*Knock* *Knock*

*Knock* *Knock*

Par slowly opened his heavy eyes. Unhurriedly he got up and sleep-walking went to open the doors of his bedroom. He tried the handle but to his surprise it was locked. That woke him up in a moment. Why was he locked in?

Memories of yesterday came rushing to him. The running away, the fires, the monster and how he was treated afterwards. It seemed all so magical, nothing like his usual days. There were more events than in his normal week or two.

"Who is here? I can't open the door!" he said.

"Are you done sleeping there? Or should I come later?"

"Ace? Ace!" Par said, happily. "How did you find me?"

"I've been around all the time" Ace said, opening the door. "Did you really think I'd leave you alone so you can have a blast without me? Not a chance."

Par smiled too but then his eyes fell on his friend’s appearance. His eyes grew wide. "What happened to you?"

Most of Ace's robe was torn to pieces and bloody, his hands were crimson while bare feet red and marred. There wasn't an undamaged place on him.

"Well, my evil side took over and did some horrible things. I'm really thankful you've stopped him from causing more havoc."

"Evil side? When did you... Is that the story thing again?" Par asked, unsure of whether he should really ask it. It would be horrible if he implied Ace did all that himself while there was a simple and easily understandable explanation. But could there really be one?

"It's not a story. It's my life" Ace said, glaring at Par.

"You mean you destroyed those houses simply to act out a role? Why would you ever do it?" Par asked, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"It's not a role" Ace said, shaking his head. "Try to understand it differently. It's a life. It doesn't matter whether I like it or not."

"But you created it! Why does your life have to give misery to others? Why can't you be just a normal person?"

"Because I have that in real world! Why the hell would I want to copy it? What I want is a tale! An adventure like one from the old books! Never would another copy of my life suffice! What would be the point of playing then?" Ace asked, his eyes turning green and looking wild.

"But why not a hero then..." Par asked, grasping for straws.

"Every story needs a hero and a villain. The first is always unwilling while the second tends to be either unknowing of his own evilness or absolutely crazy. You needed a role too so I picked the one that was harder. It's not that simple to make a villain that people hate and love at the same time. You have to balance on a thin thread between good and evil all the time or else you fall into one of these sides and lose your credibility."

"But you're only evil!"

"Tell that to the people outside. And make sure they start paying taxes while you're at it" Ace said, smile back on his face.

"What?" Par asked, not able to follow the conversation.

"Just go outside. You can tell you found the doors open. See ya later"

Those words said, Ace quickly walked out and used [Shadow Veil] the moment he was out. Par who had ran out after saw nothing but evening sun shining on the streets. Ace smiled at the kid and followed him to the outside of the town.

Laughter and crying could be heard coming from there. He watched Par's eyes widen as he heard people praising the black beast. They were praying for his well-being and laughing while brushing tears from their faces. None seemed to remember that the same beast had almost destroyed their homes just the other day. At that moment someone noticed Par.

"Hey! Our hero is here! It's all because of him we got our kids back!"

People rushed to him, grownups and kids altogether. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" They shouted one over the other trying to hug him to express their joy.

"What happened?" Par asked, when he could breathe again.

"Remember the creature you stopped tonight?"

"It saved our children!"

"He did it because you taught him what is right! The kids said his parting words were "Blood spilt, blood returned".

"It means he actually learnt from your actions! He might even become our town's guardian spirit now!"

"Thank you so much!"

There were huge smiles on their faces equaling that of Ace’s. He was already happily sitting on a nearby house's roof and watching Par's misery for everyone jumping on him. He seemed to truly hate being in the spotlight but was enduring it none the less. Such a good kid. Would he ever break or did he believe in his brother's teachings that much? It was an interesting question and he planned on finding the out. But it'll have to wait for another time as the mayor was coming to destroy the show. His red face promised that he was going to do just that.

"What is going on here?" he asked in a shout. His face didn't look good with a black eye and still red bruises covering it. The villager's seemed to not have went lightly on him.

"Miracle happened! Our kids are back! It's all thanks to our little savior here!" women said, answering him while hugging their children closer.

"And what did he do? Call another monster to save us from?"

