Mousai's POV

"Hmm?" Oracion hums towards Persephone. "What could you mean by that?"

Her posture changes as vines sturdy themselves to create some sort of arm rest for her to lean against. "I mean, you don't have a twin, right?" She bites into her mouth-watering fruit nonchalantly.

Oracion once again grabs hold of me, squeezing a wince out of my mouth as I'm pulled towards him. "St-op...please" I beg but he doesn't care in the slightest.

'This isn't him' My thoughts can't help but call out, 'He wouldn't do this.'

And in that instance, I feel it again, that tingling sensation that courses through his entire body as if reacting to me. Loosening his grip but still continuing to keep me close.

Persephone's golden eyes trace my body, applying a pressure that anything more physical could could cause my body to shatter. "Looks like we have another problem here." She rolls her eyes towards the direction of Zs as they manage to catch up to where we are.

But not a single word is spoken whilst the hairs on their skin visibly stand up, their eyes appearing like nothing more than blue wisps as if having souls trapped within themselves. "And what do you think you're doing?" They all speak in unison.

Zahere, Zion and Zagreus the once singular being that was punished by the Moon Goddess for even coming close to me. A love that was deemed tainted, a fault by birth...a corruption to the world.

"Let. Go." They mouth.

Persephone's eyes follow them all but her intentions are clear as her plants gradually swirl around Oracion's legs in an attempt to constrain him.

'Can they win against him?' My thoughts falter.

"No" Oracion smiles. And just like that without another moment's notice, petals fall from the sky as the beautiful scenery that was created around us is cut into a perfectly circular area. An action that took no longer than half a second, a feat that the Oracion I knew was very much capable of.

Zagreus breaks the synergy as he shouts towards Persephone, "YOU'RE JUST GOING TO LET HIM DO-" his voice silences as we all look towards a decapitated stature of what was once a woman.

Her body fallen to the ground without the slightest hint of blood or struggle, "What have you done." Zion asks him, attempting to walk closer.

'They can't win'.

Oracion looks towards him, causing gentle grazes to appear along each of their faces.

'They can't win.' My mind repeats whilst the garden begins responding to Persephone's absence.

A deep rooted rumbling that causes the petals themselves to blacken as the field around our feet is dyed red. The goddess who brought chaos upon the 3 realms, discarded just like that.

"MOUSAI!" Zahere shouts, grabbing my hand and pulling me away from Oracion just in time to avoid the sentient life that begins sprouting thorns from each and every inch of itself.

"WE'RE LEAVING!" They all panic as the once thick grass around us digs itself up with the land, pushing different sections of the Underworld into an elevated space.

I look back briefly, watching as Oracion simply stands there with the most docile eyes a human could possibly communicate with. 'It won't kill him...it won't.'

And so he smiles as his separated island is covered and shattered by the sheer force of Persephone's garden.

"Human, right?" That same problematic voice rings out from a nearby tree that's carried along with our upheaved land.

"What!?" I yell as Persephone's eyes appear within the tree, gradually forcing herself out of the bark as she uses the flowers to dye her colours into her body, using any flora needed in order to recreate her recognisable assets.

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She flicks her hair, "My body's still back in the palace, you thought I'd actually step foot outside for something as insignificant as his kind?" She laughs, immediately looking away from us as she directs the platform towards the giant twisted tree at the centre of her garden.

"Where are you taking us?" Zahere asks.

"Should we not be heading back to the palace, that thing could still be alive." Zion adds.

Persephone places a finger on their lips, "Shhh" She hushes. "It's nothing but a human, he who's name has been spoken throughout the realms but human nonetheless."

She lowers the platform with a thud, merging the soil together and solidifying it in place as we're placed just in front of the tree. It's roots are open and visible much like a mangrove as its centre is revealed to us, thumping and beating like any other living heart. Each leaf from the top fluttering down with colours that reflect the seasons but disintegrating to the touch as if snow.

I hurry my pace in an attempt to catch up to her, "You asked earlier if he was a twin, what did you mean by that?" I ask.

She huffs, callously leaning against one of the roots while pointing towards the beating heart. I approach the emanating scarlet light as I place a hand along the ethereal like texture. Noticing a figure within it, or rather...recognising the figure within it.

