I had fallen asleep in the rafters (you know I'm surprised I never died by falling off of the damn things while I was up there, I guess something is looking out for me). I had to admit I was more than a little worried about the empire I had gotten myself trapped in (no thanks to that damned fool Tripp), so of course I slept like a baby and woke up to the sound of sandals making a loud slapping noise on the ornate floor in the throne room. The emperor had joined me in our slumber and was equally as awakened by the sound of the sandals. The approaching man was dressed in light silks, I couldn't entirely make out his face, but it appeared he was down an eye (there was a scar that ran down the left side of his face that was very prominent, it cut across the eye and I figured most likely he didn't have the function of it), he also was armed with three pistols, one in a clutch under his left arm, one on his right hip, and a third in a rear holster also set up for the right hand, I couldn't tell for sure, but it appeared he was right handed. Under the pistol on the left side was dagger of a sort as well, there was a matched opposite one on his right side, but it had no pistol above it.
"Who are you? What is the meaning of you being in my throne room?"
"Mordere, I'm here to deliver a message." The name was not as well known then as it is now, the man who I have come across a few times since this, is a Sin (short for Assassin, because calling them ass's would be vulgar and not be as scary) and he isn't known for being a man of a lot of words.
"Ok, where is the message?" The emperor went to grab a pair of reading glasses and was killed before he could even reach them. Mordere had drawn his pistol and fired the single fatal shot faster than I'd ever seen before or since.
"The message is your empire is dead, and now so are you." He turned on his heel, the smoke from his pistol shot still hovered where he had previously been. I took in a sharper breath than I intended and Mordere turned his pistol drawn again hammer already hit back tracking the rafters. He spotted me with little trouble and hesistated for a small moment, then smiled and holstered his pistol. He left not bothering to shoot me (because I'm a shorty we are not worth it I figured). I waited a while to be sure he would not return and then checked on the Emperor.
The bullet had hit him just above the right eye, and blown out the back of his head. He was beyond any magic or ability to save, even if someone wanted to. His crown though was very much intact, and had a lot of very nice jewels in it. I was afraid to take the crown, but since a man had just walked in and shot the emperor, I figured no one was left who cared. And I was right, as I left the throne room I could see bodies everywhere. People had died suddenly, clutching at their throats as if choking, probably because they had. The few survivors who remained had been executed in the streets by the passing Guard army.
I would come to find out afterward they had poisoned the water (because one of the advancements of the empire had been a way of routing their central water supply this proved especially devastating). I had been saved by not having drank for a couple days (couldn't find an open bit of water available without someone watching it), I was able to escape the ensuing guard massacre, because no one cares about shorties. And so you now know how I became an emperor, I stole the crown off a body after everyone was poisoned to death because no one wins a war without murdering a lot of people. You know maybe I should have just told the shortened story instead of this longer one.
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