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 PRINCE ⦽F MADNESS

 Chapter_2://Morphine

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It's been two months since I last saw him, but he always made his presence known. You just know by the sound of his voice. I spend more often looking out the window praying I am lucky enough to see the red shooting star across Prism. However, all I could hear was his song. Sometimes I heard him close enough and wondered where he could be and if it were possible to see him again.

There was a period of silence after that, even the rumors about him died off. No, to be more accurate, the rumors became so distorted beyond recognition that it just became its own phenomena. Elyan, or UFO, was depicted to be a flying saucer from space— accurate, but hold on— He came to Earth to destroy us and have sex with our women to birth his offspring to claim war on God, who is actually an AIien robot— this was a blockbuster very popular in Florida.

I started having nightmares again. The night of the rapture was fresh on my mind. I couldn't see anyone, I was all alone on top of the tower. Behind me, expecting Elyan to be there to save me, was the reprogramming chamber instead. It called to me, whispering of a pseudo-heaven waiting for me. I took the leap of faith expecting someone to save me but I hit the concrete. I was still alive, and it hurt like fucking hell. I felt it so vivid and the worst part of this is that I woke up the morning after with cramps and aches in my body. You see, when I slept in the pods I don't wake up until the timer on the pod is out. If you're being torchered in the dream, you’re gonna be stuck there till you are allowed to wake up.

Sometimes I wondered if I just… re-spawn in different points. Like what if this reality wasn't real, and it is part of a dream I am having? I think I just had too much to think since I was always alone.

I came back from my practice at the hospital. I had three soldiers that were eaten by monsters and I had to fix them. It was brutal, but I was re-programmed to detach from them. Let me explain a bit what it is.

“You won't feel this way anymore.”

It was a painful and traumatic procedure where they lock you in a room while hearing white noise. Sometimes you could hear voices in the channels, telling you how to do something. If you fail to do as the voices tell you, you will get punished. They fill in the chamber with a gas and when you inhale it you get hypersensitive to touch that makes the beatings a lot more painful and you easily become submissive and pliable. Sometimes they treat you kindly and gently to gain your trust to then slap you in the face.

What was more frightening was the people that walked in the chamber. They spoke in numbers and code words using different voice tones and pitches.

They forced me to watch people die, suffering, enjoying themselves in random occasions. It was madness. The one emotion I clung to was anger, it kept me going till I was on the brink. Something happened almost at the end. I heard a voice in the channels, “7, 7, 8, 89, 204, 124, 146, 8, 9, 9, 0, 0, 10, 134, 1284,” and I passed out.

It was worth it, somewhat. It didn't hurt when I saw anyone die or suffer. The only downside was the  constant feeling of irritated and anger. I wad the only angry one of Prism while the rest holds on to some emotion, like Apathy or Serenity. I am not cool or charismatic enough to even hold those emotions so I was stuck with what I had. Since it didn't cause conflict among us they didn't care.

I was really tired when I got home from my 24-hour shift, so I hooked myself on my pod to replenish. As much as I hated the stasis chamber, I had no choice but to sleep in it.

Why in a tube? Well, our bodies are technically artificial. By artificial I mean we are made from a lab. We are supposed to be super soldiers or something. So, to replenish our bodies we need to sleep in mineral watered tubes. I really don't understand the vibe. I always knew there were smarter methods to keeping us alive. We are still in the early stages, all of us were -in a sense- in the experimental stage. That's why half of us didn't follow protocols. I followed it. I didn't want to be scrapped, or even hunted again.

I always wonder what it took to wake me up from the comatose in the tubes, all it took was for something literally breaking the pod.

I was tangled in cables and wires when I woke up in my broken tube. I heard screaming and panic. My room was a disaster with a hole in the wall. I unhooked— okay, no, I literally ripped myself from my pod and rushed over to see what the hell was happening. To my shock, the mother of monsters wreaked havoc in the city, massive… tentacle… slime. It was eighty feet long and possibly a hundred feet tall. I gathered my kit and ran around the building helping the others to evacuate the building.

