MPC 50B :: Me, The Forgotten Memory
May 31, 2018 10:44:21 GMT
Post by Asher on May 31, 2018 10:44:21 GMT
MPC Name: Me, The Forgotten Memory
MPC Number: 50B
Reward Requested: Bits
Word Count: 3228
Admittedly, Asher never expected a day to go quite like this. Then again, with Little Miss Perfect as a sibling, who could have anticipated a call from the principal, asking for someone to come collect her due to a suspension? Upon arriving to the office, the boy in the room immediately looked at his feet, while his parents shot glares at the siblings.
Sitting adjacent to them, Piper had her back pressed against her chair, still unmoving even when her brother arrived to the scene. After a brief discussion, the two were dismissed with minimal issue. Gently reaching down to lead his sister by the arm, they finally made their way to the car, and once within, questioning would ensue.
"Why'd you do that?" Aggression wasn't something that Piper generally had a problem with. One would think, with all the sports she had taken part in, that she wouldn't have the energy to try to beat down a classmate.
Yet, here they sat, while she was going to serve a three-day suspension for her act of violence. And she still hadn't said a word in her defense. "Piper," the young man began again, leaning his forearm against the steering wheel. "We're gonna have to tell Holly and Dad what happened. Let's get on the same page. Why'd you hit the kid?"
And, finally, an answer. "I didn't hit him." Now, golden eyes locked, maintaining neutral tone. "I slammed his head into his desk. Twice."
While that didn't answer the question, it furthered another curiosity. "Why twice?"
"Once for the insult. Once to stop him from retaliating."
Well, if that wasn't sound logic, Asher didn't know what was. But, with how matter-of-fact the girl was sharing the story, he had to wonder if she was going to grow up to be a serial killer. "You, of all people, know not to hurt people without a really good reason. You're lucky they only suspended you for three days."
"Yeah, well. You, of all people, should know that it wouldn't matter if it's in defense or not." Striking a nerve, the girl watched her brother at a loss for words. After all, she knew enough about him to know what could shut him up. "Now we're kind of even."
On that note, she knew how to pique his curiosity. "Even?"
A small hum came from the redhead girl's throat -- the first sound she'd made that wasn't just monotone speech. "He was trying to spread lies about you."
Lies. About Asher? Wait, wait. Piper had gotten herself suspended for defending Asher?
Perhaps, this would be why there was little surprise that the ride home was silent. And, even less surprise that Asher found himself laying on his bed, wondering if he was the one at fault for such a situation. After all, if he didn't exist, Piper wouldn't have been suspended. If she didn't think that she had such a fragile older brother, who couldn't handle a couple lies, she wouldn't have marred her reputation.
Fingers flexed around the digivice in one hand, only loosening their grip on the device in order to squeeze it more tightly seconds later. Sensing an opportunity, an all-too familiar voice echoed within his head.
"You know..." It started, softly. "We can erase you."
And, briefly, that sounded tempting.
'Briefly' was all the consent anyone needed.
Vision fogged, feeling as if smoke was trying to force itself into his lungs. A faint burning. Then, nothing. As his senses finally began to return to him, the teen squinted at a sudden bright light. Slowly, yellow eyes adjusted to the California sun, as Asher tried to make heads or tails of his sudden appearance. "What the--?"
"Aren't you curious?" A haze, in the back of his mind, resurfaced. Antylamon, despite not holding a physical presence, felt as though she had wrapped her arms over her host, pressing an alarming amount of weight onto his shoulders. "How much better it is for your loved ones?"
"What?" So heavy. Everything was so heavy. While the redhead could tell that he was in Oakland, it wasn't necessarily a part of the city that he would normally frequent. Buildings in disrepair, graffiti and litter everywhere. It was one of those places that the normal person would probably check to make sure their car doors were locked, just when driving through the area!
"You didn't want to exist," the rabbit hummed, playfully. More weight lowered itself onto him. Could Asher bear the full weight of an Ultimate digimon? Antylamon might be testing it! "We helped you."
