“Are you going to hurt them, uncle?” Herbie looked down at the frowning avatar of his niece.
“What's that?” He asked, having been distracted by the island in the distance.
“Are you going to hurt them? The mutants I mean,” Salina asked him and he sighed. It would have been easier for her to have taken the form of an infant that couldn't talk, like Neptunus sometimes did. Then he wouldn't have to look into those curious sea blue eyes that demanded answers.
“We'll have to, little one,” He said, sitting down on the sea green sand and summoning some water. “That island won't stop, and some of it's inhabitants have done some very bad things.” He shifted some of the water to add to his nieces moat, while grabbing some sand to make another tower.
“What kind of bad things?”
Herbie paused, thinking about how to word this properly, “They've defied the natural order of things, and have been bringing people back from the dead.”
“Like Uncle Nico does?”
Herbie shook his head, “No, Nico only brings the bodies back, they have been bringing the souls of the deceased back.” Salina cocked her head, an inquisitive look on her face. He continued at her silent question, “When a soul moves on, it goes to the after life. It stays there unless they go for true rebirth or if they're summoned. After the summoning is over, they must go back. What the mutants are doing is not that, and if they continue, then the walls that keep everything together would fall apart. Because nature has rules little one, and even with some exceptions, one is absolute - Death is final.”
“When a soul crosses over, that's it, no resurrections.” He added firmly.
Salina was quiet as she considered what she was told. She continued to absently pat at the sand in front of her as she made her own tower.
“Would you try to bring anyone back?” Leave it to a child of Perseus Jackson to ask the big questions, Herbie thought with a bit of amusement.
“No, I wouldn't,” He shook his head. He understood why the mutants did what they did. After all he had been through over the decades, how could he not? The amount of times he had been tempted to bring back people he loved and care about from the dead was vast, but he never gave in. He couldn't, no matter how much he wanted his family back. “It would go against my belief that nature dictates the terms, not us.” Salina nodded slowly as she absorbed his words.
“So they have to die then,” She said sadly, and looked pained at the thought.
“Not all of them,” Herbie said gently. “Just the ones that committed the crime.” And those that would defend them, he thought with an internal grimace. “We are not here to commit a slaughter, little one.”
“Then why did you bring your sword?” Salina asked with suspicion. Herbie paused in finishing up his tower and turned to where his sword was resting against a nearby rock. There were times that he wondered why his father had given him this blade that once belonged to King Acrisius. Sure, it was made of Orichalcum, heated in the lava pits of Atlantis, and cooled in a cyclone. It had also been blessed by his father as Acrisius was his descendant, it had been blessed by Thetis since he had her favor, and had been struck by the lightning of Zeus when the god had made his rage known.
That last one had clearly left a mark on the blade, since it had cracked and chipped off a part of the sword, leaving the tip as an internal jagged mess that resembled a claw of some kind. If only the idiot king had not raised his sword to the sky when he cursed Zeus for making him attempt to murder his daughter and her son, the blade would be in it's original form, He thought. But then it would not have received a third and unintentional blessing, making it more magically powerful.
Still, as useful as it was, and as much as he liked using it, he never understood why he was given it until recently after his visit to the still recovering Laurel. His face darkened as he thought of that meeting.
“Because I am a warrior,” Herbie replied, shaking his head to focus back on the subject at hand. “And I will have to fight those who will defend their home. But I did not come here to add to the genocide that the Mutant population continue to go through.” It had been argued that they should just sink the island and drown everyone. It would be quicker, and more efficient. Not to mention the irony of them having to face an actual deity, since the Krokoans had fancied themselves as gods.
“Let them taste the true power of a god, drown them,” Terrance had said flatly to their father when they were going over the plan.
“We should at least try to be diplomatic,” Cameron offered as a rebuttal. “We're not trying to be the aggressors here.”
“They're mortals, dad doesn't need to be diplomatic with them.”