None looked happy to hear that accusation, Ace included. He felt indignation rise within him. How did that guy dare to even think that he'd follow anyone's command? Quietly jumping off from the roof he sneaked closer to the man. One more word and he would be following after the woman that had stolen the kids.

"Why do you look so surprised? That boy's a summoner! We saw him call on fire to fight against the beast! Who says that he couldn't have summoned the beast too?"

'Dead.' There was no more hesitation in Ace's face as he stabbed the guy with his Kris. It drank the blood, feeding itself while being pulled out. Ace knew he was going to be revealed now, his veil having dropped, and quickly scanned his brain for an explanation but it wasn't needed. A black shadow embedded into the man silencing his last scream.

"Because he's an elementalist!" a female voice said, drawing all attention to herself while Ace not wasting a moment recast his hiding spell. Once it was done he looked at the female who saved his identity for the moment.

She was standing on a branch of one of the trees in a great pose with her hands on hips and body a bit forward. She clearly had to have practiced it often if she wasn't falling from the tree. But that wasn't the most shocking part. Gazillions of tattoos over her whole body were. She was wearing tight leather shorts and a bikini top of the same material so all the markings were easily seen. There wasn't a single free space on her body.

"Who are you?" someone from the crowd shouted out, looking for a weapon but not finding any at hand.

"Me? I'm a demoness mercenary of sorts. I was hired to catch a certain female but she was killed right before my eyes and this kid had nothing to do with it" she said in a strong voice. It echoed around and made you feel insignificant; her high position helped the matter too.

"Waahaahah! Waawaah!" Someone started to reap. Everyone turned back to see the mayor's wife fallen next to his body. Her face was grief stricken, tears running down in torrents. She was hugging and hitting her husband as if that was going to bring him back.

People turned back around, glaring at the newcomer demoness with hatred in their eyes. "Why did you kill him? He did nothing to you!"

"I didn't..." the female said, surprised. Uncertain she jumped off and rushed to see everything with her own eyes.

Ace stood still at that moment, not daring to even breathe. If the people put all the blame on her, it would be an immense victory. So he carefully watched as she rushed to the dead man and saw it herself. There was no questioning about the truth of the fact. He knew well that his dagger didn't leave chances for anyone of being brought back to life from the hell's gates.

"How... It was only... Just a silence spell!" she said, not believing it, all her tough act forgotten. "I didn't mean it..."

There was a slight feeling of guilt in Ace's mind but nowhere strong enough to make him move a muscle. If he did anything, the blame would go to him and he preferred a clean profile. Silver Wing was allowed to be infamous. Ace? Never.

While the drama was unfolding Par stood debating whether he could already leave or not. No one had told him to stay but Ace had asked to make them pay the taxes... Although it didn't look like it was on anyone's mind at the moment. They were too concerned with the girl that appeared suddenly and killed the mayor for no reason.

He couldn't believe that people could do that. It's truth that the mayor had accused him of setting the monster up but that wasn't a death deserving thing, right? What was anyway? His brother had never mentioned anything. But this was a game. Maybe different rules existed here than in real life?

"Burn the witch!" someone shouted, waking Par from his daydreaming.

"Do it!"

"Catch the witch!"

Before the girl could figure out what was happening, the villagers hit her with the single skill they had. "Body of straw, dead man's robes, broom for a weapon and a traveler’s hat, Scarecrow!"

It was a simple spell used by farmers to summon a scarecrow spirit to frighten wild creatures. It made them freeze for a moment allowing people to kill some of them and cook for dinner. Such a spell wasn't meant to catch humans but the female was caught off guard and there were around twenty or so people casting the spell with their hearts in it.

So it worked stunning the girl for a long enough time for villagers to bind her arms and legs and stuff a cloth in her mouth so she couldn’t cast any spells. It was amazing how coordinated people could be when they wanted to be. Ace was extremely thankful to her for saving him from that predicament.

"Ughhgug!" she tried saying something but no intelligible sound came out as she was carried away. Some of a more bloodthirsty went to pick up some wood. They wanted to see the spectacle tonight.

'Such impatience. I should better get Par out of here now. I don't think he's ready for that yet. Destroying stuff is one thing but killing a person just because is a whole different matter.’ Even himself he didn't really want to see it. If everyone lived by the rule that eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth and life for a life soon enough there would be only ghosts walking the earth. So if you kill you need a reason and revenge isn't a good one. It never brought anyone back to life.

