Requiem watched the newcomers, turning to Yver and turning back to them. He sighed, putting his hands behind his back as he observed them calmly. They all had their heads bowed, and he tried his best to maintain a straight face, his eyes gleaming in a cold light.
"These people — they are your subjects?" he asked, turning to Yver. He glanced at her as she sat in the purple mist, resting on the bare earth. Her subjects sang her praises, but none dared crossing the mist to touch her. Even Requiem maintained his distance.
"I am a popular goddess in Alfheim, and Svart-alfa-heim. Although, I am relatively young — given that I am barely four hundred years." She turned to one of her worshippers, then smiled. Staggering back, the man stared back at her with widened eyes, "A handful of human groups worship me."
"I understand not many people worship the stars." Requiem blinked. In the city of Frozen Jade, it was a starless night sky. Only the moon existed to remind the people that the heavens wasn't stolen from above them, granting them light — always so little — so they would not go astray.
"Some at Alfheim had taken it to their hearts to study the stars! It is a realm of infinite wonder, a beauty that Yver is always happy to unravel to those who follow her." The armoured figure spoke, his voice still as cold as ever, the humming remained constant.
A light flashed in Requiem's eyes, and he lifted his hand to hold his chin.
"We have been waiting outside for quite a long time…" Requiem sighed. Turning to Dragnur, "He had been such a good boy. Fret not, milady. He had been well fed." Requiem turned around, his gaze had barely focused on Yver when he felt a blur dash past him, carrying a gust of wind.
Yver caught the beast in her arms, and compared to its massive size in comparison to humans, it looked so small for Yver. He expected even smaller in her greater form. Requiem imagined a scene in silence, then he shuddered. He cleared his throat, the thought never to think of it again!
"Yver, considers you a master. I never expected a mere mortal child." A woman approached, her eyes laden with a threatening fury, and her purple skin gleaming in an alluring beauty. She stopped before Requiem, her lips parting to reveal glistening fangs, "I hate children."
"If that is your attempt to frighten me…" Requiem lifted his hand, and the other behind him were quick to draw their blades and arrows, turning to the purple skinned woman, "Let me be honest with you, my dear friend. It is pathetic."
The atmosphere grew tense, but she stepped back. As she turned her back to him, Requiem felt an urge to leap forward, grab his sword from the ground and stab it through her heart. The second he had that thought, it began to haunt him, and his hand trembled as he lowered it.
"Tch!" he shot a fierce gaze at the caged woman. Now, she was his only hope of obtaining those sweet legendary divine points. He still felt hesitant to kill her as he had not completed his quest. His lips curved into a frown, 'I could force her into revealing the last piece. Then again…'
Would he be able to piece everything together before the time elapsed?
——
Everyone had scattered around in the castle to discuss and share knowledge. The group invited to the castle announced that they would spend only a night or two before returning to their abodes, urging Requiem to "visit them when he can" and "request for aid if he needed any".
For sure, he was going to request their aid.
As for Requiem. He locked his door. He locked his windows. He lit up candlelight and cast away all the mirrors. Standing in silence with his skinny chest bare, and the wound in his chest cleaned up, Requiem held his hands behind his back and a slave stood behind him.
"You mean that those two tried to instigate you into a rebellion." Requiem was unfazed, 'This was all in the scope of my expectations. After all, everything is going according to plan.' He was sure that she would not catch the veins that popped up on his forehead, "I am shocked you resisted."
"I am loyal only to my master." She kept her head bowed, tightening her grasp around the handle of her bucket, trying not to splash the water around with her trembling arms. His aura was strong in the enclosed space, and she fought hard to stand still within it.
Requiem turned around with a smile, "My favourite, you did not disappoint."
He glared upon her as she stood with her head bowed, his blade merely a moment away from his grasp — he would have killed her. He imagined to earn more divine points from Fay's death than the summoner, even if the latter was given a thousand years.
'Which, Heh, she wasn't.' He sneered in his heart.
"I am glad that I pleased you, Lord Requiem." Fay said as her trembling stilled. She had expected a greater argument, but he seemed to have accepted what she said without hesitation. Did he really have this much trust in her? She felt her eyes tearing up.
"I am very glad." Requiem spoke in a soft voice, stunning Fay. He stepped back, walking until he stood over his bed, clenching his fists calmly. "I can only understand if Margaret wants her slice of the cake of authority. Sadly, I cannot lose to anyone — especially my family."
Fay, who stood behind him, stared at his back. His aura was always so distant and suffocating, it made her feel so small, like a drop of water in the ocean. The longer she spent with him, the greater it became, like an abyss that threatened to swallow her whole.
"Fay, do you have anyone you consider family?" Requiem turned around, turning to Fay, and his eyes narrowed. She staggered back, as if he lifted a sword up to her face, her pupils shrunk. He stood in silence, feeling like he had rubbed the wrong spot, "Don't answer that."
She trembled, and he sighed, turning around to the side, glancing out through the windows, "The question better to ask, is there anything you would want to do? The day we met, you seemed eager to escape. You must have a reason — something you struggled so hard to reach?"
"I did not like the chains." She replied honestly, "I wanted to remove them."
Requiem stared at her, then chuckled, "I also hate chains. Maybe, that is why I put everyone who has the chance to threaten my freedom in cages. If I am the only unchained entity, then wouldn't I be free forever?" he turned his back to Fay, hiding the light in his eyes.
"Your goal is to enslave everyone so no one can enslave you?" Fay stared at his back, finding the words somewhat strange in her own mouth. She paused to think, discovering that it were questions unanswered. Numerous thoughts birthed with the header… why?
Why was he not out on an enslavement spree, but decided to take the nearby town with "casual" means? Why had he not gone straight to his father to enslave him and gain the entire kingdom in an instant? Why was he so casual bearing that vicious goal?
Of course, she never knew that Requiem — as the sheepherder of gods — had more than a few principles he followed. He chuckled away to himself, wearing a smug smile in his heart, all crashed in the next instance as Fay asked him a question,
"What if you fail…"