The black gates of the Nether Realms groaned open, and a cold wind swept across the cavernous expanse.
Before Mortis, a sea of obsidian stretched endlessly and upon its surface floated a thousand cradles of bone, each holding a glowing infant soul.
Their soft cries echoed faintly, swallowed by the darkness.
Riven, still in his small, glowing infant form, blinked in disbelief.
His crimson eyes darted from one cradle to another.
What… in Death's name is this place?
This Mortis guy has the weirdest hobbies. Are these all babies? Reaper babies?
Zariel stepped forward, his heavy armor groaning.
"The Cradle of Oblivion," he said grimly. "Every soul chosen by the Master must pass through it. Those who survive become his apprentices. Those who fail are forgotten."
Riven blinked. Forgotten? You mean deleted? Like… poof?
Beside Mortis, the silver-eyed knight's voice deepened. "Even adult souls perish here. Their light cannot endure the void."
Mortis said nothing. His tall form loomed above them, cloak rippling like a storm cloud.
When he finally spoke, his voice was like a tolling bell.
"To walk among the dead, one must first survive being forgotten."
Selene stood behind them, arms crossed, face devoid of emotion.
Her gaze lingered on the tiny Riven in Zariel's hand.
"Hmph. He'll vanish like the rest."
Riven glared up at her with all the fury a baby could muster, puffing his cheeks.
Excuse me!? I'm standing right here! Tiny, yes, but very offended!
Mortis's skeletal hand lifted, signaling the start.
"One by one," he commanded, "cast them into the Cradle."
A shiver went through the reaper ranks.
Zariel obeyed.
He lifted the first infant , a glowing, pale-blue soul , and dropped it gently into the abyss.
The cradle pulsed.
Then the child was gone... erased, without even a whisper.
Gasps spread through the ranks of silent reapers.
Then another baby followed.
And another.
Hundreds vanished within seconds, their lights blinking out like dying stars.
The Cradle of Oblivion fed hungrily.
Nine cradles began to glow brighter than the rest.
Nine tiny figures writhed and screamed ...but their light stabilized. They had survived.
Selene's expression didn't change. "Nine. That's the usual number."
Zariel nodded grimly. "And the last one?"
Mortis's gaze fell upon Riven. "The last… is different."
Riven squirmed as the reaper's massive hand lowered him toward the black fissure.
Wait...hold up! We're really doing this? No instructions? No warm-up? Maybe a helmet?
He flailed his tiny claws, squeaking in panic, "Gyuh.!!"
Inside his mind: THIS IS CHILD ENDANGERMENT.!!
But Mortis's calm voice cut through his panic.
"Riven, remember this...the abyss devours all who wish to be forgotten. If you wish to remain, fight. If you wish to end, surrender."
Then he let go.
The world swallowed him whole.
Darkness.
Pure, unending, suffocating.
Riven's body dissolved instantly, his limbs fading, his form disintegrating into sparks.
He was no longer flesh or bone, only a trembling fragment of soul drifting through the void.
The Cradle whispered to him.
"You have failed before.
You were forgotten.
You will be forgotten again."
Images flashed before him, his filthy apartment, the broken TV, his parents' disappointed faces, the white cat he couldn't even save for long.
"Your life had no meaning," the Cradle purred. "Sleep. Let go. Become nothing."
For a moment, peace sounded tempting.
No pain. No regret. No expectations.
But then he remembered Mortis's voice.
"Even the useless have their use… in Death's domain."
Riven clenched his fading will.
No.
Not this time.
His faint soul quivered, then flared.
"I refuse!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the abyss like a spark of lightning.
"I refuse to be useless again!
Even if I have to serve Death itself, I'll do it with everything I've got!"
The Cradle screamed.
Dark tendrils lashed toward him, trying to consume him whole, but Riven's soul ignited.
From the center of his forehead, a symbol appeared, a glowing crimson eye.
The Eye of Oblivion opened.
The void trembled.
Instead of being devoured, Riven devoured the darkness.
The Cradle's hunger turned against itself, folding, collapsing, unraveling into spirals of red and black energy that poured into him.
His soul blazed white-hot. His body reformed, no longer a fragile infant, but the shape of a five-year-old boy with white hair and crimson eyes that glowed like molten suns.
A faint, eye-shaped mark shimmered on his forehead.
The last of the abyss cracked apart and shattered like glass.
Above, Mortis and the others waited.
Nine children had crawled from their cradles, older now, trembling, their soul-lights dim but stable.
But the tenth…
There was silence.
Selene folded her arms. "He's gone. As expected."
Zariel sighed. "A pity. The Master seemed..."
The ground shook.
The fissure split open and from it, a flare of red energy erupted, blinding and alive.
Shadows scattered as a small figure rose from the abyss, barefoot, glowing, and furious.
Riven stood there, trembling with power.
The eye mark on his forehead pulsed once and the air itself rippled.
Mortis's cold flame eyes flickered.
"He consumed the Cradle… interesting."
Zariel's silver eyes widened. "Consumed? Impossible. The Cradle has never been devoured!"
Selene stared, speechless, then muttered under her breath, "Still ugly."
Riven blinked at her, incredulous.
Ugly!? I just beat a cosmic black hole! Are you blind or just bitter!?
Mortis stepped forward, his presence dimming even the light of Riven's reborn soul.
He raised his hand.
"Rise, Riven," he intoned, voice echoing like thunder across the Nether Realms.
