Chapter 36: [33 – Asmodeus; a truthful tale]

"Walk straight." said Soren tiredly as he moved, his snowy hair brushing by his eyes. "Don't turn around. Walk." 

The Forest of Beginning and Endings was unfamiliar to them all, but Soren had been their before. Not only that, but he had a history of knowledge regarding the forest, compacted into pages of text. 

Uncertainty would only result in getting lost. 

That was how the forest functioned, with its own obscure laws that were confusing and unclear.

"Is this really it?" wondered Brioc aloud, his violet eyes darting about with a trace of disbelief in his voice.

No doubt, it seemed like a regular forest, surrounded by the crowd of oaken trees and swaying leaves. Designed to make people unsure and confused, so the forest could swallow them for all eternity. The strangeness, however, could be found in the minor details, so slight that one would ignore it.

There was no life in this forest.

The forest itself was the living creature, breathing as its ground trembled, as its leaves shuffled. But in such a lovely and comfortable place, there were no animals in sight.

"I'm pretty sure she tricked you." said Brioc after half an hour of walking, shaking his head with a shrug. "What can we do, you're just too trusting, Renren."

"No." Soren didn't even spare him a glance. "We're already in it."

"That—"

"It's true, magician." said Vendra calmly as she walked, her bare feet brushing against the ground in flawless elegance. "This is no regular land, I can feel it."

Alvara looked around with childish curiosity, as if seeing the world for the first time. In way, it was true. Trapped in the cycles of starvation, abuse and a multitude of other horrors one could mot comprehend, there was never a time she could enjoy such peace.

Even more, she may have never left those crumbling roads of the slums, may never have had the time to appreciate this simplicity.

This fact, Vendra seemed to understand, softly smiling at the teenager who occasionally seemed very confused. A child who had grown up too soon, would forever be a child in certain aspects.

In curiosity, in simple excitement.

"It's so relaxing." said Alvara with a long sigh, feeling the light kisses of wind on her face.

"This sort of forest can be seen everywhere." said Brioc casually. "We'll see much more exciting things soon."

"There's appreciation in the little things. You don't realize what treasures you hold until you no longer have them." said Alvara, stretching her arms in toward the sky.

The world which turned normal to Brioc was full of wonder to her. 

It was a matter of perspective, a viewpoint that one could understand and another couldn't even begin to comprehend. 

Her world was never beautiful, but she had appreciated the crumbling streets that felt much better against her feet than rocky dirt grounds that got under her nails. 

She had appreciated the broken buildings which were far from warm, but still sheltered her from the darkness of the night.

She was a teenager who knew so little but felt so much. 

Brioc looked at her for a while, before looking down. "Do you fancy walking without shoes as well?"

"I don't, no. But not everyone can have everything they want."

Then, Soren grabbed Brioc's dagger from the magician's waist, slicing through his robe with ease before bending holding them out with an impassive face. 

"Wrap it around your feet."

"Ah?" She blinked in surprise before slowly wrapping her fingers around the cloth and smiling. "Thanks. Seriously."

He turned away without saying anything.

Soren had a weakness for two things. Children, and cute animals. But he also deeply respected certain people.

Like those characters in the many stories he read, like Raphael who was foolish to the tragic end, he respected those who felt so deeply that it flowed over him like tidal waves.

Those with views and morals so lovely, he could hardly begin to comprehend them.

To them, he showed a little respect and a little more care. Because subconsciously, more so now than ever before, he couldn't be helped but drawn to their small actions. A curiosity for their unpredictable thoughts so bursting with emotion he almost felt them.

Raphael would likely decline all claims of care and protest at his awful treatment, but it couldn't be helped. Even in the people Soren respected, he still had standards.

"Child, close your eyes." said Vendra suddenly, stopping in the spot. "You aren't able to envision the Barren Kingdom, are you?"

Alvara flinched at the blunt words from the sweet woman's mouth and slowly nodded. She had tried — with every fiber of her being — but it had failed, and she didn't know what to do. Sheepishly, she scratched the back of her head and said, "I... don't know what to do."

"It's not a weakness to request help." reminded Vendra soothingly, taking a deep, relaxed breath. "You must let your emotions guide you this time, and remember, the Forest of Beginnings and Endings can bring you to any destination."

"Close your eyes."

And so Alvara did. 

"Imagine a pulling feeling at your very core, a feeling so unfamiliar yet familiar. The all consuming sensation of endless death. Let it wash over you, soothe you. Listen to its sound, feel it's touch."

The teenager felt in, rolling off her body, stirring in her soul. Like a second nature she didn't know existed, but couldn't deny.

Vendra then turned to Brioc and Soren with a smile. "Close your eyes as well. Perhaps, if you find a similar feeling, it will lead us closer to the Barren Kingdom. A place where one is neither dead nor alive."

