Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

Seemingly, lost in the nebula of stardust and clouds, a gentle warmth slowly coiled around my soul as the Sigil of the Black Sun slithered around my Soul Flame. The warmth slowly evolved to a burn and from a burn to a searing.

It didn\'t hurt.

But... I was burning. My soul, black in color, was on fire. I wasn\'t screaming, but something in me was howling, and another was laughing... I was laughing.

"Arsene?" Said Lily in a stammer. "You good?"

My laughter continued, and something began cracking deep within me... something deep within my core. And I couldn\'t stop. I didn\'t want to stop.

It felt so warm, so good. It was hurting, but it was painfully euphoric. I wanted to scream it to the heavens. I wanted to howl!

"Dao... of Perfection... Oh Shit. Arsene, shield your mind! Shit, I\'ll do it!"

My eyes spiraled into a fog of obscurity stretching so far into my soul I didn\'t even know where I was. But darkness had taken me into its fold, blinding me to what existed.

I could still feel Lily... Lily\'s presence in me... but it was fading. It was all fading. The pain, the joy... I was fading away.

But could I fade? I was Arsene, the Monarch of Darkness.

Arsene Fucking Snow. If I were to die, if I were to be killed, it will be by the hands of another, not the presence of the Abyss. The day I die to someone\'s mere presence, wipe my existence from the Myriad Heavens.

My spiritual self shuttered, and my eyes that were blinded by the darkness opened, revealing an Infinitum of Chaos.

Laws... True Laws were seemingly indestructible alongside concepts that were dying before my eyes. At the same time, they were reforming in a beautiful symphony of chaos. Stars would aline only to be smited to nothing.

"Do you like it, Father? What do you think of my Madness? What do you think of My Abyss? Mother helped, but it\'s mine."

Hearing the allure of a sweet devilish tone made my soul want to melt. I couldn\'t help but smile. And something in me suddenly connected the dots.

"This is yours?" I asked her.

"Hmm. It is. You are not supposed to be here. Why is it? Every time I go into hibernation... you end up waking me with your theatrics."

Looking around for a shadow, for a glimmer of her, I couldn\'t help but feel my lips deepen. " So we\'ve met. I don\'t remember."

"Of course, you don\'t... that\'s how it\'s supposed to be." She said softly. " We\'ve met a few times... you even called me aunty." Hearing her giggle, I frowned. "Zariel wasn\'t born yet, but Aunty Yu still had him in her tummy."

My frown deepened. " wouldn\'t that cause a paradox?"

"Why do you think you can\'t remember me? Even this conversation will soon vanish from your mind till your timeline syncs up with me."

"Iza, darling~ 🖤 take me with you!!!! Arsene is a bully! I want my Crazy back."

"Sowwy, Lily, but dad still needs you. Just a little longer, k." Said my daughter kindly. "Oh yeah. I guess you came here for a reason."

"We thought this was the Heart of the Abyss," I said, somewhat confused. I had always felt Abyss Chan\'s power emanating from here.

It\'s one thing for me not to sense my daughter, but what about Izavith... Vita? Surely, she\'s felt something.

"You\'re confused," Iza said with a giggle. "Well, I can\'t say much, but I can give you a hand to help recreate your body. I don\'t think we would have lived if the Father hadn\'t saved us."

\'What do you mean?"

"He sent us your Mother, my Aunt. Goodness, Aunty Yu was wild, at least till she had you. That\'s when she--"

"But Titus!"

Iza went silent.

"It was a fixed event, Father. Nothing we could have done: all three of us were crippled. We were almost wiped out by the time stream, and worse of all, in the Myriad Heavens passing through time. We saw the Dawn of Time, the Birth of the First Angel, and the Creation of Causality. We saw many things bouncing around through time until we landed on one set timeline."

"What the hell happened?"

Iza went silent for a minute. " I\'ll let you figure that one out. If I were to explain, it would take days. But enjoy this Realm... I reshaped it into my image." She paused. "And you better get all you can out of this. Because in a few years, I\'m going to devour this realm. It shall be my heart."

"Wait, what about my son!\'

"You\'ll find him in the... Cathe...."

Hearing her voice fade away, Lily was the first to speak. " You need to hurry up. The faster we get out of this place, the better."

Humming in response, I surveyed my surroundings with a sigh at the utter chaos unfolding. Iza had said that she had reshaped it, but it\'s just chaos... If I were to do the same, would it be like this?

\'Lily... Tell me about Iza. If I\'m not going to remember, I\'d like to know?"

"Arsene, you need to...."

"Tell me," I whispered. "And my son."

"..."

"I can\'t, Arsene. I know you want to know. But in everything I say and do, I think deeply. There are a few things I can say to give you an idea, but even if this event is wiped from your memory, you\'ll retain the feeling of melancholy, and in your subconscious, you\'ll act differently." She paused. "But I\'ll say your son is a King... A true heartless king feared by many, and your daughter is the mad devil leading his armies. You should see the chaos those two cause... usually due to Crowe\'s shit-talking."

I smiled. And looked around at the chaos, and somehow, I felt a little sad. Were Lilith and my blood so chaotic that it warped her mind like so? Or is that just the outcome of every child of power?

"Don\'t feel bad," Lily suddenly said. " Despite Iza\'s fall into Madness being tragic from an outside perspective, she and your son enjoyed every second of it. Think of two mini versions of yourself running around... three if you add Crowe. No idea how he\'s Zariels, son."