A Goodbye's Curse

**********************

Killian 'Undying' Graves

With my words to Vincent, the man who tortured me and millions of others with his reckless grasp for almighty power, I challenge him. Before all our enemies, I bear my Concept against his. Immortality meets the Endless. It is a match that has waited a long, long time. He built me. He raised me. He knows everything single damned thing I can do or am. He gave me the Datura, bestowed to him from Arnold. He wanted a rival, someone to contest him in strength, someone not terrified of his might. Well, he's fucking got it now.

And he is not happy.

"You dimwit! This is an awful time! Just wait a day to solve your ridiculous grudge with me."

I can't help but scoff as my Concept emboldens my body, fully allowed to bloom now that Death herself is dead. And even Kudo's Divinity joins me, adding its sprinkle onto my strength. Without her, I'd not stand a grain of chance against Vincent. There are Gods and there are Monsters. This one? He's a monstrous God.

But he... he really doesn't understand, huh? The things he put me through? The trauma, the years of addiction and suffering that I had to live with after all those experiments?

I do not think there are any things in this world that are truly evil. But... Vincent Harvey is a good man that has walked so far amongst his nightmares that he has become the very worst one of them all. And the funny part is... he has no idea.

"Heh... Ridiculous grudge!? I have way more than a grudge against you, Vincent. Usen! Back off! One hour! And I swear to the Devil that I will do everything in my power to kill this man."

The oath turns Vincent's whole body to face me as I see just how livid he is. His whole face is scrunched up in fury, as if I am ruining the one thing he has planned for his entire life. Too bad, you fucker. A note realizes itself within my hand, already signed with my blood. Louis knows me. He does as I ask immediately. A good friend, if not difficult to speak with, but must understand the stakes here.

If anyone does, it'd be him.

So, I face Her, awaiting the response I need so desperately. And before Desolation can utter a single word, the legions of the Mother Below answer for her.

"As you wish, Oathbound."

Shivers crawl up my spine as I realize Usen knows one of my titles from my Sigil, but I don't get hung up on it. I step toward Vincent as he points at me, yelling beneath his screaming sands.

"You! You will fight, knowing that you cannot win!? That this only manages to hurt me!? To hurt us!? I don't understand!? Have you betrayed humanity!? Do you think you are fighting me for humanity!? The Gods have never cared for us! Not a single one! They are parasites to the universe, taking and never giving. I shall devour that madness and create an equal world beneath its ashes."

I listen to his tirade, his meaningless ramble. It might sway others, but to me, it is exactly that, meaningless. I have already made my decision. I let him speak, however, as I build the rage inside into a masterwork of violence.

"You are worse than Her. You have devoured enough to make any mind go insane with power. Do you... Do you recall what my mother told you?"

My feet rest just a few yards from Vincent as we face each other closely, with sands swirling chaotically around our match. The Mother Below and her army of Gods and Demigods have retreated, at least enough that I can no longer see them westward. Unfortunately, that means the sands above, the parasites within, are all focused upon me now.

The God himself laughs at me, not taking my words seriously. He must think what I said was a joke.

"Really? She knew nothing about power. Hardly a Virtue at her best."

I shake my head at his negligence. My mother was wise. For a human to never have felt sadness, if she were not wise beyond her years, she would have gone mad and ended up just like this one here.

"No. You know nothing of what power does to its wielder. No one man should ever possess such unrivaled strength, especially not for a century. It... corrupts worse than Usen ever could."

Vincent eyes me down, searching for any hint of weakness in my gait or my words. He finds none in my body, only one in my argument, as he takes his first step, circling me while I do the same to him. Our fingers twitch as if grasping for a weapon. The Datura sits restlessly at my hip while Vincent is eager to use his Divinity.

"Is that so? Then what about Louis Fern? Hmm? Was he not unrivaled for nearly a millennia? What about him? Power is not a poison. It is a gift to be earned."

