Lord Shadow

And not before long he finally arrived at the top of the hill. And he could finally see the face of this person that had bring him here.

And the moment he saw the face of this person, he was shocked.

For a moment, he was stunned and transfixed there. The person is a man that he had known before.

'Arial?' he blurted out

The man sitting on that tree stump waiting for him is Arial. 

'It has been a long time, Azief' he said smiling. Azief on the other hand felt weird. He knows Arial. 

But…. this does not make sense at all. He just saw Arial being sucked into that vortex of time and space.

Arial right now is probably rising to become Arial the Conqueror. Amara even went to the past to guide him.

And it is impossible that Arial is stronger than him. He believes that the person on the hill is the one that created this scenery that he is seeing.

He doesn't think that this is an illusion and instead he believes that it has been turned into a real place.

But, how could it be Arial? So, none of this should make sense.

How could Arial be here? And it is because of that he asks again

'Are you really Arial? Arial of House Vermont?'

Arial then tilted his head to his left and right

'Hmm. Not quite' he said. Azief narrowed his eyes and he was about to try to fly but then he remembers that he could not use any of his powers here.

It is useless to run away. So, he just sighed

'Then what are you?'

Arial smiles. He did not immediately answer Azief question. Instead he pointed to the tree stump beside him and said.

'Come, sit here' Azief hesitated at first but then thinking that if this person wanted to kill him or do something to him, he would have already done so in the beginning. 

Here, he is like a mortal without any powers and abilities. 

So, mustering his courage he walks to the tree stump and sit. Arial or whoever this is is looking at the distance, looking at the sun setting.

'It is beautiful isn't it?' Azief was startled by the sudden question. 

'What?'

The person pointed to the sun setting. 

'But, there is a flaw' Arial mutters and he smiles

And Azief look at it. For a moment there is silence between them, only the sound of the wind rustling the tall grass sounded in the background

Azief nodded and then he said

'It is beautiful' he said.

'You mortals always failed to realize the beauty of life when you seek power. It is a pity sometimes' he said.

Azief had nothing to say to that

Then he asks

'Did you see the flowers?' Azief nodded.

'Beautiful, isn't it?'

Azief then answer

'It is'

The person smiles and then he said

'Sometimes, when you are flying too long in the sky, you sometimes forgot that there is beauty underneath your feet. Too many beings forget that and so they stomp everything underneath their feet. So much beauty of life destroyed' 

He sighed. 

The sound of his sigh echoes and for some reason Azief felt a profound sadness entering his heart. He immediately knows that this sadness does not belong to him but to this person.

For some reason, hearing his sigh also made him sad. 

Then that person looks at him

'I am Arial' the words shocked Azief but then Arial added

'But, I am also not him'

This time Azief frowned

He doesn't like to be made a fool. But he also knows his situation. So, with him trying to control his anger he asks

'Which is it? Are you him? Or are you not him?'

Arial smiles and then said

'Think and guess'

'What do you mean by that?'

'The Orvanians' Arial suddenly said and Azief is shocked that the Orvanian suddenly come out from Arial mouth. 

'First, guess who I am. If you get the answer, then it might make sense a bit'

He knows for a fact that while the face is Arial face, the feeling that this Arial gives him is nothing like the Arial he knows. 

When he knows Arial, he was in the trials of Amara. He was a reclusive man, a cold man, a man that I hurt with the world. 

Only with the trials he slowly opens his heart. 

But this Arial in front of him is like a force of good, of light that even when he is frustrated he could not muster the feeling and emotion to hate this Arial.

Instead, he wanted to gain his approval. Azief notices this weird part of his feeling and because of that he knows that this person is not Arial. 

But this person himself said that he is Arial and not quite Arial. So, he asks a few question

'How do you know the Orvanians?'

Arial click his finger and a helmet appear in front of Azief. the helmet is floating in front of him.

'The helmet' And then he looks back at Arial and then his eyes widened as he understands something

'You were the one that did something to do the helmet and suddenly let my presence known to Amara'

Arial chuckles and nodded

'I just cut off your connection with the helmet' he said it simply

'I almost died fighting her'

'It doesn't seem like that to me. If I am not wrong, you were on the verge of defeating her.' 

'That is only because she was weakened because of the time-space disturbance and her connection with the world was cut off'

But Arial just smiles at him

'And you gained new comprehension on your own Laws. That is a lot of gain don't you think?' Arial is still smiling and for some reason Azief could only sigh. 

Azief doesn't even understand himself right now. 

if this was any other day, and he was stuck in a place with someone who seems to have mysterious method like this Arial, he probably would be racking his brain right now on how to escape this place. 

But for some reason, he felt so familiar with this Arial that he could banter like they have known each other for years.

'Don't get angry that much at me' Arial said. 

'After all, those Orvanian is trying to spy me. It is not exactly courteous to do that. It seems they have always been disobedient' he said and he chuckles.

'Though, I did give them a permission for  a while to understand some things. Knowing them, they would overthink it. That's the problem with being too smart sometimes.' Then he laughed like he found something funny. 

Spying on him? Azief seems to caught something. Arial look at him and then said

'With all of the tidbits that I gave you, could you now guess who I am?'

Azief did not answer. He looks at Arial face. And then he began thinking. He closes his eyes and his mind is open.

He is looking at his own memories, and at the same time trying to understand what had happened. He knows the Orvanians. 

There probably only a few civilizations in the entire vast Omniverse that is qualified for the Orvanians to take seriously

Asgard? No…. he thought to himself.

Olympus? No. 

Even if Olympus could mess with Orvanian technology, there is no reason to help him or even meet with him 

Then he thought of something. 

Of a lore of the Orvanians. 

A curse that is given to the entire race of Orvanian. 

Sithulran was cursed with eternal life by the Creator. 

And since then the Orvanians was tasked to guard the Multiverse because of the sin of that one person.

At that time, the Orvanian spoke of it like it is something that they are proud of.

  But when Azief thinks about it again. 

Isn't the fact that they have to guard the Multiverse is in a way a punishment? 

It is not like they gained any reward in doing so but as long as there is the Multiverse, they must guard it.

'It is a curse' he thought at that time. 

Then he thought of Arial. Arial final battle was to fight against Maharai Vasir, the Great Darkness.

It is the whole reason for Arial tragic life, why there are so many trials and tribulations.

And it is said in the legends and the stories of the Pancadongeng of the Thirteen Tribes of the New World that Asrana if he were to win, he would ascend to the Heavens and be the Creator of All. 

And then he opens his eyes and he looks again at Arial and he saw light coming out of Arial entire being, like he is light personified. 

'It is said Light created All' he quoted the Book of Light in Arial world in his mind. 

Arial is Asrana. 

And while he did not see the ending of the battle between Arial and the Great Darkness, he believes that Arial wins that battle.

And if he did win…...if the stories are true…. For a few second, Azief was quite speechless. Because his mind reached to a conclusion that even he had a hard time believing 

He stuttered a bit and then said

'You are…...You are the Creator?'

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