Explicatione: XXVI

Explanation

        I awoke in a glass box of some type, but beyond the box was unknown as all that could be seen was pitch blackness. The unnatural kind, quite foreboding to say the least.

        "Hello?" I called out, silently hoping for an answer, yet somewhat cautious as to WHO might answer.

        "Tellus you there?"

        "That you Licens?"

        "Yeah, do you know where the hell we are? And if we are about to get drugged and tortured? This just screams suspicious."

        "I know right... are we the only two here?"

        "Don't think so, I have been hearing crying from time to time. When I call out it stops, then all can be heard is that damn mumbling."

        "Any plan for escape?"

        "No... Improvise?"

        "IMPROVISE"  I responded full of vigor.

        ***

        "Well... this sucks..."

        "Eyeep..."

        "Find anything on your end?"

        "Nope, just one big box. I'm not sure I can take this boredom for much longer Tellus."

        "Boredom is the least of our worries. For one, we have been trapped in boxes with no idea where the hell we are... By the way what was the last thing you remember?"

        "Looking at my wives dead body... you?"

        "Well after being trapped in a jungle for over a week my mind started to go to ruin, so to try and end my pain I attempted to eat a poisonous berry. Last thing I heard were the words 'Break,"

        "I am going to assume we are not in the real world..."

        "This is true...although reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."

        "Who's there?" We both said at the same time, one cautious, the other excited.

        "I am many... and I am none. You all know me as the one who caused this, this is true and not at the same time. For one man is not one, but two. Not truly real, should not even live, yet do..."

        "You're speaking in riddles..."

        "Yes... I apologize, my nightmares have affected me badly. I am not alone in this body... the one who did this to you is known as Ira... my brother, enemy, and only companion for countless years. I may hate him, but it is better to live with the hated then to be left alone in eternal darkness..."

        "Alright..." I said not quite sure if this voice was telling the truth or not. Then again they might just be insane, wouldn't be the first time I've had a conservation with a deranged, psychotic, and ultimately crazy individual.

        "Mind elaborating?" Licens responded, seems he is more curious then cautious like myself.

        "In the beginning there was one... he was Ira, Infirmia, and myself, as well as countless others... Father broke him down, until he was a figment of of his former self... in turn he created us, the others were quickly absorbed or destroyed by Ira, I do not know how he killed the others, but it does not matter. In time I escaped from his compound. Myself and Infirmia were able to keep Ira from telling Dead Wind... Infirmia wished to end our pain, I wanted to escape and live my life, Ira wanted to go back and beg for forgiveness. Ira found a way to destroy Infirmia, he said it was because he was 'weak'... I assume he found a way to do that to the others that shared this body... All my life I have suffered due to him, he has done countless horrors to mortals, and demigods alike. Now my only wish is to end it... but not until I am sure my soul is no longer my fathers..."

        Neither of us had anything to say to this... What could we say? Sorry for your suffering? Sometimes there is nothing that can be said that can make it better, all 'sorry' would be is an empty word, that would solve nothing...

        "Seems we have all suffered from this spell... by the way what should we call you?" I said.

        "Infelix..."

        "Why would you be given such a horrible name? I, in all my years, wouldn't dare name one of my children that..."

        "I am named that for a reason... Father knew I could never be happy... Knew I would be unfortunate... Knew I would always be miserable. Yet he never gave me what I now desire..."

        "Death?" Licens interjected.

        "no, freedom. I am trapped within my own body, although it is only half of mine. As soon as I am free I will take my life, I will never be owned by another being. If death is the only way to ensure this... then so be it..."

        "You are mentally unsound... you need help..."

        "No... No one deserves to know what I have lived through... anyway Ira would refuse to cooperate. If he gets angry enough he takes control... "

        "This is leading no where, will you help us escape?"

        "There is no need to escape, Reaper will be here momentarily. he said he had to 'Take care of something...' what he means I do not know."

