"Meeting" With A Diplomat

[Mathias]

Greece was a place full of diplomacy, full of people that simply knew how to talk and how to think. They were considered to be far more intelligent than most of the world, which was probably true due to their style of living and thinking. Some Greeks devoted their entire lives to simply thinking about the meaning of life and other insightful questions. Mathias thought the Greeks were insane and rather frivolous. He thought them to be vain and absolutely childlike. What kind of people sat around and debated the meaning of life? Who cared about the meaning of life? They should have been doing something with their lives, not simply thinking about them. Mathias thought only about the things that he needed to think about, things that involved him becoming more powerful, stronger, things that finished his tasks, concluded his missions. Mathias went on quite a few of these missions to be sure and in fact he found himself on one at this moment. Mathias had a disgust of the Greeks because of their frivolous nature and he was going to do something about it. He knew that the Egyptian army could crush the Greeks, or at least, his mind he thought this. So, why not start a war? Mathias loved war and more than anything he loved his own legend, his own skill and lust for battle. The Egyptians had an alliance with the country of Egypt, but his pharaoh did not forge it.

Mathias looked almost like an Egyptian. He had the same skin tone, his hair was a bit darker, and perhaps it was longer as well. However, Mathias had learned to blend in very well with his surroundings. He was dressed in the traditional garbs of the Corinthians and he had his hair in a bun so it was less obvious that he not from Greece. However, even still, he could not be accused of anything because the Egyptians and Greeks had a working relationship. Whether or not the Spartans were allies, he didn’t know. He didn’t care; all he cared about was what his mission was. He was going to kill a diplomat. His target was Dibella Valientia. She was a new diplomat for the Corinthians and Mathias had chosen her as a prime target. Mathias was now in an open forum where Senators and Diplomats met and conversed. Mathias walked up to the second level, past a few guards. No one suspected him that much; no one could see the hidden weapons that he had very well concealed in his toga. Mathias walked up and looked down at the open forum. He wouldn’t kill her in the middle of the room that could become very messy. He would wait for her to leave and then follow her to her rooms and there he would do his business. The current task was simply locating his target. It shouldn’t have been that hard simply because there were not that many women diplomats. Ah, so there she was. It was only a matter of time now.

[Dibella Valientia]

Dibella was in the forum, speaking with another Senator. They mostly conversed about politics and about the Athenian alliance. Of course, Dibella knew to watch what she said around the senators, although they were all in the same alliance, she was taught to trust none of them until she knew they were a friend. Dibella, obviously, did stick out among the crowd. She word a dark scarlet colored elegantly made dress. Most of the senators and diplomats around her wore white, but she recently got this from her father and she decided to wear it today to the forum. Her hair was not in a bun and it hung down past her shoulders a little ways.

After about fifteen minutes of talking with the senator, she bide him farewell. Now was the time when she would go to one of the small temples to pray to Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. Dibella made her way threw the crowd, her walk was gentle and fluid like. Although she did look like a sweet rose and completely harmless, well every rose has it's thorn. Under her dress, strapped to her thigh was a knife. She always carried one, just for a defensive measure. She never really had to use it against anyone.

Finally, she got threw the crowd, but she felt as though she was being watched. She turned around, looking behind her but all she saw were the senators talking to each other. She shook her head as she walked into the streets, her brown hair flowing in the breeze. She glanced behind her again as she took a sharp right into one of the alleys. It was a shortcut to getting to the temple, but today she was using it for another purpose. She felt as though she was being watched and she went in the alley, to try and get away from whoever was watching her. Finally, she turned around and began to walk towards the temple.

[Mathias]

Mathias watched the rose as she spoke to a Senator in the forum below him. There was a good name of people around him that helped blend him into the crowd. It was hard to be stealthy when you were the only one standing in a place. It was best to protect your self in the presence of a crowd. The scarlet woman began to move out of the forum after she had finished her conversation with the Senator. Mathias was not in a rush to follow her. He could always find her again and he knew better than to follow her too closely. Mathias watched her as she went underneath him and out into the crowded street. Mathias turned and slowly walked towards the large staircase that led up to the balcony. He nodded his head and beckoned a good afternoon to several people as he walked. He didn’t want to seem rude because that could arise suspicion as well. So, Mathias slowly descended the stairs, turning his head occasionally to check on the position of Dibella. He would not loose her, although he did need to keep an elevated position. It was a good thing he was about a head taller than everyone else. He could simply see over many people.

