The Old man’s laughter echoed through the Cave and Gaya watched.
She was used to his laughter; it never really resulted in anything anyway.
“Did you have fun telling everyone that I am dead?”
“No, of course not.” She frowned, feigning to be hurt. “I love you too much to find amusement in such silly games.” Then a smile snaked up her lips. “But I did have fun in them believing it!” She squealed. “So much crying, so much grieving. They were devastated that your body was lost too. So much of everything.” She laughed so much, she was crying. She has to wipe her tears away. “I even made more enemies for Thanatou. They all joined his mother’s war against him. He would never know it was me, they would never know. But you, my Moon, know it all, and here you are useless to tell.” She ended with a smile.
“I know our story too, do you remember?” He asked and started telling their tale.
The Old man couldn't believe this was the being he had loved many years ago, the one he had stolen for.
Thanatou was a collector and everyone knew about this most recent collection because he wouldn't keep quiet about it.
A gem that gave life.
He wouldn't tell anyone of how he came across it, but then he had been sure to tell everyone that there was only one of it and another, which was a pair. He was determined to acquire that too.
One night, Gaya fell ill.
So ill, she was dying.
So, one night he had stolen the gem from Thanatou to keep her alive.
Thanatou’s tears could not catch him, he was beyond what his power could hold a prisoner in a stone statue.
Aggrieved, Thanatou had reported the theft to those in the Highest Court. He was held to be guilty and had been greatly punished for it. However, when they asked him where the gem was, he had lied that he had lost it.
Maybe losing that gem had killed Thanatou's desire to acquire its pair.
Finally, the night of his release came.
Hanging on for dear life, he had left the dungeon of the Highest Court that night, longing to see Gaya again, only to return home and find her in bed with another.
She had claimed to love him.
Love him? A being that wasn't even as powerful as he was!
What had that weak thing done for her? What punishments had he suffered for her?
He gave her life, and this was how she would repay him?!
A betrayal!
Well, what more could be expected from a being who had her blood tinted with the ancestry of lust?
So he gave her a day’s ultimatum to return his gem and leave his house with her lover.
The next thing he knew, he was here; a Prisoner. His position as the Gardener was taken away from him, and the news of his death spread like wildfire!
“Well, all that is in the past now. Isn't it?” She asked and he laughed. “One more thing, I think I now have control over your pets. I wished them away and none stood as an obstacle to me while I made it through the cave.”
“That was because I ordered them to let you pass. Not everything is under your control, Gaya.”
Insulted, she moved closer to him, her nails clicking against his chains.
The Old man moved, trying to reach her, but as always, there seemed to be an invisible wall between them, stopping him from moving any closer, from attacking her, a wall he couldn't bring down.
“What do you think of my nails?”
“Unshackle me so that I may kiss them properly.” She scoffed, taking a step back and he smirked. “Or are you afraid, Gaya? Afraid that I will kill you for everything you’ve stolen from me?”
She shrugged. “Why don't you unshackle yourself or get your pets to do it?” She paused, and then a smile of mockery played on her lips. “ Seems that is under my control. All mine. You aren’t so powerful now, are you, Gardener?”
He tried to close the distance between them again, his action filled with rage this time.
She laughed, knowing his attempts would only result in more failures. What was she doing here anyway? She had more prey to catch.
“Goodbye, Prisoner.”
“The visit is over? But you haven't found what you are looking for yet.”
She stopped in her tracks. “What are you talking about?”
“I mean him.”
At that moment, the Old man shifted into the image of the dragon shifter she was searching for.
Gaya looked on, stunned, a venomous hiss slipping through her teeth as she rushed back in front of him.
“What have you done to him?!”
At that moment, he shifted back, not into the old man but into what he really was. He was just like Gaya, just that instead of a star-shaped head, his was white and round like the full moon.
“Is he dead?! Speak!”
“Not yet.”
“Show me!”
One of the prisoner’s pet snakes sprouted out of the cave floor some distance in front of her, making lava splutter on the floor, holding the dragon shifter in the grip of its fangs.
He looked lifeless.
“He dies now.”
Then just as quickly as the snake had appeared, it let the shifter go, letting him fall into the lake of lava.
She screamed, shocked.
The shock shook the spell around her. She had never lost a prey to him before.
Shock, this much shock.
Perfect.
That was all the prisoner needed because, at that moment, she forgot to continue holding up the invisible walls that protected her.
They fell and he attacked her from behind with a large snake fang laced with venom.
Her screams cut short, and he pulled her into an embrace from behind as he dug the fang further into her, his hand sinking into her chest to the place hurt heat should be resting beneath, pulling out a gem stained red with blood from it.
The snake will bring him up and toss him down the lava quickly.
They show the snake and how lifeless he looked.
“You still get obsessed too quickly. Oh, Gaya. Oh, my Love.”