87: Trust

It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining down the Hidden Gardens, not of Persephone now but they were Klein's since Persephone was gone and someone had to take care of the garden in her absence. Klein thought Zagreus would not come back to the surface, after all, he had no reason to. Why would he leave the Underworld to just die later again now that he didn't need to leave the Underworld to see his mother? Klein felt lonely, he had not felt this lonely since his students died one by one and left him behind. Klein soon began to do things to distract himself every, he would everyday water the plants and he even began to work on mixing energies and plants.

The results were interesting.

Mixing C-01 with fruits made the Boost Fruits that he already knew how to make, but there came much more interesting results when he began to mix other energies. Mixing Holy energy with an apple made the apple change to have a golden skin and a great taste, it also accelerated healing, creating a regenerative factor for a few seconds and also made the skin of the one who ate it have a little golden paper thin second skin that can absorb some damage of an attack.

Klein went with the basics and called it Golden Apple, but differently from the Golden Apples that gave immortality, this one could save someone from the brink of death! He also mixed Unholy Energy with an apple and it gave him a black apple that carried not only Unholy Energy but also Death Energy that could carry whitering effects. When eating the apple, his skin would dry and turn to dust as it withered instantly to the point of disintegration, it reminded him of Void Energy, but it was only Death Energy and Unholy Energy. He ended up calling them Death Apples because, why not?

Now he knew three fruits that he could easily produce, Booster Fruit, Golden Apples, and Death Apples. As he was going to experiment further with new fruits and vegetables, Klein was interrupted by a voice, a rather tired voice: "I know it's interesting to mess with food, but I am dying here... Quite literally." Klein turned back to see Zagreus, holding a backpack with his right hand while offering his left hand for Klein to take, Klein, looked at this confused for a second before he grasped Zagreus's hand and began to channel snd share his Lifeforce that was huge compared to Zagreus... Well, it was not the only thing.

"What are you doing here?" Klein asked, his face expressionless the whole time, Zagreus has been here for a few seconds already, he was just stunned to see Klein smiling like a child that got a new toy when he was looking at the three strange fruits in front of him. One glowing blue apple, a golden apple, and a black apple. Does Klein have a thing for apples? "Well... I came here to help you with the garden. My mother, Persephone, asked me to help you with the garden and keep you company since now you are all alone in this huge place." Zagreus smiled at Klein just like his mother told him to, confidently and with no regard to image. His grin was wide as Klein raised an eyebrow to this... He never saw Zagreus smiling like this.

"Huh." Klein made a confused noise as he stared into Zagreus's heterochromatic eyes, left red and right green, he was trying to see if anything was different with Zagreus at all... Zagreus, who started to sweat heavily wondering why Klein was staring at him so deeply, asked: "Is everything all right?" Klein tilted his head to the side and said: "Did you cut your hair or something? You are different." Zagreus held a gulp and chuckled nervously as he said: "I got new robes! They are great, aren't they?" While internally he shouted: 'Dont notice it. Don't notice it. DON'T NOTICE IT!'

What was that Klein shouldn't notice? Well, Zagreus brought him a gift, a creature from the Underworld... A Hellhound Puppy. In the backpack, hidden away. The creature was sleeping so it wouldn't make much noise, but he just doesn't want to spoil the surprise. Klein looked at Zagreus up and down and noticed that his normally red, black, and gold robes were now cream, green, and gold! They were nice robes too, also they were Persephone's colors. "Huh. You're right... They look nice on you." Klein complimented as he went back to his experiments, still holding hands with Zagreus. Although Klein said it absentmindedly, Zagreus took the compliment well externally... Internally, however, he was having a full gay panic.

'They look nice on me? They do? Really!? Mother was right! They do look good on me! and I spent hours deciding between the red, black, gold, and this! Thank you, mother, for saving me once again.' Zagreus sat down beside Klein as he looked at the three apples on the table in front of him. "So... what are these?" Zagreus could not help but ask, Klein, smiled and looked at his creation: "Golden Apple, Death Apple, and Booster Fruit. These are three Energy fruits I know how to create, two created by me and one I found naturally in the wild." Zagreus nodded, trying to look like he understood what Klein said but, in reality, he zoned out after Klein named the fruits. "And what do they do?" Zagreus could not resist but ask as his fingers approached the black apple, Klein reacted and snatched it away before Zagreus could take it.

"This is a Death Apple. I recently created it, I only know its effects on the living." Klein said as he took a bite, the skin of his left arm soon began to whiter and decay, falling off and startling Zagreus who began to panic only to relax when he saw the flesh mending itself instantly after the other flesh withered and fell. "This..." Klein gave the apple to Zagreus who looked at it curiously and took a bite. Soon he felt revigorated and smiled when Klein looked at him like he is stupid. "Did you just ate what someone gave you without checking to see if it is poisonous?" Zagreus smiled and said to Klein as if it was obvious: "But It was you who gave me the apple. You would never hurt me."

Klein shook his head internally... He isn't to be trusted. He has killed so many people that he could kill easily, but... Having someone trust you so blindly made him feel... Happy? He doesn't know.

-Scene Ends-

Author Note:

The last chapter [The dynamics one] had great results.

I've decided on their dynamic!