When next Darius woke, he woke to soft, warm blankets that enveloped him in comfort, the bed beneath him seeming to hug him and cling to him. And for him personally, he really didn't mind, and he simply let his eyes stay shut as he pulled up the blanket and tucked himself further into the bed.
Then realized. Comfort? Bed? Warm? Blanket?
He shot up in the bed in a daze, looking about the lavish room around him; gold trimmed walls, beautiful paintings, furnishings and decor, everywhere he looked there was the mark of the rich and wealthy. Where the hell was he? The huge bed at the center of the room was surrounded by dazzling splendor, a huge couch against one wall, a desk and shelves of lavish books on the other, a window casting radiant light from behind him, and in front, the door.
'What the heck is this?' He thought, his mouth agape. 'This is a dream, right?' Then he recalled the night before. Etto.. he'd been fighting the assassin mage.. and then..?
His eyes went wide. Alabaun. He had met Alabaun. The real Alabaun. He ran his fingers through his ashy hair in disbelief. 'That means this is..' he looked around. 'I'm in Warshden. This must be the King's castle. Alabaun must have brought me here.'
He kicked his feet over the side of the bed. He still wore the same clothes, which he honestly appreciated. He would have been rather uncomfortable knowing someone had changed him like he were some child. He looked up and saw his cloak and satchel resting on the desk against the wall. He stood from the bed and strode over to gather them, throwing on his cloak and pulling up his hood as he put on his satchel. He turned to head for the door, as he did, he came open and a girl peeked in through the doorway. She had long silver hair that hung past her shoulders, her steel eyes staring blankly at Darius. She wore a lavish white dress and her hair was done up in a ponytail.
For a long and awkward moment, she just stared blankly at Darius with a dead gaze while he failed to meet her eyes, confused. For a moment, he wondered if she thought he was a thief coming to steal stuff.
"Uhm… hi?" He said with a weak wave.
In response, she turned away, leaving the door open as she strode off.
"Hey, wait-" Darius called after her, assuming the worst, "I'm not a thief!" He said, jogging out of the room.
"You're not? You certainly look like one." Came a chuckling voice as a hand pulled down his hood from behind him. Darius leapt away, spinning around to see none other than Alabaun himself smiling warmly at him. He wore an ivory red suit and had a hand stuffing into his pocket.
Darius fumbled with words for a moment before Alabaun raised his hand. "Come with me, Darius."
"You.. know my name?" Darius asked, confused, as Alabaun strode past him.
"Yes, yes I do." He answered.
Darius followed after him, finding nothing else to say other than, "Oh. Okay."
"I must say, Darius, seeing your fight with Etto's shadow was rather entertaining." He said.
Darius cringed. "Well.. I never claimed to be an expert with my magic."
Alabaun chuckled. "No, not what I meant. I mean you did far better than I had expected. And the way you were able to see through his lies was rather impressive as well."
"Wait, you mean you… saw everything? How long have you been watching me?"
"Since you landed here in Rimor. I sensed the arcana you released from out at sea. Not too sure what occurred, but, out of curiosity, I came to investigate, and when I saw you with Etto, I knew what was happening immediately."
"I see.. and by shadow, you mean.. it's one his clones, right?" Darius asked.
"Yes, weaker ghosts of himself. I just like to call them his shadows."
"That explains why he could if duplicate Cryon's magic." Darius mumbled.
"You are rather clever." Alabaun spoke with a smirk. "You saw through everything he threw at you. And the spell you casted at the end there, with all those beatifuk towers, that was quite a show, kid."
Darius wasn't sure what to say. Being complimented by the most renown mage in the world was.. an odd feeling.
"Even still." He said, his tone becoming more serious. "You were reckless. You thought of every variable except the most obvious one, and if the real Etto had been there, had I not been there, you would have been dead. Etto's assassins are everywhere. From the moment you realized it was Etto, you should have assumed the Black Rose was present as well. Your best move would've been to keep up the act until making it to Warshden, from there I could've handled it easily."
"Well.. I was worried.."
"What? That he'd kill me?" Alabaun laughed. "Even the real Etto couldn't come close to me."
"Well, I was also worried you may have thought I was allied with him."
"I'm not that foolish. I am good at reading a character."
"Seems everyone is here in Rimor." Darius mumbled.
"You mean the sailors?" Alabaun chuckled. "Yes, that just comes with experience. And they have much of it."
"The sailors! That's right! Are they okay? Or did the Black Rose…?"
"I appreciate your concern. It would seem you are of a kind heart, but do not worry. I would not let my own people be killed by some pathetic snakes. No, I got rid of the assailants personally. Oh, that reminds me."
