[okay, this one needs an explanation. The reason why it took so damn long to finish it is that it's mostly dialogue. Pure dialogue and inner thoughts, not much action which I like to think I accel at writing. That and most of this is between two characters, I know you guys know which two I'm talking about and since both are original characters it took me forever to write their dialogue without both sounding like the same person. That and the usual life stuff happens, the pressure to go to college, learning to drive, and whatnot. Also, slight spoilers. This one will hurt the heartstrings, if I wrote it correctly that is, so be warned. Now let's go!]
Chapter 21. Two swords. One rusted. The Other Mythril.
I follow the doctors into the newly formed hospital, it reminded me of a hospital in WW2 movies, where the war was the biggest emphasis of the film. With one noticeable difference, all the beds were completely empty. The sound of things being knocked over, draws me back into reality, looking to my left the original Mores still thrashed about as the doctors tried to hold him down and tranq him, so they can help him.
"Anything I can do?" I offered, moving closer to the edge of the bed. That's when the Original's arm suddenly reached and grabbed my throat and tried to crush it. Though I barely noticed the force he was exerting.
"Body snatcher! Murderer! Give it back! Give me-" He was cut off when a doctor finally inserted a tranquilizer into him. The Original was knocked completely out, his arm and attempt to kill me slackened and fell on the bed.
"Well, that was a thing. Can you fix him?" I ask who I assume is the head doctor. She just shakes her head.
"Honestly, I don't think so. His injuries alone could be fatal, but I don't need any equipment to tell he has stage three skin cancer. It's terminal so I have no idea how long he'll last if I'm being honest. Now if you excuse me, I have a lot of work ahead of me if I want to keep this boy alive." The head doctor tells me, I nod and bow. Leaving the hospital, as I left I couldn't help but stare at the original. 'What did Ragnorak do to him? I just thought he was in limbo or something, it looks like he's been tortured relentlessly, it's a miracle he's still alive.' I ponder as I walk off.
"I need a chat with Ragnorak."
[Pov swap, OG Mores. First person]
I do not dream in sleep, better to say I can't. Not ever since I made that pact with that chaos god if I had known this was the fate that would await me. I never would've agreed and died with at least a shred of my dignity. But that, along with my body, was taken from me months ago.
I awaken in a bed instead of the meat rack that bastard left me on. I could tell I was clean, no more blood was on my skin. I tried to sit up but my body protested every second I tried, I couldn't just lay down and give up. I need to escape, to get out of this hell hole that was once my own mind. I hear the sounds of movement and pretend to be asleep. The doctor, I assume, pulls up the covers and changes the iv drip, I stay perfectly still. I can't have them knowing I'm awake, I'll never get out of here otherwise. I hear them murmur something under their breath before they walked off, my eyes snapped open and I tried to get up again. Having some more luck this time, I sit up and quietly step onto the floor. It's ice on my bare feet, I spy the door. Taking a shaking breath I rip out the wires in my arms, the sound of the machines flat lining blared as I ran towards the door. The doctors screamed something about a runner but I had already kicked down the door and escaped the hospital...only to be surrounded by doors and seemingly no exit.
"Shit!" I curse, coughing as I did so. I'm not gonna be able to stay standing for long, the door with the chest can be ruled out. I run into the closest one, which led me into the fucking shatterdome of all places.
"Not what I was looking for," I grumble under my breath. I run out of the door before anyone noticed me and quickly look at the other doors. None said exit and only seemed to lead to even more dangerous rooms. I run down the hall, looking for an exit. There had to be one here, unfortunately, the fates seem to be laughing at me as I ran right into one of the body snatchers men. A giant slimy Cthulhu esque beast, the strongest of his men.
"You." It growls, pointing at me. I gulp and then run for my life, I try to bring out my wings but I cough up blood instead. 'Damnit! I'm this far along...shit. Okay, running it is.' I think, my legs do their best to carry me as far as they can. I, unfortunately, made the mistake of looking behind me, my head smacked into its claws it was so close to me.
"Sh-Gah!" I cough, blood spurting out of my mouth like a volcano. I trip from my lack of focus and land face first on the cold floor. The monster's pet hovers over me as I crawl along the ground, trying to escape. A fist of shadow grabs me and lifts me off the ground so I couldn't hold onto anything. The pet takes me back to the hospital bed with little to no resistance. That doesn't mean I didn't resist, it's just that it did literally nothing.
The pet plops me back down on the bed and restrains me with shadow bindings.
"Thank goodness you're back here, your body is too fragile to try to run without supports." the doctor said, she cleaned up the blood that was still on me. I roll my eyes.
"We both know I'm a dead man either way, so what's wrong with trying to escape and reclaim my body," I growl. I pulled on the bindings of shadow but they were ironclad, I neither had the strength nor the energy to break out of them.
"Not. Your. Body. Now." the pet hisses in my ear. My anger flared like a roman candle.
"It is my body!" I snap back. The monster just shakes his head.
"Not. Anymore." Was all it said, and that was enough. I stayed silent as it floated away as the doctor left, probably to try and concoct something to extend what little life I have left. Once again, I'm alone in a hospital I barely know where I can't do anything to help myself. Except now, I don't even have control of my body anymore.
