PART IIII
Zephyr
"If Serenity really is the key" I spat at him "Then why wait till now to use her? Why go through all this trouble if you could have accomplished everything you wanted sooner?"
"Are you really that naive brother?" He gave me a drool look "I needed a Celestial event to enact my plan."
"No" I snarled at him "That's not it. There has been two Celestial events since Serenity has been her that you could have used, yet you didn't. There's a reason why you chose this particular Celestial event."
His eyes narrowed "Those events were small and didn't generate enough power."
"Power for what?"
"Now you're asking the right questions" he grinned "Do you know why you're here?"
"I'm here because my delusional brother is holding me and my mate Hostage." I growled.
"Not here here" he said "But here, in the Matthews Elysium."
"You know why we're here" I glared at something "Hades needs..."
"WRONG!" Cerberus interrupted me "You're not here because that bastard needs something in order to return your precious Mate bond to you."
I looked at him, dumbfounded with how he knew why we were here.
The only person that knew why we were here, besides Serenity, was Hades himself. And that was because the man gave me the job directly in his private office all those months ago.
"If you know so much more than I do than please, share with the class on why you think we're really here for?"
"Don't get touchy Zephy Poo" he sighed "It's not my fault that you were left in the dark all this time."
Serenity took a harsh breath before trying to stand up on all four paws.
She succeeded with only sitting up and I held onto her fur as I noticed one of her paws was shaking.
"You're here because daddy dearest wants you to sacrifice your Mate in order to keep his lineage alive."
My eyes widened in horror as Serenity took a sharp inhale.
I shook my head "He wouldn't..."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that baby brother" he raised an eyebrow "Bound by blood, Mated by Fate, for only one will survive the awaited the Blood Moon."
"What the hell does that mean?!"
"When you were sick baby brother, Mommy and Daddy made a little deal regarding your life" he paused "But do you even know why you were sick in the first place?"
I glowered at him, not having the particular answer he was looking for.
"You were sick because The Fates decided to intertwine you life with the life of your precious mate" he smirked "Apparently, your souls were so intertwined that neither of you could live without the other."
"You're lying" I hissed "The Fates don't involve themselves directly with the affairs of Mortals and Gods.
"You were always a special case" He shrugged "Believe me or not but did you ever ask yourself why Hades pushed for this trip so much? Why Persephone never intervened like she usually does when he nags too much? Why he was so willing to let you go when you were finished with this trip?"
Serenity eyes met my own and I could see a spark of doubt clouding in her jeweled depths.
I looked at my brother, gauging the sincerity of his words.
While it didn't look like he was lying, I could tell that he wasn't telling me the whole truth. I knew my brother well enough to see some hidden cards waiting to be revealed until the perfect moment.
I just had to expedient his little plan and make him show his cards earlier than expected because as the Blood Moon continued to envelop us in its gleaming light, I could feel more and more of my energy depleting.
"If this is true, then why didn't Dad kill Serenity when he had the chance?" I asked "She slept under his roof for weeks?"
"Because they couldn't intervene" Cerberus said "The Fates said that you two had to decide who gets to live and who gets to die."
"I would choose her" I snarled "Every.Single.Time."
"I know" he shrugged "I was hoping on it."
"Why is that?" I asked wearily.
"Because in order for me to utilize the Blood Moon, the bond needs to be complete."
Serenity's haunches raised and I felt her body tense even more.
The Blood Moon flashed and I began to feel weaker as the minutes passed.
Before I could even blink, Serenity was on the Minotaur, using her sharp claws to puncture his Heart and her jaw to rip out his throat.
I gazed at her in shock and Cerberus looked equally surprised.
She pulled back and both figures crumpled to the ground.
I took this quick distraction as a cue and attacked Cerberus.
Using both of my powers, I attacked and incapacitated my brother.
He was knocked out cold in seconds.
Using the rest of my strength, I ran to Serenity and plucked her off of the dirty floor.
She wheezed out a laugh, groaning as my searching hands passed over a broken rib.
"Baby..." I murmured, pulling her closer "You scared the shit out of me. Don't ever do that again."
"The Blood Moon" she moaned "It was zapping my strength."
"That doesn't mean to attack a three hundred pound Minotaur that's five times the size of you."
