Web Short #2- The Exception (Sweet Burden Series) Pt. 1

Read what happens after the finale, Fateful Echoes (Sweet Burden Series Vol. 3)...

(**SPOILERS**)

The Exception

(Sweet Burden Series)

Pt. 1

The Goddess of Light stood on the balcony off of the master suite and looked out over the palace gardens. The sun was shining brightly and it warmed her skin. She smiled to herself as she watched the angels and protectors going about their daily routines. Hitomi finally felt as though things were settled and she could take a breath without any worries. A groan came from the bed behind her and she glanced over her shoulder at the sheets moving. A mop of black hair appeared as Obsidian squint his eyes at the light.

“What are you doing?” he grumbled. “Shut the curtains and come back to bed.”

“It’s too nice to spend the day in bed,” she replied as she walked back into the room. Obi groaned again and pulled the sheet over his head. Hitomi rolled her eyes and jumped on the bed landing next to him. “C’mon grumpy. Go for a swim with me.”

“Too early,” Obi mumbled. “Especially to be submerged in water.”

Hitomi laughed and pushed on his arm. “You’re no fun.”

He poked his head back out from the covers and smirked. “There are other ways to have fun.” Obi raised an eyebrow and reached out to grab her, but she quickly scooted off the bed.

Hitomi couldn’t help but giggle as she moved across the room and went over to her dresser. She pulled out a bathing suit and started to change into it. “You’re more than welcome to join me.” She glanced up at her husband watching her.

“Not this morning. I’ll meet you for breakfast later.” He dropped his head into the pillows and snuggled back in the covers.

“Okay.” Hitomi finished dressing and walked over to the side of the bed. She leaned down giving Obi a kiss and then headed out to the pool. After swimming some laps, Hitomi grabbed onto the side of the pool to catch her breath. She suddenly felt lightheaded and worried that she was going to be bombarded with someone’s memory. Quickly she climbed out of the pool and sat down on one of the lounges. Her "memory-walking" had been out of control as of late and there was no explanation as to why. When no vision came her stomach grumbled and she wrapped herself up in her towel to head up to the patio. As she was walking up, she saw Kerry and Guri coming down the steps.

“Good morning, m’lady,” Kerry greeted with an exaggerated bow.

“Knock it off,” Hitomi said with a laugh. “Looks like I just missed you guys. Are you going for a swim?”

“Yup. I’m surprised to see you up this early. Where’s Obi?” Kerry replied.

“Still in bed being lazy.” She smiled and gave them a wave. “I’ll see you two later.” Hitomi moved past them and ran up the steps just in time to see Obi strolling out onto the patio. They arrived at their table at the same time and he pulled her chair out for her.

“How was your swim?” he asked.

“Okay.” She smiled at him as he sat down next to her. “How was your extra sleep?”

“Lonely.”

She rolled her eyes, but grinned. Things had been going so well for the past four months since their wedding. They both eased into their roles without much difficulty. The Heavens was flourishing and the subjects were happy. There hadn’t been much need to grow the amount of subjects yet. Although there were a few dissenters, London created enough to provide the Heavens with the amount of beings needed. So far there weren’t too many issues and ruling the Heavens was a far easier task than expected.

Obi reached over taking her hand and pressed it to his lips. Sometimes it was still hard for her to believe how perfect her life was. Hitomi couldn’t ask for anything more.

“What’s on your agenda today?” Obi asked.

“I’m not sure. Someone interrupted me while I was working on my schedule.” She faked irritation as one of the angels from the kitchen walked over to take their breakfast requests. Hitomi was suddenly famished and ordered an omelet with a side of pancakes. Obi seemed amused and asked for the same. As they ate Hitomi talked about how she wanted to organize an autumn festival of sorts and invite everyone from the realms.

Obi nodded. “That’s a good idea.” He cleared his throat and put his fork down. “What about Rediisu?”

She stabbed her fork into her half-eaten stack of pancakes. “He’s not invited.”

“Okay.”

“Anyone from the Afterworld can come except him. I don’t want to see him anymore than I actually have to.”

“And I will honor your decision.”

Her eyebrow went up with actual irritation. “You don’t think it’s the right one?”

Obi put his hands up defensively. “I didn’t say that.”

“Your tone suggested otherwise.”

“My tone?” he repeated as he covered his mouth. The fact he was trying to hide his smile irked her further. “All I said was ‘okay’. It seems like you want to argue.”

