Divinity: Fates and the Afterlife
Chapter Sixty-Five
"Anything yet?"
Megumi turned from her seat on the sofa to a worried-looking Minako walking through the door and taking off her shoes before stepping into the living room. She had to run some errands and do some patrolling around the city with Kunzite and had known Rei and Makoto were heading to the apartment to check on their friend. "No,"
"She hasn't eaten anything?"
"We've tried..." Rei said softly and shook her head, "But she does not want to even open her eyes, all she wants to do is sleep,"
"We won't hear the end of it if Ami-chan comes back and she hasn't had a single bite of food." Makoto sighed and leaned her head back. "She has not had another panic attack, so that's something..."
"She needs to eat," Rei turned to Makoto, "No," the Amazon shook her head, "She needs her husband,"
Minako turned to Megumi and walked into the kitchen with resolution, the most she has had in the past several days, and thought about Kunzite's words:
"There are reasons that go beyond our understanding, Venus, but that does not mean everything is lost. Princess Serenity must be our top priority—her safety and her health... this planet is pulsing because she is linked to Endymion,"
"Megumi, help me set up a tray with food, please,"
"Y-Yes, Lady Venus," Megumi didn't have to be asked twice before she jolted from her seat and went quickly to follow Venus' request.
O—o—O
Serenity opened her eyes and felt the cool breeze of the afternoon filtering through the thin curtains as she slowly sat on the bed and looked at the sun hanging low in the sky like a crimson ornament and exhaled softly, still feeling groggy and confused. "It was a dream after all..." she muttered softly to the nothingness surrounding her, convincing herself that her dream with the queen had been just that, a bittersweet dream. Her attention soon shifted from her thoughts to the soft knock on the door and turned to see a curious Minako standing on the other side.
"Ve—" Serenity blinked surprised and rubbed her sleepy and swollen eyes, "Minako-chan... come in,"
Minako pushed the door wide enough to walk into the bedroom with the wooden tray in her hands and walked straight to put it on the small round table next to the window and went to turn the lamp on the opposite side the princess was currently claiming as hers to avoid hurting her tired eyes, "Hi..." the blonde gave her a kind and very faint smile, one Serenity reciprocated almost immediately, "Hi..."
Ami's words immediately made perfect sense as they echoed in Minako's mind the minute she saw the princess sitting on the bed. She did look different and not just because her hair was slightly longer and had a beautiful pearlescent sheen to it, in fact, physically that would be the only thing that changed in her because she had already matured and become an elegant and gorgeous lady by her own merits. Her eyes did look clearer and much more expressive; making it easy for Minako to read and understand her friend's emotions without really having to be told. "I'm not here to ask you any questions... I just..." she bit her lower lip softly and let out a shaky exhale, "I just wanted to see you," she went back to the small table where she left the tray and cleared her throat, "I brought you dinner,"
Serenity watched her blonde friend moving across the room nervously after going back from close the door, trying her best to sound calm and cool as she looked down at the covered plates with a smile, "Megumi made it, she said it is—"
"Minako,"
The sweet but serious tone in Serenity's voice froze Minako for a minute before turning to look at her. Serenity diverted her gaze for a fraction of a second to the tray and then back at her friend and frowned, "Are you afraid of me or something?"
"No,"
"Minako?"
"No," Minako sighed "I-I... I just, I don't want to be imprudent. I don't want to say anything that I am not supposed to say or do something I should not do. I don't want to hurt your feelings. I am your friend and I am here with the sole purpose of supporting you in any way that I can."
Serenity leaned her back on the headboard and took a deep breath, "I didn't leave the shrine because I wanted to be away from you, Minako-chan,"
"I know," Minako nodded her head in understanding, feeling helpless against the situation and sat on the chair next to the bed. "I know... and that is not why I am here."
"I made you worry,"
"I always worry about you." Minako tilted her head to the side, "You're my best friend. I know things have changed... I know our lives won't be the same after all that has happened but I will always be going to worry about you because that is what friends do—we worry about each other."
Serenity felt a tug in her chest as she looked into her friend's eyes and reached out to pull her into a loving embrace, taking the blonde by complete surprise, "You are more than just a friend to me... you are my sister. No matter what, you will always be my soul sister." She closed her eyes and remembered the conversation she had with Ami, Kunzite, and then with the queen in her dream and took a deep breath, "I needed to feel like I belonged somewhere... if that makes any sense..."
Minako noticed the sorrow tone in her friend's voice but also a hint of anxiety, like if she wanted to say more than she couldn't dare to say if she looked at her in the eye. Serenity tightened her hold on her friend, "I was aware of what I was doing when I came here. I knew the moment I stepped foot into the apartment and look at his belongings my mind would start playing these cruel jokes on me by making me believe that he was around somewhere—that I was going to see him, I still do. I just can't accept it, Minako... I can't accept this twisted fate." Serenity sniffed softly and pulled back, "I pinch myself constantly trying to wake myself up... but I can't... no matter how hard I do it... I can't wake up from this nightmare."
Minako tightened her grip on her friend's hands and shook her head, "This isn't over..."
"But there are other things that are..." Serenity looked down at their hands and let out a sad sigh, worrying the blonde. Minako frowned, "What do you mean?"
Serenity finally dared to make eye contact with Minako and let her see the tears gleaming in her crystal blue eyes. Minako agreed with Ami when she said that their friend had embraced her goddess nature and she was completely okay with it, but it was the quivering in her voice and the fright and pain clouding her beautiful eyes what made her forget about any royal protocol and talk to her like the sister she was to her, "Serenity?"
Serenity wasn't bothered by the blunt way Minako was talking to her, she didn't even feel strange to listen to her calling her by her real name, it was more about what lay behind that terrified look in her eyes. Minako gave her friend a much more mortified look, "You are scaring me, Serenity..."
Serenity hesitated for a minute before taking a deep breath, "Minako..." she raised her face with a deadpanned expression, "I need to tell you something..."
"Yes?" Minako nodded, Serenity exhaled deeply and pulled back a little, "When Endymion was unconscious... do you remember how you told me that I looked very pale, many times?"
"Yes," Minako frowned, "But it was obvious because you were worried sick for your husband, you weren't eating or having proper rest, you spent your days crying or dozing off,"
"Yes, yes... I was worried sick..." Serenity paused for a minute and took another deep breath, "But also... it was because not too long before that happened, I had found out that I was pregnant..." her crystal blue eyes finally settled in Minako's' bluer ones. This would be the first time she would say the words out loud, that she would actually speak clearly about what happened to her. Minako blinked, completely startled, "Oh my—"
"But, not too long after I did..." Serenity sighed and closed her eyes, "...I had a miscarriage."
