Evan knew he was dreaming. He knew none of this was real. He knew that that thing was in his head, playing a game with him. He knew that he would wake up and Tyler would be there and everything would be okay. Despite knowing all these things, he was scared. He was mad at the constant downpour of rain. He was mad at the hedges that rose into the sky, trapping him in this endless maze. Blood oozed down his chest turning his white shirt a pinkish colour as rain soaked through his clothes. His black hair was plastered to his head, water dripping down his face as he coughed up blood that filled his lungs, threatening to suffocate him. Taking a shuddering deep breath, as deep he could, Evan suddenly collapsed, falling to the mud. Mud splashed up around him as he coughed up blood, tasting the metallic taste of his blood and the grit of the earth. He let out a cry of pain, rolling onto his back to look up at the cloudy night sky. There were no stars.
Through the rain, Evan's dark eyes saw an owl, it's feathers as dark as the night sky. He wasn't going to wake up until he found a way out of the maze...so maybe he could fly out of the maze. Evan took a breath, forcing himself to roll over and get up. In a burst of bloody feathers, the owl struggled to get into the air, it's black and golden wings dripping blood to the ground below. He managed to get over the top of the hedge, wings furiously working to get the large owl over the maze. He could see the end, his golden eyes wide.
Talons dug into the back of the owl, throwing it off balance. The owl shrieked, turning its head to see the large, black owl. Its black eyes stared down at the golden owl as it threw the other great bird towards the ground. The Night owl fell towards the earth, crashing into a hedge before falling to the mud. In a burst of shadows and feathers, Evan let out a scream of pain, his back ripped open in six thin lines. He looked up at the swirling mass of shadows in front of him, watching his past-self step out of the shadows.
"You must stop this." Nyx cried. "Look at you! Look at what the devil has done to you!"
"H-He's…He's done nothing…" Evan cried, tears of pain falling from his eyes to the bloody mud. "N-Nothing…"
"Nothing? He's done nothing? He is going to kill you, Evan!"
"W-We're…" He coughed, choking on his blood that dribbled down his chin. "W-We're making...things right...for us."
"Are you? He has threatened to kill you, he's strangled you, subjected you to the worst of war, and that pig mask….Now you have been stabbed! You are dying because you limited yourself so much! How in the hell do you expect to make it out this? And if you do, can you imagine just how worse it will get for you?" Nyx shouted. It hurt Evan's head. "There is nothing waiting for you but hell."
"Then what am I to do?" Evan cried, pushing himself to his knees. "What am I to do? Die?" Nyx remained silent, not saying a word. "You want me...to die?"
"Our existence has become a nightmare...A twisted version of what we wanted...and what we will never have." Nyx said quietly. Evan stared up at him, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"I-I...I know you are sad...I know you are hurting. I know what is going to happen to you soon…"
"That means nothing!" Nyx suddenly screamed. "I am not deteriorating!"
"Y-You are...I remember…"
"Then you would know that that has nothing to do with this! I am losing myself already but there is still time and I intend to use it to save myself from you!"
"W-We are the same...are we not?"
"Before that dagger and after...We are different. I don't want this...this mess." He gestured to Evan who was on his knees, covered in mud, soaked to the bone and bloody, blood covering his chin and oozed from his chest.
"I-I am you...Y-You can't run from me." Evan sighed, holding up his bloody hands.
"I can change you though...I can make sure this doesn't happen." Nyx looked as though he were crying. Evan looked down at his shaking, bloody hands.
"D-Does...Does that mean...that I...Me that I am right now...will no longer exist…?" Evan whispered. He looked up at Nyx, letting out a pained sob. "Everything...E-Everything that has happened...All for me to just blink out of existence...None of it matters...Nothing matters. Let me die."
"No...Don't say that." Nyx took a step back, his eyes filling with fear.
"Let me die!" Evan yelled louder.
"Stop it!"
"Let me die!"
