"I don't even know where to begin." Lyze nervously laughed while rubbing the back of his neck as he sat in front of his Familia. "I had hoped this day was still a long time coming...I guess I never really prepared anything to say when I finally would have to explain it all."
The quiet aftermath of the recent battle had finally settled with the Loki Familia, amidst a startling revelation of exactly how powerful their prodigy was and what he had been hiding from them all along. They were not fools. They knew how outmatched and outclassed they felt in the face of his power and none were too keen on challenging that fact anytime soon. But it soon connected many dots where their prodigy was concerned; many could now comprehend why he was so powerful a fighter in the first place.
"Well I guess from the beginning then." Riveria said in not an unkind voice, but certainly one laced with great apprehension. "Have you always been this way Lyze? Since you joined the Familia?"
"Even before I turned up to the gates of the Twilight Manor." The boy admitted. "I've been this way for as long as I can remember."
"And you were able to call upon this power at any given time?" Finn raised a brow.
"...Pretty much." Lyze said. "Though it is not ideal...not at all for me anyway."
"Does Loki know about this?" Riveria questioned him again. "Is that why she's been acting weird lately around you?"
"Yes, she knows about it." Lyze said. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't have an idea about it the day she gave me her blessing. It's not really something I've been able to keep completely to myself after all. It's just that the right people so far have been the only ones to see me for what I really am."
"Damn son." Gareth grabbed his nose. "All this time we've had so much difficulty, so many obstacles. You yourself have nearly died a dozen times now, and yet you never thought to do what you just did with Balor. You really are one strange kid...I'd call you mad even."
"Peace everyone." Noir held his hand up and everyone looked to him. As an elder, the old man was able to command respect even from the executives no matter how riled up they were. "I'm quite sure there is a story behind this, a reason as to why Lyze kept this to himself. We have no right to sit here and be judgemental of him when even we do our best to hide our greatest strengths."
"We're not being interrogative." Finn said. "But having experienced what we just felt, I would like to better what I am working with when I come into this Dungeon from now on. You felt it same as all of us Noir...that was not normal in any way, shape or form."
"Stop soiling your knickers you stupid brats." Bara huffed as she flicked her hair and glared at the executives who had all become so serious all of a sudden. "Are we going to hear a story or not?"
That made everyone and many murmurs within the Loki Familia die down, with Tsubaki hushing her own members as well as they all sat in the dirt while staring expectantly at the raven-haired boy with large purple eyes who himself was cross-legged before them. It was still a bit of a jarring experience, seeing Lyze's real eyes now. They'd been so used to him having a blindfold on now that actually seeing him with open eyes made him seem like a whole different person, which he was now that his true nature had been revealed.
Some couldn't help but feel a little bit lied to. All the same, Lyze still had friends here.
"No pressure kid." Dain said gently. "If you don't want to tell us anything, then you don't need to. You saved our lives, so you owe us nothing."
"...I would disagree." Lyze said. "I owe you all some of the truth at least. Not even I can justify having you walk away from all of this, after all you've invested in me without some reason behind my secrecy or my actions." He fell silent once again and for the first time, his brain was a real confused mess. The sharp mind that usually had him prepped with witty and vicious comebacks whenever he was challenged now failed and came up short when he searched for words to convey the truth with. He'd become little more than a mute invalid, and the adventurers could clearly see his internal struggle.
Finally someone had enough of seeing him go through this pain. There was a clatter as people watched Ais stand up, her sword clattering to the ground from her grasp as she walked over to where the boy was sitting. She plopped down next to him, prompting him to look at her as she herself grabbed one of his hands while her free one travelled to his face. The little girl's soft fingers traced the soft skin where the blindfolds had once been and she stared at him like he were some godsent novelty for the eyes of women to feast upon.
"What's up Ais?" Lyze tentatively asked her, as he felt somewhat bare beneath her roaming gaze. Her eyes locked with his and a small smile formed on her face as her fingertips came very close to his eyelids.
"Your eyes." She said, before she giggled a little bit, a noise that surprised many as they never thought they'd hear such a sound out of her, the ever cool and composed Sword Princess. "I finally get to see your eyes, like I wanted. And they're beautiful."
"Th-thanks." Lyze said as he blushed a little bit before looking away from her, feeling quite awkward at having that particular word directed at him. He'd always been of the strong belief that it was fitting only for women.
"I don't care about your secrets Lyze." Ais said quietly to him, making him look at her in surprise and hopeful anticipation. She held his arm to her chest and nuzzled the back of his calloused hand with her cheek as she gazed into his eyes. "You saved my life Lyze. You are my one true hero. Nothing will change that. Never."
A few moments passed before someone amongst the elves stood up. Vira, though timid and a tad scared, squared her shoulders and gave a directed berth at the narrowed eyes of her fellow elves. She walked over to Lyze and sat beside him on her knees, also looking him in the eyes.
