Independence... and perhaps power?

It was very early, about two o'clock in the morning, and after a good deal of travel, Athanase was now approaching his destination. Said destination appeared to be the titanic palace that stood before him. The reason for his being here? To meet with Mana, or rather, to request something from her. He had sent a message asking permission to enter from overseas, and she had granted him passage. In said massage, he had requested to be told a suitable time to arrive when there wouldn't be any other people around. He had then been told to arrive shortly after midnight, which he had just done. Now he stood in front of the palace's massive gates, looking upward as he examined the sheer size of the massive structure before him.

The purpose for his wanting to be here, which was also described in the aforementioned message, was to request conversion into an avant demon. Athanase had been keeping an ear out for any interesting activity from... really any country. He though that it'd be better for him to be prepared for whatever may happen anywhere by knowing sooner that it was happening. When he had heard of the invention of the avant demons, he had immediately developed a strong interest. He wished to be free, to have his link to other demons severed. He believed that power originating from himself and only himself would be much more reliable than power originating from another whom may choose to deny him that power. This was especially worrisome due to the fact that the one who most likely had that power to deny him was among his strongest perceived enemies.

It is because of these reasons that Athanase now stood before the gates of this palace. Despite all of the risks of coming here, he still sought after the potential gains from this meeting. However, it may not be that much of a risky move, he thought. He was, after all, a demon, entering a palace of demons. It wouldn't be tremendously out of place for him to be here. He also hadn't mentioned anything about his alignment nor anything about his affiliation with the Monsuta. This may just be a safe move, although, even if it wasn't, he was still here, standing before the palace. Moving his gaze back toward the gates in front of him, a question popped into Athanase's mind. Would he even be able to open these? They were absolutely huge, and he wasn't that strong. He assumed they operated by some form of mechanism of sorts, but he also thought of the fact that nobody except the queen was likely to be present at this time. However, assuming that the queen was expecting him, she would most likely provide a way for him to enter. To make his presence known, though he thought they she may already have sensed him, Athanase reached out his right hand to the doors in front of him and knocked twice.

Athanase would jolt in surprise as Mana would appear behind him, startled by the fact that he only began sensing her when she was practically already latched onto him. This small figure that had attached itself to him was most likely the queen whom he had come to meet. At first impression she appeared quite excitable, which could be bad as it made it harder to predict how she may react to something. She didn't appear to be hostile, however, just quite spontaneous, at least for now. According to her, he had also apparently approached the palace from behind, though that made him wonder why the back gate of the palace was so large. That didn't really matter to him much, however, and even if it did, he didn't have much time to think about it.

Next thing he knew, he was blasted onto his back, the queen then mounting his chest and looking down at him. She questioned him, then getting what some would call.. uncomfortably close. She was indeed quite strange to Athanase, sitting on his chest and acting like a child. He knew that calling her more powerful than him would be an exponential understatement, however. She wasn't quite what he had expected, though, now that he thought about it, he realized that demons were usually strange in general, at least in one way or another. Others would probably view himself as strange, after all. Athanase would stay in his newfound position, the queen of demons grinning at him from her position upon his chest. He would seemingly stare upward into the distance, his eyes unfocused. In reality, this was just because he usually didn't use his eyes for seeing aside from when there was something in particular he wanted to look at. Most of the time, his innate ability to sense vibration was plenty enough to 'see' everything around him.

"Well, Your Grace, I'm afraid my life story isn't really an exciting one. I've lead a fairly normal life for the most part. I was born in Nice, France, as a human. At the age of seventeen, certain events that had been transpiring in my family took a turn for the worse. In response, I made a decision that many others would consider a bad one, which put me in a difficult situation. Luckily, or not, someone was there to offer me a method of escape. As for why I'm here, as mentioned in my message to you, I have come to request conversion into an avant demon. When I heard of their invention, the idea of independence allured me. That is all I have to explain."

Athanase would wait for the queen's next action, as nervous as one could be in his condition. He didn't like the fact that he couldn't predict what would happen next, this feeling greatly amplified by the fact the woman sitting atop him could obliterate him at a moment's notice, no matter how naturally resilient he may be. He made a mental note to avoid these situations in the future; he much preferred situations in which he had the clear advantage.

Of course something was expected from him in return for his request. It was highly unlikely that he would get anything for free around here, especially not from the being before him. That being which is known for being chaotic, unpredictable, sadistic, and many other things that one would associate with a being of true evil. However, Athanase viewed her differently as some people may. Sure, she was evil, or at least fit the definition of evil that most people had, but in this situation, terms like good and evil mattered little to him. What he saw before him was a being of immense power, someone integral to the events of this world, a keystone of history.

He thought hard about what he could offer Mana, but soon realized he had no real idea of what her interests might be. Everything he could offer she pretty much already had. This made offering anything of worth significantly more difficult. He supposed he could offer his loyalty, but he wasn't sure if that would really mean anything to her. However, the more he thought of something to offer, the more he thought that that was all he really had. Still, he had heard Mana's mind works in unpredictable ways, so he decided that a bit more explaining may help his cause in this scenario.

"I find it strange how we have seemingly opposite personalities, and yet you make more sense to me than everyone else I've met. Does that happen often?"

Athanase would remain lying on the ground, unnaturally still. One could very well mistake him for a corpse, had he not been speaking. This created a strange conflict of spoken word and acting body, as what he was saying was sincere and strongly felt, yet his body no longer contained the natural instinct to act in accordance to his feelings.

"I mean, you're the only one I know, to whatever extent I know you, who acts consistently with their ideals. All of these do-gooders and self proclaimed heroes squabbling over who is more right, who has the higher moral ground. It's just history repeating itself as it has so many times. Nobody truly gets anywhere because they're too focused on climbing over each other. All of them speak one thing but do another, or they're too afraid to carry out what needs to be done. Hypocrites, all of them. It annoys me. You, on the other hand, are different. However chaotically you act, you still act according to your declared character. You truly state, and act according to, your desires. This attracts me. And even given your alignment, you're one who's done more than the vast majority to help this world, and that is by giving it an enemy. When this world truly started improving was when it was given a common foe and the weak were weeded out. I want to assume a role like yours. I want to appose the world, and if they fail against me, then they did not deserve to succeed. I, once more, want to transcend myself and gain purpose. What would you say would be an appropriate cost for this? I'm not sure what I could provide you that would be of significance, as all I can offer that you do not currently have is my loyalty."