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In a small home out in Bluegrass, a peach furred Singing Rabbat sat at a wooden table, their light blue eyes half-lidded and their elbow upon the tabletop, chin resting in paw. Out of their six ears, most were drooping, occasionally their head nodding from an apparent lack of sleep. All around the Rabbat's home were pots with various flowers and herbs, most of them wilted, leaves and petals falling; not a single word uttered from the Rabbat, not a single sound heard throughout the home. A silent home, a silent Singing Rabbat; all deathly still, the daytime sun pouring through the windows on a rather dreary scene.

There in the brightly lit room and dead silence, Bale sat alone wondering what to do today. They should have perhaps watered the plants in and around their home, but Bale couldn't summon the energy to want do it, in fact, they couldn't summon the energy to do much of anything, even those very things that they loved doing the most. Normally they'd be up and about, singing to their precious flowers and various plants, but their usual vim and vigor was gone. Even the stress felt from ignoring their hobbies went ignored in favor of the images that haunted them day and night. A few days ago, if that long or if not so long ago, they had encountered something strange on a little hike through the countryside; a creature that they had never seen before that left a powerful impression on them.

It had been tall and made of black ink, with a single white spot with a few dots to denote an eye of sorts, or whatever that blank visage was. For only a single moment Bale had been able to look upon that figure and wonder what they had just encountered, but only for a moment, for as they gazed at the creature, Bale's entire world had been shifted. For that single moment when their gazes met, Bale had been hit with a soul-crushing apathy that would not leave them, their soul had been whittled away and their will had been broken right there and then. Sing, plant, have a good and happy life doing what Bale loved to do; none of that mattered when that meeting had happened.

"W-what are you?" Bale had asked, but the creature did not respond, the angel only stared them in the eyes, and their heart sank, their mind faltered, and their world slowly began to shift into a mess of static.

"Rather...What does it matter?" Were the next words to come from Bale's lips. They trembled and fell to their knees, falling further and further into a cycle of self-destructive thoughts. Nothing seemed to matter, least of all themselves, and when they were at their lowest when they were ready to accept the end, that was when their world had grown entirely dark, shifting into another existence entirely, their heart stopping in the process, all sensation ceasing.

Bale remembered. Bale remembered again what occurred next in a void where nothing could be felt, nothing could be heard. For how long they had been gone, they had no recollection, but the world they had been taken to they remembered for certain. It had been an entire world full of bright white, of jagged, charcoal edges and dilapidated broken buildings. It was all at once horrifying, and at that moment soothing. It had felt so right to simply pick a corner, kneel and accept fate, accept nothingness. Nothing could have been more right, nothing could have been more correct, but as Bale remembered it, they were only filled with dread. Was it more horrifying that in the moment they had been so prepared to simply lie there and live in nothingness, or were the memories haunting them now worse in reality?

There in that world, Bale had heard nothing, but the occasional dissonant sound of static that seemed to interrupt the steady silence. Other than that, they had nothing to do, nothing to listen to, nothing to be around except the void. It had felt like hours, days, years upon years as they stared at a wall and did nothing. They ignored the creatures that passed them by and those creatures, those angels had ignored Bale. Occasionally, vocal hallucinations interrupted the nothingness and those angels spoke, "Welcome, stay with us. Stay in nothingness." Those words, those horrible nightmarish hallucinations at the time were so sweet, so honeyed because nothingness felt so right, so very right. In that nothingness, Bale stayed, Bale sat, Bale atrophied. If it weren't for that song, they wouldn't be alive.

When it felt like their form was fading, when they truly would be nothing, they suddenly heard a song, a sonorous sound that broke the silence, a song that shattered the illusion. That song had brought them to their feet, turned them around and sent them in the direction that it was coming from. Bale could remember feeling again, their hunger, their desires, their fear coming back to them slowly each and every step of the way. They continued on and on through the strange world until they found steps leading to double doors which broke open, a scraggly and strange hand coming out to grab them by the paw and bring them back from that horrible place, that was when they awoke.

Coughing, eyes wide, Bale had woken up, their body sore and trembling. There were figures, demons of all sorts around them at the time. They all asked so many questions, so many questions, but...but Bale couldn't speak! Bale opened their mouth to answer, but the only noise that came out was a squeak! Nothing, not a single word could be formed, not a single song could be said, nothing! Their voice was gone, gone, gone forever to nothingness!

Doctors from Cardios, medical magicians of the highest degree, demons with angel encounter experience, all of them had given Bale an examination, and they could only guess as to what was wrong. Was it trauma? Was it angelic influence? Was it something else entirely? Either way, Bale could not speak a single word, Bale could not sing, and it was truly devastating. What was life without the passion that kept them going? What was this life where every day they were constantly reminded of their lack of voice and those haunting memories?

