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thekinkyleopard · 17 days ago

Text

Madness

A Vaelyn and Kalypso Lore Piece

⚠️Content Warning⚠️

No Snz, Mental Illness, Cursing

Description: Takes place after the Toad Biscuit fire, Vaelyn has lost control over his Oblivion Madness. Kalypso hasn’t been able to find him for weeks….until she does.

Author’s Notes: So me and Geez have been absolutely feral, coo-coo banana bonkers over these two and the ANGSSSTTTT. So I wrote out this piece of lore for them, and I know, most of you won’t read this. However, I’m satisfied with it just being something for me and Geez to enjoy. 🙂‍↕️ @aller-geez Owns Vaelyn and did the cover art.

The flickering neon lights of the city buzzed faintly in Kalypso’s ears as she sat cross-legged on her bed, staring blankly at the myriad of tabs open on her laptop. Vaelyn’s social media accounts were dead, his phone disconnected, and not a single whisper of him had surfaced since the fire at Toad Biscuit’s last concert. The isolation clawed at her, each day without him like sandpaper grinding against her sanity.

Her emerald eye twitched as she flipped her septum piercing back and forth—a nervous tic, though she’d never admit it. Kalypso’s powers had their limits, and no matter how deeply she delved into the dreamscape, she couldn’t find him. Because he wasn’t sleeping. For two agonizing weeks, the void where Vaelyn should have been was deafening. She bit down on the stiletto nail of her thumb as she continued searching for any crumb of clue, frustration rippling through her wiry frame.

“He’s doing this on purpose…stupid lanky bitch,” she muttered, her voice icy with irritation. “Hiding. Avoiding me. Like I’m the problem,” hissing to herself as she flipped her laptop shut and sat back against the wall her bed was pushed up against. Fidgeting with her piercings, rummaging through the infinite scenarios that played in her head.

Deep down, she knew better. Vaelyn was spiraling, as he often did, in that uniquely self-destructive way that made him impossible to ignore. And yet, the absence of his chaos was far worse than his presence. She needed to know where he was. She couldn’t keep living like this, like everything was fine without him. At the very least by now he would have given her some sort of agitating sign he was alive and well. The cards he’d given her to pay bills and whatever else she’d need financially were all cut off. What was this? An even sicker game than they usually played? Or was it worse than she thought? Was he still alive?

————————

The room smelled of mildew and stale cigarettes, a scent that seemed to cling to Vaelyn’s skin no matter how many cold showers he took in the flickering, dimly lit bathroom. He sat on the edge of the creaky motel bed, his gaunt face buried in his hands, his fingers digging into his temples as though trying to claw the memories out of his skull. The screams—God, the screams—echoed in his ears like a broken record stuck on the most excruciating note. The texts from Rexar, their friendship, the fall of something beautiful they had worked so hard to achieve…all of it, destroyed because of him. He hadn’t eaten in days. The takeout box on the dresser had gone cold and gray, the edges curling with mold. His stomach growled, but he ignored it. The hunger was just another reminder of his failure, another punishment he deserved. The cracked mirror on the far wall reflected his haggard form: sunken eyes with dark circles so pronounced they looked like bruises, his once-vibrant red markings dull and lifeless.

The whispers started again, faint at first, like the distant murmur of a crowd. Vaelyn’s head snapped up, his bloodshot eyes darting around the room. “Shut up,” he hissed under his breath, his voice rough from disuse. His gaze landed on the shadows pooling in the corners of the room, their edges writhing like living things. He knew they weren’t real—or at least, he thought he did. The line between reality and hallucination was razor-thin now, and Oblivion Madness wasn’t known for mercy.

They whispered louder. Murderer. Fool. Coward.

“Shut up!” Vaelyn roared, throwing a glass from the nightstand at the wall. It shattered, the shards raining down like tiny stars, but the voices didn’t stop. They grew louder, more insistent, overlapping into a roar of venomous taunts. He pressed his hands over his ears, curling in on himself as he rocked back and forth on the bed. “They don’t know me… they don’t know me,” he muttered to himself, his voice trembling. “It wasn’t my fault. It wasn’t my fault,” But it was, wasn’t it? The fire, the screams, the faces of those fans—young, hopeful, trusting—seared into his mind like brands of guilt. Vaelyn’s chest heaved with each ragged breath, the weight of his mistakes pressing down on him like a leaden shroud. He couldn’t escape the memories, couldn’t outrun the consequences of his actions. The world had turned its back on him, and he couldn’t blame them.

A shadow moved.

Vaelyn’s head snapped toward it, his eyes narrowing as his breath hitched. The corner of the room seemed darker than it should’ve been, the blackness stretching unnaturally across the peeling wallpaper. A figure emerged, tall and distorted, its eyes two pits of endless void. “Not real,” he whispered, his voice shaking. “You’re not real..” his body trembling as he tried to will the hallucination away, anything to reassure himself this was nothing more than a product of Oblivion. But the figure stepped closer, its form twisting and contorting as if mocking his denial. It didn’t speak—didn’t have to. The weight of its presence pressed down on him, suffocating and relentless.

“Get out!” Vaelyn screamed, stumbling to his feet. His legs were weak, his movements jerky as he backed into the far wall. His fingers clawed at the peeling paint, his body trembling violently. “You’re not real!” The figure loomed closer, and Vaelyn’s breath came in ragged gasps. His vision blurred as tears streamed down his face, his mind fracturing under the pressure. The whispers rose to a deafening symphony, each one slicing through his sanity like a blade.

“You’re the problem. You’re the killer. You’re the weak link,” the voices like poison as they wrapped around the neurons of his already suffering brain folds. Vaelyn dropped to his knees, his hands clawing at his hair. The shadows swirled around him now, suffocating and cold. “I didn’t mean to… I didn’t mean to,” he sobbed, his voice barely audible over the chaos in his mind. He thought of Rexar, of the band, of Kalypso. He thought of the fans who would never go home, their lives snuffed out because of his hubris. “I can’t do this anymore,” he whispered, his voice breaking. He curled into himself, trembling as the darkness closed in. The Oblivion Madness wasn’t just a curse; it was a predator, and tonight, it had its claws in him.

