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English
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Part 3 of Nexys' Forsaken Fics
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Published:
2025-06-05
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2,345
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1/1
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You Smell of Dead Flowers...

Summary:

"You could kill me a thousand times and I would not feel I have served adequate penitence. I'll admit it now, though I pray the Spawn does not hear me: I regret what I have done…I regretted it the moment I felt the dagger pierce your flesh.

"Perhaps that is the true reason the Spawn has banished us here. I'm just sorry that you are forced to serve as its punishing hand…when your spirit deserves nothing but to finally rest."

In spite of himself, Azurewrath faltered. Their furious expression slackened slightly with the sincerity in Two Time's words.

Notes:

in a shocking juxtapose to the ambiguity of my itrapped fic, we have doomed yi azuretime!

i like to think the nightshade flowers bloom on two time wherever azure kills them (because i like to hurt)

please heed the archive warnings.

fic written by a two time fictive (: please be respectful! (this is also why two time is depicted as an owl hybrid here!)

fic title comes from the vslush_ song of the same name <33

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Every now and then, there would be a round without terror. The killers, seemingly as exhausted as the survivors by the endless bouts of cat and mouse, would occasionally take the contemplative route—finding a corner of the map to just sit and think.

This was one of those rounds.

Two Time watched this round's killer from the relative safety of a tree, having spotted Azurewrath sitting in the middle of the graveyard at Yorick's Resting Place.

This was perhaps the seventh time Azurewrath has been killer since making their initial debut as one—and he had made it clear to Two Time on multiple occasions that they weren't interested in chatting. But perhaps today, just this once, they may have a chance.

Two Time dropped out of the tree on silent feet, the cultist making their way towards their former friend with a crouched posture. Their dagger burned a hole in their side from where it was hooked onto their belt, the guilt rising in their chest with every step.

Even now, changed as they were, Two Time found Azure breathtakingly beautiful.

Warm browns and grays were traded for mystic purples and blacks, angry and writhing appendages burst from their back- it should've been disturbing, disgusting even. But Two Time could only focus on all that remained the same: the silhouette of the witch's hat on Azure's head, the nightshade flowers tastefully decorating their hat's brim and growing from their chest to their arm, achingly similar to the flowers that grew from Two Time's own skin.

"The moon sure is beautiful tonight, isn't it?" Azure whispered, gagging around the blood that filled their throat. The Ghostfire Dagger protruded from their chest, Two Time's white-knuckled grip still on the haft, one of Azure's gentle hands closed around theirs as if their life wasn't bleeding out of them by the second. The other still held the rumpled bouquet of hand-picked flowers—a proposal, a declaration of love—ruined by Two Time's impulse.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" Two Time whispered, shaking and crying. It was supposed to be quick—they'd laced the blade with poison made from the very same flowers their best friend adored, Two Time thought they stabbed the heart. Why was Azure still alive? Why were they so calm?

"It's okay, Two Time…I understand. I love you. It'll be over soon, just…please…

"Hold me."

Was it worth it?

Two Time wondered if, back on the mortal plane, the nightshades have grown over their intertwined bodies, roots sinking themselves into their rotting corpses for nutrients like the blooms did now in the afterlife. They liked to imagine two trees growing over them, their trunks twisting together in a symbol of their love. Perhaps that was their true second life—being reborn as two fused into one, inseparable for the rest of eternity.

Though they knew they were already technically dead, Two Time quite literally received their second life here, their wings during these endless loops proof of that. Yet it felt hollow in comparison to what they lost, what opportunities were squandered. Slaying their almost-lover had been the ultimate sacrifice, the greatest expression of devotion and loyalty to the Spawn- and yet, when they lay their body on top of Azure's corpse, withering away right alongside them (as if they had been the one stabbed, their heart carved out, their will to live dying with Azure-), their deity had repaid the gesture by sending them to this Hell.

It was a test of faith. It had to be. Two Time knew that. They'd had the audacity to regret their actions, tainting their religious offering, wasting their and Azure's sacrifice with their selfishness. They were sent here to repent.

But they were so, so tired.

They were only a few yards from Azurewrath now. The killer sat motionless, one arm resting on a propped-up knee, the other stretched out in front of them as they stared at nothing.

"Don't tell me you're regretting this now, Azure…" A low, sinister voice hissed, stopping Two Time in their tracks. It took them a moment to realize that the voice was coming from the hat on top of their former lover's head. They hadn't realized it could talk.