"From this moment, you are no longer a candidate. You are my apprentice ...bearer of the Eye of Oblivion.
Death's hand, and the will that devoured the void."
Chains rattled as every reaper in the hall bowed.
Riven looked down at his small hands, then up at Mortis.
Somewhere deep inside, he felt something new...not fear, not despair.
Purpose.
And though the Cradle's screams faded behind him, he could still hear its whisper.
"Devourer of the Abyss… beware. The Eye has opened. The more you feed on death, the more it feeds on you."
He grinned faintly, crimson eyes burning brighter.
"Then I guess I'd better get a big appetite."
---
Riven stood barefoot on the obsidian floor, the red energy from his ascent fading around him. He felt... strange. His new body was thrumming with an energy that felt like a low-voltage current , and the eye-mark on his forehead was a faint, warm pressure.
The reapers, who seconds ago were murmuring, were now bowed low.
Well, this is new, Riven thought, looking at his small hands. Usually, when I walk into a room, people just look annoyed. This is a nice change.
Mortis's skeletal hand lowered. His gaze swept over the nine other children huddled together, before landing back on Riven.
"Zariel," Mortis commanded. The silver-eyed knight stepped forward. "The nine are... acceptable. Take them to the Hall of Refinement for processing. They will join the general ranks."
"And… the tenth, Master?" Zariel asked, his gaze on Riven.
"The tenth," Mortis said, a hint of amusement in his voice, "is an Aberration. He consumed the Cradle. He will not join the ranks... his path lies elsewhere."
Mortis turned his great skull toward the girl in white, who was still staring at Riven with a look of profound, icy offense.
"Selene".
Selene snapped to attention, her arms uncrossing. "Master."
"You will oversee him, as ordered. He is your responsibility. Do not let him break my realm." Mortis paused, his blue-fire eyes flickering. "Or, at least, not before he's learned to clean up after himself."
Break his realm!? Riven fumed internally. I just got here! I haven't broken anything except maybe a cosmic void-cradle, and that was self-defense!
Selene's lip curled. "Master, with respect... he is a chaotic variable. He devoured a primordial law. He should be studied, not... trained."
"And he will be," Mortis said, his voice dropping. "By me. But you will teach him the rules, Selene. He is your charge." He leaned down, his shadowy hood enveloping Riven. For a second, Riven felt the overwhelming cold of true, absolute nothingness.
"Welcome to your eternity, Riven," Mortis whispered, his voice for Riven's ears alone. "Do not disappoint me. It creates... paperwork."
And with a sound like a tolling bell fading into a storm, Mortis was gone.
Zariel nodded once, gave Riven a final, unreadable look, and with a gesture, herded the other nine trembling children through a shimmering portal, leaving the vast, cold hall empty... save for two.
Riven. And Selene.
An awkward silence stretched. Riven, still standing in the center of the shattered fissure, cleared his throat.
"So... nice place you got here," he tried, his new voice higher than he'd like. "Do you guys get dental?"
Selene's icy sapphire eyes narrowed. "You're still... ugly".
"And you're still bitter!" Riven shot back, his new-found purpose making him bold. "What's your deal? Mad that I didn't get 'poofed'?"
Selene's face remained perfectly, infuriatingly smooth. She walked toward him, her footsteps silent on the stone. She stopped just out of reach, looking down at him—which wasn't hard, as she was a six-year-old and he was now a five-year-old.
"Nine," she said, her voice a chill whisper. "That's the usual number".
"Nine souls who know their place. Nine souls who survive, bent and quiet."
She pointed a pale finger at his chest. "You are not quiet. You are loud. You are a mistake."
"Hey, he called me his apprentice!" Riven protested. "Bearer of the Eye of Something-or-Other!"
"The Eye of Oblivion," Selene corrected him, a flicker of... something... in her eyes. Fear? Envy? "A curse. You consumed the Cradle, so now its hunger is in you. You heard its warning".
Riven's grin faded. He had heard it. The more you feed on death, the more it feeds on you.
"You are not special," Selene continued, turning her back on him. "You are a stray dog Mortis brought home. But even dogs must learn to heel."
"Follow me, stray. Welcome to the Nursery."
She began to walk away.
"It's not a nursery!" Riven yelled, scrambling to follow her. "My- my long-term plan calls it a Reaper Academy!"
Selene didn't look back. "The Master calls it the Nursery. Because it's where he sends his children... to see which ones are strong enough to grow up."
She led him out of the great hall and into a hallway that seemed to be carved from a single, massive bone. The air grew colder.
"Wait," Riven said, his mind catching up. "You said... 'his children.' Plural. You're one, aren't you? Just like me."
Selene stopped. She turned, her white hair fanning out. Her face was pale, her expression flat, but her tiny fists were clenched at her sides.
"No, Riven," she said, her voice sharp as glass. "I am nothing like you. I was here first. I survived the Nether. And I don't need a- a- a glowing forehead eye to prove my worth."
She turned and continued walking, faster this time.
Riven watched her go, a slow grin spreading across his face.
Oh.
She's not bitter. She's jealous.
He ran to catch up, his tiny bare feet pattering on the bone-white floor. This was going to be fun.
"So, what's for dinner?" he asked, falling into step beside her. "I'm starving. You think that Cradle was gluten-free?"
"Silence, stray."
"Right, right. Just... one more question. If I'm the 'bearer of the Eye,' does that mean I get a cool scythe? Or at least…"
He looked down at himself.
"...pants?"