He'd been surrounded by flowers, sitting against the grass underneath so he wouldn't squish the life beside him, he gasped in surprise just briefly. Before realizing what this was the second he propped himself into the air; a fake, something unreal manifested by his mind during the unfortunate short era of his slumber. He couldn't help but bite at his nail as he stood, clipping it off with the sharpness of his teeth, he turned his head so he could search around in the darkness of the artificial night- these dreams only happened once every couple of decades.
He remembered the time when the Superior had foretold of his eventual return prompting him to command Azazel to investigate satanic-related crimes and incidents. Maybe this was something similar; a premonition of the future from an outer source such as a demon or another one of the Incarnations. There was something different, though, instead of it just being grass, he could hear the familiar sound of an animal. Most notably, a duck making the odd audio they do with their beaks, all the Emperor had to do was simply enact the action of turning his head to the right.
There they sat, seeming to have the physique of a female, currently, the only female enemies he had were The Empress, Sirilla, Charmeine, Lilith, Liliana, Moriah, and Rahab- so by all aspects of the word; he was safe. The lake's water filled to the top with a specific calmness in the crater, if his mind intended to relieve him of all stressful thoughts; it worked wonders. Though, that singular piece of his brain that had informed him of this falseness- it was the worst part if only this artificial location manifested by the creativity of his immense mind power was true. If only he could stay here for eternity and witness the beauty, then again, in this type of story, there was no such thing as a happy ending.
"Ben..." Her voice was as smooth as butter, reminding him of someone like his mother, how casual and sweet she always used to sound whenever she'd used to speak to him. Instead of acting surprised as if he were a child, he just looked down and stifled a laugh with his, hanging his head playfully. Her blonde hair moved with the fake wind of this split realm from behind the definitive truth that served as the physical dimension, and just as he laughed, she turned her head to ask,
"What's so funny?" What more could he do but step forward, gently sitting beside her on the wooden log, she smiled at this display. Scooting closer, she rested her head onto his shoulder, leaning into his warm touch as he draped his arm over the back of her neck... the Emperor felt at peace for the first time in a while. Maybe another illusion made by his kind but he didn't even mind, he enjoyed the warmth he felt as she dug her head into his chest, giving him the memory of a time when they were once called a couple. Such a time ago; it seemed like it didn't even exist, considering it happened in another world that no longer existed within the multiverse, that didn't seem too far off from the truth.
Moments later, their tongues had ripped off the icicles from the wooden planks had been attached to. The Priestess moaning in delight at the taste, Ben couldn't help but chuckle with the tip still in his mouth, swallowing the chilly snack with a hearty exhale, breath visible for just a second. Their positions had changed previous to their former ones, Ben had been sitting against the bed of grass to the right of her right leg. She was still there, kicking her legs back and forth with such a joyful look on her face- the widened smiled had changed to fit the somber tone of silence that reigned over his quiet area.
The birds began to let out familiar sounds as they flew overhead, ducks swimming with their families behind them with the flow of water along with the green forest across from them- it sent chills down their spine. He'd never felt this relaxed, so he enjoyed this moment, leaning back against the wooden seat the blonde'd been utilizing, eyelids shutting closed over his azure peepers, Ella took it upon herself to speak now that he'd been calmed down and comfortable around her,
"Benny..." Popping open one eye so he could stare at her, she turned for just a second, meeting his direction before pointing ahead so he could admire the sight of beauty before him. Just as he followed her quiet instructions, she continued speaking, just as she'd intended to do earlier,
"There will come a time where you will have to choose between right and wrong, in the not too distant future. Your dependence on the choice you individualize from the other will set in motion the future of this world... along with every other from that point on," Ben's breath was shaky as she finished her short statement, informing him of the near future that he was running right into. As the flow of causality had willed it so, it seemed as though they were destined to meet one another... at that place in time. It was so much to take in, even now, he felt the weight of the world on his shoulders for he alone had to carry this burden if he wanted everyone else that was alive right now- to continue living their long happy lives.
