Oh Hunter My Hunter

Amais's eyes opened, dazed, as he looked up and saw his saviour.

"E-Elentera?" he murmured in confusion as he sat up. She smiled, wiping her mouth.

"I believe I said I'd give you a date if I saw you alive the next time we met, but you weren't. Don't worry, though; I took the liberty of bringing you back to life," she whispered teasingly, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Her scarlet eyes reached his azure ones as he blushed. "I hope you don't mind being a vampire, though," she added, her teeth gleaming as she grinned at him.

"A vampire, am I?" Amais repeated, still disoriented. She nodded, then took his hand.

"It was the only way to bring you back from the dead. Now come on, I believe you owe me a date."

"Oh yeah, sure, let's go on a date," he said, bashful but happy. This was what he wanted, right? Nothing could ruin this. Surely.

But then he was falling.

The world faded to black. He should've expected this. He was dead, wasn't he? An endless void surrounded him as he wandered for a while in the darkness. Then, his foot splashed into liquid. A shudder ran through him as he looked down. Blood. His heart pounded. The scene was all too familiar. He saw them, the corpses. Every single one from that maze. They crawled toward him, and he couldn't escape but he tried; he ran.

But This was reality.

Even now he wasn't afraid of them, but of that thing. That terrible, terrible shadow.

Where was it?

Amais scanned the void, his pulse hammering in his ears. Blood filled the endless expanse, but the shadow was nowhere to be seen. Then, he noticed something static flickering at the edge of his vision. So, he looked up.

Two massive eyes of static loomed in the sky. Then a wide, jagged grin formed beneath them as the shadow manifested.

All faded to black, then it was there in front of him and all of a sudden the world was upside down, as he stared at his headless body.

He was dead.

Amais gasped, breathing heavily as his eyes fluttered open. Confused, he looked around. W-Was he inside a fruit? He laid in a carved-out portion of it. The entire thing was the size of a house, scorched with little breathing room thanks to the smoke. In the middle, a small hole looked like it had once been filled with liquid. Then he saw it, that smile. 

Fuck! he screamed inwardly as he stumbled back before the mask spoke.

"Calm down, Amais. It's me; I just got a mask now."

Tobi.

His voice was as candid as ever, his masked face unreadable. Amais blinked in confusion before regaining his breath, except... he didn't feel the need to breathe anymore. In fact, his entire body felt strange. Cold. He felt like a corpse. He looked at himself, confused.

Am I a vampire? he asked himself, then looked towards Tobi, confused.

"W-What's happening to me?" he asked, his voice laced with unease. He looked at Tobi, who simply pondered as if none of this was unusual and sighed, knowing this would be a long talk.

"Well, Amais, this is going to sound extremely confusing, but I believe you can handle it," Tobi said carefully, wondering how he would say this. Amais nodded, though he was scared and nervous.

"Okay," Amais said, preparing himself.

"You're dead," Tobi stated bluntly.

Huh.

Amais stared at him. They were talking, though. How could he be dead? He just needed to ask Tobi calmly and rationally.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN I'M DEAD?!" he yelled, and looked himself over. Welp so much for calmness. He cleared his throat and tried again. "So, um… what does that mean?"

Tobi sighed. "Alright, listen, Amais. That vial you drank contained something called Ichor, also known as the blood of the gods.."

Amai stiffened. That shadow...

"The blood of gods kills any mortal man that drinks it, but it also regenerates your body infinitely thanks to being the blood of well gods," Tobi continued. "That's why your body looks perfectly fine right now even after everything you had suffered."

Amais glanced down. His body did, in fact, look flawless; any scar or bruise he had before was gone. he even looked better, though he was as pale as a ghost.

"When I found you, you were already a corpse. I got you to the Ambrosia, which makes you immortal. So I gave it to you, and it brought you back but you're technically dead, but because your body regenerates infinitely, you're not a zombie; your body won't decay. You have the perks of being undead while also having regenerative abilities mixed with immortality."

Amais stared at him, horrified. "W-What do you mean I'm a corpse?! An immortal corpse?"

"I don't know the full extent; you'll have to find out yourself. But, essentially, yes," Tobi said frankly.

Amais ran a hand over his face. "W-What the hell? I didn't want to be immortal! Or dead! So what? C-Can I still feel pain and stuff?!" he asked, unsure, and was frustrated with it all. His heart? there was no pulse but he still felt alive. Well… mostly. He wasn't sure what he was now.

"W-Why did you make me like this? I-I didn't ask for this!" he demanded angrily.

"You wanted to date a vampire, right? Wouldn't it be unfair if she knew you for 100 years and then you just died? They're immortal, you know but, honestly, that's not the real reason. I saved you, Amais. I didn't want you to die."

He cares that much? And… he was right about Elentera. She is immortal too, being a vampire and all. Amais sighed.

"Still, I… No, never mind. I want to be alive. I'm glad; thank you for saving me," he admitted. Even after everything he endured, he wanted to live. "Still… how do I die now?" he asked, his voice laced with fear. He didn't want to be immortal and suffer this forever.

"Soul attacks can still kill you," 

"W-What the hell is that?!" Amais asked before shaking his head. "You know what? I don't care. Whatever. More importantly, am I stronger now?" he asked, curious. That was the whole point of their journey after all. Everything he had done came to this stupid tree for. For that stupid fruit.

Tobi nodded. "Oh, you're a lot stronger now, Amais. In fact, you're stronger than any human alive. You're undead, constantly walking the line between life and death. Your pain tolerance is much higher. Your body regenerates endlessly, meaning you can surpass human limits with zero consequence other than pain. And since you're dead, you no longer need to rest or use any vital functions, though thanks to your regeneration, you can still access them if you want."

Amais hesitated, then flushed. "W-Wait… does that mean I can't feel pleasure?" he asked, embarrassed.

Tobi shrugged. "If you can feel pain, you can feel pleasure. Want to test it?"

Before Amais could react, his hand caught on fire.

"Y-YOU ASSHOLE!" he screamed, but the flames disappeared almost instantly. The burn healed right before his eyes. Relief flooded him. He could still feel. And he healed almost immediately.

Then, a terrible thought struck him.

Can I still get hard?

Horrified, he glanced down, hoping to God he could. He didn't want to ask, but eventually, he did.

Tobi, as always, answered honestly. "Normally, no. But since your body regenerates constantly, it might still respond to stimulation even if it shouldn't. Right now, though, your body probably feels alien to you."

Amais simply nodded.

"Now, Amais, how did you die?" Tobi asked curiously.

Amais shuddered. The memories clawed at him. He felt a cold sweat, even if he couldn't or didn't need to sweat anymore, as he covered his face. He didn't want to remember not a thing; all of it was too much. Too much for him to bear.

But no. Not now.

I'm fine. he reassured himself.

He exhaled and uncovered his face. "It was nothing. Nothing at all."

Tobi nodded and Amais quickly changed the topic. "So I'm both dead and immortal… what am I?"

"You walk in and out of death constantly. You're undead. But if you want a name… you are now Amais Gravewalker. Or just the Gravewalker."

Amais laughed dryly.

Tobi, behind his mask, was a bit disappointed but shrugged. "I thought it was funny."

"So, uh… How'd we get here anyway?" Amais asked.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Tobi said casually.

It had been anything but easy, but it was Tobi and he was a hunter after all.