Michael

"I can't stop it... and I've devoured them all, the dead." My hunger is going wild; it's consuming me.

"Why? What's making me so hungry? I've never been this way, and now that I've run out of the one source that won't make me feel guilty, what can I do? Feed on the living? No way!"

It's been months. I have been trying to suppress it. But the more I ate, the worse it got. The voices just piled up, their malicious intent and relentless persuasion giving me bouts of insanity, that I have to use all my courage to resist it.

For they all told me the same thing.

You need her. Without her... you're nothing, but a monster. Now, you'll feed on humans... and we know you are thinking about it.

Elise was still the one to keep me sane, but now, it seems, we've been separated. Xandor has been calling her for private sessions many times over, and its probably to keep me away.

Xavier is still not strong enough to overcome his inner darkness...

I felt a wave of jealousy wash over me, the voices telling me to do something about it. But what can I even do? He's the Dark Lord, and I am just the kind-hearted soul that gave up my happiness for Xavier's.

Kind-hearted? You've lost that when you ate people who were once like you.

Remember... your duty, Michael. For now, find an alternative worth using that won't compromise the Earth. You might have made a mistake now, but you can rectify this.

Humans, Michael. We won't force you to eat just ANY human, but make a wise choice on your first. Don't get too excited though; humans can make quite the fine and perfect delicacy... only when you choose the right one.

There aren't any humans left on Earth, right?

Oh, there are, Michael. Out there. Out of Winston, the world, there are humans out there. You can't possibly have forgotten, have you? It's your chance.

I will not just lose my mind and go on a rampage again, ever. You're not going to get your way with me!

Just lose your morality already, Michael. You know you can't resist.

Elise | Ophelia

"Here, Mother, have some tea." I handed her a cup, where Mother, memories still held hostage by Xandor, happily accepted. I'm creating new memories with her to add on to the old so that her current self won't feel... so... empty.

"I would be so elated to know what we were like before Baron and I lost our memories..." She takes a sip and places the cup down.

"I'm sure we will get your memories back someday, Mother, I'm confident about it." Thinking back, to the contract, their willing hearts to sacrifice themselves for me, I was in a dilemma. At times, I wanted their memories to come back because I can't bear for them to be so... lost, mindless. At times, I wish their memories would never come back so that they would never need to remember the day they sacrificed themselves for me.

"Ophelia, Xandor is here." Father opens the door, letting Xandor step in.

"My Queen... I want to talk to you." Xandor, alright. The longer I live with him, the more I can identify who was speaking to me.

"Father, Mother, please excuse me. I'll be back in a bit," I bowed. Transforming into my formal appearance, the familiar visor of my mask back on me, I walked side-by-side with Xandor.

"What's so interesting this time around? The past few times you called me, I can see Michael's jealousy. I don't want him to feel that way, Xavier."

"You do know you're not talking to Xavier... right, Ophelia?"

"Well, I do, Xandor. It's just that; you are both the same person. I can address either one, can't I? My King." We reach the end of a hallway, a simple ornament displayed on a pedestal.

"Ophelia... look at the back of the ornament." Intrigued by his words, I turn the ornament to it's back and see a small, obscure switch. I pressed it, and a warp portal appeared.

"This... isn't an illusion," I stepped into the portal, to see a lab full of experiments, yet most of all, the feeling of simplicity, and an overflowing amount of knowledge seemed to be stored here...

"It's where I think," Xandor moves to the middle of the room, and pulls out an orb.

A soul? But Xandor speaks of another thing.

"I want to just say... Michael, he's really not over you, even now."

"How could I not know that, Xavier? I can't bear to see him working so tirelessly just to protect me. We are over, but he commits so dearly to me."

"I could erase his memories, but I think he should know where he stands. He's probably finished every corpse in Esmonia."

"He... he's eating the dead?"

"Yes, he was. He just finished the last corpse yesterday, and he will have no choice but to venture out into the human world to live."

"He can't possibly bear to kill a human! He told me that countless times!"

"Then end his life, end his misery." Xandor snapped, throwing the orb into my hands.

"Oh, and Elise... You will want to open that later. It's not the right time... not yet. Find him. He probably needs to have some... time with you."

"You don't say," I sighed, and left the room, tucking the orb into my robe, never asking what was inside, at all.

---

The cemetery. The supposed sacred burial ground for esteemed and normal Fallen alike was now in an unrepairable mess, the soil of a certain Fallen dug up till it looked like a miniature hill on top of the grave. How did anyone not... make any comment on this?

"I'll have to fix this... No... I can't... What have I done?!" Michael's cries were desperate. He was looking over the bone remains of what probably must have been his meal, eyes filled with tears, hate, guilt, and resentment. Unaware of my presence, I stood there, watching him start to quickly mend the scene until it looked as if nothing had ever happened.

It was until then, I tried to move to a better place to watch, but he caught my scent.

"Elise... you saw all of it, didn't you?" He asked softly.

"Answer me," He prodded for my reply.

"I only saw the remains. I saw nothing else."

"Lies! You saw the whole act! I'm a mass murderer! And I don't want to be one!" He ran away from the grave, and I dashed after him, in the hopes of pinning him down and snapping him out of his antics, his delusions.

"Michael! We know you didn't mean it!" I was closing up to Michael, who, although wasn't slowing down, looked slow to me.

