The Transcendent Godslayer

The rivers run deep, and time runs fast.

The hope of the people has come at last.

But here I sit alone in the dusk,

Wondering if I'm just a husk.

---

A little boy sang melodiously as he plucked the beautiful flowers in the garden.

His blonde hair danced in the breeze, and every so often, a giggle slipped from his lips as he sang. Wings, a delicate blend of brown and white, fluttered gently on his back.

"Mello, what are you doing?"

A girl came running toward him and tackled him, pinning him to the ground.

"Sabrena," Mello smiled, raising his hand to gently rub the small gem on her forehead.

Her angelic face crumpled at his touch, and her eyes welled up with tears.

"You're never nice... Why do you always make me cry?"

Mello froze, then smiled warmly.

"You're beautiful and royal. I'd be executed if anyone saw us like this... Have mercy, fair maiden."

Sabrena blushed fiercely at his teasing.

"You... meanie! Now you're making me all red!"

Mello burst into laughter and effortlessly lifted her off himself, until they were both sitting side by side on the grass.

They sat in comfortable silence, the breeze playing with their hair. The golden rays of the setting sun bathed them in a soft glow, a perfect backdrop for their tender moment.

"Say, Sabrena?" Mello asked quietly.

"Mmm?" she hummed, raising a brow.

"Do you... Do you think I'll live long enough?"

She immediately hissed, "You're saying hateful things again."

"I'm not," he smiled sadly. "I just have a feeling... that I'll die soon."

"That's what you always say!" she snapped, crossing her arms.

Silence fell again, heavier this time.

"If you die... I'll be alone. I'm afraid of being alone, Mello," she finally whispered, a single tear tracing down her cheek.

Seeing her like that, Mello's heart dropped.

"Okay... I won't die," he said, forcing a smile.

"Promise me, Mello... Promise me you won't die no matter what."

"Huh?!" He exclaimed, shocked and confused.

That came out of nowhere. But looking at her face, he saw she meant every letter of her words.

He hesitated. How could he make such a promise? What if he just died here right now? Death never sent a warning before it just... came.

He opened his mouth to argue, but seeing the slight downturn of her lips, the tightness of her jaw, and the tiny crease forming on her forehead; a crease she was trying so hard to hide, he crumbled.

Gritting his teeth, he relented. "Okay... I promise."

"No," she shook her head fiercely. "Promise me you won't die and that you'll never leave me alone."

At her words, Mello cursed internally. He had probably forgotten how smart she was. She knew him better than even he knew himself.

"Fine," he sighed, defeated. "I promise not to die, even though that makes no sense."

Although not fully satisfied, Sabrena grinned triumphantly, wiping the tear off her eye. She decided she would let him off for now.

"Hehe, now you can't die before me! As long as I'm alive, you're not allowed to die. I don't want to be alone."

"Hey, that's selfish! You're not allowed to die either! Why should I be the one left alone?" he protested, raising a betrayed brow.

"Fine," she giggled, a smug look on her face. "Nobody's allowed to die."

But just like Mello feared...

Death never made an announcement when it came.

---

"Mello? Mello?!"

"What's that in the sky?" Mello whispered, frozen in place.

"Huh? What are you talking abou..." She stopped mid-sentence as she looked up to the sky, noticing what he was talking about.

"Wow... What's that? And why is it getting bigger...?"

"S-Sabrena...?" Mello's voice trembled, a sinking pit forming in his guts.

Suddenly, there was silence... The breeze died. The birds fell quiet. Time itself stilled. Until everything that once was, no longer was.

A tremor ran through the earth, and then the world seemed to have gone up in a flash bang, dull static noise ringing in Mello's ears.

Slowly, he regained his sight, and the continuous whining in his ears, subsided. What he saw however, made him tremble.

The sky had turned black, and everything else was gone, reduced to shambles, everyone along with them.

There wasn't a single person left alive as far as his eyes could see, and the world seemed to have become an entire sea of corpses.

Everyone else except for Mello, who was sitting alone in the sea of ruin. His once-pristine body was soaked in blood, and his delicate brown-white wings, were now steeped in red.

"No... Sabrena," he whispered, tears spilling down his cheeks.

Amid the smoldering silence, a man descended from the heavens... or what was left of them, hovering high up in the air.

A man in black and white... at least that was what he appeared as in Mello's perspective, though he couldn't tell if it was clothing, skin, or something else entirely.

In his eyes, he looked almost... monstrous.

"Why did you do it?" Mello murmured.

The man, whose cold, steely eyes, looked down upon the destruction he had brought, suddenly stiffened as though he'd heard the whisper across the broken world.

Slowly, his beast-like eyes turned, and locked onto the boy.

Mello's whole body trembled. Was he afraid? Maybe. Was he raging? Hell yes. But above all... it was sorrow, a bone-eating feeling of loneliness and loss.

The man appeared before him in an instant.

Kneeling down, he gently ran a hand through Mello's blood-matted hair.

"...A fated one," he muttered.

"Do you enjoy it?" Mello asked hoarsely. "Do you enjoy destroying happiness? Are you such a sick, twisted sadist?"

The man paused, raising a brow at his question, and then smiled sadly. After a deep breath, he looked skyward and said quietly,

"...Maybe I am."

Lifting his other arm, his hand ruthlessly clamped around Mello's throat, and he clenched...

"NOOOO!"

Damian screamed, a couple more scenes of many such events flashing rapidly in his mind, before he jolted awake.

His entire body was drenched in sweat, tears streaming down his face.

The door to his room burst open, and a girl ran in, alarmed.

"Damian?! What the hell? You scared the heavens out of me!" she shouted.

Then she saw his state; his trembling hands, his wide, haunted eyes, his sweat-soaked sheets, and sweat-soaked body as well. Her voice inevitably softened.

"...Did you have a nightmare?"

"I..." his voice cracked, shaking with fear.

"I saw people die..."

His body trembled, and he looked her dead in the eye with grey pupils as hollow as they could be, and whispered... "I see dead people."