After Lydia's encounter with not only her identical clone, but with Bully the Crud, she decided to sneak away from the white painted house to wonder the Winter Raven Grave Yard.
She stood and stared at Beetlejuice's casket. "I wonder if Betty is still in there ?" She thought.
Lydia then left grave of her best friend to now stand in front of a stone made house. The stone house holds many caskets to those who were rich, but much more than that, it was used as a gateway that led to the underground passages of Sandworm Saturn.
She stepped inside the stone house, opened the secret doorway, and entered the howling sandy world of the Sandworms. Once there, she descended the stairs to the underground passage.
"I must be crazy." Lydia said to herself.
"It's not crazy, it's cool." Said a female voice from behind.
Lydia turned to see Netherworld's living breed Ghost Hunter and girlfriend of her son. "Cassie ?…What are you doing here ?"
Cassie smirked. "I would like to ask you the same thing Miss. Lydia."
"Go back where it's safe." said Lydia.
Cassie folded her arms. "No way." then gestured around to where they stood. "Look around Miss. Lydia…I've been craving for this. I'm a warrior, I just can't sit on my ass all day and wait around, I want action. And with your wondering, I'll receive just that. I only live to fight."
Lydia shook her head. "Cassie please…go back."
Cassie just shook her head. "Not going to work."
Lydia sighed in defeat. "I can't convince you to go back, so I guess you'll stuck with me."
"That's right." Cassie nodded.
Lydia and Cassie walked down the stone covered cavern passages until they noticed a window. Lydia looked out the window to see the very spot she was kidnapped years ago. The place stood in the shape of a diamond, with black shiny walls, and it howled the sound of agonizing Sandworms in a state of terrible unspeakable torture.
"I remember…" Lydia awed with wide frightened eyes.
Cassie looked to Lydia, not sure of what was going on, nor what she had been through, but one suspicion became certain. "It's Julius, isn't it ? He did something to you in there ?"
"She's in there too." Lydia said as a tear rolled down her face.
"She who Miss. Lydia ?" Cassie urged.
Lydia turned to the Hunter. "You've got to go back Cassie, please…I don't want you to get hurt."
"What is it with you people ?" Cassie spat as she folded her arms. "I'm a warrior, a 90 year old warrior. I have mastered the sword many moons ago, and you people still say these things to me." Then shook her head, looking to Lydia. "Your dorky son acts the same way."
"Cassie please, I'm not trying to insult you." Lydia said. "I care about you, now please go." she pled.
"Not leaving." Cassie stood her ground.
Lydia sighed. "Then promise not to be a tough girl and run when I tell you."
Cassie didn't say anything, she was never one to make promises she couldn't keep.
***Lydia and Cassie entered the dark diamond shaped place….
"Wow…" Cassie awed as she looked upon the writings engraved into the wall. "The ancient scripture of the dead…"
"Ancient Scripture of the dead ?" Lydia turned to the Hunter.
"Long ago, way before I was born, and way before Beetle died." Cassie began. "The Netherworld had it's own language…" then pointed to the script on the wall. "this is it's written form. After a few centuries, the language died out, and only a few know it."
"I zulu Caloo la funnni zarhari." Lydia said in remembrance of what she was taught.
"I'm coming for you my Empress." Cassie translated, then turned to Lydia with wide surprised eyes. "How do you know the language ?"
"Julius." Lydia simply replied then looked to her. "I was his prisoner and somehow he could extract me at will Or send Bully the Crud to retrieve me. Julius forced me to learn to speak it, but not read it"
They continued down the hall until Lydia noticed her. "It's me…" she awed.
Cassie didn't see whom Lydia was talking about. "Who ?"
Then suddenly Bully the Crud stood in full living glory in front of the two.
Cassie withdrew her sword from the holder. "Back off man !" She held the sword to him.
Bully smirked. "I'm not here to fight with you Ghost Hunter." then looked to his former love interest. "I'm here for Lydia."
"I want to see my clone." said Lydia. "Will you help us ?"
He looked to the Ghost hunter, then back to Lydia. "Only if the Ghost Hunter agrees not to kill me, after all, I just walked into the lifeline of being alive."
"By oath I can't kill the living…" Cassie frowned heavily as she returned the sword into the holder. "but that doesn't mean I won't cause serious injury if you try to jive us."
Bully lead them down the sub-corridor filled with more scripts from the dead.
"Can either of you read this ancient language ?" Lydia asked.
"I can only read bits and pieces." Cassie replied then translated what she could. "Most are just promises that ghost will live, and the Netherworld and Earth will become one. Sandworms will be servants and the King of the dead uncrowned."
