Sometimes, as he stared into the darkness, Sting wondered if it was all his fault.
After all, if he had been there, it would not have happened.
Frosh would still be alive.
He knows the blame does not fall on him. He has clung determinedly to this fact for the past… for however long he had been in the darkness.
(Since Rogue killed him)
That thought…
(It was not his fault)
…it what has let him keep his sense of self.
But now…
If he had been there…
He is starting to wonder of it is his fault.
He said he would be there.
But he was not.
(He wanted to be!)
And Frosh died.
(Because Rogue could not protect him.)
He told Rogue he would be there.
It was his job as a Twin Dragon Slayer to protect the exceeds when Rogue could not.
That was what The Twin Dragon Slayers team was founded on that idea, on that vow.
'I'll protect them when you can not.'
'I'll be there when you are not.'
But then Sting became Master of Sabertooth…
And he could not be there anymore.
(But it was not his fault)
It was his fault
(No! He wanted to be there.)
Why did it matter that he wanted to be? He was not.
And now Frosh is dead.
(So is Lector! And Yukino and Minerva and Ogra and Rufus and all the rest of Sabertooth!)
If Sting had not let Frosh die they would all still be alive!
(Rogue is one who killed them!)
(Rogue killed Sting!)
Rogue killed Sting.
They were allies, they had been friends for years…
But then Sting broke his vow.
And Rogue killed him.
Rogue- his ally, his partner, his friend- killed him.
(No! No, it wasn't-)
Sting cut off the thoughts pounding on his mind.
When he panicked, dark thoughts- Rogue's thoughts slipped in.
(It had not been his fault.)
He knew that.
It had not been his fault.
So why did he so guilty?
Frosch had died while he had been relaxing at the guild.
He knew that.
He still remembered coming down stairs, having finally finished his paper work, and somehow hearing Rogue scream.
He still remembered lying on the ground, hearing nothing but Rogue's scream, aware of nothing but despair.
Absolute despair.
(Rogue's despair)
If he had been there…
He could have helped.
But he was not.
But he was not.
He should have been.
He should have been.
He had promised to protect Frosh.
He failed that promise.
It was his fault.
(No. No, he wanted to be there.)
So, what? He was not.
(He warned Rogue not to go on his own)
Rogue did not have a choice about going.
Rogue had gone on a job without him because he had needed Jewel.
And that was Sting's fault.
(It was not.)
But it was Sting's fault Rogue had no Jewel.
Rogue had not gone on a job in months because he had been doing Sting's work.
(But he still did not have to go yet.)
Yet.
(Sting had offered to go on a job with him as soon as he got back from Era. He had warned Rogue to wait.)
Warning him was not enough.
(It was Rogue who–)
Rogue still went. Frosch still got hurt.
(Sting tried to stop him!)
Sting should have been there!
(He could not!)
He should have found a way! He had promised he would never leave Rogue alone!
(Rogue was not alone! Minerva was there.)
He trusted the master's daughter to protect Rogue better than him?
(He trusted his guild mate to protect Rogue as well as he could.)
He had trusted Minerva with everything.
He should not have.
(Why not?)
Because-
(She was his guild mate. A family member. Why should he not trust her?)
He should.
(He should have trusted her, and he did. It was not his fault.)
No.
No?
(Yes. He should trust his guild mates.)
Should he trust them to protect Rogue?
(Yes.)
Should he trust them to take his place in the twin dragon's vow?
No. That was his vow with Rogue. His.
And according to his vow…
He should have been.
It was his job to protect Rogue and Frosch.
It really was all–
(No!)
Why not?
…
…
It was…
It was all his fault.
It was all his fault Rogue won.
Did the voices make sense? It is supposed to be that the normal font is Sting's ground thoughts, the thoughts he takes as fact, the italics are thoughts from the shadow infecting Sting's thoughts, and the italics in parenthesis are Sting's untained thoughts arguing with the shadow. Could some people please review and tell me if this was the impression they got?
Also, this was started before we found about who had killed Frosch, and I had to go back and change it once we found out (because seriously, who the hell saw that coming?), so I had to go back and change stuff, mainly the scene where Sting finds out. My apologies if that flows strangely.
Thank you very much for reading and please review!