Oh crap…

A burst of laughter escapes me as I cling to the walls of the corridors of the mansion, trying to cautiously make my way down the stairs and into the foyer. I had waaaaay too much to drink.

When Leon left, Huedhaut brought in some of his own alcohol and kindly shared it amongst everyone. And I just so happened to drink way more than I could handle. And no one mentioned till afterwards the alcohol made by the gods is much stronger than what humans drink for alochol.

But as I make it to the foyer for a breath of fresh air and return home, I get a smell of something pleasant.

"Whoa…whoa..." I weirdly stick my hands out as if to balance myself, I carefully scan the room as I sniff the air. "Is that perfume?"

I begin to follow the scent, and I find myself in front of Leon's mysterious door. I glare at the door for a moment, before pointing my finger at it. "Now why would a door be wearing perfume?"

Then I come to notice the door is open a crack and I gasp dramatically, remembering that Teorus mentioning how scary it is and my mind wonders to the most nightmarish things imaginable.

When I turn my back to leave, Leon emerges from the door.

"What's wrong?" Leon says with his arrogant smile.

"L-Leon!" I jump back. "I-I was just leaving, your door smells really good, I wasn't going to peek, I swear!"

At first confused by my words, Leon leans in close. "Do you want to know what's behind that door?"

"Uh...well…to be honest, yes. Mostly because since I was told it was off limits that only makes me more curious." I blurt out, as my slightly drunken mind doesn't hold back.

Leon softly laughs. "The mark faded more after I granted that woman's wish. And so, as a reward I'll allow you to see inside."

"Really?" I find myself over excited, which I would never show if I was just regular sober me.

"Come on. Quickly." He says, disappearing into the room, on the other side of the door.

"This is a trap, isn't it? Why would he invite me in if any of the other gods aren't allowed?" I end up muttering under my breath what I'm thinking. "Well…I can't disobey his orders." I take a deep breath and walk through the door.

Once I step through I'm taken to is something I never would have expected to see.

"Oh…my god." I breathlessly say. "It's absolutely beautiful."

I take a few steps through the luscious green grass, with patches of different types of flowers as I'm mesmerized by the shimmering lake view in the distance. A gust of wind combs through my hair as I'm beginning to sober up, breathing in such refine air.

I turn to face Leon. "What is this place?"

"What do you mean? This is Earth." He says.

Smiling, I shake my head. "No way…seriously?"

Leon laughs at my surprise. "You don't believe me?"

"It's not that…I just can't wrap my head around this. I guess growing up in a city for so long, I almost forgot places like this existed. It's heavenly."

"So…even a human, like you, can appreciate the beauty of this place."

"Well duh!" I shout. "Is…everywhere this beautiful where you're from? Like in the heavens?" I ask curiously.

In a slow blink, as if he's thinking about the heavens, he explains to me. "The heavens, everything is peaceful and pleasant the air, and plants…but of all the places on this foul, disgusting planet, this right here, is where I feel the most at peace."

Watching Leon's face, I come to notice he wears an expression I've never seen him with before.

"And all this time I thought you hated earth." I say.

"I don't like earth, but I find this place to be different." He says calmly. "It's as beautiful as the heavens. And I come here sometimes when it feels like my powers are getting out of hand."

Concerned, I ask. "Your power?"

He sighs, looking as worried as I am. "If I unleash my full power, I wouldn't be able to control it. I have to relax and reflect to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Huh…I would never would have guessed, Leon." I say, and then turn back to the scenery. "Well, it's a really soothing, beautiful scene to look at." I laugh and nudge my elbow into his arm, playfully. "Still kind of hard to believe you like a place on earth."

"This place is unusually beautiful…for earth that is." He begins to slowly walk through the grass and I follow as he continues to speak. "I'm already incomparable to the other gods in terms of power. Coming here probably just serves to separate me from the even more."

I stop in my tracks as I hear those last words.

Leon stops, but his face is glued to the scenery ahead.

As I look at his face under the moonlight, I start to understand him more.

He is feared yet trusted by those around him. And with is power and position I can see it makes it to be very lonely for him...

Leon never once struck me as the type to feel lonely.

I might not be an almighty, powerful god, who is feared by others, but I do know how it feels. There was a point in my life I was in a position of loneliness, but that changed when I chose to just be alone. But I need to push all that away for now and focus on Leon.

