Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Obsolete Garden ❯ Thanatos ( Chapter 3 )

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Obsolete Garden

Chapter 3: Thanatos

By: Revamp

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Cambria turned to her body guard with a concerned expression on her face. It was hardened and dire. She had to find out who killed Lafayette, because she owed her as a friend and wanted to make sure that her death didn't go unsolved. “We have to find out who did this.”

“I think you should stay here and let Iliya and Venetia handle this,” Lestat didn't want her getting involved. It was important that she not go into territory of a serial killer and risk being hurt. If this murderer was as prolific and elusive as they were and if they killed as many as speculation led him to believe, then he was by far a dangerous man.

“I can't do that. What if they need my help?” Cambria wanted to be there. She felt that it was her job as goddess to see to the events of her world and save as many people as possible. She didn't want to see anyone die, much less sit by and let any more deaths happen. She already lost someone close to her; she couldn't have something like that happen again.

“Their jobs are to protect you. If something happens to you, this world will perish,” Lestat wanted to drill that fact into her head. Cambria needed to utilize the people who had jobs to protect her. She should let them do their job and shed blood when she didn't have to. He didn't want to see her get blood on her hands, not when she was such a kind and caring goddess. It soiled her good image.

“I don't think whoever it is will be that much of a threat. I can't have someone disrupt the order of this world,” Cambria wasn't going to let up on this. She was the god of this world and it was her job to protect it. Yes, she had people who could take down the killer for her, but attacking Lafayette like that was personal to her.

“Mmmm,” Lestat closed his eyes and sighed. He didn't like the idea of her being active in battle against some killer, especially someone with the aspects the killer he knew to be had. There was already speculation that this murderer was after her. She was only making matters worse by injecting herself into the equation.

Without even questioning him, Cambria took off. She didn't really want to argue with him, nor did she really have time to do so. She could hear him telling her to wait in a strong tone, and trying to catch up to her. The curled up pieces of his cape bounced behind him as he followed her.

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Their footsteps were all that could be heard, crunching the grass beneath them as they walked. The two of them were tense and looked around at the carnage before them. More and more corpses littered the ground, dressed in party clothing. Blood painted the grass and foliage all around and looked as if something threw sanguine paint all over the area. The area smelled like death and the sky turned a brilliant blood red as they advanced.

Delving deeper into the forest area, more and more dark, looming trees hung above them and looked down onto the corpses with judgmental stares. The area was very quiet and the wind was light, barely blowing. It caused the area to be humid and the air to stench of rotting flesh.

“I don't like this feeling,” Iliya finally spoke up after what seemed like hours of silence. He felt nothing but tense as he continued to walk in front of Venetia, keeping his hand near the hilt of his rapier.

“Whoever it was left a trail for us to follow,” Venetia replied from behind him. Her one, uncovered eye scanned around the area as if she was waiting for someone or something to jump out and attack them. At this point, she anticipated a killer hiding in their midst.

“Do you think that they're trying to bait us in?” The moth was skeptical of a lot of things, especially the atmosphere of the area they were in. His antennae felt the air vibrations around him. The lack of anyone in the area felt off to him.

“I don't know, but whatever it is we can't afford to let our guard down,” Venetia tensed up. She knew that this wouldn't be easy, but she wanted to take down this killer as soon as possible…if they could figure out who did it.

“Right,” Iliya nodded in agreement before they both heard a voice that caused them to freeze in place.

“All of this death. It seems someone really wanted to take something special from a lot of people.”

They were in a clearing and their heads shot around frantically in order to see where that voice was coming from. The only thing that surrounded them were dark trees and thick foliage splattered with blood and chunks of flesh. The goat demon and the moth didn't know what awaited them, but the sound of that voice made their blood run cold.

“Huh?” Iliya couldn't believe who that was. Why was he there?

“Thanatos, what are you doing out here?” Venetia's maroon eyes narrowed when the fell upon the blue scorpion who walked calmly through the underbrush.

A large, toothy smile was plastered on his face and his blood-covered axe resting on his shoulder. His once robin's egg suit was covered in splatters of yellow insect blood and the red blood of many other living things. The scorpion stood proud in the middle of all of the carnage. The fact that he had such a casual attitude about it only bubbled a sickening feeling from the moth's stomach.

“Isn't it tragic?” Thanatos asked everyone with a sly smirk on his face. His tone was more amused than anything. It was as if he wasn't even taking the situation seriously.

