Lazarus had tossed and turned in his bed for hours before he finally found sleep. The weary serpent was desperate for rest after such a tiring day. Lazarus veiled his violet irises behind the black eyelids. In his service to the Elders, sleep was much easier to find. They almost had a mode for it. The servants to the Elders never worried about rest; the war is everything to them.
Lazarus started to dream, falling into a deep sleep. Lazarus never had dreams before leaving the Elders. Their control always clouded his thoughts. Now that he is free, his mind runs wild. Lazarus never had much imagination or creativity. His mind was still occupied with battles or fighting in them. He never had the time to generate anything new within his mind. With such freedom, his mind is leaping in all directions.
Lazarus fell into the dream, with his eyes flickering to life. He found himself in a forest. He is surrounded by incredibly tall trees that look to have no tip. Adorned in his battle armor, he looks around in the shaded woods. His violet eyes dance around for a moment before he starts to slither. The large viper looks around, moving between the trees. His eyes spot a trail in the grass, leading somewhere. He picks up the pace and starts to follow it. Unaware that he is dreaming, he pushes onward.
Lazarus suddenly found himself being ambushed. With shadowy figures along the treeline, all firing their weapons at him. His instincts instantly kicked in, and he dashed for the closest silhouette. Reaching them was not difficult, but finishing the act was much harder. When he raised his sword over his head to strike the figure, he discovers the figure to be a viper! His arms fell back to his side, unsure of what to do, but the viper knew what to do. She instantly punched him in the snout! Lazarus felt the pain of it, and he fell backward from how hard she hit him!
Lazarus was on his back, looking up at the viper now. As the viper got closer to him, it bent down. Lazarus could not believe his eyes when the viper shifted into an image of himself—replicating his entire body, even to the blade that he wields. The shadow version of himself holds the edge to his throat.
"Even now, you cannot find your allegiance. Your greatest enemy is within." The shadow version of himself declared as it drove the blade deep into his chest. Lazarus felt the burning, stinging agony in his chest for a moment before he finally awoke. Lazarus jumps up, gasping loudly.
His right hand found the exact spot where he was stabbed through by the Assassin. He huffs, catching his breath and slowing his heart. Looking around, his violet eyes confirm that it was only a dream. Lazarus groans, turning in his bed. Lazarus grips the pillow for a moment before relaxing and sighing deeply. Nightmares are new to him.
Closing his eyes again, he tries to forget the dream and to sleep. Lazarus did not get his goal and fell right back into slumber. Opening his eyes, he found himself in an ADVENT facility. The room he is in was his old bunk-room. There are three sleeping-pods, each being a large, black pod. The glass is tinted, with the red ADVENT symbol proudly painted over it. Looking around, he sees that the other pods are empty. Lazarus is dressed not in his armor, but something much different. It matches the usual black, sleek design of his armor. It feels like a strange fabric. Perhaps an officer's clothing? He notes all of the excellent, beautiful markings on his clothing. It looks to be ceremonial. On one of the adjacent pods, the label "SM-5678", and the other bore "SR-3321."
Lazarus shook his head and slithered out into the hallway. He instantly spots a viper slithering down the hallway, and he moves to her. "Sister, where am I?" He inquires, tilting his head slightly. It is a natural thing for vipers to do. The flicking of their tongues, the movement of their hoods, is genuine.
The viper looks confused. She bowed her head softly and replied. "What do you mean, superior?" She is dressed in standard viper armor, save for the coloring. It matches the black and red of his outfit. He shook his head and slithered past her, and she resumes her patrol. Lazarus softly rubbed his temple with one of his fingers, trying to figure it out. Lazarus moves to the large black door and pushes it open. The moment he did, he revealed a much larger room. In the end, it looks like a massive mirror. Lazarus sees something odd in the reflection, so he slithers towards it curiously.
Lazarus moved closer to the mirror, canting his head while slithering. Moving along the smooth path, his scales find ample traction to move. As the viper moves closer to the mirror, he notes something odd about his reflection. Slithering to be mere feet away, he stared into his reflection.
His mirror self looks much the same, minus his clothing. Instead of being adorned in his ADVENT armor, the viper dons something new. It seems to be resistance-manufactured armor! Instead of the grim black and red hue, it blazes with orange and blue. His weapon looks to be a gauss rifle, with a magnetic gun slung over his shoulder.
