Ajax's Story

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Secrets of the blood that once left checkered paintings on it’s body of bricks and neglected pavement roads. Secrets of chalk outlines, small enough to shatter a man’s heart like sugar glass. Secrets of what the moon witnesses nightly as it roams the distance, remote and isolated from the brunt of man.

Then again, the city would be in far too much pain for only a whisper. No. Most definitely the city would cry out in agony. Screams that mimic the sirens of an ambulance, or the anguished sobs of a loved one. The evils of man vocalized into a single shrill howl. Wouldn't that be the voice of the city?

Often Ajax found himself wondering what exactly was worth protecting. Was it better to let man revel in violence, or to witness the numbers dwindle at the hands of primitive beasts? Was it better to kill, or to watch with indifference as the innocent met their demise? He had experienced it once before. There was no way he could sit back and watch. But every life that expired by his own hands took another vicious bite out of him. He was getting tired.

“What would you do, Mirra?” The words were soft-spoken, and indirect. He found each syllable escaping his lips as almost a reflex for moments like these. Times when he was alone, perched on the edge of his intricate stone balcony. Like a king surveying his kingdom, Ajax spent the nights resting on his elevated stoop, a bottle of beer in his hands and the rich scent of hobs tantalizing his senses.

From his throne atop the guild hall, he could see the City of San Clemente in it’s entirety. A place that coddled him in his youth, only to ultimately betray him. Still, no where else would he call home than the portrait in front him, painted on a canvas of high earthy mountains and a sea of evergreens. San Clemente was once a small, quiet town inhabited by no more than a few thousand people. It’s existence was eventually eyed by large corporate groups who wanted to create a bustling tourist attraction. Once the money-hungry aristocrats made their move, businesses began to blossom from the ground up.

Now, more often than not, you’ll see the sidewalks cluttered with tourists in the day time. However, it isn’t until night that the city comes alive. Thugs seep from the shadows to roam the streets, often dragging mayhem behind them like a wicked blanket. Business men frolic in the blind-eye of their families, making their marks on under-ground brothels, and sulking off to bars afterwards to drown their sins in decadent poison. Those who seemed so humble and innocent in the light of the early afternoon now spend their nights dancing with gluttony and lust.

This is the affect that the city has on weak souls, and precisely the reason why Ajax had relocated the Guild Hall to a remote location. Peace and quiet was of utmost importance. Now he sits atop his tower in serenity—the building of which is precisely that. A tower.

Built on the seam where the forest meets San Clemente’s soul-sucking realm, the Blue Empire Guild Hall watches over the region. It’s height peaks above the treetops, while still remaining generally hidden from society. Though it looks large, there are no more than a few levels—the very top of which is Ajax’s domain. Rarely, he lets anyone into his territory, but on the rare occasion that they are allowed his room, an uneasy balance rests in the air. Not many people could relax at such a height. To Ajax, however, there’s nothing more comfortable than standing atop a precipice.

That’s why it came as a surprise to him when he heard the subtle knock on his door.



“You gonna open the door or not, boss man?” Geraldine had been waiting far too long. After trudging all this way in high-heels, suffering through the claustrophobia of the crowded – and grungy at that – elevator, Ajax still had the nerve to make him wait.
Finally, the gruff and irate looking man opened the door. His build was tall enough to block the doorway, and his exasperated stare struck a nerve with Geraldine.

“You’re mad at me? I agreed to be your Officer, not your errand boy. Feel free to get them yourself next time.” He hissed, extending the manila envelope in his hand.

Ajax took it, expelling air from his nostrils. He dumped out the stack of papers that Geraldine had worked so hard to organize, and flipped through them carelessly, mangling the edges and ruining their perfectly coordinated order. He gave them only a glance, ripping one from the stack and crushing it in his masculine hand. He’d throw the crumpled ball over his shoulder with little regard to where it had landed.

“That one’s not worth out time. The rest will do.”

Heavy boots wavered the hardwood beneath their feet as Ajax stepped out of the elevator. The first floor was public area for the guild. Relaxing furniture, high definition televisions, and row upon row of cluttered bookshelves. In the center of the room was the dining area. Benches formed long lines atop linoleum floors, a blazing fireplace in the center of the wall. It was guild regulation to never let the fire out. If by chance, the flame were to be extinguished, one would be expected to re-light it as soon as possible.

