Chapter Text
A lone child stands in the middle of a vast and intricate building, surrounded by eyes, so many eyes. He kneels in front of a towering figure, the man is clad in heavy, shining armor that reflects the sharp gazes of those watching. The child’s features are lost in the shadow of his overgrown hair, all that’s visible is a single tear rolling off his face before dropping to the floor with what feels like the loudest noise in the world. The boy tries to hum but his throat runs dry and raw, only allowing a broken rumble, warm crimson decorates his cracked and torn lips as they curve into a faint smile.
He never knew what he expected death to be like, but when the knight’s sword shone in the rich light and cut through his neck, it felt like a burning ice, the warmth of a flame and the freeze of snow, blazing his throat as reddish-gray, sticky and thick liquid stained the sword, forcing his smile to fall as tears run down his face and he closes his eyes, falling into the cold, empty embrace of death with a thud.
And there was dark.
And there was cold.
And there was hollow,
The darkness was interrupted by a large, towering knight, similar to the one from before, only this one was leagues bigger, wearing stark white and pitch black armor, the surrounding aura wasn’t burning with spiteful, or malicious intent either, it was solemn and cold. It stood silently for what felt like lifetimes.
“To crave death is to reject life”, its voice was heavy, not like sharp, crushing stones, but like the curved pressure of the deepest seas.
“You may only earn death through living, so tell me child,” the knight kneeled down, surprisingly awkwardly for such a grand figure, still towering over the boy but an attempt was made, “do you believe you have lived?” The boy stood in the vast, gazing at the giant, wondering if this was really it, is this what it’s like to die? Does it count as living if one spends their life waiting for death? The child is still processing his own death silently. About an hour passed before the boy looked back up to the knight with a new look of confusion in his eyes,
“If I could stop living while my heart was still beating, can I start to live again once it’s stopped?” The giant looked down at the boy and seemed smaller in a sense, less dangerous. His face is covered by a helm but one would swear the figure smiled, it was barely noticeable, but it was there. The boy blinked and the once giant-sized being stood at the height of a rather tall man, death was no longer something beyond comprehension, for this boy, death was now a part of life. As the child’s eyes blurred and his throat began to sting and burn once-more, the final thing he felt was a heavy but comforting grip on his shoulder, and the final words he heard before blacking out were simply a gentle-yet-rocky,
“I hope so.”
The cold, stillness in the child’s body began to heat up rapidly, to almost an unbearable extent as he writhed in pain and felt his throat fill with what felt like a warm ichor, he inhaled and choked as it ran through his lungs, he awoke with a soundless yell as it entered his veins and electrified his heart, it was life.
The child shot up with a gasp and several coughs, hacking up blood onto the ground. He looked up to the spiteful man in silver armor who had cut his throat only seconds ago, the chattering, giggling, and cheering came to an abrupt stop as the boy coughed and gasped, crawling towards the man’s leg breathlessly in a desperate attempt for assistance before being kicked away like a bloody rag doll. He hit the ground with a loud smack and splatter as the wound on his neck continued to bleed, drowning him in his own blood,
he didn’t die.
There were loud screams of horror and gasps of intrigue as the child smacked into the ground after being kicked, slashed, and beat without dying.
“DEMON!” An older man shouted from the crowd as the boy stood up, almost against his will, and walked away silently except for the occasional hack, cough, and blood dripping from his neck onto the floor. silent tears ran down his face as the child coughed up blood once more, yet continued forward without stopping for anything.
The child was no demon, for he was blessed.