#if isn't clear: emmet have amnesia too

[mr-jack-letterman]

I thought it would be fun to give some insight into how the circumstances detailed in Covalent Twins are effecting the characters :D.

So, here's Covalent Emmet Progress Report #1 (as I will probably end up making more of these)(maybe)

Despite popular belief, Emmet....is not doin too hot with this new situation.

The 2 years Ingo spent in Hisui were the worst years of Emmet's life. When Ingo finally returned, naturally, he was overjoyed. Hearing about what his brother faced in Hisui however....was quite concerning.

Every scar on his brother's body felt like a bullet wound to Emmet's heart. He hated seeing his brother so hurt and scared of what used to be their everyday lives. Thankfully, the amnesia almost entirely cleared up after a few months. But that didn't change the fact his brother was hurt, and there was no way for him to fix it other than supporting him the best he could.

Immediately jumping from that to their apartment being haunted by the dead ghost of Ingo from an alternate timeline made Emmet want to rip his hair out.

It's all just so unfair.

Emmet and Elesa had done nothing to deserve having Ingo torn away from them. Ingo did nothing to deserve his sudden derailment nor his treatment in Hisui, but most of all, Warden did absolutely fucking nothing to deserve being left for dead in the past by a God.

Emmet didn't care if the space-time continuum was at risk if Warden's timeline wasn't created. Emmet didn't care if Warden being sent to the future the same way Ingo was might have caused even more problems.

In Emmet's mind, there is not, and will never be, a riotous justification for Arceus leaving Warden stuck in the past. Not. One.

Not after all the pain and grief it caused Warden- his brother.

Warden is as much as Emmet's brother as Ingo is. And Emmet with never forgive Volo or Arceus for what happened to them. Not ever.

The worst part about it all is that the ones truly to blame aren't even here for Emmet to pass blame onto.

Volo is dead and gone, nobody can survive 150 years. (Unless you're Warden and live on as a ghost, of course.)

Giritina was only a tool, a terrifying and powerful tool, but still, only a tool for Volo to get what he wanted. Even through all his pain and resentment, Emmet can recognize Giritina as somewhat of a victim in all this as well.

Arceus is quite literally nothing, and also everything. Aside from pieces of Arceus (that Dawn allegedly fought and captured at one point.) Emmet would get nowhere trying to make an entire deity take responsibility.

The entire weight of Emmet's guilt, resentment, grief, and fury just sits in his hands. And with no one around to give it to, he keeps it close. Emmet blames himself.

Logically, Emmet knows it's untrue. He knows it's ridiculous. He knows he doesn't deserve any of the built up emotions he's taking out on himself, but he simply doesn't know what else to do with them all.

He knows it was all out of his control, but that alone is what makes it all so scary.

Emmet has never done well without a protocol or a script. But there is no script for this type of situation, let alone such a complex trauma. Emmet doesn't know what to do, and it seems like the only thing anyone can tell him is what not to do. Which for Emmet, isn't helpful in the slightest.

Emmet is veeeeery scared, and the total lack of proper answers and the uniqueness of his situation has only left him paranoid and flighty.

He's getting better. He will get better. The fear will slowly fade with time.

It's just gonna take a lot longer than originally expected.

[rainyfroggy]

TW for blood uuuh making it pink like Danganrompa yeah

This happened a few days after they meet btw

[stratuscloudsurfer]

A what-if, some angst, and comfort for your Enemies to Brothers AU. I was inspired by the piece of fanart by @fluorescent-air-fresheners as well as the recent ask about nightmares.

I imagine that it bothers Ingo a bit that Emmet can remember, yet he can't still. But at this point he can't do much.

Which doesn't stop his brain from churning with throughts and feelings. It rotates that revelation from all angles and adds it to everything that's been rushing in his unconscious for months.

A few days later, Ingo has an intense nightmare that'll he never regain his memories. (The fear is older than Emmet's arrival.) The ending confronts him with his fear that'll never remember even his old self. The nightmare's as disorienting as it is heartbreaking.

Unlike with the Kid Emmet AU, the brothers still sleep at different places even after Emmet remembers. Ingo, thankfully, has his team as well as Lady Sneasler and there might be the other Wardens nearby to ground him.

It does make his disassociation worse again over the next days, though, when he's on his own. He goes to Emmet before it can become a deeper issue, hoping it might help to talk with him.

You know, I'm glad you brought this up because I've thought about this too. I imagine it would bother Ingo that Emmet remembers but he doesn't. He tries to pretend it doesn't, tries to convince himself that his brother remembering is enough for him. Don't get me wrong--he's happy that at least one of them remembers where they came from, but at the same time... every time Emmet describes their mother, or their childhood home, or the Battle Subway, he feels an agonized aching in his chest.

He starts to wonder what's wrong with him. Why can't he remember anything about himself? Why can't he remember his own mother? Why can't he remember???

Even when Emmet tells him stories about them growing up, he has a hard time feeling as if he'd actually experienced those things. It seems almost as if it all happened to someone else. Now he knows who he was before, but does he remember? Not really.

He was never really bothered by having amnesia before, but he really, really is now, and it gets to be too much for him to get his memories second-hand.

He consequently starts to avoid spending time with Emmet. He makes excuses about being too busy to eat with him and battle him and in general spends a lot of time in the Highlands being elusive. Emmet notices the way that his brother seems to be dodging him and it makes him upset. It's clear to him that Ingo is avoiding him, but why? Was it something he did? Something he said? He can't figure it out, but its frustrating. It feels like they're moving backwards, and after so much forward progress!

Finally Emmet catches Ingo while he's trying to slip out of a joint clan meeting. He has to physically grab him by the arm to get him to turn around because he isn't listening to him as he tells him to wait. He looks angry when he whirls around to face him and opens his mouth to start to say something before Emmet cuts him off.

"What did I do wrong?" he demands. "Why are you avoiding me?"

This question, along with the concern in Emmet's eyes, makes all of the anger and angst stockpiling in his chest disintegrate all at once. Ingo wanted to stay mad, to continue avoiding the issue, but now he can't. So instead he bows his head and asks Emmet if they can talk.

Finally Ingo breaks down and confesses about the nightmares, about his fears, about how bothered he is by not being able to remember anything. Emmet is quiet the entire time--this is the first time Ingo has ever admitted to being so concerned about his lack of memory, and he'd never considered that he might make him feel worse by sharing what he remembers. When he's done, Ingo feels better that he was finally able to get this off his chest, but Emmet feels worse, wondering how he could have not noticed how his brother felt.

"I'm sorry, Ingo," he says after a while. "I had no idea you felt that way. I can stop talking about our past, if you want me to."

His apology makes Ingo jerk a little in surprise. "What? No, it's not your fault. And I don't mind you talking about it, it's just... sometimes it's too much."

The next time Emmet speaks, there is an edge to his voice. "Well, maybe next time you should just tell me so. I don't really like when you disappear like that, you know."

Ingo feels a pang in his chest at the words, apologizes for going AWOL, and promises not to avoid Emmet again. And while he still worries about never being able to recover his memories, it makes him feel better to be able to confide in his brother about these fears.