They Called Me FIVE

LANCE

I'm awestruck by his presence. Intimidated by what he said. I'm suddenly possessed by the urge to crawl my way out of this creepy hole of Elvis Presley's twin brother and hop back into the world where I'll finally kill Dad and Lista.

"Umm hi..?" 

The world shifted and we are back into the battle I was in seconds ago. The time freeze and everybody goes 'pause' mode during movie marathons. There's Magnus, face frozen in annoyance as he stared at the nothingness before him. I found Seven making her branches grow like jelly worms out of a sick kid, crushing skully warriors to dust. 

And there's Lista and Dad. Faces completely horrified staring at a shadow figure covered in black. The more I looked, the more I'm convinced it was me. 

"What's going on here?" I asked the Elvis Presley deity version. His eyes were completely transfixed to what I'm looking. 

"That's you, right?" He asked.  I nod. "Death was an interesting blessing isn't it?" He grinned. He flip his standing dirty blonde hair and make it tousled in a fashionable been – handsome – since – I – woke –up type of hype. Somehow, he reminds me of Magnus. Back when he flung his neck from side to side and throw flying kisses to every girl he met.   

Those were the good days. Stop it, Lance. I scolded myself. I've been a drama king over the past few minutes I keep on replaying the things Dad and I went through for years. Even though I realized all of it is nothing but an act for him.

Elvis Presley is giving me a funny look. He inched his shockingly handsome face, and sniff the air between us. 

"You're hesitating." He noted. "You don't want to kill them?" He nudge his thumb to Dad and Lista. It took a few minutes before I admit yes.

"That's nothing new. Death can never have friends nor family to held close for. Relationships meant nothing to us." 

I cringed at the word 'us'. He's clearly lumping me with him. Despite his handsome Elvis Presley features and costumes, I get the feeling he's a lot more sinister and cold than he let on. He's running his eyes around the bodies like how you skim words on a book you find not interesting.

"Are lives not important to you?" I asked. "You're Death after all. Are you used to seeing people die everyday, Death god?" I chuckled at my own question. Hit by the irony that comes with it. I know I'm super frustrated I want to wring Dad's neck and pound his bones until he's nothing but a pile of fresh heap of dismembered limbs. And at the same time miserable why I can't take back the precious past I want to live in again.

"Lives are important." Death god told me. He looked at his hands fresh with burnt scars. The discolored skin splashed all over his palm it looks like a badly cooked extremely rare steak. The back of his palm is welted all the way to his wrist. 

As if he place his palms in an oven and baked it alive. 

"It's a miracle borne out of nothing. But like all things, it has it's End. And that is death. Lance, before you get drunk in the overwhelming power of my blessing, you need to understand what it means to treasure life. Only then can you become the real Master of Death. All this.." Death god spreads his hand to the wreckage of frozen battle.

"Take a look at the aftermath. Reflect on what you lost. You, I know you're confused at this moment. Caught between the urge to take revenge at the Faeries who made your lives miserable, and give your Dad one more chance to redeem himself, so you could be with him once again. But you need to know how it affects you, your power and to the people around you. In every choice you make, there's consequences. I'm sure you already experience many things to know how bad these consequences be."

In my right, my eyes detect movement. It's Seven. As if in slow motion, she turned her head in our direction. Stare in disbelief at me, and to the Death god next to me. How she was able to see him I don't know. How she was able to move, I also don't know.

When Death god regards her with a nod, she nods in return. And I'm smacked directly in the gut. They weren't exchanging words…but I knew. I can feel it in my bones. I'll bet one year worth of my pizza meals…

Death god and Seven knew each other. They met. Way before she knew me and Magnus. Now I'm starting to get the uncomfortable chills. I need confirmation. 

"Umm, death god? If you don't mind me getting off topic, can I ask you who exactly is Efta?" I stared right into Seven's eyes as I uttered these words. 

I'm trying to force something out from her reactions. Trying to catch a slight inflation of her iris. A small part of her lips, a tremble in her fingers, a change in color of her face. Anything that could give her away. 

Anything that could confirm my suspicion. Death god took a moment before he responds. 

"If this could play a big part of you growing, then I guess there's no harm in telling you." He pointed Seven with his pale translucent finger. My heart is suddenly beating out of my chest. 

Seven is Efta.

Seven is the same Efta in your dreams.

Seven is the same crimson eyed girl you watched crying while you slowly died in her arms. 

Seven is – 

"Efta is the deity of Life. You could say my nemesis in terms of power attributes. But she and I have nothing against each other so we're not exactly enemies. We fought for the same cause three thousand years ago. Death and Life, like darkness and light, our powers grew together. We became strong at one another's guidance…" he regarded her with a small smile.

"Maybe that will be the case of you both. Seven here has matured from her experiences. I'm sure she can teach you how to value life, so you could gain full control of death." 

Death god is slowly disappearing in the background. Like an ice turning transparent. Melting behind the clear waters. 

"I wish you luck, Lance. I hope what happen today will become a warning not to be reckless again." 

And he disappeared. I gasped. I'm shock back to my real body and the shadows dancing all around me is spreading like wildfire. It shot up like a bang. A deadly tsunami. Killing anything that stands in its way.

I clutch my throat. My chest is suddenly filled with toxic air I'm having a hard time to breath. I heard screams in the distance. And a shout for my name. But it feels so far away. I'm standing alone in the void. 

No Elvis Presley nor Seven nearby. I don't get what he means. Learning how to treasure life he says. Of course I treasure it. There's no way I'll hesitate in bringing down my sword at Dad's throat if I didn't value his life.

Still clutching my chest, I breathe in an air of dust and ashes. My eyes are pressed down by the blackness and swirling mist of darkness I can't see anything beyond two slit. I closed my eyes and tried to calm my ramming chest. 

Adrenaline rush is on its kick. Pulsing my veins with life. Fresh lives my shadow swallowed, became a part of me. Their life force mixing with my cells. I rubbed my eyes and stared ahead. I'm staring in a rooftop of nothingness. 

An empty acre filled with hundred year old metal rust fence. No sign of life a mile away. 

"Seven? Magnus!" My voice got drown by the black mist. I fumbled for their presence. Ears straining for any signs of movements. Nothing. I pushed my feet to run, any direction is fine. I just need assurance my friends are still with me. 

I didn't stop. Not until I'm smacked right in the face at the metal fence. Breaking my sprinting momentum. I stared at the buildings below. My hands trying to rip out the rust when I see the horrors beneath.

This is Chicago right…?

Seventy days ago its bustling with people and pack with activity. Now…its empty. The building debris, the abandon homes, the crash cars at every road. Broken metal and glass pieces at the side walk. 

Street signs are ripped out of its pole, garbage are swirling together with the wind. I can't get enough, gaping at the shattered glass walls of shops, roofs and windows collapsing, wind passing through apartments… 

No sign of life. Everywhere. 

The black mist has slowly thin out and I scream for them one more time. "Seven! Magnus! Where are you?!" 

I ran back and forth, looking for the tunnel that where we came in before. Scaffolding for any traces of overgrown branches Seven sprang out to eliminate the Faeries and skully warriors.

Nothing.