"Well, you're not alone." Someone said when I realized who I glared with all my might. What's he doing here?!
[Pov Swap, normal. First person]
Well, I expected as much but to his glare was quite the sight to behold. If looks could kill I doubt even Ragnorak could survive such a scathing look. I pull a chair out of my inventory and sit on it. Looking directly at the original Mores.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" The Original growled I shrug not really caring about the glare.
"Is it not natural for someone to check up on a wounded stranger? Especially one that was sealed away in my head. Do you have any idea how long you were out?" I ask him. His eyes narrow in thought, looking at my own face is weird I have to admit.
"A few hours-"
"Days. You've been out for a few days, four and a half If I'm being specific." I cut in. He didn't seem surprised, honestly the Original looked relieved almost. Guess he was just happy to be alive.
"I'll ask again, why did you visit me your murderer?" The original nearly demanded of me, hacking up blood. I just watch for a few moments until he stopped.
"The truth is I wanna know what you know. Like it or not I'm the one in charge now, and I would appreciate learning more about you and how you became this way." I told him straight up. The Original's arm shot up and he tried to crush my throat again.
"Like hell, I'm gonna give you what you want you, dirty body snatcher. I hope you discovered by Issie and the others and end up caged in the lowest depths of Cocytus." The Original growled, hatred illuminating blood red eyes. I, as gently as possible, remove his hand from my throat, he didn't even leave a mark.
"Alright. I'll just return every night until you start talking." I tell him, leaving the chair behind. As I walk out, I sense something coming straight towards me. I click my tongue and my shadow grabs a syringe that the doctors must've left by his bedside by mistake. I turn back and notice the look of surprise on his face, guess it's finally sinking in for him.
"Good talk," I say with a carefree smile as my shadow grinds the syringe to dust. I close the door behind me and find myself back in my bed. I sigh and get ready for the day, this is going to be harder than I imagined.
{Hopefully, he doesn't die before he tells you what you want to know partner.} Bahamut said to me. I roll my shoulders since they were a bit stiff. 'A little cold aren't you Bahamut? He was your previous partner before me.' I tell the ancient dragon. To that, he laughs inside my mind as if I told him a joke before he huffs like the very idea was an insult to his being. {We were never equal partners. He used me like a tool, and not even proficient at that. In all ways he's a failure of a reaper, it's a wonder he's still alive.}
"What do you mean by that?" I accidentally ask out loud. Walking downstairs. 'I mean, do you mean from his sickness?' I asked him inside my head this time, can't discuss this outside after all.
{Yes. Not because cancer should've killed him long ago, but the reaper's themselves would-ack!} Bahamut choked out. I don't show any fear on my face, however, my hands balled up into fists at the sound. This has happened three times now, every time he tries to explain something of the reaper culture in depth something strangles him. Stopping him from telling me. A cruel tactic to keep their secrets, so until I learn them from the Original, I have nothing on them. I don't like not knowing anything about a race I'm supposedly apart of. It's almost enough to drive me into a fit of wrath, almost being the operative word.
'Take a breath Mores, there is no use for throwing a fit. That serves no one and will only hinder my goal.' I tell myself, locking the anger I feel in a bottle and casting it aside with the rest. {So, what do you intend to do partner?} Bahamut asked me, I finish eating my breakfast and go outside on the back porch. No one ever goes out there and I surrounded the area in several noises canceling seals, no one would hear me there.
"Why my good dragon. I'll play the waiting game, a game I excel at." I tell him, my hands lacing together as I sit back in a green lawn chair that's been in my family longer than I've been alive. The breeze was nice, the sounds of birds chirping carried by the wind, the scent of flowers in bloom that I never noticed as a human. The serenity of it all was extraordinary, the only problem is. I'm in a stolen body, using a stolen name and a stolen power as the base for my new life in this world. I will make it mine, fully and utterly. If that means befriending the Original, asking forgiveness for what Ragnorak and, to a lesser extent, what I did to him. Then, and only then, will this guilt trickle away.
"{Or you can wait till he dies and just damns his soul.}" Bahamut suggested a dark purple glowing from my arm. I didn't reply to his suggestion, but I'd be a fool to not keep every option on the table.
[Pov swap. The Original. First person]
It's the fifth night and he's still visiting. For five nights straight, counting this one, the usurper of my body would sit on his damned chair and just watch me, waiting for me to initiate conversation. Every time I would lay on my side and try to ignore his eyes. How they would follow my every twitch, my every shift in stature. Making it impossible for me to even begin to sleep. I could tell he didn't like being ignored, but he made to the aggressive movement towards me, and at the end of every night so far he would stand up, crack his back. Linger in the doorway for a few minutes before leaving.
For the past four nights, after he left, I tried to escape but I never got closer to my goal. Quite the opposite in fact. My health rapidly degrades the moment I leave the bed. My latest attempt last night I barely got to the door no more than ten feet away before I collapsed and started coughing up all my blood. Yet as much as I want to blame it on the chaos god and the body snatcher, that's the biggest lie I can tell myself now. Just below the ones my doctors have told me my entire life, that I'll live to see my golden years.
