Of Men and Titans: Dead Kings (OOC, Semi-Open)

[Kylantha]

I might come back for this RP only. It's the only one I still want to continue. That is, if it still goes on. Otherwise, I will remove Alfie and all my other characters from this series and create one of my own which I will work as hard as I can on.

[Charmera]

I might come back for this RP only. It's the only one I still want to continue. That is, if it still goes on. Otherwise, I will remove Alfie and all my other characters from this series and create one of my own which I will work as hard as I can on.

I'd like to bring this back too.
Would you mind if I posted a little infrequently though? Considering my workload...

[Islamic Republic e Jariri]

Plan to end the two year hiatus soon.

Am planning out a minor time skip and flashforward to set the final arc in motion.

Yes, the intention is not to prolong the RP but to give proper closure to character arcs.

Currently I'm picturing this - we open up a scene that flashforwards to the near future, where a mysterious enemy stands triumphant in apparent victory against certain characters, their fates uncertain. Mitchell will be one of the few left standing, missing an eye and facing a familiar adversary from 7 years ago in Book III - the Masked Man, now a servant of the mysterious enemy, as the two engage in a battle to the death.

Then we flashback to five days earlier and build up the events leading up to that inevitable moment.

Elements that need to be resolved:

• Cloak's message to Damien warning him about a mysterious enemy hunting abhumans.
• Scarlet's desire to confront and surpass Quicksilver who robbed her of her revenge against her father Metallo whom QS killed.
• Alfred's corrupted psyche taken over by the entity known as Nathaniel.
• Quicksilver's interesting relationship with Matthew... really curious where that will go.
• Alice and Kyle's love story.

Characters whose role needs to be figured out:

• Jessica - Super durable skin, doesn't outwardly age, enhanced strength and works at hospital.
• Shiloh Haverfield - displays similar abilities to Mitchell Evans, whom he revived from a comatose state, has possible crush on Portia.
• Portia - rich girl, has obvious crush on Shiloh, refers to Damien as 'Carrot Cake Kid' and not much else.

Am currently working on brainstorming other details to flesh it out...

There is also something else to account for - public perception of Quicksilver - she is known to the residents of the city as somewhat of an urban legend and is the leader of her own crime syndicate that comprises a large faction of the Washington Underworld (the collective term of crime families based in the city).

If she is to one day become President of the UAR then it would help if in the final arc she is perceived as a defender of the city - maybe during the final arc the mysterious enemy attempts to siege the capital city itself... yes, he could gain access to a missile manufactured by the RHK company, which QS could counter with her magnetism, saving the city and being hailed as a hero. How would she react that?

-------

Oh and the Mayor is currently Zach in disguise, working for the Ace of Clubs, a rival member of the Underworld, that will need to be resolved.

I wanted to do this arc about Jessica stopping the rampage of a abhuman serial killer but... I hadn't fully thought it through. Could continue it and just go with the flow or could skip it all together and just reference it as a minor adventure Jessica had whilst moving forward with introducing the final antagonist - the mysterious enemy - Manama.

Am working on his character... he will be separate from the Soul Eaters (who maybe should be one individual) but work in conjunction with them over shared goals. Manama is technically only after killing Alfred, but his minion the Masked Man is fixated on killing Mitchell, whose Matthew's brother, who might also be attacked by the Soul Eaters, while Alfred will be cured but forced to battle Mia whose more powerful Mosley persona resurfaces.

-------------

Structure:

1. We flashforward showing all the main characters in difficult situations due the actions of Manama.

2. We flashback to five days earlier, resolving loose plot threads and moving everyone in that one situation.

3. We fully catch up to the flashforward scene, defeat Manama and deal with the consequences.

4. Finally we do a short epilogue set a few years later, showing what happened to all the characters.

[Harbertia]

Bravo!

[Islamic Republic e Jariri]

Bravo!

Hey Harb - I was going to invite you for the epilogue - or Phase 4 of the revival. I wanted to do this scene at the end where the whole story told is actually a flashback recalled by Damien (the side of the epilogue from his perspective), discussing it over tea with none other than Salvia herself. That is if you're willing, to at some point in the near future, play Salvia one more time in one last scene?

[Harbertia]

Bravo!

Hey Harb - I was going to invite you for the epilogue - or Phase 4 of the revival. I wanted to do this scene at the end where the whole story told is actually a flashback recalled by Damien (the side of the epilogue from his perspective), discussing it over tea with none other than Salvia herself. That is if you're willing, to at some point in the near future, play Salvia one more time in one last scene?

I'm sure I'll be able to get myself into the mindset again- just do remember that I tend to 'seep' into my characters- so it wont' be a healthy experience for me but I can certainly do it. Especially since it's over tea and especially due to the events that have taken place in the RP.

[Islamic Republic e Jariri]

EDIT: Am going through a few different opening paragraphs to resume the RP... want to write the best one...

I consider the main characters of DK to be Alfred, Damien and Quicksilver although neither of them are necessarily on the same side.

A new theme I would like to delve into is whether these three relatively dehumanized characters can reclaim some semblance of humanity through their respective goals.

Damien's original goal was simply to put an end to the Red King but now he wants to save Alfred, someone he hurt badly long ago and now desires to make amends as a means of redemption to prove to himself he's still human and to prevent his step brother from losing his own humanity.

Alfred seemingly forgave Damien in Book III but he just couldn't commit to it - what his brother did to him a hundred years ago was unforgivable and its let him be consumed and taken over by Nathaniel. Yet Alfred still cares for him which is why Nathaniel aims to kill him to sever a tie to his humanity.

Honestly I don't want this ordeal to have a happy ending - best case scenario Alfred overcomes his grudge against Damien but acknowledges that he can never truly forgive him, leaving their relationship bittersweet but human. Of course that is all up to what Saes wants.
Damien's story arc would ideally end with him realizing he still possesses humanity both good and evil and vowing never to forget himself, thus gaining something long lasting and meaningful from the relationships and experience he had in Washington.

Whereas Book III ended on a bleak note since DK might be the last OM&T RP I'd like the finality to this ending to be less dreary. Still the final arc will be called Drawing of the Dark...

Quicksilver adopting Metallo's daughter and eventually becoming UAR President (AND a crime lord?) in the epilogue does give her a concrete future, although whether this will quell her frightening psychosis and put her on a more sane path... well that's up to Charm. Will she and Matt get together? Back in Book III she seemed immune to the Madness itself...

[Charmera]

It's going to be weird returning to this after so long...
A lot has changed for me in that time, so forgive me if I seem a little... odd myself. I'm stepping back into characters I never thought I would touch again. It feels a bit uncomfortable.
I feel sort of like I need to change stuff...

Plan to end the two year hiatus soon.

Am planning out a minor time skip and flashforward to set the final arc in motion.

Yes, the intention is not to prolong the RP but to give proper closure to character arcs.

Currently I'm picturing this - we open up a scene that flashforwards to the near future, where a mysterious enemy stands triumphant in apparent victory against certain characters, their fates uncertain. Mitchell will be one of the few left standing, missing an eye and facing a familiar adversary from 7 years ago in Book III - the Masked Man, now a servant of the mysterious enemy, as the two engage in a battle to the death.

Then we flashback to five days earlier and build up the events leading up to that inevitable moment.

Elements that need to be resolved:

• Cloak's message to Damien warning him about a mysterious enemy hunting abhumans.
• Scarlet's desire to confront and surpass Quicksilver who robbed her of her revenge against her father Metallo whom QS killed.
• Alfred's corrupted psyche taken over by the entity known as Nathaniel.
• Quicksilver's interesting relationship with Matthew... really curious where that will go.
• Alice and Kyle's love story.

Characters whose role needs to be figured out:

• Jessica - Super durable skin, doesn't outwardly age, enhanced strength and works at hospital.
• Shiloh Haverfield - displays similar abilities to Mitchell Evans, whom he revived from a comatose state, has possible crush on Portia.
• Portia - rich girl, has obvious crush on Shiloh, refers to Damien as 'Carrot Cake Kid' and not much else.

Am currently working on brainstorming other details to flesh it out...

