At first, Ixion just watched with curiosity at the Fixer, who skilfully replaced the war-pick back into its strap while walking and holding the book with ease. [i]”Great! Now we can all be pals!”[/i] he said, his stance now more open than it was before. An ambush would have been good now, but the knowledge he knows now about the man would say otherwise. 

With the tension disappearing like a receding shoreline, he concentrated on himself. The first thing that he noticed was that the problem he had before was nothing but a residual. This was especially good as that means that was one less thing for him to think about subconsciously and make his mind sharper. But that was when all of the pains that he had came to light. His left shoulder was still in agony after Blue's light beam attack had hit it. Looking across at it, the armour looked damaged, but there was no blood coming from the injury. As he took the pauldron off, he was pleased to see that the wound itself looked cauterised, but he would need to get it looked at. But that was to be at another place as he cannot return to the Church of Reina that he retreated from beforehand. He also concluded that he would need a new set of armour, though not because of the damaged piece. Right now, too many people had seen him, making it easier for the Ducal guards of any region to pick him out. [i]Once this is resolved peacefully,[/i] he thought, discarding the pauldron into an empty crate in the alley below him. [i]I could then get the money that is owed to me and get a new set.[/i] He thought back to the contract that he is technically still under, thinking back to what the payment was and what he could try to buy in order to get rid of the apparel that he was currently wearing. Of course, in order for the issue to resolve peacefully, that would mean he would have to deal with the vampire. After all, there had been an unresolved tension that was between them, which was not helped with the illusion magic that occurred just a moment ago.

The assassin observed as the Fixer dropped down to the level which Blue's body was. However, the words of the mercenary had been interesting to think about, being able to think about it was a sharper mind. [i]"I don't real need'a do anythin' to get the sword. The ones tha' made the sword di'n't real protect the sword itself; the protected bit is the scabbard. It'd destroy the sword if it's still in it when it's wielder dies or it's stolen. I ha' the sword 'ready; this is for Blue."[/i] When the Fixer had admitted that he didn't need the sword, Ixion was puzzled. If he didn't want the sword and already had one, why would he attack Blue at the moment the sword was out and not beforehand? This was certainly something that gave Ixion more questions than answers. However, one of those questions he had was to be answered shortly after the mercenary had arrived at Blue's body, reading from his book.

Whatever the contents were, it was all about the woman that was in front of them all. The first thing that he noticed was that even the Fixer had put on a full accent while reading from the book. Ixion couldn't place the accent and he had heard a majority of the accent. Was it Rodorian? No, putting the accent to the language didn't feel right with the assassin. Kirkinian? That had a better ring to it, but not having heard of the Kirkinian accent in real life would have made it difficult for him to verify. No matter what the language or accent, what was being spoken was easy enough to understand.

The story that was given was a sad one. Abandonment, torture, being stripped of all humanity. This woman, it appeared, had faced it all. Ixion portrayed no emotion at all to those he was with. He had seen, in his opinion, a lot of himself in Blue. While the situations he had faced were miles different from hers, but the core values of them were the same. Whatever family he had left on this world, they didn't retrieve him once the news of his village was destroyed, the news of his father's death coming from that as well. He certainly faced torture, but that had made him more emotionally resistant. Some of that torture resulted in his disfigured face. As for being stripped of humanity? While he was still human, the contract on his soul could technically be classed as that. It wasn't until the part of the sad tale where her son was taken away from her and brought to the very place that had tortured her and stripped everything human that was in this person. The one name, Count Aldor Weiss, lingered in his mind. She was free from this terrible man's vices, but only at the cost of her life. Dare he think about what she would face if she had returned from that confrontation, especially the scar that he himself had given her. [i]There is a special place for men like you, he thought. I'll be more than happy to send you there in person.[/i]

As soon as he thought that, he pondered on the thought. Perhaps he still had some humanity left in him, avenging Blue for all of the wrongs she had faced. Honour that he had felt beforehand when confronting the Fixer was still there. He concluded that he would still honour her, but not fighting the Fixer. If anything, the man had liberated her from the suffering. His mind focused and stored the information about Count Weiss and the Corpse Forge, keeping them so he can learn more about them or if any contract turned up that mentioned those two things. Other thing to the list that he would personally target. He thought about this while the Fixer grabbed the scabbard. He also considered his options for the future, deciding on what the next best course of action was.