Welcome to Gaia! ::

The guards pulled me into the dimly lit room. It was round and had a plain chair and table set up in the middle of the room. Past the table, against the wall I was staring at, was a very regal looking desk; similar to the ones human judges used actually. It was rounded like the room and behind it, staring directly at me, were the nine most important creatures of the Underworld, the Likivin.

I walked up to the desk in the middle of the room and stood next to the chair as the names of the Likivin were called out: Mari, Onyx, Cor, Zesta, Destra, Liethana, Mezzen, Kriztien, and Him. Due to the graces of some grand overseer of the universe, I could not see His face, or the eyes that were staring at me with probably hatred. Instead of trying to take Him on in a staring contest I let my eyes wander among the other Likivin not letting even the slightest emotion show in my face.

When the room echoed with the bolts on the door snapping into place His' hooked face turned to look at Liethana, signaling that she could start. Liethana turned to me with a light-hearted smile, even her eyes looked calm and trusting. To someone who didn't know her as well as I did, she might have even looked friendly, but I knew the games she played. As I stared back into her eyes I noticed the pupils widening and closing as if trying to find the spot they liked best; this was the tell-tale that she was trying to get into your head, her pupils were actually trying to find what "channel" your mind was on.

"Sit down now Abyss." Liethana said in a voice like silk. I heard her voice echo in my head, making me feel warm, almost like I wanted to sit down, like I needed to...
"I think I'd rather stand." I said calmly, smiling back at her. Liethana's whole body became ridged and she struggled not to open her mouth in shock. She shook her head and tried again. "Abyss, you need to sit down." she said her calm voice shaking a little. Again I heard it bouncing around in my skull, My legs felt weak, like if I didn't sit down right then I would fall to the ground. "No I don't." I said holding my smile. Liethana almost fell out of her chair, and this time she let her mouth drop open; this had probably never happened to her in her entire life. Mezzen shot a glance at her and Liethana quickly shut her mouth and hid her doll-like face behind her short, silver hair.

Cor ran his claws through his fur behind his ears. "Abyss! Do you know why you are here?" His deep, booming voice seemed to shake the room; I liked Cor, he was the type of creature that liked getting things done, but he was a werewolf, and werewolves were known to have terrible patience.
"I do. I am here because everyone says I murdered a royal." I said in a fake, bright-chipper voice. Mezzen scowled and Cor sighed, "well, did you?" his deep voice calmer now. I tilted my head to the side and looked at Cor with a "come on, really?" expression. "If I didn't I wouldn't be in this situation would I?"
Cor leaned back in his chair and let out a huge breath of air. "I guess not." he mumbled, not seeming to know what to say next.

Zesta's head hit the table as she tried to control her annoyance, I could hear her sigh into the table, "This is going nowhere." she mumbled into the table. Destra looked over at her sister worriedly, "she's right. She confessed didn't she? Can't we call it a day, I'm worried about my sister..." she said touching Zesta's shoulder gently. My hand went up and sat on my chest where my heart should have been and I made a face of horror. "Oh, skies forbid Zesta get a headache!" I said taking a dramatic step backward. Mari and Onyx snickered and tried to cover it up by drinking the glasses of blood in front of them. Mezzen glared at them then turned to face me just as I winked at Mari and Onyx. His eyes changed from grey to orange and I knew his self control had snapped, I smiled at him. "Uh oh. It looks like Mizzi's mad at me." I knew that calling him by the nicname the royal I killed used for him was taking it too far but I couldn't help myself. Mezzen's calm face twisted into one of rage. He jumped over the table and lunged for me.

I screamed long and hard, fueling it with all my hatred and sadness; everything that I've been keeping bottled up since I killed Dinelle. As I ran out of air and couldn't scream anymore, I cried. It was only the second time in all my years of existence that my eyes shed tears, I hated my tears, they looked like blood.

I pulled against the chains that held me to the wall, letting my head hang down so I was looking at the floor, and screamed into the concrete even more forceful than the first time. After my lungs gave out again I just hung there, letting the tears come freely. As I cried, I remembered; remembering was torture, but seeing that I had 2000 more years in here I didn't have much choice. I remembered the the first time I met him, my one goal in life at the time was to be just like him. To be so emotionally detached, to be feared by everyone; it was my greatest dream. Not long after that, Death chose me to become his apprentice.

