Legend of the Immortal

Father & Son

Arceus woke up with a groan.

Opening his eyes, he found himself in a familiar bed, moonlight cascading through the open window.

A quiet breeze passed his face as he sat up.

"What...happened?..." Arches groaned as he sat up.

He immediately stopped moving as his muscles felt like they were burning, his bones were all creaky, like the wheels of an old carriage.

He kept hearing a slight ringing sound that nagged him to no end.

"God...Just why am I back at the castle?..." Arceus thought hard until he came upon the answer.

Ignoring the pain, he stood up in a flash,"Gracie! Where's Gracie?"

Creaky laughter came from his side,"Heheh...Son...How honorific of you, to think of a damsel in distress when you yourself are in far worse shape than her. Always a quality of yours eh? Putting others before yourself."

Arceus turned his head to find his Father, Chester, facing him, short jet black hair as dark as the night sky.

"Father?...How is she?" Arceus asked worriedly.

"You!...You see your own parent and the first thing you do is ask about that girl?" Chester fumed.

"She's not just 'that girl' Father. She's a friend, and the closest one I ever had." Arceus hissed.

Chester sighed,"She's doing fine. The cause was probably a high dosage of alcohol, most likely around quite a few gallons. I know, the first time I heard it, I couldn't believe it too. How can that girl even down at least ten gallons? Anyway, the girl's in an artificial state of sleep to aid her in getting rid of her toxins. If you were any later then, she could have died. That alcohol was some pretty strong stuff. As for you...Muscles torn everywhere, four ribs broken, skin practically slashed everywhere and mana deficiency. I'd say you're in a far worse state."

Arceus breathed a sigh of relief,"As long as Gracie's okay...I'm sorry father, for being rude before...Its just...Gracie's someone I don't want to lose..."

"Ah no need for apologies, your father understands. I've lost many good comrades and friends on my road to becoming a king." Chester replied, waving his hand dismissively.

They fell silent, listening to the quiet rustling of leaves in the castle courtyard.

Chester finally spoke up,"What were you doing with her? How did you end up in...such a situation? As far as your father knows, you never come running to others for help, usually depending on yourself."

Arceus felt something lodged in his throat,"I...Uh...I panicked...I saw Gracie pass out for some unknown reason and tried healing magic but it didn't work so I panicked. This was the only place I knew I could find an expert well-versed healer seeing that she got herself kicked out of Emperyus."

"Oho? Why was she dead drunk to the point of almost dying then?" Chester asked.

Arceus scratched his head and shook his head,"I don't know. She kept referencing this 'she' i've never heard of in my life. It seemed like this lady played quite a big role in her life. But she said that this person left. Why would she leave Gracie? Gracie's gone downhill after she left, her personality and attitude's made a total turn."

Chester rested his head on his hand as he thought,"Well, perhaps this was to let her get a different perspective in life? To live independently so as to not depend on this mysterious person so much?"

"Perhaps. If that is so, why didn't she tell Gracie in advance? Furthermore...Why don't I remember this person? Surely i've met her before?"

"I don't know about anything regarding this mysterious person. From what I can gather, my 'eyes' around the city tell me you've only been with those nobles and her. No one else. Which makes it especially weird. Just who is this person?"

"Ah no worries, i'll clear this up with Gracie later, as long as she's not in life threatening danger there's always time to ask later."

"Right then, well since we have time now, shall we discuss some things we should have years ago?"

Arceus groaned,"Dad-"

"No. Don't 'dad' me. We need to talk about your engagement and crowning. Your poor old father feels his back aching everyday trying to put up with those god forsaken nobles. I should have been like that blood king from the southern part of the human territory, purging all nobles then replacing them with people he could control. Would make my life a hell of a lot easier i'll tell you that." Chester snorted at the thought of said greedy nobles, creating an unpleasant atmosphere due to the father son duo both disliking most of the nobility besides a few.

Arceus rolled his eyes,"Why do I have to marry that whore? She's obviously in it for the money only."

Chester nodded,"I understand how you feel but son, we need contacts with other kingdoms. The Credo Empire is currently experiencing a major threat right now. It's practically top secret what i'm about to tell you."

Arceus nodded as he leaned in.

"The world is facing a major threat. A more accurate statement would be humanity is facing a major threat. We have four parties in a possible upcoming war. The [Four Great Kings] in the north which our emperor Credo is part of, the [Draconic Overlord] in the south, a mighty dragon that commands a small but extremely dangerous group of dragons. Practically ancient beings that lust for treasure. The [Feral King] of the east, ruling over beast people who are part animal, part human. And finally, our most dreaded opponent, the [Cursed Saint] who rules over the everyone but our emperors. He can apparently summon demons whilst reanimating corpses into his personal playthings. Though we should be able to tie with the three with quantity, the problem would be the internal strife after the warring period in which everything will be extremely unstable."

Arceus' eyes widened,"I thought demons were wiped out long ago? Back in the holy war, were they not?"

Chester's face was grim,"We don't know how he acquired the means to summon demons but one thing's for sure, if we want to survive, we need allies."

Arceus sighed,"But I really don't want to..."

"Arceus please. I know this is selfish of me but I beg of you, please marry her. It's not like you can't get another wife at a later time right?" Chester asked.

Arceus sighed,"Dad...It just...Marrying someone I barely even know, yet alone like, is against a moral of mine...Why not get Lucas or Calix instead?..."

Chester sighed and stood up,"Nevermind. Forget I ever asked you this. Get better soon. The girl's just next door if you didn't know."

He took one last look at Arceus before walking quietly out of the room, the door closing with a 'click' sound.

Arceus lied back down onto the bed, revelling in the rare moment of quietness and soon, his eyes became heavier and heavier and he closed them.

Then, he fell asleep.