Work Text:
━───────⊹⊱✙⊰⊹───────━
It was a cold dawn, as dark as the night. Raindrops were beating violently against the red ceramic roof of a house far from civilization, covered by green fields and a huge garden whose plants were shaking, whipping the wind with the force of the wind.
The sound of the rain hitting the countless trees in the house's garden drowned out the screams coming from the upper room, where the balcony door was wide open, banging its iron handles against the walls due to the force of the wind. The curtains were snaking towards the sky, soaked, taking in the water and pulling it into the room, throwing it against the furniture and the bed.
A place where a skeleton wearing a tiara was tied to the furniture by its wrists, heels and neck. Despite all the mess and wetness caused by the demonic manifestations, the priest did not waver. He continued to shout the verses firmly and hold the rosary in front of the skeleton, which gradually stopped writhing, now screaming in pain, a lot of pain.
With each passing day, Cross felt like he was losing his herbalist. His teeth were worn down from grinding them so much, his youthful appearance and cheerful gaze were haggard, fragile and old. His joints creaked as he moved. His soul seemed to leave his body with each session. He could have sworn he was trying to exorcise a corpse that had not yet turned to dust.
- F-Father... - He called out breathlessly, as the religious leader approached and cut the ropes that tied him to the bed. His lips were dry, wet only by a trickle of blood that had begun to run. He didn't have much time left. - Father... Help... End... This...
But a thread of hope still hovered in his heart. There was still someone there, besides that demon who insisted on killing his sheep. There was still a small fraction of Dream there.
- You are resisting well, my son, have faith, he will be expelled, you will not be disturbed by this beast anymore, I will not allow him to steal your soul... - He said with conviction, untying the last rope that was around the doctor's neck.
- I... Ght! - He could not finish, he was interrupted by a burp that was followed by vomit, red and with a metallic taste, which unfortunately ended up being thrown on the clothes of the religious leader who, upon seeing that, despaired.
He was doing everything to save him, but he felt that Dream's soul was like water, slipping between his phalanges, he had already tried everything, holy water, rosary, the prayer of Saint Benedict, the psalms, but the demon kept saying indecent things to him, trying to tear the clothes of his innocent vessel, calling the priest to enter him, the sight of it made Cross' hand that held the cross tremble slightly.
- Cross... - He called the priest by name, who, upon hearing the hiss of his voice, pulled away the hand he was using to wipe the younger boy's dirty lips.
His voice came out high-pitched in his ears, breaking the silence of that cold and dark bathroom in the suite of the soaking wet room. It was still raining outside and the bathtub tap dripped insistently over the warm water that Cross had put there for the herbalist to bathe in.
He looked at him sadly, his eyes were sunken and his beautiful golden eyes were barely shining.
- I can't take it anymore. - He said, watching the older boy pull his hand away, dirtying the clean cloth on his clothes, still stained with blood and food remains. With his movement, the sour and putrid smell of vomit and blood bothered his sensitive nostrils again. - I confess, I'm scared... - He said with a broken voice, seeing the older boy shake his head. - I'm sorry, I'm losing faith. - He sobbed, lowering his head. - I... I'm feeling so much pain! Hic! I can't take it anymore! But I don't believe it anymore-
- No, no, no, Dream, for the love of God, don't say that! - He said seriously, dropping the blood-stained cloth and holding the boy by the arms, making him look away from the floor of the filthy bathroom they were in.- Don't ever say that! Reprimand him! - He said seriously, looking at the florist who was rocking in his hands as if he were sleeping, he didn't even have the strength to contradict the priest or react to his touch.- Reprimand Dream! That's what he wants! Come on! Reprimand Dream joku!
- I-I reprimand him! God forgive me! - He screamed in a moan, crying, holding onto Cross's arms and lowering his gaze as he sobbed, resting his head on the priest's shoulder. - Forgive me... Forgive me, father... I no longer have the strength... I don't have it... - He sobbed, trembling, as he felt the tightness of Cross's embrace that smoothed his back - Please... Save me. - He choked, coughing, making the man in the cassock give him light pats on the back. - I beg you, save me... I don't want to die... Hic hic...
- Pray with me, Dream... - The priest asked, still without letting go of him. - Father... I beg you
- Hic... Father... I beg you...
━───────⊹⊱✙⊰⊹───────━
- You seem distracted... - Epic said as he blew out the candles on the altar of a saint in the church. Cross, upon hearing his friend, closed the Bible and looked at him.
- Forgive me... I haven't slept well last night. - He said, smoothing the black leather cover of the Bible in his hands. Upon hearing his friend, the still deacon of the church approached the priest and took the Bible from his hand, looking him deeply in the eyes.
- You're thinking about him, aren't you? - He saw Cross look away, sighing tiredly. - Any improvement? - He asked, seeing the one with the scar on his cheek shake his head. - God...
- He's been getting worse since the day he saw the Easter service at the church... I feel... That I irritated the demon too much, and he's killing Dream faster because of me.
