Nagging Thoughts...

The first thing he was aware of was pain. Excruciating pain, in his soul and all across his body, a feeling of being torn apart. Turning to dust.

The feeling of dying.

Consciousness began to slowly trickle in, and Dusty was aware of grayness all around him. Memories tugged at the edge of his thoughts, not quite able to be seen.. He reached for them, but he couldn’t focus through the haze of pain, and they slipped out of his grasp.

It hurt too much to move, speak, or even think clearly, so he stared blankly up at the unbroken gray above him, waiting it out.

As if he had a choice.

Over time, he slowly began to work out where he was. His void, of course. That one was easy enough, he’d been here for a long time, and it always looked the same.

But that wasn’t quite right, was it?

Lately, there had been something else.. someone else? He could remember colors, and something soft… warmth.

Ah! That’s right, he wasn’t always alone here now. █̷̲̰̦͎̻̣̝͙̰̳͕̪͉͒́̍̄͘͜█̶̨̢̣̞͙̥̘̥͐͗͌͊́͋͛̌̾̿͋͌̍̀̇̍͜͝█̴̨̳̗̗̥̹̪̝̣͓̙̑͐̀̾̂͋̋̿̂̾̋̿̈̆ͅ█̶̧͚͇̥͔̯͉͖̣͉̭̖̍̓̈͜█̷̨̛̝̥̰͎̖͊̿̃͒̅̾͂̅̀̆̏͑͑͘͘█̸̨̨̢̛̱͖̫̺͙̀̈̏͒́̎͂̾͊͝ visited him sometimes, and brought him things.

But then, what was he doing here, sprawled on the ground with limbs at awkward angles and nothing in sight..?

█̷̲̰̦͎̻̣̝͙̰̳͕̪͉͒́̍̄͘͜█̶̨̢̣̞͙̥̘̥͐͗͌͊́͋͛̌̾̿͋͌̍̀̇̍͜͝█̴̨̳̗̗̥̹̪̝̣͓̙̑͐̀̾̂͋̋̿̂̾̋̿̈̆ͅ█̶̧͚͇̥͔̯͉͖̣͉̭̖̍̓̈͜█̷̨̛̝̥̰͎̖͊̿̃͒̅̾͂̅̀̆̏͑͑͘͘█̸̨̨̢̛̱͖̫̺͙̀̈̏͒́̎͂̾͊͝.

It finally clicked. The last time he had seen █̷̲̰̦͎̻̣̝͙̰̳͕̪͉͒́̍̄͘͜█̶̨̢̣̞͙̥̘̥͐͗͌͊́͋͛̌̾̿͋͌̍̀̇̍͜͝█̴̨̳̗̗̥̹̪̝̣͓̙̑͐̀̾̂͋̋̿̂̾̋̿̈̆ͅ█̶̧͚͇̥͔̯͉͖̣͉̭̖̍̓̈͜█̷̨̛̝̥̰͎̖͊̿̃͒̅̾͂̅̀̆̏͑͑͘͘█̸̨̨̢̛̱͖̫̺͙̀̈̏͒́̎͂̾͊͝, he was possessed by that parasite, who was trying to kill him for trapping them in his void.

The pain in his soul throbbed as he recalled the end of that battle. He’d managed to avoid getting hit at all until the very end, and then…

He shuddered. Honestly, he barely remembered what had actually happened, just that it triggered memories of when he fell into the core. Painful memories, to say the least.

But that wasn’t even the worst of it. He’d failed. Failed to stop the parasite. If anything, █̷̲̰̦͎̻̣̝͙̰̳͕̪͉͒́̍̄͘͜█̶̨̢̣̞͙̥̘̥͐͗͌͊́͋͛̌̾̿͋͌̍̀̇̍͜͝█̴̨̳̗̗̥̹̪̝̣͓̙̑͐̀̾̂͋̋̿̂̾̋̿̈̆ͅ█̶̧͚͇̥͔̯͉͖̣͉̭̖̍̓̈͜█̷̨̛̝̥̰͎̖͊̿̃͒̅̾͂̅̀̆̏͑͑͘͘█̸̨̨̢̛̱͖̫̺͙̀̈̏͒́̎͂̾͊͝ would be worse off for the encounter, that he was certain of, especially considering the jab from the parasite just before he’d been ‘killed’.

…’Killed’.

If the parasite had left, and he was still here, then his ‘death’ must have been pretty convincing.

