So. Sorry for the long wait if this gets out later then I intend it to be. I have been busy with last minute Christmas shopping and stuff. I guess this is sorta like a Christmas present to you guys but you get it every week. But you guys don't really care about what I am saying right now. I'll shut up and let you guys read this cancer. Don't die.

Chapter Twenty Five: The Sun and Moon

I'm genuinely worried right now. These past three months with Anna have been the same as usual, scamming Ylisse royals out of their savings and treasure hunting. But what I heard about the southern part of Ylisse has me worried. A band of pirates have been terrorizing the region with a ferocity and bloodlust that has never been seen before in the region. The pirates call themselves the Crescent Moon Warriors, and they have left village after village in ruins with every single raid. But I'm only worried about one village in particular. My home village. It is located in the region the Crescent Moon Warriors prowl and it rests snugly on the coast. That just spells a disaster to me!

I've convinced Anna to head over to the region to secure some trade networks seeing how many investors have backed out since the raids have begun. Currently, we are entering the great port town of Ylinen that is just a few miles away from my hometown. I bet I can find some of my old village mates to check up on things and see if the village still stands. If worst comes to worst, I'll sneak into town and check everything out. I just hope to Naga and all of the Gods that my village is still safe and sound.

"Step lively Aiden! We already got a meeting to go to in the ports! Now hurry up before the worm snaps the bird's neck!" Anna says to me, dashing towards Ylinen's dockyard. I guess she already sent out a probe to see if anything was available. I guess she found something. I just hope I can get some time alone to do my business.

I catch up with Anna and we walk through the dockyard until we stop against a decently sized fishing ship. There is a bunch of seamen on the ship, doing sea things like swabbing the deck, scraping barnacles off of the hull, and loading cargo into the ship. Anna and I approach a rather giant scarred man with tattoos running down most of his body. The tattooed man turns and looks at us with a sneer. I guess this is the captain.

"Hello there handsome. Are you the famous "Captain Anchor" I've heard so much about?" Anna asks the man in her sweetest voice. It's the same voice that she uses to convince those royals to pawn their stuff on us. I still think I am the one, true handsome though.

"Aye. Wha' can I do for ya, ya yee lass?" Captain Anchor says to Anna, the sneer still not leaving his face. I think that may be his natural face now that I think about it.

"Well handsome, my name is Anna and this is Aiden." Anna gestures to me and I simply wave hello. "I was wondering if you are willing to sign a deal with me?"

"Wha' kind of deal ar' ya lookin' for?"

"A simple partnership deal. We sell your goods and give you some money while you obtain these goods. Sound good enough for you handsome?"

Anchor nods at Anna's words and says, "Aye, 'ha' sound migh'y fine lass. Le' us go in'o me cabin 'o discuss 'he de'ails lass." The captain walks onto the ship and beckons us to follow. Me and Anna follow the burly man onto the boat and into his cabin. It is a bit cramped inside of the cabin but it seems rather comfy. Me and Anna sit down in two tiny wooden stools while Anchor stands up. He pulls a table over to us and lays a map of the surrounding area, covered in scribbles in case you want to know, on the table.

"Alrigh' lass. How much will I be ge'ing from 'his deal of yours?" Captain Anchor says, pulling out a lump of charcoal. I guess he is going to mark the map a bit more. Yay for charcoal! That was sarcasm by the way in case you are too blunt for it.

"Simple, you will get a 60/40 profit division from the deal. 40% of the profits will go to me and 60% will go to you handsome." Anna says, a glow in her eyes. I guess she is up to something. Plus her total amount of cash after she seals all of the trade deals in the area will come out huge even with a 60/40 divide.

The captain nods at what Anna said and replies, "Ya know, if ya wasn' one of 'he famous Anna merchan's; I would've laughed you righ' out of harbor. But ya Anna's ware always making you all rich so I guess I be'er sign on before I ge' lef' in ya dus's." This man is very smart signing on with Anna. Better join now before she buys you later.

"I guess we have a deal. Thanks for accepting handsome!" Anna says, touching her finger to her chin like usual.

"Seeing how ya's 'rade deal is now good. I guess I ain' need to visi' 'hesse villages anymores." Captain Anchor begins to mark off the location of several villages on the map, including my home village. That simply won't do! My village requires the trade from the merchants in the area to survive. They need the trade for the medical herbs, metals, and product my village cannot produce themselves! I better step in before things go wrong.