Vaelyn’s breaths came in short, ragged bursts as he shivered in fetal position on the motel room floor, his trembling fingers clutching his bony knees. The shadows in the room swirled and danced like ghosts in the graveyard of his hollowed mind. His vision blurred, and his body screamed for rest, but his mind was too chaotic to allow it. Sleep meant surrender. Sleep meant Oblivion. The whispers hadn’t stopped, though they had dulled to a low, menacing hum. His lips moved silently as he tried to repeat the mantra Rexar used to tell him during their early gigs: You’re stronger than your worst days. You can overcome any obstacle. You got this. You got this.

Yet, the words felt hollow now, distant and unreal, as though they belonged to someone else. His body was breaking under the strain of prolonged exhaustion: his muscles ached, his heart raced erratically, and his hands twitched involuntarily. Every so often, his head would bob forward, his eyelids drooping, but he’d jerk himself awake with a guttural cry, his heart hammering in his chest as he tried to sit up against the wall. “Stay awake,” he muttered to himself, his voice hoarse. “Stay awake, or you’ll never wake up,” But his body didn’t care about his determination. It was shutting down, its demands overriding his fragile willpower. His hands grew heavy, his head lolling to the side as the edges of his vision darkened. He clawed at his arm, the sharp pain momentarily grounding him, but it wasn’t enough.

The last thing he saw before his mind gave in was the dim, flickering motel light above him. The bulb buzzed softly, the shadows stretching longer as he fell into unconsciousness. Vaelyn’s dreams were not a sanctuary—they were a battleground. He found himself in a vast, empty void, the air heavy with the scent of ash and charred wood. Flames flickered in the distance, illuminating a barren landscape of jagged rocks and shifting shadows. The screams returned, echoing from all directions, relentless and deafening. He stumbled forward, his bare feet scraping against the rough ground, as the whispers grew louder, coiling around him like a suffocating fog.

“You can’t run from this,” the guttural voice hissed, low and venomous.

Vaelyn spun around, his pale blue-green eyes wild as he searched for the source. The shadows had taken shape again, their forms towering and monstrous, their eyeless faces twisted with malice. They advanced on him, their movements slow and deliberate, as if savoring his terror. “No!” Vaelyn shouted, his voice cracking. He raised his hands instinctively, summoning the faintest glimmer of his illusions. A haze of light flickered around him, but it was weak, his power sapped by his fractured mind. The shadows laughed, their voices blending into a grotesque choir of mockery.

He fell to his knees, the weight of their presence crushing him. The flames grew closer, their heat searing his skin. The ground beneath him split open, revealing an endless abyss of swirling darkness. Oblivion reached for him with clawed hands, pulling him closer to the edge. “Stop!” he cried, tears streaming down his face. “I didn’t mean to… I didn’t mean for any of it!”

But the shadows were unrelenting, their whispers now a chant: Murderer. Fool. Coward.

————————

In the Dreamscape, Kalypso sat cross-legged on a crystalline platform surrounded by an endless expanse of stars and shifting colors. She had been searching for Vaelyn for weeks, her mind spiraling deeper into obsession with every failed attempt to find him. Tonight, something had changed. A faint pulse of energy reached her, chaotic and raw, like a distant heartbeat. She froze, her emerald eye widening as she felt the unmistakable tug of his presence.

“Finally,” she whispered, a twisted smile spreading across her face. One of more relief than anything. He WAS alive. Her fingers brushed the lock around her neck—a tether to the man who had disappeared without a word. She rose to her feet, her messy black hair with lime-green streaks flowing about her as she leaped from the platform into the swirling ether of the Dreamscape. Her form shimmered and morphed, becoming a streak of light that shot through the endless void, following the pull of Vaelyn’s presence.

The closer she got, the more the Dreamscape shifted, warping into something dark and unstable. The stars faded, replaced by twisting shadows and flickering flames. Kalypso’s smile faltered as the oppressive energy hit her like a tidal wave, pressing down on her chest and making it hard to breathe. “Vee…” she muttered, her voice unsteady. She pushed forward, her determination outweighing her unease. Finally, she saw him. Vaelyn knelt in the middle of a broken, fiery landscape, his form flickering like a fragile illusion. The shadows around him writhed and clawed at his skin, their whispers piercing through the air. Kalypso landed gracefully a few feet away, her emerald eye narrowing as she took in the scene. “What the fuck is this, Vaelyn?” she hissed, her tone sharp with anger and confusion.

Vaelyn’s head snapped up, his eyes wide with panic as he saw her. “Kaly?” he rasped, his voice barely audible over the noise around him. Kalypso strode toward him, her black stiletto nails gleaming in the firelight.

“You’ve got some nerve, you bastard,” she snarled, her anger bubbling to the surface. “Disappearing for weeks without a single fucking word? Do you have any idea—” Her words cut off as she saw the tears streaming down his face, his body trembling under the weight of his torment. For a moment, Kalypso hesitated, her anger warring with an unfamiliar pang of guilt.

Vaelyn’s voice broke as he choked out, “I can’t… I can’t do this, Kaly. I ruined everything. The band, those people… I killed them. And now… Oblivion… it’s going to take me,” the man she saw before him was a mere shell, a hollowed-out replacement of who she’d known. This wasn’t right, she almost stumbled backwards, second guessing if the dreamscape had gotten it wrong. Was this really her Vaelyn?

Kalypso’s eye softened, the rare flicker of empathy catching her off guard, only to be swallowed up by another wave of unsurpassable rage. “Vee, I’m not fucking kidding,” she spat, stepping closer. “Come on, don’t play these fucking games with me, I’m serious,” Looking him over, as his glazy blue orbs looked at her, his frame still trembling. The two sides of her brain fighting against one another, the urge to scream at him, dimming by every second but despite it she still wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him.

“I-…I-…” he tried to get the words out but he snapped his hands over his ears and shrunk to a ball, pulling his long limbs inward as if he were under attack, and though the darkness leaked around them, Kalypso was unable to hear or make out the shadows that were tormenting him from the inside out. She cocked her head to the side, unable to figure out if this was a manifestation of his rotting mental well-being, or if this was just a means to manipulate her into not being upset anymore.

