To all things an ending...

But this will not be mine.

I had come to a conclusion... Without help or hope I would stand up to Nathan... I would fight him and I would win.

There would be no tricks here as it seemed Nathan had already worked out the defense mechanism seemingly given what happened at O'briens, so I would have no protection here... Nothing, but my wits, my strength and my skill.

That's all I ever needed.

The question now was where should we have our grand final battle.

I found the perfect place. Apparently Nathan's sister had been buried as an unknown since she didn't have any identification, but being the one who killed her... with a little difficulty I could find where she had been buried... I figured killing her brother on her grave would be fitting. So, I reused an old trick... The same one I used to call out The Facet... I left a bunch of notes around for Nathan telling him where to find me... I'm waiting at the grave now... I doubt he'll take long to show up...

There's a full moon tonight... Not by choice, but that is just perfect. If it was me I'd wait until night to show up so we could fight by moonlight, but I don't know if he has the same flair for the dramatic. Guess we'll find out... I brought a shovel so if anyone questions my loitering around I just tell them I'm on break... I killed the real gravedigger already so no chance of getting caught out...

Someone is here... It feels... Wrong... I don't think it's Nathan, but it's not someone normal... I'm gonna go check it out...

Alright, alright alright alrightalrightalright

Okay, so taking stock... The Facet is still alive and has sent me a nice little message. Not the one you may have seen in the comments another one.

It was delivered via phone call. Apparently he assumed I'd be more willing to listen and not try to kill him if he wasn't physically there... He was partially right. I still hung up on him about four times before he managed to inform me, 1 is also still alive. That I never even really came close to wiping out the Children entirely.

Honestly it made a lot of sense and I am surprised I didn't think about it before...

The Archive weren't going to kill him. I mean they might have at one point, but as the probably very soon only remaining member of a new type of servant with strange abilities they weren't just going to throw that away no matter how much they hated him personally.

They instead locked him away to experiment on and learn what they could about The Children.

So, yeah I never really managed to kill 9 or 1. That's 2 failures out of 13 possible.

Still pretty good, but a farcry from my initial goal of 100% success rate. Now you might be thinking I could always just go kill him at the archive, but that's not very likely. The Archive are very very good at dealing with hostile servants and the only advantage I'd have now is the same defense mechanism I personally told them how to get around, so no... I may be good, but I don't think I could kill my way through the entire Archive to kill 1... He's safer there than almost anywhere else in the world and that pisses me off.

So, at current the number of surviving Children is 4... Oh right... That was another thing. Sandy is one of The Children of Nothing now apparently... At least according to 9 and I confirmed she has the defense mechanism... Apparently I unintentionally made her part of it...


So, yeah Myself, begrudgingly, Sandy accidentally, 9 and 1 are the current membership of The Children of Nothing.

Also, you might be wondering why after finding this out I did not immediately kill Sandy...

Well I can't... Not that I'm physically incapable, but I don't want too... I mean it's not some personal attachment to her or anything, but I feel comfortable having her here... She's a tether linking me back to the times when things were simple and I ruled a neighbourhood with an iron fist.

So, I can't kill her... Not until I've returned my life to that at least...

Anyway... The point is... My vow is now completely impossible to perform... I don't think killing The Facet will actually be possible. My one shot to do so already failed me and it won't work again. 1 is outside my reach, I don't want to kill Sandy just yet at least and I'm certainly not killing me... So, considering the impossibility and the continued threat of Nathan... Why don't I accept The Facet's proposal...

Honestly I've thought about it... A few times now... It's kind of a win win... I'd get rid of Nathan, I'd be in charge of something I could rule with an iron fist again and it would really really piss off The Convocation. I mean I haven't had much time to think about it, but I hate them... I hate everything about them. They ruined my life. I've been too busy to really think about my revenge, but I'm thinking about it now. Pissing off The Convocation is top of my list now.

Anyway sorry right... So given all those benefits, why wouldn't I accept the proposal...

Well there's one con that balances against all those pros and tips the scale in the cons favour...

 and here it is...

 FUCK THAT ARROGANT PRICK IN HIS SMUG FACE! I am The Faceless Bastard. It doesn't matter who the enemy is I don't need some smarmy fuck to help me out. I'll kill Nathan with my own hands and then... MAYBE! MAYBE we'll talk about the future of The Children of Nothing.

Got it?

Good...

A Facetinating... Facetnating? Eh either one... I forgot how I was going to end this title...

The Facet was waiting for me at the expected place. O'Briens of course. I showed up and he was there. I recognized him immediately this time. He was wearing a black hoody with a 9 on it and a copy of my face mask. I arrived and sat in front of him.

