Opening his eyes, Luciel found himself once again in the endless dark void, the darkness swirling and churning as though alive.
[Hello, Luciel.]
The voice of the mysterious figure called out from behind him.
"What happened to my body?" asked Luciel as he turned to face the mysterious figure, now a male form seated on a throne made of bones.
[Getting straight to business, I see. Well, don't worry about your body. It's currently being repaired.]
'Repaired? By what? By whom? Well, whatever, at least I'm not dead.', thought Luciel, letting out a sigh of relief.
[You really care about your body, huh?], asked the mysterious figure, its crimson eyes gleaming with amusement and interest.
"Who are you?", asked Luciel as he brought his attention back to the seated figure.
[Ah, right! I haven't introduced myself.]
[I am the end of all.]
[The inevitable.]
[I...]
VWOOSH
Waves of energy surged throughout the dark space as the figure spoke.
[am…]
VWOOSH
[Death.]
VWOOSH
The void shook violently at the figure's proclamation, wails and screams echoing through the rumbling.
CRACK
Luciel unconsciously took a step back as he took in the figure's maniacal face; its lips twisted into an unsettling grin and its eyes burned with an uncanny madness.
CRACK
[No need to be afraid, Luciel, you can simply call me Morte.]
SHATTER
The void crumbled into millions of pieces as the entity revealed its true name.
***
Waking up, Luciel once again found himself in an unfamiliar place. The smell of sterilizers and different chemicals barraged his nostrils as he took a sharp breath in.
COUGH
COUGH
"Oh? Are you finally awake?~" A sweet and melodic voice called out from Luciel's side, startling him.
RATTLE
RATTLE
The chains around his arms and feet shook as he tried to get away from the source of the voice, but soon stopped as he realised his entire body was being suspended in the air.
"Hm? Why are you so scared of me?~"
In an instant, Luciel spread out his ethyr as he tried to locate the source of the enchanting voice.
But as his ethyr came into contact with what was speaking, he felt dumbfounded.
'A rabbit?', he thought.
"Why aren't you answering?~", asked the rabbit-like figure as she hopped closer to him.
"…"
Luciel remained silent as he observed the approaching figure, while steadily scanning his surroundings.
He was inside a strange room; rows of shelves filled with bottles of chemicals lined the wall to his right, a long table filled with different scientific equipment to his left, and a long mounted robotic arm hung behind him.
"Hmm~ Now that I look at you closely, you look even more delicious than you did through the hologram.", said the figure as she leaped off the floor and onto the table, her form changing from that of a rabbit to that of a cat.
'What is this thing talking about?', thought Luciel.
"Maybe I should just eat you now.~", said the figure as its small feline jaw grew and stretched unbelievably wide, readying to devour Luciel.
RATTLE
RATTLE
Luciel's chains rattled as he tried to free himself, his heart pounding violently against his chest.
SWOOSH
But before Luciel could be devoured, the sound of doors sliding open followed by the sound of metallic footsteps-
TIP
TAP
Drew his and the figure's attention before the figure shifted its form into that of an insect, flying away and disappearing from the room.
As the mysterious shapeshifting figure disappeared, a familiar silhouette of a man walked into the room.
The sound of the man's footsteps was barely above that of a whisper; his movements slow and deliberate.
The man stretched out his hand in a swift motion, grabbed a chair from the side of the door, and pulled it until he was in front of Luciel.
"What's your name?", asked Ghost as he sat in the chair in front of Luciel.
"…"
Luciel remained silent, observing Ghost with his ethyr as Ghost slowly scrutinized him.
"Will you not speak?", asked Ghost.
"…"
"Very well.", said Ghost as he made a small signaling gesture.
And after a few seconds, Luciel could hear the long robotic arm behind him as it stretched closer to him.
CLICK
WHIRL
The sound of gears turning as the long robotic arm approached his back sent shivers down Luciel's spine.
"Luciel. That's my name", said Luciel, his voice and face maintaining a calm demeanor despite his racing heart.
"What do you know about Deities, Luciel?"
"Deities? Do you mean the fairytales?", asked Luciel, genuinely surprised by the unexpected question.
"Hmm. So you really don't know about them."
"…"
"Very well, I shall explain."
Luciel remained silent, eager to hear the man's explanation, and after a few minutes of listening, Luciel had come to these understandings: Deities were the actualized forms of certain concepts and elements; Darkness, Light, Weather, etc.
And even Life and Death themselves.
These Deities held immense power and control over their concept or element, allowing them to bestow attributes of their power to different individuals and bloodlines through special contracts.
"Ok, but what does all this have to do with me?", asked Luciel.
"I was getting to that.", said Ghost, his annoyance from Luciel's interruption evident in his tone.
"…"
"Through these contracts, Deities can take control of their contactee's body for a set amount of time, elevating their power to the next level. But an individual can only do this if they have a direct contract with the Deity."
"Yet despite searching your body in and out, there was no sign of a contract.", Ghost continued.
"So my next question for you is. Where is it?", asked Ghost as he searched for any shifts in Luciel's demeanor.
The question hung in the air as Ghost gazed into Luciel's unfocused red eyes; searching for even the slightest reaction.
HUM
The soft hum of the air conditioner, followed by the rhythmic beeps of the robotic arm, cut through the silence before Luciel parted his lips.
"I don't know.", replied Luciel, his gaze never leaving the ground as he maintained his nonchalant demeanor.
"Very well.", said Ghost, his voice calm and measured.
Yet despite Ghost's displayed composure, Luciel could sense the small, almost nonexistent, shift in his demeanor.
'He's mad.', thought Luciel, a small, rare, almost nonexistent smile creeping onto his face.
Not noticing the small smile on Luciel's face, Ghost swiftly stood from his seat as he approached the table lined with different gadgets.
Grabbing one gadget, Ghost approached the suspended Luciel and placed it around his neck before making a signalling gesture.
In an instant, the chains suspending Luciel in the air broke free, dropping him unceremoniously onto the floor.
'Argh', he groaned internally as he felt the ache in his shoulders and feet.
'What happened to my body?', Luciel wondered.
His body felt sluggish and drained of all energy as he slowly stood up, his legs trembling with every step before he collapsed to the floor.
"Hm? It seems the TRS took a greater toll on your body than I expected.", said Ghost as he observed Luciel struggle to get up from the floor, his tone calm and stoic.
But Luciel could sense the shift in Ghost's demeanor as he watched him struggle.
The thought of Ghost enjoying his suffering sent a surge of determination through his body as he mustered all his remaining energy to stand up.
But before Luciel could move his body to stand, a sudden energy wrapped around him, lifting him off the floor in a single motion.
'Whoa!'
Luciel felt dumbfounded as his entire body levitated against his will.
"What's going on?", asked Luciel as he tried to maintain his nonchalant demeanor, despite his racing heart.
"…"
***
TIP
TAP
Metallic footsteps rang out as Ghost led Luciel's floating body through a long, narrow tunnel, his long matte black hair swaying only inches from the metallic floor.
Luciel had stopped his resistance as he realised he couldn't break free from the unknown energy that encased him.
And after a few minutes of Ghost's footsteps, the two promptly came to a stop in front of a wide metallic door.
And as the door slid open, Luciel could feel the sensation of a familiar ethyr tag at his senses, drawing his attention.
But in an instant, the unknown energy that wrapped around Luciel vanished as he levitated into the room; his body once again dropping unceremoniously to the floor.
SHRRR
CLUNK
"I hope you continue to survive.", said Ghost as the metallic door behind Luciel slid shut.