(Notice: I carried this oneshot over from my other book. Just a heads-up)
This, shockingly, isn't the bloodiest thing I've written, but it comes close.
Speaking of, the warnings are gore, blood, pain, emotional pain, flashbacks, trauma, all that sort of thing.
But it's also gay, so we're all good.
WC: ~1200
Enjoy!
Xay has always liked the Nether.
He'd take it over the Overworld any day.
The biomes were one of his favorite bits.
The eerie peace of the Warped Forest.
The bright colors of the Crimson Forest.
The dangerously silent Soulsand Valley.
But one biome that Xay never really visited was the Basalt Deltas.
He didn't have anything against it, it was simply just the atmosphere that it gave off.
It gave him chills, to put it bluntly.
Xay liked to think that the biomes reflected moods, hence why he never really felt the melancholy of the Basalt Deltas.
Because he never felt that... sad.
Until today.
When Xay flew on his elytra towards the Deltas, Hels knew something was up. Xay never went to that biome, and Hels knew it. Sure, Hels had only noticed because he had recently been noticing far too many things about Xay for his own liking, but his point was still valid.
I hope he's okay, Hels thought, staring at Xay's figure vanishing into the fog. Oh, screw it, he probably isn't.
Hels gave a small sigh, then equipped his elytra and followed Xay.
Stupid, Xay scolded himself, sitting on one of the peaks of basalt. He wiped the tears from his eyes, furious that they were even there. It happened years ago, why do I still care?
"Xay!" Hels's voice echoed from somewhere around the Delta, startling Xay enough for him to physically jump, causing him to fall off his pillar and crash down onto the hard blackstone.
Tears burned at Xay's eyes, the emotional pain inside of him easily overwhelming the physical pain from his now-bleeding arm.
The ONE TIME I take off my armor, Xay thought sourly.
"X-Xay?" Hels's voice was right behind him, but Xay didn't dare turn around. Instead, he hugged himself and waited for the shame to hit.
Weak.
Crying over something that happened years ago.
Pathetic.
Disappointment.
They can't hurt you, and you know it.
"You're okay," Xay blinked away his tears at the words. It was Hels, but his voice had taken a turn that Xay had never thought possible. He sounded... worried? Like he actually cared.
Hels carefully wrapped his arms around Xay, and Xay melted into the embrace unconsciously. Sobs wrenched their way out his mouth and refused to be controlled.
"What's wrong?" the oddly caring tone was still carried by Hels's voice, and it only made Xay want to cry harder.
"X- W- Xi-" was all Xay could choke out.
"X... Xisuma?!" Hels snapped, fury replacing the worry. His grip on Xay tightened, almost protectively, although Xay refused to believe that was the motive of the gesture.
"No- not his fault-" Xay stammered.
"Whatever he did to you," Hels growled. "It is his fault."
"He was possessed," Xay mumbled into Hels's chest.
"W-what?" Hels sputtered. Xay sighed, his tears finally slowing down.
"Did you know," Xay murmured. "That Xisuma and I were Watchers?"
Hels was silent for a moment, before replying with a simple yet hesitant "No,".
"Watchers usually have... wings," Xay continued, forcing the lump in his throat to leave. "Xisuma never had wings, but I did." Hels's hand unconsciously went to Xay's wingless back, earning a shiver from Xay as his fingertips brushed the scars through the fabric of Xay's shirt.
"You... well, don't have wings," Hels pointed out. "Obviously. So... what happened?" Xay took a deep breath, then launched into story.
Xay had never been the best Watcher.
He refused to listen to orders, constantly mocking the Lead Watchers.
His chaos was well-known, and he was looked down upon by all Watchers.
Except Xisuma.
His brother, his only friend, and his light in the dark of the Void.
They looked out for each other.
They made sure that the other would be okay.
Despite the... circumstances.
"Xisuma?" Xay asked, noticing the figure on the other side of the room in the End City. The pair shared a room in one of the Cities that was for daily living and not for things like meetings.
Xisuma slowly turned around, his mask preventing Xay from knowing his expression. Both of them wore masks, although Xay wished he could take his off.
BAM.
Before Xay knew what was going on, he felt a sharp pain and he was thrown across the room by... a blast of Xisuma's magic.
"What the-" Xay shrieked, but Xisuma was already upon him, and his brother pinned him to the floor in swift movements.
"This," Xisuma's voice was bittersweet. "Will put you in your place."
Xisuma then grabbed one of Xay's wings,
And began cutting it off.
Screams erupted from Xay's lips, tears spilling over due to the indescribable pain. Agony exploded inside of him as Xisuma continued mercilessly, ignoring Xay's pleads to stop.
Tears flowed down from Xay's face as Xisuma finished cutting off the first wing, leaving a feathery mess that was the aftermath on Xay's back. Xisuma didn't hesitate before slipping his fingers past the wing-holes in Xay's shirt to yank out the remaining feathers, causing even more pain for Xay.
As Xisuma started jerking the feathers out from Xay's skin, blood started pooling, staining both Xay and Xisuma's clothes red.
"Words can't describe the pain here," Xay mumbled, cutting away from the story. "So I'm going to skip to the part where Xisuma finally finished with my second wing."
Xay continued before Hels could respond.
It was over.
Xisuma got up, wiping the blood from his hands, and kicked the bloodstained feathers that laid littered around.
"That," Xisuma growled. "Will teach you to be more... obedient."
A slight whooshing sound indicated that the Watcher left Xisuma's mind.
"X- XAY!!" Xisuma shouted, dashing over to his brother, whom was still crying and bleeding.
Xay had to force himself not to scramble away from his brother's embrace, reminding himself that it wasn't really Xisuma who hurt him.
"You- I- oh," Xisuma whispered, looking at the blood on Xay's now-wingless back and the discarded lilac feathers. "Did... did I do this?"
"No," Xay murmured. "Whoever possessed you did it."
"I'm sorry," Xisuma sounded horrified. "Xay, I'm so sorry."
"I'm done," Xay's voice was colder than the Void. "I'm done with the Watchers. I'm getting out of here, whether you come or not. I'd rather die than be with these monsters."
"I'm coming," Xisuma breathed. "I'm staying with you."
"Then let's go."
Xay scrubbed the tears from his eyes as he finished his story.
"It happened so long ago," he muttered bitterly. "I don't need to be crying over this."
"Xay," Hels started. "You have every right to cry over this."
...What?
"You- I can't even imagine," Hels continued, holding Xay tight. "How horrible that must've been. Especially because it was Xisuma..."
"It- well- you don't think I'm stupid?" Xay mumbled.
"Never," Hels replied, his response quick. "I don't think people I love this much are stupid."
Silence.
"I- uh-" Hels stammered, his face growing red.
"Do you mean that?" Xay asked, refusing to get his hopes up. Refusing to believe, refusing to want, to need-
"...Yes," Hels murmured. "I do mean it." Xay smiled, then pressed a kiss to Hels's cheek.
"I love you too," Xay whispered. Hels's fingers traced around the same area as the scars on Xay's back, the motion both eerie and enchanting all at once.
"Next time, talk to me," Hels told him. "Don't run off to a Delta, scrape your elbow, and then tell me something's wrong." Xay giggled despite himself.
"Okay,"
HOW AND AT WHAT POINT DID THIS BECOME A CONFESSION-
WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN TO EVERYTHING I WRITE I DON'T UNDERSTAND-
-Storm