Hands placed against his legs, they tightened together as the last sentence had soothed its way, barging in through his eardrum. Fists vibrating at such a rate, he inhaled shakily, feeling her get up carefully as she placed her bottom onto the left side of the grass beside him. Stretching out her lower limbs, she did the same with the one attached to her upper torso, raising them to the sky feeling the joints crack, moaning in delight,
"How'll I know... how'll I know which is right or which is wrong?" Questioned Ben in the middle of his lost friend's stretching, turning his head so he could face her. Eye shaking with the fragility of a young boy with the outer shell of a man, she couldn't help but smile at him as she opened but one eye.
Leaning in, she slid both of her palms onto her former lover's cheeks, leaning in to lay but a peaceful peck amongst his forehead... in the breeze of this distant location, this far approximation, he could feel the chilliness of fake Spring crawl up his spine. It was as though they'd been enveloped by a spiral of flowers around, all white, to symbolize the love they shared when they were alive; Benjamin reopened his eyes. Beginning to be taken away by those fluttering petals moving with the calmness of the winds' flow, the Emperor's eyelids began to slide back into his tanned skin. It was as though his soul had been shaped around the form he'd taken when he was but a boy, at heart, none of that had ever changed; he was forced into this scenario by a force he had no control over.
She began to evaporate into the wind, yet just as she reached out one hand to grab onto his own- they interlocked their palms together so she could have but a momentary grip on the world below the clouds. Her tears squishing out from the corners of her eyes, the words she left behind for the Struggler went as follows,
"Nobody knows the truth, Benny, we can never change the past... and though we may hate ourselves for who we were back then when we were young and stupid, I wouldn't have it any other way. The line between black and white is so blurred- to destroy the monsters, you have to become one yourself. But to defeat an Angel, a God-? Embody that of which your mother was, be kind, so please, don't waste your life... not what's left of it. Make me proud," He couldn't mistake those words for anything less than what they seemed, was that truly Ella...? It didn't seem to be Rahab or Moriah messing with him in the form of someone he knew, because he was given some good advice. Nevertheless- there was nothing he could do, he had to keep moving forward, but was that all that remained for him? His fate, ordained by the very creatures he vowed to initially and obliterate without an ounce of his own will?
The light of that world had been enveloped by the absolute darkness of self-hatred. Left there, no one came... adrift in the shadows of the night, the loneliness so his heart, he could feel something like daggers stabbing into that muscle protected by the armor of bones called the ribs. They broke into pieces as if they were some fragile material like glass, shards scattered around in his insides. It was something akin to being stabbed, after realizing something you hadn't for being too blinded by something like love or maybe even hatred- and so, as destiny had wanted him to, he looked down to stare at that wound in his chest.
Drip..! A singular droplet began to ooze out of the stab wound, a hand pushing out from the darkness of the imaginary night, hypothetically handing him the false sword which he should use to end the pain. Something so simple which he wished for so long, there was no other answer... he believed himself unworthy of the words his mother in the guise of the girl he once loved had told him,
"Complete the ritual, become one of us; relieve yourself of human fragility. Ascend to the Heavens, become a Guardian Angel... it is the only possible path for you, Blessed Emperor Of Longing,"
The dagger was carved with writing that seems to have been scribbled by someone that had lost their sanity, the sides protruding out curving. The left downward and the other to the skies, both of them seemingly slim enough to just have their basic designs, but that was false. Closed eyelids visible on each side, before they spread right open to show the pentagrams right in the center, radiating with the heat and burning passion of murder reminiscent of Hell itself; Ben watched as the steel began to illuminate with the blazing radiation of a thousand burning souls, damned to Hell because of him. Die, or live life as a Devil God, the choice was horrible; and truth be told, he didn't know what to do.
All that remained was the silence of his mind, the Embodiment of Evil standing over the destroyed mind of their future kinsman, their cloak shadowing the rest of their body in darkness. Sticking out their palm, out of all the people and things in this world to appear before him, offering a helping hand out of this despair- he hadn't believed it would be The Devil himself. The look in his eyes; it was something more, something far worse than anything else they'd seen before, and so, Ben had stated without an ounce of compassion. And Satan smirked at the sight of this, turning away before the shadows sucked them without leaving anything but an ounce of residue in their wake, all that remained was the fight.
