The Corruption

Chapter 5

Amartya's temple, Myrk

"Get out of my table Killian." Having left Arthur and Lux in the hospital, Amartya and Killian now stood in the main office of the god's temple. The deity sat on his throne with his right leg crossed over his left, arms crossed over his chest and back leaning into the throne, while annoyingly glaring at the demon who carelessly sat on the table, messing the order of a few papers, his legs rhythmically swinged, his right resting on the table while his left one grabbed a small amount of other papers close enough for him to read. "You only have one chair Tya." The god uncrossed his right hand to bring it to his face, using his thumb and index finger to rub his glabella, the area between his eyebrows. "You can materialize one demon." Clearly ignoring those words, Killian chuckled. "You missed me so much you had to keep this oh-so-beautiful portrait of mine?" The demon grinned, turning his torso to face the god and leaning down towards him, using his left hand to wave a escaping report file of him with a hand sketched portrait of himself, except most details were missing, the features were much more threatening and defined than the real deal, the expression was weirdly serious, the eyes much more narrowed and there was even traces of facial hair, the only thing that was mostly correct was the long black hair and the pale golden eyes. "Should I change my appearance to this?" Killian continued while laughing, Amartya sighed before harshly taking the report out of the demon's hand. "The description was given by Cerberus." Once more, the demon erupted into a laughing fit, covering his mouth in a weak attempt to lessen the sound. The god could only rub his temple in annoyance, waiting for the shorter male to finish fit. "Killian." Amartya had enough, slamming his hands in the table, one in each side of the demon, who merely stared at him with a smirk, not intimidated at all by the glare. "Can we finally discuss the important matter at hand?" The god kept his eyes locked into Killian's, neither of them breaking the contest. "Why did you tell me to offer you your freedom?" The demon smiled in return, as the god thought back to what had happened just moments ago, as both he and Kayllus had been waiting for Lux back at the entrance of the waste lands cave system.

A few moments prior
Waste lands, Myrk

Having arrived far before the angel, the god stood alone, before a shadow took shape, revealing his servant once more. "Your Grace, there was another letter, yet this one was personally address to... yourself." Amartya raised his eyebrow, directing his eyes to the side to stare at Kayllus. "From the same sender?" The demon only nodded hesitantly. "I could only assume so Your Grace." And with that a small piece of paper, folded neatly was presented in front of the god, taking it into his hands, said male only scoffed before opening it. Nothing stood on said paper. Nothing but a few weirdly shaped drawings. Seven of them to be exact. To a third party surely that is exactly what they would see. But not Amartya. He knew exactly the meaning of said drawings, it was after all an ancient code used by small group of people to communicate in secret. It read:

'Freedom'

Nothing less. Nothing more. Only that one word. With a second of silence, the paper was folded once again and delivered to the hands of the small servant. "What am I to do with the message Your Grace?" "Burn it." And with a courtesy bow, Kayllus disappeared onto the shadows again just in time for a exhausted angel to arrive.

