What is Death?

A Thousand Years

Chapter 14

So they're going to come up with a plan to defeat me, huh, Stein thought amused to himself. There was no way an undead mortal, and a half pint guardian angel was going to defeat him.

He had been listening to their whole conversation, and was thoroughly surprised that they had actually figured out what he was after. The girl's soul. The terms of his banishment from the Otherworld were tied to that one brightly lit soul.

Just one soul.

Stein closed his eyes and for a moment he was back in the court of Regnum Cruoris. The twelve demon lords sitting in front of him. Each in a ebony chair according to their rankings. Addonexus directly in front of him and in the highest chair.

"Your punishment shall be severe!" Addonexus' voice rang out, reverberating off the opaque walls. "You shall spend your eternity on the earthen world, stripped of your powers, and forced to live as a mere mortal."

Stein had sneered up at the court. They had no right to get rid of his powers. "Unless, you bring us a soul."

"Whose soul?" He had collected many souls before. Why would they offer him such an easy task, if not it was an impossible one.

"The soul of a girl, you'll know when you see it. You have a thousand years to achieve this task. If you fail your punishment will be carried out and you will never be allowed back into the Otherworld." Addonexus pushed himself up from his chair. Once standing he gave the order for Stein to be pushed into the Ostium Portal.

Stein reopened his eyes. His thousand years were almost up. Not that it had taken him that long to find her, she had just kept escaping from him. Sixteen times now. The first time he tried taking her soul she was thirty-two. With dark long hair, and the same grayish-blue eyes that she has now.

She was protected then too. She died and had her soul hidden away before he could even attempt to get at it. Addonexus was right about one thing. As soon as he spotted her, he knew that it was the soul he was supposed to collect. It pulsed a bright light, like a little purple sun.

Sometimes it had taken Stein years to find the soul, but he always found it eventually. This time he would not lose it, he made sure of that. Everything from the point where she got ran over to the feeble human Khalon making a deal with him, was all from his manipulation.

It was on that sunny blistery day that he had located the soul. This time it was in a teenagers body. She looked exactly like she had in 1012 AD when he first saw her. Just younger. Stein just had to probe at her and the boy's mind and adjust a few feelings, then BOOM! Instant anger and fighting.

He then just had to direct the truck driver to kill the girl. After that he would just go collect her from the Caelum Cella, the Sky Room, or what a lot of those puny humans thought of as the room into heaven. He wouldn't even have to worry about losing the soul this time since he was pulling it strait back to earth. It would form a new vessel.

But first he would have to make a deal with the boy. That part was easy. He didn't even have to reveal what the price of the deal would be. The boy didn't even know the price he would have to pay to bring the girl back was her soul.

Everything would play into his hands perfectly.

Your time is running out, Stein.

He had to remember that he only had a thousand year time limit, and out of all that he barely had a year left. When the girl turned seventeen he would be forced to become a human and live on earth forever. His thoughts were forced back to the present. His time was running out, and as much as he liked to torture her, he had to retrieve her soul before his time ran out.

In order to do that he would have to lead her into a trap, and then rip out her soul himself. He would use that boy she had feelings for. Stein did tell him to stay away from the girl, so there was no way that he would be able to interfere with the trap beforehand.

YYes!

He thought. I'll use Khalon to trap the girl. She was vulnerable around Khalon. He grinned to himself at the thought of finally getting that soul. Finally getting to go back to the Otherworld and get his full powers.

You're forgetting something.

That was right! That stupid angel who was a pain in his ass. Last time she opposed him, that light had burned a hole in his arm, and he was forced to go heal.

Another shot like that and I won't be able to get that soul. Stein thought to himself. He would just have to be careful. Be smarter then that half-pint angel, which wouldn't be hard. He was a far superior being.

Grinning like a madman he projected his voice out from every shadow in the girl's house. "Tick tock, watch the clock. Soon Khalon will be dead!"

Authors note: Hey me here! Well here's the next chapter and as a gift I'm uploading early!

thanks, peace, love...bye for now!