Agape sto Thanato: Love in Death

7

Macaria's POV

It was all dark, I could not see a thing from above. It felt like waters were blocking me from seeing what was happening around me. Still, I could feel the souls that called for me. Some of them falling descending near me.

I also felt Wonwoo's presence above, but it was different. It was wilder right now and catastrophic. My musings were cut when the water around me went back to normal. I could move freely now; I did not waste any more time and swam to the nearest body.

As my hand held their forehead, memories of how much torment they experienced came rushing in me. This was not the first soul I encountered that experienced this, but this was the most brutal. I had no time to dwell upon my emotions, I swam to the next and did the same thing. Soul after soul, all of them experience such tragedies that would be too graphic to describe. They were taken from their families and experience such horrible ends. I was crying for them and my head has become so painful, yet I endured. I was here to give them one last gentle hug before they head to the underworld. A warm and gentle sent-off, small compensation for the pain they experienced.

I was aware that my body was filled with gems. These were the most numbers I have collected so far. This was no surprise, considering how most women souls I've collected had a bundle of a tiny soul with them.

I swam to the last mortal, I silently apologized for being late and prolonging their agony. As I held their hand, I saw a memory that was unlike the other. This man tried to protect a lady from being touched by those filthy men. There was also a memory, where he saw one of those perpetrators be possessed by a dark whisp. The memory was so chilling and full of unbridled evil. The memory seems to become alive as it stared right into my eyes and quickly attacked me.

I woke up in a jolt screaming. The memory was still fresh in my mind and an unkind pang of intense pain went to my head. I saw a bottle of nectar beside my bed and chugged it down. The pain lessened, and the pain in my head subsided. I looked around and realized I was inside one of the underworld's infirmary.

Parts of my body were still covered in gems; they were slowly disappearing at a slower rate than they were. I leaned on my bed but bolted right up as I remembered Wonwoo. I can still feel the intensity of the release back there. My body moved on its own as I ran out of my room. I focused on where his presence was and it was just right next to my room.

As I entered his room, I saw him there. He lay in his bed, unconscious and still full of thorns. These were far bigger and more ragged at their edges than the ones I usually see. I slowly approached his side and noticed the frown that graced his face.

His hands were still covered with jagged thorns, but I held them. I did not mind them, his thorns never once hurt me. I fixed the wayward strand of his hair that covered his eyes. His tensed face slowly relaxed and his breathing became even. I continued holding his hands and noticed the thorns slowly disappearing.

I pulled a nearby chair and sat beside his bed, still holding his hand. I have noticed it before but when he slept, he had a soft look on his face. It was the total opposite of what he usually showed when he was at work. His hands, despite being thorned countless times were soft and comfortable to hold. Wonwoo's coldness was not the rash winters mortals had or the coldness of Boreas. Wonwoo's cool touch was kind, it was the type of cool that you long when in being in the heat of the unforgiving sun.

My thumb has rubbed his hands without me knowing. My eyes looking over him, making sure he was breathing. I smiled to myself at how silly that was, I was making sure the "God of Death" was breathing. It was ironic how I, a goddess of death, was making sure he was alive.