"First, a trade of information. I will tell you something about myself and you will reciprocate with something of similar value." Darius suggested.
Marasmus remained silent, waiting to hear what Darius had to offer first. Taking in the silent acquiescence, Darius continued with a soft smile on his face.
"I'm the so-called Master stage expert who has organized this entire event."
This shocked Marasmus, for he had never expected something so important to be revealed right from the start. Wasn't this giving him the initiative? Still, Marasmus was curious.
"It was you? Why did you issue the mission to take my head? Why do you want the stone? How did you come to know about me and the First Resurrection Stone? Where did you acquire those rewards you're offering?"
Darius rubbed his hair in response to Marasmus' barrage of questions and replied slowly. "My Lord, you seem to be quite interested in me. Since it is answers to your questions you desire, I myself will ask you five first."
"However, my own questions can't be more important than what you yourself inquired, so please alert me if such questions arise, so I can ask another instead. Are you agreeable to this?"
Marasmus paused for a long while. "Why five questions?"
Darius chuckled. "Because my first offering already counts as giving you an answer to your first question. We can both agree it was valuable information of the highest tier, no?"
Marasmus knew this to be true, so he settled down and nodded. Darius was excited deep down, but remained outwardly calm as he continued to manipulate Marasmus down the path he wanted.
"My first question, Lord Marasmus, is about you. How old are you?"
Marasmus was stunned. This young fellow had the chance to ask him anything and he chose this? This was something that could be shared in idle small talk!
Heck, Marasmus had assumed the fellow would have known already since the details the mission issuer had provided had been very detailed!
Still, the undead Reaper answered. "I should be 7,924 years old. Give or take a couple of decades."
Darius nodded and continued. "For how many years have you been the Stonekeeper?"
"Ever since I was reanimated." Marasmus answered simply, wondering where this was going.
Darius's eyes flashed. So this meant that Sino D'Mara had lived 8 millennia ago. For some reason, the moment he died, he was given such a high position of Stonekeeper right off the bat.
Was he killed specifically to become the Stonekeeper? Was there something special about his soul/existence that caused the master of the Plains of Death to select him all those years ago? Or was it a random death and a random choice?
'"What does the First Resurrection Stone do?"
"Pardon, but I will not answer."
"Who created the First Resurrection Stone?"
"Pardon, but I will not answer."
"Does the stone bestow upon you any special abilities?"
"Pardon, but I will not answer."
Darius sighed audibly, but deep down he was satisfied. Marasmus had been getting suspicious of the way he had been asking basic questions, and might lie about important details if he felt he was leaking too much.
As such, Darius had switched to 'greedy' questions that would be expected of someone in his position. He happily noted that the Reaper's shoulders had visibly relaxed and his demeanor had become calmer.
Now, Darius could go back to fishing for information through unassuming questions.
"Please tell me about yourself, Lord Marasmus. How did you die?"
Marasmus was obviously surprised by this question, for it was not something he'd ever expect an enemy to ask. Uncertain, he couldn't help but make a slight gaffe.
"Why do you want to know this? If you give me a satisfactory answer, I may respond in kind."
Darius betrayed no sign of anger or dissatisfaction that Marasmus was getting ahead of himself by asking this. After all, from the very beginning, the two had never been on equal grounds.
A fair negotiation could only occur when both parties had sufficient power in their hands, be it martial, political, financial, or social.
The only other scenario would be a pseudo-fair negotiation, which could occur when one party outclassed the other but for whatever reason decided to act as if the other party were their equal.
Of course, such negotiations were basically hinging on the emotions and whims of the stronger party. If they ever lost their patience or temper, things would quickly deteriorate, and this time it was no different.
"I want to understand more about how undead came to be. Not only that, but I'm also extremely curious to know more about the world that existed nearly 8,000 years ago."
"While books may contain general knowledge they could never compare to the experience of someone who has actually lived through that time. There might be valuable information in your story that I can pick out to that end." Darius revealed with a crafty smile.
Marasmus nodded with an expression of understanding and chuckled. "So that was it, I was wondering why you were asking such strange questions. I suppose as a mage, I should have figured you would have a taste for the unknown. Fine, I will stop being unfair and humor you."
Darius bowed his head in sincere gratitude, making Marasmus pleased and satisfied. Normally, intruders upon his ground would come shouting insane things like 'Vile undead lord, die in the name of justice!', 'The light repels you, foul creature, die by my blade!' or some variation of it, which - as one might imagine - had become annoying very quickly for the Reaper.
To deal with an equally intelligent and respectful foe was a fresh feeling, one that the Stonekeeper intended to savor for a while longer. Of course, it didn't change the fact that they were enemies, so Marasmus was only humoring Darius as he said.
Darius himself was not picky. Besides, he had already misled Marasmus with his earlier revelation. Yes, he was picking through simple details to fish out more, but the direction he was going at was far different to what the undead thought or expected.
This could only happen due to the distinct differences between the two. Darius was a schemer who relied on his guile to make a name for himself in his previous life while Marasmus had always been a straightforward and honorable fellow who did what he had to without the need for schemes.
"Instead of boring you with a long tale, why don't I let you experience it first-hand. That way, any subsequent questions upon this matter will be answered and we won't have to revisit it." Marasmus suggested with a laugh as he pointed a finger at Darius, a black light piercing through the fellow's forehead before he ever got the chance to agree or refuse.
