The members spaced their departure from the meeting, making sure to reappear under the cover of darkness in separate districts.
All had left except Veritas (Ixion), Reina, and Yehran.
Before he was allowed to leave, a subsequent interrogation ensued. This one much more focused and personal than Ixion would have liked.
After he answered all their questions, they finally agreed to let him join for real.
Meaning, he had to swear the oath.
Ixion coughed, then, with a slight theatrical display with his hands, said:
"I solemnly swear to uphold Catatran's honor and swear fealty to this land."
Regrettably, it was a lie. One Yehran pointed out instantly.
He talked his way around it, reaffirming that his enemy was indeed Ixion — that his goal was to dethrone him.
Calling himself his own enemy seemed a bit perverse, but it was true.
Ixion didn't particularly like Ixion.
He wasn't depressed or hated himself. More so, he hated the mask of Ixion.
Hence why he enjoyed wearing the mask of Veritas.
As for his loyalty to Catatran…
He wasn't disloyal in his mind, but his future actions wouldn't allow him to justify that claim.
'I'm destined to destroy the ground we tread.'
He was going to stain the streets with the honor they swore.
Having somewhat passed this second interrogation, Veritas announced he was leaving.
When they asked where he was going, he replied:
"I'm off to seal myself in another wall! Don't worry, I'll be around if I'm needed."
A statement which a baffled Yehran confirmed was true.
Ixion escaped the nasty confines of the sewer. He sealed himself in another storehouse wall. Then exited Veritas's body and snapped back into his own.
'Ah, my head's pounding!'
He wasn't gone all too long, but he'd been eliminating his sense of smell the entire time.
Using Aether while out of his vessel caused this effect.
Soul Sickness.
Ixion grumbled as he looked around for Zabaniyah, only to find she'd disappeared.
Alone, lying on his canopied bed, Ixion's mind drifted back to the wanderer who sent him down this path.
The Wanderer of Fate, Sloth.
The woman who'd approached Despair with the directive that led him down his dark path. Who'd later approached Ixion with a similar proclamation.
Sloth's request of Ixion was to foil the plot she'd given Despair.
Quite hypocritical.
She had her reasons.
According to her…
Despair needed to be set on his path so he could take the necessary steps for Sloth's desired future.
Yet, whatever end goal he was given to motivate him wasn't the true ending Sloth desired.
Therefore, she was using Ixion as an instrument to disrupt Despair in his final act and change fate's course toward the ultimate conclusion.
'What an odd situation I find myself in!'
She'd convinced Ixion by way of showing him possible branches of Fate.
Fates so heinous that Ixion fell to his knees and swore unyielding loyalty if it meant for those branches to be obliterated.
Sadly, to make the lesser of the evils a reality, Ixion's own condemnable acts would be the evil taking its place.
'Ah.'
The lonely King sighed.
'Since I'm doing all this reflection…'
He was intent on writing the first volume of his autobiography soon.
So why not start!
The volume about his meeting with Sloth would come much later.
For now, it was time to tell the story of the Crownless King's birth and early childhood.
The story of a child of war.