Post by Vincent Laeretti on May 11, 2010 12:52:08 GMT -7
Timestamp: Emonea 2nd, 10:00PM-1:00AM
He wanted to believe his brother. He really did. So he swallowed again, and he nodded. "You... you're right, Vincent. And I trust you. I know you would never stand aside and just let such a thing happen..."
Vincent smiled at his brother, glad to see he was finally seeing reason. If Endless could see reason, then he could be brought around to the sensible side. It was true what Vincent had said - no man is completely guiltless, and so it would be ridiculous to think the SSPB would hang every one who had ever done even one thing wrong. But Endless had also been right. The SSPB wouldn't stop with just the pirates. The Warlords, the Kings, the Queens, the Nobles, Politicians, Mercenaries, even a certain Tabloid Writer... they were all out of order. Vincent knew this. Endless apparently didn't see fit to punish them all, but he could be made to see reason.
He would see the light. Though it pained Vincent to do so, he had to lie to his brother for now. He had to assure him that his fears were misplaced, at least until he could make Endless truly understand why it was necessary. Yes, soon enough, Endless would understand. He would know that this was all for the sake of justice. Justice that would ensure a happy world for all of them.
Smiling still, he placed a hand on the younger Crescent's shoulder, speaking softly. "Rescind it."
"What?" Endless asked, confused.
"Your status as a Mercenary. Rescind it. No brother of mine will be involved in such shady dealings, understand me? Pull your information, abandon any jobs, and put it all behind you. I will take you with me to the SSPB, and you will receive an upstanding position in society."
Endless looked away. "But Vince... I don't want to work at the SSPB..." he could feel his brother's grip tighten, so he hastily added. "I'll still stop being a mercenary, promise! It's just... I don't know what I want to do with myself yet. I still need time to discover that. So please, don't make me enlist, okay? Just, let me have some time."
Vincent sighed, slightly defeated, and nodded. "Very well then. So long as you will drop your current status, I can be satisfied for now. But Endless, you have a home. I have quarters at the SSPB, and if you will not enlist, at least treat that place as your new home. You don't need to wander anymore. There is no need for it."
And even that still felt off to Endless. He didn't really want to be anywhere near the headquarters... but he couldn't keep disappointing his brother. Not when he'd just found him again and had already disappointed him so many times in that short span. So he nodded. "Okay. I will."
Vincent pulled him into a hug, and Endless noticed that his wounds didn't seem to hurt as much as they did before. "I think I'm getting better..." he commented against the cloth of Vincent's shoulder.
Vincent chuckled, pulling back. "You should be. Those bandages are fast-acting medical agents. They can heal quite a bit of damage, both external and internal, provided you lay still for long enough. And you have been quite still. Oh, and that reminds me..." Vincent's tone was serious again, and it made Endless nervous.
"Yeah?"
"You told me that your client fought you for possession of the pirate you tried to save. Am I to assume he did all that to you?"
Endless stared down at himself, looking over his bandages that covered nearly all of his torso, feeling at the ones that had covered his face (now loose, due to the considerable loss of facial swelling they had caused). "I can only imagine. I can't remember him doing much, but I passed out in the middle of the fight, due to overworking my powers in an environment where I should have been taking it easy. I'm actually surprised he didn't just kill me."
Vincent was glaring daggers at the floor at even the thought. "Can you describe him to me? He was allegedly working for Lord Woodrow, yes?" But Vincent had already had a good idea. After all, he kept track of his Lord's dealings, and was well aware that he had recently enlisted the allegiance of an Artavian Engineer. Woodrow had not been able to tell him much (literally due to one of those silence contracts), but he could gather that this man could provide potent assistance. He had met him, just once, too. He seemed like a good man, very organized and sure of himself, which Vincent liked very much. But there was something off about him.
Vincent didn't know of anyone in the SSPB whom he would even suspect would try to use a Mercenary to reel in a Pirate. And the fact that this had happened so soon after this Major Dunn had enlisted his aid to Lord Woodrow's cause...
