How Death Lived

by Crimson Wisp

Chapter 16. Hope

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Inside a cobblestone cell in the highest tower of Eclyptus Prison, north of Tamriel, lay a man in captivity under heavy guard. The cell itself was fairly large, but it had nothing save for a single barred window that let in the gentle autumn breeze.

Prostrated on his knees in the center of the room and bound by chains of mythril and silver that held his limp arms aloft, was a man wearing only a pair of worn trousers. His skin was broken and bruised, and several lacerations decorated his emaciated body.

After days of being in either total isolation or being brutally tortured, the man responsible for the prisoner's incarceration peered through the hole. The rattling of keys and the clicks of several locks being unlocked resounded before the door was opened.

The only illumination inside that room was the man's eyes, as the night sky outside was covered by ominous clouds. Those eyes glowed with a malevolent green, as they were transfixed on a single point, a small rectangular slot on the metal door leading into his cell.

"Come to confess your sins Deus?"

The chained man asked in a blatantly sarcastic tone at the captain of the Astral Guard as he entered with three more silver clad warriors who then surrounded the prisoner. The torch-lit hallway illuminated the interior of the cell for it's prisoner to be seen by all who dared to come near.

Two soldiers brandished crossbows with enchanted arrows, which were then aimed at their prisoner. The third warrior carried a massive greatsword on his back that further punctuate his massive size, standing easily a whole foot and a half taller than the 6'0 that Deus boasted.

"Be silent filth!"

One of the soldiers wielding a crossbow reprimanded the bound man after smacking him in the back of the head with the butt of his weapon. The soldier was then met by the silent wave of Deus' hand, informing him to stay quiet.

Not even for a second after that did the prisoner's and his captor's eyes part, the two being hyperfocused on each other like a predator looking into the eyes of it's prey before it lunging forward to deliver the killing blow.

"Leave us."

The captain ordered after a solid minute of being deathly silent. This caused his soldiers to exchange worried looks amongst themselves.

"S-sir?"

One of the three asked, looking right into Deus' eyes.

"Go."

He replied with a forced calmness that let his soldiers know they needed to get out, NOW. Without another word, the three guards left the room and shut the door while they waited outside for their captain. Now alone, the warrior knelt down on one knee to be at eye level with his prisoner.

"Why did you let yourself be captured Astoshan?"

Deus asked, scrutinizing the chained necromancer's face. Astoshan tilted his head slightly with mild confusion, his dirtied brunette hair being flicked to the side after it threatened to get in the necromancer's eye.

"What makes you think I'd do such a thing?"

He replied with a question of his own. The captain of the royal guard stood back up and began pacing around the cell as he answered Astoshan's question.

"I've read about you. Across the realms you were feared and revered as a God of Death and a force of nature, not to mention that if the war with the orc tribes ten years ago is taken into account, you could have slaughtered me and my men with no more than a wave of your hand... even with the power of the Axelion, you could've taken us like it was nothing."

He began explaining, having stopped at the window behind Astoshan to admire the world beyond. In the distance, verdant planes stretched for miles on end before the capital of Tamriel could be seen off in the distance, with the peak of the black mountain rising over the horizon and piercing the heavens.

However beautiful the scenery may have been, the first rains of Autumn had begun to fall over the empire; and the skies over the Eclyptus compound were shrouded under the shadow of what probably be quite the rainstorm.

"Yet here you are, in chains and on your knees before mere mortals. However that may be, I did not come here to mock you."

He continued, looking on as a flock of birds migrated past the complex and further south, towards the Black Mountain.

"All I want, is the creature that killed my men, where and what is it?"

Deus finished his question after letting out a sigh and circling back around to kneel before the bound master of undeath. Astoshan was looking down at the floor while Deus Vult spoke.

"It is mind-blowing to think that I was like you once..."

Astoshan began, almost sounding as if he was musing to himself.

"...I spent so many years trying to rid myself of my humanity... ...that I failed to see that it wasn't my humanity that made me a monster..."

He continued, now looking up at Deus.

"And it is so strange to me to think that despite the centuries of... running, hiding, learning, and slaughter... that even a few days ago I still clung onto the most human emotion... Do you know what it is?"

