13 You're as cold as ice

His hair was something glorious, otherworldly and beautiful, rivaling the silk he was loosely draped in. It was fitting considering he wasn't just a fairy, but their king. His frosty blue locks glistened and sparkled like fresh snow; his eyes, like a summer sunset, burned brightly behind the thick strands that fell over his face as he leisurely placed his white pieces on the go board smiling seductively. "It's very unlike you to break the ko rule." He said nonchalantly.

The lich found themself lying on a chaise draped in silk and flowers unique to the fae realm. This place was all too familiar. It only took a glance for them to remember this was his room. Despite the tremendous amount of time that had passed, this was a place they could never forget no matter how much they wanted to. Glancing down at themself, they noticed their appearance resembled their first body, and whatever might have remained of their disorientation quickly vanished. Seeing him sitting across from them was unnecessary conformation. "I never agreed to play your stupid game." They said as they tried to get up from the chaise and knock the board over. However, their astral form was weak and they could barely move.

"Oh, is that so? Whenever you give up I'm more than happy to stop." The Fae King said with a half smile still looking at the board. "But for someone so insistent in not playing you've certainly made some strategic moves."

"You sent a goddess to kill me." Zion said as they continued to struggle to sit up.

"Oh is that what she told you?" He twirled a white piece between his fingers as he lifted his head with a delicate mask on his face, to look at it. "Medora, I know you know better. Firstly, I'm hurt you'd think such a thing of me. Secondly, you know very well that's impossible because you and I both know you're already dead. I admit I can be merciless, but I'm not stupid. In what reality did you think that incantation could make a goddess tell the truth? You know deities by nature are cruel, pathological liars that are only eclipsed by their own narcissism. Magic like that doesn't typically work on them." He got up from his seat and walked out to the balcony, the silk he was wearing flowing wistfully behind him as if it was moving water.

Zion stared at him utterly livid. The literal and figurative masks he was wearing were infuriating.

"You know I never cheated you, why would you try to cheat me?" He said looking out over the balcony to the horizon.

"I can't cheat at a game I NEVER AGREED TO PLAY!" Zion yelled.

"Does he know about us? That dog you keep by your side?" The Fae King said peering over his shoulder back at the lich.

"When are you going to let me go? Since the moment I left you haven't stopped chasing me." Zion wasn't going let him control the conversation.

"Medora, it's really not prudent to be coy at this stage." The Fae King looked back at the horizon leaning on the marble balcony. "You're not really obfuscating anything except to yourself. You ran off with 2/3rds of my soul and my wings, all to resurrect your lover that you cheated on me with. How stupid did you think I was, did you think I wouldn't notice and I wouldn't try to get back what you stole from me?" Thick grey clouds started to settle in the room as he talked, while his eyes slowly turned a blood red. He turned around abruptly and said. "Did you also forget the blood oath you signed?" The Fae King's voice echoed as a storm started to eminate from him. Lighting flashed through the paper with a bloody thumbprint that materialized in his hand.

Zion had remembered signing this contract, and all its sordid details. "That contract has no time frame; I have eternity to fulfill it."

"And I will chase you for an eternity if I must." The Fae King said, blood tears falling from his eyes. "How do I even know at this point you even still have these things of mine?"

"You don't." Zion was finally able to move and slowly glided over to stand in front of him. The lich reached to push some of The Fae King's long hair behind his ear while looking into his eyes, but their astral body moved through him like a ghost.

"Why did you leave me?" He sobbed.

Zion's astral body became more and more faint until they were pulled into a glowing astral tunnel. While they had severed their cord they also had put several enchantments on the grave they left Contessa in. One of them was a summon that would pull their most recent inhabited body and their soul together. They knew they couldn't count on Contessa to obey the rules, so instead they counted on her attempts to break them.