#vox machine

It was about 9 in the evening as you creeped outside of a humble hut in a village, canvassing the area for any guards or restless souls that could see the crime you were about to commit.

It was easy, sneaking into the house, there was no form of lock on any of the windows or doors. “Careless, naive, damn near idiotic” clouded your thoughts while crawling through the window into the hut. It was supposed to be a simple in and out mission, like the ones before this. Sneak in, locate the target, kill him, then leave in the cover of night and collect the other half of your reward.

First part done, now you just need to find him. You shuffled through the hallways, quiet as a mouse, until you heard heavy footsteps. Bingo.

The footsteps fade away slightly, signaling that he was going the opposite way of your position. Time for step 3, kill him. Sneaking up behind him, you barely noticed his long, elven ear to twitch before he swung around and caught your hand before you sunk your blade down into his back.

Panic immediately sprung through your brain, adrenaline coursing through your veins as you tried to push the blade down with all your might. During the struggle, you managed to push him against a wall and knock into a table in the hallway, the corner of it pressing against his side, the pain splitting his focus from pushing away your blade causing him to lose some distance, and losing more as you finally got more leverage.

As you pushed the man further back into the wall, you saw a glint of something reflecting from the moonlight on the table in his side. It was.. a photo. The man, a woman, and two.. children. Oh gods, he was a father. You were paid to take away a husband and a father. You stopped pushing the blade down in your realization, the man following your gaze.

You slowly pulled away, kneeling down in front of the man. Tears start to pour down your cheeks as you take your hood off as you pull your mask down, revealing your scarred face. “Please, forgive me sir. I deeply apologize for trying to take you away from your family, and owe you so much for nearly doing so.” You look up at him, tears welded up and cascading down fiercely. He thinks for a moment, then crouches down to your level. “I won’t report you to any authorities if you do two things for me, understood?” You nodded quickly, silently begging him to tell you.

“Number 1. Leave your cult, and start anew. I don’t know of your past, nor do I care. The life of a Bhaal worshiper is disgusting, and unforgivable. You’re lucky I’m even considering letting you go. Number 2, you owe me a favor in the future, assuming we ever meet again. You are to do it no matter what it is. And I’ll be reasonable and not ask you to kill someone for me, I have no doubt you’ll refuse to do so after this. Now, leave. And let’s hope we never meet again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Many years have passed since that day, and you’re so grateful for it. You got to make new friends, go on so many adventures, and meet your beautiful girlfriend, Vex’ahlia.

Your most recent adventure has become more so of protecting a big ass kingdom from coin and power hungry dragons, which led you with over half of your party in the fey realm. You all have had a very large roller coaster of emotions throughout this journey, a few of which have brought you and Vex together into a loving relationship. As much as you love her, you can’t bring yourself to tell her of your past due to the fear of losing her, leaving you riddled with guilt.

And that guilt was soon replaced with dread when you met her father.. The man you were paid to kill all those years ago. That’s why she and her brother looked familiar, they were his children, they were in the photo. And you knew it would only be a matter of time before he recognized you too. Your only way of hoping he didn’t recognize you was staying quiet.

Which didn’t last long, unfortunately.

You were standing between the chairs Percy and Vex were sitting in, who were discussing the twin’s father giving them safe passage through his newly transported lands in the Fey Realm until they left the walls, when he started to insult them and the journey you all have set out upon.

“You needn’t spin false tales of their exploits,” he held up his smoking pipe and examined it scrutinizingly as he spoke his next harsh words. “The very idea of Vax’ildan and Vex’ahlia standing up for the greater good is… well, rich.” And you had it, you impulsively raised your voice and spoke your thoughts. “I can’t believe you would say that about your own children, how heartless do you have to be to not see the good they’re trying to do for the entire country so YOU can go back home and not worry about being attacked by fucking dragons??” You glared at the man, a very familiar glare.. oh no, you drew attention to yourself, not to mention that you INSULTED the man you owed a favor to! You could see the recognition glint in his eyes, but he said nothing… Yet. He let out a small sigh, standing up from his chair, as he continued despite your outburst, “This is a trying time for all of us. Have you any idea the burden your sudden arrival has caused my family?”

Vax finally decided to speak up, walking closer to the man he was somehow related to. “We didn’t come for a reunion.” He stood just under his gaze but didn’t back down while he was below the gaze of the cold man, “And yet, here you are. Throwing around my name whenever it suits you-” “I despise your name.” Vex intervened as she saw the tension rising. “No, it’s fine.” She spoke carefully, pulling her brother away from their shared father. “No harm intended.” You tried speaking up again, not wanting her to just take the harsh words from her father, “but, he just said-” “It’s… fine.” She interrupted you, softly glaring at you to tell you silently to keep your mouth shut. However, you have a tendency not to listen..

“No, it’s not! I am not about to let your father disrespect you!” You didn’t really care about bringing her father’s attention to you at this point, but you were about to regret it.

“Oh? And what room do you have to talk, murderer?” The room went quiet, a shudder ran down your back as you suddenly remembered the favor he has yet to cash in, and you have a feeling on what it’s going to be..

