The endgame

He said it slower as she asked him to but it didnt really change his words much. He scratched behind his ear, looking at the object he had picked up. It looked like some piece that was supposed to be somewhere. Her confession made him look up at her in confusion, at it wasnt exactly something you heard around here often. Someone wanted to close the portals? He rotated the thing in his hand as she explained the state of her world. "Sounds like here before it turned into... Well, I guess you know." he said before he made a small shrug. "Good luck." he said, offering her the item he had picked up.

Gotcha, just don't say his name, she thought to herself. It was clearly a strange language, but she could recognize some of the sounds from daemonic. Swallowing she nodded, grabbing the thing he passed on to her. It looked like nothing more than a paperweight. Good luck indeed. Grabbing firmer around the small item, she looked at him rather puzzled. "Maybe you could help me ... And I could help you in some way?" she suggested. If he had grown up here, then he knew his way around, that was for sure, and that could be a big help. If not to her, then maybe to her father. Besides if he spoke the strange language that everything was written in, maybe he could translate some of the ancient scrolls? "I mean, there's gotta be something you want, right?" Like a meal or maybe a way out of this hell hole before they closed up the portals.

Her suggestion made him furrow his brows a little in confusion, because he wasnt sure he was in need of help. He felt perfectly fine where he was. "Help me?" he asked, looking at her a little puzzled. But then she seem to fish for something that he wanted and his eyes betrayed him for a second. "There is a thing that I want." he mumbled, looking down and around for a bit before looking back at her. "But I dont have to tell you. I'll help." he said, sighing deeply. His sister would probably laugh if she could see him being all helpful and nice to a stranger for once.

She guessed right then. Even if his eyes were dull, she could see a hint of what she presumed to be emotions, and she knew she got him. He of course had no obligation to tell her what he wanted, but she would have to find out eventually - seeing as she would need to offer her services to him as a help too. Instead of sticking her nose in to things that didn't concern her right now, she instead looked down at the trinket in her hand. "We need to go find my father ... You might be of great help," she said, turning her eyes back to the dull eyed boy who's name she was too afraid to utter. Instead she decided to lead the way, back through the library to where she had come from. "This might seem weird," she muttered, grabbing his hand as she unlocked a passageway that led them straight back to be in front of the doorless door. Looking around in the dark her eyes were slowly adjusting. "Father?" she called out, her vocals echoing down the corridor. Frowning she let go of the boy's hand and went ahead to look for her father.

While she didn't hear a response, it was clear that she had managed to surprise the guy next to her as he spoke about some throne room. Frowning she looked at him before following him in, and right there was a throne uncovered. Who kept a throne room underground? That didn't seem practical. But what did she really know about practicality and castles. He went over to a bookshelf while her eyes returned to the map. It still gave her a feeling of knowing this place, even if she couldn't quite describe it. Soon enough he returned to her, looking at the small object she took in his words, chewing on them for a bit. "So you're telling me the objects are alive?" she asked, taking the small object. It had a weird slot on it, and as she pressed it she winced. It had poked her finger, drawing blood from her and she stood back watching it change.

"Of course they are." he said with a small shrug. It was something he had grown up with, so the thought of objects being inanimate just didnt make sense to him. "I guess that makes our worlds so different from each other." he chuckled, walking a bit around, before he noticed how the throne had been uncovered. He walked over, just as the summoner returned. Aurel's surprise was quite apparent, like he was seeing someone he knew, though the two of them had never met before. "Belial?" he mumbled, getting up on his feet. "Who's this?" Baal asked, looking to his daughter.

Saoirse was a bit preoccupied with the small transforming item in her hand, but she looked up at her father's speech. Her eyes went from Baal to the stranger a bit fast, but she was trying to figure out a way to explain and yet not mention his name which she would probably butcher. "I found him in one of the rooms ... Well I originally found a bit rat, but then it led me to him and yeah," she said, walking closer to her father. Was he alright? "He promised to help us, dad, he needs help too, so it seemed like a fair trade," she said, leaning in to her father's ear and whispering "he speaks the language that's in the books here," before leaning away and back to look at the guy with a smile.

Rooms? He hadnt seen any rooms when he had gone down the dark hall to look for her. There was something that wasnt adding up in his mind. Aurel narrowed his eyes a little cautious towards the summoner but decided to continue on wandering around the bookshelves. Baal listened to his daughter explain, eyeing the stranger as she disclosed that he could read the throne that needed to be deciphered. "Boy." he said, making Aurel turn his head. "What is it that you want?" he just asked quite bluntly. Aurel puckered his lips thoughtfully but then shook his head. "I'll tell your daughter." he said, looking shortly at Saoirse with a friendly smile on his lips. "But not you." he said with a more serious expression as he looked at the summoner. He went to the throne and looked over the text but he didnt really need to. "Okay, whoever that want to shoulder the curse, go sit on the throne." he said looking from one to another.

