Archive of Our Own ^beta

Betrayal was a bitter experience. Levia could practically taste its sting as she reeled from how everything had ended. She knew better than most about the depths humans could sink to, how they could be cruel beyond measure to get what they wanted. Or just to prove a point. 

She supposed there was a point in all of this. Somewhere. Even if the behaviour actually supported her stance - their stance - that humans were incapable of surviving on their own without devolving into violence and destruction, she imagined there was some meaning in the pair’s actions. She had too much respect in them to believe they had done this for nothing.

Held and Luna were both people she had admired, cared for even, as her seniors and colleagues. Fellow intellectuals she had known since she was young, even if it wasn’t in a professional capacity.

That closeness made it sting even more. The uncomfortable pressure in her chest and the burning of her eyes. Levia wasn’t sure if she wanted to cry or if she was finally being burned from the inside out. That betrayal not only of her expectations but also of the years they had spent together, of her very heart , burned her far deeper than any rage.

Of all the inhumane things they could have done to them, essentially isolated from the laws of morality and man as they were, this was beyond what she could have expected.

Levia thought she had experienced anger, lived with it burning inside her, but her heart had taught her there was a level of wrath she had never felt before. Everything else felt like a flickering flame compared to the inferno she felt now.

When she got her hands on them she would make them pay. Trapping her inside a body she could not control nor move, essentially wasting away while acutely aware of her own helplessness, was beyond cruel. That dragon buried deep beneath the earth that could still draw breath and yet was chained and locked away… She couldn’t even make the beast open its eyes. 

That had to be their doing somehow. She wasn’t sure what they had done but she had time to mull over it.

There wasn’t much else to do when locked inside the subconscious mind.

Abandoning them in this elaborate prison was something that she would never forgive them for, nor would she ever forget it. If the culprit was any of the other crew members then she would have expected it. With enough time and adequate vengeance, she would be able to move past it. But this? This was not that simple.

Especially since she wasn’t alone in this body.

Levia glanced across the void to the person who everyone else believed was her twin brother. Behemo stared blankly into the void surrounding them, his face expressionless. It was his reaction that she was dreading the most out of this experience.

At the moment it seemed like he was still processing everything. That was fine by her. Even if she was emotionally closer to the people involved, her counterpart was never the most… stable of individuals. His breaking point was far above the average person, and so much higher than her own, that it made him seem like a calm person. Levia wished he really was unshakeable. 

In truth, once he reached that breaking point he would wreak havoc on everything around him until he felt better. When he was like that, it was like destruction itself had been given flesh. She had only seen it a couple of times and had first met him in the aftermath of one of those breakdowns, and it both terrified and fascinated her.

As much as she would love to set that monster loose on those two, she had no way of ensuring his target or even his ability to pursue anyone. Considering the situation, it was likely he would just take it out on the only person he could reach. She clenched her fist, stimulating the memory of pain as she dug her nails into her palm. The sensation wasn’t real but she could make herself feel it enough to ground her.

Levia swore she would kill them. She would throw them into the deepest pits of her Hellish Yard and construct a prison just for them. Once she’d gotten her revenge, then she could throw them at her counterpart and let him deal with them. The thought of him killing them did not fill her with the anguish it once did. She was far too furious for that.

Behemo barely moved aside from the occasional twitching of his fingers as though he wanted to clench his fists, yet at the last moment he stopped himself. Aside from that his body was frozen as though stuck in frame. He almost looked picturesque apart from the dead look in his eyes that drained all allure from the image. 

At some point they would spark with some kind of emotion and she couldn’t help but anticipate it. The unrestrained version of her counterpart was something she couldn’t help but want to see again. Another chance to witness that exemplary form of living malice.

Levia quickly shook her head, clearing it from those thoughts. Even if they deserved a fate worse than death, she shouldn’t be excited for something like that. She had better self control than that. She was better .

There was a sudden movement in the corner of her eyes that made her turn to the source. Behemo was staring at his hands, eyes wide and manic. She tensed as he moved quickly again, grabbing his head and a pained sob escaped his throat. There was no regard to how hard he was pulling, he simply kept tugging as he cried. She was worried he was trying to tear his hair out. That or rip his own head off.

It took her a moment - far too long of a moment in her opinion - to realise why he was acting that way. 

The only people that he could reach in here were Levia and himself. 

The blonde stared at him as he broke down in front of her. Wondering what he was thinking as he screamed into the empty void around them, she watched in silence. She leaned back until she was laying down against the black, her eyes still focused on him.

His incoherent pleading soon reached her ears. The begging to be let out and the vague promises to be good. Alongside that was the constant apologising. Her ears were thankful for the shift from loud sobbing to this but it was also somewhat uncomfortable.

She recalled a day long ago, when a few younger colleagues had locked Behemo inside a janitorial closet for a few hours as a prank. A mean spirited one but Levia had assumed it was fuelled by jealousy if anything. Though, considering Seth was the one who gave them the key in the first place, she figured he had goaded them into it.

The cleaners had found him huddled on the floor and had called her for aid since he wasn’t responding to anyone. She remembered the tears in his dark blue eyes vividly. The way his perfect hair had been messed up, loose strands flying everywhere. The redness of his lips that he’d bitten into to stop his crying from being heard.

“Because Barisols do not cry.” He had told her after she coaxed him out of the closet and to her office with promises of hot chocolate and company. When he refused to admit he was crying nor let her wipe his tears. She let him sit at her feet as she worked, as close as possible. He clung to her as shivers wracked his body.

She let him stay because it was the right thing to do. This time, she had no comfort to give and certainly no hot chocolate. All she could do was watch.

It was uncomfortable.

She remembered stroking his hair, messing it up further though he didn’t complain. Occasionally he would look up at her and she remembered the redness of his eyes, the tear stains on his cheeks. 

It was uncomfortable how much she wanted to see it. The fracturing of his act, the marring of his perfect presentation. She wanted to see him ruined.

It was uncomfortable how much she enjoyed it.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

Behemo wasn’t a stranger to cruelty. Yet this was a new form of torture that reminded him of his childhood punishments. Anything and everything that he did wrong led him to be locked up in there . At least he was never left to starve. They let him out long before he could feel the effects of hunger and with enough time to be groomed for whatever social event he was needed for.

In that sense, this prison was a new low he didn’t think was possible. After all, without being able to eat or move could they be called alive? Stuck inside this body with nothing but each other and the vague sensation of breathing, he could hardly call it a life.

He hated it. The first couple of days had drained him of all his tears, he didn’t have the will to cry anymore. It wasn’t going to do anything anyway. At times like this, he would plaster on a smile and force himself to keep going. 

But here there was nowhere to go. He was stuck.

Levia paced around the void as he lounged on the floor. There wasn’t really anything beneath them but if they became too aware of that they would start falling indefinitely. It was actually a little enjoyable but he got bored of it quickly. There wasn’t much else in the empty expanse aside from a large floating orb and the chains that surrounded it and stretched across the room.

His counterpart had hypothesised the orb was a manifestation of the link between the soul, in this case souls , and the body itself. She presumed the chains were their captors doing and that’s why they couldn’t move the dragon around.

Behemo thought it was simply a reflection of their own mindsets, being trapped with nothing but each other. But he wasn’t the specialist in the human mind, so he deferred to her opinion. Besides, they had no further control over the space so hers was more likely to be true.

Maybe this was what people saw when they were asleep. A precursor of sorts to sleep paralysis, before they became aware of the outside world and their inability to move. 

“Interesting theory.” Levia commented, causing his gaze to quickly move in her direction. He must have spoken aloud. “What’s the point in wondering about it?” 

Her scathing tone would have made anyone else flinch, but not him. Even if they shared some similarities, his counterpart was nowhere near as terrifying as his parents. “There’s not much else to do here but think.” He told her, stretching his limbs. “And I’m bored .”

“What? Was crying not amusing enough for you?” She walked over to him, a scowl on her face. He wasn’t sure what exactly had gotten her into such a foul mood. Aside from the situation they were in of course. “Shall I make you cry again, see if that alleviates your boredom for a while?”

Levia came to stand over him, hands on hips and she directed her fierce glare downwards. “I think,” He said slowly, watching as her eye twitched. “That you would find that more entertaining than I would. So nah. No thanks, I’ll pass.” 

He turned his head to the side after that. He figured he could fall asleep again though he wasn’t sure how much time passed between his dozes. 

Ruining that idea was his counterpart, who had leaned further so that he could see her. Her expression was getting even angrier. She really was in a bad mood.

“Well?” He probed, raising an eyebrow at her. Her scowl deepened and then he was really confused.

Their conversations had been rather sparse in this place. It wasn’t like they talked much back in the Second Period. They usually spoke about the day to day things, which meant they had absolutely no material here since everything was the same. There was no gossip he could spill when she was feigning disinterest. There were no disturbing patients that Levia could get his opinion on as though he were the poster child for traumatised children. There was no complaining about their colleagues. There was nothing.

He hadn’t been aware how… shallow their interactions had been. Behemo had been content to simply be allowed to live freely alongside her. That had been meaningful to him. To simply share a space without being scorned and despised meant the world to him. Because of that, he had neglected to care about any emotional connection between them.

Of course, they had things they could talk about but he didn’t exactly want to be examined by her emotionally. He didn’t want her to think less of him, even more than she already did.

“You should try doing something more productive.” She scolded. 

“Like what?” He propped himself up on his arm, resting his elbow against the floor as rested his cheek against his hand. 

The angle made her expressions more amusing than frightening. That and her chest abruptly cut off her face, dangling beneath her scowl, so he couldn’t solely focus on just her rage. Mostly he was questioning why she had chosen to stand in that position and not just step over him instead. 

Maybe she had thought about it but was too committed to change it now. That sounded like her, needlessly stubborn. 

But that’s what he liked about her.

“Do you think they’re actually going to let us out?” She bit out, crossing her arms. Her sense of balance was really impressive. “They’ll let us rot in here for however long this wretched place lasts before they remember they need us to make humans again.”

“Because there’s no way this world lasts more than a thousand years.” Behemo nodded along with what she was saying. “How convenient of them to forget about us until they need us.”

“Bastards.” She spat. “It’s easier on their conscience if they don’t think about the fact that they left us here to rot. ”

He had the sudden urge to call her beautiful, because she really was enchanting to look at when overcome with passion, but he figured she wouldn’t take kindly to that. The first time he called her pretty she thought he was mocking her and stamped on his foot. Everytime after that, she thought it was shallow flattery and ignored it.

“So we have to get out of here ourselves?” Behemo asked instead, tilting his head up at her. 

“Exactly.” It wasn’t anything more than a passing remark but it still made him feel warm. “So instead of sleeping our time away, help me think of a solution so we can get out of here.”

“I don’t know what you think I can do here.” He laid back down again, making it so he couldn’t see her face. “You’re the soul expert, not me.”

Levia huffed before standing up straight. “That may be true,” she admitted while sitting down beside him. The blonde crossed her legs without any regard for the dress she was wearing. “But we’re currently trapped in a body of your making, so put a little effort into it!” She snapped.

“I told you getting into this body would be a stupid idea and now look at us.” He grumbled, gesturing to the unique cage they’d been locked up in. “No light, no food, no water. Why, we’re practically as good as dead!”

“Don’t make us sound like plants.” Her hand smacked his own away from her. The sound echoed around them as he pulled it close to him. It didn’t hurt unless he thought about it hurting. 

The joys of being no better than a figment of imagination. He could hardly call them ghosts, at least ghosts could interact with the world. They were just things that could eat nothing, feel nothing, do nothing but whatever they thought these forms could do - and even then it was limited.

“Well, I have no idea how to help.” He responded with a shrug, pulling himself away from that depressing thought. “Sorry.”

“Could you at least put some effort in?!” Behemo simply shrugged again, making her groan as she held her head in her hands. “Please.”

The eyes he had just closed immediately opened. “What was that?” He glanced at her while fighting the urge to smile. She’d definitely punch him then.

Not that he would particularly mind that.

“I said,” She muttered through gritted teeth. “Please.”

Against his better judgement, he sat up. Levia flinched at the sudden proximity. “One more time, sorry,” he apologised in a soft voice. He wasn’t that sorry, not when he could see the faint dusting of pink on her cheeks. “I didn’t catch that.”

The unfocused look in her eyes caught his attention but disappeared before he could think too deeply about it. Then it was followed by a spark of annoyance that quickly turned to burning rage. Her lips curled as she reared back her fist.

Yeah . That expression was something he was keeping safe in his memory. It wasn’t often that he managed to fluster her enough to get a blush on her face. He supposed he had all the time in the world to see her turn bright red.

The punch itself didn’t hurt at all because he wasn’t thinking about it. Still, he flopped backwards just so she felt like it had done something. Otherwise, she would just keep hitting until she’d gotten through her embarrassment. 

“You- you-” She huffed as she stood up, turning around before he could look at her face. “You jackass!” She announced before stomping away.

Behemo rubbed at his face idly, moving his hair back into position from where a few strands had gone astray. His face felt fine and she would eventually get over it. 

It was only fair considering how much she bothered him about things he had no control over. He was sure she just enjoyed his expression so it was only fair to let him do the same. There wasn’t any other form of entertainment in this hell.

Yeah, he smiled to himself, totally worth it. 

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months without any results. Levia refused to lose hope but each plan unfortunately relied on some outside interference and they had no means of communicating with anyone. Not that there was anyone to communicate with.

If things were going as Luna had intended, the world would have already begun to have humans on it without any interference from the crew. With that in mind, she could hardly expect them to be advanced enough to operate any of the ship’s equipment - even without the genetic barrier. Even the plans that didn’t require the technology in theory still needed them to be able to reach the dragon far below the surface. At this point, she was sure they had no way of doing so.

“Damnit.” She seethed aloud, pacing back and forth. There wasn’t much point in doing it, she hadn’t even been prone to pacing in life but part of her felt like she would forget how to use her legs if she didn’t walk. 

She still wondered how Behemo managed to spend so much time lying on the floor and doing nothing but occasionally sleeping. Levia had been briefly worried he was depressed but he spoke to her with the same infliction as always. Unless he was so good at masking he managed to fool her…

The thought of masks made her curse and she resumed her pacing with more forceful steps. 

“What’s wrong with you?” Behemo’s voice suddenly spoke, making her jump. She turned on the spot to where he had been sleeping a moment ago. He was actually sat up for once, the first time in around a month. Maybe she’d get lucky and he'd stand up too. 

Levia bit the inside of her cheek, practically chewed through the flesh until blood seeped into her mouth. The metallic taste gave her pause before she slumped into herself. “My plans aren’t working out.” She admitted.

“Hm.” He acknowledged, looking away from her and out into the void. “How come?”

His dismissive gesture almost made her strangle him but he was still interested, even if he wasn’t being obvious about it. She found herself missing the way his eyes used to light up at anything that caught his attention. Now, he would only bother asking if only to sate his boredom. 

“Thankfully there are technically thousands of ways we could get out of here. In theory.” She spat out the last part, kicking the ground angrily. “Except we’d need another member of the crew or someone related to them. And I don’t need to tell you how unlikely that is.”

She had briefly wondered where the others were, though brief in this place meant spending weeks musing on it. There were several possibilities but she didn’t have the means to confirm or deny them at the moment. 

Behemo made a small noise to show he was listening. He seemed to be staring intently at something in the distance. She wouldn’t be surprised if he was still waking up.

Despite that, she carried on with her rant. If he could hear her then he would remember what she said later, even if he didn’t have the capacity to react at the moment. “And any human we could hijack is too stupid to even get down here in the first place. So we’re essentially stuck in a waiting game with humanity.” She ran one of her hands through her hair, pushing through the knotted strands. 

“And how long will that last?” His sudden question made her blink. Without any of his usual smiles nor with the apathy that had become increasingly common, he stared at her with a tight expression. 

Levia couldn’t see it clearly so she walked towards him, closing the distance until he was forced to look up at her. As close as they were, she could see the way his lip quivered clearly. His eyes were glossy, a sheen of light reflecting against the dark sea. 

If she said the wrong thing, she was sure he would cry. She pressed her lips together in a thin line. “If it follows the rate of natural evolution, we could be here for centuries if not millennia.”

Instantly, he shook his head. “No.” It’s a soft whisper that left his lips as he clenched his hands together. Levia watched his knuckles turn white with a perverted anticipation at his paling face. “No. This world won’t last a thousand years.” He muttered to himself.

There weren’t any tears. She tried to ignore the disappointment that bubbled in her chest. “Centuries then.” Her tone was more dismissive than she would have liked. “If we’re lucky, maybe one or two at most before they learn how to dig. Or one of the others might find a way to get here in the interim.”

Behemo didn’t respond to that, still muttering in a voice so soft she couldn’t make out the words. A non-insignificant part of her wanted to push him even further. She could figure out what was troubling him. It wasn’t difficult to coax it out of him considering he had no one else to talk to. 

He was constantly cagey but at the very least he admitted that it brought back bad memories from childhood. “Nightmares, really.” He had said before laughing and then he didn’t speak of it again. 

But it was because she knew why he was upset that she didn’t push it. It maddened her. What kind of parent could lock their child up without any remorse? She had seen and heard about some truly despicable people, ones she hesitated to call parents, but everytime it made her angry. 

If they weren’t already dead, she would have killed his parents. She should have done it back when they had met. If she could have killed them even before that, then she would have. Briefly, she considered a world where Behemo had come to her world sooner. 

Levia bit the inside of her cheek, pushing aside that dangerous thought. There was no use in wanting to change the past now, nor could she actually do anything about it. As powerless as she was right now, wishing horrible deaths on people was nothing but a waste of time. At the same time, she was stuck with the people in her life that she had now, so there was no use in complaining.

Well… Person. The person she had now. The one, sole other life that provided her with some sort of outlet in the nothingness that surrounded them. Only he could validate her existence. Only he could help her feel alive while being unable to live. After all, if it was only her in this empty expanse, she would have certainly lost her mind. There was nothing to do in here but think and exist, unable to die nor able to live. How she craved the taste of coffee, no matter how bitter. She hadn’t realised how much she would miss it.

For someone who spent her life willingly closed off from the rest of the world, she found herself surprised at how much she missed the things she once thought were annoyances. The sun shining so brightly it would give her a headache. The loud chattering as people went about their lives that she would find inane. The ridiculous conversations her colleagues would have that she would ignore. The sound of birdsong outside her office window, that would distract her from her work.

There was none of that here.

It was just her and him, in a twisted hell.

Levia kneeled down beside him, making him flinch. It was definitely a flinch, the sudden speed at which he moved to look at her seemed almost involuntary. His body snapped into an attentive position before she could even speak. His eyes were glistening, his face pale, and his body was shaking. Despite that, he refused to cry.

Something on her face must have given away her thoughts because he offered her a shaky smile. “I’m fine.” He told her. “Don’t waste your time worrying about me.”

“I have all the time in the world here.” She stared intently at his gaze, waiting for the first tear to fall. She wanted to see it, wanted to taste his sorrow directly. “And even if I didn’t, I’d hardly be wasting it by spending time on you.”

“Yes you would.” He denied instantly. The quickness of his response made her heart ache and the bite of his tone incensed her. It was ridiculous how easily he could spit in the face of any kindness. “Go use that genius brain of yours for something useful.”

“Don’t mock me.” Levia narrowed her eyes at him and he pressed his lips together. The redness of them faded but they still remained a soft pink. She could see them tremble along with the rest of him and quickly spoke before she did something to them. Tear at them, bite at them until they bled. She wanted to see him soaked in blood. “You can cry, you know.”

“Barisols do not cry.” He recited the phrase as though it had been branded into him. Then his voice faltered. “I don’t need to cry.”

The doctor carefully assessed him for a moment. From there she moved in quickly, scooping up his hands into hers. His eyes flashed downwards, staring in complete confusion. There was something else in that gaze, disbelief maybe or perhaps suspicion. Levia kept her hands on his, holding them as they trembled in her grasp, and her eyes on his. “Cry if you want to.”

“I don’t need to.” He stubbornly repeated. The distrust in his eyes burned at her as he looked up. She wasn’t sure what she’d done to deserve a glare like that, or maybe she’d stepped on a landmine. Just when she was trying to be nice too…

“So what if you don’t need to? Cry as much as you want.” She circumvented his argument cleanly, the response catching him off guard. “There’s no reason not to.”

Behemo blinked, incredulity clear in his eyes. “I’m not the type of person to burst into tears over every little thing.” He sounded insulted. 

“I never said that.” 

He pursed his lips, the natural redness of them returning full force. It stood out starkly against his pale skin as though dyed with blood. “Then why do you want me to cry so badly?”

Because she wanted to see his tears. She wanted to watch him break down beneath her. To see the walls he had around himself crumble as he lost himself entirely to the emotions he kept shoving aside. She wanted to see his sorrow, his pain. And then she wanted to hold him and reassure him.

Only someone like her could understand him best. They were the same person after all, just through several distorted mirrors and lenses. A reflection of each other's perceived worst aspects, the desires brought to the surface, the sins buried deep made real. Maybe that was why she fantasised about it so often, aside from the malice in her veins, the complete collapse of her alternate self seemed so enticing to her.

