Awaking in the world of dreams, Arthur found himself in the outside world, where fog was rampant. And emerging from the fog was a white haired woman.
"Ah, hey, Lucy."
His words were soft, and she looked at him with a look that gave similar feelings to betrayal.
"You… word has it that you revealed the secrets of dragons to the world, and not only that, you killed every major member of the Fire Dragon family. Is that true…?" She asked.
"Yeah. I did that," Arthur answered nonchalantly. She looked down, exhaling through her nose as a sigh of worry.
"You truly are going through with this. This plan of yours, you know it's totally nonsensical, don't you? I think you're a smart person, but you're doing something extremely stupid."
"Well, I am a pretty dumb person. If you're here to talk me out of it, then I'm very sorry to say, but it can't be done."
Then, Arthur had an idea.
"Though, with that said… Can you help me? I've been captured in the basement of the Space Dragon family, and they're going to make me sit around until I die, so please… help," Arthur begged. Lucy looked at him with raised eyebrows, before they narrowed back down.
"Again, you're being stupid," she said. "We both know I'm against your idea, yet you ask for my help? I'm sorry, Arthur. Even if we're friends, I can't help you. I know that you'll just go on to kill more people, and I don't want that on my hands."
Arthur looked taken aback.
"What…? But, no, Lucy, I…" he stammered, getting closer to her as he leaned forward.
"No, you don't get it! I may be a dragon, I may have been raised in a world where violence was common, but I reject it wholeheartedly! I'm all for self defense, if you had chosen just those who hurt your friend to attack, that would have been fine by me, but you took such a leap in logic that I can't follow you!"
Arthur froze, before taking a step back and clenching both fists tightly.
"No, that… no, that's wrong, you are the one who doesn't get it!" He yelled, approaching her. She seemed quite frightened by the raised voice, especially since he had, last time, been quite calm and understanding.
"You say you reject the world where violence is so common, so why can't you understand me!? I don't need your wholehearted support, I don't need you to constantly affirm me, but please, why can't you understand me!?" Arthur screamed, reaching up and grabbing his chest, squeezing the area over his heart which felt fat due to his steroid abuse.
"I had to watch one of the only friends I've ever had, one of the only people who let me know, who told me that it was okay for me to keep living, that I wasn't a burden, that I wasn't a good-for-nothing, that I wasn't a waste of existence who would have been better off having never been born, see her head on the ground after I lost due to my own weakness!"
He continued.
"She was a piece of me, she was a part of my worldview, she represented the idea that, 'hey, maybe I'm not as awful as I thought I was, maybe life can be good.' And I watched her die, I felt unbearable fear and pain trying to rescue her. Then, afterwards, I was reminded, to my face, that it was because I was too weak to save her, that it's my fault!"
She seemed a bit afraid of his outburst, before she shoved him away, as he'd gotten too close.
"You, okay, and then you're going to kill everyone, people who didn't do anything to you!?" She cried, before he quickly closed the gap, reaching his hands out and placing them over her throat for a second, before letting go and taking a step back.
"We both hate the system! We both hate how dragons work, how they constantly fight, and fight, and fight, and hurt innocent people, we both despise that part of our world," he said under his breath, looking down as he huffed and puffed.
"So why can't you understand me…?! Fundamentally, I want to shock the dragon world, by force. I want to end evil by purging it, and leading those still alive into brighter days!"
"Agh, stop acting like you're doing this for the greater good! If you were doing it for the greater good, then sure, maybe I could understand, but you're not doing an evil thing for good reasons, you're doing an evil thing for emotional, dumb reasons!"
"I am doing it for both! Gosh, why can't you put an ounce of effort into understanding me!? You don't understand me at all, you can't even see why I want to do things this way—"
"Then can't you understand why I don't want you doing it? You say I can't understand you but can you understand me?"
"No, I can't, I can't see it your way because you haven't been through what I've been through! You don't know what it's like to be harassed just for existing, for being weak, to be sick without a cure, you don't understand any of that!"
