Laurance was going to explode.

He knew where he was, he knew exactly where he was. He couldn't be here, he didn't want to be here. He had to find a way out, he couldn't get married to Garroth. He refused to. He refused to let all those innocents and Realms die. It was his duty as a reformed Divine Warrior to protect them from Aldroth.

"Damn these chains...." He growled under his breath, gritting his teeth together.

Heavy chains made of Stalhrim were weighing him down, clamped around his wings, ankles, and wrists. He was in a cage, one he was very familiar with. It was made of a solid black metal material, something as sturdy as Stalhrim, and polished with that very material. Laurance hated this cage. It was the one Garroth always locked him up in whenever he captured him, and kept him in there until their wedding was ready.

If he were still a human, or even a Shadow Knight, he would have been immediately blinded all over again from all the gold in Garroth's treasury. Well, at least in one of his treasuries. By Aphmau, Aldrothian Deities and Personifications had millions upon millions of pieces of treasure, but Garroth most likely had a spot in the "Top Five Wealthiest Aldrothian Deities".

The entire treasury was located in the very back of Garroth's palace in his Pocket Dimension, a section behind his throne room that was off limits to even his most trustworthy and most loyal of generals and servants. The only ones allowed in any of the treasuries were Garroth himself and Laurance.

While he hated to admit it, Garroth did have a fantastic taste in treasure and style. He wasn't completely sure if it was his Dragon DNA, but he had been practically fancying the objects of rare and precious jewels and materials. If it wouldn't harm him in any way, Garroth would probably be having him layers upon layers of Stalhrim. The mineral was such a beautiful blue color, not to mention it acted like crystals when in the light.

He tried to see what he could through the bars of the cage, but the thick metal blocked most of his vision. He could catch glimpses of gold trinkets and figurines, along with precious gemstones and rare metals.

He nearly hit his head against the top of the cage as he heard the sound of a portal being ripped open. It had appeared before his cage, a chaotic swirling mess of emerald green, gold, and cerulean blue. Laurance knew exactly who opened a portal like that, he had seen it over a thousand times.

In just seconds Garroth emerged from the portal, landing on the stone floor with a loud thud. He stood up as the portal behind him closed, sealing his personal gateway through all of the Realms. He smiled as he saw Laurance, and approached the cage with a certain delight in his eyes and step.

"Laurance!" Garroth smiled, opening the cage. "My love, I missed you so much!"

Laurance pursed his lips and stood still as Garroth embraced him in a bone crushing hug, wrapping his golden wings around him. The Aldrothian Deity nuzzled his face into the crook of Laurance's neck, launching into the air with him after removing the Stalhrim chains. Laurance let out a heavy sigh as Garroth flew around the treasury, up and down and in loops, carrying him around like a piece of treasure.

The Aldrothian Deity soon dived back towards the floor, folding his wings around Laurance. The two landed on a large pile of treasure, specifically a pile of golden bars. They rolled down the side and landed on the stone floor with a loud thud, but the blonde didn't care. He was smiling and laughing, but he was holding Laurance with a tight grip, like he would lose him all over again if he let him go. And, in a way, he would have.

"I'm sorry I had to bring you back in such a way, especially with that bargaining deal." Garroth apologized, kissing his cheek. "But I had to get you away from those two and all their savagery, no decency or any common civilized manners in them."

"Garroth--" Laurance began, blinking slowly.

"But don't worry, my love, I'll make sure they receive the proper punishments for treating you in such a way. I'll be torturing them for quite some time before I decide if they've had enough, if I decide to give them mercy." He interrupted him, his grip becoming even tighter.

"Garroth--" He tried again, only to be cut off.

"We can finally have our wedding, Laurance! We can have our family together again!" He continued, genuinely looking happy at the thoughts. "You won't leave me again, right? You'll stay wiuth me forever, right? ..... Right....?"

"Garroth...." He sighed softly, looking down. "You know why we can't get married...."

"Why? Because it would put the other Realms in 'danger'?" He questioned, narrowing his eyes. "Or is it because of something else?"

"That and...." He paused, wanting to word this the right way. "You aren't exactly... stable in the mind...? Not to mention your ways of showing love are.... questionable.. and you haven't exactly done anything to make me trust you..."

"B-But I have so much wealth!" He exclaimed, gesturing to the treasure around them.

"I'm not a gold digger, Garroth." He groaned, rolling his eyes. "Just... just let me be..."

"Oh, oh alright, but only because I love you." He sighed, but gave a small smile as he pecked his cheek. "But I will be back in a few hours, after I tend to my new prisoners."

