Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

Blood raced from my lungs and up my throat spilling over my red sheets. The tears had long since dried, having been locked in this cursed struggle of hell my Old master gifted me. He had destroyed me.

He had started with my legs, which he tore from my body, then my arms. Before, he began ruthlessly beating me down with my limbs till my bones shattered and organs began to rupture.

I was humiliated, humiliated beyond measure.

"This was the consequence of your betrayal, my apprentice. This was what happened. I will not kill you, and it's not because of Lilith's or Arsene's request. I will not kill you because your punishment has only just begun." were his last words before everything turned black.

Never before had I faced such a humiliating defeat, met such a look of disgust. Master, had not even treated me like a person. Why was he not like this before? If he had been like this, I would not have left him. It's his fault for being weak.

Gauis winterblack would pay for this humiliation. He will pay for tricking me into betraying him. If I knew he was so strong, so cold, I would never have left him, and I, too, would have been a God-King if I remained.

Damn him!

I staggered to my two feet off the bed that had been reattached after that gruesome experience. Opening my hand, I pushed divinity out so that a hologram of Yu Jing appeared before my eyes.

"Master," My disciple answered. The worry in her tone was apparent.

"I–"

"Forgive me, but you are no longer my Master," She uttered coldly and without hesitation, ending the transmission before I could say my peace.

Coldness slipped into my heart, and my eyes were wide as the stars. "Did Yu Jing, the girl I raised, just abandon me?" I grimly asked, pushing out of my room on the fortress of Yllrem, a hidden planet we the founders use from time to time to host meetings.

Racing through the fortress, I was quick to follow my sense, locating Aeron in seconds near the mess hall, filling his face. A common thing he had done as an immortal to validate his eternal life. " What the hell is going on?" I demanded to know. It had only been a hundred years, yet everything was so different.

Aeron frowned, holding his eye over what appeared to be a peach cobbler, and grumbled, "I'm eating."

"My disciple just abandoned me—you were supposed to be on this. What–"

"I would watch your tone, Aiza." Aeron coldly said. Malice was dripping from his every word as he stood to attention, "I am not your tool. You were not the only disciple to leave. All of the Chosen we had just left. All we Masters can conclude at this current moment is that it was out of duress. It seems Archangel Seraphina has taken them on as her disciple. We have no choice in this matter."

An Archangel? By the Hells, what is going on? I had heard of the Heavens attack, but what could they possibly want with my disciple? No, this could work. She was foolish enough to take Yu Jing; I could use this. My apprentice has a tendency to make connections. It was one of the weaknesses I didn't wish for her to mend. I needed her to be loyal to me, and if Jing was still loyal. Then I, too, could still learn some of the Angel's secrets.

"I can see your head spinning," The deadly voice of Talos resounded, grim to the bone. He erupted, filling the mess hall in an eerie silence. Forcing the workers and soldiers to leave one by one, he materialized in a swirling vortex of darkness. "You dare touch Yu Jing or try to communicate with her, and I will kill you."

"Eh?"

"Talos," Said Aeron shaken.

"No. I'm done, Aeron. Not this time. I don't trust Aiza. If she screws up anymore, it's my disciple that will suffer. I am prepared to kill her now when she is injured and weak, then wait when she is healthy." He coldly barked, narrowing his eyes to a deadly fault, "It was her fault Arsene is wary of us. It's her fault that the Court of Nox even hunts Soulbenders. Did you think I would not find out, Aiza?"

My expression fell, but I still maintained a cold facade. I needed to. "You need me."

Talos scuffed, "Need you? Bitch please, In the next meeting, I propose that we merge with the Court of Blood. It doesn't matter what you two do or say. I will be joining them. If you all are smart, you will accept."

"But Gauis is–"

"He is your enemy. An enemy you tricked us into attacking." Aeron agreed, sending my heart into a state of turmoil. "I find that idea reasonable, Tal. You have my support. Now all that leaves is the rest."

"You all can't do this." I addressed, trying with my all not to sound desperate. "we have made an image. To join the court of blood would ensue panic."

"The Angels, Devils, and Demons are battling in our home. What the hell do you think is going on. Alos was just split in half, the core of Tang Fang's power. The land in which the celestial palace resides. We are but toys before these two great forces. Our disples, trained, and raised by us, were taken, and we can do nothing but grovel at their mercy."

"So you kneel before a new master?" I snapped, glaring darkly at these two fools, only seeing the present and not the future.

Aeron seemed to smile, but it was a smile that had the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. "Do what you have to, Aiza. We will not try to stop you, but I assure you. We will not be a part of it. Those children were not meant to be disposable tools, and aside from you, none of us have treated them as such. They are family to many of the founders. If you cannot stand that, then we have nothing to say. Power comes and goes. We have destroyed many a Power in the quest to rise to the top. And now we are at the end of our reign. Learn to settle is all I can say."

Talos seemed only to stare before he turned his back, without another word, withdrawing from sight, leaving only the shadow of his footsteps.