target now, the woman standing several feet directly in front of him, his presence unknown to her. Her medium-length violet-red hair whipped about her shoulders as she shook her head furiously, her mouth moving erratically, shouting out fearful words that the assassin did not hear. Her crimson eyes sparked with determination as she suddenly thrust her hand into her purple cloak, drawing out a silver sword.

The other person, the man Jaffar knew as Ephidel, his master's subordinate, did not flinch. His jet-black hair, tied into a ponytail, framed a face with glittering golden eyes that seemed almost amused by the appearance of the weapon. His mouth moved, speaking one word—the word the assassin had been waiting for, his name.

"Jaffar!"

He took one step forward, into the light, so that the woman might be frightened by his appearance—it apparently had the desired effect, as the woman whipped around, then her eyes widened and she stepped backwards as she realized that she was looking at her death. The assassin's dark-skinned body was covered by black pants and a shirt of the same color with a brown cape attached to the back. He had a brown bandana tied about his forehead, so that his spiky hair, which had the color of dried blood, would not fall into his eyes, which were the same shade of red.

Ephidel spoke again, a smug tone in his voice. "This woman is a traitor, Jaffar," he explained.

"No, that's not true!" the woman screamed as Jaffar took another step closer.

"Oh, but it is," Ephidel responded. "You have your weapon drawn, Leila, and you expect me to believe that you have not turned against us?"

Jaffar heard none of her protests. Drawing two daggers from the twin sheaths at each side of his waist, he stopped a few feet away from her, and he spoke.

"The punishment for traitors is death."

His voice was deep, flat and expressionless. It was also scratchy, because he rarely felt the need to use it—he mainly spoke to inform his targets of their sentences.

The woman Leila stepped backwards and put her hands up in a futile attempt to defend herself, but it was too late. With amazing agility, Jaffar leapt forward and slashed once with each of his daggers before even hitting the ground.

Leila screamed and collapsed to the ground. She then whispered something that would have been inaudible to the assassin had his senses not been trained far beyond that of an average person.

"Matthew...I'm sorry..."

Jaffar looked down at his latest kill as blood began to pool around her lifeless form. He did not feel any horror at taking another's life, nor did he feel any form of pleasure at what he had done. He felt no emotion whatsoever. He had simply done what he had been told to do.

"Excellent work, Jaffar," he heard Ephidel say smugly. "Your power is beyond compare."

Jaffar gave no response, as the man's words meant nothing to him unless it was another assignment.

"But your work is not done yet," Ephidel went on, and at this Jaffar turned to him, staring at the man with an expressionless gaze that would have terrified anyone who had never seen it before. The man, however, paid no notice and continued. "We are expecting an attack soon on this location. The enemy leader is searching for his father, and though our soldiers can easily stop him, we must always prepare for the worst."

The black-haired man pointed to a vast set of stairs at one end of the room. "If, by chance, he and his men make it inside the Dragon's Gate, they will have to climb these stairs to reach the portal. Wait here. If the enemy comes through here, do not reveal yourself. There is no route away from the portal except these stairs. If the enemy reaches the portal, you will stop them when they attempt to leave. Do you understand?"

Jaffar understood perfectly. "Yes," he replied.

"Good," Ephidel responded. He turned to Leila's body. "Now, I know just what to do with the body of this traitor." He stretched out his arm towards her body, then raised it slightly. Slowly, the lifeless body rose off the floor and began to float in the air. "I will inform you if the enemy has been defeated before reaching here," he added. "Otherwise, remain alert." He then left the room, magically floating Leila's body in front of him.

Jaffar concealed himself in the shadows of the room and waited.

--

He did not know how long he had been waiting there, but it mattered nothing to him. For Jaffar, this was just another assignment. Another assignment that he simply carried out, without any moral qualms or resentments.

He never had any reason to refuse an assignment given to him. This was not because he was afraid of showing disagreement to his master, as he never held any disagreements either.

That was what made him so feared. That was what made him the perfect assassin—he did not feel emotion.

His master had seen to it that all of his emotions were beaten out of him several years ago, when he was still a child. Now he served his master without question, without feeling, without thought. When his master commanded him to do something, he merely did it. He did not feel satisfaction or pleasure from carrying out his master's orders; he had no motivation to do what was requested of him, but he had no motivation not to do it either.

So he passed from assignment to assignment, emotionally and spiritually dead yet still physically alive and breathing.

--

The enemies came.

There were three of them. A tall red-headed man, a muscular blue-haired man, and a slender green-haired woman. They ran through the room without taking any notice of what was around them. They were apparently in quite a hurry.

Jaffar, still concealed, watched them as they ran up the stairs leading to the Dragon's Gate. Sure enough, the blue-haired man and the woman came back down the stairs after a few minutes, carrying another red-headed man, this one much older and barely conscious. Jaffar assumed that he was the father of the enemy leader.

It was time.

In a flash, Jaffar was at the foot of the steps. His appearance caused the man and woman to stop short.

"You will not pass here," the assassin stated.

The blue-haired man stepped forward, intent on a fight, but the red-haired man called him back, warning him not to fight the assassin.

"Well done, Jaffar," Ephidel's voice came from behind the three enemies, causing them to whip around. "Your job is done here. Return to Bern and await your next assignment."

Jaffar did not question the fact that Ephidel would be left alone against two fighters. He simply turned and ran out of the room.

When the ground started shaking and a myriad of unearthly sounds and roars began to come from behind him, he paid them no notice. He just kept running.

--

Jaffar stood at the bow of the Black Fang ship as it continued its journey away from Valor. Since he currently had no assignment, he had simply stood there for hours without moving. He had no reason to do anything else.

"Hey, you gonna stand there all day?"

A voice came from behind him, the voice of one of the few other Black Fang members on the ship. Jaffar did not turn, nor did he reply.

"Come on, aren't you going to answer me?" the voice persisted.

Jaffar remained silent.

"See?" another voice chimed in. "I told you he never speaks to anyone!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..."

The words coming from behind the assassin were meaningless to him, more pointless discussion of his reputation.

The wind rustled the assassin's hair as the ship continued towards the continent of Elibe. Once the ship landed and Jaffar made his way to the country of Bern, another assignment would be waiting for him—an assignment that would change his life forever.

Whoo, rather dark and depressing, huh? Well, don't worry, Nino should be showing up next chapter. But so far, what do you guys think?
On a side note, I hate having to double space this story /

Please review!!
-TheOneAndOnlyT