1 Kai and Mari and the Goddess of the Undead

The ancient book shimmered as the gold glossed pages flipped from left to right. The wind blew hurriedly to the last few pages of the book. When the book first shined the last few pages it was blank, but soon changed in front of the two lovers.

"Praise the goddess of the undead. Begin the apocalypse or die." The book wrote as if speaking.

"That's weird. Who wrote this book?" Asked Mari.

The two lovers tried looking around the book but were hesitant to touch the book as the sense of danger emitted from it. The book was written without an author's name but described a story of the goddess of the undead. It declared that she will travel all dimensions and capture all versions of the earth to grow her undead army.

"The man will begin the war as this earth's king. The woman will raise a new army against her king. Both will die if one fails. Both will die if cooperation is made. Faith must be shown to receive blessings." The book continued to write.

"This has to be some sort of joke, right?" Asked Kai.

Both of the lovers were in belief that they were getting joked around with as if this story of occurrence can't be happening to them.

"The king will be Kai and the rebel will be Mari." The book wrote.

It was official. The hysterical grin the two showed was far gone. They looked back in forth at each other to regain some sort of resemblance to reality.

"This book is talking about us right, Kai?" Asked Mari.

Mari dressed in soft leather clothes that were delicate and expressed fashion against the elements of the harsh weather. She wore loose-fit pants, a loose-fit shirt tied to hold her figure with red long linen that rushed into the air. At the side of her was a long sword sheathed in the same leather component of her attire. Her skin was strong and shined like that of a glimmering pearl. The most beautiful feature about this young lady was the contrast between her dark long hair and her piercing red eyes.

"My dear, this is frightening. I've battled monsters and fought against small hordes of the undead in dungeons once. But to hear that their sovereign is trying to communicate with us, and to say the least is threatening us with death. I'm scared." Said Mari.

"I don't want to lose you, my love." Said Kai.

Kai was showing less expression than Mari was because at that moment he felt his heart drop from the ceiling. At that moment all the fighting and trials of grief the two went through to be approved of as lovers were being torn away from them once again.

Kai was strong mentally, physically, and spiritually. He experienced the dark aura that emitted from the ancient book as it spoke to them. He knew this was not a joke and that the goddess of the undead was speaking to them.

His soft but chiseled features that looked like a great artist sculpting marble were frozen.

Kai pulled down his leather hat that matched the fabric and colors of that Mari.

"My love, this is not a joke. I was suffocating at the words that were written for us." Said Kai.

"What do we do?" Mari asked in a hysterical tone.

"I don't know-" said Kai.

The ancient pages of the books then brushed against the wind and uncovered another blank page that glimmered in the sunlight.

"Pledge faith and receive the blessing of the goddess." Wrote the book.

The dark aura that was emitted was strong enough to paralyze the two lovers instantaneously. Mari was in tune with the sense of danger, unlike Kai who was able to read auras. Mari was able to feel impending doom and knelt on the floor that was littered with grains of sand.

"I pledge my faith to the goddess of the undead. Her name is unknown to beings unworthy. I pledge my faith in becoming useful." Said Mari.

The dark aura that was clenching her throat slowly released the tension and instead seemed to hover around her as if it was emitting from her instead of grabbing at her life force.

"I also pledge my faith to the goddess of the undead. With her name being unknown to me I am unworthy of it. I will be useful to my master." Said Kai.

As he declared himself a humble servant to the god of the undead the dark aura that he saw also lingered around him the same it did for Mari.

At this moment the aura began to interact with the two and felt the presence of one another.

"Kk-Kai- I can't breathe." Struggled Mari.

"L-love- we need to step away." Kai was able to say.

He saw the two auras coming together to form a chain and grab at both of their necks.

As the two walked away slowly, in short, breathes he could see something change.

"The aura around us has cursed us." Said Kai.

"I sense nothing but danger standing close to you." Said Mari as tears swelled up and ran across her pearlescent cheeks.

The curse was placed and the pledge to serve the goddess of the undead was done.

On the outskirts of the desert far from civilization the dark story of a far romance was beginning and it revolves around these two and the goddess of the undead.

They were not there by choice. The two lovers were in fact in the desert on an ongoing archaeological discovery together when they came across this hidden book. Far under the dig was a tomb scratched out and chained by the heaviest of chains. The aura that revolves around it was inviting to Kai who was more than happy to indulge in his curiosity.

To that end Kai and Mari now found themselves put away from each other and in the middle of an unknown area far from their original positions.