Toena

"Give me another one."

"But ma'am... Our policy is too not allow more than 6 drinks, you've gotten through 8 already." A man behind the counter said.

"I-'ll— hic-I'l fukin kill ya!" I slam the counter with all my strength, going through and shattering the wood. I lose my balance and fall face forward, straight to the ground.

"HEY! Get this Shesuan drunkard out of here! Tie her up too, once she sobers up we're going to make her pay for this." The man quickly changes his attitude seeing me damage the furniture."God... Fucking! Damn IT!" The man prances around and seethes.

"Money, money, money." As I hear two pairs of heavy feet approaching me from behind I reach into my utility belt and grab a pouch of coins. "You want money? Here it is! Now give me another DAMN DRINK!" I throw the entire pouch right at him.

"Fucking Shesuans... Let me count how much you have..." The man angrily murmurs as he unties the pouch and peeks inside. He slowly stops moving as his eyes open wide.

As the two bouncers grab me by my shoulders and feet and lifts me up the man suddenly waves his hand frantically. "Stop! Stop! Set her down right now! Don't let a single scratch on that lady!"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

The man feverishly repeatedly points to the coin pouch. "These are Doons, Doons!" He mouths to the bouncers.

"Oh shit." The men lower me down slowly and set me back up on a chair, next to the broken counter.

"That Shesuan must be some sort of royalty if she has this much on her pocket, if we even lay a finger on her we're dead men."

"Ha? What are you guys talking about? Bring me another damn drink already."

"On it! On it! And umm, would you like us to garnish with our very canstasia puree? Will add a flowery and light depth of flavor to the drink."

"I don't see a damn drink in front of me!" I raise my arms up, threatening a second slam.

"It'll be there in a second!" The bartender turns around and begins filling up and pouring cups. From the corner of my eye I could see him slipping exactly 6 doons into his pocket, even though I was black out drunk I still had my observation skills.

The bartender sets the drink in front me, "I hope you like it, it's the most special liquor we have." I grab the handle and angrily down it in a single gulp, not even bothering to notice the flavor.

"Ah, I'm going to throw up." I stumble away from the counter and head for the door.

"Huh? Hey, wait don't leave me with this!" The bartender runs up to me and places the pouch in my palm. Probably worried about stealing from supposed royalty.

"Thanks." I murmur as I drunkly stagger through the door.

A man and a woman get up and follow me as I walk out through the door, I try my best to ignore the two of them. However, the two of them flank me from both sides.

"I have a knife, act natural." The man says in a low voice. They lean on me like they were helping a drunk friend out and guide me into an alleyway. I stare at the ground the entire time, unreactive to their actions.

A couple moments later I'm roughly shoved to the wall, the woman's hand groping around my belt. "If you do not resist, all of us will walk away quietly, and nobody needs to get hurt alright?"My hair falls into my eyes as I open my lips. "... I know you two." I murmur to myself.

The woman's name was Mia, and the man's name was Oili. The man was missing a hand, and the woman joined the army at a very young age and had no life skills other than fighting. The two met in the tavern, drinking their souls out and quickly became friends, then lovers. Both of them, without any serviceable traits, turned to a life of petty crime working hard to support each other and to get their next meal on the table.

I grow nauseous as I recall all this information. What the hell happened to me. Why do I know this. Why do I know their entire fucking lives, and why can't I forget this.

I immediately heave as alcohol begins spurting out of my mouth, forming a pool of vomit under my feet.

"Augh, what the hell! That stuff got on my damn shoes." The woman backs away disgusted.

"Get. away... Get away. Get away! GETAWAY!" I begin screaming, agonizing memories pouring through my mind like a torrent. WHAT DID THAT MASK DO TO ME!? WHY DO I KNOW EVERY GOD DAMN PERSON WHO'VE EVER BEEN AFFECTED BY THE WAR?!

As the alcohol begins to wear off, my mind begins returning back to me, to my dismay.