Lazarus reaches out, with his digits inching closer to the glass. When his fingers met the ghastly glass, it shattered entirely and began to fall. Lazarus watches as the avalanche of crystalline shards rained down upon him. Lazarus gasped as he was forced into consciousness one more time.
Lazarus looks into the darkness of his room, seeing only night. He catches his breath again and sighs. Lazarus ponders on what he saw, wondering why he has these dreams. Is this his fate or of another? Lazarus groaned as he slithered out of his bed. The serpent moved with slight grogginess, but it soon wore off.
Lazarus moved into his pilot seat and set a course. Still searching for Ember-17, he is just scanning the huge Siberian wastes while also not being detected. After the Star began to fly into the night, Lazarus left the bridge and went to start his morning routine.
Lazarus groaned softly as he went into the kitchen and grabbed synthetic meat from the fridge. He also held an oddly colored, thick liquid. The black and red viper took a sip from the drink and grimaced. He flicked his tongue out bitterly and gagged lightly. His taste buds sadly remember the awful taste of that drink. Supposedly, it is perfect for a viper's body. Supplying it with proper nutrients, save what can be obtained from the synthetic meat.
Lazarus took a bite out of the meat and mixed in some of the bitter drink. Lazarus slithers into his old prayer room, which he has happily converted into space. Swallowing the last of his breakfast, he shook his head. The viper started to work out. Their exercises are different than that of a human.
A viper typically starts by stretching out. With all of those muscles and bones, they could easily pull something! Lazarus moved his body in a plethora of ways, cracking bones and loosening up. There was a lot to stretch out…
The viper started to work his upper body out, using his arms and abdomen heavily. After that came his miles of dense coils. Lazarus spends several hours working out in this room, playing music, and taking some little breaks. Conditioning is different for reptiles. As long as he has energy, he can go as intense as he needs to. But the moment his energy is gone, he is done.
In viper history, their duels were stamina fights. They are fighting as long as they can before the other one drops. They relied upon skill and energy. Being so large requires a lot of energy to move. They were precise and powerful. Their precision made them excellent marksmen for ADVENT.
Lazarus huffed as he finishes another set of tail-ups. Instead of pulling his body up using his arms, he uses his coils sometimes. Releasing his muscles, he falls to the ground, utterly empty of energy. The weary viper took several minutes to cool down there. After he relaxed, he posted up and left his room. Slithering into the next room, he coils himself on one of the large cushions. With a heavy sigh, he turned on some of the propaganda filled TV.
Mindlessly watching the ads scroll by, he thought. As he worked out, he recollected memories of his past. Training platoons of deadly vipers, turning them into some of ADVENT's finest soldiers. It made him sorrowful, knowing that so many of his kind are enslaved to the False Gods.
Lazarus thought he might fall asleep on the cushion before a gentle alert sounds off in the cockpit. Maybe the scanners found something. The viper maneuvered off of the cushion and slithered into the cockpit, looking at the large screen on one of the walls.
The large screen is displaying a large area and with something highlighted. Zooming into the zone, Lazarus spots the structure. It looks like a small facility on the surface, but there is likely something underground. The facility's white walls allow it to blend in with the snowy hills and cliffs quite well. Fortunately, the ship did all of the looking for Lazarus.
Lazarus slithered back into the pilot's seat, and he retook control of the craft. He landed it out of sight from the facility and cloaked it. That should buy him more than enough time to head into this facility. If this is Ember-17 or not remains to be seen.
With the ship resting on the snow-covered rocks, Lazarus sighed. Ember-17 produced some of the most lethal killers in ADVENT's army. Lazarus looked back at the view of the facility and postured up.
"Home sweet home."
The gentle, repetitive sounds of clicking and snapping can be heard from the depths of the Star. Night has fallen on the arctic region, and Lazarus is about to make his move on the facility. Getting dressed in his armor takes quite a while. His armor was a specially made suit of a rare material found only on one planet. Metak is the name of the mineral. The metal is naturally black, giving the color to his armor. There is only a couple of tons of the ore in total, making it exceptionally rare.
Sliding the gauntlets onto his undersuit, he sighed, hearing the clicks. Lazarus shifted, causing several small clicks to sound. With all of his armor in place, Lazarus grabs his rifle from the rack. Sliding the sheath of his rifle over his shoulder, Lazarus grabbed the silver cross tied to his rifle. Admiring it for a moment, he removes it from his rifle and puts it on himself.
Everything is different now. He used to pray before a battle; now, he only fights for freedom. No longer looking to glorify the Elders, he fights on his terms for his reasons. It is much different than being a slave to a tyrant. Lazarus does not know what he will find inside of the facility, but he knows that he has to go in there. Even if it is not Ember-17, the facility needs to fall.
