Anathema - Death, Defeated

The necromancer stood in the Vistas, fighting off the voices of the dead who longed to rejoin the living. He watched them start to come forward, bones piercing the soil like roots from the ancient oak he rested beneath, rising like froth from the ocean waves. He hadn’t known the capacity of his abilities, his powers unlike anything the gods had been capable of to this point. An unholy army was rising from Brighton’s earth, led by one - one who knew the necromancer's name, who had heard it whispered in the depths of the afterlife. “Dresden.” The creature breathed, flies swarming his rotting flesh. He wanted to know what it would take to become alive again, but that wasn’t a power even Dresden possessed. There was nothing Dresden could do but watch Lupus move on, herd of bones and rotting flesh following in his wake.

The creature moved through the Vistas, his home unchanged from when he left. His bones cracked and popped as he moved, pieces of hair and flesh left like a trail of breadcrumbs. It was then that he spotted the other deformed being, the smell of burned flesh filling his nose. He she been raised by Dresden, too? “Lovely night... My name is Lupus.” He had to catch his breath in between works, speaking hard on his body. “What brings you out at this hour.”

Tick Tock looked over the creature, her own deformities undoubtedly drawing the mangled thing to her. “I need to give my ears a break from the clucks of nonsense and unorganized chatter.” Her words were also pained, wheezing filling the spaces between breaths. Paduan’s fire had cut away at the beautiful creature she had been. Now she was nothing but a Monster - a monster who seemed to attract other monsters. “My name is Tick Tock. May I ask why you are treading during this witching hour?”

“I have no purpose other than to find company.” Lupus’ labored breaths continued to build gaps in his speech, his struggle to maintain airflow never ending. “Just someone to have a conversation with.” He added, wondering how much of his body actually worked and if the creature before him knew how he, too, could live again. “You talk as though you have been surrounded by nothing but catty mares. Which, would be better than being alone in my opinion. I suppose that doesn’t matter to you, does it?” He chucked, the sound emitting from his body more like a lunch passing through his throat than anything that would closely resemble a laugh. Lowering his head, trying to maintain composure, he apologized. “Sorry. I forget about my condition sometimes. I can’t hold oxygen like I used to. Tell me though, how bad can it be? I would say the mindless clucking of others means that you are aren’t alone. I would give... Well I don’t have anything to give... But I would be grateful to be part of something again.”

Tick Tock looked at Lupus, watching him carefully. The Light Goddess had given her a gift to transform in light - to be normal, to belong. As grateful as she was for the gift, she wondered what it would do for a more worth candidate. Paduan’s punching bag was hardly a wothy cause in Tick Tock’s eyes. “You have been looking for company and let me guess... They run from you? Trust me, I’m used to that.” She looked him over again, the moonlight lingering in his torn flesh. “So, Lupus, you want company. What would you like to talk about.” Even she had times where she was selfless.

“I... Well...” Blinking twice and shaking his head, his brain moving loosely in his half-decayed skull. “Sorry. I have never actually been asked what I want to talk about. Perhaps you wouldn’t mind allowing me to ask you what has hurt you? A battle maybe? That, or a bad run in with another elemental.”

“Indeed I have been in many battles, way to go using your context clues. However, surely you understand that one can be harmed in other ways. I was attacked by Paduan - that is how I received these blisters, and how my carcass began to rot. However, my face.... That is a different matter.” The moonlight shifted as clouds moved across the sky, finally touching her skin, showing the glory of her former self in the light. “You are like me in some ways. I am nearly dead and you are dead. As you see I do not look as dead as before. This was a gift that Galadriel bestowed upon me after Paduan attacked me. I was wondering if there was a way that I could give you this power... And you would become alive again, hopefully permanently. Would you be willing to accept it? I am very thankful for this gift, but I feel that you need it more than I.”

Baffled, Lupus responded. “Why?” He couldn’t bring his question above a whisper. “You haven’t known me for more than an hour, maybe two, and you already feel that you want to give me this miraculous gift? Why? What makes you feel as though I deserve it?”

Tick Tock answered simply: “Because I know the pain you are in.” She looked over him once more, his torn flesh a reminder of what she truly was. “Sometimes it isn’t about if we deserve a gift or not. It matters more on how you use the gift you are given. I didn’t feel like I deserved such a gift. However, I used her gift to the best of my abilities and I think this gift can be used for you.” Clouds covered the moon once more, her wounds reappearing, her breathing labored once more. This is the part of her she knew, she understood.

“I appreciate the notion. I will owe you more than a simple life debt when it is all said and done. Just one more question, Tick Tock.” Lupus glanced around, uneasy. He didn’t want to upset the gods. “How will we go about switching your power over to myself? Would we have to go see Galadriel, or anyone else?” As appreciative of Dresden as he was, he was hoping that he wouldn’t have to go seek out the necromancer again.

From within Tick Tock’s chopped mane came the moon lily, the same one she had created in front of Galadriel herself. She had been keeping it safe, not wanting a tainted creature to get ahold of it. It fell from her body, landing in front of Lupus. “This is a moon lily. This is a flower that I Have been able to create. Brighton, the Earth God, loved it so much that he wanted to keep the one I created for him. I made this lily to prove a point to Galadriel, and she loved it. You must stand vigil and watch this flower for one day and night, no more no less. Under the power of the moon you shall be restored to life, but only under the moon’s light. When the sun comes you will be dead like you are.” She paused, the vial of light that hung around her neck warm against her skin. It was a reminder of everything she would be giving up for this stranger. “You owe me nothing. Just do not do something that would make me, or Galadriel, regret giving you this gift.”

Taking the lily, he watched Tick Tock disappear into the dark, his vow to protect the flower unheard. His eyes remained on it, it’s home on the ground seeming so vulnerable to him. He watched it for what felt like hours, the night ticking on slowly around him. A rustle of trees and shrubs grabs his attention though, a two-legged creature moving towards him.

“Hello there.” The human says after a moment. “You’re Lupus, aren’t you? Tick Tock told me. I know about your task; you have to protect it.” Her hand reaches towards the ground, picking up a pebble. She turned it over in her palm a few times and throws it, watching it land dangerously close to the lily. She laughs. “Protect it, ha.” She moves closer again, getting a better look at Lupus and the flower. “You don’t need to do that, you know. You could leave and it would be just fine. I could take you to my people, where we have magic. You don’t need this lily; you need me. So come closer and I’ll show you what I can do.” She looked at him seriously, a hint of a grin just below the surface. “Just a suggestion.”

Lupus watched the strange creature, hailing before the time of the Oracle making her presence known to Hoof Prince and not knowing what humans were. “She never mentioned you to me. However, you are correct. I am in charge of protecting this little flower.” He stood protectively by the flower, watching the strange thing. “ I suggest you do not stick around, stranger. Unless you want your pretty little skin to go up in flames. I am not interested in your magic, or your people. I have been given the chance at recapturing a piece of what I once was: alive. There is no temptation to sway me from that path.” As he spoke, he created a barrier of flames around him and the flower in order to keep them safe. He needed the flower to live, for it to be okay. His life depended on it.

The young girl giggled, amused by the conversation. “The problem with this fire, though, is that you cannot control it.” She snapped her fingers, watching the fire fight and flicker as if choking. “Fire is, after all, but a manifestation of light.” She smiles again, laughing, finally breaking her character. “Congratulations, Lupus. You have passed this test.” The girl had been Galadriel this whole time.