He winced. Hopefully █̷̲̰̦͎̻̣̝͙̰̳͕̪͉͒́̍̄͘͜█̶̨̢̣̞͙̥̘̥͐͗͌͊́͋͛̌̾̿͋͌̍̀̇̍͜͝█̴̨̳̗̗̥̹̪̝̣͓̙̑͐̀̾̂͋̋̿̂̾̋̿̈̆ͅ█̶̧͚͇̥͔̯͉͖̣͉̭̖̍̓̈͜█̷̨̛̝̥̰͎̖͊̿̃͒̅̾͂̅̀̆̏͑͑͘͘█̸̨̨̢̛̱͖̫̺͙̀̈̏͒́̎͂̾͊͝ would realize.. remember that he couldn’t die here. But.. somehow Dusty doubted that.

And that meant if █̷̲̰̦͎̻̣̝͙̰̳͕̪͉͒́̍̄͘͜█̶̨̢̣̞͙̥̘̥͐͗͌͊́͋͛̌̾̿͋͌̍̀̇̍͜͝█̴̨̳̗̗̥̹̪̝̣͓̙̑͐̀̾̂͋̋̿̂̾̋̿̈̆ͅ█̶̧͚͇̥͔̯͉͖̣͉̭̖̍̓̈͜█̷̨̛̝̥̰͎̖͊̿̃͒̅̾͂̅̀̆̏͑͑͘͘█̸̨̨̢̛̱͖̫̺͙̀̈̏͒́̎͂̾͊͝ didn’t survive this, he would die believing that he’d killed his friend..

“Not him too…”

Another painful throb in his soul at the memory.

But there was nothing he could do now. He’d done all he could, which, being in the void, wasn’t really much. It certainly hadn’t been enough...

"All you did was hurt █̷̲̰̦͎̻̣̝͙̰̳͕̪͉͒́̍̄͘͜█̶̨̢̣̞͙̥̘̥͐͗͌͊́͋͛̌̾̿͋͌̍̀̇̍͜͝█̴̨̳̗̗̥̹̪̝̣͓̙̑͐̀̾̂͋̋̿̂̾̋̿̈̆ͅ█̶̧͚͇̥͔̯͉͖̣͉̭̖̍̓̈͜█̷̨̛̝̥̰͎̖͊̿̃͒̅̾͂̅̀̆̏͑͑͘͘█̸̨̨̢̛̱͖̫̺͙̀̈̏͒́̎͂̾͊͝ even more."

In fact, it had only made things worse for him..

All he could do. This was what it amounted to. Himself, left feeling quite literally like death and stuck staring into the void, immobile, and his friend who he’d been trying to help, most likely hurt badly by his stunt.

He closed his eyes. He didn’t want to think right now. When he had built up some magic again, he’d go back to his home in this place and try to find █̷̲̰̦͎̻̣̝͙̰̳͕̪͉͒́̍̄͘͜█̶̨̢̣̞͙̥̘̥͐͗͌͊́͋͛̌̾̿͋͌̍̀̇̍͜͝█̴̨̳̗̗̥̹̪̝̣͓̙̑͐̀̾̂͋̋̿̂̾̋̿̈̆ͅ█̶̧͚͇̥͔̯͉͖̣͉̭̖̍̓̈͜█̷̨̛̝̥̰͎̖͊̿̃͒̅̾͂̅̀̆̏͑͑͘͘█̸̨̨̢̛̱͖̫̺͙̀̈̏͒́̎͂̾͊͝ again.. he couldn’t change anything, but… well. He needed to see how he was doing, and hope beyond all hope that █̷̲̰̦͎̻̣̝͙̰̳͕̪͉͒́̍̄͘͜█̶̨̢̣̞͙̥̘̥͐͗͌͊́͋͛̌̾̿͋͌̍̀̇̍͜͝█̴̨̳̗̗̥̹̪̝̣͓̙̑͐̀̾̂͋̋̿̂̾̋̿̈̆ͅ█̶̧͚͇̥͔̯͉͖̣͉̭̖̍̓̈͜█̷̨̛̝̥̰͎̖͊̿̃͒̅̾͂̅̀̆̏͑͑͘͘█̸̨̨̢̛̱͖̫̺͙̀̈̏͒́̎͂̾͊͝ would survive this, and he could apologize…

He’d never wanted so badly to be able to apologize to someone before.

He wasn’t sure he’d get that chance.

All he could do was wait and see..

...That’s all he could ever do, wasn’t it..?