Loyalty

Perses stayed silent as he attempted to grasp the situation. The one who had attacked him that time was the king?

'Is that form of his the real one, or is it a disguise. Did he attack me and then heal me because he's crazy, did he do it for fun? or was there a purpose.'

The strong man fortunately interrupted Perse's sporadic thoughts before he could ask his own question.

"The Reverend here thought it'd be wise for me to hide this appearance. Without Machia here, the good cop, bad cop thing he suggested didn't really work out. But I even healed your wounds that time, so you don't mind, do you? Besides, besides! I'm the king I can do what I want.!

The man had a habit of rambling. This new energetic form of his raised that to new heights as his voice boomed throughout the empty throne room.

'So it was the reverend's idea.'

Turning to the Reverend, he tried to gauge the truth from his reaction but came up empty as his gaze was avoided. He had no idea if the king was lying either. He was too boisterous and unhinged to get a read on.

"Well I guess I don't really mind-"

"KNEEL"

Perses was thrown to the ground by an intense, invisible force. His jaw struck the ground first painfully, jolting him. Without the boost of strength the devil girl provided, he was almost instantly rendered unconscious. Although the king had said kneel, the impact left him sprawled across the floor instead. It was likely he had held back, sparing him from splattering against the floor.

"You did well to not speak in my presence till now. I suppose I owe you a little tutorial on how you should speak to me. First! Do not interrupt. It shows disloyalty. If I have yet to ask you something and you answer, I tend to get a little mad. That pointless exercise of our first meeting was supposed to show you, Blessed. I own you!

Even in his dazed state, it was clear to Perses that the cruel man was loving every moment. He felt compelled to speak but was still struggling to his knees after the intense impact.

"... Good, it seems you get it then. The hard way is the fast way. Anyway, I own you Perses... that is until tomorrow."

Perses hadn't the strength to respond, but he felt compelled to tilt his head, confused as the conceited man's tone quickly turned sombre. 

"Yes, my thoughts exactly. It's a very unpleasant scenario, but that's life. Now I will tell you a second thing, Perses, ready?. You see, the kingdom isn't alone. In fact, there's a whole world out there beyond the kingdom. One of those places is the E... and you don't look surprised in the slightest... Perses, you know you're making this very boring. 'Sigh', did you have any idea he knew this much priest."

The king sighed impatiently, surrendering his rant to ask the Reverend for confirmation. The Reverend also seemed displeased by this turn of events.

"I did not. It seems placing Machia in charge of, 'education', was a misstep to say the least."

The king appeared puzzled, perhaps even a little saddened, after hearing the Revernd's words. "Agreed, it certainly looks that way. He took my advice too literally. Either that, or he went soft without me noticing. Very strange."

Perses itched to speak up and ask about this treasure trove of information. But his fear rightfully held him hostage, and his feet felt heavy. The barbaric tendencies of the man-made conversing incredibly difficult. 

"So Perses, who's been blabbing. Only a select few old people should know of something like that. Oh well, whatever, it'll be common knowledge by tomorrow. I might as well just tell you the rest; be grateful. You see, Perses, this isn't actually a kingdom at all.

Perses blinked in surprise. He was so stunned by this revelation that he couldn't even protest it. His mind raced to ascertain the truth as the King watched on, entertained.

'This isn't a kingdom. This isn't a, wait, huh, what does that mean.'

Startled, Perses felt compelled to take a step away from the two adults. Suddenly, he felt nauseous, cold, hot, but even more so, he felt overwhelmed. To expel his shock, he reflected on what he knew.

'After talking to Mars, I discovered the people here didn't know of a world outside the kingdom. Even the concept of something outside the kingdom seemed alien to Mars. But, what even is a kingdom if we're not in one?'

"Allow me to aid your troubles, blessed. You see, this is just a tiny city detached from a much larger empire. Its goal was originally to house blessed secretly and away from any conflict. They're an invaluable war asset, after all. But they are also very vulnerable, at least in their initial years, like yourself."

