The Cursed King

Most of the gods and goddesses looked on with horror but didn't step in to save the 'Time Master' because he was a powerful god. 

They knew Dante who couldn't be defeated easily even if Loriel had just become a god. This was really unfortunate for Dimitri's part because Loriel was not dealing with Dante but the god's twin masquerading as him instead. 

Nobody could tell the difference at all and Loriel thought he finally was going to see his wife again. He couldn't wait anymore or even try to confront the Time Master at a later time. 

Loriel wanted to do it now and he was going to exert himself to the limits of his new immortal body to do just that. He held the god by the throat and squeezed it painfully as he said. 

"Now bring me to Elise."

"I'm afraid that I can't do that," Dimitri laughed weakly.

"Do it or else I'll strangle you until you die. I am no longer a weak human!" Loriel narrowed his eyes and frowned. "You said earlier that what you've given is a potion of youth so I assume that you can still die as long as I hit you badly enough. Or do you want me to stab you through the chest like you did with mine?"

"Hah?" Dimitri blinked in surprise but then faked a smirk on his face. He was putting in the effort to not back down in front of this man and keep to his role as perfectly as possible. "That would have hurt a lot, didn't it? I'm surprised that you are alive until now."

"Quit playing games with me, Dante." Loriel spat.

"I'm not," Dimitri said and couldn't help but smile at the ridiculousness of this situation. How terrible it was for him to be put in a life and death situation because of what his brother had done to both Elise and her husband.

This was Dimitri's chance to reveal to the crowd that he wasn't his brother and ask for help. 

He could let Loriel know the truth that he was dealing with a fake all this time. However, Dimitri, the god of knowledge didn't want his brother to get hurt. He didn't want this to break out into a fight like no other.

Some of the gods would undoubtedly get upset and try to fight Loriel but that was not good. This was trouble between Loriel and his brother, but Dimitri chose to take his brother's place at this hour.

He wasn't all just about books, wisdom and knowledge. 

The familial love and loyalty he felt to Dante overtook any sense of urging that told Dimitri to tell Loriel the truth because he wanted Dante to have a chance to correct the error in his ways.

Dimitri wanted to give his brother the opportunity to amend his ways and for Elise to truly recover from the effects of the water of forgetfulness. 

It would be too difficult for Dante to save Elise if Loriel came up and started attacking him.

And so it happened, Loriel threw Dimitri across the lands of Cretea in anger. He was going to beat up this Time Master so badly that he would force the god to reveal Elise's location or have him bring her back.

However, compared to Dante who was strong, Dimitri was truly weak.

He forced himself to his feet and only laughed despite his entire body aching with an immeasurable amount of pain. Loriel rushed towards the god and threw another attack at him, this time, a flurry of wind concentrated in that attack and attacked him point-black in the chest.

Cretea shook for a moment as Dimitri crashed against one of the temples, the pillars breaking away and falling on top of each other. Dimitri soon fell on the marble floor motionless. 

He was in another world of pain.

Loriel found himself getting annoyed that this Time Master was trying to make the fight look bad. It was as if Loriel was the perpetrator when the Time Master really was the one who attacked him first and nearly killed him before.

"Stand up and fight me, you coward!" Loriel shouted at him.

There was no answer. Dimitri couldn't keep doing this any longer and he almost felt like his time was up. If it weren't for Loriel being unaware that Dante had a twin, perhaps the former king of Summeria would have noticed that something was wrong.

However, Loriel didn't know and so he stayed unaware and thought he was facing Dante. Loriel grabbed him by his robes' collar and glared at him. "Where did you send Elise? What time did you send her?"

"Hah, can you truly wait for your wife…?" Dimitri choked on his blood and stared at Loriel. "I've sent her to 2100 but can you really wait for that long?"

"You bastard!" Loriel shouted at him but it fell to deaf ears.

It was such a long time even for a god and Dimitri couldn't help but wonder if it would change the man. If Loriel held on to that long, then it would be a miracle… if not, then Elise would have his brother as a companion.

This made Dimitri feel curious. He was wondering if Loriel's love would stand the test of time, now that he had all the time in the world?

Dimitri smiled and then barked a laugh.

He couldn't believe that he was also trying his hand with such things as experiments even until now. Dimitri wasn't going to live long enough to see if love would stand the test of time. 

Perhaps Dante would find it funny because the Time Master always said that time would make everything fade. Whether it was hurt, love, anger and a lot of other things, all would fade away in the face of it.

Would it apply to Loriel as well? 

Would the man lose sight of what he wanted after fifteen centuries? 

It wasn't even going to be fifteen centuries because by that time, Elise had probably already recovered and might not want anything to do with him. Dimitri remembered the pain that was reflected in her eyes and he hoped she would be alright.

Could Elise also find it in her heart to forgive Loriel after everything? 

By that time, the love in Elise's own heart for Loriel would have no doubt faded enough that she could look at the situation with clarity and see whether her husband was deserving of redemption… or not.