Arthur's Point of View

Depths of the Hollow Forest

“That surprises me very little.”

He chuckled. “I’m sure it does.” His mirth quickly faded as he took on a more serious expression. “After I was killed, and you returned, the others were left to deal with the fallout.” The man sighed as he sat on one of the nearby roots. “Things did not go well. Rudnurth took power, Elias and Elincia were compromised, and Mara was missing.” Scratching at his beard, he shrugged. “The one who probably got the luckiest was Arceana, but even that was only temporary.”

Moving across from him, I sat down on a similar root. “Mara didn’t go missing.”

“You’re right.” Aydan nodded in agreement. “She didn’t. Mara was captured and held prisoner for quite some time. According to her, they didn’t do much with her because Thana was injured. With no word on how to proceed, she was mostly imprisoned for an extended period of time.”

“Then what changed?”

The man’s shoulders slumped. “Elias. Elias, much like Elincia, had a Demon implanted in him. Not just any Demon, a true Demon. Well, at least the essence of one.” Motioning to his eyes, he explained. “Their eyes are clear indicators. There is no white, only a black haze that turns into cracks on the surrounding skin around their eyes.”

My eyes darted in thought as I immediately thought of Elincia’s double. “Elincia’s Demon had eyes like that when I removed it.”

Aydan curiously tilted his head. “Did she? That’s surprising. Mara knew about the Demon but had no way to remove it, and it seemed inactive compared to Elias’s.” He then brought his hand over his mouth in thought. “True Demons are supposed to be able to rival the Gods. Was she powerful?”

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“Not really. I wore her down in an arrogant manner that almost got many people killed. My recklessness with my energy was foolish at that moment.”

The Sage bobbed his head in understanding. “Then her transfer must’ve been hampered. Mara suspected it was due to Rudnurth’s interference.”

I shook my head. “I wouldn’t know. Now, what happened to Mara.”

Holding up his hand to calm me, Aydan spoke. “We’ll get there, don’t you worry. As I was saying, Elias’s Demon was a foul thing. Powerful too. Even Rudnurth, with his new abilities, had difficulties with him when they eventually clashed.” His arms rested on his knees as he looked as tired as me. “But that took some time. You see, Elias’s change was slow. The Demon was crafty and took his time taking over.”

“Made it look like Elias was changing over time instead of suddenly changing his personality overnight?” Aydan nodded after a moment. “What?”

“It wasn’t that he purposefully took his time. Elias knew something was done to him but saw no changes in himself or Elincia. He also no longer trusted Rudnurth, and Mara was gone. With everyone else dead or missing, Elias had no one to rely on. So, he kept to himself.”

“Which is exactly what the Demon wanted.”

Aydan sighed. “Yeah.” He let out regretfully. “Dozens of years had passed, and what once was a good man slowly was becoming influenced by the Demon’s presence.” His ghostly fist clenched tightly in anger. “Eventually, the Demon would be able to take over for short periods of time without Elias knowing. It’d be like he was missing a day. However, once the Demon was able to take control more frequently, Elias realized what was happening too late.”

My frown grew. “Something big must’ve happened for him to suddenly realize but isn’t skipping days worrying enough. I’m surprised he didn’t notice.”

“Magic is… Complex.” Aydan said carefully. “I don’t know how one would even go about implanting a Demon in another person’s body, let alone a soul. Demons, true Demons, are an unknown even to me. There’s not many of them left. If any at all.”

“So, what happened?”

“Well, Elias eventually realized something was wrong when he took his body back over in a place unknown to him. He had no idea where he was, and given that it was his castle, that would be rather alarming.” Aydan stated.

“But that doesn’t explain why he wouldn’t notice. You can zone out but not to that degree. That sounds closer to dementia.”

His hands lifted and ignited in a faint glow due to his spiritual state. “Magic is a good way to fill in those gaps. Have you ever gone into a room and forgotten why you went into it?” Aydan asked back and I nodded. “It’s the same thing. Magic is able to manipulate memories, which I know you have some experience with. Such a thing is not easy to defend against even when you’re ready, but almost impossible to when you have no clue it’s even happening to you.”

I nodded. “Okay, but what does any of this have to do with Mara?”

Running his hands down his face, he answered. “Because it all came to a head when Elias took over one day, and in a cell in front of him, was Mara.”