The Outsider

 Adeena's presence wanes and fades, she lets herself go and reform then solidify again. The curse binds her to one world, yet her soul belongs to so many more. It's in her memories, you see, not just as Adeena but as every incarnation of Despair; Name that she takes for herself as both title and calling. And Hope was always there too. Sometimes Justice, sometimes Knowledge, but always Hope.   Except for this time. There's a stallion sleeping on the couch, earbuds on and his back to the rest of the world. She knew this grey-coat once, she'd run her fingers through his messy blue hair and stared into his lively blue eyes. Now when she looks upon them, they are dull, covered with a thin layer of what looks like lake ice; His hair is tainted by crimson strands, his coat ragged and torn at the edges.   The gods know she's tried to reconnect with the one she once knew, and for brief moments she glimpsed Hope's presence within this old interloper, but he'd always push her away to a path of her own. And now she knows why. Lounging on the sofa's arm and playing with a stuffed doll is a phantom, a pale recollection of someone who looks exactly like her in this life.  "She had your name." Adeena physically recoiled at the sound of his voice, never used lightly when directed at her. His eyes were still closed when he twisted and rose from the couch to sit up, head slumped forward. "I hated her for things she couldn't control, and she loved me for it. I was the only one who hated her as much as she hated herself. Until I didn't." His words carry the weight of a burden, longing, and it all comes crashing upon her shoulders.  It is difficult not to resent him, even if it is hypocritically so. She loves what was, but can't accept that which it is now; Just as he's holding onto the past so vehemently he can barely cast his eyes upon the ones next to him in the present. "She is not here anymore, Zerathur, but I am." She responds, chitinous feet clicking softly against the wooden floor as she tries to approach him, but then she stops.  "One day you won't be here either, and all that will be left is a ghost of you for me to reminisce." His responce is blunt like a hammer striking at her chest, she looks down and then glances up at him again to see that the phantom is faded and his dull eyes are open. "I hope you will see me for who I am before that happens." Her reply earns her his stare, and the two lock eyes... And then he's gone, away with a twist of lightless blue flames.