52 The Loser

"Now Michael."

"What is your wish?"

In the depths of the now glittering void hovered a brilliantly lit figure resembling the head of an old man. Meanwhile, beneath this majestic tower of light stood a young boy with two golden eyes. Starring up at it with an incredible amount of excitement and expectancy.

"What is the best power you can offer me?"

Hearing what the boy said made the head smile more triumphantly. Now even more confident in his choice.

"That depends.. I can't exactly grant anything you ask for. And of course, there are other limits... However, although I said I was a fallen god, our definition may differ. Was there perhaps a specific power that you wanted?"

Michael closed his eyes. Thinking carefully about what to choose.

"I want the one with the highest growth potential, adaptability, use and overall destructive power."

The old head smiled even more after he heard what Michael said. The silver lines making up the head's facial features glowed even brighter too. Signaling a strong satisfaction.

"You are the first one, Michael. The first one not to just ask for something so simple and lacking. Neither a holy sword, nor the power to bend the will of others."

Suprise replaced Michael's previous expression. Wondering what kind of powers those before him had wished for.

"Oh? Then tell me, what is the weirdest power someone has ever asked you for?"

the tower sized head mpved it's large white eyes around. It tightened the shiny lines making the wrinkled face, almost as he was frowning.

"Hmmm.... There was this lad... Wanting the power to create flashbangs whenever he snapped his fingers."

The old head looked back at Michael who was now holding back his laughter. Seeing the boy like this made him release a mighty chuckle back. It stretched out into every corner of the glittering space surrounding them.

"Hahaha! You know what, Michael? I will give you what you ask for. And even though it might be a little unorthodox of me, I cannot find anyone more worthy of it."

Happy about this development, Michael then asked him with a powerful and confident tone.

"Please enlighten me then!"

"Well... I used to have a couple friends. You could say that our normal powers wouldn't be considered that impressive, but we all had one thing we each specialized in. And this is what made us the most feared gods in existence at one point."

The old head closed his its shiny eyelids. Reminiscing about a past which had unfolded happened many eternites ago.

After a short while he finally opened them back up. Looking down at Michael with a more neutral expression

"We were once seven. But right now, I only have pieces of four. And that includes my own."

"Here, although you may not think mere fragments are much, how about you have a look?"

A small ball of light manifested itself before him. It sparkled with a strong strong red gloe while having multiple purple veins run all over its surface.

Michael slowly touched it with his left hand. Wishing to figure out what secrets this ball held.

However, the instant contact was made, he felt his mind almost shatter appart. Not by the pressure, but by a never before felt awe.

The old head saw his expression change, and the silver lines grew brighter as its smiling became even wider.

"I still have some other things you can look through. However, before that please tell me, Michael..."

"What do you think?"

.....

The consciousness slowly returns to my body. Waking me up from what felt like a distant dream.

I try to see, but the world has left me in a plane of darkness. Turning the ground I lay on into an eternal black road and the sky into a jagged ceiling of rocks.

I try to move, but only two ghostly thin branches enter my vision. Almost as if answering the desperate calls. Are these mabye.....my arms?

I try to feel, but only the haunting breath of a compound similar to thick smoke graces against my body. As if forcing it to stay still.

I try to listen, but my ears only register the desperate whispers of those who have passed. Tempting me to move on.

How did I end up here?

'No....I remember...'

Yes, the feeling of regret, loath and blame. It pushes my memories back to the surface.

I was betrayed again.

The bitter images of that wretched elf, and the sound of losing my familairs begin to the manifest in the form of several rusty needles, soon beginning to rapidly dig into my skull. They each try and ask for something. Madly repeating themselvs every passing second while not lessening the pressure once.

Why was I left behind? Why did I lower my guard? Why did choose to trust someone else? Why did I repeat the same mistake twice?

No, this is entirely my fault. I should have been smarter.

I....

My body, although it is a translucent mass of fog from my perspective, The area around my eyes slightly twitch and moisten. As if they retained their original attributes.

