Author Games Compilation [Cycle 1]

Task 5 ☀ The Raven and The Crow [AP]

BLOODBOUND - 5 

Of ancient lore, Mnemosyne was the goddess of memory; it was she Auda saw fit to recall, though he did it involuntarily. She'd always been a sneaky thing, crawling up the beaded back of his neck and slithering through the recesses of his ears until she'd taken root where it'd hurt most to tug her free. Once he became aware of her presence, he always worked gently around removing her teeth from his skull, so as to avoid the most pain, the most injury. Under most circumstances, he succeeded.

This was a peculiar circumstance, however. He wasted no time on worrying about the sting when he took her by the scaly end and tore.

Helios is gone.

One of many screams that'd already sounded filled the clearing in which Auda ran.

At his temples, his palms rested, nails digging and scratching as he moved so hysterically that he couldn't help but draw his own blood on accident. He ran forward, then decided against that, taking panicked steps back. It was dizzying, and so his actions came in jerky succession. His breaths did much the same, alternating between shallow and heavy so often that he fell into a fit of hyperventilating. "No, nooo," he stretched, having the lethargic tone of anyone trying to work around sobs and lightheadedness.

This whole scene came about from the simple revelation that Helios had not, in fact, been sleeping. He wouldn't even have known, had the anthem not played, had his back not turned, had the hovercraft not descended to snatch his brother away from him.

Only the dead were picked up by hovercrafts.

At some point during his fit, Auda tripped, and instead of getting up and continuing his frenzied thrashing, he felt himself tire. Exhaustion made him curl his knees up to his chin, and exhaustion made the screams he wasn't certain belonged to him break off into silent sobs that took him by the shoulders and shook.

"I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to," he muttered against his pantlegs. "I promise, I didn't mean to, Helios, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He shook his head as heat and moisture bubbled up against his eye. His hold tightened around his legs. "I didn't mean to."

He tried to think again of Helios, of things before the arena, but it merely broke Auda down further. His head was swimming too much to focus on anything other than the warmth on his face and the snot dribbling down his lip. He'd promised a long, long time ago, like three whole years, that he'd never, not once so help him Iapetus, hurt someone he held so dear. The people in the arena, they were miniscule and irrelevant, but his family - for them, he cared.

And now he'd gone and fucked it all up. They'd never smile when he came home with a sack of oranges and they'd never want to stick those slices in their mouths and grin bright pulpy grins and laugh with him and they'd never want to hug him or kiss him on the forehead ever again. They hated him. They hated him. And it was all his fault.

He'd done a stupid thing.

Stupid, stupid, stupid...

For a long time he sat there, repeating his new mantra as he rocked on his hind. It hurt him just the same as ripping Mnemosyne out would, but it also tired him out, and soon he was quiet and wishing for Hypnos to bring him sleep. He sniffled here and there but softly, so that no cameras might catch it and send it back to his family. They would be disgusted by his sniffles.

There was a flapping sound a little ways off though, so loud he figured it'd cover up the sound of a more effective sniffle. Afterwards, he waited for it the fade out, to flutter away, but instead, it rose in volume until it stopped entirely a little ways off from where he sat. Curiosity was of the essence. He looked up, only a little past his elbows so that no one would see the dried streaks on his face. He could do nothing about the red eyes.