Steamed Beatles

"Get up," a distorted voice spoke.

Louis' eyes opened. He could feel the stab wound on his chest, still aching from what felt like just moments before. He was met by a tall figure of a being lurking over him. His eyes widened in shock as his vision came into focus. Standing above him was the towering being that is The Hollow. 

"You're the Almighty Hallowed. That's impossible though. I'm dead, I should be dead. That low-life Siren from the Abyssal Depths killed me why am I not trapped in the eternity of death's embrace," Louis sputtered out in shock. He shuffled almost instantly to take the position of a prayer. He was face to face with the god that he had worshipped since birth. However, he knew of the cruelty of this god and how it had terrorized the people of The Caverns, so Louis couldn't help to also be terrified for his life. He wanted to beg on his knees for mercy but he could not bring himself to do it out of pure fear. 

"Louis, you're one of the mortals I see most fit to this role. You have knowledge of Soul Crystal's and their properties and powers, correct?"

"Yes Almighty Hallowed. I run an operation in which my monarchy helps to excavate the most Soul Crystals the likeness of all of The Caverns combined has never before excavated," Louis spoke, still with a slightly shaky tone to his voice. Despite his fear, Louis' fear-filled positioning turned more into his typical calmed, stiff, and calculated way or presenting himself.

"Well then you'd be a perfect fit for this job. As you know, The Caverns are rapidly deteriorating and unless you can carry out my offer, I may never be able to accomplish what I've been trying to for millions of years. So I have an offer to propose to you. I will revive your soul, but you will then have to work as my mortal counterpart, carrying out my business amongst the living," The Hollow sunk bank into a jagged silver throne embellished with soul crystals. Its distorted and echoed voice trailing off.

"Is there a catch to it?" Louis questioned.

"Well, indeed But I'm nearly certain that it will not deter you from my offer. What 'carrying out my business amongst the living' entails is that you will go around The Caverns and with your knowledge of soul magic open a rift. I would say you could use any type of energy to open a rift, however that's near impossible because of the energy soul magic producing being much greater than that of all other types. Now the way I think would most be fit is that you try to contain the energy in a way so dense that the stored energy being disturbed would almost certainly cause a rift. Now you have many choices of how you want to accomplish this, but I must also add, the way I will be reviving you is by using soul magic that will course so deeply through your blood and veins that it will keep you alive. Now I know you've had experiments with soul crystals and their relations to life and death, is that correct?"

"Yes." Louis began to catch onto the full extent of what The Hollow was proposing to him.

"Perfect. Now Louis I'm sure you're aware, but soul magic attracts other souls to the most energy dense areas. I'm assuming you know what this entails, your body will be the vessel for the soul magic to be stored and store the energy that you will need to release," The Hollow's echoing and distorted voice seemed terrifying to Louis now. He almost instantly knew what The Hollow was implying. Louis would have to die in some way for this plan to be carried out.

"I must inquire something. What's in it for me other than being revived. Why is me dying a second time better than this whole ordeal just being done."

"Well you want Infir and Ealure to die, isn't that correct?" Louis hadn't considered that. He may have another chance to kill them both and have them stay dead. "Well another thing that's in it for you is that, well, souls will have to be collected in some way. So if you've ever had bloodlust you may be able to carry out murders and kill people with very little danger since your body will be much stronger with the energy of Soul Magic. In addition, you're no longer the ruler of Crystalline Bay, wouldn't it be fun to be able to go around on a direct killing spree without worrying about being dethroned?"

Louis's consideration began to shift. The Hollow was raising some points that rang true with Louis.

"One last thing about this deal Louis, you must lure Infir and her little crew to wherever you open this rift, and they must be unharmed. I have plans of what I will do to all of them once they are all in my hands. However, I assure you, they will certainly all die by the end of all of this. And one more thing Louis, this is your last chance at any life amongst mortals ever again. So what will it be?"

Louis paused and thought for a second. "I'll take your offer," Louis spoke with a determined glare on his face.

"Excellent. One more thing before I revive you, Louis. The mortals called me 'The Hallowed' when I was still associated with the other beings of The Water Division, however now since you are my mortal assistant you may refer to me now as 'The Hollow.' Now Louis, don't disobey me."

The Hollow reached up to the 'stars' above and using a wave of energy it ripped down nearly hundreds of glowing blue wisps of souls from the glistening soul crystals above. This was where the souls that died in The Caverns went. They were stuck here.

"This should be quite enough souls in order to keep your revived body stable." The souls that The Hollow had pulled down from the seemingly endless black darkness above them had gathered around Louis and with another pulse of energy from The Hollow, the souls began to gather in Louis' bloodstream. Louis's veins began to glow a bright blue hue, the same as Soul Crystals. His whole body began to shift with this energy from the Soul Magic. And in nearly an instant, he had woken up. He was back in The Caverns. He had been revived.