A man walked into a small carved house in a small community miles away from another, he wore a long cloak , almost like he wanted to look anonymous with a sly grin tugging at his mouth
"Deros!, hey it sure has been a while old friend, come , have a seat please"
"oh certainly master Cerise" the man said with a bow
"how long has it been , six years ?, I thought you'd never come back " Cerise said
" yes master, it has been six years " the grin starts to wipe off his face
"six years, hmmm, I wonder what brings your clean sandals back to these walls" Cerise interjected
" where Is she?" Deros suddenly asked
"straight to the point, I like that nerves, I believe I taught you that " Cerise replied , avoiding the question
Deros signed and said
"look master, I didn't come here to walk through memory lanes with you, I have to return back to central soon"
"did you have to..."
"to what?" Deros replied, confused
" you have a knife hanging around your knee, you have a sword, and a shield in that cloak" Cerise pointed out
"no, no, this is just for protection it's nothing " Deros responded
"from who?" Cerise pressed ,silence grossed through the presence
" are you saying, I'm here to hurt you.....you know I can't, I'm no match for you " Deros alledge
"hmm, I'm old, wrinkled, white hair embodied all over my head, everything I've fought for are all old glory, but you, you just peaked your youth, young , strong and well trained by myself, I would not think you're no match " Cerise concluded
" I wouldn't want to hurt you Cerise, you took me out of the gutters of Vlad when I was but a child and had nothing, and you made me who I am today, I have no reason to hurt- "
"you don't...but perhaps someone above you does" Cerise interrupted, Deros facial expression shifted,like that of a child who got caught , he stood up with force, pushing back the chair with his butt and hitting both hands on the table with force and said
"look old man , don't make this hard, i am not trying to hurt you -"
"Then why are they soldiers outside!!...oh,you think I don't see them?, honestly I'm flattered you have to bring more of you just for me, and I must say I'm a little bit disappointed too" Cerise stood and said abruptly
" they are here on orders, I did not-"
"aren't you here on orders too ?" Cerise interrupted
"you don't have to get hurt, just hand her over "
"I'm afraid, I can't do that"
"why?, come on Cerise "
" I can't "
"you can "
"I can.., but I won't "
Deros sighed and said
"this is not the time to be stubborn.....who is she to you even?"
"she's just like you" Cerise answered
"what is that supposed to mean ?"
" you are both from Vlad, the gutters precisely " silence broke out as Deros looked conflicted and slowly got angrier , he pushed the tea off the table and punch the wall and then said
" i...look man, I feel bad , I really do but I have to follow orders, it's how I got here, you weren't there to watch over me, orders did , so please, hand....her...over, now!! Cerise, now "
" never, not to those people, she has done nothing wrong "
"that is not yours to decide" Deros replied
" and it's yours?, theirs ?, you kids know nothing , you have to stop Deros, before the darkness swallow you whole "
Deros utterly confused pressed
"what are you.....what the hell are you saying ?,darkness ?, we bring order to this world and orders brings peace , you call that darkness?"
" peace has to be a choice " Cerise counterted
" no , no, no, no, that's where you got it all wrong cerise, PEACE is necessary, kids die every cursed day because of it's absence, I became an orphan because of it's absence, so did that girl in there , peace erases sorrow, therefore we must fight for it"
" Can you hear yourself ?, fight for it ?, doesn't that kill more kids, creates more orphans ?,huh!!?. how many people do you guys have to kill in other to bring that peace and for how many years has it been his goal?, thousands of people have died for what?, forced peace" Cerise stated
" It is the necessary sacrifice for the greater good"
"Your parents were too?"
" Don't you dare bring my parents into this!" Deros angrily interjected
" You don't know, do you?"
"Know what?"
"Your parents died in the war , the war he declared in the name of peace, 27 years ago and still, he talks about that same peace. Villages have been burnt ,lives taken, living taken, innocent families brutally murdered and sold for slavery, hunger and famine brought upon lands in the absence of food that war has taken from their mouth, so please educate me on what this peace is"
Deros was moved but was still
"Lies" , he said
"You know it's true " it became totally silent until Deros broke it ,saying
"For the last time Cerise, bring her out, the order has no restrictions, if I let these soldiers in, they'll tear down everything, so please, listen to me and bring her out "
"I've fought more scarier fights than my own student and some other inexperienced boys" Cerise proclaimed
" Wow, so you really doing this huh?"
