After death, some souls shall go to heaven, others to hell and some few to the abyss
Abaddon the Angel of the abyss.
Abaddon is called the destroyer, the Angel that rules over Sheol and Gehenna.
Abaddon has a son, a boy by the name of Apollo.
Apollo looked out at the vast ocean that was the abyss, inside the abyss was glittering stars, each star, a soul.
" What are you trying to see? " said Abaddon from behind his son.
" The end of the abyss, " said Apollo.
Abaddon just smiled.
Apollo then stood up and walked over to his father.
Abaddon kneeled down and held his son in his embrace.
" Father, must I go? " said Apollo in an innocent tone, which only a child could make.
Abaddon held his son by his shoulders and smiled.
" My boy, my son, my dear Apollo. I know that new things can be scary and no-one likes change, but know this my son, you are the light in the abyss, my light, my son, my dear Apollo "
Apollo could not hold back his tears.
Father and son embraced once again and then Apollo teleported away, leaving Abaddon alone amidst the souls within the abyss.
A bit of context:
Ivan the fourth, Tsar Ivan or as he is known by all Ivan the Terrible.
Ivan became the first Tsar of Russia, but as his title indicates, his rule over Russia was terrible, to say the least.
I do not have the time nor the desire to talk about the horrific things that the first Tsar of Russia did, from creating a police force that made their homeland their personal playground and even killing his own son.
Speaking of his son, this story is about one of Ivan's sons, Ivan the younger.
Some of you may have heard or seen the painting by Ilya Repin of Ivan the fourth holding his dead son, Ivan the younger killed by Ivan the fourth, the father having killed his own son.
For this story, Ivan Ivanovich has finally had enough of his father's terrible rule, so on the 19th of November 1581, Ivan the younger killed his father, the painting by Ilya Repin now showed a son holding his dead father in his embrace, a single tear could be seen on Ivan the youngers cheek and all Ivan the younger had to say was
" My God, grant him peace "
The Boyars made Ivan the younger the new Tsar of Muscovy and it was Tsar Ivan the younger who conquered Poland-Lithuania and Khanate of Crimea along with the weaker Islamic Khanates, the leftovers from Ghengis Khan's Golden Horde, Khanates like Kazen and Siberia.
It was thanks to Tsar Ivan the younger that Sweet Mother Muscovy was as grand as it was.
Sweet Mother Muscovy
Apollo was walking within the snowy fields of Muscovy.
Apollo was not wearing much clothes but the cold did not seem to bother him.
Apollo walked past some trees and that was when he saw the beautiful lights of Moscow, where Tsar Ivan the younger's palace was.
Apollo now walked through Moscow, while Apollo was enjoying himself, all the citizens of Moscow wondered why this boy was not wearing more clothes.
Apollo did what any boy his age would do when they first meet snow, he builds a snowman.
As Apollo was building his snowman, a man walked by and looked at Apollo, the man was wearing a disguise because, if the people of Moscow knew who the man really was, all of them had to bow before the man.
The man now walked over to Apollo.
" Hello there young child, are you not cold? " said the man.
" No " said Apollo as he was continuing with his snowman.
The man just looked at Apollo.
" Where are your parents? " said the man concerned.
" Physically I am alone, but my father and mother are watching over me " said Apollo with a smile.
The man did not understand.
Apollo had now finished his snowman.
Apollo picked up some rocks and made eyes and a smile on the snowman but the snowman was missing a nose.
" Here " said the man as he was holding a carrot.
" Thank you " said Apollo with a smile.
The snowman was now finished.
" Kind sir, may I know your name? " said Apollo.
" Only after you have told me yours " said the man.
" Fair enough. My name is Apollo "
" Apollo? Now that is an unusual name around here and a deal is a deal- the man now removed his hood- My name is Ivan Ivanovich and I am known as Tsar Ivan the younger of Sweet Mother Muscovy " said Tsar Ivan the younger with a smile.
Apollo felt that the smile of the Tsar could melt snow itself.
Before the people of Muscovy noticed that their Tsar was amidst them, Tsar Ivan the younger quickly covered himself with his hood again.
Tsar Ivan the younger and Apollo looked at one another and then Tsar Ivan the younger said
" If you don't have a home, then please follow me "
" I would be honored to, " said Apollo with a smile that also could melt ice.
