Part 6: False Hopes
(A/n if you have any questions about this work please pm me)
"Shatter."
It was that simple, two-syllable word that brought about the end of him, after so much catastrophe and pain; his eyes were gone. Ryden had the faint impression that losing your eyesight should hurt, but all he felt was fear and apprehension. His powers, though, were overwhelming. They pulsed under his skin like another type of blood, isotonic and yet ready to burst, to make him implode like a sacrifice. He knew what he had to do, and he knew what was going to happen once all of this was done.
Ryden opened his eyes, a brilliant galaxy of countless stars and boundless darkness filling his view. A godly presence soon surrounded him, the purity and power soon encompassing him. It was like wadding into the ocean, slowly sinking into the deepest parts of it. A voice, melodic but not quite as kind, filled his ears; causing tears to rise in his eyes, burning them uncomfortably. "Alright," he whispered in something like resignation, holding his hand out and arching his back. "Don't take my sight; I can't afford to lose it. Take—take my voice instead."
He wasn't sure if the godly, otherworldly presence visiting him would accept his request, but a sudden movement of the stars, like they were a river, and the galaxy filling his throat like fire answered his question. "Thank you," he mouthed to the emptiness.
The silence was endless.
Sunlight filtered through the thin skin of Ryden's eyelids, his eyeballs shifting as the rays disturbed his slumber. His eyes opened gently, taking in the view of the sun shining through the overbrush of lively trees, bathing the forest in its golden glory. A noise to his right caused his head to shift, eyes meeting those of a mother doe and her growing fawns. One of the precious fawns approached him without caution, their nose touching his and their tongue sliding across his cheek.
The touch was so gentle - so innocent - that he couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face as he raised his hand and brushed the fawn's fur, a look of peace and relaxation apparent on his face. The fur was soft and warm to the touch, delicate and fluffy with youth and care. Such a small, light source of life in a big, dark world.
The small herd all raised their heads without warning, a sound that could not be heard by any human ears alerting them. The herd immediately ran further into the woods, as he moved his hand away and sat up urgently.
He turned his head left and right, looking around and cocking his head as he tried to get a feel of the surrounding area in a mental landscape. He rose to his feet shakily, breathing soundlessly, and watched the birds above cry and fly away from something. There was a beat of silence; his heart beat once, twice. His eyes were still trained on the sky, serene with expectations.
The snap of a twig caused his head to turn to look behind him, finding a few Sentinel Service agents standing there, guns at the ready; they approached him cautiously, as if he were a wild animal. When the leading agent realized that he was naked, she flicked her wrist in a sign and they all lowered their guns. The leading agent, a nondescript woman, took off her jacket. She draped it over Ryden's lean body and smiled comfortingly. "Let's bring him back to Head Quarters and then continue our search."
Ryden reached out and gently touched her arm, causing her to look down at him, "What's up sweetie?" She asked. Warmth filled him as he wrapped his arms around her, her body shaking with soft laugher, her arms sliding around him; he stared into her, his eyes turning silver. Sorry, he whispered into her mind, apologetically. Her eyes snapped down to look at him immediately, body going stiff. "What are you doing?"
Her squadron looked at them, raising their guns and training them at Ryden. "Release her at once." The voice was calm, but demanding. It promised violence. It made him bitter.
He obeyed and let go of her, but apologies that weren't as honest anymore flooded his mind when his hands flew in front of him, twisting and tensing as if he were trying to rip the very fabric of the world apart. His mind travelled to a certain hazel-eyed boy, remembering how his hands would move similarly when his destructive powers came into play. A slight smile danced over his lips, head caught in the world of memories as the woman previously in his possession screamed in agony. Her body was being forcefully torn apart into two gruesome pieces, and after a moment, in which blood splattered through the earth like a sacrifice, the body was cast aside.
"Mary!" one of the agents shouted, pulling their trigger and emptying their ammo in one go. But all Ryden had to do was raise his hand, and the bullets stopped before they could even go near him. He stared at the growing fear in their eyes, gripped by an overwhelming sense of guilt; he trained his eyes somewhere behind the agents in order to get a grip. His hand dropped and the bullets followed, falling to the ground with clattering thuds.
"Hands behind your head."