So far, I was able to secure one hundred and fifty injured mates, thirty-two comatose, and only seven dead. I did everything in that horrible time frame, from amputate, mercy kill, sedate, revive, I did it all. I had several wounds, but I genuinely didn't care. I had priorities. There were, easy, two hundred soldiers fighting it and for every one that fell I had to treat them on the spot.

That wasn't the scary thing though. The entire issue started to creep me out when it started talking.

“GOD OF STARS AND DREAMS, STOP HIDING!” It laughed. The monster had a conscience, and it was pretty resentful. “COME! WHAT IS THE MATTER? AFRAID OF THE VOID!?”

That was fucking scary. We never dealt with a monster that could speak, let alone full sentences in English.

Then the monster froze. “No! The god of so--!” Something like a shooting star pierced through it. The monster broke apart on the ground bursting with electricity. The mystery hero stood near me, holding the position like threw something. He wore a hospital gown and his skin glisten with a clear mineral liquid. He also had wings on his head. He didn't speak, he didn't really pose much of a threat but with how he stared at me with those seven eyes I froze on the spot.

“Get him!” A few soldiers went after him but he was long gone... What the hell was happening, no fucking clue. I was glad it was over and done with, though.

I then heard someone laughing somewhere. When I looked around in a parking lot, I found Elyan in a corner hidden; he was the one laughing. Someone wounded him. He held on to something against his chest, it resembled a moonstone. I Instantly rushed to his aid. He was… crying. Yes, I said he was laughing, but he was shedding tears as he smiled. It creeped me out seeing that. He said things like “Florhem…” and “Merxill…” I really didn't understand but my heart was breaking into a thousand pieces. His pain was infectious. “Elyan! Are you Okay?” I asked him. Inspecting his wounds. He spoke other things more clear to me, “my world, he doesn't remember me. How could this happen? Doesn't he love me? Was I gone for too long?”

His wounds were superficial. So, I treated them with gauze and bandages and other ointments in my kit. “I will take care of you…” I mumbled. I really wanted to help him. I didn't cry because I am emotionally repressed. I just… really care about him. I always did. That was one of many things I learned that night.

I asked him, “you said your world doesn't remember you, what happened?” He was quiet, his eyes flooded with tears. He took a while to answer. “they took me away...” he whispered with a grin.

“Do you remember when?”

“I was a child when they ripped me from my mother's arms,” he said. Suddenly he clutched his chest as he struggled for a breath, “my heart… It’s breaking.” He was sweating profusely; basic signs he was having a heart attack.

I laid him flat on the ground to work on him. I ran out of adrenaline, so I had to massage his chest with my hands but he only worsened. Eventually he stopped breathing and stared up at the stars above us. I witnessed as the life drained from his eyes.

I panicked. I rubbed his chest harder, but I ended up punching it out of desperation.

He was dead, but that didn’t stop me from trying to bring him back. I dug into my bag to find something to help me, and I forgot I had a portable defibrillator. I lathered his chest with a thick coat of gel and placed the defibrillator to shock him back to life. After several attempts, I finally succeeded. He took that long satisfying breath, and he looked up at me. “Okay, you're back.” I choked on my own breath. My heart was beating a mile a second. Elyan reached up his frail and bruised hand to my face. “You didn’t let me die…”

“Are you fucking crazy? Of course not! I will take care of you!”

“Will you really take care of me…?” he asked, smiling at me.

“Of course! Why do you even ask such a stupid question!?”

“Because I don't know how much I will last…” He was smiling still as tears spilled down his face.

“Don't say stupid things…” was all I could say. He giggled, “such a vile temper and yet possess a gentle heart…”

I don't remember what happened after that, but I woke up in the hospital. My higher ups visited me, telling me that by the end of the day they will provide me with a new address to a new apartment and I could graduate early.

That was great and all, but all I had on my mind was Elyan… I asked if I was alone when they found me. “Yes. You were in the parking lot. We assumed you were looking for more survivors till you finally collapsed,” was their answer. I didn't dare ask them about Elyan. I feared it would create a chain reaction.

When I got to school, every single alumni invaded my personal space asking how I could do it. Some even deny I was capable of such a thing. In fact the prettiest girl, Ice, came asking how the hell I could survive such a catastrophe. I said, “beat it. No one liked me when I was just a generic mineral.”