No, this is not how my life will end. I prepared myself for double, no, triple the amount of suffering I received back home.

Yes...back home...

The ghastly arms slam down into the corrupted dirt, forcefully dragging my body over it. I can sense something sharp scraping against my stomach from time to time while also feeling something flowing out. But it does not matter.

'I...I have work to do...'

....

How long have I been scraping myself against these throns? There is no sense of time here, no passing clouds, and no setting sun. Only the dark roof above and the endless road of spikes relentlessly biting off pieces of my flesh.

This....my hands, they seemed to have been ripped by something. No, they have turned into claws. Sharpened by the earth which holds up my cursed existence.

My legs, I can still not feel them. Even after all this time the stump still hurts. Do they perhaps want me to give up too?

I tried to count each time I moved. However, the whispers made me stop after reaching one thousand a hundred times.

I feel so tired. I want to stop. I want to rest.

The fatigue, the pain. It's splitting my head open.

'I...Why did I end up here again..?'

And as I try to once more remember the reason, right there in front of me, the answer appears. A small spark of yellow light. Weakly lighting up the surrounding wasteland of death.

As if I found my beacon of hope, I instinctively crawl faster towards it. Wanting to see what this unkown glow is.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I reach it. Right there, in the center lay a small sun. No, a dying lightbulb. Have I seen this thing before?

'Yes..Yes I remember...'

The image of my body enters the light. And as it does, it returns to it's normal appearence. Both legs sprout out from behind, and skin begins to cover my glassy frame.

The supreme feeling of warmth and peace fills my every being. Strengthening both my body and mind.

"....I can see it clearly now...."

I walk deeper into the light where the tiny yellow flame hovers in the air. Only slightly larger than one of my dirty fingernails.

Not hesitating in the least, I softly reach out to it, letting the weak fire burn against the membrane on my palm every time it flickers. It sends a pleasent stinging into the surrounding tissue.

Looking into it fills my facial muscles with joy. This is what I have been looking for, is it not?

While smiling brightly at the yellow spark, I silently whisper something to it. However, no matter how gentle of a tone I supposedly used, the voice echoes into the dark world and back.

"This is all your fault."

And with that, I contract my forearm, locking down the fingers. Crushing the flame into a cloud of dying embers. The wisps of light peacefully disperse into the air, and then permanently cease to exist.

"My foolish actions all stem from you. And now, with with your death, I am finally free. Free from the ignorance which has bound my soul."

Seeing the blaze die does not seem to affect me in any way. That is, until some sort of string tied around my brain gets brutally severed appart.

This sudden pain makes me instinctively grip onto my head. And as I hold it in place, I feel the agony gradually travel down my neck, turning all nearby skin paler, while also etching several barely discernible black veins underneath it.

The torment ends not too long after fully making its way through my every limbs. Allowing me to peaceful place down both hands at last.

However, as they fall I make them pause mid air. Peering into the palms as if searching for something I lost. But all I find are some calluses and skinfolds.

"It feels like.....the unconscious barrier which I had on my behavioral choices has rotted away.."

I curl both of them into fists while an unkown energy starts coursing through my vains. The nails begin to puncture my skin as the grip grows stronger, but nothing flows out. Almost as if this body has already been bled dry.

"No, all the morals I previously possessed.....they have been severed."

The luster previously emitted by the fire ceases to exist along with it. Turning my surroundings into the silent void I now hold some closure to.

But as I now stand alone again, a vibration travels up my feet.

Removing my gaze from the fists and focusing my sight into the distance, I spot what looks like an army of hideous monsters of all shapes and sizes. Breathing haggardly as they watch every move I make with an unfathomable excitement.

Seeing the hord eye me down seems to make something inside my brain tick. Where have I felt this before?

"Beasts who rise up against their owner..."

This type of supreme happiness. Is it joy? No, its something else....

Yes, This I remember clearly. It's the raging sea of depravity that has always laid dormant within my mind.

"You all need to be..."

"DISCIPLINED!"