"I still killed people! They... their souls... they're all alive!" Michael seemed to hesitate on his steps after revealing this fact to me and fell.

"Just SIT down and tell me all about it!" I pulled him up and forced us both to sit down.

"Voices of the people I take the lives of... they live on in my head, like ghosts. They never leave! They tell me to do things I don't want to do, commit deeds they should know I will never commit, most of all, try to make me betray every single principle that I've lived by!"

"You should have asked me how to solve this problem of yours, Michael... you bottled it all up and let that appetite of yours swallow up the whole population of the dead, now you can't handle this, and I have no idea, either!"

"I... I can't handle life without you. I know I willingly gave up my happiness for yours... and I shouldn't ask for it again."

"Well, we're still friends, and friends help each other out. At least, I want to believe that. C'mon, Michael, the people can't be brought back to life, but we can at least restore their resting place."

"Haha....hahaha......" Michael lets out a laugh, something that was not expected of him.

"What's funny about this? What's funny about this whole thing? And you were just... in sadness a while ago."

"I... don't know, Elise. It's just... so funny... hahaha..." As I continued to stay with him and repair the cemetery, I heard his laugh continue for a long time.

---

Xavier | Xandor

I can't understand her. That part of her, so willing to sacrifice for the Protector.

Once-Protector.

I still feel so sour towards him, as much as he is my sworn brother.

So, so sour.

In the room where I just talked to Elise moments ago, I stare upon the orbs holding her parent's souls.

"I don't want to destroy your souls, Baron and Jeanna - but the contract will continue, for Xandor is still alive." Bitterly speaking these words, I resent myself for saying such things, yet I steel myself to speak like so.

"Well, supposedly nice show you put on, Xavier." The middle of the room housed a seemingly lifeless orb, but to me, was the soul of my other half.

"I don't like to be your host, Xandor. I like to be in ownership of my own body. You lost yours due to your own carelessness. I tried so hard to split you away from me, and now that I have finally done it, you're not coming back in."

"You always will need me, Xavier. Without me, your eternal life fades. Whatever you have done to put me away, will only pull you back to me. Just let us merge again into the perfect being once more, Xavier. We will then pull this world from its hell."

"You ruin me with every time we actually bond together, Xandor. You're a hex, a curse to my life. I would rather die... than be with you."

"You will regret what you say today, Xavier."

"Then show me you can escape the technology I made just for you. The orbs are completely magic resistant, elementally resistant. What other tricks can you pull?"

"The power of the mind itself, Xavier. You should learn to come to fear it when you do not possess the power yourself. Watch, my other half." Xandor taunts me, and I see him leave the orb after a few seconds.

"You... have you left the orb multiple times before then?!"

"Of course... to check on my rightful people, as their true King, in a supposed invisible state. You're just the body host. However, I am most displeased. You make them peace-loving in Esmonia. I thought I told you to make them desire for chaos, not make them look so contented in their home!"

"Then, would you like your citizens to ruin the country you painstakingly made for them, with your blood, your sweat, and your tears? Your rage? Anger?"

"Our race is one of destruction for greater development, Xavier. If you have forgotten that, surely Elise must have twisted your poor mind. I must return to my rightful place in your body if that's the case. She needs to know the feeling again, the true feeling of talking to the Dark Lord. Your imitation of me is the worst I have ever seen, felt and heard! You've completely ruined my image, heart and soul!"

"Then I will lock you up again."

"Don't force me, Xavier. Do not try to test me."

"I'm already being the best rendition of you that I can try to be!"

"Forget it. You will start losing your freedom, again. Punishment, for not being able to show independence, and maybe, possibly, a reason for me to stop you from ageing, for you still need to live."

"You will not even have a chance to properly love Ophelia anymore. I will take that all from you." With that, Xandor's soul pierces my body, and through that, entered my mind, blindfolding my consciousness, my subconsciousness, unreachable. I can't see anything...

"You will never hear the sound of life, feel your thoughts, or know anything ever again. In the meantime, I will loan your soul, use it, and slowly convert it. You will never reject me again. Ophelia will follow us to the true Eden I will make. She will understand the change. Don't worry... I'll make it gradual."

"Xandor..." My voice fading, my thoughts were empty. I saw nothing but black. More black. More darkness. Only.. myself. My breathing. Xandor's voice.

Xandor's voice will now keep me alive... it's so... so dreaded. I guess... it's finally... time to rest.

---

"And now... I rise from the bars of my prison..." I, Xandor, have finally taken over Xavier. He's nothing but a weak puppet now, a shell for me to take hold, to use it. He may have imprisoned me after Elise married him... but it will never happen again. I learn... for I myself am omnipresent... just like her.

That soul. That one guiding light that will never leave it's chosen one. But she is a Protector. And she can never be killed. She will always cultivate another Protector from the Earth, and another unnecessary war will wage again. It never ends.

I will make sure it all ends when Ophelia truly is bonded with me. We are not yet there, but I will make sure that final light is destroyed for good...

And then, I will finally rule the world.

Author's Note

Hello guys! To a new start in 2019, and a new book! I've finally sorted things out so I can start afresh here. Of course, some things will stay the same.

This is my first time writing Xavier and Xandor's perspective, although I've probably been in their shoes many times over. Anyway, things really are getting worse, aren't they? Hmmm, something for you guys to think about I guess.

Have a good year :)