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"They're ready. Can you meet them at the beginning and bring them here?"

"Why do I have to do it?" Hart asked, seeming mildly annoyed at the request.

"Because I asked nicely," Riley stated, turning his skin back to obsidian and letting the new voice take over, which transferred awkwardly mid sentence.

Hart sighed, knowing he was going to do anything Riley asked either way. There were some downsides to being in love, and that was one of them; being so hypnotized by the feelings that you were barely in control of your own life.

"Besides," he continued, "you're going to need my transportation services. Do something for me, I do something for you."

Hart looked down at the sleeping redhead. She laid peacefully on an energy-based floating bed that Riley created for her. She was beautiful, but because of his mistakes she was so close to death that she almost imitated a skeleton. She was so thin you could see her bones. He didn't know what happened to her, he didn't want to know.

Kroxia's tentacle wrapped around him and lifted him up in the air. While she took him to the beginning of Riley's home, which he later found out was called The Void, he thought he could probably just fly by himself and not need to be carried like a child.

Fortunately for Kroxia, she was a Guardian, and Hart didn't have arguing with a Guardian on his list of things to do.

Hart was dropped at the end just as the portal opened. He waited a full minute before anything happened. A hand came through the portal. It was trying to grab something and Hart thought it was a good idea to reach out with his own hand. It wasn't a good idea. The person immediately withdrew the hand and Hart had to wait another five minutes.

"Hello?" a voice said through the portal.

"It's not a trap, you can relax," Hart said, rolling his eyes.

Fiona walked through the portal and almost tripped when her eyes went up, but Hart caught her in his hands. They exchanged awkward looks and pulled away from each other, Fiona clearing her throat and Hart grinning at the flustered reaction from her.

"W-where is my brother?" Fiona said, straightening her posture and playing with her fingers while she tried to avoid looking at her surroundings, but the only thing she could use to distract her was Hart's face and she also wanted to avoid looking at that.

"Where are the others?" Hart asked, ignoring her question.

"Guys, I'm fine, you can come through," she said over her shoulder.

Dozens of Rogues stepped through and only one Hart recognized besides Fiona. Pearl gave him a quick smile before she went back to serious mode. Their ghostly white eyes stared at him, silently watching, or waiting. They assumed it was a trap because it was Riley who called for them, and they believed Riley wasn't himself after his transformation.

"Like I said, it's not a trap."

"Yeah, well, when you send a giant tentacle from the sky to deliver a letter, who can blame us for being a little worried?" Fiona said.

"Speaking of tentacles," Hart started, looking around for Kroxia, "you have an option of either taking the very long road to Riley, or take a quick but totally scary fast shortcut. Which would you like?"

"Just take us to Riley," Fiona said.

Hart was joking about giving them an option, he really didn't want to walk them through the obnoxiously long bridge. He knew Riley was watching them, so he just waited, tapping his foot. This was why he didn't want to do it. He looked like Riley's butler. It was embarrassing.

Kroxia's tentacle finally came back. She lowered down beside the bridge, making the Rogues jump in place. This time she stretched longer so that they could all fit on her. Hart went first and stepped on top of her, sitting down at the very front.

"Oh, a tentacle rollercoaster, fun," Pearl muttered.

"Just get on, Riley is waiting and I have somewhere to be," Hart said.

"Oh, fuck."

Hart looked back. Fiona was the only one who hadn't climbed aboard.

"She's scared of heights," Pearl said.

"But you're a Rogue? You can jump over mountains."

"Yeah, but you can see the ground below you. There's nothing here. What is this thing even attached to?" Fiona said and Kroxia growled as a response.

"You'll be safe here, I promise."

Fiona mounted the tentacle and wrapped her arms around Pearl. She closed her eyes as the tentacle went up and shot forward like a rocket. Pearl laughed the entire way, but the other Rogues didn't have the same enthusiasm as the Russian girl.

Riley was waiting for them with his hands behind his back in full obsidian armor. He approached them as Kroxia dropped them back on the bridge. Hart joined the witch as the rest of the Rogues stayed behind.

"Okay, we're here," Fiona said to her brother. "What do you need?"

"It's not what I need, but what you need," he said, stepping aside to reveal the sleeping white witch.

