A Handsome Dog

The fourth floor of the dungeon was truly worse than the previous floor. As soon as the entrance was revealed, a pungent scent of blood had welcomed them.

Pieffer put up a shield for everyone aside from the pixie, like what she did before they entered the third floor.

Aries already called out his dual blades even though Sunrei, Leon, and Garnet remained weaponless.

He had a feeling that the guardians wanted him to suffer. He had to protect himself this time.

The intense scent of blood came from the bodies scattered along the dark corridor.

Enormous black dogs with sharp red eyes were feasting on those corpses.

Among those giant hounds was a bigger dog with striped black and brown fur. Its eyes were as crimson as the blood tainting his sharp fangs.

"Janden!" Garnet waved at the biggest dog in the bloody hallway. "We already talked about this. You and your pack will let us pass unharmed, right?"

The biggest hound of the pack stopped eating and glanced in their direction.

"Something had changed," the dog replied as his appearance changed into a stunning man. His hair was black and falling elegantly down to the back of his waist. He was wearing a long black overcoat and boots with dark brown fur on each lining. He wiped his forked tongue on his bloody fangs. And his ominous crimson eyes carefully examined Aries.

"Don't feel sorry for these sinners. They all deserved a miserable death," the weredog clapped his hands and the dogs dragged the corpses into the shadows, leaving the blood-covered pathway empty.

"I suddenly wanted to drink," the pixie was staring hungrily at the crimson floor.

"Drink it if you want," the weredog said without glancing away from Aries. "By the time you are done cleaning the floor, my business with Aries will also end."

"You promised to let us pass without fighting him," Garnet crossed her arms.

"I already asked Master," the weredog raised his hands and revealed his dual blades that were shaped like fangs. "He had given me permission to fight him. If he dies here, Serestral is doomed. We should see how strong and determined he is."

"Fine," the pixie sat in the middle of the bloody corridor. "Fight all you want."

"Aries, don't die," Pieffer said before standing in front of the wall where they had entered. Leon and Sunrei settled beside her.

Of course. I am the only one who needs to fight.

Aries raised his dual blades and focused on the weredog.

"I might seem busy, but I am still aware of all the things happening on the upper floors," the weredog said and Aries confirmed that the ominous presence lurking in the shadows on the previous floors was that same monster. "I can't believe that you had finally acquired my ability."

Aries was confused by those words.

"I can see guilt in your eyes," the weredog went on. "You are thinking that a sinner like you deserved to be punished like the corpses you are seeing on this floor. You are expecting to burn endlessly in the fires of hell. You want to suffer eternal torment," the fanged creature smiled as he said, "Well, Aries Del Luna, this is your penance."

The shadows behind the weredog had shifted and hid his presence.

I can't believe that you had finally acquired my ability.

Aries suddenly remembered those words. That weredog could also use the shadows to his advantage. He was even better because he can command the shadows to move closer to him.

How can he do that? Why did he say I acquired it from him?

"Focus," the weredog whispered after reappearing from the shadows behind Aries. He slashed his blade one time, but Aries obtained ten slashes on his right arm.

Though the cuts tore his clothes, neither were deep nor painful, but Aries staggered from the weight of the memories that flashed back in his mind. Memoirs of the people he ruthlessly killed before his death.

"I guess none of those memories had made you feel terribly guilty," the weredog returned to the shadows. "How many more memories will I pull out of your soul before you roll on the ground with intense guilt?"

If this is my penance, I will accept it. But I cannot die. Not until I send her out of this miserable place.

The weredog reappeared in front of Aries.

"You are willing to accept everything," the weredog smiled with amusement.

"Yes. But I will survive this. I had to," Aries seriously stated.

"Let's see," the weredog cut Aries on his right arm. One slash that had given Aries twenty gashes.

More bloody memories flashed in his mind and caused his knees to weaken, but he remained standing.

The weredog moved behind him and slashed his back three times. Aries felt the intensity of the memories more than the hundred cuts in his back. It made him terribly dizzy that his knees buckled and finally touched the ground.

Those people he killed seemed to stare at him with deep hatred. He was trying his best to ignore everything and let it all pass. He had to survive.

The weredog returned in front of him and its crimson eyes gazing solemnly at him felt like a blazing flame burning his soul.

