Hero Vs Villain (BoyxBoy)

Reunion

Vandel

I landed amidst the ruins of the ballroom, my heart thundering in my chest.

What the actual fuck had happened here?

The ballroom was a mess, blood and shattered glass spewed across the floor. A giant hole took up nearly half the back wall, allowing the cold air of the night to sweep through.

The most notable part of this whole mess however was that lying dead on the ground at the ballrooms center was the largest bone monster I had ever seen.

I looked frantically around the empty ballroom in search of anyone nearby, panic seizing my gut.

"Hey," I heard a voice say softly behind me.

That voice...it couldn't be...there was no way.

I spun around and nearly slammed straight into Ridley.

"Hey careful there," he said. His voice had a slight rasp to it, probably due to being as exhausted as I was. "I've nearly died twice tonight, it would be quite embarrassing if the thing that actually did me in was you head-butting me."

Ridley stood there, drenched in white goo which I had come to figure was the bone monster equivalent of blood. It covered his sword which he held at his side, the goo still dripping down it, pooling on the bloody floor.

I was exhausted with hardly enough energy to keep myself on my own two feet but all I could find myself doing in that moment was to simply stand there, staring agape.

"You're alive..." I breathed.

Ridley smiled, almost sheepishly. "I know...I'm a bit surprised myself to tell the truth."

A swell of emotions were threatening to spill out of my chest, something I knew was most certainly not in my best interest to let out. Instead I pushed them down, locking them away the best I could.

I tried my best to keep my voice from trembling when I finally spoke. "You nearly died and the first thing you did after was make a joke mocking me! Are you fucking serious?"

Ridley let out a breathy chuckle. "Had to try and keep the mood light somehow."

"You dick, I can't believe I was actually worried about you. You always seem to come crawling back like a goddamn cockroach."

Ridley smiled softly. "Oh, so you were worried about me?"

I shot him a sharp glare. "Well of course I was. You're part of my plan to find who stole the Corisathium. If you had really died all this work would have been for nothing."

Ridley just gave me a small nod. "Fair enough."

I glanced to the giant dead bone monster beside us now, then to his sword. "You have a lot of explaining to do about what the actual fuck happened when I was gone, you realize that, right?"

"Yes...I'd imagine I do."

Ridley

I talked Vandel through everything. Through how I was almost cut up by a mob of angry demons to my interaction with the sword to how I had just ended up slaying the bone monster as if it was nothing. The whole while Vandel listened intently, despite how exhausted he looked.

"So," I said slowly. "Everything went alright with transporting the pets?"

Vandel gave me a little nod. "Yes, they're all in neutral territory. I told them to head east, they should hit the trail in no time and be able to make it back to Alteria in two days time."

"Thank you again," I said slowly. "You've done so much for my people and..."

"You don't need to thank me," Vandel mumbled.

I blinked, almost unsure of what he had just said. "What?"

Vandel fidgeted slightly, looking almost anywhere but my gaze. "I think I...sort of understand why you do this shit."

"Really?"

"I suppose at the end of the day if no one does anything to help people suffering then...well then no one is ever going to do it and nothing will ever change or get better."

I couldn't believe Vandel...evil prince of darkness Vandel...had just said that.

I couldn't manage to fight the grin spreading over my features.

Vandel shot me a glare. "Fucking hellfire, don't ever do that again."

"Do what?"

"Grin at me like that. What the actual fuck is wrong with you? What kind of person almost dies and then makes an expression like that."

"I'm sorry...it's just...I guess what you said just made me sort of happy."

Vandel's lower lip curled and he crossed his arms. "Well be happy somewhere else. It's not safe for you here. Someone could come back any minute." He sighed heavily. "My mother still has a seal up around the palace so the transportation ring won't work and I'm too weak to fly you back. That only gives us one option." He hesitated a beat before looking to me.

I stared back at him.

Vandel returned the stare with a glare of his own.

I blinked, confused. "What?"

"You're supposed to ask me what the option is dipshit."

"Weren't you going to just tell me anyways?"

Vandel let out an exasperated sigh. "Yes but I was pausing for dramatic effect. You've just made us lose the tension. Now what I'm about to say isn't going to sound nearly as exciting."

"Well what were you going to say?"

Vandel straightened. "The only option we have is...to steal a horse."

I raised my hand earning me yet another glare from Vandel. "This isn't a grade school classroom Ridley. You don't need to raise your hand."

"I just have a quick question in regards to your plan. Err...is it really stealing if you're the prince? Aren't they just...your horses anyways?"

"Didn't you hear what I said about dramatics Ridley?"

"Yeah but well...this is an actually pretty dangerous situation. I don't know if we have the luxury to be lenient with our word choice-"

"Oh for FUCKS SAKE! Let's just get the goddamn horse."