Minako's froze in her seat and widened her eyes twice in size "Oh my god..." she covered her mouth with one shaky hand and tried to hold her tears, "Oh my god... oh my god..."
"I didn't say anything... because..." Serenity shook her head, "It happened so suddenly, so quickly... I couldn't process it myself... I still can't. I couldn't understand what was going on until I realized what it was and then... until Motoki-oniisan confirmed it. I was going to meet with him that day... so he could explain it to me, so I could hear it again before going home... but then, Asteria captured me..."
"Serenity..." Minako shook her head, finally allowing her emotions take over her. She leaned closer and took her hand, "Usagi... why didn't you say anything?! You didn't have to tell me but you could have told Ami-chan, she's a doctor! Your husband's a doctor! Are you telling me Mamoru didn't know anything about this?!"
"He knew..." Serenity looked down with shame and pain, "Without me having to give him the news, he knew..."
Minako rubbed her face and let out a heavy puff of air, "Oh god..."
Serenity nodded, "I never really thought he could notice it because, by the time he woke up from that coma, it had already happened, but again... I underestimated his power—I seem to do that a lot. He probably knew way before I did... I don't know..." she shook her head and dried her tears with the back of her hand, "When he found me, he told me he knew but he didn't say anything because he was waiting for me to be ready to talk about it..." A heavy sob escaped her lungs and covered her face with her shaky hands, "I lost our baby Minako-chan..."
Minako leaned closer when she heard the princess started to cry and pulled her into her arms thinking how things were far more complicated and darker than she ever imagined; thinking that just being in the underworld was the tip of the iceberg. Despite having being saved and how she managed to leave such horrible and evil place she was still trapped in her own hell, the one where her husband was gone and so was the speck of new life growing inside of her. It was crazy that not long ago they were exchanging vows and looking beyond happy and excited about their future together, and now, here she was alone and broken inside.
Minako held her friend and began rocking her back and forth and let her cry in her shoulder, "Don't say it like you're the one to blame for what happened—it wasn't your fault."
"Then why did it happen?! Why did it happen to us?!"
Minako closed her eyes and shook her head, "I don't know why—" her eyes started to burn with tears, "But I am more than certain that it wasn't because you were careless."
"I'm scared, Venus..." Serenity tightened her arms around her friend, "I'm terrified. I don't think this is how things were supposed to happen. I don't think this is what Pluto envisioned when Crystal Tokyo happened... this isn't it—this can't be it. It has to be something else. I knew the time to take our stand as royals would come eventually and deep down, despite living in some sort of denial on my part, I was prepared for it but this... it has been one atrocious thing after another and it is getting out of our control..."
Minako frowned and snuggled her head close to her friend's, "We won't let that happen—we won't let them win. Whoever is causing all this, we can fight it. You are not alone on this—" Serenity opened her eyes and blinked the tears trapped between her full and dark eyelashes as she continued listening to her friend, "Neither you or Endymion are alone in this—we are a family and family sticks together through good and bad times." Minako nodded with determination, "I swear it, as the senshi of the planet of love and beauty—we will not let things end like this, Princess." She pulled back to look at her friend, "I know he is fighting to get out of that horrible place, but he just needed to send you here first."
Serenity's eyes widened and took a sharp breath, "How can you say that? How do you know?!"
"Because you are his wife." Minako narrowed her eyes with confidence, "Serenity—Usagi; Princess or not, to him, you are the same woman he's madly in love with, you are his priority—you're his wife. When you were taken by Asteria and Athamas, he went berserk and on an unstoppable mission to bring you back. He opened portals like it was nothing and crossed realms without asking for anyone's permission or waited for any of us to go with him. This was something he had to do on his own and I bet he kicked some serious ass down there because. He. Was. Pissed."
Serenity couldn't hold her chuckles at Venus' choice of words; she knew what she was doing and she appreciated it deeply. She could see her friend beyond worried for her but she was using all her charms to distract her from her dark thoughts, "Thank you," Minako dried her friend's tears gently with a soft tissue and tilted her head, "For what?"
"For making me smile—I know I am not the jolliest person to be around right now,"
"Are you kidding me?" Minako arched her brow, "No matter what, you are the best person to be around with," Serenity sighed softly, "Liar,"
"It's the truth," Minako cupped her face in her hands, "You've been a ray of light in my darkest days... let me be at least one speck of light in yours,"
Serenity leaned her head on her friend's shoulder again and took a deep breath, "I love you, Ven—" she cleared her throat to correct herself, "Minako-chan,"
Minako noticed the little struggle the princess was having to keep both identities separately and smiled softly, "I see you have embraced your real identity and so has Endymion," Serenity gave a nod and sighed, "I don't know when, why, or how... one day it happened so naturally and I haven't gone back ever since... I don't feel like Usagi fits me like a whole anymore... not now, at least. It doesn't bother me, I know who I am, it just..."
"...It came naturally,"
"Yeah..."
"I am truly not surprised. You guys have so many things going on to be just a random, ordinary couple—you always had. It was only a matter of time," Minako watched her friend sit back on the bed; Serenity blinked slightly confused, "And you are not bothered by it?"
"Not at all," Minako smiled and pulled the chair closer to the bed, "Why would I? This isn't about you deciding one day to just casually change your names and adopt a new personality, it's something that runs deeper, it's about who you really are. Why do you have to be one or another when you can be a whole? You have become your own kind and to be honest with you, I think we should all follow in your footsteps." She leaned back in her chair and propped her legs up, feeling a little more relaxed, more like herself, "Back then, we were happy; we had an awesome life—if we scratch Athamas out of that life, of course. We lived in peace, but we still had our limitations... especially you, as the royal heir of the moon kingdom. You had obligations and you had to deliver and live up to fulfill them. Yes, we lived a tragedy but we were also granted an opportunity to live again without any of those chains from the past... if it wasn't because of our duty as sailor senshi, we wouldn't have found each other and things wouldn't have been the same."
Serenity felt her eyes burn with tears, "Minako-chan..."
