Marcus…
He made his way over to the cafe that Ruvick usually frequented and sat at his usual table, but was disappointed to find that neither him nor Gomori were there.
He tapped his fingers on the surface of the table and ordered some coffee when he was approached by one of the staff while he waited.
After nearly half an hour had passed, only then did he see Ruvick show up as he rushed inside and sat at the table with a deeply disturbed expression on his face.
“I apologize for not being readily available. Both Gomori and I were dealing with a crisis and couldn’t be here sooner,” he said as he waved for one of the staff to get him his usual order.
“You look like Hell…what happened?” Marcus asked as he finished his drink.
“Its probably best if I kept it to myself, but enough about me, what did you wish to talk about?” he asked.
“Well...before I start, there’s someone else who needs to show up,” Marcus said as he set down his glass.
Ruvick raised his eyebrows in confusion as he asked, “There is?”
“Azazel, I need you here. Now,” Marcus said with a forceful tone, and the Demon Prince appeared next to him in an instant.
“Y-Yes sir, how may I be of assistance?” he asked, to which Ruvick looked between him and Marcus in mild confusion and wariness.
“Pull up a chair, we have a lot to talk about,” Marcus said as he tapped his fingers against the table.
Noticing his agitation, Azazel pulled up a chair and sat quietly between the two.
He looked at Ruvick first as he said, “When you and I first arrived in Forrosa and I read that prophecy engraved on the Tower of Alken, you swore to me that it had nothing to do with me. In fact, you swore on the Styx that I was not involved. That’s a very serious lie and a dangerous oath to break. You realize that right?”
A look of understanding flashed across Ruvick’s face as he realized what this conversation was really about.
“So you’ve learned the truth then I take it?”
“About my being the God of Wrath? Yes. I heard Ares call me Dagon’s Successor, but then after I died during my match with him, I was dragged to Hell and-”
“You WHAT?!” Azazel and Ruvick exclaimed at the same time, much to Marcus’s surprise.
The two then looked at each other with concern as Ruvick then said, “Please continue and elaborate on what you mean when you said you were taken to Hell.”
As the minutes passed, with him explaining everything that transpired while he was in Hell and what he heard, from hearing the Hell Knight calling him the God of Wrath directly to hearing Hestia mention that she robbed him of his birthright.
“Ah…I think I understand now,” Ruvick said while Azazel nodded in agreement.
“It must have to do with Thalia’s soul self then,” he said and Ruvick nodded.
“What does Thalia have to do with this?” Marcus asked in confusion.
“From what I can sense, the soul self you were meant to be born with was taken from you, kept by Hestia, and then given to Thalia when she was born. Its the reason that Apophis was able to give you the two soul selves you have now, χειμών πνεῦμα (Storm Soul) and Dragon Glass. I’m guessing that by taking the one you were born with and giving it to Thalia, it robs you of your immunity from being marked by Sin. This led to you being dragged to Hell upon death instead of having dominion over it.”
“I…I see. Putting that aside, I’m more concerned as to why both of you decided to hide the information of me being the God of Wrath,” he said as he continued to focus on that.
“Right...that. Look Marcus, there is no easy way to explain that away, but at the time, I believed that you needed to be convinced it had nothing to do with you so the journey to realizing you were was natural and not something forced. Nothing good comes of forcing fate to obey your wishes,” Ruvick explained, to which Marcus found to be somewhat understandable.
“Even so, I doubt you needed to take such drastic measures like lying while under the oath of Styx. Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Incredibly so, but I technically wasn’t lying at the time when I said it didn’t have anything to do with you. You may be the God of Wrath, but at the same time, you are not. Not yet. You have yet to fully realize that existence. Much like how Ender is you, but not you, and more so an entity created by your own will, the God of Wrath is sort of the reverse.”
Hearing that explanation sent a chill down Marcus’s spine as he asked, “W-what do you mean? Are you saying that I am just a manifestation of the God of Wrath?”
