I had promised him.
I had promised the heir to all of Odeion, the next ruler of Hell and son of Lilith herself, that he could have my heart so that he, in return, would let me have all of his.
The realization of it all came slowly at first only to wash over me all at once, my heartbeat picking up, as the two of us continued to descend down the narrow staircase leading to the caves beneath Illenium.
I tightened my grip on the railing, swallowing thickly as the slender tunnel turned and turned and turned, the air growing colder and drier the deeper we descend, the walls which had previously been white marble now cracked, dirty, and worn-out, warmed by the occasional glow of the torches which continually grew fewer and fewer in number.
I was looking down at the golden chain around my neck, studying the onyx which I, for once, hadn't hidden away under the layers of silk and white, when my inattention finally made me miss a step and I stumbled forward.
The quick intake of Hongjoong's breath was heard before he, in a single heartbeat, moved to wrap an arm around me, catching me just as I turned back around and pulling me flush against his chest.
I was about to say something, but the apology I had been reaching for melted off the tip of my tongue as a question surfaced instead.
The son of Lilith's eyes flickered across my face, searching, though he never got to ask what was so obviously painted across their nocturne depths before I grabbed the necklace and held it up between the two of us, the obsidian pitch black in the dim light, "Can mine do the same?"
"Will mine tell me where you are as well?" I added as the demon simply looked at me for a moment before slowly reaching out to touch it, his hand enveloping mine, strong and safe and warm and-
And suddenly, I felt the song of a heartbeat against my palm; steady and absolutely breathtaking. A smile tugged at the corners of my lips as he let go and I carefully held it with both hands instead.
I took a moment to look at it as it glowed faintly in the darkness of the tunnel before glancing up at Hongjoong only to find that he was already watching me, studying me with a fond look in his eyes which were softer than I had ever seen them as he took a step closer and I felt the heartbeat grow stronger.
"Do you like it?" the son of Lilith asked quietly, almost hesitantly.
"I love it," I breathed, barely thinking twice about the words before they left my lips, my eyes glued to the jewelry in my hands. I didn't notice the flicker of pride in his eyes nor how the tips of his ears turned a pretty hue of pink at the comment.
My heart swelled with every little thud that escaped the onyx, feeling as if, now more than ever, it was something extraordinary, something priceless, something to be cared for, furrowing my brows a little as it suddenly dimmed again, growing fainter and fainter.
I turned around, suddenly nervous, only to realize that Hongjoong had passed me and was now heading down the stairs again, taking with him the faint song of impossible promises and hope I was cradling in my hands.
In less than a heartbeat, I was hurrying after him, hungry, greedy for the reassurance his closeness brought me, despite being unwilling to ever admit to it.
"So why is it called the Fractured City?" he asked, pulling me from my thoughts as I quickly glanced at him before turning my attention back to the crumbling steps beneath my feet.
"I don't know, actually," I mumbled, a little embarrassed to admit it though Hongjoong didn't seem to mind, to blame me, which made me raise my chin ever so slightly, "I've never been here before. Only government officials and the Archangels are allowed down here, and my mother has always forbidden me from-"
My words faltered as my breath caught in my throat, rough and unwilling to relieve my lungs from the shock of the sight we were met with as the stairway suddenly ended and opened up into an enormous cavern.
The small flicker of confidence and appreciation I had clung to only a second earlier immediately dissipated as I dropped the necklace I had been clutching, and let it fall back against my chest with a dull thud before we were plunged into a heavy silence, drowning out the feelings and promises we had made to each other.
All I could see was the cave.
Big enough to house all of Illenium, it stretched on for what seemed to be miles, the ceiling so high overhead that it was obscured by the darkness which was so dense it seemed to be made of the night itself.
It was fractured, alright, a giant chasm running through the ground, a raging river running along its bottom, splitting the city at the center of the cavern in two. A city made of catacombs. A kingdom of graves.
And it was made entirely of bones.
This was the sight I had expected to be met with as I threw myself into the sea from the palace in Odeion. This was what the kingdom below was supposed to look like, this was the Hell that had been described to me my entire life and, in the end, it had been buried underneath the heart of Heaven all along.
I took a step backwards, horrified by the sight, unable to breathe, unwilling to look.
I flinched as I felt Hongjoong take my hand, neither of us looking at the other as I intertwined our fingers and held on a little tighter, forcing myself to stare right ahead.
Because it seemed that the angels had buried their victims alongside the long-lost secrets of the war, and that all of it had been hiding right underneath our feet the entire time, laying the foundation of an entire city without anyone knowing.
〄
Every minute in the Fractured City felt like hours, every second passing excruciatingly slow as we searched the city of bones for the one piece that would save Odeion, the skulls embedded in the road beneath our feet whispering in dismay as we, hand in hand, made our way deeper and deeper into the cavern.
We had often been silent in our search, and I had come to peace with the quiet that often seemed to settle over us, become comfortable with it, but this was different, and with every flicker of the shadows or the seemingly eternal fires dancing atop the occasional torches, non-existent sounds of wings, or far-away songs of winds, I moved a little closer to the Son of Lilith.
The dry and stale air burned my nose with every shaky breath I took, inviting the cold into my lungs and very being as I fought the urge to shiver at the smell of darkness and decay which clung to every abandoned house and crumbling facade we passed.
Stone and rubble covered the streets, and although we climbed every obstacle, it was with utmost care and caution as to not fall, as to not disturb the bones of the unnamed deceased.
Whether they were angels or demons, I didn't know, and the thought alone made my throat close up with a mix of sadness, guilt, and repulsion.
The collapsed archways, statues with shattered limbs, empty fountains, and cracked plazas almost made the catacombs look like an abandoned city, adding to the morbidity of the fact that the roads, roofs, walls, and pillars holding up the ceiling far above were constructed from femurs stacked on top of each other in neat layers, their repetitive texture only occasionally broken by lines of brown, weathered skulls and smaller bones.
I followed Hongjoong's lead, the demon keeping his chin raised and posture proud despite it all, an unfamiliar and cold look in his eyes as he held me close and carefully guided me through the cave before we, at last, found ourselves at the edge of a broken bridge across the chasm, looking down into the turbulent river far below.
I glanced toward the other side where more of the Fractured City lay ready to search, hiding secrets and stories and truths long forgotten and buried underneath the rubble.
A sudden, overwhelming feeling of hatred washed over me at the thought of trespassing on the hundreds, thousands, of unmarked graves, of intruding, of the fact that all of it was the fault of my own mother.
Barely thinking twice, I reached down to touch the ring on my finger; the silver a stark contrast to the darkness within the cave, only I didn't feel reassured as my wings unfolded in a flurry of white feathers. No, I found myself suddenly hating how they looked like hers.
They felt wrong, tainted, rotten with blame and injustice.
But Hongjoong looked at them as if they were beautiful, looked at me as if I was brave, and so I forced myself to once again follow his lead as we flew across the chasm and headed deeper into the darkness of the cavern, exploring every dirty corner, searching derelict every tomb, and passing every decaying grave.
But despite our efforts, we found nothing.
The sheer realization of what it meant, of what consequences it would have now that I knew how crucial the Lunar Flame was to Odeion, to revealing the true history behind the two worlds, overcame me with such force that I halted in my steps as I glanced toward the ceiling high above where a single ray of light pierced the dark rock.
Dawn had broken, and so had the hope that Hongjoong and I could save Hell before it was too late, that I could right the wrongs of my mother and bring justice to the kingdom below.
Because that had been our last night.