Ajax called it the ‘Eternal Flame’ and it was not so much for comfort as it was a tribute to those who had lost their lives on bounty missions. Just above the fireplace hung monochromatic portraits of members who had met such a fate. Just below their photos were displayed various weapons, ranging from metal pipes to worn machetes. They hadn’t been touched in years, and sat collecting dust.

His heart felt heavy, every time Ajax would pass the eternal flame. It was a difficult task, but necessary. To the adjacent wall is displayed a large tack-board, with a few bounties remaining from last week’s runs. The rest had been ripped from the wall, leaving behind only small corner-scraps. Ajax removed each piece of paper from his stack, tacking them to the wall in order from easiest to hardest. He always felt a bit uneasy about adding the 5-star bounties, though they were rarely chosen.
“Listen up.” His voice could shake a room if such volume was required. “Bounties are up. I want this list cleared by the end of the week. As always, you’ll need my permission before attempting the 5-star. Understood?”

The 5-star bounties were a treacherous task, and if they were ever selected, Ajax would need to make sure they had an adequate team. Often he wished he could rip them from the wall before anyone caught sight. Doing that, though, would mean he didn’t have confidence in his team. That was not the matter at hand. They were a powerful bunch. But after all, they were his. And it was his decision that could mean their triumph or their downfall.

"6th One"

Aella muttered as a large punching bag soared across the building, It found it's home in someone's noggin, Leaving a nasty bruise on the person's head, However, The person was either too scared or too tired to care, Business was a bit slow, And on top of that, people were too exhausted to even get up from the seat they were residing on, Even the person that just got injured, rose from the ground and shuffled to his seat, Like the flying punching bag incident never transpired.

Aella, on the other hand was quite excited. Of course she looked at the board right when she entered, Especially at the request to slay the Nandi Bear. The reward was quite immense, And she wasn't going to pass up the opportunity. She also glanced at the other jobs, But they didn't really peak her interest, Killing an over-sized snake and soul-sucking wolf sounded like a good way to pass time, But their rewards were less then appealing, With a small team, She would be more then happy to take them both on, But, The Nandi Bear's reward was more then the two bounties combined, So that shifted to her top priority, Of course she needed a team, But Blue empire had a few members that would suffice. She almost always forgot about the tax, 10% off every reward is used for maintaining the guild, But this time she didn't really mind, The reward was so large that 2000 dollars seemed like a small price, if she at least got some funds out of it, bragging about partaking in the hunt of this beast didn't seem half-bad either.

As Aella thought about the things she would purchase with the money, A intimating man sat on the podium and spoke, Ajax is a man that is well respected by his enemies and his allies, And Aella was no exception, As always, Aella listened to every word he said and clung to them. After his speech, Aella got right to work, She hung up the 7th punching bag and started rapidly hitting it.

She forgot about getting permission, Of course she got accepted to participate in one other 5-star, but she didn't do much, She wasn't really able to get that close to the target, Making her get a minimal share of the reward, But this time she would get the crushing blow.

It's kind of funny, Aella doesn't train to get stronger, She trains to gain more control over her magic, The last time she went all out, She was in a wheel chair, She broke her left arm and wrist, And both her legs refused to function, It was quite devastating. Aella, at least she got a large share of the reward, but she wasn't able to participate in missions for 4 weeks, Surviving on cup noodles and cheap cans of soda.

She recently recovered, And she finally got back into the swing of things, And was more then eager to partake in another mission, Money, Respect, Strength, She wanted all of it. And she wasn't going to back down on that 5 star mission.

"7th one"

A punching bag soared through the air, Flying into the direction of an arbitrary guild member, Hopfully they didn't care, Because Aella sure didn't.

Tiny lights and sounds emitted from the electrical device being played in a man’s hands as he laid on the bench, facing upwards towards the ceiling. His eyes showcased a surprising amount of concentration despite the fact that his body was completely relaxed and at ease. Kayle had been trying to beat the level on his game, “World of Warriors”, for some time now. Each time he got to the boss he managed to screw it up, and sure enough just as he was getting that little bit farther than he had ever gotten, the electronic equivalent of ‘Wah wah wah’ sounded. Kayle sighed, letting the game fall to his chest as his arms fell over the side of the bench and touched the floor.

