The Second Side of Kei

”Hoo… Looks like you finally noticed me.”

From the shadows, out came Kei, walking slowly with his hands behind him. He wore a smile on his face that did not reach his eyes. Something about Kei had seemed off, as if he was completely detached from the world. Not just Kei, the moon seemed brighter than usual, but the surrounding sky was pitch black without a star in sight. The area around Kei’s feet looked like there was grass and flowers made of ice.

”You again?! Guards—?!”

”Oh…. Don’t bother… they can’t help you… They’re a little… tied up at the moment.” Kei said while tilting his head to one side, all while maintaining the same emotion from earlier.

Wondering what Kei had meant, Sylas turned around and opened his eyes wide in shock. His guards, all of them were now frozen. To be more specific, It seemed that ice shards had sprouted from the ground and pierced them from below, starting from their legs, all the way up to their necks. The ice shards, piercing their bodies, had further spread inside them as if they were rose thorns, killing them in the process. The final result? The guards now looked like individual trees made of ice.

“What the—“

“There was something Celena and you said that had caught my attention today. That you were a Prince from the Empire of Barghest, and that you had a Celestial prototype.”

”Tch, no choice. Manifest! Bacchus, God of Wine and Madness!”

Sensing he had no choice but to resist, Sylas had called on his blessings. After his chant had ended, a goblet had appeared on his hand that endlessly overflowed with wine.

”Oh my, I didn’t think a major god from the Roman Pantheon would appear here. But…”

Kei had proceeded to snap his fingers. In the blink of an eye, the goblet held by Sylas had shattered, much to his shock.

”Did you know? Some used to say that my blessing was on the weaker side. After all, being able to control certain elements was something many could do. But little did they know, I control so much more than that. And because of you humans, I had to turn into such a monster.”

”Shit! What the hell are you?!”

Sylas was now trembling in fear at the horror of the being in front of him. After all, the complete destruction of another’s blessing was something that was completely unheard of. As he slowly backed away, he noticed there was another alley beside him and proceeded to run into it, fleeing the scene.

”Ehehe. Earth to earth.”

Kei gave a wry chuckle at the sight of the cocky foreign prince running away. As Kei proceeded to walk past the frozen guards and into the alleyway, the ice trees were slowly swallowed into the ground. In just a few moments, any traces of the guards had disappeared without a trace.

“SHIT! What the hell is he?!”

As Sylas screamed in frustration, he continued to run from Kei. As he turned a corner into another alleyway, his eyes widened in horror as he watched Kei step out from the other end of the alley.

”You know, I really was just a kind kid, but….”

Without letting Kei finish his sentence, Sylas turned around and took a different path. This time, instead of turning the left alleyway which he ran into Kei, he took the right path into a completely different direction. He was sure he had outrun Kei. As he finally saw the light at the end of the alley that led to the town square, he noticed a man leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Upon closer inspection, he immediately noticed that it was Kei.

”What?!?!”

”You humans just had to intervene.”

Once again, Sylas backed up and ran in a different direction. However, every single direction he ran, Kei appeared at the end of the alley. There was no escape. Every time he ran into him, Kei would say one sentence each time.

”We just wanted to live our lives in peace.”

”We trusted you.”

”We had loved ones too…”

”I just wanted… to live a normal life…”

After running for so long, Sylas had finally run out of breath. As he looked completely hopeless, he had realised something was in his pocket. Just then, it was as if he had a realisation.

”That’s right! The Orb of Janus! Thank god that useless guard passed it to me before he died!”

The Orb of Janus, as the name implies, was an artifact with the power to teleport the wielder to the location that was set beforehand. Artifacts are powerful magical instruments that can either be found in dungeons or it can be made by the person who has suitable blessings and skills. However, the artifacts that are made can only produce powers of the blessings that the creator has. In this case, the orb of Janus was created by someone blessed by the Roman god of passage, Janus.

”Time to get out of here. I’ll get back to Barghest, get the prototype, and declare that I was attacked in Babel…!?”

“You know, I really do want to ask about that prototype you mentioned.” Just as Sylas found the orb, Kei appeared in front of him once again.

”Dammit!”

Sylas proceeded to hold up the Orb of Janus. The orb started glowing a warm yellow before enveloping Sylas in it. Sylas had a huge grin on his face to show Kei, as if saying that he had won.

*A few moments later, Sylas had stepped out of a small portal.*

”I finally managed to get away. Just what the hell was that guy? No matter, now that I’m back in Barghest, I’m safe… eh?”

As Sylas proceeded to turn around, he realised that he couldn’t turn at all. In fact, he couldn’t move his head at all.

”Don’t you know it’s rude to just leave while someone is talking?”

The horror of hearing that dreaded voice was visible on Sylas’ face. Countless thoughts went through Sylas’ head as Kei had appeared right beside him.

‘How the hell did he follow me here?’

’Did he paralyze me?’

’How does he have so many different aspects to his power? Wasn’t he just of the ice element? Could it be, he has a blessing from a Gorgon?!’

”It’s not Medusa if that’s what you’re wondering.”

”Hii?!”

“The orb of Janus, huh? Fancy seeing the empire having such an interesting blessing within its citizens.”

Without him noticing it, Sylas was now being held up by Kei. After a few moments later, his eyes showed genuine fear at the realisation that he couldn’t feel his body. Looking down, he noticed his body was now laying on the floor, severed from his head.

”What… What did you do to me?!”

”Ah, this? Well, since you kept running away, I thought about just removing your legs, then when I thought about it, you still had your hands to struggle with. So I thought, why not just take it all away?!”

Sylas was beyond speechless. Shocked? Angry? Scared? So many emotions ran through him at once. What kind of situation had he found himself in.

”You… Do you know… *hack* What would happen… *hack* if you do this to a prince… in their homeland?!”

”Homeland?”

”Where do you think you are?! Soon, the whole of Barghest will come after you!”

”Oh right, didn’t you know? We’re still in Rovinj.”

As Kei turned Sylas’ head around, Sylas realised they were on top of the bell tower that overlooked the whole of Rovinj.

”I mean, it doesn’t take a genius to recognise such a big symbol of Janus. And it wouldn’t take much for me to just tamper with your destination a bit. Didn’t your maker tell you? Man-made artifacts are a lot weaker than natural ones.”

Sylas, realising that any resistance was futile. He had started cursing at Kei.

”You! I won’t forgive you! Even after I die, I will haunt your dreams! My brothers, my father, they will come for your head! Mark my words!”

“Hmm…” Kei looked slightly confused at what Sylas had just said.

”What?!”

”Don’t you notice something weird about the situation you find yourself in? I’ll give you a minute to think.”

As Kei sat down on the edge of the bell tower roof to look at the city, Sylas started to realise something. His head was severed. Why was he still talking? He should have died long ago.

”I— why am I still alive? Why am I still talking?! What did you do?!”

”Oh… don’t worry. You won’t die just yet. I won’t let you. And the thing about haunting me even when you’re dead? Go ahead, you are but a drop in the vast ocean doing the same. After all, I govern life and death.”

Kei, whose eyes were now glowing red on one side, smiled as he held Sylas’ head in his hand.