“What?” Venetia had no idea what he was talking about. Something wasn't right about this, and she didn't trust him at all.

The blue Emperor Scorpion laughed a little, “I killed them all. It was me! It was me! I took care of them all, but don't worry, their bodies will sink into the earth and become nutrients for the ground.” It was only in their grand design, after all. The only thing corpses were good for was fertilizer.

“Is there a point to asking why?” This wasn't exactly shocking to Venetia. She had expected someone like him to be behind the murders at the party. Thanatos had always been a shady fellow, and the fact that he took his axe with him everywhere didn't help matters at all. More than anything, she knew that it wasn't just something he used as decoration.

“Why?” Thanatos put a finger to his chin and looked thoughtful. “Why indeed? Why does a killer kill?”

“This isn't a murder. This is genocide,” Iliya's black eyes with white pupils glanced around at all of the dead bodies that littered the area. There must have been hundreds of people at the party that had all lost their lives.

“You see, there are two types of beings that belong in this world- those who are productive members of society and contribute to its population and those who take away from it. Without people like me, there would be no balance.” That was the truth of the world. Thanatos knew it to be so. There was a specific balance that was created between birth and death to reduce overpopulation. Killing, disease and disaster were all determining factors in that equation. As far as he was concerned he was playing his role in society. “For everything that gives, something must take away.”

“Bullshit,” Venetia gritted her teeth. She wasn't about to believe that Thanatos thought that his sole purpose in life was to go around killing people for the sake of keeping the balance.

“I am a predator,” Thanatos slammed his axe blade into the ground. It left a harsh scar against the earth. “This is the weapon in which I harvest bodies.”

“What's your purpose in doing this?” Iliya's features hardened as he pulled out his rapier and pointed the blade at him. “Tell me now!”

Thanatos couldn't help but laugh at his dramatics. The fact that he thought he could oppose him at all was hilarious, much less that he was playing up the classic hero role the way he was. “Ah, how cute you think you could possibly hope to defeat me with that puny rapier.”

“Answer the question,” the fact that he was being mocked the way he was only angered Iliya even more. He didn't like being laughed at, especially by a scum bag like Thanatos. He had a right mind to go up to him and shove that `puny rapier' up his ass.

“I do it because I can,” Thanatos threw a hand out. “A scorpion operates in the night, paralyzing their prey and dismembering them. This is in my grand design, the one my god chose for me.”

Gods weren't stupid. They created creatures with a purpose and that purpose was to be a predator. In Thanatos' mind, predators were created. They were given special tasks by their creators and one of those tasks was to kill other creatures.

Cambria stumbled out through the underbrush onto the scene. She nearly missed further tripping over one of the many corpses and fluttered her wings a little to keep her balance. Yellow eyes widened upon realizing the situation she had just come upon. She could hear the footsteps of Lestat behind her as he finally caught up with her. A sharp gasp exited her pink lips as she stared down the blood-stained scorpion.

“What's the meaning of this? Thanatos, do you know who did this?” Cambria didn't know what to think. A thousand thoughts rushed through her mind in a flurry as her senses were jarred with haunting imagery.

Venetia got in front of her goddess and held out her Demon Hammer across her path, preventing her from going any further. “Stay back,” her voice was strong and serious, “he's the one who did this.”

“What?” The goddess was very confused. What did Venetia mean by that? How did Thanatos do it? Why did he do it? What was going on?

“Scum,” the word slid from Lestat's mouth like poison.

“God shouldn't act so surprised by my actions. This is what I've been created for,” Thanatos only continued to smile. They couldn't argue with him. He was right, after all. She knew that he was what he was- a predator.

“I knew someone was going around murdering people,” Lestat just didn't know who it was. Now it all made sense. He should have figured it was someone like him.

“Oh, I've been caught onto,” the scorpion placed a hand to his chest with faux worry before his face twisted back into a malicious smile. “It's not like it's going to stop me.”

“You sick bastard,” Iliya couldn't take it anymore. He had to act. Above anything he was going to apprehend this vicious man before he decided to hurt anyone else.

His heels of his white boots dug into the ground as he used his weight to propel himself. Fluttering his white wings, the moth gained momentum as he sped towards his enemy, turning his body and delivering a harsh kick to the scorpion's stomach. Iliya could feel Thanatos' body curl around him before the killer was sent stumbling backwards.