“What? Love, what does he mean?” Vex is confused, and now her father is due to the nickname.. Welp, this is about to be a shit show. “Love? You really call this.. Disgusting creature love? Will you still love them if they were to tell you about their past?” You froze, your heart beating in your ears. He was grinning, for the first time since you arrived, you knew what that grin meant, shit.

“Go ahead, show her that horrendous mark on your body. Consider this me cashing in my favor from all those years ago.” Vex looked between you two, wondering what the hell was going on. Vax was about to ask what their father meant until you revealed the mark that was once hidden on your body, and the room falls silent again… Percival is the first to speak. “Is that.. the mark of Bhaal, the god of murder.?” He spoke carefully, covering his mouth as his eyes grew wide, matching Keyleth who was next to him, gripping her staff tightly.

“What.. in the loving FUCK do you mean god of murder Percival?!” Vex glares at him, then.. you. “Don’t tell me you.. Killed people to worship some hellish god! And what does he mean by ‘cashing in my favor’, tell me!” She grabbed you by your collar, pulling you close to her. Tears pricked your eyes as you finally told her the last thing you never wanted her to learn about your past.

“I-I.. I used to worship Bhaal.. And I accepted a commission from someone in a different section of the cult to kill your father when I was younger, the same age as you. I didn’t because I saw a family photo of you, him, your mother, and Vax. I finally realized that I was paid to end the life of a man with a family, Vex. He is the man who spared me from imprisonment and gave me the push I needed to leave the cult. Please, forgive me for not telling you.. I wanted to tell you, I swear! I was just afraid you would hate me, or leave me if I told you. Please just understand that-” “I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT.” Vex yelled in your face, the tears that welded up in your eyes finally falling down your face as you saw the absolute anger and betrayal across her face as she lets go of your collar and storms out of the room muttering curses. You don’t follow her, knowing she needs time to calm down and process the absolute bomb you dropped on her, and your friends.

“You.. kept that from all of us, because you were scared?” Vax spoke in a low tone, almost daring you to answer, but you tried anyway, knowing you deserved it from keeping something so big from them. But before you did, Percy answered for you, placing a reassuring hand on your shoulder. “Yes, they did and for a good reason. They changed, and left that cult, and chose a path of redemption because they felt so bad about the lives they took. And yes, while being part of that cult is normally a very large issue, none of us know how they came to be a part of the cult in the first place. You need to understand that.”

Vax huffed, his glare softening just the tiniest bit. “That doesn’t excuse the fact that you hid this from my sister the entire time you’ve been together with her. Not to mention from all of us during our travels together,” he walked towards you, just like he did with his father, and pressed a finger to your chest. “And you better tell them when we find them again, or I will, and it won’t be pleasant for anyone.”

Vax left, assumingly to comfort his sister. Keyleth and Percy looked at each other, then pulled you in close to them. “Don’t worry, I’m sure Vex will come around.” Keyleth tried to comfort you, maybe give you some hope, but you couldn’t help but feel guilt and anger bubble up inside of you. Guilt for not telling Vex sooner, and that she had to find out this way. And anger for how she found this out, that she wouldn’t give you a second to genuinely explain yourself.

After.. that, you all met outside in an incredibly awkward atmosphere. You receive the scroll that gives you safe passage through the elven town, until you leave the walls. But as you received the scroll, another argument ensued, and on accident the twins taught their newly found out sister the words “fuck you.”

Anywayssss, you finally meet up with.. What’s his name again?? Uh.. Starts with a G.. GARMELIE, we both totally knew what his name was. You all found him writing outside of the town waiting for you. While he was talking with part of the group Vex walked off, sitting on an abnormally large mushroom, restringing her bow. You thought for a moment, but it only took a mere second of looking at her sad face for you to gather enough courage to go over there and genuinely talk to her without her yelling.. hopefully.

You sat a fair bit away from her, wanting to give her physical space incase she wanted you to leave. She looked up at you with a small glare, but all you could see was the sadness in her eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I wanted to, I thought about it every night I went to bed, anytime you said you loved me, when someone told a story from their past. I just.. didn’t want you to hate me, or to leave me.”

Silence engulfed the both of you, as she worked on stringing her bow a bit slower, showing that she was listening to you. With that in mind, you continued. “I was.. born into the cult, my parents being extremely loyal to Bhaal, and only teaching me how to kill quickly and silently while I was growing up, then teaching me how to read and write. I went on my first ‘religious quest’ when I was about.. 8. Then I kept going till I was 14, when I met your father for the first time. You don’t have to forgive me for this, or forget it, just know that I love you and never wanted to hurt you during all of this.”

She stayed silent, speeding up slightly when you finished telling your story. You let out a sigh and decide that this is your que to leave, until she stops you. “I’m upset, yes, but I don’t hate you. Yes, you should’ve told me sooner and not have me find out from my own father, but, you told me nonetheless. How it came about is obviously shitty, but you kept your word to him, and normally people wouldn’t admit to it over a favor from years ago. You kept your word, even though you knew the damage it would cause, and I thank you for that.”