Card Twenty Two: King of Wands

“So,” Kallan stared at the two in his office, right after Lavimo had explained everything he’d hidden as well as what he and Haven had discovered in their room. The seasoned general’s tone of voice was calm. Nonchalant, even. And yet it still felt awfully threatening at the same time. “You’re telling me you found evidence, hid it from me despite the fact I was the leader of our mission, and are now crawling back because you couldn’t figure everything out yourself?” Kallan smirked at him, blood red eyes looking down on Lavimo with that same condescending look he despised. 

Haven, too, was not helping, and quickly moved to blurt, “Yes, that’s exactly what he's doing.” 

The poor man had to freeze at the unhelpful words that only made him feel more shame, embarrassment, and anger bubble up in his gut, and it didn’t help that Kallan’s expression only became more wry in turn. “I’m sure he can speak for himself. What are you, moral support?” the general provoked towards the small, pink-haired person, whose soft green eyes did not falter. 

“I’m sorry to say it, but Lavimo can’t do anything without me. He’s completely useless.”

“Is that so?”

“It is not so!” Lavimo interrupted, looking awfully flustered as he attempted to defend himself. “We ended up figuring out a lot! Though, um,” he looked down shamefully, averting his eyes to the ground once again while he tried to keep himself from mumbling. “I am sorry for hiding evidence. I was just… I wasn’t thinking clearly. I wanted to prove I could be just as good as you, but I know I’m nowhere close yet… so I’m sorry.”

“Hm,” Kal smiled, looking entirely smug as he crossed his legs in his chair, leaning back against the dark red cushion with an amused hum. “Well I’m glad you came clean. Honestly, I already knew you hid evidence, I was just waiting for you to either, one, come tell me about it when you either figured something out or got stuck... or two, got into trouble and needed me to come save you. I’m glad it ended up being the former, I suppose. It would’ve been bad for you otherwise,” he smirked at them, smiling like the devil he was known to be as Lavimo involuntarily stiffened.

“Oh. I see… ah…”

“Are you wondering how I knew?” Kallan spoke his thoughts effortlessly, leaning his head onto his hand to stare at him with wicked amusement, like he knew everything Lavimo was thinking or wanted to say. “It’s because I had Kimith keep an eye on you. That was a task I gave him before we even entered the lab, so he watched you hide evidence in that cute little satchel of yours and reported everything suspicious you did to me, which means I also know that you drew two pictures of that special cage seal so that you could keep one for yourself. I figured you’d be a problem child, so I took careful precautions. Aren’t I great?”

It was silent for a short moment as Lavimo faltered under the pressure of that penetrable gaze, though Haven had always been stronger than him. His lover didn’t even seem phased by Kallan’s points, and merely spoke bluntly and without fear, “Well, it used to be your job to read and analyze people, right? Before you joined the front lines of the military as a leading general. Knowing what you used to do for work, I would hope you’re good at reading people and bringing out your troop’s strengths while covering for weaknesses. That’s kinda your thing. I’d be worried if you suddenly forgot how to do that.”

“Oh? Nahah, you’re right,” Kal smiled, leaning further onto his hand as his lips curled upward. “You know what, I think I like you, Haven. I’ll bring you on my next expedition with Lavimo. Maybe you can help keep him in line for me,” the shaggy, black-haired man laughed, leaning around to pick up the scalpel covered in dried blood, glancing at his red reflection in the red-soaked mirror with a grin. “But I’m afraid I’m a bit busy. You see, after I finish all my paperwork tonight, I was gonna go have some fun with a date I met last week. She’s got a good sturdy figure, just the way I like it. So you’ll have to make a good case if you want me to do something with this evidence any time soon.”

“Huh? What?” Lavimo’s head snapped up in disbelief, staring at Kallan incredulously while the man only met him with mock innocence.

