"He's waiting inside."
Gabriel spoke from the side as he excused himself from the room.
- Thud
The door closed behind him quietly, and he was left alone once again.
Vlad stood there, watching the door in front of him that led to his father's office. It wasn't a white door like most you would see in this building; rather, it was made of bright, brittle wood that didn't fit this citadel. It wasn't particularly big either, the same size as the door to Vlad's room.
Around him was a small guest room with a floor of grey tiles and some sofas to sit on. It was filled with different decorations such as potted plants, a coffee table, and many famous paintings of distant landscapes, as well as large portraits of his father's face that never changed.
He looked similar to Vlad, but also slightly different.
He had a stern, aged face that made him look mature but also handsome in a way. With short pitch black hair with streaks of grey that made him look older and silver-stained steel pauldrons on his shoulders, he was a one-of-a-kind delver someone could only dream of being. Accompanying his features was also a pair of dark, droopy eyes that hid something within, a darkness Vlad himself couldn't grasp after many years of seeing him face-to-face, and a scar right under them with a faint red trickle of blood tracing a straight line down to his throat, looking just like Vlad's.
Watching it, he didn't notice his hand drifting to his eye unconsciously, tracing the very line both he and his father had. His finger grazed it, sending a jolt of pain through his cheek. His finger flinched, but continued to trace it, drawing a small line of fresh blood.
'...'
"It hurts, doesn't it?"
'!'
He didn't move an inch, standing in the same place and admiring the portrait just as he had a second ago. His face was dull, with no emotion to show, but inside, he was completely different.
'When did he get here?'
Vlad was sure that he hadn't let down his guard even once since he started to train with Cesar.
It was just a few minutes after he came here, and there were no signs of anyone entering. The door that should have been closed and impossible to get through was still in its very place. From the corner of his eye, he could see his father's tall frame, his shadow, that fell over him.
He thought for a moment, reminding himself of the power he had, unlike those of ordinary; he was, after all, a diamond-ranked delver, but someone like him should still make a sound, even if it were a gust of wind.
'Did he wait here even before I came?'
It was possible; there was no other way for someone to enter without making a sound, a sound which Vlad couldn't hear at that. Maybe he really waited here, just for him...
'Ridiculous.'
Sweat formed on his face as the presence of his father intensified, his voice coming once again from beside him, low and heavy.
"This scar..." He raised his arm to his eye, similarly to Vlad. "It makes you really think of yourself as someone at the bottom."
His shadow disappeared, prompting Vlad to look back and watch as his fathers got closer to the door of his office. He opened it, looked at Vlad from the side, and added with his usual indifferent gaze.
"Come in, we have a lot to talk about."
...
"Take a seat, it won't take long."
He said as he sat behind his broad desk. The chair scraped against the floor for a second, and then again after his father sat down and put his palms together, laying them on the desk.
Looking around, he found himself a chair just like the one his father had, albeit a little smaller. He pulled it up to the desk and sat in front of it, looking down at the desk and trying to avoid his father's eyes.
Then, his eyes widened briefly as he noticed a picture frame at the side, hidden right behind a small stack of papers and a crystal lamp.
'Is that...?'
"You must know why I brought you here."
His voice shook him awake like cold water, bringing his head down.
'Really?'
His father spoke in a manner of a person who already knew everything and anything that he was doing; his gaze was fixated on him, unreadable and yet so intense that it could dig two holes at the back of his skull.
"However, I changed my mind."
'?'
His father stood up all of a sudden, making Vlad's head drop lower, low enough for his face not be seen by him. The clank of his shoes was as loud as thunder in the quiet office, spreading through the walls up to Vlad's legs, which could feel his every individual step.
"I have spoken with Cesar lately."
Vlad shuddered.
His father's gaze sharpened.
"And I came to a certain conclusion..."
He stopped abruptly, standing in front of a window that was closed by a pair of crimson-stained curtains. And he spoke, like his words alone held the weight of an abyss.
"People... tend to forget that this place is only held by a single individual."
These words made Vlad fall into thought. Who could he be talking about? Was he speaking of his uncle? Golden Boy? Or was it another of the four great delvers-
"They get careless, arrogant even... Some think they are important, that they deserve to live under their protection without paying any price in return, as if this life was for granted."
Vlad licked his dry lips. Glancing to the side.
"They don't seem to notice the importance of power, the way it can hold an entire world, and the very strength holding it in place can be used to crush it."
"Everyone chases that strength, trying to climb higher with each step towards it, closer and closer they give it their all like their lives are secondary to that strength until they inevitably grasp it by the threads... And fall, fall just like they deserve."
He tried to meet his gaze but failed miserably.
"Because after you chase the very strength that holds this world, you need to also abandon it, make it something lesser to you, and the past to which you have to turn your back. Forget the trivial things which you deem important and focus solely on achieving your goal."
His voice came to a stop, setting the place into a chilly atmosphere of frozen time.
Father's eyes never left his son, staying fixated on his shaking frame that seemed to want to say something but instead held itself back. He sat on the little chair, with muffled gasps for air escaping his wet lips.
Vlad closed his eyes, his palms turning into fists as they dug deeper into his knees. He bit his lip, drawing a small trail of blood that dripped down onto the clean, wooden floor.
"So tell me, Son."
Vlad opened his eyes in disbelief, caught off guard, he raised his head by instinct and met his father's gaze.
His father looked at him, not making any particular expression except for a slight frown, barely noticeable by anyone, especially by someone like Vlad.
"Will you abandon that power and stay here, chasing that endless strength?"
"Or will you throw away the world that holds this strength, and chase your goal?"