"Considering his current behavior, I am forced to agree with you." Sir Gehrig stood from his seat and coughed a speckle of blood into his hand. "To think that he could be manipulated, with his level of power. It is a very scary thought."
"W-What do we do?" Jura stammered.
Sweat dripped down Jura's face as he began to truly understand what Ashkatar meant.
"The first question we should ask is how is it even possible for him to be possessed." Sir Gehrig rubbed his head with both hands.
"Well, actually..." One of the family head's cleared his throat and told everyone about the rumor that was still circulating about the Grand Mage.
"The rumor goes as such, the Grand Mage requested for twelve weapons to be made, but a thirteenth was created as a personal weapon to be presented to the Grand Mage upon completion. During the creation process, a rare gem was going to be put into the pommel, but the gem was cursed. The Grand Mage came and personally took care of the cursed gem, before anyone was harmed." The family head did his best to recall everything he had heard about the rumor.
"I see..." Ashkatar nodded his head.
If it really was a cursed object, then it could potentially take over the Grand Mage's mind. The gem itself would have to be extremely powerful, since the Grand Mage's power was unique even compared to his own.
"Luckily the Grand Mage has maintained his own soul, or else I am afraid this meeting would have turned out quite differently." Ashkatar chuckled disparagingly while everyone else gulped down a mouthful of saliva.
"Again, what do we do." Jura looked the most panicked out of everyone in the room.
Considering his position as the representative of the dark elves, his fear that the possessed Grand Mage would harm his own people was a valid concern.
Ashkatar combed his lengthy beard with his long fingers and thought deeply. Throughout his entire existence in this world, he had seen many body possessions and soul attacks. Without more information on what exactly has taken over the Grand Mage, the method used to expel the invader could harm or outright kill him. For now, the only thing they could do was bide their time and look for an opportunity while gathering more information.
"You shall lead the investigation into the cursed gem, along with Jerbalt. Uncover everything you possibly can, as it is a matter of life and death." Ashkatar commanded the family head that originally spoke of the rumor, as well as the leader of the red assassins.
"Yes, I understand." The family head took the matter very seriously, and bowed his head.
Jerbalt said nothing, but knelt toward Ashkatar as a sign of compliance.
"Everyone else will execute the orders as per the Grand Mage's instructions. He must be given no reason to think that something is wrong." Ashkatar finished speaking and left the room.
The rest of the members from the meeting left in short order after confirming what they were going to do.
Ashkatar spoke with the people outside the war council room and asked where the Grand Mage had gone.
"He was here for a moment, but when I turned my back he was gone." A young woman wearing a red dress sighed gently as she placed the apple in her hand back into the cart. "Something must have happened."
"I am sure it was nothing too serious. May I have an apple?" Ashkatar did not need to eat, but seeing her smile fade away was almost too sad.
Sure enough, when Ashkatar asked for the apple, a large smile blossomed on her face.
"Of course! I picked it myself!" The young woman shined the apple on her sleeve and handed it over.
"Lovely." Ashkatar took the apple and bit into it, letting the juice flow down the side of his mouth. "I will be off then."
The young woman waved goodbye to Ashkatar as he left, and continued to pass out apples to anyone who looked hungry.
On one of the mountain tops in the Bastion of Hope.
"Kinsey, why did you want me to bring you here?" Willem had felt quite tired after the meeting and intended to meditate, but Kinsey had activated her pendant to call upon him.
Kinsey stared out over the mountain, the winds of the summit pushing against her back. The biting cold was temporarily abated when Willem casted a barrier to block the wind.
"So many things have happened in the last few months. We went from carving out our place in the world, to fighting in a war we never asked for. Do you remember all those years ago, when you first met me? You said that if I served you loyally you would spare my life. I was wearing my favorite yellow dress that day. The only thing my life consisted of in that place was working and waiting to be married off." Kinsey look out at the sun slowly rising above the mountains.
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Willem sat beside Kinsey but did not embrace her. There seemed to be an imperceptible space between their bodies.
"I know I am being selfish, and I know that there will be war, and bloodshed. Which is why these moments we have together are that much more important. I wanted to remind you of what you are fighting for." Kinsey turned to Willem, and placed her lips against his.
The heat of her lips was a stark contrast to the cool morning air passing through the mountains. When she had finished, they both looked out over the mountains while the sun climbed higher into the sky.
"Kinsey... Do you think I am a good leader? What if I lead our people down the wrong path." Willem finally voiced his worry with Kinsey, the only person he knew would give him an honest answer.
"I do not know about the right or wrong path. What I do know is, you are giving these people purpose. Before you came along, the only people who smiled were the nobles who took advantage of others. To see the children laughing and smiling while playing with the dark elf children, I never thought I would see that in my lifetime." Kinsey placed her head against Willem's shoulder. "You have already done so much, and yet everyone expects you to give more. That is what it means to be a leader, I guess."