Mathias watched as she suddenly darted into an alleyway after looking over her shoulder. Mathias frowned, wondering if she suspected something. That would be most unfortunate if she suspected him before he had even had a chance to kill her. It was just make his job more difficult if she was paranoid. He hoped that she didn’t go somewhere that it would be awkward for him to follow as a male; like the temple of Aphrodite. Mathias had to hurry a bit to reach the alleyway, but he knew very well that he could not follow her there without causing a problem. So, he simply walked past the alley and watched to see what way she went. He could always go around the buildings and down another alley. It would be just as effective. Once he had established where she was going, Mathias walked past, very normally and began to walk around the side of the building. If he had guessed her direction correctly, and he usually did, then she would come out a few feet ahead of him and would simply pass him and the crowd of people that he was following with. Mathias looked around to see if he could see any other buildings. Wonderful…the temple of Aphrodite. He could tell that it was her temple by the markings and the statue at the front. Mathias sighed to himself and hoped that she wouldn’t enter the temple or he would have to wait outside until she came out or make sure no one else was in the temple and that was unlikely.

[Dibella Valientia]

Dibella continued to walk down the alley. Her dress and hair flowed behind her as she walked quickly. Finally, she could see the end of the alley and the temple to Aphrodite. She walked into the public streets and she made her way towards the elegant temple. She walked up a few stairs and a priestess opened the door for her. She glanced out at the crowd before she made her way inside the building. She let out a sigh of relief as she walked up to the statue of Aphrodite. She got onto her knees and she clasped her hands together as she prayed.

After about an hour, Dibella finally stood up. She placed a beautiful flower as an offering and she made her way towards the doors of the temple. "Have a good day, Dibella." A priestess said as she opened the door for her. Dibella smiled at the woman. "You too." She said before she walked outside. It was into the late afternoon and most people were beginning to go back to their homes. Dibella let out a sigh before she left the temple and she walked into the streets, towards her father's estate.

Dibella felt more at ease as she walked. She always felt better when she prayed to Aphrodite, since it was a way for her to relax and tell the goddess all of what bothers her. Dibella's gown and hair moved freely behind her as she walked, her eyes staying ahead of her. Her left hand went to the necklace that hung around her neck. Her mother gave it to her, saying that the priestesses of Aphrodite had blessed the necklace. She held it in her hand for a few moments before she put it back to her side, her eyes staying on the road in front of her.

[Mathias]

Dibella went into the temple of Aphrodite, a place that Mathias could not enter. Well, he could enter the temple, it was just look rather odd and Mathias wished to keep himself hidden within the crowd and not raise any more suspicion about his character than needed. Mathias stood in a crowd of people across the street from the temple. Mathias, after discerning that Dibella would be in the temple for a while, decided to go over to a nearby bench and wait for her to exit the temple. He had to find a bench that didn’t have a crowd of people all around it though. Too many people would simply block his view of the temple and that was not something Mathias wished for. Mathias had to make sure that he saw Dibella so that he could follow her once again. Mathias waited, and waited. Mathias was patient and so he did not mind spending the time to sit and wait for the woman. It gave him an opportunity to think about his life, his mission and anything else important to him. There wasn’t all that much that was important to him than what he was doing right now. He was starting a war and wars he liked. He wondered if Egypt to send more men to fight the Greeks after invading Persia; well he would have to see. He would lead the armies and they would win.