Astoshan's voice was nearing that of a whisper and the look he gave Deus was one of pity.

The captain of the royal guard struggled to keep a mask of stoicism on. Inside Deus' mind, two conflicting attitudes clashed with each other, causing a strange dissonance that the battle hardened warrior was not at all comfortable with.

Eventually, the choice between sympathy and duty directing his next words was soon cemented. After a few minutes of the two sitting in silence with each other, the captain spoke up with his brow furrowed in determination.

"You did not answer my question, Astoshan."

The change in Astoshan's expression made it clear that that was not the response he was looking for. The face that now stared back at the captain was not one of pity. It was one of a calm and collected neutrality that rivaled that of a warforged, the one odd detail that Deus did notice, was that he was sweating profusely.

However that may have been, the necromancer's eyes told a completely different story, for if they had an evil look before, now they were truly terrifying. The white of Astoshan's eyes had turned to black, and his irises along with his pupils constricted to such a degree that they now resembled green dots amidst a soul sucking void.

"And you have not answered mine."

Before the necromancer even opened his mouth, all external sound suddenly went deathly quiet. The sound of the guards' armor moving around and talking outside, the sound of the wind blowing through the window ceased, even the sound of the captain's and Astoshan's breathing stopped, while the necromancer's voice was seemingly magnified and dropped a whole octave deeper.

It reverberated around the room and seemed to blend with the rumble of a distant thunderclap that came after a brief flash of light from outside. With a heavy sigh to stave his anger, Astoshan spoke up again.

"You have until the rain hits this tower."

He warned, letting his gaze drift downward once more. For as terrified as Deus was at the necromancer's threat, he reassured himself like he had done so on the way inside this dreadful place.

"You are bound by restraints of mythril and silver, and the chamber you are on is covered in runes to prevent your foul magic from hurting anyone. You have no power here and will be executed once you tell me the location of the beast! Don't you understand!? It's over! YOU'VE LOST!"

He began, grabbing Astoshan's face roughly so that the two would be facing each other.

"Now... is there anything you'd like to add to the subject I just raised?"

Astoshan said nothing for the longest while, until a sound from outside caught the attention of Deus. As the captain's gaze drifted towards the window, the gentle tapping he could hear echoing through the cell's roof became a faster pitter patter, then it became-

"Time's up..."

Astoshan said, his voice sounding like that of a strained whisper. In a reflexive panic, Deus drew the Axelion from it's sheath and readied himself to cleave the master of undeath in two.

What Deus had failed to see in the time that he was in that cell, was that Astoshan had been draining the life force that radiated off the astral paladin and focusing the magical energy into a particular spell. Said cantrip increased the acidity of the bile in his stomach, his innards were begining to melt away into a thick and viscous mess of gore, which in turn triggered a natural response in his body to expell the harmful substance from his body.

Much to Deus' shock, just as he raised his arms over his head to swing down at Astoshan with his holy weapon, his face was greeted with a green and red sludge that slammed into him. The disorienting wave of searing pain that rippled through his body as the highly acidic bodily fluid that was hurled into his face burned at his skin was the window Astoshan needed.

With his organs reduced to mush and with little left inside, he would have to act quickly lest the pain he felt be too much for his undead tolerance to dampen. He regurgitated what was left of his innards onto his arms.

Slowly, but surely, the skin and tissue that remained on Astoshan's arm began to burn away and with two heaves on each side, his arms were freed from their bonds and their flesh. Just as he thought he could catch his breath, the door to the cell exploded inward, revealing half a dozen soldiers wielding a variety of weaponry.

They would have charged in immediately and apprehended their latest escapee, were it not for the Astral Captain Deus Vult screaming, gurgling, and crawling towards them with most of his face melted off before collapsing dead on the floor.

The disturbing image was only made worse when they heard the sound of chains clattering and swaying in a cold wind that now flowed into the cell. As the soldiers looked up, they saw an almost skeletal silouhette of a man with verdant dots of dim light for eyes staring directly at them. However, that wasn't the most frightening part... it was holding a flaming sword the guards knew all too well.

