Dead to Right

Solas na Marbh, Gae Bolg, and Saol Marbh, a series of weapons meant to complement each other, are referred to as the "Brothers" series of spears within the mass selection of Mantra Blades. These three blades are also known for their "Strings". But first, what needs to be understood is what makes each blade so different.

Solas na Marbh was meant for kings, the strings of the blade capable of planting themselves in one's subordinates and comrades like some sort of parasite that allows the user to use a pseudo- "Lord's Dominance" along with being capable of adding pressure onto their enemies which can mimic the deep ocean.

Gae Bolg was meant for destruction - whether it be a complete deconstruction of living beings or the enhancement of one's attacks to cause further destruction and death.

Saol Marbh is the complete opposite of the Gae Bolg, meant to create life and heal others. The construction of beings rather than the deconstruction.

- Mantra Sword Analysist, Jillian Gray

******

Diego ran as fast as he could, ducking between trees before tripping on a rock, falling flat on his face, scraping his arms and legs, and sliding across the rocky ground. Diego cursed under his breath, standing back up and running again. After a few more minutes he stopped, vomiting next to a tree.

He was exhausted - lack of sleep, running for what felt like an hour, it ran him down, strings of spit dropping from his mouth, sifting the leaves below. Diego coughed a few times, wiping the spit from his lips, eyes, and face red, pain surging through his chest. Diego grasped at his hair, running it through his fingers, the dye running out, black flakes falling from his head. Diego sighed, shaking his head violently as he scratched at it, getting as much of the dried-up dye out from his scalp as possible. He clicked his tongue, reaching for his bag, grabbed a flask of water, poured it over his head, and scratched once more, thoroughly washing the dye out from his hair and staining the ground black. Diego sighed again, thinking of what he could do with the trident resulting in him dying his hair once more using Mimir's ability, turning his hair blond. He nodded, pulling his hair into his gaze, "This'll do."

Diego tilted his head both ways, grabbing some thread from within the blade, pulling it toward him, and tightening it into a circle, making it significantly smaller. He grabbed the long strand of hair behind his ear, tying it into a knot, grabbing his bag once more, taking out a box, opening it, and revealing contacts. Diego placed it onto his eyes changing the color into a purplish blue. He took a deep breath, adjusting the knot to see if he tied it correctly before standing up fully, propping himself up with a tree pressed against his back, the trident being used as a cane.

Diego stumbled forward, walking back to the city, stepping carefully and slowly, attempting to save as much stamina as possible, taking frequent breaks leading up to the gate of the city he now, used to live in, going back just to regain his things, get on a train, and leave.

Diego looked at his outfit, deciding to change it as he moved with the thread which was significantly more difficult compared to changing his hair color and being forced to take things off from the environment around him, unable to create something from nothing and Diego himself didn't know if this would be even permanent or change back to how he looked before at an inconvenient time-- arcane creations like this don't last long after all, especially if not directly ciphered into an object, Diego already understanding that the string itself was non-permanent.

Diego learned as he went, using information he learned when he was younger about the Mantra Blades as a reference in order to piece together how Mimir worked and felt-- didn't change the fact that he didn't understand fully how to fight.

He could hold his own against common thugs and use dirty tactics in order to escape from stronger individuals, but in general, Diego was not a fighter, and he practically made the entire criminal underground of Ovalus which spread out to other kingdoms such as Maroon and Porear.

Diego knew what would happen if they found him. They'd cut off the arm the contract was made for Mimir, or… they'd just kill him.

If anything, it'd probably be easier for them.

Diego refused to let this happen. "I'll go south…" He mumbled.

By the time Diego reached the gates, his clothes had changed colors significantly but he knew he couldn't hold it for long. His hair remained consistent - Diego knew that people only recognized him really by his crimson hair which made hiding his identity easy. The problem was what might've, and will probably wait for him at his home.

He didn't want to leave his mom there - he had to recoup some things at least. It might be difficult, but he risked his life the moment he took on the heist job, and now all this job has become is more dangerous - a failed job, not uncommon with heists.

Diego made sure to obscure his face, ducking into alleys whenever he saw someone he recognized. There were groups of loan sharks scattered across the streets along with Yokev's personal assassins.

This was an annoyance.

All of it was irritating to Diego - it drove him up a wall. Normally a Mantra Blade would be seen as a blessing but to him, all this was - was a curse. A horrid curse that ruined his life. The only positive that could come out of this would be after he got out of the city, and even then, he'd probably be chased down for the rest of his life - he had a Mantra Blade after all, one of the most valuable weapons in the world.