"Yes." Endless replied, snapping Vincent out of his thoughts. The boy's voice was hardened, angry even. "He was tall. Brown hair, kinda curly and very short. He had this... he carried himself in a .... he just seemed like he was really full of himself. Looked kinda middle-aged...oh, and he had this device thing that could block out listening devices. An inventor, apparently. I was given the initial "T" to refer to him."
Vincent couldn't have asked for a more obvious description. Tall, middle-aged, short, curly hair, "T", an inventor, even that full of himself attitude. This was the same man, with certainty. This was one Major Thomas Dunn, Woodrow's latest ally. And he had brutalized Endless.
Vincent already knew he couldn't hold it against the man - he was doing his apparent duty, trying to catch a pirate, and he probably did what he saw was best when Endless tried to interfere. But that begged a couple of questions; the first: why did he try and use a Mercenary in the first place? Using illegal means for a just end? It wasn't too far-fetched. Vincent knew all too well how often it was necessary to dabble outside the law to catch a lawbreaker. But the second question: Why did he not place Endless under arrest? Vincent didn't like to think of his brother being sent to jail, but it would have been the proper course of action.
Beating an unconscious man half to death and leaving him for the snow and wind to finish the job was not how the SSPB operated. Without a doubt, Vincent would need to speak to Lord Woodrow about this. And professional or not, Thomas now had an enemy he did not want.
That could be counted on.
After the unpleasant business had passed, there had been more catching up. Endless had been surprised to learn that his sister, Lydia, was living in Malscure. And even more surprising still, he had actually met her before. Aiko, the kind girl whom he had felt a strange familiarity with. He was quite literally amazed.
He learned more about Vincent's work, discovering how Vincent had put their parents' old inventions to work for the sake of justice, creating new items that could further carry the Laeretti name.
And they talked about other things, everything and nothing. For the first time in a long time, Endless felt a sense of wholeness in him again. His brother, and his little sister. They were both alive and well. He had his family, even if only a piece of it.
And when Vincent gave him some money, the promise of a home, and a small communicator to ensure Endless stayed in touch...
Endless finally felt like he belonged again. And yet still, deep in his gut... he could not shake the guilt. Katerine Vexler, the girl who's name he still not know for himself, was likely dead, or captive.
No amount of warmth or brotherly love would make him forget that guilt.[/blockquote]
Vincent was tired.[/i] truth[/i]. And she WAS a pirate... she could have heard such things from anti-SSPB pirates, right?
Vincent was tired, and depressed, and had a feeling of failure deep within his gut. He had journeyed into the Yuki-Onna valley, following a lead that had given him the barest traces of hope. Could it be, at long last, that something might have been right with the world? His little brother, his favorite sibling, Endless... he could be alive.
He had journeyed to Aisic, a rare day off he had actually opted to enjoy, and had found himself in a restaurant to enjoy some frosty cuisine. And then he met the owner, who had given him strange looks and commented on his familiar appearance. And thus, he learned of the crescent boy, a boy who looked remarkably similar to Vincent himself, with pupil-less, silver eyes, like little moons. And he had learned that this boy, all dressed in black, had gone up to the mountains, into the valley, for the sake of finding some treasure that could pay for the damages he had inflicted on the owner's restaurant, damages that resulted from a scuffle with another customer.
And he had never come back.
And so Vincent set out on the trail, using a device of his own invention to track down any traces of the boy's genetic material that might be in the vicinity, hope and vigor coursing through him. And he had found it. He had found the faint source he was looking for, deep within the Cavern beneath the Valley.
Blood. Dried, old, old blood, barely anything recognizable of it left, spattered the walls. At first, Vincent couldn't think. What could he think? Using his own DNA as the base, he had tracked down a source of material that was similar to his own. Material that could only belong to someone directly related to him. And he found blood.
His brother, Endless, had survived the blaze that took their family away from them. And he had come here, and perished. Vincent felt the crushing blow of reality on him as he sunk to his knees, letting out faint tears he had been holding in for many, many years. And then his eyes were venomous.
