Too lazy to write anything and I'm kinda brain dead. School starts in ten days.
Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece and any associated characters.
In the dead of the night, a figure noiselessly crept away from the warmth of dying embers, slipping out of the door into the shadows of unlit corridors with quiet ease.
The moment Sabo's presence faded completely, Marco pushed himself up by his elbows, eyes narrowed in the direction which his fellow blonde disappeared.
On the other side of the fire, the captain of the Lyrid Knights, and Marco's temporary bodyguard, Doma, did the same, a hand instinctively grasping the sword that rested by his side.
"No need for that, Doma." Marco noticed his action and remarked lightly. "I doubt anything is going to happen to us."
Doma rolled his eyes. "You'd think you would be more cautious in a place you don't know, especially when there's someone neither of us know very well around." He rebutted, but nevertheless relaxed.
The captain of the knights sat up on his mat, throwing a few sticks from the pile he had gathered from the garden earlier into the fire to build it up again. Within moments, the embers had grown into a beacon of warmth, illuminating the small room their party had decided to camp out in.
It had been a day room of sorts, judging from the furniture. There had been a assortment of couches and seats littered around the room together with low tables and cupboards, but they had all been pushed against the walls to make space. Even the carpet had been rolled up and thrown in a corner, so they could build a fire without accidentally burning anything else.
Originally, however, Doma had suggested moving the couches into a triangle and building a fire in between. No matter what, sleeping on a couch was definitely more comfortable than sleeping on the cold, hard floor. But when Sabo casually commented that someone might have died on those couches, that idea was immediately thrown out the figurative window.
As much as they were a fearless bunch, neither of them really wanted to sleep on furniture that people may or may not have passed away on. Even though the lack of skeletons in the room suggested otherwise.
Marco sat up as well, looking into the fire where the light from the flames were reflected in his blue eyes.
"Where do you think Sabo went?" Doma asked, mirroring the crown prince and staring into the fire.
"I haven't the slightest idea," Marco answered, shifting to rest his head on his palm. "Although I'm pretty sure he knew we weren't asleep."
Doma snorted. "When does he not know anything?"
After being in the mercenary's company for over two days -and over a week for Marco- the two Whitebeardians had sort of gotten a grip on what kind of a person Sabo was. First off, the guy was a know-it-all. Literally. It's like there was never anything that he didn't know. He had a tendency to blurt out random facts when things got quiet, and he was smart, though he didn't really look the part. Although considering his job, it was probably a given that he had to be knowledgeable about a lot of things. Not to mention half of his members were total muscleheads.
He was very observant, and loved playing the 'mysterious' role, something that positively annoyed Marco and Doma to no end. Especially when he refuses to answer any of their questions except the absolutely useless ones, dodging their questions with amazing ease.
Marco sighed. "So…what do you think about him?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean," The prince explained, "Apart from some basic information, we don't know who 'Sabo' is at all. In the first place, we only got into contact with the Dragon's Fury because Kureha said that they were the only ones who could possibly help us with Pops' illness. Haruta was in charge of contacting them, so I'm not very clear on how he did it, but a week after that meeting, he suddenly showed up with Sanji and claimed that Pops was cursed. Then he left to come to Morsky, I came with him, and you know the rest."
"He's reliable, at least." Doma pinched a slice of dried apple from the supplies they had salvaged earlier. "It's true that we don't know him that well, but he's a great man as far as I'm concerned. Most anyone wouldn't willingly come into a wasteland like this with two extras—" He gestured to himself and Marco. "—even if they had other personal motives."
"Should I be offended that you just called me an extra?"
"I called myself one as well, didn't I?"
"You're insufferable and I should have you condemned for disrespecting royalty." Marco huffed and laid back down, resting his head on his pack.
"I apologise, your Highness," Doma bowed, or did his best to do so while sitting down. "But what would the other princes do without their favourite poker buddy?"
"I'm sure they could find someone else to be their favourite."
"Ouch. That burns, Marco."
"We should rest." The prince closed his eyes, turning away from the fire. "We have a long day ahead of us."
Doma nodded. "I'll stay up a little longer."
