⚓ Admiral Angelo ⚓
Unwavering loyalty. Unbearable guilt.
The Journey
Angelo had served King Xanther for five years. Through border skirmishes, political intrigue, and the delicate dance of maintaining order in a kingdom balanced between gods who barely tolerated each other.
He'd never questioned an order.
When Lyra told him the King needed an escort to the Whispering Woods, he assembled his best men without hesitation. When Xanther emerged from the Royal Palace with that wooden box clutched tight, face pale and determined, Angelo simply nodded.
"My King," he'd said quietly. "We are ready."
He'd meant it. They all had.
For King. For Nexus. For Lumina.
That's what they'd sworn.
The Crossing
The portal was worse than anything Angelo had experienced in twenty years of military service. Reality twisted. His stomach lurched. For a brief, terrifying moment, he couldn't remember his own name, couldn't tell which direction was forward.
Then the forest spat them out.
The Whispering Woods lived up to their name. Voices that weren't quite voices. Shadows that moved wrong. Air thick with hostile magic that made his teeth ache and his protective wards burn against his armor.
But he'd trained for this. His men had trained for this. They formed up around the King, shields ready, spells prepared.
When the forest attacked, they fought.
The Freeze
Angelo didn't know how long they'd been fighting. Time felt strange in the Woods. Every step forward earned through violence against thorny vines and twisted branches. Xanther's spells lit the darkness in brilliant flashes. His own sword arm ached from the constant motion.
They were making progress. Slowly. Painfully.
Then the shadows appeared.
A towering skeletal figure wreathed in mist. Eyes burning with unholy light. When it spoke, the voice clawed at Angelo's sanity, made his protective wards crack and splinter.
"What gall you have... bringing your poisoning influence of Lumina into this forest."
Angelo wanted to move. Wanted to step between his King and this horror. Wanted to raise his sword.
But his body wouldn't respond.
The forest's illusionary power held him captive. Frozen. Helpless. His sword slack in his hand. His men equally immobilized around him, faces locked in expressions of terror.
He could only watch.
Watch the shadows speak to his King.
Watch doubt creep across Xanther's face.
Watch the wooden box tremble in the King's hands.
And he could do nothing.
The Offering
Angelo watched Xanther kneel before the shadows. Watched him open the wooden box. Watched the shard of Lumina's light flicker and dim as the King held it aloft.
"This is for the balance," Xanther said. "Lumina's light... it's not the only path."
No. No no no. Angelo screamed inside his frozen body. This was wrong. They'd come here to fight chaos, not embrace it. The King was making a mistake. He had to stop him.
But he couldn't move.
"Send my men back to Nexus."
The forest shuddered. A seismic wave of energy washed over everything. The shadows dissolved, replaced by a swirling vortex of emerald and obsidian.
Angelo felt the hold on his body release. Felt a pathway of shimmering light snake toward him and his men. Their forms beginning to dissolve.
He tried to fight it. Tried to stay. Tried to reach for his King.
"My King!"
But the forest was stronger. The light pulled him away. Reality twisted again.
The last thing he saw was Xanther alone in the heart of the Woods, surrounded by chaotic energy, choosing something Angelo didn't understand.
The Return
They materialized in the Royal Gardens. All of them. Every man accounted for, weapons still in hand, armor intact.
Safe.
But the King was not with them.
Angelo's second-in-command turned to him, face pale. "Admiral... what do we tell the court?"
What could he tell them? That the King had willingly knelt before the shadows? That he'd offered Lumina's sacred light to chaos? That Angelo had been frozen, useless, while his sovereign made a choice that felt like betrayal?
"Nothing," Angelo said quietly. "We tell them nothing. Not yet."
He dismissed his men. Ordered them to silence. Posted them at the palace entrances with instructions to alert him the moment the King returned.
Then he went to the King's chambers and waited.
The Vigil
Four days.
Angelo didn't leave the King's bedside for four days.
When Xanther finally returned through whatever magic had held him in the Woods, he'd collapsed immediately. Breathing but unconscious. His eyes flickering beneath closed lids. The bracelet on his wrist pulsing with strange light.
Diaglo and Relana came. Asked questions Angelo couldn't answer. Argued with the unconscious King about Lumina's plans.
Angelo ignored them. His duty was here. Watching. Waiting. Hoping his King would wake and explain.
On the fourth day, Xanther's eyes opened. Strange golden eyes that hadn't been that color before. He sat up slowly, put his hand on his forehead.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," Angelo tried to joke, relief flooding through him.
"Angelo? Do you have any food? Damn, I am starving."
Normal. It sounded so normal. Angelo smiled for the first time in days.
"I will go get something. I will be back."
The Hallway
Angelo left to fetch food, his heart lighter. The King was awake. Whatever had happened in the Woods, they would face it together.
In the hallway, Diaglo stopped him.
"Angelo? Is that food for the king?"
"Yes," Angelo replied, suspicious. "Why?"
Diaglo smiled softly. "Nothing, just curious." He stepped closer, eye to eye. "You are going to need to prove to your king that Nexus does not belong to Lumina or her control."
Angelo's eyes fixed on Diaglo's in frustration. "We stand with Lumina, Diaglo. You cannot change our mind."
Diaglo muttered something under his breath and walked away.
Angelo continued to the King's chambers, the food still warm in his hands.
He didn't see Diaglo's hand move.
Didn't see the unknown substance sprinkled over the King's meal.
Didn't know he was carrying poison.
He'd failed his King twice now.
Once in the Woods.
Once in the hallway.
And he would never know.