Dreamwood Manor {Fernandina Beach, Florida}

[Its Smiley]

Dorian stared at the starlight through the mansion's balcony, his pupils turning fire red. Chaos, Nikolai, Chrisoto. This war hasn't even started and already so many have died. But he knew this was coming, he knew he would have to go through this, yet it tugged at his heart. He shook his head. No, it tugged at Dragon's heart. He just wasn't used to this new body yet.

"Something troubling you?" mused the young master of the house as he entered the room, an interested look on his face.

Dorian shook his head again and turned to meet his gaze. "No, I've just been contemplating things." he said quietly.

"Is Dragon still trying to break free?" Erik said with slight malice in his tone.

Again the general's head shook. "No. Simple musings."

Erik blinked slowly and began walking towards the balcony, lifting his emerald gaze to the stars. "Quite a beautiful night. I suppose it's a better time than ever to reflect. Maybe I'll do the same."

Dorian stared at him as he spoke. Erik was such a youthful man, barely twenty, he still had yet to live life to its fullest. But his work had aged him. The burden of the deaths, of his past life, it showed on the master's face. Erik already had lines to the corners of his eyes, his emerald eyes were veiled with bitter grief and malicious intent. Dorian felt a twinge of pity for him, his youth stolen by the sins of life.
Erik stirred and glanced over at his general, and for that instance Dorian felt as if he had been caught, but he thought otherwise when he felt a swish of wind behind him and saw Erik's gaze turn to the direction it came from. He copied Erik's movements and turned to see the archangel from earlier standing at the doorway with a deeply pained look on his face.

 

[Its Smiley]

Erik leaned back in his chair at the head of the long dining table, watching Damian hungrily eat a steak and some peas and mashed potatoes to the side. "So what you're asking," he started slowly, his emerald eyes piercing against the silhouettes that danced across his estate. "is to help you with Roy?" Damian was about to speak, but Erik held up his hand in a gesture to keep him quiet, a grimace on his face as he saw the food Damian would have spit during his talk. The angel blinked and nodded, and Erik lowered his hand to join the one resting on his lap. "And he is getting married, is he?" Another nod. "Interesting." Erik's eyes glinted with amusement and his stance shifted a little. "Now tell me... Why do you want me to help Roy?"

Before Damian could even open his mouth, Erik hastily added, "But first swallow your food." The angel complied, he waited a few more minutes before swallowing his food and said, "Because it's an arranged marriage! Roy doesn't love that girl and I'm pretty sure she doesn't love him!" He slowly looked down at his hands, one holding a fork and another holding a knife. His knuckles whitened. "Myka may already be married and might even be in love again... But if I can save someone from this pain...."

Erik's eyes narrowed, though it was hidden amongst the shadows and the distance between the two. Love. He absolutely abhorred the very word. There was no point in it other than to feel an ecstasy he now received from the deaths of others. Love was only a distraction, a pointless manipulating device, and Damian was the perfect example of it. "You're willing to take the form of Roy and take his place... just for a problem that happens all the time everywhere?" he asked with obvious disbelief in his voice.

Again Damian nodded, this time with more vigor. "I've read a few stories, at least heard them. There's always an arranged marriage, but the unlucky guy manages to find his love. Roy can't leave his kingdom to find Daisy and Carnation, so I'll take his place."

"You realize how foolish you sound?" Erik murmured. He leaned forward and laced his fingers together against his lips. "What's the point of this? You'll marry someone else only so someone else can run off with their love? Don't you want to be with Myka again? Your family?"

The pained look swept over the archangel's face again. He could still remember the hatred Ben harbored for him. "They'd.... They'd rather I not be there." he said quietly and lowered his gaze to the food. He suddenly lost his appetite.

The embodiment's eyes sparkled. "Very well. I'll grant you the focus you need to keep from losing your mind. I still cannot fathom your motivation for this, but I will not stop your determination." With a sigh, Erik rose to his feet and walked towards Damian. "But first I think there's somebody you'd want to meet." he said with a dark smirk on his face.

 

[Its Smiley]

Dorian slowly stepped towards Erik, who, standing at the steps of his mansion, waved off the diminishing dot in the sky that was Damian. "Do you really think it was a good idea telling him where Grigori was?" he mentioned, growing a little tense when the young master stopped waving to let his arm fall by his side.