There is also something else to account for - public perception of Quicksilver - she is known to the residents of the city as somewhat of an urban legend and is the leader of her own crime syndicate that comprises a large faction of the Washington Underworld (the collective term of crime families based in the city).

If she is to one day become President of the UAR then it would help if in the final arc she is perceived as a defender of the city - maybe during the final arc the mysterious enemy attempts to siege the capital city itself... yes, he could gain access to a missile manufactured by the RHK company, which QS could counter with her magnetism, saving the city and being hailed as a hero. How would she react that?

-------

Oh and the Mayor is currently Zach in disguise, working for the Ace of Clubs, a rival member of the Underworld, that will need to be resolved.

I wanted to do this arc about Jessica stopping the rampage of a abhuman serial killer but... I hadn't fully thought it through. Could continue it and just go with the flow or could skip it all together and just reference it as a minor adventure Jessica had whilst moving forward with introducing the final antagonist - the mysterious enemy - Manama.

Am working on his character... he will be separate from the Soul Eaters (who maybe should be one individual) but work in conjunction with them over shared goals. Manama is technically only after killing Alfred, but his minion the Masked Man is fixated on killing Mitchell, whose Matthew's brother, who might also be attacked by the Soul Eaters, while Alfred will be cured but forced to battle Mia whose more powerful Mosley persona resurfaces.

-------------

Structure:

1. We flashforward showing all the main characters in difficult situations due the actions of Manama.

2. We flashback to five days earlier, resolving loose plot threads and moving everyone in that one situation.

3. We fully catch up to the flashforward scene, defeat Manama and deal with the consequences.

4. Finally we do a short epilogue set a few years later, showing what happened to all the characters.

I'm not sure about that structure. It looks good I think but it seems rather short. And QS doesn't really have anything to do with Manama.

Hey Harb - I was going to invite you for the epilogue - or Phase 4 of the revival. I wanted to do this scene at the end where the whole story told is actually a flashback recalled by Damien (the side of the epilogue from his perspective), discussing it over tea with none other than Salvia herself. That is if you're willing, to at some point in the near future, play Salvia one more time in one last scene?

I'm sure I'll be able to get myself into the mindset again- just do remember that I tend to 'seep' into my characters- so it wont' be a healthy experience for me but I can certainly do it. Especially since it's over tea and especially due to the events that have taken place in the RP.

Salvia...o.o
I'm concerned...

[Charmera]

I'll try my best to join in though. I'm excited for this even despite my akwardnnervousness. ^^

[Islamic Republic e Jariri]

Understandable concerns - I will endevour to address them.

QS has her own story arc with a much more grounded focus on the WU crime syndicate, possible redemption by Matthew and an interesting potential relationship with Scarlet Diamond, not to mention the Ace of Hearts whose her biggest remaining rival in the Underworld, who also has control over the city's flagship metahuman taskforce known as the Washington Elite and whose shape shifting henchman Zach is impersonating Mayor Connors.

Last we left off with her she was sparring with Matthew Evans and can later catch up with Scarlet.

The Ace of Hearts (aka Timothy Allencourt) was solidifying his power play by unveiling the Washington Elite who on the surface function to fight crime and sell merchandise but in practice work to eliminate rival factions in the Washington Underworld, securing him a foothold in both the city's politics and criminal dealings (thus promoting himself to a 'King of Hearts' whilst cutting off all 'pretenders', hence correlation with the title). This would at some point affect QS who might have to eliminate the fame seeking 'superheroes' or turn them over to her faction to eventually confront the Ace's aggressive expansion.

Hence it makes sense she would have her own troubles to deal with unrelated to Manama whose main vendetta is against Alfred (and to some extent Mitchell).

Jessica, Shiloh and Portia were confronting an insane clown masked serial killer with the power to control shadowy tendrils similar to Mitchell.
Either they defeat him and get hailed as local heroes or... he kidnaps Portia forcing Jessica and Shiloh to work together to find them before its too late.

This one's up to you - would you like Jessica to have her own arc in pursuing a killer and rescuing a friend or have her rejoin Damien and Alfred's arc (Manama and Soul Eaters)?

As for story length... while we are starting over to some degree technically we're continuing where left off, at 17 pages of IC content produced by 3 players, which isn't bad. We could perhaps continue to aim to reach... 25 pages in total? We don't want it to bee too long and stagnate but rushing into the ending isn't desirable either.

[Harbertia]

I can already imagine Salvia's conversations in regards to Damien expressing his desire to help Alfred. I'll be able to manage. I'll keep the end game goal in mind though so XD hahaha

[Islamic Republic e Jariri]

I can already imagine Salvia's conversations in regards to Damien expressing his desire to help Alfred. I'll be able to manage. I'll keep the end game goal in mind though so XD hahaha

Yes, that will be interesting, but is a long ways off for now.

The next step for me is now to write an opening to get the plot moving again.

[Islamic Republic e Jariri]

Sorry its taking a while, it was challenging getting back in the same mindset and there's quite a bit for me to write, right now I haven''t even finished this flashback scene, which just kept getting longer and afterwards I will work on reconnecting with the other plot points.

Alfred's funeral, around one hundred years ago...

1

It was unusual for a child to have a closed casket funeral. Normally the body was left visible for display so that the attendants could appropriately reminisce over the body's untainted youth and lament over the premature end of life and what could have been. But the crimes committed against the body of Alfred Lloyd were so unspeakable that to leave it open for public view would have insulted the memory of a once happy and healthy young child, the one his step parents preferred to remember him as. The true details of the boy's mutilation were confidential as to not glamorize the morbid acts committed by his yet to be identifiable killers.

He was buried close to the Lloyd estate so that the Mr and Mrs could visit him regularly. At the moment the two of them had collapsed from grief and had to be escorted back home whilst the funeral came to an end. Kneeling down on both legs with his head bowed under the shadow of the gravestone sat the boy's older step brother, himself also adopted into the Lloyd family, Dmitri. For a ten year old he had been unusually quite during the mourning proceedings, his eyes giving off a more tired look that expressed a melancholic resignation at the death in the family. Some speculated that since they weren't brothers by blood Dmitri wasn't too affected by Alfred's death, yet there no accounts of the two ever behaving hostile towards each other either.

''So Alfred... now you have gone... gone to her,'' he said turning his head to face a tree nearby. Perched atop one of the branches a Red Eyed Raven glanced back at his direction. Was he being judged?

''Its not my fault,'' he asserted to himself and the bird. ''I did my part, I played it well! It was Reilly and those goons, they are the ones to blame. Everything would have worked out had they not...''

But in the end he was still the one delivered Alfred to those predators. Those were his orders after all and he disregarded any lingering feelings of sentimentality for his brother and the family he had fabricated with the Lloyds. None of it was real or meant to even last as long as it did.

The bird flew off as Dmitri paused himself in mid-sentence, looking back at the events that led up this unexpected consequence. For three years the syndicate had planted him into the Lloyd's lives. He pretended to be their adoptive son, to this childless family of middle ranking Order officials in their region. This was always meant to be a simple act of espionage, he reported their activities to an informant, keeping a small local underground criminal syndicate aware of how to best proceed in the area.

But along came Alfred and Dmitri now had to play the additional role of a sibling. The boy's arrival changed everything as he quickly became the new favorite for the Lloyds, making his own job harder. Yet he continued to manage and work around that and eventually for the three years he spent as a son and brother he realized he had enjoyed his time in the facade. He never expected the syndicate to consider Alfred of any significance and this seemed true enough, until over a month ago when he was told of the decision made by the Boss himself of a using the boy in a ransom deal to target the Lloyd's wealth. Dmitri had asked why it wouldn't be more suitable for himself to be 'kidnapped' rather than involve Alfred but he was told he was needed in the Lloyd's inner circle to keep them informed of their behavior during the hostage negotiation phase.

Dmitri had no mind to betray his employers so he obediently directed the trusting Alfred into the hands of the syndicate's goons, lead by Irishman Mark Reilly. Harming Alfred was never part of the plan, that would have dismantled all proceedings and leave both sides at a loss. Unfortunately the Lloyds too realized this and unwisely chose not to pay the ransom but to continue stalling until the boy was located and retrieved from his captors.

