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They’re fighting again. It’s non-stop with these two, I swear! They fight like an old married couple, except they try to kill each other. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I feel like I’m going insane. I have to put an end to this NOW.
“{BOTH OF YOU, SHUT UP. NOW.}” I shout, slamming the base of my trident to the floor, placing a decent crack in the hardwood.
They don’t stop.
“{APOLLO. ARTEMIS.}”
They don’t stop. They don’t stop. Why won’t they stop? Why can’t they just listen to me?
I slam my trident down harder, deepening the crack in the floor. Their heads finally snap in my direction. Both of their faces are burning with rage.
“{God, can you two just LISTEN for once?!}” Mind glares over at Heart before pointing his gaze at me.
“[What do you want.]”
“{I need you two to stop fighting. It’s not good for The Whole, and—}”
“[Oh, of COURSE you’re bringing Whole into this!]”
“(Mind, let him talk.)”
“[No! Why should I?! He always thinks he’s in charge, and…]”
I tune out their voices as their argument sparks up again. It won’t be long until they start throwing punches. Whatever, it’s about time that I give up. They’re never going to stop! This miserable cycle will never end! Without thinking about it, I begin to laugh maniacally, earning a stare from The Sun.
“(What the hell are you laughing at?)” Heart’s wings are spread out large.
“{You two! Jesus, I feel like I’m losing my shit! Every day I have to listen to you guys fight is agonizing! I can’t take it anymore!}” And with that sentence I snap my fingers, summoning a rope from thin air.
Mind scoffs. “[You wouldn’t.]”
“{Oh, you really think so?}”
“(What is he doing?)”
“[He summoned a rope.]”
Heart’s already pale face runs paler as he turns to me. “(Atlas…)”
I feel a slight tinge of pity as I watch Heart’s wings curl around himself, but I shake it off. He and Mind brought this upon themselves. “{Sorry, Moonlight. This needs to be done. I’ve been left with no choice.}”
I snap my fingers once again, summoning two cages around The Sun and Moon. Mind screams and shouts at me to let him out, banging against the bars of his cage with his mechanical arms. And Heart… Heart just sits there, defeated. I turn the other way and ignore the hissing pleads and cries.
I make my way down the hallway. I could find the room without looking. A left, a right, first door on the right. I push open the orange door and step inside.
Minutes later I blink my eyes open, no longer present in the house in the psyche. I’m in control of the body once again. I rub my eyes, we must have been sleeping. It’s still late at night, but I drag myself out of bed. I glance in the reflection of the mirror hanging on the wall. It’s a pathetic sight, from the heavy eyebags to the unkempt curly hair. It’ll all be gone soon enough. I trudge over to the dresser. Top drawer. Right where I left it. I tightly grab the rope which is tied into a perfect noose.
I begin to shake. This is happening. I’m finally doing it. I’ll finally put an end to the never-ending argument between those things . I set everything up, hanging the rope from the ceiling and placing a chair underneath.
What happens next is all a blur. I lazily climb onto the chair, putting my head through the loop of the noose. I kick the chair, and everything snaps to black.
That BASTARD! He did it. I know he did. I can feel my breathing being restricted. I grasp at my neck subconsciously, though I know there’s nothing actually there aside from my modulator. I turn to Heart, the most pathetic creature I know. He’s just sitting there. Doing nothing. Not even trying to stop it. Just a worthless emotional blob. Whatever, now is not the time to get distracted by him. I muster up all the strength I can, and begin to bang at the cage once again. My robotic arms do much more damage than they would if they were still made of flesh. I break down the bars, just enough so I can get out. I bolt from the cage and down the hall into the control room, throwing Soul out of it. He’s unconscious.
I snap awake in control of the body. There’s an excruciating pain in my neck, and I can’t breathe. My hands shoot up and take hold of the rope. Dammit, how am I gonna get us out of this one? I suddenly remember something. We usually keep a pocket knife in our back pocket, thanks to Soul. I’m not going to specify what for, but the important thing is that it’s there. I quickly snatch it and flip it open, beginning to cut at the rope.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 8 slices, and I fall to the floor. I cough and sputter, gasping for any ounce of air I can as I rip the remainder of the noose off. Once I get the body’s breathing steady again I stand up, making sure to be careful. I know how to deal with this. This isn’t the first time I’ve needed to. I walk to the kitchen and grab a glass, filling it with water. I sit the body down and drink the water. Once the body is seemingly okay I pull myself away back into the hell that is our psyche.
