Chapter 174: The Cost of Seeing
Luceriel’s POV
Luceriel released his throat and braced a hand against the wall behind him instead. "I understand you have spent years asleep, but you should know this much. My brothers and I have never once lost a war. We stood against the whole of Elysium and—"
"And still could not rid yourselves of them. I did that. I won that war for you the moment I woke. What makes you believe, even for a second, that you could win against a Demon King?"
"Because we always find a way."
"Let go of your pride!" Pazuzu roared, his violet eyes catching fire, purple flame licking up from his palms where they pressed flat against the stone floor. "You have no understanding of what you are truly facing, or what it will cost your brothers, what it will cost you."
For a moment, Luceriel caught something soft threading through the fury in Pazuzu’s voice. He might have imagined it. And yet he was fairly certain he had not, and hearing that thread of vulnerability, buried under all that noise, made something shift briefly in his chest. Not enough to soften anything he had already decided. Only enough to make him wonder, for one fleeting instant, whether there was something underneath Pazuzu worth understanding after all.
"You will need me, Luceriel, whether you wish to admit it or not. The Demon King will—"
"Will do nothing. We have the child of prophecy. If we train Seraphel properly, if that child is born before Draca ever wakes, then the advantage belongs to us, and there is nothing your father can do to change that. So stop speaking to me as though we are helpless mortals in need of your protection. We are not."
"Your pride will be the end of you."
Luceriel let out a short laugh, crossing his arms over his chest, a fine trail of green dust already gathering between his fingers. "You seem to have forgotten something, given how little softness I have shown you tonight. I am the Sin of Pride. I have never once cared what you think of me, and I will not begin caring now, so let go of any notion that you might ever control me. I am sending you away from Verolona, and you will not return. Once I find a way to sever this bond, I may contact you again. If I see your face before then, I will kill you myself, and I will make certain you are never reincarnated to trouble anyone else."
Pazuzu nodded slowly. "Are you certain you will not come to regret this? That you will never come seeking my help again? Do you truly believe your handful of simple visions will be enough to save you, Luceriel? Do you truly believe—"
"I do not care what you believe. I am only granting you this chance because fate has bound us together. Stay away from me. Stay away from my family. Goodbye, Pazuzu."
Pazuzu clapped his hands together, slow and mocking. "Very well. I shall leave. Though do try not to regret this too badly, love. And should you ever wish to find me again, know that I am always within reach." He caught Luceriel’s hand before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, pulling him forward into his chest and kissing him hard.
Luceriel tried to wrench away, but Pazuzu’s arms locked around his neck, drawing him closer instead, deepening the kiss before Luceriel finally bit down hard on his lip and shoved himself free, spitting out something about how utterly insane Pazuzu truly was.
"Ah, the taste of blood," Pazuzu murmured, dragging his tongue slowly across his own split lip. "I will see you again, Luceriel. I know it."
"You will not," Luceriel answered, and blew the fine green dust cradled in his palm straight into Pazuzu’s face. In the space of a single blink, the demon prince vanished entirely, as though he had never once set foot in that cave at all.
Luceriel stood there a long moment, watching the last traces of him dissolve into nothing, and let out a slow breath. A streak of green lightning split the air beside him a heartbeat later, and Rona stepped through it, his second-in-command arriving exactly as she always did, precisely when needed.
"Will you be all right?" Rona asked.
Luceriel nodded, and then his knees buckled beneath him, and he doubled over, coughing blood onto the cave floor.
"Your Highness!" Rona rushed forward, reaching for him, but Luceriel raised a hand and stopped her before she could touch him. "You have to tell your brothers."
"No."
"But you are dying," Rona said, voice tight. "Tell them the visions are killing you. Tell them Draca knows you have seen it, and that this is a curse in return."
Luceriel shook his head. "I said no." His voice cracked as he forced himself upright again. "I have already rid us of that wretched demon prince. Do not turn this into something it is not. Our priority is protecting the child of prophecy and strengthening this kingdom. If anything happens to that human, all of us are finished regardless."
"Will your brothers ever truly appreciate this, the things you carry for their sake? Will they ever—"
"I do not care whether they appreciate it," Luceriel said, cutting her off. "I am the First Sin. Protecting this family has always been my duty, whether they recognize it or not. Let us focus on the vessel, and on the child of prophecy. Whatever else happens, they must survive this."
He had seen it. All of it. The future itself, and pieces even Pazuzu had never shown him, every fragment of it ending the same way: fire, and ash, and nothing left standing after.
And somewhere within one of those visions, for the space of a single heartbeat, Draca’s eyes had found his across the distance of time itself. That was the moment the curse had taken hold.
And now, he is going to die if he continues to go through time and see what the future holds.
It was one of the reasons he had let go of Pazuzu. Mate aside, he knew the reason why Pazuzu was so eager to help was because he didn’t want him to die.