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For a split second, pain pulsed through every inch of Sausage’s body. Loud ringing filled his ears, blinding light bled through his eyelids, a groan tore itself from his throat, but then–
Then it was quiet. Dead quiet.
Sausage opened his eyes. White surrounded him on all sides– not particularly bright, like earlier, just… there. In a way, pleasant. He looked down, saw his doppelganger at his feet, and sat down with a grunt. He still hurt– a lot, actually– but sitting at least relieved the pain in his legs and back.
Dark Sausage groaned. Sausage took note of the way his voice no longer buzzed with distortion.
If Sausage was in pain, one look at Dark Sausage told him that he was off much worse. Dark Sausage seemed to try and push himself up with his arms, but gasped sharply before falling down. Then he just laid there.
“Need a hand?” Sausage asked.
Dark Sausage seemed to startle, then turned his head to look at Sausage. Then he groaned. Then he turned himself over to lay on his back and stare blankly upwards.
A quiet moment. The only sound that could be heard was their ragged breathing. Despite the aches, it was nice to have just… a moment. As the adrenaline crashed. Sausage knew he was safe here, even if Dark Sausage hadn’t just been shocked within an inch of his life.
With a rough voice, the man in question scoffed derisively.
“And you’re sure you didn’t just kill us both?” he asked.
Sausage humored him with a brief laugh and a hum.
“No,” he said, “I’ve been to heaven before, it’s not quite like this.”
“Oh, you’re insufferable.”
Sausage laughed, and it was kind of genuine that time.
“Where, then?” Dark Sausage gave him a glare, “Enlighten me.”
“Hm, I’m not sure,” Sausage admitted. “If I had to guess, some crevice of the Spirit Realm.”
Dark Sausage, again, scoffed.
“I thought you said you weren’t sending me to the void.”
“I’m not,” Sausage said. “We’re here to merge.”
Dark Sausage barked out a laugh.
“Absolutely not.”
“Why?” Sausage asked. Dark Sausage stared at him, “All it’d do is set things back to the way it was before. Before everything.”
“And you want that?” Dark Sausage looked him up and down, tauntingly, almost. “What if it corrupts you again, huh? History is bound to repeat itself.”
Sausage just hummed.
“No, it’s not.”
Dark Sausage furrowed his brow. Sausage sighed.
“I’ve changed,” he elaborated. “I’ve matured, I– I’m not greedy anymore. I don’t want power. I’ve seen what that does. I’ve seen it over and over. I just…”
Sausage sighed again, and he lied down next to his other half. He stared upwards at nothing.
“I’m tired of being just good,” he said. “It’s exhausting. Aren’t you tired of being evil?”
“Why would I be?”
“Don’t you miss it? Love?”
It went quiet.
“You got the love,” said Dark Sausage, almost softly, “Not me.”
“Before we got separated, I meant.”
“I know.”
Sausage turned to him. Dark Sausage was looking back at the sky.
“You have those memories,” he muttered eventually. “I don’t.”
“...Oh,” said Sausage.
“The closest I–” Dark Sausage began something, but stopped. Sausage looked at him, quietly, waiting for him to continue. But he didn’t. Minutes must’ve passed.
“Listen,” Sausage said eventually. “I… when we merge, you can see.”
Dark Sausage looked at him. His face looked stoic and neutral, but Sausage could see cracks in that facade. Cracks that were only visible to him because of how long he’d seen them in his own reflection.
“People will love us,” said Sausage.
Hesitantly, he reached out, and took Dark Sausage’s hand into his own. Dark Sausage stiffened, then turned back to the sky. If Sausage didn’t know any better, he’d think he saw tears in the other’s eyes.
“Okay,” Dark Sausage said, so quietly that, were there any other noises present, he probably wouldn’t have been audible. Sausage smiled.
“Okay,” he echoed, “So, you’re ready?”
“...Wait,” Dark Sausage turned, and they made eye contact again. “I– do something for me.”
“Alright,” Sausage said, a part of him wary.
“When you go back,” he said, “Keep… keep an eye on Shelby.”
Sausage couldn’t help but grin.
“When we go back,” he said, “We will.”
Dark Sausage stared at him. He nodded.
“Right,” he said. “Of course.”
He looked up again. Minutes more passed.
“...I’m ready,” he said. Sausage nodded.
“See you on the other side,” he said. Dark Sausage scoffed a final time, but with a smile on his face.
“Sure.”
Next thing they knew, they were standing back in Sanctuary. The wind breathed against their ear. They smelled the earthy beach air. They were clutching the staff, leaning their weight into it. One of them– both of them– sighed. They muttered to themselves, voices blending into each other until they were truly one.
He was really brought back to reality when Hermes tackled him to the ground, with a jolt of static electricity for good measure. He yelped, then laughed, sitting up with an arm around him. Despite how much Hermes had hugged him in the past, it still felt oddly foreign, somehow.
Sausage grinned, and wrapped both arms around him.