The Golden Realm

Coming out of the teleportation portal, the five of us immediately end up at the entrance to the actual realm. And it's quite the entrance actually. A 25-feet-tall golden door stands in front of us, slowly being opened by the two who came to greet us.

It's also weird how the door looks like it's just a monument on the side of the path and doesn't lead to anywhere if you look at it from the side but if you look at it from the front, a somewhat dark and large lobby-like place appears.

"Hey Roswaisa, how many Asteroid Realms have you been to?" I ask while turning to her.

"0" She replies casually with a smile.

"… Was that a joke?" I never took her to be the type to make jokes and all but well, I guess appearances can be deceiving …

"No, I am serious. I have never been to an Asteroid Realm before." … or not.

"Sir," After opening the door wide, the two of them come and say in coalition, "Please proceed!

"Sure!" Danny says and happily starts walking. So does Roswaisa. Why would I not then?

But, there's just a little thing that I noticed just now. For whatever reason, I feel like these two aren't bowing to Danny or Roswaisa, but just me. We are all visitors to this realm, so they should show respect to all of us. And I guess me being in the center might be the reason why I am mistaking something like this but I don't think they are.

"Uh, Danny," I whisper to him, "Ask them something?"

"Like what?" He makes a confused face.

"Anything." I say.

"Alright, fine!" He raises his voice enough for them to be able to hear and asks, "Pardon me for this, but what is the name of this realm?"

Without turning back, the woman replies with, "We aren't supposed to answer questions. We are just supposed to lead visitors in."

That … is probably a lie. I mean, when I asked how much time would it take to get here, they answered. So, let me try it again.

"Alright, you two, what is the name of this realm?" I ask. Danny shows me a frown but before he can say anything,

"This realm is known as Glice, sir." The same woman answers.

"…"

"…"

"…"

Glice, huh? Yeah, that kinda answers more of my queries than I had thought it would. Now I just have to make sure of this theory.

I turn to Danny and then to Roswaisa as I ask, "Is it what I am thinking it is?"

Danny nods with a frowning expression and says, "Yeah, it definitely is. Planetary Realms are realms created by God, also known as the Higher One. Asteroid Realms are realms created by those lower to him in power, which basically means every single living being in the universe."

Well, that's what it seems I guess.

"That's true. But," Roswaisa says with a troubled expression, "Usually, only higher-class Angels or higher-class Demons have the power to create Asteroid Realms of their own. But, if we are to base the creator of this realm based on the realm's name, then …"

She trails off for whatever reason, but she is right on the money. If we follow logic here, the creator of this realm should be someone from my family, Glice family. While that definitely fits well with the 'doctor', a member of this family, having the mirror to this realm with him and leaving it where we found it, it creates more mysteries than it solves.

Does this all mean someone in my family, a forefather or something, was a higher-class Angel or Demon?

And whoever it was who created this realm, who is the current ruler? Only one person comes to mind for that question.

"Well, why don't you just ask all that?" Danny suggests. It's a good suggestion, actually. Since these two are willing to answer my questions, why not ask them all I want to ask.

"You two! Answer something for me, will you?" I start with that just to make sure they are listening, "Who is the person who currently rules this realm?"

The man, casually says, "That would be your father."

"Tsk!" Well, there's that. I continue though, "And who is the one who created this realm?"

He answers me in the same voice again, "The demon known as Lucifer."

"Wait! What!" Danny says in astonishment. Roswaisa too is left astonished, so much so in fact that she is unable to say anything.

"How … did my father become the ruler then? Did Lucifer give it to him?" I ask.

"Yes, he did." He says.

I see. But, why would he do that?

"Did …" Roswaisa hesitates at first, but then asks in a clear voice, "Did he give this realm to Irium's father willingly?"

"I am sorry but we can't-"

"Answer that!" I yell.

"…" With a little pause, the man does answer, "No. He did not give it willingly. The throne of the realm was bet on a duel between the two, and your father got the realm by winning that duel."

That's … downright insane! My father won a duel against Lucifer!? Are you kidding me!?

"Why do you all look so surprised?" A new voice comes at us. As soon as it does, the two leading us move aside. Only then do we notice that the somewhat dark lobby-like area we had entered in has been crossed and the actual realm is now before our eyes.

And looking at it – reminds me of the descriptions I have read of the city of Uruk. But even more striking than the beauty of the city – is the charisma overflowing from the person who has just appeared in front of us. This person is a man with a sleek build and dashing orange hair on a fair skin. And he smiles at us as he says, "Welcome to Glice! Do you like it?"

"More importantly," his smile seems to fade away as soon as I say that but it's hardly time to worry about that, "What did you mean when you asked why it's so hard for us to believe?"

"Hmm …"

"It should be obvious, shouldn't it? Lucifer is the king of Hell! And … my father, well, doesn't matter how strong he is, he is just a human."

"That's the point. He is a human. That's exactly why he won." He says. "None of you would know this but Lucifer has a little oath he needs to keep to, the oath being that he would never use offense against someone not from Hell. Your father's a human, certainly not from Hell. So, there was no other outcome for that duel than for your father to win it."

But … if that's the case then, why would Lucifer have agreed to the duel anyway?

"By the way," the orange-haired man says, "I am a higher-class Angel and the second-in-command to your father in this realm."

He extends a hand and says, "You can call me Trevor."

*****