Alexander's fingers hovered over the word Redemption, the golden glow illuminating his finger tips as the steadily approached the screen. At the last moment however, those fingers curled into his hand and a fist smashed the shimmering window, shattering it into motes of light. He breathed hard as his eyes stared at the shattered screen, his fist out stretched still before he looked around, shadows cloaked the room around him like a heavy shawl, much of the room was choked with this invasive darkness.
A low growl erupted from his throat as he clawed at the air where the former window had been, his fingers sinking into the darkness itself as if it were a tangible thing. The shadows deformed in his grip as he tore at them, at the illusion of his bed chamber, pulling himself from his frenzied stupor. He stood upon a floating platform, skeletons draped across its surface, jaws wide in silent screams, each with an arm extending out as if to touch something, a single finger each pointing in a single direction that drew Alexander's gaze.
There, seated upon a throne of bone was a shrouded figure, were it not for some very prominent features telling him otherwise he might have mistaken the occupant for his bastard watcher Death. This figure looked much the same, dark shroud, pale albino skin, cold emotionless milky eyes. However unlike his tormentor this one had a rather well endowed chest that parted the shroud down her chest in an almost lewd fashion. This female Death sat watching him, pale white legs crossed as a goblet of thick blood red wine was cradled in a lazy hand.
As he stared at her, she stared back at him, her full pale lips lifted in a mocking sneer, "Fascinating."
Alexander breathed in and out slowly, his body rising and falling with each heavy breath at he stared at this woman, for a brief moment he almost screamed in rage at her, for that brief moment as his eyes locked on hers he felt like yelling and cursing at her. Though that moment passed. Slowly he collected himself standing straight before this watcher, "And who are you suppose to be?"
The pale brow of the womans face lifted in surprise, her milky white eyes narrowing as if in deep contemplation of a complex problem before her. She gazed into Alexander's face, "Truly fascinating. Do you truly not know whom I am?"
Alexander continued to stare into her dispassionate gaze, the brief shake of his head was not a confirmation of not knowing but rather a denial of the truth that sat before him. His eyes stared unblinking at this pale figure, unwilling to blink and risk giving this entity any lee way to beguile his senses again. If it had not been for a brief moment of clarity that hauled his clouded mind from the thick fog of its nightmare he may well have become one of the skeletons on his platform, slain in the moment he chose to forsake his path.
Regulating his breathing he calmed down, "You are Death, but at the same time not Death, not my Death at any rate. You are her Death, here to grant her dying wish."
The goblet slipped from pale fingers, hovering in the air as the woman gave a soft clap of her hands, mirth for the first time reaching her cold eyes as she stared him down. Alexander could feel wetness on his cheeks, unwillingly a tear had escaped the corners of his eyes. The fact that a female Death had tried to lure him to forsake his path had initially caught him off guard, if nothing else, he would have thought that his own Death was trying to screw with his perception, but then he recalled where he was.
He was still dreaming, or more precise, his body was still dreaming while this entity had called upon his soul. The only reason for that to be true was that Thersea had reached the gate as he had. A hero standing before the cycle would naturally be granted a last request by Death. Tearing his eyes from the cold visage of the female Death his eyes fell upon a spot beside that throne of bone as he shook his head, "I should never have let you leave my side."
The air shifted, a spectral flame bobbed beside the throne, in the pale fire a young woman of some sixteen summers looked tearfully at Alexander. Thersea's eyes were aggrieved, tears poured down her ghostly cheeks as she wept silently into translucent hands. The female Death reached to the side, her slender fingers stroking through the spiritual flame, caressing the ghostly hair of Thersea tenderly, "She wishes to be with you, redeem yourself and be reborn anew young Alexander Caven, live out a new life as true loves."
Alexander let out a shaky breath as he smiled sadly at the visage of his childhood rival and first true love. Death's offer wasn't such a bad one, he could be with her, he just had to be willing to walk into the cycle with her. Closing his eyes for a moment the window again flashed into existence before him, the only word on it, Redemption, blazing like a miniature sun in the darkness. When he opened his eyes again he could see the waiting room, the line of souls stretching back into infinity, the three of them stood at front of the line.
Death frowned, "This is for the best young Alexander Caven. Be reborn with her, show your love and devotion to her and give up your existence of sin, this moment I grant you absolution, your sins and greed wiped clean. Be reborn a better person young Alexander Caven."
