Snow...
...he hadn't noticed it before...
...how beautiful...
...just like him...
--
It was dark.
As dark as the night sky outside, akin to dark waters only found near the depths of the sea, cold and unforgiving as it reigned the time without stars.
Only the slight shine of the moon which peeked slightly behind the veil of constant gloom made it through the barred windows, highlighting pale skin and high cheekbones— the shine making it look sharper and the face slightly obscured a lot sterner than it was as the shadows casted became more pronounced.
Yet it all couldn't distract from the raging ocean beneath those eyes as they watched something, deathly still.
"..p-please..."
A soft and quiet whimper echoed throughout the dark. It was broken, as if it was a piece from a once-pretty vase which was shattered— the rest of the pieces unable to be put back together.
Yet the waves stayed frozen, and those eyes never moved.
Green eyes tore through the dark as they watched the other man, shielded by the shadows. They took it his desperate, crazed look and his slumped form on the ground as blood trickled slowly from his busted lips and slightly balding head— the what may be once-soft, brown locks disappearing slowly with time.
Mercy...
That was what the broken man wanted.
That was what they always wanted.
That was what he couldn't give anymore
He watched as the other man dragged himself to lean on the wall and lifted his head up to look at him more clearly, hoping he could persuade him to spare his life.
That was what they all did.
That was what they all tried to do.
That was when they all failed.
He watched as he opened his mouth, gasping for breath as the man struggled to open his eyes— his eyelids sealed shut and as heavy as a brick whilst his skin was decorated with bruises, all painted a gruesome shade of red and purple.
He watched silently as the other finally managed his seemingly simple task and opened his eyes, looking dazed and unfocused for a while as they searched for his figure, which they eventually found.
Soft, glossy brown eyes met hard, cold green in a battle seemingly without a victor— until one looked away and his eyes met the ground as he whimpered slightly.
"...please...have mercy..."
Yet as time ticked by, there was only silence to greet him. The man covered in veils of darkness neither giving him freedom to continue his life nor snuffing it out.
He just stood there, embraced by the darkness surrounding him as he watched him, as if searching for something.
And he knew, something within those frozen storm unnerved him.
It was quiet.
Too quiet...
...like a calm before the storm.
And as it was, the string of patience and slight endurance he had finally cracked under the pressure budding up in the air, pressing unto his skin and soaking in, freezing his bones and rattling up his soul.
He screamed— shouted until whatever little breath he had was wasted, and he was left wheezing on the cold, hard ground.
"...what do you want from me?"
He asked softly, tiredly, brokenly as the pressure carried on and the state of his mind crumbled more as a slight string of insanity wove its way in.
He watched as the younger man still entwined with the shadows watched him, his unsettling eyes eyeing him like a predator. He watched, and soon the hysteria and budding fear got to him and a dark thought came brewing up within his distorted mind as his own brown eyes hardened.
Freak.
That was what the broken man thought.
That was what the teen grasped within the darkness— Perseus, heard.
And Perseus remembered, the days that has long passed, lost within the ruins of the passage of time.
Freak.
Monster.
Abomination.
He could still hear it— the jeers and the mockeries as they kicked him and punched him with all their might, and his silent pleas for it all to stop.
Please...
He remembered, how it never worked, so he kept his silence.
...stop it.
He remembered, how he always felt different. He remembered, when others would single him out because of it. He remembered, how he was so tired— of being pushed around and mocked, just because of his difference. He remembered, when he decided to put on a mask.
Conceal...
He remembered, how the masks he made never lasted long. He remembered, having his mask torn down and ripped apart as those who mocked him resorted to a more physical abuse as he wouldn't respond anymore to their taunts.
Don't feel...
He remembered, having sworn to himself that he would create a better, more perfect mask— so perfect, even his closest friends would never found out about it.
Put on a show...
He remembered, having been whisked away to a world he never knew. He remembered, feeling the sweet relief at the revelation of not being the odd one out anymore— that he wouldn't have to wear this suffocating mask anymore— that someone, anyone, would see him. He remembered, the snake slowly coiling its way around his soul as he realised that no one ever saw past his mask. He remembered, feeling like an abomination once more. He remembered, slowly getting used to it all and accepting the weird world he is living on as his home.
He remembered, the day he crumbled to the ground and wept for ages— Chiron standing there looking solemn as he watched the young boy before him crumbled the police reports within his hand, the papers creasing and eventually tearing in the middle.
Please...
...not you too...
He remembered, the day he was accused of and banished.
He remembered, walking home and was slapped with the painful truth that he wouldn't be seeing his mother again.
He remembered, the realisation that the only person who loved him as he truly was...
...was gone.
He was alone.
He remembered it all, every single suffocating bit as he realised no one would ever accept him as the freak he was, no one.
...but that wasn't all true...
A traitorous whisper echoed within his mind, as he cocked his gun and raised it up until it rested between hateful, glaring, brown eyes.
"Well...WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, YOU FREAK?! HUH?! KILL ME ALREADY!"
Perseus watched as the man in front of him started to lose whatever bit of sanity he once held, as the clarity within those brown orbs diminished like a candle being snuffed out and a cackling, maniacal laughter bursted out from the man's dry lips.
"DO IT! WHO WOULD EXPECT LESS FROM A CREATURE LIKE YOU?! EMOTIONLESS, UNLOVED, FREAK!"
And as Perseus was about to pull the trigger, he heard the soft voice yet again.
...there is still him...
Perseus might've remembered many things, and most probably buried just as many, but there are few that shone brightly within his mind— one of them are of him.
