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The night had grown quiet after the trip to Quirinal. Everyone in their room, everyone cold in their beds with the taste of rubble stuck on their tongue, prayers in their mind as they think of the deceased. Zuriel was no exception-- yet he was anything but quiet.
His body moved side to side in the freezing room, mumbling thoughts as he itched at the phantom burns of those he had lost. The shakiness in his body he'd try hard to repress at full volume as he feels the guilt of those who question the word of the holy. His mind clawing into the memory of the cadaver in the crater, the one who had caused the destruction-- someone just like him.
His nails digged deep into his arms as the night did nothing to caress him. They almost felt as if the moons were mocking him, laughing at the misery he found himself in. But that wasn't possible, because the moons weren't alive. To be fair, neither were his parents anymore. Part of him wished he got to see the bodies in the rubble, but I guess that's the only misery the Great One had saved them from. Yet their mind run wild as they thought about the one behind this. Was this really from investigating the Monoliths? What had they done to anger the Great One? The restless curiosity in Zuriel's mind knew no peace, bouncing and scratching the inside of his mind as his eye twitched with anxieties and what ifs. He would not be able to rest unless he got to see them again. They had to see them again. His body acted on it's own when he got out of his room and began to walk for the whole night back to Quirinal.
Zuriel's legs knew how to walk distances, yet he grew tired soon. It didn't stop him, there was something on his mind that just didn't let him. Eventually, he found himself tasting ash once more as the ruins of his home stood before him. He couldn't help but to pause, now alone, staring back at it. There was no time, if he wanted to be back by morning he'd have to make this quick. They shook themself out of it and started looking for the crater.
It wasn't hard to find; the blinding light and the heat from the lave made it that even a blind man could guide his way towards it. And Zuriel? Well, he was way too seeing, so he stumbled on it quick. They even tripped their way in it, which wasn't out of character for him but the scorching hot floor did make it more painful than his usual falls. After dusting himself off, he spotted it. The body laid there just as grotesquely as it was when Etsi mentioned it. It was missing it's arms, it's bones probably somewhere scattered between the rest of the rubble, with some burnt flesh scraps still on it yet unrecognizable. The worst part of it all: it was somehow holding itself up into a sitting position. Zuriel felt his skin crawl from his fingertips to the back of his neck, holding back the need to lay all their feelings out on the floor.
Slowly, he walked towards it; as if it would somehow scare it off if he walked any faster. His knees sizzled against the magma but it was not something that he minded yet. He knew he was here for a reason, that the Great One wanted him here-- but why?
Looking at the corpse made his head spin with thoughts, regrets and curiosities. Could he have known it? Could he have met it, before it was an "it"? Would they have been friends? Would he have ended up like him? Maybe even taken his place? His heart raced as fear shot into his veins, pressing his hands against their own ears to try to muffle the words. They only grew louder as it's stare stabbed into him.
"Do you see yourself reflected?" it asked in a taunting tone. "Do you see the glimpse from your future on my flesh? Are you afraid, Zuriel? Afraid that you could be the one in my place?"
Zuriel wanted to shut his eyes tight, but there was no use. His eyes were open wide, tied to the skeleton. "I'm not like you. I don't defy the Great One." they shook their head. "You used magic to mess with the timeline, figure things out faster. I know you did, only that could-"
"Did I?" it interjected with slow, calculating words. "Or is just that he's not that Great? I know your faith has faltered before, Zuriel"
"Shut up" Zuriel quietly begged at the thing. He could feel it's eyes looking at them, judging them, eating away at their mind. His hands pressed even closer to his ears. It won't drown the sounds out, it won't drown out it's voice.
"I could have been anyone. I could have been your neighbor. I could have been that nice lady across the street. I could have been the butcher." It's words drilled into Zuriel's mind, painful. "I could even have been your mother."
Zuriel stumbled backwards, then flinching at the unexpected pain below him. It was enough to snap him out of his freezing, quickly starting to book it out of there. He couldn't do this, he couldn't stand to look at it. They had to go back, the mumbles of "I am nothing like you" being compulsively ripped form his throat. He had no home to go to, but the Inn was the closest he could manage. The panic gave him enough energy to take him all the way back to Avantine before the rest woke up, too. Their body basically collapsed onto the bed, finally being given the mercy of sleep; yet not the one of rest.