Marcus/Rocco
Darkness.
Cold.
Endless.
The moment consciousness returned, pain followed immediately after.
Sharp pain burned through my chest hard enough to make breathing
difficult even here.
I groaned quietly before forcing myself upright.
The realm stretched endlessly around me once again.
Massive chains disappeared into the abyss overhead while darkness rolled
endlessly beneath my feet like an empty ocean.
Only this time, the realm felt clearer somehow. More alive. Like it was
watching me.
A slow clapping sound echoed behind me.
"Well," a calm voice drawled lazily, "that was embarrassing."
I spun instantly and froze.
A man sat casually atop one of the enormous chairs nearby.
Silver hair shifted lightly against the cold wind drifting through the
realm. Pale skin. Sharp golden eyes. Dark clothes. Faint chains wrapped loosely
around both wrists.
He looked completely human. Which somehow made him more unsettling.
The man rested his cheek lazily against one hand while studying me
openly.
"You really threw yourself onto that attack," he mused. "Very dramatic."
I stared at him cautiously. "…Who are you?"
The silver-haired man tilted his head slightly.
"That," he said smoothly, "is usually asked after introductions."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
His lips curved faintly. "You humans are surprisingly hostile for
creatures that break so easily."
Okay.
Cool. Definitely unsettling.
I stepped back slightly instead.
Instinct screamed at me to stay cautious. Everything about this guy felt
wrong. Not dangerous in a normal way either. Worse. Controlled.
Then realisation hit me. The silver hair. The presence. The feeling of
being watched.
"…You."
His golden eyes gleamed faintly.
"Oh good. Rocky's catching up."
I blinked. "Rocky?"
"You dislike it already." He sounded amused. "Excellent."
"What kind of nickname is Rocky?"
"The lazy kind."
I ignored that mostly because another memory surfaced. Red eyes glowing
through the darkness. The massive figure inside the realm. The thing father
told me to run from.
My chest tightened.
"…Wait."
The silver-haired man watched me calmly.
"Were you the thing with red eyes?"
For half a second, silence.
Then the silver-haired man laughed. Actually laughed. Low and genuinely
amused.
"Oh, that."
He looked entirely too entertained by my expression.
"Yes."
I stared at him. "What?"
"The form was effective," he said casually. "You scare quite easily,
Rocky."
"You looked like something from a nightmare!"
"I was aiming for memorable."
"You- "
I stopped completely. Because somehow, he genuinely sounded proud of
himself.
"I though you were some monster!"
The silver-haired man tilted his head slightly.
"That seems rude now that we are properly speaking."
I stared at him for several seconds before finally rubbing a hand over
my face.
"This has to be a hallucination."
"A disappointing one if true."
The realm rumbled softly beneath us. Chains shifted slowly through the
darkness overhead.
The silver-haired man finally stood from the chain effortlessly before
stepping toward me. Every movement felt unnaturally graceful. Like gravity
affected him differently.
Then his eyes dropped briefly toward the hole in my chest. The amusement
faded slightly.
"Hm."
"What?"
"You are dying."
Straight to the point apparently.
Pain suddenly ripped through my chest harder. I nearly dropped to one
knee before the silver-haired man caught my arm.
Cold. His hand felt strangely cold.
"You're calmer than most humans during death."
"I'm trying very hard not to panic."
"A reasonable strategy."
"That's your comfort?"
"I have limited experience comforting humans, Rocky."
Fair enough honestly.
I pulled away slowly before forcing myself upright again.
"Why am I here?"
"You fell."
"In the realm."
"Yes."
"That explains literally nothing."
"You continue surviving despite alarming levels of incompetence."
I stared at him flatly.
He stared back completely serious. Then- very faintly. His mouth
twitched.
Oh. He was joking. Kind of.
The realisation made him even stranger.
"You've been watching me this whole time, haven't you?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
The silver-haired man looked genuinely thoughtful for a second.
"You are interesting."
That answer disturbed me more than it should have. The realm trembled
softly again.
Pain exploded through my chest harder this time. My breathing became
uneven immediately.
The silver-haired man watched carefully now. More focused. Less amused.
"You do not have much time left."
Cold settled in my stomach.
"Am… I actually dying?"
"Yes."
No hesitation. No softening. Just truth.
Images flashed through my mind instantly.
