text: [Themes: grimdark fantasy, villain protagonist, war]
  
  A lot of conflict between the various factions for a few years after you and Azrael made things official. It's mostly been a stalemate, but you're hoping that may change pretty quickly.
  
  Azrael just eliminated Velzix and currently is on another mission to eliminate the Vampire Clans. That will definitely be a relief if only to put an end to their continued assassination attempts.
  
  You sort of wonder if Azrael should have rushed in to attack them so quickly after taking care of Velzix. You got the impression that allying with his dad who then died during the mission had an effect on him. Maybe he should have taken at least a day or so to rest.
  
  Azrael could still stand to plan things out a bit more rather than making impulsive decisions all the time. You're just glad he managed to get better at other forms of magic with your help though. Never hurts to have more than one tool even if one does favor a hammer most of the time.
  
  However, you've learned to trust Azrael's judgment a bit more so if he wants to do something he usually can handle it. His decision to ally with the Ghoul King seems to have worked out as it lead to finding out the hideout of the Vampire Clans.
  
  With Azrael gone you keep up the usual routine of maintaining the defenses of Aftermath and such. You haven't had a major direct attack by the Alliance in at least a year or so though.
  
  After going through the standard procedures, you retire to your garden to relax a bit. You've also been trying to compensate for the lack of certain elements in your undead symphony by having banshee voices fill in for particular instruments. So far things could be better, but you figure eventually you should get at least a few of them to emulate flutes or piccolos.
  
  While you're attempting to get one of the banshees to shriek at a slightly lower tone, you sense a presence that immediately causes you raise your defenses.
  
  "Hello Catalina, at last we meet." A woman before you says.
  
  The woman looks about your age and is dressed in black with a pale appearance. It's fairly obvious she's a vampire, but there's something more about her. Familiar somehow.
  
  "Like looking into a mirror isn't it?" the woman says.
  "Not sure what you mean, but the only thing I'm looking at is another soon to be dead leech. How many are there this time?" you reply.
  "Just me. It was decided that perhaps you could be reasoned with and that you would not need to be destroyed like your mate."
  "That's amusing since that's what he's on his way to do to you lot."
  "I don't think so. As we speak, your mate has most likely already been dispatched by Lord Rostov. You need not join him though...you really don't realize who I am do you?"
  "Nope, and in a moment it won't matter."
  "I suppose if I hadn't given you up as a baby, we wouldn't be here now."
  
  The woman stares at you after saying these words and then you realize what she's implying.
  
  "Bullshit. You're not her." You say.
  "Oh? And how would you know exactly? You've never seen me before, however you see me now and I KNOW you see a resemblance. Hell, I see the resemblance in you. You look very much like I did when I was your age; well I suppose I still look like you, a cup size bigger though."
  "So, I'm supposed to just believe you're my mother? Where's my father then?"
  "I dunno, it was a wild party that night. I'm going to guess though he must have been a wizard of some sort given that I met him here at a party. Hell maybe when he got older he was even one of the faculty you killed. Wouldn't that be something?"
  "Yes it would be quite a twist of fate. Just like my mother suddenly showing up after all these years as a vampire would be quite a twist of fate. Speaking of which, are you going to tell me I'm actually part vampire too?"
  "No, of course not. Vampires can't reproduce, well not in the usual way anyway. Thank the gods for that, because once was enough for me. I was bitten not long after I gave you up. Similar frat party but got luckier with the choice of man that time. He was fun for awhile, showed me all sorts of things, but eventually we parted ways. Just glad he wasn't possessive, I might've been really fucked with him being my creator and all."
  "Judging from what little you've said to me, it sounds like you were used to going through life getting fucked. Probably was for the best that you gave me up."
  
  The woman's eyes narrow.
  
  "Catalina, look I can't make up for abandoning you, but I'm trying to save your existence now. The Clans are going to put an end to your lover, but YOU can still live forever!"
  "What? By becoming one you?"
  "Why not? Catalina, you're a sensible woman and you have great skill. You have so many traits that would be highly valued by the Clans. You would have access to anything you desired, live lifetimes, and most importantly you'd look as beautiful as you are now."
  "I already have all that I want."
  
