Inception {Dreamnotfound}

26 | Second System | 26

Do not read the following two chapters on little or no sleep, they're confusing.
I'm especially looking at you, people who comment they read the first two books in one night. Stop here for today lmfao.
Enjoy. Love ya <3   ~ Owl

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-George's POV-

"Not to ruin the moment, but there's some stuff that needs discussing."

Darryl shoots a glare in Sapnap's direction, silently asking him to be quiet. The ex-assassin rolls his eyes, though shuffles away from Clay and I as if to signal he's finished. Unsurprisingly, he stops beside Karl, letting his boyfriend wrap an arm around his waist to pull him into a subtle hug.

"So, everyone knows about Tommy now?" Darryl checks, waiting for nods of agreement before continuing. "Well, there's another person in the same position as Tommy." Tubbo shoots the boy in question a look, signing something to him in their made-up language. The response Tommy gives must not be what he hoped for, as Tubbo's eyes narrow bitterly when he signs something else. 

"A 'Lost Soul'," Tubbo suggests, putting quotation marks around the name Tommy must've told him. "Correct," Bad confirms, attempting to nod in Tommy's direction. "The Deception's leader lost their best friend when they were young. Due to their best friend only being seventeen, their band was left behind when they died. Their friend wore it, creating the first ever Lost Soul, and therefore-"

"You're gonna have to explain the mess you created," Skeppy cuts in, signalling to the room full of confused glances while spinning a small throwing knife between his fingertips, so naturally it's almost absentminded. I notice a second in his other hand, the way he stares blankly between it and the first, as if trying to work out when to add it.

"Muffin, don't do that you'll hurt yourself."

Skeppy cringes at the nickname, resorting to staring at the ceiling out of embarrassment. "You always say that, and I never have," he quips back, adding the second throwing knife if only to spite his soulmate. "Never say never," Darryl grumbles, though reluctantly gives in when Skeppy shows no sign of caring for his concern.

What looks like reluctantly, Darryl explains 'The Deception', as well as his role within them before he left. Clay seems strangely out of it the entire time, face contorted in that strange way it always is when he's trying to work something out. I swear I can see the cogs turn in his head, the way he tries to pinpoint certain pieces of information and connect them to other's. To Clay, everything is a puzzle that needs to be solved.

Though no matter how much I try to help, I can never see the same pieces.

"Those people always wanted to know about you," he mumbles finally, words slightly muffled by the lip he's drawn between his teeth. The skin beneath looks pale purple under pressure, turning deeper when he receives a confused yet certain nod from Skeppy.

Gently, I tap his arm, tapping my lip when he turns to face me. Clay quickly realises what I mean, releasing the pressure on his lip with an awkward smile in thanks. He's quick to voice more of his thoughts, and I watch his tongue swipe over the cut left by his teeth as he speaks, stopping the few beads of crimson that threaten to spill.

It's frustratingly hot, and I curse myself for thinking as such as I try to avert my gaze.

"I don't know why they were so focused on finding me again," Darryl admits, shrugging his shoulders before offering an apologetic look to Skeppy. "I know exactly why they took Tubbo, though. They don't want a second Lost Soul to exist."

"What difference does it make?!" Tubbo spits angrily. Not at Darryl, but rather, the people who he used to work with. "I do so much to keep Tommy here! That's not fair! If he's going to wear a band that isn't his soulmate's, then I can too!"

"There's a consequence to wearing those bands besides the stinging," Darryl frantically explains, backing away from Tubbo with his hands in the air. Lucky for him, though, Tubbo is still weak from his injuries, and it doesn't take long for Karl to pull away from Sapnap to step between him and Darryl. I notice Sapnap's fingers loosely intertwined with Karl's as they stand at arm's length, barely clutching onto what they almost can't reach.

"Step back," Skeppy warns from across the room. "Just because The Deception killed Tommy doesn't mean that Darryl was involved in it." A look of our horror crosses Tubbo's eyes, and Skeppy seems to realise too late what he believed was common information, in fact never was to Tubbo.

"He-"

"Tommy didn't tell you it was them?" Skeppy questions, somehow still managing to twirl the throwing knives without injuring himself in the process. "I thought he would have recognised them! Their clothes, or faces or something!"

"Wait-" Tubbo stutters, multicoloured eyes blown wide with nothing but sudden, burning rage. "They killed Tommy?!" He turns to Darryl slowly, still trying to process Skeppy's words.

"And you... you led these people!"

Darryl takes a few more steps back in alarm just as Tubbo takes a few more forward, walking straight into Karl in the process. The older wraps his arms under the younger, pulling him tightly against his chest out of fear of what could come next.

Skeppy lets one of his knives drop to the floor, tightening his grip on the other as he steps further into the room. "Hey! He helped you, what the fuck are you thinking?!" Darryl can't seem to find it within himself to correct Skeppy's language this time, restoring instead to taking the knife from him and kicking it out of the way of everyone.

"I promise you that I played no part in Tommy's death," Darryl sighs calmly, his voiced strained by shaky breaths. "Besides, Tubbo; they weren't trying to kill Tommy. Just their targets, like everyone else does. He was just caught in the crossfire; it was an accident-"

"Of course, an accident," Tubbo spits putting such sarcastic emphasis on the last word that it starts to feel foreign, wrong. "So accidental of the same people who threatened to kill me to kill another teenager without a second thought."

"Their leader wouldn't stand for another kid to die without reason-" Darryl protests weakly, and I'm faintly made aware that someone is gripping my hand through all of this. "I don't think those assassins even ever told him out of fear of what he'd do to them. I found out by accident!"

"Then why would they kill me?" Tubbo snaps, and the pure venom lacing his tone is enough to make Karl tighten his grip on him. Slowly, he pulls him back with enough force to act as a silent warning, but so little it still looks gentle. Karl mutters something inaudible to the rest of us in Tubbo's ear, waiting for him to relax before letting go of him completely.

"Just..." Tubbo mumbles, tripping over his words bashfully. "Hasn't the system made it obvious enough? I'm a kid! I'm not hunted because I, and nobody, nobody else my age should die!"

"Nobody should be hunted," Darryl states bluntly, earning a confused look from Tubbo. "Well, of course nobody should be hunted," he agrees quietly. "But especially not people who are too young to even be assigned a hunter-"

"Nobody should have a hunter either, Tubbo," Darryl cuts in once more. "Or a target."

"The hunter's system wasn't always there."

—————

Yeah...
That's why I've been emphasising how wrong the hunters system feels the entire series.