"If I told you what I was, would you turn your back on me?
And if I seemed dangerous, would you be scared?
I get the feeling just because everything I touch isn't dark enough.
That this problem lies in me.
I'm only a man, with a candle to guide me.
I'm taking a stand to escape what's insid eme.
A monster, a monster.
I've turned into a monster.
A monster, a monster,
and it keeps getting stronger."
-Monster by Imagine Dragons.
-Other Side-
Nitram never talked about what happened when he had 'Risen'. As far as Bodil could tell, it was probably the same as Falling. Normally, a Fallen would slowly descend into madness. They would become angry, evil and vile. Ghost was a prime example.
But Bodil wondered if it was the opposite for Nitram.
It was possible, really, if he thought about it. He had seen those times, when Nitram's sweet personality dropped away and crumbled into pieces. There had been one time when Nitram had gone into a rage, completely irrational and sadistic. It had been terrifying.
[...]
"Nitram, are you okay?"
The devil nodded and brought up a smile, but there was a strange glint in his red and black eyes. The pupils were slits, a dark scarlet that gleamed like blood. "Yes, I am fine."
Bodil shrugged and glanced over at Sky. "So I found a new parkour map," he said. "Do you guys want to try it out?"
"Sure," Ty answered, tossing the bowl of melted ice cream into the trashcan to his left. "Where is it?"
"A few miles from here," Bodil answered, gesturing with his hand. "We can carry you there, if you'd like."
"Nah, we can walk there."
Nitram remained silent, picking at his chocolate ice cream with a slight frown. The baseball cap hid most of his face, and it was tilted so they couldn't see him even if they craned their necks. "Are you sure you're okay?" Bodil asked quietly, worried. Nitram nodded once and stood, walking over and throwing his uneaten ice cream away. "Yes. Let us go, I want to try the map."
And he smiled again, head bowed so they couldn't see his eyes.
[…]
"Sky, Sky don't!"
Sky cackled evilly, crouching on the edge of the iron square. "Please what?" he whispered, edging towards Ty, who desperately tried to scoot away. They were both crowded on the same block, and Ty had the imminent danger of being pushed off.
"Please don't push me off," Ty whimpered, knowing he wouldn't be able to jump to the next part with Sky there. They were both stuck on the block. Bodil and Nitram were patiently waiting behind them. The devil looked mad, tail lashing the air impatiently. "Get on with it already," he called.
Sky laughed and pushed Ty off the block. A moment later, he reappeared at the beginning of the parkour section. Bodil jumped past Nitram, fluttering around him slightly to avoid getting suck, and landed on the block next to Sky.
"Hey! Bodil, that was cheating!"
"I'm not in gamemode, am I?" Bodil shot back, grinning. "It isn't cheating. It's just the Bulgarian way."
"But still cheating." And with that, Sky pushed him off, too."
Nitram had just been about to jump when Bodil cried out and fell into the lava. The devil stared, mouth open in horror, as Bodil disappeared beneath the surface of the molten rock. For a moment, he just sat there. Then, his gaze snapped over to Sky. "You killed him," he said, voice barely above a whisper.
Sky shrugged and gestured to the beginning of the course. "He'll respawn."
"You killed Martin." Nitram jumped into the air suddenly, face twisting into rage. "You killed him!"
"Whoa, dude, calm down. It's just a joke. Look, he's-" But Sky was cut off as Nitram pounced, tackling him to the ground.
"You hurt him. I will hurt you."
His claws were digging into Sky's shoulders, curling into the skin and making dark splotches of blood bloom on his grey shirt. Sky cried out and kicked, trying to get away.
"Nitram! Nitram, it's okay! I'm okay!"
Bodil darted over, whacking Ty in the head with a wing as he flew past. He stopped and pulled Nitram away, into the air. The devil wouldn't let go of Sky, though, and Bodil had to fly to the end of the course so he wouldn't drop either of them in the lava.
Almost as soon as he dropped them onto the iron platform, Sky wiggled away. It was just for a moment, and then Nitram pounced on him again with a savage growl.
"Nitram, please! Please leave him alone." Bodil landed and ran forwards, tugging on his brother's shoulder. Ty finally got fed up with respawning and teleported, instantly going to help Bodil.
"!niaga rehtprb ym hcuot reve uoy fi devolnreve evah uoy ydobyreve dna sdneirf ruoy dna nerdlihc rouy dna uoy llik lliw I"
(A/N: Translation: "I will kill you and your children and your friends and everybody you've ever loved if you ever ever touch my brother again! I will!")
