The Villain Wants to Quit

To Become a Dead Man (2)

The sun was shining, the streets were busy, and it was a beautiful day to fake die.

Theo was waiting in an alley for Marie to pass. She was scheduled to walk by with Giselle in two minutes.

Marie would defend herself from Theo's staged attack with an explosion. Giselle would intensify and direct the explosion while creating a tiny protected pocket of air in the center for Theo.

Theo would then have two seconds to use a teleportation artifact that would switch his location with some bone fragments that Giselle's wind spirits would scatter.

Theo pulled out a pocket watch. Marie should be there now.

His foot tapped as he scanned the crowd. No Marie. No Marie.

There. There she was, but there were two women and a man with her besides Giselle.

The variable made Theo uncomfortable, but there was no time to waste. He had to accomplish this today or everything was pointless.

Theo tugged on the shadows around him and formed a blade. He calmly walked through the crowd until he was with a few feet of Marie.

He dashed forward, dagger aimed for Marie's neck. She reacted quickly; her pistol was out of her holster and glowing with imbued mana in one swift motion. Her finger was pulling on the trigger when steel bit into Theo's arm.

One of the women had attacked.

A blast of concentrated mana threw Theo backwards, but the motion made his blood arc farther.

His arm felt heavy, and he gasped for breath.

Some of the blood splattered at Giselle's feet. Something skeletal and rancid clawed its way out of the pool of blood. Theo wanted to scream for her to get back, but there was no time. The beast snapped its jaws as it climbed, and its teeth sank into Giselle's leg.

Giselle fell backwards but wasted no time summoning spirits to aid her.

Chaos was breaking out as more monsters began to appear in the square.

As she fought, Giselle used wind spirits to push civilians away.

The others who were with Marie, knights, Theo now realized, were running toward him with weapons drawn.

"Let me handle him." Marie shouted. "You take care of those things."

Theo pushed himself up and pulled mana around his good hand and swung it at Marie. He had to give a good show.

Marie dodged and mana started pooling in her pistol. Theo staggered as he fell past where she had been standing. Marie kicked him, and he fell to the ground.

"Giselle!" She screamed. "Now!"

Wind weakly lapped at Theo's ankles. His eyes locked with Giselle. She was staggering and dripping blood. Her condition was bad.

I can't. Giselle mouthed at Theo.

Try. He mouthed back.

Theo's eyes locked with Marie. He gave her the tiniest nod before lunging toward her with a bludgeon of mana.

Marie's lips pressed into a thin line as she aimed toward Theo.

Then she pulled the trigger.

The light of the explosion was blinding, and the heat was even more so.

For a moment, Theo felt as though he was dead, but the moment passed, and he realized he could still move.

Giselle had managed to provide him with some protection.

He fumbled with the transportation artifact before twisting it. The rings clicked, and his mana bent inward.

And just like that, Theo's place was switched for a pile of bones.

The air seemed shockingly cold. Theo's lungs burned from the sensation. And then he realized he was still bleeding.

He half-ripped off his shirt, winding it around his arm.

Some of his blood had already fallen on the floor of Marc's home and a beast was climbing its way up. Theo formed a blade and stabbed it through its skull.

"It looks like things didn't go quite to plan." Marc placed the mug of tea he was drinking on the dining table. "I have an emergency healing potion in the cupboard."

"That'd be nice." Theo slumped against the wall.

"Did it work?" Marc asked while he rummaged for the potion.

"I think so." Theo said. "I think I teleported fast enough."

***

The sun had fallen for many hours, and Theo was back to meditation practice in the living room when the second prince walked through the door.

"It's done." The prince said once he had firmly closed the door.

Scourge bolted upright from where he was sleeping on Theo's shoulder. He had been a little overprotective after seeing Theo come back injured once again.

Marc hurried down from upstairs when he heard his brother come in.

"Did everything go alright?" Marc asked.

"Giselle Forest had some difficulty arranging the bone fragments in a pattern consistent with the type of explosion that occurred due to her injuries, but I tampered with the scene and cleaned them up quickly."

"Do you think anyone noticed?" Marc asked.

"Not unless Dullahan happened to have a spy extremely familiar with complex explosive patterns in the vicinity." The second prince gracefully perched on an armchair across from Theo. "I only knew it was off because I had helped Giselle create a plan for the most realistic scene possible."

"So Mortal Theo is free now." Scourge kneaded his claws on Theo's shoulder.

"Theo of Dullahan is one of my men now." The second prince said sharply. "I have put my reputation at risk, and I expect results to show for it.

Marc coughed. "However, you don't own Theo, correct, Terrell?"

The second prince, Terrell, narrowed his eyes. "While our laws do not allow such a thing, it will be in your best interest to fulfill certain requests for me."

Scourge hissed at Prince Terrell's words.

"That's not true." Marc bit. "While I'm sure there will be times when it's in everybody's best interest to cooperate, you aren't in charge of Theo."

"I can report his existence to mother and father." Terrell blustered.

"Go ahead, but you'll have to tell them about your role in this." Marc laughed. "You'd never get the throne like that."

"Couldn't you have at least acted like there was truth to my words?" Terrell glared at Marc. "I needed some hold-"

"You just needed to ask nicely." Marc rolled his eyes. "Theo is almost guaranteed to cooperate with you if you act like a decent human and future monarch."

Terrell's shoulders slumped. "I swear upon our country itself, if the two of you ruin my chances at becoming king, there will be hell to pay."

"Do you have any idea how much I stuck my neck out for you today, little brother?" Terrell complained. "Please just help me squash Dullahan and give me some of the credit."

"Now that, we might be able to do." Marc gave his brother a smile.