He awoke in a bumpy daze, watching as the sea of ash before him slowly grew shorter in proximity to the Ivory Tree, still yet enshrouded by the labyrinth of solidified ash. As his thoughts returned to him, his eyes widened.
Leon had been fighting against that sea of black fog! And according to Gardner, this King within the Fog and his Lords had been plaguing him over a century in his journey to the city atop the cliff. This Fog had the potential to mess with his Mind, was it possible that it could also enter it?
Was it possible that by having entered the black fog, he had been invaded by this terrifying Fog King, and now Leon was forced to fight him on his behalf?
And that damned Nightmare, copying everything he had fought! Except for that strange being at the end... the window-paned eyes filled with vitriol still haunted him.
That's right!
He had received a revelation about his singular undying wish! It wasn't a Spirit Contractee he was fighting against, it was someone with an Aspect! His brother had been concealing this much from him!
And he didn't yet even know what exactly an Aspect was, only that it granted intense power.
Aspects! Aspects! Everyone seems to have one but me!
Artemis glanced around, murmuring expletives silently before suddenly realising where he was. He was being carried on the shoulder of a tyrant! A strange, crow-haired tyrant!
"Put me down, Gardner!" Artemis snapped.
"Ah, Lord, you're awake!" Gardner suddenly hoisted him down, planting his feet straight onto the ground as if he were a solid, inanimate object. His crude muscles bulged through his massive arms, giving off the impression that they would burst at any moment.
"And what the hell did you do to me!? My ears are still ringing, and my head feels like it had a blade jabbed into it!"
"You were infested." Gardner raised his gnarled hand and pointed to his own head. "In here. By Him. So I stabbed you in the head. With my sword."
"Your sword!?" His face turned a vivid, pale colour. Hadn't this man almost killed him!?
"It was illusory, my Lord! I merely... expelled all of the infesting contents! All it did was lull you into a sleep!" He protested in a huff. "Your irises became enshrouded in a pale yellow colour, there was a menacing, calculating smile on your face. And you kept praising Him while marking his Sign on your chest. Don't these seem... odd to you?"
Now that it had been pointed out, it seemed incredibly odd to him. He remembered just moments ago when he had done so, they felt natural and pleasant, as if he had to do those things. But now it just seemed off.
Why had he been driven to do so? And why had it felt so good?
"Who are you speaking of? Who is the 'He' I was praising?"
"The Creator of this Shadow, of course. The Fated King."
Artemis's eyebrow twitched, remembering what Gardner had said about this figure. That anything involving him had been planned countless years ago, perhaps even centuries. Was this such a planned encounter?
No, that wasn't the most burning thing on his mind right now. His obsession with the bout against his older brother was consuming his thoughts.
"What is an Aspect, Gardner?"
Gardner's eyebrows perked up when hearing this question.
"You don't know what an Aspect is, my Lord? You're a Noble, it doesn't make sense that you wouldn't know, even if you originated from an isolated island nation..."
Artemis tensed up.
"Ah, but that's of no matter... you're a strange one, little Prince."
Gardner cleared his throat for a moment, before turning around and facing Artemis completely, crossing his arms.
"It's a sickness, a disease. Something we're born with, something we can't cure. A curse because we chose to curse others." He seemed to fall into a silent reminiscence for a few moments before continuing, smiling gently as he bowed his head down, grasping at his chin. "Something that makes Gods, but also makes hated men. People despised and shunned this pathway to divinity so much that they began to turn towards entities not affiliated with Aspects for the sake of worship. No matter if they were evil or not..."
He continued. "And like a sickness, it progresses... in Stages. As everyone has three cores, a Mind Core, Lifeforce Core, and a Soul Core, Aspect users are different. From the very start, we were born with four, including our Aspect Core. But the Essence inside of this Core is unlike the others, it is incredibly turbulent. Enough to sicken a newly-born child to the brink of death. And there is the first problem, how can one determine their child has an Aspect if they appear just like all the other sick and dying children? The answer is that it's quite impossible. So while everyone vilifies us, even to the point of hunting us down, it's as difficult as seeing someone use an unnatural and uncertified ability. Authorities will track you, capture you, and then sometimes even execute you, if not jailing you permanently."
Then his voice grew sinister and cold.
"But if you can learn to restrain that turbulent Essence... then don't you gain all the positives of an Aspect, without any of the negatives? To progress this disease, it's not a task of allowing it to worsen over time. There is a trial for this vile descension, each Stage making one absolutely aware of what they have to accomplish to progress their own sick transformation. As a child, for my Aspect, it was a matter of killing another child..."
As Artemis stared at the man in horror, the sheet-like plaster of his skin began to peel off, revealing the writhing pulpy mass of muscles and flesh below. His bare eyes peeked out of the gaunt, rough edges of his hollow skull, teeth bared jagged.
"...and so I have become, in time, a monster. This is the pathway to Divinity, my Lord. So you see, a Deity is not an all-powerful, blessed being. It is an abomination. And those born with an Aspect are not saintly, they are the cursed of the world."
The cursed of the world...
The sentiment echoed in his mind.
But August wasn't vilified. He was adored, as much as the son of a tyrant could be. He was particularly the opposite of their father, even though much of that grit had been passed down to him. He was like a light in the darkness for their people... was a person like this particularly vile?
Even Artemis didn't really hate his brother. The only reason he wanted to be August in a duel was to spit in the face of their father...
"Can a Spirit Contractee beat an Aspect User?"
Gardner let out a hollow chuckle. "At Stage 13, the beginning Stage, perhaps... but anything past Stage 9 might be difficult. A Contractee of a Daemonic Spirit might get farther, might even be able to stand toe-to-toe with a Stage 6. But that depends on what Aspect that person received at birth. For me, a Stage 8 Daydreamer of the Sacrificial Acolyte Aspect, it might be difficult even for you to beat me, my Lord. That's alright though, since I'm here to protect you."
He grinned confidently, striking his chest with enough force that it seemed like receiving the same blow might have caved in Artemis's ribcage.
So there are 13 stages in total? If it is a descension towards Divinity, then Leon, who was at Stage 2, had progressed her Aspect through 11 others...
...and took on all of those horrific challenges that came with it. All for the sake of her people, those wretched souls living in the poisonous swamps of the 'Godwater'... how fitting that their Patron Deity almost arose from such a vile place.
And to think that now, August is on the same exact path as these two...
...then again, it means he had always been on this path. From birth, he had been cultivating this 'Witch-King' Aspect. It didn't seem that the Nightmare mimicked a Spirit Contract, only the Aspect. Does that mean that all of August's abilities pertaining to light and flora come from the Witch-King Aspect?
Father only ever tended to use abilities related to Darkness, Pain, and Death. Is it possible that he had a different Aspect than August, or was this a Spirit Contract? Can an Aspect be guaranteed or passed down?
It seems that Aspects belong to sets. After all, Gardner's description mentioned that he has the same Aspect as the Deity he follows, that Red Prince... wouldn't it make sense for the Witch-King to also have the Witch-King Aspect?
And since I don't have it, isn't this a direct f-cking confirmation that I was never really his son!?
Cursing inwardly, Artemis turned away.
There were so many questions, and Artemis didn't have the mind to bug Gardner with so many, even though he was acting like a haughty, self-important Prince.
His mind turned back to other matters. They were being slowly pursued by the black fog, but at a glacial pace that made it particularly insignificant as long as they kept moving. That Lord of the Fog, the one that had bowed to the King in the black fog, now stood high above them once more atop a pillar of ash.
He eyed the figure with a ravenous bloodlust. Artemis was growing tired of being caged.
"We need to kill that bastard."