Chapter Text
Ringing.
That's all they heard at first; pure white is all they saw. At least, for a while. It seemed that all three alters had woken up at the same time, though with different reactions.
Heart shot straight up into a sitting position, frantically feeling around himself to try and guess what kind of environment he was in. Soul sat up slower, rubbing ets head and groaning. Mind kept luns eyes closed, the bright whiteness surrounding the trio felt as if it was drilling through luns skull.
"Ohmygod— What the fuck— WHERE the fuck are we!?" Heart's voice raised to a squeak that, normally, would have been mocked. Soul and Mind didn't think now was the time for jokes, though.
"I don't know. It's just... blank," Soul commented, looking around. "It's not any part of headspace I know of, that's for sure."
Slowly, Mind sat up, trying to let luns eyes adjust to the startling whiteness. "Well, that much was obvious." Lun stood up. "Whatever is going on, we should at least look around instead of just sitting here."
Soul sighed and stood up, Heart following. Sometimes, it was so hard to tell whether the passive-agressiveness in Mind's voice was genuine or just a facade.
Without warning, Heart made a loud noise, causing both of the others to jump. Neither had time to ask why he'd vocalized such a startling sound, as they were immediately answered.
"Guys! This is— This is different. I... I still can't see, but—"
"Thats normal, you idiot," Mind interrupted. "You've been blind for how long, now?"
Heart huffed, a gesture that was normally for show, but seemed to portray genuine frustration now. "Obviously, dumbass! You didn't let me finish.
"I still can't see, obviously, but I can.. sense things. I– I don't understand it, but it's like... Ugh." Heart made a frustrated noise, coming to a lack of words. He took a breath, trying to explain again.
"Like, I can't SEE you two, but I can FEEL that you're both there, even if I don't touch you. As if there's some kind of... energy." Heart huffed. "I don't know. It's just different."
Soul and Mind stared at the other for a moment, unsure of what to say. They, too, seemed to be lost for words.
Without warning, a sharp whistle broke the silence.
The trio frantically turned to face the noise, which seemed to have come from a...
...What even is that thing?
Something that seemed humanoid was walking towards them, wearing a patched-up cloak with a hood that obscured its face. Something seemed to bulge beneath the hood and part of the cloak, unnaturally long and starting from its head.
Normally, Mind was the smart one, and would've had some kind of logical explanation. Normally, Soul would've been ready with a quick retort to create some kind of comedic relief. And normally, Heart would've been fine to let the situation play out, unconcerned.
This wasn't normal, though. Mind was completely unable to apply logic here, not for lack of trying. Soul was silent, its mouth opened slightly. And Heart, silently, had stepped to be between them, not caring if he was later mocked for grabbing both of their arms, his wings spreading wide as if trying to surround them all.
"Well, hello there," the cloaked creature greeted. "I do suppose this must be rather confusing for you all, yes?"
Without waiting for an answer, it pulled down its hood, shaking its head as if to adjust.
Coming from its head was a pair of absurdly long... ears? The kind of ears they were was unable to be determined, as they looked to be some sort of mix of a cat, dog, and fox, but stretched beyond belief.
Whatever it was, it wasn't human by any means. Nor could it be called any animal the trio knew of. With its ungodly ears and reddish-pink fur, it looked like it was created by some child with the powers of a god that had decided to make a new species.
"It's rude to stare, you know," it commented, breaking the three out of their respective 'what the fuck' moments.
"I must've made things worse, I suppose. Oh well, it can't be helped— Those hoods are so uncomfortable, you know!" It made a gesture to the hood, then to its ears. "They're a pain, mostly."
It paused, as if waiting for a response. When none came, it sighed.
"If you couldn't tell, I'm not the best at this. Anyway," It waved a hand, "My name is Thamo. I don't care how you see me— That's.. a human thing."
There was another moment of silence, this time followed by Soul being the first to regain the ability to speak.
