Chapter Four
After six hours of walking, I finally couldn't take another step. The cave ended in a dead end, with no other way to go. I must almost be there, right? I held the instructions up to an illuminated gem on the cave wall to read Kugel's tiny, feminine handwriting. It was just one the many, strange glowing crystals covering the walls.
It simply said, "Jump in the water." What the heck?! The writing stopped there. I turned over the paper, but only the instructions I had read before were there. The water must be freezing flipping cold! I glanced over at the rushing waters that churned and frothed to the right of me. Oh crap. Praying that Kugelmugel was right about this, I grabbed my backpack, put the instructions in it, and jumped in the raging river.
The first thing I felt was warmth. It was very warm in the water. I opened my eyes for a second, but all I could see was black. I got the sensation of flipping underwater and there was also a feeling of rising and falling at the same time. I spun through the water at dizzying speeds, then burst out of the water.
I was in a room that had gold covering the floor. What the heck? How was this possible? I had learned by now not to question what was going on. The room was empty besides the items strewn about. I wandered around the room. It was oblong, with a tunnel on one end of it. Behind me was a deep, steaming pool of aqua water. Torches lined the walls, making the rooms illuminated with a ghostly golden glow.
"Hello? Is anybody there?" I asked. There was deathly silence. "Hello?" my voice echoed off the walls.
I heard a voice behind me. "What do you want?" The voice was raspy and harsh. I spun around. A women, maybe twenty, was standing behind me. She has dark blue skin that was clear near the hands and feet so I could see the cave behind her. White and silver spots of light covered her body that looked like stars. She had large antlers on her head, and piercing yellow eyes.
"I'm looking for my friend. Kugelmugel? He came here a little over a month ago." She rolled her topaz eyes. "Oh, him?" She gestured with her hand lazily. "What's left of him should be over there." She pointed her slender hand at a corner of the room by the tunnel. I raced over to where she was pointing. I saw a tattered white sleeve peeking out from under the gold coins.
Desperately, I shifted through the metal, looking for a sign, any sign. His white shirt was there, along with his favorite paintbrush, broken in half. I held it to my chest, bent over in sadness. I gently touched one if the splintered ends, sobbing silently. Kugelmugel would never let anyone touch his paintbrush, let alone break it. I searched through the coins more frantically through my tears, hoping to find some evidence that my little flower was alright.
My fingers closed around something cold, smooth, and waxy. I played with it for a while under the mountain of coins. I felt something metal and round around the candle like object, so I brought the object up to my face to examine it. And then screamed. I dropped it immediately and scrambled backwards, shaking. It was Kugelmugel's left ring finger. I know that because his promise ring was still on it.
"Would you keep it down over there?" Asked the demon, who was lazily picking her teeth as she lounged on a pile of gleaming gold. "What did you do to him?!" I yelled. The demon sighed. "It wasn't me, it was Algol." "Where is Kugelmugel?!" I demon shrugged. "I don't know. He's probably dead, but if by off chance he's still alive somewhere, he would be in one of the rooms down the tunnel." I swallowed. Gritting my teeth, I inched my hand over to the bloody finger. I quickly slipped off the ring and put it in my pocket.
I glanced down the dark hall, wondering if Kugelmugel was really okay somewhere. I ran into the tunnel, swinging my backpack onto my back. I was really hysterical, breathing heavily and trying not to freak out. The walls were scorched with what looked like fire, and the floors were covered with ash and random gold coins and gems.
On the floor were drops of blood. Some of the drops looked dried, like they'd been there for a long time. Other ones were more fresh, to my horror. I tried to ignore them, but I kept picturing my baby injured and being dragged down this awful hall, screaming in pain. This made me cry again, and I wiped the tears out of my eyes as I ran down that tunnel. Omigosh, why did I ever let him leave?! I should have known that he was going to get hurt. I should have got here faster. I should have realized that I loved him before he left. I might never get to tell him how I felt. He might be dead. My flower might be dead.