When people scattered out, Ace wrote to Par to meet him in a forest. They needed to have a quick talk.

"We should wrap up all the loose ends and take our leave. You should better go talk about those taxes now. I'll wait for you here."

"What? Why so suddenly?" Par asked.

"Let's say it wouldn't be pretty if we stayed. Trust me and let's leave when you finish the business" Ace said, taking out some bread and eating it. He just noticed that his satiety had fallen low and was flashing red.

"Why are you eating that old bread? I'm sure the villagers would share their food with you if you just asked..." Par said.

"Maybe but I prefer to stay unknown. But it’s good idea. Go and eat some so we can travel without stopping. Hurry now. The sun will be setting soon" he said shooing the kid and then following him sneakily.

In truth, there was still a long time before the night setting like some good four hours but there was no reason to waste time. The kid like a good boy first went to the largest house previously belonging to the mayor. Now there were a crowd of people gathered there and clearly arguing over something. But their voices were too quiet to hear about what.

"Uhm..?" Par asked, not really liking to have to intrude. "Could you help me, please?"

"Hmm? Oh, it's you! What would you need?" one of the guy's asked. He was a bit on the aged side but not yet an old man. Maybe the hard work or many worries had aged him?

"I would like for you to promise to start paying taxes" Par said in a quiet voice, everyone having to listen intently to hear his words. He really didn't like being in the spotlight and trying to persuade people on such an important thing.

"Why so sudden? We'll have to choose a new mayor and then we'll vote whether it is in our best interests to do so or not so please wait. There shouldn't be any hurry in such matters."

Ace watched Par's face fall and wished to write him an encouraging message with what to say but what would be the point of it... He'd never learn if people always gave him a helping hand. To see the world you had to do it on your own without others creating hidden structures to support your every step. It only ever led to disasters.

While Ace was daydreaming about the wrongness of helping others, Par found his courage and spoke up. "I have to leave soon so choose now."

"Soon is when?"

"Once I'm done here. My friend is already waiting for me" Par said, his voice firm. Ace noted how he could fight for what he was ordered to do but not things he wanted to do himself. He couldn't understand how a person could be so selfless and whether it was a character trait or a built in rule.

"We can't decide anything so suddenly! It's an important question to our village’s development!" the guy said in outrage, people around him having mixed emotions. Some looked agreeing while others were shaking their heads.

Ace wanted to threaten them so badly. All it would take to convince them would be a word that the lord wouldn’t protect them the next time or even send some monster himself and they would all agree in an instant without daring to say a word.

"But you've almost been destroyed! You should be seeking help and protection! If you start paying, you can ask the lord to send soldiers to your aid and even some resources! It's to your own benefit!" Par said in a raised voice.

The villagers seemed surprised. It didn't look like either one had even considered such an idea. Ace smiled at that. The kid unknowingly had created a genius plan of revenge. Now Ace wouldn't have to waste time thinking of ways to pay the lord back for giving such a test. It was a great idea to pick up Par on the run. With his innocence, he was becoming an interesting tool, good for delicate situations. No one would suspect him of lying especially when he knew nothing of Ace's true agendas. A truly good choice to get him.

"You sure that is truth?" the same man asked, uncertainly. It was hard to believe that something like this was reality. If they had known, never would they have stopped paying.

"It must! Isn't that what you pay him for? You listen to him and follow his orders while in exchange he protects you!" Par said, nodding his head with vigor. He was sure that had to be the truth.

"Fine then" the villager said, giving up. "We'll pay those taxes. You can leave with an easy heart"

"Thank you" Par said with a smile and waving at them left. Ace followed him.

"Hey wait!" a female shouted and they turned back. It was the woman that had first brought Par inside her house and locked him in. "I heard what you've talked about. I don't have words to thank you enough so please at least come and eat with us before leaving. I'm sorry for locking you up the last time but it was for your own safety"

'It doesn't matter if you're a hero. As long as you're a kid, you're going to be treated like one' Ace though with disappointment. He shouldn't have even expected more.

