Work Text:
Banging, rattling, a grating scream. Those sounds mixed in with smaller insignificant scratches and creaking were all that filled the air. Desperate cries came from a lower fiendish form that most laughed at first glance for how pathetic it was. The crying and banging continued to ring through the dark, cold and humid room, the creature drooled spit and venom as it continued to claw at an invisible wall separating it from its goal, a want, a need in its eyes. The chains holding its hands and legs tightly back continued to clack against one another at its rapid movements, slamming and scraping against the ground as it tried so desperately to claw its way past the barrier.
Finally, a painful gurgling scream was let out from it as it was shocked into submission by a figure behind it. A sharp scolding yell sounded, and finally, silence met the freezing room.
“Enough. How can you act so crudely when you still have sense of sanity left??” Sounded the figure, who then gave a quick sigh of relent after, shaking their head and pinching the bridge of their nose. The creature turned with rapid movement to meet eyes with the scolding figure, tears overflowing its pained eyes as it stared ahead with a gaping and wet jaw.
The figure stepped away from the monster, returning to a throne-like seat not far from the wall and the thing that wanted so desperately past it. Crossing their legs, they held their chin up high using the knuckles of their gloved hands, with the other, they fixed a name tag that sat on the table, well organized like the rest of papers, pens, and other items sat on the table. The name tag read a name in a foreign language, but when translated, the one sitting at the table was none other known as-
“Absinthe, I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” Sounded a low monotone voice from the entrance of the room. The creature lifted its head violently to view the stranger, while the one sat at the table named Absinthe turned her head calmly to gaze upon her new arrival. The new arrival was sat on a floating dismembered robotic hand, crafted by nobody but herself, a matching hand followed suit, along with another arrival, someone shorter in chained golden glasses. The ball jointed hands were porcelain, the rims painted with a brilliant gold, the ball joints a darker silver than the rest of the hands. But that wasn’t the main arrival, the one who sat had a gaze like no other, eyelids heavy and eyebags dramatic, their eyes looked as if they were death himself, gazing upon the most repugnant carcass one could ever dream of. The woman wore a fluffy dress, much like something you’d see on a haunted abandoned glass doll. The shorter one that followed beside her was her accomplice, at least for the time being. Every so often the shorter one would claim to not be associated with her, past, present or future, when other days they’d admit to their true relations. Most of their body was covered in a closed coat, a fur collar covering their neck, and their face was overall normal, besides the fact that it bore no mouth, and expressive pupils. Their eyes fell onto the creature ahead, if they could smile, they would.
“Ah, you’ve returned, I was getting a bit worried that you had gotten lost, or the mute one here had decided to take your throne. Hehe.” Absinthe giggled, but the one sat gracefully in the floating hands gave no reaction or comment, and only floated closer to examine the subject at hand. The creature. She looked down at it, its pathetic body laid out across the ground, nails broken and an orange bloody mess, horns bearing scratches and dried blood finding residence at their scalp, likely from ramming its head into the wall ahead. The woman turned back to look at Absinthe, her once thin lips twitching into a devious but welcoming smile. Welcoming for those with questionable motives that was.
“I can’t stay for long, as interested as I am in the specimen here. I just wanted to let you know that I finished what you ordered. It’s right outside the door.” The woman spoke, voice still monotone as ever, a grainy sound came from her voice too, as if gravel or sand had laced her throat. Absinthe rose carefully from her seat, before making way to meet with the woman sat in hands. The accomplice accompanying the woman continued to stare at the creature, they raised a hand slowly to their chin. While everyone else here besides the monster wore gloves, their gloves were out of place with the fancier of the two, lab gloves, stained with different colors of blood. Red, Yellow, Purple, Blue, Orange, list goes on. The monster backed up, propping itself up to sit against the wall, once again scratching mindlessly at it as it stared ahead.
“Perfect!! It’s been a pleasure trading and working with you. How long did you want me to keep it here again?” Absinthe asked, giving a small motion of her hand to the one pinning itself against the wall. The other woman’s eyes fell to look back at it, before quickly looking away at Absinthe again.
“Until I call you, I have no predicted date yet. Can you have some patience?” The woman said with a whine. Absinthe’s eyes fluttered with ignominy, before looking away at something else. She cleared her throat, giving short and hasteful nods.
“Ah yes yes— My apologies. I mean no rush. Ahem, moving on, is that all you need here?” Absinthe questioned with a formal tone, turning to look back at the woman, then giving a kind glance to the accomplice beside her. The woman closed her eyes in slight annoyance, before the hand turned her back around to face the door. Absinthe’s stiff form faltered slightly, taking the wordless answer in as much stride as she could. Absinthe was used to working with complete oddities, but this one struck her differently, managing to catch her off guard.
“Prometheus, blood sample. That’s it.” The woman ordered, before waiting for nothing, taking leave shortly after. The shorter one that went by Prometheus, lowered their hand, it hid back in their cloak. Absinthe watched with a tiny smile before turning back to look at the monster leaning as close to the wall as it could. It then began to struggle in panic as Prometheus shuffled through their bags on their waist. The cloak moved gently and tapped the top of their shoes as it moved back and forth subtly. Absinthe gave a sigh before stomping on the chains, giving a halt to the monster’s struggle.
