The giant stared into the other's eyes for a long time, trying to take in what he was saying to fully understand what he was saying. That was impossible. He couldn't be dead, right? What kind of afterlife would this be? Was he in Hell? Despite all those impossible questions and the unfathomable answers, deep down, a part of him knew that the strange man was telling the truth. He nodded just a little, feeling calm wash over him once more. The spikes of pain melting away into a numb nothingness once more.
"Well… You're only technically dead." The white-haired man sighed in slight annoyance, standing with his arms crossed over his chest. Xamu slowly looked at him without moving his head, not wanting to move away from the gentle caress of the strange cat. He didn't realize that he slowly had started to reach out, his fingers curling around the man's hips, drawing him closer.
"What do you mean technically?" Xamu asked, looking at the pale man before he looked back to the other before him, who was moving to crawl into his lap. They also shared similar features, this strange feline man and the other with the blue eyes. They had the same jawline and elegantly delicate fingers. But there was no denying those bright blue eyes, even if he didn't know why, Xamu knew those eyes.
"The simplest answer to that is that it's complicated." The pale man sighed before he made a gesture towards an empty space in the room. A set of large plush couches appeared out of nowhere, a low coffee table with a steaming tea set already on it between them. The pale man walked over and sat down on the center of one of the couches, moving to pour several cups of tea. One he poured actually floated over to sit in front of Yen Sid, the man still watching with that scowling look on his face, but something in his expression almost softening. The giant sat there in silence for a long time before he slowly started to stand, picking up the dark-skinned man with him, feeling as that fluffy tail wrapped around his forearm, holding him like a child. He cradled him close to his chest, absently feeling the other tuck his head under his chin, a purr rumbling through both of their chests.
The giant slowly made his way over to the couch, settling on the one opposite to the strange pale man, who set out a larger cup of tea for the man. Before he could thank him, the pale man dropped in six sugar cubes into the tea, making him stare for just a moment. That seemed like a lot but at the same time a part of him knew that was exactly how he liked it. The white-haired man kept his hand hovering over the cup as he continued to prep the others, pulling another kettle out of nowhere to pour a darker liquid into a cup. It smelled of a very strong coffee, which he offered to Ares then, who took it with a nod, casting a dark look at Xamu and the man curled against his chest.
"Ahh…." Xamu blinked a few times before he gestured towards the cup in front of him that the other was still covering. "Is that… for me?"
"Yes." The man hummed simply, working on one last cup. "But it's too hot. You'll burn yourself." He looked up at him from over the top of his glasses as he spoke the next words. "And I don't care if you can't feel it. It doesn't mean it doesn't still hurt you physically."
He stared at the other, feeling like his entire world had suddenly narrowed down to the man before him. He leaned back in the couch as he stared into those all too familiar eyes that simply watched him in a curious silence. No one should know that. Even he didn't fully understand why but he had noticed that everything felt… numb. It was hard to feel the ground beneath him, things when he touched them, textures and temperatures… Truth was, the cat man curled into his chest was the first thing he had really honestly felt since he had woken up. So how could this complete stranger know about this? Obviously, he knew Xamu somehow but…
"My name is Archimedes." The white-haired man said, not breaking eye contact. "And yes. You know me as well… At least…" he made a small gesture. "You will… Or rather you have know me…" he waved it off as he sat back in the couch, picking up his own cup and gestured to the one before Xamu. "It's far more complicated than we have the time to get into right now. You already have quite a few questions that you need answered." He held up a finger before the larger man could reply. "I'd like to start with what exactly you are and why you don't remember anything."
Xamu looked at him for a long time before he nodded a little, absently petting the lower back of the man that was curled into him, stroking his thumb over the fabric that he could barley feel. Archimedes hummed softly as he glanced towards Ares, the man having perched himself on the arm of the couch, glaring at the giant over the top of his mug. Xamu understood why Ares was mad at him, though why his anger went deeper then the events from earlier he couldn't understand. The intense glare struck a thought and before Archimedes could speak, he spoke first.
"Does it have to do with what he was calling me earlier?" Xamu asked, pointing at Ares. "A… Nobdoy?" The goth snorted in annoyance, crossing his legs at his ankles. The way that he was perched on the arm of the chair was actually quite attractive, Xamu's eyes slowly trailing over his body… Then the pounding in his ears started again, making him look towards Archimedes again. The pale man having been silent the whole time, just watching before he nodded.