Diego made it to his home, opened the front door, and seeing if anyone was inside, but all was silent. He closed the door behind him, "I know you'd come back here." Diego spun around, pressing his back against the now-closed door, pointing Mimir at Logan, "You have too many things here that you care about…" Logan was sitting on a cabinet in the living room.

"L-Logan…"

"You won't win this. I know what that blade is capable of."

"Fuck off!"

"Just give yourself up. It'll only hurt for a moment - when your arm is cut off." Logan stood up. "Or… you could die here, Diego."

"Either way, I'm dead, aren't I? Fucking liar!"

Logan stopped for a moment, leaning to the side, kissing his teeth shaking his head, "Well… you know how this'll end, yeah?"

Diego chuckled, "No, actually… I have a chance."

Logan sneered, "Yeah, sure, dipshit!." He grabbed the grip of a sword at his hip, specifically a katana with a hoop poking out from the guard - slashing the air where Diego was, who blocked the attack with the pole of the trident.

Mimir almost flew out of Diego's hands as it clashed against its grip causing him to stumble to the side. As that happened, Diego shifted his lower hand to the very bottom of the trident, tightening his grip as much as he could, using the golden threads to reinforce it, combining it with his wraps, still tied to his hand. Diego created more distance between him and Logan, attempting to stab him, failing to actually hit him, but preventing Logan from slashing at him again.

Logan lunged at Diego, kicking him in the stomach and sending him flying into furniture, cracking under the pressure of Diego's body and the power of Logan's attack.

Bile shot out of Diego's throat, slapping against the ground - attempting to regain his breath, having the wind knocked out of him from Logan's previous attack. Logan brought his sword high into the air, quickly bringing it down on Diego with a chopping motion. Adrenaline shooting through Diego's body, he managed to bring his trident up into the air to block the strike, the chop itself causing the ground to dent under the pressure, a crushing sensation shooting through all of Diego's body.

Diego slid both himself and the trident to the side, struggling for a moment before using his legs to shoot himself to the side, using the momentum of Logan's sword, which was pressing against the trident, to swing the trident over to his leg. Logan attempted to avoid it, bringing his sword back into the air forgetting the hooks which mimicked a harpoon more than an actual trident.

Mimir hooked onto the loose cuffs of his pants causing them to tear as he jumped back, startled by the sudden pull causing him to change stances, bringing the sword close to his head, pointing the blade in Diego's direction.

Diego grabbed the bottom half of the trident with both hands, thrusting the spear at Logan's stomach, who parries it with his katana.

Logan quickly closed the distance, side-stepping close to Diego, swinging the sword once more in an arch, going from his face to the bottom half of his torso, aiming for Diego's ribs or even his arm. Diego blocked the attack again, being sent flying again, tumbling into a wall, groaning as he peeled himself off the ground. Diego's hands shook, barely capable of holding Mimir.

Each attack from Logan felt like it had even more power than before - what Logan had was most definitely an artifact, either that or the power from each of his attacks came from his ability granted by the System.

Abilities granted by the System are never public - only a select few people know what ability someone could have - sometimes not even others in tune with the System know their abilities fully, an example of someone like that could be Diego himself. This situation would be the perfect time for Diego to realize what his own ability was, but alas, he was left, barely able to keep up with Logan's attacks.

Logan spun the sword in one hand, approaching Diego, each step ringing in his ears making him more and more cautious of what he'll do next.

"I'm surprised you lasted this long. Guess a Mantra Blade can really change a man!" Logan brought the blade up once more, "I'll end it swiftly."

Diego tapped the butt of the trident on the floor, a tree sprouting at an immense speed causing Logan to retreat, the wooden spire shooting from the floor into his direction, thick branches shooting out in multiple different directions and latching themselves to the walls.

"What!?" Logan shouted, cursing under his breath as he watched Diego sprint into the other room. Logan chuckled, "You won't escape!" He reeled his arm back, his stance positioned close to the hip, jumping toward the cabinets lined up on the wall connecting to the two doors leading to the kitchen, swinging into the wall, busting through, pieces of the cabinet falling through, a deep gash at the top of it, sliding across the marble flooring of the cookery. Diego, behind the walling, still left, attempted to thrust his blade into Logan's neck but before he could put it off Logan swung to his left taking out the wall next to him, cutting into Diego's stomach, sending him colliding against the wall behind him.

Mimir quickly stitched up Diego's injury, but the pain remained, heat spreading across Diego's stomach, a sharp pinching spreading across his organs, knocking the wind out of him.

"I'm about to reset, can't keep drawing this out…" Logan mumbled.

