Thanatos rushed to Romulus's mansion and banged hard on the door. “ROMULUS OPEN UP IT’S IMPORTANT!”
Tiredly, Romulus opened yawning, “Are you trying to wake up the entire Magical Fall? It's early.”
He brushed past him and searched frantically around the entranceway, “Where’s Derrick?”
“Hello to you too.”
Thanatos exhaled, “I’m sorry. I just really need to talk to Derrick.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the red cloth and bow.
Romulus's eyes widened, “Is that-” Thanatos nodded his head. Without another word, Romulus summoned an equally exhausted Derrick.
“What’s going on?” He eyed the items, his face turning pale. “Where did you find these?”
“Near Angelica’s though I don’t think they belonged there. These were on them too.” He handed Derrick the fragments of grass. Studying this, his lips parted.
“I knew where this is from. Not Magical Fall, it’s from Noneonon…or what use to be Noneonon.”
Romulus stared at him, “The land of the Necromancers?”
He nodded, “Yeah, this is an herb created by them to aid in summoning the dead. If this was wrapped in those items, then he had to have taken them there.”
Thanatos felt his blood boil. Not only had Apep killed her family, but he’d also taken her and his child to live there after. His breath was harsh, and he turned to leave.
“Wait…Thanatos where are you going?”
“Noneonon”
Derrick stepped towards him, “I’m coming with you. I just need my sword. It doesn’t look like it once did, you’ll never be able to navigate it.”
Thanatos silently nodded and Romulus stepped forward too. “If you two think I’m letting my husband and brother go alone to fetch my niece and sister-in-law, you’re crazy.”
“Niece?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I-I've been kinda having these dreams.”
A lump formed in Thanatos’s throat knowing he wasn’t the only one. He stared at the little green bow, the thought of his daughter tugging at his heart. Derrick grabbed his sword and placed his hand on Thanatos' shoulder. He stilled.
“Let’s go.”
His body filled with anger and fear at what he would find. The three men silently exited the mansion on a mission to find the Reaper’s family.
---------------------------------------------------
Derrick tore into the overgrown foliage, eyes focused on the task at hand. Wanting nothing more than to recover Evie, he swung the sword until his arms burned.
“We’ve been at this for hours Derrick, it’s getting dark. Are you sure this is the way?”
He nodded at Romulus, “Yeah, we just need to find the exact spot.” He didn’t want to admit that the place was a maze, the further they walked, the more things seemed to coil and turn. A few times he even worried that they were actually repeating their steps. He swung the sword again, his eyes widening as he noticed the herb on his sword. “WE’RE CLOSE!” He screamed, pulling his body through the opening revealing a layer of tall trees.
“I don’t see anything.” Thanatos spoke, and Derrick looked around confused.
“It should be right here.”
Thanatos closed his eyes, the disappointment being his very undoing. The sway of trees divulged nothing but overgrown land. The men pushed across the trees, still seeing nothing and Thanatos closed his eyes again. “Let’s head home.”
Romulus could hear the sadness in his brother’s voice. “We can always come back tomorrow…”
Looking out to the small opening between the trees Thanatos stared into the darkness. His heart longed to see something, but he knew deep down, nothing was there. Turning around, he stayed silent as he walked away. Romulus and Derrick stared at one another momentarily before shortly joining him.
Had Thanatos taken a few more steps, he may have discovered the hidden barrier. Had he stared just a little harder he might have seen the small legs racing towards him. Kore’s little body darted towards the edge of the barrier. Screaming over and over, she grabbed Evie’s attention.
“LOOK LIKE ME... LOOK LIKE ME!” Her smile was huge as she repeated the words having seen her father through the small opening. Though she may not know exactly who he was, that didn't stop her from wanting to go to him. Evie quickly grabbed her daughter, making it in time before she collided with the bubble and was shocked.
Holding her close to her chest, she fought to calm Kore as the small child continued to scream. Hands extending towards the barrier she yelled, “LOOK LIKE ME…LOOK LIKE ME!”
Evie's eyes teared as she looked out into the nothingness. Her grief making her wish something was there. “Kore there’s nothing there.”
The child looked out again. Her small voice sobbed, “Look like me…” She turned and snuggled into Evie’s chest, crying uncontrollably. Calming her as best she could, her mind traveled to Thanatos.
*I miss you Reaper…. *
After a few moments, the two stood and walked back into the house. Putting Kore to bed, Evie made her way to Apep’s room where she laid down, stifling her cry, until she finally fell asleep.
----------------------------------------------------
“I’m sorry Thanatos. I really did think it was there.”
Thanatos nodded giving Derrick a small smile. “It’s alright you’ve done me kindness even trying. I know you’ve done everything you could do.” He patted his brother on the back. “I should let you both get some sleep.”
Derrick stared at Romulus before moving away from them both. He breathed harshly.
*Please forgive me babe*
Derrick closed his eyes, “No…I haven’t.”
Romulus and Thanatos looked at him in confusion. Extending his hands to his side, he slowly murmured words they could barely hear, *“Cutting cords, releasing ties. For my past, I say goodbye…."* He balled his hands and released them again. *“Remove the constraint upon what once was mine…my powers I demand to unbind….” *
A chill pulled through the air of the courtyard, a crash of thunder rumbled in now dark skies. Thanatos and Romulus watched in horror as a crackle of purple lightning dropped down tearing through Derrick's chest.
“DERRICK!” Romulus screamed loudly as his husband's body dropped down to his knees.
Tilting his head up to the sky, Derrick shouted again, “MY POWERS I DEMAND UNBIND!” A crackle of purple lightning hit him again. Derrick struggled to gather his breath, his eyes locked to the dewy grass.
“Derrick?...”
He didn’t respond but instead looked up, his eyes glowing purple. Hands that crackled like the lightning that hit him, he slammed them to the ground. The brothers watched as a huge purple orb formed before him. The vision of a home came into view, and they could see Apep’s back. He turned and smiled.
“I knew it was only a matter of time.”
Thanatos eyes immediately blackened. Stepping closer, he glared at Apep, “When I find you, I’m going to kill you.”
Apep chuckled, “You won't find me, I made sure of that." Wanting to make him angrier, he pushed the reaper more. "By the way, it's nice to see you again Thanatos. You as well Romulus. Wish you both could attend the wedding.”
"WHAT WEDDING?!" Romulus yelled, but Apep just smirked.
He turned his attention to Derrick and his lips coiled into a sinister grin. “But I must admit out of everyone there, I enjoy seeing you the most. You've always been a mangy, sneaky little mutt, I thought you would have long since been dead."
Derrick's purple eyes darkened. "Where are they?" He seethed making Apep smiled widen.
"Oh, now come on now, not even a hello?...Is that any way to address me after all this time? You should be a little nicer to family, especially your only brother."