Every moment of time, some believed, was etched out in the great fabric of time and space - threaded into the Strings of Creation, written into the Manifesto of Existence. Others, believed, that each moment in time was another chance to make a change - affect their own fate and destiny, and change their personal reality.
Nihl wavered for a moment, an occurrence that took place so rarely that it often shocked those near him at the time of the event. Which would he fall into? Was he always destined to be here at this moment, his fate written into the stars, or had he chosen at every moment to take the path that would eventually lead him here.
His eyes darted around the grand room, the one that Skallagrim had assigned him as a second, and noted that every string thus far burned into existence had been placed, with excruciating precision into the proper place. From a bird's eye view, the strings formed a complex system of runes, that in their position created a larger rune.
The Grim Reaper, as he fancies himself, had told him there were several of these being made a potential access points for the King of Nightmares. There was no way of knowing which, if any, he would use to enter the fray.
A commotion outside of the doors to his room threatened to draw his attention. A single misplaced string, tethered to the upper-left corner of the door, glowed as words flowed through it. A messenger string, an invention of his, lay thread through the major areas of the Lobby. The one called Daniel spoke with Skallagrim, and then the assault began in earnest.
NIhl turned his attention away from the string, it was unimportant at the moment. His fingers moved deftly through the air, the nimble digits swimming as power poured through them and produced the rest of the rune. The city of circles and triangles came to completion. NIhl didn't sit to admire his work, instead he reached to his left and gripped the Nuibari and used it to rise to his feet. There was one more piece to the puzzle he needed to complete, piercing the middle.
---
It had been a long time since the Grim Reaper could properly access the world, his time in the Headquarters, where he first had to observe the other half of Nihl, Terra, was one of borrowed time. Skallagrim had tried to speak to him then, the arrogant Cughtagh, favored of the bitch Queen. Now, he could feel the swill of power, like an ocean of ethereal magic washing over him. Made whole was the goal he had in mind, in service to the unlawfully imprisoned King.
The attack on the Lobby had been planned without him, but the Reaper was not one to sit and be... Forgotten. A small chuckle. The Irony.
The massive double ended scythe swam lackadaisically end of end at his side, the masterful fingers that guided them barely touching them. The void between the prison of the King and the world which many thrived was one he called home, as it allows him to properly converse with his King, as well as send apparitions of himself into the world.
He looked above his head, as the web of runes was created above him. Then, with an inhale and its following exhale, the masterpiece was shattered and his world was open.
---
What came first was not the hooded apparition that called himself the Grim Reaper, instead it was the monstrous scythe that prevented damage from being inflicted on him, and he from inflicting damage, until the scythe cut through someone of power, allowing it to mimic it in a way.
No Nightmare King was he, but he was still a terrifying visage.
"The Nightmare King, brother to the Dreaming Queens, slowly makes his march. Already his soliders have arrived."
Nihl said nothing, yet stared at the upper right corner of the once great runic structure. He had made a plan. He would forever split from Terra, his other half. They could communicate on a small scale, but no longer intrude on each others thoughts as easily as before. An implanted rune there had done it, when broken, it completed the harsh magic. No doubt Terra felt the side splitting pain he felt at that very moment.
He retrieved his sword and looked towards the Grim Reaper, who had already begun to flow away. "I shall see you soon, sire."
The Reaper barely nodded his head, and vanished out into the chaotic world of the Lobby. Not long, he came upon Skallagrim verbally battered N'Katya. He was right, the female Xindhi was a braggart. He would not interfere, but he would watch to see if she could defeated the fabled Cughtagh.
Or had the King thrown his lot in with a weak Dreamer.
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