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Vexx
"Yeah, I'll accept it."
I said it like I meant it. And to be fair, I wanted to mean it.
Eeldrin, my pure-winged mentor and contractor for years on end, smiled expectantly at my acceptance of the promotion.
We were both still within the mountain base of the Flivian Isle. In his office, to be exact.
The slightly aged Unity leader with ear piercings sat behind his desk. Elbows on the table in front of him, and his fingers pressing against each other below his shaved, but bearded pale face. Still, his past scars ran across both cheeks from past experience as he told me.
Meanwhile, the two unidentified Flivians with absolutely no personality - except for the fact that both lanky figures looked nearly identical in their armoured tall statures - stood blankly behind myself.
I. . . we did it.
The other questers were either unknown to be alive, or dead.
Good. This is what I wanted for them after all that time.
Right?
Besides, there's nothing so wrong about it if it benefits my own survival in this world war.
Such is the life of a bounty hunter. Nothing I can really do to change that.
Especially when a huge leather bag of tantalizing gold was plopped down by Eeldrin, onto the desk, sharply catching my attention.
"So," I re-questioned for clarification. "My own little division huh?"
The middle-aged Flivian gave me a nod, studying my entranced stare at the reward offered.
"Correct you are, Vexx." He said to reassure my disbelieved self. "You're pretty experienced in battle. I figured it's the least that the Unity could do to repay your good deeds."
Good deeds.
Honestly, I was just doing this for myself. It's quite surprising how easily people can fall for the facade of a 'good' person. But, I mean, I was technically benefitting both sides, so of course they wouldn't think twice.
"I wouldn't that far, but go on." I commented in interest.
Eeldrin slowly pushed the bag of gold towards me, but his hand steadily held onto it.
I knew at this point that a contractor like him would either propose another sort of task, or. . . actually no, yeah, that's it.
Anyway, I attempted to glance away from the bounty to not seem dependent, which is pretty hard for a 'bounty hunter' to do.
"You know, that glorified Drownei heir was captured all thanks to yourself." He continued. "I mean, surely, you know that's a good thing, don't you?"
"Ah, c'mon, Eel, you know I do. . ."
Which was technically the truth, as I spoke without a second thought.
The fact was, I knew keeping Black Knight captive would kill a lot of people in the future, and it would've been better off to let him go. After all, I didn't really care if people like him died or not, as far as I was concerned.
"Then kill him once you see him." Eeldrin suddenly said in the most casual manner.
I paused only momentarily. There looked to be some change of plans, in that case.
"Huh. Sure about that?" I hid my stammer quite well. "I thought you all wanted to keep him alive or something."
He raised a sharp eyebrow while lowering his wings, even if I didn't intend a hint of pushback.
"I thought I had taught you the purpose of the Unity by now, boy." The experienced Eeldrin chuckled lightheartedly.
"It's really not just about destroying the Chronicle Order. Or teaming up with their opposers. It's about eliminating the catalysts of war. And if you know me. . ."
His laid-back stare turned into a more serious gaze past me. I briefly remembered the times he talked about the past. If anything else at least, he knew the feeling like I did about being affected by wars.
"I live for that." Eeldrin concluded.
The room was a little too silent now for my liking, and a little too tense, since I wasn't here to discuss emotions in the first place. Unsurprisingly, even the two blank-slated Flivians behind each my side followed the quietness.
Can we get on with this already?
"Right. I'll accept that too. But question." I prompted with a clearing of my throat.
"Will it really make a difference to kill one person just like him? Not that. . . I'm defending the guy or anything, it's just-"
"That's not all we're going to do." He interrupted, as if his student was barely getting the point.
"The other Unity leaders and I have already decided."
"Sure, on what?"
"We're taking the crown. Not the Chronicle Order."
If I was anybody else but myself, I would've audibly gasped at this moment.
And in my head, I almost did. I should've remembered how traitorous groups such as the Unity were. By this point, I was just so used to the daily grind of hunting down items and individuals for pay, that I haven't even noticed how far the groups I followed would go, to cause the typical sort of conflict.
Killing others for killing others, basically.
That was kind of dumb saying it out loud in my head. Wasn't it?
"I see, then, this is some kind of last minute betrayal in that case?" I started to say, masking my bit of judgement while I took another glance at the money on his desk.
