A Single Element Stories [Rating Varies]

[AWA1997]

These are stories based on an RP series I’ve done called A Single Element, which I got the idea (and name) from a user on Pokefarm 1 back in 2013. I have permission from all members of the first one that I made to use their character’s prior incarnations and, to a limited degree, the current incarnation for backstory purposes.

Some of these stories are retellings and expansions of what has been discussed in the RPs, private RP spin-offs, or discussions of what may be in the past. Others are stories that may not be canon in any way, but that I feel would be interesting to explore. If I get permission from the members of the PXR version I did a few years ago to do the same thing, I will mark both the canonicity of the story and which story it may or may not be canon to. If I don’t get those permissions, I won’t bother to mark the story set.

Note: There may be stories where the backstory appears to be missing. If this occurs, it’s because the story connected to the beginning is not my story, but rather NobleJanobii’s. I will indicate when this is the case.

Canonicity Legend:

Spoiler:

Note: As the multiverse does officially exist in this series, no stories are considered “non-canon”.
Semi-Canon: Based on the canon story, some aspects unconfirmed.
Canon: An official part of the canon story.
Alternate Universe (AU): Based on a ‘canon’ story, but takes place in a universe that split at some point.
Original Story (OS): Not based on any canon story

Universe Legend:

Spoiler:

NW: Stories connected to the New World RPs forum version of ASE.
PXR: Stories connected to the PXR version of ASE
OS1, OS2, OS3, etc.: Original stories, the number indicates which OS universe it is.

Table of contents:

Spoiler:

1. Death’s Favorite Memory [G] (Canon) (NW)
2. The End of the War [PG-13] [Violence] [Suicide] (Canon, official end of RP) (NW)
3. The Snap (Part 1/3) [Mature] (Semi-Canon) (NW)
4. The Snap (Part 2/3) [PG-13] (Semi-Canon) (NW)
5. The Snap (Part 3/3) [PG-13] [Violence] [Suicide] (Semi-Canon)(NW)
6. The Beginning (PXR) [G] (Canon) (NW/PXR)
7. The End of the War, A New Perspective: Kakashi [PG-13] [Violence] (Canon) (NW)

[AWA1997]

Death’s Favorite Memory [G] (NW)

Spoiler:

A lone man sat in a dark room lined with stone. He brushed his hand through his silver hair, staring at the stone water basin in front of him. Death had fallen into another depressive episode and was debating whether he wanted to go through with this. The stone basin, a pensieve as he was told it was called, was a gift to him by Serana Alastor, the Memory Mage and one of Death’s last descendants to bear his surname. It would allow him to relive any memory he wanted, but over-use could cause issues.

Having been warned of this, he was always skeptical of if he should use it. Today, though, Death needed a pick-me-up. He used a ring enchanted with Memory’s power to draw out the memory he wished. He placed it in a vial and copied the memory. Replacing the original memory into his head, he poured the copy into the penseive. He placed his face in the bowl of the basin and was transported back billions of years.

Death looked over and smiled at the sleeping form of a green-haired woman. The world was still new, plant and animal life thrived, but the human race had not been founded yet. There were other Mages, sure, and they all looked human enough, but none of them really were. Death got out of bed and tucked Life back in before making breakfast for himself and his best friend. When he returned, Life was awake and she smiled at the smell of the food. “Pancakes and bacon.” Death said. “Your favorite.” He handed her the plate and ate breakfast in bed with her.

“Thank you so much.” Life said with a smile, scarfing down the meal. “So, any plans for the day?”

“Not really, just figured we’d hang out, eat some food, maybe play a few games of chess, checkers, or whatever.” Death replied. “Unless you have other plans?”

“No, that sounds nice.” Life answered.

“Then as soon as you’re ready, we can start.”

Throughout the day, Life and Death enjoyed many rounds of the classic board games, neither one really caring about winning or losing, but just enjoying the time together. It wasn’t a particularly interesting day, but it was one that Death remembered fondly on occasion.

As the memory of that day faded, Death found himself back in his empty room in the underworld. He sighed as he sat back on the bed.

Reliving that day through the pensieve cheered him up a little, but looking around his room reminded him of why that was one of his favorite memories. He opened a drawer and pulled out a picture of himself and Life together. He stared at the picture for a while.

Life had been his first love, the mother to all but one of his children, and the grandmother of his other child. They broke it off after a major fight, but he never did get over her. Time and time again they started to make up, but Death always screwed something up. Letting his temper get the better of him was the main factor that drove them apart, but it was usually caused by him killing someone or something on accident and lashing out in frustration over his inability to control his powers.

Whatever the cause, he just couldn’t seem to get it right, and his mental state crumbled further each time. He closed his eyes and sighed. “Maybe it’s time to just... give up. I could give Life my powers, let her figure them out, and she can bring back everyone I took from her, take over the underworld, become the proud owner of ‘everything’ she wants in Olympus, and ‘everyone’ she wants down here. She’d finally have the life I kept robbing her of.” He finally smiled. “For the first time in almost 14 billion years, she’d be truly happy. Yeah, that would be nice.”

[AWA1997]

The End of the War [PG-13] [Violence] [Suicide] (NW)

Spoiler:

As the Mages all gathered for Maddie’s birthday party, Life, Death, and Jason all made sure to tell the others that this was a ceasefire from Life and Death’s war and that there was to be no fighting whatsoever. They even made sure their second-in-commands were made aware or this fact.

