Nilus

Never in his life did he think for himself. A lot of his childhood, his parents would fight non-stop, constantly threaten to split apart and the like. The first thing that would run to his mind when he was able to think for himself would be to check in on his brother. Just to make sure he was okay physically and mentally. It happened every single time, and he was okay with that. That's exactly how he wanted it to be if he couldn't change the way his parents acted. At the very least, he was able to protect his little brother from any harm that was to come his way. Nilus had even taken it upon him to teach himself how to cook or do things that his parents should be doing like paying the bills, all because he knew they wouldn't do it if they got into a fight. Though, he wasn't worried about them at all. Of course he loved his parents and all.. But their constant bickering was stressful. He just wanted to be able to make sure his brother would be okay. Despite only being two years younger than him and eventually being able to take care of himself, Nilus often made sure he didn't have to do a thing. The most Priam was ever made to do was clean the house from time to time.

A day where his parent's constant fighting would get them into life-threatening trouble wasn't really something he'd expected. Overhearing their death on the news after they'd walked out of the house nights before wrecked him. Less because of his actual care for the two. It made him feel like a monster to not find much of a heartache at their death, but he was simply worried about how he would provide for his brother if they were gone. Both of their income was the only way he was able to keep them both fed and safe. There was a definite attempt at finding a job that would pay enough to keep their house, but it was practically impossible. All while shielding his brother from anything too negative, even if impossible as he was 14 at the time, he had to find a way to sell their house and take them both to live in a cheap apartment. One that he could afford with a minimum wage job.

At this point, Nilus was taking on a lot. Having to keep some kind of good grades in school so he could get a high-paying job for his brother while also managing a job he didn't enjoy at all to keep them somewhat afloat was stressful enough. Then you add on the fact that every time he came home tired out of his mind, he would have to make something for his brother and make sure he wasn't too alone until it was an appropriate time to go to bed. Even now, even for the years that this went on and he would grow more and more tired, he still didn't think twice about putting his brother as his top priority.

These stressful days were soon enough brought to what would hopefully be an end. Something similar to a telepathic message was sent upon Nilus as he was preparing to go to bed one night. There was no telling the origins of it, or how this was even happening, but he was more than sure it was something told to him for a true purpose. What was promised was a fortune that would be enough to keep his brother and him healthy and happy or as long as they could imagine. The only thing that was being asked of him in return was to follow the directions purposefully ingrained in the back of his mind. Such a simple task for such a great reward, the risks of something so simple didn't even occur to him. Thus, Nilus was quick to drag his brother out of bed and drag him along for the journey to their destination. Had he known what was truly waiting for him, he would have snuck out alone, but all he could think about at the time was how excited his brother would be to see that they would be able to live a stable life now.

Only a cave-like entrance awaited them at where the two had been led. As convinced as he was that there had to be something great waiting for the two, something wouldn't stop prodding at Nilus that bringing his brother into the slightly eerie looking place was a horrible idea. Priam was ordered to wait outside. Just in case something were to happen, even though the two seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere, he was also asked to keep his phone as close as it could be.

Traversing the huge area was a struggle. Not one he wasn't willing to fight, however. Surely there was something promising awaiting him at the very bottom or the very end. Whatever was brought to him couldn't have been some mad kind of lie.. Hopefully. Nothing was too dangerous to cross or climb, just a bit tiring after he hadn't gotten any sleep before heading here. The pure excitement of what he may find would've made it impossible to get some rest anyways.

There was a long, fairly thin tunnel that led to what appeared to be exactly what was promised of him. Loads of cash, all kept in large bags and some even in what appeared to be chests, waiting for him to grab them and go. Grabbing Priam would've been a grand idea so the two could get as much of it together. Texting him, even, would've been smart. Neither of those really crossed his head as he rushed to get as much as he could for the first go-around. Had it done so anyways, he probably would've wanted to surprise his brother with the money he'd grabbed first. Seeing the happy face that would've shone from him was all he wanted. So much so that the red light that emitted from the loads of money didn't quite process through. Something like that wouldn't have made sense in a scenario like this, or definitely warded off anyone else, but the thought of being some kind of millionaire was too much.

