The figure reached out and grasped Artemis by the collar, but before he could protest or try to shake him off, he dashed forward at a brilliant speed, causing the fog to whir around him. His steps dug into the harsh ash deeply, the muscles of his upper arms bulging outwards as he hurled the two as hard as he could in the same direction.
Artemis instinctively let out a yelp as he hurtled through the air, grasping hold of Cia and enshrouding her with his body. They crashed to the ground unceremoniously in a cloud of dust.
The strange once-skeletal figure followed close behind, his face stained as red as his cloak. He stopped beside the two, glaring down at them.
"You can walk now, can't you?"
Stunned, all Artemis could do was slowly nod his head with his mouth agape.
"Then get up!" The man's face twisted into a confused, humoured expression. "Do you want to go back into that fog!?"
Startled, he grasped hold of Cia with all of his might, propped up by the Daemonic traits, and hoisted her over his shoulder, looping her arm with his to support her weight. In the end, he found himself stumbling alongside the man casually, choking out a handful of words.
"H-how can you speak!? You're- you're a-"
"A monster?" He let out a brilliant laugh. "Quite right!"
"Why- why are we walking so slow? They'll..."
"I killed them all. Don't you worry, little man!"
Artemis turned his head back away from the man and remained in silence. His entire body was trembling with fear, and he couldn't quite ascertain why. Perhaps it was the shock of being thrown, or of seeing a man regrow his own face... in any case, this figure, Gardner, was extremely powerful, and extremely terrifying.
"Haha! God forbid the King was able to make his way up here! His fog is too dense with servants. The Fog Lords can just barely make their way up to the Cradle... once we reach the City, we should be fine. Well, fine is subjective. The City has its own set of problems!"
"We...?"
Gardner slapped him on the back, prompting a shiver to rush up his spine.
"Well of course! We're traveling companions now, aren't we!? Gods, I haven't seen another person for years! Well, unless you count the mindless, rotting bastards that hide in the fog!" He crooned jokingly. "Well, if I hadn't made a Contract with that little Daemon, it might have been hard for me to make it all the way here. You're the same, aren't you? I can tell... you've got that look about you. Well, only joking. I can't tell all that just from looking at you. The sort of person who could do so would be quite powerful..."
Artemis's eyes widened. "How... how do you know that?"
He took a couple of steps back, placing a finger on his lips as if to explain he was about to reveal a quaint and light-hearted secret, and then spoke in a deep, raspy intonation, "my God told me."
Wrapping through Cia's grasp, his hand hovered over the hilt of his sheathed blade. Although his entire body had been overtaken by terror, he was still the Captain of the Guard, a man who had been raised brutally and cruelly.
His God...? Right... it mentioned his teacher... Red Prince...
"...and what about it?"
He's a Spirit User too... more than that, he's also aligned himself with a Daemonic Spirit!
He parsed through the information he had tucked away in his mind after discerning Gardner's identity in the strange fog.
Gardner Song... Sacrificial Acolyte... Saeron... Red Prince... Deity...?
Although he was hesitant to talk to the man, and very wary of what he might do next when he wasn't looking, he felt a strange relief. After he had defeated the Daemonic Knight and stepped into the wooden ruins where he had found Cia, he now suspected he had been influenced by the fog from that very moment. From that point forward, his judgment had been severely clouded, influencing his actions to a dastard degree. But now, it seems that a bit of clarity had returned to him. He could ignore his emotions and calmly assess the situation.
Gardner shrugged, seemingly not noticing the animosity that had begun to seep from Artemis. "That's fine, I don't particularly like or hate Daemons like most people do. When your teacher is a Deity... well, some things lose their sense of terrifying mystery. While Daemons always have varying levels of strength, most aren't that strong. Those who are strong enough do not die, and so they do not become Daemonic Spirits. Well, sometimes there are special circumstances, but most Daemonic Spirits are weak and easy to deal with, that's why the mundane are afraid, and the powerful are ambivalent..."
Although, it seemed like this strange figure had no qualms about revealing his own secrets. If that was the case, then Artemis didn't mind prying a bit... wasn't this a good opportunity to learn more about these uncertain things? He was also wary of prying a bit too much, angering the strangely enigmatic figure, but that could happen at any point, and then he would have no recourse, no chance of survival...