Once everyone was gathered, Maddie smiled. “Welcome everyone!” she said happily. She passed around tea cups that would magically refill with each Mage’s preferred type of tea. “Please, talk amongst yourselves and just have fun!” she added.

Everyone laid the presents they had gotten for Maddie down on a table off to the side and began conversing with one another. Those that held significant grudges against another occasionally leveled glares at one another, but everything remained civil and, in general, everyone was just having a good time.

“Ok everyone!” Maddie said. “It’s time for cake!” Maddie brought in a cake with numbered candles, reading 128, and laid it on the table. After singing “Happy Birthday” to her, everyone lined up in an orderly fashion to get their piece.

“Well looky here, if it isn’t Julius’s little pet.” stated a voice from behind Sloane. She turned around to find Cliff right in her face. ”Do not refer to Emperor Caesar so casually.” Sloane said, narrowing her eyes. Cliff merely ignored her comment. “You know, I’m actually impressed that you’ve made it this long. Frauds normally get caught after a few years, but you’ve had your ruse going for, what is it, two millennia now?” Sloane growled. “I am no fraud.” she stated. “I am the rightful daughter of the Titan Terra.” “Yes, yes, that worn out old line.” Cliff said. “Too bad it’s not true in the slightest. You see, I really am the son of the God Baal, and I inherited my powers properly. You, however, have been lying to everyone. You are no daughter of Terra. You are a mortal, descended from mortals, and I will prove how mortal you are.”

With that, the Nature Mage flashed his sword at the Earth Mage. Sloane, in a moment of fury at the words he had spoken, and in an act of defense, tackled him to the ground beside the table. Cliff, however was not going to go down easy. He leveraged the weak spot in her center of balance and rolled so that he was on top, sending some tea cups to the floor and shattering them. The room went dead silent and all joy left, leaving a lingering sense of shock around everyone in the room.

Maddie watched one tea cup in particular and felt tears touch her eyes as it shattered. She grabbed a trash can and began scooping up the remainder of the tea cups. “It’s ok, it’s ok, it was an accident.” she said quietly. “It was an accident, it’s ok.” As she picked up the last piece of her grandmother’s tea cup she repeated, “it’s ok. It was an accident.” she hesitated before looking at the two fighting Mages. “Right?”

Without thinking or looking at Maddie, Cliff responded. “The only accident here was giving this filthy Roman powers.” Suddenly, all tension was replaced with fear and panic as Maddie’s heart broke and her mind snapped. Without even enough time to blink, Maddie had a sword through Cliff’s shoulder. She began laughing a madwoman’s laugh. Her normal happy smile transformed into a sick, sadistic one. She pulled the sword out of him and smiled as the wound refused to heal of its own accord.

Jason flinched and looked at Haruka. “You ready to do this again?” the Time Mage asked. Visions shook his head. “No, but we have to now.” Jason handed Visions a bright blue bo-staff. “You know what to do.” With that, Jason jumped towards Maddie. He took the sword from her, hoping to at least slow down her killing spree. Unfortunately, he got a small cut on his hand from the blade. It wasn’t enough to kill him outright, but it was enough that he knew he had to be careful now that his immortality was temporarily disabled.

Maddie began summoning teacups and sprouted tendrils of tea from her fingers. She lashed out at anyone nearby, but paid special attention to immobilize Sloane and Cliff, while also trying to take back her sword from Jason.

“Everyone, get out of here however you can! Teleportation, speed boosts, just plain running! Stay close in case you’re needed, but do not engage her unless necessary!” As Life spoke, however, a feeling of dread washed over her. Behind her stood a man whom she feared with her entire being. He plunged his knife down and Life braced herself for impact.

A metallic clang sounded. Life looked up to find Death standing between her and Madder, Death’s scythe having blocked the blade. “No.” Death growled. “I already have the torture you inflicted upon Life last time on my conscience, I will not allow you to do it again.”

“Ah, there you are, Madder!” Maddie said with a smile, nimbly dodging Chronos and Haruka’s attack as she spoke. “I was wondering when you were to show up.” Madder smirked at her. “Sorry for keeping you waiting, my dear, suppressing my other side takes time, and it is so much simpler when it’s just me and him.” Madder turned his attention back to Death, backing off before trying to stab him instead. “Fine, we’ll play it your way. First we kill you, then I torture Life.”

Death froze for a second as Madder finished speaking. Maddie wasn’t worried about Death, so if Madder was saying ‘we’... He dropped his scythe, grabbed Life and dove out of the way with her as someone else’s scythe swung over his head. “Very good, Death. So glad you remembered me, I’d have been disappointed if not.” Madeline spun her scythe before swinging it at Death again. “It’s going to be a real joy finally killing you for what you did to me and my son.” “Our son.” Death corrected. “And on accident.” he added. “Those details don’t matter. Not when we’re talking about you killing a five-day-old.”

Life tried to run. Maddie was preoccupied, Sloane managing to break free for a moment, landing a couple good hits before Maddie’s tea caught her again. Madder and Madeline should be no problem for Death, he had already defeated both of them before. As long as she didn’t get caught in the crossfire, everything would be fine. As she escaped, she bumped into someone. As she looked at him, she backed away, pain filling her as she saw the baby she had accidentally helped kill over 100 years ago, now a young man who was holding a black-bladed sword. “Maddox!? You too!?” “Hello, grandma.” He said. “Where are you running off to in such a hurry? You’re gonna miss all the fun.” He picked her up and threw her across the room away from the exit.

