Chapter 22: Death

Xain served as our guide as we journeyed further into the prison. We'd been able to navigate through the various traps and troop placements Lucian made sure to set up. Even though Xain wasn't ranked very high he was allowed to attend a lot of the meetings held for security details.

He also revealed to us some of the reasons why Lucian had taken over Necron Arcadia and it was primarily related to Subject 13. Plus there was the bonus that Warden Serebryakov was still alive, as she was the only one with access to Subject 13's cell. Additionally, we'd learn of Lucian's initial appearance in the Prime System. The Arcana Order had only been here for a year and was hiding out on a distant asteroid. Though Xain wasn't too sure about the number of their forces we at least knew they built a sizable army comprised of wanted criminals and mercenaries within the Prime System.

"So what about you guys? Xain asked. "You're Arcadians too... Why are you against Lucian?"

"It's primarily because he was the one who nearly led us to our extinction," Alice answered. "I don't know what lies he's fed you all about himself but he's no saintly figure."

"I figured as much. Hiring people like us was my first clue. Though the pay wasn't worth getting slaughtered by your warrior goddess."

"Why thank you, kind sir," Seraph chirped.

"I should be thanking you guys... You lot choose to spare my life."

Honestly, this guy seemed too decent to be wrapped up with Lucian. I wonder what Claudia would think about having him aboard the Asterism.

My mind wandered back to the sight of Seraph fighting in that form. Looking at my Marker I wondered what I'd look like when I transformed.

"So this Anima form... What exactly is it?"

Alice held up her hand and it began to grow cold. Fragments of ice took shape in her hands, then expanded to take the shape of a long shard of ice. The ice shattered and her blade fell onto her hands.

"Ordinarily we Arcadians don't look like this. Our more flesh-like forms are merely us maintaining a form that keeps our dangerous power in check. Hence why we possess the Astras... The reason that they are a part of us is that they are keys to our true forms."

"No wonder many consider you to be Gods," said Clarke. "Miss Seraph even looked like one from my Baba's faith."

"It's not all-powerful like that," said Alice. It takes a great amount of Ether to even manifest it, and if we are harmed while in this form, we cannot regenerate so easily. We could even die..."

Death for an Arcadian. Even though we could live forever it was still possible. I gripped my prosthetic, remembering my scars.

"With the proper training anyone can master their Anima," said Seraph. Our original forms are quite powerful, especially my Mahakali."

"It's probably good for you guys. But the people who aren't Arcadians... Sometimes they can't control it."

The way Xain looked made me worry for the others. I wanted to ask what horrible things did Xain see. But ignorance is bliss I guess.

Clarke stopped at the last door. The sign displayed "Abandon all reason, ye who enter here." That wasn't too comforting.

The door itself seemed to be locked by several measures of security, which probably required a lot of keycards, biological prints, and passcodes. Luckily I had a spare key.

Summoning Ninth Light I swung it twice unleashing two flaming waves of energy at the door. The flames burned clean through the door creating a scorched "X" before the door collapsed completely. The pieces collapsed to the ground revealing a giant room. The only thing that occupied its space was four individuals, two men, and two women along with a single Eidolon, the clawed one to be specific.

Lucian was standing before the corridor on the other side and to his side. The others faced us first and I could see their Markers now glowing in different colors. The taller man bore what looked like a man wielding a gavel. The man's expression was masked by a perpetual scowl and the way he carried himself betrayed his size. But I recognized him as the man that was with Solomon the day he died.

The two women were new though. Likely the pilots of the Whip and Multiarmed Eidolon from the attack. The first woman shared Clarke's brown skin and even had my white hair, though her hair resembled more steel than snow. She'd been a little taller than me which was a first given how short I was. Even though she was my enemy I couldn't help but think she'd been extremely pretty. What struck me more than that was how she seemed genuinely detached from everything before our eyes met. Even though I didn't know her at all, her entire demeanor seemed to shift. It was like she wanted to say "could you be...?" Then there was the marker she bore on her waist, which depicted a man and a woman embracing each other.

