The two of them looked at each other puzzled. “Who did I just save?” Victor asked himself
“FORALA MEDOT!” Cawthorn shouted.
“You know they can’t understand you why are you shouting?” Victor asked.
“HOW ELSE WOULD I KNOW? IT’S HOW I GOT YOU MY MAGE!” Cawthorn proclaimed.
“I guess if you weren’t Forala wouldn’t have said anything either.” Victor noted.
“SEE MY MAGE IT WORKED AGAIN!” Cawthorn declared.
“Are you happy it worked?” Victor asked.
“No.” Cawthorn quieted down immediately. “She scares me.”
Serena asked. “How are we still alive? She could have killed us. The drakes could have killed us.” She gripped him by the arms. “Your curse has some benefit doesn’t it? I don’t care about your past but I need to know why we are okay!” She began freaking out.
Victor knew he had to say something to reassure her. “You’re right. My curse is hidden and it isn’t entirely detrimental but it’s definitely cursed. In this case I was directed to save someone without any idea what the ramifications would be. The curse has requirements I must meet but the goal isn’t to kill me. I can’t tell you the goal of the curse I am sorry.”
“Was saving me just part of your curse?” She started panicking.
“No. It forced me to give into the impulse to save you faster, but I’d have died doing that no matter what.” Victor shook his head and leaned forward to hug her.
She stepped back. “It did force you didn’t it? How can I be sure you can even tell me the truth?”
Victor looked to the ground and began to speak only to be garbled again. He cursed to the sky. “AREN’T YOU GOING TO LET ME TELL HER?” he screamed before just looking to the sky above. Luzuzal allowed him to speak again. “I just tried to tell you it. The curse even indicated I might be able to tell you but refused to let me do so.”
“Do you care for me?” She asked.
Victor leaned forward. “My life is so much better with you in it that I’d regret every moment that comes after if you disappeared. It will never get better without you here with me.”
“I’m sorry. I am just seeking some assurance your curse won’t be trying to kill us both or you, especially you.” She leaned forward into his embrace.
“Can you give me a moment?” Victor asked.
“The drakes are gone we can stay here for a few minutes if you want.” Serena sat down. “I trust you enough for that at least. Can you tell me what you are going to do?”
“Figure out how to tell you everything.” He took a deep breath and screamed “LUZUZAL! I DEMAND AN AUDIENCE!”
Luzuzal manifested in front of him. His star eye and angry pressed together planets for a mouth much larger than normal as he approached Victor every step oozed anger. “You dare call me demanding an audience?”
“You told me I could tell her.” Victor insisted. “Yet here you are denying me your gifts because I tried to tell her.”
“You didn’t even wait a day. I expected you to go much farther prior to this event. I will not allow you to sabotage this relationship. It is critical to your future.” Luzuzal insisted.
“Then reveal yourself now. Tell her, or I WILL FIND A WAY!” Victor screamed in a language Serena couldn’t understand. “What are you going to do kill my familiar and prevent me from finding a school to learn basic language? If I have to do that it’ll be a long time before your goals are ever achieved if they are at all.”
Angered Luzuzal forced Victor to his knees with what felt like infinite force from dozens of small stars pressing him down. “Whom do you presume to speak to?”
“An equal.” Victor forced his head up.
The pressure instantly stopped. His laugher shook the forest. The roar of laughter could be heard from every direction in miles. Every being including Serena could hear it from inside their heads. The drakes began fleeing from all around. The birds fled, Cawthorn cowered, and the small animals hid. None could forget the laughter that they heard etched into their brain.
Luzuzal Deeply Approves
Luzuzal’s Delusion increases to Rank 3
Luzuzal’s Promise increases to Rank 7
Luzuzal’s Devout increases to Rank 2
Serena eyes snapped shut and she gripped her head doubling over to scream. The laughter continued for nearly a minute. “Exquisite.” She could hear Luzuzal speak. Her heart felt an endless void in front of her as though she was infinitely far away from anyone else. Her eyes opened to see Victor far into the distance to the backdrop of starry space. Luzuzal approached her holding his hands behind his back. He leaned down with an elated smile. “I am Void Lord Luzuzal.”
