Strange use of Magic (Black Clover AU)

[Third Person's PoV] 

"Are you a part of the royal family?" Stephen asked not hesitating to jump straight into the questioning. 

"No…" Kordath replied plainly

"Are you considered someone important in Atlantis?" 

"Yes" 

"Why?" 

"My father is captain of the Royal Guard, our house is in charge of maintaining security for members of the royal family" 

"Hmmm…" Stephen began to ponder to himself as he had a hand by his chin, "Why are you here?" He decided to ask.

"I am under direct orders of the Princess…" Kordath answered while he was still suspended in the air.

"The Princess?" Stephen asked with a raised eyebrow, "Elaborate" 

"Princess Nerissa, she has a special gift. She has a special connection to all Marine life. She views all the animals under the seas hers and thus when she detected the death of the Immortal Kraken at the hands of humans she sent me to punish the perpetrator"

"I suppose that makes sense…" Stephen muttered, "What is the structure of the Kingdom?" 

"Alantis is Ruled by his Majesty King Neptune the 3rd alongside his wife Queen Sedna. Together they have three children, His Highness, the Crown Prince, Triton, their second born, Princess Nixie, and the youngest Princess Nerissa" Explained Kordath 

"Of course she's the youngest" Stephen couldn't help but scoff, "Go on" 

"Below them are the four Dukes: the Duke House of Black, the Duke House of Lunar, the Duke House of Ebb, and the Duke House of Brineheart," Kordath explained, detailing the structure of the kingdom.

As Kordath spoke, Stephen quickly realized that the hierarchy was typical of most noble systems. It followed the standard ranks with the King at the top, followed by the Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, Count, Baron, and finally, Knight.

Stephen conjured a chair and accelerated time around himself to speed things up. "I feel like this is going to take a while…" he muttered.

"Alright," Stephen continued, "you referred to your race as Guardians. What exactly are you guarding? Were you speaking about your family's role in protecting the royal family, or is there something else?"

"Something else—the Heart of Atlantis itself," Kordath replied, his face briefly contorting as he struggled against Stephen's control, before losing the battle.

"The Heart of Atlantis? What is this Heart?" Stephen pressed.

"I don't know," Kordath admitted. "I've never seen it. Only the royal family and the heads of the four Duke Houses have."

Stephen narrowed his eyes, thoughtfully placing a hand on his chin. "What can you tell me about it? What do you know?"

"The Heart is tied to the very creation of Atlantis. It's the source of our people, a gift from God," Kordath explained. "When existence was a void, God appeared and manifested the world with twelve elemental aspects. After creating the world, He created races, each embodying one of these aspects. Our people were given the physical form of one of the aspects, the Aspect of Water, to guard and protect. The Heart, the physical embodiment of this aspect, became the core of our civilization. As long as the Heart thrives, so does Atlantis."

Stephen listened, trying to hide his growing suspicion. 'What the hell is he on about? Did they really create a whole religious narrative around the Elemental Stone of Water? The twelve aspects definitely referring refer to the twelve elemental stones Agamotto created…'

He considered Kordath's words carefully. 'Agamotto mentioned in his writings that he couldn't leave the stones unguarded, so he created a clan. However It seems he didn't create just one, but twelve—one for each stone.'

Stephen stood up, placing a hand under his chin as he began thinking aloud. "But he mentioned the Strange Clan specifically… So, Agamotto must have created guardians, or rather people, to guard these stones. However, he must have chosen to stay and live with one of the Guardians…"

He ran his fingers through the white patch of hair, pacing around. "They must have been the keepers of the Time Stone. Agamotto had the Eye of Agamotto and likely kept the Time Stone inside it. When he 'died,' or rather became one with a dimension, he left the Eye for the Strange family to guard, as that was their original purpose. He knew he would eventually become one with a dimension, so he stayed with them until he did."

Stephen let out a frustrated groan, ruffling his hair in annoyance. "But that just leaves me with more questions than answers! Why the Time Stone? Why did he choose to wield the power of time? Surely with the powers of Chaos, Order, or even Fate, he could have reversed what was happening to him!"

Slumping back into his seat, Stephen sighed exasperatedly, looking up. A small smile appeared on his lips. 'So many mysteries to uncover. This is quite fun and exciting,' he thought before refocusing on Kordath, who remained suspended in the air.

Leaning forward, Stephen caressed his chin thoughtfully. "Alright then… Earlier, you seemed quite casual about wanting me to be your slave. Is slavery still a part of your culture?"

"Yes."

Stephen's brow furrowed. "How does your slave system work?"

"It's a form of punishment. Depending on the severity of the crime, the number of years of slave labor one must serve is determined. For instance, killing among our people would result in ten years of slavery. After serving the term, the individual is set free, cleared of all charges, and allowed to resume their life," Kordath explained.

Stephen was intrigued by the system's structure but noticed something peculiar in Kordath's words. "What do you mean by 'among your people'? What happens if a human kills one of your people? How many years would they serve? Are there even humans in Atlantis?"

"Yes, there are humans in Atlantis, but they wouldn't serve any time as slaves if they killed one of our own. They would be executed without question," Kordath replied calmly.

'And there it is…' Stephen thought, identifying the flaw. "I take it the slave system isn't as lenient toward humans as it is for your own people?"

"No. Humans are our natural-born slaves; their sole purpose is to serve us. The system is designed so they can never escape it."

Stephen's gaze grew cold as he listened. "Then why aren't the people of this town slaves?"

"There are two reasons. One is because of the temple and the being they worship—the Sea Dragon, the Leviathan. While Atlantis doesn't fear it, they respect it enough to let the people fulfill their duties. However, should they overstep, Atlantis wouldn't hesitate to eliminate them."

"And the second reason?" Stephen asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Just because they don't wear chains doesn't mean Atlantis has no ownership over them or that they aren't still slaves secretly without their knowledge…" Kordath said cryptically, his egotism shining through the hypnosis.

Stephen understood perfectly. A wave of mana exploded from him as he slouched forward, his face expressionless but his blue eyes glowing brightly. "I see…" he replied coldly.

'It's like the saying from my past life: "The best way to keep a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he never knows he's in prison." They're giving the people a false sense of freedom. Atlantis still controls them. To Atlantis, they're still slaves, and to the people, Atlantis is a power they cannot disobey.'

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