Par nodded at the woman's request and together they went to her house. Now it was filled with kids and their mothers happily chatting while some of the fathers sat beside, looking at them relieved. Par was sat at the head of the table and food was brought to him. It wasn't of the restaurant's cuisine but the best what the villagers had. He ate it greedily while Ace watched him with envious eyes. Sometimes it was so hard to be the villain.

Only when he was full where Par allowed to take his leave. Followed by a hidden Ace he went out of the village. On his way, he saw the tattooed female. She looked very sad and lonely, lying on her side with all her limbs tightly bound and her mouth covered. Her eyes were full of terror, pleading for help. It was hard for Par to ignore it but somehow he managed to leave.

Outside he saw Ace sitting on a tree branch with one leg bent. "Have you been waiting here all the time?"

"More or less. Have you finished all your work?" Ace asked.

"Yeah..." Par said, voice low.

"And why the long face?" Ace asked, annoyed. "Did something go wrongly?"

"I don't want that girl to die..."

"Oh my god... Why is that? She killed the town's mayor! Isn't there a universal rule that people should be punished for their crimes?"

"But she looked so sad! I'm sure it must have been a misunderstanding!"

"You mean she accidentally cast a killing spell? That sounds a bit unrealistic, don't you think?" Ace asked, raising an eyebrow.

But Par wasn’t understanding or didn't care that Ace was ridiculing him. "There has to be an explanation to it. She looked so shocked and horrified when she saw what happened! She has to be innocent!" he said in a firm voice.

"Even if that was true, what do you expect me to do? To just waltz in and save the damsel in distress? If either of us even show our faces there, all the work will be for nothing. Is that what you want?" Ace asked, annoyed.

"No, but... You always have a plan for everything!" Par said, looking at Ace with shining eyes.

"You can't be serious..." Ace said, sighing. When did he become the great mastermind?

"I believe you" Par said with a bright smile, still looking with those puppy dog eyes.

Ace raised his eyes to the sky, shaking his head. 'Did I really say it was a good idea to bring him along? I must have been mad.' "Fine. Give me a moment."

He jumped on the other side of the tree and used [Shadow Veil]. Hidden he sneaked to the village.

In reality it was a child's play to cut the ropes binding the girl. He just didn't want to risk having villagers reconsider their agreement on paying. When he was next to her, he made sure that no one was looking and whispered in her ear. "Now I'm going to free you. Can you leave the village by yourself?"

The girl looked around with wide eyes but saw nothing. "Nod if you know how to" Ace said, impatiently. There was a slight move of the female's head which could have been mistaken for a deep breath. "Get ready. Three, two, go!" he whispered, cutting all the ropes with one swift slash.

The girl took out the cloth clogging her mouth and started to chant. People noticed it and came rushing but in a moment a large bird stood in the girl's place which took flight without waiting a moment longer. While villagers were following its disappearing silhouette, Ace growling under his breath collected the ropes to leave no evidence and made his own exist. Now they could finally leave this small and boring place.

A surprise was waiting for him as he returned to Par. The kid was sitting alongside the girl and chatting happily.

"...my friend. He'll be here in a moment. You should thank him and not me!" he was saying.

"No need" Ace said, throwing the ropes down and setting them on fire with [Flare] that left his barely present cowl. "We're leaving now. Let's go, Par"

Par stood up and jumped to follow. "Where are we hurrying to?"

"Who cares? It is in our best interest to quickly get out of here. If the search squad finds us, we'll lose everything we've achieved" Ace said, choosing a random direction and starting to walk. Coincidentally it was the same as the children abductor's house. 'Maybe we could stay the night there? It should be empty. Although, I'd have to drag the corpse out. Gaah... It would stink horribly by now.'

"What search squad?" the female asked, jumping from her sitting position.

"Do you really think they'll just let you escape? They'll comb the forest, killing all the large birds, in case you had to take a rest" Ace said, not even turning back to acknowledge her.

"What? Are you sure of it?" she asked, desperately.

"No, I'm just sprouting random nonsense. You should go back to the village and have a good chat with its people. They might tell you what they’re not really going to search for someone who just killed their mayor." Ace said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

The female didn't seem to appreciate it. Her face reddened, eyes throwing bolts of lightning. "You little br..."

"You can follow us if you wish. If not, get lost."