"Whoever kills Black Knight gets plently reward that'll last a lifetime. Stealing the crown, on the other hand, is double the bounty-"
"What are you all planning to with it, anyway?"
Eeldrin wasn't fazed much by my verbal intrusion.
He kept his strong-willed smile under the pressure, adjusting his golden earrings.
"The council has discussed attempting to destroy it. But that's only one of many possibilities. . ."
"Pretty certain that would start another war in of itself." I added bluntly.
"Would it matter if whoever controls the power. . ."
The mentor stood up from his chair and raised a hand to snap his fingers. To prove a point.
". . .could end any of those wars just like that?"
"Listen, Eel, I know as much about the stupid consquences of war like you do." I continued to admit. "Stuff like this will just piss people off more."
In a typical fashion, I spoke without thinking twice, while the contractor sort of just scrunched one of his eyebrows in curiousity.
"I didnt realize you were so worried about people all of a sudden, Vexx."
I raised an eyebrow of my own, and decided to smile and wave it off like the saying meant nothing.
"Well, it's good you didn't, because I'm not. . ." My instincts were to say instead.
There needn't any wishy washy feelings like that within ongoing mass destruction. I needed myself staying efficient and focused on my objectives, so I can at least recieve some benefit from all this chaos.
Otherwise, I might as well abandon everything I was taught to do. Surviving alone.
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My new iron armour, with lines of dark violent, suited me well with everyone else. But I didn't feel much like 'everyone else'. More like a good liar.
As far as I knew, I was the only one working for every side from what I could tell.
I marched close to the front of the Unity's head council of leaders, into one of the fortified gates of Kyronia palace, opened by a division of buff-looking elite Drownei guards. We passed through the drawbridge laid flat by a pulley of chains above, from a troop holding onto a rotating lever. I felt the tiny scorch of the bubbling lava circling the palace underneath. It was clearly meant to defend their heat-resistant kind.
Our organization wore the same kind of uniforms for identification. Except for those in charge, obviously. They wore their deep purple robes as if unintentionally mimicking the Chronicle Order.
The throne room we were situated in felt like it wasn't meant to be seen like this.
The marble floors, probably once clean and pristine, were littered with pillar rubble, glass shards, and bits of ash with staining dirt. Bodies of Kyronian soldiers laid on the grounds, picked up by limping troops of their kind and out from the overlord's chamber. Magic users extinguished the remaining fires with waves, holding their spellcasters, while the remaining survivors had hurriedly closed the main gate for nobody to witness.
Talk about a worser time to arrive, I guess.
What surprisingly caught my attention the most was the horde of dark-armoured men, surrounding a. . . particular one.
They were escorting him out of the room and into the halls, as I fluttered my wings upwards before heading back a foot down, only able to take a flash of a peek.
Black Knight was being held in cuffs, guarded by the mass. His apparent brother, Zeleos, walked right by him. There he was; captured instead of killed.
I remembered what Eeldrin told me. It seemed like a very generous deal.
Kill him and get rich?
Sure, I could do that if it was someone worth killing.
I'd only hoped that it was, though. I've been 'questing' with him all this time. Needless to say, he was the complete opposite of someone supposed to be captured or killed.
"Something wrong, Vexx?"
Eel said, leading in front of me, with a side eye staring at both my face and the caught Drownei knight, who had now left the throne room.
"Is there?" I decided to return the favor. "I was just checking our surroundings, is all."
He gazed towards where Black Knight had exited into the hallways, and with an assuming smile, gave my shorter wings a single pat on the back.
"Of course, of course. . ." Eeldrin's tone complimented. "I shouldn't underestimate loyalty like yours, boy. Seems you have your priorities straight. I've trained you well."
For whichever god knows what reason, I couldn't tell if he was trying to reassure my doubts or his.
Then, before I knew it, our division of council members stood in front of me, facing the high, golden throne a bunch of feet taller than us. I set my eyesight onto the overlord upon the shining seat like everyone else, as I knew they'd want me to do.
I was sensing a pattern here. The dark lord looked much different from my prior interpretations, to say the least.
His posture was slouched, despite him trying to sit up straight out of exhaustion. Instead of a wicked smile of pure evil, the overlord's eyes were baggy, with his royal clothing of silky white. The only thing remaining the same from what I expected was that crown on his head. Luckily for me, I couldn't give a crap about killing myself to steal it.
