Aisling composed herself as she reviewed what had happened. She could not fathom it. Moreover, she had been in a daze, so she could not account for the sequence of events.
The thing that bothered her most was her unusual behaviour.
She had always been self-possessed and never acted irrationally. She would always consider all outcomes before taking action. Her intuition had always been sharp. Plus, she had foresight even without divination as well as her ability to hear nature spirits.
However, since she had met Abaddon, her mind seemed to have checked out.
She felt like a different person, and she did not like it.
Before she had come to Panthalassa, she would not go on dates with men she did not know, let alone behave so brazenly minutes after meeting them.
She would always see steps ahead, regardless of the situation. And she had never been wrong.
The only problem was when she was near Abaddon, she lost control of her thoughts and powers. She could not hear nature spirits, and her foresight did not seem to work on him. Moreover, her intuition seemed to check out.
"I should not be here." She spoke out loud without prelude.
She had believed that she was needed in Panthalassa because of some grand plan. But now, she could not help doubting herself.
What if she was allowing destiny to lead her by the nose?
What if she was part of a self-fulfilling prophesy and by coming to Farallon, she was the one who would lead to the destruction of the world?
She had divined that a time of darkness, confusion and death was coming to the world, and it would begin in Panthalassa. She had also learnt that a powerful man would look for her, and she must join forces with him to fight.
But her divination was not a blueprint for the future.
One action could cause the path of the visions to unravel.
And sometimes, the future wanted to happen. Nothing could stop the predestined things.
She was kidding herself by attempting to tamper with the fate of the world.
Abaddon could see that countless things were running through Aisling's mind. However, he did not agree with her conclusion. She was supposed to be in Panthalassa.
"Ms Flynn, Aisling, let us talk inside." He said.
Aisling refused to look at the man directly. When she did, she would lose her train of thought. She would behave unusually. She could not be sucked in again.
Still, she nodded.
She had come a long way to return to the secular world without at least learning the specific reason the man had looked for her.
The two people stepped into the building through the access door and went down a single flight of stairs into an open plan lounge on the highest floor, just below the rooftop. Close to the large windows overlooking Farallon City, there was a table with two place settings.
Abaddon pulled a chair for Aisling before sitting opposite her. He took out his phone and tapped lightly.
Aisling found the entire thing a little hysterical in her mind. A flying man in a continent hidden in the Pacific Ocean using a phone…
She had realised that Farallon was much more advanced with regard to technology than the rest of the world. However, the image of this powerful man with a phone was still a weird thing to consider when one thought about it practically.
It would make more sense if the people in Panthalassa had flying swords or carpets or spiritual beasts or even flying cars.
Panthalassa just felt normal but abnormal.
"You should be here." The man spoke.
Aisling was lost in her strange thoughts, so she was a little startled. After a moment, she realised that he was responding to her earlier statement.
She wanted to respond, but the elevator dinged, and a man in white pushed out a trolley. She closed her open mouth and waited for the man to come to the table. She sat awkwardly, trying to remember her rebuttal as the chef served the food.
After the man bowed lightly to Rex, he left with the trolley.
"Mr Rex," Aisling started.
"Just Rex. Or Abaddon." The man interrupted.
"What?" She asked with a frown.
"Rex is my name, but it is a title. No need for an honorific." He responded.
"Was that necessary?" Aisling looked at him flatly, though she did not stare directly into his eyes. She did not want to fall in whatever voodoo he was brewing in there.
"I just thought that you would like to know." His lips stretched into a smile.
Strangely, Aisling felt a little more comfortable after the disruption, even though her original tough-stance rebuttal was no longer in her mind.
She lifted a hand to stop him from talking further.
"Whatever! I'll just call you Abaddon." She capitulated.
The man did not show the satisfaction within him at her choice.
People did not call him Abaddon.
Like Rex, it was also a title from the times of old. Both of his names were a reminder of the creature he used to be thousands of years ago, and what he could be again. The king of destruction…
Almost everyone called him Rex because he was the king.
However, only a few dared to call him Abaddon.
He did not want Aisling to be distant by calling him Rex like the masses.
"That's acceptable. Continue." He nodded without changing his facial expression.
