Mind Reality of Eclipse

Laughing Stock ~ Chapter 18

"HAHAHAHAHA!!" People laughed. Byleth stood around staring at everyone who kept pointing and laughing at him. Nothing but laughter, they were mocking him. He was filled with dirt, filth, all that was disgusting. Byleth looked at his hands and saw how dirty they were as well.

Byleth yelled, "I'M NOT DIRTY! I'M CLEAN I SWEAR!"

"Not with that look on you! You look like you belong in a dumpster!" Someone laughed. Byleth felt himself tearing up, as he cried into his hands. But as he did the dirt on his hands ended up making him appear more unclean than ever before.

Byleth shouted, "NOOOO!!! WHY AM I GETTING MORE AND MORE DIRTY!"

"That's because you deserve to be dirty!"

"NO I DON'T!"

"YES YOU DO!" The crowd kept laughing at him as Byleth took a few deep breaths to calm himself. But nothing was working no matter how hard he tried. Just more and more laughter as he got more and more dirtier by the second. He really did look like belonged in the dumpster.

Byleth cried, "No... please... I don't want to be dirty. I hate being dirty... I hate being a laughing stock. I HATE IT! I HATE IT! I HATE IT!!"

"BYLETH!!" Someone screamed. Byleth shot awake covered in tears as he looked up at the ceiling. He was gripping onto his bed as he shook there. He had no idea what just happened. "Byleth are you okay!?"

Byleth replied, "YES! Sorry... I just had a nightmare..."

"Can I come in?"

"Why?"

"I wanna check if you're doing alright for sure," Byleth stood there staring at the door. He looked back at the sword who was blocking the entrance to the room. Byleth didn't know how to reply, but he knew he needed to have time to himself.

Byleth replied, "Sorry. Can I just deal with this issue on my own? I want to make sure I'm actually doing okay..."

"Are you certain?"

"Of course I am!" Byleth replied. Then he heard the sounds of the person leaving. Byleth took a sigh of relief and he got up. He locked the door and grabbed his sword. Byleth stared at it and smiled. "At least... the sword of the creator is by my side. How I know I'm safe..."

He looked at his sword and kept smiling. He couldn't help but love how wonderful it was. It was... something he wanted to keep safe. He loved all too much, it was truly something else... Byleth sat there in silence holding the sword close to him. Searching around his room for something. There was nothing, he just sat there in silence. There was nobody near his door. He had turned off the lights in his room.

Byleth sighed, "How unkind of me to leave you dirty after those events. I really should've thought more about this... I'm so deeply sorry. Could you ever forgive me?" He looked at the sword and took a deep breath. "The goddess' bones... this... kinda scares me to be honest. Why am I treating it this way..."

Byleth stared at his ceiling. All of a sudden he could hear the echoes of laughter. Byleth looked around his room in fear. Shock, he was horrified he didn't like the laughter. Not at all, that was something he was happy with. He hated laughter. He hated it too much.

"STOP LAUGHING AT ME! WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?!" Byleth asked as he held tight to the sword. He looked around his room in anger until he realized he was just... going insane. There was no laughter, he was growing the fear of being laughed at and he was afraid of the sound of laughter.

A voice questioned, "Byleth, I heard you scream. Are you doing alright?"

"I'm fine, just leave me be I'm just... dealing with... some crazy things," Byleth replied as he shook his head.

The voice responded, "Let me know if you need anything alright? Just take your time to heal yourself." Byleth nodded as he heard the footsteps leaving slowly. Byleth stood there in silence holding the sword. He suddenly realized his outfit was getting dirty again. Nearly gagging at it.

"This is disgusting! AGH!" Byleth yelled as he took off his outfit and changed into a new one. He placed the sword at the door and stood there staring at it. "People think I'm hilarious because of my obsession with cleanliness and perfection... I'm supposed to be the example! I'm supposed to be the person people don't even MESS with!

I'm supposed to be the peacekeeper! I'm supposed to be the one who knows everything! I'm supposed to keep this entire team together because nobody knows how to TIDY UP! I'm everything that the team needs! I'M EVERYTHING! Mario is NOTHING compared to me! If the team didn't have me... THEY WOULD BE NOTHING!" Byleth looked down at himself and shook his head. "Forget it Byleth, they don't give a shit."