Let me in

Aster’s chest felt full ; drowning in air. A tight pressure against them, then suddenly released as they look away. Turn away their gaze from the entity that stares at them with such scorn, from the eyes and eyeless silhouettes that burn them, a glitching light that feels so painful and disorienting to watch.

A familiar face ? Or an empty vision, an echo from a life long forgotten ?

Any sound made emits as little more than a whispered choke. Emotions cloud their questioning, distort their senses of the unreality surrounding them. They do not know why their heart aches ; why seething anger and betrayal fill their awareness when they turn their attentions to face the form speaking to them now. Irrational emotions, emotions that are not theirs. They cannot feel such pain from a wound that does not exist. A wound they do not remember. A wound long made to be forgotten, hastily patched up without regard for how easily such a deep cut may open again, may fester under unwatched bandages.

" They're not the same paths. I — I would never waste time when I could be helping them. " Are you helping them, Captain ? Is there anyone to be helped, in the first place ? All of these choices you've made, have they done anything at all ? Or are you only adding to the toll of your actions, to the number of corpses littering the cosmos ? " If I were going nowhere, I would have stopped a long time ago. " Yet, there they were, still running. Was there any point in continuing to try ? Would they ever feel rest again ?

When you scream into the cosmos, would anyone hear? Swallowing the corpses of your failures, the death that stains timeline after timeline, the black expanse opening its jaws and dragging you into its gaping maw. Lost? Confused? He knows the feeling. 

Sneering, the sheer frustration beginning to poke holes in his mask of indifference. 

“And what do you define as helping, Captain? Dooming your crew, desperately wading through space and time, only to fail again and again. So noble,” Or is it selfishness? “And yet that nobility has led you down rabbit hole, after rabbit hole.” 

Stepping closer, much like a predator slowly closing in on its prey, you can only hide from the truth for so long. Can only run from it for so long, before the cracks in the ice begin to grow and shatter beneath your feet. How far will you plunge, when you find your answers? 

“If you were moving forward, you would have already found what you are so desperately looking for. But perhaps you like being Alice, chasing after the white rabbit. Getting lost in your roles, in your lives fabricated from fiction itself. A fake friendship, misplaced trust, I’m sure it’s easier to accept than the pain of reality.” 

Answers, you want answers, even when they’re right before your very eyes. Open them, Aster, open them! Wake up! 

How they’d managed to find the crack in reality was beyond them. Once they’d found it, they immediately took to finding a way inside. The entrance was far more welcoming than they’d anticipated. As though something was drawing them Beyond.

Their heart beats rapidly as they enter the darkness. It nearly stops when they see him. A figure in the darkness. A suit - clad being, imposing and intimidating. A ringing fills their ears as they approach. An ache fills their being at the sight of him.

They know that they know him. They have to. Why else would they be reacting so ?

They feel so different than that person they’d been. Broken and weary, haggard and lost. Frays of hair fall into their face, like curtains to the dark shades of the makeup they still manage to keep in some semblance of order,

How long has it been since he last saw them? What has happened to them over these long years? How different they appear, worn by time, by tragedy too heavy to carry. It’s almost like peering into a mirror, and how much he wished for the light to never be snuffed out from Cecil’s eyes. The last person he ever wanted to be dragged into this mess, into this narrative, to be free from the confining role he himself must carry.  

There is a crack within his steely mask, a glimpse of concern breaking through the surface, before it’s gone as soon as it came. 

“You’re not supposed to be here.” 

Pressing on, staying firm despite the ache. There is so much he wishes to say, so much he didn’t get to say, before being reborn and becoming the villain. But what was there left to say? He’s not them anymore. 

Unrecognizable, a shell of what he used to be. Ideals warped, hope gone, they were as good as dead. Corpses meant to be buried, meant to be forgotten. But it hardly mattered now, not when peering eyes could find another weakness, to find another puppet to mold. 

“You need to leave, you’re in more danger than you realize.” 

Darkiplier's Hands redux. you're welcome once again.

❝ I never said that and you know better than to try and make it that way . Dark , you are not seeing that the more you work on this , the less time you have to actually get to the bottom of it . ❞ Damien kept still , he was not going to leave this office until they BOIL down to one agreement or another . With his hands still tucked behind his back , keeping his EYES still but unable to STITCH HIS SNARL back down into anything neutral . He understood that his body was going to be used in arguments and the LANGUAGE of them , that was nothing new .

The gravity of the situation and fight at hand was getting HEAVIER , the idea of stepping over to the boards and point to exactly what DULLED this particular sharp plan was there , but he was unsure if he even could move that way .

❝ Think about it , you are drained and obviously at your wits end with this series of events . ❞

Maybe THIS was the turning point , where neither one could recover back from what Damien had to say about the WEEKS they spent collecting all these samples and WHAT IFS on the possibilities , not the hard evidence .

❝ You have fallen right into HIS hands , you have lost yourself to HIS madness . If you take another step towards this crumbling , desperate mess then we might as well lie down and let HIM trample us . ❞

How foolish, to attempt to placate a forest fire with gasoline. Every word serves as a sharp knife, a reminder that a villain is all he will ever be seen as. Do you not feel the ice nipping at your flesh? The colors draining out, as if the sun has been snuffed from the sky, shades of black and white serving as the feeble scraps. All this time, all this effort, all this work, only to be belittled for it. Talked down to like a child. But that final statement- That's what you are, a pawn willingly letting yourself be played! 

What a fool you are, to believe you’d ever escape! 

