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The Mercenary (Beautiful_Disgrace and I)

Hearing his voice took an immense pressure off his chest, and Soren's eyes darted over to look into his. Despite his joke, Soren could tell something was wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong with Ike. It looked like he had been through hell...those eyes...they were dead. "Ike.." Soren mumbled, trying to keep the torrent of emotions he felt in check. Joy..worry..fear...anger. He made sure none of it would trickle into his expression or voice. "What happened to you..?"
 
"Heh," Ike mumbled, his snort starting a minor coughing fit. "Nothing I can't live from, apparently...I'm glad to see you're okay...I'm glad to see Tellius is okay." he mumbled. Maybe....maybe he did some good after all...?
 
"Daein and Crimea," Soren corrected as his eyebrows furrowed at his answer, but he left it alone. "Does it hurt to talk? If it hurts then you don't have to talk." He was being worse than a mother hen, but he didn't care. He almost watched his friend that he hadn't seen in years die, he would make sure that his recovery would go as smooth as possible.
 
"I'm fine, Soren," Ike said, waving it off. "...Not that I should be, but I am." he said, glancing at him. Unsurprisingly, Soren looked the same as ever. "...You change your hair?" he said faintly. "You look different."
 
"No." Soren answered with a blank expression. He might have grown a little...but he doubted it. Branded aged much slower than Beorc. Other than his robes, he hadn't changed his style much. "What do you mean you shouldn't be fine...?" He was...he was the one who looked different..acted different. Something awful had happened to him, and Soren had a bad feeling about it.
 
"Nothing," Ike said, glancing back at the wall. "...How are things with the mercenaries? How's Mist?" He didn't even know if he could look his sister in the face...could he look any of them in the face? He was having a hard time doing it with Soren.
 
It wasn't nothing, but..Soren would at least answer his questions before he called him out. "Things are..chaotic. Elincia hired us to keep things under control in Crimea. So far we've been successful. Mist is...Mist is doing well as the new leader of the Greil Mercenaries. She misses her brother."
 
"I'm sure," Ike murmured. "She has Boyd, that's enough..." he said, testing his legs for a moment. Most of the damage was upper body, but he had a few injures in his legs. Well enough to at least sit up with a faint breath.
 
Soren just stared at him for a moment before sighing inwardly. "Ike...what were you doing in the middle of that sea of bodies just outside of Crimean borders?"
 
"Waiting to die," Ike said, as if it was the clearest thing in the world. "Hoping I could...but none of them were strong enough to do it, so here I am." He was surprised that he was even allowed to see his untainted homeland...but it felt so good to be home. The smells, the sounds...everything felt so alive and free...
 
Soren's eyes narrowed hearing that. His suspicions were confirmed...something horrible did happen to him. For him to say something so...so horrible. He must have done something bad. "Start from the beginning, Ike. Even if it hurts, you know I would never judge you. Just like you didn't judge me when I told you about my past."
 
For anyone else, he might have tried to deflect it. But he looked at Soren all the same, rubbed his face and sat back.

"...Sure, Soren." he said.

And so, he talked. He talked from the beginning. From when he first stepped onto Hyrule, when Ragnell became Sona. When their campaigns against Ganondorf and Medusa failed. The more he talked, the worse he remembered. He told Soren of Ylisstol. He told him of the hundreds of thousands of people who were butchered by the will of the dark goddess. He left no detail...maybe because he felt like he had no reason to hide his shame, people would know...they would know of him, and what he did. His eyes stared almost vacantly as he recalled the countless villages that were forced into believing a Goddess made manifest, the smell of burnt flesh curling against his nostrils...the squeals of children that reminded him of stuck pigs...the horrified face of Lethe.

None of it would leave, and he didn't deserve to forget it. All of it, for a chance to learn how to kill an impossible enemy...all of it pointless, useless...