“But dad isn't that much of a dick, he should try to talk first.”
The two of them had gone on and on for what felt like hours, before their dad interrupted and ask for Nico and Herbie to give their thoughts. Nico said that he was only interested in those that committed the crime, though he wouldn't mind taking those who had enabled it as well. Herbie stated that they should only deal with those that were at fault, but they should be prepared for the possibility of a fight.
“Then we need to prepare for a possibility that we need to kill some of of them,” Terrance said with a grimace. “Enough of them would be strong enough to kill us,” He gestured to everyone except his father, not even entertaining the the thought that the mutants could survive against him. It had been another hour before the plan had been hammered out and they agreed to station Herbie with Salina so he could explain the situation to her while the others did reconnaissance.
Salina hummed as she replayed what her uncle said in her mind, before she looked up towards the edge of the surf. Herbie looked up just in time to see Cameron water travel directly on to the beach.
“Uncle Cam!” Salina squealed, launching herself from the ground and running at break neck speed. Cam knelt to catch her, which he did with an “Oof!” as she flew into his arms.
“Lena,” He said, nuzzling her cheek, eliciting a giggle from her. “Are you having fun with Uncle Herbie?”
“Uh huh,” Salina nodded, then frowned. “You have to leave don't you?”
“Yeah,” Cam said apologetically as Salina pouted. “But we'll come back after we're done,” He added as her lips started to tremble. Herbie made his way over and knelt right next to them when he saw that.
“Promise,” She asked in a small voice. Herbie offered his pinky to her in response.
“I promise,” He murmured as she grasped his pinky with her tiny hand. Herbie kissed her forehead when she started crying. “I promise,” He repeated.
“We'll be right back little one,” Cam kissed her temple and placed her on the ground. She hid her face from them and started running for the lush jungle that made up the majority of her island body, hands wiping furiously at her face as she ran. The two brothers watched her go sadly, memories of their childhoods flashing before their eyes. They both had more or less done the same whenever their father, as Neptune, had visited them as young boys. They had cried in their rooms for hours when he left, even when he assured them that he would return.
It wasn't something that they, or Terrance for that matter, ever really spoke about to the other Roman demigods, as their father had warned them that despite their strengths, New Rome would not treat them kindly. They had not really understood what he meant until they got there, where they best treatment they had gotten was being shunned. The worst was the beatings for being “Difficult” and “Hard to deal with”. One small part of them wished that they had the power they had now when they were younger, so no one could have abused them. But a major part of them knew that if they had this power back then, New Rome would have been leveled to the ground.
“Come on,” Cam said thickly, clapping his brother on the shoulder. “It's time.” He turned into water and evaporated. Herbie looked in the direction that his niece ran one more time before doing the same.
“I know it's another floating island, but we have to make sure that it is a part of you. We can't just go over there and start assimilating it,” Cypher told Krakoa gently. The island responded in the negative then and he sighed. “Come on, buddy, work with here.” He muttered. He of course understood the excitement that the island had, since it seemed like another piece of Okarra had sprung up. But those who had scouted the other island from above said that it felt off. Even those that were magically inclined had insisted on waiting to see what the island was all about, since they got a bad feeling from it.
But Krakoa was not to be deterred, and Cypher was unsure about how to convince his buddy to wait. He had said as much when the Professor had asked what was going on.
“Perhaps we should -” Xavier paused in what he was saying. “There's disturbance on the western shore.”
Cypher frowned, “Krakoa didn't tell me that.” Krakoa responded then and he frowned even more. “Krakoa says there's nothing happening on the western shore.”
“Well that's not what I'm seeing, Douglas,” Xavier said calmly as he projected the image of four people standing on the shore, staring right at Xavier even though he wasn't there.
“I would have words with you, Professor,” The man in the lead rumbled, and it was clearly not a request.
Council of Krakoa, to me, Xavier thought, and started making his way towards the western shore. Cypher stayed behind, to try and coordinate with Krakoa, but neither noticed some of the shadows start to move.
