Archive of Our Own ^beta

Skull always felt like he’d lived a different life, seeing things through a distant lens. All throughout childhood to his teenage years, he’d felt like he had a purpose he was meant to fulfill. That anything else he’d done would end up being a passing hobby, and that in time that purpose would find him and he’d be complete .

 That was why nothing ever felt permanent. Why he’d never really found it in himself to care that much more for things beyond a passing fancy. 

The circus seemed interesting, so he’d joined it on a whim, leaving behind the name Virgil, for Cherep, gifted to him by the performers (it almost sounded like cherish, and that thought made him warm, as one of the youngest members), and his public show name to be the blunter Skull. 

Doing stunts became another fun thing. An adrenaline junkie he sure was. It wasn’t like anything would stick anyway, would it? Anytime he’d gotten injured, it’d been healed in an instant.

That was where he’d gotten the name ‘The Immortal Stuntman.’ 

Consequences wouldn’t stick, so why should he care?

And then he’d found his purpose.

Of a familiar man with a checkered pattern.

It was disguised as a job offer, but they both knew what it really was.

Skull gave a cheeky grin, “The great Skull-sama will be there, loyal fan! No worries!”

And it continued on.

Of the mafia, flames, the curse — nothing ever felt permanent. So why should he be staring at the present?

(And zombie law enforcement, being there for him in the way even people who love isolation will start to crave for interaction.)

But what happened was this.

When the curse had finally been broken, Skull opened his eyes, and he remembered .

( “Kawahira…”

“Memphis.”

“I don’t– I beg of you. I don’t think I can stand the test of time. I don’t want to wake up one day and be utterly apathetic towards everything. No, I’m scared of that. I’m afraid of that ‘me’. ..Me with no morals, no limits… Please, old friend. Seal away my memories.”

In the end, the only True Earthlings remaining were him and Kawahira. Sepira had already left.

“Listen to me. No matter what happens, no matter how much ‘I’ might protest, or beg for you to not… Please keep making me the Cloud Arcobaleno. We both know that no one else would last long enough, and as the Cloud, it’s my duty to multiply everyone else’s so they last longer. Besides, I’m in a unique situation, perfect for this. I’ll keep coming back. I’ll die, yeah, but what’s that mean in the long run?”

Memphis snapped out of his unfiltered word vomit to see his friend’s distraught face.

He hesitated. “..I’m sorry. This is so selfish of me. I’m leaving you to handle the strain alone. And I’m sorry if you ever feel like you weren’t enough to keep me here, but I don’t want to know how a me with no care for others will act. I don’t want to know how I’d treat you either. ..This whole thing was to keep the humans safe. And.. And what happens if I grow to hate them? Like the Vindice who have grown out of hate for you already. ..I know everything is still raw after Mehrma, Sepira’s…  That you hoped… But please. ..Maybe it’s a futile dream, but maybe in the future, when it’s all over, we can meet again.”

“...”)

Memories spanning several centuries abruptly dumped itself into his head.

( First had been Adonis. He’d looked more normal, in that his hair was as black as the night, and eyes the color of midnight.

New. He hadn’t really known how humanity acted, so he’d always been a little eccentric. Back then, people had volunteered for the honor of being a sacrifice. For being the Arcobaleno. In hindsight, perhaps the other elements had felt bad for him. Because he’d ‘been so young’, that they wanted to protect him, like he was their little brother. 

It was fun. And then they died. And he broke.

And maybe it was from there that he’d started subconsciously attempting to distance himself, not wanting to face the pain of his then repressed memories.

…

Then there was Serafine. If anything, she’d been more like free-er Lal Mirch, no worries about consequences. A spitfire with crazy long ash purple hair, that it was generally a good idea not to stand too close, lest they get smacked in the face. 

When they died, that was when he learned what Cloud Rage was for the first time. Or would it be more accurate to call it Cloud Grief? Because without an anchor, someone to bring the Cloud back to the ground, they had a complete disregard for anything. Why should they, when everything they loved was gone? It also meant it was very self-destructive.

The Vindice had had to step in at that point.)

..

As the True Earthlings had always been meant to protect the humans, it meant that their flames had had a purifying quality to them. Kawahira had been jaded with time, causing his flames to degrade and turn on itself. 

But Skull? No, Memphis ?

For the first time in a long time, his real flames unfurled from its self-imposed cage, and surrounded the entire area, removing anything with even a speckle of taint.

It fully obliterated Sawada Tsunayoshi’s partially broken seal, gave the warmest imprint of a hug on the Vindice, and fixed the former Arcobaleno back to their state pre-curse, removing any lingering after effects.

And Memphis gave a watery chuckle as for once, everything felt so clear . His body didn’t feel too short or too tall. Too thin or too big. Wrong hair, wrong eyes— 

It was like he could suddenly see. No longer seeing things from a foggy far away lens. 

His shocked gaze met Kawahira, and the brightest smile made it on his face. “Yatta!” 

It seemed like a blink was all it took for him to move across the room and wrap the man in the greatest bear hug of all time. 

“I’m so! I’m so!!” He squealed.

“ What. ” He could register one of the former Arcobaleno blankly stare in confusion.

“Ahh. So sorry, so sorry.” Memphis fidgeted in place, and he absently noted his words sounded weirdly accented. “It’s a little weird. Kinda feel a little overwhelmed. I mean I guess that’s what happens when you get a butt load of memories piling on top of you, so I don’t really know how I should be acting. I’d probably better take a moment and try to figure out who I am. I mean, I was Memphis. But I’m also Skull? Or well, his name was Virgil. Ah, what a pretty name, it’s a shame I didn’t get to hear it spoken that much.”

He huffed. 

“And hi!! Bermuda!! How are you?? I know you all don’t really like Kawahira, but I’m really thankful that you were still there for me, even if I didn’t remember you. I’m so happy it all went well. I wasn’t too sure actually, figured I might’ve died first instead…”

Memphis sniffled. “But you’re all here! And alive! Well not the others , they can’t ever be brought back, b-but…”

The earthling burst into tears. “A-And I don’t know what to do now! B-Because my purpose? It’s gone. And it won’t bring any of them back– ”

..Being wrapped in a hug only made him sob harder.