He had turned then, standing, and journeyed deeper into the valley. There was only one thing that could be responsible for this, in this place. Only one creature called this place home. And with an uncharacteristic sense of spite, Vincent had ventured deeper in, armed with his weapons, firing on any Yuki-Onna he came across.
He had killed roughly a dozen by the time he knew he was too exhausted to keep up this pointless revenge. Intelligent or not, they were monsters. It was pointless. And so he left. He took a long trek up the twisting pathways, climbing when necessary, until he was finally out into the clouded, gray sunlight of the valley.
And then the device beeped.
At first, Vincent hadn't been able to register it. But then it beeped again, and again, and in a flurry of movement, Vincent was fumbling about his cloak, finding the device again and brining it up to his eyes. There was another signal. A strong signal. Swallowing, he braced himself as he began to follow the trace, taking the quickest routes he could find through the web-work of the valley. He wouldn't be able to take another blow to his renewed hope. If the signal ended up being another reminder of his failure...he didn't know what he would do.
So he didn't think. He just moved, moved swiftly. The device beeped faster and faster; he was close. He should see something by now and- and then he noticed. Laying ahead, a black heap with just a trace of white thrown in, was a body.
Vincent broke into a run then, arriving at the body just seconds later and immediately dropping into a crouch. It was him. It was Endless. There was no possible mistake about it - as Vincent thought back to the boy's young, six-year-old face, he applied the acceleration of time to his mental picture, and could only wind up with the face he saw before him now. This was his little brother.
Frantically, he reached out to touch his skin. Cold. The boy was unconscious and he was cold. Dread filled Vincent as his fingers sought his brother's neck, feeling for a pulse... yes! Yes! There was a pulse! He was alive! Relief flooded through Vincent's being, only to be quickly replaced by rage as he took in his brother's form - his face was battered, bloody, slightly deformed in its current state. His limbs were limp, and upon careful inspection of his body, things were definitely amiss in his torso region.
Gritting his teeth, he carefully plucked him up into his arms, and carried him away.- - -
Endless awoke to pain. Dull pain, but pain no less. At first, he didn't want to open his eyes. He didn't want to look up at the gray sky of the Valley, or possibly the inside of a dungeon. His memory came to him swiftly, and he figured he had to be either right where he had collapsed, or in a prison, taken along with the girl he had failed to protect.
Slowly, however, it registered to him that he was warm. And something that had to be a blanket was covering him. He also felt strange material against his chest and stomach, as well as his face, and decided he might as well open his eyes to find out what was going on.
He was greeted by a small room, softly illuminated in an orange glow by a fire that was burning away in a hearth in the corner. Glancing down at himself, he could see that he was laying in a bed, a blanket covering him up to the neck. He moved slightly, feeling pain as he did so, to lift the blanket. He was bare above the waist, and was covered in bandages. Reaching up to feel his face, he could feel what was probably more bandaging around his chin, cheeks, and brow.
And he still had a headache, though it wasn't nearly so bad as it had been when he remembered collapsing.
He groaned aloud, and the sound was met with a sudden stirring. He was suddenly aware that there was another presence in this room, but before he could force himself up and into a defensive position, gentle hands pressed on his shoulders, slowly pushing back down into the soft cushioning of the bed.
"Lie down, Endless. You still need to recover."
Endless froze at the voice. He was staring ahead, looking at deep, blue fabric, obviously a shirt of some kind. He stared at the pale hands on his shoulders. Slowly, he rose his gaze up, and his eyes rested on the face of a man with pale skin, tousled black hair, and a pair of spectacles that rested easily on his nose.
"... Vincent...?" he could not believe what he was seeing. He didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to believe it, for fear that it was all some sick, cruel joke at his expense. But he kept staring, and his brother just smiled back at him.
"Yes, Endless."
"H-how!?" He was suddenly frantic, throwing Vincent's hands off of him, ignoring the pain his movement caused as he scooted backward into a sitting position, knees against his chest as he pressed his back firmly against the headboard of the bed. "You're dead!"
