Capítulo 24: Trinity I

"Gods! No! You can't make me!" shouted Jon feebly. "You can't make me do this."

Within his office, Zariel nodded upon his chair. "You're right, I can't, Mr. Jon. Any man with conviction or with some hair in his chest should be able to resist the mere whisper of sinful temptation against his soul. Shall we test your conviction again?"

He lifted a finger, conjuring a small silvery blue flame of Jon's soul.

"Well?"

Jon could feel the strength leave his body at the mere sight of his soul.

"Kneel," Zariel commanded.

The command snapped out, lashing at his will as Jon sank to his knees, tears streaming from his eyes.

"I guess you're just a boy," he said with a cruel smile on his lips. His eyes were no longer silver but a blood-red tainted by a grueling evil that saw to have everything burn. "no… even a child would have the willpower to resist. You are but a dog. Pathetic. You've got your mission. You may leave now… and Jon. Next time you speak back, I'll cut your fucking tongue out and have you eat it."

And he was gone. Pulled away by the Voice, he could not resist.

Zariel sneered before he gave his temples a slight rub. The red hue of his eyes faded to a pristine silver. "My emotions are getting harder to control," he said, though not surprised. The stronger one's Astral Qi, the more they feel, the more they sense, and the more they hurt.

Zariel had been no exception. It was the price of power. The consequence of one exceeding past mortal limits.

He closed his eyes, enjoying the dark shadowscape of nothingness. And for a moment, he sighed, feeling himself return. Once again, he sighed, wondering when his Madness might consume him whole.

Through Nine Layers, his body and soul had traveled through the bloodstain pits of Avenos to the Burning Rot of Irikilla, the Black Hell of Shar, the Torment Light of Ekera, the Eternal Chaos of Discord, Dis, the Hellscape of Beginning, Nexus, the Illusionary Abyss of Mythos, the Silver Flames of Sylvorlum and lastly Levatus.

Few souls had ever pierced through the Nine veils of the Hells; those that had had either been warped into becoming devils or, worse, twisted into abhorrent demons. Yet neither occurred within Zariel.

"... Zariel Snow," he told himself, nearly forgetting his name. "Prince of…" he stopped laughing as the name of his kingdom alluded to him. Faces one by one seemed to vanish, replaced by mist coming and going in an iridescent array of dust. "I'm losing my goddamn mind," he chuckled, clutching his face.

For an hour, he sat there before a soothing wave hummed across his nerves. It sank into blood, finding its way into his bones before allowing itself to nourish his living cells. The sensation was pleasurable, though Zariel didn't seem to notice. It was the calming sensation he sought.

Restoration, the spell was called, used to aid the body as well as the mind.

A knock suddenly cut across his office.

"What is it?" he demanded.

Sura entered the room, frowning at the sweat crawling down his brow. "You alright?"

"No…" he whispered, shaking his head. "What can I do for you?"

"The Arcane College of Trinity, " said Sura, finding a seat across from Altair's large oak table. "You've met them already."

"A Mr. Renly, if I can recall. A pretentious shit, that one. Hells, is he coming?"

Sura nearly laughed. "No, the one who will probably try to recruit you might be a Noble Woman by the name of Selene Delmont. She is a bit… What's the word... aggressive?"

"your point?"

"Azalea's grace, are you always a dick? Can't you be more appreciative or show interest?"

"no."

Annoyance filled Sura's voice as she said. "Selene is known for doing anything necessary to get what she wants. Immoral or not. Nothing is off the table."

Zariel made a face. He heard truth in her voice. And concerned: Unwarranted Concern.

He leaned back in his chair. "You think Selene might persuade me to join Trinity? Well, I can assure you I've little interest in joining."

"What about Aurelia?" said Sura calmly. "She is eight years old, making nine soon. Isn't it time she began socializing? You know, making friends, forming allies, and exploring the world."

'Was such a thing necessary?' he wondered, pulled away by ancient memories. He, too, had friends, a set of brothers he recognized. The memory of their faces came to him, tarnished by a scorching mist… he couldn't recall how they looked.