"Hey, are you okay?" The voice of the body snatcher breaks me out of my thoughts. I feel wetness on my cheeks and realize I must've been crying, I wipe it off and check. Yep, tears and blood drops. The fact he could tell I was crying before I could scare the living daylights out of me.
"No, I'm not okay. I've never been okay. I'm fifteen years old and I'm not gonna live to see sixteen! I won't even be able to see the sun or my friends because I'm stuck here in my own mind, or what used to be mine!" I scream. Surprisingly I don't end up coughing blood from overexerting myself. I just huff and glare at the unphased body snatcher.
"So you're saying you want to see the sun?" The body snatcher asks. My eye twitches as do my hands. I know strangling him is the equivalent of a child trying to kick a dragon and expecting them to be hurt, but I'll be damned if the thought of choking him didn't sound appealing.
"At the most basic level, then yes I suppose so." I give in, sighing at my own weakness and at this bastard's denseness.
"Well, that can be fixed." He said with a chuckle, I suddenly had the sudden urge to hang on for dear life as he went behind me.
"Wha-" Wheels of shadow appear underneath the bed, he grabbed the back of the bed and pushed. The wind howled as I found myself dashing down the castle halls. I of course screamed but the crazy bastard howled with laughter. 'Insane! I'm going to die several weeks early! I am not okay with this!' I screamed in my mind. Before I could actually scream for help the doors opened wide for us and we flew out into the endless desert of damned souls. The bed, as expected, crashed into the endless white dunes and I found myself being flipped out of it.
"So this is how I die? For fuck's sake no." I denied reality as the ground quickly approached, I collided with the ground….' huh, still alive.' I muse, my ass in the sky and my head in the sand, I was to weak physically to even dig myself out. However, instead of leaving me to my fate the body snatcher dug me out.
"Whoops, my bad. I forgot you're not as durable as I am." the body snatcher apologizes, at least I think it's an apology. I would normally attempt to strangle him at this point but I just enjoyed the feeling of the sun, even if it's not the real one, and the fresh air. Hospitals, no matter where and no matter when always smell to clean. Bleach hangs over me like the specter of death nowadays, but out where the air is fresh? I can almost forget my impending doom.
The body snatcher says nothing, so I follow his lead and we watch the clouds from atop the shifting dunes. All was well and truly good until I started coughing again. The body snatcher glances over to me as my coughs grow more violent and visceral, at first he does nothing but after blood started to come up he reached out with his dominant hand. I try to swat it away but end up hurting my hand in the process, stupid titanium limbs. His hand gently grabs my shoulder and a soothing green glow radiates off it. My coughing slowed down and eventually stopped entirely.
"Lower tier healing spell, it works wonders for me in a pinch but I'm sad to say it doesn't cure diseases." I'm shocked, not only because he calls that a low tier spell but because he used it on me without hesitation, and that kind smile….why is he doing this?!
"Why?" I quietly ask, he tilts his head in confusion but we both know he heard and understood what I meant.
"I don't quite follow, why what?" he's playing dumb with such a question.
"Don't insult my intelligence, I know my body better than anyone else. You know exactly what I mean." I hissed. His hand was still on me and I could still feel the healing aura radiating throughout my body. I shouldn't have to explain what I mean.
"...because I'm a better person than you think I am." He answered me after a moment of thought. I nearly scoffed at his answer, but my mouth refused to obey me. His healing magics are all the proof they need, despite the fact he stole not only my life but my friends from me. He took what was mine, so why can't I bark back? I had no problem with it a few minutes ago, but now? My body rejects the very aspect of such an idea. As I fought my body for control I felt myself being carried back on the bed.
"I'm afraid I have to be leaving soon, but I'll be back the next night. By then I should have figured out how to use my portals." He said as he pushed the bed, and by extension me, back into his gleaming white castle. I'd have to be an idiot not to understand what he was offering, and I would have to be a fool to refuse it.
"..." I tried to say something but the words fail me. He slowly wheels me back into the hospital, apparently picking up on my disgust for the very nature of hospitals. He wheeled me back to my previous spot, an open window now next to the bed. Letting in some much needed fresh air.
"I thought it would freshen up the place. Smells a bit to...sterile for my liking." He explains, I nod. Understanding him clearly. We're alike in that regard I suppose. He turns and leaves, right as he's about to close the door I mumble "thank you." The door stops and I swear I saw him smile. He opens the door slightly to give me a dramatic bow, like a showman, would do after a performance. He closes the door and I sink into the mattress.
|Time skip, 14 hours later|
The very next night he came back as he said he would, now with a wheelchair in tow.
"I'm not getting in that thing. I can walk on my own." I tell him, he backs up and gives me plenty of space to prove myself. I nod and turn myself around, my feet hang off the edge. They thin and my toes were pointing down, clear evidence of atrophy from little use. I carefully slide off the bed, pins, and needles stabbing into my lower body was the sensation I felt. I couldn't feel the cold tile under my feet, the sensation overpowered them. My legs shake and they start to buckle, at first I start to fall over but at the body snatcher crossing his arms, I use my arms to catch myself, on both a rail guard on the wall and the bed itself. I use these to pull myself back up, that bastard expected me to walk on my own, no, it was closer he hoped I would be able to. The way he's drumming his fingers on the side of his arms, a habit I used to do when I was concerned about something. He clearly wants to scoop me up, but he's letting me stand on my own two feet, at least temporarily.
