Damien didn't believe that Artoria had come to fetch him with the directives from emperor, and although Arthur hadn't realized, but Artoria had changed her appearance and appeared as a royal magi under the empire…she probably has a different motive…is it related to mother? Damien thought while looking at the place he had arrived at.
Where he was right now was place he was familiar with but had only vague memory of coming here before. This was a different realm with no sky or ground... or anything that you would see in the real world. There were occasional flashes of light here and there while there was a deafening silence.
"The void..." Damien murmured to himself after seeing the familiar place. His memories flooding him with nostalgia, but the kind that wasn't heartwarming;— for only pain awaited him in this realm. But, it also came to the one who brought him here, Lady Artoria; the demigod overlooking the Nylmar empire under the order from the 'The Everseeing One'. However, Damien knew that Artoria cared for the empire as much as she did about the weather, the day, and the air around her; which amounted to nothing.
Lady Artoria was beside him looking at him with a smile on her face." How does to feel to come to your favorite place again?" She said jokingly, and looked towards the distant space, "how much do you still remember? She asked abruptly and started to walk forward.
"Uh… Not much than bare minimum; I recall coming here from time to time but that's it." Damien replied while following her gaze, and saw occasional flashes of light in the distance and nothing more; — then he followed after her, "Of course, I still remember the important stuff."
"Ah, then does the 'important stuff' include our conversations as well?" She asked absentmindedly, while matching her pace with him, "or did you cast them to the winds?"
"How can i forget your teachings Lady Artoria? " Damien answered hurriedly. "I have remembered them by heart although some details are muddy due to my…uh…illness…"
"Teachings? Haha. They weren't 'teachings' little Damien;— You shouldn't be so polite; it was just me rambling out of boredom, you know?" She said with a scoff. 'Ramblings? People would kill themselves just to hear your ramblings, you know?' Damien thought with a wry smile.
"Anyway, do you know why you're here this time?" Lady Artoria asked him as if the previous topic wasn't worth mentioning.
"Well, I'm pretty sure it's not just to get there faster is it?"Damien said while chuckling half-heartily, and asked, "It's about what he Emperor has called me for, is it?" He was hoping for a no but got a nod from her; much to his dismay.
"Yes, Alistar will tell you to join the annual congress today; and it's not just because you have gotten better; it's because of my request to your mother; — though Alistar happily obliged to her request for he has much to gain from this arrangement." She calmly replied as if what she said hadn't completely derailed Damien's train of thought, and continued after looking at him, "Now don't look so depressed little Damien; I too know the consequence of you joining the congress; It may not interest me, but I do understand politics too you know? But you won't be losing much from joining this year's congress ;— you have more to gain from this congress than Alistar realizes. However, you have to know the true reason for why I've requested this arrangement to be made. Otherwise, only suffering awaits you, little Damien."
She then paused in her steps and faced him and asked in a casual tone, "Are you ready little Damien?" Damien wanted to say no, but a voice inside him said repeatedly; 'Don't let me down, Damien.'
Damien shook his head to rid of the voice. No, you're not in control…just stay back for now. Damien thought to himself.
"Do I have any other choice…?" Damien uttered after sometime, already knowing where things were heading towards, "I mean do I really have to know everything? You can use riddles like you used to, you know?"
It won't do shit, boy. Yer still gonna hurt us.
"Fufu, you don't need to be considerate of me, little Damien. I've still got a lot years left in me." Artoria said while chuckling, and added, "or did you got used to not being in pain?"
"No, it's not like that lady Artoria. I don't care about my pain; only yours." Damien said with a shake of his head both to deny her and silence the creeping voice, "I know you don't show it, but you too feel like we humans do, Isn't it? So, I've opted for riddles life before."
"Haha, I thought you had changed little Damien; you know you used to say the same things before too? And you know what my response was?" Lady said rhetorically with a skip in her step she walked a young girl among flower beds. "You're still too young to worry about me little Damien. And it's just been a year since you've been able to even walk by yourself, you know?"
Damien just heaved a sigh, not having any retort to her words. She was right, he was too young, and inexperienced compared to her who had even seen the foundation of this century old empire which he was just a sickly little prince of. He couldn't even silence the voice inside his head; so, what right did he have to care about a Demi-god of all people?
"Alright… I'm ready, Lady Artoria." Damien uttered with gritted teeth, but you still have to use riddles; it's my condition."
"Hah… You should have known by now that I'm very bad at riddles. You're so stubborn…" Lady Artoria said so, and paused in her steps said with a sigh,"fine then; you'll get your riddles."
Then she turned back, and stared straight at Damien; who got startled after looking at her now pitch black eyes; — causing him to pause in his steps as he realized in horror that he couldn't move a muscle in his body; the spiritual pressure from Lady Artoria had affected him.
Artoria started to speak but the voice he heard was of his warped and distant as if it was coming down from a deep canyon.
"Perils you shall face when the sun shall lay in it's bed; but you— a lone boat adrift in the sea and the holder of mysteries.
But you shall be accompanied by those who you share your fate when the pale lady shall maker her appearance.
Find the who with untold grief in their brow. The one who comes from a place where the sun doesn't set. The one gone— with — th— "
her voice started to distort and came in broken phrases, but Damien believed that she had already said the most important thing.
'Holder of mysteries…is it…the ring… and the pale lady… is probably the moon…?' Damien's brain was overloaded with different thoughts with this revelation, and tried to look at his ring, but he couldn't move his neck even now, so he just waited with a numb feeling in his body; ready for what was to come next.
Lady Artoria stopped speaking after sometime; and that's when everything hit him at once: a pain he was oh-so familiar with. A metaphysical pain that came from the depths of his soul; which affected his whole body too; Damien however, felt blood dropping from his nose, eyes ,and ears; for his whole attention was drawn by the pain in his head
."Argh…ugh…wha— "
"STaNd uP DaMieN" Artoria's voice this time was even different; it was as if she was talking in front of a moving fan;— with a different pitch to every syllable she spoke. Damien knew that this wasn't due to his messed up ears; she was using her 'authority' on him.
'So, my condition's that bad huh…?' Damien thought.
Damien stood up mechanically as if he was marionette getting controlled by a puppeteer, her authority affecting him.
"TAke thIs aNd hEal yOuRsElf." She handed him a vial with a yellow liquid inside and Damien drank it mechanically, without any control over his action. Then his vision and hearing cleared and his bleeding stopped; and he heard his own rough breathing, his rapid heartbeat; all the while the pain in his soul still lingered like a sleepiness in the morning.
"Argh... Huff...it's over right…?" Damien asked, out of breath.
"Yes. You did a great job by not fainting, little Damien."Artoria said with a smile. "Try to act normal once you arrive there although they'll probably think that your condition is due to your 'illness'"
Artoria then muttered something incomprehensible while pointing in front of her with her right hand raised, and slowly brought it down,
This simple motion of from her started to create a rift in the reality in front of her; and similar to watching something through a vertically sliced picture; and Damien saw the familiar, but repulsive doors of the throne room through the rift.
"Get going Damien; let's meet again if fate allows us." Lady Artoria's voice behind the rift drifted towards Damien. She had said the same thing the last time they had met when had gone to the elf realm… from where he had no hope of ever returning alive or as himself.
"I hope we do, Lady Artoria…" Damien said with a smile hoping that he would be able to return alive this time as well, and entered the rift while ruminating on Lady Artoria's riddles.
* * * *