Oblivion Ch. 03

"Disgusting as it is, I suppose there's nothing we can do about his little living mortal. He has made her a god," Unicus agreed. "But this offense won't go unnoticed. Atronachus's son would not bring us such disruption, I'm certain."

"I have sons too. I think Kayden would fill his spot better than Lucinder," Firolus argued.

"See, you all want to kill me, but none of you will because you'd be too busy fighting over which one of your sons would get my place," Daedronus pointed out.

"I don't believe we must go to war over this. Daedronus has done as he wished to do and that is no different than what any of us do. He has done no harm thus far. He has affected our future and therefore he is the only one who can see into it. He says he does not see harm. Let him be," Triolus stated.

"Even a Lord does not see all the future and it is darkened when other Lords involve themselves. He cannot see any futures in which we intervene. He could look into the future until his eyes melted from his skull, but if I banished his little slut from existence right now, he'd never see it coming," Atronachus spat. "We all know this. His word is useless."

"To do such a thing would create a war and no one here needs to see the future to know how that would end," Triolus quipped. "Let him be."

"I'll let him be, but if he does do harm, I'm sending Godrian after his Grand Divinity Stone," Dagnius added.

"Do I get a vote? I want to vote for Drazzah," Daedronus said, turning to smile at Malcinius.

Even Malcinius rolled his eyes at the suggestion of his youngest son being granted the position of Lord.

"There is no undoing the bond now," Triolus said. "I do not agree with his decision, but it has brought us no harm. Still, Daedronus, the antics must stop. Perhaps you will be well entertained now and you'll cease tearing holes in the universe and such."

"I only did that once and it was an accident," Daedronus said defensively.

"That's it?" Atronachus demanded. "I want him punished!"

"Punished for what, Atronachus? Falling in love with a mortal or for stealing your lover from you a few thousand years ago?" Daedronus jeered.

"You have no fears, Daedronus. You fear losing nothing. Nothing but your mortal and I cannot take her from you unless I am prepared to destroy you. But she fears losing something. Someone," Atronachus threatened.

"Do that, Atronachus, and we will fight not with servants crossing borders or with tricks in the mortal realms, but hand to hand, god to god, and if I win that fight, she will occupy your spot at this table permanently," Daedronus threatened darkly.

"We don't want a war. A war would destroy us all. Switching Lordships is a very... dangerous task. It's never been done before. It's all speculation. It's very risky. We might all be destroyed by such a thing. No one here really wants that. Atronachus, you will hold back your anger. Daedronus, you will calm your spirits. We will all forget and forgive this transgression and remember that if one of us makes a mistake, everyone and everything will be destroyed. Daedronus, we simply wish to discourage this wild behavior of yours," Unicus said calmly.

"I'm a Lord. I own a realm. I don't need to be scolded by the likes of you. I am aware of what I am doing, as I always have been. If my actions upset you, pay more attention to your own realms and less to mine. I know my actions and my consequences," Daedronus stated.

"If you do much more, we may be forced to agree on your replacement," Dimentius threatened darkly.

"I dare you," Daedronus growled as he stood form the table.

"I would fight with you, Daedronus, but see that you don't burn all your bridges before that time comes," Firolus warned as he stood from the table as well. "I have better things to do. I have things to ruin, pillage, burn, and destroy. Excuse me."

Firolus disappeared from the room.

"If he can leave, I'm leaving too," Daedronus stated before taking Kristasia's hand and disappearing back to the Fields of Iarel.

"They were very angry with you," Kristasia said nervously as they sat, once again, beneath the leafy tree.

A terrible feeling of dread washed over her and at that moment Kristasia was uncertain if it was hers or his.

"We are powerful creatures. Any transgressions committed by one of us has powerful consequences. Even we cannot see all future things. Even we are not entirely omnipotent. We get angry. We get bored. We hold grudges. We hate. The most prominent emotions of our realms become us on occasion. If our realm is sad, we become sad. If we are sad, our realm becomes sad. Any one of the eight of us are capable of ending everything that exists, including the other seven. They can get a little worried sometimes," Daedronus explained. "That and no one has ever brought a living mortal into this realm before. It will change things here. Certainly. But it won't be enough to cause mass destruction or anything."

"A living mortal?" Kristasia inquired.

