Capítulo 12: He who wears the crown
Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.
"Hadraniel! Let me go! I haven't broken a single rule!"
Grey rattles the gold chains that tied him to the ground.
"You were going to. I cannot let humans be deceived by the idea of mortal divinity. That seal on your soul should never be delayed."
"You can't keep me here forever. A demon is on earth right now and you're worried about your image?"
"It's not my image , it's the image of the entirety of heaven. I'm sorry about the demon, I'm sure it'll leave once it gets what it wants. Right now keeping you in check takes priority."
"What it wants? What it wants is to kill Emberle. According to the contract you made with them , they shouldn't be there in the first place. If anything happens to her while I'm stuck here , I swear I'm gonna burn heaven to the ground."
"You dare threaten an angel? We're celestials ,Harrison, you're nothing more than the universe's greatest mistake. Use your head ,you can never stand against us."
Grey's glare turns fierce, "watch me."
Hadraniel draws a flaming sword on his neck out of sheer irritation at his words, "My patience hangs by a thread."
"SO DOES MINE!"
A voice echoes in the surrounding area. A tall black man appears , standing on a large rock behind the angel. "Angel Hadraniel, my realm is only for the dead! I've warned you once ,I will not warn you a third time!"
He pulls his sword and it turns back into just an iron handle as he turns around.
"Anubis....I understand that ,but let me explain."
"I am neither interested nor do I have the time. I want you gone! NOW!"
He raises the staff in his hand. Hadraniel flaps his wings and flies towards him with his hand held out.
"No! you can't send him back!"
The staff hits the rock and a beam of light falls from the sky. It hits Hadraniel and disappears with him.
The man wore no torso, his body was covered in tattoos that stretched from the waist to his forehead, where a circle was drawn.
His brown eyes were sharp and serious and his face showed no expression. He looked down on the kneeling Grey and went down on one knee, he waved a hand past his surprised face then paused for a moment , seemingly puzzled.
"...You still do not belong."
The staff hits the ground again and Grey's body was blown away in the form of burning ash.
***
After the battle over the pond ,the knights returned home with the missing children and a mountain of corpses. Emberle and Grey were both in unconscious yet again.
What had happened between them was agreed to be kept a secret by order of the king.
Ella was found to still be alive. Though her body healed from the burns ,Tiyanak was no longer with her. But she was still a ghoul.
Johnathan didn't have the heart to end her ,so she was captured and imprisoned in a stone wall on a pillar beneath the castle. It was invoked with a spell by Merlin to keep her sealed.
Her last words to him were as follows, "What you took from me in cold blood, I'll repay in Gehenna's fury."
As the sun rose that day ,part of the families in Marcos celebrated the return of their children. While others mourned once more ,the loss of fathers, husbands and sons.
After this, Johnathan finally shared a drink with Marcos. He now understood what he meant when he once said the curse of the crown was heavy.
It wasn't only for kings. Anyone chosen to lead others is forced to wear this crown of thorns and carry the weight of it's curse. Whether they wish to or not, matters little to the fates.
Marcos visited Emberle's room, where he found her bandaged and neatly covered in blankets. Merlin sat at her side ,he ran his finger on her wrist and black and white lines dragged behind it. "Ah... that's bad."
"What's wrong?"
"She's separating herself from Eve. It seems their contract has been broken."
"...And?"
"Emberle getting her memories back means there needs to be another sacrifice to Eve or her sphere will be torn apart and they'll both die."
"Tch! That's how you constructed the seal!?"
"It was the most efficient way to be sure she wouldn't just kill Emberle and take control of her body."
He goes to stand at Emberle's feet and looks at her pale face ,"*sigh* How long can you keep her alive?"
"Long enough for Eve to hopefully explain the situation to her."
"You mean she doesn't know? I asked you to teach her, what have you been doing this whole time!?"
"In my defense, a lot has happened with her lately ,we haven't had the necessary time to continue her studies and she's been sneaking out early in the morning with that boy lately for the past 3 days... Your highness, she'll be fine if she listens to Eve, I doubt she wants to die either."
When Marcos left the room ,prince Cid and queen Maria were waiting anxiously near the door. Maria grabs his arm as soon as he comes out.
"How is she?" she asks softly.
Marcos holds her hand tight as he exhales, "She'll be alright, just find someone who's willing to tend to her for now. Cid, go and call Johnathan for me.
"Yes."
At the time ,Emberle was sitting with Eve in her grumbling sphere. The cracks had gone in a circle ,as though to split it in half. She sat there looking at it over her head, "So when the crack forms a full circle , we're both gone?"
