Chapter Text
Juno’s gun burned hot.
Heart had, as per usual, fucked up. (He had fucked absolutely everything up and there was no coming back this time.)
Why’d he have to go bringing a firearm into a fight?
Mind laid against the wall, its robotic arm twitching ever so slightly- not a sign of weakness, not at all.
It wasn’t a one sided fight, no. Mind always had tricks hidden up his sleeve- in this case it was his knives. (Those God damned knives that click out of his stupid mechanical arms- why can’t I just shoot them clean off!)
Heart had grazed his shoulder; he had missed.
“You sick fuck.”
The Sun stood warily, mechanical hand gripped around his wounded shoulder.
“Shooting at me? You resorted to shooting at me? Even without that blindfold you are truly quite blind; did you not think ahead for one second and see that in doing this you’d only be condemning yourself? Heart I really do pity your callowness-“
“Shut up!”
Heart heaved, seething.
“Can’t you do anything other than belittle me?!” His voice was strained, tarnished with anger.
“You’ve never given me an opportunity to do so.”
Mind found himself reeling backwards, sharp, almost claw-like nails scratching down his face; latching under his robotic features.
“Get off me you fiend!”
Its face burned, prickling with each new blemish scraped through each layer of skin- a narrow miss of his eye- not that it went unharmed, blood flecked into his retina- burning, burning, burning.
“You have no right!” Heart flailed “No right to treat me like this-“ even while being restrained, he flailed and clawed “Like I’m no better than the dirt you stand on!”
“Perhaps that’s where you belong.”
“I’m not going back- I’m not!” Fire scratched deep through his vocal chords. “You think you’re so good! So perfect! So high and mighty that you can do whatever you like! That you’re on an equal standpoint to that of Harmonia himself? I’m not playing along with it anymore! You’re the one who should be damned to rot in that purgatory!”
[You’re shooting a line, Heart; Harmonia plays no part in this.]
“At least there I’d be free of your insufferable noise. But what’s funny about that is it goes both ways;” Mind ignored the bile that was rising in its throat as blood dripped down in between its teeth, coating his tongue. “With you buried down in Apathy, it’s a win win situation: I get to rule in peace and you get what’s well deserved.”
“Really, what did you think you would get out of this little ebullition?”
(Heart had found himself reaching for the pistol he kept hidden in his bedside earlier that day; not in the hopeless, desperate sense he thought he would find himself in when hiding it there, but in a fit of blind anger. Being blinded by rage was just in his nature, was it not? Was he at fault, truly?
(Dragging the cold, heavy muzzle across his palm; Heart felt almost a twang of jealousy for what he was granting Mind and not himself.)
Mind’s nature didn’t bring about ‘senseless’ violence and disarray, therefore he should be the fit ruler, right? Fuck no.
Mind was a cold, calculated bastard who thought that its tyrannical reign allowed it to order its little ‘subjects’ around. Thought that Heart had a sort of Jester’s Privilege applied to him- but it was wrong! It was fucking wrong and Heart had had enough of being apart of its false kingdom.)
“Truly, you should put some more forethought into your actions.”
Apollo’s light still shone just as bright; The Moon dull and marcid in its rays. Nothing had changed.
It was cold in Apathy. Heart’s heels stung from being scraped raw whilst being dragged back down into his oubliette; his condemnation.
His throat was scratchy and sore from screaming and wiling.
His heart ached for forgiveness; despite knowing that his silent cries fell on deaf ears.
He pressed his head against his knees.
“You shouldn’t let him out this time.”
“You know I can’t do that Mind”
Soul tittered away at a new song he’d been working on, for Harmonia.
“He shot me!”
“He missed.”
“Surely you recognise that his behaviour is not only detrimental to you and I, but to-“
“Right now your presence is becoming detrimental to me. Drop it Mind, I’m not leaving him in there. I’ll let him out in a couple days.”
Soul scratched out a line of lyrics, he couldn’t get the damned thing right.
“Without his constant upheaval and clouding emotions, you’d actually be getting somewhere on that song you know. A clear head could do you some good. Harmonia would certainly appreciate it, I’m sure.”
Mind watched Soul pause, lifting his pen from the page. The seed had been sown; Soul always was a sucker for Harmonia {The dearly devoted to no end}. With that, Mind left Atlas silently with his thoughts.
He’d heard it all before, and yet, Mind’s words couldn’t help but sink in. {Harmonia’s appreciation was what he worked towards in the end, was it not? If something was tainting that line between him and divinity’s encompassing light, something had to be done about that, right?
Despite their {his} efforts to become Whole, to please Harmonia, were their own outbursts just as impactful as their harmony? Was all this dissonance- matched with his own constant stream of one self deprecating thought after another; was this plaguing Him?
Could He feel what Soul was feeling? No, don’t be ridiculous, you think too highly of yourself.
If Heart’s emotions are problematic for Harmonia, and restraining Him from his full potential- all of their potential, then he had to be straightened out.
He’s uncontrollable; he’s holding Harmonia back. He needs Apathy, to rectify him- {IT’S YOU THAT DESERVES TO BE IN THAT PIT}
He’s holding me back from serving Harmonia as I’m supposed to.
They don’t understand the bur- the privilege that has been placed upon me- I’m Harmonia’s disciple and humble servant-
He is my lord- our lord.
We live and die for Harmonia, we are supposed to be completely at his will- he shouldn’t have to make accommodations for those such as ourselves. If Harmonia asked me to tear myself limb from limb- purely to watch the bloody escapade laid out before Him, I would. I would do it in a heartbeat.}
Soul allowed the air that had been locked out of his lungs to seep back in.
{Perhaps...a little while longer would be okay. Apathy will do him some good. A reflection}