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“Jon, we’re not alone.” Martin was still breathing heavily from their flight through the trenches.
Jon barely turned to acknowledge the humans in blood stained uniforms.
“Ignore them. They’re not-they’re not...just, Ignore them.” he said. He didn’t want Martin to have to think about it, to see what they were suffering through. He Knew it would be distressful.
“They’re not real?” Martin questioned. He looked at one in particular. A young woman wearing a scowl, staring off into the distance, past Martin. Something about her seemed somewhat familiar to him. He could have sworn she looked quite like someone he knew from high school, maybe? God, he hoped she wasn’t real.
Jon laughed mirthlessly. “No, they’re real, they were normal people before the…before me.” He exhaled. Knowing all their suffering, suffering he was being forced to enjoy, was his fault...well, he wasn’t going to think about it. There was no point. He was done dwelling. “But now they’re here, meat for the grinder, I just mean there’s no point-talking to them.”
“Don’t...Don’t be a prick, Jon, I…” He was about to say more, then he really looked at the young woman. They were all normal people before. He felt a bit pale, his mind reeling as he tried to recall her name. She deserved that much.
Jon’s eyebrows raised as he suddenly Knew, that Martin knew this woman. “Martin- I’m sorry, we can, we should go a bit further-”
“Susan? Susan?”
No response.
“C’mon, Susan, it's me, it's Martin! I left a birthday message on your facebook wall j-just last week.” He carefully got a bit closer to her. Jon Knew he was in no danger, but hated watching this. The last thing he wanted to feed on was Martin’s suffering.
“Martin. We...we should go-”
“Let me try, Jon.” Martin snapped. He looked back at his boyfriend, pleading. “Please. I-we were friends, Jon. In high school, we-” He looked back at Susan. “You were an exchange student, American, didn’t know anybody, so I-me and you hung out, both a bit lonesome, we really got on, lost touch after graduation--you- had a bit of a temper, you were in detention a lot, I recall--but you were so funny! You- have to remember, you told great jokes, and you wanted to be an artist, right? “
Nothing.
Jon could See exactly what she was dealing with as he looked at her, he couldn't’ stop the wave of suffering.
Susan Wilson stood at attention, shivering with cold. It was always cold. She’d lost two toes already, her boots had been worn through at the bottoms. The Enemy would not relent, and...and…
Who was talking to her? Was it friend or foe? Of course she had a temper in high school, high school was the worst. She had good friends, though.
The thought warmed her. The world around her shimmered, and suddenly it felt less...real. She’d never signed up for any war, and this enemy, they didn’t even have a name, what was going on...
Jon gasped. Martin had stopped talking, but he spoke up before Martin turned away, hoping the spell Martin somehow managed to weave wouldn’t break. He felt part of him reel back, try to stop himself, before he said.
“Martin. It's working.”
“What?” Martin looked at Susan.
Susan blinked. She blinked again. Her far-away eyes moving, just slightly.
It was warm. There were people around her. She felt the snow and ice and blood try to return, but it was easy to shake it off now, now that her mind knew it didn’t Belong, it wasn’t Reality. If she didn't believe it, it didn’t have power over her.
Susan’s eyes focused onto the round face of one of her best friends of her teenage years.
“M..Ma..Martin?” Her voice cracked, and the spell was broken.
She instantly fell over onto her knees and coughed, shivering, tears forming in her eyes. “ What the-what the fuck!? Where am I?”
“That’s...thats a bit difficult to explain, actually, oh my god, Susan!” Martin kneeled down in the dirty trench next to her. “How did you--what happened?”
“I--I just knew it wasn’t real? This...It couldn’t hold me, when I realized...it wasn’t right..” she wheezed. “It--Oh my god, I’ve died like fifty times, Martin, you--” she let out a hysterical laugh. “ You couldn’t have gotten here faster?” She put a hand on her head. Just a few hours ago she knew there had once been a bullet there.