The contact caused Thanatos to gasp as the force of the blow sent him backwards. He kept a tight hold in his axe as he flailed and attempted to keep his balance, finally finding it as he glared down the white moth. “To think I was going to spare you. Now, I'm not,” he lifted his axe and his smile became more unstable, “too bad we couldn't just be gentlemen about this.”

Iliya drew back his rapier and tried to cut the scorpion, who evaded him by dodging backwards. “Fuck you! There's nothing gentlemanly about you!” How dare a killer refer to himself by such terms! It was more than insulting.

Thanatos lunged forward and swung his axe, and Iliya ducked down as the blade soared over his head. After the scorpion's body spun around, Thanatos used the momentum of the move and swung his axe down. The moth's eyes grew wide before he jumped back and barely evaded the blade as it dug into the ground. Thanatos' dark smile widened and he watched his prey flutter away.

“I was really hoping things wouldn't come to this,” even though the sentence was one that should hold regret, his tone held none.

“I won't let you kill anyone else. Judgment Beam!” Iliya summoned his attack and pointed his rapier at the killer.

The blade shimmered, drawing in sparkly, white energy that turned the blade into glowing white before it fired a beam made of energy that burst forth with great power. A boom sounded through the air and everything around the two of them was bathed in a pure, brilliant light.

Thanatos shielded his eyes as wind shot around him. It caused his long, blue braid to wave as well as his coat tails. Blue eyes widened as the full situation hit him and he threw his axe like a boomerang to try and deflect the magical attack. He could only pray that his plan would work.

It did. The axe hit the beam and spiraled off towards him. Iliya's beam was deflected as well. Their attacks were redirected and hit both of them. The back of the axe slammed into Thanatos' stomach with such force that it knocked him off of his feet, and at the same time Iliya's beam plowed into him with great force and sent him off of his feet. The two of them landed on their backs and the moth could vaguely hear Cambria call his name in despair.

It felt as if something had torn a hole through his gut. The pain from the blow resonated through his body in the form of sharp pains that caused the killer to grunt and wince. The force in which his axe had been knocked back was enough to make him lose his breath. Choking for a few moments, he panted heavily, each sharp breath causing him more pain as he sat up. It was a good thing that he hadn't been bleeding, but the force of the blow definitely had caused some sort of internal damage.

“You're not bad. I was going to take it easy on you and make your torture session short. You're not even going to humor me, are you?” Thanatos was impressed with him. Iliya really did live up to the name of knight.

Iliya felt a burning sensation tearing at his skin. Even through the massive amount of protective fuzz that protected him and his layers of clothes the moth didn't have enough padding to save him from his own attack. Slowly, he got up as searing pains assaulted his form.

“I won't let you kill anyone else,” his voice strained as droplets of yellow blood dripped onto the grass below him. Iliya would rather die than see this man win any fight.

“You really are stronger than you look, eh? The resilient ones are always the best,” the scorpion laughed a little before suddenly rushing at him. It made no difference to him if Iliya died right off the bat or slowly and painfully. If it was the latter, it would only fuel his sadistic desires all the more.

He spun, smacking the moth with his long tail and sending him backwards into a rock. Iliya's body hit the rock and pain jolted through him. The moth didn't even have enough time to react to such speed. The contact with the surface of the rock jarred him and caused him to wince. He closed one eye as that scorpion tail darted down, trying to stab him.

Quickly, Iliya rolled off of the rock. The killer's poisonous stinger stabbed into the surface and missed him completely. While Thanatos' tail was stuck, the knight attempted to stab Thanatos again, but the agile killer turned and kicked him in the stomach again, sending him back in a burst of strength.

The moth landed on his back, and before he had the chance to get back up Thanatos was on top of him with an axe in his hand. The scorpion was reeled back, ready to lop off his head with it and Iliya stuck his rapier out to try and defend himself from his eventual demise.

Through the large mane of fur on his neck, Iliya felt the axe blade kissing his skin. The point of his rapier was pricking the blue skin of the scorpion's neck as well. They stayed in their respective positions, tense and waiting for the other to make a move.

“If you would have kept out of his, I wouldn't have to kill you. If you back out now, I'll spare you. Consider it a gift from me,” Thanatos was trying to be reasonable with him. If Iliya didn't comply, he was going to kill him. That moth really should understand.