If the weight on his body wasn't bad enough, the sinking feeling in his gut was almost enough to make the young man crumple. Still, he managed to keep his footing. Teeth pressed tightly together, barely managing to hiss, "what did you do?"
Now, the Beast's weight lifted a bit, as if she were leaning away from her human. "We removed you from the timeline."
Sure, everything had been spelled out pretty well before the actual statement. But, hearing it was enough to make the redhead's heart race. Yellow eyes went wide, searching the street for something to reset the situation. "You're joking. You can't-- that's not how things work." Was that a fact? Or was that Asher's way of pleading? Either way, he attempted to resign himself to the fate as quickly as possible. With a bitter scoff, the teen managed, "probably better for everyone anyway." After all, most of the problems in his family held him at the root.
His mom's insanity. His parent's divorce. His step-mom receiving threatening letters from his mom. Moving. Overall stress from acclimating a 'celebrity' to a normal life. Piper's constant exasperation. Whiskers' daily frustrations. All were due to Asher.
But, the sound of the Beast Spirit laughing drew his attention to his side. And, finally, he was fully taking in the people in his surroundings. And, while there weren't many, there was very obviously a scene being caused with police officers attempting to restrain a couple. While neither looked particularly familiar, the teen scrunched his nose a bit, taking a few steps forward. "Then again, if you can't recognize your own sister, maybe she's better off like this."
While the man had already been shoved into the back of a police car, the teenage girl still struggled against an officer that looked unpleasantly close to risking violence. Still, she didn't look anything like Asher! While the platinum-blonde haired girl matched strongly to his stepmom, it was impossible to believe that Piper could look so different without a brother in her life. Genetics weren't sibling-based! "You're funny. That's not Piper."
"What?" The voice, though. Piercing blue eyes shot up, pausing her scuffle with the officer to look directly at her 'brother.' Could she look any more like her mom, with those features? The Piper that Asher knew looked far more like his dad! "Who're y--" Before any introductions, or further trauma, could be caused, the officer took advantage of the confusion, and quickly jammed the girl into the back of his vehicle.
"Did I forget the part where they can hear you, right now?" Oh, good thing to mention early on! "Thought it would be a nice parting gift, to get to say goodbye to people that don't even remember you. Humans like that sentiment, don't they?" It sounded more like torture, than anything else! And, surely, Antylamon knew this.
Before Asher could do anything to try to figure out what had happened, the officer drove off with his sister in the back of the vehicle. "W-wait. What did she do? Piper wouldn't do anything that would get her in trouble like that."
"Maybe your Piper wouldn't," the spirit suggested. Asher could almost hear the bunny shrugging. "This one looked like she was relatively used to this routine."
"I..." Asher began to pace a bit, trying to figure out what to do. "I need to call Dad. He needs to know where Piper's going." Pulling out his phone, the teen paused, looking around for his invisible 'guide.' "Will my phone work?"
To this, he could 'feel' another shrug, "your contacts should reflect the current reality's."
But, as Asher scrolled through his contacts, he soon found that his dad didn't even have a logged number. Weird. Instead, he manually punched in the digits that he had memorized. Would that work in this reality? It was worth a shot. Not that it mattered much. The phone rang, eventually dropping to an automated message stating that the owner lacked a voicemail. So much for that!
Returning to his contacts, thumb froze on the screen. For a second, Antylamon's breath was felt on his neck, as she 'peered' over his shoulder at the phone. "Oh. Why don't you call her? I'm sure it will be interesting."
Lips parted, then snapped shut. After a few deep breaths, Asher pressed one of the names within the device. Hearing it ring, he shakily brought his phone up to his ear.
Ring.
Ring.
Ri--
"Hello?"
Barely managing to swallow, Asher forced his mouth to open again. "H-hey. Mom?" If he thought that inhaling smoke was bad, the discomfort was quickly overcome by the explicit pain raking through his throat.
There was a pause, as the woman attempted to establish who her caller was. "Who is this?" Right. She never had Asher. Who knew? Maybe she never had a son, at all.
