Tenshi Kain Nameless
Eternal
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Vows Once Spoken,
Left Unbroken (II)
"Nowhere can a secret
keep always secret, dark and deep, half so well as in
the past, buried deep to last, to last.
Keep it in
your own dark heart, otherwise the rumors start.
After many years have buried secrets over which
you worried, no confidant can then defray all the
words you didn't say.
Only you can then exhume
secrets safe within the tomb of memory, of memory,
within the tomb of memory."
- - - - -
"Yaah! Take that, you filthy humans!"
He bit
his lower lip, his right leg trembling rapidly as Ewir tossed
another rock over the long bridge. "Come on, stop that! You
don't want to get the humans over here. Some of them have
swords..."
The little red-skinned demihuman gave him a
dubious glance. "Bah, you're such a pansy, Azzy! I'm not
scared of any big 'men' and their swords. They probably don't
even know how to use 'em! Stupid humans." He grabbed another
rock from the bridge planks and threw it with all his might.
The silhouettes of the guards ahead, however, remained still
and quiet, even as the object clearly impacted against one of
their shields.
"I'm not a pansy!" He crossed his arms
over his chest, managing to stir up some more confidence
within his chest. "I just...I don't think you should be doing
that! What if they get really mad?"
"Then I'll beat
'em all up!" Ewir tossed another rock high into the air. He
panted, wringing his arm and obviously worn out. 'Blue' wasn't
surprised- his friend had been throwing rocks for about an
hour already. As much as he hated the humans, Azure had to
cringe at the depth of Ewir's. The red Mystic never talked
about it, but Azure had learned from some of the adults in
Medina about Ewir's grandpa, and the massacre just beyond the
very bridge they stood on. It was sad to think about, but
nothing he didn't see every day- all the time, in fact. Each
morning, there'd be a new orphan on the streets of the town,
wailing for the loved one that they'd lost the day before. Try
as he might, though, he couldn't feel for them- his family had
been taken out themselves, and he'd adapted perfectly.
He felt something, then. A chill, of sorts, that
impacted his stomach, left it sucked in with alarm and turned
his mouth dry. Azure glanced up, the sound unmistakable- it
was the sound of armor clanking on wooden floorboard. The
knights! A glance in their direction confirmed the fear
he'd felt earlier- the knights were coming at them from across
the bridge.
"Wicked spawn! We've bared enough cheeks
to you!" The lead knight, a young man clad in the dark armor
of a 'Hero', raised a bow as he led five others across the
bridge. By the time he spoke, they'd already halved the
distance between themselves and the two Mystics. Azure didn't
need another second to think about it- he turned and scrambled
for his life, shouting at Ewir to get his butt in gear. As he
ran, though, he found the air stirring around him, broken by
sparks or rocks or something-
Arrows.
He bolted for his life, lungs aching as he put his
arms over his head. A breeze was working against him,
thankfully, but that didn't mean he was out of range just yet.
He pumped his legs harder, and harder, until he was running
full speed. It wasn't after a few more seconds, when he had
just reached the end of the bridge, that he realized he heard
nothing anymore.
Azure came to a panting stop, wincing
at the tiredness in his leg muscles. He coughed, feeling
dangerously close to nausea, but it wasn't like he'd eaten
anything lately. He glanced back the way he'd come-
"...no," he groaned, slumping to aching knees.
"Not...damn," he breathed, the strongest swear he knew of.
Some distance behind him, Ewir lay face-down on the
bridge, exactly six arrows embedded in his back.
------
It's been a long time since
then.
Slash ceased in his tracks, pausing to slump
against a wall. He'd lost count of how long, how far he'd been
walking, but he realized he felt tired- almost as tired as he
had, back then on the bridge, when he was a dirty little
street kid known as 'Azure.' That was the time, he decided,
that he'd turned to the sword. After that, he had no other
memories except that of the blade, and of the battlefield, and
of his compatriots.
And of blood.
When we
met, Lord Magus told me that I would live for nothing but the
sight of blood and my sword. His predictions always come true.
Every day on the battlefield, I'm drinking it all
in...everything. Yes, it's like Glenn said in that
skirmish...I'm drunk on the thrill of killing. So drunk that I
leave behind all of life's other, simpler pleasures.
Relaxation- a swordsman, off his guard? Never. And love- but
what woman, human or Mystic, could ever love me? And a normal
life. 'Rags to riches' stories get old, really fast, and I've
been in rags for a long time.
I really wonder,
sometimes, of what might happen if we win the war. Summon
Lavos, like Magus promises, and kill all the humans. Will I
even have a place to belong, after that...? A place I can call
home? A cause I can fight for? Somewhere I can go by myself
and fight to the end of the world?
No.
Slash half-lidded his eyes, shaking his head.
Perhaps there will come a day when I have no need of my
sword any longer. When I can find a life, a path, that doesn't
require me to bolster my memories in, and kill to bloodlust's
content. When I can let myself feel again.
Until then,
I answer with Slasher II.
-----
Unwritten-
1 Prayer on Lemina (2 P-Votes) 1 Aura on Mia, Lemina,
and Setzer (2 P-Votes)
There's a third bit to
Slash's story, but it may get a little extreme, so we'll see
if I get around to posting it tonight.
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