“A few remnants of my past.. From him.”
This simple answer ignited the flames of indignation in Sacrifice, who felt attacked and embarrassed. He was being accused of meddling in human matters, and while not untrue, for it to be pointed out in front of so many low tier aspects of existence was too much of an insult.
With a powerful motion, he barged in between the two aspects of existence who had been conversing in front of him, pushing them aside, and strided towards the young man and old lady. “How many of my servants are suffering at the mercy of your filthy power?” He asked with a flat voice.
It was only after asking this rhetorical question, that he acknowledged the presence of Death, in front of whom he bowed politely. “Lady Death. I hope you can arbitrate on this matter for us.” He then added. In his tone Daniel could hear a degree of reverence. A given, considered how deeply the existential powers of sacrifice and death were tied together.
“Of course, what other reason would I have to leave my domain and be here..” the old lady muttered to herself sarcastically, clearly annoyed by her underling’s request.
The aspect of Sacrifice was quick to pick up on the woman’s state of mind, and yet he chose to ignore it. While his nature was subservient to hers, the two had hardly ever met. After all, the aspect of Death spent the entirety of her existence within her own realm of existence, the underworld. And just like the aspect of Spirit, who lived within the spiritual world, she had only stepped out of her domain a number of times that could be counted with the fingers of two human hands.
“A multitude of mortals have been intruding within my domain, killing my champions, and disrupting the natural influence of my power.” Sacrifice claimed while slowly raising his pale arms to remove the hood that had covered the entirety of his appearance, save for a pair of glowing blood-red eyes.
The creature that appeared underneath the hood was a man in his late teens, fair skinned, with close to no imperfection. With his relaxed blonde brows, pale thin lips and a straight, thin nose, he expressed a sense of pure superiority and aloofness, one which was drastically different from the palpable anger his eyes portrayed.
Almost bored by the young man’s words, Lady Death slowly sat back on her chair, grabbed the pair of iron knitting needles that were resting on her legs, and resumed knitting. “Mortals fighting mortals. In what way would that be considered any of your business?” She asked as the tip of her needles danced around each other, dragging along a pitch black thread.
“In the way he is aiding them.”
Death’s needles slowed down slightly. What Sacrifice had told her was the truth, after all, she could still see the deathly essence linger around Daniel’s body.. But while her sight had preemptively verified what her underling had revealed to her, that did not mean that she knew the circumstances that had led to Daniel’s interference. For all she had known, some mortals could have challenged him, unaware of his nature as an aspect of existence. In which case, delivering punishment would have been not only acceptable, but quite common.
What Sacrifice was insinuating, however, was that Daniel was purposely using his power to cut the lives of mortals, and that she could not agree with.
“Is this true?” Her head turned to the side, as her deep and dark eyes met with Daniel’s relaxed and calm figure, who nodded quietly in response. Death, of course, did not seem too fond of the answer she had received.
Sacrifice, encouraged by Death’s reaction, casually brushed his hands down his silky robe with anger, before adding, “As you know, my Lady, the pantheon is in turmoil, and direct intervention has been allowed.. However, it was presumed that our kind would fight amongst each other. That was the bottom line.”
Daniel, amused by Sacrifice’s attempt, began scratching the stubble that had grown on his deceivingly young face. From the depths of his throat came a chuckle. “You are selective with the meaning of ‘interference’. As I recall, you are keeping many of my followers and descendants trapped as well.”
“Nonsense! I am standing right in front of you.” Sacrificed responded with an indignation that did not match his indifferent expression. His eyes, however, had narrowed further. In them Daniel could see a hint of doubt buried underneath a never ending hostility.
This spark of doubt did not escape the eyes of Death, who had now turned to look back at him with as much sternness as she had reserved for Daniel.
Before Sacrifice could make any attempt at explaining himself, however, Daniel continued. “You cannot hide behind the eyes of Destiny’s gift.”
The mention of one of the champions of Destiny was enough to halt any form of conversation, causing each of the surrounding aspects of existence to turn towards the three individuals with newfound interest.
“A blurry picture might not tell me what the image shows, but it certainly tells me that someone wanted to hide it.” Daniel explained calmly. To him, this was all the proof he needed, and yet, as he looked around, he realized that what he had done, rather than prove his claim, was to confess to a crime of his own.. One much more severe than simple interference.
Nevertheless, despite the loss of favor, Daniel maintained his composure. These entities were outside of their individual domains, and together, they were standing within what was called a shared universe. An universe that had long been abandoned by its previous owner, and that was now slowly regaining life. A perfect territory for many of the multiverse’s independent groups who, through specific agreements, had come to great lengths to ensure that the influence of most aspects of existence would maintain a certain balance.
The Golden Peak Mountain sect was one of these groups, specifically tasked with maintaining the influences of War, Death, Authority and several other domains to acceptable levels. To counter them was the Prism Utopia, a society of peaceful merchants whose nature affected the influences of the aspects of Peace, Wealth, Community and many others.