“No. I’m not saying that. You are still very much your own person. Its...a little difficult to explain but the same way Ender is an extension of your will, you are an extension of the will of the God of Wrath, but at the same time, you are the God of Wrath. Only you can command Wrath’s Authority to bend to your will, because it is your will. The Authority of Wrath is a conscious and omnipresent entity, much like Death,” Ruvick explained patiently.
It was then that Azazel decided to speak up as he explained, “I will admit to you Marcus that I was not completely certain of whether you were indeed the God of Wrath until I heard Ares speak it. I was...still doubtful. For that reason alone, I did not approach you to address you as such, but chose to serve you in the case that was the truth. Now, to further elaborate on Ruvick’s words, the evidence of Wrath’s Authority has been present in the world beyond your direct influence. Over the past ten thousand years of Forrosa’s reign, many champions have been chosen to represent its fighting force and defend the kingdom in times of need. Those chosen are struck by the Scarlet Bolt and granted a portion of Wrath’s Authority though clearly not to the same degree as you have. However, it was not until very recently during the Mordrinite War did a second champion become chosen by the Scarlet Bolt while the previous one was still alive, Forrosa’s own King Razel Aldia and Frosk. I thought nothing of it at the time and did not look into it further, for which I curse myself for doing so.”
“How is this relevant at all?” Marcus asked.
“It is incredibly relevant because it was unprecedented to have two champions chosen by the scarlet bolt and both still be alive at the same time, with Frosk receiving more strength within his bolt than his predecessors before him. To add onto that, two more have been chosen by the Scarlet Bolt.”
“Nashandra and Camilla. I saw it happen,” Marcus said.
“Indeed. The arrival of these three champions signifies something greater. Being chosen to represent something of grand importance, especially since all three of them had said they had visions of the God of Wrath personally approaching them in their dreams,” Azazel continued.
“What are you two getting at?” he asked warily as he stopped tapping the table.
Ruvick then chose to speak up as he said, “In the era in which Lucifer ruled over, there were Four Kings to take command of the many legions of Hell. Of those four, Reyna, Adrianos, Samael, and Cain were the original Four Kings of hell.”
“Adrianos? Like-”
“Yes, as in Selene’s father. He was once one of the Four Kings. Unfortunately both he and Samael are dead, so-”
“Samael’s dead? Since when?” Marcus asked.
Hearing that, Azazel and Ruvick looked at each other in concern once again before the latter turned towards him, leaned forward, and asked, “What do you mean ‘since when’?”
“I...I met Samael when I first showed up here in Erebus. I bought Light Taker from him and he rebuilt my revolver to withstand my magic. He has a shop here in town…” he said as he trailed off, realizing that something wasn’t right about this.
“You don’t think he might have-,” Azazel tried to ask but Ruvick shook his head no.
“Its impossible. I saw Azrael cut off his head,” Ruvick said as he held his chin in his hand while deep in thought.
“Is it possible that Lucifer…?”
“Maybe but...for him to hide like this…,” Ruvick muttered before returning his attention to Marcus as he gave him an apologetic look and said, “Looks like you just opened up an entirely new set of problems for me to unwind. Perhaps we can approach that topic another day, but back to the subject at hand regarding the Four Kings.”
“Okay…continue then.”
“In regards to the Four Kings, the one King that remains, Reyna, has disconnected herself from Hell and grown in power beyond her previous limitations. As for Cain…the matter with him is complicated. However, its been made clear that three new kings have been chosen, not to be rulers of Hell, but rather of the kingdoms here on this planet. Camilla and Frosk have been chosen obviously to rule Forrosa and Brunhildt. Nashandra’s purpose is still a mystery to me, but I’m guessing that all will be revealed in due time along with the identity of the forth king,” Ruvick elaborated before taking a sip of his coffee.
