Chapter 33

~Goodbye My Love~

'He will never accept it.' Judith thought to herself. 'Do it now!' Little Miss Judy screamed inside her head. 'It will only get harder from here.' She warned. After her enlightened meeting with herself, Judith had come to the unsettling conclusion that Little Miss Judy was the more insidious part of her mind - the part she had had a conversation with.

After Zamazu's unfortunate discovery of the pulsing dark energy in her veins, Judith had tried to convince him of what was happening and what was going to happen if she stayed, and like the previous conversation, Zamasu had shot down everything she said.

'Just a little while longer.' She desperately thought. 'Not yet.'

Judith had hoped that Zamasu would've understood, that somehow and by some miracle, he would've accepted their fate and agree to her plan. How foolish she was to hope that such a thing would ever be possible. How foolish to think that the most stubborn, hard-headed, and impossible god would be persuaded.

'You have no other choice.' Little Miss Judy reminded her.

'Not yet.' She resolutely thought as she stepped towards him.

She paused a hair's away from his lips before softly whispering. "Remember your promise to me." Hearing his sharp intake of breath at her words, she leaned forward and sealed her lips to his in a soul searing kiss, laced with desperation, as if she was trying to pour all her unspoken emotions into it. Sensing her desperation, Zamasu pulled her closer, deepening the kiss further.

Despite her best efforts and resolutions, she could not help the warm tears that escaped from the corners of her eyes. Zamasu felt her body tremble against his, just as something warm rolled onto his hand. At the realization that Judith was crying, he reluctantly pulled away from her and was stunned to see "real" tears and not the unnerving blood that would usually have been there.

"Judith- what…" Zamasu started to say but she refused to open her eyes, clinging to the last moment she would ever have with him.

'It is time.' Little Miss Judy softly said and Judith knew she was right. She felt Zamasu's grip on her tighten as she allowed the first tendrils of darkness to enter her soul.

"What are you doing?" Zamasu demanded, as realization started to dawn on him. Judith slowly opened her sorrow filled eyes and looked sadly at the man she loved.

"Forgive me…" she whispered as she allowed the darkness to infiltrate further and further, allowing herself to be consumed by the 'nothingness' inside of her.

"Don't you dare do this Judith!" Zamasu said loudly, forcefully shaking her. "Don't you dare leave me!" he yelled as he felt her life force slip away.

"Goodbye my love." Judith managed to utter as her vision started to turn red. "Farewell my heart."

And with one last breath, his sweet taste of cinnamon still on her tongue, his scent filling her senses, she embraced the blackness that was her soul completely.

… Universe 10 Planet of the Kais …

Gowasu was once again sitting underneath his beloved tree. It had been a long time since he had had to brew his own tea and was looking forward to tasting the aromatic brew now sitting in front of him.

He was just about the take a sip and delight his senses when an ice-cold gust of air rushed passed him. Startled he placed the cup down onto the saucer and watched the sky grow dark as a ripple ran over the universe.

"Oh dear." He remarked and was just about to get up when the air grew warm again. Puzzled, he looked back at the sky, which was now its normal pink colour. 'How peculiar.' He thought.

Looking back down at his tea, he eyed it suspiciously. "Maybe I made it to strong?" he mused deciding to rather not chance it and started to brew another batch.

The old Kai did not see the patch of scorched earth that had appeared at the base of his beloved tree.

… Judith and Zamasu …

Zamasu looked at Judith from across the room. Moments ago he had felt the last of her essence vanish, just as a wave of black energy exploded around her, knocking him back to where he had collided with the wall, causing the wood to break and splinter around him.

"Judith, what have you done?" Zamasu asked quietly, not expecting an answer from the shell that now stood before him.

The house was complaining loudly around them, the beams creaking as the wood began to rot around her.

During the past few months, Zamasu had experienced an array of emotions he never thought was possible, but he had never felt anything like what he experienced in that moment and he found he could not quite name it.

It was a mixture of such intense sorrow that it made him want to retch, coupled with an overpowering feeling of loss and heartache. But there was something else… Anger, betrayal and dare he acknowledge it… hate.

He closed his eyes against the torrent of emotions that was threatening to over-whelm him and when he had opened them again… she was gone and the house was once again silent.

She's gone.

The sentence kept repeating itself over and over inside his head.

She's gone.

Fury swelled inside him until he could no longer bare it and he let out a anguished cry as his energy flared and the house around him exploded, the waves of energy emitted from him levelling everything in its wake until all that was left was a crater.

Breathing heavily, Zamasu sank to his knees as the sentence once again repeated itself.

She's gone.

...The Palace of Grand Zeno...

"Hello Father."

