The Rise of the Black Plain

'This is the third of the three decisions you must make.'

'1. Kill the husband.'

'2. Do nothing and let your accomplice kill your husband.'

'3. Kill the accomplice and save your husband's life.'

'4. Repeat the last option and then commit suicide.'

'You have 10 minutes to make up your mind.' The Goddess' voice sounded in Abby's mind, making her shiver at the options.

"This Goddess of Life is decisive. Only tragedies in our path!" She commented to Minos before explaining to him the options she had.

"Hmm, I'd say she died a virgin by her actions." He teasingly said as the clouds in the sky trembled.

But then he became more severe and questioned his queen. "What will you decide?"

Abby looked at him and then at the three people there, seeing the smile on the accomplice's face, the desolate expression on the husband's face, and the mysterious countenance on the face of her look-alike.

For her, it was not possible to choose the first option. After all, she genuinely loved Minos and would be willing to sacrifice herself for him if that were necessary. So, she would never raise her weapon to him.

The second option would not be her holding the weapon and delivering the final blow, but the result would be the same, his death. So, she could not choose that alternative either.

As for the third, as much as that would be a good one already, Abby felt that her look-alike had already betrayed the husband by standing against him in part of this plot and, in a way, worked against the enemy.

From what she could sense, the husband was poisoned, and considering the situation, only his wife could have done this!

In this case, going back on her ideas or not, her look-alike could not forgive herself if she really loved her husband, as Abby loved Minos.

She then said to him. "I'm going to choose the last option!"

"In a situation like that, just saving the betrayed husband and then killing yourself has the potential to wash away that person's crime."

Minos nodded upon hearing this, understanding Abby's point. 'Even going back on your decision, after a situation like this, the container called marriage could never be remolded, no matter how much resources were poured into it.'

'There would always be a crack indicating that the other side had already done something terrible, and that mark would remind the other party of something important...'

'Could that happen again?'

'From the moment you no longer have the peace of mind necessary for a relationship, it is best to simply end it.' He pondered. 'Considering her side, true regret can be hard to overcome...'

'Sigh...'

'But I'm not sure there's a need for that extremism.' So he considered as he saw those people moving again.

When that happened, instead of Abby's look-alike attacking her betrayed spouse, she used everything she had to eliminate her accomplice, striking a blow from behind that man's back.

"Cough! Cough!" He coughed up blood as he felt the icy blade of his ally's sword go through his heart.

After seeing that, the spouse was shocked by this change of circumstance, finally lowering his guard to fall to the ground in exhaustion.

After killing his accomplice, Abby's look-alike rushed to her husband's side, crying gallons as she tried to help him. "Forgive me. I made a terrible mistake!" She said as she lifted his head onto her lap to help him drink the antidote of the poison she had put in his food.

He said nothing, just accepting this situation for the moment.

"I know I don't deserve your trust anymore, but please forgive me." She cried as she hugged his face. "I am a pathetic woman who was seduced by that man's words..."

"I didn't mean your harm, but when I saw, I had already done more than I should have and kept going..." She tried to explain herself, but her husband barely understood half of her words.

After a while, having verified that he was no longer in danger, she turned away from him and smiled. "I'm sorry, honey. But you will have to go on without me..."

A second later, she used her sword to cut her belly, letting her intestines fall out as she screamed in agony.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

Her screams went on for some time, with her falling to the ground and the light in her eyes disappearing along with her life; the last image she saw was her husband's horrified expression.

After seeing this while feeling a terrible sensation in their bodies, Minos and Abby saw the clouds above that area begin to swirl, as they had earlier.

With that, they were quick to fly towards that place, ready to move on with the last test of this inheritance.

"I wonder what's in our way now?" Minos asked Abby as he flew with her in his arms.

"I don't know, but we'll find out in a moment..."

...

After some time flying, Minos and Abby found themselves in a similar situation as before, flying down, only in a completely different place than before.

That was an almost entirely white space, surrounded by clouds, with a giant golden statue of the Goddess of Life in the center of that area.

Seeing this, Minos flew with Abby, not taking long to land in the vicinity.

As they did so, the two saw black clouds entering the body of that statue as if the statue's 'skin' was absorbing it.

A second later, that thing looked down and came to life. "So, you passed my second test, huh?" It said in a playful tone.

Upon hearing this, Minos looked away and clicked his tongue.

Abby then asked. "Goddess of Life, what is the meaning of that last test? Why did I have to make those decisions? Wasn't that too easy?"

She looked at Abby and smiled. "Too easy? They may have been easy for you who have a strong mental strength and know what you want..."

"But an unstable person, who has no idea what they want out of life, would be very tempted to make different decisions on that test, even considering the common sense." She looked at Minos. "You may not have felt it, but during that test, I poisoned you with a substance that forces you only to speak and think the truth."

"Oh?" Minos opened his mouth, this being the first time he had been poisoned without having the slightest notion.

But looking at his Spatial Kingdom ring, he knew that the reason for this was simply because the Goddess of Life had not threatened his life.

The Goddess of Life then continued. "As for the meaning of those choices, well, that was to test the mental toughness of my chosen ones."

"Originally, the test was supposed to be different. But when I saw your relationship and your little boyfriend's influence in your life, I realized that testing you in this way would be more appropriate."

"If you were not compatible, it would be better to find out now and separate further down the line than to have destructive surprises in the future." She looked at the two of them seriously. "Sometimes there are times of crisis in a relationship. And in those times, if both parties lack certain characteristics, the ability to make difficult but necessary choices, only failure awaits them."

"So, I gave you a test that involved the situation of one's dream, the worst that could happen to the other, and the end of both."

"The first choice tested the couple's ability to continue together, even in the necessity of sacrificing a baby." She looked thoughtfully at Abby, "As my heiress, I can't let you kill yourself for a child."

"The second was a test of whether you, Abby, would be able to help your man solve the problem, even if in a cruel way." She looked at Minos. "A betrayal can be catastrophic... You have no idea!"

"As for the last one, that was your proof of love towards him, something that will serve to pave the complicit relationship you need to have."

"Only then will you both reach your respective peaks, and my inheritance not be wasted." She smiled, showing her ultimate goal.

...