Killing Hope

Chapter Twenty Three

"You think she will be happy now?" Persephone asked, looking across at her husband who took her hand and squeezed it.

"She will be as always, happy and sad, brave and afraid," he replied, with a shrug. "But they will be joined for all time and that will make her feel more secure I have no doubt. He loves her and always has so I am content for them to be joined."

"And what now of the rest of Judgement Day? They await your judgement from the cells I placed them in."

Reaper was thoughtful, his gaze resting upon his wife's face and then he shook his head.

"My instinct was to send them back to another Human life,  but Rhea and Damian are Demons and therefore belong in Limbo or Hell. The boy, Dominic, I will send back without question. But I have listened to what Hope said and will not give him a life of misery. I will send him to a family who will raise him with love and remove the arrogant chip on his shoulder through kindness instead of through cruelty."

"Cruelty would not remove it, Reaper," Persephone said, softly. "It would only exacerbate it. Hope was correct about that. The cruelty of keeping her and Hitman separated is what has caused him to be like flint at times. But she will soften his edges and he does love her."

"Bring me the boy," Reaper intoned and a shadow emerged from the walls to carry out his bidding. Moments later Dominic appeared, chained as Finn had been, a sullen look on his face. Persephone could see that behind the bravado though he was simply a very frightened young man.

"What caused them to choose you?" she asked, softly.  "What did you bring to their little group, Dominic?"

He raised his eyes to look at her, surprised by the gentle tone of her voice and for a moment she caught a glimpse of the boy he could be as he smiled.

"I don't know," he confessed, honesty pulled from him by the magic in her eyes. "I don't remember anything of my Human life but when I came here Rhea found me. I was sleeping rough in the Barren Lands; Zone Two was too depressing and I didn't want to be there but didn't know where else to go. I found a cave and was using that as a home. But I was getting hungry and thirsty, starting to fade I guess. Then one day while I was sort of half conscious in the cave, close to disappearing this beautiful creature appeared. I called her an Angel, asked if she'd come to take me to Heaven. There were two men with her and they laughed, told her to leave me but she wouldn't. She lifted me up into her arms as if I weighed no more than a baby and said she was keeping me. Next thing I knew she was feeding me this sweet porridge stuff and I was getting stronger and stronger."

"Ambrosia," Persephone said, nodding. There was tenderness, even kindness in this story and she realised that for whatever reason the female Demon had fallen in love with this unassuming Human.

"Because Rhea accepted me it didn't take long for Finn and Damian to as well. They told me they had big plans, to put Demons back on top in this world. They remembered a time when Demons lived in every Zone, opened up clubs and had Humans eating out of their hands. There had been power for them in those times, but then the Zones vanished, the clubs too and they were angry and bitter."

"How did they remember?" Reaper muttered. "All memories of those times were removed when Hope changed the time line."

"Finn is a Death Lord," said Persephone, quietly. "At least a halfling Death Lord through his association with the Dagda and the Morrigan."

Reaper nodded and sighed.

"So all of this was payback for Hope changing this world for the better?" he said.

"Better for you maybe," Dominic retorted. "And for the Humans but not better for the likes of us. Finn and Damian had a successful club in Zone Twelve with wild music and fighting all night long. Rhea met them there; she used to keep control of the Humans, men and girls. She was amazing to watch." His eyes lit up at the thought and Persephone lost some of her compassion for him as she saw the spiteful youth he could be.