Work Text:
That was all luck. All of it. Nothing but pure luck. He was victorious. But...it was no time to triumph. Leonidas was disappearing.
The boy begged Leonidas not to leave him behind.
"I'm afraid...my time has come, partner."
And he vanished into thin air. All of them only saw little sprinkles of light. Nothing else.
"I'm sorry."
He sighed, and looked down at the floor. The other Brawlers said nothing. They stood silently.
But Marduk...was completely broken.
"Vladitor, you can't just leave me alone! You can't you can't you can't you can't!"
"I'm sorry, my partner..."
He screamed out into the darkness. But it wasn't like they cared. Why would they anyway? He wanted to join Vladitor in dominating them all. Very low chance he'd ever be forgiven for anything he'd done.
But he didn't. care. He didn't want their affection or sympathy, or a lecture.
He wanted Vladitor. He wanted Vladitor to come back to him.
He cried. He sobbed. He screamed. He hated the world. He held nothing back. He cried out to his partner.
"Vladitor...Vladitor..."
'Vla...di...tor...'
He dug his nails through his hair, scratching his scalp hard enough to possibly draw a little blood. It hurt.
Losing Vladitor hurt worse.
He couldn't sleep. He didn't want to try to go back to sleep. He couldn't go a day without thinking about him. Not even a second. A millisecond.
All he felt able to do was stare blankly at the ceiling...and cry. Feel weak without him. Feel empty without him. Feel heartless like he already was towards the world, but Vladitor was someone he once had heart for. Shake violently and try to pull himself together. Feel that heavy pang in his heart over and over everytime he realizes Vladitor really was his only friend.
"Come back...please. Please come back, Vladitor." he sobbed out.
Feeling lonely wasn't the worst pain. The worst pain was having the one friend he ever cared about leave him so suddenly.
Vladitor's voice would never leave his mind. What bothered Marduk about it...was that he feared he'd never hear it again. He felt miserable.
"I miss you...why did you have to go...?"
So fricking much. He missed those moments. He'd treasure those moments. He was told to let them go because his moments with his partner were the past.
...Well, that's not what the boy told him directly. That was what it sounded like.
That was after they were subjugated. He'd never let those moments go. From the time they met all the way to the time Vladitor left, they were an inseparable duo. Unstoppable.
It wasn't at all heroic to plot against them. But Marduk would cherish those moments. Those were the only times he didn't feel lonely. He was genuinely happy.
Telling him to forget about the past...was equal to telling him to forget about his love for Vladitor. Because he was the only one who stuck with him when no one else would.
Marduk was never one to open up to others, not like this. He'd rather do it alone, where no one would judge him.
But Vladitor was always willing to listen. He saw past Marduk's lies, how he claimed he wasn't hurt by what others thought of him. He loved listening to him. He loved him.
...It hurt so, so much...
"I don't want to say goodbye, Vladitor..." ...He feared ever having to say that.
Laying back, he tries closing his tear-filled eyes, feeling those tears roll down his face.
"I love you, Vladitor."
He did feel...just a bit of a smile trying to force its way to his lips.
"I hope you come back someday. Goodnight, partner."
Just so he wouldn't feel lonely, he hugged a pillow close to him. Like how he used to hug Vladitor close to him.
...Warmth. He felt warmer now. He tried to focus on sleeping, using the pillow to calm himself down.
'I miss you, too, Marduk. If I come back...I swear to you...
I will never leave you to have to say goodbye ever again.'