whispers in the night {ch vs pocket dragons | day 4}

Failure.

His head hangs forward, eyes heavy locked onto the ground unable to process what happened just hours ago. All the apologies in the world will never fix anything, and it'll never bring her back. Quinn is dead just like from the visions. Her screams, the screams of everyone around they echo through his ears, and nothing snatches it away.

I couldn't save her.

Wanting to save everyone is bravery, at least that's what they told him just hours before she died. They bragged on how he saved them just a day ago, and now he let them down. The task was simple, yet it wasn't performed with ease. Yes, everyone has to die if he wants to make it home alive, but Derecho never once planned on finding comfort in a friend if he can even call them friends.

I can't save them all. I can only save me.

But it doesn't matter.

If I had just moved faster. If I hadn't missed. If I had pushed her out of the way.

She's gone.

All of them will be.

It hurts watching the sunset knowing she isn't here and knowing nothing will bring her back. Why would anyone want to come back from the death in a place like this anyway?

I wouldn't.

Yet his mind is racing, and it always stops on the axe in her neck, the blood gushing from the wounds.

I couldn't save her.

A heavy sigh leaves his chest as he crumbles onto the ground with his back against a tree. Sorrow filled eyes turn towards Kaius wondering why he's still even here. Why would anyone want to become friends with him? Derecho trained hard for these games, however, nobody trained him for the emotions it would bring.

A lean, mean, killing machine my ass.

But why's he still here? Why hasn't Kaius ran away?

I would.

There's comfort in numbers, friendships, alliances. Just not being alone makes this place so much easier to stumble through, yet in the back of his mind, Derecho knows it won't last forever. Nothing good lasts forever. Never has.

Never will.

As he sits still, his slow, methodic breaths become faster, and his heart starts racing. Beads of sweat form on his brow as silent screams echo through his mind. Screams of his family, of his friends, of the ones he loves and cares about, but the one that sticks out the most is Quinn. They grow louder, and louder, and even when Derecho places his hands over his ears, they grow louder and louder.

"You're a failure, Derecho. You can't even save your friend." The voice comes from inside his head, and he's trying to escape, trying to find a way to stand up on his own two feet while the rest of the world is crashing around him. "You can't save them." His mind is playing tricks, it's telling him things that aren't real, and right now they all feel so real.

"You can't save them."

The screams grow louder and louder, and Derecho rocks back and forth folding in on himself until he's resting in the fetal position clawing at the crown.

"You're weak."

No.

No.

No.

A frantic heart claws for an escape begging the cage holding it in to release it into the world. He tries to scream, yet the sound fails to fall from his lips.

I am not weak.

His eyes snap open as he continues trying to remove the crown from his head, but for now everything has stopped, everything is back to normal, or is it?

It's hard to tell the difference anymore.

But I don't want to bother Kaius.

Leaning against the tree, Derecho sits silently watching the stars twinkling in the sky, and when the anthem plays, he can't bring himself to face it. As much as he hated calling Quinn a friend, she was a friend. No, she is a friend. She'll always be a friend. A single tear streams down the side of his face as he grips the hammer closer to his chest, but he can't stop looking at the trident. She gave it to him as an offering of peace and as a way to say thank you from dragging her from the bloodbath.

Maybe I'm the reason she's dead.

Shaking his head, he leans back even further trying to find a comfortable position to get some sleep in, but sleep never comes, and instead is replaced by the horrible visions of loved ones dying. Their screams drown out every sound in the arena, and they don't stop until sunrise.

Bags sit heavily under his eyes as he waits for Kaius, and once he's ready, he starts moving as quickly and quietly as possible. Getting far enough away from here will make everything better, and Derecho never plans on returning if he has anything to do about it.

Slowly the scenery changes. The trees of the amazing forest become a mere memory filled with sorrow, yet it doesn't stop his mind from carrying him forward. Even seeing the sign that gives a warning doesn't stop Derecho from wondering what's inside. It could be dangerous since everything in this place is, but what's life without a little fun? Maybe this is a place to hide.

Or maybe it's a wonderful place to die.

All it takes is one quick step inside to realize that entering was a mistake.

"Kaius, watch out!"

I refuse to lose another friend before I'm prepared to. If I'm ever prepared to.

Raising the hammer like he's done so many times before, he's prepared this time. Maybe he can strike them down so they can continue on before it's too late.