Ares - Gran 774

Dragons were smaller than I expected. Sure, they were large, but if you ignored the wings, they weren't that much larger than a horse. So, I wasn't all that impressed, and certainly didn't gawk like others in the troop did when the Thracians arrived on their dragons and Jabarro went to greet them. Wasn't really sure why he asked them to join on. Whenever I got hired, the strategy typically became 'throw Ares at the enemy until he kills them all or they get a sense of self-preservation and surrender'. Part of the reason why Jabarro set my price so high was so that the rest of the group didn't get soft or start to think things were easy. The other part was to add to my oh-so-glorious reputation.

"So, is the brooding look natural or did you practice?" A shadow fell over me, and I glanced up to see a woman in red armor leaning over me, brown hair falling over her shoulder. Normally I'd just ignore the person, but… "My name is Altena, by the way," she continued, grinning. "I'm part of the Thracians that just arrived."

"Ares," I replied, nodding at her. There was something familiar about her. Not that I was going to say that. It sounded like the most cliched pick-up line ever, and I didn't want to give false impressions. "Part of Jabarro's group."

"The Black Knight, right? You're nowhere near as scary as your reputation says you should be."

"Rumors are rumors." I shrugged and went back to tending to Mystletainn. "People always say what they want. I just do my job."

"Wow, you'd get along great with Arion. Shame I can't drag wolfy on jobs, because he and I would have fun pranking you." She kept on grinning, despite my terseness. "Anyway, reason I came over was because you and I got paired for this operation."

"Did we now?" That was odd. I never got paired. "Who are we fighting?"

"Wait, you don't even know what the job is?" Finally her grin dropped, this time for surprise. "I would think that's the first thing you check."

"Jabarro handles the contracts. I just go where he tells me to." I owed Jabarro everything. If not for him, I would've died like a dog amidst the ruins of Leonster. So, I had to do everything I could to repay him. "That's all."

"So, you don't think about who you're fighting?" She seemed angry now. "Who you're killing?"

"It's people. Humans. Some of them young, some of them old. Some of them powerful, some of them weak." I shrugged and stood up, attaching Mystletainn to my belt. "Does it matter who they are? Dead is dead."

"You seriously don't think about it? At all?"

"I've been in this business for four years." I looked at her impassively, and I saw her immediately trying to calculate my age. Most did, when they saw me, especially when they knew my reputation. "Unfortunately, after a while, you start losing track."

"...That's so sad…" She looked down, and I wondered why she even cared. We were strangers, just paired for a job. "I hope I don't end up that way. I want to help Thracia find a new path."

"Good luck with that." There was no way in hell anything was going to change. We were all the dogs of the Empire, and they had our leashes. "Anyway, I'm going to talk to Jabarro. See you."

I walked off, trying to ignore how her questions got under my skin. Because I knew, knew, there were some people I killed who I would've rather protected. I knew that some of the 'bandits' I had slaughtered had just been starving people. I knew that some were just people 'in the way' of the wealthy and powerful. And it hurt, because this wasn't what I wanted. This was nothing like what I had wanted. When I was little, when Father was alive, I had dreamed of being a knight, just like him. A proud knight of Agustria, wielding Mystletainn to protect the innocent and to keep my people safe. Now, though, I was the 'Black Knight', a feared mercenary, killing for whoever paid the highest, to repay the debt I owed to Jabarro.

I would never forgive Sigurd for taking that dream away. Never.

The job involved something with a town near Manster, with us hired by Raydrik. Altena and I were situated away from the others, waiting for a signal or something. Still didn't really know what the hell we were supposed to be doing, but no matter. It was probably 'kill-kill-kill'. Like normal.

"So, Ares…" Altena began. Like me, she wasn't mounted. She instead petted her dragon, unusually colored compared to the others in her group, and attempted to make small talk. Constantly. "Where are you from?"

"This is the fourth time you've tried to start a conversation," I pointed out. My mare 'huffed' a bit, as annoyed as I was. Or maybe she didn't like the dragon. Or maybe she was bored. Could be anything, really. "Do you normally do that during a job?"

"When they're as surly as you, yes." She grinned and I rolled my eyes. And tried to think of why that grin looked familiar. "So?"

"My mother was a Leonster noblewoman." Better to not mention everything to a stranger. Even this was a bit much, but I wanted to see her reaction. "She died when it fell. Thracia was involved in that, yes?"

"Er… well, yes…" She squirmed in discomfort, and I had to smirk, just a little. "I… uh…"

"Relax. I don't hold a grudge against Thracia." I held it only for Sigurd. If Sigurd hadn't ruined Agustria… if Sigurd hadn't killed Father… then none of this would've happened to my family. Father would be alive. Mother would be alive. I wouldn't be a mercenary. Things probably wouldn't be safe, since the Empire and all, but we'd at least be together. And if not for Sigurd, then Quan, Ethlyn, and their daughter might still be alive. I wouldn't be separated from my aunt and uncle. Everything… everything was the fault of a knight as treacherous as his homeland. I hated him. I hated him since I was small, and I only hated him more now. "But I hate small talk."

"Ass." She scowled. "Also, seriously, do you practice the brooding?" She reached over and poked my face. "It is like… the most perfect brood."

"My life is complete." I kept to my deadpan tone, and she just laughed. "This is just how my face is."

"Nah, you've a face made for smiling. I'm sure of it."

"And now I wonder if you hit your head." In the distance, three fire-lit arrows flew up and dragons surged from their hiding places. "Job time."

"Wonderful." Altena swung up into her saddle and I mounted up as well. "We're supposed to deal with whoever runs our way, right?"

