Oblivion Ch. 02

"But that doesn't answer my question," Kristasia prompted.

Though the Sixth Realm was perhaps not as scientifically advanced as the higher realms, she grasped at least a basic idea of the concept.

"However, when a metaphysical thing such as a soul exists in a physical body, it can create something from nothing. It can create energy that does not and cannot exist in the physical realms. Your emotions. Your feelings. Your thoughts. Have you ever felt exhausted from an emotional upwelling? Have you ever been terribly angry and afterwards felt fatigued? Or terribly sad or overly joyful? All the emotions that every mortal feels produce metaphysical energy and because I own your souls, it comes to me. They metaphysical energy that a soul produces is the energy that feeds me and what I use to create things with. The souls of the dead that live here in the Ninth Realm still have feelings and emotions and they provide me with energy here as well, although it is far less than that of the mortals in the Sixth Realm."

"Then why do the souls come here? I know you said they must be purified, but why?" she then inquired.

"I receive all the emotional energy of all the mortal souls I own, both here and in the realm below. It sustains my existence, but it also influences it. A light soul, a clean soul, a pure soul, will have more positive emotions. A dark soul, one that is dirty and scarred and impure, will have more negative emotions. If I allowed the souls of the world to grow dark, as the pain of living a mortal life does, even with no memories, when they reincarnated in the mortal realm, they would be predisposed to negativity and darkness. Eventually my realm would be a very cruel and harsh, evil place of evil people. Then I would be as well. My mortals would likely kill each other off and destroy their realm, which would, in turn, destroy me and, by proxy, unbalance the entire Ninth Realm, which would, inherently, unbalance all the other realms and, as a result, destroy everything in existence," he explained. "It's all a balancing act. There must be as many mortals residing here in the Ninth Realm as there are in the mortal plane. However, in the mortal plane, physical bodies are born and souls must inhabit them. So, on occasion, when a physical body is born and there is no soul waiting to fill its vessel, a bit of my essence is pulled into the realm and a soul is created, but only if I have an excess of power absorbed from the emotional energies of the mortal plane."

"So... so you're saying that I was... I was once a part of you?" Kristasia asked uncertainly.

"All mortal souls once were. That is why I am your god. Your physical mortal body was once a part of many animals and plants and other humans. You do not feel as much reverence for them, though, do you? Do you worship a rabbit you cooked in your stew, for the cells your body regenerated were made from the energy given by the flesh that was once a part of him," the demon god pointed out.

"I suppose it is because the rabbit is not so much infinitely greater than me," Kristasia replied.

"All great things are only great because of the small things that made them so," he told her softly as his fingertips gently brushed her black hair back from her pale skin. "Perhaps it is the greatest failing of all great things to underestimate the small things which make them so great. If you would allow it, little one, I would show great reverence to you."

Kristasia's round blue eyes dropped to her feet at the charming sweetness of his words. The tone of his voice melted her and for a moment she wondered why she had not turned to a puddle at his feet. Despite her strong will and keen intellect, despite all of her guarded nature, the demon god was really beginning to get to her. To stay with him and be his wife, the wife of a god, and to want for nothing for the rest of eternity. What sane, or for that matter, insane person would deny that request? Especially when it came in such a beautiful form as his?

"I would greater prefer, my infinitely divine creator, if you would give me a chance to bathe. I am covered in dirt and spider webs and blood," she stated as she motioned down at herself.

"That can be arranged."

When Kristasia looked back up they were in a bathroom of sorts. A large tub of tawny stone which stretched the length of the room was built into one of the black stone walls of the tower and sat upon a gray marble floor. A mirror set above a long sink opposed the tub and a toilet was set back in a far corner. Torches lit the room from every wall, bathing it in a yellow glow.

"Everything you need sits upon the sink. Soaps for you to choose from, bath salts, lotions, brushes, cloths, and towels. Whatever you could possibly want is there," Daedronus stated.

Kristasia looked back at the empty sink counter to find that it was now covered in the things he had said.

"And fresh clothes?" she asked.

"When you are finished with your bath, step through this door and you will find yourself already appropriately attired," the god replied.

"And what is through that door?" Kristasia mused.

"My bedroom."

