Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Checkmate." The king fell silently to the board as the pieces moved in on it. The opponent frowned, he sighed in dissapointment.

"You win again..." He stood up, he slid the chair under the table and cleaned up the board and pieces. The fires flared up around them, he waved his boney hand.
"The next time you die, I won't let you win." The other person laughed and smiled.

"So you're gonna cheat next time aren't you?" The boney boy glared. "Don't make me start to call you Judas."

"I hate you so much Damein..." He smiled at the remark and took a bow.

"You'll never get me Reaper. I'll live forever and laugh at you from the world above." The reaper growled, Damein smiled. "God no longer sees me in his eyes and Death can't beat me. Wow, you say I'm in denial. I think that I'll get married just to spite you."

"You've been alive since before the plague... I can't wait till you trip up and lose. I'll get centuries of life from you!" He showed him an hourglass, the sand was frozen in it. "I despise you so much..."

"I know you do, there just isn't a comprimise between us. You want me to burn in Hell and I want to keep living till time ends. It seems we agree to disagree untill one of us falls."

"That much is true, your wit is the only reason why you outlasted my father. I will bring you down... one day." He snapped his fingers, a ring of purple flames floated around Damien. A pentagram appeared under him.

"See ya later Death." He smiled and vanished. The reaper glared and sighed, he slid his hood down. He ran a hand through his jet black hair, his eyes were the same dark color. "Damein Hitoroshi... I will get you one day..." He walked through a door and pulled his hood up. He grabbed his scythe quietly. Souls floated by him, he sent each one in the direction of their final resting place. He walked through the sea of souls, he made his way to another door. A soft light came out from the door jam, it was a door to the living.

Damien rushed into the hospital, he clutched his wrist tightly to try and slow the poison. "Please! Someone help me!" A nurse rushed over to him, she looked at him. "Some injected me with a high dose if Arsenic, please help me!" She nodded and waved for a doctor, Damien's hands shook lightly.

"Sir, this man needs to be put on dialysis immediately. He's been injected with Arsenic and at the rate at which his heart is beating... he doesn't have long." The doctor led Damien down the hall, he stopped and opened the door to a white room. He motioned for Damien to lay down.

"It'll be ok sir." The nurse prepped his arm for the needles, he took his glasses off. "You're lucky that you came so soon" He stuck the needles into Damien's arm and set the IVs. The doctor turned that machine on, Damien relaxed a bit as he heard the low hum of the machine. The doctor and the nurse left the room, Damien sighed in relief.

"I hate you..." The reaper appeared in front of him, he slid his hood down to reveal his dark black hair and his pale white face. Damien nodded, he had nothing to fear at the moment. "You need to die... I'm sick of you being alive!" He came up to Damien and grabbed him by the collar. Damien's heart skipped a beat. "s**t!" The reaper let go, his hand was smouldering. Damien looked at his throat, a bruise started to appear. He fainted, the reaper growled. "One day... just one day... you'll trip up and nobody will be able to help you..." The reaper vanished, he left an hourglass in Damien's hand.

The doctor walked in to check on him an hour later, he took a small blood sample and left again. The room was silent except for the quiet hum of the machine. The sand was frozen mid-fall in the hourglass, his time remained still. The nurse came in to check on him.

"Sir, are you awake?" She looked at him, a soft breath came through his lips. "Sir?" She nudged him, he groaned and opened his eyes. "How are you feeling?" He sat up, he placed a hand on his forehead.

"I have a nasty headache." The nurse nodded, she handed him a tray of food. "Thank you." He ate quietly as the nurse rested on the chair. "How much longer do I have to stay on the machine?"

"Just an hour or so longer, it would've been longer if you had stayed awake." He finished eating and nodded. "There was a lot of poison in your system, whoever did this to you wanted you to die quickly and painfully." Damien shrugged, he looked at the tiny hole in his hand.

"I'm lucky that I noticed the injection site." The nurse nodded, she wrapped his hand carefully. "Thank you ma'am." She sat back down in the chair, she sighed. Damien watched her quietly. "How are you?"

"I'm very tired, I work all day and nights too." She took her cap off and untied her hair, it uncurled from its bun and flowed down her back. "I wish that I could work someplace else..." He nodded, his heart was aflutter. He kept his calm composure still.

"Maybe I can help? I know many people who are looking for workers. What would you like to do?" She looked at the door then at him.

"I'd like to stay at home and have a husband, I like to cook for people. I'm all alone though, I have to keep working here." She sighed, Damien nodded.

"I hope that one day everything goes right for you. I'm alone too, for a few years now." She looked at him quietly. "I never got your name, what is it? I'm Damien."

"I'm Rose, you're very kind aren't you?" She folded her hands in her lap. "You remind me of the masked magician I met a few years ago. I only saw him once, when I asked him to stay he vanished. He sounded a little bit like you do." Damien shrugged his shoulders. "I heard that he was murdered but nobody found the body after the first day. I think that maybe he's still alive." Damien nodded, he remembered that night.

"He sounds so mysteious, what was he wearing?" Rose rested her chin on her hand and thought.

"He had a black top hat and wore a black tuxedo with white gloves. He had hair kinda like yours, short and dark." Damien ran his fingers through his hair, she giggled. "He did that too, did you know him?" Damien thought about his answer carefully.

"I think I may have seen him once but I can't remember. My memory is a little fuzzy." He leaned back and rested his head on the pillow. Rose sat on the bed, she checked his vitals. "Thank you Rose." She wiped his face with a damp cloth and then dried it.

"Your body is still in shock but it looks like you're going to be ok." He nodded and dozed back off, Rose rested in the chair again and watched. "You look just like him" The hourglasss was still frozen, she left the room.

"That's right boss, it was him. I'm a hundred percent sure that he's alive." He ran his hand through his greased brown hair, he looked up at the tall buildings. "I'll be there in an hour. I'll bring proof." He hung up the phone and stepped out of the booth. He walked down the alley, his polished shoes shined in the light. A soft set of footsteps followed him slowly. "I can hear you Andi." He turned around.

"s**t! How?" A tall man stepped out of the shadows, he took off his hat. "You haven't changed at all Sam, have you?" He nodded and looked at his watch. "You in a rush?"

"Yea, the boss wants to see me." He turned around and walked away. "Let's talk later ok?" Andi nodded and left too. The street lights buzzed and flickered on slowly in the cold night air, he walked slowly and quietly as the sky got darker. He checked the time as he made his way through the streets. "There isn't much time now, Damien."

Salvatore walked into the hospital, he walked down the halls. The lights were still out, he walked into the ICU hallway. He looked into each room then left, growling quietly under his breath. "Where is he?" He continued down the alleyway,he heard a sound from behind the gutter. "It's probably just an alley cat." He walked onto the main street and got in a taxi.

"Where to sir?" The man's thick accent made Salvatore smile a bit. He handed the man a slip of paper. "Ok sir. I can get you there before your deadline. No worries ok?"

"Thank you sir." He relaxed back in the seat a bit as the taxi sped through the sea of red lights.