Dead Men Smiling

1.1

Mirror, mirror on the wall,

Whom is the most broken of them all?

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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 sore and aching muscles.

He could hear the others snickering and took a deep breath through his nose which he released through his mouth as an attempt to calm down. After repeating the exercise a few more times, he decided to pay attention to the conversation in the locker room.

"Man, what did Sora do to get on Sir Nick's good side?"

"I don't know he's not even that good of a swordsman." "He's such a boot licker."

Sora noticed the water had gone cold and frowned as he reached for his towel when he noticed his t-shirt wasn't hanging next to it. He could hear a familiar snicker in the room and rolled his eyes, "Tony, may I have my t-shirt?"

"Come and get it big boy," he snarked, "Why don't you walk around shirtless like the others? You have something to hide?"

Sora had had enough. He wrapped the towel around his waist before walking out of the stall and glaring at Tony, "Yes actually."

He sputtered, not expecting the usually timid and quiet Sora to talk back. The dark haired male rose a brow before shrugging and walking towards his locker.

"Sora, what happened to your back?" Tony asked causing everyone in the locker room to look at Sora's back in either confusion or pity.

Sora pulled a shirt over his upper body and wore black riding pants. As Sora laced his sneakers, he smirked, "What's the matter boys; never seen an injury before?"

Before they could reply, a young girl with her hands covering her eyes walked in with a sheepish grin, "Sorry for the intrusion, His Highness wishes for Sora to go to his house for his final search."

Sora stared at her in shock, "Isn't my probation to end in three years?" "I don't know how the brain of our leader works, Sora but you must follow me."

Sora wondered why The Emperor even bothered summoning him if they weren't going to wait for his arrival before trashing the house. Sora snickered at their futile efforts; unless they had a magic wielder, they wouldn't find anything even if they checked under mountains.

He quickly rearranged his features to innocent bliss when he spotted his two least favourite people approaching him while having an intense conversation.

What could they possibly be discussing?

He took a deep breath as he walked towards the pair and bowed to show respect, "I apologize for my late arrival."

The Emperor waved his hand in dismissal, "Rise for you are now off probation."

What just happened?

Am I dreaming?

Sir Nicholas clapped his shoulder and let out a hearty laugh, "At least whether or not you show up tomorrow is entirely up to you."

The Emperor then threw his arm around Sora's shoulder and asked him how he felt about the whole ordeal to which he replied with his classic shrug before he remembered he was talking to a man who would literally kill him and not bat an eyelash. He let out sigh as he explained how it was just a bit awkward how he started his morning with a false crime under his name and was ending it as a completely free man.

He forced Sora to look at him and placed his hands on the latter's shoulders as he let the dark haired male know that he gave The Emperor no reason to suspect him further before pulling him into hug.

Yep. Definitely a dream.

Sora, who did not like how touchy feely The Emperor was acting, gently pushed him away and gave him a questioning look to which the latter coughed awkwardly before diving into details about castle arrangements that Sora didn't bother to listen to because he had better things to do. Like ignoring the both of them because, they irritated him to no end.

Sora felt a presence in amongst the trees and turned his full attention there. He caught a glimpse of a straw hat and immediately knew that Muse was nearby. He relaxed at the thought of a familiar face as his gaze drifted to The Emperor who had a slight smile on his face as he spoke animatedly causing Sora to wonder if Muse planned to get rid of The Emperor right there and then.

"What do you think, Sora?" The Emperor asked.

"I'm not sure I understand what you are asking me," he replied before quickly adding, "Your Highness." "I want you to be my personal soldier."

His expression turned incredulous as he fully processed what had just been said to him.

"You don't have to say yes right here and now," Sir Nicholas assured him as he suddenly remembered that Sora was one of his easily intimidated students. "Just come over tomorrow and tell us what you think."

"Why can't he say anything now?" The Emperor demanded in a loud voice, offended by the fact that Sora dare hesitate to answer him.

While Sir Nicholas soothed The Emperor, Sora excused himself and was soon in the forest in search of his friend.

"I'm up here, Sora."

He looked up and let out a light chuckle at the sight of Muse or as he preferred to call him, Max sitting in a tree with his mask on the side of his head and straw hat hanging around his neck. The brunet smiled, "Off probation, eh?"

Sora's smile fell as he narrowed his gaze, "Where on earth were you when things got real?"

He sighed, "I had a feeling you'd ask. Look, I can't tell you everything right now. What I can tell you is that we don't have enough time for me to answer your questions. We need to leave."

"So you can slip away when things get hard, Max? No can do."

"Sora? Are you still in here?"

Sora stiffened at the demanding voice and cursed under his breath, "You aren't out of the woods yet, Max." "I know."

The brunet strummed his guitar and watched as Sora fell asleep. He landed beside the body and flipped him over, wincing at the wounds on his back as he re-opened them. He wore his mask and hat correctly. He then stood his ground as Nero and Sir Nicholas approached.