"Makes sense." And it did. It did until I saw just who was running our way. Women and children. Screaming, crying women and children. No one armed. No one armored.

I froze, unable to breathe. Beside me, Altena gasped. The women and children… the civilians… they kept on running, straight for us. Watching them, I thought of the job, and I thought of my debt of Jabarro. I brought up Mystletainn… and then I lowered it again because I couldn't do this. I couldn't. If I did this, if I killed them, I… I would no longer be Ares, son of Eldigan the Lionheart and Grahnye of Leonster. I would no longer be Ares, heir to Hezul. I would just be Ares, the Black Knight. Ares, the mercenary. And I didn't… I…

"So, I don't know about you, but I was never actually told who the 'enemy' was," I began slowly, glancing at her. She looked right at me, her gaze sharper than any dagger. "Thus, I see only a bunch of people who might need some assistance from whoever the 'enemy' is."

"...Yeah, I think so too," she replied. Slowly, she smiled. "Therefore, we can ignore them, right?"

"I don't see why we shouldn't. Except maybe to point them to a village. It is a dangerous area, especially right now."

"Quite true." She giggled and then waved at the group. They stopped in the distance, stunned and terrified. "What's a good direction?"

"Can Mease take them?"

"Hannibal's there at the moment, and he'll gladly."

"Perfect." I rode up to the group, sheathing Mystletainn to emphasize that I meant no harm. They were still frightened, but they didn't run. Though, they could've been frozen. "Hey, head south, to Mease. You can find safety there." A couple glanced at each other hesitantly, but one studied me closely and slowly nodded. That one started pushing the others, and soon, they were running again, right past us. Before long, they were out of sight and no longer our problem.

However, that didn't mean our problems were over. Because, of course, there had been pursuers, two of my group, and they had seen what I'd done. "The hell was that?!" one snapped. I didn't know their name. It was half on purpose. "Ares, you traitor!"

"Oh, please…" I scoffed, rolling my eyes. I unsheathed Mystletainn and It hummed in my grip, eager for blood. "At least come up with better last-"

Then something happened that I never expected. Altena's dragon suddenly inhaled sharply and breathed out fire. Bright, white-hot fire. There was a split second of screams, and then there was nothing but charred bodies where people had been. Bodies that her dragon quickly tore apart, reducing to chunks of crumbling ash.

"Whoops, she lost her temper," Altena blithely noted. She shrugged and looked at me. "Hey, keep this secret, will you? Lord Father said that I should keep her from doing this, but dragons are dragons."

"I'm not sure anyone with half a brain would believe me," I deadpanned. I sighed, and rubbed my temple. "Not even going to think on it. Though, why trust me with a secret?"

"You didn't kill them." She jumped down from her wyvern and smiled warmly at me. "That's why. You claim not to think, but you really do, don't you? You avoid learning because you know there's lines you can't cross, but you have to survive too."

"...Whatever." Didn't feel like denying it. Really didn't feel like confirming it. "So, story. We need one."

"For the charred guys?"

"For whatever we were supposed to do."

"Oh. Right." She leaned back against her dragon, thinking. "So, we could say that there were these pink fairies floating about…"

"Denied."

"Let me at least finish, damn it!"

After lots of 'debating', more of her being a brat because she could, we decided the story was simply 'we didn't see anyone'. After all, there wasn't really any signs of fighting. Just some random bits of ash that quickly scattered on the wind. No big deal. As for the two dead, they were listed as 'missing, presumed killed'. It wasn't the first time someone in the group had died and no one could find the body. Safer to not get close to people for that reason. But the result was 'easy' pay for Altena and myself, and us not in trouble. Best case scenario, really.

"Yay, I didn't have to compromise anything and I won't get scolded by Lord Father," Altena giggled, stretching her arms towards the sky. I shrugged and simply tended to Mystletainn. Divine weapon or not, it still required maintenance. And it was calming. "Did you get scolded?"

"Jabarro was too busy laughing," I replied. After all, Raydrik paid a lot of money to have me along, and I didn't even have to do anything. "So, no. I didn't."

"That's good." She leaned over me to watch what I was doing. "Where are you all off to?"

"Probably the next job. We operate all over Yied and the Manster District."

"I see." She watched me for a little while, frowning a bit as she studied the sword. But then she shrugged. "My group will be leaving soon. Back to Thracia."

"Ass." She poked my face. "Hey, write me when you can."

"And just where would I address the letters?"

"Hmm? Oh, Thracia Castle." She grinned. "And I'll tell the messenger to just look for the blonde mercenary with the perfect brood."

"I'll give you the city we stop in the most." I might as well humor her. "It would be hard to get jobs if we didn't have a base."

"Okay!" She skipped off briefly before turning back to face me. "Hey, this is going to sound weird, but I honestly feel like you and I have met before." She laughed, and I rolled my eyes, choosing against pointing out the obvious. "I'm not originally from Thracia, and I'm probably from around here in the Manster District. So maybe you and I met in Leonster?"

"I suppose it's possible." It wasn't like I remembered much. I clung to what bits I did, but it was a long time ago. I couldn't remember who all I had played with. "If you figure it out, let me know."

"I will." She winked and rushed off. "Great meeting you, Ares!"

"...Yeah, it's been fun, Altena." I actually did wave goodbye to her, and she waved back until she was out of sight. "What a weird person."

I was certain I'd never see her again, but I supposed I could indulge the letter thing. It wouldn't cost me anything, after all. And she was familiar. Maybe I'd learn what happened to my aunt and uncle. Or maybe not. Didn't matter. I just had to keep on living, and repaying my debt. That's all I had left.

Author's notes: So, have an Ares. This is born from a single line in the last chapter of Memoirs of Thracia, and it spiraled from there.