"SIDUS IGNE MAXIMA!!!"

The figure shouted with the Axelion held high over it's head in it's right hand. The flames surrounding the blade began to spiral and shift from a bright yellow to a bright sky blue. With an ear splitting shriek, a beam of blue light burned through the roof and a magical barrier that was once invisible to the naked eye shattered.

As the barrier crumbled away, and the runes that were once hidden in darkness began to glow with a blue light that illuminated the room as they lost their magical cohesion. The soldiers looked on in abject horror as they could now see it in all it's grotesque glory.

Standing under a shower of unimpeded rain was a man with skin that was as grey as ash and wounds littered over what remained of his flesh. The muscle and skin around the hands and lower forearms were completely gone, exposing bone that should not be moving like that of a living hand. It's face was even more chilling than the rest of it's body, the upper part of it's face was relatively fine and was even adorned with a nice head of brunette hair that was being brushed back by the undead's skeletal hand. The undead's cheeks were gone along with it's lips, leaving it's teeth exposed along with part of the muscles that worked it's jaw.

He looked up and let the rain wash over him as he took a deep breath through his nostrils before looking back at the stupified guards.

"Allow me to alliterate all that will terrifically transpire with the appropriate application of perfected parlance like the delectable derriere of a sensuous succubus."

He began, stabbing the holy blade into the ground and freeing his hands. The Axelion's holy fire was extinguished upon being impaled with a loud whoosh.

"I hereby revoke you of right to raise arms against me. Lest you lie deader—in lieu of a less lascivious term to lean on—than a deva drowned in it's own depraved delirium."

Astoshan challenged, his hands being wreathed in a sickly green magical aura that danced around his palm and fingers like fire. With the cell's syphoning runes gone, his cuffs removed, and his masterful art of bullshittery; he had bought enough time for his magical reservoirs to recharge to a fourth of their usual strength.

And just in the nick of time as well, because two of the guards at the door charged forwards. One of the guards aimed his crossbow at Astoshan before letting loose an enchanted arrow. The necromancer had already predicted the long range weapon would hit him first, and thus had already determined how he would end his opponents and survive a near point blank shot from a crossbow.

"ZA WARUDO!!! Tokiwa Tomata."

The grey god of death screamed at first, then said calmly once the spell's effect took hold. In a flash of verdant light, the world had suddenly slowed down to a halt and only the brightest of colors remainef whilst everything else became a grey scale of it's former self.

Astoshan smiled as he realized the hurriedly cast spell worked, enhancing his reaction time to the point where it seemed like time had stopped. The arrow that had been fired at him was hovering in the air mere centimeters from his neck. He offhandedly plucked it from the air and inspected it.

"Hmm... Frost arrows, they're learning..."

He said, admiring the miniscule runes. His gaze then shifted towards his unmoving assailants. The absence of all sound and the faces of warriors forcefully burying their fear under anger made the lord of undeath chuckle before letting out a sigh of relief.

"But ultimately useless."

He began again, walking towards the guards.

"Useless. useless. useless. useless."

He muttered to himself with a sing-song tonality and a playful bounce to his step. One by one, Astoshan delivered a quick stabs to the necks of the frozen guards with the frost arrow meant for him. He continued doing this action as he exited the room, stopping after only one guard remained in the hallway.

When he was about to deliver the killing blow to the last guard in the hallway, he noticed something odd. Unlike the others, who had their weapons drawn and charging for the cell. This one was held panicked expression on his face.

What made Astoshan stop was not the distress in the man's face, it was the fact that he was clasping something in his hand. Whatever it was, it was hung around his neck with a simple chain of golden links.

He reached out with his free hand and opened the frozen man's hand to reveal a small locket pendant. The pendant itself was unremarkable to the naked eye, but to the necromancer's honed senses, he could feel a magical resonance within.

Lowering his raised arm and letting the arrow be suspended in the air, he pondered on what to do. This guard was, for lack of a better word, expendable and was paid very little judging by the simple armor and sword sheathed on his belt.

"Instead of taking arms and charging, he chose to flee..."

