Sixth Piece Of Acheron's Past

This Piece Of Acheron’s Past Is Set Several Years After The Fifth Piece, Written Because Of A Combination Of Sheer Boredom And The Whining Of Some RL Friends Of Mine.
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Acheron Came Awake To The Sound Of Ultimate Grief. Someone Was Wailing As If They’re Heart Had Been Splintered. Blinking His Eyes Open, He Found The Sun Bright, Steaming Through The Windows. His Head Pounding In Agony, He Pushed Himself Up In Bed, But Almost Fell As His Stomach Lurched Sharply. He Hadn’t Awakened This Sick In His Life, It Felt Like He’d Overdosed On Something. Lethe. It Was In The Blinding Light That Acheron Remembered Her “Gift.” More Than That, He Remembered Her Holding A Knife Over Him As She Debated Whether Or Not To Kill Him. He Let Out An Agonized Snarl, She’d Hurt Him For The Last Time. The Next Second, The Doors To His Room Were Thrown Open. The Sound Echoed So Sharply In His Head And Made It Pound Even More, Acheron Grasped His Head, “Not So Loud,” He Whispered.

The Next Thing He Felt Was Being Slammed Against The Ground, Zephyr Had Him By The Throat. Zephyr Shoved Acheron Across The Room, “Are You Drunk?” Acheron Shook His Head. Zephyr Backhanded Acheron Before He Pulled An Arc Of Lavender, Thinking It Was Something Else, From The Floor And Flung It At Acheron’s Face, “You Worthless Slave. You Lie Here In Your Drugs And Drink While My Sister Was Murdered!” Zephyr Yelled As He Started Beating On Acheron With The Intent To Kill. Acheron Tried To Block The Hits, But His Muscles And Reactions Were Still Sluggish From Lethe’s Drugs. It Took A Full Minute For The Words To Permeate The Fog In His Mind, “What Did You Say?” Acheron Yelled. “Tobari’s Dead, You Bastard!!” Zephyr Yelled Loud Enough For The Entire Castle To Hear.

No! The Denial Echoed In His Head. It Wasn’t Right, Zephyr Was Being An Ass. Surely The Gods Who Hated Him Wouldn’t Do This To Him. Shoving Zephyr Away, He Forced Himself Up And Down The Hall. Now Oblivious To The Fact That He Was Ill Due To Lethe, He Walked Into Tobari’s Room To Find Styxx Cradling Tobari Against Him. She Looked Like A Doll, Her Face Was Blue, And Her Body… Acheron Fell To His Knees, Choking At What He Saw. She’d Been Torn To Pieces. Her Face And Body Ravaged By Something That Looked Like Large Claws. There Was Blood All Over The Bed, Floor, And Walls. Falling On All Fours, Acheron Couldn’t Breathe Or Think Past The Agony Of What He Saw. Moments Of Last Night Had Roughly Entered In His Head, Giving Him Some Idea Of What Happened, She’d Suffered More In One Night Than He’d Suffered In His Life. Tobari Was Dead, The Thought Spun Around His Head Faster Than He Could Wrap His Mind Around It.

Acheron Beat His Head Against The Stone Floor With Everything He Had, To Feel Something Other Than The Feeling Of His Shattering Heart. “I Heard Her…I Could Have Saved Her…” Acheron Whispered As The Reality Of Last Night Slammed Into Him Harder Than Any Pair Of Fists Had Before. Damn You, Lethe! He Had The Powers Of A Full-Blooded Demon And A Full-Blooded Angel, Yet He Didn’t Have The Power To Save The Only Person Who’d Loved Him. And Why? Because The Other Person He’d Trusted Drugged Him! The Fog In His Mind Cleared And Everything That Happened To Tobari Became More Clear. He Saw The Ones Who’d Come Into Her Room Through The Window And Slaughtered Her. He Heard Tobari Scream Out For Him To Come Save Her. For The First Time In Three Decades, Acheron Began Crying. Something Slammed Into Acheron’s Ribs, The Force Of Which Knocked Him Onto His Side. Acheron Didn’t Have To Look To Know It Was Zephyr, Who Kicked Him Hard In The Stomach.