“Never,” Iliya was stubborn. “I won't let you kill Lady Cambria.”

That response merely earned him a laugh from the killer. “You must think I'm stupid. Even with my powers, I can't beat a god. I am but a humble serial killer with a thirst for blood and a lust for the feeling of carnage against my flesh.”

“You lie!” Iliya wasn't about to believe his bullshit for a second.

“No, I'm afraid that's the truth. I don't really have a motive behind what I do. I've always been brutal and violent,” Thanatos wasn't going to give him some sort of well thought out explanation because he had none. He was a sadist who loved blood and gore. There was nothing else to it, no hidden meaning or depth.

“Say goodnight,” the words from his mouth poured out like velvet and his tail shot over his shoulder, aimed at the moth's head.

“No!” Iliya's eyes widened as the stinger drew close. He knew he was done for it now. Scorpions paralyzed their prey with the venom in their tails. When he got stung, he'd be rendered helpless. This was it. He was going to die there.

“I'll take care of you, Iliya!” Venetia's voice sounded like an angel of hope as she slammed into the scorpion with her shoulder, knocking him back and rendering his attack ineffective. She stood over him as the deadly tail drew back like a spring and Thanatos fell to the ground.

“Ah, the god's right hand,” the killer stumbled back and a smile crossed his face. “Finally, someone up to par with me.”

“Up to par? I'm more than that. God's right hand is just that because they surpass all others in rank and skill. I am the best there is in all of Natsuhama,” Venetia was proud of her skill, and for someone like him to even compare to her was a joke in itself. She was going to squash him like the bug he was.

“Are you? I'd like to test that fact,” Thanatos begged to differ. If anything they were more alike than she wanted to believe.

“Hey!” Iliya arose from the ground and looked a little angry that Venetia would just take his fight from him. It was one thing to save him but another to just take over. He wasn't done yet.

“This is my fight,” she could see that the moth was losing. He needed to rest and let her take over from there.

“Let's get to it, then. I'll prove to you that I am much more than a mere scorpion,” he rushed at her and swung his axe, trying to decapitate her.

His hit connected with her Demon Hammer and the two weapons made a loud clank as they hit each other. Both of them pushed against each other, trying to overpower each other but neither of them moved an inch.

“You're strong,” Venetia complimented him. It was taking her a fair amount of strength to hold him back.

“I know my limits very well,” Thanatos replied.

Venetia jumped back, putting a fair amount of distance between she and Thanatos, but that didn't help her case much as the scorpion charged for her and swung his axe at her again. She leaned back and back flipped, shooting forward with her own momentum and using her hammer to try and smash him into the ground. The end of the weapon came down and hit the rock that Iliya had been thrown against prior. The blow had such force that it shattered the rock, splintering it into fragments that bounced around as Thanatos evaded her move right in time.

“You're fun,” the playful arachnid taunted from behind her and raised his axe to strike her. However, she teleported out of the way and evaded him completely.

Venetia moved to behind him and kicked him in the back. Her foot landed between his shoulders and thrust him forward, knocking him off of his feet. He was sent face first into the dirt and slid forward across the land. Rocks and dirt scraped against his skin and tore his clothing as he slid.

There was no time to get up as she teleported right on top of him and brought her hammer down, but he rolled out of the way. It was a good thing that he had, considering her blow made a dent in the land and sent more bouncing rocks and shards of dirt. She truly was the strongest woman he had ever met.

“Insects are always hard to smash,” Venetia lifted her hammer and turned to the scorpion.

“Ah, that's a good joke,” Thanatos got to his feet and winked at her.

Venetia wasn't having any of his bullshit as she leapt into the air with her powerful legs and brought her hammer behind her head again. With all of her might, the goat demon brought her weapon down. Thanatos swung his axe in a final move to keep himself from being hit.

Maroon eyes widened as the blade cut through the long stem of her hammer like butter, which caused the end of it to go spiraling off and land on the ground a few feet away. All the shocked goat demon could do was stare at her sliced in half weapon with a shocked expression.

No one had ever broken the Demon Hammer, much less a mere scorpion.

“That's…impossible…How did you?” Venetia's words escaped her lips in a nearly breathy tone. Panic ran through her tightening chest.

Now how was she going to defeat him?

“That weapon was strong enough to go against gods. How did he break it in a single swing?” Cambria was both shocked and impressed with his feat. Whoever Thanatos was, he definitely wasn't a normal scorpion, nor was he a normal being in general.

