Lord Shadow

Their robes flapping in the wind as they stare at each other eyes. 

She looks at him and then ask

‘You don’t want to know what the price of asking my divination? You seem to be puzzled by my ask before. But now you don’t seem anxious to know what my pain is’

Azief shakes his head

‘I could guess’ he said. Smiling widely the Oracle said

‘I underestimated you. You see a lot’

‘People who underestimated me have never been in good position’ The Oracle nodded

‘That is true’

Silence once again passes between them. 

Azief might not have much time to burn, but that does not mean he is anxious. He had asked his question. And he would wait for her to answer.

And he knows even if she did not want to answer, she has to. Because he is Death Monarch Azief.

To not answer is to seal her doom. Sighing she then said

‘Absolute truth of the future, huh?’ Shaking her head, she then said

‘It is but a possibility of the many myriads possibility’ Azief took a moment to ponder on the nature of that answer. He then asks

‘Your meaning is that it probably would not happen?’

Erika smiles and said

‘People always wanted to believe things that are beneficial to them. They all wanted to believe that their future is rosy and shining brightly. I have seen many people Death Monarch. I have seen people coming to me, believing that their future is good and they want me to confirm it.’

Sighing she continues.

‘They wanted to know what will become of them. Warlords, kings and emperors walk into my temple, believing that what I would show them would be the vision of their glory…. lasting. Most of the time, they would saw their hard work crumbles. They would saw that the future they thought that they would have is nothing but an illusion. And I would tell them of my prophecy. I give them a vision so they could see. I give them a prophecy so they are warned.’

Azief just listen to Erika words. 

Erika continues.

‘And many of them vowed to me that they would fight against fate and destiny. They believe that they themselves are the chosen ones. That they could surpass the invisible power, of an attracting and repelling force of destiny and fate. And yet, in the end, when the war has been waged and the dust settles, all I see are people who finally bow down and kneel to these so called destiny and fate. They all lose and they all prostrate to the pressure of fate’

Smiling Erika then said

‘I see something too when I look at your future. But what I see and what you see is probably different. Like we are looking at the same thing with a different vantage point. You want to believe that what you see is nothing but a possibility. And you wanted to believe that the possibility for things to happen exactly like in the vision is low. You are not the first one feeling like that. Nor would you be the last.’

Azief scoffed

‘You, Oracles and Seers always like to be vague with your words. Do you afraid to tell wrong things or do you just like annoying people?’ Azief ask. Still smiling Erika said

‘Are you angry?’

Azief takes a deep breath and said.

‘You gave me vague answer.’

Shaking her head Erika said.

‘I am probably the clearest Oracle that you will ever meet. Do I give you partial vision? I took you pass the Veil to see your own future. What happens there, what you see, is all the result of the past and present. Past and present forms your future’

She then said

‘Like a book that is being string by threads, each pages from the prologue to the epilogue is all presented. What you see depends on your own power. And there lies the secret of the Veil. It is bonds. Emotions. I think you experience that already. You knew that once you are agitated, the vision become blurry. You have to be a spectator to see all of it. To see it like someone who is seeing a movie. And I am that someone’ and she chuckles a bit at her own private joke

Azief close his eyes for a second. Who knows whether he is thinking or digesting what the Oracle just said. Then he opens his eyes.

‘So, you are saying, that is my future?’

Erika then shakes her head.

‘Like I said, the vision you saw is just a possibility. But, the possibility is high. Extremely high. I only call it possibility because of your strength. For other people, what they saw in the vision beyond the Veil is not merely a possibility but an inevitability’

‘Then why tell me that it is a possibility?’ 

‘HAHAHA’ she laughs and then she said

‘If you are strong, believe’ She once again said the words that carries the same meaning when she spoke to him in that weird space.

Only this time she said it after Azief had seen the vision and then like before he understood it again.

Before she said it and his understanding was that if you are strong enough, you could change something from unreal to real. Then is fate and destiny like that too?

He narrowed his eyes and then said toward Erika

‘Are you saying that if I reached a great enough power, I would be able to change that future I saw?’ Smiling like she knows something nobody else knows, she said

‘Maybe, some of it.’

The sound of the leaves rustling winding through the forest. 

Now, that there is no longer dark blob creature and the area around the Stonehenge no longer have any protection formation around it, energy from the outside world is pouring in.

Azief and Erika notices this but they do not care about it. 

They are now talking and doing things that is more important that the rushing of energy from the world pale in comparison with what they are talking about

‘Why not all of it?’ Azief ask.

‘Because, that is your future’ Azief was perplexed. Isn’t this like returning to the root of the problem. What did she mean by that?

Erika must have noticed the expression on Azief face and then she explained

‘It come from you. that future did not come from destiny or fate. You see it yourself in that vision. In that future, there is probably nothing stronger than you. I know what you are thinking right now. You wanted to fight against fate and destiny. You wanted to win against it. Surpass it and break through all the shackles’ and then she laughs mockingly

Taking a few second, she then said

‘Like I told you before, those who come before you, those who come in front of me and ask me of their future, all of them who is dissatisfied with what they see, they all wanted to fight against fate and destiny.’

Shaking her head, she laughs again and then she said

‘Why would they fight fate and destiny? How ignorant. It is pointless and unnecessary’ Azief did not understand.

‘Why? Why is it pointless?’

Smiling like this matter have nothing to do with her, Erika said

‘Who told them that destiny and fate is their enemy? I surely did not tell them that. I just said the vision they saw is their fate and destiny. They interpreted it like fate and destiny is working against them. Fate and Destiny go with the flow. And what flow are they following? They follow hearts. They follow minds. In other words, they follow you. They follow your heart and minds. Specifically, your choices. It is an invisible force. An omnipotent force. And it is not easy to fight something that you yourself had devised.’

There is once again silence. Azief seem to be thinking deeply about something. Every once in a while he would close his eyes and frowned his forehead.

He must be thinking of something. Erika did not say anything. She just waited for Azief to ask her. She waited as the sun of the morning is slowly coming up.

Then Azief exhale and then ask her

‘Then who should I fight?’ Azief ask. This time he is calmer. And his eyes have certain kind of glow in it.

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