//------------------------------// // Lessons In Humility? Part 2 // Story: Equestrian Judges! // by Zeno the Masked Writer //------------------------------// Ace, still in a fit of rage, ran out of town and towards the Everfree forest. He stopped at the entrance and remembered the rumors of this place and all the monsters that could be found inside. "Dammit...." Ace thought as he felt something wet on his face and reached up to wipe it away. Ace clinched his fist as hard as he could and after a moment, a small trickle of blood began to drip from his fist. He remembered that day all to well and all the pain that came with it. This blood.....This crimson color.....He remembered it alright. Years back... A blood-soaked battlefield with corpses littered everywhere like trash. The smell of ash and gun powder was strong almost as strong as the smell of decay as Young Ace walked past body after body. As he walked he saw the buzzards swarm some of the bodies and saw the scene of his parents get played out once again. "I....D-Dint expect to see a child out here." He heard a woman say as he turned to see a woman with blonde hair in a soldier's uniform limp towards him clutching her broken and bloody arm. "Heh....Looks like were the only survivors. Gotta admit that sucks! I was kinda hoping to take out a few more of these pony freaks before I go but whatevs right?" She proclaimed as she sat down in front of the boy and stared up at the clouds of black smoke. "Well seeing as were gonna die anyways I might as well give you my name. Margaret Louise Roberta! Three first names ain't that a fuckin joke!? My buds just call me Margaret though, so what's your name kid?" Ace didn't answer her but instead he just continued to look at the corpses around him. Some had bullet holes carved into their flesh, others were burned alive due to magical attacks, some had spears stuck in their arms and legs and some were cut open just for the hell of it. "Don't wanna answer eh? Well, whatever....I'm pretty sure we ain't gonna make it anyways. The government isn't gonna send back up.....cause guess what? THE FUCKIN WARS OVER! Isn't that just fuckin topical!? We're still fighting on the front lines and the stupid fuckin wars gone and ended itself." Once again Ace didn't respond, however, Margaret started mumbling to herself. Best guess was that she was saying one last prayer to whatever god was listening or maybe she was cursing everything and everyone to hell. Suddenly Ace walked over to one of the soldiers and pulled out a dagger that was placed in his chest and brought it back to Margaret who stared at him with a raised brow. "What? You think I wanna kill myself? Sorry kid.....Never was the one to take the pussies way out!" She explained while Ace threw the knife at her feet. "If you're looking for pity you're not gonna get it from me." She suddenly turned to him and instantly saw his eyes.....It was looking into a void. All that was there was the faded color of darkness that seemed to smother her. "If you aren't gonna help yourself then go ahead and finish it yourself. You aren't the only person who had to go through hell today Sister...." Ace said with clenched fists while Margaret looked at him with eyes full of shock. "One day.......I WILL GET MY REVENGE ON THOSE BASTARDS WHO KILLED MY PARENTS! I'LL MAKE THEIR DEATHS A SLOW AND PAINFULL ONE! I WON'T LET MYSELF DIE UNTIL THEY PAY!" Ace exclaimed with tears and snot running down his face while he shouted into the smoke filled the sky. Margaret watched the boys helpless cry and felt tears run down her face and without a second thought she quickly embraced the child and held him with all her might so that he wouldn't vanish. "I-I......I'm so sorry." She cried as they both shed tears on that bloody field where the buzzards and the crows gather. Ace hadn't realized it but he had already entered the forest and had somehow managed to get lost. The thick tree's seemed to block all sunlight and made it next to impossible to see. Ace lifted his hand but couldn't see it, however, he could still see the red glow of crimson run down his fingers. Ace continued to walk, for what felt like hours, before suddenly coming across an old ruin. He walked inside and sat down on a fallen pillar and looked up at the moon as it shined a pale glow down on him. "Nothings changed.....I'm so damn weak I get pushed around by people like him. I even cried.....How pathetic...." Ace whispered as he reached into his pocket and pulled out an old pocket watch his father had given to him. Suddenly Ace heard something move behind him and he spun around only to be greeted by darkness. He let out an annoyed sigh as he turned back around only now to hear growling. Now thoroughly scared he slowly inched towards the wall and out of the pale moonlight, he saw what had come to meet him in the night. The beast had the upper body of a lion while the tale end was a goat. It had three heads one head also being a lion, a goat, and a snake. Each head seemed to bear a sharp set of fangs and piercing eyes that seemed to look through him. "Well, look who has wondered into our din." A sultry voice of the snake said with a hiss. "A human child no doubt, but what is he doing out here?" A low but very deep voice of the lion exclaimed. "It appears to be that he accidentally came into the forest." The obnoxious and high pitched voice of the goat said. "BUT WHY~?" They all said in unison as Ace sneered at them. "Tsk! Do you think I'm scared of a cat, a billy goat, and garden snake? Why don't you scurry off somewhere before you get hurt." Ace threatened as the Chimera only laughed at his lofty threat. "Such pain....." "Such anguish....." "Such sorrow....." "Such a sad child! Lost his parents, lost his future, lost his childhood." They all proclaimed as Ace's body froze. The Chimera laughed once again as it drew closer and closer to Ace who couldn't move. The beasts