"What the shit Maeve? This is not easy. I thought you said this was gonna be easy?" Zero yelled out as he ran away from Death. "I can't land a damn hit!"
"What the fuuu, what, no, you? YOU SAID IT WAS GOING TO BE EASY!" Maeve shouted. "DON'T PUT WORDS IN MY MOUTH!"
Zero hadn't managed to land a single hit on Death, while Death was more than capable of landing over a dozen blows on him.
Death pivoted once more with their sword, swinging it upward to block Zero's next whip attack. Zero pulled back on it slightly, causing it to spiral and wrap around the sword blade. He pulled back and yanked the sword from Death's hands. He lifted his own hand to catch it, but as he did, it yanked him entirely off his feet and a few meters back, where the sword finally landed.
Zero stood up and tried to lift the sword again, but it wouldn't budge. He dropped his whip and tried using both hands to lift the sword, again to no avail. He turned to Death, who was standing idly watching, even without seeing the expression under their helmet, Zero could sense they were amused.
"Why's it so heavy?" Zero asked, taking up his whip and stepping forward. "That's gotta be bad for your back."
Death shook their head. "It is not heavy." They held out their hand, and the blade lifted from the ground and plunged forward back toward its owner, forcing Zero to sidestep rapidly. The blade landed back in Death's left hand, where they spun it around, cutting through the air, then pointing it at Zero. "It is because you are simply not worthy to use its power."
"Wait, Dwarves made your sword?" Zero asked curiously. He raised his hand over his chin. "They really will make a weapon for anyone." He whispered to himself. He looked back up at Death, who now looked curious. "What?" Zero asked.
Death laughed. "It is such a rare occurrence to encounter one who can recognize Dwarven work so easily. They are masters at hiding such."
"Yeah, but your sword uses Mjolnir Magic, and only the Ymir Dwarves of Ayce can craft such a thing. Not a single soul on this planet can replicate their craft." Zero began spinning his whip again, the chains igniting once more as a smile broadened across his face. "And would you have guessed they made ol' Ry-Jing here too?" Zero's brow furrowed as he teleported forward, the whip already poised at the ready for a strike. Death looked up at him, and with speed so quick that even Zero couldn't keep up. "Darn, I can't see where they went." He thought to himself as he began to try and teleport again, but Death was far too quick.
Everything that was happening was occurring in what the Dark Dragons called the minutes between the seconds. It wasn't an actual place, but a moment in time that all magic users could reach if they were fast enough. While Maeve was far faster than Zero in the long run, when it came down to being able to do something in between those feats of incredible speed, Zero was further along the line.
In this space, time not only moves slower, it practically doesn't move at all. All of this is future information being fed into the user's eyes all in the same instance. It's up to the user to be able to process it swiftly enough and correctly. It was the equivalent of seeing the future, and the better at processing the information you were, the further you could see. The fact that Death was moving faster than what Zero could see in the future proved that he was the fastest being Zero had ever met in his entire life, Dragon and Human.
Death retracted his sword and thrust it forward, impaling Zero through the back and out his front, immediately plunging him into a cloud of ravens that dispersed as time resumed its normal flow. Death pursued the ravens as they converged over to Maeve, reshaping Zero from their feathers. For the first time since either of them had met Death, the enigmatic figure spoke with such enthusiasm that it caught both Maeve and Zero off guard.
"LOOK AT YOU! DARK DRAGONS TRULY ARE INCREDIBLE CREATURES." Death lowered their tone. "To cheat me, to cheat death, incredible."
"Well, I can't do it too many times, so how about we avoid killing me again, shall we?" Zero stated.
Death dashed forward and withdrew the sword with such force that it created a vortex, pulling Maeve and Zero inward and knocking them on top of each other. "HOW FAST IS ITS COOLDOWN?!" Death bellowed.
"STOP!" Queen Máire's voice roared through the area with such force that it dislodged some of the bricks. Death's sword stopped just in front of Zero's chest.
Zero looked over at Maeve, who was underneath him. "I pissed my pants, I'm sorry."
Maeve's voice was a whisper. "I know, I can feel it, and I hate you. You're fucking disgusting. Get off me." Maeve pushed Zero off her, forcing him upright.
"WELL, EXCUUUUSE ME, PRINCESS! I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE, AND IT JUST CAME OUT."
Death withheld their sword from Zero as Máire approached them. She was wearing a long, flowing green gown, held in place by white pins on her shoulders, with a golden pattern sewn throughout the sleeves. Her blonde hair was braided and fashioned into a crown around her head. She gazed at Death and then at Zero and Maeve.
"I'm sorry, both of you, but I didn't know what else to do. I had to protect my son," Máire explained.
A horrifying realization washed over Maeve and Zero. Zero turned his head to her slowly, his eyes wide in horror. "Máire, tell me you didn't?"
Máire nodded slowly with closed eyes. "I'm sorry, Zero. I told you, I couldn't let my son die." She then turned her attention toward Death. "I am no longer in need of your service."
"Máire, no!" Zero scrambled toward her, but time had slowed down again, for everyone except Death.
Zero and Maeve watched helplessly as Death approached Máire and grabbed her shoulder.
"My service is complete, a life for a life." And just like that, Death and Máire blinked out of existence.
Zero collapsed as time sped back up, struggling to stand. He reached out to where Máire was standing. "AHH!" He slammed his fists into the ground. "Now we've got to rescue two people from the afterlife because of all this bullshit."