"So, you decided to talk after-" he started and then I tried to stab him. I failed... I failed because Nathan punched me in the side of the head hard enough to knock me out of my chair and send me skidding across the room. I don't know when he showed up or how or whether The Facet had planned that (That would be unlikely right?), regardless Nathan was here and he paid no attention to the Facet as he began to approach me cracking his knuckles. I got up grabbed some slender proxy who was sitting near me and tossed him towards Nathan who caught him by the neck with one hand snapped it and tossed him away. Which was what I was hoping for. His friends were not happy about this and they attacked Nathan. It didn't go well for them of course, because Nathan is a god damn walking murder machine, but the distraction was all I needed. I was heading to the exit as the fight started in earnest, but then Nathan grabbed the back of my head and yanked me back and then froze. The Facet was behind him. Elsewhere people were fighting each other and we'd become less interesting.

Nathan was standing frozen in place and then he spoke.

"He's fighting me... Doing a surprisingly good job of it too... Remarkable. Still I could kill him. Right now. I could end this. I just need one thing from you..."

It was The Facet speaking of course.

"All I want from you is to forget your vows. Assume the role you have been given. Recreate The Children of Nothing and lead us," he said.

It was a simple request and Nathan would be dealt with. Obviously I told him to go fuck himself and he nodded and then Nathan was reaching for me again as The Facet stepped back. I ran out the doors and continued running for some time. I ran until I was sure Nathan wasn't still chasing me. Which meant I was running until I physically collapsed unable to continue. He didn't show up and kill me, so I rested there on the sidewalk for a while. Random people walked by giving me weird looks and someone I think called the cops, but I'd recovered enough by then to crawl back to my new temporary residence...

Journey to The West

Is a movie I have never seen. Nor do I intend to. So, it's been a bit... I was traveling via plane, because I don't want to risk going through the domain again.

Who knows where I'd end up. I brought Sandy with me...

Anyway I'm back in Canada. Nothing else of interest has happened just yet, but I'm sure it will.

Meanwhile I figured I'd tell you about a few things.

Some of you out there reading this or printing it out putting it in a blender and then injecting the liquid result into your eyeballs might have a care for fine details.

So, allow me to fill you in on some fine details. First of all...

Sandy. How has she been reacting to things... The answer. Surprisingly well. I don't know what happened to her after she was removed from my care the first time, but whatever it was has acclimated her to the supernatural quite quickly. She barely seemed confused when one minute we were at her house then a terrible void and then Germany. She acted like it was something normal. Also again apparently she knows German now, so that might be part of it. She says she doesn't remember what happened to her. Hopefully The Facet can answer that question as well.

 Also The Facet. I didn't leave my normal angry comment in response to his so you might not know exactly how I felt upon seeing he's still alive. I'll give you a hint... It was the reason I didn't leave a comment.

The fact that bastard is still alive had me so angry I could not formalize a rational response and instead immediately just dragged Sandy to the airport to get a ticket back home... Unfortunately the only flight was the day after so I spent some time impotently seething. Speaking of... I'm not going back there to hear him out or anything. I'm going back there to kill him. I know what you're thinking as well...

Nathan is probably still there and he will find me again if I do this. Don't care The Facet has to die. I am going to kill him.

Lastly for anyone wondering about logistics such as how did I get on the internet in Germany. Where did I get money for plane tickets and how was I possibly able to get past airport security?

The answer to all three is people died and if you continue being a nitpicky jerk you'll be one of them.

Anyway back home. I'm fairly sure I know where I'll be able to find The Facet. I'll be going to see him as soon as I finish having a nice rest. Jetlag is a bitch. 

Conversations with Things that don't exist...

So, there is so far no sign of Nathan. Which is good. As I said I had things to think about. Mostly what I had to think about was what just happened. I've never seen a completely blank domain. I mean I don't believe that was The Quiet's domain, because and this is going to sound weird... It existed.

Like I don't think that place was as blank as it felt. I feel like I was being lied too... I think The creature just didn't want me to know what Domain I was in... So, it's one of the Fears potentially? A fear pretending to be The Quiet for... What purpose? I mean It's not usually a great idea to try and figure out the motives of The Fears, but... This feels like a puzzle and I really want to figure it out. I feel like it's important especially since whoever this is is now trying to get me to do things for them. I kind of want to know what fear I am serving even if I am serving rather unwillingly.

Also Sandy speaks german apparently... Which is... Strange... I mean it's not impossible she's learned german at some point, but I've always assumed she was just kind of an idiot and that doesn't jive with the idea of someone who knows a second language... I mean I know two languages, but that is because I lived in two different countries... I know for a fact Sandy was born in Canada and her parents aren't German...

... I didn't research her or anything... The Convocation gave me a dossier on her when I was told to watch her and I read it when I was bored... Actually I don't have it anymore to check, but I'm fairly sure it didn't mention anything about her learning German either...

I'm not sure why I'm focusing on this... Oh right I know why... I'm trying not to think about my big problems...

I still have no answer to what to do to Nathan. I have The Children's Defense now, but I managed to figure that out and I'm sure Nathan won't take long to figure it out either and then it's only a minor advantage and also I'm frankly not entirely sure I can kill him. I am quite legitimately worried that stabbing him in the throat might just make him angrier...

Even that isn't my real problem. With all of this I haven't had much time to think about it in the proper terms since, but I still have a vow that demands I kill myself.

I can't forget that even as other things keep distracting me.

