#3laf vyris

[saviorpilled]

neath the grove is a heart

[hypnocus]

yeah sure

[saviorpilled]

confliction is what makes the heart.

(3laf rp)

vyris found maria just where they had left her.

the space was pitch black, but distorting shapes of deep blues shifted all around them, nearly mimicking earth’s trees and falling leaves. the only light was the golden sword maria was sitting before in a position of faux prayer with that damned thread laid across both her palms. her back was turned to them but she shifted and corrected her posture as vyris grew closer.

the last time either of them were here there was bloodshed. the two of them nearly ceased to be.

they were so tall standing over her. the faint warbling sound of their body and the click of their robotic arm finally got her to turn around, eyes fixed on theirs.

it had been a long few months since either of them had been together in person. despite their spats and threats, vyris found no reason to intimidate now. they kneeled down beside maria. she watched every move they made but noted their lack of weaponry. a surprise to say the very least.

she let go of the thread, leaving it to gently wave around in the nonexistent wind.

the silence was suffocating. vyris scoffed.

“of all places,” they droned. their voice sounded just as maria remembered it: deep, with that slight, yet so distinctly them, static trill lacing every word. “did you just bring me here to take my other arm?”

maria averted her gaze to the ground below them. she knew they were only joking yet it still stung, pierced like a knife. oh the irony.

“no,” she shook her head shamefully. “i’ve learned my lesson.”

her hand subconsciously found its way to her own arm, the one mirroring vyris’ prosthetic. her thumb idly brushed across her sleeve.

another beat of silence.

“i frankly don’t know why you’ve turned down the idea.”

maria was quiet for a second while pondering her choice of words. “i know… that you think you’re doing something right and smart, but like i had said, you and i both know how this is going to end.”

“you don’t know anything-“

“i think i know more than you, vyris.”

they turned finally to look at her. maria’s gaze was still to the ground.

“ive known pest far longer than you have, much deeper than you. your ‘observations’ don’t mean shit. you don’t know him the way that i do. your strives for perfection is nothing but a death wish.”

vyris huffed, adjusting the clear mask over their mouth. “but what if it did somehow manage to clamor out on top, hm? will i get to laugh and say i told you so?”

maria balled up her fists.

“if he wins, even if it just gets close, sure. but i know without a doubt it will not be a victory because of your trials. you will not fix pest. there is nothing to fix.”

vyris looked to the sword. they stood and drew closer to it, long, clawed fingers settling gently on the tip of the hilt.

“it’s not fixing. it’s awakening. our world is… cruel, uncertain, beyond here is even worse. pest- the program is far too fragile. to be a bridge you must be sturdy.”

maria said nothing.

vyris continued their nonsensical ramblings.

“i still cannot get it through my head why you are so against this. you want me gone one minute, but i ask for your agreement to freedom and yet, you deny deny deny.” as they spoke they circled the sword. they trampled over the slack of the thread with each step. “what if i just took your soul from you? pierced your chest with my own hand and wrenched it out? shouldn’t i just take what i want? ‘could call it payback.”

“you wouldn’t dare.” maria stood, stepping backwards to put even more distance between the two of them. “you got your payback the moment it happened.”

vyris laughed. “‘i’m glad you think you scare me,’ yeah right.”

they stopped, hand still rested on the hilt. they stared directly at maria with all three of their irisless eyes.

“i don’t wish to argue anymore. i want a straight answer: why are you denying this?"

maria hesitated. there was no point in trying to skirt around this anymore. vyris was annoyingly persistent, and so she ultimately decided to spare herself the headache.

“your strives for perfection are parallel to my reasoning. you want things to be exactly as you think it should be for the sake of your own gain. i want unity. i wish you were gone, i wish you didn’t exist because you’re nothing but a reminder of everything i failed to be-“

vyris froze, eyes growing wide. that was… something.

“-im no protector, no hero. you talk so much about ‘correcting’ pest to make us all whole again. but there truly is nothing to fix. you trying to change him will only make things worse. and i don’t see how you don’t see that. pest does not recognize complexities. there is only good and bad. you pushing and pushing is doing nothing but solidifying that distrust. things will not change the way you want them to.”

maria let out a breath before continuing. she was avoiding all eye contact with her other half.

“pest wants you dead. more than anything.”

“and you let it return to my dwelling?”

“i was scared of you being impulsive in relation to his absence. he… doesn’t know. about the thread.”

vyris sighs loudly. “you need to tell it.”

“i know! but i just- i don’t know how!” maria’s body tensed. vyris almost felt bad for her. “i’m terrified because what if it ruins things?”

“you rather risk your life, everything that you’ve built, for the sake of comfort?”

…

“i guess so. what a fool i am.”

vyris takes a long breath, finally drawing away from the sword.

“it has to be you.”

“i know.”

“im not stopping my progress. i’m not stopping my creations. it’s much too late now. my analysis will continue regardless, and plans will not be altered. but you must tell him. sooner rather than later, preferably.”

“will you let me see him?”

“yes. for one night. after that it’s back to work.”

“right.”

vyris then walked past her, away from the sword, away from their thread, away from the swirling static colors making up their version of a sky. each step of their boot clicked. each click slowly turned to the deafening cry of cicadas.

until suddenly it was quiet again.

and once more the princess was left with nothing to guide her but the light of her sword.