"Why is he in there!?" I shout at her.

"Those within the Underworld are unable to dream, so why is it that only now that this man has come into existence, that we've all been receiving such a gift such as that?" She asks me. "Our souls cried out his name, over and over and over again. At first I simply dragged him in here as he was aimlessly wandering, hoping the Underworld would gradually begin to kill him and give some sort of nutrients to my flowers or silence the voices."

She leans off the roots, insisting on coming closer so she could stoke the heart where Oracion's face is. "But after all those wonderful...dreams. Ones where I obtained the beauty I once desired of the world, that eternal floriation of nature itself. I couldn't let it go, why would I? I mean look around! It's all right here! So I preserved him much like anyone would, placing him in here to lay comatose for both our benefits."

"Is he even safe?" I question as I notice the obvious strain along his skin as his veins run violet.

"Oh no he's without a doubt going to die in there and he's in pure agony, but he'll last for years so there's no rush. I mean as long as the brain's in tact, surely the souls should continue to resonate and dream about him, right?" She claps her hands together in a satisfied motion.

"I raise my hand to the heart, ready to puncture a hole in it. But her hand lands on my wrist, "Surely this helps the both of us? The dreams keep going and he doesn't die immediately?" She tilts her head with a honest smile.

I feel my eye brows scrunch, "These dreams are swallowing the world above, and I can't stand by as you painfully kill the man who's just trying to live his days out." I reason.

She lets go of my wrist in a play of uncontrollable fit of laughter, "Yo-u don't serious-ly think that...do you?" She wipes away tears. "When I found him he was passed out in a pool of blood, none of which was his own. The man was sleeping in the bodies of beasts for the warmth, eating poisonous herbs and shitting in crevasses. I don't think that's living by human standards, but by all means believe what you want, I saved him. Besides, the world above is a sacrifice I'm very willing to make." Her smile passes as her golden gaze pierces me.

"I-"

"So this is where he is." A hand lands along my shoulder, one with enough influence that even Persephone backs away from me.

"What." She very clearly puts up her guard.

"I'm...sorry." Zagreus whispers from the floor.

I turn my head to see the three with their blood scattered along the roots, "He just...walked in." Zahere weakly answers as his body rests under Zion's unconscious state.

I feel my eyes water as tears stream down my face, "No no shhhh, no more tears." Oracion turns my face to make direct eye contact with him.

I can feel it, that same pressure I once yelled out, building within the depths of my stomach that's ready to bellow out at any given moment. With a sharp inhale I open my mouth, "D-" He forcibly shuts my mouth with the gentlest of touches.

"You know that won't work, and you've got to save it for someone more important." He whispers in my ear, "But we both know that, don't we?"

"What's happening!?" Persephone screams in rage at the human tarnishing her land.

"You should be asking Mousai." He laughs, carelessly walking towards Persephone to stand beside her without any thought to his own safety.

"Who...are you." I ask, slowly attempting to approach Zs along the ground.

"Whoever you want me to be!" He leans against Persephone.

She sways away, causing him to fall on the floor but it leaves nothing but a stain on the dirt as he appears by the heart.

"DON'T WAK-" Persphone shouts.

"Why would I want to wake him up?" He answers.

I pick up one of the fallen roots, dashing towards it in an attempt to stab it open. But Oracion grabs both my wrists, "After all...you're doing this to yourself."

"He's dreaming...of himself?" Persephone answers.

His head turns to her as he drops me to the ground.

'He'll kill us.' I hear my own conscious call out.

Watching as the figure's eyes suddenly fill with an unmatched hostility.

But Persephone's expression is unwavering as she quickly comments, "You can't dream of a place you've never seen, can you?" Stomping against the ground and opening up a hole big enough to cause us all to fall in.

All but Oracion as his stature remains firm with his feet planted within the air where we just stood. Shutting my eyes briefly as we delve into a journey I didn't think we'd need to have. Escaping the man I was once looking for.

But I open my eyes to see him jumping up and down, almost as if trying to imagine himself following us...one we can only pray remains futile.