"In my case, I forgot about this somewhere along the way. I was focusing so much on being normal and having this perfectly normal life, but in all honesty, it's because I am Venus, that I have had all these amazing experiences by your side and when I was mad because I was different than everybody else, now I am deeply grateful because I realize I have the power to do things that really make a difference and help change this world for the better. I have the power to do that and I am not alone, I have this wonderful family who shares the same experiences and power and I wouldn't change it for anything. It took me eight years to understand this, but, I finally did... just like you." Minako smiled softly, "You are my Princess, yes—that is never going to change. Since you awoke, it never has, and someday, you will be my Queen, but you are also my fellow senshi and while I am your guardian, why do we have to pin our true selves to those stupid rules from the past? We can change things this time... we don't have to go that same path again—you are my friend—my sister—and that's how it's going to be for as long as I live." She raised two fingers, mimicking a V and flashed the princess a toothy grin, "So if that's how you feel, you can most certainly call me Venus, plus, it has a much classier tone, don't you think?"
"V-chan," Serenity smiled at her new nickname making Venus chuckle, "Ah, there you go..." her smile slowly faded, "Princess..." she leaned closer and held Serenity's hand, "About what you told me... I promise it won't leave these walls, don't worry about it."
"Thank you, V," Serenity felt a small tug in her chest and sighed softly as she slowly savored the new nickname for her friend, feeling more at ease, more like herself. It had been a trouble of hers this new life; of all the girls, Minako was the one who had a harder time embracing her warrior and divine side and she couldn't help but think Kunzite might have a lot to do with that change in perspective—being the blunt man he is, he probably gave his beloved one of his now famous and brutal reality checks, just like he did with her. She understood that it has been a much smoother transition with the others, but Venus has always been a rebel girl at heart making Serenity think that might have been the reason why she was chosen to be the leader of the inner senshi in the first place, so she could learn and understand how to follow the rules.
"I thought about telling the girls but to be honest, I don't think I have enough strength to do it again... at least not for a while." She looked at the blonde sitting buddha style on the white cushion chair and gave her a weak, nervous smile "You, Motoki, and Mercury are the only ones that know... and Endymion."
"I'm glad you told Mercury,"
"I kind of had to—it's practically impossible to keep a secret from her," Serenity sighed, "She suspected it from the very beginning..."
Venus pursed her lips, "I see, but, it's good she knows. That way she can look out for you as a doctor," she frowned softly, "And Megumi? Does she know?" Serenity shook her head, "No... and I would not like for her to find out about it, at least not now. She already feels bad for allowing me to leave that day without telling Endymion, I can't do that to her, I can't break her spirit this way."
"Serenity..." Venus gave the princess a worried look, "May I ask, how far long was it—your pregnancy?"
Serenity sighed softly, "I was ending my sixth week. According to my calculations, and later from the test results Motoki-oniisan gathered from the ob-gyn."
Venus' eyes widened with realization and surprise and pointed a finger at her friend, "Wait..."
"Yes..." Serenity leaned her head back on the headboard and nodded, "Yes. I don't know how that happened..." she saw the mischievous look on her friend's face and blushed crimson red, "I mean, I do—but... you know..." she rubbed the back of her neck and exhaled with embarrassment and turned her head to look away, "What I meant was..." her blush intensified, causing Venus to crack a soft chuckle, "It's okay, Sere-chan, I understand what you mean—let's just say you were taking precautions."
Serenity nodded and blushed as she looked at the ceiling, her hand absently slid down to rest on her stomach and took a deep breath, "When I found out... I couldn't believe it... how... why. I had all these intense emotions flowing inside me: happiness, excitement, nervousness, chills—the good kind. I couldn't believe it was happening this soon... I felt it, how my body was reacting to it, how it was getting ready to cuddle our baby and keep it safe and warm..." She closed her eyes, "But now... I can't stop thinking about it... I can't stop feeling guilty... I can't stop being afraid." She started to feel an uncontrollable wave of anxiety and desperation overtaking her again, "What if it was her the one I lost?"
Venus felt like if she had been stabbed in the heart; she didn't think of that. She didn't even think of it as a possibility. It couldn't be—to never get to meet that sweet little girl that charmed everyone with that innocent smile and sparky, not to mention sharp personality. "No,"
"What if—"
"No,"
"Are the gods so angry at us for defying their laws?" Serenity opened her eyes and let her tears roll down her cheeks slowly. Venus went to sit next to her friend and held her hand tight, "I honestly don't know if we should blame the gods for this... some things just happen because that's how life works. In some cases, fate is stronger than divinity and not even gods can escape it." The blonde sighed with sadness, "I know I am not the person you want to give you the comfort you need... but... you are not alone... I am here, everyone is—Endymion too, he is linked to you through that stone. I know he is..." she intertwined her fingers with Serenity's and took a deep breath, "All I ask of you is to stop torturing yourself with these painful thoughts, please. I know for sure that's not something Endymion would like to hear from you."
The princess turned to Venus with the saddest look on her face and looked down at the sleeves of Endymion's gray hoodie she was wearing, "I don't know what to do..." she felt Minako moving away and then returning with the tray she had in her hands when she first walked in and put it on the bed, right in front of her "Well, for starters... you need to eat," Venus put the tray on the bed and stared back at her friend, "You can't fight if you are not strong and you can't get strong if you don't eat."
"I'm not hungry..."
"Just a little—I promise I won't bother you for the rest of the day if you do," Venus tilted Serenity's chin up, "Please?"
Serenity nodded slowly and watched Venus take the lid off a small ceramic bowl, the scented steam slowly caught her senses and made her stomach growl, making Venus crack a chuckle "Ah... see? You're hungry."
Serenity closed her eyes and took a deep breath giving Venus the cue to understand what was happening behind her hunger strike as she stirred the spoon inside the creamy potato and watercress soup, "He sent you here so you could live," Venus turned to her friend who was looking at her wide-eyed, "If you hurt yourself is like you are cursing the effort he made to send you back home. If you smile, if you eat a good meal, if you have good rest—you are not betraying him or ignoring his situation, but the contrary, that is something he wants you to do, he wants you to heal, to get better—that is why you are here."
"B-But—"
"I know, he's not here physically, but he is right—here." Venus tapped her chest with her finger right where her heart was beating strong, "And here," her finger later pointed the stone on her necklace. "Your husband did something you would have done if you were in his position, Sere-chan. Just think about it... this has happened before and what did you do? You came back, why? Because he's your life. Only that this time, the tables are turned and he's the one who made a decision and took matters into his own hands." Venus directed the spoon loaded with soup and fed her friend, "You are his life and you need to be alive for him to live, as simple as that."
"I never went to hell," Serenity gave her friend a hurt look; Venus tilted her head "But you fought someone who was possessed by Chaos—isn't that hellish enough?"
