Moyako…
She had finally said it to him, to his face.
After two hundred years of searching for him, two hundred years of suffering and loneliness, she finally found him and told him that he was her father and he just…
Acted absolutely oblivious?
It was like he didn’t hear a word that she said to him!
From everything she heard about him being so smart, she had expected him to figure it out on his own, but he has continued to act like a complete idiot when the topic of him being her father was brought up in the slightest.
She felt that even if she had brought the others into the conversation, it wouldn’t have changed a thing.
Why was he like this? It didn’t make any sense to her…
She continued to dwell on the subject even as she made her way back to Camilla’s room at the Inn she was staying at. She had been in a comatose state ever since the end of her match and still hadn’t woken up yet, so Moyako was taking care of her until she did.
Yet when she reached the door to Camilla’s room, she found it left open and a light turned on inside.
Is she already awake?
Moyako knocked on the door frame as she stepped inside and called out to her, “Camilla? Are you alright in there?”
Yet as she entered, she noticed right away that she was still asleep on the bed.
Panicking that someone had broken into her room, Moyako drew her sword and faced the direction of the light to face whoever had entered without permission…
Only to come face to face with Raum as he was rummaging through the cupboards for food.
“Ah...hello My lady,” he said as his body froze up at the sight of her.
Moyako sighed in annoyance as she sheathed her sword and asked, “What are you doing here...and why are you eating all her food?”
“I came here to watch over her, just as you are doing the same, are you not?” he asked.
“Ah…, yes. I guess I am,” Moyako admitted as she looked away bashfully.
While stuffing a banana into his mouth, he said, “Try as you might to hide how you feel, I know you care for her as if she were your own child. There is no benefit to you keeping up this act of coldness around her.”
Irritated that Raum had figured her out so easily, she glared at him and he looked at her apologetically but did not take back his statement.
“Maybe so, but to hear you put it that bluntly…,” she muttered.
“So…how did your conversation with your father go?” Raum asked her, to which her head spun around to stare at him as he started munching on chips.
“How did you…?! You knew? This whole time, you knew that he was my father?” Moyako asked angrily.
“Of course I knew. I could sense his blood in yours right away. In fact, the very moment he stepped foot in this world, I knew that you were his child,” he said very matter-of-fact.
Moyako tightened her fists as she asked, “Why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you tell me as soon as you knew he was here?”
“You didn’t ask me to. Besides, I was busy aiding Camilla since you were insistent on me leaving you alone, even after I rescued you from New Athens during the Mordrinite War.”
Gritting her teeth and pulling at her hair in frustration was all she could do to resist the urge to strangle Raum and slam his head into the floor repeatedly.
It was so infuriating how he was absolutely right and completely logical with his responses, despite how inconvenient they were for her.
It was her own damn fault pushing him away and she couldn’t get mad at him for it.
“Putting that aside, how did the conversation go?” he asked once again.
She didn’t answer right away as she found a chair and sat down to calm herself.
“Lady Moyako…?”
“It went poorly. I had told him that he was my father and he just…acted like I told him gibberish. As if my words hadn’t registered in his mind at all. He blew me off, so I cursed him out and left.”
Raum stared at her with confusion in his eyes as he said, “That’s…unusual. Not something I would expect from a child of Hestia.”
Hearing that name caught her interest as she asked, “Hestia? Who is that?”
Raum tilted his head as he asked, “You don’t know Hestia? Truly…? Hmm… I guess I am not too surprised to hear that. Among the various gods of Greece, her name was not nearly as well known as, say Zeus, Artemis, or Heracles. Hestia is the eldest of the original six Olympians, the Goddess of the Hearth. Or at least, that is how she was regarded in Greece.”
“My father is the child of a Greek Goddess? You can’t be serious,” Moyako replied in disbelief.
“I am quite serious. Which is why I find it strange that a man of Hestia’s blood would so easily ignore your words. For him to act as if you, his daughter, mean nothing to him, is very much unlike Hestia’s caring nature.”
She didn’t feel very convinced of this, especially the idea of Marcus being a demigod. The very idea felt ludicrous to her.
“How certain are you that Marcus is a child of Hestia, because I can’t seem to wrap my head around such an idea,” she said.
Raum locked eyes with her, pointed at her face, and said, “Your very appearance is already the greatest proof that you and he share her blood. In fact, you look almost exactly like her. You share the same charcoal black hair with burning ends, the fair skin, and icy blue colored eyes.”
“But…Marcus’s hair does not burn like mine. Care to explain that?”
