The dawns of the Abyss were less scenic than one would've expected because of the whole 'permanent red-orange skies' business. Nevertheless, the morning sunlight streaming into a dim gothic chamber had a certain sense of poetic beauty to it. The room, situated at the heart of Castle Nergal, was the epitome of subdued elegance.

The chamber had an unusual hexagonal layout. The back wall was dominated by a single, enormous bookshelf packed to the brim with thick tomes of various colours and bindings. The two adjacent walls each had a large stained-glass window; one depicting an upside-down demon that was essentially a creative commons version of Levi's Baphomet, while the other had the same character standing upright while holding a flaming sword. It must've had some symbolic meaning, but its significance was lost on me.

The next two walls had multiple paintings each, mostly portraits, while the final wall was naturally where the huge, double-winged hardwood door would be found. In the middle of all that, sitting on a beautiful red-and-gold Kashmir carpet, was a gorgeous desk seemingly carved out of a single piece of…

"Graaah!"

Correction: there had been a finely carved desk there, until Crowy turned it into firewood with a purple mana-infused punch.

"My Liege, please, calm yourself."

He wasn't alone in the room. The side with the door had a whole lot of Nergal nobles lined up under the portraits; dignitaries, officers, layabouts, the whole bunch. They were mixed with a couple of familiar faces from House Inanna, and Dimas Ekhtear, the irate House head's right-hand man, stood out of the crowd a bit with his usual light grey uniform and unnecessarily fair features.

Crowy sent a thundering glare his way and straightened his back, his aura flaring to life once again and tinting the room in an eerie violet light.

"Don't you dare tell me to calm down, Dimas! I was robbed of my glory today, as well as my prize, and all for this?" He gestured at the remains of the desk, or rather, the scattered pages of a tattered old tome littering the floor around it. "I should be applauded for sparing the miserable lives of these Nergal scum!"

The men and women behind Dimas unconsciously flinched, but he remained unfazed and responded calmy.

"A wise course of action. House Nergal already pledged themselves to the cause of the Emperor."

"I know," Crowy growled through gritted teeth, and if looks could kill, Dimas would've been an obituary at this point.

The grey-clad man must've been already used to his mood-swings though, as he took the response in literal stride as he walked up to the Inanna patriarch and made a few gestures towards the assortment of Nergal aristocrats. At last, Crowy exhaled hard and turned to face them.

"You're dismissed. Serve the Emperor and His Herald well."

There was an implied 'or else' in his tone, and the group hastily left the room, though not without some desperate yet distinctly half-hearted kowtowing and praises. Before long, it was only the two men of Inanna remaining in the room, and Dimas didn't waste any time to hit the nail on the head.

"My Liege? If I might be so presumptuous, I feel that your current behavior is… irrational. House Nergal is now our sworn allies, and therefore you have permanent access to their Mana Well. There is no need for you to push yourself so hard to tame it right away, so I can't help but think that there's something else upsetting you." His eyes remained trained on his master, and seeing that Crowy didn't deny his words, he was emboldened to say, "As always, I'm ready and willing to share your burdens. Please, speak to me."

The other man remained silent for a good long while, eyes staring into the distance with an expression that the only reason he wouldn't eat a bowl full of kittens right now was because he didn't feel peckish at the moment. It lasted until he glanced down at his right palm and exhaled a sharp breath. His entire hand was wrapped up in a layer of thick white bandages, save for his fingertips, and after a dramatic beat, he flexed his fingers and then balled them into a fist.

"The Mana Well resisting my authority, and the Nergals' 'prized research' into its properties and control mechanisms is reason enough for my wrath…" He opened his fist again and looked Dimas in the eyes. "Still, you're correct. What truly fuels the flames of my fury is that I had Leonard Dunning, or Polemos, or whatever he deigns to call himself now, within my grasp. My vengeance was in sight. I was going to repay him a thousandfold for the humiliation of that day and for stealing Neige from me. If only I was a little faster, and acted before he could…"

"I'm certain that Emperor Bel is already in the process of interrogating him. Once he's finished, I'm sure he'll—"

The aide's words were cut short by a sinister chuckle that soon ballooned into an outright cackle.

"You don't get it, do you, Dimas?" Crowy exclaimed, his aura surging again and his voice making the windows resonate so hard it was a miracle they didn't shatter yet. "He was mine! Mine to capture, mine to interrogate, mine to kill!" He raised his right hand to eye level and glared and his bandaged palm again. "That's why I'm livid, Dimas. This power, this authority is more than what any Lord of Inanna, of any House, could ever dream about. Yet, it's not enough. I need more. Enough power so that nobody can take what's rightfully mine ever again, and for that, I need to bend the Mana Wells to my will."

"I'm sure there's a way. I believe in you, My Liege."

Crowy's expression remained cloudy, but he eventually let his hand down and turned to face the stained window with the demonic figure holding the flaming sword depicted on it. The silence in the chamber lingered for a while, but then he abruptly averted his eyes and gave a kick to the ruined desk and the scattered pages.

"Dimas."

"Yes, My Liege?"

"Gather a group of trustworthy subjects. The less dim-witted, the better, and have them help you scour all libraries and repositories at our disposal. I refuse to believe that this is all the information the Nergals had on the Mana Wells. There has to be a key to exert absolute control over them…" At this point, he dramatically turned around and locked eyes with his subordinate. "… and I will have it, no matter what it takes."