Crossover - Cliffton/Meeting of Breccan & Finbar: Not So Divine: Chapter 12
This is a crossover fanfiction of my The Meeting of Breccan & Finbar and n3m3sis43's Cliffton universes. For context, it might help to read n3m3sis43's piece, Everything You Touch.
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11
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Okay, Devin, time to fucking deal with it. Owe it to Eric to fucking tell him what's happened. Don't wanna tell him. Gotta fucking tell him. Still fucking hard. Want to avoid looking at him. Should look him in the eyes. After everything he's fucking been through. He deserves that much.
I sigh. Manage to look right at him. Still got that scared look on his face. Hurts to see Eric so fucking scared. Because of me. Of course it's because of me.
“Things - have changed while you were out,” I say.
“Changed how?” he breathes.
“For one, I got fucking older,” I mutter. Start with that. Easy enough, right?
Eric murmurs, “I can see that. But how?”
“Time passed, dude.” Seven fucking years of it.
He catches a glimpse of himself in the PlastiGlass window of the laser incinerator. “I - look exactly the same. You grew up, and I look exactly the same! How?”
Looks even more fucking afraid now.
Gotta just say it. “You - were kinda gone for the past seven years.”
“Gone?” he asks.
Maris keeps saying nothing. Keeps fucking watching. Think she's curious how I'm gonna deal with this. Answer? Not very fucking well.
“Yeah. Gone. From - from this fucking world,” I say.
Eric looks at me funny. “What? Are you saying I was on some kind of spaceship? Like in Revengers where ScientaSaurus went with those aliens and when he came back everyone he knew was dead because of time dilation?”
I shake my head. Avoid his eyes. “Not on a fucking spaceship, dude. You were gone. As in you were - dead. I - kinda brought you back to life.”
“That's impossible!” he breathes.
My eyes sting. Can't fucking cry now. “Not impossible, dude. The fucking truth.”
Maris says, “Devin isn't lying, I'm afraid.”
Now she's gonna fucking help me?
Eric doesn't believe me. “How - could I have died and come back?”
I almost fucking laugh. “You're the one who believes in magic, right? Was magic that brought you back. My magic.”
“You have magic? Since when? Is that why your eyes are purple, because you have powers?” His eyes are still so fucking wide.
My fucking purple eyes sting even worse. Not sure I can keep from crying, but I gotta. “About a week. Got my powers in a - kind of accident.”
Don't wanna fucking explain the rest of it. Wanna just leave it at that. Fucking can't, though.
I say, “Not just any powers, either. Not like a regular mortal would have. I - got the powers of a fucking god.”
Eric stares at me. Disbelieving. But I'm not lying, as much as I wish I were.
“He's not lying about that, either,” Maris mutters.
He keeps staring at me. Like he's trying to decide how how much truth I'm telling. All of it's the fucking truth. All of it. My eyes sting so bad now. Tears start fucking falling. Can't stop them. Need to fucking stop them. Things - were not supposed to be this fucking hard.
“You're telling the truth, aren't you?” Eric whispers.
I nod. “Yeah, dude. I'm telling the fucking truth.”
He breathes, “My parents! They'll be overjoyed to see me again.”
My stomach drops to the center of the fucking Earth. Eric's parents. His fucking parents. They're still dead. He doesn't know. And I get to tell him.
How the fuck am I going to tell him? I stare at the fucking ceiling. Can't look anywhere in Eric's direction. “Eric - your parents...” Trail off. Can't fucking go on.
“What about my parents?” Voice fucking shakes. Like he might know what I'm gonna say.
Have to explain. Let him know. “They -” I pause. Try to collect myself. “Your parents - they died, too.”
“And you didn't bring them back?” Tears in his eyes, now. Don't fucking blame him.
I say, “I - I couldn't. Can bring back just one fucking person every thousand years.”
“But you're a god! Can't you do anything you want?” he asks.
I shake my head. “Even gods have limits, Eric.”
Tears stream down his face. “Then why bring me back at all?”
