[Co-Author: Butterfly123199]
"Trin?"
"Yeah?"
"Morning's still young, what are you doing being up this early?"
"Been a few days with no real progress as we're waiting for the team to recover, I might as well keep on doing errands."
There was a small clink from behind the masked man, the fresh air from up these gray steps greeted him with a serene kiss.
Trinity didn't bother to look back, he gave a hefty sigh through his nose. The smell of The Slums were nothing new to him, especially being hidden away underground, its water pipes having seen better days.
"Is it too easy to tell?"
"So easy that I wouldn't need to say." The dry and rough voice emanated behind him. "They're physically fine, but emotionally, I don't think so. Especially you."
"I never was, but who's to blame other than me about the truth they were given to them?"
He walked out, not bothering to hear what Torn had said. 'Even if he's older than any of us, he acts like a young man.' Torn thought. 'When it comes to stupidity.'
Trinity didn't really know what to exactly do in terms of errands or small missions, he didn't have any. So why was he still hung up about all this?
"You taught me to love… Even if it means nothing to you, it means everything to me."
His heartstrings were tugged and it went up a few beats. Before he knew, he was suddenly making his way into one of the Bazaars of Haven City. His cloak and hood shivering against the gentle breeze. The sandy ground was a vivid tan, the fruits (albeit not the best) were colorful, and sitting in the stand displays.
Among the crowds of many people, he saw a familiar woman. Her silhouette being almost the same as everyone around her, her skin was ashen and like a glinting shard from afar. Yet everyone ignored her. Despite being so far away, her voice was as clear, smooth, and sharp as glass. He turned into an alleyway.
"Love is a funny word."
'Maybe so.'
He looked around, finding the path completely deserted as all the buzzing and commotion were in the main square.
'Why are you here?'
Within the corner of his eye, her footsteps were graceful and smooth. Almost as if she weren't moving them at all; it made the woman look like she was gliding strangely with no real movement. She made no sounds whatsoever, all except her voice.
"Same way you are - I suppose."
'Love doesn't mean nothing to me.'
"It's just that fate horribly toys with me, doesn't it?"
His hand absentmindedly went behind his shoulder, only to grab nothing. Was he really that much of a fool to think that he had grabbed the Stradivarius along for the journey? Trinity sighed as he wandered around in the shadows, hearing people having laughter and actual conversations around the corner. He gazed at his surroundings.
"The present…" Such few words feebly slither away from his horribly cracked lips, ruined from all his habit of biting on them.
Being so hellbent about the Baron and KG and Metalheads, how could people still go about their lives in the city? Still smiling, joking, even laughing?
He turned his head, only to see the pale, glowing visage of his beloved. Yes. Beloved. Trinity had finally admitted to himself.
The brazen-colored, bright, blazing sunset sky hovered over the world. It painted the ghost of Moria and her soft face in a beautiful golden color. His memories and insanity mocked him on how Trinity had imagined her features.
"Why can't you love?" She asked sadly.
"I - I don't know."
"You do know." She spoke sorrowfully.
'Because… '
Trinity couldn't even bare to think about it, he couldn't state it in his thoughts, he couldn"t face the truth, he couldn't say them aloud, he couldn't.
His hand followed hers as he lifted it to his face, then realized the cold breeze of an empty and vanishing touch. Their hands could never feel each other. Only the mask's large gash was there.
He couldn't say anything about love to Elise.
His chest felt fluttery.
"What a fool I am… I fell - But how could we, I?"
Both his and her voice mixed with each other. His blue half-lidded eyes widened, in horror? In excitement? In anger? What could it be?
Then something else came down upon him, he didn't waste another second as Trinity moved Northward through the concrete maze of a city. The painful sting of his arm became a reminder of something.
The insanity of the ghostly woman in his mind being tied to the Dark Eco slowly poisoned his body ever since starting the DWP. Even if he had a Dark Dagger in hand...
His mind was sent to a halt.
The Dark Dagger was strong enough to pull the eco out of both Jak and Elise, why doesn't it sap away the purple in his left arm and veins?
'I must've missed something about Dead Town's old houses if there were more about Okasan's notes. But what else is there to uncover?' Within his bruised and battered heart, he knew perfectly why. 'There has to be more on this Dagger, something, anything. Something to give me more time.'
There it was again, time.
'I can't stop thinking about the past and future, everyone. There is something that you cannot understand, something you must never know...
"Until the end."
He stopped, his determination fleeting away. 'There's nothing I have missed, this is all there is. Isn't it?' He gave up the useless chase and decided on something else.
"You're trying to jump ahead of things, time doesn't work like that."
'I know.'
"I'm just trying to do so many things at the same time…"
'But all I can do is sit and watch. Watch as everything unfolds and wait.'
His mind and the ghostly woman following him are reading each other's sick dialogue about the horrible, inevitable doom. A twist of fate. Trinity knows deep down that he can't do everything and prevent everything, how can he?