Lucky me.

The 1000 years after that I not only grew stronger physically but emotionally too. I grew in status and soon enough, everyone knew my name. Around 800 years into being Death's apprentice he asked me to form a bond with him; a bond that meant he wanted me and me alone. When he asked that of me my first response was disbelief, I mean, the cold, emotionless Death practically just said he loved me. That kind of thing only happened in the human's fairy tales. A split second passed before I realized he was being truthful. I smiled sarcastically and said sure, why not. I stayed composed on the outside but inside I was doing somersaults; I wanted to cry but held it in with the little me inside my head. I excused myself from his presence and walked home barely holding myself together. After I entered my home and shut the door I walked to my room and fell onto my bed crying; it was the most amazing moment. I had the sudden urge to look up and Lord behold, there Death was in the corner looking more like a creeper than the God I knew he was. As I thought it, Death laughed, I didn't know it then but I would soon become tired of him peering into thoughts. That was the night I gave myself to Death.

I brought myself back to the present and felt like throwing up, with the situation I was in, the most wonderful memories brought the most pain. A few moments later I started to doze and knew I would eventually fall asleep. I hated sleeping, the idea of being caught somewhere between thinking about anything and nothing just annoyed me. I eventually lost consciousness with the thought of cursing whoever invented the need to sleep.

((Lol, second sappy chapter!))

I stayed perfectly still as I stared toward the door and wondered if the tiny bell sound was just my mind finally admitting that I was losing it; but after another five minutes the chime sounded again. "No...." I gasped as I shook my head. "No." It wasn't possible, there was no way. There was no way, that someone could be unlocking the door. That was the thing, nobody knew the passcode, nobody, except Death.

When I heard the third chime, signaling it had been 15 minutes since the passcode had been given, I started shaking. Why would Death want me out? I was positive it had not been much more than 300 years, what was the reason for opening that door? I heard the fourth chime and sighed. I wasn't going to get an answer for another ten minutes; the isolation cell doors were very unique. Once the passcode was given, the door was made to open the 13 locks over a period of 30 minutes; normally, it should have taken no more than five. So the 30 minutes was kind of like a sick joke made to torment the prisoner, telling them that the door was going to open, but not for awhile. I have to say, it was very effective, the sound of the fifth bell made me bang my head against the wall. To control my inpatients, I started making the pebbles I had collected dance in circles. Somehow I managed to keep myself entertained the whole five minutes and when the final chime sounded I pushed them all back into the corner. The large door slowly swung open and even through my mask, the sudden light that came spilling into my cell was blinding. A shadow formed in the door and I recognized the excited voice of a goblin calling out my name, that is, until he actually saw me.

