untitled: What Will We Do?

 

Very little, it would seem, as he tucked him in and checked his bandages once more before leaving. The outer hall was filled with a dense sorrow, the like of which you could grasp in the air and crumble apart between your fingers. It was a shattering and stabbing sensation that struck the hearts of all who knew those most effected with the tragedy. Jinevae sat and wept, surrounded by cousins and second cousins and his brothers and nephews and nieces. The Jins, as a whole, wept bitter tears. Roaden stood silent, the Starcs beside him in their own stern and emotionless way...grieving without words as all were too shocked to believe it or else too sad to conceive words.

The death angels held their services; Gai left a sobbing wreck in the arms of Chaos. The rest were rather numb, agitated and frightened. Such a tragic death did not happen often. Murders were just something one did not think they'd have to deal with, especially one of this drastic nature.  In all this turmoil, Absinthe did not know what to do with himself. He did not wish to bother Ceata, and he was even more nervous to go to Jinevae and the Jins. What if he said something wrong? It was his own 'lover's' fault that Yoren was dead. He was just as much to blame for it in his own eyes.

In fact, it was his fault for even keeping his 'lover' alive, for even Absinthe knew that he could have smite the man if he tried harder. Yet that delicious dominance, that feeling of being utterly controlled and lust-mingled pain was too great a temptation for even him. It had started with Rowan and his callousness and then bloomed into this beast named Adonis that could not be captured, though he tried and sacrificed so much. He felt a fool for loving something that destroyed so much, littering the evidence around him in a thousand un-dried tears. He wished to speak with his mother, but, even then, what could he say?

Exodus would simply cuff him and tell him to grow some balls. Problem with that was... Absinthe could not stand up to Adonis anymore. Slowly that bastard had wormed his way into Absinthe's affections, twisting his mind. It was horrible, evil, the most twisted thing ever and yet... Absinthe could not deny his longing for it. He hissed and bit his lip, chewing at it as he peered in on the Jins and their mourning. He dearly wished to comfort Jinevae, but fear that he would do something stupid boiled in his belly and made him shift nervously.

 Yoren was placed on a simple altar, covered with white linen, and allowed to be viewed by those who loved him. His chest was covered with a thick white cloth which hid the terrible truth of that heart-wrenching scar. His face was pale, tinged with blue in death as lips that once so softly smiled now hinted with the palest white glaze of mortality, in all its truths. Yoren was gone, those who had known him as a kind person were in mourning, and those who did not know him well enough still raged and sorrowed over their master's betrayal. It was a long and dark evening, slowly slipping into a silent night.

Even so, while people mourned, others guarded. Death had doubled the guard, putting some of his best out to watch over the castle grounds and all those within. The immortal was NOT going to leave his people vulnerable, certainly not when there was so much pain and hurt.  Sighing softly, Ceata continued to watch over Urius, slowly falling asleep against him, his hands held in his. The poor young shadowshifter was utterly exhausted.  Elsewhere, Absinthe had taken the single step that took him into the home of the Jins, silent and afraid to be sent out again.

 

Jinevae sat on a chair and looked so morose and despondent that he hardly seemed the happy jolly man who would comfort Absinthe at every turn. He had yet to sleep and sat up in the great room, his relatives having all gone to the comfort of a lover or another family member. Jinevae was, for the most part, alone. His cousin was off with Adorna, seeking her affection, as was his cousin's nephew seeking the affection of Crixa, however small her father allowed that affection to be. He looked up though when he saw the other enter, standing there and looking as unsure and beautiful in equal amounts. "A-Absinthe-sama?" Jinevae sniffed, wiping his eyes.

 

"Hi love...." He whispered and walked over shyly, sitting beside Jinevae gracefully. He reached out tenderly, wiping at his cheeks, smiling sadly at the big Jin. Gods, how could Adonis do this to such wonderful people? It hurt him deeply to see one of those precious to him hurting so much.