He hoped dearly that Samus would forgive him for what he had done. No...no, he wouldn't just sit here and think that. He would find her, bring her into safety...both her and Lethe, they were both far more dangerous than people assumed. He hoped he had the chance...
 
Soren listened to it all, his expression never changing no matter how horrible the story got. His friend...he had went through all this? All for the hopes of perhaps achieving something from the other side. Just to fight an enemy that they otherwise had no hope against. The world outside was chaotic indeed...and he felt bad for his friend who found himself in the middle of it all...yet again.

"You have been through a lot. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, Ike." He could have said much more...but he wasn't sure if Ike would appreciate the harshness his words could carry at times. Soren was always honest with him, if he wanted to hear his true opinion.
 
"I'm glad you weren't there, Soren," Ike murmured. "I didn't need more people feeling betrayed...I suppose it doesn't matter now. Has anyone strange entered as of late, that you're aware of?"
 
He didn't really want to...make things worse. The people from his story, well they were somewhere off on the country side from the things that he had heard. Nephenee kept in contact with them, so he had heard a decent amount. They wanted an audience with the Queen, who was extremely busy. She would have time soon, however. "Strange people. Yes. A group of strange people have been residing in Ohma lately...for the past month. They match the description of the people in your story...There is a Sona and Palutena there, if I remember correctly. Neither are common names. The other thing that isn't common are people with pointy ears who claim not to be Laguz..."
 
"...I need to go to Ohma, Soren," Ike said, shifting out of bed. He immediately regretted it. "...I...I need to, please." he murmured. "...There are people out there, people I refuse to let stay in the claws of Medusa, please." Palutena could help, or maybe he could find some...some way to get a hold of Ashunera. He wanted to see Sona, he wanted to...goddess, he didn't know. But he had to.
 
"Ike..after all you told me, and the state that you are in...do you truly think that is the best of ideas?" Soren could see how much pain he was in. Not just physically, but emotionally. "You can barely get out of bed..."
 
"...If they won't accept me at my worst, Soren, they won't accept me at my best," Ike mumbled. "...I don't care what they think of me, all I care about is saving the one person who trusted me, through everything...I will not leave her alone."
 
"That person....Samus? She is covered in blood too. What makes you think they would be willing to help her any more than they'd be willing to help you?" Soren was as distrustful as ever...always playing the devils advocate. He had just got his friend back..he wouldn't lose him to anyone.
 
"Then I'll do it myself if I have to," Ike murmured. "But I have to try, please, Soren." He didn't have anyone else to turn to...he couldn't trust anyone else.
 
Soren sighed a little and then stood up. Even if he thought this was a bad idea, he wouldn't abandon his friend in his hour of need. Yes, he committed sinful acts...murdered innocents...but in the end, he was still Ike. A prisoner of war...forced to kill countless people...though what haunted him most was the loss of innocent life.

Still, mortals were not meant to judge who deserved to live and die. To Soren, while the deaths of those Ylisseans were unfortunate, they were just apart of the casualties of war...

"Fine." He said as he held out his hand to help. "We're going to Ohma. Just know that if anyone attempts to attack you, I will strike them down."
 
"Heh," Ike murmured, pushing himself up. "You might want to be careful around this group, Soren...they're no joke, I've not seen so many capable people in one place, aside from the Greil Mercenaries." he said. He didn't know if he even felt like he was part of that group anymore...
 
"I'm not losing you again, Ike." Soren said firmly. He didn't know how, but if there was any risk of losing Ike at all...he'd make sure they would escape. Nephenee would take his side and...well Titania would too. He had escaped worse situations before.
 
"I don't have much choice," Ike smiled faintly, but the relief was clear on his face. "I missed you, Soren...and everyone. I had never thought it'd be so lonely."
 
"I...missed you too, Ike." Soren responded rather stiffly..but in reality he was glad. Ike seemed..more relaxed now that he had gotten all that off his chest. "Let's get some food into you, and then we can get going, alright? Ohma isn't too far from here."
 
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