Poseidon watch calmly as the Krokoans made their way over to him and his sons, strutting like arrogant peacocks all the while.
“State your business, stranger.”
Poseidon raised an eyebrow at the one he knew to be Magneto, before dismissing him out of hand, “I believe I asked to speak with you, Professor,” He said flatly. “But it seems you require an audience so I will indulge you in this. That island your monstrosity is headed towards is off limits. Kindly tell the creature you inhabit to turn around or to leave that island be.” His tone made it clear that there would be consequences if his terms were not met.
There were a series of snorts at his words. Who did this man think he was?
“Charles what the ever loving – oh!” Namor the Submariner shouted with wide eyes and made his way over to Poseidon. Namor threw his trident to the ground, and knelt at Poseidon's feet, proclaiming, “My king, you honor the surface dwellers with your presence.” The mutants who arrived to confront them blinked at Namor, incredulous to see him defer to someone else. He was proud, brash, and arrogant. Since when did he kneel to anyone? Then his words caught up to them and they took a step back to reassess the situation.
“Rise, Namor, and introduce me to your mortal friends,” Poseidon said gently, happy to see a friendly face. Namor did as he bid and threw the other mutants a dirty look.
“You stand in the presence of Poseidon Aegaeus - the Earth Shaker, the Storm Bringer, King of Atlantis, God of the Sea, and God of Olympus,” Namor intoned, gripping his trident tightly. “You all would do well to show him respect.”
Now most of the council grew a little nervous. A God, here on their sacred land? It seemed almost too good to be true. The rest of the council scoffed, loudly, not believing a word that Namor said.
“And why should we respect this impostor, when he has not respected us, having come into our home uninvited,” Apocalypse began, walking forward and then freezing in place. The mutants frowned, watching him with concern.
“En Sabah Nur,” Poseidon growled, eyes flashing brightly. “False Prophet. False God. You dare call me an impostor, when you have been masquerading as a deity for thousands of years?!” He bared his teeth at the mutant then.
Apocalypse grunted, trying to speak, but he couldn't and blood spurted from his mouth, eyes, and ears. After a moment he gurgled something and then his body exploded into gore that splattered the mutants nearest him.
So much for diplomacy, Herbie thought with a sigh.
The mutants, who had been shocked by this turn of events, sprang into action after a moment. Some charged forward to attack with war cries on their lips. The telepaths among them began to attack Poseidon's mind, intent on breaking him. And the rest went to go get help. Because after all, if this guy could take out Apocalypse like that, then he was a problem.
Only the third group had any chance of succeeding, not that it would matter.
The telepaths screamed out loud and mentally, before they cut themselves off, bleeding from their eyes, mouths, and ears. The telepathic energy they expelled suddenly alerted those who had not been aware of what was going on, along with an image of Poseidon. The likes of Wolverine, Storm, Jean Grey, and Cyclops all who had been off world, headed for the nearest gate to return to the island, while the rest waited to form a response team.
Those who attempted to attack them physically were dealt with rather swiftly. Herbert Thomas, one of the best swordsman from his generation of Demigods, made quick work of those who came at him by freezing their blood, and going for the kill strikes. His brother Terrance used his harpoon to impale or shock anyone that came near him. So far, they were holding strong.
Cameron Hernandez, the strongest Earth mover outside of his brother Percy, shook Krakoa hard enough to throw the remaining mutants on the ground off balance. He then whipped his enchanted net around to knock people down before he launched it at Magneto.
The master of magnetism had taken to the air and tried to pull up some metal that was within Krakoa. When he saw the net coming for him, he rolled his eyes and moved to the side, continuing to grab some metal. He was surprised when the net simply enlarged and caught him. It tightened around him, causing him to cry out but he still kept to the air and tried to fly away.