"I killed him" she murmured "I knew I shouldn't have but he deserved better."
I gazed sympathetically down at her, helping her to stand up and getting her away from the bloody and oozing body "He deserved peace baby. You finally gave him that."
"Do you believe his story?" she asked me.
I looked at my knocked out brother, wondering just how much of his story was true.
"He doesn't have an active enough imagination to make all that up" I replied slowly "But we need to figure out just how much of the truth that he told and what he wanted with us."
Serenity was about to comment on my remark when she suddenly jerked forward in my arms. Her eyes widened and blood immediately started pouring out of her mouth as she let out a wet barking cough.
I took a step forward in horror, catching my Mate's before she hit the dirty ground.
It was only when I held her in my arms did I feel the Minotaur's horn protruding from her stomach, just below her heart.
"I knew you wouldn't be able to make the choice" A jovial voice hissed in my ear "So I made the choice for you."
I looked up into the devoid eyes of my brother and bellowed my mind too in shock to process anything else "What have you done?!"
Cerberus rolled his eyes and extracted the Minotaurs horn just as fast as he plunged it into her body.
"Don't be so dramatic Zephy poo" he kicked Sin's thigh lightly "She'll live. Maybe. All we have to do is trade her for Prisoner 13666 before the Blood Moon ends."
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!" I roared holding my Mate tighter to me "YOU SAID WE GOT TO DECIDE WHO LIVED!"
"And you did" he said calmly "You both decided the minute you had your little talk yesterday."
"How long were you spying on us?"
"I never took my eyes off of you" he said "From the very beginning you were always within sight."
"This wasn't your choice to make!"
"It was a choice I needed to make" He shrugged "Besides, the key needed to die in order to open the gate."
"WHAT FUCKING GATE!" I screamed as more blood continued to pour out of her wound.
"The Gate her family guards" He cocked his head "Don't tell me you didn't know what it is?"
"Apparently I don't know anything." I said, frustration lacing my tone.
"The Gate that the Matthews guard is none other than the legendary Tartarus" he said "That's why they're so important to Hades. They guard all of our little forgotten Miscreants."
I gaped at him 'Is he shitting me?'
I shook my head, clearing the millions of thoughts racing through my mind at the moment.
"She'll die in there" I snapped, recovering from my moment of stunned silence "No human has ever gone into Tartarus and survived."
"Good thing she's only half human, now isn't it?" He reached out to touch her when I threw up a wall of fire "Although, from the looks of things, it seems like her Wolf is dying."
I pulled her away from him with a snarl, keeping her close to my body.
"She's not dying" I said, trying to keep the tremble out of my voice "I won't let her die. I'll die before she does."
"She won't die" Cerberus agreed with me "But only if we act fast and move her into her new little home. Tartarus freezes time, forcing those who is imprisoned within its walls to relieve their final moments over and over again. Her wounds will stop bleeding once we make the trade. No one ever dies in Tartarus. Our family made sure of that."
"Even if that was true, there would be no guarantee that it would work on Serenity" I snapped "Why would I risk it?"
"What more do you have to lose?" He raised an eyebrow "You can either risk what I'm saying is the truth and save your mate or you can call my bluff and watch her die. Either way, she has a eighty percent chance of dying."
He used a matter-of-fact tone like if he was only describing the weather, not talking about my Mate's survival rate.
"What's so special about this prisoner anyway?" I snarled, trying to staunch as much blood as I could.
She was cold, so very cold.
Serenity's eyes fluttered closed and my heart died when they didn't reopen. I gently tapped her cheek and her eyes fluttered open once again.
Those eyes, her beautiful emerald gems, would haunt me for the rest of my life and dying days.
She knew.
She knew that there was no way she would be walking out of here today with me.
She knew that she was dying.
"She's the key to everything I've ever wanted." He spoke wistfully, sounding a little deranged in my opinion.
When I looked up at him, his eyes were wild and there was a satanical little grin on his stupid fucking face.
"So what's it going to be Baby brother?" He clasped me on the shoulder "Are you willing to watch your Mate die for the sins of our father? Or are you going to save the one thing that really matters to you? The one thing that makes you feel whole?"
"I fucking loathe you" I spat out, my tone deadly sharp and dark "You're a pathetic excuse for an older brother."
