▪︎All for you▪︎ - Diego x Reader || DISCONTINUED

▪︎ 20. Zenosyne ▪︎

Hi my loves! I'm sorry it's been SO long since the last chapter! The updates are slow right now, but I have good excuses! I'm super busy with school, I have some problems with my friends and I'm talking to this guy who I really like. Honestly, I'm a bit stressed right now.

I'm also not really responding to peoples messages right now and I feel SO bad about that. I've honestly just been so stressed about writing this chapter. Like I've written one sentence a day and not gotten any longer because I've felt so unmotivated tbh.

I really hope y'all can forgive me🫶

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Zenosyne
The sense that time keeps going faster than it normally does.

I thought I was dreaming. The blond-haired man I had grown to love stood before me like he always did. There wasn't a scratch on his body, nor was there a fading smile on his face. His usual grin was painted on his lips as he glanced over at me. I must have made a silly face, because his eyes saddened a bit. Diego walked past Valentine, keeping his eyes on me the whole time. I didn't move, perhaps I didn't breathe either. Was I... Also dead?

My mind made enough of an effort to register the gunshots in the background, and the sound of Valentine falling to the ground for the last time. It was a victory for us- yes- but the actual win for me was to have Diego standing in front of me.

"I don't understand." I whispered while he looked down upon me, gently stroking my cheek with his thumb. "Are you real?"

"I sure am, Sweetheart." He smiled with care in his eyes. The warmth of my tears heated up my cheeks, and I reached up to touch his face.

"You're the Diego of this world, right? Please tell me you are." I sobbed, and he wrapped me in his arms, holding me close to his chest.

"I assure you it's me, Darling. I couldn't possibly leave you alone when I had just gotten you for myself." I smiled at his stupid words, looking up at his gorgeous, blue eyes. There were several other people here, but I didn't pay them much attention. He leaned down and kissed me softly, slowly, as if he was savoring the taste. It felt like a dead man's last wish, but in the aspect that it had already been granted. He had come back to life, somehow.

"How are you alive?" I asked once we separated. Diego took a step back, pointing to Hot Pants.

"It's all thanks to him. Once Valentine threw him off the train, he used his spray to fix his own wounds, then he went looking for me. I wouldn't have survived much longer either, since my body was cut in half."

"Cut in half?!" I exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

"...Clearly."

"Hey, lovebirds." Gyro called to us. "We have a problem." Diego and I turned to him, who stood towering above Lucy. She was still unconscious on the ground while Hot Pants fixed Stephen Steel's wounds, but something about her was different. It seemed like the corpse wasn't part of her anymore.

"What's going on?" I asked as I walked over to him.

"Well, the corpse separated itself from her body when Valentine died. I took one- maybe two seconds to glance over at you two, and next thing I knew... It was gone."

"Gone? What do you mean gone?" Diego wondered.

"It was right here- and now it's not. What's so hard to understand about it?!" Gyro shouted, and the two began to argue.

I ignored their bickering for the meantime, taking a look at the scene around us. Everyone was occupied with something, and I wouldn't suspect anyone to take it. Especially as it seemed like no time had passed. Honestly, how could it disappear so suddenly? I doubt Valentine could have had the time to do it.

The horses were quite a distance away, yet I noticed something odd on the ground. There were prints from hooves on the ground, quite fresh ones too. Since we were so close to the ocean, they most likely would have been washed away if these prints were any older than a few minutes.

"Hey, uh-" I turned back to the others, but no one seemed to pay much attention. "Guys? I found something over here." Still, no one paid any attention. Hot Pants had just finished helping Stephen, and moved on to Johnny. Lucy laid unconscious on the ground, while Diego and Gyro continued to argue, so I shouted again. "HELLO?!"

When I realized my voice wasn't noticeable, I gave up on the others helping me. My gaze turned towards the nearby woodlands. They seemed empty, but the fresh prints led further ahead. After a last glance of hesitation towards the others, I made my way further inside. The trees were relative far apart, at least so much that I could see what everyone else was doing. My eyes landed on Johnny, who was looking around as if he was searching for something. I'm not sure what it was he was looking for, but he stopped once he saw me. The trees placed a shadow upon me, but I'm pretty sure most of my features were still pretty visible.

He opened his mouth as if he was about to speak, just as his eyes widened. Fear struck his face while his gaze darted to something behind me. A shiver ran down my spine, and panic took a grasp on my heart. What was standing behind me? What was looking at me?

I didn't dare to turn around. If I did, it would be real. I looked away from Johnny, over to Diego instead. If something was about to happen, I wanted him to be the last one I see.

A hand covered my mouth, then another one covered my eyes. Everything was black, and I became pressed against someone. This time, I knew it wasn't Diego. I just saw him ahead of me, so this was actually someone who wanted to do me harm. I tried to kick this person, but it wouldn't help.

Only a second later, I was on a horse. The person sat behind me, holding onto my waist as the horse ran fast as a bullet. I didn't dare to turn around, I was still trying to grasp my head around what was going on. All I could tell was that this horse... It was very similar to Silver Bullet. But, it couldn't be Diego, right?

My mind wandered back to the situation. How could I have been grabbed by someone, only to find myself on a horse just a second later? Nothing about it made sense. I was scared, and my body had become frozen. I was genuinely terrified of what was going on, especially since I didn't feel sane after that time skip.

That's right, that's what it is. It feels like someone skipped time.