With Loki’s words echoing in his head, Rykar was startled as he also came to realise that they were currently sat in front of two lifeless bodies. Despite this, for the first time in the recent days, an inexplicably calm feeling came over him.

It was almost laughable to think that he felt more comfort in the presence of two dead bodies, rather than when he was with those he had technically lived for all thirteen years of his life.

Despite this, it was hard not to notice that the origins of those in front of the twins appeared as anything but normal.

Their clothing was the first thing to stand out to them. When compared to the rags they were accustomed to, these robes were amazingly immaculate. The darkness of the cloth seemed to suck in the surrounding light as it draped around their frames, sculpted to their figures.

Rykar and Loki hadn’t even imagined that clothing could look so neat. The closest comparison they could make was toward the stories of nobles and kings that their mother had told them.

This also led them to suspect that the duo had only recently passed away as, although the room was not brightly lit, there was not a speck of dust on them nor the rest of the space.

Just like the rest of the surroundings, there were no extravagant or superfluous details on the clothing, however they still appeared compellingly eye catching as though simulating a black hole.

While looking around, almost no attention was drawn to the attire however once their eyes had been trained on the bodies, it was as though the rest of the room lost its light in comparison, slightly stifling them with a discrete sense of pressure.

As they pulled their eyes away from the clothing, they came to rest on the faces of the men. They appeared middle aged, no older than thirty. All of their features seemed refined and perfected, only adding to the feeling that they were sculptedworks of art rather than bodies of the deceased.

Rolling over half of their clothing was long black hair that spilled over their shoulders and all the way down to the floor. The hair spread out like black tendrils, blending in with the dark clothing in many places.

While in the village, the twins had seen a variety of skin tones, from the brown skin of the archery instructor to the ivory or even dark skin of the others. However, what they were seeing now was completely different…

It was as though the skin of these two men had been made from stone, or ash. It honestly left them hesitating for a moment further before sticking to their first conclusion of them being bodies rather than sculptures.

‘Maybe they are the same as us, cast out for being different.’

As the thought crossed their minds, both Rykar and Loki began to feel an inexplicable bond to the two figures before them. Although their stories had only been drawn up by their imaginations, there was so much alike between them.

The moment stretched on for a while as they began to compare themselves to the figures in self depreciation. Their patchwork bodies and pink eyes, along with a poor excuse for clothing quickly making them all the more self conscious.

A few minutes passed in this fashion before they came to themselves.

Sobering up, Rykar walked over to one of the twins, standing directly in front of him. Maybe it was due to the earlier feelings of familiarity, but he felt no fear towards the corpse. Not even agitation. If anything, there was a strange compulsion to be close to the man.

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While was examining the figures up close, Loki grit his teeth while shuffling himself over in a similar fashion. As he finally made his way over, drops of sweat trailed the floor in his wake, partly from the exhaustion and partly from struggling to contain the pain his protesting ankle was causing him.

Without noticing, as he crawled forward. His fingers slightly caught on one of the hairs that sprawled across the floor like a network of roots.

“I leave my body and my tome in your hands, brother. May the chains of contract forever bind, and your word dominate the cosmos. Behold, the inheritance of Greed.” An archaic voice sounded out clearly within the room however the voice was soft, almost a whisper.

It was as though the voice came from everywhere at once as it occupied the entire room without making contact with the outside.

Slowly looking up towards Rykar who stood to his left, Loki was emotionally broken by this point. While desperately reassuring himself that the whisper hadn’t come from the deceased man in front of him, he tried to distract himself by looking at his brother for confirmation.

Loki stared blankly, seeing that Rykar was in the middle of reaching out his hand to touch the man’s face.

“Don’t touch it!” He shouted. But it was already too late.

Without time for Rykar to retract his hand, the figure in front of him fluidly stretched out its hand gripping onto the incoming wrist of the boy who was now frozen in shock.

Tears streamed out from their eyes as Rykar turned to stare into the eyes of his brother as they were both similarly gripped by the bodies before them.

It wasn’t long before the second figure reached forward and held onto Loki’s shoulder.

From an outside perspective, the seated figures seemed to be tenderly supporting and holding onto their counterparts, as though seriously considering those as brothers.

“I leave my body and my world in your hands, brother. May chaos serve as your sustenance and the void be consumed with every breath. Behold, the inheritance of Gluttony.” Once again, an ancient whisper proliferated throughout the room.

Both of the twins were violently shaking by now, trembling all over apart from the areas which were firmly being held by the strong ashy hands, gluing them to their positions.

Without a chance to voice out a reply, the room dimmed down even further as a pitch-black mist began to radiate from the men in front of them. It swirled around the room as both their bodies disintegrated into the finest particles.

As their bodies had finally completely dispersed into the air, the hands which had been holding them in place had vanished. This loss of support causing both the boys to sprawl out on the ground unable to support their own weight due to fear.

As the twins looked around them, all they could make out was a cloud of darkness, occasionally revealing small pieces of the room whenever there were gaps in the dense particles.

Despite the abysmally high speeds which the cloud was moving, there was no disturbance in the room, only a soft whistling noise, as thought grains of sand were sliding atop one another.

Struggling to pick themselves up, the brothers were both tried to move towards one another, however the thick cloud made it difficult to move in any direction.

Tears were still spilling freely from their eyes as they began to see changes around them. The particles were no long simply spinning randomly but were slowly converging around them, enclosing them in the darkness without the ability to even see each other.

As the particles began to come in contact with their bodies and sticking to them, there was no more movement. The black motes of light simple sat on their bodies, refusing to budge.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH"

Without the strength to shake themselves loose, the twins let loose a desperate cry, praying for help to come in from the outside. Tears and snot covered their faces as saliva flew from their mouths as they clung onto their last shred of hope for survival.

Before they could had the chance to find out if their plea had been heard, the cloud intensified once more, seeming to form a tide of eternal darkness as it poured down their open throats like liquid night.

Their senses were completely consumed as their orifices were used as entrances which the cloud used to rampage within them, slowly altering them from the inside out.

From the moment the twins had let out their last struggling cry, the dark mist had robbed them of their senses, their world was now completely void. Emptiness was the only thing occupying them to the point that they were no longer even left with a sense of self.

Time itself became an unfamiliar concept as their consciousness drifted through the nothingness alongside the silence and darkness which enveloped all.

A second, a minute, a day, a lifetime…

These terms mean nothing without something to compare against.

And so, they began their slumber within the void.