Needless to say, this wasn't appreciated by Mark Reilly and eventually after a month of searching Alfred's body was found in a river. It is unclear whether drowning was the cause of death or if it was the injuries he had sustained beforehand. Whatever the circumstances were the Lloyds were now broken and so was the syndicate's plans for a ransom. A lose-lose situation and Dmitri no longer wanted to be party to either side, for whom he felt disdain. The whole situation was a bloody mess that could have been avoided but ended up going down the worst route. The worst part was that he had been instrumental in setting it all into motion.

Deep down he knew he must have been aware of the possibility of everything going wrong. But rather than prepare a countermeasure to this he chose to let the plan go with its own flow, ignoring that small possibility that he was sending his brother, whom he lived with for a year, into a imminently premature demise. Because he was afraid that the mask of Dmitri Lloyd was becoming all too real. He a centuries old immortal trapped inside a child's body had come to enjoy his time raising Alfred as his younger brother. Even the Lloyds weren't so bad and he got to roleplay being part of regular society, living as if he had a future with everyone around him. And this realization had frightened him, to be living in a reality of friends and family that could never last.

Alfred became the strongest tie to a reality he needed to reject. He knew the boy's safety wasn't a guarantee but he couldn't give in to sentimentality. He was never a permanent part of the Lloyd's family - and the brother role he played was what had been expected of being Dmitri Lloyd. The name was just a persona created to fulfill its intended purpose and nothing more. The boy called Dmitri had no real name to call his own.

''You're Dmitri right?'' inquired a soft spoken young voice from behind him. He knew that voice, it was Miranda Hartwell, a friend of Alfred's. from school. Behind her followed David More, the Hartwell family butler, a tall and thin man in his mid-fifties, dutifully accompanying his young charge. The girl was holding orchids obviously intended to be added to the vast collection of flowers placed at his graveside, which Dmitri was blocking. ''Sorry I didn't mean to disturb you if you were -''

He stood up maintaining a solemn expression and silently walked past the girl to give her space. She gently put the orchids among the others before kneeling down in prayer. Dmitri looked down at her with his tired eyes, he hadn't prayed in centuries. There was no point to it - Alfred was dead and forever gone from this world, whatever became of his soul was no irrelevant. Dmitri would continue living in this world and in time Alfred would fade from memory as if he had never existed. That was the one true absolute truth when one was no longer bound by mortality. His life did operate on a different wavelength from others.

''Dmitri Lloyd, on behalf of the Hartwell family, we extend our greatest condolences for your loss,'' said David as he bowed his head respectively. ''Alfred had so much to live for and Miss Hartwell here was very fond of your brother. She came to mourn him privately but we do not wish to intrude.''

The Boy Called Dmitri stood with his back to them, still facing Alfred's gravestone as his mind wandered into many places. The last three years of his life with the syndicate were a mistake, especially inserting himself into the Lloyd family and pretending to be a sibling to a naive younger brother. Indeed Alfred did have so much more to live for, to study at Cambridge as was expected of them both, to visit India and Nepal as the two once promised and for him to eventually find a wife and have children, to live out all natural phases of life, bearing both its joy and sorrows. But He robbed him of that, someone who took life for granted and could never appreciate how sacred it was.

He nodded in acknowledgement to David's statement, trying to come to terms with how to handle the situation. Miranda silently knelt under the gravestone and began to pray. Listening to her words to the divine powers and pleading for the salvation of Alfred's soul, the Boy Called Dmitri felt his hands shaking and clutched them into fists. He could feel the fear returning to him and his composure was wavering as his eyes began to look distraught.

As Miranda finished her prayer he spoke up again: ''Tell me, you are saddened by his death are you not?''

''Of course I am,'' she instantly replied. ''He didn't deserve to die, I hope his killers are damned in the Nether where they can burn for eternity!''

David would have given her a stern scolding for breaking her dignified demeanor into an outburst that was unbecoming of her, but considering the circumstances he let it pass. Both he and the boy also noticed the tears welling up in her eyes. The two must have been really good friends.

''You want them do die? And to continue suffering after that?'' inquired Dmitri.

''Why wouldn't I? Don't you? They obviously made Alfred suffer for a whole month before murdering him, they're monsters and should keep feeling pain for what they've done even after they die.''

''Were you praying for Alfred?''

''I want him to be happy wherever he is now, hopefully in a better place. He was too good for this world where monsters eat good people like him.''

''How do you know Alfred won't go to Hell?''

''What are you talking about? Why would Alfred go to Hell?''

''If this world is made up of monsters that eat good people then whose side is God on? Who were you praying to? If Alfred didn't deserve to die would he deserve to go to Paradise? Or did the monsters deserve to eat him?''

Both Miranda and the Butler were staring at him with a dumbfounded gaze, unable to grasp his pained perspective he sounded like he had gone mad from grief.

''We are very sorry to disturb you, please take your time here,'' bowed David before he and Miranda left the cemetery with haste.

Dmitri recoiled from his short but sudden illogical excuse of a philosophical tantrum, confused by his own words. Something within him just snapped and he felt more dissatisfied with Alfred's death than before. He saw the two take their leave and sighed in resignation. He couldn't feel better as the pain just kept growing within him, thriving off the fear, anger, frustration and confusion brewing inside of him.

Bending low he reached out to touch the ground under which lay the broken and defiled remains of the brother he betrayed. His fingers buried themselves deeper into the soil as he pondered over Alfred's final moments. The hurt, humiliation and despair, he could sense it all seeping into him, getting an idea of what must have been going through his mind before the end. There was also anguish at what was being done to him, he must have felt more than just alone, but forsaken by fate itself.

If only time could now stop then he could stay by Alfred's graveside forever and remind him he's not alone. But Alfred's body had returned to the earth where it would be eaten by maggots and turn to bone then dust. Right now he just couldn't accept that at all - the very thought made his stomach turn, it felt completely wrong. He raised his head up with his eyes now glowing with a new resolve.

''No... this isn't the end, Alfred. I will save you.''

2 nights later...

Covered in dirt and muck he had committed the unspeakable.

Part of him was very much aware of how he would come to regret what he intended to do. Perhaps this was his own perverted form of grief or outright denial. Perhaps the madness was getting to him. What he was about to do was considered dangerous and unwise and had he been in the right state of mind he would have halted his insidious agenda. With a rope and pickax Dmitri climbed out of the pit he had dug and was carrying a white rucksack over his back.

''I'll fix you Alfred, don't worry.''

Laws of nature be damned, he was an immortal who had broken free from the cycle of mortality and would now use that power on another.
Reclaiming Alfred's soul from Lady Death was impossible but he revive the body and mind, resurrecting his brother as a homunculus. It was the closest option he had to bringing him back from the dead and as it dangerous as it was for potentially the both of them, it was the only way he could right the wrong of betraying his brother. He would give him a second chance at life and the two would travel the world having adventures and a jolly good time in general, forgetting all about the Original Alfred's gruesome fate.

A new beginning for the both of them and this time Dmitri wouldn't take it for granted.

''Hot damn...,'' came an unfamiliar voice with a dried out pronunciation as if the speaker's throat had been parched.

Dmitri froze in place, sweat pouring down is temples at the quite realization he had just been witnessed body snatching. His focused towards the stranger who had gotten so close to him without making a sound. He must have noticed him from afar and carefully approached him before announcing his presence. Which meant he wanted to confront what he saw head on rather than run away and report him, which would have risked putting the boy's secret in jeopardy. But now he had to discern this stranger's intentions, which couldn't be any good.

But when he set his gaze upon this intruder the tension in his face precipitated into a state of puzzlement - before him stood a six foot tall shirtless man, well built torso decorated with arcane looking tattoos. This was complemented by ink markings on his face but what stood out the most under the moonlight was the man's wild pink hair peppered with black spots. It was hard to notice at first but his neck was riddled with long thin scratch marks.

What a queer... who the hell is this joker? Dmitri was now more irritated than scared.

