Chapter Text
A mind-numbing scorch had long since overtaken his thoughts.
Owen found it amusing, in a way. His first memory had been of flames, and he’d made it his mission to send all demonkind into them for the infection they stood as on the earth.
And yet he’d been the one to succumb to the magma encasing him, at the hand of the filthy dragonborn calling itself Krow, no less.
He could almost imagine, as the blinding pain and bone-deep ache of lava tearing through his soft skin, how it slowly cooled until he sat in the calm and silence of nothingness.
And then he awoke.
It was startling to feel the cool stone against his skin where he’d laid, staggering up and blinking harshly to accustom to the dullness of the single, flickering light.
Unmistakably, Owen knew where he was- the elevator- but he knew he should rightfully be in whatever afterlife existed.
Overbearing heat was slowly dissipating from under his skin, leaving him simply feeling numbly reeling with the confusion of his predicament, settled enough with the fact he was living and breathing and ALIVE to register his hands darting to trace over his face.
Owen idly knew he hoped to find the smooth, unmarred skin of his earlier days within the maze, but as fingers dark with char traced over his cheek, they dipped into the deep indents of scars spanning his face. He could also now, not bleary with panic, recognise the lack of sight which still remained in his right eye.
An idle, agitated sigh left his jaw. Of course, however he had managed to get here, Owen was still marked by his failure to finish off his duty.
“ Hello? “
Panic flooded his senses as he startled, whirling around to see the face of Rasbi staring at him- fear growing as the black-horned demon could finally see his mangled face.
Owen paused, assuming she would lash out at him for what he did, before lunging at her to do so before she had a chance.
She screamed as rugged hands wrapped around her throat, pinning her down and stealing her dwindling breath. Rasbi’s nails dug into his arms helplessly, carving bloodied lines in his skin.
He stared down at her for ages until she finally stilled, and Owen sat back.
A breath drew into his lungs.
And he startled as overwhelming heat sent him reeling and he awoke, again, and snapped his head over to see Rasbi alive, shaking in fear and confusion.
“ Hello? “
Owen stared back, noting how she stood exactly as she had just a few moments ago before he lunged and strangled her. Was this his mind playing tricks on him?
Perhaps it was a fluke.
He staggered toward Rasbi, slamming her against the wall before grasping her horns and repeatedly striking her head against the wall until her eyes rolled back. A moment passed before his consciousness slipped away and Owen awoke, for a third time, in the elevator with a cowering Rasbi alongside him.
“ Well, shit. “ He’d mutter to himself with a deep sigh.
Something had blatantly brought him back, and whatever force it was seemed less than fond of his duties.
Perhaps it wasn’t just Rasbi, but he found that hard to believe. For now, Owen decided, he’d have to get used to repeating with each attempt to cure the clearing of the disease the demons stood as until he could finally succeed.
Or perhaps he’d have to take on a different approach. That was it.
For now, Owen would try to settle back into how he recalled himself acting in his first days and see how far that led him.
He could spend longer analyzing each filthy demon to find their weak spots, and solve what was making his existence repeat each time he cleansed the maze of one.
Yes, that was it, he would succeed with his patience until he found a way to stop the days repeating.