“There's something up with him,” Lestat's navy blue, uncovered eye narrowed. No wonder he got away with so many murders. He had a feeling that there was more to this, much more than he originally thought.

“Of course there is. Did you think someone normal would slaughter this many people? I've been doing this for a long time,” Thanatos had finally gotten the point around that he wasn't screwing around with them. Maybe they would acknowledge him as a legitimate threat and not just some run of the mill murderer.

“I can hardly believe you broke the Demon Hammer in one swing,” Venetia was still having a problem trying to process how in the world someone like him could do such a thing. It continued to baffle her.

“I took a chance but,” the killer pet his weapon lovingly, “it seems good ol' Betty came through for me.”

“How are you that strong?” Venetia demanded to know the meaning of this. Whatever he was doing, it was something special. There had to be something strange about him to make him that strong and she wanted to find out what.

“My secret but rest assured, I don't want to murder Lady Cambria. Even I am not that ungrateful,” Thanatos was hardly after anything like that. It was a little ridiculous that they all seemed to paint him as a god slayer.

“Then what's your aim?” Iliya wanted to know why he was murdering people if he didn't want to kill his god.

Thanatos said nothing. He simply smiled and crossed one leg over the over, resting his weight on his axe, which was being used as a cane to prop him up.

“Nothing to say?” The moth knight prodded at him.

“Telling you what my role is seems futile. Nothing you can do can stop me. We will all meet the same fate in the end. Today just wasn't my time. Do you think you can know my tricks by simple answers? Do you think you have me figured out?” Thanatos taunted him, laughing again. Did they really think he was going to pull some type of typical villain role and expose all of his plants just because they wanted intel from him? How stupid! They needed to learn that life wasn't about fairytales and you didn't always get what you wanted.

“What are you?” Iliya at least wanted some kind of hint.

“Did you think I'd give you the benefit of telling you my motive? Cute.” They really were either very expectant or very stupid. Thanatos wasn't going to tell them anything no matter how much they demanded of him.

“Someone will kill you. You'll come up against someone you can't defeat and they'll do you in,” Iliya was certain of it. No matter how strong that killer was, there would always be someone bigger and badder than he was.

“The pot can't call the kettle black when we're the same shade. How many people have you killed, Iliya?” Thanatos thought that moth had some balls to stand there and preach to him about killing people.

“I'm a guard,” Iliya had a reason to kill people.

“You're a killer with a title. You're no saint,” Thanatos was trying to get the point across to the moth. They were one in the same.

“No,” Iliya denied his allegations, “I'm not the same as you.”

“I don't do denial. For me to care about your opinion, I must first care about you, in which I do not,” Thanatos knew if this guy couldn't even own up to his own murders, his opinion was of no use to him. What a delusional fool.

“Ugh…” Iliya sighed in exasperation.

“Don't be sad, Iliya,” the scorpion teased him further. It was a hard fact to be taught, but it was something that the moth should have known a long time ago.

“All of this time, I thought you were innocent. I knew murders were happening, but I never wanted to believe it was you,” Iliya closed his eyes and his posture changed. He slumped down and sighed to himself. The moth never thought he would take his antics to this kind of level. It was saddening and disappointing.

“I never really wanted you to find out that it was me,” Thanatos' reply was simple but true. Sure, he was shady already but having them find out only hampered his plans.

“You idiot,” the moth's voice saddened.

Cambria took a few steps towards Thanatos, moving to in front of the rock that had been nearly been demolished. She wanted to talk to him and reached her hand out to do so, but before she could touch his shoulder he swiftly turned around and drew his axe back.

She shrunk in on herself and screamed as the blade came down, digging into the rock so close to her head that she almost felt the blade gaze her scalp. Her heart beat forcefully in her chest so hard that she felt like it might burst through her sternum and land on his cruel hands. Widened, yellow eyes stared him down as her chest heaved and she dared not to move from her position. Anxiety ran through her form as Thanatos leaned in, that same smile plastered onto his face.

“Life is short for mortals, my goddess, far too short not to have a little fun,” Thanatos was so close to her that she could feel the warmth of his breath on her skin. Her body trembled from the waves of anxiety that she felt from nearly being killed.

“I wanted to ask you something,” Cambria spoke up, trying to keep her voice from trembling so much.

“Yes?”

