Guy continued to slip in and out of consciousness. He was elsewhere, in a familiar room, atop a bench- a metallic bench. The air no longer had that sweet taste about it, instead, it tasted of two familiar fragrances… it tasted of Luna and Mars. His head flopped sideways - the world now somewhat smaller, but not by much.
Something was covering his right eye, something soft and smooth. He reached up to touch his face, only to realize that he had been bandaged.
By long, the images started streaming back into his mind - a great relief washed over him. As if he had done his duty - as if he had fulfilled his purpose.
“Logos fuck, he’s awake - Mars, he’s awake!” That voice spoke. She was hoarse and sullen, but awake… it was Luna. She was alive. She came into view from above, bringing with her the blinding light of the surgical lamp overhead. He was in the clinic; the med-bay where he had first woken up, the circle completed.
Luna’s eyes were puffy, a stark contrast to her bright, white smile. Color had returned to her cheeks. He raised his hand to touch her and felt that familiar, smooth skin against his own. Too rarely did he touch her - too rarely did he touch anything that wasn’t a cold wrench or a pair of pliers. He would make sure to change that, going forwards.
“Y-you’re a-alive…” He stuttered. She grabbed his hand into her own and nodded. “Damn right I am… and so are you.” He breathed a sigh of relief and grunted, grateful she was there to raise him up to a seat.
There, on a chair in the dark corner sat the shell of a man they both knew well. A man who seemed more dark, dreary and famished than ever. He was almost skeletal where he hid beneath his long, black hair and rested against the wall.
Mars had changed since last Guy had seen him. As exhausted as they were, Mars looked a hundredfold worse. He had lost some of his teeth, as made obvious by the slight smile he shone their way before it faded.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“I got your hail… blowfish poison had gotten into both of you… I… I couldn’t do anything. It’s a death-sentence. You shouldn’t be alive.” He groaned. Luna and Guy both stared over at the disheveled man. He leaned down into his hands and continued: “You were having seizures. Horrible, terrible seizures… All I could do was watch, too weak to even carry you in here. There wasn’t anyone I could call - no one would’ve come…” There was a darkness to his speech. A guilt unlike anything Luna or Guy had ever shouldered.
“My Luna… and my Angel… they don’t understand how much you’ve done for this place. They don’t understand how sacred you are - you are the ghosts of the System; Logos himself, split in two… but they tried to kill you. They don’t understand…” Joyous as their reunion should’ve been, Luna’s immediate questions to her companion took a back seat to the shambling man rising from his chair to stare wide eyes at them.
He was filthy, reeking of feces, urine and sweat. Luna felt a pang of guilt as she watched him approach, shambling forwards; broken by his duties.
“Are you God, Guy? Are you truly an Angel sent to aid us in this time of strife? What else can grow wings, keep these systems running and save my Luna from certain death? Is that eye… is that eye the price you had to pay for our dirty, evil people? W-why are you here, when we don’t deserve you?” He put a hand on either side of Guy’s legs, pressing his face into his. Mars’ exhaustion had turned into what could only have been a psychosis - the stress of his treason against the teachings, the loss of his brother and nearly his niece had taken his mind. Blood spurted from his empty gums as he continued, staring his wide, red eyes into Guy’s: “Sitalii has fallen… if this had been your death, I’d have seen to it that we’d have joined them. That’s what they deserve - those filthy beasts out there… every day, they come to me with their problems while spitting at the ones who solve them. They don’t understand the divinity - your benevolence…”
Mars’ lips began to quiver as he touched Guy’s cheeks. Tears dropped from his eyes and down onto his naked knees. “Four thousands of years, we’ve been clamoring to life down here, but no more. I can see the writing on the wall; I see it now. I was afraid of breaking the tenants - I was afraid I’d lead the Monstrum to us. But that’s what we deserve… we’re just a scrap of history, a breed that should’ve died so long ago… P-please Logos… tell me there’s a place for Luna; for my blood in your embrace.”
Luna had finally had enough. Through tears of her own, she grabbed hold of her weakly uncle and raised him up, leading him out towards the door. “You need some rest and some food. We’re not done talking, Guy… I just have to take care of this first.” She was confused, as was Guy. But their confusion aside, neither had expected to see their Commander in such a state. Neither had seen the deterioration that had taken place before their very eyes…