55. Old Demons (2/3)

Isaac’s footsteps echoed loudly throughout the expansive cavern as he made his way up the spiraling staircase. The pulsing walls, it seemed, did little to mute noises. Every hint of sound was amplified, adding to the inescapable feeling of smallness imposed on any creature that entered the area.

He was all too happy when he spotted Lucius’s familiar figure hovering in the air in that effortless manner he always had, looking less like he was actively flying and more like he was sitting on an invisible chair. If someone else did it, Isaac might think they looked haughty, but Lucius pulled it off without a shred of arrogance. The demon was located near the center of the cavern, but when he saw Isaac approach, the man smiled and drifted closer to where he was standing.

“Isaac, it’s good to see you,” he greeted warmly. “I’ll admit I’m a bit surprised. Is the tournament over so soon?”

He shook his head. “The first event is, but there’s a bunch of other races and stuff coming up. It’s more of a sports festival than a tournament.”

Lucius tilted his head to the side, and Isaac belatedly realized that the demon probably didn’t know what a sports festival was.

“Upper world thing,” he said by way of explanation. Lucius seemed to accept this answer and nodded with a hum.

“I see, thank you for explaining. All the same, I’m surprised to see you between events. I’m sure you must be busy.”

If making one sided bets with Fable counted as busy, then yeah, Isaac supposed he was. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, about that. Sharil and Olzu wanted me to give you a message.”

Lucius’s eyebrows raised and he gestured for Isaac to continue. The Traveler frowned, trying to find the right way to phrase it without being overly blunt. Then again, Lucius probably didn’t expect particularly elegant social graces from him anyway.

“A demon—Remus—showed up at the tournament,” he said. “Uh, Sharil and Olzu said he was the old Inferno king or something like that? They sounded really worried and wanted to ask you what to do about it.”

Once he was done speaking, a brief moment of silence fell over them. Isaac adjusted his grip on the tablet, which felt oddly cool in his hands in comparison to the heavy heat of the cavern, and shifted his weight. Lucius’s expression didn’t change, still as calm and unruffled as ever when he finally responded.

“I see,” he said. “I can understand their concerns, but if you don’t mind, Isaac, could you inform them not to worry so much? They should focus on enjoying themselves at the tournament.”

Isaac couldn’t resist asking, “So he’s not a problem?”

The demon shook his head and released a soft sigh. “While I’ve tried explaining over the years that Remus is no longer a threat, the other demons struggle to accept it as truth. They remain overly cautious, and while caution is a virtue, too much of it can prove an issue.”

No longer a threat, he said. “Does this have to do with his lopsided stats?”

Lucius smiled. “I should’ve known you’d notice. Yes, I sealed away the majority of his powers at the end of our battle.” A dark look flashed briefly across the demon’s face, but it was gone just as quick as it had appeared. “Truthfully, I do often regret sparing him. Demons thrive on power, especially those of us from the old order. Letting him live as a shell of himself is perhaps more cruel than killing him would’ve been.” He laughed, but the sound was flat and lacked his voice’s usual richness. “Well, I have many regrets regarding that fight. Looking back on it, I was unnecessarily violent, and I’m afraid Remus’s current existence is one of the consequences of that.” He shook his head. “It’s one of the things I’m most ashamed of.”

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Isaac studied the demon’s expression. There was a distant look in his eyes, and his gaze had drifted off to the side towards some faraway, unseen thing. He frowned.

“I mean, I don’t know a lot about Inferno history, but from what Sharil’s said, it sounds like you did it for a good reason, with the whole reforming society thing.” Isaac gestured vaguely, then immediately dropped his hand, feeling a bit foolish. Compared to someone as old as Lucius, who’d lived many times longer than Isaac’s entire lifespan, his own lack of understanding felt especially apparent.

If Lucius was thinking any of that, however, he didn’t show it on his face, simply smiling reassuringly at Isaac with that same unreadable look in his eyes. “I suppose that would be a good reason, wouldn’t it be?” He sighed and shifted his position in the air with a single flap of his wings. “My apologies for speaking at such length. I won’t waste any more of your time with these old matters. Thank you again for delivering the message; I’m sure Sharil and Olzu are grateful as well.”

Isaac shook his head. “I don’t mind,” he said. He paused, trying to think of a way to politely say that the demon was much more pleasant to talk to than 90% of the other Underside residents, but he couldn’t think of one and decided to avoid voicing that thought. Lucius probably had an idea of what he was thinking anyway, judging from the man’s knowing smile.

“I would offer to escort you down the cavern to the station myself, but I believe Casimir already has plans to do that,” the demon said.

Isaac blinked. Then, once the words processed, spun around. He jerked backwards, nearly tripping over a stair when he came face to face with a certain glowy angel hovering just a few feet behind him. How the fuck hadn’t he noticed him?

Casimir had on his usual cheery grin, the constant light around him looking especially prominent that day. “Aw, you ruined the surprise!” He flapped his wings a few times, and the resulting wind dispersed some of the surrounding heat. “Who says I was gonna go to the subway station anyway?” He made an expression very close to a pout, except Isaac refused to acknowledge it as one because impulsively loud and immature or not, the man was still goddamn level 91.

Lucius raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure you won’t pass up the opportunity to slander me to our Traveler friend here,” he said, tone light.

Casimir cocked his head to the side, and his grin somehow grew wider. “It’s not really slander if it’s true though, right?”

Lucius just hummed, neglecting to give an answer. Isaac glanced between the two of them, suddenly aware of some invisible line that he wasn’t privy to, hanging loose but ready to be pulled taut at a moment’s notice. He furrowed his brow.

Thankfully, before the silence could grow truly uncomfortable, Casimir spun around to face Isaac. “Okay, let’s go!” The familiar, manic glint was back in his eyes, and Isaac took a step back.

Casimir frowned. “I promise I won’t fly fast!”

Isaac squinted at him disbelievingly. The angel crossed his arms.

“What, you don’t believe me?” Isaac was temporarily blinded by a sudden flash of light. When he opened his eyes again, a translucent sphere in a familiar shade of red now surrounded him. The barrier, and him by proxy, was hovering slightly above the ground, but so stably that he wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t looked down. He probably would’ve been more impressed if he hadn’t seen the man create the barrier in the Old Lands earlier. Casimir grinned.

“There,” he said triumphantly. “And now we’re gonna fly down really slowly and boringly!” The angel scrunched his face near the end of the sentence, as if double checking whether ‘boringly’ was actually a word. Apparently he was assured that it was, because in the next instance, Casimir was flying off, pulling the magic barrier along with him before Isaac had a chance to retort.