Chapitre 14: Bonds
People were stupid; that's one thing Number 9 was sure of. Her actual name was Raven Wanderlust, even if she didn't use it as much anymore. Alistair doted on her, and in his sight, she could not do wrong.
It was a dull existence. Raven had everything, and that made her life so miserable. The first time she took a life, it was a floundering fish. The feel of the slice slicing through its guts pleased her greatly, and she wondered if she was going mad at first.
So, she killed a dire beast under cover of the night and felt her body spasm with pleasure. She got a kick out of it and realized she would do it again.
It just felt too fun to break things, and the first time she killed a human, she made sure it was with her bare hands. Weapons didn't elicit the same pleasure within her; they always fell short of what they were meant to do.
"What's got your panties in a bunch, sweetie?" Her husband and closest friend came from behind, placing a kiss on her neck. She moaned, leaning into the kiss.
"Not fair," she pouted, arms crossed across her voluptuous breasts.
"I love how I can bring you to your knees," he whispered in her ears, and a wicked delight spread across her body. Her husband. She wasn't sure she could get used to that, and it'd been five years already. He was the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen, and whenever he leveled her with a lustful stare, she lost her sense of reasoning.
"You can do more than that," her voice came out in a hoarse tone, mind riddled with thoughts of the gorgeous man slowly running her mad.
"Good. What are you thinking about?" He grabbed an apple from the fruit basket on the table and bit into it generously. His canines always fascinated her, and she was tempted to ask him to bite her just for the hell of it.
Not now, Raven.
"The war." She replied, her shoulders drooping. He was the only one who ever saw her vulnerable, the only one who knew her darker sides and didn't care anyway.
"What about it?" He bit into the apple again, and Raven had to mentally wrest control over her imagination before it led her into a pit.
"I'm not strong enough," she admitted to him, and he just smiled, his eyes of topaz staring intently at her. It would have been unnerving if it was anyone else, but his eyes saw her. They didn't just look; they saw the inner workings of her being.
"You are the strongest person I know. And yes, your hobbies can be eccentric, but that makes you special. You are Raven Wanderlust, the bane of men and women alike. Don't think I don't know about the stares, the hunger in their eyes when they look at you. But," he caressed her face, the look of longing evident, "you're mine. And I don't share."
What a man.
"Go and show Velor the woman I'm in love with." He stood before her, and she felt the wave of his aura wash over her. His name shone with the light of a thousand fireflies, but she didn't need that to know the man she was in love with.
[MORIARTY WENTWORTH: CRIMSON FLAME OF A THOUSAND BATTLEFIELDS]
Falling in love with him wasn't Raven's original plan, but was love ever planned? And he was the strongest person she'd ever seen, using two sigils at once, and that day shone brightly in her vision, the Great Catastrophe.
"Run, you fucking dimwit!" Raven screamed at a young boy who stood in the line of fire as a rain of lightning and firestorm fell from the sky with a vengeance, breaking the first line of defense.
"Hold the line!" She screamed. As commander of the Tenth Battalion, she was the disposable one, the one the empire used to gauge the strength of the enemy.
"Fucking cowards, the lot of them." She was seeing red, and the people under her charge dying did nothing to better her mood.
"Whatever you do, don't play the hero." She was practically telling them to desert, but she didn't care. They were just cannon fodder, and if they continued, their sacrifices would mean nothing.
"It's our duty to fight to the death." The captain she handpicked for his straight-laced ways, Nakamura, butted heads with her once more. The Tenth Battalion echoed his sentiments, hitting their spears on the ground in unison and screaming in a booming voice, "WE ARE THE TENTH BATTALION; WE WILL NEVER FALL NOR SLUMBER. AS LONG AS VICTORY IS WITHIN SIGHT, WE WILL FIGHT TILL THE LAST MAN!"
They were stupid but filled with spirit. And it was her fault. She knew what they were getting into, but she inspired them day in and day out. She called dying in battle glory; she told them of a time when the most honorable deaths happened on the battlefield.
"Trust us, Commander. We are the warriors you raised." Her lieutenant saluted, his eyes unwavering. She searched for the young boys they were and found decisive and resolute men in their places, chests puffed out and voices drowning the countless deaths.
"Okay." She said, and a thousand young men saluted and charged the enemy, their hearts unruffled, their bonds unbroken. Nakamura caught two enemies making a beeline for him and slammed them face-first into the ground without missing a beat.
They fought like demons, their mana-powered swords slicing through the enemies like hot knives through butter. She stood on a precipice and watched her warriors fight, not looking away even though she badly wanted to. But she wouldn't betray their trust in her; it was time to trust them.
Even when they fell, their voices didn't falter; their eyes shone with defiance and rage. Those were the boys who once balked at the sight of blood, the boys who once hated the idea of war. The tide was turning, and she could envision them winning since the enemy ranks were thinning.
Then, a gale of wind blew a mass of people away, friend or foe. And standing in the middle of the battlefield was the most dangerous person she'd ever encountered. All her senses were screaming at her to run far away from him, to take another path. But she couldn't move; her bodily functions had completely shut down.
He leaped to where she was and executed a perfect bow. He was dressed in military attire like her, and he was a Commander, too.
"I've always hated senseless battles. Now, will you surrender, or will you let your forces be wiped out?" He didn't seem to be joking; she knew what jokes sounded like.
"We can't afford to surrender. Do your worst." She forced bravado into her voice, even though she was scared out of her mind.
"Well, I'll see if you'd change your mind." He said and winked at her. He was gone the next second. When she looked down, only her soldiers were on the battlefield.
The bastard had mass-teleported his entire army. He was taunting her, showing her the scale of his powers. And dammit, it was effective.
She pulled out of the war.
Staring at him now, though, one wouldn't believe he was the demon of the battlefield.
"Why are you staring at me like that? Have I grown horns?" He tapped above his head, and she laughed, unable to help it. From the first time they met, he'd been a perfect gentleman. And even though it's been years since then, she'd never loved anybody else the way she loved him. She wasn't sure she'd ever do.
"I'm just thinking about how you're an absolute dreamboat, and I wouldn't mind meeting you for the first time all over again," Now it was his turn to be abashed. She knew how to push his buttons.
"You almost peed yourself the first day, though," he said, trying to save face. But she didn't plan to back down.
"It was from excitement. How could I be sane while staring at the most beautiful man ever created?" She fired back, and he opened his mouth, closed it, and shook his head.
"I've never been able to win against you," he admitted, kissing her forehead. "If I can't win against you, nobody can." His vote of confidence warmed her to her toes, but that wasn't the time for being all lovey-dovey. She had a job to do.
"Never liked civil wars, but I'll build my team again. Thank you for being by my side. You'll stay, won't you?" She looked up at him, her eyes pleading.
"Always. Not even the gods can take you away from me."
She hugged him and didn't let go for a long time after that.
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone