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If I'm only a memory, how am I talking to you? There are only two answers. Either I still exist with a will of my own, or your little toy's so broken now that he's split himself in two just to cope with that "memory". Either way, I'm going to devour every last bit of him, but not until he's gotten his hands nice and dirty.

I don't particularly feel like indulging your threats with any fear. You won't harm him, and I won't allow you to harm anyone else. I will erase you, as a memory, as a person, the Ariel you're tormenting is a stronger person than you'll ever be again. You're dead, you should learn to stay that way, little brother.

[He just laughs, light and pleasant and terribly mocking.]

Will you really? You'll tear him apart if you try. You know that. Even you can't do that kind of precise surgery on the human mind. But sure, ruin him to get rid of me. If you leave even a single grain I'll come back and he'll be even weaker than he is now. And trust me, he's already pathetic in comparison to me.

No, I won't need to do that. He'll beat you without my interference. You can tell him and yourself that he's nothing compared to you all you want but the problem is he's you, he's you with all your stubbornness and will and intelligence but without what made you sick. The only way you exist now is because he is you, you must know that.

Your only chance of winning is to convince him he's less than you, but I won't be allowing you to do that.

I already have. He's already convinced of his inevitable defeat. That's your fault, of course. You raised him to be soft. Without noticing, you crippled his confidence. He's just a frightened child that thinks of himself as a fake and an object. He doesn't stand a chance.

Then I'll change his mind. You aren't the only stubborn person in this family. And if I can't get through, Jupiter will.

Not if I kill him he won't.

You'll never get that chance again, I promise you that.

I suppose you'd best keep them apart, then. It'd only take a few seconds of me being in control to destroy him.

I have no intention of keeping them apart. If anything, I think I'll ensure they spend more time together. Do you really think he'd allow you control enough to harm Jupiter? I trust him more than that. Perhaps I need to prove I trust him for him to have the strength to relegate you to the memory you belong as.

There's no end where I go away, Tristan. The biggest victory you can get at this point is forcing that boy to live with me inside of him forever. But, you know, even if I never win entirely, it won't be so bad. I'll always have one person to entertain me. Maybe I'll start having him take your place in his dreams. You did give me the experience of pain to draw from, that time.

When he has the confidence to recognize himself do you think you'll even be strong enough to bother him in nightmares? That's a weak victory at best.

Death couldn't stop me. The will of a weaker copy won't either. He'll never become strong when I'm working from the inside.

[He is scared, that Ariel will destroy the Ariel of this world. But he refuses to acknowledge it, because he knows too intimately how Ariel's mind games work, and if he treats it as trivial it gives this world's Ariel the knowledge that he's believed in. He doesn't think they're separate, he knows the other Ariel's aware, that his reactions to his old Ariel will affect the new one. Tristan's been Ariel's victim enough of his life to know what he's seeing.]

You sound desperate. Honestly, I'd like to talk to my real brother, if you're done posturing.

And you look like you're trying very hard.

[He reaches up with his other hand, trying to cup Tristan's face and pull him down for a kiss. But really it's just looking for a flinch -- any reaction at all, positive or negative, means something.]

[He lifts a hand to take Ariel's, not letting himself be pulled. Of course he wants to kiss Ariel, hell, he even wants to kiss this version of him. Destroying him and remaking the world didn't actually fix his problems, didn't make him love or hate Ariel less.]

[But he's done with bending to Ariel's will and whims, that much he's sure of.]

Enough.

[He doesn't protest. He just hums, cheerfully, and attempts to cast that spell that turns his hands burning hot. Since Tristan's holding both of them now and all.

He can, apparently, keep control long enough to execute it at least.]

[He flinches back, and conditioned behaviors don't just go away. His cheeks flush even as he drops Ariel's hands, gathers a spell to counter and nullify Ariel's magic if he attempts anything else, guard abruptly up.]

Brat.

[He laughs again, delighted at the reaction, and the pure, unweighted childishness of it is really only a hair different from the way the new Ariel used to laugh, before he started to pull away from Tristan. But in a blink it cuts off, as he flips back to normal--

--and instantly recoils. He goes from lazy reclining to skittering back in an instant, til he's pressed against the side of the bed, wide-eyed and white-faced.]

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'msorryI'msorryI-I--

Edited 2014-09-28 14:29 (UTC)

[That laugh is painful to hear, more so then his burned hands, it cuts right through Tris. As does Ariel's panicking when he snaps back into himself.]

[His hands still sting but he reaches forward anyway, careful, but unable to sit back while Ariel more or less launches himself back like that.]

Calm down.

No! No-- I--

[He's definitely panicking, dropping his face into his hands and struggling to think straight and breathe evenly. This is why he knows he'll lose. That he could hurt Tristan at all is proof -- he's weak, and he can't help but be terrified of the monster inside of him.]

I-I told you I can't do this. He's right about everything.

He plays mind games.

[He inches forward, until he's kneeling in front of Ariel, gently taking his hands again.]

But he's wrong and I trust you to prove it. The only thing he's right about is I've stifled you, you don't have the confidence to see for yourself that you're capable and strong. For that I'm sorry.

But it'll change, I'll give you more freedom, I'll trust you, but you have to promise not to think of disappearing again.

I can't.

[He shakes his head, cowering away from Tristan as if he's afraid he'll be hurt. But it's not Tristan he's scared of. It's the exact opposite. He's scared he'll be the one hurting someone, and he won't know when until it happens, and he won't be able to stop it.]

I don't want to hurt anyone.

[If it comes down to choosing between himself and others, he'll choose others. That's just the difference in how this Ariel's been wired, and where his substantial willpower is being directed.]

I know. That's why I trust you.

[He's careful and slow as he gathers his brother close, holding him if Ariel lets him.]

You won't. Don't be afraid. Because you are't someone who will hurt others for enjoyment. You won't let that echo do it, that wasn't even a sting Ariel. I absolutely believe you would do anything to stop from hurting someone. So I know you won't.

You just have to realize it.

[He allows himself to be held, but he can't relax. The reassurances are nice, but the only go so deep when there's a voice in his head that sounds just like his own telling him it's all for nothing. It's true, he doesn't want to hurt anyone. But that's not his true nature, is it? Those feelings are a revision imposed by Tristan -- his whole self is a fantasy made for someone else's enjoyment. A fresh coat of paint over an ugly truth. Tristan's telling him he's strong, but at the same time someone else is accusing him of being nothing but a decorative automaton, and he feels like his own thoughts are being drowned out between the two. It's noisy and confusing and it hurts, so all he knows to do is shrink in on himself and cry in Tristan's arms.]