Chương 996: 1026 - Growth of the Pride

"That's quite the story," the Grave Warden stated as Leon finished filling him in on all the delightful and light-hearted adventures he'd had on Arkhnavi.

"I apologize again for all that you had to go through. I… should've given you contingencies for if my method of escape failed you. Apologies. Apologies."

"No need for that," Leon said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"I get it. After seeing all this… I get it. That Primal Devil should never have managed to escape. I couldn't stop it."

"That is no fault of yours, Leon," Ambrose consoled.

"I threw you into a situation that was way over your head. Not to knock your skills, of course, but… I should've done more. I should've done more."

"As I recall, you indicated to me that you'd already done all you could. That's why you sent me."

"I could've ignored the rules my friends and I have set and come here personally. Given the severity of the situation as it stands now, they would have forgiven me."

"Hindsight's perfect, isn't it? How about we focus on what we do now instead of what we could've done better? Reflection's rarely bad, but there's a Primal Devil on the loose and a missing Universe Fragment that's probably in its possession. Shouldn't that be more of a priority?"

"Indeed, indeed." Ambrose sighed and closed his eyes for a long moment. When he opened them, Leon could see more determination there than had been there a moment ago.

"That Primal Devil was one of the worst who could've escaped. Qo Weylekh hid his heart deep within his moon, but that clearly didn't stop him from retrieving it and reforming around it. If we don't find him before he's recovered completely, then there won't be much anyone will be able to do to stop him."

"Who was he, for you to be so afraid of him?"

"Only one step removed from the Primal Devil's King. His power was nearly unmatched throughout the universe, though the Great Lord Khosrow got the better of him during the Great War. This Devil was known as Planerend. When populations of humans grew too strong or numerous, he would come and destroy the planes they lived upon, in the vain hope that none would rise from human ranks that could challenge the hegemony of the Primal beings."

"That seems to have worked out quite well for him," Leon said with a wry smile. Ambrose, however, stared Leon in the eye and remained completely stone-faced.

"I'm in no mood for jokes right now, Leon. No mood for jokes. I don't know how we're going to stuff Planerend back into his prison, or if that's even possible. I don't know where he is or what he may want to do. I only know that he's out there, he was at least injured and weak from his imprisonment and our attempts to stop him from fleeing, and that he'll inflict great suffering upon the universe should he not be stopped. We must stop him. We must stop him."

"How are you going to do that?"

"We'll think of something. We'll think of something. We have time to plan. For now, Leon, I'd rather ask you something…"

"Hit me."

"I'd rather not; you might not survive. You were a bit light on the details, but how much do you remember of Planerend's final action against you? Right before you lost consciousness?" Leon froze in his seat as he thought back to that moment. He remembered the Primal Devil turning its gaze upon him, filling his perception, causing him to see nothing but the creature's eye—or heart, or whatever the hells that red orb was.

He then felt heat and strange power coming to him in his desperation, and then the color red-orange. He had some suspicions about what happened, but he wasn't going to share them with Ambrose. He'd save those for the Thunderbird and Xaphan.

"I don't remember much," Leon stated.

"It looked at me, and I… well, nothing much after that. I thought I wasn't going to wake up." Ambrose stared at him for a long moment, and Leon carefully schooled his expression to keep his thoughts hidden. He squirmed a bit since Ambrose's aura was overwhelming, but other than that, he didn't think he gave anything away.

"Then there's no problem," Ambrose eventually said, his voice quiet and subdued, as if he were speaking only to himself.

"There's no problem." His reaction, however, told Leon that there was a problem, and it probably meant his suspicion was correct. His mouth remained shut, however.

"Now," Ambrose continued, "Please turn over Iluva's body to me; I will ensure it returns home." Leon complied, grateful that Ambrose was going to take responsibility for his repatriation.

"Let's speak later," Ambrose said as he took possession of Iluva's body.

"For now, I must speak with my fellows." Ambrose rose from his seat, and Leon hurriedly followed suit, concern flashing across his face.

"What about me?" Leon asked.

"Where are we and when will I be able to return home?"

"We're still around Arkhnavi," Ambrose explained.

"This place was built to be a temporary gathering place while we stabilize the situation around Arkhnavi and ensure that Qo Weylekh's charges remain where they are. As for when you'll be returned… One day? One day." Leon sighed, having hoped that he wouldn't have to wait that long. However, he supposed one day wasn't that bad. It would give him plenty of time to rest, at least, and to wrap up his business with the team he'd built on Arkhnavi.