The Rogues gasped. Fiona and Pearl ran to Annetta and almost burst into happy tears. Hart found it weird how they looked at her as an object and not a human being with a life just as valuable as the rest of them. Although, her life was definitely above everyone in hell right now.

"How did you find her?" Fiona said, wiping her tears.

"She found us. We simply just rescued her from the demons," Riley replied.

"Do you know what this means?"

"You now have what will take you and the innocent humans out of hell."

Hart was actually feeling uncomfortable. Annetta was the key to solving all of their problems, but she still needed to rest before she was capable of doing anything for them. She was not their slave and he wasn't going to let the Rogues use her.

"She still needs to rest," Hart said, eying the two girls.

"And that is why I needed you," Riley said. "I need your help protecting her. Hart is leaving and I don't know when he will return, so I need to make sure there are no loopholes anywhere for Siren to use and take her."

"What do you need us to do?" Fiona asked, walking closer to her brother, a very trusting gesture.

Hart raised his hand up as Kroxia reached down for him, grabbed his hand and pulled him up in the air. As Hart flew through the sky with Kroxia's help, he looked down at Riley and blew him a kiss with his free hand. Riley smiled up at him. Hart closed his eyes and made sure to remember that mental image of him. What was about to happen could change a lot of things and he was going to need a reminder of the good things in life.

I don't know if you can listen to me. I've never done this before, so forgive me if I sound dumb. I don't have a doubt in my mind that it was you who has been helping us. I still don't understand a lot of things and I especially don't understand your intentions. But I really need your help right now. I'm going straight to Rev, your city, and the city that has the army that is hunting me. So if you value my stupid existence, help me. Help me understand my purpose, the reasoning for you creating me. Please, father.

When Hart opened his eyes again, he was falling over Rev. There was nothing on Earth he could compare to Rev, except maybe an entire state of North America. It was so big that he wasn't sure where the castle was.

He couldn't believe how naive he was being dropping in by himself against millions. He wasn't afraid, not when he had Riley watching over him, but he had to do this because Riley was right, he needed to figure out who he was and what his powers were.

Hart prepared to land and released his wings, knowing that everyone would be watching him. He gracefully landed somewhere in the middle of all the chaos, his wings breaking his fall. As soon as he stepped on metal ground, the nosey city went dead silent.

Monsters of all shapes and sizes watched him. Some were confused by his presence, others knew immediately who he was and gave him dirty looks. Hart couldn't see himself, but he hoped with everything that he looked dominant. His wings and horns were one of the most beautiful ones in this life. It gave away that he was clearly some type of royalty, but it wasn't a question who he was. Everybody knew.

"Bow," Hart commanded using his demonic voice.

Hart walked around, returning the stares and waiting for the monsters of Rev to obey. One by one they fell on their knees. A few of them didn't possess knees, so they did what they could. He could tell a lot of them didn't want to kneel, but the majority did and they didn't want to stick out in case the Prince of Hell decided to rip their heads apart.

From the looks of it, the area where Hart landed was one of the most disgusting parts of the city. There were severed heads and dismembered human bodies all over the place. And now that he knew how big the mountain where the city laid was, he wondered what else was underneath, since all of the streets were just metal with holes in them and lava underneath. Maybe the mountain was a volcano and these streets were like mini bridges to stop everyone from falling into a river of lava that trailed through and around the mountain.

Hart walked through the crowd of demons and others. Whenever he passed by someone, they would stand back up and follow him. He wasn't sure if they were going to attack him. Nevertheless, he continued to wander through the blackmarket.

His wings created enough space between him and other kinds that he was able to walk effortlessly without having to stop. Even so, as he went on through the city, everyone automatically moved aside. Nobody wanted to touch the shiny prince in the luxurious armor, or the pulsing wings that seemed to be alive on their own.

The deeper he went, the larger the gathering crowd behind him became. He was ready for anything to happen. Hart expected to be attacked. So far, nothing was happening. And if he decided to walk to the castle, he was going to grab EVERYONE's attention. He wouldn't be able to fight them all if they turned, so flying out was his only option.

Or Riley could send Kroxia to slam her tentacles on the city and destroy it. Hart was willing to do anything to get what he wanted.

It was a long walk to the castle, but he managed to get there in one piece. He walked up the largest steps he'd ever seen. And this was where the army of monsters decided to stop following. They weren't allowed to go near the castle.