Though I did wonder. How much my life would change with the amount of unfiltered power.
I bowed before Overlord Aeleric with the rest, as his reinforcements for control.
And the war cries began outside Kyronia's palace.
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I ordered my men and women to kill the army of the Chronicle Order. They fought without thinking.
My armour and iron mask continued to cover my true appearance, as I held it over my hybrid face tightly, while pointing the flintlock straight between the terrified guy's eyes.
A Flivian the same age as me.
We were in the middle of a now abandoned blacksmith's forge. Looting its items, weapons, and steel materials for ourselves. The furnaces was now empty and stolen from. The anvils around the corners of the ruined brick building were stained with the blood of Drownei we'd killed. But all of this was just another part of my two-sided job.
"I'll do anything!" The Flivian's legs shook despite his boldness, while he knelt before my firearm with a silencer attached to it. "I have nothing else to lose anyway, so please-"
I didn't care. I pulled the trigger and shot the young man's forehead, as his corpse layed to rot on the stone floors. For at least a second, I saw myself in that white-haired metal worker with azure eyes. Maybe that's why I did it.
Besides, the other workers he knew had already died by our hands. There's no reason to keep living within a war. Such is the nature of these battles, anyway.
I pushed past my thoughts, turning to my division of around a dozen left. Their purple-armoured selves had picked up newly forged blades, axes, and maces. Somehow, I wasn't inclined to do the same this time.
"I got you a new order, people."
They looked back at me, some of the old and young faces scarred, while some of them sat against the walls. A good portion of them were clearly injured.
"You've done enough for now. We've cleared this street, and it's a tad bit dangerous out there considering our. . . ah. . ."
I tried but failed to ignore the bearded soldier being tended to by the others, bleeding profusely on the leg after our division went through a few explosions.
". . . condition. So I'll go scout around quickly, see if there's a position Eel would want us to take, and where the enemy's at, yadda yadda, you know the drill. Just heal up and loot the place in the meantime. Later!"
After my new verbal command of confident inexperience, I opened the doors barricaded with furniture and flew out.
Really, it was just a simple excuse to leave. At least temporarily.
Whenever I had the gut instinct to do anything, I'd do the thing without a second thought, like right now. It was hard to tell why I had the stupid feeling at this moment, of all times. I mean, I'd always killed, and had always gotten paid for my work. Contributing to a war shouldn't be any different.
My past consisted of living for myself, and I was determined to never change that.
I popped the cork off one of my last invisibility potions and drank it. While flying over the chaos below me, I couldn't see myself once more. These attacks specifically made it harder, than I'd like to admit, to preserve all my bottles.
Meanwhile, a harsh burst of explosions caught my attention. The noises were far in the distance; along the shores where the Chronicle Order had landed their many ships. Past the hordes of different species fighting each other with bloody magic, as the army of 'prophecy' pushed further and further into the capital. By now, the once pristine and orderly streets were left to destruction.
Come to think of it. . . the order was getting quite close to the palace itself; nearing its drawbridges.
Also, I found myself soaring towards the navy out of anything else. I guess I was. . . shaken up a little bit?
I still didn't know if anybody I knew survived, after I organized the questers to die under that crumbling assembly. But I remember telling Lare to stay out of it. It was dumb, yes, and I only realized afterwards that the act was mighty suspicious of me.
Why do I care?
I genuinely asked for about a millisecond, until my attention was caught again by the explosions along the docks.
Another line of dark Drownei vessels had overpowered the Chronicle Order's parked navies from behind. The Drownei's projectiles launched, hurling into the ships without leaving room to breathe. The waves splashed violently as the troops of 'Niytri' fled to the waters and shore. Each ship was taken down in flames and gunned by the masses.
There, upon the highest dock of the Goldwave Pirates' almighty burning ship of rich wood, stood the Marine girl with cuts on her grim, focused face while holding a spear taken from a body. Her headscarf was torn, and her peg leg firmly planted onto the floorboards. The pirates' fancy-looking warship was barely recognizable anymore.
Fire surrounded the surface around Lare, along with unconscious bodies of survivors and troops. The Krytonia soldiers had boarded the vessel like every other they rampaged. I'd watched them kill the remaining people who were once under protection. After that, they walked through the flames with their natural immunity to intense temperature, and began to surround Lare-
Ah, screw it.
