Lenaa the Fiend's Deal

**Disclaimer, read this chapter at your own discretion**

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It was like his younger self was reflected in the water, staring back into the well of his eyes.

"I can help you," Ludus's fingertips wiped at Ely's damp cheeks, and her sharp nails grazed him.

He couldn't get over her honey-like voice, it sweetened the more he listened to it.

For the first time, Ely closely looked into her eyes. A dark line of purple circled the pupils in both of her eyes.

He took in Ludus's physique; she had a slender hourglass figure and was as tall as Tamari.

Her hair was long and strictly straightened. A light shade of a golden pearl—it'd have been better if it had stayed transparent.

There wasn't much to judge off of clothes-wise since all she wore was her clammy nightgown. Nor did she have any birthmarks or freckles.

No defects except the every now and then glowing eyes.

Her eyes went astray from Ely's.

He wondered if this was her first time interacting with a human, or if she had done so in the past, 'How many of them were before me?'

He knew Ludus was eons older than him, but she didn't show that physically—her face was soft and relaxed. She looked younger than him.

While Ely's face had grown with age and annoyance.

They were both barefoot in heightened water, he had to slowly shift his feet back and forth to keep his upper half afloat.

Ludus looked as if she had no trouble reaching the bottom.

All the lights from the fishes ceased they all fled from the water as did the big fish, and the sky held the color now.

Leaving the two alone together.

His tears dried as he took Ludus's hands away from his face, her breath felt cold on his skin.

"What could you give me?" His words were blunt, so she'd understand the message. That he felt he didn't need rescuing from, anything.

There was no need for Ely to run into any open arms he saw just because he was faced with eternal death. He'd rather sleep everything off than build debt from the real world, and whatever place 'this' was.

Ludus took her time answering, she reciprocated his actions from before by looking more closely into his eyes.

She must've decided there wasn't much to look at—thereafter, she took his hand to tread further into the water.

The water began to drain the moment her skin touched him. It felt as empty as it was when Ely first arrived. A sense of loneliness washed over him until the water level was back to his ankles.

When Ludus let go of his hand, physical things Ely could touch started to appear in front of them.

He depicted the objects and held miscellaneous things in his hands.

He saw his childhood bunk bed, which was filled with all his toys and clothes on the bottom bunk. Magazines of when he was starring in commercials and shows started to float on the top of the water. Random things began to float below him as well.

He could hear her stomp her foot into the stone splashing the water with life. Four Corinthian pillars began to stand tall to the sky connecting to the walls on every side of it.

One wall contained a ginormous door to a room leading into it. Ludus pushed open the heavy doors with no problems.

Ely could no longer hear the crashing sounds of the water and only the ambient silence.

Her head turned in a way to make a fast motion with her hair. Letting it topple past the side of her face and settle on her right shoulder, "Everything."

Ely quickly dropped what he was holding and followed closely behind Ludus. The door entranced him, he felt the need to see what it held.

They both entered the room, the door quietly closing behind them. Immediately the heavily decored bedroom stood out to him.

It looked out of a royal palace's layout. He decided to embark on his curiosity and tried to lift to ring the bell he saw on the bedstand but it made no sound when he shook it.

It was only when he heard a frail coughing come from the chamber did he become timid.

"Is that a child?"

Ludus placed her hand on his shoulder, "Yes it is," her expression was blasé at his obvious speculation.

A young boy with long matted black hair lay underneath multiple thick quilts, despite the sun having been raised and watching over him in the window. He wore a damp white cloth on his forehead and had a pale blue undertone.

"Why are we in some kid's room?" Ely waved his hand in the face of the sickly nonchalant boy.

"He can't see us," Ludus stepped closer to the bed.

A plump maid quickly rushed into the room for a short second, she changed the cloth and sat the boy up to run cold water on his back.

She looked as if she was the one breaking in sweat as she tended to the young boy. Leaning close to his ears as she whispered to him in a hushed voice.

The maid shoved stale food down his throat, followed by a cinnabar-pigmented drink. She forced the food and drink down his throat with the force of her thumb to pry open his mouth.

Then she roughly rubbed the palms of his hand before quickly whisking out the crate she brought away.

Amidst the quick encounter, the boy's eyes didn't focus on the woman—they mindlessly wandered unfocused on anything in front of him.

