In the next instant, after having my heart grabbed, I was in a white room with decorations everywhere. It was something I would imagine to be the the imperial castle of the kingdom. A person was looking through the window. But I had no idea what he was looking at. It seemed like outside the windows was just a vast nothingness.

From what I could tell, the man was about my height with a sturdy build, and had black hair. I wasn’t prepared from what I saw next. He turned around and revealed his familiar face and blue eyes that could chill someone’s soul. It was my father who died 9 years ago.

“Hello, my son.” His voice carried a deep longing.

“But...you’re supposed to be dead.” I was scared, first a reaper grabs onto my heart and now my dead father appears before me. I came to a simple conclusion, “Am I dead, too?” White room, lack of pain, and my deceased father- the pieces fit together quite nicely for me to be dead.

“Neither of us are dead, Noctis.” He was serious; if he wasn’t his face didn’t give away any sign of lying.

“Where are we then?”

“My home. I used the sword’s spirit to pull your consciousness here.”

“I assure you, my father didn’t have that any kind of power like that. He died because he was weak and placed in the army.” I was sure that there was someone who was impersonating my father, or I was hallucinating.

“Noctis, you are my son. The son of Victus Lucifer, more formally known as just Lucifer, the most powerful of Seven Sovereigns of Hell.” He was claiming to be a power that could rival the gods, and that I was his son. It’s not something I could just believe because he looks like my father.

“You carry my blood, boy. Why else do you think that dragon bothered with you? If it was just raw emotion he would have lifted his head, thought about it for a second, then went back to sleep. What really caught his attention was your blood. The blood of a half daemon. You’re a rare existence, and while there are quite a few like you in your realm, none of them could even stand in your shadow in terms of power.”

I didn’t understand. I couldn’t understand. I didn’t want to understand.

“So you’re strong? So what? It’s a laughable strength if you left Mother and I if nothing but sadness and hardships. I’d rather be the son of a weak man who tried to protect his family, rather than someone who has ‘strength’ and can’t even take care of his own. If you’re really my father then do me a favor and return me to my realm. Seeing you makes me sick, you’re mocking my old man.” I lashed out in response. I was confused, scared and tired.

He gave me a solemn look and said with sincerity, “I’m sorry, Noctis. I have no excuse good enough for abandoning you and your mother for all these years.” He walked toward me and placed his hand on my shoulder. I clenched my jaw and held my eyes closed shut in a failed attempt to hold back my tears. “You’ve grown strong.”

I looked up and wiped away my tears, trying not to show any more weakness than I already had. “I’m sorry I left you all alone.” He hugged me for a few seconds before sitting me down on a chair and sat across from me.

The longer I looked at him the more details about him I noticed. He was nice clothing, since he was a big shot here. Every other feature was identical to how he looked 9 years ago. The pitch black hair without a single gray hair sight. A neatly trimmed five 0’clock shadow covered most of his face. And his eyes held a sadness in them that could be shown after losing what was important to him.

He began to tell me the story of what events had unfolded after he was forced into the military. “After completing the basic training, I was assigned to a regiment that was informally known as the suicide regiment. It was filled with people who the military was willing to sacrifice. After a few days we were assigned to assault the country of Ignis, which borders the kingdom on the east.”

Ignis was a country whose size was compared to the kingdom. Their culture was vastly different and from what I’ve heard it was a much happier place to be. That’s all I know since the kingdom preaches that all other countries are far worse than it. Talk of otherwise is considered a crime and punishable by death.

“As we approached the border, since I had no interest in fighting that country's war, I killed the entire regiment myself and then disappeared. I would have come home, but after killing in such a fashion the ‘gods’ were unhappy and told me to return back to hell. The human realm is the only one that is linked to every other realm. While other realms could be linked together, it was nothing to the scale of the human one. Whoever control it has immense power of the rest of the realms and the heavens feared that I was aiming to take over. If I didn’t leave they would have launched a full scale war against me and would have killed you and your mother. In order to protect you from that fate, I left. I can’t return any time soon either. As long as your mother is within the kingdom, they can kill her faster than I can get there to protect her.”

With a snap of his finger, a necklace appeared. It was not anything spectacular, but it was still beautiful. It was crafted with a steel chain and a small black gemstone was clasped onto it.

“Bring this to your mother. While she’s wearing it I can teleport to her instantly even if it’s across dimensions. However you mustn't tell her that it’s from me. I cannot give you anything of the sort for yourself. I don’t want to have a wastrel for a son who relies on the power of his father, not even once. Your mother is different. While you have strength, she doesn’t. Your mother has a pure soul, much like that girl you’ve been flirting around with. The only difference is that she is completely incapable of hurting others.”

He also told me the story of how he met my mother, but that was too long and drawn out. It was the typical ‘I came here to destroy this world,’ type thing until he saw my mom who had a pure soul, blah blah blah.

“As for you, since you’re both human and daemon, you have the power to use your bloodline and a contract. Contracts only form with humans, since mythical beasts are completely unwilling to submit to daemons. My ‘contract’ was fake and I simply used magic that I already had at a minimum in order to not stand out.”

“How do I use my bloodline then?”

“Oh simple, through countless years of bloodshed and killing.”

Please, please be a joke. It’s not a joke is it. “I already came up with a plan for you to awaken it. My consciousness controls the labyrinth. After I saw you enter I shifted the labyrinth around and had you pass through with relative ease. The rest of the monsters are in the hundreds of floors underneath you right now. Originally the sword was down on the bottom, but since it’s my legacy I figured I’d give it to you before placing you at the bottom floor.”

Wait a second. Is this man really my father. Is there a parent in the world who claims to love their son one moment and then plunges him into a deathtrap the next? I THINK NOT!

“You’re forbidden from using your contract during this time, as I disabled it temporarily. You’re not even allowed to summon your armor or wings. Forge your way back from the depths of the labyrinth with nothing but that sword and your own strength. And if you’re worried about food and water, don’t be. As your daemon bloodline wakes up, the blood of your enemies will nourish you!” He was laughing as he said that last sentence. And as a test I tried to will my armor and wings to appear, but nothing happened. I couldn’t feel Exidium’s presence either.

“One last thing. Before you give your mother that necklace, don’t even think about using your bloodline in the outside world. You’ll become a monster that the heavens will stop at nothing to kill or hurt you especially while you’re weak and still growing. That includes killing your mother without a second thought. If you do so, I will personally teleport to where you are and execute you on the spot for disobeying me.”

Heartless! Evil! This man is Evil! Then I thought about it for a second. He is a Sovereign of Hell. But thanks to the warning, I could prevent my mother from dying a meaningless death.

“I understand.”

“I’ll return your consciousness back to your body, claim your sword when you’re ready. You’ll be transported to the bottom floor once you remove it from the pedestal. Don’t bother trying to escape either, I sealed the way back. I wish you the best of luck, my son. Walk with pride, but don’t let it be your downfall.”

With that I took one last look at the man before me as my vision faded away he was smiling at me. When I came to I was standing upright. The reaper was nowhere to be seen, but the ominous air around the sword didn’t fade a bit.

I walked up to the sword and as soon as I touched it, I knew the name of the sword.

“Oblivion.” As I said that, I pulled the sword out of the pedestal and prepared for the hardest trial I’ve ever had to face.