"Do you understand now Major?" Captain said, floating around the battlefield we were witnessing. He sat down on Iapetus' head, looking down at me from above. "If you continue to persist down this path of lying to yourself, you'll just have all these people die, these people who are fighting for your sake. Do you really want that to become your next regret?"
"Of course not!" I yelled out, gritting my teeth at his words as we returned to the empty whiteness that surrounded us.
"But I never asked them to come here damnit. They would've been better off leaving me here alone with that guy," I grumbled, looking away as Iapetus finally vanished from the scene, causing Captain to land back on his feet.
"That excuse is worthless, and you know it. You know there was no way to contact them, and you know why they came here."
"I know why they did it goddamnit, I just wish they didn't!" I yelled out, and Captain started to laugh to himself.
"It's intriguing to see that part of you hasn't changed at all Major," Captain said, letting out satisfying sigh before looking at me once more.
"So, what will you do, Major?"
It was the simplest of questions, boiling down to a yes or no answer. If they were alive, or if they were dead; the question that would end up shaping who I would end up becoming for the rest of my days.
But…
"I really, don't wanna answer this damn question," I voiced out towards the Truth, who shrugged as he appeared above me, his upside-down face looking at me.
"You really wanna stick to this lie of yours, despite the hell and suffering it caused you? You know not making a choice doesn't count as a choice here. Plus, the girl sent you here to help you, so you can't leave unless you make a decision right here and now."
"I don't want to," I growled out, and Captain started to float away, sighing.
"Well, we can do this all day, but the longer you wait, the more likely you'll find your friends' corpses laid out in front of you. And we both know what your reaction to that would be."
Why now damnit, why now? I clenched my fists, the pressure weighing heavily upon my head and shoulders as I desperately tried to find a way out of this situation my friends and I had stumbled into.
Captain stopped floating away, crossing his legs as he sat floating in the air, staring at me intently.
"So, in the end, it comes down to that, doesn't it?"
Damnit, I don't wanna. I don't, I don't wanna make a decision about this, not right now, so please, let's stop.
But I couldn't, as the memories surged forth, filling up the empty white space with them, the friends I had forced myself to forget all those years ago.
Hemera, with her cheery grin and peppy attitude, pushing me forward with her optimistic nature.
Nyx, with her solemn gaze and dark thoughts, joining me as a denizen of pessimism and night.
Aether, with his straight face and cocky nature, filling me with undeserved confidence and determination.
Erebus, with his wacky personality and strange quirks, making me imagine the freedom that I might one day acquire.
Eros, with his warm presence and passionate feelings, filling me with love I had long forgotten existed within me.
Necessitas, with her stern diligence and normal view, inevitably making me remember all that which was lost to me.
Lachesis, sticking with me all this time, through the good times and our rough patches.
And, the girl who saved me with naught but a single touch, the one who said she needed me the most within the world.
My dearest friends, comrades, those who had grown irreplaceable to me, those who I so desperately didn't want to lose.
And yet, and yet, and yet and yet and yet and yet and yet and yet and yet!
I don't want to make this decision, I well and truly don't.
Yet, the girl who saved me countless times, had saved me once more.
"I see, so that's your decision then."
I watched Captain release a small smile towards me, his feet gently touching the ground as I reached out towards him.
"W-wait, I, I-!"
"It'll be alright Major, so don't you worry," Captain said, the same expression on his face as he walked towards me.
I didn't want to make this decision. I could only watch helplessly as Captain wrapped his pinkie around my own.
"But remember, you must stick with it to the bitter end," Captain said, creating a pinkie promise between myself and the Truth.
"Promise me, Major."
I felt my lip quiver as I nodded my head, the weight growing upon my head and shoulders once more as we sealed the promise.
My sanctuary started to rumble as we released our promise, and I fell back into my chair, only realizing now what I had been sitting in for this entire time, and why my head and shoulders had felt so heavy.
"Where do I go now? Up?"
Captain let out a small laugh. "Oh no, not up." He pointed his index finger towards the cracking floor around me.
"You're going down."
I could only watch as I descended, and I gritted my teeth before voicing out my last question:
"You, are you actually me!?"
Captain just waved back to me in response, watching me descend before everything faded to black…
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"It sure took me long enough to get here, and that's all I get? Well, it was expected I guess."
I started to walk back, away from the whiteness that filled this space, going back to my own journey, my long road back.
"I'm just glad Major is doing fine. Major's got such good friends to keep him going. Let's just hope he doesn't find himself in this place again," I said, disappearing from the whiteness…
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It was unlike the place I had found myself in before, where that was a world filled with whiteness and emptiness alike.
This world could be considered it's opposite, filled with darkness and fullness alike.
Your Fault.
I descended deeper, laughter growing all around me as the voices screamed it out to me.
Your Fault.
And yet, they were unable to take from me, the hell I had found myself in far different from what I remember.
Your Fault.
They yelled it, screeched it at me, and yet to no avail, unable to phase me.
Your Fault.
I only felt myself falling deeper and deeper into darkness, wondering what was so different than before.
Your Fault.
Was it the Truth I had accepted?
Your Fault.
Was it the decision I had made?
Your Fault.
Was it because I had grown at all?
Your Fault.
Ah, I see, so that's how it is.
Your Fault.
[My] laughter echoing around me.
Your Fault.
[Me] trying to take from myself.
Your Fault.
[I] screeching and yelling at me.
Your [My] Fault.
[My] Fault.
Ah, how peaceful this hell has become.
[My] Fault.
[My] Laughter, [Me] Taking, [Me] Yelling.
My Fault.