I said as my feelings got the better of me, and I propelled myself down to save her.
The wind-infused bullets shot rapidly from Krytonia's rifles. But before they could fully encircle the only living person who hadn't fled, I held my arms out and picked Lare up from the deck. My wings began to flutter and exhaust. Then, after swooping over, I immediately flew above the flames and into the ocean. A bullet shot my face, but I just felt the hard dent of my helmet. Lare's spear fell to the fires.
". . .ah-!"
Too stunned and teary-eyed to speak, Lare braced as we dove into the waters deep enough to where we could stand but not be seen. At least my hybrid self could breathe here too. If only for a few minutes, anyway.
With that in mind, I only noticed now my tight grip onto the Marine, holding her bridal-style, while she leapt away in fear.
But not before instinctively kicking me in the face despite my invisibility.
"Who goes there?"
I stumbled as she nervously called, but decided to quickly shake it off, and throw the majorly dented head covering to the underwater sandy floors.
It was beginning to get uncomfortable the more I wore the mask.
"Relax, it's me, Lare!" I said."The winged hybrid guy you talked to. Long story, but I'm using an invisibility potion."
"Vexx?" Her eyes widened. Both of our voices were naturally clear enough in the waters, with hers more so.
"The one and only. . ."
"I thought you were. . . you. . ."
I was suddenly taken aback by her sobs, clearly heard by the both of us within the seas. She bowed her head down as tears streamed down her slightly scaled face, turning into tiny bubbles as they rolled off her cheeks. Lare covered her face with her palms. I stood without a single clue about how to comfort her.
"I-I'm sorry. . ."
She choked out between soft sniffles, her eyes looking down while her bangs covered them.
"Everyone I know is dying. I thought you did too."
I opened my mouth, but decided to stay quiet and listen for once, not knowing what to say in a situation like this. Although I wanted to ask what exactly happened.
Instead, I walked forwards and awkwardly put a hand to her shoulder, gently brushing it. She noticed and stared straight ahead, smiling a bit. But then Lare cried again as if the thoughts couldn't be suppressed.
Silence continued between her and I. She slowly put her shaking palm onto my invisible hand. Lare's demeanor relaxed steadily but surely. As we both stood under the surface of the ocean, the violent sounds from above were persistent but muffled. For a moment at least, the fighting could be forgotten, and it could just be the two of us.
"Honestly, don't worry about me as much as everyone else." I told her what I knew to say truthfully. "I mean, realistically, we've only really known each other for a short while."
A red tint showed itself lightly on her face.
". . . so?"
Alright, so perhaps I was being a bit hypocritical. After all, I worried about her quite a few times, too. But it was weird. It's as if we both immediately connected the first time we saw each other.
I guess there's a reason we feel this close already. We both had orphaned upbringings, affected by wars. She's the only person so far I've ever related to.
Around the same time as one another, we both let go of the other's hand. I suppose it was time to get this all over with. Not like I was getting distracted or anything, even if the tiny part of my brain wished to stay in this safe area forever.
My voice lowered a little as I finally asked the question.
"Where is everyone in the first place?"
Lare remained silent, then sighed with a shaky voice.
"I don't know. I told them I'd stay and defend. Meon. . ."
She tensed up again and kept a straight face this time, as streams rolled down her face like before. I realized why she was so tense. Her crewmate, the anglerfish driver, was presumably dead. Clearly they were close enough to where she'd be affected.
"We can still find them." I stated at once. "Come on, Lare-"
"No, Vexx. . . ." Her voice turned into almost a bitter whisper. "I can't. . . I can't do this anymore. I hate war. I hate it."
Lare choked on the last sentence. I let the quietness fill, as I took a quick swig of another invisibility potion to keep myself unseen. But I paused after that as well. This conversation was. . . sort of difficult?
Whatever. That wasn't the point.
"Well, same here," I responded lightly and pushed back overthinking. "That's why we're going to do something about it."
Silence filled the empty underwater again. It was quite difficult to. . . but I decided to let it be.
"Is it right for us to?" Her eyesight followed the place where I spoke. "We add fuel to the fire, Vexx."
"Eh, who cares? It can be right to some. It can be wrong to some."
