[Chapter Size: 2100 Words.]
Third Person POV
Skellige.
...
...
Upon entering the warehouse, Madara simply opened the door. That was nothing more than a direct invitation — if that being wanted to summon him there, so be it.
As his steps echoed through the dark place, the door slammed shut behind him with force. Madara didn't care, as the darkness consumed the entire space.
He was certainly no longer in that warehouse. He was in a place made of darkness as deep as pitch.
Only his eyes shone like a scarlet flame in that darkness.
"Are you going to keep hiding, or are you going to show yourself already?" Despite his anger, Madara kept his tone firm, and his voice resonated through the place.
"Hahahahaha." A laugh came from somewhere he couldn't immediately identify. It seemed to come from all around him, even from behind.
"You know, I've been watching you for a long time, Madara Uchiha. But I believe you already know that, don't you?" The voice sounded friendly and gentle.
Madara remembered that tone very well — the same one that had spoken to them only once, when Ciri and he had stopped at a festival in southern Temeria, a little away from the war, before departing for Sodden. The being had appeared on stage and started talking about them as a couple, then vanished the next moment. Since that day, Madara had been on alert about the mirror merchant called Gaunter O'Dimm.
"You're right, demon." Madara said, as the laughter burst into cackles.
"Hahahaha... Hahahaha!" The laughter changed. "You're clever." The voice had shifted — it had become darker and more macabre, as if it tore through reality itself.
"However, I am merely a mirror merchant. A humble seller." The voice had now returned to being human.
"Your work also involves collecting souls... Is that what you want?" Madara replied, while the man remained silent amid the darkness.
"Everyone has their price, Madara Uchiha. I remember your clan. They lived hidden away, associating only among themselves, keeping isolated. Do you know what I discovered about your clan back then? Why they couldn't bear children with others. What happened to your wife was something quite common whenever any man tried to be with women outside the clan."
"People in the kingdoms of that time didn't know much about the Uchiha clan, but I always admired them. They were different from everyone else in this world, yet they never interfered — even though they could have conquered the entire continent, they preferred to live in seclusion. Perhaps hidden, as you might imagine now..."
"When I realized it one day, they had been destroyed by forces from elsewhere, and all of them were wiped out. There were no Uchiha clan members left alive at that time." He said, as Madara narrowed his eyes. He didn't know why the man had started with that — whatever purpose that introduction served — but it certainly carried useful and interesting information.
'There wasn't a single Uchiha alive after the attack?' The words of a being like him should carry some weight, even though Madara already knew his intentions.
"You might be mistaken..." Madara retorted. "Somehow, a few of them survived. After all, I wouldn't be here if they hadn't, would I?" Madara sneered.
"You're the one mistaken if you think they simply managed to survive after the attack." The voice replied. "No, there were no more Uchiha left in this world. I was always interested in their powers, so I scoured the entire world for a survivor — someone who still carried the bloodline. But none of them lived." Upon hearing this, Madara had his own thoughts.
The demon paused.
"However, a few years ago, I learned that the Uchiha name was alive once again... living in Cintra. I wondered how — how it was possible? Even for me, it became a mystery. After all, three hundred years had passed, and there had never again been reports of people with strange abilities and red eyes."
"That only led to more questions... but that's not important. What do you want with all this?" Madara no longer seemed to be receiving useful information. He wanted to know what the demon truly wanted.
"Well..." He seemed to smile from somewhere. Suddenly, he appeared behind Madara. "I've always been fascinated by the powers of your clan. Some of them even provided me with quite a bit of help," he said, circling Madara, while the Uchiha turned toward him — but the demon in human form vanished before he could react. "But of all the days, I've never seen one with so much potential." He spoke again beside Madara, disappearing the moment the Uchiha turned his gaze, seeing only darkness.
He appeared once more, walking behind Madara through the darkness. He kept doing that, as if it were some kind of game. As if he were studying him.
"So much power... so much potential. None of this existed three hundred years ago. There was never an Uchiha who could wield such power as you do, and you achieved it so young..."
Madara no longer even felt the urge to look back, feeling the voice at his back as the being appeared again on the other side, as if staring him down. He remained motionless, while that being toyed with him.
"You could say that I collect souls. There's not much I can hide from you. You seem to have a certain knowledge about the things of this world... it's strange, but I can't deny it," said Gaunter O'Dimm, his smile widening.
"However, everyone has their price. Even you." He declared.
"If you think I'm going to make a deal with you, you're wasting your time. And if you're here to threaten me, well, I don't care if you're a demon." Madara replied, as his Sharingan transformed into the Mangekyō.
A laugh came again, as the being seemed to be enjoying himself.
"Flattering, I admit... and brave. But you must realize I'm not as weak as you might think," said the reincarnation of evil.
"You should listen to me... As I said, everyone has their price. You love that girl, don't you? Love is such a beautiful thing... and its fruits are divine." He was referring to the baby.
