#thefallenone

He hadn’t expected to see his brother and his sister in law when he woke up.

He didn’t even know what to do, what to say, and he started bawling immediaetly when the grief and regret came to him. He’d killed his brother, after all, and abused their daughter physically and emotionally during the years after that. He expected them to be angry, to torment him with whatever they could. 

But no. They forgave him. They understood what he was talking about, thinking about. And they embraced him and the three ended up talking for hours and hours.

It felt so good to be back with family, even if they were all dead now save for Calista. And one day he’d talk with Calista and hopefully they could make up for each other.

He didn’t ever think he’d find Dagran here with him like this.

Arganan had woken up to find the young mercenary leader by his side. Only Dagran, and no one else. He didn’t try to wake up Dagran (he was still asleep when Arganan woke up and besides, Arganan liked watching Dagran sleep) and instead waited, trying to figure out what to say.

After Dagran finally woke up, the two had been unsure of what to really say initially. And then they started talking to each other. Arganan found out Dagran’s secrets. Dagran found out his. Both were ashamed of the sins they’d committed but both wanted to move on, too. And since they had each other’s company, why not try to help the other move on?

Both were more than sure that they were dead, yes. That they might not see their friends and family for a good, long while. They would never be alone, though.

He didn’t quite understand what was going on when he first woke up. There was a strange warmth and light around him and memories of the past flashed through his mind.

Regret came to his senses first and he cried, curled up on the ground. He felt like some weakling but part of him needed to let out all the hurt somehow and it wasn’t like he could displace it onto anyone or anything else. He was dead, he was gone—alright, not completely gone. At least he hoped he wasn’t completely nonexistent. But memories of those things he’d done still hurt him inside.

There were small comforts in the silent world he was in, though, and they came to him after all the bad memories washed through him. He might never find out where exactly he was, though he had a few theories. Perhaps he was in some sort of afterlife? Or maybe he was absorbed by the Outsider completely when he broke up into those blue particles, and now literally inside the Outsider in some sense. He had a feeling it was closer to the second theory. But wherever he was, the warmth and light was soothing in a way.

And...it helped him to think a little. Though he was alone, he felt like as if someone was always watching him warmly, like the tender gaze of a loving mother. It was comforting. Strange, for sure, but comforting. It was okay. He could get used to this.