Despair's Insanity - an II x DR fic

BIL - 3

I had spent a few hours sleeping after the Fan fiasco with Blueberry, then another hour pacing, and after that I ate some more of that applesauce and laid down again. My routine was going to be empty around here, with nothing to do and nobody to see, but in a way that was quite comforting. No chaos, no screaming, no breakdowns, and hopefully no death.

Though as comforting as it was- I also felt bored out of my own mind. Maybe if I closed my eyes again, something would happen was my thought process.

After roughly eighty-seven tries of this strategy, it worked! The doorknob shuffled in place a bit before twisting fully and opening up to reveal two people!

Two people I did not expect to come visit me... Candle and Microphone. I hadn't talked to Candle at all since all this started, why would he want to come and see ME? As if she could read my mind, Candle cleared her throat as she approached me; Microphone followed a few steps behind.

"Your flame has been progressively dying. Every time I see you, I feel a weaker and weaker aura- the warmth and joy being replaced with a cold lack of compassion or rationality. Something is clearly wrong here, and Bomb had graciously allowed me to find out what that is."

Somehow- I doubted Candle had permission to be here... but I didn't bother to fight her on it as she placed a hand over my chest.

"Breathe in for me, Lifering. Let your muscles lose their tension, and let your mind clear out of all your troubles."

"Candle," Microphone spoke up, "I don't know if this is... what we're looking for. He's probably traumatized- you can't really fix that?"

"I fixed you, did I not?"

Microphone looked at me, and I looked back at her as she shook her head silently. I kinda forgot about her- but she was going through the motions just like I was.

Though I wished she didn't look as good while experiencing all this trauma. I was disheveled, described as looking dead and sick by just about everyone, and here she was, with perfect hair, skin, no sucked in stomach, no tired eyes... just a perfectly healthy person.

My more intrusive thoughts even wondered if she cared about the people she'd lost. Of course I knew it was wrong to think about, but I genuinely couldn't help myself.

Candle made me put my hands together and interlock the fingers, and she closed her eyes as a soft sigh escaped her lips.

"You're still quite tense. Let it flow out of your system. All is well, all will return to normal very soon." Candle sounded so calm as she spoke about all the nonsense. She must have been delusional, because I kept staring at Microphone, who looked uncomfortable with her words at best.

"I still feel the tension in your hands," Candle murmured, one eye opening to look at me. "Focus. Listen to my words, and close your eyes... listen to me." I hesitated for a moment and looked down at my hands, before taking a deep breath and closing my eyes to hopefully make all this a shorter, less irritating experience. I could hear the relief in her voice when she started talking again. "Now repeat after me. I am worth something in this world."

"..." I cleared my throat. "I- I am worth something in this world."

"I belong to the mortal realm."

"I belong to the mortal realm..." What? What did that even mean? No wonder people think she's a cult freak- she's freaking weird!

"All the troubles I face, will pass through my next breath."

"...No." I unclasped my hands and opened my eyes back up. "That's not- that's not true. I need a while still."