Searching through every possible variable in his head, all he could think about was the way everyone would be, regardless of any choice he made. The very relic he wielded in his hand would determine the fate of this world, if he stabbed himself or let it fall into the depths of the ocean below, to forever submerge and scrape against the ocean floor, freezing against the unbelievable chill of the water. There remained only one choice, whether or not it was the right one deemed on the way his soul weighed, the end was nigh. Now more than ever, they were all sleeping slaves to the fate they were destined to carry out, and the deaths they would eventually fall victim to. That was the unavoidable truth of this world.
Jerking away in the middle of the night, the remnants of moonlight still leaked in through the curtains to his right. Sitting up in the king-sized bed, he rubbed his forehead, groaning to himself groggily, fitting, considering Ben had just woken up. But as he looked around at the chamber he'd been encased into, there was nothing but... absolute coldness. The bedroom had been as dark as the belly of a crow, reminding him of the good he'd been surrounded by in his mind, all he could think about was the dagger.
~What did she mean by choice..? Choose between becoming an Incarnation and denying them? Is it truly something as lofty and basic as that..? I want to say that I can just reject the offer, but now, more than ever- I think that Devil was right. Am I psychotic for actually considering the offer? For wanting to become one of them... is it just to escape this pain, the agonizing feeling of wanting to perish, feeling like everything I've done, every horrible action I've taken... was it all truly for nothing? Heaven, that World, those people... all the men, women, children I've killed. Sacrificing my life, to be a part of something truly greater, the True Happiness of humanity~
All of these thoughts came rushing into his head, palm covering the frontal area of his face, it was like a primary function- to breathe in and out as he thought. It felt like Hell, he couldn't be considering this as a choice, he'd have to deny it, even if it meant dying... but he was the only one who had no problems with devoting his heart entirely to the cause. August had the whole second part of his life to lead with Kristina, should they get together, and Alex was just starting as an adult. He had children, of course, but he also had a father who could take care of them, along with a brother and a sister. And yet, even with all of those probabilities flying about in his mind, he couldn't help but struggle with the two.
What was the right choice and what was the wrong one? Was there anything else he could do to make sure that everything occurred the way he'd hoped... or was everything truly going to turn out the way those malevolent creatures intended? He had wholeheartedly declared himself never a soldier of fate, for he made his very own destiny, yet that was years ago at this point. Maybe that was just wishful thinking, or maybe it was something else besides that; he could never truly tell the truth behind anything. The memories he'd received had only been granted to him by chance, there were so many probabilities that were against him, if he hadn't touched Alex, maybe he would've done so with his son when he'd returned, and maybe he would've gotten the memories of his future self anyway.
~How did that even happen? I had never been in any sort of situation where I was needed by fate to send memories to someone else across time. Except-... wait, that has nothing to do with this. Maybe it's something short, maybe it's the choice that Ella just told me about. I can't tell, but I feel like with the Herald and the Advent, something before that's coming. Will I be strong enough to stop it or will I just lead my son... my sons, to their deaths?~
In the middle of his thoughts, hand against his head as he thought in the somber quiet of the room, Ben heard the creaking of the door to his front. And it belonged to nobody else, none other than who he'd expected from the way their metal-armored foot slammed against the wood of the floor below. With no contacts, his glasses appeared with any magical poof, as he just placed them as they manifested in his fingers abruptly over his eyes to make sure it was who he believed it was. Just as he'd expected, pulling both of the doors that served as the entrance open, it was the Hawk King of the Mage Kingdom himself; Sir Hanniel Griffith.
"Something you need, Sir King?" Intoned the Emperor mockingly to his rival ruler, the younger man of the two sharing a brief chuckle at the inquiry he was given. Long hair kept in a ponytail, the Hawk looked around for a moment, quirking a brow and asking nicely with a formal tone in his vocal cords,
"Emperor Rivera... fancy a stroll?"