Alright, lets get this thing started, right? ^^
Dunehazard at DA is the namer of this story this time. Flux. ^^
Mephiles jolted awake when he felt something brush lightly against his arm. Startled for a moment, he looked to his side shakily and saw that Tape was reaching up and batting at his arm with a paw. He sighed and then held his breath when he realized Dark wasn't where he normally slept now.
Sitting up in the same sort of panic a parent might if they found their child was not in bed, Mephiles scanned the living room with his eyes, twitching his ears to pick up any sounds that may help him find him. He thought he heard something in the kitchen...
Making his way to the doorway, he peered around the corner carefully, having now found Dark, who was simply opening doors and drawers, looking in them briefly, then closing them as if he didn't find what he wanted. Perplexed, Mephiles watched him while he observed his body language, noting to himself to be a bit sluggish and almost automatic, as if Dark wasn't thinking at all. Then he realized something:
Oh... Maybe he's sleepwalking again...
He remembered what Dr. Thizon had said when he mentioned Dark's somnambulism a couple of weeks previous: "It's best to just not try and wake him unless he is about to put himself in a dangerous situation. Simply try to guide him back to his bed. If you try to wake him, he may be disoriented and confused, and could possibly lash out without realizing who you are..."
So I gotta get him back to his bed... without waking him. Easier said than done... Mephiles sighed quietly. I just know I'm going to wake him up by accident and get slapped...
He held his breath and carefully reached for Dark's arm, cringing as he expected a clawed hand to find it's way upside his face.
Nothing happened, and he exhaled a sigh of relief.
With care, he gave Dark a bit of a tug to try and encourage him to head back to the living room, but Dark grunted disapprovingly, obviously not intending on stopping what he was doing.
"C'mon, Dark... you shouldn't be wandering around this late at night..." Mephiles tried coaxing him quietly. "You should be asleep... C'mon..."
Dark grumbled something, which Mephiles strained his ears to hear him more clearly, if he was pronouncing anything sayable at all, that is. It sounded like he stated that he was looking for something or someone.
"I can't hear you, Dark... maybe you should just go back to bed..." Mephiles tried again. "C'mon... I'm sure Tape is annoyed that you aren't there..."
Almost immediately at the sound of his pet's name, Dark's tired and half closed eyes flickered in recognition, and he nodded absentmindedly.
After Mephiles carefully led him back to the laid out blankets on the floor, the hedgehog then considered that it would be more polite to simply swap sleeping places with Dark, but decided against it when he realized that Dark would be highly confused once he did wake up in the morning and start asking questions. Mephiles eased him back to the ground and no sooner had Dark laid down did the shadow fall asleep completely. Mephiles sighed contentedly at a job well done, and Dark's eyes snapped open in annoyance, startling the hedgehog enough that he fell off the couch.
"... Would you not do that? I hate being woken up before I'm ready..." Dark growled at him, pulling the pillow over his head.
"... Uh... yeah... sh-sure... S-sorry..." Mephiles stuttered nervously, nodding quickly as he was astounded that sighing had been the thing that woke up Dark, and none of what he had done earlier. "... I... uh... I'm just g-glad that what I dreamed d-didn't really happen..." He lied as he crawled back onto the couch.
Dark's uncovered ears perked up.
"... Oh, really now..?" His tone changed as he looked over the top of his pillow apologetically. "... Well... Eh... Sorry for snapping at you..."
"... N-no... I'm s-sorry... I should have been quieter..."
"... Can't really help that..." Dark tried hiding a yawn by burying his face under the pillow for a moment, though one could tell by the temporary impediment in his speech. "... Want to... talk about it..?" He said hesitantly as he sat up and slumped forward a bit as he carefully rubbed at his eyes, keeping the claws away from them. Mephiles could tell that Dark felt awkward at saying that, but was amused that Dark was trying. After all, Mephiles had done that with him a few times already.
"... Only if you'll tell me what's bothering you..." Mephiles allowed a small smile at him.
"... There's nothing-"
"Dark..." Mephiles dragged out accusingly as he tapped his head a few times with a "Hmm?"
Dark growled and looked away.
"No fair... I can't even read your mind..."
"It's not mind reading..." Mephiles shook his head.
"Then how is it that you seem to know everything that passes through my mind?"
"I can't read it. I read your emotions. Or, I feel them..." Mephiles explained.
"And that whole business of being able to 'hear' me..?" Dark said skeptically.
"That's just what I call it. When your brain is working... I have a direct link. It's like what you feel is being broadcasted to me." Mephiles explained as clearly as he could. "I've noticed recently... there's a big spot... it feels like... nothing... like it's empty... Sometimes, it's replaced with something else when you're doing something, like you forget about it... but when there's time to think... it comes back... I have theories... but I want you to tell me..."
