Rider leaned back against the charred city wall, his memories slowly fading as madness consumed his being.
For a moment he was sitting in his bedroom back at the Night Estate...
"Brother, do you think that I could play with the Dragon figure now..."
Mare had asked him innocently, but when Rider picked up the jagged model of a small house and beaten his brother's face in.
That truly marked the first moment when Rider had truly accepted his purpose.
He was always destined to be a king, a perfect and willing king. One who no one would appose, and no one would ever rebel against...
"IT IS ALL WRONG!"
He screamed, ripping at the skin on his face, thrashing around in the mud.
After moments of rage, he gripped the handle of his polearm and brought himself back.
He had a kingdom to save... Not that he cared for the kingdom, he only needed to stall until everyone was dead.
Then he could go and overthrow another kingdom, enslaving its soldiers and strongest men.
Then he would be a king once more.
"Yes... A king..."
He muttered, pulling himself up like a beast, leaning against the charred stone wall for support.
"My lord!"
An irritating voice called out, causing Rider to turn his head in revolt.
"Witless woman..."
He growled, pointing the edge of his halberd in the direction of the seer.
Normally she wore cheap clothing and a cloth around her eyes, but now she was donned in full battle armor, and had her brown hair tied back.
"King Rider... The boy, he is in the throne room, he plans on stealing your energy... We must stop him!"
The witless seer pleaded with the mighty king, limping forward as she spoke.
Rider grinned at the title.
"King?"
His grin grew.
"Yes... I am a king..."
He pushed the girl aside, walking forward as he looked up at the mighty castle before him.
Looking up in a daze, he chuckled quietly.
"I want this castle... What do you think girl? Does this castle fit me... Should I take it?"
He asked between stifled laughter, feeling himself lose all recollection of who he even was.
She nodded quickly, pulling herself back into a standing position.
He had never seen this girl before now that he thought about it, her bright green eyes were just as vibrant as the woman he had once loved.
However, it was a terrible sight to see such a lovely creature such as her bare such a striking resemblance to the boy who he had to take this castle from.
The ash smelled terrible, but Rider had no doubt that he could fix this kingdom up and make it his own.
"Come along little one... Let us kill the king... We can start a new..."
He chuckled, taking the first step up the grand staircase that led all the way up to the entrance of the castle.
...
Chase, The Nameless...
Sitting cross-legged on the bloodied floor of the throne room, Chase whistled lightly.
Around him, countless powerful soldiers and mages had been killed by his own hands.
They had put up quite a fight, but Chase found it quite simple once he began to understand the meaning of energy.
The meaning of chaos...
It had all flooded back into mind once he started to trust the energy around him.
A figure began to form on the other side of the steel sword that Chase had plunged into the ground.
Chase's sight began to return ever so slowly, yet he did not open his eyes.
He was not ready yet...
"Luna, how do I blow this place sky-high...?"
He asked, resting his chin on his fist.
She seemed to be angry, as for why she seemed angry?
How would Chase know how to understand a goddess's feelings?
He simply shrugged, and awaited her answer.
"You will need a lot of energy... And it will take much longer than we have..."
She hesitated between her words, showing that she might have been having second thoughts.
He could feel the energy of the mad king slowly nearing the start of the stairs, meaning Chase had about fifteen minutes of preparation before the true fight began.
"Just tell me how..."
He said, determination being the only emotion that truly mattered.
She sighed, slowly her energy began to disappear.
"A large blood ruin, it doesn't matter what the circle consists of, just use the sword as a catalyst and blow the castle once you have stalled for long enough... As for whether you can survive stalling, and what happens after that... I do not know..."
Chase nodded swiftly, pushing himself off of the ground as the goddess began to dissipate.
He looked around the room with his soul-sense.
The room was very large, shaped of that of an oval, with the throne at the far end of the room with a large set of doors standing behind it.
Meaning Chase needed enough of his own blood to stretch across the large radius on the room, and needed it in the span of fourteen minutes...
He took his father's dagger, resting the blade against his right hand which had no glove resting over the skin.
Then he took the last of his negative emotions, took the last of his positive emotions, and even his neutral emotions... And let all senses of regret, hope, and anxiety leave with a single breath.
Then he slashed the center of his palm, lowering his hand to the ground, as he began to draw...
He began to draw with his own blood seeping from his skin as his palm dragged across the cold floor.
Rider took another step higher onto the ground staircase, a smile resting on his face as he happily ascended to kingship.
Chase grit his teeth, letting the sigil begin to draw itself into the ground, the marking of death itself being carved from his own blood.
Rider remembered the times as a child when he felt inferior to his own brother, stepping higher and higher into his rightful kingdom.
Luna looked onward from the very top of the mighty castle, flames rising from every direction, and battles being fought as the two kings both descended into madness below her very feet.
She sighed.
"Please... You cannot lose this battle, my Champion..."
However, as she spoke the words, two more important battles began to explode with force around the kingdom.
This fight needed to wait a little longer, but two more deciding factors of the war were playing out as she watched from above.
Destiny taking place before her very eyes.
At times like this, Luna wished that she had her own god that she could pray too.