The distant sound of a band could be heard. The walls of the castle carried the music throughout the halls and throughout the courtyard, even falling on the ears of a cloaked larcenist. But they weren't a thief, were they? Not exactly. Not usually.
As they scaled the castle they didn't wonder why they were there. Looking down to see several guards lounging on the ground far below them, they instead wondered why The King still employed such imbeciles. The hooded figure took out a small stone and tossed it towards a far, darkened end of the castle yard.
The noise it made as it impacted seemed to alert every guard simultaneously, all of them hurriedly making their way over to the noise.
Anyone else might have laughed. The Black Whisper remained stoic.
Instead they began to pick the lock on the window they had arrived at, opening it carefully and slinking inside. The room was dark, the only light source being the moonlight pouring in from the window as it illuminated the bookshelves. They walked slowly around the room before eventually locating a shelf that seemed to hold exclusively books for spell casting.
The Black Whisper ran their hand along the spines of the books, reading each title carefully. Then they stopped, suddenly and precisely picking out a book that had been pushed to the back of the shelf. They gently blew the dust from the hardcover.
Volumen de Necromantia...
This is precisely what they had come for.
⸻⸻⸻⸻
｡.:* 3 days earlier .｡.:*☆
⸻⸻⸻⸻
Elijah tapped his foot nervously on the ground. How had he ended up being the one to do this?
He sighed. He had been waiting here, inside an abandoned and dishevelled building at the edge of the city, for at least fifteen minutes now. Elijah looked down at his watch again.
He felt a shiver run down his spine suddenly as he was overrun with the impending sense that he was being watched. Fearing it was someone from the rebellion Elijah spun around and drew his knife.
He saw a darkly cloaked person standing in the doorway. Elijah couldn't make out their face because it was covered majorly by cloth, though he noticed they had a bow slung over their back.
"Are you The Black Whisper?" He asked. The cloaked figure nodded but said no more and Elijah lowered his knife. "How do I know that you aren't lying to me?"
The assassin said nothing and Elijah supposed he wouldn't get much more than that.
"I'm guessing you're here because you received our letter?"
...
Nothing.
"And that you've agreed to our terms?" Elijah continued. The figure nodded again.
Elijah sighed and untied the bag that was fastened to his belt, handing it over to The Black Whisper.
They opened the bag and inspected the deposit of gold pieces that lay within before promptly tying the bag up again and stashing it away.
"So is that just it, then?" Elijah sounded frustrated. "Do we have a deal?"
"I will come to you both once the first task is complete," they spoke suddenly. Their voice was completely neutral and devoid of emotion, giving Elijah no clues about their gender or race- or even their reliability.
"What, to the rebellion?" He exclaimed after processing their words. "You're aware of the location of the Blaze Rebellion?"
He received no response.
Elijah turned suddenly at the sound of a branch cracking nearby, and when he returned his gaze to the doorway The Black Whisper was gone. He suppressed another shiver.
"At least Courtney will be pleased..."
⸻⸻⸻⸻
The day after the ball it had been brought to Dark's attention that there had been a break-in at the castle. The information on it was limited, however, reports of guards seeing a cloaked figure leaving the castle grounds were mentioned. One had even claimed to witness the culprit climbing out of a window, and Anti had traced it back to the library.
"This doesn't make any sense..." Die muttered. "How would anyone have infiltrated the library?"
"You're tellin' me! I bet one of those guards just scrambled for an answer to save his arse," Anti exclaimed.
"I think Anti's right", (Y/n) agreed. "It doesn't even look like anything was broken, moved, taken... anything. The room looks untouched."
"There were guards patrollin' the hall outside this room all night, and they didn't report seeing or hearing anything," Anti added.
"I cast a maintenance spell just this morning, and the seal is completely functional. There's no chance that anyone was able to get into this room," Die said.
Not even the guards have the ability to enter this room, Felix pointed out. This is quite a puzzling case...
"I'll keep followin' up with the guards on duty last night..." Anti sighed. "Maybe something else will be revealed. Something actually useful."
