The Realm of Lost Souls
Cybelline stood by Morrigan, her face dark with anger. The goddess of death looked at the Dominion god with fear and a little bit of idol worship. This was a goddess whose power were beyond any limits.
Cybelline looked around, "So this is the in-between?"
Ithos and Myrai stood behind, eyes searching the empty and vast land. They saw hundreds of thousands of translucent spirits walk past them, their eyes empty and unknowing.
"Yes" Morrigan answered, "This is where souls that are lost go. Souls that had been damaged in some way. Or if they have unfinished business, they are not ready to move on."
Killian came over and took Cybelline's hand, "We will find her. Morrigan said that if she was not in the realm of the dead then she must be here."
"Do you have anything of your daughter's?" Morrigan asked Ithos and Myrai. After a moment, Myrai took out a small pouch that contained a lock of Miri's baby hair. She held it out carefully, "It is all I have left of her."
Morrigan nodded, took the proffered item and went towards the small river that was not a river of water but full of spirits.
Morrigan knelt down and took a bow of the stuff and dropped the hair into the bowl. The contents swirled together and started to glow blue.
Cybelline saw a shadow appear and her eyes brightened. Miri. She sighed in relief, Miri's soul was found.
Bit by bit, Miri materialized and stood in front of them. She looked as if she was in a trance, her eyes seemed to be clouded. She looked at Cybelline and smiled, but made no sound.
"What's wrong?"Morrigan muttered, "It's as if the soul is not whole."
Cybelline studied Miri's soul closely and pointed, "There's a tear on her wing."
Morrigan saw the tiny missing piece of Miri's wing and gasped, "Someone is holding onto a piece of her, it can't escape. Her soul can't be completed, this is bad."
Cybelline's face darkened and she turned, "I'm going to kill that bastard."
Morrigan looked towards the distance and stared at the approaching figure, "Do you mean him? I think he's already dead."
Jasreth opened his eyes and saw that he was in an endlessly barren land, here, there were many people walking around their eyes empty, they spoke but soundlessly. He looked at his hands, they too were translucent.
Suddenly, a figure came at him, he barely had time to register her face and red hair before she kicked him into the dirt.
Before he could take a breath, she said with a coldness that pierced his bodiless soul, "Where is it? Where is her wing that you stole?"
Jasreth stared at the beautiful woman as she dragged him towards a place where a few people stood.
She threw him on the ground and he rolled to a stop before he looked up.
The woman who had haunted his dreams, who had smiled and loved him stared blankly into the air.
He crawled up, his eyes blazing in joy, he reached out a hand.
Cybelline's gripped her arm, she did not even look at him in the face before she threw him to the ground again.
"You will never touch her again." She said, "I haven't torn you to shreds and scattered you to the winds because you haven't helped save Miri. If you have a spark of humanity left, you will give her back what you stole."
Jasreth coughed and then looked up. They could all see the slash of red on his spirit body. Jasreth's throat had been slit.
"Save her?" He asked, "What's wrong. Tell me, is she in danger?" He scrambled towards Miri only to have Killian kick him away this time.
"Her soul is incomplete." Morrigan finally answered, "If it is left like this then she will disappear." Morrigan looked to Cybelline, "I am sure you can heal her, but it is better to have the original piece."
Cybelline nodded. She was fire and wrath in one as she turned to Jasreth, "You can't escape."
Jasreth smiled bitterly, "I don't plan to." He held up a vial, "It seems to have come with me. My advisors wanted me to use it to create a potion of prolonged life. I didn't see a point of living."
He opened the vial and the tiny dot of fae wing transformed into a sparkle that flew towards Miri. As soon as it landed on her wings, color returned to the lifeless spirit, she took a deep breath as her cheeks turned rosy and her sun kissed hair glowed.
Her wings, which had been broken, torn, and shattered now healed itself, unfurling and fluttering in the air.
She opened her eyes and saw her parents and Cybelline. Then after a moment she smiled and burst into tears.
They rushed for her, hugging her and comforting her.
"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." Miri said after a moment, Ithos kissed his daughter's head, "You gave us quite a scare. But no matter, you are our child and we are proud of you. You were brave and you stood for your people. Your ma and I are proud."
Cybelline hugged her sister fiercely and then gently tapped her forehead, "If they're a strong opponent, make sure you have me by your side, I'll bury them for you." Her face then turned cold, "Speaking of which..."
She turned and looked at Jasreth who still stared at Miri with the eyes of longing and remorse. He opened his mouth but no sound came out. He had so much he wanted to tell her, but he did not know where to start.
Cybelline cracked her neck, "So do you prefer an eternity being flayed or roasted on a spit?" There was no mercy in her eyes.
Miri smiled at her sister and then gently gripped Cybelline's hand, "He's not worth dirtying your hands."
She walked forward, looking at the man who had promised to love her and stoped in front of him.
"You broke my heart and took my wings." She stated that as a matter of fact. Fire rose from her hands and it hit him in the chest.
Jasreth found himself falling to the ground once more. The pain was a strange feeling, it felt as if someone had attacked his spirit. He breathed heavily and sat up, "Do whatever you want." He said finally, "Just..please...forgive me."
She flew in the air, her wings glowing with power. He knelt in the dirt, unable to take his eyes off of her.
The question lived in the space between them, growing larger and larger as the silence went on.
"No." Miri said simply, "You're not worth it. Instead, I think I must forgive myself. I will let you go."
She smiled at him, this was a smile of someone who didn't care anymore. There was no emotion of love or hatred. Simply because he was not worthy of it. She would not waste another ounce thought on him.
Jasreth felt a hollow fear in his heart, he knew that something had changed. That she had changed, she didn't care anymore. She wasn't his anymore.