The person she could never be, a person she couldn’t stand and yet also admired in a sense. She wanted him to be completely under her, to never leave her side. Someone who equally admired her and understood her and yet also was completely alien to her. 

How awful it was to be confronted with what she hated herself and in this place she could never look away. That’s why she loathed him the moment she came to see him. He was everything she couldn’t stand about herself, the potential what ifs that she couldn’t bear to witness.

It also hurt to see them made real. A version of herself she couldn’t help but sympathise with. In a twisted way, that same hatred was why she kept him beside her. She hated the people who allowed him to become this way. As much as she expressed her hatred for him, it wasn’t as though she despised every part of him. It was simply that the parts she liked were mixed together with the parts she couldn’t stand. 

His heart was something that could only be seen briefly no matter how much she tried to understand it. Even that brief glimpse was enough to know that she wanted the person beneath. The dirty flesh on top was merely a byproduct of his life. Once more, she wished she’d taken him with her sooner. She should have killed his parents, killed everyone who loathed him. 

How vexing it was to be constantly faced with your deepest desires with no way to refute them. She had denied herself those emotions because they interfered with her life, her work. And yet… 

“Crying is good for you. It’s cathartic.” Levia lied as easily as she breathed. That truth wasn’t something she was ready to admit yet. Not to herself and especially not aloud. “You certainly need release.”

The emotions in his eyes gave way to amusement. A small flush dusted his cheeks alongside the laugh that threatened to escape his lips. “You do realise what you just said, right?”

“I’m not as dirty minded as you are, you pervert.” She frowned at him. That just caused him to smile, a bright one that hadn’t crossed his face since the Climb One had crashed. 

“Now that’s a lie.” His hands had stopped shaking in her hold. “You’re as perverse as I am. You just never let yourself show it.”

That direct observation made her flush and he cackled at her expression. “N-no I am not!” A part of her wanted to break his hands under her grip, another was disappointed by the lack of tears.

“Pot meet kettle.” He gave her a look that she couldn’t quite describe. His gaze was certainly filled with humour though, enough to make her grit her teeth. “If you weren’t as dirty minded as me, how would you get all my jokes? And don’t get me started on Gilles’ innuendos.” 

That was the first time they had mentioned the other crew members beyond her plans. She wasn’t sure how to feel about it being Gilles of all people but it was a marked improvement from his previous mood. “He’s surprisingly subtle with them.” Levia admitted.

“Which makes the fact that you understand them even more incriminating.” The blond pointed out and she recognised the smugness that permeated his entire body. She would break his legs one day, she swore it. “Relax, I’m not judging.”

“Really? You not judge someone?” She raised an eyebrow before speaking in a deadpan manner. “I must have entered a parallel world.”

“I don’t think the world could handle three of us.” Behemo said with such seriousness she would have thought he was serious if not for the look in his eyes. “That being said, I don’t think the world could handle you if you stopped being a prude.”

She could feel her face heating up. “I’d never be a sex pest like you!” Her hands twitched to strike him but she didn’t want to ruin the mood. The lightness in the way he spoke was something she had missed, even if his usual lack of respect grated her.

“Alright, alright.” He rolled his eyes before they moved back down to his hands. “…Thank you.” The soft whisper escaped him after a moment.

“Oh? What for?” She asked with a tilt of her head. Even if she knew the answer, she wanted to hear it from his own mouth.

In an instant, his hands broke from her grasp without much effort and reached for her head. That single moment reminded her of how much stronger he was than her. Instead of tearing her head off, he started running his hand through her hair. 

The action confused her. So much so that she didn’t move until he came close enough for their noses to touch if she leaned in. Even in this place, even on the verge of tears, he still managed to keep his face flawless. How she longed to see it messed up, makeup running alongside his tears. 

“Thank you,” he smiled as he spoke, the softness of his voice still lingering in the air. He pulled his hand away after a moment, running his fingers through her hair until he reached its end. “For being so adorable.”

…

Levia stared at him with a blank gaze.

She took it all back. That smug asshole would definitely look better as a crying heap on the floor. She definitely preferred him sleeping over this- this- halfwit dumbass.  

This time, she really did move to grab at his head but he anticipated it and moved out of reach. He had the audacity to laugh, that bright, cheery sound that echoed in the void around them. It further incensed her. At this point, she had to punch him. It was a necessity.

In a blink he was back to lying on the floor, holding his stomach from where she had landed a blow. She stood over him, crossing her arms. “Let that be a lesson not to lie to me.” She glared at him before turning away. 

“But it was the truth, you know.” He responded without sounding winded at all. “You really are adorable.”

Levia fought down the rising heat from her face. “Just shut up. Your lies aren’t going to work on me.” 

She didn’t turn around to see his face. Both because she didn’t want to see his expression and because if she stood over him like that she might do something foolish. Levia knew she couldn’t break him with her hands, physically or emotionally… but she was sure she could do it if she put her mind to it. That’s right, she could crush him without issue with things other than fists.

The problem was whether she could let herself so obviously give into her desires. Simply because she wanted it and that the thought of it felt good, she was inclined to do the opposite. She had done so much to refute the malice in her blood, she wouldn’t crumble now. No matter how much she wanted to break him, she would build him up instead.

Levia held onto that conviction, that last thread of her morality in this empty world, and looked away from him so that she wouldn’t be tempted.

“Right.” Behemo responded after a moment. Whether it was a response to what she said or him changing the topic wasn’t something she could tell. After several loud heartbeats filled her ears, he spoke again. “I’m going to sleep now.”

That was the first time he’d announced it. Usually, she just stumbled upon him lying completely still as though he was a corpse. They had no need to make their apparitions breath and Behemo had never snored in the first place. Even in life he had slept like the dead. It had still terrified her the first time she saw him like that.

The idea of being the only person alone in this place had chilled her to the bone.

“Alright.” She stared at the darkness ahead and resigned herself to wandering through it once more. “Wake up soon.”

There was a moment of silence before she heard him acknowledge her words. “Sure.” That single promise made the looming solitude more bearable. 

Levia glanced back at him, finding him already fast asleep without a care in the world. She snorted, shaking her head fondly. How he spent so much time like that she would never understand. Perhaps the dreams were better than reality…

With that thought, she walked ahead into the empty expanse that awaited her. Knowing his usual record, he’d be asleep for a few days before waking up again and she was forced to spend those moments in isolation with nothing but her thoughts. She had to keep walking or she’d forget how to use her legs. She had to keep thinking or she’d lose her mind.

Maybe it was already lost. She mused on that concept as she wandered into the void, the sound of his laughter still ringing in her ears. How she loved the sound that reminded her of home, how she wanted to crush his wind pipes so he’d never be able to laugh at her again.

Maybe she really was losing her mind. After all, they couldn’t be called the thoughts of a sane person.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

“What do you miss the most?” Behemo asked his counterpart as they laid on the floor of the void. She glanced at him with a frown before staring back up at the blackness. 

In between her usual walks, Levia had started to lay down beside him. It had started few and far between, with months passing between them before it slowly became more and more common. She wouldn’t sleep but they would talk about things. The topics varied from ridiculous debate about whether buttons or zips were better to a rather vicious argument about each other’s wardrobes to sharing their favourites in terms of food, colours and other things. They were never particularly deep conversations because he couldn’t stand the idea of her seeing him and she never offered anything about herself.

He didn’t care if they were shallow, they were fun. That was all that mattered in the end. Even if he did notice that she had only started to sit with him when he slipped back into his lethargic daze, he didn’t comment on it. It was better than her overtly fussing over him as though he was deserving of her attention.

“What do I miss?” She tilted her head as she repeated the question, tasting the words in her mouth. “Coffee.”

He giggled. “I figured.” Then he glanced at her with a curious gaze. “Not your work?”

“What are you talking about? I’m still working.” Levia said it as though it were obvious.

“Of course.” He didn’t know why he bothered asking. If anyone could find a way to still work even while stuck in purgatory it would definitely be her.

“What about you?” Levia turned her head towards him, her eyes as intense as usual. He wasn’t sure whether to liken them to ice considering how piercing they were, or the ocean with how they threatened to drown you. Either way it made him feel… small . 

Not in the sense of insignificance but rather a kind of helplessness. He could never surmount the vast gap between them, even if he tried all his life. He would always be beneath her. Even if she was flawed she was still miles closer to perfection than he was. An effortless genius, who everyone respected and who didn’t need to rely on others to validate herself.

That was a bit too revealing about his own insecurities.

“People.” He answered the question, in order to move away from his own thoughts.

“Really?” Her surprise vanished as quickly as it came. She filled in the gaps herself as she smirked at him. “Oh, I get it. You miss your entertainment. No people here to gossip over or to spread your legs for.”

“Well that was crass.” Entirely expected of her though. She wasn’t someone to beat around the bush, entirely blunt and unapologetic about it. “And also wrong.”

That surprised her. “Oh?” She raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued.

“I miss people’s touch.” He explained simply.

“I touch you.” She said defensively, making him laugh before he could stop himself. Levia stared at him for a moment before lightly slapping his arm. “Oh grow up!”

“I am grown!” He got out between bursts of laughter. Eventually, he managed to regain his composure though he was breathing heavily. “But you have to admit, you walked into that one.”

She rolled her eyes. “So what kind of contact do you miss?” At his confused glance she propped herself up on her arm. “Since it’s apparently not getting railed, I’m curious at what tickles the fancy of a pervert like you.”

“Hm…” He ignored her barbed words. He knew she was just saying those things for the sake of it. In truth, they actually felt somewhat affectionate, like a teasing nickname. Maybe it was something akin to the way siblings seemed to despise each other while actually caring. 

Then he pushed away that ridiculous notion. Even if they had managed to act in a way that was vaguely like siblings, the two of them were too conscious to ever actually believe it. It was just a fun act for him and she went with it to avoid unnecessary questions. 

“Well… I miss things like holding hands.” Upon saying it aloud, he realised it made him sound like some hopeless romantic. Which would be an entirely false assumption, he was just a romantic. “Cuddling, kisses, that sort of thing.”

“Wow.” The word came out as a soft exhale and he looked up at her with a pout. He could see the way her eyes lit up at his expression, the corners of her lips lifting. “You’re a lot softer than you look. I didn’t know your insides were so gooey.”

He really tried this time. He swore it. But the frown that quickly appeared on her face made it clear his efforts were in vain. Behemo cleared his throat, not even attempting to be subtle about hiding his laughter. “W-well that sort of stuff is also nice. I don’t get to enjoy it as often.”

“You slept with a lot of people though?” There was a hint of disgust in that remark. He had learned not to take it too personally. It was obvious that the issue stemmed from her mother to anyone with eyes. Even he had realised that and he was pretty bad at reading people beyond whether or not they were going to attack him or if they were coming onto him.

“Just because they’re down to fuck doesn’t mean they’re cool with acting lovey dovey with you.” He put it bluntly. Levia was right about him sleeping with a lot of people and through that came understanding. 

Everyone was different in how they loved people and even the way they loved and lusted could be entirely different. He’d met so many types of people and generally had learned to never go into it expecting something because that was a good way to get blindsided. More often than not he’d met people who had entirely different personalities in bed, it was really quite something. He made his intentions clear, they made theirs clear and usually, it ended neatly. 

“You can’t just expect them to go along with everything. Some people don’t like that sort of thing or would only do it with a long term partner, so I never got to experience it that often.” He closed his eyes as he explained, trying to keep his voice relaxed.

Levia hummed, tapping her fingers on the floor. It somehow made a noise, echoing around them with no other sounds. It made him miss the wind, a light breeze would be wonderful right now - especially with some sunlight shining down on them. “Then why not get a partner if you want to be treated like that?” She asked, her voice a bit muffled for some reason.

He suspected her hand was covering it a little. Opening his eyes to verify it, he saw her looking down at him with those same piercing eyes. They were narrowed and the visible side of her mouth was curled downwards in a frown.  

Shit. He had no idea what he did this time. It wasn’t like he minded getting punched by her, in a strange way it was almost exhilarating. The threat of being hurt filled him with adrenaline even though he knew it wouldn’t actually hurt unless he wanted it to. 

Sometimes he made it hurt just for a taste of the real world.

Not that he was a masochist or anything but in a place like this even just pretending to be hurt helped to make him feel more alive. If she had suddenly stopped her violent streak, which had never really hurt him in the first place, it would have felt stranger. Even here she was still the same old Levia, the one constant that he didn’t mind in this unchanging hell. 

“Me? Date someone?” He looked at her incredulously. “You have met me right?” The way her eyes narrowed even further made him huff. “And no, I don’t mean it's cause I’m a massive whore.”

“So you admit it.” She cut in and he graced her with a small chuckle rather than rolling his eyes like he wanted to. 

“Depends on your definition of massive and whore but I think I fit the bill quite nicely.” She slapped his arm again, making him laugh. The way her hands moved so quickly, he assumed it was an instinct at this point. He could only imagine how that habit had formed. The thought of her whacking someone stern like Salem almost brought him to hysterics. 

He rubbed his eyes, trying to stop his laughter before he made her too upset. Eventually, he managed to swallow down any further chuckles, putting on a polite smile before his scowling counterpart. She didn’t seem very pleased with him. 

“Anyway,” he gestured dismissively, “I meant that I’m not the kind of person anyone would want to date. All I have going for me is a good body and decently smart mouth, but no one seems to like that latter part so it's better to shut up and look pretty.”

Levia’s scowl worsened at those words. He really had no idea what was upsetting her, if it was something he did or if she had gone on a tangent in her mind and had worked herself up into a rage. Either option was likely and both ended up with the same results so he could never tell which was happening.

“I mean a relationship can’t exactly form if you don’t say much of anything. You have to share things about yourself.” He tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice. If he was too emotional about it she would become unnecessarily worried. So he treated it as if he was just stating facts. “And no one likes me.”

And wasn’t that the truth. If there was one thing Behemo had come to understand in his entire life, it was that no one liked him. Certainly, no one loved him. He had started a stupid habit when he was younger, constantly asking if his parents loved him whenever he had the chance. Not that it happened often, he at least had the sense to do it behind closed doors where only the staff could see. Every single time, without fail, they never said they loved him. It had been his fault from the onset, naturally, for both asking the question and then also being so useless that he was undeserving of love.

If he was a perfect child, he was sure his parents would have loved him. But no matter how much he studied, how hard he worked, he always fell short of their expectations. He couldn’t behave exactly as they wished.

Everyone else thought he was strange or were jealous of him. Maybe it was a crude mix of both but that just meant no one ever liked him. The closest he got to that kind of affection was people simply interested in lining their pockets. 

He had a good enough body that people were willing to approach him just to get a ring on their finger. The perks of being rich, he supposed back then and it wasn’t like he ever had room to complain. His parents had supported it, if only to get some successful progeny out of his useless self, so he lived a life with nothing but shallow relationships built on physical intimacy and the looming expectations of his parents.

Rahab had called it depressing when he explained why he never accepted any confessions. Even though she equally went around without any hint of commitment, she still had thought him pitiable. “I’m a woman who wants everything I can’t have. If they become mine, I lose interest.” She had explained it simply. 

In contrast, he was someone who wanted something he could never have and so settled for what he was given. At the very least, he could be certain that it was real, even if it wasn’t love. Lust itself was fine with him, so long as it was him that they desired. He had encountered too many people who put on a facade about caring for him before cruelly exposing their own nature.

Just thinking about it made him question why he even bothered trying. Rahab told him it was human nature. Privately, he doubted whether he was ever human at all. 

“Shut up.” Levia hissed out suddenly and for a moment he was terrified he had spoken aloud. Then it was clear that he hadn’t said anything at all, she had been fuming in her own mind for a while as he stewed in his thoughts. “You are so- Ugh!” 

Behemo figured that was the end of that conversation and she would go storm off into the void for however long she wandered for. 

Instead, she suddenly moved on top of him.

“Eh?” The sound came out of his lips before he could stop it. His counterpart sneered down at him and he wondered what exactly she was about to do to him. In this position he had no means to dodge her punch, unless he made himself fall through the floor but that might just anger her more. Somehow, he felt a bit like a small animal being faced down by a predator.

Never let it be said that Levia Barisol wasn’t terrifying when she wanted to be. She was terrifying without even trying. So even if he could easily throw her off, he felt like he wouldn’t be able to stomach the glare she would give him afterwards.

This sort of situation was fine. So long as he could stay by her side, it didn’t matter what their relationship was like. Levia didn’t loathe him entirely, even if she wasn’t kind to him, she still allowed him to stay with her. If he could keep living like that, he would be fine with anything.

That made him sound rather desperate, didn’t it? For attention, for affection, for someone whom he liked to stay with him. 

“God. You’re so irritating.” She complained in a low voice. “Just what are you talking about huh? What do you mean no one likes you? What am I then? Chopped liver?” Her questions came rapidly but the last one made him falter.

“You’re much cuter than chopped liver.” He tilted her head, choosing the easiest question to answer, even if it was rhetorical. His response might make her punch him, but it was the first thing that came to mind. Besides, her face was flushing spectacularly, so he thought it was worth it.

“You are the dumbest person alive.” She told him with narrowed eyes before leaning down.

He didn’t even have time to form a response to her insult, nor did he have time to process what she was doing. In an instant their lips were pressed together and in another moment they were apart again. Levia hovered over him, her eyes searching his.

Behemo merely stared up at her, blinking more times than was necessary. What? His mind had barely understood what just happened. Then, as realisation dawned on him, he brought a hand up to his mouth. His fingers slowly traced over his lips as he stared blankly at her in a daze.

“You look stupid.” Her blunt words made him even more confused. That might have been a first in terms of things he heard after kissing. His confusion must have been evident on his face because she quickly followed it up with an explanation. “Even if I can’t get coffee, I can at least give you what you want.”

Well . That was- that was something . In all honesty, he had never felt more stupid in his life. Maybe there was some truth to the claims that he was just a vapid beauty, because he had no idea what was happening right now. Sure, he understood what had just happened, he heard the words that left his counterpart’s mouth but he had no idea what to make of it. He also had no idea why she had said it.

“Seriously?” Behemo asked, just to be sure he wasn’t being pranked or anything. Not that Levia was the type to pull pranks, but he wouldn’t put it past her to try and trap him somehow for some kind of study. He was her only available guinea pig after all. He guessed that made him her favourite test subject. 

It was embarrassing how much he liked the idea of that. 

“Do I look like I’m kidding?” Her usual scathing tone was back and he quickly shook his head. “There’s no one else here and barely anything else to do, so it's fine to alleviate your boredom this way.”

So it was fine if no one saw them? He hadn’t expected anything else from her, someone who was acutely aware of other people’s opinions even if she didn’t conform to them. It still hurt though. It was irrational, he really should have expected it, but still…

Nevermind, it still made sense. He could understand that logic. Except, the last thing stuck out to him. “You aren’t bored?”

“I have work I can do. There’s always work to do.” She gestures vaguely, the same motion he made earlier. It’s something small that reminds him of their similarities. They did exist, somewhere hidden amongst all their differences. “But I don’t want you staying asleep the whole time either.”

“Why?” He didn’t think she was very fond of his company while she was working. There were exceptions to that but in the end he was a distraction to get rid of since he couldn’t keep up with her thinking in terms of psychology. The study made absolutely no sense to him beyond the biological aspects. 

The flush became more apparent on her face. “I don’t know if it's bad for you in the long term. There’s always the possibility you might never wake up again.” That didn’t necessarily sound like a bad thing to him. “And then I’ll be stuck in here alone .”

Behemo blinked. 

He hadn’t thought of that. He had always assumed he would wake up again because he was nothing if not cursed to constantly keep existing. The issue of staying by her side was always one of whether she wanted to keep him there. He hadn’t even dared to think of when she would die…

And here she was, having mulled over his own death. If he stopped existing, she would be utterly alone in this hellscape. Behemo refused to subject her to that. Those punishments he had faced with nothing but himself and a room filled with mirrors, judging him for all his mistakes, all his defects, he never wished that on anyone else. 

Then, rather belatedly, he realised he had been leaving her alone every time he had slept. 

“Alright…” He spoke softly, trying to ignore the guilt clawing at his chest. “I’ll sleep a little less, okay?”

“A little?” She scoffed, though she ended up shrugging. “I’ll just wake you up whenever I want, and you’ll have no right to complain.”

That statement felt like an echo of something he had told her before. “I feel like I’ve rubbed off on you…”  

“Phrasing.” She said automatically and it took him a moment to see where the innuendo was. It was further proof that her mind really was perverse. Then again, anyone who was raised by Rahab and somehow didn’t come out of it with a dirty mind deserved an award. “And this is payback for all the times you dragged me away from work.”

“To make sure you didn’t die from starvation or exhaustion!” His life in the Second Period had in no small part consisted of making sure she was eating and sleeping in a timely manner because apparently he was the only one who could drag her from her office unscathed. Admittedly, he was just very good at disarming her before she could start shooting bullets.

There was a reason everyone else at the Clinic called her hysterical.

“Whatever, now sit still.” Levia brushed past his argument entirely - probably because she didn’t have any way to refute it. Instead, she leaned in again and her lips met his. They felt surprisingly hot, he could appreciate the sensation more now that he wasn’t being surprised.

It wasn’t a particularly long kiss, just something chaste and soft. He wasn’t complaining though, not as she kissed him again and again. Slowly, her mouth moved to the side and soon she was leaving a trail of kisses against his jaw.