"Oh. Sorry," he started, forcing himself to continue the conversation, "Do you know Connor's number?" To this, he received complete silence. Of course, if they had still divorced, that would be no surprise. He had no idea how their relationship was holding up! "Uh-- Callum. I was supposed to call him about--"
"Is this some sick prank?" Voice cut through Asher's without hesitation, rapidly gaining anger with each word. "You should be ashamed of yourself."
Fingers tightened around the phone, while Asher tried to grasp the situation better. "I'm sorry; what? I wasn't--"
"--Oh. Right. You weren't being an awful excuse for a human being?" Another interruption. While Asher was used to such things, he hadn't quite expected to have this sort of interaction in a world where he didn't exist! "How do you justify yourself? You're nineteen years too late for whatever you wanted. Don't you think it was bad enough that I had to deal with it then? I don't need you people calling and--"
"Wait, hold on." Now, it was Asher's turn to interrupt. Behind him, he could hear Antylamon humming a cheerful tune. She was taking joy in this. What did she know, that he didn't? "What happened nineteen years ago?"
Hearing his mother click her tongue to the roof of her mouth, he could sense her debating to hang up. "He died. Did someone put you up to this?" Now, there was a strangely soft tone. Something the redhead wasn't used to hearing. "Honey, if your friends told you to call me about this, you need to find better friends. They find it funny to guilt-trip widows of good people, who were just trying--"
"I-I'm," voice cracked, trying to process what he was hearing. "W--hat?" Chest tightened, as his knuckles began to throb from how tightly he was gripping his phone. The sound of the plastic casing began to creak from the strain. "He-- he what? No? That's-- How?"
To his series of broken questions, he only received a small sigh and, "you need to find better friends," before the line went dead.
"What a pity," his guide hummed, not sounding surprised in the least.
Asher, on the other hand, was struggling to remember how to breathe. Then again, did it matter? He wasn't real, anyway. Phone dropped from his palm, clattering to the pavement. This explained why Piper didn't look anything like him. In this reality, she wasn't even remotely related! "Why?" The teen mumbled, staring at the ground. The world had begun spinning, though Asher wasn't sure when. Had it been during the phone call? Or after? Was that why he dropped his phone? Where had the air gone? He couldn't breathe. "His job wasn't even... It wasn't dangerous."
"Must have decided to enlist for a different one," the bunny suggested, in an all-too knowing manner. This wasn't a stab in the dark. She knew how everything played out. "Must have been a bad choice. Probably why you're not alive in this world."
And, there it was. Everything was Asher's fault, anyway! Piper was a delinquent, his mother was all alone, his dad was...
"Whiskers?" For the first time since he could recall, the young man's voice sounded so small. Meek. There had to be someone. Anyone that benefited from this! "Where's Whiskers?"
The world began to fade out again, while Antylamon became progressively more visible as the area blacked out. "Hmm," the spirit hummed, looking around the void. "It appears that, currently, she's in the rebirth cycle. She would only be an egg." Welp, there went one life! Eight more left, Whiskers! "Look at it in a positive light. At least Digimon return after they die."
That was not a positive light at all.
Finally, shaky legs gave out, as the ex-actor landed on his knees. Keep taking deep breaths. Don't cry. He couldn't cry about something like this. Whiskers still had a chance at something decent. Maybe she had just gotten a little too adventurous! Try to find a bright side! Just keep trying to--
"Wh-" Asher slowly worked at the words, trying to keep his shivering to himself, "what about you? The-- the spirits. What happens if I'm not there?"
This, Antylamon could display! Mouth curled to a far-too-wide smile, while giving a small bow. And, soon, the beast faded out, so that Asher could form in the Digital World. Sitting in an ice-coated room, the forgotten teen slowly looked up to take in the scene.
A dark-haired girl stood several feet in front of him, swaying slightly, despite not moving otherwise. Even with her back turned to him, he could tell that she wasn't entirely present within her own mind. For a moment, he wondered if this was how he had looked when collecting Antylamon. Yet, this wasn't Antylamon's sanctuary. Still, it was clearly the tomb of some spirit.
