One step away... from becoming a Deity?
Artemis took one glance at the silly-eyed snake and then let out a curt laugh.
He needed to laugh about the matter. It was the only way to stem the despair that was slowly seeping into his chest, a cold, gnawing feeling that caused him to want to shake and bemoan his situation. His eyes carried the true weight of the matter, cold and condemning.
Lark... were you actually more terrifying than you first led on? I really was afraid at that time that we met, but your strange demeanor disarmed me... you were actually the sort of being that could subjugate a creature below a God? No, it's not right to call her... ah, Leon, a creature, is it? It described her so... human-like...
And now, was it really the case that this near-God was akin to his subordinate? Was it even right of him to think of her in this way?
The Serpent Prince... so Lark was a fellow Prince? Of another world, no less... and this Crimson Serpent, Leon, was the serpent that Lark subjugated. As a son of the 'Blossom Daemon', he used his cunning, which was described in the discernment of the Boon of the Serpent Prince, to defeat and subjugate Leon and take her under his control.
She can't employ any of her abilities, and it doesn't seem like she was merely reduced to an ability. I can still discern her like she is a living being, and her description says as such...
So what does this mean? What is an Aspect? It's listed alongside Lineages, like the Daemonic Lineage that the Boon of the Serpent Prince said I was incapable of receiving, and the Spirit Contract Leon has with Lark...
Is an Aspect another key path to power? It was unlikely that Leon had a Spirit Contract before Contracting with Lark, using that as a means to achieve near-Godhood. Contracting with more than one Spirit tends to make most beings go mad. Without one of these mysterious 'Lineages', was there any other way for her to grow stronger?
It must have been this 'Aspect'... but I've never even heard of this method of power before. Is this just another thing from the otherworld, like these stars and the moon?
What an odd, amazing world...
Of course, ignoring his endless curiosities, there was another key matter he needed to ascertain.
Well, I'm not one to cower and anticipate an answer to a question.
This serpent was a near-Godly being. He did not know her intentions, nor what she would do now that he knew of her true identity. Of course, it had been her idea, so he didn't think she would just kill him after the fact... didn't it seem to be too much work to make him discern her just to kill him?
So the only logical outcomes, which was why he was able to keep himself so rational, was that she would either choose to leave him, or to stay with him. There were two main reasons for each of these choices. The first, pertaining to her leaving, was that she was far too powerful to serve as a neat trinket for a one-armed deposed Prince. Of course, who would want to be in that position? It would only make sense if she abandoned him now.
But the other was dependent on her description. It said she was incapable of using her abilities. Even if she was nearly a God, what did this binding mean for her? She might have the strength and durability of a ferocious beast, but that was all she could be until whatever Lark had done to her was resolved.
So wasn't staying with Artemis, who could act as a shield for her, a viable option? If Leon had been listening to Lark and Artemis this whole time, she would have gathered that Artemis already had a method of escaping the Shadow, and that Lark would eventually return to life during or after that ordeal. And because Lark was bound to Artemis, staying with the Prince entitled Leon an opportunity to resolve her shackles.
So, he simply asked her what it was that she wanted. He did not want any unwilling companions. That was something he fully adhered to.
"Ms. Leon, do you have any qualms about following me? I have no clue where you're from, your history, or your relation to the Daemon I contracted myself with. I'm clueless, reckless, and incredibly weak. Only with this borrowed power can I do something, and above all, this power was borrowed from someone that by all means, you should probably despise. I don't particularly like Lark, but I also don't have reason to hate him. I'm not the sort of person you should accompany, but I'm asking you anyway. Do you want to come with me? I'll expect a lot of you, which I know considering who you are, is probably far out of my depth."
The serpent hesitated. It blinked from time to time, and its eyes were filled with a depth of intense emotions. Some he could discern... the feeling of being torn, some slight despair and confusion, even hatred. But others were invisible or foreign to him, perhaps the sort of emotion only near-Gods could feel. Or even just serpents...
But Artemis wasn't yet finished talking, so it didn't yet matter of her considerations. There was one other aspect of the serpent's life he could still press on.
"Ms. Leon, do you still want to help your people? Those people in the Godwater?"
The snake shook her head.
"You don't? Aren't they still waiting for you?"
She shook her head again.
"Do they think you to have died?"
One more shake.
"Then... are they dead?"
To the bitterest truth, a nod from the serpent was all that was necessary to chill the already dastardly air.
"I see..." For the longest time, he couldn't think of a suitable response to this. He had expected that there would be something for her to return to. It wasn't on the basis of death by age, time did not pass in the Shadow. If it were the case that these people of the Godwater had been left behind by her, left to time, it simply wouldn't be possible.
Was it the case that she saw what had happened to her people? Was this around the time that Lark had subjugated her? Was it Lark that had harmed her people?
There were just too many questions, too many theories, too many curiosities.
But he really didn't have time at all. There was a simple reason for him having sought an opportunity to summon the serpent in safety.
He needed Leon on his side to find Cia in time.
Around two minutes had passed since they had been separated, and he had only hoped that she had been able to run to safety. With the way that the strange shadowy figure kept moving around the labyrinthian walls, he needed a suitable way to track her down.
"Then, don't you want revenge? Retribution? Redemption? Whatever it is you want that pertains to them, don't you have to return there first? To the Godwater?"
He wasn't a beast himself, he didn't have those sorts of senses. Neither did Daemons.
But Leon was a monster. A serpent with a keen sense of smell? That would certainly pinpoint Cia's location. Then, all he would have to do is...
...transform into a beast himself, and dig his way through the impenetrable ash.
This had been his initial plan, although he was not so interested in turning into a monster. The whole idea seemed horrific to him, more horrific than losing another arm.
But if he was able to convince Leon to act alongside him, then would a being barely below a God have much trouble with walls of ash?
"I can help you return, Ms. Leon. No, Leon! I'm asking you to decide now! Will you accompany me out of this Shadow? Cooperate, and I'll take you out of this cavernless world."
Leon raised her bladed tail slowly towards him.
He didn't move a muscle. It was as if she was threatening to use the blade against him, but he did not move at all. It wasn't that he was terrified into doing so, it was that he was more scared of the possible outcome of moving away from her.
Because if he flinched away at the mere sight of her, how could she trust the sincerity of his words?
In the end, the serpent did nothing to him at all.
Past his placid expression, he felt mad jubilation rise.
Artemis slowly stood up, shaking the creaking fatigue away from his muscles and bones. Several minutes had already elapsed since he had been separated from Cia. He couldn't waste any more time.
He shot a glance towards the near-God, and then pointing towards the frail, twitching body of the shadow assassin, spoke in a cold tone.
"Eat him."