As if the stranger read the boy's mind he smiled and suddenly the immortal's sixth sense blared out of control, a sensation so intense he dropped the rucksack carrying the corpse and resumed his state of shock. His sense was telling him the man before him was no mere mad fool, but an entity very much capable of killing him. Without realizing it his legs pounced backwards to create some distance between the two, not letting his eyes wander from the threat before him. He knew this feeling his sense was conveying to him - although the two had never met before he recognized what the stranger was - a Forgotten and a powerful one. It had been a while since his last encounter with one of those.

But never before had a Forgotten bypassed his sixth sense and come into proximity of him without being warned. It was as if this one had a special ability that completely concealed his presence, both physical and spiritual. Was this an ambush? And if so then how could he fight back?

Fear of death heightened his sensitivity as he felt his limbs quaking, ready to make a futile attempt at evasive maneuvering. But another possibility crossed his mind.

''You didn't kill me when it was most opportune and you intentionally revealed your presence to me. You are here to make a deal are you not, for Alfred's return?'' he asked mustering up courage not to back down. ''Let me guess, you want my immortality in exchange?''

''If I could kill you why would I want your immortality?'' answered the stranger rather nonchalantly. ''Nevertheless your assumption is... warranting of my intrigue. Would you truly give up your eternal life to bring back someone whose existence is as small and fleeting as a firefly?'' he asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

Dmitri didn't want to die or stop living. Neither did he want Alfred to stay dead. He wanted the both of them to experience an indefinite flow of life without the inevitability of death threatening to end that everlasting climax. All he wanted was to undo the mistake of his death, make sure it could never claim Alfred again and then move far away doing whatever they liked, to continue their lives together as if they never ended.

''I see...'' nodded the Stranger, his lips curling upwards into an amused smile. ''You want the world to change to your whim, to right what you deem wrong without regard for whether it is just amoral. Truly you are nothing more but a selfish child with a warped perception of life.''

''Are you... going to stop me from bringing him back?''

''There's no point. His soul is gone, thus he has well and truly been erased from this world.''

''Then what do you want from me?''

''Hmph...'' he snickered to himself before vanishing from sight, his presence completely untraceable.

Dmitri looked around cautiously, trying to discern if the Stranger was trying to launch a surprise attack. If he was then there would be no way to anticipate it as he seemed to negate himself from all kinds of perception. There was something about his aura that was disturbingly malicious, it was as if his very soul went cold upon feeling it. His words too were hurtful and after a few minutes he let his guard down and pondered their meaning. Was bringing back Alfred with no regard for the consequences a truly selfish desire? Was his desire to restore their happiness unjust?

No, if Alfred came back to him then he wouldn't have to be alone anymore. He could make the new Alfred just like himself. They could have a real relationship this time with no more deceit. 'Dmitri' could become a real person. And Alfred would certainly prefer that to staying to dead, of course he would. There was nothing bad about this. He wouldn't let the Forgotten break his resolve, Alfred's death was wrong and he would right it.

3 feet under Lloyd manor...

There was an external entrance to the cellar under the Lloyd manor, where he took Alfred's remains and lay them. Breathing in deeply he exhaled softly, preparing for the immense spiritual strain he would be inflicting upon himself. Kneeling down he raised open his hands above Alfred's corpse and felt drops of life energy dripping into his finger tips.

It wasn't anywhere near enough. He knew he had a very limited ability to heal others but this time he had to go all out. Closing his eyes he focused on the core of the energy that kept him immortal and directed more out of himself. His entire hands were now glowing with a faint purple aura that slowly extended out from his fingers like smoke and reached into Alfred, covering his corpse with the same aura.

The remains started to shake and then moved into place, gradually rebuilding the body. Dmitri felt his skin tighten and his bones growing stiff.
But he couldn't just stop now, not when the process just started. Gritting his teeth he endured the feeling of being wringed from the inside and kept his focus solely on Alfred's healing body. It was starting to look more human now.

''Dmitri? What are doing in here...''

No... not now.

It was too late to stop and hide the corpse from sight. The Lloyds had already descended down and bore witness to him defiling the dead.
That was how they perceived the scene of their son using some abhuman ability on the remains of their beloved Alfred. He could already see it in their eyes, there would be no chance at explaining his perspective to them, he had already destroyed them.

''Leave us be,'' coldly replied Dmitri, unwilling to waste time on those two broken adults. His priority was Alfred alone.

The Lloyds simply stood in horror, trying to comprehend the macabe sight before them. Dmitri was some kind of abhuman and he was using his powers to play around with his younger brother's dead body. Mrs Lloyd collapsed as her legs gave way and she leaned against the cellar wall,
staring in disbelief at the two children she had treated like sons. Her eyes swelled up as tears began to overflow whilst her husband didn't stay in place and moved to confront Dmitri.

''WHAT IN THE NAME OF HROVA ARE YOU F*****G DOING TO MY SON YOU MAD BASTARD!'' he yelled, his face contorted with unbridled fury as he snatched into Dmitri's shoulders and shoved him back from Alfred's corpse.

''You fool!'' exclaimed Dmitri as the aura around Alfred intensified before being forced to halt when Dmitri's concentration was broken. as he was forced away from the body. He couldn't let this ignoramus of an adult ruin his plan and swiftly delivered his elbow into the man's abdomen before resuming his work. There was no time for apologies or explanations, his will needed to be absolute, that of his desire to bring back Alfred with nothing else around them mattering.

''Awaken Alfred, embrace your rebirth!'' ordered Dmitri, refusing to accept failure. He could feel it - the heart and lungs were functional, now he only needed the brain back in commission to switch the body back on. He smiled as his eyes sparkling with glee, watching the rejuvenated body levitate midair, having been remade whole again. He was actually doing it, creating his own immortal brother with a power that literally rested within the palm of his hands. The realization brought him pure ecstasy, it was as if he had ascended to godhood.

Of course it all went wrong.

Without warning Dmitri was struck by an intense migraine, as if the top of his head had been lit on fire. His strength waned as his bones felt soft causing his arms to drop. He soon felt completely numb as his skin was pigmented grey as rock followed by the moisture in his eyes drying out, causing him to lose sight before actually blacking out, unable to complete the revival.

When he finally came to, there was no body or corpse to be found, just a pile of ash.

''Not this...'' he muttered to himself, his legs too weak to let him stand as he crawled towards where he had expected a revived Alfred to be waiting for him. The process had failed and destroyed whatever was left of his brother's remains. Dmitri however refused to register that, grasping into the pile of ash and trying to transfer energy to it. But nothing came out this time, it was as if he had exhausted his allowance of spirit energy or maybe there was no way to restore someone from a state of dust.

''Don't do this...'' he could feel his hope completely eclipsed by the overwhelming despair of pure absolute rejection.

Death had won and he was completely powerless to defeat it. This was divine retribution that even as an immortal he too like any other human could not conquer fate. Alfred was dead and would stay that way, while Dmitri had no command over his own power of eternal life that controlled his own body and kept him from comprehending the permanence and inevitability of death.

Death was a cheap transaction to pay for revival, he had done it so many times the whole process lost its weight. He had not expected to get attatched to Alfred, thus only when he had lost him as a consequence of his own ego did he realize his confused feelings to be brotherly love. His childish need to play out the role the syndicate assigned him to got Alfred killed and he treated the boy's corpse like a broken toy.

''Al... fred... Alfie...'' his head sunk below his shoulders. ''You can't... let yourself... end like this...''

He smashed his fists into the pile with such impact his knuckles cracked open and proceeded to reverse the injury. The primal fires of guilt and rage sparked within him, consuming his thoughts with equal strength. One of them would eventually overwhelm the other. Alfred's death was an absolute and immovable aspect of reality itself that tugged around his heart like thorny vines. They needed to be burnt away for the pain to end.

Beyond unacceptable... this is incorrect... damn you... you were brother and now you're reduced... no... you're nothing...

But if I hadn't sent you to them, if I made the negotiations work...

No! It was the Lloyds and their lowly pride coupled with Reilly's insidious lust... I was the only one who played by the rules... I did what was expected... I played my part correctly... I was the only one!