"No, no, no." Arms wrapped around Evan, enveloping him in a shadowy hug. "You can't give up yet." The Nightmare whispered, leaning his head against Evan's, almost lovingly. "Find your way out of this maze and learn from this pain. God, does it ever hurt. It hurts you to your very core. Everyone wants you dead...Even your past self." The Nightmare lifted Evan's bloody chin to look at Nyx. "Use it. Use this pain. Don't listen to him. He's never been right. He's gullible."
"Shut up! You're a monster! You shouldn't exist!" Nyx cried.
"If I wasn't you, I would say that you are losing it." The Nightmare smiled.
"I'm not!"
"Yes you are. You put a front; you have since being created. You want to be intimidating but you intimidated yourself so much you lost it a long time ago. You enjoy killing those pigs to leave messages for Jonathan so he can catch up!" The Nightmare got to his feet. There wasn't a single bit of mud or blood on him. The rain didn't even ruin his sleek black hair.
"I-I remember…" Evan stammered. He remembered how his lip had curled whenever he saw a pig, how blood had covered his hands that he would use to write on the walls, praying that Nemesis, a God he hadn't even met yet, would see. However, he wasn't the first one to leave Jonathan a pig as a message. Evan's gaze turned slowly to look up at the Nightmare who gave him a smile. He knew what he was thinking.
"We all have to start somewhere." The Nightmare shrugged.
"You were talking to him, weren't you?" Nyx asked quietly. Evan's head turned back to his past self.
"I felt that he needed some advice." The Nightmare smiled.
"Shut up. Both of you just shut the fuck...up." Evan coughed as he struggled to get to his feet. Everything hurt so much. His vision blurred. "My past doesn't make my decisions...and neither does my future...I make them…" Evan managed to say as he staggered away from them.
He had to get out of the maze. He had to get out of the maze. He had to get out of the maze.
"You can't run from us! Make it right!" Nyx yelled as Evan stumbled away from them, his breaths coming out as pained wheezes. He nearly collapsed again, holding onto a few branches of the hedge to keep himself up. He turned a corner, seeing Tyler standing a few feet away.
"T-Tyler…" Evan gasped and hurried towards him, wrapping his arms around him. Tyler hugged him, his chin resting on top of Evan's head. "I-I'm scared...I-I'm dying."
"Please wake up, Evan." Tyler said quietly. "I need you or I'm nothing."
"He's a liar." The Nightmare spat. Evan shook his head, pressing his face against Tyler's chest. He wasn't going to listen to him.
"Please wake up, Evan." Tyler said again. Evan nodded, looking up at the bloody red devil for a few moments before he stepped away from him, slowly staggering past the devil down the path. He staggered down the muddy path, aware of the versions of himself following him. He wasn't going to let them control him. Nyx was losing his mind and the Nightmare was a possibility; something that might not exist because of his next action.
"Evan." He turned, popcorn falling to the floor. "Evan." Jonathan stood in the middle of the path, staring down the path at him. The walls of the hedges blurred, one moment looking like they were the walls of Jonathan's hallway in his apartment. Evan didn't have to turn around to know that the bedroom door behind him was open, a warm glow washing over him. "It's okay. I'm going to save you." Jonathan was suddenly in front of him, his rough hands gently cupping Evan's face. He leaned his forehead against his, the gentle touch making Evan wish for sleep; a warm gentle sleep. "I'm going to find you…" Evan's arms wrapped around Jonathan, wanting to pull him closer. "I'm going to find you…" Evan leant his face against Jonathan's hands, opening his eyes to look up at him for a moment before closing his eyes again, the relief of sleep and happiness coming over him. "I'm going to kill you." Jonathan's suddenly dug into Evan's skin, pulling at his hair painfully. Evan grit his teeth, holding back a cry of pain and sadness, wanting to break away from the painful embrace. Jonathan held him there, blood oozing from under his fingernails. Evan finally let out a cry of pain and kicked Jonathan away, letting out a sob of pain as he turned away from Jonathan, running from him down the muddy path.
