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“To hamper Arda’s growth into power. They wanted our attention to be spread,” the wine-glass laid empty, Igna pushed into his chair and stared up, “-how was it?” he asked.

“Do they all tie into what happened?”

“I said it before, I don’t have conclusive evidence. From what information was made available, I gathered and created a story. éclair verified most of it, which says a lot. Guess it to be the truth,” the gaze shifted inside where the gathered crowd stepped into the dance floor. Music swapped for melodic and peaceful, couples closed gaps, had hands around their partners and gave inviting gaze, some mushed their lips, others had their tongues timidly licked the upper or lower lips.

“Won’t you be joining?” inquired Julius.

“Not really,” he smiled, “-how about you head forth.”

“Right on,” he leaped from the seat, made his way to Malley, and took onto the dancefloor. Aceline in her explosive conversation with Fenrir threw sneak-peaks at Igna, who nodded and smiled, telling her to ‘-stay calm.’

.....

“My questions were answered,” said Asmodeus,” -I ought to be heading to Alphia. Master, please be wary of the opposing factions, I fear matters may grow dire once again. Leave Alphia to us, the princes of hell will make well on the contract,” a black mist swallowed his presence, leaving Igna alone at the table. The children who neared the door into adolescence were spotted joking around in the company of the Four Generals’ servants; Cora, Kaleem, Yuria, Starix, and the likes.

“Hello,” the entourage swapped, Gophy, Miira, Intherna, and Lilith had chairs pulled by attending retainers. Their dresses, varying in size and length, took much time to be seated, jewelry and radiating items added to the tremendous aura each wielded, “-long time no see, dearest Igna.”

“Lady Miira,” he returned, “-I wouldn’t say it’s been a long time...”

“Igna,” said a rather warmish tone, “-tell me, did we or did we not say I was to help if ever matter grows dire?” Intherna had taken the closest seat, in that moment, what he saw was an illusion of a Phoenix breathing down his neck, the exhales were hot.

“Don’t strangle the man with thy heat,” interjected Lilith who’d taken the next seat, it is more of a sandwich. Bystanders knew not to overstay their welcome, to which, the terrace was overtaken by the goddesses without much effort. The performers played gently albeit the gestures were furious and the gleaming sweat added naught but anxiety.

“Quiet you two,” voiced Gophy, her cold stare never failed to impress, “-Igna, tell us, what secrets have you been hiding. Don’t avoid the subject, we felt the Shadow Realm change, we know what happened, the Great Collapse...”

“Starix’s been a great reporter,” winked Lilith, who paused at biting her lips, leaned her chair on two feet, “-drinks here, if you would, darling.”

“Will do,” nodded a flustered waiter.

“-Igna, Igna, Igna,” the chair slammed on all fours, her elbows laid on the table in a way to support her head, the classic toothache pose turned innocent interrogation.

“Putting a friendly tone won’t do much,” he said and thrust the sharp chin forward, “-firstly, I won’t apologize for what happened. Would be disrespectful, I decided not to call on the four goddesses,” he casually scanned their expression, most of which were apprehensive and observant, “-hailing beings of strong disposition to solve my problem seems childish and not worthy of wasting thy time. Before interjecting,” he raised a finger to Intherna and stopped her would be exclamation, “-I have to preface by saying, I meant no disrespect. Everyone has their ups and downs, in my case, I didn’t want to involve the Shadow Realm, I mean, look at this place, it’s amazing. There’s peace, the sky always smiles and the tranquilness is nothing short of Elysium brought onto the domain. I don’t want to stain the atmosphere, never again, this place is far more than a domain, it’s a place I want to call home, a place I would love to spend the rest of my existence. Goddesses, please, as the guardians, I wish not to trouble thee, my worries are mind to handle. I’m selfish and greedy – you already know, don’t you.”

“Put that way,” Miira threw her long-blond hair behind her shoulder, “-not much I can do or say, there’s no reason to get angry at the resolve of a strong man.”

“Never really cared about the trouble,” shrugged Lilith, “-it seemed fun, which is my only interest,” the flustered butler carried her drinks and filled her mugs, “-thank you, darling,” she elbowed his waist and winked, the servant coughed, the cheeks reddened with which he sprinted inside.

“Stop charming the younger men,” exhaled Intherna, “-Lilith...”

“Oh please,” she turned and stared, “-I have the right to have fun. Unlike you,” she pointed with one hand and gulped a drink with another, “-I don’t use them as a training practice. Do you know how much their lovely faces are battered and bruised...”

“Quiet,” thundered Gophy, “-Igna, this is not about helping. We want to know about the message Destiny relayed, the vision she gave, tell us.”

“Perhaps ‘twould be wise for I to interrupt,” a band of strong humanoid-shaped entity swarmed the area, “-pardon for the tardiness, my liege,” bowed Vesper.

“Welcome,” greeted Miira, “-take a seat and ask the guard dogs to enjoy the night. There’s portal outback leading into town, if they wish to mingle with the locals, I say go for it.”

“Courteous as always,” she sat, her long scaly fingers gestured the Elemental Guardians to disperse.

“What was it about interruption?” fired Intherna.

“If it’s right with his majesty,” her unblinking stare bit into him.

“Go on ahead,” he said and turned to Lilith, stole one of her drinks, and watched the amusing turn of events play out.