 

"Oh....do not look so sad for me, aye? I can't bare that now," Jinevae sighs and gives a bitter laugh, his hand wiping away the tears unspent at the corners of Absinthe's gaze. The other had not even realized they gleamed there, little silver crystalline droplets reflecting the enormity of his sadness. "I be fine...I........I will..." he sighs, his voice quieting as he looks away.”I lost a friend, I did...lost a friend and...Well...two friends, really...Yoren, the lil'un I did see grow from child to youth...but Rowan too. B-but I'll be fine, I will...I be fine..."

 

Absinthe smiled gently, caressing Jinevae's cheeks with as much love and tenderness as he could afford to give out. Even with Adonis off, doing gods knows what, Absinthe still feared his displeasure. He would so cruelly kill off those close to him; he would do the same just as easily to those that Absinthe adored.  "I know, but I still hate seeing you hurting..." He murmured, leaning in to rest his head against a strong shoulder.

 

"Aye, but you hurt with me...I worry for that more than I do my own hurt..." he says as he pats the other's hand and sighs, feeling the tears well again as his voice makes a breathy shake. "Such a youth he was......all light n' kindness...never once caused me ill. Saved me time an' time again with that smile, he did...saved me so much."

 

"He will be avenged, Jinevae." Absinthe replied softly, his voice muffled in the others shoulder. "Death will not let such a callous act go without punishment. That.... monster must be stopped." All truth, every word. Even if it hurt to speak such things, he knew that creature he longed for was heartless and evil and deserved to die.

 

"No, love.....it is not of Yoren that I spoke," Jinevae said softly as he looked over to Absinthe with his sad silvery eyes. They were red around the rims, moist with his unhappiness. "I lost a friend, aye, I did...an' now...what here? I must kill him; I think....we all must. For Yoren........and for Urius." Jinevae sighs, Absinthe realizing then that the same torments running through his veins are running through Jinevae's. They all loved him - Roaden, Jinevae, Ganidrad, and even Christian. They all loved him with the bottom of their hearts. And now, like Absinthe, they will destroy him. That is perhaps the crueler than losing Yoren, though certainly Yoren's betrayal is the greatest shock they have ever known, so trusting in their leader were they.

 

Absinthe sighed. “I did not know Rowan well..." He uttered softly, "Nor did he show me much kindness... but I know you all loved him and will miss him deeply." Absinthe knew he would be broken inside if.... if they killed that beast that had already destroyed Rowan.

 

"I met him when he were but a boy...I was not well liked..." he laughs and rubs the back of his neck.”Some o' them Valen boys thought great sport n' beatin' me up...c-cause I was big an' clumsy...an' I didn't fight back. I was scared, didn't know how to use this big ol' body o' mine. I wanted to sit in the gardens near the square...yah, know, this lil' place where...well...only them Valens thought be fittin' for them to go." He sighs, remembering. "I liked the flowers.....Anyways...I got real badly beat one day. I got so badly beat, I finally got too scared and fought back...I almost hit one o' them boys and, who do you supposed stopped my hand?"

 

"Rowan?" Absinthe smiled gently, cuddling up to the other and giving him his comfort through touch. It was a lot easier than talking and a lot less harder to think of the right words. He peeked up at Jinevae, wondering how someone who had been so beat upon, could possibly become such a sweetheart. Amazing.

 

"Aye...stopped me jus' as I was about to fight back....saved me, he did. I tried to fight him o'course, cause I was jus' a scared lil'un then...got soundly beat back by Urius...but I woke up an' I got me some stitches. I never realized how important that was until now....." Jinevae sighs, looking up at the ceiling, his eyes glistening with unspent tears. "Saved me, he did....I coulda beat those boys so hard...I coulda been a different person, aye, jus' from hittin' 'em out o' spite an' rage an' fear..." He wipes his eyes and sits up a little straighter, seeming proud. "I-Instead, I got to be in them gardens, I sure did...I got to be in them gardens an' I never had to hit anybody back for it...That meant the world to me."