A single slash in each of his legs had his pants shredded. Hundreds of gashes tore his skin while his mind drowned with countless memories. The vengeful gazes of his prey were like drills piercing his brain.

"I will… let you… kill me…" Aries coughed out blood. "After I'm done… keeping my promise… to her…"

"Do you think she wants to be sent to heaven?" the weredog knelt and pointed a blade in front of Aries. "What will you do if she wants to kill you?"

Aries had once again been cut on the chest and the pain resonated with all the wounds in his body. The agony within him made everything around him whirl and drained his remaining strength. He collapsed on the floor, barely awake.

He wanted to survive, but seeing Pieffer glare at him with deep hatred, his will to survive had gradually faded and darkness had finally swallowed him.

^##############^

Aries opened his eyes and felt like an immortal. Just when he thought that he was dead, he kept on waking up and Pieffer was always waiting at his side.

He was back in the world that he knew, in the house that he bought, and in the room that he loved. The Pieffer sitting cross-legged on the edge of the bed was the woman he had fallen in love with. But something was still odd.

The Pieffer he loved was always smiling at him. Even in her death. But the Pieffer staring at him at that moment was gazing hatefully at him.

Aries sat up and stared cautiously at the woman in front of him.

"Are you scared?" Pieffer had gotten up on her feet and moved closer to him. "You don't have to. I am here."

She sat on the bed once again, beside him, and took him in her arms for a warm embrace.

Aries wept.

She was the Pieffer he knew.

He put his arms around her and whispered, "I'm sorry. I should not have killed you."

"Right. You should not have killed me," a knife had been stabbed in his back and pierced right through his heart. "You are the one who should have died."

"You don't have to do this," Aries embraced Pieffer. "Leave my punishment to Hell. You don't deserve to be filled with so much hatred. You should always keep on smiling. I will send you to the heavens so you can keep smiling. I promise."

After saying that last sentence, Aries felt himself drop on wet and soft ground. Rain was pouring heavily against him. He opened his eyes and found himself in a dark place surrounded by towering trees. Lying on the ground around him were dead bodies of people he was unfamiliar with and not far from him was Princess Pieffer.

Her eyes were closed and because of the heavy rain, Aries could not see if she was still breathing.

He wanted to check up on her, but he could not move an inch. He could not open his mouth and scream her name. His body was paralyzed. He closed his eyes and tried to summon all the strength within him. He had to move. But instead of moving, he had been pulled back into a pitch-black abyss.

What was that? A premonition? Will I fail to send her to the heavens? Will I end up killing her? Again?

"Janden, I closed up the rest of his wounds. But I can't fully heal the ones in his chest. And the cut you inflicted near his heart is not closing up. It keeps on bleeding. Why can't I heal him?"

The moment Aries heard Pieffer, he felt the cold and solid ground beneath his back. He was back at the dungeon but he could not open his eyes or move any of his muscles. His body was still paralyzed.

"He doesn't want to be healed," Aries heard the weredog replied. "It seems that he had been defeated by his guilt. Just let him die, Princess."

"How can you say that? He protected Serestral for a long time!" Aries sensed warm droplets on his chest.

"Maybe it is time for him to rest in peace," Janden explained. "It has been too long. He must be exhausted. You should stop relying on him and protect Serestral on your own."

I am still alive…

I cannot die like this!

I have a promise to keep!!!

Let me wake up!

Let me open my eyes!!!

PLEASE LET ME LIVE!!!

Aries jerked awake and coughed out blood.

"He wakes up!" Pieffer put her hands over his bleeding chest. "Stay still. Let me heal your wounds."

Aries weakly nodded and closed his eyes. Janden was right. His body was exhausted. But he cannot die. Not again. Not until he had fulfilled his promise.

"The cut had closed but it left a scar," Pieffer wearily sighed.

"It is better that way. It is a reminder of my promise," Aries opened his eyes again and tried to sit up but his body was too heavy to be lifted from the cold ground.

"You should rest for a while but not here," Janden smiled. "Rest at the lower floor. You are ready to face Master."

"Carry your sister. I will take care of Aries," Leon told Sunrei who instantly carried his pale sister on his back.

The lion house leader did the same with Aries.

"Thank you," Aries weakly whispered.

"Just rest," Leon said and as soon as Aries closed his eyes, sleep had claimed him.

^############^