Finally, after a considerable amount of time, Dibella could be seen leaving the temple of Aphrodite. Again, Mathias was very casual and very slow to get up from his bench. He blends in with another group of people as he walked, following Dibella at a good hundred yards. It was a good thing that she was wearing red or he possibly could have lost her in the crowd. Personally, Mathias thought there were too many people on the streets in this town. Mathias wondered where the woman was heading. Perhaps she had a home in the area. He tried to remember his target and everything that he had read about her before taking the mission. Yes, her father was wealthy and had a nearby estate. Mathias was a bit unsure of the exact location or he would have intersected her on the way there. It would have been easy to get ahead of her because she simply was not that fast. Mathias walked very quickly and could move extremely well. He was agile and could do things with his body that other people simply couldn’t. Mathias followed, her, closing the distance, a foot for every twenty feet that he took. He didn’t want to get too close but he couldn’t afford to lose her. He walked past a few guards and smiled at them and nodded his head. They returned the same gesture and he continued to walk past.

[Dibella Valientia]

Dibella continued to walk through the crowd, her eyes staying in front of her. Was she nervous that she was being followed? Yes, she was. She glanced over her shoulder again as she suddenly stopped walking in the middle of a crowd. She wasn't far from her father's estate now, all she had to do was to run there. She stood perfectly still, deciding what to do as the people walked around her. Finally, she made up her mind.

Dibella's hands went to her dress and she lifted it up and she began to run towards the estate. She ran up the stairs that led to the estate doors, where two guards were standing. When she got to them, one of them walked up to her. "What is wrong, Dibella?" The guard asked as she stopped to look at him. "Don't let anyone in, no matter what they say, do you understand me?" Dibella said, taking breaths as she walked quickly into the estate, the doors closing behind her. She walked threw the corridors until she made it to her room. She opened the door and closed it behind her, locking it.

Dibella let out a sigh as she put her back against the door, her heart and mind were racing. She closed her eyes and she took a deep breath to calm herself down. She walked towards another set of doors as she opened them, which led out to a balcony that overlooked the landscape. She walked towards the edge and she put her hands on the stone rail, her eyes looking over the beautiful landscape as the sun went down in the distance. Her brown hair danced in the soft, warm breeze that was coming off the lake not to far from town.

[Mathias]

Mathias continued to follow her as she walked through the crowd. Then she did something unexpected. She stopped in her tracks. Mathias knew well enough than to stop when she did because as soon as she stopped she looked over her shoulders. So many stalkers made the mistake of trying to dart into a corner or hide their faces when their target looked towards them. Mathias just kept right on coming. No one had a reason to suspect him of anything and that was perfectly natural. In fact, Mathias walked right past Dibella and gave her a friendly smile as he continued to walk. Of course, he didn’t walk that far past her, but he turned into an ally and turned his head he watched her running through the crowd. Mathias casually looked around the corner and watched her run to her estate. She spoke to two guards and then disappeared into the building. Mathias no doubt knew that she had told them that she suspected someone of following her. However, they had no way have knowing it was. Mathias looked up into the sky and he saw that the sun was beginning to go down. Ah yes, it was becoming night, when Mathias thrived. Mathias knew very well that Dibella’s room had a balcony, most people did and she was a woman and so would want one more than males. So, Mathias would wait until the night. He was going to have to dispatch the two guards and any others around the mansion before he entered. He didn’t want anyone coming in that he didn’t know about. Mathias didn’t like surprises; he liked to know where everything was and what was happening.

Mathias casually walked towards the mansion, followed and amongst a flow of people. Once Mathias reached the mansion he peeled off and walked to his right, right past the house and seated himself on the steps of a commonplace nearby. Their Mathias waited for night, waited for an opportunity to present itself. Mathias figured that if he waited long enough, Dibella would forget the idea that she was being followed and become much more relaxed. Mathias didn’t like going after people that thought he was coming. It made his job more difficult because they were always looking behind them. Of course, that just meant that Mathias would come from the front. From Mathias’s position he could size up the mansion, looking at the greens, the walls, the railings, structure, balcony and anything else that he could use to his advantage. It was good to know where everything was. Mathias began to formulate a plan as he watched Dibella come out on her balcony. He smiled as he thought about the kill. It was a shame to waste such a pretty face, but Mathias would not be swayed by beauty or any other lust of the flesh. Mathias was a killer, which was his lust. Night came and the stars slowly began to emerge in the sky. Mathias looked up, and found the North Star. He knew that he was going to need to know where he was going once he had completely his mission. He was going to need to find a place to hide for a day or so before he could leave. He was going to be suspected, because, after all, he was not Greek. Mathias, after determining that it was dark enough, stood up from his bench and began to walk casually towards the mansion, half staying in the street, half in the shadows. He was going to need to shirk his clothing. He walked into the alley before the mansion and let his toga drop off his body, leaving him only with a loincloth to cover his torso. Everything else was bare, weapons now showing, different devices. It was time to kill.

