Nalyne actually smiled at him, taking him from just handsome to something a bit difficult to believe. That smile gave a hint that this person might be able to hear the thoughts banging around in that pale head. In truth, Nathaniel wasn't hiding as much as he thought he was. At least, not from Nalyne anyway.
He gave a nod and held out a hand, casually causing a gilt and ornate mirror to rise from the ground in front of the grave in front of the boy, "First, my offer..." he said simply as the mirror shifted to show Nathaniel his family.
It was his grandmother's back yard where four girls were dancing in a circle, holding hands around a zombie. His grandmother stood off to the side, indulgently watching and saying something to the girls as if instructing them. His father also stood nearby watching.
But all of them were older. The girls were teenagers in the image. One sister had somehow gotten dark green highlights in her hair while the other had taken lavender highlights. They both took after their mother, especially when they smiled and laughed. Even his father and grandmother showed a few years on them.
After another moment his grandmother said something to the girls and they changed the direction of their dancing and laid the zombie to rest. His father and grandmother both smiled and gestured for the girls to go inside then followed all the girls in. Considering the time of day, more likely heading in to dinner.
The scene faded from sight and Nalyne gave a soft sigh, "Sorry about the time difference. Time passes differently in Darkness Abounds than in the human realm," he started then gave Nathaniel a simple nod, "For my offer... I can give you the ability to go home. I'll warn you now, though, that your grandmother will not allow you to stay once she learns that you've been here. Earthbound necromancers don't deal much with this realm unless they dip too far into the dark side of the craft. I can also help you with that little issue you're having and provide you the materials you'll need to increase your craft in both alchemy and necromancy," he offered then fell silent to wait and see what he had to say.
What he'd just shown to Nathaniel was something no mortal could do. Certainly no one in Darkness Abounds could do it.
After a moment of silence, he offered a nod of his head, "Before you turn me down outright... I should tell you that I'm not from here. My name is Nalyne. A very long time ago, Goh was my half brother. Thankfully, someone put him down for good. Good riddance, to be honest. But I was sent here to clean up my brother's messes. This place, and his creations, are those messes. This place, the entire realm, was created from the last essence of his lost godhood. That essence is evil. Pure, unrefined, evil. People, no matter whet race they are, are able to choose their fate after a fashion. They can choose to be good or bad. I know there's a lot of grey in those choices and I'm not debating that point. But the point remains that even the people born here can choose. They are influenced by the essence that permeates this place, but the choice still remains," he explained, moving slowly between headstones here and there.
The spirits didn't bother him at all. A few of them even paused to show him deference, almost reverence, as he passed them. They did stay out of his way as he moved with inhuman grace.
And yet, the spirits remained tight-lipped about Nalyne. They didn't offer anything about him. Still, their behavior did say a lot.
"There is one person here that was not able to escape the influence of that essence. Ilea. She wasn't born here. She was created. You might think of her as a type of flesh golem or something like that. It's a great deal more complicated than that, but it's an easy way of to think of her to begin with. However, I don't think my brother knew what he made when he created her. She is so much more than anything you could possibly imagine. And she's done something that no one at all should have been able to do..." he paused there, his voice slightly hushed at the end as he considered it all, still not sure what to make of it.
After another moment, he turned to look at him for another silent moment, watching him carefully before giving a soft sigh and gestured to the mirror again, "For your part of the deal..." he said, watching Nathaniel's face as the image of Ilea now appeared.
It was the castle's Great Hall. A stone alter had somehow risen by itself from the ground and how held a collection of soft furs. And Ilea... She looked like she was asleep. Her dark hair spread out around her head to cascade in waves to the floor. Her pale skin was covered with a crimson silk sheet, yet her shoulders, neck, and face carried numerous pale scars that didn't detract from her beauty and still showed that she'd been through total hell during her long life.
Around her, skeletons tended to her and the rest of the castle. Nalyne had sent the living servants there back to the village when Shale had been attacked and Ilea went into stasis. Now, only the Rattles Ilea had created served inside the castle.
"Ilea needs a new Master," he said then chuckled as Nathaniel's eyes widened in shock, "Don't worry. I don't want you to take her on. You're not powerful enough. No, I want you to take on the job of managing the castle and her pets. All of your needs will be seen to inside the castle. The library is yours to go through as you please. If you want to delve into some of Goh's experiments, I'll allow it. Necromancy is what it is, after all. And you will be given the ability to create your own portals to travel the different realms as you choose. But you will always come home to the castle. You can still manage your little business in the village. I won't interfere with that. But I don't want her left alone, even if she doesn't know you're there," he explained the second half of the deal.
Now, he waited to see what Nathaniel would would say.
And yes, he'd as good as admitted that he was a deity of some kind without offering any details about it. Nate's reaction to all of it would prove interesting...
