WARNING: This chapter deals with very dark and violent themes. If you've seen the film Taken (2008), you know what to expect. Read at your own risk. This fanfic is intended for 18+ audiences only.
Chapter 39
Soshu adjusted his grip on the hilt of his Fechtmeister sword. At first, he hadn't thought much of the white-haired boy... just another vigilante who would be caught by the police or killed a few weeks into his career.
That wasn't the case here.
He could smell the blood the boy had shed. He could hear his heartbeat... it was... calm....
Soshu realized after a few seconds that the boy wasn't afraid of him... and not because he was stupid or inexperienced....
Through the vibrations of the metal beneath his feet, he felt the warrior taking steps... his knees bent slightly, ready to spring at any moment. He could clearly hear the sloshing of liquids on his belt at his chest. He could hear metal gravel spilling from some containers.
With the man's final step, he felt the atmosphere change.
This wasn't a pro hero... this wasn't a vigilante...
This is a warrior. A true one.
He grinned broadly, maniacally, gauging the boy's reaction.
His heartbeat remained steady.
What a great target to kill.
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Roku rested his hand on his katana. He wore a straw hat. He liked to be considered a Ronin from ancient legends.
He liked to pretend he had honor.
Of course, the only thing that mattered was money. He had a sick son whose strange illness was dissolving his insides.
There was no medicine that could cure him. He could only postpone his inevitable death... at the cost of 200,000 dollars a month.
He recently recalled a memory of his son lying, hooked up to numerous medical machines, asking him if he would ever be able to go to school like normal children.
Because of a stupid mistake in his youth, he couldn't become a pro hero. He had no choice but to become a mercenary... a villain....
He hated this job. He hated his psychopathic partner. He hated the people he had to work for.
But all this... to hope they would soon find a cure... He was afraid little Toichi wouldn't live to see his eighth birthday.
There was no other choice. The swordsman opposite him must die.
He had to kill... to prolong hope... for another year... month... day
For Toichi...
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Vesemir stared straight ahead at the two swordsmen. He didn't react when the one with the two-handed sword smiled at him ominously.
He wasn't the first to try to intimidate him. Such tactics hadn't worked on Vesemir for years. Despite this, he remained vigilant.
"I am Vesemir, a witcher. I believe there's no reason for more people to die today. I demand only one thing of you: leave in peace."
The man with the katana shook his head.
"We can't do that, boy. I'm sorry, but we can't."
"So I'm to understand that you consider harming innocent people to be normal?"
Vesemir took two steps forward. He drew Excalibur from behind his back. The runes on the blade glowed faintly in the darkness.
"My grandfather once told me that evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling… Makes no difference. So if you act like monsters, I will treat you like monsters… and many monsters have fallen under my sword."
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With a terrifying smile, Soshu suddenly moved forward, making almost no sound. He feigned a lower left slash to deliver a straight thrust.
Vesemir half-turned, parried the thrust, and delivered a slash to his neck.
Sosemir suddenly dodged a steel sword from the Lady of the Lake, taking a step back. At that moment, Roku leaped over him to deliver a straight slash to Vesemir's head.
The young witcher capitalized on the momentum of his missed slash and completed his pirouette, parrying the attack. However, he was unable to land another attack, as Soshu's sword was already hurtling toward his thigh.
Vesemir dodged and rolled across the deck, but he didn't have time to right himself. In a crouched position, he had to defend himself against another slash from Roku, who was impressed by the boy's skill.
On the edge of his vision, Vesemir spotted the blade of a two-handed sword hurtling toward him. This time, he had to act differently.
He dodged another slash and immediately parried Roku's attack... but he did so while holding his sword with one hand... the other drew a sign in the air.
*Aard*
A powerful magical blast struck Soshu squarely in the chest, knocking him several meters away. He was momentarily dazed, practically blind. He couldn't use his quirk. For those few precious seconds, Roku had to face the boy alone.
But Roku knew what to do. At the last moment, he changed the course of his sword and slashed Vesemir's free hand. It was shallow, but it was first blood.
He was surprised that the boy didn't show any pain, instead launching a counterattack. For those few seconds, Roku had to retreat defensively, parrying each of the white-haired man's blows.
When Soshu finally got to his feet, something happened that had last happened during the fight with the Fechtmeister. Roku was wounded.
Vesemir's slash slipped under Roku's katana and struck him in the side. Roku had to immediately jump aside, but Soshu quickly took his place, unleashing a series of swift slashes.
Roku leaped high into the air towards the three girls and the bodies, one on the thigh, shallow enough to prevent her from bleeding out, but deep enough to drench his wound with her blood.
Vesemir heard a cry of fear and pain. He saw what was happening out of the corner of his eye. Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything about it now...
But his calmness slowly gave way to anger.