  The woman looks around and waves her arms in the air, pointing at your nearby banshees, skeletons and rotting garden.
  
  "What, this? THIS is truly all you want? You're surrounded by death. There is nothing here but a gloomy parody of life. Have you even left this city since you destroyed it? What are you afraid of Catalina? There is SO much to see and do outside these walls. There is so much of life to experience" the woman says.
  "The irony of a vampire lecturing me about being surrounded by death and experiencing life is...well it's something." you respond.
  "Catalina, I'm really trying here."
  "Well you're failing really badly at trying to convince me that you're really my mother, let alone join your little vampire club."
  "I see. What if I could prove that I'm your mother? Will you at least hear me out a little more?"
  
  The woman looks at you with hope in her eyes and a concerned expression, like she really wants you to at least give her a chance.
  
  > kill her
  There are too many holes in this woman's story.
  
  The major thing though that's given you pause isn't her story; it's what she's trying to do. You realize that she's trying to maintain eye contact with you for as long as possible to mesmerize you into dropping your defenses.
  
  "Y'know what? Fuck you and your big tits." You say rubbing your eyes with one hand and bringing forth your garden to attack the vampire with your other hand.
  
  Several vines spring from the ground rooting her to the spot, and then followed by several branches impaling her. She screams and hisses until one hits her heart causing her to disintegrate.
  
  With the bloodsucker dead, you go over to the ashes pondering the woman's story again.
  
  Was it possible she was your mother? You doubt it mainly because you can't imagine a party whore like this woman was claiming to be would have risen so high in the Vampire Clans, if indeed they would have even bothered.
  
  This woman was also powerful enough to attempt to mesmerize you so she had to be a lot older and thus more powerful vampire than what your mother would have been even if vampirism stopped her aging.
  
  More likely some sort of magical facial alteration along with some superficial knowledge of your background was used to try to trick you by tugging at your emotions.
  
  Wouldn't have worked even if she had really been your mother. Your biological mother didn't raise you, that task belonged to a woman long dead and much more respected. And you can imagine that woman would definitely not approve of how your life turned out.
  
  Makes you wonder about who your parents might have been though. Were they wizards? Did they perform necromancy? Are they still alive or dead? Did you indirectly or directly kill them? Did they know about you? Did they think of you at all?
  
  You suppose none of it matters now.
  
  Feeling somewhat out of the mood of enjoying your music and garden, you return to the citadel fully expecting Azrael to show up soon. You dismiss all the claims the woman made about the Vampire Clan putting an end to him.
  
  He's survived worse, and he'll survive this too.
  
  You haven't gotten back to the citadel long when all of sudden Azrael shows up just like you knew he would.
  
  He's different though. You sense it immediately. You notice he's got some severe wounds on his body causing you to make a remark of the obvious.
  
  "Catalina, I'm fucking dead." Azrael says sharply and enters his study without another word.
  
  And that would be what you sensed. No life. Apparently he didn't survive.
  
  But he did.
  
  You reflect on what this possibly might mean. As far as you know other than vampires, the only other forms of higher undead are liches and the process of becoming one is very difficult and complex. Very few necromancers have succeeded in doing it and the last one that did was The Great Lich Lord who lead the Dead War centuries ago.
  
  Azrael couldn't have performed such a complex spell in the middle of not only destroying Velzix, but presumably the Vampire Clan as well, could he?
  
  You intend on finding out, so you enter Azrael's study and find him at his desk with a quill and parchment.
  
  "I need some time alone. I have to write a letter to my mom and sister. They should know about what really happened with my dad, even if the rest of the world won't." Azrael says, not looking up.
  "I'll leave you alone as soon as you clear some things up about what happened to you and the Vampire Clans." You remark.
  
  Azrael looks up and puts down his quill.
  
