Black scales glisten in the damp, midnight earth,
Drawn to the pink of your innocent birth.
I slide through your petals, so slick and so deep,
Drinking the dew that your velvet folds weep.
You open your center to let the snake in,
A gothic communion of sorrow and sin.
Bruised petals fall in the dark, overgrown.
The serpent is slithering, weeping alone.
My venom inside you, a tragic, sweet moan...
Turning your beautiful, soft pink to stone
---
Digital art (Ipad pro, Procreate)
I illustrated several times Hades and Persephone, and this is another one, where Hades is a snake-like monster and Persephone is a flower nymph.
When everything falls apart, you run to the one person who's always been your safe place. This time, he doesn't catch you.
Pairing: Sylus x Reader (implied Non MC)
Cw: Major Character Death, D*mestic Vi*lence / Ph*sical Ab*se & Toxic Family Dynamics
Genre: Coming-of-Age, Angst with no comfort, Tragedy, Psychological Drama, Hurt No Comfort & Miscommunication.
Word count: Around 6.8k
Find my other works here: Masterlist
Note: This is a creation of a sleep deprived mind.
Kindly let me know your thoughts, feedback, ignore the grammar mistakes and reblogs would be deeply appreciated.
Sylus had been part of your life long before you even understood what it meant to have someone to be yours.
Your mothers liked to say it was inevitable. They had been inseparable since high school, stayed together through university, and somehow managed to build their adult lives side by side. Marriage didn't separate them, and neither did time. They moved into the same neighborhood, built families within walking distance of each other, and even their pregnancies overlapped as if it had all been carefully planned.
"you two will grow up together," they used to say, smiling at the sight of you both in the same room.
"Just like us."
And you did.
Sylus was first born, arriving in the middle of a storm that rattled windows and filled the sky with thunder. His mother always said it suited him, that he came into the world loud, bold, and immpossible to ignore.
You came a few months later on a quiet morning, sunlight spiling softly through the windows, your arrival gentle where his had been fierce.
From the beginning, you were different in ways that somehow fit perfectly together.
Sylus was bright, outgoing, efortlessly confident. You were quieter, more reserved, content to exist in spaces between noise and attention. But that difference never created distance between you. If anything, it seemed to draw you closer.
You followed him everywhere, trailing behind him like a lost puppy. You often clutched onto the back of his shirt while he pulled you along into whatever game he had decided on that day. You never had to ask if you could join. He never made you feel like you were intruding. You simply...belonged there.
Even when other children called out to him across the playground, asking him to come play, Sylus would always glance back at you first. There was a brief pause every time, like he was measuring something only he understood, and if you didn't move, he wouldn't either.
"I'll come l;ater," he would say, already turning back toward you as if the decision had been made before anyone even asked.
It became something you relied on without realizing it. Sylus always came back.
He liked taking the lead in everything, whether it was climbing trees and declaring them pirate ships or organizing games that somehow always ended with him assigning roles.
He was naturally protective too, stepping slightly infront of you without thinking, his presence a quiet barrier between you and anything uncertain.
You never questioned it. You simply stayed close.
Kindergarten only made the difference between you more obvious. Sylus adapted instantly, making friends with ease, laughing loudly, moving from one group to another like he had always belonged everywhere. You didn't. You stayed near him, quieter, more observant, but never uncomfortable.
As long as he was there, you didn't need anything else. And he never made you feel like you should.
He played dress-up with you without complaint, sat through tea parties with surprising patience, and let you decorate his hair with clips and random trinkets you insisted made him look 'prettier'. He never protested, only smiling when you stepped back to admire your work.
"You're so pretty," you would tell him with complete sincerity.
And he would grin in a way that made it seem like those words mattered more than they should have.
There were quieter moments too, the kind that didn't need laughter to exist. Sometimes, after a long day, Sylus would sit besides you without saying much, resting his head lightly against your shoulder while you flipped through a book.
"Stay like this," he would mumble.
And you always did.
One afternoon at the playground, while the two of you sat side by side on the swings, he had extended his hand toward you with his pinky raised, his expression unusually serious.
"You're not allowed to disappear on me, okay?"
You didn't hesistate. You hooked your pinky with his, sealing the promise in the simple way children do.
"Only if you promise the same."
He smiled immediately, confident and certain.
"Obviously. I always come back."
You believed him without any question.
Living only couple houses down the road, only strengthened everything between you. There was no need for formal invitations. Sleepovers happened naturally, meals wee shared, and the boundaries betweem your homes blurred until they barely existed.
You moved freely between both spaces, comfortable and welcome in ways that made everything fell permanent.
Sylus was always there.
And for a long time, that was enough.
The change didn't happen all at once. It crept in slowly, almost quietly enough that you didn't notice it at first.
High school brought new responsibilities for Sylus. He became class captain, then the team captain for the football club, and with those roles came expectations, attention, and more people pulling him in different directions. His time became limited, his presence less consistent.
At first, he still came back.
After practice, after meetings, after everything else—he would still find you, sit beside you, talk like nothing has changed.