Saoirse wasn't sure if she trusted this guy, but she did find him amusing in some way. The way he was snarky and a little mysterious actually made him appealing. He was a bit mischievous, wasn't he? Turning her eyes downwards to the thing in her hand, she saw that it had transformed in to a small figurine with a key in one end and what looked to be a paw in the other. They were looking for a key to close the portal, but she doubted it was what this was for. However as he spoke of the throne she turned to look at it. It looked scary, but not just from its dark looks, rather from the eerie feeling she got from it. Like if she sat down on it she would be struck by lightning or something. "I'm not royal, so ..." she said, looking to her father. Was he supposed to get on the throne then? "I mean, you are my father and if what you and mom said is true, then you might have the claim because of the artifact, right?" she pondered.

"It is a gamble, but I guess it's better than nothing." he said, looking at the throne with a deep sigh. The boy seemed to just be watching them and Baal wasnt sure he could read him. "No one is royal until they take up the burden of the crown." Aurel just answered with a shrug to what she had said earlier. He looked at the throne and sat down to read the text that had been carved into it. He waved at them, holding his hand out for the thing in Saoirse's hand. Baal looked at the throne before he touched the armrest, feeling the dark power residing within it. "It would have been better with someone of the light, but the old ruler made sure to banish all of it before this place went to hell." he explained, dusting off some of the writing that had seemingly been exposed. If Saoirse gave him the item, he'd look at it and lift it to his lips to whisper something to it before handing it back. "Are you a perfect balance of light and dark?" he asked, looking at Saoirse.

Saoirse nodded at the stranger's words, taking them in to account she guessed anyone had the potential to be royal, but few had the capabilities and strength to wear a crown and be the leader. She handed him the strange key, only for him to pass it back to her, tilting her head to one side as he asked her a question she wasn't sure she had ever considered. "No-one's perfect,"" she muttered, looking down at the key once more. She felt a little unsure all of a sudden. As if what she was wasn't enough. "I'm part light, part darkness ... But I have something else in me that might throw off that balance, so I'm not sure," she confessed. The celestial part of her had never been really active. It had been a way to save her, that much she knew, but it wasn't serving her any purpose right now. Not any that she knew of. "Why? Is that important?" she asked looking back to the grey eyes.

He furrowed his brows at her mutter, her confession making him sigh as he took the item from her hand, mumbling something else to it before handing it back. "It kinda is. But I guess this is what we'll have to work with. But if anything happens, that's not on me." he said, eyeing Saoirse as she was the one holding the most vital part. Baal however wasnt too happy at the notion. "I dont want my daughter to get hurt." he said a little steadfast, but Aurel just frowned. "Then I guess you dont want the portal closed either." he said with a shrug, getting up on his feet like he was ready to go.

Her father was right in trying to protect her, but alas she wasn't a little girl anymore. Placing a hand on the stranger's shoulder she looked at him with hopeful eyes. "No, please, if this is the way to go, I'm willing to do it," she said rather seriously, turning to look at her father. She had decided. Death wasn't too scary anymore, mostly because of all of her training with Simeon. Her worst fears she had faced so many times, and now what she feared the most was to let anybody down. "You'll have to agree that me getting hurt is better than the portal collapsing and everyone we know and love dies," she argued before looking at the stranger. His grey eyes were a mystery to her. What was he? "Let's do this," she said, a faint smile crossing her lips.

He felt her hand on his shoulder, turning his head to look at her. Her argument seemed fine enough but Baal was quite selfish when it came to his daughter. Aurel let them decide what they wanted, but he had better things to do if they werent doing this. Like talking to his rat that was probably quite lonely by now. He gestured for the summoner to sit which he did a little reluctantly. "Cut your palm and cover the key." he said, looking to Saoirse as he pointed at the item. He went and gathered the box, looking at it for a bit. He placed the box at Baal's feet, instructing him to take his shirt off. He placed the summoner's hand and whatever was left of the other on each of the armrests. If Saoirse was ready, he'd look at her and sigh. "You have to remove the artifact and place it in the box. But dont worry, he wont feel it." he said before he mumbled a few words that made the summoner close his eyes as if he just disappeared from conscience.

He started handing out orders, and Saoirse followed along, cutting her hand as she covered the key. The last thing she wanted to do was do it wrong, so she followed the instructions carefully. Then he said something that made the hairs in her neck stand up. It all happened a bit fast, and seeing that her father was now passed out, she took a shaky breath and a step forward. When he was like this he looked more at ease than he ever had, but she didn't have time to linger. Time was of the essence.
Reaching her hand forward she placed her palm over where she could feel the artifact was. It was a dark lump, or so she imagined it to be. Her eyes closed as she focused, unlocking someone's chest was now officially a thing she had done, and her hands phased through her father's ribcage. Grabbing around the artifact, she focused on removing it, taking it out as she opened her eyes. It looked strangely shiny and not covered in blood or anything like she had imagined. Placing it in the box she looked to the stranger for guidance. This was crazy, but they had to try it.