"You speak of divine things, being what you are... rather ironic, don't you think?" Madara sneered.
"But even I can recognize love, EVEN FOR SOMEONE LIKE ME..." The voice changed in the last words, becoming softer before returning to its usual tone. "I have lived a long time in this world and I recognize the love you humans have for one another — capable of madness, of raising the sword in a lost war, of standing before death, of killing, of stealing..."
He paused before continuing.
"OF EVEN SELLING YOUR OWN SOUL." He said with a macabre tone once again.
Madara remained silent. He no longer heard him — the being seemed to speak from every direction.
"I have seen what happens to women pregnant with Uchihas; they die in a horrible way, and the child dies as well... However, I think that girl can still save the baby within her... But do you wish to save her too? You know she will die... Even if she could endure every pregnancy, she is destined to die so that your child may live. A mother's love — isn't it beautiful? The question is: do you desire that? Only you and your son... it would be so sad — you will become a lonely man. After all, I doubt there are many women who could capture your heart the way that girl did." He paused.
"I may be what I am, there's no point in hiding it from you. But I have always been fascinated by love stories: knowing that a couple would be lost after having their childhoods bound together from such a young age, until romantic feelings blossomed into marriage and a child was born... it's a little sad for me."
"I think you're worse than that... It seems you waited all this time for Ciri to bear my child... You were just waiting for this moment all these years, weren't you?" Madara couldn't help but ask.
The demon didn't answer, and Madara continued.
"Let me guess: you want my soul to save Ciri. I think you're wasting your time..." Madara mocked.
Madara knew there was nothing good to be gained from that. He would be marked by the obvious consequence of losing his soul, or perhaps even his child. Even if he agreed, what guarantee was there that the demon would do exactly as he said? He was not a being to be trusted. He still remembered the words the old woman had told him hours earlier: 'do not trust the demon's tongue'. However, it didn't make much difference — Madara was already aware of that being.
"I just want you to perform a few services for me. With your potential, you could be quite useful," said the demon.
"You don't want my soul?" Madara asked, still mocking.
"No. As powerful as your soul is, your strength here is far more useful to me. I want you to perform tasks. Some people owe me, and you can imagine what. Unfortunately, I don't have the power to interfere directly — that's why I need someone." He hadn't finished the sentence when Madara interrupted him.
"You need a hunting dog? You might have more luck with a witcher." He said, after all Geralt had made a deal with him in the game.
"A witcher would be a clever move. However, even so, a witcher does not compare to the potential and power you possess. I know that, as a child, you could already kill witchers. Anyway, what I want from you is only that you carry out these tasks. I will not take your soul — only if you fail to complete them, of course. You, your wife and child could live afterwards." He said.
"My answer is no. I will not accept any offer from a being like you, made of lies." Madara said. "I know you follow us, watch us even after years. I came here not necessarily to talk; I came only to give a warning."
"It doesn't matter if you cannot see the creature. If you continue to pursue and attempt anything against me, Ciri, or my friends, I will destroy you." Madara threatened, while his eyes seemed to glow even more.
A silence settled, "Hahahahahaha!" followed by a contained laugh that soon turned into a cackle. "HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Do you really think you can deal with someone like me?" the demon said, still laughing.
"I say I can. In fact, demon, I feel your fear. You want to control me because you know you couldn't handle it — you fear my power more than anything. You fear that I am a threat to you."
When Madara finished, he suddenly froze. Steps began to be heard, someone approaching, and soon from the darkness Gaunter O'Dimm appeared wearing simple yellow clothing, looking at Madara, frozen.
"Ah, you have no idea what I am, human," Gaunter O'Dimm spoke, while his crimson red eyes shone. "I admit, I must be cautious with you. I couldn't even appear before your eyes, for I did not want your gaze to fall upon me. I know very well of their powers and the danger they represent. Even so, I am here, before you, and you are motionless by my power. I could kill you easily," the demon mocked, as he opened an evil smile.
"I could mark you easily." Then he moved his hand to touch Madara's forehead.
But, upon reaching ten centimeters from it, a chakra barrier quickly sprang up, forming bones that blocked the advance. Gaunter O'Dimm withdrew his hand, looking surprised that Madara had broken his power to stop time.
He vanished the next moment, while a huge blue chakra hand exploded where he had been, smashing into the ground and trying to crush him.
"It seems that you..." Gaunter O'Dimm began from somewhere else in the darkness, but was interrupted by Madara's voice.
"You forgot that you are in front of Madara Uchiha, demon?" Madara said, and even a demon like Gaunter O'Dimm would become something insignificant before him.
Madara's eyes — shining inside the bones around his body while an arm of the Susanoo rose from the ground that he had destroyed earlier.
"Before me, you are insignificant..." Madara spoke his words in a threatening tone.
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