Alfred is dead because I let him die. I served him on a silver platter to those monsters when I could have refused and saved him. Its because of me, because I exist that Alfred isn't allowed to! No, I don't deserve to mourn him, not when I'm the one who killed him.

Saving Alfred wasn't my role to play... it was never my burden to bear. His entire life with me and the Lloyds was a facade, he was just one piece of a game I found amusing to play. That's right... he was my toy just like the Lloyds and the syndicate. But his death broke the game which must be reprimanded for.

He turned towards the Lloyds with a bleak and sullen expression, in no mind to explain to them what they just saw or what he truly was.
The boy was gravely disappointed at his failure, lamenting at how close he came to fixing Alfred only for his own power to so cruelly reject his wish just when it was at the cusp of fruition. But he still had the power to accomplish one objective: revenge.

[Harbertia]

hmm... I too should practice.

*tries to find the last post with Salvia directly, and also the most recent Damien post*

I need to have an idea of Salvia's current position and Damien's recent activity.

Edit: Oh wait I just have to do an end scene XD hahaha ahahha well that takes a lot of stress away.

[Islamic Republic e Jariri]

hmm... I too should practice.

*tries to find the last post with Salvia directly, and also the most recent Damien post*

I need to have an idea of Salvia's current position and Damien's recent activity.

Edit: Oh wait I just have to do an end scene XD hahaha ahahha well that takes a lot of stress away.

Yes, its a long while away though so you have LOTS of time to prepare for the one final scene with Salvia. And after that there might be no more OM&T for the foreseeable future so in a way... This Is It. A send-off. Your final farewell to the character. Her last performance...

----------------

No wonder I'm exhausted - more than 20 whole characters to keep track of:

1. Alfred = Investigate Red King = Smuggle illegal weapons into Europe; Nathaniel = Kill Damien

2. Damien = Investigate WU + Save Alfred + Maybe reconnect with the Evans

3. Quicksilver = Silver Queen = Taken over most Red Faction = Questionable sanity = Interesting relationship with Matt + Scarlet = Torments/toys with Damien = Rival and potential enemy of Ace, presumed enemy of BJ.

4. Scarlet = Kill Quicksilver = Part of Neo-Path Organization = Allied with Blackjack against QS but leads separate faction.

5. Jessica = Help Damien + Save Portia

6. Wilson = Redemption = Back from Japan = Maybe take down Neo-Path + Scarlet

7. Portia = Kidnapped by Stalker Obsessed with Jessica

8. Stalker = Apprentice to supernatural entity Manama, desires to create Living Doll.

9. Manama = Nemesis of Alfred's father = Wants to kill Nathaniel to bring back Alfred = to torment him, Infatuated with Mia

10. Timothy Allencourt = Ace of Clubs = Rival to QS Faction = Taken over Washington Mayor Office + Using Washington Elite to delete rivals + control city police

11. Zach - posing as Mayor Connors (deceased) = Former Sanctioned Agent = Loyal to Ace

12. Blackjack = Real Name Unknown = Master of blackmail + Rival to QS and Ace = Distributing power enhancing drugs (e.g. Metallo vs QS) + Supplying to Neo-Path organization, wants to take down Ace + Control city for himself

13. Shiloh = Local vigilante = Save Portia + Save City + Learn who Damien is = Save City = Blamed for Red King's death and further rise of QS and Ace

14. Mitchell = Resume normal life = Find love + Forget past

15. Matt = Protect family + Save city + 'Save' QS

16. Mia = Protect family + Help City + Resume Normal life

17. Claudia = Alfred's cousin + Potential Heir = Save Alfred + Purge Nathaniel = Allied with Damien and Noire and David

18. Noire/Gerald = Alfred's father and predecessor = Now a ghost, can neither harm nor be harmed, Save Alfred + Kill Nathaniel + Move On

19. David = Loyal butler to Alfred and Gerald = Save Alfred = Old but youth is retained through supernatural contract, nothing else to live for but serve Alfred.

20. Mr Tomorrow = Leader of Washington Elite = Official 'Superhero' = Fame and fortune = Former super solider under Robert's cavalry in Book I = Is taking Blackjack's power enhancing drug in secret + Works for Mayor (proxy for Ace) = Enemy of QS + Neo-Path, blackmailed by BJ to spy on Ace

21. Other members of Washington Elite...

22. Dr Vivian Hope = Helped kidnap Mitchell and plant Mosley's consciousness into Mia = Took part in failed Telepathic Unification Project to assimilate city into hive mind = Accidentally looked into QS's mind during incident and forced into coma. If awakened will ally with Mosley and Owen Perry = Thinks QS is an abomination that deserves to die.

23. Dr Owen Perry = Worked with AI Mosley and Vivian, kidnapped Mitchell, was torn in half by Mia during failed Unification Project, will return as cyborg intent on revenge.

24. Mosley - Resurrected as AI modeled from pre-Book II Mosley, will return inside Mia's mind and take over = Join Neo-Path as Leader = Take over city = Enemy of Ace, Wilson, Damien, Evans siblings, Alfred , QS and everyone.

25. Molly - Mitchell's girlfriend = Can see the future.

26. Masked Man = Will Return = Enemy of Mitchell = Ally of Manama

[Harbertia]

hmhmh

Salvia has a fondness for Damien this is true, but even she understand that it's got to end at some point. She, as shown before, still has plans for how to end it when the time comes to end it. But she's not heartless, she does after all want it to end softly with out animosity. Of course, that's how she prefers it always- being merciful.

Though she really doesn't want Damien to agree to such out of self loathing- she wants him to do so while ok with himself, and her.

Salvia is a complex creature in that regard. Wanting to be loved, and to love- even if it must end. If your looking for that sort of ending I'm already thinking of the location Salvia would want to be in at that point.

[Islamic Republic e Jariri]

Alfred's funeral, around one hundred years ago...

1

It was unusual for a child to have a closed casket funeral. Normally the body was left visible for display so that the attendants could appropriately reminisce over the body's untainted youth and lament over the premature end of life and what could have been. But the crimes committed against the body of Alfred Lloyd were so unspeakable that to leave it open for public view would have insulted the memory of a once happy and healthy young child, the one his step parents preferred to remember him as. The true details of the boy's mutilation were confidential as to not glamorize the morbid acts committed by his yet to be identifiable killers.

He was buried close to the Lloyd estate so that the Mr and Mrs could visit him regularly. At the moment the two of them had collapsed from grief and had to be escorted back home whilst the funeral came to an end. Kneeling down on both legs with his head bowed under the shadow of the gravestone sat the boy's older step brother, himself also adopted into the Lloyd family, Dmitri. For a ten year old he had been unusually quite during the mourning proceedings, his eyes giving off a more tired look that expressed a melancholic resignation at the death in the family. Some speculated that since they weren't brothers by blood Dmitri wasn't too affected by Alfred's death, yet there no accounts of the two ever behaving hostile towards each other either.

''So Alfred... now you have gone... gone to her,'' he said turning his head to face a tree nearby. Perched atop one of the branches a Red Eyed Raven glanced back at his direction. Was he being judged?

''Its not my fault,'' he asserted to himself and the bird. ''I did my part, I played it well! It was Reilly and those goons, they are the ones to blame. Everything would have worked out had they not...''

But in the end he was still the one delivered Alfred to those predators. Those were his orders after all and he disregarded any lingering feelings of sentimentality for his brother and the family he had fabricated with the Lloyds. None of it was real or meant to even last as long as it did.

The bird flew off as Dmitri paused himself in mid-sentence, looking back at the events that led up this unexpected consequence. For three years the syndicate had planted him into the Lloyd's lives. He pretended to be their adoptive son, to this childless family of middle ranking Order officials in their region. This was always meant to be a simple act of espionage, he reported their activities to an informant, keeping a small local underground criminal syndicate aware of how to best proceed in the area.

