The shadow of the entity stood over the prince of demaica, the prince, a mere insignificant life that stands little compared to that of such a creature, to it, a mere life that-like all, are mere speck of dusts that is nothing but another object to tower over. Its skin was unnatural, composed of the night sky itself, complete with stars that had belonged to the sky. The texture was also unreal, it was slime like, yet it also seemed that it was sturdier than that of mere liquid, it had two red orb like eyes, that which could have been compared to a pair of blood moons, which were the only thing to be noted upon, its figure was human like-apart from the lack of feet-in its place was just a mere torso that produced a puddle on the ground which it had made its own; and the pillar like arms that reached the ground, it picked itself up with the colossal arms that shook the earth each time it used itself to crawl to where the pile of barely living people marinated in their own blood and the blood of their colleagues. The creature approached the massacred pile of people who were half dead and half living and took a single body from the group, its right hand held the man like a mere toy in which it examined with both of its ruby like eyes. The man was not note worthy, he was bald, seemed like he was in his late forties, dark as wood skin-nothing really to be noted upon, he look like your definition of average…
From the hands that rivaled the pattern of the night sky…
It took its other hands and cupped the man within the embrace of both its titan like hands…
When it had stopped, what was left was a sight that the faint of heart will surely collapsed from…
It absorbed the skin…
It absorbed the skin of the man…leaving behind what was inside of him…
That which was identical to what is inside of us all, mere muscle, the same as all the others dissected in such a manner…
The once tortured person who could not utter a single scream…
Was now silent…
Even more silent then they were once before…
Earlier he along with the rest could not scream-for they were petrified with fear…
Now he cannot scream-no one can hear the whisper of corpses…
Like a wrapper from a candy bar it dissected the skin and absorbed it with its hands, the skin which belonged to the man sinking into the mystifying liquid that is the body of this unknown creature, the skin swallowed by the stars itself as the last traces of it ever existing was merely just blood stains on the grass. The creature did not stop there it held the flesh of the man and threw it on the ground, the man had unblinking eyes, for he did not have any eyelids, nor was he capable of turning away from that which will take his life…or had already taken its life, it is hard to tell. The creature then lifted its right arms and then swiftly took it down to where the body lay on the brink of death, it was similar to a waterfall falling down on a piece of raw meat, there was no other way to describe it-what followed after was the disgusting sound of slurping and licking, from which the prince could not see, he could only hear the carnage as it transpired before his very eyes, the sound so gut wrenching that he would not know what would have happened if he could only see the process that produced such a sound. And just like that it took out its right arms and dragged it away from the, now skeleton body, the hand left a trail of blood on the once green grass and sloppily raised its body…
It lunged towards the pile, taking its entire body with it…
The same sounds echoed now amplified tenfold, for he no longer did this to a single body, but did it to countless more. God only knows how long it took for the creature to absorb the rest of those which were piled up like finger food but to the prince it felt like a day had passed, his eyes steadily gazing stiff at the feeding. It stopped and dragged its body away, leaving behind a pile of skeletons, some crushed to mere bone meal and some mere fragments or shards, it is hard to believe that these were once people…they all looked the same, what was inside all looked the same, there was no way of differentiating anyone from anyone, skeletons of once living people, to the prince, and the leftover from a delicious meal to the creature. The thing looked down on the pile scanning from any flesh still left on the licked clean skeletons. It then turned to where the prince stood…staring at the creature who stared back.
"Your smell…you are a Lightshield...aren't you, not just that, but a male! Tell me how many leaders have passed after you restarted?" The creature asked, its voice was the mix of a thousand voices speaking at the same time.
"Four generations have passed. I am the 4th, the prince of demacia, Jarvan Ignitius Lightshield the 4th, and you are…Shiki, correct?" The prince asked voice un-trembling even after the slaughter that he had witness this creature commit.
"I see, I see, even after all these years the Lightshield bloodline still exists…and royalty no less, and how does sitting on an iron throne instead of a wooden stump feels?" The creature said in yet another almost unrecognizable echoing voice-both the prince and it were like old companions catching up on old times as they patted each other on the back.
"I could not compare them with one another, I have sat on an old stump before on my travels but I have yet to sit on the throne."
"Yes…you are just a prince after all, forgive me, I would have thought that a Lightshield who would come to challenge me had at least checked out all the things he want to do on his bucket list, before…you know, dying." The creature said as it leapt towards the prince with its slingshot like body, it landed a mere foot away and on its feet was a large crater from the impact that resembled that of a meteorite that fell from the sky.
