Chapter Twenty Nine: The Salvation

At first, Penny found herself unsure of what to say. How could she respond to this news? The man she would have to erase would be..Lysette's nephew? All of this time, the solution and salvation of the Underworld would all lead back to him. And Lysette, knew this. She had to know this. And she would have had Penny find any other way around that fact just to spare him. Penny was not mad at Lysette for this though, this was her own flesh and blood and so of course she would try to protect him. Though, Penny found a hard time justifying letting so many suffer all because of one person. This did not mean she wanted to Kill Gabriel, and when the time came, she could not be sure on how she would react. But action had to be taken one way or the other and she knew this. Even though this might mean that she would get into a confrontation with her guardian, something had to be done about this. Though Penny was not completely convinced there was not another way around this. She just was not sure what that way might be. For now, she would have to think on it. If Aurora is still a child then Kara and Gabriel would have not even been close to being born yet which meant that Penny had time to think on this before she made a decision.

" I cannot promise you I can follow through with the task and request that you have given me grandfather. But I promise you that I will do my best to not make the same mistakes that my father has. I will do whatever I feel is best for the betterment of the people, taking into account that a life may have to be lost in order to achieve that goal " Penny finally answered her grandfather who was more than pleased with the news as he released Penny from her vision so that she could face him again within the throne room. " That is all I can ask my child, I just want what is best for the Underworld. I had hoped they would have been able to figure it out on there own but deep down, I knew better" He confessed. " I knew that they would miss the greater picture in the end, and that is all I am trying to present" he explained which brought up another question Penny had on her mind.

" So, if I can do this, and my father could do this, why could you not just do the erasing yourselves? Why rely on us? " Penny knew he had a great power within him. He seemed to be above the conflict presented in most worlds so it made no sense why he could have not intervened and achieved the result he wanted and that the Underworld needed.

" Because, I sit upon the throne of the Outworld. And that means, I am not able to directly interfere with these matters. In order to take the throne in the first place, I had to swear that I would not interfere in any matter outside of Outworld except observing and restoring balance when needed to certain worlds. But only by sending select people to do so. If I intervened, that would wipe me out of existence" he explained which Penny realized a flaw with immediatly. " But by telling me all of this, would this not count as intervening? Would this not have you suffer consequences? " Penny was beginning to worry there were even deeper levels to this entire situation than she already anticipated.

" I will be honest with you, my child. The moment you erase Gabriel, I will be ripped from my throne and I will be erased as well" he confessed which Penny was not expecting.

" Wait..so to save the Underworld..Gabriel and you..both have to die?" Penny was now having an even harder time justifying the actions that would need to be taken. " Why would you sacrifice yourself like that? Penny questioned, feeling a sense of heartbreak for the grandfather she had only just met. And after thinking for a moment, he answered her question.

" Because I am tired of seeing the cycle continue over and over. If I am gone, I know that your father will take over my place and he will make an excellent king. Perhaps he will get things right in the way that I had not. However, I cannot continue for forever. Well..I mean I could..but everything must end at some point. And contrary to what people might believe about me, I do care. In fact in some ways I feel as though I might care more than most. I'm willing to do what it takes to see a world see a world prosper. I have never expected anyone to understand this, and even Shawn had never known of this consequence. And that is the reason I am telling you. Because you are different, you are stronger than most of us and I believe you can make the right decision. Not because someone asked you too, but because you know the right thing to do is sometimes the hardest thing to do" his works brought a great pain to Penny that was deeper than any she had ever known. She had just met her family for the first time and would already be losing one of them. " I would be lying if I said that you would not face opposition. You will be sacrificing just as much, if not more than me. But you will be able to do this. I believe in you Penelope, even if what is being asked of you is difficult" he added before changing the subject to something more light hearted.

" Now, if you would like. I can teach you how to use some of your abilities, I have trained will retrain Shawn when he comes of age and I know that you have a yearning for unlocking your true potential" Her grandfather smiled as he stood from his throne and walked over to Penny who was wiping the tears from her eyes. " I would love that. I know nothing about that side of me and would like to learn more" Penny smiled excitedly as her grandfather extended his hand, lifting out his finger and poking Penny's forehead directly in the middle which made Penny lightheaded almost immediately. " What in the.." Penny stammered as she noticed a shadow on the ground. After looking up to see the cause of the shadow, Penny saw a huge scythe - like weapon, completely black, and encrusted with Jewels at both ends. " That is your greatest tool, it is the mark of a night Slasher and it is the symbol of who you are. A Night Slasher can be identified by the tool they use as each one is completely unique to them" he explained as Penny reached up to take her scythe.