Alexander gave a strange smile, his tears drying on his face as his hardened eyes locked on this female Death. Striding forward his body tore through the blazing light of the Redemption, his very existence this time shattering the window in an explosion that made the female Death recoil. In that brief window of weakness he reached out to grab the spectral arm of Thersea, the ghostly flames licking at his arm, charring the skin as he pulled the spiritual fire of Thersea's soul from beside Death's chair, yanking her away from the cycle.
Alexander sneered at this Death, ignoring the spiritual flame that was reducing his hand to charred bones, his eyes cold and hard, "My name, is Alex Maybell. My path is mine alone to choose and I shall not give her up. DEATH! We're leaving." Turning he pulled the soul with him as he turned his back on the female Death, his own appearing with a grin behind him, shrouding his departing back from the angry, vindictive gaze of the female Death.
"Young Alex Maybell is my charge still, it is not your turn to interfere my sister."
Leaving Death in confrontation with itself, Alexander opened his eyes. Laying in his bed he stared at the ceiling, his breathing irregular as thoughts whirled in his mind. Glancing to the side as if to verify the truth he saw the remains of his right arm. Gone was its flesh, mere bones clutching a fiery gem that struggled against boney fingers to escape his grip, to return to the path it belonged on. Strangely enough, despite lacking flesh and muscle his arm didn't hurt, in fact the exposed bones could still feel the heat of Thersea's soul burning in its grasp.
Sitting up he padded across the room to his door throwing it open to look into the core, Jansea jumped like a child caught doing something it should not have. The succubi's dark eyes looked remorseful at Alexander's emotionless face before glancing back to the core. The crystal typically stood translucent behind his throne, but this moment a figure could be seen frozen inside its depths. The body of Thersea laid frozen where once the demoness herself had been.
"I'm sorry Master, the fairy returned a few hours ago with her body, apparently she had been hunted down outside the capital and slain. Still, it returned her body before the assassins could damage her remains over much, so as it wouldn't rot I was going to keep it in my old prison until you awoke." Jansea spilled out her report quickly to explain what had happened, the look in her Master's eyes this moment scared her, a demon so far above him in power still fell the icy touch of death at her throat were she to anger him at this moment.
Jansea watched as the half dressed young man strode across the bridge to the core island staring into the core at Thersea's body, her torn bodice revealed one of her breasts and the bloody wound that had likely pierced her lung. Alexander looked into her pain filled face, the sadness etched into her cold dead eyes, that look that screamed she had died before completing what she truly wished. Frowning to himself he lifted his hand, and Jansea gasped for the first time realizing the state his arm was in.
Those skeletal fingers pushed into the core, the gruesome digits were as if reaching for that bared breast, but instead it pushed a fiery gem against the wound, spectral flames licked at the ragged hole in her chest before Alexander withdrew his arm. Those skeletal fingers working slowly as he recalled the tactile feeling of his finger bones against the cold dead flesh of his womans chest. Looking to Jansea his eyes hardened, "Who did this?"
Jansea looked at her Master and nearly moaned, as a succubus it was natural for her to over sexualize everything she did, especially to tempt a mortal like her Master. She, up to this point had treated it as a bit of a game since he was smart enough to realize that just being her Master would not save him from what she was. But this was different. The skeletalized arm, that seething look of barely repressed rage in his eyes truly turned her on. THIS is what her Master should have been like from the start!
Purring softly she knelt, "My Master, the fairy could not tell one human from another but it did note one of the attackers wore armor much like that worn by the Knights League."
Alexander nodded flexing his boney hand. Without muscle or tendon it still responded to his will, turning he walked back towards his bed chamber. "The keep?"
Jansea rose and followed in his wake eying his back, she truly wondered what was going on before halting her steps. While normally he could not be seen, his presence was enough to urge her to back off but now before her dark eyes she watched her Master stride past the host of their path with indifference. Deaths pale gaze staring at Alexander as the young man hauled on his clothes before buying a pair of thick gloves to cover his unnatural hand.
Jansea watched this and swallowed slowly, her Master looked to Death and spoke quietly, asking their patron something. Death appeared to answer which made her Master nod and clench his fists. Walking back past the spectral figure who once more retreated from her sight, she turned her attention to her Master, "Um... yes... the keep is mostly repaired. Winter ended and we were forced to slow reconstruction. The dark dwarves now work under the cover of night and it is half way ready for you Master."
Alexander nodded as he swept over to his throne settling back as if all was normal, his head turned slightly, glancing back to the core and the woman frozen in its heart, "I will never let you go again Thersea." Turning his attention from the body he began opening windows and distributing orders, his earlier reservations were gone, survival was no longer just enough. Being with his love was not just enough. The Knights League had crossed his bottom line and for that he would truly introduce them to his Path...