Lucius felt the pain in his chest grow with every step he took. He opened the door, then slammed it shut and fell onto the carpeted floor. He cried softly, tears streaming down his pale cheeks.

    “Mom,” he spoke in despair, “please don’t die. I don't have a purpose, but I know you do. I have no meaning to anyone or anything.”

   He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves, his eyes trained to the floor. Slowly, the young teen crawled to his room and climbed into bed. Lucius pulled the sheets over himself, hiding his body from the sunlight that peeked through the window.

    He shut his eyes and tried to mitigate his pain. Then, a voice peeped in and whispered into his conscience. Another voice made him twitch slightly. More voices filled his head with sounds of fear, yelling and screaming. Lucius opened his eyes and touched his head, pounding from the cacophony. Lucius curled up into a ball, and noticed through the small hole in the tangled sheets his old notebook; all the drawings and notes he wrote during the past school year laid between the pages. He sighed, and turned away from the grief of his forgotten hobby.

    Lucius suddenly lifted himself up and threw the sheets away from his body. He glanced at the book again. He wearily took the book and started to flip through the pages, skimming each one before reaching a blank one.

    “Pencil...?” He looked around his desk as he muttered to himself. Finding one, Lucius gripped it tightly and started to ponder about what he should draw. Though nothing came to mind. Nothing except the thought of Death. Slowly, his hand began moving on its own accord. First, an outer ring. Then an inner one. Lucius stared emotionlessly at the sheet and shapes he created. His hand continued to move swiftly as he made more circles and triangles, lines that connected to each circle, lettering of which he knew not, and a two pronged staff-shaped design at the center. Soon enough, the shapes came together and made an enormous design throughout the whole page. Lucius stared at it in surprise, and whispered to himself,  What is this?”

 

     'Death.'

     Ominous. The cloak revealed nothing but white, bone hands. Menacing. The curved blade pressed against the child's throat, threatening to rip through. He stepped forward. A lifeless cold flooded the room, all light fleeing before the Unknown, leaving nothing but the terrors of Night.

     'You dare...'

     A set of eyes, no, eye sockets revealed themselves from beneath the hooded face; the black sockets stared, pierced, into the child's own. A smile spread across his face, widening as he took in the fresh scent of blood and fear. The blood-drenched scythe clenched tightly within bony hands trailed over the child’s body, resting upon their heart. He took another step forward.

     'My my, cocky aren't we?'

     From behind the menacing cloaked figure appeared another, more human sized cloaked being. Gold eyes, wide with insanity, showed from under his hood. Slowly, he walked up to the summoner and pulled his hood down. Yin stared down at the Human boy, a wide smile crossing his face.

     'Fear me not, do you? Well, I shall show you why Human's must know their place.' Death moved its scythe away from the child's heart. 'I shall show you why mortal beings fear,' Yin leaned closer, 'the Dark.'

     An ominous smoke rose about the room. Yin trailed a hand across the Humans' chest and down their arm, taking the boys' own hand. The smoke condensed around them when Yin placed his forehead upon the child’s; his gold eyes darkened till they became as black as Death's empty sockets, staring into the boy’s own dark, emotionless brown.

 

     Nothing but Darkness entered Lucius’ mind. Creatures rose up from his conscience, while voices screamed loudly in fear. His mind, plunged into Hell, witnessed the tortures of the damned, monsters killing and ripping apart every limb and flesh of their prey; he watched as humans themselves appeared in the scene with murders, suicides, and tortures. Man killed man, woman and children screamed for help, help never to come. Blood shed everywhere.

    Meanwhile, Lucius' eyes stayed emotionless. He only winced once or twice, slightly amused by the acts that played through his head. No expression that would indicate fear appeared on Lucius’ face. And not once did he beg the kid to stop.

 

     Yin narrowed his eyes at the boy. Why won't he flinch? Why won't he scream or beg for him to stop? Yin clenched his teeth.

     'You...'

     He gripped the boy’s hand tighter, fury rising within his chest. Brutal killings, absolute monsters, societies submerged in chaos—anything to make this HUMAN flinch. But still he stared—he, the being of True Chaos and Destruction; of True Fear and Unforgiving; of DARKNESS—into the boy’s unchanging, emotionless eyes. Rage clawed at Yin's nerves, threatening to rip them apart, driving him into insanity.

 

     Lucius started to worry and wondered about the circle he drew earlier. Why would his hand suddenly move on its own and draw something so complex? He liked to draw designs, but he never knew how to draw such a thing. Then, Lucius thought how odd was the boy in front of him. Of course, Lucius knew who this boy was since he explained himself earlier. But what about the other one behind him? Lucius blanked out, suddenly not knowing what to think anymore. He started to drift away from the current situation, his eyes staring up as if he were looking up at the ceiling.

