Neglect.
It stank up the place like the aftermath of a nuclear bomb.
The air was thick with it, the floor drenched in it, and the walls fermented in it to such an extent that the paint was pealing off. As long as Liam and Lesley had lived in that apartment, the place had never been as pathetic or filthy as it was now.
It's current occupant was on his single person bed, snoring like a sea of drowning pigs, his left leg dangling over the edge.
WARNING! SECURITY BREECHED! WARNING!
Liam woke up with a start, swearing as he reached for his V.C , also known as Visual Communicator, which was blaring bright red letters like blood.
His mind, foggy and fuzzy on the wave of numerous drugs, seemed to drag itself to consciousness like a criminal to an execution, yet for now he was operating on autopilot.
{Emergency Alert!
Security barrier has been breached!
Immediate Squad deployment requested!
Breeched Area: 2 km away
Squads deployed: Squad 15/ Squad 22/ Squad 36/ Squad 40
Commanding officer: Captain Rick Oxun
Meet up location identified}
Liam looked at the message, and read it twice, and then a third time for good measure. Like knives sinking in flesh, the information got into his lucid head and jolted his brain awake like thunder clapping.
"Shit!" Liam swore as he tripped out of bed, landing hard on the floor.
That minor skirmish didn't stop him as he scrambled around his messy house, trying to find his uniform. Finding it however would be an incredible feat, since messy, barely explained the state of the place.
Empty takeout boxes were discarded everywhere, as were kneedles, clothes that weren't all his and filthy dishes. Flies sat on dry chicken bones and leftover soup, cruising on mouldy bread like the guests of the titanic.
Liam had lost reason to clean his house days ago, and let it just be how it would be, which was an insult to human decency.
He didn't care though, since in most cases he didn't sleep at home anymore, but at cheap places with any warm body that wanted him. Not his Captain of course, since Rick stopped calling on him when he brought Popsy to his house.
Popsy.
Liam paused as he was putting on his sock and looked at some small pills and an inhalation pipe on the table. The name Popsy rang up his spine and into his skull like the poison of a siren's voice. His hand twitched as he thought about taking a small dose for the road, just to get his mind in the game.
He got up and reached out for it, swallowing with anticipation for the rush he'd soon be on.
"What are you doing?"
Liam paused and turned to a photo on the wall, a photo of a smiling teenager, holding a messy chocolate cake.
"I need a fix Les. I can't think without one." Liam talked to the silent picture.
"But that's not working. You're getting really sick." A voice, innocent and ethereal replied, seemingly coming from the photo and yet from everywhere.
If it had been a few weeks ago, Liam would have known that something was very wrong. That Lesley couldn't be talking to him, that he was spiralling into madness or had already succumbed to insanity. But, continuous use of Popsy, an unimaginable level of self loathing, self pity and bitter guilt, prevented him from seeing anything wrong.
"Maybe if you were still here, I wouldn't... I'm sorry. It's not your fault. I let you die." Liam sat on his sofa and reached for the inhalation pipe," I should have been there, I would have faught... kept you alive, instead of making you end up like Mom and Dad."
"It's okay. I am not angry with you. I'm never angry at you." The voice whispered in his ear, tingling his mind as he crushed the pills and stuffed the inhalation pipe.
"But I'm angry at myself. This helps me forget, helps me sleep... It's like I'm dead, and we're together." Liam took a small breath using the pipe and breathed out smoke vapor.
His chest eased, as did his fidgeting thoughts and shaking body. He shook his head and got up, ready to finish up and leave.
"Would you like to see me again?"
"Yes... You know I would." Liam strapped his belt and walked to the door," But you'll be madder if I tried."
He opened the door and was about to leave, when a hand grabbed his hand and pulled him back in. Liam was startled, but before he could say anything, a familiar face smiled at him.
A young man with green eyes and red hair stood before him, wearing an oversized blue jacket and dark blue sweat pants, whilst his feet were bare. He reached out and gave Liam two kisses on the cheek, smiling like a little kid.
"Hello."
"L.. Les... Lesley ?" Liam couldn't believe it. The voice, his cousin's voice, he'd thought it was fake, then real but never had he imagined his cousin would come back!
Lesley smiled and hugged him, an embrace that was sweet and kind. Liam's hands, slowly rose up and embraced him, tears flowing down his eyes as he started to cry.
"I'm...sorry! So...sorry! Hi-ccup! Les...I'm sorry!" Liam wept bitterly as Lesley rubbed his back gently.
Unbeknownst to him, Lesley's eyes turned from green, to a flaming orange.
...
In a dark and grisly chamber, a green flame burned on the black wick of a lonely candle. It's light didn't pierce the darkness but rather melded into it, as if they were one and the same.