Aurel just passively stood by and watched as she went on to fetch the artifact. Truth be told, he had expected something a bit more than just her hand phasing through, but it at least saved them the trouble of having to clean anything. She took out the artifact and he looked at it but seemingly kept his hands to himself. "How did you manage to get this?" he said, almost like he could hear it talk to him from where she was. He shook his head and sighed, pointing towards the open box. He instructed her on a chant, but just told her to do it in her own language. He wouldnt want to know what would happen if she said something wrong. "And on the last word, you lock the box." he said. If she did the key would crumble into her hand, the pieces seemingly want to absorb into her skin. It made Aurel look a little worried, but the throne reacted to the box, assembling energy around it before seemingly sending a shock-wave off into the realm and beyond. "I always hate that." he mumbled, getting up as the wave only pushed back beings and nothing inanimate. He dusted off his clothes taking the box before walking over to a pedestal that he placed it on. Baal woke after that, heaving for air as if he had been suffocating before.

Safe to say, the trybrid was nervous, but as she had gotten it out she was puzzled by a question asked by the stranger. "I don't know, I just sorta ... Feel my way through it," she said before following directions once more. Placing the artifact in the box she tried her best to recite what he had told her to. And as per his instructions she locked the box at the last word. The key crumbled and she winced as it burned in to her skin, trying to shake the pieces off, but it was too late.
She had maybe expected an explosion or some epic thunder to sound, but instead she felt the push back from the shock-wave. Bending her knees she tried focusing on just staying still, although the wave did manage to move her a bit. Then she heard something that made her frown. "You've done this before," she said, walking up beside the stranger, looking at the box that was now in eye height. Hearing her father gasp she turned around to look at him, "are you alright?" she asked clearly worried.

Her answer made him chuckle as it wasnt exactly what he had asked, but decided to just leave it at that. In the end it didnt matter how they had gotten it, it wasnt like this realm was salvageable by any means. At least not to it's original state. "Of course. I was alive to witness the last crowning." he said, looking at her as he hadnt thought he would have known what to do if he hadnt done it before. Baal felt his chest that felt oddly empty and yet not. "I'll need some time to recover." he admitted, but Aurel just chuckled. "You'll feel it soon enough." he then looked to Saoirse. "If you want to leave, now is probably the time." he told her, unless she of course wanted to stay? He however wanted to go.

Saoirse frowned, "the last crowning?" she felt stupid repeating everything he said, but how old did that make him? Her father seemed a bit taken aback, but she suspected that, seeing as she had practically just opened his chest and pulled out the artifact. "Wait, I can't leave without my father," she insisted, looking at Baal and then at the stranger. Shaking her head no she looked at him in disbelief. "C'mon, help me get him," she said, walking over to the throne, trying to lift her father to his feet.

She was rather clueless about this whole realm wasnt she? Not that he was that surprised, it was actually rather something he had expected by now. She insisted on not leaving her father but as she asked him to help her and even went towards the throne to grab her father. Aurel reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her back before she would get to touch him. "Dont touch him while he's in this state. You'll be swept in all that dark energy and die." he said before he noticed something as he touched her, letting go. "You're unstable." he said, but it was more a matter of feeling he got from holding her arm. He let go. "That's not a good sign."

Her eyes widened as he pulled her away from her father, frowning deeply before she turned her head in his direction, only the look he gave her as he let go made her know something was wrong. "What do you mean unstable? I feel fine?" she protested, but that didn't make her worry less. "What is going on here? Please explain," she pleaded as he let go of her.

"Right." he said, looking at his own hand as if he worried that it would be contagious. She asked him to explain but he sighed. "It's the inconsistency. I warned you about this." he said, not sure how to explain it at all. He hadnt seen something like it before. "The other hybrids that came here werent like you. They were in balance with themselves all the way through." he said, stepping away as he lifted his hands in defeat. "But you're not dead yet, so it's not too bad." he then said, walking out in the dark hallway that wasnt dark anymore. It was like a veil had been lifted, making things inside the castle appear normal. He went to the staircase Baal had been standing at before, walking up into a big hall. He whistled for his rat to come find him.

She found that he was talking a lot, but not quite explaining what it all meant. And to be frank, she felt like she needed more words than ever. Other hybrids? Did he mean others like her; Like the ones she had read about in the scrolls which Simeon had brought her? Watching as he left she wondered what to do, looking to her father with a defeated gaze. "I'm not going to leave you," she said quite adamant, however she needed to follow this kid. Find out what all of this was truly about. Going after him she noticed the changes. It seemed almost normal now?
The golden rat came running, wheezing like nothing else as it began climbing up the guy's leg and up to his shoulder. Its long tail resting down his back as it cocked its head to the side as it looked at him with its beady little eyes. "Hey! Wait up!" Saoirse said, running up beside the stranger, but keeping her distance as he had seemed a bit freaked out. "None of this is making any sense ... Please, explain this - don't skimp out on the details, alright," she demanded.