MoonLove: a mythological story

The underworld

The trip to the underworld had been too bizarre for Lilith to understand it completely; all she knew is that where she was there was darkness, cold, fear and despair. However, at the same time the onyx stone, which marked the curse in her heart, felt at home.

The dark place she was dragged by Joseph was completely different to the one she was locked last time she was there, this time she was chained to his hand and the place they stand was a shore. The sand under her feet felt li black shattered stones, which had turned into painful dust, and what, seemed to be an ocean in front of her was green, glowing like if it had some kind of energy. The small, soft waves looked like ghosts trapped under the surface of the paranormal water. Joseph pulled her hard and made her fall hard on the sand. Her knees began bleeding as if sharp knifes had gone through her skin; Lilith gasped and a tear ran through her face, she was strong, but that was too much. Nevertheless, she will not give him the pleasure of her tears.

He smiled at her pain; he was feeding on it. Now she was in his territory and there the rules where his.

He pulled Lilith through the chain not caring if she fell again or not, he was waiting for another soul, the one who was supposed to take then to his personal domains (AKA his dungeon/Room), but to his discomfort it has not arrived yet.

Lilith was standing behind that disgusting being, watching around her to discover the best way to scape and go out of it but it was almost impossible; she did not understood where she was, nor how did she arrived. The only thing she was completely sure about was that the entrance was way up her reach literally.

A sound interrupted her thoughts, it was a scream that could have make anyone go mad, it was so high and so loud it seemed to be a soul being shattered to pieces; and Lilith had no idea of how close her appreciation was. Joseph pulled her again. The boat has arrived.

She walked as slow as her legs and the chain permitted her to which was not as slow as she would want to. With every step, she got closer and closer to the boat, and at the same time it also took her near and near that paranormal sea in front of her; she did not know why but her instincts told her to run in the opposite direction of that substance, nevertheless, the chain was pulling her towards it. Her instinct was right, and Lilith would learn the reason the hard way.

Jared knocked on his sister´s dorm door with the hope that she would still be there, and even better, that she would forgive him for doubting her. How could he had been such an i***t, it was obvious Marie would never lie to him and even worst in a live or die situation as the one Lilith was going through. He had been the worst brother ever. He knocked again.

-          Go away! – Marie screamed from the other side of the door.

-          Marie, please, it´s me – said Jared with a regretful voice – could we talk? I know I have been the worst brother ever and that I should have never doubt you but…

He heard steps getting near the closed-door just before the door opened in front of him.

-          Oh, I can see you are back – said Marie with sarcasm – where is your new friend? Didn’t you bring her?

-          Marie, please… just… please forgive me, I would have never doubted you. I know I did wrong and that I hurt you but…

-          Hurt me? Really? You think that is all you did?... unbelievable! – she said raising her voice –  No, you did not hurt me Jared; you disappointed me which is even worst, right now I do not know if I should trust you or you just decided to join Martha. How am I supposed to think you will respect me and the feelings I have/had for you as my brother…

-          But Marie…

-          Or even better, how can I know you will not underestimate my feelings towards Lilith? She is like a sister to me! However, you did not care, did you?

-          Marie, please…. I did not mean to, I was just too…

-          Hey, people… do you mind to bring the discussion inside? – Said a weird voice – otherwise, it is making us lose a lot of time if we pretend to bring Lilith back.

-          Who is… - Asked Jared but Marie did not let him finish the question.

-          Yes, you are right better keep this going while we keep thinking on the plan… Come on in Jared, but if you tell someone about this plan, I will kill you with my bare hands.

With that, Jared went inside the room closing the door behind him.

The chain that tied Lilith to Joseph pulled her harder and harder to that greenish substance which repelled her to the point of running away from it; she gave one last try to get herself free and away from what looked to be her destiny but he read her intentions. The moment she let herself go to make some weight and loose the chain a little, Joseph pulled her hard and got her completely covered by the see of what she now knew were the souls of dead people.

Lilith began screaming, but not even herself was capable of listening to herself over the screams of those entities around her; she could feel their suffering, their desperation, their pain. Without mentioning that she could feel them around her as snakes trying to break every bone in her body. She just screamed and screamed while the pleas filled her mind with madness.

-          Please! Help! – Screamed a voice that resembled that of a woman – do not leave me here!

-          Hold her!! – Screamed another soul – we might be able to exchange her by our freedom!

-          Hel…

-          Keep He…

-          Kill…

-          Plea…

The voices went repeatedly while she could feel oxygen leaving her lungs and life leaving her body. With one last broken sound, her eyes closed and her mind surrendered to darkness.

