'What on earth is going on here?' I thought.
"Tailed Lilith, how did you come to name this force Theós? Did someone inform you of its name before?" I quickly asked.
"No, no one informed me. This is a name that I and my previous master came up with. It seemed fitting," the tailed Lilith replied.
"What of the guardians, are you the one who let them know of its name?" I followed up with another question.
"Whenever we talked to the guardians, they seemed to know already to whom we were referring to when we mentioned Theós. We had even heard some of them use the same name in conversations," the tailed Lilith answered confidently.
"What about that saying about Theós' plan you keep mentioning? Is that something you made up as well?" I asked with an answer already in mind, but I awaited the tailed Lilith to speak anyway, just to be sure.
"Yes, my previous master and I came up with the saying after observing the futility of going against Theós' plans…it also seemed fitting. I have also heard an angel say the same thing before, but we said it so many times, in so many places. He probably just overheard us at some point. What are you getting at?" the tailed Lilith said impatiently.
'This cannot be a coincidence; how much control does this Theós have? I need to get through that gate. That is where I can truly find answers,' I thought.
"Too many coincidences lining up. Tell me, how far did Cain reach trying to get to the end of the narrow road?" I asked.
"It has been over 9,000 years, and he could only go up to forty-five steps the last time he tried. In the beginning, five steps was his limit, but we eventually found a way to get past that limit.
Each human is born with a lifespan that can change depending on certain decisions they make. If you were to influence these decisions and end up changing a fixed point in time, then that influence would lead to their death before their time. Their remaining lifespan would strengthen your soul and increase resistance to Theós' laws.
The more years you take from a human, your resistance to the light strengthens. Only this way will you have sufficient strength to go farther down the narrow path.
This may seem barbaric to the likes of you, but children are the best option to go after. However, most of them are protected by Theós from birth. That is, till they're old enough to understand the decisions that they make fully.
The years that you steal from these humans add to the number of shadows you can create and improve certain effects of your dark cloud as well. So, what do you plan on doing now?" the tailed Lilith said with expectations in her eyes, though still looking down on me with her tone.
"Isn't it obvious? I will get stronger and then get through that gate at the end of the narrow road. Anyone with irrefutable control over their self-interests cannot be allowed to live. Theós cannot be allowed to live, especially if he keeps enforcing his self-interests on me.
I didn't ask for any of this. I will find this Theós, end its reign, and then enforce my own philosophy on anything that breathes. No mere light will be able to stop me…not for long," I said to the tailed Lilith, then opened a gate in front of me using the dark cloud.
"Let's go. I know the perfect place to start," I said, then walked through the cloud.
"Yes, master!" the tailed Lilith said excitedly as she followed close behind.
Back on earth, and it was still nighttime. Music could be heard in the distance, accompanied by singing and shouting.
"Where are we?" she asked still trying to recall the familiar surroundings.
"This? It's New Orleans…I hope. In front of us should be the famous Club Rumors, one of New Orleans' most notorious night clubs," I said contemplating my next move as I noticed someone pass right through my body as though it were an actual cloud.
'No one can see me…, so that will be a problem,' I thought before asking…. "Is there a way I can interact with humans?"
"Yes, but it is not pleasant," she said.
"Whatever it takes, I need to be seen for this to work," I immediately replied without hesitation.
"Very well, listen carefully. That dark cloud surrounding you? Take it into your body then focus it on one area. This will allow your Reaper body to heal and revert to its human form. The area you choose will not heal like the rest of your body, so choose wisely.
Although you will look human, be sure to keep your presence to a minimum. You are still the Reaper, so the aura of death burns strong within you.
Theós disapproves of humans seeing you in your reaper form or your shadows. In your human form, you will not be able to use large amounts of your dark cloud unless you are ready to revert to your reaper form.
You should also know that concentrating the dark cloud on a single spot will amplify the pain. Thus, your other consciousness will not be able to handle it for too long. If you're not careful, the pain will overwhelm you, and the other consciousness will completely take over," the tailed Lilith said.
"That sounds like a chore, but I understand," I replied.
