A Change In The Horizon || The Lost One AU

12. Bedtime

AN

Hey guys! Sorry to have disappeared. I was busy writing a ~9.5k one shot in this series called The Tale of Suma. It's an Xisuma/Ex-centric fic following their childhood, in which they held captive and used for their blood. If you haven't checked it out yet, I highly recommend doing so! 

Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled programing. 

~🌤~

Xelqua searched through the nothingness, wandering aimlessly. "Salt?" He called, his voice filling the empty space. "Salt! Where are you?!"

No response. It was only when Xelqua had heaved a sigh that he heard a reply.

"Over here, Sunshine." Miesall sighed. Suddenly he wasn't too far away, on a lower plane than Xelqua was. He dangled his legs into the nothingness that was this place. He kept his solemn expression as usual, though it seemed a bit more reflective than it generally was.

Xelqua walked over to his friend quietly before sitting down beside him. It was odd, as he was a block above him. As he sat there, he began to realize Miesall's troubled stance — softly hugging himself, looking down into the nothingness. "To be or not to be... that is the question..." He muttered bitterly.

"Oh! That's from Hamlet!" He recalled, smiling. He was quite proud of himself for being able to know that from memory.

"I don't think you get what I mean, Xelqua..." Miesall shook his head. He brought his knees up before laying his head on them.

"What?" Xel began, frowning. He ran the line through his head again before he understood what Miesall had meant. "Miesall, why would you say that?" He gasped, beginning to get a dark feeling deep within his chest.

"You do not understand. I am not supposed to be here. That is why I ask that question."

He shook his friend's shoulder, trying to jut him out of that train of thought. "What? Of course you are! The Great Ones— they made you with a purpose! You told me they don't make anyone who doesn't belong here!"

The Watcher did not respond. For what was it that he could say to convince Xelqua that he was right? He was forbidden from speaking, as the Void willed it. That kind of knowledge was not ready to be heard...

~🌤~

After Xelqua and Miesall both had bathed and donned on new attire, the two ate potatoes they had stolen from a village. They had baked them and even put butter on top. Miesall's reaction was even funnier than the past few meals he had had, his entire body glowing with delight. It was enough to know, even when Miesall denied it, that it was his utmost favorite food so far. 

It was easily enough to lift his spirits for the night, and he went to bed ready for the next day of travelling. "I think tomorrow will be the day." He had decided as he pulled the blankets on top of himself. "Just you wait."

And so, Xelqua found himself in the darkness of night nearly alone, listening to sound of his friend attempting to sleep. He never knew what to do in these times, seeing as there was only so much searching his eyes could do.

Slowly but surely, half an hour had passed. He could tell by Miesall's breathing that he was still awake. He sighed, walking over to the bed and sitting down on the edge of it.

'Can't sleep?' He signed, making sure to try and not make a sound in case he was mistaken. The Watcher shook his head as he let one arm escape from the blankets,

'I do not know how. I still believe that I am doing this incorrectly.' He admitted.

"There is no right way to sleep, Salt." Xel spoke softly, finding himself reaching for the fluffy mess of hair and beginning to stroke it. Subconsciously, he thought that maybe that would soothe his friend into sleep. The creature was too tired to protest such touch. "What if I tell you a story?" He suggested.

No response.

Xelqua decided that meant continue. "Once upon a time, there was a ghost and it wanted revenge. His name was Hamlet." He was sure to try to keep his voice calm and soothing as possible, trying to entice the other to sleep.

'He did not want revenge. He wanted his brother to be known for his crime. He did not come to haunt.' Miesall corrected. 

Xelqua used his eyes to look at the other, withholding a sigh. "Okay, the ghost did not want revenge, he wanted to out his brother, the murderer. So he appeared to his son, telling him the truth. His son was also named Hamlet, just because that makes sense." He huffed, the soothing tone washing away just a bit.

'It is common among royals.' The other interjected. It seemed he did truly not get this.

"Anyway... Hamlet wanted to convince everyone of this, but he was trying to figure out how. He was also sad because it seemed everyone forgot the king except him. No one knew why he was sad."

'Everyone remembered the king.' The Watcher interrupted once more, quite matter-of-factly at that. This was getting mildly irritating to the story teller, but he chose to ignore it.

"Then Hamlet goes crazy, as does his lover or friend, Oprah—"

'Ophelia, you mean. And you are missing some key details, such as Hamlet may have never been insane in the first place, merely acting.'

Xelqua let out a groan, tilting his head back in the air as he rubbed the place just above his eyes. "Just let me tell the story..." was his only reply before he continued. "Anyway, everyone either gets stabbed, poisoned, both, or kills themselves. And no one lives happily ever after. The end."

From all of Miesall's ramblings, that's about as much as he could gather from the story. The plot was a whole lot more complex than that, but he figured any more detail and Miesall would start correcting him left and right... not that he wasn't already.

'Horatio lived.' Miesall corrected. 'He was the one who spoke the last line to his lover, the prince.' He decided not to add in the minor characters to the list of those who were clearly still alive.

Xelqua slowly stopped petting his friend. It was clear that a story did not work at all. If anything, it woke him up more with all his corrections. What was he to do to put his poor friend to sleep? He let out a soft sigh.

Thinking more, he realized there was one thing he had yet to try. He began to pet his friend once more, beginning to hum. It was soft and hesitant at first, but then as grew in confidence, it gradually grew louder. Reaching the end of the familiar song, he began to sing the words out loud, repeating the song over again.

"You are my sunshine,
my only sunshine.
You make me happy,
When skies are grey.
You'll never know dear
How much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away..."

As he sang, he felt the small hump of Watcher beside him begin to truly relax. With that, he knew the song had begun to quickly work its magic, and so he sang it once more. After the fifth time singing it through, he was sure that his friend had fallen asleep, leaving him truly alone in this world.