Brioc laughed and closed his eyes, wrapping his hands behind his neck as he plopped onto the floor while Soren followed suit silently. 

"The Fox tribe may know more things than any other person, but we, of the Selkie, can understand the emotions of nature."

Her voice was like a siren's lure, wrapping around their mind and all consuming. 

"Close your eyes, and imagine a death so vivid that your vision turns red."

However, her words were anything but beautiful.

"A death so painful, all you can do is cry into the silent skies as nobody answers your call."

And so Soren remembered, the quiet endless days that he wandered in the broken world, alone. This who came and go, died because of him or for him, those who betrayed and those who did not.

He remembered the bright crimson that seemed so clear in the monochrome world.

"So hopeless, you can only pray as your mind collapses into pieces, drifting with the moving wind, forever forgotten."

He remembered a time, once upon a time, where he hadn't been so keen about dying. No, he was confused but curious, lost in the world but interested. His life had always been bland, but he hadn't always been cold.

But life changed him, as it always did.

"Now imagine life, in that dreary death. A faint, flickering light that blends in with everything else, until it becomes one and the same. Can you see it? Can you hear it? Before you..."

He slowly opened his eyes.

"...lies the Barren Kingdom." 

Alvara's crimson eyes glazed in deep thought as she blinked at the bloody skies, at the wishing darkness before her. It was beautiful, and yet it was cruel.

In the far distance, an elegant castle stood, ominous but proud. It alluded an aura that could be felt from where they waited, seeping into the forest and dying it in its colour. The design was delicate and luxurious, with its fine details and careful engravings.

It had a similar energy to the raging mist that Alvara had subconsciously created, only more tame. Tame in the sense that it was controlled, while Alvara's recklessly charged.

Brioc couldn't help but grimace. "I expected it, but wow. This is awful for me. Let's go~"

The aura that was produced was toxic to Brioc, it because of their steady and controlled movements, he could tolerate it.

There were still a few meters of forest before it blended out into the Barren Kingdom, as if it had always belonged there.

The matter of arriving there, however, was not so simple. It had been Vendra's syrupy, nd thought provoking words, Brioc and Soren's thoughts of drowning death and Alvara's own unique mind that had created the feeling that was the Barren Kingdom.

Soren's eyes flickered around, darting left to right. 

It was mesmerizing, in a way the Selkie lands could never compare to. Because while their land reminded Soren of a lasting daydream, this was more like a stormy nightmare which lingered in your mind.

Memorable all the same.

The feeling became more obvious as Soren took a step away from the forest, and into the Barren Kingdom. It felt as if his soul was possessed, hanging on a fine thread.

The others had similar feelings, narrowing their eyes slightly as they adjusted. Only Alvara walked with ease, like it was a long lost home from many years ago.

The Barren Kingdom was the birthplace of necromancers, and when she became one, whether she remembered it or not, it had tied itself down to her soul.

Then, the darkness came crashing down.

Soren's chains immediately swung across the skies, while Brioc jumped back with both daggers in hand. Vendra had grabbed Alvara, swiftly avoiding the darkness.

The mist curled in skillful, tactical matters, twisting around, behind and in front from all directions. Vendra had rushed away, further from where the mist seemed to be alive in order to protect Alvara, but couldn't fight in the process.

Brioc coughed as he slashed, licking his lips. "Ah... I really don't enjoy dark mana!" 

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His own, fiery mana roared out with his movements, clashing against the darkness in rumbles.

Soren jumped back in the air, throwing the chains out as they collapsed another heap of mana. But the mist couldn't be killed, only temporarily prevented. What they had to attack was the controller, and not the mist itself.

As he was high in the air, his icy eyes swept across the landscape before narrowing onto a dark cluster of darkness, subtle but vivid once found. 

His movements were fast.

The chains rushed towards the cluster without a word, slamming down as a loud groan was heard. As soon as Soren's feet touched the ground, he pushed off, lunging at the person.

The prince impolitely knocked the person down, dragging the whip behind him as he thrust the end of the chain at their throat.

"Release the mist."

It was an order.

There was a loud cough before the mist dispersed, going back to its controlled, drifting manner. 

Underneath Soren, was a youth, with eyes that carried centuries of knowledge in their pale amber gaze. The youth stared at him calmly.

"Welcome to the Barren Kingdom, stranger."

Then,  the feline eyes drifted to the chains that was pressing him down before he jerked up, only to be pressed down again. He scowled deeply, narrowing his eyes. "This chain... where did you get it?"

"Bought it."

"Where?"

"None of your business." answered Soren, too lazy to indulge the boy for any longer.

However, the boy was strangely insistent. "Where did you buy it?"

