Inception: the establishment or starting point of an institution or activity.
Just something to keep in mind...
Enjoy, love ya <3 ~ Owl
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-George's POV-
"He-he what?"
Karl stares down the ex-assassin, who stands dumbfoundedly before us all. The silent fury behind those eyes is terrifying, filled with a strange confidence despite his nerves. It seems to take all of his willpower to bite back the angry words, and he grits his teeth to stop them escaping.
Yet Sapnap is the opposite, refusing to bother with formalities.He's quick to step between Tubbo and Fundy, gently but firmly grabbing the teen's sleeve and tugging him towards Karl instead.
"Did he do that?" Tubbo continues to ask over and over, pulling against Sapnap in agitated defiance. There's a pleading tone behind those words, echoed in the way he watches Fundy, silently begging for him to explain Karl is mistaken.
"Do you want to explain or shall I?" Karl asks to Fundy over Sapnap's shoulder, stepping around him to better speak to the assassin. He brushes off his soulmates' concerned hand, and it's then that I notice my own soulmate is holding mine. Gripping, calloused fingers suddenly so much colder than before.
"I think you've already done just that," Fundy mumbles quietly, scanning over everyone before his guilty eyes drop to the floor. His actions confirm it all, and a sharp gasp echoes from Tubbo in realisation. "But why?" he asks defeatedly to a boy he once believed to be his friend, now unsure quite what to believe. "Why would you do this? How did you? What-"
Karl throws an arm out in front of Tubbo, refusing to let him get any closer to Fundy. I tug at his wrist in a silent plea for him to step back, to which he eventually complies. The boy wraps his arms around himself, backing away from everyone as if now scared of all of us.
"This doesn't make any sense..."
Karl shoots a glare in Fundy's direction, signalling towards their scared friend. Any of Karl's own fears seems to have faded quickly, replaced by sudden anger at the damage Fundy has caused to Tubbo by lying to him all this time.
"I know it doesn't, Tubbo," Fundy begins uncertainly, trying to catch Tubbo's eyes. "It doesn't make sense to me either, I don't know how I could've ever done such a thing. And I'm sorry, okay. I'm sorry for what I did-"
"It's not that." Tubbo at last lifts his gaze, and the look in those mismatched eyes makes my heart ache. There's no fear in them anymore, no anger at what Fundy has done.
Nothing but disappointment shines through that glare, blue eyes cold and judging. "It's not that," he reiterates, shaking his head slowly.
"Of course I'm mad that you killed Karl, who wouldn't be? But I'm not going to hold that against you, because Karl clearly doesn't."
Tubbo signals to Karl, who seems to have faded out of the conversation entirely. He looks more lost, bothered that yet another conflict came from this. Fundy chews his lip hard enough to draw blood, pulling up his sleeve to show no soulmate band at all.
"Precisely what I mean." Tubbo signals to the ex-assassin's wrist before stepping aside to let Sapnap see. I watch his eyes narrow, blinking as if he's delusional.
"So if Karl forgives you, I will too. It's not my place to hold a grudge," Tubbo shrugs. His eyes cloud over as the last few words leave his lips, refusing to match Fundy's gaze anymore. He steps towards the ex-assassin once more, and this time, nobody tries to stop him.
"Although, Fundy, you have to understand what has happened to everyone else since because of this. You betrayed Karl's trust by killing him, and you betrayed mine by lying to me about what happened to him. That wasn't right."
"I know it wasn't, but I didn't have a choice." Fundy's eyes fall to Karl, who seems to be letting this happen without interference, signalling for Fundy to continue. "Nothing I could say would've made you forgive me, so I couldn't say anything at all. I wanted you to know, I really did. It was only fair that way, but after the time it took me to understand I couldn't do anything about the mistake I'd made, I'd left it too long to tell you."
"You could've told me," Tubbo mumbles irritably, bright blue eyes wide with disappointment. "I know you didn't mean any harm Fundy; I saw what you and Karl were like. You aren't a bad person. Of course I would've been mad, and it probably would've made me leave you, but at least it would've been honest."
Fundy pinches the bridge of his nose in irritation at himself, shaking his head slowly as if in denial of his own actions. I watch Tubbo nervously, unsure what to make of this situation.
I did what Fundy did. I killed someone for what anyone else would see as personal gain, selfishness. But I don't think people understand what goes through your head when you're so deprived of safety.
It drives you crazy, past the point of insanity until you're so desperate to be okay that you'd do irrational things for that feeling. You don't think about it until it's all over, until it's too late.
That's why I ever believed in this world when I was alone.
This system is sickly.
"So is this it?" Fundy asks into the silence, and I notice the way Sapnap glares at him. "I don't expect acceptance from any of you, and honestly, I can't say I deserve it. I'm just wondering what you're going to do next."
"I think you already know that Tubbo and I are going with these three." Karl signals to his soulmate, who's resorted to pacing around, lost in his own thoughts. Then to Clay and I, who don't bother to intrude on the conversation.
"But I want to get something straight first," he tells the ex-assassin. "Fundy, you killed me out of fear. I know that because I can tell even now that you regret what you did."
The look in Fundy's eyes says as much, filled with regret and unable to meet Karl's because of it. "And I think most people would think I'm crazy for acting so calm about this. But think about it: what else can I do? Kill you? People kill others all the time."
"We've all got a little priority list in our heads of who we would save, whether we're willing to admit it or not. You're not the only person to do this, you're merely one of most likely thousands."
I think over Karl's words carefully, realising he's right. We excuse people killing for soulmates all the time, because of that priority list ingrained in our heads.
We are taught to believe it's okay.
"The only difference between what Sapnap did and what you did is he killed for someone else's safety, and you killed for your own," Karl continues, voicing my thoughts exactly.
"Do we excuse that because it's for someone else, and is therefore 'selfless'? Because the world tells us it's okay to kill for our 'soulmate', which the system itself decided? So that excuses murder?"
"We don't question it not because it's right, but because we don't know any different. It's likely most of the population have already or at some point will kill someone else. That's why we don't question it, it's because we can't. It's normal to us."
There's a strange glow of realisation in Tubbo's eyes as he subtly signs to Tommy, as if understanding a new side of things.
"You shouldn't have done what you did, Fundy, but I can't exactly blame you for it when so many others have done the same." He shakes his head once more, but there's a sense of understanding in his eyes. Sweetly, he offers Fundy a polite smile.
Karl is right after all, killing other people is normal here. This whole process messes with our heads, manipulating us into what is and isn't right.
The night I killed Clay, I knew something was wrong.
I froze up completely before I could even do anything, like some part of me knew that it wasn't right. That's what Fundy must've done too, except the warning arrived when it was too late.
Nothing good came from any of this. All we have is a bitter understanding of this world, and a little more sympathy for those who succumb to the pressure of it.
This world is twisted.