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If there were two sides to every story…
What would you do if yours was wrong?
Would you look back and see the cracks?
Would you stay in denial?
Or would you simply carry on never knowing the truth?
…
That time at the party…
Before it all went up in flames…
Alice was injured.
Envy tried to save her life.
It ended with her in the infirmary, and Calvin attempting to appeal to his darker nature.
We all know he refused.
But is that truly where it ended?
Truly where it even
started?
No.
No it wasn’t.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
They’d seen her.
Perfect.
Now Alice would be able to get the help she needed-
Something ripped open his back.
He was lucid only for an instant as the barrage of sixteen knives shocked his nervous system:
‘Ha-ha!!
Gotcha
His eyelids fluttered.
A blonde girl stood over him, a murderous expression upon her face.
A forceful blur hurtled towards him-
Someone’s arm grasped hers, effectively stopping it from rearranging his nose.
“What……”
“What’s going on?”
We need to get you to the infirmary.
They all knew he existed.
But for some reason, he forgot.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
How had he gotten to this point
He struggled to recollect-
Someone’s arm.
Had helped him…
With a shock, Envy realized that he was lying on an operating table.
Thirteen shining pieces of crimson-stained metal had been meticulously placed on a tray, along with a fully-emptied syringe.
A sedative…
Or, at least, what he assumed was a sedative, anyway.
Pain attacked his spine as he sat up.
Should’ve watched my back…then-
Something wrapped around his torso crinkled.
He touched it with tentative fingers.
Bandages?
A faint echo of voices.
One of which had implied that his existence was no longer hidden…
Who were they?
I can’t…remember…
No matter how much he strained.
…I have to find Alice before it's too late.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
He honestly didn’t think it would be that easy to get around.
The layout of this place was still very much a mystery to him, and at any other given moment, he probably would have gotten hopelessly lost within seconds.
He almost hated to be thankful for the ongoing battle-the constant influx of injured agents was helpfully providing him with a living trail to where (hopefully) Alice would be.
She didn’t look good.
Her face was abnormally pale, and a yellow ooze snaked out of the exposed patches.
‘No doubt those knives were cursed…!’
…At least right now she was sleeping peacefully.
That seemed to be the only silver lining of this situation.
While he was waiting for her to wake up.
Calvin returned for him in his dreams.
He wanted to bring him over onto the side of the Cursed God…
But his loyalty wouldn’t be swayed that easily.
Little did he know.
From that moment onward, he would slowly lose his mind.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Colleen.
Colleen and Gabbie.
Those were the two women who had seen him.
Who had talked to him.
But how is that possible?
I’m invisible to pretty much everyone…
…Maybe Alice would know?
“Whoa, that’s weird.
Did that really happen?”
“Well you were out for most of it, so it’s not surprising that you don’t remember”.
“Yeah, I guess so…but seriously, though.
They actually saw you!?”
“-And Mystic too!”
He winced at the memory of her blurred-out fist coming to bash his face in.
“She called me a traitor…”
“She did WHAT!!?”
“She thought I was working with the enemy, although I don’t know why…that was”.
He was having difficulty recalling the exact sequence of events that had occurred-
“I think...she said something about-“
This shouldn’t be that hard.
I know I was half-out of it for most of what happened, but this is…
This was ridiculous.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Something about what?”
Alice was staring up at him a bit worriedly.
No doubt, she was beginning to pick up on his distress…
“Never mind. I’m sure I’ll remember it soon”.
There was a fifty-fifty chance that it wouldn’t be a lie.
“…Do you think they’ve told anyone else, yet?”
“No…”
At least, he hoped they hadn’t…
“They would’ve confronted you about it by now if someone had said anything”.
She flopped back onto her pillow, and sighed.
“That’s all well and good…but that just makes me wonder why they haven’t yet done exactly that”.
“Most likely, they’re still trying to figure out who I am".
“Huh…that makes sense…”
She fell silent.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Alice”.
Calliope came by every morning with a glass of water at 7 A.M.
No exceptions.
“…Hn…?”
And at 7 A.M., every single time, she would be half-asleep.
“I’ve brought you some liquids”.
Her eyes roved worriedly over the bandages on the girl’s chest.
Although her wounds appeared to be healing up nicely, there was no way to tell if the same was true of her poisoned heart.
…Poor child.
I hope she lives.
Her mind is one of the oddest things I have ever encountered, yet also one of the most cheerful.
The ability to make a Heaven out of…
She pursed her lips.
‘It is rare indeed.
I can only hope the invisible…Envy...has
no designs to lead her astray.
No doubt she would believe them without question.
A tired hand flopped toward the plastic cup.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
This was not right.
My head ached like I had a fever.
I didn’t know why…
Was it…?
No, it couldn’t have been.
It couldn’t have been-
“Are you okay?
You look kind of…sick”.
“I’m fine…”
“But you look so pale-“
“No
We threw it out, remember?
I woke up in the middle of the night.
My eyes were open, but I couldn’t see anything.
I couldn’t even breathe.
Or think.
It was just an empty blackness…
But it didn’t scare me.
At first.
I thought we found our way out.
I thought-
I thought-
…I can’t-
The archives.
We went there…
What did we find?
How did we leave?
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
We left.
I was wide-awake this time.
We climbed down a tree.
I knew what was happening to me.
We were supposed to meet up with Chala.
I was paralyzed-
She read a letter about a timepiece.
Somebody tell me
I woke up in a cold sweat.
I couldn’t remember what it was that I’d been dreaming about.
Alice was peacefully sleeping.
The room was quiet.
I had to do something.
Why was everything…shifting…?
All of the colors…they were…swirling…
My head…
Get…out…
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
…Huh?
What was I-
…
“Don’t come any closer!”
A blonde girl who wasn’t Alice…
…Did I know her?
She seemed…familiar….
“I-“
“You’re one of them now, aren’t you?”
“Them…”
No.
Never!
“I’m not-“
“You’re lying!”
“Who are you?”
“What are you talking about!?
You know me-“
“I don’t”.
Then why are you attacking me
I’m not!
…Am I?
What’s going on?
What’s happening…
I can hear…
Strings
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
He looks like a ghost.
A terrifying ghost…
With red eyes.
…Christmasy
SHUT UP
Who is this contorting specter two inches from his face!?
That’s real foam…
Is it possible to be afraid of yourself?
…
YES
At least he now knows who’s responsible.
…
He does.
…
He does know.
…
STOP IT
…Why can’t he think of it!?
…
…
…
Why can’t he think of anything!!??
Protectprotectprotectprotectprotectprotectprotectprotectprotectprotectprotect
NO
GET OUT OF MY HEAD
It’s like I’m trapped in my own mind-
SOMEBODY HELP ME
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
I have to get out.
Whatever it takes.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
How could you forget about her?
Your own partner…
Yes.
It really did happen.
But you, yourself forgot, didn’t you?
You forgot-
Because all of those memories were locked away.
Deep within your chest...
So when are you going to come get them back?
-Calliope