A lone figure stood before the candle, watching it's flame with her own flaming red eyes.
Grimaire tilted her head slightly and gave a small sigh, not of disappointment but of bitter acknowledgement. The acknowledgement was for her sons, Liv and Lych, the two immortal souls within Lesley.
Few entities in the creation knew this, but for a candle to burn yet it's light slowly start to meld with the darkness of the underworld, meant they had a high affinity with the law of Death and could posses Immortal Laws. None ever did of course, she made sure of that, but still, to think her two children, first borns with her own law and Gaia would lead to this.
She couldn't feel more insulted now that they chose to follow a Primordial Spirit.
With a wave of her hand, a crimson bladed obsidian scythe appeared in her hand and she bashed the hilt to the ground.
Booom!
The chamber walls cracked as the room quaked and the walls crumbled like fractured biscuits. Spiralling cracks started to run along the walls, as the air started to be pulled in, or whatever passed for air in the underworld. Like a bomb preparing to implode, the wind plunged into itself, as if readying itself.
"Law Domain," Grimaire raised her scythe and waved it in a crimson arc," Release!"
Ahhhhhhhhhh!!
The screams of countless souls echoed throughout the realm as the walls exploded outward like from a nuclear blast. Wind lashed the floor, as the underworld took it's true form, no longer bound by its Mistress's whim. The cave walls were smashed to smithereens, rocks flew out like confetti and their ashy remains fell from the sky as grey snow. The ground, once bumpy and smooth, became jagged and rough, like the underside of a dead planet's mantle. A sky appeared, one pitch black with the grief of endless pain, regret and lost lives, with drifting blood red clouds that poured showers of blood wherever they roamed. An unfathomable swarm of candles rose up into air and swirled around, drifting like fairies in the wind, going where they wished.
Grimaire looked around her Law Domain and nodded her head, it was almost ready for her-
"Mother, I've brought him."
A blue eyed little boy with a pale and sickly complexion appeared from thin air wearing a bright smile. He wore baggy blue sweatpants, a hoodie and his face was dirty like he'd been buried alive.
"Oh? Here he is?" Grimaire looked at the unconscious floating body behind her son and nodded her head," Good. Now release the swordsman and the monster."
"Oh... I thought you wished me to do that earlier...if-"
"What do you mean my child?" Grimaire rose up and held his face," Did you free the monster before I told you to?"
"I... forgiveness. Forgive me Mother. I am sorry." Nuis apologized with black tears in his eyes and Death sighed softly.
Her scythe moved faster than the human eye and the boy was sliced in two before anyone could blink. However his insides did not hold any noticable organs, all that was visible was a mass of semiliquid light.
"You shall remain here, until I return with your Eldests souls. Act without permission again and you will spend an Eon in the Void outside the Realm Tree." She patted his cheek and vanished along with the mortal.
...
Lesley and Mel did not rush to the roaring sound they heard, but instead went back to the apartment.
The green eyed young man refused to let Veranda get anywhere near whatever had roared before. So, after dispatching some more straggling zombies and finding a room with a hatch, they locked Veranda in a safe place.
Lesley had to threaten to burn her board game with his magic fire if she thought about following him, which Veranda believed to be true.
Now, he was with Mel, running across the streets, heading to where a giant pillar of smoke rose up near the citadel wall. Lesley's heart was in his throat, his thoughts only of Liam and if he was safe.
[Aether level low]
[Cause: continuous use of {Undead Aura}]
[Aether Soul Sea: 80/320]
[Stamina level low]
[Stamina: 12/55]
"Shit." Lesley swore as he quickened his speed, looking ahead for any building to perch up on.
"Do you wish for me to carry you? It... could be faster." Mel suggested, he was not breathing heavily like he was going to pass out. Actually he wasn't breathing period, and Lesley remembered his limitless stamina.
"Okay...but piggyback." Lesley had flashback of being carried bridal style by him and he had no inclination to do that again.
A moment later, a red haired teenager was being rushed across the streets on the back of his blonde haired Familiar. After a few seconds, Lesley deactivated his [Dead Aura]. At level three, the skill lasted for 15 minutes with a five minute cool down period, but it still ate his Aether up and judging from that loud roar earlier, he would need his strength.
But with his ability deactivated, a vibrant aura of Aether wafted of him, and life force. Any nearby mid level zombie sensed it and started to run after them.
Mel however was a High level zombie and The Primordial Familiar, he left them in the dust far behind them.
Lesley closed his eyes and focused, trusting Mel to keep him safe. He wanted to see if he could sense Mana again, because what The Bloodline interface said really stuck with him.
How could the world be filled with Mana but the undead be filled with Aether?