  "Well it's very simple Catalina. I foolishly trusted the wrong person, went head first into battle and got myself fucking killed. Then I came back to life and killed every leech in that hidden lair of theirs."
  "You killed all the vampires?"
  "Oh I'm sure there probably were a few that weren't there, but that hardly matters. They'll all be hunted down and put to death eventually. Everything will."
  "Are you alright?"
  "Yes, I'm fine, I'm just dead."
  "I'm not talking about your newly acquired physical status so much as I'm asking about your mental state."
  "As I said, I'm fine. I'm just tired."
  "Tired?"
  "Yes, and I'm well aware how strange that may seem given that I'm dead and all now, but nevertheless it's true. Everything's strange though now."
  "What do you mean?"
  "I don't know how to explain it, at least not yet. I'm still trying to figure it all out. I don't even know how I came back to life. I just did. What does this mean? If I'd gotten killed before Lord Rostov snapped my neck, would I have come back anyway or did I just get to a point where it was possible? I performed no ritual that would cause me to ascend to lichdom. Shit, I never even bothered to look into it too deeply. Everything I do when it comes to necromancy just comes so naturally. Was my ascension to this state natural too? Is fate or destiny at work?"
  
  You've not seen Azrael quite like this, even you aren't sure how to respond.
  
  "Are you in pain?" you ask.
  "No. I don't feel anything at all. Well, I suppose I shouldn't say nothing at all, but everything is muted now. There's something else though, I'm not exactly sure what it is yet, but I imagine without feelings getting in the way of things, I'll reach it." Azrael says.
  "I see. So...what of your feelings for me?"
  
  Azrael looks at you and you see concern on his face. Mortal emotions haven't disappeared completely.
  
  "Those remain Catalina. Those will never leave me. I won't let them." Azrael says and he goes to embrace you. You hold him tightly and you can already feel the difference, the cold dead flesh. It feels like you're in paradise.
  
  You look up at him and passionately kiss him. He kisses you back, and yes, the desire is still there, but again, it's different.
  
  There's part of you that wonders if his feelings for you will dull in time, but it doesn't matter. Your feelings won't. His deathly glory just keeps growing greater and there is no way you'd ever be able to resist it at this point.
  
  "I guess I'm more attractive to you than ever now right?" Azrael says with a grin. You're glad to see he hasn't lost his same goofy sense of humor.
  "Mmm, why don't we pick this up later? I know I distracted you from an important task." You say.
  "Yes, I suppose I should finish that, but I'll be with you soon."
  "I'll be waiting."
  "Oh, while I was gone, did anything of importance happen here?" Azrael asks.
  "Not really. There was a very minor vampire assassination attempt, but I took care of it personally since it was just one." You answer.
  "Hm. Just one huh? Unusual, since they usually sent several in the past, but maybe most of them were at their secret fortress just to ambush me."
  "Maybe. Well one less for you to worry about hunting down."
  "True. Okay, I need to write this letter. I don't even know what the hell to say to my mom and sister. I doubt I'll get a response. Catalina, you really are lucky that you were an orphan."
  "Yeah, I suppose so."
  
  And with those words, you take your leave of the study and head to the bedroom.
  
  > Loving
  You sit in your garden relaxing to your music. You do that a lot more nowadays now that all major threats are gone.
  
  All the demons are dead, all the vampires have been hunted down, and the civilizations of the living have all been destroyed.
  
  Even that fool Trelik who surprisingly turned out to still be alive (and completely mad from his use of chronomagic) had been taken care of again. You're somewhat surprised when he popped up again that he never tried to attack you like he once threatened the last time you saw him, though you guess all his obsessive hatred was towards Azrael at that point.
  
  Life still exists, but the clock is ticking on it. The remnants now huddle together in enclaves, thinking that's going to protect them. Like somehow the Great Lich Lord won't find them and they can just wait this out.
  
  They can't. Death is inevitable. Your beloved will see to that. Even now his aura can be felt and he's currently not even in Aftermath. He's not even near Aftermath, he's half way across the other side of the world rooting out a stronghold of the living no doubt.
  
  He will bring beauty to the entire world.
  
