Archive of Our Own ^beta

Low crashed onto the hard wooden floor of reality, the mirror bursting into scintillating pieces behind him.

Light flooded the room, real actual sunlight that warmed his body and told him of his incredible achievement.

So why did this feel so…wrong?.
He looked around himself, he was alone in a room that he didn’t recognize and had probably been abandoned long since.

alone…

His head flicked upwards as he looked around himself once more, where was she? She had come with him, hadn't she?

The mirror behind him was dusty and the shards weakly glimmered in the sun light as he turned around and stared at it with expectation and horror.
“No” he gasped “No nononononono”.

Where was she? She had been at his side for so long that she simply 𝘩𝘢𝘥 to be here with him!.
His breathing picked up as he rubbed his hands over his face and froze as he didn’t feel his usual bird skull mask covering his face.
Where was it?!

“Nonononono” he still murmured to himself in utter disbelief.
His cape was gone too, along with everything else.

He was hyperventilating now, a few squeaky raw exhales sneaking alongside it and they sounded so much like the cawing of the crows they’ve met during their travels.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺!
He shouldn't be alone, he cannot be alone, he….

“ALONE!” he screamed “ALONE! WHERE ARE YOU?”
“I NEED YOU!”
His voice echoed through the empty room and out of the window where the world was waiting for him.

He 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 her, needed her to tell him that all was alright, needed her to not be lonely…
to show him that he wasn’t crazy.

The Nowhere was real…wasn’t it?

Something tapped behind him, rats that had grown used to his presence and “eccentric” behavior.

He whipped around, eyes frantic and wide as he stared at the spot where the rat had just been.
He was still pushing out little cawing breaths as he sat down and rested his aching head on his knees.

She probably was just running late that's all, she’d be back so soon and then they’d do all sorts of fun things together.

“𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘥”
A warm feeling started to bloom in his stomach as he heard that voice speak to him.
“𝘐’𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦”
Alone was speaking to him as clearly as if she was right next to him again, always his guiding light.
“𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘪𝘵?”

A feeling of deep comfort wrapped around him, easing his breath and relaxing his strained mind.
She was right, she usually was right when it came to solving problems and now was right once again.

He stood up with new found power and strode to the open window, letting light hit his exposed face.
The wind quietly blew outside and carried the noise of the people outside and the song of birds in trees.

Life could be so wonderful if you faced it with a friend.