“Of course I don’t want to argue. Do you want to argue?” Hitomi could feel her face heating up.

Obi took her hand again. “I most definitely do not want to argue. Your face is flushed. Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine.” Hitomi sighed. “The topic of Rediisu doesn’t put me in the greatest mood. I’m sorry.”

Obi smiled and leaned over kissing her cheek. “Let’s not talk about him.”

Someone cleared their throat behind them and they turned. Standing there was one of Guri’s aids, a young woman named Ella. She bowed quickly. “I’m sorry to interrupt your breakfast, but there is a visitor to see you,” she said directed to Obi. “He said he’s from the Spiritual Realm. He’s…um, covered in tattoos.”

“Jinx,” Obi whispered and averted his eyes. Hitomi squeezed his hand as he looked to her. “Will you come with me?” She nodded as they both got up. Obi’s grip on her hand tightened further. “Ella, show him to my office. We’ll be there shortly.”

“As you wish.” Ella bowed and hurried off.

“I can’t believe he’s actually here,” Hitomi commented. “You and Zeric have had searches out for him. He’s managed to evade everyone and now he’s just showing up.”

“It’s been practically a year since I’ve seen him,” Obi said quietly as they walked back towards the palace. “Hurry and get changed. I have to get word to Zeric that Jinx is here.” They went off in separate directions once inside the palace. Obi looked as mystified and shocked as Hitomi knew he felt. He told her of the things Sabra said about Jinx, how he was somehow responsible for the Zeric being stolen and Obi’s terrible upbringing. But the full story was a mystery. Hitomi wasn’t sure Obi even cared anymore what the story was. He missed his friend, but she couldn’t be positive what his reaction would be to finally seeing Jinx.

She changed into appropriate clothing and started down to Obi’s office. Obi picked a different room for his office instead of using the one London occupied. London’s office now sat bare and the door remained closed. Hitomi walked past the door as a few memories invaded her mind. She stopped short of Obi’s office door and leaned against the wall to clear her vision. The “memory-walking” was one thing she still had yet to control. For a short period it seemed to disappear, but recently it would take her over whenever and wherever. Sometimes she could stop it, but most of the time she couldn’t. The last time a memory completely took her over she was flying. She later woke up in a pile of shrubs at the far end of the gardens.

Shaking away the cloudiness in her mind, she went into Obi’s office. Obi wasn’t there yet, but Jinx was situated in one of the chairs across from the desk looking at something in his hands. “Jinx?”

He turned and stood up while smiling at her. “Hitomi.”

She moved across the room and gave him a hug. “How are you?”

“I’m okay. And you?”

“Better now that I know you’re alright.” She looked him over noticing his hair was now dyed a chocolate brown and he had on a simple white shirt and jeans. She noticed a frame in his hand and realized he was holding one of the photos Obi kept on his desk.

Jinx glanced down at the frame as well. “I’m sorry I didn’t make it to the wedding. I really did want to be there, but I had some personal stuff I needed to deal with.”

“I understand, but know you were missed.”

He let out a sigh while still looking at the photo. “You both look so happy. Maybe it was a mistake to come.”

“Jinx, it wasn’t a mistake. We’ve all been worried about you.”

“I don’t know what all Obi told you.”

“We’ve both told each other everything. There are no more secrets.”

Jinx tightened his grip on the frame and turned his eyes to hers. “Once I’ve told him the truth…I’m not sure he’ll forgive me. But I need him to know.”

Hitomi patted his shoulder. “You might be surprised. I’m sure he’ll forgive you.” Seeing the fear in Jinx’s eyes, she hoped she was right.

Suddenly Obi walked in and crossed the room. Jinx tensed with the uncertainty of what kind of greeting he was going to get. Hitomi wasn’t sure what to expect either. Obi stepped in front of Jinx and abruptly pulled him in for a quick hug. He smacked Jinx on the back and stepped away. “Where have you been?”

“A little bit of everywhere. I needed some time,” Jinx answered.

“You took too much time. You missed our wedding.”

“I know.” Jinx handed Obi the frame. “I’m sorry.”

Obi moved around his desk and sat down as he propped the frame back up. He motioned for Jinx to take a seat.

“I’ll leave you two to catch up,” Hitomi stated as she smiled warmly at her husband.

“No. Please stay. I want you to hear everything.” Jinx sat down and motioned for her to stay. 

“Besides, I know Obi will tell you.”