Despite the darkness that engulfed the corridors, Sabo navigated through them as if he were in broad daylight.
The room they had made camp in was in the west wing of the mansion, and for what he was about to do, Sabo had to go up to the top floor where the stairs that led up to the roof was located. The heavy trapdoor that opened onto the roof was locked, a large chain dangling from it, a matter that Sabo fixed within heavy trapdoor that opened onto the roof was locked, to Sabo's resigned dismay. Closer inspection revealed however that the locking mechanism had, in its many years of unuse, rusted away to the point that he broke it easily with his dagger.
He pushed it open and stepped out onto the roof.
A half-moon shone in the inky sky, barely illuminating the mansion through the clouds. The roof was wide open, a low parapet surrounding it on all sides.
The mercenary stood silently in the billowing wind and raised his right hand towards the moon, muttering softly under his breath. Slowly, the moonlight started to shift, bending and twisting around his outstretched hand.
In one swift motion, Sabo waved his hand in a large circle and withdrew it. The circle of moonlight rippled, and then grew misty before clearing again.
Ah, Sir Sabo. Lovely night, is it not? A voice like a deep ripple greeted.
"Nice to see you too, Brook. And I've told you plenty of times before, just call me Sabo."
Sabo grinned as a figure appeared in the circle before him. The person on the opposite side of the circle, Brook, was tall and bony with a large afro, dressed in traditional minstrel garbs.
Brook laughed heartily as he strummed his fiddle. I have told you plenty of times as well, old habits die hard!
"It sounds weird!" The blonde protested weakly. This had been a long-standing discussion between the two, certain to be voiced whenever they spoke or met, and which Sabo had yet to win.
If you say so, Sir Sabo. Brook laughed again as he emphasized the honorific, eliciting a groan from Sabo.
"You're incorrigible and I hate you. At any rate, I apologize for not being able to answer you earlier. I had company."
It's quite alright. You are a busy man, after all—well, far more than I am anyway—and I would not interrupt you for any lesser matter. Brook ignored the jibe and reassured the younger man before turning serious. However, earlier today I came across something troubling, and I fear what it may mean for us.
Sabo frowned. "What do you mean?" Brook was rarely one for such seriousness, and it always brought about a sense of ominousness for the blonde.
This morning, one of the dwarf-kind was washed ashore on the south-west coast of the Whitebeard Empire. We found him unconscious on the edge of the water and took him with us. He has no injuries that I could see, but Laboon says that beneath the scent of the sea, he could also smell fire, smoke and blood.
"You don't think that the dwarf-kind could have been attacked?"
I cannot say for sure, but the land of dwarves has always been a peaceful, if isolated place. It is frankly unfathomable that any would bear such kind creatures ill intent. Brook replied, a frown creeping onto his face. Sabo agreed completely; the dwarves were kind to the point of naivety that most no one would even bother harming them. However, there was an exception...
"True enough, unless we are speaking about them."
You don't suppose that they…?
"I don't know, but it is highly possible."
And yet they have been inactive for decades! Why would they start now?
"I'm afraid I don't have an answer to that, but I think it would be best if we look into it. There is no solid proof, or even anything to suggest it, but the attack on the dwarves may very well have something to do with the recent downfall of Morsky. I take it you've heard of the incident?"
Indeed, I have. A tragic fate, I must say. It is quite unbelievable that a plague could ruin a country to such an extent.
"It would be unbelievable, if it were actually a plague that caused this."
It's not?
Sabo shook his head. "No, it's not. I have had suspicions when it first fell to ruin, and I am currently looking into this matter."
Since they first met, Brook had learned to always read between the lines where Sabo was concerned, and immediately discerned what 'looking into' actually meant. You are in Morsky?
"Yes, but Luffy has remained in Phoenix with our two comrades, if you are headed there now."
I see. I shall meet up with Sir Luffy, then, and let him know what is going on. I should be able to reach Phoenix within three days.
"I'll let him know you'll be coming."
That would be best. I do look forward to seeing him again. His enthusiasm is indeed a refreshing breeze for these old bones. Brook laughed.