After several moments the girl began to move, reaching toward an altar in front of her. And, Asher could finally catch a glimpse of the trauma that the teen had been dealing with. Lurching forward, the young man jerked to his feet, only to stumble, "hey! Hey! Stop!" And, for once, someone listened. Completely freezing in place, the mysterious spirit user didn't make a sound. "Y-you don't need that spirit. Look at me."
Another demand that was followed. Though, instantly, Asher regretted it. As the girl turned, injury upon injury presented itself across her body. Some, clearly self-inflicted. Blood was still freshly running down her face. Had she slammed herself into a wall? Bruises, scratches, wounds both fresh and old. How did someone look like this? And, those eyes. Whatever color they originally held was long gone, replaced with a milky-and-hollow look instead.
Covering his mouth with one of his hands, Asher attempted to assess the situation. How? How could anyone that looked like that even stand.
"Have you ever wondered what it looks like, if someone without a strong will actually managed to collect Nightmares?"
Strong will? Asher didn't have a strong will. Yet, he didn't look a thing like this!
Staggering forward another step, the young man reached out to try to touch the girl. "Hey. It's going to be okay. I'm just... I'm going to help, okay?"
How selfless. Losing everyone he loved, yet still trying to save someone other than himself.
Maybe that was a strong will, in it's own way.
Hands lightly placed themselves on the girl's shoulders, yet she made no indication that she even noticed. "Can you hear me? Let's go back and I can see what I can for you."
Whether she could hear or not, it didn't seem to matter. She wasn't moving with him. Tears began streaming down the girl's cheeks, unblinking. Another moment passed, before her lips parted, exhaling softly. Head tilted up, as if to force eye contact with Asher, before she suddenly jerked away from his hands, spinning and grasping onto the spirit's altar before Asher could stop her.
Hands still out, the redhead watched in terror, as the girl's soft breathing quickly altered to hyperventilating. "Shit- no. No, no. C-come on, you really need--"
Then, the screaming began. Stumbling back, Asher's already shaky footing gave in on him again, while he lifted his hands to cover his ears from the sound. Was this what a person sounded like when they were dying? If it was pure agony for the teen's ears, he couldn't imagine how the human making the sounds felt! "You don't-- why?"
A haze began to pour from the poor spirit user, as she struggled against the demons that Asher was far too familiar with. Except, one of them had lost. Soon, within the black smog, the unpleasantly familiar cackling began. Raspy, and unstable.
Even a stranger had to suffer. All because of Asher. Was everything actually better without him? "I don't want this," he muttered, searching the dark room for any sign of movement. Was he still in the room with the totem, or was he back to the void? At this point, the teen couldn't tell the difference.
In a sudden movement, purple and gold flashed out, as Junomon Hysteric loomed over him. The Super Mega let out a wheezing cackle, staring at her prey. Yet, no move was made. Chains were scattered around the teen, clearly attached to the monster in front of him. Was she debating destroying him?
"That girl," Asher started, managing a stern tone despite everything he'd already dealt with. "She's gone now, isn't she?" To this, he only received a hiss of air from 'his' spirit. Pulling himself to his feet, the chains around him clattered, attempting to draw life to themselves. Dragging himself only a step forward, the redhead put out his hand as an offering. Junomon was close enough to touch at this point. Still, she didn't make any indication of recoiling or of aggression.
Without gaining a response, Asher moved his hand to rest it on top of one of the Nightmare's spears, refusing to flinch even as he heard the chains around him lift from the ground. "Take me back." Another hissing sound came from the God Man. But, even staring down something that could crush him in an instant, Asher persisted. "You're my spirit. I don't want anyone to suffer because I'm not there. They need me." Chains grazed across his face, slowly beginning to constrict around the person that was once their host. "You need me."
The chains stopped. The hissing stopped. And, suddenly, the haze within the void began to shift to grey. As the world began to fall into focus again, Junomon Hysteric continued to stare at its host. Waiting. Debating. Welcome back. A soft gust of air emanated from the aggressive Digimon, before it faded out, and Asher found himself still on his bed, alone, Digivice in hand.