It was only within this type of universe that many aspects of existence felt comfortable meeting, as they had all lived long enough to make everlasting friends, as well as everlasting enemies.
Surprised by the crowd’s reaction, Daniel raised his hands in a theatrical sign of surrender. “Don’t look at me like that, many of you have done the same in the past. He is doing it right now.”
The attention of the several aspects of existence shifted once again, landing onto a concerned expression they had never seen, throughout all these years, on Sacrifice’s face. This time, however, the aspects of existence were not simply observing, but making plans, and offering threatening looks.
Contrary to Daniel, who was a new aspect of existence, Sacrifice had existed almost as long as mortals had been around. Uncountable were the years he had had to memorize and abide by the pantheon’s rules, and the order to kill any champion of Destiny on sight was one of the most important ones. One written by the all-father, the lord of all, seer of the one true future and one of the few aspects of his rank.. Fate.
Being associated with a champion of Destiny, for Sacrifice in particular, would have been a slap to Fate’s face, especially considering how deeply his nature was tied to the latter’s. Everything that Sacrifice was, existed within the domain of Fate.
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“I don’t know what you are talking about.” He said as the unease disappeared from his face, and he regained his usual indifferent look. “The number of that filth’s spawn that I have personally destroyed throughout the years is far higher than the number of years you’ve been alive, pup.”
A smile crept across Daniel’s face. “Then you are unaware of the one squatting in your older universe, I presume?”
A shiver ran down Sacrifice’s spine. “If such filth was located within one of my many universes, I would know nothing of it.”
Danel’s lips curved downwards, and his head bobbed up and down in agreement. “Well of course, you wouldn’t associate with them. I am sure your champions would confirm that.” he then uttered as a small spark of golden light emerged from his right pupil. This spark, bright and vivid, soon grew to the size of a common human, dying down soon after to reveal the presence of a woman hidden inside.
This woman was curled up in a fetal position. Her head, buried deep in between her knees as her arms hugged her legs, she was visibly shaking, horrified by whatever hell had gotten a hold of her while caged within Daniel’s power.
Immediately, Sacrifice recognized this woman for who she was, one of his oldest champions, as well as one of the generals sent to fight off the joined armies of Der and Roley. “Surely she will be able to confirm what you have told us.” Daniel spoke as the woman, perceiving the presence of her lord, turned her head to the side. In her eyes hope had been ignited. Hope that she could escape the fate that she was facing.
“My Lord!” she sobbed in between moans, and yet, she soon began to gasp. Her fingers approached her throat, grasping at a pair of invisible hands, but before anything could be done for her, her thin neck snapped to the side, bent in a ninety degrees angle.
In a matter of moments since her release, she had died a death that, to the observing aspects of existence, appeared like a signed confession.
The observing aspects of existence looked at Sacrifice with narrowed eyes. His expression now matched perfectly with his angered gaze. “You will pay for this.” Sacrifice growled in a deep and guttural voice.
Daniel’s sly smile quickly turned into a genuine one, as the golden light within his body emerged like a swarm of flies that had tasted freedom for the very first time. His power engulfed the entire asteroid, shrouding not only Sacrifice’s power, but also all other powers of existence, and causing their wielders to feel that their sense of sight had become somewhat of a hindrance.
Sacrifice, shocked by the demonstration of power, took a step back. This universe did not contain anywhere near enough of his influence to compete, and fighting now would mean death. Luckily for him, however, death was exactly what had come to his aid.
From the already dark depths of the universe, an immense amount of deathly power converged in their direction, forming a cluster of dark mist that clashed with Daniel’s golden power upon contact.
At first, the power of Karma was able to resist the onslaught, but as each second passed, the amount of deathly essence increased by twofold, forcing the golden light to retreat back to the proximity of Daniel’s body.
As the surroundings cleared of Daniel’s body, the observing entities noticed that the old lady was once again standing, yet the target of her gaze was not Daniel, whose power she had just wrestled with, but Sacrifice. “Visit high Lord Fate immediately. Beg for forgiveness, and hope that it isn’t within his knowledge that he’ll send you to meet me again today.” She ordered.
Sacrifice, unable to talk back to his superior, looked back with a mixture of fear, anger. He did not look forward to what came next, and he most definitely did not appreciate the entity that had caused this entire mess. “Face me within my domain, I dare you.” He barked in Daniel’s direction.
“Ah, I’ll face you right here.” Daniel responded after a brief chuckle.
In Sacrifice’s eyes, this meeting had been a complete loss. Death awaited at every step he took, be that by facing Daniel here, ignoring the old lady’s commands, or meeting Fate soon after. He had reached a fork in the road, and each path was worse than the other.
A deep anger had set at the bottom of his throat, like a piece of food that was struggling to be ingested. A very human feeling he had never had the displeasure of experiencing. It was with this state of mind that he turned around, and with a flash of blood red light, disappeared.
As his presence dissipated into the unknown, a few words resounded, left behind for others to ponder on, “Do not cast me, your kin, away for working with a monster. Not when this outsider is creating them.”
