I stray not from the path
Rio Vidal was miles away from home. Twenty nine trillion miles away, on the planet of Titan. It was a haven for powerful people, its bustling towns filled with the extra-dimensional 'Titans', and luxurious, golden buildings as far as the eye could see.
Very different to where Rio was ten minutes ago.
The sun was setting over the sumptuous palace, and the silhouette of the regal building against the warm blends of the sky looked like something straight out of a five year olds' imagination. Rio waltzed in, and demanded to know where the royal headquarters was.
"I'm very sorry ma'am, but we cannot assist you, the prince is expecting a meeting very urgently." the purple creature guarding the magnificent flight of stairs spoke.
"I really do not have the time to chit chat with you, but if you must know I was called in to meet with the prince about fifteen minutes ago. Give or take."
"Unfortunately I need proof." the scrawny guard replied. Rio just impatiently groaned, then casually blasted him away and began to locate where she was meant to be. She was in a bad mood, for many reasons. But the only reason on her mind was the fact that she had just left her sick son and very annoyed wife for a probably pointless meeting with a bratty prince. Frustrated that she couldn't find a single person to assist her, she rushed into the closest ladies room and started to splash water on her face. The cool, tingling sensation did nothing but make her feel cold, and even more angry.
"Fucking rich people." she kicked the expensive-looking trash can in an attempt to release the surge of emotions she was experiencing. Just an hour ago, she was playing checkers with her wife and son in their secluded cottage. Nicky, her son, was triumphantly winning when he began to violently cough and splutter out blood. The two wives were horrified, but Rio especially. She knew it was her fault, any child of hers would die inevitably, but Agatha didn't know that. Suddenly, Rio got called for a meeting on a far away planet. Far away from the mess that was her doing, unfolding beneath her eyes. Before anyone could protest, she was out of there. A decision that she later came to regret.
Rio looked up at herself in the mirror, and realised that she was wearing her nightgown still.
"Shit. Could this day get any worse!" she shouted up at the heavens passive aggressively. This was why everyone in this wealthy, good-looking city was staring at her like she was some miscreant while making her way to the palace.
"Probably, but I can help." A voice unexpectedly answered from the outside. Rio instinctively spun around to see who she was facing. A tall, green man was smiling at her, leaning against the open door.
"This is a ladies washroom. Emphasis on the ladies" Rio practically snapped at the man.
"Who says I can't be a lady?" he mockingly replied.
"Just tell me where the prince is and leave me alone."
"Oh, its second door to the left when you go upstairs. But security will certainly not let you through looking like that. Trust me, I know."
"You've shown up to a meeting with the prince of Titan wearing your pyjamas before? Wow, I've never felt so understood in my life."
The guy looked like he was enjoying this. Rio didn't like it.
"God, please tell me where the hell I can find a coat or something before I blast you into oblivion!"
"Here." he passed Rio a mahogany coat, embellished with a green floral pattern. "I saw you rushing up in, well whatever that is, and figured you needed a cover up. Your welcome." Rio just snatched the coat without uttering a world, and grumpily stormed off. As she slipped the garment on, she noticed it was tailored perfectly to her body, fitting in all the places it needed to. It was almost like that guy had seen her and magicked it out of thin air, just for her.
"Wait, wait, wait!" the green creature caught up to her, breathing heavily while trying to keep up with her fast pace. "When you're done, do you want to grab a drink or something? I know the best tavern in Titan, milady."
"Sorry, not interested in aliens, especially guy ones." Rio just walked even faster, flustered and annoyed. She reached the second door to the left, and stopped abruptly. She couldn't stop thinking about the face Agatha made when she left. The image of her holding their son in her arms, begging for her to stay was haunting her from the moment she arrived on this planet, and she so wanted to return and tell them it was going to be okay, even when she knew it wasn't. Anyway, she was here now. She opened the extortionately decorated door and just stood in the doorway, staring at the man sitting at the desk in front of her. From the moment she opened the door, she could sense his eyes looking at all parts of her body, and the coat wasn't helping.
"Ah, Lady Death." he greeted Rio.
"Thanos." she replied with a sickening, fake smile. She had heard of this blood-thirsty alien prince before, but only ever came across the bodies he slaughtered.
"How was the journey, did you find the palace well?" he started
"Look, I'm not interested in small talk, just cut to why I'm here." Thanos looked taken aback, but swiftly hid it with an equally sickening smile.
"No problem. As you may have heard, overpopulation is becoming a very worrying problem to many planets across the multiverse. I've been to places where children are dying because of the stark availability of homes where they live." The reference to the sick children made Rio's stomach churn in guilt.
"Okay, what does this have to do with me?" She irritably replied, while she inched closer to the massive purple creature.
"Hmm, I don't know, why don't we have a look! Come here, pretty thing." he gestured her to come closer. Rio scoffed with disgust, but obeyed his orders, and sat on his desk. As she sat, her nightgown-coat combination rose up, exposing her bare legs, with Thanos watching intently. Suddenly, with a snap of his fingers, the wall spouted a laser which examined her forehead.
"What in the-" Rio muttered underneath her breath. In the woods of Salem, there was nothing like this, Titan must be a very developed planet. She also was very confused, why did Thanos, the soon to be king of his people, invite her here just to flirt with her and scan her with strange machines? A blue hologram screen appeared out of the ground, and a video popped up. Rio recognized that image. It was during very prehistoric times, where the first humans were. She had taken her first person to the afterlife there. How did he have access to her memories?
