"Over A Cup of Tea"
Icon woke up from his slumber. He was now in a very fancy room lying on a comfortable bed instead of being tied up in a dungeon. He stood up and walk around, trying to look for windows. He found none. He wanted to know where he was now. He had been drugged ever since Umbra had captured him. He found a fresh set of clothes lying in the corner and he changed. There was a knock on the door. An Elvaan came inside the room. "Mister Icon. If you are ready my Master would like to have a cup of tea with you." The Elvaan lead Icon through a long dark hallway lit with torches. It looks like he was still in a dungeon or an underground hideaway of some sort. The Elvaan stopped in front of a very large mahogany door and he knocked once. He opened the door and motioned me to go in. He closed the door behind me as I entered the room.
The room I was in was large. It was a throne room of some sort. It was dark with torches lighting up the place, very much like the hallway. No windows whatsoever. In the middle of a room a stone table was set up with two chairs.
"Mister Icon, how nice of you to join me. Have a seat and please feel at home." a voice said in the shadows. I proceeded to the table and sat down. There was tea and some food on the table. A figure appeared out of the shadows. He was a white haired Elvaan. He was using a staff to balance himself and his left arm seem missing. Was he Umbra's Master? He took a seat across me. "Tea Mr. Icon? Don't worry it is safe to drink. I didn't poison it." the Elvaan said with a smile. I politely took a sip as not to offend my host. "I am sorry of the inconvenience my followers may have caused you. You would not come quietly so they had to rough you up a bit. My apologies." said the Elvaan. "Actually they were jealous of you because I want you to join me."
"Why are you so eager for me to join you? I'm just a lowly mage compared to some of your followers. I have nothing to offer you."
"Actually Icon if you believe in destiny, fate has great things in store for you. You just don't know it yet." replied the Elvaan. As I watched him take his cup of tea, he looked so harmless but you could feel a great power emanating from him. His aura was so overpowering. "Actually I wanted to take this opportunity to talk to you. I know you are very interested to know what I have planned for you."
"Go on I am listening."
"As Umbra told you I want you to rule the world by my side. I want to pass my powers on to you."
"Why me? Won't your followers protest your actions? Why don't you just pass it to Umbra? She is more qualified than me I think. Besides I am really not interested in you offer."
"Umbra maybe a hundred times more powerful than you but she cannot handle the power I am about to give you."
"I really do not understand what you are driving at. What is this power you are talking about?"
"The ultimate power in all of Vanadiel. Power so great that no mere mortal can control it."
"To tell you frankly I am not interested in power. I just want a simple and peaceful life. So I think you got the wrong person."
"No other man in Vanadiel can wield this power aside from you."
"And how would you know that?"
"Remember that Yagudo you met in Eldieme Necroplois? The one who told you about the curse? He was actually a very powerful oracle. I can talk to Yagudos. Yagudos are actually very intelligent beings. People just think they are dumb because they are beastmen. They have a highly evolved culture. There was something more the Yagudo Oracle didn't tell you. Actually the reason he told you about the curse was because of this prophecy he knew of."
"Prophecy?"
"Yes the prophecy of the Hume who would bring forth darkness to the world. You are that Hume. The Yagudo wanted to kill you, not save you from the curse. The only way to break the curse as you discovered was not to follow Karla's wishes and the only way you or anybody would have thought of was to sacrifice ones self and die. You didn't die because I saved you from death."
I was startled by the Elvaan's revelation. I wanted to ask a million things but just kept quiet and let the Elvaan continue with his story. "As the magic bolts struck you, I cured you, saving you from certain death. Then I warped you out of there. They thought you had disintegrated."
"So the curse of my unending love has not been broken?"
"That my friend I don't have the answer. You will have to wait the next lifetime to find out."
"So what is this power you keep on saying? And why am I so special that only I can wield it. How come you know so much about me?"
"Do you know how old I am Icon? I am 300 years old. If not for the power I have I would have been long dead. I know a lot of things."
"So if you can live 300 years why passed on the power to me? You surely can live another 300 or 1000 years."
"I cannot control the power. You see my left arm? I tried to possess the power once. It almost consumed me. I couldn't control it. It started to control me starting with my left arm. I had to cut off my arm to save myself. What power left inside me is just the residual energy. Even with that little energy left it has helped me to live 300 years. You can just imagine if you could control the power. You would be immortal, a God walking in Vanadiel."
"Immortality. Sorry I am really not interested."
"You have no choice on this matter. You will receive that power whether you like it or not. I wouldn't have wasted my time talking with you right now but I wanted you to accept it with your own free will rather than me forcing you to do so."
"Didn't you think for a moment if I possessed the power I might betray you?"
"If I can give you the power that means I have a way of controlling you."
"You still haven't answered me how come I can wield the power you speak of. And where is this power right now?"
The Elvaan stood up and walked to the corner of the room. There was a chest surrounded by candles. The Elvaan opened the chest and a dark glowing light could be seen. The Elvaan took a black crystal from within. He placed the crystal in front of me. I could feel the crystal calling me. It wanted me to touch it. I was like in a trance, I could not help myself. My hand had a mind of its own and started to move towards the crystal when the Elvaan grabbed my arm and stopped me. "See Icon? You see how powerful it is? The power calls for you. It knows."
"What in the hell is inside that crystal? It tried to draw me in. I couldn't control myself. What on earth is that?"
"You will soon know Icon. When the next darksday arrives, it will be the perfect time for you to join with It." the Elvaan said "and to answer your question why you are so special that you can wield that power. It's because you are unique. You aren't completely Hume. You are actually an offspring between the union of a Crystal Warrior and a Hume female. Because of that union, your body is the perfect vessel for the power to reside in."
"Crystal warrior?"
"You are not going anywhere anyway so I might as well tell you to save you the suspense. Inside that crystal is part of the life essence of the Shadow Lord. I stole a part of it hundreds of years ago using an ancient spell I found buried in a chest in Altepa. The reason why the Shadow Lord is defeated whenever it is reborn is because it is too arrogant and thinks he is all powerful. It doesn't stop and think. All it does is to destroy. If a mortal could harness the power of the Shadow Lord and still take full control of his senses, think how powerful that mortal would be. Can you just imagine it?"
"How can you be so sure that I can control it and not get overwhelmed by it?"
"Because the prophecy says so. A Hume with the power of the Dark One shall roam Vanadiel for all eternity."
"I refuse to take part in your crazy scheme of yours. I can always kill myself now."
"You can't Mr. Icon. Tea time is over." suddenly Icon felt weak and dizzy, and then he lost consciousness and slumped down the table. "I lied Mr. Icon. I knew you wouldn't agree so easily. Whether you like it or not you will become one with the power of the Shadow Lord. And I shall finally conquer this world. How long have I waited for this moment."