Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

Ambition. The death of many. How interesting. Now it makes sense why Kurt seemed uncaring regarding the last few incidents. He's got a backer.

The Pale King, huh?

"Tell me, Kurt, do you even care that the Court of Nox is after your head?" I calmly inquired, "Surely there must be some hate. After all, your master might be a leader in this manhunt."

He shrugged. "Master has her path, and I have mine. She will understand. If not…"

Staring at the icy meaning behind his words, I could not help but be impressed. Kurt got himself some cookie points. This bitch finally grew a set. Although words aren't shit if you can't back them up.

"This pale king, who is he?"

"She." Said Kurt. "The Pale King is who dwells in the Abyss, not part of its collective mind but as a singularity that stands on its own, seeking only eternal slumber."

My mind recalled the fabled story of Mephisto waking Azathoth. Could she be like him?

"You stole her blood?" I calmly asked, and he smiled.

"We bowed upon entering the crystal palace that housed her body. Never before had we felt so weak. So insignificant before someone such as her. "He trembled, shuttering as a smile slipped over his lips. "Sitting upon her crystal throne surrounded by a Lake of Chaos, she opened her mouth and spoke,

"The Azure Abyss Calls. We the Eternal One's Born of Chaos and Order—" He paused, shaking his head, "We all blacked out after that. But based on your expression. I think you know who the Azure Abyss is."

Thinking back to the azure aura around Lilith, the words spoken by Abyss-chan.

I think I do know.

The Azure Abyss was one of my children. It was their title. More than once had I heard that. But the children aren't even born? How do they know anything about them?

"Does the Pale King have a name?" I softly asked, intrigued by the premise yet a little uneasy about the future. I don't think it was a simple coincidence Cleo and the other awoke the Pale King. It couldn't have been Mephisto; he definitely wouldn't want another third party to mess up his game.

Azathoth, now the Pale King, who else is next? Could it have been fate? No, maybe it was simply the will of the Abyss itself.

"Arsene, we Pale Knights, will stand by the Pale Lady. The Abyss and the Bed of Chaos are yours, but we are taking Oblivian and Melinoë."

"And how is it you know about Melinoë?" I curiously asked, narrowing my eyes as I tried with my all to resist the urge not to tear Kurt's throat from his neck.

I'd rather implode an entire Planer Realm than allow it in the hands of another.

"The same way I know that you seek Arcadia," He said smilingly, startling me to my core. Only the Fallen knew of that.

"Three Eternal Ones have awakened, and more are sure to stir from their eternal slumber; upon their rise, the Twelve realms shall shatter, revealing the Entrance to Arcadia."

My fingers curled behind my back, and an icy void filled my Soul Flame, cooling my emotions. "I see, so this is where your arrogance stems. Let me guess; you are to journey Iluthath in search of these Eternals."

"Yes, alongside Cleo and Sig."

Now it's a race against the clock; the Order of Chaos must get there first. I know there must be another way to open and find the bridge to Arcadia. I—

Wait, three Eternals? Who's the third?

"We will do our part for now, Arsene. But we are gone once Iluthath opens." Kurt said, turning around. "Keep the room. I'll find another."

Lowering my head as he left the room, my voice echoed. "Mephisto."

"I did not know about this either," came his icy reply deep within my soul. "you did well not to kill that fool. Seek out Izavith, and find out what you can. I'll ask Gabriel to help assist Ariel in protecting your wife, but I'm afraid things aren't looking good."

"I know. The Third One." I paused, thinking for a moment. "Could it have been my mother?"

"Arsene. She's dead. "

"But her body was never recovered, was it," I replied, almost in a knowing matter despite barely being able to recall a full image of her.

Feeling the hesitation through the intent, Mephisto spoke. "It can't be her. She's a Forsaken, but… Your mother could have been the person to have awoken an eternal one, just as I once did. And that could have been the one who truly killed her."

Finger clenching, It took everything in me not to explode. "What makes you say that?" I asked as calmly as possible, feeling a blade twisting in the depths of my heart.

"what other explanation is there? Your Mother Yuki was as strong as a Chaos Lord, if not stronger, leading me to believe she was a higher lifeform, somehow living in the fourth Heaven. My theory is that she was a protector who stumbled upon an Eternal. But Zariel should know more about her than I."

"What's that mean?" I coldly ask.

"He's the Lord of Absolution, and on occasion, he stumbled into a few pocket dimensions hidden from my eye back when he was around your age. Upon his return, he sought me out multiple times but never told me what happened."

"You think he might know who the Third Eternal One is?" I probed.

"That's for you to determine. Ask him," replied Mephisto, and his presence faded from my mind, leaving an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"I shouldn't care so much. I can barely remember my mother; I barely even know her." and yet. I touched my chest, where the phantom beating of my heart resounded. " Why does it hurt so much?"

Shaking my head, I sat down in the lotus position and attuned myself to the Abyss, entering this heart of the Abyss once more where I always saw Izavith.

I stared up at the nebula coiling aimlessly around me, and a gruesome pain only swelled within my heart as I thought of the silver hair we shared—the cold night's huddle near one another. The story she once sang.

"Arsene? Back again, I see."

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