"I think Laboon would beg to differ." Sabo snorted. "If you could let the Council know of this, it would be a great help. I don't think I can possibly sneak in a summon to them during the day, and I know for a fact that they wouldn't appreciate me calling in the middle of the night."
Of course, but I must rest now if I am to continue my journey tomorrow. Farewell, Sir Sabo. May the moon be your guide.
"Farewell, Brook, and thank you."
Sabo waved his hand through the circle, and it immediately dispersed.
Then, he repeated the earlier process, only this time, the person that appeared in the circle was his little brother.
Sabo! Luffy looked surprised.
"Hi, Luffy." Sabo greeted warmly. "How are things?"
Luffy gave his brother a big thumbs up.
"Zoro and Sanji haven't killed each other yet?"
Nope! Luffy tilted his head to the side. But Koala said Zoro's cleaning out the arena bar's stock—so
"I'm not paying for his alcohol." The older brother reflexively answered before he caught himself.
Koala said Shyarly's taking Zoro hostage until he clears his tab.
The blonde nodded understandingly. The owner of the sole bar located within the Arena's premises, Madame Shyarly was a rather unorthodox woman; she was kind, but when it involved her establishment, she was calculative and ruthless. And knowing Zoro, he would've drunk down to his last penny and then even after that. To be honest, this situation has happened so many times that it had become a sort of routine for Shyarly herself. Let Zoro drink, take his money, let him drink more, hold him hostage and make him work until his tab is clear, release Zoro. She'd even joked once that maybe she should just let Zoro drink more so she could extol him to work more often. As far as Sabo was aware, these kinds of situations had been happening ever since Zoro learned to drink. Or so he'd heard from Koala.
"And Sanji?"
Thatch said his old man is keeping him hostage in the kitchen.
Sabo sweatdropped. What was it with those two and being held hostage?
"What about you?"
Luffy's face scrunched up as he swung from side to side. I'm bored. Sanji's cooking, Zoro's training,.. working… whatever, Koala and everyone else is busy preparing for the tournament. And the old moustache guy is still unconscious.
Sabo smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Luffy. I know you wanted to come, but at least one of us had to stay with the king, just in case."
Yeah, yeah, I know. So, did you find anything?
"We reached Goa today…"
…
By the time Sabo cut off the connection to Luffy, an hour or two had already passed since he came onto the roof.
Halfway through his conversation with his little brother, Sabo had moved across the roof to the surrounding parapets, sitting down on the edge and leaving his legs dangling in mid-air.
The mansion was a tall building located on a hill, and from his seat, the blonde had an almost full view of the city.
"Never thought I would be back here again." Sabo leaned back on his hands. "Now this brings back a lot of memories."
He sat there for perhaps a quarter of an hour, letting the cold wind clear his mind before he headed back down.
Entering as noiselessly as he went, the mercenary slipped back in. Neither Marco nor Doma woke, fast asleep by the once again dying embers.
Shortly after daybreak, the three men resumed their trek towards Marineford, leaving from the Northern Gates as opposed to the Southern Gates which they had came through the previous day. They had broke camp earlier, hoping to be able to make good time on the remaining trip before the sun fully rose. Since yesterday, midday had found the temperature shifting from comfortable to unbearably scorching, and they were forced to find somewhere to hide from the sun lest they dry up.
Finding shade was near impossible, since all the trees and vegetation had died, leaving only barren trunks or the occasional stump that hardly did anything to shield the three men and provide respite.
They had gotten lucky the previous day, stumbling upon a large outcropping of rock just before the sun rose to its highest. Today, however, it seemed their luck had been depleted.
"How much… farther… is it…?" Doma panted as he wiped the sweat off his brows. "If we don't… get there… soon… I'm… going to melt…"
Sabo retorted, though it was weak due to the suffocating heat. "You and me both. And his highness. I can't do anything about it, unfortunately."
"Don't you have… some kind… of magic… for this…?" Marco wheezed. His hair that used to defy gravity was now matted down by the sweat that dripped off him like rain. It looked odd and under normal circumstances it would be funny, but Sabo couldn't find the energy to laugh. He was burning through what was left just breathing in this heat.
