The Empty

Chapter 1

Hatu was notoriously an early riser and was always up before Sosruko. The ghastly pale male did not need much sleep and averaged about 3 hours each night. Despite getting so little sleep he never felt exhausted, he always woke feeling well rested and never thought it to be an issue. He assumed that he didn't need much sleep because of what happened a few decades back. The ravenette remembers that night as if it were yesterday.

Encapsulated in a  cold, ever reaching darkness, Hatu felt empty. There was nothing beyond death, no happy afterlife nor a daunting one. Just a cold darkness. He was there for what had felt like years. It was hard to tell time but he eventually started to forget about his past life, his family, friends, all the good memories and the bad. Eventually he forgot his own name, it was only then he felt the warmth of someone reaching out to him.

The ravenette tried to navigate towards the warmth until it was the only thing that he could feel. It felt rejuvenating and brought him a feeling of joy.

"There, there. It seems you've been misplaced." A calm motherly voice bolstered around him as the warmth started to lift him towards a light. "You will be brought back to your world as one of my own. Unable to die again but also unable to be fully alive. Your name shall be Hatu and you will be blessed with the powers I possess. However, you will need to learn to control them as they can bring misfortune to you and those around you if you can not control it."

Hatu gave a small nod not knowing where the voice was coming from. While he did not know if he should trust the mysterious voice or not he knew that taking the deal was better than floating around in what he called the empty for eternity.

"There is no need for distrust small one. You may not know who I am but I assure you that I mean you no harm. While I can not grant you protection in your world I can guarantee that I will watch over you. You also can not die, if someone tries to kill you or accidentally inflicts a fatal injury on you they will be cursed with the same fate and their life will be fed to what you are calling the empty. While I can tell you have many questions, I am sadly unable to give you the answers. You may be able to find some of them yourself but many will be left a mystery." The mysterious voice paused and the dim light of the warmth was now getting unbearably bright. The small omega squinted his eyes trying to adjust. "Our time is up, Hatu. Your new life awaits you."

The ravenette shuddered at the memory. It had been 30 years since then and he had yet to find out who the voice belonged to, nor had he been able to get a hang of his powers.  For the past 20 years he and Sosruko were constantly tormented by shadow-like creatures and beings. It took Hatu a while but he eventually found out they would leave whenever he gave them what they were looking for; which while it sounds like an easy task, it definitely is not. The pale male was still navigating communications with the shadow-monsters. When he did manage to connect with them he could feel a tether between the creature, himself, and the empty. The latter always made him weary.

Hatu pushed away the thoughts and went to the fridge to make them both breakfast. He sighed seeing how it was mostly empty except for a carton of eggs, some almost spoiled milk and orange juice. The omega didn't expect much as they did break into a couples house that was out on vacation. They were due back later today so the boys knew that their morning routine would be cut short. Usually Hatu made breakfast in bed for Sosruko but today they would need to take it on the road.

While he let the pan heat up he looked around for disposable plates and utensils that they could take with them. Once found they were placed on the counter and he began making some scrambled eggs, though he would have liked them to be cheesy. But beggars can't be choosers. Luckily he had found some salt and pepper so the eggs would have some pizzazz to them.

Hatu started to hum as he cooked, not noticing his boyfriend walking into the room. He jumped slightly as he felt someone grabbing his waist from behind.  "Tch, I'm cooking careful." he huffed hesitantly, leaning against the other's chest.

Sosruko let out a soft hum and just nuzzled his nose into the ravenett's scent gland. He was not used to early mornings but had set the alarm the night before knowing that they needed to get out of the house quickly. "I was careful. You were just Mr. Jumpy." he mumbled sleepily in response.

The other just rolled his eyes as he finished cooking. He served the eggs onto the paper plates and leaned back giving the purplenette a small peck on the cheek before pulling away to clean up. "Did you make the bed before coming down? And did you pack your bag?" the undead male asked as he made sure the kitchen looked spotless before digging into his eggs. He had some skepticism that the other omega had taken all the necessary precautions needed before coming down this morning but he hoped to be pleasantly surprised.

Sosruko averted his eyes and stuffed his mouth with another bite of eggs trying to buy some time before he responded. "I packed my bag, but..." he paused and took another bite. But before he could say anything else Hatu sighed and set his half eaten eggs down.

"I'll make the bed. Get the bags and start to get out the door. We don't want to be here when they show up." The ravenette briskly made his way up the stairs making sure everything was in order. While they did break in and use the strangers' amenities, Hatu made sure they kept the place tidy. He did so for two reasons, the first being they didn't want to get found out, and the second and most prevalent is that he hates messes. Living with the cupid did pose a challenge to this as he would constantly leave small messes here and there, but the both of them soon learned how to deal with the others' habits.