I spun to the glasses-wearing man, my eyes wide. "Oh don't "Ehh?!" me, football head! You know exactly what you've done!" I turned to the albino as I stalked towards him angrily. "And you-" I jabbed an angry finger in his direction as I yelled. "You self-sacrificial-owl-loving-mother-trucking-bastard!!" I threw my hands up in the air in exasperation. "Impossible, Impossible" Is that all you know how to say!! You, sir, have no idea what's possible or impossible!! Man, I crossed entire dimensions!!" I quickly realized what I'd said and paled, quickly covering it up with my next words in hopes they'd forget about it. "And even after I specifically told you not to grow up and be a d*ck!!!! And what did you do?? You even kept the damned owls, Norman!! The owls!! Why the owls!!" I yelled, ironically, Vincent, Cislo, and Barbara looking at me like I was crazy.
"You old-man-looking *ss!!" I still wasn't quite done yelling. " You just took lives!! I don't care if majority of them looked like my foot after sitting in the bath for 6 hours!! Those were lives, goddammit!" I huffed before swinging my arm out and addressing the distressed ginger behind me.
"Have you not considered Emma's feelings?! I mean, you've been addressing her alone the whole time, as if Ray and I didn't even exist, you tantrum-throwing simp!!" I caught Ray face-palming from the corner of my eye.
"Even now she can't use real words?" He muttered in mild disappointment.
I shot him an angry look. "It's a real word, shut up." I took a deep breath and turned to back to Norman who looked mildly dumbstruck, struggling to come up with a response for multiple reasons, likely. "All we want to do is to keep you from sacrificing your life again. To not let you go through things alone-!!"
"Listen to your own advice." I heard Ray speak under his breath just inside my earshot, and I turned to him angrily, done with his bullcrap as Norman finally objected my statement.
"...What are you talking about? I'm not going anywhere-" Norman smiled nervously, completely skipping over Ray and my's interaction, as he couldn't hear it from where he was standing.
"You're a liar though!" Emma broke in and I began stalking towards Ray while letting the ginger take the lead. "You can't keep fooling me! I'm not an idiot. Don't underestimate the family you grew up with! We can see through all of your tricks!" Her throat seemed to tighten as she continued. "It must be so painful. Because you're so smart, you chose the reliable path."
Emma walked towards Norman as I arrived at Ray, elbowing him in the side. "Was that comment really necessary?" I growled, my eyebrows raised in question as I watched Emma interact with my stupid albino brother.
Ray huffed. "Yes " He spoke simply, blowing his bangs out of his face.
I irked, raising an eyebrow. "You're not... mad... that I made the promise, are you...?"
The ravenhead shrugged. "Ahahahahah." He laughed before turning to me and leaning into my face. "No." His face clearly read 'yes', and I nearly popped a blood vessel myself, until Emma's voice snapped me out of it.
"-Because you're so kind, you shoulder the burden yourself." The ginger's voice raised to a yell. "I don't think you want to wipe them out. I don't think you truly want to slaughter them. You shouldn't lie to yourself, Norman. Let's talk it out. What are you hiding? What are you so afraid of?"
"Afraid-" Norman scoffed, but Emma wasn't quite finished.
"The Norman right in front of me now looks like a scared, trembling, child." Norman's eyes widened and I watched as he processed her words, thinking back on both his past, and current, time of constant fear. Ray had turned his attention back to his two friends completely, and after a few seconds began walking towards them.
"Don't come any closer." Norman suddenly spoke, his gaze darkening as he raised up his hand, his will wavering despite his steady words and stance. "I've come this far. I have no intention of turning back now."
"No way!" Emma refused hilariously blatantly, running straight up to Norman and gripping his hands. "You're stronger and more kind than anyone else! But you're just as cowardly and arrogant! You're not alone anymore. Don't be afraid to believe in us. Let us share the tough things, and the painful things, and the scary things. Let us carry them with you."
Ray, who had finished walking up to Norman, sighed. "Yeah, stop trying to show off by shouldering It yourself."
"Spill it all!" Emma exclaimed, her throat catching. "You don't need to protect me!! I want to walk alongside you!!"
"Your family and your siblings are your friends. Don't be so reserved." Ray spoke seriously. "We don't want a future where you end up suffering. No matter what that results in. And you? What do you want." The ravenette asked, inclining his eyebrow. "What do you want to do, Norman?"
"It's no good..." Norman murmured after a long pause. "You're already too late... I'm at a place where I cant go back." He choked, raising his hand out as if to keep from infecting them with his poison. "You can't walk alongside me."
"We know." I huffed, rolling my eyes. "About the forbidden cocktail you're distributing outside the castle-"
"Poison." Ray translated, his eyebrow raising, wondering where I was going to go with this.
"-Rude, by the way, not even thinking to offer me any. Moving on, we also know about the casual murder you planned on committing behind our backs," I continued, pausing for a moment as Ray spoke once again,
"What you planned on doing to Sonju and Mujika,"
I looked up to the ceiling in thought, crossing my arms. "The kinky sh*t you were doing in the basement-"
Ray's lips pursed while he blinked before continuing his 'translation'. "I'm not sure I want to know what that word means, but the experiments in the basement-"
I spun to Norman with a grin. "So we're not 'too late!' Because I know people who plan all of those things in person! I'm friends with them, even! Maybe I'm even one myself!"