However, for a moment the boy slowly moved his head and it was as if he was looking right at Ely with wide bloodshot eyes.

Then he smacked the roof of his mouth and turned his head.

'A coincidence...?'

Ely saw his mother in the maid and saw it as motherly love. She was similar to a mother performing her duties and caring for her son.

The boy laid back on the pillows murmuring in a slurred speech, "Damn her," as he closed his eyes again and melt back into the quilts and felted pillows.

Some of his hair strands glued to his forehead and the rest of its length restlessly danced elsewhere.

Ludus sat on the edge of his bed before seeing Ely's reaction to his words through his scrunched eyebrows.

She pointed at the boy, "She's poisoning him."

"Isn't that his mother?"

Ludus scoffed at this, "Mother?"

She sat at the end of his bed before finishing her sentence, "Does a 'mother' poison her son?"

The boy's body temperature visibly rose as he shifted to his side—the bloodied white sheets that were under him revealed signs of neglect.

'When's the last time those sheets were changed, or when was the last time that boy has had a bath?"

Ludus tied the sheets at the end of the bed before looking around the room, "She is just a maid, Ely. This boy is more special than she is. He could have had a high profile if it wasn't for that wench. The odds were in his favor, the eldest son of a royal family took him in."

He listened half-heartedly to Ludus, 'What does any of that have to do with me?'

She continued for some time as she watched the frail boy fall into a deep sleep.

Ely stayed firm to being indifferent to the boy he saw laying in the bed. He couldn't help him when he was in good health and he can't do anything for him in the state he's in now either.

Ludus brushed through her hair with her fingers, a grimacing smile was hidden under her skin, "You and this boy died on the same day."

Ely slowly nodded her words were starting to put him to sleep.

"I can give you his breath, you'll live as him through me," she grasped at the boy's ankle. Who groaned the moment she did—as if he could feel her tight grip.

"What will happen to him?"

"You ever heard of the, '[Divinity] Of Fertility'?" Ludus mischievously looked at Ely's blushed cheeks, "She'll take care of him—I think he has a stronger will for death than you do."

It was apparent the boy was living a hard life, but this didn't help convince Ely anymore to take on his struggles after leaving behind his own.

He searched through the boy's belongings, he owned almost little to nothing.

One drawer had some coins, the desk stand held a few ballpoint pens and the closet had similar muted colors for attires.

Ludus crossed her legs and stared straight back at him, "Ely, if you take his life—you trade your worthless one for something better," She lifted her hand to show him the room once more, "This is your headstart."

He met her gaze but he was still unwavering, "What's so bad about being dead?"

"Nothing," Ludus threw her hands up, "But in your case, it won't be so enjoyable," A cleanly furnished knife rotated through the fingers of her left hand.

She played with it before she stabbed herself in the stomach, "Who knows if you take this, you can cleanse yourself of your filthy sins."

Anxiousness peered into Ely, "What do I have to do if I say yes?"

A warm smile took over Ludus's heart-shaped lips, "You get to start all over again, Ely. All you need to do is be faithful to what's required of you in that life, please who you need to please. And worship me as you do, I'll live through you. I will become your [Divinity]."

Ely pulled back the sheets from the boy, he looked close to his teenage years. He wouldn't have to do much. In a way, he was also benefitting from this.

A chance to live as he wishes, cleanse himself, and make his own legacy.

The one he wanted.

Never again would he fall for love, others' words or let others corrupt the path he designed.

Ludus knew he was convinced since the room began to disappear into thin air, and the boy's bed became flooded in crimson red followed by the sounds of him choking on his own coughs.

The sound continue to echo until they were back in the shallow water.

The deal was sealed.

"Before I take you there, get a good look at this dwelling—this is our Home."

'Home?'

Ely couldn't get a word in when he felt Ludus push him with both of her hands through his chest, her hands going right through it but it wasn't lethal.

It was like his chest was clay—easily manipulated by Ludus's hands.

She began chanting in a weird dialect, the symbols from the stone started to glow through the spot Ludus touched.

Ely could feel his eyes roll back into his head and immense pain submerged his body. Not from the gunshot but a burning sensation that wrung him inside out.

He began to scream out from the piercing pain in his chest and body.

Ely's screams continued until his body became heavy and ended when his throat and sinuses clogged.

He felt like he was being drowned in a large wave.