The Imperial Tribunal

Cracking a sinister smile, Zariel chuckled, "Why should it matter? It is not up to you. Stop treating them like kids. Blood has already stained their hands in more ways than you can imagine."

"You must be out of your damn mind," Kest shouted, dumbfounded by the cold indifference portrayed on the young lord.

"Ella, how many people have you killed? I forget?" Her Lord Master inquired, with eyes so sharp it could cut diamond.

"Thirty-five. Twenty were men, ten were women, and the rest were around my age." Ella clarified, somewhat bewildered by her Master's request.

"My God!" Kest muttered.

"See. Not exactly a kid. It's up to her on the price she will pay. As for what it is, well, does it matter? I am the one giving it to her, she can say no or yes, but I as her Master do not need to explain myself to you."

Covering his mouth, Kest shot his granddaughter a look full of pain, "She is not a child soldier, Duke Blackwater! I knew your training would be effective, but this. this is madness. To do so intentionally is the devil's work."

Zariel smiled and drew close to Ella, who merely stared. "Yes or No." He said, staring dead into her eyes.

"Will I be the strongest in my generation?" Ella firmly asked, "Will I stand above all?"

The devil of her eye's smile deepened. "They will fear you and be made to bow in your presence. Realms will fall to your knees, while gods will stand as maids and servants. You will be King."

Shaken by his words, Sionn and Aurelia drew close, showing no fear but a heavy determination that shone like fire.

"No! I will--"

Ficking his finger through the air, a powerful glow of scarlet flashed like lightning over the tip of Zariels fingers. In but an instance, a rune so profound space trembled was formed; buzzing with a vengeful hue, Kest's heart froze.

"Mind Sliver." Zariel coldly uttered.

Falling to his knees, before he could even understand what had happened, Kest's mighty eyes grew distant as the dead, lost in a mindless sea of chaos. His entire world fell apart at a single tier-one spell.

"Grandfather!" Ella shouted about to rush forward, only for Zariels hands to come crashing down upon her shoulder, holding her in place.

"He will be fine. I just shook his mind." Her Master casually claimed, "He will come to in a few minutes. The spell was not meant to kill him, much less harm him."

"Give us the Imperial Codex," Aurelia greedily said, not in the least bit worried of Kest.

"Then come forward," Zariel whispered like a devil enjoying his prey walking into his trap.

Showing no fear, Aurelia took a single step forward with her head held high and her eyes bright like the morning star. Zariel nodded inwardly, placing a single finger upon her brow; a sliver of Arcana dug into her flesh and drew blood.

Slipping from her brow, trailing down her nose to her chin, a dreadful scene appeared, as Aurelia's ruby red blood came to a swift halt. Rising back up following the same path it came, a small ring of blood spun around Zariels finger, pressing between Aurelia's brow.

A cold chill ran through the young fallen as she peered into the cold, almost dead eyes of her Master. Finding herself trembling, the blood spiraling, Zariels finger suddenly grew hard and spiked almost like an unrefined diamond.

Pulling his finger back, a dreadful shine of pure scarlet hummed in the air. Suddenly the crystal-like ring began to wist into a complex formation containing runes Aurelia, Ella, and Sionn had never seen.

"Do me proud, and show the Tribunal what you are capable of, Aurelia. Speak my true name when you appear, and tell them who your Master is. Failure is not an option, not for you or the others." Zariel coldly informed as the life within Aurelia's eyes vanished.

Falling to her knees like a lifeless corpse. Her body began to wither like an aged oak, filling the courtyard in a dreadful stench of death.

Holding their eyes upon the rotting body of their sister, Ella and Sionn did not speak a word but rather approached with determined faces.

"When you arrive, Aurelia will do all the talking. If anyone asks where you live, just say you don't know. Now shake the Twelve Plane. Show them the monsters I have made." Zariel darkly said.

Bewildered, Ella and Sionn did not even get to speak as Zariels fingers were paced upon their brow, and before they knew it, everything within their sight had turned to black.

Glancing down at here bodies, without much care. The young lord's face could not have gone paler as he staggered down to the snow.

"They should be able to best the best of their generation like my brother and I did. We killed over seven hundred people in a brutal competition to prove ourselves to father. I wonder how he will feel when he learns of my new project?"

Coughing up a mouth full of blood, the devilish smile upon Zariel twisted into a hideous beast that knew only how to kill. "Should you live, you will hold the imperial codex if you fail. Well, you die. So is the price created by my father."

"allow you to!" Kest roared, finishing his sentence only to stop realizing the horrendous stench of rotting flesh rushing down his nose. "what... what happened?"

Ignoring him, Zariel stared up at the rising sun. "Mephisto, the weapon you spoke of for Aurelia. Where is it?"

Appearing by his side, with a smile that could scare any devil, Mephisto spoke, "Now that will come with a price Zariel Snow. Care to find out where it resides?"

"I could use the weave." The Young Lord muttered aloud, confusing Kest, who stared with confusion and pain.

"What have you done."

Rolling his eyes, Mephisto frowned, snapping his fingers as everything froze in but a single instance. "That's better no more interruption. Now then, the weave, my dear friend, will not show you were, as Karma has not been formed yet. Aurelia has yet to touch, see, much less know of the Blade of Dawn, and Lucifer made it so that not even you will find it unless I or Aurelia herself finds it."

"What is the price." Zariel patiently asked, without emotion yet hidden behind his indifference, a trap was laid.

"It's simple; I want a memory. A memory you hold in that little soul of yours." The Fallen coldly said with narrowed eyes that gleamed darkness.