Suddenly he wanted her to hate him, "I took your wings! I wanted to kill your people!" He cried out desperately, "Don't forget!"
Miri nodded, "You deserve to be punished. You deserve to die. But this was also my doing."
She turned to Cybelline, "Sister.I have behaved badly and I have been immature. I thought I fell in love and in turn I gave a part of myself to the wrong person. I...I need to be punished, no Fae leader should behave the way I had."
Cybelline sighed, "You already know what you're going to do, aren't you."
Miri nodded "I wish to live a few more lives, not as Miri the Fae but just a few normal lives. Please let me be reborn so that I might find those who died because of me, I will spend however many lives I need in repaying them for their pain. And when I am done, I will go home."
Cybelline was silent, she saw the determined look in Miri's eyes. She wanted to argue but she knew that that this more mature Miri had already found her path. She wanted to take responsibility for her actions. Perhaps this was the best way.
She nodded, "I respect your decision and I agree to the punishment."
Ithos and Myrai looked at each other, and then at Miri. Ithos walked to his daughter and enveloped her in his arms, "Go with our blessings. We will always watch over you."
Morrigan waved her hand, "This will take you to the underworld, there you can choose to be reborn in any form. But your memories of this life, your true self, will all be asleep. After every life you may choose whether to awake or continue being reborn."
The boat and a cloak figure appeared in the river. It bowed to Cybelline and Morrigan.
It held out a bony hand as if to assist Miri onto the boat.
"No!!!!" A scream behind her cried out. Cybelline turned around and raised her eyebrow slightly.
"Take me with you, Miri! Take me with you!" He begged as he ran forward. Cybelline waved a hand a wall of light separated him from the shore that Miri was walking towards.
"Miri! Please! I love you!" Jasreth said as he pounded on the wall of light, unable to go to her.
Miri turned to Cybelline, "I know this is a lot to ask, but, please don't kill him."
"How would you punish him?" Cybelline wanted to know, "Because I think throwing him into the dungeons of hell would be most appropriate."
Miri shook her head, "All of his life, more... than anything he wanted power and immortality." She observed, "I wonder how empty it would feel once he got it."
Cybelline thought for a second and nodded, "You won't regret this?"
Miri shook her head, "My heart...it still hurts. But, no." She gave her sister a hug, "Thank you."
Miri looked at the man who was pounding uselessly against the unseeing force and nodded to Cybelline.
She let the the barrier fall to the earth and Jasreth ran towards Miri, his hands were bloody, his eyes red. Before he could reach her, he sank knee deep into the dirt.
Cybelline looked at Killian who smiled at her, "You were busy. I wanted to help."
Miri smiled at the struggling Jasreth, "I'm leaving now. I have to go and make amends to the people who died because of me. And you...you should do the same."
"Let's go together." Jasreth begged.
"No." Miri shook her head, "You can do it the way you've always wanted."
Cybelline came forward and flicked her finger. A seed of gold flew into Jasreth's forehead and he felt the change immediately. He suddenly had a flesh and blood body, he was no longer a soul. He was alive.
"You can have immortality. You can live forever." Miri said, "You can make amends to the people you hurt that way. You can be a good king and save your people from sorrow. And you have to be a good king, because I will now be a mortal somewhere in the realms. If you hurt anyone in the world, that person might be me."
"I don't want immortality!" Cried Jasreth. "I don't care about it! I want to be with you."
"Do you remember what I said to you the last time I saw you in on the battlefield?"Miri said after a moment.
"The saddest goodbye is not when someone dies." Jasreth said after a moment, he looked at her. How as death not the saddest goodbye? He felt as if his heart was being torn into two.
Miri smiled, "Then you have my answer." And turned to leave.
Myrai held one of Miri's hand and Ithos's held the other. They guided Miri towards the ship and kissed her forehead.
Jasreth was bound to the earth and looked on. He opened his mouth to call but Cybelline stuffed a handful of dirt into it, "None of that please. Just because Miri doesn't want you to die doesn't mean I won't make you suffer."
He watched as the little boat started to push away from shore and looked at Cybelline desperately.
"Please." He begged as he coughed, "Please I need to go to her... I love her."
The underworld shook with Cybelline's anger, "Did you ever act like it?" She thundered, "She loved you, protected you, she gave you her wings. You took it and tore it into a thousand pieces!"
Jasreth flinched, but his eyes never left the boat, "I... I will do better. Make her see... that I loved her." He looked at the goddess, his eyes firm, "Please, let me be reborn with her. I want to be with her."
"How can you make her see. When you are the blind one?." Cybelline mused, "You never saw her, the one who loved you until the end. The one you pushed away. Even if she was next to you this moment, would you cherish her?"
Jasreth looked at the goddess, "I have given up everything for her. My kingdom, my people. Just for a chance to be with her. Please."
Cybelline's smile held no mirth, "What makes you think anything you possess is worth another chance with her? The moment you started weighing her value, you have lost her."
The words rained down on him, covered his face and crept into his nose and mouth. It suffocated him.
"I... I can make it right" He croaked. The dread in his heart was overwhelming.
Cybelline looked at the horizon where the boat that carried Miri was just a small, insignificant dot. "No. Not everything can be made right. If it could, then there would be no regret in this world." She said softly.
Cybelline turned to him and look down "You will guard the Mortal Realm and prevent any wars between human and fae. You will walk that world as an immortal, destined to watch everyone leave you. You will always be and forever, alone."
With a wave of her hand, he disappeared from the realm and back to his kingdom.
"Miri," Cybelline said softly, "One day I hope to see you smiling, your wounds healed and back with us."