Chapter 171 - 171

Allias did not seem to be in a hurry. He exited the room in a slow pace and observed the sleeping teen from the corridor he was standing. His eyes were shallow, cleared from any emotion, he looked like a lifeless doll staring right ahead. Not blinking, not breathing just standing silently there, observing. The only thing different from a doll was the fact that his heart was beating, frantically and the royal blood on is veins was on fire. A disaster that begun from his mind and his angered thoughts. Slowly reaching every organ, every muscle and every bone. 

He clicked his tongue and crossed his arms over his chest, thinking what he should do to make him hurt. He had helped him, he had promised him to protect him and he had failed but now Joe had crossed him, in the worst way possible and you should never dare to cross a King. Especially one who was fighting for his throne and power. Especially not Allias. 

Mark left the room, hoping he would get to convince him, stop him from doing something he would regret later but when he followed him, standing right next to him on the narrow space, when his brown eyes met with his face he could swear, the person right next to him was not his best friend. He was someone else, cruelty had deformed his angelic face and hate had sullied his golden aura. This was the darkness Allias was so scared of, he was hopelessly trying to fight it all the time, keep it contained but now that Theseus was hurt, the demons that were patiently waiting, teasingly clawing on the walls of his tortured mind were set free.

"Allias don't do it" he still told him. "Maybe if you talk to him he will understand. He might tell us everything." 

Allias spoke without taking his eyes off of him, he began walking reaching the small and lively living room, eyeing the mysterious candle. 

"I do not care about the world anymore. All this time I believed I would turn everyone good, that I could make a change but things are not like that. It's time to stop being delusional. After this I am returning to the palace, I will wear my crown Mark and everyone will remember me, remember what I can do." He said and a grin formed on his face as he blew the candle, the thick smoke slowly disappearing. 

He grabbed a chair from the dining table. It was a simple wooden chair that reminded him a lot of the stools at the royal kitchen. He brought in front of the armchair Joe was tied and he sat down, crossing his legs, waiting for the boy to regain his consciousness.

"Allias…" Mark mumbled, wanting to call him out Ea stopped him. He was just returning from the kitchen with a fresh bowl of water and new towels and rugs. 

"Right now he will not hear you. Allias is a King and rulers sometimes have to be cruel, to protect their own." He tried to explain. 

"He doesn't have to hurt a child though" Mark said. 

"To us he is not a child. No matter how horrible that sounds. He is a hunter leader that hurt our own. He is someone who made an alliance with our worst enemy, he is someone who even after we deal with them will leave so many open matters for Allias that he won't be able to sleep at night. The demons are only a part. They are royals that if they hear about this failure they will question his leadership. The location of the portal needs to remain a secret, if they know that he will be in a very difficult situation with the Council too. They do not know that Joe actually got it. They just know that he helped Allias at some point and that's why he wanted to deal with this. If we fail, another war could happen. You have no idea how heavy his crown is right now, so leave him alone to do what he knows best. Be a King, do not burden his consciousness any longer." Ea scolded him and Mark sighed. Suddenly he understood a bit more Allias' words, about him not turning into a killer. He couldn't be like them. 

Allias was waiting, he would wait as long as it took to get him to speak, to get him to hurt. He stared at his nails when he heard the boy groan, as if he was getting up unwillingly from a deep and comfortable slumber, his eyes opening slowly. He blinked once, twice, trying to get in his surroundings and the King smiled waiting to see the shock in his young face. 

"Where am I?" he asked surprised and started shaking in his chair trying to free himself. "Who are you? Where are my people? Answer me?" he shouted and Allias' amused laughter echoed in the empty room. It was just the two of them. No one there to stop him from playing with him. 

"No matter how hard you try you won't be able to move, those restraints are enchanted and oh, this…" he told him and showed the cuff, making him gasp at how now he was completely defenseless. "…this belongs to me, you stole it." 

Joe still wasn't really sure to who he was talking to. All he knew was that he was in front of a very powerful enemy. Just his stare was enough to tell him things would only get harder from now on. His heart began speeding; he was scared just by looking at him. Terrified. 

"Wait!" Allias exclaimed and clapped his hands, moving slightly forward. "You don't recognize me do you? I guess you've never seen me like this. When we met I was hurt and hopeless."  He said and Joe finally put the pieces together. This was the man Theseus was talking about, he was the elf king. Alex, the human he had met. He had changed completely. His eyes widened in shock as he fully realized it. He had made a few assumptions, talked with his own a while back but his imagination had never reached this far. "Ah, so now you recognize me. Hello Joe, long time no see. Tell me, are you ready to die?" he asked him with a vicious smile.