Serena screamed trying to back away. She backed into Victor. “WE HAVE TO RUN!”
“MY VOID LORD!” Cawthorn called out.
“Excuse me?” Victor turned to Cawthorn
“I MEAN UH MY MAGE IT’S A VOID LORD!” Cawthorn corrected himself.
Victor noted that but then went back to Serena extending his hand to help her up. She took his hand immediately and tried to push him back. “Leave us alone.”
“Victor, would you like to explain or should I?” Luzuzal asked.
“I am a partner to Luzuzal.” Victor explained. “He is assisting me move toward fulfilling what he calls my delusions but what can better be described as my dreams.”
“No…” She started crying. “You can’t be a cultist.”
“I’m not.” Victor shook his head.
“I AM!” Cawthorn crowed.
Victor shook his head. “I’m so sorry Cawthorn but what the hell?”
“I DID NOT KNOW YOU WERE HIS SUPPLICANT AS WELL!” Cawthorn proclaimed.
“I’m not.” Victor insisted. “Luzuzal can you help me out here?”
She turned to him terrified. Luzuzal simplified his form and began to speak. “Victor is not my supplicant. More like a partner. I will assist him in fulfilling his delusions and in so doing destroy the other 3 Void Lords. He will bring freedom to this world freeing slaves. He will bring equality to this world fighting against the racism of Verdan, and he will force the cultists to feel the cold hard sting of death bringing them to the reality of failure. What you have heard about the Void Lords is… exaggerated.”
She tried to contain her terror by holding on to Victor. “You are what cursed him?”
“Is it truly a curse if you ask for it?” Luzuzal asked.
“You asked for it?” She turned to Victor and backed away. “Why?”
“Because I am weak. I need help. The only solution is to ask for help. Swordie, Luzuzal, you, Gargrim, or Forala it does not matter. If I can’t do it, or I can’t do it alone asking for help is the only solution. I needed his help to free you. My luck is abysmal. His blessing changed that. Please” he out stretched his hand “you know who I am. You’ve seen it. I sought power only to help others. Swordie can you help me?”
Swordie opened in front of him. “Victor is a truly genuine beautiful kind human being, and an idiot easily tricked by an abomination. His intentions are pure, this abomination’s intentions are not. Do not deal with him no matter what he tells you, no matter how tempting the deal. He sweetened the deal by offering even more power and not making him a supplicant but he is still bound to the will of this abomination.”
“MY MAGE YOUR DEAL WITH LUZUZAL SURPASSES MINE! YOU’RE TRULY THE GREATEST MAGE WHO WILL EVER LIVE!” Cawthorn screeched.
“Again Cawthorn what the hell?” He paused to think for a second. “No actually I don’t even need to ask what delusion consumes you. You are the greatest bird of all time.”
Luzuzal Approves
Serena shrank back. “I’d die for you. I would, but I won’t sell myself to a Void Lord.”
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“You don’t have to. I demanded he show himself so you could understand the nature of my curse. I’m confident if you tell someone I die. They’ll kill me within a few seconds. Luzuzal didn’t want me to tell you, apparently for years.” Victor explained.
“Let him go.” She turned to the Void Lord. “Release him.”
The Void Lord laughed. “He is the only follower I have which is not my supplicant. In exchange for my power I ask nothing but that he follows his own delusion.”
Cawthorn’s beak opened and turned presenting the loudest words he’d ever spoken before. “MY MAGE YOU ARE THE MOST POWERFUL MAGE TO EVER EXIST! YOU RIVAL A VOID LORD!”
“Cawthorn when we are done here I’m going to have a long chat with you about this.” Victor shook his head.
“So it’s true? You’re not a cultist?” She asked leaning toward him.
“Well I definitely don’t feel like a cultist. I guess I’ve killed some people to achieve my goals but was I wrong to kill the two people who enslaved you?” He held her shoulders.
She shook her head. “NO!”
“Was it wrong to kill those bandits?” Victor asked.
“No.” She started to think back.
“Was it wrong to save that girl a few minutes ago?” Victor asked.
“Well…” She paused.
Victor tried to restrain a chuckle failing miserably. “Alright that was a bit questionable.”
