So. Here is the next chapter of Mercenary. Hope you enjoy. Seems like people are actually liking this cancer for some reason. I bet it's ironic liking instead of actual liking. But that is what I think. I don't actually know what you guys are thinking at all so I am just going to assume. But I'll shut up now. Enjoy the trash.
Chapter Twenty Three: Mirror
This castle is actually bigger than I thought it would be. I'm serious about that! Me and Anna have explored this castle for three hours and we are still finding new rooms, tunnels, staircases, etc. Whoever built this place really needs to tone it down a notch on their fascination for construction. This is a bit out of hand. But according to Anna's map, we have another hour of exploring before we find the treasure room. Which is another hour of just walking through ruined hallways full of skeleton warriors. Yeah, there is more of them. But they are no match for me!
Yep, a Hero at last. I feel so powerful that I'm pretty sure I can take on Chrom and win! I think. I may have to try it if we see him again. But I still cannot believe changing classes makes your armor change as well. I sorta miss my shoulder plate. It's the reason why I even am in this place in the first. If I hadn't had that shoulder plate, I probably be dead. No, I would be dead seeing how Jill took out that Mage in one fucking hit! But I should tell you what our surroundings are.
Me and Anna are just walking down this hallway, a torch in my hand so we aren't in complete darkness, looking for… something! I don't fucking know! But I just know that Anna is constantly looking at the map now. Hopefully we won't run into anymore skeletons- Oh god I hear rustling in front of me. Fucking skeletons need to stop doing that with their jimmys. I tap Anna on the shoulder to get her attention.
"Hm? What is it Aiden?" Anna asks me, looking up from her map and at me. I simply point my torch at a few Fighter skeletons shuffling towards us. She sighs, putting her map in her belt, and draws her weapon. I draw my sword, leaving that shield that appeared a while ago on my back. I can't really carry three things with two hands. Especially if one of those things is on fire. The skeletons start to shuffle towards us faster. Time to get busy.
Anna takes down the first skeleton easy with a swift blow to the skull. I follow up on her strike by taking on the other two Fighters. I dodge a blow from the second skeleton and cut it's arm off. I then handle bash its face in one blow before I block the last skeleton's attack. I send it to the ground with a simply push and curbstomp the Fighter's skull in. unlike that Sage, these skeletons are easy as pie. I bet it is because they don't have any fucking magical shield to stop attacks.
"Is that all of them?" Anna says, sheathing her weapon and took the map out again. She begins to walk forward again despite not getting the all clear. I look around and thankfully there is no more enemies.
"Looks like it. Are we there yet Anna?" I say, sheathing my sword as well. I walk beside her and shine a bit of the torch over her so she can see a bit more of the map.
"No. About forty five minutes left before we reach what is suppose to be the treasure room. A room full of jewels, gold coins, priceless artifacts, and so much more things I can sell for twice the amount they are worth!"
"I bet you are going to have a ball with that room once we are in it."
"Oh you betcha. There is only thing that is troubling me."
"What is it?" I ask. I hope it isn't another Sage skeleton coming to kick our asses. Anna shows me the map and points at a little side room connected to our destination. It has a giant circle in the middle of it. The circle almost resembles a mirror if you stare at it long enough.
"I have no idea what that room is. What kind of room would just have a circle in it?" Anna says, tapping the room with her finger to clarify her point more. She takes the map away from me and does her classic finger on her chin pose. I bet she is trying to figure out what that room is designed for. I wouldn't even have a clue.
"Maybe an underwater well in case of siege?" I say, putting out a suggestion that would probably work.
"If that was truth then why is the circle so symmetrical? No underwater water reserve is this symmetrical!"
"Then I don't fucking know. Just focus on the treasure instead of some random room." Anna looks at me with a comical glare, but drops it with a smile. We go back to walking in silence. I wonder how long this hallway is because I'm pretty sure we have been walking longer than all the other hallways. But what do I know about hallways, I'm a fucking Hero, not a mason.
It takes fifty minutes for us to reach the end of the hallway. We have stopped and are now facing a door. Anna is looking at her map and the door multiple times. I think she is trying to realize something.
"We're here." Anna says, stashing the map into her belt. We've made it to the treasure? That was faster than I thought it would be! I push past Anna and kick the door open. I turn around and give her a mock bow.
