Lightless Twin Souls | ONC 2023 ✔

Chapter 14 - Lightless Souls

Clanks resounded across the room; the soft sizzling from the flares that enveloped Andrew's blades remained the only noise.

Andrew's arms shook as he lowered his head. He raised them again, but they trembled and flinched at JD's touch on his shoulders.

"Drew." He mumbled.

Andrew slowly brought his arms back to his sides, messy locks hiding his eyes. But despite not seeing it directly, JD grimaced and closed his eyes with a sigh.

"I..." Andrew's voice trembled as his palm caught his tears. "I..."

Zedekiah opened his previously tightly closed eyes in preparation for the blow. Without raising his head, he peeked on his sides, where Andrew's blades had dropped, the magic that kept its form alive slowly fading amidst his suppressed sobs.

"A-ah..."

Andrew yelped softly, body shaking as his knees failed him. He dropped to the floor on his knees, and as his wet hands quivered close to his face, his voice let out a tiny, stifled series of squeaks. The crumbling and shivering voice inside his throat begged to come out in its complete form, and the more he suppressed them, the harder it was to breathe.

Little by little, small whimpers came out of his mouth. He covered his mouth and shut his eyes. More and more steaming rivers across his face traveled to his hands, then arms, then the floor.

"I... I-I..."

A complete sob escaped his clutches at the lack of breath, and as JD knelt beside him and rubbed his back, his head ached. Andrew gripped his chest tightly, the sensation inside almost identical to the feelings JD—Hysta's death had caused.

And then, finally, he let go of his mouth and let out a sob, then a blubber, and then a loud, cracked, and breathless cry.

"..I-it hurts." He whispered amidst his sobs, one hand clutching onto JD's shirt, his voice trembling. "None of you... have any idea how I felt."

From Zedekiah's memories, flashes of recollection forced themselves into Andrew's soul. The darkness that consumed him, all the insanity that corrupted his mind, and the thousand blades pierced right into his core.

And it was all because of Eveopal—Zedekiah. The man who now offered himself to Andrew and JD for them to do to him as they pleased. To do to him what could satisfy them and bring their souls to peace.

But at the end of it all, nothing Andrew would do to Zedekiah would ease the pain in his soul from centuries ago, nor would it deliver peace and contentment into his being. It would bring nothing but a larger hole more impossible to cover up. None of this would've made him feel better.

None of it would return everything to how it used to be.

"W-we've... already been abandoned from Paradise." He sunk to JD's side hug. "We no longer belong there. And maybe that was what I really hoped for."

Andrew leaned his head over to JD's arm and allowed his tears to fall freely while he bathed in the world of darkness behind his closed lids.

"Maybe vengeance will give me a place to belong to—us. A home to return to."

Wordless, Zedekiah maintained his form while JD wiped the drying tears from Andrew's face. Only to be replaced with new but lighter traces of tears.

"B-brother," Andrew mumbled. "I... I see it now."

JD hummed softly, encouraging him to continue.

"It.. it doesn't matter if we're in Paradise or not." Andrew slowly opened his eyes. "Whether we're gods or humans." His gaze slid to JD's eyes, and then a tiny smile brightened his tear-stained and reddened face from crying. "Because the place I belong to has always been with you."