Realm Lord

Arthur tore through the meat with animalistic ferocity, barely pausing to breathe between bites. His hunger was a living thing, clawing at his insides, demanding to be sated. Aziel watched with a mixture of amusement and concern as he handed over an oh-so-familiar jar of water shortly after providing the food.

Arthur was scarfing down the food as fast as physically possible, juices running down his chin in rivulets that he didn’t bother to wipe away. Yet even as his body rejoiced at the nourishment, his mind rebelled. He couldn’t help but feel guilty. Guilty of preserving his body... of keeping it alive after what he’d done. But despite the emotional turmoil raging within him, he couldn’t possibly resist the temptation of sustenance and continued to eat, his body’s needs superseding his desire for self-punishment.

While Arthur focused on satisfying his ravenous hunger, his mind began to wander to questions he’d been too busy grieving to answer before. The thoughts came unbidden, pushing through the fog of his despair with increasing clarity.

’Why did the roses not corrupt me like they did Luke? It doesn’t make sense—he fed me more than enough, so why? Does it have something to do with my abilities? And why was I able to remember what Luke wiped from my memory? Was it simply because his ability is still underdeveloped, or something else entirely?’

The questions that had been held back by grief now flooded into his mind, each one without a possible answer, each mystery deepening his confusion rather than alleviating it. The roses should have taken his mind just as they had taken Luke’s, yet here he was, traumatized but sane. It defied explanation.

After a moment of contemplation, Arthur decided it didn’t matter, not anymore. Whatever had happened or however it had transpired was irrelevant because at the end of the day, it had happened, and Luke was dead. No amount of understanding would change that fundamental, painful truth.

Arthur finished scarfing down his food, licking the last traces of sustenance from his fingers before glancing wearily at Aziel, who leaned against the wall nonchalantly, the picture of relaxed confidence. "Where did you get all this?" he asked, his voice hoarse from disuse and his recent screaming.

Aziel popped open one of his closed eyes, regarding Arthur with mild interest. "Oh... I just hunted and scavenged the different monsters in the area. You’re eating the beast that guarded this temple right now." His tone was casual, as if mentioning the weather rather than revealing the origin of their meal.

Arthur almost spit out his food, his throat constricting in reflexive disgust. ’Monster meat? That’s disgusting!’ But he stopped himself as he realized with how hungry he had been, it truly didn’t matter to him where the meat came from. His survival instinct had overridden any sense of repulsion.