 

The young male smiled against his chest. He liked the sound of the Rowan he had never met. It sadden him that he would never meet this man that had so changed those around him. There were things about him that probably were bad, but there had still be good, unlike Adonis. "Ahhh... no wonder you're so sweet." Absinthe chuckled softly, looking up at the big redhead.

 

"Aye...I'd be no better than Jinasen if I weren't..." he laughs, looking to the other.”Not as hairy, aye, but as bad."

 

Absinthe laughed softly, nuzzling his lover tenderly. "Oh my, how scary!" He chuckled, eyes glittering and his hair messed and falling into them with his nuzzling. He liked to hear that laugh, it was soothing and he smiled all the warmer.

 

He feels the pain in his heart well, though the joy fills him with it, and Jinevae soon wraps his arms around Absinthe and pulls him close. "...S-scary, aye......like today in Tenshihana...like seein' you walk away an' I left behind...Scary..." he nuzzles him and holds him so tenderly, it makes Absinthe's heart want to break. Truly, why can he not love THIS man entirely? That love would make his heart heal, perhaps...but his lusts and his true nature he cannot deny. "I....I want yah to know, Absinthe-sama...I...I will always be behind you. I know...were I left to hittin' those boys, I'd be as rough an' tumble as the rest o' them...but, I'm not, and...Well....I jus' want you to know I'll be behind you, if I can't be out in front protectin' you. So...so don't you ever feel bad about fallin' back on me, okay? F-for a cry or...or just a talk. I'll be here."

 

Glancing up, Absinthe's opal eyes rounded some and he smiled slowly. Like this, flushed and cuddled up close, the young man looked childish and frail, no matter the long limbs and the normally chilly, arrogant nature.  "I know you will, Jinevae.... I love you." He uttered and kissed under the big angel's jaw, snuggling him lazily.

 

Jinevae felt better saying that, knowing that, even if he wasn't strong enough to fight, he could at least be near Absinthe. A part of him was aware how unlikely it was that he would ever be able to save Rowan from his prison and kill that monster Adonis...He was not the sort. He was a weaker man who wanted love and peace. Well, if that made him weak, of course...sometimes the road with the firmest stones was towards the least violent end. "Come now...tell me your troubles...I know you didn't know Yoren that well, but...aye, you must still be feelin' some doubts."

 

"More so doubts about my self, than anything else..." Absinthe replied softly, hiding his face against the big male's shoulder. Dare he say that he was plaything to that creature? Gods, Jinevae would probably hate him forever if he knew!

 

"Why so? You're damn strong...stronger than me, aye...you should not doubt yourself," Jinevae says as he gently caresses the other's cheek as he looks down at him with those loving silver eyes. "You are only as flawed as ye let others make yah."

 

Absinthe smiled bitterly. Such truth to those words. While Jinevae was acting as his good influence, Adonis was tainting him, like a flash flood pounding into the foundation of a bridge and slowly weakening it, waiting for it to collapse. "I know... I'm just... nervous is all I'm not used to this sort of thing..."

 

"Used tah what?" he asks softly, the words that Absinthe is dreading. He hardly wishes to explain the faults he has or the pain he is feeling. To do so would be to admit that every breath from the moment Adonis had him to this has all been betrayal. 

 

"I...." Absinthe snapped his mouth shut, closing his eyes and steeling himself, "You always wondered where I was when I told you I was going to meet you, or something like that and for some reason, didn't show up.... didn't you?" He uttered softly, nervously twining his fingers in the others hair. "That... that is the reason I'm so... nervous."

 

"But...yah said ye were busy with other things...I didn't ever contest it...I mean...you're important! I ain't so understandin' of the way o' the gods," Jinevae says bashfully before catching on that something is wrong. He looks to Absinthe, his brow furrowing. "....why? That ain't not cause to be nervous...is it?"

