10 DNA Strands - Blood, Forward-dated to just after 6 am

[kid_apocalypse]

[Evan had awoken, like most mornings, at 6 am. Almost immediately he could tell something was off. His hands were stained a dark red color, as though he'd washed his hands in blood, though he couldn't remember doing anything the previous day that might have caused that. It's not until he gets out bed and strolls over to the bathroom that it really registers in his head what's going on. On his chest is a symbol he knows all too well, and his waist is adorned with a large letter A. Worst of all, the mocking nickname Quentin gave him was scrawled across his forehead in big letters, broadcasting to all that he was "KID APOCALYPSE". It's almost more than he can bear, and he staggers out of the bathroom, his emotions welling up beyond his control.]

No...it's not....this is not who I am!

[Thinking quickly, he runs back to the bathroom to try and scrub it off, but no matter how much soap and water he applies, no matter how hard he scrubs, the stains won't come off.]

God...I'm...I'm not...NO!!!

[Anyone on the third floor just now will hear a loud explosion come from the room marked "Evan Sabahnur", and his door will fly off of it's hinges a few moments later, and what was an ordinary castle room will have been reduced to a blackened husk, with Evan at it's center, his journal laying open in front of him. Try to approach him, and you'll find yourself buffeted by an invisible force coming from Evan himself, though he has no control over it. For now he's just gonna sit here and sob, his tears falling large and wet on the journal's pages.]

Comments

[patching_up]

E-Evan, are you there? What's wrong?

[He waits for an answer for a few moments, only hearing the whispered, detached words spoken over and over again. He's quick to freak out, gripping the journal and nearly shouting into it with a voice that sounds tearful.]

Please, s-say something! Evan...!!

[kid_apocalypse]

I...the stains...this blood. It wasn't my fault.

I'm...I'm not a monster, an Apocalypse.

[Then he finally notices who's talking to him.]

Sorry, 5. I'm just...these stains. It's...hard. Hard to think.

[patching_up]

No, of course you're not! You're a good person, w-why would you ever think otherwise?

[He sounds as though he's calming down a little; his worst fears are quelled at the sound of Evan's voice speaking to him directly.]

Please, don't say things like that...

[kid_apocalypse]

[He takes a shuddering breath.]

You don't know...I...someone...my uncle Cluster...was...he was killed...right in front of me. I...I couldn't save him.

[patching_up]

[Oh.]

You--

[5 wants to tell Evan that it isn't his fault. Because it isn't. But the same kind of thing... has been haunting him, too. Letting someone die, someone he cared about, and not being able to stop it.]

--weren't the one to kill him, though. If you couldn't do anything, then...

[He's trying hard to keep calm and reassure him, but his voice is cracking terribly.]

[kid_apocalypse]

But...but I could have. I'm strong enough...I could have saved him. I should have saved him. I just...I don't want to hurt anyone.

[patching_up]

Evan...

[He sighs.]

That doesn't make it your fault. You wanted to help... you care. Y-you can't do anything now, anyway, so...

Please don't blame yourself.

[kid_apocalypse]

I know, I just...having these marks all over me...all they do is remind me of everything I've done wrong...all the things I regret in my life. All the things I'd change if I could.

[patching_up]

... it's not just you, you know. Everyone... regrets something. Even me.

[He goes quiet for a moment. Helping Evan pull himself together is difficult, when 5 is lost in his own sorrows.]

I-it'll be okay. They have to go away eventually...