AN: The following work makes a brief mention of suicidal thoughts. Reader discretion is advised.
"Hey there, Blitzo." A familiar voice said, which caused Blitz to wake up from his nap. He was on his husband's bed with bandages around his chest, still recovering from the blessing-tipped bullet Striker gave him. While it wasn't as bad as it was when he was at Martha's, it still ached occasionally. But right now, the pain was the least of his worries.
"Who the fuck said that?" Blitz said as he looked around the room. Nobody seemed to be in there with him.
"Did you forget me already?" The voice said. Turning right, Blitz finally saw something. It was a figure covered entirely in shadow, a figure that looked exactly like Blitz. "I was there when you watched your sister on the TV win a Voxi for best actress while you were sitting on your hellmite-infested couch."
Blitz's eyes widened in terror. "Oh no… not you!"
"Yes, it's me. Your worst fears and anxieties personified. It's been a while, heard a lot of things happened to you since we last met." The shadow kneeled so its face was closer to his. "For one, you became an Ars Goetia's sex toy."
Blitz turned away from it. "Not anymore, we're married."
The shadow laughed, "Stolas might as well have married a sex doll, 'cause that's all you're good for. Just ask Verosika."
"It's not like that."
"Yes, it is! You know these royal types and their goddamn phases, this is just one of them. One of these days he's gonna get bored of you and throw you to the side like trash, which is what you are."
Just then, he heard another voice, this one coming from Stolas. He entered the room in his bathrobe while on his cell phone. "I told you, I can't do it!" He said into the phone. "Because I'm taking care of my husband who suffered an injury from a blessing-tipped weapon! … don't you 'it's your duty' me! It's also my duty as a married man to take care of my partner in serious circumstances! … I don't know, have Allocer do it, he reads stars too!" Stolas hung up before approaching Blitz.
"I'm sorry about that." He said as he sat down next to his husband. "I didn't wake you, did I Blitzy?"
"N-no, you're good," Blitz said as he looked around the room, noticing that the shadow had disappeared. "Who was that on the phone?"
"Oh, just the AGC (Ars Goetia Commission). Someone on Earth wanted to summon me for my expertise in reading the stars, but I denied it."
"W-why?"
"Because someone has to take care of you."
"Y-you really took time off for me?"
"Of course, you're my husband." Stolas made sure that Blitz was as comfortable as he could be and handed him one of Martha's concoctions in a bowl, reminding him to drink it. He then kissed his injured husband on the lips. "I love you."
"I-I love you too."
Stolas then got up and left, leaving Blitz with a big smile on his face.
"Aw, how cute." He heard the shadow say. Blitz, surprised, turned to his left and saw it lying next to him on the bed. "You actually think he loves you."
"He does!" Blitz replied as he took a drink from the bowl. "Why would he skip work for me if he didn't!?"
"Hello, Hell to Blitzo! Did you not hear what I said about this being a phase and him leaving you soon? Honestly though, can't wait for that to happen, for him to realize that he hurt so many people for nothing. Oh, if he has someone like me with him, they're gonna have a field day with that royal prick."
Another person came into the bedroom, making the shadow disappear once again. It was Octavia holding an ice pack to her head. "Hey, Dad." She said as she walked towards Blitz. "You doing okay?"
"Oh, uh… yeah." said Blitz "How about you, O?"
"Meh, it's a pain to move around with these stitches. It's times like these I wish I was an imp so I didn't have to deal with this."
"At least you're not the one that got shot. And from what I saw you gave Striker a run for his money."
Octavia giggled, "Yeah, I did. Before he cut me at least. I just wanted to say thank you for saving me back there."
Blitz laughed, "You call that saving you? I just gave him a new target."
"Still, who knows what would've happened if you did nothing. Thank you."
"Anything for you, honey."
Octavia smiled as she gave her stepdad a careful hug before leaving. Before Blitz knew it the shadow reappeared, standing where Octavia stood. "It's your fault she's beat up you know." It said.
"Do you ever shut the fuck up?" Blitz replied.
"I think you of all people should know that answer. It's bad enough that you had to ruin her life, now you're trying to take it away?"
"She's a good assassin. One of the best."
"Is that what you tell yourself? She's not even 18 yet, and you turned her into a child soldier."
"She likes the job."
"You know what else kids like? Doing stupid shit on social media for clout. If she dies while on the job, her blood will be on your hands, and your husband will definitely hate you then. Speaking of hating you, how's that abusive bitch you call a daughter?"
"Loona? What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Oh Satan, do you even have your brain turned on when you talk to her? She wants absolutely nothing to do with you, yet you just shove your head up your own ass thinking everything's all sunshine and rainbows! Well, time to wake up and hear the truth! She despises you, just like she despises everyone except that bodyguard of your ex that she fucks."
"But she said-"
"That she loved you? Please, she just wanted to latch onto somebody after her shit at the party. But now she's got her big hot boyfriend and doesn't need you anymore!"
"That's not-" Blitz was interrupted by Loona entering the room.
