Alive, Still

I back to the tomb. I murdered all the researchers there. Then I fought the Demi-God and the Nest.

I lost. The Darkness was torn from my soul. I was mortally wounded, and left there to die.

Some more researchers arrived. They recognized me. They assumed I was one of the researchers that were there before, and that my wounds were caused by whatever had killed them. They were unaware that it was my doing.

They treated my wounds as best as they could, and flew me back to America. LA, to be specific. The first chance I got, I fled from the hospital. It was hard, with my injuries. But I ran.

And they watched. The Hound Of Destruction, the Angel Of Chaos, the Frozen Orphan. They watched me from the shadows, mocking me. I had failed, and they were laughing at me for it.

I hid in an abandoned building. I didn't recognize it at first, but I soon realized it was the same place I had first encountered the Blood Vessel.

I sat against the wall and cried. I was in pain, and more than just the physical kind.

Then the voice spoke up.
"You have been wronged," it said.
"Who's there!?" I said, looking up. I was no longer in the building. I was in an old, empty Egyptian town. "Where am I?"
"You are within yourself," the voice said. "This is what is in your soul."
"Why am I here?" I asked.
"You were wronged by the Gods of Darkness," the voice said. "They have forsaken you, and now they mock you for your failure. But you can have revenge against them."
"I can?" I asked, standing up.
"Yes," the voice said. "It's so simple. There is but one thing you need to do to make it possible."
"What!?" I asked. "What must I do!?"

A woman appeared before me. She was made of solid ice, and a cold mist surrounded her. As beautiful as she was, she was flawed. The ice was cracked and broken in various places. These were the injuries the being had suffered.

"It is so easy," she said. "You must do but one thing."
"What?" I asked.
"Let me in."