He moved forward, avoiding another slash, and unleashed one of the first sequences of blows he had learned from Geralt: Whirl.
This time, Soshu had to yield to the onslaught of blows. The first parried with his sword, dodged the second, the third slashed him in the shoulder, and simply dodged the fourth, but Vesemir kept pushing forward. Suddenly the boy turned into a white streak that materialized behind Soshu in the blink of an eye.
Vesemir slashed directly at the exposed neck, but Roku reacted quickly enough to protect his companion.
Soshu spun his blade and thrust back, reaching Vesemir's stomach and penetrating a few centimeters. At the same time, Roku pulled a dagger from his sleeve and stabbed Vesemir in the chest.
Vesemir began coughing blood. He managed to jump back, casting a sign in the air.
*Igni*
Fire reached Soshu, searing his skin. Roku was burned on the leg, but managed to jump back.
Vesemir pulled a small dagger from his chest and dropped it on the deck. He pulled out a potion, and 'Swallow' drank it immediately. He then drank 'Thunderbolt'.
His face paled, but not from blood loss.... Black veins were visible... and his eyes had turned yellow, like a cat's. He heard a voice in the receiver.
"Vesemir, you have to run... one of the journalists reported, and the pro heroes will be there any minute. I can't come to your aid then... you have to run..."
But Vesemir, intoxicated by three potions that night, didn't listen. He simply threw himself into the fight.
Roku managed to jump back to the wounded girl and healed himself again with her blood. The scream that followed caused the second girl to sob... but the third girl, a blonde, just stared ahead at the fighting men.
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Himiko watched with adoration, but also fear, at the spectacle before her. So much blood... so much red... fresh... delicious blood... she felt a hunger...
She looked at the white-haired boy... who bled... for her. He had come to save them... he had come to save all the girls... he had come for her...
Her breathing quickened. With each blow, her delight grew... no... it wasn't just delight... she must have fallen in love...
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Despite his wounds, Vesemir continued to push forward. He exchanged blows with Soshu. Each time he struck his opponent, his sword glowed with an increasingly ancient magic. Excalibur kept Vesemir in the fight. His wounds were slowly healing themselves.
The gift from the Lady of the Lake prevented Vesemir from falling. For his magic drained the life force from his opponent and transferred it to its wielder.
Despite this, Vesemir sustained more wounds than Excalibur could heal in such a short time.
Roku charged into the fray once more, this time to end the clash. However, before his blade could damage Vesemir, smoke bombs exploded right in front of him. And when the smoke cleared a moment later, a certain pro-hero shinobi stood between him and the fighting Soshu and Vesemir.
Roku recognized the man immediately.
Edgeshot.
Before Roku could react to the appearance of the No. 5 pro hero, Edgeshot charged towards him.
"Fishhook Snag!"
Edgeshot shot out parts of his body in the form of strings and grabbed Roku, wrapping himself around his body.
Meanwhile, Vesemir disappeared again in a white blur. Soshu immediately swung a blow behind him, but Vesemir wasn't there....
The witcher materialized above his head and severed both his hands. The two-handed sword fell heavily to the steel floor, and Soshu began to scream in terror and pain.
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Edgeshot was busy subduing Roku, but he saw what had happened.
"Vesemir, don't do this!"
But the boy didn't listen. He saw him land on the ground and deliver a sequence of blows too fast for a normal human.
The first slash tore through the villain's thigh, the second slash sent him crashing to his knees. The third, final slash robbed him of the ability to scream as the tip of the sword sliced through his throat.
Villain tried to grab his throat, but he had no hands. His stumps clumsily tried to stem the bleeding. After a moment, he collapsed, unable to breathe. Only a soft gurgle could be heard.
Edgeshot looked at Vesemir, who, breathing heavily, turned toward him... and didn't sheathe his sword...
"Why did you do that... you could have subdued him... but after cutting off his hand, he was defenseless..."
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Vesemir eyed the strange figure that had bound his opponent with his own body. Another strange man with an even stranger quirk. He allowed himself to catch his breath. Blood continued to seep from his wounds.
"Who are you?"
"I am Edgeshot... a pro hero. Listen, Vesemir. You must surrender... you must come with me."
Vesemir glanced at the girls on the container. The bandits guarding them fled when the pro hero appeared. He shook his head.
"No."
"Vesemir, it's over. You don't have to fight anymore. I'll help you... but I can't let you kill any more people."
"I don't kill people, only monsters. That's my profession."
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Edgeshot narrowed his eyes.... He knew the child was dangerous.... but only now did he see in his eyes.... an indifference to whether the villains lived or died....
This isn't normal behavior for a fifteen-year-old.... he'd heard he came from another world.... medieval.... but he never would have thought someone could hurt a child so much.... that he would become indifferent to killing.