"Actually," I say, standing up and grabbing the charcoal from Captain Anchor, "There is no need to leave this village alone. You can manage to earn some gold on the side with this village." I circle my village before placing the charcoal back on the table.

"I'm afraid 'his here village ain' never gave me much profi' before. I reckon i' be wise if we mark i' off 'he map." He puts a giant X through my circle with the charcoal. I clench my jaw and grab the charcoal back again, circling the place bolder and larger.

"But this village's salted pork is quite wonderful. Trading some product for those will definitely give you some gold in return." I love the salted pork in my village. It has enough salt to keep the pork preserved and dry. But it still tastes like it is not salty at all. It is just wonderful.

"I 'as'ed 'hem sal'ed pork before. 'Heys didn' si' righ' wi'h me s'omach. I s'ill say no." He puts a darker X on my village like the little bitch he is. Who the fuck would hate the taste of my village's salter pork? No one but this fucking faggot right here!

"You are going to this village whether you like to or not you little chicken shit that can't even pronounce his T's!" I say, glaring at Anchor. He is going to stop by my village no matter what!

"Ge' ou'. 'He deal is off. Never come back here!" Captain Anchor growls at us. I am about to retort when Anna roughly grabs me by my hand and drags me out of his cabin. I yell out some choice words while I am being dragged and we exit his ship and into the main dockyard. I turn to face Anna so I can ask her why did she stop me when I get slapped. I cover the cheek that was slapped and look at Anna stunned. I pissed her off didn't I?

"What was that?" Anna demands, her hands on her hips while she glares at me. She is level six angry right now.

"He was going to leave that village all alone! I will not let that happen!" I say, rubbing my cheek to get rid of the lingering sting from her slap.

"Who cares about one little village? I going to make a pretty good profit from that deal but you blew it!"

"I care about that village! It needs trade to survive! I am not going to let that happen!"

"So what if one village dies out? With these Crescent Moon Warriors about and the threat of Risen, that village is not going to survive much longer."

"That village can't die out! It is too valuable to die out!"

"What makes that village so valuable than all the others around here?" Anna screams at me, now at a level ten with all of arguments that have taken place here.

"It's my home village! I am going to do everything in my power to keep it going! Even if I've been exiled!" I say back at her. Silence covers both of use as was stare at each other awkwardly.

"Why do you care about your hometown if they exiled you?" Anna says, her anger replaced with somber curiosity at my words.

"I want the place full of so many of my memories to survive. I deserve the exile after what I did. My friends and family did what they had to in order to keep the village together. I don't blame them for it because I would have done the exact same thing." I reply, trying my hardest not to tear up as a flood of memories start to come back to me. I miss my home so much but I don't deserve to be there. Not after what I did.

A few sailors run past us, yelling at each other while running, and I hear something I never wanted to hear.

"I can't believe the Crescent Moon Warriors hit the village to the east of us?"

"Yeah! Only a few people were killed and a house burned down."

"That's a warning for a raid that is going to happen soon. I feel so sorry for that village."

I need to take these pirates out. They hurt my village seeing how it is the only town directly east of Ylinen. I need to destroy them before they destroy my home. I silently convey the message over to Anna with one single look.

She says and says, "Fine. I can hire some mercenaries and charter a boat so we can take out those pirates. Bandits and Pirates are not good for trade anyway. But you better treat me to something nice after all of this is over!" I'm glad she agreed.

"Don't worry. I promise to treat you to something nice. Now let's go kill some pirates."


Well, it wasn't hard to find them. They have a massive warship lit up like the sun so it was pretty easy to find. Me, Anna, and fifteen mercenaries are planning to take out this ship in one night attack. With this one strike, the Crescent Moon Warriors are going to be no more! Especially when we burn their ship. I can't wait for those pirates to scream when their skin touched the water. I hope the sharks are out too because this is going to be a feast for them!

Sorry if I am a bit more bloodthirsty than usual. I'm a tad angry seeing how these damn pirates killed a few of my friends already. We are currently scaling the warship's sides, our boat a good miles away. It will come in and pick us up once we set fire to the pirates' ship. Easy as pie.

