[17711 Sevill St, City of Acnoc, Duchy of Grahm, Dalycon Union of Duchies]
(28th, Black Sea Moon (VII), 644 ASY)
"I do have to ask… Why did you go through all that trouble?" Daniel sighs. He slides his head into his hand as he looks up to stare at the four people in front of him. Tyson has his arms crossed and is looking up into the ceiling, probably wanting a god to drill a hole and make him ascend to heaven. Ashe has collapsed onto the table, her brown hair spread out like a fan across the table. Moricant has completely collapsed and is snoozing in a heap, having just barely made it to the small house. Lucya isn't much better, already snoozing in her chair, not even noticing that Daniel was the one who had dragged her from their small boat.
"Because we thought we could bring in the Waverider and its crew to help us along," An utterly tired Ashe manages out as she turns her head to face Daniel.
"The Waverider might be the most noticeable ship in existence, what with its massive magical signature. Bringing that anywhere that isn't Alterya will cause a massive uproar," Daniel crosses his arms and turns to stare at Tyson, who seems to have found a new hobby in counting the number of planks that make up the wooden ceiling. "I though you got my letter the other day about coming in a small boat?" Daniel put a massive emphasis on the word 'small.'
"...I forgot…"
"How do you forget such a massive detail? I don't understand…"
"Oh stop covering for Ashe, Tyson," A female voice cuts in. Standing behind Daniel, a beautiful face on par with Ashe sighs. A sheet of sparkling crimson hair extends down from a wide-brimmed hat as her emerald eyes alternate from looking at Tyson to Ashe. This is Angelica Asina, one of the people who had quit White Dawn when Daniel had resigned and gone looking for him. By the looks of it, she is the only one who has been able to find him in his exile(?) in Greyvan. "I think we all know that you remembered, but Ashe forced and or convinced you to bring the Waverider along,"
"...No comment," Tyson finally pries his eyes away from the ceiling to look Daniel straight in the eyes.
"Tyson. No,"
"...Ok I understand…"
"Now Ashe, what did you think would happen if you brought the Waverider?"
"I...Didn't think it through…"Ashe picks up her head from the table only to put it in her hands.
"Right, let's get moving. It's prudent that we leave as soon as possi-"
"Daniel. Moricant is knocked out, and Lucya isn't in much better of a state either. Let them rest for the right," Angelica lightly bumps Daniel's head.
"Alright, I can see that. We can finish talking in the morning. We have to leave as soon as possible though. Don't want to provoke the sleeping dragon while we are plotting its demise," Daniel sighs.
Daniel sits alone in his room, wrapped in a blanket of darkness. He prefers it this way, as the dark helps him to think. The past couple of days have been weird. He feels like he has missed something. Rather, it feels like he's missing something that is vitally important. A piece of himself. The past couple of years he spent with Angelica in the Greyvan Kingdom, but some things feel off. Daniel has a photographic memory and has trained from a young age to be able to remember even the smallest details. And yet, there are large and very obvious gaps in his memories for the past three years. Nearly a fifth of his life, clouded in mystery and ambiguity. This is something that he cannot have. Grabbing a stick of magnesium and carefully lighting it so it producing its vibrant glow without burning the entire building down, he takes out a small book, dust seeping from every crook and cranny. Its cover is scratched beyond recognition and has many bumps and scrapes. Though it is futile, he tries to brush off the dust on the small booklet. It's not the dust covering up the cover, but rather the cover itself has been scraped off years ago. Daniel sighs and opens it. Within its yellowed pages, there are fields upon fields of words. As he flips through the pages, the language changes. First is the intricate calligraphy of Chinese, followed by flowing words of English, slowly it transitions into the harsher German and then back to the complex characters of Chinese, now written to be unreadable to someone who isn't very versed in the writing, using words that even the most learned scholar would be hard-pressed to identify. This Daniel journal, one that he has kept even after death and rebirth. It has a recount of all the triumphs, losses, discoveries, and tragedies that Daniel has gone through. Above all else, it serves as a blank slate when discussing his memories. Oddly enough, the journal ends exactly two years, seven months, and fifteen days ago, the exact day when Daniel left White Dawn. Was it a coincidence that this small journal ran out of pages on that exact day, or did he rip them out for it was something he wanted to forget? He can't tell. Placing the stick of rapidly shrinking magnesium into a plate of melted wax, he starts to read the old journal in the increased firelight. Memories of an age long past flood in, the blood, tears, and sweat he put into his life before it suddenly ended, the disorienting rebirth he faced in front of regret, and the discovery of this world come rushing back into his head. Unlike Ashe, however, he has the mental fortitude to push it to the side, a result of months of struggle with his inner emotions. But still, nothing comes to mind as he reaches the end of the journal.