"Yes." was Erik's response before he glanced at the general. Dorian's serious nature always made him look so much more relaxed than the plotting, contemplating nature he was. "I still cannot fully comprehend what that boy said, but I know he's lost his family. Roy's inexperience and confusion has been more helpful than I expected. Damian is on the edge of breaking down, the very fact that he hasn't already is surprising enough. Meeting the man that pried him from his family should be the final key." He looked back forward, Damian was long gone. "Besides, the sudden realization of who this Belyi person is will shake up Nikolai, and I don't need him interfering with my plans."

 

[Its Smiley]

Some time had passed, and in that luxury time Dorian had wandered around the castle aimlessly while at the same time plotting all kinds of battles. Most of them didn't end well, not on his side. The general lowered his arm from his chin in a frustrated manner, his pupils turning vivid purple. This was completely frustrating! How did Erik expect him to control an army when there were none except for the mindless followers known as humans? Hearing a door open and close, Dorian lifted his gaze to see Erik walking in his direction. Speak of the Devil... "And how did this rally go?" the general inquired.

Erik was dressed in an soft black suit that emphasized his eyes, their emerald color practically hypnotic to any that weren't focused enough. He pursed his lips as he loosened his tie, and once he could breathe again, he addressed his general. "They follow me without hesitation, of course." he said with the faintest hint of a smirk on his elegant face. Only a week ago had he revealed himself as the all-powerful embodiment of light. Of course a few people were skeptical, but after he lit the sky up with golden fireworks shooting out of his fingertips, they became his slaves.
To nearly every Christian, he was the Second Coming. It annoyed him to be praised, but that was because he disliked religions in general. They were nothing but an interesting story in his book, and they had long lost his interest.
Nevertheless, it got people to follow him, and he needed that. It even boosted his father's company by nearly five times.
"It went well." Erik finally answered his general as he unbuttoned his coat for a casual look. He had just left from his second meeting with, well, the world. He now had influence over each continent and their government, he was getting calls left and right for questions over his powers, his insight, anything he had to offer. His phone was on silent, and he left most of the tedious advice-seekers to each assistant of his father's company. Or his company now. "Why, I think I even have the Methodists and the Buddhists under my control now." he said with almost a laugh.

Dorian only kept his gloomy expression, the only visible change being his pupils turning fire red. "And they will be our army?" he said with the frustration from earlier edging in his tone.

Erik caught it, he gave Dorian an amused lift of his eyebrow. "Of course not. They can hardly go against themselves let alone an army of elementals and Horsemen." he scoffed at the very thought. "No, there's a real army I plan to unleash.... just now, actually." he smirked and turned to face the door. "Well later. I'm famished right now."

"Oh?" Dorian mused. "An actual army? And where would we find it, prey tell?"

"The thirteenth dimension," the embodiment explained casually. "The Dimension of Darkness, where humans do not exist and only the creatures of the dark live. It's Khaso - or Roy's birthplace, and it reflects the darkness of the other dimensions, which is corrupt and evil now." He turned to stare at the fire that lit in front of the couch, reminded of his father, though no remorse showed on his face. "There's a powerful army there I'm sure I can conjure up."

"If it is truly the dimension where your opposite was born, then why would its dwellers join you?" Dorian asked slowly, as if trying to point out each hole in the plan.

And a simple glare from Erik's bright and dark eyes destroyed them. "Have I ever proved you wrong, Dorian?" he asked with a light tone, though it was the type of light that emphasized his anger. The general remained silent, and the embodiment smiled again before returning to the fire. "Besides, I wish to greet the newlyweds and my new enemy." he chuckled.
The two stayed still for so long. Erik stared at the fire with cold eyes, and Dorian watched the cunning man before him, trying to fathom how such a young man could be filled with hatred and scorn seen through ancient times. How someone so early in his years could carry the light that shined throughout the dawn of time with such elegance and precision as if it were nothing at all.
And just like that, it was over. Erik clapped his hands together and snapped the general from the thoughts he found himself going over time after time again. "Go on now," he said with an unamused look on his face. "Rest. We've a few hours before everything begins." he said, his smile heartwarming on the outside - just as everyone in the world saw - but cruel and sinister beneath it all.