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These two particular immortals are forth dimensionally conjoined twins turned to face away from each other such that they are blind to each other only fear and dangerous dreams keep the two connected they are hope and fear they are Cain and Abel they are The Oldest Battle.

The TV shimmers like heat haze the acid is good really good and his high is brilliant like the summer sun on your face. His name is Issac Belscus and his trip is about to show him something. The TV flickers the walls shift and the colors sing and he sits incredulous at how good this  acid is a low rumbling in the floor is the only thing that scares him and now its beginning to rise to a higher pitch and now he sees it the fields of war the armies of the light with their golden armor and their flying standards emblazoned with the sun and with his mark the wings of progress he is their general he is their king and he knows he’s flown too close to the sun Hannibal’s armies are monstrous the elephants crush the pike man his knowledge of greek fire is superior and he has the high ground and the sun sets on the blood of Macedonia. He has a tact however that will win him the day. Though his heart and honor may fail him in its completion he is their general and he is their king and he will see them through to the gates of the underworld and fight the armies of Pluto. The horses eyes are ablaze as are their masters the king of Macedonia armed with his speed and his spear rides against Hannibal in the last battle for the Kush and the wheels of the chariots are stars and the blades of the swords are waves on an ocean of night and the peel of the last clash is a supernova in his mind and for a moment he is issac again and for a moment he is there over the body of his enemy and Hannibal’s eyes don’t move burning with the passion of knowing that it was injustice that laid him low and Alexander steps away and sit back on his couch and cries.

Immortals are meant to forget it helps them stay sane after a thousand years or so of heartache and dirty painful existence. Issac just remembered he used to be Alexander the great now the pain of 200 years of war and lust and pointlessness all bear down on him as a tornado of misery and phantasmagoric flashbacks. His life is small and weak now the pain of unimportance echoes in an ancient warrior-god’s pride and the age he feels is worse than migraines and hangovers his job still waits looming in the future like a gash in time gnawing on his endless existence he needs alcohol but isn’t safe to drive the acid is still strong so he calls his friend Julius for aid the phone is ringing “ heey Julius its Isaac I need help I need you to go get me a bottle of jack Daniels and some starbursts im not safe to drive man” the phone clicks and Julius picks up “ man it’s three in the fucking morning get some sleep that’s what I was doing asshole” the phone clicks again Isaac calls back with tears in his eyes “ I, I’m losing it man I’m losing it I just want it to end im tired of this fucking rock I’m tired of this heart and these eyes dude please call me back” the phone click and Julius picks up “I’ll be right over don’t do anything you’ll regret” Isaac puts the phone down and the phone rings Isaac picks up the phone “I’m in no mood for a fucking telemarketer talk quickly” the voice on the other line is familiar but he can’t place it “death is an honest game Alexander but not one you get to play just yet not till I’ve had my fun.” the phone clicks and the anxt rolls over him like a tidal force the voice is not new but the memories are all pain and he is insufficient to try. 20 or so minutes later there is a knock on the door “I’m coming in Isaac don’t shoot me or cut me with that fucking sword kay.” Julius sets the bottle of jack daniels on the counter and hands Isaac the starbursts “feeling better?” Isaac looks up from the open pack of starbursts “yes but worse we need to get drunk.” Isaac gets up and walks into the kitchen for the shot glasses and pours two and shoots both then pours two more and hands one to Julius “what happened Isaac you look like hell” Isaac thinks for a minute as he pours himself another shot then speaks “ Well I used to be Alexander the great and now I’m reliving all of the worst moments of my former life in gorey detail” Julius cracks a smile “that really was some good acid huh.” Isaac looks at him now with a more drunken expression “yes yes it was but what I said was true and this guy knows it and he’s going to fuck with me till I die” Julius is now genuinely concerned for his friends mental health “dude I think we need to go to the hospital” Isaac looks at him disapprovingly “you took world history right?” “yeah.” says Julius “ well did you know that Alexander the great killed Hannibal with his own hands “no; so your saying you remember that?” Isaac responds with a severe look “*spoken in Macedonian*  I remember the fall of the Persians I remember the death of the only man I’ve ever loved I remember inventing war you  little (SHORT CANDLE ).” Julius looks wide-eyed “holy shit was that greek?” Isaac’s eyes soften “ no it was Macedonian its more its own language though they share lots of words and structure”  there’s a knock at the door and then a kick and the door shatters “Death is an honest game Able and you aren’t going to be playing it any time soon your friend however” the shots ring and instinct takes Isaac he leaps across the counter and the blood splatters warm on his face and he lands on Julius’s lifeless form and the memories take him.             
Only rain and blood and the smell of a fresh kill as the swords screech at the night as his hands move quickly and deftly threw the armies of Augustus Caesar he is no king he is no general he is barely a man in their eyes but they will fear him his blood runs hot hotter than it ever has before in two thousand years of life he is finally about to feel something new; defeat. In all ways he was defeated his hands and feet nailed to wood and he and his posted outside the gates of rome as a warning to those who dare cross Augustus now Octavius and he is dieing. Dieing the death he feels he deserves and as he dies a centurion approaches him and speaks “how goes it great general of slaves and whores?” from his high place he spits his last blood at the centurion “ah good the victory is complete. You have no honor and I am ablaze with pride and glory now oh immortal victim die.” and with that the arrow peirces him and he wakes sputtering on the floor of his appartment the police all around him on top of his headless best friend “*spoken in greek* death will not take me I am not the victim I am the victorious!” an EMT checks his vitals which are fine he was shot in the leg and in the chest “he’s delirious. Get a stretcher.”  he is lifted on to the stretcher and carried to an ambulance “Your going to be fine sir. Stay calm.” as they drive in the ambulance Isaac sleeps fitfully the dreams are of stories he half knows and the smell of a fresh kill as he wake in a hospital bed he sees a woman sitting at his side looking in his eyes with the oddest expression he has seen in recent memory “Hi your alive im glad your ok my name is Adrianna” he shifts in his bed “ hello Adrianna my name is Isaac why were you making that face?” she giggles “ I made that face so you would wake up I knew if it wasn’t as awkward as possible it would take forever.”  he raises an eyebrow “ is that how it works?” she nods and hands him a cheese croissant “time works that way with people if it doesn’t hurt then it just drags on and on.” he laughs “ that’s rather pessimistic ““but its true isn’t that right Alexander?”   his eyes widen “don’t worry I’m not here to kill you I’m your friend I’m here to tell you about who your dealing with” he sinks back in the bed “it’s your brother he’s trying to break your connection he wants to die.” his eyes are pained and he speaks shallow and on the verge of tears “life is a gift why would he want to throw it away” “because unlike you he still remembers everything.” his eyes widen “everything?” “he has spent the last 200 years looking for you when you ran away to America he was left with no way to purge the memories” he raises one eyebrow “ so your saying he wants me to kill him.” “no im saying he wants to kill the both of you to end the cycle forever” his eyes widen “I have to leave.” “what? Why?” “because he killed my friend and he’s a 20,000 year old master strategist who knows the next five things that are going to happen to me including those things that I’m going to willingly do” “So? Do you think he set a trap?” “I know he set a trap. Its on its way right now.” her eyes widen “what do we do?” “we need to leave the hospital.” “but you’ve been shot?” “ yes but it will heal with or without them. Now either get me a wheel chair or watch my femur splinter as I try to stand up. Id prefer the first option.” she walks quickly out of the room and comes back in with a wheelchair and helps him into it she wheels him down the hall trying to look inconspicuous a doctor approaches them “he’s the start of the trap he’s got to get me back to the room; run! She moves with suprising speed and he feels his leg shift in three pieces and groans she moves well and deftly and takes turns well several nurses try to stop her but they fall by the way side they slam into the elevator and he groans “go to the service exit not the lobby. If you see the police run ok?” “why?” “well he knows their coming to talk to me about the murder. Their his back-up plan. We have to either get out of the city or find an army.” she smiles “I have that covered we’re going to The Six Warlords.” “The club? What good will that do us?” “Friends in violent places. Your army awaits Alexander.” “call me Isaac for the love of god. Im not Alexander. every time you say that name I want to stab my eyes out with a red hot poker.” “Fine I won’t but don’t disappoint the six warlords or we’re doomed.” “oh if I have a mere six men at my side six warlords will kneel or be laid low” “that’s the spirit.” 