"What... What in the everloving fuck is going on?" Though an obvious, simple question, it was the only thing et could think to say. It just about summed up all three of the alters' thoughts.
"Ah... I suppose I probably should've started with that," Thamo admitted, shifting its weight awkwardly. "I figure it'd be best to show you a summary, as it's a rather lengthy topic to explain."
It waved a hand, and suddenly, there was something other than whiteness behind it; a screen. Or, at least, a projection resembling a screen.
Shown on this screen was a dark alleyway in some city, the kind of thing that was so anonymous it could've been anywhere, at any time.
The view they saw was shaking, giving the impression that someone was actually recording. There were soft sobs presumably coming from the person recording.
The sobbing voice said something but was censored by a beeping sound. Thamo made the comment that it was for privacy.
The voice spoke, pleading with a censored name. "Please," a beep signified the censored name, "just come out! This isn't funny anymore, you kn—"
Suddenly, the movement in the alleyway increased for a moment, then was still. In the darkness, a pair of bright, golden eyes illuminated the alleyway.
Then another pair. And another. Until there was an amount of eyes that, truly, should've defied all logic.
A low growl that sounded, almost, like a laugh. The eyes shook as if the body they were on was bouncing with the noise it made. Then it spoke, using a voice that just wasn't human enough to be real.
"Doomed to fail. All of us."
There was a lunging motion, a shriek that went on too long, and a splash of blood before the recording ended.
Silence filled the again-blank room. Thoma didn't wait for it to be filled.
"That, my guests, is why you're here today," It said. "You've been blissfully ignorant of the horrors attempting to dominate your kind, though at no fault of your own.
"Those... Those things don't quite have a name. They're too wretched to be fully described," It mused, "But most seem to think that terms such as 'beast' and 'monster' suffice."
Pacing now, Thoma continued. "I'm not here to give you a history lesson, nor would it benefit you. The issue is simple," It said, stopping to look at all three of them directly.
"The monsters desire chaos and bloodshed. My kind recruit humans to help stop it, as we are rather defenseless by ourselves. And you," It spread its hands in a sweeping gesture, as if the intended audience was uncertain, "have been determined to be just what we need."
Mind spoke up, looking at Heart and Soul. "This can't be real. It's probably just some stupid thing the headspace came up with, or a new headmate that's just really confused."
Nobody acknowledged the fact that there hadn't been a new alter since the three first formed in childhood. Nor did they acknowledge the fact that the headspace, in all their exploration, had never had any blank areas like this.
Thamo frowned, though it seemed as if it was trying to be collected.
"No, I can assure you I'm not. In fact, you'll find I've done you all a favor," It said. "I've separated you three into separate bodies, separate existences. You're no longer stuck in the same body."
It smiled. "Isn't that great?"
As absurd as it sounded, they all knew it was true. It was illogical, utterly impossible, but they knew that Thamo wasn't lying. They just knew, knew that they didn't feel the same, knew that they weren't connected like they normally were.
Like they were supposed to be.
Soul, evidently, was absolutely pissed. So much so, in fact, that Heart and Mind had moved to restrain et when et had began to tense up. Et violently fought against being restrained, which clearly illustrated the point that et should not be released.
"You MOTHERFUCKER— Oh, you fucking— Don't you KNOW how hard we– ugh–" Et grunted, continuing to try to free etself. "How hard we work– to protect Whole!? Why the FUCK— Do you think– think we can just—"
Letting out a noise of anger, Soul raised ets hand and, surprisingly, ets trident was formed. Impulsively, et threw it at Thamo.
The trident disappeared in mid-air. Thamo sighed in frustration, pinching the bridge of its non-existant nose.
"Please refrain from trying to kill me. I understand that you're upset—" it paused, proceeding to correct itself upon seeing Soul's face, "or, perhaps, furious is more the word.
"Whatever it is, I'm only trying to help you. This is for the best. After all, you'd be defending humans against the beasts— And, as I'm sure you know, your precious Whole is also a human. Truly," It said, "You'd be doing him a favor."