Vincent's expression went dull at the comment, staring at Endless with incredulity. "I'm dead? I'm alive and well, thank you very much. I do believe you merely thought I was dead. Choose your words more carefully."
Endless stared back, not sure how to react, before chuckles came to him unbidden. Vincent joined him in his laughter a moment later. "You...it really IS you, isn't it? I can't think of anyone else who would correct me like that in this situation..."
Vincent shook his head as he stepped over, seating himself at the edge of Endless' bed. "Well, how would you feel if someone told you you were dead, right to your face like that?"
Endless casted his eyes downward. "I wouldn't be surprised."
The air went silent after that, the popping of the fire being the only reprieve. Vincent spoke then. "Endless. Where have you been? All these years, I thought you had perished. I thought I would never see you again. What happened to you?" Vincent asked, urgency in his voice.
Endless paused, still caught up in how surreal this moment seemed. "... I've been around." he settled on. What was he supposed to say to that? He hid while everyone else was fighting and dying? He ran away from officials that could have helped him? He spent nearly ten years wandering around aimlessly, living a coward's life? He sold out his morals, robbed a guy, tried to rob a store, subsequently sold out his beliefs, became a mercenary, and condemned an innocent girl?
Vincent only stared back at him. Endless sighed.- - -
An hour passed, and the two had exchanged life stories. Endless had opted to leave out a few details here and there, but he couldn't omit the part about him becoming a mercenary - after all, that's what led up to him being unconscious in the valley. He could feel the disapproval radiating off of his brother, and he couldn't blame him at all - he had just found out himself that Vincent was one of the top operatives in all of the SSPB.
It figured. Endless had lived a lackluster, miserable life that had only splashes of goodness here and there, and meanwhile, his supposedly dead brother had become the right hand man of the most respected organization in the world. That was just like Vincent, always doing leagues better than Endless at everything, without even meaning to.
He had also learned that their sister was still alive. Amnesic, but alive. But he hadn't had much chance to ask about her yet. Vincent was glaring sternly at him now.
"You're a mercenary." he stated simply, as if trying to find the right words. According to his brother, he had been tasked with the capture of a pirate. And apparently, he had actually succeeded in doing so, but then tried to free her when he discovered she was a completely innocent individual. Endless had not elaborated on just how he had managed to discover that, and it made Vincent suspicious.
What's more, when Vincent announced his membership within the SSPB, Endless seemed to have become sullen, and even less warm toward him. Something was definitely amiss.
"You're a mercenary." Vincent repeated, sounding grim. "And you tried to assist in the escape of a pirate."
"She was innocent though!"
"And how do you know that?" he snapped back.
"She...she just... look, I just know, okay? I could tell. She was innocent, she had never done anything wrong! The worst thing she'd ever done was steal from rich people who had way more than they could possibly deserve-"
"And who are YOU to judge what other people deserve? Stealing from the rich is still stealing, Endless, and it is still a crime. A crime that you can be hanged for if you make a career of it, do you understand me?"
"Right, like you're not planning on hanging the world anyway!" Endless snapped his mouth shut, regretting his words but knowing it was too late to take them back.
"...Excuse me?"
"N-nothing..."
"No. What did you just say to me?"
Endless gritted his teeth, a glare in his eyes as he looked upon his brother, his brother that he still idolized, even now, and yet couldn't help but feel disappointment toward. "Your Boss. Woodrow-"
"Lord Woodrow." Vincent corrected, sternly.
"...Woodrow (Vincent sighed). You know what he's planning, don't you? You're his right hand man, aren't you?"
Vincent's gaze was serious as he looked on at Endless. He was treading into dangerous territory. Endless swallowed, and continued. "He wants to get rid of all the pirates. And then when he's done, all the bounty hunter. And the mercenaries. And thieves, and murderers, and then even Warlords. Kings. Queens. Nobles. Anyone who's ever done anything, even one thing, wrong. He's going to hag every one of them. And you know that, don't you?"