“Is there something I don’t know?” narrowed Miira.

“I say it’s about right,” said Vesper, “-close as thee were to master Scifer, I don’t think the weight of the title demon ever waned thy conscience. The name was a means to an end. We’ve heard of the legend of Alfred, the Cursed King?”

“Yes, the founder of the Aapith nation,” said Lilith, “-the great patriarch from whom ancient demons inherited their boons from his blood. I heard of it in myth and was never really able to say whether it be true or not.”

“For the Queen of Demon’s not to know his existence isn’t out of the ordinary,” added Vesper, “-I gathered my intel from my trusty connections in the Heavenly realm. Let’s say, master Scifer had his way of dealing with troublesome angels. The story of Alfred varies with each storyteller and chronicler’s passage on the entity. To some, Alfred was he who freed the demons from heaven’s oppression, to others, a mindless killer who ate and ravaged angels without thought or action, a jealous man who takes and never gives. Reality is,” she stared deeply into Igna’s eyes, “-the king wasn’t much a mystery. What say you, Igna Haggard, or should I say, King Alfred, Founder of the Aapith nation?”

The table boomed, each tore their head into his direction, a persecutive inquiry fired in volleys of questions. He dodged each by feigning tipsiness, the questions fired relentlessly, “-are you the cursed king?”

“How?”

“When did it happen?”

“Did you lie to us?”

“How long were you expecting to keep the secret?”

“SILENCE!” cried Gophy, “-Igna, tell us the truth.”

“Lord Death and I made a pact long before it was common practice to record the stories of old. I founded the nation seeking revenge on the oppression and maltreatment the gods unleashed onto my realm – I created a domain from nothing save anger and envy, particle to particle, I extracted each from my very sense of being, a babe born of a ‘demon’ and a titan, bear in mind, the title ‘demon’ is used liberally – for which can be said to be a beast as well. On the verge of defeat when Death was sent to cull my relentless murderous rampage on the heavenly realm, we sign a contract. He would make sure my name to be pulled from history – Lord Kronos and Death were comrades by said point. In exchange for being forgotten, my soul would inherit the responsibilities and powers of being a Death Reaper. I accepted and the rest is history. I never thought to reawaken in such a way – the things I treasured were at risk of being stolen again. I had enough of losing everything, the curse of starting over, I guess the anger fueled my inner being without me ever knowing. She came to me in a dream, lady Destiny, I was given a glance into the future, when I came too, I knew who I was, my first incarnation, the being hated most by the gods, King Alfred.”

“Makes sense,” said Miira, “-the life lived as Staxius and Igna were plunged in darkness. Everything you loved was forcefully taken away, I’m not surprised the inner-self reached a breakpoint. Seeing the destruction of what you had built was the last straw, the container erupted into the being we see now.”

“I apologize for keeping the matter a secret. I didn’t know how to break the news; matters in the Overworld took presence over my identity crisis.”

“HA-HA-HA-HA!”

“Lilith?”

“I KNEW IT!” her eyes watered, “-I knew I was right to follow. Honestly,” her outburst eased, “-it all makes sense. I understand how a human soul is able to inherit so much power – the soul wasn’t human, to begin with.”

“What is she talking about?” Intherna asked Miira.

“A soul is akin to a liquid, and the vessel is; well a container. Human souls or anything of that matter has a particular viscidness allowing a somewhat flexible sense of morph. To inherit power or a body, one’s soul must be able to smoothly enter the container, the lesser it’s filled, the better and more stable the core. Looking at Igna, I say he’s the same as water – the soul is thrown into complex containers and never once spill or rejects the vessel. The product of creators’ bond created a being unknown to the nature of the universe, a being of which no law can truly bind the displacement.”

“Can we stop?” he inquired.

“What?”

“Igna, don’t chicken out, running away will not erase-”

“I’m not running away. I’ve come to peace with what I am, and what I once stood for. Alfred is dead, so is Staxius, what sits at the table is me, Igna, let’s leave it at that?”

“If you’re adamant on the matter,” they gave a simultaneous sigh.

In-between the chatter, Lilith had her sight latched, as was Miira and Vesper, ‘-what are they thinking?’

Intherna rose suddenly, “-where are you going?” inquired Gophy.

“Away from this pointless discussion,” she said, “-looking at you now makes me want to puke. What’s with the demanding glares? Lilith and Miira... whatever,” she shook her head and left.

“She has a point,” Lilith took a step back, “-I apologize for being too personal. The novelty was more than I could pass,” she rose, “-Intherna, wait, I want to drink,” the table followed suit, he had made his decision, who were they to interrupt.

Once again, Igna found himself alone at the table, ‘-they’ve grown into a close bond of friends. I’m glad,’ he smiled, ‘-part of me was afraid they would have taken the news badly. The cursed king isn’t a name to be taken in praise,’ he reached for another drink, ‘-the Shadow Realm won’t fall, I won’t allow a repeat of the Aapith Nation. It goes beyond being called a Watcher, I’ll break the heavens if ever they lay a hand on what is mine again.’

“Hey,” a flick to the forehead broke the intense frown, “-stop looking so tense, you’re scaring the kids.”

“Aceline, did Fenrir free-”

“She did, I like her energetic personality, very fun and tiring.”