Feeling restless after having had his fill of food, the young god decided to try reaching out to her again. The servants had moved all of his belongings to this new room and he searched through them for the bag of crystals. After having gone through everything twice and not finding it, he paced frantically, wondering where he should look for it next. Sensing the ancient Lord coming closer to his room, he hurriedly went outside to meet the older god. "Where is it?" he demanded.
The ancient Lord blinked at the young god's unexpected appearance. "What is it? What are you looking for, child?"
The already agitated young god shook as he stopped himself from attacking the older god in front of him. "The bag. Where is the bag? I had it with me last time. What did you do to it? What did you do to her?" he growled.
"Her?"
"The crystals. Her crystal. Give her to me. Give her back."
The ancient Lord stared at the glowering god before him for a moment then calmly said, "Calm down, child. I have it with me. I'll take you to it."
The younger god silently maintained his distance from the older one as he simmered in anger and frustration. The ancient Lord didn't say anything and simply walked ahead in silence as he led the young god to where he had put the bag of crystals.
"Where is it?" the young god demanded again as soon as they entered the study.
"Take a seat while I get it. I want to talk with you afterwards," the ancient Lord said. He went to the back of the room and opened a small cabinet.
The young god took his usual seat and shifted impatiently as he watched the ancient Lord root around the cabinet. He snatched the bag from the ancient Lord's hand when the older god returned, and immediately searched for her crystal.
The ancient Lord took his own seat and watched the young god frantically sift through the crystals and decisively select one from the pile. "Have you found what you were looking for, child?" he asked curiously.
The young god clutched her crystal close to his chest and looked at the ancient Lord defiantly. "She's mine. I won't give her to you."
The ancient Lord nodded and gestured at the young god in a conceding manner. "Very well, child. You can have that. I won't take that from you." He paused before carefully asking, "How did you know that was hers?"
Distracted by the unexpected question, the young god momentarily forgot his anger and slowly answered, "I just know. I always know which one is hers."
The ancient Lord gestured at the bag of crystals. "Then what about the others? Do you know who they belong to? Can you distinguish between them?"
The young god blinked in confusion. "No. I don't know who they are. I can't sense anything in them."
"Then, what about her crystal? Can you sense anything in it?"
"No." The young god bit his lip to hold back his grief. "I can't sense anything. She won't talk to me." His voice cracked as he tearfully asked, "How do I talk to her?"
The ancient Lord gave the young god a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, child," he said gently. "I don't know. No one has ever done this before. You're the first one to distinguish between crystals."
The crystals jumped and scattered around when the young god kicked out of his seat and slammed his hands on the table. "Then what do you know? You said you would help me, that you would work with me through this. Tell me everything that you know!"
"Patience, child," the ancient Lord said calmly. "Rushing wouldn't help us in any way. This is also new to me. Let's work on this carefully, okay?"
"Fine. But you will tell me everything," the young god said, standing straighter.
"I'm sorry, child. I cannot promise that." The ancient Lord gestured for patience when the young god opened his mouth to retort. "Do you remember how you reacted when you first heard about the death of souls?"
The young god hesitated, remembering how difficult and heavy the revelation was when he heard it. "I-- But-- This is--" Slowly, the young god grew silent and frowned. He tried to say something again but came up short and sat down with a conflicted look on his face.
The ancient Lord reached forward towards the young god but closed his hand halfway through and retracted it, settling with just folding both of his hands on the table. "Don't worry, child. I promise to work with you on this. I will give you any information that I can regarding this situation and walk you through any difficult parts. However, outside of that, I cannot promise to tell you everything. Can you accept this?"
The young god crossed his arms and considered his options. There was no one else he could think of who could help him and there was no other way to find a solution quickly and completely other than to agree with the ancient Lord. He didn't like it but he nodded his acceptance.
"Good." The ancient Lord sat back in his seat. "I'm sure you have questions. What do you want to know first?"
"The Key," the young god immediately said. "What is it? Why is it doing this to me? How do I get rid of it?"
"Very well. I will try to answer these questions but I will need to know what you know first. What do you think is the Key?"
"It's... an ancient weapon?" The young god hesitated, uncertainty clearly written on his face.
"Go on," the ancient Lord prompted.
"I know that it's ancient. It has the same feeling as your eyes. You also told me it has ancient magic in it. The surge of power that it gives me when I use it is overwhelming and I keep losing myself in it." The young god shuddered at the thought of the Key controlling him and rubbed his hands on his thighs to vent out his nervous energy. "I-It controls me more than I control it. I'm afraid of it."
"Do you like what it gives you?"
