Lord of Annihilation

The second Lucius stepped into the cramped office he was subjected to Ka'lor'ah's tease.

"Nice dress bro! I can see that you're going for that whole, 'I'm cold, alone, and strong, so don't mess with me or I will mess you up' vibe. Classic. I like it." 

Her tiny, lithe body flew near Lucius' figure and placed her hand on top of his clothes. Feeling the texture of the material, Ka'lor'ah remarked.

"Wait, is this leather?! That too dyed black?!! Heavens, how are you wearing that thing and not instantly dying from heatstroke in this weather?" she exclaimed.

Rubbing her skin all over his armor, Ka'lor'ah continued with her review. "Huh, but it's got a really nice feel. I'll give you that. Not too stiff at the joints, extra padding for safety…ooh, some built-in pockets as well. Not bad! Not bad at all. Handmade, I bet!" 

Diving into one of the pockets on the right side of his vest, Ka'lor'ah peaked her tiny head out and spoke.

"I see why you're not sweating. Temperature regulation, huh? This pocket is surprisingly comfortable too. Excellent stuff, I like it. You should buy more of these."

"Get out." Lucius coldly replied and fished for Ka'lor'ah within his pocket. Not wanting to leave this comfortable place, Ka'lor'ah started to move around and evade his fingers.

Still, Lucius' combat experience was extremely abundant. He caught her struggling body within a few seconds and yanked her out.

Holding her by her wings, Lucius spoke. "You have wings now. Stop being lazy and use them."

"You cannot tell me what to do! I'm a free person too! I have rights!" Ka'lor'ah impassionedly rebutted to his words.

However…

"Keep fussing around and I'll crush your body." A scary line and a scary look from Lucius silenced her struggles.

Freeing herself from his grasp, Ka'lor'ah stumbled towards Olivia, while causing a big fuss.

"Boohoo! Is this how a student is supposed to treat his teacher? You ungrateful runt." Sobbing and crying in the most exaggerated way possible, Ka'lor'ah settled on Olivia's big, soft chest and continued with her act. 

"You see this, Olivia. Look how mean he is to me. Don't become like him and leave your poor teacher out to starve." 

Visible annoyance appeared on Lucius' face, as he stepped forward to make true of his threats. However, being as cunning as she is, Ka'lor'ah quickly dove into Olivia's chest the moment she sensed him make a move. 

Emerging her tiny head from within, she raised her tiny eyebrows twice seemingly saying, 'what will you do now?' in taunt.

Unfortunately for her, her safe haven was in cahoots with the opponent as Olivia pulled Ka'lor'ah and threw her towards Lucius.

"You really should stop acting out, Teacher," Olivia spoke in the sweetest voice possible. Her face sported a brilliant smile, but her eyes gazed at Ka'lor'ah betrayed expression with sadistic pleasure.

'To seek help after giving me enough work and homework to the point where I haven't slept in weeks, you really should have seen this coming, Teacher.' Olivia mentally laughed to herself.

Olivia loved her teacher and was grateful for everything that she had done. However, the bitter resentment stemming from weeks of homework and work was not something that could be easily forgiven either.

"Et Tu, Olivia?" Ka'lor'ah bitterly asked, as her body was caught by Lucius.

In reply, Olivia's tired face showed an even brighter smile as her mouth calmly recited.

"How to Build Empires and Manage Civilizations- Vol 17, page 1137, paragraph 3, line 4 reads; 'To not seize a weakness, with the purpose of exploitation, when given the opportunity is tantamount to your failure as a leader and/or manager. What purpose do others serve, if not for your exploitation?'"

"I'm sorry, Teacher. I saw an advantage and I seized it." Olivia's tone held not an ounce of apology.

Hearing that answer, the betrayed expression disappeared from Ka'lor'ah's face. Her eyes and mouth curved to form a proud smile, as she boastingly declared.

"That a girl! I'm the greatest teacher aliv—" Her boasts were cut short, as Lucius crushed her lithe body in his hands.

Ka'lor'ah's fairy-like figure dissipated, replaced by the appearance of the dark-gold isohedral crystal.

"OH! COME ON DUDE!!" Ka'lor'ah fumed, actually feeling mad.

"It's going to take me two days to recover my appearance! Seriously, I'm done with both of you!"

Saying so, Ka'lor'ah flew out of the door with her crystal body, leaving Olivia's office. 

Peace finally returned to Lucius' expression, as he walked towards the only available chair within the room and sat down.

