It Wasn't in the Job Description (Dar)

How many nights had he laid here, peering into the stars? Even now, when he could be sleeping in a number of more comfortable or interesting places, in a dozen throne rooms on the earth, above the earth, or under the sea, this was the only place he slept well.

But tonight there was a face among the stars. The face of an assassin, sent to kill him. Of course, Dar knew none of this. He merely knew that someone had climbed the observatory and was now looking down at him.

He grinned. Ever since she had vanished, he had been lonely. His Pride was able to cover this fact, mostly, but at night, when he was trying to sleep it was a different story. He rubbed his fingers over the single smooth pearl on his necklace. Did he regret his decision? No. Power was worth any price, but that didn't mean he felt peace about it.

"Hello there," he said pleasantly. "I was hoping someone would show up. Please, come watch the stars with me. It's a show that promises to entertain: the universe." Dar's silver hair was easily in view, revealed by the moonlight. His sword, a basic longsword, lay next to him within an arm's reach.

There was a bright light, like the sun came out to visit the night. Dar was blinded. More than that, he had a burning headache. Nobody had actually caused him physical pain in a long time.

As the darkness of night returned, Dar was still on his back, grasping at his eyes. His sword was still on the ground. The darts that Lilith X had thrown had all bounced harmlessly off of him. The poison hadn't even had a chance to affect him, since the points hadn't broken his skin.

So, someone had been sent to attack him? Who were they working for? It didn't really matter. There were plenty of people who wanted the world to stay the way it had been for centuries. They had not yet embraced the new world order that Dar had proclaimed.

But they would learn. He would teach them. But first, he had to deal with this assassin.

Slowly, very slowly, the pain in Dar's head was starting to fade. Some unseen object or force was pushing him down into the ground. Though still technically blind, Dar now had enough clarity to act, instead of simply react.

Against the force of the force-field, Dar slowly stood up. With a triumphant punch, he shattered the force field and straightened to his full height.

Dar could not see his opponent, and he couldn't hear her...yet. But he knew that she was near, and that she would most likely attack him soon. He reached out to grab his sword, knowing its location entirely from memory. He grabbed it by the blade, but it did not cut him. Adjusting his grip to the hilt, he addressed his attacker.

"They say justice is blind, and perhaps they are right. Tonight you shall be slain for your treason, and only after you are dead will I see your face."

A noise. What was that? As the assassin's swords slid across his arm, Dar realized that the clanking sound at a distance was merely a distraction.

Fortunately, her blades did not cut his skin. They also did not carry enough force to make him drop his weapon. Dar lashed out, slicing at the air where he imagined the assassin would be, judging from where he had been attacked. With her grace, she could probably manage to dodge the attack, but blocking not work out the best for her. His attack carried 5 tons of force with it.

It seemed like a strange stalemate was inevitable. It would come down to who brought the fight to the next level. Whoever did something truly unforeseen would be the victor. That gave Dar an idea. He started walking in a straight line. It didn't matter which way he was going, really. His destination would be the same no matter what.

There was nothing like a brief stroll in the middle of a fight. His thoughts became less jolly as he tripped. Two daggers collided with his back, but bounced off of his skin. His body was more dense than steel, and weapons in the hands of mortals would be hard-pressed to even scratch him. They did manage to cut his cloak a little, though.

But then he fell on his face. That actually did hurt, a little. The thing that hurt the most, however, was his Pride.

Furious, Dar jumped to his feet, and started moving faster towards the wall. If he could just make it to the wall, he might be able to end this fight. He tried not to move too fast. Tripping at high speeds on a force field would be unpleasant.

"You don't say much, do you? I understand. A fight is hardly the appropriate time. But surely you have something worth saying. Don't you?"

Where were all these heavy panes of glass coming from? The assassin must have had the power to generate some sort of force-field. It wasn't too uncommon of a ability, but it was definitely getting in his way today.

He tripped over another force field, and even smashed his head into another one in the process. That stung. Standing again, he moved forward faster, turning each step into a powerful kick. He shattered a few force fields this way. It would be slower, but he should be able to reach the wall. Unless...

Another flash bang. Ouch. That really wasn't doing any favors to his brain. The assassin took advantage of Dar being off balance and grabbed his neck. The sudden change in weight dropped Dar to the ground. Hands closed around his neck, trying to wring the life out of him.

Those hands would not succeed. Dar's neck muscles were well strong enough to defend against a strangle from those with human levels of strength. The assassin had done everything right, but Dar was not a target that could be so easily erased from history.

He was the King of Earth.

Finally, he knew the exact location of the assassin. He reached around her, grasping his hands together. He embraced the woman, and he squeezed, hard. Dar could rip a tree out of the ground if he wanted to, so knocking this assassin unconscious, or even breaking her spine, should be an easy task. Unless he collapsed her lungs, she should survive, right?

"Well? How about now? You want to start talking now?"

Any effort to intimidate Dar with Lilith X's eyes was doomed to fail, for one simple reason.

Dar was still blind, at least mostly. He could see a very vague gray shape, which he assumed to be the general area her head was occupying. Other than that, everything was white.

A presence showed up in his mind, but it was quickly repulsed. There was only enough room in Dar's head for one mind, a mind that did not share. A vast, unholy presence permeated Dar's mental plane. In this world, in every world (he would argue), Dar was in control.

For the first time, Dar's assassin spoke. What was he? Well, it wasn't like he hadn't been asked that before. Dar grinned. "I am the one true King of Earth, but I am more commonly known as Pride."

Dar would give one final squeeze, trying to knock the woman unconscious. He wasn't planning on killing her, at least not yet. Killing an assassin was rarely all that helpful. They could simply be replaced, usually by two or three more assassins. He didn't consider himself to be a gifted interrogator, so getting information out of her was probably not going to happen, either.

But she was, as far as he knew, human. Or at least meta-human. That made her one of his subjects, and he needed to care for his subjects. If someone had deceived this little one to make her attack her King, then there had been a grave injustice indeed.

Dar would redeem this assassin, and make her one of his children.

Crunch.

Hours later, Lilith X would wake up to a cool breeze. Her armor and weaponry was all neatly sitting on a nearby chair, and she herself had been changed into some very comfortable pajamas. The room looked like it belonged to some high-end hotel.

Across the room from the soft, fluffy bed was a small table, topped with a small healthy meal served on fancy dishes. A note sat next to the pitcher of water.

'Welcome to Olympus.'

Outside, she would find herself in the middle of a city, though not a busy one. The buildings were short, and appeared to be ancient Greek by design. Bright, colorful plant life filled every nook and cranny between buildings and paved walk ways.

It might take a while for her to notice, but the city Lilith X was now standing in was on an island, floating a mile in the sky.