"Right," Die nodded his head. "That would be best. I don't believe we're going to get much further today with the information we currently possess."
"Hey, Die," (Y/n) seemed to have remembered something. "While I have you here, have you found out anything more about reversing Anima Verto?" She asked. "Separating Dark and Mark?"
Die sighed. "Well, I've been reading through Est Vinculum Animarum and Incantatio Deorum but have come up with nothing factual."
"What do you mean?" (Y/n) asked.
"Est Vinculum Animarum seems to be made up of more fantasy and speculation than anything concrete, unfortunately," Die explained. "Anima Verto is essentially an unheard of turn of events, previously believed to be a folk tale of some kind, so it's going to take me a while to dig up anything- if there even is anything to find. I believe that I know more about Anima Verto than that book does, which quite frankly isn't a lot... The bottom line is that the book is rather useless and historically inaccurate. If Anima Verto really did kill demons, then Dark and I would not be here today."
"I'm pretty sure that at least half the demon population is still expecting Dark to drop dead," Anti joked. (Y/n) gave them both a confused look.
"The superstition around Anima Verto is quite a gruesome one in demon culture," Die began. "It is believed to be a horrible punishment from Lucifer for showing kindness or empathy to humans. Which is complete and utter rubbish, of course."
"You gotta admit, though, that incident a decade or so back was a bit weird, Die." Anti said.
"What happened?" (Y/n) asked.
"Do we really have to talk about it?" Die seemed to be in discomfort.
"Basically there was this demon chick, Azia, I think?" Anti immediately began. "She was rumoured to have fallen in love with a human, and soon after that, she gauged her own heart out of her chest. Pretty much everyone chalked it up to being Anima Verto and a punishment from Satan. There were also rumours that Dieia had a kid with the human, but there's never been any proof of it. Apparently his house was stormed by an angry human mob and they killed him. No sign of a kid, though." He added.
"Yes, well, I find it much more likely that any deaths 'caused' by Anima Verto were ones driven by insanity. Not many demons knew their humans before taking over their bodies, so while it wasn't a surprise for Dark or I to hear Mark and Felix, other demons would have thought they'd gone mad." Die pointed out. "Not to mention that demons with lesser power than ours would have struggled to unconsciously keep their human souls intact after The Great Rising, so I wouldn't be surprised if nearly every human soul possessed by other demons are damaged- if not destroyed completely."
"Wait..." (Y/n) seemed puzzled, turning to look at Anti. "Isn't it a little odd that Anti hasn't gone through Anima Verto yet?" She said. "Maybe the circumstances for it aren't exclusive to an affinity towards humans? Either that or Anti broke Anima Verto."
"While I highly doubt that he 'broke' Anima Verto or that we were incorrect about its circumstances, I do agree that it is odd," Die said. "Anti, are you sure you haven't experienced Anima Verto yet? At all?"
Anti rolled his eyes. "Honestly, I barely believe you and Dark when you talk about it. I think I've just convinced myself that you two made it up," he half-joked.
"Then let's think hypothetically about this," Die began. "Have you ever heard another voice in your head that wasn't yours?"
"Or felt like you were fighting for control of your own body?" (Y/n) added.
"Or... hypothetically speaking, woken up in the void of your mindscape to confront someone who looks exactly like you?" Die finished.
"I'm not an idiot, I know you're talking about Seán," Anti rolled his eyes.
"Is that the name of your human?" (Y/n) asked him.
"Yeah, it used to be. But Seán's long gone now."
"But does any of what I described sound familiar to you?" Die pressed.
"Of fuckin' course not!" Anti exclaimed. "Besides, everyone has that little voice speakin' to 'em in their heads. You're making up that other shit with Anima Verto."
(Y/n) and Die shared a look.
"What does this... little voice sound like, exactly?" Die asked slowly.
"Like me! You should know, you've both got the same fuckin' thing! Everyone does!" Anti exclaimed again.