Soul was still tense, gripping the arms restraining et to an uncomfortable degree. "Yeah, right— How is it that nobody's fucking heard of these 'beasts,' huh? Why should we believe that Whole is in danger of these things, when we've never even heard of them?"
Thamo's frown deepened. "With all the politeness I can muster, I must ask you to employ critical thinking skills.
"Humans are, quite obviously, aggressive creatures. What is there to be gained by the beasts from a direct, full assault?" It began to pace again, looking a bit unstable this time.
"The humans would fight. Oh, they'd still suffer, but they're resilient. They'd grow, they'd rebuild, they'd unite and plan. They would figure out how to defend themselves," It ranted, "and the beasts would be far less effective in reaching their goal. Mass hysteria would last only temporarily before the ultimate result of unity was achieved."
Thamo stopped, letting out a breath. "Obviously, the best tactic for them would be to maim from the shadows, feeding upon the intense grief of family and friends rather than the mass sympathy that you humans pour out so apathetically on your little internet."
Soul just glared, still enraged, but not in the way that et was before.
"Okay, fine then. But did you ever consider that, I don't know, you should ASK before you rip three people out of their body?" Ets voice dripped with malice. "That's one hell of a way to get people on your side, totally."
Thamo stepped towards the three, having visibly lost its patience.
"Listen here, you narrow-minded prick. I don't have the time nor willpower to deal with arrogant fucks like you, not when there are lives at stake!" It waved a hand, gesturing to where the screen had been earlier.
"Do you really think that you four are the only ones who matter? Maybe to yourselves, and your tiny little bubble, but think bigger. Think about those who are being maimed, tortured, and a host of all the unpleasant things you can think of." It made a gesture to its own cloak, being patched together in places by what looked like off-color fabric.
"This is my skin. My fucking SKIN. These," it said, gesturing to the patches, "are pieces of skin. Skin from others of my kind, who had nothing left to give except their corpses."
Thamo paused, taking in a breath.
"Look. I'm only here because I was told to be a recruiter, and I'm not some lazy-ass who doesn't do what it's told." It dug around beneath its skin cloak, apparently looking for something. After a few moments, it took out three egg-shaped objects.
"These things," It explained, holding out the dull, grey, oval objects, "Are what we call Essence Containers, or Escon for short. They represent the 'essence' of those elected to be guardians."
It put the Escon on the ground, each placed in front of one of the trio.
"Or, more accurately, they come to represent the essence of the human who becomes a guardian whilst holding one."
Thamo took a step back, observing the three former headmates. They were all experiencing various mixtures of emotions, though they seemed to be hanging on to its every word.
Good. That's the way it intended for this to go.
"I've talked for much too long, though," It said. "I don't even have to ask at this point— I think your decisions here are obvious.
"All you have to do is think of a Wish. It could be anything, really, with the exception of something world-changing. Interestingly," It mused, "this magic we possess has limits."
It stretched, and bones that logically shouldn't have existed popping. "Hold the Escon, think of a Wish, and say something about agreeing to be a guardian. It's that simple."
It paused, looking the three up and down. "But, if you're for some reason still uncertain, I'll allow you to discuss amongst yourselves."
Watching as they all began talking to each other, Thamo stepped back again. The illusion of choice, truly, worked so well. Nobody wants to be forced into something, but if they can be made to believe that they HAD a choice? That's when things became easier.
Humans are such curious things, as they always have been. Often, they'll take the path that, in consideration, is the least logical. They do it simply because they're curious. Such unique minds they had, Thamo thought.
But, Thamo supposed, that didn't matter. All that mattered was that they did what they were told, while not being too much of a nuisance.
Seeing the magical, colored lights being emitted from the three humans in front of it made it decide that these ones filled that role well enough. They'd done what they were told.
Thamo reasoned that they were too absorbed with themselves to be a nuisance to anyone else.