As Maddox grabbed a hold of Life, she looked around for other Mages, seeing if there was anyone around who may help. Out the corner of her eye, she saw the last of the Mages leaving, not having seen Maddox’s arrival. One Mage, however, shook free of her mother’s grasp and ran back in. As Life went flying, she heard the young Mage yelling. “FATHER!” Olipsia, the Obsession Mage, called. She ran over to Madder, past the others. She used her powers to summon Death the Kid’s hoverboard in order to avoid the chaos. She grabbed his knife arm and bent it behind his back. “Brent! I know you’re in there! Please, snap yourself out of it!”

Madder just laughed in Olipsia’s face. “Your father doesn’t exist anymore. Brent is gone.” He wrestled her to the ground swiftly. In the back, Aphrodite screamed at Madder and went to hit him for attacking their daughter. Maddox blocked her path and smiled at her wickedly. “Now, now, no interrupting father-daughter bonding time.” he said, holding his sword at the ready. “Get out of my way!” she screamed, using an unnatural amount of strength to move Maddox. As she pushed past him, he swung his sword at her leg, charging it with the full force of his death powers. Aphrodite collapsed. Life’s immortality spell was stronger than Maddox’s death spell, but it still caused an ungodly amount of pain. “I told you, you’re not interrupting them.” Once Aphrodite was incapacitated enough that Maddox was sure she wouldn’t be a problem, he moved on to fighting Life, wanting to make sure she didn’t leave as well.

“Mom!” Olipsia cried, struggling against Madder, but to no avail. He, however, continued as if nothing was going on. “I am not your father, and you will never meet him.” he smiled down at her. “I do, however, see the seed I planted within you. I think it’s time to wake my daughter up.”

Olipsia began to scream as voices began pounding inside her head. She winced in pain and struggled even harder, trying to free herself. “Stop! Get out of my head!” she cried. She wrenched herself free from Madder, gripping her head tightly and trying to flee. She didn’t get far before she collapsed on her own, just shy of where Maddox had downed Aphrodite.

“Oh please, madness isn’t that bad. It’s what we were born for, after all. All five of us.” Madder said. “You just need some guidance. You see that woman over there?” he pointed at Aphrodite, who was fighting through the pain to stand back up. She may have raised you, but you didn’t have a family, and it’s her fault. She couldn’t stick with one person, and she had a new toy every night. She’s also the one that caused me to snap so that I had to be killed. That doesn’t sound very motherly to me.”

As he spoke, Olipsia began to change in front of everyone. Her hair color shifted from the white and black scheme she had been using to brown, fading into pink at the ends. Her skin went from pale white to a rosy tan color. Her eyes morphed from bright yellow to deep red. This was her true form, something even most Mages hadn’t seen.

“There you go, we’re almost ready.” Madder whispered. “Think about how it felt to never have a real family. About how it’s all her fault that you never had a father figure. How does that make you feel.” “A-angry...” she whispered, starting to lose control. “Does it fill you with rage?” he asked. “Yes...” “Want to know the best way to let out that rage?” Olipsia shook her head, trying to regain control. “All you have to do is take this,” he put one of the fake guns she used in her Death the Kid cosplay in her hand, “point it right at her head,” he moved her hand so that it was aimed directly at her head. “No...” she whispered, her will failing. “And pull the trigger.” Olipsia froze for a moment, trying to stop herself from doing what he said. “somebody...help...” she whispered weakly. In that instant, her eyes clouded over with the silver film of insanity and she fired.

A loud bang and the sound of a body hitting the ground were heard and the non-mad Mages turned to look. It wasn’t Aphrodite on the ground, but rather Jason, his wound not sealing now that his immortality was disabled. He coughed up some blood. ”I guess it’s almost my time.” the Time Mage said, laughing at his joke a little. He sighed and closed his eyes, laying back as he looked into his future. ‘Just enough time to see if everything I set up pays off.’ he thought. “Well, that’s a shame.” Olipsia said. “As good as it feels to know I’m the one that put a Time Mage on his deathbed, it’s a real let down that my bullet didn’t go straight through my worthless tramp of a mother’s head. I guess I’ll just have to fix that next time.”

Everything moved in slow motion for Life. They had suddenly gone from fighting three insane Mages like they had thought would happen, to fighting five at once, two of which were still alive and at full power. She looked between the other Mages still present. Time was dying, Nature appeared to be long dead at this point, several wounds were visible across his body, and Maddie no longer seemed bothered with his body on the ground. Visions was holding his own against Maddie, but the Madness Mage wasn’t even focusing on him, but rather, after retrieving her sword from Jason’s dying hands, was about to begin carving up Sloane, who was now being held down by the tea tentacles and giant teaset pieces. Madeline and Death were clashing their blades against one another constantly, both just as skilled with their shared weapon of choice. Aphrodite was pleading with Olipsia to wake up as her daughter rose up and pointed the gun at her again, and Life had been trying and failing to disarm Maddox, barely dodging his attacks as she went.