She laughed as Luzuzal insisted. “That was critical to future events!”
“Wait can you see the future?” She asked.
Swordie noted. “The abomination can see many futures.”
“The Fragment is correct.” Luzuzal agreed.
“In the future are the two of us together, alive, and happy?” Serena asked.
Luzuzal asked. “Is that the delusion you wish to follow?”
“Don’t answer him.” Victor insisted. “If he grants you that skill you’ll be bound to him. Luzuzal is that future one of the ones you are guiding me to? Will the two of us happy, alive, and together.”
“There is no future in which the two of you are all three of those goals.” He shook his head. The two of them almost instantly felt crushed and dismayed. “There a future where the three of you achieve that delusion of a happy family.”
“SEE MY MAGE! I AM REQUIRED FOR YOUR FUTURE!” Cawthorn spoke up.
“I was not speaking of you my loyal supplicant but rather their child.” He explained. “One of those three conditions must fail or you must have his child.”
Swordie protested. “He’s lying! This is what he does. It’s probably true there is a future where you’re happy with a child but there is almost definitely a future where you are happy without one. That future likely doesn’t benefit him as much. Whatever goal he seeks is selfish. He desires something; that is his delusion.”
“Do you desire a future where the two of us are together, happy, and alive?” Serena asked him.
“Yes.” Luzuzal answered flatly.
“Is that because it’s best for you?” Serena asked.
“It is what is best for all here, except for Cawthorn.” Luzuzal insisted.
“WHAT! MY VOID LORD WHAT HAPPENS TO ME!?” Cawthorn panicked.
“You become the greatest bird to ever live, exactly as your delusion drives you.” Luzuzal smiled eerily at him.
Cawthorn protested. “I AM ALREADY THE GREATEST BIRD TO EVER LIVE!”
Serena interrupted the squawking. “What do you want from me?”
“Accompany Victor. Live as you are, as who you are, and keep his secret. I had no intention of you learning this as early in life as you have. In the possible futures’ you remain with him after this meeting your relationship deepens over time.” Luzuzal noted.
“Are you saying we are destined or fated to be together?” Victor asked.
“Fate isn’t a force I agree even exists. I see many futures. One such future involved her dying to the spider or drakes and you ending up in the mountains on the back of a half drake. That future existed until a few minutes ago and also accomplished many of my goals. However it resulted in a far more grim and bittersweet life where he may abandon his delusion. I may influence the outcome of situations but I will never force a choice. You must follow or abandon your delusions of your own will, as must he.” Luzuzal added.
Serena looked at her hands and shook her head. “I will find a way to rid him of you. Leave us be and do not interfere unless he asks.”
“Without me he cannot communicate with you.” Luzuzal added.
She scoffed looking away and shaking her head. “Why would I believe such a stupid lie? He only garbles his speech when he was talking about you.”
“That part is true. I used his skill to help guide my speech.” Victor noted.
“I will teach you Verdan common! Being free of him is more important.” She insisted.
“In the futures he escapes me your relationship does not have your desired happy ending.” Luzuzal notes.
“I don’t believe a word you say that isn’t backed up by Swordie.” She shook her head before turning to the book. “What should I do Swordie?”
“Tell the abomination exactly who you are and exactly what you are going to do. Don’t give into his temptations or lies and save my poor idiot from his foolish choice.” Swordie proclaimed.
Serena took a deep breath and stepped forward looking up at the imposing Void Lord before her. “I am Serena Brooks of Ephixa, years ago my family and everyone I cared for either died or fell victim to slavers. In all the long years I prayed to the Golden Goddess, the Goddess of the Green, the God of the Deep Blue and even to the Demon Lord Tyrant to save me yet none answered. You never sought me out or freed me from my bondage, Victor did. I will not allow one such as you to trap him with your lies. I will find any artifact in this world capable of killing you and I swear to you, he may be your ally in the fight against the other Void Lords but I am now your sworn enemy. I see no reason to leave his work incomplete in the end. They will die by his hand and you by mine.” Her tiny form juxtaposed by the massive and growing Void Lord in front of her.
