Behind the Curtains

Around the same time that Vahn was showing Nero around the castle, a young man could be found sitting in his bed, a lit cigarette in his mouth as he leaned against the headboard. His eyes glowed an eerie bluish-purple color, a thoughtful expression in his eyes. Next to him, a young woman with blue hair tossed about in her sleep, her right hand clinging to his body; seemingly afraid he would vanish, leaving her alone once again...

Seeing Ciel toss and turn about, Shiki released a tired sigh as he gently stroked her head, whispering, "I'm still here...it's okay...", his voice tinged with care and concern. This caused Ciel to eventually relax her body, a contented smile replace the fretful expression marring her pretty face.

With his star-crossed lover sleeping more peacefully, Shiki allowed a small smile to touch his lips; for a brief moment. In truth, his heart was restless while his mind was plagued with complex emotions, most notably: helplessness, frustration, and a bittersweet feeling he couldn't quite put into words. He never imagined he would be thrown into this kind of situation, one where he received much but lost even more.

It was no secret to the girls that had traveled with him but, long before setting out on his journey, Shiki had wanted to meet with Aoko and Arcueid again. To finally reunite with them after all this time, only to find they had fallen to the clutches of some tyrannical Emperor...he couldn't help but feel as though fate had played a trick on him. Both girls may attest to the fact that Vahn wasn't an evil person, a sentiment shared by Ciel, but Shiki couldn't accept this after knowing what the so-called Sage Emperor had done to the rest of the world...

Unfortunately, despite his efforts to convince the girls they were being manipulated, Shiki was met with disappointment as they unanimously told him he was misunderstanding things. Worse still was the fact that Aoko, in particular, told him there was no sense in trying to oppose Vahn. The power he wielded wasn't something that could be resisted and, while the actions he had taken were inarguably extreme; the end result would change the world for the better.

The final nail in the coffin, leading Shiki to his current state, was that there wasn't a single line visible on Vahn's body. His Mystic Eyes of Death Perception allowed him to actualize the death of all things by striking minuscule lines that existed in virtually everything. Using these lines, he could even break a magically reinforced barrier with something as simple as a chopstick, ignoring any resistances and destroying things so completely they turned into dust.

Throughout his entire life, Shiki had only ever encountered two beings that lacked lines of death, the first being the unsealed Arcueid and the second being Vahn himself. This implied that no matter the circumstances, it was virtually impossible to kill them. Rather, the concept of death itself didn't seem to apply to them; something that, on its own, was a terrifying concept...

Fortunately, the mission Vahn had assigned him was relatively simple: the establishment of a task force that specialized in the hunting of immortal creatures; specifically those who fed off the life force of others, violating the Common Law of the Empire. Though this effectively made him a dog of the Empire, Shiki still accepted the task as it gave him the opportunity to escape Avalon and regroup with his former allies. They all possessed some form of immortality and, according to Ciel, some had even returned to reside at his old home, protecting his sister and serving their family.

Even if it seemed an impossible task, Shiki was determined to expose Vahn's treachery and restore order to the world. He wouldn't allow the so-called Emperor to rule over the planet with impunity as, no matter his justifications, the methods he used to establish his rule were unacceptable. Billions of people would die due to his selfishness so, platitudes aside, Vahn was the perpetrator of the most heinous massacre in Earth's history. Other tyrants simply couldn't compete so, even if he had the best of intentions, Vahn's actions disqualified him as a ruler...at least in Shiki's mind...

---

From within his tower, now reminiscent of a battlefield, Merlin sat observing Shiki's, and virtually everyone else's minds. Artoria and the others may have left him with panda eyes and mussed hair but, immediately after their departure, Merlin resumed his usual demeanor as he sat silently in his chair, fulfilling one of his most important duties.

Seeing Shiki's rather dangerous thoughts, Merlin couldn't help but lightly chuckle, finding the man's sense of justice to be amusing; to say the least. It was always interesting to see the thought process people used to convince themselves their view was the correct one, often ignoring everything that contradicted their perspective. The young man ignored the fact that Vahn had already set the world on its current path so, even if he someone managed to defeat him, it wasn't as if the world would return to its previous state. Rather, as a result of his actions, a greater number of people would die but, for the very same reasons he considered Vahn an evil person, Shiki completely ignored this as he wouldn't be 'directly' responsible for their deaths...

This was one of the things that had always bothered Merlin about Heroes as, on a fundamental level, they were all exceptionally selfish people. While Vahn wasn't exactly without fault, he was, at the very least, aware of the consequences of his actions. He never tried to escape his own accountability and, before he even took action, accepted he would be treated as an evil Tyrant. This was a degree of wherewithal possessed by very few. Most people would go to extreme lengths to justify their actions and paint themselves in a positive light; Heroes being the most notorious examples of this truth.

