"C-cold" said a voice " s-so cold." The voice repeated again, " so so cold" it repeat once more amid the shuffling of tattered cloth. The owner of the voice, a woman, kneeled on her bedside and put her hands together; almost as if to pray. She sighed "just what am I doing?" she sighed once more ", is this what they call regret at deaths door." She chuckled only for her laughter to turn into a violent fit of coughs. 

She breathed heavily; a metallic tang fresh on her tongue . She looked down at her hands which had shifted to cover her mouth. Red. That is what stained her calloused hands. Blood she thought it seems my time is coming to an end. I estimate a week at most … no that would be under normal circumstances. I have a day ,maybe two and even that is a stretch. 

 She clasped her hands once more; not bothering to wipe the blood from her hands. "if … if there truly is a god like those fanatics of the temple say, then …" she sighed what am I doing "then, please I beg of you , listen to the final wish of this lowly mortal" as she spoke the shadows lurched, shifting, gathering; with her at it's center. 

"I beseech you, Those bastards, the ones who did this to me, the ones who lied to me. Manipulated me and took my children away from me. Those bastards who, after I was penniless and destitute, sought to end my existence and threw me in this frozen fortress of iron and stone. End their lowly lives." 

She sighed once more "never mind what I just asked you. if you truly do exist you probably would not do something like that. So instead, I ask you make them pay for their sins and their slander; exact your divine judgment on the souls of those filthy sinners" upon muttering the lay word of her final wishes she once more erupted into a fit of coughs. Blood spewed from her lips dying the stone floors and wooden bed a deep crimson. No! I thought I had more time than this "ha-hahahahahaha" she laughed as she her own blood dripped down her lips as though it were wine within a broken bottle "this is how I meet my end. Alone and in the depths of this fortress of ice and stone…l she looked down blood still flowing from her lips" how pitiful" she muttered"

"Do you want revenge?" Echoed a voice. One she hadn't heard before 

"Who's there?!" She said loud enough to audibly hear the strain in her voice. Then came a clang from the bars . She flinched and turned around, facing the bars.

"Shut up, filthy wench," the warden yelled from his post" it's cold enough and I don't need your whining, just shut up and die in quiet like the pest you are." He turned and sat back down in the stool he had been occupying

"Do you want revenge~?" Repeated the voice once again this time she looked around ;yet nothing and no one was there. Only herself, her blood and the warden outside of her cell

"Revenge? … I do. I want revenge. Revenge on those who betrayed me"

"What are you going about! Have you finally gone mad?" the warden spat, losing his temper to the bone chilling cold.

"Do you want power~?"

"Power?" She asked curiously " ha- what a joke what power could I, the fallen daughter of carmine, have." She considered it more carefully " but… power … power to protect those whom I cherish and end those who seek to harm them, that is the power I want."

"My my my, how noble." Spoke the voice, "hmm~… very well." it spoke again, a breath of warm air passing her as it did. She turned with haste in its direction yet nothing was there " I shall grant your wish." Decreed the disembodied voice

Her breath hitched. A lump formed in her throat "a god?" She asked her curiosity peaked

"A god" the voice cut off her train of thought "Ha,now that is truly funny my lady."

Her face flushed a pale pink in her now pale cheeks" no need to make fun of a dying woman for asking"

The voice erupted in laughter, its volume greater than before

"W-why are you laughing?" She managed, her breathing becoming more laboured

"No reason" the voice replied, its tone calm, collected when it had been in a voracious fit of laughter moments ago " its only that you are severely mistaken about my… being. Is that the right word?"

"Yes. I suppose it is" it replied answering its own question "I am no god, nor saint, I bear no divinity nor am I restrained by your mortal bounds. I have been called many things over the millennia: divine beast, herald of light, heretic, blasphemer, devil, forsaken sinner. But all these names are false, ridden with humanity's desire to fear the unknown"

      " I have witnessed the rise and fall of nations, temples and even gods who crown themselves with the blind faith and adoration of the mindless masses they control. I have seen countless beings die due to the actions unknowingly placed upon them by serpentine schemers who linger in the shadows; and-" the voice hesitated "and … I have seen others discriminated, abused and pushed to the brink of death for the ones they loved." remorse, guilt, longing all lingered heavy in the air as it recounted it's memories of an age long passed. " I am no god, nor am I a lowly mortal, and yet I am not a demon either. So to answer your question, I suppose I am something of an archivist of sorts."

"An archivist?" Each word felt like fire in her throat

"Yes. An observer. A witness of life. I am the one who live between the stars, and the sky."