"Bringing a bucket out into the night to catch the reflection of the moon…" He thinks to himself as he sighs and closes the journal as puts it back into his pocket. He had read to try and bring back his memories but had failed to see anything of note. Hmmm? A flash of light and a bang erupt in the room as Daniel suddenly turns around and slips the journal into his coat pocket. He cast the spell {Daemonic Eyes} The echo of that infernal spell rattles the building, and a hollow whisper fills the air, tempting anyone who hears. Of course, the only person who could hear that whisper is Daniel.
"Someone is looking…?" Daniel mutters to himself. He presses down onto the wall with his left hand and pours his alchemist's sight into it. In his mind, a web of connections spreads, with the physical and arcane intertwining to form a complete picture of the world only Alchemists and Mages can see. In this strange ethereal world, you can see everything that a human eye cannot see. Indeed, you can even see the souls of people and vengeful spirits. Yet, even in this realm, he cannot see who was spying on him. He can only see the rift in space that {Daemonic Eyes} rent in the world, a path leading to the realm of the fallen angels.
"Tch, nothing…" He mutters to himself again. "Wait, what was that spell?" Daniel suddenly notices something is wrong. He couldn't use magic, this gift restricts him to only using Alchemy, his talent. {Daemonic Eyes} is an arcane spell, Daniel shouldn't be able to use that. So how and when did he learn how to use that? He sighs again. More questions that he cannot answer. Perhaps the demon summoning sacrifice was successful? He could remember what happened when he summoned Plutarch. The last thing that he can truly remember is the expanding form of that fallen angel. There are so many questions that need an answer. Maybe it is not Ashe and Tyson that need to discover hidden secrets, but rather him.
"So, what's the difference between Demons, Devils, and Fallen Angels?" Tyson says with a spoon in his mouth. It's 9:30 in the morning and Tyson, Ashe and Lucya have finally woken up. Daniel always woke up more or less when the sun came up, so he's already packing everything up.
"Why do you ask this now?" Ashe asks between bites of toast.
"You don't know anything about this topic, Lord Bueomont?" Lucya responds, thankfully to Daniel's well-being without any food in her mouth. She had woken up quite a bit earlier and had been panicking. Daniel thinks it's understandable. She had just woken up in a room she had never been to before. When she saw Daniel, she had a large fright. She's calmed down now.
"Has she found out about that yet?" A small voice emanates from somewhere from within Daniel's mind. He's not sure where the voice comes from, but he presses them down.
"Why should I know these things? You can cut them the same," Tyson shakes his head. Thankfully, he's removed the spoon from his mouth, saving Daniel from a mental breakdown.
"You can't cut them all the same. Remember Noctal Island? I'm sure you do," Daniel sighs.
"Ah- Right. Well, better late then never, right?"
"Better late then never should not be a saying. It invites laziness. Sometime, it is better that you don't start down a path if you can't continue down it,"
"Well then? Is it took late to learn knowledge?" Angelica enters the small dining room from another door.
"Of course not. Learning is probably the only thing that you can do anytime," Daniel sighs. "Well then, lets begin the lesson. Lucya, you should listen too. I've managed to wrangle some very, well some would say heretical, but nonetheless interesting, books,"
"Explain 'heretical'" Lucya crosses her arms.