What I've thought during this entire quest revealed itself at last. But it was the only thing on my mind recently. There was something to add onto that, even if in the heat of the moment I didn't realize it. Something new.
"But I guess you seem to be on the right track, choosing to care for others and all. Do what feels best based on that. . ."
After feeling my presence for a bit, she smiled and stepped closer as my words trailed off, gently searching for and squeezing my hand. Then letting go, looking away as I saw her fingers jitter briefly.
"I wish I can see you right now."
"Heh. You will soon enough, Lare."
I chuckled under my breath for an ounce of levity.
"For I am in dire need of breathing oxygen soon."
"Then what are you waiting for?" I sensed a good comeback beneath her genuine demeanor. "Fly us out, hybrid."
So I smirked back as we held onto each other, and I flew up and out of the waters. My physical form remained invisible as we darted through the air. Which I guess you could say was poetic. I told truth to Lare. But my two-sided status stayed the same.
I couldn't tell if I was still a liar. And if I liked it.
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The bewildered expressions to seeing a Marine girl floating, laying on seemingly nothing in the air and flying towards them, was priceless to say the least.
Although the moment didn't last. As I flew downwards, cannons of fire and wind bombarded the towering palace structure from the diverse Chronicle Order armies, above from those who could hover and on the surface. The Drownei tried to cast spells of waves to extinguish the flames, but it wasn't enough. The grounds rumbled as summoned roots and branches were used as bullets from each side of war.
But Krytonia and the Unity forces were struggling to hold their ground at the peak of the marble stairs. They guarded the palace entrance and its drawbridges, where hordes of soldiers poured out to defend their empire in a last stand. The entire city of Kyrone was falling apart. Civilians of the once unified empire were killed off. And the overlord with his right hand was nowhere to be seen, seemingly trapped in the encirclement.
Even with the power of the crown, it looked like the power of the entire world of Midkyron overpowered them so suddenly, before they could fully retaliate.
But at this point, I had no idea what was going on in there, and I didn't care, as I looked back at the surprise of the questers fighting below as we approached them. Aziel was using her fingers rings to assist in creating a wall of thick bushes in the frontlines. Captain Aurel and Ryff fought side by side beside her, with their aquamarine staff and duel battle-axes respectively, fending off melee intruders before any could pass the blockade of shields.
Behind the rest of them was Headmaster Chronisius, using a shining gold scepter of his own. He was protected by a huge mass of soldiers, as per usual.
"Don't worry, people!" I shouted to the confused group above the noise. We landed around the middle of where they were, as I set Lare down.
"Lare was not levitating on her own! It's Vexx, here, just with invisibility!"
Captain Aurel's normally composed eyes lit up with Ryff's.
"Well! If I'm to be damned. . ."
"Thought you cared about language, cap'n?" Ryff teased with a toothy smile as he waved at us. "'Hoy! So glad you lot are alive!"
"I'm bound to agree, lass." The captain replied simply as the three Goldwave Pirates quickly regrouped, patting Lare on the back.
"Is Meon accounted for. . .?"
I watched for now, as Captain Aurel quickly realized the implication of Lare's face, as the Marine shook her head while gazing downwards once more. The captain's demeanor was still and silent. Instead of putting her hands behind her back at ease, though, she laid her palms on the girl's shoulders while keeping her eyes towards the battlefront, which was pushing further ahead.
"You've always fought well, Lare." The leader reassured, which was all she had to say.
Ryff had lost his grin upon hearing the loss of Meon. Another moment of silent mourning fell upon the three. For Meon, but also for everyone else that had followed the same fate.
"I've lost many throughout my time of being a pirate. All we can do now is fight for 'em."
The pirates of dignity looked straight ahead at the ongoing battles, where the headmaster and Aziel charged with the armies, in front of the outer gates.
Ryff raised his two heavy axes, with his torn apron and a determined scarred face of experience. The captain adjusted her tricorn hat carefully, worn on her purple hair, and unsheathed a spear from her belt. Without a word, she gave it to Lare who took it without hesitation.
"Then we shall move onwards for them, Goldwave Pirates." Captain Aurel looked at both members from each her side."Savvy?"
The Goldwave Pirates exchanged looks with one another in a newfound confidence, and dove headfirst into battle.
Meanwhile, I noticed how distracted I really was, which I'd never expect to happen ever.
