Work Text:
A dreadful feeling overtakes hym as hy enters the confessional. Hy sits on the wooden bench and waits thirty minutes. Hys wings flutter and ache in the cramped box. Too small for an angel.
Someone enters.
“Welcome. Lay your sins bare, so they may be forgiven,” hy speaks. Hy goes to light the incense, but with each attempt, it’s snuffed out. The dread curls into an icy ball in hys gut. The wraith has returned.
“Is this your idea of heaven?” the drowned voice speaks. Water rises to hys ankles. Hy knows it’s a hallucination, but hy’s still paralyzed by fear. “You handed away salvation. Get it back.”
“I did no such thing,” he rebuts. Hys voice is wobbly, but it’s certainly hys. The wraith has not overtaken hym yet. “I am pure; you have seen my wings, have attempted to shatter my halo.”
“This temple offers no salvation. Only damnation. The statue cracks.”
“You lie. I would not be this way if that weren’t true.” Even though hy’s not near it, hy can hear a new crack grow in the statue of the cloister, clear as day. Hy aches as the corruption hy’s taken into hymself grows heavier.
"Divinity comes from within.” A roar of rushing water follows its words. The water rises to Aimé’s knees.
Hy doesn’t respond. Hy doesn’t need to; it has more to say.
“Your final act draws near. Your falling does, too. I will guide your final bow.” Something drops and shatters on the other side of the booth. A moment later, a broken ivory necklace is shoved through the opening in the wall. “You took something from me; in return, I will take from you, and all who love you.”
Hy trembles as hy takes the necklace. The pieces of the centered gem cut his finger.
“I didn’t know. Please, forgive me. I’ll return it, I’ll do anything. Just leave me alone.” The water rises to hys hips.
“How ironic. The confessor begs forgiveness of the penitent.” It lets out an amused laugh. “There is nothing you can do now. My resting place has been disturbed, a part of my spirit tainted by the hands of the present.”
“Please,” hy whispers. “I don’t want to die.” Hy is overcome by soft sobs and unable to stop. It’s like hys own tears cause the water to rise to hys chest.
“In due time,” it responds dryly. “You are needed.. The cycle is not yet ready to be complete.”
They pause, neither speaking, before it begins again.
“Here we sit. As Two, as One. Twin heartbeats, led astray. One drowned, one fallen. Both preventable, both doomed.”
Rage bubbles up in hys chest. One fallen. “Don’t you dare tell such foul lies,” hy growls. “I will not fall. I am bound to Sydney. I will never betray him.”
“The arrow of time struck midnight long before you were born.”
“Leave. Leave, you damned filth!” The water has risen to hys chin now.
“The light will consume you both. Slowly, painfully. And the darkness will rush up to swallow you whole, the moment you stumble.”
Hy opens hys mouth to protest, but water rushes in and chokes hym. The stress is too much; hy passes out.
Hy wakes up later. There’s no evidence of the wraith’s visit, but hys hair and clothes are damp. Hy dries off with some towels and exits the confessional.