“Spit it the fuck out! I’m serious, Vaelyn, you’re seriously freaking me out, what the fuck is wrong with you?” her voice trembled as she spoke. Emotions that she thought she’d long abandoned years ago, re-surfacing and she could feel her hands starting to shake. She stood there over him and all he could do was crunch closer in on himself.

“I can’t, Kalypso! I-…I CANT!” a rumbling shriek left his lips, he couldn’t even open his eyes to look at her anymore because whenever he did, her face would shift and morph into something he couldn’t even place. Nothing was safe. Not his mind. Not his sight. Not his sleep. No where. He couldn’t run from it, the madness was spilling out of every part of his entire being and only when she heard the tear in his voice did she stand there in shock. She knew what she had to do, the one thing she promised she never would, but this instance was different. Vaelyn was more than clearly suffering, and if she didn’t do something, she was worried she could possibly lose him forever and the thought of that caused her to step forward again.

“It’s going to be okay…” she offered a semblance of support, her voice quivering as she did so, her heart racing in the depths of her chest. She knelt beside him, her hand reaching out to touch his trembling shoulder. Summoning every ounce of strength within her manifestations, she focused on the shadows, willing them to retreat, to give him a moment of peace. The inside of her mind worked to mold and craft something new, different, anything but what he was currently experiencing. But the Oblivion Madness pushed back, the shadows recoiling violently and lashing out at her. Kalypso gritted her teeth, her body trembling as she tried to hold her ground.

“Damn it…” she growled through clenched teeth. “Leave him the fuck alone!” her tone like jagged ice shards as she willed her strength to push at it, refusing to back down as her body worked to manducate the madness that flooded her lover. “Come on…COME ON!!!” she shouted at herself impatiently. Fighting between the many thoughts and emotions swirling around her while trying her best to focus in on the nightmares themselves, was proving difficult for even someone of her caliber. The shadows surged, their energy consuming Vaelyn. He screamed, his hands clutching his head as his mind fractured further. In an instant, he lashed out, his insanity manifesting into a solid energy that came exploding in a burst of chaotic electricity that knocked Kalypso back.

“No! Get out!” he shouted, his eyes glowing with desperation as he severed the connection.

Kalypso gasped as she was ripped from the Dreamscape, her body jolting awake in the dingy apartment she shared with a woman she’d met at the club. Disoriented and furious, she stumbled to her feet, the weight of what had just happened crashing down on her. Unable to process it, she screamed, grabbing the nearest object and hurling it across the room. Her rage consumed her, the sound of shattering glass and her roommate’s terrified voice lost in the chaos. “No! NO, NO, NO!” she shrieked, ripping posters off the walls, tossing her shoes across the room. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. What was the point of having mastered her stupid familial gift if the one time she needed it to help someone, it failed. Yet, maybe that was just it. Due to the fact she’d never used it in a means to heal, but only to torment, that is what made it so much more difficult to perform.

She collapsed to the floor, her hands shaking as tears welled in her eye. Guilt and helplessness gnawed at her, the image of Vaelyn’s tormented face burned into her mind. She had failed him when he needed her most. But as she sat there, the anger and despair slowly gave way to determination. Kalypso wiped away her tears, her jaw set in a steely resolve. She couldn’t abandon Vaelyn, not like her parents did her. She refused to give up, she refused to let his curse win, she would get back to him. She would fight for him.

With a deep breath, she stood up, her mind already racing with plans. She needed to find a way back to him, to break through the darkness that threatened to take him. Instantly, she knew just where to start. Kalypso reached for the lock around her neck, it’s significance to their bond powerful enough to aid her. Feeling the faint pull of energy that connected her to Vaelyn. Closing her eyes, she focused on that connection, letting it guide her back into the Dreamscape.

This time, as she stepped into that ethereal space of which she was so familiar, it was darker, more unstable than before, almost as if the Oblivion was manifesting throughout its entirety. “This is MY turf, mother fucker,” she growled, following the energy back to him. The shadows writhed and twisted around her as she moved through the Dreamscape, but Kalypso pushed forward with a fierce determination. She could feel the weight of the Oblivion pressing down on her, trying to suffocate her flame of obstinacy. However hard it tried, she refused to let it extinguish. As she neared Vaelyn once again, she saw him huddled on the ground, his form flickering in and out of existence. The shadows seemed to be feeding on him from the inside out, his very essence being torn apart by the darkness that surrounded him.

“Vaelyn!” Kalypso called out, her voice cutting through the oppressive silence. She knelt beside him, her hand reaching out to touch his trembling shoulder. “Where are you? Tell me where you are, I’m coming to you, just tell me where you are,”

Vaelyn’s head snapped up, his eyes filled with fear and despair. “Kaly… I can’t...” he choked out, his voice barely a whisper as he struggled to form the words. His hands clenched into fists, his knuckles white with the effort of holding on against the relentless onslaught of the Oblivion Madness. Kalypso could see the torment etched into every line of his face, the remnants of a once vibrant soul now on the brink of being consumed.

She refused to let him slip away. With a deep breath, Kalypso summoned all her power, calling upon the ancient magik that flowed through her veins. The air around them crackled with energy as she focused on shielding Vaelyn from the encroaching darkness. If even just for a momentary minute of time to get the information she desperately needed. "Listen to me, Vaelyn," she said firmly, her voice cutting through the chaos. "I know your brain is basically soup right now, but I need to know your god damn location in order to push Oblivion back at the source, I need to be there physically…so get it together for two fucking seconds to get me the information I need,” she was trying her hardest to be patient, but the fear was also starting to get the best of her own mental stability.

Vaelyn's gaze met hers, a glimmer of hope flickering in his eyes amidst the despair. Slowly, he began to uncurl himself, the shadows receding slightly in response to Kalypso's power. "Motel…40 miles outside town…blue building…broken sign…" he managed to gasp out, his voice barely above a whisper. "I can’t remember..anything else..." he struggled with the memories of reality as they were slowly slipping away.

“I’m coming, just keep fighting…okay? You big stupid son of a bitch, don’t you DARE give up…” her voice cracked, breaking even. It had been what felt like centuries since she last felt genuinely terrified to lose something, let alone someone. Kalypso stood up, breaking the ties between the dreamscape and reality as she found herself back in the chaotic mess she’d once left her room.