"In that case," he said, "I'll go and find some of the others. Good luck with your business."

"We will speak again soon, Leon Raime. We will speak again soon." With that, Ambrose smiled, bowed, and vanished in a flash of blue-tinged darkness.

"Great," Leon sarcastically bemoaned.

"A day. Fuck. All right." He sighed again and cast his gaze about the sparsely furnished dining hall. He appreciated the minimalist décor, but he had more furnishings in his portable villa, and there was one piece of furniture in particular that he wanted to use: a mirror. So, he pulled one out of his portable villa and held it up with his magic, relishing the fact that he could do that at all without the Primal Devil's power interfering.

Holding up the mirror, Leon peered at his reflection, noting that he looked remarkably pale. Nothing else stuck out to him, though. He paid more attention to his eyes than anything else, but they were the exact same shade of gold as they'd been before the confrontation with the Primal Devil. There wasn't a hint of red or orange in them, giving him some amount of relief. He didn't consider himself a particularly vain person, but he really liked his eye color and his own power tainting that would not be appreciated.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. As it was, though, he was fine, apparently completely restored. He pulled the mirror back into his portable villa in his soul realm and exited the dining hall through the door that Tir and Mari had used a few minutes prior. The door opened out into a large oval atrium. The ceiling was open to the sky, putting the night sky on full display.

Three other doors led to other wings of this gathering place, but Leon ignored them in favor of walking over to Mari, who'd been sitting on a stone bench with her eyes trained on the sky. She sprang to her feet as soon as she noticed him, however.

"Lele! Everything all right?"

"Everything's just fine," Leon said with a jovial smile.

"Well, that's not true; everything's still pretty fucked, but it's no longer our job to fix it, so I'd say that makes everything 'just fine'." Mari chuckled despite everything.

"That's somethin' to be grateful for, isn't it? Let some other fuckers take care of all the shit, right?" Leon nodded, and they shared a laugh. When they went quiet again, Leon asked, "How've you been doing? Lots have happened over the past few months…" Mari's expression immediately fell.

"That's… I don't know, Lele. I… kinda don't…" Leon softly laid his hand on her shoulder and pulled her into a loose hug. She buried her face in his shoulder for a long moment, and he pretended not to feel her shaking or to hear her sobs. He also pretended not to notice the wet marks on his shoulder when she pulled away, nor her bloodshot eyes. She laughed in embarrassment and said, "He… Hey, Lele, you're actually kinda nice, ya know?"

"Hey, you keep that to yourself!" Leon said with mock anger.

"Kings aren't nice! If this gets out, I might be humiliated!" Mari softly punched him in the shoulder.

"Sure, sure. To answer your question… I can't. I mean… I can't. I don't know how I'm doin', and I don't know what I'm gonna do now. My father's… gone. Most of my friends were conscripted into Ard'Khun's army, and… they're gone, too. I… don't really have anywhere to go, ya know?"

"I know," Leon replied.

"I spent the first sixteen years of my life in a place that I can no longer return to. I mean, I can go back there, but without the people who used to live there with me, it'll never be the same. That loss… it'll never fully heal, but it gets easier to handle with time."

"That doesn't help much, Lele." Leon shrugged.

"Then let me try something I hope will be a little more helpful: why don't you come back to Aeterna with me? You know that we have machines like arks and golems, and we'd love for you to share your knowledge with us. I'll ensure you're well compensated, too." Mari hardly gave the matter any thought before a smile broke out across her features.

"I'd love to, Lele." Leon grinned.

"Not even going to haggle a good price? I'm eager to get some of the Ulta suit magic engineering added to my people's canon of knowledge, and I'd pay quite well for that…"

"Ya tryin' to scam me, Lele?" Mari asked.

"No," Leon answered with a hint of confusion.

"I trust ya. I don't think you're goin' to fuck me over with compensation, so why waste the time with hagglin'?"

"I know some people who'd be mortified that you didn't at least try it," Leon said.

"And not even because they're greedy; they'd just think that you're hurting your own position by not trying to get a better deal."

"Fuck 'em," Mari replied with a shrug.

"They don't like it, they can eat my ass." Leon snickered in response. Then, something occurred to him.

"You're going to have to learn the local language! Fortunately, I have just the solution for that!" He pulled the Rumble Stone out of his soul realm and allowed Mari to use it.

"Ah! Fuck! Shit!" she cursed as she held her head.