Her eyes widened as she stared up at him. Her lips fell slightly apart.

"Oh, silly girl, I did not mean that!" he laughed. "We'll save that for much later. I assumed that after you bathed you'd want to collect the child from Creed's very tender and loving arms and join me for dinner. I meant only that when you step from the bathroom, I will have already conjured you a fine dress for the occasion and will take you down to the dining hall. Unless you are feeling a bit spontaneous... but if that's the case, I can just join you in the bath."

"I'd really prefer that you didn't," she responded quickly.

"I assure you that if I did stay, when I was through, you'd have a much different thing to say about it," he laughed as his dark eyes sparkled and his black lips rose at their corners. "But I can wait. After all, you still haven't accepted my proposal. No decent or respectable man and woman would dare engage in such a matter if they were not married."

"I believe you'd engaged in such a thing numerous times," she accused.

"I never said I was decent or respectable. Also, I don't want to make you feel entirely uncomfortable or anything, but simply because I am the lord of this land, you do know that I can see everything that happens in any and every place I choose to gaze upon, don't you?" he asked with a smirk and a wolfish wink before rather suddenly disappearing.

Kristasia crossed her arms over her chest as she stared at the door before her, certain he'd disappeared into the next room. She shook her head and let out a sigh, fully understanding his implications. Let him watch if he must. She needed a bath.

As she bathed, the last few hours of her life washed over her as surely as the hot water did. The sweet scents of the fine soaps and bath salts he provided did much to soothe her tired and aching body. Though Kristasia hadn't realized it until then, she was exhausted. They had run from their master at the start of the evening, just after darkness had fallen. Before that she'd had a long day of slave's work in the house. She wasn't sure how long she'd been in this realm, or what time it was, but she did know that she had spent what would have been the entire night in her world running from demons, fighting spiders, and hiking miles with a strange little beast who called himself Scawp. That was her last thought before the soothing warm water put her to sleep.

A while later, the cold bath water finally woke Kristasia. She quickly finished washing and stepped out, shivering, onto the cold marble floors. She had no idea how long her little nap had lasted, but the urge to check on Lonia was beginning to overcome her. She cursed herself for her own selfishness. She'd left the child in the care of strange demons, had herself a bath and a nap, and there was no telling what was happening to her little niece. She dried quickly and stepped through the door, hoping the demon god hadn't been lying about her dress.

"If you're so tired, you can always join me in the bed," he called softly to her from where he lay, propped up on red satin pillows.

"I'd rather see about Lonia. It's selfish of me to have left her," Kristasia replied, briefly checking to make sure she would be dressed as he had promised.

A silken gown of black crested with pearls that a queen would have been proud to wear hung loosely from her shoulders. Sheer sleeves stretched down both arms and draped from her wrists. She ran her hands over the fabric, its very touch upon her skin nearly giving her chills. Never in her life had she ever thought she would wear something so beautiful.

"She's doing fine. Creed took her on a tour of the entire tower. She complained of being tired. He carried her. She fell asleep in his arms. He took her to one of the couches in the Lounge Hall and put her to sleep with a pillow and blanket. Scawp jumped up there with her and they took a nice little nap. Creed stood there guarding them the entire time, sneering at any Daedran who came by, and grumbling to himself about what an ass I am. Then she woke up, woke Scawp up, and Creed ordered his Daedran to find her some toys to play with. They returned with many things, but..." Daedronus paused as a strange smile snuck across his lips, "I don't really think any of my Daedran know exactly what toys are. I believe they are making do. If you'd like to rest longer, perhaps in a bed and not a tub, I believe they'll go on without you."

Kristasia eyed the demon god upon his large, red satin bed which took up the better half of the room and, other than a red rug upon the floor, torches on the black walls, and a window staring out at a darkening purple sky, was the only thing in the bedroom.

"I'd like to go see her," Kristasia replied firmly.

"Very well," he responded as he rolled over and made his way up from the bed.

The demon lord approached her, a strange smile on his lips, and held out his hand.

"Come, my lady. I must admit, this is a rather comedic sight and perhaps you shouldn't miss seeing it," he said.

Kristasia took his hand and the world changed around her.

"One, two, three, four, five, six," the mass voice of a small crowd chanted.