Astoshan mused as he grabbed the pendant in his gnarled hand and uttered the verbal trigger to a spell slightly more complicated than the he had once taught his son.

"Revelio... Shuthoerin..."

He said, and in doing so, several tendrils of a verdant ethereal miasma began to swirl and writhe in and around the necromancer's arms and the pendant.

As this happened, visions in rapid succession began to flash before Astoshan's eyes: A young elven girl that seemed to be no more than eight years of age drawing a small heart with blue ink on a small parchment, an elvish woman selecting a golden chain at a jewelry shop along with... the pendant... The final vision was of the young girl handing the pendant to the guard at a dinner table with the woman from before.

"Happy birthday daddy!"

The girl's voice echoed around in Astoshan's head until he let go of the piece of jewelry. The necromancer stood there for a few moments, processing everything he had witnessed before making up his mind on what to do next.

He went to the end of the hallway where the door leading down to the rest of the facility and barricaded it with some of chairs and a table that was where the guards could sit and dawdle amongst themselves. An indicator of this was the cards that once lay on the table; now they hovered in the air, motionless.

After ensuring he would not be disturbed, Astoshan stood a few feet away from the guard and took a deep breath before making himself invisible.

"...Tokiwa Umokidas..."

He uttered his next spell, and the world began to move again. The guard was confused to see the door leading away from certain doom was closed and barricaded.

He ground to a halt just as he heard from behind him the sound of gurgling and multiple objects hitting the floor, and he turned around to a horrifying realization.
The guards that weren't writhing on the floor while choking for air, lay limp on the floor with shards of ice perforating their neck and shredding them asunder.

The guard's face became pale and his breathing eratic as he saw the sickening display before him. If he wasn't afraid before, now he would be.

"Don't move... and don't scream..."

A deep voice ordered behind the mortified human. Even if he wanted to, the scream in his throat was held hostage by the sheer terror that paralyzed him.

"Do not panic, and I'll let you live."

Doing as instructed, the guard held his stance and did not move an inch save for the cold shudder running down his spine. He prayed to any god or goddess that would listen, he begged for his life to be spared. He shut his eyes, more out of a need to do so lest he panic and ensure his demise.

As a cold sweat trickled down his brow, he could feel the God of Death moving around him; the sheer amount of mana flowing around the necromancer weighed down on the guard. He felt the putrid smell of bile and melted viscera flow into his nostrils as the necromancer's visage was no more than a few centimeters away from the guard's face.

Astoshan's bony hand reached up and grabbed the pendant that hung around the man's neck and tugged on it to make the chain go taught. The necromancer's action made something blossom within the heart of the guard. It was... rage. Born from the indignation of allowing such a vile being to touch something so precious to him.

He swore it on his wife and daughter's name that if he was to die here and now, he'd die fighting for those he loved. Without opening his eyes, the man grabbed the hilt of his sword. He drew his weapon and let out a warcry, before swinging his sword with every ounce of strength his body could muster.

"RRRRRAAAAAAAAGH!!!"

*CLANG*

His blade hit something and was firmly held in place, but with his eyes closed, he couldn't tell what happened. So after taking a deep breath, the man opened his eyes and witnessed something... odd.

Before him stood the half-melted visage of the necromancer, the dark void of his eyes boring into the guard's very soul. Astoshan had caught the blade between his pinched phalanges, which was now being held in place with super human strength that defied logic.

Said strength proved to be unnecessary, for the guard did not try to free his weapon from the ghastly figure's grip. The two simply stared at each other, neither making a move against the other.

Then the odd thing happened. Astoshan's deliquesced face began to heal, and the darkness in his eyes began to retake it's alabastor luster. The nigh microscopic coruscations of jade malice that were his eyes unconstricted into that of a healthy human eye with a gentle viridian glow.

"There it is..."

Astoshan began, his cheeks and lips having healed and formed a gentle smile.

"The thing that gives us our humanity..."

He softly continued, letting the guard's slack grip and gravity pull the sword in his grasp fall to the floor with a metallic rattle that echoed through the empty hallway. The guard's terror had melted away in the stillness of this moment.