“Enough with you I said, do you want to disappear so badly??” Absinthe spat, before clearing her throat quickly after, a fist covering her mouth. She turned to look at Prometheus, who continued to stare ahead.
“My apologies for how rude it’s being, I hope this won’t be of too much trouble, if you wish, I can happily—” Prometheus firmly held a hand to silence Absinthe, who complied with no complaint. She gave a hum of understanding, before returning to her seat, keeping a watchful eye ahead. She had to admit, she was interested in the scene unfolding now.
Prometheus stalked forward with an unyielding form. Their one hand hung stiffly by their side; a syringe propped between their index and middle finger, a tube propped in their middle and ring finger. They held their gaze strongly with the creature as it continued to struggle, panic rose higher and higher in its throat, preparing to bubble over like a volcano. Whipping around, it returned to banging and scratching on the invisible wall. The wall wasn’t made of glass, however some indescribable force, with each touch, the wall seemed to bend forward, like it was made of a thick blanket. But a blanket that would never rip. On the otherwise was a forest, a dark one, the only lighting being an unknown source, dim and misty whites… and something else, more orange, yellow, and reds. Fire, but it was distant, and the smell of smoke never translated into the room, the room smelt of perfume and paper instead. The creature continued to bang and bang on the wall, letting out alarmed whimpers and wails. But Prometheus did not relent, a malignant look in their eyes. Eyes becoming slits, much like a cat threatening its prey.
“Plea—Please don’t—” The creature finally spoke, letting out a frightened cry. Which in response Prometheus only raised a free hand to, palm facing the beast. Their eyelids raised with strong focus, and a mysterious light of orange emitted from their fingertips. The beast began to glow the same orange, freezing in place. All it could do was widen its eyes in shock, not a single whimper or twitch of a tail or ear, it was stuck. Finally coming to a stop in front of it, Prometheus kneeled beside the beast, one knee propping them up on the ground. They grabbed the tube with their other hand, letting it rest in between their fingers as they used that hand to pull an arm forward of the beast’s. The beast looked down in horror, tears streaming more and more from its eyes as it gave a squeamish expression. Prometheus inserted the syringe into its arm, it was unable to flinch anywhere other than its eyes. Prometheus ignored the tears dripping onto their glove. Not long after, Prometheus took the tube from their fingers, transferring the blood into it, closing it after. They shoved it all into their pocket after standing. The creature met their gaze, silence was what filled the room now, Prometheus’ stare was thoughtless. After what felt like forever, Prometheus finally turned on their heel, releasing the creature of their invisible chains with a small snap of their fingers, before exiting the room not long after. The creature keeled over, covering its mouth and sobbing harder into its hands. Absinthe ignored it, glancing over to where her visitors had just left. The door remained ajar; a strange but familiar shadow hovered beyond.
“Thank you!! Now now, come in. Vilmo, I can finally fully explain to you what this is all about. Sorry for the scare, aha!!” Absinthe giggled, motioning the strange shadow to come inside. The dim lighting in the room revealed something horrifying. Something the creature… known as Vilmo by those who cared, could never even fathom would exist. It was them, Vilmo, staring back at them. But it was no reflection, no mirror or water or even hallucination. It was a breathing and real person, staring back at them with a grin of malice.
“Hey there, other me!! It’s nice to finally see what pitiful form I’m taking for real now. I do say, you’ve seen better days huh??”
There was no way this was true. No way any of this was real, this was all just a sick nightmare, not even their beloved moon could think of such a horrifying phenomenon upon someone, and they’ve seen it all. Not even The Judge would do such a thing. Everything felt fuzzy, like someone had finally stabbed Vilmo at the right spot to finally kill them and free them of whatever hell they had entered. One moment they were fighting an indescribable demon, conceived by their very past faults, to then blacking out and awaking here after the long and painful battle. Vilmo had hoped that they didn’t die, but to see themselves staring back at them, they couldn’t describe it as anything else, hell. Everything rang.
“Oh my!! In perfect condition, this is fantastic. She did lovely work, I’ll have to pay extra…” Sounded another voice from the side of the room, Absin-, or whatever her name was, crept forward and analyzed the other Vilmo standing proud and tall. Perfect condition they were. Their tail swayed gently as their smile remained, they stood up straight as they were circled and admired by the woman. Keeping a slow eye on her when they could, but when she stopped, the other Vilmo stared back down at the pathetic excuse of the real one.
“This—this is demented.” Vilmo cried, which Absinthe gave a sour laugh to, the other Vilmo following suit. Absinthe laid a hand on the other Vilmo’s shoulder, leaning against him casually, as she stared down at the real one with an amused expression.
“It’s much funnier when you know that you haven’t the slightest clue of what’s going on!! Ahem… But I must apologize for how rude I’ve been, where are my manners?? Allow me to explain it all to you.” Absinthe said, a small laugh continued to flow in her voice despite her attempt at an apology, which even the most foolish could tell was a lie. Absinthe snapped her finger and the other Vilmo hurried to drag her chair forward and behind her. She promptly sat down after, crossing her legs and summoning a cigarette holder in her hand. She took a blow, while the imposter stood beside her with crossed arms.
