Chapter Text
“Sword.”
“Yes?” The young warrior looked up to his mentor. If he were any other inphernal, they’d cower under the deity’s form, but for Sword? This was just an everyday appearance.
“I believe I made a promise earlier in the week. Are you prepared?” The deity smiled at the smaller figure. Even if Sword was starting to grow into an adult, he couldn’t help but melt at how cute Sword was. A precious inphernal in the rough.
“Yeah! I’m so excited!” They were going to train! Sword had waited all week for this. As he got older, Venomshank finally started to teach him tricks that he’d wanted to learn for so long. Slashing beams, dolphin slices, dashes. He could be the master of them all! He skipped to the middle of their training area as he looked back at the deity.
“First…” Before Venomshank could finish the sentence, he stopped. Curious, Sword looked from the dummy back to his mentor. Venomshank looked very scary.
Why did he look so nervous?
“Ahem…” the deity coughed. “Sword, practice your swings,” he glanced over at the dummy they’d set up earlier. “I have business to attend to,” Sword could see Venomshank squinting at the exit. “I’ll be right back.”
“What. B- but I thought-”
“Sword,” Venomshank turned his head back as he walked to the exit. “Please. Just focus on your training.” His eyes became more gentle. “We’ll train when I get back, okay?”
“Okay….” Sword crossed his arms as he watched the deity leave. Sword felt… he didn’t know what to feel. It has been like this every time. “I thought…”
I thought we were going to spend time with each other. Train with each other…
All the warrior felt was loneliness. This was so stupid. Venomshank never let him go anywhere. He’d never been allowed to even meet any other inphernals his age. Sword can’t help himself. Venomshank was the only inpehrnal he ever knew. The thought of being alone terrified him.
Why was he even thinking this? He was fourteen!... Pitying himself was pointless. A mature warrior shouldn’t get sad over something as minor as this. Not anymore.
After the deity had left, the only thing that Sword could do was stare into space, ignoring the words of his mentor. He’ll be fine.
Silence filled the room before Sword walked to the dummy. A spark of light lit the room as he summoned his gear. Train as usual. Like it always has been.
…
Sword was on the vulture, soaring through the sky. Luckily, he had such a good instructor to help him guide this bird. It was definitely harder than it looked. But… It was worth it. Even he could admit, the view was amazing. The biggest pro of it all. Medkit. Getting closer to him, at the very least.
As the thought dawned, a frown fell upon him. He was so close… just beyond the horizon. Beyond the scorching sun. The inphernal he’d been looking for.
He was so sick of all these obstacles. Just to get to the one person who was there when he needed someone the most.
Everyone in the Inpherno keeps trying to pull them apart. Why couldn’t they just understand? Sword knew Medkit’s past never allowed him to be seen as a good person. But his entire world revolved around Medkit. Sword knew, for sure, that every inphernal has people they’d be unable to live without.
So why is that idea immediately invalid if it was the same for him?
Sword, do you really know this Inphernal? Sword, are you sure you truly trust him?
Why does that make Medkit any different? They didn’t have to speak about him like that. What gave them the right to treat Medkit like nothing in front of Sword. Enemy or not, Sword cared for Medkit, why did it always feel as if all the good deeds, the kindness, all fell on deaf ears? That doesn’t give anyone the right to disregard what Sword felt. He knew he was clueless on a lot of things but he was one hundred percent sure about this.
The church was awful. Sword saw that first hand. Medkit would obviously be hated since he worked for them. But this was his friend they were talking about. Hate them, don’t hate them, every word against Medkit hurts Sword to the core.
Why does this world trample on the ones who helped others? He tried his best with what he had like any of them would’ve.
Sword felt a prick of tears. If only he knew more about the world. Maybe then his words could have reached farther.
Maybe it’s my fault. Maybe I’m not good enough. Maybe I’m too… naive to be a good brother.
Medkit was everything that he wished he could be, eventually.
Medkit… I felt so lonely. Lucky I met you, didn’t I. It was really weird wasn’t it. How we met? Had I never… I wouldn’t have ran into you. Maybe things happened that way for a reason.
I can’t ever look in the mirror and forget but you, Medkit, you're unforgettable. I wouldn’t trade that for anything. The only thing I knew for sure was how amazing, kind, and was everything I ever wanted to strive for on that day. I could never make it clear enough how much you’ve helped me. I will forever keep that promise.
