What does death feel like? [Many people]

Exitium wouldn't fall. He didn't last time, and wouldn't this time. He had his plans, his ways of escape. And he waited in his new castle made from mountain rock, amused by how those planning to defeat him planned, as if they had a chance of winning. He put his good hand on the knife to his side, an intricate design, handle engraved with a small golden crystal. Cory was waiting for a fight, just as much as Exitium was. He had two boys now, two more sons that would help during this fight. Cory did whatever Exitium wanted him to, so he was the perfect son. But, he wouldn't break them as much as the other would. 
In the dark room, Exitium's eyes moved to the faintly visible figure standing nearby, silent, trying to hide a tremor to his hands. "You are ready for this, Comet. They left you, and I kept you safe. Now... it's time you returned the favour." Exitium purred, feeling sick with how softly he spoke to the Sun child. "Y-yes... I-I know." Comet muttered nearby, before going silent again. They heard commotion outside, a faint light source gradually getting closer. Exitium chuckled, "Take you place, my boy, it's time to begin." He commanded Comet, and the boy moved silently away, to where he'd planned to hide for this encounter. There were traps in place, not the conventional kind, for when they arrived, so Exitium didn't even make an attempt to move or get up, he just sat in his chair, one leg over the other, smirking down towards the end of the cavern, waiting for his friends to appear.

Void hadn't felt truly whole ever since the family had fought one another. He still trusted them all, but seeing them fight to hurt one another broke something permanently in Void. He wanted his family back, but was sickened every day knowing it was impossible now. Two whole years he'd worried about Comet and Cory, the two youngest, a fear everyone held close. For those two years they'd never relaxed, the village never really felt alive, all they did for the two years of stalemate was wait and pray that both were alright. And Void was sure not one of them held any mercy in their hearts for Exitium, what he'd done to destroy this family now. 

The chance finally came to take him down, but with it were costs. They had the help of the two Kings on their side, but Void felt like that just put two whole kingdoms at risk. If Kakushin or Rurushu would fall, then there'd be more trouble. But, both seemed determined to be there to fight, they had their own reasons to want Exitium buried. So no one could talk them out of it. 

Just like no one could talk Draiko out of fighting a whole army on his own. 

They'd all tried, but he'd remained stubborn as usual, and Void was one of the first to give in. His brother was strong, infinitely brave, and stubborn beyond any help. He'd survive this, and probably beat them to ending Exitium. They'd all set off quickly, not turning back, diving straight into whatever wicked and retching lair Exitium had made. Inside it looked normal, but it soon showed it's first challenge. Just after Eira spoke to him, Void gave her a long look, seeing the evidence of tears on her face from leaving her twin behind, before nodding. He went to reply, before instead pulling Eira close, seeing movement from behind. And from the shadowy corners of the cave, came people. Villagers, to Void's surprise, wielding spears or swords. Some were only children, but all looked at them with aggression. And it was obvious why when looking at their eyes, coated over with magic. Hebi's magic. Eira would certainly need to stop their other brother, the one who was here out of his own free will, and one they couldn't save today, only stop. Void gritted his teeth, and along with everyone else, did his best to not come into conflict with any of the mind-controlled beings. Eira could calm them from fighting, Void's magic for some reason couldn't block out Hebi's mind control once it had taken effect. So this was all on Eira, everyone else focused on rushing head first into the main room, unable to take time to plan an approach with the brain-washed innocents following them. Once inside, the room was completely bare, the corners lost in darkness, unable to see. But in the centre was Exitium, smirking down at them all. Words weren't said, at this point, both sides knew they weren't necessary anymore. And so Void's side attacked first. 