“Oh, come now, no one likes you because you are hostile with everyone.” She snickered. Ice was dark-skinned and had white, almost a soft blue, long hair and matching eyes. Everyone was in love with her because she was smart and pretty. Some say she was dating a general but I don't listen to rummors.

“Just leave me alone. I am exhausted…”

“If you want, you can sleep and I can get the notes for you.”

“No thanks. I don't like owing favors to anyone.”

“Geeze! So hostile! Are you sure you want to study medicine?” She laughed. I mocked her little giggle and opened my textbook to do school work.

After a while of reading the heart muscle diagram, I looked out the window, adjacent from my position and just looked for a shooting star or a red dot. I really was worried about him. I hoped he wasn't captured or hurt.

“Because I don't know how much I will last…”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

My blood ran cold. I had this nagging feeling to run and find him, but if I do things unorganized they will suspect something was up.

“Hey, Josiah, you seem pretty upset.” I don't know who said that but I quickly bit back, “thank you, captain obvious.” I really didn't like this attention. I enjoyed it better when no one looked at me.

I stood up from my seat in the middle of the lecture and left the classroom. I just said I need to take a piss, so they allowed me out. I ran to the school rooftop and searched the distance, expecting him to be standing somewhere Perhaps I could hear him, but I couldn’t. I got desperate when I couldn't see a puffy red hair. “Elyan!” I shouted. I didn't expect him to rush to my side in a split second but I was hoping he would. Just seeing he was okay would help ease my heart.

“Elyan…!!” I shouted again. I stood on the edge to get a better view.

It was a back trip, I looked down and swallowed thickly, maybe if I jumped he would show up, but upon recalling my dream I rather not risk it.

I noticed a crow standing next to me on the edge. It had a couple of eyes on its head. I cringed and left it alone.

I left back to the classroom after I actually took a piss. I stood there thinking, watching my piss go down the drain. “He has to be okay…” I said out loud. I really hated the idea he was just roaming the city alone. He is the type to be considered a monster and should be experimented on, or hunted down if he were a threat.

“Who is?” Elyan said standing behind me. I probably lost many man points with how loud and high pitched my scream was. I also held my dick a little too hard. “What the hell, Elyan?!” I looked around before looking back at him. “I came from the window--”

“What?! Why?!”

“A bird told me you were calling for me.” He giggled.

“A what-??!.....” He must have meant the crow. “What on Earth are you?”

“I am The God of Stars and Dreams,” he said smiling.

“Right, god…” I shook my dick a few times and tucked it in my pants.

“Or…” He sighed with a soft smile as he glanced to the gray tiles on the ground, lost in through. “That is what my mother told me…”

“That's cool…” it annoyed me. It annoyed me, and that was a great thing. It was normal… he was okay. I washed my hands in the sink. Then it hit me. “Wait, god? That monster was looking for you?” I was very curious. Elyan’s smile never faltered, but he looked sad and nervous.

“Yes. We are at war with other gods. Ghem, the sky glutton, wants my soul. He finally took him down after he chased me all over the galaxy… Manejah…” He held his chest tightly and closed his eyes. “My world took it down. Even if he is broken…”

“But, you died last night. I thought gods can't die.”

“They can. If you break their souls, they will perish.”

“I see…” Well, as much as that somewhat makes sense, I can't believe it. Would you?

“Thank you for saving my soul,” Elyan whispered.

“I swore I would take care of you. Why wouldn't I?” I said. “I took an oath, and I swore to serve and to save any life that I can. My life is the last thing I have to worry about. You, are my priority.” I paraphrased my simple oath when I enrolled into the school.

“So sweet… Oh! Why did you call me?” he asked.

“What do you mean ‘why did I call you’!? You stupid asshole, you fucking vanished from thin air! It worried me!!”

“You were…?” He smiled softer. There was a small glint of hope in his bright, almost impossibly green eyes.

“Yes, you fucking prick! Next time warn me!”

“Forgive me…” He took my hands and kissed them gently. “I was selfish. I apologize. I needed to hide from them. Incidentally, I found something you would like. I plucked it from the sky on my way back.” He dug his hand into his fanny pack and pulled out a ring. “It's… a gift” Elyan said shyly and looked away. He had a flushed set of cheeks and his body fidget nervously. “I thought since you are a doctor perhaps this would help,” he added.