Tsar Ivan the younger and Apollo now walked towards the palace of Tsar Ivan the younger.
The mad genius
Two weeks have gone by since Apollo was taken in by Tsar Ivan the younger and the Tsar's wife, who we will talk more of later.
Apollo was made a student of the Tsar's most trusted advisor, the genius the Boyars call mad,
Abbé Faria.
Before anything else, I would first like to mention that it was Abbé Faria who reformed and united the Oprichnina and the Oprichnik to be a more noble and righteous police force and the Oprichnina and the Oprichnik are loyal only to Abbé Faria, that is why the Boyars hate Abbé Faria so much.
Abbé Faria is a kind hearted old man, whose only wish is to help the Tsar.
Apollo has been put under Abbé Faria's wings, it is Abbé Faria's job to teach Apollo to read and write the native language of the people of Muscovy and the Abbé is no stranger when it comes to teaching.
" I don't understand this…. " said Apollo.
" Progress starts with failure my dear boy, start over and try again " said Abbé Faria as he was writing on some papers.
Apollo just smiled and tried again, where he now succeeded.
Death and time
Apollo found himself in one of the nearby forests of Moscow.
While walking, Apollo noticed something odd about the forest.
One half of the forest was dead, the other half was going through the cycle of life, over and over again.
Apollo then noticed a woman and a man.
The woman was standing in the dead forest and the man was standing in the forest of time.
Apollo first walked over to the woman.
The first thing Apollo noticed about the woman was that half of the woman's face was rotten but somehow still pleasing to look at, the other half of the woman's face was youthful and beautiful.
" Excuse me, but what is going on? " said Apollo.
" Is it not obvious? Death dear child, death is what is going on " said the woman.
" Okay, but why is there death? "
" Why is there life? And the reason for all this death is simple, I am Hel, the goddess of death and the underworld "
" Oh… well my name is Apollo and it is honor "
Hel smiled at the young boy.
" Now then, Apollo, what will you do about all this death? " said Hel.
Apollo thought about it for a moment and then said
" If you bring death, then please inhabit my body so I can contain death " said Apollo with resolve.
Hel looked at the naive young boy but Hel was pleased with his answer.
" Very well, if that is your answer, then I shall respect your decision " said Hel with a smile.
Hel's whole body now started to glow and she now had fully inhabited Apollo's body.
Apollo now walked over to the forest of time.
" Excuse me sir, but what is going on here? " said Apollo.
" Why? Time is going by, was that not obvious by what you see " said the man.
" I see, time- Apollo now had an idea but first he had to know the man's name - could you tell me your name? My name is Apollo "
" And my name is Aion the god of time "
" Mister Aion, I know that time is a friend to no man but… will you be my friend? " said Apollo with a smile only a child could make.
Aion was surprised by Apollo's words.
" Hmmmm, well played dear boy and yes, I will be your friend " said Aion with a smile.
Aion's body now glowed and Aion had now fully inhabited Apollo's body.
With that, Apollo walked back to the palace along with his new friends, death and time.
Oh, and the forest returned back to normal.
The sons of strength
Apollo actually has two friends who are also students of Abbé Faria, their names, Alexiares and Anicetus, the sons of Heracles and Hebe.
Alexiares and Anicetus are the same age as Apollo, it is said that Alexiares and Anicetus are the gods of defense and the friends of Apollo.
For now, Alexiares and Anicetus are watching over the wife of Tsar Ivan the younger, the fair and beautiful Queen Yelena Sheremeteva and you might be asking yourself, why would the Queen need bodyguards? Well… other than being a Queen, Yelena is pregnant with Tsar Ivan the younger's child.
" So, how is the Queen these days? " said Apollo.
" She is thankfully doing well for a pregnant woman, " said Alexiares.
" But honestly, this job can be kind of boring…. " said Anicetus who craved excitement.
" Alexiares and Anicetus, the Queen awaits your presence " said a guard.
" You heard the man, duty calls…. " said Anicetus.
" See you later, Apollo, " said Alexiares.
" See you " said Apollo to his two friends with a smile.
