Zene Oneshots

A Fallen Hero

"Oh Zane, my darling!"

Zane turned and looked at the door to the house he shared with his husband, who had been away on a long trip overseas. The raven haired goth was greeted by his husband, Gene, as he walked through the door.

Draped around his shoulders was the furry pelt of a lion, the gaping mouth with fangs and eyes posing as a hood over his head. His chest was cut up and bruised, blood stained bandage wraps around his torso. He looked full of pride and courage, just as he always had ever since he had been a little child.

"Gene!" Zane gasped, filled with joy at the sight of his husband.

Zane ran up to him and wrapped his skinny, pale arms around the older. He smiled genuinely as this husband accepted the loving embrace, cradling the younger in his tanned, muscular arms. The reunion did not last long, however. It seemed to be only a split second before Gene pushed him off, as if he were some sort of filth.

"Zane, my sweet, I need you to prepare my best suit for tomorrow." Gene informed, planting a small kiss on his forehead. "I am required for an important... celebration, at the Temple of the Divines."

"Shall I attend as well?" Zane asked, a bit hurt by the quickly broken hug.

"No, no, no, not a thing is required of you but to prepare my suit." He explained with a shake of his head. "I will leave in the morning for this celebration, but now I will go and feast with the army."

"Just don't eat too much." He warned, crossing his arms as he watched Gene leave. "Why must you leave so soon?"

"It's only for another night, my sweet," Gene laughed, smirking. "You have survived my journey overseas. You'll live one more night."

And with that, Gene left the household without another word. Zane stood speechless in the empty living room, his mouth gaping open at the unexpected response. With a heavy sigh he turned and headed to their bedroom chambers, searching through the expansive closet for Gene's best suit.

Does he even still love me?

Zane pondered on this thought for a moment, holding the suit in his hands, folded neatly and clean. It had been something that had been bothering Zane for quite some time now, even before Gene went overseas. He knew all too much about Gene's flirting with maidens and royals from all over, even some of the Gods themselves. Yes, Gene had fallen in love with so many people, but the only person he ever spent his nights with was Zane. For a while, that had been enough to keep Zane's worries under restraints. Yet Gene had never acted in such a way, with such an urgent eagerness to be away from the raven haired.

I guess it wouldn't even matter if he didn't love me anymore. I am just the one who he took from a God and married, after all.

Zane made his way back to the living room, still holding the suit. He had heard the door open, and found one of the maidens of the village there.

"Oh, hello, Sasha." Zane greeted with a smile, as he was very good friends with Sasha.

"Hello, Zane." Sasha greeted in return, giving a weak smile.

"If you're looking for Gene, he went to feast with the army." He informed, setting the suit down for a moment.

"I'm looking for you, actually." She said. "Zane... when the war was won.. they forced all the maidens of the country into slavery."

"Oh, what a terrible thing." He scowled, his bitterness towards the act of slavery clear.

"Indeed." She agreed, nodding her head. "But--"

"Zane!!" Ivy cried, rushing through the door. "Oh, Zane, I bring terrible news.."

"What happened, Ivy?" He asked, focused on her.

"I have learned that the celebration tomorrow is a wedding, and that Gene is replacing you.." She sobbed, but something about it seemed fake. At least, to Sasha it did.

"W-What...!?" Zane gasped, even though the news didn't come as a surprise.

~~~~

Zane stood confidently in the living room, waiting with an excited impatience for his husband to come home to him.

Ivy had proposed a wonderful idea to him. She had said that Centaur blood would cause Gene to love him only, and so he had spread it out across the inside of Gene's suit. Now, he just had to wait for his husband to come home to him.

When the door opened, Sasha was present again.

"Sasha, when is Gene coming home to me?" Zane asked, not minding her visit.

"Soon, but you might wish he would never come back here." She said with a sigh.

"What? Why?" He asked.

"He's dying."

Those words took a moment to register in Zane's mind. His husband, the great Gene, was dying? No, that couldn't be right. Unless... no, Ivy wouldn't have lied to him... Would she?

"The Centaur blood is killing him, he is in great suffering and pain." She went on, watching helplessly as he fell to the ground. "Dante and the others are bringing him here as we speak, so he may die in comfort."

"No comfort can be found in this house, not with me here." Zane said regretfully, standing up and heading for the door. "Build him a funeral pyre, and ignite his body in flames so he may be with the Gods."

"Where are you going?" She asked, fearful of his fate.

"To pay for my crimes as a murderer of my own husband." He responded. "May the Gods have mercy on Gene in his suffering and his death, and put the full punishment of this on me."

"What am I supposed to tell Gene?" She asked.

"That he will live with the Gods in Heaven, a place people such as me cannot go." He answered.

And with that, he took his leave.

~~~~

Gene screamed out in pain again as he was set down.

"Oh, Gods have mercy..." Sasha gagged, looking away from the blood that was burning through his skin and flesh.

"Z-Zane..." Gene whimpered, biting his lip as more pain surged through him.

"He killed himself." Sasha blurted out, unintentionally telling the truth. "He blamed himself for this-- your death-- and so has offered himself to the Gods for the punishment."

"Z-Zane...." He coughed out, feeling the stinging, burning pain get worse.

"Gene, keep your eyes open." Sasha said in a warning voice, but Gene's eyelids grew too heavy. "Gene.... GENE!!"

Gene couldn't hear her clearly. Her voice, and everyone else's voices, sounded so far away. But Gene was okay with his fate. He knew they only had to wash off the Centaur blood, as Gene would not die from it, but Zane had not known this fact. If he had, certainly he wouldn't have taken his own life. But none of that mattered now. Not Gene's Godly father or any of that. He wanted to be with Zane, but the only way was to die.

And so he did.