Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

The nameless thing crackled for a bit as if amused. This bastard was to be my enemy, but… but all I saw was a friend, laughing at my children for doing something stupid.

"Who are you?" I finally asked, unable to mask my burning curiosity.

"So it's true, you really don't remember a thing, do you?" he asked softly. " But is that what you truly wish to know, brother? Surely you've not come to visit me for that question alone."

I shook my head. "There wasn't a reason. Not really. Just curiosity. I wanted to see the person who got Zariel so angry. I wanted to see the person who betrayed the Order. And ask you why?"

The man grew silent, and I merely waited, listening to the wheezing air struggle in and out of his rotting carcass.

"My name… I've forgotten." He claimed, causing my eyebrows to scrunch. "Would you believe I betrayed you for money?"

My mind blanked, and all familiarity within me suddenly dwindled to nothing, " What? You betrayed us for money." I stagnantly repeated, unsure if what I heard was correct.

"For coin."

"Hmm." He hummed yes in response. " Shit, I don't even remember the day Zariel had returned from the dead I was so fucked up."

My head tilted as the disbelief only continued to rise. "Drugs?" I hazard a guess, and he nodded.

A/N: 70% true story, lol.

"On a botched mission to Nocturne to leak information to the Black Hand, right after Zariel was wrongly killed and sent to hell, I was approached. The moment that liquid touched my veins, everything—"

"I died because a brother, a friend, sold me out to get money to buy drugs. Are you kidding me? I died…" I stopped. I completely stopped.

Motherfucker!

That's…That's… Motherfucker!... Motherfucker!

"You're kidding me, right?" I asked, hearing my voice crack.

"He's not," Zariel said, materializing by my side in a sea of silvery light. "You know, when I found out, I laughed. I truly did. Not out of anger but at the sheer stupidity of it all. My brother, and one of my dearest friends, died because he wanted money. Money! Not power. Money. Can you guess how much you were worth, Arsene?"

"I-I—"

"It was less than a million. I'll tell you that, less than five hundred thousand credits," Zariel added, balling up his fist. "Just enough for you to buy a house in Winterdeep. The day we received Vancurro and your remains, we found this bastard passed out with a needle in his arm, naked, surrounded by two men and three women."

Staring at this man, all I could do was laugh. Laugh at the disappointment aching into my bones. It was all I could do.

"Damn. Arsene fucking snow. You died because your brother, a member of your organization, sold you out for a little bit of drug money—my God. Please, tell me that Mephisto at least manipulated—"

"He did nothing of the sort. Only watched events play out."

Unsure where to even go from this, I looked up at the neutral expression of this nameless God—lost in an endless abyss of forethought.

"How long did it take you to figure out he ratted Van and me out?"

"I didn't," Said Zariel, shaking his head. "The thought of one of us doing it never even appeared in my mind. But Zero figured it out when he saw the needle and gathered evidence. But by then, he'd already fled to—"

"Who is he?"

"Guess you can call him Kaius." Zariel answered, baring an icy grimace," The day I found out, I lost my shit."

"No, I get it. And I think we're done here. I've nothing to say to him," I added, shaking my head when his voice reached me.

"Don't you wish to know what your children wanted?"

I sneered. "You've lost so much credibility I don't even care to know. My kids are alive and obviously don't need my help. Else, they would have asked."

Shadow Stepping as my stomach roiled with agony, I leaned over to the side near a corner and puked up my breakfast.

"That did not feel good." I moaned, leaning my head within the shadows as disgust swelled my soul. 'God damn. I died to a fucking junkie. Holy shit, that's pathetic."

Sourness filled my mouth as I vomited once more at the thought, unable to help myself as my stomach bubbled in disgust.

I died for no fucking reason.

Puking up another mouthful, I leaned onto a pillar within the Palace. My brow was covered in sweat as I looked up at the tattered ceiling, appearing as though it was about to cave in.

"I need some booty. I need to rub out this feeling of disgust. Where is Freya? Oh, where is Seraphina? I haven't had angelic booty yet.

"You fucking idiot, can you focus? You're on a time crunch." Zariel said, slapping the back of my head. "I'd like to hold my child for the first time, as would everyone else."

"NUT SHOT!!!!" I howled, transcending space and time with the Divinity of Sin. I smiled as Zariel's eyes turned wide, slapping my hand away the best he could.

I missed by a few millimeters.

"Son of a bitch, that was close." He weakly said, glaring furiously at me.

Blinking innocently, I chuckled, "bro. You mad?"

"You're lucky I'm busy. Just open the gates. We're all waiting." He snapped, vanishing in a wisp of silvery embers.

Wiping away any leftover puke off my lips with a handkerchief, I shot one last glance towards the eerie darkness that held that bastard. I never asked about the other head, but it didn't matter. I wasn't going to see him again; that fucker can say the rest of his miserable life here.

And that light my children gave him. It was far from a kindness. He'll understand that one day when he realizes that the pillar of light he hopes for one day will only be a reminder of his eternal suffering.

"In a few chaos cycles, I'll return. And when I do. I promise you I'll show you a world far darker."

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