I growl and push myself off my supports, standing straight up and even managing to walk forwards a few feet, before I tripped over my two feet and fell right into the wheelchair the body snatcher had quickly moved into place. 'Yep, temporarily was the right word for that.' I thought, trying not to feel dejected at my inability to even walk anymore. The body snatcher says nothing as he wheels me into a portal of pitch darkness.
"Your really an edgelord aren't you?" I ask, deadpan in my tone. His face mimicked my tone.
"It's my highest stable affinity right now! Would you rather a portal controlled by chaos?" He asked me and I shake my head at the question.
"No, thank you, who knows where we could end up. Especially with that Ragnorak bastard as the only chaos god around here, something tells me he likes screwing with you." I shake at the very thought. So does the body snatcher. He wheels me through the portal, I refuse to shake even though the temperature dropped to sub-zero levels. I am the son of the current grim reaper after all, even as I am now I refuse to appear even weaker.
Thankfully the temperature evened out and we were in the park. I didn't even need to glance down to know the body snatcher had put an illusion around us. We looked like normal humans, my favorite part is I no longer had to look at my own face when I looked at the body snatcher. As he wheeled me around the park I wondered how I was here in the flesh. I had nobody, this was answered as a blade of grass passed through me. 'Ahh, that explains it. The wheelchair is the only thing I can interact with, everything else goes through me. I'm a ghost in every sense of the word.' I think with a morbid smile on my face.
"So, you enjoying yourself?" The body snatcher asked me, I couldn't help but nod. Leaving the castle was one thing, but now I'm actually outside. I'm in Japan again, like I planned before…...before I was tricked.
"Hey, edgelord." The body snatcher glares slightly at the nickname but is listening.
"Do you know how the chaos god imprisoned me inside my own body and made room for you?" I asked him, we were in the middle of nowhere. I suspect the body snatcher could tell I was going to ask him something that couldn't be answered out in the open.
"No, no I don't. Ragnorak was vague when I demanded answers from him after I found you. He told me that I, and you as well, are no more than characters in a story. He wants to see conflict and craves drama, so me demanding answers from him was written off as me trying to ask for spoilers. Something he obviously doesn't want me to learn, at least from him." M..the body snatcher told me, I detected no lie in his voice. No hint of deceit in his movements, no ounce of deception in his tells.
"So that's how a god sees us, lowly mortals," I growl, angered at the very notion. I do not trust divinity, nor I see no reason to. They always betray the ones they rule over for petty whims. 'So M...the body snatcher didn't know I was forced out.' I let this thought bounce in my mind for a few moments. Taking this time to enjoy the night sky. After enough time I began the tale.
"It happened two days after I was told my cancer had progressed too far and there was nothing they, the doctors, could do. I had called Issie that day and lied to him, I told him my cancer was cured. He was so excited, he congratulated me and was all around ecstatic for me." M….the body snatcher stayed silent as I explained what happened.
"I told him I was visiting and I couldn't stop laughing as I heard him cheer. Unfortunately, he hadn't gotten far enough away from what I assume is the infamous kendo club, so I had more than one reason to laugh as he was being beaten. I hung up, I was going to call Irina and inform of her of the 'good news' but then a figure appeared in front of me." I explain, he nods and sits down on the grass, turning me around so he could look straight at me for this next part. I take a deep breath and let it out.
"The mysterious figure introduced himself as Ragnorak, the leader of the sixteen pillars of chaos. I didn't know him, nor what mythology he came from, but based on the title I assumed he was powerful and perhaps even the leader of his world's pantheon. When I asked him what he wanted with me, he offered me a deal. He would cure my cancer, fix my body and make it so I could live out my days with my friends. I asked what he wanted for such a miracle. He only held a single finger up, one thing he wanted me." I try not to laugh at the obviously slanted position. Looking back on it, as I've done many times before, it was obviously a trap. It couldn't have been more obvious without a neon sign above his head, and knowing how the chaos god operates, I bet he was holding himself back from creating such a thing.
"I accepted his offer and made a deal with that devil. It was only after I shook his hand that I asked what he wanted from me. I will never forget the gleeful smile on his face, nor the ways his eyes darkened to sunken holes in his head. "Your body of course" That's what he said. He ripped my conscious mind and spirit me away into that room you found me in. He kept his half of the deal in the cruelest fashion imaginable. He had cured my body, he had fixed it the best he could and made sure whoever was in control could live the rest of their days with my friends. One problem, I wasn't the one in control." I finish, as he clearly knows what happened after that.
Silence persisted after I lifted the veil upon that truth. That suited me just fine, I can watch the stars in peace.
"What were the hooks for?" M….The body snatcher asked. I growl at his ridiculous question.
"What do you think they were for?!" I snapped back, but instead of flinching he just stared back at me. I sigh and look up at the sky again, but clouds blocked our view.
"The hooks were used to keep me in place, stopping me from, being able to take back control. By the time you rescued me...I no longer have the strength to take back my body." I tell him if the clouds were to block my sight. I may as well humor him and answer any question he had, even if they were stupid.