“Hey, you psycho! You’re gonna pay for all these damages and you need to get the fuck out of my-…” cut off by Kalypso shoving straight past the agitated woman she’d been sharing a living space with.

“Can it, cunt, I have more important shit to do, I don’t give two fucks about this god damn apartment,” Kalypso snapped, her tone razor-sharp as she grabbed her jacket off the coat rack. She didn’t bother glancing back. She was already halfway out the door when the roommate screamed something unintelligible about rent and damages, but Kalypso had no space in her head for anything else. Not now. She slammed the apartment door behind her, the sound echoing down the dimly lit hallway. Her boots pounded against the cracked linoleum as she stormed down the stairs and out into the night. The air was sharp and cold, biting at her exposed parts of skin, but she didn’t care. She fumbled with her phone, pulling up a map. “Forty miles… blue building, broken sign,” she muttered, her voice low as she zoomed in and out, scanning the outskirts of the city.

There it was. An old motel in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by desolation. The Blue Star Motel—or what was left of it. The reviews she skimmed said everything she needed to know: condemned, decrepit, “not fit for stray animals,” one person wrote. Perfect. Just the kind of place Vaelyn would run to when the weight of the world crushed him.

She sprinted to the car parked haphazardly outside the building. The door creaked as she wrenched it open and slid into the driver’s seat, the engine coughing to life. Her hands trembled on the steering wheel, her knuckles white as she gripped it tight. Every second felt like a war against time as she tore out of the city and onto the desolate road. The darkness outside was oppressive, the headlights of her car cutting through the inky black as the miles blurred together. Her mind raced just as fast as the car, running through every possible scenario. Was he even alive? Was this the last time she’d see him, his form shrouded in Oblivion, his mind broken beyond repair?

“No,” she growled to herself, slamming her foot down on the accelerator. “He’s not going anywhere. Not without me,” her blood boiling with the sheer idea of having to walk the rest of her journey without his obnoxious antics, his cutting insults, his soft hands on her own. Lifting her hand up to brush away the tears that started to build within her one good eye, she swallowed it. There was no time to cry. There was no time to be sad. There was no time to overthink every angle, she just needed to keep driving.

The Motel loomed out of the shadows like a ghost, the flickering remnants of its neon sign buzzing faintly. Kalypso’s car screeched to a halt in the cracked parking lot, dust swirling in the cold air. She climbed out, slamming the door shut and scanning the building. Most of the windows were boarded up, and the faint light of a single bulb glowed dimly above the office door. Her boots crunched against the gravel as she approached, the wind biting at her cheeks. She shoved the office door open, the smell of mildew and stale cigarettes hitting her like a wall. A disheveled clerk barely looked up from behind the counter, his eyes glassy with disinterest.

“Room. Tall guy. Dark green and gold in his hair, shit ton of tattoos, looks like he hasn’t slept in years. Where is he?” Kalypso barked, slapping a wad of cash onto the counter.

The clerk blinked at her lazily, then gestured down the hallway. “End of the hall. Room twelve. Don’t make a mess that I’ll have to clean up,” he scoffed before looking back down at the magazine he’d been previously invested in before she’d interrupted. Kalypso didn’t wait for him to finish. She was already stalking toward the room, her heart pounding as she reached the door. The faint sound of muffled whispers seeped through the cracks, and she froze, her hand hovering over the doorknob.

“Vaelyn,” she called, her voice trembling with a mix of anger and fear. “It’s me. Open the door.”

No response.

“Vaelyn, I swear to fucking god, if you don’t open this door, I’m breaking it down!” she shouted, slamming her fist against the wood. Inside, Vaelyn stirred, his mind still caught between reality and hallucination. Her voice sounded like a cruel trick, another illusion meant to torment him. He pressed his hands against his ears, rocking back and forth on the bed as the whispers in his head grew louder.

“She’s not real. She’s not real,” he muttered, his voice cracking.

Kalypso’s patience snapped. “VAELYN!” she screamed, slamming her shoulder into the door. The wood creaked under her weight, but it didn’t budge. “I’m not leaving until you let me in, you hear me? I’ll chew my way through this fucking door if I have to!” her voice was urgent, angry but deeply terrified. One hand she knew he was in there, she could feel his energy, but another was wondering if it was just a trick of her own sick mind. Did it take him? She needed to know he was still alive in there.

Inside, Vaelyn’s breath hitched. Her voice—real or not—cut through the fog, pulling him out of the suffocating spiral. He staggered to his feet, his legs unsteady as he stumbled toward the door. His hand trembled as he reached for the lock, hesitating. ‘Please….Please be real…’ he thought, no, prayed even.

“God fuckin-….VAELYN!” she screamed again, pounding her fist upon the cracked wood of the cheap motel door. “Open this fucking door RIGHT NOW!” and though her voice was as furious as it normally was in moments of stress like such, there was an undertone of desperation, a deep worry that shrouded her sealed off heart. She needed him to open the door just as much as he needed her to walk into it.

The lock clicked.

The door creaked open just a fraction, revealing Vaelyn’s haggard face. His eyes, bloodshot and haunted, met hers, and for a moment, neither of them spoke. Kalypso’s rage almost melted away as she saw the broken man before her. Without a word, she pushed the door open and stepped inside, her arms wrapping around him in a fierce, desperate embrace. Vaelyn stiffened, his body trembling as if he might shatter under her touch, but he didn’t pull away.

“You fucking idiot…!!” they grabbed each other, both now certain the other was really there, confident in the fact there was no metaphysical or invisible barrier between them. Vaelyn’s arms finally wrapped around her, slowly, at first, shaking. Yet, it was when the fresh scent of her usually floral perfume that hit his nose was he really convinced it was her and they both slid to the ground as the door shut behind them. “You-…you fucking idiot!” she broke, sobbing into the crook of his shoulder as her hands clutched his back, holding him closer.

“Y-You’re….here?” Vaelyn’s hoarse voice confused, he’d thought certainly the madness had made up their encounter in the dreamscape. He was almost convinced he’d be eaten away by his insanity and there would be only one escape from it.