I slowly wake up. Am I dead? Is this Heaven? Who am I kidding, I’d be in Hell for sure. It’s just then that my vision unblurs and I see a pissed off Mind staring down at me, along with Heart sitting next to me on the floor, fidgeting with the feathers on his wings.
“[Good morning, jackass.]” Mind hisses.
I just glare at him. I groan and sit up, earning a flinch from Heart.
“(Soul… you can’t just use that as a solution every time.)”
“{It is not every time.}” I cough.
“[Don’t talk. It affected you in here too.]” Mind grabs my face, tipping it up so he can look at my neck. I sigh.
“[Y’know? You’ve got some real fucking nerve doing all that. Unbelievable.]” Mind lets go of me and stands up, pacing around.
“{...I’m sorry.}”
“[I said DON’T TALK.]” Mind snaps.
Both Heart and I flinch. “(Why can’t he talk?)”
Mind glares daggers at Heart. “[His throat needs time to heal.]”
“(That’s absurd. Let the man talk.)”
“[Oh, I’m sorry that I actually CARE for once! You never ca…]”
Once again, I tune out their argument. I stare at a wall, not really thinking about anything. I guess I must have spaced out, because the next thing I know, They’re both screaming at me . My eyes widen and flicker between them, not able to focus on exactly what they’re saying. It’s just a mess of sound and words. Heart’s somewhat whiny voice paired with Mind’s robotic one is… a strange thing to hear together. Together… Together? I finally can get a grasp of what they’re saying, and it’s incredibly similar. Heart seems to have taken notice of this as well, and is also surprised.
“{Guys…}” They don’t hear me.
“{Guys.}” I say slightly louder. They still don’t hear me.
“{GUYS!}” I shout, putting a good strain on my throat, and they finally hear me.
“(Yes, Atlas?)”
“{You two… You keep saying a lot of similar things… I think you might finally be getting along.}” I smile cheekily.
“[...Is that so?]” Mind faces Heart.
Heart, although being unable to see The Sun’s harsh gaze, clearly senses it. He visibly tenses up, wings wrapping around himself.
“[Artemis.]” Mind’s voice is calm for once. Still robotic, of course. But calm.
Heart relaxes a tiny bit. “(Apollo…)”
I smile a bit and pat the ground, waiting for Mind to come sit down with us. He does, and I take his metal hand in mine. I take Heart’s hand as well. I watch as Heart and Mind lock hands as well.
“[...Can we all agree that it’ll be different this time? That we’ll actually stay whole?]” Apollo sighs.
Heart nods. “(I really want that to be the case, but… You know it’s not very likely. We can sure as hell try though.)”
“{That’s all that I ask for. Just an attempt. If we split again, we’ll work through it. Okay?}”
“(Okay.]” They say in unison.
I smile weakly and pull them into a hug. “{Thank you…}” I sigh heavily. “{I love you guys, you know that right?}”
“(I love you too, Atlas.)” Heart returns the hug, squeezing me tightly. Mind fails to respond.
“{Mind?}”
“[Hm?]”
“{You gonna say it back?}”
“[I don’t love.]”
“(That’s bullshit, of course you do.)”
“[No I don’t.]”
“{‘Pollo…. C’mon…}” I make a fake pouty face at him.
“[I… Fine. I love you too.]” Mind scoffs and finally returns the hug.
“{There we go.}” I smile warmly and press my forehead against theirs.
Another cycle brought to an end. Another will start soon enough. But it’ll be nice to be whole for at least a little while. My Heart and Mind still get into arguments, but nowhere near as big as they are when we’re split. These have just been minor disagreements. Over what to eat for dinner, what to wear for the day, etcetera, etcetera. We can actually
function
for once, and man, it feels
great
.