I have Nine Lives

Chapter 196: The war is finished

Marley's expression was bitter as he gritted his teeth and glared at Marshallo. He thought that Marshallo might not found out and think that he would resurrect in the same place, as he hinted that a few times during his monologues as a backup plan if things got to this part.

However, it seemed that his hints were ignored as Marshallo immediately realized that he had changed his revival location...

He was so angry that he could have chewed through the bindings that were currently keeping him in place- if he wasn't so weak.

His face was morphing again and again under his intense emotions. Then he glanced back at Felix. Who was looking to be uninterested in what was currently going on?

Marley opted to talk it out with Felix instead of Marshallo as he didn't want to end up in his hands. He knew that while he had invaded Felix's home. He was way easier to talk to compared to Marshallo. He realized that after he saw Binela and Marquina being accepted when they recited their oaths.

Marley tried to move his head towards Felix as he called:

"Hey, hey! I have a proposition for you."

Felix moved his head towards Marley and cocked it to the side. He knew that he would most likely try to trade something with him for his freedom, but Felix wasn't really interested in what he had to say.

"Come on, man. I can swear on oath just like Marquina and Binela did. Don't you want to have another high-level expert to protect your planet?"

"Please, don't let Marshallo have his way with me. It would be better to have me as an ally than killing me. You won't get anything from my death!"

Felix looked at Marshallo, who had raised his eyebrows as he looked at Marley. From what Marshallo knew about him, he would never think that Marley would go down to this level for survival. He was a proud and slightly crazy individual like most royals were. So he never thought that Marley would bow down to another in such an unsightly way, well unsightly from his and the royals' point of view.

Felix crouched near Marley and looked in his eyes, trying to see through his soul. Felix knew that Marley could be lying right now, and the oath that Marquina and Binela took while restrictive- was done without any ulterior motives that could harm Felix and his close ones.

If Marley had any ulterior motives before he swore his oath, he could slip some backdoor in his oath and break it with fewer repercussions.

Marley tried his best to show everything that he had in his heart through his eyes. He knew that if Felix saw anything wrong with him, his fate would be sealed.

Felix looked through his intent and saw some hostilities here and there, but he was surprised that he didn't hide them at all and showed everything in his emotional state to him, even though he didn't use empathy sharing technique yet.

Felix would have seen if he hid anything, and he could have dragged it out using that technique, but since he decided to put everything directly in his face made Felix realize that Marley was serious about giving up and swearing an oath, it was impossible to clear his animosity of him so soon. But that didn't mean Felix would forgive him.

Felix got up from his crouching position near Marley. Then looked at Marshallo and said:

"It's your turn. Would you like to forgive him and have him as a companion in the future, or would you like to end him now and for all?"

"There is no difference for me. If he dies or lives, it's your shot, you know him for the most, and you should understand if he will be useful for us or not after he swears his oath. You will also have to look out for whatever he would do in the future- if you agree to let him live."

Marshallo looked down at Marley, who was currently trying his best to give him an injured puppy look.

Marshallo remembered how he usually trained with the twins when they were whole two parts and not just two halves stuck together.

They had both good and bad times together. They have gone through a lot before invading Felix's planet, but some things could not be forgiven.

The fact that Marley tried so many times to kill Marshallo, just so he can go back to those snobs who threw him out of their circle in the first place, was something that Marshallo couldn't accept as a person.

He had worked with him during his hard years and made him what he was today, only for him to betray him at the first moment that he had shown weakness, trying to go back to those that belittled him and threw him out of his ancestral home.

Marshallo looked down at Marley's face and asked with an inquiring tone which had a sad tinge in it:

"Why do you want to go back to those that hurt you so deeply?"

Marley kept his head down as his hair shadowed his face:

"I can't tell you about it."

"Really, you can't? And why is that you can't? Haven't we fought on the same battlefields so many times? Haven't we eaten from the same tray? We have slept near each other in the trenches when we were only small soldiers in the army."

"ALL THERE OF US WERE BROTHERS FROM A DIFFERENT MOTHER, AND YOU TWO BROKE THAT BOND."

The bound Marley started laughing as his shoulders rose up and down:

"We broke that bond?"

"We were the ones that have forgotten about our promise?"

"Were we the ones that started to ignore you after we have gained an immense amount of strength?"

"Think a little more about who wronged who. Think a little bit more about yourself after you have reached your current level."

"Remember why we were scared of you? Do you remember?"

Marshallo eyes widened as he took one step backward. He had been so engrossed in his need for a fight that he ignored everyone else's emotions.

Marquina and Binela were used to such behavior as they haven't been really treasured as they were supposed to be. But the twins were former royals that were pampered from birth.

He wasn't used to being in such a situation, where one of his former comrades that he had entrusted his back to would become power-hungry and start ignoring him. Marshallo's strength increased so much that Marley started to quickly become terrified of him, especially if he was going to throw a temper tantrum.

Marley had been there. Sometimes when he had unleashed his anger on some subordinates. To say the least, it wasn't pretty at all.

He didn't want to end up like them. So he started to create counter plans for whenever Marshallo would fall out of power, and since Marshallo had beef with the royal family and he was a former royal clansman that fell out of power. Things had evolved just as they were supposed to.

Marshallo looked at Marley as he clenched his hands. Veins popped up on them as Marshallo looked down.

He wasn't sure what to say anymore as he felt really awkward. He had only woke up from his battle-thirsty persona after his first death, and he returned to his normal self only after he was fully beaten by Felix.

He knew that he acted like a dick towards everyone else- who was beneath him because he felt that they wouldn't give him good fights.

But now that he had recovered his wits, he knew that what he was doing was wrong. He was kind of in a similar situation to Felix, and his lack of emotions, but in his case, one emotion was too strong compared to the others, and it controlled his mind.

Marshallo breathed a little bit to recover, then looked at Marley before saying:

"I can say that we have been both in the wrong here, so we should both take a step back and make a compromise."

Marley looked into Marshallo's eyes as he asked:

"So you are gonna let me go?"

Marshallo laughed as he shook his head:

"No, but now I can say that you can swear the oath for Felix. I'm gonna make sure you won't find any way to break it as from now on we will be just like back then, back to back!"

Marshallo lifted Marley then put him near Felix as he gave him a push:

"Say the oath at the same time with me."

Felix stood there and waited for them to begin.

Marshallo coughed a bit to clear his voice, then started the oath.

Marley didn't wait as he did the same thing, the duo said in unison:

"We swear upon our ancestors that we shall work for Felix and his planet for however much time he wants, and we shall only be able to do what we want or need only if Felix let us or those that he appoints, from now on we will be his servants if we shall break this oath may our ancestors strip us of our flesh and claim our souls, regardless of the powers we have gotten from our respective gods!"

And with this oath done... the war between the invaders and the humans had ended with the resounding victory of the humans! Well more like Felix's victory. But the humans did some things as well, right?