Disclaimer: I don't own Marble Hornets, but I do own this version of Atropos. That's all I have, and that's all you need to know.
Warnings: None. Zilch. Nada. Ain't it strange?
This is a companion piece to Sweet Baby, Do Not Cry, but you don't have to be following it to completely understand this oneshot as this is merely detailing part of the Hornets' resurrection by Atropos.
Hope you all enjoy and Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays.
Love , Keta.
Resurrection of a Swatted Hornet
'Little bird, do not fain sleep… Death is just a memory."
He can hear her whispering, a lullaby in his head of twisting darkness and fallen angels…
It's soothing to his frazzled nerves, but the darkness that surrounds him is lifting. He thrashes to bring the black closer to his being, to his soul, that shining, tainted thing that had beat so restlessly against his physical form in an attempt to free itself from the horrors of his life. The blackness is death; he knows this, but he wants the sweetness of its embrace against his caged bird of tainted light.
'Sweet child, open your eyes… Death is just a dream. Breathe a taste of life again… My voice is calling you.'
The blackness flees faster, and the lullaby grows louder. He presses his hands against his head and screams for it to stop.
'Little bird, with fluttering heart… Don't ignore my call. Whisper words of life to me… Death is just a dream.'
He remembers flashes of life, and it pains his soul. He wails for it to end, this spark and lullaby that awakens the tainted light and sends it into frenzy. 'Please stop! Please just make it stop!'
'Your heart will beat, once again… And death is just a memory.'
The light burns his eyes as they open quickly, breath filling his lungs and restarting his heart as life surges back into his being. His body aches and shivers with shaking twitches as disused limbs begin to move again. Once he has control over these twitches, he turns his head just slight to see a tall woman sitting across from him.
The woman has a beautiful face that bares an odd smile and long black hair that flows down around her shoulders to contrast against their lightly-tanned skin. "It's good to see you awake again, little bird." Her whisper is echoing and calming and nerve-wracking and everything else all at once. "My name is Atropos, and I am a fate… And, before you try your vocal cords without reason, I am the one who brought you back from the dead." They sit in silence for a bit before she leaves to grab him a glass of water, and he is left to stare at the wall where a bird mask hangs, eyes glinting in the dim light. It reminds him of something… of someone… But who?
When she returns, she helps him take a drink and looks to where he'd been staring with a soft smile. "Do you remember your name, little bird?" she asks, her voice melodic like twinkling, ice-covered wind chimes.
He closes his eyes, remembering the calmness of death, and his heart flutters like a caged bird, his soul beating on the bars of his body. He wills the bird to calm down, and after a time, it begins to still just slightly. He thanks it and remembers another bird, a blue one that flies so quick through the air on brightened wings. 'A Blue Jay… Jay… My name…'
He looks up at her expectant face and whispers in a shaky, cracked voice, horse from disuse. "Jay… My name is Jay Merrick."
Three days pass in the small rooms that Atropos proclaims are his own, and in that time, Jay's body recovers tremendously. He suspects that it is her magic that helped it along, but he doesn't ask; there are bigger things on his mind.
He wonders where his friends are, having begun to remember them into the beginning of the second day, and he even asked Atropos. She refuses to tell him, stating simply that he'll know when the time comes.