Nope...not touching you for at least another ten minutes. Kayle thought as he stared up at the ceiling, looking over just in time to see a punching bag smack another member of the guild into the floor. His eyes peered over for a second, recognizing Aella and giving a slight smirk. Not the safest way to pass one’s time when in the presence of others, but he would be damned if that wasn’t funny. It wasn’t long after that moment that their illustrious leader came down from his high tower to present them with the latest info on new targets. Kayle pulled out his phone as the man demanded that they be done by the end of the week. He pressed a few buttons, got into his online banking, and a grimace appeared on his face. That low already? What the hell have I been buy-....right, games. Kayle thought to himself as he slipped his phone into his pocket once more and sat up from the bench.

With his funds in question, it wasn’t whether he wanted to do a bounty at the current moment, but which one. He slowly stood up, stretching his arms slightly as he made to walk over to the board. There was a brief moment, out of the corner of his eye that he saw something flying his way, and took a casual step back as yet another punching bag came flying through the air. It missed him by inches, his bangs actually fluttering from the force as he watched it sail into a wall. It was funny when it was happening to other people, not so much him. “Not that I don’t appreciate someone keeping me on my toes, but maybe your energy would be better spent doing something productive...like punching bouncers...or wrestling an alligator.” Kayle remarked dryly at the small woman before continuing his trek towards the board.

There weren’t too many people around it, the general atmosphere at the guild seeming to be at a low level today. Maybe a few stories of victory would cheer everyone up by the end of the week, if they were lucky. He ended up standing next to...some woman that he couldn’t place the name of. He hadn’t seen her around much, and he liked to think that he was fairly observant of everything around him. Maybe she was new, or maybe she stayed to herself. Now the name thing was going to bug him for awhile, but he had another problem on his mind.

“Bitch, bird, wolf, snake or...does that seriously say ‘Nandi Bear’?” Kayle asked out loud to no one in particular. “Someone apparently lost the game of life when they named that thing.” Kayle stated once more, again his voice relatively low as he more or less talked to himself. As much as he liked the idea of a 230 grand payout on the Nandi bear, which would forever remain in his head as the Big Bad Teddy Bear, he didn’t know enough people to warrant teaming up for it. Most of his jobs up to this point had been solo operations, and many of them within city limits where he could truly utilize his abilities. From what he was going to gather here, there wasn’t really a chance for that with these bounties.

His hand rested on the Amarok creature finally, ripping it from the board and holding it in front of him slightly. “If there’s no arguments, there’s a bank account that needs to be rescued by yours truly.” Kayle folded the parchment and shoved it into an inside pocket on his trench coat before giving a slight nod to the others in front of the bounty board and turning to walk away.

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It was routine for Emery to go around the city for a few hours. Well, routine wasn’t a very good word to describe him, as the young man was as disorganized and on a whim as he could be. But he always loved exploring the city before it woke. He usually stayed out for several hours, just enjoying the small freedom as he rode his skateboard, narrowly missing people as they made their way to work and so on.

Despite this, he was currently slumped against a wall of a local convenience store, downing a bottle water. Skating around for a few hours would tire anyone out and Emery was no exception to that rule. Leaning back, he let out a heavy sigh before grabbing his phone and looked at the time. “I should get back.” He was pretty close already, and it would probably a five minute walk if he left now. Standing up, he threw the plastic bottle into one of the trash cans outside of the store and made his way back towards the Guild building, his home. He had been with the guild for a good three years, and even if it were short, he still felt as if they were more family to him than his parents had ever been.

If he had left any later, he would have missed Ajax putting up the bounties. Grabbing his skateboard, he slipped in quietly and watched as he made his announcement. All right, old man. I need some money. While Emery was a frugal person, he still felt safe with payment of a bounty. Afterall, with several years sleeping on the streets you tend to take less for granted. He grinned, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand and bounded over to the board to see which ones he would be able to snag.

As he approached, several others were already there but he squeezed through, tapping his fingers lightly on the Cerastes. The reward was nice, but the thing looked dangerous and a fun fight. His lips turned upwards in a grin as he took a photo of the bounty, noting his roommate was yelling at some guy for ripping the bounty that was a star lower than Emery’s interest. “Geraldine, you’re lack of faith in guild members is kinda insulting.” He teased lightly, glancing at his friend. The two were complete opposites, but that didn’t mean they disliked each other. Though, Geraldine was constantly scolding him for leaving their room a mess.

“Though if anyone wants to team up, I’m cool with it.” He stated this simply before walking away from the board and falling into one of the plush chairs and kicked his feet onto the coffee table.