11.06.1642

03:56

Are you proud of yourself?

Little liar. Little liar.

...You are nothing more than a broken man. Do you really think you can save them all?

The mission seems as it has been completed for hours now and everyone is asleep. Well... everyone except one person, as He doesn't seem to be able to fall asleep at all. In a room from the base, the two brothers are laying down on their own beds. RY4N seems to be sleeping, yet CHE5TER seems to be looking at the ceiling for a while now, thinking about any subject that comes to His mind randomly. He simply can't rest now. But it sure is boring, even for Him.

And so, He gets up silently and leaves the room, going to His office. The base is so silent at this hour though. LUK3 snores in his room, MY4 sleeps peacefully, N04H is resting in a room he got when he entered, as well as all the other members that are now respecting the schedule. Or, well... some of the members. Maybe because some have their own places, while the others were given a room here. To think that such a noisy and chaotic base during the day, when all of the members are doing their tasks and helping around with whatever is in their powers, can be so peaceful at night, with everyone in their beds, dreaming about whatever their dream is in general, or simply resting. No people arguing, no people rushing towards their own destination to do their jobs, no people training. Nothing at all. Seems like they really go for their schedules at any costs.

So, the ruler opens the door of His own office, turns on the light and starts losing some time alone. He doesn't do anything much though. He takes a cigarette and lights it up, smoking for a while, getting some documents from His drawers and sitting down on His chair. Once the cigarette is done, He takes another one and another one, as it doesn't seem as He wants to stop this action at all. He seems tired, yet He still cannot sleep for a reason or another.

Yet now, minutes of doing this constantly, He seems more annoyed, as He throws maybe the forth or the fifth cigarette down so badly, getting the ores out of it all over the floor. Then He puts His head on His arms, on the desk, punching His head easily, while His face is covered on that desk of His by His hands. He doesn't punch as if He wants to hurt Himself, it's more like a "wake up" or "stop it" kind of punch. Then, He finally raises His head from His arms and looks into the nothingness in front of Him, before getting even more annoyed by something we do not know much about.

Sleepless nights after the others. When will you realise that you only torture yourself by living like this? I only want to help you. Won't you accept my offering?

[CHE5TER]-...You don't want to help me at all. You only make my life even harder than it already is. If Hell didn't accept me, probably you are here to make my living as if I've already died.

Living Hell, huh? Maybe Heaven is waiting for you once you accept me as a part of you. Did you think about it that way?

[CHE5TER]-Yeah, right... Sometimes your foolishness is more questionable than your ways of keeping me insane.

I don't need to keep you insane, Little Ruler. You are already talking to yourself for a while now.

Then, He takes a deep breath, gets up from His chair and starts wandering around the base. More exactly, He goes towards MY4's room, in which He starts searching for something in her bag, silently, so she won't get woken up by Him. Hard to say what exactly He searches for, there are only a few ores and Energy Killers, as well as some bandages and other things she uses at her work.

After a while, He finally finds what He was searching for, what it seems to be an ore. He takes it as a whole, but He did some noises from this action by mistake and annoyed MY4 for a bit. She didn't wake up yet, she just moved from the annoying noise. Then, He finally leaves the room, closing the door and going towards His office once again.

When He arrives, He starts searching for something again, as He goes to a small cabinet attached to one of the walls and looks around the things that are found there. All kinds of objects that can be used in doing a few things around the base, like repairing, creating and things like that. Minutes later, He finds the tools that He was searching for, but it seems like He needs something else as well, as He is not done searching. He opens another cabinet next to that one, where there are ores this time, until He gets surprised by a voice coming from the door of the room and hits Himself by accident from the unexpected guest, before clearing His mind and looking back, confused, at the voice that speaks to Him.

[MY4]-...What are you doing up this late?

And the voice is MY4, who is a bit sleepy as she just woke up because of the noises the ruler made and came here to see what's going on.

[CHE5TER]-Don't tell me I woke you up...

[MY4]-Doesn't matter now. What's happening?

[CHE5TER]-*sigh* I simply can't sleep, alright? It's nothing important. Go back to bed. Hope you don't mind though, but I took the Bethjavih Ore from your bag. You can take it back after I'm done with it.

[MY4]-You know that I don't care about the ore, CHE5TER. What's happening? Is it something that bothers you?

[CHE5TER]-No. There is nothing. I just can't rest, and these trash cigarettes from the merchants don't help me fall asleep either, so I thought of making a strong one myself.

He then finally finds the other ore He was searching for and goes to His desk, where He starts crushing the ore He just found with a tool into tiny pieces of it, working to make a homemade cigarette.

[MY4]-You know that your problems of sleep come from your stress, right? Why don't you want to talk to me?

[CHE5TER]-There is nothing to talk about, MY4. Stop worrying about me. You are always doing this... You are always coming to me and ask if something bothers me. Why can't you understand that there is no such thing? It's simply the work that I have to do that just makes my schedule a bit harder to follow perfectly. Why are you so worried ever since that incident?

[MY4]-And why do you refuse to talk to any of us from that day? You don't talk as much as you did before, CHE5TER. You ignore us like we aren't even present and do whatever you want.

After He is done with that ore, He takes another tool and starts peeling off tiny parts of the other one that He took from MY4, as thin as He can, and cutting them into multiple pieces. He seems to have cut Himself as He wasn't really paying attention while He was arguing though, but He doesn't really care. It is but a scratch.

[CHE5TER]-...MY4, we had this conversation so many times before. I had this conversation too many times. I'm tired of forever explaining this just for both of you to start all over again. Can't we just appreciate the present? Why do we have to worry so much about the past? I made a promise to you and RY4N. Do you really think that I will go off my word that easily?