"Ladies first," I say. She giggles at my mock and walks inside the room. I hear her gasp and I walk in to see what is with her. All around us is exactly what she described; jewels of all colors and sizes, mountains of gold coins, ancient relics that must be worth millions, and so much more valuable items. I guess this venture was really worth the trouble. I better leave Anna alone seeing how she is starting to slobber at the mouth with a gigantic blush on her face for all of this treasure. I look around and notice a little stone door in the corner of the room.
I walk past Anna and open the door. I don't think she even knows I'm here right now. Before I leave, I lit up a nearby brazier so Anna could still see her precious gold and all of that. I sigh and walk through the door, closing it behind me. I walk down this little staircase and to a room. In the middle of the room is a pool of glowing water. I don't even need my torch anymore seeing how bright the glow of this lake is.
I walk towards the lake and crouch beside it. The pool is so still that I can clearly see my reflection. I need to clean myself up. I have dirt and dried blood covering my face. Not only that but my hair has grown longer than it usually is. I also have a little stubble on my chin. I really need to trim my hair and face once we get back to town. But I guess I can clean the dirt and blood off first seeing how there is water here.
I splash water all over my face and once I'm done, I look at my reflection again. The lake has little ripples in it and something really strange happens. My reflection smiles at me. I'm not smiling so how is that possible? I reach down to see if it was just some ripples when a hand comes out of the water and roughly grabs my hand. Holy shit, what the fuck is this! I try to pull back but the hand is still holding on to me. I use my other hand to make it let go but another hand comes out of the lake and grabs that hand as well! I freak out and use my foot to kick the hands away. Thankfully, it works. I stumble back, my hands finally free from those water hands.
The hands from the lake grabs the edge of the lake and pulls up. Suddenly, a person that looks like me bursts out of the water! Holyfuckingshitwhatthefuckisthatfuckingthingkillitwithfire! I stand up and draw my sword and grab my shield. I go into a defensive stance as I watch the thing slowly stand up. The thing's head lifts up and looks me square in the eyes. It looks like fucking me down to every last detail!
"So this is who I am? A cowardly killer trying to stop his conscious from plaguing him every night? Pathetic." The doppelganger says, glaring at me with that same smirk on his face.
"What the utter fuck are you?" I say, shifting slightly when he draws the same exact sword and shield of mine.
"I'm you. A fucking idiot whose passion lead him to exile. Remember? After all, you did take the sword and drive it right through your-"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I scream at the doppelganger. I rush him and our blades meet with a resounding clang. We push against each other in attempt to overbalance one another. He still has that fucking shit eating grin on his face.
"You really think Dad will forgive you after what you did? What we did? You are so stupid to actually to believe so." I snarl at the doppelganger's comment and jump back. I tried to do a five hit combo: two swings, one thrust, and two slashes. But that thing blocked every attack by using the same attack as well. We lock our blades together again and I try my hardest to overpower him but he is matches me push for push.
"Then again; that bitch was a witch so it made perfect sense for her to die! But you didn't know that until a few days later. After your exile and the murder of your dear-"
"I'LL KILL YOU!" I say, blocking out his voice. I jump back and began to wildly whale down on him. However, he would block each and every strike with his shield; never stumbling or kneeling down under the blows. After my fifteenth strike, he pushes my blade away and quickly delivers a cut across my chest. Thankfully, my armor absorbed the hit so I didn't really take any damage. We lock blades again and we are now using all of our strength to push each other over.
"Not only that but with every job you took, you just left once they offered you a place to stay. You left friends that you could've had for the rest of your life. And I wonder what will happen to Anna if she asks you to be her mercenary forever. I bet you'll run away like the piece of shit you are!" The doppelganger says, our faces mere inches apart from each other. He still has that fucking grin on that face, and it has gotten much bigger! I need to stop this little fucker before I make another mistake and lose. He knows every single move I have so I need to think of a new one! Maybe… I got it!
"I will break you!" I say, pushing him back a bit. I throw my shield at him, catching off guard as it slams into his face. He is wide open now! I rush him and stab him in the chest, my sword sinking into his chest until it is hilt deep. He drops his sword and shield and grabs onto my shoulders. He looks me in the eye with that same grin on his face.