“I’m sorry, I-I just, I didn’t even know.” Martin stumbled over his words.
“No no it's...fine. I just need a minute. Help me up, please?”
Martin helped her up and she leaned on him for support, muscles shaking with effort and fatigue.
She looked at Jon, fear spiking through her. Jon put his hands up and took a step back.
She could tell he wasn’t human, that he was part of one of the Fears, and she feared him the way a rabbit feared the sight of a fox.
“Its-It's all right-”Martin started, but she interrupted him.
“I literally just escaped one of you-you things, I can- I can do it again-!”She said, voice small and tired, but her tone full of fury. “And I won’t let you get Martin!”
“Bit too late for that, actually.” Martin couldn’t help but quip.
“What?” She exclaimed, looking at Martin in confusion.
“No I just--this is Jon. He’s my, well, my boyfriend.And he won’t hurt you.” Martin said. “I promise. Neither of us will.” This was completely out of the realm of anything he was expecting. The Fears had completely overtaken their world, but somehow, someone had escaped because of him.
“He...is correct. On all accounts.” Jon said slowly, keeping his hands up. “ Though you are also correct, in that I am not human. But I do not wish to harm you.”
“...I guess you would have done it by now.” She huffed. She felt her strength slowly returning to her, and stopped leaning on Martin. She looked over at the other waiting soldiers, still staring far off. “I...can I help them? Martin, you got me out, what did you do, exactly?”
“I just- I just talked? I said your name, I…” He looked to Jon. “ Jon do you...Know?”
Jon licked his lips and sighed. He Knew he could Know this information.
He also Knew the Eye wasn’t going to like it, and he was going to feel it.
Well, tough.
He let the static build around him as he wrested the information out of the endless knowledge of the Eye.
“Augh!” He put a hand to his face. A horrible searing pain came with the Knowledge, so he spoke quickly. “I- you- You have to know them. You must have a connection. That breaks their- their hold, it breaks the false reality the F-Fears have made. B-Bonds-human bonds are--” He gasped, putting a hand to his chest. It felt wrong, to say this, every monstrous instinct fighting against it, and that made him smile. “Human bonds are stronger than Fear.”
With the Knowledge out, the pain finally subsided, and he gasped. He was aware of a presence near him-- Martin, yes. Martin was holding onto him. Susan was watching the two intently.
“Okay.” Susan nodded. Martin was amazed with how she rolled with the punches, though it was hardly surprising. She’d always been practical. “So I just need to...find people I know, and talk to them, and tell them the truth, and it might break them out?”
“Yes.” Jon said, breathless. “Yes, it will.”
He could hardly believe it himself, but the Eye, begrudging as it was with this information, didn’t lie. This was true.
It made sense on a certain level, though, if he’d just thought about it. Humanity had made the Fears as powerful as they were in the first place, Belief seemed to be a factor in it all that no one had ever considered. How could they, when the fear was so overwhelming.
“I’m...I’ll be back, in a moment. I’m going to go check if I know anyone near here.” Susan said. “If I can break someone else out, I could- I could start a chain reaction, well, continue it.This is all thanks to Martin.” She found herself grinning. She felt something cracking on her face and realized it was caked and dried blood. Who even knew where or from whom that came from.
She turned and headed down the trench, to find a familiar face, and speak their name.
Jon was sitting now, and he was staring up at Martin who was kneeling next to him, looking rather bewildered.
“It is.”
“I just- I just said hello. I wanted to be, you know, polite.” Martin said.
“Politeness ends the apocalypse.” Jon muses. He could see the path ahead clearly, if this chain reaction continued. The spreading of freedom across all the domains was now inevitable.
He put his hand in Martins and smiled, feeling a warm feeling bubble in him that felt distinctly like it might just be Hope.
Martin said down next to Jon, still shell shocked, but allowed himself to smile.
He wasn’t sure how long they sat there, but he swore he heard the sounds of war dim, slightly, before they left.