LU 236 - Tori 18

Emerging from a nearby forest, Tori returns from his errands, the barrier around Morpheus now in sight. Quietly humming as he walks, the bird pauses to pick a flower for his mate when the ground rumbles beneath his feet.
“Morpheus?”
Tori stands, breaking into a run when he doesn’t get a response from the tree, calling out for his mate.
“MORPHEUS. ANSWER ME.”
Heavy drops of rain cling to his feathers as the condor takes off, pushing his decaying body to its limits to get to his home. Tori clutches the contents of his pockets against his chest as he sheds his jacket, gasping as he lands on the walls around Morpheus.
“LOVE!”
His eyes widen as he catches sight of the warped flower that once stood out against the dark barriers of the void, now buried beneath the very thing that once protected his home from monsters.
Tori stumbles towards the center of the tree, falling to his knees as a sob rips from his throat. Tears mix with the rain, rolling down the bird’s cheeks into puddles beneath him.
Clawing at the void, ignoring the pain that shoots through his hands as the hardened material rips away his nails, Tori only stops to catch his breath when the blood dripping from his trembling fingers prevents him from chipping away at the black marble beneath him.
“Love!”
Exhausted, the soul condor fills the hole he dug with a handful of netherrack before planting a warped fungus in the blood-infused rock. Wrapping his wings around himself, shielding his fragile body from the world as Tori mourns his family for a second time.
“Tori?”
The condor peeks out from his wings, spotting a familiar figure looking down at him.
“You.”
He flies to meet the enderian, landing in front of her, too tired to stop Mira as they stumble over their words.
“You knew?”
Interrupting the enderian as she apologizes for not warning him, rage fills the bird as he spreads his wings, one hand resting on his axe.
“I thought you were changing!”
Dumping the ingredients to Mira’s netherwart coffee on the ground, Tori steps towards the enderian, forcing her to stumble back.
“She couldn’t leave, Mira, but I could’ve been there with her. With my family.”
The condor looks up at her, making eye contact as he glares at the enderian, drawing a distorted hiss from their mouth as they swing their lance, just missing Tori’s face.
“Don’t.”
Tori’s lips fall into a pained frown as Mira reacts, looking towards the tree he planted.
“How much blood is on your hands, Mira? Is it suffocating?”
The condor, words circling his prey, takes the enderian’s obvious discomfort and pain as an invitation to continue.
“Is this what you wanted?”
“No-!”
“It’s intoxicating, isn’t it?”
Tori brings his hand to his lips, licking the blood off a finger before taking Mira’s hand, holding it over his own on a dagger.
“Knowing how much power you have?”
“Stop it-”
The bird presses the tip of his blade to his chest, making eye contact with his friend for the last time.
“See you in hell, your majesty.”
The corners of his mouth twitch, twisting into something just short of a smile as he plunges the blade into his chest, his arm falling from the handle as he struggles to take his last breath.