(Y/n) shook her head. "No, Anti, that's not normal. Not really."
"What, so I'm crazy now?" Anti looked as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Not crazy, just... ignorant," Die said lightheartedly before continuing. "These things that the voice says- are they thoughts? Your thoughts?"
"No, of course not! Because the little voice is your subconscious, it suggests things to ya that you can't think of yerself!" Anti seemed frustrated. "Really, how dense are you guys?"
(Y/n) began to try terribly to suppress a bout of laughter while Die rubbed his face, sighing.
"Anti, that is Seán, you've gone through Anima Verto," Die clarified.
"What? You're both delirious!"
"Have you always had this voice?" Die insisted.
"No, it only shows up when I need advice. Sometimes it says fuckin' bizarre and annoying shit, though," Anti explained.
"It showed up after (Y/n) arrived, didn't it?"
"Yeah, so what!?" Anti seemed to be completely missing the point, making (Y/n) laugh even harder.
"That is, quite literally, the textbook definition of Anima Verto." Die seemed to be becoming frustrated. Anti went quiet.
"Seriously?"
"Yes!" (Y/n) and Die replied in unison.
"I just wonder why he has kept himself hidden for so long," Die fretted. "Is Seán there with you, now?"
"How do I tell?" Anti asked.
Yeah, I am.
Anti was startled by this.
"Uh, he is? I guess?"
"Anti, can you give control to Seán for a moment?" Die asked.
"What? No! Even if I believed you, that's the stupidest thing you could have asked me to do!"
Are we sure that Seán even knows how to do that? Felix pointed out.
Anti began to sway on his feet suddenly, haphazardly grabbing onto a nearby shelf and knocking several books onto the ground.
"Anti, are you okay?" (Y/n) asked, both she and Die moving to help him.
"Yeah, I just got hit with a massive headache... and my vision is blurring. What in the..." Anti blinked hard for a moment before slipping from the shelf and onto the ground.
"Anti!" (Y/n) exclaimed, attempting to help him up only to be brushed off.
"I-I'm fine," Anti insisted before wincing in pain and clutching his head.
He's trying to get out... Felix slowly realised. Die was beginning to think the same thing.
"Anti, that's Seán," he urged him. "You need to give him control before you hurt yourself!"
"No!" Anti exclaimed. "Just... shut the fuck up! All of you!" He rolled onto his hands and knees and shakily began to attempt to stand.
"Stay there, you're going to hurt yourself more if you try to move," (Y/n) worried. "At least let us help you!"
Anti brushed them both off again and pulled himself off the ground with the help of another nearby shelf, knocking more books onto the floor.
"I'm... fine!" He said through gritted teeth, pushing off the shelf and walking forward. Anti had made it approximately two and a half steps before falling to the ground again, this time laying motionless.
"Anti!" (Y/n) and Die exclaimed, rushing over to him and flipping him onto his back.
"Anti, you idiot!" (Y/n) put her ear up to his chest and was relieved to hear his heart beating.
"What are we going to do?" She asked, turning to Die.
Give me control, Die, Felix said gently.
"Just a moment," Die said to (Y/n). "I believe Felix may know what to do."
In a matter of seconds Die's whole posture and demeanour changed, and (Y/n) knew they had swapped control.
"Hey Felix," she said worriedly. "What do we do?"
"This happened to Dark when he went through Anima Verto, he and Mark fought like this for control a lot and it always led to whoever was fronting being knocked unconscious. I have a hunch that's what's happening now- or at least, going to happen," Felix explained.
"I was hoping for something a little more sound than a hunch!" (Y/n) said lightheartedly, though her anxiety shone through heavily in her tone.
Suddenly Anti's skin began to pale and fade into something of a natural complexion, his ears rounding at the tips and his hair warping into a more natural colour. Then he jolted awake, sitting up and staring wide-eyed between (Y/n) and Die. He had begun to inch himself further away from the two when (Y/n) spoke.
"Anti?" She asked worriedly. Anti shook his head.
