Rating: T (for the disgusting rotting of corpses)

Genre: Alternative Reality / Angst

Warning: Dead characters and the disgusting environment of the netherworld. XD

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Odin Sphere, I simply love to use it for my fantasy.

Summary: How would Oswald´s "life" be like, if Gwendolin had not been able to save him from Queen Odette? You want to know about his life in the dark netherworld? Then take a look at this little story and you´ll know.

Lord of Death and Darkness

Oswald x Gwendolin

The creepy voice of the holier, the scythe, marked with dried blood and the image in his mind of that beautiful blue bird, were the last things he saw before everything ended.

As he opened his eyes he saw nothing but darkness. It was all around him, consuming him, devouring him. He tried to move and he felt nothing, not even when his hands touched ivory-colored bones strewn across the greenish stone ground. His body may have moved, but everything else that he had done before he came here seemed to be impossible. Feeling, tasting, smelling… the only thing he truly did was see. What had occurred and who was he, he could not recall, but he knew nonetheless that he had been somewhere else before and had been able to sense things.

He walked through the mountains of bones scattered around the strangely illuminated rooms that had followed the dark one, not knowing where he was actually going. After some time then a cold, female voice spoke to him from the shadows.

"Ah! You have awakened. I would have almost feared for your life, if I didn´t know better. How are you, Oswald?"

A skeletal woman appeared before him and Oswald looked at her, not recognizing the blue-haired female that had materialized out of nowhere. His brown-red eyes fixed on her as something stirred within him, but did not know what exactly. It could have been fear, yes maybe that would have been the word, if he only knew such an emotion. Alas he could not feel, so what was this? A lingering memory of his body perhaps?

"Who are you...?" he asked in a deep, sore, raspy voice that felt like it hadn´t been used in ages.

"My name is Queen Odette. When you were still alive you had a contract with me, and now you belong to me. I hope you won´t mind living here, Oswald. It can be quite pleasant at times, even if it is cold and damp."

The black-clad male shrugged his shoulders and smirked.

"I am dead and cannot feel, why should I be concerned about wetness and the cold? So, am I to be your servant now, Your Majesty?"

Odette chuckled and shook her head, through which dead insects fell out of her hair, raining down onto the greenish floor.

"No, not necessarily, my love. You can become the King of the dead, if you so desire."

"Why would I be able to become such?"

"Simple: the darkness and death have chosen you. No one could wield the Belderiver without losing their life, yet you managed to wield it without a problem. Death welcomes and embraces you, you command it as you please and it will never deny you."

"Hm... I do not need it. A title has no meaning for me, whether alive or dead. I am my own master, if you will allow it or not, I do not care."

A cold and amused smile rose to the pale, blue-colored lips of the Queen.

"And that is why you are the King and Lord of Death and Darkness. Go, Oswald and do as you please, this world is yours as it is mine."

She let a skeletal hand glide along over his face and neck, what would have made him shudder when he had been alive, then turned and was gone into a pool of darkness. The young man stood there for a while longer and then walked on. Somewhere he would find a place for him to rest here. It was odd, but he guessed he was tired, his body just did not move as swiftly as he wished it to.

He had found indeed a place to rest in this dark world: a skeleton that had rotted away ages ago of a gigantic dragon. It made the perfect place to sleep and sit in. From here he could simply exist away without having to feel bothered. This was his throne, his coffin and palace.

And so he sat there, unmoving, unblinking, until his flesh had rotted away and his eyes had already decayed. Nothing was left of him and then the darkness came once more, truly devouring him this time and clothing him into it from head to toe. He was only darkness and death now, that was all that was left to him and all that mattered.

Oswald noticed how the darkness around him whispered and opened his red, glowing eyes – or that which he called eyes, for they gave him sight. How long had it been since he had done so? He could not remember and did not care, time held no meaning in the realm of the dead. As he attempted to close his eyes again for he had seen nothing out of the ordinary, a glimmer in the dark had captured his attention. It had shimmered blue and silver, both colors that were never present in this world. He scanned his surroundings again and was startled when he saw how a woman approached him in a bluish dress, with long silver hair and dark, blue eyes. She stopped in front of the skeleton and looked up at him, directly into his glowing, hollow eyes.

He could not explain it, but something inside of him seemed to try to struggle free. Something that should have been lost ages ago. As the woman gave him a warm, sad and small smile that something grew even more violent within him. And when he heard her voice, tears flowed which could not exist and so blood was what was shed by him.

"I have finally found you, Oswald. I tried so desperately to get you back from this place, but my father would not let me come here. Do you remember me...?" she asked and touched a clawed hand that was nothing but darkness.

Oswald nodded and tried to say something, but failed for his voice had been lost so long ago.

"I know I hurt you back then, but please let me explain now, even if it is too late. I had given the ring to my father back then in an attempt to be recognized by him and make him happy, but when he told me that you had slew the dragon Wagner only for my sake, I knew where I belonged and returned to the old castle. Had I known how much the ring had meant sooner, I would have never given it away! Please believe me, Oswald! I even have it with me now, see? I had gotten it back from the fairy queen, but when I returned you had been taken by the holier."

She held up her hand and showed him the ring with a smile. Oswald took that hand and enclosed it in his own. When he had seen her, everything had returned to him. All his memories, all his feelings. But what had happened that she had ended up here in the netherworld? She seemed to guess his thought and explained with a sad smile:

"I have killed myself, Oswald. For years have I pleaded with my father to show me the way into the netherworld, but he refused. And when he now tried to wed me to Onyx, I could stand it no longer and took my own life. It is a sin to do so, so I ended up here, but at least did I finally find you. I longed for so long to see you again..."

He shook his head, while even more bloody tears fell and he finally managed to give a voice to his thoughts. It sounded rusty and broken, but he could speak his mind.

"Gwendolin... I am not worth that much and look at me now. I am nothing but darkness and shadow. My body has rotted away already, not even my bones are left, I am no longer myself. You should not have taken your life for a miserable creature like me. I had even forgotten everything until you appeared before me."

"It does not matter. I am here now and I will not leave you. Someday I too will have rotted away and will be nothing more than a ghost or shadow. What does that matter now? Let me stay by your side, Oswald. At least now, when I have failed to do so in life. You are my only husband, you and you alone."

He cupped her face in his hands and nodded, then let her sit down beside himself.

"Then let us rest here, Gwendolin, let us sleep forever now."

"Yes, until even this realm is no longer..."

And so they slumbered in the bones that would soon turn to nothing but dust and awaited the end of all. The Apocalypse raged and destroyed the world, yet the prophecy was not fulfilled. The King and Queen of the new world had already died and slept, keeping their oath of eternity. Nothing but death ruled the world since then as time continued to flow...

The End