"Yours?" Mane asked, stunned by the reply he got.
"We couldn't have the people panicking. And there was no way the world would accept you if they knew what you were capable of." Lam started.
"So you told them exactly what I was capable of but positioned me in the seat of a hero," Mane interrupted.
"Yes," Lam nodded his head. "People have always been blinded when it comes to the goodness of a hero. No matter how much strength a hero possesses, the masses would adore him. Though the higher authorities would still see a massive threat when they look at this person, the regular folks wouldn't see this. All they would see is someone strong enough to protect them from the greatest threats." Lam continued.
"So instead of letting them know that I was fighting for my own life, you twisted the truth by saying I was fighting to save the world," Mane sighed as a dull headache breached his hard exterior and gnawed its way into his skull.
Politics had always been a tiring thing for him. Schemes, lies, deception and falsehood; that was all politics was. Mane could easily twist the mind of a man to do his bidding with any of such means, but he had never been a mass manipulator of emotions.
To be honest, Mane had to admit that what lam did was brilliant. By keeping half of the information and releasing only a part of the truth, the minds of the people could easily be swayed. It was true that Mane was fighting to save the world. Shiva was a god of destruction after all and would have definitely broken the world in half if he had succeeded in killing Mane. That was what he did best. And a world like this – one that was just in its infantry and full of fresh energy – was one that Shiva would definitely not pass up the chance to devour. But Mane only fought him because Shiva came here for him. It was his presence that drew the god of destruction here and his presence that led to the destructive fight that caused the entire world to rumble and quake, destroying much of its landscape. Not only had Mane not apologized to the world which he had almost destroyed, he was now parading as its hero.
"How many cities have been fed this untruth?" Mane asked. The young Supreme was no fool. Since Lam's plan had been accepted by the ancestors, it was definitely not going to be an internal affair. Any discerning person could have easily traced the origin of the tumultuous battle. And all of them would have ended up concluding that Amalgamation was the place to go for answers. Mane knew his friend well. Lam may have schemed this time, but the boy did it for the benefit of the people and his friend. With one lie he had calmed the masses and given them hope; and he had preserved the image of his friend. But Mane didn't think the ancestors saw it this way. To them, Mane was the one going to shoulder all the responsibility now. Mane reckoned that releasing the information on Pazuzu was the ancestors way of keeping Mane tethered. And now that the young Supreme was a 'hero', his actions were going to be very limited. They weren't strong enough to beat him in a fight, so they used their wit and took advantage of Mane's long slumber to hold the strongest position.
"Every major city is aware. The entire world knows of the boy who killed a god." Lam sounded very guilty when he released this information. He truly wished that there was another way to get things done, but this was the best route for everyone. And though he knew that the ancestors were using Mane, he felt that there was no other option to take than this one.
"I see," Mane sighed once more. He had sighed more times in the past few minutes than he had his entire life. But what else could he do. Were to have been any one else who cooked up this story, Mane would have gone on a rampage. But there is no way he would touch Lam. And he could feel his friend's guilt even from high up in the sky.
"Those old guys are really smart huh," Hildegarde smirked. Mane had Locked On to her as well, so she heard the entire conversation.
"Mhmm," Mane assented. And then he sought to cheer his friend up. "So, what else do they call me?" Mane asked with a cheery tone, hoping to change the subject and lighten the mood.
"Many things," Lam replied with a small smile.
"Oh yeah? Like what?" the young Supreme wondered.
"Well the most popular one is 'The Boy Who Killed A God'. Then there is God Slayer, Herald of Change, and Pazuzu's Bane."
"That's creative," Mane snickered when he heard the last moniker. People sure had nothing better to do than to give others names.
"You have gotten stronger. You are now much closer to the peak of the Heaven Realm," Mane changed the topic once more. It was indeed true that Lam had grown much stronger than before. After all, 6 months was a long period of time. And the Elemental Prince was now a peak Heaven Realmer!
"Yeah," Lam smiled, pleased by his progress. "I needed to catch up," he added. Mane's slumber was the best time to try and bridge the gap between himself and the others. And though Lam had hoped each day that his friend would wake up, he never lost sight of his true goal – fighting side by side with his friend. He would be damned if Mane had to go through another dangerous spell without him.
The two friends went on to talk about several things while actively cleaning up and repairing the city. That was until a loud roar and a powerful bellow shook the city and caused the unsettled spirits of all who heard them to rise. Yet there was one who wasn't terrified by the sound. For he recognized the voices of his beast companions, and a broad smile filled his face.
"Silver!"
"Sasha!"