Death saw the turmoil rising within him and thought of a quick way to distract his mind. Remembering her son, Nuis, she waved her hand and a black obsidian mirror appeared on the wall next to the bed. It was a rift in existence, having the power to give images of events transpiring beyond the plane.
The area around it billowed with misty wisps of black smoke that mirrored Death's veil. The surface was clean and polished like the surface of glass but it was anything but that.
" I have someone to show you." Death said, drawing his attention and he looked at the obsidian looking glass.
With a wave of her hand and a bit of power, the surface of the mirror changed to show an image. A small boy, skinny to state of concern and with blonde hair like a dying sunflower sat alone in a dark cave. His eyes were bright and burned like fire and around him could be seen candles, all incased in the cave walls. Even from this celestial distance, the light of the candles and darkness of the cave held full sway in the mirror.
" Nuis," Death said and the boy stood up eagerly.
His face was thin and close to bony, like a corpse from the plague. His eyes light up brighter when he looked at his mother and a smile, with sharp teeth, was on his face. Then he noticed the person next to his mother and he felt excitement bubble up inside him.
" Mother, is he...? " He didn't dare finish the question without his mother's confirmation.
" Yes, son. This is him." Death signaled the red haired teenager to come next to the mirror." He has just woken up and is- "
" I am so happy to meet you Elder. Mother has told me many things about you. " Nuis shouted in excitement and Death gave a small sigh but her visage held a small smile.
" Oh, I hope it was good things little light. " The teenager said," I feel I am not as amazing as you must believe though. "
" Mother said you are the most incredible and most powerful person ever. She says that you were so strong that the Cre- "
" Enough Nuis, don't bombarded him with too many questions. " Death said and Nuis shut his mouth and nodded his head.
" Secrets, secrets, there are now secrets." The teenager said looking down at the floor," Things I'm not supposed to know, things I'm not supposed to do. Why?"
" I can't answer that." Death said moving away, the mirror disappeared, and the green eyes glowed hot green.
" Won't you at least let me touch you Mother!? I seek solace, please. Eons upon eons of wandering the fabric as a seamless thread and now, I am here, and you do not even give me a hug or say my name."
The teenager sighed heavily and the flower outside lost a petal. Death gazed at the person before her, seeing beyond the mortal coil that held his spirit. She had wanted to see him so badly, but now, things were not going as she had planned. She had not expected this level of longing, but she understood it. Her own yearning to touch him was strong but she knew that would be a mistake. So she gave one gesture of care and called him by his name.
" Liv." She said softly and the teenager looked at her with wide eyes that made her want to chuckle but she didn't.
" My name...I am Liv." He said with a smile on his face and his eyes illuminated to a warm green, like herbal tea." You said my name at last."
" Well I was the one who gave it to you. You're Mother wanted to call you Change, or Chan for short, but I completely turned that down."
" Thank you Mother." Liv moved fast, too fast for even Death to comprehend and before she what had happened, his arms were around her and he was giving her a warm embrace. Liv was faster by far and she had not anticipated his joy to be so great that he'd hug her.
That's when it happened.
As his arms, filled with his green energy came into contact with her, the aura of death around her seeped into his mind . It was like the breath of the dead was breathing into his soul and images, thoughts and feelings of the dying went into him. Like poison laced with miasma, they flowed through his veins and into his soul.
He felt everything Death felt in that instant. From the dying old man on his death bed, to the wail of the mother holding her baby's corpse. It was an intrusion into the dark pain of grief that consumed the world and it was brutal. All the sorrow, grief and deaths that existed in this world and the next filled him up to the brim.
Death pushed him away as fast as she could and put a distance between them. Liv looked at her in shock and his eyes resonated with the feelings of the souls and beings he had linked with. Even without being in contact her, he could still feel it; Cries of pain, wails of grief and the...finality.
The finality of death and it's overturn over life seeped deep into him, right down to the green flame burning in his soul. Then like a toxin, it burned and engulfed the flame, making it darker and darker until it was like the color of eternal poison.