"Your teacher is a Deity?"
Gardner nodded adamantly, displaying a toothy grin.
"Quite so! In fact, my teacher's best friend is a Daemon. The King of them, so I've heard."
"The King? Of Daemons?"
Artemis bent his head down, shutting his eyes as he carefully sifted through his memories of the past few hours.
"By chance... does this King have a son?"
"Oh yes... but then, it would be really hard if you wanted a specific answer. I think that Daemon King had as many sons as there are stars in the sky!"
Gardner laughed once again.
He mentioned the stars by name... so this Gardner person isn't from the Blackbaast either...
"By chance, do you know of a Daemon named Lark? He called himself the Serpent Prince, I believe."
"Lark? That name... sounds quite familiar. But I'm not sure from where." Gardner frowned.
"Ah, never mind it then. Did this King perhaps call himself the Blossom Daemon?"
"So you know him too!?"
"No, never mind that either..."
Contemplating, Artemis slipped into his thoughts. This was a particularly distinctive revelation. It was harrowing.
At first I thought Lark calling himself a Prince was just an empty title, but to think he was really the son of the King of all Daemons. Whoever this Blossom Daemon is, he must have been quite a powerful person to declare himself King. Which means Lark is also a terrifying figure, although I already knew this... I've tangled myself up in terrible matters.
What if this Blossom Daemon travels to this land to retrieve his son's Spirit, only to find that I've had a hand in his death?
Artemis felt like sulking, like curling into a ball and refusing to move any longer.
Ah, what a tragic annoyance...
And then, there was also the matter of Gardner Song. He could tell just by looking at him, feeling that malfeasant, brutal aura that emanated around him... if it came to fighting, Artemis would have no chance.
His discernment said that he belonged to the Sacrificial Acolyte Aspect... Stage 8, Daydreamer. This seems like a far cry from Leon's Witch Aspect, where she had remained at Stage 2, Wyrmsoul.
If this path to power was inherent on climbing, or rather descending in ranks, then Leon and Gardner were separated by at least 6 ranks of power...
But how many ranks had Gardner already descended? To be this powerful, even on the surface, was it the fault of his Aspect, or his contract with the Daemon named Saeron, Daemon of the Briar? What did his Aspect allow him to do, and what Boon had he been granted by the Daemon?
There were far too many uncertainties about Gardner, and Leon still wasn't around to answer him. He could feel her presence in the depths of the darkness in his Internal World, but he had already rerouted the Cognitive Tethers. Even if she was able to speak after they had left the fog, there was no method to.
Once Artemis and Cia were out of this predicament, he would have to try and reconnect them to the Daemon Core... although that was predicated on the idea that they would indeed survive.
Just what did Gardner want from them?
"This fog... just being in its presence makes you feel... mindless. Like you can't hang onto what's important. Being in it is worse. You can only focus on what's in front of you. You forget about everything else until it's mentioned, or you see it with your own two eyes again. Like your mind is coated in a haze... a fog. Haven't you noticed this?"
Artemis nodded his head, withholding a true response. So, Gardner continued.
"The entire stretch of black plains surrounding this raised plateau is covered in a sea of that mindless fog. Traveling here was a nightmare. If it weren't for one of the abilities my Contract with the Daemon granted, I would have been in a real mess... y'know, everyone seems to despise Daemons for no reason... I say they're a real treat!"
"I... can't say I agree."
"And why is that?"
"Because my Daemon has gotten me into particular trouble, I believe... otherwise, I don't think I would be here. Why did you come to this place, anyway? You mentioned traveling across a vast distance... why? Why brave that fog?" He felt a bit drained, unable to measure his words, and so unusual of himself, he suddenly remembered the words first spoken to him by Cia. "Are you really human? Or are you just sadistic?"
But the man didn't seem to take offense to this, at least not at first. His smile remained pleasant and exuberant.
"Why have I come here...?" Gardner mimicked the question under his breath, his gaze growing vacant as if he was lost in thought. "Ah... right. We didn't come to the Shadow on purpose, me and my comrades, but..."
His lips curled up into a faint smile.
"...we've come to kill a God."