But along came Alfred and Dmitri now had to play the additional role of a sibling. The boy's arrival changed everything as he quickly became the new favorite for the Lloyds, making his own job harder. Yet he continued to manage and work around that and eventually for the three years he spent as a son and brother he realized he had enjoyed his time in the facade. He never expected the syndicate to consider Alfred of any significance and this seemed true enough, until over a month ago when he was told of the decision made by the Boss himself of a using the boy in a ransom deal to target the Lloyd's wealth. Dmitri had asked why it wouldn't be more suitable for himself to be 'kidnapped' rather than involve Alfred but he was told he was needed in the Lloyd's inner circle to keep them informed of their behavior during the hostage negotiation phase.

Dmitri had no mind to betray his employers so he obediently directed the trusting Alfred into the hands of the syndicate's goons, lead by Irishman Mark Reilly. Harming Alfred was never part of the plan, that would have dismantled all proceedings and leave both sides at a loss. Unfortunately the Lloyds too realized this and unwisely chose not to pay the ransom but to continue stalling until the boy was located and retrieved from his captors.

Needless to say, this wasn't appreciated by Mark Reilly and eventually after a month of searching Alfred's body was found in a river. It is unclear whether drowning was the cause of death or if it was the injuries he had sustained beforehand. Whatever the circumstances were the Lloyds were now broken and so was the syndicate's plans for a ransom. A lose-lose situation and Dmitri no longer wanted to be party to either side, for whom he felt disdain. The whole situation was a bloody mess that could have been avoided but ended up going down the worst route. The worst part was that he had been instrumental in setting it all into motion.

Deep down he knew he must have been aware of the possibility of everything going wrong. But rather than prepare a countermeasure to this he chose to let the plan go with its own flow, ignoring that small possibility that he was sending his brother, whom he lived with for a year, into a imminently premature demise. Because he was afraid that the mask of Dmitri Lloyd was becoming all too real. He a centuries old immortal trapped inside a child's body had come to enjoy his time raising Alfred as his younger brother. Even the Lloyds weren't so bad and he got to roleplay being part of regular society, living as if he had a future with everyone around him. And this realization had frightened him, to be living in a reality of friends and family that could never last.

Alfred became the strongest tie to a reality he needed to reject. He knew the boy's safety wasn't a guarantee but he couldn't give in to sentimentality. He was never a permanent part of the Lloyd's family - and the brother role he played was what had been expected of being Dmitri Lloyd. The name was just a persona created to fulfill its intended purpose and nothing more. The boy called Dmitri had no real name to call his own.

''You're Dmitri right?'' inquired a soft spoken young voice from behind him. He knew that voice, it was Miranda Hartwell, a friend of Alfred's. from school. Behind her followed David More, the Hartwell family butler, a tall and thin man in his mid-fifties, dutifully accompanying his young charge. The girl was holding orchids obviously intended to be added to the vast collection of flowers placed at his graveside, which Dmitri was blocking. ''Sorry I didn't mean to disturb you if you were -''

He stood up maintaining a solemn expression and silently walked past the girl to give her space. She gently put the orchids among the others before kneeling down in prayer. Dmitri looked down at her with his tired eyes, he hadn't prayed in centuries. There was no point to it - Alfred was dead and forever gone from this world, whatever became of his soul was no irrelevant. Dmitri would continue living in this world and in time Alfred would fade from memory as if he had never existed. That was the one true absolute truth when one was no longer bound by mortality. His life did operate on a different wavelength from others.

''Dmitri Lloyd, on behalf of the Hartwell family, we extend our greatest condolences for your loss,'' said David as he bowed his head respectively. ''Alfred had so much to live for and Miss Hartwell here was very fond of your brother. She came to mourn him privately but we do not wish to intrude.''

The Boy Called Dmitri stood with his back to them, still facing Alfred's gravestone as his mind wandered into many places. The last three years of his life with the syndicate were a mistake, especially inserting himself into the Lloyd family and pretending to be a sibling to a naive younger brother. Indeed Alfred did have so much more to live for, to study at Cambridge as was expected of them both, to visit India and Nepal as the two once promised and for him to eventually find a wife and have children, to live out all natural phases of life, bearing both its joy and sorrows. But He robbed him of that, someone who took life for granted and could never appreciate how sacred it was.

He nodded in acknowledgement to David's statement, trying to come to terms with how to handle the situation. Miranda silently knelt under the gravestone and began to pray. Listening to her words to the divine powers and pleading for the salvation of Alfred's soul, the Boy Called Dmitri felt his hands shaking and clutched them into fists. He could feel the fear returning to him and his composure was wavering as his eyes began to look distraught.

As Miranda finished her prayer he spoke up again: ''Tell me, you are saddened by his death are you not?''

''Of course I am,'' she instantly replied. ''He didn't deserve to die, I hope his killers are damned in the Nether where they can burn for eternity!''

David would have given her a stern scolding for breaking her dignified demeanor into an outburst that was unbecoming of her, but considering the circumstances he let it pass. Both he and the boy also noticed the tears welling up in her eyes. The two must have been really good friends.

''You want them do die? And to continue suffering after that?'' inquired Dmitri.

''Why wouldn't I? Don't you? They obviously made Alfred suffer for a whole month before murdering him, they're monsters and should keep feeling pain for what they've done even after they die.''

''Were you praying for Alfred?''

''I want him to be happy wherever he is now, hopefully in a better place. He was too good for this world where monsters eat good people like him.''

''How do you know Alfred won't go to Hell?''

''What are you talking about? Why would Alfred go to Hell?''

''If this world is made up of monsters that eat good people then whose side is God on? Who were you praying to? If Alfred didn't deserve to die would he deserve to go to Paradise? Or did the monsters deserve to eat him?''

Both Miranda and the Butler were staring at him with a dumbfounded gaze, unable to grasp his pained perspective he sounded like he had gone mad from grief.

''We are very sorry to disturb you, please take your time here,'' bowed David before he and Miranda left the cemetery with haste.

Dmitri recoiled from his short but sudden illogical excuse of a philosophical tantrum, confused by his own words. Something within him just snapped and he felt more dissatisfied with Alfred's death than before. He saw the two take their leave and sighed in resignation. He couldn't feel better as the pain just kept growing within him, thriving off the fear, anger, frustration and confusion brewing inside of him.

Bending low he reached out to touch the ground under which lay the broken and defiled remains of the brother he betrayed. His fingers buried themselves deeper into the soil as he pondered over Alfred's final moments. The hurt, humiliation and despair, he could sense it all seeping into him, getting an idea of what must have been going through his mind before the end. There was also anguish at what was being done to him, he must have felt more than just alone, but forsaken by fate itself.

If only time could now stop then he could stay by Alfred's graveside forever and remind him he's not alone. But Alfred's body had returned to the earth where it would be eaten by maggots and turn to bone then dust. Right now he just couldn't accept that at all - the very thought made his stomach turn, it felt completely wrong. He raised his head up with his eyes now glowing with a new resolve.

''No... this isn't the end, Alfred. I will save you.''

2 nights later...

Covered in dirt and muck he had committed the unspeakable.

Part of him was very much aware of how he would come to regret what he intended to do. Perhaps this was his own perverted form of grief or outright denial. Perhaps the madness was getting to him. What he was about to do was considered dangerous and unwise and had he been in the right state of mind he would have halted his insidious agenda. With a rope and pickax Dmitri climbed out of the pit he had dug and was carrying a white rucksack over his back.

''I'll fix you Alfred, don't worry.''

Laws of nature be damned, he was an immortal who had broken free from the cycle of mortality and would now use that power on another.
Reclaiming Alfred's soul from Lady Death was impossible but he revive the body and mind, resurrecting his brother as a homunculus. It was the closest option he had to bringing him back from the dead and as it dangerous as it was for potentially the both of them, it was the only way he could right the wrong of betraying his brother. He would give him a second chance at life and the two would travel the world having adventures and a jolly good time in general, forgetting all about the Original Alfred's gruesome fate.

A new beginning for the both of them and this time Dmitri wouldn't take it for granted.

''Hot damn...,'' came an unfamiliar voice with a dried out pronunciation as if the speaker's throat had been parched.