Raum’s expression darkened as he held his chin in his hands before saying, “You are right…that is unusual. In fact, that may very well be an indication as to why he has not responded to your words. Although, to be frank, there is no easy way to make a judgment on this particular situation. If Marcus were a child of Zeus, then perhaps it would be easier to judge based purely on comparisons. Zeus had many MANY children. However, Marcus is the very first child sired by Hestia, and one of only two that exist aside from his little sister Thalia Wright. Unlike him, Thalia does in fact have the same burning ends that you do, but the nature of her flames feel vastly different compared to her own soul.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that her magic does not feel as if it is her own. It pairs perfectly with her own soul, but it is not hers originally. I have reason to believe that the soul self that makes up Thalia’s magic was originally Marcus’s, but was given to her at birth. I am not sure the specifics of how his magic took on the nature of lightning and stone, contrary to his lineage, but this would explain the lack of burning ends.”
“What does this have to do with anything?”
“I could be wrong, but the fact that his soul self is not reflective of his nature with Hestia could have consequences of their own...tell me, did he exhibit unusual behavior or physical phenomena during your conversation? As in, when you told him that he was your father, did something strange happen?”
“No, I don’t think…I mean, it could have been just a coincidence, but there have been a few moments where I thought the color of his eyes changed briefly, but I doubt that is the case. Any time I saw that happen, something other flash of light in the background was causing it.”
“I do not believe in coincidences My Lady. Now tell me, did these brief changes in eye color happen at the precise moment you told him something that would make him realize that you were his child?”
“Y-Yes...they did. For a moment, it looked like he was about to figure it out but then his eyes flashed the color gold, then he...what’s wrong?” she said as Raum stared at her, mouth hung open in terror.
“G-Golden eyes you say? Not yellow, or white, but pure golden color? Are you absolutely certain of that?” he asked as he walked towards her with sweat dripping from his brow.
He looked absolutely terrified at the very idea and it bothered Moyako to see him acting like this.
“Yes…I’m certain that its what I saw. What does it mean?”
Raum looked away from her as his teeth started to audibly chatter in fear.
“G-Golden eyes are the sign of the Seraphim. The highest order of Father’s angels. Beings of such strength that they fought against the Primordial Gods, the greatest beings in creation. Of the six that were born from our father, three of them are dead, two of them are likely still serving at Father’s side, and one of them, Lord Lucifer…I am uncertain of his exact whereabouts, but I believe he is still on Terra.”
“W-wait, hold on a minute. Seraphim? As in God’s angels? You called him Father too, didn’t you? Are you an angel?” Moyako asked nervously.
“Not anymore, no. Lucifer transformed me from an Ophanim into a Demon Prince, the same is for my siblings Gomori and Azazel,” he said.
“Ah...alright,” Moyako stuttered as she tried to make sense of all of this.
Raum continued to rant as he was trying to figure out this mess, “Putting aside the high likelihood of Lucifer remaining on Terra or perhaps being sent to an entirely different world, the cause for the appearance of golden eyes could not be him as he had altered his nature drastically, resulting in his eyes permanently changing to red. And it could not be Cassiel either as, like Lucifer, he had altered his own nature, resulting in pure white eyes. The only possible answer would be...Azrael.”
“Wait, what are you suggesting?”
“I do not believe that the cause for Marcus ignoring your words, or failing to come to the realization that you are his child is of his own free will,” he said, the shock of which caused Moyako’s feet to collapse out from under her as she fell backwards.
Seeing this, Raum quickly moved to her side to help her up but she brushed him off gently as she stood back up and sat down in a chair.
“W-what…what do you suggest I do about this then?” she asked him.
“For now? Nothing. I am not even completely certain of my own hypothesis, which is why I must consult my brother Azazel and look into this further. I would advise you to simply continue on with your business in defeating Marcus in battle as you had originally intended to do until I come to a proper answer onto how to fix this predicament. So long as you win against him, you will be able to ensure that you can connect with him properly, as father and daughter, like you wanted.”
Moyako’s hands began to tremble as she was overcome with emotion. Whether it was joy, fear, or anger, she wasn’t entirely sure. Maybe it was all three, but for once, she felt like something may finally be going her way.
She had worried for so long before Marcus appeared in this world that he might never accept her as his own child, and that feeling only grew worse after she met him and he failed to recognize her as such.
To learn that it may not be his own choice to recognize her as his child, gave her a sense of relief that perhaps it was indeed something she could fix with her own power.
She looked up at him, nearly on the verge of tears, as she reached out and hugged him. Raum went stiff as he was not expecting the show of affection from her, and slowly wrapped his left arm around her back while patting the back of her head gently.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
“Of course My Lady. I am here only to serve you, and I do so with great pleasure,” he said as he pulled away gently and continued, “Now, I must go at once to speak with Azazel. He serves Marcus just as I serve you, so I must advise him of this information. Please wait for my return My Lady.”
