These Paper Pages

a star falls in retrograde [orv au]

to put some context, this oneshot is an au of omniscient reader viewpoint which is a webnovel and currently being adapted into a webtoon series as well. the official english translation has yet come out but i'm looking forward to it because it's amazing!

i apologize for being inactive but between lack of motivation and personal problems, writing became a chore instead of a fun activity i love. i'm back now though, hopefully with more updates to come.

anyways, this oneshot is both an arlyke and blysen oneshot but they existed in different timelines.

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"let me ask then," he pauses, thoughtful and unassuming, "have you protected everything you wanted protect?"

blyke finds himself trapped within a glaringly bright white room that makes his eyes squint at the sheer light. it has no ceiling. before them, the universe is nothing but a void, a vast darkness stretching from one end to another. an existence with no defined end or beginning.

"where am i?" blyke demands as he stares at the man whose existence is like a hazy photograph, a distant memory already fading from his consciousness.

"you'll know." another pause. "someday. when we meet again as ██████." he's losing focus of his face. like a smudged photograph, his vision of it blurs and yet somehow he knows that the man in front of him is smiling at him in a way that makes his heart ache with something he can't quite grasp.

blyke wakes up from a dream. he doesn't know why but his chest aches as tears roll down his cheeks, there is a memory that haunts him, one he can't quite place.

XX

they lose remi first and he sees the way rei breaks as he cradles her body ( she's so small and fragile-) in his arms and buries his face in her hair and sobs. they couldn't save her, they weren't strong enough to. he looks away, his own tears pooling at the corners of his eyes and rolling down his cheeks as he bites back the sob threatening to spill from his lips.

from there, they break little by little.

blyke watches as rei becomes reckless and angry and distant before he eventually leaves without a word of goodbye. he watches as arlo grows colder and ruthless, watches as isen hides away the heartache of losing a friend behind forced smile and false cheer. he watches as seraphina and john eventually falls apart and leaves, unable to resolve festering hurts that had haunted them from the beginning. they move forward regardless, they've come this far.

forty-five scenarios later, it's only blyke that remains standing, bathed in crimson beneath the waning sun.

everything hurts. his vision swims but he moves forward, sword gripped tightly in his hands as he dashes forward. he holds the blade high above his head before he swings down with beast-like viciousness. left, right, he swings and swings until his hands can no longer hold on to the hilt of the sword and it clatters on the ground numbly. there's a foggy sound of his knees hitting the ground, ragged breath leaving wisps of warm air swirling in the air.

the last thing he sees between the curtains of his hair and red blood obscuring his vision is a cruel smile as a dagger buries itself between the spaces of his ribcage.

[ your stigma has been activated ]

[ regression lv. 1 ]

XX

blyke finds himself in the beginning. his heart jumps to his throat when he sees them intact, alive, and real. he sinks in isen's arms when he cradles him in his embrace, nimble fingers running through his hair as he whispers words of comfort in his ears. he does not let go.