Dark was silent, as if he was amazed at how close Mephiles guessed. Truth be told, there was many things that constantly bothered Dark silently, and he was partly relieved that Mephiles was able to pick up on this recent one so soon. It had been there since the day he had learned the fate of his driven insane twin, Iblis. About four days ago, to be precise.
"... I'm sure that you remember that... well... I can See possible outcomes... correct..?"
The hedgehog nodded slowly. "Sure... when you make decisions... right?"
"... There have been a few exceptions over times... but mainly, yes..." Dark stole a sideways glance at the three Chao that were sleeping at the foot of the couch, the girl resting her head on her twin's back as she hugged her friend. "... But... there's one that's lingering in my mind that I can't get rid of..."
"Is it a bad one..?" Mephiles gave him a concerned look.
"... Not exactly... depends on how and what you'd look into as..." Dark then looked at his cat, watching Tape crawl up beside him, rub his head on his side, then plop down with his back against Dark, purring contentedly.
"What's it about..?" Mephiles said in a tone the suggested to Dark that he didn't have to say it if he didn't want to.
Dark sighed.
"... It's about me..." He said slowly, as if deciding on how to word it. "... And... Iblis..."
Mephiles' wide eyes watched carefully, his ears perking forward and his entire body and senses alert as he waited to hear about the rest.
"... I-it's really more like a borderline dream..." Dark said in a softer voice, drooping his ears a little. "... Because in it... he's not insane...and neither am I..."
"Dark, you're not-" Mephiles started to protest but was cut short by his double.
"And don't try saying that I'm not... and that I'm just 'sick' or 'hurt' or whatever term you want to use make me feel better." Dark said sharply, glaring at him. "... I've been aware of my instability for years now... I just never really cared to pay mind to it..."
"... I'm sorry, Dark..." Mephiles said. "But I can't just up and call you mad... I... just can't..."
"... Hmm... Have it your way..." Dark almost smiled. "But what I saw was rather a bizarre thought. We were still our base elements, having never been split apart... never been experimented on, or at least never corrupted. Existing in an intertwining-" He locked his fingers together as he imitated a woven cloth to visualize his point. "Relationship, as... brothers... happy... selfless... we were different..."
"... Oh, Dark..." Mephiles said sadly. "I'm sorry it didn't end up that way..."
"No... No... Don't be... it's not the dream that got me..." Dark waved a hand quickly with a flick or two of the wrist, as if shooing away the idea like a fly. "It's when reality found it's way back to me. I realized that in order for that to exist..." The usually constant growl in his voice dropped suddenly, revealing that his real voice, unaltered by his attempts was simply several tones below Mephiles'. "You wouldn't."
Mephiles wasn't sure if it was that fact, or the change in Dark's voice that caught him more by surprise.
Seeing his confusion, Dark elaborated with his usual voice back, growl and all.
"... If I hadn't been split from Iblis... you would have died as a normal hedgehog however short years after..."
"I'm well aware that my entire existence as a Mobian hinges on many factors that without any of them, I might as well have died a small creature..." Mephiles shrugged, already aware of this concept many times over. "You think you're a fluke... I exist because of accidents and twists in our future. I can bet you not many alternate realities have me, the Mobian me, that is... in it at all..."
"... You are... quite unique." Dark said slowly, biting down on his lower lip to stop himself from grinning at how he fails to overlook that he's not the only one screwed by time itself. "... Either way, I'd exist in at least more than you..."
"Do I sense a bit of uppity with you now?" Mephiles smiled. "Feel better, than?"
"... A bit..." Dark closed his eyes and shrugged. "... Am I the only one who finds this planet having been split as a bit of a problem?"
"Not really... but my instincts aren't going nuts, so I guess it's not too much of a problem..." Mephiles scratched an ear. "Why? Are you a little worried?"
Dark had wanted to so much to express how much he was disturbed by this fact. How he knew it was only a matter of time before reports started showing up of unusual happenings and strange things going on with the populace... and not just with mass panic. But something will start to twist... to change among them all. He wanted to say that he found this idea terrifying, as it seemed in context to be nearly identical as what had happened between him and his twin, but on a grander scale. How horrifying it was to him that he knew right down to the last detail that-
He inhaled slowly, taking a moment to think about it, and exhaled a "... No... of course not..." Then he added with a bit of an arrogant air and his well known smirk: "I'm Dark, after all. Takes a lot more than a couple of earthquakes to freak me out..."
Mephiles smiled, glad to see that Dark was acting like his usual self now.
"Hey, Dark... I'm just wondering..." He added. "What was up with that voice thing you just did ten minutes ago?"
"Hmm?" Dark pretended not to know what he was talking about.
"Y'know... when it lost it's growl... is that what you really sound like?"
