"One must understand the void, all of its nothingness in order to be filled with it.
"Casey, Child of the Void. I deem you a worthy apprentice in our great journey."
"So sayeth the Great Seer."
"Rise, and take your place among us, so that you may work to bring about the end of our great journey. The purification of this scared world, so that the light may truly be reborn to begin anew.
The traveler is not the power of light that the Speaker claims it to be, but we shall bathe the world in void, so that all may be wiped clean in order for light to begin again."
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"Casey!
Casey! Wake the hell up!"
That, along with a firm grip on my leg, was enough to pull me from my sleep.
I shot up, and was instantly awake. "There was a hit on The Seer, we need to move fucking. now." And before I could ask a single question, he was gone. That was my brother, well my blood brother at least. Reaper, as everyone called him.
I didn't have time to wipe the sleep from my eyes, only to half-heartedly throw my devil into my robes. Reaper had left the door open and I could hear his footsteps pounding down the hallway of the apartments we were in. These apartments were located a good distance from the tower, almost near the outer city limits. The building I needed to get too was a few blocks away, but in the deep of night with no one looking, I could make it in a matter of moments with a few blinks.
I dashed from shadow to shadow, avoiding the yellow light from the street lamps until I came to building I was rushing too. It was an abandoned bank from the golden age, all but reduced to a home for spiders, roaches, and rats save for the vault. The vault still functioned as it was designed to last several millennium. The vault no longer held currency, but a valuable of another kind. The Void Touched's communing circles. The place where we spoke with the void, and it spoke back to us. We had learned things that the tower would have never dared to teach its pure guardians.
Unfortunately for me, there were several people that didn't belong here. A few hunters bearing the marks of the vanguard and a titan with similar markings. On the floor, near the titans feet, was the unmoving body of a man in a large black robe. Even in the dim light I could see the puddle of red beneath him.
I pulled The Devil from my robe and put the head of the closer hunter in its sights and waited. I could hear the soft sound of a metal ball rolling along the ground, and I watched as a gas cloud exploded into the room. One of the hunters whirled around and was quickly struck in the chest with a round. I fired, dropping the other hunter to the ground, lifeless.
The titan had time to raise his weapon and fire several rounds in my direction. None of them made purchase against the swirling purple air that surrounded me. He stopped firing, his face was one of terror... and then his face was no more as Reaper removed it with another round from his rifle.
"You kept the first hunter alive?" I said as I resheathed my weapon and hurried over to the man in the black robes. "Of course." Reaper said as he hurled the now bleeding hunter to his feet. Reaper's voice hissed through his helmet, only further adding to his imposing nature. "You're going to have wished that shot killed you." He said as he hauled the hunter towards us. I helped the robed man to his knees. "Seer, this one has forfeit his life." I sneered and tore the helmet from the wounded hunters head.
"Please! It was just a job, I hold no allegiances!" He coughed up blood as he begged. "Silence." Reaper hissed and struck the man's legs, forcing him to the ground. "Please.." he begged again.
"Your fate has been sealed. Enough of your voice." I said sternly.
The Seer finally mustered the strength to speak. "Thank you Prophet." He said softly. The Seer slowly began to lift a hand towards the quivering hunter. He held his hand out for several moments. Slowly the hunter's shaking began to slow until it eventually stopped and his body fell lifeless to the ground.
The Seer slowly pulled himself up as if nothing had ever happened. "I thank you for your quick timing Prophet, and for your well placed shots, Reaper." He placed a hand on my shoulder and a hand on Reaper's. All I could see under his hood was a single glowing purple eye. I had seen the Seer's face before. He had the pale grey skin of an awoken, it was scarred and his nose was crooked from when it had been broken. He was missing his left eye entirely, and he had replaced it with a pure black glass orb.
"Reaper, I ask you to stand watch for tonight, we cannot be sure if our attackers will send more puppets to our doorstep." He nodded and disappeared with a cloud of smoke.
"Prophet, let us begin tonight's communion. The void has much to teach us." Seer said as he placed his hand against the vault door. After a moment it opened and we both entered, the door closed behind us with a hiss and a loud clunk as the pins fell into place. I kneeled down across from Seer. In between us was a small fire, the flames of which would change color as we manipulated it with energy.
We spent hours studying and learning as the void energy was allowed to run free through the room. We were only experiencing a fraction of its power. We needed more, we needed another. Another body for the void to dance through.
And we are lucky to find a Rose in our garden.
