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Hands shook as they gripped that godforsaken dagger. The dagger that they had used to carve open their best and only friend.
Two-Time had not only killed, but mutilated the body of Azure, on the grounds of a flimsy faith they had only acquired in recent months.
They knelt by the body, and prayed. Their blood was cold as the sweat that wracked their trembling frame, and the blood of their partner was colder still on their skin. Spawn above, what had they done…?
They tried to reason to themselves, desperately holding the wound in a feeble attempt to stop the blood loss of an already dead cadaver. It was like taping up a gun wound with a colorful bandaid and calling it a day. Azure was long gone, and it was all in Two-Time's hands. They wanted desperately to have the space and ability to feel guilt, but they choked it back- by Spawn, they choked it back- the Book Of The Spawn commanded that no hesitation nor remorse should be felt for those sacrificed to the Spawn, as dedication should be all-eclipsing. Their fear of divine punishment preceded the grief they felt for their loss.
They continued to pray, tears rolling down their eyes as the only tribute to lay on the body, and hands reached to smooth down Azure’s clothes tenderly. They could at least keep the body in good condition, as they reminded themselves that Azure would be coming back. By the word of the ever-present Spawn, the sacrifice would grant both a second life, and eternity after that. So, they waited.
They waited, babbling prayers mindlessly for days, until the body had turned a sickly grey, and skin had swollen grotesquely. The nightshades in the field had begun to grow their way across his limbs, as if shielding the poor boy from the elements. He had always loved plants in life.
As those days passed, and nothing changed, Two-Time grew both anxious and furious. Anxious that all had been for nought, and angry at the Spawn for keeping Azure from them. Surely their devotion was enough, so why was the Spawn tormenting them like this?!
There was no food around, so as time went, Two-Time ignored the ache in their stomach. They had to wait. They wouldn’t leave until they saw that corpse resume its animation, and receive a warm embrace from their friend.
However as the days ticked onward, the body lay still.
On the 6th day of relentless prayer and begging, they broke down into nothingness. They sobbed, they cried, and cast aside their love for the Spawn in favour of the loss in their broken heart.
“Why?!”, they screeched, holding a hand over their chest and using the other to stroke the bloated and rotting wrist of Azure.
“All of our devotion, and you tear what is greatest to me away!”
Sobs scratched their dry throat hoarse, and their stomach ached with emptiness.
“I cannot live without him, and knowing I took him! Why do you do this to me?!”
They couldn’t tell whether their words were directed at the almighty or themselves. All they knew was that their words were true- they couldn’t go on.
They looked at Azure’s body with teary eyes, and scooped up some of the purple flowers around them, eyeing them just as sadly. They knew what they had to do, the only way to solve this untraversable grief.
They shoved the blooming flowers of the Bittersweet Nightshade into their mouth, chewed, and swallowed. By god, they ate more and more- they couldn’t get out of this alive, and couldn’t forgive themself if they did. They crawled towards the distended figure of Azure, and put some of it inside of his stiff jaw too, mumbling something about togetherness and sorrow.
All they had to do was to wait for the end to come.
They curled up at the rotting body’s side contentedly, and stayed there. They could be somewhat at peace knowing they suffered the same fate as what they inflicted on their best friend, and beside him no less.
That peace was shattered the moment they heard the voice.
Put it down to hallucination due to the toxins in the plant, or some feat of divine intervention, but they heard it, the voice of the only angel they still believed in. Azure.
They could barely hear his whispering, but they cried for him with a constricting throat to come closer, to hold them while they suffered. When their eyes fell shut, unable to open with the pain and burn of their punishment, they only saw his face smiling. They sobbed as loud as they could manage, and tried to call out his name.
Azure shushed them quietly, and their struggles and noise stilled.
“Two-Time… Let me go, please. You have to let me go- live a life for the two of us, and tell me all about it, every night.”
Two-Time felt an immeasurable amount of panic and regret. They wanted to have had time to hear those words before they ate the flowers, but now… well now, they couldn’t move. They could only cry as they took in the forgiveness from one they had lost, and wait for the inevitable by their own hands.