This was a drabble I was requested to make on one of my roleplay accounts. I figured, why not move it here?
Imagine it as either post-Zexal, or an AU that branches off from the canon around the time Astral and Yuma defeat Ryoga for the final time.
Enjoy. - Skye.
Vector had a problem. It hadn't been an issue before, in his life as a tyrant, or as a Barian. He noticed it started ever since once Don Thousand was defeated and he had been revived. He wasn't sure why, or how, but a little while after brought back to life, Vector had began hallucinating.
It first happened before Black Mist found him. He had been sitting on the throne in his ruins, weak and tired, when he noticed something move by his foot. He pondered over it briefly, before closing his eyes and brushing it off as a rat or something, knowing these ruins were old and decrepit. Crumbled debris could have easily sheltered a small animal.
Though the feeling that there was something - or someone - else there with him began to eat away at him. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes, his heart nearly stopping as a ghostly hand reached up through the floor, followed by another, and another, pairs of hands trying to grab him.
"Wh-... What is this?!" Vector asked, pulling his legs up onto the throne, his knees close to his chest. No sooner than he spoke, did full ghostly bodies appear before him, slowly reaching out for him, blank stares in their eyes and grim smiles on their faces.
"Prince Vector..." They murmured, the sounds sending chills up the carrot-top's spine. "Prince Vector..."
"Stop! Stop this!" Vector's throat began to feel raw as he sat practically curled in a ball, screaming at the apparitions. "Leave me alone!" He cried, burying his face in his knees and closing his eyes. "Stop it! Leave me /alone!/" His head snapped up, an arm attempting to wave away the specters, before he opened his eyes again.
Nothing. There was nothing there.
Vector soon realized he was panting, gasping for breath, and placed a hand over his heart, clawing at the clothes fabric that covered it.
Just what the hell was that?!
On again and off again, these hallucinations would occur. Vector did his best to hide them from Black Mist. Whether or not the dark being knew, Vector didn't know. If Black Mist /did/ know, he'd hadn't told Vector. Probably, the ginger assumed, to taunt him with it at an opportune moment.
Sometimes the hallucinations would be of those same figures, attempting to drag him down to... well, Vector could only assume where they wanted to take him. Once in a while, he'd hallucinate of his family, but that was more in nightmares.
Today was a new one though, and it was by far, the worst one yet.
Black Mist had possessed another human, causing some petty crimes here and there. The human had a small little house and other material possessions, which Vector took advantage of, giving himself someplace to hide out besides the ruins. Black Mist had said he didn't care, so long as Vector didn't become a burden, or mess with his fun in causing some trouble amongst the humans.
The Number was out somewhere, and Vector by himself in the small house, looking through the near empty kitchen, when he thought he heard the door open. "Tch, it's about time you came back." Vector scoffed, walking from the kitchen to the front of the house. "This guy has practically no food and-" Vector stopped, eyes widening when he didn't see Black Mist, but rather, Ryoga standing at the front door.
"N-Nasch?!" Vector asked, mentally berating himself for stuttering. How in the world had Nasch found him?!
Ryoga said nothing, his blue eyes burning with anger and hatred as he walked towards Vector. The orange haired male tried to move, but found his legs wouldn't respond. "Tch, What the hell do you want, you bastard?!" Vector snapped angrily, barely registering that he had begun to tremble.
Still, Ryoga was silent, just a few feet away from Vector at this point. "Answer me!" Still, nothing. With a yell, Vector gathered up a bit of energy in his palm, and shot it at Ryoga, it coming out like lightning.
The light had caused him to close his eyes, but when he opened them, Ryoga was gone, the attack having hit the wall, leaving a blackened mark where it struck. Vector panted slightly, the adreneline still coursing through his body somewhat, as well as the fear. He could feel his heart pounding against his chest, and began to feel sick to his stomach.
"Perhaps..." Vector mumbled a bit weakly, drained slightly from using his powers, "I should lie down." Vector turned and walked to the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He had been about to lie down when he heard a voice.
"Vector."
The voice sent a chill through his spine, said male turning around to see Ryoga there once more. But whereas before, he had worn his modern day clothes, the ones he wore when he paraded around as 'Ryoga Kamishiro', he now wore his past life's clothing, complete with his sword.
