Chapter 1: Jack

Walking down the busy, cobblestone streets of London can be really calming, if you’re the right kind of person. A businessman for example would be thinking of nothing but the market and how to increase profit, whether as an assassin would have his entire mind for himself, only to be interrupted by the sudden exchange of a parcel by a random stranger and yourself displaying your next target. In this case that assassin is me, or at least should be. It’s amazing how just one small note could cause me so much trouble. I was walking warily down a busy street a tsunami of people flooding the sidewalk. I knew well that my last contract was six months ago. Either I was getting cut off by them or there was something big planned. Either ending with a big job or… they would silence me. As I battled the crowd a note sneaked its way into my hand.

I stared at the crumpled up piece of paper and not bothering to learn of its origins I immediately opened it up. “Target: Governor Ambadore. We already sent one of our assassins out but she was unsuccessful. We are confident that you can finish the job.” My stomach sank down to my knees. One hundred thoughts popped into my head but one overwriting thought was ‘Death Penalty.’ I couldn’t think straight. If I accept and get caught I get hanged. If I decline I will have assassins out to get me. I eventually decided to do the contract and pray to god that I wouldn’t get caught. I noticed one small piece of text at the bottom of the sheet. “If you fail, we will make sure you don’t get another chance.” With that in mind I made my way towards Alpha Mansion, home of the governor.

I crouched very low under the starry sky and crept towards the entrance of the mansion. What stood before me was a gargantuan fence three feet tall all leading up to an arched gate almost double their size. I put my hand in my back pocket and produced a lockpick. Without hesitation I stuck the lockpick into the large padlock and felt a satisfying “Click” as the lock opened its arms and let go of the rusty chains. I slowly opened a small gap in the gate producing a small “creak” and squeezed through into a verdant courtyard. Ahead of me was a straight cobblestone path leading off in several directions to different storeys. Separating these different paths were squares of grass with a thick bush surrounding the perimeter of each. As I was analysing my surroundings I suddenly heard two conversing guards walk down a shiny, brass spiral staircase terminating at the end of the courtyard adjacent to me.

I instinctively dived straight into one of the dense bushes and listened in on the people’s conversations. ‘…seriously though, how does the boss get away with me being on both the day watch and the night watch.’ ‘Well, he’s become really paranoid since that assassin tried to kill him.’ ‘Still, it was just one guy in stupid clothes with a knife. I think our swords are more than capable how taking out any threat.’ I stared at my thick, black leather tunic and baggy, black leather pants ‘Are our clothes really that stupid?’ I thought to myself.

Two more minutes of waiting and the guards walked away allowing me to ascend the staircase. What greeted me was a grey, hooded figure with a long stick. This stick had a twist at the top balancing a dark blue featureless sphere. ‘You have gotten this far, but I’m afraid you will get no further.’ The figure said in a deep booming voice. I rushed forward with my dagger drawn and attempted to slash this person. I was unsuccessful however as with one wave of his stick I froze in mid-air with a bright white glow around me. ‘You are not the first person to try and murder the governor. I am prepared. I will make sure every guard in this city knows your face.’ The person then thrust the stick toward me and sent me flying through the wall and over the courtyard landing just outside of the fence.

Chapter 2: Jack

I started to run away trying to comprehend what I had just witnessed. My terrified running was brought to an abrupt end as I quit literally ran into a pub. ‘I think you’ve had a bit too much to drink already mate!’ scorned a voice from inside. I slowly got up and whilst still groggy I went inside the building. It was a very cramped bar with neatly lined up tables. The tables were surrounded by four chairs each occasionally being inhabited by someone.

I stumbled slowly towards the counter and sat as nonchalantly as I could not making eye contact with anybody. ‘What’ll it be?’ came a voice emitting from a very hefty man on the other side of the counter. ‘I…I..’ll have a…beer.’ I responded not doing well to hide my fear of what I had just witnessed earlier. After a bit of messing about behind the counter the bar man brought me a slightly overflowing mug of greyish yellow beer. While I stared at this strange drink wondering if it was poison or not the man suddenly broke the silence. ‘Look, I know the face of somebody who’s seen somefin’ really messed up. So what’s your story bud?’

