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She was right. He was a threat, always had been, and now they had proof of it. When he tried to rid the world of his evil, he messed it all up and brought the darkness to those he cared about. What was the point in even trying anymore when it was obvious that he could not redeem himself? The temporary euphoria of finding Persephone and allowing himself to feel something for the first time? That was a lie to himself and everyone around him. He knew he did not deserve her.
It is so easy to manipulate one’s own mind when the facts were not staring them in the face. So easy to pretend it could all be okay if the ghosts are silent for a while, but they come back. They never stop pressing at the gate of the subconscious. Never.
Black smoke and shadows rose in the room as Persephone manifested, her eyes full of anger.
“Get out, Hera. I warned you not to bother him.” Persephone’s voice was somehow scarier than Hera’s. An authority that told everyone in the room they were in her domain and would bow to her wishes. Whether of their own accord or forced to their knees.
Persephone was power. She was fire that met the shadows and made them her own. She created weapons from things that cannot be touched, created love from something as dark as himself. A contrast within herself, but one he would gladly burn for.
Hera turned on her sister as Persephone took her full corporal form. “I warned you, sister. He is not well and with all the trauma, he is dangerous to you. Devon has power, no longer a mere mortal, and he will only become stronger. That is when he could do something to you that I cannot undo.”
He heard a note of defeat in Hera’s voice and suddenly she no longer held his full ire. He wondered how much of this situation she carried on her shoulders, as if anything to do with her sisters was her burden to bear.
He thought he knew Hera, the sarcastic and vexing animal that she was, but there was much more to her than he realized. Much more.
Persephone walked up to her sister and he noted Hera’s power lessening around him.
“I understand your concern, but you need to stay out of this.” Hera opened her mouth to speak,
but Persephone wrapped Hera up in her shadows and removed her from the room. Her bedroom moved into a quiet stillness that allowed Devon to release his breath, as if Hera had held her hands around his throat.
“Thanatos?” Persephone called once she finished sending her sister away, her eyes on Devon.
Thanatos flew onto the balcony as if he had merely been standing by awaiting her orders.
“Please make sure my sisters take leave of this realm.”
Thanatos simply nodded before giving Devon a look of concern and censure. Thanatos stepped off the ledge and was gone just as quickly as he came. The sounds of his wings opening up and catching the air before the beating of them faded off into the distance.
Persephone moved to Devon and held her hand out.
“Please, come with me,” she asked softly.
“Why?” he couldn’t understand why she would want to be near him after he lost his mind and
almost killed her.
They all knew he was a danger as he had shown on several occasions. At the end of the day, he was sure they could all agree he was broken inside. Far too damaged to be fixed, and she needed to let him go.
“Because I want to show you something. After I show you this, then you can decide if you want to stay here or leave.” Devon continued to stare down at his hands as she moved to kneel in front of him. “Please,” she whispered, and he looked into her pleading eyes. Something there broke his resolve. As if there was still some piece, some fragment, held together after everything and her concern shattered it.
He owed her this. She gave him a chance to start over, and though he was unable to find the goodness in himself she had thought there, he still owed her this before he left. He gave a slight nod in acquiescence before he stood up and took her hand. She placed her other hand over his and pulled them into a shadow jump.
They landed in a sickly forest. The trees held no leaves, the roots rotting above the surface as if they were searching for nutrients and water anywhere they could. The bark of the trunks dried out and looked like they needed to be made into firewood rather than left sitting in the soil.
“This is my forest, or at least I wish it were. You see, I wanted to have something down here other than just death, some way to feel the life that is the mortal world.” Keeping his hand in hers, she began walking him through the wraith like trees until she stopped in the middle of a clearing.
“When I made your room and created that window to a forest in the mortal realm, I wished I could actually make it all real for you. Create such beauty down here that you felt the happiness you felt in the forest of your homeland. You have a strong connection in your soul to nature.”
He listened but took in the brown sticks that should be trees at the same time. No green to be found, if anything, it looked like some haunted forest from a children’s book. The ground was sand and dust, not even close to looking like a healthy forest floor.
She turned to him and took his other hand so that she was holding both, pulling his full attention to her.
“You went through tremendous pain and trauma, and if I knew more about the human psyche, I would have known you had not forgiven yourself completely. That you were not starting on the path to healing your heart.”
His face snapped up to look at hers, unsure of what she was saying.
“Devon, I want you to give me every ounce of pain, anger, fear, resentment, and self-loathing you feel and have ever felt. Do not hold back. Give me everything. I am strong enough to help you, so I am asking you to let me help. Let me share your burden. Let me hold you up when you are at your weakest. I am here now.”