He'd tried asking it, but it did not have an answer. Surprisingly, it's memory was limited along with it's information, all because it was an incomplete bloodline. That really sucked, but it was still useful and for things it couldn't answer, Lesley would have to figure out himself.
Darkness covered his vision as he focused hard, blocking the growls of zombies, the pounding of Mel's feet in the ground and the heaviness of his own breathing.
Be calm and think, he thought, be calm and focus. He'd practiced all the way from the cemetery to the apartment, Veranda's ceaseless attention seeking was more distracting than anything.
He personally believed he could focus through a nuclear explosion now.
Flickering little lights appeared in the darkness before him, like the tiniest yet brightest fireflies. Lesley watched them, their erratic and unorganised patterns in the expanse. The patterns, the colours, now a spiral of various hues compared to back at the cemetery.
I can almost... feel them, he thought in wonder, what if I touched them? If I really tried this time.
He released one of his hands from around Mel's neck, and tried to reach out with his fingertips. But his body in the darkness was odd, greyed out like on an x-ray, yet inside were sparks of light and dark green.
Lesley paid it no mind and tried to touch the mana light or whatever it was called. Like before, they phased through him, like air passing by solid matter, or dust passing by stone.
Come on, he thought strongly, focus... focus...FOCUS.
A slight tremble overcame the mana light near his hand and they started to move towards him, like flies to an electric bug zapper. Lesley smiled as they drew closer and... sunk into him?
Like parasites they zipped towards him, digging into him and he felt a vibrant tingling sensation all over his skin. It felt euphoric, like a rising rush of bliss, promising power and untold potential.
His thoughts became hazy as the mana built up in his body, exhilarating and unimaginably heavenly. The rushing sensation of being filled was intoxicating and he couldn't stop.
He didn't want to.
[Host is advised to stop]
[Mana absorption is haphazardly and can lead to self-destruction without Cultivation Technique]
[Warning!]
[Mana poisoning]
Lesley couldn't hear the Bloodline interface.
Or he didn't want to.
He wasn't sure anymore.
The feeling was just too good!
[Bloodline initiating se-]
[Error!Error!]
[??? Interference detected]
[...Beware]
*Mana is but a tool. Use it. Do not be used*
As if struck by lightning, Lesley woke up with a start and almost fell off Mel.
"Les, are you ...alright?" Mel asked slowly," You were... becoming hot... And heavy."
Lesley opened his mouth to answer but coughed out a splash of blood, as a brutal headache overtook him.
"Fucking hell!" Lesley swore as blood dribbled from his mouth, his nose and eye sockets bled," What's... fucking happening?"
[Host is suffering from backlash of over using his {Primordial Perception} and new ability]
[Host has suffered minor Mana poisoning]
[Host must expell excess mana]
[Host health is still dropping]
"Wait, what? New ability?" Lesley wiped the blood from his mouth with his scarf," Show me."
[Host is still poisoned]
"How can i cure myself if I don't know what new ability I have first?" Lesley asked as he sat down on an overturned car.
[??? - ???]
[Error!]
[Bloodline interface is incapable of analysing your ability]
[It is not from the Bloodline]
"What? Then where did it come from?" Lesley frowned as an uneasy feeling arose in his chest.
[Information Unknown]
"That...is very worrying. Shit, okay. I can deal with this later. First," Lesley opened his left hand and closed his eyes, his focus coming easier now.
A kaleidoscope of colours were around him, twisting like birds caught in a storm. This was the mana rampaging inside his body, because he had no passageway for it to flow, meaning it was slowly tearing him apart from the inside.
Mana is a tool, he thought, I use it, it doesn't use me. As soon as that thought entered his head, the mana flew out from his body, expunged like lice or fleas in a fire.
Lesley felt a momentary sense of relief before he noticed the mana was flying before him now, gathered as if by a strong will.
The mana gathered, smashed together, regardless of affinity or laws, as they formed the sigil of an eye. The sigil was huge, bloody red and black, glaring and intense.
It gazed ahead, it's retina stationary, like a painting in the darkness behind Lesley's eyes.
Slowly, the pupil moved and looked at Lesley, before vanishing in a swirl of energy and the chaos of mana returned.
"Les, there is trouble." Mel's voice snapped Lesley from what the boy hoped was a deluded part of his imagination acting out from the mana poisoning.
"What is it?" Lesley opened his eyes and looked to where Mel was gazing, and his heart grew ice cold.
A shadowy figure stood a few feet from them, high up on the top of a department store. Her dress of black lace, satin and crown of golden bones, was as striking as her dead fish blue eyes. In her left hand was an ethereal hourglass with dark blue sand and in her right hand was a crimson obsidian scythe.
But none of that mattered to Lesley at the moment.
What mattered to him was the person she had kneeling before her.