The simple vial floated between the two immortals, the archlich stunned beyond words. To the untrained eye, the somewhat bluish-tinged red fluid filling the vial could be anything from slightly discolored blood to food-coloring, Kel'Thuzad knew better.
While not exactly saronite, the fluid within the vial was the closest comparison he had ever seen to the unearthly metal. Or at least it's liquid form.
The fact that Celestia owned this small vial of liquid surprised him greatly.
It also concerned him, but it intrigued him as well.
And his interest grew even more at the alicorn's hesitance to speak upon it.
"Where did you get this?" Kel'Thuzad's eyes diverted to the alicorn, her form reclined in a now thawed armchair near the hearth. She snorted, looking into the magical blue flame.
"The guards dispatched to oversee the reconstruction processes in the village of Ponyville found a puddle of it in their cleanup."
Kel'Thuzad set the vial down upon the desk, the blood within swirling about at the motion. Floating over to the goddess, he coughed lightly.
"The cleanup of what, exactly?" Kel'Thuzad asked.
"Discord's antics." Celestia huffed. Kel'Thuzad's left upper eye socket raised in question.
"Discord... as in the living embodiment of chaos?" Kel'Thuzad inquired, sitting in the armchair on the opposite side of the fire. Celestia nodded without looking away from the fire.
While Kel'Thuzad knew of the trickster and unpredictable entity through both Shining and Cadence's passing remarks about the creature, his actual knowledge was limited.
Well... if this IS actually his blood...
Maybe an Old God inhabiting Equus isn't so far-fetched after all...
"Celestia, I... appreciate the gift, but what exactly does this have to do with your visit?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his voice slowly growing softer as he thought.
Then, it dawned on him.
As any Azerothian scholar would know, Old Gods were unpredictable and violent, using immense and powerful magics and illusions for their own personal gain. They cared little to none about the often times catastrophic consequences of their actions, and would often times relish in the misery of mortals.
Either way, the Old Gods usually embodied an aspect of suffering, or other dark and malignant purpose.
Yogg-Saron was the physical embodiment of Death.
N'Zoth was the physical embodiment of Corruption and Impurity.
Y'Shaarj was the physical embodiment of Rage and Anger.
But the one Kel'Thuzad was most familiar with, was C'Thun.
And as he distinctively remembered, C'Thun was the Old God of Chaos. Madness in particular...
While the commander of the Scourge in the Eastern Kingdoms, the archlich had even actually COMMUNED with the aberration, the horrific, lidless eye seen from the other side of the spell seemingly whispering to him from inside his head. The two rulers of their respective lands agreed to a hastily formed truce, forging the ONLY peace treaty the Scourge ever honored.
Regardless, Kel'Thuzad had arrived in Equestria nearly two years after Discord's return and swift defeat. After seeing what liquid and solid saronite did to mortals and living things if left untreated...
It was nothing short of a miracle that Celestia was even remotely sane.
"Celestia... this blood came from Discord, correct?" he asked, the mare jumping in her seat. Shaking, she turned to the lich, her eyes wild and wide. "Celestia?"
"YES. Er... yes, it did." she exhaled, as if physically exhausted by the short conversation.
Now, Celestia was not exactly his favorite alicorn at the current time, but he knew better than to make enemies with her, for a number of reasons.
One. She would likely be more than a match for him in a one-on-one fight. Still, the two still had yet to have their friendly duel, as Celestia was still recovering from having her spine severed and insides ruptured and rotted by Frostmourne's unholy powers.
Two. If things continued to go well for both her and Lal'theron, she would eventually become his sister.
Three. Kel'Thuzad was smart. He knew that if he made an enemy of Celestia, it would do nothing but come back to bite him in the metaphorical ass, seeing as he lacked any flesh, or a pelvis for that matter. She co-ruled the most powerful single nation on Equus, and was immortal.
So was he, but that's besides the point.
She would be around as long as he was, perhaps even longer. Besides, she had already done him an immense favor by pardoning him of his 'murders' of the Cake twins.
He could deal with being an outcast, seeing as he was one for the large portion of his life on Azeroth, but Celestia...
Such an action lost her the respect of most of Ponyville for the foreseeable future.
So...
If Kel'Thuzad could help his... friend, he would. Even if that meant physical comfort.
I refuse to see why ponies like hugging me so much...
I have no problem with it, but it has to be uncomfortable, seeing as I'm literally nothing but bones...
"Celestia... are you alright?" Kel'Thuzad asked, carefully raising a claw to rest on her shoulder. Her ears perked up at the sound of his echoing voice, and her neck slowly turned to the lich, her eyes beginning to water. She shook her head, and quickly lowered her visage as she realized her tears, attempting to hide the sign of weakness.
"N-No..." she whimpered, her voice shaky and uneasy, her form trembling, the cold of the room suddenly much more apparent than before. Kel'Thuzad sighed, before getting up to float to his desk. Grabbing the first empty bottle he could find, he conjured some water, before pouring it into a hastily made cup of ice.
"Here, drink." Kel'Thuzad softly said, his voice startling her once again. She whipped around, her ethereal mane starting to droop around her head with sadness, providing a heart wrenching yet silly scene. Holding back a chuckle, the lich relinquished the cup to the goddess' magical hold, her muzzle tipping back before chugging the water quickly.
"Thank you, Kel'Thuzad." she started. "I... I've just never been seen as a... a..."
"Monster?" Kel'Thuzad finished, sitting back down.
She nodded, a sniffle sounding from her nose.
For a time, the room was quiet, save for the magical pops and crackles coming from the fire, and the gentle sobs from the princess.
"Kel'Thuzad?" Celestia asked. The archlich was quick to respond, his eyes looking up from a lengthy report on the total income of the mining industry for the empire in the last month.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Do you ever... regret anything?" she inquired, her eyes turning back to the fire.
.........
Good gods... were to begin...
"Yes. Yes I do." he responded, joining her in gazing into the fire. He gulped uselessly, waiting for the follow up question he knew was to come...
.........
"G-Good."
With a sob, the princess broke down, her wings and mane drooping completely, tears flowing down her muzzle to fall to the chilled floor far below. In move that surprised the lich, she lunged at him, embracing herself to his ribcage. Startled, the archlich canceled the ward that he was preparing in his left hand, before wrapping her in his bony arms.
"K-K-Kel?" she sobbed, her teary eyes looking up his sternum to his face far above, his stature easily dwarfing even her impressive height.
"Yes?" he softly replied, heating his bones to a comfortable temperature.
"I regret things too..."
"A lot of things..."
With another sob, she buried her muzzle in his chest, crying once more. Kel'Thuzad sighed, before levitating the least petrified blanket he could find from his useless bed over to them, before draping it over them, the heat from his magic warming it.
This needs to stop... I... I'll give it to him soon.
He's ready, and the Helm can't wait any longer...