Withered Roses

An Unwanted Meeting

   I look up to see two deep, crimson eyes staring straight right back down at me. The eyes feel as if they are piercing into my very soul. And with the audible snap of a distant finger, sharp pains begin to fill my body, and the breath from my lungs feel as if it was taken away in an instant. A deep sinister laugh fills the void like room. "Let me tell you something, my little Wither Rose." A hand reaches out from the dark, swiftly places their hand on my chin, and aggressively turns my head upwards. "You made a mistake asking to fight me" the voice snares.

   Wait...no...it can't be... That voice, the smoke, the red eyes...It all makes sense... its Rose. Instantly, hatred floods my mind and my hands begin to shake with anger. "You." I hiss "Why the hell are you here?"

   "You know exactly the reason why, dear," The voice says, chuckling. A loud thump abrupts as something hits the floor. "You even have it written down, how much you wanted me to fight you." I look down to see a book I had written the previous night. Its contents consisted of how much I hated her, and how much I wanted to fight her myself. Her crimes were inexcusable, for they have caused the deaths of many people I care deeply about. How couldn't I want to do the things I said? This all races in my mind as I glance at the book, and then back up into the crimson eyes I was once met with before.

   "Why wouldn't I want to? I can't explain the amount of hate I have for you. No matter whether you are a god or not, my respect for you is nonexistent at this point." I say, not breaking contact with Rose's eyes. There are a million things I could say to her right now, so much built up anger and rage I have towards her. It could never compare to anything I have ever felt before in the past 200 years. She is the exact reason why I have done the things that I have done. Rose is the reason why I went crazy, why I joined the blood god's cult, why I stabbed myself through the eye from insanity. It all leads back to Rose.

   "You, my dear, are more pathetic than I could ever imagine," Rose says, a hint of disgust in her voice. The smoke that had created the void like the room was now starting to gather around Roses figure, forming a dark shadow-like person. The smoke that was once corrupting my lungs was gone, making it less painful for me to breathe. I sigh for a moment, but not even a second later my head feels like it is splitting again. I see a faint smile form on Rose's face. Of course, she was the one to orchestrate all the pain I had been feeling tonight... I'm not even surprised by this, and I'm definitely not surprised seeing her smile. 

   "You know, you say a lot of things people already know, and you expect to get into their head with it," I say, struggling to even utter a single word at this point. Rose's smile widens even more, and the smoke around her start to almost wisp around in excitement.

   "Tell me, wither skeleton, do you believe that Eclipse ever cared about you?" Rose says, getting closer to my face.

    "I would be stupid to think she didn't care about me," I say, still keeping eye contact with Rose.

   "You left her, even after all she has done for you, you came back here to hide like the coward you are." Rose puts her hand out and pans it around the room. "You told her you would visit her, and you never did. You told her you would be by her side, but you stayed here. I could go on and on about how much you had failed her in the past before Gav graciously killed her."

   "Don't say another damn word!" I yell, the pain is still unbearable. I attempt to get back up on my feet, but I still am not able to. "I know what I have done, I know that I had disappointed her, and I had left her when she needed me most. Don't you think I realize that?"

   I see Rose's form shift around, creating what looks like the figure of Eclipse. "I needed you, Rev, and you left me and everyone else behind to hide here with Noodle and Gav." The shadowy figure says in Eclipses exact voice...Tears fill my eyes as guilt rushes over my body. It's true, I did run away from my problems to live here. But at the same time, I had the most life-changing experiences I have ever had while I was here with them. But that does not excuse the amount of pain I had put everyone through. These thoughts plague my mind as the shadow continues to say "You might as well have killed me when you could, you should have when you saw I was in pain. You should have when you had that warning, to prevent anyone else from doing it, this is all your fault!"

   I finally break into tears "is this all you wanted from me? To see me suffer as you smile in enjoyment? To break me down into nothing while reminding me of how shit of a person I am?" I slam my hands onto the ground and yell, "Because you seem to be doing a pretty damn good job at it!"

   Rose's figure turns back to what it once was before and laughs, "Well, of course, I'm giving you exactly what you wanted, a fight."

   I look up again, tears streaming down my face. I stand up, ignoring the pain I had been feeling this entire time and reaching my withered hand out to my side. Black smoke starts to pour out my hand as I utter "Ill kill you, ill kill you right here, right now."

   "Then do it, you useless wither skeleton."