The Angel of Death (18+)

Chapter 41: Even Gods Die

"Welcome back."

I open my eyes again to that same, endless black depth.

I died. Again.

This was getting old.

I stand up and look for her, not spotting her right away as usual until she begins to formalize in front of me.

"So, what happened this time?" She asks me.

I groan in frustration as I look at her, I notice this time the lines that frame her face are a little hazy, it was unusual, but at this point everything in my life was always unusual.

"I had an encounter with Scarslayer and then he bit me, and now I'm here." The woman's face blanches at my words, and I knew something was wrong. She was always the perfect picture of calm, letting nothing pass through, but whatever this was it did. It was an important piece of information I tucked away.

"No no no, it's too soon," She pauses and starts to walk around in a frantic motion and then looks back to me, "It's too late. It's already starting."

Unease trickles down my spine and settles heavily in my stomach, "What are you talking about?"

She walks to me and grabs my face with her hands so that I can only look at her, being this close to her I am able to determine the gray flecks in her eyes of...pitch black.

"Whatever you do, do not let him know that you are still in there, that you are still revisiting. You must protect yourself by playing your part submissively." The words coming rushed off of her tongue as if the words could make or break the destiny of this world.

"What do you mean? What's happening?" She looks at me with sorrow in her eyes, I want to know what's going on, I'm worried to the core of my being.

"I won't be here for much longer, it's time."

"What do you mean? Why won't you be here?" Why won't she just answer me? What's stopping her from telling me?

"None of it matters anymore, if I will no longer exist in this realm in the next few moments, I can give you this last piece of information." She takes a deep breath, and slowly brings her hands down to mine so that she is tenderly holding them like she would a child being told something tragic has happened.

Maybe something has.

"You, Mara Dabria, are something so old and ancient that every trace of you has been tossed away. You've been feared since the birth of the stars, I know that you were informed that you were the Devil," She chuckles and continues on, "oh my dear, the Devil was made in your image."

"What? What do you mean that I've been feared since the birth of the stars and that the Devil was made in my image? That doesn't make sense." I tell her frantically because she's obviously wrong.

Right?

"It might not make sense right now, but it will one day. I promise you that." A tear rolls down her cheek as I begin to notice the lines around her face begin to deepen in age, "You have been reborn anew, and it's time you finish what you started so long ago. He, who you now know as Scarslayer was there too all those millennia ago."

I stop breathing, every cell in my body stops and halts to pay attention, she begins again, "He was the conqueror of words and you were his prize when he thought that he had defeated you, but in your last moments of breath you created a subconscious and cast it to this void for protection."

"What?" Disbelief lacing the word.

"I was only allowed to tell you any of this when the time would come that you would grow into your true powers. Whatever you have become accustomed to now, it is absolutely nothing to the true power you wield. You can destroy this entire world...or you can save it."

So much information as she begins to wither away, wrinkle by wrinkle adding to her face, but she doesn't stop, "Yes, you are an angel of sorts. Just not the kind you thought originally, you have wings of a different sort."

"I..." I trial off not sure how to comprehend any of this, "So then what am I? Truly?"

She finally answers me, an answer I felt like I've been waiting for since the dawn of time.

"You are the Phoenix of Death, Destroyer of Worlds, Salvation. The goddesses were so terrified of you and your power that they summoned him, he is known as the Angel of Retribution, but he is everything that is not that. He is a monster and they summoned him because they were afraid. They were ridden with guilt when they realized their mistake, so they tried to destroy him. They paid dearly for that, and so he has been roaming this realm in wait for you."

"But why? Why is he so concerned with me?"

"Because you were his Consort, you gave yourself up to save this world and others. The Devil was made in the image of you so that others would think the Phoenix of Death was a horrible thing, but the true monster is him. It's been so long that anyone that knew of your existence is gone. Even gods can die, and he made sure of that."

She was so old now that she was hunching over, clinging onto my hands for assurance and to keep herself upright.

I looked at her and saw in her eyes that she was relieved to finally be able to tell me, a smile crinkled the corners of her mouth as she thumbed away the tear that was rolling down my cheek.

"You are truly immortal, the only true immortal thing there is. Not even he is truly immortal like you, that is why he wants you so bad, to learn and take from you that secret, because you can give someone true immortality if you wish. You truly have no idea how powerful you are. No one does."

The black depths were beginning to fill with light and I knew it was my last time to ever see this part of me that I cast into protection so long ago. I smiled at her and held her hands as she began to flake away in a breeze that flew in from nowhere. As the last pieces of her began to flow away with the wind, she told me, "You will either be our salvation or damnation, it is your choice to choose. Remember the good and the bad, and always push through."

And then she was gone, leaving me alone for a few mere seconds as I rose back from the depths of the dead.

So I did, I rose as the Phoenix of Death ready to finish what I started so long ago.