" You knew I wouldn't give her up "
"I know you're stupid, old man " Deros said as he drew out his sharp two edged sword and said
"Last chance, old man"
Cerise drew out his sword from under his table and spoke
"Don't give me chances, come take it!! , I taught you better"
Deros kicked the table between them aside, and charged toward Cerise, their sword clashed from the side, they both pushed with force, then Cerise pushed him back. Deros charged again, swinging his sword ,aiming for the head, Cerise ducked. Then Deros immediately grabbed his head from under swinging his knee towards it , Cerise quickly noticed and blocked the knee with his other hand and pushed Deros back against the wall , Deros lost his grip, he chuckled and said
"Not bad for an old man "
he pointed his sword toward Cerise and charged again, their sword kept clashing as none of them could hit each other , the soldiers outside grew impatient and walked into the house
"Stay out of this , this is my fight " Deros quickly dismissed them
"We know this your fight ,but we don't have time for it " said Orikus one of the soldiers
"This is a quest to capture an escaped prisoner not a family reunion " he added
"No this more like a family fued" one of the soldiers mentioned, they all laughed
"Can you guys just stand down, and let me finish?"Deros asked.
"But we've been doing that for a while now, and it's really boring,Why can't you take on this old man?" Orikus said.
"This old man?...." Deros pointed in Cerise
"...was once a commander, "
They all laughed and mimicked Deros , this annoyed Deros a little and he said
"You all are big morons "
"What did you just call us?" one of the soldiers asked
" I said you all are the biggest morons in Rome's history of morons" Deros added
"How dare you insult us and Rome " Orikus pressed, angrily, Cerise was confused
"I did not insult Rome , just fools in Rome like you all are " Deros further said, Orikus then put down his cloak and drew out his sword and said
"I'll have your head for that "
" Is that supposed to scare me?" Deros asked
"You should be, Orikus is the strongest here amongst us, his only match is Orustus, his brother which I can't see here " one of the soldiers added
"Ohh I see " Deros cited
"What are you doing " Cerise asked
"Just relax and watch old man " Deros said as he rolled his sword around his hand. Orikus charged towards Deros , swinging his sword with strength, Deros easily dodged every swing and drew out his shield, blocking the next swing. Then he pushed Orikus' sword back, hard, causing him to lose balance, as Deros followed with a swing of his sword to Orikus' wrist, removing it completely.
Orikus' wrist and sword dropped to the floor, blood rushing out in a spray.
Everyone looked shocked. Orikus held his hand as he screamed loudly, was then silenced by Deros with a sword through his neck, completely beheading him , it became completely silent, the soldiers were stunned
"Now who is the strongest ?" Deros said.
Cerise was impressed and yet confused.
"Curse you soldier, you're so dead," one of the soldiers yelled as four of them rushed at him.
Cerise quickly threw a knife and hit one of them in the head. He then, rushed towards the another soldier, dodged a swing and sliced through his stomach leaving organs to spill out. The last two brandished their swords at Deros, but he quickly shifted to the side , dodging one of the swords and blocking the other with his shield. The maneuver left the first soldier, off balance and he took the opportunity to kick him, towards the wall. This gave Deros space to push the second with his shield. Following it with his sword, he smashed into the skull of his attacker, leaving the other man open, causing him to dive Deros to the wall . That left his back exposed, giving Deros the clearance to pierce his sword into it. The final opponent that had kept back, while the other four attacked was in shock like he saw a ghost ,he then said
"I know who you are , you are....Deros "
he quickly ran out of the house, to escape.
Deros was about to run after him, but Cerise held him back and said
"Let him go, son,"
"If that man gets back to central Rome, I will beg for my death and won't find it" Deros replied.
Cerise quickly understood and let him go.
Deros was running towards the door, when they heard a slash, short screams and chokes.Then entered Liubastra, the girl Deros had come for, with the head of the soldier who ran away, blood rushing out from the head, then she raised it up.
Deros was stunned.
Cerise had a proud smile on his face and so did she.