“You believe you can kill ME!? ME?!” Luzuzal towered over her. “AN INSIGNIFICANT SLAVE GIRL SLAUGHTERING A VOID LORD?” He threw his head back laughing. “Your delusion and downfall will be delicious. I will consume it and I shall dangle it before Victor and refuse to grant it no matter how much he begs. Your suffering will teach him a hard lesson about actively opposing Luzuzal. Congratulations you have earned my enmity.”
“I don this badge of honor happily. So let me give you a prediction you’ll see and no matter how you try to avoid it I will make it so. In the distant future you and I shall fight and you will lose. Your last words will be ‘How, this is impossible!’ as so many evil monsters have before. Your final thought will be of this moment. The thought that if you killed me now you’d live and yet in your greed you won’t.” She stood defiant.
He seemed to think for a moment. His sun for an eye shrank. “That future will not come to pass.”
She tilted her head upward toward his much smaller eye. Her smirk could have reached her ears had she not started to speak. “You’ve seen it.” She was right Luzuzal watched over and over again a future where he died. “Can you see after your demise? How many futures end in your death? How many of those are by my hand?” She stepped forward almost mockingly throwing her arms out. “Kill me now. Go ahead.”
“Please stop taunting the Void Lord Serena.” Victor asked shaking as he realized how much danger she was really in.
“Please don’t stop taunting the abomination Serena.” Swordie immediately undercut him.
She stepped forward. “There’s no chance for this coward to kill me. I’m part of his plan and even he can’t change his plans that fast. Even a Void Lord couldn’t predict a future where a tiny little girl threatened him. That means he only looks for futures he wants to see. Feel free to watch us and manage us as much as you want. You’ve seen the future and every action you take will barrel toward your inevitable demise. Powerful monsters normally punish those weaker than them but he refuses. I won’t claim to know why we matter so much to him but we do. All you have to do in order to keep me alive is to tell him that you’ll be done helping him if ever he kills me.”
Swordie rearranged the stars. “You tower over this abomination. I commend you.”
Luzuzal’s eye shrank to a pinpoint star. “What say you Victor?”
“If you ever kill her I will seek out the other void lords and their blessings and it will be you, and you alone I turn them on.” Victor glared at him.
Luzuzal seemed visibly shaken by this conversation. “I will allow you two to continue despite your insolence, but do not test me. My benevolence extends to Victor and only Victor within the Stars of Verdan.”
“MY VOID LORD WHAT ABOUT ME?!” Cawthorn asked.
“And Cawthorn.” Luzuzal corrected himself.
“MY VOID LORD!” Cawthorn flew to his neck and wrapped his wings around him before returning to Victor.
“Sometimes dealing with obstinate followers such as Victor I forget there are those as loyal as you Cawthorn. As a reward I will improve your skills.” He snapped his fingers.
“ EAGLE EYES RANK 5!? LUZUZAL’S DEVOTION RANK 5?! LUZUZAL’S DELUSION RANK 5!? MY VOID LORD IT’S TOO MUCH! IT’S SO INCREDIBLE!” Cawthorn proclaimed.
“Ah with that gratitude from my devout I shall depart for now. I trust I have answered your questions on his curse. Farewell, I will see you at least one more time.” His smile grew as he faded away returning them to the forest with the dead drake behind them.
Serena embraced him taking deep breath after deep breath. “God you really are stupid.”
Swordie still open on the ground noted. “I swear I’m not making her say that.”
“I’m not that stupid!” Victor protested.
Serena flicked his forehead. “Don’t try to defend yourself here, you made a deal with a Void Lord!”
“That was reckless even by my standards!” Victor countered.
“I swear if you call me for being reckless again today after what I’ve just seen I will kick you in the balls.” She shook her head.
Serena looked down to the book with Victor. “He did call the abomination and did reject his deal multiple times before the malevolent creature managed to trick him. He held out longer than most negotiating terms. For that I am impressed, however he couldn’t follow through. His fear of his own weakness impaired his judgment.”
“I doubt many make deals with such monsters with clear minds, but my mind has been in far worse places during my life.” Serena pulled him down and kissed him passionately. “I don’t blame him. Victor made a mistake. One day I will correct it.”