A/ N: Finally, Tenebrae feels he has some leverage against his father.
Xxxxx
As soon as they returned to the glass palace, Tenebrae sat with Lux and explained what he said earlier. He told her everything, about the stories his father used to tell him about his old battles and his identity before he was given the crown of the End Realm. Death was one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Once Time gave him the opportunity to become more at the condition that he banished the other three, he did. Of course, while telling the story, Death didn't mention the way he vanquished his former allies. He didn't tell Tenebrae that he did so with the help of Life and together they sent the horsemen to the Vanishing Point. Lux didn't get to the same conclusion as Tenebrae.
She didn't see just yet the love between her mother and Death, perhaps because she couldn't remember clearly how her mother was and therefore couldn't remember tiny details about her. Instead, she realized that indeed, the only people who could have hurt her mother and have a grudge against her would be the three remaining Horsemen of the Apocalypse. They were the antithesis of her mother, the end of everything. Life couldn't thrive if the four horsemen of Apocalypse were still around and in order for her to gain power and make sure Life could spring on Earth, they had to be stopped. So, to the princess' point of view, it made sense they went after her mother if they were roaming free.
Both heirs were upset at the new, mostly because Tenebrae realized that fighting and defeating the three horsemen would become a task more difficult than he imagined. They were strong, War, Pestilence, and Tenebrae felt he was alone. If the princess couldn't regain her powers, then there was no possibility of them becoming the Alpha and the Omega and he didn't see how they could banish the horsemen like their parents did. It concerned him even more as he scanned the beautiful silver eyes of his beloved and she still had this lost, innocent yet determined gaze on her. Lux might not remember everything, her time spent with the prince was bringing her personality back. She wanted to help. It wasn't just because Tenebrae told her that she had to be avenged and the people who hurt her mother had to pay for it. She could feel it in her bones. She wanted to help.
Death returned from his trip to the Vanishing Point. He had to make sure that his former enemies were still banished. While investigating, the king realized that they did escape from their prison and found princess Despair's scarf abandoned behind. He quickly realized that she might have been the one to break the spell Her hatred for Lux might have been strong enough to cause this catastrophic situation. He returned home fuming a the idea that his former partners were free to do as they pleased and would try to exert their vengeance on him and Life. They have started it, anyway, with the attack on the realm of All Beginnings. Life couldn't be killed by them but her subjects and family could. She lost one of her sons, Lux, and her husband. She wasn't allowed to bring people back to life but Time allowed her to do it only once, with the person of her choice. She chose Lux and it almost sucked all of her energy, forcing the queen into a long coma so she could recover. The horsemen knew this would have been the result and it didn't fail. Death was horrified at the thought of losing Life, but more importantly angry.
He returned to the glass palace and spent some time in the throne room, walking through the evidence he found and trying to think of the best plan to eliminate the threats. Fate told him a while ago that he should not separate Tenebrae and Lux. As tempted as it was, he now realized that she was warning him about the horsemen of Apocalypse and the need to have an Alpha and an Omega to perform the ritual. Under other circumstances, he would have refused to put his son in danger and would have urged Life to perform with him but she was in a coma and he knew her recovery was very slow and could take centuries or millennia before she could eventually wake up. Just as he was thinking of the best way to talk to the children, Tenebrae broke into the throne room. Death looked up to his son and welcomed him with a cold face. As usual, the prince chose to be dramatic, so the father braced himself and drummed his fingers against the armrest of the chair.
«Father! I demand answers! » He said, already speaking with venom in his voice. He surely was angry at his father for having omitted to tell the whole truth about the way he vanquished the horsemen.
« Why are you always so dramatic, son? What is it this time, that has you furrow your brows ? » mused Death with a cynical tone. The young cub tried to look commanding and straightened up to give himself an additional height. Lux was walking behind him, in a gorgeous sleeveless blue dress with diamonds at the rim. The goddess put her hands on her waist and waited for the prince to answer.
«Dramatic? I have always been true to myself, father, I never hid behind a mask like you did. I figured out that the Queen enemies could only be yours. Life could only be threatened by the three horsemen. » The king furrowed his brows, he didn't know what to expect from his son but knew him enough to know that this little jab wasn't all of it. He braced himself but remained emotionless, or appeared to be. Lux noticed the change in his gaze, the tempest that was starting to form. She blinked but couldn't inform the prince who resumed his accusations. « Because of you, they killed the woman I love. » That was said, the venom was spat in Death's face. He held onto the armrests tighter than he intended to and kept staring at his son without a word. « Admit it! You got Lux killed! »
« What do you know about Love, child? » He dryly said.
« I know you are in love with Queen Life. Your love allowed you to defeat your former brothers in arms. Your love is the reason you refused my love for Lux and you separated us. How could we dare be together while you never could? »
Death eyes grew wide and a green light into the jet black of his irises started to dance. He was angry, Lux could tell. The walls started to shake and Tenebrae felt an incredible pressure onto his shoulders, forcing him to kneel before his father. He resisted the best he could but there was no escaping, he couldn't resist. The boy knelt and fought as hard as he could to move. Lux watched as Death stood up, his face turning into a skull as he walked down the small stairs below his throne.