"What will you do when that day comes? You and I both know what will really happen so why fight it? Next time you see me, I am going to be bringing a few friends with me. Hope you don't mind, kinslayer." I let out a scream of pure anger and pull my sword out of him and raise it over my head. I slash downwards and he disappears in a puddle of water once my blade connects with his head. I stand in a puddle of water, breathing heavy from the fight.
"Ok, calm yourself Aiden. It's ok. Everything is ok. That fucker didn't mean a word of it. Just be calm." I think to myself as I calm down from the fight. I have never be so happy to kill someone before in my life. I sheath my blade and pick my shield back up. I turn it over so I can look at my family's crest. My fingers trace the ivy twirling around the sword as I continue to calm myself down. I am not going to run away again. I refuse to do so. I'm tired of running. Now I better go check on Anna.
I walk back up the stairs and through the stone door. I enter a now bare room with only Anna sitting on a giant, bulging sack. I bet she was a busy bee while I was gone. That explains the empty room. Anna is now wearing a bunch of jewelry and crowns like it was nothing.
"Hey handsome! Where did you go? I was starting to miss you." Anna says, winking at me.
I sigh and say, "Just went to check that side room. It was an underground well like I said. Nothing special at all." Anna takes off one of her crowns and throws it at me. I catch it and put it on. It's a bit big on top but otherwise it fits my head perfectly.
"Ok, my king! Let's get out of here!"
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Anna gets off of the bag and hoists it over her shoulder. I have no idea how she got everything to fit in there. She then walks out of the room whistling a little tune. I will follow her but I have to deal with something first. I turn to face the stone door and draw my sword. I use all of my strength in one swing and hit the wall above the door. I step back as rubble falls down and covers the door completely. I sheath my sword and run after Anna to catch up.
Hopefully that is the only pool of water that makes doppelgangers. No one else deserves to face themself like that.
Me and Anna manage to return to Jungisan without any more incidents. We cash in a few of our items and we easily make half a million coins just like that. We still have a ton stock left so we don't really need to rush to sell our stuff. I'm pretty sure if we do sell all of our stuff, we are going to be richer than the entire Ylisse halidom itself. I love success because I can just kick back and relax.
Currently me and Anna are in our little inn room. I'm writing this junk and Anna is tallying up how much money we have currently. It's pretty silent but it's that comfortable silence. I don't mind talking but it is nice to just get some silence once and a while. But that silence is fucking ruined when someone knocks on our door. I sigh and get up because Anna is still counting the cash. I open the door and a rather spry looking man is standing on the other side. In his hand is a letter with what looks to be Ylisse's royal insignia seal on it.
"Um… A-are you Aiden Jaeger? Exalt Chrom wanted this letter delivered to you. I think it is i-important." the man says, handing me the letter. I grab the letter and close the door on the man. I open up the letter and read its contents. Anna had stopped counting the gold and is now looking over my shoulders, reading alongside me.
Dear Aiden and Anna,
It's me, Chrom. I hope this letter reaches you before the end of the month. How are you? I'm doing fine. Me and Jill got married a few months ago and she is currently with a child. I'm utterly terrified of her mood swings at the moment so if I look at bit friend if you see me in the following months; that is the reason why.
Also you are invited to this little winter ball I am hosting in a month. It is on the fifth and you are welcome to come! Or not if you are really busy or this letter gets to you late. Then you can't come. Because there wouldn't be a feast to attend. Yeah… Anyway, I hope you come. I promise to provide some fancy dress ware if you two don't have any and you can stay at the castle all you want! Although I would advise not too. Jill is really moody.
Sincerely,
Chrom
"Are we going to the ball?" I ask Anna, lowering the letter.
"Sure. Sounds like fun. And we can get some royals as clients. It feels so much better when you swindle a noble out of his money." Anna says, her finger resting on her chin. Hopefully nothing bad will happen during this little ball.
So. Here is chapter twenty three of this trashy fanfiction. Spent the last three hours editing it so it doesn't melt your brain with its cancer rays. Also my stereo I like to listen to while writing is stuck on Barbie Girl. I am going to have to fix. I realized that the song is really dirty after hearing it play over and over again for seven hours. Now go away. Bye.