"Lets take a journey back into the past, shall we?" he exclaimed with excitement. "Your first body! How cute." He flicked his wrist, and another memory was shown. It was all the bodies compiled up after a hit of the plague. Rio remembered it all too well, like it was yesterday. The putrid smell of the decaying bodies, the hundreds of souls all following her into the underworld, all complaining. She forgot that even existed, she forgot what her life was like before Agatha.
"Oof, that must've been a pain!" After each memory shown on the state-of-the-art screen, Thanos overconfidently commented on what he thought her life was like at those times. It was just all too irritating for Rio, she couldn't see the point in this. She sighed as yet another image was showcased on screen, but as she looked at it her heart stopped.
"Ooh, what do we have here, a nice little neck of the woods, too bad all these bodies are here, I wonder who killed them?!"
Rio felt suffocated. It was where she first met Agatha. Her mind immediately raced back to her family, what were they doing? Was Nicky okay? It was just all too much to think about.
"Stop!" she screamed at him. She noticed that she hadn't breathed since the memory appeared, so let out a massive exhale, and started to shout. "What do you think you're doing, messing around with my mind. My life is none of your business!"
"Okay. Before you storm out, Death, I have something to say. My solution to this growing problem of overpopulation is simple. I will go to each planet, and plainly murder half of the people there. Not only will this help the universe and whatever, but my main reason was as a gift to you. Think of all the bodies you will need to collect. I have been wanting to pursue you for a while now, milady. For
decades I have followed all the mass deaths there has been, just to catch a glimpse of you. I see how happy you have been recently collecting bodies. I figured this will tide you over to me." he arrogantly declared. Rio was appalled, revolted, and felt overly nauseous. She looked into his eyes, and shook her head.
"Do you really think I like this job? That getting more bodies to take is a gift? Go fuck yourself, Thanos." she leapt off the table and began to escort herself out. "Also, I cannot believe I'm saying this for a second time today, but I'm not into men."
As she slammed the door and angrily marched away, something stopped her in the middle of the hallway. An overwhelming sense of longing came from wherever Nicky was, similar to when souls call out to her to collect them. Then she realised.
Rio fell to her knees, and as much as she tried to scream, nothing came out. It seemed all the life had been knocked out of her, and only the shrivelled, crumpled mess was left on the expensive panelled floors. Her heart was burning with guilt and sorrow, her body was paralyzed, and her mind was filled with a flush of memories and thoughts. His first word, his first walk, the look on Agatha's face when he achieved even the slightest milestone. Her line of thinking then directed itself to Agatha, how incredibly distressed she must be feeling right now. Rio couldn't believe that she just left them like that, that she would never be able to smell, or touch or be with her own son again. And she couldn't even fathom what taking him to the afterlife would be like.
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After making it back to Salem, Rio hurried back to the cottage. It was a full moon, and the forest was more daunting than usual. The smell of a burnt out fire and pine reassured her that she was in the right place, and when she saw the cottage another fragile piece of her broke off again. Who knows if she would ever be able to live here peacefully with her love, her loves, ever again.
She silently crept in, expecting to see a broken Agatha cradling Nicky, and bracing herself. She hated to see Agatha upset. However there was no one there, so sign of life.
"Agatha! Where are you. Please my love!" she screamed from her lungs at full force. Still nothing. Rio threw on the closest dress she could find, as her current situation was frankly embarrassing, and took a torch into the dark forest.
A bird that looked like it was a skeleton flung itself off a tree, scaring her. She watched as its bony wings clattered against each other, as they flew into the night sky, and the perfect bright circle of the moon silhouetted its sharp figure. Rio compared herself to the bird, all alone, trying to find it's family.
Then she saw them. She felt numb with jealousy. Two figures huddled up together, underneath a single blanket. What on earth were Agatha and Nicky doing outside?
Rio summoned the wind gently, brushing it over Nicky's soul, causing him to stir.
"Mom!" he exclaimed, so excited.
Her heart clenched. "Where did you go, Mommy?" he asked, his voice so innocent it felt like it could split her in two.
"I had to work," she replied sheepishly, with so much regret.
"But I was sick," Nicky said, his small brow furrowing in confusion. "Mama said nature would make me better and not to worry about you. Then I felt funny, and I went to sleep. But you're here now! Maybe we can play more checkers!"
He grinned up at her, but Rio couldn’t form the words. She just gestured toward Agatha, urging him silently to give her a kiss, knowing Agatha would never say goodbye to him.
Rio swallowed the lump in her throat. "Okay, baby," she said, forcing her voice to steady. "Let’s play a game, alright? Whoever finds the bridge first wins."
"What about Mama?"
"Mama needs to rest for a while," Rio whispered, her voice cracking despite her efforts. "But we can play, just us."
Hand in hand, they walked. Each step made her chest feel heavier, the weight of what lay ahead looming on her chest.
When they reached the portal to the afterlife, Nicky stopped.
"What’s this, Mommy?" he asked.
"This is… this is part of Mommy’s work," Rio said, her voice trembling. "Do you want to see?"
His small hand tightened around hers as they stepped closer. She knelt down, holding his tiny shoulders. "Nicky," she began, with tears in her eyes, "I need you to go on an adventure for me, okay?"
"An adventure? Will you come too?"
"I… I can’t this time, baby," she said, her voice breaking. "But you’ll be so brave, won’t you? You’ll be so good for me and Mama?"
He nodded earnestly.. "Okay, Mommy. I’ll be brave."
Rio pulled him close, pressing a trembling kiss to his forehead. "I love you more than anything, Nicky.
As he stepped toward the portal, he turned back to wave at her, the final nail in the coffin. "I love you too, Mommy! I’ll see you soon, okay?"
Rio stood frozen as he disappeared, numb.
"I’ll see you soon, baby."