"If I did…" Sabo started swaying a bit. "I'd have used it…" Never in my life have I missed having trees so much, he thought.
The mercenary vaguely registered his foot connecting with something solid, but his mind was clouded with fatigue and he couldn't think straight, so the blonde dismissed it as his imagination and trudged forward.
"SABO!"
At least, he tried to.
"What the…!" Sabo spat out a clump of dirt, now wide awake.
He turned around to see what he had tripped on.
A figure was sprawled across their path, and a quick glance around revealed another three spread out haphazardly several feet away.
Doma had kneeled next to the figure, deftly flipping them around to ascertain their condition while Marco helped Sabo up.
"I really need to learn those spells…" The mercenary muttered as he dusted off his coat.
"Are you okay?" Marco inquired.
Sabo waved away his concerns. "I'm fine, thank you. It's nothing that hasn't happened before."
Marco stared with raised brows. "You trip over people a lot?"
"Nah, that's Luffy. I usually only trip over him or Zoro. Or roof tiles." He swore they had it in for him. There was always a loose tile somewhere, just waiting for him to step on them and lose his footing.
"That's no better."
"I don't trip over strangers if that's what concerns you."
"You just did." Marco deadpanned.
"Hmm, accidents do happen."
"Sabo!" Doma suddenly called out, interrupting their banter. "Come here for a second, will you?"
The knight held up something which he had apparently found on the man. "Do you recognise this?" He asked, showing a small insignia with the letters 'KR' carved on it.
Sabo groaned. "Of all the people we could've run into..."
"I take it you recognize it?"
"Of course, I do," The mercenary huffed. "No mercenary wouldn't know about these idiots. No one who keeps in contact with the business grapevine anyway."
"And?" The prince probed.
"We should just leave them and be on our way?"
Marco rolled his eyes. "Who are they?"
"The Krieg Raiders. Ever heard of 'em?"
Doma pulled a face. "I have."
"Sounds familiar."
Sabo sighed and explained. The Krieg Raiders were one of the larger active mercenary groups in the land, led by a man who called himself 'Don Krieg' and had an ego as big as his band. The KR called themselves mercenaries, but their actions resembled more those of bandits. They mostly operated on the western side of the Red Mountains, where Morsky and the Whitebeard Empire were located.
"So they're famous?"
"If by famous you mean most everyone knows about how they blindly challenged Dracule Mihawk and got their hinds handed to them in an instant…" Doma flatly replied.
"Then yes, they're famous." Sabo finished.
"Wait…I remember now." Marco finally connected the dots. No wonder the name sounded familiar. That fight, if it could even be called as such, destroyed a good portion of the plains near the southern border. Most of them were officially Mihawk's handiwork, but the royal family secretly blamed the Krieg Raiders—if their leader hadn't stupidly tried to take on the famous Wandering Swordsman, the plains wouldn't have been destroyed at all.
Sabo nonchalantly nodded. "Anyway, are they dead?" He asked, gesturing at the man Doma was kneeling next to.
Doma replied negative. "They're just unconscious. I reckon they might've passed out from the heat. They seem overly dehydrated."
"Figures only this group of imbeciles would dare to venture into a country that fell to ruin from plague." Sabo scoffed, before he flinched, and his eyes widened in realisation. He rushed towards the unconscious men.
With concise motions, he swept through the four men, checking each briefly before moving on to the next. His actions were baffling to his two companions, but they remained silent nonetheless.
"Is something wrong, Sabo?" The crown prince asked when the mercenary finally stepped away.
Sabo looked away. "…they can't be saved."
"Why?" They were just dehydrated, right? It was nothing some water couldn't fix, despite the distinct lack thereof in their immediate surroundings.
There was slight pause of hesitance.
"Sabo," Marco pressed. "Don't you think it's about time you let us in on whatever secret it is you're keeping?"
The mercenary merely remained silent.
"You know this doesn't concern only you. Me and Doma have a right to know what we're getting ourselves into. What we have been getting ourselves into."
Sabo sighed. "I know, and I plan to," He pulled his cloak further over his head.
"But?" Doma prodded.
