Oswin sits on his throne with a frown on his face, listening to a man frantically talking to him.

“It was like an invisible man was attacking us, I could have sworn it was a palm that struck me in the chest. And Charles blessing was ripped out of his hand right when we were about to attack.”

Oswin taps his head and ponders what he was just told.

“So you’re saying that Declan confronted you saying he wanted to come back into our good graces, and you attempted to attack him as instructed to. But before you could, an invisible man stole the blessing from Charles and struck you away. But when did Declan meet an invisible man, and why wouldn’t they strike you right away?”

He runs his hand through his hair and begins to mutter to himself.

“Were they waiting until the blessing was shown? Yeah, that’s a possibility. Then it’s possible that there goal wasn’t to just defeat them, but to steal the blessing. But why? Did Declan want something to protect himself? No he wouldn’t intentionally aggravate us to do that, I’m sure he knew I didn’t intend to hurt him if he didn’t come back. But then why would he attack us… Was it maybe not his idea? It’s possible that it could be the invisible man's idea, but that raises the issue on who exactly the invisible man is. Unless… It’s the man who killed Felix! I might be jumping a little here, but it would all make sense.”

Oswin begins to laugh, and the man in front of him looks on confusedly, shaking from a combination of fear and nerves.

“Hahahaha! So this invisible man killed one of my subordinates, and then also convinced Abaddon's protege to abandon our group and even revolt against us! Magnificent, what an interesting turn of events. It’s been a while since things have been this tense. I’m even tempted to go deal with this myself, but who deals with bugs with their bare hands? No, I will use one of my Seraphims for this. But the question is which one… Hmm”

The man who brought this to Oswin’s attention stands before him looking even more confused than before and silently thinks to himself.

“(It’s like he’s not even acknowledging that I’m here anymore, he’s so self engrossed. He really does have the aura of being above someone, even though I’m in the same room as him I feel like I can’t address him without his permission.)”

Oswin still continues to talk to himself, running out multiple scenarios of who he should send to deal with Declan and Sokar.

“Cassiel maybe? Hmm, her Heavens Thread would easily lock down any movement from Declan at least, and she could form a barrier around her that would prevent the invisible man from getting close without alerting her. Azrael would be able to slow Declan down with Heavens Pressure but we don’t know what kind of essence this invisible man has, so I think I’ll abstain on sending him. Sariel isn’t combat oriented so he’s off the table for sure. That leaves Abbadon… If I want raw strength alone he’s the one to send, but his past relationship with Declan will make this tricky. So it looks like the best option is Cassiel then.”

As Oswin finishes his decision the door leading to his throne room is thrown open and a towering man walks through, his every step carrying a huge weight that threatens to break the floor beneath him. Oswin looks surprised at the man coming in and begins to speak.

“Abbadon! What brings-”

“You’re going to send someone to deal with Declan, and that person will be me.”

Oswins eye twitches as Abbadon speaks to him in such a direct tone, and quickly responds to him with a mocking tone.

“Well, I’m sorry to say that you’re wrong, I had actually decided already to send Cassiel, so you can leave.”

“What you decided doesn’t matter, I will go to deal with Declan.”

The man who had reported the incident to Oswin quickly stands in front of Abbadon and looks up at his towering form, yelling about his disrespect.

“How dare you talk to Lord Oswin like that! Who do you think you are?!”

Abbadon looks down at the man with a scowl and with a simple swipe of his arm he sends the man flying across the room, his body crashing into the wall and crumpling down.

“You have no place in this conversation, so don’t butt your damn head into it!”

Abbadon looks at the man and then turns back to Oswin staring him down. Oswin returns the glare but eventually gets tired of it and sighs.

“Fine, you can go after him in whatever way you see fit. I don’t like how you’ve openly disrespected me, but we’ve known each other for long enough that I can tolerate it. I want you to do one thing though. At the place Declan’s now working, That cafe in the city. There was a young man with a terrifying essence. Confront him, I can’t say for certain but I believe he has something to do with all this.”

Abbadon nods and leaves, leaving Oswin and the now broken man alone together. He looks at the crumpled body and smirks, again beginning to talk to himself.

“Abbadon has always been this way, he’s the only man who ever dares to talk to me in such a way. And why wouldn’t he? He’s strong, there’s no doubt about it. And with Heaven’s Step, he is invincible.”

As Oswin continues to sit on his throne and Abbadon begins his preparation, Sokar and Declan sit at a table in Cafe Lustrous, talking about the day.

“So how was the shift today? You starting to get the hang of being a waiter?”

“Yeah, to be honest it was really difficult starting but I think I’m doing well now, and the people here tip pretty nicely too.”

It feels so weird, talking about this after what we did in the morning. I guess it’s even weirder when I consider that he was going to kill me.

Declan seems to mull something over in his head and then awkwardly begins to talk.

“So uh… I’ve been meaning to ask and I know this is probably gonna be pretty rude but what’s up with the name. No offense, but you don’t look Egyptian.

Everyone asks this question eventually, it was just a matter of time until he did too. I don’t blame anyone though, I’d have the exact same reaction.