“I uhh… don't wear jewelry…”

“Try it on, I know it in my heart you will use it,” he insisted. I just can't say no to him. “Fine…” I took it and wore it on my middle finger, examining the detail. Something made it from weird metal, even the encrusted gem was different. “How does it work?” I asked.

“I honestly don't know,” Elyan confessed with a nervous giggle.

I rolled my eyes. “Riiight…” I sighed in defeat. Elyan was just an ulcer in my stomach. A very painful ulcer.

The bell rang. I didn’t realize how long I was taking. I looked back at the bathroom door, scared that someone might walk in and see him. “Fuck, I have to go…” I uttered.

“I will wait for you to call me again.” He back flipped and jumped through the window a second before someone else walked in. “Hey! Josie! You alright? You missed the lecture.” I was so amazed at how he fit through that tiny window with his massive thick legs I ignored what's his face. He sort of remind me of those pin up posters. “I got diarrhea,” I said and left the bathroom to get my things.

I walked to my new apartment, It was far more luxurious than the old one. I had a study, a small kitchen and living room. My room was bigger, and I had both a pod and a bed. See, this is kind of counterproductive. Why have a bed when you have benefits of a pod. I guessed after what happened they need medical staff on the alert.

I dived in my new plush bed. I couldn't wait to sleep but I heard a knock on glass, Elyan was outside the balcony with a bright smile. He was covered in blood… Jumped to the door and I let him in. 

“What the fuck?!” I asked. “What the devil happened to you?!”

“I had to fight my way to survive,” he said, tucking his red flame behind his ear.

“Are you hurt?!”

“No, I am fine!”

“T-then what are you doing here then?”

“I hope you don't mind if I use your shower?”

“You are nothing but a fucking freeloader!!” I almost tossed him out the balcony. He giggled and pressed a kiss on my cheek and gave me a hug. I froze. I am not used to that sort of attention and I don’t know how to even react to it. “Such a vile tongue with a sweet heart…” Elyan said.

“What?”

“You are literally the only soul in this planet to care about me… I really…” He turned his head towards me, his eyes fluttering close to kiss my lips. I stopped him, pushing him gently away. “You really what?”

“I really care about you. Your soul is so beautiful. I wish you could bare my children--”

I exploded. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on there!” he looked at me quizzically. “What the hell are you getting at, you weirdo! I am a male! And so are you!”

“Yes, I am well aware of that. Is that an issue?” He took his hands to himself and looked everywhere but at me.

“Of course it is! And I don't swing that way!”

“S-swing?” he cocked his head and glanced at me.

“I am not into males!” I spat at him.

“Why not?”

“It's not natural! Even science proves two of the same gender can't reproduce!”

He giggled again. “Of course they can, silly…” He smiled at me as if I were an idiot.

“No, they cannot! How would it even work?!” Every time I yelled at him he shrunk and lowered his voice.

“If you truly love me as I love you... Once I penetrate you and fill you with my sperm, we will be blessed by a miracle-”

“HELL. NO.”

“Why are you so hostile? Have I angered you?” He asked softly.

“You’re being stupid! It annoys me! You don't even know my name to even think about sleeping with me like if I was a cheap slut!”

“Of course I know your name… How could I not know, Josiah…?” I was so shocked he knew my name I froze, again. “How do you know my name…?”

“I… must confess that after finding you, I kept track of you.”

“You were stalking me?” I stepped back into the safety of my apartment. I was unnerved by his sudden confession.

“I didn't know how to approach you,” he said with hesitance evident in his tone. “I am sorry if you are frightened. I just needed to understand why I had such a strong feeling for you…”

“Are you fucking confessing?” His eyes widened and buried his face in his hands. “Per...haps?” he giggled. “I thought that by… being your friend I would be able to understand my heart better.” He finally lifted his head to look at me. His face was the same color of his unnaturally red hair… Granted he was still covered in blood.

“Look, uhm, Elyan. I barely stand my own presence, I doubt you will last at least a day as my friend,” I explained to him. I never understood why Elyan even fell in love with me. I am the worst possible candidate when it came to this sort of scenario.

