Chapter 9: 1-8

I can't believe it.  The prince somehow actually managed to win his battles and take the area he was in charge of back.  It's been almost a month and the king has been using me to clear up a few other areas while wearing himself out so it took the prince longer than I think should have been necessary but he did accomplish it.  Well, I guess it was technically the generals or whoever was with him but since officially he was in charge it counts as his doing.  

The king said he's supposed to be returning today to receive a reward or something.  It was announced in the throne room to all the nobles and that's how I know that that's going to happen without knowing what the reward is going to be.  I'm not really paying too much attention to whatever's going on at the moment since it seems like some of the usual nobles just complaining about this or that relatively unimportant thing.  Instead, I've decided to just work on my vision for now.  If nothing else, I might be able to see when the prince arrives and be ready to...

Uh.  Is that Jolene?  What is she doing here?  I thought she was going to be at school for another year or two.  Well, this might get interesting.  Let's see, the noble who's talking currently is complaining that someone trudged through his territory without paying the appropriate taxes or something.  I'm looking forward to everyone's reaction when Jolene arrives and couldn't care less about whatever they're actually talking about, though.

Oh, well that's a shame.  I was hoping she'd just kind of bust into the middle of the room and announce herself or something exciting like that.  I guess she doesn't want to bother the king too much while he's working.  I can wait, I guess.  Ah.  She's finally coming now that the noble is done complaining.

"Hello, Father."

"Jolene?  What are you doing here?  I thought you were at the academy."

"I was until I heard that you had returned.  Shouldn't I have been called back home if we were going to be engaged in warfare?  I'm one of the best warriors in the kingdom, you know?"

"*sigh* You need to finish your time at the academy, first.  If the war continues even then I will let you conduct yourself in the military if that's what you really desire."

"But why, Father?  We both know I've been working most of my life to be worthy of inheriting your sword, so why are you making go to a place that refuses to allow me to even maintain my training much less improve my skills?  This war is the best chance I have to prove that I deserve to inherit it and continuing to stay at the academy is the best chance to prove that I don't want to."

"That...no.  You will finish your time at the academy.  That is not up for debate.  However, I have given your brother a chance to prove himself in this war so I suppose that I can do something for you as well.  I will set aside a time for you to come back once a month from now on to train if you wish."

"Thank you, Father, but I care less about the training itself and more about the sword.  I don't know why I would have spent most of my life training to inherit the sword if you're going to give it to Jared."

"No, I will not be passing the sword onto him.  Not now, at least.  I once promised you a chance to earn the right to inherit it and I won't go back on my promise just because I forced you to attend the academy while your brother was leading our troops."

"Oh.  I've been receiving word that you promised him the sword as a reward for winning in the war, though.  That was my biggest complaint and I was trying to be a little subtle about it but if you aren't going to give it to him..."

"Of course not.  I will give him a reward, of course, but I never promised to pass on Ixlixandt 'Al to him."

"Okay.  I'll take up your offer to come train every month.  You said i have to be good enough to prove that I'm worthy of it but you never told me how I'm going to prove that, by the way."

"*sigh* If you must know, you passed the initial test I had thought to give you years ago.  I was going to make it a surprise for you at the first opportunity that I could give you some large reward.  Before you say it, I know that sending you out in this war would definitely work but I want you to finish the academy first.  I'll make sure you have some kind of chance after that.  If you can take that chance to earn the right of inheritance then I'll officially announce it passed on to you, okay?"

"Thank you, Father.  Ah.  There's a lot of noise outside.  I think Jared is here."

Just as Jolene said, the prince had indeed arrived and was trying to force his way into the throne room before his presence could be announced.  I'm using educated guessing based on how things usually work and what I can see happening on the other side of the door.  It's not like I can actually hear what's going on.  Well, here he comes and with a rather large posse behind him.  Hm?  I don't recognize those soldiers.  I mean that not in the way that I could normally recognize each individual soldier around but that they are wearing different uniforms than I'm used to seeing.  I think they belong to a different country.

"Jolene?  What are you doing here?  Never mind, that's not important right now.  Father, I have returned after being successful in war."