My own tears don't want to stop falling. Voice fucking cracking as I speak. “Wanted to - wanted to make things right. Because of how you died. It - was my fault. Remember the pendant? How I was so fucked up after I put it on? It - messed with my mind so fucking bad. Fucking government bullshit. You - saved me when you took it off. So they - they targeted you when it was time. Because you had it with you. Killed you and your family. Burned your house down.”
Want to fucking die right now. Trying to make things right made everything worse. Can see that by how much Eric's crying. By how much I'm fucking crying.
I continue anyway, “If I had just said something after you took the pendant. Told you how dangerous I thought it was. Told you what it did to me. Something. Anything. Anything at all. Just fucking opened up. Maybe - maybe they wouldn't have killed you. Maybe - you and your family would have lived. But - I wasn't strong enough to fucking trust you.”
Eric fucking chokes on his words. “So you wanted to bring me back because you felt responsible for my - my death? Because of what happened with the pendant?”
I nod. Can't fucking say anything.
“You didn't have to do that!” he cries. “It wasn't your fault. It was my fault. I'm the one who wanted to try the pendant. It was my idea! My idea!”
Hear a fucking knock on my lab door.
“Devin? What's going on in there?” Wes. It's fucking Wes.
Don't say anything. Maybe he'll go away. Can't deal with him right now.
Wes doesn't fucking go away. “Do I hear crying? Are you okay?”
Not fucking okay, Wes. Don't think I'm ever gonna be, either.
Maris says, “You should let him in and tell him what's going on. He's going to find out soon enough. It's not like you can just hide Eric in your attic lab forever.”
Don't wanna fucking do that. But Maris is right. Can't hide this from Wes. Somehow didn't fucking think about that when I made my plan. Gotta tell Wes everything, don't I?
I wipe my face off. Fucking futile. The tears keep coming anyway. Open the lab door and admit Wes. He stares in confusion at Eric, who returns the favor.
“Who - what?” Wes can't even find the words, and he's fucking Wes.
“This is Eric. My best friend who died seven years ago,” I say.
“D-died? But he's right there!” Wes breathes.
I sigh. “I - brought him back to life, Wes.”
He cries, “You never told me about him! Why, Devin? Why wouldn't you tell me you had a best friend who - who died? Don't you trust me?”
Eric's still fucking crying. Sounds like he'll never stop. Tears in Wes' eyes now, too.
“Blocked things out, Wes. Didn't think about Eric for the longest time because of how he died. Because of how it was my fucking fault. I brought him back - to make things right.” Brought him back so I would fucking deserve Wes. Looks like that's not gonna work out.
“It wasn't your fault, Devin!” Eric wails. “It wasn't your fault. Don't you listen? It was me! I wanted to try the pendant that the government killed me over. I thought the blue glow from that silver ball was magic. I had no idea what it would do to you.”
Wes' eyes widen. “Blue - glow? Silver - ball?”
My voice cracks, but I manage, “Yeah. We found this necklace in a hedge maze, just lying there. Silver ball. Fucking glowed blue. Freaked me out. Eric thought it was magic. I - I put it on. Thing messed with my fucking mind - made me distrustful, fucking paranoid. Eric - he worried about me. Took the pendant away. I - never told him what it did. So he kept it. And when the government came, they fucking came for him and his family, instead of me. Because he had the pendant.”
“No,” Wes breathes. “It can't be.”
“It fucking can, Wes. That's what happened, why I had to bring Eric back. Because I may as well have killed him,” I mutter.
Wes whispers, “My - my family.” He looks like he wants to die.
His family? The fuck? “What about your family?”
“They - they made those pendants!” he cries. “They developed them for the government. My family had no idea what the government was going to do with the pendants, but they - they made them.”
“That's not funny, Wes,” I say. “Don't fucking joke about that.”
“It's - it's not a joke, Devin.” His face. His fucking face. From that, I can tell it's no joke.
Wes' family was involved in this? His own fucking family? How can that be possible? Not fucking possible. But seeing Wes' face - it's possible. Can't think about it now. Can't fucking handle it.
Eric's looking at Wes like he's some kind of monster. Hard, angry eyes underneath the tears that still come. Wes notices. Fucking flinches.