You promised too, remember?
Why is this so difficult…
Med. You remember, right?
It all started when my mentor’s sibling visited us…
…
A force of wind blasted Sword onto the ground. For a moment, Sword thought that was the only thing that had happened. A blast of wind. That’s it….
It wasn’t.
It started with one drip. Then another . Then… the pain. The burning. His face. His face. His face.
She’d sliced him. His hands immediately rose up, attempting to quell the pain. Attempting to do anything.
It hurts…
His body couldn’t stop the tears from coming. They traveled down his face as it mixed with his blood. The little warrior couldn’t do anything but look up and stare at the deity that did this.
Windforce… she looked at him with such pity. Her mouth gave off a sense of conflict. What did he do to deserve this? He didn’t want this.
Behind her, Venomshank’s eyes started to glow, his entire face dropped any sense of morality he had just minutes ago. Windforce glared down at Sword before turning back to Venomshank. Her body braced for a fight. An attack.
But no attack happened. No desperate slash. No rage.
Venomshank’s hand clenched onto their gear as he pushed Windforce aside and bent down to Sword. His eyes were nothing but a green void.
“S….W….O….R….D?” A passive growl could be heard from the deity who tried everything to hold back. To delay the inevitable just so he could stay mortal enough to check on Sword. Venomshank twitched, each one getting more violent after every passing second.
“....” A sob and sniffle was the only thing that Sword could mutter.
Venomshank’s body shook even harder. He’d let this happen. Sword. The one mortal he swore to protect. He was supposed to be his guardian. How could he let this… She did this- she…. she…
Sword’s eyes couldn’t even look at the deity’s. Venomshank saw the pure fear and pain in them. One that he couldn’t stop. All because of him and her. Venomshank then looked up from Sword. The warrior followed the deity’s eyes as he slowly stood up and turned to Windforce.
“Actions have consequences. Of all people, you should know that.” She didn’t even hesitate to say that. She peered past Venomshank to Sword. “Maybe if you had taught him right,” her eyes focused onto Sword, “-he would’ve been stronger.”
“Y…O…U.” Venomshank quickly approached her.
“I guess this was what mortals call: a family dispute.”
The fire in Venomshank’s eyes intensified.
“G…o”
“T…o”
“H…e…l…l”
Sword didn’t want this anymore. He didn’t want- couldn’t bear to see anyone else get hurt. As soon as a flash of light hit him, Sword got up and ran. Sharp strikes of pain crawled up his arm and across face as he slowly ran outside their house. Drops of blood trailed behind him.
For some reason, the warrior took a moment to glance back at the house. More tears started to form as he saw all the cracks in their home. Sword kept his head forward. Run, just run.
If he was by himself. No one can get hurt. Not him, not Venomshank. Not…. her. They wouldn’t need to fight anymore. Right? They can go back and train in their nice home, like they were going to.
His legs kept pushing himself, farther, farther away until he couldn’t. Sword’s legs hurt. This was too much for him, he couldn’t- no more.
The footsteps slowed down as he looked back up.
Where am I?
Tears started to come back as the pain in his body hit harder. He shouldn’t stand anymore, he’ll pass out if he keeps walking. Slowly, Sword got on the ground and dragged himself towards the wall, leaning himself on it.
“It hurts…” Sword turned his arm over to find the gash still bleeding. He could also feel the cut on his cheek was still wet too.
“What- what do I do…” Sword didn’t have anything. Nothing to stop the bleeding. Not like he would’ve known how to, he was pretty sure he couldn’t just slap a bandage on it and call it a day. He didn’t even know where to start with the cut on his face.
Someone help me. Please. Venomshank….
…
Medkit walked down the pathway. It was a normal day. Well, he guessed it was as normal as it could have been for him. In another world, he could’ve led a normal life. Perhaps one as a teacher. A mentor, perhaps. He’d be able to teach students, maybe make a couple of friends. Not as whatever criminal he became. But this wasn’t reality nor did he deserve that.
The doc shouldn’t complain. He was alive. He wasn’t dying. He was safe from death…
At least for now.
But, he’d give anything to live a different life. But- no matter. Changing the past would be impossible and dying would be a waste. Make do of what’s best.