"That's unpleasant…"

"A small price to pay for something so useful, though…"

"If ya say so… Fuck, guess I'd better get practicin', huh?" Mari nodded, but before she could truly start, Leon asked, "I'll come and get you when it's time to leave, but it's going to be at least a day before that happens, so make any preparations you need before then. Do you know where the others are? I'd like to check in on the other three…" Mari pointed to one of the doors on the longer side of the atrium's oval.

Leon thanked her and entered the door, finding himself in another hall that appeared to be set up as some kind of hospital. Why he hadn't been recovering here he wasn't sure, but he supposed he appreciated the solitude. That solitude was evidently denied Serena and Ard'Nara, for both were lying insensate on little more than cots. Tir stood vigil above Nara and acknowledged Leon's entrance with a shallow bow.

"Tir'Anu!" Leon exclaimed as he walked on over.

"I have half a mind to call you Tiraeses just for old time's sake."

"I'd hardly classify a few weeks ago as 'old times'," Tir replied as he put on a gentle smile.

"Well, we just faced down a Primal Devil and survived; we've experienced more in these past couple of months than most do in their entire lifetime." Tir conceded the point with a quick nod of his head.

"So," Leon continued, "what're your plans for the future?" Tir took a long moment to think before answering, his eyes lingering on Leon before shifting to Nara.

"I have spent most of the past day praying to the gods for insight into that very decision, Leon. Wise Farangeun has yet to bestow upon me any insights into the future." Leon quietly nodded before slowly, hesitantly, asking, "You know you can come with me back to Aeterna? I would give you a place in my Kingdom, should you want one." Tir smiled and chuckled self-deprecatingly. He didn't immediately answer, so Leon gave him some time to think.

"By Mulitan, Lord of Memory, I once said to you, Leon Raime, that only the virtuous can be trusted to wield their powers responsibly."

"And you followed that up by stating that 'no man is virtuous.'""I would like to revise that statement." Tir fixed Leon in a serious stare.

"You have proven yourself virtuous, Leon. Hardly perfect—only the gods shall ever be so—but you have virtue in abundance. Humility, honesty, and integrity. There are few that I would trust with power, but you are one of them."

"I appreciate the words, Tir'Anu, but… to be honest, I can be pretty damn arrogant if the situation calls for it, I can lie if need be, and… well, I try to have integrity, but I'm not the best judge of that so I'll say no more."

"From what I've seen over the past couple months, Leon… you would be a King that I would gladly follow. I would sleep well knowing that I serve a worthy King." Leon almost smiled, but he could hear the sadness in Tir's voice, and he could almost physically feel the 'but' coming." But," Tir continued, "I cannot follow you back to Aeterna. Arkhnavi is my home. I will live and die upon it, and now that the devilish power is being banished by the Grave Wardens, my people will need my help to rebuild.

I will never be free of my past, of all the blood I spilled, but that doesn't mean I can't try and make the world a bit brighter before the Red-Eyed One finally comes for me. Atonement will never be achieved, not in the truest sense, but perhaps Just Helior will smile upon me when I'm brought before him if I give all the time I have left to my people." Leon smiled bitterly and said, "I won't hide my disappointment, but I understand.

Thank you for aiding me as long as you did, my friend, and I hope you find the peace you seek."

"May the gods aid you in your future endeavors, Leon Raime," Tir responded. Leon reached out and clasped the other man's arm, and then they parted. He took a moment to inspect the other two, noting that the cots they laid in were heavily enchanted and were doing an admirable job expunging their bodies of darkness magic. He figured he could've added some of the Thunderbird's lightning to the mix, but he decided not to for fear of disrupting what already seemed to be working.

He supposed he'd just have to hope that Nara would wake up before he left if he wanted to share some last words with the Prince. Leon then left the hall and returned to the room he'd awoken in. It was a comfortable enough place, and he had a lot of business to attend to. First and foremost, he checked all of his gear. So much exposure to the Primal Devil's power couldn't be good for his sword and armor, even if they were powerful pseudo and real Adamant.

However, when he made his quick check, he found that little was wrong, save for a powerful need to clean his armor at some point in the near future. He'd enchanted it to be self-cleaning, but it was a small enchantment, and spending two to three months traversing a desolate darkness-soaked plane was a bit too much for it to handle. Iron Pride was in even better shape, the Adamant and Iron Needle within ensuring that even the power of a Primal Devil couldn't so much as tarnish the blade.

Once that was done, Leon got comfortable in the bed and cast himself into his soul realm. It was time to have a chat with the Thunderbird about just what in the hells happened between him and Planerend that left him without his eyes—and, he suspected, may have aided the Grave Wardens in injuring the Primal Devil to the point of driving him off.