Author's Notes:

Hey everyone I know some of you might be mad that this is a side story and not a real chapter but I promise it is vital to the story. Also people reading please comment below, tell me what i'm doing right or wrong. Review me if you like I love positive feedback

Strax tightened his grip on the sword he drew from the fallen guard. At this point, he had one goal set in his mind; find the ones who did this to his home. Making them pay would be a bonus, though. His heart was already getting heavy for sending young Quill away, but he knew it was the only option for the young child’s survival.

He said a silent prayer, looked forward with a determined expression in his eyes, and slithered towards the sounds of battle."Stone... your brother needs you... now, more than ever!" He took a deep breath and began moving forward. "And I will see to it that you be there for him!"

That was when he felt the first arrow go into his back. The immense feeling of agony in his back, along with a mix of severe nausea in his stomach, filled his senses as he spat out a mixed stream of blood and vomit. He looked down at the source of the additional pain in his abdomen... and saw the sharp tip of a wet green and red coated arrow coming from the center of it. "No... n-not here!" That was all he could get out as the second, third, and fourth arrows pierced through his back, and out his front. The last one ended up going straight through his heart, while the second and third pierced his lungs.

He dropped his sword and fell to the ground while holding himself up with his arms, and desperately gagging for air. His eyes opened widely, however, when he felt an all-too-familiar tremor on the sandy ground.

He slowly turned towards the gate and gasped in horror as the sight of an incoming sandstorm filled the distant desert landscape. He knew that Quill wouldn't be able to survive a storm like that all by himself.

The sound of nearby hoofsteps caught his attention. He turned back towards the city streets, only to find the guard that shot him walking towards another familiar sight in the distance... Yin and Yang.

The guard drew another arrow and lifted the bow towards his friends. Strax glared at the guard before gripping onto his sword again. He was already feeling the effects of the poison in the arrows taking their toll on his body... but he had one last shot to save his friends... and he surely wouldn't go down without a fight.

He let out a loud battle-cry that distracted the guard with the bow and arrow, and made him turn towards the Slithian. With all his might, Strax pierced the sword into the guard's chest and gripped him by the throat with his left hand.

"Tartarus... has a special place for traitors like YOU..." Strax was able to mumble those words before shoving the dying guard to the ground. Then his own vision began to get blurry as he fell to his hands once more.

He could barely see the doors to the Police Station open up, with a pair of guards dragging someone out of the building... but his vision was too blurry for him to make out who it was.

"Quill..." Strax whispered as the tears fell from his eyes, and left their small dots and streams on the sand. "...I'm sorry..."

His eyes closed one last time, and his chest quickly fell to the floor. The sounds of the battle, the screams of the people, and the distant hoofsteps all faded into nothingness, as darkness took over his consciousness. His breathing quickly ceased in the matter of seconds...

Then... he was gone.

He quickly opened his eyes and stood up with a worried expression on his face. His breathing was faster, and he tried feeling around his own body for anything off-putting.

Sure enough, he couldn't feel anything... not even the slightest flaw in his body!

He looked around, only to realize that there was nothing but endless desert around him. "H-hello?! Is... is anyone out there?!"

A sudden flash of light was all it took for him to fall backwards on the ground and cover his eyes with his left hand.

Then a deep, majestic voice called his name. "Strax Anguis... do not be afraid, for I am not your enemy."

Strax's eyes widened when a white-coated gargoyle with pure white bat-like wings, golden glowing eyes, and a spiked golden crown on his forehead, stepped out of the light.

"Where... where am I? Who are you? What's going on?!" Strax was worriedly asking the gargoyle.

The gargoyle walked up to him and held his right hand out. Strax took it and gasped when he saw a city in the distance... an all too familiar city... Sandstone City.

Strax quickly rushed towards the city while the gargoyle merely stood there and watched. Then, when Strax made it past the front gate, he saw that the streets were empty. Nobody was visible... except for one.

Strax gasped when he saw the Slithian lying in a puddle of dried blood in the center of the alleyway. Four arrows stuck out of his back, and his scale tone was, without a doubt, very familiar... he was looking at himself.

"N-no... no, this can't be happening! This can NOT be happening! I... I died?!" He fell to the ground and eyed the corpse with spectral tears falling from his eyes. They only fell halfway down before disappearing into thin air.

The gargoyle stepped out of the corner of an alleyway and walked up to Strax. Strax didn't even bother to avert his eyes from his own dead body. "Why am I here?"

The gargoyle rubbed his chin in thought before replying, "Normally, the spirits of the innocent would be taken to the Aether... my kingdom. You, however..." He knelt down to where his face was in front of Strax's. "You are one of the few exceptions."

"So... s-so I'm... I'm going to Tartarus, then?" A sudden feeling of overwhelming fear filled Strax's mind up, and caused his hands and his voice to tremble.

Thankfully, though, the gargoyle shook his head. "No. You still have business that you have to tend to in this world before you can truly enter my kingdom."

Strax sighed deeply before shaking his head. "I... I don't see what you mean."

"You are in denial... but Strax. Listen to me." Strax slowly looked up at the gargoyle's face. "You have not failed your task."

Strax dried his eyes before looking back down again. "W-what do you know, exactly?"

"Strax... Quill is alive."

The mention of his friend's name caused Strax to gasp. He looked up at the gargoyle and stood back up, but backed away slightly. "H-how do you... who are you?!"

The gargoyle stood back up and crossed his arms. "My name is King Scorpan. I am the one who rules the Aether... and I am also the one who controls the Nymphari."

Strax looked back at his body and sighed. "B-but... if Quill is alive, then... that means my job is done, doesn't it?"

Scorpan shook his head before replying, "No... not until Quill has fulfilled his own destiny. Until then, your destiny hasn't been fulfilled, yet."

"But... but Stone is his older brother! S-shouldn't he be the one who leads him to his destiny?!"

Scorpan shook his head once more before walking up to Strax again. "No, Strax... he will not be the one who leads Quill to his destiny. He has his own destiny to face."

Strax closed his eyes and looked down. "If... if not him, then who?"

"... You will."