I stared at him for what seemed like an eternity before finally saying ‘Do you believe in magic?’ This managed to leave him dumbfounded for a second ‘Why do you ask?’ ‘Well, I was just attacked by someone using magic.’ The bar man seemed at a loss for words as his eyes rolled everywhere as if he was trying to find a response somewhere in this pub. Before he could start a sentence a hand suddenly rested heavily on my shoulder. ‘So you have met Derruk the caster?’ My reply came almost instantly ‘You mean the hooded person?’ ‘Yeah!’ she responded ‘The one in the governor’s mansion, how did you meet him?’ ‘Well…’ I began without inhibition due to my grogginess. ‘I was actually trying to assassinate the governor and…’

We both froze. ‘So you’re an assassin?’ I asked ‘Yeah… You are too.’ I thought back to the note “…we will make sure you will not get another chance.” I stood up knocking my mug to the floor as she did the same. ‘You were sent here to kill me!’ I yelled with a mixture of fear and hate in my voice. ‘You’re lying! You were sent to kill me!’ she yelled back. We both slightly relaxed the shame and awkwardness setting in. I made a chuckle to try and break the silence, causing only more silence. ‘Well seeya then.’ I said hastily trying to keep my cool.

‘Wait!’ I heard a familiar voice yell through the white noise of the crowd. I span around too greet this voice. ‘Here’s the thing, the agency is after both me and you, and probably not going to stop until we’re dead. But maybe if we finish the job they will consider letting us back in.’ A million thoughts rushed into my head only staying just long enough to be registered. Should I? Will they let me back in? Can I trust this woman? After thinking for what felt like a century I finally gave my answer… ‘Yes.’ ‘Okay good. But we need to wait a bit for the heat to be off us.’ She turned ‘It’s Jill.’ she replied

Now this is the part of the story where I switch to third person. Sorry for the inconvenience.

A week passed by since that conversation ended. The two had decided to split up to get more information. Jack was laying in a damp alleyway a thin sheet of square metal covering him giving the illusion of warmth. A figure blocked out the sun. ‘You seem to be doing well for yourself.’ The figure commented. ‘It’s you. Have you got anything?’ ‘Yeah, a map.’ Jack sat up with a confused look on his face. ‘A map? What use is a map?’ ‘It was pretty damn hard to get this.’ Jack stood up using the nearby wall for support. ‘Why do we need a map?’ Jack asked ‘It’s not just any map. I could’ve gotten one of those inside five seconds. This map is enchanted.’ Normally that would have sent out fits of uncontrollable laughter, but after witnessing a wizard using just one spell all Jack did was watch and listen.

Jill cocked her head left and right looking for unwanted onlookers. After surveying her surroundings she undid the thin lace tied to the wooden rollers and unravelled the parchment. What lay inside was just a blank piece of paper. ‘This is…’ ‘Oh yeah! It needs heat’ she interrupted. Jill reached into her back pocket and pulled out a weathered matchbook. She yanked out a match and violently struck it against the wall setting it alight. ‘Wait what are you…’ Jack tried to say before being cut off by the abrupt drop of the match onto the paper. A Fireball sprouted from the paper rising into the air and causing a map to appear.

‘So what did you get?’ she asked smugly. ‘I…I got some lockpicks and managed to contact an old friend.’ ‘In a week?’ she asked exasperatedly. ‘Trust me.’ Jack said ‘This guy is really good.’ Jill stared at Jack and sighed. ‘What’s so special about the map then?’ Jack said hurriedly trying to change the subject. ‘Well along with the whole hidden thing it also shows people and where they are.’ Jack looked down at the map and inside the large dot with ‘CENTRAL CITY’ written underneath it were two small arrows. ‘Those two dots are us right?’ Jack asked ‘Yep, and all you need to do to find someone is to just say their last name followed by their first name.’ Jack stood there his mouth gaping open.

Jack bent down with his face centimetres from the map. ‘Governor Ambadore Marcellus.’ Jack said to the map expecting a reply. An arrow slowly faded in with AM underneath it. The arrow was completely still. ‘Lazy beggar’s probably sleeping.’ Jill said in an annoyed tone. Jack once again leant down and quietly whispered a name causing an arrow to appear in the far top right with “JM” underneath it. ‘That’s your friend isn’t it?’ She asked ‘Yeah, it’s gonna take a fair bit of walking to get there. Unfortunately I’ll have to take the map with me.’ Jill flicked her eyes back and forth between the map and Jack until she slowly rolled up the map and gave it to Jack. ‘Thanks.’ Jack hastily said before turning around and briskly walking away with his head held low. Jill widened her eyes realizing she had forgotten to give him the matchbook. She sped out of the alley clutching the matchbook in her right hand but by the time she had gotten out Jack had been dissolved into the sea of people that lay before her.

Chapter 3: Jack

Jack hurriedly walked through the crowd of people side-stepping and hopping out of peoples’ way with the grace of a gazelle. Jack suddenly stopped and stared in front of him. Two colossal wooden gates stood before him towering over him like giants. At the foot of the gates were four guards wearing nothing but white tinted full body armour with a boar insignia burnt into the chest plates. They were moving around uncomfortably and readjusting their feet so they didn’t sink into the mud, trying desperately to keep their posture. Jack ran behind a near-by hay bale and moved his eyes speedily over the scene. After five minutes of intense searching Jack slammed his fist on the hay bale in anger. ‘Nothing!’ He thought to himself. Jack looked above and saw a loose brick hanging half out of its fitting. Jack hummed to himself in uncertainty but in a fit of impulses leapt from the hay bale and outstretched a hand gripping the brick with all of his strength.

