Chapter 21: Greedy Temptation

Greed was ugly. I mean, I know the emotion is ugly, but like, the physical manifestation of Greed was so ugly. I didn't want to look her in the face. She understood that pretty fast, though, so she changed her look immediately to a better one. You've seen Ursula. She looked something like that after her transformation. And trust me, Ursula-face is better than original Greed-face.

I didn't have the chance to meet with the other lovely aunts before Greed whisked me off to a corner. The aunts and Lucifer immediately melted back into the darkness and I couldn't see them again. I guess they were gone. I wished they were still there. Especially Lucifer.

She leered at me, mouth wide, showing her crooked teeth. "Want to try a candy, child?" she asked.

I folded my arms. "Standard kidnapping line. Next."

Greed laughed. "I see why my nephew would fall in love with you."

"What?" I asked. Was my task complete?

"Child, don't think so fast. I can see greed lighting up your face. I was speculating. Right now, I am afraid my nephew feels nothing but... it doesn't matter," she said, pausing heavily. "I want to discuss something with you. I hear you have a task from the Heavenly King."

I hung my head. "No. I don't. I'm a normal citizen." My heart pounded. I felt terrified, because I knew instinctively that this creature in front of me was an ancient being, one who could easily snap my neck if she suspected I was lying-

"Don't lie, child. You accepted the task because of greed. Of course I am aware of the task. You want to go to Heaven. You are not happy with your current situation. I can help you to quicken the task," she said slimily, her rancid breath fanning my face. I winced.

"What's the catch?" I asked. I didn't trust Greed yet, but I wanted to hear it.

"Nothing," she said, laughing softly. "I am giving you what you desire. You seek Ajax. Ajax is a prisoner in the State of Fear. In Fear's castle dungeon. If you like, I can bring you there now. You can free him."

She's very, very shady, I thought, looking at Greed. It seemed impossible. "What do you really want, Greed?"

She smiled. "I told you. All I want is for you to complete your task."

"Are you Greed, lust, or envy? They seem almost similar. But why aren't there Lust and Envy?"

Greed's eyes glowed a dusty yellow. "I ate them up. So yes, now Lust and Envy are part of me. Envy is also a part of Jealousy, my younger sister. We cut Envy up, split her into two."

"What?" I took a step back.

"You want Ajax, right? Think of it. Once you have Ajax, ask me again. I told you I am Lust as well. I can help you make my nephew submit to you. Then you can go to Heaven with Ajax. You will leave us Hell beings behind in the Underworld as we belong. Everyone is happy."

My voice trembled. I don't know how I said it, but I did: "L-lucifer won't be. I'll have tricked him." As soon as I said it, I regretted it. Greed was right. Everyone would be happy. No, what was I thinking? I was so confused. My mind was whirling madly, and I couldn't think straight.

"My nephew? I thought Ajax is the one you want so badly," Greed countered in a soothing voice. I felt sleepy suddenly. Her voice was lulling, drawing me to close my eyes...

I blinked rapidly. "No, I..."

Greed's smile was sympathetic. Somehow, as I looked at her, I felt like she understood my tangled feelings. I hadn't meant to hurt Lucifer at all. I hadn't meant to grow attached to Grim or Lucifer, or the twins Ianthe and Gadina. I was stuck in a difficult situation, and Greed could help me. Right? I was mesmerised by the sympathy she showed me...it was raw and real. No one really showed me much sympathy. I didn't realised how much I'd needed sympathy. It wasn't pity. It was understanding I craved.

I dropped my voice. I was so ashamed of what came out of my mouth next, but it poured out, just like that. "Help me, then."

"You found the right person," she smiled.

A tear leaked out of my eye. That drop of crystal clear water suddenly shook me to my senses. No! NO! I hadn't wanted this! I couldn't accept this.

Reality came crashing back to me. I was so dumb, I had gotten myself caught up in her manipulation, and I'd succumbed. "Wait, stop- I don't want this!" I yelled, just as the world exploded around me.

Bright stars and dark wings enveloped my vision.

Next thing I knew, I was standing in a place that radiated fear. I cocked a smile. Guess I was in Fear's terrain now. Great. Just great. Fear was pressing on all my heart and mind, rendering me unable to think clearly. I was afraid of random things, suddenly. It felt bad. I felt like a coward, but I couldn't help it.

I breathed in and breathed out. Calm down. Where are you?

Taking stock of my surroundings, I looked around. There was ivy crawling up the walls, cracks in the stones and bricks, and sinister spiders spinning webs in the corners everywhere. I seemed to be in a dungeon-like room, and no sunlight filtered through the barred windows. Outside, the sky was pitch black, even though I felt sure it was daytime.

I wanted to leave. I was going to leave. I couldn't accept Greed's help. Tempting as it was, it obviously had a 'terms and conditions' in fine print at the bottom. Swiping a tear from my eye, I spun around and scoured the walls for an exit.

