It's not very often that you die. It's even less often to be saved from dying, by Death himself. It all began at around 5:30 in the afternoon, sometime in the middle of 2011's winter. I was walking to my good friend Allen's house. Just across the street from my destination, I'd stepped forward. I was then hit by a car going 130, stuffed full of stolen goods. Contrary to popular belief, you don't just go brain-dead. You go to a place called the Overworld. Upon contact with said car, I was thrown out into the middle of a battlefield. Under a red sky, streaked with comets and dotted by stars, giant disproportionate tanks fired round after round at each-other. Fires burst out all around, as if some retard was dancing through an underground methane chamber with a match. Towering man-like beings sprayed fire and explosives at each-other, falling like buildings upon death. This all took place in only ten seconds, before a much smaller figure, almost like a black cloud, swooped down and dragged me backwards. In the next three seconds, I heard a hissing voice, "It's about time you showed up." ------------- Earth ------------- I woke up mid-flight, still being push by the car, and sinking down along the curve of the bumper. As my head hit the ground, I blacked out. No space-like wars or anything, just black. Three hours later, roughly 8:45, I snapped up from a deep sleep. "WhathappenedwhereamIwhyamIhere-" My brain practically exploded inside my head as I spoke. I stopped myself and took in my surroundings. I was in a hospital bed, covered in bruises, but nothing more. A small device hooked on my wrist measured my heartbeat with a steady *blip*, and a horribly outdated TV played cartoons. Outside the doorway, I could see doctors and nurses hustling about, getting medicine and elixirs to patients. Relived that there were people here, I looked to my left, at the corner I hadn't looked at. I saw Death. A black cloud with a mask. That's Death. Almost touching the seven-foot ceiling, Death was just standing, staring at me. I blinked. He didn't go away. I blinked again. Nope. "So..." I tried to make it seem as though I were talking to myself, "what're you doing here?" "You saw the reason." I jolted upright, shocked by an answer. "You saw Overworld. You got me out of there. The conversation was briefly interrupted as a nurse walked in, offering me a dinner of soup and a cube of Jello. Trailing just behind her, Death observed her for a second. "Forty years left for her. How do you manage," It hissed, "to accomplish anything in your lifetimes?" This was going to be a long night.
---------- Overworld ---------- Order no longer existed. Now, it was brother against brother, a struggle to stay alive. If only the King hadn't found that stupid gem... Rastamus hurried through the fields, his fiery cloak trailing behind him. Atop his head, his baggy hat threatened to fall. All around him, portals were opening up, showing glimpses of Earth. But he didn't need any old portal, he needed one in particular, at least a hundred strides away. Suddenly, he heard the crack of a Destroyer's beam. Not taking any chances, he released his power and blazed through the air like a comet, headed straight for a tiny rip in the middle of space. Just as he reached the rip, he hesitated. This could be his last sight of Overworld, the last time he ever saw his home. "Ei, mon, wats wit da stopping?",his second self yelled at him, "Just go through da portal, mon! And through the portal he went. ------- Earth ------- "Sam, you okay?" Allen had arrived just a few minutes after my awaking the next morning. He checked my wounds, despite being told not to, and asked, "Weren't you hit by a speeding car? There's no bruises, nothing!" I chuckled, "Luck?" Death's mask shifted just a little to shoot me a creepy glare. "Nah, this ain't luck, this is the work of God!" Death just jumped right out of the corner, lunging straight at Allen. Held by the cloud of darkness and ashes, a scythe had magically appeared. Allen turned. "OH-SH" he stopped himself. It's kind of funny to see a demonic pile of ash leaning right over your best friend, holding a scythe bigger than a human body to his neck. "God," Death seemed pissed all of a sudden, "Does. Not. Exist. There is no heaven, there is no hell, there is no purgatory, there is no Eden, there is only the Overworld. You," he hissed, pointing at him, "and you," he pointed at me, "exist in both. When you die here, your conscience switches to your body in Overworld, and you experience something like amnesia, and vice versa. How do I know this, human!? I'm one of the most powerful beings there." "Samuel, your parents are here to see you!" A nurse cheerfully called into the room. ---------- Three hours later, I was at home, enjoying soup with y family and Allen. My new friend hovered quietly in the corner, staring blankly from the mask. "I still can't believe," my mom ranted for the hundredth time, "that someone would be so dumb as to run over a kid going 130 AND after stealing money!" I kept eating. "Don't you agree, Sam?" I nodded. After finishing the soup, I declared, "I'ma go sleep now. Thanks for the company, Allen." He nodded a "you're welcome." ----- Midnight, sound asleep. Dreaming about a race, with pandas, the usual awkward dream stuff. All interrupted by a freaking Jamaican-speaking flaming cape with a rasta beanie. "Psst! Mon! Weik up, mon!" "Oh...." I stared for a second. "Uh...." I was dumbfounded. "You looking for the funny guy with a mask?" "Ya mon! He be ma brudda from de Overworld!" Damnit. Another Death.
