Guilt

Nyarlathotep expected the Eye’s universe to be a giant court room, or perhaps a prison cell. As such, she was surprised when she arrived to find the entire universe shrouded in darkness. As with the Dying Man, her more pragmatic side debated immediately destroying everything before the Fear could attempt any tricks, but curiosity proved stronger, and she started exploring, using her flaming sword to light the way.

“Hey!” She shouted in a voice much deeper than would be expected from her appearance. “Get the fuck out here so I can stab you and leave!”

Something did appear in the darkness, but it was not the disembodied eye that Nyarlathotep had been expecting. It was a woman, who looked impossibly familiar to Nyarlathotep.

“Lisa?” Her voice suddenly sounded like I-330’s again.

Lisa look at Nyarlathotep with sad blue eyes. “Why, 330?”

A chain appeared around Nyarlathotep’s leg, but she didn’t seem to notice it. “This is an illusion.” She said. “You died. I remember it. I was you when it happened.”

“Yes. I did die. Because you couldn’t save me.”

Another chain appeared around Nyarlathotep’s other leg. “I tried the best I could!”

“And look at what you did as a result. Did you think that’s what I wanted? Did you think I would be happy to come back and find out how many people you murdered in order to save me? That I’d be grateful enough to forgive the fact that you destroyed the entire universe?”

A chain wrapped around Nyarlathotep’s arm, making her drop her sword. She still didn’t react. “I… I thought… maybe I could make things better…. After I saved you, I could fix things….”

“How? You can’t just take back everything you did. People died. All for something that didn’t even work. How can you justify that? How can you keep fighting, acting like it’s all someone else’s fault?”

“I just… I….” More chains continued appearing around her, pulling Nyarlathotep to her knees. “All I wanted was to get you back. Is that too much? Is it wrong for me to want something worthwhile in my life?” A tear went down Nyarlathotep’s face, and more rapidly followed. “I’ve been fighting nothing but losing battles my whole life! I’ve seen humanity killed twice right before my eyes, and all I could do about it was try to get revenge on the perpetrators! Everyone I’ve gotten close to has died!” Her body shook with sobs. “And it’s always my fault. Everything I try to do only makes things worse. I keep fighting, hoping to change things for the better, because it’s the only thing I know how to do. But instead of fixing everything, I just keep breaking it even worse.”

A chain wrapped around Nyarlathotep’s neck, but she still didn’t resist. “The time I spent with you was the only time I was ever really happy.” She said. “The only time there was some peace in my life. There was actually someone in the world who loved me. Not some idea of me, but just me. I didn’t have to constantly act like a perfect, energetic adventurer for her. She saw me at my worst, when I was crippled and angry at everything but she still loved me. Even when I acted like I would never return her feelings. And she was everything I wished I could be, everything I used to be before I turned into this monster. Of course I tried to get her back. Who wouldn’t fight with everything they had to get something like that back?”

Lisa stepped closer, and put her hand on Nyarlathotep’s shoulder. “No one can doubt your motivations. But you went too far. You need to accept that it’s pointless to keep fighting. Accept that I’m gone. It’s over, 330. You can rest now.”

Nyarlathotep’s sobs grew softer as the chains tightened around her. And then, almost hidden by her crying, a chuckle. Then another. And another. The tears stopped, and Nyarlathotep laughed madly as the chains that had been holding her began to break apart and fall away. “Over?” She said. “No. Not yet. I haven’t lost yet. I can still win this. I can fix everything. I have that power now.” She looked at Lisa and laughed. “So what if Lisa died? I’ll make a new her! One who will approve of the actions I took to bring her back! And I’ll make sure she stays by my side forever!”

“But you can’t-”

“Shut up!” Nyarlathotep roared, her voice again becoming deep and powerful. “How dare you wear her face! How dare you pretend to know anything about what she would have thought!” Nyarlathotep picked up her sword and advanced on Lisa.

“330… please… please don’t….”

“Shut up shut up SHUT UP!” Nyarlathotep swung her sword through Lisa. Lisa’s body vanished, and in its place was a large, floating eye. Nyarlathotep screamed and swung again, cutting the Eye in half. As it died, so did its universe.

Only silence followed. Yet another Fear had been destroyed. Just three remained. Three, and the Slender Man.

Nyarlathotep spat at the spot where the Eye had been. It did nothing to soothe her anger. Nothing but the continued destruction of her foes would calm her now. They would meet their death soon. She intended to make sure of it.