[It had been done. He had finally killed the bastard.]
“*huff.. huff..*”
[Waves crashed all around them. Thunder crackled in the sky. Bloodshed was all around.]
“…..”
[28 stabs wounds to the chest had done it, Shattered laid in a pool of his own blood. His chest was heaving as blood filled his lungs. Every breath felt like he was dying. Maybe because he was dying.]
“Y-yo-u..”
[It hurt to talk. Body jerking and flailing as he tried to move away.]
“Yes me.”
[Damien responded coolly, did he feel anything looking down at the dying god in front of him? Regret? No. He felt nothing, only like he had gotten a long put off job done.]
“Do you feel it Shattered? Do you feel the blood filling up your lungs? Do you?”
[He smiled, tongue flicking out and tasting the blood from the side of his mouth. Shattered tried to respond but the only noise that came out was a gurgle of blood from the back of his throat.]
[Stop it.]
[Stop it please.]
“Scared~?”
[Damien grasped his hair, yanking his head up so Shattered was forced to stare him in the eyes.]
“Do you fear me?”
[Such a simple question, but one that was answered by the way Shattered stared at him. Not fear.]
[Terror.]
“How the mighty gods have fallen, there’s nobody here to save you darling.”
[After he had said this, he knew he had jinxed it. He could feel it. The cold, the prickle on the back of his neck. Shit.]
[The massive feline raised a paw, claws extended, and Damien could feel himself being lifted by some unseeable force. Tossed to the cliff’s edge, nearly toppling over the edge.]
[Thump. Thump. Thump.]
[Paw steps were walking in his direction. They stopped in front of Shattered’s corpse. He could see how Shifter bent his massive head down and murmured something to the lifeless body, eyes almost showing something that wasn’t just cold. He raised a paw, one that was as big as Shattered’s head, and closed his eyes.]
[He stopped and raised his head, what was that feeling.]
[fear?]
“Get in the water.”
[Shifter’s voice wrang out above all the thunder. Echoing off the cliff as he stepped over Shattered’s corpse.]
“Get in the water.”
[He repeated, Damien had never heard him talk. His voice was as cold as his eyes, but now those soulless orbs gleamed with something else.]
“Or I’ll raise this tide so high, half the multiverse will die.”
[What.]
“Get in the water.”
[He tried to move back, move away. What was this feeling. He hated it, he could see Shifter beginning to approach.]
“Stop this- please.”
[He tried to beg. Shifter did not stop, continuing forwards. Those serrated claws dragged on the ground every time his took a step. Sharpened and ready.]
“Or I’ll make tidal waves so profound, both you and your son will drown.”
[His blood ran to ice.]
“NO!”
[He had never seen someone’s expression go from almost expressionless to rage in seconds.]
“GET IN THE WATER.”
[He was slammed to the ground, chest heaving as he stared up at the beast that had pinned him to the ground. There was nowhere to move.]
“DO NOT MISTAKE MY THREATS FOR BLUFF DAMIEN. YOU HAVE LIVED MORE THAN ENOUGH NO.”
[His rage was terrifying.]
“I’LL TAKE YOUR SON AND GOUGE IF HIS EYES, THAT IS UNLESS YOU CHOOSE TO DIE.”
[His eyes went wide in horror. Abel- not Abel. Anyone but Abel.]
“NOT ABEL- SHAPESHIFTER I BEG OF YOU-”
[His son. He knew Shifter could revive those who had passed on. The thought of him reviving his baby boy only to do that was more than enough for him to beg. He never begged.]
“You beg for the life of your son, when you have slaughtered hundreds before you. Hundreds and perhaps even thousands who had wives and children just the same as you. You have never batted an eye to what other’s lives may have been, you are not the only one that breathes and walks, who has children that they love or loved only for them to be snatched away from something as soulless as you truly are. Abel would be disappointed to have a father such as you.”
[Hearing these words from his mouth made Damien feel sick- dreadful. He didn’t care about those nameless people. He only cared about his son, his anchor. Shapeshifter knew this. He always knew. How much had the old cat seen that he was unaware of?]
[Why had he never stopped him?]
“So tell me. Why should I give you the same mercy.”
[Damien glanced at Shattered’s lifeless body, those wide purple eyes glassy and unseeing. Shifter’s eyes were an icy cold that made his blood freeze.]
“I-I..”
[Think. He had to give him a satisfactory answer. The way he was being stared at made it hard for him to think of an answer other than ‘please spare my son.’]
“The clock is ticking Scot. Answer me. Why should I spare the life of your son when you have no compassion for other lives.”
[Shit. He couldn’t think of anything.]
“Your judgment will be prolonged until you can give me an answer Scot. Until then, the revival of your son will be decided. You know where to find me.”
[He got up, it felt like a literal bone-crushing weight had been lifted from his chest. He sat up, the thunder and rain splattered down onto him. The storm was wild and frenzied. Shifter’s massive form stopped in front of Shattered’s corpse and pick it up. He looked back at Damien, eyes cold and blank as always.]
“Watch over Sweater, that beast threatens everything we have worked for. The power to split the universe in half is held within its paws. You will know where to find it, it had recently began staying with Silas. Make sure it does not know your intentions, clueless is always better than too much.”
[Then without another word he was gone. Damien stared back after him, watching how the air and world split open to create a rift where Shifter entered and disappeared within.]
“Wh-at.. the h-hell..”
[He mumbled to himself weakly, he needed to pull himself together. For Abel.]
[……]
[Tick tock Scot. The clock is ticking even faster than it has before.]
{......}
{I cannot remember who I am.}
{All I want to do is eat.}
{I can feel it all over my skin.}
[It's eating my brain.}
{Anything that moves is a threat.}
{........}
{How did it come to this.}
{..I remember names.}
{I do not know what they mean to me.}
{Hales. Oleander. Casey. Scot.}
{....}
{Medea.}
{The last one fills me with rage.}
{Is it you who has caused me this pain?}