Vincent was silent for a moment. He then sighed. "Do you honestly believe that, Endless? Who told you that drivel? Your pirate friend?"
Endless was taken aback at first, but came back strong. "Yes. She told me, and I know for a fact that she was being completely honest."
"And again, how do you know tha-"
"Magic!"
Silence again. Endless was breathing heavily now, becoming very angry with his brother, though he really did not want to be. "I used magic, alright!? I MADE her tell me the truth, so I know she was being honest! She was an innocent person, and she told me all about what Woodrow is really planning for the world!"
"That's enough!" Vincent stood, staring daggers down at Endless. "Are you so naive as to think such spells cannot be bypassed, or loopholed? How do you she had no magical talents of her own? How do you know she didn't break your spell and simply acted like she was telling the truth?"
Endless wanted to scream back that you could not break the spell of the Ameth. But he couldn't say that. He couldn't let his officer brother know that he was a criminal, no better in all honesty than the pirates.
Vincent continued. "And even then, even if she WAS under such a spell, she could still be wrong. Compelling someone to tell the truth only makes them tell the truth to you as best as they know it! If she believes something false to be the truth, she will tell it to you as though it IS the truth. She isn't lying to you if she thinks that what she is saying is true.
Endless, she is a pirate. Don't you think it's possible that she was misinformed? Weather or not she was telling you the truth about herself is another matter entirely, but I can assure you that what she has told you about my organization is fallacy. We are out to bring justice to the world. We are not planning on tying the noose around anyone who has committed but a single sin. No man is guiltless."
Endless listened, taking in Vincent's words and carefully considering them. He was right, after all. Even under the compulsion of the Ameth, that girl could only tell him the truth as best she knew it. If she was wrong and didn't know it, it meant that her truth wasn't
He wanted to believe his brother. He really did. So he swallowed again, and he nodded. "You... you're right, Vincent. And I trust you. I know you would never stand aside and just let such a thing happen..."
Vincent smiled at his brother, glad to see he was finally seeing reason. If Endless could see reason, then he could be brought around to the sensible side. It was true what Vincent had said - no man is completely guiltless, and so it would be ridiculous to think the SSPB would hang every one who had ever done even one thing wrong. But Endless had also been right. The SSPB wouldn't stop with just the pirates. The Warlords, the Kings, the Queens, the Nobles, Politicians, Mercenaries, even a certain Tabloid Writer... they were all out of order. Vincent knew this. Endless apparently didn't see fit to punish them all, but he could be made to see reason.
He would see the light. Though it pained Vincent to do so, he had to lie to his brother for now. He had to assure him that his fears were misplaced, at least until he could make Endless truly understand why it was necessary. Yes, soon enough, Endless would understand. He would know that this was all for the sake of justice. Justice that would ensure a happy world for all of them.
Smiling still, he placed a hand on the younger Crescent's shoulder, speaking softly. "Rescind it."
"What?" Endless asked, confused.
"Your status as a Mercenary. Rescind it. No brother of mine will be involved in such shady dealings, understand me? Pull your information, abandon any jobs, and put it all behind you. I will take you with me to the SSPB, and you will receive an upstanding position in society."
Endless looked away. "But Vince... I don't want to work at the SSPB..." he could feel his brother's grip tighten, so he hastily added. "I'll still stop being a mercenary, promise! It's just... I don't know what I want to do with myself yet. I still need time to discover that. So please, don't make me enlist, okay? Just, let me have some time."
Vincent sighed, slightly defeated, and nodded. "Very well then. So long as you will drop your current status, I can be satisfied for now. But Endless, you have a home. I have quarters at the SSPB, and if you will not enlist, at least treat that place as your new home. You don't need to wander anymore. There is no need for it."
And even that still felt off to Endless. He didn't really want to be anywhere near the headquarters... but he couldn't keep disappointing his brother. Not when he'd just found him again and had already disappointed him so many times in that short span. So he nodded. "Okay. I will."