Aisling took a deep breath. "How did you know to look for me?"
She had prepared a speech in her mind about the fabric of destiny and letting things take their natural course, but she realised that she was being irrational once again.
She could not dispose of her entire belief system because of a setback.
"The story is quite long and complicated." He said.
She lifted a platinum brow and smiled in a classic Aisling-like manner.
"Dinner and a show, I like the evening already."
Abaddon laughed for the first time in a long time. The laugh was a bit hoarse and his face was a bit stiff, but he laughed.
"Are you saying that you did not like our earlier activities?" His voice held a teasing quality.
Aisling blushed a bit, but she did not dignify the question with a response.
Abaddon became serious once again as she began eating.
"There have been some murders in Farallon. Their nature is very specific. After a bit of evaluation after the first three murders, we determined that we had a serial killer in the city." He paused. "In the beginning, the Order was going to handle it like a regular case. But the Temple of Oracles got involved."
Aisling stopped chewing. "What is the Temple of Oracles?"
Abaddon sighed. He had asked for the Order to make arrangements for Aisling to learn about Panthalassa, but it was too much to expect that everything would be covered in a single day.
"What have you been told about Panthalassa so far?" He asked.
Aisling swallowed food and drank some water.
"Let's see. I know about the major attractions. By the way, people fear your black building a lot. I know a little bit about the Order. Also, Farallon is the most boring of the three countries. Your main export to the secular world is pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. How disappointing!" Aisling spoke in one breath.
Abaddon felt like he could no longer trust the Order with important business like educating someone about their land. Moreover, he felt like Farallon had lost face.
"But do you know why Farallon is the most important country in Panthalassa?" he asked.
Aisling lifted her hand in a mock manner. "I know, I know."
He did not allow her to guess. "Because I am here."
"I did not know that. So, you are the much-feared king." She commented with thick sarcasm.
Rex did not know if she was playing or if she did not know. He wanted to ask about it but realised that he had digressed. They had much to cover.
And if they were to work together, she needed to understand his world.
And he was the best person to tell the story.
"I will start from the beginning." His voice had a heavy solemnity.
Aisling groaned inwardly because she could tell that it was going to be a long and possibly, highly tedious story.
The earth, as it originally existed, was a home for humans, pure humans. These humans had no special powers, their lifespans were short and they were plagued by disease.
Still, the existence of these weak creatures fascinated the more powerful beings from other realms.
Something was enchanting about them.
Perhaps, the beauty of the humans to the powerful races was akin to the appeal of a comet or a flower.
The splendour of their existence was fleeting. And in those moments of short-lived beauty, humans would shine so bright.
Moreover, their entire existence was defined by short bouts of happiness. And they were willing to toil endlessly for just a moment of joy.
It could be said that the humans were like an interesting show to the other realms.
But as all things do, the state of affairs changed.
No one knew which race acted first.
Perhaps, it was the elves, the dragonkin or the faeries. Or maybe, it was the mages who had the most likeness with the pure humans. Or it could have been the nefarious ones from the netherworld.
Regardless, multiple portals to earth were opened in various realms.
The exploration was considered to be a trip to conduct a closer observation of the weak but interesting creatures… at first.
But again, things change.
The powerful creatures fell in love with some of those humans and their union gave rise to children with superhuman characteristics and powers.
Shortly after numerous couples had offspring, the love between the immortals and humans, which was considered both pure and taboo, was perverted by those who sought power.
The strong creatures from the other worlds desired to become rulers of the earth, and they considered the possibility for reproduction an opportunity to amass more power in the realm.
So, they formed harems to create more powerful subhumans. After all, their children would be loyal to them…
At this point, humans also realised that they did not have to bow down to the invaders who only saw them like ants. So, they sought out willing otherworlders and attempted to give birth to their powered offspring.
Over the years, decades and centuries, alliances were formed to consolidate power and control the resources of the world.
As expected, numerous wars were waged for control through the world as each clan, family and country tried to expand their influence and take over the world.
Blood flowed through the streets, and fires scorched the earth.
It is unknown if the events that followed was as a result of coincidence, prayers or unknown magic.
The pure humans who had remained during the endless years of strange intermarriages claimed, at the time, that they had prayed for salvation, and it had come.