Thursday's school-day went by like any other day. Dull, boring, tedious, the list goes on. I came home, as usual, and saw my parents leaving the house. "We're going to go see a broadway show! Can you manage on your own?" My mom yelled from ten feet away. "Yeah, I'll be fine." After they'd left, I immediately dialed up Allen. At first, he was freaking out over seeing Death, but he agreed after I yelled "come here or I'm not gonna share the surprise!" ---------- Overworld ---------- In the highest room of the highest tower of Astragith's Capitol city, there was a chair. In that chair, there was a madman. Bones that seemed to be millennia old impatiently clicked against the handrests of the throne. The left hand to which these bones belonged to nervously twirled a knife. Over the arms, a long rusted chain, grimy and dissolved with age, rested like a scarf on a decaying corpse. "Remember the day, the day I found this?" The madman in the throne chuckled. "Remember the way I took it, the way I became me?" He shook his head, chains rattling. "REMEMBER THE DAY I FOUND THIS!?" The figure threw his head back, cackling maniacally, flailing broken links of chain around himself in insane laughter. ------ Earth ------ Allen and I stayed at my place, eating dinner. Death seemed distraught. Behind the mask, something seemed to constantly flicker, and he never stood, or hovered, still for long. Rastamus (we'd become acquainted), entertained himself by setting his cape on fire, and then flying his mask through it several times. "Remember the day, the day he found it?" Death laughed grimly, even for Death. "Not wit dis again, K'gul! You know we don-a talk about dis!" Rastamus circled Death, trailing little sparks, "We out of dere now, mon! The King is of no further concern!" Allen, who never could stop himself from interrupting a conversation, asked, "Who's the King? And what's with that creepy 'found it' stuff?" "Not important." The rest of dinner went by, with little conversation besides Rastamus trying to say a joke or two. At around 9, we decided Allen would sleep over. My parents never minded Allen saying, so no permission was needed. 9:15, I got a call. "Hello?" "Sam?" It was a girl. I didn't recognize the voice. "Who's this?" "My name's Alayna. I'm coming to your house now." Death and Rastamus immediately crowded by me, covering me in black fog. "Why!? Who are you!?" "I'll explain everything, just let me in."