He was still acutely aware of who was talking to him, and he could still see the corpses behind the necromancer, but oddly, Astoshan's delivery had brought an odd peace to him.

"You are like me... driven by the most powerful force in the multiverse... willing to die for those we hold dear to our hearts."

Astoshan finished, his smile being brought about by memories of his own past.

"Tell me, what's your name?"

He asked nonchalantly after a minute or two. It took a lot of effort to speak, but the guard did eventually answer.

"G-Galen... Galen Rose..."

Galen timidly replied. Turning face, the undead necromancer began to walk back to his cell with an amused chuckle.

"You have a good soul Mr. Rose."

As Astoshan spoke, the guard was caught off guard by the sound of the door leading into the hallway being struck repeatedly. The man turned around to see debris being ejected from the door frame with every consecutive strike.

"Resurectum inmortus..."

The voice of the necromancer reverberated around the hallway as the bodies of Galen's deceased comrades and captain clambered to their feet. He stared at the door as it threatened to burst open, each strike further dislodging the door from it's hinges and frame. He knew he had nothing to fear from the other guards in the prison, but what would Astoshan do to them should they-

"SIDUS IGNE MAXIMA!"

The voice of Astoshan broke out from somewhere behind Galen, and a torrent of flames roared past his left. The jet of white hot holy fire punched through the door like it was nothing, shrieking so loudly that it threatened to make Galen's ear drums burst. When the ringing in his ears stopped, he turned to see Astoshan and a half dozen undead standing behind him with weapons at the ready.

The master of undeath had claimed one of the undead's armored chest plate and some boots to dress himself. He hid his face under a star spangled, midnight blue hooded cloak, which had been torn off Deus' armor.

With the Axelion wreathed in blue fire, he aimed it towards the exit and the undead charged through killing anything that got in their way. Astoshan began walking away, but stopped at the door before turning to a bewildered Galen.

"Come, or I won't be able to guarantee your safety."

He ordered casually. Galen did not speak, opting to simply follow the Grey God of Death and let him talk as the two walked pass the pulverized doorway and down the stairs that led to the central level of the prison.

The guard was curious of the necromancer's intentions, but it took a great deal of will power to override his instinctual fear.

"Why are you doing this?"

Galen asked in a hushed tone as he saw Astoshan raise the fallen guards from the dead. The dark sorcerer said nothing while he worked, but once his spell was completed and the dead rose up to take arms against the living, he turned to the perplexed human on his left.

"Doing what?"

The necromancer asked.

"Keeping me alive."

Galen replied, much to Astoshan's amusement.

"I need you to run an errand for me, and I like you."

Astoshan answered with sincerity in his voice.

"It's a shame there aren't many like you in the Empire"

Astoshan's more assertive tone let the human know that he was being serious.

"But this country was given its chance. Which was forfeit when it separated me from my family."

He continued, wordlessly raising more fallen soldiers and mages from the dead as the two reached the main cell block. Galen's eyes widened at Astoshan's remark.

Galen had been told that this monster was heartless and incapable of love and empathy, yet here he was, talking about his family... He had heard the rumors a few years ago that the Ursan Forest had been cursed by the necromancer, which explained why it was one of the few places that was forbidden to travel into.

The two continued to walk in silence, the sound of rain outside and carnage on the inside being the only sound the two could hear.

"You had a family?..."

Galen asked, hoping the question wouldn't anger him. Astoshan said nothing for while, but as they neared their destination, he gave Galen an answer.

"My wife and son... The last shred of humanity I had left."

He replied sullenly, stopping some distance away from a set of large twin doors. The fifty-ish undead that were currently trying to claw the door open had had little success in progressing without assistance.

As Astoshan raised the Axelion towards the door, the horde parted so that their master could give them a path. The yellow flames began to swirl and writhe as they began to shift to a blue light.

"SIDUS IGNE MAXIMA!!!"

Astoshan shouted, trying to outroar the Axelion's blast of holy pyre. The door's surprising durability ensured that it wouldn't shatter upon being struck, so it was blasted off its hinges and sent hurdling through the air.

"Ugh... I hate verbal commands on magical weaponry. My throat hurts."