The three with a history with this dark Demon, Father and the two kings, attacked. The Kings were pulled back, a sudden and intense wave of heat surrounding Exitium that burnt any flesh going close to it. But Father didn't stop, taking the damage willingly, just to get close enough to Exitium to throw him from the throne. It did no damage, but got the Demon a bit more surrounded. Cory at this point showed himself, hidden off to the side, and began fighting against those trying to harm his wielder. Meanwhile, Void was looking around for Comet, distracted when Cory appeared. But Mori, by his side, wasn't caught off guard. Her head turned, and she aimed up at something, "Void!" She called. Void looked up in time to see a blur of purple strike down on Mori. The sound was deafening. A boom that shook through the bones of everyone in the room. It gathered a cloud of dust, that gradually cleared to see Mori on the ground, grasping an horribly broken arm with her bow shattered by her side. And over her stood a young man, ghost white hair hidden under a hat, clothing thick, and purple eyes barely visible, with a scared look to them. "C... Comet!" Void said, but as Comet moved to face him, Void saw the intent beneath the fear in his young brother's eyes. Then Void felt a blow to his stomach, another echoing boom around the cavern, that was so loud it had stopped everyone else's fight. Void's magic managed to weaken the impact of Comet's magic-infused attack, but not enough for his insides to curl up in pain, and blood to rush up the eldest's throat. "S-s-sorry brother." Comet muttered, a voice now lower, but still just as shaken as it had once been. Void winced, coughing up blood. Comet went to hit again. But as it came down with another boom, it hit against Void's arm, now covered in blue mist, able to take the impact of the blow. Void breathed heavy. "No... I'm sorry, little Flying Comet. I didn't keep you safe. I failed as your big brother, and now your here, scared and confused. But..." The hand curled gently around Comet's fist, and Void gave his scared little brother a soft smile. "It's okay... we're here for you little Comet, we're here to keep our little brother safe. So.. so you don't have to be scared anymore." Comet had begun breathing heavily too, until his fist relaxed, and the boy just dropped down to his knees, Void following with a slight wince, holding Comet close as he shook. Void was proud of the little guy, two years of manipulation, but in a few seconds, Comet gave in. He'd never really belonged to Exitium, he'd only feared the man, a fear he got to let go of the moment his real family appeared. 

Hebi's role was oh so simple, and yet he gained the most from all of this. Be one of Exitium's lackeys, have his protection, and in turn, when the Skeleton King eventually died, Hebi could have the chance to control anyone left after the bloodbath. Then they'd worship him, they'd understand how smart Hebi was, the world would slowly become his to control, and control it he would. He was already getting a thrill from owning the minds of these simple villagers, and simple as they were they made excellent subjects. He wished his siblings could understand his goal, they could worship him from their own free will, if they only chose to. He didn't want to control them, of all people, Hebi thought his family could be perfect if they just believed in him more. But alas, things didn't seem to look that way, not with all the havoc Exitium was causing. Turning Cory into a Sun weapon, then taking Comet too. He wasn't sure what, but Sun weapons as a concept made Hebi uneasy, and he'd actually been the one to convince Exitium to not change Comet. All for his own gain, because it made Comet oh so grateful to his older brother in defending him, and Hebi knew if anything should change Comet to fight back, he'd leave Hebi alone. 

But Hebi still had someone to fight, it seemed. Eira, dear sister. Hebi smirked as she gradually made her way to his little corner, sneering as she spoke. "Oh but you are wrong, dear sister. It is because you are my family that I do this, when that skeleton king falls, I can take his place, and I can prove to you, my family, how masterful I am. You can choose to worship me now Eira, choose, or I will have to make you choose." Hebi said, watching like a snake ready to strike. He couldn't really fight, but he knew Eira couldn't either, it was her brutish twin who held all the strength. Hebi was surprised, something not usually common for him, when Eira ran at him. He found it funny, she was easier to control if she got closer, he could put her to sleep first, and take over her mind later. His eyes flashed purple, but soon flickered out, as something whistled past, a dagger into Hebi's shoulder. The boy squealed in pain, seeing just behind Eira was Mori, bloodied and bruised, but still with a perfect aim. Her attack threw Hebi off, enough for Eira to strike down on his brilliant mind, rock colliding with his head until everything went dark. 

Draiko didn't need confidence, or perhaps he was just so confident in his own abilities that he just assumed he didn't have a giant ego. He didn't need to care, he was born as a machine of destruction, so it was obvious that he was built for these kinds of fights. And it was easy, none of the dead had any determination. They just flailed around with claws or swords, hoping to hit the one target. But, Draiko had hundreds of swords defending him, eating through the army with ease. When they got too close, and when things looked a little dangerous, Draiko would use the storm in the skies he'd been building, and push them all away from him, shredding any who were too close. It was easy to do, Draiko didn't even remotely feel worried. It was only the length of this fight that slightly deterred his natural confidence. It went on a long time, the dead just replacing each other, swarming in masses, not dropping when hit. Some of them landed strikes on Draiko, bites to his arms or claws across his back. He of course didn't even feel the attacks, just blowing them all away afterwards, grotesque creatures with bits of his flesh in their mouths. 