The other woman seemed the exact opposite. Violet's hair was maintained regularly and every bit of her was seemingly manufactured. She seemed like the type of woman to easily sway Andrew onto her side. Plus the way she was smiling was way too creepy to be comfortable with. The woman with devil horns rested on her collarbone. I tried not to look at her too hard.

As Lucian turned to face us I gripped Ninth Light so tightly I felt like I could snap the hilt. Clarke stepped over the pieces of the door and lowered Doss's hand to let us off.

"Ah... Young Soran... I'm impressed you've resolved even to come here."

I could feel what was left of my shoulder ache as my gaze fixated on Lucian. I couldn't afford to allow myself to feel any kind of anger. Yet sometimes you couldn't stop water from boiling over.

"Well, I couldn't just rest in the bed knowing you're out there somewhere ready to tear off my other arm."

"Oh... My apologies. I'd forgotten for a moment that you were just a novice... You must be trained thoroughly to use your powers. Though I see you have some interesting companions. One even looks like Alara..."

"That was my mother," spat Alice. "Don't you dare speak her name after you murdered her!"

The taller one of the bunch stepped up beside Lucian. It was the same man he'd been with when they raided Solomon's lab.

"Hold your tongue girl," he snarled. "I will not have anyone disrespect, Lord Lucian, in my presence."

Lucian held his hand up to the man's chest, pushing him back somewhat. "Now Karn... She has all the right to be angry with us. I will tolerate it."

"Now where was I... Oh yes... Now that you've amassed a sizable army, perhaps you've thought about joining me Soran... You and your allies could be effectively trained to use your powers."

At least now he seemed a little keener on allowing my friends to at least have some autonomy. But just like last time he wasn't getting what he wanted.

"I'm just here to prevent you from doing whatever it is you planned on doing. So if you'd just pack up and screw off that'd be nice."

Lucian let out a long sigh as he held his gaze lowered. "I don't mind asking you as many times as it takes. But now my patience can wear thin and when that happens..." He tapped his left arm, smiling as he did.

"You'll pay for that... I'll have you pushing up daisies on a plot of land at Albion."

Before he could fire back a retort the echoing of metal hitting a wall. Every two seconds a loud 'ding' came from the corridor behind Lucian. Everyone's eyes were on it now and by the way, Lucian had been acting it was a shock to him.

Then the worst thing imaginable came into view. The corridor itself was dark as if it was an endless tunnel to who knows where. But out of it oozed an aura that seemed devoid of any texture. Even though it was certainly a corridor, I was sure that it was nothing but the blackest pit I'd ever seen.

"It can't be," said Lucian. "There's no way he truly survived all this time..."

The dinging stopped for a moment and the sound of someone hyperventilating came out of the corridor, followed by a bloodcurdling scream. The silence didn't last as long as I wanted it to as now the echo of bare footsteps began echoing out of the hall. They were deliberately slow as if the person had been weighed down by something.

"Hmmmmmm~" Hummed a voice within the corridor. "...Total Slaughter... Utter Annihilation... "All will join... These sorry souls in heaven... Do do do do...~ Genocide...~ Do do do do do...~ Death comes for all...~ Let's begin... The killing time...~"

Out of the corridor, a single man emerged. He'd been clad in a white jumpsuit that was covered in all different colors of blood. There were straps wrapped around his arms, legs, and torso. The worst part wasn't even his disheveled appearance. His hands each held something in them. In his left hand a bloody dagger he'd been gripped by the blade and in his right the head of a human soldier.

I could tell he was an Arcadian, the aura that surrounded him was so foul and sickening it felt like my guts were all over the floor again. Then we finally made eye contact and as sickening as it was, my eyes would refuse to break that contact. No matter what I couldn't express any kind of fear, despite how much my legs wanted to turn tail and run. I covered my mouth, hoping to keep myself from saying something utterly stupid. I could've sworn I had the instinct to attack him too, but I couldn't because the instant he felt any kind of killing intent he'd rob me of life before I took my first step.

The person I'd been looking at... No... The thing that'd been smiling before us all... There was nothing beyond it.

It was the end of everything in humanoid form. The final destination of all existence, something that was pretending to be living.

"Brother..." Lucian finally spoke. "It's almost unreal that you're even alive... You seemed to be enjoying yourself."

