All Chapters of Dead Men Smiling: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10
30 chapters
Prologue
They burnt the orphanage," he mummered while stroking the white kitten in his arms. He suddenly stopped stroking it and reached into the pocket of his robes and pulled out a scroll. Setting the kitten down, he handed it the scroll with a small smile.The feline seemed to know what to do; with a twitch of its ears, it ran away.The wind blew through his hair as he knelt by the ashes hoping to find something- anything."Do not touch those," a voice whispered urgently, breaking him out of his reverie. He stared at the owner of the voice whose eyes held genuine concern, "Ne- er, The Emperor will have your head.""What happened?" he asked, ignoring the warning as his fingers inched towards the ash.When he realized she wouldn't answer, he placed his palm on the ash only for images of gasoline, fires, locked doors, and people- children to be specific- screaming. He frowned at the images. "What happened?" he found himself asking for the second time that night."The people. Where are they?"
Read more
1.0 THE RISE OF THE PHOENIX
You and I both know I was not the villain of our story but if you want to play victim, I'll be the villain you need.-------Maximus was usually very peaceful and refrained from doing or saying anything that might make you think otherwise but as he read the letter, he thought maybe just this once he was excused from playing nice. He then scoffed to himself showing his more than obvious displeasure towards the letter he had just received from a good friend of his.Why was he considered a bad person when he did not go around burning orphanages whenever he was in a bad mood?Was this some kind of twisted joke to make the rebellion look bad?"I'd like to see how they pin this on The Rebellion as well."He let out a sigh when he realized the guilty party was in no way affected by his anger. Heck, they probably did not know of his existence. As far as they were concerned, so long as the majority loved them, nothing really was the matter.The birds started singing their melodies reminding th
Read more
1.1
Mirror, mirror on the wall,Whom is the most broken of them all?---------------Sora stabbed the dummy, completely disarming it causing their instructor to call it quits for the day."Didn't you say disarming these ugly dolls would be easy?" Sir Nicholas tsked. The others stared at the shoes, suddenly wondering if they had always been that interesting.Sora let out a silent sigh, perhaps he shouldn't have tried to disarm the dummy; he would not live to hear the end of it.Sir Nicholas immediately spotted him in the crowd and called him in front where he announced that the only reason they would all be going their homes that day was that he was the only one who managed to disarm a dummy.He faced Sora, "You know what? You can come tomorrow but not for training.""Uh... ok," Sora nodded before bowing slightly and following the many other soldiers; he was never going to live this down.He kept his head down as he walked past them in the locker room and went to have a shower to relax his
Read more
1.2
Do monsters make war or does war make monsters?---------Leilani was petting a raven with gold eyes when she heard someone knocking on her door. She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, "You may enter."She then faced her visitor. "King Leonardo," she addressed him with a curtsey, "May His Majesty live forever. Sorry for the current state you have found me in. I had no idea of your arrival.""You may rise."Leilani straightened and watched with worry in her gaze as he approached her causing a slight furrow in her brow.Did I do anything wrong? I did something wrong, didn't I?Before she could continue overthinking, The King pulled her in for a tight embrace, which caused her to feel her face heat up. "Y- Your Highness," she let out an awkward laugh, "Is something the matter?""Far from it," he breathed as he pulled away, "Your probation is over, My Queen.""It's been six years already?" she frowned as she looked at her shoes. He lifted her head using her chin and grinned, "N
Read more
1.3
There will always be three sides of a story: yours, theirs and the truth.-----"Heroes never lie," she whispered with a fond smile."Perhaps they don't have the time and energy to," Rowan retaliated, "I mean, they clean up after everyone and fight villains all the time. They barely have time for themselves as it is."I'm no hero, mum. I'm not good enough to be one."You probably hate me for putting you in an orphanage despite being alive."You aren't wrong there.But did Rowan hate the woman who carried him for nine months and birthed him?He didn't; he just wanted to know her reasons for abandoning him and only paying visits to the orphanage but never asked for him back.Normally, the thought of someone abandoning him made him livid but the woman in her bed in her shabby home loved him unconditionally and because of that, he was more than willing to forgive her.He smiled sadly at her. She wasn't going to make it. "Why didn't you go to a hospital, mum?" he asked as he grabbed her f
