Chapter 29: God's descent

Alastor’s POV

“I feel empty.

How long have I been here? Did I die? What is this place? How come everything is so dark?"

.....

"Does it even matter anyway? The world outside interests me none. It may burn or whatever it does. As if I care anymore."

.....

"I feel warm...Where does it come from? It's somehow soothing. Yet very...ominous, as if it was filled with sorrow and ire. Who are you?" I spoke in the void.

"Someone who doesn't want to watch you suffer." a voice answered me despite I saw nothing around me, just nothingness.

"Why?"

"Because you are dear to me." I couldn't recognize this voice. I was sure that I have never heard it before and at the same time it gave me a sense of nostalgia. How could it be possible?

"What do you want?"

"What I want is not important. The question is: what do you want, Alastor?"

"I desire nothing. Every time I found someone I love, someone I thought could understand me, I lose them. What is the point of continuing?"

"Don't you want to avenger Shana? Don't you want to punish those who took her away from you? Just as the way they took Morgan? To give your judgment to this accursed world?"

"I have thought of that. Of course I wanted to. But this pain, the grief, how do I make them go away?"

"You don't. Instead use it as your fuel. Let the malice take over!" the voice spoke louder.

"Go away!" I shouted.

"Follow your instincts, Alastor!"

"Just leave me alone!" I shouted even louder. I tried to cover my ears but I kept hearing the mysterious voice.

"Destroy this world!!!"

"STOP!!!"

Suddenly a bright right illuminated the entire area, repulsing the darkness away. It became quiet again. The difference was now I was standing in a white room with nothing in sight for miles. Where was I again?

"For someone who has Chaos, Dark and Light at the same time, you are pathetic!" and another voice came along. What was with all these people?

"Who the hell are you?" I asked it.

"Someone who loves to see you suffer. You can't protect anyone, Alastor! Look at yourself! Having all these great powers and what did you accomplish so far? Nothing! And here I thought that Magnus' chosen would be a threat to me!"

"Wait a minute! You can't be...." at that time I believed I knew who this person was. Someone who knew Magnus and had a strife with him. During that time when Alice, or rather Lilith spoke with Magnus, his name was mentioned.

"Indeed! At least your brain still functions. I am Eden, creator of this world! Well actually it was all three of us who created Astora together: Magnus, Lilith and me.

Lilith created the Body of all the races. Magnus forged the Soul. Finally I gave them life: Essence. But then I tricked Lilith into giving me the Flame Magnus used to create the Soul. Next I made sure that their presences were completely erased from the history's pages and the world would only worship me. Perfect plan don't you agree?" the voice arrogantly spoke.

To be honest, I half expected something like this. Both Magnus and Lilith had tremendous power and they seemed to be very ancient. I wouldn't doubt if they were some deities but to be the creators of Astora...that certainly was unexpected.

"And you are telling me this because....?" Everything this guy said so far was odd. First he admitted being God and then directly being my enemy. Then he told the truth, or at least it seemed like it, behind the creation of the world. He even uncovered the fact that he was the bad guy behind everything. For what purpose? Or was he simply stupid?

If he could make a better lie, he could have tried to gain me to his side, showing me his side of the story because frankly right now I didn't know who to believe anymore. Alice was possessed by some blood god. Me by a dark creepy one who even took control of my body. So far Eden seemed to be the most honest god I have ever met. And apparently he was the bad guy.

"If you want revenge, come and find me! That way I can make sure that both you and Magnus will disappear forever!

But seeing how weak you are, my disciples will be more than enough!" Eden continued.

"Disciples?" I asked.

"The Six Gods ruling Astora. And no need to search for them. Because of your little pets' recent actions, they will be coming after you soon enough!"

Pets? Was he referring to the three enigmatic entities that came from me? I didn't understand what they were exactly but they seemed to be on my side. What did they do to earn the attention of the Gods?

