Eli awoke screaming, gasping for air with an arm outstretched. His body was shivering, yet soaked with sweat. Moonlight shone through the window nearboy, illuminating the room in a soft cold light. A migraine was already settling into his head as his mind ran through the recent memories.
A coward. He felt like a coward. Not only that, what he said to Oboros and what he almost did to Trish made his stomach churn. He didn't want to hurt anyone. He didn't even want to be mean.
He just wanted to get rid of those things. Yet when one stood in front of him, he froze. "You're fucking useless," Eli gritted his teeth as he stood up. Someone had not only removed the clothing from his, but the white wrap he kept underneath as well, save for his undergarments and eyepatch.
A large mirror stood on the opposite side of the ornately decorated room he was in. It must have been the city master's house, Eli guessed.
Approaching the mirror, Eli looked at the state of his body. The years of training he had done with Aeros and everyone else had done it some good, leaving him in perfect shape. Even with his impressive figure, a large chunk of his skin was scarred, leaving disgustingly deep scars littering his body.
He hated his scars.
Even he, a rare healer, couldn't take these away. Aeros had found another healer a couple years back, and they too were unable to take these away. His skin almost always felt itchy, and his scars would feel fiery every time a memory flashed of his time in the pit. Even more so today, more than any other day since he was saved from that place.
Eli studied himself in the mirror, his left eye now tired and sunken. The greenish glow that seemed to emanate from his eye seemed dim.
Slowly removing his eyepatch, Eli now had full vision, looking into his right eye. Images flashed in his mind and screams echoed in his ears. Many were all too familiar, some he had witnessed himself, other not.
Trish had seen it, hadn't she? Eli remembered her reaction to seeing it, though it was a bit fuzzy. Would she be afraid of him now? Skeptical? Would she treat him differently like others had when they too had looked into this godforsaken eye?
"He was right there," Eli choked, "He was right fucking there, and you stood there like a fucking child, afraid and defenseless. God damned coward."
Eli didn't just hate that being, or those like it. He hated himself for his inaction. His hesitation. His words. His action. He had said not a word, nor attacked.
Yet his friends, his family, he had then said something, physically tried to do something.
"Look at you, standing there all fucking pathetic and sad," a voice said, yet Eli did not react. He knew this voice. It was not in the room, but in his mind. Yet his own vision gave the voice a form. A copy of himself looked back at him within the mirror. Though instead of two different distinct eyes, two voids looked back at him.
"Jesus fuck man quit with the waterworks. Do you even realize how pathetic you are? I mean seriously, what kind of sniveling brat cries and says 'oh poor me' after trying to strangle his friend? You know why you tried to attack her? Because your fuckin' weak and can't control yourself."
His doppelganger laughed as it moved back in the mirror, leaning against the wall behind it. "You know one day they'll finally get tired of your unstable, sniveling, and weak ass. Just admit it, you know it, I know it, they know it. They don't really give a shit about you. They probably just felt bad for you and haven't found the right place to just drop you off and forget about you."
The being shrugged, then smirked as it began to walk back towards Eli, pointing it's finger, "Actually," It dragged the word out, "I think that's exactly why you're here. That's why you're getting sent off to some school. They finally found a way to get rid of you! Ha, that must be it." The doppelganger snapped its fingers and nodded its head.
"Shut up," Eli's jaw tightened.
"What was that?" The doppelganger held a hand up to its ear as it leaned towards the mirror. "I couldn't hear you over the sound of you being a bitch. Please, speak up for those in the back."
"I said shut up!" Eli voice was louder this time.
"Hmmm," Other Eli hummed as he tapped his chin, "Nah. Denied. No bueno my friend. Oh, you probably won't understand that one. Anyways, I have a proposal."
Eli's face fell even further as his other self paced around the bedroom within the mirror.
"I think, you should just kill yourself and get it alllllll over with!" A wide smile painted it's face. "Wouldn't you agree? I mean just think, you just jump from a high place, and splat!" Other him smacked its palms together, "No more accidentally showing people here images and sounds from hell, and more being a crybaby bitch for you? Sounds like a win-win, am I right?"
Eli's face remained still as he focused on the mirror. "Eh, I tried." Other him shrugged. "Though I hope you do know, since our little run in with that fucking monster, I think things are going to get wayyyyy worse than even I could guess. But that's just me. Oh hey, by the way, when are you going to fuck that little cat girl, or anyone for that matter. I'm getting so bored over-"
The mirror shattered as Eli's fist connected with the material.
He had had enough of that thing for now, especially after the day's events. He knew that the Other Him wouldn't need a mirror to manifest within the world, but this could possibly give him some time with his own thoughts.
Within seconds, a frantic knock on the door could be heard, causing Eli to let out a breath. He wasn't sure how he was going to explain the mess.