The necromancer complained as he lowered his sword, his eyes never leaving the slowly dissipating mass of dust and ash.

When the dust settled, Astoshan could see that the remainder of the Solarian guard stationed at Eclyptus Prison—approximately seven-hundred-fifty human, veldaken, elven soldiers and the aasimar elite—had all gathered in the central holding block to make a last stand against him; the same room said Grey God had unceremoniously barged into.

The doors had impaled themselves on the far wall of the room, barely missing the soldiers on the far left of the blockade. With that as their cue, the living charged forward, only for the horde to take them head-on. The necromancer knew his small army wouldn't survive the onslaught, so he took a deep breath before letting it out slowly.

He reached out with his skeletal hand and cast a spell he had once used to decimate a legion of orc marauders.

"Seidlas... Notonde!"

He uttered the incantation, and before anyone could react, it was to late for those under the necromancer's gaze. With his palm held flat, he jerked his arm forward and a shockwave of nigh invisible green magic spread outward from his hand.

As it traveled through the air and the soldiers fighting the undead, their souls were ejected from their bodies. As the silhouettes of people made of a sky-blue miasma looked themselves over before being pulled in by hurricane like winds in the direction of the necromancer. As they drew closer, the souls were ripped to shreds and was condensed into a white sphere made of some ethereal silk that hovered over Astoshan's gnarled hand.

When the last of the bodies fell limp on the ground, the Grey God of Death crushed the sphere in his hand; resulting in the almost white energy diffusing into his body. Taking a deep breath, he let out a sigh of mild exasperation.

Galen's mortal eyes could not see the spectacle of light, so all he witnessed was an entire batallion of healthy and trained soldiers fall dead on the floor with no more than an odd phrase. The instinctual fear that he had managed quell a few moments ago had returned and multiplied tenfold as his mind began to reassess his chances of survival.

The undead army didn't stop trying to kill the already dead soldiers until Astoshan spoke up again.

"Round up any inmates from the surrounding wings here. Kill anything that tries to stop you."

He ordered, and without the slightest hesitation, the horde stormed out of the massive chamber. The stone walls of the complex were lit by a combination of torches and magically charged lanterns.

The room Astoshan and Galen now stood in was a multiple story prison block with four floors and with as many cells as architecturally possible crammed with as many as five inmates per cell.

"It's him!"

"Death has come for us!"

"Get away from the bars!"

Thieves, murderers, and the other prisoner's muttered and mumbled to themselves in fear as Astoshan passed by the cells of the first floor. All at once, the inmates became silent as Astoshan and Galen when they stopped in the center of the massive chamber.

Rain from the outside and the odd explosion from the chaos the necromancer's undead were causing in the lower levels was all that could be heard.

Galen could see the sheer terror in their faces, but then he directed his attention to Astoshan. The Grey God of Death looked at each of the prisoner's, the dark malice that once plagued his eyes had now returned.

"Galen..."

The necromancer called to the guard, making the two lock eyes.

"Where is my phylactery?"

Astoshan asked, his voice a few octaves lower than before and now reverberating off the walls with such force that he subconsciously feared they would crumble under the pressure.

Steeling his nerves, lest he anger the visibly upset necromancer, he answered him.

"It's in the main vault of the Eclyptus compound, in sublevel twenty two. But You won't make it in their by yourself, the area is being protected b-"

"An astral shield."

The necromancer cut in, startling the terrified guardsman. Astoshan walked over to Galen and looked him over before holding out the Axelion for the guard to take.

"Take it. You will need it."

The necromancer said after a brief pause. With a bit of hesitation, Galen took the holy blade in his hand and looked over the crusader sword's elegant design and the runic markings covering almost all of the sword's faces.

"Get out of here before the Queen's army surrounds this place. Take your family and go into the Ursan forest. If my home wasn't destroyed, you may stay there. Do not leave the area, I will have someone send you food and supplies. That sword is what will let my undead know not to harm you, so don't lose it."

Astoshan ordered, his tone calm and reassuring enough so that Galen would calm down; if only a little. Looking up from his weapon, the guardsman locked eyes with the undead necromancer. With a hundred questions racing through his mind, he quickly picked one and asked.