If the Grand Priest was human, his blood would have turned cold at the familiar voice. Schooling his features into a mask of indifference, he turned to face the woman he considered his daughter.

"Judith." He said by way of greeting, noting with some alarm the gleam in her red eyes and the black, toxic energy surrounding her like a barrier.

Judith kept steady eye contact with him as she spoke. "I would have said it was nice to see you again, considering it's been 800 years," Judith struggled to keep her voice even, "but then again, you did teach me that lying is impolite."

The Grand Priest felt as the air grew heavy with each passing moment and an all to mortal chill ran down his spine as he carefully regarded her, weighing the options for the best response he could give her. He was all to aware of the danger she posed to him.

Deciding it was best no to beat around the bush, he asked, "May I venture a guess as to why you have deemed it necessary to pay me a visit?"

He was stalling, Judith recognised with some satisfaction. "You may." She answered, enjoying the way the high priest seem to shrink away from her gaze. "Although I doubt your guess will be correct or even close to accurate." she added, venom dripping from each syllable.

"I hope you are not planning on exacting some sort of retribution." The Grand Priest said, his voice not betraying his building panic at the situation. He was not sure if she knew how to use her power yet. "I would hate to have to hurt you." The words slipped out before he could stop them and immediately regretted his careless slight.

"Hurt me." Judith repeated, her energy growing in intensity as she bit out the words. "You could not begin to comprehend the agony you have already caused me just by letting me live." she hissed. She had to calm down, her energy was out of control and she had not yet mastered her power... yet. The Grand Priest watched as she took a few deep breaths, and to his relief, her aura dissolved.

Her voice was more even when next she spoke. "I'm here to ensure that you never have the opportunity to hurt us again." The Grand Priest narrowed his eyes at the word 'us'. So his initial efforts had indeed split the child into two. He had so many questions he wanted to ask, out of all his previous efforts, this is the first time he had been able to speak to this Judith.

"I don't much care about your feelings 'father'." Judith continued and ignored the minute flinch her words caused. "But it is important for my 'goody-two-shoes' self, which unfortunately had me promise to put an end to this whole charade."

"Oh?" The Grand Priest had to admit he was intrigued. "And how did you plan on doing that?"

An evil smirk appeared on the beautiful face of his evil daughter. "By giving you an extremely brief taste of what your daughter is experiencing currently. And please bear in mind, this is technically the seventh time she has had to endure this, so try and keep perspective."

Before he could utter another word, she was in front of him and had grabbed his forehead with her hand, her fingers digging into his temples. Judith smiled with glee as an anguished moan escaped his mouth.

Never in all of his existence had he experienced anything like it. It was more than just pain, it was an all consuming despair, a chasm of sorrow, sadness, profound longing and physical torture. He had never imagined that anything like this could ever exist, let alone inside one person. He had never thought of death, but this feeling he was experiencing, this pain, was enough to make him beg for it.

As soon as it started it disappeared and Judith stepped back. The Grand Priest was kneeling on the floor, breathing hard, she had literately brought him to his knees. As his vision came back into focus, he looked up at the darkness he had created. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came. Instead, Judith's voice filled his senses.

"Be sure to have Lord Beerus finish the job next time." There was a brief moment Judith's red eyes flashed their reminiscent cognat colour. "I hope to never see you again."

The Grand Priest blinked and she was gone...

… Universe 10 Planet of the Kais ….

Zamasu appeared on the grassy planes of his planet. Unbidden his mind instantly wondered to that first day he saw her... Angrily he pushed the thought away, grimacing at his lack of self-control. His purple aura starting leaking from his body and he clenched his fists in an effort to bring it back under control, his body trembling with the barely contained rage boiling just beneath the surface.

What a fool he had been! How could he have ever entertained the idea that there would be a possibility of a life with her, away from this place? How had he become so deluded that he was willing to cast aside the role of Supreme Kai in exchange for a few moments of pleasure her flesh afforded him!? How could he have been willing to give up on his true utopia, free from the mortal scurge because of some woman! True, she was not completely mortal, but the unfortunate that was responsible for her birth, was. He had fallen under the same spell that woman's mother must have cast to ensnare the destroyer god Valek, and she will pay dearly for humiliating him in such a way!

After a few deep breaths, he managed to regain control. 'Never. Again.' he thought. 'She left, and so too has the last of my hesitance.' His grey eyes focused on the temple , he could sense Gowasu there. Zamasu thought about what lay ahead, but there was not even a whisper of guilt or empathy in him. 'She had taken that with her, along with everything else!' his thoughts screamed. He clenched his eyes as he felt the last piece of his shattered heart disintegrate. 'She's gone.' The thought floated across his mind for the last time as he started toward the temple and the inevitability that he had put off for far too long.