“Let's go for a swim!” Cameron called over to the surprised mutant who used electromagnetic fields to try and pushed the net off of him. Cameron turned and bolted for the sea, tugging his captive with him. Magneto strained and fought against being pulled to no avail, so he just grabbed any nearby metal that he could. Forming some of them into spears, he took aim of his target and launched them.
Only to miss when his target boosted himself into the air using the sea and did an almost Olympic diving routine to evade the next projectiles that Magneto sent his way. He dove into the sea and dragged Magneto down with him, forcing the mutant to use his powers to make a force field around himself before he hit the water.
Why is this so difficult? Magneto thought with a scowl. He had never struggled this much against someone, not even if they had magic. So what is – Magneto's thoughts were cut off as he screamed when he felt himself get electrocuted. His control slipped for a moment and his force field fell, and he struggled to get them back up as he was suddenly assaulted by water. It filled his his nose and mouth, and slithered into his lungs as he struggled to reignite his force field.
Cameron watched dispassionately as the Master of Magnetism tried to stave off drowning. He focused, making sure that the water entered the lungs of one of the most dangerous men in the world. It pained him to have to do this, as he knew who this man was, and what he had gone through, but nature was law, and he had helped break it. He wouldn't surface until Magneto was well and truly dead.
Herbie glanced around at the dead bodies strewn across the ground, before turning to the stoic looking Namor, “I'm sorry for this, my friend.”
Namor shook his head, “Don't be, I tried to warn them about this, more than once in fact,” He replied flatly. “But, they never listened to me before, so why would they listen now?” He added bitterly.
Herbie just gave him a choppy nod, before giving his father a narrowed eyed stare, “What was that about?”
“Watch it,” Terrance growled, ripping his harpoon out of a body, and stomped his way over to his brother. He was ignored while Herbie continued to stare at their father.
Poseidon gave a sigh, “That....man,” He began with a tone of distaste, “Has paraded around as a god, for the better part of five thousand years and he had the absolute gall to call me an impostor,” He hissed. “My son, you do not know what En Sabah Nur during his reign as a 'god' -”
“Was it so bad that you would provoke a fight with people who have the ability to kill your sons?”
Poseidon grimaced at the interruption while Terrance slapped his brother upside the head.
“We agreed that a fight was most likely to happen, with casualties to be expected,” Terrance shoved his brother. “And they already got a warning from dad. You saw how they responded.”
“We could have been a bit more patient -”
Terrance spoke over Herbie then, “You also agreed to the plan we put in place,” He glanced over Herbie's shoulder. “One that was very successful apparently.”
Herbie turned and blanched. Nico was in the lead, with the ones that he needed to take prisoner bound in chains made of Stygian Iron, and enchanted so they couldn't use their powers to escape. It also made them obey Nico's every command, so they moved without protest, even though they should have. But that wasn't what made him blanch – it was the horde of naked bodies that were moving in a zombie like fashion behind them. They had no life in their eyes, and their expressions were blank.
They looked absolutely soulless.
“Nico.....what the hell did you do?!” Herbie burst out, horrified.
“What my father ordered me to do,” Nico said hotly when he saw the look on Herbie's face. He tapped the collar of one of the mutants that he brought forward and the five that were in chains disappeared. “When the rest of them show up, we'll need the numbers if they attack us.” He continued firmly.
Herbie just stared in disbelief, before shaking his head.
“What the hell is your problem,” Terrance demanded and was promptly ignored. “Hey -”
Herbie caught him off guard with a punch to the jaw that sent him crashing to the ground, “We need to leave before the rest arrive,” He said to his father. “We agreed that a stealth mission was impossible given the telepaths, and we agreed that we needed to be a distraction for Nico to work on his part of the plan, but we can leave before -”
“We won't be leaving until the rest of them get here,” Poseidon cut him off. He gave his son a sad look. “Lord Zeus has decreed that this cannot go on any longer. Krakoa must be destroyed.”
