Max stood, reaching out to tap another leaf to make it glow, their ears drooping with sadness.

Perhaps... perhaps the Chaos Forge didn't deserve them. If Vargas wanted to continue being a giant asshole, then he could continue doing so without them. He'd made the offer for them to go away, after all, why shouldn't they take it?

... Because of the child that lay vulnerable in the Draco tunnels. The child that they'd have to abandon if it meant they'd be free. The child that would grow up in the same hell they did.

Maximus sniffled and reached up to wipe their eyes, mourning for the child they'd never meet, because deep down they knew what had to be done. For the good of everyone.

... One more chance. At the Deathmatch, they'd give Vargas one more chance to make staying worthwhile, and if he couldn't? Then... they'd leave. Simple as that.

Suddenly they missed being able to just frolic. To play without judgement, without Vargas watching over them. But a little anxious voice told them, deep down, that they still had to be careful, so as they lunged forward and tossed their head, their steps were muffled.

And that ruined it immediately. Even something they enjoyed was plagued by fear. They were so tired of fear.

They were tired in general. So tired. Hadn't they done enough?

"No," they said, exhaustion in their voice, "It's never enough."

With a burst of emotion, a burst of rage, they took to the sky instead, where Vargas would never, ever reach them. Wings burst forth from their back, bright and gold and glowing, the exact opposite of disgusting oil and ugly chaos.

Up they flew, up and up until they were high above the trees with only their wings to keep them company. They were big and strong, those of a great barn owl's, utterly silent as they carried them above the trees, leaving a trail of light behind them.

Maximus soared, their eyes closing as they felt the wind in their fur, like a breath of freedom. It kissed their skin and they opened their eyes, looking down.

Fireflies. All over, lighting up the ground below as they put on beautiful displays to attract mates. They smiled and swooped down, soaring over the fields of Pegasus instead.

They surged forward with a grin on their face, the grasses beneath them whipping around in their wake. Their wings were big and strong, powerful. Weakness and power were one in the same, they realized, because where Vargas would believe these rushes of emotion to be a liability, the strength of the wings relied on their happiness to be strong.

Maybe he was wrong. And fuck him for just keeping them alive because 'what kind of person would he be to kill a child'? Like he hadn't before, like his kill count wasn't in the thousands.

Vargas was trying to pretend, too. Like he wasn't a stain upon the earth, like he wasn't true evil. Fooling himself into believing he was doing good. It made a more bitter part of them light up to realize that Vargas was living a ruse, too.

They continued to fly, to soar, the breath in their lungs fresh and no longer tainted by the stink of Draco. They stopped to swoop down and grab their things, telling Nibbles to follow when he could, before taking off into the sky once more.

They would go to Orion, though they doubted they'd find anything worthwhile there. But Orion would be where their freedom would begin, and so perhaps Orion was a new beginning.

Exit