"Can we at least get out of the sun before you start interrogating me?"
At that moment, Marco and Doma finally realised how sweaty they were and how unbearably hot it had become now that the sun had risen to its highest point in the day.
Fortunately for the three men, after walking for another half an hour or so, they came across a small rundown cottage not too far from the road.
Dragging the four members of the Krieg Raiders which—as Sabo complained about within the privacy of his mind—Marco absolutely insisted on bringing along, they entered the cottage with a silent prayer to whoever lived in the house previously.
Sabo dropped the two he was lugging somewhere next to the door, much to Marco's exasperation.
"Can it, your Highness." Sabo refuted in annoyance. "They're mercenaries. They sleep on the floor all the time."
"They're wounded." Marco protested, but was met immediately by Sabo's nonchalant answer.
"They'll be dead soon anyway." The mercenary commented, shrugging off his pack onto the floor and stirring up a small cloud of dust.
The crown prince snarled at the other's coldness. "You don't know that."
"Oh, don't I?"
Sabo pulled a chair from the table nearby and plopped down on it. "If you'd quit your nagging and sit down, I'll tell you what you want to know but if you don't want to," he shrugged. "I'm fine with it as well."
Marco stared at the other blonde. For just a split second, an instance so short that the prince almost missed it, Sabo's mask had cracked just the tiniest bit.
The slightly aloof, unperturbed mask that Marco had seen remain steadfast for as long as he had known him, which in all honesty, wasn't all that long.
He didn't call Sabo out on it however, and simply sat down in another chair while Doma leaned against the nearby wall, arms crossed over his chest.
Before Marco could start on the questions that he had accumulated over the week, Sabo looked directly at him. "Be careful what you ask, your Highness." The mercenary warned in a low voice. "Some things are better left unsaid, I'm sure you know this."
Marco nodded. "My first question: why did you say they couldn't be saved?" The prince cocked his head towards the unconscious mercenaries.
"Because they can't." Sabo glanced at said mercenaries. "They've been in Morsky far too long. And if I had to say, most of their time was probably spent looting properties."
"And what does that have to do with anything?" Doma wondered.
"Everything. It's a long story."
Marco shrugged. "We have time."
By the end of what Sabo would later dub the 'Royal Interrogation', he was slouched against the back of his chair, watching in wicked amusement as his two companions huddled together, attempting to sort out the information they had just gleaned from him.
True to his word, the mercenary had answered every question they had, but whether the answer he gave revealed anything depended entirely on the mercenary's willingness to disclose it. The pleasure of technicalities.
His fellow mercenaries' well-being had been the first question out of the prince's mouth, not that Sabo could say that it was surprising. The crown prince had always been known to be a caring person, despite his otherwise stern demeanour. The same went for the other members of the royal family as well.
Sabo's gaze fell to the mercenaries on the other side of the room. They had stirred a little during the 'interrogation' but hadn't shown any signs of waking up. At this point, Sabo was inclined to believe that they wouldn't ever.
Just as he had told Marco and Doma.
They were in too deep to save anymore.
Which, of course, brought on the onslaught of questions that eventually dragged the truth out.
"Morsky wasn't plagued." Sabo had said. "It was killed."
And it was the truth. One he and Luffy had suspected when the country fell and he had now affirmed, but also one that he knew sounded absurd to anyone not versed with magic and its ways.
Marco and Doma sent him identical stares of incomprehension.
Sabo sighed. "Did you really think a plague, of all things, could've destroyed a country the way Morsky was?" He directed the question at the two dumbfounded Whitebeardians.
"It's completely impossible." The mercenary continued without waiting for an answer. He likely hadn't been expecting one. "No plague could have left absolutely no survivors."
"Then… what?"
Sabo let his head fall, his gaze dropping to the wooden floor.
"A curse, Marco." He said in a low voice. "A curse, like the one afflicting your father, but on a larger scale. A much, much larger scale."
He paused to take a breath. "Morsky was killed by this curse, and now there are residuals of the curse lingering here in this dead land. Those men," Sabo didn't present a name, but there was no doubt who he was referring to. "Have been affected by the curse, and just like every other living creature that have mistakenly ventured into this land, they have started to decay…"
He didn't have to finish that sentence for Marco and Doma to know what was going to happen.