“Well, you see, if you’d followed the proper protocol and given me all this evidence right when you found it,” Kal drawled, smirk still blaring on his pale white features as Lavimo gaped at him, Haven not even batting an eye at the behavior. “Then I might’ve been ordered to do something with it. But since you decided to hide it and only show me after the mission was over, it’s really not my problem anymore. Sorry!”

“What, but… but this is important!” Lavimo stuttered out, stumbling over his words before he took a passionate step towards the man's desk. “It could help us find out who’s behind the human experimentation! You have to!” he insisted, Kallan only giving another careless shrug with an annoyingly smug smile to match.

“So? I don't have to do anything you tell me. I have a date to get to.”

“You’re saying love is more important than saving lives?”

“Oh, no, you misunderstand. It’s just sex, there’s nothing of love involved. I don't do that.”

“That… that’s even worse!!” Lavimo flared, about to explode as his morals kept getting slapped in the face while Haven gave a small huff.

This was getting out of hand, and they didn’t want Lavimo to completely snap and possibly flip a senior officer's desk on a planet that wasn’t even his own. Besides, it was obvious that Kallan wasn’t actually being serious. Not with that shitty grin on his face. He was clearly just trying to push Lavimo into a fight, probably as a way to teach him a backhanded lesson for hiding evidence. But still, Haven only found it irritating, so they jerked Lavimo’s shoulder backwards before he could further approach the man of shadows behind his desk, and clarified calmly, “He’s teasing you, he’s not being serious. He’s just trying to get under your skin, so don’t let him.”

“But he said he’s not gonna help us just so he can go have sex!” Lavimo exclaimed angrily, looking utterly horrified with that statement as Haven grimaced.

“You do realize he’s required to help us, right?” they pointed out smoothly, not afraid to give the taller man a belittling stare while Kal watched fondly, amused with the lovely bickering. “Even if it is after the mission already concluded, he’s still a superior officer who is required to help us figure this out because it’s the job and task he was given by his king. Refusing us here could quite literally get him beheaded for ignoring a dangerous threat against his king’s orders. You need to stop being so gullible and falling for ploys like that when people are obviously just trying to rile you up.”

“Oh, uh… um, really? That was all?” Lavimo blinked, his face shifting into one of embarrassment before he turned back towards Kallan’s devious, smiling features.

This man really was a menace, Haven decided. Lavimo had described Kallan as someone serious who didn’t take any nonsense and who was scarily efficient to the point of abrasiveness with his subordinates, but that clearly didn’t translate to when he was in his office or off the clock. And it especially annoyed them with the way Kal was giving them that disgustingly smug grin, Haven just about ready to reach over and snap his neck when the man started laughing. “Aww, that’s no fun, I was gonna teach your little pet brat over there a few lessons before I told him any of that!”

“Huh? Pet brat?” Lavimo stumbled out weakly, Kallan laughing even further as Haven glared.

“Hahah, yeah! Isn’t that what you are? But anyways,” he grinned, incessant laughter dying down as he finally leaned himself off his chair, uncrossing his legs to drape himself over his desk, pale fingers interlocking with each other as he rested his chin on the bridge of his hands. “Let’s get down to business. We need to find out if these seashells are from Pearalis or Trivanma within the Oacabi Universe, is that right? And you want me to introduce you to a spellcaster who can give us those answers,” he hummed, Kal quieting down a bit as he began to ponder.

Lavimo and Haven had no idea what he must be thinking about, as it seemed Kallan didn’t like to think with his brain whenever he wasn’t working and preferred to start immature fights instead. But he surprisingly seemed rather serious now, the same type of seriousness Lavimo remembered him radiating when he’d been reading that book they found in the lab. He’d had to give it up to Queen Nadia for her to keep and examine, but he remembered everything it said clearly, and the message at the end gave him chills. And Kallan was giving the same kind of look, like he was thinking about something grave… he wanted to know why.

