"Do you know what Sark is?" Augusta asked me from within the storm of her flames and electricity, eyes just as stern as the fire as it grew bigger.
"I don't. But I heard someone say it." I replied as I remembered someone in the crowd from the city shout something about hanging me at Sark.
"Sark is our sacred tree. The old body of the Goddess Aralaine. It's over five thousand years old and it's said whoever is hanged on it, is guaranteed to never resurrect or be brought back to the world of the living by any means. Magical or mechanical."
"So purgatory." I huffed.
"Also known as the Land of the Forgotten." She finished. "I plan on dragging your burnt body there if you give me the wrong answer to my question. And I'll know if you lie."
"And what is that?" I panted, swallowing my dry saliva with a faint exhale.
"Why did you kill Baal?"
I stood silent, feeling my legs violently shake as I fell to one knee. It wasn't because of her question, but from sheer exhaustion. I could barely keep my head up. Let alone, process her words to be able to reply. But I held onto consciousness, gripping my bent knee with a stern gaze.
"Because..." I had to come up with something. Even if I didn't know the answer. I needed time but I could not afford to make her impatient or suspicious. So I did my best to sound convincing. "...because the ancient God told me to." Such an answer fell off my tongue naturally. But also seemed off. As if mentioning God was like using them as an excuse for one's self-conscious actions.
However, Augusta did not seem to enjoy my answer as she pierced my shoulder clean with a spear of blue fire. Such pain drove my gaze and arm to the ground. Drawing a stream of blood.
I observed my blood stream pool on the transparent stone ground, which displayed a swirly void of pastel pink and blue.
"Do not lie, Demon. You can not worship Gods, be controlled by Gods, nor command Gods. Let alone, able to make contracts with them." Augusta snarled.
She was right. It was a fact I had nearly forgotten. Although Demons were able to call upon Gods by name and communicate with them, they lacked the ability to make contracts with them or worship them. Such things were against our nature. But did such a rule apply to me? A Mirrikhian Demon with a bit of human inside? Though, any amount of demon you had within still prevented such actions. So how was the Mad Star bound to me?
Unless it was no God.
"I..." I turned to my last resort, slowly reaching in my pocket, only to find it emoty. Seemed that the RLP was missing. Which was quite odd, given it was a physical manifestation of probability. Any magic hiding it or disconnecting it from the user should not be effective if it was bound to me. After all, relics were bound to a person if it was on them. Even if it not in use. That was a rule I remembered reading from in texts provided by my private tutor, Dalyx. So how?
"Cheap tricks." I concluded angrily. Sharply swishing my injured hand beside myself, allowing the blood to stain the ground. "But you can't hide the physical manifestion of probability. Especially from me."
"What are you talking about?" Augusta asked, watching me as I kept swishing streaks of blood all over the floor.
"Unstable tears. Reality is always full of them. Near impossible to spot but easy to take advantage of, if skilled." I explained, frantically searching for any sign. Even a tiny one could be of use to me.
Then I found it. A small crack in Ezephyr's magic. I wasted no time to use it.
"Blood Art: Seeping Reality." Or whatever. I was making this up as I went. An excuse to intimidate Augusta into guessing what ability I was chanting. And it seemed to have worked.
Before the turnado could swallow me whole, she hesitated. Her magic creation fading slowly.
She seemed to rely a lot on guessing and reading. Almost like Ezephyr. He had a habit of guessing everything about a person from their personality to their goals. He was a dream freak after all. And it seemed he wasted no time in teaching Augusta such life lessons. It was unfortunate that they would result in deadly second guesses and life-threatening hesitations.
"What are you doing?" Augusta stammered.
The only answer I gave her was a grin with closed eyes as I visualized my blood seeping deep into the ground. Allowing for it to mix with Ezephyr's realm. Infecting it with traces of mana. Working its way out like thin branches from a tree. Reaching out until it got thinner and thinner, ready to snap at any moment until an exit was discovered.
"Cracks in the magic unable to be supported by the finite supply of mana..." I whispered. This was a concept I had been studying. Or so I vaguely remembered. "Ezephyr, you are losing your edge." Such a taunt struck the nerves of both himself and his student.
"NO!! AUGUSTA, RUN!!" He shouted in bloody panic. "HE'S TAKING OVER THE DREAMSCAPE!"
I forced the blood to claw out of the crack and surround it from the outside completely. It seemed to have changed everything around us as the once lightly colored aura began to turn a shade of grey with a hint of purple hiding within.
The sudden change brought Ezephyr into a fit of gurgled coughs. "Wh--at...the...." Blood from the cracks on his skin began to seep out.
Sun let him go in disgust. "Ugh. He smells like burnt metal."
Ezephyr took a finger and wiped the blood. Shock enveloping his eyes upon observing it. "Blood as black as void..."
"A trademark of all Demons. No matter the percent." I stated, watching closely as his magic became unstable.
"You...mendacious demon." Ezephyr snapped.
"Call me what you want but at least I do not feed my savior's complex." I snarled, holding my injured arm with a proud smile. "I control the entire chess board, Dream Freak. What's your move?"
"How?" Augusta whispered breathless, staring at the shaking dreamscape with her body slumped in defeat.
Seemed that taking control of this place was of high concern to them than it seemed. But we were asleep and in reality, I assumed. So what was severe about it? Unless...
"How did you do that? I've never heard of such a magical incantation..." She continued.
"Oh, well, I made up that magic ability." With a deep inhale and exhale as I rose to my feet. "I promised that head Demon of that Council that I would become your world's nightmare. And what's closer to a nightmare than a dream? Especially if it was literal?" Before I gathered my hands together I dropped my smile. The remaining light from the realm disappearing. "Reality."
At the end of my speech, we quickly fell into darkness. The next moment the lights were on. Fighting against my hold on the realm.
"Nightmares eventually have an end, like all things in life. So I will end this dream short, Prince Sin of Mirrikh. I will rid of you. Even if it means drawing my last breath." Ezephyr announced, stretching out a hand. This triggered a rumble. A great shake that made me lose my balance a couple of times.
During it, Ezephyr turned to heartbroken Augusta, who seemed to know what he was going to do. The two argued at first, but then dropped into a series of hushing whispers until he ended it, which made her shed tear.
Acceptance.... What were they planning? If I were to give my best guess, he could've said something like "I'm sorry, my dear", before throwing her to rhe side, somehow taking her to reality.
But that did not happen.
Instead, she turned away from him and began to run. Wherever she was leaving off to, I couldn't let her off.
"Sun! After her. I'm sticking with Ezephyr."
Without questions asked, Sun saluted me and ran off after her. Disappearing in cloaked mode. To ensure his successful pursuit, I turned to Ezephyr with a finger pointed at him.
"Throw me your worst."