To Be Lost

         "Have you ever thought about what it means to be lost?"

         That's the question Laudon found himself listening to, with his mind fuzzy. He couldn't remember how he had gotten here. He could barely even remember his own name.

         "Personally, I believe that one can never become physically lost. The world is made of millions of pathways, and none of them cause you to become lost. Even straying off a path is still a path,"

         Laudon began to finally regain clarity, and saw that he was within a pitch black room, with only one figure, the one who he assumed was speaking. But... was a person's voice supposed to sound so...ethereal?

         "No, one cannot become physically lost. But mentally? They most certainly can," The figure's ghost-like voice echoed.

         As Laudon began to actually see more of what's around him, his eyes adjusting to the darkness, he realized that the darkness was much more abundant around the figure. So much so, that he couldn't even see a speck of skin or the eyes. But he could see across the room...what was going on?

         "You, young one, managed to lose yourself. You don't even have a path to choose from. So, that's why you're here. To deem a certain...punishment,"

         "Wh-what? What the hell do you mean?" The figure took no time in trying to explain things deeply. Laudon was confused.

         "Oh, yes, I forgot. You lost a good majority of your memories in coming here. Hmm...let me fix that,"

         Laudon quickly retreated backwards as the darkness in the room began pulse violently. Responding to the figure's wishes, it all rushed into Laudon, quite painfully, as memories began returning to him.

         "Now that that's been fixed, lets go for a little journey. You should remember a girl named Allyssa, yes? You two have been dating for...damn, what was it? 5 years? I think? Oh well. I digress, she might even be crying over your disappearance right now,"

         Laudon did remember. Vividly, in fact- she was the first person that came to his mind as his memories returned.

         "But you see, Allyssa had a certain childhood friend. He was close to her, and sometimes you felt that he was closer to her than you were. That jealousy began to boil within you for years, until one day, you simply couldn't handle it anymore. You had asked her multiple times to keep even just a little distance because it was making you jealous, but she didn't listen. So what was the solution you came up with, young one? Can you remember?"

         Laudon's head was pounding from the massive influx of memories. It was bad enough without him trying to search through them, but he found it. He...

         "Your solution," The figure hissed. "Was to kill him. You even made it look like a suicide, and it worked. No one was any the wiser. You even held Allyssa as she cried at his funeral. But it worked, didn't it? She got closer to you as a result,"

         Laudon felt anger boiling up in him as he was judged for his actions. He could tell- just the way the figure was speaking was judgmental. "He deserved it. I told them to get a little father apart, just a little, but they didn't listen," He fumed.

         "...Maybe he did deserve it, or maybe he didn't. It doesn't matter, anyway. I do not deal with "deserve". That's the job of Karma, the old fool,"

         Laudon was once again confused, but still angry. "Then why am I here? Why don-"

         "Let me introduce myself," The figure interrupted. "I am Nameless. The God of The Abyss. That which is and isn't. The One Feared by Heaven and Hell. This is not about your sins. This is not about what you deserve. I do not do good things for good reasons, or evil things for evil reasons. I am the one who does evil things for good reasons...and does good things...for evil reasons" The darkness was beginning to tremble- almost in excitement.

         Laudon finally began to understand as he trembled, his anger fading in pure fear. He would not be returning.

         The figure, made of pure darkness, began to morph. Dark red eyes began to form, along with a grin, filled with sharp teeth that seemed to stretch bigger than the face. Spider like appendages grew out of it's back, ending with a blood red halo forming above Nameless. It began to work toward Laudon.

         Laudon backed up against the wall and slid down it, his legs failing him. He could barely even move.

         Nameless slowly lowered it's face directly in front of Laudon's, a black liquid slowly dripping out of it's mouth like drool, and burning Laudon's skin on contact. He could almost hear voices coming from Nameless- voices of those who had once been lost.

Join us Join us Join us

         "Let me help you...find a new path,"

         Laudon, who had once been on his own path, finally joined the lost.

         The God of The Abyss. That which is and isn't. The One Feared by Heaven and Hell.

         King of The Lost.