The Aether God: Chapter 23 - One-Sided Diplomacy

Things fall apart, the center cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.

Blackwood Sect Dungeons

As Cerulean slowly regained consciousness, he found himself in the dimly lit confines of a dungeon. His head throbbed with a dull ache, and his limbs felt heavy and sluggish. Straining against the fog of his mind, he tried to move, only to discover that he was restrained. Beneath him was a sigil formation, pulsating with a dark glow. A black shadowy substance enveloped his figure. Smoke-like tendrils of Umbrous Ether swirled around his torso, slithering in spirals around his limbs. As he came to cognizance, grief was within him.

“Oh heavens…”

He slowly realized his predicament - he was completely immobilized. As he hovered upright a few inches above the ground, he was unable to move anything but his head, nor circulate any Ether. He was not going to escape from this formation alone. Breaking the formation from the outside would have been a simple matter to him, but he couldn’t even project an iota of Ether throughout his surroundings. He could do nothing but wait at this point. He began looking around.

The dungeon was shrouded in darkness, broken only by the faint flicker of purple torchlight that cast eerie shadows against the cold stone walls. The air was heavy with the scent of damp earth and decay. Water drops dripped from the ceiling, reverberating through the silence towards Cerulean’s ears. After a minute, he was able to predict the next plink.

Suddenly, the space before him began to twist and contort, as if bending to the will of an unseen force. Dark tendrils of black smoke coiled and writhed, converging. A silhouette soon appeared, which quickly formed the figure of a seemingly-middle-aged man. His hair and irises were as black as midnight. As soon as Cerulean felt the man’s aura, he became immensely dissatisfied, perhaps desiring to roll his eyes. This was not the worst outcome, but it was most definitely not a good one. However, Cerulean was intrigued.

“His aura… A constitution of The Umbrous Saint?! Wait… Could they… No… The chances of that are impossible… But…”

Osiris Blackwood regarded Cerulean with a cold, sarcastic gaze.

“I hear that you plan to assert control over me, and perhaps install a figurehead in my place. I’d like to give my sect an advance notice before you do, so I’d like a timeframe if you’re willing to give me one.”

As soon as Cerulean heard his words, he visibly winced.

“Cringe! Why did I say that before thinking about it first!?”

At this moment, Cerulean did not just feel dumb. He felt embarrassed. Given enough time, he would have surely been able to do so, but having his own words thrown in his face was a most painful occurrence. He did not practice due diligence before revealing his plans to Oriana and the other six peers. Uncertainty, and a gnawing sense of dread struck him. He let out a self-aware sigh, resigning himself.

“You got me… Can we cut to the chase?”

Osiris relaxed a bit, but maintained a cold expression.

“Who are you? And don’t expect me to make a pact of secrecy.”

Cerulean’s heart hammered in his chest. He could make millions of excuses, but doing so was far too risky. If Osiris were to see through even the slightest deception, it could jeopardize any chance of earning his trust. It could also, potentially, result in unspeakable consequences such as torture. Contrarily, whatever he did reveal was at risk of being publicly revealed. At this point though, Cerulean wasn’t even sure how secret his identity was anymore.

“Should I just tell him? Or feign having a secluded master…?” Cerulean considered a number of options, but there was one idea he kept trying to reject - the possibilities were too unlikely... But it just kept flooding into his mind! After a minute of pondering, he slowly looked at Osiris and smiled.

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“A good friend of Griffin and Cashmere Darkwater.”

………………………

Caladrius School South District: Residence Hall 5, Dorm 31

Cerulean stumbled into his room, his limbs heavy with exhaustion. The moon cast a soft glow through the window, illuminating the silhouette of Latia Aurora who was fast asleep where his bed used to be. The sheets and covers were now a pinkish-purple. With a gentle snore, she turned toward the window, oblivious to Cerulean's arrival.

Cerulean now had his own comfortable mattress on the ground in the middle of the room, onto which he flopped face-first.

“What a greedy bastard…”

Cerulean finally let out a long sigh of relief - one he had been waiting to let out for a long time. He rolled over onto his back and rested the back of his hand over his forehead as he pondered.

“Cerulean… Where were you?”

His thoughts were interrupted by Latia’s words. As he looked over he met eyes with Latia, who had just woken up.

“The girl from the Blackwood Sect sold me out… Osiris captured me.”

Latia’s mouth dropped and she immediately sat up. Her expression was one of great worry.

“Is everything over now?!”

Cerulean rubbed his face. “No… Only him and Oriana know… for now.”

“I- I’m so sorry… Still… I can’t believe she did that! And what do you mean for now??”

Latia leaned forward, still clearly worried that everything might fall apart. She was totally relying on him, after all. Cerulean though, let out a short dry laugh and shook his head.

“No no no, when I said for now I wasn’t implying that more people are going to find out at the moment. Everything seems like it will be fine for now. I was talking about Oriana…” Cerulean looked over at Latia with a grave expression.

“She’s dead meat.”

Latia was taken aback. Though she felt in her mind and heart that pacts were to be taken seriously, she thought maybe he was being a little bit dramatic.

“Is breaking a pact really that bad?”

Cerulean leaned a bit forward and nodded once, dramatically.

“Yes. Do NOT test the heavens. I can tell you that much with absolute certainty. She’s dead meat.”

Latia resigned the matter, but tilted her head. “What’s going to happen to her then?”

“It won’t take long to find out…” Cerulean laid back down and let out another sigh. He now felt a small amount of guilt for having Oriana make such a pact. Those of the Great Valley clearly didn’t fully comprehend the seriousness with which they ought to make one. It was also perhaps a foolish decision to make pacts with such a great number of children.

“I should have known when everybody easily accepted the conditions… You’d have to be so foolish to make even the silliest pact half-heartedly… I should’ve known better.”

In a small way, Oriana’s blood would be on his hands. The one silver lining was that - though it felt inappropriate to say - Oriana would become an example for the other Peers of the Abyss.

Cerulean laid in thought for a couple of minutes. He wanted to tell Latia that Osiris forced him to make a secret pact as well… But he was not foolish enough to share such information. He closed his eyes for a moment, but his rest was soon interrupted by Latia’s head, pressing against his chest. Her arms fell over his sides in an attempt to comfort him.

“I’m sorry Cerulean… I know you’re probably feeling guilty now, but I don't think you should feel that way… You also saved me… I hope that tips the scale in the direction you want it to, at least by a little bit.”

As Latia laid there, Cerulean smiled. He rested his hand on the back of her head for a moment.

“She’s quite sweet… I think it’s about time…”

Cerulean moved his hand off of her head, gently onto her shoulder.

“Latia.” He spoke gently.

Hearing her name said in this manner, she immediately began to blush. She timidly lifted her eyes towards him, trying to suppress an anxious smile.

“Umm… Cerulean?”

“Can we sit on your bed for a moment? I have something important I need to tell you.”

Her face reddened even further, and she timidly nodded.

“Mhm.”

She quickly picked herself up and sat on the bed, looking downward with a sort of nervous anticipation. Cerulean sat beside her, though not as close as she had maybe hoped.

“You’re the only person I’ll have shared this with… Keep it a secret, okay?”

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