Herbie felt the blood leave his face and he took a step back.
“No,” He shook his head, “I'll not be apart of a slaughter -”
“You swore an oath to the King of Olympus,” Cam said as he emerged from the water, with Magneto's body slung over his shoulder. He too looked sadly at Herbie.
“You....you knew about this?!” Herbie demanded, tightening his hold on his sword. Cam continued to stare at him, before looking away from the furious glare that he got. “So all that debate you and Terrance had was for show?!” He turned on Nico then who lifted his chin in defiance. The action confirmed Herbie's suspicions. “You knew as well?!”
“I am currently my father's chosen heir, I have to know about things like this,” Nico returned flatly, not at all affected by the glare he got.
“I will offer them the chance to evacuate,” Poseidon said then, and grimaced again when he became on the receiving end of that glare.
“And if they refuse?” Herbie growled.
“I – Terrance, no!”
Herbie's growl became a scream of pain when he felt something pierce the back of his thigh, and go all the way through to the front. He looked down to see his brother's harpoon sticking out of his leg. He cried out when the harpoon was removed from the way it came in, widening the wound considerably. He dropped to one knee and began leaning on his sword.
“What the fuck Terry!” Cam shouted, and the island started to quake.
“Now he has something else to focus on – healing,” Terrance said simply. “Of course he also gets to decide to not heal so he can get killed -”
“Enough!” Poseidon snapped at his son. He waved his hand, and Herbie's wound started to stitch itself together. Herbie grunted in response, and started to rise. “Herbert -”
“I have always done my duty to Olympus,” Herbie snarled, stumbling slightly as he stood. “I've protected those they have asked me too, and I have killed those they have asked me too. Not once did I question it, because they were justified. But what you have asked me to do, it is in no way justified.”
“My son -”
“When I have finished killing all that I need to here today, I will take my leave and be left alone – I don't want to see any of you!” Herbie continued to snarl. “I mean it. Unless it is an emergency, or if we are going to war, leave me the fuck alone.” He narrowed his eyes at his father as he said this. Poseidon opened his mouth to speak, before his expression shifted.
“People are coming,” He said, and as soon as the words left his mouth, he was attacked by a cloud of dark blue smoke. That wasn't a concern as much as what was in that smoke, which was a pissed off mutant named Kurt Wagner, also known as Nightcrawler. He was screaming and striking at Poseidon who didn't so much as flinch.
Terrance watched for a moment and took his shot when the mutant held onto his father. His harpoon sailed through the air, and no amount of shouted warnings would stop it from going through the mutant's head. Then again, a telepathic grab would do the job, which it did. The harpoon stopped a foot away from Nightcrawler thanks to Jean Grey.
“That's enough,” Poseidon said calmly and grabbed Nightcrawler before throwing him away. Nightcrawler bamfed in mid flight and ended up right next to his friends. Terrance held his hand out and his harpoon came back to him. He twirled it for a bit, before pointing in the direction of the mutants.
“Stand down, Kurt,” Cyclops said furiously. “You could have been killed then.” The visored mutant turned towards his new enemy, “Who are you, and why have you done this?” He demanded.
“I am Poseidon, god of the Sea, and I have come here to deal with your acts against nature.”
“My king speaks the truth,” Namor added when it looked like there would be a repeat of earlier with the mutants ready dismiss what they heard. That threw the mutants for a loop, but one growled at Namor.
“What the hell you standing over there for?!” Wolverine snapped.
“I stand with my king,” Namor replied with a sniff. “And I did warn you all that there were forces in this world that were not happy with what you were doing here. As you can see, I wasn't just referring to the humans.”
“So you stand against your kind -”
“Mutant blood I may have, but you forget Summers, I am an Atlantean first and foremost!” Namor yelled, cutting Cyclops off. “My loyalty has always been to Atlantis and its king. Just because our interests have aligned over the years does not mean I will help you in this.” He spun his trident before jabbing the point in the direction of the other mutants. “I would listen to what my king has to say. Be smarter than the idiots who thought that they could take on a God.” He gestured to the bodies.