  You watch the gravewings flutter about as the banshees wail. It's almost like they're in unison with each other. You didn't train them to do that though. You had a hard enough time getting the banshees to emulate instruments. Still not perfect, but it works well enough to compliment the string section.
  
  You suddenly sense a large group of living approaching. This would be most odd since Aftermath hasn't had any living subjects in a very long time and all the other necromancers eventually left to be assigned to other locations during the Grand Alliance war.
  
  Can't possibly be an attack. Who the hell would still be organized enough to dare? Let alone even get past the defenses of the city. They would be killed before they even got into the gates.
  
  "Catalina? Are you in your garden?" you hear a voice shout.
  
  Sounds like Hessan, though you haven't seen him in like over a decade you think. You can't imagine what he's doing here though, you though he was currently overseeing the Retlad Kingdom (or what remains of it).
  
  "Hessan, is that you?" you shout back.
  "Yes! I didn't want to enter since I know how you enjoy the solitude of your garden." Hessan shouts back.
  "Well you might as well enter since you've already disturbed me. Why are you here anyway?"
  "Well that's what I've come to speak with you about."
  "Okay...so come on in and talk then, I'm not going to spend this unannounced meeting shouting."
  "Um...well it's not just me. It's all of us from the Dark Order. Wouldn't want all of us accidentally trampling all over your lovely garden."
  "Yes, I sensed there were others with you. The rest can stay out, I presume I only need to speak with you."
  "Actually, several of us need to speak with you, it really would be better if you came out here."
  
  You shake you head.
  
  "I'm coming, but this better be important." You say with exasperation.
  
  You make your way towards the entrance of where Hessan's voice was coming from and just outside the walls of your garden, you see Hessan, Belial and the rest of what remains of the Dark Order.
  
  They all look old. Like much older than they should be. These people weren't but a few years older than you and you still look as young as you did in your twenties. Necromancy takes a toll on the body, but you remember a theory that Mr. Demar mentioned before he died that perhaps due to your strong ties to nature magic, it didn't affect you as much.
  
  You never gave it much thought really. For all you know, you've remained unaging due to your pure love for death.
  
  "Wow, not to be out of line, but you look great Catalina. Some of us have tried magic to restore our youth, but it doesn't seem to last very long to be worth it. What spells do you use?" Hessan remarks in an attempt to flatter you obviously.
  "I don't, and what do you want?" you ask still standing within the boundaries of your garden.
  "Catalina, we come to you with all respect. All of us were originally in the Dark Order together."
  "Get to the point Hessan."
  "It's about Azrael."
  "Yes, what about him?"
  "He's killing the world."
  "And?"
  "And? Don't you see that there might be a problem with this?"
  "Not really."
  
  You look at Hessan who still looks a bit concerned. Belial's face is showing a different expression though and looks back at the other Dark Order members. It's a more defiant expression.
  
  "Catalina, it's not just that he's killing our enemies. He's killing ALL the living. Just last week he snuffed out all the lives of several subservient living peasants in our territories."
  "So? Raise them and have them continue to work. You're necromancers right?" you say.
  "Yes, we're necromancers but the point of all this was to RULE over everyone, we can hardly do that if all our subjects are dead."
  "Rule over the dead. It's the same thing. Better in fact, since they don't typically rebel."
  "But...there are draw backs to this."
  "Such as?"
  "Well...the dead don't feel pain. At least not really. You can hardly strike fear in something that's dead."
  "Yeah! Without the screams of children, I can hardly reach climax!" someone shouts.
  "Shhh!" Hessan says.
  
  You start laughing.
  
  "Wait, so this is what you lot are bitching about? You're upset that your degeneracy has been inconvenienced? You lot haven't changed since college." You say.
  "Big words coming from the woman who fucks a walking corpse. You haven't changed since college either." A female Dark Order member says.
  "SHUT UP!" Hessan shouts.
  "Aww, someone upset that she doesn't have demon cock to suck anymore?"
  