Joseph regretted his decision as soon as he listened to the first scream of Lilith. It was true that his plan was to t*****e her and make her go mad so she begged him to kill her, but the movement he had just done, broke all his plans. He could hear her surrendering to madness, until a shattered scream cut the air and he could feel the whole weight of her. She surrendered. He was doomed.

He pulled her out of the sea and pushed her on the boat.

-          Now that we are complete, take us to my own kingdom…

-          To your father´s…

-          Just do as you are told useless servant! I did not ask your opinion.

With that the paranormal sailor guided the boat to the depths of that sea which had stolen the soul of his prisoner, and with that all hope of her to get out of that place.

Lilith opened her eyes after what seemed to be an eternity to her. She found herself tied with chains and shackles to a black cold stone that was locked into a black stall. The room was small and what seemed to be like a bad drawn circle; or at least, that is what she could see with the dim greenish light that came from a fire far away from her. That place reminded her of something, it was similar to another place she had been before, but she could not remember the place, nor where she was. Then she just noticed. She did not know who she was, and felt absolutely nothing. She was empty.

Joseph entered the room with a devilish smile and a psycho shine in his eyes. With a snap of his fingers little fires appeared around the place and she was able to see finally where she was. She had been right; it was a bad circle shape. He walked slowly towards her trying to catch a hint of fear or something similar, but all he got was emptiness. That frustrated him and made him hit the wall with all his strength. He had definitely made a terrible mistake. Now the main thing was finding a solution to it and his plans on track before his father returned and found out what he had done.

Jared could not believe what his eyes were seeing. It was impossible. Lucy was sitting on the bed in front of his sister, how had that happened? Everyone knew she never went out of her emporium, not even if it was a life or death situation; especially when it was a live or die situation.

-          Lucy!... – Said Jared almost without voice – How…

-          How am I here dear Jared? – She said with an acid tone in her voice – well you will never know…

-          Please, Lucy…

-          Lady Lucy to you ungrateful child

-          I see Marie told you what happened… I…

-          Even if she did not told me I would have known anyway. Everyone knows that!

-          Lucy…

She turned to look at his sister sitting on the bed next to her. Marie was there, looking perfect as she normally did, the only thing breaking the illusion, were the tears running down her face. He never imagined that his actions could cause so much pain on someone he loved, but just then, he realized the size of what he had done.

Lucy had all the right to be furious at him. She had taken care of Odette’s soul for a very long time, and just when he appeared and she decided to tell him the truth, he goes and hurts her in a way only…

-          In a way only a king had hurt her once – Lucy finished the sentence – yes, but it was worst this time.

-          Lucy… Marie… please… - he begged looking at them both – please forgive me.

The room fell into a sharp cold silence.

-          You will have to earn forgiveness if you are really looking for it. – Said Lucy without looking at him. – Now my dear, we should keep defining the plan.

-          Yes Lucy, you are right; this can be spoken another time, now the priority is Lilith.

Jared found himself a place to sit near enough to hear them but far enough not to bother them.

Marie and Lucy had been working on a plan, which seemed incredibly difficult but not as crazy as it could have been. The plan was entering the underworld by taking the emporium entrance down there to the “lobby”, from there Marie would have to call the sailor; they were more than sure that he knew where Joseph took Lilith. She would have to keep the trip alone and find Lilith on her own and try to bring her back to the paranormal shore so they can enter the emporium again and return.

It sounded crazy, but possible. It was time for Jared to prove himself and them the love he had for Lilith, his friend Lucy and of course, his sister.

Joseph was walking around his dungeon thinking on options to fix his mistake, what could he do, he would have to go to the shore again and extract some of the water where she fell and make her drink it and see if maybe she woke up. He might have to do that, after all, it was his only chance before his father arrived, but what if he did not go and sent the sailor to bring him the water. He had to obey him. He looked back at Lilith hanging from his wall, she was like dead, hanging there as an empty carcass; she would not change for the few minutes that would take him give an order. He suddenly went outside, but there was something he did not notice; someone, a silent shadow was watching his every move and now, that shadow knew perfectly how to act. That mysterious being was dressed in a black and red dress. She was Odette.

Marie returned to herself and opened her eyes. Lucy and Jared were looking at her with the concern of not knowing what was happening.

-          Excuse me if I scared you for a moment – said Marie – I decided to make an experiment, but I never imagined I would be as successful as I was.

-          You crazy! Why you did not tell us?! We almost freaked out! – Screamed Jared – How did it occur to you to do that, and even better not telling us!