I saw bars on the walls that were like prison cells. Each one I passed was empty, but occasionally there was a skeleton in one of them. Kugelmugel, my flower, my flower. I called his name as loud as I could. "KUGELMUGEL! WHERE ARE YOU?!" I listened for a minute. When there was no response, I kept running and then stopped to yell his name again. I waited and listened, and I was about to give up hope before I heard a small noise. I called Kugel's name again, walking forward slowly. The tunnel branched off into two seemingly endless passages. To the left, I heard a harsh, raspy voice. "Ladonia-kun!" I ran, looking in all of the cells. "Kugelmugel, is that you?!" I yelled. "Lado…..nia...kun…." The voice was getting weaker. It was very close. I ran to each cell and looked in, my footsteps loud on the cold, ashy rock.
I glanced in a cell to the right of me and saw a flash of color. "Kugel!" I ran to the cell, banging at the bars. I noticed a door leading into the cell. "Wait a minute, I'm going to get you out of there!" The door didn't have a lock. Kugelmugel croaked out, "You can…. come….. in, but…. you can't….. leave…..."
I pushed open the door slowly. It was made of something very heavy, and it took a lot of effort to move it. So that it didn't close, I pushed a rock in between the frame and the door. I ran over to Kugelmugel and clutched his hands.
He wasn't wearing a shirt, and I could see his ribs. His beautiful purple eyes had dark shadows under them, and had a haunted look to them. His arms were shackled and chained to the wall. His braids were undone and what was left of his pants were torn up and scuffed. I couldn't help but notice the bloody stump where his left ring finger used to be. He looked like he had lost all hope. This wasn't Kugelmugel. This was a shell of Kugelmugel. I was overwhelmed with anger. Why would they do this to him?!
I leaned close and wrapped my arms around his neck. "La...do...ni...a…..kun…." He groaned. I kissed his face, his neck, his chest; whispering his name over and over again. He had cuts and scratches all over his pale skin; I kissed them all the same; as if I could heal them with my lips somehow. "I love you, I love you, I love you." I ran my hands through his white hair and over his smooth chest. My hands came to a stop on his hips.
"What did they do to you?!" I said, sobbing. I clung to him, my arms wrapped around his delicate body.
I cried into his shoulder, clutching at a shirt that wasn't there. It was only when I felt a drop hit my head that I realized Kugelmugel was crying. "I'm so selfish." He sobbed. I clutched his tear-stained face. I had only seen him cry once before, and that was when I had hurt his feelings. When I started this whole mess. This was all my fault. It was my fault that he had gotten hurt and was here in my arms, almost dying. I shook my head and realized that I was crying as well.
"No, don't say that. I'm the selfish one. I'm so sorry…"
"You don't understand." said Kugel. "I should have told you to run the moment I saw you. Now that you're here, it's just a matter of time before they come and find you." I blinked in surprise.
"What do you mean?" I asked. Kugel took a shaky breath, a tear trail on his grimy face.
"I'm so sorry, I just wanted to touch you one last time. I'm so selfish, I'm so selfish." I put my hand on Leo's cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned his cold face against my palm.
"I was hoping you would just forget about me…. let me die here…" said Kugel quietly. He shook his head sadly.
"It turns out that my most prized possession wasn't my paintbrush or my ring, although they took them anyway." Kugelmugel clenched his left fist, causing a little bit of blood to squeeze out of the scab over his severed flesh.
A feeling of dread overwhelmed my heart. "Then…. what is it?" Another tear trailed down Kugel's face, running over my fingers. What he said next nearly stopped my heart.
"My memories of you." Kugelmugel turned his head, causing my hand to be knocked off.
"Why do they need me here to take the memories, though?" I asked.
"They don't. They just wanted to see your face when my memories of you are obliterated." I wrapped my arms around Kugel's waist.
"My poor little flower. You're not selfish. I don't care what happens, I just wanted to see you." I whispered. Kugel coughed violently, and blood trickled out of his mouth. I took my fingers and wiped it away so that I could kiss him.