Hitomi sat down and watched Jinx fidget. She didn’t get to know him very well before, but it seemed unnatural for him to be nervous. She wanted to reassure him that it was okay to be honest, but as she reached over to pat his arm her vision went blurry.

As she closed her eyes and put her hand to her head, she heard Obi saying her name. His voice sounded like echoes vibrating through a canyon. Chills ran up her spine and across her shoulders. She wanted to move, but her body felt weightless and trapped. And so cold. Why was she so cold? Obi’s voice faded and she felt someone grasp her wrist. When she opened her eyes she realized she wasn’t able to stop the memory invasion.

She stared up at a ceiling decorated with a rainbow of swirling colors. The inhabited body abruptly turned their head to the side and vomited. She was lying on a bed, but the body was restrained. The arms pulled violently at the binds, eventually giving up due to exhaustion. Hitomi’s first thought was that she was in one of Obi’s memories from his time in the Spiritual Realm, but she noticed a few tattoos on the arm. It was then she realized that it wasn’t Obi, it was Jinx.

Hitomi was embarrassed that she couldn’t control her ability enough to get out of the vision. It was an invasion of privacy. She knew that Jinx would be horrified once she woke up. He finally came out of hiding to tell Obi the truth and here she was invading his mind.

A door opened at the far side of the room and Sabra sauntered in looking as regal as Hitomi recalled. She hated the woman and from Jinx’s reaction to her presence, he didn’t care for her either.

“I should have known you’d stoop this low,” he spat.

Sabra smirked and sat down on the edge of the bed. “I hope it hurt you as much as you’ve hurt me, my love.” Her fingers trailed down his chest.

“I’m not your love. Or is that what you call your harem?”

“But you were the one I kept human for so long. I kept you looking and feeling youthful.”

“Only to serve your own purposes.”

Her expression turned cold and she reached up grabbing his face. Her nails dug into Jinx’s skin. “You had your chance to make me happy. Now I’m going to make yours a living hell.”

He pulled his face away. “You’ve already used me. You’ve already killed me. What else could you do to me?”

Sabra stood up and cackled. “Oh, my love, just wait and see.” She strode out of the room and slammed the door. The sound made Hitomi shake as she tried to put the pieces of the conversation together, but the vision was flickering. She wouldn’t be able to hold on to it and she truly didn’t want to. She didn’t want to see anymore of Jinx’s suffering or Sabra’s cruelty.

When she opened her eyes, she knew she was in the master suite. Hitomi put her hand to her head and sat up. Across the room Obi was situated in one of the chairs by the fireplace. He was doing some paperwork, but looked up when she let out a dry cough. He tossed the papers onto the coffee table and hurried over to her.

“How are you feeling?” he asked sitting down on the bed and taking her hand.

“Alright, I guess. What happened? Where’s Jinx?”

“He was about to start telling me everything and your face went blank. You turned pale and fell forward out of the chair.” He reached up and brushed her hair from her forehead. “You cracked your head pretty hard on the edge of my desk. You’ve been out for a few hours.”

“Hours?” She let out a deep breath and squeezed his hand. “What about Jinx?”

“He’s still here. He was concerned about you. I set him up in one of the guest rooms.”

“Did you two talk?”

“Yah.” Obi nodded. “He told me everything, but don’t worry about that now. I’m more concerned about you. This memory-walking of yours is getting out of control.”

Hitomi shook her head. “It’s nothing.”

“That’s not true. I know about your little fall from the sky. Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”

Hitomi looked down at their intertwined fingers. “I didn’t want you to worry.”

“I know, but now I’m worried. Something is going on. I talked to Guri and he said it’s strange you haven’t been able to get control over this power. We both agree that you need to ask your father. He might have insight into what’s wrong.”

“You really think something is wrong? I hate going to him for every little issue.”

“This isn’t a little issue. This is about you. What if…” his voice trailed off and Hitomi lifted her eyes.

“What? Just say what you think.”

He sighed. “What if something of Laebosu’s powers lingered behind? What if that’s preventing you from fully being in control?”

Hitomi never thought of that as a possibility, but it wasn’t improbable. Something dark could be haunting inside her and feeding on the bad memories of others. But not every memory she went into was bad. However, if there was darkness inside her maybe it couldn’t control the memories like she couldn’t control the power.

“Fine.” She nodded. “I’ll ask my father.”

Obi smiled and leaned forward. “Thank you,” he said. His breath caressed her lips before he kissed her.

(To Be Continued Next Week)