They weren’t anything especially stimulating, so the fact that his face was heating up so much was completely absurd. He must be coming down with an illness or something. Ignore the fact that he had no idea if they could even get sick, there was simply no way he was that flustered over something so small. 

A shaky breath escaped him that made the other blonde pause in her trail making. She was hovering near his ear, her breath felt hot against his skin. He felt strangely warm too, shifting underneath her as he tried to get some air on his skin.

Not that there was any air in this place anyway, their breaths were nothing but simulations. The body they were in kept breathing even if their apparitions stopped. Despite that, he couldn’t control the growing warmth that was spreading around him. Apparently even his own mind hated him. Great.

“Are you sure you didn’t miss the sex?” Her voice was a blend between being teasing and accusatory in tone. He closed his eyes, holding his head in his hands. Then another kiss came, this time on his earlobe. 

Behemo jumped at the motion, sitting up in a swift movement that left his counterpart scrambling to not get hit by his body’s sudden ascension. She sat to the side though one of her legs was draped over his. The amusement was clear on her face, though there was a little irritation as well.

“Be careful!” She chided, running a hand through her hair. “I don't want to get sent flying.”

He completely ignored that exaggeration, too flushed to even come up with a witty response. “What do you think you’re doing?” A hand quickly flew up to his ear, covering it protectively.

“Well forgive me for not being well versed in kissing.” The sarcasm was thick in her voice. With a roll of her eyes, she looked at him questioningly. “I thought I was doing just fine.” He could hear the smugness in her voice. Of course she would be good at everything, he shouldn’t have expected anything less just because she was a prude.

“You were- it’s just-” He pressed his lips together. She leaned in a little closer, clearly searching his face for the reason behind his reaction. Levia was always obvious when she was studying his expressions. With everyone else, it was hard to tell if she was even paying attention to them, but with him she had to get in close. 

He was harder to read, she had told him as much. Behemo was sure his parents would be pleased to hear that. Then he remembered that they were dead.

“Just what?” Thankfully, her question pulled him away from that very depressing thought. He was spared yet again from having to process that reality. In some ways it was kind of ridiculous, he’d witnessed two whole worlds be destroyed and was currently on his third, yet he was still able to be thrown off by something like this.

Aren’t world ending events supposed to build character or something? He felt like all he got from them was an increasing sense of apathy for tragedy.

“If you’re going to do something like that then ears are off limits!” Levia narrowed her eyes at him before they suddenly widened. He had no idea what she realised but a satisfied smile settled onto her face. She didn’t smile often, mostly smirked and scowled, but it looked quite appealing on her. 

“Alright.” She leaned just a little closer. “Anywhere else?”

“And nothing below the collar.” He leaned back, trying to calm his racing heartbeat. What was he even doing? Between the two of them he was definitely the one who made people stammer and blush, it was an embarrassment to be acting like this. Maybe he was still in shock? Yeah, it was just the shock making him slower to react than usual. 

It wasn’t a very convincing lie. Honestly, how did Levia manage to deceive herself so thoroughly all the time? He would never understand it.

“And you call me a prude.” She scoffed, straightening her back as she crossed her arms. 

It took him a moment to understand what she meant by that before raising an eyebrow. “Are you hoping to kiss me there?” He asked in a voice thick with disbelief.

Levia blushed right down to her neck, turning an alluring rosy hue. “I never said anything like that.” She snapped quickly before waving her hand dismissively. “I’m just pointing out the hypocrisy.”

Was she calling him a hypocrite? Her? That couldn't stand. “I wanted romantic cuddles, Levia, not foreplay.” That made her blush deepen. He couldn’t help but take pity on her overheating face and added in a softer voice, “And besides… I don’t let anyone do that kind of thing to me anyway.” 

The look she gave him was filled with curiosity but for once she didn’t ask. “I’m going on a walk.” She announced suddenly, dusting herself off as she stood up. The action was pointless, a habit leftover from when things like dust could actually touch them. 

How long had it been? Several years at this point. In another year or so they would hit their first decade in this prison, the first of many until humanity reached a level where they could use them to escape. 

He figured that the wait was part of why she did it in the first place. There wasn’t any hint of affection there, she just saw a way to pass the time and keep him awake until they could escape together.

He was sure that once they left this place, they wouldn’t speak a word of it.

“Alright.” He watched as she stretched. For a moment, he wondered if he should walk beside her but it seemed like she was doing this to escape him. “I’ll be here when you get back.”

“Expect me to wake you up.” She didn’t say it as though he had a choice in the matter. That was just like her though, so he couldn’t help but smile fondly. 

A woman who did whatever she wanted and yet was mindful enough of others to understand them. A genius who never tired from working and could do anything perfectly on the first try. A person who was bold and didn’t fear anything, yet had enough sense not to run mindlessly into danger.

There were plenty of reasons that he admired her, not least of all because she was his ideal self. Naturally, it was a person he could never be. When they told him he could have a version of himself in the program, he had asked them to make them his opposite. Levia Barisol was the end result of that command.

He figured that was why she continued to hang around him and care for him. After all, they were opposites and if it were him, he would have killed Behemo Barisol a long time ago.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

She sat down in front of Behemo at his instance, letting the other shift her until she was leaning against his lap and her head was at his chest. It wasn’t uncomfortable or anything so she just let him do as he pleased. It was far better than him wasting away in his sleep. Even so, she wished she had something to occupy herself with. Even just some paper would distract herself from the void around them. Sometimes, she felt like something was staring at her until she realised it was a ridiculous notion. They were the only ones here.

Instead she pulled at the hems of her lab coat. She had torn several doing this, since it almost always eventually led to her tugging on it as hard as possible until it ripped, but she could just create a new one whenever she wished. Levia wondered why he hadn’t badgered her into trying on some different outfits but figured he didn’t want her to do the same to him. She briefly wondered if it was restricted to what they had worn before entering the body or if they could imagine anything.

Logically, she was inclined to believe it was the former but her and Behemo had never kissed before this place and she was sure that softness was the genuine feeling. If that was the case then where was the limit? It warranted some more experimentation. If she could rope him into helping her, that gave him more reason to stay awake.

If they could shape this hell into something nice it could make the following centuries more bearable. Perhaps they could even somehow look at the world outside, then they could use that to fashion a means of escape. The mere idea of it filled her with excitement but she willed herself to calm down.

There was no use in getting excited over something that might not even happen in the first place. She had to focus on achieving results, not wasting her time daydreaming.

Behemo ran his fingers through her hair again, gently yet firmly working through the knots. She eased into the touch, allowing him to go through the process without any complaint. “Did you think of something interesting?” He asked her suddenly, having caught onto her good mood. 

Even if she found him infuriatingly hard to read, he somehow grasped her instantly. In other aspects of her personality, he was completely blind but he certainly could guess her mood correctly before she could guess his. She blamed his upbringing. That perfectly polite visage that he put on made it difficult to separate the truth from the lies. Even when he was flippant or rude his way of speaking never changed. He could compliment and insult in the same alluring tone

“There’s something we have to try out and if I’m right we might actually get some decent furniture in here.” She smiled as she spoke, not even wincing as her counterpart carefully dismantled a particularly tough knot. He used to comb her hair often back home because he couldn’t stand to see it messy.

“Oh?” She looked up at him to meet his eyes. “Then can I ask for a kitchen first? I’m dying of hunger here.”

The reminder of the lack of food sent hunger pangs throughout her body. Even someone like her, who used to eat a meal a day and felt fine, was finding it difficult to cope with it. They didn’t need to eat, apparently the dragon could survive on its own simply by breathing or maybe it was a side effect of their imprisonment here. 

Perhaps they were trying to be nice, since they didn’t just kill them outright but it was torturous to simply exist without eating. If they had tried to do something like this with Vlad… Yeah, the poor guy wouldn’t have lasted a few days before wanting to end his suffering.

Hopefully they hadn’t actually locked him away like the two of them. That would be unnecessarily cruel. If they did, it was practically an obligation of hers to kill them in the slowest and most painful way she knew how. She was sure Behemo knew of an even worse method… She’d ask him about it later.

“I’m surprised you didn’t ask for a bed.” Part of her wanted to ask if all that sleeping was a way to stave off the thought of food. Levia could work endlessly and never think about such things. Anything beyond what she had to research was pushed to the furthest corner of her mind when she was working, which was helpful in this scenario to ward off the inevitable insanity that came with being locked up.

“A bed would be nice,” he admitted. “But you know me, I can sleep anywhere.” He said it as though it was something to be proud of.

“I think you could sleep through the end of the world.”

Mischief danced in his eyes amidst the rolling waves. “Shall we make a bet?”

Levia snorted at the idea. “I don’t take suckers bets.” She patted his thigh, not bothered enough to try and reach up to his face. If she did that, she might smack him by accident. The thought of it was funny enough but she didn’t want to tempt fate.

“Boring~” He rolled his eyes fondly, continuing to comb through her short hair. “You better not fall asleep on me now.”

“Don’t lie, you’d actually enjoy that, wouldn’t you?” It wasn’t an accusation, even if there was a certain edge to her tone. It was just a statement of facts.

Behemo chuckled in response. “As if I would ever answer that.”

That just proved it even further, he was annoyingly hard to read. She couldn’t even tell if her guess had been correct or not. How irritating, yet it made him perfect for her.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

It was impossible to ignore her when lying down side by side like this. Levia had chosen to sleep beside him for once, her eyes closed as she laid down facing him. He had several doubts about her actually sleeping though. The first came from the fact that he was never really asleep, he just closed his eyes and allowed his senses to drift away. The second came from the fluttering of her eyelids. 

Behemo had spent a while sleeping as he usually did but he felt a strange sort of pressure and so he’d given up trying. Occasionally he would open his eyes but he would always find hers closed. He was pretty sure she was just closing them the minute he stirred but it was impossible to prove it.

Then, her arms wrapped around him. He startled as she suddenly pulled him closer. Was she moving in her sleep? If anyone could figure out how to actually fall asleep inside one's mind, it would have been a genius like her. He turned towards her and found her icy blue eyes staring at him. 

There went his theory then. Right out the window. He could almost see it jumping out into the bright blue sky.

He missed the sky. It had always been rather relaxing to look at. It used to remind him of his place in the world, how stuck he was on the ground below. Then he had learned how to fly and it served as a reminder of how big the world really was. He had an endless horizon to explore. Not being chained down by anything at all, just flying into the distance without a worry in the world.

It was a nice dream. It would never become reality but he enjoyed the warmth the idea brought him.

“How do you enjoy this?” Levia grumbled in his ear. Her breath was hot and he knew that feeling well enough from when she used to whisper into it. Usually she told him secrets but occasionally she could be rather cruel without being loud. 

Not that she meant to be. He had come to understand that she was just blunt to the point of cruelty rather than actively malicious. Most of the time anyway. On the Climb One she had been the pinnacle of malice.

Behemo had enjoyed her cruelty then. 

“I knew you wouldn’t like it.” He chuckled at her frown. “It’s only nice for me because I liked sleeping and you-” His finger poked the end of her nose, making her pout, “hardly ever slept at all.”

“I had work to do.” She defended herself automatically. They had repeated several instances of this conversation, even before they had ended up in this beast.

“Even on holidays?”

“It doesn’t hurt to be productive.”

He rolled his eyes as he turned away from her, staring up at the abyss above. “Just admit you hate sleeping.”

They stayed in silence for a few more moments before he closed his eyes again. The darkness behind his eyelids was an empty void. There were no colours dancing around behind them, no images he could grasp. He could not feel a soft moonlight on his face nor the slight draft that usually came when he left the door open.

All that was there was the warmth of Levia’s body against him. It grounded him even as he felt himself yearning to slip away, to fall into the darkness for all eternity. It surrounded him, weighed on him, made him feel real.

He let out a little content sigh and began thinking of what kind of dream he wanted to have. They weren’t really dreams, their minds were always conscious here and so entering sleep was impossible, but he liked to think of them as such. Painting over his memories with a dreamlike hue made them more appealing.

All the bad ones were simply nightmares that couldn’t harm him anymore. The feeling of the warmth being sapped from a dying body was but an illusion. The cruel words and scornful looks were a trick of light. They were all just tricks brought about by a tired mind.

Only a child would care about how their parents looked at them.

Dragging him out of his thoughts was a few rustling sounds before there was a weight on his stomach. Her face appeared in his vision with the corners of her lips curled downwards. He raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t want to sleep.” She ignored his question entirely. “Let’s do something else.”

Before he had a chance to ask, she had already leaned down to kiss him. His lips had parted to say something but whatever he had wanted to say left him the moment their lips connected. Even after all this time, the feeling of her made him feel dazed.

She didn’t kiss him often, though the long period of time meant the definition of often was warped. Mostly she talked to him to make him stay awake and when they reached a standstill in their conversation she would kiss him. It was the safer option since the alternative would be to open up even further to one another.

At some point they would run out of topics entirely. They had been dragging out the current ones for as long as possible but there were only so many words that could be devoted to expressing his disappointment in her lack of interest in decent food. Especially when he couldn’t drag her to a restaurant or cook the dishes he spoke about himself. 

Eventually, they would be left with nothing on the surface. Then their only option would be to dig deeper or face eternally repeating the same conversations.

He could probably make it intriguing for the first couple of repeats. Perhaps he could even change his entire personality or mimic one of the people he knew from before. It would certainly keep the boredom away but he had no idea how Levia would take to that plan. She might never speak to him again. She was content to keep things as shallow as possible.

…He wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

One of her hands touched his stomach and he jolted out of his thoughts. The questioning look he gave her was entirely ignored as her fingers trailed slowly downwards. 

Behemo grabbed her wrist before she got too far. “What are you doing?”

“Oh? Did you finally realise?” Her eyes were narrowed in a glare. “I’m surprised you’re aware of anything at all.”

It was obvious by her clipped tone that she was angry. Honestly, sometimes he really didn’t understand why she let herself get worked up so easily. “Just because I’m thinking doesn’t mean my senses turn off.” He rolled his eyes. “Anyway, cut it out.”

“What? Am I not good enough for you?” She spat, carrying on without giving him room to respond. Her lips curled into a cruel smile and she roughly patted his head, pulling his headband out of place and the surrounding golden locks with it. “Congratulations! It seems I’ve found your line! Fucking finally!”

“Levia!” He snapped, pulling away from her grasp.

Her lip curled up, eyes flashing with some emotion before she turned away.

“Oh don’t act offended.” He huffed, running a hand through his hair. It didn’t fix it entirely, some strands were still out of place but it was good enough. “You don’t want to sleep with me anyway.”

She grumbled something under her breath before crossing her arms. Her voice was sharp and clear as she spoke, “Do you really think I would joke about something like this?” 

“ You? Want to sleep with me?” A snort escaped from him before he could stop it but he managed not to descend into hysterical laughter. “Even if I bought that ridiculous idea, weren’t you planning on saving yourself for marriage?”

Her eye twitched. “And who exactly am I marrying here?!” She gestured around into the dark void. The absence of anything made her point hit harder than he had expected. “I would rather die than get with any of the other crew members. Do you expect me to fuck around with the new humans? Excuse me, but unlike you I only consider those around my age range.”

“Hey!” The objection was automatic. As always she carried on without any regard for what he might want to say. She had already figured out the whole conversation in her head. With others it was brutally effective since she understood them all relatively quickly, especially with their coworkers. 

When it came to him, however, her mark was always a little off. 

That being said, he did have to wonder about her words. He supposed if they ever got out of here he would eventually have to consider them as potential options. Otherwise his pickings were slim, to put it kindly. 

His thoughts must have appeared on his face because his counterpart scoffed. “Don’t tell me you’re actually considering it?”

“Well… If they’re a decent age I might consider it.” He hummed after a moment.

Her scowl deepend. “It’s people like you that are why supernatural teen romances still exist. ” He was almost thankful that she carried on speaking, since he had no idea how to respond to that statement. “Anyway, don’t take that celibacy thing so literally. It was never about getting married anyway.”

“Oh?” He tilted his head slightly.

She rolled her eyes at him but her lips were pressed together in a thin line. Levia didn’t speak for a moment, staring off into the darkness with a narrowed gaze. “I didn’t want to be like my mother.” The admission was soft, a barely audible whisper. “If I only slept with one partner, there was no way I’d end up like her.”

Behemo hadn’t expected that answer but he also wasn’t surprised. Between the two of them, he was certainly the one people would call a devout believer - despite how he may act - while Levia never expressed any sort of religious beliefs. And while she was a prude, she never seemed adverse to sex out of embarrassment but rather a strange sort of determination.

It didn’t take a genius to know that the relationship between the mother and daughter was complicated. For him, he thought it was something desirable, if only because he selfishly wished for someone other than his parents. Someone that loved him without expecting too much from him, without controlling him. The desire to have his own life made someone like Rahab appealing to him.

She certainly loved her daughter, despite the way she acted. It was just that her personality and way of life wasn’t suited for being a mother. Rahab wasn’t adverse to children, she was capable of being warm and kind to them, but she wasn’t able to be a good role model for them. 

She had admitted it herself. The fact that her daughter had turned out so well adjusted in some ways was a miracle. In that same vein, most of Levia’s issues could be traced back to her childhood and the fact that her mother had poor parenting skills.

It must have been strange to have a psychologist as a parent. The two of them were so acutely aware of the causes of their behaviour and how they linked together to the world that shaped them. At the same time, they were entirely useless at actually resolving their problems.

Therefore, that sort of resolution made sense for her to have, even if he couldn’t understand it himself. He supposed it was just another way that they contrasted each other. 

“…So because I’m the only one you’d be sleeping with, it’s fine?” He muttered, receiving a simple nod in return. 

So in the end it wasn’t about some kind of devotion towards a partner. She simply wanted to be in a relationship where she had the expectation to remain monogamous. As though she couldn’t handle it without some external pressure.

That felt wrong but he wasn’t entirely sure what brought up that feeling. Had she really intended to marry someone she might not even love purely to avoid becoming like her mother?

Behemo couldn’t figure out the answer from that alone.

Without probing, she wouldn’t show anymore of herself. She was entirely content to keep their relationship as shallow as possible. Even this small piece of information was something she had to work herself up to revealing. 

So then he would simply have to nudge her in the right direction. If she wouldn’t say it, then he would just force her to admit it. Behemo let out a chuckle, running his hand through his hair as he tried to fix it. “And here I thought you had fallen for me.”

He hadn’t been aiming to make her blush but as always the beautiful rosy hue she had turned was as enchanting as always. Just seeing it spread across her cheeks to her ears made him feel warm inside himself. It was to be expected, since it was Levia who was making such an adorable expression.

“D-don’t be ridiculous! You halfwit dumbass!” She snarled at him, the beauty contorting into something more animalistic as she bared her teeth. It didn’t lessen its charm, in fact, it was merely another way to witness her lovely face. 

It faded away after a moment as she collected herself. She blew out a huff of air, leaning back as she crossed her arms. “If it was something as ridiculous as me loving you, I would have sunken into a deep sleep myself and never had gotten up.”

Those words were said carelessly, filled with emotion that had to be let out somewhere. He knew that. It was how she always spoke whenever she was upset about a situation. Without any regard to others she ripped them to pieces just because she could. He was sure she never thought about the fact that her words hurt, if only because she never bothered to think deeply about them herself.

He knew that.

Even so…

There was no resistance when he pushed her over. She landed on the ground without making a single noise. There was no thud of her body, nor any sign he had disturbed the world around them. In this endless void, the small hitch in her breath was as loud as a roaring ocean. 

“So you don’t love me then?” He asked her with wide eyes. He could see himself reflected in her icy gaze, but he held back the urge to look away.

She blinked up at him in surprise. Then she snorted, as though it was amusing to her. “I don’t bother with things like love when there’s work to do.”

She had said something similar to him once, back when they were still real. It had been a passing comment when he wanted to tease her about her love life, only to find she had never even had one.

So he echoed his response back to her. “You’ll be cold and alone by the time you finish working.” It lacked the playful nature that those words had first been spoken with.

“Don’t be an idiot.” She told him firmly, “I won’t be alone or cold.”

“How so?” 

At that moment, she had said bluntly “If there’s no time left for love after I finish working, then I’ll die filled with satisfaction at what I have achieved.”

This time, however, her lips had curled up into a smile. It was soft and warm in a way it had never been before. “Because right until the very end,” Her fingertips were soft as they glided against his cheek. “I’ll have you, won’t I?”

His face heated up. “Saying things like that is…” He licked his lips as she smiled at him. “If you don’t love me then it’s just cruel.” 

The smile disappeared from her face and she bit her lip. The flesh reddened underneath the force, contrasting sharply against her pale skin. “I never said anything like that.” She scoffed, idly brushing away the strands of hair that clung to his cheeks. “Honestly, saying I love you is…” 

She thoroughly chewed through her lower lip before letting out a huff. “Well there’s no room for you to judge, since you haven’t said anything like that either.”

“So?” His eyes narrowed. “We’re talking about you right now.”

“No, this is about us.” She corrected him without any hesitation. Her demeanour switched entirely, suddenly appearing more confident. “If anything, it’s important to discuss you as well. I’m surprised after all, since someone like you is definitely the type to say I love you to someone who doesn’t even love them back.”

