[part 2/3] The Fire Within

OOC: This Lore Story is the second in a trilogy dedicated to a sort of "Changing of the Guard" for my character Andreas Myrslin. This trilogy describes the personal journey he takes trying to understand himself and realign himself from the cannibalistic monster that knew only rage and hatred to the sort of Protagonist character that you'd see in a Dark Fantasy novel. Be warned that this entire trilogy contains mature themes such as depression, loss, and coping with emotions. If you are susceptible to depression and/or loss, I encourage you to click away before reading. You have been warned.

~(+)=(+)~
"What do you believe in, Andreas?"​

Andreas was asking himself those questions as he traversed the second level of the Sewers, nearing the entrance to the third level. It was getting easier to navigate the dark and damp sewers as if his eyes had adjusted to the darkness or just low lux levels (the scientific unit of light is "lux," fyi), but he still found some things hard to do even in these conditions. It made it easier to keep the spell active as he could just try to blend into the environment, but he still sought a place to not be bothered by the sewer dwellers or other inhabitants.

It had gotten too loud and noisy on the first level of the sewers what with the rest of Regalia having to drink and make lots of noise, so all Andreas could do was try to find a place free of such distraction so that he may find a quiet place to solemnly meditate. There wasn't many places left he could find peace from the guards and even from his allies considering he could tell that the Greywitches or even the Violets could raid the sewers looking for him at any point. He had no time to deal with the guards of Greygate or the Violets as he only saw them as minor inconveniences that weren't exactly worth time to worry about. Not unless they decided to come after him or those he loved.

"Do you believe in yourself, Andreas?"​

Those questions lingered in his mind as if they were on a broken record as he neared the entrance to the third level of the Sewers. He didn't care if there was a monster in the depths or some kind of pseudo-god as he only sought a place to meditate that was away from the noise and would be a place where few dared to venture. The only thing that frightened him at this point was if he died here before he could complete his goals and returned home, but he quickly snuffed out that fear. He was trained by the strongest Kathars in the Dread Empire and forced to undergo brutality unparalleled in history to become a trained and efficient killer. Andreas did not wish to show fear or sorrow, but the only one who could've brought out his truest strength was dead now and it seemed like he understood he was cursed to suffer through death of those close to him.

Andreas growled as he begun his descent. The smell was slightly unpleasant, but he dealt with worse as he neared the bottom of the stairs and entered the third level. Here would be a place he could meditate, so he began to meditate by assuming the meditation stance he was taught by Clariss.

The stance was just crisscrossing his legs and having him take up a monk's type of stance for meditation, which he learned was beneficial to meditation as it calmed the meditator and allowed them to focus on their core. When he started to assume the meditation stance, he immediately felt frozen as he focused on his core.

"Finally, you decide to see me." Andreas would hear his exact same voice in his mind speak to him though this sounded much more darker as if poisoned by the darkness in his soul...

Andreas only replied with "Hello, Death."