"Are you ok, Dad?" She said as she sat by Blitz. "I heard you talking to yourself."
"I-I'm fine, honey." He replied, before noticing a tear go down her eye. "How about you? Are you ok?"
"I just… the last time I saw you like this was when I had to come pull you out of that gas station wreckage."
"Oh yeah, those were the times."
"You looked way shittier with all those scars, but I knew you were gonna be ok. But with this I… I don't know." The tears from her eyes were coming down harder.
"Hey, Looney," Blitz said as he put his hand on hers. "You're right, this is like my first job, but just like with that I'm gonna be ok. Especially now that I have a special nurse with me."
Loona laughed, "Stolas does a good job taking care of you."
"By the way, I heard you went with Moxxie to kill his Dad."
"Yeah, but I stood outside. He and Millie were set on doing this themselves. I got to kill one guy though."
"That's my girl."
They said their I love yous as Loona gave Blitz a careful hug before leaving. Just when Blitz felt happiness, the Shadow came back, standing over by the door the Loona closed as she left. "She could win a Voxie with that performance." It said.
Blitz didn't respond, trying his best to just ignore this unwanted guest. "Giving me the silent treatment, huh? Works for me, means I get to talk more. She might look like she cares for you, but when shit hits the fan, she's gonna leave you just like everyone else has."
Once again, Blitz ignored it. "You can't keep yourself busy with work anymore to forget me, you're injured remember? Speaking of work, how come you haven't heard from your coworkers? They must not care about you, and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if they just left your shitty company and started something on their own. Cause they seem to be doing a better job at this than you do."
Just then, the butler walked into the room towards Blitz. And once again the Shadow disappeared. "Master Blitz." The butler said.
"I told you Regi, just call me Blitz."
"Apologies, but a letter has arrived for you." The butler handed him the envelope before leaving. When Blitz opened it, he pulled out a get-well card signed by Millie and Moxxie. The card itself had words of encouragement and well wishes from the two that made Blitz smile.
"Oh, come on!" He heard the Shadow say as it lay next to him. "A get-well card!? What are you, their grandma that they don't have time for?"
"They're… they have kids now, so they're busy," Blitz said.
"So that means absolutely no time for a phone call?"
Blitz tried his best to ignore the shadow, but it was extremely difficult to do. "Face it, Blitzo! Any bullshit excuse you can come up with, I can counter with the truth! And the truth is no one cares for you, and if they do, they'll stop caring eventually and leave you to rot just like everyone else has!"
Blitz covered his head with a pillow, trying so hard to drown out the shadow's voice, but it always found a way to be clear as day. "You should've listened to me the last time I came to you and jumped off that balcony to save everyone your headache! All you're good for is ruining lives and being a stepping stone for others. You might as well just lie down and die, do all of Hell a favor you worthless piece of shit!"
"SHUT UP!" Blitz shouted. It was so loud that Stolas could hear it from the kitchen. Worrying for his husband, he ran into the bedroom to check on him, only to find Blitz crying into his pillow.
"What's wrong, Blitz?" Stolas asked with concern in his voice.
"I can't stop it!" Blitz said.
"Stop what?"
"I don't know, but… but it's like I'm kicked on the ground over and over again while the person doing the kicking tells you how much of a waste of space you are! And no matter how hard I try I just can't shut him up!"
Stolas recognized how he was feeling and laid down on the bed next to him. "This person doing the kicking, do they almost look like you?"
"Y-yeah, how'd you know?"
"Because I've been through it too."
"You have?"
Stolas nodded, "Before and during our 'arrangement' I had these horrible thoughts about myself that wouldn't go away no matter how hard I tried. It would tell me how much of a spineless coward I was for rolling over for Stella, that my daughter hates and wants nothing to do with me, and everyone will always remember me as a failure of an Ars Goetia."
Blitz could see a teardrop roll down Stolas' left eye, "And when I got with you, it would tell me I'm a monster, that I ruined my entire family and reputation just to get some imp dick, and that you would do anything to see me dead. It said I would never find love or happiness, and that I might as well just-"
"Lie down and die." Blitz said as he held Stolas' hand. "I had no idea."
"It's not something I'm proud of, I think you can say the same. The worst is that there was a part of me that believed every awful thing it said."
"So how did you stop it?"
"I didn't, it'll always be there, crawling around the dark recesses of my mind, waiting for me to fuck up again so it has another thing to dangle over my head. But what helps is having people that care for you, people that remind you that you're more than what you think you are. And Blitz let me tell you, whatever that voice says about you, it doesn't matter. You're better than what it says you are."
Blitz smiled at his husband, still crying but for a happier reason now. "So are you."
Stolas smiled back as he pulled Blitz into his chest, hugging him as gently as possible. Blitz hugged back as he heard the voice one last time. "I'll be back." It said, fading away.
"It says it'll come back," Blitz said.
"It always comes back. Just remember that you're not alone… and that you have people like me that love you."
"I love you too," Blitz said, resting in the sweet embrace of his husband.
