~The Grubs, Pierce's home~
It was empty once again. His room, the hole in his heart felt empty and very open. He had left, the blowing of air from above the open room flooded into the room, hitting and striking at the villain. It was so cold, so empty.
Pierce felt his body flame up, heat was closing around his body. It was still cold, no matter how bright his body grew from the flames he created. It was still fucking cold..
There was noise from outside the home. It was short but a cunning sound that slid right into the villain's senses. He didn't think he was desperate for a release. The anger was building up, ready to burst in a fiery rage at anything and anyone.
He moved very quickly, he was suddenly standing at the front of his door, his hand on the knob as it swung open from the rigid frame. It opened, having a woman stand on the other side with a cold face.
To Pierce's surprise, it was Mercy.
The woman took a step back, looking up at him to see the expression on his face. She took it in, understanding his feelings but not seeing what's behind it. She took a breath, closing her eyes as the villain's flames burned down.
Slowly it was just the silence that burned the two. The looks, feelings passed along each other in silence. Mercy didn't know how to start the conversation, she did know for sure that Pierce was out for murder.
She could either move out of the way and let him go off to kill a poor soul. Or, she stays in front of him and risks him killing her. She did have a purpose for coming, running away from this problem will tear her apart. She was already losing her mind about what Pierce had done.
She had to get this over with. Even if it might possibly cost her life.
"Pierce-"
"Move Mercy," Pierce said coldly, casting a glare down at her.
The woman huffed, her body tense in fear. But she didn't move, she stayed in the place on his porch, looking up at him. Pierce stayed silent, looking down at her, he was tempted to push her away. He had the power to do it, but he was hesitating. That meant he didn't want to do it. The small sense of familiarity coming from the girl was too strong for him to push away.
His mind quietly focused on Mercy. He pushed away the anger of Oxzy leaving him, looking down at the woman he was so close with. The woman he tried to kill..
Pierce turned away, he felt guilt hit him when the bruise on Mercy's neck was shown right in front of him. It hurt to see it, but hurt even more to know that he had caused it. He had never hurt her, he wanted to belive that it wasn't him who had done it...
It wasn't true. But.. It was easy for him to tell himself that.
"Did he run away..?" Mercy hesitated to ask. But she did anyway, seeing the reaction from the villain, it was obvious. She was tempted to mock the man, but it didn't feel like the right place. "It's gonna be like that if you continue.."
"You don't know shit." The villain smirked, shaking his head.
Mercy scoffed, crossing her arms. "You're right. I don't know about the hero, how he felt before running away." Her face suddenly grew serious. "But I do know you. I might even know more about you then you know yourself. How you connect to things, how you think with your feelings."
"Shut up, I don't want to hurt you-"
"You go to violence to cope. To deal with your emotions, it goes straight to anger. You lash out, and try not to hurt the ones you love. But the same reason as to why they run away is because of that. No one wants to be hurt as much as you hurt them."
"Shut up-"
"The worst part about the emotions you can't control is the pain it brings others. It's about how you don't want to hurt them. It's regretful.. To bring pain onto the ones you swear to yourself you won't hurt. But you do, and you don't even realize it until it's done. Until they run away from you."
"..."
The villain didn't respond. He looked down, his eyes casted with a show of his regrets. What could he respond with? He didn't know how to feel, it was all so true. Having the truth spilled to him by the person he trusted for so many years was more hurtful than he could expect.
The only response was a long sigh. The villain took an edge to look again at the wall to his right, he wanted to say something. Yet nothing came out.
He heard Mercy give a sad laugh. "You're strong in everything except your love. Your emotions. You have no control over them, you don't WANT to control them since it's too difficult." Mercy waited, she expected the villain to respond, to protest. When nothing came, the woman continued. "Pierce, if you truly love him, out of all people... You will have to learn. To at least try. That man has been broken too many times, hurt by other men, not just you. He will run as fast as he can. It would be his instinct when you go towards him."
"How do I stop him from running away from me?" The villain finally spoke, his voice soft.
Mercy gulped, feeling her mind space out. She didn't have an answer. If anything, there was no true way. The hero was out of her mind, she didn't know much about his character, only what he went through. She did however know Pierce, the villain who still can be unpredictable. But she knew enough, that made it obvious as to why the hero was running away in the first place.
Or, it was just a very accurate guess.
"You can't stop him.. You will have to change for him, to even get him close to stay..."
The words hit the man hard in the chest, he felt like throwing up. The thoughts of Oxzy being gone forever wasn't real. It couldn't be anywhere near his world. The hero and villain could never separate, Pierce wouldn't even be a villain without him.
He wasn't gonna let him run away. He will try to make him stay, stay in anyway.