Zephyr Fell To The Ground, Pounding Acheron’s Head Against The Stone Floor, “Why Wasn’t It You, You Worthless Maggot?!” He Yelled. Acheron Couldn’t Think To Protect Himself, Why Would He? He Wanted To Die Just As Much As Zephyr Wanted To Kill Him. There Was Nothing Left For Acheron, And Even Lethe Had Tried To Kill Him. Styxx Set Tobari’s Body Down And Turned To Face Acheron, “You Let Her Die.” Before Acheron Could Think To Deny Those Words, Styxx Punch Acheron Hard Enough To Lift Him From The Ground And Send Him Reeling Into The Far Wall. Acheron Still Lay On The Ground, Not Wanting To Fight, Only Wanting To Die. Acheron Opened His Mouth To Speak, But Before Acheron Could Speak A Word, Styxx Grabbed A Dagger From His Waist And Snatched For Acheron Tongue, Then Sliced It Off.

“Akri! Ni!” Xiamara’s Cries Filled The Room As She Appeared Above Him And Dove For Styxx. She Knocked The Man Away And Put Herself Between Acheron And Styxx. “Out Of My Way, Demon.” Styxx Demanded. Xiamara’s Response Was To Dive At Styxx. The Two Of Them Tangled In A Flurry Of Flesh And Feathers. Acheron Tried To Fight The Pain, His Only Thought Was To Kill Styxx Now. Acheron Crawled To Where Styxx’s Dagger Had Fallen, His Own Blood Coated The Blade. With A Fury Born From Grief And All The Years Where He’d Been Abused, Acheron Seized It And Jumped To His Feet. He Forgot About the Pain And Focused On The Combatants. Tobari Had Meant Nothing To Styxx, No More Than He Meant To Lethe. His Mate Hated Styxx More Than Acheron Did And Now He Acted As If Her Death Meant Something To Him.

It Wasn’t Right By The Gods Who’d Birthed Him, He Wasn’t Going To Let The Man Get Away With Attacking His Mother’s Demon, And His Guardian. Acheron’s Fury Set Fire To The Blade, Causing It To Glow With Fire As He Raced Toward Them. All Acheron Could Focus On Was Stabbing Styxx Through His Callous Heart. But Just As Acheron Reached Styxx, The Man Knocked Xiamara Into Acheron. She Turned To Face Him With Eyes Wide Open, Acheron Stomach Shrank As He Realized That Styxx Had Slammed The Demon Into The Dagger. Acheron Felt Her Blood Burning His Hand. Looking Down At The Wound, She Staggered Back With A Small Cry Of Pain. Acheron Wanted To Say Something To Her, But Without His Tongue, It Was Useless. Acheron Held Xiamara Against Him As She Struggled To Breath. She Lifted A Bloodied Hand To Acheron’s Cheek, “Apollymi Loves You,” She Whispered In Charonte--A Language He Understood, Despite The Fact He’d Never Heard It Before. “Protect Your Mother, Apostolos. Be Strong For Her And For Me…” She Breathed Before The Light In Her Eyes Faded.

Acheron Set Her Down And Closed Her Eyes Before He Grabbed The Dagger And Spun To Face Styxx. Styxx Grabbed Acheron’s Hand And Wrested The Dagger From Him. The Man Grabbed Acheron By The Throat And Threw Him To The Ground. Acheron Kicked Him Away And Rolled Onto his Side. He froze As He Saw Lethe Standing There, Watching The Fight With Her Hands Over Her Mouth, Her Eyes Filled With Horror. Needing He, He Reached His Hand Out For Her. She Shook Her Head No And Took A Step Back, Out Of Everyone’s Sight. In That Moment, Something Died Inside Acheron. Coldness Filled Every Raw Inch Of His Body. Lethe, Refused To Intervene, Even Now When He Was Hurt More Than Anyone Should Ever Be Hurt, His Trust Wasn’t Enough. He Didn’t Matter To Her. Tired, Grief-Stricken And Defeated, He Rolled Onto His Back At the Same Time Styxx Rose To His Feet. He Met The Man’s Angry Glare.

Growling In Rage, Styxx Sank His Dagger Deep Inside Acheron’s Heart And Sliced Him Open All the Way Down To His Naval. Unmitigated Agony Burned Through Him As The Man Slowly Gutted Him On The Floor. Lees Than Two Feet Away Was Tobari’s Lifeless Body, Acheron Reached Out And Took Her Hand. More Tears Fell From Acheron’s Eyes As The Light And Pain Faded To Nothing.