M….the body snatcher lays down on the grass. With a flick of his wrist, the cloud dissipates and the night sky was once again clear. 'Oh thank God, now I don't need to answer his questions.' I think with a smile.
Time passed by as we watch the sky, sadly we couldn't stay out for longer than another hour. I started hacking up blood again, even with his healing ability he couldn't stop the coughing this time. So I found myself back in the hospital of his, the doctors rushed in to help.
"Stabilize him the best you can, get something for his cough and set up an iv drip but with an elixir instead of the normal saline." M….the body snatcher told the doctors, they nodded and did exactly as he said. It wasn't long before I stopped coughing, though I had a wire in my arm for….far more than I wanna count.
"You feeling less crappy?" He asked bluntly. I smirk at him.
"Meh, could be worse. Also, I have no idea what I should call you since I refuse to call you Mores and your previous name doesn't exactly suit you anymore." I tell him. Now that tripped him up, my smirk grew. That was a first for me.
"Well, that is a conundrum. How about M?"
"Evil M." I counter. Evil M acts like that hurt him but he laughs it off the very next minute.
"I didn't take you for a fan of old kids movies." Evil M chuckled.
"Well when you spend most of your life inside a hospital, there's little else to do but watch kid movies and play video games," I tell Evil M. He just grins at me and goes to leave.
"Did we just become friends?" He asked me as he left, I didn't say no. He leaves shortly thereafter. What a strange man, I'm acting rather strange myself if I think about it. 'I can't believe he's growing on me. Not to mention so quickly, it's rather strange.' I think to myself. Sitting up from the thought.
'Does he have an arcana with me?' I ask myself, now that I think about it. It makes sense now, why he would spend so much time with me. That bastard chaos god forced me to watch through Evil M's eyes as he lived his life. So I know all about Arcana and what bonuses he gets from them. He has to be using me to get those bonuses, the only other explanation is…..no. I refuse to believe that to be the case. I bury my head in the pillow, convincing myself he was using me and when he was done he'd throw me away. Just like so many others did before him.
|Time skip, hours later|
Yet again I find time passing me by, the doctor has started tripping my dosage of meds. Now constantly relying on the elixir dripping in like saline. It's miserable, but death would be more miserable I suppose. The coughing has become all but unbearable, the elixir and meds I'm sure of are the only things keeping me from bleeding out. The nurses have even set up a small trash can by me and some paper towels. Well better than having the blood pooling in my lap.
"Hey! I bought the newest super smash brothers and that Nintendo switch, shall we?" Evil M asked, levitating in the stuff. Yesterday I would've been thrilled, however, I was too much in pain today for his visits. Evil M noticed this and shoved the stuff into, presumably since I can't see it, his inventory. He sat down so we were face to face, I could barely raise my head from all the drugs in my system.
"I'm guessing you're not feeling up to that today. Wanna watch a movie instead?" He asked me. I didn't respond, I just tried to look past him as I couldn't move my head away from him.
"Is there something else going on?" Evil M asked me. Poking at my numb shoulder, I snapped.
"Stop doing that! Why are you here?!" I demanded of him, Evil M just tilted his head in confusion.
"What do you mean? I'm here to spend time with you." He answered, the same answer as always. It was pissing me off.
"The hell does that mean? Is that supposed to pity?! Well, I don't need it. You need me for some reason, that's the only reason I'm still alive!" My hands clenched into bloody fists. The feeling was starting to return in my body, the medicine was wearing off.
"What?" Was all he asked. Looking more and more confused by the second.
"Stop playing dumb! I know you're just using me to get something, whether it be information on the reaper race or an arcana that you want to max out before I croak so you can reap all the benefits!" I accused, Evil M flinched a little. I grew even more furious, he flinched. 'So there must be truth in my words.' That was my thought process at least.
"Well, you may as well show me what bonuses your getting from me! Am I the hanged man? The Aeon? Judgment? Well, show me you manipulative bastard!" I demanded. Silence reigned, even the air itself stilled to be deathly quiet. Evil M nodded, he invited me to his party. I learned two things at that moment, one. The true difference in our strength. His level, his stats are so much higher than mine. By such a ridiculous number, but I had already known that. What I hadn't known, was the presence. It was something he tried to hide as to not cause me harm, but now it was on full display. Probably by that chaos god no doubt. He is a dragon, and I am a maggot gasping for breath, drowning in my own fluids at the base of his feet.
The second was the arcana he had for me. It wasn't any of the ones I named, it wasn't any other major arcana. What it said crushed me, in more than one way.
Two of swords: Rank 6.
Bio: a worthless arcana that most people hold. It is a waste of time to level this arcana up. There will be no bonuses, no boss or special enemy attached. Nothing will be gained, you will have time for even looking at this waste of space, let alone leveling it.
As it said, there were no bonuses, The screen itself was cracked and ever crumbling away. I knew the chaos god thought little of me, but even the world. The thing that marks us with arcana, would give me such a worthless card. A common card, one not even featured in any persona title, the most forgotten card, and it represents me. Why?
"Why?!" my thoughts become words. Evil M had an unreadable expression on his face, I couldn't tell what he was thinking. He's usually so emotional as well, what does this mean.
