"Deal?"
I squinted, trying to get anything from his stupid face. But I got nothing.
"Yes, a deal," he nodded, holding out his hand to Eric before having a rolled paper placed in his hand.
He took a step back, the asshole with the sword coming in with a small table and chair, placing them in front of me. He unrolled the paper, placing it on the table as his smile widened.
Eugh, creepy.
He folded his hands on the table, sending a chill down my spine as he met my eyes.
"You will infiltrate the Crimson Sun cult, gather information on said cult, and assist us taking them down. In return, we won't execute you, and your brother will be under city protection."
My brain paused at 'execution' and my face scrunched up into a frown. So I just don't have a choice huh? I glared at his stupid smile and the stupid paper on the table. It looked like a contract. I knew because of the dotted line at the bottom of the page, there were too many words to read above it anyway. I moved my eyes to Minh. He had the normal deadpan expression, but I could tell that he was pissed. He stared at me, and I stared back.
Please, no.
But he didn't look away, and I knew he wouldn't change his mind. I slumped a little, my stare turning into a glare.
Fine, be that way.
I looked back at the jackass in front of me, bracing myself.
"Okay, but I want something else."
He raised a brow, unfolding his hands as he leaned back, his smile still there. I took a breath, throwing another glare at Minh.
If you complain later, I'll kill you.
I opened my mouth, continuing, "Minh is coming with me too, and we don't die, get a place to stay, and at least a weekly salary."
I glanced at Minh, then at the jackass, and I kept going, back and forth, waiting for an answer. Minh was the same. There was a moment of silence, there was even a tapping sound.
"Hmm, alright," The jackass shrugged, leaning back on his chair.
It was smug, like punchable kind of smug. That son of a bitch- if I wasn't tied up right now I would punch your dickwadded face!
He tapped his fingers on the table, propping his cheek on one hand as he stared into my eyes.
"Will that be all?"
I didn't answer, just nodded, glaring at him. His face didn't change, and I fucking hated it. He stood up, glancing at Minh before turning back to the door, walking away. The Eric guy stared at both of us, the same fucking smile on his face before following the jackass. I glared at them until they left the room, and the door closed, everything becoming dark again. Then Minh came at me, he didn't talk, but I knew he was probably calling me an idiot. He tugged at the ropes, somehow finding a way to untie them. I quickly leaned away, thrashing my limbs to make the stinging pain go away.
"You're a dumbass."
When I heard that, I got up, retorting, "Well, I'm sorry, Mr. Treasurer of student council. I'm not a negotiator, okay?! You wanted to do this!"
I heard his stupid groan, knowing the lecture about to come at me.
"First, we didn't have a choice anyway. Second, if you went alone, you wouldn't last an hour, even that much time is pushing it. Third, what kind of negotiation was that? You were just demanding things that they were probably going to give us anyway."
"And how do you know that we were going to get us housing and money?!" I argued back.
"Didn't he say that I was going to be under city protection? You didn't think that would come with something?" he shot back, before continuing, "The only thing that changed was that I'm coming with you to this, 'cult'. At worst, we're both going to be treated like crap with a little bit of incentive."
...Ah, right. That jackass did say that? Did he though? The execution part was important too. I mean, we were going to die, so what if I missed a few details?
"Welp, at least we'll suffer together," I grumbled.
"One of us more than the other," he snapped.
Shit, he heard me.
"Hey, the hell you mean I'll suffer more?"
"Did I say it was you?" he sneered.
"Wonderful, now that you've jinxed it, it will happen. Your fate is sealed."
"Who says," I humphed, throwing my hands in front of me at that demon of a brother I couldn't see.
I threw down another punch before both of my wrists were grabbed, my arms raised above me.
"Hey! Let go!"
"Quit struggling and I will."
"Never!"
I thrashed around, kicking my legs forward, but missing 'cause I suck. Minh held me up from the wrists, holding me away from him. After a moment of screaming, he dropped me, and my ass hit the ground.
"Ow, what the fuck?"
"You're free now, happy?"
"Yeah, yeah," I grumbled, getting up, brushing off my butt.
I let out a breath, slouching as I looked around the dark room, the silence killing the mood. I turned to Minh.
"So..."
Suddenly, the door opened again, bringing light to this damn dark room. And there was Emily, standing in the doorway, like a traitor. I glared at this evil child, just standing there like she didn't just throw us to our deaths. Snitches get snitches bitch, and I'm not afraid to give you some!
My face scrunched up into a frown, meeting her eyes. So what if she's younger, that doesn't exclude her from these hands. I glared at her for a few more moments, then spat out a word.
"Bitch."
She glared back at me, putting her hands in her short pockets.
"You should look in a mirror," she sneered.
"Fuck you."
