Fikre awakens from his slumber, a single goal in his mind. He teleports in front of The Lich's palace, and raps on the door with his scaled knuckle. A sort of robotic-looking thing that looks extremely similar to Oleg opens the door. He completely still for a few seconds.
"Um..." Fikre stammers.
The Lich swiftly appears from behind the other door. "Fikre! Come in," he says.
As they navigate to a room large enough for Fikre to sit down comfortably, The Lich starts talking. "Fikre, why have you come to me today?"
"I'm worred Mengu Oronar and Ka-Khan Bur played a part in the recent attack by the Atheocracy of Lom," explains Fikre. "I found Toba's treasured armor left behind." The Lich chuckles quiet so Fikre can't hear him.
"Mengu? That's the god that didn't show to our meeting. I've had a bad feeling about him from the start. If you're here to ask me to help with subduing him..."
"Woah, we don't have to jump right to that. We should probably investigate first," says Fikre.
"...I'd be happy to help you capture him," says The Lich. "I wouldn't underestimate the urgency of this situation. Mengu wields the Words of Earth, Sky, and Bow. If he wished, he could fly over your city and create earthquakes throughout it, or mask it with endless rain, or shoot each and every one of your citizens from as far as the Bright Republic. He is by far one of the most dangerous gods to have been born from the Words."
Is he really that dangerous? "Therefore," says The Lich, "I propose a pact. There is a theurgy that will allow us to cooperate together much more... efficiently. All you have to do is willingly accept it."
"That sounds like a good idea," says Fikre.
"Great! Let's do it right now, then. No reason to delay," says The Lich. Fikre is a bit taken aback by the sense of urgency in his voice, but also sees no reason to delay the pact.
The Lich waves his hands in the air and shouts, "Uaaah Syha'h S'uhn!" His right skeletal hand ignites with the power of the theurgy. He extends his hand towards Fikre. If skeletons could smile, The Lich would be grinning from ear to ear.
Fikre extends his index claw out to shake the Lich's hand, but hesitates inches away. "Something is still bothering me," he says. "Why would they even bring such a sacred artifact into the field of battle? And if it's so important, why would they leave it behind? Even if they were running away in a panic, wouldn't someone from the Toban plains take it with them to return, or someone from Lom steal it?"
"Well, Fikre, I suppose that just shows how incompetent both are. Shake my hand, please," says The Lich. Fikre becomes suspicious.
"I could probably capture Mengu myself, actually. It sounds like close-range combat isn't his strong suit. I could just capture him in my claws and bring him back to you, where you could cast something to stop him from warping away."
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"SHAKE MY... Fikre, it's safer if we do this first. We don't know what he could have in store for us," says The Lich. Fikre is now completely on alert, The Lich's outburst making Fikre physically move backwards.
"Why are you so desperate to get this over with?" Asks Fikre.
"Master, have you finished tri- oh..." Beelzebub says as he walks in the room.
WHAT!?
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"What is he talking about?" Asks Fikre.
"Beelzebub, you colossal fucking moron. Fikre, shake my fucking hand right now or I will obliterate you and your pathetic kingdom. Do it. Now."
Fikre is scared and startled, and tries to teleport away, but finds he can't use his vision powers. "This entire city is warded against divination. You can't get out. Shake. My fucking. Hand. NOW!" Shouts The Lich. Fikre, in a panic, runs for the gate and busts it open using his head as a battering ram. He flies away, away from the stone soldiers and citizens shooting arrows at him. As soon as he leaves the city limits, he teleports back to his cave, and finding that nobody else is in there, cries silently to himself.
One of the only people besides my family that I trusted just tried to kill me. Can I even trust the gods?
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The Lich clenches his bony fist and punches the wall. "BEELZEBUB," he says in a very intense voice. Beelzebub assumes a pathetic stance and puts his insectoid hands in between himself and The Lich. "You filthy insect! Did you forget how I saved you from the streets of Ancalia as it collapsed?" Beelzebub nods, still cowering. "Did I not provide you purpose?" Beelzebub nods. "Did I not pull your wretched consciousness from the recesses of the mind of that Dawit fool?" Beelzebub nods. "THEN WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO SABATOGE ME!?"
"I-I'm sorry... master..." Beelzebub stammers.
"I am going to my chambers. Do not speak to me for six hours. I must think."
Deep in the recesses of Beelzebub's mind, the repressed identity of Dawit cries out for help.
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"Get away from me! You're not real! You can't be!" Shouts Mengu as the pair force their way inside the temple.
"I am surprised that you know us," says the armored man. "I did not know Jack had a child until now." The armored man adjusts a pair of goggles strapped over his helmet.
"He hid it away from that monster!" Mengu looks towards the large, mechanical creature standing behind the armored man and points at it. "He had a daughter with one of the servants of your master, and she escaped before that bastard murdered them all!" Shouts Mengu.
"Master, what is going on?" Asks a nun. The armored man snaps his fingers and the large mechanical creature grabs the nun's neck and snaps it. Her limp body falls to the floor, causing all of the other lamas and nuns to flee the building. Mengu holds back tears. "Why are you here?" He asks in a whisper.
"Something has changed. One year ago, I managed to gather all the scraps of a device my master made. This device is capable of gathering a specific type of energy and use it to open gateways between realities. When we assembled it, we spent a while checking every gateway around where the tower was. And one year ago... we found something."
"...What did you find?" The large mechanical creature steps forwards. Its eyes flash red, and it speaks in a strained electric voice filled with pain.
"We found part of him. We thought that when he died, he would cease to exit. This is false, however. The latent energies released by his death kept my friend here alive for over 10,000 years. It's honestly impressive the descendants of Jack have managed to carry on the story for so long. Essentially, we are one step closer to bringing him back. That's where we need your help. And no, we're not asking."