If only he could tell if the events were real, or if he had simply had another nightmare.
MPC Number: 50B
Reward Requested: Bits
Word Count: 3228
Admittedly, Asher never expected a day to go quite like this. Then again, with Little Miss Perfect as a sibling, who could have anticipated a call from the principal, asking for someone to come collect her due to a suspension? Upon arriving to the office, the boy in the room immediately looked at his feet, while his parents shot glares at the siblings.
Sitting adjacent to them, Piper had her back pressed against her chair, still unmoving even when her brother arrived to the scene. After a brief discussion, the two were dismissed with minimal issue. Gently reaching down to lead his sister by the arm, they finally made their way to the car, and once within, questioning would ensue.
"Why'd you do that?" Aggression wasn't something that Piper generally had a problem with. One would think, with all the sports she had taken part in, that she wouldn't have the energy to try to beat down a classmate.
Yet, here they sat, while she was going to serve a three-day suspension for her act of violence. And she still hadn't said a word in her defense. "Piper," the young man began again, leaning his forearm against the steering wheel. "We're gonna have to tell Holly and Dad what happened. Let's get on the same page. Why'd you hit the kid?"
And, finally, an answer. "I didn't hit him." Now, golden eyes locked, maintaining neutral tone. "I slammed his head into his desk. Twice."
While that didn't answer the question, it furthered another curiosity. "Why twice?"
"Once for the insult. Once to stop him from retaliating."
Well, if that wasn't sound logic, Asher didn't know what was. But, with how matter-of-fact the girl was sharing the story, he had to wonder if she was going to grow up to be a serial killer. "You, of all people, know not to hurt people without a really good reason. You're lucky they only suspended you for three days."
"Yeah, well. You, of all people, should know that it wouldn't matter if it's in defense or not." Striking a nerve, the girl watched her brother at a loss for words. After all, she knew enough about him to know what could shut him up. "Now we're kind of even."
On that note, she knew how to pique his curiosity. "Even?"
A small hum came from the redhead girl's throat -- the first sound she'd made that wasn't just monotone speech. "He was trying to spread lies about you."
Lies. About Asher? Wait, wait. Piper had gotten herself suspended for defending Asher?
Perhaps, this would be why there was little surprise that the ride home was silent. And, even less surprise that Asher found himself laying on his bed, wondering if he was the one at fault for such a situation. After all, if he didn't exist, Piper wouldn't have been suspended. If she didn't think that she had such a fragile older brother, who couldn't handle a couple lies, she wouldn't have marred her reputation.
Fingers flexed around the digivice in one hand, only loosening their grip on the device in order to squeeze it more tightly seconds later. Sensing an opportunity, an all-too familiar voice echoed within his head.
"You know..." It started, softly. "We can erase you."
And, briefly, that sounded tempting.
'Briefly' was all the consent anyone needed.
Vision fogged, feeling as if smoke was trying to force itself into his lungs. A faint burning. Then, nothing. As his senses finally began to return to him, the teen squinted at a sudden bright light. Slowly, yellow eyes adjusted to the California sun, as Asher tried to make heads or tails of his sudden appearance. "What the--?"
"Aren't you curious?" A haze, in the back of his mind, resurfaced. Antylamon, despite not holding a physical presence, felt as though she had wrapped her arms over her host, pressing an alarming amount of weight onto his shoulders. "How much better it is for your loved ones?"
"What?" So heavy. Everything was so heavy. While the redhead could tell that he was in Oakland, it wasn't necessarily a part of the city that he would normally frequent. Buildings in disrepair, graffiti and litter everywhere. It was one of those places that the normal person would probably check to make sure their car doors were locked, just when driving through the area!
"You didn't want to exist," the rabbit hummed, playfully. More weight lowered itself onto him. Could Asher bear the full weight of an Ultimate digimon? Antylamon might be testing it! "We helped you."
If the weight on his body wasn't bad enough, the sinking feeling in his gut was almost enough to make the young man crumple. Still, he managed to keep his footing. Teeth pressed tightly together, barely managing to hiss, "what did you do?"
