Kieran sat suddenly in the Realm of Self and flicked two extended fingers downward.
"Sit and explain."
He didn't give requests, he commanded. And that ca as a pleasant surprise. It even made the Fla grin with delight rather than scowl with scorn.
"Yes. That is the fierce attitude a Firebearer must possess. Now, tell , my child. What is it that you wish of ?"
Kieran took a mont to gather his thoughts, organize them, and then speak them.
"Your glory. You said you had been feeding it to . What do you an?"
Suddenly, against his will, Kieran's head began turning in his Realm until his gaze paused on the blackness in this place, the part that embodied the abyss and the ruin that could precipitate that kind of destruction.
"That is what I've been feeding you. You see, my Significance is no longer aligned with the Will of the Gods. They are that which governs every Boundary. What I attempted was akin to suicide. And I did die for it. Ah, yes, I died. But now I seek retribution. Evil only beca evil when it no longer serves a purpose."
Kieran could understand that last part. There were so cases where the ends justified the ans, and for that, people were looked at as saviors who gave salvation. But they were only seen as the salvation of those who survived the ans.
To those who perished, they would forever remain a scourge worthy of being despised.
So, then, was the Fla not always evil? Or, more precisely, had it been an evil for the right cause — for the cause of the Gods?
Then, it was a betrayal, and its retribution was all out of spite. It was the embodint of a spiteful being seeking vengeance. Kieran hated how much he resonated with what the Fla was.
'Is the Trial asking if I could ever beco like the Fla? So… soone had indeed beco like the Fla then?'
Kieran reckoned Valdu had beco the Fla's weapon — its Blade of Ruin.
But the Fla was far from finished.
"Ah, I should make clear that there is no good or evil amongst Gods. There is only cause and effect, and that lies at the root of all. In one word, the power of the Gods… is choice. They determine choice by dictating fate. And I was the Order that kept that fate unchanged."
Suddenly, the Fla didn't seem as sinister. Still, it remained malignant and hateful simply because it spoke of the Gods.
"And I killed many Gods… but the thing about a dead God is that they never stay dead. As long as their Domain is revived from a single ember of faith, they reappear with it. And you see… I never had a na before. But I beca Ruin… because I ruined the Gods' Plans. That was the Condemnation they gave . But they made a grave misstep because Ruin holds too much power. I am everywhere and nowhere. I am unseen but always felt. Ruin is shapeless, for it cos in many forms."
The Fla grew feverish with ire as it spoke.
"You, my child, have been chosen by Ruin — by . You were too Significant… and so you were Condemned. In exchange, I gave you power, though. An equal sacrifice. You understand the Law that Balance operates upon, right? I can feel its theurgy perating your inner Realm."
Enthralled by the story, Kieran leaned closer and questioned.
"What is your na, Fla?"
"I am naless, for even I forgot it in the ti it took enough Ruin to be wrought. However, I rember my title: The Great Deicide — Father of Condemnation. But now, all I am is the Fla of Ruin. I am not much else. But I will be… soon."
Sohow, Kieran didn't like the confidence in the Fla's tone.
"You… are Ruin's Spirit?"
Kieran tone while asking the question was strange. He asked tentatively but also seed quite sure.
The Fla analyzed Kieran before giving an eerie grin.
"Not yet. Ruin is never alone. And because I am alone, I am not yet Ruin. But I will be."
Kieran's frown deepened. The Fla was back to evading answers, aning it either touched upon a subject it wished to avoid for now or couldn't speak on the matter.
After a mont of silence to consider his next question, Kieran asked it.
"Why did you kill the Gods if you were amongst them."
"Ah, I was the one that maintained the Order of cause and effect. And that was nasty work — evil doings, really. And I wanted change. So… we went to war because the Gods' hate change. Change is erratic and hard to predict. They like the predictable… the controllable. If you travel far enough, you'll understand what I an."
Kieran nodded externally, but internally, he was sowhat disappointed.
The Gods had gone to war for sothing as simple as change? Was change that aningful? No… he needed to know how powerful choice was to understand why change was hated.
For that, he'd have to walk amongst the Gods. How far down the road was that? It remained so far away that Kieran's puny mind failed to fathom the power they epitomized.
Kieran looked at the Fla with wistful anticipation before sighing and clearing his thoughts.
To obtain its goal, the Fla would willingly sacrifice a Boundary. For that reason alone — even if its hatred for the Gods was warranted — its machinations had to be stopped.
But to stop the Fla, he had to fool the Fla first.
"Tell , what does that blackness represent."
The Fla grinned now that Kieran was asking the right questions.
"It represents the Condemnation that has taken root in your Body. You will not fall even to the strike of a Master. I have ensured your resilience because you must fight many troubleso opponents to wade through the opposition. It's okay, though, because I will empower you at every turn."
"So your Condemnation would be…"
"The inversion of Significance. Two sides of the sa coin — Dark and Light — that whole spiel. It is everything that I am and have been made to represent. I had no choice in the matter… and it's only right that I share that with you."
Kieran stopped himself from rolling his eyes at the Fla's gracious and gratuitous blessing.
"You're so kind."
His tone was flat and obviously satirical, but it was a concept lost upon the Fla, for it responded with perverse glee.
"You are my child, and I the nurturer. What am I if not loving?"
Kieran refrained from answering.
"Back to the topic you spoke of before I ca here. Where will you be getting this glory now that I'm Unspoken? The Pit will not help anymore."
"This place is abound with prey. You could easily embrace your predatory nature and kill them. Didn't you want to kill them all?"
Kieran considered it, then shook his head.
At so point, the desire to kill the followers had vanished. The more he learned about the sinister Fla, the more he realized how pitiful and powerless they were in the grand sche of things. They were exploited victims.
"I need only have you."
The Fla rejoiced with disturbing euphoria.
"Correct. I am all you need, my child. That is why I shall give you all the glory! What a lovely father-son chat. Parental guidance is key in grooming a child."
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