Jinevae thinks for a moment, slapping his knee with a frown. "It's yer damn fathers, aint' it?! Aww, love...dun't you ever let them make you feel doubtful...Ye're good! Ye're strong! No matter what you do, ye're gonna be a GREAT god someday, should that be yer fortune....you will!" Jinevae reassures, holding the other lovingly in his arms.

 

Thank you for that cover... Absinthe thought softly, though it hurt. He smiled slightly, brows knotted as he looked up at the other lovingly. "I suppose you're right." He uttered softly, cuddling close, hiding his expression in the other male's neck. "I just need to keep trying, right? I can't let my nervousness or doubt hold me back..." Or Adonis for that matter...

 

Jinevae smiled gently at Jinevae and kissed his forehead with due love and care. Absinthe couldn't help but feel he was betraying Jineve in some way, but how would it help if he told him the truth about his affairs with Adonis? Jinevae has already told Absinthe that he supports him having as many lovers as make him happy, but, surely, he will not be pleased to hear that Adonis is among them. "So...you seen Urius lately?"

 

"I... looked in on him once." Absinthe replied softly. "Ceata is still sitting with him; I doubt he's eaten without being forced to." The young man rubbed at his eyes a little, distressed. He felt terrible, remembering that he had tried to kill Urius. He would have hurt Ceata so terribly... so, so terribly. He had deserved that rape. Served him right for doing such a foul thing.

 

"Yeah...Stannis says we should damn well put 'im out o' his misery...Then again, Stannis ain't ever liked his brother. Them two have been fightin' since they were little," Jinevae sighs as he runs a hand through his masses of curly red hair. He turns and looks to Absinthe, giving a gentle smile, but it is a sad one. "I hope...I hope Ceata can live with a lover who 'as lost 'is mind..."

 

"I think he can..." Absinthe mused. He's certainly stronger than me... he thought to himself, sighing. "He'll do anything for those he loves... you should have seen him, writhing in pain and yet he kept trying to get up and go find Urius." Absinthe closed his eyes. "I still feel sorry for him though. It must... hurt."

 

"Aye...but I would have done the same for you...an' I'm sure yer Mada would have done teh same for any o' his lovers," Jinevae says, though he sighs and looks back down towards the ground. "I jus'....I jus' think Urius deserves 'is peace. He's had it 'arder than any of us...really, 'e has...He loved Rowan more than anythin'. He's more betrayed even than Yoren, I think."

 

Absinthe sighed and rubbed at his face. "I doubt Ceata will give him up that easily..." He did not think, even if it hurt him deeply, that Ceata would give up on Urius' recovery until he knew without a doubt, that his lover was no more. As horrific as it sounded, Ceata was just too stubborn.

 

"I hope he ain't gonna give up on 'im at all...I dun't wanna see Urius go...I dun't think anybody could 'andle it right now," Jinevae sighs before looking up at the clock. "Damn...it's late. We oughtta get to bed...what you think?"

 

"Sleep is wise. We'll need our rest." Absinthe replied, glancing up at Jinevae. He did not wish to sleep alone tonight. With Adonis running free, he did not want to make himself an easy target. "Mind if I sleep with you?"

 

Jinevae smiled and kissed the other's forehead gently, caressing his long gold and black hair between his war-calloused fingers. "Never...Ye're always welcome tah climb inta my bed, love."

 

Absinthe smiled and kissed his cheek. "Good. I would hate to sleep alone." he replied and stood lazily, yawning. He was exhausted, the sleep was well looked forward to. "Mmm... so sleepy."

 

Jinevae nodded and took the other's hand, escorting him to their room so that they might rest at last. Meanwhile, standing in the lonely crypt where Yoren's body had been placed, Death stood and looked over the child with a sad expression. Beside him stood Chaos and Amari, both looking decidedly depressed by the events - it meant that Adonis now had nothing to hold him back.

 

"What can we do know?" Death asked softly, gently caressing the boy's pale blond hair, gazing at the lain out body of the young boy. The more he stared at it, the more grave the situation seemed to become.  With all that power stripped from the lifeless body, Adonis was much more powerful and much more dangerous.  Perhaps he should have killed Rowan when he had the chance.

