Tales of Astora: Legacy

Chapter 65: Calm before the storm

Chapter 65: Calm before the storm

Holding a picture in his hand, lying on a soft bed, Alastor exhaled a long sigh. His mind was overflown with information. The things he didn't know, the things he thought he knew, were actually very different from what he expected.

Earlier this day, Vincent has shown him a large spherical structure inside his mansion, able to support two to three people inside it. It was the machine the doctor and the Artificer have built together as a mean of travel between Astora and this world. Of course, in order to keep this as a secret between them, Vincent hasn't told anyone beside from Alastor and Fiora. He was afraid that this invention might fall in the wrong hands or be used for an evil purpose, a lesson he learnt from Marcus. After all, most of the evil in this world or any other was done by people with good intentions. And so the sphere has stayed in his basement for the last thirty years, unnoticed.

The problem was that the machine was quite heavily damaged and therefore unusable, which meant that Alastor would not be able to go back to Astora any time soon. And even if that machine worked, which it didn't, Vincent has warned him that without an 'anchor', something that was connected Alastor's timeline just before he was dragged into the rift, he could very well come back to an Astora thousand years in the future or in the past. That was a big risk and something the boy would rather avoid.

In addition, there was the revelation about Marcus' daughter. According to Vincent, Stella died a very long time ago. If so, then who was the Stella Alastor knew? Was she just a replication of his original daughter as part of his own atonement? He couldn't let her go so he decided to recreate a machine in the form of his daughter to ease his pain? Perhaps. But that would not matter to Alastor. To him, Stella was still Stella, whoever or whatever she was in the past. Either way, he must have a talk with her upon his return. That was it if he could go back.

And so Alastor slipped away into his dreams, into a dark world he hasn't visited for a while.

.....

"ALASTOR!" a figure jumped at him from behind the moment he opened his eyes. The feeling of something soft touched his back allowed him to recognize the identity of the person immediately.

"Asmodeus! It has been a while!" he said.

"Sure did. How have you been these days? Magnus told me that you ended up in a strange place after fighting that Goddess Elemyr."

"Magnus told you? Really, the guy still can't give up his stalking instinct...How are everyone these days?" Alastor asked.

"....About that.... I need to talk to you about something. But I ask that you remain calm!" Asmodeus spoke hesitantly.

"What is this about?"

"It's your daughter, Odium"

.....

"......"

"Alastor, I know that Xenes was stupid for doing so without telling you but it's not entirely his fault either that Odium died. It was her plan and she did that to herself so...." Asmodeus claimed.

".....Now I understand what Odium told me when we first met. How that one of my own will betray my trust. *sigh* " Alastor sighed in disappointment.

"Alastor, I....I am sorry!" Asmodeus uttered in an apologetic voice. Her eyes were almost on the verge of tears.

"No it's not your fault, Asmodeus. You can't control everything by yourself and you are still the person I trust the most among all the demon lords. Don't take what I just said too seriously! And beside what kind of big sister would cry in front of her brother?" Alastor put his hand on her back and patted it, trying to console the elf.