  Hessan immediately points to the woman and basically tells her to shut up before she can even retort. You notice Belial shaking his head and rolling his eyes. It's apparent Hessan is still trying to maintain order, but he's losing control of the situation.
  
  "Catalina, it's not just that. It's just...we're fucking DYING." Hessan remarks.
  "We're all dying, Hessan." You say.
  "No, I mean Azrael's presence is starting to literally kill us. Surely being so close to him, you've noticed yourself starting to get weaker. I don't know what he's doing, but at the rate he's going, there won't be ANYTHING left alive on this world!"
  "Can't say I've felt the effects, Hessan. You know MAYBE it's because none of you were real necromancers. I mean face it, you lot only started practicing it because the demon shit didn't work out for you. Maybe if you lot fully embraced the beauty of death, you wouldn't be complaining about this."
  
  Hessan struggles to respond, but Belial interrupts him.
  
  "I told you this was pointless Hessan, this bitch is crazy and she's not going to help us." Belial says.
  "Wait, you lot actually came here thinking that I'd help you kill Azrael? Maybe you have embraced death more than I thought." You say.
  "SHUT THE FUCK UP Belial!" Hessan screams.
  
  Once more Hessan addresses you still with hope that you'll listen.
  
  "Catalina, I'm just asking you to speak with Azrael to pull back a little so we can prepare ourselves for the world he's creating. We can get used to everything. I mean I have no problem becoming a lich, I'm sure none of us do. I mean I'm sure that's what your plan is, right?"
  
  The funny thing is despite everything that's happened, you still haven't considered lichdom.
  
  "I mean...fuck I'm big enough to admit it. I'm scared of fucking dying. I thought I was going to be a lord of hell, then shit got all fucked up and here we are. I made a pact and betrayed it. Now maybe you aren't scared that you're going to hell to be tortured for all eternity, but I KNOW there has to be some small part of you that's not blinded by your love of Azrael or death. There's a part of you that's afraid of what IS awaiting you. Shit, you might even end up where we're going. Not like you're an angel in all this."
  
  > Attack
  You look at these traitors with disgust and you're done even entertaining their half-assed attempts at treachery.
  
  You waste no more words and blast Hessan with dark energy, reducing him to a husk immediately. Belial and the rest put up their own defenses and start to scatter, but they aren't retreating so much as they're just trying to regroup to a better position.
  
  You call upon the dead in the city to assist you, though you know with the Dark Order they'll undoubtedly be able to turn some of your troops to their side. You block the entrance to the garden with brambles and move back to the heart of it where you feel you'll be safest.
  
  Unfortunately the Dark Order starts lobbing fireballs over the garden walls, setting everything aflame. You manage to put it out bringing forth a cold blast covering the area, but your garden is mostly destroyed by this point and the plants can't be used as a means of defense like you planned.
  
  Meanwhile outside the walls of the garden, you hear the sounds of battle taking place. No doubt the undead under your control are doing battle with the Dark Order. Eventually several holes are put into the garden walls and undead start pouring in. You manage to take control of most of them again, but the main problem is as powerful as you are, you're still very outnumbered.
  
  Some of the Dark Order get inside the garden and then a few more. You manage to take out most of them, but then you feel several magic bolts hit you, followed by a lightning blast. Another dark spell literally rips half the flesh off your body.
  
  You collapse to the ground and in your current blurry vision, you see Belial approaching you with several skeletal warriors. You struggle to regain control of them and it's just enough to cause one to suddenly run him through. He curses in agony as the rest of the skeletons stab him repeatedly.
  
  You laugh as you see the remaining few Dark Orderites run off.
  
  "You can't run you fools, death gets everyone eventually." You laugh and then everything goes black.
  
  You look around and find yourself back in the present, whatever that means in a place like this.
  
  Nope, that wasn't how things went. You were severely outnumbered; you definitely would have tried to get a better starting advantage if you were going to take them all on like that.
  
  After a bit of reflection on what just happened, you realize you'll have to try again to reconnect later. When will that be? You never can tell.
  
  But it'll happen again. You'll reunite with your beloved.
  
  It's only a matter of time.