Death watched in horror as Liv's eyes changed to something she had not seen in eons. Liv's eyes, once bright like a nebula with a burning super nova, shifted to a darker more grim hue. It was as if a darkness, blacker than ink, had enveloped the nebula and snuffed the nova to a small flame. Liv's pupils turned to purest black, the light erased to a darkness far surpassing midnight.
" Liv, fight it. Fight HIM." Death said grimly but she didn't move closer to him. The air around Liv had changed and shifted, before it promised a chance at life and even the wooden objects around the room had been forming roots and leaves, but now the air held a vow of death that was unending and the organic matter began to crumble. When she saw this, Death turned to the humans and snapped her fingers, enveloping them in a darkness made of strong strings forming a cover over them.
Her feet left the ground and she hovered over the floor like an ethereal spirit as her eyes stayed glued on Liv. From the rising glow and dimming in his eyes , it was clear that he had heard her and was fighting but the darkness was winning and Death knew it.
Outside the room and hotel, the atmosphere had turned for the worst. The zombies that had been enveloped by the green energy began to crumble, bones breaking slowly and snapping loudly. They seemed to be on the verge of decay but it was at a much faster rate, their skin was already disintegrating to pieces and the to dust. They'd be nothing left of them in a few minutes and although this was bad, beyond the hotel walls was a far more horrific sight to behold.
The white flower felt the shift in energy and it shriveled in less than three seconds, turning to dust in an instant. But this was not the horror to be seen. Instead it was the sky that was the source of a sight so unbelievably terrifying the few humans who saw it, survivors and guards by the safezone wall, stood frozen and looked at it with mouths agape.
The sky had been sunny when Lesley came to the hotel but when Liv awoke, a swarm of rain clouds had formed around the area and it seemed to be a miracle. The rain season had not yet started but there they were, rain clouds. Survivors jumped for joy and others thanked the gods for their mercy. Liv did not do it intentionally but his energy just brought elements of revival towards him, hence the rain clouds in almost barren city.
Now however, as the darkness consumed his soul, the clouds thundered and roared but not with a natural thunder. Faces appeared in the clouds, ghoulish specters and apparitions, wailing and screaming in pain and suffering. Their eyes and mouths were dark grey holes that opened into the heart of the abysss. The screaming was loud, and could be heard for miles, across the whole city of Grenhit. It was like looking into hell for those who were near the place, gazing at the tortured souls of purgatory itself.
Some people ran and hid, praying for protection, which merged with the wailing of the souls above. The guards at the wall reported what they were seeing but they themselves could not believe it. The sky was a mess of pain and grief in the ethereal plane, showing the ghoulish specters of beings feeling an agony that humans could never understand. Their screams grated on the nerves and made the air blow with a bitter and salty taste, one that burned the nose with each breath.
The pain in the wind was palpable and made one feel like they were hearing curses and cries of pain and vows of revenge. It filtered into the minds and some people felt like it was in their thoughts and they collapsed where they stood. Their eyes became blank and all they heard was the screaming and wailing souls.
Death felt what was happening and realized she needed to act, Liv was clearly losing and the result of his loss would bring something even she feared. Her hand moved and an object appeared between her fingers. It was a necklace, one befitting the goddess of beauty in mythology. The band was made of transparent white and rainbow crystals, each one shaped like a swirl of coral in a small loop. The colors shined with light equal to diamonds but that was not the most beautiful part of it. On the center, was a round crystal of white, transparent like glass, with a luster that made a jewel look like a common rock. A small green flame moved from her veil and rushed into the crystal, being absorbed into it. Then the necklace started to shine and she held it out towards Liv.
He was holding his head and moaning, as if suffering a severe headache, but the world outside said it was anything but that. Death moved towards him, her eyes resolute but inside was a deep sadness. She knew she was doing the right thing but that didn't make it any less painful.
" I'm sorry Liv, my pure child. " She said as she reached him and he quieted down as if listening to her, " I wanted to see you so much and to let you see your Younger. Your Mother should have been here too but she isn't. I will tell her you still are. Goodbye Liv."
She lowered her hands and the necklace glowed like a small torch as it neared Liv. It was a mystical tool created a long time ago for this very purpose and Death had taken the precaution to have it with her. She had had to tell herself it was for the greater good.