After a few seconds the female jogged to catch up with them. "Is he always like that?" she asked Par.

"He's just worried about our safety. Ace is very grown up like that" Par said, smiling. The aforementioned guy rolled his eyes but didn't turn around.

"Really? What is he normally like?"

"Ace is very nice! He... Well, he... He's my best friend! We talk a lot and he knows many great stories which he loves telling. At the same time he always listens to me without interrupting. He's the best person ever!"

"What is your name?" Ace asked, abruptly.

"Who? Me?" the female asked.

"No, I'm asking the guy I've been travelling for the last half a year with. Are you really this stupid or just pretending?"

"Stop it! Why do you have to insult me in every word?" she asked, angrily. Par looked sad; he didn't understand his friend's behavior either.

Ace stopped and turned around, his eyes flashing deep red. "I've had to run away, been burned, punched, boiled and kicked, all in two days while not getting an hour's sleep. On top of that I had to save a random druidess who pretends to be a demoness and because of her be chased. I'm sorry if I'm not in the best of moods!" he shouted out, the bloody and torn clothes making him look like a vengeful spirit. "Is there anything else you want to know?" he asked with a glare.

The eyes of his companions widened and involuntarily they took a step back. There was power in those words. Seeing that Ace smiled and burst out laughing. "You actually believed that?" he shook his head with mirth. "I was just playing around. But let's get going or we'll get caught"

The stunned duo resumed following him trying to decipher his words. When was he playing around? When he said the monologue or acted as a bastard. They weren't meant to find that out.

"My name is Rowena."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ace" he said with a smile, turning around for a moment.

"Was all those things that you said the truth?" Par asked, quietly.

"Yep, the female didn't want to release the kids so I had to convince her by other methods" he said, shrugging.

"Wait! You can't mean you're that black beast!" Rowena said in a raised voice.

"Depends on how you look at it. It's me but not me at the same time" Ace said, explaining.

"What do you mean?"

"It's a curse I've picked up in my travels. From time to time I turn into what you saw and am unable to control the actions of my own body."

"Is that even possible?" she asked in wonder.

"As you can see, I'm a living proof."

"Why does your friend have such a disagreeing face then?" Rowena asked, noting how Par's eyes lowered.

"He doesn't like my choice. This curse sometimes does quite evil things, turning me into a monster, but knowing all that I still picked it up of my own free will. It adds a lot of statuses to my character."

With that the conversation ended. No one had anything else to add and returned to their own thoughts. Par thought about how he would have to face his brother once he had to log off, it was a scary idea.

Rowena wad trying to understand what the two kids could be doing here all alone. They were as different as it was possible with the leading kid impossible to judge. Every single word and action was unlike the previous one. She had actually seen him show up at the mage Oria's home looking innocent and sweet, ignore the torture and then turn into a beast. At first she had thought he was a cold blooded killer having taken an appearance of a child, but then later on he seemed like an angry at the whole world teenager while now he was a normal young child smiling, laughing and traipsing around. It didn't seem like he knew where he was going at all either.

The guy confusing the female so much wasn't really caring about that. Ace allowed himself a moment to relax. Now that the talking was over he could drop the mask and walk ahead with his expression blank. He truly was tired from all those escapades he mentioned but not enough to lose his composure. There were still some things he could take care of before leaving and having to face Veronica. He was sure someone was already standing over his capsule, waiting to call Veronica the moment he woke up.

That wasn't a happy thought so he abandoned it and focused on what he planned to do with the female. She said she was sent to hunt the children abductor so it meant she wasn't as useless as she pretended. Or was she? Could it be that she lied or was sent here on an accident? Was it possible that she was too shy to form a party or quickly got bored of them?

The possibilities were endless so he gave up on it too and focused on the matters at hand. They were getting closer to the house and he needed Par away to clear up the place. "Par can you gather some fire wood? The house is just right ahead."

Par looked at Ace and then nodded. As he moved away Rowena spoke up. "Should I go with him?"

"No. Turn into a mole and dig a large hole to hide the body."

"No way! I don't have to follow your orders!"

"If you prefer staying the night outside, do as you wish" Ace said, impassively.

"You can't do that!" Rowena said, indignantly.

"Try me."

