Chapter 391: Lord Rain

Arthur made himself comfortable in the chair, which locked around his body to prevent him from escaping. But he knew that, with a single attack of his chains, he would be free to go. It was wise to go through the trial, though.

The room was bland, and it didn"t have anything to see other than countless flowery pots. Thus, Arthur spent the waiting time staring at the flowers, trying to remember their names. 

His time was Larza was a h.e.l.lish one, spent mostly in humiliation and grievance. However, there was one side of it that he benefited from: the time he spent studying. He studied the Alvan Language and herbology under Larza, a field within her expertise. 

"Lunist Rera," Arthur muttered the name of the plant. "Jerni Ves," and the name of another. The first was a plant that radiated moonlight, and the second one absorbed it. The fact that some species of Demis benefited from the moonlight made these two plants oppose each other. 

Their existence created a tunnel of moonlight between them, a decorating technique that he read about in one of Larza"s books. As he kept muttering the names of the plants, hours went by. 

"And what about the crystal plant?" 

"An embodiment of purity, one of the few agents used in alchemy for mixing purposes," Arthur answered the spirit who appeared in the room without flinching. 

The spirit walked toward the plant and crouched beside it. Then, with a thin and bony hand, it caressed the crystal leaves of the plant. Arthur stared at the robed spirit in front of him and the hand of bones. 

"I never thought that Lord Rain would be a lich," 

"There are many things you don"t know, human," the lich answered with a neutral tone, but Arthur still felt the coldness in its voice. "But it seems botany is one you know of,"

"That"s inaccurate," Arthur replied. "I know herbology, the names of herbs, mostly magical ones, and how to make use of them." 

"Ah yes, your race loves useful things. That"s why you love spirits, don"t you?" The lich retracted its hand and stood up. It turned toward Arthur to look at him with its hollow sockets. "Yet, you killed a spirit." 

"If I didn"t kill it, I would have been devoured by it. So the Spirits Realm, at least the higher worlds of it, should only contain friendly spirits." 

"And who decided that, exactly?" The lich gave a snicker. "Conceited human," it shook its head at Arthur after giving its judgment of his character. 

"Then you punish me knowing that some spirits found ways to hurt seekers?" Arthur rebuked. "That violates the first contract." 

"Ah yes," the lich turned back toward the crystal herb. "The first contract between the Spirits Sovereign and the First Seeker, a lovely notion of humans befriending spirits." 

"There are Demis too," 

"You are all humans to us, only some of you being less human than others," the lich grabbed the pot of the plant and lifted it. "Don"t you think that it"s ironic, human?" 

"What is?" 

"Your race created the world humane to symbolize compa.s.sion and benevolence, but it is you who wage wars and kill other creatures." 

"A part of humans lives within every spirit." 

"It amuses me how defensive you got of your race that you try to establish our similarities," the lich laughed again. "Now tell me, human. What"s the name of this herb?" 

Arthur stared at the lich and then at the herb. He remembered this one clearly, as its name was linked to him. Since the herb could mix herbs, establishing harmony, it was called by this name. 

"Its name is Seika," 

"Yes, The Loved," the lich nodded and placed it down. "That"s who you are, right? That"s what they call you: Seika, a man loved by living beings and spirits alike, but a ruthless murderer if the need calls for it." 

"Who are you, and how do you know me?" 

"I don"t know you," the lich shook his head. "I know a friend of yours, a friend who wouldn"t shut up about you. She visited me a few days ago to tell me about your arrival to my domain." 

"Gala?" Arthur"s soul shook. "She was here?" 

"Noisy brat, I must say," the lich nodded. "That brat told me a lot of things about you. No, she told me everything she knew about you, even the guesses." 

"Where is she?" 

"You already know that. Why are you so dim?" The lich insulted. "I"m questioning the praise she gave you," it shook its head. 

"She was here," Arthur ignored him and sighed. "I guess I kept her waiting for a long time," he stood up from his spot, breaking the prison around him.

"Ho?" Lord Rain seemed surprised. "You are more abnormal than she painted you to be. Are you sure that it"s okay for you to exist?" 

"What do you mean?" Arthur stared at him. 

"Such an anomaly in the world, it can"t go unpunished," Lord Rain placed the plant down, tenderly as if fearing for it. "I"m sure you have noticed it too, no? Responsibilities, disasters, and the so-called fate all rushing toward you." 

"Coincidences," 

"Of course, you would think so. We all fear being manipulated by a higher being. Why do you think atheists exist?" Lord Rain walked toward the door and opened it. "Come, let"s have a chat."

"I need to leave," 

"You are exactly as that witch said you were: always in a hurry to do the next important thing. How about, for a change, trying to take a look around the present instead of the future?" 

Arthur hesitated as he heard this. If it were something Gala wanted him to hear, he would listen to it. However, this lich was like a box full of truths he avoided, and the moment it opens its mouth, the world would be left in shambles. 

"Believe me, this conversation is one you wouldn"t want to miss," Lord Rain promised, and Arthur nodded eventually before following after him. 

The lich took him toward a flower bed with two rocks, a place that reminded Arthur of Master Ronin. Lord Rain sat on one of the two rocks and offered for Arthur to do the same. 

"How did you know that I"m the one Gala talked about?" 

"A hunch," 

"That"s a lie," 

"It"s the golden aura and the desire to be one with you," Lord Rain"s words send chills in Arthur"s spiritual spine. "There"s a force that pulls everything toward you, no matter if it was a fortune or disaster." 

"Are you saying I"m the reason bad things happened around me?" 

"Are you denying it?" 

Arthur was silent as a locked memory, one he desperately held back, rose to the surface. The war that occurred because of his existence, The Outsider, in the trial of the holy crown. The Ilios Empire had a prophecy that when the outsider appears, the end is near. 

The desperation to survive as an empire drove them to desperate measures, one of them being the plan to swallow up the Yalveran Union. 

He was the reason the war started, and he was the reason that it ended. The ma.s.sacre he unleashed on the soldiers of the Ilios Empire was fresh in his mind. The cries of the soldiers, their disintegrating bodies, and the tears they shed as they breathed their last. 

"That"s not all, isn"t it?" Lord Rain seemed to know of things that Arthur didn"t know. "There are other disasters that happened to people close to you," 

"What are you trying to say, lich?" 

"I want you to face the things you need to accept," the lich said with a grin. "That"s what Gala wanted me to do, to make you accept the blood on your hands." 

"I"m not the reason," Arthur shook his head as Ellen"s face appeared in his mind. His feud with Tyrin, the Enders" p.a.w.n, was probably how the Enders got to her. Tyrin was one of the few who knew of his friendship with Ori. 

"I know it"s hard," Lord Rain looked at his bony hands. "There"s so much that we can care about: your friends, your family, the people you need to protect. The world is full of suffering, and you are unable to contain it all. You are unable to keep thinking about it. That"s why you ignore it, seal it away, and act as if you are nothing but a victim." 

As he heard the words, Arthur felt the boundaries protecting him breaking down. The words the lich said made the questions he ignored at night resurface, filling him with dread. 

"Where is my family? Where are my friends? What happened to them? Is it because I failed? Why does it need to be me who grows stronger?" Arthur grabbed his head as his aura wavered.

"You need to do everything: you need to save the City of Shades, you need to save Guren, you need to help Dia, you need to kill Gala, you need to build Hidden City, and the list goes on." Lord Rain kept mirroring him. 

"Why am I the one who needs to be a savior when no one else bothered when I needed saving? Why does it always end with me being the one in the wrong?" Arthur felt as if he was being devoured.