Cantankerous Malignance: Payment

The man in black just stared as the cigarette finished disintegrating. The flimsy thing of ash and smoke was enough to kill someone. Times like these he realised that Malignance was a poor choice of surname. His own personal grievances aside, he sat before the computer, calling Skisma and Visie. Clef stood beside him, looking a little panicked.

Clef had gone pale. "W-...what happened to Ginger?" Elder Hato was silent on the other end. "What the hell happened to my son?!"
"Now now, Clef, no need to shout." She chuckled nervously. "Well, you know how I said your son found a sword?"
"Are you telling me Paris killed his brother?"
"...Not killed...very badly wounded...they were sword fighting after they injured the gaoler..."
"Oh Jesus..." Clef pinched the bridge of his nose, about to have an emotional breakdown. He reached down and flung Thorn and Slyther over his shoulders, then pressed the button on his ear pod thing to speak once more. "I have them both. Where do I take them?"
"There'll be a car waiting outside."
"And I have to carry my colleagues there?"
"We have another gentleman working there. An American man. Kero. He'll set off a fire alarm. If anyone asks any question, say you set off the alarm and they had fainted in the fire but are okay...or one tripped on the hem of their robes, hit their head and blacked out and the other tripped over them, hit their head and blacked out. Okay?"
"With Elizabeth's clumsiness, that's very believable." He nodded, closed connection and began to walk. The alarm went off as promised. He picked up his pace as he found himself near other Sanctuary workers. A fake smile graced his face, looking a little strained. It was good though, as that fit in with the whole alarms thing. He quickly explained about Elizabeth tripping over his own feet and tripping Amber in turn. The others accepted it with no hint of suspicion. He could see the car and approached it quickly. That was when someone yelled something about something and someone else hit the poor blackmailed Elder on the back of the head.

Clef was smoking now. Cantankerous' cigarette had just gone out and now Clef was smoking one. It occurred to the American man that he had missed his last doctor's appointment due to these forced overseas jaunts. He hoped he would never become too ill, like confined to a bed, half-delirious from painkillers and slowly dribbling his life away. He hoped someone would shoot him before he could get that bad. Finally Skisma and Visie were on. Skisma opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when he realised he had no clue who the man in sunglasses before him was. "Ah..."
Cantankerous, just Tank or Kero to his friends, smiled beneath his kercheif. "Grand Mage Skisma, Grand Mage Visie. My name is Mr Malignance. I have something to show you." He twisted the computer so that the camera picked up the bound and gagged forms of Elders Thorn and Slyther, as well as Thorn's sister. "They aren't the only ones under my...care, shall we say. Loren, Vrees, we would like to meet with you on Friday, here in Australia. Before nightfall, preferably. You two, or else I may have to pick off one Elder from each of your Sanctuaries. The first Elder from each."
Clef whimpered beside him. Tank quickly got the other two to agree to his terms, then threw the Australian Elder down beside his colleagues. His phone vibrated in his pocket. Shrugging his shoulders, Tank left the room, locking the Australians in behind him.

His phone contained the expected and ignored calls about his missed appointments, an apology text from his ex, something that looked like it was sent by his drunk best friend and a text from his mother.

Dad's been killed. Mum.

He raised an eyebrow. Thought I'd die first, he sent back, so how'd he die?

Skull caved in by rock. Come home? <3

He sighed deeply. Missing many rounds of Chemotherapy, and it actually even felt a little empowering now he was less tired out by that, and his father had been murdered. Wonderful. What a nice past year this had been. Can't. Have commitments here. Things will die if I don't look after them. Sorry.

She sent him a photo. A something taken from the security camera. It was the girl who had killed him being pulled away from his body. He sighed. His mother knew his reputation and expected him to hill her when he was ill. She hardly cared that he was ill, of course. Normally she never spoke to him for his killer's rep. She was so much more proud of his brothers. Apart from the one he had been paid to kill. She was disappointed in him for letting himself be killed by Tank.

I'll kill her if you pay me. That's how I work. How come you never tyext me unless you need someone killed? He waited for a moment before his OCD forced him to correct his typo. *Text.

Some son you are charging your own mother for your services to avenge your own father. I thought that under the circumstances you'd be willing to do a freebie. Icarus would have done it for free if it had been his forte

I'm not Icarus.

Of course not. You're alive.

Cantankerous froze. Icarus was dead? Another of his brothers as well as his dear old dad? Icarus and Ernest had actually offered some sympathy when Kero had fallen ill first. Not that either of them had ever really cared. They had just happened to hear and, being them, had offered their condolences. Thinking about how much his family loved him, he suddenly wished he would die. Once he was done with his current job, he would find out a little about those who had killed his family and thank them. Unless his mother actually paid his salary for him. As it was, he phoned up Hato and told her the trap had been baited and he was awaiting his payment.

Gyazara walked across to the man, a hood over his face to hide it from view. He pressed something into the big man's hand. He scampered away as the large man as he released his wrist. He had seen the knife slip from Gyazara's sleeve. He counted the money and groaned. It was in yen. He had asked for it in Australian dollars or koruna. He was sure he could exchange it anyway. Even so, he was very annoyed.

-----

A door opened and the four Australians looked over as two rather frightened-looking children walked in. Ignoring the glares he had been receiving from his colleagues, Clef scrambled to his feet and ran over to embrace his son and daughter. "Paris! Ronaele!"
Elizabeth Jaime Benson Slyther struggled, moaning to have his gag removed. Uncertain, Clef complied. "You betrayed us to keep them safe?"
Elder Cherry nodded. Slyther nodded.
"I'd have done the same, unfortunately."
Amber managed to loosen her own gag somehow. "You have a kid?"
"Three of them." Slyther responded tartly. "Harry, Miguel and Stephen. Their mother's name is Circe."
"I think you're lying."
"I remember Circe..." Cherry interrupted. "...You introduced her to me at Acidulous Benign's party, didn't you?"
"Yup."
"And she's your wife...I feel sorry for her..."

((There was going to be another part to this, but it was going to be long and I decided to put it separately...meh, enjoy.))