33 Who am I? (1/2)
Just seeing the aesthetics of the throne we might expect the person sitting on it to be pretty darn eccentric.
To begin with, from Lazar's perspective one could see that the person in front of him was 'supposedly' a man of about 6.4 feet tall, while by its proportions, the throne was more suitable for a 50 feet tall giant.
What was most striking, however, wasn't the size of the throne. It was the armrests that both had a humanoid skull carved out of their ends, as well as the back of the throne, surrounded by what looked like the skeleton of a dragon watching over the throne.
”If you are wondering, this isn't a real dragon skeleton.” Lazar could finally match a face to his benefactor's voice, and obviously, this one didn't lost his carelessness.
Looking at him Lazar had the odd feeling he was facing an older and more imposing version of himself, their green eyes had the same glow and their facial features were quite similar although that of this man were more mature.
We could think that they were father and son, putting aside a few differences. Indeed, their builds were totally different, Lazar had nothing to do with this colossus who looked like an italian mafioso with his hair pulled back.
He would be perfect in this role if he was wearing an overpriced three-piece Versace suit instead of a full armor made in an unidentifiable black leather whose design reminded Lazar of the light armors worn by assassins during medieval times.
”In some mythologies, the largest dragons are described as being able to surround a world. I knew it wasn't one, but if that can rassure you, I thought you were egocentric enough to be able to make a throne out of a real dragon skeleton.” Said Lazar.
The man chuckled, ”My aspiration to show off is less important than the one to have a practical throne. However, this sculpture of a dragon skeleton has a real symbolism since this throne was made entirely from a dragon's claw that I myself tore from its owner.”
Remembering the bizarre flow of time in this dimension and his unpleasant experience waking up in Charlotte, Lazar decided that they had wasted enough time in small talk, ”Okay, we don't care, I have some questions for you.”
”That's rude, I haven't even told you about the rest of the fight yet... but okay if you want we can talk about the important things. However, there's only one question you need an answer right now and that's 'who am I?'” The man replied.
Lazar wasted no time complaining, especially since the answer to that question could really answer many of the others in the end, ”Okay, so that's what the bible was for.”
The man kept his lazy posture as he scrolled through the pages of the bible at high speed, ”I'm not a biblical entity, but only in the bible there is mention of me and my comrades. There is 80% of bullshit in what I'm going to read, but at least that will make you understand.”
He took his eyes off the line he was reading for a moment and a smirk of satisfaction was plastered on his face when he saw Lazar's impassive expression fade away, 'It only took a few words for him to understand.'
He lower his eyes and resumed his reading, ”He who rode him had a bow, a crown was given to him and he went out in conqueror to achieve victory. Another horse, fiery red, appeared, he who rode it was given the power to take away the peace of the earth so that men might kill each other, and a great sword was given to him. I looked and saw a black horse appear, the one who rode it held a scale in his hand. I looked and saw a greenish horse, his rider was called ”Death,” and Hell was following him. They were given power over a quarter of the earth to kill humans by the sword, by famine, by pestilence, and by the wild beasts of the earth.”
”Like I told you, a lot of bullshit.” He closed the bible and threw it in the fog of darkness at his right, ”By now you should have all the elements to answer, so, who am I and by extension, who are you?”
According to Lazar's reasoning he had already found the answer but it seemed implausible to him. Because that would be like saying that the person in front of him was... ”Death.”
”If you had only relied on the description you would have confused me with the third horseman of the Apocalypse whose real name is 'Disease' by the way, since the color black is associated here with him. Instead you relied on the nature of the energy you felt in you, the most pure form of deadly energy, my energy. Well done and indeed, I'm the last horseman of the Apocalypse as well as their leader, Death.”
So that was it, ”And, what's next?” Asked Lazar, when Death itself has its eye on you, it's hard not to wonder what its motives are.
Death's face stiffened and he stared at Lazar with a look far more serious than before as he patted his cheek with his index finger, ”Sigh... Do whatever you want, I know I don't need to hold your dick so you can piss straight.”
Lazar didn't take note of the remark, ”I find it hard to believe that there is no counterpart for the power you gave me.” He said warily.
”Entities have different expectations of their heirs, so they don't have the same selection criteria. Many have chosen people with great potential but malleable spirits so that they can be used as pawns. For my part, I chose you because I know that you are the best person to lead the next generation of our faction. I'm not going to interfere in your judgment, all I'm going to do is give you an advice.”
Lazar couldn't draw any conclusions from what Death was saying as its motives remained obscure so he gave it the benefit of the doubt, ”Go ahead tell me quickly and then send me back.”
”Well, ah ah, that'll make you laugh...” The embarrassment on Death's face wasn't announcing anything funny, ”Let's say a lot of Gods and other entities don't like me a lot, so don't be surprised if a lot of people try to kill you.”