Several hours later, Deros was ready to head back to the city. Before he left, he sat down with Cerise on the roof. it was night time and the stars were shining, the northern lights lit up the sky in an array of colors. They'd been talking and drinking for hours.
"Just like old times, " Cerise said with a huge smile on his face.
"Just like old times," Deros replied just then, with remorse on his face.
"Remember the yard ?" Cerise asked.
"How can I ever forget?,I remember like it was yesterday, so many animals ,hey remember when I got bitten by that little rascal bunny?"
Cerise laughed uncontrollably, almost spilling his drink then said
" Hard to forget "
"I'm still traumatized , I'll probably still run if it shows up today " Deros added, while they were both still laughing ,they both sighed then Cerise said
"I miss those times, less burden."
" I messed it up ,didn't I?" Deros asked.
"Well yeah, you definitely did, " they both chuckled.
"I thought I was doing the right thing, you know, " Deros said
"You may have, but for the wrong people and it's not your fault,I knew you wouldn't stay here forever,It's called growing up " Cerise replied,
"I hope I did the right thing this time" Deros added.
"No, you did the wrong thing, but for the right people this time,"
"It's ironic" deros claimed
"The right people are worth doing wrong for" Cerise concluded
" And who are the right people, you and who else?,I don't even know her."
"My name is Liubastra,I have no surname, that I can remember," Liubastra said from behind.
" How long have you been standing there, listening?" Deros ruffed.
"Quite sometime, now" Liubastra replied. "How was it we didn't notice?" Deros asked.
" I did, " said Cerise, adding
"She's been there for about 7 minutes."
"What a show off" Liubastra said
"Seven minutes,That is quite some time, and you listened to the whole discussion," Deros said as both Cerise and Liubastra laughed.
"Uhhh...I wasn't trying to be funny," Deros pressed.
Cerise sighed and spoke
"Cut her some slack, you know she's a war orphan, just like you, she had no choice"
"There's always a choice Cerise, and you taught me that,Have you gone soft, because she's a girl?.Life was the hard for us, but we never stole , but she…,She stole from the wrong people," Deros replied to Cerise.
"Well unlike her, I brought you up, had the chance to teach you everything I knew," Cerise said
"She's a thief Cerise and that's all there's to it, I'll let her go this time, because of you but next time..."
"There will be no next time, I promise," Liubastra interrupted, following it with a bow.
"She really had no choice, none,You had it rough Deros, but do not shy away from the fact that other people had it much worse," said, Cerise.
"You have no idea what I've been through Cerise," Deros resisted.
"That might be true , but I was part of it, so maybe I do a little," Cerise replied.
"I picked myself up from gutters of Vlad," the girl began
"I was eight years old, and was raped by multiple soldiers because I asked for food, I didn't get the food most times,One day in the dead of winter, I lured a soldier inside a tent and stabbed him, then I took his money, weapons, and food,I've been on the run since then, stealing from soldiers, has been my only way of survival, basically, I grew up in the middle of wars.I lost all of my memories, and the only thing I could remember from my childhood was my mother's name, Liubastra,I don't even remember my own, so, I took her name and now it's just Liu,I didn't mean to steal from your boss, and I'm really sorry, master Cerise has told me a lot about you and I think of you as a fine knight," said Liu.
"Liu huh?,Not a bad name ,and he wasn't my boss.He had it coming." With that Deros announced
"Well it's been a nice reunion, but I should be on my way now."
"Watch yourself out there," Cerise told him.
"I know that, old man ," Deros replied with chuckle.
"I hope I'll see you back soon," Liu added.
"I hope I don't, look…it was really nice to meet you but we shouldn't meet again, for your sake," Deros calmly warned as he was coming down off of the roof. Deros then, climbed his horse and rode into the darkness. Liu sighed and asked
"Is he always like that,"
"No, not quite like that,He's changed a little, but he is still himself. " Cerise answered.
"Go Liu, I prepared a horse,"
"What about you?" she asked.
"Don't worry about me I know how to survive out here, I've been doing it for decades, so don't argue."
"Thank you master Cerise," Liu responded.
"For?"
"Everything, thank you for everything" Liu said as she rushed to hug him, he was surprised, he then quickly reciprocated, then with great sadness she turned around and walk away.