Chapter 37: Sorrow
Author's Note:
And…here's the last short chapter to move the story along. This chapter however, will reveal a few secrets and set the stage for the events to come in the next chapter which will be at normal chapter length just in case these short chapters were bothering you. Anyway I hope you enjoy this short read and once again feel free to tell me what you think about it. This is TheFoolOfTheNoon signing off.
/
Location: Paranoia's Nightmare
Time: Unknown
*Drip, Drip, Drip*
The sounds of remaining droplets of rain water echoed in a forest bent and twisted out of shape as Paranoia stood in the middle of it staring solemnly at the blood red sky,
"How long has it been since I last had a nightmare of my own?" questioned the elder nightmare as he started walking through the warped forest. "This is a waste of time Midnight…I have long since come to terms with my own darkness. You will not break me."
A gust of wind passed through some of the tree in response to his words as laughter rode on it revealing the identity of the force of air, "Heh heh…why don't you try me?"
"I don't try…"
"Ooo…cold."
The gust of wind left the nightmare's side moving ahead of him presumably to his destination. Paranoia couldn't care less what the possessed mare was planning he just needed to break out of this nightmare and find the others. No doubt she has already got to his brothers and can only assume the worst. But with this in mind he was worried for the safety of his new found love Fluttershy and her friends. "I just need to break her hold on me, only then I can escape and wake up."
/
Sometime later after endlessly walking in one direction Paranoia stumbled upon a shrine, but not just any shrine; a shrine for the dead. One single picture was in the middle of the decorated object and on it was a face Paranoia knew all too well.
"Serenade…" he said quietly as he walked up to the small structure before sitting down. Taking a few small breaths the nightmare begins to pray. Words foreign to this world begin to come from his mouth as he prayed that her soul would rest in peace and make a safe trip to the afterlife. He droned on for ten minutes before finally standing up and giving a respectful bow to the shrine.
"Ah…yes. Your deceased wife, a tengu whom you swore to love and support her till death does you part. Sifting through your memories she meant a lot to you and I quote, 'She can never be replaced…' heh heh heh…"
The elder nightmare didn't speak a word as he turned to leave completely ignoring Midnight's words. This however did not deterred the evil mare as she made a gust of wind flew pass the nightmare showing that she wouldn't leave him alone. "Then there is you and Fluttershy…my my what a couple you two have become just after a few days. Seems rushed does it not?"
"…" No answer.
"Or was that intentional? After the death of your wife you must have been left with quite a void in your heart. A void…only a female could fill. I wonder…if you truly loved your wife if you fell in love with another. Were you seeking a replacement for dear sweet Serenade?"
"…" Still no answer.
"Or were you already planning to betray her and her love? It's just her death made things easier for you to find another lover to play with?"
Paranoia gave a deep sigh, "Persistent aren't we? You show me a shrine of my dead wife in order to weaken my spirit, but when that failed you attempt to make me feel guilty for finding love in another. Honestly, it's quite pathetic…"
His lack of reaction to her words and having the gall to call her pathetic angered Midnight as she made the wind grow harsher causing the nightmare's coat to flap in the wind as he held onto his hat with his unexpressive mask mirroring his unimpressed face. "Your outrage is dully noted…now if you excuse me…"
"NO!" she screeched as the wind began to make an outline forming into her body. Though she wasn't here fully it was close enough for the nightmare as he waited for her to finish. A few seconds pass and her avatar in his nightmare was complete however, instead of her lashing out with her magic she instead took a calming breath before talking once again, "Pardon…I lost my composure for a moment there. Though it would seem showing images of your previous love and making you double check your choices would at least get a reaction out of you. It would work on most recently married widows."
"Then that's where you went wrong. I already long since came to terms with Serenade's death and while it's true I was emotionally devastated when I heard of her death; she would have wanted me to move on. Long story short I already had my closure and decided after all these years with my brothers to pursue another relationship."
"But you claimed that you loved Serenade and in turn meaning you will not find another like her. I fail to see how the meek weakling that is Fluttershy, as a suitable replacement for your previous partner."
Midnight couldn't see it because of his mask, but Paranoia was smiling, "That's the point…"
"Hmm?"
