Darkness. That's what this prison was. You could move, talk, and even eat if you happened to find something to. But there was nothing to see. Just pitch black. The cell was a never ending path of pitch, and Xaphan had existed here for centuries. Ever since he chose to lower his blade, this had been his home.

And he hated it. He wasn't angry, not anymore. After the first century he had begun to cope. But he hated it. Stumbling around this dimension for food, and never once finding someone to talk to. Yeah, he went crazy.

"You like that one right? The round one?"


"I'm fairly certain he does."


"Both of you shut up. Well, both of me."

They didn't have names, just distinct voices that spoke to him. From him. Yeah, he was nuts.

Until a light formed. A sudden bright light formed, and the world came into existence.

This world was all to familiar for Dan. A lifeless, almost endless, barren land made of what seemed to be rock but cruder and darker. Even for a demon this was a true hell-hole. Now though he was no demon, now he was something else. Part of him a human again, but inside he had chained something far greater and dark. Death itself.

He was not the only watcher over such things in the universe. There had been an aspect of Time, his father to be precise, who recently perished and became in need of replacement. A replacement had already been found for him though, so it was for something else he came for. Even longer ago they had slain the Aspect of War, and now it was time to find a new one.

Beside the walking man he appeared, walking along with him casually. "Free at last, huh?" He spoke to get his attention.

"You could say that. I mean, it's been.. I don't know how long now. How long ago was the war of Hell again?" He didn't skip a beat as Dan spoke to him, as if this was normal. It wasn't. With a double take the Angel simply stared at Almis. Another person?

A single hand reached over, and went to poke the mans chest.

"You're real right? Not another new voice?" Speaking of, those odd voices of his were gone. Perhaps they were a part of the world of dark, and now there was light he was free of such things.

"Longer than most mortal men can remember," Dan responded to his first question about the war of Hell, remembering it all too clearly. "And I'm 100% real, and unfortunately so is this world now." He looked up to the light that Xaphan had been following, a star brought to shelter this world in it's new galaxy. "Do you remember your name?" Once a prisoner on Oblivion, Dan knew the toll it took on one's mentality. He knew the man's name of course, but he needed to know what he could still remember.

"And, do you know what you are capable of?"

"My names is Xaphan. That much I didn't forget. My powers? Well, I remember them, but I don't remember how I used them in the first place." There wasn't a lot to it really, but.. Well, it had been a while. What was one of them again?

Oh right, shadows. With a raise of his hand he brought shadows to his palm, twisting and forming. Until they became a simple shape. A disk. Then, into a more complex shape. A butterfly. The shape fluttered about in his palm before dissipating into the air.

"Well, I can still do that at least."

"It's a start atleast," Dan almost smirked, taking amusement in the fact that the first display of power the possible Aspect of War showed him was a butterfly trick. "But what I have in mind for you entails less butterflies and more violence." His eyes carefully watched Xaphan, scanning for any reactions to the words he spoke.

"How do you feel about violence, Xaphan?"

"Doesn't bother me too much. Back in the war I was quite the fighter. I just got bored. And tired. When you're just killing your brothers and sisters it gets.. Old." And it did. Xaphan was -good- at killing, but he didn't like to. Not his own people, and especially not for as lame a reason as it was. He expected that Dan probably knew about it.

"Who are you anyway?"

"I'm a friend interested in your future," Dan cryptically replied, eyeing Xaphan up and down. Suddenly he turned and released a blast of shadow energy, aiming straight for the man's chest. It was a harmless attack that would cause no lasting damage, yet serve to knock the target off balance and test his reactions. Whether he blocked, dodged, or failed to react in time, Dan would smirk.

"Show me what you've got." He said as he stared Xaphan down, making no apparent move to prepare for an attack.

There was a blink, followed by a stumble back as the Angel was caught off guard. Almost instantly, as if by pure instinct, Xaphan's shadow swelled and shifted, taking shape into a simple stick like spear. It trusted out as he regained his balance, and a  frown was clear on his lips.

"I guess.."