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In the middle of a clearing, in the xxxxx forest, usually stood two people at night. Hiding from others, this space had been their own, to hang out, to laugh, to love.
But this night, only one of them was here. With their tall hat and their bag, Azure stood there, a picture of him and the other person.
Earlier, while walking in the little community wrapped in gates, curiosity had gotten them. They had gone against the strict rules of the Elders, who said it was to "protect them". And in a part of himself, he had wished he had listened.
What they saw was an horrible, gruesome sight. Bodies of all the deceased were hang in a little, cold shed, like meat. It took all their strength to not throw up at the view and the smell of them. As quickly as he got in, he had left the shed. They ran back to their shared cabin, and their partner was there, looking concerned by them panting and eyes wide like they had seen a ghost.
Taking the taller's one hands in his, Azure confessed everything. He told them everything, the bodies, the mutilation on them, the bites on them. He hoped that they would listen, that they would see the truth behind it all.
But their Two Time didn't. They shoved him away from them, looking at them with a judgemental eye like they had listen to a maniac. The Elders would never hide such things. They were good, spoke for Spawn itself, they could never be behind such monstrosities.
Azure stood there, as their own partner questioned his sanity, his faith, his perception of reality. No matter what he said, they didn't wanna hear it. It became clear to him, there was no point in arguing with them.
At night, he had packed up his bag with all type of necessity, leaving a note on the bed and exiting the cabin. They ran from the community by the exit only him and Two Time knew about and ran. Running and running, just like the first time. Not knowing where to go, just far away from this insane place.
After a long time, they stopped at a clearing, walking slowly on the stones path as he held the picture of Azure and Min-Ji from a few years, clearly outdated by the text "Best friends" on it. He looked at it with sadness, wishing that maybe, just maybe, they could have opened their eyes. But after this argument, it was no use.
Just then, as they were lost in their thoughts, they heard a noise, coming from the sides. He looked, and saw a little light coming from the bushes. But before he could get any closer to it, something from behind them.
Before being able to completely turn around, someone had lunged onto them, a dagger in their hand, that was now planted in Azure's arm.
As the pain propaged in the stabbed area, Azure lets out a scream of agony, quickly shoving the person and putting their hand on their arm. Before the could get away from their attacker, the person quickly lunged back towards him. Azure managed to stop them, grabbing their hands. And that's when he saw their face. It was the same blue-haired person from the village, the same one, he called his dear, his "Timey", and now, they were trying to reach for the knife again.
Azure kept keeping their hands away from him while yelling at them. How could they betray him like this? Had Amarah, the Spawn made them loose their mind?? In his anger and with the strength left in him, he shoved his attacker onto the ground.
He clutched to his wounded, the dagger still stuck. He grabbed it, and tried to pull it away, and when he finally successed to do so, he quickly looked in his bad for a sheet to cover the wound and avoid too much blood loss. But as he did so, he noticed that Two Time was not on him anymore.
He looked behind him again, and since the whole time, Two time was still laying on top of the stones. Azure hesitate to look up to them. Why should he after why they had to them? But still, he couldn't handle the thought they were hurt even after this, and kneeled next them, shaking them.
He looked up, and that's when he saw it. Right where their head laid, dark crimson blood began to pool around. Azure was mortified at the sight, freezing for a moment. They grabbed Min-ji's head ; theirs eyes were still wide open, and when they looked for any pulse, any breathings, they had found nothing.
The young man got up, his eyes not leaving the silhouette of his lover. He covered his mouth with his hands as he was in complete shock. But before tears could drop from his eyes, he heard footsteps approaching him. In the distance, someone hiding under a cloack and holding a candle had followed. They stayed still as they saw the scene, but Azure did not.
When he saw the Elder, he quickly ran away from them into the dark forest. The person tried to follow after him, but were too far away to catch up to him, leaving them standing there, right infront of Min-ji's body.
The Elder sighed seeing the silhouette of Azure running away. They knew that Azure was not as much as a believer, from the fact they were raised outside of the community, outside of the Spawn's guidance. It is not surprise that to them he would hurt one of Spawn's most loyal follower and run away.
Meanwhile, in his sprint, Azure fell to the ground, grass and dirt getting over him. He went to rest his back against a tree, getting back his breath as he put his hand over his arm, still bleeding from the attack from earlier. He clutched at it, a mix of emotions hitting him.
He still couldn't believe. He had believe that maybe Two Time would be better than the rest, they could leave this place together. But he was naive, both of them were. Min-Ji had betrayed him, and now, they were gone. Gone, because of him, because he wanted to warn them, because his curiosity had gotten the best of him.
He looked up at starry sky as the edge of his vision darkened, all from exhaustion and the agony still in his arm. The last thing he remembered before closing his eyes, is how the dark blue had turned a red color, and the stars become as black as coal, both color mixing together above him.
Far away from there, the Elder carried Min-ji's body back inside the gates of the village, careful not for anybody to caught them. As they gave the news of the death and of Azure's escape to Elder Amarah, she looked down at the body, before turning her back to them.
"I would not expect my Child would fall this easily. And Azure... He is a nuisance for the peace here now. Store Min-ji with the rest of them, we wouldn't want any waste any ways, uh? And find Azure, before they tell what he saw to the outsiders."
This night, hanging in the cold lonely shed, a new body was hanged with the others.
----
꥟Min-Ji, the end is not now for you꥟
꥟Rise again, for your duty is yet to be finished.꥟
꥟Faith is what brought you to him first, Faith will bring you back together꥟
꥟Show to him how absolute I am, how his path would make him go nowhere, and shall he came back to you once for all.꥟