"Well it's a good thing I'm not your real brother than" He chuckled, dusting his hands off on his pants "Isn't it?"
I looked at him sharply, startled at his confession "What? What do you mean you're not my brother?"
He just smiled.
"I was a charity case Hades and Persephone adopted while they were trying to have a kid of their own" he said "It turns out that my parents, my real parents, died in a horrific accident when I was a newborn. I would have died too if good ol' dad didn't step in and bring me back from the brink of death."
"And you're bitter at him for that?" I would have laughed it my Mate wasn't currently dying in my arms "For saving you? For giving you a better life than your traitor ass really deserved?"
He ignored my statement.
"You know, you and I aren't so different." he walked up to a dock and threw in the bloodied horn before he started chanting in an unrecognizable and ancient sounding language.
A lost ancient language I didn't even know.
A language only used and known by the Αρχικό τρία, Original Three.
Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades.
To know that someone like Cerberus knew this ancient language, a complete and utter psycho, was something that worried me to the core considering that this language was only talked about in old fables.
The ground started rumbling for a second before it abruptly stopped.
A few quiet moments later, slowly but surely, a huge coliseum rose from its murky depths.
I gazed at the Colossal building as it continued to erupt out of the water and reach the sky.
Cerberus walked up to the Gate as steps appeared in front of him, guiding him to an intricately designed door that held the crests of the Original three.
Cerberus leaned in and began reciting an ancient inscription. When he was done, he turned his attention back to me.
"I'd say we're on opposite ends of the fucking spectrum" I snapped "We're nothing alike."
"I wouldn't be too sure" he said and then nodded towards the small glass panel of the door that suddenly appeared when the original door disappeared "We'd both do anything to protect the one's we love."
My eyes snapped to the small glass panel of the window and two hazel eyes locked with mine.
Those eyes briefly glanced down to my dying Mate in my arms before connecting with mine again.
The expression in her eyes made a shiver roll down my spine.
Pure, unadulterated glee.
I knew that this woman, the one that by idiotic brother proclaimed to love, was more dangerous than anything I've ever seen before.
I hung my head in defeat, knowing that whatever I decided would effect not only my life but also the lives of everyone around the world.
Including the Gods.
If I released this woman, I had no doubt in my mind that she would release chaos in every world and relish in all of them burning to the ground.
But, at the same time if I didn't release her, my Mate would die and I would most likely be driven past the point of insanity.
"The Blood Moon's almost over brother" Cerberus yelled, leaning against the horrifying building "And with it, your last chance to save your dying Mate. Once the Moon ends, and the key dies, Tartarus will recede back to it's sequestered depths, never to be open until the next Blood Moon. Which is Millenniums away."
I looked down at my Mate, tears clouding my eyes as she looked up at me with her fierce determined emerald jewels.
Whatever she saw in my expression, she gave me a small consoling smile.
"It's okay Zee" She raised a shaky hand to my face and cradled my cheek in her palm "I'm going to be okay."
I kissed the middle of her palm, gripping her cool hand tightly in my grasp.
"I'm so sorry Princess" I sobbed, finally letting the tears finally roll down my cheeks "I am so sorry I couldn't save you."
"You did save me" she said, her eyes fluttering close, a smile gracing her exquisite face "And for that, I have no regrets my Love. You gave me the greatest gift of all.
"What gift could I have possibly given you Princess?" I tapped her face again but her eyes just wouldn't open "Princess, open your eyes for me..."
Her breath began to grow slower and shallower than before.
I panicked and gently shook her shoulders "Princess...wake up my Love. I need to see those pretty teasing eyes of yours." No Answer "Baby... wake up...I need that sailor mouth of yours to cuss me out for crying like a big baby."
Her mouth quirked up slightly at the corner and the little movement gave me a minuscule amount of hope.
That small fraction of hope died the next second as she took in her last breath.
"You gave me the gift of feeling complete" her hand dropped to the floor, stilling "To finally fill that missing part of my soul."
We both died that day.
She lost her life.
I lost my humanity.
~~~~~~
Continue on with Zephyr's Story in: Onyx Moon.
SNEAK PEAK COMING: SEPT 15! 🌑🌑🌑🌑