Everything's all wrong. I fucking tried to make things right. Instead, I ruined everything. Don't know how I'm gonna fix things. I fucking have to, but what if I keep making them worse?
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written for 500themes prompt #400 - "Trusting Soul"
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11
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Okay, Devin, time to fucking deal with it. Owe it to Eric to fucking tell him what's happened. Don't wanna tell him. Gotta fucking tell him. Still fucking hard. Want to avoid looking at him. Should look him in the eyes. After everything he's fucking been through. He deserves that much.
I sigh. Manage to look right at him. Still got that scared look on his face. Hurts to see Eric so fucking scared. Because of me. Of course it's because of me.
“Things - have changed while you were out,” I say.
“Changed how?” he breathes.
“For one, I got fucking older,” I mutter. Start with that. Easy enough, right?
Eric murmurs, “I can see that. But how?”
“Time passed, dude.” Seven fucking years of it.
He catches a glimpse of himself in the PlastiGlass window of the laser incinerator. “I - look exactly the same. You grew up, and I look exactly the same! How?”
Looks even more fucking afraid now.
Gotta just say it. “You - were kinda gone for the past seven years.”
“Gone?” he asks.
Maris keeps saying nothing. Keeps fucking watching. Think she's curious how I'm gonna deal with this. Answer? Not very fucking well.
“Yeah. Gone. From - from this fucking world,” I say.
Eric looks at me funny. “What? Are you saying I was on some kind of spaceship? Like in Revengers where ScientaSaurus went with those aliens and when he came back everyone he knew was dead because of time dilation?”
I shake my head. Avoid his eyes. “Not on a fucking spaceship, dude. You were gone. As in you were - dead. I - kinda brought you back to life.”
“That's impossible!” he breathes.
My eyes sting. Can't fucking cry now. “Not impossible, dude. The fucking truth.”
Maris says, “Devin isn't lying, I'm afraid.”
Now she's gonna fucking help me?
Eric doesn't believe me. “How - could I have died and come back?”
I almost fucking laugh. “You're the one who believes in magic, right? Was magic that brought you back. My magic.”
“You have magic? Since when? Is that why your eyes are purple, because you have powers?” His eyes are still so fucking wide.
My fucking purple eyes sting even worse. Not sure I can keep from crying, but I gotta. “About a week. Got my powers in a - kind of accident.”
Don't wanna fucking explain the rest of it. Wanna just leave it at that. Fucking can't, though.
I say, “Not just any powers, either. Not like a regular mortal would have. I - got the powers of a fucking god.”
Eric stares at me. Disbelieving. But I'm not lying, as much as I wish I were.
“He's not lying about that, either,” Maris mutters.
He keeps staring at me. Like he's trying to decide how how much truth I'm telling. All of it's the fucking truth. All of it. My eyes sting so bad now. Tears start fucking falling. Can't stop them. Need to fucking stop them. Things - were not supposed to be this fucking hard.
“You're telling the truth, aren't you?” Eric whispers.
I nod. “Yeah, dude. I'm telling the fucking truth.”
He breathes, “My parents! They'll be overjoyed to see me again.”
My stomach drops to the center of the fucking Earth. Eric's parents. His fucking parents. They're still dead. He doesn't know. And I get to tell him.
How the fuck am I going to tell him? I stare at the fucking ceiling. Can't look anywhere in Eric's direction. “Eric - your parents...” Trail off. Can't fucking go on.
“What about my parents?” Voice fucking shakes. Like he might know what I'm gonna say.
Have to explain. Let him know. “They -” I pause. Try to collect myself. “Your parents - they died, too.”
“And you didn't bring them back?” Tears in his eyes, now. Don't fucking blame him.
I say, “I - I couldn't. Can bring back just one fucking person every thousand years.”
“But you're a god! Can't you do anything you want?” he asks.
I shake my head. “Even gods have limits, Eric.”
Tears stream down his face. “Then why bring me back at all?”
My own tears don't want to stop falling. Voice fucking cracking as I speak. “Wanted to - wanted to make things right. Because of how you died. It - was my fault. Remember the pendant? How I was so fucked up after I put it on? It - messed with my mind so fucking bad. Fucking government bullshit. You - saved me when you took it off. So they - they targeted you when it was time. Because you had it with you. Killed you and your family. Burned your house down.”
