Ian sat on his flaming throne and watched the exchange between Iris and her father.
" Some father you are! And you call me a scum!" Ian scoffed, slumped in his seat, waving his hand, and the image on the obsidian wall disappeared.
The pain in the shoulder was crippling, and he still hadn't found the cause of it. Nobos hadn't returned, and he couldn't say that he didn't. He had spent most of his time watching Iris. She was a shadow of what she once was. Her frame had gotten smaller, and the shine in her eye had faded. Whenever she was alone cried and spoke to him as if he was still there. If he could feel anything, he would have been heartbroken. But her tribulations hadn't stirred anything in him other than the pain he felt in his shoulder. Was he feeling her pain? He questioned to himself. If so, then why? He had no soul. He was a walking and talking corpse.
A loud bang rang in the air, breaking his thoughts and he turned to the source of the noise.
" You said that I should knock!" Nobos shrugged, standing before him. His eyes drifting to the obsidian wall.
" You come here so often. I'm starting to think you like me!" Ian spoke in his dull inflectionless tone with his eyes on Nobos, disregarding his stray eyes.
Nobos shrugged " Maybe! You're different from the other Guardians! For some reason, you're still tied to the living." he curiously remarked, plopping himself in a chair. Nobos's turned to him. His eyes were looking for answers. Nobos had a penchant for poking his nose in his affairs.
" What makes you say that?" Ian asked and stood up from his throne. He was trying to avoid his questioning gaze.
" You need to let her go! You shouldn't remember your old life. But you do. This isn't good." Nobos seemed to be worried. His worries weren't unbounded, but then again, why was he so worked about it?
" For a moment", Ian paused and walked outside, standing on the cliff " Let's pretend I do! What will it happen?" Ian asked, trying to avoid Nobos's gaze on him.
Nobos fell silent at his question. He either didn't know himself, or it wasn't anything good.
" Will have to check the scrolls!" Nobos gave him his answer. He had no clue what would be the consequences of his affliction.
" For how long have you been a Hollow Lord Nobos?" Ian hasn't bothered to ask any of them any questions. He had no interest in playing nice with the Lords. He was only there because he had chosen to sacrifice himself to save Iris.
" Not that long! I was one of the Shaddow Lords before Ettrick brought me here!" Nobos explained a little out of sorts.
Ian hummed, " I've met the Shaddow Lords albeit briefly but....let's just say that I wasn't impressed!" Ian said, looking at Nobos.
Nobos chuckled " It's unfortunate! The Shaddow Lords are nothing but victims of the fate sisters!" Nobos was amused for some reason.
" What makes you say that? They are different from us, aren't they?" Ian questioned, leaning against a wall and swallowed a scream. The pain in his shoulder returned tenfold.
' You could say that yes! If you die in that valley, you'll become Immortal, but also,you can't leave the Valley. You are condemned for an eternity to serve its purpose. " Nobos vaguely explained.
" What do you mean?" Ian asked, and for the first time, he heard the strain in his voice.
" The Valley is the birthplace of all Guardians. When the last one was created something happened. I wasn't there, so nobody truly knows. But the valley is as if a piece of Hollow had been ripped and placed there. The Darkness in that valley is very much like this one. Powerful and hungry! It will consume the soul and bring the body back to life, binding it to the Valley. The Valley has no master. It is its own master. It's a strange place!" Nobos sat on the edge of the cliff gazing in the distance.
" Where do we keep the scrolls? I would like to have a look at them myself!" Ian huffed, failing to conceal the pain in his voice, and pushed himself off the wall with some difficulty.
" You don't look well!" Nobos commented, narrowing his eyes at him. He knew something was off.
" I'm a walking and talking corpse. Of course, I don't look well!" Ian scoffed, brushing off Nobos and walked back inside the throne room.
" I'll take you to the scrolls!" Nobos offered and grabbed his arm and used all the willpower to hold himself back from stabbing Nobos at the excruciating sharp pain that he felt when Nobos touched him.
As soon as they appeared in the catacombs, Ian slumped on the bed of bones that replaced the floor, huffing. Bearly holding on to his sanity, the pain was excruciating.
Nobos frowned " You're in pain!" he remarked, a little surprised, still holding on to him.
" Don't tell me your rotten heart is pitying me!" Ian huffed as his scream echoed inside the sepulchre filled with skulls.
" No!" Nobos chuckled and drew his sword.
" I knew that something was not quite right about you!" Nobos pushed the sword into Ian's ribs, twisting it as Ian flinched at the pain inflicted.
Ian grunted when he felt the sword tip pierce his rotten skin. " If you're going to end me, just get it done! Save me the boring speech!" Ian grimaced in pain that was now shooting throughout his whole body.
Nobos chuckled " Since you're about to die! I'll grant the one last wish!" Nobos pulled the sword out of his ribs and raised it to strike him.
Ian stood up and waved his hand, and Nobos smashed against the skull wall and crumpled on the floor. He didn't know he could do that. He smirked at his hand. Ian wasn't completely helpless. Darkness was still a very reliable ally.
" What is happening to me?" Ian grunted at the pain that stabbed his rotten flesh.
Nobos pushed himself off the ground, sheathing his sword and walked to Ian, measuring him from head to toe.
" That's new! You didn't even use the darkness!" Nobos casually commented, half surprised, half miffed that his attempt to take his place had failed.
" Was I supposed to?" Ian asked, a little in disbelief. He was a full blooded sithrian. When Seth died, he'd thought he had lost his connection with Arkathira, but maybe it wasn't the case.
" Look at that, you can frown! Have you been snacking behind a closed doors without our knowledge!?" Nobos purple lips pulled into a wicked grin.
" No!" Ian barked, " I did no such thing!" Ian waved him off and walked to the skull wall, and picked up a scroll.
" Not even a tiny lick!" Nobos squinted his dull eyes at him.
' No! I've enjoyed licking one thing, but souls arents one of them!" Ian casually commented, and Nobos burst into a fit of laughter.
" What are you?" Nobos asked in mirth. He was still very much amused by what Ian said.
Ian shrugged and hissed at that sharp pain in his shoulder