“Didn't you say you will take care of me…?” he asked me with a sad, hushed voice.

“I said I would, but I have issues with people. Besides, I can't harbor you in my home for obvious reasons.” Elyan hung his head with a bright smile. “I'm sorry,” he said. He stumbled backwards towards the railing and looked up at me, still smiling. “The last I want to do is harm you,” he said to me. “Will you still take care of me?” He asked.

“I wouldn't break my oath for anything in the world.” I stepped aside and added, “hurry up and shower.”

“You-...” he ran up to me and held my hands tightly. “You really will allow me to bathe?” I yank my hands away and said, “just hurry the fuck up before I toss you out the balcony…”

He quickly ran inside giggling, removing all of his clothes, and jumped in the shower. I just rolled my eyes. I swore this little butt-hole just loves to rile me up with his manipulations.

I sighed as I stared down at Elyan literally knocked out in the bathtub filled with cold water stained with dirt and blood. He was covered in bruises and scratches. Whatever battle he was in, it really did a number on him. I drained the water and carried him to the bed. I patched him up before I dressed him in a pajama shirt and one of my boxer shorts.

He looked vulnerable, anything that could attack him would likely succeed. It was rather hard to believe he was such a thing as a celestial presence. Yes, we had witnessed monsters and creatures from beyond the ozone layer, but, Elyan looked more like a star child than something higher up than Jesus Christ, Buddha or whatever. I was in the zone when I thought about it; I wondered what do gods eat, what do they do for entertainment, or if they even needed to sleep. All I could picture was this tragic soul caught in the rain trying to sleep through the cold night. When I really thought about it, he is mentally damaged. He was sick, and I was the only one who even cared about him despite my Hippocratic Oath. I sighed and palmed my tired face. “I can't believe I am even considering it…”

I didn't sleep in my pod that night; I was thinking about the redhead sleeping in my bed. He didn't wake up though, not until that afternoon when I came back from the academy. I thought he died because he barely moved and his breathing pattern was very light. He snores pretty loud and in waves once he reached REM...

I shook him lightly to wake him up, it took a while for his eyes to open. He stared at the pod and jolted back to the wall with his eyes wide open. “H-Hey!” I panicked. “It's okay! You’re in my room!” Elyan’s eyes shifted towards me and began to breathe again. “Josiah…” he whispered with a shameful smile. He covered his face and drowned in his fit of giggles. “How silly of me!” he said.

“Are you alright?” I asked, he was too busy laughing he couldn't answer. He clutched his chest as his laughter became a silent tremor. “My heart aches!”

“Calm down… you need to breath…” I slowly grasp his wrist and pulled him to the edge of the bed. “I was so frightened… I am glad it's just you, Josiah…!” He refused to lift his face.“It's going to be fine. Just relax.”

“I have to leave…”

“Why?“ I asked.

“You said only to bathe and afterwards I should leave.“ He rolled out the bed and headed for the balcony. I grabbed his wrist and pulled him back to bed.

Elyan wasn’t thinking straight. His coordination was sloppy and clumsy compared to the day before when he stood chin high with confidence. “It's fine… as long as you don't tell everyone who you are and avoid doing anything god related, then it's okay…”

“J-Josiah, you couldn't possibly be saying…“

“Elyan, I bet you sleep out in the open… It goes against my oath to let someone as ill as you to live in those conditions…“

"Oh, Josiah… You are so kind to me…" His cheeks flushed a deeper shade of red and slowly spread down his neck. "What have I done to earn such a kind heart…?" 

“You saved my life… “ I confessed. It is my most honest response. Elyan saved my life all those years ago without hesitating, and he saved me again recently. I was so selfish to ask him to leave just because I was afraid of breaking a few rules. “I should repay your kindness with hospitality…“ I slowly helped him lay down the bed and tucked him in.

He looked up with quivering breaths escaping his corrupted smile. I didn’t believe Elyan to be a horrible person, but knowing how Prism functions, I was ready to believe they programmed him to believe he was nothing but waste. He showed signs he had lost hope in everything, and he continued to live because he held on his last grasp of hope and even then I pushed him away. Living with him proved I needed patience and tolerance; something Prism stole from me for the sake of making disposable pawns.