Ryden watched an agent take charge with slight surprise, the fear and nervousness ruling the agent's actions turning the surprise into apathy. The mutant's eyes rolled over the agent so intently that the man's hand never left his gun, even if it did shake somewhat. Ryden bit his lip as the agent approached him, closing his eyes and beginning to blow air at him—the air transcended its normal limitations, presenting itself as an iridescent glow. It traveled into the body of the new leading agent, and soon enough, his body began to spasm and shake at the foreign power entering his body. He grunted and doubled over, hands gripping his stomach at the intense pain he was undergoing.
The squad, once again, looked at their momentary commander in pain, raising their guns to stop all the madness and chaos that this one, single boy was bringing. Their leader choked on the words that had been forcefully caught in his throat, but he was able to say "fire" before falling completely silent, his pitiful cries of pain aside. The squad grimaced and aimed the guns at the boy again, hands shaking slightly as their fingers gripped the trigger steadily. And then, in unison, like a single mind, they all fired.
Bullets rained at an agonizing pace, all sounds slain except for the symphony of gun fire; it wasn't until the click of an empty gun, that they stopped firing. The squad looked over at the smoke and the formerly beautiful, now damaged forest, their breaths catching in their throats and their knees beginning to buckle. "How?" One soldier whispered to no one in particular.
The boy continued staring at them, a look of annoyance resting solidly on his face as he stood amongst the carnage created by none other than those trying to stop it. His hand raised slowly, energy appearing to swirl around his body like a personal tornado; his eyes began to glow a fiery gold as the energy built up in his palm, blindingly bright and just as hot.
"Ple—please don't do this!"
Ryden only raised his head in response, gazing at them with eyes that held the wonders of the universe, that were just as beautiful; but not a single emotion lay in the oceanic depths. He clenched his fist, giving the soldiers a small feeling of hope; then released his grip, the energy exploding outwards in a beam.
"N—!" They tried to scream as the energy destroyed their bodies, but not even a god could've spoken a word in the face of such power.
He lowered his hand, watching the energy beam dissipate with empty eyes, and examining the madness he had unleashed. The spot where the soldiers once stood was replaced by an enormous crater, ashes dancing through the air like the withering leaves of fall. He nodded to himself, then turned and glared at their leader, still shriveling in pain.
Pussy, he thought bitterly, watching the grown man grunt and wiggle in pain like a worm. He turned and snapped his fingers—the energy formerly residing in the agent escaped his body in a single moment, bringing him the ultimate pain and, in the end, stopping his heart. Maybe it shouldn't be as poetically befitting as it seemed to be.
Ryden hummed and turned around, wrapping the jacket tigher around himself and dragging his hand over the rough, but somewhat comforting and welcoming tree trunks. Some bark would slice the paper-thin veil called skin every now and then, as he strode through the woods, but he'd continue, smearing his blood without a care in the world; like returning what was taken, bit by bit.
The sound of someone cursing broke his attention and regretfully lured him towards the clearing. He cocked his head and stared at a golden maiden, intrigued by her very presence. She had beautiful golden locks, sliding down her bare back like a cascade, and a curvy figure that was admittedly tantalizing, even if Ryden preferred the scrawny physique that was his Andy.
The thought sent a pang through his chest, and so he decided to focus on the task at hand; assessing.
The maiden had dark skin, like she'd been bathed in chocolate and sprinkled with sugar. Her dress was light, loose, and ivory, like something you'd see on a lost girl in a cartoon. She definitely looked different than before, didn't she?
He took a step forward and purposely snapped a twig, watching as her head jerked up so fast. He nearly flinched in sympathy for the whiplash she must've gotten, even if she didn't show it. Right now, he was focusing on the small mirage of fear swirling in her eyes.
"Who's there? I can crush you in a single instant." She stepped forward and fire exploded from where her foot landed; she waved her hand as the fire spread throughout the clearing, burning any living thing that happen to be residing there with the simplicity of calamity. In that moment, Ryden saw her eyes clearly; honey was being swirled over a golden coin.
"Hmph!" She smirked and turned back to continue whatever she was doing, curls bobbing up and down. "Showed 'em."
Ryden cocked his head at her confidence–he really hoped that she wasn't all bark and no bite, or this would be real easy and over real quick. He took a step and then another, and soon, he found himself walking toward her like this was a meet and greet.
The sound of the grass crunching and shifting beneath his bare feet was loud enough to alert most to his presence, and she was definitely no exception. Ryden could almost hear her roll her eyes as her shoulders rose and then dropped in a sigh; she turned around, a fire casually arising beneath her fingertips. All it took to extinguish it was a smile from him.
