Nameless - "Time-Keepers"

"Time, it took us
To where the water was
That’s what the water gave me
And time goes quicker
Between the two of us
Oh, my love, don’t forsake me
Take what the water gave me

Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Pockets full of stones

Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow..."

Cross is dead.

Yesterday, I made time stand still and slipped from the cuffs that bound Skye and me together, and I went to pay Cross a visit- so that I might bid him a final farewell.

I told him of my pregnancy and that I was going home, after all this time, and that I was staying there. At first, he appeared surprised- but, oh, the pregnancy. He turned an ashen shade, and stared down at his shoes.

"You... went out as well last night.... It's Skye's."

I said nothing to him in regard of whom the father is.

When I looked back up at him, tears were streaming freely from his violet gaze. He trembled, trying to laugh at some point before realising his vocals had twisted into a pitiful sob, and he quieted himself. I asked him,
"Do you think you would ever kill someone, Cross?"

"Nobody but myself."

"Don't say that."

"Oh, it's a joke, Nameless... Isn't that what we psychotic people do? Make dark jokes?" And he claimed he was happy, but I did not believe that claim for a second.

"I'm sorry, Nameless... I said my heart was yours, that you could have it..." From his coat, he pulled a glass heart of the deepest shade of crimson, and he slid it across the table, to me. "I will not betray you."

I told him that I am a coward- and I am- and that I was not ready for any of this. I am so afraid... of everything...

"Go back to Skye, and raise that beautiful child with him... Take my heart, but forget my face, forget everything about me... You're stronger than you think, Nameless..."

"Skye will die if I leave him again... He wants me to kill Elias, and Elias to kill you...!" (But honestly, Elias- Did you expect me to be the king's advisor and be unaware of your little secret? How sadly amusing...)

"I'm already dead, it's all right."

"What?" I did not understand. This boy was not a ghost. What was he talking about?

"Nameless, oh Nameless... My heartbeat intrigued you the other day, and I told you, it was merely a time-keeper. The blood that pulses through one's veins, their heartbeat... That is only anatomy- If their soul is damaged enough, what is life but a vague and contridicting lie?"

I sat on the floor, contemplating this, and all I could manage to say was "I don't want them to hurt you, Cross..."

"What would me being a corpse and not of this earth affect you? And it's fine, it shouldn't. It shouldn't with anyone..."

"Then, let me have your soul..." I am selfish.

He said he was not ready to give it up, and so I told him to stop saying stupid things. Then he said, he would cancel it, and blubbering, he pulled it out, saying I could have his sould now.

I asked him if he was certain about his decision, and he turned to me, purple eyes dull and stoic...

"Would it make you happy?"

"What is it you want, cross"

"To live a happy life. No, nothing perfect. Nothing is ever perfect, and I like that. But I seem to mess up everything in my life. I'm selfish. I call myself an artist... my wrok is redundant and nothing special... Would my soul ever be pleasing! Ha!"

"Then, live..."

From the table, he drew a blade and slashed a crooked line deep into his jugular until the blood squirted out uncontrollably, and he began to gag and cough and produce spattered noises to accompany that crimson liquid...

"And oh, poor Atlas
The world’s a beast of a burden
You’ve been holding on a long time
And all this longing
And the ships are left to rust
That’s what the water gave us

So lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Pockets full of stones
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow..."

"You might a-as we- well... take my soul now." said he, and, my composure unfaultering (as I was in shock), I outstretched an arm, and withdrew the knife from his grasp, letting it fall to the tile floor below with a jingle, a clink, a ring of silver that pierced through the ominous silence.

My friend, Cross, died with a smile on his face. And as he died, I took him by his coat collar and pulled him into one final kiss, and stole from him his soul.

I did not cry, but took his wounds and healed them, and I took his glass heart and infused it with his soul... What I did with his body is not to be spoken of.

"‘Cause they took your loved ones
But returned them in exchange for you
But would you have it any other way?
Would you have it any other way?
You couldn't have it any other way..."
Skye... He's dead, just like you wanted. Just like you wanted...

Always what you wanted...

Let this child foretell our fate, my love, I love you... Love me, only me, always, and forever...

"‘Cause she’s a cruel mistress
And a bargain must be made
But oh, my love, don’t forget me
I let the water take me

Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the over flow
Pockets full of stones

Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow

Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Pockets full of stones

Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow."
And such is the end of the story
of my dear friend,
Cross. Farwell, you psychotic son of a bitch...