The hellhound
It should come as no surprise that Moscow is a cold place with all the snow and ice, so when one wishes to sleep, they are going to need a lot of blankets but on a certain night Apollo felt that he did not need as many blankets as usual, for once, Apollo was warm, which was not something normal, so Apollo got out from his bed and started to investigate, which led him so a certain part of a forest where all the snow and ice had melted and for once, the colour green could be seen.
Amidst all the green was what looked like a hound, a hellhound.
" Now that is one big dog, " said Aion.
" I wonder if he is friendly? " said Apollo.
" Wait, is that- but before Hel could finish, the hellhound opened its glowing eyes and ran towards Apollo.
Apollo fell to his butt and thought that the hellhound would bite him but when Apollo opened his eyes again, all he saw was the hellhound in front of him, wagging its tail.
The hellhound now licked Apollo.
" Okay .... " said Apollo confused.
" I knew he looked familiar! It is Garmr! My guard dog, " said Hel.
" You have a guard dog? " said Aion as Garmr continued to lick Apollo.
" It seems like he likes you, " said Hel.
" Down boy " said Apollo with a smile.
After having played with Garmr for a bit, Apollo decided to sleep in the forest with Garmr that night and as Apollo would later say, Garmr's fur is soft like heaven.
The god of decay
For a couple of days, strange things have been happening in Moscow, death and decay are everywhere and Hel has promised that she is not the cause of it.
The death and decay has attacked people, houses and even insects.
Tsar Ivan the younger is doing everything in his power to find the cause of all this death and decay, and so is Apollo.
Apollo finds himself within one of the snowy forests near Moscow, nothing seemed out of the norm but that was when the wind carried with it a foul stench that would even make poop throw up.
Apollo also noticed the trees, bushes and plants die right in front of him.
Apollo did his best to hang in there but his senses were being overwhelmed and that was when he saw it, two red lights amidst all the death and decay.
Apollo's whole body froze with such a fear that snow and ice would be envious.
The two red lights looked like eyes that were coming closer and closer, Apollo's whole body now started to shake but Apollo then calmed down and showed no sign of fear.
The red eyeballs showed a sign of curiosity at the sudden change, which Apollo simply responded with
" I have looked into the abyss " said the son of Abaddon with a smile.
The red eyeballs came close enough so Apollo could finally see the body where they came from.
Apollo noticed a well-toned body and the body looked like it was that of a man, who had a mask on and was holding a staff.
" Who are you? " said Apollo.
" That is Ah Puch, the Mayan god of the ninth hell, death and decay " said Aion.
" The odd thing is that Ah Puch is also the god of the birth of children and beginnings " said Hel.
" Well, the god Apollo is the god of medicine and sickness and Janus is the god of beginnings and ends " said Aion.
" A fair point…. " said Hel.
" What do you want here in Moscow? " said Apollo finally.
Ah Puch looked and moved his body around Apollo like a dog that was curious.
" Tell me, son of the abyss. Do you fear death? " said Ah Puch in a tone that made him sound like a monster and a hero.
" I do not fear the abyss, so no, I do not fear death " said Apollo with confidence.
" I see " said Ah Puch.
Ah Puch then stood back up and started to leave.
" Wait! You still have not told me what you are doing here? " said Apollo.
Ah Puch simply turned his head around and looked at Apollo with his glowing red eyes.
" I shall do that which I exist for and that is death and decay and sometimes the birth of children " said Ah Puch.
" But why here in Moscow? " said Apollo.
Ah Puch was quiet for a moment.
" Because… I wish to see which is better, death and decay or the abyss "
With that, Ah Puch vanished.
Apollo took a moment to look around at all the death and decay that had been done to the poor forest.
" Hel… can you do something? " said Apollo.
" Forgive me child, I bring death, I do not reverse it " said Hel.
" And, that is why, I am here. " said Aion, almost like a superhero.
Aion used his power of time to reverse the death and decay that Ah Puch had brought, and after a few seconds, the forest was good as new.
Apollo had a smile of joy but it was now time to return to Moscow and prepare for Ah Puch.
" Wait...Hel, you do not bring death, you watch over the dead, right? " said Aion.
Hel was surprised that Aion was asking the right questions.
Part 2
The King that tried to kill baby Jesus
" Teacher, I have a question, " said Apollo.
" Ask and I will answer, " said Abbé Faria.