"I have spoke long enough. Time to send you back to the real world! Go and hide somewhere like the coward you are!"

All of the sudden, an invisible force pushed me back and I began to lose consciousness. But just before I woke up, I could hear something.

"Come find me, Alastor! Hurry! My time is running out!"

* * *

Ever since the recent event that led to the death of more than thirty orphans, the demon lord's castle has been in a grim mood. Not only did they see the horror these children have been subjected too, their soon-to-be-king Alastor has also been unconscious since. In addition, three mysterious entities, somehow spawned from Alastor, have escaped from the castle with their agenda still unknown. Some speculated the recent incidents involving the undeads the in the World's Graveyard or the tragedy of Malatas Royal Family. Mostly because the timing was too perfect. In the end speculations stayed as speculations, nothing more.

Inside the court room of the castle, Alice was currently behind bars, under heavy surveillance by the royal guards. While Maria and Scarlet could testify for her innocence concerning what happened to Alastor, they themselves believed that the entity possessing Alice was to be locked up until some light was shed on the matter.  

Lilith has told everyone what happened and claimed it was Alastor's own decision to take her blood in order to gain the power of Chaos. However even she herself didn't know what would happen as this would be the first time something like this has occurred. The fact that a lifeform could emerge from the boy as a result of the combination of Dark, Light and Chaos was simply too far-fetched. Lilith understood that. That was why she didn't resist her arrest even though she could easily walk away. The only problem was when Alice retook control, the girl only cried and wanted to see her brother. As heartless as it may seem, everyone didn't let her approach Alastor for days, waiting for the boy to wake up.

During that time, Ikarus, Maria and Stella have used all their time tending to the lad. Especially Ikarus has not slept for days, watching Alastor closEly on his bed. Dark circles under her eyes, the unkept hair, the celestial clearly was deeply distressed by what happened. Not just the children but mostly about Alastor. Could she have somehow prevented this? If she challenged Alastor when he went out to the orphanage, perhaps she could have know about this earlier. Perhaps if their bond was deeper, she could find him much quicker and therefore saved Shana in time. But no matter how much she contemplated, the past still stayed as the past. It remained unchanged, no matter what you would try to do.

"Ikarus, go have some sleep would you? You haven't moved from that spot for three days now. What would Alastor say if he see you like this?" said Maria worriedly.

For the last few days together, Ikarus and Maria have started to know each other a little bit. Most likely because they didn't have anything to do while Alastor was still in coma. And more ever they shared the same worry.

"I am fine." answered the celestial.

"No you are not! Look at yourself! You will collapse at this rate!" retorted Maria.

"Stella also has stayed here even longer than me. Why don't you say that to her?"

"I am a doll. I do not need to sleep nor do I eat. You however are different Mrs. Ikarus!" said Stella. She too has stayed by Alastor' side since day one and refused to even leave him for a second.

"Sometimes I wish I have a convenient body like you Stella!" Ikarus joked.

"You don't!" her answer was abrupt. The doll knew that despite some obvious advantages, there was some major drawbacks for having a body like hers. But for now she decided to keep it for herself.

The conversation was cut quite sudden with both parties now remained silent, wondering what could be said, leaving the woman in black speechless as well.

"Go Ikarus! Just take a short break! If he wakes up now the first thing he sees is a dirty celestial. Surely you don't want that!" insisted Maria.

"Then I will wait until he wakes up and tell me that! Why do I care about what he thinks about my look?" fumed the girl.

"Do you now?"

A fourth voice has spoken. It wasn't either of the girls, not Stella. Then who?

"To be honest, she is still beautiful you know!"

"ALASTOR!!!" with a moment to lose, Ikarus couldn't help herself but hug the boy tightly.

"Time out..time out..hard...to....breath!!!" struggled Alastor as he tried to push Ikarus away as he gasped for breath. It has been days since his body even moved and being smaller than Ikarus, the boy had no chance of getting out of her grasp.