[Dibella Valientia]

After awhile, it got dark and Dibella walked back inside. She unlocked her door and she made her way down the stairs and into the main dinning area. It seemed like she was the only one home who was eating tonight. She let out a sigh as she ate some grapes and bread. She took a sip of the wine as she looked around at the maids and servants. She let out a sigh before she drank the rest of her wine and she made her way back upstairs.

Once Dibella was in her room, she closed and locked the door. She grabbed her short sword and she put it under her pillow. She changed into a simple night gown and she brushed her hair for a few moments as she looked around in her room. She set her brush back down and she closed the doors that lead out into the balcony, locking them as well. She finally crawled into her bed and she laid down in it, closing her eyes and falling asleep.

[Mathias]

Mathias was now dressed to fit the part of an assassin. He was no longer a citizen of Greece, but an assassin of Egypt. Mathias loved this garb and he loved the freedom that came from him being hardly dressed with anything. Now came the fun part of his job. He got to infiltrate the building. Mathias moved out of the alley. He was difficult to see in the night because of the garb her wore. He stayed in the shadows and beyond that, his skin was dark and he blend into the night very well. Mathias was a proficient assassin; there was simply no doubt about that fact. He moved to the wall underneath Dibella’s balcony. Mathias crouched down and crawled underneath some foliage, listening for anything suspicious. As he predicted, he could hear the two guards conversing. Mathias knew that he could get into Dibella’s room without alerting them to his presence, but Mathias felt the overwhelming need to kill more than just one person that night. It was most unfortunate feeling for the two guards. Mathias quietly brought himself up in the foliage, moving slowly and quietly behind the railings and miniature pillars until he could see the two guards. They were standing in the light of a lantern and Mathias was hidden in the shadows. Mathias figured that getting up above the guards would be difficult and he didn’t know how much time he had to work with so he would do this the easiest way he possibly could. He reached down and took two throwing stars out of his pouch. He then took a third, just for good measure. Mathias, moved his body so he could see the men and then with a flick of his rest dispatched the first, however he missed the second man with his second star, but in a moment he struck him down with the third star. Mathias moved quickly towards them, darting in and out of the light as he moved. Once he reached them, he dragged the first behind a pillar and out of sight and the second into the foliage before disappearing into the foliage himself. So, the first part of his mission was completed. He didn’t see any more guards so he assumed there were only two.

Mathias then moved back underneath the balcony. He looked up and took out a small hook and attached a transparent wire to it and then threw the wire up until he felt it latch onto one of the railings on the balcony. Mathias tugged on it twice before he began to climb the wire, very skillfully, using his upper body to lift himself. This required a tremendous amount of arm and chest strength, strength Mathias obviously possessed. He reached the railing of the balcony and pulled himself up with relative ease, landing quietly in a crouching position. He moved his hands down to the ground to steady himself as he swayed back and forth for a moment. He then stood up straight and moved over to the glass doors and looked inside. He moved over to the right, against the wall, peering in only with his eyes, his body hidden by the wall. He looked into the room and he could see Dibella resting comfortably and she looked to be sleeping. Mathias figured that the door was locked and he didn’t want to make a lot of noise in opening it. However, there was no other easy way into the building. Mathias moved to the door and slipped out a small hook and wire and moved it into the door near the lock. It took him a few moments, but after a moment, the door became unlocked and Mathias opened it very slowly and as quietly as he could. He stepped into the room and then closed the door as quietly as he had opened it. If she woke up, he didn’t want her to see anything out of place or anything beyond what she had left it. Mathias then slipped into the shadows of the room and jumped up into the rafters of the room. Mathias had a unique way of killing. He preferred to stay above his victims and simply drop a knife or star into their neck or head from above them. It was an odd way to kill someone, but Mathias was odd and it didn’t really matter what he did, as long as he got the job done. Mathias had only failed on mission and that had not been his fault. In any case, he moved above Dibella and slipped out a black knife, positioning it over her neck, preparing to drop it into her, to kill her and complete his mission.