She rolled her eyes, "Is that all you can say? For a spy, you're really dumb."
"You motherfu-!"
"Alright ladies, you're both pretty. Now less shade-throwing and more explaining because our lives are currently on the line and I have no time to watch you two curse each other out right now," Minh interrupted in one breath as he covered my mouth.
I licked his hand, and he pulled away immediately. Then he wiped it on the sleeve of my shirt.
"Hey!"
He raised his hands up, stepping back a step.
"You asked for it."
What is everyone giving me shit for??!
I raised my clenched fists, looking back and forth at Emily and Minh. Damn it. They're too far away to punch at the same time. Hmm, I'll punch Minh first and then Emily after. Sure, she can run, but she's pretty short, so she won't get far.
Just then, Minh turned to Emily, asking, "So what are you doing here?"
She looked back at him, this time answering immediately.
"I came to pick you up. We're going to be working together for a while, I thought I'd fill my fellow spies in."
Hey, why'd you answer that fast?! Am I not worthy of an immediate answer from you?
Minh raised a brow, dropping his hands.
"So are you being threatened as well or?"
"Yes."
"Ah... that sucks."
"Yeah," she shrugged, "Same for you."
"Thanks."
"No problem."
I stared between Minh and Emily, them being way too chill with each other. Minh, where are your trust issues? Did they go on vacation? And Emily, why aren't you judging him?! Why am I the weirdo here?!!
I cleared my throat, pushing into the conversation.
"Okay, stop right now. When the fuck did you two have time to bond?"
Both of them glanced at each other before turning to me.
"This is transactional, don't worry about it," he explained.
"Yup," Emily nodded.
Ah, see that makes more sense. There is no shot that Minh willing made friends with someone he barely knows. I thought I was yeeted into some alternate reality or something.
"Oh, okay," I paused for a minute, my brain finally working for once as I shouted, "Wait, Emily's a spy?!"
She nodded, "Yeah, welcome to the team you two."
Uh, thank you?
"Now then," she pulled out two tiny keys from her pocket, tossing one to me and one to Minh.
I caught it, barely. Almost dropped it, but I got it.
Then she took out her own key, fiddling with it between her fingers. She turned to the hall away from the door, shooting a glance at us as she tilted her head towards the hall.
"Let's go, I'll brief you on the way."
Then she walked out. And Minh followed after her? Ah, right, wait for me. And I also followed, stopping beside Minh as we walked through the hall that kinda looked like a creepy dungeon basement. A long line of metal-looking doors on one wall and a line of torches on the other, but somehow it still felt a little too dark. What kinda of shitty torches is this. Did the city run out of budget or something?
I looked ahead at Emily's back, and I clenched my fists again. Don't think you're off the hook snitch. I just need to find a good time to punch you.
After walking for a few seconds, Emily started talking.
"So, now that we're on the same team, I'll explain your mission."
The fuck you mean we're on the same team. We don't want to be here. Sure, you don't want to be here either. I think. But you did snitch on us, so you aren't any better. Ah, right. Gotta listen.
"The Crimson Sun is a cult that settled in Maril City around ten years ago, and has been causing disruptions outside and inside the city. Such as intercepting rune mining and causing the mass disappearance of citizens over the years," she explained, tossing the key up and down in her right hand.
She kinda sounds like an AI when she talks like this. Human voices do weird things.
"Since then, the city lord has been sending spies into their ranks, but most haven't returned. Alive, that is."
"So you're sending us on a death mission?" Minh chimed in.
Pretty much, all the more reason to hate the government.
Emily caught the tiny key in her hand, turning her head slightly to look at us.
"No, not necessarily. I'm a prime example," she said, before turning back.
"I've been a spy for the city lord for around three years now. I've also become a 'spy' for the Crimson Sun for a while now, and have gained some influence in the cult. With my recommendation, I can assure you that you'll infiltrate the cult without a hitch."
So she's a double spy? I hate to say it, but that's fucking cool. But that doesn't mean she wouldn't get a punch from me. I just need to wait for all the information and punch her after that.
We made it to the end of the hall, Emily opening the door, flash bombing me with light.
Whyyyyy.
I squinted, stopping in my tracks for a minute, before getting pushed past the threshold. I tripped, stumbled, and almost fell, but caught myself. I turned around, glaring at Minh standing in the doorway, Emily already right next to me. I jumped back, putting my hands up just in case. Who knows if she's gonna betray us again?
She looked me up and down, then at Minh as he walked in. He looked back, then at me, shrugging.
Aye! The hell are you so calm before!? Oh god, did Minh's trust issues latch onto me? No no no, my reaction is totally reasonable. She literally turned us in. He's the one acting weird!
