Anak's stunned question hung in the air. The bonfire blazed expansively, but its warmth remained steady and comfortable, even when Anak drew ever closer.
"Wait." The voice rang out gently but firmly.
"Please, this is a holy place. Could you at least take off your sandals?" The question came out somewhat sheepishly, and Anak glanced down at his feet. His sandals that hadn't changed from the Sea of Non, through his journey with Tzipora, all the way here to the labyrinth. They were ragged, muddy, and somehow both cracked from dehydration and emitting a rancid odor of dampness.
Anak blushed as he hurriedly snatched the sandals off his feet, tossing them away. "Am I right? Is it you?"
A warm voice echoed from the flame, still undeniably imbued with great authority, something Anak was more keenly sensitive to now. "I Am, and I Will Be." The flames transformed into a pure white, growing ever hotter. They slowly enveloped Anak like an embrace; though the heat was beyond what Anak's flame-resistance should be able to handle, he wasn't burned. "I Am the God of your father, Edo, and your mother, Eva. I've so looked forward to meeting you." These words carried a heavy sense of longing and delight. "You could think of me as your grand-father if you like."
Anak averted his gaze, his expression a mixture of rapture, awe, and shame. "You should know Edo isn't-" Anak hesitated, but he didn't get the chance to finish.
"I Am the Most High, and my word is the decree of all that is and all that will be." The flames around Anak trembled as the imperious declaration echoed through the hall. "Azazel made you, but Edo is your father." Triac stubbornly set his will into stone.
"Is that why you made that last test?" Anak still didn't raise his head. He thought perhaps the last test was specifically to improve his relationship with Edo.
"The trials were aimed specifically at the darkest points of your heart." Triac started to explain, "So that the light in your heart may grow from a spark to a roaring blaze." Triac's voice grew excited as he declared, "Look up! See the flame before you. This is how your heart has become." Triac finished in a grand tone, and Anak snapped his head up at the shout. He saw the size and beauty of the white flame and tears came unbidden to his eyes.
"How can this be my heart? Don't you know I've killed a man?" Anak asked shakily, unable to comprehend the way the Most High viewed him.
A wisp of flame caressed Anak's cheek and Triac whispered, "I look solely on the heart. I can see what even you cannot. By your love for your fellow man, you came to know me. Upon knowing me, you boldly declared and kept your faith in me, leading others to the light." As these words entered Anak's ears he fell almost fell to his knees, but the embracing, flickering flames held him up. "Though you have killed, in me you will be justified. For where there is chaos, I will bring peace, and where strife exists, there I am comfort. In your weakness, I will display my strength. Do not fear the power of your Authority, it is nothing before my own, I will still you when you falter"
"How?" Anak called out through his tears. He wasn't asking about his authority, but the words 'you will be justified.'
"Leave that to me," Triac answered with a flicker of white flame. "Look up, Anak." Triac seemed to change the subject.
Anak did so, and as he did the ceiling seemed to vanish. He felt as if he were rocketing through space as a scene of stars, planets, nebulae, and other various heavenly bodies enveloped him. Finally the space settled around him and he could see innumerable colorful, shining celestial objects from every direction.
"Count these stars, these planets, these numerous gleaming points of your sky—if indeed you can." The Most High spoke with authority and intent, and Anak felt overwhelmed at the enormity of the request.
"It is impossible for me, Lord." He managed to eek out under the feeling of being crushed by the size of an infinite universe.
Triac chuckled, "So shall your offspring be."
Anak gaped in delight and wonder at these words, not doubting for a moment that Triac spoke the truth. This assurance and trust in the Most High was seen in Anak's heart by Triac, and it made him almost tear up that the child of his beloved friends trusted in him so completely.
Anak mumbled dazedly to himself. "M-my offspring?" He suddenly hesitated, "With my blood, isn't that dangerous?" Anak asked the question in a direct manner, no longer bearing the apprehension about his origins after Triac offered his promise of support, merely concerned about the future.
As Anak floated in the resplendent skies, Triac gently replied through the flame. "Those of your descendants will certainly wield great destructive power in comparison to humans, but only in comparison to them. You will be the only one of your line with this level of strength, including Azazel." These words were of some comfort to Anak, but he still wondered how the world would cope with super-beings in numbers as great as the stars in the sky. As if reading his mind, Triac continued. "When I say offspring, I do not mean only your descendants. Your legacy will spread throughout the world, crossing bloodlines. You will be admired as the father of many nations, starting with my people bound in chains by the wicked king of Haskud, Geld-ad."
