"I was shocked as you are now, Ashley. I simply sat down and asked him why he hadn't just let me die, especially after I had just told him that I helped create a weapon that could defeat him. He never gave me an answer but all he said was, 'You could take off that ring and be reduced to cinders for all I care but if you do choose to keep it then it means you will be indebted to me.'"
"Sounds like a deal with the devil," Ashley said.
"It does, doesn't it?" Sebastian replied. "Well Lord Ethan left and I choose to keep wearing that ring. For months, I tried finding him but it seemed he had left the realm. Then one day I was out roaming a certain town when I heard some of the local merchants talking about the earth realm. They noticed that I was from earth and they asked me if I knew about the decree made by the Trarisian King, Thorus."
"Trarisian?" Ashley asked.
"Trarisia was the kingdom that the demons had attacked back when I was a Drifter," Sebastian replied. "I was told that Thorus had ordered the extermination of the Drifters."
"Why?"
"I didn't know back then but I asked my acquaintances what year it was on earth. 1225 AD was what I was told. Only forty-five earth years had passed since I became a creature of the dark and it meant..."
"Your daughter... she still could have been alive," Ashley finished.
"I searched for every possible way of getting out of that realm but no magic could prevent me from dying if I used any portal in that realm. For days I couldn't sleep or even think about feeding; all that was on my mind was my daughter. But then one day, I was in a deserted town and there I met Lord Ethan. I ran to him, fell to my knees and only asked one thing of him; that he save my daughter and if he wanted, my people. He looked at me and asked, 'And what good will that do for me?'"
"If it were anyone I would have probably appealed to the goodness inside them but this was the despised Chimera. So I did the only thing I could think of; I offered myself to him. I would do anything he asked, go anywhere he went, kill anyone he wanted. I told him I would do it all if he could just save my power. But Lord Ethan lifted me by my neck and told me that he had no time to waste on petty things that didn't concern him. He snapped my neck and when I woke up he was gone."
"I stayed in that ghost town for months and did nothing. Maybe I was hoping that I would run into Lord Ethan again but no... he never came. With the little bit of strength, I had left I walked to a nearby town. I remember sitting like a beggar in the street when I heard yet another conversation from some of the town's people. 'I was in the earth realm when I heard this,' one said. 'The one they call the Chimera haswiped out an entire Trarisian army.'"
"I rushed over to him and grabbed him by his robe," Sebastian said. "He was clearly shocked when he saw my pale, dissecting body; I had not fed throughout that time. By the way, I was in Arzyria... the realm your friend Shira comes from. I asked the Arzyrian if what he was saying was the truth. Hesitantly, he told me that all the merfolk he encountered on earth's land we're talking about it and he added to say that the Chimera had also killed King Thorus."
A sigh of relief came out of Ashley's nostrils. She didn't know why but throughout the story she was hoping that Ethan would save the Drifters and to hear this...
"I met Lord Ethan again in Arzyria," Sebastian said. "This time it wasn't by coincidence because he came to me and he wasn't alone; Serena was with him."
Though it was raining, Ashley was sure she saw tears flowing out of Sebastian's eyes.
"My daughter," he said. "She was so grown up but she jumped into my arms exactly the way she did when she was a babe. My whole body was shaking and Lord Ethan just stood there staring at us. He left us but said he would be back in seven days. In those seven days, I told my daughter everything that had happened to me; both the good and the bad. She didn't judge me for the wrong I had done and she greatly delighted in the good. I also found out that she was now married and had two children. She also told me that the reason why Thorus made that degree was that the Drifters had saved some humans who had almost drowned but the humans were actually pirates and months later they captured and killed Thorus's son who was known to be a wild adventurer."
"Those seven days with my daughter made me feel alive... even as a dark creature. When Lord Ethan came back, Serena asked him if I could go with her. I wanted to but I knew that I being a dark creature would only bring trouble to her and her family."
"Lord Ethan did, however, give me the key to the Earth-Arzyria portal. It's a magical marker that can allow me to go through any portal from Earth to Arzyria or vice versa. I promised my daughter that I would visit once every few years."
"And Lord... I mead Ethan, what happened between you two?" Ashley asked.
"I did what I vowed I would do," Sebastian said. "I pledged my loyalty to him. 'Suit yourself' was what he said and for five Arzyrian years, I followed Lord Ethan everywhere he went. In those years, I discovered that the more you learn about Lord Ethan the more you realize how little you know about him. After five years, Lord Ethan one day left Arzyria but before he did he gave me a gift; something I'd rather not mention. I have never seen him ever since. I did visit my daughter from time to time and the last time I came to the earth realm was four hundred years ago to lay my great-grandson to rest. I left and told myself that I would never return. The thought of seeing the people you love leaving you was just too much to bear. But after hearing about how Richard defeated my master I just had to act... so yes Ashley, this is why I am here..."
Sebastian gently grabbed Ashley's hand and a stinging pain coursed through her body when he used his claw to pierce her palm. He then placed the Orb in his hand below hers and some of her blood fell on it.
"See, that wasn't so bad," Sebastian said.
A brilliant green light emanated from the Orb as Sebastian began to chant in a foreign language. The light filled the entire area. Ashley closed her eyes for a while and when she opened them the light had disappeared and now only the inside of the Orb was glowing. The green cloud inside it was spiraling violently as Sebastian moved away from her.
"Let me ask you this Ashley Morgan," Sebastian said. "Why do you fight? Why are you trying to prevent Lord Ethan's awakening? You don't know him; you two have never even crossed paths. Do you only fight only because Richard told you that Lord Ethan is someone that needs to remain in his eternal sleep?"
Why am I fighting? Ashley asked herself. Why was she even here? The Chimera, the Orb, all this; why was she so quick to drag herself into all this?