"lev, my dear."

as you and your 16-year-old boyfriend laid in bed together, you held his unusually smooth hands, enclosing them protectively around your own hands. you gently ran your thumb on the back of his palm, mildly soothing his nerves.

"yes, любовь?" he softly murmured in return, weakly raising his leg to wrap you in his hug. you snuggled in, making yourself as comfortable as possible while you still could.

silence ensued after that question, for a thousand more questions were entering your brain at superspeed, thus you were unsure what to ask your beloved first: to be a desperate optimist or a frank realist?

why not both?

"are you happy with the way things are turning out right now?" despite the very close relationship you had shared with the handsome boy, it was still quite a challenge to calmly speak regarding your actual feelings. sometimes, you were worried to the core that you might bother him with your 'petty' troubles, especially when he's an active athlete in school who, more often than not, represented nekoma high.

but right now, given the sad, sad situation, you really felt shameless. in fairness, what's there to lose when

"do i have a choice?" the silver-haired russian tried to laugh, even chuckle, but all he could produce was a disgusting, raspy cough. however, you had but flinched by the slightest, as you were already quite used to that awful sound, but you did pat his back, just to aid him.

"i mean, it's depressing how i have to die early— i haven't even finished two decades of my life yet," he continued after that short coughing spree, "but hey, at least my greatest wish."

"hm? and what would that wish be?" you quipped curiously, drawing teeny-tiny circles on his black hoodie he was wearing, as he pulled you even closer,

"we died side-by-side, never leaving each other." he smiled; a truly beautiful smile in your eyes, even if it was full of pain. "that's what couples do, right? if they really love each other, they stay together forever. 'til death do us part,' they say."

this beautiful boy was the sole reason you believed in a 'forever.'

but this beautiful boy was never meant to be yours forever, either.

your eyes delicately fluttered open. the bed felt so rough and dusty, but the surface wasn't very bumpy. it was dry. although uncomfortable, you didn't want to get up. or rather, gut instincts told you to get up.

"get up, we're here." a soft yet rough voice spoke. somehow feeling intimidated you obeyed, but nearly stumbled back into your initial position upon sight of the new environment. your eyes were as wide as your hanging jaw and you could only blink rapidly in overwhelming shock, to assure yourself this wasn't a part of your sickness.

... am i really dead?

"the judges do not like waiting, and i have another soul waiting for me. or requiring an explanation, whichever shall come first." the same strange voice interrupted your reverie, but chiron was already rowing away from you hurriedly.

without any other option, you trekked to the large stone doors, and just as you were about to knock, the doors had opened by themselves, bringing forth a mild heart attack within you.

that's something you don't see everyday.

a few steps inside and the doors slowly closed behind you. in front of you proudly stood a very, very tall marbled podium— as in, beanstalk size. three green torches for each judge, creepily lighting up their golden masks.

needless to say, this whole new vibe got you curious. heavily intimidated, but curious nonetheless.

"the gods have been watching you..." the judge in the middle announced.

"... hm, surprisingly you've been excelling in life." the judge to your right drawled out monotonously.

'surprisingly'? hoe how dare you—

"but this child's achievements can never compare to achilles or socrates!" the judge to your left declared, rather defensively.

the judge seated in the middle hushed his companions, before silently pointing his finger to you momentarily.

"do you, dear child, believe that you are worthy of elysium?"

you paused. me in elysium? is this some kind of humiliating joke?

but then, you remembered:

"lev..." you whispered absentmindedly.

the three judges turned to each other with hesitation, and suddenly there was an elephant in the room, and it surely did not go unnoticed by you.

"do you, perhaps, know something, , about him?? lev haiba?" you asked, a little too anxiously. your anticipation was as clear as day and for once, the three judges, if not all most, had flinched.

"erm..." one judge began.

"come on, they loved each other until death, i think she should know." another interrupted the other.

"lev haiba hasn't arrived yet," the last judge spoke frankly, completely unfazed, "but he's taking his last breaths around this time."

your own breath hitched— ah, wait, are you even breathing? you didn't know nor did you care— hearing that lev would reunite with you soon made you feel giddy and actually glad to be deceased.

how psychotic.

"but he has a different fate here in the underworld."

your eyebrows furrowed, "what do you mean?"

the centre judge sighed, "while you are going to head into elysium, he'll end up in the fields of asphodel."

"wait— but... but then that means he'll forget me!" you wailed, eyes drooping all-too-quickly.

"you may go to asphodel instead of haiba," the judge interfered, his voice rather deathly this time. you halted completely, realizing his intents.

"of course, lev haiba will take your place in elysium, but you will remain in asphodel for all eternity; not even hades himself can save you."

you bit your lip at this treacherous offer, but before you knew it you could hear the doors slowly opening.

"ah, that must be him now," the judge spoke loud and clear; you gulped.

you wanted to see lev, one more time— if you could just delay your response to the judges maybe you could—

maybe i could—

and once again, you have awoken from a dream. you instantly sat upright from the dry patch of grass which you were lying down on just a few seconds ago— well, it appeared dry. you're a soul now, you can't feel anything, both figuratively and literally.

what was that about? you pondered with a neutral expression gracing your features.

you felt nothing.

"why...why is..."

on another island of the underworld stood a trembling boy who had never felt more alone in his life. and the more he tried to quench this aching feeling of loneliness, the worse this lonely feeling had scarred him.

"but we were supposed to be together forever."

this is so crappy i'm dyin

rushed towards the end ngl bc i got distracted by a school project so that really derailed my plans dkdhdhs

i'm a good student pls no h8

i'll definitely edit this!!!!! THIS IS SO FAR FROM MY ORIGINAL PLOT WHAT THE ACTUAL—