The head hovers near me again. "Do it! You've known all along this was our destination. The end of the road. Say the words you've known since birth." For a brief moment, the span of a second, I have a moment of clarity. The eye of the storm reminds me of our truth. Something I once knew but now is lost in fog. The haze of insanity wraps me in its dark blanket once more . I'm cracked. Maniacal laughter echoes through the room. A voice so similar, yet it feels not my own. "I freely embrace the shadows within. Let my darkness be unhinged, unfettered by the light of this world." The words come naturally. As if I'd been waiting all my life to liberate some lost and forgotten part of myself. My true self. The floating head grins wide, overtly pleased with himself "If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I give to darken this world" The heart in my hand bursts into black flame. It doesn't burn me, but the heart cooks tender. He continues, "Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do to embrace me and make my power your own."

The tension is thick in the air. Anticipation permeates the atmosphere of the stormy room. Whether its Wrath's or my own, I'm not sure. In that brief moment, I gave myself the answer to the question that's plagued me since I could form thoughts. "Is this really who I am? What I want?" There's something alluring in darkness. Something I'm innately drawn to, something I not only desire, but need. Even the rage that fills me now is welcoming. Exciting. The chaos of the room, the boiling rage, the desire for power and destruction. There's no logic to it. No rhyme or reason to this attraction. It just is. Society deems my desire wrong. Evil. Yet, it feels natural. As natural as breathing. Who're they to determine what's right or wrong? To control my life as if it were their own. In that moment the haze cleared, leaving only a red tint over the world. I knew, as I've always known. Wrath spoke true.

In the blink of an eye, I open wide and shove the burning heart into my mouth and begin eating. The sensation is odd. Somehow, I eat flame and all. It burns as it goes down like drinking fresh coffee straight from the pot. I've never tasted anything quite as delicious. The taste is simply indescribable. All the worlds finest cuisine could never compare. I gorge myself, not stopping until I've finished. A few seconds after I finish pain in my stomach doubles me over. I hear many voices laughing and speaking incoherently. The only one I can place is Wrath, "Be free brethren! Indulge all your vices, become powerful off the human world. We'll find you soon to begin the convergence!" After the command, seven shimmering humanoid shapes surround me. They're all different colors of what seems like pure energy. Dancing around me as if celebrating their savior.

All the forms take a courtly bow at me. Six of them shoot into the sky, spiraling colors spear the roof and fire off in various directions. Like a firework during a celebration. I flinch to shield myself from the falling debris, but it hits a cylindrical barrier and slides to the ground. I turn back to see the red shimmering form still with me. The form looks like red flame shimmering and waving, standing there. It has no facial features except eyes. Those familiar burning embers clue me in, "You know, I've thought of this day for so long and yet, it's kinda a let down. I thought it'd be, I don't know. Grander." His head tilts, giving me what I can only assume is a quizzical look. He puts his fists on the sides of his waist, "Well, lets get this party under way, what say you?"

I raise my hands to chest level, examining them in disbelief. I remember what happened but it's like looking into someone else's memories. It's too surreal. The power coursing through me is overwhelming. Like lightning firing through every vein. Every nerve. I look back to Wrath's image "What is all this? I don't understand." It makes no sense. I can feel Wrath's power as my own. I know I can control it but why would he surrender his power to me?

As if reading my mind, Wrath answers my troubled thoughts, "It's hard to put into words. You are you, I am you, the others" He points to the hole in the ceiling, "they are you. The power you feel is your own. I was merely its caretaker while you slept." What did he mean by 'slept?' I was fully aware of everything that happened... wasn't I?

"I wasn't asleep. What game are you playing Wrath?" Anger smolders beneath my calm facade. He raises his hand, indicating the number four.

"This is the feared and dreaded 'Stage Four' you've been told about all your life. See, there were supposed to be no stages. It's a good analogy of the process I guess, if a bit off."

I squint my eyes at him slightly, "What do you mean? C'mon, I need answers Wrath, not riddles and more questions."

He throws his hands in the air in surrender. "Fine, fine. If we keep to the analogy of stages, there's the four points of the process you know about. The purpose was twisted, especially at stage four. This stage is more appropriately 'acceptance.' You take ownership of your power." He points at himself, "Your power is split and sealed inside you. Each piece is a living personification of a piece of you. I was your closest link to your power, so I was the one to get you to this point. I released the others after you accepted me."

I contemplate this for a minute. If I'm actually speaking to a portion of my power, doesn't that mean I just lost most of my powers? Why do I have powers, where did they come from? Why didn't anyone I know have power? Questions were mounting faster than I could catch them.

Wrath sees the gears turning and begins again. "Ah, the rest of the answers will come in due time. Right now what you need to know is this." He holds up five fingers, "There's a fifth and final stage. Your power was under a seal remember. It's been weakened and needs replenished. Once unleashed, the personifications that guard your power feed off humanities vices. Each guardian is attracted to their corresponding vice. You fed me anger over the years, keeping me strong. We'll have to find and collect the others."

"Wouldn't they just come back to me? They are a part of me after all, right?" I asked.

"Well that'd be right easy now wouldn't it? But no, they won't. They're personifications with a will of their own. Being influenced by the allure of more power, they'll feed their insatiable appetite, growing more powerful."

Of course this wouldn't be easy, nothing in my life ever was. "What if I just let them go, do what they want?"

Wrath shrugs, "I mean, you could. All they'd do is influence the world to give into all their vices and become more powerful. Think if the seven deadly sins weren't condemned how that would change the world. Even if you didn't have a problem with things like rape or murder being legal, I know you. You'd search them out on pride alone."

He wasn't wrong. That craving to be whole and see what my own limits were had been eating at me since stage four set in. "Well, what do I do now? How do I learn to control my power?"

"Learning to use your power will take time. What to do next, that's the easy part. Just accept me when I merge into you." He walks toward me. As he closes in, the air grows hot. As if I'm not there, he steps into my body. I double over in pain again. A powerful surge fills me. My body becomes a proverbial balloon ready to pop. Pain sears across my forehead and blood rolls into my eyes.

My mouth is gripped in searing, dull, and sharp pain all at once. I'm so disoriented that I can no longer discern where one pain begins and another ends. My body feels as if it'd rip apart from pain when a sound wave bursts from within me. I raise my head to look out the hole in the roof. A mental image sticks in my mind. I see myself. Two bloody horns protrude from my head. Long, thick, blood covered fangs explode out my mouth. As if I'm the shell of a bomb, light and fire explode outward in a violent surge of destructive energy. I see the building is completely gone as my eyelids fall. Wrath's maniacal laughter invades my final thought. Then nothing but that sweet and beautiful language so dear to me. Darkness.