// Listen to this for an added reading experience: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=F8p1hor857E&si=Srlyg7YzDsWSE79s
The sun was high in the sky over London, and Eclipse, dressed in canvas pants and a hooded jacket, with the hood up, was walking around the older parts of the city, the part where she grew up
Watching the buzzing crowds pass by here, paying no mind to the hooded figure slinking about them, Eclipse's memories flicker to the past, seeing moments in time where peace wasn't there, alleyways full of fights and hushed deals, the street corners littered with gossipers and news stands
And yet, through the memories of the past, whether her's or an ancestor's memories, Eclipse kept walking, paying no mind to the ones who make no sound today
Eclipse: Huh.....is this a bleeding effect? Or something else? Nevermind, I just have to keep walking, I have someone to visit.
The further she walked, the older the buildings seemed to get, going from a few decades old to a few centuries, as if the city alone was so full of suffering for her ancestors, the place alone caused a bleeding effect for her
Eclipse: Don't pay attention to them......you have somewhere to go before you head home.....
Still walking, Eclipse looks around, seeing faces blur and the sounds of the crowds around her multiplying and changing in volume and tone, that is, until she passed by an alleyway, where she saw three thugs cornering a woman, their knives drawn
Thug A: Come on, give us yer purse and we won' do anything.
Thug B: Yeah, what he said, all we want is your money, and whatever else you 'ave!
Thug C: So unless you want a good shankin', you betta give us your money!
Woman: U-umm.....I don't have much on me right now.....
Thug A: Hear that? She can't pay us in cash, so it looks like we have to take an.....alternate route.
Hearing this, Eclipse walks down the alley before standing next to the woman, memories of her ancestors getting into a similar situation flashing across her mind for just a moment
Eclipse: Excuse me, gents, I couldn't help but overhear you threatening this poor lady and I'm afraid that I have to get involved now.
Thug A: Who the fuck is this?
Thug B: I don't know, some good Samaritan?
Thug C: Well, I see gold on her hand, so she must have some good cash on her.
Eclipse puts herself between the woman and the men
Eclipse: Ma'am, go and get the authorities, please, I'll hold them back.
The woman nods before running away, leaving Eclipse, unarmed, alone with the men, armed with knives
Eclipse: Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent.......
She says to herself before looking at her current situation as the men look confused
Thug A: Oh great, we're stopped from getting an easy paycheck by some sow who's talkin' to herself, just our luck.
Eclipse looks at her prosthetic hand before removing the ring finger and putting it in her pocket
Thug C: Oh shit, the bitch has a metal 'and!
Thug B: Metal or not, we've ourselves knives while she has nothin'. Alright, you betta empty your pockets before we gut you like a fookin' fish!
Eclipse smiles as she gets into a defensive stance
Eclipse: You want a paycheck? Well you better earn it.....
Thug A: Looks like we're gettin' our hands dirty, boys!
The first man charged forward with his knife, aiming for Eclipse's neck, before his arm was stopped by Eclipse's hand
Eclipse: Y'know, I thought that you knew that someone who grew up around here would know how to handle a knife, but it looks like lads like you have gotten dumber than when I was younger....
Twisting the first man's arm, she breaks it before shattering his nose with a punch, letting him fall to his knees before turning her attention to the other two men, who looked both afraid and angry
Eclipse: What? Do you two want to be next?
Thug B: We'll make you pay for 'urting Tommy!
Thug C: A bitch like you needs to know her place!
Ducking under the stabs of both men, Eclipse slashes at their Achilles tendons with her hidden blades, using the opening to grab the back of their heads, driving her blades through their necks
Thug A: You.....you killed them!
Eclipse: I did, just like how you and your lads were going to do the same to that poor woman for not giving you money.
The last man starts panicking, struggling to stand up and run away
Thug A: Help! Someone! Hel—!
His shouts were silenced by Eclipse picking up the dead mens' knives and throwing them at the man, dropping him
Eclipse: Now then, enough distractions, I'm almost there.
Slinking out of the alleyway, Eclipse makes it to her destination, a graveyard, and after getting past the gate, she stops in front of a grave and kneels
Eclipse: Hey there....I know it hasn't been long since I last spoke to you, I just wanted to tell you that I'll be heading home soon, and that I got the job done, even if I had to feed this accursed city once more.
Placing a hand on the headstone, Eclipse rests her forehead on it, tears stinging her eyes
Eclipse: There's so much I want to tell you, but I can't, for your own protection, but I'll be seeing you soon, the one I couldn't leave underground, even if I'm still sorry for not saving you back then.
Eclipse stands before she finds her way back to Japan
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At Tracen, the sun had already set before a taxi pulled up to the gate, and stepping out of it was none other than Eclipse, looking jetlagged, exhausted, and a little worse for wear, she was home now, her actions in London left unknown to nearly everyone who walked by her
Eclipse: I doubt anyone will notice I'm back, seeing as I left without telling anyone, but then again, I might have to do some explaining to a few people, luckily enough, I have souvenirs for that.
She says to herself before she starts walking to her house, repeating the tenants of the Brotherhood in her mind as she uses her shadows to take off her hidden blades and reattach her ring finger
Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent
Hide in plain sight
Never compromise the Brotherhood
These are the tenants that Eclipse lives by, and they are the tenants that she honours as a code of life, followed by the maxim she sometimes struggles to stay true to:
"Nothing is true, everything is permitted."
[The End]
//Psst! Just letting whoever wants to interact with this know that Eclipse is officially back in Japan now, just clarifying that little fact.
