BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 9: Bound Between Worlds

The weight of Anubis' words hung heavily in the air.

"Asterion, you do not belong here," Anubis declared, his jackal-headed form tall and imposing against the dark landscape of the underworld.

The glowing orbs of his eyes reflected the eternal river Styx behind them. "You are neither dead nor a god. You cannot cross into the afterlife or remain in the Valley of Death."

Asterion knew what Anubis was saying made sense, but reason wasn’t exactly his strong suit right now.

He stood there like some awkward, clumsy young man, fumbling with words, even though his chest still carried the raw power of the beast he once was.

His instincts screamed at him to stay, to push further, but his heart… his heart wanted something else entirely.

Anubis’ current form wasn’t the one Asterion had expected to see again.

The jackal's head, the dark robes, and the god’s towering figure were nothing like the handsome, nearly-human Anubis he had tangled with before—both figuratively and, well, physically.

Yet Asterion felt a strange pull. It wasn’t just about finding answers anymore, or even the confusion from that memory when their closeness turned into something more than either of them bargained for.

This was... something else.

"I—I'm not leaving," Asterion said, stammering slightly.

He felt ridiculous, a former Minotaur, once the terror of labyrinths, now standing before a god like a lovesick fool.

He barely recognized himself anymore. Maybe that was Anubis’ doing, or maybe it was something else he couldn’t even begin to understand.

"You have to leave," Anubis repeated firmly, his gaze unwavering. His voice echoed with a calm authority, like he was telling Asterion a fact of existence rather than making a request.

"You are still a creature of the living. This place will corrupt you, twist your soul beyond recognition if you stay."

Asterion took a deep breath.

His eyes traced the outline of Anubis’ form, trying to see through the jackal's features to the god he had met before. It was impossible not to feel a mix of embarrassment and... something more.

"I don’t care about that!" Asterion blurted, instantly feeling like a fool.

"I’m here because I need answers. And—" He hesitated, the weight of his feelings pressing against his ribs. "—because of you."

Anubis' ears twitched slightly, though his stoic expression didn’t change. Asterion couldn't read him.

The calmness on the god's face, that effortless control, only made Asterion feel more out of place, like he was the only one caught in a storm of emotions.

Anubis stepped closer, his eyes locking with Asterion’s.

"This isn’t where your journey ends, Asterion. You are not ready to cross into the afterlife. What you feel—" His voice softened, almost becoming an intimate whisper. "—is a confusion of your mortal heart."

Asterion’s chest tightened. "Confusion?" He almost laughed, but it came out more like a scoff.

"Is that what you think this is? After everything we've—"

He stopped short.

His mind flashed to that moment again—his claws tearing through Anubis’ clothes, the sudden intimacy of it all.

He wasn’t sure if it was a mistake or something else entirely, but whatever it was, it had been real.

"You’re wrong, Anubis," he said quietly, his voice carrying more certainty than before. "This isn’t confusion. I’m not confused about you."

Anubis remained silent for a long moment, his eyes never leaving Asterion’s.

The stillness between them stretched, like the pause before something broke. Asterion’s heart pounded, the rhythm out of sync with the quiet pull of the underworld.

He didn’t care that Anubis was currently in his godly form, that his jackal face didn’t show any of the handsomeness Asterion had seen before. His feelings didn’t care.

"Asterion," Anubis finally said, his voice softer but still tinged with warning, "you are a creature of the living.

Your path is not with me. Return to your world, and perhaps one day, you’ll understand why."

Asterion clenched his fists. "What if I don’t want to return? What if I—" His voice cracked, betraying the vulnerability he didn’t want Anubis to see.

"What if I don’t want to be without you?"

Asterion hated how desperate it sounded, but it was true.

He had chased Anubis all the way to the underworld, and even now, standing in front of him, he still wanted more.

Anubis had spared him before, had been more than just the god of death to him.

The jackal's eyes softened, but there was a sadness there too. "You don’t belong here," Anubis repeated, but this time there was a deeper, unspoken regret in his tone. "And I cannot go with you."

The words hit Asterion like a blow.

He had always thought that if he could just get here, if he could just face Anubis again, he could make sense of everything. But now, hearing those words, he realized how impossible it was.

He wasn’t ready to let go.

"I—" Asterion began, but the words failed him. Instead, he stared at Anubis, standing so close yet feeling so far away.

Anubis turned, his robes billowing slightly as he moved toward the shadows. "Return to your world, Asterion," he said, not looking back. "Before it’s too late."

And with that, the god of death began to disappear into the darkness, leaving Asterion standing alone at the edge of a world he could never fully understand.

For a moment, Asterion’s body wanted to move, to follow, but his feet stayed planted where they were.

He watched as the shadows swallowed Anubis whole, and the last flicker of those glowing eyes faded into nothingness.

Only the silence of the underworld remained.