        "You know more then you are letting on" Licens yelled into the darkness accusingly. "Tell us"

        "I know only what I need to know, and nothing more..." Infelix then went back to mumbling, refusing to respond to anymore questions. We then proceeded to be very bored, while talking about the most menial things.

        ***

        "Sooooo... how is life?"

        "Sucks..."

        "How fascinating... Please tell me more."

        "Later, I have better things to do..."

        "Like?"

        "Banging my head against this wall until I black out..." It is true, I'd rather be asleep then listen to him. His constant questioning is unbearable.

        "fine, I can see when I'm not wanted..." Licens then proceeded to fake crying. I am not dumb enough to fall for such a thing. After a while Licens got tired of pretending.

        "Well you're no fun..."

        "Not trying to be..." Licens then huffed like a small child, it is honestly a bit entertaining. Although I think he is acting this way purely to get on my nerves, so far he has succeeded.

        "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" I then heard a sudden crack, then a cry of pain.

        "OWWWWW my fucking leg."

        "What happened?" I yelled out to him, hoping he was not severely injured.

        "My leg is stuck..."

        "In what?"

        "The glass..."

        "How? We tried breaking out twenty minutes ago, why would it break now?"  This was abnormal to say the least, then again, when has anything gone our way?

        "I DON'T KNOW" He cried out in pain, "HELP MEEEEEEEE!"

        "Fine..." I said while readying my left arm.

        ***

        Our crys of pain were heard far and wide, seems the glass around us doesn't shatter, or break. It instead diverges apart only at where it is hit, trapping the appendage. Why this did not happen before is unknown. To say having glass scrape against your unprotected body being painful would be an understatement. It was as if this was made to cause as much pain as possible.

        "Told you both to wait... Didn't listen, now you must wait in pain until he returns."

        "You knew this would happen!?" We both shouted in anger.

        "Not precisely, although I would be lying if I did not have a hunch.."

        "Why did you not tell us?" I said through clenched teeth.

        "One learns from experience, as a mistake is just another way of doing things..."

        "Oh thank you oh wise and noble master, whatever could we do without your astute, sagacious, and judicious intake..." I honestly admire Licens grasp of vocabulary, wish I could see the triumphant look on his face right now.

        "Don't taunt the alligator until after you've crossed the creek..."

        "Oh yeah? What can you do? I'm a GOD. What can you possibly do that could threaten me?"

        "More then you realize, despite what you may think, I can kill you faster then you can blink. Ira may have wrath, but I have intellect, I know exactly where to hit where it hurts most. I told you two to wait, but you did not, now you are paying for it."

        "Why did you not tell us to stop?" I questioned, hoping his words of wisdom would not fall on me.

        "Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your mouth is moving." Aw now I'm sad.

        "Having fun?" A new voice called from the darkness.

        "Reaper I presume? Could you kindly, please, GET US THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" Way to be calm about this Licens...

        "Very well..." At that moment a light seemed to come from the reaches of the darkness, without me knowing the glass surrounding my limb was removed. I gave a sigh of relief as the pain subsided. Looking around I noticed that the light came from a book. It seemed to be held in the air by some unknown force. Nothing else of interest was around, besides Infelix and Licens. I noticed I had never truly seen Infelix, as he had either been obstructed by darkness, or he had the book in his possession. Which seemed to mask the one who held it.

        His right arm had stitches in it, all the way around it as if his entire arm had been cut off, and sewn back together. Wouldn't say I'd be surprised seeing as how cruel Dead Wind is. His body had an uncountable number of scars, no part of him had been safe from Dead Wind. His face had long slashes across it, as if someone had taken a razor and cut lines across it. He wore thick leather armor, that was tanned black, likely so it would blend well in the darkness. He had a black hood draped over his back so he could pull it up if need be. He had a bandoleer of some type across his chest, with countless knifes sticking out of it, as if that was not enough his belt held even more knifes. Although those appeared to be throwing knifes due to their straight nature. He had a much longer knife then all the others at his waist, it seemed to be about a foot long and was worn as one would a sword.