"Oi, calm down, stop screaming." Mia draws her knife. I turn around and swing wildly at her, missing her by a mile. Almost instantly my head whips to the sky, as she sidesteps me easily and sends me too the stars with an uppercut.My vision flickers and I black out.

It's raining. I open my eyes to water dripping onto my face, my hair, matted with my own vomit, I was lying unconscious in my pool of vomit from recent.

I stare into the sky, watching as the rain spatters against my body.

My head pounds, my chin feels stiff and sore. I motionlessly begin applying Sananku to the affected areas, quickly solving the hangover and the injury.

Finally, I reach out behind my back, digging through my belt, searching through my bag of coins.

...

I guess that's it then. For thirty years I had fought as a mercenary, taking the dirtiest of jobs, doing the most heinous acts, suffering through some of the worst pain, even slaying a king. All for the sake of money.

And now.

Even my once boundless wealth has abandoned me.

The clouds move across the sky as the rain stops, revealing the blinding sun behind the clouds.

I cover my eyes with my arms, casting a shadow over the midday sun beating down on my face. How am I going to pay for my drinks now. My only escape... The only way to blot out the memories.

I sigh. "I lost my money but not my skills." I murmur to myself. "Just... get used to it. You were never one to feel guilty about things." I continue murmuring.

But... How? It was a millenniums worth of memories, of blood, of agony, of despair. Millions of people, it was like I had experienced all their suffering as my own, all because I killed a man ten years ago.

Yet... Why... Why?

Why have I not gone insane yet? No human should be capable of having this much stuff crammed into their brains, but right now, going insane felt like a blessing rather than a curse.

A sour rancid smell fills the air as my vomit bakes under the sun, prompting me to get up off the ground.

I gingerly touch my seks, wincing as thousands of memories of pain and blood flood my mind the instant I do. The unfortunate thing was that I had taken the memories of millions of people, and had therefore taken their fears as mine as well. The sound of whistling sounded like a storm of arrows. A hammer driving a nail into a plank sounded like a clash of swords, the wood of a ship, creaking as the boat rocked back and forth sounded like the creaks of shields as men and women collided.

I hold it up to my wrist, letting the blade rest against the vein.

Before I slowly smile.

All my money is gone huh?

The smile grows wider.

Finally, that means I can finally start living life unshackled by money, the way I want to eh?

I whirl the blade around my hand, I need to get these jitters out of my skin. I feel like I'm crippled.

In my memories, I've been beaten, I've been raped, I've been maimed, I've been murdered, all thousands of times. If I can overcome this, fear will be just a bygone memory to me. I bring my sword up begin to cut my vomit soaked hair off.

My way forward in the past was just to drink my sorrows away. Day after day, go to the bar and forget, then once my money ran out, I would end my life

But now that I'm here. I don't feel like it. That's just not the way I, the king-killer operates.

One final contract, then I'll finally retire.

The reward is my life back.

And the target?

The masked boy, Taiga.

I will not just stop at killing a king.

I will kill a God.

“Hey, you two. I think you took something from me.” I step into an old decrepit building. The home of the couple who stole from me. If my memories serve correct… This is where those two live, and this is the time at which they’re usually home together.

I get no response, but I could taste it. My pupils narrow, I could feel the sweat, the nervousness in the air as my senses are honed to their absolute maximum. The two were in here, I didn’t know what room, but they were here.

“There’s no escaping, if you run away I’ll find where you are immediately, so what’s it going to be? Huh? Want to kindly return it to me?”

I sit down on the ground and bring out a small bag of candied nuts, popping one in my mouth and chewing loudly, cracking the nut between my teeth.

“I can sit here for a long time. I can be, after all, a pretty spiteful person.”

Five minutes pass, ten minutes pass without a hint of noise. I get up and take a couple steps further into the house. “Well, if you don’t feel like moving I guess I come find you.” I say, contradicting my previous statement.