"Tell me the truth! Why have you been kind to me?! You don't gain anything from me, nothing! So why?" Evil M said nothing as I repeated my question. Growing more and more quiet with each one. Then he stood up, walked over and sat next to me. Before I could ask why he hugged me. My questions grew and lessened at the same time.
"It's because….I feel responsible for what's happened to you." Evil M finally said. I am baffled, I shouldn't be especially since I more than once told him it was his fault, and yet here I am. Baffled at his statement.
"I stole your body from you, I forgot you even existed. Hell, my reason for letting you go was purely selfish. I had wanted to know the insides of the race I'm a part of. The inner workings if you will." Now that was surprising, especially since not once did he ask me about the reaper race.
"After I saw you, and spent time with you. I 'interrogated' Ragnorak to ask what the hell he was thinking. That crazy bastard just smiled and played dumb. To him, you weren't a person, only a body for his creator to live on it." What the hell does he mean by creator? 'There's no way, he can't have….no way.' The idea was baffling, a human created a god? Especially one strong enough to scare not only my father but Orphis until they were pale in the face and pants wet with piss.
"He told me spending time with you was a waste of effort, nothing I could do could save you." Okay, what now?!
"What the hell do you mean?" I asked, and about that of all things.
"I haven't gone back to the real world in several days now. Well, several days here in this time dilated world at least. This world became dilated after I put Crota's head on my wall, at least during the day hours in the 'real' world. I used that time to try and research an elixer if you've read Harry Potter then you know which elixir I mean." I couldn't hold in my surprise at that.
"How the hell did you get your hands on that?" I asked, he shook his head and I suddenly realized something. If he had it, why hadn't I taken it?
"Technically I have it, or I will, the problem is the amount of time until it can be perfected. Given the resources I have, it will take ten months before it can be made safely." He explained, my stomach dropped like a stone. That spark of hope was drowned as quickly as it was lit. I barely have a few months left, and that's with this elixir drip constantly being plugged into me. I would certainly die within a few minutes if that was pulled.
"I spent a good four days and nights straight trying to figure out a way to speed it up, the only thing that came from that was an unstable prototype that's more likely to liquefy your innards than it will cure your cancer." Evil M said. I wanted to tell him it was fine, but something caught in my throat.
"I'm so sorry I did this to you, I'm so sorry Mores." He apologized, that's the first time I heard him apologize for something...but.
"Why are you apologizing?" I asked him. He broke the hug to give a strange look.
"It's not like you knew what would happen to me when you became me. You had no clue what that damned chaos god would do. I….I wrongfully blamed you for what happened. The only one at fault is that chaos god." I say I got a very confused look from Evil M.
"But if I had let you out earlier than you-" I interrupted him with a clap of my hands, a weak clap but a clap still.
"I would've died sooner and I may have actually killed you in the process. My life was gonna end within a month or two. No matter when you pulled me out of that room. Heh, I should be thanking you in a way." I got him nice and confused with that one.
"You brought me out of that hell, and before that, you used your prior knowledge of my world to save Issie. You gave him a choice, and you have given me one as well. You gave me the choice to enjoy my last few days with a new friend." I tell him, giving him as wide a smile as I can. He was baffled, but it quickly turned into a small grin.
"Well now, that is rather nice of you. There is one question I wish for you to answer, do you love Irina?" Evil M bluntly asked me, if I was drinking coffee I would've spat it out at the sudden heel turn. My cheeks burned at the sudden question, and Evil M's grin quickly became teasing.
"You really deserve that nickname." I groaned, trying to hide my face as he kept poking my shoulder, lightly, to try to get me to say it.
"Am I that obvious?" I finally ask him. He nods.
"I felt your feelings for her while I was with her. That's how obvious you are." He said with an all to eager teasing grin. I'm quite sure that I'm atomic red from his discovery. He laughs as if we weren't just talking about heavy business just a moment ago. After that he continued to tease me for quite a while, my hands covered my face by the end of it. He pats my shoulders and got up.
"Leaving already?" I asked evil M. He just chuckled as he left.
"Well, there is something I need to test. Sadly I can't spend all my time playing with you." evil M said. Exiting the hospital. The second he did, I started coughing up blood.
[Pov switch. ? ? person]
Over the next few days, the original mores' body deteriorated rapidly. Far faster than the doctors or the Gamer had expected. To save the original's life he underwent a painful surgery, they implanted in him a prototype that injected countless elixirs into him an hour. However, even with this, the time they bought was little and not worth the waste of resources. The original's body itself is starting to decay, a sign of reapers reaching their end. Premature rot, the strong explode into a quick puff of skeletal feathers. The weak rot and disintegrate away over the course of many painful hours. There was nothing they could do, well, there was one thing the gamer could do. But it wouldn't save the original. Oh, what he will choose I so do wonder?
"But, you do not wish to hear me ramble now do you if you did, you'd go to a different tale for that, wouldn't you? Oh, reader mine."
[Pov. OG mores, first person pov]
The painkillers evil M gave me yesterday do help, but I can still feel myself waste away. He hasn't visited today at all and judging by the progression of the rot on my body, I have maybe an hour left? Probably less now that I think of it. The doctor and nurse have done their best to...keep me comfortable.
