❝𝐇𝐞 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝❞ || Golden Guard x Reader

Late Night Visit

Ah, sleep.

Sleep was a thing that seemed to differ from person to person. I've noticed that everybody seems to have their own sleeping patterns; it was highly likely that somebody would stay up late on a specific day. Perhaps they were so used to the process, their body had become accustomed with it. Sleep early, sleep at exactly 10:00 PM, sleep late, sleep early, sleep at 3:00 AM, all nighter, sleep at 10:00 PM. On the other hand, there were those who stuck to a specific schedule. The prissy and prim types probably went to bed at 9:00 PM sharp, and the tired yet restless people kept their limit to at most 4 AM. This was just an example, but there were so many patterns.

Then there's me.

A boy who sometimes found trouble sleeping at all despite many efforts, but could also occasionally catch myself dozing off at perhaps the worst of times.

I think they call it insomnia...?

I laid face up in bed, silently cursing under my breath. It wasn't to anybody specific, but maybe just this foul world in general. The world that only favors witches who had the best of luck and a good upbringing. You could be anything here, if you had the power and luck for it. I mean, hey, my own 'uncle' became the emperor out of seemingly nothing. One day he just -- poof! -- appeared, and somehow became the most important being in this place.

I had nothing. I couldn't even control when I was able to sleep. Sometimes it feels as if the world itself is out to spite me. Only Mother Nature or whatever her name is chooses how exhausted I'll be the next day. I swear, she doesn't let me sleep on my hardest nights. She leaves me to stare up at a blank ceiling for hours on end, deep in thought and close to breaking down yet again from that horrible day.

And, of course, that's what she had decided for me tonight.

I couldn't get my mind off that human. They were helpless, not given a choice in the path they're heading towards. To be completely honest, I saw a little bit of me in them. Before today, before that silly little tantrum, I only saw them as a way to get to my ultimate objective. Help Belos get to Earth to fulfill his plan, hopefully finding him a cure somehow. But the human is anything else but an object. They're annoying, loud, and snarky, but they're also a terrified kid like me.

And maybe that's why I hated them so much... And maybe that's why I cared.

"I hate you."

Those words kept replaying in my head, enough to cause a throbbing headache. No medicine could cure a headache caused from guilt. I believe that's why I had the sudden urge to visit them. Perhaps I could have a chance to relieve some of the pain, or at least help them understand enough to stop yelling at me. 

I knew they were sleeping, but I guess I just want an excuse to go.

I quietly swung my legs over the foot of my bed, stretching them out for a long second before yawning and tip-toeing to my closet. With a scarred hand, I opened it slowly and reached into the back, grabbing a standard Emperor's Coven uniform. If anybody happened to see me at this time of night, at least I'd just look like I'm just guarding the human. Then I left the room, both barefoot and maskless. It was too dark for anybody to see my face anyways.

After a silent and ashamed stride to their prison, I quickly locked the door behind me.

"Hey... You awake?" Of course not, it was probably three in the morning. 

I took quiet and careful steps towards the bars of the cell, careful to not find a way to fall over or wake them up. Even through squinting eyes, I couldn't get myself accustomed to the dark enough to know where I was going. Finally, I felt the cold metal brush against my calloused fingers and I let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm going to sit down, if that's okay. I wanna talk."

The silence in response satisfied me. It was the closest thing to somebody listening to me that I've ever felt, as sad at it is. [Y/N's] steady breathing was calming, almost therapeutic. To know that somebody out there was able to peacefully sleep when I couldn't, somebody that had gone through so much. A person I knew I couldn't help even if I wanted to so bad.

I sat down, leaning my back against the bars. It was uncomfortable, but fine enough. My mouth stayed shut for a few minutes as I stared straight ahead to try and adjusted to the light. I then looked at the sleeping human before finally speaking.

"I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about you. N-not in a weird way or anything! I just feel bad. You're such a brat, and you're so whiny, but I guess that's what makes me feel bad about this all.  It makes you more than just some tool for the Emperor's plans. But, I've tried to do what I can to help you and it hasn't worked." I let out a deep and tired sigh, stretching my arm through to bars to fix the blanket.

"You supposedly just found that portal, but it's weird. You have that bag with all of the things you'd need to live. Drinks, wrapped food, these weird coins, even a toothbrush. It was almost like you were planning to go somewhere. I wonder if you were running away. You're a mystery, [Y/N]." After nothing but the sounds of night filled the room for a few moments, I was beginning to hear some shuffling. The steady breathing of {Y/N] soon became more and more panicked, and their had been a few whimpers coming from their mouth.

Nightmare.

"Human? It's okay. Just, uh... just breathe. It's okay." I sympathetically reached a hand out towards the unconscious person, knowing that I was the reason this was happening. The feeling was like a big kick where the sun don't shine. I knew waking them up would cause more harm then good, but I couldn't just leave them there either. How insensitive would that be?

So I just sat there, closing my eyes as the person behind me dreampt of what could only be the affect of what I caused.