Edward had been lying on the ground trying to heal from the wound on the floor. Isabella had left him behind on his wits for the moment. The pain of the wound did injure him as much as the feeling that he could not fight at his full potential at a time soon.
He had gotten rusty in his combat skills, glory kills were more important than stealth kills in his pirate life.
He breathed deeply and kept himself relaxed, he called his composure, the smell of blood wasn't pleasant to his nose. His skin was numb and he needed some rest in the truth, so let his eyes be shut for a few minutes and let the darkness claim his vision.
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"Eyy, Edward? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be protecting Isabella? You know how much she cares for you?"
"Huh?"
A girl, not much older than 10 was talking to Edward, who was barely 12. She looked like him when he was young yet different. You could differentiate the two but also be fooled by it.
They sat together in a small wooden shack, covered by tables, lamps, carpets and whatnot but everything was perfectly organized, a portrait hung on the wall showed a family smiling happily.
That was what was the world for Edward her sister, his mother and his father, all living a normal and happy life.
"Are you listening to me? I think your mind is wandering in some other realm. Are you doing fine?"
"Stop!, you speak so fast and so much! Calm down for a second. Don't you know any etiquette?"
A little Edward pulled his hands across his ears, annoyed by his sister's piercing and loud voice and he lay on the floor carpet in annoyance.
His sister stopped speaking, she laid herself on the floor alongside Edward and he removed his hands of his years and looked up the wooden shielding without a single word in complete silence.
The silence was awkward. It was like when someone learns that the person they assumed to be an idiot was an incredible person in actuality and now they are confused about what they think of the person.
"creek...." a noise came from the wood in front of their eyes.
"Do you think you can save her?" she asked.
"No, I don't think I can. A lot is going on and I am injured, she gets in trouble, I can't do anything and besides why should I save her? It was her own choice to come here, I don't know what the hell is she doing here, sister." Edward answered to his sister.
Come to think of it, she didn't have a name, Edward had always called his sister," sister." and his mother, "mother.". It was always like that, but his father did a name a proper one, but he never called him out because they never talked.
"I am not talking about Isabella, I know she will live somehow, she is very much like an assassin in that regard. I am talking about my niece. Do you think she is safer being with that Army man?"
"She is. The assassin has attacked here. I will kill them here or at least make sure I reach her first in case his city falls into chaos. Besides, Royace has a wall of impenetrable guards, so she won't be hurt. The maid or nurse or whatever... was not an assassin, so don't worry." He had a calm and courageous response in mind.
Silence fell once again, but this time it wasn't awkward. It was sharp and filled with gloominess and sadness as if a big misfortune was about to strike.
"I remembered when you said the rooms of the wooden house were a very fine safe place to hide and the family guard would be enough protection and if anything passed it all you would put your life to destroy it. That is what you told to girl's mother, didn't you?"
The two didn't look at one another, they started at the wooden shieling. But no response came from Edward's side and since took over once again, but this time it was shortlived.
"creek...." the noise came once more but this time it was shaper and more loud.
"Edward remember, Jennifer's grandparents, they supported you. They advised you to flee but you didn't you said that, everything would be okay because you were there but see what happened? Everyone died, everybody did. You even let my niece in the hands of someone unknown villager, who gods know could do what with her? And you ran away and enjoyed a happy life away from everything in the seas where you were king."
No answer came once again, and the never-ending stare continued.
"The attackers, you could exited peacefully that day you exited the brotherhood. Make them take a bit of pity on your wide or your unborn kid and make it a conflict between you and them but you didn't. Because you knew you weren't strong enough to win alone but when you had more allies you craved pride and hungered battle."
"You threw your honour at the assassin's father's face, you spit on him. You angered him and provoked him. To make him do what you wished and you did get your wish."
"creek...!!" the cracks in the wood above them were quite clear. It was breaking down with each breaking noise louder than the last.
"Stop hiding Edward. From the truth say it along and clear. Did you love Altara? "
His sister stopped looking upwards now and turned her head to save Edward.
Edward was looking in the sky with a grin of this face and not a hint of guilt on his face.
"I wanted that battle, sister. I dreaded it since young. I always wanted to fight an army, but I needed my army so, I took Altara's family's army and forced them to fight my battle. I wanted that battle and the carving arose my life more than ever, I had a kid coming. So, the stakes were higher than ever before. My kid would die if I lost but If I won history would never forget me. I think I told Isabella that I cried after my first kill, now that I think about it, those were tears of joy not regret."
"Liar. I think you were different there, but I think more in joy when you got crushed by the assassins." Edward's sister called his lie.
"but I fought and lost. Because it was supposed to happen. Victors rub their feet on the dust and the defeated bite that very dust. Everyone died but that day I accepted my dreams would be dust I survived that day, and my wife's death gave me the freedom to fight for today. If my daughter dies and if Isabella dies, imagine how much freedom I would have to kill, to slaughter, to rule. I could-"
*crack!!, the roofs cracked and from a hole, knives and swords, daggers all like. He Fell from the sky cutting Edward into pieces as his sister who lay beside him unharmed, looked upon her dead brother his blood was on the floor but no one touched his body or clothes.
"Liar. Something changed, Altara tried to fight even as weak as she tried. She hid and tried to rescue me when she was injured in that boat and sacrificed herself to save Jennifer and you. Something else was born that day inside you aren't an I right, brother."
"You are not my sister and that person is not me. You are nothing but my past."
She looked at the hole in the wall above her with a smile, inside the hole she could see someone, who looked like her brother in every way but he was not her brother. He was someone different but he had the kindness she always wanted in her brother so she called him her brother too.
"Time is running Edward. Go out, and save Jennifer, Isabella, Thomas... everybody you around you. They need your help. Save them, no matter what happens no matter how much you get stabbed or hurt but save them. If you don't, he will come out more and more, he reaching out more and more recently. Endure, Edward, Endure. You have to."
The Edward above nodded moved away from the hole and disappeared and the roof came falling on the little girl...
"Huh!!!!" Edward woke up in his sleep, and he looked around at the burned shop as the rain was slowly getting weaker. He gazed around the world but his mind was very well on the conversation he had just seen. Every thought of his was not just him, it was his past and his entire family thinking alongside him.
He closed his eyes and took deep breaths trying to calm himself down from the twisted part of himself he saw, the part who felt his guilt from the crimes and atrocities he did. The part of him he never must let out something he must suppress and it was getting ever harder as he killed more and more each day.
"..." but Edward had help now his sister even if a dream was with her and now he knew who should be with him too, he shouldn't have berated Thomas then, he shouldn't let Jennifer alone and he should have thanked Isabella for her help and thought better of her. It was all his mistake but he was aware of them now.
Edward relaxed and his arms felt much better, the pain was there still and he found climbing a building with that much strength but he wasn't one-handed anymore. He could endure that much easily.
He looked at the clock on the floor still ticking, he realized it had been less than 40 minutes since the first explosion, Isabella should have been nearby, she must have survived somehow like his sister said, there was a choice that Thomas would be alongside her too. He got up from stretching his entire body, ready and concentrated for battle but.... before that, he thanked his sister once again.
"Altara... Thank you for reminding me of her name. I hadn't forgotten after all."
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