Pierce's hands held tightly close to his body. He didn't want to explode. It wasn't the end yet, he still can find a way to make sure it wouldn't be the end. So don't freak out just yet.
Mercy stepped out of the way as Pierce walked forward, he kept his head low, but he had his senses higher than normal. He searched within the air for the familiar mist of cold air. He searched and searched. It was faint, but a fragment of the hero's usual presence was there.
Pierce was ready to chase it, to follow the man, to make him stay with him.
Mercy decided to stay silent, it was clear to her as much as it was clear to Pierce. She couldn't stop him, she was so far from his thoughts. Her eyes dropped to the ground, feeling her surroundings cloud together, her vision was doing the same.
Maybe it was the cloud of tears welling at the bottom of her eyelids?
"Hey Mercy," the villain suddenly jolted her from her welled up emotions. She looked up, shooting her hands up to catch the keys that flew in front of her.
She caught them, looking at her hands to see the villains home keys. She knows that he never usually uses them, she didn't even realize he had any keys. But a small chain dangled from below, it hung alone as she held the key. Looking closely at it, it was a small silver frame shaped like a skull.
Mercy felt her throat clog up, her breathing hitched at what she saw. It was the picture she took years ago. Pierce had threatened to kill her if she kept it since he wasn't aware of it being taken. It was of all three of them, under the tree behind the school. Pierce laid comfortably with his eyes closed in a deep sleep. A soft expression on his lips as Rosamee leaned on his sleeping form with a goofy smile with a peace sign high and mighty. Mercy was the one who took the picture. She put her face in frame, her mouth open with a mocking tongue hanging out while looking at the camera.
She remembers that day like it was yesterday. Replaying the relationship she will never have again, the relationship so deep that it hit the bone going through it.
The tears weren't controlled, her emotions racked through her small form. Tears fell and fell, landing on the picture of the past, hitting her buckling knees as she fell on the ground. She sobbed, loudly as all the memories hit her with merciless force, pain and pain was thrown her way.
She hasn't cried like this in years. It hurt her throat, her head was banging as the tears kept coming. When she felt herself come back from the sob session, she looked up. The woman watched as her friend walked away.
He didn't look back, leaving her with the key and picture of their last remaining reminder of their friendship.
~Past, ???~
Mercy knelt over herself, holding onto her knees that were bruised and beaten. She was cold, her body was stiff and sore after being beaten. The woman was jumped by at least 6 other girls her age, they ganged up on her all at once. Some even brought some guys over to help beat the downed girl.
She was crying, pain was coursing through her body at an alarming rate. It hurt, she was shaking and crying. It was a scary encounter, being overpowered. It's because of a stupid reason as well, just because she stole lunch from one of the girls. She was starving, her parents couldn't afford to give her any money for lunch. It left her with one choice for food, it sucked since it was her first time doing it. And now, she couldn't get any food.
Mercy held her knees close to herself, the hot tears ran down her knees as she sobbed on herself. She wanted to stop it, to stop crying. But the pain was overwhelming, it hurt too much to do anything but cry.
So that's all she did..
It was until a tall shadow covered from above her. She looked up, meeting eyes with a glaring boy with a hood over his head. She stared at him while he looked back at her, it was silent as the air passed between them.
Mercy took in the young boy who was close to her age. He had a large hoodie covering his upper half. His face was shadowed but she could faintly see spikes of red hair poking out. He looked fiery, his body was almost steaming.
The young woman gulped, shaking her head away from him. "It's rude to stare.."
"It's rude to cry so fucking loud." The boy responded with a snort.
Mercy growled, shaking her head while more tears fell. "Well go through what I just did and see who cries fucking loud!"
"Oh really?" The young body faced her, tilting his eyes in her direction. "You wanna fucking compare what I had to deal with, with you?"
"What's so bad that happened to you?"
The boy scoffed, looking to his side. He didn't answer, it was responded with a scoff from Mercy. "Right.. Must have been shit."
"What happened to you then?" The boy knelt down, ignoring the eye contact but still asking with an ease in his voice.
Mercy sucked in a breath, she tried to calm her tears before responding. "Got jumped by a bunch of sluts.."
"Ouch, so sad." The boy rolled his eyes, giving a shrug.
Mercy laughed out loud, moving her arm with a wince. "It is when they bring fucking guys to join in! I fucking got hit all the places- ah!"
Mercy holding onto her wrist, it felt broken as she cradled it to her chest. Her body was screaming in pain yelling at her to stop. She did, crying in pain, holding back the tears as a guy watched her in such a weak state.
She hated it, and wanted to kill the guy who looked down on her. She knew that he thought low of her, laughed in her misery like the fuckers who did it to her.