"You have some nerve, Hartheon," Siren's voice came from the top of the stairs.

"How's your army?"

She began to walk down the stairs, her dress flowing beautifully in the wind. "You do know that was barely a percentage of what I have, right?" she replied, meeting him halfway down the unconventionally long stairs.

"I need answers, and I'm not asking." She opened her mouth but he continued before she could get a word out. "I know you want me, and it's exceptionally silly to try to wage war on me. So I would think twice before trying anything against me. With the Obsidian Witch, Rogues and Lucifer on my side, I wouldn't."

"You have no idea," she said through her teeth.

"Are we going inside or should I call my friends?"

She turned around and guided him up the stairs, sulking over having to answer to Hartheon. She had no choice, not when everyone was watching them. Hart would just call Riley and everything in this city would perish. Siren had to accept her defeat, it was over.

An imp jumped on Hart's shoulders, the same one he had met before. He was definitely going to steal him this time. He could fit in his pockets.

"What are your questions?" she said, sighing as the doors behind them closed and they were finally inside.

"I need to know why I don't have much power. I have this title over my name, yet I know nothing except what my mother taught me. I should be powerful, I should be unstoppable, otherwise I wouldn't be what I am."

"Is this about Riley being stronger than you are?"

"That's not any of your concern." She rolled her eyes and marched towards her library, the one where they first had their talk. "You said it yourself, I am the triangle of life, I posses the strength and magic of the three most powerful beings in the universe, yet here I am barely capable of holding my own. I can survive, I can fight off anything, but in the end what am I if I'm just like everybody else?"

"I don't know how to help you find what you're looking for, but I do know one thing. The moment you and your sister were born, a few of us rulers received a message. A message that said you would both one day rule over hell and we had to prepare for it. Unfortunately, nothing went right with you both, so it was scrapped."

"Go on," he said when she stopped talking to look through her books.

"There's a ceremony, a spell of some kind, and you may or may not like it. But assuming your status with Riley, I go with may." She walked away from her books and sat down in one of the chairs.

"Ceremony?" he said, taking the seat in front of her with a table between them.

"You have to marry someone before you can reign over hell, only then will you receive your answers."

"Marriage?" Hart said in disbelief.

"Yes, marriage. Although, not completely. It's not marriage per se, but a ceremony of binding."

Hart groaned quietly, remembering about a certain binding spell. He was tired of spells. And marriage? Or Ceremony of Binding? Why did he need to marry someone in order to have answers?

"But why?"

"That's part of the message we received. Some of us believe it was from Lucifer. Originally, he wanted us to do the ceremony."

"US?" he shouted.

"Yes, and there is another boy who rules over another city who was supposed to be the one for Seraphina. It was all planned, but your entire family ruined it all."

"Ruined it? You mean you wanted to marry me?"

"We do whatever Lucifer asks of us."

"Gross," Hart said, sticking out his tongue in disgust.

"That's all I have for you, Hartheon. I don't know what else you want. If you want power, if you want answers, then you know what you need to do. You were created with a purpose, so maybe this is why you aren't satisfied, because you never fulfilled what you were meant to do. You run around with your friends on your own adventure, avoiding the path that was made specially for you."

"Okay, how do I do it then, the ceremony."

"Do you really want to go through with it?"

"As long as I do it with Riley, yes."

"We can do it today."

"Good, then today I marry Riley."

◊◊◊

"MARRIAGE?"

"Yes, now stop screaming, it's not that surprising," Hart told Riley.

"You're asking me to get married in front of hundreds of people from across hell. Many who want me dead, by the way."

"It's not marriage marriage, it's a binding spell."

"Oh, that makes it so much better. Our hearts will finally unite and our souls will bind together forever. Beautiful."

"I'm not forcing you to do it, Riley. You don't have to do it if you don't want to."

Riley touched Hart's face and closed his eyes. "My feelings for you have changed so much over the years, but I've always loved you. Even when I felt like you forgot about me, I loved you. Even when I myself, forgot about you, my heart did not forget what it felt towards you. I have loved you so much that words cannot compare. But this marriage, what does it mean for me? In a place like this? What does it mean?"

"I don't know, but I have to do it. It feels right."

"I'm scared, Hart."

"I'm scared, too." Hart touched Riley's face and lifted his chin up to kiss him softly and quickly.. "I'm scared of what my father has in store for me. I think about my purpose everyday. And I just want everything to be right for once."