"What will you do when they show up?"

Astoshan said nothing, but the small smile that continued to grow into a shit eating grin was all Galen needed to realize that he needed to get the hell out of dodge.

//////Canterlot castle at around eight o'clock//////

On a balcony in Luna's tower, Saros Cycle stood with his eyes closed and his hand outstretched and bathed in a teal ethereal light. Beside him, Luna stood with her eyes shut and her horn enveloped in an azure aura of magical energy.

The two had been using their magic for the last half hour to set the sun over Equestria. It's descent was slow, but after much effort, the sun finally sunk under the horizon and the moon was raised shortly thereafter. Falling to his knees panting, his brow slick with sweat, he looked over to his adoptive mother.

"How does... *pant* how does she do this every day?"

He croaked. While Luna was equally drained, she mostly maintained her composure thanks to the years of exposure to noble etiquette.

"Our sister's duty binds her to the sun. It bends to her will, much like how the stars and the moon bend to mine and the weather to yours."

She answered, still taking deep breaths through her nostrils. Turning to face her son, Luna smiled.

"Do you remember when you would ask me to help you paint the stars?"

She asked. As the human sat there on his knees, he met her gaze and chuckled.

"We'd make a mess on the canvas and you'd blow it out of the water by re-creating it on the sky."

He complemented, gaining a mild blush from Luna.

"I haven't changed it... the stars are still aligned in the last pattern you drew. Not that any pony would know..."

She reminisced with a tinge of pain, as she looked up at her night sky, illuminated by a galaxy of stars in a pattern she memorized during her millenium on the moon. Seeing this, the stormcaller got to his feet and placed a hand on her shoulder.

The two shared another glance and enjoyed the stillness of the night. That is, of course, until a knock at the door leading into Luna's quarters broke the peaceful quiet.

"Enter."

Luna ordered, and the door was cracked open just enough to allow the visitor to poke his mismatched head through.

"I didn't come in at a bad time did I?"

Discord timidly walked in. Luna had been so use to Discord being random, that seeing him come in so normally through her for a loop, but after a few seconds, she trotted over to greet him leaving Saros in the balcony.

"How are you feeling Discord?"

Luna asked with a gentle smile on her face.

"Ugggghhh... Miserable. I haven't had to walk this much IN MILLENIA! I must admit I've found a new appreciation for teleportation and the ability to fly for long periods of time."

He complained, his eyeballs literally rolling back into his head as he collapsed backwards, holding his hooved leg in the air. This got a hearty chuckle from Luna, but Saros on the other hand, was fuming. Even after being assured countless times by the element of kindness and his mother that Discord had truly been reformed, he had been finding it increasingly difficult to even stand in the same room as the god of chaos and mischief.

As the seconds passed, his anger continued to escalate; eratic bursts of a celeste, static electricity bolted around his arms and his fists were slowly being encased in a very thin layer of frost that diffused into steam upon coming into contact with the air.

To keep himself in check, Saros turned around and rested his hands on the white marble railing; trying to think of anything else to get his mind o-

"Saros?"

Luna's voice broke Saros free from his own thoughts with such force that he accidentally ejected frost magic from his hands, binding him to the railing with dense masses of ice.

He pulled and strained for a bit, but his attempts to free himself were in vain, as the ice didn't budge in the slightest.

Turning around clockwise as much as his new restraints would let him, he could see Luna covering her mouth with her hoof as she giggled. Thrown slightly off by this, he completely missed Discord, who was silently stargazing to his left.

"You know, the more I look at the bugbear constellation the less I see a bugbear and the more I see an upside-down koala. Is that just me?"

Discord's voice sent Saros into a panic frenzy after he whirled counterclockwise and his eyes locked on to the draconequus looming over him. After a minute of struggling manically, the delirious stormcaller settled on concealing his panic under a death stare directed at the mischievous spirit.

At any other time, this would've been hysterical for Discord; but what he was to do now had been weighing on him ever since the demon that set Saros free wandered into the Everfree.

He took a deep breath to jumble his collected thoughts, and summoned a tiny wooden gavel from thin air. He then proceeded to ever so gently tap the ice restraining the startled human.

