Why me

Perfectionist walks in with the radio saying, “It’s a little old, but it works. Why don’t you have any technology.” I look up at Perfectionist walking in. “The magic that guards this place doesn’t let in signals for tv, but radio gets through a bit.” He looks down, fiddling with the radio until a signal comes through for one of the local news stations “Last night, the night is made day, as a mysterious light graced the sky. If that wasn’t strange enough, we awake to the Freedom Tower encased in metal. Other chosen are on the scene.”

As it’s getting to that point, it cuts out. Hearing it makes me feel worse. Lidaren looks at me. “So are we sinking in this shit or swimming?” The comment just fucked with me; I begin to yell at him when Perfectionist speaks up, “Hell, I’m going to do laps.” I then break. ‘Hahaha, what is wrong with y’all?” They get up and Lidaren, stretching, “No use crying over something we already know.” I look at the two of them. “Yeah, let go get a ride.”

We walk out to see that clouds have covered the sky, and the whole day is beginning to feel hopeless, but we can’t stop. We head to the woods in hopes that we are on the right track. We make it to the tree line when we hear a crack of thunder; I look up to see rain begin to fall. Once it hits my face, I realize that my cigars have worn off. I can now feel the whole world again. I take another step and feel the leaves rustling in the wind. One more, and I am encased in the rain hitting me. It's cool, but it just rolls off, losing all its kinetic energy.

I exhale as I suddenly start feeling the movement of the tectonic plates. I stumble a bit, and Perfectionist catches me. He asks concerning, “Hey, you don’t look that good.” I look at him in a daze. “I need to take a load off.” He lays me down, and I take a cigar out of my pocket when a crystal shoots it out of my hand. I turn to see that it is Shard, one of Darkness’s boys. He is just standing there, entirely covered in his clear crystals. I start to crawl off the ground.

When Perfectionist sets me down, “I got this, Lidaren, make sure he doesn’t get up.” I sit up, but I must lean on Lidaren because of the overwhelming feelings. I turn to Lidaren. “Why is he doing this? I can take this lightweight.” Lidaren holds me down. “Sometimes you got to let off steam, and if you were up to par, you wouldn’t get held down so easily.” I try to push against him, but he’s right; I cannot hold in all this power.

While I’m down there, I notice how much Perfectionist has improved. His form and skill are on a different level than mine. I pull myself to my feet to walk away, but Lidaren grabs me. “Come on; you can do this. I know how hard it is without the crutches, but you can’t leave, not again.” I brush him off. “I’m not leaving. I need to catch my breath.” I wander a few feet away to let the two of them handle the grunt. I guess he’s a scout.

I stand leaning against a tree, just listening to the three of them go at it. I want to help, but I can hardly lift my arms. I knew I should have never started using, but I needed to make the feelings stop. All the fucking memories, but I guess it doesn’t matter anymore. I hear the familiar sound of glass shattering, and I turn around to see that they have apprehended Shard. I walk, overlooking the two of them, holding him. “What are you doing?”

He looks up, realizing who we are, and his expression changes. “I’m sorry I didn’t realize that you were here too. Explains why I had such a hard time.” I look at him and Lidaren. “Give him a prick. I want him to rush the message. I want you to tell Darkness that I’m coming to cash in on a bet he lost.” Lidaren puts a small cut on Shard's shoulder, and the litren virus begins to spread. He panics, “What the fuck; make it stop.” I pat him on his shoulder, and he runs away, bouncing off the trees in fear.

Perfectionists ask me, “Why did you do that? Like it didn’t make any sense.” I stand up, popping my back, and it lets off a burst of condensed air. “Because I want him to be waiting for us because that was my last cigar, and now, I have no control over my power.”