Aen stepped across the threshold of Vantric's territory. It wouldn't do to just appear inside, even invited as he was, so he knocked on the door to the fortress and waited.
Vantric was still waiting in the main hall when he heard a knock at the door. Aen had arrived, it appeared. Aryx and Calath were gone, both having tasks to acheive, and the devils were still rushing about, exploring the fortress, far from sight. With no one else around, he made his way to the door, opening it and inviting his guest in.
"Hello Aen. I'm glad you could make it."
Aen gave Vantric a small, polite smile. "Yes. Thank you for inviting me." He walked as he spoke, and stopped for a moment to look around him. The fortress was... interesting. The rooms seemed small, and yet from the looks of it, there were a lot of them. It'd be easy to get lost in such a place, and he was glad to have Vantric there to guide him around.
Vantric looked out the door for a moment, before shutting it behind his guest. He caught Aen admiring the structure. "Magnificent, isn't it?" He asked, gesturing to the building. "Defensible, ornate, the height of palatial comforts and practacility. This was one of my greatest acheivements."
He let Aen absorb the words for a moment before continuing. "I am surprised to see that your dragon hasn't come with you. Grix, wasn't it? I would have been quite interested in meeting with him."
Aen laughed. "I'm not sure he'd fit well in here without causing something of a mess. A bull in a china shop, a dragon in a fortresss... some things just don't mix well, y'know? Besides, he needs to keep an eye on the Battlegrounds while I have my two guests there."
Vantric nodded, "True enough." Two guests? He thought. Isond would have been one, obviously, so that raised the question-who was the other? And why? "Let's leave the hall for a moment. There are other rooms where we could talk more at ease." With that he gestured for Aen to follow him as they made their way through the fortress.
"Isn't there another who serves you?" Vantric asked as they walked. "Someone in a suit of armor?" He vaguely recalled Aen ordering another figure while they were fighting Ailish.
Aen laughed nervously. "Yes... Ren... well, if you wish to invite her as well, I can call upon her. I just don't know her well enough to see how she'd react."
Vantric picked up on Aen's discomfort when he brought up his other apprentice. That could be useful. He smiled, "Please. I'm very eager to meet her." They entered into a study. A rich carpet covered the floor and a large desk stood in the corner. Several bookshelves were along the walls and a few armchairs were arrayed around the room.
He took one one of the chairs and gestured to Aen to take another.
Aen sat down and closed his eyes quickly, sending Ren a telepathic message. She didn't respond, but he assumed she heard it, though he wish he could know what her answer was. A few moments later, however, she tugged on their connection. He took this to mean she was coming, and summoned her himself. If she was surprised, she didn't show it. Not that he could tell much from the swirling mist that made up her face... and the rest of her. She stood silent behind him. "Well, this is Ren. Ren, this is our host, Vantric." The armor made a slight bow, but did not speak up nor move forward. Aen sighed.
Vantric nodded. "A pleasure to meet you." It stood, somewhat awkwardly, between the two gods. Whether or not it was aware of its own oddity was another thing. It seemed out of place and almost aware of it, but that was difficult to discern from its rather insubstantial form within the armor.
He waited for Ren to say something else, or at least intimate something, but the armor stood still. Perhaps this was the reason Aen was nervous about his servant, Vantric considered. Perhaps it was simply dim or incapable of understanding the world around it. Still, he wasn't about to dismiss the armor just yet, it was always dangerous to misjudge the value of the proper tool, and casually changed the subject. "I have a new apprentice of my own, actually. She should be joining us shortly."
If Ren had thoughts on this, she kept them to herself. Aen on the other hand, spoke up. "Another? Ah right, I think I felt that awhile back. To be quite honest, I was suprised that Isond was your first choice. Well, the more the merrier."
Vantric smiled, "I enjoy being unexpected. It keeps people off balance. Which leads me somewhat to why I invited you over." He leaned forward, "I believe that it's worthwhile that we speak a bit before things get out of hand. Regardless of what others might say, I desire peace, same as everyone else."
Aen grit his teeth. So they'd gotten to the reason he'd been invited over, and it wasn't for just a friendly chat. So be it. "I see. I don't think the problem, however, is that some of us do not desire peace. I think it is what we consider to be true peace that causes strife."
"Peace causes strife?" He said, smiling slightly, "That's certainly an interesting way of looking at things. Though you are right, we all have different ideas of peace and order, and unfortunately, not all are compatible. My goal is trying to...settle these differences with as little violence as possible. I don't suppose it would surprise you to learn you've made an enemy of Melanthios?"
Aen grinned, but there was a darkness in his eyes. "It's to be expected. After all, he made an enemy out of me first."