------- Earth ------- "So," I asked, confused, "what're you doing here?" Alayna, our new guest replied, "I have to talk to K'Gul." "You mean Death?" "Just get me to him!" Two minutes later, we were all in the living room. Alayna started the conversation with, "Sorry for the rude entry, but I came here to tell you Síchel has news." Allen started to ask, "Who's Sí-" "Bring him here," Death interrupted, "News from Síchel is of utmost importance." Almost immediately, the air filled with a dense fog. It gradually condensed, until it was like a miniature storm cloud with eyes. "Síchel, what news do you bring?" Death hissed. "We've discovered the location of the Light." A voice like lightning flickered out of the cloud. Rastamus flew in, stopping Death's response, "It's too dangerous, mon! You know what da Dark does!" "What in the hell is the Dark?" I stepped in, "and the Light?" Our human guest presented a little rock. "This'll explain. It's like a time-recorder." -------- Record -------- ~Somewhere, drifting in space, somewhere between the Overworld an Earth, there is a scale. The Light and The Dark both have places on this Scale, along with the Shade. Three Earth years ago, the leader of the Deaths, the most powerful entity in the universe, became overcome with greed. He sacrificed his power, his dignity, his conscience, his life to get what he wanted. Having everything he could ever need, he wanted more.~ The scene shattered to reveal Death, Rastamus, Síchel and several other deaths, all scrambled around a figure wrapped in smoke. Rastamus was in the picture, spewing a red mist from under his cloak. The eye sockets in his mask were wider than usual. "Mon... You shouldn't be doin' dis mon!" A voice came from the figure, like a chainsaw on metal. "It's MINE! You can't have it! YOU ARE NOT WORTHY!" The scene rippled as the ground around them tore itself in a million pieces. Rastamus was the only one who wasn't hit by debris, collapsing into himself and hiding in midair. Síchel rushed at the figure, "YOU'VE DESTROYED US ALL!" The figure let out a shriek, and Síchel burst apart. Death charged next, bursting into a fireball and flailing his scythe. The scene flashed several times as explosions ravaged the already destroyed battlefield. As the smoke cleared, Death staggered forward, extending his hand. The figure stood, unmoved. "I AM THE KING OF DEATH! THIS BELONGS TO ME!" ------- Earth ------- The room was silent. Nobody moved or spoke. "Da ****." Allen spoke, "was that." "That... That was our leader once," Síchel sighed, "He has what we need."
Síchel was silent. Death was silent. Rastamus was playing with his scythe. "So..." I asked, "what do we do with whatever it is we're trying to do?" Síchel's body rolled inwards, thundering. "We go back to Overworld." Allen and I smiled nervously. ----------- Overworld ----------- *bang* A gunshot shattered the morning silence, and a flash lit up the sky. Atop a tower of metal scraps and tree trunks, the hunter sat. A small radio gently played Earth music as he hunted. Three more shots shrieked as the the song played. 'Some things in life are bad, they can really make you mad,' He took a drink from his canteen before reloading. 'Other things just make you swear and curse,' He sharpened his knife. 'When you're chewing on life's thistle, don't worry - give a whistle! And this'll help things turn out for the best....' John already knew the words, "And... Always look on the bright side of life!" Suddenly, a light appeared in the sky. Something was pointing at him. "Always look on the light side of life," he mumbled as the radio died. The light intensified, and John grabbed his weapons and put on his armor. Light meant trouble. When the beam hit the ground and raised a huge cloud of dust, John turned on his goggles, only to see the worst combination of people he'd ever seen. -----/----- "Hey, you!" Death looked different, a little more solid, and his voice sounded less wispy. "We're not here to kill you," he said. A British voice called out from above us in the tower, "Then why'd ya come here?" Síchel, a glowing manikin now, replied, "You have a relation to the Prince of Death. You know what we want." "OH HELL NO." Alan and I exchanged glances, confused for a second before running after the Deaths and Alayna . This would be fun, I thought to myself. Nothing better than being stuck in the place after death with three Deaths, your idiot friend, and a random girl. Joy, oh joy.