I sigh, giving him the exact thing that will trigger his agitation. He hates... to be seen as lesser than another being.

"He was unchanged for a simple reason. He was named Louis Fern. You are not. You are Vincent Harvey, hated by the world, loathed by the living, and cursed by the dead. There is not a soul, alive or departed, that will mourn your passing."

Vitriol emerges on the God's face. The only father figure I've ever known besides the alchemists, doctors, and experimenters who worked on me as a child vibrates with endless indignation. His hand quickly turns to those parasites I hate with every drop of blood in my wretched body. He made me into this... thing. And I'll bring it back to haunt him.

I watch the parasites closely as they hover slightly beyond his fingertips as if hesitating. He sees it now.

He sees that attacking me would only prove my point. But... that's the thing with Vincent.

The bastard doesn't care about such petty things as arguments and who is right or wrong. He only cares about who is stronger.

"You say that ancient king is stronger than me? That he is better than me!?"

The outrage comes back as his fingers return to his hand. With that anger, however, his whole body's skin begins to evaporate as sand comes off like that of a windy dune. The parasites of the Endless float in the air, surrounding me as I reply.

"No, he is weaker. Vastly so. But he is infinitely a better man."

I could have just attacked when I arrived. But that would have been foolish. I need him furious, no more than that. I need Vincent so irreparably enraged that he is willing to ignore his combat experience. That is the only way I'll manage to hurt him at all.

And it is my words, the words of one of the few people Vincent ever spoke to, that hit the hardest. I can hear his growl, echoing through the innumerable parasites in the air before they dive toward me.

"You will not speak to me like that, Killian."

Immediately, I feel the Endless eat into me, thousands if not billions of invisibly tiny creatures digging into my flesh and bone. Each is augmented by Ether and the very Concept that Vincent Harvey has imbued his flesh with.

For a moment, I simply allow them to devour me as if to know what all others have felt. They scrape out pieces of my flesh, bone, and soul with reckless abandon, digesting it as the sands go. My Concept defends me as I imbue my Ether with it, slowing the damage, but it's not enough. Vincent's power is relentless, and I can feel my everything being consumed, piece by demoralizing piece.

If I am to die to him, he will gain my strength. His Ether, his Power, his Virtue, his Dominion, and even his Divinity will all rise even higher. I cannot let him kill me, even if I do die.

Gritting my teeth, I draw upon the Mortal Veil. The leftover Divinity from the God of Death melds with my Immortality, creating a paradoxical shield. Death and Immortality dance together, an uneasy alliance within me.

Death was my first promise. It was one for my family. It was to avenge my mother and all others she had ever taken. As such, our compatibility is abysmal. But that does not mean Death cannot help.

The Endless slow their assault, the combined power of life and death confusing their purpose. But they do not stop.

This battle... this third promise... The second was for the world, to kill the Mother Below, while the one for Vincent was personal, meant just for myself. After all, he forced my mother into her role... but... it's bigger than that now.

My mind stabilizes even as my vision blurs from discomfort radiating through every nerve, something only present due to the sheer destruction found within the Endless. If I could feel pain, I would have already fallen to the ground in shock. But to me, this is only uncomfortable, like walking on rough ground.

The tiny parasites are like a swarm of locusts, leaving nothing but devastation in their wake. I can feel my strength waning, the energy in my soul needed to sustain both Immortality and Death draining me. With each second that passes, I am closer to the brink.

That's incorrect. I am long past that brink. I stepped beyond it the second I took this cloak.

He's not angry enough. Vincent is killing me, but he's doing it slow and steady. I need... him to be reckless. So, even as the Endless devours my windpipe and vocal cords, I emit air into the sands.

"All you've ever wanted is power! Perhaps, when you were young, it was for glory and peace, to protect others, to protect Meredith! But you have long lost that kindness! You are nothing but personified hatred!"