"And us?" Doma asked slowly, his fists white with the force he was clenching them. "We've been here for almost a week now." The knight glared at the mercenary, his hand going to the sword at his side.
Sabo heard the distinctive sound of a sword being drawn and looked up, staring coldly at the knight.
"Do you realise what you've done?" Doma snarled, shaking off Marco's hand that was gripping his shoulder to calm him down and took a step forward. "You've put the crown prince in grave danger and you're only telling us about it NOW?! And don't roll your eyes!" The last part was angrily tacked on when Sabo rolled his eyes at the knight's accusations.
"I do hope not all your subordinates are as… petulant as this one, Prince Marco." Sabo remarked. "Some others may easily take offence…"
The mercenary stood up to his full height, which was just slightly taller than the knight, who had warily turned his blade to the blonde in front of him.
Sabo pushed the sword away easily, much to Doma's chagrin.
"Doma, put your sword away," Marco said warningly. "Sabo obviously knows very well the dangers of this place, yet he still brought us here. I think it's fair to say that he has some method to keep us safe," The prince glanced at the other blonde. "Or so I hope."
Sabo smirked. "Your faith in me is heart-warming, your Highness."
"Glad to hear," Marco retorted sarcastically.
"Anyway, regarding the curse and its residual effects, I'm immune to it unless, for any reason, it's directed specifically at me. You two, on the other hand, are as susceptible to it as anyone else." He paused. "Except Luffy." He added as an afterthought.
"You do have a way to prevent us from being affected, right?" Marco asked, brows furrowed together cautiously. "How do you kill a land in the first place, anyway? It's not exactly a living being…?"
"Ah, but that's where you're mistaken, and no, I won't explain this, it's rather complicated. As for your former question..."
Sabo grinned, a stark contrast from his previously steely expression, and with a slight of his hand, produced a vial that was half-filled with crimson liquid which looked suspiciously like…
"Is that…blood?" The prince stared at the vial, his voice tight with apprehension. There were many other things that it could be as well, but really, there wasn't anything that could quite match that particular shade of red...
"Yep." Sabo replied with enough joviality in his voice to cause whiplash.
Marco couldn't tear his eyes away. "…Dare I ask what that blood is for and where it came from?"
"Take a guess?"
"Sabo."
"Spoilsport." Sabo clicked his tongue and pocketed the vial. "Do you remember what me and Luffy did, before we left the capital?"
Marco blinked. What Sabo and Luffy did before Sabo and Marco left?
Since Sabo had asked him, Marco assumed it was something the brothers had done in his presence and that he would be aware of… recollections of the day they discovered their father was under a curse flashed by in Marco's mind, finally stopping at a certain point as the prince realised what the mercenary was talking about.
"You drew something around Pops' bed, and Luffy… he- he fed blood to Pops…" Marco trailed off. "Don't tell me…!"
Sabo's mouth quirked up in a smirk. "It's exactly what you think, your Highness."
Another round of explanations then led to the present, where Marco and Doma were standing together and talking in low voices, processing everything they had just learned.
"How exactly did you make us take the blood again?" A sudden question from Doma jerked Sabo out of his thoughts, and blue eyes flickered back towards his two companions.
"I simply slipped it into your food while you weren't looking." Sabo shrugged. "For a captain of the border guard and the crown prince, you two are surprisingly inattentive at times. Rather dangerous, don't you think? For all you know, I could've poisoned it instead and neither of you would be the wiser."
It had been easy. Too easy, really. Sabo idly wondered what would've become of the duo if the mercenary had had half a heart to assassinate them. They would put up a fight for sure, but Sabo was confident that if he wanted to, even the both of them combined would not be able to match him.
"And you couldn't have mentioned this, like, I don't know, before we crossed the border?" Marco frowned at the mercenary, the edge of his eye twitching in annoyance. "It would've saved you the trouble." And us the shock.