The fight didn't seem to end, but as Draiko stood there, he noticed eventually less dead replacing the ones he'd cut down. They were finally dwindling in numbers, it made Draiko want to laugh. Then something new hit him from behind, a wave of sickly energy, that when it found him, the strongest being outside, it clung to him like green moss to a tree. Draiko couldn't tell if it was trying to bring him pain, but he did know it was making him sluggish, making his brain slow down and the swords around him hard to control. More of the dead hit him, even knocking Draiko over until he'd slashed through them all. Getting up, another got him on the neck, but he struck it down. Two more quickly died, then a dozen, then a dozen more. From behind, one lodged a rusted, jagged sword through his gut, the impact winding Draiko. He couldn't turn to hit it, so summoned just one sword to do the job for him. As that ethereal sword vanished, Draiko found himself losing feeling in one leg, his footing becoming weak, that green sickly aura still wrapped around him like a snake. Two more dead, one hitting his side, the other just missing, before Draiko cut them cleanly in half. The swing of his sword almost took him with it, but the boy held some balance, enough to remain standing. A larger corpse grabbed hold of Draiko's arm, in his moment of trying to balance himself, and tossed the boy across the open, rocky field. Draiko landed in a clump, up in time to see the large dead man running his way. He summoned a gust of wind to knock himself out of the way, then threw his sword into the monster's neck. Draiko watched it fall, then felt himself being pulled back, by the sword in his gut. One last dead was trying to prize it from his body to use, but Draiko elbowed it in the throat, knocking it back, pulling out the sword himself to stab into the corpses chest. It fell, motionless, amongst the field of dead around Draiko now. The boy stood just as motionless, finding it impossible to will his body to do anything. His lungs wouldn't move, he couldn't breath, his limbs were stuck as if heavy chains held them down. And Draiko just couldn't understand what was wrong, why his body wouldn't cooperate. Anyone looking at him now, could see the clear signs why, but Draiko couldn't feel them. The idea only hit him when he turned, and saw Eira staring his way, and her face said it all... He was dying. 

Tiredness hit Draiko in the side of the head, an exhaustion he didn't usually feel. The bits of flesh hanging open, cut and bleeding, tore with any movement. Draiko's body shivered, his muscles tensing and pulsing with tremors he couldn't understand. He could feel none of the pain, or the chill of his pale skin, Draiko felt nothing of any of it. It was so confusing, almost making the boy distressed, and then he saw Eira. The tears, the look of complete terror and dread to her eyes, it was only then he understood what was going on. There was a strange tingle to his wounds, a phantom feeling, a wave of something uncomfortable. The lack of strength almost made Draiko fall, until he was caught in his twin's arms, his lungs forcing out a breath as he landed. She started yelling, wailing about something. That's right, Draiko promised her he'd be fine, this fight wouldn't kill him. Draiko wouldn't ever die on Eira like that. "Wh... what?" He asked back, confused, annoyed, ignorant of his dying body. "I'm... I'm not." Draiko added, a statement with a tone of confusion, he truly didn't understand this. 

Draiko coughed, something was clogging up his throat, making his lungs work when they barely had the energy to. It was annoying, and made it hard to focus or talk. Draiko felt the corners of his vision go black, that tiredness still trying to drag him down. With what vision he had, he used to look into Eira's eyes, so full of tears and sorrow. Draiko hated seeing her upset, and his first step to solving it would be to figure out what was bothering her so much. He tried to reason with the idea that Eira was telling the truth, and he really was dying, but Draiko still couldn't get it. Perhaps, talking would help. Eira was always good at confirming the things Draiko couldn't understand.

"I feel tired..." Draiko began, a deep frown to his bloodied brow, "My legs won't work... my body keeps shaking... i-it's h... hard to breath... there's a... strange tingle to my skin." Draiko stopped, feeling that weird sensation again, like a spark of something was running through his body, making him flinch, and his body panic. "Is... is this pain? Is.... is this what death feels like?" Draiko asked, feeling something well up around his eyes, making his weak vision even weaker. Something wet dropped down his face... tears? Since when did Draiko start making them? Was he upset? He couldn't tell, the panic was there but Draiko just couldn't feel it. He sniffed, then frowned again, looking up as silver blobs of mist seemed to ascend into the sky. "I feel lighter..." He commented, glancing down to his legs, which were slowly fading now. "I think... my body is fading now... maybe I was dying after... after all." He stated, looking upset by the idea, then looking to Eira. His eyes reaped of an apology, only know understanding the promise he'd broken to his beloved sister. "Eira..." Draiko muttered. The only word needed, that only Eira could break down, into the greater meaning, into an apology, and a statement of how much the Sun child cared for his sister.