"Sorry! I just...just glad you are awake!" realizing he was suffocating under her chest, Ikarus quickly released him.

"Oh god, thought I was gone for a second!" sputtered Alastor.

"We thought you are gone for a long time, not just a second. And what's with this unfair treatment? First thing you say after lying for days in unconsciousness is complimenting another girl right in front of me." Maria angrily said.

"Could it be that you are jealous? Surely not, right Maria?" teased the boy.

"The hell I do! Freaking die!"

* * *

Alastor’s POV

Immediately after my awakening, I released Alice from her cell. Poor girl just kept crying and apologizing to me. I knew it wasn’t her fault nor did I blame her for keeping Lilith as a secret. In her mind, she was still a small child trying her best to keep her family together without hurting anyone. I guessed Lilith’s possession has not just halted her physical growth but her mentality as well.

Right now I was sitting together with everyone. I decided it would be wise to share my secret as well: Magnus, the Abyss, the old demon lords. I wasn’t sure if this was a wise course of action but I decided to do it anyway. I trusted these people. And of course I told them about my weird encounter with the one named Eden.

“So that’s about the gist of it! Any question?” I asked. It seemed my story was a bit too sudden and frankly speaking quite unbelievable. Everyone was baffled just hearing this, except for Lilith who apparently knew it too well. The only thing that seemed to shock her was the fact that I met Eden, even though she has spent years trying to find him. As well as another person who was creeping up inside me. But in the end he decided to stay silent.

“So let me get this right: you have the souls of all the previous demon lords inside you as well as their abilities. Does that mean you have met your father Asgore as well?” asked Mephisto. The devil, as expected, didn’t show any surprise, simply curiosity.

“No. For some reasons my father’ soul is nowhere to be found inside the Abyss. Based on the nature of the Abyss which is actually a container of souls and what Amelia has told me, his souls was probably obliterated along with my mother’s and the others at the castle that day. Well, except for Theoron who was outside the castle that day.” I explained.

“Furthermore, while I technically can have all the previous demon lords’ power, there is a certain limit that prevents me from having too much at the same time. That’s why I stop after making pacts with nine demons lords.” I added.

“A limit?” asked Maria.

“That I don’t know myself!” actually I knew for quite a while now. But despite what I just said about revealing secrets and such, I didn’t think it was a good time to talk about this particular detail. Not now and I hoped never.

“I don’t understand why Eden would appear before to you. It’s just unreasonable. Why did he do that and why now? And he is not an idiot I tell you.” Said Lilith using Alice’s body.

“Perhaps he is trying to provoke him! From what Alastor said, he seems to be an arrogant bastard!” said Maria.

“Then why reveal the whole thing? ….all this just makes my head explode!!!” screamed Lilith.

“Anyway he said himself that the Six Gods are now aware of my presence and will come after me. My days of peace seem to be over soon!” I said.

“Let them come! We will use this opportunity to crush them all!” shouted Naberius.

“Are you an idiot? They are Gods for a reason. For all we know, they are even more powerful than a demon lord. And there are six of them!” claimed the witch Amelia.

“If that’s the case, why haven’t they do anything against us? If they really are that powerful, they could have destroyed us long ago. Especially after the death of a demon lord. Think about it! We were weak, leaderless. Shouldn’t that be the perfect chance to get rid of us once and for all?

Yet they didn’t do anything. I think there are more to this than just a simple war between demon and the world.” Mephisto expressed his concern.

“Just what is Eden planning?” sighed Lilith.

“All your concerns are justified but don’t you think we should deal with the current problem first?” Ikarus intervened.

“What do you mean?” asked Mephisto.

“Surely you didn’t forget what happened to Alastor when those two creatures appeared. For all we know, they could be the one who attacked him.” Explained Ikarus. The girl has been clinging on me ever since I woke up. She even sneaked up outside my chamber to make sure I was still there. It was just great, I had now two constant stalkers: a doll that watched me sleeping and a celestial that followed me everywhere I went.