They both remained frozen in place, neither willing to make the first move as they looked at each other head to toe. "H-how'd you get out?" She stuttered, glaring daggers at him.
He said nothing and simply continued to stare, gaze somehow causing her an overwhelming sense of anxiety. It crawled through her stomach like a rodent until she thought she'd puke if she so much as parted her lips. He took another step forward but stopped as he stared at the burnt grass, shaking his head but eventually continuing forward nonetheless. She inhaled sharply and watched as the grass rejuvenated under his feet, even greener and livelier than before her wrath befell it.
"What are you?" She hissed out, unconsciously backing up from the god standing in front of her. Battles between the higher beings were always fun, but chess was a great source of anxiety, no matter how talented you were.
As a way to respond, Ryden held out his hand, palm up, and allowed energy to swirl atop it until it made the perfect shape of a crow. "No." She whispered, tears forming in her honey-gold eyes, the meaning of this knowledge registered in her brain.
Her foot slid aside, the gold in her eyes turning into a vibrant shade of orange, one that reminded him of lava; she definitely looked aesthetically pleasing, if just as dangerous. Her cheeks began expanding, along with her chest, and then she exhaled aggressively towards him. His jaw dropped slightly as a gust of fire was blasted towards him, not unlike a geyser; he nodded with a twinge of exasperation and thrust his hand outwards, carelessly touching the flame and feeling its energy like it was just harmless air. He slid his smooth, unmarked fingertips along the live fire, redirecting the stream away from him.
He smiled softly and shook his head at her, perfectly incarnating a disappointed parent. She answered by grunting and preparing to truly dive in, stopping suddenly as she saw swirling strings of all colors around her. It was like she stood in a spider's web, except there wasn't a single shade or color that was the same as the other, and everything looked more like an intricate bird cage. "What the—?"
She looked over at Ryden, observing his closed eyes with growing dread. His lips were slightly parted, his skin seeming to glow under the breaching sunlight and the gleam of the colorful cage. He opened his eyes and smiled at her; it was such a sad, apologetic twist of the lips that it called back the tears she'd previously chased away. His lips slowly moved in a motion that made it apparent that he was trying to form words, but the strings all began to glow a single shade of gold that could be mistaken for the fiery glow he saw in her soul; and then, there was nothing.
She looked around her and saw only darkness, the fluttering of her golden curls dimming down to nothing, and the ivory of her swirling dress being tainted by whatever color emptiness was. When her gaze traveled to the ground, she wasn't even surprised; nothing, once again. She couldn't even feel the floor beneath her feet. There was a slight cry, causing her head to snap up; her eyes found a red crow perched upon nothingness, its white eyes peering into the very depths of her scorching soul.
"Jamison," she whispered with melancholy, outstretching her hands in a silent invitation that had once been sent, but never answered. Flames seemed to dance under her skin, quite possibly in tune with whatever melody had been infused into her soul, and definitely to the beat of a nonexistent, ironically cold heart. The crow cried and flew at her, passing right through her, the shadows that they both held seemed to take over nothing—yet at the same time it became everything.
"Ah," she murmured, a bittersweet smile dancing over her lips as her fingers began to fade into ash in front of her eyes, unleashing the flames in her veins. "I died."
Don't we all?
Ryden opened his eyes and examined the devastation that he brought about, looking at his hands—surprisingly, the skin had completely reformed itself—and then looked over at the meadow that had been completely eradicated. Some of the trees were on fire, much to his sorrow. He cringed and looked around, a small sense of guilt overwhelming his heart.
The sound of footsteps and shouts distracted him, and his whole body turned around without him the even knowing; to his shock, the Mutant Underground ran from the forest, all in varying states of disarray and panic or shock. Tears began to pour from his eyes as he ran towards them, his lean body launching forward and smashing into Andy, bringing them both to the ground. He could hear the brunette breathe in sharply as Ryden's tackle knocked the breath out of him; the sound of his heartbeat in Ryden's ears as he placed them over Andy's chest reminded him of their single night together.
Andy looked at him with heartbreaking confusion, then looked at everyone around them desperately, his eyes pleading for help while the sobbing boy clutched onto him; Ryden's sobs only coming with more intensity when the love of his life spoke quietly. "Uh, who are you?"