"Of course not," Azure's voice this time, thick with emotions denied and voice slightly distorted from their transformation into…whatever they were now. Azurewrath rarely spoke while chasing the survivors around during the rounds- they didn't seem to take much thrill in the chase, rather seeming resigned, cutting through person after person with a detached and professional efficiency that rivaled Mafioso's.

Two Time's thoughts wandered to the first time they'd seen Azure, all those rounds ago- the killer was all fury then. Truly putting the wrath in Azurewrath. He'd specifically sought out Two Time, stabbing them with their own Ghostfire Dagger.

"I need you to know what it felt like," they said, watching the life bleed out of Two Time's eyes with grim retribution. They were only slightly surprised by the wings that sprouted from their former lover's back upon their second life, instead more unsettled by the hysterical pain-laughter that bubbled and screamed from their lips as viscera exploded out of them like a detonation from within, spraying the ground underneath them scarlet.

Still, that hadn't stopped him from killing them a second time.

"Good. Because we are not alone," was the only warning Two Time received before they were suddenly thrown into the central crypt by a high-speed tendril. Two Time coughed, feeling something in their back give under the force of the blow as they made contact with unrelenting stone. The black appendage dug into their chest, the cultist clawing uselessly at it as they struggled for breath.

"Must you torment me even while I am merciful?" Azure growled, their spare three tendrils lashing irritably behind them like a pissed off cat. "I already told several of you today—leave me be. What part of that don't you understand?"

"I-" Two Time coughed. "I-I'm sorry…" They could barely get enough air to breathe, let alone speak, the words squeaking pathetically from their lungs.

Azure dropped them unceremoniously to the ground with a disgusted scoff. "Whatever. You're lucky I don't do anything worse."

"Go away, Two Time."

Two Time stumbled, pain making their breath shudder as they fought to stand upright. They opened and closed their mouth several times, mind racing a mile a minute, trying to think of what to say—anything, anything at all.

"I-if you want to kill me again…I won't stop you," Two Time whispered, normally monotonous tone coming raw, hoarse from the pain in their chest. Wheezing, they took a stumbling step forward. "I know I am selfish. But Azure…please…first let me sit at your side, one more time."

Azurewrath's claws curled into fists, teeth gritting and eyes narrowing in warning.

"I missed you."

"YOU SHOULD'VE THOUGHT ABOUT THAT BEFORE YOU KILLED ME!" Azurewrath shrieked, an otherworldly echo to their voice, everything about their silhouette sharpening with rage. Two Time stood, unmoving, as the killer slung venom and vitriol in their direction, not saying anything in their own defense. Just…letting the other get their emotions out of their system.

Once Azure finished, shoulders heaving with the effort that so much screaming had cost, Two Time shakily lowered themself to their knees- head bowed. Shoulders slumped.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't just kill you again. Right here, right now," Azure snarled, purple eyes narrowed down to slits.

"I don't have one," Two Time replied. They continued to stare at their lap, hands bunched in the fabric of their baggy pants. Tears came unbidden to their eyes, blazing a hot trail down the cultist's cheeks. "You could kill me a thousand times and I would not feel I have served adequate penitence. I'll admit it now, though I pray the Spawn does not hear me: I regret what I have done…I regretted it the moment I felt the dagger pierce your flesh.

"Perhaps that is the true reason the Spawn has banished us here. I'm just sorry that you are forced to serve as its punishing hand…when your spirit deserves nothing but to finally rest."

In spite of himself, Azurewrath faltered. Their furious expression slackened slightly with the sincerity in Two Time's words.

"Are you really going to accept an apology that flimsy?" Azurewrath's hat scoffed with disgust. "Remember what they did to you, Azure. That lowly filth doesn't deserve your forgiveness."

Azurewrath's thoughts turned to memories of that night. The moon was awash in blood-red, nightshade flowers around them wilting, Two Time's expression manic and laughing as they stabbed Azure again and again with sadistic relish, uncaring of how Azure pleaded for their life.

That was how it had happened.

…Wasn't it?

"Wait, what are you doing?" Azure ignored the hat atop their head, hands reaching up to remove the article, who shrieked in protest but was ultimately helpless to stop them. They set the hat aside, the accessory's angry spitting dying off as it was severed from its source of energy, becoming a normal hat for the time being. Azure prodded their memories again, head feeling oddly…clear, now that their hair could breathe. The whispers in their ears grew quiet, allowing them to think for themself for the first time since they woke up in this Hell.

