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War, a destructive and ruthless force, whose actions are driven by greed and selfishness. A force that affects countless innocents caught in the crossfire, shattering their souls and their dreams.
Inevitably, war will come. And for Argenti, the war was familiar, having spent his childhood hidden underground while his homeland was destroyed. His only company came from the amateurish sound of his ocarina, accompanied by distant screams. Argenti witnessed war unfolding before his eyes once again.
The red armor of the Knight of Beauty stood out like a vivid spot against the gloomy scenery. All that remained around him were houses consumed by destruction and blackened trees.
Looking up, Argenti could see that the sky had completely darkened, it was about to rain at any moment. The Knight wasted no time, he returned to his task of searching for survivors.
The Knight had no luck in his search, he found only the burned corpses that had been tied up, the smell of burnt flesh filled the air. Argenti’s stomach twisted when he thought about what had been done to those innocent people.
Pushing that thought aside, Argenti spotted a large house that was reasonably intact. A red trail leading to the back of the house had been left by someone who must have been dragged there.
Hope filled the redhead. As he got closer to the house, he came upon a backyard porch, the place was actually well-maintained, but the lighting was terrible. The air had a strong smell of blood, but Argenti soon let out a sigh of relief when he saw a small child sitting with his back to him.
Argenti hurried over to the child, the smell was overwhelming, making him feel even more anxious to help. “Little child, I’m here to help you.”
He was always persistent, he would try anything to save someone, even if the chances were minimal. Even when the situation was so clear, he wouldn’t accept it until he was certain that there was no salvation left.
The knight could hear his heart pounding, he slowly placed his hand on the child’s shoulder. “Let me help with any—” The loud thud of the body echoed through the room.
His gaze followed to the small body lying on the floor, a shaky breath escaped him as he saw the stabbed body. Argenti crouched down immediately to check if there was at least a faint breath, still hopeful of saving her
Reaching out toward the child’s nose, Argenti realized she wasn’t breathing. Argenti was stunned—the first person he’d found unharmed was already dead, with a dagger craved in her chest.
His lip trembled slightly, and his mind went blank, but Argenti decided to turn the child over to lay her in a better position. The redhead pulled that cruel object from the child’s chest, throwing it far away.
The child’s face showed no sign of pain. A brief melancholy sigh escaped Argenti as he took the child’s small hands and placed them over the wound. He soon noticed that the right hand was clenched tightly.
Upon opening the hand, Argenti saw that it was clutching a small ocarina, his body instantly froze. Frowning, Argenti had only one thought—that ocarina in front of him, he recognized it, he carried that ocarina with him wherever he went.
Argenti had, coincidentally, received that very same ocarina from a child, so how could it be here?
He glanced quickly at the child’s face, but now only a blur remained where her face should have been. “What…?” His gaze shifted between the ocarina in his hand and the child lying there. “That can’t be possible.”
Feeling a shiver run through his body, he shook his head firmly, refusing to look at the child’s body. “I’m sure I saved her…”
The rain began to fall heavily on the Knight, but he didn’t feel it on his skin. His body was completely rooted to the spot, paralyzed by the doubt rising in his mind.
The failure was evident. He hadn’t been able to save her. Argenti sat on the cold ground, still staring at the small body, he was completely lost in thought. While he was still trying to understand how this had happened, the area around him was changing.
The knight was still seated when he found himself surrounded by a completely gray landscape, instead of the small body in front of him, there was only his spear. A suffocating heat now involved him.
As he tried to look around, Argenti choked with the air, completely intoxicated by the smoke and finding it harder to breathe. His eyes watered as he tried to figure out where he was, through his blurred vision, he saw that a circle of fire surrounded him.
“Could you really still believe in Idrila?” Argenti was startled by the sudden voice behind him, he looked back, still coughing from the remaining smoke. The person wore an armor that the redhead recognized—it was another Knight of Beauty. But his armor wasn’t intact, part of it was being consumed by scales.
Argenti turned fully toward the Knight of Beauty, his eyes were still blurry, but he could see that it was his former comrade. Argenti felt a shiver when he saw the person. He gripped the spear beside him tightly. His body seemed to move on its own, he felt increasingly strange, as if his body no longer belonged to him. This feeling was familiar to him, having gone through it so many times—
“What will become of you if They have truly disappeared? All your faith and devotion, made with your soul, will be worthless.” Argenti startled at the question, his thoughts interrupted. The redhead was staring at the other, “No matter what they say i won’t falter, i will continue to spread the faith i have in this Path”
I'm sorry my dear friend. Argenti wanted to show his remorse, but his body would no longer obey him, he could only feel guilty in his mind. “I will not give in to corruption the way you did.”