Diego wheezed, standing up shakily, barely able to grab his blade, pointing the tip toward Logan.

"You really are drawing this out."

Diego swallowed through a dry throat, "I… I didn't mean for any of this."

"The Mantra Blade chose you, yes?" Logan shrugged, "That's not my problem though. Sorry, Diego."

"Logan…" Diego coughed, "Just… Just let me go man…"

Logan shook his head, "I can't go against Yokev, sorry."

Diego slowly scanned the room before letting out a long sigh, eyes closed, dropping the tip of his blade against the ground, limply holding onto Mimir, "The wall… it's kinda poking into my back…" Diego chuckled.

"Nice knowin' ya." Logan brought the sword close to his head before retreating, noticing another tree shooting out from the floor. Logan attempted to cut the branches, stopping immediately as those cuts to the tree appeared on his person causing him to stumble into the wall behind him, small red spots seeping through his clothes. "What the hell!?" Logan reeled back, the tip of the trident inches away from his face, thrown through the air. He parried it, the strength of which caused a massive dent in the ceiling. The trident was planted into the roof - Logan cursing under his breath before whipping his head back down to look at Diego who pulled the trident out and into his hands, stabbing it straight into Logan's throat whose only remnant of retaliation being a stab in Diego's gut.

Diego pulled back, pulling the tip of Logan's katana out from his stomach, golden thread stitching the wound.

Diego fell to the ground, grabbing his wounds, looking up to the dying Logan - trident still stuck in his throat, blood pooling onto his shirt.

Logan smiled as he went into a deep sleep, sliding onto the ground, head hanging from his neck as blood and drool dripped out from his mouth. Diego glanced wildly around the kitchen, moving to the gaps in the wall to look outside seeing shadows looking in from the windows - a view obscured by the opaque glass Diego made the windows out of years ago.

He quickly ran up the stairs, taking off his clothes and changing them with other clothes, struggling to move due to his recent injuries. Diego grabbed a large duffle bag, placing any valuables he cared about into it, running to the bathroom to look at himself, lighting a shoddy lamp hanging near. The dye had run out and the contacts had begun irritating his eyes. Diego took out the contacts, wondering if he could change the color of his eyes with Mimir, which he proceeded to do, his eyes dilating accordingly, a light prickling feeling almost causing him to close his eye completely, twitching with each adjustment, changing his hair back to blond.

Diego had transformed himself into a blond, green-eyed, commoner, wearing a loose white shit, a duffle bag thrown over his shoulder, pants up to his belly button with his shirt tucked in.

Diego spun around as the sound of thudding could be heard at his door, ran over to his room, moved over to his window, stamped his blade into the ground, propping the blade to poke slightly outside the window, grabbing a bundle of threads, jumping out and using it like a rope before pulling the blade back down to him, dissipating in his hand and into the tattoo of his wrist. Diego placed both hands together, gripping some string in between and pulling them apart, stepping towards one of the men who were invading his house, throwing the string over their head and pulling. The thread passed through the man's neck, who turns to Diego.

The man's reaction time slowed down more and more and by the time he was able to make any movements toward Diego, he was already gone.

Diego proceeded to head straight to the train station, taking some money he had stolen from Logan and the man he had just avoided in the alley leading up to his house to buy himself a ticket south.

He placed the money on the counter, "Ticket south, please."

The employee nodded, taking the money and taking a ticket out from a machine, stamping it, and handing it over to Diego.

Diego took the ticket and proceeded over to the train platform, waiting for the train to arrive.

His wait didn't last too long - train riding up to the platform and stopping, the doors opening, people flooding out and in, Diego being forced to maneuver past multiple people, almost tripping over himself as he popped out from the other side, now in the train. The conductor saw him, bringing out their hand, Diego handing him his ticket. The conductor analyzed the ticket, "You'll get an exclusive room." The conductor said to Diego, "I'll show you, follow me."

Diego thinks to himself that he never ordered an exclusive room but thought that the money taken from him was quite significant, not prying about it further. The conductor opened the door to the room, letting Diego inside, who sat near the window. The conductor left, closing the door behind him. After waiting a while, the train started again.

Diego felt relief, watching the city and forestry change around him as the train moved.

This relief may not last long, but for now, Diego would prefer to keep relishing in this moment of respite.

Ten minutes have passed since the train began making its way to the South Kingdom of Haflastus. A knocking at his room alerted Diego who turned to see where it was from, the person who was knocking, without permission opened the door and walked inside.

"Diego Eclair?" Kleio showed Diego a picture of him, "That's you?"