He couldn't do it alone. "Just let it happen…"
"Okay, okay… I'll let it happen."
[Trinity headed back to the UG Bunkers. . .]
It had turned dark out, the famous purple Day Star looked upon the world. Trinity wasn't feeling up to much lately, but when he had returned…
"You lost."
"Huh?"
The masked man looked up as he climbed the last few steps down. Torn was there smiling like a prick, his prideful stature almost made Trin laugh.
Then he seized his amused chuckle. "Wait, what?!" He almost tripped!
Torn took all of his surprised expressions like some finely-aged wine, "Yep." Uncrossing his arms, he pointed at the back of the room, revealing a "Part Two of Roughed-Up Dax" and much, much more that shouldn't be said.
Trin's chuckle became sour, "I lost…"
His first ever bet that he lost in a while - his partner was surely enjoying too much, showing just how much they had played the betting game for far too long. Elise was a little tipsy, but sober enough to know what's happening (and could surprisingly stand straight). It showed that she definitely was no stranger to poison. His brows flew up high and his eyes were wide as plates.
"You lost." She repeated, a devilish grin slithering onto her features. "And you know what that means, Trinny~"
He wanted to facepalm or even rip his face off, "Noo…" To see Trinity not cocky was really a new sight to behold for Elise, or Daxter (who was half alive on the floor). The unfortunate rat had no energy to make a retort, or perhaps he ran out of quips for once.
"Well, you sound excited." She teased. Elise unfolded her arms and placed her hands on her hips. "And for once you don't sound as cocky as Torn. Is this something I should cherish or worry about? I really can't tell."
"Mrghn…" He mumbled.
She held up a hair tie and twirled it on her finger. "Still. You lost."
"Stop repeating it." Trinity wanted to die.
"I can't, it's just amazing to finally seeee 'The Amazing Trinityy' lose at his own game." She hiccuped slightly and covered her mouth. "Aw man, that's not gonna ssssit right later. Now follow me. I can't tell which one's the real you…"
"Please don't barf on my hair…" Trinity feebly muttered lowly, a hint of murderous intent towards Torn for this. Especially when Torn urged and pushed Trin to Elise with a terrifying smirk. "I hope Jak doesn't see this."
'Maybe I can bash his head so he can't recall this- ' Trinity was thinking of resorting to drastic measures.
"Oh he'll see it, Princess." She stumbled when taking her first few steps forward but quickly regained balance. "Now stop whining and follow me. Sit your butt down and hush."
Before following suit, he and Torn shared a glance of many whirling emotions, Trinity was certainly ready to think up a scheme so horrible that Torn will understand someday. Trinity didn't say much as he went along.
Elise managed to hobble her way into the bunkers, pushing Daxter's mangled corpse away with her foot. She took a few glances at Jak. Her senses weren't all gone at least. On her bed rested an open (obviously empty) bottle of White Haven.
"Sit down, Trinny. And try not to be an old man about it." She patted the spot next to her and reached for a hairbrush. She missed it the first few times but grabbed it. "Might have to leave the nail painting thing for later.. I can hardly tell what's your hands and what isn't."
Trinity mumbled incoherently, it seemed like he was saying something, but in this case he really wasn't. He was far too distracted and embarrassed to realize El called him by his nickname, he just hoped Jak wasn't watching.
He gently took off his leather goggles and kept it clasped in his gloved hands. Was this Elise's first time really taking a closer look or was Trinity's headgear looking vaguely like Jak's? Either way, she grabbed strands of his pale blonde hair. She noticed at least one hair strand was caught wrapped in her hands and had fallen off.
In fact, 'They look...rather dull and thin…' She absentmindedly began twirling a few strands of his hair, taking in the paleness.
"I can't tell if you're old or if that's just the color of your hair." She joked softly and brushed her fingers through his hair. 'This is surprisingly softer than I thought it would be… I'm a creep.' She snickered to herself.
He took on a light-hearted tone, "Yeah, well.." He said quietly. "Maybe both?" Trinity was oddly extremely still and a little quieter than normal, she couldn't see but Trinity was staring down at the goggle's crimson lenses and silently observing through its reflection.
"So you're finally coming to terms that you're old?" She began to brush his hair. She tried to be as delicate as she could be, in fear she would hurt him or even cause more strands of the paper like hair to fall out. Tipsy or not, she could tell he was stressed. She silently hoped this would relax him… plus she couldn't wait to use it for blackmail.
Trinity couldn't help but smile slightly, he closed his eyes. "I'm STILL not that old." He did appreciate her careful touch though, he never really felt comfortable having someone close to him or maybe it's due to the fact that he hadn't had anyone look closely at his own appearance. Something about this felt familiar.