"Actually, yes, it does." He hummed, leaning back into the couch as he thought, tapping the side of his cup. Reaching up, the man pushed his glasses further up his face, a thoughtful look in those striking eyes. "I'm trying to decide where it's best to start." He said, almost as if trying to explain his stalling to Xamu. The giant just watching him in a confused but at least calm silence. The feline man in his lap made him feel… grounded. He looked down at the man on his lap, gently petting his back before slowly trailing his fingers through the fur of the man's tail, pulling a soft mewl from the other. A sound that made something in his chest tighten and his face feel hot.
"What's your name?" Xamu asked the feline as he reached up to caress his face very gently. His massive hand could have easily wrapped around his entire head but the strange man trusted him enough to lean into his rough fingers, reaching up to put his own on top of it. It was so much smaller, so much more delicate and gentler. He looked up at Xamu with a soft look in his yellow eyes, a purr rumbling in his chest.
"You know me by many names..." He cooed softly before he moved to straddle one of his massive legs, sitting back on Xamu's knee. "But Bomber shall do for the time being."
Xamu looked at the feline, unable to look away from those eyes. There was something about them that seemed to be just drawing him in closer, feeling something deep inside him starting to stir in the most enticing way possible. His eyes slowly trailed down the other's face, tracing the outline of his lips with his gaze, looking at the curve of his slender neck, the dip of his beautiful collar bone… He had the sudden and very intense urge to dive into this man, to mark him, to hold him and caress him… He had realized he had started to lean towards Bomber until he heard someone clear their throat.
"That's quite enough of that, thank you." Archimedes said as he put down his tea cup quickly. "The last thing I want to see is the two of you going at it… Again." He shivered a little and held up his hand before Xamu could ask what he meant by that. "Just… Keep it in your pants, please. For all of our sakes." He fixed his glasses again, huffing before he stood and started to pace, leaving a trail of glitter behind him. "Ares, come here." He said, stopping in an open space. The goth, who was blushing darkly and had moved so that his arm was between his legs, looked a little started at being addressed but without question he got up and went to the other, still holding his mug.
"Ares is a Somebody." Archimedes said, talking as if those words made any sense to Xamu. "This means that he is a whole and complete person." He stood behind the goth, his hands held up on either side of him. A halo of dark blue light started to form around the smaller man, though he seemed to completely ignore it as he drank his coffee. "A Somebody is what most people are. The master is one, Ares is one… most people you came across in town are Somebodies." Archimedes continued, looking down at the goth before he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "This is a word used to describe a person that is whole. A Somebody has their hearts, souls, and bodies still intact." The dark blue outline moved and started to form a glowing blue outline of a heart on the man's chest. That pounding in Xamu's ears started to come back as he watched, the intense feeling and need that he had felt before filling his body once more. He felt Bomber's arms around his neck tighten a little, the smaller man pressing their chest together, grounding him once more.
"Okay…" Xamu muttered, not pulling his eyes away from Archimedes, furrowing his eyebrows. "So why am I a Nobody?"
"I told ya why." Ares snorted. "Ya ain't got no heart. Ya ain't got no soul."
"Well, that first part is true. You don't have a heart anymore." Archimedes corrected him, letting his hands fall away from Ares, the glowing fading. "Just a moment ago… You had a pounding in your ears, correct? You could hear a heartbeat and you felt this need to… take it?"
Xamu looked at the two for a long time before he slowly started to nod. "Yeah." He said absently, wrapping his arms a little tighter around Bomber, pulling him closer, needing the comfort of the other man. "It's… It's what happened last night too. I thought I just wanted to have sex or something but I… I tried…" he swallowed hard, having to look away as shame and horror washed over him. Bomber hushed him gently, petting the back of his neck, pressing his lips gently to his jawline, sending sparks shooting through his body.
"You're hearing Ares' heart." Archimedes hummed, gesturing for the goth to sit back down, and the man did so. "You actually can hear any Somebody's heart if you listen hard enough, but the stronger ones are easier to pick up on then others." He crossed his arms over his chest, only getting a very confused look in response and he sighed, tapping his arm in annoyance.