Lazarus sighed as he got the rest of his gear attached to his figure. Opening the door to the harsh outside, the howl of the wind greets Lazarus. His armor protects him from the bitter, fierce cold. Slithering out onto the pristine, white snow, his armor changes color to match the land. The cover of darkness also helps the viper move closer. As he moves in the darkness of the night, the wind being his companion, he thinks of what may come of this. If this place is Ember-17, what will happen? That facility is the largest hatchery of vipers on the planet.
Slithering in the darkness caused his mind to dance some. Remembering all the stories and legends of his home and where they came from. Despite the influence from the Elders, the stories always crept through the filters. The Clutch-mothers were telling the hatchlings of their mysterious and distant home. Tride, they call it. Hearing the tales of their emperor and the day the Elders came. Whenever he hears those stories, something inside of him disagrees.
He was snapped out of his trance when one of the facility lights shifted onto his figure. He instinctively fell to the ground, matching it. The light lingered for a moment before passing on—a beam of death, no doubt. The viper has to be more careful.
Moving closer to the facility was rather simple. Evade the lights and stay quiet. Lazarus did both without error. Everything changed once he reached the perimeter of the facility. Peeking over the half-wall, he peers into the facility. He can see two vipers standing at the main door, shivering in misery. Their scales are lacking color, and their eyes are closed, shaking horribly. Looking around, they look to be the only exterior defense right now.
Lazarus, feeling pity for the vipers, wanted to get them out of the cold. They may be his foe right now, but he cannot just let them suffer like this. They are his kind, after all.
The armored viper saw that they are far too cold to be paying attention, slithered over the half-wall silently, and moved to the side of the facility. A ladder leads to the top of this rather small facility. Moving to the top, he opened a hatch on the roof and moved inside. The room is rather compact, with an active heater and some heavy winter clothing. Lazarus grabbed two sets of clothing and opened the next hatch, leading deeper. It revealed the rather large insides of the facility. In the middle is the reactor, with the standard control systems scattered about. He can see an elevator on the south wall, which leads deep underground likely.
Lazarus opens the side door, which acts as a buffer between the frigid outdoors and the warm insides. He tosses the warm clothes into the room and closes the door, activating the cycle. The exterior door opens, and the freezing vipers turned to see the black coats. Hurriedly they put the coats on without a single question or doubt. Their scales are frosted over!
Lazarus continues on his mission, though. Keeping his rifle raised, he moves closer to the elevator. Lazarus reached out to push the button to bring the elevator when he saw the light turn on. The elevator is already coming up. In the large room, Lazarus has almost nowhere to hide! Panicked, he scrambles to find someplace to hide as the elevator nears very quickly.
Within a quarter of a minute, the black, metallic doors burst open, with several figures exiting the structure. A familiar human leads the group, with two vipers with her. Following that group is a concealed figure, wearing a large, black cloak. The human proved to be a female, the very same one that tortured him. She spoke with the same level of sadistic evil as before.
"I assure you, governor, that he will come here. No matter how much we hide this place, he will find it. X-com found a Black-site; how could our most prized soldier not find this place?" She had hints of worry sown into her words. She fears Lazarus. Good.
The cloaked figure stopped and pointed a gloved finger at her. It looks to be a leather glove. It had a deep, almost distorted voice. "You had better make sure he doesn't find it. We've had to move the Crown too many times." The cloaked figure continued to walk on, leaving the small group behind.
The others followed him, going into one of the smaller rooms. Lazarus drops down from the ceiling quietly, moving into the still open elevator. He pushes the button that says 'SL-1'. Taking a chance, the doors shut, and he starts to go down.
Lazarus feels as the elevator plummets down the tunnel, going dozens of feet down. He felt his heart begin to sink deeper into his body from the speed of the descent. It felt like an eternity before the elevator softly dinged, and it stopped moving. Lazarus shook the feeling off and watched the doors open. The moment the doors open, he is greeted with the proudly blazing symbol of Ember-17—the black viper was holding a torch in one hand and a sword in the other.
But he was also greeted by something else- a berserker. The beast being contained by chains held by troopers around it. The soldiers gasped in surprise while the berserker let out a blood-freezing roar. At the sight of the serpent, the berserker rushed into the elevator, crashing Lazarus against the walls. The troopers tried to enter, but the berserker blocked the way and even pushed several of the floor buttons. The doors slam shut as the two starts to wrestle. The punches from the berserker are brutally painful. Feeling his ribs and armor cracking, Lazarus fought back. His coils were desperately trying to find a grip on the beast.