"Well... yes. As real as this world seems, it is not real in the way that yours is to you. It's all real, but reality here is more fluid. This realm is of spirits and soul and magic. All the mortals here are dead. They have no real bodies. If I killed a mortal in my kingdom, his body would disintegrate immediately and reform back outside the gates of my castle. You can't kill something that's already dead. You, on the other hand, are the only flesh and blood thing here. If someone killed you, I'm not entirely sure what would become of you. Neither are they," Daedronus explained.

"You're worried," Kristasia accused suddenly. "Why are you worried? Daedronus, you shouldn't have taken me."

"I'm worried because... because I can sense something strange. Something is decidedly different. I can't quite figure out what, but..."

"Daedronus!" Creed's voice cried out as his form came rushing across the field. "Daedronus!"

Immediately the demon god rose to his feet and Kristasia saw the black flames in his eyes. He already knew.

"Who?" Daedronus demanded fiercely as his demon general reached his side in a breathless panic.

Kristasia felt a sudden and intense rage shoot through her, but it was gone as quickly as it came and suddenly she could sense nothing of Daedronus's emotions.

"Lucinder!"

"That bastard!" Daedronus snarled in a sudden rage.

"No," Kristasia whispered as she scanned the field. "No! Where is she?"

"Lucinder took her," Creed whispered gravely.

"And you just let him? You just let one of them take her?" Kristasia demanded, a panic coming over her.

"As if I could stop him!" Creed roared at her. "I am no god! I am no Lord! I am nothing but a servant! But you, Daedronus! I told you not to take her there! I knew they would be furious! The God of Cruelty has taken that child and it is your fault!"

"Creed, be quiet," Daedronus warned, though he did not look so angry anymore as his eyes stared through Creed.

"You cannot fix this one so easily! You are weakened in your state and you've infuriated all of them and no one is going to help you and you can do nothing by yourself! What will you do?!" Creed demanded harshly. "You've gone too far!"

"I will go and get her," Daedronus growled through gritted teeth, though his eyes still stared off into nothing.

"How? Atronachus will destroy you! He'll rip you to pieces!" Creed raged.

"Shut up, Creed. It will be fine."

"How could you let this happen?" Kristasia whispered, the shock still overwhelming her. Only a few hours ago they had been coloring on the floor together.

"I did not really think they would go so far. This behavior is... unexpected. Something about this feels... different. Bringing you here really has changed things," the demon god stated in a low voice as his empty eyes stared off into the space of the field. "It won't be easy, but I will get her back."

"How?" Kristasia demanded, even more worried now that she has lost all sense of his feelings. He had cut himself off from her.

"The way I told Atronachus that I would if he did this," Daedronus responded.

Suddenly the three of them stood in a room bathed by the glowing white light of Daedronus's Grand Divinity Stone.

"My Lord!" a Daedran shouted suddenly who had been standing in the room, waiting for them.

"What are you doing here?" Creed demanded of his grave-faced soldier.

"Noar and Ryandor are marching armies of servants to our lands! They're not here yet, but they will cross our borders soon!" the Daedran soldier exclaimed.

"We're in trouble, my Lord," Creed stated as he turned to look at the demon god who was also his best friend. "Atronachus has been preparing for this. What are we going to do?"

"Creed, you must stay here. Send all the rest of the Daedran to meet Noar and Ryandor at the border. That's all we can do. I must go," Daedronus replied.

"You heard him. Gather the others and march," Creed barked.

The Daedran soldier fled from the room.

"What are you going to do?" Kristasia asked, her voice cutting into him like a knife.

"This is my heart and my soul," he said to Kristasia as he pointed to the stone. "Atronachus and his son, Lucinder, care nothing for a small mortal child. They have taken her, but they will not harm her. She is only bait. They want me to leave my kingdom and come for her, as I will. But when I leave, one of them will be coming for this. Creed, you must stay here with Kristasia and guard it. However, if Lucinder comes, as I venture he will, and he defeats Creed, as I venture he may, then you will be the only thing protecting my existence, Kristasia."

"And what should I do against a god?" she demanded, tears wetting her cheeks.

"You should do what only you have the power to do," Daedronus replied.

"What can I do?"

"Take my heart and soul, for I give it to you freely," the demon god replied.

"Daedronus..." Creed began sternly.

"Say nothing!" Daedronus snapped sharply at him. "If Lucinder comes here and kills Creed, take the stone from its pedestal. I'm sorry I allowed this to happen. I have finally pushed past the limits of what I'm allowed. Should I ever return, I promise I will not ever venture so far again. It appears that even a god can be foolish sometimes. I love you."

Then he was gone.