Vector sneered at him, hands curling into fists. "Get out." He spoke through bared teeth. He wasn't scared of Nasch. This was a stupid hallucination. It'd go away, just as all the others.
"You betrayed us." Nasch spoke, as he walked towards Vector, a hand going to grab the handle of his sword.
A sense of foreboding began to fill Vector, and he raised a hand, intent on striking Nasch like he had tried before, but the blue eyed male was quick, and he drew his sword...
... and plunged it straight into Vector's stomach.
Vector gasped as pain filled his being, his hands pushing against the Barian King. He didn't know what compelled him to look down, but he did, and the sight of Nasch's sword buried deep inside his stomach made him dizzy, the red color of his blood beginning to stain into his jacket and drip down Nasch's sword.
"You betrayed me," Slowly, Nasch began to twist the sword inside of Vector, the male crying out in pain. "You betrayed Alit," With that, he twisted it sharply, Vector's pained cry coming out choked. "Gilag," Again, a sharp twist; a choked cry. "Mizael!"
Which each name, Nasch's eyes became more and more filled with rage, his voice becoming harsher and harsher. "Durbe!" Nasch withdrew his sword and pushed Vector onto the bed and struck into Vector once more, re-entering the same wound, but with enough force that the sword pierced through his body and into the bed. Vector screamed in pain, writhing and trembling below Nasch.
Again, Nasch withdrew his sword. Vector's voice was gone at this point, his body trembling as pain coursed through him. A look of excruciating pain escaped the ginger, and Vector's hands went to the wound, attempting to stop it bleeding. He froze however, when something wet dripped onto the bridge of his nose, and he looked up, tensing as Nasch had somehow moved from in front of him, to hovering over him, the tip of his sword a few inches right above the point in between his eyes.
"Merag."
With that, Nasch brought his sword down, and Vector closed his eyes and screamed, it feeling like his head was being torn in two.
Black Mist voice came to him, yelling something - what, the ginger couldn't hope to make out -, and a pair of hands roughly shook at his shoulders.
Vector's eyes shot open, Black Mist having left the human's body he'd been possessing on the ground, while the dark being had been trying to snap Vector out of it. Vector had been looking at Black Mist without really looking /at/ him, still mentally seeing Nasch, before the vision of Nasch faded into Black Mist, the Numbers looking... slightly concerned.
Vector swatted Black Mist's hands away before looking at his own, expecting to see them covered in his own blood. When he saw nothing, he looked down at his stomach. No wound. Vector was panting heavily, and a hand moved to run through his hair, as he tried to collect himself.
Black Mist had come back to find a black scorch mark on one of the living room walls, and Vector screaming in pain on the bed, one hand gripping his hair, the other clutching at his stomach. He had assumed the other was having a nightmare, but that didn't explain the mark in the other room. Not only that, but Vector's eyes had been wide open, and he'd never seen such pure fear in the other's expression before.
He had tried snapping Vector out of it, but when he didn't respond, Black Mist shed himself of his human puppet, and tried again. That had seemed to work, Vector responding to his voice, as opposed to the human's.
"What was that?" Black Mist asked with a slightly amused smirk, his voice calm, curiosity laced in his tone. Vector had half expected the other to sound amused, and wasn't surprised when that was the case. But... was there a bit of concern in his voice as well?
"N-Nothing." Vector stuttered, not meeting Black Mist's gaze. His hands still stayed rested at his head and stomach, not believing that aside from his breathlessness and his weariness, he wasn't hurting at all. There was no pain in his head, nor in his stomach... He couldn't have imagined pain like that, could he?
Black Mist was silent for a moment, watching over Vector curiously, before the smirk on his face grew. "I didn't think you were the kind of person to have night terrors, Vector~"
Vector tensed at that, and sent a glare Black Mist's way. "Tch. Night terrors, my ass."
"Then just was that, hmm?" Black Mist arched a brow as he folded his arms. "I bet people could hear you screaming for miles."
"I said it was nothing, alright!?" Vector snapped, standing up. "Just fuck off!" With that, he walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Black Mist simply watched in twisted amusement, not moving from his spot. "Touchy." He murmured, cocking his head to the side slightly. "So he's hallucinating, hmm? This might be rather amusing~"