Breaking the Law
Since Voltage are leaving me high and dry with the next instalment of the Paradiso Four, I’m going back to my greatest love of all: Star-Crossed Myth. Now you also have a Whitney Houston song stuck in your head, or the one from Judas Priest. Either way, you’re welcome.
Zyglavis is my man. We’ve established that. When I saw the cover image of his sequel, I knew I HAD TO KNOW. How dare you throw my man into a dungeon? What could he possibly have done? And how can it possibly not have been entirely justified? This is Zyglavis we’re talking about! Never was there anyone more proper, more just, more inherently LAWFUL GOOD than this man! HOW DARE YOU? I’m looking at you, King.
Synopsis
The MC and Zyglavis spend a day on earth on a date. When they catch a little boy stealing from the souvenir shop at the aquarium, Zyglavis wants to punish him, but the MC stops him. Still convinced that talking to people is best, she talks Zyglavis into just giving the kid a warning to mend his ways. Little do they suspect the extent of the tragedy that will result from this act of kindness.
A few days later, the MC is in town with her friend from the planetarium, when she spots the very same boy shoplifting again. When she runs after him to confront him at the top of a flight of stairs, the ensuing struggle sends her flying down the stairs. She is injured so severely that she dies.
Or she should have… but she doesn’t. She lives and makes a miraculous recovery, because Zyglavis saw everything in his scrying pool and rushed to her side. He is, of course, explicitly forbidden to interfere with a life and death situation of a human, but he disregards this most sacred tenet of the heavens to save the one person he loves. Which is exactly why that law, and all the other laws regulating interactions between the gods and humans, exists. This is the one thing that cannot be forgiven, but there he goes, because the alternative is unspeakable.
Knowing that he will die soon for his transgression, Zyglavis takes the MC to the stargazing village they had visited together in his main story, and soon, the other gods show up to apprehend him. Visibly against their own wishes, but there is only so much they can do. Needless to say, the MC is beyond shaken by this turn of events.
Back in the mansion, the MC is beside herself. Zyglavis is being held in the heavens, where he is to stand trial, at the end of which he will most likely be annihilated. Obviously, the MC will not let that happen. She begs and pleads with the other gods to take her to heaven, so she can testify in favor of Zyglavis. Of course, their romantic relationship must remain secret, lest things get even worse…
They get worse.
Zyglavis’ Point of View
You know what really irked me? There was so much hype about how they can’t be physically intimate, and when they finally do it, they do it off-screen. One day the guy almost dies, the next they “had finally spent the night together”. For fuck’s sake, like literally, what were the writers thinking? Well. Apparently, they just wanted another two bucks for his PoV, because here it is, that night, in all its glory. It’s the least they could do.
Epilogue
Not only is Zyglavis free and reinstated as Minister of Punishments, he’s also wildly popular with, well, everyone. Between this and his minions (hello there, Scorpio the Cockblock) constantly interfering, it becomes increasingly difficult for the couple to find time for each other. He almost manages to stand her up for an elaborate, home-cooked meal, because she didn’t tell him what she was planning.
Then there’s the bathtub. Somehow, there’s always a bathtub, and typically, the MC cannot handle the fucking bathtub. Seeing as they are a fundamental part of Japanese culture, I do not understand how she can fail so totally at taking a bath with a man. I get the whole bullshit socialisation of being ashamed of one’s own body, but this needs to stop. Zyglavis himself puts it best:
As always, this stupid epilogue just tarnishes the whole story. Shame on you, writers. Don’t waste money on this, there’s nothing of worth here.
The Chemistry
The chemistry between Zyglavis and the MC is wonderfully charged in the beginning of this story. The cannot be physically intimate, but that doesn’t make them want it any less. They are on fire for each other, and their efforts to control themselves are shown vividly on both sides. Which, of course, makes what transpires even more tragic; they work so hard in order to not commit a comparably lesser sin, that it is of course heartbreaking when Zyglavis breaks the most important law of heaven. The love, it is too much. Both are absolutely willing to die for one another, and here, it’s not an empty phrase, it is pretty much where this is going. I was basically in agony the whole time.
Some of the best moments of this story come from the supporting cast of the other gods, most of all Scorpio, Leon, Krioff, and Ichthys. Especially Scorpio made me laugh out loud a few times in what is actually an extremely dramatic story. Scorpio has zero fucks to give for the laws of heaven, or the King, for that matter. Had it been up to him, outright rebellion would always have been an option, and when it seems that there is no other way, he does resolve to do just that. It’s not particularly hard to talk everyone else into this course of action.
Especially Leon. Leon, whom I thoroughly disliked so far, goes to great lengths to redeem himself in my eyes. I mean, obviously, Zyglavis and Leon are never (never ever EVAR) going to be friends, but they might not, in fact, hate each other with quite as much passion as they pretend.
Ichthys, whom one can easily misinterpret as a feckless jester, is visibly distraught throughout, and takes considerable personal risks to help the protagonists. In essence, every single one of the eleven remaining gods is shocked by what transpires and wants to help.
The absence of the King for most of the story is… I don’t know. I do not appreciate it. I mean, it’s certainly better to have him gone than to have him as an adversary, as seen with Scorpio (I’ll get to that), but he could have done something earlier. Just saying. The sparkly bastard.
The Love Meter
You dare ask? It is obviously all the way at the end of Blessed, because Zyglavis is my man.
Bottom Line
I cannot even describe what I went through with this story. I suffered as no mortal has suffered before. Until the very end, I didn’t know how they were gonna fix this. I can’t believe they put me through this. Needless to say, best story ever, full points. Just don’t ever do that to me again.
Pretty Boys All in a Row 