Serenity sighed before taking another spoonful of soup and slowly savored the creamy texture and well-seasoned yet delicate flavor and frowned while waiting for her friend to give her the next spoonful, "You spend too much time with Kunzite... you are starting to sound too much like him..."
Venus flashed her friend a toothy grin, "Maybe, but I do want to believe I have a much kinder approach to people than he does—the man is brutal with words; he sure knows how to throw some heavy truth bombs and shake your ground," Serenity licked the corner of her mouth and sighed softly, Venus smiled "Good?"
"Yes," Serenity nodded, "Very much,"
"More?"
Serenity nodded like a sheepish girl, making Venus smile, "That's my girl," she continued feeding her friend in silence until the bowl was finally empty and handed her a cup with freshly squeezed orange juice but despite the funny face the princess just made, Venus shrugged one shoulder "Our doctor friend recommended it—she knows best when it comes to these things..."
Serenity nodded and took a couple of sips of the juice and put the glass aside, "Thank you, V-chan..."
Venus smiled and put the tray aside to cup her friend's cheek, "There's nothing to thank me for, I'm here for you." She turned to grabbed the tray and walked towards the door, "I am going to let you rest, okay?" She turned to look at her friend over her shoulder, "Oh, before I go... I have news for you..."
"What is it?"
"Guess who decided to give someone a chance?"
"Wait..." Serenity's eyes widened two times their size, "Really?"
"Yes," Venus nodded, "Mars and the Jadeite—they're an item now. This family just keeps getting bigger and bigger," she smiled, "And it will soon be complete once your darling prince comes back to your loving arms,"
"Thank you, V."
Venus smiled, "Rest," with that final word, Venus closed the door behind her and leaned for a minute to process the news the princess had given her before walking back to the living room. The girls immediately noticed her presence and waited for her to say something with expectant eyes, "She ate the soup,"
Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Megumi all sighed with relief as Venus walked towards the kitchen to put the tray back in its place. "Did she like it?" The blonde guardian heard Jupiter asking in Megumi's favor, "Yes, very much." She answered softly as she put the bowl on the sink and turned the water faucet to begin washing the dishes but her mind was still repeating the princess' confession like an echo and could not help to break into silent tears.
"Minako-chan?" Makoto asked with a worried tone, "You okay?"
"Yeah,"
"What are you doing?"
"Uh—just..." Venus cleared her throat, "I'm going to clear the kitchen a little bit... there are so many pots and pans all over the place, Mamoru would be freaking out if he was here,"
Mercury noticed the sudden strain in the blonde's voice and turned to the girls, "I'll go give her a hand," as politely as she was always, she gave her friends a soft smile and went to the kitchen where Venus was muffling her sobs with her hand and immediately knew what was going on. "You know..."
Venus opened her eyes wide and turned to Mercury, who was now standing next to her and started helping her dry the pots and dishes dripping the excess water in the sink, "She told you... what happened..."
"Yes..." Venus said as soft as inaudible for the rest of the girls as possible and wiped her tears with her sleeve, good thing it was black—she thought for a second, otherwise, the mascara would have been the end of the pricey angora sweater she was wearing. "I-I can't believe it..."
"I know," Mercury continued washing the dishes "I can't either,"
"It's so sad... so cruel..."
"Yes..."
"This shouldn't be happening..."
"No,"
"Why didn't she say something..."
"She was scared, she still is,"
Venus frowned, "And he knew..."
"He knew..."
"When Uranus fought him... this was probably going through his mind..."
"Yes, most likely,"
"They were both dealing with it in silence,"
"Yes... and for all I know, that's how they parted ways, making all this much more painful for them,"
"Oh god..." Venus sniffed softly and used her sleeve again to dry her falling tears, "This is too much—I don't even know where to start digging to find a beacon of light in this dark tunnel we're into. I hate feeling like I am lying to her..."
"Anything from Kunzite?" Mercury turned to look at her with worry, "No," Venus sniffed her tears back, "There is no disruption—the area very much remains the same and the barrier is reinforced every day but there is no sign of him or anything else that could give us a lead of what is going to happen," she sighed and closed her eyes, "She doesn't want to—you know,"
"Yes, I know," Mercury nodded and closed the faucet once the dishes were washed, "All I care about right now is for her to regain her strength, once she does we can talk to her and continue the plan," she turned and gave her friend a small smile, "Thank you, Mina-chan,"
Venus smiled, "It's V-chan, now." The comment startled Mercury "You too?"
"Yep—it's natural for her and it's a clean slate for me... it's actually adorable, I like it."
"I know what you mean—both Mars and Jupiter also embraced it with endearment,"
"So that makes it official," Venus smiled, "It's fine. We're in a different place now and what we need to do now is to keep moving forward and find a solution to this mess..."
"Where is Kunzite? With the other Shitennou?"
"Yes. Nephrite—he's reading the stars,"
Mercury nodded in understanding, "Pluto nor Neptune have found anything either, Saturn is still a little shook about the whole situation; I suppose she was not expecting her father to betray her like that."
"It's Hades... what good can that god have in him?" Venus muttered angrily, "It's him the one we have to go after, but the question remains—how?" Her wet hands dripped the cold water on the edge of the stainless-steel sink, "How?"
"I don't know, but in the meantime..." Mercury lowered her gaze to fight the tears pooling in her blue eyes, "I really hope Endymion is alright..." Venus turned and held her friend's hand, "Me too Mercury, me too."
O—o—o—o—O
"Anything?"
Nephrite frowned and looked at Kunzite who was sitting next to him on the porch of the shrine, "No... not yet... his star is very faint, barely visible."
As they waited for the northern general to link his energy to one of the stars, the rest of the shitennou sat behind him; they thought it would be best to return to the shrine while the girls were checking on the princess. "The air feels colder..." Zoisite narrowed his eyes as he wrapped his thick blue scarf another time and crossed his arms, "The news have been warning us about the temperatures dropping considerably..."
"Any new information as to how Princess Serenity is doing?" Jadeite rubbed his hands together and blew some body heat to try to warm them up a little; Kunzite sighed "I have not spoken to Venus, but, she was going to stay there until she made sure she ate something,"
"You spoke to her, right?" Jadeite asked with caution; Kunzite nodded, "Yes, she feels guilty for what happened to Endymion," he sighed softly, "She believes we are mad at her because she could not do something to convince him to come back,"
"Convince him—how can anyone in their sane mind is convinced to stay in a place like that?" Jadeite said with annoyance. Zoisite turned to his brother, "He did not have much choice, Jadeite," he arched his brow, "Would you have not done the same if Mars was in her place? Would you have not gone to the depths of hell to bring her back?"
