💀🦋 V. Pure Of Heart 🦋💀

[Eternity]

I dwelt on The Murder I hadn’t been responsible for a short while. I couldn’t trust the crows or the flowers anymore. Not even friends or family, only us against the world in our matching long white cotton dresses. Nothing could keep the uniquely intimate warmth of her last bloody mistake from heating already well worn bones. My head understood that it was almost four months ago now, but my heart still insisted it happened only yesterday…

April marches over and pulls Abby up by her air, kneeing her in the gut again with her knee brace doubling her over. April then rams her against the reinforced glass of the Maiden a couple of times, but it does not shatter. April goes to the well a little too often though, as Abby counters the third attempt and locks April up in a suplex position. Abby repositions herself so that she has April ready to throw through the glass…and does so with rapid execution and tremendous force!

“SNAP SUPLEX THROUGH THE GLASS MAIDEN! MY GOD, APRIL IS DEAD!” Vasco Dias shrieks.

Abby slumps against the broken window of the maiden, looks behind her and starts laughing at the aftermath of her handiwork. Abby gets up and mimics dusting herself off after a job well done as far as she is concerned. She takes a moment to look down at her now bleeding opponent who is writhing in agony but she can hear the crowd beginning to increase in volume and as she turns around… she is sent crashing through the remaining side window by Natasha out of absolutely nowhere with an absolutely thunderous spear!

As if caught up in a tornado, shards of glass fly everywhere as Abigail, Natasha and April lie in a bloody pile of untagged dead bodies, left behind in its wake. A natural disaster, wrought by God for a lifetime of sin.

“Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!” Thousands of voices cried and screamed.

A lifetime spent in a warm, bright white and excessively sterile medical unit.

"She found herself in these places often. The sights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes and the feel. It wrapped around her with all the comfortable familiarity of being home, almost. The nurses walked slowly. The younger patients were brisk, often fitter, guided by even younger, prettier things.

An incomplete Spencer Family were gathered in mourning. Three brothers ostracised by their stubborn little sister’s choices. She considered offering words of comfort but none came, and why would they?

She was responsible for this.

She had encouraged this madness…

“You can see her now."

She almost jumped out of her seat as Dr Nicole Kingsley appeared seemingly out of nowhere. A lot like the blue lightning bolt she knew to be true love.

"Oh I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault,” Nicole whimpered.

"Think nothing of it," she smiled. A polite nod of her head as she stood. A deep, heavy breath carried her forward as she left purgatory, finally.

In her darkest hour, his voice crackles through like the static of an old hospital radio. His was a soft, warm and most familiar voice. A nervous brother as he blessed her with The Lord’s Prayer.

"Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from Evil: For thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, Forever. Amen.” Jebediah quickly recited over his only sister’s bloody, barely conscious body.

In their darkest hour, his words brought her as close to comfort and peace as she'd ever known in this life.

An anguished cherub, she sat at Abby’s bedside. No longer a friend, now a lover.

Actions had consequences, and as a faithful partner, this was her grim responsibility to fix, at any cost…

“400 yen please,” a disconnected foreign voice softly requested.

I went from reverie to reality in three quick blinks and handed over a small stack of four silver coins almost reflexively. As if I’d been here many times before and knew the cost of entry by heart - and maybe I had, I don’t know, life got so hazy and confusing sometimes.

Abby on my right handed over a larger 500 yen coin, and got a smaller one back in exchange, with a single small candle we would share, whilst I got a small information pamphlet.

I led the way around the lush greens of the well kept sacred grounds until we found the Taya caves carved into an inconspicuous hillside at the back of the Jousenji temple. At the first step Abby lit our shared candle, with a slow and deep breath.

“Relax Angel,” I reassured, “We must be careful not to wander too far too fast or we will lose the light with which we enter and we must never do that. You must never do that. Promise me.”

“Of course,” Abby nodded. “I’ll try.”

As my light, Abby guided me up the second step and beyond the cave entrance. Immediately shrouded in almost complete darkness, I felt more at home in the sudden chill here than out there at the mercy of the Japanese summer sun. We had barely begun to follow in their footsteps but already the appeal of the ascetic life of a Shingon Buddhist monk was self-evident to me.

“Hold this a sec will ya, beloved?” Abby asked, entrusting me with the small candle.

She then reached into her small black leather shoulder bag and fished out her phone.

“No photos allowed,” I reminded her gently. “We must respect the sanctity of this special place.”

“I know, an’ I do,” Abby promised. She tapped her screen and flicked on her phone’s inbuilt flashlight with a grin. “Let there be light.”

“Oh,” I smiled at her softly.