When the wars and battles in the world had reached their peak, angels fell from the sky like heroes, with wings that promised to cover and protect the earth.
The humans and subhumans, who were still suppressed by the powerful otherworlders, pleaded with the angels to chase all the invaders away.
Their cries were answered as the angels sent away all the beings from other realms back to their own homes. It was not a problem for these saviours because their power was beyond the comprehension of other creatures.
Unfortunately, instead of leaving after the heroic act, the angels settled into the world, establishing for themselves thrones in the cores of all the continents.
With their intellect and power, they subdued all the creatures of the earth with just the wave of a hand. With their knowledge and cunning, they accelerated the development of the world and lived like gods.
Like the other otherworlders, the angels took for themselves human lovers and had their demi-angelic offspring.
These children were beyond powerful since their non-angelic parents were often subhumans.
Though they could not rival the angels, they still stood at the top. Some of the demi-angels chose to align with their parents and rule the world.
Once again, the humans were oppressed without reprieve. And this time, they could not even resist.
The salvation which they had received became a curse.
Fortunately, not all demi-angels sided with the powerful angels. Some understood the plight of humans and subhumans.
During that time, one of those powerful demi-angels saw the suffering and decided to organise a righteous war against the angels for the sake of freeing the earth from the yoke of oppression.
Aisling blinked in shock and interrupted the story. "You initiated the fight against the angels?"
Her question was filled with obvious disbelief and scepticism. While Abaddon seemed like a good person, he did not seem to be the kind to start a revolution.
The demi-angel laughed at the query. "I did not say that it was I who started the righteous war. I was merely a weapon of destruction."
Aisling felt a little bad when he described himself as merely a weapon, but she shook it off.
"Who was the righteous hero?" She asked.
The face in front of her became dark and gloomy. "It was my brother."
Aisling opened her mouth before shutting it again. She realised that she had probably probed into something touchy. Based on his reaction, there was a dark past.
"What do all these details have to do with anything?" She finally spoke to alleviate the heavy mood.
Abaddon looked outside the window with dark eyes. "I have a feeling that the ghosts of the past will rise again."
Aisling frowned as she thought of the story. The general tale was not completely unfamiliar to her because part of it was taught as one of the subhuman origin myths.
However, most people held on to the belief that the subhumans were just humans who took a different evolutionary direction.
Another thing that bothered her was that there were no records of angels in the secular world. It was not until she was got a tour around Farallon City from Little Three that she had heard about demi-angels.
She had even assumed that it was a figure of speech.
"So, what happened after the good demi-angels waged a war?" She asked.
Abaddon looked back at her and smiled.
"There are no good demi-angels, Aisling." His words had an unshakable belief.
He sighed. "Angels and demi-angels are creatures of intelligence and great cunning. Their decisions are made out of a logical thought process as opposed to emotion. Even those that fought for the humans made the decision based on clear thought processes."
"Why did you join the war?" Aisling could not help probing again.
"It does not matter." He did not want to think about it. "What matters is that our side won the war." By covering the world with the remains of countless demi-angels.
"How did you kill the angels?"
"Killing a deific being is not simple. You would require a lot of power and special weapons. We could eliminate other demi-angels but not the angels. We simply negotiated with them." He said.
"And they just agreed to your demands?" She was surprised.
"As I said, they are creatures of logic. We presented a reasonable argument that it was not in their best interest to remain in this realm. They had already become bored of earth, so it was not a hard battle."
Aisling felt that it was not the entire story, but she did not know what to ask.
"After the war, the humans and sub-humans formed the first Consortium and decided that they did not want to have deific beings around. The power was too much of a threat. Of course, they could not do anything about us. But after a lot of consideration, we agreed with the Consortium and built Panthalassa." Abaddon said.
Of course, the Consortium did not know as much as they thought despite believing that they had seized control over the world.
"You still have not told me what all this has to do with anything." Aisling felt like pulling out her hair from impatience.
"When we formed Panthalassa, it was not only the demi-angels who came here. Numerous other powerful groups that were shunned and feared for being too powerful followed us, including the Temple of Oracles from Greece."
The long story circled back to where it had begun.
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