“ENOUGH!” Life screamed. Everyone looked at her confused. She threw glowing green locks at Aphrodite, Jason, Haruka, Sloane, and Death. They fused with the Mages and, suddenly, everyone alive who didn’t receive a lock was gone.

Sloane took a moment to steady herself, then tried to join Life, but she couldn’t. “She’s locked me out of Olympus!” she said. She looked at Haruka. “Please, show us Life, we need to know how she’s doing.” Visions nodded and created a viewing portal.

Now that Life’s head was on straight, she had her talwar out and was able to block most of their attacks. Unfortunately, she kept getting hit from the left side.

“Why isn’t she blocking her left?” Sloane asked. “It’s almost like she can’t see that side.” Death held his tongue. If Life didn’t want even her best friend to know what was going on, he wouldn’t say now.

As Life took hit after hit, she began to learn the pattern of when they were hitting her left, only taking hits on rare occasions. Unfortunately, two of them were capable of blocking her healing and immortality, so she was falling behind in the long run. Even though she was holding her own, she couldn’t find an opportunity to attack, and she wasn’t certain she could do it if she found one. Eventually, the Madness Mages had enough and Madeline began chanting a spell. Life began to run as her vision went blurry, stumbling about, but knowing where she was headed. It was her house after all.

She was faster than the Madness Mages, but she was trapped here, too, until they were taken care of. She ran to her memory rooms, where she kept memoirs of all of the good times she had with the other Mages. She slipped into Death’s memory room and curled up in the corner. “If anyone can hear me... then I guess this is where the story ends for me. The madness has blinded my right eye, and I’ve always been completely blind in my left, so I can’t see anything.” she said softly. “Any minute now, they’ll be in here, and I’ll be dead. You’ll have to look for a new leader, and a new Life Mage. I can’t help with the Life Mage issue, but I suggest Death for our new leader. He was the one that was originally chosen for the position, after all.” She sighed, then jumped as Madeline used her scythe to hack open the door. “Death, if somehow you’re the one hearing this, I’m sending you my key. I leave the decision up to you. Save me, or claim my soul and take Olympus for yourself. Just, please, take care of the Madnesses, and see if you can’t save Maddie and Olipsia. They don’t deserve to lose their lives if we can figure out how to unsnap them.”

The five crazy Mages all surrounded Life, Madeline about to make the killing blow. Death grabbed the key and teleported to Life’s side, blocking the sword. His anger boiling over, his flesh melted off his bones, leaving only the grim reaper. In his anger, he didn’t even hesitate to use his death-bolts to dispatch Madder, Madeline and Maddox, making quick work of the three. He felt guilty. This was the third time he’d had to kill Madeline, and the second each for him killing Maddox and Madder.

Olipsia shot Death, but it went straight through him into the wall. He quickly used the handle of his scythe to knock out Maddie and Olipsia. He laid down the key to Olympus and, beside it, the key to the underworld. As he teleported to the underworld, he wrote a letter to Life. As the last wisps of smoke from his teleportation disappeared, he dropped the letter in her lap.

The madness magic gone, Life’s vision cleared just as he dropped the letter, and Visions destroyed the viewing portal. Jason smiled, seeing that Life and Death had taken care of the situation, just as he planned. “It worked...” he whispered. “Haruka, I’m passing on my powers to someone I think you’ll get along with. Please, do what you can to help him, he’s going to need time to adjust.” Haruka just nodded. Jason closed his eyes as he finally died, passing away content with what he did with his life.

Life opened the envelope and read what was inside.

Life,
I know I’ve screwed everything up, but it’s time for me to make everything right and end this. All I want now is for you to be happy, and I don’t care about the cost. Come meet me in the underworld by the River Styx when you’re done taking care of Maddie and Olipsia.
-Death

Life sniffled and smiled. ‘He wants to make me happy?’ she thought, ‘He finally wants to get back together!’ She looked down at the two unconscious Mages. She carried them each off to their respective memory rooms. She went to her bathroom and cleaned up a bit before heading to the underworld.

She wrapped her arms around herself as she walked down the steps to the underworld. This part of the underworld was cold, and damp, and dark, and Life didn’t like it, but she smiled the whole way because she knew that, at the end of the road, she would find Death.

When she reached him, she sat down on the ground beside him, looking over the glowing green river of lost souls. “Hey Life.” he said. “I’m sorry for all of the fighting and everything I’ve done to you. I know I can’t fix it, but I hope you can accept my apology.”

Life smiled. “Of course I accept it.” she said. “I mean, I haven’t been any kind of angel myself.”

Death nodded. “Thank you.” he said. “Life, I want you happy, and I’m the cause of all of your unhappiness. I’m... I’m ready to fix all of your problems. Whenever you’re ready, shove me into the river. When my powers resurface, do what I never could. Learn to control them, bring back everyone ever taken from you due to my powers.” He closed his eyes and waited.

Life stared at him dumbfounded for a good five minutes before shoving him backwards onto the ground. “How could you, Death!?” she cried, her eyes filling with tears. “You promised me happiness, and now you’re asking me to throw away the one source of it that I have left!?”

Death sighed and looked away. “Life, I’m replaceable. You already replaced me once before with Chronos.” He sighed softly. “Due to me and my inability to control my powers, you lost most of your friends, several of your children, including the one child you had with Chronos, and several of your other descendants, including the only grandchild you and Chronos had, before he could even experience what life was. I want to take away your pain and suffering. I want you to bring back everyone that was ever taken from you. Just kill me, take my powers, take the underworld, and live the rest of your life as the happy owner of both ‘everything’ and ‘everyone’.”

