@falsecalling.

That voice. Hah.

How pitifully it croaked its way through the true inky blackness of a starless sky, never knowing what ears it fell upon. The moon now swallowed up by an enormous shadowy claw eclipsing its soft, gentle light, sent the earth blind and fumbling in utter societal deterioration and anarchy. So these were the end times. Were they as accurate as all the “holy texts” described it to be? It mattered not now. The world was coming to an end, at the hands of a new god. One no one could have ever predicted or fathomed.

“You don’t, do you?”

That voice shook the very earth, a thunderous yet growling, sinister chuckle rippling across the sky as a chorus of disembodied screams surrounded Karthus as people cowered in fright at the sound, covering their ears...some of them bleeding.

It was at this moment that the tiniest of flames ignited, merely a few feet away from Karthus. The flame sat atop a spindly, yet familiar finger, Arthuros’ icy grin dimly lit in the sickly green candle. He does not move, looking at Karthus as if he was nought but dirt, barely worth wasting his attention on.

“Well; that’s too bad, isn’t it.”

And how the god-lich laughs and LAUGHS. Such a DELIGHT to watch all those that scorned him WRITHE in their own graves!! What AMUSEMENT to see them all burn alive in the beds they made, drowning in their own mistakes. His cackling gets louder and louder as the former lich snuffs the light and retreats back into the heavens; his laughter now rings as the death knell of the universe, the stars returning for a brief moment only to have their light sucked away, the moon merely fragments of rock and dust. 

The world was plunged into blinding light, the barely recognisable figure that was once Arthuros reaching out to all corners of the perceivable universe and wringing it dry of all life and power. The flowers and trees surrounding Karthus begin to shrivel up and die, the very sun fading away little by little. Their power was Arthuros’ now, the entire world merely a means to an end within his palms. His mouth opens  to speak, a deafening boom from his words sending shockwaves from one end of the planet to the other. 

Know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

                                            WHAT IT IS TO BE A GOD..! 

To feel the intoxicating rush of power coursing through his very atoms, taking a deep breath and feeling every last speck of life become one with him; it is indescribable!

He looks back down at the planet that kept him prisoner for thousands upon thousands of years, watching it wither away little by little...but that pestering little voice was as strong as ever. A nasty scowl tainted the “holy” figure that lit the entire universe up with his stolen glory, a fragment of his being peeling away from him and disappearing in the earth’s atmosphere.

Arthuros, temporarily housing his consciousness within this vessel, appeared behind Karthus as a skeletal hand cupped his chin, craning his head back toward the newly born deity. A deranged giggle trapped behind bared teeth escapes Arthuros; leaning so close to Karthus’ ear that his lips were nearly touching the lich’s hood.

“And why would I care about them? They have proven no use to me until now. It’s not my problem that they got caught in the webs I spun. Lambs to the slaughter have no sentience or awareness of their fate yet their blood is still spilled regardless. Why should I worry and weep over these little lambs, hm? Deliver that to me in a sermon, Kaaaaarthus. You cannot tell me you didn’t see this coming, did you?”

One, two three, four, five...six arms wrap around the deathsinger as Arthuros rests his chin on Karthus’ pauldron, keeping him caught there like a venus fly trap. He points up to his indescribable, galactic body, still draining the cosmos dry as he speaks.

“The world, no, the universe is mine to command now. But do not get me wrong, you are correct in guessing my intentions. I don’t intend to stay here. I will create a world in which I will rule unchallenged...forever. Where no one will defy me. No one will ever forget my name. But...I suppose if you truly don’t want to be left behind...I can take you with me. I am quite fond of you, believe it or not.”

He twirls around to face Karthus, cupping both his cheeks as Arthuros stares intensely into the other’s eyes.