He stared up at the wall; it was just smaller than the gates- but only just. Jack continued to find loose bricks among the strong ones and continued to climb and climb. Almost running out of strength he reached up for the next brick but instead of feeling the sharp contours of a brick Jack felt the smooth surface of a wall. Jack slowly hoisted himself up and onto the wall. He panted, not being able to concentrate on anything but the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. Then, time seemed to freeze as Jack heard from one of the ants below ‘There’s someone on the wall! Guards!’ All of a sudden a commotion erupted down below. People were looking in Jack’s direction. Jack heard the sound of a sword being slid out of its scabbard echoed from every guard’s scabbard.

Jack immediately stood up his face turning red with sweat. The guards were pointing in every direction and trying to shout against the white noise of the crowd. Jack looked at the other side of the wall and the difference between the sides of the wall was jarring. On the city side it was muddy lined with grassy patches, but on the other side there was nothing but pale brown sand flats stretching away until being cut off by rows of small mountains the same colour. Jack stared down at the outside of the wall and the 13 meter drop that came with it. Jack slowly inhaled and lowered himself down the outside of the wall. He exhaled and jumped off. He landed on his right side creating a ring of sand in the air with a painful pop emanating from his shoulder. By the time the guards managed to open the gate and rush out Jack was nothing but a speck on the horizon.

The world was blurring all around Jack. The desert seemed to stretch on forever with only the approaching mountains to comfort him. The wild, almost drunk movements of his legs only exacerbated the throbbing pain of his arm. Jack drew an exhausted sigh before collapsing to the ground clutching his right arm. He stared at his arm. It was much lower than normal with the pink of his skin shrouded by the purple of pain. Everything was starting to go grey, the desert spinning into a horrible black melancholy. Jack was deciding whether to stay in this dream state forever until a giant glowing hand suddenly reached toward him its palm outstretched. Jack turned his head and walked further into the pitch black. He was tired of the mortal world and had no more business there. A low rumbling noise started emanating from behind Jack. He turned back and saw the hand slowly turn the deepest of red and vibrate back and forth. Jack began to run away slowly feeling himself slip away from life until the hand yanked him away from the darkness and straight into the light.

Jack opened his crusty eyes; the light of the afternoon flooded his eyes and blinded him for a second before he refocused. Jack sat up using his hands as supports. Jack looked to his right arm and to his relief his arm was in the right position, the purple colour was still there but covered a much smaller area. Jack touched his arm and felt nothing. Jack looked around. The circular room he was in was immensely small being at most two meters in diameter. It was panelled all across the walls and floor with large, dark brown wooden slabs. There was no roof which gave a clear view of the red afternoon sky. There were no noises except the crackling of the fireplace and a hunched man slowly stirring a pot and singing a shanty in a dull monotone.

‘Hey buddy, where am I?’ Jack asked with slight weariness. The man spun his head around with fear and confusion on his face. ‘You weren’t supposed to wake up yet! I expected at least a few more hours.’ Jack cocked his eyebrow ‘What are you talking about?’ Jack said to the panicking man. ‘Please, just get out of here. The curse will take hold at any second.’ Jack could swear the man was slowly growing. Jack leapt to his feet. ‘Can you please just slow down?’ ‘No, there’s not enough time. Please just go.’ The other man said with increasing deepness. The moonlight started to shine down into the little house. Jack opened his mouth to speak once more but was silenced by the man in front of him. The other man’s skin on the top of his head broke apart. A giant with red hair and a long beard climbed out of the skin that once housed a hunchbacked man.

Jack slowly stepped back as the giant jerked his head back and roared. He was at least three times as tall as Jack and smelled twice as bad. Jack dived behind the table to his right. The giant started to walk around slowly; studying everything as if he were just born. Jack held his breath trying to wish the beast away. The giant turned around and walked into the wall and completely demolished it. The rest of the house started creaking and suddenly collapsed burying Jack in a pile of rubble. ‘Great.’ Jack thought to himself. He scraped away the rubble and saw one of those dark brown wooden slabs lying across his chest.

Jack got his arms ready to push but was interrupted by a giant hand grabbing him. The hand pulled Jack up and revealed that it was attached to a giant. The giant stared at Jack with confusion. The giant cocked its head as it started tightening its grip on Jack. Jack started pushing against the force without any result. ‘Sorry.’ Jack said as he slid his dagger out of its scabbard and thrust it down into the giant’s knuckle. The giant howled in pain and let go of Jack. Jack hit the ground on his hands and knees and looked up at the giant. The giant stared at Jack with fear for a second then turned and ran away.