"Seán?" Felix exclaimed slowly, and Anti turned quickly to look at him.
"Felix?" As he spoke (Y/n) noticed that he no longer had unnaturally pointed canines, either. Seán turned to look at her.
"You must be... (Y/n)." His voice was quiet and uncertain.
"I... sorry, I'll be right back," Felix said quickly, standing and rushing out of the room.
Felix! Where the hell are you taking us?
I need to go find Mark, Die. I need to go get him right now and tell him that Seán is here. Felix was solemn and serious.
I... understand, Felix. Give me control and I'll teleport us, it'll be quicker.
(Y/n) sat quietly with Seán who had moved back at least another foot from her, nervously fiddling with his clothes and biting his nails. She tried not to be rude and stare, but it amazed her how different Seán was from Anti.
When Die and Felix swapped control it was barely noticeable. When Dark and Mark swapped control it was slightly more noticeable, sure, but they majorly looked the same aside from Dark's grey aura.
Seeing Anti with the same coloured eyes was weird enough- though, (Y/n) reminded herself that this was technically Seán now.
"How long have you been... I don't know, here?" (Y/n) asked. The sudden sound of her voice startled Seán. He shrugged.
"I don't know... The first thing I really remember is a hallway, and two humongous dogs... It was all kind'a fuzzy, at first. Then I remember a garden, a long period of time at a bar... and then I went under again."
"What do you mean?" (Y/n) asked.
"I-I wasn't conscious anymore, like before. Before I woke up again." Seán had begun. "Everything was dark and I can't remember anything else until... I dunno. Something bad happened. Ya all got really hurt and somebody died. I wasn't really... there. It was so dark and empty, I didn't think I'd ever wake up again... but I did. I stayed quiet for so long because I was worried that Anti would try to put me under again, like the first time, but then I started talking to him- I knew I shouldn't have! And now here I am, and everythin' is worse."
"Hey, it's alright," (Y/n) tried to reassure him. "Dark and Die have both already gone through Anima Verto, so they can help you and Anti-"
"What?" Seán's expression dropped and he began to look almost sickly.
"What's wrong? What did I say?"
"Dark? A-Are you talking about Darkiplier?" Seán asked frantically. (Y/n) nodded.
"King Darkiplier, yeah."
"King?" Seán went so pale that (Y/n) might have thought he had turned into a ghost.
Way to go, (Y/n)! She scolded herself.
"I-I mean, yeah, Dark... but he's not here right now, okay?" She continued quickly. "It's just you and me, so you have nothing to worry about."
Suddenly (Y/n) noticed Dark's daegicae seeping into the room.
Fuck! Not now!
By the time Seán had noticed it as well, Dark and Die had appeared. (Y/n) and Seán both stood and Seán quickly jumped behind (Y/n)- which she thought was quite funny, considering that he was quite a bit taller than her.
"See? I told you!" Felix was saying. "Now let Mark front already!"
"Fine, I will allow Mark to take control," Dark muttered, rolling his eyes. In a single moment his grey aura began to fade away and his whole being began to take on colour- his hair turning brown and his skin losing its grey tint.
Mark opened his eyes and looked between Felix and Seán for a moment before focussing on the latter. "Seán?"
Seán didn't move, still shielding himself with (Y/n)'s body.
Felix stepped forward. "I'm sorry that I left the both of you, but I had to go and get Mark. I didn't want to meet Seán again after so long without him," he explained.
"That's not Mark," Seán mumbled.
"What? Of course it's me, Seán," Mark seemed confused.
"No, Felix and I watched Dark take over his body... and then he helped Die and Anti do the same to us. You're not Mark." Though his conviction was clear, Seán had begun to shake.
"Seán, I promise you that it really is Mark, okay?" Felix reassured him. Mark looked distressed.
Would it help if Anti resumed control while Seán is so unsure? Die suggested. As much as Felix hated to admit it, that was probably their best plan of action.
"Die thinks that Anti should front," Felix told Mark and (Y/n). Seán looked as if he had become even more distraught somehow.
