- Heaven's Last Breath -

Prologue - Introductions

- Aaron -

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Time was slow, the hands of the clock clicking with each tick as the seconds passed. Minutes followed and then hours after that.

Through it all, I stayed still, unmoving from the chair I was sat on in the corner of the now busy town inn. My eyes darted around the room and I knew I didn't miss anything. No one in the bar caught my interest and it didn't look like anything would change that.

The mug of beer I ordered half an hour ago was still untouched beneath my nose. I glanced down to the murky brown liquid, noticing my reflection. Messy purple hair fell just above my eyes, meaning I had to lean forward a little to see more of myself. Two obsidian black irises stared back at me as I smiled to my own reflection.

Then, the front door slowly creaked open, ringing the small bell just above the doorway. My eyes flicked over to the sound, seeing someone stood just out of my view. The shining sun cast a shadow over whoever was standing outside, leaving only a looming silhouette. I scanned the shape closely, seeing a tall, muscular built man. There was something attached to his shoulder, across his back, but I couldn't quite make it out in the blazing midday sun.

Without saying a word, the shadowed figure stepped forward, into the inn. Now, I could see who it was clearly. At first glance I was sure my eyes were deceiving me but now I see why. What were the chances that we'd meet here again.

"Death! There's no way that's you."

Without wasting another second, I stood up from my seat, making my way over to the taller man who had just walked in.

He turned, a stone cold face looking back at me. After a moment, his cerulean ocean blue eyes melted into a smile. The hood draped over his dark skinned face was still covering him but I already knew who I was looking at. The tall man wore a long ash black cloak that covered most of his body, the hood still over his head. He wore some black camo combat shorts and a pair of black army boots. On his back, a large menacing steel blade scythe, glimmering under the oil lantern rested on his shoulder.

"Aaron, it sure has been a while. I was really surprised to hear your message."

The two of us bumped fists as I pulled Death into a bro hug. We both sat down, feeling the eyes of the other people around the bar wander away from us. Our table was positioned at a corner on the same side as the inn entrance, the bar on the opposite side of the room. We were fairly out of the way and I knew this was a good time to catch up.

"How long has it been since I kicked your ass? Five years, right?"

"Oh yeah? Looks like we don't remember the same thing then."

After exchanged a quick laugh over one of our earliest memories of each other, I felt Death's eyes become a little more serious. He leaned forward slightly, looking down to the table before back up at me.

"Something came up but I made sure to deal with it before coming here."

I paused for a moment, thinking back to what Death was mentioning. Neither of us had to say anything in particular because I knew what he was talking about. I leaned back in my chair a little, looking around the room quickly.

"Yeah, I heard. And now here you are, sat at my table just like you said you would be."

Death relaxed in his chair. Now that we had got that out of the way, we could talk more about the important stuff.

"You didn't leave any details out, are you sure you're not being followed?" There was a half concerned look on the dark skinned man's face as he sat back in his chair.