Chapter 85: Nevermind the Darkness (Part 1!)

Nevermind the darkness…

Nevermind the storm…

Nevermind the blood red moon…

The night will be over soon…

Hello… I believe we’ve met before. Or at least, you might have heard things about me. You might have met a certain scarecrow before… might have been a friend to them.

I’m here to tell you that this will be a mistake. A mistake that will cost you dearly. Or, will cost someone you love dearly. For now, whatever you do, don’t panic.

It’s not time.

For soon, you will be mine!

With a soft screech, Skaldi awoke in his bedroll, freezing in his own sweat. Searching for the one that was speaking, he took a single dagger from his bandolier and charged at every shadow in his room.

He bumped and crashed into the vases and the chairs, not giving up until his fears subsided.

A faint grip was on his heart, like a handful of barbs. Finally, stabbing at the glass mirror on the wall, Skaldi broke it and it sent him recoiling back. That fear released its grip, and Skaldi collapsed onto his back.

Feeling the terrible warmth of strained muscle, he writhed there, the echoes of the Voice still there in his ears.

Overwhelming them, overwhelming him. Like being drowned in a sea of words. His eye was wide open, shooting out almost to the point of pain, terrified by what he now believed was an awful nightmare.

Seeing that no one else was in the room, Skaldi closed his eye, happy that he wasn’t in any danger. His chest rose up and down with his breathing, which had a few weak laughs.

“Hah… only three months in this… place… and I’m already going mad…hehehe…” Skaldi threw away his dagger, happy that he was safe. He found his rampage quite silly, looking at everything that he broke. The glass that formed sprinkles of moonlight, the ripped sheets, and the thin scratches on the door.

Hearing a faint thumping outside, Skaldi knew immediately who it was.With three knocks on the door, a man gently opened it and gasped.

“Sweetie? You doing alright?” Mildly spooked, Bolato watched from the entrance of the room. Now noticing what Skaldi had done to the room, he entered. Seeing the state of the redhead, Bolato winced and lifted Skaldi up with one arm.

“Heh, I’m fine. Just… just had a bad dream. That’s all.” Skaldi tried to go back on the ground but Bolato lifted him higher, like one might do a cat.

“And I’m sure you’re not lying.” Prodding the side of Skaldi ribs, Bolato saw the bandages that were there.

“I’m not!” Skaldi stretched out his hands, waving Bolato off and stumbled over to his bed. But soon Skaldi hunched over, clutching underneath his armpit.

Seeing a small pool of red, Bolato laid him back on the ground and started to readjust his bandages.

“Come on! I’m fine.” Skaldi crossed his arms, suppressing the now loud pain he was in, but Bolato forced him to lift one so he could better fix him.

“You’re not. This is the third nightmare this week. And I think you reopened your wound.” Bolato swiveled his head, searching for something.

“You think or you know?” Shaking his head, Skaldi refused to believe him. All Bolato had to do was lift his finger, which was now coated in blood. With a scoff, Skaldi closed his eye and laid his head back down. “The…uhh, the herbs I made are in the second drawer.”

“You’ve gotten real good at that alchemy stuff.” Quickly grabbing the remedy, Bolato applied it on Skaldi’s side, immediately slowing the bleeding.

“Haha! That tickles! Ha!” Feeling a little better and a little chillier, Skaldi smiled and giggled. Seeing he was in better spirits, Bolato’s worry subsided and a small smile came to his lips.

Lifting him up slowly and gently, Bolato put Skaldi’s back on his lap, letting Skaldi feel a bit more comfy. When their skin met, they felt icy to the touch and both of them shuttered a bit. But it wasn’t an uncomfortable cold, more like the coolness of a pillow.

Allowing themselves to enjoy this moment, they both stayed quiet, content to be by one another. Within a couple of seconds, Skaldi had nearly forgotten what nightmare troubled him. But with a long drag of breath, Bolato wasn’t going to let Skaldi pretend nothing was the matter.

“...was it that nightmare? About Amir and the fire?” His voice was low, like a hazy fog. He didn’t want to spawn anymore uncomfortable memories, but Bolato knew Skaldi needed to answer. Needed to give him something to make him feel better.

He really wanted to lie this time, nearly shaking his head yes, wanting to go through the motions of talking about it. But Skaldi really didn’t want to think about that nightmare. The Voice threw him into a frenzy, but the Amir one just made him cry.

It made him feel weak. Powerless. That all the progress he made was for nothing.

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Thus, he decided confronting this nightmare was far better than the alternative. Gritting his teeth to build up the courage, Skaldi shook his head no. Bolato’s eyes widened slightly and soon adjusted back to normal.

“It’s not that one? This one is new?” Rubbing his fingers through Skaldi’s hair, Bolato comforted the uneasy elf. Skaldi laughed a little before holding a solemn face.

“Yeah. This one… I don’t know, was talking about Vega. And… the voice, I think it was a guy. He was singing a song.” Piecing together the major bits of the nightmare was hard, and Skaldi took to biting on his thumb as he thought.

“Don’t do that.” Firmly but kindly taking Skaldi's thumb out of his mouth, Bolato continued to comb his fingers through his hair. Giving him a nod, Bolato beckoned him to continue.

“I… the song. Gods, that song. It’s the total opposite of Vega.” Skaldi closed his eye, trying to picture someone singing that haunting melody. He tried to imagine Vega singing it, but that was even worse than the nightmare.

“Have you heard it before?” Squeezing Skaldi’s hand, Bolato assured him he was safe. The redhead breathed out calmly before continuing.