“Um, Kallan?” Lavimo hesitantly spoke up, unsure whether or not he was walking on a landmine, although it felt like he was regardless. He couldn’t read Kal’s moods, and he didn’t know if he’d get snapped at for this, but it felt like something he needed to ask. He needed to know why. “That book we found… the one that describes the concept of anything and about, um… about the late Princess Arcadia. Do you think it was all true? Is that really how she died?” he asked, silence stretching out as Kallan didn’t even lift his head to look at him. The only sign that the man had heard were the furrowing of his thin black eyebrows, and Lavimo could admit he really did look angry. But when he didn’t say anything to respond, the poor man felt like he needed to keep filling the silence somehow, so Lavimo continued rambling on about the thoughts he’d been keeping hidden beneath the surface ever since reading what was on that book’s pages. 

“I know that you used to serve Princess Arcadia, although that was before you became a guard. After all, you’ve always served and been loyal to King Candence, her father, and your twin sister was one of Princess Arcadia’s personal guards for decades. I’m sure you met her several times and knew what kind of person she was,” the words spilled out, Haven turning to glance at him while Kal remained unnervingly silent. “But, even though the official statement everyone knows is that she died due to illness, just like her mother… there are some inconsistencies I’ve noticed with that statement after reading the book that was left behind. Remarkably, one of those inconsistencies is about your supposedly deceased twin sister… Kyavir Sanguin,” he spoke, eyes staring uncomfortably at Kallan’s desk as the black-haired man finally turned his bloody red eyes upwards to glare at Lavimo, who only kept talking.

“Kyavir Sanguin, along with King Cadence’s strongest and most skilled soldier, Leocadies from Ovin, both died on the same day as Princess Arcadia. It was said to be for separate reasons… that there’d been a skirmish, an explosion was set off, and they both ended up as fatal casualties. And while it is true a lot of people died that day for a lot of different reasons, due to multiple misfortunes as well as the tragedy of my home planet because of reality’s first crack… I do think it’s a bit too coincidental that Kyavir and Leocadies both died on that day for reasons unrelated to Princess Arcadia. And after reading that book, it kind of, well… it makes sense. Especially since that book said Princess Arcadia also died from exploding herself, which was already the official statement to how Kyavir and Leocadies died as well,” Lavimo looked up, meeting Kallan’s deadly bloody eyes with his own amber hues filled with desperate curiosity that was hungry for more knowledge and answers. “I feel like you would know all the answers to these things, Kallan. Was that book telling the truth? Did Princess Arcadia really use the concept of anything, and is she the one who killed both herself, your twin sister, and that other soldier by using such a taboo concept that caused herself and all those around her to explode? Do you know if that’s the truth of what happened?”

Haven wasn’t sure how to process whatever the hell they were hearing, and looking at Kallan, he really did look like he was about to just up and murder Lavimo for asking something so bold with the way he was glaring. But they hadn’t heard anything about that book, as Lavimo hadn’t talked about it with them. Though hearing all of that felt like too much of a conspiracy… was their occasionally dimwitted lover really stupid enough to believe or even consider what those damned villains had tried to plant in his mind when it was obvious it was just a bold manipulation tactic?

Still, they were almost shocked when Kallan finally bowed his head, red eyes closing before he leaned back in his chair. And when he opened them again, he was staring directly at Lavimo, as if he were daring him to say anything more. “Yes,” he replied coldly, voice sinister and full of inner darkness that only made Lavimo continue to hesitate. “You’re right. As far as I know, everything that was said and recorded in that book is true. Princess Arcadia died using the concept of anything. That is the truth, and it always has been.”

And silence engulfed them again. Haven froze after hearing such a serious confirmation, and Lavimo felt like his brain was struggling to process it all as his hand moved reflexively to cover his gaping mouth. “So… those people were, they were… were they telling the truth? Does— does that mean we can trust them?”

“Would you trust someone who experiments on humans and turns them into monsters using leeches that are thirsty for blood?” Kallan coldly shot back, Lavimo freezing all over again before he immediately came to his senses.

