Rough Seas

25 - Dianite

Tom was resting on his cot when he felt the presence of Dianite, the room growing hotter and what felt like flames licking his legs. Dianite had always radiated heat, and that had proved helpful for Tom whenever he had been doing something private, back when he was still training. The heat came closer to him, and Tom knew that he was definitely not going to be happy if Tom pretended to be asleep. Ah well. Being free of Dianite had been fun while it lasted. Groaning, Tom threw an arm over his eyes, tensing a little as he heard Dianite chuckle.

"My Champion." Tom could pretty much hear the slight smirk that Dianite's voice had, and he shivered slightly. He wasn't... scared of Dianite. No, he couldn't be. Dianitee's were strong. He could do this. Lifting his arm off of his face, Tom sat up, blinking open his eyes to squint at the god, who was standing on the right ride of his cot, arms folded behind his back. Dianite himself had a bored expression on his face, one that Tom had seen too many times to count. Tom couldn't hear anyone else in the room, so he assumed that he was sleeping or Dianite had already taken him. He fought back a shiver, and pasted a lopsided grin on his face, hoping to fool the god.

"My Lord." Tom gave him a two-fingered salute, before he turned and let his legs dangle off the side of the bed. "Didn't think you'd be here so soon." Dianite huffed, stepping back to allow Tom to stand.

"Aw, Tom. Didn't you miss me?" Dianite gave Tom a chilling smile, and Tom swallowed his fear and nodded back, basically forcing a cheerful attitude at this point. "Good. You have everything? I've already teleported the Modestep brothers to Inertia, as well as that pesky pirate." The gods nose wrinkled in distaste as he spoke about Rupert. It left a bad taste in Tom's mouth, and he realized that now was the best time of any to try and stop Rupert from getting hurt terribly. "Furia will have fun. I heard that he'd been looking for the pirate and his sister for quite some time. I'm sure that he'll enjoy the company." Dianite waved his hand boredly. Tom thought back to one of Dianite's previous statements. Inertia, huh? Well, at least he could get home quicker that way. Inertia, or the Dianitee capital as it was more widely known, held the main temple, where Tom had spent many years training. It was a grand city, and Tom was slightly comforted by the thought of knowing at least where he was.

"My Lord..." Tom started, shrinking a little when Dianite turned to him, fiery eyes boring into his soul. He shifted awkwardly, letting a hand come up to rub at the back of his neck. "My Lord, may I please make a request?" When Dianite nodded slowly, crossing his arms over his chest, Tom continued. "I-It's just, well, the pirate you keep talking about- "

"Rupert Delany, Skipper of the star skip in Ianite's fleet." Dianite interrupted, rolling his eyes as Tom closed his mouth dejectedly, his shoulders slumping. "What about him?"

"Y-Yes Sir. Him." Tom replied, trying to build his confidence back up. His fists balled up instinctively, and he tightened his jaw, determined to get his thoughts heard. "I-I'd like to ask, My Lord, that you uh... not torture Rupert, or at least, bring him any harm." Tom didn't look up from the floor. For a few agonizing moments, everything was silent. And then like a crescendo, Dianite started to laugh. Keeping his head somewhat bowed, Tom waited out Dianite's laughter, his chest stinging slightly. It hurt to have Dianite laughing at him. He hated it.

"Oh, that's just rich!" Dianite said after his laughter had died down. There was still a smirk o his face, and every now and then he would chuckle slightly, thinking about what his champion had said. It was ridiculous. His champion, asking him to not harm someone who had indirectly hurt him, hurt them? That wasn't like Tom. Tom would've begged for the chance to even watch the Skipper be hurt, wanting to please Dianite so much. Now, though, of all of the people he could have vouched for, an Ianitee? The feared and respected Captain Capsize's brother? What had happened to his champion on this trip? Who had he become? "You're not serious, are you?"

"Yes, my Lord. I am." Tom gritted his teeth.

"What, let me guess why. He's knocked you up and you want to keep the child? Or wait-" The god let out a slight laugh. "You fell in love while you were away and now you've completely changed!" Dianite said mockingly, a cruel smile on his face. The god was so close to bursting into laughter. Tom swallowed back the lump that was starting to build in his throat, feeling his eyes start to sting. No no no no he couldn't do this in front of Him. He hated when Dianite did this, blatantly mocked him, showed no care at all towards him. It hurt, especially when Tom look up to the god so much. Dianite was almost like... a second father, if that made any sense.

"My Lord, please." Tom begged, looking up at him pleadingly. He bit his lip, waiting for a response. Dianite sighed and rolled his eyes. Ah well. Not like his champion could stop him anyways.

"Fine, fine. Your precious pirate will stay unharmed." Dianite sneered, watching Tom relax slightly. The mortal didn't exactly trust Dianite's word, but it was the best he could get at the moment. He would have to take it.

"Thank you for your mercy, My Lord." Tom said, bowing slightly. Dianite was always a sucker for people groveling to him. Maybe if he really played up the adoring champion role, Dianite would actually keep his promise. He could hope.

Tom quickly made sure he had everything, before he nodded to Dianite, signaling that he was ready. Dianite placed a hand on Tom's shoulder, and Tom felt his stomach drop. When he opened his eyes again, they were standing in the main room of the Dianite temple in Inertia. Toms wallowed, trying to keep himself from heaving up the contents of his stomach. Dianite merely patted him on the shoulder, before speaking again.

"You will stay here for a couple of days, so I can check on your progress?" He asked, the one in his voice implying that Dianite was definitely not asking Tom a question. Tom nodded hesitantly, and Dianite merely teleported away from him. Blinking, Tom made his way to his room in the temple, which was exactly as it used to be. Gods, he wanted this to all be over.

-

The next time he spoke to Dianite was a few days later, while Tom was training. He was practicing with his armour on, to get him used to the weight again. The Dianitee champion armour was ridiculously heavy. It even impended on his speed, forcing his to stay back and wait for others

"Thomas. Walk with me." Dianite commanded, jerking his head to the side, a motion for Tom to follow him. The god turned and walked away without a word, leaving Tom to scramble to get his armour off and onto its stand, re-sheathing his sword in the scabbard that hung from his belt. He fell into step with the god, and the two walked through the temple, other followers and guards bowing as they passed. They walked in silence for some time, before Tom spoke up.

"Why did you want to do this, Sir?" Tom said, huffing a little as he kept up to Dianite. The god was impossibly tall, and Tom had to jog to keep up with him. He didn't want to think about when the god started to run. Dianite hummed and shrugged.

"I wanted to spend some time with you.

"My Lord? Why did you destroy that Ianitee village? They had done nothing to you, to us." Tom asked sincerely. He bit his lip, watching Dianite's face for any sign of remorse. Dianite merely continued walking, his face blank. Tom's heart dropped. Oh. He really didn't care. Dianite didn't care about all of those lives that he had destroyed, all of those people, gone forever.

"Oh, that village?" Dianite mused. "You should be thankful for that. I did it for you, of course." Tom felt his hands starting to shake. Dianite had killed all of those people... for him? Oh gods, what had he done? If he hadn't been captured, would they have even died? Tom swallowed and nodded as Dianite explained the attack in detail, enjoying watching his champion squirm at the particularly gory bits. Tom couldn't think of anything else. He had caused Dianite to kill all those people. It was all his fault.