Rite of Surrogation (3/4)

Right now, the Death King is just ending a meeting with some of the Death gods on his court (not his noble court, but the actual court for condemning criminals – the legal court).

The meeting itself was held in a shared space in the Realm of Dreams – a place experienced gods can meet in where the world is only made up of Thought.

To be honest…, the King was hoping for things to go a little better when his meeting. He may be the Lord of the Death Realm; he certain made declared the laws here, but it's not his place to break those laws. His Judges have every right to supercede his authority when it comes time to execute his own laws.

Feeling a little down, the King walks over to his door, and he extends his mana-sense to the otherside – just to check of Freyya is awake.

If she IS awake, then it's best to go ahead and tell her the bad news.

But…, when the Death King reaches his mind across the door, he senses that Freyya is sitting upright now, and that she's leaning against Haalfrin's shoulder. Both of them are asleep.

'Eh…,' the King sighs as he steps away from the door. 'She looks happy right now. I'll… just tell her later.'

'The human, however? I don't care if I wake him up.'

Carefully (as to not wake Freyya up), the King extends his mind into the other room, and he touches the sleeping human's brain…

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The voice in Haalfrin's head was soft and blurry at first, but it gradually grew louder and more impatient.

'…up… -k up… WAKE UP!'

"AH!" Haalfrin helps as he jerks awake.

'Be quiet!' the Death King's voice speaks into his mind, 'Get up from your chair and come to my room. We need to have a talk.'

Haalfrin nods his head and slowly stands up. As he gets to his feet, he's careful to hold Freyya's head and keep her from falling to the side; she might startle awake that way.

Ever so carefully, Haalfrin sets Freyya down and covers her with a blanket. Now sure that he hasn't woken her up, Haalfrin heads over to the other room and walks through the door.

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Once Haalfrin steps through the door, the first thing he notices is that this room is about the same size as the previous one, except there aren't long rows of armchairs.

Instead, there's only a pair of armchairs with a small table between them – all near the far end of the room. The rest of the room is much more ornately furnished, and there seems to be an assortment of books in one corner, as well as a stove that seems to be meant for keeping food warm, rather than cooking things.

There, on the far end of the room, is the Death King, sitting on one of the arm chairs and silently pointing at the chair beside him.

'All right… he wants me to sit.'

Haalfrin walks over a little stiffly and sits down. Instead of sinking into the soft chair and making himself comfortable, Haalfrin sits near the edge of his seat and keeps his back straight.

For some reason, it seems inappropriate to make himself at home in the Death King's private room.

Now that he's seeing the Lord of Death again, he seems to have, if not gotten over his anger, at least cooled it down a little more. The god's spirit seems quite calm and placid compared to before.

Unexpectedly, the King apologizes, "I'm sorry for taking so long to come talk to you. I've been hounded by gods from some other departments and territories." He lifts a hand up in a 'What to do?' expression gesture. "It seems trying to find out the truth of 'Elshirothe's return'."

The King then looks Haalfrin dead in the eye and says slowly, "When I first learned Freyya and... Das... were… competing for your soul, I didn't really think anything of it."

Slowly, the Lord of Death holds up one hand, and pinched between his two fingers is a large, black scale. "I know you and Freyya were Mantling a future event with this. So tell me... what do you have to do with the Goddess of Power?"

Haalfrin takes a deep breath to gather his thoughts before replying, "Elshirothe's true identity is a being called Drakavar. She's going to destroy the gods."

Thoughtfully, the Death King reaches his hand over to the small table, picks up a teacup, and sips the simmering hot drink.

As the god drinks his tea, he seems oddly… undisturbed by what this Arkin just said. "… And...? What about you, human?"

"I'll perish as well."

There's a long pause, and Haalfrin looks over at the Death King. "Aren't you going to ask how the battle turned out?" the Arkin asks.

"Boy, you should know by now that those with death related Names are never bothered by their own finite existence. If the gods die, then so be it." the King puts his drink down. "What about you, human? I already know you have Death Affinity, so why do you bother fighting that future battle? You're not afraid of perishing, are you?"

"It's just my job."

"Ah."

Haalfrin curls his fingers as he asks, "Do the gods already know about this future?"

The King shakes his head. "No. When an Event's main character is a higher existence, it's impossible for lesser beings to derive that event. Mortals can't read a god's future, and gods can't read an Elder Gods future."

The god-king of Death points a finger at Haalfrin, "You and Freyya are probably the only people alive who know that future. Well, other that the Elder Gods of Time, that is."

Hearing that the King seems to be open to talk, Haalfrin can't help but ask something that's been on his mind. "Are you going to tell the other gods about this – about their destruction in the future?"

The King takes a deep breath and replies with a hint of derision in his tone, "Probably not. Most of those are peacocks who think they're invincible; they'll never believe you or me. The few who DO believe us would freak out and try to interfere with Destiny."

"Me?" The Death King takes another sip of tea. "I think it's ok to just let something die when it's time. If Elshirothe devours all the gods, then whatever."

Haalfrin curls his fingers on his lap. "Another question. What's going to happen to Freyya? How much trouble is she in?"

The King puts his tea back down with a little too much force, and the cup makes a loud clatter. "A lot. In fact, that's why I've invited you here. I've just finished talking with the courts, and they've decided on her punishment."

The god takes a deep breath. "She'll be slain and forced to reincarnate as a mortal. She'll be banished from the Death Realm for the next 100,000 years, and the entire time, she'll be unable to cultivate her magic. She'll die and be reborn over and over again with no memories of any of her lives."

Haalfrin narrows his eyes, "I can feel that you have more to say. Is her punishment worse somehow?"

The Death King looks down. "Her Fate will be cursed. In all her mortal lives, she'll be cursed to live in misery and suffering. She'll be forced to bear the brunt of all the suffering she's caused by breaking these laws."

Haalfrin really didn't expect Freyya's punishment to be any more lenient than this, but thinking about what his wife will have to go through, he can't help but feel angry.

Suddenly, Haalfrin remembers something he read in one of his research books…

The Arkin man perks up and says excitedly, "Wait! I've been reading some legal papers. They say the punishment can be diminished if another chooses to share in the punishment & fines."

The god shakes his head. "That only applies to gods boy. You're not a god."

"But I am the Contracted partner of a god," Haalfrin corrects him. "Under one of the clauses under the 'Surrogation Act', it says that anyone Contracted to a god will be legally treated like a god."

The Death King flinches and does a double take. "Did you read that entire book? Never mind, this'll give me something to work with."

With that, the King waves his hand at Haalfrin, dismissing him.

This king has got some more meetings to arrange with the legal teams and Court of Divinity, now that Haalfrin has offered himself up as a surrogate.

Of course, 'Surrogation' is a very rarely enacted rite, simply due to the fact that most people are selfish, and they won't offer to take someone else's punishment.

Once Haalfrin has closed the door behind him, the Death King leans over on his chair and rests his head on his palm. He stares pensively at the wall.

'I'm actually surprised that the human volunteered for this… Am I grateful no? No. Why would I be grateful? Freyya got herself in so much trouble because of this man, so this is the least he can do to make up for it.'