Backing up did Perses no good. He simply tripped and fell backwards, more disoriented than ever. Enjoying Perse's suffering, the burly man had calmed down dramatically and even took the time to explain more to him.

Truly, this spew of knowledge had killed vast amounts of the faith Perses had built up in himself and others. Right now, he couldn't even find the strength to stand. His worldview had started to crack ever since that conversation with Mars. No, truthfully, it had begun that night Machia had found him at Circe's house. Ever since then, his worldview had been in a state of disrepair. The ensuing interaction with the guard was just icing on the cake.

'My purpose when I left that place, wasn't it to learn, to explore the unknown, yet it turns out I haven't learnt anything.'

His conversation with the Reverend began to play back in his mind.

'When he asked about what I desired, when I answered strength. He misunderstood me. It's not what I meant. What I really wanted meant was knowledge. It was that kind of strength as well. To be like Machia felt only obvious, but this whole time, everything he told me was a lie?'

Perse's emotions had swelled up within him. They looked particularly transparent on his typically nonchalant face. The king did not wait for him to recover. With a pleased grin, he watched Perses dwell on his words. The shadow of his huge frame had covered Perses ever since he had transformed.

"Right now, the Emperor, his elites and main force are riding here, of course, there's a reason for that. It has to do with you, Perses."

"Me"

Perses looked up from his fragile state with a fearful perplexion. The king clicked his tongue dangerously, just this once. His tolerance surmounted the interruption, and he continued.

"That was an exagerration, its nothing really to do with you, but for this one thing, its fair to say you will have great value, Perses. For even an unawoken weakling like yourself to have a role, how fortunate. All I ask is you follow my instructions. If so, you may return to your room right now. We can forget all about your curious tendencies. All you have to do is swear allegiance, to me right here."

Without a signal, the Reverend stepped forward. Perses hoped that he would aid him. It was supposed to be his job to look after him. But as the Reverend closed in on Perses, he couldn't help but curse his naivety.

Even when he talked and walked, the Reverend had not raised his head. He had, this entire time, failed to meet Perse's eyes. Was it shame or guilt? No Perses could just barely recognise a glinting smile hiding below the man's face. Stopping before Perses, he reached into his luxurious white robes only to pull out a familiar black book. Perse's eyes widened as the man ominously opened the thick, ebony pages. It radiated a dark, frightening aura.

"Perses, repeat after me. My sovereignty, my soul, I sacrifice thee."

"Fuck off!"

Perses swore for the first time in his life. Slowly, his confident and curt response lent him some faith back in himself as he stood up on his own two feet.

The king spoke up, filling the silence.

"Tell him how it works Reverend."

"Perses, this book may only withhold one person at a time. Seeing as we just, released, the previous perpetrator, you can feel safe knowing that this will last only a few days. After all, it would typically be wasted on someone like you."

The seemingly shrewd man had wiped the smile from his face as he confidently asserted the conditions and tried to convince Perses.

'Right now, these are the last two people I would trust.'

Without bothering to respond, Perses stood back up defiantly. Even without his strength, he had no intention of obeying this sinister duo. The king sighed heavily from atop his large throne.

"I suppose you wouldn't really get it Perses, all blessed have this problem in my experience. Our first meeting was likely your first lesson on this, so allow me to grace you with a second."

Grinning ear to ear, the king slowly shifted in his chair and raised his hand towards Perses.

"You blessed with your limited life experience, with no family and with no dreams worth losing, don't have any grasp on how terrifying death can be. But you don't have to worry Perses..." The king let out a vicious cackle that could have matched even his older twisted half.

"Remember, I happen to be a really great healer."

The king's malicious words planted an unpleasant memory inside his head. Before he could erase it from his mind, his feet had left the floor in an all too familiar motion. Slowly, he ascended into the air. Turning and twisting, he was helpless, with no method to break the levitation.

Fully aware of what was to come, Perses tried flailing in the air. This only urged the burly old man on further as he giggled childishly from his throne.

"Here it comes Perses-"

Suddenly, the throne room's door opened.