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It seemed even the sky was mourning today.
The clouds above sent the sky into a gray overcast. It threatened to rain, but a drop had yet to fall near her feet. The air was windy, but stiff. Still and waiting.
There was a tightness in Sword’s chest. No matter how many times she came here, how many years have passed, it never got easier. If anything, it only hurt more.
With a deep, heavy sigh, she sat down on the bare grass. Her eyes looked towards the ground, as she wasn’t quite ready to face the remnants of her loved one.
In her hands was a single lavender flower. It had been a headache to find it, considering Crossroads barely fit its suitable growth conditions, but it was all worth it to Sword. To give even a semblance of peace to him in death, at the expense of a few hours of her long, long lifespan, was a fair exchange.
She laid the flower down next to the withering stone, and lifted her head to face what was left of her brother.
Oh, how she missed him.
Sword took in a deep breath. The world stood still, in her eyes, at least.
Then, as if it was the most casual conversation,
“Hi, Med.”
She said to nobody. If she focused hard enough, she would’ve heard a whisper of a response.
“Not a lot has happened since we last spoke, to be honest,” a dry laugh came from her mouth, hands resting in her lap.
“I’ve started talking to Banhammer more, if that counts for something. You’ve heard of him, right?” How could he not?
Sword continued, “He’s as arrogant as ever. I mean- it’s not like he’s bad company or whatever, he’s just loud.”
“I envy him, in some aspects. He’s never had a real social life. It sounds lonely, and most likely is, but it’s an unspoken rule of deities and their children to barely associate with mortals in the first place.”
“Banhammer’s never had to worry over mortals. He’s never stressed over their fragility, or their feeble lifespan. He’s never experienced loss because he has nobody to lose.”
A deep breath.
“I know it’s a stupid thought, but…
“I wonder if he misses pursuing you just as much as I miss holding you.”
She rapidly shook her head, hands reaching to fidget with her cape.
“Ah, that’s a bit cheesy, isn’t it?”
Impossible, moreso. Nobody really cared about Medkit. Not as much as Sword did, at least.
She hoped she showed enough love to him before he passed. She hoped it was obvious that she cared.
Sword remembers a time.
Those slow, timid nights where the streets were not as full as usual and the bright lights of Crossroads seemed to dim, if only for a short while.
Time slowed to a crawl as everyone locked up for the night. It seemed like the whole world finally had a chance to rest.
Everyone except for Medkit.
A looming sense of dread washed over him as he watched the seconds tick by. The overwhelming yet familiar feeling of being watched etched into his very being.
There was a chance he could just be paranoid, that his mind really was playing tricks on him. But the chance of his death being one off-guard moment away was far too plausible for comfort, and far too high of a risk he was not willing to take. With that, he had settled on staying awake for as long as the feeling stuck to him.
He ran a shaky hand through his hair, body as tense as ever. His good eye blinked, and stayed closed a second longer than it really should have. Concerning.
He was considering making a cup of coffee for extra energy, but his thoughts were put to a halt as he heard an unusual sound.
There was something tapping on his window.
Medkit froze.
It wasn’t the type from a tree outside on a windy day, there wasn’t even a tree near his apartment, and the sound was too rhythmic, too perfect for it to be simple ambience.
There was someone outside his home.
Medkit could hear his heart pounding in his ears, not a thought in his head except the words a voice chanted like a manifesto in his head; I’m gonna die.
He quickly grabbed his revolver with clammy hands, too tense to even think about aiming properly. It’s inadequate defense, but it’s better than nothing.
The rhythmic tapping continued. Medkit did not walk up to the window, in fact, he hides himself from view of it. He’s not going to start a fight that he knows he’s losing.
His fear was prevalent on his face, there was no hiding it. He was terrified. The tapping only gained force. It grew louder, so loud he could almost hear it over the heart in his chest. They’ve found him. They’ve found him, and they’re going to take him and torture him until he’s broken and bloody and—
A chirp.
There was a chirp coming from his window, that of a bird’s.
The last time Medkit checked, it was around 2:20 in the morning. Most birds weren’t awake at this time, and those that were did not make a sound as simple as a chirp.
The tapping continued, but followed by another, longer chirp. It calls for attention.
Medkit relaxed ever so slightly, hesitating before putting his revolver back onto the nightstand. Slowly, he moved just enough so that he could somewhat see what was outside his window.