All of these questions will need an answer... Well maybe not the Sandy thing, but all the others will need answers.

I don't yet have an answer for any of them...

The vast Emptiness that... Failed to hide me from this crazy motherfucker!

So, Nathan has found me. I knew he would, but not this fast. Especially not with the whole Quiet thing.

I guess even a godly being who can hide from other godly beings couldn't fucking hide me from Nathan. Seriously Nathan... What the hell are you?! How do you do these things?! Anyway...

I was out getting food for myself and Sandy and I get home and find Nathan just sitting outside Sandy's house on a lawn chair. He's got a can of soda and waves to me as he drinks it. I thought about just running, but I'm The Faceless Bastard... With a Face... Still! I do not run. I do not run from anyone!

So, I approached.

"S'up?" I asked.

"Not much. I see your injuries have healed. That's good. Should make this more fun," he said and I had to ask.

"You loved your sister right?"

"Of course," he answers.

"So... What's with the laid back attitude... I mean it's cool and all. Scares the hell out of me, but you're not just here to kill me on a job or something. This is personal? Why aren't you all angry and wrathful? How can you be so calm and... Professional?"

He leaned forward and placed the can down. "I loved my sister more than anything in the world. She grounded me. Kept me human. Even as the world around us became less and less human she kept me sane. Now she's dead and with her all emotion is gone too. I'm going to kill you and it is personal, but I'm not angry at you. You're nothing. I'm going to kill you because she wanted me to kill you. Once you are dead I'll kill others. I will kill everyone. I will kill until I die. You aren't something important. You are just the designated target of the monster you created when you killed her," he explained.

Well that's... Uncomfortably familiar in a way. I think I might actually kind of like this guy. You now if he wasn't so fucking terrifying.

I nodded. "Fair enough..." I said and then he suddenly tossed the can at my head... and missed. The can sailed past my head about 2 feet off target and he looked as surprised and confused as I did.

Regardless the fight was on. I didn't have my weapons didn't have the birds anymore. I was not about to fight this guy in hand to hand. I wasn't even really sure what my first move should be and then he tackled the air.

Again he sailed right past me and it occurred to me I knew what was going on. It was The Children's defense mechanism... He couldn't see me anymore. He was seeing a decoy. I took advantage of this and ran into the house. Didn't want to waste time unlocking the door so I simply threw myself through the front window. Luckily the windows weren't like reinforced or anything. I should have grabbed my weapons, instead I ran to the basement. I heard the front door break as I ran into the basement grabbed Sandy and a thought occurred to me as he appeared at the top of the stairs. I needed to get Sandy out of here and I realized... I'm a servant again... I have powers... Does The Vast Emptiness have a Domain... and then we vanished.

We floated in darkness and then we were lying in an alleyway in a town I would later learn was in Germany. Apparently I had travelled us across the ocean... It probably won't take Nathan long to track me down. I wouldn't be surprised if he showed up within the next few hours.

Although that trip gave me some things to think about... Hopefully I'll have some time to think before he shows up.

Back in Bl- Well mostly beige I guess... My outfits aren't very stylish.

I mean I got kind of a grey hoody on and like beige or tan cargo pants I guess... My mask is white... My hair is like a dirty blond... Really nothing about my outfit or appearance is black...

I'm getting off topic. So, I've been busy for the last little while. First I got caught up in some dumbass game of life and Death where I needed to use my wits to survive and I know what you're thinking... Yes I have wits.

But anyway that happened and you can find it all here: The Dying Game

after that I spent some more time just... Relaxing... Letting my injuries heal. Hiding because Nathan is undoubtedly still after me and I am really really not ready to fight that guy again... But anyway my wounds are healed, I've found a pretty safe place to hole up and nothing of interest has happened... OH WAIT NO RIGHT SOMETHING OF INCREDIBLE INTEREST HAS HAPPENED!

I found Sandy... Oh right and The Quiet is talking to me... Or I guess I should say The Vast Emptiness That Brings Peace or whatever that insistent phrase The Children used was.

Jack said it wasn't actually The Quiet, but I don't know what else it might be. Not yet anyway. I have some potential theories, but I can't really be sure just yet.

Anyway it's telling me that as the last remaining member of The Children I am de facto taking Zero's place as it's messenger. I told it it could go fuck itself. It didn't seem to hear me. It continues telling me to do things and telling me about people to go recruit. I'm ignoring it, however one of the people it mentioned was Sandy. It told me where she was so I went and found her. She was so happy to see me. She practically cried tears of joy. She is again a proud resident of my basement... Although I guess it's not my basement... This time it's actually hers. Apparently she got herself a little house and it's now my base of operations and I'm being nice and letting her stay here under our previous arrangements. The house is protected by "The Quiet" so, the birds won't find me here and I doubt Nathan will either, but who knows with that guy.

Why did I kidnap Sandy again? I don't really know.

Familiarity in troubling times I guess? Feels good to have her around again. Feels almost like I can just close my eyes and be back in my old house in my neighbourhood before everything got all complicated... Anyway I should go feed her... Bye for now.