"Cain, Cain! Wake up! You must wake up!"

Cain dreamed of a beautiful woman. She was the love of his life and prettier than the moon. Her words entranced him as she screamed for him to wake up, yet he didn't want to. He felt calm; it was peaceful. He could spend eternity listening to her voice, forever and ever.

The scent of smoke drifted into his awareness, faint at first, then growing stronger. The stone walls of the manor flickered with orange light.

Cain looked around and found himself in a burning manor foreign to him. His peace was disturbed, and his trance was broken. The crackling of flames and permeating heat pulled him fully into the vivid dreamscape.

Cain looked around, curious. This burning hovel was otherworldly and mystical. Walls built with an unknown material, a candlestick made of gold, they were numerous odd traits.

Glancing down, he scowled to see he was trapped in the pathetic body of a sniveling child.

The manor's marble floors were etched with mysterious symbols. Crimson drapes lined the windows, now casting the ornate furnishings in a hellish glow from the inferno. Ancient oil paintings curled and blackened as flames consumed them.

Fire raged inside the wide halls. He was mesmerized as it climbed the walls and grew in earnest, licking up priceless paintings and singeing ancient tapestries. The air shimmered with waves of heat.

"What are you doing? We told you to leave! Your father and I will hold them off. You are the heir; you must survive!"

Finding the source of the voice talking to him, Cain saw a beautiful woman with graceful black hair flowing down her back and piercing green eyes that reminded him of cool moss. Her face was kind yet weary, with faint wrinkles. She wore an elegant purple gown now singed at the hem, moving with poise even amidst the chaos.

Confused by her presence, he decided to speak. "Mother, why do I have to run? Why can't I go with you?"

Alarms were raised in Cain's head. Did he say that? Why did he call that woman 'Mother'? Cain soon found he couldn't move or speak freely; he was stuck in this child's body.

"Honey, understand your father wronged the King. We must pay. But you are but a child; the King will spare you, but you must leave! Remember to tell them you revoke our name, say you don't agree with Mom and Dad, okay?"

"Okay." Cain's voice cracked as tears built up in his eyes.

"Good, now run. Don't look back, and run as far as you can go."

Cain turned and shot out the door, sprinting down the expansive hall. His footsteps echoed against the high ceilings. Suddenly, his vision blurred.

He blinked and found himself kneeling on a cold stone floor, heavy chains weighing down his arms and legs. Cain raised his eyes. He was in an imposing throne room now, scores of scornful eyes glaring at him from all sides.

"Is this the child of those two traitors?"

"Yes, my Lord. He said he revokes his family name and was against what his family was doing to harm your majesty." A man in armor beside Cain bowed as he gave the person called Majesty information.

Cain looked up to see the towering golden throne, draped in crimson silk. Upon it lounged a figure, face obscured by a shimmering veil. A hand reached out to pluck ripe grapes from a platter held aloft by a servant. The king's every movement spoke of power and entitlement. Jeweled rings glittered on his fingers, catching the light with each lazy gesture. His shadow fell over Cain, dark and ominous.

"Interesting. Since he is a child and has revoked his family name, I will spare him. This will be in the form of banishment, removing his chains and clothes. The process requires the bearer's body to work."

Cain was undressed and unchained in front of everyone as the man stood up, and his hand came through the veil. The man spoke some sort of incantation as the ground shook, and lines appeared above and below Cain, creating shapes and letters he couldn't understand.

In an instant, he was covered in blue and purple light, and his vision turned dark. When he regained consciousness, he found himself falling and landing on the ground. He got up and found himself in a swamp, with a wheelbarrow creaking, carrying something he couldn't make out.

...

Cain woke in a panic, finding himself in his mindscape. He stood on bloodied water filled with bones.

Breathing rapidly, he looked down at his palms and touched his face. 'What was that? Am I alive? Was it a dream? A memory?'

He didn't have time to think, as cries called out from all sides. The murky, thick water he was standing on seemed to birth countless warriors. They grabbed the armor of the dead and weapons covered in sticky blood.

Cain was surrounded in an instant by the souls he captured.

"It seems a rebellion has occurred. Since when?"

A bloodied figure walked forward; they had an arrow in their chest, and their throat was slashed.

"Since you fell asleep. It's been a year; we have killed everything in Netherane. So now it's time to kill you. With your death, we will gain freedom and your power of immortality. So die quickly, you bastard."

"Oh, a year? No wonder your consciousness is back now, opposite. Well, I guess that's one way to kill a bunch of people, have others do it."

"Don't joke, Cain. We are serious, and soon you will realize that. We will free you and those of us who fought hard will get a slice of the pie"

Thousands readied themselves, charging at Cain. They were far away, yet they seemed unhindered by the brutal mindscape and glided on the ocean of blood.

"Hahaha! You get a taste of my power and think it's yours?! You attack me in my own mind, thinking you are the king of this place! I am back now; you have no authority! I am GOD; I AM PESTILENCE! KNEEL!"

Ripples in the ocean began; at first, they were small, but soon turned into waves, which turned into tsunamis. The battlefield was swept away by blood, and the sky darkened under Cain's thoughts.

"I rule this place! I am your master, and you are already dead! I was too lenient, so now suffer the consequences!"

Pillars of blood rose and turned into giant warriors. With righteous authority, they swept their weapons through many as spectators died and others survived. Those skilled in their life effortlessly dodged; they were the ones who were the problem, the ones who were strong and smart.

Cain laughed as his voice caused everyone to pause. It was their master waking up; they would soon lose the ability to fight them and experience a fate worse than death.

The battle continued as the weaker ones were killed by the giants; the remaining fighters entered combat with Cain as he fought them tenaciously. One after another, they were defeated and returned to the blood that made them.

Cain's laughter took on a manic edge as the thrill of battle coursed through him. He felt drunk on the power of cutting down his rebellious souls. Their destruction gave him a heady rush unlike anything he had felt before. He roared with exhilaration, lost in the savage joy of utter domination.

This continued as Cain increasingly laughed louder and louder. Anxiety flashed on the faces of the rebellious leaders as a massive orb breached the surface and floated above them.

It was the core of Netherane, the thing that gave Cain power, as well as allowing them to live.

"Kneel or Die!"

Cain's commands reverberated with sinister glee, like the jagged peal of thunder. The bloodscape swirled violently, waves frothed as a coming tempest. Mist coiled around him like a dark shroud.

The core hummed, and every consciousness left was brought to their knees. They looked to their judge as he smiled with wildness emanating, clearly showing his thoughts.

"I can always gain more ghosts; the few who didn't fight or are too weak will stay. Everyone else, enjoy death!"

At his command, the core hissed as the consciousness of those in rebellion formed in front of him. One by one, their figures blurred as they turned to dust, releasing them and giving them true death. The remaining few were barely in the hundreds.

...

Cain's eyes snapped open to the pitiful sight of Free City in ruins. He stood atop the wreckage, master of all he surveyed, as the last wisps of mist fled from his presence.

With the apparitions killed, the mist that housed them was also lost. Because of this, Cain was able to store the excess in his body again, though he did lose the majority of the mist, not that it mattered.

He stretched and looked up at the sky, looking at the moons and smiling.

"Next on the list: the world!"

He laughed to himself in delight as his body turned incorporeal, and he traveled through the air.