Now, the Beast's weight lifted a bit, as if she were leaning away from her human. "We removed you from the timeline."
Sure, everything had been spelled out pretty well before the actual statement. But, hearing it was enough to make the redhead's heart race. Yellow eyes went wide, searching the street for something to reset the situation. "You're joking. You can't-- that's not how things work." Was that a fact? Or was that Asher's way of pleading? Either way, he attempted to resign himself to the fate as quickly as possible. With a bitter scoff, the teen managed, "probably better for everyone anyway." After all, most of the problems in his family held him at the root.
His mom's insanity. His parent's divorce. His step-mom receiving threatening letters from his mom. Moving. Overall stress from acclimating a 'celebrity' to a normal life. Piper's constant exasperation. Whiskers' daily frustrations. All were due to Asher.
But, the sound of the Beast Spirit laughing drew his attention to his side. And, finally, he was fully taking in the people in his surroundings. And, while there weren't many, there was very obviously a scene being caused with police officers attempting to restrain a couple. While neither looked particularly familiar, the teen scrunched his nose a bit, taking a few steps forward. "Then again, if you can't recognize your own sister, maybe she's better off like this."
While the man had already been shoved into the back of a police car, the teenage girl still struggled against an officer that looked unpleasantly close to risking violence. Still, she didn't look anything like Asher! While the platinum-blonde haired girl matched strongly to his stepmom, it was impossible to believe that Piper could look so different without a brother in her life. Genetics weren't sibling-based! "You're funny. That's not Piper."
"What?" The voice, though. Piercing blue eyes shot up, pausing her scuffle with the officer to look directly at her 'brother.' Could she look any more like her mom, with those features? The Piper that Asher knew looked far more like his dad! "Who're y--" Before any introductions, or further trauma, could be caused, the officer took advantage of the confusion, and quickly jammed the girl into the back of his vehicle.
"Did I forget the part where they can hear you, right now?" Oh, good thing to mention early on! "Thought it would be a nice parting gift, to get to say goodbye to people that don't even remember you. Humans like that sentiment, don't they?" It sounded more like torture, than anything else! And, surely, Antylamon knew this.
Before Asher could do anything to try to figure out what had happened, the officer drove off with his sister in the back of the vehicle. "W-wait. What did she do? Piper wouldn't do anything that would get her in trouble like that."
"Maybe your Piper wouldn't," the spirit suggested. Asher could almost hear the bunny shrugging. "This one looked like she was relatively used to this routine."
"I..." Asher began to pace a bit, trying to figure out what to do. "I need to call Dad. He needs to know where Piper's going." Pulling out his phone, the teen paused, looking around for his invisible 'guide.' "Will my phone work?"
To this, he could 'feel' another shrug, "your contacts should reflect the current reality's."
But, as Asher scrolled through his contacts, he soon found that his dad didn't even have a logged number. Weird. Instead, he manually punched in the digits that he had memorized. Would that work in this reality? It was worth a shot. Not that it mattered much. The phone rang, eventually dropping to an automated message stating that the owner lacked a voicemail. So much for that!
Returning to his contacts, thumb froze on the screen. For a second, Antylamon's breath was felt on his neck, as she 'peered' over his shoulder at the phone. "Oh. Why don't you call her? I'm sure it will be interesting."
Lips parted, then snapped shut. After a few deep breaths, Asher pressed one of the names within the device. Hearing it ring, he shakily brought his phone up to his ear.
Ring.
Ring.
Ri--
"Hello?"
Barely managing to swallow, Asher forced his mouth to open again. "H-hey. Mom?" If he thought that inhaling smoke was bad, the discomfort was quickly overcome by the explicit pain raking through his throat.
There was a pause, as the woman attempted to establish who her caller was. "Who is this?" Right. She never had Asher. Who knew? Maybe she never had a son, at all.
