The Prince of Demons

I sat panting on my bed in a cold sweat as the events from <Remembrance of Memory> replayed in my mind. I ran to my bathroom and hurled into the toilet as waves of nausea overcame me; those were revolting displays of <Magic>. It was hard to properly describe the smell that <Death Magic> left in its wake that was this odd, pungent mixture of decay, rot, and stagnant air. Behind me, I felt Krahinn <Warp> in as I began hurling a bit more. I knew why the Void King wanted to exterminate Reincarnators now at least. Hero, I get why the two of them made sure to erase you. I still didn't get why the Void King betrayed Hugminn; he somehow used the soul of an <Eternal> to fuel his, Ariam, and Mahdi's endless lives.

"Now you know why he wants you to die and why I want to kill him." Krahinn stated drily. For once, he didn't sound like he was mocking me, and even gently pat my back as I kept puking.

"Why did the Void King betray Hugminn?" I asked between retching.

"In his anger and grief, he decided to fully commit to that <Geas> no matter the price. Scius never looked back from that point." Krahinn informed me. I finally stopped puking as I stood up, but I was not feeling great.

"I'm sorry you went through that." I told Krahinn as I hugged him.

"I appreciate the sentiment Nil." Krahinn replied, actually hugging me back. It was the briefest, faintest of hugs, and I was quickly pushed back a small distance after.

"What should we do from here?" I inquired. I still felt ill. It'll pass soon, hopefully.

"Just so you're aware, I may have stabbed out one of Scius's eyes, but with him stealing Hugminn's <Arcane Eye> he does have vision in both eyes." Krahinn replied with a tone of irritation. Not exactly what I wanted to know, yet that was important information.

"What <Arcane Eye> did Hugminn have?" I checked. Krahinn let out a heavy sigh.

"Nyx's <Lord's Eye>. What I suspect is the other reason Scius betrayed my brother, as Nyx's <Lord's Eye> let's one create unique <Magic> and constructs in a way that can't be replicated without them." Krahinn explained. Ah, it definitely helped his set up to kill all Reincarnators that ever lived.

"Great." I sighed. The more I learned about him the taller the mountain ahead of me felt.

"It also acts like a sort of prism to easily change <Magic> from one <Affinity> to another. For now, focus on yourself and not him as I know how to counter most if not all of his <Magic>." Krahinn informed me. That was much easier said than done; it felt like so much was needed to be done.

"Ugh. I forget how temperamental children are." Krahinn groaned. I glared at him.

"I'm not wait even my mental age makes me a child to you." I tried. Krahinn chuckled a bit.

"Yes, at least you caught your stupidity before finishing it. What I was going to say was one of the unique, if not best feature of that <Lord's Eye> of yours." Krahinn taunted with a smirk painted on his face.

"Was? You still could." I pointed out shamelessly to Krahinn's amusement.

"Could." Krahinn mocked me as we were suddenly at the dining table. It was weird being the first ones here. I definitely didn't feel like eating at the moment.

"Oh, great Krahinn, please tell your contract holder about his <Arcane Eye>." I groveled. Krahinn still had the smile projected on his blank face.

"The term is <Contractor>, it just didn't exist back then." Krahinn stated while making the fog emanating from where his hand used to be an exaggerated finger to point at me.

"Why did you never regenerate or heal the hand back?" I blurted out. Krahinn mulled it over for a second.

"<Space Affinity> is bad at mimicking other <Affinities>, most <Divine Tiers> are. Someone with <Life Magic> could, but I keep it as a reminder of what I need to do. Also, at this point, I'm not sure it can be healed." Krahinn explained with a bit of a shrug.

"So, there's a time limit on healing?" I inquired. I mean it made sense, I just never really thought about it.

"Yes, as well as bringing the dead back. It's why we needed Helsiri to do it, though looking back, the hero used their souls to empower himself, I'm not sure Helsiri could have. He might have been able to or at least let us stop the hero's madness. There's so much I'd redo if I could." Krahinn lamented as he leaned back in the chair. At this point he altered his appearance to his true form.

"I'm sorry." I apologized. I felt guilty reminding him of the atrocities I'd just witnessed.

"Don't just randomly apologize just because you bring up something like that up. Regrets are a part of living a long time; some are just greater than others." Krahinn snapped at me.

"Okay. So, back to the topic at hand, what can my <Arcane Eye> do?" I tried. Krahinn just laughed at me.

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"See <Mana>, like most <Arcane Eyes>." Krahinn taunted. His face made his amusement in making me grovel and beg for the information apparent.

"Wait, most?" I checked. Wasn't that a default ability?

"There are a handful that can't. Granted, those ones are fairly weak with no real notable exceptions. They are about as bad of an <Arcane Eye> as you can get." Krahinn lectured with this odd glint in his eyes. Wait, Krahinn had nine <Arcane Eyes>.

"How do you have nine <Arcane Eyes>? Isn't the limit one?" I probed. I vaguely recalled as a child that being a rule of some sort.

"<Eternals> can have more than one <Arcane Eye> as we get older, and I have lived long enough to be able to acquire nine; as far as I know it's lethal for non <Eternals>. I would not be surprised if Scius found a way to acquire more than one and hid that fact." Krahinn informed me. Of course that was a possibility.

"So, what do yours do?" I inquired, kind of wondering what they all did.

"Not today Nil. Not in the mood today to divulge more information about myself." Krahinn told me. It was a grim memory for sure.

