𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐌𝐏𝐇 || ʜᴀᴡᴋꜱ

58 ➟ In which I make amends with an old friend.

I've fallen from a height before. It wasn't Keigo's fault, I think that that comes across as a surprise to most. It's why I'm afraid of heights.

We were training on the Commission's orders, though, when weren't we? Hawks was to lift me in the air whilst I used my quirk to disarm and weaken the targets so that he could deliver the final blow. Standard procedure. But for the first time in two years under the Comission, my quirk had backfired and it attacked Hawks instead. It was the exact same fear I had used against him back when Rin and I had fought him together in the arena- though that time he didn't brush it off as though it was nothing. He dropped me and was soon plummeting a few seconds above me. I broke an arm and a leg. Minor injuries, considering the height we fell from.

They caught Hawks.

This was nothing like that. I was not falling, for I knew that nothing around me was real. Instead, there was a feeling of envelopment around me, like the arms of someone familiar.

And there I was, staring at myself. As though looking into a mirror draped in a black chiffon.

"You are not the same."

It was the same voice that had sounded when I looked in the mirror. But this time, I was not afraid of it.

"No." I agreed, "I'm not."

Ephialtes nodded.

"You were easily moulded as a child. By the Commission... by myself."

I took a step forward. Ephialtes took a step backwards. I had a feeling that there was no way of changing that. We were separate. I do not think we had ever truly been one.

"You are not the killer I thought you were."

"That's debatable."

"Your hands may be red but your mind is unstained."

"I've killed."

"I have killed." Ephialtes shook their head, "You were the host of the killer. Never the one that killed."

"There will always be two," I recalled, looking back to Ephialtes.

"Never one."

Immediately understanding what they meant, I regarded them with a genuine expression, "You're letting go?"

"I should have never held on for so long."

I nodded. Ephilates nodded too.

"I am sorry."

Pausing, I looked at Ephialtes, the entity that had taken the form of myself and realised, it was shifting, unsure of the form it would take, but aware that it wanted to change. I breathed out, "Thank you."

A cold wind pushed me backwards and I stumbled, shielding my eyes from the gust. A feeling of tension, just below my heart, dissipated, as though it was never really there to begin with, but I looked down to see a star-like shape, with five tendril-like lines, pointing away from each other, glowing a dull light against my chest before fading completely as the wind whipped around one last time, I could only close my eyes.

Somehow, it was less surprising to find myself standing in the same spot I had started in, than it was the black tendrils that I often fought to control wrapping themselves around me as the fleeting sounds of Lelija's voice echoed around me.

In some, she sounded young, in others, she sounded just as she did now. Somehow, I just knew that I could reach out and grab one of the voices. My hand lifted automatically and grabbed something I hadn't heard, but knew I wanted.

"There's no maze. I think I got past it." Rin's voice joined those of Lelija's as he sounded seemingly successful in his endeavour to get into Lelija's head. I assumed he was no longer seeing with my eyes, as he made no attempt to question the black that had surrounded me. That was fine with me, it saved the confusion. "Can you disconnect the links?" I could feel him roll his eyes, "Are you wearing a stupid dress?"

My eyes fell on Lelija, who stood deathly still as she watched something behind me, something I didn't register. I knew it was her fear- but for the first time, as I turned to see what she could- I saw nothing.

"Why...?" She trailed off.. her widening eyes focused on the image that must have materialised behind me, "no, no, no, no..." She stumbled backwards, her feet entangling with the excess fabric of her dress and she fought to regain some kind of balance. Lelija's usual quick-thining failed her as she could do nothing but struggle with the sheer weight of her dress and the fear of whatever loomed behind me.

Keigo was quick with his response, grabbing Lelija from her side and pushing her to the ground with enough force to keep her there- just not enough to really hurt. It didn't seem as though she cared though, her watery eyes caught mine as Hawks held her down against the ground and for the first time in a while, she looked like the person I had first met at the garage.

I could hear the murmuring of the crowd and a slight feeling of relief started to fill me- Rin had broken the link. The only thing to do now was ensure that Lelija couldn't make a link like that ever again.

Looking to Rin, I held out a hand, "Can I borrow your tie?"

"You can keep it," he scoffed, obviously over the piece of fabric, it couldn't have come off quicker.

It was easy to tie around Lelija's head.

It was easy to end it, once and for all.

"Goodbye."