Instead of a laugh like she expected, the boy stayed silent. She suddenly heard an annoyed sigh before he reached forward. She winced loudly as he pulled her wrist to himself.
"What the fuck-!"
"Shut up, I'm helping you idiot."
"Helping by fucking pulling me- ouch! You prick!"
He ignored her, gently holding her hand. She didn't have the strength to pull back so her hand went limp. It was silent for a while, the boy was gentle, holding onto her with a soothing eye glance.
It was too quiet, Mercy couldn't hold back her voice anymore. "What are you doing..?"
"It was hurting since you were holding it tightly." He silently responded, crouching down so he was sitting in front of her. She looked at him, eyes glaring, but what was directed at her was different. He gave a soft, almost joking expression. "You were causing more pain to yourself, idiot."
Mercy huffed, looking down. "Fuck you, I didn't know that."
"Now you do," the boy shook his head. He didn't bother covering up the smile spread across his lips. Mercy couldn't help but smile back, her body was slowly relaxing as the pain subsided. It was still there, just very dull now. It was easy for her to put on a smile, her body was slowly relaxing as the boy held her wrist.
"What's your name?" She decided to ask.
The boy looked up at her, a smug smile on his lips. "Pierce."
~Daylight, ruined old home~
It was dark by the gravesite. No light, no people, no human-like sounds were there. He was alone, and that is what he wanted. The silence washed over him, painting his figure through moonlight as it faded into the pale grass below.
He looked down on the ground, seeing his shadow swish around with his shaking legs. His knees felt weak, his eyes felt heavy.
The hero sucked in a hard and painful breath, he didn't want these last moments to be painted with pain and tears. He would never be able to see this place again, to visit his mother and Cirilla May. They will follow him like ghosts, casting painful memories that will bring neither light, nor joy to his day.
It will just be a memory. He has been plagued by the memories of him and his mother since the day she was killed. The innocent thoughts, the hopeful thinking that she will be right there when he comes home. That the mother would hug him dearly and softly, holding him close with a bright and warm smile.
But again, that was hopeful thinking.
He knew she was gone, that it was because of this town he was so desperately protecting.
Now, there was no need for him. He wasn't giving up, he just knew he didn't have to be here anymore. The only thing that could possibly make him stay was the villain, the man he ran away from.
The man was the only real danger. The police caught the drug dealers, they had the place guarded and the bandits all dead or behind bars. The sheriff won't have a distraction, the hero leaving would help him focus more on what needs to be done.
The other part would be, where would Oxzy go when he leaves?
The hero thought that far, he knew a certain place in the city where he could hide. In the end, it didn't really matter too much, as long as he was away from Whitedail, it was all he wanted.
The hero looked down at his mothers name that was engraved in the stone. He smiled sadly, casting one last farewell to his mother and Crillia May.
"I promise to be safe.."
He knelt on his knee, placing a flower that was a bright blue orchid in front of the grave. It was his mothers favorite flower, something she had tried to grow thousands of times but never succeeded in growing. Now he gave it as a goodbye, one he knew where to grow it with his abilities.
It was made by him, given to his mother.
~Hallway side, the roofs~
The hero landed on the rooftop, steadying his feet as they graced the impact of the roof. His legs shook, but he did not falter. His eyes looked up, casting his line of sight at the trees and greenery he had re-grown for years. He turned his attention to the side where an exit was hidden behind bushes that were overgrown.
It was an exit. A leaving of the town's ground and into the freeway where the city lays. It was very far away, a walk would not suffice for sure, but he didn't try to walk. He knew that if he really wanted to, he could leave whenever he wanted to. The only thing that stopped him was leaving Genna, his mother. Crillia, the feline he had raised himself.
Now, they are gone. Nothing is keeping him there anymore.
The bushes to the outside world were pulling him closer, he tried to steady his breaths, feeling like he wanted to pour his anger out. The true feelings he kept hidden inside, the hatred that grew to rage towards the town people were ready to burst out.
-But Oxzy wasn't like that, he was not gonna to direct his emotions like Pierce-
"Ox," a deep yet somber voice called him from behind.
The hero looked back at the unwelcomed person. The villain stood tall on the roof the same as the hero. He looked off, catching a long gaze with the hero, a pleading look in his eyes as he welcomed the unraveling fight, or flight the hero was looking at him with.
It was silent, only the cold air swinging past the pair was heard. That was until the villain felt like it was enough before snapping. "Were you really thinking about leaving without telling me..?" The words were spoken almost timidly, but the hostility in Pierce's eyes were clear.
Oxzy gulped, closing his fists together in reflex. "Why would I have to tell you?"
The words surprisingly hurt. The villain kept the flinch away from his features, glaring at the man only a few feet in front of him. He wanted to grab him by the back of his neck and drag him away with him. Not back to his home, but with him.
