Once a lively system full of small planets locked in an orbit in the habitable zone of a great star, Buche's territory had become a wraith of its former hidden glory, all that remained were dead planets void of any sign that life once existed there, and a gravitational anomaly standing where the star once was keeping them in orbit still.
His army, his puppets, everything he owned had been reduced to collateral under Sol's wrath, the Fourth General of the Emporium, feared and revered for his strange powers of manipulation and his ability to evade even the eyes of Emperor Zan'el had gracelessly fallen in the dead fo space with no ally being the wiser.
Buche stared at the anomaly from a small cell bound by his hands, groaning as he stood as still as he could with the stubs of all his seven tentacles dripping green blood after Xie had ripped them from his back and beat im mercilessly with them.
He had already been transported into the ship Alpha had reconstructed to hold Sol's entire armada, the only sign that life existed where his Empire once thrived.
"Eyes over here, ugly," Yu stood at the front of his open cell staring at him. "Master Vestic is calling for you, come with me." She ordered him gesturing that he follow with a lazy wave of her hand.
"Do you not fear my retaliation?" Buche asked stepping towards the exit of the small cell, his eyes were swollen as was most of his face, his wounds seemed incapable of healing and his limps and winces with every stride showed the pain he was in, Xie had left him within inches of his life only minutes earlier.
"Not I nor nobody here fears you, Buche." Yu answered his empty taunt with a light chuckle. "You are under Master's watch, as well as that of Ladies Alpha and Jena, you are harmless here." She stopped on a round platform and gestured that he stand beside her. "Stand there."
"How could so many powerful beings flock to the side of a nobody, Sol Vestic is nothing compared to the infamy of Emperor Zan'el?" Buche staggered onto the platform and raised his chin, wincing again when he tried catching the appearance of the woman who was next to him, but all he could see were blurs and colours.
"You can feel free to ask Master such a question yourself when you meet him."
"And when is that?"
"Right now." Ikaris answered and it was only then that Buche realised he had been teleported to a different place.
"How was it?" Sol asked Xie who was standing in a corner with a bag of fried in his grasp eating feverishly.
"He is no challenge, Sovereign, if I were to guague his power honestly, he is a trickster who boasts more than he is capable of, unlike you."
"Summarise."
"He is harmless."
"I see," Sol huffed resting his hand on Buche's deformed head.
[Divine Heal]
"I suppose I already knew that, but for the sake of time I wanted to get it over with as soon as possible." Sol watched all of Buche's wounds heal and his limbs regrow instantaneously, leaving him shocked as even his fatigue went away, his energy returned, it was as if he had been refreshed to his former youth.
"All that healing and yet he is still an ugly sight." Dina commented from another corner where herself Ikaris and a few others including Yu were gathered on raised seats almost like a judging panel or jury.
"You're dealing with me, have a seat." Sol gestured behind Buche, and after one glance at Sol, he sat without a second prompt not even bothering to look at Xie, he could tell as soon as he was restored that Sol would kill him before he made the first move if he tried attacking or escaping.
"Let's begin with why you're alive in the first place, Buche." Sol sat befoe hi, in another seat, his hair blaxing Golden and rings hovering before and behind him. "How did you do it?" He leaned forward. "How did you bring Jun from the dead?"
"I..." Buche sucked in a breath, looking around the room at the lights and then looking at Jun who was seated amongst Ikaris and the others. "It is an innate gift of mine, a power granted to me by the Grandsire."
"The what?" Sol folded his arms curiously. "Is that some kind of deity?" He asked watching the tentacles slowly swaying behind his captive.
"There exists no doccumentation of such a being, but there have been whispers of Buche across time starting after the Great War, very few though according to the Council," Alpha acknowledged what he said and Sol nodded and looked back at him.
"The Grandsire is the first Buche, created in the aftermath of that was from six generations ago, I am the seventh generation." Buche added staring down at his shackles. "May I be unchained?"
"No."
"Okay-"
"Keep talking," Sol ordered.
"Of course, my first gift is sight, I am able to divide my consciousness infinitely and send it across realms and dimensions to possess and carry out my will with an infinite amount of lifeforms, it requires a tether to the soul to do this, it is a mere fabrication of the Grandsire's gift though, he could use his one consciousness to do the same across any plane infintely without the need for division-"
"Stay on track." Sol narrowed his eyes, tapping his fingers impatiently.
"O-of course, this tether to the soul, possession, allows me to traverse the fourth dimension where souls pass before they are claimed by their rightful gate, I even witnessed the day of your first death using this method, I monitor every living being across the grand collective with the only exemptions being beings like your current self who holds strange energy and..." He paused and looked at Alpha.
"Her, I was never able to see her."
"That is because I have no soul." Alpha answered sharply.
"I see, you are that famous being they call the system."
"Get on with it." Sol loosened his hands and leaned forward with his brow twitching. "Why are you being so forthcoming with this information?"
"I am aware that I have no chance of leaving this room alive, nothing I say or do will make me any less doomed, so I decided to watch the hope drain from your eyes before I passed, had I the chance I would put up a fight as well, but the power within me is so heavily suppressed I would lose a fight with a child, being near you is frightening."
"Anyways," Buche cleared his throat. "I watched they war of yours, I watched all wars with fascination, such imperfect beings imprisoning such perfect souls, willingly slaughtering each other but all they think of is even more violence it allows me to collect their souls when I see fit, and she was just lucky enough to have been collected.
"Why?"
"I needed her fir research," Buche turned his Gaze to Jun again remembering how he had made her from a tube perfectly identical to the same body and then used his inherited soul-snatching power to plant the soul of the old into the new over the course of three years. "I especially love how terrified of my agents she was when they took her from the laboratory.
"What the fuck..."
"So you're saying you snatched her soul as soon as she died and tossed her into an artificial body?" Sol asked increasingly troubled.
"Why do you seem disturbed, Godslayer?" Buche scoffed. "The act of reincarnation utilizes the same effect, except I am not blessed with divine power like the New Ikaris, I am a being of unknown science, born after every cycle with no memory of what I am until I am granted the power of sight again, yes, all I did was hold on to her soul after she died."
"You get to see her again so it is a win for you after all." Buche added leaning in his seat and scoffing again. "The same happened to you, the only difference is that I only claim the souls of those who are destined for a higher plane, souls destined for any form of hell are distasteful, this is why even when I watched Ikaris seeking yours I showed no interest, in hindsight it was a mistake to overlook you."
"But I hold no form of regrets whatsoever, I do what I do to survive-"
"And how is that survival going so far?" Sol asked, standing up and crackling his knuckles. "If all you did was snatch souls you would be fine, I might have left you alone, but you manipulated your way into a seat of power in the most tyrannical Empire ever created and have continued to make everyone's life until this point a living hell."
"The acts you have committed in the name of survival are far beyond criminal, they are demonic."
"I see that even resurrecting your first love will not earn me any credit."
"You did it on a whim because I was a tortured soul!!" Jun snapped after remaining silent throughout the interrogation. "You have done nothing worth any merit you rotten bastard!"
"I gave you purpose you ungrateful bitch!" Buche snapped, turning his gaze away from Sol and staring at Jun infuriated. "I never once recieved a thank you from a single one of the billions I brought back to life aside from my seven wives and you all killed them in cold blood!"