"What the shit Maeve? This is not easy. I thought you said this was gonna be easy?" Zero yelled out as he ran away from Death. "I can't land a damn hit!"
"What the fuuu, what, no, you? YOU SAID IT WAS GOING TO BE EASY!" Maeve shouted. "DON'T PUT WORDS IN MY MOUTH!"
Zero hadn't managed to land a single hit on Death, while Death was more than capable of landing over a dozen blows on him.
Death pivoted once more with their sword, swinging it upward to block Zero's next whip attack. Zero pulled back on it slightly, causing it to spiral and wrap around the sword blade. He pulled back and yanked the sword from Death's hands. He lifted his own hand to catch it, but as he did, it yanked him entirely off his feet and a few meters back, where the sword finally landed.
Zero stood up and tried to lift the sword again, but it wouldn't budge. He dropped his whip and tried using both hands to lift the sword, again to no avail. He turned to Death, who was standing idly watching, even without seeing the expression under their helmet, Zero could sense they were amused.
"Why's it so heavy?" Zero asked, taking up his whip and stepping forward. "That's gotta be bad for your back."
Death shook their head. "It is not heavy." They held out their hand, and the blade lifted from the ground and plunged forward back toward its owner, forcing Zero to sidestep rapidly. The blade landed back in Death's left hand, where they spun it around, cutting through the air, then pointing it at Zero. "It is because you are simply not worthy to use its power."
"Wait, Dwarves made your sword?" Zero asked curiously. He raised his hand over his chin. "They really will make a weapon for anyone." He whispered to himself. He looked back up at Death, who now looked curious. "What?" Zero asked.
Death laughed. "It is such a rare occurrence to encounter one who can recognize Dwarven work so easily. They are masters at hiding such."
"Yeah, but your sword uses Mjolnir Magic, and only the Ymir Dwarves of Ayce can craft such a thing. Not a single soul on this planet can replicate their craft." Zero began spinning his whip again, the chains igniting once more as a smile broadened across his face. "And would you have guessed they made ol' Ry-Jing here too?" Zero's brow furrowed as he teleported forward, the whip already poised at the ready for a strike. Death looked up at him, and with speed so quick that even Zero couldn't keep up. "Darn, I can't see where they went." He thought to himself as he began to try and teleport again, but Death was far too quick.
Everything that was happening was occurring in what the Dark Dragons called the minutes between the seconds. It wasn't an actual place, but a moment in time that all magic users could reach if they were fast enough. While Maeve was far faster than Zero in the long run, when it came down to being able to do something in between those feats of incredible speed, Zero was further along the line.
In this space, time not only moves slower, it practically doesn't move at all. All of this is future information being fed into the user's eyes all in the same instance. It's up to the user to be able to process it swiftly enough and correctly. It was the equivalent of seeing the future, and the better at processing the information you were, the further you could see. The fact that Death was moving faster than what Zero could see in the future proved that he was the fastest being Zero had ever met in his entire life, Dragon and Human.
Death retracted his sword and thrust it forward, impaling Zero through the back and out his front, immediately plunging him into a cloud of ravens that dispersed as time resumed its normal flow. Death pursued the ravens as they converged over to Maeve, reshaping Zero from their feathers. For the first time since either of them had met Death, the enigmatic figure spoke with such enthusiasm that it caught both Maeve and Zero off guard.
"LOOK AT YOU! DARK DRAGONS TRULY ARE INCREDIBLE CREATURES." Death lowered their tone. "To cheat me, to cheat death, incredible."
"Well, I can't do it too many times, so how about we avoid killing me again, shall we?" Zero stated.
Death dashed forward and withdrew the sword with such force that it created a vortex, pulling Maeve and Zero inward and knocking them on top of each other. "HOW FAST IS ITS COOLDOWN?!" Death bellowed.
"STOP!" Queen Máire's voice roared through the area with such force that it dislodged some of the bricks. Death's sword stopped just in front of Zero's chest.
Zero looked over at Maeve, who was underneath him. "I pissed my pants, I'm sorry."
Maeve's voice was a whisper. "I know, I can feel it, and I hate you. You're fucking disgusting. Get off me." Maeve pushed Zero off her, forcing him upright.
"WELL, EXCUUUUSE ME, PRINCESS! I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE, AND IT JUST CAME OUT."
Death withheld their sword from Zero as Máire approached them. She was wearing a long, flowing green gown, held in place by white pins on her shoulders, with a golden pattern sewn throughout the sleeves. Her blonde hair was braided and fashioned into a crown around her head. She gazed at Death and then at Zero and Maeve.
"I'm sorry, both of you, but I didn't know what else to do. I had to protect my son," Máire explained.
A horrifying realization washed over Maeve and Zero. Zero turned his head to her slowly, his eyes wide in horror. "Máire, tell me you didn't?"
Máire nodded slowly with closed eyes. "I'm sorry, Zero. I told you, I couldn't let my son die." She then turned her attention toward Death. "I am no longer in need of your service."
"Máire, no!" Zero scrambled toward her, but time had slowed down again, for everyone except Death.
Zero and Maeve watched helplessly as Death approached Máire and grabbed her shoulder.
"My service is complete, a life for a life." And just like that, Death and Máire blinked out of existence.
Zero collapsed as time sped back up, struggling to stand. He reached out to where Máire was standing. "AHH!" He slammed his fists into the ground. "Now we've got to rescue two people from the afterlife because of all this bullshit."