Ray pinched the bridge of his nose with a pained groan. "... Context is important, Y/N. And time and place."
"Anyhowww..." I hummed, turning back to the albino boy. "What I'm trying to say is, it's okay to be a b*tch *ss. Hell, Ray's a b*tch *ss," The ravenhead raised an unimpressed eyebrow."Emma's a... well, she's not a b*tch *ss," Emma grinned, as if proud of her accomplishment, "-but football head over there for sure is," Vincent nearly popped a blood vessel for the 9th time since meeting me, "and I am..." I sighed, tapping my chin as if greatly considering what my title would be. "A complete bad*ss," Ray snorted and I shot him a look that read 'Your days are numbered' before continuing my speech. "...And I may be completely ruining this sweet family moment with my rambling, but, Norman," I swallowed dryly, trying to keep the emotional part of me- the one that wants to hug the albino and the one that wants to punch both him and Ray, down. "I want a chance to laugh with you again. I would be down to struggle with you, if it meant that one day, everyone around me could live without guilt or burdens. So every cattle child- young and old, can laugh lightly every day, without any worry!" I grinned, my heart welling in emotion. "Let's live on together, Norman! This time!"
Norman's bottom lip trembled before he suddenly grasped the three of us in a tight hug, his voice beginning to shake to match his quivering lip. "But really... it's pointless... Because of the drugs we were forced to take at Lambda..." His arms fell from our backs and dropped to his sides in dismay as tears spilled from his eyes. "We don't have much longer left to live... We can't live on."
Norman's voice seemed to cut off, becoming inaudible. "...me..." His wavering voice came into earshot once again, his voice raspy and dry. "...Help me... Emma... Y/N... Ray."
"Norman..." Emma murmured in worry.
"What-" Vincent spoke for the first time since I told his boss off, dread filling his voice. "We? Boss... what are you saying...?"
"He's right." Cislo hummed despite the sweat that trickled down the side of his face. "You should be fine..." He murmured anxiously. "You're a perfect sample... from Grace Field... You were the lone exception. The "Control Specimen.""
"That was a lie." Norman stated, his eyes shadowed as he spoke. "It is true that I was by myself, quarantined in that house, But I'm the same as you guys... I also underwent the drug testing... My spasms have already progressed to level 4..."
"No way-!!" Cislo exclaimed, eyes wide, Barbara wearing a similar face.
Vincent irked, his eyes shining. "How could you lie to us like that?!"
Norman sighed, staring at the floor. "...I wanted to be a leader you could put your faith in. I didn't want to trouble you al and make you have to worry." He bowed his head in apology, his shoulders trembling seemingly because of relief from the weight of being their boss all by himself was being lifted, but riddled with shame for pushing away Emma and Ray for so long, as well as still burdened by the weight of all his previous untruths. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, everyone."
"So, is that everything?" Ray asked his friend, wanting to make sure he wasn't hiding any potentially fatal or unfortunate information, as I had a...habit...to do so. 'The trait must run in the family as well,' I presumed he was thinking by the look on his face, my lips pursed.
"Yeah..." Norman murmured, nodding his head slightly.
Ray nodded. "I'm going to ask again." He warned the albino, as if giving him time to collect his thoughts. "What is it you really want to do?"
"Yeah..." Norman murmured, still kneeling on the ground, his gaze downcast. "I have no regrets about killing the queen or nobles. But if there's no need to for any more killing, then that's what I'd like. I want to stop the extinction. The poison deployed outside of the castle... I want to deal with the damage that's already been dealt. And also," He glanced quickly to Vincent, Cislo, and Barbara, before sliding back to his ravenhead friend. "I don't want to lose anyone from Lambda. And that's including me."
"Got it." Ray smiled, patting Norman on the shoulder. "Leave it to us. We'll help you out." The albino's eyes crinkled in both relief and worry.
"It's okay! We'll help you out." Emma pulled Norman into a tight hug. "We'll figure everything out somehow, as long as we're together...!"
I sat watching them interact, a small smile on my face. "You've been awfully quiet." Ray hummed suddenly, standing up from his kneeling position in front of Norman, clearly unbothered by the spectacle that Vincent was in the middle of putting on as he rejected his bosses new affiliation.
"Oh..." I hummed, glancing around the room anxiously, my neck prickling in apprehension. "I'm just a little lost in thought..." 'They're really so perfect for eachother, those three... it's difficult to even consider that I'm an important part of their group...' I swallowed dryly as the real problem that was causing my discomfort arose. 'And then there's the queen... there's been no movement from her yet...' I glanced around the room anxiously. 'Soon, she'll basically revive and nearly kill Cislo, appearing behind Norman-' My eyes widened as I was hit with a sudden idea. 'Maybe, I can...'
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(Lol. This is number one of the mass-releasing chapters, although I don't know how many more I'll finish editing and publish tonight, so it may not count, lol. See you when the next one is published! (Whenever that may be))
Also, p a i n.