"Be that as it may, I'm of the opinion that you are a better ally than enemy." Vantric continued. "You have proven to quite...surprising, to say the least. Your reputation is rather impressive. Olek gone, Seith gone. No small feat. Regardless, I would be careful about whom you take as allies, and whom you make as enemies."
Aen stared off into empty space for a moment. "Those were... accidents. And as for allies, well... they're dead too." He turned back to Vantric. "Not that our alliance was particularly close. In fact, calling it an alliance is kind of a joke. Still, thank you for the advice."
It was at that moment that Aryx entered the room. "Good to see you've made it." Vantric said.
She surveyed the guests, smirking slightly. "It seems our guests have arrived." She said.
"Yes, Aen, this is my protege Aryx. Aryx, this is Aen, a colleague of mine." Vantric said, making introductions.
"A pleasure." She said, extending her hand toward Aen with the slightest of bows.
Aen stood and took her hand, shaking it. "It is nice to meet you as well. I must wonder what kind of, how did you put it, protege? Right, well I wonder what kind of protege Vantric has gotten himself this time."
Aryx smiled, flicking her wings for a moment before giving her reply. "I'm the superior one. I know something of you, though." She turned toward Ren, "But I'm curious about this. What is it, precisely?"
Ren made no attempt to explain. Once again, Aen wondered if she'd fallen asleep. He wished he had the ability to understand souls the way Zareth did for a moment, then pushed the thought aside. "This is Ren. She is the latest addition to my demi-gods." He finally realized what race Aryx came from. 'Interesting.' "In fact, being a Grigori, you may have once prayed to her, though if Vantric picked you it's just as likely that you didn't."
Vantric got up himself, "Aryx is rather special. She's quite the rarity among her kind. A free thinking angel. I didn't think such things existed before her." Prayed to her? Vantric thought. The grigori didn't pray to many gods, really, they only prayed to Seith. Lenonous was still alive so that could only mean...
"Sephariel?" He said with some shock, "You salvaged Sephariel?"
Aen winced. "Salvaged is... actually kind of accurate." He turned to look back at Ren, and noticed her spirit was certainly swirling more actively. Perhaps she was upset, but really, it could mean anything. "But she is Ren now, and that's what matters."
"Of course." Vantric replied. There was something else here, he knew. No one would go through the effort of reviving a dead god's pet without a use for them in mind.
While he thought over the possibilities, the door opened and in walked a devil. The creature came up to Vantric and whispered quickly in his ear before disappearig. "It seems refreshments will be arriving shortly."
"Refreshments? Interesting. I had wine with Zareth, once, but it didn't do much as it does to mortals." That had been a long time ago, though, before all of this mess.
"Hopefully, this should be a bit more...potent." Vantric said, leaning back against the chair. "I recently acquired some help that promised that it should have a rather intriguing effect."
Aen come to wonder how Vantric had aquired this help, and if it referred to the devil that had come in to talk to him. Actually... hadn't there been a god who had devils in their part of the Court? It didn't seem like Vantric to copy someone else, though perhaps he had been copied in the first place.
A few moments later the devil returned with a bottle of a deep, amber liquid in its hands, on his tail was another who had four silver goblets. The first handed it over to Vantric, bowed once, then turned back out once more. The second gave everyone a goblet before bowing to the party and leaving.
"They certainly are efficient help." Vantric remarked, uncorking the bottle. He poured a bit for himself before offering the bottle to Aen.
Aen accepted the bottle graciously and poured out about the same for himself. Then he passed it on to Aryx before taking a drink.
Aryx filled her own glass before passing it over to Ren. She wasn't certain that the armor could even drink, but it seemed oddly appropriate.
Ren took the glass and waited for the bottle, but only poured any out at a gesture from Aen. Only filling her glass up a little, she then moved forward to place the bottle down on a table before backing up to her previous postion, never turning around. She didn't drink it traditionally, but spirit tendrils seemed to seep into the glass and absorb the liquid up.
Vantric took the first sip. It was oddly bitter at first, before turning into something sweeter. The liquid adopted new characteristics as he drank, glowing slightly as he drank. Whatever the devils had harnessed the honey for to make this beverage, He thought, Was well done.
"That is quite delicious." He said, finishing his glass.
Aen felt a bit light-headed as he finished his glass. Whatever it was, it worked fast, and was much stronger than the mortal wine. He grinned, and this time his eyes lit up. "I hope no mortals ever drink too much of this."
An image flashed through Vantric's mind of mortals getting their hand on the elixir and he burst into a laugh. "That's something to think about." He muttered. It actually sounded like a good idea. He put that on his list of things to do.
"Haha, well, don't let anyone know I gave you the idea."
"Anyway, I wanted to say, Aen, that I think you and I could work together." Vantric said, pouring another glass of the drink for himself. He swirled it around for a moment. The stuff was STRONG, he could feel it affecting him already. Aryx seemed particularly enthralled with the drink. "Melanthios aside, I believe you've already had some contact with M'endar? A good friend of mine, might I add."