His heart heavy, with eyes flooded with pain, they barely spilled tears.
"You're a beautiful girl, with good friends and people who can love you for who you are, so what on Earth do you have to complain about!? Yes, I'm doing something wrong, but I'm doing it for my own reasons!"
"I, I don't know anything anymore! I haven't had a single moment of genuine happiness ever since I found out I was a dragon—no, not just that."
"I haven't been happy in my entire life. Not until I had my friends, who the world has hurt. My rampage doesn't stop at just the Assas and Oppen family, it extends to every family because I know they're all capable of the same cruelty."
"But—" She tried to get a word in, but he stopped her, continuing to speak.
"You don't know what it's like to have been born inferior to everyone around you. You don't know what it's like to have to wear a mask, to completely forsake anything you truly are, just to make the pain hurt a little less."
"Over and over again, I was slapped around and hurt by people who I couldn't stop, just because I wasn't good enough for them. I tried to cover it up by studying, to prove I wasn't a failure, but it wasn't enough. When I saw that someone had killed themselves online, I couldn't help but wonder, 'should that be me?' 'Maybe that's all I can do.' I'm sick with a disease in my heart that can't be cured, but I'm the bad guy? What the fuck is wrong with you? We both hate the same dragons, we both hate the system, but because I've lost more than you ever will, you refuse to help me for it?"
Arthur panted quite hard, as he's been speaking a lot and quite quickly and loudly at that. He looked down, wiping his eyes.
"Why… Why am I stuck like this…?" He fell to his knees, clutching his head. Lucy looked down on him, silent and staring.
"I hate… myself. Why can't I change? I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry… I just… I just want the pain to end."
Her eyes widened and, to his surprise, she actually crouched down, touching his shoulders.
"Hey… it's okay, it's okay," she said gently. "I… You're processing your friend's death very roughly, and it's okay."
Arthur looked up, tears streaming down his face.
"I… I'm sorry, no, it's not okay. I'm so, so sorry about what I said, it wasn't right, it… I'm sorry."
"It's okay. After all, isn't this what these dreams are for? To vent, and get things off our chest in a safe place?" She asked.
Arthur smiled slightly, and nodded his head, wiping his tears.
"I… Ever since she died, I've felt so helpless. It reminded me of when I was a kid, and the whole world was against me then. I thought I'd escaped that when I had my friends, but when she died… it reminded me of those awful days, and I… I couldn't help but lash out."
"I understand you. I too have had those bad days where I felt like I wanted to lash out against the world. You've experienced more than I have, though, so I can't blame you in the slightest. Please, just promise me one thing," she spoke gently.
"What is it?"
"Once I set you free, you won't continue your rampage."
"Ah…" Arthur said, seeming to think for a moment. "It'll be hard to let go of this rage, but… I… I'll do it. I promise, I won't continue, I don't know what I'll do, but I… I'll try to be better."
"And that's all I ask."
She stood up, and extended her hand. She helped him up off the ground, and he wiped his eyes once more, smiling slightly.
"I'll do my best to help break you out. That's my promise. Do you want to wake up now?" She asked, holding his hand softly. Their gaze met. One filled with desperation, and the other filled with concern.
Arthur nodded his head.
"Thank you."
…
He returned to the real world, and smiled. He dug his nails into his palm to make sure he could feel pain and that he truly had escaped.
He laughed and held his hand over his face, flashing a truly nasty grin.
'Thank you, Lucy.'
From nearly the very beginning, he'd gotten the idea to use her to escape. And of course, when she put up resistance, he knew he had to make it seem that he genuinely did change.
He didn't lie too much, as he genuinely did get upset in that argument. But, he was able to use that to his advantage, and felt even a bit relieved, being able to get some things off his chest.
But, of course, the promise that he made, was one he never intended to keep.
Because he was a very evil person—one whose downfall was inevitable.