Life was furious now. “I. Don’t. Want. You. Dead.” she growled. “I don’t care about what I’ve lost! I don’t care about how much pain and suffering was in my past! All I want is you! Why can’t you get that through your thick skull?!” She laid herself on Death, crying into his shoulder. “Your powers are not your fault, you are a good person with a powerful ability that you can’t control. Nothing that you do on accident because of that is your fault.” She kissed him lightly on the cheek. “My heart has shattered a million times, but every time I pull it back together, all I can think about is you. I don’t want everyone, I don’t need everything, all I want, all I need, is you.” She paused to hug him. “If you go into that river, I will follow you. Please don’t make me do that.”

Death hugged Life tightly. “How... How can you forgive me so easily?” he asked. “I’ve ruined your life, how can you not hold a grudge against me? I hold a grudge against me, and I’m not even the one I ruined the life of.” “Because I love you. You may not love you, but I do, so I don’t care, just promise me you’ll never leave me.” “I promise.” Death pulled Life even closer and the two held each other for the rest of the night.

[AWA1997]

The Snap (Part 1/3) [Mature] (NW)

Spoiler:

Death held Madeline’s hand as she gave birth. Neko, the original Animals Mage and current resident of the underworld, helping to deliver the child. Neko handed Madeline the baby boy and asked her for a name. Being mute, Madeline handed her a slip of paper with the title ‘boy name’, designating the new child as Maddox Poe Alastor Hatter. “Ok, I’ll let everyone know.” Neko placed her hand on Madeline’s head. “Now you just relax, I’m sure you’re exhausted.” Madeline nodded and drifted off to sleep, still holding the child. Once the Madness Mage was out, Neko took the child to the crib.

Death looked down at the baby, smiling. His son opened his eyes, and the familiar feeling of sadness washed over Death. There were no markings in his child’s eyes. He wasn’t a Mage. Death walked to the other end of the room and leaned against a wall before sliding down it and curling into a ball. He waited as Neko sang the child a lullaby, then looked at the ghostly Mage before him. “What am I going to do, Neko?” he asked, tears in his eyes. “I’ve got yet another kid I can’t help raise.”

“Well, Madeline asked me a while back to help, and it’s the least I can do for you after taking care of Mom and me for so long.” Death nodded. “Thank you.” he said. “And I’m still sorry for your mother’s death. If I wasn’t gullible enough to listen to Voodoo back then, maybe Terra would still be alive.” Neko placed her hand on his shoulder. “Dude, stop beating yourself up for that. You were in love, and, as the mortals say, love is blind.”

“Yeah, and apparently love is stupid as well, because if I had had any brains in my skull, she never would’ve died.” He sighed. “Sorry, I... don’t cheer up easily. My entire life has been train-wreck after train-wreck. I know I should be happy, and in a way I am. I’m glad that Madeline gets to experience being a mother, and I’m happy that I gave her that chance, but I just... I’ve had more children than any other man, and I’ve never really experienced being a father. I mean, I’ve never been able to so much as hold any of my kids without Life’s help.”

“I mean, we were planning on letting you help as much as possible.” Neko said. “You know, let you take care of stuff any time he needs something and your powers won’t get in the way.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of gloves. “I’m not super familiar with your death-touch, do you think these will help?”

Death nodded. “Gloves help to a degree, but if we were going that route, I’d need a full-body covering.” he said. “I haven’t found a part of my body yet that don’t conduct my powers.” “Well, for now, put on a long-sleeve shirt, take these gloves, and go hold your son. The gloves will be a little tight, but they won’t rip. Once you’ve gotten your fill of baby holding, I’ll make you a custom pair, I just need to measure your hands first.”

Death did as Neko said, changing clothes, making sure the gloves were on as best as he could, and tenderly picked up the baby. He held Maddox close and smiled. Maddox opened his eyes and reached for Death’s face. Death repositioned his son and gave him the other hand instead.

After a while, Maddox fell asleep again and Death put him in his crib. Neko had fallen asleep in Death’s recliner, helping with the childbirth having drained her. Death gently woke up the ghost. “Thank you for helping.” he said. “If you want, you can take my measurements and head back to your room, I’m sure it’s more comfortable in there than in my chair.” Neko nodded sleepily. “Yeah, give me two seconds to wake up.” she said, stretching. She got up, measured his hands and arms, writing them down on her arm, then looked up at Death. “Actually, it’s a long walk to the Elysium. Would it be possible for me to stay in one of your guest rooms while I’m helping you with Maddox?” “Yeah, that’s fine.” “Thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow, and I’ll try to have the gloves done by the time I come back.”

Shortly after Neko left, Death heard a soft knock on the door. When he opened it, he was surprised to see Life. “Hey Death.” she said. “Congratulations on the kid. Thought I’d bring some flowers for Madeline, see if I could meet my new grandchild, and tell you both how happy I am for you.”

“Thank you.” Death said with a nod. He stepped out of the way for her. “Madeline’s still out, but I’m sure she’ll love the flowers.” he added closing the door. “Maddox is in his crib.”