The sands pick up abruptly, the might and rate of my death accelerating. Good. I take a step forward, heading toward the Mother Below while the flesh is torn from my body. I don't think I'll reach her before this battle is over, but just in case, I would like to be a little closer.

"You shall not speak her name! You know nothing! Nothing at all! You are but a child! A child gifted power that he cannot properly wield! You are a pathetic man! And... if you cannot use that strength, then allow me to."

Vincent's voice is a roar of fury, the sands vibrating with his anger. His words are overlaid a thousand times, a cacophony of windy whispers and rage-filled echoes that make it difficult to even hear myself think.

Still, I know just what to say to infuriate him. While he's been waiting to fight Usen his whole life, I've been wishing for this very moment.

"A gift!? Don't joke. This is just a curse! And all you want is this so-called 'equal world', with you as its supreme king, so you can lord over and crush all beneath your boots! I know you! I know how you treat others when no one is looking! I know the things you have done for your strength! They are a thousand times more vile than Weiss!"

My voice is hoarse, each word costing me dearly, but it's worth it to see Vincent's rage. I need it. I need him to be so blind that I can attack without him seeing it coming. It is the only way to hurt him. He is too experienced, too adept with Ether to attack at any other time. But... I can make him wobble. I'm the closest to him, the closest to the nightmare that's watched over my whole life.

The sand blinds me just as I hope the madness does to him, my body barely holding together as I fall to a knee, not even halfway across the battlefield to Usen. But I do not die. Immortality keeps me alive, a cruel blessing of a curse.

Even as the remnants of my lungs vanish, my heart devoured by the parasites, my skin ripped away to the winds, I do not die. I am Undying. Once upon a time, I believed myself to survive the brushes with Death because of the idea that she was scared.

The truth is, Death never had anything to do with my survival. She wasn't afraid of any mortal back then. But she became that way with how I fought back as she reached for my soul way back in those chambers filled with poisons and vials. She came many times. She even spoke to me. We... knew each other well back then. And...

I made her scared for the next to come.

Without any organs in my chest, just a hollow corpse of bones and willpower cloaked by the tattered Mortal Veil, I force power back into my skeleton and rise to my feet. Sounds explode within my ears despite the fact they no longer exist.

My Power and Dominion fabricate such things while my Ether, with Immortality, keeps it all in a functioning state.

"You dare to accuse me of abusing power?"

Vincent's fury originates all over, including the empty cavity of my chest where the parasites continue to feast.

"I have seen a dozen kingdoms fall! A billion die! YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND! I HAVE TO DO THIS! IF I DON'T—"

I dig deep, using the quickly diminishing reserves of my strength to push back. With a scream fueled without lungs that echoes throughout the world, I channel the Mortal Veil's Death through my body, sending waves to wage a war against the Endless while Immortality retains me. The effect is immediate. The tiny creatures recoil, momentarily stunned by the clash of Concepts

It is enough to make him stop talking, even if only in surprise.

"Vincent! You will die! If not today, then tomorrow! I will not let you do what you have done to me to the masses! Even after She is dead, you will want more! Endlessly more! You are too greedy! Nothing is ever enough! I know you!"

The Endless surge forward again within the battleground of life and death that is my body. Vincent howls in pure fire, attacking with all he has as he finally holds nothing back. A smile would be on my lips if I still had them.

"And what are you!? Vengeful to a fault!? A little kid who couldn't handle some hard work!? So sinful that you would leave your own child to be raised by a demon!? So fucked up in the head that you would turn to Usen to help!? What are you if not a traitor to humanity!? To yourself!? Just fucking die and get this over with! I know it's what you've always wanted! JUST DIE!"

I fall down again, my fleshless palms striking their bones hard against the rocks beneath. Still, I don't just give up and let him take me. It's not what we do. Never has been. Never will be.

So what if I'm vengeful? So what if I had to leave Wyatt? Aniwye did a better job than I ever could have. I'd have fucked it all up. Just like everything else I've ever done.