“Fine, say what you have to say, we'll decide if they'll be words to listen too, or placed on your gravestone.” Cyclops said, immediately drowning out what Poseidon was saying.
Jean, connect me to Logan and Ororo, He thought to his wife who did so. Logan, on my signal, I want you to start charging – distract this asshole long enough for Ororo to summon a big enough storm to deal with the rest.
You sure about this, bub?
Very sure. There's no way in hell I'm letting them get away with this. They spilled mutant blood – its only fair that we spill theirs too. Cyclops glanced along the line of the enemy and frowned. I don't see Rachel or the others, He added with a bit of worry in his thoughts.
That's because they are gone, Poseidon's voice entered their little telepathic chat. The snapped their heads towards his direction. If you all are so eager to die, then allow me to indulge you. He started to glow then.
“Logan, now!” Scott shouted and Wolverine ran like hell. He started flying when Jean used her telekinesis to make him go faster. Storm took to the air and started to manipulate the clouds to form what she needed. “Nate, no!” Cyclops watched as his son took after Logan. But it wouldn't matter since the light from Poseidon got brighter and when Scott turned to look, it was the last thing that he saw.
Ororo had turned away from the light as she conjured her storm. When she started to pull the lightning that she made towards her, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned with wide eyes and gasped when she felt something sharp enter her chest. She glanced down to see that a sword had buried itself all the way to the hilt in her chest. She looked up to see sad green eyes staring back at her.
“I'm so sorry,” Herbie murmured as tears formed in his eyes. They both started falling then, as Ororo couldn't concentrate on staying aloft. The last thing she saw was an arc of lightning follow them down. I hope it hurts, She thought viciously as she lost consciousness for the last time. The lightning struck them both and Herbie was sent flying away. Ororo landed on Krakoa with the sword still in her chest, and Herbie landed in the water.
Herbie sighed after a moment and shot to the surface, before swimming to shore.
“Are you alright,” Cam asked Herbie when he made it to shore. Herbie ignored him, and made his way to retrieve his sword. “Brother -”
“I don't want to hear it,” Herbie said flatly. “After all we have been through together, you know how I feel about being made to go against my principals. And still you used underhanded tactics to get me here so I could kill more than I needed too.”
“You only killed a handful of them,” Terrance scoffed.
“You seem to be ignoring the fact that there are still people here,” Herbie snapped. “Who we will have to leave behind because I'm sure that Lord Zeus has declared that all of Krakoa must be destroyed – including the children that inhabit it.”
“Herbert, the children here are facsimiles, clones of the original -”
“They're still children and you are ordering me to look the other way while you kill them - right or wrong?”
Poseidon said nothing, and Herbie shook his head in disgust. He knelt next to the body of the woman he killed and removed his sword.
“Tell Salina that I'm sorry but there's something that I must do,” He says to Cam, conjuring a green octopus plushie and tossing it to him. “Give that to her when you see her.” He started walking away, before he paused and turned to glare at his other brother.
“I'll pay you back for that cheap shot, little brother,” He growled. “Best believe that you'll never see it coming.” He evaporated and disappeared before anyone could stop him.
“Whatever, drama queen,” Terrance scoffed but went silent when Poseidon shot him a look.
“Take Nico to his father,” Poseidon told him. “And go tell Salina that everything will be alright.” He glanced down at the island. “I have work to do.” Frankly, it had been annoying to be here, since he had to keep the island from attacking anyone in response to their presence. He also had to stop it from moving at all.
When he felt the others leave, he unleashed his true form and pushed. He felt the water ripple, before it shot skywards and then back down. Krakoa was engulfed in sea water and dragged beneath the surface.
Laurel looked up at her TV when the news story changed.