"Is she going to be okay? She seemed really mad." Olivia worriedly asked.

Olivia had originally thought that Lucius was simply joking about crushing Ka'lor'ah. She did not expect him to actually do it.

"It's fine." Lucius shortly replied. "She'll get over it in a few hours and return to annoy me again." He bitterly continued.

Olivia chuckled at his reply. The more she viewed the interactions between Lucius and Ka'lor'ah, the more it reminded her of silly quarrels between siblings.

"The two of you are very close." Sitting herself down, Olivia off-handedly remarked. 

The duo's squabbles reminded Olivia of her own squabbles with Lucius in the past. This caused Olivia to become slightly jealous of Ka'lor'ah.

Having heard that question, Lucius did not reply. He simply leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes in thought.

Olivia's words were indeed true.

No matter how much he argued, quarreled, or disagreed with Ka'lor'ah, at the end of the day, he was indeed very close to her. Lucius and Ka'lor'ah had a special bond that allowed them to trust and rely on each other.

'During a time when the entire Universe deemed me as a monster and a plague that had to be rid of, she was the only one who reached in and held out her hand.'

'When I roamed the blackness of space with no purpose or will, mindlessly immersing myself in death and slaughter, she was the one who showed me a purpose and gave me my will.'

To this day, Lucius still remembered Ka'lor'ah's reply when he had asked her; why she was so fixated on him?

"O' Pitiful Killer, you have lived your entire life cowering from death and seeking greater power. Yet now that you've found it, you do not know what to do with this power."

"Death is no longer scary for you since you've understood it. But in that understanding, you've found that death is not a release but an endless cycle of repetition and suffering. A cycle set by those beings up above, for their amusement."

"You do not know how to live, yet you do not want to die meaninglessly either. Why don't you follow me and do something worth dying for?"

"If we succeed, people's sufferings will have another meaning than that of 'Their' amusement. If we fail, well…our fates will be worse than death."

"So live."

"Live, so that on the day that you die, you can drag 'Them' down from their mighty thrones and show them the suffering that they oh, so enjoy."

"Live, so that on that you can die on the final step of my glorious plan and usher this Universe into a new Era."

A calm, cruel smile appeared on Lucius' face.

He did not live for glory, honor, or wealth. Not for love, family, or legacy.

He lived so that he could die on the final step of the Great Plan, and drag down the one who caused him his suffering. 

"Lucius." 

Olivia's voice brought him out of his musings. Opening his eyes, he gazed towards the pallid-faced, dark-eyed woman, wearing a serious expression.

"Hmm?" he voiced his question.

A strange sparkle appeared within Olivia's eyes, as she replied. A tinge of excitement was hidden within her voice.

"I have an idea. An idea that will resolve all of Mankind's current problems with great efficiency while integrating it into the Universe."

Pausing for a moment, she took a deep breath and explained in detail. Lucius gradually began correcting his posture as he continued to listen to her explanation.

A contemplative expression appeared on his face, as he considered her idea.

"How does it sound? Is it feasible?" Olivia asked with a parched throat.

Lucius nodded his head and answered. "I don't see any problems with it." 

He then immediately used his soul link with Ka'lor'ah to contact her. With his ascendance into Stage 3, its range had greatly increased once again.

'What?! If you're apologizing, I'm not hearing it!' Ka'lor'ah instantly replied with an irritated voice.

Ignoring her grumbles, Lucius calmly answered.

'Olivia had an idea. You should hear it.' He then shared with her his thoughts. 

Reviewing Lucius' thoughts in silence for a few seconds, Ka'lor'ah slowly replied.

'Well, I don't see any problems with this idea. As long as you step in and provide help, it should work.' 

'Thought so. Come back and make a proper plan with her.' Lucius replied.

'I'm not coming back to you traitors! I'm still mad at both of you! Tell Olivia to make plans herself. If she can take advantage of her teacher, she should be more than capable of handling this.' Grumpily replying so, Ka'lor'ah ended the conversation.

Lucius raised his head and looked at Olivia's expectant eyes.

"What did Teacher say?" She asked.

"No problems. It should work as long as you make proper plans for it." Lucius replied. Leaning back into his chair and closing his eyes once again, Lucius continued. "I'll back you up with the Stage 3 existences." 

With his reply, Olivia quickly got to work and summoned a meeting with Mankind's top personnel. 

The sooner she could finish this plan the sooner would escape from this cramped office and paperwork hell.