“Of course I’m fucking here! I told you I was coming, you dim-witted bitch!” she pulled back snuffling softly, realizing he was alive was more than enough to calm the tears that had sprung up on her the moment she had him in her arms. “Why? Why Vaelyn? Why would you put yourself in this STUPID fucking position? Why would you do this alone?” she pulled him back by his shoulders to look at him. His face was pale, his eyes sunken and haunted. His once vibrant green and gold hair now dulled and matted, his tattoos looking like mere shadows of their former selves. The man before her was a shell of the one she knew, broken and lost.

Vaelyn’s gaze flickered away from hers, shame clouding his features. “I…I had to,” he whispered, his voice barely audible above the pounding of her heart. “I can’t cause anymore damage…I can’t face them…I can’t face anyone…let alone you…I couldnt-…”

“Couldnt what? Give me a fuckin’ heads up that you were just gonna go get swallowed up by your own fuckin’ madness?!” her eyebrows turned in, the anger setting in. She was mad he didn’t take two seconds to consider her in his quest of solitude. Vaelyn flinched at her words, his jaw tightening as he tried to find the courage to respond.

“I didn’t want to drag you into this, Kalypso,” he muttered, his voice strained. “You don’t understand—” but before he could finish the rest of his thought or sentence, Kalypso came undone at the seams.

“Don’t I?!” she snapped, cutting him off. She released his shoulders and shoved herself to her feet, pacing the small room like a caged animal. “You think you’re the only one who gets to suffer, huh? You think your pain is so special that no one else could possibly understand? Fuck you, Vaelyn. Fuck. You,” She jabbed a finger in his direction, her single eye blazing with fury. “You don’t get to decide what I can handle!”

Vaelyn staggered to his feet, his own frustration bubbling to the surface. “It’s not about what you can handle, Kalypso! It’s about what I can’t!” His voice cracked as he gestured to himself, his trembling hands, his sallow face. “Look at me! I’m a goddamn wreck! You think I wanted you to see me like this?!”

“I don’t give a shit how you look!” Kalypso shot back, her voice rising. “I give a shit about the fact that you didn’t even try to talk to me! You just ran off, left me to pick up the pieces like you always fucking do!” walking towards him she shoved him with two open palms, he stumbled back a few inches. It was then that Vaelyn’s hands curled into fists at his sides.

“Maybe I left because I knew you’d make it about you! Like you always do!” The words were venomous, and the moment they left his mouth, he regretted them, but it was too late.

Kalypso froze, her chest heaving as his words sank in. Her face twisted in a mix of hurt and anger, and she stepped closer, her finger stabbing into his chest. “You really wanna do this right now? You wanna make me the problem?!” Her voice was low, dangerous. “You’re the one who decided to play the fucking martyr, Vaelyn. You’re the one who disappeared without a word, leaving me to wonder if you were even fucking alive,” she spat back at him.

“I didn’t ask you to come after me!” Vaelyn roared, his voice shaking the walls of the tiny room. His fists unclenched, his arms spreading wide in exasperation. “I didn’t ask you to care! I didn’t—”

“Bullshit!” Kalypso screamed, her voice cutting through his like a blade. “You don’t get to pull this lone wolf crap and then act like you’re the victim when someone actually gives a damn about you! Let ALONE someone like ME,” She shoved him again, hard, her hands slamming into his chest. “You’re not the only one who’s broken, Vaelyn! You think you’re the only one carrying scars?! Newsflash, asshole: I’m just as fucked up as you are!”

Vaelyn stumbled back, his breathing ragged as he glared at her. “I know that!” he shouted, his voice raw. “I know you’re broken! That’s why I didn’t want you here! Because I can’t… I can’t be responsible for you, too. I can’t carry both of us!”

Kalypso’s hands trembled at her sides, her nails digging into her palms. She took a step back, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “You’re not responsible for me. You’ve never been responsible for me. But don’t you dare act like I’m some fucking burden. I didn’t come here for you. I came here because I wasn’t going to let this thing win. You fucking hear me? Not you, not it, not any of this,”

Vaelyn’s shoulders sagged, the fight draining out of him as her words pierced through the haze of his anger. His gaze dropped to the floor, his voice barely above a whisper. “I didn’t want you to see me like this… because I didn’t want to be another person who let you down,” his gaze avoiding hers as it stared down at the floor that moved amongst the slowed hallucinations. It was almost as if his mind could take a break because the woman standing in the room was enough to make things even worse for him.

Kalypso almost scoffed at the comment, rolling her eye and shaking her head. “Yeah? You didn’t want to be like everyone else in my fucking life? SO YOU ABANDONED ME?! Don’t GIVE me that sad sack of SHIT!” her emerald orb welling up with unresolved pain, with pushed off emotions that now bubbled to the surface. Her outburst echoed in the small room, the tension between them crackling like wildfire. Vaelyn raised his head slowly to meet her gaze, the weight of his actions heavy in his eyes.

The silence that followed was suffocating, each breath they took heavy with the anger and raw emotion they had unleashed. Vaelyn’s jaw clenched, and Kalypso’s fists trembled at her sides, her nails biting into her palms. Neither of them moved, the air between them crackling with a volatile mix of fury and despair.

Vaelyn’s voice broke the silence first, low and shaking. “You think I wanted to hurt you? You think I planned this?!” He stepped closer, his towering figure casting a shadow over her. “Every second I’m alive, I’m fighting against this… thing in my head that’s eating me alive. And every time I look at you, Kalypso, I see someone I can’t fucking save because I can’t even save myself!” he shouted at her, his expression twisted with self doubt, with self hatred, with the tension of all the years of messing things up.

Kalypso didn’t back down. She met his blazing eyes with her own, taking a step toward him, the space between them shrinking. “You think I need you to save me?!” she shot back, her voice trembling with rage. “You self-righteous, self-pitying asshole. I don’t need a savior. I need someone who doesn’t fucking run every time it gets hard!” her own words cutting, volatile and selfish.

Vaelyn flinched at her locution, but his anger surged again, masking his guilt. “You don’t get it! I can’t stay! I can’t stay and watch myself drag you down with me! You deserve better—everyone deserved better—”

“I deserve better?” Kalypso interrupted, her laugh bitter and sharp. She shoved him again, harder this time, her voice rising. “Don’t you dare tell me what I deserve! You don’t get to decide that! You don’t get to leave and make it about me! You left because you’re a coward, Vaelyn! Admit it!” she could tell that one hurt, it caused him to pause for a mere moment, looking at her in disbelief. His face then twisted with rage, and his voice dropped to a dangerous growl.