He sighed, wondering if they were still alive. The metal, Slev, had been the last of the components necessary to create the machine that allowed communication within the Twelve Realms.

And soon, it would be in his possession.

"You sound like you want me to join this Arcane College. What do you get out of this? Aside from monitoring my every movement."

Sura seemed surprised. "You knew?"

Zariel didn't respond to the obvious answer. "There must be someone really powerful after me." he studied the peculiar way she was looking at him and smiled. "You seem lost. Why? "

For a fleeting moment, Sura could not help but feel as if she had fallen into his trap. No… not just her but the entire kingdom. From the moment they met to the second, she saw the sigil upon his door. It had all felt like an invitation of sorts.

'He gives, and we protect.' she thought, shaking her head, unable to believe any mortal would be able to scheme so far ahead. 'How could he know the king would accept him?'

"We want you to join Trinity as a precautionary means. Selene is one of our agents, but… she isn't aware of you. Few people are aware of that mind of yours, though I suspect they are learning, " she said. "Had we known about the book you were publishing, then we might have caught the rights beforehand. "

"I'm sure you might have." Zariel reached into his jaw, pulled out a smoking pipe full of Ravain, and lit it with his lighter. The calming of nerves threatening to reel out of control settled. "Sadly, I've little interest in becoming a student. Children my age are either ignorant or stupid. More often than not, both."

"We could…" she hesitated. "We could make you a Professor. It's not like you don't have the intelligence." Slowly convincing herself, somehow finding the idea rather entertaining, she pressed. "You seem to enjoy teaching little Aurelia. Imagine teaching others—"

"Snot nose, little shits," Zariel said, frowning.

"What is the alternative?"

Zariel paid the woman some attention. "Just what is it you want from me? You realize I've little interest in this little kingdom, right?"

'Little Kindom,' Sura repeated in her mind, trying to understand the meaning.

"And aren't you supposed to be investigating that lightning or something?"

"Don't even remind me. Some bastard is doing it in my stead. Still, there is no update. None but the dense scent of sulfur where the lightning struck."

The Silver Devil kept his face still. 'Sulfur?' he thought. 'Strange… Now, why would sulfur exist there? Neither my body nor soul generates sulfur, and I did not carry anything from out of the Hells. Did something follow me?'

His fingers began to drum across the table, thinking… Thinking. "Perhaps I might take you up on that offer. But I need a teleportation rune set up in my home connecting Trinity to my Manor."

The caution in which he now spoke did not escape Sura's ears.

"That—"

"I'll leave behind the blueprints in order for you people to try to understand its simplicity. I just require a Fourth Grade Arcane Stone."

Sura wasn't convinced. " Teleportation requires seven Arcane Stones, Fifth Grade."

"Guess you'll learn something should your kingdom decide to give me what I want."

Sura made a face." Must you always sound like a dick?" she paused. "Are you… are you really a seven-year-old kid?"

"Am I not cute enough for you?"

"You know that's not what I mean."

"It's what I'd like to believe."

"Malos!"

'Sura."

A little frustrated by this back and forth, Sura kneed her temples with her slender fingers. "Anyway, I need something. You already know I'm working through the king, right?"

"It was obvious, with you inviting yourself to the dinner table." He said. "Though I hope you know I've little interest in actually working for you or your king. At least not without proper compensation."

"It's always something with you."

Zariel looked at her with hardened eyes. They were the eyes of something ancient. "Everything has a price, Sura. No matter how small or how large, equivalence and exchange is a fundamental concept that governs the Twelve Realms."

'So, in the end, he knows of the Twelve Realms,' She thought.

"Anyway. Speak to your people and Trinity. Being a professor at least sounds tolerable. And as for… what's her name again? The representative. Do warn her. To play a game with me ends one way. I'd hate to impale her head onto a pike."

With that, he was gone, his face darkening at the thought of something following him from hell. And for a moment, the acrid touch of the hells enveloped him, once more staining the iris a blood red.

"I'm not going back, " he swore in a low hush tone.

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