" There comes a time, when an evil ruler's rule is foretold to be damned by the birth of a hero, so the evil ruler always tries their best to end the baby hero but always fails, just like Zahhak and Seti the first failed " said Apollo.
" I fail to see the question, " said Abbé Faria.
" My question is- but before Apollo could ask, a guard come into the room
" Abbé Faria, the Tsar has requested your presence at once "
Abbé Faria and Apollo went to the throne room of Tsar Ivan the younger, and the Boyars were there as well.
" My Tsar, you have called for me " said Abbé Faria.
" Oh, great Abbé Faria, it seems that Moscow is under attack " said Tsar Ivan the younger.
" I see, when will the enemy arrive? " said Abbé Faria.
" They are already here, " said one of the Boyars.
" Forgive me, sire, but should we not have known about the enemy before they arrived here in Moscow? " said Abbé Faria.
" That is what we were hoping you could help us understand. How did an enemy, with an entire army, not get noticed by any of my men before they came to Moscow? " said Tsar Ivan the younger.
The Abbé thought about it for a moment.
" Maybe Baba Yaga helped them? " said Abbé Faria with a straight face.
Both Apollo and Tsar Ivan the younger let out a giggle, but the Boyars were not amused.
" Abbé if you are not going to take this seriously, then kindly leave " said one of the Boyars.
" Forgive me " said Abbé Faria with a smile " Now then, what we did not know before, let us now know " said the mad genius.
" Tell me of your plan, great Abbé, " said Tsar Ivan the younger.
" I will send one man from Oprichnina to invite the leader of this army to have a little dialogue with us all, " said Abbé Faria.
Before any from the Boyars could say their plans, Tsar Ivan the younger said
" Make it so "
With that, one man from the Oprichnina, went out and invited the leader of the foreign army to the throne room of Tsar Ivan the younger.
" I am Tsar Ivan the younger, state your name and business "
" I am Herod the Great, once King of the Jews and I have come here to do battle against the Tsar and his people "
" Herod? Like Herod from the bible? " said Tsar Ivan the younger, a bit confused along with everyone else in the throne room.
King Herod simply smiled.
" I see, is there no other way for us to settle this without violence? " said Tsar Ivan the younger.
" Afraid not, " said King Herod.
" I see, then please give me some time to assemble my army and then, we shall have a glorious battle " said Tsar Ivan the younger now standing up from his throne.
" Very well, " said King Herod who then left to join his army.
Some time had passed but now, the army of Tsar Ivan the younger and King Herod were now before one another.
" My King, we are ready, " said one of Herod's men.
King Herod raised his sword towards the heavens and then said
" Men! Let us show these mortals that fate holds no power over us! " yelled the mighty King.
" My Tsar, we await your command " said one of Tsar Ivan the younger's men.
" My friends, my people, let us do God a favor and kill Herod once and for all! " yelled the great Tsar.
The battle began and the King and Tsar went directly after one another, the white snow of Moscow was painted red, but do not assume that the battle was cruel and unforgiving, all of you must remember, that if there is one thing that Russians like and love, then it is to drink and fight, which meant that Herod's men stood no chance to begin with.
The Tsar and his men were victories and the King and his men vanished into dust.
Now, Apollo finally got to ask his question.
" Why did Ramesses the second become Ramesses the second and not Seti the second? "
" Well. Since Seti the first was the one who ordered the massacre of the Hebrew boys, so young Ramesses must not have wanted to inherit his father's name, out of love for his adopted brother "
" Then why did Ramesses try to kill Moses in the end? "
" Would you not be a little upset if your brother brought plagues on your home and people? "
And all Apollo had to say was
" A fair point "
Little boot
Time for a harsh truth.
They say that history is written by the rich and powerful.
One eksempel of this is the knight; Gilles de Rais, who is known as Bluebeard.
It is said, that after the death of Joan of Arc, Gilles de Rais went mad and started to murder children and did many other horrific deeds, now, that is the official story by the church and the french goverment of that time, but, accoding to Margot K. Juby, Gilles de Rais might actually be innocent and never committed any of the crimes he was accused of and don't get me started on the poor people who were accused of witchcraft by Matthew Hopkins.