I'm a fuck up, fucked up by a torture chamber of a childhood. I'd have snapped one day or hurt him or something. I... I would have.

I know that to be true. Aniwye wasn't perfect, but...

She was the best thing he could have had. I'd have... I'd have broken him just as I was. The visits were short for more than one reason. I was scared, utterly terrified that I'd ruin him, my little boy.

As for my betrayal... I've told Wyatt this before. I don't care about humanity. I only care about him. The rest can go die for all I care. But I will not allow my boy to be beaten by this man, this monster in human skin.

"Just fucking die, huh? Okay then."

Scoffing without breath, I stand to my full height, leaning back slightly as I feel a burst of energy flow through me. My mind turns crystal clear, and it moves at a million miles per second. This is it. I can feel it.

This is what it is like to die. I cannot say I dislike it. If anything... it's all I've ever wanted. He was right. I've wanted to die since I was five years old. It's been decades since, yet not much has changed. Suicide was never an option, no matter how bad things got. Devil knows I tried. Many times. Many. Many. Many times. Until I eventually knew there was no escape. Now, however... I can finally die.

But... I'm not someone who likes being lonely.

"Why don't you come along with?"

All that remains of my body is bone. And even that is fading. No brain rests within my skull. It is just a defiant soul that lingers. I have one shot at this. One... one go at what might just be impossible.

I knew I'd never win. It's impossible. He's Vincent Harvey, a one-of-a-kind anomaly. Even if no one else were in the world, if he were utterly alone, I'd wager there is a chance that Vincent could pull this whole war off on his lonesome. Slim, sure, but there is not another in all of existence who has even the potential to do so.

But that doesn't mean I can't guarantee a win. All this time, he's been devouring me with the Endless, and I've been practicing something under the surface.

Vincent sure does like his parasites. How about an Undying one? My Ether builds as I place a seal within my soul. Reaper's Seal. I haven't used it for a very special reason.

He'd just eat the other Primes and grow stronger. But... I feel I can use it for something else. If I just... shift a little here and a little there...

Bit by bit, he feasts on my bones, turning it all to more of the Endless. For each inch of bone devoured, millions more insects are born. Watching the transformation leaves me shivering, but I still feel no pain. The last bit of me that remains is my spine, Aqua's spine. It floats defiantly in the air, uplifted by the Endless.

No matter how much he might take, some things will never change. And it is only I who can do this. Only I can be eaten alive, to the very last bone, and not break. While my being enters oblivion, I finalize my Ether.

And I only manage to do so because of his rage, blinding him to everything as he simply seeks to end me as fast as possible without taking a second glance at what exactly he is eating.

So, as the last bit of my spine gives birth to a thousand insects, Vincent reforms where I perished, shaking his head with disapproval. He leans over to pick up the Mortal Veil while looking down on me. But his hands don't reach it as Death's remnant Divinity collapses, all of its essence already given to me.

"Petulant child. I expected better. Didn't even—"

Desolation pauses with his hand in the air, trembling lightly, as the Ether speaks to him. As I speak to him. Immortality can mean many things.

I don't have to have a body to be alive.

A spiraling line of black runs across his body like tattoos, only they possess a soul and Conceptual Ether combined, growing just as a creature would. Just as a Sirza would, because... that is what I am now.

Vincent's skin utters its given name from the cosmos while he attempts to escape, shifting into the Endless, which now has a large portion tainted by death. A little bit of irony lingers as Desolation devours himself, only to realize that the decay spreads with what he eats.

It seems I finally earned that second name that Vincent so often fought against. It is only this time, he cannot refuse my honor as it is given to me by Ether itself. The two words, simple as they may be, fill me with enough warmth that I could die a hundred times and be happy. It explains everything. From how I ruin all I touch to the desperate wishes I once held for death. It explains it all in two short words.

Undying Curse.