"Well done, Jared.  I've heard of your accomplishment.  As soon as your mother arrives we can commence with the reward ceremony."

"That won't be necessary, Father.  Mother has returned home for the moment."

"Home?"

"Yes, she's gone back to her home in the Serulia Empire to retrieve some things."

"Well then, I guess we can talk about that after your reward."

"Yes, Father.  I've already decided what I want.  I'd like to inherit the throne and your sword now."

There was suddenly silence everywhere.  Even I'm having a slightly hard time processing what the prince just said.  He said he wanted the rights to me and the throne, yes?  Didn't he already have the rights to the throne?

"What are you talking about, Jared?"

"In order to be successful, I had to make a deal with Serulia.  They gave me soldiers and in return I will be a vassal king to the Emperor.  I'll need the sword to prove that I'm worthy of inheriting the title of War Demon in order to maintain our independence as well."

"So...you have betrayed our kingdom, then..."

"No, Father.  I have saved it.  This was a losing war from the beginning.  Please just retire peacefully."

I can see the king is reaching for me.  It sucks that the king is going to have to kill his own son but that's how it goes sometimes.  I'm ready to share vision as soon as my handle is grabbed.

"I've already promised the sword to Jolene.  Had you merely waited a few years more then even the throne would have been yours."

"It wouldn't work without the sword, Father.  It's become a symbol of your strength.  Don't turn this into a fight.  These are the elites of Serulia and even you will have difficulty defeating them."

"Difficulty, maybe.  I will not simply hand my kingdom over to treason, however."

It's time for me to do my thing!  Let's show them, king.  Oh, wow.  The prince wasn't lying about them being elite or whatever but with some of the corrections I'm giving the king's moves and my incredible sharpness it's pretty difficult to stand against us.  That's two down, already.  Oops, better adjust our parry a bit there.  Sorry, guy, that's not much of sword anymore in your hands.  Oh, nice slash here.  No need for me to compensate but there's another one trying to get you from the side so I'll adjust slightly as soon as I finish cutting this guy in half so you can swing at him quicker.  Woah, wait!  Since when did the prince have a crossbow?  Ah.  That's the one that one of the empire soldiers in the back had, huh.  I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been but I can see that a few have crossbows, now.

This might be a harder fight than I thought it would be.  Come on, king.  One more guy and I'll let you have a bit better vision.  Yes, straight through his neck like that.  Well, he tried to dodge so we only slit his throat but that's still good enough for me.  Have some more vision, king.  Now use it and me to take them all down!  Pfft.  This guy thinks I can be blocked by a spear handle?  Just adjust the blade a bit and like that I'm straight through.  Aw, too bad.  Now there's two halves of a spear and two halves of a person.  Next!  Oh, king, that's got to hurt.  Taking a crossbow bolt to the shoulder and a spear thrust to the gut like that can't be good.  Don't give up on me yet, though!  You might die here but we're going to take out as many as we can first.

Oh.  Jolene has come to help with a spear she picked up from one of the dead guys.  Good going, girl!  Careful not to hit her, king.  Yes, charge the enemy!  I can cut through this guy's armor so don't worry about it, just swing me straight through and I'll adjust if I need to.  Wow, he's so nimble even in all that armor.  We can still get him, though.  Good slash!  He's not dead but I bet he's hurting.  Damn!  Those crossbows are pretty annoying.  I wasn't really looking but that's the fifth one to hit.  Come on, king.  Just a little more and...I guess that final slash form the almost dead guy with a bunch of armor means it's over after all.  One final thought before you die, king.

SPLENDID!

Oh?  It looks like that got through.  The king is looking at me with wide eyes while on his knees.  This is his last few moments and I've been quite happy with how he's treated me for the most part.  Let's give him a nice little reward with some happiness empathy.  That's right, king.  I've been quite happy to have you as my first wielder even though you never quite made it to true wielder status.  I'd give you a good smile, too, if I could.  Farewell, king.