Jack sighed and got to his feet. He took out the map and stared at his old friend’s initials. It was still in the same place as before. Jack darted his eyes back and forth between his initials and his friend’s. ‘Better be off.’ Jack thought to himself as he slowly walked away from what used to be someone’s house.

Chapter 4: Jill

‘Didja hear about the guy who jumped off the wall?’ Jill heard one guard say to the other ‘I heard he died.’ ‘Nah that’s a load a crap.’ Jill was pressed up against a wall her head hanging low so her black hat obscured her face. She avoided the moonlight as if it would melt her on contact. Jill went through the same routine so much it was almost by muscle memory. Hide, wait for guards, sprint to next block of houses and hide again. Jill hurriedly looked at her map. Unfortunately it was just a regular map. She slowly unravelled it and sighed, she was ages away. Jill rolled the map back up and kept walking; she stopped when a loud crack emanated from her foot. She looked down at her shoe and the broken stick underneath it. Jill looked back up and saw two guards staring at her. One of the guards took out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and looked back and forth from the paper, to Jill and back to the paper again.

‘That’s her!’ The guard yelled. ‘That’s the woman who tried to kill the governor!’ Jill was frozen there. Her breath caught in her throat. She shot her foot out to the side and started sprinting away with long strides. Jill was swiftly followed by the two guards. Jill kept running until a dead end was quickly coming towards her. She looked to her left and saw a low hanging ledge; Jill leapt off of her right foot and hit the ledge on her chest. She pulled herself up onto her feet and took one last look at the guards, nothing but a speck at the other end of the street. Jill slowly walked away, listening to nothing but the sound of porcelain clinking under her feet. This rhythm was suddenly silenced as a knife flew past Jill’s ear and hit the nearby chimney. ‘Don’t move or next time I won’t miss.’ Jill heard a gruff voice say.

Jill slowly turned around and saw an immensely tall woman standing in front of her. She was at least two heads taller than Jill and had one eye replaced with a cylindrical metal object. The tall woman slowly walked over to Jill, pulled out Jill’s dagger and put it in her scabbard along with her other dagger. ‘You’re coming with me, I’m gonna get a hefty bounty with you.’ The tall woman tightly put her enormous hand on the back of Jill’s neck and yanked her towards the nearby ladder. ‘Climb down and don’t try any funny business.’ The tall woman commanded. Jill darted her eyes to her right and saw a sturdy chimney nearly directly beside her. Jill leapt onto the chimney and bounced off, smacking into the tall woman’s back and clasping her hands around the tall woman. The tall woman started swinging around wildly like a bucking bronco. Jill slowly reached over to the tall woman’s right pocket and slowly unsheathed the dagger from the scabbard.

Jill loosened her arms and fell off of the tall woman hitting the ground crouched. Jill stood up tall pointing the two daggers at the tall woman. ‘Just get it over with.’ The tall woman said with resignation. ‘I have a counter offer, err…’ ‘Deadshot’ ‘Okay, Deadshot. I have a counter offer, help me with something.’ ‘”Something”? What is this “Something”?’ Deadshot said with confusion. ‘I’ll make sure to let you know.’ Jill said as she slowly walked towards the edge of the brick roof. Jill turned around and leapt from the house with her body stretched out and rolled onto the roof next to her. She slid off of the roof and into a deserted, dirt road being sandwiched by two buildings.

Jill got up dusting herself off. She slowly walked to her right staring down at her shoes, deep in thought. ‘What now?’ she thought to herself. Jill remembered where she got the map, ‘There have to be a few more things that could help me at the central tower.’ Jill studied the sky around her, clusters of stars standing out from the brown night sky. A silhouette of a spire stuck into the sky marking Jill’s destination. Jill hurriedly jogged toward the tower with curiosity marking her breath.

Chapter 5: Jack

Jack stared down at the map and looked up at the giant floating object. He sighed relaxedly at the satisfaction of reaching his destination. The city of giants, a complex of tall buildings built on a solid gold hemisphere, suspended in the air. Jack saw a single rope ladder sticking out of the centre with nothing else except solid gold and dead grass. A line stretched behind it beyond the horizon of green consisting of hopeful people, looking to make a new start. He started following the line trying to get to the back of it. Jack eventually found a spot at the back, with the city of giants barely visible through the mist of the morning.

‘Why the hell is there only one ladder!’ the man in front of Jack yelled to no one. ‘If they had any more openings the whole thing would collapse.’ the man behind Jack explained.