“Coward?” He grabbed her wrist, hard, enough to stop her from shoving him again. His eyes burned into hers. “You think I’m a coward because I’m trying to protect you? And anyone else I could damage? I’d rather be a coward than watch you end up like me! I KILLED people, Kalypso, don’t you fuckin’ get that? I ruined EVERYTHING, and all I'd do is ruin you too,” his eyebrows curved inward to match the disbelief and exasperation he was faced even having this conversation. She was supposed to be here to help and of course, she wanted to spin and twist their reunion based off something she couldn’t possibly grasp outside herself.

Kalypso wrenched her wrist free, her breathing ragged as she stepped even closer, her chest almost brushing his. “I don’t give a FUCK, about any of that, I could handle that shit, what I can’t handle…” she spat, her voice cracking under the weight of her emotions. “Is-…fuckin’..You….” struggling to find her thoughts leading into coherent sentences, but it finally exploded again. “LEFT, YOU LEFT! fuckin’….DISAPPEARED, don’t you get that? Why don’t you fucking GET that?” she was putting in over drive to not burst into tears, triggered by the abandonment only to find him still alive, still within his capabilities of letting her in but choosing to keep her shut out.

Vaelyn’s hands trembled at his sides, his anger and shame warring within him. He looked down at her, his voice breaking. “I’m already gone, Kalypso. There’s nothing left of me to save. And if you stay, it’ll take you too,” he turned his head away, gaze focused on the ground again, too ashamed to look at her.

Her voice softened, but it was no less fierce. She turned his head by his chin to return his attention back to her “Then let it. If that’s what it takes, then let it. Because I’m not going anywhere, Vaelyn. Not without you, I don’t know why you haven’t fucking gathered that in your thick ass skull, but you can’t just fucking leave me behind,”The words hung in the air, raw and unyielding, piercing through the storm of emotions that surrounded them. Vaelyn staggered back as if she had struck him, his hands running through his hair as he tried to process what she had just said.

“You don’t… you don’t mean that,” he muttered, shaking his head.

Kalypso stepped forward, her voice steady and firm. “I do. You don’t get to push me away and tell yourself it’s for my own good. You don’t get to decide that I’m better off without you when you don’t even have the decency to ask me what I want. You and I,” she paused, looking down then back up at him again. “We get each other more than you want to believe, you’re the only fuckin’ person on this entire earth who can handle me, and in turn, I can do that for you…fuck it if you’re batshit….fuck it if there’s a curse upon your soul, you…” she swallowed the lump that threatened to over take her voice and cause her to cry. She wouldnt do it. She’d already cracked once. “Are all I fucking have…I’d…” she stopped. Trying so desperatly to find the right words, unable to unearth the meaning to which she truly meant to convey. “Haven’t you a fucking clue?”

He sank onto the edge of the bed, his head in his hands, his shoulders trembling. “I don’t know how to deal with this,” he whispered, his voice barely audible.

Kalypso crouched in front of him, her hands resting on his knees as she looked up at him. Her voice was softer now, but no less intense. “Then we figure it out together, that’s why I’m fuckin’ here,” Vaelyn looked at her, his eyes filled with a mix of despair and something else—something that looked like hope, fragile and flickering. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Kalypso pulled him into a fierce embrace, holding onto him like he was the only thing keeping her grounded.

“Don’t leave me again,” she whispered, her voice breaking. For a moment, Vaelyn didn’t move. Then, slowly, his arms wrapped around her, his grip tightening as he buried his face in her shoulder. The fight drained out of him, leaving only raw, unfiltered emotion.

“I’m sorry,” he choked out, his voice muffled against her. “I’m so fucking sorry…I’m trying to fight it….I’m trying to—”

“Shut up, you fuckin’ idiot…just…let me in,” she whispered, the angry fire in her finally dulling out to a tiny ember, relieved again he was even in her arms and not a cold, purple body laying lifeless on the floor.

“It’s….so loud in here..Kaly…it’s so fucking loud…” he broke into harder sobs, his body trembling around her, his fingers gripping the fabric of her jacket tightly as the voices began to return to his mind. Seeping in slowly like a broken faucet leak.

Kalypso tightened her grip around him, her fingers pressing into his back as if she could physically anchor him to reality. “I know,” she murmured, her voice a surprisingly soothing contrast to the chaos in his head. “I know it’s loud. But I can help. You just have to trust me, Vaelyn. Just… let me in. Let me do this for you,” He shook his head against her shoulder, his voice muffled by her jacket.

“It’s not that simple. You don’t understand what it feels like—what it’s doing to me. It’s like… it’s like drowning, but you can’t die. You just keep sinking,” Kalypso pulled back just enough to grab his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. His eyes were bloodshot and wild, his pupils unnaturally dilated. She didn’t flinch at the sight.

“You’re not sinking, I won’t let you drown, I won’t let this shit win,” she said firmly, her emerald eye blazing with determination. “You said it yourself—we’re both broken. So let me deal with the pieces. Let me fix it, it’s what I was born to do,” she continued, her words struggling to convince him, which was almost understandable since in most cases, in most ways, all she ever did was make things worse. It was different this time. She knew she was capable of channeling all her unmanaged chaos into something useful for once, her gift could finally be that, for him, a gift.

Vaelyn tried to pull away, but her grip on his face was unrelenting. “You don’t know what you’re asking,” he rasped, his voice trembling. “It’ll take you down with me. It’ll—”

“Stop!” she snapped, her voice cutting through his protest like a knife. “You don’t get to tell me what I can or can’t handle. Remember? I have survived things that would make most people lose their minds. And you know what? I’m still here. I’m standing right in front of you, Vaelyn, and I’m telling you that I can do this. Now, are you going to let me fucking help you, or are we just going to sit here until that thing convinces you to blow your fuckin’ brains out?” her expression read desperation, her words, more comforting and supportive than they once had ever been.

