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We fell together, and we stayed together. Not because we were friends, but we because we had to. To survive. Yet, somehow, I came to love you all deeply. We made “I’ll see you in Hell” a joke amongst our circle, something we laughed at together. How we laughed together, and I loved you all more then I loved myself.
Over the years, I watched as this place took its toll on your minds. One by one, you decided you couldn’t take it anymore. One by one, I watched as you chose to walk into the sharp embrace of the angelic light rather than go on one more day in our literal Hell. I saw the sanity leave your eyes long before they lost their light. I can’t even mourn you properly because there are no graves down here. No place for your memories except inside me.
Soon it was only me. Maybe I’m a coward, too afraid to join you in the final death. But I’d like to think that, as the only one who still holds the pieces of you, I have to stay alive. No matter what it takes. Because if I’m gone, you will be too, and I can’t possibly think of a world without you. Even a Hell without you. I won’t grow numb, because the pain lets me remember that you were real. I am your witness.
So forgive me if I’m self-indulgent, if I can’t join you. I have to make all of Hell know my name. Because if they know me, maybe… maybe they know you, too.
Is that why you left me? So I can remember you?
In the distant darkness, fireworks signaled the end of the extermination. Sir Pentious set down the quill pen he had been writing with, ignoring the ink stains on his fingers as he slithered to the window and pulled back the heavy curtains. The fire in the sky reflected in his eyes for just a second before he returned to his desk, picking up the letter he’d been writing. He let it linger briefly in his trembling hands before he cast it into the fireplace, watching it turn to ash and float away on the smoke.
He tugged on the brim of his hat, putting on his wicked smile as his armor. He would keep denying the hopelessness in the hole they left behind. He would put the pain away. He would show only his wrath and his pride. Most importantly, no matter what happened, he would hold his head high. And someday, he will bring this world to its knees for taking everything from him. “Egg Bois! Ready the ship for launch!”
This year felt like it was really going to be his year.