Life set down the flowers beside Madeline and walked over to the crib. She reached down to pick up the child, but stopped before she did. “Do... you mind if I hold him?” “Not at all.” Life smiled and picked him up. “Is he a Mage?” she asked. Death sighed. “No, he’s another mortal.” He then smiled. “But from the sounds of it, Neko and Madeline have some ideas on how I can be involved with him. I’ve already been able to hold him once, thanks to some gloves Neko let me borrow.” “That’s good.”

“So, how are things going?” Death asked. “Not so great. I just lost another boyfriend.” Life replied, looking down sadly. “Sorry to hear that.” “It’s ok. I just don’t understand why they keep leaving me. I can’t even keep them for a week.” “Well, what do you do for that week?” “Well, I take them out to eat every night because I can’t cook. It’s my treat, of course. I try to do something they enjoy for the actual dates, such as watching plays or going for walks. And then, when we’re done with our dates, we head inside and I bed them. I don’t see where I’m messing up.”

“Do you do that every night? Including the fist night?” “More or less, why?” “Maybe they’re just not ready to be that intimate on the first date, and doing it every night is too much for them.” “But I thought men liked that kind of thing?” “Most do, but keep in mind, you’ve got billions of years of practice under your belt, you could be too much for the mortal man to handle like that.” “I never thought of it that way.” Death nodded. “Just take it slower, and you’ll be fine.” “I’ll try, but... you know me, I’m not too good at that stuff.” Death nodded. “Just do your best.”

Life paused as she looked at the child cradled in her arms. “Um, Death, do you think it would be possible for me to help take care of him?” “I don’t mind, but Madeline’s already asked Neko to help, so I’ll have to check with them to make sure we either have a schedule or have something for everyone to do. I’ll take care of that next time we’re all three awake and together.” Life hugged Death. “Thank you.”

Once Life left and Death was once again left by himself with a sleeping girlfriend and child, he smiled to himself. He was a father again, he was actually going to be able to be a father to this kid, and he was getting along with Life again. Things were looking up for him for once.

[AWA1997]

The Snap (Part 2/3) [PG-13] (NW)

Spoiler:

(5 Days After Maddox’s Birth)

Madeline had gone out to have a relaxing spa day while Life and Death took care of Maddox. As Life held the baby, Death smiled and played with his gloves. He sat down on the bed and let Life play mom for a while. She was the mother of essentially the entire human race, so if anyone knew how to take care of a baby, it would be her.

Life stood up and began walking around the room, playing with the kid as she let her restless legs wander. As she paced around the room, she misjudged her footing and tripped over the big, black, three headed dog on the ground. She stumbled and dropped the baby.

When Death saw Life drop Maddox, he threw himself off the bed to try to catch the baby. Luckily, he didn’t have to worry about his powers hurting the kid now that Neko had made him a pair... of... gloves... that he wasn’t wearing!

It was too late, by the time Death realized his mistake, he had already touched Maddox, the baby had already gone limp, and Death’s power would prevent Life from reviving the kid, even if he took his hands away instantly. “No...” a soft whisper came. “Not again... why... why does this have to always happen to me?”

“Death... I’m... I’m so sorry... I didn’t mean to... I mean... um...” Tears began flowing down Life’s cheeks. Something inside Death snapped. “Why Life!?” he cried. “Why couldn’t you watch where you were going!?” He laid the baby on the bed and got in Life’s face. “Why weren’t you paying attention!?” Life stumbled back. “Death, I didn’t mean to drop him!” she continued backing up.

As she was backed into a corner, she blurted out, “Why did you have to dive for him?!” “Because I wanted to save him!” “But I could’ve revived him if you hadn’t!” “If you would’ve just watched your feet, revival wouldn’t have been necessary!” “Well if you would’ve worn your gloves, at least it would still be possible!” “Excuse me for thinking you, the mother of the human race, would be able to properly care for a child, without dropping him, and that I wouldn’t need my gloves until it was time to change him or something like that!” “It’s not my fault that Cerberus was in my way!” “So now you’re blaming my dog, who is two-thirds your height on all fours, for you not seeing him?!”

As Death got angrier, his flesh seemed to boil and melt off his bones, leaving the form of the grim reaper in his place. Life whimpered and shrank back, curling into a ball, horrified of the vision of the monster before her. Death, however, was unaware of this change, believing her to merely be shrinking away from his wrath.

Before Death could continue his yelling, Neko walked in. “What the hell is... oh... oh no...” She grabbed Death and pulled him away from Life. “Death! Stop it! Don’t you see that you’re terrifying her!?” “Did you see what she did!?” he snapped. “Maddox is dead because of her! I was actually getting to be a real father to one of my kids! I reacted like a real father would! Because of her negligence, my son is dead, and even she can’t fix it this time!”

As Death ranted to Neko, Life teleported away. “I understand, Death, but you getting angry like this won’t help.” “No, but maybe it will teach Life to pay attention!” Neko sighed. “Just breathe, Death. I understand your anger, but you need to handle this differently.” She walked up to him and began massaging his back. He still had skin lower down on his back, and she worked her way up as his flesh reformed, attempting to relieve his stress by force.