"What? No!" He wailed. "I don't want to go back under, you can't make me! You're both trying to trick me! You're just Die and Dark!"
Seán stumbled away from (Y/n) as well, making his way around the bookshelves and towards one of the room's corners. Mark, (Y/n) and Felix all shared worried looks.
"You two stay here," she whispered, slowly moving to pursue Seán. She soon found him sitting and facing where two of the walls met, curled up with his head buried in his arms.
"I dunno what to do, I dunno what to do... I shoulda just stayed quiet... I shoulda never woken up again, this is so much worse..." he was muttering to himself.
(Y/n) made her way over to him and sat down beside him again. "Seán, it's me," she said, announcing her presence. Seán went quiet but didn't move. (Y/n) sighed.
"Look, I know that everything is new and scary... but I promise you that it really is Mark and Felix out there. And I swear to you that Die and Dark aren't who you think they are... especially Dark."
Seán lifted his head slightly so he could look at (Y/n) and she saw tears streaming down his face.
"Why should I even trust ya?" He asked.
"Because I'm on your side," she insisted. "And I swear to you on my life that you won't go 'back under', okay? I promise you."
"Then what will you do?" Seán asked.
"I'll help Die find a cure for Anima Verto, then you can all be separated from your demons. You'll be free to do whatever you want."
He continued to stare at her with sad blue eyes. (Y/n) stood up after a moment, extending her hand to him.
"I intend to make good on my promise to you, but in order to do that I need you to come with me back to Mark and Felix. We'll explain everything to you, we'll form a plan... You just need to trust me," she said. Seán looked down at her hand for a moment. He wiped his teary eyes on the sleeve of his shirt before taking her hand finally, letting (Y/n) help him off the ground.
Without saying anything else she gently began to lead him by the hand back to where Felix and Mark had remained, both of whom lit up upon seeing Seán again but remained silent and still.
(Y/n) led Seán until he was about a metre and a half from the pair. She slowly let go of his hand and almost immediately Seán began to shake again, barely keeping still.
"Seán," Felix said quietly, beginning to tear up. He rushed forward suddenly and engulfed Seán in a hug. "I'm so sorry," he choked out.
Seán stood frozen for a moment, still shaking, before he slowly moved to embrace Felix back just as tightly. Then he began to cry again.
Mark moved quickly to join the two and (Y/n) watched as they all embraced each other as if one of them would disappear at any given moment. Tears spilled over for all three of them, and (Y/n) felt her heart lurch with emotion from simply spectating.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Mark kept muttering through tears.
"You didn't deserve any of this," Felix said, choking back a sob. "None of us did."
"I'm just glad to have you guys back," Seán said shakily, clutching both of them tightly still.
----------------------
[an;
Let me get this out of the way first; I know Seán is written insanely out of character. I did that on purpose.
For those unaware, I made the decision to rewrite SL separately from Wattpad and made it an entirely original work. As I write this story, HEA, I am continuing to write it originally to save myself a headache later. However, I fully understand and appreciate that those invested in my story from a fanfiction standpoint may not have any interest at all in reading an original version of the story, thus I am actively making a second copy of HEA (by replacing names, descriptions, etc.) that is solely a service to my Wattpad/AO3 readers who I think still deserve the opportunity to enjoy the sequel to SL.
That does not mean I will be sacrificing my own original characters to upkeep the fanfiction version of this story.
Therefore, Seán will continue to be written out of character from a fanfiction perspective. I am writing him the way I am to suit the original story equivalent character, because as much as I love all of my readers very dearly (/p) there is no way in hell that I will be writing two completely and utterly separate stories for the soul purpose of writing Seán 'correctly' for the sake of a fanfiction version of my story where he is not even the main character.
I sincerely apologise to those who are not happy with this decision as it is not up for debate and this was more of a PSA than anything lol ^^
Thank you for your continued patience with me, I hope you are all well, and I'll see you in two weeks!! <3