How was he supposed to do that when he felt like so many eyes were on him? Were they looking at his bandages? Did people recognize him? He needed to control himself. No one was staring.
Calm down.
The church better help him feel safer.
… The doc couldn’t believe himself. After running away from a corrupted group, he just had to run back to another group for protection. Pathetic. Defending himself felt too hard apparently. The weight of paranoia was too much.
The Church of the True Eye.
It’s fine.
They seemed like a fine group of inphernals anyway. After what that deity had done, they seemed to be more united than ever. Medkit only hoped that based on the history books, this one didn’t turn into another war. When a group unifies through a mutual struggle, it creates a divide between the believers and non believers. The fighters and the complacent. Hopefully it didn’t come to that.
To fight for peace, they’d have to prepare for war. Or something like that. He was an engineer, not a poet. If only he’d actually be able to live in the peace that came after. Whenever that would be. Or at all.
Maybe he should get a cat… His steps stilled as he stopped in front of an alley.
…
Sobs.
Cries.
Someone was crying in the darkness. That was never a good sign. Medkit’s brain told him to just move on. Whatever it was, it wasn’t worth it.
Too risky. Move on…..
His legs stood firm on the ground instead of walking forward.
Move?
Medkit’s head turned to look closer into the alley.
I said MOVE!
The doc had many things he needed to do that day. He shouldn’t waste it going into that dark… scary… potentially murderous alley. Scythe asked him to develop schematics that he still needed to make. Not to mention the dozens of inphernals that he still needed to tend back at the church. Did that mean he could just leave whoever was crying?
What if they’re hurt? No, Medkit. Do you have a death wish? They’ll try to kill you.
Medkit’s mind was a continuous back and forth. A part of him, his heart perhaps, told him to stay there, help, especially if someone was hurt. The other part? The brain- told him to run- run as far as possible and never come back to this alleyway.
What if it was him? What if it was Blackrock? They’d do anything to get their revenge after what he did.
…
His legs took one step forward into the dark. If he walked away, they could die. Inphernals wouldn’t dare stop to help anyone else. Not usually, especially not now. After the Scorch, he was sure everyone was on edge. That included Medkit. But- he knew himself.
Medkit couldn’t bring it in his heart to do so. That was one of the reasons why he ran away from Blackrock in the first place, wasn’t it. Alongside that reason. To live his own life, with his own values. Walking away was a Blackrock thing. He was Medkit now.
A hand reached behind him into his pockets as he grasped a revolver. One that he had gotten for protection. After all, his gear didn’t really do much good in a fight. Especially for an inphernal who expected to get jumped on after every corner. A revolver? Much better, at least in his opinion.
It’ll be okay. I’ll be fine. I will be fine- I will be okay…
As he walked in, his breath felt colder. His breathing felt less even. Anyone would know, this was nervousness. Fear. Paranoia.
The sobs became louder and louder until it suddenly stopped as he spotted a younger red inphernal. Their eyes widened as they started to scoot back, their hands dripped in blood as one hand clenched the cut. Medkit couldn’t help but feel pain for the cut on their cheek as well.
“Wha- who- who are you? D- don’t hurt me…” Medkit saw their eyes more clearly as they faced the light. Terrified. The inphernal looked like they’ve been chased by their worst fears.
“It’s- it’s okay. I won’t harm you, I’m friendly.” His hands let go of his revolver that he didn’t even know he was holding onto until then. Someone really was hurt. A pang in Medkit’s heart hit as he saw how awful their condition was. No one deserved that. Medkit raised his hands to prove it to the inphernal.
“But- I can’t- you’re a stranger- Venom- I- my- my…” Their voice started to tremble.
Medkit gave a small grin, hoping to calm them down. “Everything is fine now. I can help.”
“I was told not to- I… I shouldn’t talk with strangers.”
“Well, how about I tell you my name?” A stranger was only a stranger if they didn't know his name. Medkit wasn’t worried that this was a trap by him. It was obvious this kid wasn’t a part of any Blackrock region. They would’ve… forced someone like this to behave much more… like everyone else.
“Name- Your name?”
“Yeah, then we wouldn’t be strangers anymore, would we. It’s Medkit.” The kid looked around then back towards Medkit’s eyes. The kid’s eyes blinked at the other inphernal’s.
“I- I- uh- I’m Sword.”