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Soul’s room was warmer today, he realised. He lay in bed, not ready to leave the comfort of it and venture out into the rest of the house just yet. He wondered briefly, why the fake sun outside his window decided to shine just a bit brighter today. Maybe it was a sign Concord was nearing? That small flicker of hope danced inside Soul’s chest, that would be the dream. Although-
“Mind! Back off!”
“He’s the one that waltzed in here uninvited! If anyone needs to fuck off it’s him!”
Who?
“Please I promise we can talk about this I just-“
Soul recognised that voice. And it didn’t belong to either of his wretched thirds.
He leaped from the bed, the warmth now feeling like a burning fire the closer and closer he got to the argument. The voices from before becoming clearer now.
“...You deem yourself irreparable and let the rest of the screws fall lose; screws that we have to pick up and put back in again.”
“I-“
“Harmonia..!”
Soul stood aghast in the entrance to their shared living room, a mixture of reverence and something else he couldn’t quite describe swirling through him.
Whole- his Whole, was standing there, right before him. Not a dream, not a fleeting blurry image, unable to touch or be touched. It was the real Whole. {Is this a sign?}
Harmonia stared back at him, slightly nervous look in His eyes at such a grave reaction to His presence. |He barely knew these people, how come they all seemed to know so much about him?|
Soul immediately jumped to Whole’s defence, taking his place right next to Him; ignoring the buzzing feeling pricking at his chest at being so close to Him. He still didn’t dare touch though.
“Soul if you think for one second you have the right to defend this asshole, you’re sorely mistaken. He’s a liar and traito-“
“No, no it’s okay now! It’s okay, if He’s here that must mean-“
“No but it’s not okay!” Mind’s words cut through Soul’s meagre mitigation. “Him being here does not make it okay! He still put us through all that pain! He still tortured us all those times for his own selfish reasons! But it’s allll well and good because he’s here now and he’s ‘harmless’ and feels sorry for us? Huh, is that it?! This changes NOTHING!”
Mind’s fist collided with the coffee table from where he stood, half risen from his chair.
The rest of the room sat in shock-filled silence, the automaton’s words hanging in the air and echoing around them.
“This- this tiny happenstance of him being here with us, of him being equal, does not make up for the HUNDREDS upon HUNDREDS of days spent in agony- spent at each-others’ throats for the sake of his own escapism. His apologies now are MEANINGLESS to the mountain of our lost time he is indebted to.”
Each word was enunciated with a finger pressed further into the air in front of Soul’s face. The finger that was soon turned down to Whole’s meek visage.
“He is weak! He is pathetic! He is vile! And he will betray us again and again and again, JUST LIKE HE HAS BEFORE! ...And you are just as pathetic for believing he’ll do any different.”
Soul stood like a freshly shaven lamb, shivering without its warm coat. His breath hitched and stuttered like a broken record.
“He may be imperfect,” Soul muttered through tears. “But He is mine.” He shifted “...He is us. And His mistakes are just as much our own as they are His.”
“His mistakes are...SO HE GETS LET OFF THE HOOK BUT WE DON’T? This is bullshit. This is bullshit Soul and you know it.”
“It’s not like that, he’s different-” {more important}
“OH I’M SORRY, I didn’t realise we were in the presence of royalty. Oh- oh your highness what ever may I do to serve you?” Mind mocked, arms spread.
“SHUT UP!”
“You could never do anything wrong your majesty, oh please, please never leave me-“
“SHUT IT-“ Soul lunged at Mind, toppling them both over, gripping him by the throat.
Mind sneered, tugging and pushing at Soul’s arms in an attempt to shove him off.
“You don’t get to talk about Him like that.” Soul growled, nails beginning to dig into where the automaton’s flesh met metal.
Mind grunted “What? Ghh- am I not good enough? Am I not worthy of him like you are?”
“Stop it-“
“Am I too lowly to even say his name? Harmonia. Harmonia Harmonia Harmonia Harmon-“
“AAUUHH DO YOU EVER SHUT UP” Soul’s hands moved from Mind’s throat to his face, meagre punches drawing blood from the Sun’s nose.
“SOUL!”
He was crying when he felt himself being lifted off of the bloodied man below him, a warm embrace tugging him away from his anger. He looked up, expecting a beautiful golden glow- he was met with sunken eyes hidden behind black cloth and tears.
Though past his Heart he saw what he was looking for, his salvation, his Whole.
The expectant look dropped from his face in an instant.
There sat Whole, face unmoving and blotted with the beginnings of tears; looking at him with all the fear he saw in Heart’s eyes when his vision was taken forever. The fear he saw cross Mind’s face when the gun was drawn and punishment was divvied out; the fear he instilled. He had made his Harmonia scared, he had lost control- oh god what would He think of him now, he’s ruined everything-
Heart dropped Soul from where he was held up by his armpits, seemingly deeming him not a threat anymore {the same way Soul would do to him}. He saw, through blurred vision, the winged man rush over to Mind; tending to him. The first time they actually get along and it’s over his mistakes. He saw Mind’s face, stricken with blood; he wore a sour expression, like the one he’d pull after losing a fight with Heart.
He turned back to Whole, breathing rapid. The man locked eyes with him, seemingly sharing the same horrified expression- both horrified with the same person {you}. Whole stood, averting His gaze, as He scrambled out of the room to god knows where.
He’d fucked up. He’d fucked up his one and only chance with Whole, His image of him now permanently skewed and tainted; Or maybe He’d just been shown the real Soul far sooner than he would’ve liked. It was inevitable after all, as much as he’d like not to believe it.
He was rotten through and through.