It was quiet.
Staggeringly quiet.
Romeo could hear the strange tic of his heartbeat echoing in his chest. His ears were acutely aware of every single tiny noise, from the shuffling of his feet on the tile to the low steady breaths that exited his mouth.
There was nothing else left for him to hear. Almost everything had been completely deleted from the terminal, excluding the tiles under his body and the few precious knick knacks he had managed to salvage before complete deletion. They were the only items worth saving, the only pieces he cared for more than himself.
Romeo had lied when he said he was powerless to Jesse. Despite his inability to shapeshift and manipulate the objects around him, he still held some sliver of power. While it hadn't been enough to save the terminal, it had saved the items that originally held potent concentrations of magic. The amount of magic was just enough to save them.
Just enough to survive the collapse.
Romeo ground his teeth and curled a little tighter on the tiny platform, his knees huddled up to his shoulders. He didn't need to breathe, not really, but the constant pressure it brought was comforting. It made him sentimental, opened the gates to the memories of simpler times. It was a welcoming distraction from the near vacuum he was trapped in.
He had tried to be human, once. Pretended to be them with his friends Xara and Fred. They 'needed' to eat, sleep, breathe. Fred in particular had been adamant about copying humans. Said that they "needed to put themselves in their armor" or something along those lines. Xara had been less than pleased, but she could never resist Fred's convictions. Romeo was just happy to be included.
They had played human in that tiny cabin for a long, long time. Whilst they built kingdoms and palaces, the humans had referred to them as gods and saviors, but Romeo only saw himself as one of them. He enjoyed their passion, their willingness to throw their fragile mortal shells at the darkest of creatures just for the fight alone.
Reminiscing about it now, Romeo could pinpoint exactly when he began his descent.
Xara and Fred had always held differing opinions of the humans compared to him. Fred saw them as lovely creations with big hearts and beautiful minds. Though, despite his unabridged love for them, Romeo could remember the faintest tic of condescension in Fred. He treated them similarly to how he treated Waffles, his beloved pet chicken. With love and care, but a with a smile that told them exactly how much he trusted them with power.
At least he treated them decently. Xara liked the humans in a similar way that Romeo did. She preferred their analytical nature, though there were few people that actually had one. So she only looked at a narrow margin of the population and ignored the rest. Xara did manage to corral most of the scientists and architects to herself, now that he thought about it. Romeo collected the warriors and the griefers while Fred got the remaining population.
He had killed off all his warriors and griefers, eventually. They were already stir crazy and willing to prove themselves to him. They had taken on every single foe he threw their way. Eventually, despite their persistence and determination, their shells shattered into thick plumes of smoke and were forgotten by their god.
He had grown impatient and angry. At first the rage was directed at himself, but he gradually shifted the blame to the mortals. They simply weren't strong enough. They were losers, toys that refused to play. It wasn't his fault they couldn't withstand a single blow from an obsidian golem. Not his fault he worked them tirelessly without end.
But it was, Romeo thought glumly. It is.
Once all of his dolls had been dealt into fine powder, he focused on his friends instead. They weren't as enthusiastic as him, but they were always up for a good challenge.
However, they refused to play.
Somewhere in the middle of his descent, they had begun to focus on their cities and people instead of their comrades. They grew distant with each other. Bittersweet. They were forced to betray some of their more 'human' tasks, though neither Fred or Xara ever gave up their beds.
They stopped playing like Romeo.
They stopped pretending to be human.
It had angered him beyond redemption. He did terrible, inexcusable things. He didn't want the facade to end. So, being the warrior of the trio, he forced them act like true humans. Romeo massacred one, and chipped the other's joy away until she was as much of a shell as the humans were. He didn't stop afterward, another nail in his board of crimes.
It was then that Romeo stopped being human.
Romeo let out a shuddering sigh, his chin resting on the tops of his knees.
He missed them. He truly, honestly did. If he still had the power, if he wasn't holding on to the dregs of his reserve, he would have gladly strained against time and reverse it to a better era. He wanted to see them again. He wanted to feel Fred's palm against his back in a small consoling way whenever he said a joke badly. Wanted to hear Xara's voice drone in the background about the intricacies of enchantments and the magic that held every block in place. Wanted to see Fred's calm, peaceful image and Xara's annoyed glances.
It was too late.
He could never have that back.
Romeo's power flitted against his chest, small dings that matched the pace of a beating heart. It was weaker, faded, and he felt a dull pain collect under his ribcage. He looked at his surroundings and a hollow chuckle escaped his lips. He would be stuck here for all eternity now, waiting for his magic to run dry and finally delete him from existence.
That was fine by him.
"I deserve it," he muttered to himself. The words felt like sunken tar in his mouth, but they rolled truthfully off all the same.
"I deserve it..."
He felt a phantom impression of a palm on his back.
Me, to myself: You know whose an angst
Myself: do not
Me: Romeo
So here we have it. The angstiest, most undeserving character getting a bit of light shed on him.
Fuckin Romeo
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