Just Death and FEAR (just shapes and beats AU)

Chapter 13: Beneath Me

Author's Note: Self harm warning.

Dot dropped to his knees, his eyes widened in shock. "What… what the hell did you do?!" He squeezed out weakly.

"Hm? What do you mean by that, my dear?" Shadow Shape replied, running a claw down a dead tree.

"You said you'd make things better! You lied to me!"

"Lied to you?" Shadow Shape chuckled sinisterly. "That's a strong word, is it not? It's more of you misunderstanding my words…" He looked blissfully into the dark abyss. "This is what Paradise should be. There's no longer weakness, everyone is strong. Those who resist the cure are simply culled off. Isn't that wonderful?"

"No!" Dot cried out. "This is awful! I can't believe I ever trusted you!"

"You can yell at me all you want, but you'll never undo your contribution to my project…"

Those words struck into Dot's heart as he became silent. Shadow Shape was pleased with his wordless defeat as he made his way towards him.

"Welcome to the new Paradise, servant."

Dot woke up in cold sweat, breathing unevenly. Looking up, he'd fallen off of the couch.
He started to shiver, thinking about everything he's done…

____

Maybe, if he had been a better friend, they wouldn't have died. Maybe, if he had been stronger, and trained better, this whole incident wouldn't have happened in the first place. 
Cyan was sitting in his room, staring at the ground silently while lost in thought. He was trying to get his mind into a state of tranquility—attempting to forget about what happened—but deep down, he knew that was impossible.

Knock, knock.

Cyan let out a heavy sigh, his trance being interrupted as he got up and made his way to the door. Opening it, he saw Dot, guilt written all over his face.

Cyan was inclined to immediately slam the door closed upon looking at him, but all he did was sigh. "What do you want?"

"I know you hate me, but…" Dot let out a shaky breath, his voice slightly breaking. "Please listen to me for a second…"

Cyan opened his mouth to respond, but then he paused, reviewing his internal decision. Yes, he felt so angry and hateful at the moment, but amidst this, there was a small rational side of him that was interested in whatever Dot had to say. After a long moment of silence, he breathed out. "Fine, come in."

Dot kept his head low. "Thank you."

He found himself sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring up at Cyan, who was blank-faced. There was a second of awkward silence before Dot began to speak again. "So, Cube told you, right? About how we both had the same dreams?"

Cyan shivered at the mention, instinctively holding himself protectively. "Yeah, what about that?"

"L-Look, I know that what I've done is unforgivable, but…" Dot avoided eye contact. "For this all to end, we'll have to work together."

Cyan scoffed. "Why would I do that?"

"I started this." Dot's sudden intense stare made Cyan flinch ever so slightly. "At first, I thought it was nothing, but then I realized… I was the one who started this. I let him form in my mind, spread his influence onto the others…" The longer he carried on with his explanation, the more maddening the guilt felt. "In short, this is my mistake—it's my responsibility to fix it…"

Silence filled the air for a long while—Cyan was ruminating on what he was just told. The man who killed one of his bestest friends—possibly many others—and caused this horrifying disaster was sitting right in front of him.
Normally, he'd feel even more hatred, but surprisingly, he just felt… empty. Being angry wouldn't bring them back, and if Dot was being truthful, then he'd have to work with him eventually.