Travelling across the deep sea, he had been nervous. Not because the deep sea was dangerous and filled with deadly monsters. Elven ships felt like part of the sea itself. That didn’t meant they wouldn’t be attacked, but it changed the kinds of threats they faced. Besides, he’d died at sea once before. It had kept him from seafaring ever again, but it wasn’t the worst thing he had ever experienced. Yet he found himself heading toward that worst thing again, all because of a stupid promise.
-----
Ludroic was dead. Not just dead, destroyed. That meant a piece of him was gone forever. Not that he cared for the man. It didn’t hurt so much as when he lost Asha… but it did remind him that such destruction was possible. It reminded him of the pain of being torn asunder, and he was afraid.
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Asha coughed up blood. He just held onto his little sister’s hand, unsure what to do. She smiled up at him… then made him promise. Promise to make right all the bad things he had done. He made the promise… but she didn’t even know the slightest bit of what he had done.
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He hadn’t expected things to change the day she was born. He still relied on his parents, not having been able to establish himself in just a dozen years of life. He played along, pretending to be a good son. That was easier, since he could hardly even get in a proper fight without hurting himself. With magic, though, he could be much subtler, if he wanted to.
Then Asha was born, and he saw her smile. He felt a pain in his heart at that smile, so strong that it overrode the pain of his damaged, barely functioning soul. This little girl was a person. An angel. But if she was an angel… then he truly had been a Demon King.
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He hated being an elf. They had pale skin, weak bodies, limited magical senses… How could they even make magic weapons if they couldn’t even see mana inside of things that weren’t alive? It didn’t even make any sense. Everything hurt. He lashed out at those around him, especially his parents. It even hurt when they kept comforting him.
-----
Everything before that was a blur of death and destruction. Bits and pieces here and there. Yet, even though they were bits and pieces, he carried with him an entire lifetime of war, death, and destruction. Especially the destruction of souls. He hadn’t though it would be so terrible to experience himself- nor had he ever considered that it could happen. With a staff of his own making, even.
-----
Galen’s body collapsed to the floor of the throne room. William prodded him with Chris. “Hey, get up. We can’t have you sleeping there all day.” Galen groaned and rolled over. “I’m serious. Get up. I know you’ve been through worse.” William hadn’t been gentle with searching through his memories. He’d thought about just destroying him… but he couldn’t have gone on, not knowing if his words were true. Frankly, he’d hoped for him to be lying. Then he could just destroy him and be done with it.
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Galen stood up shakily. “I… hadn’t expected to be alive.”
William shrugged, “I guess you can thank your sister for that. Make sure to be nice to her if you see her again.”
“But… she’s… she’s dead.”
William shook his head, “So? You’ve been dead so many times. I’m not saying you definitely will meet her again… but it’s a chance. Either way, don’t forget that promise.”
“I won’t.” Galen nodded seriously.
“I mean it.” William glared pressing down on Galen’s soul with his ki, “I’ll be watching. If you take a single step off the right path, I will destroy you. Even if you are only responsible for a tiny fragment of the Demon King’s crimes… it is a fair judgement.”
Galen swallowed, “I know.”
“Good. Now get out. I never want to have to see you again.”
-----
William’s grip on Chris would have likely snapped any other staff. If his skin had been colored by blood, it would have turned white.
William just stood in the empty throne room, teeth clenched. He could have destroyed him. He wanted to destroy him. All the problems he had caused, every library burned, person killed, soul destroyed… He deserved to be erased from existence.
Even so, William couldn’t destroy Galen. If he did, he would be just like him. Even if it wasn’t to make himself stronger, it wouldn’t be for a good cause.
The guard had seen the king inside when Galen left, but the king had not told them to reenter, so they waited patiently. It was over an hour later when Lorelei showed up and entered the room herself.
“I couldn’t help but notice that Galen Eanlar left.” Though her words could have been taken as an accusation, they were just a statement of fact. She stood in front of William, awaiting his response.
“He did.”
“Why? Did we not conclude that not even a small part of him could cause innumerable problems if left?” Lorelei looked away, “Is it worth avoiding war?”
William shook his head. “That’s not why. I just… chose not to kill him.” William explained their conversation.
“So? He admitted that he was evil. I don’t remember there being even a single bit of anything good in him.”
William nodded, “I searched his soul. Honestly, even the smallest bit of good would not be visible in the Demon King… but Galen is but a fragment of that. Buried there, I found that piece. I felt his sincerity.” William sighed, “What would you have done?”
“I would have destroyed him anyway,” Lorelei stepped forward, putting her arms around William, “But unlike you, I am not a good person.”
William hugged her back, tightly. “I’m not sure if I made the right choice.”
“You can never be sure,” Lorelei replied, “The only thing you can do is deal with the consequences of your actions… and hope they will be good ones.”
William looked wistfully at the door, “You know, I could just have him captured and brought back. It wouldn’t be hard.”
“You could,” Lorelei nodded, “Would it be the right thing to do?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Then you’d better not. I won’t accept if you’re the kind of man who does things they think they shouldn’t.”
William sighed, “But seriously I could probably catch up to them myself… maybe I could take him out secretly…”
Lorelei grabbed William’s face between her hands, “Looks like you need something to distract you. Why don’t you come with me? We could both use a break.”