Alfonse's encounter with evil

Alfonse glared at the summoner. While a great friend, he had been doing... weird things. The summoner had been inviting and seemingly taming sinister heroes for a while now, such as assassins and destructive generals, the latest batch of heroes seemed to have crossed a line.

"You want me to talk with them...? Kiran. I need to be honest with you, this is a terrible idea. There's a six winged dragon with a skull face flying outside the castle now, I can't really accept this."

The argument went on for a bit, until the summoner said something that did get Alfonse's attention. "What I can learn from them is... I won't fall the way they have," Alfonse said, turning around. "Look, you can keep them around for now. But we have zero tolerance if they pull anything, got that? If anything escalates we're getting rid of them, no ifs or buts."

He walked away and sighed, wondering why the hell his friend had been so willing to invite such figures over.

===

The next day he walked into the halls, and saw the Dark Emperor standing there. Menacingly. It sent chills down the Askr prince's spine, this man was dangerous as can be. And yet...

He walked up to the man. While he was shaking a little, he stood up straight with his shoulders back. "You are the Dark Emperor Hardin, I presume."

"I am indeed the Emperor of Archanea, the Holy Empire. Now, state your name and business. I have no time for a whelp like you; make it quick."

"Very well. I am the prince of Ask, Alfonse. I wish to understand your motivations, so I may..." Alfonse took a moment to think his words through carefully, but quickly thought of a good way to put it. "So I may see the path the emperor threads."

The Dark Emperor stood more a head taller than Alfonse, glaring down and carefully assessing the boy. "The world is filed with men of status that do not have an ounce of true strength. They stoke the flames of war and send their citizens off to die a senseless death. I seek to destroy any such country, leaving nothing of it. Such a thing must not be permitted, or even tolerated. And if the whole world is like that, then so be it: I shall tear it down myself. Nothing but the good may be left standing, whatever little that is."

Alfonse listened carefully, closely observing the giant man's face and posture. The latter remained unchanged, but he saw some sorrow inbetween the man's angry proclamations. He had likely been wounded in some way. Was that what had driven him to madness...? The points he made were strong, on some level. Certainly not to be dismissed immediately. But something about them all felt wrong.

"Very well..." the prince said, making sure not to show any signs of weakness even as doubt began to cloud his mind. "I have heard what I wanted to hear. I thank you for your time."

The prince left again, and the emperor briefly stared at the sword on the boy's waist. He would have to see the prince's potential for himself.

===

"Does he really believe he can purge evil like that...? But isn't that what we're doing on some level, too? It might be the same impulse, even if his seems too broad. Is that about right...?" the prince muttered to himself as he walked through the halls of the castle. However, he bumped into a young lady as he did, not noticing her before, and they both fell. "Agh, I'm sorry, miss..." he looked up and saw Celica. However, her expression was wide eyed with pure, seething hatred, which seemed very much unlike her. "Celica?"

"Do not block my path!" she yelled, and Alfonse nearly recoiled, quickly getting back up to his feet. What the hell was going on?

"Wait. You are acting very strangely. What possesses you?" he asked, before realising she was quite literally possessed. She ignored his question, walking past him. He heard her muttering something, but he couldn't make it out.

===

As this Celica's behaviour had seemed odd the prince decided to head to the library. He went through the history books, soon finding the story of Valentia's unification. He'd spent all day reading through it again, and near the end he found what he had wanted: a passage about the princess' dealings with a priest of Duma. He had tricked her, making her believe that she could protect the ones she loved most if she offered her soul to the god of strength.

"If all men count with you, but none too much..." the prince muttered, remembering a passage of a poem he read many a times as a kid. What if someone threatened the life of Sharena, or Kiran? Would he be able to make the right decision in the face of that? Her decision had been foolish, certainly. Is that what caring too much about one person did to you, blinding you to the truth of the matter?

The prince felt weak thinking about it. But slowly he composed his thoughts, and decided that he would have to steel his soul for the day such a decision might come.

===

Finally the prince left the library, as day slowly turned to night. He wanted to walk to the mess hall, as he had been too immersed in Valentian history to realise how hungry he had become. But as he did, he spotted the last of the new allies Kiran had invited: a man with white hair, surrounded by an aura of pure malevolence. He recognised the man as once being Robin, a tactician in Ylisse. However, this was not the hero he actually knew. He walked up to the man shrouded in dark, but before he could say anything he was interrupted.

"Am I really so interesting you must pester me?" the man said, turning around and glaring at the prince. Alfonse stared him down, realising this was a very delicate situation.

"So you are," he said, aiming to sound as confident as he could be. "I wish simply to know what you're up to. You are the fell dragon, are you not?"

"How curious. Not many are foolish enough to talk to me, and alone too. Very well, I will humour you. You get a single question, then you will leave me be," the wings of despair spoke, and outside of the window Alfonse could spot the eyes of the dragon itself staring at them.

"I want to know how you came to be as you are. The historical records portray you as little more than a mindless beast hell-bent on destruction, and so I want to see what more there is to you."

"Curious indeed..." the breath of ruin said, before continuing. "It is simple. You humans beg for the graces of your gods, always wanting some petty thing or another. And when you get it? You forget your gods like that; you have no gratitude. It is your own selfish behavour, your ugly souls, that have molded me. You don't have an original or authentic thought in your pretty little head, and all of those are rotten to the core. That is who I am."

As the fell reincarnation spoke, Alfonse carefully took note of his points. His observations held true, in part. They were certainly not pleasant to think about either. He could not argue them, at least not in the moment, and so he sighed. "Very well, you have made your point. So you think all should be wiped out? Would that give you joy?"

"One question only, boy. Now go, and I will let you live. Don't let me change my mind."

Alfonse was annoyed, but he stepped back still, heading for his original goal again. He began to think about that monster's words further. It was true that humans could be malevolent. Maybe all humans could be, even. He'd done his fair share of small, stupid things himself. But humans had good potential too, did they not? On some level he felt lied too. Even when that abomination had spoken words he clearly meant, it was propagandistic. But the truth in his words was undeniable.

The prince kept thinking during his dinner, trying to see if he could learn anything from these three. It took him a while, but finally he realised a terrible truth: that could have been him. All three had thought or performed terrible things, and he himself could have made similar mistakes. He still could. He decided to head to bed early that night, and speak to Kiran tomorrow. His friend might be able to help him work through some scenarios, see where his faults were. He had to prevent such a terrible fate at all costs.