The goblin in the door was sucked in a deep breath and cursed repeatedly until the other two came to see what the problem was. By the way they sounded, I could tell I must have been a sight. My blood covered the walls of the cell in streaks and you couldn't even see the natural color of the floor anymore. But that kind of thing they were use to, so the only thing I could think of that made them freak so bad was that my body looked much worse then I thought, and as I looked down at my outline, I could tell that I looked like I'd been through a blender, I'm not going to worry you with all the details, but let's just say, I looked like the only things holding me together were a few patches of flesh and tissue. When the one in front finally got his wits about him, he took a step forward but then was suddenly halted by a iron gate that reached from the ceiling to the floor and divided me from them. I smiled, how I loved my black magic. I lifted my head and stared at the goblin as he stupidly stared back at me while his slow brain tried to process what had just happened. When he finally figured out that I wasn't letting him in, he began banging his scrawny hands against the bars while screaming at me. I lowered my head, "nobody gets in. Nobody but himself; that's what Lord Death told me. He said to keep everyone out." I said with no more volume than a whisper, but I knew the goblins heard me, their kind heard to well for their own good.
"Indeed I did." At the sound of that voice my body went numb. I forced my mouth to form words, "Get out, Death. Stop toying with me and get the hell out." I growled as his formed appeared in the doorway. My gate shattered with the snap of his fingers and I pressed myself against the wall as he advanced toward me. He crouched in the same manner he did when he first locked me in. Death snapped his fingers twice and both chains fell away from my wrists. I was pressed so hard that when the chains let me go, I dropped forward, into Death's arms. My eyes went wide and I instantly tried to push myself away from him only to have him grab my wrists and hold me there. "I thought I told you not to go insane." he mumbled over me. "I didn't." I said defensively. He sighed, "then why are you pulling away from me?" I rolled my eyes, he was trying to play a game that I didn't want to deal with right now.
"Why are you here?" I asked through clenched teeth so I could hide the shaking in my voice. His grip loosened around my wrists, "I'm releasing you. I'm tired of thinking about you sitting alone in the darkness. Besides, Mari and Onyx won't leave me alone about it to save their lives." he said with a soft chuckle. I gasped, "No, you can't! What about the other Likivin? They-"
"are taken care of and couldn't do anything about it anyway. Remember who you're talking to Abyss." he said darkly but with a touch of sarcasm.
I sighed and gave up, I hadn't talked to anyone in awhile and doing so now just wore me out; if Death had flesh over his bones, he would have smiled. He leaned me away from himself and stood up, his hands covered in my blood. "Abyss, I hereby release you from this cell and any previous orders given to you. Oh, but before you do anything, I want you to let the goblins take you to the Spraka." Death turned away from me and head out the door as the three goblins rushed over to me. Two of them swung my arms over each of their shoulders and started leading me out while the third walked behind, just in case. I tried getting my feet to cooperate and walk with them, but after several failed attempts I gave up and let my feet hang behind me, letting them take all my weight. The goblin behind me was kind enough to pull off my mask and take out the string that was holding my hair up in a ponytail. My hair spilled over my shoulders and down my back, it was probably the only thing, besides my face, that was not covered in dried blood. I wanted to lift my head to see what had changed but at the moment, the only thing I was focused on was tightening my muscles so my body didn't fall apart, so I just let it be and decided to worry about it later.

When the goblins finally stopped, large, golden, double doors stood in front of us.
The goblin walking behind me stepped forward and waved his hand over the lower key latch; instantly, the 46 locks on the 12 foot doors unlatched and the old doors swung open with a protesting creak. Behind the doors would have stunned anybody whom hadn't seen it before into a coma. It was a grand, palace sized, crystal garden that was made complete with a beautiful waterfall and lake that came from the back wall into the center. Even I, who has been here at least 10 times, had to take a moment to just stare. Most people who lived in the Underworld liked to call the place, "Hell's Heaven" because they believed that the garden was what Heaven looked like. To add to it's already mystical and mysterious appearance, most people hadn't even ever seen it, only a few creatures have ever been unfortunate to come here. The real name of the garden was Spraka, which, in an old ancient language, meant "Healing Pool". As you can guess, the thorns, glass petals, and the lake were meant to heal drastic injuries, so you can see why I say unfortunate. The only reason you would ever be taken here is if you were considered unfix able. If your body was so deeply damaged that most, if not all, was unrecognizable. Let me remind you, I have been taken here at least 10 times.

The goblins dragged me into the garden and walked along the sand path to the edge of the lake. The goblin behind came around and helped set me into the lake, feet first, with my clothes still on. I breathed out calmly as the water started to work it's magic. The goblins lingered for a moment to make sure I was comfortable, then left, shutting the golden doors behind them. All the gashes, bruises and broken bones started to sting as they mended themselves and closed up, leaving behind, wouldn't you know it, no scares. I dipped my head underwater then came up again and looked out on the water. It was starting to turn a gentle pink around me because of all the blood.


((Ok, this is suppose to lead into a flash back right here but, just like my original, I don't feel like writing it at the moment. Rest assured, I will get around to it soon. I'm just too inpatient right now. I should get to it before the 7th chapter though so, yea... you won't have to wait too long. XP ))


After a few relaxing minutes all my wounds had closed up and I felt no pain. I stood up carefully and got out of the lake with slow steps. I had been off my feet for 300 years, getting them to work correctly was a little difficult. I walked and spun and jumped to remember how to move then squeezed the water out of my dripping clothes. I set my shoulders and pulled open the large doors, "Now to face Kest."