"Let me try." Bomber spoke softly as he pulled away from Xamu, looking at Archimedes. He gently gave Xamu a soft look as he pulled away, leaving the man absently reaching towards him, feeling suddenly very cold and number then before. He watched as the feline walked up to Arch and stood beside him, fixing his clothing so that it hung properly on his slender frame. "You see…" Bomber said, looking towards Xamu. "The world is made completely of darkness," he gestured to himself. "And light." He gestured to Archimedes, who hummed and nodded. "There are some that are made of pure darkness such as myself and those that are made of pure light, such as Arch." The feline continued. "And every being has different levels of light and darkness inside them." He looked to Ares, who was watching the two now, ignoring Xamu for the time being.
"Those with stronger hearts like Ares here, they have more light inside of their hearts then they do darkness." Bomber continued. "Being a Nobody, you are drawn to those with stronger hearts, with more light or more darkness… Because you lack your own heart." He looked at the giant, his tail twitching a little from side to side. "Your heart was stollen by a creature of darkness… Specifically something like this." He made a gesture before him, casting a shadow across the ground. The shadow seemed to shimmer and wiggle across the ground before large black claw like fingers emerged from it. A creature emerged from the ground, making Ares jump up and that strange weapon appearing again. The creature was pure black with bright, glowing yellow eyes. It had a large head that was too big for its small body, spindly limbs with long fingers on large hands. Two spiraling whips of darkness came off of its head, twitching with every jerking movement. Xamu stared at the creature, feeling something starting to pull in the back of his mind. Something rushed forwards as he felt himself starting to stand before the world turned sideways.
The wind felt cool against his hot skin, his lungs burning with every shaking breath. He stood at the edge of the broken bridge that sat on one end of the island. He could see the other side, watching as bits crumbled into the pit of darkness below. He could absently hear the sound of the waters hitting the rocks and rusted supports of the bridge. He stared into the darkness, trying to focus on the nothingness before him, trying to ignore the tightness in his chest, ignore his burning eyes. There was a tight lump in his throat that made it near impossible to breathe without wheezing and gasping. Swallowing hard, he felt hot tears running down his cheeks and despite being completely alone, he struggled to not openly sob. It felt like someone had ripped his heart out of his chest and crushed it, tearing it to piece before his eyes. How had this happened? How could he let this happen?
"Gally!" a voice called behind him, pulling him from his thoughts. Slowly turning to look, he saw a woman running towards him. Cali was a beautiful woman with striking pale green eyes, perfectly flawless pale skin, and a knock out body that she knew how to use. Her short blonde hair was plastered to her forehead and she looked like she had been running, face and chest flushed, and she was panting to try and catch her breath. "Thank the lord I found ya. We've been lookin' fer ya fer days now, baby boy." She gasped, trying to catch her breath. "Come away from there, baby. Ya could get hurt. Come on. Come home with me, baby."
He stared at the woman, watching as she outstretched her hand towards him. He could tell she had been crying as well, tears still in those usually powerful eyes. Despite the pain that she was in, she had been looking for him for… days? Had it really been days already?
He made a small sound as he looked back out towards the other side of the broken bridge, feeling the wind on his face once more. A wicked stench of rotting flesh had finally reached his nose but it was nothing he wasn't used to at this point.
"I can't." he said quietly, not able to look at the woman.
Cali responded with a soft laugh. "Wha ya mean ya can't? Course ya can, baby. Just… come on. Come take a seat and we can talk. Just… step away from there. Yer too closer to the edge, baby boy." Her voice trembled with fear that he knew he was causing. All he could do though was shake his head.
"I'm not like you, mama." He said quietly, clenching his fists as he tried to swallow the hard lump in his throat again, pain shooting through his chest once more. "I'm not strong like you or Graverobber or…." He whined as he reached up to cover his face, a sharp sob erupting from him. "Fuck…. I can't do this, mama… I just can't do this without her."
"Oh, baby boy. Don't talk like that." Cali cooed and he could hear her walking closer, picking a careful path towards him. "I know this is hard for ya, baby. But it's gonna be okay. It's gonna-"
"She's gone, mama!" he half shouted before he could stop himself, looking up at the sky. "She's dead and it's all my fucking fault. I killed her, mama." He clenched his jaw, his fists tightening further. "I pulled the fucking plug on her. She's dead because of me. What kind of fucking person… what kind of fucking monster does that?" He growled, feeling the sudden urge to punch himself in the face but settled instead with grabbing his hair and yanking hard on the locks, trying to rip them out. He could barley feel it though, hearing the tearing more than feeling it.
There was a long moment of silence that was so cold it sent a shiver down his numb spine. But he couldn't keep this from Cali, she needed to know the truth. He had done it… He was the reason that the only bit of light that was left in the world was gone.