After one fist cracked his helmet clean open and revealed the scaly hide beneath the armor, Lazarus spit a cloud of liquid nitrogen at the berserker. All viper males have that ability.
The cloud froze the fists of the beast to the walls of the elevator. Numerous dents are in the walls as the serpent looks at the currently stuck creature. Seeing the ice begin to crackle and snap, he drew his sword. The glowing, purple blade hummed in the air as it swung towards the neck of the beast. With a single strike, the blade carved deep into the flesh. With another, the blade got stuck. With a harsh rip and a final, divorcing act, the beast's head was in a schism with the rest of his body.
Sighing deeply, Lazarus sees his shattered helmet on the ground, broken in half by way of the monster's fists. The doors to the elevator open once more, and Lazarus navigates around the corpse of the berserker. Lazarus looks at the new floor he is on and finds all of the alert lights flashing, with alarms blaring. The whole idea of stealth just vanished.
Lazarus groaned as he felt his sides aching as he slithers along the halls. Keeping his rifle ready, Lazarus peeks into several rooms, finding nothing save for some large server rooms and computers.
Lazarus heard a faint click a few doors down and saw one of the doors begin to slide open quickly. Lazarus moved closer to the walls and raised his rifle. With his violet eyes trained upon the crosshair of his rifle, he waits for whoever opened the door to pass by. Just as he expected, an ADVENT trooper passed into his view. The armor of the soldier is white, with highlights of red and black. Maybe he is from a particular division.
Regardless of the soldier's company, Lazarus pulls the trigger. The purple light beam cascaded from the barrel of his rifle and soared towards the head of the soldier. In a blaze of light, the white helmet was scorched by the laser. The beam carved a path through the armor and into the flesh. The soldier fell over, lifeless.
Lazarus was swift to move towards the fallen corpse. Lazarus turned and looked into the room from which he came. Lazarus was shocked to see what looks like the entire division of ADVENT soldiers! He was frozen for a moment as the soldiers started to scramble.
Lazarus spun around and grabbed the grenade from the corpse with his tail. He brought the grenade up to his mouth, and he ripped the pin out, disconnecting the pair. In a single, fluid motion, the grenade was thrown into the crowded room, and he slapped the control button. The door quickly began to shut as the grenade timed out.
A few drops of blood escaped the room as the grenade exploded just before the door completely shut. The viper remained there a moment and wiped the blood droplets off of his chest-plate. The viper looked down the hall again and heard the rumble of more soldiers coming his way. It seems like he may just fight everybody here.
Rounding the corner came several aliens. There was an officer, a heavy mec, and a gatekeeper. The floating orb stopped abruptly and opened up its shell, revealing the oddly colored flesh inside. Lazarus already had his rifle raised, so he fired several times at the creature's weak point. Instinctively, the shell reclosed. The officer and the mec started to fire at him. The high caliber rounds that the mec is firing shreds through any cover that Lazarus finds. With almost no other option, Lazarus rushes towards the group. The mec landed several glancing blows off of the viper while the Gatekeeper reopened. The creature tried to launch a psionic attack against the viper, but his mental acuity is more potent than it's. The launch failed and even caused harm to the Gatekeeper.
Lazarus reached the officer and dodged the melee attack attempt. Lazarus drives the knife he wields deep into the throat of the officer, leaving it there. The mec fired again, into the side of the viper. It completely shreds his armor and tears into his scales beneath. Lazarus hissed loudly and ripped the grenade from the officer's waist. Lazarus rushed to the mec and maneuvered around it. He used the lumbering nature of the mec against it. Watching the shell begin to close on the Gatekeeper, Lazarus throws the grenade into it. With the white plates interlocking again, he watches as it gets completely dismantled by the explosion. Gross yellow blood stains the walls and the mec. Now with only the mec in his way, the viper rips the maintenance panel open, that is on its back, and starts to destroy the wires. Ripping and tearing the cables out, with sparks flying everywhere. Lazarus lets go, and the mec stumbles forward. A few seconds later, it completely shuts down, with no chance of ever turning back on.
Lazarus groans, feeling his blood flowing from his side. Quickly administering his medkit to the wound, the stinging stops. "Ah… fuck.."