"M'endar is a good... thing... I've never been quite sure how to describe whatever M'endar is, actually." Aen poured himself some more as well. "But whatever it is, it's alright by me."
"Good, very good." Vantric replied. He swirled the drink around in his cup for a moment before continuing, "I must admit, I am curious, what possessed you to attack Seith? Not that I have any problems with the action, but call it my simple curiosity. I don't often misjudge people, at least not by such a great margin."
Aen sighed and stared into the dark draught in his glass. "He interfered in a one on one duel, and not only marred my honor, but got Olek killed. Still... I shouldn't have done it that way."
Vantric raised an eyebrow. He had thought that the god of combat would be exceptionally boastful of his victories, especially over the gods, even if they weren't his initial intent.
Just how badly had he misjudged Aen? "I see." He said carefully. "Be that as it may, Seith's removal was...necessary. He stood athwart everything that I and many others believe in."
"Yes, so I heard. Still, that was not something I knew anything about. All I wanted was to teach him a lesson. Not much point if they don't live long enough to put what they learn to use."
Vantric shook his head, "Some people don't learn. Others can only learn after they've lost everything. Seith was in the former category, you saw how he was, even until the end. His downfall taught him nothing, and worse would have come had he survived the fight."
"Maybe, but I guess we'll never know that now." Aen drank down the rest of his glass in one go.
A moment of quiet passed as both parties contemplated the conversation. "How have your people come along, by the way? I don't believe I ever found out." Vantric said, breaking the silence.
Aen shrugged. "Well enough. I mostly leave them to themselves. What's the point of creating something just to rule it, y'know?"
Vantric smiled. "Now that is a sentiment that I can appreciate. It seems a waste to shackle a peoples like that."
"Glad to see we have something in common. Far too many the others seemed to disagree on this subject."
"It is a pointless disagreement. Why create a mortal peoples to dictate their existence to them? What is the point in making yourselves king of slaves? Give me a thinking opponent and a hard struggle over a crown borne aloft by unthinking drones."
"Yes! What is a victory without a fight?! A game without an opponent?! What worth is a battle if your enemy surrenders before you begin?"
"It seems that we have more in common than perhaps I first believed." Vantric said. He gestured to Aryx, "Do you know why I took a grigori as a protege?"
"I can only guess it might be a similar reason to why you raised Isond," said Aen, as he looked Aryx over again. "Though from the looks of her, perhaps not in the same way. She doesn't seem fit for war."
"I did not raise Aryx simply because of the skills she could bring to my aid, and you are right, Aryx's skills are not based in the realm of war. I raised her because she possessed that which others of her kind lacked. Free thought, power, a strong will. Ambition. That was something Seith never understood. What is ambition but the highest expression of the individual being? We are defined by our pursuits and desires. I enabled Aryx to realize her own."
"Then, might I ask, what are her skills?"
Aryx turned to them. "I am a mage of unrivaled power." She answered, "I am magic incarnate."
Aen snorted. "Tell that to Melanthios."
Aryx adopted a stern look, "Perhaps I will."
"That's enough." Vantric said, quieting his protege. Aryx glared at him for a moment, but said nothing. "You'll have to forgive my protege, Aen. She has a tendency toward brashness."
"No, no, it's alright. In fact, from the beating Melanthios took earlier, she may very well be telling the truth. For now. Not that Melanthios would agree either way."
Vantric chuckled, "You may very well be right about that. Still, I'd rather not give her ideas. I have enough troubles keeping Isond under control."
Isond... he was probably getting into trouble with Cassiel right now. He checked with Grix, but the dragon wouldn't give him a clear view of what was happening, only that he found it amusing. Someone was most likely getting a beating in the arena. "I think, right not at least, you don't need to worry about that."
"That's some comfort." Just how did Aen know about that? Vantric wondered. Some connection to the arena? Or perhaps some other power he had. The battle go was becoming more and more intriguing.
"On the subject of our apprentices, I'm a bit curious about Sephariel, or Ren, I suppose.It seems a bit...strange that you would claim one of Seith's own demigods after what happened." It wasn't the approached he had hoped to take, but it seemed unlikely that Ren would be willing to tell him anything, and it was yet to be seen that she even could.
Aen looked over at Ren. Even when the spoke about her, she refused to speak up. It seemed she had emptied her drink, but hadn't gotten anymore. Then he looked back at Vantric. When he spoke, his voice was a bit more somber and sober. "Perhaps a mixture of guilt and glory, fixing what you broke and claiming a trophy. I'm not really sure anymore.
