Ethereal Paradigm: Arcadia Of Darkness 82 Glimpse Of A King's Narcissism

-Sam Vaknin

━━━━━━━━┓ ✠ ┏━━━━━━━━

The hero which I fought prior to getting sealed is now dead amidst the battlefield, which was once a dark sinister forest, now a b.l.o.o.d.y plain of which the Gorgon's cold body lies together with its master, Count Jabberowck himself. Betrayed by his very respected King, in the sight of his loyal allies.

Not gonna lie though... He was well worthy to be my first sparring partner on my arrival. His aggressive aura, and his underhanded schemes to fake defeat, his lackeys' support. It all made me realize that this realm is no different from whence I came. Although surreal discrepancies incur, the demented sides stay common. What's worse is that there's a high chance that I'm only seeing the tip of a ma.s.sive iceberg.

Priest Dainsleif, who also just got fired and with an empty look in his face, did not question the King's doing. He turns around from the sight of his lifeless accomplice. With his scepter, along with his dignity intact, he left the battlefield without a word... Seeing his reaction, it gave me a clue as to how their bond they shared was as a team, serving together this mystic Kingdom that they offered a vain allegiance to.

As the priest lifelessly and silently starts to draw away from the presence of the kingsmen and the leader himself, the King then gets ready to draw his sword from its place, and so did the three million on his command... While here I am in a demon lord fashion, standing several miles apart, engaging in a conversation with Shiro's very own dual ego who introduced herself as the 'Synthesized Angel of Healing, Kurenai'... and I think there is no time for the continuation of the superfluous introductions any longer.

"Let's dance shall we, Feudal Overlord?"The King exclaimed...

"But before that. I would like to make clear, the terms through negotiations." He added with a grotesque smile on his face.

"Bring it on then." I replied as I am also willing to hear what these 'terms' are, or else... I'm gonna regret it later again.

"The term is simple... Whoever gets out triumphant from this unusual masquerade will get to keep the Synthesized Angel and these 'lost herd of sheep' as well."

"Lost sheep.?"

"Oh, I'm gonna show you... Bring in the captured Anima!" shouted the King, commanding men or two to hand him over something that's emblazoned an 'anima'...

Wait, the name itself is somewhat familiar.

And then out from the crowd of armies, shackled by rusty old chains, caged like some sort of livestock with wounds all over her was a figure... that I know so well... The Anima of Music, Amadea Mozart, who was the first deity-like elegant figure who welcome and instructed us of the things that we must do before venturing to the vast unknown.

"Summon your Mirror of Clairvoyance or I will kill all of your clan. Show the Feudal Overlord, our lascivious new-arrival livestock!" Threatened the King to the bound and badly hurt Anima.

With frail arms, she raised her hands and summoned the same wide mirror she used for all of us to see the horrible current status of those who joined the Mirage Armada. And as the mirror was formed, she weakly kneeled not for her obedience to the king but out of her fragileness while puking so much blood in her little and disparaging cage.

Just what happened to her? The visage was so unsightly. Unlike her first appearance, she now looks like a poignant peasant... And from that alone, something tells me that everything is not quite right.

Then, on the summoned gargantuan mirror, showed a very poor Kingdom and inside this chamber, just below a building, was... the humans whom I was with when we first got out of the city gates... Being tortured, by the most cruel means...

The screams of agony, I could clearly hear and their screams for help, that will never likely come.

"H-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The King, seeing the visage, burst into laughter that is very whimsical to hear.

"Just looking at your poor race being conquered by us makes me laugh HAHAHAHAHAHAH! And yet, all of you are supposed to be more' superior' than us as the legends say! Oh well, the superiority better not come from you only having the same boring likeness with the deities themselves. " He added all the worse.

"How did you capture them?" I asked holding out as best as I could, the memory that I have with me from that night of derangement... but, this king... I could clearly see in him, the same charisma of my older brother, making the dam of reminiscence impossible to maintain.

"Heard that good for nothing Anima? Explain how you sold them out! I don't want to explain. It would be such a genuine waste of my precious voice." The King, grasping the poor anima's once beautiful flawless hair, said.

" No, please I did not... I- I was commanded by the deities to introduce to you some parts of the system...but, but they came and said to lure them there or else they will kill all of my defenseless clan... P-.. please, forgive me. I did not w-want any of th-these... Pl-ease." With a fainting voice and with teary eyes, Amadea answered, looking into me with her evident contrite and the feeling of guilt...

"And there you have it." Responded the King as he violently struck the anima's head on the cage of steel.

"EXCEPT THAT YOUR CLAN HAS BEEN WIPED OUT MOMENTS AGO, HAHAHAHAHAAHAH!" the king dementedly added, addressing the deranged lines to the Anima.

"N-no... I-it can't be..." Amadea fell to her face on her own blood as she was unable to withstand the brutality of the King's narcissism and fell to a trance, only an inch away from death.

"Now, that the negotiations have been set, shall we dance? Pitiful feudal overlord."

I was unable to answer... Shiro, seeing my inability to respond tapped my back as she drifts mid-air with her wings making me wake up from the fact, that sulking gets me nowhere... But, it's such a weird feeling... I want to be angry, but I can't... I want to hate but I cant... I want to cry, but ultimately can't...I want to be sad, but I can't... It's a wold of monochrome that I am in...

"Hmm... I think that was not a negotiation just now... It's an incentive that I will have to accept..." I continued talking, without them knowing that I am slowly destroying their individual amulets that keep me from getting inside their heads, and as it all was made broken, what welcomed me was very dark intentions especially coming from the king even reaching the heights of the skies, then...

"Sorry." A voice, sadder than my mine came to me, from the synthesized Angel herself taking Shiro's consciousness, yet again.

"If it was not for me... All of you could have had led a nicer life here..." She said, acting strong, but her eyes say the inevitable otherwise. An array of crystal clear tears came forth from the outbursts of her emotions...

"Maybe... I should just turn myself in, oni-chama."

"No, you can't." I simply recoiled.

"And what are you saying 'nicer life' here? It's a war. It's only natural for some lives to be lost along with the process." I added, sounding even more horrible than the King.

"Huh? But you and your fellow race would be safer without me."

"Correction. I have no fellowship with them.."

"But oni-chama!"

"No buts... Shiro is my adopted sister which coincidentally includes you on the package. I will not hand you over to them.., And you're supposed to be an Angel of Healing, right? I'll just have you heal them later."

The little girl along with the dwelling angel, entwined in one fragile vessel, then wiped out their tears and made the usual very brave look in the face...

"I will kill these bad demi-humans... I promise."

"Hey, hey hey! Not including a king in your personal conversation is quite disrespectful you know?"

the King, seeing the two of us in a conversation, intruded, as if it was the rudest thing he had ever experienced in his life probably of luxury... not being involved in a 'personal' chat.

"Shut your filthy mouth, you narcissistic manure," I replied, disgusted by the fact of his grandiose delusions.