[ self! ] ಊ *: infernus clavem ٢ ☞
Black. Pitch black. Everything was shrouded in black. His crimson eyes could barely register anything in the darkness, and even the Illuminata proved to be useless in the abyss he was thrown in. The pungent smell of the azure blood mixed with sweat stuck to his skin like a plague. There was a dull pain in his chest, where a pierced heart and a couple of broken ribs lay.
He should've been dead by now. He had struck himself dead in the center of his halls, before the Praetorian Guard could even go and do the act for him. He had massacred a Coven, sped through more than four hundred of his kind in one night, the remains of their demise still sticking to his body like a morbid reminder of what he had done. It wasn't like he needed remembering, anyway, the myriad of voices in his head a constant reminder of the deed he committed.
Ah, the voices. It was almost impossible to hear himself think in the middle of all the anguished screaming that happened inside his head. There he knelt in the middle of the dark room, hands and feet bound with chains to the floor, his head hung low, dead and empty crimson eyes staring at the darkness that lay beneath. And in the darkness he started to think.
Who am I? Nero. (No!) Another try.
Who am I? The Emperor of the World. (Never!) Again.
Who am I? Samael. (Yes.) The Angel of Death.
The Harbringer of Death. The Venom of God himself. A variety of titles they spewed to his countenance. He could barely hear those words the others spoke when they tried to speak with him a few moments (minutes? hours? days?) ago. They were rambling about his purpose, how they cannot afford to lose him to the darker side (Abomination!). He heard something about a test, something to prove his worth to the Coven. Something to clear his name. Something to help him reform.
(You...are...Death....Irreplaceable...But....dark side...Abomination....)
He heard footsteps. He saw two cloaked beings kneel before him (All hail the Emperor! ), heard the clang of the chains dropping on the floor and signifying his freedom. He could smell their blue blood underneath, feel the throb of their life force that flowed inside their veins. But before he could even think of adding two more voices to the cacophony inside his brain, he felt the ever familiar hilt of his blade being slid against his palm.
Infernus Clavem. The key to the Underworld. His sword. His heart. His life.
The voices stopped for a moment.
There was a sound of chalk being dragged against pavement, the sound of a wrist being slit to let blood flow, the sensation of smoke as the cloaked ones disappeared from the chamber. There was a moment of silence before the first growl was heard. They summoned droves of croatan, abominations like him, all sent to rip him to shreds unless he did something about it. He could feel them coming closer, feel their rancid breath hot against his skin, hear their incessant droning about the blood eternal.
The Coven was truly cruel, and he would've laughed if he had felt anything still. But he didn't, and he knelt there, as sharp claws drew blood and fangs tore flesh from his body.
It would've been so easy to just give in to the corruption, to just let himself drown in the voices that sang inside his head (Abomination! Abomination!). He felt nothing, not pain, not remorse, only a ringing sense of numbness that left him frozen and still. But his blade started to get hot, throbbing against his palm, burning his skin as if reminding him of his duty. It was speaking to him.
Who are you? A Croatan. (It burns.)
Who are you? Samael. (--)
Who are you? The Angel of Death. (--)
And the key to the Underworld began to raise hell.
The first scream woke him up, the first splatters of blood made him focus, and the first fallen one made him fight. Soon, the voices in his head were drowned in the horrendous screams of his kind, falling one by one by his hand. Underworld was opened, and hell was raised until the screams were no more. He stood in the middle of the carnage, covered in glistening silver, his hand tight against the hilt of his sword. His eyes were sullen, dead; his expression that of nothingness. Everything was silent. There was nothing he could hear. Not the voices, nor the fervent claps of the Conclave members that stood watch as he battled.