With a quick thought, I began to take the dark cloud into my body. The dark cloud rushed into me through my mouth and nostrils. The entire process lasted thirty seconds, but the burning pain made it feel longer. It felt like my insides were melting.
I then began to try to focus the cloud on a single area.
'The back seems like a convenient place to store the cloud,' I thought to myself as I began to focus the cloud within my body towards my back. The pain soon began to subside.
As the cloud began to gather on my back, right between my shoulder blades, I finally saw the flesh around my body begin to heal. I could see muscles begin to grow on my skeletal body, and layers of skin clothed them afterward.
Every part of my body looked precisely how it did before I became the Reaper, but it was much skinnier.
The area on my body, where the dark cloud was concentrated, looked like a corpse. My spine could slightly be seen through the decayed flesh. I could feel boils grow and burst continuously. Luckily, the pain was minuscule.
"Let's go inside," I said, walking forward, but suddenly, I was grabbed by the arm with a black, furry tail.
"What is it?" I asked, feeling impatient.
"You're a 7ft naked man. You're attracting too much attention," she said in criticism.
I looked down at myself and saw my old friend hanging between my legs. I smiled from ear to ear, satisfied with my appearance. I looked around and noticed people staring at me, some lustfully, but most with shock and disgust.
'Good, they can see me. Their night just became much better after seeing this view,' I smirked.
"Tailed Lilith, take me to the nearest haberdashery you know of," I commanded. "Yes, master, and stop that, it's just Lilith," she said, creating a dark cloud before us and allowing me to walk through first.
I walked through and appeared in front of a store with a glass door. On the door were a few words, but the bolded words "JEFF'S" stood out the most.
I then broke the glass door and heard a deafening alarm go off.
"How annoying," I said out loud as I walked inside, stepping on the broken glass now all around me. To my surprise, my feet were unharmed by the numerous pieces of glass that now decorated the entrance floor. The glass shattered beneath my feet as I browsed around the room for a suit my size. I suddenly realized it would be difficult to find my size as every cloth around the store looked miniature.
I then proceeded to decrease the size of my body, with great effort, to a height of 6'2". My body slowly shrunk, and muscles grew on my skinny body.
'The strain from this height can be managed,' I thought. I looked around again and saw a manikin of my size dressed in a black tuxedo.
"Perfect," I said out loud as I proceeded to undress the manikin. I swiftly put on the tuxedo and looked at myself in the mirror. I could once again see the white in my eyes and hair on the top of my head. I continued my gaze, going down, and saw a man in a dashing tuxedo.
'I look much older than before,' I thought to myself.
I turned to the tailed Lilith with arms spread out and said with a smirk, "Quite dashing, am I right?"
"Yes, master, quite dashing," the tailed Lilith replied respectfully. As I kept looking at myself I could hear sirens in the distance.
"Time to go, tailed Lilith. Back to the club," I said retreating my gaze from the mirror and turning my attention to the tailed Lilith.
"I keep telling you, it's just Lilith," she said as she opened a gateway with the dark cloud. I ignored what she said and walked through the gateway with the tailed Lilith following closely behind.
I then appeared again in front of Club Rumors alongside the tailed Lilith. I immediately noticed a man vomiting close by like his life depended on it. One of my shadows stood closely behind him. I then quickly observed the man's lifespan.
'Three years left, most likely to die from alcohol intoxication,' I thought to myself as I kept seeing different ways that the man could die.
I then approached the man. "Need some help there, buddy?" I said to him as I placed my hand on his back.
He then quickly pushed my hand away and said, "Fuck off mate…I'm a man… *GARP*...I can take care of myself," he tried to say in between vomiting.
"That's quite the arrogant self-image you got there," I said, stretching out my hand to grab him by the neck. I wanted him to choke on his vomit, but before my hand could reach the man's neck, it stopped midway. I was completely frozen.
'This feels exactly like when I was in the fiftieth step on the narrow path,' I thought to myself as I tried to resist the pressure.
"AAAHH!" I screamed out in pain, pressing my hands against the sides of my head.
It felt like I was having a migraine, but much more than that. It was like my entire existence was going against the universe itself.