𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡 (𝙙𝙬𝙩 𝙭 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧)

2 - 𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚

‼️blood, mature language, confrontation with abuser

-

"Well, that certainly went well," I said as I exited my home alongside Nick, who had just lost our game of poker. He was extremely upset that he lost to me, especially since he had just taught me to play that morning.

We were bored, young adults, what can I say? Gambling little trinkets we have is a way of life for us. In total, I won a few emeralds, a totem of undying, and one of Nick's extra headbands.

Nick lost all of those items... and his dignity.

I love poker.

"For you, maybe," he grumbled, still pouting like a child, "how are you so good anyway? I literally just taught you how to play."

I shrugged, "Comes naturally, I guess."

He groaned at my answer, probably because he wasn't expecting one in the first place. I smirked, feeling good about beating Nick for the day.

We walked around for a while, eventually coming along to the outskirts of New L'Manburg. It was pretty late in the afternoon, maybe around three, but Nick and I were the only ones out on the street.

It was pretty cold out, about 53°F, so I was dressed warm, and so was Nick. We were talking about some song that he heard earlier that week, laughing about some of the lyrics.

Our destination was somewhere neither of us wanted to go to, but kind of had to; the prison. Nick convinced me that visiting Clay would be best for the both of us, as I had been gone for so long, and he apparently always asked Sam to check if I'd come home.

His answer was always no, because I was obviously gone. Duh.

But what really shocked me was the fact that Sam's reaction to my return was not what I was expecting. This man, in his full armor, his trident at his side, and his face more serious than ever, dropped his belongings and ran to greet me as I walked through the prison entrance.

He hugged me, squeezed me super tight, whispering words along the lines of "where have you been," and "You're so stupid to leave!"

I thought it was super sweet, to be honest.

I clearly returned his hugs, whispering apologies to him. I have to thank Sam for my life. Without his kindness, when Clay came to get me out of the prison, if he didn't let me go, I would've died. He's a great man with a strong wit. I'd trust him with my life.

Once he let go of me, I stood up tall, exhaling a breath I didn't know I was holding. Sam looked down at me with a soft look on his face, "So, where'd you even go? You just flew away and everyone thought you were dead."

"I don't really know," I admitted, "I guess I just began to hop villages that were really far away. I also became a bit of a thief, but that's for another time."

Nick was snickering beside me, mostly because he already knows how I stole most things, by using brute force.

"Oh," Sam said, "anyway, what brings you two here to this depressing place? Visiting the prisoner? I'll let you kill him, to be honest."

I laughed a bit, appreciating Sam's little idea to rid himself of his constant issues with Dream.

"Oh, sure, because I definitely need to do that," I said jokingly. Sam's eyes grew wide for a second, "Surprises me that you're joking around, because last time I saw you, you ripped open his shoulder from the outside, and then killed a fucking goddess."

Oh. Right. I did do that.

Fuck my mother anyway, she was literally the goddess of death.

"Can I get back there to see him? I kinda need to talk to him," I said while trying to crack my lower back. Sam nodded, and switched right back into warden mode. Sam and I walked into the hallways of the prison, leaving Nick in the lobby alone.