"Yes, absolutely! But I would have done everything in my power to come back with her. I would not willingly have chosen to stay there—he is supposed to become king, what the hell can he rule from there?!" Jadeite blurted out his words with unfiltered anger, making Kunzite obliged to break his silence, "A prince cannot ascend the throne until the current king passes the crown to the one next in line,"
"What?"
"A prince cannot as—"
"I know what that means, it is common knowledge. What I am asking is what do you mean with that answer?" Jadeite frowned, "What are you implying?"
"I am not implying anything, Jadeite,"
"Then what does that mean?"
"It means what it is," Kunzite closed his eyes for a minute; Jadeite's face turned pale, "Wait... are you saying it means..."
"It means that the King is still alive,"
"What?!" All eyes widened were on Kunzite who was still with his eyes closed; Jadeite's first response was to scoff at his leader's comment, "You are joking, right? This is one of those jokes of yours that we do not get to understand—ever." Kunzite opened his eyes and turned to his blonde little brother, "Does it look like I am joking?"
"Well, I do not know, you are always this way. I do not know when you are joking and when you are being sar—" Zoisite raised his hand to pause Jadeite's rant and shook his head, "I am trying to understand... Kunzite... what do you mean by saying that the King is alive?"
"As I said, it means what it is, Zoisite. It means His Majesty; the High King of Earth and head of Elysion is still alive."
"We are talking about King Eros here..." Nephrite frowned and narrowed his eyes still hesitant to believe his older brother's words, Kunzite nodded "Yes, of course,"
"King Eros died more than two thousand years ago, just like Queen Gaia did. They died the night Elysion met its demise," Nephrite stared with concern "And how do you know this in the first place? Where did you get this piece of information?"
"Endymion," Kunzite sighed and closed his eyes, "He informed me about this,"
"Wait, wait—no, no, no, no, wait... wait!" Jadeite frowned, "Endymion knows about this?!"
Kunzite opened his eyes and looked at his brothers, "During the time we thought he was unconscious—he was actually trapped in Purgatorio where he learned this valuable piece of information from God Ares himself, before his return."
"Purgatorio?" Nephrite shook his head, "Wait, how?"
"The crystal..." Zoisite analyzed the situation and turned to a nodding Kunzite who continued, "When he was fighting with Asteria, the crystal reacted and put his body in hibernation while his spirit was sent to Purgatorio. From there, he had to go through a catharsis and learn how to master the crystal's power to find his way back to this realm,"
"The question remains in the air, how is the King alive?" Jadeite shook his head, "And, where is—oooh,"
"It means..." Zoisite widened his green eyes, "King Eros is..."
"The reasons as to why or how come he ended there is still a mystery, but, the reason why Endymion stayed in Inferno goes beyond a simple deal he made with Hades, that I am sure." Kunzite crossed his arms, "If we analyze the situation with a cold head, we can clearly notice that all this was a strategy he made in advance. When he informed me about this, he was not being clear because he did not know how to get there, he just asked me to look after Princess Serenity in his absence,"
"Are you openly saying Endymion was waiting for the princess to be kidnapped and taken there?" Nephrite narrowed his eyes, Kunzite shook his head, "No, of course not. I am saying that either way, he was going there to look for his father. That is why he stayed, to me, there is no other possible explanation. He did not stay for Hades—he is using his pact as a decoy, the more I think about this, the more it makes sense."
"Endymion, you sneaky bastard..." Jadeite clapped his hands with excitement; his boyish features were brightened with joy, "He's mocking the Lord of the Underworld! I knew it! I knew it!"
"In a way, yes, he is." Kunzite nodded, "But he has to be careful, which makes me believe his silent farewell was all part of his plan."
Nephrite turned to Kunzite, "Does Princess Serenity know any of this?"
"No,"
"Why?"
"Because we must handle this with extreme care, this is something not even the girls know," Kunzite rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly, "This is a hypothesis. We do not know for certain what else he did or to what extent the situation unraveled. Saturn mentioned some marks in his wrists that apparently are a sign that he indeed made a pact with Hades but if I tell Princess Serenity any of this it will only worry her more and right now, she is exhausted, both physically and mentally. She will learn about this, but now it is not the time."
"So... what now?" Jadeite leaned forward, Kunzite shook his head, "We have to keep trying to locate him and find a way to bring him back—this is where we all must stay united for the sake of this planet and the princess."
Jadeite crossed his arms, "Damn it, Endymion—you better have your plan all figured out..." he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Please, be safe my brother—wherever you are right now, please... be safe..."
O—o—o—o—O
"Location,"
"Thanatos,"
Hades narrowed his eyes at the servant kneeling in front of him. The soldier wearing a dark and heavy armor looked at the lord of the underworld with hesitation, "He is quickly making his way to the abyss Milord, if we do not stop him he will disrupt—"
"Close the gates," Hades quickly stood from his throne and walked over to the soldier with a look of disgust, "And it is not a he, we are talking about a creature—a hybrid monster." His gray eyes darkened, "I do not believe it can break the entrance. Its lungs will fill with poison before it can actually do something. Restrain the hybrid before it reaches the gates of Tartarus, there are still things I need to settle with that monster before its final sentence."
"Milord?"
"Do as I say!" Hades slammed his scythe on the dark mirror-like floor as he walked past the kneeling soldier, losing his usual composure, "I have to go to Olympus. With Cerberus and that damn rebel gone, I am entrusting this task to you, Agamemnon. Close all portals, I do not want it to go any further until I say otherwise. No one enters and no one gets out,"
The soldier bowed his head at Hades with deep respect, "Yes, Milord—as you command."
Hades growled with annoyance as he walked out of his throne room and waved his hand to summon a connection to Olympus and in a matter of seconds he was gone. Agamemnon, a soldier with long ashy hair and a long scar across his face frowned as he sensed the shadows lurking behind him and turned to give the order, "You heard the Master, stall the hybrid at the gates until I get there—now!"
The shadows immediately vanished; the soldier in scaled armor turned and walked out of the throne room and sent the order to every entity guardian each gate to close them tight, ending all contact between all realms with the underworld and went straight to the very edge of their realm, Thanatos.
O—o—O
The sound of gravel crashing under footsteps was the only thing that accompanied his solitude as he cut through another demonic creature aiming for his livid soul. Endymion stared at the creature's elongated limbs, still moving on their own on the bloodied ground and kicked them out of his way as he continued walking all the way to the edge of Thanatos, deep into the void ahead.