Dmitri froze in place, sweat pouring down is temples at the quite realization he had just been witnessed body snatching. His focused towards the stranger who had gotten so close to him without making a sound. He must have noticed him from afar and carefully approached him before announcing his presence. Which meant he wanted to confront what he saw head on rather than run away and report him, which would have risked putting the boy's secret in jeopardy. But now he had to discern this stranger's intentions, which couldn't be any good.

But when he set his gaze upon this intruder the tension in his face precipitated into a state of puzzlement - before him stood a six foot tall shirtless man, well built torso decorated with arcane looking tattoos. This was complemented by ink markings on his face but what stood out the most under the moonlight was the man's wild pink hair peppered with black spots. It was hard to notice at first but his neck was riddled with long thin scratch marks.

What a queer... who the hell is this joker? Dmitri was now more irritated than scared.

As if the stranger read the boy's mind he smiled and suddenly the immortal's sixth sense blared out of control, a sensation so intense he dropped the rucksack carrying the corpse and resumed his state of shock. His sense was telling him the man before him was no mere mad fool, but an entity very much capable of killing him. Without realizing it his legs pounced backwards to create some distance between the two, not letting his eyes wander from the threat before him. He knew this feeling his sense was conveying to him - although the two had never met before he recognized what the stranger was - a Forgotten and a powerful one. It had been a while since his last encounter with one of those.

But never before had a Forgotten bypassed his sixth sense and come into proximity of him without being warned. It was as if this one had a special ability that completely concealed his presence, both physical and spiritual. Was this an ambush? And if so then how could he fight back?

Fear of death heightened his sensitivity as he felt his limbs quaking, ready to make a futile attempt at evasive maneuvering. But another possibility crossed his mind.

''You didn't kill me when it was most opportune and you intentionally revealed your presence to me. You are here to make a deal are you not, for Alfred's return?'' he asked mustering up courage not to back down. ''Let me guess, you want my immortality in exchange?''

''If I could kill you why would I want your immortality?'' answered the stranger rather nonchalantly. ''Nevertheless your assumption is... warranting of my intrigue. Would you truly give up your eternal life to bring back someone whose existence is as small and fleeting as a firefly?'' he asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

Dmitri didn't want to die or stop living. Neither did he want Alfred to stay dead. He wanted the both of them to experience an indefinite flow of life without the inevitability of death threatening to end that everlasting climax. All he wanted was to undo the mistake of his death, make sure it could never claim Alfred again and then move far away doing whatever they liked, to continue their lives together as if they never ended.

''I see...'' nodded the Stranger, his lips curling upwards into an amused smile. ''You want the world to change to your whim, to right what you deem wrong without regard for whether it is just amoral. Truly you are nothing more but a selfish child with a warped perception of life.''

''Are you... going to stop me from bringing him back?''

''There's no point. His soul is gone, thus he has well and truly been erased from this world.''

''Then what do you want from me?''

''Hmph...'' he snickered to himself before vanishing from sight, his presence completely untraceable.

Dmitri looked around cautiously, trying to discern if the Stranger was trying to launch a surprise attack. If he was then there would be no way to anticipate it as he seemed to negate himself from all kinds of perception. There was something about his aura that was disturbingly malicious, it was as if his very soul went cold upon feeling it. His words too were hurtful and after a few minutes he let his guard down and pondered their meaning. Was bringing back Alfred with no regard for the consequences a truly selfish desire? Was his desire to restore their happiness unjust?

No, if Alfred came back to him then he wouldn't have to be alone anymore. He could make the new Alfred just like himself. They could have a real relationship this time with no more deceit. 'Dmitri' could become a real person. And Alfred would certainly prefer that to staying to dead, of course he would. There was nothing bad about this. He wouldn't let the Forgotten break his resolve, Alfred's death was wrong and he would right it.

3 feet under Lloyd manor...

There was an external entrance to the cellar under the Lloyd manor, where he took Alfred's remains and lay them. Breathing in deeply he exhaled softly, preparing for the immense spiritual strain he would be inflicting upon himself. Kneeling down he raised open his hands above Alfred's corpse and felt drops of life energy dripping into his finger tips.

It wasn't anywhere near enough. He knew he had a very limited ability to heal others but this time he had to go all out. Closing his eyes he focused on the core of the energy that kept him immortal and directed more out of himself. His entire hands were now glowing with a faint purple aura that slowly extended out from his fingers like smoke and reached into Alfred, covering his corpse with the same aura.

The remains started to shake and then moved into place, gradually rebuilding the body. Dmitri felt his skin tighten and his bones growing stiff.
But he couldn't just stop now, not when the process just started. Gritting his teeth he endured the feeling of being wringed from the inside and kept his focus solely on Alfred's healing body. It was starting to look more human now.

''Dmitri? What are doing in here...''

No... not now.

It was too late to stop and hide the corpse from sight. The Lloyds had already descended down and bore witness to him defiling the dead.
That was how they perceived the scene of their son using some abhuman ability on the remains of their beloved Alfred. He could already see it in their eyes, there would be no chance at explaining his perspective to them, he had already destroyed them.

''Leave us be,'' coldly replied Dmitri, unwilling to waste time on those two broken adults. His priority was Alfred alone.

The Lloyds simply stood in horror, trying to comprehend the macabe sight before them. Dmitri was some kind of abhuman and he was using his powers to play around with his younger brother's dead body. Mrs Lloyd collapsed as her legs gave way and she leaned against the cellar wall,
staring in disbelief at the two children she had treated like sons. Her eyes swelled up as tears began to overflow whilst her husband didn't stay in place and moved to confront Dmitri.

''WHAT IN THE NAME OF HROVA ARE YOU F*****G DOING TO MY SON YOU MAD BASTARD!'' he yelled, his face contorted with unbridled fury as he snatched into Dmitri's shoulders and shoved him back from Alfred's corpse.

''You fool!'' exclaimed Dmitri as the aura around Alfred intensified before being forced to halt when Dmitri's concentration was broken. as he was forced away from the body. He couldn't let this ignoramus of an adult ruin his plan and swiftly delivered his elbow into the man's abdomen before resuming his work. There was no time for apologies or explanations, his will needed to be absolute, that of his desire to bring back Alfred with nothing else around them mattering.

''Awaken Alfred, embrace your rebirth!'' ordered Dmitri, refusing to accept failure. He could feel it - the heart and lungs were functional, now he only needed the brain back in commission to switch the body back on. He smiled as his eyes sparkling with glee, watching the rejuvenated body levitate midair, having been remade whole again. He was actually doing it, creating his own immortal brother with a power that literally rested within the palm of his hands. The realization brought him pure ecstasy, it was as if he had ascended to godhood.

Of course it all went wrong.

Without warning Dmitri was struck by an intense migraine, as if the top of his head had been lit on fire. His strength waned as his bones felt soft causing his arms to drop. He soon felt completely numb as his skin was pigmented grey as rock followed by the moisture in his eyes drying out, causing him to lose sight before actually blacking out, unable to complete the revival.

When he finally came to, there was no body or corpse to be found, just a pile of ash.

''Not this...'' he muttered to himself, his legs too weak to let him stand as he crawled towards where he had expected a revived Alfred to be waiting for him. The process had failed and destroyed whatever was left of his brother's remains. Dmitri however refused to register that, grasping into the pile of ash and trying to transfer energy to it. But nothing came out this time, it was as if he had exhausted his allowance of spirit energy or maybe there was no way to restore someone from a state of dust.

''Don't do this...'' he could feel his hope completely eclipsed by the overwhelming despair of pure absolute rejection.

Death had won and he was completely powerless to defeat it. This was divine retribution that even as an immortal he too like any other human could not conquer fate. Alfred was dead and would stay that way, while Dmitri had no command over his own power of eternal life that controlled his own body and kept him from comprehending the permanence and inevitability of death.

Death was a cheap transaction to pay for revival, he had done it so many times the whole process lost its weight. He had not expected to get attatched to Alfred, thus only when he had lost him as a consequence of his own ego did he realize his confused feelings to be brotherly love. His childish need to play out the role the syndicate assigned him to got Alfred killed and he treated the boy's corpse like a broken toy.

