"This is it..."
"No distractions..."
"No backin' out..."
"We're not leaving until this is over..."
Vix and her Shadow sat back to back beside the crimson river, their eyes shut, and a breeze flowed over them. The Lamp's flame burned dimly with a lavender glow, and the Shadow's near-shapeless body seemed to devour any of the light that touched it.
In... Out...
They both inhaled, raising their heads, then exhaled. The flow of the river started to quiet, slowly being replaced with a faint, soft hum. Despite Vix's flame, the air around the two grew cold and thin, and the breeze picked up even further.
"I'm--
--ready."
A rapid heartbeat pounded in their ears, beating against an aching chest. Their lungs burned with each sharp breath they took, their legs were so sore they couldn't feel them anymore, their arms fell to their scaled sides, and one of their claws tightly held onto a jagged, black gem.
In... Out...
Exhaustion blurred and dulled most of their senses, but they had enough sense to take in where they were. The hellscape around them had shifted into a long, dim hallway, full of broken metal, ruined pillars, with shards of glass shattered on the floor. Above them, sparks of electricity rained down from shatter lights and exposed wires. A blinding, massive, white light shone at the end of the hall.
Fighting their tiredness they pressed onwards, a snarl on their lips. The hell started to change as well, opening up to a wide, glass-dome-covered room. Giant windows revealed an endless, glistening skyline, with the light of the morning sun shining over it all. Vibrant oranges, yellows, and reds, reflected from the buildings outside, washed over the room like the leaves in autumn.
They stopped in the middle of their room, tightening their fists with a snarl on their face. The light stood before them, shining brighter than the sunlight outside the room. It looked just like them, yet entirely unrecognizable... It held its hands behind its back, it swished its tail back and forth, and a mocking smile rested on its face. They and the light stared at each other in silence, nothing could have been said anyway...
As they raised their gem up, a blaze of emotion burned inside their chest;
Anticipation and uneasiness...
'We can not leave until this is over...'
Regret and resolve...
"No backin' out..."
Determination...
'No distractions...'
But, burning bright above them all...
"This is it..."
Justice.
They pierced the gem into their chest with all the force their weakened body could produce, a sharp, choked breath escaping them as a dark, reddish purple fluid oozed from their body. A fierce-burning cold shot through them, clawing over their body. Their knees gave out and they fell to the ground, hissing and writhing in pain as more of that fluid flooded out of their body.
Howling laughter filled their ears; the Light's smile stretched wide, broken up by sharp teeth. It said something, but... they couldn't hear it. Slowly, everything started to fade into darkness...
A deathly chill shot their eyes back open. Everything was in silent ruin, either tainted with darkness or burning with light. The sun was gone, as was every last bit of color as well. They felt empty and cold, lifeless. It took a moment for them to realize that they weren't alone, however. Laying on the ground before them, in a pile of rubble and glass, was the Light, now dim and fading.
"Did we... did I mess up?" Vix asked, but no one answered. They clenched their eyes shut, biting their lip as black tears rolled down their face. "N-No, I... I didn't... I didn't..."
That emptiness took a hold of Vix, pulling them down to their knees. With shaky, black claws, they reached for the Light, taking its hand in their own. Their tears splattered against the Light, and it raised its free hand up to their cheek. Their cold was gone for a moment, replaced for a familial warmth that Vix had longed for, bringing out more tears.
"I-I thought... I thought I was making things right... I thought I was a doing good for once, being a
hero for once... But I'm not. They were right, they always were. I'm no hero, I'm just...." Vix pressed their head into the Light's chest, choking on sobs.
"I-I'm..."
They froze, hearing a faint, weak voice call to them. They raised their head off of the Light, seeing its mouth move but not hearing anything it said, but their tears poured down their face anyway. Remorseful cries echoed in the destroyed room, and an intense pain shot through their heart. What had they done? What had they done...
"I-I'm... sorry..." The Light dimmed darker and darker, fading away in their arms.