Vincent pulled him into a hug, and Endless noticed that his wounds didn't seem to hurt as much as they did before. "I think I'm getting better..." he commented against the cloth of Vincent's shoulder.
Vincent chuckled, pulling back. "You should be. Those bandages are fast-acting medical agents. They can heal quite a bit of damage, both external and internal, provided you lay still for long enough. And you have been quite still. Oh, and that reminds me..." Vincent's tone was serious again, and it made Endless nervous.
"Yeah?"
"You told me that your client fought you for possession of the pirate you tried to save. Am I to assume he did all that to you?"
Endless stared down at himself, looking over his bandages that covered nearly all of his torso, feeling at the ones that had covered his face (now loose, due to the considerable loss of facial swelling they had caused). "I can only imagine. I can't remember him doing much, but I passed out in the middle of the fight, due to overworking my powers in an environment where I should have been taking it easy. I'm actually surprised he didn't just kill me."
Vincent was glaring daggers at the floor at even the thought. "Can you describe him to me? He was allegedly working for Lord Woodrow, yes?" But Vincent had already had a good idea. After all, he kept track of his Lord's dealings, and was well aware that he had recently enlisted the allegiance of an Artavian Engineer. Woodrow had not been able to tell him much (literally due to one of those silence contracts), but he could gather that this man could provide potent assistance. He had met him, just once, too. He seemed like a good man, very organized and sure of himself, which Vincent liked very much. But there was something off about him.
Vincent didn't know of anyone in the SSPB whom he would even suspect would try to use a Mercenary to reel in a Pirate. And the fact that this had happened so soon after this Major Dunn had enlisted his aid to Lord Woodrow's cause...
"Yes." Endless replied, snapping Vincent out of his thoughts. The boy's voice was hardened, angry even. "He was tall. Brown hair, kinda curly and very short. He had this... he carried himself in a .... he just seemed like he was really full of himself. Looked kinda middle-aged...oh, and he had this device thing that could block out listening devices. An inventor, apparently. I was given the initial "T" to refer to him."
Vincent couldn't have asked for a more obvious description. Tall, middle-aged, short, curly hair, "T", an inventor, even that full of himself attitude. This was the same man, with certainty. This was one Major Thomas Dunn, Woodrow's latest ally. And he had brutalized Endless.
Vincent already knew he couldn't hold it against the man - he was doing his apparent duty, trying to catch a pirate, and he probably did what he saw was best when Endless tried to interfere. But that begged a couple of questions; the first: why did he try and use a Mercenary in the first place? Using illegal means for a just end? It wasn't too far-fetched. Vincent knew all too well how often it was necessary to dabble outside the law to catch a lawbreaker. But the second question: Why did he not place Endless under arrest? Vincent didn't like to think of his brother being sent to jail, but it would have been the proper course of action.
Beating an unconscious man half to death and leaving him for the snow and wind to finish the job was not how the SSPB operated. Without a doubt, Vincent would need to speak to Lord Woodrow about this. And professional or not, Thomas now had an enemy he did not want.
That could be counted on.
- - -
After the unpleasant business had passed, there had been more catching up. Endless had been surprised to learn that his sister, Lydia, was living in Malscure. And even more surprising still, he had actually met her before. Aiko, the kind girl whom he had felt a strange familiarity with. He was quite literally amazed.
He learned more about Vincent's work, discovering how Vincent had put their parents' old inventions to work for the sake of justice, creating new items that could further carry the Laeretti name.
And they talked about other things, everything and nothing. For the first time in a long time, Endless felt a sense of wholeness in him again. His brother, and his little sister. They were both alive and well. He had his family, even if only a piece of it.
And when Vincent gave him some money, the promise of a home, and a small communicator to ensure Endless stayed in touch...
Endless finally felt like he belonged again. And yet still, deep in his gut... he could not shake the guilt. Katerine Vexler, the girl who's name he still not know for himself, was likely dead, or captive.
No amount of warmth or brotherly love would make him forget that guilt.[/blockquote]