If it was a normal conversation, he would have made some sort of joke. A humorous exclamation at pain maybe, followed by a comment on her sharp tongue. But this wasn’t normal and his heart was entirely focused on one thing. 

“It’s because I don’t want to hear your answer.” 

It was only fair to admit it since she had also opened up to him. If he didn’t make it up to her now, she would definitely hold it over him. Just the thought of it made him uncomfortable so he spoke even though he didn’t want to.

“I’m scared of how you’ll respond so I won’t say it.” He wasn’t used to saying such honest words. They felt heavy on his tongue. “It’s fine though, since I know my own feelings I can live with that. But if you said anything it would change everything between us and I want to keep it the same.”

Levia assessed him for a moment. Her eyes weren’t just analytical, something else was rolling around them, turning it from ice into a fierce blizzard. “Stagnation kills you know.” She told him bluntly after a moment. “Just like water festers, you’ll just end up feeling empty once it’s eaten everything else inside of you.”

“Then it can just eat my flesh too.” 

“I won’t.” She frowned, her grip tightening. “You won’t waste my efforts. I’ll keep you stimulated so you have no reason to rot like that.”

“Hah…” It was a bitter laugh, one filled with understanding. “I get it, so that’s why you’re trying so hard to sleep with me. I didn’t expect it from you.”

“And you expected love?” She scoffed. With a roll of her eyes, she let go of his face. “Don’t expect me to say I love you. I have never said it to anyone before and I never will.”

Was she also like him, afraid of the results? 

No. She was always so sure of other people’s feelings so he had to doubt it. Levia knew for certain that he loved her, she knew how everyone felt about her so there was no reason to be scared of their reaction.

So what was it she didn’t know?

“Then I guess it’s fine then. Since we both aren’t going to say it, we don’t have to deal with anything difficult.” He sat up, clapping his hands together.

Levia let out an exhale. The tension in her body melted away as she sat up as well. “Yes… So let’s not talk about useless things anymore.”

He looked at her and glanced away, “One could argue everything is useless.” 

“When you say things like that, it makes me think you really do need sex to stay positive.” She grumbled.

“Maybe.” He hummed to himself before looking back at her. “But I’m not that depressed yet to take you up on that offer. If there’s no shared attraction between us then I don’t want it.”

The tips of her ears reddened and she crossed her arms. “You don’t have the room to be that picky.”

“It’s hardly being picky.” He took off his headband and fixed his hair properly as he spoke. It gave him an excuse not to look at her. “It’s not as though the pleasure is the reason I like it, but I guess you wouldn’t understand it.”

Her eye twitched again, he could see it just out of the corner of his eye. Ah, in the end even if Behemo had tried to keep her out of sight his eyes were still drawn back to her. The insult to her emotional intelligence obviously grated her. “Then-”

Whatever outburst she was about to have suddenly disappeared and his counterpart deflated right before his eyes. “Levia?” He tilted his head at her.

“I’ll…” She bit her lip, before grumbling something incoherent. Then she stood up abruptly, her arms crossed. “Nevermind, you jackass. I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“No. You don’t.” He agreed simply, smiling at her. “And of course, neither do I.”

“There’s no need to, I’ll figure you out eventually.” She promised. Of course, it hurt her pride not to understand him completely. He had known that from the beginning.

“Well, you have an eternity to figure it out.” 

He had meant it as an encouragement but her face darkened and with a scowl she stormed off into the void without saying a word.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

One step after another.

Wandering aimlessly wasn’t a habit she had in life. Levia had simply picked it up once her usual routine of pacing had lost its usual effect on her. It helped to move around when she thought and while the scenery wasn’t that stimulating, usually by the end of it she had organised her thoughts. 

This time her mind kept wandering, each thought trailing off before fading away entirely. She glanced back at her shadow that had followed her all this way.

Behemo merely smiled at her when he noticed she was looking at him. Her eyes narrowed at that face and she looked away quickly. Always, always, always-

“Something wrong?” He asked casually.

“Nothing.” Her voice was clipped in response.

“Hmm.” Even without looking at him, she could practically feel his eyes boring into the back of her head. She grit her teeth.

“Can’t you just take my word for it?”

His humming stopped. “I could.” Behemo admitted softly, though there was something to his voice that made her shiver. “But I won’t.”

She stopped, whirling around to look at him. “Why?!” 

Levia hadn’t meant to yell. Damnit . She hadn’t meant to do anything at all. She had to be the mature one in this scenario since he was incapable of it. Randomly saying things like that, acting as though nothing was wrong. 

Damn it all. Was this her own personal hell?

He stared at her plainly. “Because you’re a liar, Levia.” She felt like his smile was mocking her. “But that’s fine, I don’t mind it.”

“I’m not a liar!” Levia snapped, breathing heavily. She could feel her face heating up and willed herself to calm down.

“If that’s what you want to believe.” He shrugged before walking ahead.

She pressed her lips together, curling her hands into firsts until her nails buried into her palms. The sting brought her a momentary respite before she turned around and followed him.

“Anyway, if something’s distracting you, maybe I can help.” He slowed down for a moment to let her catch up.

She walked right past him without taking any notice. “I don’t see what an idiot like you can help with.” She grumbled.

“Don’t they say the best way to make sure you know something is to explain it to someone else?” He fell into step right beside her, his shoes clacking even though there wasn’t anything beneath them.

She paused her steps, grabbing him by his apron and pulling him closer. He peered up at her curiously, the smile still on his face. “You wouldn’t get it, you dumbass.”

Behemo tilted his head. “Should I go then?”

Her grip tightened. “…Do what you want.”

Then she pushed him away and started walking again. 

He followed after her, skipping slightly. Honestly, she marvelled at how he acted sometimes. There was nothing linear about it at all.

“Shall we talk about something?” He offered after a while.

“Like what?”

She could see him shrug. “What do you want to hear from me?”

What do I want? Levia looked upwards. She didn’t think about what she wanted. Usually, it ended up being something she shouldn’t have. “You got any horrible stories?”

“Hah?” He gave her a blank look. “What kind of request is that?”

“A completely normal one!” She snapped, slapping him on the back of the head before he could pull away. Shit. She pulled her hand back to her side, clenching it in a fist. That hadn’t been intentional, she had just done it without thinking.

Again.

“I was just thinking about that sort of thing.” She grumbled as she crossed her arms. 

“Ah…” He looked at her with an understanding in his eyes. She was sure he was completely wrong about his conclusion. “So it’s work related then?”

Levia blinked. “Yes.” Her throat felt dry so she swallowed. “So keep on theme.”

“Hah.” His chuckle was dry but he didn’t seem to be in a bad mood. “Then sure, if it’s work related I’ll tell you about my work then.”

She glanced at him curiously, “I thought you were unemployed before?”

“Technically.” He licked his lips. They were so pink they were almost red, as though the blood underneath was flowing just under the surface. “But really I never officially joined any sort of work force, so it made it easier to bounce around and take vacations.” 

“…I should have expected that kind of lazy attitude.” She muttered.

Behemo stuck his tongue out at her. “I was nothing of the sort! I just was a bit more fragile so I had to take more time off than most people.” 

Her footsteps faltered.

“Depending on how well my body was I had to change what I was doing.” He ran a hand through his hair, pushing away any loose strands. “If I was more sick then I was kept to desk work, if I was healthy then they could send me out just fine.”

She chewed her lip. “Why not just keep you at the desk all the time? Surely it’s better for your health.”

Another light laugh. It made her skin tingle at the underlying bitterness that corrupted his sweet voice. “Oh no, I was far too good at my job for that. Someone like me couldn’t hope for a cosy life.”

Levia didn’t like the way he had spoken so nonchalantly. “And what did you do exactly?”

“What all kids with good aim and a drive to prove themselves did,” he ran ahead a little as he spoke, turning around to face her with a smile on his face. “I fought in the war.”

At some point her legs had stopped moving. He looked at her with an expectation in his eyes but she wasn’t sure what he wanted from her. Of course, it was hard not to notice how terrible his original world had been even if she had only seen a small fraction of it. Even as her world had been on the verge of collapse he had gone on with a smile to the end.

“I love this place.” He had told her so earnestly.

“Really?” She kept her eyes on her paperwork. “I find it boring.”

“That’s exactly why it’s great.” He beamed up at her. “A world where people are living simply with nothing exciting going on. It’s beautiful.”

“You…” She clenched her fists. Something hot and wet pooled onto her fingertips slowly.

“Yes, I.” He said calmly before snickering. “It’s a surprise, right? But I’m a lot stronger than I look and lucky enough to survive each time even though everyone else dies. Someone like that is too valuable to be kept away from the front lines, so I spent most of my life fighting for the sake of others.”

Her face screwed up at those words that felt so wrong to hear before she let out a huff. “No wonder you’re so trigger happy.” She looked to the side. “I was wondering why you always defaulted to assaulting people.”

“Sorry.” He didn’t sound apologetic at all. “Relying on my instincts kept me alive this long, didn’t it? So then what’s your excuse?”

She could hear her teeth grinding as she glared at him. Strangely, his eyes lit up at her expression and he chuckled again, as though he was happy about something… but that would be ridiculous.

“Shall I continue then?” He turned around and continued walking, beckoning her to follow. 

For a moment she hesitated, but curiosity won out and she trailed after him. 

“Originally I was a battlefield medic, you see.” He stretched out his arms and skipped along the inky black path. “But you’re really forced to learn on the move in that sort of scenario and we had to collect patients ourselves so I was always outrunning some kind of attack.” 

He twirled around once before carrying on. “But I survived this one terrible battle and they thought I could do better with a more active role. And just like that, I became a soldier instead.”

Something felt off about that. “Surely your parents were against it?” 

He stopped in his tracks.

A few quick steps and she was already behind him. “The only heir to your family and you expect me to believe they sent you to die?” 

Levia reached out to him but he spun around before she could touch him. “Of course not!” 

His face was red, but it wasn’t the warm flush he got when he saw something he liked, nor was it the sickly heat he developed when he was ill. This one was…

“They were against it the entire time but it was my choice.” He closed his eyes, looking at the floor as he trembled before her. Every inch of him seemed to shiver as though he was overcome by the cold but she knew better. In this place where one was neither warm nor cold, she couldn’t be fooled like she had been in the real world.

She paled at his appearance. Levia had never seen him so shaken before. Those words brought a horrible image to her mind, “You can’t mean you wanted to die?” 

He stilled so suddenly she thought she was staring at a picture. Frozen like that it was almost as if time had stopped entirely and he had become a mere snapshot of his long life. Then he looked up at her with wide eyes. “What kind of ridiculous question is that…” He let out a startled laugh and then another.

They were so sporadic it felt unnatural. Her blood felt cold as it pooled onto her fingers and she reached out a hand towards him, the underside of her nails stained with red. 

Behemo leaned back before she could touch him. “It’s fine, isn’t it!?” He snapped, carrying on without waiting for a response. “Between dying slowly in pain and dying suddenly, I’d rather get blown up quickly than waste away!”

Was that what you were thinking…? She had no idea about any of it. She had no idea what it would be like to consider such a thing. For some reason, her eyes were stinging.

Behemo grasped her arm suddenly, holding her hand to his face. She could see him shake, feel the way the shivers caused him to tremble. Like this she could push him away easily and he wouldn’t have the strength to resist. 

Levia didn’t move.

“It’s fine, isn’t it?” He asked again softly. “If I’m going to die anyway, then shouldn’t I have the right to choose how?”

The right to choose? What kind of question was that? In all her patients she had never been confronted with such words. Of course, there were many who wanted to take their own lives and those that took other lives. They had said similar things to justify their perspective but even then they stood from a basis of life. 

They were alive and had chosen to walk the path of death, either to their own or to others ends. It was a warped yet well beaten path, she was familiar with every twist and turn. This? She had no idea how to understand this.

Was this why he was so incomprehensible to her? She was well versed in dealing with people who were alive. Even in the cases where she had to examine the life the dead had lived, she could understand it all to their very last breath.

So what about someone who lived as though they were dead? Did she ever have a chance to understand that? Could she ever even hope to do so?

I see it now. The reason you are the Master of the Graveyard. 

Behemo had stood among the wreckage of everything, the old technology they had found and the machinery of the Climb One they had brought and said he felt right at home. She had originally thought he felt more like a machine than a human, that he perceived himself as a piece of equipment.

Instead he was a walking corpse among things that would soon no longer have a purpose. When they finished terraforming the planet and preparing it for life, they had thrown away the machines they no longer had a use for. They were as good as dead, buried far underneath the earth.

And he felt like he belonged among the scrap. 

Her chest ached. Her blood boiled. 

It took her a while to think of a response. She didn’t trust her tongue and so instead reached out with her other hand and pulled him close. He shivered against her chest but he didn’t pull away. 

“Does it matter what I think?” She started softly, burying her face into his golden hair. It smelled like the morning air at dawn, when the world was waking up from a long night. “You’re still alive, aren’t you? So I’ll answer that question when you’re dead.” 

Levia did not mention the hot liquid that hit against her palm in droplets. 

“Wishing for my death, huh?” He spoke with a soft voice, before pulling away in the blink of an eye. His usual strength had returned as though it had never waned in the first place.

The final tear fell from his eye, rolling down as he looked up at her with a smile. It dropped from his chin and splashed against the black, leaving his face stainless. 

“If that’s what you understood from that, you really are hopeless.” She looked at her hand, the one that had cradled his face. The pale skin was stained completely, a crude mixture of red blood and blue tears. 

A small part of her wished she had gotten to see his face as he cried. Just what kind of expression had he been making? It made her shiver just to think about it.

Levia bit her cheek until she could taste iron.

“I’ll be dead by then, so does it really matter if I understand it or not?” He hid his hands behind his back, smiling at her as usual.

“You keep saying that,” she grit her teeth, “but you’re still alive, aren’t you?!”

Behemo blinked. “Yes… I guess I’m still alive.”

“Congratulations.” She clenched her hand, hiding the splattered canvas. “You’ve already outlived two worlds. Are you going to carry on as though you’ll die any minute?”

He chuckled before pressing his lips together. “You ask such difficult questions.” 

“It’s not really difficult.” Levia scoffed. “Surely you have enough proof by now. So start living like there’s something ahead.”

“Living?” He gave her an incredulous look. “In this place? It’s easier to be dead.”

“Then take the easy way out!” She snapped, stamping her foot against the ground. It splashed up as though it were water, the inky black liquid staining her leg before dripping off. Her action caused it to ripple, lapping against his black shoes.

Here she was, throwing a tantrum like she was a child. The things he did to her.

“You’re getting so worked up over nothing.” He tossed his hair over his shoulder.

“Nothing?” She echoed with the same incredulity. “You must be out of your mind.”

“I’m afraid my brain cells must have rotted while we’ve been stuck in this husk.” He snapped back with a snide tone. “Though, according to everyone else I’ve never had any grey matter in the first place. Aren’t I a half-wit dumbass?”

“I see.” She muttered under her breath. Levia raised her head, analysing every inch of his smile. That false thing permanently upon his face like a mask that had been welded on. “Tell me, if you wanted to die quickly then why are you still here?”

Whatever response he had prepared died on his tongue. He had clearly not been expecting those words to leave her mouth. “Eh?”

“Surely there are easier ways to die? I’m sure that hellhole you lived in had euthanasia.” She could see his eye twitch minutely, the way his stance shifted every so slightly back. He had moved without even thinking about it. “Even if that wasn’t the case, I’m sure you could have simply run into enemy fire. If you wanted to die quickly rather than suffer, why aren’t you-” 

“Shut up!” 

The scream drowned out her words entirely but they both knew what she had been about to say. It was a question that led down a train of thought he didn’t want to go down. He would rather jump onto the tracks and let it run him over than ever allow it to carry him to its destination.

Why aren’t you dead yet? 

Behemo looked at her with wide eyes. They glistened with fresh tears but those clear drops didn’t fall. He held them back even as he struggled to breathe properly. “I… don’t know.”

She scoffed. “That’s a weak answer.”

“I said I don’t know!” He yelled at her again. It was such an unfamiliar situation. 

He had never raised his voice against her, he had never raised his voice against anyone. Unlike Levia, who needed to forcefully speak to get her way, he could simply change the tone of his voice and others would react in an instant. 

“Tell me.” She took a step towards him.

“It’s the truth though!” He took a step back. 

“Tell me.”

He leaned away from her. His arms shook as he held them before his face. 

“Behemo.” She grabbed his arms and pulled them to the side. Without any resistance, they fell limply beside him.

“I…” He shuddered. “I’m just unlucky.”

Her mouth opened to ridicule such a ridiculous response but then he kept speaking.

“All this time, I keep surviving. Even when everyone else dies, I’m still around.” He looked up at her through the golden strands of his hair. The ocean blue depths of his were dark as though they had been driven wild by a storm. 

“It’s not fair.” He huffed, pouting childishly as always. His expression didn’t fool her, not for a moment, because she could see tears fall from his eyes until his face was flooded with them. 

“I thought… If I’m going to have to live like this, then at the very least I want someone to like me before I die.” He admitted it as though it was a dirty little secret. As though it was something to be ashamed of.

“Just one person.” He looked down at the ground that was ebbing back and forth like the waves on the shore. “I wanted one person to look at me kindly until the moment I died.”

Someone like him… Levia realised in that moment that she had no hope of understanding him. In the end, he was troubled over something completely and utterly pure. What person didn’t want people to like them? She couldn’t find any fault in that.

Herself on the other hand…

“So that’s why…” She swallowed thickly, unable to finish.

“It’s a bit pathetic right?” He laughed bitterly. “But everyone who fought well… even those who died… they all got praised in the end. Everyone loved them till their last breath. I wanted people to love me too.”

“Are you saying no one loved you? Not even your parents?” Even if Rahab wasn’t suited for motherhood, she never once doubted that her mother loved her. She was just bad at showing it, so surely…

He was quiet for a moment but that silence didn’t ease her nerves. “My mother was a general, you know? You remind me of her. She never stopped thinking about work, her mind was always on the battlefield.” 

“Ah-” She couldn’t help the pained noise that escaped her lips. “So you wanted to become a soldier like her, one she could be proud of?”

“I thought she might finally say I love you…” Behemo’s melancholic expression felt wrong on his face. It didn’t suit the warmth of his features. He chuckled wetly. “Damn, am I that easy to read? Does that mean I’m not special anymore?”

Damnit, don’t say things like that. Levia felt her breath hitch. If you keep saying things like that, then even someone like me will-

“No.” He blinked at her in confusion. “You’re impossible for me to read. I can’t understand you at all.”

His eyes widened a little before he let out a sigh. “I should have expected it.”

Understanding him… was that something she truly wanted? The answer to that question was obvious to her but she didn’t want to admit it aloud. Even in her mind, she wanted to remain oblivious to that truth.

“Why are you making that face?”

His question made her pause. Just what kind of expression did she have at that moment? She didn’t want to know. “I was just thinking…”

“I’m sorry.”

Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up- “You have nothing to apologise for.”

“If it hurts then I’m sorry. If it’s sad then I’m also sorry.” He put a hand on her head, brushing away the golden strands that had fallen onto her face.

“Saying things like that without hesitation just proves you really are an idiot.” Incomprehensible. She didn’t understand it at all. Someone like that couldn’t possibly be her.

But she had understood from the beginning. Even if they shared the same face and made the same expressions, the cause of those emotions was entirely different. They weren’t the same at all, rather they were reflections of each other.

How awful. He was awful. She couldn’t stand to look at him staring at her with those soft eyes. She couldn’t stand how badly she wished he would cry again. 

Drown in all your sorrow, until you can’t find air again. A voice seemed to whisper from inside her. Then at that moment, I’ll drag you from the depths right into hell.

We can both suffer together.

He was driven by innocent desires. She was depraved right down to her core. 

The words on her tongue died, drowned by the bile that rose from her throat. 

Levia took a step back. 

If she said what she had wanted to, she would be condemning them both. She had already told him, he wouldn’t hear those words from her. It would hurt them both if she broke that promise.

“I was thinking I owe you some horrors of my own.” She didn’t meet his eyes as she spoke, terrified that the emotions of them would break her resolve.

Before him, she became weak. 

It was disgusting.

It was something she couldn’t afford to give into.

Behemo shook his head. “Maybe later.” He turned around and started walking again. “I’m tired and frankly, the thought of seeing you cry upsets me.”

Hah. She couldn’t breathe. Hearing him admit it so bluntly, without any hesitation at all, stung. It was proof that they were opposites after all.

Levia swallowed a bitter laugh.

“Later then.” She promised. Following him, she added, “Oh, and I won’t cry.”

“Sure, sure.” He waved his hand dismissively. “If you do I’ll be sure to wipe your tears.”

“Please.” She scoffed, grumbling under her breath as he laughed. It was as joyful as ever, completely bright at her expense.

It was perfect.

Levia wanted so desperately to ruin it. 

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

“Hey.”

Behemo opened his eyes, seeing his counterpart standing over him. The last scene of his memory faded away as his sight adjusted, leaving him with just his reflection and the inky black sky. Levia was smiling. 

When he was younger, had never once thought he would live to see the end of the world, but clearly that day had come. “Hey yourself,” he greeted slowly.