He hated this familiar dialogue, he hated how his voice sounded like acid. But there was nothing he could do, he could only watch it play out once again. “You corrupted yourself when you seek power over others.” I should've helped you see that you were lost, back then there was a chance for you to come back.
If only you knew that i regret what i said. Argenti felt his body grow stiffer and stiffer, the person in front of him watched him curiously while listening quietly. “Why is this happening…? The corruption, the rumors… about Idrila.”
Argenti felt his voice drifting off, alternating between his own doubts. “You’re asking why all of this is happening.” The voice of the man in front of him sounded distorted, but he continued, letting out a brief laugh, “Maybe they’re just lost, or just going insane.” I shouldn’t have let you drown any further, I should have guided you back.
A silence fell over them, not even the intermittent crackling of the fire could be heard. The redhead was disturbed by the sudden pause. Argenti could never get over that moment, and he felt distressed every time this were repeated.
Argenti still felt conflicted about many things. What if Idrila was really dead? His heart told him that Idrila was still alive, but his mind told him that They were indeed dead. That time he should have came up with a alternative solution, instead of—
“For what i have sinned, end this shame that I've become, my dear friend” No… This wasn't right, ending you wasn't the right thing. The person gave a brief smile upon seeing the redhead’s inner conflict, deciding to take a few steps closer to the other knight. Argenti shuddered at the sound of heavy footsteps approaching him, staring intently at the figure coming near.
Stopping in front of Argenti, he still wore a faint expression as he observed his friend.You were just confused and desperate, going to the wrong way “I see that your faith is bigger than I thought.” His armor was still being eroded by the scales, and his face was beginning to change.
Argenti stared intensely at the ex-knight, who was completely unrecognizable to him. “Despise everything, i can still see that potential inside of you.” The other man said with melancholy, “The potential to walk beautifully along this Pathway.”
The knight quickly charged at Argenti. Branding his spear, the redhead began to fight against the other. I was a fool for not helping you, I could have avoided so much pain
He had lost yet another dear friend forever. The unpleasant event that would always haunt the redhead, even in his most chaotic nightmares.
𓂃˖˳˖ ִֶָ ⋆🦋⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ
The preparations for the meeting were perfect, Boothill had planned them meticulously to avoid any accidents, especially with the IPC.
But that wasn’t enough to prevent some employees from recognizing him, and they were annoyingly persistent in chasing the cowboy through the streets. Despite the interruption, they managed to enjoy the rest of the day in peace.
That's what Boothill thought when they finally lay down to sleep. They had no trouble falling asleep, since they were exhausted from the chase earlier. But after a while, when he was still asleep, Boothill began to hear distant murmurs.
As he lazily opened his eyes, he noticed small alert pop-ups showing that something slightly warm was clinging to his arm.
Glancing to the side, he realized that Argenti was curled up slightly, but he had a firm grip on Boothill’s arm. Half of the knight’s face was hidden in the pillow, only his deeply furrowed eyebrows were visible.
The distress etched on his beloved’s face showed that he was having a nightmare. Boothill tried to sit up, but the tight grip around his arm prevented him from moving freely. Giving up on the attempt, the cowboy simply adjusted the position of the arm that was being held and lay on his side, facing Argenti as he looked at the hand that was still holding him.
The grip was firm, and even though Boothill couldn’t fully feel it, he sensed that the squeeze might leave a mark if he didn’t have a metal body. “Genti’…” Boothill whispered softly, his thumb tracing small circles on the redhead’s calloused hand.
“…Sorry” Small murmurs escaped Argenti’s lips. The cowboy stared intently as he watched the tension grow even more on the other man’s face. He decided to move even closer, gently embracing Argenti. “Come back, dear” he whispered to the redhead.
Boothill didn’t try to force the redhead to wake up from the nightmare, he wanted to minimize the disorientation that comes with waking up from a nightmare as much as possible. The cowboy simply held him and stroked his face while he waited.
A small trail of tears formed on Argenti’s face. But suddenly, he opened his eyes. Boothill was startled when Argenti’s eyes opene, he let go of the redhead, knowing what was coming next.
Argenti sat up, trying to look around, but it was too dark for him to make out his surroundings. “Where’s it…?” His voice came out shaky, and he was breathing only shallowly. The redhead suddenly began to pull back the sheet covering him.
The cowboy lay on his side, resting his head on one hand. “Rosey…” His robotic voice, even though it came out as a whisper, startled the other man. Looking in the direction of the voice, Argenti could discern the glint of metal shining in the faint moonlight, indicating that there was another person.
