Katarina | 24 | Assassin | Mentions: Open

Katarina had traveled by boat from her home country of Belmar alongside her trusted companion Athena. The cool salty ocean breeze blew through her straight shoulder-length hair as the ship began to dock. During her several day’s journey across the ocean she utilized her time to brush up on the country of Myre. She’d been very familiar with neighboring countries and yet Myre was not one she had gained much information from other than being made aware of a three decade long war that was still ongoing and wreaking havoc across a multitude of its surrounding cities. Such cities suffering from the aftermath of the wealthy did cause pity to arise and tug at the thin heartstrings of Katarina for only a brief moment as the rustling of people preparing to disembark caused her to shift in thought.

Having finally arrived at the Capital City, Zaria, it appeared to be unscathed and untouched by war. Walking through the city it’s everyday hustle and bustle seemed entirely unphased by any sort of war. Unsurprised that this would be the case, it shared a similar geography to one that surrounded The Keep. However, not quite the same having more greenspace incorporated to its core. If Zaria was home to only the most elite she could only imagine what secrets would need to be uncovered or would soon be revealed to her. Every country's most elite and richest families and public figures always had some form of silent affairs under the surface that only required so much digging for Katarina. While Katarina was not one to fondly relish in uncovering such discoveries nor put them out into the public she’s merely learned to remain unsurprised. Having completed years of missions from the age of twelve there was not a single secret that could be gathered to elicit all that much surprise from her anymore.

Having entered the large and very modern apartment building she would grant the front desk clerk a curt nod of her skull prior to climbing into the elevator and pressing the fourth floor button with her delicate dainty fingers. The apartment building, while modern, gave a sense of only being able to house four families by way of individualized penthouses taking up each individual floor. She had not been given much information as to what to expect of her housing other than it providing her with comfort. Katarina felt indifferent, not quite excited nor nervous for this assignment if anything merely profoundly neutral.

Upon the sound of a high pitched Ding! Grasping her single bag of luggage, she and her furry companion would exit the elevator taking in the dining room and kitchen area. Her dark eyebrows would raise slightly with intrigue. Whoever her client was not only selected one of the best assassins in The Keep but also had good taste. The kitchen had white marble countertops and juxtaposing black cupboards with a tasteful grey stone brick backsplash. The island had modern fashioned dangling lighting fixtures that supported shining silvery new modern kitchen appliances. She was actually quite impressed with the extractor hood that sat atop of the stovetop. With a grin she would continue on. The white laminate floors barely uttered a sound beneath her boots and luggage, only the faint clicking of her canines nails would be emitted. Upon her passing the dining room a long dark brown dining table would sit empty and undisturbed with neatly tucked in black seats. On the wall directly behind the right side of the table would sit a long electric fireplace. Hanging above the dining table is an intricately designed lighting fixture adding more warmth into the room. On top of the dining room table at its center sat a bouquet of black roses. Tasteful once more. She’d say to herself, taking a mere glimpse at the bouquet before moving onto one of the bedrooms.

The bedroom appeared even more massive than any bedroom she had ever seen inside The Keep. It contained a low sitting bed, a wooden bench, a potted plant, and wooden fixture behind the bed that served a dual purpose of being a nightstand and room fixture adding more depth to the dark room. Behind the head of the bed would be a stone slate backsplash complemented with cream white LED lighting separating the wooden fixture of the bed and slate backsplash adding a somber ambiance to the room. At the very roof of the room there would be a slim rectangular skylight window allowing for natural light to beam against the dark slate wall. A little moon lamp would sit on the right hand side nightstand and in a relatively large corner of the room her companion would have her own large obsidian bed, having already found it and made herself comfortable.

Directly across the hall sits a dark bathroom that screams luxury as Katarina had nearly melted seeing the large black tub sitting immediately before her accentuated by immaculate bright back lighting. She’d immediately begin turning on the water to run a hot bath. Heading over to the bedroom she would grab a hold of an obsidian silk robe found hanging behind the door and aim straight for the bathroom carrying with her a bottle of lavender essential oil. Peeling off her casual attire of ripped jeans, cropped long sleeve top, and ankle socks. She would inhale the calming aroma that danced richly into the air and lingered in the bath. Glancing toward the large mirror she would study her tasteful figure with a smirk. A shame to still be single, however, likely much preferable for the time being. She would slip her well muscled legs into the relaxing warmth of the tub and allow her body to melt further into the hot water. A small moan of relief would escape her throat as she now sat in the immaculate tub. Her toes would curl for a moment before extending themselves and stretching out. Her arms would rest at the edges of the tub and her eyes would close for a short while.

Laceleaf | 21 | Assassin | Mentions: Open

Laceleaf sighed as she dropped the last bag on the ground.

New city, new identity, new beginnings.

Brilliant. Here we go again.

Zaira City, a nest of Myre’s richest and most influential individuals - and inevitably, the most corrupt and scheming, too. Anyone could tell how incredibly affluent it was simply by stepping foot into any section of the city. The subway Laceleaf had taken to get here was unbelievably pristine and up-to-date, and the downtown business center was home to skyscrapers as lofty as her daydreams could fly. The everlasting war that raged between the families outside the city limits didn’t leave a single scratch on this modern paradise.