"P-Please... don't go... I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry... " They clung tightly onto the Light, hoping that if they held on long enough, it wouldn't have to leave. Not again... Never again...
The darkness started to close in on them, snuffing out the Light even more.
"It's not fair... please... I'm right here just... stay with me..! Stay with me... I-I need you..."
"..." The Light opened its mouth to speak again, and a soothing voice rang in their mind as the darkness swallowed them whole...
For...give...
"Vix!"
A cold splash of... not water brought Vix back to her senses. Her Shadow managed to grab her before she fell in the river, meaning only really her face had a refreshing dip. She spat out some not-water and took in deep breaths of air, her Shadow holding her in its arms for dear life.
"Thank fuck, you're alright..." her Shadow sighed, wrappings its arms and legs around her. Actually, wow, Vix had to step back a few times mentally because her Shadow had
legs, with like, feet and claws and stuff. And its arms were
arms, and it had
hands and
claws!
Vix pushed out of her Shadow's grasp, eyeing the creature up and down. It was... some sort of Scrafty? It didn't have a hood, or those baggy pants, but it
did have bright red claws, a tail, and its frill was closer looking to a black fire than they probably should have been. What grabbed Vix's attention the most was, however, the hole in its chest, pulsing with red and black energy.
And while it was getting checked out, Vix's Shadow actually had a good look at
her. There was a chance it was just seeing things, because it looked like not a whole lot changed aside from Vix getting bigger, her body was slimmer, and she had a crown on the top of her head for her flames to come out of. And she had a mouth. The only thing they had in common now were added edges and tear stains on their faces.
"Wh
oa..." they both muttered.
"You're a
Scrafty? Which means that
I was a Scrafty?!" Vix blinked. "Why the hell do you look like angst in Pokemon form?"
"The hell're you sayin' it like that's a problem! You're the bastard into any guy that wears black eyeliner, you should be grateful you were a fuckin' Scrafty like me!" her Shadow scoffed.
"'Sides, look at yourself! You went up two shirt sizes and put on some jagged ass crown, and have the balls to call me angsty?"
Vix reached for her crown, assuming it'd be where her lampshade usually is, then let out a surprised gasp and flew back over to the river's edge to look at her reflection. "D-Did I
evolve?!" she exclaimed, a jagged smile on her face. "Th-That means we did it, right? We overcame our past? Conquered our fear?"
"Well.. n-"
Before it could even finish Vix tackled the thing into a tight, suffocating hug. "I actually did something right for once! I did it! I
won!"
"H-Hold on, you ain't--"
"Everyone's gonna be so proud of me, and dazzled by how awesome I look, and how awesome
you look! And I feel so much stronger too, I bet I could take on anyone now!"
"...Is this river drugged or some shit? How the fuck are you this hyper?"
Vix tightly gripped her Shadow by the shoulders and pulled it close, staring into its bright yellow eyes. "Because I am currently riding the only high I have so I don't fall into a crippling state of absolute utter horror at having to
experience my own goddamn death for the second time and the added sadness that was whatever the fuck that Light was while I try to figure out what exactly it was trying to tell me and why it was tearing me up so bad inside because even now I feel like I have a hole through my very being! I have NEVER been so confused, emotionally fucking broken, and in as much intense incomprehensible pain as I am right now!"
"...Wh-What..?" The Shadow gulped, sweating. Vix's face, not her body, just like... her
eyes and mouth got closer to it the longer she went on... That coupled with her voice doing things it definitely hadn't done before and probably shouldn't do was more than just distracting.
"Oh, it's nothing," Vix chuckled, patting the Shadow on the head. "I'm gonna pass out, if that's alright with you." The Shadow didn't have a chance to respond before Vix collapsed into its lap, wrapping her arms around its waist and snoring. Then, for a split second, her head popped right back up. "Another thing, I'm gonna have you drop all of this on Puddle if it hasn't figured this out already. I'm not gonna deal with another round of distant-trauma induced breakdowns," she said, then went right back to sleep.
"...What?"
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