A Soul to Carry

[hawksirius]

Hi, people, I am Hawk Sirius, and I am finally getting around to actually posting here instead of lurking in the comments.

This is "A Soul to Carry," and I really don't have much to say about it.

Prologue:

A city lay in ruins.

Smoke billowed from the still-burning wreckage, darkening the blood-red sky.

The earth was shattered, broken, and twisted, the city torn.

Not one building was spared.

Far above, two men looked on as a very few people sought out survivors within the great region of wreckage, far larger than the victimized city had been mere hours before. The entirety was blacked from soot, smokestains, and obsidian from the newly-formed lava pools.

The watchers' bodies were like a mirage, a hazy outline, wisps of smoke and dust.

"Is it not my time, Deceiver?" One man asked, eyes clouded, pained. "Is it not my time to leave this world? Can you not take me to the Otherworld?"

"Why do you seek the Otherworld? Why do you seek to end your time here?"

The first man looked away from the destruction below, turning instead to the faceless one beside him. "I wish to repent and atone for my sins here today, to the people whose lives were lost."

The faceless man shook his head slowly, the red glow where his eyes should have been dimming. "I take souls, yes, but of humans and of hybrids."

"You take souls, my friend. Why can you not take mine also?" There was a hint of desperation in his words.

Again the shorter man shook his head. "I carry the souls of humanity and of hybrids. Friend, you are not human, nor are you hybrid. You are a creator and destroyer. Even if I wanted to, I could not take your soul."

"Why can you not take my soul? I am no child, Deceiver, and despite your name, you've always been honest with me."

The Deceiver turned away this time, voice echoing. "You are a creator and a destroyer. You are one of the original Spirits, with the great power they hold. You have emotions and thoughts, and human creativity. Yet, you do not have a soul for me to carry."