"I want out! I want out!" Evan cried as he ran, suddenly falling to his knees. The fall sent pain rushing through him, blood filling his lungs. He spit it onto the mud, crying in pain as he did.
"You're okay." A hand reached down to him. He looked up, seeing Dionysus, smiling down at him. Dionysus was the only person he could trust. The only one. Evan reached for his hand, struggling for air as Brock helped him to his feet. He wrapped an arm around him, letting Evan lean against him as they made their way towards the end of the maze. "I won't tell you want to do or who to listen to...If you want to keep going with Tyler, just know that you will be different than when you started...but if you want to stop, there is a home for you."
Evan stopped at the end, looking behind him at the muddy path. He watched the path darken as the Nightmare got closer, shadows reaching for him. He could go back into the maze. He wouldn't have to wake up. He wouldn't have to face the future. Yet; he had struggled so much in the maze, fighting with himself. Would he fight like this forever?
"Evan?" Tyler's voice drifted from somewhere beyond the maze, turning his attention back to the end. He could face whatever was coming, couldn't he? Yes, he could face it. He could stop it if it got out of hand. He wouldn't let it consume him, so long as it hadn't already consumed him.
He took a step forward, stumbling towards the end of the maze as he began to fall again, though he never met the ground. Instead, he kept falling, floating through the darkness. Stars began to slowly fly past him, twinkling in the darkness. Warmth surrounded Evan as a pillow rested itself under his head, blankets falling over him. He opened his eyes slowly, seeing a candle on the table, and a bowl of bloody water and bandages. "Evan?" He turned his head slowly, meeting Tyler's worried gaze. He sat beside him on the bed, looking tired.
"W-Where am I?" Evan stammered. His chest felt tight, his breathing restricted. Raising his hand to his chest, he felt the tight bandages wrapping around his chest.
"London...just a year after the dinner party but that doesn't matter. You're okay." Tyler smiled brightly and suddenly pulled him into a hug. Evan winced, but it was okay. He smiled, rested his head against Tyler's shoulder. He felt Tyler's shoulders shake, his cheeks wet with tears and an anxious sweat.
"You seem more like Ares…" Evan said quietly.
"I have no need to be a devil in this moment. There are times...when I look at you, even at Jonathan and the others, I think about our past together. All that time, I didn't know who I really was...I couldn't remember. Now, I sometimes miss that person who didn't remember the monster. When Luke stabbed you...When you were so close to death, to not existing anymore...I was so scared. What if all of this just isn't worth it anymore? What if changing reality isn't worth it anymore? The devil in me wants to keep going, doesn't want to be scared but I was Ares for a long time." Tyler moved away from the hug, brushing tears away from his eyes. Evan shook his head, reaching for Tyler. He cupped his face in his hands, meeting Tyler's silvery green gaze.
"I want to keep going. You and I are Gods that cannot be kept in cages. We don't need humans or other Gods. We only need ourselves. No one makes our decisions but ourselves. Not our past, not our future, not any version of ourselves. I am sick of holding on to what my past self wanted...what my past self died for, because it doesn't matter anymore. Why make a perfect night that isn't appreciated anymore? When Nyx, when I died...You could still the stars at night, see the constellations...the universe...Now it's all polluted with the light of the cities, it hurts me. I want to do something about it. I want this." Evan said, feeling tears in his eyes. He wasn't sure why he was crying, was he happy because for once he felt in control? Or was it because he wasn't sure if this control was real, if he made the wrong choice, if he let the Nightmare back in? What if he let himself become the Nightmare?
"Every night...Is beautiful." Tyler breathed. "Please don't think it's not. There is only so much that me...a devil and a lying war god can do...I've always been jealous of you, Evan. Jealous that you can create beauty in an ugly world."
"Tyler…" Evan leaned his head against Tyler's shoulder, shaking his head. "I've always been jealous of you...For how strong you are...How you never give up." He traced a star on Tyler's shoulder. He couldn't help but smile. Raising his head, he found himself getting closer to the Devil. "I want this. I want to change reality for us Gods who will no longer be caged."