She was still smiling at him. If they were back in the Second Period, he would have assumed she encountered something interesting. Levia only smiled that brightly when there was a particularly gruesome crime she was allowed to investigate herself. Or she had made a breakthrough with her research.

Given the circumstances, he assumed it was the latter. 

“Prepare yourself to be amazed at my genius.” Levia announced proudly. He noticed that her hands were behind her back, completely out of sight.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you sure Marie has a bigger ego than you? Cause that sounds like something she would say.” 

Her eyes widened at his words. The smug expression on her face evaporated in an instant. He had never seen someone deflate so quickly. 

“See, you even puff out your chest in the same way. Though, I guess you actually have something to-”

He saw her tense up in time to prepare himself for the attack. Of course, her aim was always accurate and so he winced as she kicked him in the side. A small cough escaped him but the pain in his side was nothing compared to the glare on her face.

“You- you- you-!” She was so angry she had become incoherent. Her foot raised again and she stomped on his hand. 

Rude. 

“Sorry! It was just a joke!” Behemo cried out, pulling his hand close towards him. One would think those shoes wouldn’t cause so much damage, especially since the person wearing them didn’t have much weight. He knew better by now.

“Ugh!” Her foot tapped against the floor quickly, her irritation evident in her entire manner. “Here I am, trying to do something nice and you have to ruin everything!”

Behemo chuckled at her expression, the pain having vanished entirely. 

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, still scowling fiercely. 

“It was just a joke.” He told her. His counterpart huffed and turned away from him again. It was cute how her golden hair flew up with the motion, revealing the red tips of her ears. “Surely someone like you can handle a little teasing.”

Levia turned so quickly he was scared she’d snapped her neck with the motion. “I can handle it just fine!” She snapped before realising she had been committed to not looking at him and so turned away again.

He watched her for a moment, tilting his head. Her shoulders went up and down sharply as though she were out of breath. “Sure you can.” 

“Well whatever!” In an instant, she whirled around and threw something at him. It hit on his chest, the corner poking sharply before it bounced and landed heavily on his chest. He wheezed at the sudden impact, grabbing at his chest.

“What the-!” His exclamation died on his tongue as his hand landed on something cold. Slowly sitting up, he picked up the metallic box on his chest. The black box sitting in his hand was undeniable.

Except, that wasn’t possible.

Neither him nor Levia had any items on them, aside from the clothes on their back. Yet, he couldn’t see any flaw in the construct of the box. The weight stayed in his hand even if he tried not to think about it. It seemed to be entirely separate from him. It felt real. But that couldn’t be so then how…?

“Happy anniversary!” His counterpart snapped from above. “I thought I’d give you a present after a century of nothing!”

“You…” He blinked, staring at the box and then up at her. It took him a moment to process it but she had really done it after all. Levia had figured out how to make things in this wretched place, even after he had given up hope of seeing anything but this wretched void.

“Yes, me.” She rolled her eyes. Evidently she was still upset at him for ruining her surprise but he didn’t care about that. 

Because he had something in his hands that he could actually feel. “You-” He jumped up, box in hand as he quickly hugged her. It was so sudden she almost fell over but she managed to regain her balance after a moment. “You absolute genius! I could kiss you!”

Behemo could feel the tension leave her shoulders at his words. If he could see her face, he was sure she would be looking smugly at him. At the moment, his vision was filled with the pale skin of her neck, both his and her hair creating rivers of gold amongst the white.

“You’re welcome.” She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him even closer. Their bodies were pressed tightly against one another, leaving no gap between them. Not even the air itself could find a place where they were separate. “I told you I would do it eventually.”

He let out a giggle into her neck. “As always, your ability to keep working amazes me.” He pulled back slightly, looking into her eyes. For once the icy hue seemed warm. 

“You should be used to it by now.” She rolled her eyes. “Perhaps if you did something other than sleep all the time, you might actually get somewhere.”

The bite in her tone made him giggle again, his lips curving up into a vicious smile. “Get us a body and I’ll happily get us right out.” He trailed the base of her neck with his fingers, idly playing with the black box with his other hand. “If you can’t manage that much, then you have no room to complain about me.”

Her smile tightened. “And here I thought you’d be happy with my efforts.” 

Ah, did he tease her a little too much? Well it wasn’t his fault she couldn’t handle taking as much as she gave out. Really, he had barely said anything at all.

Still, while the slight jutting out of her lip was adorable, he didn’t want to see her sad. Pouting over something like this didn’t suit her image at all. “No, I am.” He leaned in a little closer, trailing the width of her collarbone with his fingertips, at least the area of skin that was exposed. “So I’ll reward you, okay?”

The tips of her ears flushed slightly but otherwise she maintained an aloof expression. It was almost convincing. “Oh? What kind of reward?” She raised an eyebrow at him, the glint in her eyes betraying her interest.

“I’m sure you’ll like it.” He promised with a hum. Then his hand snaked quickly from the base of her neck to the back of her head, pulling her in as he kissed her. 

Levia let out a squeak at the sudden contact.

It was natural for her to be surprised. After all, they’re usual routine was that she kissed him and they had never done it the other way around. It wasn’t for a lack of pleasure on his part, he enjoyed the feeling of her lips on his, the taste of her mouth and the intensity of her stare. 

He simply never initiated because he didn’t like the idea behind it. Simply using herself as a way to keep him around, it was something he couldn’t stand. If she wanted to kiss him because she wanted to or because she loved him, he would eagerly reciprocate. Even if she just wanted to kiss him just to experience something, without feeling anything for him, he would be fine with that.

But using her? It tasted sour, leaving him eager to move around as she wanted just so she would stop.

So why was he doing it now? 

They parted for air. It was out of habit more than anything else, if they really wanted to they could go on for eternity. But he had no interest in doing that and she was panting heavily. The blush on her face was clear, her pale skin turning red in an instant. He was sure it would only get redder if it was splattered in blood.

The image made him pause. He licked his lips, watching her as she glared at him.

And she was glaring, her eyes were narrowed in the same way, her eyes cold. Except rather than it being out of rage, she was analysing him. Her eyes searched his face for something but he couldn’t figure out what she was looking for and it seemed she couldn’t find it.

They stayed like that for a moment, too caught up in each other’s eyes to see anything else. Then something hit the floor with a splash. The blackness surged upwards from where the black box had fallen, staining their legs with the inky nothingness.

And just like that, the moment was broken. Behemo smirked at her, trailing a finger against her lips. “And?”

Levia blinked, startled at the sudden address. “And what?” She asked vacantly. Her eyes were focused on his finger, though she didn’t make any move to step away.

“Did you like it?” He asked, the smile evident in his voice. 

Her face turned a vibrant red and for a moment, he wondered whether she would hit him. For some reason, he was sort of looking forward to it. Except, she grabbed him by his collar and pulled him in. Their heads bashed against one another, making him wince. Levia didn’t pull back, keeping their foreheads close despite the slight grimace on her face. It returned to a smirk, the same one that was so often followed by cruel words.

“No.” She breathed out, a sharp breath punctuating her words. “You’re pretty sloppy for a so-called expert.”

His eye twitched. Was she seriously playing this game with him? She must really have gone mad. “Oh really? Then please, if you think you can do better, be my guest.” Behemo spat, his smile widening at the triumphant look in her eyes.

Levia looked at him as though she would devour him whole. Penetrate through the skin, indulge in every drop of his blood until she had ripped the flesh from his bones with her own teeth. 

At that thought, he could only wonder what she might do with the skeleton left behind. If it were him, he would keep it perfectly clean inside a glass coffin. Well, if it were him he would leave her perfectly intact, even if she died.

Levia on the other hand? He could see her grinding his bones down to dust.

She smirked before leaning in even closer. “Gladly.”

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

It turned out there was a limit to what they could create. Levia had figured as much, given the difficulties involved in even making the black box in the first place. It was a long and arduous experiment that frankly was something she never wanted to experience again. 

Despite those gripes, she didn’t regret in the slightest. It had enhanced her understanding of the soul. All of her experiences of this situation did, after all they were deep in the subconscious and thus she had access to aspects of the human mind not easily seen.

Putting her work aside, it also made Behemo happy and so she couldn’t regret it. It was immensely satisfying, seeing him look upon everything with a sense of wonder in his eyes. It made sense of course, it had been more than a century at this point without anything aside from each other. Still, that innocent look on his face suited him quite nicely.

It was almost as beautiful as the face he made when he cried. Of course, this one showed up far more often and so she got to enjoy it more. It was a refreshing part of her routine. She took a break from her research, her attempts to find some sort of contact with the outside world had been slow going, and treated herself to the sight of him simply existing with that smile on his face.

Somehow, he made the simplest things look appealing. While they couldn’t create anything grand, furniture had been the limit of their ability, he was happy just admiring things. The place where he stayed most often was filled to the brim with beautiful dolls in intricate dresses, the kind that belonged in some sort of antique store. 

Then after a few decades his interest switched to flowers and so all around there were bouquets that he had made. She even had one at her desk, one filled with roses and spider lilies, the different hues of red standing out against the white material like a pool of blood. 

Levia watched her counterpart from the side. He was sitting on a bed while he sewed. A soft lullaby resounded from him as he worked, the golden thread standing out against the black fabric. As of late, he had taken to needlework to soothe his boredom. There were intricate embroidered pieces all over the place. 

“Lu li la, lu li la.” He sang as he rocked from side to side, swaying with the melody. She didn’t want to interrupt him and so stayed silent, but in this place, even as more things came to fill the void, there was nowhere to hide if they wanted to find each other.

Behemo looked up at her with a smile on his face. She gave him a look as he pulled the needle through until it was right next to his face. The metal seemed to glint as though reflecting something, but there was no sunlight here despite her efforts.

“Did you need something?” He asked casually.

“No.” She lied with the same blunt tone she usually spoke in. With a stretch, she slowly came over to his side, each step causing ripples beneath her feet.

“It’s like an ocean.” Behemo commented idly, gesturing his head down to the blackness beneath them. His eyes remained on the cloth in his hand, held carefully so the pattern wouldn’t be ruined by a mistake.

“That’s a nice way of thinking about it.” She had reached the edge of the bed but made no move to sit beside him. Instead, she simply looked down at him from above. “Stupid, but nice.”

He let out a light laugh. It was airy and sweet, showing how little her words phased him. It was nice to speak with someone so resilient to her words. Usually, her old colleagues would cry after a while. Even though Michaela and Gumillia had lasted the longest as her students, if she put on just enough pressure even they would crumble.

Perhaps it had to do with his lack of pressure points. She always knew how to trigger certain emotions in people, it was easy. If they had any complaints about her behaviour, she never bothered to listen to them. It was their fault for being too easy to read in the first place. If they didn’t want anyone to bring up their issues, they shouldn’t display them so blatantly in the first place.

Well, they were easy for her to read. Most people she had worked with knew how to hide themselves enough for others to not see what hid behind the mask. Unfortunately for them, Levia was an expert in seeing through people.

When it came to Behemo, she was utterly clueless. The difficulties naturally came with his secretive nature, although she would have easily figured anyone else out even if they never said a word. His display of complete ease threw her off.

Although, she did have one sensitive topic that could sufficiently bring him to tears. 

Except, she didn’t want to go about it that way.

It was strange, usually for the sake of her research she was perfectly fine with bringing up others deepest darkest secrets, the traumas and truths they wished to remain buried, in order to reveal their true selves. A person laid bare will react in the most genuine way possible after all. 

Digging up that thing from the depths felt too far, even for her. Perhaps it was because they shared a face but even her desire to bring him to tears didn’t match the discomfort brought by doing it in such a way. He had chosen to be vulnerable with her at that moment. If it was anyone else, she would have said it was their mistake. 

With him, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“Did you just come to stare at me?” He asked suddenly, bringing her out of her thoughts. From this angle, it was clear to see the design coming into shape as he sewed. The golden roses bloomed against an inky black canvas.

“You sure do like black.” She ignored his question entirely, tilting her head at him. 

He finished another rose, examining his work before responding. “It’s a colour that suits me.”

“I’m sure you could suit anything.” That made his smile feel a bit more real. Of course, that reality only came due to the bitterness that belied his warm expression. As always, he was smiling despite what he felt.

His facade was truly irritating. 

“Why not wear something else?” She grabbed him by the sleeve, stopping his work as she gripped tightly onto the offending fabric. That dress… Levia had always hated it. Not only because it was abnormal for her world, causing people to stare at him, but also because of what it represented.

At this point, it had been over a century and he still wasn’t over that girl.

It was disgusting. 

Just seeing it filled her chest with a sickening feeling, her insides rolling around with disgust. It took some coaxing when he first came to her world, but he eventually diversified his wardrobe with some more normal clothes. It took her sacrificing herself to go shopping with him but in her mind it was for a greater good.

He wore it more often on the Climb One, which she took as many opportunities as possible to insult him on, and then once they had ended up trapped here he had only worn it. It was revolting to see it all the time, but since they weren’t able to change she never made a comment on it. She wasn’t that cruel.

Except, now they could surely wear anything they wanted, so he had no excuse to keep strutting around in that absolute waste of good fabric. 

“What?” Finally, he bothered to actually look at her. Except, his eyes were narrowed in a way that reminded her of her own glare. She couldn’t call it that though, since that infuriating smile was still on his face.

Would he die smiling? She was tempted to check.

Then, he spoke in a surprisingly stern voice. “If you rip it I won’t forgive you.” 

“Hah?” The sound came out involuntarily. It was a momentary lapse in control based on emotion. She simply couldn’t believe something that ridiculous came out of his mouth. “You can repair it in the blink of an eye, so don’t take it so seriously.”

He pulled his arm away quickly. In this place, it wasn’t possible for her to overcome their natural difference in strength. “It’s the thought that matters. If you even try it, I won’t forgive you.”

Was he being serious? She hoped he would suddenly laugh and reveal it had been him messing around as usual. But he returned to his sewing with a tense smile, each tug of the needle seeming more aggressive than the last. So he truly meant those words… How ridiculous. “And what’s stopping me from ripping it up the minute you go to sleep?” She asked him after a moment.

He didn’t bother to even look up at her. “I didn’t realise you wanted to see me naked so badly.” 

Behemo wasn’t taking her seriously at all. It infuriated her to no end. “Well, I can’t help but be curious since you cover so much of it up.’

“And you call me a pervert.” He muttered.

“You are.” She snapped, before grabbing him by the collar. With a tug, she forced him to look up at her and away from the fabric in her hand. Black. Always, always, always black. Was he never interested in anything else?

“Are you going to hit me?” He asked, smiling at her with a dark look in his eyes. The deep blue swirled with an emotion she couldn’t describe, no matter how she tried to figure it out. 

She snorted. “Don’t sound so excited.” Despite her words, her tone was flat as she looked at him. At this angle, it almost hid the offending outfit from sight, leaving his bright face in focus. The gold of his hair looked like the sun against the void.

He blinked. “You aren’t.” He had surmised her intentions quite quickly, even though she had yet to figure out what he was thinking. There was a slight twitch of his lips, where his smile almost faltered, before it was plastered back on with such efficiency it made her shiver. 

“Disappointed?” She had intended for it to be a joke but there was curiosity to her voice that she couldn’t deny.

“A little.” He said so casually she wasn’t sure if he was playing around or not. His voice gave nothing away and neither did his expression. A blank wall. She saw nothing in him at all.

“Then tell you what, I’ll hit you all you want if you do something for me.” 

Behemo considered it for a moment. Then he shook his head, “I don’t want you to hit me, so it’s a useless deal on both our ends.”

The same eyes met one another and yet they were entirely different. Where hers were like ice, his was like the ocean, her cold reflected in his depths. At times, his eyes looked like the sky itself, but the emotion required for that was something she couldn’t rouse in him.

“Could you try making sense for once.” She grumbled, her mood worsening as his smile seemed to brighten.

“If you want to hit me, I’m fine with that,” he put down his project and lifted a hand to her own that was at his neck. “But that doesn’t mean I want you to hit me.”

She blinked. Then again. Another time just for good measure because she wasn’t entirely sure how to function after that. “Ah, so you aren’t a masochist. I’m surprised.” She said eventually.

“I could be if you wanted me to be.” He traced the veins on the back of her hand with frightening accuracy despite not being able to see it. “I’d do whatever you want.”

That sent a tingle up her spine. “You’re pathetic.”

“I know.” He smiled as always, without a hint of anything beneath it. “But I can’t be anything else.”

Levia paused. “Then we’re both pathetic…” She muttered under her breath.

That made him still. For a moment he was frozen, before he quickly looked up at her in confusion. The emotion in his eyes was clear to her for once, although she was sure she was wrong. After all, why would he be hurt ?

Well, it didn’t matter at that moment. She had moved without thinking, throwing him harshly onto the bed before climbing on top of him. While her gun sat heavy in her pocket, she didn’t want to defile it by using it on him. 

She didn’t want to defile him.

“If you’ll do whatever I say,” she glared at him. He stared up at her with wide eyes, the kind that were more curious than scared. Yet that hurt was still darkening his dark blue hue and it made her want to scream. “Then you’ll strip for me, no?”

He blinked and confusion set in. “What?” 

A knife was at his throat in an instant. She hadn’t really thought about it before it suddenly appeared in her hands. Did she want to use it on him? Was she just trying to scare him? Even she didn’t know the answer. Her hand trembled around the hilt of the blade as the metal dug into his neck. 

It wasn’t enough to make him bleed. But she could, she could overrun the black and white with red until he was drowned in it. Covered in blood, completely underneath her…

She swallowed thickly.

“You heard me.” She took the knife and used it to remove his bow. The fabric came loose easily, unravelling in an instant as she flicked the black ribbon to the side. “Take off your clothes.”

He didn’t seem panicked, even as she played with the buttons of his shirt with the knife. Instead, he seemed confused. “I… Why?”

She clicked her tongue. After saying all that, couldn’t he just listen to her? “It seems if I want to get you to wear something else, I’ll have to force you.” 

“Oh.” It was a waste of air to say something so inane. Except, it truly seemed as though his mind had stopped working for a moment. And then she felt him relax beneath her, as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. “If you wanted me to wear something else, you should have just said so.”

She grit her teeth as he took hold of the knife. His hand wrapped around the blade unflinchingly before tossing it aside. It clattered against the void, making splashes as it rolled away from them. 

Then he sat up easily, forcing them closer as she hovered over his lap. He looked up at her, his head tilted back so he could meet her eyes. Even if it wasn’t a large distance, she was still looking down on him. That was enough then, for her blood to be satisfied.

Her heart liked this position even more.

“Well, what do you want me to wear?” Behemo asked in a soft voice. It was low and sweet, though it caused her insides to burn as though she had drunk a harsh liquor. It was equally as intoxicating, the difference between his usual cheer and this…

Levia traced his face with her finger until she reached the bottom of his chin. She pushed it up more, forcing him to strain as she held herself right above his head. Anymore and it might snap. “Something formal…” She hummed, “I’m tired of seeing you in a dress.”

Anything similar to that maid outfit would be enough to put her off.

“So you just want me in a suit then?” He tilted his head.

“I think it would be quite nice.” Levia leaned in even closer. “Wear a tie.”

“Why?” 

She narrowed her eyes. “So I can pull you around.”

He chuckled, “why not just get a leash?”

Levia frowned at the way her heart raced at the idea. “I could get a better behaved pet than you.” She rolled her eyes, pulling away from him.

 “I see.” He didn’t protest as she got off of him, sitting cross legged on the bed. Her dress rolled upwards but she didn’t pay it any mind. Even if she couldn’t say the same, he had certainly seen enough of her body not to care about something small like that. “Then will you be matching me?”

“If you think up something nice for me to wear, then sure.” She waved her hand dismissively.

He nodded. His hands moved up to his neck and the first button was halfway through the slit before he paused.

“Turn around.” Behemo told her. It was spoken with enough severity to sound like an order.

“Sure, you jackass.” She grumbled, turning around fully so that she couldn’t see him. Her hands went over her eyes. “I won’t even try and catch a glimpse.”

Instead of teasing her back, he made a small noise of acknowledgement. “Good.”

Honestly… She didn’t understand him at all.

The sound of rustling filled her ears as she stared at the palms of her hands. Dots of colour filled her vision in the interim. They danced around without a care in the world.

Because she was feeling kind, she kept her eyes closed even when the sound stopped. If she turned around now he’d likely be dressed and equally he’d likely be upset about it anyway. And everyone called her temperamental.

Suddenly, he tapped her on the shoulder. Her instinct was to flinch but she kept herself calm, turning around slowly. 

Behemo had chosen something with plenty of layers. She wasn’t surprised in the least. The black suit had a waistcoat and shirt underneath that were the same exact shade. There wasn’t a speck of white on him, so she had to give him points for that. Still…

She licked her lips. “Black, again?”

“I told you it suited me.” He held out something to her. It was silky and smooth to the touch, the material seemed to shimmer like moonlight on the sea. “And if this dress were any other colour I don’t think it would suit you as well.”

Levia held it up to examine it. It flowed down from her hands, almost slipping out of them entirely. She pursed her lips. 

“Shall I help you put it on?” He offered without a hint of hesitation. It was unbelievable at times how he didn’t realise his own hypocrisy.

