PHILTATOS // Foolish X Reader

28

Foolishs' temple looked a bit different at night. You were so used to seeing it with the rising sun, that without the glitter of the morning it just looked dull and flat - a lesser version of itself. The gold accents around the pillars shone less in the starlight, and the warm tones of the stone were washed out from the gray lighting. Still, you didn't have much time to appreciate the differences before Foolish was tugging you through the doors.

Inside, the temple was just how you had left it before Anello had removed you from the worship - another testament as to how little he'd actually cared. He hadn't even bothered to replace you, and you had been the last devotee of Anoitos. You weren't surprised though - Anello had always favored his brother.

Foolish made a beeline straight for the gilded plate, still loaded with the offerings you had left there this morning. "Perfect." He said, grabbing the plate. "Y/N come here."

You hovered a few feet away from the altar steps, just looking at him. He had asked you to trust him - and you did, wholly and undoubtedly. But there was something about looking at him now, his face too serious to be the Foolish that you knew, holding a plate of food that was going to kill you if you ate it, that made you hesitate.

"Foolish," You said. "I don't know if I can do this. I don't even really know what you're trying to do... I..." You trailed off, not really knowing just how to express what you needed to. It wasn't that you didn't trust him, it was just you were going to die.

"I know." Foolish said. "But I can't let you die with the city. Please, just trust me."

"Eating an offering for one of the gods will kill me." You said. "Just like if I invoked a god's true name in their presence. It'll burn me up from the inside, Foolish. I understand that dying here would be better than dying with the rest of the city, but-"

"But you wouldn't be dying." Foolish said. "Not really. I mean, it's part of the process, but you don't deserve to be trapped here as a mortal. Not when I'm fully capable of making you immortal. You've done so much for me... I can't leave you here to disappear with the rest of this place."

He was going to make you immortal.

There were stories of the gods doing such things before - mortals that they had taken a liking to, lovers or friends or pets that they had given the gift of immortality to. Those sorts of figures weren't talked about much in the worship, being as they weren't really gods. They had no godly abilities, but they still would live like gods - forever, if not longer.

"I've never done it before, but some of the others have." Foolish continued. "Frontida said it's kind of like breathing life into something though, which I have done before. That's kind of the bad part about it all though - you have to be really close to dead for me to do that. Which is why I really need you to eat some of the offering you brought me."

He was going to make you immortal.

"Foolish..." You said, not sure what you even wanted to say.

"Please." He said, bringing the plate to you now. "If you're not a mortal the others won't have a say in what happens to you, and you can stay with me, and things can be okay. You won't have to die here."

In front of you, an assortment of food was laid out. Full purple grapes wound around the edge of the plate like a snake. Rolls of fresh bread stacked like a pyramid sat next to a small bottle of olive oil. In the center of the plate, in the largest portion, were sweet berries. Foolishs' favorite. All of it looked delicious. The smallest bite would kill you.

You glanced up from the plate, following Foolishs' arms back up to his face. You needed to die in order for him to make you immortal. "How much do I need to eat?"

Foolishs' eyes grew watery, misting around the edges. "Just a little. Just enough."

Your finger shook as you reached forward, plucking a few of the berries from their clutch in the center of the plate. Three little red fruits pooled in the center of your palm. Three little red fruits that would kill you as soon as they hit your stomach. Hopefully, Foolish would be able to bring you back.

Your life was quite literally in his hands.

"Foolish." You said. "I need you to know that even if this doesn't work and I do die, that I don't blame you, and I still really appreciate the effort of you even trying to exempt me from the end of the world-"

"Don't say that." He said, crouching down to set the plate on the floor. When he rose back up, he took both your hands in his, thumbing over your knuckles gently. "It'll work. You trust me, don't you?"

"Of course I do." You said. "But-"

"Then it'll be fine." Foolish interrupted you, squeezing your hands.

You took the hand holding the berries back, uncurling it and looking down at the fruits again. You trusted him, you really did. So without much circumstance you tipped your head back and dropped the berries down your throat.

As soon as you did, Foolish grabbed your hand again, searching your eyes. "It's going to be okay, I promise Y/N, I promise you."

You opened your mouth to speak, but as soon as you did a strange feeling washed over you. It was like a fever that had onset all at once, your body flushing with heat. It felt like you were too close to a fire, or you had spent too long out in the sun. It felt like you had swallowed a torch that was burning you up from the inside out.

It wasn't long until you stopped being able to feel at all.