The prince felt like he had walked through endless valleys of shallow bones, coal, and magma-like rivers he knew by the smell it was heated gore mixed with sulfur. A dark dense energy started flowing around like a thick veil of malice as he walked down a long and unsteady bridge made of bone that led to a large wall made of stone and stared with disgust at the hundreds if not thousands of bodies coiled and trapped into it, all rotting and squirming alive, guarding two imponent stone doors of breathtaking magnitude. From there, even when they were shut close, he could sense the most hostile and thick energy that kept both realms separated like water and the thickest of oils.
Endymion did not need an introduction—he knew he was there, the rim of Tartarus, and those were its famous cursed gates.
He found it very strange that there was nobody else guarding its entrance; to be where he was, he expected something grand—a challenge bigger than Cerberus, bigger than Asteria but given that the dark titan served as a filter to prevent anyone to go further into Thanatos, it was expected Tartarus was always left alone. The evil presence of its gates was sufficient to keep anyone away; also, it was clear he was in a different level, a completely different reality and that those gates had a different way to be opened. Unlike the other gates he had crossed inside the underworld, he was indeed as far from Hades' realm, proving Charon's haunting words. At this point, the terran prince was as far beneath the death realm as far Earth was to the heavens.
A loud echo caught Endymion's attention and turned to look over his shoulder at a new hoard of shadow demons crawling after him. He narrowed his dark blue eyes and kicked them out of his way; he wanted—he needed to figure out a fast way to crack those gates open before he ran out of time but the number of ghouls outnumbered him, making it harder to evade and break free this time. With a bitter and very cynical growl, Endymion thought that let himself be devoured by demons at this point of his journey would be a lame joke and a blow to his ego; being defeated was not an option, not when he already got rid of Asteria, not when he was still set on a mission, not when he wanted to survive this nightmare more than ever.
By the number of creatures gathered, he figured it was because someone gave an order to stall him, and by someone, his mind went immediately to think of Hades; true, there was no real settlement to their agreement. By now, he was supposed to be back to meet with him after Asteria was deprived of her life and a chance of reincarnation but he had more important business to address and he was not going to step back, not even if all hell fell on him, not even if Hades went berserk because he had faulted his laws once again. If he was already considered a monster, at least he had to act like one to survive since he wasn't even asking for absolution. He was perfectly aware of what he had done, the consequences of his actions—the fault in his hasty decisions and the aftermath of his separation from his beloved wife that was eating him alive.
Endymion felt the demons' long arms and tails coiling around him tight enough to make it difficult for him to move and reach for his weapon, tightly secured in its gold and onyx scabbard. With armed strength and valor, he carried the herd of demons with him and ran toward the gates with all the force he could muster and crashed against the stone wall; one time, he crashed. He took a deep breath and growled with anger as he ran again and crashed against the stone a second time and continued repeating the same process to get rid of them. In between grotesque splashes of gore, Endymion repeated the same brutal technique for the fifth time and caught the sound of bones cracking and so the painful growls coming from the closed gates giving him a clue on what to do next.
"This is as far as you will go, you damn hybrid!"
Endymion stopped and clenched his jaw with annoyance; he jerked his head to the side to shake a demon's hand creeping on his face and spotted an armored man coming close.
"That's it!"
"Get it back!"
"Restrain that monster!" The soldier pointed his sharp spear at a new herd of shadow demons rising behind him from the ground, "Drag the hybrid back! I want it's head, now!"
Almost freed but still fighting to regain full movement, Endymion turned on his axis and kicked a few demons and spotted the man in scaled armor coming closer to him and narrowed his eyes, "Oh no, you won't," he turned to smash the last demons pinned on his back and turned with his palm extended at the gates, "Conjuro te sacro igne egredientur!" A golden spark started to concentrate into a ball of fire in his hand; the dark soldier widened his eyes with horror and ran toward the terran prince, "You demon! Seize that creature!"
"Et devoret omnem viam vestram misericordiam!" The energy started to blaze angrily in Endymion's hand and flowed in rivers of fire around him burning the demons one by one and raised a wall of fire to block Agamemnon's path, "No..." He muttered with panic when he saw the gates started to creak and react to the energy coming from the prince. He quickly turned to another herd of demons and ran toward the fire, "STOP THAT MONSTER! STOP IT! STOP IT! THE GATES! DO NOT LET IT OPEN THE GATES!"
Endymion reached for the hilt of his sword and ran toward the gates charging his golden blade at the obsidian seal and dig it deep, filling each crack with the golden light bursting from it. A loud, inhuman growl roared as the gates started to open creating a vacuum of evil energy sucking everything in its path. The stench and the malice were so strong it disintegrated those spirits that lurking around trying to cross over. Endymion turned and saw the corpse-like creatures that managed to cross the wall of fire disintegrate the minute they were exposed to the poisonous atmosphere; their flesh would start to flake and bubble with unsightly blisters that soon exploded in the most grotesque of ways, leaving them charred to feed the soul of the land of dementia.
"NO!" Agamemnon watched with horror as the gates reacted to the prince's energy, finally understanding why Hades referred to him as a monster. In all his eternal life living in the depths of the underworld serving the lord of the death, he had never seen such power and such ability, he never knew the gates of Tartarus could be manipulated, to him that realm itself was a myth, not a reality. It was in fact, the first time he had stepped foot in such demonic grounds and the first time he ever heard of those gates being opened. The dark soldier started feeling the strain of such force and turned wide-eyed at the demons being devoured and burned to a crisp by both, the energy flowing from the prince and the dense venom from the realm ahead of them. He tried desperate attempts to go after Endymion but the prince was already crossing the void giving the soldier any chances to go after him, it was either catch him or die in the process, "NOO!" Agamemnon yelped with horror when the gates closed back with one loud and haunting thud, sucking the life out of the ground close by and leaving him completely alone and unarmed. With glossy eyes full of fright and panic, the soldier fell to his knees and shook his head, "N-No..."
O—o—O
At the other side, Endymion felt the change of density in the air and watched wide-eyed at the bits and pieces of flesh and bone scattered around him and covered his mouth to fight the stench and revolting nausea bubbling in the pit of his stomach. In all his years of training, Endymion earned the skill to tolerate gore and violence and he had learned to overcome the revulsion it caused to see body fluids and vivid flesh from a carcass but this was a whole other level of torture; this was inhuman, this was demonic.