I whirl my sek around my hand a couple times, before gripping it tightly and plunging it into the ceiling.

A man screams. I tighten my grip as the blade goes through flesh and bone, I take out my other Sek and also plunge it into the ceiling. I let go of the two handles, letting them stay plunged into the ceiling and cross my arms and grab the seks. My forearm veins bulge as I put all my Anku into my arms. Finally, I whip the swords downwards in an arc. They rend through the ceiling in an X shape, destroying all the support beams and foundations.

The ceiling collapses as a body falls through to the first floor, the man’s calf bleeding profusely, his foot still hanging by a few fibers of flesh.

He screams and clutches his foot, before scrunching his eyes tightly with resolve. “MIA RUN! I’LL STALL HER!” He bites through the pain and yells.

“Very noble, saving the girl and sacrificing yourself. I’ll let her go.” I crouch down close to his ear.

“Though… just curious, she wouldn’t be carrying all my hard earned cash with her right now would she?” I say as I hear a window shatter upstairs. A figure jumps out the window and begins running.

“God… Damn it! Why!? You’re a damn princess, you could have all you want in the world, that’s nothing but chump change to you! But to us… That was our ticket to our new life.” Oili’s eyes begin to well up.

“Not sure where you heard that from. My name is Toena, I’m a mercenary, and right now, I’m pretty broke.” I lean close to his ear and whisper.

His eyes widen immediately as soon as I say this. “You’re… You’re— You’re that Shesuan who assassinated the king of Lyster.”

“Bingo!” I happily smile and lean closer.

“Now you have ten seconds to tell me where my money is before I run after your girlfriend and have her join you in the after-life. Just tell me the truth.”

He sharply exhales as soon as I say this.

“One…“

“Wait no, spare her please.” He begins to panic.

“Two…”

“Stop it! Stop! I’ll do anything!”

“Three…”

I hear the door open behind me.

“Here’s your money.” A woman’s voice from behind me says. She holds up the bag before me before scattering the coins all over the ground before.

“What are you doing here?! I told you to run!” Oili yells as soon as he sees her.

“Sorry. I won’t let you die.” Mia says before brandishing a knife and holding it forward. “I might have a chance you know, I was in the army for most of my life.”

“I like your atti-“

“Shut the fuck up.” Mia snarls at me before charging forward.

“It didn’t have to end like this.” I murmur before I drag the man to his feet and hold him out as a body shield.

The woman gasps and withdraws her knife; however, is unable to stop her momentum before colliding into Oili. The instant that happens, I bring up my sek and run both of them through, stuck together like a kebab.

I slowly take out the sek, letting them collapse to the floor together, blood pooling on the ground. I grab a rag off my belt and slowly wipe the blade off.

The two grab each other’s hands tightly and stare mournfully at each other before the light eventually fades from their eyes.

A wave of goosebumps run through my body; however, I close my eyes and stave it off. For me to stay sane, this is what I need to do. I need to drive what little empathy I held into a corner. I harden my heart and pick up seven doons off the ground.

One for information on the mask, one for food and water, one for weapons, one for a horse, and the last three for whatever that may come up.

I walk out the door, taking one last glance at the bodies before me before closing it shut.

I lead my horse out of its stable and into the road, I was carrying almost fifty pounds on my back, full of food and water for the road, also attached to the offside of the mighty creature was a giant duffle bag, carrying shredders, daggers, oil, flint and steel, and whatever else I could find in the port town of Vou. There were some chemicals for making both an obstructive gas and a poisonous gas in there as well.

I swing my leg over the saddle, hoisting myself onto the horse. The Iquen folk here were actually quite familiar with the mask, as one of their smuggling convoys were apparently taken down by someone fitting that exact description. After that, he was last seen on a path to Oliviand, a place I was permanently banned from.

I spur my horse to start moving.

Well, I’ve infiltrated more dangerous places.