He stripped the villain of his katana and in one movement rendered him unconscious. He returned to his human form, but didn't move toward the boy. He believed he could convince the boy to surrender.... He didn't want to hurt him any more than anyone had already done.... and he didn't mean his physical wounds.... but his mental ones.
"Vesemir, I know you've been through hell, but that doesn't give you the right to decide life and death. Surrendering isn't weakness....it's a chance to change your life.... You don't want to be a murderer, Vesemir..."
"Answer me one question, Edgeshot... would you have come here, to this ship, if it weren't for my presence? Or would you have continued to ignore the kidnappings and rapes?"
Edgeshot was silent for a moment. He knew the boy was right. The system had failed the girls in the warehouse and those here on the ship....
"I received a message... that you were on this ship... but if I had known... if I had only known that..."
"It's your duty to know! What right do you have to criticize my actions... when you and the other pro heroes are doing nothing about what's happening to innocent people?"
"Vesemir, please... I understand you're angry... you're right... we didn't know... no one knew..."
"And that's where you're wrong..."
Edgeshot looked at Vesemir with fear.
"What do you mean, I'm wrong?"
Time for plan B... Vesemir pulled out a tiny device called a 'flash drive' and tossed it toward Edgeshot. The shinobi caught it easily.
"What will I find here?"
"A list of people to kill."
"Vesemir..."
"This is a list of people who actively participated in concealing this group's activities... politicians, judges, and other people in public positions... This is my death list, Edgeshot."
"If this is true, I will personally see to it that the guilty are imprisoned with the longest sentences..."
Vesemir tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword.
"In my world, there is no mercy for beasts. Bandits are hanged from the first tree they come across. We give them no place to sleep, no food, and no responsibilities whatsoever. I am not a murderer. I am a witcher. I do what is necessary."
Edgeshot held the flash drive in his hand... He felt that the chance to save Vesemir was growing ever smaller.
"Vesemir... we have the law... we have a society that has rules... different from yours. Our duty as pro heroes is to arrest villains and bring them to justice... not to administer it ourselves. We will arrest them, we will judge them. They will never be free again... What you are doing is revenge..."
"No. This is not revenge. I swore an oath... and I have a duty to keep it."
"You're only 15... how could you swear such a thing? Vesemir, what compels you to kill?"
Vesemir took a deep breath. He was tired... He didn't want to fight anymore, but he felt he had no choice. Rain began to fall... He looked up at the sky and let the first cold drops run down his face.
"I am Vesemir Gwasend Mwairkid Aeldwes var Emreis. Crowned Prince of the Nilfgaard Empire. Duke of Attre. Knight of the Nilfgaard Empire, the Kingdom of Kovir and Poviss, and the Duchy of Toussaint."
He lowered his head to look the pro hero in the eye.
"I took an oath to always defend those who cannot defend themselves, to act honorably, to show mercy, but also to kill monsters that threaten the innocent. I must keep my word once given."
"No, you don't have to... You are in our world now, Vesemir, and no one would ever demand such an oath from a child..."
"Perhaps you're right..."
Edgeshot felt a renewed hope that he would be able to convince the boy.
"...but what kind of man will I be if I break my word once, Edgeshot? What kind of... man will I be...?
Edgeshot felt the rain slowly intensify... drops pattering softly against the metal. He looked at Vesemir, searching his eyes for any hint of doubt...
Instead, there was conviction... but also pain. He saw what the weight of the oath had done to the boy.
"You are not the sword of vengeance, Vesemir... Give yourself a chance to be more... Please... put the sword down..."
"..... I can't..."
Edgeshot closed his eyes, sighing heavily... He hoped the boy would surrender... but alas... there was no way...
A sudden gunshot caused Edgeshot to turn toward the control room. Through the open window, a villain fired a rifle... the bullet struck Vesemir, and the boy fell to the ground.
"NO!"
Edgeshot screamed and rushed toward the villains, who were trying to escape the pro hero's wrath.
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Himiko climbed down from the container and began running towards the boy. The bullet struck him in the chest... and pierced his armor. The boy was bleeding, but conscious. He tried to get up... she remembered his name.
"Vesemir! Don't get up! Please don't get up! You can't... you can't do this! You'll only hurt yourself!"
The boy blinked and coughed up blood.
"Sword... my... sword."
Toga glanced at the two swords lying on the metal surface. She grabbed both and began to swing them toward Vesemir... she noticed that the boy had somehow gotten up... and a portal had opened before him, like in a video game.
Himiko placed the larger sword in one hand, which Vesemir used for support. She slung her other hand over her shoulder and, without asking where the portal had come from, stepped through it with him. She closed her eyes as she walked through... Suddenly, she felt the rain stop... they were in a large room...