"So," John asked while he wiped red dust off his rifle, "what exactly do you and these... earthlings want?" Rastamus, now a tall walking pile of ash, lit up a little as he spoke, "We need your shard of the Light, mon. Hand it ova." "I don't do no personal favors for free. If you want me to give you something," John offered, "you have to do me a favor." Death's mask opened a little, but his speech was interrupted. "No, not to you! I don't trust you guys," he dodged Síchel's lightning, "but I do trust a kid who's with you and hasn't died. I have a thing with Earth people." Alan and I smiled nervously at each other, Alayna gave us a judging glare. "So... What do we do?" Alan asked. A laugh, then "I've had some trouble recently, with bandits. Go to there camp, get in, and give 'em a good old' fashioned beating-the-crap-out-of!" We didn't have any time to react before knives and guns were tossed to us with a loud, "Good luck!" -----/----- Bandit Camp -----/----- Overworld -----/----- At the top of a particularly rocky hill, Alan asked, poking at a red rock. "Why doesn't it feel much different here from Earth?" Alayna rolled her eyes, "Everything living is designed to survive on either world. How long have you been here?" "Three hours." A light wind had started blowing, faintly tinting the air with crimson. Of all places, the desert had to be where we ended up. A barely noticeable smell lingered on the winds. Alayna picked up her crossbow, "I smell smoke. This way." We followed after her, as she leaped among a lake of boulders, following the smoke trail. Every now and then, a gunshot would ring out from behind us, where John had returned to his hunting. Finally, we got over the hill, pulling ourselves and our weapons up. We arrived at the top to see the area John had mentioned. It was in shambles. What looked to be once clay houses was in ruins, flames still going from some recent happening. A massive crater ate half the camp, and several smaller ones peppered the area. "Come," Alayna beckoned to us from twenty feet away, on the top of a crappily assembled wall. We followed after her. As we walked further into the camp, it became even more apparent what had happened. Clay houses were reduced to piles of dust, some still with bricks intact. Now we were in the center of the biggest crater. At the exact middle, the ground glowed where dirt had been replaced with fire. Embers lay scattered everywhere, and the first skeleton appeared. "The hell is this?" Alan went over and poked it, a mix between a human and a wolf-shaped skeleton. When the rib he was poking at snapped, I grabbed him by the collar and told him, "I think we're done here. Let's go back." Alayna modded next to me. -----/----- John's Cave -----/----- "Are you bloody kidding' me? Craters? Skelly-tons? Houses in dust? Without me noticing?" John was, in a word, furious. Our story hadn't amused him in the least, and even we thought a little that we'd hallucinated or something. "Well, like it or not, that's what we saw." Alan sat cross legged on his chair. Death, silent before, spoke up. "The child may not be lying." "And what makes you think that?" "He's been looking for something." John's face darkened. "I knew you meant no good coming here. I bloody knew it." He cocked his rifle. "Now, the only thing I want to know is," He grinned, "How do I help?"
I apologize for the delay. You'd better forgive me :| -------------------------------------------- Ten minutes before, the Dark had swept over the camp. Absolute destruction had been brought about in mere seconds, silently, invisibly, easily - At least for the outside. On the inside, where the destruction had taken place, a sad fate had been met by many. Around the noon of Overworld time, the entire village had suddenly become encased in a dome of darkness. A thick barrier of smoke and ash blocked all view of the outside. And then the Dark arrived. "Where is it." The words came with a wind, a gale of fire and ashes. "I said...."The Dark spoke louder, "WHERE IS IT!?" It felt the presence of the Light nearby, taunting it with its elusiveness. One of the bandits, barely alive breathing through his filter, yelled over the now screeching firestorm. "We don't know what you're talking about! Who are-" the bandit simply burst into ashes, dead. "WHERE IS IT!?" The cloud of ash was now too thick for any air to be inside, and the very few left alive for their last seconds could seethe ground around them exploding. ---Present--- ---Overworld--- "We want you to go with us," Síchel hissed, "To kill Rāś." "Wait... No. I ain't doing it." "You must." "Well..." John thought for a minute, "Ok. He did kill my family, steal my dog, kill my dog, rot my food, destroy my hometown... Ok." "Good, we go now." John muttered, "We need a Sentinel." "We can't get a Sentinel. There is no time!" Síchel glowed red for a second. "And besides, they're all gone." Alayna seemed to remember something, "The Shift, they're all on Earth." I raised my hand to ask a question, but John interrupted. "Yes, I remember that! Well, what're we waiting for? To Solomon!" "Solomon?" "Don't matter! Let's go!"