Titans Tomorrow: Nowhere

The King Eternal

  Castle Savage, German countryside.
July 17th, 2016, nighttime.
  The Castle's history
  On the outskirts of Germany was a castle laid bare, overlooking a descending summit of stones and the North Sea. The castle had accumulated moss and its foundation of stones was slowly decomposing. Beneath the stains of time and on the castle doors was the family crest of the Savage family, one of Germany's many wealthy families. The castle was built on acres of land given to the royal family of France's court physician as he had cured them of syphilis and the land was later inherited by his 'descendant' Baron von Savage, a German nobleman who in the 18th century, built the castle on the land as a sign of appreciation for Gothic architecture. His 'descendant' has been living out of the castle for an unknown amount of time, however, the elders of nearby ancient fishing villages recall having seen him outside the castle walls when they were younger and him having retained his youth ever since.
  Executed on the walls of the Castle's dining hall were murals depicting scenes from the Bible such as Lucifer being cast out of Heaven, Adam and Eve speaking with the serpent that tempted them to eat the forbidden fruit, Cain murdering Abel, etc.
Sitting adjacently to the end of the dining table was an old man, dressed in a black and white business suit, who was tapping his foot frantically against the medieval tile floor. Behind him were his bodyguards, two men in black with earpieces, cupping and resting their hands at their waists. The old man reached into his breast pocket, pulled out a bottle of pills and placed one onto his tongue, followed by a drink from his wineglass. As he was gulping down the wine, a figure standing in the doorway greeted him. The man was shaken and took a collective sigh.
  "Thank you for coming on such short notice. I apologize for arranging our meeting so late, I will make it worthwhile, I promise."
  The figure then stepped into intersecting beams of moonlight seeping through the castle's windows as the old man lowered his head in the presence of the figure.
  The beams of moonlight revealed a man with broad shoulders, rugged facial features, and long coarse black hair pulled back into a ponytail. Attired in a dark-blue coat with epaulettes and a military issue aiguillette, the man dressed as if he were both a lord and a soldier in previous lives. A man named...Vandal Savage.
  "My friend, you have helped me amass symbols of power in exchange for real power. " He paused to reach into his breast pocket and pull out a vial of blood. "And I am prepared to offer it to you."
  He clenched the vial of blood in his fist and rested his knuckles against the edge of the dining table. He then inquired, "That is if you have fulfilled your end of the bargain?"
  The old man stammered and nodded at his bodyguards before they left the dining hall and returned with a wooden crate, dropping it at the end of the dining table. The crate was stamped with a reichslader, the formal symbol of the Nazi Party.
  One of the bodyguards slid the end of a crowbar under the lid of the crate and pried it open, revealing an amulet.
Savage stepped over to the crate and held up the amulet, running his fingers along the edges.
  "The Askaran amulet. Hitler was known to be obsessed with the occult, having amassed many ancient artifacts that were once believed to be myths. And myths are only exaggerations of the truth as I have come to learn in my long, long life. I can recall having entrusted the amulet to your grandfather when the Justice Society of America seized the base to which he was assigned and replacing the real amulet with a replica. It has been 74 years and alas, you have reunited me with the amulet."
  Savage nodded his head towards the old man, thanking him.
  "Baron Savage."
  Savage looked up towards the old man and inquired, "Yes?"
  "The vial. You promised me another dose of your blood in exchange for the amulet."
  "Ah, yes, I did, did I not?"
  Savage opened his fist and held up the vial to the old man before he rebuked it and slid it back into his breast pocket, wagging his finger at the old man.
  "Superficial."
  The old man's breathing intensified as he barely muttered the words, "What are you doing? We had a deal."
  Savage held up his fist and spoke, explaining, "My friend, my powers of eternal life are superficial and unsatisfactory. I would be remiss to allow a man to live as long as I have and not be able to grow old alongside his wife, his children, his family."
  The old man raised his voice as he spoke through his teeth and scolded Savage.
  "You fool. You dare cheat me? I'll run you and whatever fortune you may imagine you have into the ground!"

  Savage suddenly leaned over the dining table, pulled the old man by his collar and slammed his head into the tabletop. The old man's bodyguards aimed their 9mm pistols at Savage in response.
  "Don't move," they called out to which Savage replied, "Then how will I kill you all?" He then chuckled before he remarked, "I have been speared by Mayan warriors, survived Mongols' arrows, and the cold steel of Crusaders' blades. What makes you think the sting of a 9 millimeter could slow me down?"
  Suddenly, he hurled two knives at the bodyguards as they began firing at him. The knives punctured their chests before the bullets even grazed Savage; their lifeless bodies fell against the wall and slid to the floor, smearing their blood on a mural of Moses parting the Red Sea.
  The old man narrowed his eyes over his shoulder towards his bodyguards when suddenly, he was and slammed against the medieval tile floor. Savage towered over him, held his collar in his fist, and spoke, "I know now what long ago I merely believed. Earth is dying and He has felt it. He has shown me the void that will be left in Earth's absence from the universe and cannot allow you to be forsaken. And as such, He has sent me to act as your shepherd to eternal life in His Kingdom of Heaven."