Work Text:
You stop telling your story at last when the words lose their meaning.
You take a short, indistinguishable final breath, and ask her, "So, I have this word I'd love you to pronou—"
Then suddenly you stop and you launch yourself forward in a sudden attempt to grab the fishbowl Contrarian is in out of her hands. You need your friend back.
But, you do not outspeed her, she slings her body sidewards, fish bowl clutched to her side, water splashing onto her torn dress.
The voice of the Stubborn:
"Almost! Try harder."
The voice of the Paranoid:
"None of this going to work."
He's sounding gradually more frantic.
The voice of the Hero:
"We have to believe it will.. Just in case."
The voice of the Stubborn:
"No, just attack her NOW."
The voice of the Narrator:
"You throw a mean right hook at her face, and finally alongside the blood that stains her cheek you see surprise.
Then you lunge at her again and she regains the upper hand again, dodging out of the way and planting her knee on your back, immediately putting all her strength and weight on it."
You groan, attempting to push yourself up.
The voice of the Stubborn:
"Almost, almost! We can break her grip!"
"It doesn't have to be like this." She says quietly, but there is an undertone of absolute determination, "This is your final chance. Fix this shit, or the fish dies."
You sit still, thinking long and carefully about your next move.
Past your lips spills a swear in a language you did not learn and cannot name.
You don't think you can do what she wants, and fighting her seems like a bad idea. But, you're two different people now, more even, and you will not go back to what you were before.
So instead you try a different method, thinking back to what the librarian told you, "I know some of us, would have chosen another path, away from her, if they could.
They're happy in her harmony, but if taken out of that path not every one of them would stay."
You think about all you know about this princess.
The voice of the Paranoid:
"What are you doing?? We have to move."
"The shifting mound won't give you what you want, you know."
The voice of the Narrator:
"The princess doesn't respond."
Undeterred you continue talking, "She won't bring you balance, or happiness. Maybe becoming part of the balance again would bring peace in oblivion, but that's just suicide. Is that what you've waited this long for?"
Her voice is shaky. You've hit something deep. "I-" the weight of her body against yours gets a little less.
"We're all separate people now, me, the shifting mound, my voices, you. It's like snippering a piece of paper. That can never fully be fixed."
She lets out a scoffing laugh, although het voice trails off too much to be condescending, "However, torn paper can be fixed. You take the paper apart further, wet the pieces with water, spread them out and leave it to dry."
The voice of the Opportunist:
"She's stretching the metaphor."
You can still use this to your advantage, "But, the end product isn't really the same as it once was, is it? And you're making the individual pieces unrecognizable in the process.
You could come with us. Become part of us, we've done it once before. And then we can all be happy."
She swallows above you, so heavily you can hear it. "I'd rather not. I like my body.."
But the weight from your back shifts.
"But, fine. Fine. You're right, I have not waited this long to die now. And foolish as you are, you're more than stubborn enough to see this through." A moment of silence, then she adds, "Don't disappoint me."
The voice of the Paranoid:
"You actually did it!"
The voice of the Cheated:
"That's what you'd think. Just take the fish before she changes her mind."
The voice of the Stubborn:
"You're all weak."
The voice of the Opportunist:
"I'd like to think that the power of diplomacy is strong."
The hero lets out a relieved laugh,
The voice of the Hero:
"The pen is mightier than the sword and all that." He laughs again.
The voice of Cold:
"She's moving again."
The voice of Narrator:
"Ehem. Right. The princess, warily but with that same determination waggles a couple of steps away from you. Then, as you sit up, she hands you the bowl, the fish in it practically jumping into your face."
Now all that's left to do is subsume him, you know how, you've done it before.
But that's not what happened is it?
You wake up in cold sweat, the wind rustles softly around you, grass prickles against your thick skin. The outside smells of dirt.
The Paranoid catches his breath in the back of your mind.
The voice of the Cheated:
"Fucking hell. Who was it this time?"
He sounds pissed off and annoyed, which makes sense with the shallow amount of sleep you've all been managing to get.
One of the complications of sharing a body is that when one of you wakes up, all of you wake up. And somehow, after all this, sleep is something you need.
Ahead of you the horizon is already starting to turn a distinctly lighter shade of blue.
The voice of the Hero:
"Does it really matter who it was? Let's just.. get back to sleep."
The voice of Stubborn:
"That'll take forever."
The voice of the Paranoid:
"Not if you all stop chattering!"
The Opportunist whines, the Cold is silent.
The voice of the Narrator:
"We could start to get a move on, it won't be dark for long anymore, and there should be a settlement nearby."
The voice of the Opportunist:
"But I'm tireeeed."
The voice of the Hero:
"Guys, stop it. We're going back to sleep."
"Yeah, let's." You mumble, your voice cracking, throat dry. You can't decide if this dream was better or worse than seeing her die over and over again by your hand.
You turn onto your stomach in the grassy dirt.