Kristasia looked over to see a lounge hall filled with Daedran forming a small crowd around something. The demons parted as their lord and Kristasia moved amongst them to get a view of the strange sight drawing their attention.

Two Daedran stood swinging a thick rope between them as Creed looked on, shaking his head, likely at the shame he and his fellow soldiers were being forced by his lord to endure. Of course, most of the Daedran looked rather more amused than ashamed, and almost all of them were counting. Lonia was in the middle of the two Daedran, holding Scawp's clawed fingers, and jumping over the rope each time it passed their feet.

"Seven, eight, nine, ten," the Daedran around them were chanting as they watched.

Scawp was perhaps even more gleeful than Lonia and was wearing a horrible toothy grin while he fidgeted with excitement, even while jumping with the little girl. At thirteen, one of them tripped the rope and the two Daedran swinging it stopped. A loud sound of disappointment went out through the crowd.

"You made it higher than last time," one called encouragingly.

"Scawp good at jump rope! Scawp like jump rope! Scawp play again!" Scawp was shouting as he continued to jump, despite the lack of rope.

"We have to take turns, Scawp," Lonia scolded him, shaking her little finger. "It's someone else's turn now. Creed, do you want to jump rope with me?"

"Dear child, I really think that there must be another person out there who is far more eager to do such a thing than I," the demon general replied darkly.

"Oh, come on, Creed! Give it a go!" Daedronus cheered delightedly.

"Sire, please, I beg of you, if there is any mercy left in your heart at all, if my many years of service and friendship and loyalty mean anything to you, if you care even a little bit about me in any form, shape or fashion, please, Sire, I beg of you, do not make me do it," the demon general pleaded sincerely.

"The most powerful and most feared of all my Daedran and you're afraid of a little girl and a rope?" Daedronus asked. "Oh well, I suppose it's time enough for dinner anyway. Creed, Lonia, Scawp, my Daedran, would you all care to join us in the Dining Hall?"

"Krissy!" Lonia called as she ran to Kristasia's side, wrapping her arms around her waist.

"Lonia! I missed you. Are you alright?" Kristasia asked the child softly.

"I'm just fine! Creed and Scawp and the Daedran are fun! They're all so nice to me! They play with me and do whatever I want and tell me I'm cute and funny and I want to stay here forever, Krissy!" Lonia cried happily. "And you have such a pretty dress! Can I have one just like it?"

"Perhaps not just like it, but what do you think of this?" Daedronus asked and suddenly Lonia wore an adorable little green dress that any princess would admire. "Now come along with us to the Dining Hall and you can tell her all about your adventures and then you can have whatever your heart desires for dinner."

The child did as the demon god said and proceeded into a long rant about her adventures with Creed and Scawp and the other Daedran, some of which worried Kristasia only a bit. Apparently the Daedran had come up with all sorts of strange and potentially dangerous things when Creed had sent them to go find toys.

When they made their way into the Dining Hall, which was really only a very long table in a very long hall set with many chairs, Daedronus sat at the head of the long table. He requested that Kristasia sit on his right with Lonia beside her, and that Creed sit at his left. Creed glowered at his lord for only a moment before taking his seat on the left beside him. When all of the Daedran had seated themselves at the table as well, a feast appeared before them all. Though to the Daedran it appeared to be a casual meal, Kristasia and Lonia felt spoiled with all the sorts of meats and fruits that they had never even tasted in their lives.

"Krissy, can we stay here forever?" Lonia asked her softly when the child had finally filled herself enough.

Kristasia looked down at the little girl and paused as her pretty blue eyes stared back. Though Kristasia could have turned down the pleas of any man, even one so handsome and powerful, so charming and intriguing as the demon god beside her, she could not turn down the pleas of those little blue eyes, no matter what it meant for her.

"Yes," she finally told the child.

Though Lonia smiled and then turned back to her food, happy, but thinking no more of it, Kristasia could feel the demon god's eyes burning upon her. She turned to face him and his charcoal gaze fell heavily on her. He was not smiling, though his face was not entirely neutral. Something in his eyes burned and his expression was something close to thoughtfulness.

"You know what you've agreed to?" Daedronus asked her softly.

