Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

Staring at the devilishly handsome man standing with long ashen hair that mirrors my own, I did not attempt to mask my grin as he began to frown.

“What does Moloch have to do with this?” He asked in a poised tone that revealed nothing of his thinking.

“Well, he, too, is after my dear brother. Alongside the soul you resurrected. Do you even know who you brought back? Were you even aware that the man who carries the surname Lazarus is actually from Arcadia?”

Chemosh’s expression had finally shifted to surprise as he snapped to the misty being I know to be Arwan.

“Is that true?”

“How the Hell would I know? He was one of the few who never broke, who never showed signs of torment, despite the cruel nature of the experimentation.” Replied the Lord of the Darkness. “We released him because we thought he’d go after Arsene? He is Zariels Elder brother, after all.”

“Well, that backfired. But I don’t understand why Moloch is after him and why you are as well. No, for that matter, do you even know his name?” I asked.

“I called him N-103,” Said Arwan stoically. “His name was irrelevant.”

“Agreed.” Added Chemosh. “And it’s still irrelevant. I don’t give a damn about Arcadia. Just my work in the field of death.”

So he’s a logical bastard. But why did he—

“Then why send them after me?”

“First off, it was to test a theory, Arwan presented. We wanted to see if the Fates would aline. We needed to know the effects of what would happen if Family were to meet with a resurrected soul that goes against Father’s will. Same with the one who killed them. And we had good results. It’s just that you got too strong too quickly to see constant results. Around the time Ilutahth became open, we lost sign of the Progenitor Soul of House Lazarus. But now that I think about it… why didn’t we feel any Forsaken Qi? Not even a sliver.”

“Interesting.” Arwan addressed. ” Do you think it’s because of Zariel’s action? N-103 died indirectly because of Zariel: His soul could have been damaged in a way that hid such things from us.”

“Very good theory! Hmmm, we need to— Oh shit, I forgot about you. Ummm, can you forget what we were talking about?” Chemosh dared to ask me.

“…”

“…”

“No,” I said with the straightest face. “Do you want to trade info or not? You guys are… well, your something. Nothing like I thought you’d be.”

“Ever notice every supervillain has doctorates? Knowledge is power, my boy. And Arwan and I are seeking it.”

“Except when you aren’t pining over Nyx. She’s married, you know.” Arawn remarked, drawing the stink eye from Chemosh.

“Lucifer is dealing with Hades. We’ll be seeing him and Nyx in the coming cycles. Just wait. And I’ll steal her away from him. Maybe then I can finally toss your ass away.”

“To do what? The bitch can barely tie her shoe!”

‘Don’t you talk about my future wife!”

“I see your psychosis is kicking in early. Shall I castrate you now, in hopes you don’t do something stupid!’

Staring at these two as they went back and forth at each other like angry bears bellowing at each other, I found them… normal. Utterly normal. At least when compared to Mephisto. Although, he’s a special case.

“Look, you guys tell me about what you’re doing in hell, and I’ll tell you what I can about Moloch and Richter’s connection.”

“Wait a minute!!’ Chemosh suddenly said, summoning a book that read Myriad Fates. He flipped it open and spiraled through the pages. ” There Arsene and Nyx… Brother and Sister through Tenebrae.”

Shaken, I stared at the Myriad Fates book that seemed as large as a normal textbook. “That book—”

“Never you mind about the book. Help me out with Nyx, champ. And I’ll tell you everything! Want to know about Zariel and his affair? Or how about vancurro—”

“ZARIEL HAD AN AFFAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! C-A-P!!!!!”

I know, my brother! Fucked up in the head, yes! But he’s not lustful enough to cheat. Not him! Never him. He’s a straight shooter… quite literally.

“Let’s see. Zariel Snow, code name blah-blah-blah. He cheated on a man named… Oh… that’s the wrong person. Damn, I thought I had you!”

“Son of a bitch! Get some glasses! Master! I’ve been telling you this for countless chaos cycles!”

“I know; I just feel it’ll damage my sexiness! Arsene, my man. You get it, right?”

Almost instinctually giving Chemosh a fist bump marking him the coolest Fallen to date, I nodded. ” Damn right. Wait, no! Business First!”

“Oh yeah… Fine.” The Fallen said, rolling his eyes. “Whats Richter want with… who was it again?”

“Your brother Moloch.” Answered Arwan.

This guy!

“He wants to kill him. To set a trap in Arcadia, using a trap with the main branch of Lazarus. I was invited— ”

“Cool, where did you last see him.” Said Chemosh carelessly.

“My castle in the black forest. Now tell me, what were you doing in the nines?’ .

“Trying to restart the war between Devils and Demons. While also preparing to remold the Hells at the start of the new dawn. Mephisto believes that Arcadia doesn’t have an underworld. I also think Hades and Nyx will be invited to help remedy the gaps we find in arcadia.”

“There adding bits of the Fourth Heaven to Arcadia? That doesn’t seem right, thereof to different… levels….”

“Yep, but you can always raise any particular realm to fit your needs. It’s not hard. I mean, Mephisto was the one who created the Lower Heavens.”

“Then, why make the devils and demons go at each other?” I probed, unable to understand why.

“Because I’m bored! Have you any idea how taxing it is to be here? Gods, everyone here is boring. I need a drink, but I can only find a decent drink in the higher realms. Its Hell! Literally. Plus, a perfect way to manipulate what people do in the future is to build anger: if this version of Hell were to mix in arcadia. The spirit of war between these two races will birth those that hate each other. I’m just preparing a perfect home for my brothers.”