"I love you, my flower." I said, choking up. Kugelmugel leaned forward and weakly kissed me back.
"Say it again." he said gently.
"I love you." I said quietly into his neck.
"I love hearing you say that." said Kugelmugel.
"Do you love me back?" I asked.
"I love you so much. I always have. When I'm with you, it's like I'm in heaven." Kugelmugel responded.
"Let's enjoy these last moments." I said. Kugelmugel sighed.
"It's too late, I can hear him coming." Kugelmugel squinted his eyes shut and shivered. I heard light footsteps pattering down the tunnel. What did this monster look like? How old was he?
"He finally showed, heeheehee!" I looked over to the door, where a little boy stood, a creepy smile on his face and a blood-crusted knife in his hand. He had wide, psychotic orange eyes and his transparent form was shaded like the sunset with speckled of gold. He had tiny antlers just beginning to grow, and piercings on his pointed, elf-like ears.
He closed his eyes, and while they where closed he was taller, more muscular, and had a giant rack of antlers. The demon opened his eyes, and he turned young again. Whenever he blinked, his older form showed.
"Looks like you finally showed, heeheehee." He said, grinning. It was not a friendly smile. He tilted his head. "Shall I take you somewhere with other demons, heeheehee?"
Kugel shook his head, shivering. The demon staggered forward, and turned to his adult form. He broke the chains on Kugelmugel's hands and grabbed him roughly by his hair. He cried out in pain, but was too weakened to do anything to fight back. I stood still as the demon, presumably Algol, handcuffed me. He grabbed the chain I was connected to and pulled Kugelmugel and I down the hall, Kugelmugel limp and dragged on the ground, moaning a bit when his body went over a sharp rock, leaving a trail of blood behind him. I wanted to pick him up and carry him, but Algol was keeping me on a short leash, so I could only walk an inch closer before the chain stopped me.
"Kugel!" I yelled. "Stay awake, you have to stay awake!" Kugel opened his clear eyes and gave me an expression that ripped out my heart. "D- don't... die... Please... you have to stay alive." I said, trying not to cry again. I had to be strong. For Kugel. I saw a purple light up ahead and knew our journey was almost over. Kugelmugel's face was covered with pain, fear, and tears.
We came into the room, where many beautiful demons sat on thrones of coins, gems, and fruits. Their eyes followed us as we came into the room. I saw the female demon from earlier to the right of me. She gave me a weak smile for some reason. As I passed her, she whispered into my ear, "I'm sorry. We would help you, but Algol is the demon prince, and there's nothing we can do."
Algol came to a stop in the middle of the room. "Witness before you the ugly, weak race of the humans. Watch as I erase this insolent human's memories." He kicked Kugel's stomach very hard, right where he already had a giant bruise. The limp Kugelmugel gave a small, weak noise, not even opening his eyes.
"A final goodbye, hmmm?" Algol loosened my chains and I ran over to Kugel. I felt his face, his hair, his lips. "Kugel, my flower. My broken flower." I slipped the ring on Kugel's right ring finger. I kissed him. "I love you."
"Let's go! Come on, hurry up already!" Algol yelled. He pulled me back, and I struggled against the chains, but it was no use.
"Don't look away from my eyes!" I yelled. Kugelmugel's pained eyes met mine. Tears were welled in them, glittering one hundred times prettier than the diamonds around us. The dirt and ash and scarlet blood on Kugelmugel's body made him even more beautiful to me. We kept our gazes together as Algol strided forward and put his fingers to Leo's forehead. Kugelmugel screamed in pain, never breaking our eye contact. "I love you, I love you, I love you." Kugel whispered over and over again. Kugel began to close his eyelids.
"No!" I yelled. "You have to keep them open!"
"I love you, I love you." said Kugel with his eyes closed. Algol laughed maniacally.
"I love you too, my flower." I said quietly. As the last of Kugel's memories were taken away, Kugel whispered, "I'm sorry."
Then everything went black.