Drew looked up; tears were evident in her eyes.
"Mom, what's going on?" asked Zak confused.
"Have you ever heard of the Latin Story Saecula Semper?" she asked the people surrounding her. They all shook their heads. "In English it translates to Forever and Always."
"Wait, I have heard of this story." said Dr. Muzuki. Drew gestured for him to tell it.
"Well...the story goes. A long time ago, in the Roman Kingdom, there was a young woman being pursued by palace guards. Afraid for her life she hid in a dark alley. She found a wounded man near death deep within the alley. Though his appearance was frightening, his skin discolored and fingers like claws. She had a good heart, and she could not leave him there. She brought him to her home; she concealed him there and healed his wounds. She was not afraid of him; she saw no reason to be. He had a kind heart, and could not hurt a soul. That is why she fell in love with him, and he in turn fell in love with her. Even though they barely knew each other and knew their relationship would be frowned upon, they could not live without the other. They married shortly thereafter, and moved to the country. They had many days of blissful happiness, until she got sick. Fever overtook her and she was so near death her breath stopped. He prayed to the gods to help her, and his prayer was answered. She recovered. But he knew he could not go through that pain again. Together they made the excruciating journey to the High Temple to pray. They begged their gods with all their might, to let them be together forever. And their desperate prays were answered, but at a price. Shimmering blue smoke surrounded them and their most devious god appeared to them. They knew this god was feared by most, and his gifts always came with a catch, but they were desperate.
"You have come here today to ask me to grant you the ability to be together forever, and I shall grant it." He held his hands out above them, and spoke. "When one experiences pain, the other shall feel it." The blue spoke swirled around them and lifted them into the air. "When one is joyful, the other shall feel it. When one dies, the other will die, but when one lives the other will live." Their god's voice ricocheted off of the temple walls, crashing into their ears. "You will be forever trapped in the form you are in now, never to age, only to feel the sweet relief of death at the hands of your beloved." It had worked, their pray had been fulfilled. Now they would be together forever, and they would never be separated again."
"The story goes on to say: After so many unending years it was too much for the man to handle, and he went insane. His wife left him, because she could not be with a madman. He wallowed in self-pity for years, obsessively trying to find a way to end it, but he knew the only way to end it. And that was if he and his wife simultaneously killed each other, which he could never do. Their once beautiful gift had become a horrible unending curse. He still waits for his wife to come back to him to this day, asking for her forgiveness. He fell in love with her in a few words, but it will take him an eternity to forget her." finished Dr. Muzuki.
"How do you know it in such detail?" asked Doc.
"It was well documented in old Roman texts. It is one of my favorite tragedy tales." said Dr. Muzuki.
"Grrr gr gr gra gr" said Fiskerton.
"What does some silly story have to do with any of this!" yelled Miranda.
"It isn't a silly story!" spat Drew; you could practically feel her rage. "It happened" she said calmly.
"Really" said Miranda unconvinced.
"Yes, really" Drew said, mocking Miranda's accent. Drew cleared her throat. "I should know, I was the woman from the story."
They all looked at her unconvinced.
"Oh my god" Drew groaned. "I just died and then came back to life!" she yelled exasperated.
"What, and is Doc the man from the story" Dr. Beeman asked laughing. But Doc just shrugged his shoulders and didn't seem to know what the hell was going on.
"No, I am" They all turned to see Argost standing where he had been earlier.
"Vasilis! Get out of here!" Drew yelled. She grabbed her fire sword and chucked it at Argost, it nicked him in the shoulder. Drew sucked in a sharp breath and clutched her shoulder.
"Well until we meet again, Drusilla. And don't forget the rest of the story." Abbey came out of nowhere and lifted.
Argost out of the Volcano. The echo of his voice floated down. "When one loves, the other loves. And Drew yelled back "and when one hates, both hate!"
Dun-dun-dun. Hope you liked it. RR