Hm?  Oh.  No, no, and nope.  I am not happy with you, prince.  You try and grab me and I'll make sure you get the headache of a lifetime.  I was somewhat nice when you were a child but I'll give you a full force set of vision in the same range as the king but with extra clarity to make sure you can't handle it.  Oh?  Looks like Jolene is still raring to go even with the king down and out.  Oh, come on, prince.  Do you really thing trying to wield me is going to be all that easy or anything if you use a piece of cloth to protect yourself.  That part that give you a headache is what makes anyone who wields me seem so strong, you idiot!  Well, you're holding me so what now?  Ah.  Ya, that's Jolene holding the spear to your throat there.

"Jolene! Stop!"

It seems Yalbila has also come to join the party.

"It's over.  Our Father is already dead.  If you kill Jared now then the kingdom really is done for."

"Exactly, Jolene.  Although, you have always wanted this sword.  I guess I can give it to you, if you want."

"Jared, don't!"

Just as Jolene started lowering her spear the prince used me to run her through.  Well, fuck you too, prince!  All these years of working on her and you're even using me to kill her off.  Damn!  Although, Jolene seems pretty determined.  She's grabbing my handle as well so the prince can't pull me back out of her.  Wow.  You wanted me so bad that you killed your father and sister and now that she has me in a death grip you're going to just let me go?  Ah.  That moved the cloth enough that she's actually touching my handle, at least.

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Wait.  Something's different.  So this is how the pact that bonds us is supposed to go.  I don't think it's necessary to actually have my wielders run themselves through but it seems that as long as they have a hold of my handle while I cut into them in some fashion that it starts the bonding process.  There's more here than just blood, too.  Whatever damage is done from the bonding seems like it'll kind of be undone when it's over so if I accept her as a true wielder then I can still save her life.  Wait!  I have to stick to my own rules.  Come on, Jolene.  Just let me know that you have a goal in life, somehow.  Umm.  What do I do, here?  Um.  Let's see.  I can only have a real conversation with a true wielder, yes?  So what if I only half accept her as a true wielder?  It's worth a try.  Let some of the blood and whatever else this is that I feel be taken in and...stop!

{Jolene.}

"Huh?"

{You're so close.  You've fulfilled three out of the four conditions to truly wield me as I should be wielded.  You just need some great goal in your life to try and accomplish.  Something that will either take your whole life or that will affect many in a great way.  Anything will do but I will hold you to it.}

"Umm.  I...don't...know..."

{What did you want after you had me?  Travel the world?  Destroy an enemy kingdom?  Start a kingdom of your own?}

"I just...wanted...to be...famous...with...you..."

{Done!  I am Exsanguinal, the Blood Edge!  In my name I declare the pact between us: I will be your weapon and you will be my true wielder until your death.  You will live freely and respect me.  I will support you in your endeavors to be famous, whether through fame or infamy.  We will be bonded in this way and more.  None shall separate us.  Do you accept?}

"Yes."

She sounds really weak and I'm sure she's close to death but she's my first wielder and I have to be sort of official.  Let's just finish what I stopped halfway.  Take in the blood and that other stuff.  It seems like she's still getting weaker but I'm going to trust that the built-in instructions the gods left me for this are going to work.  Okay, I think I'm done.  Hm?  Some of what I took of both the blood and other stuff is going back along with a bit of that other stuff that I seem to have as well.  What a strange sensation.  

{You should probably remove me from your insides, my dear princess.}

Jolene seems like she's only half conscious still but she also seems to be coming back to life.  I'm sure having me still be inside of her isn't going to help with the damage reversal process.  There we go.  Keep pulling...and I'm out.  Wow, that's awesome.  The wound is just closing itself and some of the blood around the wound is getting pulled back in.  I think she'll probably be a little weak from anemia since not all of it went back but she's definitely not dying anymore.  Well not that that's done, what's going on around us?

"You didn't have to kill her, though!"

"She would have kept coming back for the sword.  Ixlixandt 'Al must be in my hands for this kingdom to flourish.  It's the only way to prove that we deserve to hold onto our independence."

Jolene is standing up while listening to the conversation as well.  I can see them with both of our visions but I don't particularly care about them so there's no need to try and look too closely and remember them.  It does seem like neither of them has noticed that Jolene is getting up even though a few people in the vicinity see it and are gasping.