In the present
Amartya's temple, Myrk

"Your Grace, isn't that a question undeserved of being proclaimed by your glorious self?" The right eyebrow of the god twitched yet it was purposely ignored by the demon. "What could a caged bird wish more than to fly once again?" Killian smiled, his eyes gleaming. "Shall we put it in a different way?" Amartya suggested. The demon grinned with amusement, standing up from the desk and summoning a small red cloud, using it as a chair as he used to. He crossed his right leg over his left, resting his elbows on the desk and his head on his intertwined hands, waiting for the god to continue. "Why would a fox who had a key under his paw keep themselves trapped in a cage?" Amartya repeated the steps of the demon, leaning forward and placing his own elbows on the table and resting his head on his hands. On the other side of the desk, Killian only closed his eyes, smiling. He proceeded to lean his head on his right hand, using his left one to summon a small butterfly who played around his hand. "Perhaps, the key it had would only free them from the cage but not from the room that served as it's enclosure." The god was left in dark confusion, yet before he had the change to ask, a familiar angel entered from the main door with an awkward expression. "My apologies for the lack of courtesy Your Grace, I asked Sir Kayllus to deliver the message of my arrival, yet he informed me that it would be best to just come directly here." Lux bowed politely. After sharing a look, both the god and the demon seemed to reach a temporary agreement. Killian stood up, waving his hand to disperse both the small butterfly and the red cloud, and leaned backwards against the desk, smiling at the angel. "Say Mr.Lux, if a fox was trapped in a cage yet had the key under it's paw, why would it chose to stay in said situation?" Lux was left speechless, wondering where this talk was coming from, yet refrained from speaking against it as he saw the glint of curiosity in Amartya's eyes. Therefore, to not annoy the god, he actually gave it some thought. "Wouldn't it just... not want to leave the cage?" A blank look expressed itself on the demon's face, leaving the angel wondering if perhaps there was some sort of correct conclusion he had missed, yet the look only settled for a few moments before it vanished like powder in wind, leaving the small residue of an unknown emotion in Killian's golden eyes. "My dear Sir, I'm afraid you still lack knowledge of the world." The angel seemed somehow offended by such words, his right eyebrow twitching with annoyance, yet the demon gave it no regard. "There is no way to control the curiosity deep in your mind, therefore a trapped creature will have the will to explore. It is something branded deep into our own minds, our instincts. You are naive for insinuating a creature could go against it's most internalized instincts only because you do not know the full condition of it's situation." After the speech was over, Lux only gapped in bewitchment, as soon as he arrived, he was thrown a question that he could quickly guess was a metaphor for something else, yet with no time to think and no previous anticipation of situation he was now being reprimanded for his answer? The annoyance outgrew the confusion as he pondered the situation more carefully, what other conclusion was he supposed to get to? What would compel a wild creature to stay locked if the key was in itself possession? With a vein popping up in the back of Luxes hand, he sank his teeth into his inner lip to keep himself from getting agitated and losing his composure, yet it only served as amusement to Killian, who grinned widely, preparing to make another remark before being silenced by the god who had long grown tired of the exchange. "Enough with that. Lux did you have any idea for the next course of this investigation?" Immediately forgetting his annoyance, the angel widens his eyes in surprise, struggling to keep himself from stuttering from his state of shock. "My apologies Your Grace, but do your words perhaps mean you plan to continue to share your support on my investigation?" Naturally Amartya nodded, opening his mouth to further explain. "It is both in my best interest and in my duty to follow such research as it is about a threat against those bellow me, furthermore" His words trailed of as he stared to the demon who was now playing with a small butterfly and not really paying attention to the conversation. "I have other reasons for keeping myself inside the matter." Offhandedly Killian smiled, staring the god by the corner of his eyes. "Do you wish to catch up with me or am I just to dangerous to be let free?" The god didn't answer, instead re-directing his glance to the angel. "My original question Lux." Understanding the undesired of the god to repeat himself, Lux quickly recomposed himself from his state of shock before answering. "Right, of course, my apologies Your Grace. My thoughts revolved around questioning Lady Hana, as the Lady is known for her medical knowledge and social connections, surely it could prove of assistance to question her. Furthermore, I have had a lot of personal meetings with the Lady and can assure that she would definitely be open to landing a hand." Amartya nodded once again. "I will trust your words then Lux, let's begin the journey then." The angel smiled politely, pride felling his chest and he straightens his back. "It is my utmost pleasure to be of assistance for Your Grace." He bowed, on the other hand the demon only raised his eyebrow. "Is no one going to question me regarding my opinion?" His words were answered with nothing but silence, causing him to roll his eyes. On the corner of the one of the windows in the temple a small shadow suddenly disappeared.

At the same time
In an unknown location

A blacked hair male sat on a throne alone. A shadow appeared next to it, taking the form of a woman. "They are taking the laid path." The man nodded without a word, already expecting it. After a moment of silence, the woman continued in a smaller voice. "He has joined them as predicted Mater." This time the man did not respond. He raised his left hand silently, as the woman shadow bowed before melting away into the dark. "Child, you may enter." The man spoke for the first time, his voice deep but hoarse. Immediately the small form of a child entered the room. "Are you ready?" His voice sounded almost sweet as he stood up, approaching the child calmly, he carefully placed his left hand on their head. The child seemingly smiled. "Of course, Master."