Callie crying. Ella. Noah. Riley. Seraphina.
Damn it.
I clenched my jaw hard.
"Can you help me?"
The silver-haired man studied me silently. Golden eyes sharp enough to
feel like they were peeling through my thoughts. Then finally-
"I can."
Hope flickered briefly inside me- before he continued calmly.
"Whether I should, is a different matter."
"Excuse me?"
"You are reckless. Emotional. Impulsive." He continued lazily on one
hand. "You also continue throwing yourself into fatal situations."
"You watched me save my sister!"
"Yes."
"And?"
"And now you are dying."
I hated how logical that sounded.
"You're unbelievable."
"I have been called worse."
The realm shifted violently again. This time even the silver-haired man
glanced upward briefly.
The chains overhead rattled softly through the darkness. Then his gaze
returned to me.
"If I help you," he said calmly, "Our connection deepens."
I frowned slightly. "What does that mean?"
"You will see me more often."
Absolutely horrifying sentence.
"…That sounds threatening."
"It probably should."
At least he was honest. I hesitated and somehow, that seemed to interest
him. Not mockingly. Curiously.
"You do not trust me," he observed.
"Should I?"
The silver-haired man smiled faintly. Sharp. Ancient. Amused.
"No."
Very comforting.
"But," he added calmly, "you are also out of alternatives."
My chest burned again violently. This time I actually collapsed to one
knee.
Blood spread slowly beneath me into the darkness of the realm itself.
The silver-haired man crouched slightly in front of me now. Closer. His
golden eyes held mine steadily.
"You fear me."
The statement wasn't mocking. Just observant.
"Yeah."
"Reasonable."
Again, with the honesty. For several seconds neither of us spoke. Then
finally-
The silver-haired man sighed softly.
"You humans become attached very easily."
"What?"
"You threw your life away for your sister without hesitation."
"I didn't throw it away."
"You pierced yourself on another creature's arm."
"Okay when you say it like that- "
"It was objectively poor decision-making."
I glared at him weakly. He genuinely looked unimpressed. Then
unexpectedly, he extended one pale hand toward me.
The chains around his wrist rattled softly.
"So," he said calmly. Golden eyes locked onto mine.
"Do you want my help or not, Rocky?"
The realm went silent. My heartbeat pounded painfully in my ears. Every
instinct screamed that accepting anything from this man was dangerous.
That he was dangerous. Not evil exactly. That would've been easier.
No. this thing. This man. Felt far beyond simple human ideas like good
or evil. That's what terrified me more.
But then I remembered Callie crying over me. Ella waiting for me to come
home. The look on Riley and Noah's faces. My parents.
Damn it.
Slowly, I grabbed his hand.
The silver-haired man smiled faintly. Not warmly or cruelly. Just
knowingly.
"Good choice, Rocky."
Then the agony exploded through the realm.
Power tore through my body violently. The chains overhead roared like
thunder while energy flooded into my chest hard enough to make me scream.
Every nerve in my body felt like it was burning alive.
The silver-haired man held my wrist firmly through it all. Completely
calm. And through the pain, I heard him speaking softly. Almost amused.
"Try not to die again immediately."
Darkness swallowed everything.
The first thing I heard was a heart monitor beeping steadily nearby.
Then voices.
Blurred. Panicked. Relieved.
"…he's waking up!"
Callie.
My eyes opened slowly. Bright hospital lights burned overhead while pain
lingered faintly through my chest. Weaker now. Contained.
Callie sat beside the bed with tears already in her eyes. The second she
saw me awake. she grabbed my hand tightly.
"You idiot," she whispered shakily.
Riley looked seconds away from crying too. Noah looked like he hadn't
slept in days. Even Seraphina's shoulders relaxed slightly near the window.
"You were clinically dead for almost five minutes," Riley said quietly.
"Oh…"
"That's your response?" Noah stared at me. "OH?"
"I'm processing."
Then movement caught my attention near the corner of the room. I looked
over slowly. And froze.
The silver-haired man sat casually in a chair near the hospital window.
Legs crossed lazily over the other. Golden eyes watching me calmly.
Invisible to everyone else. The faint chains around his wrist rattled
softly. Then, very slightly-
He smirked.
"…Humans drool while unconscious," he said thoughtfully.
I stare at him in horror.
He came back with me.