"You can't leave-" Perce scoffed, shaking his head at his words. The hero looked on in confusion, watching the villain's head spiral. When Pierce seemed to gain his mind back he looked back up to the hero. "It is cruel to leave me like that, without a word, hoping to disappear from my mind?"
Oxzy flinched, gritting his teeth at the eyes that burned a hole through his head. It felt like a madman was screaming and praying at him, the words and feelings behind it made no sense to the hero. The villain was making no sense, why did he want to desperately cling to him?
"Why.." Oxzy turned his whole body in the direction of Pierce, "why do you act like you care about that stuff? About.. us?"
Pierce didn't say anything, he felt the familiar anger bubbling in his chest. He couldn't let the hero leave, but he didn't know how to stop him. Yes, he was very desperate right now, but what is he without the hero?
He will be no villain if Oxzy leaves, no man of great worth to himself. The loneliness will climb up his back and sink its teeth into his skin with satisfaction.
"You can't leave..."
Oxzy turned his eyes down, "you can't stop me."
The villain held back the anger, forcing the pain to run in his fingers instead. Pain, he hadn't felt this for years. He forgot how much it hurt. How painful the feeling of losing someone was, the hatred that someone has for him.
It was his fault, just like Rosamee. She died because of him, his brother's wicked mind rubbing from his own to do those acts. All of this was because of him.
He made the hero run away, so what right did he have to cling onto him?
"Ox.." The villain had tears in his eyes, it was so painful. His chest hurt, clawing and grabbing at his insides to tear them apart. The sore, clogged feeling in his throat burned, holding back the tears were useless.
"...You can't leave me."
He said it. The true thing he had been feeling, the fear of being alone that spiraled into an uncontrollable anger which he used to "justify" his actions into harming others.
In the end, he was weaker than the hero. He can't take the fact he is weak to emotions, fear and sadness scared him.
Now here he was, crying his eyes out in front of a man he had grown attached to. The man he so desperately wanted..
Oxzy started at Pierce in shock. Never in his life had he seen the villain cry. To be honest to God weep tears, body shaking with an uncontrollable field of emotion. It was completely shocking, so much so that all the hero could do was stare. Was to look in shock, he couldn't even form anything else but utter disbelief.
He was not about to grasp it, the villain put him through a tornado of emotions and feelings. Like right now, without even Pierce knowing, he was doing something to the hero.
Oxzy didn't like it, he had no control over himself as he took a step forward. He caught himself, gulping a hard lump in his throat. Even when preparing himself to speak, nothing could form. He was too stunned to even think of anything.
The villain sobbed angry tears, rubbing at his face with a tight line on his lips. He forced his head up, looking at the hero's eyes with stained red eyelids. "Please, at least let me come with you.."
He was asking. No, pleading..
The villain was pleading with the hero, he wanted nothing more than to come with him. To never leave him.
The answer should be clear to Oxzy, a hard no. It was easy, it should be easy. The villain put him through hell, it was something he did out of hate over his own sensitive self.
Why should the hero let the man come with him after everything?
But the sensitive side of Pierce was too real. Looking at the man, Oxzy saw himself. The pure and fearful look, it was like he lost his mother all over again.
He looked at the villain, and he saw himself..
Lost, afraid, and desperate..
He wasn't that much different from Pierce was he?
Hate no longer looked back at him, the real feelings were finally showing to him. Nothing was hidden between the two anymore, the villain let himself go. He made himself vulnerable to the hero. Something he was deathly afraid of for his whole life. Something he couldn't even do with his girlfriend..
And the hero, he finally looked and saw something true. Something real that was no longer hidden behind a hard, painted wall. It may not be pretty, but it was the most true thing he has seen in years.
Oxzy didn't say anything at first, with his head turned and eyes looking down, he spoke. "Do it then."
Pierce looked up at the man's back, confusion and shock running circles in his eyes.
The silence made Oxzy turn his head, their eyes met under the dim sun's light. "Follow me if you really want to..."
The villain didn't hide the smile on his lips. He felt his throat open as he breathed a sigh of relief. His chest was relaxed once again, watching Oxzy's black curls flying against the cloudy sky brought him an amount of relief he couldn't explain.
His legs quickened, soon enough he was standing alongside the hero. Following, his body was close to the man, he watched and followed the hero's lead. The man in the front felt the heat from Pierce's body, his face grew hot but his body was relaxed. He felt the man relax as well, they walked past the greenery and to the bushes that housed the outside world.
The hero and the villain pushed the bushes aside, taking long steps as they exited the town.
They didn't bother looking back.
A/N:
- The end of 'Broken Image'
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Thank you for reading~