- It's not your fault. - He said, patting his back as he took the Bible to a small table behind the pulpit where there were other sacred books. - But since this demon has been around for a while, you should have already expelled him, Cross. What's going on? - He asked, looking at his friend, who seemed distant again. - Brother?
- ... He said he no longer has faith... - Hearing that made Epic's lips twist. - And... Honestly, I'm also losing hope, brother. - Epic was about to reprimand him, but the priest slapped his own mouth and turned to the giant cross behind him, asking for forgiveness.
- Why is this, Cross? What demon is so strong that he can't get rid of it? Is he tempting you? - he asked again, seeing the priest praying with more fervor. Yes, he was certainly being tempted. The deacon bent down next to his friend who was now on his knees. - Cross... - He whispered to his friend, who was clenching his hands tighter, tears streaming down his face. - Tell me, what is that filthy creature offering you...
The priest tightened his grip on the crucifix, pressing the rosary to his forehead with a disturbed look. Oh... If only Epic knew...
- Cross? Cross, are you going crazy? You don't exorcise a demon if you're tempted!
- I'm not crazy! And I'm not tempted! - He shouted, tightening his grip on the rosary in his hands.
- Then what is it?!...
If only he knew that he had fallen in love with Dream.
His heart had been racing ever since he went to meet him. He had been called by the city's herbalist a few months after the death of his older brother. He didn't attend mass, because souls who committed suicide were destined for the burning fires of hell. Dream was always disturbed by the church because of this. He demanded that his brother be blessed, but the priests didn't even touch his ashes.
So he was surprised by the bitterness the doctor felt toward the church for having asked a member of it for help. Cross remembers, oh... He remembers smelling the flowers and herbs in that immense and beautiful garden of the Herbalist, full of color and life, which brought a sweet smell from the finest grass to the large tree, as if spring were forever in his house. The one in the tiara was picking lavender (Cross never smelled lavender again without remembering him), hugging them as if he were holding a child, while humming something until he noticed the presence of the one in the black cassock.
That look, even though he was already exhausted with dark circles and bags that were still a little swollen, made his heart warm. He had never seen a more beautiful creature, in fact he had, but the song, the flowers, the kindness he had shown in inviting him to drink tea from the flowers he picked, my God, that hit him like an unexpected shiver, shaking his whole body just by holding his hand.
"They... keep talking in my head, I swear, it seems, ahm, like they're everywhere, and they say they're going to kill me... that they're going to devour my brother's soul and mine, it's so horrible I can't even sleep." She said in agony, clutching the cup in her hands. "It seems pathetic, doesn't it? Heh I... I spent my life taking care of people, and... And now, not even my plants can heal the pain I carry in my soul, I can't save myself from these demons..." He said sadly, yes Cross remembers having wiped his tears, having said some verse from the Bible, "be strong..." Something... Something that made the young doctor smile.
He gave him hope, made those sad eyes shine brighter just once, until the sessions began, and he could swear that even in the morning, he could see Dream's eyes become demonic, darker and full of evil. Sometimes this happened during their conversation, or when he invited him to go to church, and the younger always refused, still bitter because they hadn't given his brother the proper goodbyes.
And even there, when he finally brought him to sacred ground, the boy felt sick, he could swear, even though he was on the platform he could see that cursed look on him, the demon was watching him, analyzing who that unfortunate person was who was trying to expel him from that fragile body.
And unfortunately he read it well, and began to use it against Cross, who once backed away in surprise at the demon's proposal.
"He's beautiful, isn't he?" the demon asked using the Dream's voice and his, seeing the priest praying and swinging a golden censer spreading incense throughout the room. "There's no point in pretending priest, I know very well how you look at him... I saw it, you want to fuck him, don't you?!" The priest stopped and looked at the demon with disgust, seeing him smile widely, while opening his legs. "I'll let you... Enjoy it while he's at your mercy, unable to move~ tied to the bed, like you did, just look into my eyes and I'll give him to you-
"In the name of Christ I order you to leave!" He shouted in surprise, catching the demon off guard when he saw the cross on his forehead. The demon screamed and growled furiously, trying to drown out the prayer of the trembling priest. He didn't dare look at Dream, he didn't dare look at the intimacy that the demon tried to show.
- ... He offered me absurd things... But that's not the reason for my weaknesses, Epic... He's not getting better, I don't know if he's really just a...- He lied, I would say, a half-lie.
The deacon was worried and sighed.
- I'd like to go with you, but I'm still spiritually weak, I'm still going to graduate.- He said, seeing his friend finally look at him.- You have to be strong, Cross, if he lost his faith and you are the one who has to reassure it, please, don't lose faith, because if you keep losing it... You will lose it too.
- I-
- Father! Father! - An old woman shouted, rushing into the church urgently. - Father! Have mercy, Father!
- Calm down. - He asked, going to her and standing up, completely changing his worried expression, after all, he should show others confidence, even though deep down he wasn't so confident. - What happened to you, my daughter?
- It's - It's Dream! Mister Dream, Father.... He...
He barely allowed her to finish, he ran to the basin with holy water and took the baptism jar, filling it halfway and ran towards the Phytotherapist's house.
