Titans of the Current: Hands of God Edition

Part 10:2:4

My head spins, my vision dissolved into delusion. I feel my own consciousness return my control to my body.

Blood trails from my lips, but I feel it is not my own. The corpse is fresh, looking down at my own features... What used to be my features?

Is this a game Derkeszher? I gaze down upon the sight of my own flesh, ripped and mangled. I feel sickened at the sight of my own skeleton, broken and extended through my flesh. What does it mean.

Think! Use that brain of yours! Pull out together. My body is shaking me, and my senses reel at the stench of this body.

But how did it come to this? Why does this stench not appall me? Should not a cadaver smell like such? You wouldn't compare the smell of a appetising roast, mosit and succulent, cooked to tenderness, spiced to perfection, to the smell of rotting flesh!

Yet, that is the versa, this corpse had an aroma that is nothing short of divine! The stench should repulse me, yet it brings about hunger, the kind that drives a man to madness!

How did I get here? Are these, on my arm, teethmarks?

Memories strike me!

Come to your senses, you fool! How typical of lust, to crave and pursue, and forget the necessity of consumption!

Consumption? What do you mean? Have I not expressed the desires of power? That is where my lust lies! It all started with the promise of power, a gift from Asmodeus. He cursed my flesh to obsored the souls of the damned demons.

And you pursued it Jazz! You craved it! The souls of demons called to you while you slept, and kept you awake! This forced your hunger, which could never be satisfied, for they tainted your food! You will never be sated until you learn to thrive of that which you are!

No! The price to pay was too great! That's why I sealed my senses! I needed not to experience the joy of living while in a curse. My self inflicted torture, symbolised my binding. I did it in the name of spite of the spirit of masturbation, not the act for those are two different things entirely. My actions nulled his influence, and starved his power. He withered inside me and perished.

As their as that is, curses are not lifted upon the dismissal of their creator! Your flesh is tainted with the souls of demons! It is what you desire more than anything the earth can give you, Jazz.

I desire not such wretched things. I will not be tempted by the odor of the dead.

Not dead, damned! For this man contains your flesh! A genetic replica, with his own curse. The souls of the damned run through just as they do through you! Don't you see, the earth cannot give you the power you crave. You lust for the souls of demons, those that your flesh withhold.

No! The demons were slain in the squall!

But even they had souls! Asmodeus grabbed many of them and played the role of their keeper! You were his protege, his legacy, he perished knowing you would awaken in his absence!

Awaken, as what?

The last demon! Don't you see, your flesh contains all the power held from the slain demons' souls. That is why this corpse appeals to your sense! That is why the blood flowing from your lips taste of nectar. It is why you have devoured your victim in such a fashion! He was a clone of you! He had your flesh! Indeed, it is what you crave: the souls of demons. Why you ask? It is simple, you see. You crave power, and yet you remain blind to the fact that the energy of millions of demons comprises your form!

Then the teeth marks?

Not to worry! They were his, but he could not experience power like you could. In your rage, you developed a lost affinity for flesh. One you haven't felt for a long time, Jazz.

No! It can't be... Must my desire for ultimate power drive from such degenerated actions? Humiliation drives into my heart, the shame is unbearable!

Yet, while you bitch and moan about your pride, you know not the beauty of it all! How in your being, power is at the tip of your finger. But you did hahahaha! Remember your childhood, when you would bite your nails? A habit that trailed into your adult life?

I know what he is doing.... It was that day... Asmodeus spoke to me. My life was so normal, I had a wife and a daughter. There was no reason for my soul to be entwined with the Christian diety of lust. I hadn't bit my nails in months. The tension and nervousness drove me to my nervous habits. I bit my nails... And they tasted savory, like fresh meat! I began biting the ends of my fingers, until my wife began to panic.

You woke up the next day... You killed them. You couldn't control your impulse so you seeked power over the demon inside you. When you failed to do so, you tortured yourself to spite Asmodeus.

And it fucking worked! I was free of him! I called upon his power at the temple, but he failed to answer me. That was the day he perished!

But little do you know... The demon inside you is no longer the soul of Asmodeus, rather it is your own tainted soul. You continue to crave the souls of the damned. And your dirty little secret, haha!

What secret? I don't understand, you can't mean!

Zitsu-kato, you never intended to take it to Etrius! You unsealed the sword during your fight, and consumed it's energy! You had found a source of power, and you couldn't contain your desire to have it! You were never even going back to Etrius! You came here for the soul purpose to eat the souls of the damned.

Why can't I remember? Did I truly fight this fight? Who are you! What am I?

Jazz, Jazz, don't you understand? You've always been in control, for I you, and you are me! Hahahaha!

Get out of my head! I reach for a slab of asphalt. I begin to slam it into my head. Just to stop all this, I will throw my life away!

Shink

I lose my ability to move as I hear a voice... A familiar one, as my body losing feeling. A blade had been stricken into my spine...

At last, I can rest now.

"You have finally paid for your sins, for your betrayal, against that you held closer than a brother."

Blood drips through my mouth, but it's power gives me no resolve... I am at my final breath.

"Vlad?"

"Yes! You traitor, don't act like you give a damn, just because you are about to perish! What happened to you? What happened to the noble tactician that guided his allies to battle? Where was the friend of the bravest warrior I've ever met? I supposed he perished with Vlad.

Farewell scum!"

Tears roll down my expressionless face... The man who once revered me as a brother, slain by my hands? This is the fate I deserve!

No, it was your imposter! Zher fooled everyone! Including you Jazz!

It doesn't begin to compensate the loss I felt at heart. To lose my will to that of a demon.

Not a demon, you! And of you think this is the end, your wrong! Before you know it, you'll be walking and devouring souls like you used to! When that time comes, you and I shall become well acquainted!

Damn it all! I will die here line destiny calls for!

Are those.... Footsteps?

I attempt to forget the pains of living as I drift into blessed sleep...