Tales of Astora: Legacy

Chapter 43: Aftermath

Chapter 43: Aftermath

Alastor was exhausted. He beat the second God, although the world had a little taste of what its end could be like. Chaos was everywhere. Every country was now in an uproar. They claimed that all these disasters were caused by the presence of a new demon lord and therefore all the tragedies, the destructions were blamed on him. Though not many even knew who this demon lord was, which was fortunate.

After coming back to the demon lord's castle, the boy only wanted to go bed, to snuggle into the warm sheets and forgot about everything else. It was a bit awkward with Mephisto and the others at first but they followed his instructions in the end. Hopefully they learnt their lessons. With Azureus now taking in charge of the demon army, Alastor has dispatched them to seek and capture every celestial roaming in Ragna, not to imprison them but just to keep them in check in case they did something stupid. He did not want to antagonize them too much for now since it was Ikarus' people.

The new weaponry that Mephisto used also raised some concerns. Alastor was not aware of their presence and he wondered what else did the demons keep secret from him? But he would take care of that tomorrow, just not now. For now he just wanted to rest.

Alastor was not exhausted physically. His health was perfectly fine. But the questions, the mysteries, they just kept coming. Even the Gods were acting strange. If they really wanted to kill him, why did they not come together instead of facing him alone one by one? What did Merkabah mean with his last words?

"To save is to kill!"

He felt like as if this was all part of a game and Alastor was just a pawn, being guided all the way from one purpose to another. Nothing made sense to him. Who killed his parents? What was Eden's goal? So many questions yet no answers.

Lying on the bed on his side, he faced the window as the boy contemplated about his problems. Then he heard the sound of the door of his chamber opening with someone walking inside. Slowly the person mounted on his bed and laid next to him, putting their hands around him tightly. Immediately he recognized her smell.

"I didn't expect you to be that bold." Said Alastor as he turned back to look at her.

"No don't. Don't turn back. Just...let me stay like this!" Ikarus kept Alastor from turning to her.

"....ok" muttered the boy.

The two did not say a word the entire time. Alastor was confused. He did not understand Ikarus' reason of doing this. He wanted to ask but at the same time he wanted to oblige to her, for leaving her in the dark, for letting her go through that ordeal with Merkabah.

In the end it was her who broke the silence.

"Do you remember when you saved me and brought me back to your house? The time when you decided to create the bond that chains us together."

"I do." The boy replied.

"I was a broken girl at that time. I felt I was on a cliff that was on the brink of collapsing....Why? Why did you bring me back? Why did you...mend me?"

"....." the boy did not say a word.

"Was it out of pity? Seeing an used tool being cast out by her own family..."

"NO! Stop talking like that about yourself!" The boy shouted loudly.

"...I am sorry..."

"It's not your fault!"

"Then tell me! Why did you do that?"

"I don't know...at that time I just couldn't leave you there like that. I couldn't"