It was a silhouette. One he had gotten so familiar with over the years.
He moved closer, to see a face. The face could see him too apparently, as it was staring right at him. So much for being sneaky.
It was a face that he fortunately recognized, one that, like it was instinct, made him warm and comfortable at a glance. The face pouted at first, then smiled at him. At him.
Medkit relaxed and let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He moved over to the window, with no stiffness nor hesitation, and finally opened it to see Sword.
She smiled softly, and for a moment his heart felt full.
A stupid question, she came with, nervously asking if she could stay over the night as if she didn’t already know the answer.
An obvious ‘yes’ in reply, and Sword slid into his apartment with ease, plucking stray feathers from her wings that landed on the floor. Medkit didn’t seem to mind. He never really did.
“It felt a bit childish asking,” Sword said, flopping into Medkit’s bed like it was her own. “I had a nightmare, and it messed me up a little…”
“I would’ve stayed with Venomshank, but I really wanted to make sure you were okay first! So- uhm…”
Medkit quirked an eyebrow. “Did it concern me?”
A nervous laugh in response. “Maybe.”
Without a word, Medkit laid next to Sword on the bed and immediately took her into his arms, the warmth a stark contrast from the suffocating panic just a few minutes ago. Sword wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled deeper into his neck.
“You know,” Medkit started, “I couldn’t really sleep either.”
“I can believe it.”
A dry chuckle came from Medkit’s throat. It’s always been a bit crazy to him, how the presence of one single inphernal can make him feel so safe and protected that all his fears wash away at the sight of them.
He held on a little tighter and whispered like he didn’t want anyone to hear, “You made it better, though.”
“What was that?” Sword replied.
And in a rare moment of solace, a part of Medkit’s cool and aloof facade broke. Only in the presence of Sword did he take kindly to it.
“I’m glad you’re here with me.”
In a wordless response, Sword smiled and held closer. Neither wanted to let go.
Sword woke up before Medkit that morning. She looked at the face of the sleeping man in front of her. The calm, relaxed face in a rare moment where he didn’t carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. A rare moment where he could enjoy the presence of his sister, who he trusted so deeply that he wouldn’t mind her seeing him like this. Unguarded, relaxed, at peace.
And to think it was all because of Sword!
She remembered, so clearly, the day his horns began to turn gray.
She had been waiting out the heavy rain in Medkit’s apartment, watching a show that she didn’t care about enough to remember. Her head laid rest on Medkit’s shoulder. Neither of them said anything. There was no need to, as they felt fulfilled by simply being around each other.
Sword glanced up for a moment, trying to decipher what Medkit’s face was conveying before realizing there was nothing to decipher. Her eyes moved back to the screen, but not before catching a glimpse of pale at the base of his horns.
Sword blinked. “Hey Med?”
“Hm?”
“Your horns are turning gray.”
A pregnant pause.
“…I guess so.”
A flicker of panic could be seen in Sword’s face. Had she offended him? “N-Not that it’s a bad thing or something! It’s just…”
She sighed, “Time really does go by, huh?”
She thought of it as a gift, to age. Many in the Inpherno never made it past 20, let alone to see themselves grow older. For someone like Medkit, especially so, considering he’s been on the run for so long. She was happy, in that regard.
But on that day, it hit her.
Medkit was going to die someday.
He was going to die, and she would long outlive him.
And one day, she’ll be the only one to hold any memory of his existence.
The topic of age became somewhat of a sensitive subject, after that.
She noticed, for every year meant another fade of his horns, another wrinkle on his skin, while the only thing that changed about her was the width of her wingspan.
She never quite knew how to feel
about it. The concept of loss seemed very foreign at the time.
Now, she sits over his grave with an unreadable face.
She’s happy for him, that he got to live a full life through all his personal hells. Happy for herself that she was involved in it.
It didn’t stop her from wishing he was still here.
Oh, how she wished she could sneak out in concerning hours of the night to speak to him again. To perch above him on a branch as he watched the sky again. To make him a flower crown, for him to preen her wings, to break down in his arms just one more time.
Sword faltered, and wiped the mess of tears off her face as she began to sob.
Finally, a drop of rain landed beside her, and the sky broke and cried with her.
She wished she could meet him again. In this life, and the next life, and the one after that, all until she takes her last breath and they can be with each other, in the Inphinity, forevermore.
Until then, she was happy that she could be alongside him in at least one.
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