[MY4]-But, CHE5TER...

[CHE5TER]-No. Stop with the buts. Look at yourself for a minute, MY4. Where is that lively girl I met nine years ago? Was she lost because of the mistakes of a man in her life? Just because you worry so much about me now, you barely have time to focus on your own problems. Do you think that's what I've wanted you to become? ...Because of me?

[MY4]-...

When He is done with the other ore, He takes all the pieces and covers them with a piece of paper, rolling it. Then, He gets up from His seat and goes towards her, as He looks at her straight in the eyes, yet His eyes are still as empty as ever, just like the first time we saw and just like all the other times. A smile cannot hide the emptiness in the eyes, no matter how hard He tries to do so. Maybe that's why His smiles are so creepy. But the emptiness from His eyes doesn't even seem from the fact that He shows little emotion. He can still feel them. But it feels like something else is causing this strange appearance of His eyes, and she too knows that it isn't normal at all, knowing damn well that He used to be like all the others.

He puts His head near her body then, touching her forehead, with His right hand on her cheek, trying to calm her down. It is maybe the only thing He can do after all. He cannot ensure a safe future, nor to keep a promise for too long. But He can try at least to keep everyone calm, while He tries His best to complete all His tasks.

[CHE5TER]-...You know I love you more than anything else in this life of mine. I know the suffering in your eyes when you fear to lose me. I would've had it as well when I knew you could be in danger. But I just want you to trust me, alright? I know what I'm doing, and I made a promise that I won't ever break.

He then kisses her on the lips, just for a few seconds again, looks back at her as she looks unhappy, before He lets her in peace and sits down on the couch of the room, lighting up His homemade cigarette.

[CHE5TER]-...Let's forget about these problems for a moment at least though. So? Why are you not sleeping? Isn't it going to be a big day for you when the morning comes?

And as they talk to each other, He lays down on the couch, smoking for a few minutes again, while MY4 only stands to watch Him worried.

[MY4]-Well... I was... until you made some noises and woke me up.

[CHE5TER]-Yeah... Sorry for that. But the trashes from the merchants have no effect on me anymore.

[MY4]-I'm surprised you remember the usage of the ores so easily though.

[CHE5TER]-It's not like I didn't use them before at all, MY4. Just because I'm not a Healer, doesn't mean I don't have any knowledge on the existent ores on this planet. And you taught me in the past as well. How do you think I could forget so easily?

[MY4]-Even the anesthetic ore?

[CHE5TER]-You think it's the first time I make a cigarette on my own? Why do you think I have one piece from that ore in my office in the first place?

[MY4]-Just saying...

It is a small moment of silence between them, but then, they start talking again.

[MY4]-...Hey, CHE5TER? Can I ask you something?

[CHE5TER]-Anything.

[MY4]-How about we go together around the city in the morning? Just like we used to?

[CHE5TER]-*sigh* Alright. Since it is your day, I will take a few hours off and stay with you. How about that? But I won't stay for too long, alright?

[MY4]-Better than nothing, I guess...

And not long after, He stops smoking for a bit, as He thinks about something. Truth to be told though, now He seems even more tired than before. A reason why is because the ore He used, alongside the Bethjavih Ore which He took from MY4, is an anesthetic ore, as MY4 said too. It is used in medicine to put to sleep patients when there is a need of it, like when they have to amputee a limb because of a health problem and so on. But they are used in these cigarettes too, giving this calming effect that they feel. This ore alone cannot put them to sleep though, just makes them calm enough so that if they are already tired, they can have a natural sleep. Combining with Bethjavih is giving this forced sleep, a reason why they are called "strong cigarettes". You do not need to smoke them, only the smell it emits can give you this feeling of tiredness, before finding yourself resting.

[CHE5TER]-...You miss these days as well, don't you?

[MY4]-You know already that I do...

[CHE5TER]-Of course. And yet, won't it be even better if the future will be in the lands of peace? Even better than the lands before the war?

[MY4]-*sigh* CHE5TER...

[CHE5TER]-I mean, think about it for a second. You and RY4N tell me the same words every day. You miss these old days because we didn't have anything to fear back then. If we finish with this war, we will get back to these days that we cherished so much. We will finally have the life we've dreamt of.

The more He speaks, the more tired He appears to be. His eyes are barely staying open, and He starts to stutter as well. He is looking at the ceiling again, thinking of the future, while talking once more.

[CHE5TER]-...Don't you want for everything to be finally over? For the war to finally end? It's not fair for us to be hidden in the shadows every second of our lives. We didn't do anything wrong to deserve this. Don't you want the peace we deserve? The peace we dese--

And so, it seems like the cigarette did its effect in the end. It finally made Him fall asleep as He wished, forced. The eyes are now closed, resting after a hard day, while He drops what was left from that anesthetic drug, with His left hand hanging from the couch towards the floor.

MY4 noticed that as well, but she knows the effects of these drugs better than anybody else, so there is no need of her to worry. She then takes a blanket from a closet, a thin one, and looks at her ruler, sleeping forced by the drug. She sits next to Him, then laying down next to His body, putting her head on His chest to listen to His heartbeats, both covered by the blanket, as the drug starts affecting her body as well.

[MY4]-I dream of these days as well, CHE5TER... But you don't want to understand. I don't want a future without you in it. Why do you act like you don't realise that...?

She takes His hanging hand and holds it with hers though, both now hanging from the bed, holding each other. And yet, she simply looks at nothing at all, simply wanting Him to hear her words, and waiting for the drug to make its effect.

[MY4]-We only try to help you. I know the war doesn't have any mercy, but why do you make it even harder than it already is? I simply don't want to lose you. I don't want to lose you...