"I understand." I replied. At this point, Ein filed in sleepily. His face lit up when he saw us.

"Big brother! Elder bird!" Ein chimed happily as he ran over and sat next to me.

"My name is King Krahinn, or at least Krahinn." Krahinn scolded Ein.

"Good morning, Ein." I greeted him warmly.

"Bird Krahinn!" Ein corrected himself. Krahinn's eyes twitched in the way before he began folding space into a ball.

Do not make my brother a ball. I told Krahinn. Krahinn looked at me unamused.

I am a crotchety old <Eternal>, not a monster; I'm aware he's even more of a child than you. Krahinn said in the most condescending tone.

"What's that on your arm?!" Ein asked excitedly pointing at my right hand.

"It's a tattoo showing my deal with Krahinn." I informed him. His eyes went wide like I just told him some epic tale.

"What's a tattoo?" Ein probed while I extended my arm for him to look at.

"A mark or ink that permanently stays on your skin. Kind of like art you keep on you forever." I explained as Ein looked at my arm

Forling genius. Krahinn chuckled at me mentally.

What do you mean? I inquired, wondering why Krahinn was barely containing his laughter.

Just wait; I needed this today. Krahinn laughed at me. What was I missing? Dad and Mom walked in while holding Riva at this point.

"Good morning Krahinn, Nil, and Ein." Dad greeted us politely. Mom sat down with Riva.

"Good morning, all." Mom added on while bouncing Riva up and down gently.

"Can I get a tattoo Mom?" Ein asked immediately. Oh, that's why Krahinn was laughing. Mom immediately began glaring daggers at me.

"It is really not that cool, Ein." I tried weakly. It was such a pathetic attempt to distract him as I tucked my arm away.

"You're right, it's super cool! It's art you always have on you! Look at how much skin we have to use!" Ein told me with stars in his eyes. Krahinn was barely containing his laughter at this point.

"Good morning, everyone." Luna yawned as she walked in with her dad.

"Luna. Yes. Um. Can you please help me explain to Ein that tattoos are really lame?" I requested. Luna looked at me, Ein, and then my mom who was still giving me the parent stare of death.

"I don't know, tattoos are pretty sweet." Luna replied with a shiza eating grin. The betrayal was soul crushing. My mom gave her some side eye while my dad joined Krahinn's barely contained laughter.

Luna. I whined mentally.

Nil. Luna whined right back.

I need your help. I informed her. Krahinn and Dad were openly amused.

Oh really? I hadn't put that together. Luna teased me.

Please, I don't know how to dissuade Ein. I begged. Luna pretended to think about it as she looked at me; her face shifted a bit.

No problem, Nil. I'll help. Luna stated with an odd expression.

"Ein, tattoos are painful to get; imagine being poked hundreds of times by <Void Needles>." Luna told him. Ein shuddered at that.

"Why would you do that?" Ein asked quickly as he curled his arms in.

"I had a major lapse in judgement." I answered. Ein looked at me like I was crazy.

"No. Don't want one." Ein declared. Mom looked between Luna and I as everyone else began filing in.

Thank you. I told Luna. Mom let out a deep breath.

"Good thinking Luna." Mom praised her.

I didn't mean to motivate him to want a tattoo. I told Mom. Mom's gaze softened.

I know you did not mean to. You need to practice and be more aware of the example you set for others and your siblings. It is a small thing, why do you look so upset? Is everything okay? Mom lectured softly. What? And she was still harping on my use of contractions.

What do you mean? I checked, not grasping her point.

You look disproportionately upset to a stern stare. Did it upset you that much I stared like that? Mom checked, sounding genuinely concerned.

Do I? I inquired. Was I that upset by what I saw last night? It was one of the worst things I had ever seen, just death and annihilation for a twisted, selfish desire.

You look immensely distraught. Is everything okay? Mom pressed. Her concern was rising rapidly.

I had a distressing dream, or more of witnessed a macabre tragedy accidentally. Krahinn unintentionally dragged me into his memories last night as we are getting used to our contract; I at least know what started his whole vendetta against Reincarnators. I explained. Was that what Luna noticed? Was I upset? I know I wasn't thrilled about what I witnessed. She looked at Krahinn, clearly asking him a question. He gave her an answer which made her look at me seriously.

It's fine to not be okay after witnessing that Nil. I've had a thousand years to come to terms with the events of the day, and witnessing thousands of senseless deaths after seeing someone get brutally tortured should be upsetting to you. I definitely would have slowly worked our way up to that memory, but we accidentally jumped right into the fire. Krahinn assured me. It was odd when Krahinn was nice and caring.

I don't know. I confessed. It definitely was going to haunt me for a while.

It's clearly bothering you; don't try and be like me. It's okay to lean on those that care about you. Take it easy for the day as I still have to work out part of the <Geas>. Krahinn told me.

You know it is a bit odd when you're nice. I replied. Krahinn flicked me with his mist hand but had a small smirk going.

What did Krahinn say? Mom checked, still sounding concerned.

I should probably take it easy for the day. I answered. What should I do? What was a good way to take it easy?

Let us go to the Imperial Botanical Gardens; we can make a day trip of it. Mom suggested. That sounded like fun.

Okay, but I thought you were working on some of the reforms today. I stated. Mom looked unbothered by that point.

I can rearrange my schedule for the day, your grandparents will not mind. Mom assured me.

Alright. I agreed with a smile.