Fortunately, while Shiki was capable in his own right, he fundamentally lacked the ability to oppose Vahn, much less the Empire. He might be able to kill almost anything with his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception but these weren't exactly a unique trait. There were also several entities affiliated with the Empire that were completely immune to their effect so, even if events transpired to empower the man's skewed sense of justice; he would hit a wall immediately after taking action. Vahn could, at times, be exceptionally magnanimous but, the moment you touched his bottom line, death was all but a certainty...

After implanting the thought that Shiki should bide his time until the world began to stabilize, Merlin turned his attention to the far more interesting topic: the interactions between Vahn and Nero. While he would never admit to it, even when Artoria was beating him, Merlin had a soft spot for all women that shared her appearance. For reasons he was unable to ascertain, these women almost always had a life marred with tragedy so, while it may earn him the ire of several people, Merlin exploited Vahn's character in order to change the penultimate fate of these tragic women.

Merlin's only complaint about the current situation was that Vahn hadn't summoned the actual Nero, meaning the young woman who had taken her own life, desperately craving the love of even a single person, still died amidst pain and loneliness. Though Vahn would undoubtedly save the Heroic Spirit version of the same lonesome woman, Merlin would have preferred he saved the original from her final moments. Fortunately, it shouldn't take much to convince him to infuse the spirit of the original into the current Nero, melding the two into a singular entity...

Since these were matters for the far future, Merlin set them aside within the compartments of his mind. Instead of focusing on them, he watched with a smile on his face as Vahn displayed his usual tell-tale signs of noticing something was wrong regarding another person's behavior. This was one of the more curious aspects of the otherworldly Emperor as, despite lacking the ability to peer into the minds of others, his empathy and attention to detail allowed him to quickly realized when others were in pain.

Now, Vahn was escorting Nero around the castle, introducing her to the other residents and showing her all the more interesting places to visit. At the same time, he dutifully observed each of Nero's reactions; an obvious attempt to gauge the feelings she kept hidden beneath an unfathomably complex series of mental blocks. In fact, probing her mind was like trying to navigate a maze, one that was constantly changing shape as if to both keep people out and keep something else locked away.

If given enough time, Merlin would be able to penetrate Nero's mental defenses but, rather than trigger a negative reaction, he opted to let Vahn wear her down. Even now, sections of her mind were giving way to his influence as, with each passing moment, Nero gained a better understanding of Vahn's intentions. She was used to people admiring, praising, adoring, and even worshipping her, all without any real effort on her part. Vahn, however, looked at her with clear concern visible in his gaze; slowly chiseling away at her defenses.

Unless he sent them away to deal with a task, it was only a matter of time before most women fell in love with Vahn. Goddesses and Heroes were no exception to this as constant exposure to someone that expressed their care and concern was almost irresistible, especially when said person wielded a considerable amount of power and authority. Everyone sought purpose in life so, if they could fulfill a grander purpose, all while living beside someone that constantly empathized with them, even the most stalwart individuals would eventually crack.

This was something Merlin was aware of but seeing Vahn at work was always an interesting sight to behold. It seemed like he didn't even need to make an effort but, if you observed closely, it became very apparent that Vahn measured almost all of his actions based on anticipated responses. He was constantly paying attention to even the most minute details, adjusting his own behavior and tone to leave the deepest impression on the other party. Really, it was a little ridiculous to witness as, even after two years of observing the man work, Merlin couldn't quite fathom how he managed to pull it off...

In truth, Vahn had conditioned himself through excessive use of the View Affection system function. Though he had stopped relying on it to dictate his behavior, it wasn't as if his body and mind had forgotten how to interact with women the moment it was turned off.

While he couldn't exactly read them like a book, Vahn had learned to pay attention to the subtle cues in a person's behavior and, always aiming to make the people around him happy, his behavior was subconsciously influenced by his past experiences. Obtaining a Sex Divinity only made him more sensitive to these things as, even without View Affection active, he could sense the wants and desires of the people around him. This had turned him into a natural casanova as it also made him naturally receptive to fulfilling these desires; similar to a compulsion.

Though he had gotten good at controlling these urges, Vahn couldn't exactly turn them off without effectively discarding his own Divinity. Since it helped 'a lot' when dealing with his expansive harem, this wasn't exactly an option so, while interacting with Nero, he could only do his best to ignore the heated gaze she would periodically throw his way; seemingly just to tease him. Then, as if he was the one radiating perverted thoughts, Nero would point out that there was no shame in lusting after her body, claiming it was a natural response before droning on about her greatness...

(A/N: I'm going to be out today so I wrote this chapter to let you know while also alluding to some of the things going on in the background. People tend to forget just how 'comprehensive' things are within the Empire, especially when it comes to monitoring. Vahn's vision of the world doesn't include a lot of privacy but, when literal omniscient beings exist, privacy is just an illusion xD...)

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