Flashback Lance hadn't been this happy in a long time. Even though hospitals gave him the creeps..he'd make an exception this time. He was standing by his wife's side, Ava, as she lay on the hospital bed, the sounds of machines beeping in the background as she prepared to give birth to their second child, a boy. It filled Lance with joy, their only one year old daughter, Ashley, in the waiting room with his sister. Two nurses walked about in the room, preparing for the delivery and such, and they were quite prepared when it happened. Lance stood by, his wife's hand in his as she pushed the baby out in a short amount of time, the nurses cutting the baby's umbilical cord while Lance leaned over and kissed Ava, a massive grin on his face as he was now a father to two kids. And that's, when everything went to Hell. The machines that had been beeping steadily now began to beep and blare incessantly, the heart rate monitor sounding like it was going to explode as his wife began to convulse and seize up. Before Lance could react, he was being pulled away by male and female nurses alike, dragged to the door. "Sir, sir you have to leave!" One female said, but Lance heard none of it. All he could hear, was the constant blaring of the machines, words like "haemorrhage" and "eclampsia" and all he could see..was his wife thrashing about. The love of his life.. she was going to die. Lance had no time to think about it, but he'd gotten the same feeling he'd had so many times before. The eerie approaching chill on his spine, the numbness of his thoughts..he was going to lose someone else. Lance fought and shoved through the personnel holding him back, sprinting to Ava's side and grasping her hand as she finally laid still..and her chest gave one final heave as her last breaths left her. Lance did nothing..simply squeezing her hand as Doctor's hands were everywhere, machines beeped but their efforts were futile. "Please..please don't leave me." Lance let out in a strangled cry to his already dead wife. Sobs and cries racked his chest as he let out a scream. A grief and sorrow, rage filled cry that echoed to the heavens, a plea. Why him? Why, must it always be him? ~~~ "Lance, you do know this is futile? You are signing a contract that will-" "Shut up." Lance uttered to the being across from him. To anyone else, Zeran would have them running for the hills. Dressed in an immaculate suit, it complimented his features nicely. His celestial, cosmic..divine features. His [url=https://imgur.com/a/JrnwB] body[/url] was translucent, like perfect glass, and it held..the cosmos. Nebulas, stars, Suns, the entirety of universe seemed to be contained in his form, swirling black holes and shining suns, stars that constantly died out only to be replaced with new ones, he was beautiful. And complex enough to drive someone mad. Zerax said nothing to Lance, simply pushing the piece of black paper with white, swirling script on it across the black table. In fact..everything around them was devoid of color. The floor, walls, ceiling, it was made of a swirling darkness that was contained behind an invisible boundary. They were practically standing in an abyss. "You do know that-" "Yes. I know. And I don't entirely care. She was everything to me." Lance said, the steel of a knife flashing through the air as he sliced open his palm and flicked it, sending his blood spattering across the paper. The writing almost hummed in agreement. "I hope you're aware of what you just signed Lance." "I read the fine print." Lance said dryly, disregarding Zeran's seemingly warning tone. Zeran simply shook his head, almost disappointed. Or..in pity. ~~~~ Present Day; Dojo Lawn. The sprawling hills of the Dojo was kinda nice, if Lance was being honest with himself. It made for a peaceful place to rest and stare at the sky, if you were into that sort of thing. [url=https://imgur.com/a/GyuSi]Lance [/url] lay on the side of one of the rolling hills, without his armor or even his swords. He simply wore a black t-shirt with a breast pocket, a Yin-yang symbol imprinted on the cloth, and black jeans. He wasn't the Ronin right now. Hands laced behind his head, chocolate brown hair tossed over his face..it was a beautiful day. He was a man who wanted to be alone with his thoughts...And so far, he was succeeding. (Open.)