There was a large bed, a television, a table with glassware and burners, another table with two chairs, a couch, a laptop, a refrigerator in the corner, and many other things.
She couldn't hold Vesemir, but she managed to help him sit up, leaning against the couch. She was afraid... she didn't know what to do...
Suddenly, a phone rang on the table. Himiko walked over and answered the call... A huge man with a nasty scar appeared on the screen.
"Where's Vesemir?"
Himiko didn't answer, just aimed the camera at the boy. He was conscious.
"Hi, Letho... what's up?"
Vesemir said this through gritted teeth.
"I'm on my way, Vesemir. Hey you! Blonde! Grab some T-shirts from the drawer next to you and apply pressure to the bullet wound until I arrive."
Letho hung up, and Himiko obeyed.... She folded some T-shirts together. Meanwhile, Vesemir had managed to remove his armor.... Himiko approached and pressed the T-shirts to his chest....
Now she had a chance to look into his eyes... yellow, cat-like eyes...
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Vesemir looked the girl straight in the eyes... he liked their golden color....
He felt pain, but the potion he had drunk earlier was slowly healing his wounds....
He was tired... the greatest pain was in his chest... something hit him... he heard a bang... and then... something simply hit him in the chest.
Despite the discomfort, he asked.
"Are you okay...?
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Himiko's eyes widened as she heard his question.... His voice was quiet... but clear....
He...he was worried about her.....
"I...should be asking...how are you feeling?"
"Hmmm...a little...sore..."
Himiko's eyes welled up with tears...She closed them, but after a moment, she felt Vesemir place his hand on her cheek and wipe away a escaping tear with his thumb.
"Don't cry...I'm sorry...I didn't come sooner."
Himiko felt the warmth of his hand on her cheek, and her heart skipped a beat. She tried to hold back the tears as he asked.
"Why...why did you risk so much...for me..."
Vesemir closed his eyes...after a moment, he slowly opened them...His eyes began to lose their yellow hue...which frightened Himiko.
"Because it had to be done.... Someone had to.... help....it turned out to be me."
Himiko couldn't understand.... how his hand could be so gentle.... and warm. No one had ever touched her like that....
Her heart was now filled with some new.... warm, pulsating feeling that made her not want to leave him.... ever again.
Himiko smiled through her tears, showing the boy her vampire teeth. She saw no repulsion or disgust in Vesemir's eyes.... She saw acceptance in them, something she had never experienced.
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Letho rushed inside with a surgeon who worked for... people who weren't allowed in hospitals. He carefully placed Vesemir on the couch, where the doctor tended to him.
It turned out that the bullet had lodged in Vesemir's chest by a centimeter... His armor had absorbed the bullet's penetrating power. Despite this, the doctor administered a blood transfusion...
Letho turned to the girl sitting behind them, watching Vesemir... while simultaneously drinking blood from one of the bags... He frowned.
"Who are you, girl?"
Himiko tore her mouth from the bag, licking her lips instinctively. She replied quietly.
"T...Toga... Himiko..."
"I was... on the ship. He saved me."
Letho narrowed his eyes, assessing the girl. She sat seemingly calmly, but kept glancing at Vesemir.
"He saved you, didn't he?"
"Letho... she helped me... leave her... alone."
Vesemir said weakly... his eyes returned to normal.
Letho sighed heavily. He looked at Vesemir, whose face was as pale as a sheet.
"How are you feeling?"
"Hmmm... I'll survive..."
"Okay, rest. I'll take care of the rest. I'll take the girl to her home."
Himiko looked at Letho with apprehension.
"N... No..."
Letho looked at her, wondering what fifteen-year-old wouldn't want to go home after something like that.
"Why not?"
Himiko bowed her head and said nothing. Letho decided not to press the matter. Apparently, the girl wasn't in a condition to talk about it... they were probably murdered.
"Himiko....can stay..."
Himiko looked at Vesemir with tears in her eyes.
"Really? Can I?"
Vesemir nodded weakly.
"You helped me....I...owe you..."
Himiko crouched closer and took Vesemir's hand.
"No....you saved me....thank you....I was afraid....that no one would come for me....but you came..."
"Hmmmm..."
Vesemir couldn't say anything anymore...exhaustion overcame him....Letho and the surgeon transported him to the bed....
He looked at the girl one last time.
"Himiko. I have to go...I can't stay here."
Himiko nodded.
"If you hurt him, I'll find you."
Himiko nodded again, unafraid. She had no intention of harming Vesemir.
Letho went to the refrigerator and placed several bags of blood inside. From what he gathered, the girl's quirk was causing hunger... and it would be best if she didn't drink Vesemir's blood.
He went outside and dropped the surgeon off at the designated location. He set off on his way back to UA.
End of Chapter 39