"Allow me explain all of this to you real quick youngster, I am Shiki, the manifestation of a reaper itself, I have no purpose but to be a living executioner, unlike a knife in which could be used to split down your dinner down the middle or an axe which could be used to chop down lumber, I do nothing else but kill. If you approach a person that has a knife or an axe, it would make all the difference if one was your cooking aficionado mother and the other was your hillbilly lumberjack father. Think of it this way, I am the epitome of a weapon, no other purpose, I do not have any purpose but to kill, I need to kill in order to feed myself, I need to kill in order to continue living, I need to kill if I wanted to do anything, I know nothing else but ending something with a bloodbath…" Shiki said its multiple voices booming in anger with each word, until it finally recollected itself and mimicked the action a man would do trying to play it cool after an outburst.
"So you have to pardon my anger if a foolish prince approaches me, a young man in the prime of his life, just approaches a weapon that knows nothing else but to kill and holds a conversation with it expecting to live after all this…you have to forgive me, but I have never met someone so stupid, I used to be split, I always thought that some stupid people were brave and some brave people were stupid, but you, you-prince of demacia the 4th, are in all definition of the word a fool!" It said with the voice of rallying protestors that shook the prince of demacia's body and almost dug itself on his core.
"Yes, I get that a lot, a fool, my father and the father of my father, both have labeled me as such, and I couldn't help but feel foolish myself, I know that I am gambling my life, but it is a risk that I am willing to take." The prince announced proudly with unwavering passion in his voice.
"A risk you are willing to take? But tell me, do you not think about the future, do you not think about the next generation? You will die here, and yet you have not provided a heir, neither have you experience ruling on the throne? Tell me, what is your legacy?"
"Shiki I do not have one, Sure If I die now there would be absolutely nothing that people would remember me from, except for the demacian prince who died too young, but again, "If". I do not intend to die here; I will do what the previous kings have not been able to…"
….
The two men born with royal blood approached a room, a room at the pits of the palace, a room where it was stripped of all royal design, the room where prince's are trained to become kings, and the room where only royalty treaded, the Lightshield family, and only the Lightshield family were the only ones who know of this room-to everyone else, this room does not exist.
"4th, walk carefully, observe, and mimic the actions of king Midas surrounded by the family he dearly loves."
"…What do you mean?"
"…It means don't touch anything." The old man said with a very condescending tone.
The prince nodded as the previous king turned the doorknob, of the steel reinforced door. Judging by that alone we could tell that what is inside is something that is needed to be protected. Inside was an infinite dark, it was understandable the room was at the lowest point in the demacian palace, there was no place for windows, no place where the sun could shine.
The previous king turned on the lights with ease, even with the pitch black darkness he could tell instinctively where the light switch was placed, an instinct you would have if you do an action habitually. The prince was blinded with a sudden flash of light while the old man had merely shrugged it off probably because he had already lost most of his vision. There in the room once pitch black and hidden lay paintings and papers, documents and statues, weapons and tools, an assortment of historical artifacts.
The prince was speechless. He expected a room where princes evolve to kings to be more of a training facility, instead of a museum. Nevertheless he was also astonished due to the magnificent paintings and detailed statues scattered along the large room. The prince however was disappointed on the condition of the weapons; swords, shields, spears and bows, were left shattered and broken yet still preserved, but it did not take a genius to take a glance at these weapons and label them as unusable, mere display instead of their true purpose, which is to hurt and to kill. The prince snapped from his trance and finally remembered why he was led here.
"Excuse me grandfather, but when are you going to teach me the golden aegis?" The prince asked trying the best he could to be polite, yet there was still a hint of impatience hidden between the lines.
"I expected that…Youth these days. Very well then, follow me. The previous king only sighed as he grabbed 5 sheets of the papers from an old wooden desk and presented it to the prince.
The prince began to read it silently as a spark of interest glinted from his eyes
"As I venture to the great hills, I met a creature, it calls itself a god. It tells me that it is very young only a thousand years old, it's funny how it walks and talks, it does not have feet, instead it is cut from the torso and uses its hands to get around, its skin was like goop and it had a pattern that resembled the night sky, Shiki, it's its name, never in all my years of adventure have I met a creature who is in all sense a powerful god, talk to me like we are equals, I know it could snap my neck in half like a simple toothpick but yet it does not, it is like a child…-Alphonsus."
