A young girl stands on the roof of a towering building, gently stepping on the concrete as she breathes a sigh of exhaustion.
It's IRyS and, frankly, she looks even more tired than before.
The night has fallen and swallowed light, leaving only the streetlights and the headlights of the cars below to illuminate the somber atmosphere.
"...What do I do..." She thinks to herself as she walks closer to the edge of the building before promptly sitting down on it, her legs hanging idly as she stares down at the traffic below.
"...This is all too much..." Her mind is filled with thoughts of this kind.
She can't bring herself to think about this anymore, so, she relents and lays down.
She bends her knee and puts her hands on her stomach, sighing again before closing her eyes.
It takes a few minutes, but slowly, she falls asleep.
.
.
.
The sound of steps on icy ground causes her eyes to jolt open and she quickly realizes... She's in a totally different place.
A barren, cold land that stretches as far as you can see fills her vision.
The white is daunting and her sleepiness quickly wears off as her gaze focuses on what's ahead, looking through the flakes of snow that rain down to block her sight.
A massive pillar of light. Tendrils of energy pour out of it towards the sky as more and more ice is pulled from the floor IRyS stands on, picked up and put into orbit around this strange... object.
"...N-no, stop..." IRyS despairs as she realizes she's in another one of Envy's memories.
The chunks of frost crash against one other, sending fragments flying in the air.
A gust of wind blows more snow into her eyes, causing her to blink... but once she opens her eyes she notices that... something appeared in the middle of that pillar.
A black mass, a complete contract stands there. It holds the shape of a human, yet it has no features of any kind.
"...What... is that...?" She questions herself.
The figure slowly leaves the beam, inching closer by the second.
The black of its body starts to disappear, breaking off into the air like the scales of a lizard as it sheds.
Bit by bit, it turns into a perfect replica of... Envy, no... Immortality, wearing the same outfit he wore in the first memory of him...
It smirks as it finally becomes a complete duplicate of him.
"...Hello, Immortality." It speaks with his voice.
The world sorrounding them turns to black, just like the void that Envy's mind was. A simple darkness with no life or distinct feeling to speak of.
...Simple emptiness.
"...Hello, David." IRyS's mouth moves involuntarily, Envy's voice leaving it instead of her own.
"...W-what... I didn't say that..." Is what she tries to say, yet no words come out.
"...Don't call me that." Its voice grows stern.
"..."
"...My name is Fear."
"...So you're buying into her bullshit too." She speaks yet again.
"...This is who I... am meant to be."
"...Because you're nothing without it."
"...ARE YOU?!" It quickly barks out, its eyes narrowing intensely as it stares him down.
"...Yes, I am."
"...Hehehe... I guess... you are right... I still remember... back then, I... I called you an 'Angel'..." It quickly relaxes, chuckling.
"..."
"...Right... 'Angel'... I promise you, 'Angel'... today, you die."
"..." IRyS puts her hands behind her back, then pulls them out to reveal a pair of pistols. They rest at her side as she continues to stare Fear down.
"...You think guns will do anything?"
"..." IRyS's hand moves on its own, throwing the gun at Fears legs.
The weapon spins as it reaches Fear, and he looks down at it in confusion before bending over to lift it.
He lifts it up to his face, inspecting it closely before speaking up.
"...What is th-..." His words are cut short as he looks up to see Immortality with the other gun placed against the side of his own head.
"...Do it." IRyS speaks out again.
"..." He silently swallows a lump in his throat as he stares into Immortality's cold, black eyes.
"...To be Fear itself... do you need to be fearless or... fearful?" Immortality beckons as he hovers his finger over the trigger.
"..." Their gazes lock together, binded by past grudge and companionship...
"...Answer me."
"... You're a fucking monster."
"..."
"...You always will be." Fear puts the gun against his own head, putting his finger on the trigger.
...Fear relents. He already lost. What should have been an equivalent to the riddles of the Sphinx... solved in seconds.
...The Fear of Death is the most fundamental of all, but what if you put a gun against your head when faced by it? Are you laughing in its face?
"...Is this the happiness you wanted?"
"...No, but it's the one I have."
"...Being feared is your happiness?"
"...What else do I have?"
"...I'm sorry."
"...You're not. If you were sorry, then you'd be dead."
"...Goodbye."
"...Goodbye, A-..." A bullet pierces IRyS's brain, interrupting Fear... and they both fall to the ground.
"...!" IRyS's eyes snap open. She sits up slightly, breathing heavily from the shock.
"..." She looks to her side... and sees Immortality standing right beside her on the roof of the building.
"...W-what am I seeing?!" She musters up the courage to ask.
"...My memories." He dryly answers.
"...Please, just... tell me more." She speaks sternly, having had enough.
"..." He breathes in and walks onto the ledge as she fully sits up, yet again resting her legs over the edge. Immortality looks down at the street below while IRyS pays attention to every movement his lips make.
"...I was once a... 'Symbol' of 'Hope' just like yourself. It felt good to be... a hero to the world. They called me an 'Angel'.
That name meant the world to me."
"..." She listens closely as he stops talking to recollect his thoughts and put them in order.
"...It meant too much to me. I forgot about my family... I took pleasure in being treated like an object.
I never saw anything wrong with it... I thought that... that's what it meant to be... great, special... unique."
"..." Her heart sinks slightly as she imagines.
"...And all of it was because of a 'miracle'..." He finishes his monologue as he glances up to the silent IRyS.
"...I... understand." Her words are almost emotionless as she looks away from him, turning to stare down at the cars as they move in unison and order.
"..." Immortality looks back down at the street after her, staring blankly at it all.
"..."
...The silence becomes deafening as they stay unmoving and it doesn't take long for IRyS to decide to make a move for the better.
"...Would you..." She inches closer to the edge of the building, shifting her feet and placing them on the side of the building before... standing up.
"..." Immortality watches as she takes a few steps down the side of the building, illuminated by the neon lights below.
She turns around to look at him, the soft smile she lost having found its way back onto her lips.
"...like to have a dance?"