« What do you know about love, Boy. » He spoke, his voice booming through the room and sending shivers down the princess' spine. « You think you can have leverage on me because of this piece of information? You think you could make me feel fear? »
He stood a few steps away from his son who managed to keep his head up so he would stare into his father's eyes sockets. Green flames were dancing where his eyes should have been and it was a terrifying view but not as unusual. After all, Tenebrae also had red flames dancing in his eyes when he truly lashed out at the situation he was forced to be. Lux could still remember him and the flames that were on his skull. Death didn't have flames yet, but she knew it only was a matter of time before he truly lashed out at his son.
« I could care less about making you feel fear, Father. »
« Do you think I am not aware of your shenanigans, Boy? I know how you feel about me. »
« You've never loved me! » Tenebrae sneered. « You had a son out of spite! » He spat at Death who walked around him, ever so slowly and menacingly. Lux, who was kneeling too due to the pressure in the room, managed to look at the king as he strolled around.
« You are dumber than I thought you would be, son, if you ever think I do not love you. All I ever did, when it came to you, came from a place of love. You are my son. MY SON. And I wouldn't want you to be killed because you are not /thinking/ » His green flames then looked down at Tenebrae as he stopped in front of him. « You want my throne but you don't have the shoulders broad enough to rule the End Realm like it should be. You are reckless, impulsive and now it seems, stupid. » His voice was still under control, not too strong so it wouldn't transpire that he was angry, but the energy he was sending in this room proved he actually was even angrier than he looked like.
« Why didn't you tell me you were in love with queen Life? Why did you separate Lux and me? » Tenebrae managed to ask.
« Time told us of a prophecy. He told Life and I that we shouldn't fraternize because it could bring the end of everything. So we didn't. Do I love her, Tenebrae ? I do.» He stared at Lux who sat on her heels as he spoke. She was shocked at his revelations and the casualness he used to answer them. « You seem to think that what you feel for Lux is true love, but this is just puppy love. » He sounded bitter all of a sudden. « True love is watching your one and only getting married to another, bear his children, and love him. True love, is sacrificing your one chance at happiness to make sure she wouldn't die because you were selfish with your feelings. True love.. » As he spoke, his skull started to lit itself with fire. « True love is protecting her daughter and make sure she doesn't die needlessly. I will avenge her and protect you because I love you, son. Whether you believe me or not, I do love you. » He groaned and turned around, walked back to his throne and sat. His face returned to normal, with just green dancing flames in his eyes and he relieved the pressure onto the children before him. As Lux could move, she quickly went next to Tenebrae and wrapped her arms around him.
« Aokay? okay? » He nodded and she turned to look at him. « I don't understand why you show your love and affection to him in such a harsh way. Haven't you thought that maybe, if your son hated you this much it had to do with you being so cold to him? »
« I do not recall requesting your opinion, princess. » Death dryly said, but she had a point, he knew that his son would have loved him better if he had mellowed to him.
« You did not, but I don't need your permission to express myself. » She boldly stated. « I might have lost my memory and not recall your son in the past, the "me" of today was able to see just how much he loved me. You say it's puppy love, but he did unleash his true power to rescue me from a super demon. He is doing his very best to find my enemies and put them out for once and for good. He loved me, so much so that he refused to ask the keeper of secrets how to restore my memory and instead asked how to defeat our enemies. He went against my wishes for the better and took the scorn and the anger I felt towards him because he knew it was for the best. » She cupped Tenebrae's cheeks and looked into his eyes. « He loves me, my king. He loves me so much that he took the risk of being rejected by me and showed me his true face, poured his heart in front of me. He loves me enough to be honest with me, no matter what. And...I am receptive. » She whispered to him, pressing a kiss onto his forehead before she looked at Death who smirked.
« Lux. » Tenebrae wrapped his arms around her waist and looked at his father. « What is our next move...What do we do now that we know who our enemies are? »
« Fate told me that it might not look as it seems. Maybe someone else is pulling the strings. I found Princess Despair's scarf at the Vanishing Point. She's the one who set the horsemen free. »
«How? » Lux asked. « How is it possible? »
« I doubt she was able to do it alone. One of the key element to break the spell of love is to have someone with enough hatred in their heart as well as a spell. Princess Despair doesn't seem to be knowing that spell.. but I have to investigate. »
« Wait, are you saying that the horsemen are just a means to an end? What end? »
« I don't know yet. But we do need to put them back into the vanishing point. You think you are the Alpha and the Omega? Let's see if you can lock them down. I will reach out to them, send them an invitation to a duel and we'll settle this for once and for good. »
« Father... » Death was already lost in his thoughts, he moved his hand to inform the pair to leave him alone. As they left, Tenebrae took Lux's arm and led her to a quiet balcony. She looked at his face and coyly smiled. « You didn't have to interfere with my father and me. »
« I wanted to. » She simply said, her hands on the balcony. Tenebrae cupped her cheeks and stroked the soft ebony skin. « I was afraid he would obliterate me, he was so upset. » She noticed the goosebumps on her arms and chuckled softly.
« But he didn't. » He moistened his lips and looked into her silver eyes. « Did you mean..what you said? »
« About feeling....some type of way? » She danced around it and he nodded frantically. « I meant my words... I'm still figuring things out but...I'm...I like you very much. » She leaned her cheek into his palm and pressed a delicate kiss on his sensitive skin, sending shivers down his spine. « Give me some time, Tenebrae...There is still a lot I need to figure out. »
« You can have all the time you need, Lux...All the time. » He whispered and planted a kiss on top of her head.
-TBC-
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