"The God which my father faced in the great hills proved to be his reaper, my father was absorbed by that self proclaimed God…but my father did so willingly, he said that he wanted to be the "one" the one, that would make the creatures wish come true, he did not needed to do so, he was quite old, frail, but yet he journeyed on foot to make that wish come true. I wonder what that wish may be, but I could never ask my father…he has left me. But my father did leave me with all his possessions, his treasures everything he had owned, he all gave to me, with one condition-in order for the will to be valid I need to journey to the great hills and stay there for a day before the creature goes back to its cave in the sky. Will it be worth it to spend a day with a creature that took my father's life? I do not know, but I will-Alphonsus II."
"Shiki, both my father and my father's father had all succumbed to the charms of that creature. I could still remember my father's face after his first visit to the great hills, a face full of enlightenment, he had the face of someone who knew all and yet smiled. After that he retired as an adventurer, the same with my grandfather and became the chief of the village, even in his final days he was a just and kind leader, smiling when others needed a smile, for they had the opposite plastered on their faces and celebrated as others as well began to smile. But on the last day, he journeyed to the great hills never to return. I could still remember his smile, he told me he wanted to smile until the very end…I hope he did when the cold grip of death finally lay its fingers on his shoulders…If that is where he journeyed to when he wanted to die with a smile; then I know where I would want to be when my time comes…-Alphonsus III."
"This God, has been the end to all the previous chiefs before me, my great grandfather, my grandfather and my father were all taken by him, why do they choose to be a mere meal to a god? One meeting with the creature and they turn from adventurers into wanting to become chiefs. I do not know why, I do not know how, but this creature has controlled the fate of my family by a string, it gave them the freedom to choose what path they want but in the end the string drags them into its mouth, every time…every goddamn time. Should I be angry? I am not particularly angry about their deaths, they all knew what they were facing nor should I be mad about the way that creature changed their lives, I should be happy- actually it changed their lives for the better. What I am angry is that this creature knew all too well that every Alphonsus Lightshield was to die in its hands, I despise things that are written in stone, I hate the belief that there is destiny written in the stars, I always want to crush the stone and shatter the sky. Now, I go to greet the executioner of those before me and use my hands to shake it's firmly and stab it with my lance with the other-Alphonsus IV."
"The village we once called demacia is slowly growing into a country, If only my father could see me now, I bet he would be proud. Though I want him to join me in the festivities, to celebrate this slowly growing country's success, he could not join me…but I couldn't blame him, after I read the letters he wrote and the chiefs before him, I understand why, I am still angered when I remember how he left me even though he was yet to be a man of gray hair, but all in all I remember my father to be the one that ended the chain, the chain where Shiki has held every Lightshield, he sacrificed himself in order to end the cycle he detested that creature until the very end. He chose to end his own life instead of being just another meal for the creature…that is how I would remember my father. –Jarvan."
"Great grandfather?" the prince asked in surprise, the final word in the letter acted like a bomb in his chest that exploded as he realized that he was reading the journal entries which his ancestors have written.
"Yes, We Lightshields are natural born leaders, once chiefs to a village and now kings to a country we were born to lead-you wonder why I urged you to read all of this, Well, in order to use the golden aegis you need to be like them, in order for them to protect you in battle you need to be what they once were…" The previous king grabbed one last paper and presented it to the prince of demacia, his face had the same stoic look but a man with good eyes could see a little smirk form around his mouth.
"…Now we know what will protect you, but this is what happens next…" The previous king said as grandson and grandfather stared at each other with a new spark.
…
"…I will absorb you!" The prince said proudly as his face seethed with determination, he brought out a paper from one of his pouches on his waist that he read loudly.
"I know in the end I will be buried in darkness the same as when I am asleep, the same when I am blindfolded, the same every time I close my eyes, I do not want the darkness to be the end, I shall give you the power of a god, my power, if your body will be able to house me, then you will move mountains, crush boulders, shatter the earth. I would gladly be one with you if you are able to be one with me, I, Shiki will enlighten you in turn that you would at least try to absorb me, when you have nothing to lose…promise me that and I shall give you the wisdom needed to rally the people...your words correct?" The prince asked as he folded the paper back into his pouch and smiled at the creature…
If the prince is successful, then he would be making both his wish and the wish of the god come true…
Authors Note: Chapter 3 will be rewritten due to continuity error. The chapter would be released along with the chapter next to this one at the same day-Thank you for the support.