Want to fucking die right now. Trying to make things right made everything worse. Can see that by how much Eric's crying. By how much I'm fucking crying.
I continue anyway, “If I had just said something after you took the pendant. Told you how dangerous I thought it was. Told you what it did to me. Something. Anything. Anything at all. Just fucking opened up. Maybe - maybe they wouldn't have killed you. Maybe - you and your family would have lived. But - I wasn't strong enough to fucking trust you.”
Eric fucking chokes on his words. “So you wanted to bring me back because you felt responsible for my - my death? Because of what happened with the pendant?”
I nod. Can't fucking say anything.
“You didn't have to do that!” he cries. “It wasn't your fault. It was my fault. I'm the one who wanted to try the pendant. It was my idea! My idea!”
Hear a fucking knock on my lab door.
“Devin? What's going on in there?” Wes. It's fucking Wes.
Don't say anything. Maybe he'll go away. Can't deal with him right now.
Wes doesn't fucking go away. “Do I hear crying? Are you okay?”
Not fucking okay, Wes. Don't think I'm ever gonna be, either.
Maris says, “You should let him in and tell him what's going on. He's going to find out soon enough. It's not like you can just hide Eric in your attic lab forever.”
Don't wanna fucking do that. But Maris is right. Can't hide this from Wes. Somehow didn't fucking think about that when I made my plan. Gotta tell Wes everything, don't I?
I wipe my face off. Fucking futile. The tears keep coming anyway. Open the lab door and admit Wes. He stares in confusion at Eric, who returns the favor.
“Who - what?” Wes can't even find the words, and he's fucking Wes.
“This is Eric. My best friend who died seven years ago,” I say.
“D-died? But he's right there!” Wes breathes.
I sigh. “I - brought him back to life, Wes.”
He cries, “You never told me about him! Why, Devin? Why wouldn't you tell me you had a best friend who - who died? Don't you trust me?”
Eric's still fucking crying. Sounds like he'll never stop. Tears in Wes' eyes now, too.
“Blocked things out, Wes. Didn't think about Eric for the longest time because of how he died. Because of how it was my fucking fault. I brought him back - to make things right.” Brought him back so I would fucking deserve Wes. Looks like that's not gonna work out.
“It wasn't your fault, Devin!” Eric wails. “It wasn't your fault. Don't you listen? It was me! I wanted to try the pendant that the government killed me over. I thought the blue glow from that silver ball was magic. I had no idea what it would do to you.”
Wes' eyes widen. “Blue - glow? Silver - ball?”
My voice cracks, but I manage, “Yeah. We found this necklace in a hedge maze, just lying there. Silver ball. Fucking glowed blue. Freaked me out. Eric thought it was magic. I - I put it on. Thing messed with my fucking mind - made me distrustful, fucking paranoid. Eric - he worried about me. Took the pendant away. I - never told him what it did. So he kept it. And when the government came, they fucking came for him and his family, instead of me. Because he had the pendant.”
“No,” Wes breathes. “It can't be.”
“It fucking can, Wes. That's what happened, why I had to bring Eric back. Because I may as well have killed him,” I mutter.
Wes whispers, “My - my family.” He looks like he wants to die.
His family? The fuck? “What about your family?”
“They - they made those pendants!” he cries. “They developed them for the government. My family had no idea what the government was going to do with the pendants, but they - they made them.”
“That's not funny, Wes,” I say. “Don't fucking joke about that.”
“It's - it's not a joke, Devin.” His face. His fucking face. From that, I can tell it's no joke.
Wes' family was involved in this? His own fucking family? How can that be possible? Not fucking possible. But seeing Wes' face - it's possible. Can't think about it now. Can't fucking handle it.
Eric's looking at Wes like he's some kind of monster. Hard, angry eyes underneath the tears that still come. Wes notices. Fucking flinches.
Everything's all wrong. I fucking tried to make things right. Instead, I ruined everything. Don't know how I'm gonna fix things. I fucking have to, but what if I keep making them worse?
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written for 500themes prompt #400 - "Trusting Soul"