- Huff! Huff! Dream! - He shouted, looking around, seeing that the fence was open, and the scissors were on the bloody ground. - Oh no... Dream! - He called out again for the doctor, entering the garden in a hurry, but instead of finding him injured, he found a poor raccoon, with its head cut off thinly (made by the scissors for sure) with its guts exposed, with its chest torn apart and its heart devoured.
The priest quickly covered his mouth, almost vomiting when he saw that scene of cruelty to the poor animal, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, swallowing the bile that burned his larynx. There was no delay and soon he heard the laughter of the demon in the house. Cross hurriedly entered the room through the open door, with drops of blood that went to the table where there were more dead animals, without their hearts, and with their heads on plates, something similar he had seen when they found Nightmare's ashes in the forest and Dream next to them.
The stench of blood invaded his nostrils, he felt dizzy, seeing that table that was previously full of plants and gourds to grind the herbs, stained with blood and with strange symbols scraped on the table where there were small pieces of bone, he had done that with his own fingers. His stomach turned as he imagined Dream injuring his delicate phalanges and breaking his bones in the process by writing those blasphemies on the table.
- Dream...- He called, seeing on the head of an eyeless cat, the crown that Dream was carrying on his head, he hurriedly took the ornament in his hands, already feeling the presence of the demon behind him, he threw the holy water in his direction, but the black shadow disappeared, laughing at the expression of the church representative.- Show yourself, demon! Stop hiding inside this innocent body!
The laughter continued, this time coming from the stairs. Cross hurried towards her, holding the jar and the tiara in his right hand and pulling the cross from his neck with his left. He hurriedly removed it from his neck, almost breaking the rosary. He stomped down the steps, panting, to reach the second floor, but the creature appeared in front of him and pushed him hard, making him fly and fall down the 30 steps.
- Ah! - He shouted, contracting his body backwards, feeling his back complain, he coughed, smoothing his chest as if he had received the blow to his diaphragm. He was out of breath and could not move to grab the jar of holy water that was spilling the sacred liquid over the dark, waxed wooden boards of the room.
- Priest ~ - Said the demon, sitting down hard on the lap of the older man, who screamed in pain, trying to push the demon away. The demon held his hand so as not to let him push him away, forcing the man in the cassock to lie down on the floor again reluctantly, putting pressure on the older man's body and rubbing his chest against the priest's. - Hmm ~ What a delicious smell...
- Ah! - He moaned in pain, feeling the demon's claws dig into his wrist. Before him, there was no more Dream, and instead, there was a creature with black, slimy bones, with straight, golden eyes, with sharp teeth stained with blood. He salivated and his grotesque, golden nanny fell on the priest's face, who forced himself to lean forward a little.
He reached to the side to reach the small cross-shaped dagger that was on his waist, sticking it in the demon's eye, who screamed using mainly Dream's voice.
- GROAAAAHHH! - He screamed sharply, pulling the blessed knife out of his eye and throwing it towards the man in the cassock, who picked up the crown on the floor, which was soaked in holy water.
- Aah! - He screamed again, feeling the knife graze his shoulder, almost hitting his head. The demon ran towards him again, but Cross ran to the kitchen.
The writhing demon jumped on the keyboard, making sounds of groans and cracking bones breaking, grabbing the plaster ceiling with his bare hands and feet, turned the priest's neck 180° and ran towards Cross who quickly opened the salt container that was near the stove, threw it on the floor, making a semi-circle movement creating a dome of salt around him where the creature, even on the ceiling, did not advance, stopping in front of him, turned his spine 90° degrees so that his chest was down while from his waist down he remained on the ceiling.
The demon gasped, licking his teeth with a serpentine tongue while the priest caught his breath with the tiara still in his hands and blessed it.
- Haha... Hah... Thinking you're smart, don't you? - He said looking with his only one at the garden door that was in the kitchen, opening it with a breath, while keeping a sadistic smile on his face. - You were able to hurt... your little lover... - He laughed mockingly at the priest who only stopped praying when the tiara began to shine. - Fool... Do you really think you're going to stop me? - He said as the wind blew the salt away, he turned his head in a paranormal way towards the windows that also opened, blowing all the salt away, but Cross was not afraid, he looked at the demon with seriousness in his eyes. - Even if you expel me, your beloved is already dead, hah, he is mine!
Cross said nothing to him, despite feeling the throbbing pain in his chest that did not come from the blow, but from hearing the truth, Dream, was no longer there... He could not save him, and he did not even know if he could save himself now, that creature in his eyes was like a legion, and not just one.
- But don't make that face. - He said, extending his hands towards the saint, pulling his face so that he would come closer while slowly his head returned to pointing towards the ground, so that he could look Cross in the eyes. - I can allow you to say goodbye to him at least, Cross~ Come... Say goodbye to him! With a kiss~
He mocked as he saw the older man bite his lower lip, raising the crown towards the demon's head, he prayed, but before he could complete the exorcism the demon pulled him, squeezing his skull hard enough to crack, and invaded his lips.
━───────⊹⊱✙⊰⊹───────━