Azazel then said, “At the center of all of this Marcus, is you. Your very appearance in this world has forced events to converge around you, while at the same time, the circumstances you’ve been through up until this point have been to shape you into the god you were meant to be.”
To hear it told to him so bluntly made it difficult for him to process all at once.
“I’m still having trouble accepting the fact that I am a god in the first place…I guess this is what Selene must be feeling too,” he said nervously.
“Regardless of what the future holds, I will be at your service,” Azazel said as he bowed his head to him.
“Does King Aldia know? Camilla, Frosk, and Nashandra as well? Do they know that I am the God of Wrath?”
Azazel nodded.
Marcus looked away from him and rested his face against his fist as he let out a deep breath.
“This...this feels like too much responsibility for me, to be a god,” he said under his breath.
“That is why I, and the kings are here. We are here to lighten the load, in however manner may be of assistance to you,” Azazel assured him.
Marcus turned to him and asked, “Does anyone else know? Do the people of Forrosa know what I am?”
“I...sincerely doubt it. Only myself, King Razel Aldia, Ruvick obviously, and the three kings know that you are the God of Wrath. The only thing that the common people have heard is that you are Dagon’s successor, not that the successor was the God of Wrath. That knowledge is reserved for us alone, for the time being.”
“I would prefer if you kept it that way. Do not announce to the people that I am the God of Wrath,” Marcus ordered him.
Azazel blinked in surprise as he was struggled to accept what he had heard while Ruvick seemed to understand his intentions.
“B-But my lord, the people of Forrosa have been waiting for thousands of years for your arrival. To deny them of your identity now…,” he said as his voice trailed off.
“I think it would be in the best interest if we kept that information to a minimum of people and continued on with me being a dignitary working alongside the King. I would prefer to ease into it slowly as I learn more about this rather than have this forced onto me all at once. I don’t want that kind of stress,” he said, to which Azazel nodded in understanding.
“As you wish.”
“Now...unless there is anything more you need to elaborate on, you are dismissed. I don’t want to keep you for too long,” he said, to which Azazel smiled.
“It is no trouble at all. In fact, it is my pleasure to serve you. I will be off now,” he said as he stood up, bowed to him in respect, and disappeared.
The moment he left, Marcus let out an exhausted sigh, to which Ruvick smirked as he met his eyes and asked, “How does it feel to be a god?”
“It sucks.”
“Yeah…, but you’ll get used to it,” Ruvick assured him.
Marcus figured that their discussion was over, so he expected Ruvick to leave as well but was shocked to see that he was still sitting there, as if mulling over how to approach a certain conversation.
“Is something wrong? I thought we had covered everything,” Marcus asked.
“Oh we have...its just, I had something else on my mind bothering me.”
“Is it about Samael?”
“Well, yes. That is one concern I need to address, but you don’t have to worry about that one. Its actually something else that’s been bothering me, and its about you.”
Hearing that put him on edge as he leaned forward to listen better but said nothing.
“The same way you’ve had dreams regarding the past involving Lucifer, Cain, Reyna, and several others, I’ve had dreams about your past. Of this you already know, but I can’t put it together the significance of these dreams and why they keep happening to me. Its quite obvious that these dreams have importance to them, but I cannot figure out why and I’m hoping that you could shine some light on that,” Ruvick said.
“What do you expect me to say? I don’t know why my dreams have been happening to me. I’m just as confused as you are.”
“I have it under good authority that the reason for your dreams are to reveal the nature of our current circumstances. To help you understand the true state of creation and where all of that might lead in the future. Though I know not the source of who or what is forcing your dreams or my own on either of us, with you their purpose seems clear. I’m having trouble understanding the purpose of my dreams where you are at the center of all of them.”
“And you think that my insight would be enough to help you figure that out?” Marcus asked.
“Any insight at all would be immensely helpful.”
He sighed and said, “Alright then…why don’t you start with telling me about everything you’ve seen so far up til now.”