"Oh. Sorry," he started, forcing himself to continue the conversation, "Do you know Connor's number?" To this, he received complete silence. Of course, if they had still divorced, that would be no surprise. He had no idea how their relationship was holding up! "Uh-- Callum. I was supposed to call him about--"
"Is this some sick prank?" Voice cut through Asher's without hesitation, rapidly gaining anger with each word. "You should be ashamed of yourself."
Fingers tightened around the phone, while Asher tried to grasp the situation better. "I'm sorry; what? I wasn't--"
"--Oh. Right. You weren't being an awful excuse for a human being?" Another interruption. While Asher was used to such things, he hadn't quite expected to have this sort of interaction in a world where he didn't exist! "How do you justify yourself? You're nineteen years too late for whatever you wanted. Don't you think it was bad enough that I had to deal with it then? I don't need you people calling and--"
"Wait, hold on." Now, it was Asher's turn to interrupt. Behind him, he could hear Antylamon humming a cheerful tune. She was taking joy in this. What did she know, that he didn't? "What happened nineteen years ago?"
Hearing his mother click her tongue to the roof of her mouth, he could sense her debating to hang up. "He died. Did someone put you up to this?" Now, there was a strangely soft tone. Something the redhead wasn't used to hearing. "Honey, if your friends told you to call me about this, you need to find better friends. They find it funny to guilt-trip widows of good people, who were just trying--"
"I-I'm," voice cracked, trying to process what he was hearing. "W--hat?" Chest tightened, as his knuckles began to throb from how tightly he was gripping his phone. The sound of the plastic casing began to creak from the strain. "He-- he what? No? That's-- How?"
To his series of broken questions, he only received a small sigh and, "you need to find better friends," before the line went dead.
"What a pity," his guide hummed, not sounding surprised in the least.
Asher, on the other hand, was struggling to remember how to breathe. Then again, did it matter? He wasn't real, anyway. Phone dropped from his palm, clattering to the pavement. This explained why Piper didn't look anything like him. In this reality, she wasn't even remotely related! "Why?" The teen mumbled, staring at the ground. The world had begun spinning, though Asher wasn't sure when. Had it been during the phone call? Or after? Was that why he dropped his phone? Where had the air gone? He couldn't breathe. "His job wasn't even... It wasn't dangerous."
"Must have decided to enlist for a different one," the bunny suggested, in an all-too knowing manner. This wasn't a stab in the dark. She knew how everything played out. "Must have been a bad choice. Probably why you're not alive in this world."
And, there it was. Everything was Asher's fault, anyway! Piper was a delinquent, his mother was all alone, his dad was...
"Whiskers?" For the first time since he could recall, the young man's voice sounded so small. Meek. There had to be someone. Anyone that benefited from this! "Where's Whiskers?"
The world began to fade out again, while Antylamon became progressively more visible as the area blacked out. "Hmm," the spirit hummed, looking around the void. "It appears that, currently, she's in the rebirth cycle. She would only be an egg." Welp, there went one life! Eight more left, Whiskers! "Look at it in a positive light. At least Digimon return after they die."
That was not a positive light at all.
Finally, shaky legs gave out, as the ex-actor landed on his knees. Keep taking deep breaths. Don't cry. He couldn't cry about something like this. Whiskers still had a chance at something decent. Maybe she had just gotten a little too adventurous! Try to find a bright side! Just keep trying to--
"Wh-" Asher slowly worked at the words, trying to keep his shivering to himself, "what about you? The-- the spirits. What happens if I'm not there?"
This, Antylamon could display! Mouth curled to a far-too-wide smile, while giving a small bow. And, soon, the beast faded out, so that Asher could form in the Digital World. Sitting in an ice-coated room, the forgotten teen slowly looked up to take in the scene.
A dark-haired girl stood several feet in front of him, swaying slightly, despite not moving otherwise. Even with her back turned to him, he could tell that she wasn't entirely present within her own mind. For a moment, he wondered if this was how he had looked when collecting Antylamon. Yet, this wasn't Antylamon's sanctuary. Still, it was clearly the tomb of some spirit.