However, I keep my thoughts to myself.

"There's a place in the heavens that resembles paradise just like this place does. The two spots are so similar, it's like they're connected. It used to be that Earth was just as beautiful as the heavens, because originally, the two were one." Leon pauses for a moment.

I feel hopeful and warm as I hear Leon speak with such knowledge.

"But then the burden of negative emotions like human greed and jealousy, people's feelings of inferiority, all of that began to pollute the earth." Leon's attitude changes back into the arrogance I know all to well when he throws that truth at me, as if he's trying to rub it in my face.

Leon continues. "It's up to each individual to realize their negativity is a problem and decide to do something about it."

"So, you're saying that if our hearts were purer, earth would become this beautiful place as well…" I mumble, as I think about his words carefully.

As if that would ever happen…

"Makes me really want to see what this co called 'heavens' looks like someday." I wonder out loud.

"A human who wants to see the heavens…how presumptuous can you get?" Leon mocks me.

I laugh at his remark. Beforehand I would have been irritated or said some snarky comment back to him. But having this conversation, and being in this beautiful place with Leon, something feels different.

We both stare out towards the view, and I remember my reasoning for coming to the mansion in the first place. Without even turning my gaze to Leon I calmly say. "Leon…Thank you for granting Emily's wish yesterday."

Leon wastes no time to say something back. Typical. "I was only doing my job. I'm not interested in what happened to that human afterwards."

I sigh. "I know, I know…but you came through in the end, it's funny that I realize how I was more set on wanting Emily's wish to come true as much as she did." I bashfully fidget my hands.

From the corner of my eyes I see a shift in Leon's stance and when I turn to look up at him, Leon is staring at me, wide-eyed.

"What?" He says.

"Well…Emily is a good friend, a hard worker, and I care. I want her to be happy. That's all."

Leon doesn't say a word, and now gazes at me with kind eyes.

"Let me ask you something serious Leon." I breath, fully prepared of what his answer may be. "Haven't you ever loved…or been loved?"

I wasn't sure what made me ask that. Even though Leon's made it clear how he feels about love, but it makes me want to know why.

He laughs quietly, lightly shaking his head. "No, and I…" He stops speaking.

I tilt my head in confusion, thinking for a second it seems like he was going to say something else. "And you…what?" I lean in slightly closer, wanting to hear the rest.

His sharp eyes focus on mine. "…and I never will."

I snap back, not overly surprised by the response but was expecting something smugger. "Oh…"

"You see, love is like a drug" Leon faces away, his focus on the night sky above. He speaks slowly, choosing his words carefully as if he's talking to himself. Convincing himself. "Love…it drives both human and gods to insanity. It leads people to a path of destruction, and I've seen it happen to many, many people in my life."

I can't help but listen to his view and opinion. It's not like before where flat out insulted any idea of love, but this time he's being open about it, as to why.

"You can try to distract yourself from sadness with love, but it's useless. The only thing worth anything is your own power."

I can feel my expression sadden. "Leon…"

Now I get it. That's why he holds himself so up high and says things along the lines of 'bow-down before power'.

It only makes me wonder what happened to Leon that would make him think this way.

"You'll never understand…but whether you understand or not doesn't matter to me." He says, almost mumbling the words.

"You have no idea, how much I do understand though." I say with a smile.

"What?"

"Well, I'm sure as a god you've witnessed different humans in your life time, unlike me who hasn't and has chosen not to." I breath. "So, for me to stand here and be so presumptuous about love…"

"I thought you said you believe in love."

"I do…a little bit." I small smile appears on my face as I think back to that photograph I keep hidden under my pillow. "But…I understand that it's stupid to distract yourself from sadness and anger with love."

Leon doesn't say a word, but listens to me speak.

"I realize that I've never thought too deeply about the concept of love, ever." I laugh sheepishly. "I've never experienced love, never gave it chance, didn't want too thinking it was a waste of time. My opinion isn't so off from yours to be honest, I just didn't want to give you the satisfactory of being right. But the part of me that does believe in love, is from witnessing other people commit to it." I tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear as I think about my next words. "You said that we humans are weak and fragile, you're not wrong but this thing called love is what can make us strong, keep us moving, keep us living."

Leon stares at me when shock. "So, you admit that you're weak?"

I play a confident grin. "Hey, I'm not totally weak. But…yeah it's true." I shrug, with another sigh. "Loving, being loved, or whatever, it can make a person stronger, is they so choose to use love as their motivation."