"I think... I think I needed this. A moment to myself, to breathe, and focus on what I need to do." Willem stammered through his sentence as the scimitar at his side glowed gently.
"Are you okay? I have never seen you so... Vulnerable." Kinsey looked worriedly at Willem.
The gem on the scimitar began to glow a little brighter.
As Willem closed and opened his eyes, attempting to focus his vision, Kinsey began to change in front of his eyes. Her clothes shifted from her previous regal appearance to a more basic tribal look and her face distorts as pink and purple wings sprouted from her back. Her face now looked like the Fey Leader that Willem had previously seen in his visions.
"What have you done with Kinsey!" Willem screams as he grabs the Fey Leader by the throat.
The gem on the scimitar glows brighter.
"She is mine now, and you are next. Then I will take that gem at your side and steal the soul of every human in this pathetic world." The Fey Leader grinned, but his body fell backward and began to shake.
Willem knew immediately that something was wrong. Since he knew the Fey Leader intended to turn the humans into pure magical energy, taking their souls made no sense.
As Willem looked to his side, he saw the gem of souls glowing brightly.
"Kill your connections to this world, and take your rightful place as a God." The Fey Leader now changed his attitude as his body shook violently.
Suddenly a blast of white energy dyed Willem's vision, as the body he had previous been choking expunged a wave of magical force. The energy was potent enough to knock Willem on his ass, and drop the barrier that he had placed to stop the wind.
As Willem opened his eyes, he saw Kinsey's limp body laying on the ground, bathed in a shimmer of white light from head to toe.
"Kinsey! KINSEY!" Willem ran to her side to check her pulse, but the shimmering white light burned him and repelled wherever he touched.
Luckily since they were high atop a mountain, the cold air showed that Kinsey was still barely breathing.
Willem summoned the two attendants who normally looked after Kinsey and got them to check her pulse. Fortunately they could still touch her body despite it still shimmering in white.
"Will she be okay?" Willem felt a great deal of remorse as he watched over Kinsey.
He had tried to move them all back to his room in the Private Sanctum but the white light reacted to the dark magic teleportation and stopped the ability. In the end, Willem had to use his elemental magic for teleportation, which had the blindness and deafness side effects he did not experience with dark magic movement.
Once the side effects wore off on the attendants, they got the necessary items to check her condition.
Willem tried to stay out of their way, but there was so many people being called upon that he ended up hindering their movements.
"Grand Mage, with all due respect... If you are just going to stand around then please leave." One of the attendants had had enough with him breathing down her neck and bluntly asked him to go.
Willem knew he could not stay in the room, not so much because he was useless as much as he still needed to figure out what the hell happened with the gem.
The only person that would know about the gem and what it is trying to do would be his Father's soul, which is currently tethered to the large oak tree.
"Ashkatar." Willem opened a mental connection to the divine beast.
"Grand Mage. What can I do for you?" Ashkatar sounded calm and neutral, trying to hide his emotions.
"There is something wrong with me. I leave the command of the dark elves and humans in your hands. I must leave before something happens again..." Willem could not hide his emotions.
His fear was beginning to boil to the surface, and with it the other unpleasant emotions he had been suppressing.
"Something already happened?" Ashkatar picked up on the wording Willem used almost immediately.
"I have to go." Willem forcefully closed the mental connection and shifted through the darkness.
In Paradiso Rosso.
Ashkatar absentmindedly played with the children while he conversed with Willem. When the mental connection was broken, he hurriedly sent magical energy throughout his entire body.
"He's not here anymore." Ashkatar whispered to himself as he sat down on a nearby bench.
"Mister. Are you okay?" A small girl in a cheap brown dress with a rope belt looked up at Ashkatar and smiled.
"I will be, and how are you doing?" Ashkatar nodded his head and smiled back.
Seeing the children smiling and playing always put Ashkatar in a good mood. Watching them play games made him remember fondly how his own children played with each other before they were taken away from him.
Of course those happy feelings were quickly taken over by grief and anger, but he could not show this gentle little dark elf girl that ugly side of himself.
"I am great! I made a new friend today... She is super nice, and can count all the way to ten!" The little girl twirled her hair with her finger, giggling all the while.
"All the way to ten, why even I do not think I can do that!" Ashkatar laughed and played with his beard while he talked with the girl. "Tell me, what is your name?"
"Brun."
"Brun, that is a good name." Ashkatar replied.
"You want to know my friend's name, don't you?" The little girl climbed onto the bench where Ashkatar was sitting.
"Of course." Ashkatar laughed.
"Lia!" The little girl stood up on the bench, her hands folded on her hips. A large infectious smile took over her face.