A Nightmare's Honor

Gone

{M} Violet Leader POV:

I couldn't see through my teary, blurred vision, but it didn't matter. He's gone. He made mistakes, but he didn't deserve this. Why did that thing kill him?! He's gone. He's gone... He's gone......

I was vaguely aware that the soft voice that had been speaking to me was no longer there, as well as the hand that had been on my back. Although I had barely noticed its presence to begin with, its sudden absence was chilling, like a cold draft of air on a rainy day. I didn't realize my ears had been ringing until a muffled voice finally broke through the high pitch, suddenly clear.

"Oh Origin. Oh Origin, is he really dead?" It was the small, horrified voice of the Blue Leader.

"I'm so sorry, Blue... everyone," the Orange Leader spoke quietly, his voice cracking with grief as he sat down along one of the walls of the room. He was hunched over, his knees close to his chest as he continued dejectedly, "I failed us..."

I was just barely present enough mentally to give him a short response. "You didn't fail us. This wasn't supposed to happen..."

The Orange Leader said something else that I zoned out, my thoughts overtaking me again. A flash of redstone and metal. A short gasp of breath. A single puff of white smoke. A purple helmet. I hugged the Indigo Leader's possessions closer to me, soaking in the comfort of the Indigo Crystal's soft energy. I felt a warm glow in my pocket, reminded of the Violet Crystal. It was as though it were trying to calm me, sensing my distress. If only you were here, ancient one. The colors were stronger then. You could have helped us... A voice brought me back to reality once more.

"What do you think that monster is going to do to the Red Apprentice? Surely he wouldn't harm him? He's practically his son, like most Apprentices tend to be! But-... if he was willing to kill another leader..." the Green Leader trailed off, shuddering.

"I don't know... But whatever he has planned, it can't be good," the Blue Leader replied, leaning back against the same wall as the Orange Leader, standing just beside him. "...I hope that, despite all of his mistakes, he made it to the World Beyond. His poor Apprentice, though..."

The Orange and Green Leader gave a solemn nod of agreement, staring at the floor with distant looks.

I slowly tried to calm my breathing, realizing that I had yet to stop crying. I felt raw inside, subconsciously clutching the Indigo Leader's items even closer to my chest than before. Why did this have to happen? We've lost two leaders this generation, and another has gone insane... And on top of everything, strange beings appeared in the world around the same time the darkness got suddenly stronger! Our powers have been getting weaker, especially when the darkness is involved, and Steves have been disappearing left and right!! When will this torture end?!

"Violet Leader?" the Green Leader called to me, breaking me out of my spiraling thoughts as my gaze shot up to meet his. "Are you okay? I called your name eight times... and you've been muttering to yourself for the past five minutes."

I felt suddenly exhausted, my face still wet despite finally calming down my tears. My grip on the items in my arms loosened as I dropped the Indigo Crossbow, now only holding his helmet in one hand and the Indigo Crystal in the other. "I- I just-... this shouldn't have happened. He didn't deserve to die!!"

All three of the other leaders flinched at my sudden rise in volume. I didn't yell often, but I was finding it difficult to control my fluctuating emotions. It was becoming difficult to keep the cool head I normally had.