It was dark.
That was his first thought. As he sat there, hands hugging both his knees towards his chest. Heaving a sigh, he can't help feeling dejected. The warmth accompanying the darkness is solely the reason he hasn't lost his mind yet.
Humming in contentment, a small smile graced his face. One that's hidden against his arms. His hair covered a portion of his face as he relaxed into oblivion.
Something unfamiliar wafted and unfurl from his heart. It made him question exactly what it was, with a loss of a word to place this feeling. Although he wasn't so eager to reject it just because it wasn't doing him any harm.
This kind of emotion, he knew, he wasn't allowed to have. Nor express it to anyone. Not even to himself. As he was in charge of only one emotion.
And that was sorrow.
Or sadness.
Something dull and depressing to represent. Something he viewed as rather gray and monotonous. It lacks life or anything spectacular to it. Why doesn't it include black or white? So that the very least, he can have an option.
Yet that was who he is.
It belongs to him. His one and only treasure.
A playful slap on his back jolts him out of his unconscious state. Causing him to look up in surprise to see who it was. A small frown made its way across his sad face, as he was met with a bright yellow claw. "Hey, Aizetsu! You awake?!"
The person in front of him boisterously questions with a grin. His golden eyes inscribed with the number four. With one reading "upper".
The grin never left his face as he dropped to a kneel playfully in front of Aizetsu who stared at the newcomer in front of him silently. Having not yet spoken besides showcasing his displeasure at being awoken. Prying him out of his peace zone easily, without effort.
This bastard-
"You listening??" A wave of a talon in front of him sent Aizetsu into a sulking state. Glancing away. "Hey-!"
"What do you want?" He finally spoke in a low voice when the other rested their claw hand on his shoulders. Refusing to meet the other's eye. "Urogi."
"So you're awake!" Of course I am.. Aizetsu retorted internally. "Come on! Don't be like that..! Cheer up, Aizetsu!"
Urogi's claws switched from Aizetsu's shoulder to his face. Careful not to cut him accidentally with his sharp nails. It wasn't like it'll scar him or anything. Placing them gently against the sorrow demon's face. Half caressing his left cheek as he continued. "You know, sometimes I wish you can feel how I feel. A splash of joy..! Wouldn't that be nice on your face for once?"
Without so much as an answer, Aizetsu smacked Urogi's right claw away from his face. The one that was giving him so much more kindness than he deserved.
This kind of friendliness only occurs when the other two aren't close by or there with them. Which, at that moment, they weren't.
"Cut it." Aizetsu muttered in a monotone.
The demon of joy looked slightly shocked at the sudden coldness. And Aizetsu feel him letting go of his other cheek. Spotting the shift in aura, the gear inside Aizetsu's head begins to turn. Forcing himself to think of something to appease the other's hurt.
But the only thing that came out of him was a sort of soft whine. "Sorry.." He finally spills out after getting strangled with a series of depression coursing through his vein.
What would getting engulfed in jubilation feel like anyway?
He couldn't imagine it. If anything, he would be way out of character. He had never gone further than a hesitant, small smile. Or a bow of respect.
Tilting his head, he grabs a hold of Urogi's left hand. Hand clasp as endearingly as Aizetsu can muster. With being a demon of sadness and despair. He wasn't sure how to express anything positive.
With sadness, he can sure relate. And even offered sympathy should the person need it.
So holding the other clone's hand would have to do. Maybe, in this circumstance, where the sorrow demon had unintentionally hurt the other. He doubt they can even experience the hurting of emotion the same way Aizetsu can. But, he'll offer him some empathy.
He, Urogi, and the other two, Sekido and Karaku. They're all clones. Each tied to a different emotion. And that would be what they constitute the best for.
So this action was the first thing to surface in his mind.
"Sorry..!" Aizetsu repeats when he got no response. Looking up, he saw Urogi still frozen in spot. As if under a spell. Before he shook his head, and his jovial emotion returned.
Urogi hurls himself against Aizetsu the next second. Taking the sorrow demon into a wholesome embrace. Cuddling his head against his bare chest. Claw pressed firmly at the back of his head like he was supporting a child.
The force and speed of the fellow clone was unanticipated by the sorrow demon. So he was sent falling backward, onto the ground behind him. Taking Urogi with him. His head hit the floor with a painful thud. And a gasp escapes Aizetsu's mouth.
The other didn't seem to mind though. His wing spread and folded over them in a protective shield like they were under attack. A few feathers came loose in the process.
"Hey-" The beginning of his complaint was stopped when the joy demon wouldn't let go. A quick kiss was planted on his forehead. Making Aizetsu shut his eyes.
"This is why you'll always be a little brother in my eyes..!" Ruffling Aizetsu's fringes before tapping one of his horns. Earning him another hit from the sorrow demon who partially bare his fangs at him. "You're way too compliance to other's demands if you just let them crawl under your skin..!"
A mischievous giggle abrupted from him, as Aizetsu pouted. The giggle was quite similar to Karaku's. The pleasure demon.
"Hey- let me tell you what I found out!" And it was like nothing transpired between the two. The joy demon was willing to let a fleeting conflict between them slide. Finally letting go of Aizetsu and sat down casually in front of him. "Apparently he needs us! Our main body..! That's why Sekido and Karaku are missing in the first place."
"Huh?" Blinking in slight confusion, Aizetsu glanced around. Sucking in some air around the dark and miserable place.
He sat up.
His eyes fluttered close, and he elevated his head a few degrees in the air. Raising his sense of awareness to try to pick up on the other two's aura to locate their presence. But when nothing is detected, Aizetsu's eyes open back up, meeting Urogi's gaze with his striking blue ones.
So blue, just like the ocean.
"He got beheaded didn't he?" Aizetsu asked, not really directing the question at Urogi. Just to get it out of his mind. He patted his fringes to neaten them.
"Yeah..!" The joy demon's wings flapped excitedly behind him, despite not being able to fly at all in this inner dimension. "So that's why Sekido and Karaku are gone from this place. They're out there!"
The excitement and giddiness radiated off of Urogi like the sun. If he's allowed to stand out in the opening to see it. Knowing that will never be possible with being a demon and a clone manipulated by the main one. If he's defeated, then surely all of them, the clones will perish with him. Willing or not.
"I can feel it! We'll be next in line to be out there, Aizetsu! As soon as those two idiots get themselves decapitated..!"
Decapitated... such a pitiful thing. How weak are the two if they do end up in half?
After all, they're the older ones compared to Urogi and Aizetsu.
Most of the time, Sekido and Karaku would be able to deal with the enemy. Without the two younger clones ever having to get involved. Only splitting up when the opponent is tricky to handle.
And the two would return, one grumbling in anger. The other cackling like he was tossed into an experience of his lifetime.
Both stained with blood. In random places.
Sitting there, listening to Urogi chatter on in excitement. The sadness scattered, thinning out to a bearable level. And it caused Aizetsu's heart to pound. Feeling warmth growing in his chest. He found himself relishing in the companionship he had. It was such a great thing to be bestowed. To anybody.
So.. please... just let me keep this emotion, god... Aizetsu prayed, not even bothered when he was shook for the second time by Urogi. Closing his eyes slowly, he begins to zone out. Instinctively identifying the drowsiness he felt earlier.
And then he was gone.