During the conversation, Brioc had regained his cool and walked over curiously, lazily grinning. "I do wonder, why are you so curious?"

The boy glared at Brioc with a growl. "That weapon is not yours to own."

"Then whose is it, hm~? Yours?"

There was a flash of hesitation before the boy shook his head. "In a sense, it is, but it isn't. It belongs to Uriel, and it is the manifestation of her sin."

"Oh? And how should we believe you?"

"You know what the chain is, correct?" asked the boy, turning to Soren pointedly. "Tell me, what is the name of that weapon?"

"...the Wrath of Uriel."

The boy smiled with satisfaction. "That's the name it goes by, because the heavens wee too embarrassed to admit her true sin. A sin that went against the very thing she represented — lust."

Brioc laughed. "And? We should believe you because of this nonsense you spew?"

"No," said the boy as he flashed his pointed teeth, two obsidian horns sprouting from his hair. "you should believe me because I am what caused her sin, the demon who led her astray."

A single wing slowly stretched out from under him, torn and battered. 

He smiled a little helplessly. "Asmodeus, the demon of lust."

Then, Soren recalled a story that he had heard a while back. Something he only listened to because it was a story, and Soren, strange as it was, was a reader.

The story Damien hadn't the faintest clue of, the one Lydia had told.

Of the angel's lost eye.

Of Uriel's sin.

"Are you trying to wake up her up? asked Soren lightly as he peered at the broken wing.

The forbidden love story had ended in the angel's eternal slumber, her sister's immortality stripped away and the demon's lost standing in his own world. But if the love was as Lydia had described it, then this demon would sit quietly.

"To be exact," said Asmodeus slowly, "I'm looking for Uriel's sister. Uriel cared for her sister more than anything, and I need to make sure she's alive."

"What are you doing here, then?"

Asmodeus frowned. "I'd say I'm lost, but that's wrong. When they sent me here, I was never meant to find my way out."

Soren's next words were blunt. "Why?"

"What do you mean why?"

"Who do you try?" Hopelessly and helplessly, for something that was impossible, why did this demon search for a way out? Why did Vendra wish to save the world that was already destined to fall, and why did Raphael try again even after so many failures?

"If I give up, then it's truly over. As long as the slightest possibility exists, I'll try. Otherwise, can I really complain if my determination failed when I needed it the most?"

It didn't make sense.

But it made perfect sense.

Soren frowned and stood up, watching as Asmodeus ruffled his torn wing and brushed off his clothes. Most likely, his current image was caused from his exile after committing his very own sin.

"Well," said the boy finally, revealing a looser and more relaxed demure than before. "why are you wandering in the Barren Kingdom? If I didn't attack you, another would've."

Vendra ran up to the group, Alvara jogging lightly besides her. When she arrived, Asmodeus's yellow eyes narrowed onto her.

"Or maybe they wouldn't, when you have one of their own."

"We're exploring." said Brioc with a grin.

“That’s all?”

“That’s all~”

Asmodeus looked at the magician in disbelief, unable to comprehend what stupidity would make a person travel to such a dangerous place for the sake of ‘exploring’.

The answer was, a collective stupidity between Brioc, who suggested it, and Soren, who agreed.

The demon ruffled his hair and nodded toward the castle. “If you intend to do anything here, you must greet the Queen first.”

“The necromancers are still alive?” inquired Vendra with surprise.

“As alive as you and I. Follow me, I’ll introduce you. After being stuck here for a couple decades, you tend to befriend the locals.”

Vendra stared at he castle cautiously before nodding.

The distance seemed warped, looking to be much further than it actually was. Vendra had been curious in the demon’s story, asking more questions than normal.

“Do you have any clues of where Uriel’s sister is?”

Asmodeus shook his head. “If I had, things would be much easier. But I can’t escape this place, much less find Uriel’s sister.”

“What is her name?”

“El. That’s what everybody called her.”

Then, Soren asked, “Is she seeking vengeance?”

Asmodeus faltered. “If it’s her… she loved Uriel more than anything, too. She’d find any way to wake Uriel up, even if she had to destroy the world to do so. I need to find her before it’s too late to turn around.”

He stopped in his steps. Unknowingly, they had arrived at the main entrance of the castle. From beyond the doors, Soren felt an overwhelming pressure pressing down on him. 

The person behind the doors was anything but simple.

“Necromancer Queen.” said Asmodeus loudly, rapping on the door impolitely. “You have guests.”

The low, dangerous and sultry voice boomed from behind the door, filling their ears with cotton. 

“Come in.”

The double set doors swung wide open, introducing a darkly lit room which seemed to be void of life. 

On the throne, illuminated by a faint light…

Soren’s eyebrows furrowed in disgust, and Brioc looked at the being with horror.

…was Raphael, wearing black, skin-tight clothing.

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