piercing eye's seemed to see through every flaw he had. Ace wanted to run but a part of him wanted to just accept it....accept it and see his family again. "Dammit body......move.......move......MOVE!!!" Ace shouted internally as he closed his eyes as the chimera lunged at him. Ace waited for what felt like an eternity for the cold sweeping hand of death to touch him and help guide him to the other side. But it never came....Instead, he felt a wet sensation on his face. Ace slowly opened his eye's to see Mako standing in front of him with the Chimera chewing on his arm while blood fell to the stone floor like rain. "It's ok kid...." Mako whispered as he turned his gaze towards him. Ace felt his eye's sink into the back of his head as he watched Mako's smile. It was so gentle......It surprised him that Mako even had such an expression, however, what happened next shocked him that much more. "I know you're pain kid.....Watching your family die right in front of you.......Having to watch their last expression as the life gets drained away from them. Those eyes........I never want to see eye's like those ever again." Mako said as the Chimera tried to tear his arm off only for Mako to grab the Lions head and pull him closer. "You like the taste kitty?" Mako asked in a dark tone which caused the beast to suddenly loosen its jaws and leap away from its prey. Mako lifted his broken and bloody arm and saw the mangled flesh and muscle tissue and sighed. Suddenly a dark red aura covered his arm as a faint red glow appeared on his back. Both Ace and the Chimera felt a dark and eerie sensation fill the room as the aura began to grow the muscle back on his hand and soon the flesh started to grow back. "There good as new......Now then what to do with you?" Mako exclaimed with an eerie grin as he pulled out his smokes. The Chimera charged towards Mako with intent to kill, however, in the blink of an eye Mako vanished and reappeared behind it and grabbed the snakehead by the throat and swung it back towards the wall. The beast tried to lift itself off the ground only to get kicked by Mako with enough force to lift the beast off the ground with a sickening crack and with each kick, it got higher and higher but then he suddenly stopped his kicks as the beast fell to the ground with a thud and started to walk away. "So you like to bully little kids huh? Well, then kitty-cat......It's about time for you to get house broken." Mako explained before blowing a cloud of black smoke. The smoke hovered over the Chimera as it struggled to get its balance and just as it got it's bearings back Mako began to close his fist which was covered in a faint red glow. The smoke fell on top of the beast and as it struggled to free itself Mako slowly continued to close his hand which increased the density of the smoke more and more until.... "Smoky Coffin!" The smoke seemed to come together to form a perfect dome. No noise, no struggle, no last words. This technique was slow and painful as the victim was slowly strangled to death by the sheer amounts of smoke being forced into their lungs. With the overabundance of Carbon sooner or later the lungs will completely give out while all other vital functions die off as the smoke fills the entire body. Ace watched the sheer amount of deadly power Mako's magic possessed and saw the heartless expression he had as the life drained from the Chimeras eyes. "M-Mako?" Suddenly Mako remembered where he was and turned to Ace, now completely terrified, and kneeled down with his hand out. Ace slowly reached over and took his hand as he was pulled back up onto his feet. "Let's go home, kid." The walk back towards town was a quite one. Ace was only able to keep up by looking at the dim light given off by Mako's lit cigarette. After what felt like hours of walking, they both finally managed to get out of the forest and into the pale moonlight. "Umm....Thanks, I guess....." Ace said while looking down at his feet. "No prob kid." Ace felt the awkward tension fall on them like a bad cloud. He looked at Mako who seemed more focused on the Everfree forest and couldn't help but wonder something. "Um....Mako?" "Hum? What is it, Kid?" Mako asked suddenly dropping the serious look. "How did you know where to find me?" Mako got really quite for a while as he looked back to the forest almost like he was waiting for something to come charging out of there but it never did. "I let the smoke guide me." He suddenly said while Ace looked at him with a raised brow. "What? Smoke? What smoke?" Mako suddenly pointed at his feet and Ace looked down and saw a small white string wrapped around his leg. He followed the string up to Mako's cigarette and watched as he put the smoke out which caused the smoke to vanish. "W-what!? How did you do that?" Ace asked excitedly. "Interested?" Mako asked with a grin while Ace nodded rapidly. "Well yeah! I never heard of humans using magic like that before!" Ace exclaimed while Mako grinned. Mako bent down and reached over and flicked Ace in the forehead before getting up and walking away. "I'll tell ya once you make a good cup of joe, kid." Mako explained as he casually waved while walking away. Ace frowned as he tried to chase after Mako, however, what he didn't notice was what Mako happened to be staring at. Or to be more precise.....*WHO* he was looking at. "Damn little brother! You looked like you wanted to kill me! But I guess that is to be expected....However, Your gonna need my help now more than ever." Out of the darkness a man standing at about five foot with blue hair and green eyes and wearing a muscle shirt, that showed off his rather impressive build, and a pair of blue jeans. This man was known by many names, however, most know him......As Greed. "The Sin's are making their move and now more than ever is the time for me to make mine." Greed said with a chuckle. "Oh Yes......Time to have some fun!" TO BE CONTINUED!