Right as he had entered the proximity of the entity that truly resided in the image Nilus had thought he'd seen, a stabbing headache seemed to have brought him to his knees. Poison felt like it was coursing through every vein in his body as his hands gripped tightly onto either side of his head and he tried his hardest to bear the pain. Exactly what happened was the thing that resided deep inside the ominous cave was beginning to overtake its prey. Doing such by tainting his memories, switching up his behaviors, and making him to be the perfect machine it needed to follow through with its personal plans. The pain continued on and on for an entire 20 minutes before it grew satisfied with how much it had taken control of. Everything seemed to be normal for the most part, as Nilus was still very capable of thinking for himself, though at the same time everything felt incredibly wrong. The money that waited before him suddenly didn't seem as important anymore. Nilus had sent his brother a message that he was coming back and had found nothing before actually beginning to return to the entrance of the large cave.

His brother had waited patiently for him. Right when Nilus came out, though, Priam had noticed something was very different about his general demeanor. Any life was drained from his eyes and he wore a cold, mean expression. Hearing him talk made it all the more worse, as all of the happiness he brought with him seemed to be sucked right out of him. Nilus was beginning to repeatedly attempt to make his brother head back home. What started as a normal-toned conversation soon sparked into a full argument, something Nilus always tried to avoid with his brother. That alone was scaring him. The thing that had truly brought some fear to what had taken over his entire sense of being however was the anger that slowly boiled inside of him. Anger that eventually followed with a strike to Priam's face, likely leaving a scar over the eye that had been attacked. Only then did Priam take that as the time to leave, running as far as he could so that he wouldn't be hurt again. Nilus tried his hardest to run after his brother after the parasitic entity calmed itself and he realized what he'd done. Trying to wander too far from the cave had brought another excruciatingly painful headache. Whispers soon accompanied when he tried to tough through it and continued to follow after his brother, which grew louder and louder with each step he took. All of this would only worsen the further he made it, and it only stopped when he finally turned around and returned.

Now begins the years where Nilus would spend an almost endless amount of time in this cave, all to protect the entity that ruined his life so he wouldn't be harmed in return. Only once was he allowed to leave to lure someone to join him. That person was soon after used as the recruiter instead. That first person was Clementia, a fawn girl who soon was promoted from simply being the one who lures others to the parasitic entity to instead being Nilus' second-in-command as he ruled over a large group of people who lived for the same purpose as he did. On occasion, Priam would attempt to get his brother to come back, but Nilus was never allowed to fully explain why he couldn't. Being denied the right to at least explain why he was unable to join his brother brought a worse pain than any of those headaches did.

Albeit from afar, he would find ways to provide for his brother and get normal status checks on him. No matter what he was going through, he still wanted to be able to make sure his brother had a roof over his head and was able to keep himself fed. Nilus would also send him the occasional poorly written letter or gift in some attempt to remind Priam that he still cared deeply for his little sibling.

The end had inevitably come. Something like that had been assumed to be brought upon the group by the police killing each one off for their crimes they committed, but instead it was by one of their own. That fateful day, he'd been guarding the entity on his own, heading out for only a moment. His little brother had been spotted trying to sneak in, hoping to get to the bottom of what changed his brother, even if it put him under the same curse it had over 30 others. Much to his dismay, Nilus, the only person who would be able to catch someone like him, was right in the way. As little as Nilus wanted to, people had been called to drag the brother out immediately.

Nilus would've put an end to the entity long ago had he not known what it would do. Every secret this thing held was forced onto him as soon as he was put under its control. Now.. Now that he saw how desperate his brother was to join such a dangerous group of criminals.. Now that he realized how horrible what they were all doing was.. He knew what he had to do. Grabbing the nearest and strongest weapon he could, Nilus headed towards the entity that was simply basking in the pleasure it gained from each droplet of blood it was fed. A small crystal was hidden among the illusion it wore so proudly. That was the key to the end. No matter the painful headaches that overcame him as soon as the entity realized what was happening, no matter the whispers that would soon evolve into screaming, he toughed through it all for the sake of thousands, his brother included in the mix. The crystal was smashed with a strong weapon.

Deafening silence pierced his ears as soon as it was seen in pieces. The illusion that once waited for him here was slowly faltering into nothing. There was only so much time in the quiet before coughing could be heard on the other side of the tunnel, soon accompanied by Nilus' own hacking as blood came out with each one, the amount growing larger with each cough. Those who had a hold on Priam had been too weak to keep it now, the curse slowly killing them as the entity had been taken down. The younger brother was quick to try to be there for his brother, running to his side as Nilus fell to his knees as he had the first time he was brought here.

A painful process went through Nilus' final moments. Priam had tried to be there for him through every second of it, even if seeing his brother die before him was so incredibly painful. Eventually it all stopped. Nilus paid one last smile to his little brother as he laid back into his arms as comfortable as he could. A sharp pain stabbed at his heart and blood came flying from his mouth a final time, ending his life completely.