"... Technically speaking... being that I've talked like this most of my life..." Dark gave a short laugh. "This is what I really sound like... Now..." He switched again. "Being that this is only a few shades from sounding like yours... I find it simply better to differentiate myself by-" He changed back "Sounding like this. It's just how it goes. I've gotten so used to it, it's actually harder to use the other one..."
He then got to his feet, explaining that he intended to get a glass of water, then go back to sleep.
However, he paused at the doorway, and felt something he hadn't felt for a month, which terrified him almost more than what he was keeping from Mephiles:
A migraine.
One hand gripped the door frame tightly as the other one slid across the side of his head and found the back of it. He shuddered and rested his head against the frame, his body telling him to simply curl up on the ground, his legs threatening to give out on him.
His mind swam in and out of focus dizzily as he tried to fight the feeling back. He was vaguely aware that Mephiles was talking to him frantically, trying to find out what was wrong.
"Dark?"
Oh, god... make him shut up right now... He groaned to himself, as it felt like Mephiles' voice was just making it worse.
"Dark, what's wrong?" There was an increase in tone, which made Dark wince.
Haven't I already told him that talking makes it worse..?
"Dark, say something!"
You twit... I'm obviously in pain! Dark let go of the frame and grabbed the back of his head with both hands, clenching his teeth tightly enough to get them near close to shattering them.
"Oh, man... oh geeze..." He heard the hedgehog mutter hysterically as Mephiles could do nothing more than place his hand on his double's back and rub it to let him know that he was trying to help. "Oh, geeze... Dark... please be alright..." He added in a desperate whisper.
The pain in Dark's head started to fade, and he blinked to clear his vision, realizing that he was on the ground, haunched over, sitting on his knees, fingers dangerously close to breaking skin as his realized a few of his quills had parted company with his scalp.
He lifted his head, and found himself face to face with a terrified Mephiles, who looked about three steps away from having a nervous breakdown after what had just happened.
There was a long silence before either of them spoke, and Dark, lightheaded and dizzy, braced himself for whatever Mephiles was going to say...
But he beat him to the first words anyway.
"... I... I think I'm going to f-faint..." He stammered weakly.
Which he did as soon as he finished speaking.
When he came to, he knew right away that he was still in the living room. He could tell because he realized that he was now on the couch. He was on his back, and there was a damp rag on his forehead. He opened his eyes slowly, frowning slightly. He panned his eyes to the side and found Mephiles sitting on the floor next to the couch, eyes focused on something other than Dark. His ears twitched and his head snapped up and swung to the side, immediately locking gazes with his double.
"Dr. Thizon, I think it worked!" Mephiles said, causing Dark to sit up quickly. Mephiles jumped up and pushed Dark back down. "No, Dark... don't get up! You got sick earlier, stay down."
"... I... I didn't... I..." Dark tried to make up something, but couldn't, so he switched tones. "Why did you have to call him for?" He pointed at the porcupine.
"What did you expect me to do?" Mephiles answered in a strained voice, fighting to hold down the agitated shady hedgehog, who kept trying to get up. "Shadow and Rouge are gone on a mission until at least Friday, and you fainted! You got a bad fever, and you were saying weird stuff for the past six hours!"
"Wait... what?" Dark stopped and stared at him in great confusion. "H-how long? What was I doing?"
"It's morning now..." Mephiles looked away from him with flattened ears. Dark could see that the poor hedgehog's had that look of lack of sleep. Dark folded his own ears back, feeling bad about that. Mephiles let go of him, and plopped back on the floor. "... After you said that you thought that you were going to faint, you started mumbling about some strange things not long after you hit the ground. I think the most unsettling part was how you just paused in between some of it and started laughing like you said something funny..."
"... What did I say?"
Mephiles looked at him for a moment before cracking a nervous smile.
"It really doesn't matter much now... you're doing much better." He said, closing his eyes. "Dr. Thizon gave you an antibiotic, so that should help..."
"I'm not too sure that I follow..." Dark said slowly, narrowing one eye.
"It would seem that we missed a small injury on the back of your head, under your quills..." Thizon explained, recording the information into a very thin folder labeled "Dark". "It hadn't cut into a vein, so we didn't find it on account of no blood... but it did get infected. That would most likely be the cause of your fever, as well as a few other things..."
Dark was mute. He couldn't really recall any event that could have caused injury to the back of his head...
Other than...
When Iblis had tried to bash his head into the tree trunk just before Dark finally decided to fight back. He recalled feeling a bit of pain when his head hit the wood, so perhaps some jagged edges had cut into his skin.
"Because it wasn't bleeding and it wasn't too bad, I was able to help Dr. Thizon clean it." Mephiles sounded awfully proud of himself for being so important. "But... he did have to do the whole giving you the shot thing..." He then sounded a bit timid as he looked away, pulling at a quill.
"... Shot? As in... needle piercing my skin..?" Dark seemed a bit sickened by the idea.