Everything happened so quickly it was unsure to tell when he managed to cross. It was clear that he was in another dimension that was deeper than hell itself. He was suctioned into a void, standing in a floating ground with nothing but blood red skies above him and a bottomless pit below. Endymion stepped away from the melting corpses that clung to him when he stepped through the gates and continued his way toward the edge and dared to look down, feeling an instant pull inside his stomach. The second he crossed over, he felt it—the raw dementia and disease lurking in every creak and hole of this new dimension and the carvings on his wrists marking the deal he made with the lord of the underworld started to burn like if someone had thrown acid on his skin. It was done, his fate was sealed. He had condemned himself to madness.
For a minute he felt desolated—confused. He didn't know where to go, where to even start looking. He roamed in the mist of darkness and widened his prismatic blue eyes when he saw a long and unsteady bridge appear ahead of him, it was palpable—death. Endymion looked up and saw that while there was space above and below him there was no way to walk out of it—he was trapped, in the deepest part of somewhere, anywhere in the universe.
The terran prince stood at the start of the long bridge made with scattered bodies holding onto each other, some rotting, some still alive and screaming at the top of their lungs, dealing with their own dementia and suffering, making him believe that this was the real Purgatorio. For the first time since he got to the underworld, Endymion felt the sharp needle of fear pricking his chest, and for a minute, his body did not respond to his command; he was frozen watching at the innumerable count of bodies writhing ahead of him like a net of flesh and bone, "*Caelum mihi..."
He had to see it with his own eyes to actually believe the lengths the gods had gone to punish his family the way they have. He remembered the many lections he had about mythology and divine history as a child and the way Tartarus was depicted in every book he read, it was always described as the deep abyss of torment and suffering, the land of the wicked, the corrupted, the vile and most hostile spirits and also, the prison for those of titan blood. He has heard about this place so many times but even with all the descriptions written in countless books, nothing came close to what he was witnessing in person. There were no words to describe this place, they couldn't do any justice, they didn't exist.
It pained him and at the same time, it disgusted him to learn this was the place the gods decided to throw their souls just to appease their insecurities and feed their authority. Endymion looked at the long way ahead of him with regained determination and strode ahead to the bridge; his hand was about to find support onto the rail but watched with genuine horror when he noticed that what he thought was stone was bone and what he thought was rope, was flesh and quickly jerked his hand away, relying only on his body weight to maintain his balance. The smell of rot was so unbearable he had to pull his cape to cover his nose and mouth as he ventured further on the pendulous bridge without paying mind to the cries and screams of those he was stepping on.
No matter how many lives he had taken in the past or how much he trained and prepared himself for this, Endymion felt a rush of cold chills running all over his body with every step he took over the many heads and faces of those fused to create the unsteady path. It creaked like if was made of old, hollow wood and while he wanted to believe it was that, deep down he knew what he was crushing, in reality, were skulls.
"Another one..."
Endymion heard a hoarse whimper and tried to keep his balance at the unsteady bridge, without much wanting it he caught a glimpse of the void below and felt his blood run cold in his veins,
"Another one has come..."
The strain in the words of whoever was talking urged Endymion to peer down and see with closer detail to the ground he was stepping on and was surprised to see men, women, and what he could identify as corrupted cherubs tangled in one gigantic net. It was horrifying. It was a living nightmare.
"You are not coming back... you are never coming back..."
"There is no return from here..."
"Another soul has fallen to feed the beast..."
"A cursed one..."
"...A savage..."
"An ancient—I smell ancient blood."
Endymion pressed the dark and thick cloth of his cape over his nose and took another set of steps, trying his best not to look at the quivering eyes of those looking at him with desire and disturbing allure. As he slowly continued his way to the end, his eyes widened when he felt a hand wrapping tight around his ankle to anchor him in place and looked down at a creature with long limbs and the most distraught expression on its face crawling toward him, "Help me!" It screeched with pain, "Help me!"
Endymion turned to free himself from its grasp but both movement and screeching howls from the living corpse rattled the rest like a nest of snakes awakening to hunt their unfortunate prey, "I do not want to be here!" Another corpse clung to Endymion's leg pulling him down with desperation, making him stumble and fall face to face with what looked to be a woman in a rotten state, "I do not want to be devoured again! Get me out of here! Get me out!"
Endymion's eyes turned wide with panic, then came unbearable nausea. The stench, the blisters and vivid flesh pulsing in her face, it was too much—even for him who had seen grotesque. In a defensive impulse, he pushed himself back up but the grip on his legs was too strong for him to move further. "Get off me!" He grunted as he desperately tried to get free from the corpses grasp and kicked the rotten bodies out of his way but as much as he wanted to run, he had to take his time because if he fell into the abyss below him who knows what would become of him. He felt the woman's long limbs wrapping around him, possessing him, startling the prince, "I said—get off me!" He lifted his leg higher and kicked the body off the bridge sending it to the deep abyss below while screaming with frantic horror and desperation.
As if the movement sparked the hostile nature of the other corpses laying on top of the ones tangled between bones, more started to crawl as far to the middle of the damned bridge where Endymion was fighting for his life and sanity, "Its flesh is mine!" One the of the corpses yelled in a high pitch tone as it unnaturally moved in Endymion's direction. The prince had to think clearer—faster, he had just awoken a heard of demons they were more than ready to devour him and tie him to this ungodly net of rotten flesh.
"Mine! Mine! Its flesh... it is mine—I shall live through this body!" Said another entity crawling closer; Endymion turned and had no other option but to run as fast as he could to the other end, he had to make it, no matter what. There were too many desperate souls, too much poison in the air to make him move faster, it was almost as he was losing a battle before it even started—pitiful, he thought with anger. He thought about taking his sword and slashing them with one clean swing but that would cause a commotion and he was still on a mission—he had to think straight and with a cool head and then, in between the many screams, howls, and cries those words were said again, giving clarity to what he should do next,
"I do not want to be devoured again!"
"Again..." Endymion muttered to himself as a small flash of his childhood came to mind. Those quiet and tranquil mornings when the high priest would tell him many stories about divine creatures, the ones he read often in the books but were never matched by the way the man in a tunic would describe it, it was like he knew them as he had spoken to them. Now, he knows he actually did—that old man.
-O-
"Salve, iuvenum Princeps,"
(Good morning, young Prince,)
"Good morning,"
Obelix watched 9-year-old prince Endymion walk into the temple ready for his daily studies wearing his navy tunic and pants with dark boots that reached right above his still chubby ankles. The priest could not deny the joy of imparting wisdom to the young prince, but sometimes, he felt like his lessons not always reached their purpose. "Latine, obsecro..." (Latin, please...) he sighed with slight tiredness.