 

"I don't know....even I never thought we'd get this far. The last time Adonis existed in his full power, a great many terrible things happened and even the lives of Gods were lost.....I think we're going to have to ask the others for help. If we don't, this will get out of hand and then there's no telling who else is next," Chaos sighs as she runs a hand through her black hair. She thinks back on Gai, the lovely girl she left on her bed back at home with Rulca. Death didn't seem to mind her taking Gai in…Certainly; she has proved to provide much comfort for the Irish beauty back at home. Chaos has been worried as of late that Adonis might try and destroy those she loves, but, then again, he seems more intent on Death and his party now...

 

  Much to the immortal displeasure. Of course, conquering Death and Life all at once would please a man like Adonis. He is not a kind creature, and having the chance, Death did not doubt he'd milk out as much pain and agony as possible from him and his people.  "You're probably right... not that I like it." He snorted.

"Fate has already sent an emissary, who will be arriving by tomorrow...I suggest you talk with that Adharma person and whoever else you know....I'm going to be busy with the big-shots. Namely, Reason, Fate, and the various Elemental Gods. If we can persuade them to our side, surely, we will have a fine army to combat Adonis," Chaos says with only a slight bit of certainty, knowing that a war among Gods is much different than the trifling matter of the war between Angels and Demons. If it's not settle soon, they will all die. "And you'll have to kill Urius...that is something I don't think any of the Gods will tolerate NOT being done."

 

"No, I will NOT kill Urius." Death replied bluntly. He glanced to Chaos. "That... is Ceata's job and one of the reason's he will not leave his lover's side."  Ceata knew he had a responsibility. He had to be there to keep watch over his mate and to kill him if things turned bad.  The immortal sighed softly, rubbing his face with a low, unhappy groan.

 

"He won't have the strength to do it...You know that as well as I. We need to have him killed - if you won't do it, then one of the other Gods will," Chaos says sternly as she crosses her arms over her ample chest. Death can only growl at her words, not really knowing if he should take her advice or not. It would be a terrible thing to have Ceata kill his own mate...could he really live with that?

 

The immortal rubbed his forehead more. He was growing a pounding headache, his head throbbing more and more. Chaos was always like this. One minute she'd be making him delighted, the other... well, just pain. "Just... give it a little while." he uttered weakly, "For Ceata's sake."

 

"We don't have a while! You've seen what Urius looks like! He holds his sanity by the tiniest fiber of a thread - break that and you will have nothing left of the man! What reason is there to linger when he's already gone? You CAN'T bring him back, My Lord! No one can!" Chaos growled at him, causing him to snap his gaze up and glare at her so fiercely. He knew this...Oh, did he know this.....and yet, a part of him could not bear to lose anyone else. The sorrow was too great.

 

The immortal growled lowly. "Tomorrow." he uttered angrily. "Give Ceata one damn night, Chaos. Just one damn night and than we'll... take care of him." Death shuddered, teeth clenched so tightly he was sure that his jaw was cracking under the pressure. He slowly brushed off his robes, eyes distant and expression displeased.

 

That was that. She left him, now satisfied with his response on the matter. Death did not know how he would ever tell Ceata, sighing heavily in the quiet of the hall as he stared at the dead boy before him. Such a beautiful boy...One that loved him intensely, it seemed. He would always shyly blush, smile, and speak sweet words with him. Even now, Death can remember that tea time they spent together...and how Yoren asked him adoringly about how he saw the world. It was not so long ago that that face beamed with light and laughter...

 

All that was gone; just memories in the immortal's heart. So many of them rested there, more so the recent ones, bitter sweet and many just plain full of sorrow. Death smiled sadly and caressed the chilly face, his thumb running over the bluish lips. Poor Yoren, so cruelly raped of his innocence. It should never have been like that. A shake of his head and Death made to leave, leaving the torches still alight so that Yoren would not be left alone in the dark.