Chapter Text
You would like to say you had a good life and lived it to the fullest, but in that case, you'd just be lying to yourself to cope. You still remember their faces..Cyrene, Khaslana, your mother and father, you certainly don't know what's happened to your brother and his best friend..you can only hope their alive and doing.
Dying while trying to protect your village, You would have loved to see what's beyond Aedes Elysiae, to see the rest of Amphoreus, to train in Castrum Kremnos like your brother, to actually have companions that stay by your side instead of drifting along with the river...
You did have a companion for a bit, a woman with long light green hair, apparently she died from the black tide, something you were familiar with since it had taken your home and killed you and your loved ones. But that companion was but a fleeting moment, taken by thanatos a while after you got to know her, as for you, it seemed like death had rejected you, never letting you rest, wandering the river for an eternity.
AEDES ELYSIAE
In the back of your mind you can still vividly see the never ending wheat fields surrounding your home and the clanking of swords as you and your brother Khaslana, fought, blades clashing against each other against the silence of the fields. Feeling the sweat drip down your face as you disarm his sword with a swift motion, laughter filling the air as you helped him back up, you were training him, no? so he can protect everyone, to 'become' the deliverer. A faint yell came from afar, Cyrene yelling at both of you because your parents had called you home for dinner.
The day it all went wrong, Phainon and Cyrene had gone off on an 'adventure' to find her old tarot cards while you were relaxing in the fields after helping your mother and father tend to the crops, It was calm, as it usually was, the next second the scent of blood and smoke had filled the air, your eyes and body shot open, before your brain could even process what was happening, your body had picked up your sword and you had sprinted off to the village, only to find heaps of dead bodies and 'creatures'. You had fought with all your might, trying to fend off those creatures.
As you fought through the hordes, you had failed to notice the black clad man lunging behind you, piercing right through your heart in one felt swoop, you dropped to the dirt ground instantly, catching a glimpse of Khaslana through your blurry vision before death had taken you over.
Slowly opening your eyes, shuddering about that day, you caught a glimpse of a man not too far in front of you, Layered blonde to red ombre hair that reached his shoulder..his back covered in war paint, styled in intricate designs all over his back, moreover, he was shirtless, only a silk red sash draped on his left shoulder, gold gauntlets on his arms, You had seen him many times, from the time you've been in the river of souls, he always wandered a bit before mysteriously disappearing in a blink, Not sparing even a blink at you.
However this time felt different for some reason, a heavy feeling in your chest that felt slightly familiar, The blonde man looked around before his eyes set on you, a look of familiarity flashed on his face as he looked into your eyes.
He muttered something you couldn't make out from where were standing, he stood there, staring at you for a moment before making his way to you, an expression of pure confusion was resting on his face 'what was he even confused about? you were just a soul who couldn't pass on to thanatos embrace'.
You looked at the ground, avoiding his gaze as he stopped in front of you, looking at you with his dark yellow eyes, pupils shaped like the sun.
"an alive soul..?"
you looked up at him, slightly shocked by his murmured words.
"im alive?"
"you don't look like any other soul's i've seen in the river"
Blinking in confusion, you raised an eyebrow at him.
"is this a joke or something? im pretty sure im dead."
"most souls can't even make comprehensible sentences after being here after a while, you look like you've been here for years."
What he said was true..your green haired friend did start to sort of murmur things you couldn't make out a while after being in the river, hence why you let her go rest and didn't ask her to stay with you, she wouldn't have understood you anyway either.
"um..so who are you..?"
"Mydeimos, crown prince of Kremnos"
"ah..i..see?"
He blinked at you for a second before speaking again
"You do look..familiar to someone i know."
"i do?"
The man nodded, looking around the area of the wandering souls drifting along and the turned back to you, gesturing you to follow along.
"come, ill bring you to the end."
"no point in trying, i can't get in."
"you...you cant cross the river of souls.?"
"nope, i've tried many times, it just doesn't work."
The man sighed, a slight irritation present in his voice.
"have you tried leaving the river."
"you can do that?"
"yes, if you have enough willpower that is."
"oh"
another sigh left the man, holding out his clawed hand out for you to take.
"come, i'll try to help you to get out..can you fight?"
"i do know how to wield a sword, but i don't have one right now."
Mydei's eyes scanned the surrounding area before landing on a slightly damaged spear, he took it with a swift motion and handed it to you, just after that grabbing your hand in his and walking towards the end, you followed closely by, holding onto his hand with your left and with your right gripping onto the damaged spear tightly.
----
You two had been walking along the river for sometime now, you'd seen some monster before but steered clear of them, due to not wanting nor having a weapon to fight them with, your feet were already aching after walking for so long (it wasn't even that long to be honest) you were thinking about complaining to the guy, what was his name again, mydaymouse..?
"hey how much-"
The hand pulled you back, making you almost loose your footing of it wasn't for the hand pulling you up, you turned you head to look at him
"what was that for?!-"
"be quiet."
You were about to retaliate when your turned your head again, seeing the hordes of grotesque monsters ahead.
"get ready."
You nodded reluctantly, gripping the spear tighter as you and Mydei charged at them, killing them one by one brutally, purple sticky goo clung to your clothes as you kept killing them with some strain, meanwhile Mydei was effortlessly killing monsters, taking out most of the horde.
As you kept fighting, killing monster after monster, your vision was starting getting blurry, you tried blinking back the blurriness and it did work for a few seconds but then a bright light shone in your eyes.
----
Blood seeping around you, the dark red liquid mixing with the brown of the earth, you remember, you hadn't died instantly, you could still hear cyrene yelling at Khaslana to get help as she held your dying body, you could hear Khaslana fighting those creatures before realizing you were dying, it didn't hurt as much as you thought it would, it was a quicker death than fully bleeding out thats for sure.
----
Your eyes shot open, your breathing coming out in short gasps, as the pain in your chest faded you finally got a good look of your surroundings, you were being carried throughout ruins, your head was resting on their shoulder, you were being carried akin to how a parent carries a child.
"you're finally awake."
"wha-"
"you left the river of souls a bit before me, when i came back i found you lying on the ground"
"oh...um why are you carrying me..? i can walk by myself."
"your legs are weak."
"i can walk myself."
"relax, im taking you somewhere safe, you can go back to sleep or whatever you were doing."
After a minute of banter between you and mydei, you finally allow yourself to relax, head lolling onto his bare shoulder, sleep crashing into you like a tidal wave hitting the shore.