Fandom: Mana Khemia, Persona 4

Words: 366

Genre: Angst

Summary: Vayne faces his shadow in the depths of Heart's Prison.

"All of this your fault, you know."

Staring up into his double's cold eyes, Vayne recoiled.

"W-what?"

"Everything is your fault." The other Vayne had a manic smile on his—its?—face.

"What do you mean?" The boy's voice was barely more than a whisper, but the words echoed in the empty void of the Heart's Prison.

"I mean-" His double glared. "-that you're the only reason any of this happened."

Vayne's eyes widen, but he stayed silent as the other continued.

"No one would be hurt if it weren't for you. Isolde wouldn't have tried to kill you, she wouldn't have killed Sulpher or Jess, and you wouldn't have had to bring them back.

"You've caused nothing but trouble for your 'friends' from day one, and you haven't done anything but get under people's skin. Everyone hates you!

"But that's fine! You aim to please, and wished to disappear, so you wouldn't annoy them anymore. Why do you think this place is here? It's here because you want to disappear!"

By this time, Vayne had tears rolling down his pale cheeks, his face contorted into a look of pure despair.

"N-no! T-that's not—"

"Stop lying to yourself. Why would you think they want you, anyway? You're not even human! You weren't born! You weren't even hatched! You're the product of an alchemical reaction!

"Get it through your think skull—Nobody wants you!"

"Why—why are you saying this? Who are you?!"

"You don't recognize me? Isn't it obvious? Why, I'm you!"

Vayne flinched, and cried out desperately, "No, that's not possible! You can't be me!"

The double laughed, a horrifying, deranged cackle that sent chills down Vayne's spine.

"Yes, that's it! Deny me! Deny me just as you deny yourself! You don't understand—I'm you, and you're me! There's nothing you can do to change it!"

"You're not me!" He screamed the words, his hands clamped over his ears, his eyes shut tight.

Sulpher hissed as the ground began to shake, and Vayne's eyes snapped open just in time to see that his double was beginning to change; the shadows at it's feet shifting and pulsing, taking a terrifying physical shape in the void.

"I am a shadow—the true self."