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1.
The server felt empty.
It was one of those days where people barely talked in the chat, and spent most of their time building or farming or something along those lines.
Unfortunately, it was also one of those days where Night's grief loomed over his head. As if trying to drag him down.
He made sure to keep himself busy. He watered his crops, helped anyone that needed it, experimented with redstone–mojang, that stuff was complicated–and building, etc.
He had to, or else he would have broken down as soon as he stepped foot outside his house.
Night hummed a soft tune as he expanded his farm. It was a tune he vaguely remembered from his past. His friend used to sing it to him, he thought.
Night groaned as Caelum belted out their song. They had come up with it together, but now his friend wouldn't shut up about it. It was fake annoyance, of course–not that he'd ever admit that.
"Dude, shut up!" he shouted, but he couldn't stop the smile and the giggles that forced their way out of him.
Caelum grinned, and sang even louder.
Night paused, forcing a sob back down his throat. No. He couldn't think about that right now. He changed tunes and continued on with his farm.
2.
"Why do you always have your doors closed?"
Night questioned Flicker, as they wandered around their house.
They looked over to him. "Oh- I, uh, don't like being snuck up on."
He hummed thoughtfully. "I had a friend like that, once," he blurted it without thinking. He regretted saying it as soon as he did.
They went quiet for a moment, then asked, "What were they like?"
"What's up with you and doors, Mars?" Night asked. They–him, Caelum, and Mars–were sat outside.
"They're just…yknow, if you leave 'em open, it's too easy to be snuck up on."
"That's weird," Caelim commented.
Mars giggled, and so did Night and Caelum. "Y'all are just haters." He grinned.
Night shoved his shoulder playfully. "Haters we may be," Caelum began. "But friends we are more."
"Corny," Mars and Night said, simultaneously. Caelum gasped in fake offence.
"Excuse me for trying to be poetic!" he pouted. "Anyways, when ya headed home-"
"Night?"
His chest felt heavy, and a lump welled up in his throat. They had only been thirteen. They had only been thirteen when they were slaughtered mercilessly.
"I-I am sorry," he apologized. "I have to go."
He flew out of Flicker's base before they could get in another word.
3.
Night was avoiding Chaos and Eclipse.
Anytime they invited him to hang out, he would make some sort of excuse not to go. Or if they would be at an event, he'd tell people he was busy.
He was ashamed of it. Guilty. But he couldn't look at them.
He could not look at them without seeing Void and Summer. They were so similar, but so, so different at the same time.
They were still his siblings, and he still loved them. But it was so hard to look at them, sometimes.
Eclipse hadn't really changed at all. She still looked so much like the little kid he used to know. Still acted so similar.
Chaos…Mojang, Chaos was different. She was so, so different. But when Night looked at her, all he could see was the sister he used to hold so dearly.
It was so hard to separate them. So Night started avoiding them.
A horrible easy solution for a horrible problem.
The one time he did decide to hang out with them, he had nearly broken down.
"Agh- Cannot get this to work!" Eclipse groaned in frustration.
Chaos perked up, and walked over. "Here, lemme help?"
Eclipse stepped aside and let Chaos investigate. Night wanted to cry.
"Ugh!" Summer shouted. Void and Night both looked over to her. "I can't get this stupid toy to work!" she cried. Tears of frustration welled up in her eyes.
Before Night could do anything, Void strode over. "Here, let me help."
Night walked over and engulfed Summer in a hug while Void fixed the toy. After a few moments, she held it up proudly. "All-
"-fixed!" Void Chaos yelled. Eclipse cheered loudly.
Night felt like he was being suffocated. He breathed in and out heavily, swallowing the painful lump in his throat. "I-I am sorry, I just remembered I forgot something important to do."
Chaos and Eclipse went to tell him goodbye, but by then he had already flown off.
4.
Night could not sleep.
Despair hung over him like a shadow, and all he could do was sit with it.
There was a song his mama (not Era) used to sing to him. It was something like…
"Shh, shh. It's okay, honey." His mama shushed him as he sobbed. His heart was still pounding from his nightmare, and his breathing was wildly out of control.
