"Are you okay with going at this pace?"
Thanks to the Red Cuffs, Isaac and Mary are forced to stay close to each other as they ran. This means that Mary must match Isaac's somewhat slow pace. He may be a little faster and lighter then when he first set foot on the cloud plane, but he's still a long ways away from regaining the speed he had when he was human.
Since Mary was always running ahead and scouting the area when they were traveling through the forest, Isaac is worried that this speed handicap might be annoying to Mary. Already, Mary is constantly looking around, eyeing everything in the vicinity in order to see any oncoming enemies or traps. Isaac can tell that she doesn't feel safe going at this pace.
But Mary remained calm and didn't show her unease. "It's okay. So as long no one reports that I'm outside my village, I'll be fine." She replied politely.
"Why is it so important that no one reports you?" Isaac curiously asked.
"As I mentioned back at Pegasus Shoe Town, the King is cunning. Any ounce of information he gains is another huge advantage over us. We must remain invisible from the King's forces if our quest is to be successful." Mary said briskly.
Isaac recalled a similar explanation back at the town ruins... but.. Even though her argument is sound, his intuition is telling him that she's leaving something out... but what?
But regardless, Mary seems serious about not being seen by the king's men. After all, she did ran away and hid when her childhood friend's hometown was being invaded. She better have a good reason to hide instead of helping out her friend.
So what if they're still chained together after they leave this mansion? What if they encounter more of the king's men? Thanks to his huge body, traveling through the cloud plane is like trudging through mud. Despite his best efforts, his current body won't let him move faster then his human body or anyone else for that matter. He has to constantly remind himself of this because he blindly sacrificed his speed for power. And his sacrifice for a more powerful body is going to get Mary seen by the King's men while she's still handcuffed to him. Isaac hopes that they find a way to get rid of these hands cuffs as soon as possible. The last thing he wants is for his body to be a hindrance to his companions.
'You could just absorb her. That would solve the problem of being held back quickly and painlessly.'
Isaacc narrowed his eyes.
Dark Isaac's sudden reappearance almost startled Isaac. But regardless, he must keep his guard up whenever he apears.
'No' He coldly responded.
"You absorbed Ilivir just because he was attacking you. He was a inconvenience to you. He was holding you back. What makes this situation any different? You're chained to someone else? Then get rid of the hindrance! Problem solved.' Dark Isaac suggested in a innocent tone.
'I'm worried that I'M a incipience to her! Not the other way around. Just as I've told Ilivir before, there's no need to absorb Mary, and I have no intentions of ever resorting to such a thing!...I just need to be patient and a solution will soon present itself.' Isaac mental replied.
Isaac could feel Dark Isaac rolling his eyes in annoyance. There was something he said that rubbed him the wrong way. 'So you refuse to absorb a lady, but your perfectly fine with absorbing Ilivir? Is time the only factor here?' Dark Isaac remarked.
Isaac rolled his eyes.'That was different and you know it.' After some thought, Isaac realized something. 'Why are you asking me these questions? If you have my memories, then you should be fully aware of what my answers will be. What is your angle?' Isaac pointed out.
Dark Isaac let out a laugh. 'Caught red handed. But you see brother, I may have your memories, but I'm trying to make a point by asking you these questions. So let me ask you this... Why did you absorb Ilivir? He was a human too. What made him different from Mary?'
Isaac looked down it thought. 'I had no choice on both occasions. If I had the choice, I wouldn't absorb him. The first time was to save his life, and the second time was to save his soul from getting absorbed by Azeziel. Both times, I had little time to think of a alternative. Asorbing him was the only solution I could think of to save his life. If I had the time, I would have found another way to save him.' Isaac answered solemnly and honestly.
'You say that... yet you seemed to ahev no regrets venting yourself on Ilivir when he was your spawn.' Dark Isaac pointed out.
'I...I...' Isaac can't deny what he did. He was still getting used to his corrupt body at the time, and he needed to vent his arousal. Ilivir just happen to be there when he couldn't control himself. He didn't realized that Ilivir was his spawn at first, and he was submissive ever since he was reborned as a spawn.