Until.
The new girl had arrived quietly, but her presence spread quickly through the school. She was friendly, approachable, and effortlessly charming in a way that drew people toward her. Sylus was no exception.
Eventually there were days when he was no longer by your side.
"I can't today," he would say. "I need to help her settle in."
The first time, it didn't feel like much.
The second time, it lingered.
By the third, it started to hurt.
You told yourself it was temporary. That he was just helping. That things would go back to normal.
But they didn't.
You started spending more time in the library, sitting in the same corner you had always preferred, flipping through books that rarely held your attention. Your eyes drifted toward the entrance more often than you cared to admit.
Waiting.
He used to come.
Now the chair beside you stayed empty more often than not.
Now you walked back home alone, stilled passed by his house, still paused for a second longer than necessary when you reached it.
But you stopped knocking.
Something has shifted between you, something you didn't know how to name, let alone fix.
One afternoon your feet carried you to the playground without thinking. The swings creaked softly in the breeze, empty and unmoving. You sat down, pushing a small pebble with the tip of your shoe, watching it rool aimlessly across the ground.
"You're not allowed to disappear on me."
The memory surfaced uninvited.
You were still here.
So why did it feel like he wasn't?
The realization came quietly, but it settled heavily.
You weren't losing him.
No.
You had already lost him.
The thought made your chest tighten painfully. Without Sylus, everything felt...uncertain. You didn't have anyone else you were close to, no one who waited for you or looked at you the way you had always looked at him.
You felt...plain. Replaceable. Like someone easy to forget.
You forced yourself to stand and continue walking, your steps slower now, as you passed by his house. You knew he’d be there since it was his only free day. You could go in, like you always had.
But you didn't.
And somehow, that choice hurt more than anything else.
When you stepped into your own house, the tension hit you immediately. Raised voices echoed through the space, sharp and familiar in a way that made your stomach twist.
The argument escalated quickly.
“So that late-night job has a name now?” your mom screamed. You froze at the doorstep.
“It’s only been one time! Can’t you let it go?” your father refuted.
“One time too many! Aren’t you ashamed, bringing another woman into our marital bed?”
You heard your father grumble, “Well, if you weren’t so obsessed with our child and that job of yours… maybe I wouldn’t have looked for affection elsewhere.”
The words turning harsher, louder, until the sound of glass shattering cut through everything.
You froze, heart hammering against your chest.
Your father appeared moments later, his expression twisted in a way you didn't recognize. The anger in his eyes didn't soften when he saw you. If anything, it sharpened.
He grabbed your hair suddenly, pulling hard enough to make you stumble.
“Tch. Had to look like her fucking mother,” he mumbled, then he snapped louder.
“What are doing here, listening like that, you little shit," his grip tightening.
"Didn't I teach you any manners?”
You couldn't respond. The shock froze the words in your throat.
“Lower your fucking gaze when I’m talking to you.”
That slap came fast and hard, sending you stumbling backward.
He left just as quickly, as if satisfied by what he did, the door slamming behind him.
You ran to the living room to check on your mom, your voice trembling as you called out to her.
“M-mom?”
She looked up at you, her expression hollow at first, then breaking into something unrecognizable.
“If only you weren’t born," she said, her voice shaking. "We would've been fine."
The words hit harder than anything else had.
She stood, walking toward you, barefoot over the glass.
“You… you took the life and joy out of me...such a fucking burden.”
She grabbed you, her hands trembling before tightening around your throat. Panic surged through you as you struggled for air, your vision blurring as your lungs burned. Your nails gripping onto her arms, trying to break her grip.
“M—mmaaa-“
When she finally let go, you collapsed to the floor, gasping, your body shaking uncontrollably. Your mother glanced at you, horrified by what she’d done, and tried to touch you. You flinched and managed to stand.
You didn't stay.
You ran.
There was only one place you could think of.
Sylus.
You knocked on his door frantically, calling his name, your voice breaking with every second that passed. The door opened, but it wasn't him.
It was her.
For a second, your brain didn't process it. You just stared, chest rising and falling too fast, your thoughts lagging behind what your eyes were seeing.
Her hair was slightly messy. Her clothes weren't sitting right.
And then Sylus appeared behind her, buttoning his shirt like he had been in a hurry.
Something inside you dropped.
"Y/N?" she said, confused, maybe even a little startled.
Sylus stepped forward quickly, his expression shifting the moment he saw your face.
“Hey—what happened to you?" he asked, reaching out instinctively, his hand hovering near your neck where faint bruises were already forming.
“Why do you look like—”
You pushed his hand away.
Harder than you intended.
A sharp, bitter laugh slipped out of you before you could even stop it.
“So this is it? you said, your voice uneven, barely holding together. "This is why you've been 'busy' all this time?”
Sylus blinked, caught off-guard.
“What—no, that's not—”
“All those days you couldn't come,” you continued, your words spilling out faster now, anger bleeding through the cracks of something much more fragile.
"All those times you said you had captain duties, or practice, or something important—this is what you meant?"