As she worked, the anger left, leaving him with only his sorrows. Death hugged her tight, sobbing into her. “What am I going to do, Neko?” He asked. “I just took away Madeline’s chance to be a mother, and unlike Life, I don’t think she’ll give me a second chance to give her a kid now that I’ve killed him.” He shook with tears. “But that’s not even the worst part... how am I going to explain his death to her? I never saw her so happy as when she held him, and now I’ve taken that joy away.”

[AWA1997]

The Snap (Part 3/3) [PG-13] [Violence] [Suicide] (NW)

Spoiler:

Madeline returned to the underworld, feeling nice and relaxed after her spa day, but as she walked down to the bedroom she shared with Death, something felt off. As she opened the door, she saw Death sitting on the bed with his back to her, wearing a hat that Madeline had given him because it was identical to her own except color, hers being white and his black. As he heard the door, he looked up and Madeline saw that he had obviously been crying, and probably had been for a while. “I’m sorry Madeline...” he held out their child. “I’m so sorry, Life tripped, and I tried to catch him and.... I’m sorry...”

Madeline took the child and began rocking his body, the mute Mage singing a silent lullaby to the baby. Death hugged her tightly, continuing to apologize and cry into her shoulder. As he cried and she sang, her eyes grew foggy, a grey film covering them. By the time she was done singing, her eyes were completely coated in the silver haze.

She laid the child down, reached over, and began strangling Death. Death was completely caught off guard and had to fight hard to get her off of him. “What the hell, Madeline?” he asked. She ignored his question, reaching over and grabbing a scythe. Death summoned his own and began using it to block her. “I know I messed up, but why are you trying to kill me?” She again ignored his question, her next swing knocking his scythe from his hands.

As she swung again, he ducked out of the way, but the scythe cut clean through his hat. As Madeline saw the hat, the first gift she had given him when they got together, fall to the ground, ruined, the madness began to fade from her eyes and she fell to her knees, clutching her head. She looked up at Death, tears in her eyes.

Death got down on her level, hugging her before looking into her eyes, the grey coming back slowly. “What’s wrong, Madeline? What happened?” Madeline shook her head, but kept her hands in place, as if letting go would cause her to lose it again. ‘I don’t know.’ she mouthed. ‘But it’s eating away at my mind.’ “You’ve started to come back, do you think you can fight it off?” She shook her head again. ‘No, it’s too strong. I don’t want to hurt you, Death. Please, stop me.’ Now it was Death’s turn to shake his head. “I can’t. You’re too strong for me to subdue, and I can’t kill you.” ‘Please, Death. I can’t stand it. You would be doing me a favor. I wouldn’t be able to handle it if I hurt you.’ She screamed as the madness began accelerating. ‘Hurry.’

Death began crying even harder and hugged Madeline tight. “I love you.” he said quietly before using his death-volts to kill her. There was an audible, sharp intake of breath, and a weight fell upon Death’s shoulders. He held her body close and continued to sob uncontrollably over her, repeating “I love you” and “I’m sorry” several times each.

After about 10 minutes, Death heard a knock on the door. He laid Madeline’s body on the bed, placing Maddox in her arms before getting up to answer the door. “Look, I’m sorry, I’m in no mood-“ he stopped mid-sentence as he opened the door to find Madeline and Maddox on the other side.

Death immediately rushed out and hugged her. She rubbed his back. “It’s ok, Death.” she said, her words coming out slowly and deliberately, as she focused on trying to speak for the first time. “I know you didn’t mean to hurt him, and I know you didn’t want to hurt me.” She kissed him lightly.

“I still feel bad. If I was just more careful, you’d both still be alive.” “Well, look on the bright side, now you can hear my voice.” Death chuckled a little. “Yeah, it’s a bit strange, actually.” “D-do you not like my voice?” “Oh, no, it’s nothing like that. Your voice is as beautiful as you are, it’s just unusual for me to hear you is all.” Madeline giggled. “Thanks. For the record, it feels weird, too.”

Madeline smiled and handed Death the ghost baby. “But, also on the bright side, now you can really help me raise Maddox. I know it’s not the same since we’re both ghosts now, but it’s something, right?” “Yeah, I just wish you would’ve been able to experience life as a mother, and that he’d be able to experience life in general.” “Well not all wishes come true, we just have to work with what we got.” A smell wafted up from the baby. “For your first lesson, you get to learn to change a diaper.” she added. “Ok, but then we work on setting up the funeral for you and Maddox.” Death said. “This is... going to be hard on Life, especially after I blew up at her earlier. I can’t even imagine what losing her daughter like this after that fight will do to her mentally.” Madeline nodded. “I’ll try to talk to her next time I’m able.”

[AWA1997]

The Beginning [G] (PXR)

Spoiler:

Gazing at the time threads, Eucli Dean, the Time-Space Mage of the NW universe, eyed a thread that bore no life. The thread had always existed, but the universe it represented had not yet been born from Eucli’s perspective. He, like his predecessor from the universe before his, saw a spark. Just a dim little spark floating along the thread. It was time. As he entered this new dimension, he smiled. It wasn’t every day that you get to help create an entire universe.

He approached two orbs floating aimlessly. One was comprised entirely of a violent, black energy. The other was made of a soothing green power. Eucli touched the green orb, absorbing it. For just a moment, he was the Life Mage of this new world, but it was short lived as he released the life-based magic orb from his body, holding onto only one small wisp, just enough for him to do his job.