"Ahh, yes." Sabo nodded in agreement. "But that would have taken the fun out of it, no? It's not everyday I get the chance to 'drug' the crown prince of the Whitebeard Empire and Captain Doma Bohem of the Lyrid Knights."
Marco and Doma stared at Sabo, speechless.
"…I really shouldn't commend you for that sentence that's liable for treason, but you're the first person I've met who's actually dared to say something like that to my face, so I will." The prince deadpanned, fixing Sabo with a dry smirk. "You, my friend, have some serious guts."
"And coming from him, that means a lot, considering half the family is… less than sane most of the time." Doma added unhelpfully.
Sabo bowed exaggeratedly. "Why, thank you for those kind words, your Highness." He flipped the top hat high into the air, letting it fall directly onto his blond curls. "I will certainly treasure them until the end of my days."
Pushing the brim up slightly, Sabo smirked up at the unamused duo.
"Anyway," Marco stressed the word, drawing attention back to him. "Back to the matter at hand: what are we going to do about these four?"
"We leave them and be on our merry way." Without the slightest hint of hesitation, Sabo answered. "I explained the situation to you already, didn't I? They're not going to survive, not even if I use Luffy's blood. Do you guys really want to bring along four dead weights?"
Neither Marco nor Doma had the chance to respond before a small, almost inaudible voice reached their ears and drew their attention.
"P-please…" One of the Krieg Raiders pleaded weakly, his eyes opened just a crack. "That m-monster… kill us…"
The man's words came out in a warbled mess. Added to the fact that he had not much strength to speak, it was near impossible to tell what he was saying. For normal people, that is. Sabo was another story.
The mercenary leader's hearing was sharper than most, and he easily picked out the few distinguishable words from everything else.
Sabo was by the man's side in the blink of an eye, pulling him up to lean against the wall in a sitting position. "Who are you talking about?" He asked, despite not knowing if the man was aware enough to understand his question.
Doma handed him one of their spare waterskins, and Sabo held it up to the man's lips to help him drink.
"Monster… kill… run…" The man mumbled as he instinctively drank the offered liquid, a thin trickle of water escaping from his mouth. "Monster… kill… run…"
Sabo retracted his hand and gave the skin back to Doma. "He doesn't appear to be conscious." The mercenary observed. "If anything, it's more like he's sleep-talking."
"Do those words make any sense to you?" Marco asked. He too, had heard the man's mumbling, but without any context, he could make neither head nor tail of those three words. "They certainly don't to me."
Fire washed over the cold, stone ground, raising the temperature in the cavern to intense heights. The heat didn't last long, the flames dissipating as quickly as they appeared.
"Heh. Much better."
In the middle of the cavern, a large man clad in flashy, golden armour trembled at the cruelty that laced those words. "Y-you, you monster…!" He gritted out from where he lay on the ground, glaring at something hidden in the shadows of the cavern.
A chuckle sounded, followed by the distinct rattling of chains. "That I am."
"You'll pay for this!" The man bellowed, though it quickly turned into a scream when an unseen force ground the man into the cavern floor, further shattering the armour.
The voice hummed thoughtfully. "How about… no?" It laughed, the sound echoing within the cave ominously. "Did you think I'd let you go that easily, human?"
The man pushed himself onto his elbows, ignoring the pool of blood that had accumulated from a gaping wound on his abdomen. "Who are you?"
"Good question," The voice sounded almost amused. "Who am I?"
The previous force returned, crushing the man back to the ground. "Why would I tell you?"
The man coughed, nearly choking on his own spit. In a split decision of desperation, the man called out to the hidden entity, offering all the fortunes he could give that was available under the sun. At that, the voice sneered with barely concealed contempt.
"What about my freedom and your life?"
No answer was forthcoming.
"You humans are all cowards. Weak trash rotten to the core."
The man's eyes widened, and he started scratching at his neck. As the seconds ticked by, the shade of purple that had appeared at his neck started creeping up, tinting the man's face with its ominous colour as well. The hands that had been scrabbling at the unseen force gradually lost their strength as well, falling lifelessly to the man's side as his struggling died down.
"Your ashes will make for some nice aliments."
And he closed his eyes for eternity.
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