the battles we fight | sbi

Chapter 7 - See, I'm Not That Evil

so this is going to be short because i have things i need to do, but it's still important

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It was dark. Wilbur could feel the cold, hard ground beneath him, probably stone or something of the sort. He assumed he was in a cave of some sort, but that didn't make much sense. The last thing he remembered was being picked up from the ground, then blacking out, and waking up here. Well, he didn't feel fully awake. Something was off about his surroundings(other than the darkness). Nothing felt quite like it was real. Everything was just a bit too distant to seem like reality. It was almost as if he were watching himself move, but not quite.

Wil stood up, not sure what else to do. There was no sharp pain in his side, but when he moved his hand there he felt the blood and the wound still open. He pulled his hand away quickly, disliking the feeling of his own blood coating his hand. He continued on walking, not sure where he was going.

After some time, a light could be seen in the distance. It seemed like daylight, so perhaps it was an entrance to the cave he was in. The light only got brighter as he got closer, but he couldn't see out. At this point he was on autopilot, something was drawing him over.

"Wil, come on," Someone's voice echoed around the cave walls, "Don't go." Wilbur wasn't sure what this meant. Was he not supposed to leave the cave? The surface was right there, but maybe it wasn't a good idea. He stopped for the first time since when he stood up, questioning what he was doing, where he was going. He sat down, pondering this. Distant voices could still be heard, but they weren't loud or clear enough to be understood. It went quiet again. He closed his eyes and let everything fade away again.

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"Take this Wil," A feminine voice said, pressing something into his hand, "Light it. We can watch it all burn down." Wilbur closed his fingers around the item, realizing it was a lighter. A smile crept across his face. He opened his eyes to find darkness, but this time it was warm. He flicked the lighter on, illuminating the woman's face in front of him. It was Niki. She shared his smile, the slightly deranged glint in both their eyes. He realized he wasn't fully in himself again, more like he was watching the scene play out in front of him.

"I'm ready," Wilbur said, not knowing why. The words weren't his, not really. He didn't feel like he was deciding to say them. It was more like they just came out, "It's wonderful to finally have the power. None of them know it, but their fate is in my hands. In our hands. So let's decide it."

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It was dark again, but it felt more empty than cold. Like he was floating in an abyss, with no real feeling. It was the same place he had been right after he had completely slipped away from reality. So maybe he was closer to reality than he had been moments before, not lost is a memory.

"If you wake up, we can make them all pay. And if you don't, I'll make them pay without you," Wilbur knew that voice belonged to Techno, but he couldn't tell if it was real, a memory, or something he had created in his mind. Those lines felt blurred.

Even if it wasn't real, Wil wanted to reach out and hold his twin. He wanted to be able to provide the comfort Techno did so often. It hurt him all the much more when he realized he was the reason for that pain in Techno's voice. It made him want to scream. To shout at the top of his lungs that he was here, that he wasn't gone. But he couldn't. He couldn't even move, much less speak.

So he cried with Techno. They cried alone, yet together. Somehow, both of them knew they weren't truly alone. They never would be. Something inside of them would always be connected, no matter what. Death, or near death, wouldn't change that.

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is this deadbur, or is he still here?

i GuEsS yOu'LL fiNd OuT iN tHe NeXt ChApTeR