A/N
Sometimes as an author… your brain comes up with an idea and it bugs you over and over "write me." It whispers in your ear. Dammit brain… I want to carry on with my current stories… Not start a new one. "Write me…" It whispers… "I won't go away until you do…"
Sigh.
Music for this chapter: Radiohead. How to Disappear Completely. (Please listen, it really sets the tone up for the chapter and the story as a whole.)
The memory played over and over in his head as he lay on the cold flagstone street. Curled up the foetal position, his red eyes glazed, staring at nothing. His breath slow and shallow. His was cut and bruised, his hair stained with blood and filth. In the last few moments, the heavens had opened, and a cold rain fell on the boy. He didn't notice.
"What the hell is wrong with you, you monster loving freak?"
The words of the golden-haired girl echoed again in his mind as he replayed the scene that had only taken place a few moments ago.
As he watched the memory, it felt to him that he was floating above the scene, staring down at himself. An almost out of body experience.
'That there…'
'That's not me…'
He tried to reach out his hand as he watched Wiene jump in front of him screaming at Aiz to not hurt Bell. Aiz hadn't even hesitated, the moment Wiene had jumped, she had struck.
Bell could only watch as he saw desperate punch through Wiene's back, blood spilling as the blade pierced her heart.
Wiene exploded into black ash before him.
'I go…'
'Where I please…'
"Just to make sure." Aiz had said as she stabbed the magic crystal that fell out of the air.
Bell dropped to his knees, his jaw wide open in shock.
'I walk through walls...'
'I float down the Liffey.'
Aiz stared down at him with her cold, golden eyes.
"What the hell is wrong with you, you monster loving freak?"
She stared at him for a second, but he didn't react. Sat on his knees, his eyes seemed dead. The spark of joy she had always seen in him was gone. He wasn't even staring at her, his eyes unfocused. His arms had dropped listlessly to his sides, he had dropped the Hestia knife.
'I'm not here.'
'This isn't happening.'
She sheathed her sword, turned without saying anything and walked away. There were still monsters on the surface and that Minotaur had to be dealt with. She didn't have time for Bell and his stupid games with talking monsters. Monsters needed to die! Not be saved… What the hell was wrong with him?
Aiz shook her head with a frown of frustration as she walked away from the boy.
'I'm not here…'
'I'm not here…'
He watched himself drop and curl up on the floor.
The memory started to play again.
"Please don't hurt Bell!"
He watched the sword penetrate the dragon girl's chest again.
'In a little while…'
'I'll be gone...'
He watched as she exploded in black ash.
'The moments already passed…'
'Yeah, it's gone.'
He watched as Aiz stabbed the magic stone.
'And I'm not here…'
'This isn't happening.'
"What the hell is wrong with you, you monster loving freak?"
He watched himself drop to his knees.
'I'm not here…'
'I'm not here….'
He watched as she frowned at him and walked away.
Again, and again he watched, still curled up on the street, unable to process or understand what had happened.
'This isn't happening…'
'I'm not here... I'm not here.'
Over and over it played.
'This isn't happening.'
"What the hell is wrong with you, you monster loving freak?"
'This isn't happening.'
"What the hell is wrong with you, you monster loving freak?"
It would be many months before Hestia Familia saw Bell again. The man they found though… was no longer Bell Cranel.
A/N
I do have a plot planned for this. But this opening scene kept playing in my head over and over, so I just had to sit down and write it to get my head to shut up.