-          It was just an experiment, but I succeeded and actually, I got very valuable information, but also very worrying one.

-          Is it true my dear? – said Lucy – what is that information you found out?

-          On the good side, that Lilith is alive and not being used nor tortured by the i***t son of Mors… but… but… Let me finish, she lost her soul. For what I heard from Joseph the moment I was there, he would send the sailor to bring him water from the shore of the ocean of souls…

-          What? You must be kidding me! – Screamed Jared – that would mean that he…

-          Indeed brother, somehow she was drowned there and her soul was trapped.

-          But the water…

-          It would not bring her soul back, it will just fill her with something so she reacts and is able to feel again. To bring her soul back, she must be drowned again in the exact same place, so her soul finds her body and in exchange of her freedom, she must offer something as a spell…

-          Or a curse – finished Lucy

The silence fell on the room as if not even a soul would dare to talk in that moment of realisation. That could be the best way to free their friend. Lilith’s soul would return and the curse Mors put inside her heart would be free in the dark greenish waters of the ocean of souls.

The plan had turned even better, but more dangerous at the same time, because they would need the help of the sailor, who served Mors in order to succeed. They knew he was not loyal to them, but kept working for them because he needed to in order not to turn himself into one of those lost souls who could never return to the underworld. They would have to find a way to pay him for his services with something he would appreciate enough to risk losing his existence the way it is.

Joseph was walking back and forth in the same place once and again, while he waited for the sailor to reach the point he was standing in. He had called his servant about 30 seconds ago and still the useless sailor had not arrived, and his temper was getting worst and worst by the second, until he saw the boat get near him and on it, the soul he had been calling.

-          What were you waiting useless i***t? – Screamed Joseph to his employee – Did you not hear that your master was calling you?

-          My lord, I did not imagine your request was as important that could not wait less than a minute of your time. I arrived as fast as this ocens permits me.

-          That is not my problem bastard! If I call, I am expecting you to appear immediately not 30 seconds later. Are you stupid, or is it that your soul has not self-preservation instincts?!

-          I am so sorry my lord, it will not happen again.

-          Obviously, it will not, because next time you will turn into just another lost soul in this ocean you are so afraid of.

The form in front of Joseph seemed to get paler even if it was already just a soul; he could not answer, but the moment he opened his mouth to say another apology Joseph spoke.

-          Well, my command to you is incredibly simple, that even a useless and stupid soul like you could achieve it without a problem.

The sailor looked at him with fear, but also with the strength to prove himself useful so he would not fall into the ocean under his feet.

-          What I need from you is to bring me a simple glass of water, from the exact same place that red haired b***h drowned. She will pay for her disobedience to me, and pay the higher price.

A dim and creepy light appeared inside of Joseph´s eyes while thinking in all the t*****e plan he had been developing for Lilith; and once he had that water to make her feel again, it would be a delicious vengeance.

With a deep bow, the sailor began moving away from the shore into the deepest part of the water and heading to the shoe where he had seen that poor girl lose her soul and soon enough her life.

Lucy, Marie and Jared were ready to enter the emporium and get into the underworld. They had made a better plan now that there were three of them, and two could go inside the underworld. They had taken a crystal bottle to take some soul tears, which was what the ocean was made of beside the same souls, a golden blanket to cover her and show she was under sun’s protection and Odette’s pin, so it would hide her from her enemies once her soul was back.

-          Ok, then; everyone understands the part to play in this plan, right? – Said Marie with a firm voice – Lucy, you have to take the water into the crystal bottle, the snow demon inside you with scare the souls and they will not attack you…

Lucy gave a firm nod, even if the idea of leaving the safety of her emporium was not appealing at all to her.

-          Jared, you must convince the sailor to take us to the other side by offering your protection or your father’s. he will not risk his spiritual existence without any insurance, and once we are in the other side, you must distract Joseph, after all, he is your worst enemy. It should not be hard.

Jared nodded at his sister. He would do anything he could to bring his beloved woman back to her world; even if it implied fighting with his worst enemy, so be it.

-          And myself, once in the other side I will look for Lilith, give her the water and put the pin on her hair to be able to take her away from that disgusting place. Jared, I will tell you mentally when we are ready so you find a way to get rid of Joseph, so we can take her to the shore where she lost her soul. All we can hope now is that everything goes as planned and the sailor is willing to help us.

It was decided. The plan had been traced, now it was time to get it moving; the three of them took everything they needed, entered the emporium and closed the door knowing that the next time they opened it, danger could destroy them at any second.