Endymion blew his long fringe away from his face with exasperation as he sat by the circle of sacred light where he lit the candles and did his daily prayers and offering to the gods, "Today as well?"
"Quotidie et hodie, Tua Sublimitas," (Today and every day, Your Highness.)
"Hmm..." Endymion pursed his lips and sat on the marble floor, startling the man, "Endymion, est aliquid ex materia?" (Endymion, is something the matter?)
"Mater est non sentiens bene iterum." (Mother is not feeling well again.)
Obelix felt a tug in his chest, true, he had known the queen has had a rough night and he also knew how much it afflicted the young prince to hear about his mother's weak health. It was both surprising and heartbreaking that at his short age, the young prince already understood the meaning of life and death. It broke his heart to see him this depressed because he wanted to do more than just pray—he wanted to protect her, he wanted to save her and he was frustrated because he did not know how. He felt completely useless. With a long sigh, the young prince crossed his legs buddha style and waited for his mentor to start with his daily lessons, "Quid nobis omnibus accensis lucernis quotidie?" (Why do we have to light all these candles daily?)
"Et cum deum bonitatem possit inhabitare facit unius moris," (So the gods can bless us with goodness,)
"Bonitatem..." (Goodness...) Endymion muttered like if the word itself was hard to believe, "Omnes deos misereri, Obelix?" (Are all gods merciful, Obelix?)
The question startled the priest because there was much more behind those words. Sometimes it really amazed him, the young boy's sharpness and level of maturity. He would often ask questions or say things only those with experience would say, and it completely took everyone by surprise. He would start a deep conversation and question methods of politics, philosophy, mythology, and history that constantly made him forget that he was just in fact, just a nine-year-old boy.
"Numinis ambiguos habentibus sanguinem est misericordia," (Mercy is too ambiguous for those with divinity in their blood,)
"Et quid precor?" (Then why do I pray?)
"Ita possunt audire," (So they can listen,)
"Audi quid?" (Listen to what?)
"Vos," (You,)
Endymion widened his blue eyes and looked up at his mentor, "Mihi?"
"Ita vero, te," (Yes, you,) Obelix sighed softly and bent his knees to meet the young monarch's face to face, "Sic enim possunt videre genus suum, sic possunt videre quam audire," (So they can see you are kind, so they can see that you listen,)
"Alioquin non esset terminus Tartaro..." (Otherwise I would end in Tartarus...)
Obelix's face turned pale at the mention of such place, "Tartaro, quid dicunt?" (Tartarus, why do you say that?)
"Quod si non audierit eos, missuros ad inferos. Non est quod ubi malum animarum ibimus?" (If I do not show them that I listen, they would send to me to Tartarus. Is not that the place where bad souls go?) Endymion sighed softly, "Ex ea die lego librum alterum..." (I read it from a book the other day...)
"Non ut pedem eo in loco, semper. Et non esse convenire." (You are not to set foot in that place, ever. You do not belong there.) Obelix put his hands over young Endymion's shoulders, "Cum aegre ferre te obtenebrati sunt latentia vitia, sed fere ne quidem potest ut det vobis introitus in tali locus." (When you are worried you become dark, almost morbid, but not even that can grant you an entrance to such place.)
"Quare?" (Why?)
"Quia Tartaro non est Limbo, Endymion." Obelix narrowed his caramel eyes, "Tartaro non est Purgatorio, Tartaro non est Inferno..."
(Because Tartarus is not Limbo, Endymion. Tartarus is not Purgatorio, Tartarus is not hell...)
Endymion felt a cold chill running down his spine, "Quid ergo est?" (What is it then?)
"Ut abysso tenebrosa nimis in se tenebrae," (An abyss darker than darkness itself,) Obelix sat in front of the young prince, "Abyssus hunc tormentorum..." (An abyss of torment...) "In locum hunc tormentorum ad animam abyssus ut nunquam incidat finem, semel in animo est iudicium in abyssum, ut non moriatur et sit vivifica ut non morerentur ulterius. Tartarum sit occidendum, est locus pro cruciatu, de saeva impius."**
"Quare nec talis locus est?" Endymion asked with a tremble in his young voice, "Quid enim potest esse totus in Inferno?"(Why does such place exist? Why it cannot be hell as a whole?)
"Ne quidem quod locus inferni non est horrendum quia essentie tales speties quedam ut vincula," (Because not even a place as horrible as hell can keep such beings imprisoned,)
Endymion tried to dismiss the heavy vibe wrapping around him as he tried his best to rub the goosebumps running all over his body, "Et cognovi quod non possit integrum quasi locus est molestum duxi," (You make it sound as if you knew that place,)
"Ego sum Divina Sacerdos, Endymion, non est cur ego scio quia omnia regna amen dico vobis: non est convenire." (I am a Divine Priest, Endymion, I know all realms... that is why I tell you: you do not belong there.) He pinched the young prince's nose to lighten the mood, "Modo cogitatione possumus hanc corruptionem tur relicta est?" (Now, can we leave these morbid thoughts and topic behind and proceed?)
Endymion sighed, "Licuit, licet..." (Alright, alright...) he closed his eyes and brought his hands together, "Ita, qui primus nos orare?" (So, who do we pray first?)
Obelix smiled as he looked at the young boy "Helios, scilicet." (Helios, of course.)
-O-
**"In a place like the abyss of torment, a soul never meets its end, once it has been sentenced to fall into the abyss, it dies only to be respawned so it can die again. Tartarus is murder, is torture—a cruel place for the wicked."
"It never meets its end..." Endymion whispered as his hand quickly pulled his sword out of its elegant scabbard and turned to the bodies moving toward him, "See, Obelix? I did pay attention..." he turned to kick another corpse clinging on to him and ran with his sword close to his waist and cut all the strings of flesh holding the bridge as he ran to the other side, sending it to the abyss below in a domino effect. With a hard swing, he shook the dirty blood from his blade and slid it back inside its scabbard as he looked down at the void, "You said I did not belong here—" he turned to look over his shoulder at the dark shadows floating around the realm of dementia and frowned, "But neither does my father, and yet... here he is."
The Divinity Series is rated M. Violence, cursing, and intimacy may occur.
I do not own Sailor Moon, just this plot and some of the characters.
AN: *Caelum mihi: Heavens help me.