"Hmmm. Does burning down the 'Lock of Serizan' and reading the entire Library of the Fallen count as heretical?"
"Ah- That's what you did. I've never seen you so excited," Ashe sighs.
"W-What… You read the Library of the Fallen? You know how to summon them?" Lucya inhales, fear slowly spreading into her eyes. Daniel can't seem to get a read on her. She used to be so trusting, so respectful of him. What changed that made her so cold to him now?
"Piece the pieces together Lucya. I didn't summon that Demon by acceident. It was a planned ritrual. A test, and a very succesful one at that. Still, I didn't think that he'd be this hard to control," Daniel sighs again.
"Ah yes, that...would...be…" Lucya seems to be lost for words.
"Well? Are you explaining or not?" Tyson stares at Daniel as he finishes his porridge.
"Ok then, let's start. Be sure to ask every question you have. I don't want anyone having misconseptions," Daniel crosses his arms. "Firstly, names. When talking about spirits, there are three main types that we have observed: Savants, Faey, and Fiends. We are intersted in Fiends here, so we are ignoring the other two. Within the classification of Fiends are Monsters and Demons. The difference is that Monsters have a body and soul anchored in this world. Demons may have a physical body, but their soul is always in the Daemonic realm. Another bit of useful information: 'Daemons' are Demons when they aren't in this world. Then they travel to our world they are called 'Demons.' Continuing on from that tangent, a Devil is a Demon that repersents some primal sin. For example, |Darlmoc the Giant| is the Devil of Treachery. He repersents the sin of betraying your allies and sworn friends. Fallen Angels are a special sub-group of Devils. They are Seraphs that have either been consumed by Daemonic thoughts, or have called for reforms in Heaven. There are very little Fallen Angels when compared to both Demons or Angels, but they are so powerful that they can easily wipe out a full battalion of Archangels, nevermind human armies. Then again, every single Fallen Angel has been Angels that are already extremely power. The most famous Fallen Angel is of course |Lucifer Ajax|, Seraph of Glory, who fell as |Lucifer Amaxius|, Devil of Carnage. Daemons are harmless to phycial bodies, but are experts in mental manipulation. Demons are magically powerful, but trap them in an area that has high magical resistance and they will basically be powerless. Devil are a very dangerous enemy and must be faced with due diligence. Fallen Angels can and will snap your neck from miles away. While I don't doubt that Tyson and Ashe can take care of one with some difficulty, Lucya and Moricant shouldn't even try to challenge one. You will die."
"I didn't mean all that mumbo jumbo. What's the difference in their appearance?" Tyson shakes his head. His eyes have already glassed over after that long explanation. Tyson has never been one to be able to listen for a long time.
"Daemons are pockets of the world that want you to kill someone. A Demon is a thing inhabited by something that wants you to kill someone or they'll kill you. A Devil is an incarnation of a sin and wants you to do something embodying that sin or they will kill you. A Fallen Angel is an angel that disobeyed god and now wants to kill things. Is that ok or should I dumb it down even more? Due to the difference between individual Daemons, Demons, Devils, and Fallen Angels it is really hard to generalize their appearance," Daniel sighs while clapping his hands. He does a flourish with his hands and a piece of paper is formed. He hands that paper to Tyson. "That's a recap of what I said. Look over it when you eventually get confused. Don't let Moricant touch that. He's going to loose it in his sack again."
"Thank you! You really are a lifesaver, Daniel," Tyson snatches it from Daniel's hand.
"Right, with that done, are you people done with your breakfast?" Daniel sighs.
"I am, just waiting for the other three to," Angelica, who oddly has stayed quite the entire morning, is currently leaning on the wall.
"I've finished. I don't think Moricant is going to wake up in time for breakfast…" Ashe sighs.
"That's fine. He can just eat jerky as when we go on the cart," Daniel laughs.
"Where are we going for the first stop?" Tyson asks as he puts on his white coat.
"Where else? 'Garden of the Immortals' Castel de Muerto, Graveyard of the Honorable,"
Daniel smiles. This is going to be fun.