Boothill decided to sit facing the other man. “Need some—” Argenti threw himself into his arms before he could finish the sentence. His breath seemed calmer when he felt the familiar coldness of the metal against his skin.
The cowboy was taken by surprise, but he soon returned the embrace, holding his beloved tightly while stroking his long red hair. Argenti snuggled up against the cowboy, burying his face in the curve of the other’s neck, tears began to fall again, more intensely.
Despite the silence in the room, Argenti’s soft sobs could be heard. The cowboy leaned back on the bed, still holding the redhead on top of him, maintaining a steady rhythm as he stroked his long hair.
Boothill was lost in thought, staring at the roof when he heard a soft voice call out to him, “I’m sorry, my dear.” The cowboy’s gaze drifted down until it met a pair of green eyes that were shining intensely from the lingering tears. “The fork? What are you apologizing for?” Boothill furrowed his brow as he asked.
“For waking you up. We had a rough day, and yet I managed to disturb your sleep.” The redhead looked away, pulling the cowboy even closer in his embrace. Boothill chuckled softly, gently twirling Argenti’s hair. “Nonsense, I was already awake. Besides, those idiots from the IPC really messed up our day.”
Argenti let out a brief scoff, looking back at the other man. The cowboy could still see the pain radiating from those emerald eyes. “…Wanna talk ‘bout it?” he asked, the worry evident in his voice.
“Hmm… I don’t really remember what it was about.” The cold metal against Argenti’s skin kept him grounded after the torment he’d been through, looking away, he muttered, “I know it had something to do with my ocarina…” He paused abruptly.
Glancing at the nightstand next to the couple’s bed, Argenti could see that the ocarina rested intact on its silver stand. A sigh of relief could be heard from the redhead, returning to the embrace, Argenti snuggled in even closer. “But it also involved that person.”
Boothill didn’t need Argenti to give any more details about who this person he’d mentioned was, the nightmares about that moment were constant.
And even though they’d only been together for a few months, they both felt comfortable sharing their feelings with each other, always listening and helping.
“It’s been years, and yet I still dream about that,” Argenti said in a disdainful tone, scoffing at his own words. Boothill just listened quietly while continuing to stroke the red hair. “No matter how many years have passed, I’ll never forgive myself for speaking in such a despicable way.”
A moment of silence settled over the room; the redhead thought Boothill had fallen asleep, but then he heard a robotic voice, “Regrets won’t just disappear that easily.” Boothill pulled him into a tighter embrace, the redhead’s head now closer to his face, as he murmured against the other’s head. “But I think, somehow, that they know you regret saying that.”
Argenti felt a chill run through him, it was simply suffocating how much he regretted it, he always wished he could go back and undo what he’d done. “I don’t have the right to speak much about what happened, but I think everyone was lost in the situation.” He understood the implication of what the other was saying, but he never wanted to admit that fact out loud.
Boothill lifted the redhead’s head slightly, gazing into those emerald eyes that were now adorned with a faint reddish hue in the skin around them. “You did that because you were confused, you didn’t have that same thought back then.” Stroking the skin around his eye, Boothill continued with a faint smile, “You should stop putting yourself down so much, you’ve changed for the better.”
He felt an ever-growing urge to cry again as he listened to those words. “But that won’t change the fact that killing wasn’t the right thing…” Argenti said in a low voice, looking away. He would never allow himself to say aloud what Boothill was telling him; no matter how true it might be, he wouldn’t let himself take pride in such a change.
Boothill let out a brief sigh. “But it changes when you genuinely regret having said that.” The cowboy paused briefly as he kissed the corners of Argenti’s eyes, causing him to look back at him. “Small changes make all the difference.”
He really couldn’t admit that truth out loud, but having someone willing to reinforce it for him made him deeply moved. Tears streamed down Argenti’s face again, but he also let out brief laughs. “When did you start talking like that, my dear?”
The cowboy began to laugh along with him. “Maybe I’m being influenced by a certain knight.” Boothill ran his fingers over the fresh trail of tears forming on the other man’s face. “Trust me when I say this, Rosey.”
It was hard, the feeling and the regret were so vivid, both deeply rooted in the redhead’s consciousness. “…Someday I’ll try to start seeing this.” It was enough, it was a start for both of them, until Argenti could see the truth clearly.
“But now I’m starting to feel sleepy”. Boothill gave a brief laugh, laying the redhead down on the bed as he pulled the covers over them both. Moving closer to the cowboy, Argenti kissed his metallic fingers; the coolness of the metal against his lips felt good. “You always did your best to help me believe that, and I appreciate your patience with this situation.”
Taking the hand that was holding his, he returned the kiss, feeling the calloused skin against his lips. “Anything for you, my love.”