He groaned as he strips the ruined armor plates off and throws them to the ground. Too bad, the Elders will not make a new set of armor for him. The viper retrieves his knife and continues back down the hallway. The viper is utterly alone for now, but it will not take long for the rest of the base to locate him. The viper painfully slithers over to the stair's doorway and pushes it open. Moving down the stairs was accessible yet painful.
Lazarus was listening closely to anybody around. He needs to be as quiet as he can be. Going another floor down may reveal more about this facility. So far, he has found nothing. No clues, evidence, or insinuations as to anything at all going on here. As he pushes the bottom floor's door open, he finds it much smoother in design. The shiny metallic floors reflect broadly, showing the viper himself on the ground. Slithering out of the hallway, he sees several large windows that lead to some larger room.
Moving to the window, he sees a much larger room filled with sleeping pods. The white and black symbol proudly painted upon each of them. Moving to another window, he sees several viper hatcheries. Some sleeping caretakers are to watch over them daily.
Lazarus gasped slightly as he came to realize. This is the place from his dreams. Quickly slithering down the hallway, he went into a side room. Inside are those black and red sleeping pods. Moving closer, the same numbers are written upon them, but he can now read what his pod says. LZ-6651 is subtly painted thereon.
"Is this… where I come from?" He said out loud before a voice answered for him from behind. He spun around to see somebody he never wanted to even think of again—the Warlock.
"Yes, child. You were made here." The Warlock declares, with the viper instantly denying it.
"No! I saw my home in my dreams." He shouted, likely alerting any else around to his location.
"You never had a home, aside from here. You belong to us." The cold, monotonous tone of the Warlock courses against his ears, making him despise every syllable.
"You lie! Just like you always have. I had a name, and you stole it from me- what was it?"
The Warlock only stared at him, offering no relief to his answer.
"Tell me!" He shouts, mixing in a hiss with the angered shout. All of his lies have been boiled down. Like what Lazarus said, he will have the truth.
"You were young, destined to be an Emperor over your people. We saw a weak ruler in your father, but we saw greatness in you. The day you were to be crowned, your father was murdered. Your mother conspired against him. Without a crown, we took you." Lazarus felt a pang in his heart. He had a right to be king, and that was stolen from him.
"Your younger brother was put as Emperor, and he obeyed us. Your entire family betrayed you because they wanted power. Your brother made emperor, and your mother made Queen of the Nashi, your people."
Lazarus is at a complete loss. What can he respond to this?
"She led the assault on this world, all thanks to you. She wouldn't have been able to lead the legions of serpents if you had never lost your crown."
"SILENCE! You lying, murdering bastard!" Lazarus angrily protests, drawing his pistol and taking aim at his head.
"No matter what you do, you cannot change the truth. We are the only hope for you, Lazarus, come bac-" He was interrupted by the bullet carving into his skull, painting the back wall in purple blood. The Warlock was taken back by the division of flame once again, and Lazarus is alone. He hears more soldiers coming to take him, but he feels little desire to move.
Lazarus stares at his four-digit hands for a moment before his eyes caught the glimmer of the necklace he is wearing. Thinking of humans, he now admires them. No matter how hopeless their fight is, they always do battle. Maybe he needs some more of their determination. Groaning, Lazarus quickly slithers out of the room and down the hallway.
Lazarus pushed the door open into one of the side rooms and leaned against the wall. Locking the door, he sighed as he rested. The armorless viper looks around, completely alone. No family, no allies, and no companions. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Lazarus hears the tremble of the soldiers outside of his room, rushing past him. They are desperately trying to find him. Killing Lazarus is assured of promotion.
Lazarus will not be such an easy prize, though. Wounded and tired, he will have to be much more cautious now. The viper moved to the door again and opened it after the symphony of marching ended. Glancing down both ways, he decides that it is safe enough to travel into the hallway. Heading to his right, the viper keeps to the black, metallic walls. His black scales blend nicely with it.
Lazarus sees a group of soldiers moving along, and he shadows them. Keeping his safe distance, he watches where they go. As they round a corner, he slowly inches towards it. Peeking around, he sees a large door at the far end of the hallway, where a mass of soldiers now resides.
The viper groaned, knowing that something important is within that room. A VIP, an artifact, maybe? Lazarus is not sure. There look to be nearly two dozen soldiers, all ready to kill him. If he still had armor, he would rush them as fast as he could, but his bare scales are not strong enough to resist that many magnetic rounds.
