When Jacob opened his eyes, he found himself in familiar infinite dark expanse. Jacob sighed to himself and sat up off the ground, looking at his arm. His mark was gone once again.

"If you’re going to talk to me, can you just get it over with? I don’t feel like talking to a dark skull that defies logic and reason."

A low vibration shook the surface below him. Suddenly, a figure started walking towards him. It was similar to the cloaked figures that he had seen before. However, the skull seemed to be completely white instead of black. Jacob took a step back seeing it approach.

"What the hell are you?!"

The figure stopped in its tracks.

"You don’t know who I am, but I know who you are, Jacob Vice."

The skulls mouth never moved as it spoke. It was as if the words were being planted inside his head.

"This power you have unlocked is dangerous. If I were you, I would suggest trying to get rid of it."

Jacob looked at the figure dumbstruck.

"Are you kidding me? I just got this power and now you want me to give it away? Go to hell, skeleton."

"You have no idea who gave you that power."

Jacob paled.

"So, someone really did give me a power. Does that mean everyone else got their powers from someone else?"

"You are correct. The person who is giving these powers away is a witch that should never be trusted. This power is just a trick. She’s going to wait for you to rely on it took much before she kills you."

"You are so confident about knowing seemingly everything for being a stupid tattoo. And no offense, but I can’t really trust anyone right now. I currently have a bad reputation with that."

"It is your choice whether you want to trust me, but if you continue relying on this power, it will be your downfall."

Jacob scratched his head.

"Wow. Because controlling plants is such a threat in today’s world. How will I ever survive?!"

The skull remained silent.

"Is that all you came to warn me about or was there something else?"

"You saw my followers recently. Why did you not go with them?"

"You mean those creepy guys with the masks that match my mark? Sorry, but I think you need to work on your recruiting skills. I didn’t want to go with the people who wear outfits that match something I am desperately trying to escape."

"Ahh. You are resisting its presence, just like those similar to you. How comical."

"Why is it funny?"

"By trying to escape this mark, you are trying to escape a destiny you can never avoid. No matter how you change your life now, destiny does not care what you do in the present. It simply waits for you in the future."

"Oh yeah, I forgot you just spew random philosophy at me every now and then. Can I wake up now?"

"You are almost out of time, Jacob."

Jacob’s heart dropped a bit. He was getting tired of talking with a skeleton, but his curiosity had suddenly sparked.

"What do you mean I’m almost out of time?"

"The end is coming. You are destined to witness it to its very conclusion. Have you ever wondered what those runes on your arm are? Maybe you’ve wondered why they constantly seem to be changing."

Jacob suddenly thought of a few questions he needed answers to. The skull was right. He never gave the runes much thought, but he was deathly curious as to what they said and why they moved. He was also curious why only people with a power can see the marks. He felt like slapping himself in the face for wanting to wake up already. He could try and rip as many answers out of this strange skeleton as much as he could before then.

"What do those symbols mean? Why are they constantly changing?"

A cold air passed through the dark expanse around them.

"Those runes represent time. The mark on your arm is a timer, counting down by the second to calamities arrival."

Jacob felt like passing out. The answer was so obvious that he was upset at himself for not thinking of it sooner.

"You mean I’m just a ticking timebomb?! What will happen to me when the timer reaches zero?"

"That, I do not know the answer to. Never in the history of humanity has a calamity of this scale ever appeared. However, if your destiny is as true as your mark labels you, it is safe to assume you will survive the initial apocalypse... or perhaps all of it."

"How much time do I have left? Is there a way I can find out?"

"Again, that is something I am unaware of. However, if you were marked, it’s safe to assume that it will happen within your lifetime."

Jacob hated the idea of having a timer counting down the entire worlds demise resting on his arm. The entire thing made him sick to his stomach with anxiety. However, there was nothing he could do to change it, nothing he could do to stop it. The only thing he could do was prepare his best for it.

"Why can only people with powers see this marking? And why do they almost die when they so much as look at it?"

"Hm. My followers call people who can view the symbol Makt’s. As you said, they possess an inhuman ability of some sort like you have just received. It has to do with the nature of your mark. The person who marked you, and the person who rules over all Epigone’s of Calamity, is someone born to threaten her power. I cannot reveal the nature of his power to you, or I may be destroyed as punishment. However, I am allowed to say that he is one of three people of the Profane Trio, as you call them. His name is Garno."

Jacob’s head hurt from all the revealing information. He was marked by none other than one of the Profane Trio themselves, and so was Maria. His mind wandered back to the moment he sucked into that vortex, sending a chill down his spine.

"As for why people feel as if they gazed upon death when they view it, that is because staring at the mark causes that person’s ability to be completely disabled. Not just disabled, the mark tries to feed on its presence to power itself for whatever is coming. Therefore, whoever gazes at the mark is getting a part of their being eaten alive."

Jacob thought back to how his own father reacted to seeing the mark. It all made complete sense why everyone in the room reacted the way they did. Jacob remembered something that the skeleton said.

"You keep calling those people with masks your followers, but you also said someone else marked me. Are you not the boss, then?"

The skull remained silent.

"Our time is up. You must wake up now. Next time, just call me Skelly to make it easier to talk with me. I know my appearance is not gentle."

Jacob started running towards the skeleton.

"Wait! You can’t just leave me here! Answer my question!"

Skelly seemed to slowly disappear into the nothingness around him. Jacob slammed his fist on the ground in anger.

"Damn you."

Slowly, he woke up to find Maria laying across his torso, using him as a makeshift mattress.