“I will,” she nodded.
Raum then walked towards the door and was about to leave when he turned around and with a smile, he said, “Just because Marcus is your father does not mean that you should go easy on him when the two of you do battle. Be sure to give him hell.”
Raum…
The moment he closed the door behind him and left the Inn, he went on his way to where King Razel Aldia and Azazel were staying.
However, just as his foot was about to step off the curb of the Inn’s property, he suddenly found himself in an unfamiliar land.
“W-What? Where am I?” Raum asked as he looked around frantically and was left at a loss as he realized he had suddenly been transported to a planet several galaxies away from Erebus.
He tried to teleport back but could not seem to do so as he felt stuck in place.
“What is happening?!” he shouted in anger as even his body failed to move the way he wanted it to.
“I’m afraid I cannot have you interfering any further brother,” said a voice from above.
Raum’s head was still able to move, but he did not need to see who it was that had appeared as the voice of his elder brother was unmistakable.
Yet still he raised his head and gasped as he stuttered, “C-Cassiel…how…? Why are you…?”
His elder brother floated to the ground slowly and stood before him. The man who was once adorned with six beautiful white wings and an aura of golden light around his skin that stood as proof of his authority as a Seraphim were absent. They have long been absent since he had altered his nature, his very existence, as the Lord of Virtue, contrary to Lucifer as the Lord of Sin.
The pure white light that was emitted from Cassiel’s body was so bright that it out-shined the brightest of stars, and his eyes mirrored that light.
The light was so intense that Raum’s skin began to burn in its vicinity.
Noticing this, Cassiel dimmed the light emitted from his body so that Raum could bear to stand near him.
“I apologize brother, but beings crafted from Sin can hardly bother to stand near me. Hopefully this is more to your liking,” he said with a faint smile.
“As if that would matter! Why did you bring me here?! In fact, why are you here in this reality in the first place?!”
“I have always been here, since even the days of King Dagon. I have been here long before you ever set foot in this reality. However, to answer your first question…I’m afraid I cannot allow you to speak with Azazel and throw events further into chaos. Already, events have been altered beyond how I have originally seen them to play out.”
“Are you here on Father’s orders?! Did he tell you to stop me?! Is Azrael as well-?!” he tried to say but Cassiel raised one of his finger’s to his lips to silence him.
“Father is not present in this reality, nor will he be for a little while longer. I alone am ruling over the throne of the silver city and our brothers and sisters. Azrael as well is not acting on Father’s orders. She is simply acting on a selfish, petty grudge of her own, one that she shares with Lucifer and Gabriel’s late wife. I am merely ensuring the proper events leading up to the arrival of the God of Wrath and the Goddess of Rebirth coincide with Father’s emergence in this world.”
What is that supposed to mean? What is going on?!
“I’m afraid that I cannot elaborate any further on this. For now...I need to remove you from the playing field so that you do not irritate the natural course of events,” he said as he pulled back his right arm and shoved it into Raum’s chest.
Using all of his strength of will, Raum tried to resist, even going so far as to summon all of his master’s power of rebirth, but it was not enough as his soul was ripped from his body.
With the absence of his soul, he could feel the spiritual energy contained within his body start to leak out, barely keeping him alive.
“You have two options brother. One, you can stay here until the proper course of events have passed, then I return your soul to you and you can continue serving your master, or two, you can attempt to return to Erebus using what little power that remains within you to warn any one person of your choosing. If you choose the latter, you will not survive. Without your soul, not even the power of Rebirth would be enough to maintain your life for very long.”
In the very next instant, Raum felt his body able to move again, yet he was paralyzed with fear as Cassiel stared at him patiently.
“Don’t dawdle now, make your choice quickly. Your energy will not last for long,” he said, as if already knowing what choice he would make.
He then turned around and used nearly all of the strength that remained in his body to travel back to Erebus.
As he did, he thought about who to approach, but even thinking was draining away his energy.
He knew that going to Azazel would be pointless now as Cassiel was watching his every move. Going back to Moyako wouldn’t be a good idea either.
Of course, he couldn’t go directly to Ruvick as he could not sense his presence, but there was one way to reach him, which left only one option.
He appeared in Ruvick’s home, where Gomori was presently sweeping the floors with a broom, and collapsed to his knees.
“S-Sister…,” he forced out as he felt his consciousness leaving him as Gomori rushed to his side.
“Raum! Raum, what happened?!” she shouted in a panicked tone as she held him in her arms.
“W-Warn Ruvick. Azrael...is…,” he struggled to say as those words were his last.
His consciousness faded into oblivion as he died in Gomori’s arms