With a comedic *dink* the basketball sized masses of frost shattered like glass and fell to the floor and off the side of the balcony overlooking the city of Canterlot. Rubbing the cold off of his hands, Saros looked away from the master of mischief and spoke.

"What do you want?"

He said, the strain to keep his composure was blatantly audible in his tone. Discord's gaze fell and hovered over the castle's garden below. He could see the place where he had been petrified for over a millennia, and a wave of guilt washed over the deflated draconequus.

"I know you don't want anything to do with me Saros. But please le-"

"DON'T!!!"

Discord began, only to be cut off by Saros as he wheeled around to look at him. The god of Chaos's heart sank the moment he saw the tears flowing down the human's cheeks. There was a second of silence before the aggravating stormcaller spoke up again.

"Don't... don't call me that..."

He continued, his entire body was trembling, and the arching bolts of lightning coursing through his arms were crackling with reckless abandon. Discord said nothing, letting the human release everything he had clearly been holding in.

"I don't remember my own name because of you... I don't even remember what my parents look like BECAUSE OF YOU! YOU TOOK EVERYTHING AWAY FROM ME AND TURNED ME INTO A FREAK!!!"

The human angrily shouted, as he lunged forward and grabbed onto Discord's fur. He pushed Discord to the edge and held him there as he screamed, with icy tears pouring down his face.

"Samuel!"

Luna interjected. Thankfully, it got the reaction Luna was hoping it would get from her boy: confusion.

"W-What?"

Saros asked, his brain having short circuited from the famili-

"Your name is Samuel, Samuel Hayden. You had a brother named Matthew, a mother named Tanisha and your father was named David."

Luna explained, her horn was encompassed in her magical aura. With every name she brought up, Luna began planting images in Saros' mind.

As his mind began to recall them and their faces, his grip slackened on Discord, who was understandably scared of getting thrown off of a fifty story tower without the sufficient magic to catch himself.

"I know that I will never be able to replace them in your heart. But I swear to you that I'll help you to never lose sight of who you are again."

If Luna's words did not quell the pain Saros' heart, then oddly enough, it would be Discord to put out the human's fiery rage.

"S-Samuel... I've spent many nights wishing I could take it all back... I know that I may never be able to atone for all the pain I've caused. so... I tried to find a way to let you know that I really have changed..."

The now teary-eyed lord of anarchy snapped into existence a letter which hovered over his lion paw. Taking said letter, he eyed it for a bit before giving it to Saros.

The human let go of Discord and inspected the letter, and he felt his whole world shake once he saw the hand writing that read, "For Samuel Hayden".

"I can't send you back to your world or even back in time... you wouldn't survive having your magic taken from you... so a few days ago, I went to earth... and told your family of everything you did for this kingdom, and the great man you've become."

Discord finished, humbly waiting for Saros' response. Saros opened the letter and pulled out two pieces of paper. One was a folded manuscript and the other was a four by four inch picture of Samuel and his family.

He couldn't even unfold the manuscript, as he fell to his knees to cry. Seeing her son in tears, sent Luna's maternal instinct into overdrive, prompting her to come closer and wrap a wing around him.

Refusing to let the human suffer anymore, Discord quietly placed a paw on his shoulder. After sometime, Saros regained enough control over himself to pull in Luna AND Discord for a hug.

"Thank you..."

Samuel said, holding the pair of ancient beings as if they were long lost friends. With their bitter tears having turned to tears of joy, the three beings who had once been hated by all of Equestria found peace, love, and friendship.

Author's Note:

This chapter was so much fun to write. I'm super excited about the following chapters and getting to write them. Thank you so much for the support thus far! If you've got any pointers, don't hesitate to go to the comments, I love talking with you guys. (especially now with the pandemic and all) Stay safe, and I'll see you all in the next chapter

Comments

[Eversong]

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"ZA WARUDO!!! Tokiwa Tomata."

WAS THAT A JoJO ReFerence

[Saj3boys]

"ZA WARUDO!!! Tokiwa Tomata."

I’m back!
No not again! Your everywhere!