"Where are you, Evil M?" I murmur to the void, to my shadow. Hoping he would emerge from there, he did it after my surgery to try and cheer me up. Even snuck some snacks through there….I don't want to die alone-
Suddenly a black portal opens just in front of my bed. At first, I thought it was just evil M. But, like many things regarding him, I couldn't be more wrong.
"Mores!"
"Mo-Mo!"
Two all too familiar voices reached my ears, I wondered if it was a cruel hallucination brought on by my mind. Yet, when Issei and Irina run through the portal and grab my hand, I can't rightly say they weren't real. Evil M came in shortly after them.
"Why are they….how are they here?" I asked evil M, he just smiled.
"Well, you wanted to see them again and my portal skill was high enough level for me to bring them along." Was all he said. I wanted to ask so many more questions, this exposes him so much. He can no longer pretend to be me, he's risking his friendship with them...for me. He stands behind me, resting his back on the wall, right under the window. His wings outstretched outside the window, I knew what he was doing and...I was happy.
"Hey now, you're not dying here. So keep fighting damn it." Issie tried to boost my resolve. I shake my head, the look of devastation on their faces...I always knew this would happen. I've prepared myself, but… nothing could prepare me for this.
"You can't die Mo-Mo. There's still so much we haven't done together." Irina begged me, I tried not to cry.
"Guess you'll just have to do it with evil M over there," I say, pointing my head to that stoic reaper next to me. While Irina glanced at him I summoned whatever remained of me, my strength, my will, and forced myself to sit up for the first time in over a week. My arms struggled to move, but hidden shadows underneath them kept them from sliding off. Evil M made no gesture, I appreciated what he did anyway. Using my last dregs of strength I pulled issei and Irina into a hug and kissed Irina on the lips. It was barely a kiss, and yet I felt so relieved I could do it. My head rested on her shoulders.
"Sorry about that. I know it's selfish, but if I didn't do it now then I wouldn't have another chance to tell you. I love you Irina, the romantic type. I also love you Issie, your the younger brother I never had." I had a smile on my face as they cried, I was crying too but I get to see them again...and that alone made my day. As the three of us cry together, I can't help but notice Evil M stay where he was, silent tears being absorbed by his shadow. I didn't have the strength left to speak.
'Thank you, thank you so much Mores. I wish I got to know you better. You are a good man, please take care of them for me.' I try to send my thoughts to his head. His mask covered his face, I had no clue if he got it not. Until his shadow created a small thumbs up. I smile at him, then all goes black.
[Pov swap. Mores. First person pov.]
|time rewind, ten seconds before death|
I felt Mores's smile on me, then time stopped. Or rather, my perspective of it stopped completely.
"Well, this is quite the pickle you put yourself in," Ragnorak said to me as he floated next to me.
"It's called being a good person, not as if you would know," I grumble the last part under my breath though we both know he heard me. Ragnorak laughs and slaps my back.
"Mouthy, just what I expected of you. But back to more relevant issues, that isn't my lack of a moral compass, you know what you have to do right? You've been avoiding it with last couple souls you encountered but now, you have no choice." Ragnorak hissed gleefully. He's been waiting for me to use the other, I bet he was dying of anticipation.
"I know, I have to do it. There is no other option, why do I hate that your right?" I sigh, he just laughs like the madman he is. He forced me to look up at him.
"Because I usually am about these things. Well, I can't keep you here forever now can I? Actually, I could, but that would be immensely boring." He said. Snapping his fingers and disappearing. The second he did so time resumed and the original Mores died. His body turning to sand the moment of his death. My wings went back inside me and I stood up straight. The moment I did so, I found a red gauntlet at my throat. An enraged Issie glaring at me, and a heartbroken, but equally mad, Irina giving me a death glare.
"No more lies. Who the hell are you?" Issie demanded of me. My summons waited outside the hospital room, just waiting for me to give them permission to attack. I didn't. Emerald fire met cold blood as I stared down at him.
"Not Mores obviously-" His other fist slammed into my stomach, interrupting what I was about to say. A holy spear of light suddenly appeared at my head. I was a little surprised to see she could use such magic, but she is a holy maiden after all.
"No cheeky answers either you bastard. Tell us now, or I will kill you." Issie roared. Irina didn't change her expression, seems like she didn't disagree with his sentiment.
"Hmm. I am a Gamer, a creature that grows stronger from every fight. I have stats, skills, levels. All of this is a big game and I'm the player. My true name no longer fits me but it was Spencer. I used to be human, but now I'm not. Though I'd liked to think I still have my humanity." I say with an even tone. My uncaring for their threats shocked them, or perhaps it was what I said. It won't matter soon enough.
"A game? That's what his death was to you? A game?!" Irina yelled I wouldn't respond to that. Not in the way she would like at least.
"Would it matter if I said yes or no?" I ask in a dead tone. I saw her shiver at my answer. Issie however, was still very angry. Heck, he might go juggernaut drive soon. That would be a little worrisome. With a sigh, I grab Issie's hand and rip it off of me. Their surprise was palpable, their reactions slow. I chucked Issie into the corner a little ways away. The spear went right through my skull. I turned my head and it snapped in half, the horror was real for her. That's right, they didn't see Kokabiel cut my head off and crush it to goo. The hole in my head healed, and I grabbed her by the hair before throwing her over my head and into Issie who had just gotten up.
