He looks similar to Felix, but there are some telling differences. His mouth, wings and eyes are all different. I hope I can still just brute force my way through this.

“So you’ve resolved yourself, you’re really prepared to kill me? There’s no going back from this, your hands will be bloodied forever!”

The monstrous Declan stands still, staring at Sokar. His muscles slightly tense as Sokar again begins to speak.

“You don’t want to kill somebody, so why force yourself? Just talk to me peacefully and we can decide what to do from there! You don’t have to bloody your hands at someone's request!”

Declan’s body suddenly moves, raising his fist to strike at Sokar. As his fist nears Sokars body, he’s suddenly sent flying back, crashing through a tree.

“Can you even understand me? Or are you like Felix, have you just let yourself become a monster with no reason!?”

Declan stands back up, his eyes showing a hint of hesitance. His mouth begins to move, and his voice comes out distorted and gravelly.

“It’s not that I can’t understand you.”

Once again he launches forwards at Sokar, but once he nears his body is smacked down into the ground.

“Then why won’t you respond? Answer me!”

Declan tries to once again stand, but his body is again pushed down onto the ground.

“If I respond, If I reply to your questions then it’s possible I’ll lose my resolve. I have to kill you, I need to!”

Sokar finally stands up and walks to where Declan is immobilized.

What could be driving him forwards? Felix was single minded and completely resolved on killing me, but Declan’s different. He’s hesitating.

“Tell me, why do you have to kill me. What will me being dead accomplish?”

Declan pushes his hands down to the ground and ever so slowly his body begins to rise up.

What!? He can still move while being pinned down by Greed?

“If I don’t kill you I’ll be cast aside. Killing you is the only choice I have!”

The clock tower silently ticks as Sokar begins to back away from Declan’s rising body.

Even if I use another hand of Greed he still might be able to resist the pressure. The difference between him and Felix is insane!

“What would you do!? Would you betray the people who gave you everything just because you didn’t want to do something as… as simple as killing!? Are you actually saying you’d throw everything away just to stay true to your ideals?”

Sokar’s face fills with pity as he looks at Declan.

I can’t relate to him really, I only killed someone because I thought I had to do it at the time, and that was a moments decision. What he’s doing is being forced onto him by others, it’s premeditated, he’s had to live with himself knowing he was gonna kill somebody. If I was in the same place as him would I have made the same decision? These kind of questions, I don’t think I could answer them saying I’d do anything different. But…

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Saying that you have to throw away everything, your thinking was flawed from the very start wasn’t it? Stop acting like your life is decided by other people, If everything you have is going to be taken away if you don’t follow their orders then you didn’t really have anything in the first place! Stop letting other people make the decisions for you, try to kill me if you want to kill me, but make that decision for yourself!”

Sokars voice pierces through the quiet surroundings. The pressure on Declan relieves itself, and he stands to his full height.

I’ve said what I can say, the only thing I can do now is see how he responds.

The two stare at each other for what seems like an eternity, and eventually the silence is broken by Declan speaking.

“I… Can’t do it.”

Declan falls to his knees and the grey flesh surrounding his body begins to melt away, revealing his original body. A cross falls to the ground next to him, one which matches the appearance of Felix’s.

He made the choice that I couldn’t… He’s risking everything just to avoid killing someone.

Declan stares at the ground while on his knees, not daring to looking up at Sokar. Sokar walks towards him and begins to speak

“Look at me. You made your choice so face it head on.”

Declan slowly moves his head up, his face filled with grief.

“I can’t kill you… And now I can’t go back to the life I used to have. Everything’s been swept away.”

Having his life swept out from under him, he’s just like me. The reasons are different but the end result is the same, the life I lived and the life he lived, they’re now changed forever. In the end the only difference is that his hands aren’t bloodied like mine.

“Yeah. The life you used to live, it’s probably never coming back. It was probably the ideal life for you, right? You were living everyday happy and content. But now, that life you used to live is out of reach.”

Declan chuckles under his breath and frowns as he looks at Sokar.

“Now you’re just mocking me, aren’t you? You’re the reason my life is being upturned.”

“That life you used to live is out of reach, it’s far behind you. So the only option is to move forwards. I’m just like you, so I know the best that mourning for your past is the worst thing you can do. You have to move forwards, trust me.”

I can’t stand it I guess, seeing someone in the same position I was in.

“Move forwards? There’s nowhere to move forwards to! By not killing you, everything is being taken away from me!”

Sokar offers his hand forwards, and Declan looks at him in shock.

“I’ll lead the way if you want. Don’t sit there and mull over your own destiny, take your future by force!”

Declan hesitates for a moment, but that moment of hesitation passes in a flash, and he grabs Sokars hand.

Doing this will probably lead me into way more trouble than it’s worth. But… I can’t really turn a blind eye to someone just like me.

Three days pass and Sokar sits at his usual table in Cafe Lustrous, waiting for his order to arrive.

These past 3 days have really been way too much of a hassle, but I guess that’s my fault. Some good did come out of it though, My Ka has increased to twice its original amount after touching that blessing from before.

“Heya there Sokar! Here’s the usual, dark roast coffee with two sugars!”

Alice arrives and drops off his usual order with a smile.

“Thanks, Alice. How’s the new trainee doing?”

“Oh! He’s doing great actually, I’m really glad you recommended him here, we were running low on staff to be honest.”

“That’s good, I’m happy to hear it.”

Declan dressed in a waiters outfit stands at the entrance with a forced smile, waiting on customers walking into the store.

“Welcome to Cafe Lustrous how-how may I take your order?”

Sokar smiles hearing Declan greet the people coming in, amused that the man who was once trying to kill him is now working at his usual Cafe.

These three days hectic as they may be are pretty nice, I-

A flash of pain winces through Sokars chest.

“Welcome to Ca-fe… Lustrous”

Through the door to the cafe, a man exuding an aura of superiority walks into the cafe with a smile spread across his face. The pain in Sokars chest continues to explode out.

I.. can’t breathe…

Declan’s face fills with terror as he looks at the man who just walked in, Oswin.

“Well hello Declan, it’s been a while.”

An archaic voice echoes through Sokars head as he looks at Oswin and the pain continues to tear its way through his body.

“To think, so early in the inheritors life span one would show itself. It’s been many millenia yet the telling signs are all the same, a World Essence has shown itself in front of us once more.”