It seems that there is a harsh truth in life, those who have money and power, also, have the lives of others in their very palms.
Once again, everyone was assembled within the throne-room of Tsar Ivan the younger, it seems that a new enemy has come to Moscow.
" Do we know anything of the enemy? " said Tsar Ivan the younger.
" No, like the one before, they come out of nowhere… " said one of the Boyars.
The Tsar now looked at Abbé Faria.
" I already sent one of the Oprichnina to summon the leader… " said Abbé Faria like a "but" was coming.
" But, the man was sent back headless " finished Abbé Faria.
The Tsar laid back in his throne as everyone in the throne-room fell quiet.
" Did he have any family? " asked the Tsar.
" No sire, he was an orphan, who was taken in by the Oprichnina… he was very beloved " said Abbé Faria.
The whole throne-room fell quiet yet again.
The Tsar stood up from his throne and simply said
" Ready my army "
Outside Moscow, stood the two armies, one led by the Tsar and the other by Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, also known as Caligula.
The Tsar raised his sword up high and said
" Men. This day, we do not just fight for Moscow or to protect our families, but for our fallen brother. We fight this day, for revenge "
All of the men of the Tsar were ready.
The once Emperor of Rome also raised his sword.
" Men, this day, we fight for Rome, this day, we fight for the glory of Rome!!! " yelled the Emperor.
The battle began and this time, the Russians showed no mercy, it was a slaughter and when it finally ended, the plants and ground were painted a scarlet red.
The Tsar and his men, of course, won that day and Caligula and all his men vanished into dust.
A glorious funeral was held for the man who once had no family, but could now, call all of Muscovy his family.
Apollo asked Hel and Aion to bring the man back, but as Hel and Aion would say
" Let the dead stay dead, so that they may know peace "
The Emperor who liked the theater but was mad as hell
They say that for some, the battlefield is like a theater.
Apollo is looking at a toy shadow theater.
Cows, horses and sheeps were on the walls of the room, all of them spinning around the room.
" Impressive, right? " said Abbé Faria.
" Yeah " said Apollo with a sound of joy.
" It seems that there can be found some joy from the shadows " said Abbé Faria with a smile.
The door to the room then went open.
" Abbé, the Tsar has requested your presence " said Alexiares.
Once more, at the throne-room of the Tsar, everyone was gathered.
" I must say that three armies in under three months, does seem a bit strange " said one of the Boyars.
The Tsar now looked at the Abbé.
" Well, it could be that Chernobog wanted some fun, " said the Abbé with a straight face.
Both Apollo and the Tsar smiled, while the Boyars glared at Abbé Faria.
" Regardless, there is an army to deal with, and this time, I shall go personally to meet the leader " said the Tsar.
" Sire, with all due respect- but before the Boyars could finish, the Tsar said
" My decision is made "
With that, the Tsar gathered his army and went out to meet the enemy outside Moscow.
The two armies were before one another.
The two leaders rode forth to meet one another, but Apollo decided to tag along with the Tsar.
The two leaders were now face to face.
" I am Tsar Ivan the younger, state your name and business "
" I am Emperor Nero Claudius and I am here on the behalf of another "
" On whose behalf? " asked the Tsar.
But before Nero could answer, the Emperor noticed the toy shadow theater on Apollo's horse.
" Boy! What is that? It looks like a small theater! " exclaimed the Emperor all excited.
Apollo did not say anything, he instead gave Nero the small toy theater.
" By Rome… THIS IS GLORIOUS! Men, we are leaving! " said Emperor Nero Claudius.
And with that, the Emperor and his men vanished into dust.
For the first time, in a long time, the Tsar of Muscovy had a confused look on his face.
" Well…. it seems that it is over… hmmm " said the Tsar.
The Tsar and his men alongside Apollo returned home, where the Tsar and all his men partied till dawn, while Apollo enjoyed his toy shadow theater, for he had another.
The girl who was helped by the witch
On a normal day, something odd happened.
Apollo was taking a walk with Garmr, when Apollo noticed three riders, one had a white horse and was dressed in all-white, the other was on a red horse and was dressed in all-red and the third was on a black horse dressed in all-black.
Apollo and the three riders just looked at each other, the riders then rode away and for some odd reason, Apollo followed them, for he did have Garmr with him.