"Why did the kid receive the easiest job?"

Ace looked at her as if doubting her sanity. His eyes questioned whether she really suggested that he should allow a young child to see a dead body that has been stabbed repeatedly and was starting to stink of rot. She smiled apologetically before noting that the one she was talking to couldn't be more than a year or two older than the aforementioned kid. When she wanted to point that out, he'd already had disappeared into the house. She was left alone to choose or that's how she told herself it was, pretending that fear of the black beast had nothing to do with her choice.

Ace went to the lowest level which stank horribly. Somehow from the fire that had been left going in the hearth and some other source the place had been kept extremely warm accelerating the rotting process. From somewhere even a family of flies had come and was walking all over the corpse. The only thing it lacked was actually rotting pieces of flesh.

Taking a large gulp of putrid air, he prepared himself for the upcoming task and took the woman's hand. It was cold and moist but he clenched his teeth and strengthened the hold, starting to drag the body up. It was hard work because he didn't invest too much in strength. The stairs seemed endless but he pushed on, knowing Par would be coming back any time. The female should have finished with the hiding place too. His tongue didn't turn over to call it a grave.

A sudden thought came to his mind or a memory more like. It was his first killed Npc, another mage. That time he had killed, robbed and ran away. A laugh escaped his mouth. He had learnt by now and this time killed and ran but returned to hide the body and rob. The ultimate truth dead men no longer need their possessions. Once he got rid of her, he could have a good time going through her belongings.

Thinking about that, he dropped the body for a moment and started to look for valuable things. A ring, necklace with a green gem and a pouch. Short smile lightened his face before he had to pick up the woman's hand again. That destroyed all the happiness.

Some ages later or so it felt like to him, the stairs ended and he was in the room. Luckily, the blood on the woman's wounds had dried and wasn't staining the floor or he would have had to clear it. With a sigh, he continued his journey, leaving the house and coming to the burying place.

Rowena stood next to it with her clothes full of dirt. There was a scowl on her face. "You'll pay for this"

Ace ignored her and dragged his woman closer. Par was returning so he had to be quick.

The corpse didn't feel like fitting in so he jumped in the hole himself and bent her body so no limbs would be sticking out. His face was lacking any kind of emotion, making Rowena take a step back. She'd played the game for some time and had killed her own share of enemies but there was just something wrong with touching dead bodies. The realism of the game made that real life fact transfer to here.

Done with the corpse, Ace called upon [Gust] to push the earth and hide her body plus take the smell out of the house. There was no chance he was staying there with it smelling like the dead.

"How are you so emotionless? Don't you understand what you're doing?"

"Should I be crying a river for you? Sorry but I'm not in the mood for show" Ace said, leaving the place to meet Par.

He had brought a good bunch of dry branches and Ace went back to the house to start a fire. Par followed him in immediately while Rowena took her time. She was stunned by the kid's actions and just couldn't understand how one could be like that.

Inside Ace found a pot and started to make some tea. Although his cooking skills were below average, he could make great tea, with dried meat it was his every meal, when he was alone.

"What are we going to do now?" Par asked, his voice low.

"Leave and see how it goes. What else could we do?"

"I don't think they'll let me back in" he said, worry coloring his voice.

"We have to do it. Anyway, let's have a signal." He ripped two pieces from his own supposedly green tunic and two from Par's who was too surprised to get away. Then he used them to make four small flags attached to branches. Two with different colors were given to Par. "Now you put the one with my green color to the wall as a saying that you'll return. If you decide that your parents' and Monthu's words are more important, then you change with your one and leave. In that case I don't want to see you ever again. There will be no forgiving. I'm not going to do anything of a kind myself but for the equality's sake, I've got both flags too. Everything's clear?"

"But what if..?"

"No ifs. You come back to travel with me or return to them and stay a lapdog. Simple as that" Ace said, firmly.

"How long will you wait for me to return back?"

"Even if it takes forever, I'll stay around" Ace said with a grin. "There's not a thing that can keep me away from returning to my best friend!"

http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=119&t=1308http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=119&t=1204&p=6851#p6851

Author's Note:

Well, well... This chapter was a pretty hard one. It just didnt want to be written so I've had my troubles but hopefully you find it to your liking :)