Then I heard it.

"Kay..." A raspy, croaking voice called out.

My eyes grew wide, and my heart pounded faster. "W...who?" I asked, even though I knew the answer. Greed had not lied to me. But she was still a snake.

There was no reply anymore. I shut my eyes. "Okay. Change of plans. Ajax first."

And with that decision, I broke out into a mad run, bursting out of the walls I was in and dashing down a dark corridor, barely lit by a few salt lamps. As I passed cell after cell, I saw painful sights. People curled into balls, weeping silently. Some were even turning transparent; some were writhing and crying out in agony, and most of them had purple, bloody and bruised limbs. The purple was creeping up their necks, too, curling into their faces. I kept running, sick to the core.

The last cell was where I saw him.

Ajax wasn't purple like the others. He wasn't transparent. He wasn't curled up.

He was lying in a pool of crimson blood.

"Ajax!" The cry came out before I could stop it. Stupid! I was impulsive as usual. Shoot.

The prisoners all looked at me. "Get me out!" They moaned collectively. Repulsion shot through me. It was absolutely disgusting. I couldn't take it. I was only here for Ajax, right?

Ajax lifted his head and smiled. "You came," He whispered hoarsely.

I clapped a hand to my mouth to keep from sobbing. Ajax was as handsome as always. Light blond hair, so blond it looked white, and a symmetrical face. He had eyebrow piercings, and a lean, muscular body. I had fallen so hard for him, once. Not anymore.

Ajax met my eyes as I stared at the lock, trying to figure out how to unlock it without a key. I was a smartass. (That wasn't a compliment.)

"I love you," Ajax murmured, his eyes closed. I looked at him. I was filled with an overwhelming feeling of fear. I was afraid of what would happen if I was caught, if I freed him, if I failed, if I left Ajax here. And I was afraid of hearing those eight letters. Because-

The worst part was that I could never say it back to Ajax.

"I...I'll get you out," I said to stall time. I looked around, thinking about picking locks. I'd watched a tutorial before back when I was alive, and I knew you needed something like a paper clip, that kind of thing. If I jammed a spider's leg in there, would it work?

Then I got it. I understood why Greed had left me with these earrings with dangly sharp ends. I took one of my earrings off, and drove the long metal end into the lock, twisting it randomly. No, I didn't know what I was doing. But somehow it worked. Maybe luck was on my side- no, Scratch that. Greed was on my side.

The door swung open. I rushed in, hauling Ajax up, and began to push him towards the way I had come.

"Free us. Please. We have been stuck here for aeons," a ghostly voice whispered faintly. "We didn't do anything! Help us!"

I couldn't help it. I turned. Ajax nodded at me. I understood him at once. He was trying to tell me that they were telling the truth. And then there I was, scrambling to unlock as many cells as I could while spirits clamoured for me, and Ajax was collapsed on the floor again, his leg spread out behind him, with crimson liquid spilling from it.

I tossed my earrings into random cells. "Please help each other get out. I really need to go. Where's the exit?" I asked.

Ajax pointed weakly to a turning I hadn't seen earlier. So I set off again, leaving the ghosts behind, and dragged Ajax as far as I could. He bit his lip the whole time, and sweat glistened on his forehead.

"I don't know if that's the exit. But it's the one guards use," Ajax muttered.

"What? How the heck- great," I snapped back. I was stressed, okay? I broke into a run, yanking hard on Ajax's arm and pulling him forward through the dust. We had to hurry. My footsteps clattered faster and faster as we rounded corners and ducked into new corridors. Finally, after several twists and turns without knowing where I was going, and being constantly afraid of guards, we ducked out of a side door and plunged into a dark, dark forest.

I paused, panicked. No- I only knew that this was a forest because I could smell the pine trees and the rotting animals on the ground. Why was it so dark? Spinning around, terrified, I felt so alone and so lost. I couldn't go forward. Instead, I sank into the ground, grasping wildly at the strands of withered grass that lay there. They felt like my lifelines now. They were the only thing that told me I was still alive and could still touch and feel something. My throat felt constricted as I tried to suck in a breath of air.

Ajax gripped my hand, and I heard his ragged breaths as he steadied himself. "Kay, this isn't good. I've heard of this forest before. It's the Senseless Forest. We need to leave. Now."

Fear spiked through me, and I felt my back tense. Nice of Greed not to arrange return transport.

Ajax kept talking, and he dragged me forward as he did so. My legs were like wood, they wouldn't move. "Kay, get up. Come on, you have to stand. What are you doing there? You look like a corpse. Hey, Kay," his voice became more and more alarmed. "Kay, can you see me?"

"It's too dark," I whispered. "What's going on?"

Ajax cursed suddenly. "Did you lose your sight?"

thanks for all the amazing comments and support for this story:)) Sorry it hasnt been updated in a while. still, I will complete it, don't worry.