“No. Never. The song… I think the guy knows someone. About the future. About how everything is gonna go down. And… I can’t do anything. Expect not to mind it.” Saying all out loud, Skaldi sighed, feeling the anxiety mount more and more. While there was relief in Bolato being there, present in his weakest moment, he hated this. Being weak. Being anything less than strong.

“I can sleep next to you if you want tonight.” Now gently scratching Skaldi’s chest, Bolato wished everything to be fine for him. Although Skaldi was already feeling better, the worry on his face couldn’t be erased. He hated that. Not being able to quell Skaldi’s pain.

Bolato wanted to know what to say. Wanted to know what words he could say to eradicate his pain. He wanted to be his painkiller.

But this wasn’t a problem that could be solved by hugs and kisses, nor by wise words or sage support. All he could do was hold him close whenever he needed to cry, or tell him a joke to lift his spirits. This was in Skaldi’s hands.

Skaldi held tight onto Bolato’s hand and shoulder, using him to push himself back up. He lingered in a hunched position, contemplating whether or not he should bother Bolato. He almost wanted to tell Bolato to ignore him, for some strange insecure reason.

But with a blush on his face and a flush feeling in his chest, Skaldi rolled his head and pulled Bolato to his bedside. It seemed almost comical, since this bed wasn’t nearly big enough for the both of them, so Skaldi couldn’t help but to laugh.

“Haha! This is going to be a hard fit.” Putting a hand on his forehead, Skaldi wondered how they’ll make it work.

“What?” Bolato spoke a little confused, crossing his arms.

“We are not fitting on this bed.” Laying back down on the messy and torn bed, Skaldi showed that he already took up most of the space.

“Come on. All we need to do is to make you into a little ball, then get some hammer and nails.” Catching on to the situation, Bolato laughed a little as he spoke.

“I don’t think that’s going to work.” Skaldi got back up and looked at the bed, trying to see how they’d section it off.

“We’ll make it work.” Laying his arm on top Skaldi’s head, Bolato leisured rested and leaned on him. Briefly, Skaldi thought of a funny idea of how the two wouldn’t fit.

“Haha! Look, what I’m saying is this. When I walk backwards into a wall, my butt touches it first. When you walk backwards into a wall, your back touches it first.” Skaldi pushed Bolato’s arm off and threw his hair towards the wall.

“Really?” The soldier actually considered the idea for a moment. And the elf soon after, giving this silly joke some technical merit. Each grabbed their chin and assumed an exaggerated thinking pose.

I say exaggerated but I really do think that the two were thinking that fucking hard about a joke.

The two decided this needed to be proven. Sciencetifically!

And, as you might expect, Skaldi’s statement was proven true. However, it was closer than you might suspect. Turns out Bolato’s girth also led to him having a fat ass, but not as big of a back.

And of course Skaldi’s buttcheeks won the day.

“Ha! I suppose you’re right. But is that a bad thing?” Backing off the wall, Bolato sat down on the bed.

“Depends. Are you a boob or butt guy?” Giving his butt and chest two taps respectively, Skaldi posed like an athlete statue.

“I’m a you type of guy.” Resting his head on his hands, Bolato closed one of his eyes and waited for Skaldi’s response. And as he planned, the redhead was redder than ever, like rose petals.

“Gah… you are such a cheeky fucker. And also a really goddamn smooth talker.” Getting atop Bolato and pulling what remained of the blanket over, Skaldi rested his head on the soldier’s chest.

“...and you… are pretty strong…” Drifting off into a comfortable sleep, Bolato gave him one last compliment as his eyes fluttered shut.

Pretty strong.

Strong?

Those words floated in Skaldi’s mind, like fireflies. As he repeated those words, he glowed a bit. Like the nightmare before had lost all worth, and his worries melted away.

Why did he feel that way? About those words? Looking at Bolato’s pleasant resting face, Skaldi realized why. Because it was someone he knew as strong, someone he knew for his strength and vigour. Because those words came from a person he wished he was.

Strong enough to be kind to everyone and himself. Strong enough to carry the weight of other’s pain. Strong enough to be the rock everyone could rely upon.

He really felt it. In his heart, because Bolato had said it.

With a teary eye, Skaldi smiled and sniffled. And he felt happy, like never before.

For he was strong.

Finding themselves in a cloud of dust, Bolato and Amir coughed as they exited. Eventually Amir had to collapse from how intense his coughing became, with Bolato lifting him back up.

“Easy old man. Where are we?” Surrounded by the dust, Bolato waved his shield around, trying to find a break through it.

“~Gah… miserable fuck.~” Pounding his chest to clear his lungs, he looked around to see what had happened. In a far off corner, he noticed a pair of eyes looking in. Moving in a fraction a second Amir swung his saber, striking down their hidden foe.

With a groan, the trainer covered in thick padding fell back, clutching his forearm. Amir almost felt sorry, but that was interrupt to war cries that came from behind both of them.

Two trainers, also dressed in protective gear, rushed through the dust and towards Amir and Bolato. Holding his shield out in front, Bolato made two signals with his hands. And only a couple seconds afterwards, two speeding bullets struck the trainers heads.

“Woo! Did I get them?” Valiato stood atop a marble pillar and bent down to ask Bolato.

“Yeah. You’re getting better.” Bolato spoke quicker, as he heard more foes already arriving to his right.

“~Remember, protect the target!~” With a great cough, Amir threw a javelin into the dust and got ready for the next opponents.

This target was their future. A future that could be bright or dark.