[Hamilton, Canada]
Ivy and Anna, their laughter a bright counterpoint to the city's hum, strolled down the crowded avenue. Their shopping bags, filled with a mix of everyday necessities and carefully chosen magical components, swung gently at their sides. Ivy's auburn hair, woven into a thick braid, swayed with each step, while Anna's raven locks, meticulously arranged, partially obscured the subtle points of her ears. They moved with an easy familiarity, their conversation flowing in the melodic cadences of their native Elvish tongue, a language that served as both comfort and camouflage in the human world.
Ivy: The moonpetal essence was a fortunate find, (she remarked, her emerald eyes sparkling with satisfaction.) I was beginning to fear we'd have to wait for the next harvest.
Anna: Indeed, (She replied, her voice a soft, gentle harmony.) And the star-silk thread is of exceptional quality. The vendor assured me it was woven under the light of a waxing crescent.
They turned a corner, their path leading them down a narrow, dimly lit street. A figure detached itself from the shadows of an alleyway, his presence a sudden intrusion into their peaceful stroll. He was young, his face hidden beneath the worn hood of a dark sweatshirt, but the tension in his stance, the nervous twitch of his fingers, spoke of desperation. He licked his lips, his gaze fixed on their shopping bags, his eyes glinting with a predatory hunger.
He stepped into their path, blocking their way. His voice, a low, guttural growl, carried a tremor of fear and a hint of forced bravado.
Mugger: Alright, hand it over. (He extended a trembling hand, a cheap switchblade glinting menacingly in the dim light of a nearby streetlight.)
Ivy's breath hitched, a wave of fear washing over her. Her eyes widened, her gaze darting between the mugger and her sister. Anna, however, remained calm, her shoulders squared, her gaze unwavering. She stepped forward, her movements fluid and graceful, her hand already moving, fingers flexing in anticipation.
Anna: We have nothing for you, (she said, her voice firm, her tone unwavering.)
The hooded figure lunged, his movements clumsy and desperate. He grabbed at Ivy's purse, his hand reaching out with surprising speed. Anna reacted instantly, her reflexes honed by years of training. She sidestepped, her foot hooking behind his ankle, sending him stumbling. He lost his balance, the switchblade clattering to the ground. She used his momentum to spin him around, his back now facing her. With a swift, precise movement, she grabbed his wrist, twisting it sharply. A pained grunt escaped his lips, but he didn't give up, his other hand reaching out, attempting to strike her.
Mugger: Let go of me, you witch! (He snarled, struggling against her grip, his voice laced with fear and anger.)
Anna's grip tightened, her eyes flashing with a fierce light.
Anna: You should have walked away. (She pushed him away, but he was still trying to get to them, his eyes filled with a desperate rage.)
From a distance, Revan's senses were a fractured symphony of darkness and distorted sound. The world was a void, punctuated only by the rhythmic thumping of his own heart and the ragged breaths of the figures before him. A faint, crimson thread pulsed in his vision, leading him down the street, an ethereal path through the darkness. As he drew closer, the figures resolved into distinct shapes. Two of them shimmered with a soft, light green glow, their forms radiating a gentle energy. The third pulsed with a darker, muddied blue that slowly began to bleed into a chaotic red, a visual representation of the turmoil within him. He paused, his gaze fixed on the scene unfolding before him, his mind a blank slate, his body a vessel waiting for instruction.
Just as Anna twisted the mugger's wrist, a voice, a low, guttural whisper, echoed in Revan's mind, a command that resonated deep within his soul. "Do it, Revan... You know you want to." The command was immediate, instinctive, a primal urge that overrode all other thoughts.
Revan moved, a swift, silent motion, a blur of darkness against the fading light. His hand shot out, not towards the mugger, but towards Anna. His fingers closed around her throat, his grip tightening with inhuman strength.
Anna gasped, her eyes widening in shock, her body frozen in place. The mugger, startled, took another step back, his eyes wide with disbelief, his hand still outstretched, frozen in a gesture of failed aggression.
Ivy screamed, her voice a high-pitched cry of terror, a sound that echoed through the empty street. She reached out, her fingers grasping at the air, her mind unable to process the speed of the events, the sudden, terrifying turn of events.
Revan's grip tightened, his strength inhuman, his touch draining the life from her. Anna's struggles weakened, her eyes losing focus, her body going limp. The mugger stared, frozen in place, his face a mask of confusion and fear, his hand still outstretched, a silent testament to his failed attempt at robbery.