“You said a guard was a killer with a title, right?” She was a little curious, and she wanted to see if she could resolve this situation in a peaceful way that made everyone happy.

“Cambria,” Lestat narrowed his visible eye. He knew what she was trying to do, and he didn't like it at all.

“I did,” the killer agreed.

“Then be my guard,” Cambria thought it was an offer he couldn't refuse. There was no way that he'd turn her down. She was a god.

She was only met with laughter as a result. “It's cute that you'd think I'd just take up that job.”

“You're going to turn down a job offer from a god?” Venetia thought he was rather stupid for doing that. Did he know what kind of opportunity he was missing?

“You obviously don't understand my methods,” Thanatos could hardly believe that Cambria thought the problem would go away just because she offered him a high-standing position. Surely, she knew that he wouldn't be too keen on serving her.

“How can I do that when you don't tell me what they are,” Venetia pressed for answers.

“I don't like being told when and who I can kill. I'd really rather not,” Thanatos wasn't for going from being a relatively free man to taking orders from a god. He'd rather kill whomever he wished whenever he wished.

“What if I made you my executioner?” Cambria thought for a while, before saying that. She actually never had an executioner, but maybe she needed one. Thanatos would get the thrill he wanted from killing people that way.

“This world is peaceful. There isn't enough crime to keep me interested in that job. Besides, I've already sold my soul to the devil. If you're trying to save it, you can stop now,” Thanatos was hardly interested in any of her current offers. If she wanted something from him, or she wanted his services then she would have to give him an equal or higher position than he already had.

“No one is beyond redemption,” that was something she knew for certain.

Thanatos took his axe away, which allowed her to sigh in relief as her body relaxed. “You more than anyone should know why I can't serve you, goddess.”

“Thanatos…” As much as she wanted to try and rectify his situation, she knew that he was right.

“Surely, you know my secret. You're god,” The scorpion gave her a knowledgeable stare and the two exchanged unspoken words between them. They both knew the circumstances with the situation.

“There are ways to help you,” Cambria knew that for certain. She just wished that he would let her help him.

“I like my options too much to turn it down,” he winked at her, “unless you want to make me an offer I can't refuse.”

Cambria closed her eyes and hung her head in defeat. “I can't do that. It would be abusing my powers.” She didn't want to cross that line, especially when she'd have to face the Sun God and possibly Fate as a result.

“Aw, that's too bad, really,” the killer swung his axe over his shoulder and turned. He waved to them lazily and began to walk off, “good day to you, then.”

“Wait!” Iliya snapped.

“Let him go,” Lestat intervened. There was no reason to pursue him any further.

“What?” The moth turned to his fellow body guard with irritation marring his visage. “But, he killed all those people!” Was everyone just going to let him walk away after he did something so atrocious? Did he really only deserve a slap on the wrist for acts of mass murder?

“We can't do much about it,” Cambria had no choice but to agree with Lestat, despite Iliya's protests.

“What? Why?” Iliya didn't understand. He didn't understand what was going on in general or why Thanatos was being allowed to just leave.

“He's in a contract,” Cambria's somber voice replied. Sadly, it was out of her hands. The only thing she could have done was offer him a position under her, and he didn't want it. The goddess couldn't save someone who didn't want to be saved.

“A contract? Do you mean he works for another god?” Those were the only kind of contracts that Iliya knew of.

“Something like that,” Cambria could equivocate it to that, but even this incident was different.

“So, he's more than a simple killer,” Lestat had a feeling from watching him battle Iliya and Venetia. Thanatos knew he was an exception to the rules and he used that position to give him leverage. It wasn't every day that someone broke Venetia's prized weapon and by displaying that strength, he outted himself as abnormal.

Cambria's yellow eyes averted and she held one hand with the other, “I'm not at liberty to say, but he's very unique to our rules.”

“Does that mean that Zion-“ Lestat's immediate speculation went to the devil of his world. Thanatos said that he made a pact with a devil, so by process of elimination, he was the closest choice.

“No, it's not Zion,” Cambria cut down his idea quickly. Her devil would never do anything like that. She knew him well enough to know that at the very least.

“He said he sold his soul to the devil. I assumed it was the devil of this world. Is it not?” Lestat knew the options for which devil it could be were very limited. It was either Zion or another he knew of.

“No, this is a devil from another world,” the goddess shook her head.