The fog in Azure's mind now cleared, they took a moment to really take in Two Time's appearance. Pin feathers were plucked from where Azure knows they grew out from the survivor's skin, the sites flushed and irritated. Scars were littered all up and down their forearms and wrists, different from the jagged cuts that Azure remembered the cult giving them both back when they were alive. The marks were neat, almost perfectly spaced. Deliberate. They were deathly skinny—had always been underweight, but it was somehow worse—and their hands trembled not with poorly-hidden hysteria, but soul-crushing grief. As if Two Time only held their emotions back for fear of seeming selfish to Azure.

Because after all, if anyone here deserved to cry, it ought to be him.

"...Do you mean it?"

Two Time's head jerked up, tears flying from their face with the abrupt movement. Their waterline was red-rimmed with tears, eyes sunken into their sockets with dark bags that bespoke how poor their sleep has been. Azure felt an emotion they couldn't place seize their chest—it wasn't anger, or anger-adjacent. Pity, perhaps?

When was the last time they'd felt something other than bloodthirsty, incandescent fury?

"O-of course I do," Two Time swore, choking around the saliva gathering in their mouth. They swallowed, thickly. "I promise, Azure."

Azure stood up, slowly beginning to walk towards Two Time, who shrunk in on themself more and more with each click of boot heels against paved stone. Azure stopped once they were right in front of Two Time, crouching, balancing on the balls of their feet. They reached out a long, sharp finger, gently tilting their former friend's chin up to look at them. The breath in Two Time's chest stuttered and hitched, the cultist not daring to look away or so much as blink while the killer scrutinized them.

"I can't forgive you," Azure murmured. Two Time's face fell, though to their credit they didn't protest. "However…I remember now. I was never mad at you for what you did. This rage…that isn't me." They cast a considering glance over at their discarded hat, sighing through their nose before looking back at Two Time. "No, Two Time. I can't forgive you. But perhaps…I can still find a way to move past it, given time."

The hand that held Two Time's chin shifted, index finger gently flicking a fresh tear away from beneath the smaller's eye. Two Time reached up to grab Azure's hand in both of theirs, pressing it to their cheek and leaning into it.

The timer was low now. Azure could tell. They sighed, leaning forward and planting a clumsy and forceful kiss onto Two Time's forehead. The strigiforme froze and then melted at the display of affection, as if shedding multiple pounds of weight with just that one small gesture. Azure saw the feathers on top of their head flatten as the survivor finally allowed themself to relax, bodily slumping forward into Azure for a half-embrace.

The fog in the back of Azure's mind slowly crept back in, influence weakened without the hat, but insistent nonetheless. Azure shut their eyes tight as if that could block out the sound, but it was to no avail. The God of this realm demanded blood—and it made it clear that it would either be Two Time's or his own.

"Alas…the Spectre still demands sacrifice," Azurewrath whispered. Two Time sat up, blinking in doe-eyed confusion, before their eyes widened as they felt a tendril be violently pushed through them, bloody tip emerging from their back. It plunged right through their chest; gore, blood, and bone splattering the stone behind them with a disgusting squelch. Azurewrath leaned into Two Time's ear, cold zipper tickling the smaller's jaw, though they could barely register the sensation around the agonizing pain in their collapsed lungs and ribs. They couldn't scream, couldn't speak.

"I will make it as quick as possible for you, Two," the killer whispered. "You have no oblation. Consider that a mercy."

Azure ripped their appendage from Two Time's now gaping chest, using it and one other limb to gently lay the survivor back on the ground in a poetic reversal of the situation that had put them here in the first place. With a wince Azure plucked a nightshade from his shoulder, gently tucking the bloom into the oozing wound. He arranged Two Time's hands to cup the flower, soaking their hands in their own blood.

Two Time's twitching body went still. Azure knelt over them, resting their nose and forehead against the other's face until the timer hit zero.

Notes:

here's my two time (and azure) spotify playlist by the way, in case anyone wants to give it a listen !!
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/03mUWnBtwpiraXFD7LQ0F4?si=LvX2VYMzTbmgMXDMikNlnQ&pi=EYdECkTvTWq2e

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