         Oh yeah, there was also a black cloaked figure with a large scythe on their back.

        "Greetings..."

        "Err...hmmm... Hi..." I responded not quite sure of myself. Beings this powerful enjoy being insulted by the slightest thing, I am unsure if this is one of these.

        "Act as you would around a mortal, for I am technically one myself"  I about crapped myself from the surprise of a being strong enough to read my thoughts without me noticing. Licens do NOT fuck this up...

        Licens responded with the customary bro to bro greeting.

        "Sup?" Yup we are screwed...

        "Do not be concerned Tellus, I wish to do my job and that alone." Before anyone could ask he responded. "To destroy the undead..." I suppose that makes sense. No wonder he was able to kill so many... Also explains-

        "Why my name is Reaper..." Asshole interrupted my thought process.

        "I do not enjoy being called an asshole..." Damn, could he stop reading my thoughts?

        "Yes." Now he is just mocking me.

        "Indeed..." No comment...

        Seeing as how he was not going to get anymore entertainment from me he turned to Licens. Without warning he doubled over laughing, the very world shook from the power being released.

        With pained gasps he said "What do talking fire throwing Asian Dolphins have to do with anything?" What I would pay to be inside Licens mind for a few seconds...

        "Everything" He responded gruffly.

        "You said you are technically a mortal?" Infelix interrupted.

        "Yes" answered Reaper, "The power I possess comes from the book... it is quite a story to tell, would you like to hear it?

        "Sure" I said, eager to learn how a mortal became so powerful.

        "Very well, suppose we should start with my birth..."

        ***

        A couple stood in front of the local seer, a female clad in a black cloak preventing any from seeing her face, eager to hear the prophecies surrounding their child.

        "Your child is... unique."

        "Is... this a good thing?" The father said, hoping that his child would grow into a Paladin like himself. But he would not voice this due to his wives displeasure at the idea.

        "Please tell us what the divines say about my baby." The female said, obviously angry at how the seer had treated them. Upon their Childs birth they had been rushed out for her to read the signs of the future, she hadn't have even seen her baby.

        "Your Childs future is..." The seer said, failing to grasp the words needed to explain the Childs predicament. "It would be best to see for yourself..." Waving them forward through the flaps in the tent.

        A gasp of horror came from the babys father, while tears flowed freely down the mothers face at what laid before them. The child possessed two blood red eyes, that seemed to dart around wildly. Its skin was chalk white and papery. Even more horrifying, it possessed no nose, what could be seen were two holes where the nose should have been.

        "Your child is cursed..." the seer said, her sad face hidden by the cloak. "But... the spirits have deemed it fit to name him Rex. A name worthy only to the greatest kings and heroes of our time."

        The father took on a stone cold expression, he got down on one leg and looked his named son in the eyes.

        "Rex, so long as I breathe I will protect you, I promise you that you shall receive the love you deserve." Standing up the father looked over to his wife to see her reaction. "Love... what of you?"

        With tears in her eyes she shook her head, with a sorrowful expression she left the tent.

        ***

        The child that was known as 'freak' hid under the rotting log fence that separated the peaceful village from the wilds. He was made fun of due to his demonic eyes, pale skin, and his lack of a nose. It did not help that he was the youngest child in the village, only six, barely old enough to be left to his devices. He often hid by the fence since the others were too scared to go that close to the wilds. He did not fear the wilds, as the others did, instead all he felt was the comforting embrace of being close to nature. Some of the tamer creatures even approached him on occasion, which always brought a smile to the depressed youth.

        "Hello?" A hesitant voice called from the direction of the village, Rex, wishing only to be left alone responded full of venom "Come to call me a freak ehh? Well nothing you say can cause me more harm then I have already suffered." Rex also had a good grasp on speech, something even more unusually for one so young.