Eve sat at a distance, wrapping her arms around her legs with her head bent on her knees. "Yeah. I honestly never thought this would be how I die."
"But...why my memories? There's other things you could've taken, like maybe a piece of my soul or life span...but memories?"
"Our seal was made by splitting both of our spheres in half and (magically) stitching them together. But the state of everyone's sphere reflects their inner selves and at the time...I was too broken to match the happiness of a child. You were so bright and cheerful, you enjoyed everything and was like heaven incarnate while I...well, I was the definition of darkness. So to make us compatible, I erased your past and fed you my hatred."
"So...now that I remember, we'll split apart again."
"Except neither of us has their original halves so once we split ,the spheres will crumble and your soul will fade to the vail of shadows."
"And...what about you?"
"I don't have a soul, my current form serves as both my spiritual and physical self so I'll just... disappear."
"Is there no way to save us?"
Eve pauses for a moment before she responds, "There is...give them back or offer me something else equally important."
Marcos meets Johnathan in the throne room, he signals the glaives to leave the room and they do so, closing the door behind them.
He sits on the throne and looks down at Johnathan, "How's Grey? Is he up yet?"
"Yes. But he refuses to speak."
"And how is his sister coping with all of this?"
"I hear she's been making attempts to sneak out and find him since last night but the guards are keeping a close on her, so I doubt anything serious will happen."
"What about yourself? I can only imagine the weight you carry."
"I can manage." he smiles.
Marcos exhales sharply and slouches on the throne ,while he looks up at the ceiling. "I see...how did things get so complicated? Well ,I suppose I can be blamed for this one. I don't know what I'm going to tell the blood council when the time comes."
"Blaming yourself will not change much. Have they demanded an audience?"
"No, but the first pure human with the ability to harness grace was just discovered since the beginning of time, after a girl who can literally open the gates of hell. Followed by multiple attacks of demons that were said to be unable to survive in our world. There's only so much they can turn a blind eye to."
As he says this, a glaive enters the room and bows. "Forgive my intrusion , your highness. There is a letter addressed to you from pope Franklin of Centurion, he requests an audience as soon as humanly possible."
" Speak of the devil. By this time tomorrow, there'll be two more from Fiera and Babylon."
"What do you intend to do?"
"I have no choice but to attend, we also still need to regain the people's trust as well as distract them at the same time. Any suggestions?"
"With all due respect, I'm only the acting commander of black knights, not his Majesty's advisor. If you hadn't refused them , we'd have the answer by now."
"I don't need advisors ,right now you're the only person I can talk to."
He places his hand on his chin and thinks for a minute, "How about a festival? There'll be new black knights descending from the mountains in the coming week, we can make that an event. A lot has happened recently ,we could all use a distraction."
Marcos sits up straight as the crosses his mind ,"Ah yes, two birds with one stone... that's actually not a bad idea."
When Johnathan leaves the room, he goes to his office. There's multiple bottles of alcohol on his desk, some of them empty while others only half empty.
He picks one up and pours in a glass that still had a few sips left. He gets comfortable on the chair ,placing his feet on the table. With his first swallow ,a sigh of relief leaves his breath as he closes his eyes. A single tear falls from the left eye however. "Solomon, when will you return? I don't think can do this anymore."
The crack in Emberle's sphere was getting wider and wider. Eve's body was almost see through, "I warned you not to go, why didn't you listen?"
"Yeah ...you're the demon corrupting my soul, listening to you is never a good idea."
"Except the one time it actually was! We're going to die because of you."
"Honestly ,I don't regret what I did, what I see when I close my eyes right now is worth dying for. But... I'll still give you half my life span if that helps."
"That'll affect me too so no. It has to be a part of what makes you whole."
"Then...one of my five senses?"
Eve's head rises with the flash of a gold eye and an ominous smile.
***
In the vail of shadows ,Hadraniel went back to talk to Anubis after their previous encounter.
"Ah ,and here I thought I'd locked you out for good this time."
"There's nowhere in the universe I can not go."
"Hehe, liar, earth is still off limits." he laughs, "Why did you return?"
"Why did you interrupt me today? I can understand if you do not wish to get involved but...please do your best to stay out of my way."
Anubis turns his head to look at Hadraniel, "Is that the tone you use to address me ,little angel?"
He turns around and walks closer to him, "You forget who I am."
Hadraniel stares him in the eyes without so much as a flinch, "No...not even I would be foolish enough to disrespect an Endless. All I ask is that you pick a side, mortals or us."
"I do not take sides,"
"Good, then we have an understanding."
He opens his wings and takes off, leaving Anubis looking at him as he disappears in the clouds.
"Nor do I take kindly to being ordered by a child." he adds.
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