A particular demon by the name of Pride had promised that they would work on something just for them, a song that would see their voice returned and any of those terrible memories wiped away, but the wait was grueling. Bale had sat there in their home for what felt like years, but was it only a few days? They weren't sure, they were only stressed and anxious that they couldn't sing, they couldn't even sing to their flowers, and all of their flowers were dying!

Exhaustion began to catch up to them, their thoughts drifting, their eyes closing, their head drooping onto the table with a soft thump. Sleep found them even though Bale struggled so hard not to fall asleep, they knew what would happen once their eyes were closed, once they left the world of the waking. The nightmares began anew.

There they stood, entirely without clothes, entirely without protection, in a world full of blinding white. Their eyes were shut for only a moment and opened to the sight of angels standing all around. The nearest was a tall thing with a screen like face and dots for eyes. It approached and twitched with every movement. Bale felt fear grip at their chest, but they could not move, could not turn away from the angel approaching. It was then that the angel spoke in such a soft tone, such a sweet tone that sent shivers up Bale's spine, "Won't you stay with us, friend? Please?"

Bale opened their mouth to say something, but they couldn't say anything at all, no sound came out, only static and silence. The angels all around repeated the sentiment that the first had spoken, but all of them paused as they noticed that Bale could not speak, that Bale could not say a single thing. As with every nightmare like this that had happened, Bale began to cry. Their tears faded away before touching the ground, their sobs quiet and without sound. The angels seemed distraught at this, their faces moving in strange ways, and again the forward most angel spoke, "Stay with us. Be happy. In nothingness, you will feel nothing."

Bale trembled, their form shook the same apathy that had gripped them during their first encounter slowly encroaching on their being. They didn't want to just stay here in nothingness, they wanted to sing again, they wanted to garden again, but their voice would never be heard again, so what was the point? In that single thought, that single question to the self, Bale felt their heart stop right there, the angel's again approaching. They twitched and spasmed as they again repeated their mantra, "Stay with us."

Bale shut their eyes tight. Their digits pinching at their own arms to try and wake them from that horrifying dream, that nightmare that could not be real. They could feel their body growing cold, their mind growing numb, their will breaking again. Feeling nothing would be better than feeling at all, feeling nothing would be better than existing, nothing is better, nothing is always better, but nothing isn't what Bale wanted. Bale wanted to live again, to exist again. Again, again a song sounded off through the blinding white of the angel's world, Bale's eyes opening wide in the nightmare still. They heard a song, a strange and beautiful song that called out to them. They sought the source of the song, turning away from the angel's fully, ripping themselves from their influence. The angel's simply stood still, their eyes focused on the source of the song as well, but they did not move, they did not even seem to register what was going on, they simply stayed put as Bale walked away, stumbled, meandered towards the source of the song, the world fading around them.

With a gasp they woke up in a cold sweat, their back upon the floor, their vision blurred and the chair they had been sitting in tipped over. The back of their head was sore and pounded as they sat up slowly. Their vision was blurry, but in the dark of the room they could make out a figure standing over them. They were suddenly aware of a soft voice speaking to them, "Are you okay? I was just here to deliver a song and the door wasn't locked. Didn't think I'd find you passed out."

Bale rubbed at the back of their head, their vision clearing enough to see that a fellow Singing Rabbat was the one who had been attending to them. Suddenly their own voice came, cracked, but still there, "Yeah...I'm fine."

Bale's eyes grew wide as the Rabbat standing over them began to speak, "Well good! And it seems like you can talk again. Pride was worried whether or not this song would work without their own voice. Y'know, that Pride really can be a bit too much. I memorized the song and sung every single note just like Pride told me to, but um, hey, you sure you're alright?"

Bale brushed the tears from their cheeks, "Yes...I'm more than fine now. My voice is back."

The Rabbat clapped their paws together, "Good! Now, I'll leave you to your own devices! Um oh, there should be someone coming to check up on you to make sure you're doing okay later on, maybe tomorrow! Good luck!"

With that said the deliverer of their song left, leaving Bale in the darkness. Picking up the chair Bale sat down again for a moment to collect themselves. They could speak again, which meant they could sing again, which meant they could take care of their flowers and be happy again, but after hearing that beautiful song and waking up from that nightmare, Bale had to wonder, what had that nightmare been about? More importantly, how did they lose their voice in the first place? They couldn't remember it at all, they could only remember being horrified at losing their voice and Pride's promise, and yet, perhaps that was better. With a sigh Bale rose from their seat and headed deeper into their home, perhaps some sleep would be good, sleep without nightmares, perhaps Bale would dream of singing.