Birger Age. (2)

**Bella's POV**

I stood up slowly with Clair in my arms. The man had a slight stubble and wore a clean black suit with a red inner shirt. Birger stood up slowly and eyed him.

"You… I knew it!" Birger raged. "You fuckers… this was your plan, huh?"

The man frowned at Birger. "What do you mean?"

Birger laughed. It was a cold, empty sound that had me shivering. The man suddenly straightened and he looked at Birger with a coarse stare.

"You… you and him?" Birger ground out. "No wonder… He makes me like this and makes me suffer? Why?"

"Birger Age… do not speak of me in such a way." The man glared at Birger. "You… are unwell."

"That's what you'd like me to think, right? You want to make me think I'm 'unwell' so you can put me down? Like a dog?" Birger eyes turned red.

Not the usual red. That brilliant red glow was replaced with a dull, bloodshot gaze. His hands clenched tightly and he reached into a portal.

The man shifted on his feet. "Don't, Birger. Please."

Birger pulled out Dáinsleif and unsheathed it.

"B-Birger?!" I shouted at him. "What is wrong with you?!"

He turned to me with a cold gaze. "Nothing, Bella. I should be the one asking you that. You sided with him?!" He pointed the axe towards the man.

"Birger… don't make me do this…" the man said slowly, in a pained tone.

Birger didn't respond as he rushed at him. He sliced downwards with his axe and the man dodged to the left. The man kicked his foot out and it broke Birger's wrist. Birger didn't react as he brought his broken wrist up, still holding his axe, and swung again.

The man's jaw kept getting tighter as the fight went on. Birger kept attacking him and he kept dodging.

"Birger, stop!" I shouted at him.

He either ignored me, or didn't hear me, as he continued to strike at the man.

Birger swung a final time before the man inhaled sharply and kicked Birger's arm. Hard. So hard, his arm flew away while gripping Dáinsleif.

Birger… didn't even react. He simply brought up his other fist and struck the man in the jaw. The man stumbled back for a moment before grabbing Birger by the back of the head and slamming his head into the floor. Birger was knocked out cold.

The man too a deep breath and placed his hand on his face. "Fuck…"

I ran to Birger and kneeled down to lift his head off the ground. His nose was caved in.

I looked up at the man as i cradled Birger's head. "W-who are you?"

The man looked up for a moment and stared at the wall before turning to face me. "How long has he been like this?"

I blinked. He wasn't going to answer my question? Who was he? He obviously knew Birger.

"I don't know…" I shook my head. "Now answer my question."

He sighed and sat down. "I'm a friend of Birger's."

He looked up suddenly. He stared at the ceiling but his distant gaze seemed to pierce through it. "Deary me… father, you are quite the shocker!"

Who was he talking to? His father? Was he using some kind of mind-link like we wolves have? Then why was he speaking aloud?

He nodded slightly. "I figured as much."

He turned to Birger. "I suppose I was slightly wrong. But right, nonetheless."

His gaze turned to me. "He's cursed."

He said it so simply that it took a moment to register. "Cursed..?"

I said it slowly. My tongue felt like it was covered in molasses. Birger nose was healing, but it hadn't been set properly. I reached over to him and yanked his nose to the side, setting it in place.

"So he's cursed…" I said slowly. "What were the visions?"

"Visions?" He asked in an uncertain tone.

"Yes, he… he picked me up by my throat and I saw… visions. Through his eyes."

His eyes widened. "It's worse than I thought! Fucking… Birger!"

He kicked Birger suddenly and his his body flew into a wall, caving it in. I heard his bones crunch and muscle tear. He grunted slightly but otherwise, remained asleep.

"W-what are you doing?! He'll die!" I shouted in shock and fear.

"He's immortal, dear." The man said.

"I am well aware! That doesn't mean he won't die if you fucking kill him!"

"…you don't know?" He said in a confused voice.

"Know what?!"

"He's immortal. True immortal. He cannot die, he cannot be killed."

"Ehh?" I breathed out.

What? He's a True Immortal? Not even gods are True Immortals!

True Immortals are beings that would live forever. Vampires are Immortal, but they can be killed. True Immortals cannot be killed. They can have their heads cut off, body burned to ashes, be banished to a different realm, but they can never die. The only True Immortals I've heard of aside from God himself was Cain and the Outsiders.

He looked at Birger's body, which had fallen to the ground after hitting the wall, and walked towards him. He grabbed him by his arm and dragged him to the center of the room before dropping him.

"Why… you said he was cursed? How?" I asked the man.

"That eye that he has? It is a cursed object." He explained. "Magic doesn't form within his body and if he uses it, the eye will absorb some of it and… yeah."

He finished awkwardly.

"So his eye is a curse?"

"Yes. I had warned him not to use the pendant but it seems as though he did not take my warning to heart."

I nodded. "And you? What's your name?"

"Lucifer." He said with a grin.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Wow… edgy parents?"

He frowned. "No- well, actually, yes. I know what you are thinking, however, and I will tell you that I am not named after Lucifer. I AM Lucifer. Lucifer Morningstar."

The door burst open with Nathaniel standing in front of a pale Donna. Nathaniel saw the man and tensed for a moment before turning to look at me. After seeing my semi-relaxed stance, he calmed down. His gaze moved to Birger and he visibly jumped.

"𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘰, 𝘚𝘦𝘯̃𝘰𝘳𝘢…" he cursed. "What happened to him?"

Donna peeked around his back and her eyes widened. "B-Birger?!"

She ran to him with tears in her eyes. She went to reach for him and saw his missing arm. She yelped and turned to me.

"W-We need t-to get him to a h-hospital!" She shouted.

I kneeled down and placed my hand on her shoulder. "Relax, Donna. He'll be fine."

I turned to Lucifer with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. He will be fine. I need to call his brother." He said as he pulled out a phone.

"Malum? Yeah, mate. Yeah. Well… completely."

He hung up the call and Donna screamed. "What the fuck is wrong with you people?! His arm his fucking gone and he's a fucking pancake!"

Lucifer sighed and snapped his fingers. Donna passed out and fell on top of Birger.

"Okay, that was uncalled for!" I shouted at Lucifer. "She's just a girl that is worried about her friend!"

"It was better for the situation. She was panicking." He finished in a flat tone as a portal opened up in the corner of my room.

"Lucifer. What happened?" The man, presumably Malum, asked.

Lucifer said something in Latin. The man responded in the same language. They spoke back and forth a few times before Malum turned to me.

"Nice to meet you, Bella. I am Malum." He said. "Birger had talked a lot about you and I will explain everything to you."

I tilted my head as I scrutinized Malum. "You… are his brother? He never mentioned siblings."

The man smiled sadly. "We are brothers… in circumstance. We are of the same cloth."

I nodded shallowly. "Then explain."

"Birger is… well obviously, not human, but he is human. What I mean to say is that he is completely human."

I shook my head. "That made no sense."

He nodded slightly and closed his eyes before speaking. "Okay… so, Cain, yes? You know of him? Biblical son of Adam and Eve who was cursed with True Immortality?"

"Yes… I've met him before."

Cain had taken up a large enterprise of selling various equipment. Mostly weapons and armor. He had been doing it for almost 7 centuries. A lot of the more… unsavory people bought from him. Cain sold both legal and illegal items, such as cursed weapons. We had bought a few artifacts from him during the V/W war, when it was at its peak.

Malum nodded. "Okay, so Cain is not human, technically. His immortality has adjusted his mind to cope with the thought of living forever. Humans, by their nature, are not meant to live forever. Vampires, gods, werewolves, fae, and many more creatures have altered minds that are… built to live longer."

I nodded.

He was describing something obvious. Vampires lived forever and were fairly 'obsessed' over things they liked. They never really got burnt out on things that they enjoyed. Gods always distracted themselves and thought they were above all the mortals, which they were I suppose. Their minds were completely different from a humans. Cain was definitely a… character.

I suppose Cain wasn't a true human from what Malum was saying? But he said Birger was… my eyes widened.

"You're saying… he has a mortals mind, in an immortal body? He has no coping mechanism?" I asked him in shock.

He nodded solemnly. "A human mind is not meant to be immortal. It is against their nature. They will go insane. Birger has always had… as the saying goes, a few screws loose."

"And what does this have to do with the curse? You said his… eye was a curse?"

Lucifer interrupted Malum as he opened his mouth. "That eye is the one thing that was left over from his time as an Old One. It rejects magic. It rejects life. It rejects thought."

I tilted my head and turned to Birger. "What… does that mean?"

Malum spoke in a quiet tone. "It rejects. There is no answer for 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 it rejects, because it just 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴. It rejects everything, and when it has rejected everything, it will reject the nothingness that remains."

"That… sounds like a fucking nuclear bombshell…"

"Birger cannot use magic because of it. He cannot store magic inside of him, and if he uses it, it will be absorbed into the eye, which feeds it power. Which it will reject. To get power. To absorb. To reject." He paused for a moment to look at Birger. "It is a constant war. The human mind is… feeble. Birger's is strong, make no mistake, but human nonetheless."

I crouched down and stared at Birger's broken body. "So he can't use magic, or he goes crazy."

Lucifer nodded. "Correct."

He turned to Malum. "He can't, anymore. We need to do it."

"…no." Malum sighed. "I know it must be done. I know. But I simply cannot- will not- betray his trust. He is someone whom I owe my entire race's existence to. I will give you my blessing, but will not take part."

Lucifer nodded and placed his hand on Malum's shoulder. "That is fine. We will take care of him."

"What are you talking about?" I asked the both of them. "Quit speaking in riddles and explain things properly!"

Lucifer sighed. "He… can't be human anymore. He has to make a choice."

Lucifer placed his hand over Birger's face. Birger grunted and opened his eyes slowly.

"Luci? Why can't I move?" He looked around for a moment, dazed. "I haven't… what's going on? I can't see anything."

"He's blind?!" I shout in shock.

Lucifer chuckled slightly and turned to me. "No, love. He's talking about his eye." He turned back to Birger. "I've shut it off for a few moments."

Birger squinted his eyes at Lucifer. "Malum? Just do your thing!"

Malum sighed. "It won't work, Brother."

Birger slowly closed his eyes and his jaw quivered. "I hate it."

Malum smiled gently. "I was the same, once. Am I so ugly?"

"You know what I mean, Mal."

"If it makes you feel any better, Brother, you are old enough to know what you are. It will not change you."

Birger shifted slightly and was silent for a long moment. "…I don't know."