A spark of blue flashed within his mind, and that was all it took before he saw him once more.
Blue...
He could still see it, how the boy stood proudly with his back ramrod straight and his features as sharp as the spikes of ice hanging off the edges of buildings. He remembered, the silky black locks fluttering slightly in the cold chilly air as he watched his magnificent work in the skies— all of it hidden from the rest of the world as in that moment there is only the two of them, sheltered in their own little world.
....I like blue...
It may not be much to others, but as Perseus watched the thin blue ribbons wove its way in the skies, he had never felt happier.
He was alone for so very long, as the other children strayed as far away from him or mocked him and his mother weren't always with him no matter how much she tried. He could recall almost believing that he was always going to be alone, and he still remembered the dreary feeling of bleak grayness creeping into his mind, turning the world into a dark and depressing world.
But then he swooshed in and Perseus's world returned to colours once more.
It may not be much to others, but to him, that simple act made an impact far greater than one could've imagined.
He never did believe in knights in shining armours that only existed within the fairytales his mother told him, no, not until that day. Perseus believed, he had found his knight.
His hero.
He remembered, how he waited for the other to come back, the seconds ticking and the years passing by, but he never did come.
He waited, and until the moment his parents died did he give up and moved on.
But he never forgot.
After all, he did give him the best gift he could've ever imagined.
A spark that drove him until now.
A spark to be what he was today.
It was one of the brightest spark, no, fire, that drove him to be what he was. It was what drove him, made him, pushed him to help others. It was made him stay and do all those quests after quests after quests. It was what made him stay and keep on fighting, despite all the hate and the discrimination of the gods. It was what made him strong, and pushed him to do his best despite the odds.
It wasn't some hero like Heracles and all his twelve labours that inspired him to try his damnedest to be a hero.
No.
It was only him.
A simple stranger with no ties to himself.
A simple stranger who had all the rights to just leave him there crying all alone on Christmas.
A simple stranger, who brought light back into his darkening world.
It wasn't some impressive feat.
It wasn't the gift he gave him so he could give it to his mother.
It was only his kindness, that could be reflected back within those dark pools.
It was then, did Perseus learn not to listen to all those jeers and hurtful words, because he knew, he knew if that was all true, then his mother wouldn't have loved him and he wouldn't have been so kind to him back then.
He was his burning amber within this dark and cold world.
A thought came upon him like a brick, and he finally realized that he wasn't alone, for even if they weren't there, he still had his memories.
...his support...
Soon, his image of him crumbled and fluttered into the wind as he refocused back onto the man in front of him, meeting his hateful brown eyes with his piercing green as he lifted his gun up once more.
"DO IT! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! YOU THINK YOU ARE SO HIGH AND MIGHTY?! HUH?! DON'T YOU?! YOU ARE JUST AS WORSE AS I AM! DO IT!"
Perseus has met many like him, all delirious like him in the end as their strings of sanity— no matter how strong, was broken in the end, but he knew, he knew that tonight— it was going to be different. Perseus curled his fingers around the trigger, the cold metal contrasting against the burning heat roaring inside him, and for the first time in that night, did he spoke.
"No...you are wrong..."
And the man in front of him started screaming hysterically before silence reigned in once more after a loud bang and a bright flash of light within the dark.
Silence coated the air with its thick and daunting pressure once more, but this time, Perseus felt that it was lighter as he stood there watching glassy and unfocused brown eyes— all just mere centimeters away from a hole in the concrete beside it, still fresh as smoke slowly came out of it and the fresh line of blood at the side of his head.
"...I am not like you..."
And with a flick of his wrist, the glazed brown eyes closed as Perseus hit him with the back of his gun.
'Extraction required...'
Perseus held a hand to his ear-com and waited for a response. Soon enough a buzzing sound echoed within the air as an another message came.
'Status?'
His eyes flickered quickly to the battered form laying next to him.
Mercy...
That was what he wanted.
That was what they all wanted.
That was what he never gave.
Yet tonight, he did.
And oddly enough, he was happy about it.
Biting back a sigh, he pressed on his ear-com once more.
'...unconscious...'
There was a moment of silence before a reply went through, and he was glad there had been no other questions following it.
'ETA in two minutes. Good work, agent.'
And then the line went out with a buzz.
--
Within the silence, stood one silhouette— his posture was straight as he stared out to the window.
Snow...
He noted dully as a snowflake fluttered through the window, the moonlight hitting it just right, making it glitter like a little starlight within the night.
...how beautiful...
It wasn't long until a small smile ghosted his features. It has been so long since he last smiled, as he was reminded by the slight uncomfortable feeling of his skin being stretched, but at that moment, it was left forgotten.
...it has been so long...
Perhaps it was inappropriate, considering the gruesome scene inside, but Perseus couldn't care less as his darkened eyes lightened considerably and the storm inside dissipated.
...thank you...
It was the second time he spoke that night, and this time, it was soft and almost inaudible as he whispered to both himself and a boy who was lost within his memories.
"Merry Christmas..."
--
Yay, I finally finished this shit.
Seriously, I got some problems so I ended up procrastinating.
If this is not up to my usual standard, you know why.
Procrastination.
Yeap.
Tbh, the first draft of this was actually rather controversial.
And I ended up changing over half of this whole thing.
And if you hadn't noticed, this is a companion to the one-shot I made last year— 'Shadow of the Snow'.
And I guess I have one last thing to do.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL YOU GUYS.
Hope you have an amazing holiday.
And I guess that's it.
So...
au Revoir