Just then Venetia looked as if a realization hit her. If it wasn't Zion then that meant it had to be…”Wait then…does that mean…”

“Don't jump to any conclusions, Venetia,” Cambria didn't want anyone to assume too much or look too deeply into things. She didn't think that they could properly guess who the devil was, anyway.

“There is a devil who can travel through many worlds. Maybe Thanatos came cross this devil,” Lestat knew that it was possible for something like that to happen. This particular devil roamed around and never stuck to their world. They had an affinity for contracting people they saw fit, or those who desired to transcend normalcy in some way.

“A devil who can travel through worlds? That's really interesting. How do you know that, Lestat?” Cambria turned to him. That wasn't something that most people knew.

“My father told me about him. He's very famous and he tends to make pacts with people. A deal with the devil must mean that…” Lestat's face hardened into something dire after a few moments of thought. “No, he couldn't have…What would he want with someone like Thanatos?”

“You look worried,” Cambria didn't like the conclusions that her body guard seemed to be coming to.

“There's something strange about this,” Lestat didn't like this at all. If it was that particular devil, then it could only mean more bad events were sure to happen. This was bad, very bad.

“Is this bad?” The goddess didn't know what to make of it. She was beginning to be a little worried.

“Nothing you should worry about, my goddess,” the white-haired man was quick to dismiss it. It was better not to bring such things up. Lestat didn't want to give her information that was based on speculation and not facts. After all, he could be jumping the gun as well.

“A devil who can travel through many worlds is dangerous,” Venetia didn't know such a thing existed. She knew that the gods and devils could world hop but she assumed that they went back to their home worlds and only used their powers to go places if they had to.

“I'm unsure of where his home world is. Even if we knew, I doubt we could go there. We can really on travel to Flora…”Lestat's face contorted at the thought, “and that disgusting Rose God will be of no help.”

“You aren't allowed to travel to Flora regardless,” Venetia posed the argument. Rosario would rather die than let Lestat go to his home world.

“You could,” the white-haired man glanced to her.

“I will not leave my god's side,” the goat demon wouldn't dare to even think about leaving Cambria alone, nor would she venture to a place like Flora by herself. She knew better than that.

The more they talked, the more Iliya became confused by everything and the more he had to question. What did all of this mean? Who was Thanatos really? Was he in a pact with this mysterious devil that traveled worlds? Why did he make a pact with him? Did the devil give him the power to break the Demon Hammer?

“I want to know what's going on,” with that, the moth knight turned and stuck his rapier in its holster. He began to run off towards the direction that Thanatos had walked in. He wanted to talk to him, and he planned on getting answers.

“Wait,” Venetia's commanding tone caused him to dig his heels into the ground and come to a stop. He turned to look at the goat demon.

“Do you really think you'll get any answers out of that scorpion?” She didn't understand why Iliya thought that he could do a better job than the rest of them at coaxing information from him. Thanatos was pretty adamant about not divulging anything. She found his efforts futile.

“I'm damned sure going to try,” Iliya didn't care. He was determined to find something out. He couldn't just let Thanatos get away with killing people like that. The moth felt like it was a mistake to just let him walk away so easily. It didn't matter how much pain he felt, or how much blood he had spilled from the battle, he wasn't about to simply let a killer like him walk away.

“I understand,” Venetia knew there was no talking to him at this point. He would do what he wanted to do regardless of her advice.

Nodding, the moth ventured off deep into the woods to pursue the killer further. He ran through underbrush and past the line of corpses that littered the ground. His feet carried him through winding paths, splattered with blood and viscera from many victims. The sight of the murders only fueled him to find the scorpion faster. He couldn't let him get away with his crimes.

It was terrible that no one could do anything about his murderous spree to begin with. What made him so special that he was above the gods? Why was he an exception? Why couldn't Cambria do anything about him? He wanted to now.

A deep frown marred his face as he could Thanatos, standing a few feet away and wiping his axe with a fresh, white cloth. It disgusted him at how proud of his weapon he was.

“You!” Iliya pointed at him and let himself be known.

Thanatos turned to him, holding his cloth in his hand. He greeted him in a friendly, charismatic tone. “Ah! Hello there, Iliya. Have you come back for more?” His features then turned sinister as he held up his axe menacingly. “I can always oblige,” dark promise hung to his tone.

Iliya threw his hands up and stepped back. “For the love of- Put that thing away!”