        "No, I have umm... Come to say sorry for the way the others treat you... and ummm..." The visitors voice faded off, as if it had lost the courage to speak.

        Rex turned around to face the newcomer, a child that seemed to be only a little older then himself. Any who did not immediately insult him was alright in his book. It may also have something to do with his lack of friends, for he was willing to take a chance for a shot of making his life less miserable. "Hey, just so you know my name is not 'freak'. It is Rex, although it may as well be my name since I hear that more then then my real one."

        "Oh well ummm... my name is Ace..." The now named child said, sticking his hand out, not fazed in the slightest at Rex's appearance.

        Rex met his hand halfway and shook it with a smile on his face. His first friend, and one that was not disgusted by his appearance.

        ***

        "Ace who do you think the newcomers want?" Rex said to his old friend, it had been twelve years since the day they met, and meeting Ace made Rexs life all the more bearable.

        "Ummm... I don't know, I heard someone say something about them 'killing demons'. Whatever that means..." Ace said, his voice trailing off as usual. Someone would think with all the time they both spend together Ace would stop being so shy around Rex. That person obviously doesn't know Ace.

        They saw as Rexs father and the leader of the group of assumed 'demon hunters' argue about something. Deciding to find out what was going on, Rex and his friend closed the distance between them and the strangers.

        Within seconds the presumed leader of the band brought its eyes to Rex. Without skipping a beat he drew the steel sword at his belt and aimed it at him. "DEMON"

        Before the leader could take a step Rexs father slammed his elbow into the ringleaders skull, knocking him on his back. With a growl the leader shouted "GET HIM".

        The rest of the village just watched, too frightened to do anything about the armed band that was attacking one of their own. With a roar a bright light emitted from the victim of the assailants, blinding each of them. He then ripped the weapons from the groups hands by some unknown force, while sending balls of pure light into each of them, leaving scorch marks wherever they hit.

        With a gasp he was run through from behind, the leaders retrieved sword sticking right through his middle. The leader removed his now bloody sword from the near dead man, without looking towards the now dying man he stepped towards Rex.

        The village was thrown into a rage. How dare these newcomers kill one of their own, with a reason to rally they drove the hunters out with pitchforks.

        Rex rushed over to his dying father, he was surprised to see a smile cross the old mans face.

        "Son, my time has come... I promised you when you were born I would protect you, and I have..." He coughed up blood, temporally halting his speech. He continued quickly "But there is one last thing I can give you..."

        A bright light seemed to come from the now dying man, it slowly disappeared as it began surrounding Rex. The light stopped as the process was complete. Rex had been made a Paladin. Rex cried over his father as he said with his last breathe...

        "I love you..."

        ***

        "Rex you umm... don't have to go..." Ace said nervously, not used to the anger in his friends blood colored eyes.

        "I must go, they will return. They have taken my father because he tried to protect me. Now the hunted will become the hunter..."

        "Rex... I don't think you are strong enough to take on a band of demon hunters... even if it is untrue you are out numbered ten to one..." Ace said, trying to convince his dear friend.

        "Ace, I WILL kill them. Nothing is going to stop me from this. All my life I have been persecuted because of my eyes, skin, and face. Now is my chance to honor my father..."

        "Would throwing your life away honor him?" This hit Rex like a punch to the gut, Rex responded angrily "Do you think I am the only one wrongly accused of being a demon? How many other innocents have they killed? I, for one, will not stand for this."

        "If you are going then... come I have something to show you..." Ace said, leading Rex in the direction of his home.

        Upon entering the house, Ace bent down and removed a floor board, disguised well to even the most observant eye. From the reaches of the floor emerged a book, bound in leather with a skull on the front of it.

        "Wh-what is that?" Rex stammered.

        "A book of spells... it will aid you..." Without another word Ace passed the book towards Rex's shocked form.

        ***

        Rex had tracked the group of hunters to the reaches of the forest, it seemed they had decided to camp there and wait for an opening in the town. Little did they know that the prey, had become the predator.