     To this, Yin drew his own scythe and shouted, enraged:

     'Do not ignore me, mortal! Tell me, why do you not fear me?! Why do you not cower and beg for mercy?! You...! You are but a mere Human!! So why?!' Yin pressed his scythe firmly against the boy’s throat. 'What if I should rip your soul from its living body, if Death should end your life and prove your mortality?'

     Yin smiled wide with insanity, blood slowly trickling down his iron blade.

     Lucius was uncertain whether or not to speak, and his thoughts kept forbidding him to. He seemed rather lost of which question to answer first, so he decided to speak by order. “I don’t know. I am only human, but many times I seem to act the opposite. As for the other question, I acknowledge I am only a mortal. No need to show me what I know.”

Lucius started to wonder if what he said sounded wrong or offensive.

     Yin stared speechlessly at the Human before him, his mouth agap. A slight laugh escaped his mouth, but faded as quickly as it came. He backed away.

     'You know... don't need to be shown... you're mortal...' Yin laughed again. His scythe clanked to the floor, Yin himself falling to his knees beside it. 'I shouldn't... This isn't... You're a Human... Mortal...' Yin continued to mutter under his breath as Death slowly faded away. Oh, how he wished to beat that Human, show him the true power and meaning of the Dark!!

     Lucius raised one eyebrow and stared with a puzzled expression at the other in front of him.

     “What’s wrong?” He asked and shifted slightly, feeling uncomfortable. Then, Lucius spoke solemnly to the boy before him.

     “You may think as you wish, but I’d like to say this: I do not fear the usual horror this world offers. To me, not a lot of things make me happy. Scary stories, movies, and other things of the like have been exposed to me so frequently that I have lost my fear. Is that what you wanted to know?” Lucius tilted his head to the side as he finished and a small smile appeared on his face.

     Yin remained silent. Such words from a mere Human. Such power from a being that he, Yin, Lord of the Dark, should be controlling. He lifted his head. Though the boy’s hair covered his eyes, Yin's glare pierced into them. This feeling—this surge of emotion... He reached for the scythe.

     ‘You...’ Yin growled. ‘This feeling... I should not...feel this way...’ he grasped the scythe and pressed it against the boy’s chest. ‘I should not... You do not fear...’ Yin got to one knee. ‘Then lets see how much pain you can endure!!’ He sliced through the boy's chest, an insane laugh echoing through his demonic smile.

     Lucius gasped and looked down at his body, blood oozing down his pants and onto the dark floor in which he could barely see. He did not cry, or even groan. He simply stayed in the same position, and stared down at the blood. He noticed it seemed darker than he last remembered. Lucius then looked up at Yin with the same, emotionless look and asked, “That’s it?”

     ‘What...?’

    Yin stared at the boy. His laugh stopped; his smile faded. He withdrew the bloody scythe from the boy's chest and backed away. ‘Is that...it?’ A black figure arose from the smoke around Yin's feet. ‘Is that it?’ He said a little more loudly. ‘I will put you through a living Hell, you worthless being!!’

    The Shadow lunged at the boy, entering his body through the deep gash.

     ‘Ahaha~’ Yin chuckled. His gold eyes darkened, again, to obsidian. Slowly, he approached the emotionless Human. ‘You will fear the Dark. You will fall mercy to me, Lord Yin. You will...’ Yin straddled the boy’s lap, holding a knife to his throat. ‘...surrender to your mortal fear.’

     Lucius, starting to get annoyed, put on his hand on his forehead and sighed.

   “That’s enough. Listen, I don’t care if you kill me. I’m getting tired of hearing your--” Lucius stopped mid-sentence and looked away. He did not want to sound so selfish.

   “I’m sorry...I didn’t mean that...I just want you to know I’m not afraid. I don’t have any fears, and I barely contain any emotions. It’s all true! I embrace the dark; it has become a part of my life...” Lucius stared down at the boy as he stroked the other’s cheek, then gently pressed their lips together.

     Yin's eyes widened. The knife in his hand clanked to the floor next to his scythe. He grabbed the boy by his shoulders and shouted, his voice stuttering,

     'Wha-What are you...doing?! You don't...! You don’t have...!' Yin stared into the boy's brown eyes. His entire body shook with emotions he knew not. 'Who...are you...?!'

     Lucius opened his mouth to speak, but felt his wound send an excruciating pain through him. He glanced up at the other in front of him, feeling embarrassed.

   “I...” He looked down at himself, and felt nervous to speak to the boy. He decided to do so anyway. “This cut...it stings,” he spoke rather apathetically. His emotion barely changed, but he started to feel light-headed from the excess amount of blood loss. Lucius leaned a bit closer to the other, seeming unable to keep himself awake. His head rested against the young boy's chest and drifted out of consciousness.