After several moments the girl began to move, reaching toward an altar in front of her. And, Asher could finally catch a glimpse of the trauma that the teen had been dealing with. Lurching forward, the young man jerked to his feet, only to stumble, "hey! Hey! Stop!" And, for once, someone listened. Completely freezing in place, the mysterious spirit user didn't make a sound. "Y-you don't need that spirit. Look at me."
Another demand that was followed. Though, instantly, Asher regretted it. As the girl turned, injury upon injury presented itself across her body. Some, clearly self-inflicted. Blood was still freshly running down her face. Had she slammed herself into a wall? Bruises, scratches, wounds both fresh and old. How did someone look like this? And, those eyes. Whatever color they originally held was long gone, replaced with a milky-and-hollow look instead.
Covering his mouth with one of his hands, Asher attempted to assess the situation. How? How could anyone that looked like that even stand.
"Have you ever wondered what it looks like, if someone without a strong will actually managed to collect Nightmares?"
Strong will? Asher didn't have a strong will. Yet, he didn't look a thing like this!
Staggering forward another step, the young man reached out to try to touch the girl. "Hey. It's going to be okay. I'm just... I'm going to help, okay?"
How selfless. Losing everyone he loved, yet still trying to save someone other than himself.
Maybe that was a strong will, in it's own way.
Hands lightly placed themselves on the girl's shoulders, yet she made no indication that she even noticed. "Can you hear me? Let's go back and I can see what I can for you."
Whether she could hear or not, it didn't seem to matter. She wasn't moving with him. Tears began streaming down the girl's cheeks, unblinking. Another moment passed, before her lips parted, exhaling softly. Head tilted up, as if to force eye contact with Asher, before she suddenly jerked away from his hands, spinning and grasping onto the spirit's altar before Asher could stop her.
Hands still out, the redhead watched in terror, as the girl's soft breathing quickly altered to hyperventilating. "Shit- no. No, no. C-come on, you really need--"
Then, the screaming began. Stumbling back, Asher's already shaky footing gave in on him again, while he lifted his hands to cover his ears from the sound. Was this what a person sounded like when they were dying? If it was pure agony for the teen's ears, he couldn't imagine how the human making the sounds felt! "You don't-- why?"
A haze began to pour from the poor spirit user, as she struggled against the demons that Asher was far too familiar with. Except, one of them had lost. Soon, within the black smog, the unpleasantly familiar cackling began. Raspy, and unstable.
Even a stranger had to suffer. All because of Asher. Was everything actually better without him? "I don't want this," he muttered, searching the dark room for any sign of movement. Was he still in the room with the totem, or was he back to the void? At this point, the teen couldn't tell the difference.
In a sudden movement, purple and gold flashed out, as Junomon Hysteric loomed over him. The Super Mega let out a wheezing cackle, staring at her prey. Yet, no move was made. Chains were scattered around the teen, clearly attached to the monster in front of him. Was she debating destroying him?
"That girl," Asher started, managing a stern tone despite everything he'd already dealt with. "She's gone now, isn't she?" To this, he only received a hiss of air from 'his' spirit. Pulling himself to his feet, the chains around him clattered, attempting to draw life to themselves. Dragging himself only a step forward, the redhead put out his hand as an offering. Junomon was close enough to touch at this point. Still, she didn't make any indication of recoiling or of aggression.
Without gaining a response, Asher moved his hand to rest it on top of one of the Nightmare's spears, refusing to flinch even as he heard the chains around him lift from the ground. "Take me back." Another hissing sound came from the God Man. But, even staring down something that could crush him in an instant, Asher persisted. "You're my spirit. I don't want anyone to suffer because I'm not there. They need me." Chains grazed across his face, slowly beginning to constrict around the person that was once their host. "You need me."
The chains stopped. The hissing stopped. And, suddenly, the haze within the void began to shift to grey. As the world began to fall into focus again, Junomon Hysteric continued to stare at its host. Waiting. Debating. Welcome back. A soft gust of air emanated from the aggressive Digimon, before it faded out, and Asher found himself still on his bed, alone, Digivice in hand.
If only he could tell if the events were real, or if he had simply had another nightmare.