"Well, you're older than me, and I'm pretty old." Elise gently separated parts of his hair into sections. Reflecting on this, she began to ponder and couldn't really tell why Trinity allowed this. She could almost feel how uncomfortable he was, how tense his shoulders were, but he sat still and let her be.
'Could it be—… No. Don't even think like that, you remember what he said.' She let go of his hair and placed her hand over her chest, a pained groan escaping her lips.
El's figure ducked away from the reflective surface of his headgear and he tilted his head a little, "El- I mean… Elise?" Then his heart jumped slightly, "Don't you dare vomit on me- "
She pressed more firmly down on her chest in an attempt to soothe the ache. "I won't." Elise shakily removed her hand and flinched at the loss of pressure. She took his hair back into her hands, though she was now slouching. "It just hurts, Trin." She half slurred the sentence.
It took a few seconds before Trinity had realized what it might've meant. Then, he was back to being quiet, half tired even. He returned to having an intense fixation on the old, worn goggles once again. The leather on the object in hand had cracked and chips in its paint, the lens was heavily scratched, but they weren't cracked surprisingly enough.
Something about the way Trinity acts reminds her of…
Jak?
Was it the way his demeanor is, both shy and silent like when El and Jak had first met?
A weak smile began to endure her features. "You're Just like him." She mumbled softly. Her fingers gently twisted and twirled the fragile strands of hair, linking them together piece by piece. "I know." She wanted to place her hand on his shoulder–or even hold him for just a moment, but felt like that privilege was long gone. "It hurts you more, I get that but how can you just pretend nothing happened? That nothing wassss said?"
Trinity was half lost due to repeating her first sentences in his mind, he was...half happy about that. But he pushed his mind to the current conversation, "Mm? What do you mean by that?" He whispered, Trin feeling a little inconsiderate not having to have listened to the rest of her sentences. What did she really mean by it? Was it the horrible deeds he had done? Was it the murders? Was it the DWP?
Was it...love?
"I mean, how can you still be here with me after what I said? After what I did?..." She stopped braiding. "I let myself get this way. Even though I knew you were still mourning, I still fell for it– for you. How can you sit there and stand to even be beside me?" She went back to braiding. It felt like a sense of relief for her. "Are you really as stupid as I thought you were when we first met?"
Hearing that comment, he couldn't help but blurt out, "Yeah." Along with a small laugh. He thought of the Bazaar and how people still found happiness, no matter how little it was, in this abhorrent excuse for a glorious city. Trinity smiled, then quietly muttered lowly. It was really hard to catch and he had hoped Elise wouldn't remember this.
"I fell too…"
Elise slowly stopped 'playing' with his hair. She gently set the completed braid over his shoulder. "Every time you braid your hair think of this…" She ran her fingers across it, "It's like the past and the future coming together. Both are struggling, but they're holding onto each other and forming something beautiful. Something we're both fighting to keep beautiful…"
With a gentle movement, she reached her arms forward and hugged his waist, gripping his hands. Of course, she swatted the goggles away. She turned his hands over and laced their hands together, squeezing them tightly.
"I'm here with you now, Trinny..."
She nuzzled into his shoulder.
"And I love you."
He snickered as he tugged the goggles closer to him so he wouldn't have to reach for it. 'I've really lost the bet set on myself…' Trinny had let the words seep in, he tilted his head gently so that the jet-black hair of Elise's tickled his ear. 'If only I could show the truth. But it's not time yet.'
As she had finished and had fallen asleep on his shoulder, Trinity proceeded to tuck her in bed, carefully pulling the covers over her. He strolled over as soundlessly as he could and picked up his goggles, Trinity could feel the braid being held in place. It really did remind him something, something he had forgotten deep in his mind… He pushed the surfacing thought aside for now.
As he saw Torn toss a patched up Dax into the nearest bed, Tattooed Wonder took a good look at Masky. "Huh, I didn't think that'd suited you."
"I wear braids better than you, at the very least."
The man in the mask sat on the edge of the mattress. Before Torn went off, shaking his head, Trinity beckoned.
"Wait…"
Trinity smirked.
"Thanks."
Torn grinned.
"You looked like you needed it."
JV007 A/N: There, we got the chapter out, delays? Blame the damn online classes, they suck, they should move the school year, and they should've treated this as a vacation while this quarantine thing is going. IT'S DRIVING ME INSANE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE! Anyway, this chapter was really enjoyable to write HAHAHA
Butterfly A/N: It was cute c: we both are sleep deprived cause we love y'all ):C aND I CAN'T SEEM TO SPELL ANYTHING. Nonetheless we're here to make you suffer with us :D
JV007: Oh yeah, I'm graduating high school in a weird way too.
Butterfly A/N: She's graduating on Roblox lmao. Jkjkjk— Unless..
JV007: EXCUSE ME?! END THE SHOW END THE SHOW BRING THE CURTAINS RIGHT NOW! CUT CUT CU