Being able to read Isaac's thoughts, Dark Isaac knew what to say next. 'That's right. And even when you did find out, you didn't really make any moves to fix the problem. You started controlling yourself a little better and tried to stop yourself from using Ilivir as a sex doll when you realized that he was not being himself because of his status as a spawn...' Dark Isaac explained. 'But the fact still stands that you didn't really make curing Ilivir of his spawn status a priority. And the problem got worse when Azaviel came into the picture. And what did you do? Nothing. Or at least nothing permanent. Yes, you fucked Azeziel into dormancy, but that was only temporary. But is sex the only answer? With another man no less. For someone who goes by the Paladin code, you tend to ignore it when it's convenient for you. You want to be honest to innocents just like a paladin, yet you sexually dominate every male you meet? Ha! You're such a hypocrite! If your High Paladin teacher saw you committing such acts, you would have been declared a fallen paladin already! You disgraced the paladin name and yet you still wish to carry it! You are a very strange man who acts both as a valid and a dark knight.' Dark Isaac declared.
Isaac was taken aback. He was having a hard time to say anything anything worthwhile. So far, Dark Isaac have been relaying a lot of good points. Good points Isaac have been ignoring all this time.
'I-I know that! But I don't care how corrupt I become so as long I destroy the source of corruption and make life better for the many innocents living in my kingdom. Sacrifices must be made... even if it costs my humanity... But I do hope to find a way to become human again some day... But destroying the source of corruption is the main priority!' Isaac proclaimed.
'So does working towards a noble goal means you can perform those unspeakable acts? Is the corruption your only excuse to do things onto others without their consent? You despise and work against rape and coruption yet your fine with doing it yourself?... FOR DEITIES SAKE!' Isaac was shocked by Dark Isaac's sudden righteous anger. 'You've been raping males left and right in the crypt! What are you? A woman!? The whole time you've been in the crypt, you've been whoring around, raping corrupt monsters just so you can win the battle easily and steal their power and bodies! That's something a dark knight would do! What happened to that attitude you had when you seen that vision were you became a ice dragoness? Didn't you say that version of Isaac should have fought his corrupt body and find a way to tun back, accomplish his mission and follow the paladin way!? Why would that Isaac be doing any of that when you haven't be pursuing any of that either?!'
Isaac was getting desperate. 'Can't you that I've been trying?! Ever since I found out what has been happening to the living creatures I assimilated, I've been trying my best to think of methods other then assimilating others to get stronger! I want to make up for my sins despite my corrupt body!'
'So you want to make up for raping others just because you found out what hapened to your victims?... YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN WORKING AGAINST THAT FROM THE VERY BEGINING!!! And does getting stronger will solve the problem? Sure, getting stronger will help you fight stronger foes, but that still doesn't address the problem at hand. If you truly care about the souls you captured, you would have been actively searching for a way to give back their bodies that doesn't involve making them your spawns. Heck, if you actually cared about Ilivir's well being, you would have noticed that Azaviel was slowly taking him over and try to encourage Ilivir to overcome the lust demon and take back control! Heck, if you wanted to, you've could have used paladin magic to help suppress Azeziel and help Ilivir develop the strength he needs to suppress Azezel himself! If you worked at it, you've could have solved the Azeziel problem without having sexual intercourse with him, assimilating him or using any other corrupt means! If you're truly a paladin you've would have found solutions that doesn't involve your corrupt body! It doesn't matter how corrupt you are! You still have a human mind that's constantly being purified by the Halo of Purity. As far as I know, the corruption hasn't been making your decisions for you. YOU have been making those choices! You could have stopped your self from raping those creatures if you wanted too!
Isaac was backed against to metaphorical wall. 'You can't except me to figure out a solution at this moment! A solution must present itself first! It's going to take time!'