        The leader stood in his tent, looking over his journal. His writing was sporadic and hasty, likely from his loose grasp of literature. In the corner of the tent was a dead corpse, around it were ritual instruments, many caked in blood from the dead victim.

        Believing he had written enough he moved himself over to the corpse. In his right hand a ball of blue energy appeared, with an almost lazy movement the leader sent the ball into the dead corpse. With a cry of pain the dead man rose into the air, air flowing into his blood filled lungs.

        "PLEASE LET ME LEAVE" The victim screamed, he had to endure the pain of being revived and murdered at least every day. Although to him a day in the afterlife lasted mere seconds.

        "You will be free when the lady Anima deems you ready..." The captain said, grabbing one of the utensils used to gut the victim on previous occasions. The now torturer impaled the helpless man, sending the blade right through his heart. His eyes went wide with pain as the blade pumped artificial life into his system, so the one who did this could summon his god.

        A being appeared above the unnamed pawn in this game of life and death. The being was a women, clad in a dark red cloak with blood dripping down it at intervals. She would be considered beautiful, if it was not for the fact her eyes were blood red, or that her skin was papery. Although the most prominent feature  of her would be her lack of a nose.

        "Have you found one of my... 'children" The being said with distaste, disregarding the gasps of pain from the catalyst.

        "Yes my lady, but the monsters father intervened, upon his death the town saw it fit to see us out..." He said with a frown, unsure on how badly he would be punished.

"I told you, if I wish to return to full power my cursed children must be killed, for everyone of them dead I grow in power. You have failed your duty... do you accept your punishment?"

        "Yes my lady..." He said getting on one knee with his head bowed. The process of striking down the failure of a man was interrupted by shouts from outside.

        "Go see what it is my pet..." The god said, somewhat displeased that her fun was cut short. She brought her eyes to the helpless being that was used to summon her here, with a smile she decided to have some fun with him.

        ***

        Rex attacked the band with bouts of holy fire, burning whoever and whatever it touched to cinders. For the first time in years, the band felt fear of the ones they hunted. The fire melted the very swords in their hands, on how a being became so powerful was unbeknownst to them.

        The intruder appeared to be weakening, as the fire covered less and less distance. Taking the initative one of them reared back his sword for a thrust. He looked directly into Rexs eyes in triumph, it was short lived. As soon as he made eye contact, all the pride he had vanished, instead it was replaced by full blown terror. Those eyes... they say the eyes are the windows to the soul, instead of the demonic red eyes he expected, he was met by black orbs. Before he could react he was hit in the chest with a ball of light.

        'They have turned on me' the man thought, all previous acts of violence towards Rex were forgotten as he turned on his brethren. He killed two before being struck down.

        "What are you waiting for?" The leader shouted upon finding his troops not attacking the intruder. "Get him!" Their fear of him was greater then the fear of the attacker. Rex, seeking to rectify this, formed a sword out of holy light in his right hand. With sword in one, and holy fire in the other, he attacked.

        Burning many with the fire of the heavens, and flaming sword, he made his way to the leader. The leader in fear turned and fled towards his tent, hoping to find safety from his goddess.

        After dealing with the many hunters, he pursued the chief. He entered the tent to see the leader getting his throat ripped out by a women that looked oddly like himself.

        "Never flee..." The women said with spite. Looking over at Rex she flung a ball of fire at him, he narrowly dodged it.

        "So you're the one behind all this..." Rex said simply, stating it more then questioning.

        "Yes my child... now please die." She fired another ball of fire, Rex was not fast enough as it hit him in the right arm.

        "A god?"

        "Yes foolish mortal, now die."

        'A god...' Rex thought to himself, he was not strong enough to kill a god but he read in the book a way to trap a god. Readying his left hand he shot the spell directly into her. She screamed as her body was absorbed into an unknown force. Rex laid down in exhaustion, Rex looked over at the now dead body of the tortured man.

        "Rest in peace"