[Dibella Valientia]

Dibella still slept, though it was not as deep as she would like. Even though she was asleep, she was worried about being watched. Her dreams also were not as peaceful as she would have wanted. She was running, once again, but this time down an endless road, only seeing the shadow of a man following her. She hid behind a house, but only to see the shadow of the man again as she began, to once again, run down the street. Suddenly, the street below her collapsed and she began to fall, but she felt someone grab her hand. When she looked up, she saw the face of a beautiful woman. Dibella instantly knew who she was, but when she was about to say the goddess's name, the goddess lifted her up and Dibella's eyes flew open.

Dibella looked above her, her eyes adjusting to the dark. Suddenly, she could see the outline of a man. She yelled something in Greek as she grabbed her knife that was still attached to her leg and she threw it at him. Then, she pulled her short sword out from under her pillow and she stood up, standing in the center of the room. "You have a lot to explain for, assassin." Dibella said as she glared at him. "Guards!" She yelled, but after a few moments, she heard nothing. "What did you do to them?" Dibella said, her voice cold and dark.

[Mathias]

Mathias had waited to drop the knife for some reason. He actually half wanted her to wake up and see her killer right before she died. However, this woman was more prepared than Mathias had predicted and in response to seeing him she drew a knife from somewhere on her body and threw it up towards him. She had a good throwing arm, but it was dark and Mathias was very well hidden in the darkness of the rafters and the knife nicked his right arm but beyond that, caused him no more damage. Mathias still had a knife of his own but when she pulled out a sword it gave Mathias a completely new idea about how to kill this victim. He would not throw the knife and kill her that would be too easy. This woman wanted to fight and he loved a fight. If there was one weakness for Mathias it was that he could never turn down a fight, whether he could win it or not. He was fairly certain that he could defeat this woman. She had but a short sword, she was a woman, he was trained and he highly doubted that she had been given the years of training that he had been given. He also doubted that she had the same amount of experience that he had. All of these were reasons for her to not want to fight this man; however the one reason that she had to fight him was greater than all of these. She was fighting for her life. Well, so the fight would commence.

Mathias slipped the knife into its sheath for later and flipped off the rafters as she called for the guards. That was an amusing thought because he knew the guards she was calling for were already dead, which meant that she was all to him. He could see the surprise on her face when she didn’t hear them coming to her aid. She looked at him and questioned him about what he had done to them. Come now, did she really need to be told? Well, Mathias loved his work and he wasn’t afraid to tell her what he had done. Mathias landed like a cat and rolled forward a few feet from Dibella as she finished speaking. “They are dead my dear.” Mathias said with a smirk as he unsheathed two massive scimitars and twirled them expertly in front of him, “But don’t worry, it won’t be long before you are reacquired with them in the underworld.” Mathias said with a cruel voice, “Or Hades for you, its all the same place.” Mathias concluded as he took a step closer to her. His weapons were far larger than Dibella’s single weapon and beyond that, he was more proficient with them than she was. “Tell me girl…” Mathias questioned, “Even if you called your guards, your doors are locked. How would they get in?” Mathias asked with a smirk as he came towards Dibella, bring his first scimitar against her blade, and with his superior force, he began to push it down towards the ground, he brought his second scimitar up towards her head to hit her in the head with the hard hilt of the weapon. He would beat her before killing her.