'Excuses, excuses. You had plenty of opportunities while you are in this mansion. What happened to all that talk about experimenting with the halo? You've could have done that while you were joking around the mansion searching for Slar! Better yet, there are all kinds of strange relics here. I'm sure at least one them could provide a new body for your captured souls or change you back into a human! But you haven't even tried checking any of them! There's plenty of possible opportunities standing right in front of you, yet you make no effort of checking them out! There's nothing stopping you from looking for possible ways to solve your problems right at this very moment! What's the hold up!?'
Isaac was at a loss of words. He no longer knows what to say. Dark Isaac is right. Isaac has been so focussed on accomplishing his goals of purging his world of corruption and defeating the Sky King that he hasn't really paid attention to the other problems right in front of him. He really feels guilty about not realizing that Azizial was slowly consuming Ilivir from the inside until it was too late. If he hadn't forgotten about Azeizel, he would stopped Azeizel from taking Iliviir over and ultimately forcing Isaac to absorb and take away Ilivir's body again. Isaac is glad that absorbing Ilivir unintentionally cured him of his spawn status and thus returning his free will, but he no longer has a body as a result... But at least he knows Ilivir's soul is safe.
Dark Isaac calmed down a little... but kept going. 'Before we entered this mansion, you told me you wanted to be the first dark paladin. Someone who uses both purity and corruption. But despite your bold declaration, you don't seem committed to it. Weren't you just whining to Mary about how your afraid that your corrupt body might eventually corrupt your mind? If you were serious about becoming a dark paladin, then you should be fully willing to accept both corruption and purity. Being a Dark Paladin mean you'll be using both corrupt and pure means. But how can you do that if you're actively trying to find ways to avoid using corruption? That just doesn't make sense. Using the corruption means your fully willing to take the risks of losing your humanity. You can't expect to use corruption without any consequence. Personally, I think your soul is pretty safe from the corruption while it's in the Halo of Purity. But if you're not going to be affected by the corruption then someone will. Someone is going to suffer so as long you keep using corruption. Be it if you rape someone or adsorb them or use some other corrupt means. Someone has to pay the price of you using the corruption. If you're not willing to accept that, then you should give up ever being a Dark Paladin. Using corruption means you're fully committed. You can't just go in half heartily. The same applies to purity. You can't just uphold some paladin codes and ignore the others. That completely invalidates what it means to be a paladin. You either follow all the codes or you're not a paladin. It's that simple. The same applies to being a dark knight. You have to accept the risks when using something as unpredictable and chaotic as corruption. But if you're going to be a Dark Paladin... you have to be willing to commit to being both a paladin and a dark knight. But there is a lot of things about being a dark knight that could potentially contradict and defy the paladin codes. If you become a dark paladin, you have to be fully willing to comit to all the paladin codes while still using corruption. There is no inbetweens or half commitments.'
Isaac was stunned. Once again, Dark Isaac is right. So far he has broken paladin codes by raping others and upheld them on other times by being honest to innocents. He was also was willing to use his corrupt body to steal essence from others on occasion, while completely rejecting his corrupt body on other times.
Dark Isaac let out a sigh. 'Your biggest problem is not the corruption. It's procrastination. You don't know if you should rely strictly on corruption, purity, or both. You haven't really decided if you want to be a paladin, dark knight, or dark paladin. And as a result, you go on spinning in circles, knowing full well that the problem is there but don't act on it. Well, you can't go in between. You either do it or you don't. So what will it be? A path of corruption, a path of purity, or a path of both purity and corruption at the same time? Your goal of destroying the source of corruption will be the same, but the path you chose will decide what methods of reaching that goal you will be working at. If I was in control of your body, I would be more honest with myself. I wouldn't be making excuses to justify my hypocrisy... Man, do I hate indecisiveness.'
Isaac didn't know what to do. Dark Isaac was right. He needs to choose to be a Paladin, Dark Knight or Dark Paladin. There's no in-betweens. But this is so sudden! He can't just choose right now!
Isaac made one last attempt at a petty rebuttal. 'But I thought you were my evil side...' he whined.
Dark Isaac let out a tut of pity. 'To be honest, I don't know know what I am. For all I know, I might be the good side and you might be the evil side. Who knows? But at least I'm more honest to myself then you. The one thing I hate the most is to be controlled. But I hate a incisive master who can't make up his mind just as much.'