After holding it in her hands, she could feel a great deal of power emitting from it. It seemed to course through her own, and fuse with it in a way, making her feel more directly connected to it. " The way you use your tool is up to you, offense or defense. Just remember, that it is always with you and that whatever you imagine you can do with it, it can do far more" Her grandfather walked down the hall a little and turned back to Penny, taking a stance though not summoning his own scythe.

" It is important to remember that your tool can slice through anything. Whether it be any soul, immortal or not. It is something to be respected as it is a part of who you are. Just remember, to worth with it and not against it. When you fight with it, it will always be you two against whatever opposition that you face" he adds which only made Penny more excited.

" Can I try it out? " Penny asked and the King nodded in assurance. After leaping into the air, Penny swung her scythe around her body for planting the blade firmly into the ground, leaving the three feet or so long blade, sunk into the floor.

" Alright well I didn't mean on the floor...I just had it cleaned" The King grumbled in disapproval which Penny apologized for, embarrassed as she manged to pull the scythe from the floor with relative ease.

" I am surprised about how easily I can control this " Penny remarked. The size of the scythe was massive compared to her, and yet she could weild it freely as though it weighed no more than a small cooking utensil. She could not wait to see the look on Ember's face when she saw this cool new tool.

And that is when Penny remembered Ember, her friend back on Earth whom she had left behind and whom probably missed Penny a great deal.

" Would I have to stay in Outworld..or even the Underworld forever? Once that task is done...could I not go back to Earth. I have a friend there and I promised her that she would get to see all of this someday..and Lysette..I'm sure she would want to come back home too " Penny remarked though the King seemed to not be to keen on the idea of others being brought into this situation, or at least some people.

" You may return whenever you would like but you will need to be here when I call upon you. That is when you will be needed most and if you do not help, then I fear that everything will have been for nothing" he explains, pausing briefly only to continue " And you may bring your friend..Ember..is it? " The King knowing her name was of little surprise to Penny, now knowing what her Grandfather was truly capable of and what her people's purpose was. " However, Lysette is not allowed here in Outworld. And I truly believe that she would not be good to bring to Outworld" The King reasoned.

" And before you ask, there are a couple of reasons for this. The first being, that I know Lysette will not be happy with what has to happen. And she will try to get in the way which may lead to a confrontation that I do wish for you to have" his reasoning was understandable. Penny also had not wanted to fight Lysette. The Lycan had raised her for most of her life and was like family to her in a way, and fighting her with the stakes as high as they are, was not pressure Penny would want to put on herself.

" The second reason being, that another version of Lysette will be here already, and there is a chance that they could bump into one another which would cause even more issues. The worst case scenario with you, is that you'd bump into the baby version of yourself but that is unlikely as you will be hidden far away. So, it would not be wise to have her with you on your Journey" and again, his reasoning was solid enough for Penny to support. There would be too many risk by bringing Lysette back with her and that was something that Penny was simply not willing to chance.

" Okay, so I agree to that. But my next question is, how do I return? How does that work? Can I teleport? " Penny inquired which the King nodded in agreement with. " Yes you should be able to teleport and I will teach you this under two conditions" he offered as Penny listened closely " First, you only teleport when Lysette is not around. And also, when you do get back, make sure that you crush the necklace, but you do so in front of Lysette " the old king request which brought questions.

" Why do I need to crush it in front of her? " Penny asked, trying to understand the weird request as best as she could.

" So, the necklace that you have, that was given to you by Lysette at your birth. It was given before you even left the Underworld and it is how you managed to get to Earth" he explained, something Penny had never known before.

" That necklace is a cheap trinket and is only good for teleporting the person it bonds with. Considering you had it for so long, it bonded with you. And Lysette would want to use that trinket as a way to return back to the Underworld since all the original portals had been destroyed" he answered, as he raised his hand up to his forehead and sighed. " The portals were destroyed during the last reset and because I saw some of this coming, I made sure they stayed destroyed. So for someone such as Lysette who needs trinkets or portals to come back and forth, losing the trinket would prevent her from getting into the world in time to stop you from doing what you need to do. Now mind you, she will find a way back, just...not immediatly. It's only meant to stall her. But she needs to see that it is destroyed so that she knows her ticket back here is gone. It's harsh, but I promise that once it's over..she can return and I will find a way to sort out the two Lysette issue in the meantime. However, before you return home, I still suggest undergoing training. Because trust me, you are going to need it" he explains and Penny agreed. Any knowledge she could get to help aid her in her task would be greatly appreciated, not to mention that having some family time, is just what she needed.