He hesitated, his jaw tightening as he searched her face for any sign of doubt. But there was none. Kalypso’s eye burned with an unyielding intensity, her resolve like iron. Finally, his shoulders slumped, and he let out a shaky breath. “If… if you think you can stop it… then do it. But if it starts to take you—”

“Don’t be stupid,” she interrupted, her voice steady. “God himself couldn’t take me from you,” Without waiting for further objection, Kalypso moved to kneel in front of him again, her hands sliding from his face to his trembling hands. “Close your eyes,” she instructed softly, her tone suddenly calm, almost hypnotic.

Vaelyn hesitated, but her unflinching gaze urged him on. Slowly, he closed his eyes, his breathing ragged as he braced himself for whatever was coming. Kalypso took a deep breath, centering herself as she focused on the swirling madness she could already feel radiating from him. The Oblivion Madness—it was a storm, chaotic and relentless, clawing at the edges of his mind. She closed her own eye, letting the shimmering thread of her dream manipulation uncoil within her. It was a gift, yes, but one she had always used for heinous reasons, never once had she tried to aid anyone’s struggles but only sought to worsen them. It required precision, control—and she had never tested it on something this… monstrous.

Dipping into the fringes of his mind was like diving into an ocean of tar. It resisted her at first, writhing and snarling, but she pushed harder, her will a sharp blade cutting through the darkness. The voices that plagued Vaelyn became audible now, screaming and wailing in an otherworldly outpour.

“You don’t belong here,” one hissed, its tone dripping with venom.

“He’s ours,” another snarled, its voice like nails on glass.

Kalypso ignored them, her focus unwavering. She followed the threads of chaos to their core, where the madness coiled and festered like a living entity. It lashed out at her, tendrils of dark energy clawing at her consciousness, but she didn’t flinch. “You’re loud,” she growled, her voice reverberating through the space like a thunderclap. “But I’m fucking LOUDER,” Summoning her strength, Kalypso began to weave her own threads of control into the storm, her power surging as she manipulated the very fabric of his nightmares. The voices screeched in protest, their force battering against her defenses, but she held firm.

Vaelyn groaned, his body convulsing as the madness fought back, trying to reclaim its grip on him. “Kalypso—” he gasped, his voice strained.

“Sh!” she hissed through gritted teeth, sweat beading on her brow. “I’ve got this,” her voice filled with unwavering confidence, though her body shook with the sheer force of energy she was putting out to work her way through the curse. With a final surge of will, she pushed the storm outward, forcing the darkness to retreat. It clawed and shrieked, but her resolve was unyielding. The chaos began to dissipate, the voices fading into an eerie silence. When Kalypso finally opened her eye, she was full trembling, sweating even, her breath coming in shallow gasps. Vaelyn was slumped against the bed, his breathing heavy but steady. His face, though still pale, seemed… calmer. The shadows that had haunted his features were lighter now, the madness no longer choking him.

“You…” His voice was hoarse, barely a whisper. “You did it…”

Kalypso collapsed onto the floor, her body drained but her lips curling into a faint smirk. “Of fucking course I did, numb-nuts,” she muttered. “I’m the most powerful Vahlia Baku who ever fuckin’ lived,” she sat up, catching her center and brushing back a few stray strands of hair before she continued. “..and if I couldn’t do this, I might as well not consider myself a Baku at all,” she scoffed a bit snarky, a little too cocky, but it made the tired lion man smirk.

“You really are too fuckin’ arrogant for your own good, you know?” shaking his head, but feeling the intensity of fifteen tons of emotional weight lifting off of him was the relief he needed. He was grateful. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, the storm was quiet.

“Yeah yeah, you’re welcome…” she stuck her tongue out before taking a deep breath and exhaling with an uncertainty that made the man raise a brow. “Now I need you to trust me for just a little longer okay?”

“Why? What do you mean?” he hesitated, unsure if he was ready to face the rest of what she had to say.

“You need to sleep,” almost as if she were bracing for the impact of his resistance. Kalypso knew it was going to be a tough battle to convince him to close his eyes again.

“No…No because, what if it comes back? It’s most powerful when I’m asleep…” the man almost started to shake again, the uncertainty of it, the panic of being vulnerable in his sleep, it was the reason he’d been avoiding it for weeks at this point.

“Will you knock it the fuck off? You’ve already seen what I’m capable of, it’s fine, just let me do what I do best,” she rolled her eye, almost exhausted that he would keep doubting her abilities by this point.

“You just used all your energy to push it away, you expect me to believe you can handle another, what? Several fucking hours?” he raised a brow incredulously, pull his head back a bit to look her up and down.

“The dreamscape is my territory, I’ll have tenfold more energy and strength in there, you just need to have some god damn faith that I can do it,” her will unwavering, her stance unshaken. Vaelyn stared at her, torn between disbelief and desperation. He wanted to trust her, but the fear was still there, gripping his chest like a vice. His hands trembled as they clutched the edges of the bed, his breathing ragged.

“I don’t know if I can,” he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper.

Kalypso’s eye softened, but her tone stayed firm. “You don’t have a fucking choice. If you keep running from this, it’s going to kill you—or worse. And I didn’t just fucking drag you back from the brink, for you to give up now. I won’t let you,” She reached out, her fingers brushing against his, grounding him.

Vaelyn swallowed hard, his throat dry as he glanced at her. The fire in her gaze hadn’t dimmed, even after all she had done. She believed in herself—more than he ever could. “Alright,” he finally said, his voice barely audible. “But if you’re wrong—”

“I’m never wrong,” she interrupted with a smirk, though her voice wavered just enough to betray her own exhaustion. “Now shut the fuck up, lay the fuck down, and close your fuckin eyes, before I knock you the fuck out myself,” With a hesitant nod, Vaelyn eased himself back onto the bed. His heart raced as his head hit the pillow, his entire body tense. Kalypso shifted to sit beside him, her fingers lightly tracing shapes on the back of his hand, trying to calm him.

“I’m here,” she whispered. “I’m not going anywhere,” He closed his eyes, his breathing uneven. The silence stretched between them, thick with anticipation. Kalypso leaned back against the wall, her gaze fixed on him as his breathing began to slow, his body sinking deeper into the mattress. She felt the shift as his mind began to drift, the edges of his consciousness slipping into the dreamscape. Her eye closed, and she allowed herself to fall with him.