"You saved my life too Lyze." Vira said. "And what happened just now will not make me forget the times we've spent together and the fun we've had. You're my friend Lyze, and as someone whom you consider a true friend, it would be very bad of me to not be there when you need support. I'm with you all the way Lyze."
Riveria observed her student's actions before she sighed and put down her staff, inching forwards a little as she sat down in a more relaxed and comfortable position.
"Lyze." She said gently. "We're not berating you. We just want to understand. Before, we left you on your own because we understand that you carry pain and you have a heavy heart. But now we're all involved. We will always be on your side no matter what happens. You don't have to say anymore than you're comfortable with."
"Yes, we're here for you Lyze." Finn smiled encouragingly. "After all, you've saved my life quite a few times too. I will never forget that either."
"You've saved all of us." Tsubaki grinned. "We're all in your debt. If you want to keep the lid on things still, I have no problem at all. All the good people really like you, including my own goddess. And that is enough for me."
Lyze's eyes wandered over the group of adventurers, examining the faces of all the people he'd come to regard as family...and he realized that the situation was exactly that. These were not malicious and wet nosed busy bodies that wanted in on his dirty laundry. These people for the most part were just as worried for him as they were scared of what they'd felt and seen. He knew that the effects, the sensation of the presence of Chaos was enough to make someone mad for life.
And yet, he could sense nothing but worry for him. These people...were family.
He truly had come to care for them, as they had come to care for him.
...
But even so, there were things he had to conceal for their sakes if not his own. None were ready to hear the real truth about any of it. So he would tell them part of the truth.
"I was born with this power." He said after a deep breath, steadying himself as he clasped Ais's hand tighter. His eyes lingered over her lips for a moment, and he found himself with the strange thought that he'd accept even a kiss from her now if it meant it could dissolve the tension and the awkwardness of this gathering. "It's been with me ever since the day my parents had me. It has been both and inequal parts a blessing...and a terrible, miserable curse."
"But what is it?" Gareth asked. "Kid, that thing felt...I can't even describe it. But I felt like even an ant had more power than me after whatever you did. That's not some normal hidden power."
"Because it's a god-like power." Lyze smiled grimly. "That's the curse part of it...the power of a god housed in a mortal host...I'm sure you can only imagine what that means for me."
The adventurers' eyes widened as they considered the implications.
"How...how are you still alive?" Bara blinked. "After all this time, how are you even going on if that kind of power was inside you?"
"It wasn't always like this." Lyze said as he looked down. "For the first few years of my life, it lay dormant within me. Unstirred and unneeded, I was just an ordinary boy. I had not one supernatural ability to my name while I lived a life of suffering in Daedalus. That is, until..."
"Until the day you fell down that manhole." Finn said. "Your fear of death...did that trigger this power?"
"It's called Chaos." Lyze said as he shrugged his shoulders. "That's about the best name I can give it because it has no specific nature, nor any specific purpose. It just exists inside me, and that's about it. But yes, I awoke it the day I nearly died falling down that manhole and into the Water Capital."
"And there you met your master?" Riveria prompted. "A god, in the Dungeon?"
"Drawn by the power in me." Lyze fibbed, giving pretty much the exact opposite of the truth in this particular context. "He wanted to see what it could do, what I could do with it. But he knew that there was no way I could fully channel this power without suffering some serious blowback. So he taught me how to fight, how to use magic. How to slowly temper this power in me until I could one day use it properly. Almost every power you have seen me use has come from this Chaos, mere fragments of its capabilities."
"Is that why you train so hard?" Ais asked. "Does it help?"
"It takes away the pain." Lyze nodded a bit grimly.
"What pain?" Riveria arched a brow. "It causes you pain?"
"All the time." Lyze said. "I've learned to live with it, the pain I mean. Upon both my body and my spirit. Souls are fragile things after all and a power like this inside a weak body that can't channel this power properly without putting himself at risk of dying completely every time he does try to do it...you can imagine I had to take a lot of precautions." Lyze pointed to his eyes. "I wore blindfolds because I came to realise that my eyes being closed seemed to supress my powers, almost to the point of zero for some reason. I knew that keeping my eyes open put me at risk of death..."
"So you learned how to get by without them." Noir finished. "You did this so you could learn how to control your powers incrementally...and every time you become stronger through the Falna, the better able you are at controlling your power."
"Precisely." Lyze said. "My Master knew this, as did Loki. I promised myself I would use this power as little and only in the most dire of circumstances would I ever unleash it in battle."
"You've nearly been drowned, impaled, eaten and all kinds of other horrible ways to die." Tsubaki said pointedly. "None of those counted as dire?"
"My life was a small price to pay." Lyze said. "Inconsequential. But I was not willing to forego your lives. I have only ever released my full powers when protecting all of you. I couldn't let any of you die because I was scared for myself."
"Hang on a second." Aki said. "If your eyes being open is what releases this power...then what about now? Your eyes are wide open!"