“No, no I wouldn’t… sorry, you’re right,” he snapped to himself, moving to press at his cheeks as he slowed down his spiraling thoughts. Of course, Kal was right. Those villains couldn’t be trusted after seeing everything in their abandoned laboratory. They were doing unethical things in there, that was for certain, and Lavimo wouldn’t let himself fall for it. But still… “Well, if you think everything in that book was right… do you think there really is another person out there who learned how to use the concept of anything without dying? And is that really what caused the apocalypse?” he wavered out, Kal staring at him rather blankly before the red-eyed man looked down, forcing himself to remain calm and steady. 

He had to remind himself who Lavimo was. He was the prince of a ruined planet, the victim of an apocalypse that had killed his entire family except for himself and one other who he hadn’t seen in decades. Of course he would be hungrier for answers more than anyone else, even to the point he would listen to people he despised just to see if they might be able to give him any more of the truth he was so desperate for. Kallan had to remind himself that despite everything, Lavimo was still younger, only four-hundred and twenty-three years old. And on top of that, after everything he’d gone through, he needed to be handled with care… Kal knew he shouldn’t push him too much. He didn’t like coddling people, and he didn’t like freely handing people solutions to their problems without making them work for it, but he had a feeling that if Lavimo was treated too roughly or too carelessly, he really would turn to shady people just for answers, and that wouldn’t end well for anyone. That was why Kallan was determined to be an authority figure he could at least rely on to tell him the truth, if nothing else. Lavimo needed somebody like that.

That was what steeled him, so Kallan took another deep breath before he lifted himself up, moving his legs to have a wider stance as he gave the man a look of dark sincerity. “There is someone out there who can use the concept of anything without permanently dying,” he gave his honest reply, Lavimo’s face snapping up to meet him as Haven’s eyes widened drastically.

“What the hell?!” the pink-haired person gritted their teeth, looking as if that statement was utterly unbelievable before they slammed an angry fist on his desk. “That’s impossible, don’t feed him bullshit information!! How would you even know something like that?!”

And Kallan sighed at the aggressiveness, though he understood why the two of them looked so shocked. It made him blink a few times, shifting his weight behind his desk as he tapped the table. “I know it because I’ve met her. The person who learned how to successfully use the concept of anything without dying is indeed Princess Arcadia. She’s not actually dead. The book didn’t lie exactly, but it was definitely trying to lure you away from the truth, as well…”

“What shitty bullshit are you talking about?! Don’t fuck with me,” Haven seethed, green and prickly vines already stemming off their fair white skin thanks to their concept before Kallan’s glare flickering onto his face with a grand return, his shadows whipping out and instantly cutting all the vines to bits without even a shred of real effort. 

“Don’t lash out at me, kid. I’m just telling you the truth. Arcadia did die, but she used the concept of anything to revive herself, a feat no one has ever accomplished before. The book was right saying she’d died, they just tried to trick you by referring to her revived form as someone else, as if she’d become an entirely different person. But she didn't. Arcadia, Leocadies, and my sister are all still out there somewhere, and Arcadia is still using the concept of anything to her heart’s content. And whenever she overuses it and dies, she always revives herself again,” he growled out, Haven reluctantly backing down as they began to feel intimidated by the shadows lurking around his skin, Lavimo’s dark face turning a bit paler as he absorbed that information. “But I haven’t seen any of them since the day of the first crack in reality. All I know is that all three of those fools faked their deaths and ran off, because Leocadies told me telepathically. He reassured me that the three of them were alive, but that they were never gonna fucking come back. I was ditched, you see? So don’t you fucking dare accuse me of lying, when I can go get my king and have him confirm that everything I just said is true. Do you want me to go get King Cadence in here? Would you rather talk to him?” he finished with undeniable firmness, giving Haven one last glare before he relaxed himself back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest with exasperation.