Then, in a blink of an eye, both Anna and the mugger vanished, swallowed by the shadows, leaving Ivy alone, her scream echoing in the sudden silence. The hooded figure was gone, swallowed by the encroaching darkness, and Anna... Anna was just gone, erased from existence. The mugger's switchblade lay on the ground, a cold, metallic reminder of the chaos that had just unfolded, a silent witness to the sudden, inexplicable disappearance.
(Location– unknown)
The world twisted, colors blurring into a dizzying kaleidoscope before snapping into sharp focus. One moment, Anna had been facing a desperate mugger, the next, the grimy alleyway had been replaced by a bizarre landscape. Jagged, obsidian structures clawed at a sky that bled crimson and violet. The air crackled with an unnatural energy, a palpable sense of wrongness that made her Elven senses scream in protest. Beside her, the mugger, his eyes wide with terror, stumbled, his cheap switchblade clattering uselessly on the alien ground.
Mugger: What the... where are we? (He stammered, his voice trembling.)
Anna's hand instinctively went to her throat, a phantom sensation of Revan's grip still lingering. She scanned their surroundings, her mind racing. This was no ordinary place. The very fabric of reality felt distorted, alien.
A guttural groan echoed through the strange landscape. Revan materialized a few feet away, his silhouette stark against the bizarre sky. He was panting, his hand clutched to his head, his eyes flickering between a menacing red and a softer, confused violet. He looked disoriented, lost.
Revan: What... what happened? (he rasped, his voice thick with pain.)
Revan glanced down at his hands, as if surprised to find them there. He noticed Anna and the mugger, his eyes widening in what seemed like dawning horror. He took a step towards them, his expression shifting from confusion to a desperate attempt at concern.
Revan: Who... a-ar-are you... are you alright? (he stammered, reaching out a hand towards Anna.)
Before he could take another step, a voice, smooth and laced with amusement, cut through the tension.
"Now, now, Revan, let's not get ahead of ourselves."
A figure materialized from the shadows of one of the obsidian structures. He was a tall, slender man, dressed in a striking maroon suit. He sat casually on a floating, ornate chair, a bag of chips in his hand. He popped a chip into his mouth, his dark eyes twinkling with a strange amusement.
Revan froze, his hand dropping to his side. His eyes, now a steady violet, fixed on the man in maroon.
Revan: You... I killed you. (He spoke, his voice low and dangerous.)
The man in maroon chuckled, taking another chip.
MIM: Nope. You didn't, Belmont.
He gestured around them with a flourish.
MIM: Welcome, to Earth 23.C by the way.
Revan: What?
MIM: You were in a world not of your own, Revan. I thought you would have figured that out sooner.
Revan's confusion deepened.
Revan: My world? What are you talking about?
The man in maroon sighed dramatically.
MIM: Oh, Revan, you really have been out of it, haven't you? Your world... well, let's just say it's no more. A rather selfish speedster, a fellow by the name of Harvey, decided to play god. He… reshaped things.
A flicker of rage ignited in Revan's eyes, a crimson spark in the violet.
Revan: Harvey... I heard that name before... Who is that?
The man in maroon's smile widened.
MIM: The reason why you're free from that little… predicament you were in. And the reason you're no longer quite human, my dear Revan.
The man in maroon's words hung in the air, a chillingly persuasive symphony of chaos and control. He watched Revan, his dark eyes gleaming with a predatory intensity, gauging the effect of his carefully crafted narrative.
MIM: You see, Revan," (he continued, his voice laced with a persuasive cadence,) Harvey's little… 'reshaping' wasn't just about destroying your world. He tore holes in the fabric of reality, unleashing things that should have remained locked away. Things that threaten not just this world, but countless others.
He gestured around them, his arm sweeping across the bizarre landscape.
MIM: This place is just one example. A fractured reality, a consequence of Harvey's actions. But there are far worse things out there, Revan. Horrors beyond your wildest nightmares.
He paused, letting his words sink in.
MIM: Creatures of pure chaos, entities that feed on suffering, realities twisted into nightmarish parodies of themselves. And they're all pouring through the cracks Harvey opened.
He snapped his fingers, and a shimmering portal opened in the air before them. Through the portal, they saw a glimpse of another world, a twisted, grotesque landscape. Jagged, fleshy tendrils writhed across a sky choked with sickly green smog. Grotesque, insect-like creatures with razor-sharp mandibles swarmed across the landscape, their clicking and hissing sounds echoing through the portal.
MIM: This, (he spoke, his voice low and ominous,) is just a taste of what Harvey has unleashed. A world where reality itself has been corrupted, where suffering is the only constant. And it's spreading, Revan. Infecting other worlds, consuming everything in its path.