“Well, my parents are kind of… dumb? They told me that when I was born they were in Egypt doing their work as archaeologists. And they said that as a way to honor the place they named me after Seker the god of the memphite necropolis. Because I mean, why wouldn’t you name your kid something normal like John, Dave, or Danny. What kind of problems could having a super strange name bring to a kid? God, sorry to rant their but it really has brought me my fair share of grief. I mean, I always used to get trash from… uh... “

Flashes of the boy who sat next to Sokar in his class begin to appear in his head. Eventually the memory of him being skewered also flash up. But, Sokar’s face fills with confusion from the memories.

That’s….Who is that? Why do those memories seem so foggy? It’s like they’re getting further and further away.

Sokar almost falls into a trance thinking of the boy but his mind is snapped back to reality by Declan, and the memories of the boy disappear from his thoughts just as fast as they appeared.

“Yeah, Sorry for asking but it was really eating away at me. Your parents are archaeologists though? That’s really cool, and I guess they must be pretty good at their job if they can afford all those rooms at your apartment complex. You said what, you own the entire fourth and third floor?”

Right… That was weird, I almost lost myself for a second.

“Yeah, my parents didn’t really want to buy a house on the outskirts of the city, and they didn’t want to get a super fancy apartment in the middle of the city either. So they decided to just buy a nice one in between. But then they got nervous when I was a kid so they bought out the third and fourth floor so I could play safely. Considering they leave me alone for months on end when they go on their cross the globe trips though, I don’t really think they care for my safety anymore.”

Sokar looks pretty annoyed when he says that and Declan laughs.

“Man, you look so annoyed when you talk about your parents. That’s pretty funny. Uh, quick change of topic I know but are you really ok with me staying there? I mean… I did try-

Declan is interrupted by Alice taking a seat at his and Sokars table, no longer in her usual uniform as she just got off her shift.

“You two both ordered two hours ago and yet you’re still here talking away. Sokar never was much of a talker, so I’m pretty surprised.”

Hearing Alice say that Declan again laughs, and so does Sokar. But Sokar’s joy is short lived, as seeing Alice reminded him of the morning and the reason he decided to wage war on Oswin’s group.

If I don’t follow through and completely stomp out Oswin’s group, it’s possible something as simple as this could never happen again. But am I strong enough to fight one of the seraphims or even Oswin? I don’t know the answer to that question, and that terrifies me. Greed is strong, but Declan was managing to resist it when I fought him, and the First Day has no practical use in an actual fight. If only I had something more… Something I could truly call my ace in the hole.

As Sokar begins to get lost in thought, his Essence begins to move which is noticed only by Declan. It wraps around his body looking like a black vapor covering him. Seeing this Declan internally worries but he manages to keep a steady face not alerting Sokar.

“(What the hell? I know Sokar’s Essence is different from other people’s but I’ve never seen anything even close to what’s happening right now.)”

The black vapor then begins to solidify until it forms into what looks like a small dragon with grey scales covering its body. Two small horns protrude from its head, it’s eyes remain closed and small wings slightly flap on its back, keeping it in the air above Sokar’s head.

My head feels a bit cold, is there a draft coming in from somewhere?

The little dragon opens its mouth, letting a small high pitched roar that only Declan can hear, one which resembles a baby's first cry. And as that cry is let out, the pollution that Felix described that had invaded not only Alice’s body but the customers of the store and Declan too, began to leave their bodys in the form of the same vapor that had just covered Sokar’s body. The vapor all heads towards the little dragon, which opens its mouth and gladly begins to consume it. Once all the vapor is gone, the dragon lets out a little yip and sets down onto the tops of Sokar’s head curling up into a ball.

Huh? It’s not cold anymore but now my head feels kind of heavy, just what’s going on right now?

Declan's face now openly shows shock as he stares at the little dragon resting on Sokar’s head. He quickly thinks and decides he has to tell Sokar as soon as possible about what he just saw.

“Oh man! Sokar, if we don’t hurry now we’re gonna be late for the painters we hired for my apartment! We gotta go, like right now!”

Painters? What is he talking about, we didn’t hire any painters.

Alice sighs and looks at Sokar with a look of disappointment, as she knows that he wouldn’t forget something like that. But she realizes that there must be some importance to the two of them leaving quickly so she doesn’t call Declan out about it, especially after just seeing Declan’s face filled with shock.

“I was hoping I could to talk to you two a bit more but oh well. I’ll see you two tomorrow. (I don’t know what it is but there seems to be something going on between those two, it’s really weird that Sokar just introduced him out of the blue. But I shouldn’t pry, I’m sure Sokar has his reasons.”

So both Declan and Sokar leave Cafe Lustrous and begin to head back to their apartments. And while they’re on their way Declan looks back and forth waiting until hearing and seeing nobody until he stops Sokar.

Hmm? Declan looks a bit off, like he’s riled up about something. I wonder what it could be.

“Sokar, I don’t really know how to say this so I’m just gonna say exactly what I see. There’s a uh, dragon sleeping on your head.”

….What?