"I–" The young god scratched his face uneasily and glanced around before finally admitting, "Y-Yes. It's... exhilarating. I've never felt this before. I-I-I want more of it. But it's terrifying at the same time."
The ancient Lord nodded thoughtfully. "And its use?"
"You told me it can kill gods by taking their souls out of the Flow. I saw hers when I used it. I felt a strange magic flow through me when I activated it and then I fell somewhere when I-- w-when I p-plunged the knife into her heart. I saw something. I'm not really sure what I saw but somehow I felt and knew that it was her soul. And then I-- Then I-- I saw it freezing from the edges. I haven't done anything to it but it started freezing. I wanted to go near it to stop it from freezing but something held me back and pulled me away. I-I think it was the Key stopping me from going near her soul. I don't know why it did that. Then it pulled me back into it. Or was it my soul? I saw it or felt it-- I don't know which one. I think both? I just know that it went into my soul. It wrapped itself around me and burrowed itself deeply within me. It scared me and I tried getting away from it but it's grip on me was tight. I felt power flowing through me and it felt good. I let it in some more until I felt it become a part of me. Or was it always a part of me? I-It felt like it was always there but I wasn't aware of it until now." The young god sat still in his chair after he spoke, fighting to keep his brewing emotions in check knowing that he'll need to keep going if he wants to find answers.
"I see." The ancient Lord carefully asked, "Do you still feel its pull?"
"Y-Yes. I-It's still urging me to use it but it's not overwhelming yet. I think it's weaker now because I've been asleep for a while."
The ancient Lord looked at the young god, who was shaking in fear and anxiety, before him as he considered everything that he had heard. "Alright then, child," he finally said. "You're not entirely wrong about the Key. But you're not entirely right about it either."
"W-What do you mean?" the young god asked, afraid of which parts he got wrong and which parts he got right.
"The Key isn't a weapon, child. I told you that we have the ability to kill souls and that it's sealed and can be unlocked by the Key. The Key is nothing more than that. It's just a key."
"B-But the magic. The power. I felt them flowing from the dagger."
"The Key resonates with its holder to give them the ability, so there will always be a flow from the artifact. The unlocking isn't a permanent one either. You'll need to use the artifact as a focus to use the ability."
"Then what about the pull? Why has it changed? It's not like this before."
The ancient Lord took a moment to think before carefully saying, "That is something I'm not clear on yet. It's not supposed to do that even if you bind it to yourself."
Wondering how the ancient Lord knew what was supposed to happen, the young god asked, "Are there others who have a Key bound to them?"
The ancient Lord steepled his fingers in contemplation. "Yes," he said after a while. "But there are only a handful of them and I keep track of who has a Key at any given moment."
The young god sat up. "Can they help me?"
"No, child," the ancient Lord firmly but gently answered. "Nobody is allowed to know who else has a Key. I've already told you much more than I am allowed to."
The young god slumped back on his seat, crestfallen at having this hope taken from him. He wanted to continue persuading the ancient Lord to talk to the others but he knew that the older god takes his duties seriously despite the whimsical personality he presents and would refuse. Instead, the young god asked, "Then, what about the Key's origin? Can you tell me about it? Maybe if I know about how it's made then I can figure something out."
The ancient Lord gave a hesitant sigh. "Very well. There are quite a lot of things I cannot tell you about the Keys but I will tell you all that I can. What I'm about to tell you is something that isn't passed around because it is still a touchy subject among older gods. I trust that you would be able to keep this to yourself?"
Hearing the ancient Lord's tone shift to a grave and serious one, the young god was terrified at what he might hear next but, needing every bit of information that he could get, nodded resolutely to the ancient Lord.
The ancient Lord shifted uncomfortably in his seat and began his tale. "There was a time before when Keys did not exist and the ability can be used freely. As you can imagine, things quickly became problematic and a lot of lives were lost. There were quite a lot of debates and arguments about how to deal with the situation until it was agreed upon that this ability should be excised in most gods but our kind and that it would be sealed for us and only unlocked in special circumstances. Of course, there were quite a few who opposed this plan and another war broke out. In the midst of this war, a ritual was drafted to enact the plan. It was an arduous task as this plan requires that the future generations also be affected to prevent another situation like this from happening again. The last part of this plan would be the Keys. Arguments broke out again on the subject of creating the Keys and many gods who were disgusted by the method left to join the other side. In the end, the side who made the plan and the ritual prevailed and things ended up the way they are now." The ancient Lord stared silently at the distance after he had finished his tale. He blinked twice and sat back wearily in his seat.