*The Day of the Wedding*
Apep adjusted his tie and looked at himself. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was downright giddy. The idea of finally having both Evie by his side, and her daughter's powers made him finally sigh in relief. His plan had finally worked. He looked himself over one more time, and then proceed to the lawn to take his new wife’s hand and start his forever.
Evie wanted to faint as she looked at herself in the wedding dress. The mix of emotions, all of them negative. She wanted to kick herself for thinking Cybrus was telling the truth. Thanatos wouldn’t come for her and if her dreams were an indication of his feelings, he’d much prefer she rot. She looked down to her daughter, who tugged at the dress.
“Pretty mommy,” she said, and a lump formed in Evie’s throat. She bent down and Kore wrapped her arms around her neck.
“You are the sweetest.” She held her a little longer.
“COME ON GIRL!” Apep voice boomed through the window from outside. Evie stood on autopilot as usual to join Apep. Kore sat on the steps and pointed up, and Evie looked up to see what she was pointing at. The once white clouds now seemed to blacken, and thunder crashed against the sky. “LET’S HURRY THIS ALONG! IT’S ABOUT TO STORM!” Apep screamed over the thunder, grabbing Evie’s arm and pulling her down the makeshift aisle.
A crack of lightning close by, made Apep jump but he’d come this far, he wasn’t going to let the weather destroy his day. He glared at Cybrus.
“Why are you taking so long?”
“I’m supposed to read all of it before you say I do.” Another crack of lightning, Apep grabbed Cybrus by his shirt.
“DO YOU FUCKING SEE THIS WEATHER?! HURRY UP!” Silence. The clouds back to their original state, the thunder now subsided. Apep looked around, “What the hell was that?”
Inhaling, Cybrus pulled away from him and flipped through the book. “Do you Apep take Evie as your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, until death do you part?” Distracted by the words, Apep turned and grinned at Evie. Running his finger across the heart shape cut of her dress, he leaned in.
“I do.”
Cybrus turned to Evie. “Do you Evie take Apep as your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, until death do you part?”
With tears in her eyes, Evie parted her lips, “I-”
Behind her she heard a voice that sent chills up her spine, “Well go on and answer the man Poppet. Do you?”
She didn’t want to turn around, but when she saw the anger on Apep’s face, she knew it was real. “Reaper…” She said low. As she finally faced him, her lips parted. Two years had changed nothing, he was still as beautiful as the day she’d first seen him.
“HOW THE HELL DID YOU FIND US?!”
“I helped him.” Cybrus spoke and Apep turned to him in disgust.
Raising his hand, he produced an orb. “You mangy little-” He felt a clash of lighting hit him instead.
Eyes burning purple, crackling lightening pouring from his finger Derrick sneered, “Hello, Brother.”
Apep looked around realizing it had been Derrick who destroyed the protective bubble. He stood and glared. He knew he was too weak to defeat either one, then his glare turned into a grin. He pushed Evie hard to the ground, and Thanatos rushed to her side. Shooting an orb as strong as he could muster, he hit Derrick in the chest.
Apep’s eyes cut to Kore and using the last bit of his strength, he shot an orb at her using it to absorb her powers. Her little body lifted from the ground, and Apep felt her power coursing through him. He closed his eyes, relishing in the feel of his strength returning.
“WHAT?!”
His eyes shot open, as the power stopped. Looking, his eyes widened as he saw Cybrus holding the child, the power of the orb shooting into his back. He screamed in agony, but he didn’t release Kore. Gathering his bearings, Derrick hit his brother again stopping the charge.
Thanatos moved swiftly, but Apep had one more trick of his sleeve. As he saw the Grim Reaper charging, he revealed three cards. Always one for games, Apep dropped two and held one. And showing the blackened heart on it to Thanatos, he ripped the card in half and Thanatos body dropped immediately. The pain coursing through his chest. His eyes returning to their normal hue, he heard Evie’s piercing scream. Racing over to his side, she dropped to her knees.
“You’re okay…you’re okay.” She repeated as she saw the life pull from his eyes.
He caressed her face. “At least I got to see you both. I love you.” He smiled small.
Derrick tore into Apep’s body and the brothers squared off. Thanatos stared into Evie’s eyes feeling his life slip away. A little hand grabbed him, and he felt Kore’s head on his chest. She cried, her cries turning into violent sobs. Thanatos felt a surge of rage flow through his body, and he screamed in agony as the veins that covered his chest spread and bubbled. Evie wide-eyed grabbed Kore, stood, and backed away. The blackened veins poured over Thanatos's body, and his eyes shot open. Derrick stopped the battle, his face lined with fear, as he saw Thanatos stand, but he no longer looked like himself.
Whispers of angry voices flowed around him. His black eyes glared at Apep who dropped to his knees. Darkened souls, rose from the ground, others descended from the trees. They attached themselves to Thanatos, and his body seemed to grow. Evie turned Kore head to her chest. “Close your eyes.”
Thanatos took a step forward, the screams of the darkened souls, whipped around his frame. His eyes locked on Apep, Apep felt his body rise. Face to face with Thanatos, he saw the evilest smile he’d ever seen on the reaper’s face.
“Apart.” Thanatos's loud voice boomed.
The souls reached out and grabbed onto Apep’s body. Pulling his limps from his torso, they kept him alive. The crimson blood fell to the ground, as Apep screamed in agony.
“Together.” The souls shook as they forced the pieces of his limbs back into place. Legs where arms should have been, arms where there once were legs.
“Apart.” They tore at him again and again. Thanatos' eyes void of anything, but his smile only widened. “Together.” He relished in Apep’s screams. The more the sorcerer yelled, the more it fed his darkened souls.
“Plllleaaseee…just…let me die….” Apep cried the blood pooling from his mouth.
A guttural laugh pulled from Thanatos. He seethed, “You should have left me as I was.”
The souls pulled at Apep again. Thousands of hands, tearing flesh away, until the blood that soaked the ground was all that was left of him. Satisfied, the souls released from Thanatos and waited for his next instruction. “Return and take him with you.”
Their blackened masses that once darkened the sky, slowly dispersed as they returned to the plane of the damned taking Apep’s soul to be tortured for eternity. Thanatos body now returned to his normal size stared at his shaking hands. "How did I..."
He could process what had been happening to him, the dreams, the evil extension of himself. The rage that seeped into him like poison. Unknown to him all this time, he had a power no one should possess. He could control the souls of the damned, engulfing them, and using them as his body. As he looked up to Evie, he expected her to shrink in fear at the monster that truly was, yet she was looking at something else. He followed her eyes to where she was looking. Upon seeing the sight, Thanatos mouth parted. There, staring back at him was his father Cybrus' soul.