"Here, how about you get into bed with mama, and I'll sing you a song. That alright, sweetie?" she asked. Night sniffled and nodded, climbing into bed aside her.
He curled into her side as she began singing. And, slowly but surely, his breathing evened out. His heart stopped beating out of his chest.
And eventually, he drifted to sleep.
Night gasped, shooting up as tears began pouring out of his eyes.
Kriff. Kriff .
It hurt, so badly. Night wanted nothing more than to hear his mama sing again. To curl up beside her as she comforted him. To feel one of her hugs again.
His chest hurt. He missed his family.
"I- mi- miss you, ma- mama-" he choked out. The only answer was silence.
He didn't get any sleep that night.
5.
Night didn't think about his dad often.
Sometimes, the man would pop into his mind, but he always shut those thoughts down quickly.
He did not need that guy on his mind. Never again.
And yet, there would always be that small part of him that missed his dad.
Whenever he was around Bug, he would be reminded of the good times with his father.
He kicked his legs (protected, of course, he was not completely stupid) through the water leisurely.
"Hey Night!" he heard Bug call out somewhere from behind him. "How're you doin'?"
Night paused, and stared at Bug. "I am okay. How are you?"
"I'm good! Got some work finished today."
He stared. "...what?"
"I got some-
"-work finished today."
Night grinned and patted the spot on the couch next to him. "Sit!"
His papa went and sat down beside him, wrapping his arm around Night and pulled him close. He giggled, and shifted until he was comfortable.
"I'm proud of ya, yknow that?" his papa said. "I don't tell ya enough, do I?"
He blinked. His lips quivered as tears of joy welled up in his eyes. "Really?"
"Really, kiddo."
"I love you, papa."
"I love you too-
"Night, you okay?" Bug waved his hand in front of his face.
He quickly forced his gaze away as tears began streaming down his face. "I can not- I am sorry, Bug, but there is something very impor- important I forgot to do."
He spread his wings and launched himself into the air, ignoring Bug's calls for him to come back as he did.
When he got home, he curled up into his nest and let out loud sobs and wails. "Pa- papa- please c-come home-"
He wanted to go home.
1.
Night's hand shake as he waits for Sil and Vam to arrive.
He does not want a big group, just the people he trusts the most. He would have invited Chaos and Eclipse, but he was grieving Void and Summer, too. Night was not going to invite people to their own funeral.
A knock on the door. "Night?" he hears Vam call.
He has to force a response out. "Come in!"
Loud footsteps, and both Vam and Sil climb onto his top floor. The first thing Vam does is hold her arms out in a silent question. He nods, and Vam attaches herself to him.
He is almost able to keep from breaking down, but then Sil joins the hug and all of that effort goes to waste.
Loud, ugly sobs tear from his throat. The heavy silence is replaced by loud wailing as his breaths is taken away.
Tears stream down his face. Hot and clingy and disgusting. They are unwelcome, but they fall anyways.
He does not move. Not even when Sil and Vam hug him as tight as they can.
"I- I wanna go- h- home-" he wails. "I- mi- miss my ma- mama-" The words spill from his throat like a confession. A loud and pitiful one.
Neither of them say anything. Instead, they hold him as he sobs.
He is sure everyone in the world can hear him, but he can not stop the cries from making themselves known.
Night is unsure how much time passes as he sits there and cries. It lasts a while, that much he knows. He has not let himself grieve- couldn't , because that would have meant admitting they were gone.
Admitting he would never see them again.
And that truth is worse than any monster–Watcher or less–he had faced.
His wings wrap around the two in an attempt to return their gesture. They just continue holding him.
It hurts. It hurts so much to think that the people he once loved with everything he had are truly gone. That he'll never, ever see them again.
Eventually, the wails turn into sobs, the sobs turn into hiccups, and the hiccups turn into quietness.
He does not make them get off, or ask them to leave. He continues letting them hold him.
Though he does ask, "Can- can you guys help me build a grave?"
They don't verbally respond, but Night knows their answer anyways.
Of course , he can feel them say. Of course .
He does not respond to that either, but he does wrap his wings around them a little tighter.
Thank you , he says.