After having walked for a bit.
Apollo and Garmr reached a part of the forest where there was no snow nor ice and in the middle sat a beautiful young girl holding a doll.
Garmr went over and acted playful towards the young girl.
The young girl and Apollo now locked eyes.
The young girl smiled which made Apollo's heart skip a beat.
Apollo summoned up his courage and walked over to the young girl.
" Uhm… Hi " said Apollo with a smile and perspiration on his forehead.
" Poor guy, " said Aion.
" Hang in there! " said Hel.
" Hi, what is your name? " said the young girl with a smile that made Apollo sweat even more.
" My name is Apollyon, I mean Apollo… " said Apollo all flustered.
The little girl just smiled.
" My name is Vasilisa "
In that moment, Apollo could almost swear that he had never heard a more beautiful name.
Apollo and Vasilisa now started to talk.
Apollo found out that Vasilisa had run away from home because her stepmother is a cruel and evil woman. Along the way, she ran into an old woman with a chicken. The old woman told her to wait at this spot and someone would come and show her her new home, and you guys can be sure that Apollo listened to every word Vasilisa said.
As night could now be seen atop the sky, Apollo offered Vasilisa to come back with him to Moscow.
As Apollo extended his hand, Vasilisa happily took hold of Apollo's hand, with Garmr lighting their way, Apollo and Vasilisa returned home, to Moscow
Part 3
The monster that steals children
Two months have gone by since Vasilisa was taken in by the Tsar and Queen.
Let us just say, Alexiares and Anicetus are always teasing Apollo whenever they see Apollo and Vasilisa together, Apollo always gets shy about it, so it is up to Vasilisa to put Alexiares and Anicetus in their place.
Vasilisa spends most of her time with Queen Yelena.
The Queen sees Vasilisa as her own daughter.
Apollo was within the study room of Abbé Faria.
Faria noticed that Apollo was looking at the window and that he had a smile on his face.
The Abbé walked over and lent over Apollo to see what Apollo was looking at, in the royal garden was the Queen, Alexiares, Anicetus and Vasilisa.
" The garden has many beautiful flowers, " said the Abbé.
" She sure is, " said Apollo, unaware of what he just said.
Faria just smiled.
Apollo finally realized what he had said, he quickly turned around, and red as a tomato said
" Yes! The garden has many beautiful flowers! " said Apollo with sweat dripping from every fiber of his body.
" Get it together kid.. " said Aion.
" Leave him be, he is in love " said Hel.
The Abbé simply smiled and walked back to his desk.
Apollo tried to get his beating heart under control, Apollo looked at the window yet again and noticed that Vasilisa was smiling, Apollo's heart was no longer beating like crazy.
A couple of days have gone by, and strange rumors have been spreading all over Moscow, rumors like, children vanishing and the last thing people saw when the children vanished was a horned half-goat and half-demon thing, these rumors finally reached the ears of the Tsar, the Tsar told his men to look for this horned half-goat and half-demon thing, even Apollo and his friends went out looking.
" Apollo, I know that you are looking for clues, but that is going to be difficult considering all the snow… " said Hel.
" I have to try, " said Apollo, looking for clues.
" I got this, " said Aion.
Aion pulled back time to a point where Apollo could look for clues.
" Thank you Aion! " said Apollo.
Aion was all proud of himself within Apollo, while Hel was not amused.
Apollo now noticed some inhuman footprints.
" Guys! Come and see! " said Apollo and Alexiares and Anicetus come running.
" Well well " said Alexiares with a smile.
" They are huge!! " said Anicetus.
" Come on, let us hurry! " said Apollo and the three boys followed the footprints.
After they had run for a while, the three boys saw what looked like a half-man and half-goat monster.
" What is that? " said Alexiares.
" That looks like fun, " said Anicetus.
" That is the Krampus, " said Hel.
Apollo was quiet for a moment.
" Guys, have I ever told you that I have a pet dog? " said Apollo.
Alexiares and Anicetus both just looked at Apollo.
Apollo then whistled.
The Krampus now noticed all three children, but all four heard running footsteps and saw a light coming towards them, and that was when Garmr jumped out from the trees and attacked the Krampus.
" Is that a mini Cerberus? " said Alexiares.
