Content Warning: Mentions of blood and mild profanity

Prince Thallios trembled as his doppelganger walked right through him, leaving a chill in his bones and anxiety in his nerves.  “Why…why do I look like that?” he asked timidly.

“This is you succeeding!” the sword’s voice boomed.  “You sought me out to avenge your fallen kingdom!”

“What did I do?”

“Nothing yet.  This is a vision of the future.”

“What am I…going to do?”

The voice laughed.  “As I mentioned before, you are the avatar of the Fire Goddess.  You have a great power within you that is raw and uncultivated.  Combined with my powers, you will be an unstoppable force, burning through the world like the wildest of fires.  All the grief and sorrows that you hold within you will feed into your vengeance.”

Prince Thallios shook his head.  “No…I’m not like this…”

“It matters not what you are like now,” the voice said.  “From what I have observed over the centuries, once someone wields me, once they possess unbridled power and no limitations, their true nature finally comes out.”

“No…I won’t become this…”

“But who is there to stop you?  Certainly not your dear friend.”

Ice cold pain wracked Prince Thallios’ body.  His ribs felt like sharp knives digging into his flesh from the inside.  A cry like that of a wounded animal escaped from his throat.  He clutched his head and cowered in fetal position, choking through breaths.  Through his watery vision, he saw Leiyu’s lifeless body.  He reached out and clasped his fingers around Leiyu’s cold palm.  A memory of the night Leiyu kept his hands warm floated into his mind.  He sobbed.

Then, Leiyu began to melt.  His face deformed like wax turning liquid under the heat of a burning candle.  Blood seeped out of his crimson-stained cloak.

Prince Thallios screamed and scrambled to put his arms around Leiyu.   The bloodied cloak became limp in his hands.  The liquid pooled around him and expanded towards the horizon.  He was now in the middle of a thick red ocean, although he could still feel the ground at his feet.  He shook uncontrollably.  What is going on?  he thought.  I don’t even understand anymore.

Prince Thallios saw his doppelganger in the distance, slashing at the shadows with the Sword of Ages.  An arc of fire formed behind him like a peacock’s tail.  Every time his doppelganger felled a nebulous foe, a skeletal form emerged from the crimson waters nearby.  The prince watched in apprehension as more and more of them popped up, until it looked like a graveyard.

“Who am I attacking?” the prince asked timidly, fearing the answer.

“Remember what I said earlier,” the voice replied.  “With the Sword of Ages in your hand, everyone is an enemy.”

“No!  Stop!”  Prince Thallios cried.  He stood up and tried to run toward his doppelganger, but his boots sank into the crimson muck as the ground gave away.  He felt like he was wading through honey.  “Please stop him!”

“Stop him?  Or you?” the voice taunted.

“That’s not me!”  Prince Thallios sank deeper into the viscous liquid.

“Worry not, princeling.  Balance will eventually be restored.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” the prince yelled as he tried to keep his head above water.

“Like your mother before you, the other goddesses will rein you in, especially if your path of destruction starts encroaching on their territory.  Perhaps they will deal with you quickly instead.”  Three shadowy female figures clad in armor materialized before the prince’s doppelganger.  They all wielded celestial weapons of ethereal design.  “A duel of the deities!  How grand!  How does it feel, princeling, to know that you will bring about the destruction of the current world, and bring about the coming of the next one?”

“What?!” Prince Thallios choked as metallic-tasting water entered his mouth.  He coughed many times.  A bony hand suddenly grasped his arm.  A head that was half-face of flesh and half bone emerged before him.  He screamed.

“Why did you kill us?” the half-person, half-skeleton demanded.

“I didn’t!” Prince Thallios protested.  He gasped as he felt another skeletal hand grasp at his back.  He turned his head and saw another person in a similar state of decay.

“Why did you make us suffer?” the other person asked hoarsely.

“I didn’t!  That wasn’t me!” the prince cried.  More skeletal figures surrounded him and dragged him downwards.  He flailed his arms and legs wildly as water filled his mouth and smothered his screams.  He could no longer hold his breath and began to lose consciousness.  Why?  Why does it have to end like this?

Warmth left his body as he was pulled deeper and deeper into the abyss.  He heard the sword’s solemn voice echo in his head.  “Everything you have seen today is a warning, princeling.  I have seen much bloodshed over the centuries, and grow weary of this never-ending cycle.  Choose carefully the path you wish to take.”

As his body began to lose all feeling, he could make out the faint sound of another voice.  A familiar voice.

“Your Highness!”

After that, everything went dark.