Isaac was defeated. Dark Isaac pierced his heart with truth that only he would know. Maybe Dark Isaac wasn't a good name for him after all... If Dark Isaac was evil, then he wouldn't give him any of that good advice. He wouldn't care about what Isaac was doing. He would just try to take control of his body no matter the cost. Yet... Dark Isaac actually helped Isaac by giving him a good scolding... Isaac has a lot to consider...
Before the conversation could progress any further, Mary interrupted.
"Isaac. We've arrived." Mary stated.
Isaac blinked. He looked words Mary to see her holding the magical map Alicia gave him. But why is she holding it? He doesn't remember handing it to her... unless... she swiped it from him while he was distracted by Dark Isaac.
Isaac looked up. They are standing in front of a open doorway. Inside looks like a armory filled with cloud weapons.
"Slar is up ahead." Mary pointed.
Isaac nodded, momentarily breaking his thoughts away from Dark Isaac's intense conversation.
But before Isaac set foot in the armory, the sight of weapons reminded him of something.
He opens up his chest a little in order to pull out Mary's fencing sword from his body storage. He held it out to Mary.
"Here. I found it while I was collecting the camping supplies." Isaac explained.
With Slar's dagger in one hand, Mary accepted the offered sword. But not without some parting words.
"You never told me you absorbed Ilivir. If you can't trust me with your dangerous information, then how do you expect me to trust you with mine."
After that, she walked into the Armory without looking back.
Isaac just stood there in stunned silence.
'Oh dieties, she heard the entire conversation!' Isaac thought in a panic.
'She does have a point. You actions so far showed that you don't trust others to take care of themselves... That's going to be a problem since you don't even trust yourself.' Dark Isaac remarked.
Isaac just numbly followed Mary into the armory, his mind numb of intense thought.
Dark Isaac decided to remain quiet for now. He's satisfied with setting Isaac straight. But the silence did lead him to notice something amidst.
Strangely enough, Ilivir is still silent. He's been silent ever since Isaac brought up Dark Knights and the origin of the Paladins. Dark Isaac thought he would but in on their conversation... yet he remained silent instead.
Perhaps Ilivir is deep in thought too? Come to thing about it, Dark Isaac doesn't really sense him now. Were is he? Is his soul hiding in the halo?
Dark Isaac shook his head at the thought of Ilivir.
The poor fool. Isaac treated him as a inconvenient tool. Hopefully, Isaac would treat Ilivir better in the future.
But the passionate conversation did bring up a important point to dark Isaac. The fact he had the one sided argument with Isaac in the first place shows that he cares. But does that implies? Just what is he?
Isaac and his mental companions were silent as they pondered silently. Right now, Isaac needs to search the armory with Mary in order to find this Slar character...
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Note: I might sound like a broken record at this point, but once again, I'm sorry for the delay. What started out as a short conversation I had planned for another chapter, became a full blown chapter of it's own right. In other words... This chapter sorta happened. This chapter wasn't really planned. I wanted a simple conversation to sound natural so I kept adding to it until it became a lot longer then I expected. This chapter in particular was a little hard to write and it took a lot of time rewriting/revising it because I wasn't satisfied with the structure and emotion of the conversation between Isaac and Dark Isaac. But... I knew I couldn't keep rewriting this chapter forever. Nothing is perfect, and I knew that I eventually have to post this chapter and move on.
So I hope you guys like this chapter. I noticed that I've been a tad inconsistent with Isaac's character in my more recent chapters. In fact, I noticed a lot of interesting character quirks with Isaac as a result of the many different writers and different interpretations of the character over the months. So even though I didn't intend for it to happen, the conversation between Isaac and Dark Isaac became a full blown character study. Hopefully, it doesn't sound too receptive with me recapping Isaac's and Dark Isaac's character traits and moments.
Once again, thank you for taking the time reading this chapter! I put a lot of time and effort into this chapter so I'm a tad nervous of how people might react to this chapter. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!