Time

Prologue 6

The baby crawled through the halls of the house. He crawled towards the hourglass room. He pushed open the already unlocked door and crawled in. The noise of trillions of peoples' lives creeping slowly towards death would have driven any normal mortal insane, but the baby was no mortal. He was what was long ago called a demigod. Instead of screaming in fear, the child's eyes changed from their dark green to a bright shade of blue. It allowed him to see everybody's lives in progress and what was happening with every single one of them. 

He saw a boy playing with others in a field, a fish swimming throughout a coral reef, a god looking on as some people sacrificed a tentacle monster, and he could see the tentacle monster wishing it could see its family. Unfortunately, the little one couldn't take it as he was just a child, and was not fully immortal. The baby felt the worm of insanity invading his mind and tried to fight it. This did nothing but make the worm turn into a serpent, trying to poison his sanity and drive him past stable. The child whimpered and curled into a ball. He couldn't stop the images flashing in his mind and he couldn't make his eyes go back. He started crying. At that moment, Death had been walking outside in the hall. He rushed in and saw the baby crumpled in a ball, softly whimpering. Death picked him up and carried him out of the room, closing the door behind him. He then examined the baby's face. It had tears dripping down its face and Death noticed that its eyes had changed; they were now turquoise, the color of Duty. Death sighed and spoke to the child.

"And now you have paid the price, child. I only wish it hadn't been so big."

The baby spoke softly some gibberish and looked away, facing down the hallway. Death followed the child's gaze until his met that of the creature that stood in the hallway. Death whispered a curse under his breath and stepped forward in the creature's direction. The monster of an animal didn't show any signs of attack, instead looking calmly towards the baby in Death's bony arms. Death examined the creature. It's eyes were purple, a sign of power and magic. 

It was like a wolf, but its eyes were feline. Its back hair was spiky, like a porcupine, but they were retracted, revealing white fur. Its tail was furry and was wagging behind the creature. It had paws that had sharp claws; they retracted after a few moments. Its head was dog shaped, although it had rabbit ears. Death spoke to the animal. "What are you doing here?" The "Dog-cat" didn't speak, but it leaned on its hind legs and lifted up to lick the baby. Its tongue was pink and long. It felt like sandpaper and was forked like a snake's. The mouth of the creature was lined with sharp teeth that, like its claws, retracted as the animal licked the child's cheek. Death's baby giggled and hugged the creatures face. Death sighed. "Oh, very well. You can stay." And Death strolled down the hall, with the baby in his arms, and the Dog-cat following his cloak.