“No.” She tossed the dress back at him. “I said I’d only wear it if I liked it.”

He stared at her for a moment. Rather than looking offended, he just gave her the same curious look as usual. “Oh? Then what’s the matter with it?”

Levia glared at him. “Does it matter?” She held the tie in her hand, running her fingers over the smooth fabric. Then, she tugged on it, forcing him closer. “I like this enough. It suits you.”

“Is that so?” His smile brightened after a moment, something dancing in his eyes. “Well, unfortunately I can’t wear this all the time.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

With a chuckle, he asked, “Does it matter?”

She clicked her tongue. For a moment, she was immensely glad that the knife was no longer in her hands. If it was, she would have stabbed him. She could practically see him bleeding out beneath her.

What would happen if he had nothing left inside? In this place, would he keep bleeding for eternity?

Suddenly, he placed a hand over hers. Instead of it being a gentle caress, he squeezed down as though trying to crush it. Levia knew he wouldn’t do that, if he really wanted to, her hand would already be broken. 

“You have such nice fingers.” He commented idly, before grabbing one. “Soft, thin, dainty.”

He pulled it back as he carried on speaking, further and further until it began to reach its limit. Anymore and it would break but she kept from voicing her discomfort.

Behemo looked her in the eyes, the usual brightness in them was gone completely. The pressure increased until her finger snapped, and still he kept squeezing. She bit down on her cheek to keep herself from screaming. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“It doesn’t suit you.” He said with a smile that didn’t meet his eyes.

Levia could only stare at him numbly, the pain making her feel lightheaded. Her mouth fell open and then- 

She laughed.

The tears pricking at the corner of her eyes came loose as she laughed. It was bordering on hysteria with how she couldn’t stop.

All the while, Behemo kept smiling at her. His hand kept a firm grip around hers.

“Y-you-” She got out between chuckles once she managed to control herself a little. “You maniac!”

“Always have been one, dear.” With his free hand, he patted her hand gently. The grip he held onto it didn't change in the slightest. In fact, she was sure she heard another crack. “You should be used to it by now.”

Levia blinked at him.

And then she burst out laughing again.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

“So-” Levia sat down on top of him, “I have good news.”

“Oh really?” He said, narrowing his eyes at her. It was a little difficult to look at her properly since her weight was keeping his torso from moving.

She ignored it as always and continued to speak, “It took me quite a while but I think I’ve figured out a way to do it. Of course, it’s annoying to go through so many hoops but most methods didn’t work. At first I thought-”

Behemo tuned her voice out as she started talking about the logistics. Everytime she went into these long explanations he never understood a word that came out of her mouth. It was better for him not to pay attention than give himself a headache trying to. 

Taking hold of her hand, he brought it to his face. He traced along the lines of her palm. Her finger had healed the minute he released his hold on it, and now there wasn’t a single hint that it had been broken. 

“So of course I switched gears but even then it went nowhere. I mean, technically speaking all around this body is rock and metal. In hindsight it’d be a rather useless-”

He smiled at it, lifting it up gently. Levia was so caught up in her explanation she didn’t even notice. Although, she’d glanced at him for barely a second before carrying on. So then, it was more that she was choosing not to mention it rather than being unaware.

That was good. A lack of awareness could get someone killed.

“Now, after all that mess, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try a completely different direction. The problem is that the brain is rather complicated when it comes to-”

Behemo opened his mouth and placed the finger on his tongue. It felt cold to the touch, the taste of her skin filling his mouth. 

Her icy eyes glanced down before looking away again. Then she carried about the brain and the soul with a bunch of concepts and words he could understand individually but not together.

He focused on the sound of her voice instead. The small lilt of her tone and the hints of an accent that she had tried desperately to remove. He remembered her talking about ir. Something about prioritising clarity above all else. In a situation where she had to speak English more often than not, she didn’t want to be overlooked because her accent was too thick to understand her. 

He could understand that to an extent. His parents expected him to be good at several languages and not make any blunders in any of them. For the sake of ensuring good relations with their business partners and such. It was only right for someone of his status to be well learned.

If he made a mistake… 

Ah, well, he’d already experienced far worse in life, so shivering over some childhood punishments was embarrassing. 

She hadn’t removed her finger, hadn’t made a noise when he placed it there. The single spot on his tongue had turned cold but now it was trying to warm itself again. The heat seeped into her fingertip, matching the temperature.

He moved another finger inside. And then another. His other hand traced the veins on the back of hers.

“And then-” Levia announced suddenly. “I solved it.”

In an impulsive move, he sank his teeth down. His jaw closed with a snap and he could feel his canines puncture the skin beneath. She flinched in response but didn’t say a word.

Her hand squirmed in pain as he gnawed at them. Down from the end of her fingers to the palm of her hand he left bite marks all over her pale skin. Small rivulets of blood trailed from the places he had bitten too hard, adding to the flushed colour. 

Slowly, he licked up the red liquid, letting it dye his tongue.

“-and so, that’s the basic gist of it.” His counterpart waved dismissively at the end. She stared at him for a moment before ripping her hand away. The bite marks were already starting to disappear from it. “So shall we go then?”

The taste of her blood was still heavy on his tongue. “Go?”

That earned him a swift hit to the head. “I should have known you weren’t listening! You dumbass!” Another hit. And another for good measure.

He raised his arms to shelter himself but she had already turned away. “If you had been listening you would know.” She grumbled, jumping off of him. “We’re going to see outside.”

Behemo sat up slowly, his lower body numb. He could feel himself tingling, his nerves alive beneath his skin. He swallowed thickly. “W-what?”

The blonde paused her stretching, taking a moment to stare at him numbly. “Hey,” She started with a frown on her face. “Are you stupid?”

Outside. As in out of this prison? Beyond the abyss they had been living in and into the real world?

“Sometimes I think you must have some intelligence but I’m starting to wonder if you’re just selectively smart.” 

He had long lost hope of seeing the sky again. Just the thought of it made his heart ache and flutter all at once. And they could go? Just like that?

“See, you’re even looking at me with a dumb expression on your face. How on earth you manage to survive day to day is beyond me.”

His eyes were stinging. “We… we can go?” His voice sounded so frustratingly small. A quiet whisper, shaky and weak, that could be snatched away by a strong breeze and lost to the wind.

Levia blinked before smiling at him. It was more of a smirk really, filled with the same egotism she had always possessed. It didn’t matter to him though. “Of course. I told you I would figure it out.”

Yet another reason as to why she was named a millennium prodigy.

Sometimes he worried that his counterpart was too smart for her own good. If she decided to use her intelligence for evil, he was sure that no one would survive the onslaught that would ensue.

How lucky they all were that she was hellbent on being good. 

“I never doubted you for a minute.” He had simply wondered whether the body would die before she had solved it or not. Even if they were no longer bound to a human lifespan, if the flesh rotted away they could not stay within the body.

Death was inescapable. He had made sure of that when constructing both this body and the humans that currently roamed the earth. 

“You are such a dumbass.” She laughed at him. This time it was without the insanity that had tainted her voice before. “Come.”

Levia outstretched a hand towards him, the same smirk on her face. He stared at her palm, the one he had been thinking of tearing to shreds with his teeth. Not out of a desire to see her ruined. He just wanted a part of her, that’s all. Maybe consuming her flesh would make him more like her. 

That was a foolish idea but he had long run out of sane thoughts in this place.

Her hand was all healed now, completely flawless just like the rest of her. Well, aside from her hair, there was something she needed to be bad at. He stared at it, then glanced up at her.

The position brought back memories. When they had first met. Even if it was a fabrication, the scene was etched into his mind like it had been branded there by the sun itself. He would likely never forget it, the way she had saved him.

Behemo was sure that was what he had intended when he programmed him. 

“Do you not want to go?” She asked him suddenly, a confused expression on her face.

“Don’t ask stupid questions, Levia.” He chuckled, taking her hand as she grumbled in offence. “That’s what I’m here for.”

She snorted, pulling him up to his feet. “I’m glad you acknowledged it.”

“Everyone always tells me I’m an idiot, so forgive me for being slow.” He said with a smile, holding her hand gently. He could squeeze it till the bone shattered in his grip, till it was mangled and useless. 

Just like him.

He could do it.

“Well,” She placed her hands on his face before he could entertain the thought further. Holding them in front of his eyes, he couldn’t see a thing. “Close your eyes.”

Levia took a step behind him while his eyes were still covered. He made no move to stop her as he followed her instructions. She pressed up against him, leaving barely any room between the two.

Perhaps this would have made more sense if he had listened to her.

Oh, who was he kidding? He wouldn’t understand it either way.

They stood like that for a moment before she whispered in his ear, “Ready?”

It was a stupid question. She had been asking a lot of those recently, but he had no room in his heart to be mad at her. There was no room to tease her, nor make a quip at her expense. After all, he found his tongue stuck in his throat. 

The pressure built until he felt like he was going to be sick. He was suddenly filled with nervousness, his hands shaking at his side. Anticipation made him lightheaded. He felt like he had already lost his mind. What did the sky look like? Even if his memory was perfect it felt like his image could be a fabrication. With a single glimpse, he could see whether it was truth or an illusion.

What if the sky was red? He remembered it being so vibrantly red that it felt like it had been stained in blood. It made sense, the ground was equally soaked until he felt like he was wading in a sea of red. It belonged in a painting, a masterpiece of war.

He was soaked to the bone with it when he crawled out of hell and when he woke up again he was greeted with a bright blue sky. 

Right now was it azure or was it crimson? He wanted to know. He wanted to see it. 

With a small, jerky nod, she removed her hands. 

The world before him was filled with light. Sunlight poured down from above onto greenland that stretched on as far as he could see. From plains filled with flowers to the edge of the valley were a great forest spread onwards and even further. 

The air whistled as it passed him, causing the trees to sway to the melody. The grass tickled his feet, each strand pressing against his skin. The sun warmed him, the world almost too bright for his eyes.

He had grown so used to the dark and now…

Behemo looked up at the blue sky. His heart swelled with joy at the beauty of it. A few white clouds drifted along but it was a bright expanse covered by nothing. There were no buildings blocking his sight, no towers of ruin nor bodies that obscured his vision. He could practically touch it. 

He lifted up a hand and felt the wind kiss his fingers.

A small laugh escaped his lips.

“Well?” Levia tilted her head from behind him. He whirled around to look at her. She had her arms crossed, watching him with the same nonchalant expression. “What do you think of the new Earth?”

“Well?” He echoed before letting out a laugh. “I love it!”

Then, in a fit of euphoria, he jumped onto the ground and let himself roll down the hillside. He could feel each small stone dig into him as he tumbled down but he didn’t care in the slightest. Laughing all the way, he reached the bottom with a bright smile on his face.

His skin and clothes were stained with patches of green. His parents would have disapproved. The maids would have fainted. And him? He didn’t care one bit.

Behemo rolled around to look at the sky above. The clouds drifted overhead but they never covered the bright sun. Even if he should look away, he stared right into anyway.

He could hear approaching footsteps and figured that Levia had come to chase him. With a giggle, he sat up and hoped she wouldn’t be too mad about him ditching her. He turned towards the sound, already preparing an apology-

Except, the person before him wasn’t Levia. 

It couldn’t be considering that dark hair and masculine build. If he had actually confused them she would have killed him. The idea almost made him laugh but his mouth was dry.

After all, before his eyes was another person. Another human being.

Behemo had thought he would never see anyone else again. 

“H-Hi!” He called out to them as they approached. They kept walking closer and closer, their expression unchanging. “Hello!”

“Behemo!” Levia called out from behind him, the sound of her breath ragged. She was running towards him but his eyes were focused on the person.

“Hey!” Even if they didn’t speak the same language, surely they would react to the sound. Despite his calling, the other person kept walking on.

The blond stood up, running ahead to look at the person. He stopped just before them, staring at them curiously. 

“Hey-”

His words died in his throat as the person walked through him. One moment they had been before them, the next they were behind him. In a swift step, they had gone through him entirely.

For a moment he felt nothing. His counterpart was calling out to him but her voice sounded far away. It took him a moment to process what just happened, he didn’t want to believe it. But the strange feeling of something going through him…

Strange?

No. It didn’t feel like anything at all. It wasn’t as though he had suddenly become incorporeal. He had simply never been real in the first place. The feeling of the grass on his skin, the wind blowing through his hair, the sun shining down on him. It was all made up by his mind.

Even if he could see it, he wasn’t really here. The sky above was so far out of reach, trapped in the depths of the earth as they were. He couldn’t hope to see it.

He… really was an idiot.

“Behemo!” Levia came to a stop just behind him. She took a moment to gather her breath but he didn’t turn to face her. He couldn’t… He couldn’t bear to look at her.

The only person he could speak to. The only person he could touch.

Was that a lie too? Was it even real?

“What were you thinking? Running off like that?!”

Behemo felt cold. He felt heavy and light at the same time, as though he might fall to the earth and be carried away by the wind.

“I was worried when you just started speaking to that guy… but I guess since we’re just projecting ourselves here it’s impossible for them to hear us.”

Except, he couldn’t even feel the wind. It wasn’t really affecting him. What stopped him from just sinking into the earth and falling through? Would he keep falling until he reached the otherside?

“Our body’s voice box is far beneath the earth after all, so in order for them to hear us… would we need to bring it up here?”

And after that? Would he fall into the darkness of space? Further and further and further.

Never dying. Never growing cold. 

“What do you think?”

He had no need for air, no need for food. He was just an illusion wandering around without any basis in reality.

Was he real? Had he been dead all along? What if it was all a dream? What if it was just the last musings of a dying man? 

“…Behemo?”

Why are you calling that name?

After all, Behemo Barisol died over a hundred years ago. I was just carrying on his name like a machine.

What am I even here for?

What’s the point?

He felt himself hit the ground but the sensation was numb. He could hear someone approaching but was that even real? What was the point in continuing this charade? 

“Behemo!” 

What was the point of him? Behemo Barisol had died and left one single purpose to him. To ensure a better future for humanity, he had done all he could to bring to life a new world. And he had done it.

That person was proof after all. Humanity had a chance to live again, live better. A world where there would no longer be fear in everyone's hearts, nor days where there were more dead to bury than there were living people to mourn them.

“Behemo!”

So what was he here for? What purpose did he serve? There was no point to his existence anymore… So really, he should just die.

No human should live for so long. He had already surpassed a normal human lifespan, there should be no problem in him finally resting now. After outliving not just one but two entire civilisations… surely he could be allowed to sleep?

He was tired.

“Behemo!” 

Levia was hovering over him. Her outfit was stained with patches of green. Someone would have to clean it. She was always so careless sometimes. He doubted she cared, he didn’t have the room to care anymore. 

The golden strands of her hair clung to her face. Her expression though was unusual. Her eyes were narrowed, shining brightly despite the shadow cats over them. The ice within them had melted entirely and was pouring out of them and onto him in droplets. They rolled down her cheeks and turned them red as she yelled his name again and again and again.

“Behemo!” 

Levia. 

Was that why he was still here? He didn’t know anymore. He had never been the best with his own feelings. What did his heart want? What was it telling him when it squeezed or pounded in his chest? Why did he feel the emotions he did? What even were they? 

Behemo could never answer any of those questions. He was too tired now to try.

“Kill me.”

It left his lips like they were his final words. Perhaps they would be. 

Levia certainly looked as though she wanted to kill him. The brief shock that had taken control and left her slack jawed had vanished into fury. Would she hit him? He hoped she would tear him apart until he couldn’t think anymore.

Then, her lip curled into a snarl. “No.”

He should have expected that much. “…Please.” 

The rage in her eyes swelled up, the inferno burning away the ice until all that remained was a sea that could not be contained in them. 

“It would be the kind thing to do, wouldn’t it?” She breathed out, holding him by the collar of his shirt. “To relieve someone of their misery…”

He let out a small breath. Would she really-?

Then the small hope that was building in his chest was crushed in an instant as her eyes froze over. She leaned in closely, pulling him towards her. “You should have asked someone kinder.” She whispered, her breath hot against his lips.

She was always hot, as though she was still alive and not a wandering ghost like he was. “N-no-”

Levia kissed him before he could protest, her tongue forcing its way inside. It was hot, it was too hot. His skin burned, his blood was boiling and he felt like he was on fire.

She pulled after a moment. Her eyes stared at him without any emotion in them at all. “I’ll keep you here until the day I die.” 

Behemo stared at her.

“You’re mine, aren’t you?” It wasn’t a question. “You said you would do whatever I wanted. Then you’ll stay here with me and you won’t leave me ever again.”

She looked at him expectantly but his throat was too dry to speak.

“Do you understand?”

Her grip tightened and he wondered what would happen if he refused her. Would she kill him? He doubted it. Then what would the alternative be?

“Do you understand?”

He was sure she would break him until he agreed.

With a weak jerk of the head, he nodded in response.

A smile graced her face. It wasn’t her usual smirk. It was neither smug nor cruel. It was just a gentle smile, filled with happiness. 

Behemo hadn’t seen her smile that way before. It made his heart beat faster, fluttering in his chest as though it might rip its way out and take flight. He stared at that bright smile, one that he had never seen before.

It was a work of art. A masterpiece one would only see once in a lifetime. Why didn’t she do it more often? Why was she smiling at him?

And suddenly he was filled with a desire to see that smile forever. He wanted to immortalise it until the day he could no longer see it anymore. The feeling of drifting away with that smile acting as his final farewell…

It disappeared from her face before he could enact that fantasy. And so, his new purpose was simple enough.

Behemo wanted to see that smile again.

And then he would finally sleep forever. 

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

If he was difficult to understand before, then Levia was sure it was impossible now. 

Ever since that day, he had been acting strangely. At least he hadn’t done anything drastic, but to say the person she was stuck in this place with was the same Behemo felt like a lie. 

He no longer did the things he used to enjoy. In fact, all the remnants of his previous hobbies had disappeared entirely, leaving much of the colour drained. She had forgotten how oppressive the dark expanse had been. 

The roses and spider lilies were still proudly displayed on her desk. Apparently since they were hers, he wouldn’t remove them. All that was left that belonged to him was the bed, the same bed they had shared back home. Was there some sort of attachment there? She figured there must be but she wasn’t quite sure why.

Behemo loved her. After all this time she would be an idiot to believe otherwise. It was simply a fact that he had no trouble showing. Even if he never said those three words, he made it well known in other ways. 

The question was why he loved her. That and what exactly the love he had for her was. For a while she had assumed that he’d developed an actual familial affection for her, in accordance with their roles. She had never felt much attachment for him in that way, the idea of family was not a happy one for her. It used to make her feel guilty for not reciprocating.

But of course, he admitted himself that he never viewed her as a sister.

Levia sat on the edge of the bed, watching him as he slept. If he wasn’t asleep he was wandering around aimlessly. He felt like a ghost. Truth be told, she was scared he would suddenly disappear one day. 

After the first time they had seen the outside world, they hadn’t gone out again for a few years. Levia was worried he would break down again and he made no mention of going either. 

But if they wanted to get out, she had to go outside. 

Unlike him, she was perfectly fine not speaking to people. Others only got in the way, after all. It helped to see how they were developing at the least. None of the humans were capable of getting down to them with their current technology. She’d have to wait for them to advance a bit beforehand but that could take centuries at their rate.

Was there a way to give them a push? No matter where she looked, she couldn’t find any signs of civilization. They were still running around in small groups, barely even the size of villages. 

Damn it. At times like this, she wished she could find anyone capable of communicating with them but all her attempts came up empty. They were stuck playing the waiting game it seemed.

That was fine by her. She could wait for all eternity if it meant they could finally escape this place. But him? She brushed away a few loose strands from his face. She wondered how long he could hold out for.

Slowly, she climbed off of the bed with a sigh. Levia draped her lab coat over him as another layer before turning away. For a moment she closed her eyes and then in an instant she was somewhere on the surface.

It always took her a moment to orient herself. The sun felt far too bright after being locked away underground. It was strange, really, how part of her seemed to miss that gaping void whenever she left it. It was amusing in a twisted way. She could only laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

A group of people walked past her, not fully grown and holding branches and sticks in their arms. Ever so slowly the world was moving away from their roots. She watched them walk past, speaking to each other plainly about mundane things.

It was a little like the conversations her counterpart would have with their colleagues. He always asked about their day, the work they were doing and other things that he never needed to know. Levia didn’t bother with such pointless questions, it meant nothing to her. Yet he sat through every complicated explanation about astronomy or history without a word of complaint.

The group of youths were talking about the sights in the woods. The animals they had seen that they didn’t have a name for, the new plants they had discovered. It was… quaint. Mundane. So utterly normal and yet entirely alien to her that she found herself vaguely interested. It wasn’t as though she cared about the terraforming the others had done or the wild creatures Vlad had created, she just wanted a small break from her own situation.

Perhaps if they found something interesting, she could coax Behemo to the surface again and he would smile.

With that idea in mind, she set off after them at a sedate place. It was easy to follow the group, if only because she didn’t have to worry about the foliage. While they had to avoid the great trees, she could walk right through them if she wanted to.

Levia had to give her crew members one thing, it was at least a nice forest to look at. They were mentioning something about a black bird but there were no animals in sight. It seemed eerily quiet aside from the humans talking.

