With Blood shall come Desire (MxM)

☽ Chapter Twenty Nine ☾

𝕾ilthos chose a long dark red coat with a black scarf which he fumbled around his head to hide his hair underneath. "We should move quickly... I'm not sure if my grandfather already sent others to find us." He leaned closer to the mirror next to the entrance door to put on some dark red lipstick. "Let's go, darling."

Aristaeus watched him leaned against the doorframe with an amused smile. Oh how he'd love to smudge that color with his mouth and let Silthos leave traces all over his body. Aristaeus put on his hat and straightened the sleeves of his coat, before offering Silthos his arm.
He was sure that once they stepped outside they could expect half of the deities to be on their tracks.

Silthos appreciated the warmth of Aristaeus' arm against his chest. It felt like there was a shield around them once they were together like this. Invisible, but stronger than any shining diamond in this world. The redhead exhaled deeply once they were outside. It felt like they were about to reach hell. "Let's get Vincent and find Lunaan as quick as possible."

"Let's hope we find him fast enough...", Aristaeus whispered under his breath and sighed.

Vincent was about to leave the house when they arrived. The mortal seemed better but the wounds were still noticeable and he had deep eyebags. Through the bandage around his neck some blood was shining through. It was a miracle that he was able to stand and walk already, but love seemed to build his strength like the one of an immortal. "Oh you're back.", his voice sounded slightly rough. "Is everything alright?"

Aristaeus nodded his head, not wanting to worry the young man. "Everything is fine. Come with us, we gonna unite Lunaan and you today."
The moment Aristaeus said his name he could see Vincent's eyes light up.
Silthos examined the human worried, especially the bandage around his neck, which needed new treatment. "Did Lunaan try to communicate with you through your bond? Is he still in his tower?" He didn't let go of Aristaeus' arm.

Vincent shook his head. "He left the lighthouse, I think. Lunaan feels so close, desperate and fuzzy. I think he went to find me..." The baker was looking now pretty stressed out. "I hope he's okay... He is okay, right?" Aristaeus sighed and absently rubbed over Silthos's hand. "We don't know. But we will find him." "Then let's go." Vincent didn't wait for them and simply started walking, with his eyebrows furrowed in concentration and one arm before his stomach for balance support.

Silthos watched Vincent walking with so much determination in his eyes. He looked up at Aristaues. "I will enter the ever black sphere. Just guide my humanoid body, I will be able to follow. I must help the mortal to find Lunaan."
Aristaeus didn't look convinced at all. Hadn't he done that once already? It had taken incredibly much power from him. "Alright...", he whispered, knowing that it was there only option. The mortal was in need of help. His damaged body couldn't take much more. Vincent had stopped walking and looked around helplessly. Aristaeus sighed and looked back at Silthos. "I trust that you won't overexert yourself."

"If I do, I know who is gonna carry me in bride style all the way." He winked at him and closed his eyes. Entering the black sphere has never been easy, but with time comes practice or maybe acceptance. All deities knew that there must be an existence to rule this endless and dark kingdom. But this deity was more unknown than Death who was the highest visitor of this place. The redhead's mind wandered and his inner vision slowly began to be stained with darkness like thick ink dropping onto his soul, covering it entirely. His body felt like it was falling, ready to crush the ground every second, but the impact never came. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in the all-black sphere. He recognised Vincent's soul at first and the silvery string connected to his and Lunaan's soul. The thread seemed to be painfully stretched. Silthos walked closer and carefully placed his hand on it. A vibration ran through his entire body and endless emotions rained down on him. He tried desperately to concentrate on clear thoughts in the now. And in fact, he succeeded, strengthening the bond between the mortal and the God of the Moon so that they could communicate in their heads across miles.

Aristaeus watched the god with a concentrated face, his body close to him. If anything happened, Aristaeus would be right here. Suddenly, he heard Vincent gasp. And then he started to run, stumbling many times, ignoring the blood leaking through his bandage. It must have worked. "Dear Goodness...", he whispered and watched the human run as fast as he could. The wounds were clearly making him slower but he didn't stop. If Silthos had strengthened their bond, then Lunaan must have felt it too and come their way. Shortly, he looked up and noticed that the sky was weirdly dark. It gave him a bad feeling, but at the same time he felt excitement. Having a God's blood on his hands that wanted to hurt Silthos would be a very satisfying circumstance.

The god of love and desire prepared himself to exit the sphere again, but suddenly he felt the presence of someone behind him. "You come here quite often lately, little one...", a voice echoed behind him. The voice was deadly cold and sharp, also somewhat raspy, like a forgotten piano. But his words were barely a soft breeze. Silthos finally recognised the deity - Death. The air around him became harder to breathe, as if a heavy fog was settling on his mouth and squeezing him shut. "No... I'm not ready yet, I-" "I know, little one. Your soul flickers... it's like a moth, attracted by the deadly light and yet it flies steadily against it, knowing it will burn or die from exhaustion. Click... click... I can hear it, the little moth's collision with hell." Silthos couldn't turn around to see Death, his legs seemed to be rooted to the ground. He wanted and needed to escape, his soul started to twirl in the dark. The darkness was scaring him, but it was not the infinity that worried him. He felt like it was watching him. As if eyes were growing out of every corner, every gap and place in this eternal sphere.

Aristaeus grew restless. He could feel that something was wrong the second that Silthos had started to shiver. They were standing in one place and Vincent had almost disappeared from his view. "Silthos.", he whispered but got no response. In his neck he felt a sudden cool breeze and couldn't help but shiver. "Silthos get out of there." He grabbed the man's hand and looked at him with worry. The god knew about the black sphere. Not many deities could enter it, Aristaeus included. It was a special skill that had to be developed and it was risky going inside. The sphere was somewhere on the line between life and death. It was nowhere and everywhere at the same time. A risky place to be and so his anxiety grew with every passing minute.

Silthos could hear Aristaeus' soft voice, but it seemed too far away. He could feel the darkness nibbling on his soul. Death made a little surprised exhale. "My cousin seems to be deadly worried about you, little one. He often reminds me of a bear mother... protecting you until death... ripping off every limb of someone to keep you safe. It's beautiful, isn't it?", he whispered and his lips stroke Silthos cheek for a second when he moved away from the young god. "Now go... Aristaeus is waiting so desperately." The redhead felt like he was about to faint, but Death seemed to give him a little push to escape. He opened his eyes again and his legs gave in for a second.

Aristaeus catched him the second he came back to the present. His arms had immediately wrapped around him and gave Silthos stability. "What happened? You know how dangerous it is to stay there for too long!" Aristaeus examined his face with furrowed brows, trying to make sure that everything was alright. His heart hadn't stopped beating frantically.

Silthos tried to gain control back of his legs, his hands were shaking horribly as well. "Everything is fine... just a little meeting with your favourite cousin - Death. A gentleman like you, haha..."

Aristaeus clenched his jaw, holding back anger and frustration. "What did he want from you?" It was unusual for Death to interact with someone that was not yet dead. But Aristaeus knew that his cousin could feel someone's death coming. Every hope that the prophecy might be wrong faded and Aristaeus had to remind himself not to hide any of his emotions.

"I don't know... I think he was just watching me. He knows I'm not ready yet." Silthos recognised the change in Aristaeus' eyes. "Aristaues... I'm still here. I need you to focus now, okay? Vincent already ran off I suppose... let's follow him quickly." He carefully pressed the other gods hand. "I'm here. I'm still here."

Aristaeus nodded firmly, not trusting his voice to work and held onto his hand. He was still here.