Anak's ears perked up at these words. "You will save them?" His voice trembled with excitement. If Triac got involved, King Gel-ad could do nothing to prevent the freedom of the slaves in Ischuros.
The flame gently set Anak down to the ground as the starry spectacle returned back to the wide chamber. "The Demon King rules Vinetum. I can no longer act so directly without threatening the fabric of existence, so... I am sending you. You will save my people, Anak" Triac finally explained his ultimate reason for drawing Anak here.
Anak froze, and his throat tightened up painfully, "I tried once before, I... I failed. Slavery is ingrained in every stone paving the streets of Ischuros. How can I uproot such an entrenched reality?" Anak emphasized the word I as he pleaded his case with Triac.
"I know Geld-ad will not move unless pushed, but now I Am with you." Triac comforted, "I will extend my will and authority through you, to serve as my instrument, and press upon the tyrannical king of the Haskud Kingdom the wonder and might of the One who's people they oppress."
Anak immediately knelt, "It is my honor!" He was truly honored and exuberant. He could at last succeed where he'd previously failed, and bring freedom to the people he'd grown to care for deeply. Suddenly a thought occurred to him, "What about the Magus' Council? They could make trouble." He concernedly asked.
The white flames twisted in amusement, "They call themselves the Magus' Order now, and they have been judged. Go to Azazel and tell him I Am, the God of your father, sent you to do his work. He will not dare interfere." Triac assured. "Afterwards, you will give the king of the land one last opportunity. Take with you the elder, Yothr, to serve as a voice of wisdom, and go once more to appeal for the freedom of these people who call out for me. He will certainly refuse, but this chance must be given."
"You really have it all planned out, huh?" Anak queried playfully.
Triac's voice reverberated unusually seriously, "Yes. More than you could ever ask or think." He had clearly put a lot of his care and worry into his grand plan. "One last thing; When you return to the slaves tell them this. You called out 'Rescue Us!' and I have heard." Triac passionately recited his message. "For you, for the suffering you've been forced to endure, deliverance will be reserved first. To you, then the world. Firstly, you must follow in the path I give. At its end you will find a vineyard, large, abundant, and untouched by the dark clouds of the Demon King. Like a nation unto itself. It is given to your charge, to tend, and to reap the harvest in these years. In the future, my kingdom will be established through this vineyard."
Anak stared intently at the white, dancing flames. He felt overwhelmed by everything he'd just heard. Some of it felt like it carried a higher meaning along with the obvious. "I don't know, I... What if I say the wrong thing?"
Triac began to grow annoyed at the boy's awkward stubbornness. "Who created the mouth, the tongue, the eyes, and ears? Did not I? I will give you the words to say as I give you the power to work my will. Now go, swiftly. You have lost too much time in this place already, and things in your home have changed much since you left."
"It hasn't been that long." Anak protested.
"Do you even have a perception of Time in this place? Don't answer, because the answer can only be no. I separated these grounds from the flow of time the moment you stepped into the deeper labyrinth, so that he may not resist the igniting of your heart."
Anak, who was always a bright and perceptive individual, responded to Triac's explanation with an incisive question, "But if we're outside the flow of time, can't I just enter where I left?"
The flames dimmed slightly in disappointment. "Unfortunately, with the malformed nature of time on Vinetum, thanks to the Evil One, it would be impossible without undoing everything that happened here. When you return, the others you left behind will feel as though several months have passed."
"Months?!" Anak cried out in alarm. "Tzipora!" He suddenly called his lover's name.
"She is fine, but she is waiting for you. Now go, and do well, Anak." Triac left these final words with Anak as he was engulfed in white flame before reappearing in the first room of the labyrinth where Tzipora and the spirit of her mother waited.
"Anak!" Tzipora happily called his name when he reappeared. "You're back!" She rushed his way and flung herself at him, squeezing him into an embrace before he even had the chance to react.
Anak stroked her hair lightly as he huskily replied. "Yeah. Did you miss me?" He was still reeling at the idea that months had passed in his absence.
"Mm-hm." Tzipora nodded with a playful smile teasing her lips. "So, what did you find out? It must be something big, you were gone for so long."
"I thought you died." Libbi's ghostly voiced echoed, interrupting the sweet moment.
Anak chuckled at Libbi's harsh manner. She probably still held his upper social status against him. "Yeah, I've got a lot to talk about. Firstly..." Anak sighed as he readied himself to begin the process of persuasion."We need to go back to Ischuros. I'm freeing our people."