Chapter Text
It's been a year since I've escaped that nightmare.
The only thing I have left to show for it is right in front of me. My only remaining friend, Red riding hood. Yet, due to the actions of the cruel God that gave her form, today was her last day to live.
Even then, she's been bedridden for a week by now, an obvious signal that her time has run its course, and… it's time to say goodbye.
“The morning sun is beautiful.” She says, her throat hoarse from her body's steady deterioration. “It is.” I reply, not taking my eyes off her for even a second. Her head is turned towards the quarterly divided pane of glass, her eyes drinking in the scenery for the final time. She had been through hell thrice over, an inflated ball of burning gas will not deter her, even at death’s door.
“Hey.” She says again, my eyes meeting her own as she finally pries her sky blue gaze from their heaven bound counterpart. A flash of unease is shown by her face, not from the fear of dying, but from what she is about to say next. “...could you clasp my hand?” She finally blurts.
“Yes, certainly.” My hand automatically grasped her own, pulling it out from the covers so that she may save some strength. I squeeze her hand in assurance, hoping that she still feels the last embers of her life leaking out of her.
“Mmm… Today is the happiest day of my life.” A smile stains her face. “If only it could last forever.”
“I'm sure it will.” Tears pool into my eyes, overflowing into a coursing river across my face. “I'm sure it will…”
Something inside me breaks as Red exhales a sigh of relief, her hand loosens its grip on my own, her eyes dulling into a glassy blue. She's there in front of me, but she's gone. She was alive moments ago and now…
I try to pull myself together, but… I can't. My chest heaves and my heart pounds, my arms harden into muscles. I can't find it within me to scream or shout or even lash out in anger. Instead, I am left crying over my beloved's deceased form, the sheets becoming more diluted with tears as I sob into them.
I can't have anything can I? I can't love. I can't hope. I can't live. I can't.
“I can't go on like this, Alice.” The damning word leaves me. “What's the point of living without you? Without Red? Tell me… please…”
“You still have people to look for, fool.” The world is blanketed by darkness, and I am surrounded by eight familiar figures. “What about your maid, Victoria? A whore she may be, but she's your ain't she?”
“Hmm, remember that Miranda lass? The one that killed that nasty little corpse-eater from the inside out and took its body for her own?” A deep voice rumbled.
“Quite the killer she is! Wonder what her story was before that Mary Sue scooped her up! Come to think of it, what happened to all those Black Trial folk?” A voice similar one bespoke before him.
“In short, get off your ass! Use that creative mind of yours and make something new! Better yet, use that- Hey! I'm trying to-!” The shade is pulled away by another, and in his stead, a figure in plated armor approaches.
“You've lived through worse.” My own voice echoes from the hollow armor. “You've died hundreds of times, suffered hell unimaginable from those who had cherished you in their own twisted ways.
“The heartrending betrayals, the horrid realizations, those small, small, vulnerable moments. Living is a cycle that one can choose to break away from at any moment, and you have done so twice over.” He rests a hand on my shoulder. "You can move past this, I'm sure of it.”
My vision churns white as I find myself standing over the death bed of Red Hood. She looks peaceful, even after my torrential grief. “Sweet Dreams, Red.” The sheets have been changed out for new ones. “You'll wake up before you know it.”
A weak smile births itself onto my face in spite of my grief. Though the scars of my heart are vast, and the ocean of sin grander so, my blackened soul can still find redemption.
The world outside is efflorescent today; for my journey begins not in a dungeon, or a pit of corpses, but here, where I am home.