“And in other breaking news, members of the controversial group Friends of Humanity have experienced several attacks in the last hour, leaving many dead and others missing or in critical condition,” The news anchor reported, “This comes to us after news pertaining to the disappearance of the island nation of Krakoa. We are unclear if the incidents are linked to one another, but we will update the stories as they continue.”
“I forgot how fast you work,” Laurel coughed slightly. She continued to cough so she grabbed the glass of water at her side and gulped some of it down.
“I needed to make sure that those bigots never got any warnings out to the rest of the vermin they call friends,” Herbie replied, sitting in the chair opposite her. “And I had to drop a few of them off to the Wakandan Embassy in the city, including Graydon Creed.” He growled the name out before sighing.
“So, the betrayal happened,” Laurel commented.
“You knew that it would,” Herbie murmured sadly. When the Fates had told him what was to happen, he had tried to deny it, thinking that his father would never go so far. Today had been a reminder that while his father was kinder than most gods, he was still a god, and would not take insults lying down. The Krakoans had insulted him twice, nevermind that their practices were a crime against nature. And his brothers had followed suit because why not? Outside of Namor, they had no friends there, and had no reason to stay their hands. That only left him, and his need to never take the life of a child, even if that child was a clone.
They all had to lie to get him to cooperate, and he felt shame and disgust for being so easily tricked.
“What of you, no change in your condition?” He asked her after a moment.
“You know that there won't be,” Laurel said somewhat bitterly. Chiron had already told her that she had, at best, another year or so before her immortality would give out and the poison would take over completely. As it was, she was relegated to a permanent bed rest and not allowed to do anything strenuous unless absolutely necessary. Chiron had been going over the records he had to see if there was a cure for the poison she was hit with, but found nothing. Not even her mother could find anything, which left two choices in her mind. The poison that was bathe on to the bullet that shot her was from The Pit, and was so old that it had practically forgotten about. Or, it was a new creation from Chaos itself, and therefore had no preexisting cure.
Neither option sat well with her, and she cursed Alabaster for doing this to her.
“Then, we will be the ones to usher in a new era for the Etruscan's – just not for the ones who took the oath,” Herbie look conflicted as he spoke. “I'm not sure how I feel about that.”
“You can't tell me that you won't be happy to see Terry lose his immortality?”
“But I'm not sure that the others deserve to lose theirs either,” Herbie retorted. “And while Terrance can be an absolute prick at times, he's still my little brother, and I don't want him to suffer.”
“I suppose that's fair,” Laurel sighed, “You know, he was going to ask me to marry him?”
“What?” Herbie asked, shocked, and incredulous.
“Yeah,” Laurel bobbed her head in a tense nod. “He had a ring and everything.”
“What happened?” At Laurel's hesitation, he frowned, “Did it have something to do with me?” He asked, confused.
Laurel nodded again, “He saw what happened after you lost Mavis and John – the pain you experienced, and how you handled it.”
“I think I handled it pretty well, all things considered,” Herbie said coldly, furious at the perceived implication of Laurel's words.
“I know, and so does he – Terry thought he couldn't be as strong as you were if something had happened to me.”
Herbie blinked, his anger forgotten, “Come again?”
“He didn't think that he could be as strong as you have been, if something bad happened to me. And considering his temper, it was a fair point to make,” Laurel frowned. “I won't lie, I'm concerned that he might do something stupid when we both go.”
“Possibly, but what can we do,” Herbie shrugged helplessly. He looked down at the palm of his hand, “Our fate is sealed.”
Laurel looked down at the palm of her right hand as well. The Etruscan letter for M glared up at her from the center of her palm. She started to recite part of what the Fates had told her after the diagnosis had been given.
“When all is said and done, what was once for three, and what was once for four,"
“Will now be for one.” She and Herbie murmured at the same time. “Do you think that they'll forgive us?” She added in a whisper.
“I don't know, but I hope that they'll understand at the very least.”