The music pulses and shivers the Djs run wild and the crowd is loving every minute of it the wheelchair squeeks and clanks on the stairs “fucking wheelchair accessibility is that so much to ask?” Isaac gasps on the pavement “nothing about this building is to code because they pay the inspectors and the city hell they could pay off the feds for all I know. They see it as a status symbol” “well I see it as a pain in my ass” he says as adrianna drags him up the stairs and flops him in the chair “ OW! Literally.” the music thrums with the new and fashionable and the words don’t matter and the sex is in the air “when we go in we can’t talk till we reach the warlords offices. Anything you need to tell me” he thinks “not that I know of. I’m sure I’ll think of something as soon as I can’t tell you “ she laughs “yea I figured.” she pushes him inside and the music is a change of state like being 2000 feet under water and the moves of the crowd are a flurry and a dank cramped idea of what It means to be cool. They pick their way through the crowd and make their way to the stairs Adrianna motions that she’s going to get help getting him up the stairs Isaac motions to the bar she nods and walks up the steps he rolls behind the steps and waits  a girl aproaches him and sits in his lap with a thud the pain almost makes him pass out he screams but the noise is silence in this other world of music she smiles at him and pulls out a syringe he punches her in the face and she stick the needle in his leg the pain subsides and the illusions are strong now the club is a palace in ancient china is an orgy in rome is a ball he went to in the dark ages and there is a blue whale swimming through the ceiling which he doesn’t read much into she punches him as hard as she can which isn’t hard right in the jaw which snaps him out of it some as he grabs her hand and twists dislocating her wrist and yanking on her nerves like a puppeteer he remembers doing this to many lovers who wouldn’t accede to his dark fantasies he smacks her elbow and she falls unconscious  to the ground and the scene resumes the old parties and old lovers fall to the way side in favor of a sea of ideas one calls to him and grows dark and heavy “I will find you lacking.” adrianna shakes him and he wakes she motions to the girl he shakes his head she motions to the large asian man and he lifts up the semi-conscious immortal and caries him up the stairs and down a hall way into the dead queit office space he sets him down in the middle of a large meeting area with six men in suits surrounding him each with a different expression the man with mirthful smile speaks first “so you are Sun Tzu?” Isaac smiles a wicked smile “Sun Tzu begged for death when I cut his wife’s head off I gave it to him with a smile.” the man with the mirthful smile grimaces and the bursts out laughing “*spoken in an old hunan dialect* who do you think you are old cripple!” “*spoken in ancient kantonese* I razed your homes to the ground you called me the yellow jade emperor for a time before I found the Buddha I am the fear in your heart that one day your new kingdom will come to a bloody end I am the bodhisattva of war.” all six of the warlords laugh ecstatically and nervously and all speak at once “*in their respective pre-Chinese dialects we wouldn’t expect anything less!”
(end of chapter one)