Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

"Arsene," Melinoë softly said, resting her hands on my shoulder. Opening my eyes to the brightly lit day, I frowned.

"It's time, isn't it." I half-heartily said, not in the least bit ready for what was about to happen. I honestly don't know anyone who could be prepared.

"It is, but you do have a free month, don't you want to be with everyone? Prepare everything?" She asked with a gentle smile. It was probably the only time I had seen such a genuine smile upon her face.

"I do have one last thing I need to do, but it will be quick. I may be leaving, but I will leave one thing here behind to watch and control everything." I said, arising from my throne.

Pulling out dragonsbane, feeling the faint pulse heartbeat of life. I corseted it kissing it gently. Pulling out the soul of Njörd, my gaze trembled as I stuffed the entirety of the soul flame within Dragonsbane.

Slowly, the pulse began to grow stronger and stronger. Holding my arm that started to tremble and crack, a wave of divinity began to leak as the faint roar of a mighty dragon blanketed the realms.

Coughing a mouthful of blood, I did not dare release her. Gritting my teeth, darkness began to overflow from my palm in hopes of protecting me. However, that proved rather useless. Before the overpowering aura, I was helpless to resist. Yet, my grip never lessened.

"Papa!"

The childlike voice of Ty resounded when all of a sudden, dragonsbane began to tremble and twist. Soon a dark light began to consume it, and before I knew it, I was holding a small dragon the size of my palm. It had a small glassy black scale, the sigil of the moon upon its head, along with two tiny wings that didn't seem like they would help her fly.

"Welcome to the world," I whispered, coughing up another mouthful of blood. Kissin' her sleeping face, I handed little Ty to Melinoë. "Give me a second."

Not bothering to heal, I peered down towards my shadow. Pulling out an ordinary dagger from my spiral ring, I stabbed down, groaning, feeling like I was tearing a part of me away. Cutting from my feet along the edges, I groaned.

Elemental Manipulation worked by having an understanding of what I needed to do. Very few had this ability, but for me, it came naturally. Imagination was truly the most significant factor; it was king. Without this ability, I honestly would not have been able to create any type of Artes.

Clawing at my outline, I dropped the dagger, trembling, feeling I was hollow. However, my shadow soon began to rise to form its one-dimensional plane entering the fourth. Watching myself, but darker in color, I nodded while it nodded back.

Feeling myself watch me, My shadow took Ty from the shock Melinoë. Turning to me with horror, she shivered, "I truly am envious of you. Very few have that ability."

"You will if you ever decide to join me like your family has. But I think if you master that power from the Oblivion Plane, you may be able to." I said, pulling out a small amber pill. Swallowing it without hesitation, my wounds began to mend themselves, connecting to my torn flesh like webs before pulling them back together.

SIghing, Melinoë held me by the waist, forcing me into the shadow realm. Entering the castle of that strange woman, I could hear her screams of glee as we slowly made our way down the halls.

"SOOOO CUTE!" said Adrienne with untamed glee. Kissing Ty till she opened her little eyes, I scrunched my brow, pondering how fast that was. I had just left, and yet she was already in her hands.

"Woman, you have issues." I weakly said, having lost so much blood.

Turning me, she flashed me a seductive smile, "So you came, are you ready? You know, once you enter, you will not be able to train, right? No laws aside, what we created will exist, and it will be temporary. A million years is the shortest amount of time."

"Then it's a good thing I am immortal and Hold the Flames of Hellfire; it's time I start learning about it." I comforted to myself. "Although I wonder if I will even remember them, Lilith, I know I will, but the rest."

"You will. You left your shadow as I told you, right?" Adrienne said with a comforting smile, "It will record everything, so the moment you enter the real world again, all its memories will be the first thing you see."

"Let's hope," I said, growing cold as ice, "Are your barriers down. There is one person who will help me inscribe my primary runes." I said, surprising Adrienne.

"Invite who you want, but do you trust them?" Adrienne inquired.

"No, but a deal is a deal." I said softly, "Baphomet, hear my call!"

Widening her eyes in fear, Adrienne trembled when a being blinked into existence. Flashing her a savage smile, he chuckled, "Well, if it isn't the wicked witch. We meet again,"

"M-M-M-Master... I did not know you would be here." Adrienne weakly muttered, sending me a death stare.

"Nor did I, but fear not. I am not here for you but rather the boy," Baphomet darkly said.

Widening my eyes in shock, Melinoë, gripping little Ty, swiftly escaped, not daring to stop. Shooting her a glare, I coughed, "You two know each other?"

"of course, when she fell from Noctem, it was I who found her and trained her." He said with a charming smile, "Although she did steal a rather important weapon from me. Mind telling me where you hid it?"

"Its compensation for sending that ripple into Noctem forcing me to fall. I was but a mortal at the time, and before nature, all I could do a the time was fall into The Abyss entering this broken realm." Adrienne hatefully shouted.

"I gave you power!"

"You also tried to force me to marry some demon."

"I killed him, didn't I?"

"You only killed him because I was going to kill him!"

Hearing these two argue like a married couple, I shadow stepped away, wanting no part. There was obviously history. Deep, deep history.

Looking back at them arguing, I sighed, "Maybe it's a lovers quarrel. Although I never thought Bahpoment would act like this before Adrienne. But it does explain why she is so wild."