Phantom doubles split from a shattering shell, blue and red blooming across an expanse of monochrome, screaming out in a chorus of rage. The real monster is upon Damien in a single step forward, hands lashing out and grabbing him by the lapels, right as he becomes whole.  

“I’m mad? A desperate mess? Is that what I am to you?” It cracks like thunder, that high pitched ring nearly cutting through his yells, growing almost deafening, “After everything I have done for us, everything I have done for you, everything I have sacrificed for you! How little it means to you, it’s never enough for you! I’m the one trying to put an end to HIS madness, and all you ever do is condemn me!"

So far gone, lost in the flames of an eternal wrath, determined to turn the world into ash. He has his other half off the ground, shaking him, wanting nothing more than to throttle him! 

Inside would indeed be four chocolate cupcakes. He isn’t the best at baking, but at least some effort was put into them. 

@thelightfalls

-

"Dark!" Damien hadn't expected visitors today. Taking the day off was a last-minute decision. Most would have assumed he was in the office instead of in the apartment. "Come in!"

When Dark stepped into the main living space of the apartment, he would notice that Barnum was lying on a cushion on the floor, ears pricked forward as he tried to identify the source of the knock. Thankfully, a familiar scent was all he needed to jump onto his paws and trot over. He saw that bone, mister. Don't hide it forever where he can't reach it!

"You made these?" Damien repeated when he opened the lid. They certainly weren't identical to professional standards, but they still looked fantastic. "I didn't know you were interested in baking. If you're free now, I'd love to share them with you. They'd go great with coffee, wouldn't you say?" With the box held carefully in one hand, Damien gestured toward the kitchen.

A small box, wrapped in black paper, with a white bow placed neatly on the top, would be left within the Captain’s locker. Snuck in whenever Aster is away, and there for when they return. What lies inside the gift is a silver locket, oval in shape, flowers engraved on the casing. It’s vintage, but as old as it is, it remains pristine and well-polished. As if it has seen little to no use.

If opened, it would reveal the words, life is always ours to choose, imprinted on the left side. On the right is empty, missing the portrait of a loved one, or a picture of a significant moment in time, leaving room for a new memory to be placed within. The old was removed after great consideration. While this locket belongs to a time long gone, containing a philosophy that is no longer believed in, it was always meant for Aster.

There’s a note folded inside the box. I meant to give this to you sooner. Happy Valentine’s Day. - D ] ~~~

Lockers were meant to be secure, but something told Aster that the mystery of the box's appearance wasn't something that followed the laws of reality as they should.

Lifting the locket from the box, the chain trailing behind with a tinkling of metal against metal, Aster's thumb brushed atop the engraved patterning. Beautiful and delicate, a special gift. The sight of it filled them with a melancholy that they could not have known the reason for. An ache in their chest ... but a warmth at the receival of the gift.

They have not properly known the entity for long. Not in their knowledge, not in their remembered memories. Something, however, bound them together. A lifetime that they no longer remembered, but still sat deep within their being. It could never truly be entirely erased.

The chain is linked together around their neck, the locket itself allowed to fall underneath their turtlenecked shirt; hidden from view, but still close to their heart. For them to know, and for them to cherish.

The place it was always meant to be kept.

The day eventually winds down, sitting close together by the end, leaning against one another. They’ve lulled into a comfortable silence. It gives Dark a moment to steel his nerves, delicately separating himself from his love, in order to instead turn his body to fully face him. “Do you remember when we let each other in?” Reaching out, delicately taking Damien’s hand, before lying the palm against his chest, “I think about it almost every day.” 

He’s giving a closed lipped smile, a deep fondness shown within lidded eyes. 

“You’ve bewitched me since that day, have changed my life significantly. Acting as a beacon of light, cutting through the repetition, the bleak never-ending cycle that used to be everything I was. I have found that there is so much more with you, have found hope and joy with you. Feelings I always deemed an impossibility for creatures like us, but became clear through your charm, resilience, and the warmth you’ve shown me.” 

He releases Damien, only to reach into his breast pocket to pull out a small, black box. 

“I know we have already agreed to spend our lives together for all eternity, but since that day, since we’ve let each other in, I feel differently than I did back then. The truth is, I love you, Damien. You have my heart in the palm of your hand, I am forever yours. There is no future without you, even if we weren’t bonded. Will you marry me?” 

The box is opened, revealing a black ring, an iridescent shine of blue and red glinting when moved underneath the light. 

Valentine's Day

ICY waters surround them from all directions , the COLD of the season has the oceans a paler blue with the foams a pearly white when beaten against the hull . In the far distance , their home was more of a SILHOUETTE and even in the THAWING of Winter , the sun settling but the SHINE still warming them . It was special today , all these years together and every Valentine's Day before this one .

There was still something so very different about this year .

What is he to say ? What is he to do other than LOVE his sweetheart , who was a gift he would not have had in this lifetime , despite not obeying to the LAWS of time and gravity and yet they still fell into the right circumstances to be here now .

If you mix all the colors of the rainbow , the color you receive would be BLACK . Understanding what was happening as there was a draw away and the knowing what he was doing in real time . His black eyes held so much VIVID emotions , and smile wider with the peeling open of that little box . It was beautiful , it was so RARE to find love , to find a partner to last forever despite being let in . Dark , was different in every way unimaginable .

A gasp of air from the question , from the undying love he is to confess . All his words were swallowed and cocooned into his fluttering soul . Wet eyes never dare spill over his cheeks but he does , he says YES with several nods as the ring was placed on his hand .