He closed the portal with a flick of his wrist, the grotesque image vanishing.
MIM: These… things… they're drawn to chaos, to death. And you, Revan, you are now a conduit for that very force. You are death incarnate.
He leaned forward, his eyes gleaming with a predatory intensity.
MIM: What Harvey has done, can't be controlled, can't be overlooked. It needs to be corrected. By. You...
Revan: How? (He asked, his voice a low growl, a flicker of desperate hope igniting within him.)
MIM: By doing what you do best... Kill. Remember what I said to you about millions dying? (The man in maroon's voice took on a sharper edge.)
Revan: Yeah? (His brow furrowed, his mind grappling with the implications.)
MIM: Well surprise, surprise. This is it! I didn't really finish off the kill list—it was Harvey. But those people, oh... being alive for that amount of time, created a problem. (He gestured vaguely, his tone suggesting a vast, incomprehensible threat.)
Revan: ...Why? Why should it be me? (Revan demanded, a mix of anger and despair in his voice.) Why am I the one who has to do this?
MIM: Because you're death. It's part of the job, man. (The man in maroon shrugged, his tone casual, almost dismissive.) It's your nature now, your purpose.
He paused, letting his words hang in the air, the weight of his pronouncements settling on Revan's shoulders.
MIM: Think about it, Revan. You can be the reason why there'll be balance in the universes, be the FIRST grim human to exist. You can cull the worst of the horrors Harvey has unleashed, preventing them from spreading further. You can become the ultimate judge, deciding who lives and who dies, hell, you can have revenge on Harvey. (The man in maroon's voice dripped with a seductive promise.)
He held out his hand, palm up, as if offering a gift.
MIM: If you want... You can even free her from her... curse.
Revan's breath hitched, his gaze snapping to the man in maroon, a flicker of raw, desperate hope igniting in his eyes.
Revan: Lyra? (he whispered, his voice thick with a longing that had been buried beneath layers of grief and rage.) I can free Lyra?
The man in maroon's smile widened, a predatory gleam in his dark eyes.
MIM: Indeed. Her… condition… is a direct consequence of the chaos Harvey unleashed. A ripple effect, if you will. But with your newfound abilities, with your connection to death itself, you can sever that connection, release her from her spectral tether.
Revan's heart pounded in his chest, a frantic rhythm against the silence of the alien landscape. He looked at the space the shimmering portal was at, the grotesque image of the corrupted world still burned into his mind. He thought of Lyra, her gentle spirit trapped, bound to him by a cruel twist of fate.
Revan: What do I have to do? (he asked, his voice low and devoid of emotion, a chillingly calm acceptance settling over him.)
The man in maroon's smile widened, a triumphant expression that revealed his true nature.
MIM: You already know the answer to that... (He raised his hand, gesturing towards the mugger and Anna.)
Revan's gaze shifted to the mugger, his eyes now a steady, unwavering purple. The man's face was a mask of terror, his eyes wide with a primal fear. He stammered, his voice a broken whisper, "Please… don't…"
Revan's hand shot out, a blur of motion. His fingers closed around the mugger's throat, his grip tightening with inhuman strength.
The mugger's final, ragged breath rattled in his throat, a wet, gurgling sound that abruptly ceased. His eyes, wide with a terror that lingered even in death, stared blankly at the alien sky. His body, once a vessel of desperate intent, now a discarded husk, slumped to the obsidian ground, a stark, lifeless contrast against the bizarre, crimson-tinged landscape. Revan's gaze, a chilling, unwavering purple, shifted to Anna, his expression a mask of cold, detached purpose.
Anna's breath hitched, a silent scream trapped within her throat, her heart pounding a frantic rhythm against her ribs. She didn't flinch, however, her stance a rigid defiance, a desperate attempt to project an illusion of strength in the face of overwhelming power. The air around Revan shimmered, a palpable distortion of reality, a visual manifestation of the dark energy that pulsed within him.
Revan: Forgive me, (he said, his voice a flat, emotionless drone, a chillingly calm pronouncement of her impending demise.)
Anna: N-No, wait. You dont have to do this...
Revan: I have to.
Anna's lips parted, a single, desperate word escaping.
Anna: Why?
Revan: Because I can, (Revan replied, his voice a low, chilling murmur, devoid of any hint of remorse.) You being alive will cause everyone else to die earlier than their times.
He closed the distance between them, his movements fluid and deliberate, his presence radiating an unnerving calm. Anna's hand twitched towards the hidden dagger at her hip, a useless gesture, a desperate attempt to cling to a semblance of control.