He stood up with him, and placed a hand on his cheek. Laurance, being absolutely dead on the inside, had no reaction to the touch. Garroth let out a heavy sigh, pressing his lips to Laurance's. Again he had no reaction or response. He didn't kiss the Aldrothian Deity back, but he didn't push him away either. When he pulled away, his eyes were aglow with a type of greenish hue... looking into his eyes made him feel dizzy.

He turned to the side, where white and black cracks were starting to form in midair. The open space kept cracking and making chipping sounds, before it burst open into a new portal. He didn't know why, but suddenly he was hugging Garroth's arm like a madman. As if he would never see him again if he let go. He gave Laurance a brief smile before they disappeared through the portal, and the hole in the Realm Barriers was sealed again.

Garroth wrapped his arms around Laurance's body, holding him as they passed through the Realm Barriers. It was a swirling void of energy and forces that binded the Realms together, keeping them in a balance. Around them was a system of tunnels, or at least something close to that. The walls were see through, but they travelled through it fasr and stayed on a straight path mostly.

Garroth may have the ability to transcend the Realm Barriers and travel to any Realm he wanted to, but even he couldn't float in the uncontrollable, destructive environment of the Void. If an Aldrothian Deity were to be placed in the Void, unprotected by any system of tunnels or a Divine Warrior, they would surely be disintegrated and perish. And, considering that each Deity kept a balance of something in Aldroth, the demise of one would cause an upset balance in Aldroth, and then....

With the Ender Crystal, Laurance could quite possibly sustain some type of life here, but he had never tried. It was simply impossible to even get to this level of the Void through mere portals, even with the Portal to the Irene Dimension. The only way to get even close to this layer of the Void was to be travelling with Garroth, or to be a Divine Warrior. While Laurance was technically a Divine Warrior, you had to be either an original Divine Warrior or a descendant who had fused with their respective Relic.

He turned his head, taking in what he could of the Void. It was a swirling, glowing space that contained all of the energies of the Realms. It was the main source of every Realm in existence, like a Sun to a solar system. The Void was uninhabited, because even though it was the energy that flowed through every Realm to allow life there, there was too much energy in the Void for anything to manage life. If there was something out there, soaring through the Void, a combination of all the energies divided into every Realm, Laurance sure as all Hell did not want to meet it.

There was no sound in the Void, unless your ears were strong enough to hear the pulses and flowing of the energies. And, for any mortal creature, seeing this part of the Void would either kill them or permanently blind them and make them deaf, as well as quite possibly drain them of any emotion or feeling in their nerves. This applied for most immortal and immune creatures as well, even some Gods and Goddesses could face brutal side effects. The most that Laurance had ever emerged with was a small Void Burn, and a massive headache.

Still, the Void was a beautiful place. All the colors in existence, both named and unimaginable, were blending together to make new colors and keeping their own original shading at the same time. Opening gateways into Realms, showing a certain part of that Realm. Energy that was being stored away was molded into all different shapes, mostly spheres and cubes, and floated towards said Realm. And, in the center of it all, was the most beautiful color ever....

Black.

Empty, soulless black.

Whenever the Void surfaced in amy of the Realms, it was black. Some scientists had theories that the Void was nothing but an empty space that consumed Realms. While that was technically true, it wasn't the full case. He remembered one scientist, a friend of Aphmau's named Modzilla, had made a fairly decent theory about the Void. That the Void only surfaced whenever there was an imbalance or the Realm was dying, and was trying to set things back in the proper order, or was absorbing the Realm's energy back in to recycle it into something new.

Laurance didn't know the full truth about the Void and its behavior, but he felt a strong agreement with that man's theory. He remembered how many Void Burns Modzilla had had, and how many that boy Tommy had as well. When Laurance first heard of the damage marks, he had absolutely zero idea what they were or what they meant. The most surprising thing about that discovery had been that Laurance had no Void Burns the first times he had travelled between Realms.

He decided to forget about the fact that the Void had made an empty, practically immortal and immune clone of him and sent it to kill him. Because, let's be honest here, who would want to remember something like that?

He closed his eyes as they started to sting, both from not blinking in so long and from staring at the Void. When he opened them again, he was back in a Realm. He looked over Garroth's shoulder, catching one last glimpse of the black borders of the portal before it was sealed shut.

"You stay here, I have to go do something for now." Garroth said to him, setting him down on a bed. "You are not allowed to leave this room, unless I say so. Do you understand?"

Laurance wanted to object, to remind the blonde that he was his own person and could do whatever he wanted to, but his mouth refused his open. His body refused to make any sound. All he did was nod, and he could feel himself smiling.

Garroth gave him a smile in return, going over to a dresser and picking up a crown. He walked back over to Laurance, placing it on his head with joy. He cupped one of his cheeks in his hand, leaning down and kissing him on the lips.

Again, Laurance wanted to push him away or bite him. But his body refused to let him do either of those, or even show the smallest sign of discomfort or objection. It was like his body had been programmed to do this, which it hadn't been. Aphmau, what was happening to him?