Lydia looked to Bully.
"I can't read any of it." He bluntly said.
***They arrived at a large double metal door…
"This is the lab." said Bully then lead them inside.
Lydia became anxious and was the first to enter. The room was large with dim lighting, filled with machines, lab equipment, and cold metal table and cages.
Cassie took notice of one cell in particular, it has a strong fleshy smell with blood all over the floor, and a open dead girls body in the middle of the cell which is labeled 'Number 4'. "My God…" she awed then cover her nose from the strong smell. "What happened to her ?" then she studied the face of the girl…it is Lydia's face. "Miss. Lydia…" Lydia looked to where Cassie stood and began to walk over to her, but Cassie held her back. "No, don't look."
Lydia knew from Cassie's expression that she saw something horrible. "What is it Cassie ? Tell me."
Cassie shook her head.
"Number 4." Bully responded. "The one Julius dissected."
Lydia stood very still. "How many did he clone of me ?"
Bully turned to her. "How the hell should I know ? All I know is that he locked me away after number 4 was dissected."
"Tell me about the four you do know about." said Lydia.
"Number 1, failed…after a month or so it died. Number 2, the future Empress and clone who speaks to us both, now carries Julius's baby. Number 3, the rogue…she was much more willing to satisfy me than you were, and she died because of her disobedience to Julius. And Number 4 was made just for study and dissection."
Lydia didn't know what to say, she never felt so violated in her entire life, and fought her urge to cry…but it failed.
Cassie shook her head to Bully. "Way to go cow." said with a flat sarcastic tone.
Bully looked to the Hunter. "Look you..." he sneered to her. "she wanted to see her clone, and now she's has." he smiled wickedly.
"You son of a bitch." Cassie replied.
Lydia stepped forward, then the clone suddenly appeared in front of them.
"My original…" Said the Clone called Empires. She gave Lydia a kiss. "you should not be here."
Cassie nearly fainted at the sight of this clone version of Lydia, it looked just like the mother of her lover she grew to know, only with her skin hooked open to reveal functional organs and a baby in her womb.
"Come with me." Lydia took the Clone's hands into her own. "I want you to be with me."
"I can't." The Clone replied in a sad sigh. "I am the awaiting Empress who carries the future of the new order of our soon to be merged worlds. For me to be discovered missing would result in dangers far beyond what any world is capable of handling."
"I can't have you suffer this way." Lydia cried. "You are a part of me, we belong together. Do you realize I lost apart of myself when you were stripped away from me."
"I do." The Clone replied. "I was there, and I have suffered the same pains as you. We were separated by force, but still act as one in nature that no science will ever be able to separate." Then gave Lydia another kiss. "Go now my original…."
The room began to glow extremely bright.
"We will meet again."
And in a flash, Lydia and Cassie stood outside in the Winter Raven Grave Yard.
"Goddess be still." Cassie awed with a wide eyed look from what she just experienced. "What the hell was that ?"
Lydia crumbled and fell to her knees. "That was me Cassie, that was the part that was stripped away from me. When I underwent whatever Julius did, it felt like a dissection, my blood was drained, parts of my skin burned off, and some hair was cut, he even collected urine and feces from me. But that wasn't enough…he took small fragments of bone and flesh."
"Shit." Cassie cringed.
"Then came the brain tissue." Lydia continued the stopped once she notice Cassie covering her ears.
"Please Miss. Lydia…" Cassie began to shed tears. "even I can't stand too much of that." then looked around to notice. "Where's Bully the Crud ?"
Lydia didn't know nor what to discuss about him. "Cassie…" she looked to the warrior. "Please promise you won't tell Olivia, Bobby, or anyone about this."
Cassie shook her head. "I'm afraid that is something I can not do."
Lydia shook her head, she understood why the warrior said this, and knew that even she could no longer hold her own secrets. "I don't blame you, and I won't be mad when you tell…" then sighed. "But please don't tell them around me."
"Yes Miss. Lydia." Cassie nodded then walked away.
"And Cassie…" Lydia called, gaining the warrior's attention. "just call me Lydia ok."
Cassie formed a shy smile. "Ok, Lydia."
Lydia wanted to tell her best friend, to share with him not only what happened, but everything else, but something or someone was holding her back, perhaps the other clones.
Lydia thought about the Empress, the clone version of herself that carried a child. She thought about the merge between the worlds…The world she was born in, and the world she grew to love. She always had thoughts in the past of how wonderful it would be if such a thing ever happened, but never ever did she imagine Julius as the dominating ruler.