Heart of Demise.

42

I couldn't tell how much time had passed. Or even if time had passed at all.

I gazed at a fire, letting the sight go into my mind, but never acknowledging it. I knew there were more things around me, but I hadn't averted my eyes to see them once.

That was until my head suddenly jerked upward, and my eyes met with the moon.

"...Huh?"

I blinked. Then blinked again. Then blinked a few more times. And finally, I understood what I was looking at.

"Where the hell am I?"

Control of my body returned. I twisted my head left and right, trying to solve where I was this time. I was in a lone desert. I looked down, seeing that I was on a log chair in front of a fire.

"What's going on?"

I tried to stand up, but my butt was glued to the seat. I could move all my limbs just fine, but I couldn't move from this spot. This was, obviously, a problem.

"Where the hell is this place?"

I kept looking around, and then all of a sudden, it clicked.

I've been here before, haven't I? I don't remember when, but I distinctly remember this desert, this fire.  Was this somewhere in the Complex? No, that couldn't be it. The moon was here, after all. 

"You must be confused," a voice called to me.

"Huh? What? Who's there!?"

"Over here, moron."

I turned my head in the direction of his voice; right in front of me. I had to rub my eyes a few times to make sure what I was seeing wasn't a hallucination.

There stood a man in a pitch-black robe, his face concealed by the shadow cast by his hood. A thick, equally black mist blew out from the bottom of his robe, hiding his feet and the ground a whole meter around him.

In every way possible, he looked like the grim reaper. He just needed a scythe, and I'm sure he'd pull it out of his ass soon enough.

"Ah, so that's what's going on, huh?" I said.

"What? What are you going on about?"

"Well, I didn't expect to survive that fight anyway... but this is how I'm going out?"

"Survive? Dude, you need to–"

"In here, some crazy alternate dimension, staring Death into his eyes."

"I'm not Death, dude."

"..."

"Shocker, right? Yeah, you're still alive, don't worry."

"Wait... have I seen you before?"

"Yeah. How'd you tell? My outfit is completely different."

"I guessed."

"Alright, cool cool. Let's just get this whole thing started, alright?"

He reached into his robe and pulled out a paper and a pair of glasses. He put his glasses on– at least, I think he did, but under that shadow, he could've been eating it for all I know.

"Let's see here..."

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing. I just had to seem like I wasn't being useless."

"..."

He took his glasses off, crushed them in his palm, and let a sudden gust of wind blow the dust away.

"So, Lewis Whitmore, huh?"

"Who's asking?"

"You. I am you, Lewis."