“The only thing I don’t know is if that’s what really caused the apocalypse. Because I mean, think about it,” he sighed, moving to rub his temples as he glared at the unfinished paperwork on his desk. “Arcadia was prophesied to help Crown Prince Cirrus Aixon restore reality. Without her, he won’t be able to, apparently. So some day, she will come back. I don’t know when, but it’s inevitable. So the fact that this villain is trying to turn you against her… to even have you blame her, and possibly try to kill her… it sounds a lot to me like they’re trying to prevent the prince from restoring reality, wouldn't you say?”

And it was silent once again as all of this information hit Lavimo like a ton of bricks. He didn’t know what to think anymore. Kallan had just confirmed that essentially everything in the book was true, and had even given him more valuable information than he could have ever hoped for… but it still felt incomplete. So Princess Arcadia was alive… and he had no way to know if she really had been the cause of reality’s collapse. But how could he figure that out? Kal clearly didn’t believe she was, but if she was supposed to help Cirrus restore reality, and if she was really the one prophesied to love him and care for him and share all his burdens… then why had she faked her death and ran away from their marriage in the first place? Wasn’t she supposed to love him? Ruba had prophesied that Arcadia would be the one to stand by Cirrus’ side through all his toughest of tribulations, and yet where had she been when he’d needed her for the past four-hundred and thirteen years? Gone… gone where? Gone off to do what? What could have possibly been more important to her than her role as Cirrus’ prophesied companion?

It made him angry thinking about it. So Princess Arcadia was alive and she’d betrayed the very man she was supposed to love and stand by… it pissed him off. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like it one bit. And the fact that she might’ve been what caused reality’s collapse on top of it all, even if Kallan didn’t think so, only made him angrier. He didn’t trust the enemy he was facing, and he didn’t agree with their methods, but he knew they must have more truths they could give him. He had a feeling they knew exactly what or who had caused the apocalypse, and that was the answer he craved more than anything else. The answer which he was so starving for it was dangerous. The answer he would do absolutely anything to get his hands on.

Because he wanted to know what had killed and ruined his family and destroyed his home when he’d been only fifteen years old. He wanted to know what had killed his father and five of his elder siblings, and what had driven his mother to suicide. He wanted to know why it had led Osiris, the only family he had left, to leave him in pursuit of learning the answer to it. He wanted to know what had been the cause of his life shattering and crumbling to tattered pieces of dark, dark ash.

And Kallan understood that craving well. The dire craving for answers. His family wasn’t dead, but he’d been abandoned by all of them regardless. His parents and younger sister refused to speak to him, Kyavir was long gone to who knows where… and it seemed like none of them cared about him anymore. He wasn’t immune to the pain of losing someone you loved, or to wanting answers as to why your life was falling apart. He didn’t have such a tragic tale as Lavimo’s, but he knew what it was like. So, if he could, Kal would help him get his clarity. It felt like something he should do, and at the very least, it was something he was more than capable of.

That was why he lifted himself up from his cushioned seat, Lavimo and Haven turning up to stare at him, startled by his sudden movements within the thick silence. But he merely gave them another arrogant smirk, offering the two young adults his signature haughty smile before he opened a portal of dark, twisting shadows. He was one of the few who could teleport limitless amounts of people by opening a portal of darkness, although that was only because his concept allowed him to. It’s what made him so impressive, and part of why he was now invaluable to his kingdom’s military. So he grinned with pride, shadows swirling along his fingertip while he did.

 “So, in order to find what we’re looking for in the Oacabi Universe, we need a spellcaster, yeah? Well, luckily for you, I know just the woman,” he smiled confidently, portal of shadows opening wider for the three of them to pass through. “Her name is Artemis Luwarre, child of the moon. She’s a bit eccentric, but extremely talented nonetheless. And best of all,” his bloody eyes gleamed, “She’ll be able to guide us exactly where you want to go… right to our enemy’s lair.”