????: The thorned king walked through his cavernous home, traveling deep underneath his temple within the underworld. He stood above a glowing red pit of water. As he walked into it, he appeared inside a strange, shattered glass dimension. "You can still be set free...As long as you choose to rule under him. That is your only true option here."
Lucium: The large demonic creature leaned forward in his chains, "Oh~? Is that my only option here? Or is that the one you hope I pick?" He laughed out loud, attempting to claw at his own skin.
????: He stopped just short of the chained figure, the glass beneath his feet cracking outward in slow, deliberate lines. "Freedom is a word you keep mistaking for power. I am offering you survival with purpose."
Lucium: He tilted his head, chains screaming as he shifted. "Purpose?" His grin widened, jagged and wrong. "You mean obedience. You always dress it up prettier than it is."
????: "Is your goal not obedience?" His red eyes glared within his helmet.
Lucium: He let out a scoff, "They don't get to decide anything; I make every choice. There is no obedience in my perfect world, only me~."
????: The thorns along his armor flexed. "Nonetheless, the timelines move without you. Fear has learned to grow teeth without its master. Your existence isn't needed for progress. I am offering you an actual goal under his rule."
Lucium: His smile twitched when the thorns shifted, "Careful...Fear shows itself in many ways~."
????: His eyes narrowed annoyingly, "Caution is not the same as fear, beast. There is a difference."
Lucium: "No." He tugged once more at the chains, making the dimension groan. "There isn't."
????: His hands balled into fists, shaking from a burning rage.
Lucium: "You and I are drastically different. You rule underneath another, begging them for power. The only thing special about you is that fucking armor. Me? I stand above all, even when I sit idle in shackles; the mention of my name sends chills down the spine of reality. I don't need to be someones lapdog to achieve greatness."
????: The thorns along his armor dug inward, metal shrieking as they tightened against themselves. The smoke around him thickened, pulsing with his breath. "You think servitude defines weakness?" His voice lowered, losing its measured edge. "I chose a throne that could not be overturned. I chose permanence."
Lucium: He leaned back against the chains, laughing softly, venomously. "You chose safety." His eyes burned brighter. "You chose to survive instead of matter."
????: He stepped forward again. The shattered glass beneath them spiderwebbed violently. "I rule death itself. I decide what ends and what lingers. Entire gods rot because I allowed time to touch them."
Lucium: His smile sharpened. "And yet you still answer to someone else's shadow." He tilted his head. "Tell me, King of Thorns… when you give orders, do they echo as commands?" His chains rattled as he shifted. "Or permissions?"
????: He turned away swiftly, before he allowed his words to enrage him any further, "My master's plan will succeed, without you. He saw usefulness within you; I do not. We do not require you." He started to walk back towards the pool of red.
Lucium: "AND YET YOU CAME HERE TO RECRUIT ME?! How pathetic~. A man who wears a suit made for a god, yet you can't even kill your own brother." He jolted against the shackles, "I will be sure to rip that crown off your head, AND USE IT TO CARVE OUT YOUR HEART!" He laughed louder and louder, the dimension shaking as the king went back to the Underworld.
????: He stood outside the pool, collapsing to his knees, shaking in rage. "RRRAAAGHHHHHH!!!!" Black smoke shot out from his body, devouring any wandering soul within its radius. "Valkun...I speak to you through my darkness, kill the boy, or I kill you and do it all myself."