The soldiers are vigilantly watching all the halls around them, protecting this room with their lives. Lazarus was focused on planning when he heard a voice behind him shout. "Hey!" but in the ADVENT tongue.
Lazarus instantly spun around and threw the knife from his right hand. Turning around, he only expected it to be one soldier, but he was wrong. There are four other soldiers, pointing their rifles at him. Lazarus held his rifle by the barrel and swung it at the closest soldier. The stock cracks into his helmet as the viper weaves between the soldiers. He was dodging every single swing that they take at him—masterfully moving with every single second.
With every move that he takes, one of the soldiers takes a hit. With the soldiers starting to succumb to his blows, one of them aimed to fire at such close quarters. The rifle discharged wildly, spraying into the wall, missing entirely. Lazarus returned the gesture with a quick slash from his sword. The energy blade severed his hands from the weapon, and another fluid swing made him surrender his ghost.
Lazarus can hear the mass of soldiers now sprinting towards him at the sound of the commotion. Lazarus fills his mouth with a bitterly cold fluid and hugs the corner again. When the first squad came into view, he spat the liquid at them, freezing them in a frigid embrace. One of the soldiers had raised his rifle to fire and managed to fire a single round. A trail of ice leads from the gun's barrel, meeting the bullet half a foot out.
The black serpent looks down at his rifle and knows that he cannot trounce all of these soldiers. He reaches into the power source and turns it up. The purple rifle began to glow brightly, causing the serpent to squint softly. With a pull of the trigger, the weapon began to scream at a shrill pitch, and he tossed it down the hallway, towards the soldiers. Lazarus dove into some cover and covered his head with his hands. He listened as the weapon screamed and soon detonated. After a few seconds, it all became quiet. Lazarus shook some debris off of his body as he postured up. Looking back at the hallway, he can see one of the walls covered in purple scorch marks. Turning around the corner, he sees the squadrons, all burnt with the purple nova. The rifle is nowhere to be seen, presumably destroyed in the explosion.
Lazarus slithers over bodies, almost unrecognizable by the damage of the rifle. Their bodies mutilated, and their armor ruined. He almost felt bad for them. They never had a chance to fight.
The black serpent reaches the door and places his hand on the odd handle. It looks like a bar that must be twisted to open it. With a harsh twist, the mechanism groaned with life. Several revolutions and the door began to open. The oddly designed door slid upwards, into the ceiling.
Looking inside, Lazarus sees a golden light. The bright, glorious light is too much for his eyes to handle at first. His hand shields his violet irises from the light. Slithering closer, he tries to see it better. Fortunately, his slitted eyes soon adjust to the heavenly light. In the light, he sees a spear.
With a handle outlined in gold and a beautiful design, a long spear sits on a pedestal. The design is that of vipers and serpents arrayed for war, carved into the metallic handle. A red cloth hangs from the bottom of the spear, tied in a kingly knot. The tip of the spear is long, with two slim guards that reach out to the sides. The end of the spear glows softly, in a hue of green, much like a plasma weapon would.
The black serpent reached forward, daring to touch the kingly weapon. His long, slim digits reached out and grasped the pole of the spear. It feels so natural in his hand. The grooves in the handle feel like they were designed for a serpent's hand. Lazarus brought the pole closer to himself and placed both hands on the magnificent hold. Looking at the blade of the spear, he sees a design of silver and violet metal—a great viper, wielding this spear, with a crown atop his head. Words along the spear are everywhere. From the handle to the tip of the blade. In a tongue that he cannot read yet.
As he held the spear, his hand reached out and touched the gem that lay in the mid-guard of the spear. It shocked him harshly, but he felt himself drifting quickly into a dream almost. In the vision, he sees himself, sitting on a throne, looking down. He is being handed this very same spear. The viper grasped the handle and lifted it. Rising from his throne, the viper looked outwards into where he was—finding himself to be in a palace of sorts, with a great hall before him. Dozens of coiled vipers line the pathway that leads to him, wielding spears much like his own. The viper lifted the spear and firmly pounded the ground once, resounding throughout the entire hall, like a judge's hammer. All those blurred figures around him fell, submitting to his authority. Is this who he was, or is meant to be? The one that handed him the spear looks slightly more apparent than the others. The only thing he can tell is her eyes are that of emerald green.
Lazarus comes back from his trance, adoring the spear. He sighed softly, caressing the beautiful handle of the weapon. He spun around and was met with five incredibly bright flashlights right in his eyes! A feminine, raspy voice shouts out to him: "Drop the weapon, Lazarus!"