"{Boost!} {Boost!} {Balance break!}" I heard behind me. Issie charged, fully armored and with intent to destroy. He threw the first punch, I grabbed it and stopped in his place. His armor cracking from the sudden stop.
"{Impossible! What kind of monster are you?!}" Draig asked me. I smirked.
"The kind that killed a god," I said demonically and kneed Issie in the chest. Hitting his balance breaker's biggest weakness. The green orb shattered and Issie coughed up bile. He was slammed into the wall with enough force to shake the castle. I didn't let a single green orb hit the ground, I put them into my inventory for later experiments.
I turned around to deal with the most important matter but I heard them start to get up. This would be more annoying with them constantly trying something.
"Chains of the damned," I say, snapping my fingers for extra measure. Chains pinned the two upstarts. Issie cursed while Irina tried to break them using holy magic, it didn't work. Their levels were too weak. Now that they have been restrained I approached the remains of my friend. I swept away the dust that was his body and uncovered a small soul, I already knew what I had to do.
"We'll never forgive you! When we get out of here we'll tell everyone what kind of monster you really are!" Issie roared, his eyes alight with green fire once again. I smirked faced him with the original Mores's soul. I took off my mask so they see could see my smirk, it froze them to the bone.
" if you kill us, the others will notice!" Irina said, slightly stuttering from the fear of my calm smirk. My fingers tapped on the original's soul, the sound of it reminded me of tapping on the glass.
"Oh, I won't kill you. In fact, none of this will have happened at all. Not one bit, why do you think I explained everything to you?" I ask them, I squeeze lightly and the soul cracks. Their eyes widen in realization, they realized what I was doing. They frantically pulled on the chains, their hands reaching for the original's soul.
"Too late. Damnation." I say, crushing the soul to powder. All movement stops, time itself this time's freezes. Reality changes, Irina and Issei disappeared, because they never would've come here. The original mores' memories, all of them, flooded into my mind uninhibited. The act of damnation wipes the soul's very existence from reality and all memories about them. They become forgotten and they've ever done disappear as they never existed to create what they built. The true reason why the reaper race is so terrifying. However, I exist and that causes reality to wrap around me. I took over the spot where Mores forever were, I am now and forever will be the real Mores. Issie and Irina should still be at home, sleeping peacefully not remembering anything that just happened, for none of it existed. The powder that was his soul disappeared and went outside to join the rest. The sand that constantly shifts outside is the remains of all the reaper race has ever damned to oblivion.
Two screens appeared in front of me. One of which was glitched and would soon fade.
Arcana maxed. Two of Swords. Rank 10.
No rewards, for this was a waste of time and it shall cease to exist.
The screen burned away in black fire. The second screen showed me what I already knew.
Soul damned. As you already had his body, you gain no stats. However, you gain his memories and skill. Your alias and name have been swapped successfully.
Soul Weaver(Active). Level: maxed. MP cost 15 per second:
A basic but crucial skill among the reapers. The ability to control, judge, and maneuver souls of all kinds on their way to the afterlife. It is a skill that all reapers learn when they first start training. The smart and cruel both use this ability for more than just judgment, with the use of several other magics can create golems with souls so they may act or able to take basic commands. The cruel this to put the souls back into their freshly killed bodies so they torture them over and over. Driving the souls mad.
So that's what he..no..I did when I was little against those priests. Interesting. The window I made for him no longer existed, at least until I remade it. Much to the confusion of the doctors who had no idea why I had done that.
"This is a hospital, a place of healing. It shouldn't smell like death." I tell them, walking out the door. I now had the secrets of one of the most reclusive supernatural races...I made it a few feet into a private storage area I had prepared earlier today and cried. I had just erased a child younger than me from existence and officially stole everything from him, a child who I thought as a friend and he shared the same opinion of me. He knew I had to do it and let me. The reason why his soul didn't disappear, as reapers didn't have a normal afterlife, was so I could fully take his place.
'Thank you for doing what you could for me, and thank you for exposing your greatest secret for me. I can't express my thanks, so I leave everything to you. Be a better reaper than I was. Goodbye Evil M...no. Goodbye Spencer, my third and last best friend.' Those were his final thoughts as he died. I slammed my fist against the floor, tears running down in rapids. I don't think this guilt will ever fade fully. 'But, I must keep going. I am a monster, I am a Gamer, both take from the world around them and grow fat from strength. I will not grow fat on my own indulgence of my strength.' I thought, my blood red eyes glinting. They always do that when I'm fully committed to something. I stand up, my shadow tendrils clear away the tears that I have no right to shed. I slip on my mask and walk out. A monster ready to fight for what was given to him, and what he stole for himself.
[Now, time for the other half of season two. Oh boy, this is gonna be interesting. Now remember my lovely readers, you can always comment/PM directly if you want something that not many people know about included. Like a niche game or movie series. Unlike other writers, I like to think of myself as open and willing to hear other ideas. Also, if I made a RP community how many would join it? Until next time my lovely readers. Stay chaotic and free.]