"Regardless, it seems I should thank you for giving the sword to me, dear brother."

{You tell them, girl!}

Oh, woops.  I forgot that I can talk to Jolene now.  Oh well.  She's the only one who can hear me, anyways.  She'll learn what I'm like eventually since we'll be together for what I hope is a long time now.  It's probably best if I don't try to head my true nature from her.

""Jolene?!""

"Yes?  Do I look like someone else?"

"No, wait!  Jared just killed you!"

{No, he tried.  Good thing he's stupid.  It gave me the chance to finally make a contract with you.  I've been waiting for you for years!}

Jolene seems to find some of what I said funny because she's snickering a little.  That or she finds that they thought she was dead as funny.

{Oh.  That I'm a living weapon needs to stay secret.}

"Mm.  Jared tried to kill me.  Too bad he's too stupid to remember a bunch of things.  I've always been meant to wield this sword and even Father knew it.  It seems that not even Father was actually able to bring out it's true abilities."

{To be honest, he wasn't able to bring out any of my abilities.  Everything was only what I let him use or helped him with.  Now that I have you I'm not going to let anybody else use me.  If someone tries then I'll even actively sabotage them.  You can let them try if you want to see what will happen, too.}

I'm actually kind of curious about a few things, to be honest.  Now that I'm bonded to someone can someone else even touch me?  Do I have any new abilities unlocked?  How far can I go to mess with people that I don't want touching me?  I kind of want to be handed to Jared now in hopes that he'll receive a divine punishment or something.

"It seems like I'm now the real owner of the sword and nobody can use it anymore.  So, thank you for giving it to me, Jared."

"Wait, what?  No!  You will give that sword to me!  Guards!"

"Ah.  You really don't want that.  Whatever, fine.  Here.  Take it.  I'll make sure your grave marker mentions how you were too stupid and greedy to realize a warning when it was given."

Aw.  Now that she said that he won't...wait...is he really so stupid that he's going to try and take hold of me anyway?  Okay, then.  Let's use him as a test dummy with no remorse.  I won't be sharing my vision, first of all.  That'll make it difficult to hurt him with a headache but let's see what happens before I actually try anything, in case there's some built in defense.  He's not even bothering with the cloth this time, huh?  That makes this easier, I guess.  Hm?  No automatic defenses, huh?

"What did you do?  Where's the sight the sword grants?"

"I told you.  I was the one meant to wield it and I'm the true owner now.  You even gave it to me just a bit ago."

I could start shaking as if I want to go back to her, I guess.  That seems kind of lame, though.  Hmm.  Wait.  What is this?  I can kind of feel our connection.  Okay, let's start shaking as violently as possible and I'll see if i can do something with this while I'm doing that.  Maybe it'll make for a good show.

"What? What is..."

Mm hm.  So if I try to pull on the connection...no.  It does seem like it might do something but it doesn't feel like that's what I'm looking for right now.  I might be able to push on it, too, but that's still a no.  Can I put myself in...?  Now that's just awesome!  I can teleport to me true wielder!

"How?!"

"I've already said it several times, Jared.  I'm the real owner of the sword now.  For anyone else it'll just be a worse than useless hunk of metal that probably can't even be held easily anymore."

{That and in your hands I'm not even a sword.  I mean, I was never really a sword, anyways.  I just look like one...}

I already know I can become the scythe I should be in my true wielder's hands.  I don't really have to think about it either.  I just kind of know instinctually how to shift into scythe form now.

{Well, this has been fun but I don't think we're very welcome here anymore.  What do you say we just walk on out of here?  Feel free to let anyone who tried to stop us know how sharp I am!}

"Mm.  I think I'll be leaving now.  Father is dead and this is no longer our kingdom.  Anyone who wants to is welcome to try and stop me but I'm stronger than Father was and I have the full power of the sword at my disposal instead of the small amount Father had.  That'll be my last warning."

{Yes!  I'm so proud of you!}

Jolene is walking away and it seems nobody has the guts to try and stop her at this point.  That's fair since plenty of other people's guts were already lost when the king was fighting and now they've already seen proof that I'm even better in her hands.  Only someone suicidal would try to stand in her way at this point.

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