The Wielder of Death Magic

“What should I do?” asked Clarise with glee on her face, the expression of a babe seeing his mother; an innocent giggle.

“Monitor the room’s status, make sure mana is circulated firmly,” said he wearing an untucked white-shirt atop a formal pair of pants.

“The engine right?” said she to confirm.

“Yes, instead of having mana turned to electricity, we’ll reverse the connection. The mana around this facility isn’t going to be sufficient; I mean, the facility runs on it.”

“Where will we get the electricity?” asked she a little forgetful.

“There’s a powerplant a few kilometers to the sound, have you forgotten? We supply them excess energy.”

.....

“Oh, yeah,” her motion stopped short of a facepalm, “-go on then, Alchemist, let see thee revive a dead human.” *Clop, clop, clop,* her heels echoed against a metallic staircase leading to the back of the room, an elevated platform with a one-way mirror. The doors were multiple millimeters thick, blast protected in a way.

Aceline’s body remained in the pod. A press of the button had the floor in the middle opened as if a mouth to give a metal table.

‘Here’s to nothing,’ *tsst,* the pod unlocked to give white, chilly, smoke. She felt heavy, the limbs were very much dead. With minimal effort, the body laid face up opposite an empty magical circle on the ceiling.

‘She’s been dead for less than a few hours. Her soul must still be in the tunnel leading to the Hall of Rebirth. The first order of business is to retrieve the soul, her body will heal after the innate magical element is reawaken,’ stood sternly before the paled figure, the eyelid shut. Same as using the All-seeing eye when his conscience released itself from the host; a similar process would be utilized.

*Bound to the mortal realm, I, the god of death, wishes to enter mine domain, release mine soul from tis bound too; Death Element: Ethereal Release.* Present and not, the soul detached into a hover while the physical body remained still, not moving nor living, a snap later, he teleported to the Hall of Rebirth.

‘The place sure is quiet,’ no sign of Lord Death nor the assistant. The usual messengers of death which flew above weren’t present – time seemed to have been stopped. Unbothered by the silence, he continued past the hovering golden globe and towards the tunnel. There, it forked into two orbs, one for those who were deemed worthy to be reborn and another towards the realm of repentance; or, the real underworld, hell. During the war between gods, demons, and other entities – there existed only one portal. Even after death, gods and beings powerful enough would have their souls transmigrate to another host. Not that it was shunned nor viewed in a bad-light for it continued till the war ended. There, a contract was struck to have another portal opened, one to hell, one for those who made deals with the devils. The concept of good or evil didn’t matter, nonetheless, those who killed under impulse were most likely possessed by demons, and thus, their soul needed to fulfill its contract.

Bubbles in which souls would move were stopped, the flow of rebirth halted – it wasn’t only the hall, but everything around.

‘What’s happened?’ upon asking said question, the combined symbols of power split; the mark of Kronos, the god of time, burnt vividly to run down his left arm and rest on the back of his hand. The Sickle, the god slaying weapon, spiraled around itself and transformed into a clock. The hour, minute, and second hand stood at noon.

“Child, heed my call, tis I, the god of time. My heir has been slain by the alliance of gods; he has been killed. The harbinger of chaos, he who held the opportunity to change the godly realm was slain without mercy. He who brought the dimension of monsters, he who infected and cursed thy world has been killed. My son, Zeus, killed me and my heir, he holds dominion over the third most powerful element; time. Well, that is if he was smart – the dominion has been bestowed upon the heir of my friend. It grieves me to say this, god of death, but I must warn thee. The gods aren’t right, the demons aren’t wrong, the symbol of power, despite it being lost to me, was given to you by Lord Death. A war will have the whole multiverse on the verge of collapse, I foresaw it in vision. Heed my voice once more, my heir’s mission wasn’t to kill nor destroy, he was tasked to change and find the truth, the truth about the Origin. Go, Heir of Death and wielder of time, use thine newfound powers. Creation, Death, and Time are under thy thumb – the Supreme god isn’t going to be happy. Farewell, dearest child, I shall have an assistant of mine meet thee soon; she’s capable, the details of what happened will be given then.”

The sensation of being stuck in a never-ending loop cut. The tunnel of Rebirth resumed; the hall seemed to return to life. The mark of time, once a sickle, turned to the hands of a clock. The symbol of Death in one hand, and the symbol of Time in the other, he panted to fall onto his knees.

‘What was that?’ the head spun, a feeling of vertigo had the left side of the body go numb to which he lost balance and fell.

“Staxius, is that you?” a familiar voice came from behind, “-IT IS YOU,” a warm pair of hands wrapped itself around his back.

“Jessica,” said he more or less conscious, “-where’s Lord Death?”

