Chapter 304 - Deaths Challenge (2/2)
”CONTROLLED.”
”BUT...”
”But...”
”We kept us.”
”Our ego.”
”Our Identity.”
”From before.”
”And when the time came.”
”We fled... the darkness.”
”Following life.”
”Following light.”
”We came here.”
”We found them.”
”Hatred, like ours.”
”A dėsɨrė for revenge.”
”Carnage.”
”We came to them.”
”But we were still us.”
”And it... hurt them.”
”Yet we wish to live.”
”But their lives are not strong enough.”
”But you gave them life.”
”And gave us life.”
The voices continued. There was a slight difference in pitches, so slight it was like the difference between a whisper and the wind. But Laz heard it.
Four voices.
Within the black world, a sudden like shown, driving away the darkness, replacing the emptiness in a glorious burst of white, covering everything.
The pitch black world was now a stark white. Except for being able to make out the four black blobs floating a ways away from him, everything looked empty, just white instead of darkness.
Feeling something, Laz looked up, only to see a weird orb floating above his head with rings of ruins circling around it. Looking closely, Laz noticed a small drop of gold in the middle.
Suddenly, without warning, images came into Laz's head. Images of great beasts who rules over vast kingdoms of mountains, seas, forests and sky. Laz saw them fight battle after battle with one another, over and over, throughout eons of times on a plant that was infinity larger than Laz could imagine.
A massive turtle.
A gigantic tiger.
A giant bird.
And a huge dragon.
These four beasts knew nothing except their planet until suddenly the triple suns which illiminated the land sudden fell dark.
The great beasts, sensing this change, called forth for all of their troops to retreat back into their own lands and for a fleeting moment in the history of their great conflict, the unending war ceased.
But when the darkness came, another war began.
These ghoulish creatures of the dark, formless beings of terror and destruction waged war across the lands. While their troops fought upon the ground, the great beasts took to the skies to defend their homes.
But alone, without any help from the rest of the universe, the creatures fell and the world was covered, corroded, until all life ceased.
The beasts, devoured by the darkness, felt their bodies change within the lifeless world.
The great turtle's mouth grew and grew until it took up half it's body, it's glorious shell broke and it couldn't fight the urge to feed on everything in sight.
The massive bird whose body was made up of flames that gave light and warmth suddenly turned green as the flames disappeared. From within the flames came a putrid and rancid liquid that covered the bird, solidified and turned it's skin into a disease ridden nightmare.
The proud tiger whose white coat and black stripes once shimmered within the two moons light suddenly ripped apart as it's bones extended outward and grew, covering it's skinless carcass in a pale, white armor.
And finally, alone, the great dragon's body exploded, meat chunks flying everywhere until only a skeleton was left. It's claws had disappeared as well, all except for one claw that became crooked and blackened, until it resembled a scythe.
And when it was over, they were left to be tormented in their bodies of waste as they decayed, until they were summoned.
The four monstrosities then shrunk, becoming smaller and weaker until even their bodies disappeared within the darkness.
Although they had almost gone crazy from the pain, the four of them were able to keep the bȧrėst semblance of hope... as they were still together.
The vision finally faded away, leaving Laz panting, grasping for air. It was a while before he could look up, look at the four shadows still hovering around him and finally understanding just what the origin of these ”four horsemen” actually were.
The strange orb above Laz's head vanished as though it had never been there.
”I see you. All of you. What you once were. What you could still be...” Laz said, fighting to get the words out.
The four blobs then became solid and Laz could see them. They were now human sized versions of their final, broken forms;
The turtle who became famine;
The bird who became pestilence;
The tiger who became war;
The dragon who became death.
They stood there looking at Laz.
”You...” Death said.
”I can't promise to restore you. But I can help you stay alive. I can do at least that much. A long as the girls live, you will live. As long as there is life, there is hope,” Laz finished up with.
The four grotesque forms looked at one another before saying,
”As long as there is life, there is hope,” they said together, nodding what could be considered their heads.
”So be it. We shall become their true bloodlines, in the hopes one day that they shall be our daughters, our first born,” Pestilence said and the others agreed.
”From now on, they shall be us and we them. With you, perhaps there is a chance to regain our true bodies and heal our broken souls,” War said.
”We can offer you nothing as we are nothing. We have nothing... except for this. Perhaps... you will find some use for it,” Famine told Laz.
Just as Laz was going to ask what they were talking about, he saw his surroundings vanish in a flash of light as he woke up, Death Ivy still passed out on top of him.
He gently moved her as he stood. Noticing a strange light from behind him, he turned his head to try to get a glimpse of it this time and saw a strange purple ring hovering behind him. Barely visible within the outline of ring made of purple light was many mysterious runes and at each cardinal direction, a small depiction of a bird, a turtle, a tiger and a dragon.
'OH COME ON.... WHAT AM I SUPPOSE TO DO WITH THIS?' Laz screamed in his head.