"I'll marry you, but not because of some spell or because it's your calling, but because I love you."

"You've made me so happy."

"Okay, stop, we haven't gotten married yet, there's still time to hate each other."

Hart laughed and planted more kisses on Riley's lips. They wanted to do much more, but Siren was waiting for them. Whatever unresolved feelings were left behind would have to wait until after they have been binded.

Siren had been in the castle waiting for Riley's response. When Hart came back down from the sky with Riley by his side, she knew and immediately went to work. The marriage ceremony was a simple one for the ones watching, and for Hart and Riley, it was going to be a new experience.

With the help of thousands of imp, the ceremony was prepared in a large room full of beautiful pillars and a fountain in the middle. Portals opened all around and demons, witches and humans came through. They were very important and powerful people all there to witness the event.

Many of them greeted Hartheon, but most were curious about the Obsidian Witch. Riley stood by Hart nervously, gripping onto his arm. He tried to hide from familiar faces but they paid no attention to him.

On that day, there were no enemies. Everyone came together to finally do what Lucifer had wanted for a very long time. Hell would finally have not a prince, but a king.

"Hartheon and Riley, please step into the fountain," Siren said as everyone settled into their seats around the circular fountain. The fountain was a foot tall and had water rising up to the very top.

"Something feels weird, I'm scared," Riley whispered into his ears.

"It's okay, nothing will happen to you. I promise."

Riley nodded and stepped into the fountain with him.

"Riley, please remove your armor," Siren asked, waiting with a silver book in her hands.

Still skeptical, Riley obeyed and let the obsidian skin fade away. He was vulnerable in front of all these creatures and powerful rulers. But at least he wasn't naked like when Hart was when he removed his armor.

Riley hoped Hart didn't need to remove his armor, since it wasn't part of his skin like it was with Riley. Hart naked was only for his eyes, not everyone. Except the one time he emerged out of his demonic form naked in front of his friends.

Siren handed them both special knives. "Use these to cut your hand and let your blood fall into the fountain."

"Now?" Hart asked, raising a brow, staring at the knife resting against his skin.

"Yes, now."

They simultaneously sliced their skin, letting some blood drip down into the water as their wounds healed back up. One drop was all that the fountain needed because the blood came together and turned all of the water red.

"Raise the hand you cut, then grab the other's hand and don't let go." Siren flipped through the pages of her book. She read words out loud that neither of them understood, and from the look of her face, neither did she.

The blood from the pool rose up like a snake dancing around them. It swirled around their entwined hands and tightened around their skin. The cold blood felt solid against their skin as it covered their hands in a magic ball of blood.

"Once the blood turns black, say the other's name and then say Eternum."

The blood kept rushing through their skin, giving off strange feelings. It was somehow entering their skin but it didn't hurt, it just felt odd. The blood in the fountain slowly turned black, but it wasn't just any black, this black was the blackest black they had ever seen, if that was even remotely possible.

"Hartheon."

"Riley."

"Eternum," they said in unison.

As the words were spoken, Hart and Riley fainted at the same time and dropped into the black fountain. The room turned into chaos as soon as the two most powerful beings blacked out. Siren smiled as demons, witches and humans fought each other and blood went everywhere.

It turned out Riley had been right about being skeptical of the moment. When they fainted, their bodies went numb but their minds went elsewhere. Riley went into a dreamstate, but Hart's subconscious was pulled somewhere far away and a voice spoke to him.

Hello, son.

_________________________

[Author's Message]: I don't know if this is considered a short chapter, but everything that was planned for this chapter happened. I could have made a lot of scenes longer and added more descriptions,  but I think it's good the way it is, especially after writing 30 pages for the last chapter lmao. AND WHO IS COMPLAINING? I uploaded ANOTHER chapter, not months later,  BUT DAYS LATER AFTER WRITING 30 PAGES. You guys are lucky ily so much <3 lmao. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. There's only 4 chapters left of this book, I can't freaking believe it omg. So anyway, if you have questions, please don't be scared to ask, I will answer them all. I love interacting with you guys. PLEASE leave a comment if you read this chapter, it would mean so much to me. THANK YOU THANK YOU. BYE. SEE YOU IN THE NEXT AUTHORS MESSAGE LOL.