I reach the top of the deck first and luckily there are very little sentries around. The sentires that around are passed out with empty bottles all around them. I am going to find the leader of the Crescent Moon Warriors while Anna and the mercenaries take on the crew. A solid way of killing a snake is cutting the head off of it. I unsheathe my sword, take my shield out, and am about to head into the ship when everything goes wrong.

Suddenly, the a swarm of Pirates, Fighters, Archers, and Mercenaries come running onto the deck and surround everyone. We draw our weapons and prepare ourselves for a battle when… Is that kid, Kaito was his name I think, the leader of the Crescent Moon Warriors? You gotta be shitting me! He fucking lied about his sick friend and everything!

"My Sun, you have come back to me!" Kaito says, looking at me with a very weird look. Like a look a stalker has from staring at their target. And did he call me his 'Sun'? That is fucking weird.

"Hey kid, why are you leading a band of pirates?" I ask Kaito, wondering how he managed to do this.

Kaito completely ignores my question and says, "Yes! Now the Sun and Moon will come together! I will return to Highguard to return to my pureblood race!" What the utter fuck is he talking about?

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I say to Kaito, hoping this gets through his rambling. This is completely out of left field and I have no idea what the fuck is going on. The last time I even saw his fucking face is when we parted ways after defeating the Bazzar Bandits! What happened to him so he acted like this crazy fucker?

Amazingly, he stops rambling and looks at me with that look again. "I am talking about our destiny. The bond we share as the Sun and the Moon. After we had parted ways with the one bathed in crows, I was in love with the way you fought. You took lives with ease while I hesitated and grew sick. I wanted to be a warrior like you but I was too weak! That is, until I found the Crescent Seal. A seal shaped like the moon in its crescent form while being bluer than the sky itself." Oh no. Kaito used a damaged Second Seal. Second Seals changes a person's class but carry a slight chance of turning a person insane. No one knows why but it happens. If Kaito used a damaged Second Seal then that explains why he is like this.

"I sued the seal and became a man of armor. I rode a horse made of nothing but metal and magic and I found the truth. I am Kaito, a Pureblood sent down from the land of Highguard to purge this world of its sin! But I need to rally my brethren before I do so. I need you, my Sun, to unite with me before we head to my land of birth. The humans who follow the true way have banded with me to help purge this world while I gather an army in Highguard. Now come with me my Sun. Do not resist because I need you alive; I don't care if you are damaged if it is required." Kaito finishes his little speech and draws his weapon. It is the same silver sword he had but it is covered in bloodstains and damaged. Here we go.

Three Pirates rush me towards me but I am ready for them. I grab my blade with two hands and swing it in front of me, killing the Pirates in one, golden, glowing attack. I think that was Sol again. With these deaths, the entire deck explodes in chaos as my group fights Kaito's pirates. I turn to try and help Anna but Kaito charges me. Our blades lock together and I struggle to overbalance him for some reason. He should be as light as a feather but instead he weighs like an armored horse!

I manage to push him back but Kaito jumps into the air and slams into me. Our combined weight breaks the deck underneath us and we go into the bowels of the ship. We separate as we slam against the floor from our fall. I stand back up and watch Kaito stumble back up, his left wrist completely shattered. Looks like he going to be easier now- Holy shit!

Kaito, without warning, cuts his broken hand off and hysterically screams out "My kin will restore my hand once we combine my Sun!" He rushes me and I am barely able to block a flurry of lightning fast attacks with my shield. I push him back and slash at him. I give him a decent cut on his thigh before I am back on the defense again with another flurry of his attacks. Suddenly, Kaito jumps back and swings his sword in a crescent arc. Oh shit; he is going to do a Luna strike! I lean to the right to dodge it but his attack is so fast I have no time to react after that. He flies past me, his sword cutting through my shield arm's armor and through the muscle. I drop my shield as my hand goes limp. Thankfully, my armor managed to be thick enough so his attack didn't cut my muscle's tendons. I can still use my shield arm after I get it healed up but now is not the time.

I turn to face Kaito again and he turns to me. We rush each other again and our blades lock into another standstill again. But I have an idea to stop this stalemate. I lean Kaito's sword to the side to make it as if he is winning the struggle. He falls for it and pushes his "advantage." However, I parry his sword to the side and slam my blade through his stomach. Kaito lets out a shocked gasp and looks at me, surprised at what I did. But that surprise turns to fury really fast and he picks me up by my throat. He then tosses me down a nearby set of stairs, my sword also coming with me as it pulls out of his stomach.

