Mind Reality of Eclipse

Escapism of Nothingness ~ Chapter 105

Chrom was walking around his room, thinking about the mirror. Thinking about what stories were hidden behind it. But soon, the more he thought... the worse his memories became. Being reminded over and over again about what happened. Especially with Zethus.

Chrom mumbled, "Zethus... Zethus... he keeps popping in my mind. I don't understand why he does... he's long dead. But he was also one of the 'guardians' of the Netherworld." Chrom kept thinking over and over again, but soon he remembered an event with Zehira.

"Yes.... yes my dear child... continue to manipulate space and time..." Zehira giggled. Chrom stared down at himself, he smiled widely after murdering yet another victim. It was like an easy chore for him.

Chrom laughed, "Thank you so much Zehira... without you... I wouldn't be here..." Chrom looked over toward his tentacles and hugged himself. Suddenly he spotted Byleth right there, he was staring at Chrom with worry. "Byleth?"

Byleth muttered, "Chrom..." Chrom stared at him in disbelief, he didn't know what to say. "What's..."

Chrom shook his head before the memory could finish. He was unable to remember much of the madness he created prior to the technology fiasco. Still, it was so strange how he remembered that out of all things.

Chrom thought to himself, "There has to be something behind why I'm only thinking about Zethus and Zehira... they are the Netherworld protectors... yet they weren't there. That must mean they're dead... there's no way..." Chrom put his hands down and stood there staring. He soon came to the realization of something...

He remembered how carefree he was with his teammates. That was stupid, why wasn't he more on guard? He remembered how dumb he could be with the shepherds, how stupid was he to not be more knowledgeable? He thought about all of it, then he came to the realization.

"I just matured myself, I was nineteen with the shepherds and in my early twenties with the team members, I was just still in a child mindset," Chrom said to himself. He looked down at himself but knew that wasn't the case. He couldn't tell himself about that either. "Yeah I just matured..."

"Hello?" Chrom turned around and opened the door. Alear was standing there smiling at Chrom. "Hey Chrom! Hope you're doing well!"

Chrom sighed, "I could be doing better..." He walked away from the door and went to his window. Alear stood there staring at Chrom, he felt a lot more quiet. He was charming when they first met but now he felt more stoic. Alear walked over and smiled.

"We're going to play some fun board games to ease up some time, do... you want to join us?" Alear asked while smiling. Chrom was still standing in front of the window and didn't reply. "We're playing a really fun one... it's about saving a city! It's just a dumb superhero game-"

"Alear my answer is no, get out," Alear stood there frozen as Chrom closed his eyes and crossed his arms. Alear slowly backed away and then left the room.

Alear muttered, "I'm sorry if... I made you mad. I wanted to cheer you up-"

"I think you did plenty, Alear," Chrom said, still facing away from Alear. Alear looked at him and then soon left the room while closing the door. Alear walked down the stairs and looked at everyone.

Celica asked, "How is Chrom?"

"He just... shut me down after I told him what board game we were playing. Apparently the team members said he loves this one but... he doesn't seem to be in the mood," Alear said. Celica looked at her and went up the stairs.

Celica wondered, "Chrom? I just want to talk to you for a second." There was no response, the heroes looked at one another in confusion. "I'll talk to him later, when he's ready..." Meanwhile, Chrom stood there staring down at himself. He then broke down in tears.

Chrom yelled, "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD ALREADY!! I WANT TO ENJOY A GAME IN PEACE BUT I CAN'T!!" He was covered in tears, afraid to break down any more but he had completely lost it.

Magnus stared at him and slammed his sword against Chrom again. "AH!!! GODS PLEASE NO MORE!!"

Time screamed, "NO!!!"

"I know you're hiding something deep within yourself, why don't you show it off already and tell me what it is..." Magnus demanded. Chrom stared at him while holding onto his chest. "TELL ME NOW BEFORE YOU DIE!"

Chrom groaned, "Not ever... not even with my dying breath am I going to tell you that..."

"LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" Chrom yelled. He clutched onto his chest as if he was experiencing the pain all over again. The pain of the sword slammed against him, he felt it all over again. The pain of being stabbed, the pain of losing his friends.

Chrom fell onto the ground and kept on crying, he couldn't contain himself. He couldn't stop crying, nonstop crying, nonstop pain... "Leave... me alone..." He felt like everything was fresh on his mind. The blood, the fire, the pain, the everlasting pain... it was all like it was new

He didn't know what to do, he couldn't stop thinking about the war. How could the heroes be so carefree without thinking about the war? Don't they realize how close we were to losing Dawn if I were to be anymore reckless?! How could they think of Zethus and Zehira like they were ancient folktales?!

"Chrom?" Chrom looked up and cleaned himself. "It's Celica again, we finished playing one round and we're curious if you want to join us." Chrom got up and walked to the door. He was about to grab the doorknob, but hesitated. Soon he did, Celica was there smiling at him.

Chrom said, "I... I can try..."

"You... were crying, I can tell by your eyes,"

"I-" Celica grabbed Chrom's hand and looked at him with worry. "Celica it's alright, I just... was reminded of some... horrible events. I'll go ahead and play."

Celica said, "If you say so, if you need to step away go ahead." Chrom nodded as the two went down the stairs together.