"I will always love Serenade for the person she was and as such there will NEVER be anyone that could replace her, so when I decided find love again I expected my next lover to draw me in and hook me with their own special charm. It just so happens that Fluttershy herself has her own unique beauty, and her unbound kindness lured me in. Her hook? The fact she understands the person who I am and genuinely cares for my well being. I may have been powerless to help Serenade, but many years have passed since then. I'm a different man now and much stronger than I was before. With this strength I will never let m…aah!"
Cutting him off midsentence Midnight blasted the nightmare with her magic power as her mask opened up to reveal her unamused face, "I heard enough from you…" she said coldly.
After rolling a few feet Paranoia got back on his feet with his hand on his chest as that was the spot he was blasted at, "Ergh…that stings a bit…"
"Be glad I was holding back that time. Go off on another speech again and next time it will do more than sting."
"Er…noted. But, answer me this, why did you take our older brother Fredrick? It can't be simply for a powerful ally!"
"Fine…if you must know I truly did fall for your brother, that it is no lie. However, I knew he wouldn't love me, for my previous attempts to control his body made him cautious of me. As such I decided to take him by force. But, everything else was simply a big opportunity I decided to take. A day where Fredrick is able to remove his mask? An opportunity to be free. His romance with Twilight? A new body for me to possess. Fredrick having literal godlike power. A powerful mate that will protect me. You are merely a fragment of his true power…"
"Fragment?"
"Oh you don't know? At his request I dived deep into Fredrick's memories and guess what I find?"
Paranoia blinked a bit before responding, "Missing memories?"
Midnight smirked which caused Paranoia to be on guard just in case she would try something, "Correct…how do you know?" she said mockingly.
The nightmare kept his cool as he responded, "I…had visions of a cell deep in a dungeon. It was from a first person perspective. I keep hearing a voice that's not my own crying out in deep sorrow over its mother…I can only assume I was seeing through the eyes of Desmond in his isolation after being framed for a crime he didn't commit. Are you saying this memory belongs to Fredrick?"
"It does, but those aren't the memories I'm referring to…"
Hearing this confused Paranoia, "What do you mean? This is the only vision I witnessed during my time in the world."
Midnight's smile dropped, "I see…then it must be locked inside of you. However, this is of no concern to me, but let me enlighten you on my greatest discovery when inside your brother." Like a light switch her smile returned, "When I was wandering in his mindscape I discovered where I was in his body; his soul."
"His soul?"
"As it turns out his entire soul and mind is contained in an orb, this is how I found his memories as they played all over the surface. However, pieces of the orb were missing and thus revealing that his mind was broken from a traumatic experience. Though I couldn't figure out why, but I assume the event that nearly shattered his mind caused this 'Soul Orb' to break off in three chunks in order to preserve and protect the mind. Care to guess where those chunks went?"
"No…"
"I see you already figured it out. Yes…you and your brothers are by products from Fredrick's mind trying to save itself. In turn, you are a part of him cursed to hold the burden his mind refuses to shoulder."
"…It all makes sense now…the visions, the feeling of deep sorrow. If what you are saying has credit then I must be the fragment that holds Desmond's sorrow. That makes me wonder…what burdens my brothers must shoulder."
"It doesn't matter, to put it shortly your entire existence is based on one entity's broken mind, and once I win this battle I will destroy you and your 'brothers' so I can retrieve those fragments and return them to the man who will rule by my side. Of course doing this will destroy your existence entirely which means all those who knew you or your 'brothers' will never see you again. Because for beings like you…there is no afterlife."
Paranoia went silent, he never once been poofed as a nightmare before or his brothers for that matter. So, he never knew what will happen to them nor himself should an event like that would happen. "Then I know what must be done." Unsheathing 'Zero' Paranoia took a battle ready stance as he pointed the blade in her direction, "But first you need to get out of my way."
"Heh, like if I'll give you the privilege…" Fading back into a gust of wind Midnight disappeared from sight as a new figure now stands before him. It was a hooded figure whose appearance was nearly impossible to determine save for the wings sticking out of its back as roaring blue flames came outward from the outside feathers. It too drew a blade that was covered in the blue inferno which only caused the nightmare to scoff.