She was glad she never got tired, they had been walking for a while now and she was starting to get bored. There was nothing interesting in these woods. She had never been an outdoor person anyway. 

Except, they kept making mention of something she wanted to figure out. For the most part, it was easy to understand what they were saying. It was far from eloquent, barely coherent really, but she had the fortune of being there as the language developed. She had pretty much grasped everything they had been talking about this far except for this one word.

Eldoh.

She couldn’t link it to anything no matter how hard she thought. There weren’t many things these humans had to talk about and she knew all the necessary words for daily life. Things like food or dangers, stuff about nature, she knew how they called them and how each group differed slightly. 

It wasn’t her particular interest, this sort of thing was more aligned with Marie and the linguistic department, but understanding people meant she needed to know how they speak. She was sure that brat would find it interesting though. If they ever got to talk again, maybe she would tell her about it.

Ah, who was she kidding? They’d probably never see each other again. If she was even alive.

“-eldoh-”

The word brought her out of her thoughts. The young humans were hiding in the bushes, looking out at a clearing before them. She stepped ahead of them, standing at the edge as she leaned against a tree. 

It wasn’t a particularly interesting patch of grass. This place was a welcome break from the sprawling undergrowth but aside from the great tree in the centre the place was empty. 

Levia tilted her head at the tree. 

Another group emerged from the tree. They were more varied in age, with green hair - just like his . She was starting to loathe that colour. They walked towards the great tree and only then she noticed the grooves in the bark. 

It looked almost like a face. 

She watched them kneel before the tree, holding their hands together in prayer. They murmured words under their breath, fast and quiet. Levia stepped closer, to hear them better.

Another step. 

The voices got slightly clearer. They were saying thanks, wishing for more. It was always the same with people, they were never satisfied with what they had. 

Another step.

That face seemed almost familiar. The bark looked different, nearly flesh light in the shade of the clearing. The sunlight barely could reach through the thick leaves.

Another step.

Something about it was… That tree seemed different to the others. She didn’t quite know what she was looking at but she was sure it was strange. 

Another step.

It was almost as if she knew that face. Who? Who was it?

Another step.

“-Held.”

The name gave her pause. Her whole body stiffened as though she had been frozen. At first she thought she had misheard but playing back their words in her head, she found no room for an alternative interpretation.

Levia swallowed thickly. Her knees felt weak, her head light. No… 

Her limbs barely responded as she struggled to keep herself upright. Again, she took another step forward and gasped for air with a desperate breath. Surely… It can’t be…

Levia stared at that face. The face she had known for most of her life. And she fell to her knees.

It was so obvious now, so crystal clear it was a miracle that she hadn’t seen it before. The thing living inside that wood, hidden and protected under that wizened bark was a soul. 

It was him.

The world felt like too much. There was far too much green around her, drowning her in that awful colour. She hated it. She hated him. The sunlight dappled against her skin, half of her flesh still bathed in the shade cast by his leaves. 

Levia squeezed her eyes shut and tried desperately to ignore the feeling of something crawling over her skin.

In a blink, she was back in the abyss. Her body felt heavy, as though she couldn’t control it. As though it was actually real. The reality weighed heavy on her consciousness and dragged her soul into the void. 

Another gasp for air allowed her to move again. She pulled herself out of the inky black, it splashing with her sudden ascent as she clambered towards the bed. With her body shaking, Levia crawled to her counterpart who was sleeping soundly on it. Her legs felt strangely numb, like she was dragging them behind her. Clawing towards him, she let out an awful sound.

Her guttural scream- or maybe it was a cry, perhaps a moan, she couldn’t quite tell what that desperate noise that emerged from her was- woke him up. Behemo glanced down at her with the same blank look in his eyes before they widened with concern. 

“Levia?” He reached out towards her, a hand coming to rest on her head. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“That- that-” She struggled to speak, her throat kept closing and opening. “That bastard!”

She wanted to break something. To hurt something. Someone. Him . Tear, rip, destroy until he was nothing but ash beneath her hands. Her fingers yearned to rip into him until not even a trace of him remained. 

It was the least he deserved.

But she was stuck. Stuck in this miserable place without the means to rip him in half and then in half again. She so badly wanted to gut him, to bring him down to his knees and make him wish he had died before reducing him to the same ghost he had made them.

“What are you talking about?” His voice was gentle as he spoke and she realised her coat was draped over her shoulders. If it were at any other moment, she would have been glad to see the glimpse of his old self back.

Now, she was too filled with rage to care. “That absolute fucking hypocrite!” She slammed a fist against his chest, “Take a guess where he is! What he’s doing! Who does he think he is to do this to us- to all of us?!”

Behemo didn’t even wince as she hit him again and again. “I don’t understand…”

“Then you’re an idiot!” She slammed her head against his chest. A weak laugh escaped her throat, so weighed down in bitterness she could taste it seep from her mouth. “…We’re all idiots. Every last one of us.” 

That bastard had ruined them. All of them. Just because of one small disagreement, he had ruined all of their lives. Were the others even alive? She had no way of knowing. The question plagued her thoughts every moment she spent in this miserable place, wishing for even a moment that they wouldn’t have to spend another year in this hell.

Even if they were freed? What would await them except an unknown world and the rotting corpses of all they had known? There would be no one left to care about revenge, nor anyone they could reap their vengeance upon. Because they would all be dead.

Except they weren’t all dead. He was there, being worshipped as God without any care for the lives he had ruined. He had denied them their right to help the new humans and was now sitting there and accepting their lavish praises. Was he helping them too? Twisting nature just to favour the ones who came clambering to him as though he cared?

“Held… He’s up there.” She whispered, staring unseeingly into the black of his dress. “In a great big tree. And they’re praying to him… like he’s a god.” She spat.

Levia realised at that moment that he never cared. He couldn’t have, if he could so easily throw away all they had together. 

Held had never been a kind boss, far from it, but there was a fondness to him that shone through even in his severity. He told them sternly to take vacations, completely ignoring how he never took his own. He listened to their concerns, even those that barely related to their work, and gave advice to them. He wished all of his employees a happy birthday, and gave them well wishes for the holidays. He was friends with her mother, he carried her home when she fell asleep at her desk or drank too much at a function.

He tucked Levia into bed beside her mother. He listened to her as an equal when she talked about psychology. He taught her things that were far beyond her age’s ability. He believed in her.

And he threw that all away in an instant over one small thing.

Was it so easy for him to abandon all those memories? Did he ever even care? Of course not, there was no way he could. That man was a liar, through and through. What flowed through his veins could hardly be called blood, as inhumane as he was. It must have been something else, something like that sap that filled his current form, sweet and appealing and completely incompatible with human blood. 

“He… what?” Behemo seemed to get even colder but his rapidly dropping temperature didn’t even phase her. All she could think about was if Luna was also out there somewhere, completely desecrating the memory of the crew with their actions. Those two had started it all, the conflict that led to the crash, all because they wouldn’t agree with the majority.

So high and mighty they were, filled with the belief in human autonomy. And here they were, exposing their true selves. It must have been a bid for power after all. Did they not like the insubordination? Could they not stand to have other, lesser people, act as gods on the same level as them? Did they only treat them kindly because they didn’t agree with them?

“After everything he did…” She gripped him tightly, her fingernails digging into the flesh. Something hot dripped down onto her skin, flowing down her hands. She didn’t care though. How could she? “Why?”

Even if she had realised their true nature, there was a part of her that still could not comprehend it. The child that she was, who had looked upon those two so fondly as mentors and people she could trust, was still looking for an answer. She wanted so desperately for an explanation that would absolve them of their sins.

Except they were drowning in them and her current self could not turn a blind eye to them.

Behemo stroked her hair gently as he spoke, “Humans are such fascinating creatures. They are equally capable of such kindness and such cruelty all at once.” 

She let out a shaky breath, shivers wracking her body. “What… what did we do to deserve their cruelty then?”

Levia couldn’t see his face but she imagined he was smiling like always. Even if that wasn’t the expression he bore, she would rather imagine that comforting sight than face the truth. In this moment, she needed something to hold onto or else she would sink into the abyss.

“Love and hate are two sides of the same coin.” He told her with a voice that spoke of experience. “I don’t pretend to understand people who do unforgivable things.”

“I…” She could almost hear his heartbeat, pounding soothingly against her head. “I hate him. I hate him so much.” 

Her blood boiled.

“I want him dead.” That man, that monster, deserved to suffer for everything he did to them. She would not rest until she saw him reduced to nothing. He could live the rest of his wretched life slowly wasting away in an empty void.

“Then it’s simple.” Behemo grabbed her cheeks gently, tilting her head back so she could look at his face. His eyes were a dark blue, the sea inside them running wild with the storm. “We’ll kill him.”

Levia swallowed again. The tears that threatened to spill from her eyes were held back with all her might. She dared not to speak because she knew that if she opened her mouth, she could not hold back her cries.

“He’s a tree right? Some great oak in a forest?” Without waiting for a response, a smile graced his face. It was a slow, unnerving thing that showed far too many teeth. With a face cast in shadow, he told her sweetly, “If he put us in a dragon, he shouldn’t be surprised by what happens next. We’ll burn him, I promise. That forest of his will turn to ash.”

The image was appealing. She could practically feel the fire burning under her skin. The scent of smoke filled her senses until she could see that forest set alight. “And no one will save him then.” 

Even those humans of his would turn from him once they realised what he was truly like. He would let them all rot to keep to his own view of how the world should be. A place where he is right above all others and everyone else can rot.

“He ruined all the people that used to love him.” He told her in a matter of fact tone. “He shouldn’t be surprised when there’s no one to turn to.”

Levia nodded numbly. Her skin was tingling too much to feel anything properly. “I’ll kill him.”

Behemo stroked her hair again. “Of course, my dear.” He leaned in closer until she could feel his breath on her face. “Burn him as long as you like, I’ll pour the gasoline.”

And then he kissed her gently. Levia accepted it without hesitation, leaning in and taking control as she pushed him down to the bed. Her coat slipped off her shoulders, stained black from the void still clinging onto her.

It dripped onto him as he lay below her, slowly covering every inch of him in the tar like substance. And the abyss rippled below them like a sea under a clear blue sky.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

Behemo took a deep breath.

The interesting thing about blood was that the smell of it managed to persist over everything. Even amidst smoke and steel, it was the strongest scent for miles. The crimson fluid covered the place, making the ground and rocks slick as men clambered over them and died. Their bodies added to the pile, leaving more obstacles for the living to avoid less they wanted to die as well.

“Enjoying yourself?” Levia called over to him from where she stood in the thick of the chaos. Her feet were firmly planted upon some dead man’s chest. There wasn’t a hint of fear on her face, even as an axe flew past her to hit another.

He raised an eyebrow. “What makes you say that?” Then he moved to the side slightly to avoid a spear being rammed into anothers chest. There was some poor soul writhing beneath him.

That’s why he always burned the place down while he fought. Any wretch who fell once would be caught on fire and from there they would either burn or quickly get on their feet. Nothing was more irritating than facing an enemy that he thought had died because they had hidden under some corpses.

Well he used to hide under corpses but everyone always cursed him for it.

“You stopped to smell the roses.” Levia told him, stretching out her arms to gesture at the scene.

“What roses?” He jumped to his feet, moving out of the way as two men collapsed where he was just sitting. Even if they couldn’t hit him, he didn’t want to feel them go through him. “All that’s here are guts and blood.”

“And I’m sure you’re loving the smell of it!” She stuck out her tongue at him before whirling around and walking away. 

He rolled his eyes before heading after her. “Just reminiscing.” It was a ridiculous affair really, but then again all wars were foolish in their own way. Someone had encroached on someone’s territory and heavens forbid they work it out like reasonable people.

His lip curled into a sneer as another kid fell dead at his feet. And this one truly was a child since he barely had any hair or muscle at all. His cheeks looked to still have the softness of youth.

He watched the corpse for a moment but it made no motion and there were no struggles for a last breath. Just like that, he had watched someone die again.

It was almost funny how little he felt about that fact. There was nothing to push away the apathy, aside from an underlying sense of disgust.

Were these the people they had worked so hard to make? 

“Think they’ll burn the world down before we have a chance to set that forest ablaze?” His counterpart asked him, half crawling to scale up a large rock covered in corpses. The blood could not stain her, keeping her skin fair and white without the scarlet to cover it.

“They’re humans.” He hopped up after her. It was much easier for him to simply jump rather than touch those revolting things. “They’ll destroy everything in sight if they had the chance.”

Levia glared at him from where she was squatting on the corpse pile. “If they do, I’ll burn them all first.” She promised, “No one gets to kill that bastard but me.”

“Then I hope you enjoy carving him to bits.” He said vacantly, looking around the battlefield from their perch. The fighting had started to die down. All that was left were those running for their lives and those chasing them down while their blood still sang with the adrenaline.

The fools.

“Hey,” he turned to look at her. She glanced up with a raised eyebrow. “If you want to kill them, can I gut them instead?” 

“Well that defeats the purpose of venting-” Levia paused, licking her lips. Her eyes looked around the bloody plain. “I guess you can have them after I beat the shit out of them. Not like I want their blood on my hands anyway.”

“Oh? So it’s only bad blood if it’s a dead man’s blood?” He leaned in closer, the ends of his skirt falling against the ground. With a single finger, he twirled a strand of her hair until the gold encased it. “If they’re alive it’s fine?”

She turned to him slowly. Despite that, he kept still so her cheek pressed against his finger. The skin felt soft to the touch. It proved she wasn’t just sharp edges after all. “At least I’m not committing murder.” She spat.

He leaned in a little closer. “At least I’m not murdering you .”

Levia stared at him for a moment. Her eyes searched him, tilting her head. He waited for her eyes to darken as they always did, for her to spit and shout in his face. The anticipation made him shiver. 

Instead, she asked, “And… how would you kill me?” 

Behemo blinked. “I don’t know.” Licking his lip, he pressed his finger in further. “Depends on my mood.”

“How about right now?” She grabbed the collar of his chest. “If the mood strikes you, would you gut me like them?”

Identical eyes met each other. “No way, you’re special.” He dragged his finger down slowly, his nail slicing her cheek and opening her flesh. Her blood spilled from the cut, the red dripping down like crimson tears. “I’m just stuck between keeping you in one piece and meticulously taking you apart.” 

“And what would you do with pieces of me?”

“You like that idea, huh?” He scoffed, taking his finger away. He stared at the blood that had gathered on the tip of it, stark against his pale skin. “Well it depends again. If I was feeling possessive, I would keep a piece of you with me all the time. Carry around your heart with me everywhere.”

She smiled and tilted her head. “I feel like there’s a but in there somewhere.”

“You’re too smart for your own good.” Behemo made to pull away but she reached out and grabbed him by the neck. Her fingers squeezed, nails digging into his skin. “Are you going to carry around pieces of me?”

“Pieces?” Her eyes darkened. “Maybe if I saw your insides I’d understand you better.”

“I’m afraid my insides are rotting.” He spat, “You won’t find anything inside me.”

Levia narrowed her eyes before shrugging. “Could at least find out why everyone seems so eager to get a piece of you.”

He snorted, “It’s obvious, darling, I’m hot.” 

She slapped him so quickly he didn’t have time to think about it. “I know that .” Levia pulled him closer and he almost lost his balance, “I’m just wondering about every time after that.”

“Alas, I don’t think it’ll interest you that much.” He grabbed her wrist, squeezing down on them until she grunted in pain. “Don’t make it a contest of strength, Levia, you’ll lose.”

“Tell me this first,” she muttered through gritted teeth, “what about your other mood?”

He stared at her for a long while before pushing her back. She fell against the floor on her back, grunting as he stood up. His counterpart sat up quickly, her eyes filled with hatred. “If I was jealous,” He stared at the people celebrating their victory, stomping over corpses in their wild fervour. “I would flay your skin and wear it. And then I’d eat the rest of you, so no one else would love you but me.” 

Levia gaped at him for a moment, before a sudden laugh escaped her lips. “You crazy son of a bitch!” She cackled, “Did you do that to your last girlfriend?”

He stiffened.

“Don’t worry about it.” She stood up and dusted herself off. Then with a bounce in her step she leaned on him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. “It makes you more interesting.”

He should have felt insulted by it, but his chest felt tight for another reason. Quietly, he asked, “The most interesting?”

She smiled into his hair, running a hand through it soothingly, “There’s no other mind I’d rather see the horrors of.” She whispered, “If I lost that ball of madness you call a brain, I think I’d weep for my loss.”

He chuckled, “I’d pay to see you cry.”

She spoke in a serious tone, “I’d pay to see you smile.”

Behemo stiffened in her arms. They stood like that for a moment as they began to clear the fields, dragging their dead with me. At least it wasn’t a mass grave, something about the idea of an unidentified mass under ground was depressing. All those people, the individuals with their own thoughts, dreams and lives, all reduced to a single cluster of unfortunate victims.

Then again, everyone who perished in war became just another victim. The only thing that separated them was whether they died on the right side or not. Then, it was simply a matter of who was left to mourn them. Eventually, time would pass and leave them as a faceless shadow, a skeleton in the ground. 

On this earth, how many of the people he had once known were dead and buried? How many who had shared this ground with me, who had walked the same paths he did, were forgotten? Only he was left to remember them, the very last of their legacy who could hold their aeons of memories. Only he could mourn for them, those poor souls left to rot under the earth until they became one with it.

Were there any skeletons left at this point? Even if there were, would they recognise the land they used to call home? This place, defiled with blood and corpses, was so familiar and yet entirely alien to him. Everything he had once known had been twisted and transformed into something new.

Behemo once had hope for these lands, the place where humanity could find new life. Their third chance to rise up and claim a new beginning for themselves. A chance to spend generations in peace and prosperity.

But humans are humans. In the end, all the sow is destruction and reap nothing but misery. 

“If you want me to smile,” he told her in a quiet voice. “You’ll never let this happen again.”

She stared at him questioningly, but he did not return her icy stare.

“Every person whose actions lead to bloodshed … I’ll tear them to pieces myself until it’s their blood turning the grass red.” 

Levia shrugged against him. “Fine by me.” She smiled in his ear, “I burn my forest, you bleed your men and we both rid this poor place of the things that dirty it.”

“The world is often stupid like that.” He sighed, leaning against her. “Sometimes, people have to do cruel things in order to keep it moving.”

She licked her lips. “And what if it just stopped?”

Behemo stared up at her and then out at the reddening sky as the sun started to travel down below the horizon. “Then there’s nothing to live for.”

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

Levia watched her counterpart run through the streets of the Magic Kingdom Levianta. He weaved between the crowds, never hitting anyone as he continued down his path. She stared at him from the rooftops, following his path at a more sedate pace. He was never too far from her though. She wondered if that was a conscious choice or not.

The sound of people talking filled her ears but she didn’t pay it any mind. Her focus was solely on following Behemo, before he ran off out of sight and disappeared entirely. Again.

The day they had found someone who could hear them, she was sure he nearly wept with joy. Of course, he didn’t cry in front of them, he would never do such things in front of a stranger. Instead, he was dramatic as always and managed to convince the stupid girl that the pair of them were gods.

Well, it wasn’t completely inaccurate to say that, so Levia hadn’t brought up anything countering that idea. Besides, there was merit in having that girl believe their lie. They were able to amass more power and resources that way through her and now they had a whole kingdom that bowed to their whims.

Not that they all could hear them, it seemed to require a certain capacity for magic and some other traits she was finding difficult to define with so few examples. Only the current queen, that stupid girl, could hear them, and her offspring. Her equally foolish children weren’t very useful.

Instead of digging them up and out, they built a temple around their prison instead. And then they expected them to be happy about it! Levia had a few choice words about the situation but Behemo had kept her quiet.

It was always him doing all the talking. He loved to talk to people, she was sure the centuries in isolation had brought him to the brink of madness. And so when given the opportunity to speak as he wanted, about whatever he wanted, he leapt at the chance to craft a fantastical narrative about them. He claimed they needed a backstory worthy of myth if they wanted to garner any respect.

She could understand that. Humans hated to bow to other humans, so the less humane they were, the more they would willingly grovel at their feet.

It didn’t mean she had to like it.

Behemo’s smile never left his face. He seemed convinced that now they had access to people, it wouldn’t be long before they escaped their prison. Of course, it was her who had put the idea in his head. She had spoken about it so confidently across the years that he had no reason to doubt her. She always succeeded in the end.

It wouldn’t do for him to realise how much of her blustering had been to comfort him… and herself.

A scowl made its way on her face as she watched her counterpart dance around the town square. There was a spring in his step and the brightness of his expression could have been compared to the sun itself. 

They met gazes, his bright blue eyes reflecting the sky itself. He giggled at her sour expression before running off again, twirling around to the beat of the music being played by a bard.

Part of her was torn, it made her heart flutter to see him so happy, but her stomach coiled in disgust at the people surrounding him. The people making him happy. Was she not enough then? It was her who had been by his side all this time and yet she barely saw him at all.

She gritted her teeth.

It wasn’t fair.

Her feet carried her before she could even think about it, across the white rooftops that glowed in the sunlight. She had run ahead of him now, further down the single street filled with all kinds of people talking and walking. Behemo made his way closer and closer, examining all of them on his way as though there was something fascinating about their lives.