A hand reached out and grabbed her bony wrist in a light grip but it held the strength to restrain her. Death looked down in shock and then Liv lifted his eyes to hers. Except it was not Liv anymore.
The entity that had woken up in Lesley's body had seemed kind and thoughtful, with an air of calm and hope around him. He seemed like the embodiment of promise and future potential, his eyes held that in abundance. But the eyes Death looked at held no kindness, promise of potential or hope. They were darkness incarnate, vessels of the bottom of the abyss and the windows to the eternal end. The face of the handsome teenager had a slack look as if it was the gaze of a zombie or an ice cold deity.
" Lich. " Death said the name with a mixture of dread, hatred and horror.
" You." The teenager, Lich now, said in a voice that was by far too deep for his age and race. It was strong and with a heavy baritone, like a Prime Minister's linguistics teacher.
" You have no right being here. Begone." She said and her veil rose to form a large shadow of darkness but it was nothing compared to the darkness of doom in the eyes of the being infront of her.
" You. are. a joke. to me." Lich said and a billowing flame rose on his body, consuming him in a blanket of mystical fire. The flames were darker than Death's own flame and she gritted her teeth when the heat burned her. She could not take more of this, she had to use the necklace immediately.
" Seal! " She said and threw it with her free hand. Like a leech that had found blood, it rushed into the flames and tied itself around his neck like a collar.
The Lich's flames receded as he started screaming, his hangs holding the necklace, which seemed to be tightening around his throat like a choking device. His fingers held it from encompassing his neck and he gritted his teeth as he strained against it. What made it stranger was the fact that he couldn't take it off, even though his strength surpassed Death's. The necklace had tasted his flames before and knew how to deal with his power, meaning it was only a matter of time.
Unfortunately Death did not have time.
The room around them was decaying bit by bit, the organic furniture had already crumbled to dust. The plaster was peeling off like the burnt skin of an old woman on a sunny beach and the fabric of the blankets and sheets was turning to strings and then melting away. From the corner of her eye, she could see that her shield on the humans was also being dissolved and at this rate, they'd be exposed to his aura and turned to dust.
She had no choice. Her eyes glowed a mystical green and green flames rose from her black veil like a star emerging from a black pit. She raised her hands and forced it to her will and then she blasted it on the necklace on Lich's neck.
It did not burn the entity but increased the power of the necklace and it tightened up harder and Death felt relieved. But her relief was short lived as she saw that Lich was looking at her, or more specifically, the green flames on her.
His face , once contorting in pain as he faught the necklace now put on a sinister grin of greed and joy. That's how Death realized she had made a mistake. What happened next only engraved that into her mind.
Lich let go of the necklace and it moved to tighten around his neck but the dark entity now paid it no heed. He waved his hands in a half arc and a powerful wave swirled around Death. She felt her power being tapped into and the green flames around her seemed to rebel from her control. They rushed out and entered Lich's hands, flowing into his veins and soul. He started laughing, a cackle that would have made Liam faint if he'd heard it.
Death felt herself losing the power of the flames but she didn't care, not now when things were becoming so dire. She used what she had left to empower the necklace and seal him. The necklace was now as bright as a star, illuminating the whole room to a level too severe for human eyes. The battle between two immortals was bad enough but the light could melt the retina to goo.
" I won't go back." Lich said , his eyes aflame with a look of supremacy," You can not make me. I will not let you. I WILL NOT LET YOU MAKE ME BACK! "
A powerful blast of energy pulsed from his body and it rippled around them , spreading like the effects of an exploding sun. It blew up the walls around them and exposed them to the world outside and the wailing screams of the souls and wind. Lich felt the necklace engrave itself on his neck and his self began to fade away, but he didn't care. He held his grin as his eyes shut and his body collapsed.
Death, who had been knocked back by the blast of power quickly roused herself and looked around. The humans were still secure and Lesley lay unconscious on the floor. The four walls had been reduced to rubble under Lich's power and looking outside she saw his wave of energy still going into the unknown of existence. She got up to her feet and walked to the ledge of the building, looking out into the horizon.
" What have I done? " She asked and the only answer was the wailing and screams from above, and it was as if they were no longer cries of suffering but of promised doom.