"A copy of Serenade huh? Well for the record this doesn't count on our win sheet."
The figure said nothing as it charged at him with an overhead strike ready to be put down on his head. However, Paranoia easily countered the attacked by guiding the blade to the side forcing the figure to miss its attack while the nightmare was in the middle of his own. Unlike, his aggressor the nightmare landed his attack without problem slicing through the black robe that covers the figure's body causing black gas to flow out of the wound. The figure in response immediately jumped back while keeping the blade drawn.
"Tch, even though she looked through my memories she can't make an actual copy of my wife. That was stupidly sloppy attack."
The figure's response to Paranoia's insult was to shoot out the flames from the blade which only flew a few feet before being stopped by a blood red ice wall created from Paranoia himself. The flames didn't even cause the wall to sweat. The figure continued to launch fireballs from its sword fruitlessly before its movements began to move slower until finally stopping in place. The figure tried to move its limbs, but is unable to as a dark shadowy figure rose out behind the hooded figure blade drawn as it was plunged into the hooded figure from behind causing it's limbs to go limp causing it to drop its sword.
"I'm not sure what Midnight was planning by sending a half baked copy to stop me, but I suppose it doesn't matter now." He kicked the figure off his sword forcing it to the ground with black gas leaking out of the mortal wound. Paranoia with quick movements from his arm cleaned his blade before sheathing it as he walked towards the downed figure. "I wonder if she got any details wrong with your appearance." He mumbled to himself as he grabbed and pull down the hood revealing a face he didn't expect to see; the face of Fluttershy.
"What?!" The nightmare said in surprise as the fake Fluttershy poofed in his face causing him to black out as the world around him collapsed.
/
Location: Unknown
Time: Unknown
Laying dormant on the floor of a stone chamber there the nightmare once slept soundly, but once seeing the face of Fluttershy in his own dream world Paranoia quickly woke up with a start; breathing heavily from the surprise, "What the hell was that about? That can't be just one of Midnight's tricks…" Slowly gathering himself the nightmare stood up noticing that his sword and equipment are still on him most likely to keep him armed just in case Midnight did sway him to her side, but since she didn't it leaves the nightmare armed and dangerous.
"I need to find the others...especially my brothers. Who knows what kind of mental torture Midnight is subjecting them to." Looking over to the iron door that locks him to this room Paranoia had to two ways of getting out. Either he freezes the door and breaks it or simply turn into a shadow and glide underneath it. He quickly decided on the latter as he was in a hurry and attracting attention to himself would be counterproductive, so he did just that and continued to glide across the ground hopefully he would stumble upon Fluttershy, her friends, or his brothers. However, one thing still bothered him, why was the figure that fought him Fluttershy, and why was she covered in azure flames? The nightmare tried to ration it as his mind fusing the two people he fell in love with together, but even so why did his mind do that? It's one mystery he believes that he will not get an answer so easily.
Another thing that crossed his mind is his existence. He grew to never fear death itself as he trained with the Kuro clan, but the utter removal of one's existence? That was something far worse than death as there will be no afterlife waiting for him once he dies just pure nothingness awaits him along with whatever void there is for him to go. Honestly, the thought of disappearing forever scared him, but he knew he had to push those thoughts away or else he would double think his actions which would cause him harm in the long run.
However, if there was any good thing to come out of this he now knew the truth that Fredrick is really Desmond this entire time. But, what happened that resulted in his and his brother's creation still eluded him, although, he could guess that it wasn't pretty considering where he was during those visions of great sorrow. Another good thing to come from this is now he had a plan to save Fredrick from Midnight's grasp. It's not a plan he likes entirely, but he knows it has to be done for the sake of both of their worlds.
But, such plan wouldn't be without its costs and the cost he would have to pay is certainly high, but to stop an evil entity from starting her reign in their world it would be a price he would gladly pay. However, doing so will no doubt upset their new friends and loved ones, "Whatever happens after that plan I leave to those who remain. For my name isn't Paranoia…it's Sorrow. For that is the emotion that gave birth to my existence." Mind set and ready to roll Paranoia sped off into the darkness, ready to bring everything to an end.