Crusader King-Chapter 143: Two-faced lie(7)

The response caught Cades off guard.

He had not expected that, in truth, he had not expected any kind of answer, at most, Cades had thought he might get a nod or a shaking of the head, denial or approval, not the beings thoughts about the matter, and he very clearly hadn't expected the being to ask him to greet it and introduce himself, be it that it hadn't asked the second thing specifically but instead just insinuated, either way he was shcoked for just a little bit, at least while the being was still talking, resulting in him not even noticing how eerily free and at the same time similar the speaking patterns of the two was.

Actually, there was only really the difference of the freedom in how they spoke, the defeated was subdued and careful, fearing for his life and having been broken many times by the realm he had been stuck within, the victorious free and without care, having not been broken but instead just not caring, being a much better fighter.

Had he thought about it at another time and in another situation he might've realized that the way he was talking with it was eerily similar to the way he, himself, often talked within his own mind as well, something that did however, almost subconsciously, make him lower his guard, both due to the way he spoke and due to the expectation of a simple greeting.

And after hesitating for a bit, trying to look past the sharp blade in front of his eyes and at the other him that looked as if he was currently sticking to the ground with the new active, had it not been for the way gravity worked, Cades began to talk, this time intend on greeting his other self, and establishing a way to find out what the hell was actually happening right now, and perhaps, hopefully, also survive the first encounter with this being. frёewebηovel.cѳm

"Hello Cades.. I am.. Cades.."

He wasn't certain if that would work, but indeed it did, and as soon as he realized that, he began to get a little more confident, he began to ask questions, something he had wanted to do all along while being stuck on this uncomfortable wooden ground, he wanted to quell his own curiosity about the creature, a curiosity that stemmed from the longing for knowledge and power, the secondary only having begun to sprout recently, that had been driving him subconsciously since the time he had been stuck on that island, on that hell that could only be described as a wooden world.

Perhaps it was stupid, perhaps it was almost suicidal, but he still asked a question, a question that would've made most beings have quite the horrible first impression of him, even including the being that sat in front of him, or at least Cades assumed that even when he asked that question, but he still knew he would not be able to live with himself if he didn't ask the question, so he still asked, be it in a lower voice.

"Who...what are you? I mean.. where did you come from..."

The other him showed a sly smile, one that Cades had known very well for a long time, one that he remembered wearing beneath a mask back when he was in school, being awarded the best costume for his 'Ninja'-suit, something from a far-away world as he explained on the podium while he was smiling behind his mask, just happy that the was acknowledged for that, and after a second, he began to talk, in a relatively calm and deep voice that somehow unnerved Cades.

"Out of everyone here, including myself, you should know me the best. After all, I am, or rather, I was you, the real you, the you that was not broken, the you that was not mad, the you that was and is not the current you. I was born in darkness, I was locked away and scared, all the fear, all the emotions you had were all pushed onto me, I was in the trash chute of the mind, your mind."

As the being began talking, something in the back of his mind began to move, his heart began to grow heavier and heavier and his eyes began to blur it all out, feeling the intensity of the current situation, feeling how much the voice of the other him was, it was not angry, it was not cheerful, it was simply much, and as it grew to be even more, the other him continued talking, slowly pushing itself up and starting to walk towards Cades that had now decided to push himself up as well.

"Okay, you don't seem to really understand it, so let me walk you across the entire story of how I came to be, the story of how I was thrown away by you, the story of how I fed of glimpses of your battles, the story of how I had only one thing to truly think about, how to fight, how to battle, how to rip apart all the creatures you had been struggling about, and not because I wanted to, no, I was the same as you, I was bored, nothing more."

As the other him said that, the him that claimed to be that which was left behind, the thing that he didn't even understand, it's voice grew even more, not louder, just more, on a way Cades could not even begin to describe, and he got closer, not to fight, but simply to talk, to really convey everything from what Cades could tell, which was not much by any means.

"Back on the chain, that horrible, endless chain, right after you left behind Manug, right after you killed him, Cades died, I vanished, and you were born. I am all that you could no loner hold out, Our happiness, your longing, your hatred, and so much more. I am you, any you are me, but we are not the same, if that makes sense in any way."

After the other him said that he stopped walking towards the now standing Cades who had his hand rested on his sword that was still stuck within the ground and just looked at him, bringing his face close to him and asking him something in turn.

"What is your next question, 'Cades.'."