Garroth pulled away, exiting the room a moment later. Laurance was still sitting on the bed, his eyes stuck to the doors of the room. It wasn't until he fully looked around the room that he recognized it as his room in the Aldrothian Palace, and he wanted to stab himself for not noticing sooner. Of course Garroth would bring him there, where else would he have kept him?

He stood up from the bed, pushing the curtains aside as he stood up straight. He walked around the room for a bit, tilting his head back to look at the ceiling. Closer to that ceiling were tapestries, tapestries woven from different kinds of silks of all different colors. The tapestries depicted symbols that had meant something to Laurance, like the crests of Meteli and Phoenix Drop. Other tapestries included the reformed Divine Warriors, the End, and one from a more modern time.

It was black and red, against silk of dark gray. It had two animal heads opposite of each other, the backs of the heads pressed together. One head had an open eye, while the other had a straight line of tears running down the face. Under the symbol, in cursive letters, read the name "Lycan".

"Aaron...." He whispered softly under his breath, remembering the Ultima Werewolf.

Like Laurance, Aaron Lycan was a reformed Divine Warrior. Unlike Laurance, though, he was a descendant of an original Divine. To be specific, he was a descendant of Shad the Destroyer. He still remembered the day when Aaron had come clean to the rest of the reformed Divine Warriors, admitting that he was an Ultima. He had looked so ashamed, afraid, and nervous. He had thought that they would've shunned him away, or even try to kill him like his pack had tried to when they found out. They hadn't done anything even close to that, instead welcoming him with open arms. It had brought such a look of surprise onto his face, and he had actually started to cry tears of overwhelming joy.

"Please Aaron, surely you've seen the signs by now..." Laurance spoke to the tapestry, as though it were Aaron himself. "You must've woken her up by now... you're both coming to get both of us... we're waiting for you... I don't know where Zane is here, but I know he's waiting..."

Laurance let out a heavy sigh, knowing there was no point in speaking to the tapestry. Still, it did bring back good memories of his eternally extended life. At the same time it was a painful reminder of everything that was at stake. All his memories, all his friendships, all of everything... it would be meaningless if he failed them.

But he couldn't help other than notice something... the tapestries hadn't always been there. He had never seen them in his room, or anywhere, before.

The sound of doors opening back him turn around, and he was met with Garroth. The Aldrothian Deity was smiling, and he was holding something in his hand. Laurance couldn't see what it was, but he had a feeling it was something that Garroth wanted him to have.

"Where did the tapestries come from?" Laurance asked him, gesturing to the cloths. "They weren't there the last time I was here."

"Ah, yes. I had them made specifically for you." Garroth smiled, hugging him. "I know how much they mean to you... even though they are completely irrelevant and outdated, and truly hold no place in your heart and life."

Laurance took a step back, a hurt and offended look displaying on his face. He slowly pressed a hand to his chest, narrowing his eyes at the Deity. Those were their friends, their past that he had poked fun at. Not to mention the fact that Laurance was a reformed Divine Warrior, and Garroth had just claimed that his entire purpose in this extended lifetime of his wasn't important or relevant.

"Yes... you're completely right, my love." Laurance said, nodding.

What. The. Fuck.

That's my exact thoughts whenever you wake up, still alive.

Gee, thanks Ungrth...

"Laurance, we've been through a lot together...." Garroth started, sighing heavily. "I love you with everything I have, that's why I gave you the Ender Crystal. I don't want to live my life without you, Laurance."

"Garroth..." Laurance breathed, hoping that it wasn't what he thought it was.

"Laurance... I need to ask you something." He continued, presenting the object.

The blonde Aldrothian Deity took a deep breath, getting down on one knee. He opened the small box to reveal a ring inside, a wedding ring. Garroth was proposing to him... again.

"Laurance Zvhal, will you marry me?" Garroth asked him, a hopeful look in his eyes.

As much as it would've hurt them both to say no, Laurance wanted to. He couldn't marry Garroth, at least not yet. He needed to make sure that the other Realms would be safe if he did, he needed to make sure that Garroth was stable in the mind when he did agree to marry him.

Oh, for the sake of Irene and Aphmau, he wanted to say no.

But he couldn't... no matter how hard he tried.

"Yes...." Laurance whispered, hugging the blonde tightly. "A million times yes!!!"

While that was how he felt, he didn't want to say yes.

Garroth grabbed his hand, running off wuth him to most likely inform his relatives of their marriage. Laurance caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror on the wall as they ran out, and his eyes widened at what he saw.

His eyes were the same green that Garroth's had been.

That could only mean one thing....

Garroth was controlling him, and there was nothing he could do to stop him.