Anna: You won't get away with this, (she hissed, her voice trembling slightly, but her gaze unwavering, her defiance a fragile shield against the encroaching darkness.) You're a monster killing innocent people!
Revan: I am death, (Revan's lips curled into a ghost of a smile, a chillingly detached expression.) Innocent or not, I HAVE to do it.
A pulse of shimmering light erupted from Anna's fingertips, a concentrated burst of pure Elven energy aimed directly at Revan. He moved with surprising agility, a blur of motion, the energy dissipating harmlessly against his armored form, leaving a faint, ethereal shimmer in the air.
Anna, her heart pounding against her ribs, summoned tendrils of pure light, weaving them into a shimmering, constricting net, attempting to ensnare him. Revan weaved through the energy strands with a fluid grace that belied his hulking form, his movements precise and efficient, his hand-to-hand combat experience evident in every strike, a deadly dance of evasion and aggression. A sharp crack echoed through the desolate landscape as his fist connected with Anna's jaw, sending her reeling, her head snapping back.
Light shards erupted from Anna's hands, a desperate barrage of concentrated energy, a frantic attempt to overwhelm him with sheer force. Revan deflected them with his armored forearms, the metallic clang of impacts ringing through the air, each strike echoing with a chilling resonance. He countered, his blows landing with brutal efficiency, each strike draining her already weakening energy reserves.
Anna, her movements sluggish, her Elven powers flickering erratically, summoned a blinding flash of light, a desperate attempt to momentarily disorient him. She used the opportunity to create distance, drawing her hidden daggers, their blades gleaming with a desperate sharpness. She lunged, her movements swift and precise, her blades aimed at Revan's vital points, a final, desperate attempt to turn the tide of the battle.
Revan countered with a speed that defied her expectations, his movements a blur of motion, his hand-to-hand combat a deadly, practiced dance. He blocked her strikes, his armored gauntlets deflecting the daggers with ease, the impacts echoing with a metallic clang. Anna, despite her weakening powers, managed to land a few blows, her daggers slicing through Revan's armor, but the wounds seemed inconsequential, the dark energy within him rapidly repairing the damage.
Just as Anna thought she had gained a fleeting advantage, her powers flickered, then died completely, leaving her trembling and defenseless, her body wracked with exhaustion, her eyes widening in horror as she saw Revan approaching, his expression cold and implacable, his eyes glowing with a malevolent purple light.
Suddenly, a spectral form materialized behind Revan, a skeletal figure wreathed in ethereal light, its presence radiating an aura of chilling power. It was Lyra, her spirit bound to Revan, now acting as his grim ally, a macabre manifestation of their twisted connection. She extended a skeletal hand, and from the shadows, two curved scythes materialized, their blades gleaming with an unholy light, their edges sharp and deadly. Revan grasped the weapons, his movements fluid and practiced, as if he had wielded them for centuries, his grip tightening around the hilts.
Anna, powerless and exhausted, could only watch, her breath shallow, her heart pounding against her ribs, as Revan advanced, his eyes glowing with a malevolent purple light. He moved with a swift, deadly grace, the scythes slicing through the air with a chilling hiss, their movements precise and efficient. The first strike was brutal, the scythe tearing through Anna's abdomen, a sickening thunk echoing through the air. A gasp escaped her lips, her eyes widening in shock and pain.
Revan didn't stop. He moved with a relentless fury, his strikes becoming a brutal flurry. He plunged the scythes into her chest again and again, each blow accompanied by a wet, sickening sound. Blood blossomed, staining his armor and the ground beneath her, a dark, gruesome tapestry. Anna's struggles weakened with each strike, her body convulsing, her eyes losing focus.
Revan, breathing heavily, his chest heaving, his face splattered with blood, his armor stained crimson, pulled the scythes free, the sound of metal scraping against bone echoing through the desolate landscape. He stood over Anna's broken form, the weapons dripping, his eyes burning with a malevolent purple light.
A glowing orb, her soul, materialized before Revan, its light flickering and fading. He opened his mouth, and the orb vanished, consumed by the darkness within him, a dark pulse rippling through his form, a chilling testament to his newfound power.
Revan stood amidst the carnage, his chest heaving, his body slick with blood, the twin scythes dripping crimson in his hands. The alien landscape, once bizarre, now felt like a fitting stage for the grim spectacle he had just enacted. He turned towards the man in maroon, his purple eyes burning with a cold, unwavering intensity.
The man in maroon watched him, a flicker of satisfaction in his dark eyes, his expression a mask of detached amusement. He took another chip from his bag, the crinkling sound echoing in the silence.
Revan: (he took a step towards him, his voice low and devoid of emotion.) Who's next?