I shot a glare at Minh, he glared back, and then I saw it. The look. I watched his eyes dart to Emily, then me, telling me to not fuck something up.
I knew it! He's still in there! Lowkey, I thought he was possessed for a minute. Thank you god-, goddess, for not letting my brother get possessed.
I shut my mouth, turning away as I winked at him.
Don't worry, I gotchu bro.
Then he face-palmed for some reason. Aye, I'm trying okay? I'm not that obvious.
I rolled my eyes, glancing at Emily, judging us as always. At this point, I just gotten used to it.
After, I finally looked around the room where we're in. It was pretty small and empty, like a slightly bigger closet with almost nothing in it. I mean, there's a couch, and a bunch of boxes everywhere, and, oh, I just noticed the giant board on the left side of the room. There were a ton of newspaper pages and notes pasted all over it with the red string from the movies.
Me and Minh looked at each other, being like; what the fuck? Until Emily walked to the board, moving a red to another ripped-out newspaper page on the board. She turned to us, pointing to a picture of a medieval-looking building, kinda like those houses that are squeezed together to make like a line of houses, except this one is really tall. You know what I mean.
"This is one of the entrances to the Capital. You enter will from here and take on the identities of wealthy former nobles who had fled their country due to the war. From there, I will use my influence within the cult to recruit you two as close associates," she explained, moving to point at the bottom section of a blueprint of the entire city, I think.
"You will gather information, make connections, and if you can, sabotage the cult's plans as much as possible. But always be discreet, gathering information is top priority, we're not asking you to actively throw away your lives."
Dude we don't even want to do this! If we don't, we'll die anyway!
My fists clenched again for the- I don't know how many times I've done this, slowly raising my stronger arm. Maybe I can punch her while she's distracted.
Suddenly, Minh pinched my waist.
"Ow!" I yelped, wrapping my arms around my waist for protection.
Emily stopped talking, glaring at us.
Hey, don't glare at me! He's the one that decided to be an asshole!
She kept glaring at us, everything feeling really still for a while, until she sighed, rubbing her temple.
"Anyway, you guys will be staying in military dormitories for the night and head out in the morning. The keys I gave you will no longer work after using them for the night, and I expect you to arrive in the Capital by tomorrow afternoon," she said, starting to walk towards a pile of boxes.
She turned her head slightly to us, stating flatly, "You're dismissed."
"'Kay," Minh nodded, hooking his arm around mine, dragging me away.
Hey, wait! I didn't get my punch!
I pulled away, waving my free arm at Emily.
"Aye! Emily! You still owe me a punch for turning us in!"
Minh stopped dragging me, still not letting me go though. Emily turned to us, staring at me specifically, a brow raised. I still can't read her.
"Alright," she shrugged, "You can try."
Ah. I don't know if that's dm speak or not, but now I'm kinda scared. Minh finally let me go, grumbling something I couldn't hear that great. But let's not think about that. It's punching time!
I confidently walked up to Emily, now standing over her migetness. It's good to be tall for once. I raised my fist above her head, swinging down with a karate chop, but I didn't use that much force.
I'm not as mad as before, plus Emily's younger than me. I can't be hitting someone younger than me with full force. That's only for Minh, and jerks who deserve it.
But just as my hand almost reached her head, a yellow colored dome manifested over her, blocking my chop. And the next moment, a static shock ran through my body. I pulled my hand away, letting out a loud scream as I stumbled back and fell butt first to the floor. I held my arm, still shaking from the aftershock. My arm felt kinda numb, but it still hurt.
Emily crouched down to me, fiddling with a ring around her middle finger, a smile on her usually deadpan face.
"You still want to punch me?"
My mouth dropped, staring at the ring and then at Emily.
Is that a magic ring? Did she use graphien? Wait, doesn't she use Celestial arts? I mean, nothing says you can't use both, but there should be a limit!
She propped her cheek on one hand, showing the ring on her finger.
"This is a runic protection item, it also gives the attacker backlash equal to their attack," she explained.
"I know you're pretty familiar with them, since you use them a lot."
... Oooooh, yeah sure, let's go with that.
I slowly nodded, still rubbing my stinging arm, looking away.
"Are you done?"
Minh came up from behind, leaning over to look down at me, pissed like usual. I nodded. Yeah, I should just shut up for the rest of the day.
"Good."
He shot a glance at Emily as he picked me up by the waist and hauled me onto his shoulder, and then he just turned around and walked out.
Really dude? You could have at least said goodbye or something. Hah, know what, whatever, I really don't care anymore. I've fucked things up way too much to be complaining right now. I just want tomorrow to be a good day.
A/N
It won't
Also, I won't be able to post for a month since I'm going on a vacation with my family. Just wanted to let you know, and thank you for you're support! (*'▽'*)