Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

Maya was deep in the bunker complex of Bastion, a now fortified city of light in a world that grew increasingly colder and darker as the weeks turned to months and months turned to years.

She maintained her youthful figure, never seemingly aging with the time, and despite this fact it was not exactly abnormal in a world of increasingly new and mysterious discoveries. But one thing that was certain was she had not said a word, not to the girls once since Zane first found her.

Or, at least I should say, not one that they could remember. But today the girl looked towards the ground, as if peering deep below the city of Bastion, seeing something rising from the depths with disgust on her face.

Her voice was childish, but cold in a haunting way as she spoke her thoughts aloud.

"Filthy abominations of the abyss, begone!"

Nobody was there to witness what she had said, but in a single moment the creatures that lived in tunnels beneath the surface of the earth and had begun gobbling up what little remained of the United States Federal Government, and its fortified bunkers ceased to draw breath.

Instantly, and without notice, an entire army that threatened the peace and security of bastion died without a trace of the cause left behind. And upon knowing that her blow had been final, Maya sighed and shook her head before drinking her coffee from a cup meant for children the age her physical avatar reflected.

Her thoughts were her own, but she did not speak them aloud, because a few living auras were approaching her, along with the verbal complaints of one particularly annoying redheaded woman, who Maya found less and less tolerable as the years passed by.

"How long has it been now? Five years now? Six? Seven? When is Zane coming back? He should have been home a long fucking time ago! The Horde Kings have been so busy killing one another en masse that they have other things to worry about rather than the mess he made in Lilith's Domain!"

Elena was in the act of arguing with Madison over whether or not Zane was actually still alive, or whatever that meant for an entity like him. And it had triggered Elena's overbearing nature. Something that Maya was no longer willing to tolerate, once more revealing herself to the various women who argued about her son constantly, as she finally lost the will to endure it any longer.

"By my estimates, he has reached the pinnacle of his strength after the journey westward, and will be stepping on Damian's neck in approximately three days…. Once Damian is gone, Lilith will the next to kneel, and then finally Balthasar…"

All the women who were enduring another petty argument between Maddie and Elena looked over at the little girl they thought of as their daughter and were surprised that after all these years she had finally spoken, and in the most jarring and cryptic manner possible.

The wisdom and knowledge in her words were well beyond her years. Olivia was about to speak up when Death, having already understood her fullest intention sighed heavily, snapping her figure and revealing her true form.

"I grow tired of this charade… It's time you little harlots learned the truth… I am death… the actual cosmic entity of death… And Zane is my son… Shut the fuck up! I don't want to hear another word from any of you or so help me, God!"

The women suddenly found a supernatural pressure compelling them to act silently, as Death herself began to inform them of all they had missed throughout the years…

---

Ophelia kneeled before Zane… Her body reforged from the severed head that Zane had chopped off after laying her domain to total waste. He had been busy for the last half a decade.

By now, he was a Tier V Hord King in his own right and was the shadow that had swallowed everything in his path. Living or dead, every soul that came across him now kneeled before him in undeath as his own minion, bound by his sovereignty.

Ophelia was the last of the pieces. The first of the major players among the tier V Horde Kings, and one of four that until now had remained sovereign. The Horde Kings had dwindled to almost nothing over the last five years, and while their wars with one another were a major fault, the reality was the son of Death was in the shadows claiming their souls for his own domain, silently and without the slightest trace of his actions.

Ophelia, a gothic Lolita Horde King could not help but look at Zane with awe…. She had lost their duel, 1v1… He had played with her throughout it all, and he had not even sent forth one of the 1,000 of Horde Kings, all of which had been upgraded to her level to dismantle her. She could have beat any of them 1v1, but 2v1? That would be tough… 3v1? Certain death.

Frankly, when she offered this duel after her army had been decimated and absorbed by Zane himself, she had not expected him to actually defeat her, as there were only 2-3 beings in this world that could best her in a duel of single combat.

As a result, she kneeled not out of a begrudging nature like so many others, but with genuine respect. Recognizing her loss, and the strength that the man now wielded.

"With power like that… Balthasar will find himself destroyed in a matter of seconds if he were to face you without either of you holding back… Big brother… No, my Prince, my King, my Emperor… I am whatever you require me to be…"

Zane looked towards the west where his next target lie in wait for him. His words were a haunting vision for the world at large and what he intended to create once his competition was removed.

"Eternal Darkness… That shall be my realm once Balthasar's head has been removed. As for the light which threatens to disperse it? They're next!"

Ophelia knew exactly who Zane was talking about, and couldn't help but form a sadistic grin on her otherwise adorable porcelain like face as she agreed with his orders wholeheartedly.

"As you command my prince…"