It was easy to forget sometimes that my sweet Archangel was not nearly as accustomed to a life spent alone in the all consuming darkness as I was. Though the passages were lined with dim and periodic LED lights, a little more never hurt as we slowly moved deeper through the first of seventeen domed ancient burial chambers.

“I feel like Lara Croft,” Abby said as she illuminated an intricate wall carving for us to both take in together.

“I didn’t know you were a fan.”

“What can I say? Some of Ricky’s interests have rubbed off on me over the years,” Abby smiled. “Those games ain’t your thing, I’m guessin’. Not enough exploration of death an’ dyin’ right?”

“Thematically, maybe not but I can appreciate mystery and puzzle solving sometimes,” I said. “After all, what is it that unites both life and death if not the great mystery and grand puzzle of it all.”

“Ya got a point there, hun” Abby conceded.

“Don’t forget to look up as well.”

Abby turned her flashlight towards heaven and had her breath taken away by the mystical reliefs which adored the high vaults around them, above the sandstone walls.

“Wow, I would have missed these entirely,” Abby said. “Really makes ya think about how they carved all this during their meditative practices don’t it?”

“There is tremendous value in cutting yourself off from the outside world sometimes,” I said. “Isolation has a wonderful way of focusing the mind and unearthing the beauty inside us all. Beauty that the monks found within themselves and saw fit to share with the world through these symbols of their divine faith.”

“You said they’d sometimes spend days even weeks solitarily confined within these caves until they found enlightenment an’ meanin’ in their lives right?” Abby marvelled, “I think I’d just go crazy. Ain’t ever really gotten used ta bein’ alone. I’ve always had someone around, whether it was Ma or Pa or one of my four brothers.”

“You are indeed blessed, Angel,” I nodded solemnly. “Not only do ya have a big family who loves ya unconditionally, but they’re all still here for you. I’d give almost anything to have one more day with my family.”

“Oh believe me, I know how blessed I am,” Abby said. “And I know I ain’t ever gonna replace your folks, but ya ain’t alone either, Sephie. I love you, and you’re a part of my family now. A family that is only growin’ with how deeply my brothers are getting involved with datin’ the Winstons.”

“Yeah I guess, but are we all still gonna be friends and family after this week?”

“I’d like ta think so,” Abby said. “My brothers don’t usually date ditzies, well apart from Bucky on occasion, but I hope Dixie and Gretchen are smart enough ta compartmentalise a competitive spirit as separate from havin’ a legit problem with each other.”

“I just worry you’ll hate me for hurtin’ your brothers, like ya hate Cyrus.”

“Oh honey,” Abby cupped my cheek gently, and uncompromisingly held my gaze. “What we do to the Winstons ain’t gonna be anythin’ like what Cyrus Daniels did ta my family. I promise, you ain’t nothin’ like that racist, homophobic jackass, okay? I hate him. I love you. You could never hurt me or my family like he did.”

“I’d die before that,” I promised. “But you said we, so we’re in this together even if we have ta hurt people I wish we really didn’t?”

“Of course we’re together in this, babe,” Abby kissed me sweetly on the lips as we came to a stop in front of a natural stream that trickled through the wall behind us. “From day one I promised ta be your ride or die, an’ I mean it. If our family an’ friends can’t separate business from personal as well as we can, then the way I see it, that’s their problem, not ours.”

💀🦋💀🦋

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.” - Matthew V: 3-11.

💀🦋💀🦋

A full hour later, Abigail and Eternity had re-emerged into the world together, bound stronger by their self-imposed confinement in the caverns together. Unseen and unheard they had reflected on much just as the monks had before them, and slowly their eyes readjusted to the newer, brighter light of a renewed faith and purpose instilled in each of them.

Still on temple grounds, against a collective backdrop of small Jizo statues which according to Buddhist belief protected the souls of dead children, Bella Morte stood together, hand in hand. Abigail on the right and Eternity on the left, both had a spider lily in their hair, though Abby’s was more prominent whilst Eternity’s more hidden. Some but not all of the Jizo around them were clothed, perhaps shielded from the harsh elements that sought to erode them.

I’ll be the first ta admit that though I know patience is a virtue, it’s one I’ve always struggled with personally. I’ve never been particularly good at waitin’ around for karmic retribution ta set things right for me within the fullness of time.

I’ve never been entirely comfortable with leavin’ fickle fate ta its own devices, but every now an’ then even someone as ambivalent as myself has ta take a step back and stand in awe at the grander picture as it is revealed. Indeed, it really don’t happen nearly as often as I’d like in this business, but every now an’ then the innocent an’ the virtuous are thrown a bone. Given a chance ta revisit a mistake an’ set things right that once went wrong.