"Well, how else are we supposed to get it in you?" Mephiles poked him, getting his hand slapped away. "Like I said... at least you're better now..."
"Well.. since he's here..." Dark gestured to Thizon as his cat hopped up on his stomach, keeping him on his back. "Does that mean that I don't have to got for my weekend check up?" He added hopefully.
Their laughter at him confirmed that he still had to. He sunk a bit in exasperation. He did not enjoy all those visits one bit. But at least was more or less civil about it. They even tempted him for the next one with the idea of getting a sucker for good behavior, which he had never heard of before and was nevertheless quite curious as to what it could be.
"How nice of Dr. Thizon to start a folder for you..." Mephiles said once the doctor had left, and he closed the door. "That way, we can get started on trying to keep that Shela lady away..."
"Yeah... whatever..." Dark had tried to sound grateful, but it didn't come out that way. Odd. "How did we miss that, anyway?"
"Like he said, it was under your quills... and it didn't bleed, and it was small..." Mephiles said, getting up and heading for the kitchen. "You look much better now, though. We've got some of that soup you made yesterday still left... y'know, the one with the tofu and kelp?"
"Miso soup." Dark clarified. Mephiles had found the recipe online recently in search of all sorts of vegetarian friendly ideas for Dark to have, and Dark was able to put it together... at least until they had to turn on the stove. Dark jumped back in fright as the fire turned on, so Mephiles, after assuring him that was normal, had to take over from there.
"Yeah, that... you want any? I'm quite sure you haven't eaten since eight last night..." Mephiles leaned out of the doorway to look at him. "I was thinking of getting some, too... it's actually better than I thought a soup with kelp would be..."
"Told you vegetarian stuff was good..." Dark smirked, nodding. "Sure..."
While they were eating, both sitting on the couch as they did so, Chao also with their own little bowls, Dark decided to ask him something.
"... What exactly was I saying before I woke up..?"
Mephiles swallowed his mouthful of soup and looked at him. Then he gave a short laugh.
"Well, you weren't feeling well, so I'm not going to take it seriously, because you were probably just babbling 'cause of your fever..."
"But what was I talking about?" Dark divided a piece of tofu that was too big with his spoon. "You also said I was laughing about it too..."
"Something about things changing..." Mephiles looked up at the ceiling, thinking hard about it. "That you knew something we all didn't... that world was going to-" He cut off quickly when he looked back at his brother. "Dark? All you alright?"
Dark's face had gone paler than normal as his eyes went wide. The pupils contracted to near pinpricks. His mouth hung open in shock.
"Dark? Should I call Dr. Thizon again?" Mephiles frowned in concern
The soup bowl slipped out of his shaking hands, bounced a bit when it hit the couch, then slid off onto the floor, spilling the rest of his food and spoon all over the carpet.
"Whoa, Dark! What's wrong?" Mephiles said, setting his own soup on the coffee table as he reached a hand to check for a fever, wondering that this strange behavior was probably because he hadn't broken it yet.
Dark's eyes gained a bit of focus and he slapped the hand away, shouting "GET AWAY FROM ME!" as he shoved Mephiles back and ran to the bathroom, slamming the door and locking it, leaning against it, and panting heavily, bringing a hand to his face and sliding to the ground slowly as he tried to compose himself.
No... it couldn't be... it can't be happening to him, can it? He couldn't think of why he should be exempt, but...
"Dark?" He heard Mephiles' voice on the other side as the hedgehog knocked, sounding very concerned. "Hey, are you alright? You looked like you saw someone come back from the dead or something..."
Dark wanted to answer. He really did, but he couldn't think of something to justify his behavior.
He backed away from the door and gave a weak and quiet whimper before saying: "... S-sorry... I think I just panicked..."
"Are you alright now?"
Dark glanced sideways for no particular reason, and wished he hadn't.
He had seen himself in the mirror.
Something seemed... off.
He couldn't say what, exactly... but something just didn't look right to him.
It bugged him to no means. Made the back of his mind itch with perplexity. Anxiety. Worry...
He squeezed his eyes shut and lied: "Y-yeah... just... eh... g-give me a moment... I'll come out..."
"Are you sure?" Mephiles didn't sound fully convinced.
"Uh, huh..." Dark said slowly, unlocking the door clumsily and leaving the room. He didn't want to see himself in the mirror again. He didn't like how it made him feel.
"Gee, you don't look good..." Mephiles eyed him carefully. "Maybe you should rest for a while... you can have the couch, it's much better than the floor... which I think I oughtta clean up, by the way..." He looked back at the mess on the floor.
Dark nodded numbly.
Something still didn't feel right with him...
Just as a side note, I've waited roughly 2 years to put that bit about Dark's voice in the fics. XD
So, is this a good start? I feel like it's a tad lacking, but then again... all the stories were tough to start off. ^^;