The being Lucian called brother took in a deep breath and sighed, dropping the decapitated head as he held out his hands. "I didn't have fun at all brother... I was woken up from my peaceful slumber by two groups of rowdy kids. Then the strangest thing started happening. They just started dying in horrible ways."

He turned slightly revealing the corridor's entrance again, but this time it was well lit unlike before. Inside there were numerous soldiers and prison guards impaled by daggers, the same kind of dagger that thing was carrying. The corridor had so much blood on its floors, walls, and ceilings that it started turning black.

"I don't know who came in and killed them all. But they surely were furious about something. I hope that none of you were the cause of such things. It would be very unfortunate to meet this assailant."

Lucian paused before speaking again. He likely had the same feeling coming from that thing. Scratching his chin to carefully consider his next works. "I'm sure some soldiers foolishly charged inside believing themselves to be powerful enough to capture one such as you. As their superior, you have my deepest apologies."

"Hmm... Very well... Since you said sorry so nicely I'll let it slide... Now, I wonder why I sense my brother Solomon... Yet he isn't here."

They both turned to my party and I wished they hadn't. The thing imitating an Arcadian examined my features. I closed my eyes for just a second remembering I had to blink at some point. Yet by the time my eyes opened there he was, right in my face.

"You look awfully like Solomon," he said. "You've also got the Marker of The Fool. I wonder if that makes you him."

"S-S-S-Solomon is d-d-dead," I stammered, the sheer heart attack he could've given me being the cause. "Hmm... My brother is dead... That must mean those fools over there finally went mad in my absence."

He looked over me and waved. "Seraph it is nice to see you again dear sister... Still a crazed muscle-bound lunatic?"

"I'll never approach the lunacy of one such as yourself, Lord Edwin. Now if you'd please stop causing my charges such freight I'd appreciate it."

The thing called Edwin looked back and forth between Xain, Alice, and me then something dawned on him. "Excuse me where are my manners? I'm so sorry I just introduce myself."

I could've sworn I blinked again because as he finished speaking, all of the blood on him disappeared. He no longer held the dagger nor did he have on a straight jacket. He now wore a black suit with a red tie and a pair of black loafers.

"It is a pleasure to meet you youngling... I am Edwin Newton Wainwright... Also known as Edwin Newton Deathwright... I am one of the three brothers, one who holds the Marker of Death..."

He raised his hand for me to shake, and though it took a few seconds for me to want to shake his hand, I did. Then he did it again, somehow I'd ended up in the middle of the room together with him and Lucian. Still looking at me with a smile that sent several shivers down my spine he tilted his head. "Come on now boy... Introduce yourself..."

"I-I'm Soran Xenthos... Holder of the Fool and Commander of Nova Astra."

"Soran eh... I don't know why but I've heard that name before. Something about it is triggering a memory."

"In any case brother," Lucian interrupted. You should come with us. We are going to reclaim our homeland."

"Don't you think you're being a little rude little brother? Especially to our youngest... Ugh- It's not important. Alright out with it what is it that you want."

Lucian gulped, given the slight irritation on his face, he didn't like being rushed. "I want to restore the Arcadian people. I require all of our brethren to side with us new or old. Perhaps if you joined me then our youngest sibling might be more willing to cooperate."

Edwin remained silent for a moment, seriously giving the idea some thought. Which was not a good thing. I had no idea what Edwin's ability as Death was, and the fact that he can just pop us around anywhere he wanted speaks volumes of his power.

"Honestly, I'm not sure about that brother... Considering you were the one to drive us to this point in the first place."

Lucian raised a brow, seeming surprised. "You disappeared before the War of Sorrows... How did you know of it?"

"I did make a friend recently that filled me in on certain events. But that's not the point, how would you revive our near-dead race anyways? No secrets either, since most of us are true Arcadians in the room I want everyone to know."

Lucian was reluctant at first but even he'd be stupid to cross Edwin after seeing the carnage in the corridor. So he took a deep breath and then fixed his gaze on both of us.

"I seek the Arcanum Astra. The most powerful artifact that belongs to our people. I wish to rewrite history to save our people from my arrogance."