And hoping each time that their next leap is the leap home.

And indeed what a great leap it is for the Winstons ta be here, sharin’ in our spotlight.

I’m sure some of our more ardent armchair conspiracy theorists will insist that you’ve only been brought up ta the level of the Murder an’ Bella Morte in this match ‘cause you’re both datin’ my brothers, but we both know better than that don’t we, Gretchen? Don’t we Dixie?

I won’t dispute that ya belong in this match with four legit main eventers, three of whom are well established former World Champions, ‘cause I know just how hard an’ how long y’all have been bustin’ your asses in the PC. If it weren’t for my family pavin’ roads for y’all, you’d not have the developmental deals ya do, but I’ve never asked ya for much, not even a word of thanks.

Until now.

Gretchen, Dixie, we ain’t been family long, but I’m askin’ ya please, stay outta my way as I intend ta show Vivienne Rodgers, no, I’m sorry - it’s Daniels now ain’t it? - Vivienne Daniels that I learn from my mistakes. I held back ‘cause I thought more of our friendship than I probably should’ve an’ that restraint an’ inability ta do all I needed cost me big in the Heiress against ya.

Indeed, it’s been of little personal solace ta me that despite beatin’ me with all your fury an’ righteous anger, ya still fell at the very next hurdle an’ couldn’t overcome the Iron Hawk herself, Charlotte Shimizu, an’ I have ta wonder Viv, just how badly does it smart that ya an’ your new husband were exposed an’ stifled by a younger, hungrier, fresher and more fan favourite couple?

All that talk of dominance an’ enactin’ your vengeance in the name of Rowan fuckin’ MacDonnough ain’t doin’ ya any favours is it? So why must ya insist on walkin’ this path? Why must ya be so hellbent on forsakin’ most if not all of your friends in her memory?

What is it exactly that you owe her, flower?

Why is it that you can’t conceive of any other bond than one who owns you?

Why must anybody you care about in life only be valued if they utterly consume everything you are and everything you will ever be?

Do you consider your heart and soul so utterly worthless so as to throw all that makes you human into the unique personal Hell of Devils and Monsters?

I understand your loyalty to your husband, but I will never understand your loyalty to Rowan. She has always been steadfast in her belief in only her own power and influence. She only cares about people in so far as seeing just how far she can push them until they give up and let her in. With my good friend Jess Reed’s help and with my beloved Abby’s conviction I found the strength to resist and overcome her dark influence.

I mourn that you never had anybody who cared enough to pull you back from the abyss before you took a swan dive into it, I really do. But I learned a while ago that we can never go back and must live with the consequences of our choices, so here it is with great sadness and much regret that we are, flower.

It’s always more tragic when we have to call the number of the young and pretty ones. It’s nothing personal, Mai. You believe me, don’t you? I’ve always had a fondness for lost little sisters with identity issues and in the wrong families. In a certain light, I can see a whole other life where we are friends, if not something more.

But I thought that before the flower turned black too.

Please don’t turn an ugly colour too, Mai.

I like my Everstone evergreen.

Now, Mai I know you’ve probably been sold a crock of shit about how The Murder are your only friends, and not to be unnecessarily harsh or anythin’ but have ya ever stopped ta wonder why if you’re such a valued member of the team you’re treated as the player most in reserve over even someone like April, who couldn’t cut it in her first go round, took up an coaching position for years and then got preferentially headhunted ‘cause she was the Devil’s Girlfriend’s Sister?

I know ya won’t see it this way but don’t your story deserve a better endin’ than bein’ the weird little sister nobody ya want ta call friend actually cares about? Vivienne and Brooklyn scrambled ta find purpose an’ meanin’ after Dean Harper came in like a human tornado…

A beautiful disaster…

And took out Rowan’s original choices, Virginia and Astrid, choices that ya were never even within spittin’ distance of before, let’s be honest, so what are ya even doin’ there still, Mai?

Especially when you have a real family waiting for you at home.

Feel free to ask them ya self. I don’t expect ya ta take our word for it, Mai. After all in the Murder manifesto we’ve been declared the enemy but your siblings haven’t, at least not yet.

Birdie missed Starling at her wedding.

You can go home again, Mai.

Please come home again, Mai.

Before it’s too late.

Not all of us are ever that lucky.

You’ve hurt your siblin’s so much more than we ever could or ever will.

Please stop their pain for us Mai, before it’s too late.

Before it’s no longer your choice, but ours.

We offer ya one chance ta ride with us.

Or die against us.