Tales of Raiverin: Mayflower

Epilogue

He winced as he stood up slowly, the hole in reality had closed in front of him. He didn't know what to do, there was nowhere to go. He sighed heavily, gazing at the cold and barren wasteland he had created, all the plants were dead, the sky was broken, and various cracks ran across the ground.
"Dammit." He groaned, "This is it, it can't get any worse."

"Leon Sainoa."
"That's not my name, Raiverin."
Raiverin glared at him, the God suddenly appearing inches away from his feet. A hiss of anger slipped out from him. "You see what you have done to this world."
"I see it."
"Do you understand what this means?"
"No, and I don't care. Being stuck here until my death is enough."
Raiverin grinned, pressing his paws together as a collar formed around Leon's neck, causing the feline to lunge forward, groaning with discomfort.
"What is this?"
"That is a Soulbind," Raiverin explained. "It will prevent your death until you live out the collective lifespan of every creature you killed."
Leon stared into his red eyes, his brain processing just how long that would be. "That may as well be eternity! You can't do this to me!"
"That's the idea, and I easily can."
"No! This is bullshit!" He argued, trying to rip the collar off his neck. "I did this because you took them from me! You can't punish me for this!"
Raiverin hissed again, getting in his face. "I will punish you for what you did. This was your decision, you could have just moved on like every other mortal." He said softly, hatred embedded within every word that came from his throat. "You should get started, its going to be a while."
"No, you can't-!" He began to beg, watching as the God warped away from him, returning to the Underworld. Leon growled, he wanted to argue, beg, cry, do anything he could to get out of this. He hated being alone, but there was nothing around for him to lash out at. It was simply him, alone.
He didn't even want to move, it would show Raiveirn that he had accepted his fate, he couldn't give in. Although inside he felt no remorse for his actions, he would take punishment if it meant he could ever travel to the New World. As these thoughts flowed in his head, something ran across his tail. He spun around, hissing at whatever had touched him.

"Hey, relax! It already sucks waking up here, I don't need you acting like that too."



Leon knew he recognized the voice, examining the feline that stood before him. She stood a few inches taller than him, her light brown spots giving away exactly who she was.
"Lana?"
"Yes, its me. I'm not very excited to be seeing you though."
Leon squealed with excitement, lunging towards his sister with his arms open wide. He couldn't believe that she was here, the emotions he felt were indescribable. Although he was met with nothing but the hard and uneven ground digging into him, the air being pushed out of his lungs. He grunted softly, looking up at his sister who had taken a few steps away from him. He hissed softly, unsure as to why she'd move, unless it was a harmless prank between siblings.
"Hm, you got me. I gotta hand it to you, I wasn't expecting that!" He laughed, rolling onto his back and putting his paws up toward her. "Alright, come here! Its been too long for you to be bitter!"
"Too long? I don't think its been long enough, you prick."
"Well, that isn't nice. I know you like to tease, but that's just mean!"
"Stop acting like that! What is wrong with you?!" Lana hissed, smacking his head and turning away. Her tail lashed to the side, it was clear, her emotions weren't something she ever hid. "Get away from me. I need to understand what's going on here."
"It's pretty easy to understand, you're here because another version of you is in another world!"
"What? What the hell does that mean?"
"Oh, right, you wouldn't know. Well, its too much effort to explain. You're here with me now! That matters!" Leon purred, shaking the dirt out of his fur. "Aren't you happy to see me?"
Lana hissed, trying to resist the temptation to claw his eye out. She couldn't stand to see him like this, having watched everything he had done since her death. "Happy to see you? You?! I've seen you, every little thing you've done, and you want me to be happy?!"

"Well, yeah. I figured you'd understand, what are you being so stubborn for?"
Lana wanted to argue with him, tear his throat out, but she contained herself as she saw who approached him from behind.

"I wouldn't bother arguing with your sister, Leon." His mother spoke, she seemed tired. "I have to admit, this is a terrible place compared to Heaven."
"Come on, you just got here! It can't be that bad!"
"Everyone else would disagree."
Leon stared at his mother, tilting his head to see a crowd of several creatures behind her. He didn't realize just how many lives he had taken from the afterlife, some seemed like they could be generations older than him, maybe even ancestors. He shivered nervously, seeing his father approach him slowly.
"Hi, Dad... h-how's it going?"
"At least I'm with my brother." He said coldly, hardly acknowledging his son's existence.
"Wait, no, he shouldn't be here... he can't be here!"


"I'm not. Well, not the one you knew." Ashton spoke, there was no denying it, that was his voice. "I'd be happy to meet my nephew, but seeing what you've done, I can't call you family."
"No! Don't you dare criticize me! You did this, you took everything from me!"
"Me? That wasn't me. I mean, it was my body, but I didn't want any of this to happen." He groaned, as if he had explained this before. Ashton sat down in front of Leon, staring into his eyes. "I'm not who you think I am, but what you've done is unacceptable. Although, maybe you are like me. Determined, but stupid."
Leon shoved his uncle aside, scuttling backwards as he shivered uncontrollably. "Stop it! Don't compare me to you! You can't all be agreeing with him, I did this for you, I wanted a better world!" He shrieked, looking at every member of his family and every creature that now was forced to live in this world with him. The thousands of eyes pierced into his cold soul, it felt like he was burning up. He knew every one of them was judging him profusely, the feeling was tortuous.
"Stop looking at me, stop it! Get away, I'll make you all understand!" He screamed, his throat hurt from all the talking he had been doing. His legs moved on their own, carrying him away from the crowd. He felt his chest heaving with each breath, it didn't feel right, it was like all his power was leaving. He couldn't think rationally, he needed to run, that's all he could do.

His legs kept hitting the ground, his heart was racing, he couldn't hear anything but his footsteps and breathing. As the texture of the ground changed, he saw a blinding light coming from his side. As his head turned, his body couldn't react, the lights of a Roaring approached rapidly.
"Wait - no!" He let out a shriek, desperately trying to stop his momentum, but by the time he could control his body, he had been struck.
He felt light in the air, a few seconds of peace before he rolled onto the grass patch just a few inches off of the road. His eyes opened slowly, a groan escaping his mouth. He was happy to be alive, his arms shaking as he tried to stand, yet he couldn't feel his hind legs.
In fact, he couldn't feel anything lower than his arms.
He slowly looked back, seeing his intestines and organs spilled across the grass, his lower half lying far away. He noticed just how fast he was losing blood, he began to panic. Leon desperately crawled away, hoping to find anything that could save him.
"No, no... I can't die! I won't die, this isn't..." As he tried to lie to himself, his collar dragged along the ground.
"I... can't die..." He whispered softly, terrified at the idea of endless pain. He needed to rip the collar off, but his strength was rapidly fading. He knew he wouldn't die, but he could no longer move, his body didn't need to breathe anymore. His vision began to fade, feeling his consciousness leave. He didn't know what to do. He could never truly die, he would never follow the path of mortals, even at the end of his life.

Although his goal was achieved, he knew that the real Mayflower family died with him.