     Yin stared at the boy resting against him. Never before had he felt so...drawn towards another. Gently, Yin splayed a hand across the others' back. A deep purple glow emanated from his hand and flowed over the mortal boy's body.

     'Why?' he whispered. 'Why do you make me feel this way? Your words... What is it about them that makes me shiver? Your voice... Why am I so entranced by it? Who are you?'

     Yin removed his hand once the wound sealed. He ran his fingers through the boy’s hair. So soft. He trailed them down the others' cheek. So smooth. Yin lifted up the unconscious boy, resting his back against the chair, and leaned closer.

     'My heart is racing... Why?' He thought. Yin gulped. To be in such close proximity with another for a reason other than his true intentions: Death...

     'I hate you.'

     Kiss.

     Lucius’ eyes fluttered open. He felt his warm lips pressed against the boy’s. For a moment, he thought it was all a dream. Then he remembered what occurred and his mind sank back to reality. “Mm...?” he mumbled, then his eyes widened in shock. “O-oh..um...hi...”

     'Hi.' Yin looked away, trying to hide his blush. 'U-um...h-how—uh—how do you...feel?'

     Lucius seemed perplexed by the boy’s change of mood. He didn’t want to ask though.

   “I feel fine...” he looked down as he spoke and realized the wound was gone. He wondered how, and glanced up at the boy.

   “Did you heal me?” he asked curiously.

     Yin looked away, his face burning from the dominating blush.

     'Ma-Maybe,' he stammered out. 'Oh, my face is most noticeably red,' He thought in embarrassment. 'Um...wha-what's your name?'

     Yin clutched his robe as he spoke. How he wished this agonizing feeling would leave him alone. This was not how Yin should feel. Was he not the Lord of Death and Darkness?

     Lucius smiled slightly and said, “Luciano Merlo. You can just call me ‘Lucius.’”

     'Lucius... That's a...nice name...'

     'I need to get out of here.'

     Yin shakily moved himself away from Lucius and took up his scythe. The dense fog receded from the room, restoring its natural light.

     'I'm sorry to have bothered you,' Yin said apologetically. He dipped his head slightly, then turned to leave.

     “Then what’s your name?” Lucius asked while he pondered whether or not the boy mentioned his name earlier. He felt reluctant to continue, but did: ‘Is this the last time I’ll ever see you?’

     Yin stopped. He turned, his gold eyes meeting the others' covered ones.

     'I go by many names,' Yin began softly. 'Satan, Hades, Ruler of Hell, the Devil, Nightmare. All of which I am, but at the same time, am not. I am of the Forces that keep this world together. I am of the Dark to the Light; of Anguish to Pleasure; of Hate to Love; of Earth to Heaven.' Yin paused for a long moment before continuing. 'I am the Lord of the Dark, Yin.'

     A black smoke rose around him, slowly becoming more elliptical. As the ellipse expanded, he faded with it.

     'You will see me again. I am the inevitable end of each Human.'

     With a sudden rush of whirling wind, both he and the smoke vanished, leaving the lone boy to himself once again.

--------------------------------------------

-FUN EPILOGUE-

“Mom! Moooom!”

Lucius ran around the hospital to his mother’s room, barely able to contain his excitement. His mother lay on the hospital bed, looking better than before, but still weak.

She turned her head around to see Lucius and asked, “What is it, dear?”

Lucius stood next to her, a wide smile on his face and began: “Hi! Something REALLY fun happened a few days ago! I started to draw again and my hand did this weird design, and it summoned two people! One looked like a skeleton, and the other was a little boy! He took my hand and showed me a whole scene of murders and awful tortures! Then he was angry because I wasn’t paying attention, but I told him that I didn’t fear anything. He sliced my chest with his scythe--he had a really cool one!--and I was like, ‘that’s it?’ Then something went inside me--I really hope it’s still inside!--and the boy threatened me with a knife, but I told him that I love the dark and I KISSED HIM! He had soft, beautiful lips, but he was shocked and pushed me away! He asked, ‘who are you’ and I was about to say, but my cut finally started to hurt a lot and I fainted. Then….um...oh! I woke up, and HE WAS KISSING ME! I was surprised and we greeted each other, and he asked for my name. I told him and he was about to leave, but I stopped him. I asked for HIS name, and he told me that he was the Lord of  Darkness...his name is Yin! His name is from the YinYang symbol! Isn’t that amazing?! I want to see him again so badly that it makes me want to kill myself!”

His mother barely had any words in response to what she heard. Her mouth was agape, and she did not know where to start. “O-okay dear...that was a very nice story…” she said and gave Lucius a nervous smile. She thought it must’ve been a dream since her son didn’t seem to be in pain. Lucius quickly moved on to another subject as usual, and their day together continued like any other.

-THE END-