“I don’t think they mean any harm. Just before I lost consciousness, I remembered that they referred to me as ‘Father’. And with the bond I shared with Shana….I think they are Shana’ soul, or at least fragments of it.” I said.

“As farfetched as it may seem, it’s possible. When you consume Shana’ soul, the bond between you two must have sparked something. In addition the three elements behind the creation of life: Light, Dark and Chaos are once again united inside you must have given birth to these three creatures. I think they are technically your children, Alastor!” jested Alice with a grin.

“THREE? But I only saw two!” shouted Ikarus.

“Yes but there was a third one in the room as well. However unlike the other two, it was an incorporeal entity, almost like an elemental”

“Oh great! I am not even twelve and already three children.” I sighed.

"Worry not Alastor! It must be a sign!" proclaimed Naberius proudly.

“Sign for what?” asked Ikarus.

“Whoever is going to marry him is going to have a LOT of children!”

At that moment, realizing what it actually meant, Maria’s cheeks were bright red. Her eyes avoided me after understand what Naberius just said.

Ikarus shied away after finally grasping what everyone was laughing about. Oh how I enjoyed teasing these two!

“Ehem, Joke aside, are you doing alright, Alastor? After what happened I mean? I am sorry for lying to you and I won’t mind if you hold a grudge but please don’t take it out on Alice!” Liltih confessed.

“I have no intention of blaming Alice or you for what happened. Though I would appreciate that you could have told me about the orphans first!”

“That I have no excuse. I can sense when someone tries to use my blood like what that cult did but it wasn’t very accurate.” Said Lilith.

“It’s in the past now. No need to dwell on it any longer!” I said.

The mood became heavy again. Just when I thought I could lighten the mood to avoid the awkwardness.

“Hey Alastor! Did you change your left eye or something? Why is it blue now?” asked Naberius.

Ah yes I almost forgot about it. So much has happened, making me overlook this crucial detail.

“That I have no idea. It just kind of appeared like that during the fight with Maria. By the way, sorry for what I did, Maria! It was….unforeseen that we went that far.” I turned to Maria.

“You were so forceful. Doing something like that….It hurt you know!” sobbed Maria.

…..

“What the hell did you two do?” asked everyone at the same time, especially Ikarus who raised her eyebrows in confusion.

“Adult stuff!” I joked.

“WHAT???” everyone in the room shouted, looking at me with their jaws falling down the ground.

“What? Don’t joke about it like that. Don’t worry guys! We didn’t do what you are thinking. He only chopped my head off and I took one of his arm! See? Not a big deal!”

“WHAT????” and now they turned to Maria. In a way what she said was even creepier than they thought. I wasn’t sure that it was the right thing to say Maria.

“Oh my Maria. What on earth do you mean? What are they thinking about?” I pressed my question, knowing already what she meant.

“I…Hum…” so funny. Her head was like a cherry now. I swore I could see smoke coming out of her head.

How I wished these peaceful days would last. The days where I could just sit here with everyone without the need to worry about the rest of the world. But fate always seemed to catch up with me, sometimes in a ridiculous way.

Suddenly, I had a strange feeling inside me. The feeling of danger! What was it? And it wasn’t just me. Lilith also looked me with a worried expression. Could it be…?

* * *

It wasn’t just Alastor and Liltih who sensed the incoming threat. Many others around the world have sensed that too.

In Malatas’ castle, Astrea, or rather Odium, was one of the first who felt it.

“Has you sensed it brother?”

“Rather than sense, I have seen it. A column of light has hit the territory of the Theocracy. They are coming for me!”

“Be careful brother! With the way you are right now I don’t think you should confront a God yet!”

“I know. But I am afraid he won't stay put either.”

“Avoid any confrontation with it for now! I will see what I can do!”

“What can you do sister?”

“When a child needs help, the first thing that comes to mind is to ask the parent.”