Chapter 43 - Strider and Antos

Into the wide castle halls the two men went, where a grand red carpet lead the way towards the empty, stone throne that was there. Other than that, there were two passages, one that lead to the right of the throne and one that lead to the left.

Antos took the lead and turned to the right, where he navigated through the passages until he and Rosal arrived at a wide open room, where a large round table was decorated with silver plate ware that housed various foods and drinks (wine especially).

There, at the head of that table, surrounded by a group of scantily dressed women, was a huge, old man with grey long hair that fell far down his back. His face, like Antos, was square jawed and stiff, like what you'd expect of a fierce warrior type. Except, in this particular case, the man's expression was filled with perversion and unholy thoughts, due to the women that clung to his muscular arms.

"Oi ladies! Get out of here for a bit!" Antos shouted, upon entering the room, to which the women looked at him with questioning eyes. But they soon recognized who he was, and then scurried away.

"Antos!" The huge man rose from his seat and opened his arms to give Antos a hug.

Antos placed a hand in front him, gesturing for the noble man to stop where he stood. "Save it old man, I haven't come to see you." Antos then tilted his head back to point with his chin to Rostal. "He's the one who wants to talk to you."

And at that, Antos backed away, making his way towards a nearby wall, where he braced himself against the stone bricks to then continue watching the scene with folded hands.

~

"Antos…" the huge man said quietly as he sighed, the many lines on his forehead showing as he rubbed the space between his two eyes using his thumb and index finger. Then after, the man raised his head once more and returned to his seat. With his fingers braced against each other as his elbows perched themselves on the table, the man thinned his eyes and looked to the hooded figure in the room.

"Have a seat." He said as he waved a hand forward, signaling for Rosal to sit down at the other end of the table.

The hooded man did as he was told. As he took his seat, pulling out the chair and then fixing himself within it, he pulled off his hood, noticing the widened eyes of the huge man as he did so.

"You are Rosal Firestone, son of Ratuna Firestone and the late Zena Firestone, aren't you?" the huge man asked.

Rosal nodded. "And you must be Strider Stronghold, brother of Emrit Stronghold and father of Antos Stronghold."

"Yes." Strider replied as he eyed his son. "But it would seem that I get along with neither of those two." He then faced Rosal again. "That aside, what do you want?"

"Transportation." Rosal said bluntly. "We must get to the capital as soon as possible. Troublesome things have begun to happen."

"Transportation?" Strider raised a brow. "Surely someone with the powers of Ratuna could simply fly his way to the capital. And with Antos' strength, hopping along the way would not be that much of a problem, be it tiresome."

"I'm afraid that I cannot do that." Rosal pointed to his face. "As you can see, while I do possess my father's free nature, my body does not deal well with my flames." Rosal then returned his hand to the table. "At that, I would like to request that you prepare a means of transportation for us."

Strider sighed and then rose from his seat. "Very well, I will go get you a carriage. You two can stay here for the time being."

And at that, Strider left the room.

~

"You don't get along with your father well?" Rosal asked as he raised a brow, which was not there but the expression could still be seen.

"Pfft." Antos turned to the side. "Who'd get along with a bastard like him?"

"Why is that?" Rosal continued his pestering.

Antos then glared at the man through his sunglasses. He then raised the dark shades to place them over his head before he began speaking. "Ever since I've been little, he's been wanting to get me to challenge Eon Stronghold for his inheritance of the Stronghold family. I refused every time and eventually, I just straight up left the damn place." Antos then yawned as he placed a hand in front of his mouth. "But then again, even without that motive, it's not like I'd want to stay cooped up in here. This place is like a prison where Gifted just take luxuries for themselves, and leave the people to suffer. And the people can't even do much about since Strider city is so secluded from the rest of the world. Here, no mail comes in and none goes out. If you want to leave, you'll have to do so at your own risk. Unless, of course, you're some princeling like yourself."

"Was that meant to offend me?" Rosal asked, referring to the title of "princeling".

Antos lit a smirk upon his face. "Nah, I'm just saying it as it is. Nothing more, nothing less."

~

Eventually, the Lord Strider returned and brought along with him, a butler, who then lead the two out of the castle where a carriage lead by two white horses awaited them on the road.

At that, Rosal thanked the Lord and hopped into the vehicle.

But before Antos could do the same, his father placed a hand to his shoulder. "I've given up having you fight for the inheritance." The man said with remorse. "Any time you desire it, you can return home, no strings attached. Perhaps then, your mother too will come back too."

Antos shrugged his hand away. "You think she'll still want you when you're here playing around with all those young chicks." Antos then stared the huge man in his eye. "Where is she now?" he asked.

"A year ago she left for the capital. That's all I know." Strider replied.

And at that, Antos boarded the carriage as well and soon, the two men were off on their journey towards the capital.

~

Evan along with his mother as well as Skull Jones and the little demon girl, made their way to the throne room.

There, King Roy and Lias, with the addition of Teya and Taya who were now coming into the room as well, had been glaring into the secret passage that lied under the throne.

Taya, in particular, who had never seen the passage remarked on it. "What's that?" she said as she pointed a finger to the underground tunnel.

Lias supported her as he walked beside the tall woman. "I'd like to know as well."

Roy sighed. "It leads to a gate under the castle. That is all."

"So that's where those demons emerged from?" Lias asked he folded his arms. "And what of the staff?" he asked, pointing a finger to the strange scepter that the King held within his clutches.

"This…" the King looked solemnly at the scepter's eye. "This is not something you should concern yourself with."

Lias' eyes formed a glare as he gritted his teeth. He took a mighty step forward as he clenched his fists. "Yes, I'm sure it isn't. And I suppose, as well, the Rifts and glowing spheres are something that I shouldn't concern myself with either?"

"Lias, these things are not your concern. Gates are well known so that much isn't an issue. But to know about Rifts and this scepter is something that you are better off not knowing. Such knowledge is what caused this whole mess in the first place." The King then proceeded to walk away from the room, his back turned to the glaring Lias. "If that's the reason why you came to the castle in the first place, then I'm afraid that you've wasted your time."

~

His father had told him a similar excuse when the golden haired man had asked about the Rifts. From what he had gathered, only a select few persons knew such things. And what bothered Lias the most was that Eon was amongst them. How much longer must he stay within that man's shadow?

"Hey, common now, let's go." Taya said as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

Lias looked back, staring into her blue eyes. Her eyelashes, like her hair, were dark orange which gave her a sort of ominous look. Not that he'd ever tell her that of course, she'd smack him with a heated fist if that were the case. But whatever reason it may have been, Lias found those eyes comforting.

At that, he smiled, loosened his shoulders as he shook away the tension, and left the castle with his hand hooked around Taya's.