“So, child, to put it simply, your time is up. You are no longer needed around here.”
…
What??
Vilmo didn’t mishear right?? He knew his mind was spiraling but, that was clear as day. His time was up?? It confirmed his fears of dying after his mission with his soulmate to save his other and the very existence… was this apart of that contract?? But what about Ayumu?? Was Vilmo’s mission their final battle in this cruel world? But he still had so much… and if he really died, then why did he feel like he was half of himself?? Why was--
Vilmo’s attention was snapped back from their whirling messy pot of a brain as Absinthe continued on, spinning in her chair to face the invisible wall, that looked much more like a window than anything. Vilmo reluctantly followed her gaze. Vilmo watched a tree snap and fall over, being engulfed by flames that were so homely to him.
“You… had gone too far out of line. You are too dangerous to keep around. I am not permitted to speak about what that means, but all you need to know is you are no longer useful. Your vessel is being transported to…” Absinthe flicked a hand towards the one who stood beside her, “another being. You are being replaced.”
Every word felt like a hard bang of a gong, shattering Vilmo’s eardrums more and more, forced to listen, and forced to hurt and go insane from such sounds. Replaced… stepped out of line… dangerous…? what misconduct had Vilmo done?? What did they do to receive this fate?? They couldn’t think, couldn’t process. All the words were only a jumbled mess to him. Absinthe continued to talk, explaining more on the subject, Vilmo heard her voice. But it all sounded like agonizing mumbles and mocking laughter. Vilmo had enough. Adrenaline pierced through their brain, as if shot by a bullet. They shoved themselves to a stand, falling over, body slamming against the wall behind them at loss of balance. Their knees locked.
“That’s right, they can’t exist. Vilmo, not only are you meant to be replaced, but you have died. You are the undead, and the undead have no afterlife for them. You soon will disappear; I am only keeping you here for a client. But whatever happens after I turn you over is history.”
No… no, this can’t be real. This can’t, there’s no way this is real. No, no, no, no. But they weren’t done, they never said goodbye, even when prepared to die, they never said they loved Ayumu in their final moment. They broke their promise of staying with Ayumu and watching over them if they did die. No, no no no no no no no no no.
This can’t be real.
“NO!! I’M NOT LETTING YOU TAKE ME AWAY FROM MY FUCKING FAMILY!!!”
Absinthe and the copycat’s eyes both widened at the sudden piercing yell, the copycat’s ear flattened at the loud howling. Absinthe opened her mouth and raised a finger to protest against Vilmo, but Vilmo wasn’t done yet. Vilmo stomped and clawed at their chest, choking on warm tears that dropped off their face as they bent over in pain. Not physical, but the emotional feeling was too much for them to stand.
“TAKE ME BACK RIGHT NOW!! PLEASE— LET ME GO BACK!! YOU CAN’T TAKE ME FROM MY FAMILY!! YOU CAN’T TAKE ME FROM AYUMU, NOT AGAIN!!”
Absinthe stomped on Vilmo’s chains, the one attached to sun’s neck tugged forward, causing sun to choke. Sun let out a disgusting gurgle as sun grabbed at sun’s neck, coughing harder.
“Listen, I get it. But this is what happens, life and existence isn’t fair… Is it?” Absinthe rasped. Vilmo stared back up quickly at her, nerves banged louder and louder in suns chest. No, she wasn’t going where sun thought she was going right??
“But you must realize, you cannot say goodbye when you are dead. And you certainly cannot stay or watch over your loved ones when you die twice. Do you know what happens to those killed that were already dead prior?” Absinthe murmured, despite her voice becoming softer, it showed no sympathy attached to it. Vilmo stumbled back, nearly falling to suns knees again. Vilmos eyes twitched, ears pinned against suns head as if someone had nailed it there.
This can’t be real.
This can’t be real.
Absinthe stared ahead unflinching as Vilmo fell limp in front of her. The other Vilmo stared ahead with only blinking eyes of confusion and a hint of humor in them. The real Vilmo’s body gave a loud thud as it splat against the hard cold floor, Vilmo unmoving after.
“Wow, they really passed out…? Go figure!!” The other Vilmo chuckled, which Absinthe only gave a solemn sigh to. She had to admit she felt a bit bad, there was some sympathy to be saved for such a god, or goddess if one was old. She spun in her chair to face away from the body, staring ahead blankly at her table as she clasped her hands together, contemplating. The other Vilmo spun, looking down at Absinthe expectantly. The room dimmed, falling quiet. All there was, was the gentle sound of a water fountain to fill the atmosphere, and tv static from afar. Distant, the source unknown. Absinthe’s lips parted open finally, taking a short breath to speak.
“Vilmo, your mission is to go home and carry on Vilmo’s life. I know you know the rest. As for Helios…” Absinthe stared at a person sized mirror that sat quietly in the corner of her office, reflecting the wall Vilmo desperately wanted to break past. It showed none other than the source of the fire in the mysterious unreachable forest. Absinthe bit her lip.
“I’ll eventually find a way to retrieve his soul too.”