I take a rather rough tumble down the stairs and groan as my head splits open from the final step of those stairs. I have no time to complain though as I roll to avoid Katio's lunge. I stand back up and block another attack from Kaito. I push him away and jump back to give me some space from this lunatic. I glance to take control of my surroundings and notice I am in some sort of prisoner hold. Prisoners, mostly women and children, fill all of the cells. They watch me and Kaito in a morbid fascination.

Kaito suddenly chuckles, his sword dropping limply to his side, and says, "Do you like them, my Sun? They are to be our servants once we ascend back to Highguard." I grit my teeth together at his insanity and look at the prisoners. I stop once I see an old friend of mine from the village. Margaret, daughter of the Ronald and Lilly Thatcher, is staring at me from inside one of the cells. The Thatchers were always nice people towards me and my family. I even considered courting Margaret before the incident happened. So Kaito did attack my village and killed the Thatchers. I am going to make him suffer.

I let out a scream of rage and rush Kaito. I somehow catch him off guard and slam my sword through his stomach once again. I rip my sword out of him and try to do a overhead swing, but Kaito blocks my attack with a clever block. He pushes me off of him and we trade blows for a few minutes. Our swords clanging against each other as we tried to land a killing blow on each other. I received a good amount of wounds but I leave Kaito worse for wear. He is covered head to toe with wounds of all sizes. I think I have him. I push my advantage and battle him up the stairs. I continue to attack him until I kick him inside what seems to be a personal cabin.

"My Sun… Why are you doing this? We are to be together!" Kaito moans out as he lies on the floor of the cabin, his sword out of his hand.. I stand over him with my sword at my side and wonder how things are going on the deck. But I need some answers first.

"Who did you kill in your latest raid?" I say to Kaito, pointing at him with my sword.

"An old woman, an old man, and a little boy. We took a woman prisoner." Kaito says, his tone turning from pain filled to condescending. His hand is slowly trailing over to his sword.

"What was that boy's name?" I ask the madman. The Thatchers never had a son as far as I knew. But I was gone for a few years so they could have had a child while I was gone.

"While I gutted the child, the woman cried out his name. It was Johnas von McHinte. But I prefer John to be honest."

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"Are you coming back?"

"Don't worry kid. We plan on coming back."

I'm so sorry John. I wish I was there. I wish I was there to save you. But you have your family back now. I hope that you are happy. But I am going to increase that enjoyment. With my bare hands.

"My Sun? You look… angry… Are you ok? Did you know that child? I- Oh Gods no! Stop that please! N-no more! Please- AHHHH! Please stop! P-please! My legs! Oh gods why are they- NO! STOP PLEASE! I'M SO SORRY! MERCY, PLEASE! GODS NOT MY- AHHHHHHHHH! NO MORE! NO MORE I BEG OF YOU! MERCY, PLEASE! M-MERCY- NO!"


"Hey handsome. Are you awake?" I snap out of a surprise daze I was in. I look at Anna who is still eating her dinner. I took Anna out to this fancy restaurant for dinner for her little treat she earned yesterday. I have been spacing out a lot since then for some reason but I think it should stop in a week or two. I hope at least.

"Yeah, I'm awake. Do you like your dinner?" I say, going back to eating my food. I got us some fancy pasta this time around. I do love the sauces when it comes to pasta I must admit.

"Yes, it does taste amazing. You thinking of home? I mean we did meet one of your old friends so it definitely would have brought something back from the memory bank." Anna says, twisting her pasta around her fork as she looks at me.

"Yeah, just some childhood memories. Nothing major."

"Well… You better not get all sad around me handsome! Some girls may like the moody men but I prefer them natural. Sells better on the market after all."

"What?"

"The men I have my artists draw up to label my product."

"Oh. Well I prefer women who know how to handle themselves." I say, winking at Anna. She giggles and winks back before we go back to eating our dinner.

I'm lucky she didn't see what I did to Kaito. She doesn't need that image in her head.

So. There is the chapter. The peace years are coming to an end soon. We're going back to the plot and you guys are going to scream in joy. After all, you all managed to stay with me through this garbage so congratulations. You all played yourselves. You should have jumped ship when you can. Technically you still can jump ship but you can't leave without the scarring. Bye.