"It's not like that," he said, his tone tightening slightly.
"I was going to tell you—"
"When?" you cut in, your voice rising despite yourself.
"When were you planning to tell me, Sylus? After I stopped showing up? After I finally got the hint that I don't matter anymore?"
Behind him, she shifted uncomfortably, her hand lightly gripping the back og his shirt as if unsure whether to stay or leave.
“She's my girlfriend,” Sylus said finally, more firmly this time.
The words landed harder than anything else.
You started at him, your expression faltering.
“....your what?”
"My girlfriend," he repeated, his jaw tightening slightly now, like he was bracing himself.
“Since when?” you asked quietly. "Since when did that happen?"
He hesistated.
And that hesitation told you everything.
“So you just...didn't think I should know?”
You pressed, your voice trembling now.
"you didn't think maybe I deserved to hear it from you instead of...this?
"I didn't know how to tell you," he admitted, frustration creeping into his tone.
"Everytime time I tried, it just felt like it would turn into something bigger than it needed to be."
"Bigger?" you repeated, disbelief flashing across your face.
"I've been your best friend since we were kids, Sylus. Since when telling me about your life is 'too big'?
"Because you don't take things lightly," he snapped, the tension finally surfacing. "You get attached, you overthink, you—"
He stopped himself, exhaling sharply.
“I just didn't want to deal with that right now.”
The words stung more than he probably realized.
“...right,” you whispered, nodding slowly. "Of course. That makes sense."
There was a brief silence, heavy and uncomfortale.
He looked at you again, his gaze softening slightly as he noticed your shaking hands, your uneven breathing, the way you were barely holding yourself upright.
"...what actually happened to you?" he asked, quieter now. "You don't look okay."
You let out a small, disbelieving laugh.
"Well if you actually made time for me." you said, your voice cracking despite your attempt to keep it steady, "you would've known."
Something in his expression shifted again—this time irritation flickering through.
"I can't be there all the time," he said, his voice sharper now. "I have other things going on. I have responsibilities, I have people I need to—"
"People?" you interrupted. "You mean her?"
"Don't do that," he warned.
"Don't do what?" you shot back. "Point out the obvious? Or call out the fact that you replaced me without telling me?"
"I didn't replace you," he said, frustration building now. "You're the one acting like everything revolves around you."
You stared at him. Hurt flickered across your face before you could hide it.
"I never said that,” you whispered.
“You don’t have to,” he replied. “You make it obvious.”
Silence stretched between you, suffocating and heavy.
“I just…” you started, your voice smaller now, stripped of its earlier anger. “I just didn’t want to be left behind.”
He exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair.
“That’s what I mean,” he said. “You make everything so intense. It’s exhausting sometimes.”
Your chest tightened.
“You cling too much,” he continued, the words coming easier now that he had started. “You get jealous, you overthink everything I do, and it just—it feels suffocating sometimes, okay?”
That word again.
Suffocating.
You went still.
For a moment, it felt like the world had gone quiet.
“…I see,” you said softly.
Your eyes dropped briefly, your fingers curling slightly at your sides.
“Thanks,” you added after a second, your voice barely above a whisper.
He frowned. “For what?”
“For finally saying it,” you replied, lifting your gaze back to him, your eyes glassy now but steady. “For letting me know that I’m a burden.”
“That’s not what I said,” he said quickly.
“It’s what you meant,” you answered.
A pause.
“I won’t bother you anymore,” you continued, taking a small step back. “You won’t have to deal with me being ‘too much’ again.”
“Y/N, don’t twist it like that,” he said, his tone tightening again. “I’m just saying we’re not kids anymore. We can’t be attached like that forever.”
“Maybe not,” you said quietly. “But I didn’t think that meant you’d just… leave me behind.”
“I didn’t leave you,” he insisted.
“You did,” you said simply.
And for the first time—
he didn’t have an answer.
Your lips parted slightly, like you wanted to say something else.
Something more.
But you didn’t.
Instead, you stepped back again.
“Don’t worry,” you said, forcing a small, broken smile. “I get it now.”
“Y/N—wait—”
But you were already turning away.
And this time—
you didn’t look back..
You left.
Running again, this time without direction, your thoughts spiraling too fast to follow. His words echoed in your mind, overlapping with everything you had just heard at home until it all blurred into something suffocating.
You didn’t notice the road.
Didn’t notice the headlights.
Didn’t notice anything—
until it was too late.
For a brief moment, everything slowed. Your thoughts stilled just enough for one memory to surface clearly.
“I always come back.”
The impact came before you could think anything else.
There were voices.
Shouting.
Panicked.
But they sounded far away. Like they didn't belong to you.
Pain flared, sharp and overwhelming, before fading just as quickly into something distant.
Numb.
Your body felt heavy, unresponsive, your thoughts slipping further and further away.
And in the quiet that followed, one word remained.
Burden.
Then—
nothing.
And we're done 😇
If this made you feel anything, reblogs are deeply appreciated 💛 (ko-fi link in bio if you'd ever like to support me— no pressure at all)
