Sirius had led a long, rich life. He'd been feeling his age for a while in the aching of his muscles and stiffness of his body. But lately another factor of age had slowly been creeping upon him. The many memories that crowded his brain had startled to jumble and slip. Some memories were hard to grab at one time, and at another seemed as relevant as if they'd happened yesterday. The marks of age were not enjoyable, so when he woke to a sudden feel of lightness in a land of mist, he wondered If death had claimed him.

He got slowly to his paws, and found the motion more fluid, as easy as it had been in his youth. That seemed to him another sign that this was not reality. A dream? Or death?

“Zee?” He called out, voice soft, not quite daring to hope. Too long he had waited to join her.

Death had been easy and painless, unlike anything that the Klein Empress had expected. She had been in Io’s arms one moment and in the spirit world the next. Time was funny here, and she couldn’t tell how long it had been since she had left the physical realm. Her conscious seemed to pull together now though, bringing her into a state of knowing and sentience once more.

She could hear SIrius far off, and for a moment she wondered if he had joined her in death, the old man. But no, his warmth told her that he was indeed still with the living as he called out for his wife. Deathbelle didn’t care for her grudges that were held in life any longer, but it did feel appropriate that Zeitgeist would not be the one to answer his call.

”No, silly man.” She told him as her form materialized from the mists surrounding them. She wanted to say something much more hurtful, but the words stuck in her throat. He hadn’t been there for her, now Zee would never be there for him.

An older, deeper part of his history answered his call. One that came from the very roots of his beginning. One he had been charged with protecting, and ultimately failed. Perhaps, in fact, the biggest failure of his life.


He watched her form solidify in the shadows and mist. Her form taking strength from the nothingness around her. She looked… even more remarkable than he remembered. She seemed to glow in a way she had not for many, many years.


He found hinself looking at the first wolf he had loved, eyes filled with an old sorrow. Too much history, too much regret. What did one even say when faced with a history such as this? “Have you come to Shepard me into the afterlife, then?” He asked her softly. Deflection, it seemed, was a skill the old Warlord had mastered.

She watched him speculatively as his eyes tried to bulge from his skull and his mouth nearly fell open as she appeared before him. A youthful version of herself. One that had not been marred by the abuse of time and life. A better version of herself in death than she was in the last years of her life.
Still, he looked as though he had almost forgotten her. Pushed her memory away more likely, as she was certain he hurt as much thinking of her as she did of him. However much they were able to bandage their wounds. Him with Zee and herself with Io.
As surprise took over his features he spoke, ignoring the fact she was not his wife. His questioned startled her slightly, but she recovered in quick succession. ”No, I’m afraid you’re cursed to roam the mortal plain for a bit longer.” She could see that much at least. ”Though, now that I have you I don’t know if I’ll be so eager to let you go this time.” Perhaps he deserved a little torment before he found his way back to her side in earnest.

Was that disappointment he felt? He was tired and old, done with the aches and long disappointments of reality. He had lived longer than most wolves. He was obsolete, a relic of a time now over. The Armada no longer needed him. His children were grown, living lives of their own. His time was over, was it not?


But Deathbelle was not here to grant him peace. In fact, it seemed her purpose was more to stir. He started, surprised at her words. He was not dead, but she was not willing to let him leave. What did she intend with him?


Enjoying the odd freedom this not-dream granted his old body he bounded lightly on the tips of his paws, ready to fight or flee, while remaining unsure why he felt doing so was necessary.

Deathbelle wasn’t certain but she thought that she saw his features fall when she denied his question. She understood, being old and yearning for the void… She had already crossed and the relief was truly palpable, but as she said. Sirius still had torment to live through back in the mortal realms. She offered her promise, there was no threat in her voice. Sirius knew it too as his body began to tense and he looked as though he might run.

A wicked grin played on her dark features as her royal purple gaze sparkled. ”Seer…” SHe said for a moment, feeling her heart soften just a bit. She had once loved and adored the man before her. Now? Now she didn’t know. ”Sirius, you can’t run from me now. You can not escape your own mind.” She warned him, taking a delicate step closer.

Despite the great many years between, Sirius well remembered the day he had been told his father had died. Too young to fill the place of the older warrior, he had been denied the right to see his father's body. He had been given away, instead. A gift to their king, who had in turn gifted him to one of his daughters. He remembered entering her play den, a guard at his side when he had seen the Princess for the first time in his life. She had looked up at him, still very much a child, as he had been. She had put down her toys and smiled at him. “You'll do.” She'd said. Two simple words that had reshaped his life, his destiny. That had led the both of them to this new land. He blinked, and the mist coiled around them before drawing back. Displaying a castle, a room. Responding to his memories, or hers? “My life began with you, Deathbelle.” He said softly, looking up at the high walls. A sight he had almost thought forgotten. “I wondered sometimes why it didn't end with you. Is that why you're here? Those ties that bound us together never truly lifted, did they?” "Belle" "Seer"

After her death the royal Klein had relived the whole of her life in a few moments. She felt sad to rewatch how close she and Sirius had been for so long. She’d relived her mistakes, but also her triumphs. She had lived a long and fulfilling life, but there was so much she would have gone back and changed. For a while Deathbelle had been sad, but here in this endless dreamland emotions became dulled and unnecessary.

It seemed like Sirius was going through that now as his gaze seemed to go distant and he again ignored what she said. His words were haunting, even to her as their setting shifted to one she hadn’t seen in a very long time. She hadn’t even been of age the last time she was here. Not long before much of her family had died of starvation.

”You know very well why we were driven apart.” She told him softly. Partially her fault, partially his own. Perhaps with a bit of fate mixed in too. ”As for why you’re with me now? I dodn’t know. I do know you will never forget.” She promised him. As much as she had suffered over him in life so would he over her in death.

Did he? Did he remember the exact moment? Was it while he guarded her door, and listened to her woo her brother within? That moment stood out in his mind, a toothache that had never gone away. Was it that moment in the thunderstorm, where Zee whom he had tormented had come to him for shelter? He wasn’t sure there was one exact moment that had started the divide. Deathbelle had been his charge, his sacred duty to protect. Even if you did not factor in love, he thought he would have been there, in the end. That he would die before she did, that he would die for her. There was a part of him that would never forgive himself for his choices that had kept him from her at the end. He was a wolf whose destiny was so clearly divided into two paths, and he was not sure if either of them would have led him to happiness. The pain of falling in love with Zee, only to lose her twice had broken something inside of him. Would a path with Deathbelle have led him anywhere happier? It was too late to change anything. So, very much too late. He was old, and she was gone. Pain burst in his heart and he found himself lowering himself to his stomach. “No, I will never forget. Are you here to haunt me for my mistakes?” "Belle" "Seer"