The sounds of lava pulsating up from its core echoed about the huge crater it lay in. Its vibrant red colour shone upon the surrounding walls, giving the whole cavern a reddish hue. A platform stood beside the basin, its surface red hot but capable for people to talk on so long as they wore strong footwear. The cavern shook slightly, crackles of energy stirred from the platform. A small orb of electricity like plasma formed, growing steadily. Its blue tint conflicted with the red aura the lava emitted, thus causing a strange purple tinge to radiate about the sphere.
An explosion sounded, the thunderous eruption hit the crater walls, nowhere for it to escape, it returned. The sound was deafening, as pulse after pulse of thunder like claps emitted itself from the orb.
Then the calm before the storm sounded... Peaceful and tranquil, the blue orb merely sat in the air as if nothing could harm it, or no one knew it existed. All that soon came to an end.
One last explosion, much stronger than the last few, echoed across the lava, causing a wave of burning liquid to rush away from the epicenter that was the orb. The orb, itself, had gone, the energy scattered across the ethereal winds. In its place stood a man, garbed in a black and red cloak, resting upon the platform's burning surface. He breathed, hard, as if he had never breathed before. The surrounding fumes would choke a normal man's lungs. But he was no normal man. His inner demon began to beat, like a second heart. It used the surrounding calamity as a source of strength.
The lava pool came to a rest now, the air had returned to the same sense of chaos as it once was before the orb had arrived. The only difference was the man that stood on the platform, eyes closed to all around.
"Such...warmth," he held out his hand, feeling the stable breezes that circulated around the crate caress his pasty white skin. It was if he had not felt for an eternity. His hand turned from the air and onto himself, feeling his skin and hair. "Such...a long time." He opened his eyes to the new world before him, the crimson iris' peering out across the lava before him. The man gave a quaint smile, sly to an extent, who wouldn't when they had just escaped the cold grasp of death. The hand moved away from his face and down towards the hilt of his sword. Its metal was cold, despite the surrounding temperature. As soon as artifice and organic touched, a sense of unity occurred. "Let no man stand in my way... Not this time." The sound of the blade gliding across its sheath radiated about the cavern, dulling down the natural sounds of the lava. The sword pointed outwardly, as if it had a target. Thanatos smiled, today was going to be a good day.
"I knew you'd wake up eventually. Koji knew you were special, but I bet he never imagined this. His favored pupil reverting to his darker self. As a member of Koji's teachings, I am here to put an end to your...instability," voice a youthful man on the edge of the platform. The bubbling magma around them provided the most appropriate battlefield, it was all or nothing in this case. Thanatos had not finished taking in his new found life, nostrils flaring with each damned breath. He would answer the man in his own time and terms, he waited a number of years for this moment, he could wait a little longer.
[CUE: The Dirge ~ Battle Theme 1]
Thanatos spun on the spot, sword pointing towards the man,
"Oh how I have waited for this redemption to set a foot. I am not one to deny fate its passage. Come, Otrix. Come finish the job Koji told you to do." Smiled the Dirge, the metal blade glowed in the aura of the flames that surrounded them. The man named Otrix withdrew his katana, a desperate look upon his face. Could he defeat his foe now? After all those years in slumber? The only hope for Otrix was that Thanatos was a little rusty when it came to engagement. However, even that became apparent in the next few moments.
Swords clashed, the metal chimed throughout the glorious cavern. A mixture of valor and calamity combined into one poetic motion as the two warriors exchanged blows with each other. Otrix attempted a feeble spell, trying to use the flames around them to bend to his will. But something as dark as this could not be so easily tamed by a man of virtue. The fires spat, pluming themselves around Thanatos thanks to Otrix's pyromancy. However, even with this advantageous ability, the Dirge merely swung his blade in a crescent shape, the flames immediately died out. A fiendish grin crept across the moonlight face of Thanatos, his glaring eyes almost paralyzing his for. What could Otrix do that Thanatos did not already know. "I'll give you one chance to flee now. Take it if you are wise," said the Dirge, aiming his blade down towards the platforms surface. Otrix knew Thanatos well enough to know he was a fraud. He would not allow the man who attempted to murder him a free ticket out of the chaos that consumed them.
"I'd much rather see your sorry ass burn," cried Otrix, rampaging towards the Dirge now. Thanatos brought his snakelike sword up, parrying the blow, before backhanding his foe in the face with his spare hand. Otrix fumbled, feeling the mocking blow burn upon his face.
The sun's rays no longer pierced through the crater, the moon's light rained down upon the dueling, the only witness to see such beauty occur. Thanatos felt its presence, not mentally but spiritually. The demon spirit was of the moon, it felt its lunar powers tingle his senses. "Then I watch you die," muttered Thanatos, coolly, bringing his sword towards Otrix. Both locked swords, Otrix showing strain upon his face, Thanatos showing a blank expression. His foe was starting to lose his grip upon the ground below, his poor footing struggled to grasp the rocky carpet below him. Thanatos' eyes widened, he gave one final push. Otrix could feel his feet leave the floor, but then all went dark.
The body instantly burst into flames, the shell submerging with the lava, becoming one with the intense heat. Thanatos did not grin, or frown. He merely stared at the body crackle and spit in the magma. Within moments, the body was gone, only cinders rose into the air, the final remains of Otrix. The Dirge turned sharply, cloak curling in the air as he did. It was time to leave this place of rebirth and death. He needed to see the new world outside.