Another surprising sentiment, though that one was probably a lie, Vantric decided. There was some game here that Aen was playing, and more to the knight than he let on. What was Sephariel anymore? He considered. A swirling mist? A suit of armor? And why? There was a use for every tool, even the irascable and uncooperative ones like Isond. Ren was a piece on the board, and one that he was worth investigating.
"You broke nothing." Vantric said, "Seith died of his own folly and stupidity. We survived. That's the critical thing. If anyone is to blame for the misery brought to Seith and his ilk, it was Seith."
"Still, I am the one who lead the attack, I struck the first blow. His blood is on my hands, above all others."
"Then be proud. You acquited yourself rather well."
"Then why did the victory feel hollow?"
Vantric shrugged. "I don't know. It seems strange to me. An enemy has been vanquished who was a threat to all of us. We survived wholly intact, and benefited from it in our own ways. I can't really see a down side to this."
Aen gripped his drink. "Maybe it was too easy. Or over too fast. Or maybe it just wasn't the victory I wanted." He relaxed and put the glass down. "Still, what happened has happened, and I can only strive to change the future."
"It's the only thing all of us can do. But I stand behind my point, a victory is a victory, whether with a sword and shield or a knife in the back." Vantric drained the last of his own glass at this. "Which brings me to my next question: what are your plans? The future matters little if you take no care to shape it."
He had been getting a clearer picture of Aen from this interview. He was a survivor, shrewd and calculating. He was everyone's friend and in everyone's confidence. Melanthios was the notable exception, but he predicted his brother would find that Aen wouldn't go down easily, and that he would be hard pressed to marshal support against him.
"My plans?" Aen stared surprised at the other god. He hadn't thought to come up with any plans yet. He was angry at Melanthios, wanted him punished, but... how was he supposed to get that done. "I guess... I don't really know yet."
"Of course." Vantric smiled. What fool did Aen take him for? Everyone had their own agenda, and it was unlikely that Aen was the exception. "Then you should begin working on them then. It would be...unfortunate if our interests were to clash."
"All I want right now is for Melanthios to pay."
"A worthy goal, however, I would suggest that you proceed in a...delicate manner. I am quite interested in working with you Aen, but Melanthios is also an old friend of mine, and an ally besides. I would hate for this enmity between you to go too far."
"I won't kill him unless I have to."
"I should hope not." A lie if there ever was one. Aen would work for Melanthios's downfall as quickly as he could. The only thing staying his hand at the moment, Vantric suspected, was the fact that he had no serious allies of his own. Aen's noncommittal nature had gotten him in everyone's good graces, but was now working against him as an enemy to remove had come against him.
Aen sighed. "Everything... is more difficult than it should be. We're gods, yet all we seem to do is fight each other, when the whole universe is in our hands. Mortals would kill, have killed, to try and be more like us. And yet we squabble over scraps of power, when it's infinite."
"Now that is untrue. Power is never infinite, and it's a fool's dream to believe it ever will be. In every situation, someone wins and someone loses. We can bend the universe, but even our power has limits. It's what we do when we reach those limits that define us."
"None of us have ever shown age, and though how quickly we can grow in power is limited, I don't know if there is truly a limit. Who is to say we can't keep growing stronger and stronger, forever?"
"You measure power in quite the literal manner, Aen. There are far more sides to it, and far more aspects than that which we can affect as a singular being. Seith was as strong as any of us and he fell because he lost power, political power. His allies were tremulous, and his enemies united. This is as it will ever be with warring ideals. One must win, one must lose."
"And if we all fall, until only one set of ideals remains? Then everything suffers even more."
"It depends on which ideals fall. Yours? Mine? Seith's? Eldarwen's? There are those that must be protected, and those that must be destroyed. Eldarwen, Seith, Pentar; these are people who stood for the tyranny of the single-minded rule. You and I, we stand for something better. An existence that belongs to itself. I said as much back in the Beginning, let us have free agency. Let the universe belong to us as we see fit."
"It's true, they where tyrannical, or I suppose are, though I know little of Pentar. But... perhaps, all things are needed, in the end. Balance between chaos and order, peace and war, self and community. Isn't that what the universe truly needs from us?"
"What the universe truly needs is freedom. We all have our ideals to strive for, mortal and god. Let those who can, seize what they will. Life is the test of mortals, existence is the test of gods. We have the power to decide what shape their lives take, whether they have any meaning or not. Let the winners claim the spoils, that is my philosophy."
"True. Victors take their winnings and do with it what they like. It's only fair."
Vantric nodded, "I'm glad you agree." He looked over to the clock on the desk. It was surprising how much time had passed. "We should speak again later. There are other appointments that I have to keep. We should work together soon."
Aen didn't hesitate. "Yes, that sounds good. Perhaps next time I could show you around the Battlegrounds instead." He was silent a moment, then smiled. "Isond seems to be enjoying it in his own way, as well. I'll see myself out."