————————

The dreamscape was alive with chaos. Shadows twisted and churned, an oppressive darkness pressing in from all sides. The voices were back, louder and more vicious, their whispers clawing at the edges of Vaelyn’s mind. He stood at the center of it all, trembling as the storm began to close in on him. Kalypso appeared beside him, her form shimmering like a beacon of light in the darkness. “You weren’t kidding,” she muttered, taking in the writhing mass of terror around them. “This is a real shitshow,”

Vaelyn turned to her, his expression both hopeful and terrified. “I told you… it’s worse here,”

“Yeah, yeah,” she replied, waving him off. “I’ve also conjured worse shit,” She stepped forward, her presence radiating confidence as she faced the darkness head-on. “Alright, assholes,” she called out, her voice cutting through the racket. “I’m here now, it’s time for you to piss off,”

The shadows surged toward her, a tidal wave of malice and fury. Vaelyn reached out to stop her, but Kalypso held up a hand. “Fuck off,” she commanded, her tone leaving no room for argument. “This is my fight,” her hands moving in slow circles around each other, forming a manifested ball of shadow mixed with light. With a deep breath, she summoned her power, the dreamscape bending and shifting around her. The darkness crashed into her like a wave, but she stood firm, her energy blazing like wildfire. The storm screamed and writhed, fighting against her control, but she pushed back with everything she had. “Jesus…this shit is fuckin’…stubborn,” she spoke through gritted teeth as she stayed firmly planted, working her way through it.

Vaelyn watched, frozen, as Kalypso battled the madness that had consumed him for so long. The shadows twisted and writhed, trying to overwhelm her with their malevolent force, but Kalypso stood her ground. She channeled every ounce of strength within her, pushing back against the darkness that sought to suffocate them. Her eye blazed with determination as she unleashed a torrent of energy, dispersing the shadows and bringing a momentary calm to the dreamscape.

As the last remnants of the storm dissipated, a profound stillness settled over the realm. Kalypso stood amidst the fading echoes of chaos, her chest heaving as she surveyed the now tranquil landscape. Vaelyn looked at her in awe, a newfound respect dawning in his eyes.

"You did it," he breathed, his voice tinged with disbelief and gratitude.

Kalypso allowed herself a small, weary smile before turning to him. "Duh," she quipped, though the exhaustion in her voice was palpable. “Now, relax…gaining the upper hand was the hard part, keeping it away will be easy so long as I’m here with you,” she walked toward him, leading them to the ground by taking his hand. She sat, criss crossed, patting her lap to allow him to rest his head. Vaelyn let out a shaky breath, feeling a weight he hadn't realized he'd been carrying lift from his shoulders. The sense of relief was overwhelming, almost foreign after so long spent in the grip of fear. He looked at Kalypso with a newfound sense of trust, grateful beyond words for her intervention.

"Thank you," he whispered, his voice barely more than a breath. He joined her on the ground, comforted, laying his head within her lap and allowing her to gently rolled her fingers through his messy strands of hair. Kalypso offered him a tired but warm smile, her emerald orb reflecting the weariness of the battle they had just faced together.

"You're welcome," she replied softly, her gaze never leaving his. “You know…” she chuckled almost mindlessly as her fingers worked to soothe his weary soul. “You’re the first person I’ve ever used my gifts to actually help…most the time, I am the storm…I am the darkness…” her words almost resigned, as if she had only just realized this fact about herself.

Vaelyn listened to the soft sounds of her voice, her gentle touch soothing him in a way he had never experienced before. He knew that she was different, something in her made her stand out from others, but never did he think it could be anything like what they just experienced.

"How does that make you feel?" he asked curiously. Kalypso had always been a complete and royal pain in his ass, but for once, she saved him. She saw him. The most insane apart about it, was when she saw him, she didn’t run or shy. She wasn’t even mildly shaken by it. He knew she had the capabilities of ruining people’s lives, he’d seen it first hand in their relationship. Yet, this side, was a completely different version of the person he’d come to know and meet. He knew that all of the roughest parts of her were just a means of protection from the pain that her family had caused her so long ago.

Kalypso paused, her fingers still moving gently through Vaelyn's hair. She had never really thought about how her own darkness might affect others. She had always been focused on surviving, on protecting herself from those who would or could cause her more pain. Using her gift as a means to seek vengeance and the upper hand in life, but now, seeing the effect she had on Vaelyn, she realized that maybe, she didn’t always have to.

"It's… complicated," she admitted finally, her voice barely above a whisper. "But knowing that I can preserve someone else, not just myself? That feels… good. Really good," Her fingers paused in their soothing rhythm, and she looked down at him with a mixture of vulnerability and gratitude. "I love you…stupid,” Vaelyn cocked a brow, an amused look written over his face but before he could respond, she continued. “and…thank you, for showing me there’s more to myself than…even I thought was capable," shrugging her shoulders, handing him a piece of the softness neither of them knew she was capable of doing.

Vaelyn smiled up at her, warmly, "I love you," he whispered back, his voice shaky but filled with sincerity. Truly, the first, and probably only time they’d ever been this intimate together. He held onto the moment tightly, not wanting to let go of it. They sat there, in continued silence, as Vaelyn allowed himself rest, real rest for the first time in what felt like his whole life. Not a whisper, not a voice. Silence. Something he was so grateful to even be in the presence of. While he relished in this freedom, Kalypso kept her guard up, made sure that her radiating energy kept the scape calm. They stayed this way, for the rest of the time Vaelyn needed to sleep. Allowing him his first real rest for what he believed to be, the only time in his existence.

To Be Continued…

Author’s Notes:

That is all I really can say. Elmo praising the flames. I’m physically sweating from all that intensity but damn….DAMN did I put my pussy into this piece 😩 I need to crank out more angst and lore and intense content like this. Vee and Kalypso seriously feed something really fucked up in me but i absolutely am addicted to writing their interactions with one another. 🤌🏻 Hope whoever reads this enjoys! TIL next time 🫡

#oc #original character #writer #fic writer #no snz #lore fic #OC Lore #Kalyn #Vaelyn Hawthorne #Kalypso Vahlia #angst fic

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