Thanatos chuckled. Iliya's reactions were always so priceless! “My, my, you're such a Nervous Nellie!”

“Ugh,” the moth gritted his pointed teeth, “you're such an asshole.”

“Naturally,” the scorpion put his axe down and continued to wear his characteristic smile, “you and I are enemies by natural selection.” That was just how the worm turned. The moth was doomed to fall prey to the scorpion. Nature simply worked that way.

“This isn't the world that Cambria wants,” Iliya knew that such talk would only make the situation worse. He wasn't about to fuel Thanatos' ill intentions.

“It's not? Do you know why there are both gods and devils in each world?” Thanatos couldn't help but wonder what this knight was being taught by his god. In a way, this was the world that Cambria wanted, because creatures like him existed. It was the natural order of things.

“What? Are you saying you do?” Iliya didn't have time for his senseless babble. What would Thanatos know about gods and devils anyway?

“There are a lot of things I know that I shouldn't,” Thanatos' sly voice reached the moth's ears. He truly pitied someone like Iliya for having such a naïve nature on something like this. He served a god and didn't even know the basics. How disappointing.

“Tell me then, if you know so much,” Iliya taunted him. He wanted him to tell him something, anything that would hint to the devil he served or why he felt the need to kill those at the party.

“Where there is peace, there is also chaos. Gods and devils exist to create a stable balance in the worlds. The devils are absolute evil and the gods are absolute good…Well, most of the time,” the killer looked thoughtful on that last bit.

“How would you know that?” Iliya got the feeling he wasn't lying about knowing a vast amount about gods and devils. Maybe that devil that hopped worlds gave him some kind of intel on other deities in different worlds.

“My secret,” Thanatos teased him. He wasn't about to tell him all of his secrets. It was funny that Iliya still insisted that he was going to learn something from all of this.

“Cambria and Zion get along. Is that what you mean?” Now that the knight thought about it, the facts could just be right in his face. Maybe Thanatos just thought this from observation.

“There are others. I know this for sure,” the scorpion wasn't even referring to them, nor was he referring to Penumbra and Beelzebub, the only other two that could have been considered as those who fell into that spectrum. Thanatos meant others far beyond Solara and Natsuhama.

“Who are you?” Iliya knew he probably wasn't going to get an answer but he wanted to try.

“Just an Emperor Scorpion with a thirst for blood,” Thanatos wasn't playing that game. He didn't play it the first time. What made this moth think he'd get an explanation this time?

“Lestat said there was a devil who travels worlds. Does that mean you know him?” The moth didn't think he'd get an answer out of him on this, either, but he wanted to throw out there that he knew it.

“What makes you think that?” Thanatos wasn't giving him an answer on that. How silly of him to think he would.

“You made a pact with a devil,” Iliya's voice darkened. “It wasn't Zion.”

“Maybe,” Thanatos nearly sang out the word.

“Stop screwing around,” the moth was more than irritated at his avoidant game.

“Demanding,” the scorpion was more than amused. Watching Iliya get flustered over the situation and how little he knew was the absolute best for a sadist like himself. “Are you going to force it out of me?”

“N-no,” Iliya held up his hands again. The last thing he wanted was another battle with that killer. He barely got away from the last one, and there was no Venetia around to be his saving grace.

“Did you think I'd tell you?” If Thanatos wasn't going to tell him this time, he wasn't going to tell him any other time. That moth could talk to him until he was blue in the face and it wasn't going to do him any good.

“You're suspicious.” At the very least, Iliya was going to tell him that he was onto him.

“Am I? You're really stupid to come here alone, then,” Thanatos pointed out the error of the moth's ways. If he was determined enough to pursue him alone, despite having his ass handed to him then he was piss poor at making moves. The scorpion very well could hand it to him again and kill him off if he so desired. Surely Iliya knew of the consequences of going to him alone.

“What?” Before Iliya could get another word out, an axe blade stuck into the tree bark dangerously close to his head. The moth found himself staring down the scorpion's piercing blue eyes. The red light from the sky illuminated them both and he was met with that familiar laughter.

“Your expression is priceless. Did you know that some things are dangerous to learn? There are things in this world that you simply shouldn't know. I suggest you stop asking questions,” the scorpion's voice took on that familiar dark promise it had before. If Iliya didn't turn back now, he might have to bury the hatchet between the two…preferably in the moth's head.

…To Be Continued