“He went on an expedition with the other gods. I think it’s relating to the revival of the Titans. I heard they were planning to kill the god slayer, well, since he has the ability to steal other divine being’s power and all,” her explanation eased into his mind. “What about you?” quick to change the subject, “-what are you doing here?” she went around to stand before him, “-thou art not supposed to resume the duties of Death Reapers in the hall for another millennium,” her frown gave the feeling of being uninvited.

“I came to fetch a soul,” he took her hand to then dust his pants.

“Sure, go ahead, take thy pick, I’ll take my leave, Lord Death may return soon,” following a smile, she skipped away whilst humming a nostalgic melody.

‘She never changes, even in death, she never changes,’ the situation concerning inheritance overtime was put on the backburner, ‘-where’s her soul,’ a scan later, ‘-found her.’ *Come forth, Box of Souls,* a withering hand rose to clinch the soul, ‘-that should do it.’ *Return.*

*Click,* the sound of a clock resounded with his mind, a heart-tearing headache pulsed from the left side of the skull – the symbol of time lit. To put it into perspective, the pain was similar to one having a toothache, though, this time, the amount would be multiplied by a hundred.

*Smack,* a slap forced the mind to refocus, ‘-alright Aceline, let’s start.’ He reached towards a table on wheels, it held blank scrolls. Two tiny cuts were made onto each thumb, *Blood-Arts: Crimson Thread,* after which he threw the scrolls in a cavalier gesture. Bound to differing points and angles in air, *Mana Control: Waves,* focused onto her body, the dimming mana-circuitry pulsated. *Mana Control: Lines,* guided to the proximities of her limbs, vital organs, *Mana Control: Spiral,* and brain, “-turn on the engine,” said he loudly.

“On it,” came a reply followed by a push. The aura changed instantly, the surge in power was profound. Bit by bit, the concentration increased to an adequate level, ‘-it’s working,’ thought he, ‘-I need her magical element to restart,’ open palm against her chest, *Boof,* the body bounced. The paleness disappeared as the element reactivated. ‘Next comes her actual body,’ he reached for another scroll; relic class healing spell. Rather than unraveling the contents, a snap had it burnt with a white flame. *Visualize,* hands pressed, the magic circle on the scroll transferred to project above the table. A few gestures later, the very fabric of the spell was altered to fit the specific purpose.

‘Heal,’ a downward motion had the circle shrink and enter the body.

*By the power bestowed upon I by the god of time, I, the god of death, order thee, entity of which none knows, entity who which all sees to move in accordance to mine will: Time Control: Acceleration.* A pocket dimension manifested around Aceline’s body, the hour hand on the symbol moved forth at a rapid pace – the change could be seen in reality; her body healed.

‘What happened,’ a burning sensation had him cover the left eye; not that it was noticed, the retina showed a golden clock. ‘Was I possessed?’ thought he for the incantation came subconsciously. ‘No matter,’ still in pain,

*Come forth, Box of Soul.*

*Soul locked, soul lost, I, the god of death, summons thee from the land of the dead, the land of the forgotten, and the land of the forgiven, return to the mortal plane; Soul Transmigration,* a blinding light materialized to then enter her body.

*Thump,* the ground shook, *thump,* the walls seemed to move, *thump,* her limbs jittered, the eyelids opened in shock to which she sat upright and panted.

“Where am I?” her clueless face moved from left to right, she sweated, her hands trembled, “-wasn’t I shot?” *Gulp.* “W-wait...”

“Welcome to the land of the living,” said Staxius unbuttoning his shirt and loosening the tie, “-way to go ahead and die,” said he in a tired voice.

“Welcome back to the land of the living...” said she with a frown, “-please, none has the power to have the dead turn back to life.”

“Well,” a touch on the earlobe, “-éclair, please play the news reports and coverage over her death, I need a break.”

“Orders confirmed,” the massive door opened as the naked idol faced a screen.

‘What happened?’ asked he staring in a mirror inside the washroom a few minutes later, ‘-did Kronos really bestow the power of time upon me? What in the world is going on. The god slayer’s mission, gods, demons, a war, what... It can’t be a dream, I controlled time earlier, I controlled it, I felt it, it was real, I had it go forward and accelerate her growth. The power of the one who brought chaos upon the world, the God Slayer is dead?’

“Lady Aceline,” said Clarise helping her to dress, “-you were killed by gunshot. It was per Queen Gallienne’s plea that you were brought back to life by the Master. I don’t know what happened between you two since the prior exchange felt more or less malicious, but do be respectful. Life isn’t given a second time, I hope the reality settles in thine mind,” she in turn stepped out.

Aceline was left inside, alone to ponder what occurred. Her memories were up until the shooting. ‘The bastard decided to kill me,’ the gaze remained at the screen, ‘-the son of a bitch thought I could be disposed of. I guess war isn’t that bad a thing; my way of thinking was wrong – I hate to admit it, nothing ever goes according to plan. I tried my best to have a world of peace, well, I thought of it in fantasy. It’s weird,’ her face relaxed, ‘-I feel enlightened in some way; was I blessed?’