A/n I made this because I needed some break time after working on The Gravedigger's Journey fixes for previous chapters that I will be finishing soon so I decided to try a one shot while I recover from the boredom of fixing errors and polishing up stuff. Anyways on with the One shot!
"Death is a song all will hear"
-The Deathsinger
Karthus was a strange boy. Unlike the other youths his age who would play sports and play pranks on the adults together Karthus would examine the dead carcasses of animals in the forest and even bring animals back and his new "pets" would die some days after he brought them home and rarely ever interacted with the other boys.
His parents began to get concerned of his strange behavior with dead creatures and asked me, an elder to talk to him about his habit to try to make him interact with others his age.
Little did we all know what this habit would become.
In my first meeting to try to convince the boy to stop his habit I had invited him to my cottage to chat with me. Karthus knocked and I bade him to enter. He was a tall boy for his age with pale skin and brown hair not recently cut. "You said you wanted to talk to me?" Karthus asked me in a bored way, as if he had more important things to do. "Yes Karthus I wanted to speak to you." I said calmly, "Your parents are concerned about you." "Concerned?" The youth asked me surprised. "Yes Karthus your parents are concerned about your… habits.". "What "habits" are they concerned about?" Karthus inquired to me. "They worry about you not interacting with kids your age and your little excursions out to the forest." I replied gravely, "You should not be observing dead animals and bringing other creatures home so often." I told him. "So my parents want me to play with kids with barely any of the same interests I have?" Karthus asked, obviously unhappy with my words. "You don't necessarily have to play with them maybe with them or at least you could talk to them, surely you will have something in common with them." I tried to negotiate with him, "Maybe you could also spend less time in the forest and bring less animals home?" I asked him hopeful he might stop entirely over time. "Fine. I will try to talk to more kids my age." Karthus said unhappily. "Thank you Karthus." I said, "Maybe we can have chats another time about how it goes?" I asked him, knowing his parents would want someone to monitor him. "Sure. Can I go now?" Karthus asked me. "Yes Karthus." I said and he left the house. It was the start of discussions that would haunt me for the rest of my days.
A few weeks after that first discussion his parents told me on how he went to the forest less and was beginning to study at the library and bringing back texts on clergymen and other holymen. We had thought that he was just exiting a stage and focusing on becoming something great.
How wrong we were.
I met Karthus again this time I went to see him while he was at the library. "Hello Karthus." I greeted him. "Greetings Elder." Karthus simply stated to me. "I see you are reading about the priests who serve in Demacia, do you have an interest in becoming a clergyman?" I asked him. "Yes, becoming a clergyman would be interesting but I wouldn't want to pray to their gods." Karthus said with what sounded like contempt when he said gods. "But why don't you want to pray to their gods?" I queried to him surprised. "There gods barely do anything to help the people simply letting them stay in pain and not releasing them." Karthus said gritting his teeth. "I would pray to and preach only about something that would release people from the pain." The youth said. "Ah so which gods do you think do that?" I asked thinking it might be Ionia's gods from their belief in balance. "Death." He stated it as if it was obvious. "Death?" I gaped at him. "Karthus, you would pray to the Kindred?" I asked. It wasn't unheard of but those that would actually worship the Kindred would be shunned in some places and even stoned to death. "Not the Kindred, just death." He replied softly. I couldn't respond after that and he left the library leaving me to my thoughts on what he had said.
I had told his parents about it and they were worried he might have become obsessed with death. They asked me to talk to him and try to have him see reason about this. Becoming a holy man was good, but to worship death would make him shunned by nearly all and called a heretic by nearly all the religions on Runeterra.
I did not know at the time this would be the last conversation I would have with him for quite a while.
"Hello again Karthus." I told him as he entered my cottage again. "I want to ask you some question if its fine with you that it." I wanted to be careful about this so I could try to reason with him without him trying to not hear my pleas on him. "Greetings Elder." Karthus stated flatly. "What kind of questions do you want to ask me?" he asked genuinely curious. "Well Karthus based on what you told me at our last meet I simply want to know why you would want to worship death." I stated to him simply. "I simply want to see your thinking about this. "Ok then." Karthus said to me. "Death, unlike any gods most men worship provide release to the living who are in pain while gods would simply look on and watch." Karthus said obvious passion on this in the tone of voice and on his face. "Also the gods supposedly use us as playthings while death simply takes you when its time." he stated to me. "So you do not believe that any of the gods from any location is fit for worship?" I asked, knowing the answer already. "No Elder, I feel no gods are fit to be worshipped by man but death." Karthus said and got up and began to leave. From the way he talked I knew I couldn't stop him and let him leave.
If I knew what he would become I would have tried harder.
The next day I learned Karthus left his home to travel, and had left a note saying he was going to learn more about his choice. I thought I would never see Karthus again, but then years later a man in a priests garb came into the village one day. By that time I had become one of the few elders of my age left and would mostly sit on the porch of my cottage watching the people move about. The priest was very tall and thin with long strands of hair mostly tucked in the back of his hat. The priest some time after entering the village walked up to me and asked me, "Do you wish to hear about death?" and I knew then that this man was Karthus. "Hello Karthus" I greeted him, "So you have finally come back as a priest for Death?" I asked him. "Yes Elder" he said still using the proper title after all these years, "And I decided to do one last visit to my home before I go on a pilgrimage." He said quietly. "A pilgrimage?" I asked, "To where?" "I will go where death bids me." Karthus stated. "So you will not tell me where you will go for your pilgrimage?" I asked, hoping for him to tell me where exactly he would go. "I'm afraid I cannot say, but I will come back once I have finished, bringing countless followers with me." Karthus said, with tones hinting that he knew he would have a large gathering with him when he returned. "Well Karthus, may your pilgrimage go well." I told him, not thinking about this pilgrimage and blind to what would occur.
Months later I woke to screams during the night and got up and went out to see what was happening. It was horrifying, phantasms circling the village, attacking villagers and in the center of it all was a figure floating off the ground. The figure turned around and it was an undead priest, the skin withered and gray with eyes glowing a ghastly color with long white hair dried and brittle. Then the figure spoke to me,
"Greetings Elder"
"Meet my Chorus"
A/n Well I hope you enjoy this oneshot which focused on Karthus before his undeath in the village. Please review I like to know what you think. This is only a one shot and I will be working on The Gravedigger's Journey now I just needed something to break the exhaustion from everything recently. So first The Gravedigger's Journey will be getting minor fixing in the first two chapters and then I'll begin work on chapter four.
See you next time!