"That is something I'm trying to figure out." Lyze said as he rubbed his forehead. This very topic had actually been bugging him for a while. Usually after he deployed a domain, Chaos would come hurtling back and bearing immense pressure on his soul. But this time around, there was nothing. Zilch, nil. Enough to the point he was actually keeping his real eyes open with no concern or worry. "Something's changed."
And something felt wrong.
---
Back up on the surface, in the gardens of the Twilight Manor sat Loki drinking tea (for once) with a very familiar guest. Nekros smiled a little as he blew on his cup before taking a rather dignified 'slurp', pausing as he rolled the liquid around in his mouth before swallowing.
"I'm guessing your girls aren't used to making tea all that much." He said to the redhead as he held up the cup. "They've done better than I expected with the flavouring but its clear they haven't quite got the hang of brewing."
"Since when do you come across adventurers that drink tea?" Loki raised her eyebrows. "Not all that much in my experience. I like wine myself too."
"I much prefer a nice cup of tea." Nekros smiled. "Lyze would understand my sentiment. After all, he and I come from the same place."
"Are we talking about his old world? His old life?" Loki asked as she kept her eye on him.
He'd been a sitting guest in her house for a few days now, ever since he showed up. In that time, she'd done her best to behave as respectfully and as appropriately as she could, even going so far as not to grope any of her girls when she came across them. To her relief, he wasn't all that too demanding of courtesy when he'd spent some time with her. But she still wanted to give him as little reason as possible to be angry.
It was unnerving and worrying enough that he was down here in these lower realms and not up in his own where he should have been. And from their conversation, it seemed for a moment that she'd picked up on a lead towards Lyze's old life. Nekros saw right through it though.
"Don't even try." He shook his head at her before he sensed Chaos's emergence from down below and he looked at the ground smiling. "Oh...well well well. It's finally time."
"Time?" Loki looked confused. "Time for what?"
"Lyze has been quite naughty recently." Nekros smiled. "Going and mouthing off when he really should have held his tongue. People can only take so much abuse before they crack. And right now, he's just done something that rightly pisses of a certain something that one should take care not to anger one bit."
"...What's he done?" Loki's back suddenly became very cold as something in his tone made a horrible feeling come over her.
"You'll see." Nekros said as he then felt something else begin to stir in response to Chaos. "We're about to witness a spectacle of the Ages."
---
Ouranos sat up sharply all of a sudden, catching Fels off of guard as the old man in the throne became very alarmed all of a sudden.
"What's the matter Lord Ouranos?" The hooded skeleton asked. "What's happened?"
"The Dungeon just threw my prayers back at me!" Ouranos said in a voice of shock, disbelief and trepidation. "It's completely blocked my voice. It's doing something Fels!"
"Has it located whatever was inside it that was angering it?" The skeleton asked.
"It's done a bit more than that." Ouranos said as from his throne, he felt the world beneath the ground start to shift dramatically. "The Dungeon is re-routing power from all the upper Floors and sending it to the Deep Floors...to the Moira Sands!"
Ouranos's jaw kept falling lower and lower in disbelief as he sensed all the magical energy that existed in nigh-infinite abundance suddenly start to drain completely from the Upper, Middle and first few Deep Floors. That power then all of a sudden began to trickle down until all the little streams from different floors joined together to make one great waterfall of power that crashed down upon the 49th Floor and started to fill that Floor.
"Wasn't Balor just slain?" Fels asked. "You said it yourself. The Loki Familia has destroyed it have they not?
"...Fels. Send an alert to the Guild." Ouranos said as a dark, ominous feeling came upon him. For the Dungeon was starting to spew out hatred and anger in levels he'd never felt before...a cold abysmal hollow that poured out no warmth except for harsh ice and cold promise. All directed at something in the 49th Floor...someone no doubt from amongst the Loki Familia. Ouranos did not expect to feel this level of evil come from the Dungeon except on the 'promised day', which the Primordial had been trying to stave off for quite some time now.
It seemed that that day may have come all too soon.
"What do I say?" Fels asked.
"Gather all powerful Familia, as many as you can." Ouranos said as he felt a new threat starting to form in the Dungeon...something new...something large. "Something is coming!"
...
Down in the Dungeon, adventurers who were engaging monsters in the Floors before the 49th Floor were made to blink in confusion all of a sudden as the monsters themselves suddenly died without warning and their flesh evaporated the way they usually did when vanquished. Except that the adventurers had not killed them at all.
Entire hordes suddenly became piles of ash instantly as their cores faded and lost their magic too. Many coloured stones suddenly lost their colours and became hollow and grey as the Dungeon ripped away all power it could find and threw all that power down to the 49th Floors as the Mother or Monsters began to experiment...and created the worst nightmare it could think of for the puny little whelp that had challenged her, ending his days of prancing around inside her belly with impunity once and for all.
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