" That hellhound is amazing! " said Anicetus.
All three boys jumped out from the bushes they were hiding in and helped Garmr take down the Krampus, after having wrestled for a bit, the Krampus was defeated and turned into dust.
" Now that is a good boy! " said Anicetus while petting Garmr, Garmr licked Anicetus's face.
Alexiares and Apollo gave each other a high five.
All four went to a nearby cave and found the missing children.
Everyone finally went home to Sweet Mother Muscovy.
The child that did not listen to their parent
Apollo did his damndest to try and get himself and Vasilisa some time alone… or as alone as they could get…. considering that Hel and Aion were inside Apollo and Garmr was there but as Apollo's wingman.
Apollo and Vasilisa were at a waterfall, the light of the sun was reflecting off the icy surface of the frozen waterfall.
Vasilisa was running her hand on the fur of a sleeping Garmr while Apollo was trying to start a conversation.
" Just say something! " said Aion.
" Uhm…. Vasilisa… something.. " said Apollo nervously and not realising his mistake.
Aion was speechless.
" Seems he took it literally, " said Hel.
Vasilisa just looked at Apollo, while Apollo was dying from embarrassment now that he realized his mistake.
" I….uhm…something smells, " said Apollo, now serious.
Vasilisa could smell it as well, it smelled like something was burning.
Garmr was now on alert and awoke.
Apollo and Vasilisa could now hear footsteps, from the bushes nearby, the two of them now saw what looked like a boy wrapped in bandages, while on fire.
" Uhm… guys? " said Apollo confused.
" That is Abu Rigi Maslukha, a ghost of a burned child who did not listen to their parents, " said Hel.
The burning ghost walked closer to Apollo and Vasilisa.
" Garmr " said Apollo and the hellhound was ready to attack but, that was when, without saying a word, Vasilisa walked towards the burning ghost.
" Vasilisa! What are you doing?! " said Apollo as he felt fear consume his heart.
" Worry not, this poor child is suffering, I simply want to help " said Vasilisa in a tone that banished all the fear from Apollo's heart.
Vasilisa held out her arms which frightened the burning ghost, for it felt no malice or fear from Vasilisa, all it felt from her, was love, compassion and hope.
Vasilisa now gently touched the suffering child and the flames did not harm her.
The ghost looked into the kind and sweet eyes of Vasilisa.
" It is okay, I want to help " said Vasilisa with a smile.
The burning ghost did something it had not done in a long time, it cried, but not tears of sadness, but tears of hope, something it had not felt in a long time.
The burning ghost now turned into dust, but before it had completely vanished, the once small child said
" Thank you "
All that was left now, was dust.
Vasilisa could not hold back her own tears.
Apollo walked over to Vasilisa.
" It is okay, it is okay to cry " said Apollo with a smile.
Vasilisa now turned around and was in Apollo's embrace.
Apollo… did not know what to make of the situation, on one hand, something sad had happened, on the other hand, Vasilisa was hugging him…. but, before Apollo could decide on what to feel, Garmr snarled at something inside the bushes.
" What is it boy? " Apollo said while he and Vasilisa looked at the moving bushes, suddenly, a little creature jumped into Vasilisa's embrace.
The little creature had the head of a rabbit, the body of a squirrel, the antlers of a deer and the wings of a pheasant.
" What is that? " said Apollo.
" It is a baby Wolpertinger, " said Aion.
The baby Wolpertinger was now licking Vasilisa's face and for some reason, Apollo felt immense rage.
" Apollo let us go back and show everyone our new friend " said Vasilisa who now started to walk back towards Moscow with the baby Wolpertinger.
Apollo….. did not know what to say.
Garmr walked over to Apollo.
" Let us go back " said Apollo and he and Garmr now walked back to Moscow.
The headless knight
" Abbé, what is the Well of Hell? " said Apollo.
The Abbé looked at Apollo with a confused look on his face.
" What? "
" My dear child, you ask about something that has not happened yet "
" Then why do you know about it? " said Apollo with a smile.
The Abbé just looked at Apollo.
" The Well of Hell, as its name suggest, was said to be a Well straight to Hell "
" Is it here in Russia? "
" Now, no, later, yes "
Apollo was walking around in a nearby forest, sulking.