He touched the Life orb again, this time not absorbing it, but rather pulsing the power of Life into the orb. As the orb took shape, he approached the black orb. He performed the same process again, but the orb resisted the influence of the invading magic. Once it also took form, he returned the last remnants of the power back to the Life orb and left. He watched the forming Mages through a one-way viewing portal.

Both orbs took the shapes of young men. The green Life orb grew into what appeared to be a 25-year-old who stood roughly six-foot tall with a fair complexion. As he grew hair, it came out brown and stayed relatively short. Once he was formed, he opened his brown eyes and looked around, locking eyes with another person.

The black orb had also grown about six feet tall, but was just a little shorter than the newly-formed Life Mage. His skin was a bit darker than the other’s, but this was only noticeable if you were paying close attention. His hair was dark brown, just shy of black, and his eyes were only a few shades lighter. This man, despite being just a few seconds younger than the first, looked a bit older than him.

As they locked eyes, they knew that the other person was some sort of foil to them. The Life Mage was the first to make a move, holding out his hand. “Hey, name’s Tyler.” he said with a smile. “What about you?” “I’m Kritana. Nice to meet you.” he stated flatly, no smile playing upon his lips as he took Tyler’s hand.

As their hands met, their powers sparked at each other, sending what felt like a static shock through their fingers due to their natures as opposing forces. Both removed their hands in surprise. They separated to avoid further shocks, and looked around. There around them were various orbs of different colors, each one identical to the ones Tyler and Kritana had been formed from. Blood red, golden yellow, electric blue.

As Tyler touched the orbs, the story of the Mages truly began.

[AWA1997]

The End of the War, A New Perspective: Kakashi [PG-13] [Violence] (NW)

Spoiler:

As Olipsia turned and ran into the room, Kakashi turned to keep an eye on his friend. In doing so, he managed to see Maddox zap Life with DeathVolts and throw her across the room. He grabbed a kunai and hastily scribbled ‘air bag’ on the attached ribbon. He then allowed the object to take form as the kunai flew underneath Life. What appeared under her was a large, high pressure air bag such as is used by firefighters. The combination of Death magic coursing through her body and the impact with the air bag still dazed her, but it was enough to save her a few moments of healing time.

Maddox turned to face Kakashi. “This is a family matter, and you’re not family. Get out of here.” Kakashi pulled out two more kunai, one with a ribbon, the other without. “Now, now, haven’t you heard that blood is thicker than milk?” Kakashi asked, referencing the Arabian counterpart of opposite meaning to the English saying. Maddox growled. “Fine, have it your way.” he said, slashing his death-blade sword at Kakashi.

It was as these two began fighting that Madder began awakening Olipsia’s Madness and Aphrodite ran in to try to save her daughter.

Kakashi crossed his kunai and caught the deathblade, redirecting the blow and making a small jump backwards to maintain his defense. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a body flying his direction, with another in close pursuit. Madeline had launched Death across the room, and Kakashi had just enough time to drop a piece of paper to form a brick wall between the two Mages. Madeline had to dodge the wall, buying Death just enough time to get his scythe up to block an attack that, had Kakashi not interfered, would have made direct contact with him.

While Kakashi was distracted, Maddox struck Aphrodite to prevent her meddling. When Kakashi heard Aphrodite scream, he went on the offensive in an attempt to get Maddox to leave her alone, but Maddox expected this. As Kakashi closed the gap, Maddox swung his sword low while launching DeathVolts high, forcing Kakashi to decide between the blade and the magic.

Kakashi chose the blade, stopping the sword once again with his kunai. This time, however, as soon as the blade was caught, Maddox channeled the Death magic through the weapons. Kakashi pulled away quickly, the magic sending pain down his arms, but not causing any true damage.

Suddenly, he heard a cry for help and a gunshot. He saw Jason hit the ground, and noticed Olipsia holding the smoking gun, smiling the same twisted smile Maddie had worn. He closed his eyes as tight as he could and flicked the ribbon on his kunai. A bright flash temporarily blinded almost everyone in the room, including Maddox. Kakashi used this temporary handicap to get between Aphrodite and Olipsia. He helped the Love Mage up and took a defensive pose against his friend. He stayed behind to help her, and if helping her meant fighting her, so be it.

Olipsia smiled at Kakashi. “You know, killing Time wasn’t in the plan book, but I’ll take it.” she said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Kakashi, I have a tramp of a mother of mine to kill, so you have two options here.” She held up her fingers to count the options. “One, you move out of the way, and you live to see tomorrow. Or, two, you don’t move, and my body count increases to three instead of two.”

Kakashi watched Olipsia with his sharingan eye and began writing in the air. “Tell me about this plan book first.” he said, trying to stall. “What kind of plans are in it?”

“Just the plans for all of the Madness Mages to get revenge on, or settle old scores within the family.” Olipsia said. “Now either move...” she held an open palm to the side, which Kakashi immediately imprinted his message on without her noticing, “or I kill you.” she said, leveling the gun at him. “You have three seconds. 3...”

Kakashi went to strike at Olipsia, but suddenly Life cried out above everything, and suddenly Life and the Madness Quintet had vanished.

- - - - - - Some Time Later - - - - - - -

Kakashi sighed in relief as Death stopped the Madness Mages. He had no clue when Maddie or Olipsia would wake, but he headed home to wait for when Olipsia would see his message on her hand and come see him.