"Possess love and grow stronger…" Leon whispers then revealing is usual smirk. "Humans really are presumptuous."

I raise my hands in defeat. "Yeah, but what can you do if its how someone feels."

"Are you always this straight forward?" He asks. "You're not falling for me are you?"

I burst into a loud laugh. "Excuse me?"

"I see, you're trying to get on my good side." He snickers. You're going to have to try a lot harder than that."

"Are you kidding me? I would never fall for—" As I take a few steps away from Leon, there's a strong gust of wind and I feel myself trip over my own two feet, causing me to fall backwards.

Leon reaches out, pulling me by the arm, pressing me up against his chest, protectively.

There's silence then a gust of wind whipping around us. Afterwards, there's a few more seconds of silence before I lift my head.

"Um…thank you, Leon." I say quietly.

"It would be a pain to deal with if I let you fall and you got hurt or something." He says.

I give a pouting, irritated look, that Leon smirks at, and I notice that he doesn't let go of me right away.

Weird… I think, as I wait for the arrogant comment about lowly humans from Leon that never comes.

We stand as we are, Leon holding me in his embrace. I can feel the warmth of his touch and the heat radiating off his body. Or perhaps it's my own embarrassment that's causing the heat. However, not one of us moves as we gaze out towards the beautiful scenery not one of us saying a single word.

Minutes go by, and Leon and myself finally emerge from the room, returning to the foyer. Again, not one of us says anything as Leon returns to his chambers, leaving me alone.

Yup, that was definitely weird…

I try to shake off the butterflies in my stomach as I tell myself it was nothing. But my racing mile a minute heart begs to differ.

"Abbey." A voice calls.

I jump and spin. "Whoa!"

I see Karno, coming down the stairs.

"O-oh Karno, you scared me." I say with a laugh, but then realize something. "Oh my god, I'm sorry, I totally left the party you were so kind of enough to throw for me without letting anyone know."

Karno chuckles. "Don't worry about it. You were getting pretty drunk, were you able to sober up a bit."

"Yeah I think so." I say.

Karno then looks serious. "You…didn't happen to go through that door, did you?"

I look at Karno then at the door, then back at Karno. "I mean…Leon was the one who invited me inside, so…" I nervously say as if I'm a child who is about to be put on a time-out.

Karno looks away. "He did, did he?" He ponders for a moment. "Interesting, Leon has never let anyone through that door before."

I raise an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"It goes without saying that no one from the Department of Punishments has been, but has never even invited anyone from the Department is Wishes."

"No way, not even you Karno? His trusty, loyal vice-minister?"

"And you're a human at that…" Karno says, ignoring my last comment.

I shrug. "I'm sure it means nothing. Maybe he thought I was so drunk that I wouldn't remember the next day, and wouldn't bring it up. But he did say it was a reward for helping him make his mark fade."

Karno smirks. "Even if it didn't mean anything, remember this, Leo is a god and you are a human."

The way Karno said it, made it seem like he was trying to knock me down. But I look at him with an obvious, I'm-not-stupid look.

"A god must treat all humans equally. Favouritism is unacceptable. No one can monopolize a god's love, not even a goddess."

Favouritism? Monopolize a god's love?!

Take care not to ask for too much of Leo's love."

My jaw drops as I hear those words. "A-ask for his love?" I stutter in shock. "W-what?!" I shout almost angrily. "Why the hell would I?"

"Sorry…" Karno looks away as he calmly apologizes.

"Er…sorry." I end up apologizing for my behaviour. "But…why?"

"It wasn't my intention to make you make a face like that." He says.

"My face?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Didn't I make you sad?" He asks.

"No, I'm more appalled more than anything." I say to him.

All I can do is stand there, unable to comprehend Karno's words.

When I return home, I pop a few Tylenol and drink a tall glass of water as a precaution just in case there is a chance I'm still totally drunk and will have a hangover the next day. I go to my room, slipping on my pajama's which is just one large, baggy t-shirt. Going into the bathroom to wash-up, I think back to Karno's words, and the next thing I know, I notice my face expression and I'm shocked to see the sadden look in my eyes. I slap my cheeks and go straight to bed, but before jumping beneath the sheets, the journal on my desk catches my eye and I immediately go and sit down to write down tonight's events and my thoughts.