The sky had darkened from the clouds as if nightfall had befallen them.
The lightning, while loud, was one of the few things illuminating the skies and the streets.
It was as if everything had happened at once.
As the lightning struck with Mori's step, a heavy downpour fell at once, soaking everything that dared to be outside.
He could still feel Aura's nails in his skin, yet he barely felt the pain.
"What..."
Mori was hyperconscious, his eyes darting left and right with a sense of impending doom, studying every inch of every detail he could've missed.
He took his cloak off, letting it drop to the ground, as he started walking forward.
"No..."
It felt as if time had slowed down, the water droplets around him falling slowly, yet he couldn't feel them touching him.
The chatter from people hiding from the rain was all muted muttering. People pointed at him, but he barely saw them.
His heartbeat grew in intensity at every step, until it felt like it stopped beating.
He couldn't hear anything anymore. He couldn't feel anything anymore. It felt as if he was holding his breath underwater.
He looked to his right toward the alleyway the guards had entered.
They emptied the bags they carried there, under the rain.
The first thing he saw was a single arm.
It was frail, and skinny, with delicate fingers. The whole body quickly followed, heavily hitting against the cold stone.
Ah, that face.
It looked like it was smiling, at peace. The eyes like an empty window to a soulless body staring at the sky.
The other bag was roughly emptied, another body hitting the cold ground in the alleyway.
Between its eyes, he could see a curse he had put there himself.
Mori walked toward them. He couldn't even hear the guards.
He crouched next to the siblings, caressing their faces.
Maya's naked body was laying there, her neck twisted.
Her kneecaps had been broken, her legs bending forward, yet her lips still had a slight smile on them.
"A-"
Mori's voice cracked, the words scorching his throat as he got them out.
"A- Are you... smiling at me?"
He caressed her cheek; she was staring right through him.
"Here," he said.
He extended his arm toward Torryn, his eyes had been gouged out.
"You don't want that curse, anymore, do you?"
He gently touched the mark, removing it.
The two guards behind him were talking, but he paid no attention to them.
One of them walked toward him, firmly holding his shoulder, trying to turn him around.
He tried moving Mori, but he didn't budge.
"Hey, kid," said the guard.
Mori leaned forward, kissing each sibling's forehead.
"Hey!... What?"
Aura had taken the wrist that held onto Mori, twisting it and pulling the guard back.
She violently yanked him to the ground, her nails pierced the guard's skull as she sat on him.
She pulled his head to the side as she tightly bit his neck. She pulled out half his throat, blood splattered everywhere as the guard's spasms slowly stopped.
The other guard put his hand on his sword.
Without looking back Mori sent one of his chains flying toward the man, piercing through his mouth and nailing the guard to the wall.
Mori carefully closed the sibling's eyes.
"Lilae."
Lilae appeared, slowly descending through the narrow alleyway.
"Take them," said Mori.
"Sure."
Lilae's expression didn't have its usual smile and nonchalant look. She crouched next to Mori, carefully taking the siblings in her arms.
"Tell your order to evacuate demonkind. Nobody inside the city."
Lilae nodded and pointed a finger up.
From her finger, a line was traced, making its way high in the sky. The tip exploded, revealing a red heart through the dark sky.
Mori turned around and exited the alleyway.
As he reached the middle of the main street, wind had considerably picked up.
His chains were flailing in the wind, his hair whipping around his face.
Chairs that had been left outside were pushed around while anything lighter was taken to the skies.
He raised both arms, the people inside the establishments eagerly looking outside at the only person who was braving the weather.
Because of the heavy winds and thunder, nobody could hear him, the winds stealing the words he spoke away.
As he kept talking, more people rushed to the windows, looking up.
A giant broken sword had cut through the clouds, pointing toward the ground.
It was so large that most couldn't see properly without going outside to look at it.
It was as large as the whole city, standing still through the dark clouds, lightning shining upon it.
Mori's voice resonated through everyone's mind, all who stood in Dustriver.
"You self-crowned kings. Sitting on your thrones built on the back of their corpses. If you want to be Kings this bad, I'll let you.
You rule over others and fail to realize you have a sword hanging by a single hair strand over your head.
You rule over others and fail to remember you too, must die.
I'll be your Memento Mori."
A loud and heavy rumble made it through the wind.
Every step it took, the ground shook. The titan that had been left outside was slowly making its way toward Mori, causing chaos on its way there.
People started running out of the establishments around, quickly crowding the main street as they looked for the fastest way to leave. Most oblivious to Mori being there.
His chains were totally undone, and his body was deformed.
He wasn't trying to keep anything in anymore, rather; he was pushing everything out.
He walked forward, slashing and piercing anyone he could see, blood spiraling in the sky, showering everyone unlucky to be around.
As he walked, a trail of corpses was left behind him, while hexes crawled out toward them, entering the mutilated bodies.
He couldn't hear it at first, but eventually he did. Through the heavy winds, someone's voice made it to him.
He turned around.
Jeff was standing there, his armor shining as bright as his sword, in a golden hue, accompanied by guards standing behind him.