Zaira City was beautiful. Zaira City was filled with wonders. Zaira City was what the world could’ve been without the war.

And Laceleaf immediately hated it.

She found herself instantaneously despising the way the richest of the rich used this city to shield themselves from the harsh reality they had created. This futile perfection almost disturbed her. Laceleaf had witnessed firsthand the atrocities these wealthy families - including her own - would commit to protect those precious secrets of theirs, and the carefully crafted beauty of Zaira City was a distraction, a reason to look away from the horrors. At least the other cities weren’t afraid to display it openly. Zaira was hiding everything shamelessly.

How ironic. Laceleaf herself had come here as a “real estate agent” when in reality, she was contradicting herself by adding more blood to the already horrific atrocity that was the existence of Zaira City.

She was here to murder.

Laceleaf snapped out of her thoughts. No need to start pouting now. She was already here. She’d made it here safely, and that was already considered an achievement to her. The subway ride had been smooth, and getting her rental car had gone extremely well compared to her previous experiences with rental car businesses. She’d made it all the way here just before nightfall. Everything was fine.

She blinked. Time to check out the apartment to see if it lived up to the name of “Luxury Apartments”. A rather blunt name, in her opinion.

Laceleaf flicked three different light switches at once, and the dining room, kitchen, and living room area instantaneously lit up. The name “Luxury Apartments” suddenly made so much more sense. There was something so perfectly “streamline” about the entire interior of the apartment, with the black and white complimenting each other in a way that Laceleaf thought was impossible. The golden glow filled the entire open area with rich but pleasantly mellow gold light, balancing the contrast between the darker and lighter shades with a neutral gold-tan color.

She first decided to check out the kitchen. Obviously, this area was designed to be the lighter half of the general open space, with gleaming white marble spreading across the floor and seemingly shaping itself into the countertop. Four gray barstools were placed at the kitchen island, facing the cooking area, where - to Laceleaf’s annoyance - there was not enough room for her espresso machine. There was also a glass door leading to the extremely long balcony that wrapped around the corner where the dining table was, and although it was fairly dark outside, Laceleaf could see the chairs and tables placed outside. Between the kitchen and the dining table, there was some kind of fine line that displayed a clear color switch between marbled white and light grays to mellow gold and darker grays and black. There were two more balcony doors, each placed a fair distance away from the table, although Laceleaf was slightly annoyed by how far the table was from the kitchen. The dining table itself was made of smooth dark wood, probably ebony, with eight gray-ish chairs similar to the barstools, albeit larger and evidently comfier. Above the table hung an unnecessary arrangement of glass lamps - why use so many lamps when you could just use a chandelier? Perhaps feeling a bit lonely and empty, Laceleaf placed her plastic to-go box of sushi she’d ordered from the sushi restaurant half an hour’s drive away on the dining table.

The living room looked like a sacred gathering of couches, chairs, and pillows, all surrounding and religiously worshiping the wood and marble coffee table in the middle. The contrasting colors mixed here - the black and dark gray combining with lighter gray and white into a chaotically beautiful whirpool, and the occasional beige and tan mixed in. A remote control device had been placed on the coffee table, facing an extravagantly large TV that she knew she’d never turn on anyway. From here, it was much easier to see the “loft” floor above, where the bathroom and the bedrooms were.

Laceleaf resisted the shockingly strong urge to launch herself at the couches and bellyflop on the pillows and instead turned to the short staircase that led up to the “second floor”, which was just a balcony-like walkway overseeing the open space on the “first floor”. The bathroom, she found, was unnecessarily extravagant, with a bathtub she knew she’d also probably never use and a shower that was smaller than she’d expected. The walls were a medium dark gray, but the floor and sink was a marbled white similar to the kitchen area, which Laceleaf thought was a bit of an odd parallel.

Laceleaf opened the door to her bedroom, expecting at least a hint of darker colors, only to be blasted in the face with white and beige and a grand glass chandelier that she would absolutely not trust sleeping under due to the fear of it falling on her in the middle of the night. There were comfy white chairs near the large window and - finally, something that wasn’t white or beige! - two darker brown-gray nightstands on either side of the bed. Perhaps this was intended to be a bedroom for two people, but Laceleaf would absolutely be happy to hog the gigantic bed.

She headed back downstairs and fulfilled her dream of bellyflopping onto the couches - perhaps her superiors wouldn’t approve, but what were couches meant for, if not bellyflopping? Then, she dragged herself out of the living room and picked up her bags, deciding that her clothes and essentials were her current priorities and should be unpacked first, so obviously she unpacked and set up her espresso machine first since that was definitely the most logical thing to do. Laceleaf then realized that she was quite tired from all the transportation earlier and that she should probably shower and clean herself first, so, once again, using the wonderful tool called a “logical mindset”, Laceleaf ate the sushi from her to-go box. And then she unpacked the rest of her belongings - which, thankfully, wasn’t much - and showered.

Ah, yes. Laceleaf came into her apartment and the first thing she did was slack off and only complete the tasks that her insatiable hunger thought was essential, and prioritize everything after that.

What a productive start.

Hopefully her assassination attempt wouldn’t be too complicated this time, since her procrastination-prone brain definitely disliked this job already despite having just arrived.