Nitram wrapped a hand around Sky's throat, leaning down and letting out more strings of curses in the language of his world. But finally, Bodil and Ty managed to pry him away. Even then, he was straining against them; his claws snapping through the air as he desperately tried to get Sky.
"Nitram, Nitram calm down!" Bodil whirled the devil around and embraced him, wings furling up around them. "I'm okay, I'm okay."
Nitram trailed off into ravenous mutters, hugging Bodil tightly. His claws unintentionally dug into his brother's arms, but he wasn't trying to attack Sky anymore. ".m-ma I yrroS" he whispered, burying his face in Bodil's shoulder. ".ma I yrroS"
(Translation: I am sorry.)
"I… I think we better go," Bodil said to the other two. "I'll be back later, but I want to get him home."
Nitram shrugged Bodil's arm off his shoulder and spread his wings. For a moment, when Bodil turned back to him, he looked like a scene straight from the Nether.
The lava pool cast a dim glow, which filtered through the red webbing of his wings. It illuminated the veins and skinny, finger-like bones. For a moment, Bodil saw the way they resembled hands, with the little hooked claw at the top joint as the thumb, and four branching, spindly bones for fingers. A sixth 'finger' ranched off from the elbow joint nearest to his shoulder. His black hair gleamed with fire from the lava, and he only seemed to be more imposing and dark than his usual joyful and care-free character.
".emoH" was all Nitram said before stretching his wings and darting away.
(Translation: Home.)
[…]
"Nitram, where are you? Nitram?"
He had gotten home and the entire house had been dark. Nitram was nowhere to be seen, but Bodil knew that he was here. He could tell by the way that the skylight was hanging wide open. The angel closed the door to the laundry room and made his way to Nitram's bedroom. He heard a sniffling, shortly followed by a hiccup.
Bodil quietly walked over to the bed and sat down on the ground. He didn't need to look to know that his brother was under the bed; it was a place both of them went when upset.
For a while, they sat there in silence. Other than the occasional hiccup and sniff, Nitram was silent. After five minutes or so, Bodil lie down on his stomach and set his chin on his arms. "Nitram…"
He tilted his head slightly, to catch only a short glimpse of vibrant scarlet and deep black eyes. Then Nitram rolled over and folded a wing over his head. "Do not look at me," he whispered, voice shaking. "I do not want you to look at me."
"And what's wrong with you?" Bodil asked, rolling onto his side and scooting closer slightly. "You can trust me with anything, Nitram."
For a long moment, Nitram didn't move. Bodil was just about to give up when he sniffed and rolled over, uncomfortably tucking a wing underneath his body.
Bodil gasped and reached forward, only to have Nitram shy away. "What-"
"It is what we devils do," Nitram muttered, holding a hand over his face. "It is a constant reminder that we are evil."
Bodil stared, open-mouthed and speechless, at the crimson tear tracks streaking down Nitram's face. "I-it's natural? I don't need to take you to the hospital?"
Nitram shook his head, still keeping his hand over his eyes. "No."
"So… What happened back there? With Sky?"
"I told you when we met; I am a Risen. I am not what I used to be."
The way he said it made Bodil fall silent. And they sat there, with Nitram still covering his face. After a moment, Bodil reached forward and pulled his hand away. He was met with crimson tears. He swallowed and pulled Nitram closer, into a hug.
"I don't care what you were, or what you are. As long as you don't beat yourself up over any of this," he murmured, lifting Nitram's chin to look him in the eye.
"I-I do not want to be evil anymore, Martin," Nitram said quietly, voice hoarse. "It is not a good thing… I-I hate it, it is like something inside me is eating me and it will not ever stop because I am a mons-"
"Nitram never say that. You aren't a monster. Got it?"
"… Yes."
"Good. Never forget it."
So if I ever, in anything, had Nitram cry regular tears, completely forget it. I mean it. Don't point it out in a review, or anything. I like this thing. I like the crying blood thing. It's weird. I like weirdsies.
(And besides, the original art for Bodil666 made it look like he was crying blood. So I thought "Eh, why not?")
I hope you enjoyed. I'm going to go work on other one-shots now. You might be able to expect a short one up later. Thanks for reading, guys. Leave a review, tell me what you think. Stay awesome.
-Cold