Read more
2.o REBEL SO THEY CHANGE
I will either walk like a King or like I don't care who the King is.______Leilani narrowed her eyes as she watched Dolan work, "What are you making?"The young sorceror didn't waste time replying as he glanced at her, "Bombs." "What makes them different from other bombs?""Like everything I create Leilani, they are magical."She frowned as she stared at the items before a taking a sip of tea. Gods knew she wanted a tequila or a plain beer. Anything but the damned beverage she drank at that moment.The corners of Dolan's mouth twiched as he let out a noise of triumph. She tilted her head; did he finally find the right spells to make it work?"It's not perfect," he admitted, cracking his knuckles, "But it gets the job done."He downed the rest of his coffee and excused himself, leaving Leilani with his latest experiment. She sent a silent prayer to the gods thanking them that they didn't subject her to the torture of Dolan bringing that dagger. Now that would have been a serious prob
Read more
2.1
Devils don't fly, so don't expect me not to fall._____Sora let out a sigh as he wrapped his wings around his body, enjoying the warmth. All the other Angels were playing various games, happy to finally leave their classes for the day as Sora watched while making a flower crown.When he noticed the attention wasn't on him, he slipped out of the garden and went into the palace, not allowing himself to get seen or caught.As he treaded through the forbidden hallway, his eyes landed on a plain door.That's curious. He thought as he pushed the door only to enter a room with the world and on the surrounding walls were tiny screens. "Oh My Creator," he breathed, looking around in awe. His wings fluttered in excitement and he was soon flying towards the globe to take a closer look.He placed his hand on the Sahara Desert and smiled at the sand he collected, "This must be where dad works."He then furrowed his brow; his father made diseases, calamities and disasters. Where in the skies coul
Read more
2.2
Since everything I did to help you wasn't good enough, destroying you was the only option I had._____"You two seem close," Rowan noted as he trailed behind Maximus who looked around before answering in an undertone, "Whatever do you mean?" "You hated Sora when we were kids.""That's because he'd always leave and I was afraid he wouldn't come back." "What changed?" "What's with all the questions?"Rowan's lip twitched as he rethought his next question; or in his case, his next attempt at learning something about the other, "Can't I be curious?"Maximus sighed in exasperation, "Rowan?" "Honestly, I'm just concerned seeing as when Sora completes his mission down here, he's going back to Heaven."Maximus glared at him and opened his mouth, ready to sharply ask what the other knew before chewing his tongue; he really was risking a lot for someone who would leave if the opportunity ever presented itself.He then found himself smiling at Rowan, "The least we can do is help him, no?""The m
Read more
2.3
I can kill for you, I can die for you but asking me to live for you; that's impossible.______Dolan settled on a couch and let out a heavy sigh as he felt his body relax. Reign placed his head on the young sorcerer's lap, tail thumping against the floor as the latter scratched the back of his ear. Dolan stared at the book seated next to the dagger, picked it up and opened it, smiling at the title Ensnare the Mind: Non-Human Edition."Thanks," he muttered as he read the first chapter.After two hours Dolan placed the book back on the table, pulled his wand from its sheathe and waved it, causing a notepad with all the information he dubbed from the book as important to appear. He studied the notes with a frown, "Thinking is now making me thirsty. May I please have a drink?"Silence followed his words, making it seem like he was talking to himself. Reign tilted his head in curiosity just as Dolan stopped to scratch his head, ceasing when a glass of coconut milk appeared on the table ne
Read more
3.0 I'M IN DANGER
I can be the fire that lights your way or destroys everything in mine- you decide._____Since Leilani's encounter with that Jack of Rosewood character, it had come to Dolan's attention that something dormant had awoken deep within her. That or she just finds it fun to attack and injure him at any chance she got.At first, the attacks were a concern, now Dolan finds them as an annoyance and is just about ready to sacrifice a virgin in order to make the violence stop.He scowled as he looked into a pool of water as he stared at his once unblemished skin that had a scar running over his left eye. "None of the salves are working," he noted to himself.Malum bumped her head against his shoulder, letting him know that the cauldron was now empty. He looked at his reflection for the last time and let out a sigh as he untied his hair, letting his bangs fall over his left eye. Once he determined that he looked somewhat ok, he walked to the cauldron, removed ten blue pills and put them in a b
Read more