Alabaun reached into his pocket and pulled out ten gold coin. "A sailor named Gyro said to return this to you. Said that returning a gift is worse than simply accepting it."
He dropped the coin in Darius's hand. He stared at it for a second and chuckled to himself. "Ironic. That was the first thing Etto's shadow had said."
He stuffed the coin in his satchel as he followed Alabaun through the lavish halls. Eventually, they came to a section where countless large arcing windows lined the left wall. Darius stared out of them in awe, looking down at the marvelous city below. It was nothing like Inguarn with it's bloodstained stone walkways, smudged walls, smog skies and angry, poverished denizens. Here, the people bustled through the stone streets, children running to and fro as guards spoke with kind smiles to the people who all went from vendor to vendor with brig her smiles as they are lavish food. Everything was so… bright, and shiny.
"Much different from Inguarn, isn't it?" Alabaun spoke, standing beside Darius who practically had his face pressed against the window. He cleared his throat, straightening his posture.
"Yeah.. it's.. like a whole other world here. It's hard to believe really. Kindness, wealth, cheers they really just aren't things that seem present in Seimeir. Greed and poverty are all there is.."
"Yes. It wasn't always like that." Alabaun said. Darius glanced up at the man. His expression was somber, as though he was looking back in time upon a different land.
"What was it like..? In your time?"
"Before the corruption?" Alabaun grinned. "I joined forces with the Nameless because I admired him. When he offered me his hand, I took it. He was inspiring. He was everything I wished to be. I was no more than a mere soldier without title nor renown. But he gave me the power of a god. Even with that, it paled in comparison to his own strength. And that strength, that confidence, his true, free spirit was what brought our people together in the Age of Gods. And then came the war. Not a single man died that day. Our army didn't so much as move. We only stared on in awe as we watched the stars fall, as the continent shattered and the Primordials were sent into the abyssal beyond, to be sealed away for time eternal."
"If you don't mind my asking, why did you fight the gods?" Darius asked. "There really isn't anything known about those days.. it's as if history was erased."
"Because it was. The Nameless wanted to forget. He wanted to pretend it never happened, that the gods never were."
"Why?"
"I don't know." Alabaun spoke simply. "Those days were dark. Chaos was all that existed then. Primordial beasts walked the land, rampant and uncontrollable. Yet, no matter how much we worthsiped and prayed, god never gave us peace, saying that the beasts were the function of nature, a natural existence we had to learn to live with. Of course, this created chaos. Wars were constant as nations grasped at strings for control. Death and anguish were all there was."
Alabaun sighed. "But then the Primordial God came to the Nameless, and told him to be a guiding light. He was to be a tool for God to control us all, he was to be a mechanism by which we could keep safe from the primordial beasts as they ran free, while we would hide away behind our walls under his protection. But that was no peaceful world. Fact was, only the great few would be safe in those walls. And the Nameless knew that, and so he betrayed God, passing on his power to others. I'm sure you know the rest."
"I do. God commanded the death of all other mages, but the Nameless refused, and declared war on the Primordials. In the Valley of the Gods, the war started and ended in mere minutes."
"And after there came peace. Or so they say. But that isn't quite right. In reality, other nations were jealous and fearful of us mages, and commanded that the mages should be split up, one placed under the control of the three greatest kings in the land. Of course, this didn't go well. The Nameless refused to be ruled like a puppet, as did we. And the nations declared war on us. In an effort to control them, the Nameless began to pass his power onto more mages, and we were able to victoriously defend our land. But defense quickly became conquest as the mages were sent to decimate the other kingdoms in the name Inguarn, to 'unite all under one banner'. And what was once a war for peace, quickly became a greedy, corrupt rampage for control as masses were murdered in droves. Blood soaked the land, and that's when I left. I couldn't stand by and watch the genocide that came, but I was not strong enough to defeat the Nameless, much less all the other mages at once with him. And so I left."
"The Nameless was once a hero, huh? That's hard to believe." Darius scoffed.
"I thought he was a hero too. But it is easy to view one as good when their goals simply align with your own. I believe that, in reality, all he wanted was control. To rise to the top, to become a king above all the land. To go from scum to god. And the Primordial God was in his way of that. Just because he stood against the corrupt, does not mean he himself was not corrupt. I was simply too blind to see that."
Alabaun turned away from the windows, continuing down the hall, and Darius followed after him, his mind wandering as he thought on what the Nameless was like.
One day he'd find out. One way or another. He knew that. He thought of Waller's words once more. The path he walked.. it led to the Nameless. And whether it ended in victory or defeat, he would come to meet the original mage, and he would fight him. The question was, would he ever become strong enough to do so?