"It ain't yer fault, baby." The woman said softly, her voice much closer this time, making him turn to see her standing with in reaching distance. The small woman looked up at him with tears in her eyes, her hands in tight fists near her chest, making her look even smaller… making her look almost vulnerable. It was something he had never seen before. It struck him, making his chest feel even tighter and it… it scared him to see this woman that he had always seen as so powerful, so strong… to see her so broken.
"It ain't yer fault, baby boy." She said again, this time stronger, as if trying to make a point. "None of this is yer fault. Ya did everythin' ya could for her… In the end there was nothin' any of us could have done." The woman looked down, taking a shuttering breath. "I know yer hurtin', baby… We are too. We lost her too. But ya can't blame yerself for this, we all knew it was only a matter of time till she passed. It doesn't make it any easier but… ya can't…. Gally…. Ya can't…" she let out her own soft sob as she slowly started to reach up to cover her face with both of her hands, shaking her head. "I can't handle loosin' ya too, baby… So please… come home with me. We can talk about what happened later, just come home, baby boy." She looked up at him and held out both of her hands to him, looking almost desperate. "We love ya, Mau. Come home with me."
He stared at her, feeling a mix of so many things he wasn't even sure what he was feeling. But what he did know was that Cali was hurting and he was part of the reason she was hurting. But she didn't hate him and she wanted him to come home… to go back to that place where…. He swallowed hard, letting his arms fall limp by his sides, tears falling down his cheeks once more but this time he felt… numb. Number then ever before. He nodded a little as he started to walk towards her, not wanting to cause anymore pain. He slowly reached out to the woman and wrapped his arms around her, curling around her as he broke down sobbing once more. He could barley feel her smaller arms around his waist as she sobbed quietly into his chest, whispering sweet comforts to him, petting his chest.
It was the sound of cracking under their feet as the ground started to shift that broke them both out of the tender moment. They only had a moment to stare into each other's eyes before the ground shifted once more and jolted violently. The world started to turn sideways and he could barley find the ground under him, so he did the next best thing. Gripping to Cali, they locked eyes as the world started to crumple and fall. She had sheer panic in her eyes and she opened her mouth to say something but he just smiled at her. As the ground fell under him, he grabbed tightly to the woman and threw her with all the strength he had. He could hear her screaming as he fell into the darkness below, the bridge under him having collapsed. He watched as where he had been moments before got further and further away, feeling terror shoot through his body but it all washed away when he saw Cali appear at the edge of the freshly broken bridge. She was safe… She was okay… Slowly he closed his eyes and tilted his head back.
"Sorry mama." He whispered to himself, hearing her screaming his name.
The water was beyond icy cold as his body smacked into it. It was like he had struck solid ground and it probably would have hurt if he could feel pain. The world was dark around him and he was expecting his lungs to fill with water, making it impossible to breathe as he floated weightlessly to his death but that never happened. Instead, the darkness around him writhed and wriggled, twisting around his body. At first it was almost comforting, almost soothing, but soon dagger like claws started to dig into his body. He gasped as sudden pain he hadn't felt in years shoot through him, making every part of his body scream in the sensation. He opened his mouth but no sound came out, instead the darkness filling him, pour itself into his body. His eyes shot open and what he saw was far more terrifying than the inky blackness from before.
Glowing yellow eyes started at him from every direction, completely and totally surrounding him. There was hundreds if not thousands of eyes just staring at him as the fingers grabbed every part of his body and tore him limb from limb. Fear filled his entire being as all he could do was helplessly stare into those thousand upon thousands of glowing orbs, his voice lost to darkness. It wasn't until he felt something tear into his chest though that he finally looked away, looking up now at what seemed to be a hooded figure that was hovering above him. He could see their hand in his chest, smashed through his sternum but there was no blood. He couldn't see their face, couldn't see any of their features but a long black leather jacket with silver pulls, the hood casting their face completely in shadow.
The figure suddenly yanked their hand back and the burning pain that filled his body at that action made him want to scream. He writhed in a deathly silence, as he watched the figure hold up a glowing red object… His heart. This person.. this thing… It was holding HIS heart. He watched as it caressed it, petting it with gloved hands before slowly holding it up. As they did so, those thousands of eyes rushed forwards. He didn't find out what happened after that though. The last thing he saw was the flash of a smile under the shadow of the hood before his body, his mind… his entire being was consumed completely and totally into darkness and pain.
