Chapter 43

Before the tapestried wall, the devil cut a frightful picture. Astraea loved Eros. He would kill him, what would she do then? Thanatos massaged his firm brow, and if she fought against him, he would kill her too.

Thanatos brooded in this state for some time, and, when at last he was calm, he went to his study. There he searched the many shelves stacked with scrolls until he found what he was looking for. He spread it out upon his desk and began to pour over it. The wax from his candle stained the parchment.

202.02.19

We fear her power, her might still. The sister is slain but will her elixir last?

202.03.10

It is strange to look upon her face. Is she still conscious? The smirk she wears shakes my very foundation. I see it in my dreams, my nightmares. Why does she act so?

202.03.28

The stone sorceress terrifies the others and I. We have resolved to bury the forsaken castle beneath Lucretia, we fear not move her. She scares us in death as she did in life. We will move the ground, and bury the castle. Upon it we will begin anew. The sun has set on the sorceri, and it rises upon the vita obscura.

Anon Justin

Thanatos's firm hand caressed his chin. He didn't move; his gaze fixed upon the scroll until at last, very much fatigued, he succumbed to sleep. Rising the next morning he breakfasted at table; his eyes didn't stray from the vacant seat opposite him.

He then stepped outside where it was a fine morning. Shielding his eyes from the sun, he saw Phanishwar grazing upon the plain.

"Come, let us put an end to this," he grumbled to himself.

The journey calmed Thanatos's wrath, that is to say, his choleric mien abated slightly. Many hours passed.

The walls he thought he would never again see spanned the horizon. Thanatos never did return to the city that he once risked his life to defend. It was a long time ago. The sound of the grapeshot, and the cuirassiers charge echoed in his head. Sentiment overcame him because the memories were many.

Eros.

The rogue was silent. Much had changed since then. Things were not as clear as they were made out to be in the academy. Through the course of life matters had become convoluted. Bahamut, the pact and the watchers, the cursed vita obscura. He must perform what remedy the world needed.

Phanishwar landed. Thanatos alighted and advanced to the gate grasping the pommel of his sword. The dark knight stood against a resplendent landscape. The sentinels looked upon him with distrust in their eyes. When Thanatos endeavoured to pass they confronted him. He didn't have the correct papers, and was asked to leave. They would have done better to have let him enter because the chevalier smiled curtly, and in one swift movement unsheathed his blade, lacerating two men so severely that they died within moments.

The remaining sentinels, advanced but they were readily despatched with elegant swordplay. The gate rank of death. It was Thanatos's signature now, a trail he left in his wake.

King Ixion III sat upon his throne tending to matters of state. He'd aged much since we last saw him at the Lemurian ball, when he'd sent Eros on his quest. Aurora was popular with the people, and her disappearance had been noticed. Lemuria also was furious: how could Hyperion perform so uncouth an act as to rescind the princess's hand in marriage? Their armies readied for war.

It was then the king looked up from the many scrolls he had to pore over: he heard swords clash, men scream in agony, bodies fall heavily to the floor. The door was kicked in and Thanatos emerged with a bloody blade in his hand.

Ixion shuddered, terrified, he looked anxiously to his bodyguard. The protector stepped forward and was all that separated the king from his assailant.

But then he hesitated.

"Is it you?" He said incredulously.

"Who is it Odin?" The king said much agitated.

Odin still scrutinised Thanatos's physiognomy. "A pupil and friend." He turned to the king. "A man who confronted Aavak while you sat where you do now."

Thanatos steadied his hand when Odin turned back to him.

"It is you –Thanatos – isn't it?"

"I have at last returned."

"Does Eros know you are alive? He will be overwhelmed with joy!"

Thanatos looked away, he grew tired of that name.

Odin said, "But what were those noises we heard a moment ago. Why does your blade drip with blood?" He espied Thanatos under a different light. "Who are you?" The tenor of his voice was that which only our mentors can use to make us feel as large as an acorn. Thanatos felt his disappointment. It hurt him, more than he thought it would.

"You may think me evil, but I am doing far greater good than you ever did."

"You are the fugitive Eros hunts."

Thanatos felt the pride in his voice. He was jealous.

"Eros is dead." Then he said, "I killed him."

Odin rested his hand above his chest.

"Never did I think I would see the day that you would speak so ill of him." Odin looked with wonder upon Thanatos, as if checking that it was really him. "I remember how you would run around playing. Always you had one another's backs."

"That was a long time ago."

"Why are you here?" King Ixion III had grown impatient.

Thanatos at length diverted his eyes from Odin who was silent, struggling to deal with the news of Eros's death. "I will free Sorceress Arethusa."

Visibly darken did King Ixion's countenance. It was as if he was stood over Pandora's box, and saw all the evil rush out into the world upon its opening. In a panic, his fearful eyes looked to a part of the armrest of his throne, a subconscious movement that would cost him dearly.

Thanatos smiled.

"So that is how entrance is to be gained." He laughed. "You fool, age has made you weak."

"No," Odin said at last regaining his resolve, "It has made you. I don't know what events have made you the man that stands before me, all that matters is that you have become a villain," the paragon took out his sword, "A rogue who must be stopped." Odin motioned to the exit, "Ixion, leave us."

Thanatos possessed a mythic sword, immortal gifts and an indomitable iron wrist, but against Odin's stubborn defence, he could not prevail. The old master was cautious, taking few chances. Such a robust approach kept the devil at bay. It wasn't long before the impatience of youth burned within Thanatos. Frustrated he tried to force the opening, taking greater risks he soon exposed himself. Odin pounced. The Aetus Dious shone around his neck when, in a resplendent move, he summoned an energy ball that cast Thanatos through a window, and onto the balcony outside.

Thanatos rolled in pain. He groaned before his eyes fell upon the soldiers who looked up from the streets below. They were rushing to the palace, the alarm had been raised, and soon they would be in the castle. With Odin at the head of an army, his plans would be thwarted. Thanatos thumped the floor with his fist.

The sound of crunching glass caused him to turn, Odin had stepped through the broken window, and now looked down at him, "You are lost Thanatos. You shouldn't have come back."

Anger and hatred became the catalyst for a harrowing act. Thanatos turned his eyes upon the people, and from that balcony he unleashed his might. Flashes of purple lit up the sky while the stars ricocheted off the shield surrounding the city. Terror stricken denizens pointed to the heavens before a comet struck with such magnitude that the magical barrier shattered, the cosmos began to fall upon the people.

The meteor storm over the densely populated city was a massacre.

Thanatos clutched the third stone. Atop the balcony he summoned a black hole that dragged people to its core, where they were lost forever.

"Monster," Odin roared. Thanatos turned his stolid eyes upon his old mentor.

Before falling stars and swirling debris, Odin fought the devil. He was winning, but Thanatos still had one power to unleash. This he channelled through his blade, which erupted into flame. It shattered Odin's sword completely, shining as brilliantly as the sun.

Odin was aghast when Thanatos, swift and devastating, passed his sword through his chest. Thanatos withdrew the blade; Odin staggered back, and, before his master's body even touched the ground, Thanatos was already pacing back to the main chamber.

While Odin lay dying, gazing at the ruin around him, the anti-christ searched the throne, sighted the hidden symbol of the vita obscura, pressed it and descended an old dusty staircase that led down into darkness.

A smile played upon his lips, "I'm coming my queen."