Well, I guess that's it.
I could easily just go back, help out the Unity, kill the Black Knight, and recieve my pay. But to kill him, I'd have to kill everyone else I grew to know. There was still a chance for the empire and its ally to win.
I looked ahead, and I was right. The two opposing forces were in constant stalemate, none moving from their position from and to the palace gate walls, made of fortified stone. So I could just return to. . .
Gods, why the hell was I hesitating?
"Vexx?" I turned my sights on Aziel looking around, walking towards where I initally spoke. "Are you here?"
Great, another interruption.
She looked exhausted with her eyebags, and her hair unbraided and messy. It was clear she hadn't done questing in years, especially one as big as this, if I were to say. At this moment though, where we stood was a safe place. The fighting was far ahead.
"No." I replied jokingly. "No, I am, Aziel. Why do you ask?"
"I'm just glad another quester survived, you know." The veteran told me in her genuine but saddened tone. "Find Black Knight for us. Will you?"
In an instant, I was reminded of what I'd done to them.
I led them carelessly into the Flivian assembly, where killing the heroes could've led to more devastation out of revenge, and I'd continue to live in a world where war was endless. They were just lucky. And I was no better than catalysts of violence and battle, where I'd been born from.
I hate being wishy washy. I also hated the truth. This whole time, I'd only been masking. For a while, it brought me a lot of stupid good. . .
"I will." I drank another one of my invisibility potions from my belt pouch, fluttering upwards. "Sorry for. . . everything, by the way."
It was hard to get out. I don't know how or if she responded, because before she maybe could, I flew to the air again. Hastily too, this time. The winds blew harshly against my face under the cloudy skies. My line of sight stared at the gruesome fighting below that would never end.
Eventually, I soared over the walls where armoured Drownei were situated with arrows.
Sure enough, there was Black Knight from afar, blocking a multitude of arrow attacks from the Unity with his longsword. He had escaped the palace itself, running towards the drawbridges where there was a chance to escape the troops entirely.
I swooped down in a familiar fashion, as careful hesitation was never my strong suit. From the top of the castle walls, were the same pulley of chains from before, controlled by a dead troop with their fingers around a rotating lever. They'd been recently and visibly shot from the neck as blood poured out.
I landed on the small tower where the lever laid unused. And after Black Knight ran through the drawbridge with the armies of a tens of dozens after him, I hurriedly pulled on the stick with two hands and rotated it backwards.
The Unity soldiers, with men and women as young as I was, pushed against each other in the middle of the folding bridge out of desperation. They couldn't save their lives as they all inevitably fell into the deep rivers of lava.
There was also a lot more of them than I thought. Possibly hundreds.
Black Knight looked back at the sudden death, frozen for a second; stunned. Then he turned his head to the tiny tower where I stood. And he gave a salute with a head nod, without knowing who I really was.
With unseen smirking of my own, I saluted in return. The chosen one proceeded to run away.
Bullets blasted from the grounds to my armour, a few of them ripping through my feathered wings, which were already weak from use of a hybrid like I.
It felt like my water-breathing chest was completely punctured. I suffocated for a few seconds out of reactionary panic. I could already feel the wounds around my body. I was slowly but steadily bleeding from under my iron plates. I felt like I couldn't move.
Heh. I guess now I knew what it felt like entirely. . .
Then I saw my mentor, Eeldrin, shouting at his armies to continue shooting while I ducked down behind the solid battlements. They followed his command, as anyone would to a recognized teacher. He taught me well, while it lasted, helping me to learn hunting and bounties. To live for myself. But I wondered how I'd be right this moment if it wasn't for him. And if I didn't accept anything for gold.
That's really all I wanted, wasn't it?
I heard the Chronicle Order coming near and quick, chanting their god of destiny's name. It sounded like they were confident. Like they were met with barely any resistance now.
I chuckled a bit, following my first instinct and rotating the lever in the opposite direction for them, until the chains couldn't extend anymore. They cheered for their unknown ally as they marched ahead.
It was funny, despite my physical pain. The irony of it all. It still didn't matter which side I was on.
But I wouldn't mind going out like this. If I had nothing else to live for, I could at least live my last breaths for others. At least for a short while.
Wordlessly, I removed my damaged armour with my remaining energy left, closed my eyes, and smiled without the mask.