" Dear child, let it go, " said Hel.
" No! Why does that baby Wolpertinger get to spend so much time with Vasilisa!! " said Apollo full of emotions.
" It seems that our dear Apollo is envious of a rabbit with horns " said Aion while almost giggling, before Apollo could give Aion an angry retort, the footsteps of a horse could be heard.
Apollo looked and saw something strange.
" Why is a rider holding a lamp in the middle of the day? " said Apollo confused.
The rider got closer and closer, when Apollo finally got to see the rider, his blood froze.
" He is holding his own head… "
" A Dullahan… " said Hel.
The Dullahan got ready to attack.
" Guys, I need a horse, " said Apollo.
" I have something better in mind " said Hel with a smile.
The ground cracked open and out came the feathered dragon Niðhöggr.
It was a good thing that the Dullahan was already holding his head, for he would have dropped it with the appearance of Niðhöggr.
" I could just age up the Dullahan till he is nothing more then dust… " said Aion sounding like he was sulking.
Hel was just smiling.
" Amazing " said Apollo with the true joy of a child.
Niðhöggr lowered its head and Apollo now sat on top of Niðhöggr's head.
" You ready? " said Apollo with a smile.
The Dullahan readied his spear in his right hand and held his head tightly in his left hand.
The headless knight now charged straight at the child on the dragon but on this day, the dragon won over the knight and the child got a free ride back home on a dragon.
The great Queen of Russia
The Tsar and Apollo finally got some time together.
" Tsar, why do people call Muscovy the third Rome? " said Apollo.
The Tsar simply smiled.
The Tsar simply said
" My boy, just look "
From atop the palace within Moscow, Apollo looked and did not believe his eyes.
It was late at night, the moon was full and all the lights of Moscow looked like glittering stars, this scene looked somehow familiar to Apollo, the boy could not help but smile.
" I see it "
The Tsar held Apollo close, like a father who cared deeply for his boy.
Everyone was yet again inside the throne-room of Tsar Ivan the younger.
" Sire, one more army has come to Moscow " said one of the Boyars.
The Tsar looked at Abbé Faria.
" Sire, she has already come to speak with you " said the Abbé.
The Tsar had only one thing to say
" She? "
The doors to the throne-room went open and in walked a woman whose beauty had no equal.
The woman was wearing armor and had a sword at her hip.
" Who are you? " said Tsar Ivan the younger.
" I am Catherine the Great, the greatest Empress of Russia "
" What do you mean by, the greatest Empress of Russia? " said Tsar Ivan the younger, who was a little confused but all Catherine gave him was a smile.
" I see, what business do you have here? " said the Tsar.
" Is it not obvious? I am here to take back Russia " said Catherine the Great.
" Others have tried, why should you be different? " said the Tsar with a smile.
" For you see, it takes a Russian to take down a Russian " said Catherine the Great with a smile.
The Tsar just looked at the Great.
" I think that our talk is over, " said the Tsar.
" As do I, see you on the battlefield, " said the Great.
Catherine now left to join her army.
The Tsar smiled and then said
" Let us go and have some fun "
The two great Russians along with their armies stood before one another.
One of Catherine's generals, Alexander Suvorov rode up to his Queen.
" Your majesty, do you think we can do this? " said Alexander.
" General, I settled Alaska, this is but a cold breeze " said Catherine the Great with a smile only she could make.
The beloved Empress raised her sword and spoke these words
" Soldiers, before we battle, there is one thing that comes to mind, I recall my mood before I ascended to the throne; I used to say to myself that happiness and misery depend on ourselves. If you feel unhappy, raise yourself above unhappiness, and so act that your happiness may be independent of all eventualities "
All of Catherine's men were ready to die for their Empress once more.
Tsar Ivan the younger had heard Catherine's speech and the look of respect could be seen on his face.
" Men, fellow Russians, our homeland may be cold but our hearts and souls burn more fiercely than hell itself - the Tsar drew forth his sword like a true ruler - Now, let us show them the fire that burns within us all! "
The Tsar's words lit a fire within his men, the Empress was impressed and the battle now began, Russian vs Russian.
In the end, Tsar Ivan the younger and his army won.
Later that day, Queen Yelena gave birth to a son, the Queen and the Tsar named their son Alexei.