"Yes."

"Then you'll marry me as well?"

"I thought that I had to, if I wished to stay."

"Then we are married," he proclaimed.

"What? Now? Here?" she asked, surprised and rather taken aback.

"Well, you see, mortals marry and have a ceremony to invoke the blessing of their god, which, in your case, would be me. Your priest is ordained by your god, which, in this case, is also me. So, I ordain myself to bless myself in marrying myself to you. So I say it, so shall it be. We are married now. Just like that. There is actually a bit more that is entailed when marrying a god, but we'll speak of that later tonight. As far as the public is concerned, we're married now," he replied.

"Fantastic. You married him. Welcome to hell," Creed muttered darkly from across the table.

"And just what do you mean by that? We're not married, Creed," Daedronus snapped.

"Might as well be sometimes. You mistreat me, boss me around, take me for granted, expect me to do everything for you, you rarely appreciate me like you should, I can't leave you, you won't leave me, and we have an appalling lack of sex," Creed replied. "Oh, and you make me take care of your child while you're off with strange women. Sounds like a pretty standard marriage to me."

"I don't know whether you're joking or not. I don't know whether to laugh or feel insulted. Honestly, I just don't understand you sometimes, Creed," Daedronus replied, shaking his head.

"See what I mean?" the demon growled.

"Krissy, I'm tired," Lonia suddenly said as she looked at Kristasia, obviously not paying their present conversation one bit of attention.

"Scawp tired too," the little beast seated beside Lonia added.

"Alright. Creed, Kristasia and I shall take the child and the scawp to an appropriate room on the upper level. I believe the one down the hall from my bedroom should be best. Find a few of your most trusted Daedran and make sure one is always at her door in case she needs something in the night. If there's a problem, come get us," Daedronus ordered. "Oh, and thank you ever so much for taking care of the child all day. I really do appreciate everything you do for me."

Creed glared at the demon god as he watched the two mortals and the scawp disappear from the table with him.

"And this will be your room," Daedronus said as he pushed open the door to what would be Lonia's new bedroom.

The child cried in awe as she rushed into the small room befitting any princess. Unlike the rest of the tower's black, red, and tawny color scheme, the demon god had tapped into Lonia's mind a bit to discover her favorite colors, which now decorated the room. Neutral blue walls were accompanied by a sky-blue marble floor covered in bright green rugs. A small bed with green sheets had sheer green fabric draping down from a canopy of black iron frame in the center.

"Oh, I love it!" Lonia cried as she ran and dove into the bed.

"That door leads to your bathroom. I've left you an entire wardrobe in the closet over there. I'm starting the fireplace," Lord Daedronus said as he glanced over at the dead fireplace to see it sparkling to life. "I believe you'd like the scawp to stay here with you. So, Scawp, that is your bed."

Before Scawp's eyes a simple little bed with green sheets appeared beside the child's bed at Daedronus's words. Scawp's eyes grew wide and he jumped up and down in excitement.

"Oh, so nice! So nice! So nice to Scawp! No one ever been so nice to Scawp!" he cried as little tears formed in his yellow eyes. "Bed! Scawp never had bed! Oh, Scawp love you!"

Instead of approaching Daedronus, though, Scawp ran to Kristasia and hugged her tightly around the waist.

"Master Kristaza so good to Scawp! Scawp be good servant, Master Kristaza! Scawp be so good! Scawp take good care Child. Scawp take good care! Scawp promise!" the beast declared before turning suddenly and leaping across the room in one bound and landing in the bed. "Oh! Bed!"

"Lonia, if you need anything there will be a Daedran outside your door. Goodnight, child. Goodnight, Scawp," Daedronus called from the doorway.

"Goodnight, Daedronus," the child called from the green sheets she was currently wrapped up in. "Goodnight, Krissy!"

"Nights, Master! Nights, Sire!" the scawp cried as he jumped up and down on the bed, testing it and deciding exactly what he would do now that he had his own bed.

"Goodnight, Lonia. Goodnight, Scawp," Kristasia replied before Daedronus pulled shut the door.

"You gave him the bed, but the strange little creature thanked me instead," Kristasia said curiously as Daedronus lead her down the hallway to his room.