''Al... fred... Alfie...'' his head sunk below his shoulders. ''You can't... let yourself... end like this...''

He smashed his fists into the pile with such impact his knuckles cracked open and proceeded to reverse the injury. The primal fires of guilt and rage sparked within him, consuming his thoughts with equal strength. One of them would eventually overwhelm the other. Alfred's death was an absolute and immovable aspect of reality itself that tugged around his heart like thorny vines. They needed to be burnt away for the pain to end.

Beyond unacceptable... this is incorrect... damn you... you were brother and now you're reduced... no... you're nothing...

But if I hadn't sent you to them, if I made the negotiations work...

No! It was the Lloyds and their lowly pride coupled with Reilly's insidious lust... I was the only one who played by the rules... I did what was expected... I played my part correctly... I was the only one!

Alfred is dead because I let him die. I served him on a silver platter to those monsters when I could have refused and saved him. Its because of me, because I exist that Alfred isn't allowed to! No, I don't deserve to mourn him, not when I'm the one who killed him.

Saving Alfred wasn't my role to play... it was never my burden to bear. His entire life with me and the Lloyds was a facade, he was just one piece of a game I found amusing to play. That's right... he was my toy just like the Lloyds and the syndicate. But his death broke the game which must be reprimanded for.

He turned towards the Lloyds with a bleak and sullen expression, in no mind to explain to them what they just saw or what he truly was.
The boy was gravely disappointed at his failure, lamenting at how close he came to fixing Alfred only for his own power to so cruelly reject his wish just when it was at the cusp of fruition. But he still had the power to accomplish one objective to right Alfred's death.

It was revenge.

Retribution for the death of his brother that he had orchestrated in the first place. It was his desire to inflict pain on Alfred's captors, a kind they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

As for the Lloyds he fell out of contact but knew that his step mother succumbed to grief and drowned herself not long after his silent departure from their household the night he tried to resurrect Alfred in their cellar.

In the time that followed he had eventually long since moved on from that bloody affair and allowed it to fade from memory.

It was the power of Salvia's fragment inside of me that I didn't fully understand back then. That regrettable night under the Lloyd manor where I toyed with it just like I toyed with Alfred's life and continue toying with him even after he died...

Of course in a similar fashion seven years ago inside Mosley's occultic basement he gained better control over the fragment and used it to save himself from impending death. And it was the same day he had reunited with Alfred after almost a full century. But he didn't understand how this could be - both the body and soul were gone thus he had trouble accepting that his dead brother had truly returned from the grave after all this time.

I had forgotten Alfred. I hadn't even remembered his face for such a long time.

He remembered how he gave himself up to the Masked Man to save Mia, a girl he barely even knew but someone who was dear to two boys he had grown close to: Matthew and Mitchell. Perhaps gaining true friends when he least expected it moved him more than he realized. It was a desire for his immortal heart to produce a tangible effort in thanks for their companionship. In retrospect he doubted he would have done so under a clear mind, it still troubled him how he nearly died for a girl that just kept getting caught by his enemies.

Perhaps it was karmic that in his dying moments he saw Alfred's face again, it was oddly comforting to remember him after all those years. Of course when he recovered and restored his severed connection to the fragment there was no happy reunion. He had long subsided his foolish desire to revive Alfred, the living boy before him was nothing more than a reminder of a painful past that had ceased to exist for him.

It didn't help that Noire turned out to be Gerard Royale whom he and his friend Alistair had encounters with in Beijing during the 1920s.

So Alfred was a Royale all this time. And his mother was... Adelheid.

He knew Alfred's mother personally before the boy was born, indeed at the time of their first meeting she was pregnant with her and Gerard's first child who wasn't Alfred. Damien also knew of the Royale manor fire that killed her, a public tragedy that made headlines in Western newspapers. Recalling her face made him sad, there was always this warmth to her that reminded him of his own mother. Indeed he had always been more fond of her than her insufferable husband.

Gerard Royale... was it the fire that drove you mad? You were selfish in denying Alfred rest and imposing the curse of your bloodline upon him.
Yet I was in the same place as you and fate somehow favored you over me. Still in the end who was more responsible for Alfred's doom, you or me?

---

Ashleigh Savoy / Claudia Leistner, 2027

---

Ashleigh nodded. There was indeed a way. "Certainly. But you see, dear immortal, the persona that each of us is infused with is what allows us a place in this world. It gives us leeway. We are after all, Forgotten souls. But given the will to live, we are merged with similarly distressed fellows and allowed to live, on the condition that we do as the Big Three say." The boy glanced over his shoulder, a twinkle in his eye. "The mask is a sign of that." he simply says just as a young man in a uniform torn up by bullets and burnt at the corners appears in front of Damien. Ashleigh gestures to the man. "This is Threnody. Also known as Ephraim Manning. The man whose wife and children were burnt alive by the Order he swore allegiance to.. He still wants revenge.. But his inhibitions held him back, and now it's far too late."

The man glared at Damien, his fists were clenched, and his stance said clearly that he wanted a fight. But he didn't make a move. Ashleigh continued to explain, stretching his narrow body backwards to emphasize how apathetic he was about all this. "You obviously don't understand our nature, immortal. Without a counterpart who wants revenge or closure or whatever, we are simply too weak to keep going on. And if dear Lady Death doesn't get to us first, someone else does, if you know what I mean. We're souls who... Driven into the ground... Filled with despair... Are under the line of sight of that woman, who would have certainly just cast us into the Nether for our wrongdoings. But here we are... Given a chance."

"But your brother's case was different. His legacy is a strong one. I hear the Royales have been at it for decades before those horrible, horrible fellows from the Har-- Oh... That's right. I'm not supposed to mention anything about that..." Ashleigh grinned. Manning faded into a dark, thick mist that seemed to sink into the adolescent boy's body.

"Anyway... What I mean is... There's no way to forcibly remove that pest from your brother without hurting both of them... Very, very badly." Ashleigh shrugged as if this were all a trivial matter. It was to him, anyway. "Let's just get this over with. I'd love a good deal with perhaps... Some disabled person right now. I do wonder what the next one will wish for. " he laughed, turning to face Damien as his mask materialized once again.

Claudia, standing at the side, felt unsettled. But she was also determined to help. After all, her cousin was out there, in danger. She had helped him a lot. And now that she was aware that something bad had taken over him, she knew what she had to do. But alas, she'd need to be careful lest she actually hurt her real cousin instead of this demon that the children were talking about. Without much understanding of the situation, she was likely to make mistakes.

"Master Royale, I believe it's best if we make our move now. Surely that dreadful boy isn't expecting an attack from us." she says, looking back towards Damien from a ledge facing the direction that led to the Museum of Natural History.

''I'm afraid,'' he muttered, taking in the strange display Ashleigh performed before him. It only confirmed that he knew and understood little of their nature, having only scarce encounters with their kind. They were capable of killing him and there was little he could do to fight back, putting him at a severe disadvantage without Salvia to protect or guide him.

The Royales... so they're bloodline has been cursed like this for generations? Alfred's father and even his forefathers? But when Alfred finally moves on who will... his cousin Claudia?

''Ephraim Manning, the man Threnody once was?'' he spoke up again. ''The man you showed me just now, he's still there but bound by 'inhibitions'? Can the same be true for Alfred? If so then maybe instead of fighting Requiem and playing with Alfred's life... what if we helped Alfred?''

He would no longer treat Alfred like a broken toy. And unlike Gerard he wouldn't forcibly bring him back. He would help Alfred by giving him the choice to resume control over himself. But to do that he would need the help of something powerful enough to pierce Nathaniel's mental barrier and give Alfred a fighting chance.

Mia Evans... under that Amplifier she was capable of creating a city wide hive mind. Surely by herself she could reach into Nathaniel's mind and save Alfred. Assuming she even agrees after what Mosley put her through at Borsch Corp. And there's no guarantee Alfred even wants to be saved. None of this could work out in the end. Should I just run away then if there's nothing I can do? After all my business with the Red King is done...

No. He failed Alfred once. This was his one and only chance to redeem that mistake and perhaps even save his own humanity.