Askarion:
Who is he?
What is he?
For some reason, the years before my divinity have always been… wrong. Blurred. Like something important was smudged out.
No friends. No village.
No mother.
It had always been me, Joshua and my father from the start. The only other face that ever appeared consistently over the span of a thousand years was Askarion's.
He existed at the edge of what my father called the Seeing. And when I say immortals, I mean him alone. Every other "immortal" I have encountered has been nothing more than a mindless beast wearing eternity like a curse.
My brother included.
When I waged war at my father's direction, Askarion had to give us his blessings. It was important to know our actions did not affect destiny's flow.
His eyes looked like black spheres of nothing at first glance but in reality, they were time itself.
So what is he?
He remembers things that have not happened yet. He speaks, and events rearrange themselves to agree. He carries the weight of eternity like it is nothing more than a passing thought.
He was the keeper of the universe's memories. He was the Librarian of the eternity… and a bunch of other weird titles I did not care about.
But one thing I have never known Askarion for was showing up to battle.
My father turned to us, his eyes disappointed and his lips bent in a frown.
I knew the only reason my brother and I were not getting a lecture was because his boss was here.
"Magnus," Askarion said, his voice calm, like he already knew about every bad thing that could happen at that moment.
Which he did.
"We need to stop meeting like this."
I popped my elbow into place, ignoring the excruciating pain that followed. I knew exactly what he was on about and did not want to draw the matter further.
"Why are you here?" I asked, turning from him to my father.
The truth your daddy refused to tell you. Catherine's words replayed in my head like a warped tape.
I did not want to always be the suspicious one but the truth was glaring me in the eye.
He had denied knowledge of the countdown but showed up just in time with destiny's babysitter. He had set me up with Layla all under a corporate lie, even called her the spark. Quite convenient for a fire goddess.
The fact that Joshua reached out to him was no reconciliation to the matter.
But we still had a problem at hand.
The anti god's icy prison had begun to thaw, the ice melting off rapidly. Father and Askarion turned to it.
"You should really keep better watch over your trinkets." Father grumbled, before rolling his sleeves, his muscular forearms twitching and pale.
"His presence here was unforeseen." Askarion replied. Wait what? How the hell did Askarion not foresee an event? He was supposed to know everything…he knew everything.
He turned to me and frowned, his black eyes looking sadder than they have ever been, which was a lot since he always looked sad.
"Your father will take care of the beast. You and I must find that girl."
"Can't you just deduce where she is already?" I asked. That was supposed to be his entire nature. To have the future as a memory, the past an even to look forward to, the present a paradox.
Askarion turned away and stared up into the treeline
"I cannot."
The anti god broke free of his icy prison, sending shades of chaos and ice in every direction. Trees melted at its touch and a small death zone was forming.
This was truly a formidable opponent. It reminded me of my dream in the aircraft. The monster with huge red eyes.
"Go find this girl." Father said, cracking his knuckles. "This will not take long."
****
I walked through the thickets and overgrown rush, wading through spider webs thick enough to snare a man, and other little poisons the forest laid like traps because I did not have the sense to be afraid of them.
Askarion waded ahead, his robe rolling through the dirt for what I expected to be the first time. He looked so out of place, with high cheekbones, pale skin, and a beauty too delicate for a world like this. An elf in an unforgiving grim reality.
He stopped and placed his hand on a gnarled tree, his ears pricked as he…I did not know what he was doing.
"You say you don't know where she is." I said. Askarion closed his eyes, concentrating harder.
"I said I cannot see her." He replied, still intent on whatever he was doing with the tree.
"How is that possible? Isn't your entire gimmick knowing everything?" I asked, my voice slightly carrying a hint of annoyance.
Askarion slowly opened his eyes and turned to me, an amused smile on his face. "Gimmick?"
I wiped away a fresh torrent of blood from my nose and immediately softened my tune. It would not do to anger him. "What I meant is, whatever Catherine is doing, this whole countdown. You must have seen it. What are we being prepared for?" I asked knowing what his response would be.
I had reached out to Askarion countless times, all for a glimpse of help to problems at hand, and his response had always been…
"I do not know Magnus. This is all as strange to me, as it is to you." Askarion said sadly, before finally withdrawing his hand from the tree.
"Thank you." He whispered to it, giving a nod of respect before turning to me.
"She went this way. You might need to use those tracking skills of yours."
I was still rooted to the spot, his words had been such a shock it hit like a neural blow. What the hell did he mean by not knowing? He must be lying. I looked at him, searching for a hint of untruthfulness but he just stood, watching me as well.
"I understand how hard it is to understand. I, who knows everything, now knows nothing when the problem at hand could be your death."
"That is why we must find Catherine."
He met my eyes.
"She knows what I cannot."