What happened to the person who wanted to kill all of them? Had he just been lying then? Or were the people here that filled this city to the brim enough to make him forget about that bloodshed? Was he so enthralled by their society, the collection of individuals putting on a farce of satisfaction as though they didn’t yearn for violence?

All people were filled with malice. They were vile and cruel - that was the one true constant in this wretched world. In every world. Their hopes to try and make humanity better were all in vain. They had no need to fight over leading these worthless mistakes.

Levia jumped down from the roof, landing right before the other blond as he came close. He blinked in surprise at her sudden appearance but managed to stop before he rammed into her.

He tilted his head curiously as she watched him. “What’s up?” Behemo asked with that smile on his face. Up close, she could see the stiffness to it. “You don’t usually come to street level.”

A person walked through her, causing him to step aside to avoid them. Levia wasn’t paying attention to that. Her focus was entirely on his expression. “You.” Shs narrowed her eyes, “Do you like these people?”

Confusion filled his eyes. “Of course.” He said simply, before rolling his eyes. “I’m not like you. I adore people.”

She grit her teeth at his words.

“I thought you wanted to kill them all.” 

His smile became fixed. It looked uncomfortable on his face. “Oh who cares about what I said? Anyway-”

She spoke before he could change the subject. “I do.” 

Behemo gaped at her for a moment before returning his face to that same smile. From here, she could see it clearly, how forced it was. Why?

“You meant those words.” His blue eyes looked away for a second before facing her again. “I know that much.”

“Well, you always knew me best .” There was a hint of bitterness in those words. He still wasn’t looking at her, not really, even if his gaze was directed at her his mind was elsewhere. 

“Of course, I know you best.” Even if she didn’t really know him at all, she could say that much. “No one else knows you better than I do.”

“And that’s such a comfort.” The sarcasm in his voice was biting. His eyes were narrowed slightly even as he tried to keep the smile on his face. “What does it matter? I just changed my mind.”

“No.” She took a step closer. “You love these people. You hate the things they do but you love them. Why?” 

He narrowed his eyes. “Who knows?” Behemo shrugged as though it didn’t matter. “They’ll die anyway so who cares whether or not I want to kill them.”

“So you’re choosing to love them instead?” That was ridiculous. It made no sense at all. Levia couldn’t tell if her counterpart was actually this moronic or if it was an act.

“I didn’t choose anything.” He hissed, moving aside as another couple went right through her. 

“Then why?” She took another step closer. 

His expression had truly soured at that point. All fleeting hints of joy, real and false, were thoroughly snuffed out. Her lips twitched at the sight. “I said I don’t know.”

She scoffed. “You can lie better than that.”

Behemo groaned, turning around as though he meant to leave her. But he would never do that. Still, she grabbed him by the shoulder and made him face her again. 

He bit his lip. “It’s nicer this way, isn’t it?” The soft voice he spoke with was shaken. “We have this place now, so really what else do we need?”

Levia stared at him with wide eyes.

He glanced away nervously. “It’s still getting there but eventually it’ll be just like home again. I mean, we’ve waited centuries at this point, what's a few more?” 

She couldn’t believe her ears. “They’ll blow themselves up before then.” She reminded him. “Tear each other to pieces.”

“Probably.” He shrugged. “But that’s just what people do.” That stupid smile had made its way back onto his face. 

“People are idiots.”

“Everyone’s an idiot compared to you.” 

“You-” It was always you. You you you you you you-

“Even if they destroy each other like always we can have fun watching, right?” Behemo gestured around them with a flourish. “Really, human lives are fascinating. Especially in this time period it’s always so… alien.” 

It’s all alien to you . He never fit in, anywhere. What did he think he was going to get, puppeting around a kingdom to be his own personal entertainment? It had no real value for him.

He craved physical connection more than anything else. What was this then? Nothing except a farce to fill that gaping hole in his chest.

Behemo stared at her expectantly, as though he expected her to agree with him.

He must have lost her mind. She was sure of it then. There couldn’t be a single sane thought in that gaping abyss he called a brain. 

He must have circled right back from his lethargic state and into his old smiling self. Trying to make all the bad things into something good without covering his eyes. There was no doubt in her mind that he would continue on like this no matter what she said. He would keep watching and waiting and hoping that something would change. That something would fill him.

And he would be waiting for eternity in vain.

“You think I care about these people?” She asked him softly. 

His smile faltered. 

“I don’t need them.” Levia told him. “I don’t care if they die peacefully in their beds or screaming. Do you think it matters to me what these fuckers do with their miserable lives?”

She took another step closer, planting her foot between his. “Do you think so?” 

He pressed his lips together and shook his head.

Trying to love these fools, the mistakes they had wrought upon the world that had tainted souls. Their blood ran thick with malice, they could only conclude their wretched existence through violence.

It was only bound to end in his suffering. And she could not allow that.

With a gentle pat on his cheek, she smiled at him. “Good. I knew you understood me.” Even if she didn’t understand him, she knew he had already seen her. There was no point in hiding it any longer. “The only person I need is you.”

Behemo was looking at her with a dark gaze. There was that expression that had haunted his face the day they met. She had watched him staring vacantly, his eyes unseeing as he curled up in the darkness like he belonged there. And when he looked up at her, it wasn’t filled with light like he had seen something brilliant, something worth smiling for.

It was a gaze that seemed like it reflected the abyss itself. If she had stared at it long enough, she would fall into the depths. 

But she was already past the point of caring. The darkness of the water beneath the surface had started to feel more like home than anything else, falling further into the depths didn’t sound too bad.

Behemo had smiled at her back then, something equally lovely and twisted. She hadn’t realised how many emotions could hide behind a smile until she met him. Now, she had seen it first hand. 

“I just need you,” she stroked his face gently, “to understand that you don’t need anyone else but me.”

Levia grabbed him closer before pulling him down into the darkness. The sudden shift was unpleasant if one had their eyes open, so they always changed places with them closed. It made it feel more natural, as though they had simply opened a door or walked outside.

Without that flimsy protection, they were exposed to the full brunt of if. It was difficult to describe. It was a crude mix between being dragged down into their own shadows, the darkness swallowing them whole, and being woken up from a dream. It was sudden and yet slow, agonisingly so. 

They dripped onto their bed, little by little, until she had him pinned beneath her with his head on the pillow. Small black droplets trailed down from her face and onto him, before those fell against the bed and slithered towards the ground.

Behemo was still staring at her. His smile had completely vanished at that point, there wasn’t even a hint of him trying to bring it back. She sneered at him.

“What’s the matter, Behemo?” She forced him further into the white blanket. “No one you want to smile for?”

“If you want me to smile,” he got out through gritted teeth, “then you just have to ask.”

Even then, his voice sounded lovely. She almost wanted to listen to him. But she wasn’t a fool. “I want you to smile because you’re happy. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Ah.” He licked his lips. “And how are you going to do that?”

“Well, I can’t kill all the humans for you.” She mused, “I would if I could.”

He writhed in her grasp but made no real attempt to escape her.  “I’m sure you’ll find a way.” 

“I always do.” Levia chuckled to herself, before her laughter abruptly died. “Except, there’s something I can do now.”

“Oh?” 

“You see, I think I finally understand you.” She smiled as she spoke. “Well, not entirely but enough to say this with absolute certainty-”

He gave her an expectant look. Those eyes were filled with doubt. She could tell in the instant he smiled at her because it was one filled with loss and regret.

“You want to be loved and you want someone to love.”

“I thought you’d never say those three words.”

“I won’t.” She swore. “Those eight letters will haunt me for the rest of my days. But it doesn’t matter, cause they haunt you too.”

Behemo licked his lips. His body tensed with anticipation.

“Even if I can say them, you won’t believe it.” 

Or maybe it was fear?

“No matter how much I try, you’ll never believe that someone can love you. I could kill everyone you wanted dead, I could bring you all the beautiful things in the world, I could die for you and you wouldn’t believe it at all.”

He was frustrating like that but she wouldn’t have him any other way. In fact, it was what differentiated the two of them so starkly. She doubted she would love him if he were any closer to herself.

“Except-” 

In a blink there was a knife in her hand and in another she had stabbed him through the palm, sinking the blade deep into the mattress. He didn’t cry out in pain, barely flinched at the act.

“There’s a way.” She smiled at him with her teeth, the whiteness must have stood out against her shadowed face. “The only way you’ll ever believe someone loves you, even for a fleeting moment.”

His face paled dramatically. He turned sheet white, as though his flesh had rotten away and revealed bone. “You wouldn’t.” 

His voice wasn’t all that convincing. “Of course I would, because I need you to understand me.” Another knife, another quick stab through his hand. Now that he was pinned, she could move her own pair freely. 

“I won’t accept it like this.” He told her as she stared down at him.

“Why? You have nothing to lose.” Levia grabbed the end of her dress before pulling it up, throwing it over her shoulder once it was off. “We only have each other now. There’s only two people in this world who matter, me and you.”

His face screwed up and he snapped, “You don’t get it at all!” 

“Then help me understand!” 

Behemo stared at her for a moment before looking away. 

She scowled at him before throwing off the rest of her clothes. “Fine then.” She huffed, grabbing his skirts. The black material felt like a nuisance, more than it usually did. She hated that stupid dress. “I get it, you’re free to show your heart to people who can’t see you but the minute you’re able to be perceived you hide.”

He didn’t respond.

“A bright smile for all of them but not a single one for me?” She threw aside the skirt, hooking the edge of the last piece of fabric protecting him. “How is that fair?”

“Levia…”

“You can love them freely but you won’t even say you love me?” Her eyes were glued to his face, she wanted to see every detail of it. Her hand gripped around the shaft as she rose above it.

“…Please.”

That small, desperate voice gave her pause. She stared at him for a moment before stroking his face. His body relaxed slightly. “Please put it in?” The ease in his gaze evaporated in an instant. “Of course, if that’s what you want.”

This time he cried out as she sank down. There was no warmth, no pleasure in her body. She had no idea about how sex actually felt from a woman’s perspective, there was no room for her imagination to lead her to an educated guess. Of course, she could have based it off her mothers personal anecdotes but she found the idea revolting.

Levia didn’t want to stain the experience with something like that. Instead, she moved up and down on top of him, watching how his skin flushed and his expression changed. He kept his eyes closed tightly and only let out an occasional whimper.

It was pitiful but that was bound to happen when the expert couldn’t use their hands. 

At the very least, she could tell he was feeling good even if she felt nothing. That was good. She was fine with the deep satisfaction that came from seeing him like this. After so long without it, she was sure he’d realise that she was the only one who could give him what he needed.

They completed each other. Without one another they would have died a long time ago.

“W-why?” Behemo asked her in a weak voice. It trembled along with his body as he twitched and writhed beneath her. “Why are you doing this?”

“I told you, didn't I?” She kept moving as he stiffened under her touch.

His eyes were glossy, gleaming in the dark. “But do you like it?”

The ridiculous question threw her off for a moment. Sure, she could certainly feel him inside of her but she wasn’t sure she could enjoy the half baked experience. If it were the real world, her response might have been different but-

“No.” His expression crumbled and the tears welled up in his eyes finally started flowing. A single crystal-like drop rolled down his cheek and onto the bed. 

She licked her lips at the sight.

“But-” She grabbed his face as he tried to turn away. “I like this.”

“Y-you-” He hiccuped in between words, grasping helplessly for some self control. 

“I realised why I like your tears.” Slowly, she watched one roll onto her finger and brought it to her lips. “It’s because they’re real.”

A liar like him was only genuine when he cried. He would never show it to anyone else but here he was crying right before her eyes. 

She licked the droplet, the salty taste coating her tongue. 

He stared at her for a moment and for a heartbeat she wondered whether he might kill her. She wasn’t too sure if her spirit could piece itself back together if he ripped it apart.

And then, he laughed. “You sure are…” He giggled again, “No, actually that’s just like you, Levia.”

She smiled, “Finally! I’d thought you’d forgotten my name.” 

“I could never do that.” He rolled his eyes before turning to the side. His face was flushed slightly. 

“What? Are you embarrassed all of a sudden?”

Behemo shook his head slightly. “If you’ve forgotten what you were doing, that’s fine but I haven’t.” He grumbled under his breath. 

“Oh? So you want me to keep going?” She tilted his head back towards her.

His face grew even redder. “Do what you want, I’m not saying anything.” 

“Stubborn till the end, huh?”

“You have no room to talk.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You’re always so rude.” 

“So are you.” He stuck out his tongue at her.

Levia chuckled as she roughly patted his head, sending his hair flying out in different directions. “But I like that about you.”

She planted a soft kiss on his forehead and he shivered under her touch.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

Behemo sat at the top of the palace, staring at Alicegrad as the sun rose from the horizon. He kicked his legs back and forth idly. Despite the view, his mind wasn’t really there.

“You look like someone killed your dog.” Levia spoke. He turned to see her standing behind him, her golden hair seemed to shine in the light.

A red sky above the pair of them, blood seeping into the azure high above. 

“I would never own a dog.” He rolled his eyes and turned around. Still, he patted the space next to him and his counterpart hopped down to sit beside him.

“What’s wrong?” She asked without hesitation.

He frowned. “Did you see what they were doing in the temple?”

Her eyes narrowed, her icy gaze cast out towards the horizon. “Didn’t I tell you to stop looking there?”

Behemo bit his lip till it bled, the metallic taste filling his mouth. “I didn’t think it’d continue for this long.” He had hoped with a little guidance they wouldn’t fall into the wrong habits as their predecessors had.

But it seemed humans were ingrained with those sorts of behaviours from the start. Levia had turned a blind eye to it, she never cared in the first place, but he held out hope for something to change. But if they couldn’t hear him in the first place, he had little power to intervene.

“Humans don’t need HER to be evil, they’re already vicious creatures.” Levia grabbed his face and wiped away the blood dripping down his chin. “I’m still surprised someone like you is such an optimist.”

“It’s better to view things positively than to fall into despair.” One could wallow in their suffering or they could find a silver lining in the madness. That lining could become a thread, the rope needed to pull themselves to new heights.

He might never have truly escaped the hell he was born into, but he’d made the best of his long life the only way he knew how. 

“Of course, lying to yourself is never a good idea either.”

Levia licked the blood off her fingers. “Have you decided to admit that they’re a lost cause?”

“It’s been five hundred years and they haven’t improved, not even slightly. Time has just given them more methods to torture each other.” He stared up at the bloody sky.

His counterpart’s gaze was firmly on the city below. Even if she didn’t like them, it was in her nature to look at humans. She studied them after all. She knew better than anyone if there was any hope of saving their souls.

“I’d be an idiot to think otherwise…” He licked his lips, suddenly feeling parched. “The question is how do we start over again.”

“I thought you wanted to wait?” She glanced at him.

He tilted his head towards her. “Why wait when we can do something now?” 

Levia blinked at him in surprise before snorting. “So you do know how to use that brain of yours after all? Thank fuck, here I was thinking you’d forgotten.”

“We have people we can use now that are advanced enough to follow through with our plan.” He had thought of this method a long time ago, but there wasn’t an opportunity to make use of it. “It took a long time to work towards this point.”

She stared at him critically. “Is that why you’ve been putting so much energy into this place? All for the sake of this plan of yours.”

He smiled at her. “It was one reason.” It was foolish to put all of his eggs into one basket, as the saying went. Of course, he had tried to make this kingdom a good one, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t had ulterior motives. 

“You crafty son of a bitch.” Levia smiled back at him, raising an eyebrow. “How do you always fly under the radar like that?”

He shrugged. “Who knows?” 

She pouted at his response, making him laugh. “Well, what’s the plan?”

“We’re going to kill everyone on this miserable planet.” He told her succinctly.

Levia scoffed. “If you hadn’t forgotten, dumbass, we’re stuck in this state.” She moved her arm through the roof to punctuate a point. “And even if this kingdom is the most advanced we don’t have the means to get them to kill everyone, including themselves!”

“You have such little faith.” He chided, lifting a hand to stroke her cheek gently. “The solution is quite simple, we just have to escape.”

“And you know how?” She sneered, doubt clear in her eyes.

“Of course!” He clapped his hands together, “We just have to be reborn.”

“Eh?”

For once, he had thought of something she hadn’t. Her focus had been entirely on using the terminal within the Climb One and had never turned elsewhere. She was so narrow minded at times but that was what made her Levia in the first place, so he didn’t mind it.

“It’s simple. We just need a pair of bodies to hop into.” He smiled at her dumbfounded expression. “Of course, they have to be of a certain calibre. We can’t use any old body or else it won’t work.”

“But humans already have a consciousness!” She protested, “We can’t shove our souls alongside them, it’ll break the body or worse!”

“I know.” The dragon was an exception to the usual limit of having one soul in one body. He supposed that was a side effect of giving it two heads and thus two brains. Regardless, any human body could only really handle one soul. “So we just have to put our souls into something that doesn’t have one already.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Like a baby.” Her eyes widened and he put a hand over his mouth to hide his smile. “We just need two babies with high compatibility with us and we can leave here easily.”

Levia mused on it for a moment, turning back to face the city. “…And how are we getting these babies exactly?” She finally asked.

“We’ll have the queen give birth to them.” He answered.

“The hereditary bloodline ended ages ago.” She reminded him sharply, “The senate would never allow her to have sex with anyone, much less get pregnant.”

“She doesn’t need to have sex, Levia.” He leaned his chin on her shoulder. “I’ll just work my magic from here.”

Her face had turned red and she glared at him viciously. “Even you aren’t good enough to get someone pregnant as a ghost.” She scoffed. 

Behemo could see the possessiveness in her eyes. Even after she claimed him thoroughly, if he looked at people too long she got worked up over it. “Relax, I’m not sleeping with anyone.”

“Then?”

“Eh, it’s a long and complicated process and if I explained it to you, you wouldn’t understand.” She huffed at his words, crossing her shoulders. “Shall I regale you with the interesting biology of the human reproductive system when combined with foreign DNA?”

A shiver ran through her. “No, no thank you.”

He had once tried to explain the differences in their bodies to her but she had lost him before he even finished his first point. Everyone had their weaknesses, he supposed, even the great millennium prodigy.

“Anyway, once I do that she’ll give birth to vessels that’ll be magically powerful and have the same genetic makeup as we do. In other words, they’ll be a perfect match for us.”

Levia was silent for a moment. The sun rose higher and higher in the sky until the crimson had drained from it and there was nothing but an expanse of azure. 

“It’ll take some time but what’s ten months in comparison to half a millennium?” He looked up at her through lidded eyes.

“Nine.” She corrected.

“It’s really not nine.” That earned him a confused glance but he shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, it’s practically a blink of an eye in all of this.” He wrapped his arm around hers, putting a hand over hers. 

She interlaced their fingers, holding him closely. “And then we’ll kill them all…”

Behemo closed his eyes. “Can you do it?”

Her grip tightened. “I told you I would kill for you and you want them dead.”

He breathed out, “Ah, but when you said those words, you were lying.” 

Levia stiffened.

Of course, he knew she was putting on a show whenever she proclaimed things like that. Even if she didn’t realise it, he could see through her act just fine.

Levia was really predictable once one understood her sense of morality. While he looked for the real silver lining, she painted over the canvas entirely until the world was something she could stand. Even if they were both liars, they lied in different ways. His was laced with the truth and hers sought to overwrite it entirely.

So when she had told him that she would kill for him, he didn’t believe it for a second.

“The only person who you’d ever kill would be Held.” That was the only place where her malice and her heart aligned. 

“Don’t say his name!” She snapped, her nails digging into his skin.

He could feel the blood pour from the wounds, dripping onto her white lab coat. “Of course, darling.” He hummed soothingly. “It’s just, if you can’t kill them it's fine.”

“I can do it.”

“No, you can’t.” He pulled away from her, ignoring the blood on his hand. Instead, he grabbed her face with both hands and forced her to look at him. “But that’s fine. I won’t think of you any less for it.”

Behemo smiled at her softly, stroking her cheek. She leaned into his touch. Her ice blue eyes danced with emotion, many he had no hope of naming but there was something like disgust inside of them. What aroused such a feeling in her?

“I’ll kill them all myself, you won’t have to lift a finger, my dear.” He promised her softly. “You can burn down that forest to your heart's content, you can burn the whole world afterwards and make another hellscape like your garden down below.”

“It’s not all on fire.” She spat, but there wasn’t any heat behind it. 

“It’s mostly on fire.” With a deadly miasma covering the place as well. Honestly, she really was so inspired. 

She glared at him. “I’ll turn that bastard to ash. If the rest of them burn too I don’t care.”

He smiled. “That’s good then.”

And then he gripped her head tightly, digging his nails into her face. Levia screamed loudly. She clawed at his wrists, trying desperately to push his hands away. 

“Of course, if you even think about having a change of heart and trying to stop me…” He trailed off as she tried shaking her head.

“N-no!” She got out through gritted teeth, “I wouldn’t dream of it!”

Behemo beamed at her, releasing his grip in an instant. She still felt tense as he held her face gently, so he pulled her closer and ran a hand through her hair. “Then we can destroy this world together. I knew you would never betray me, since you’re mine and I’m yours.”

Her arms wrapped around his neck, holding him close. “You’re never leaving me.” She told him. It wasn’t a simple statement, but rather an order.

He had no problem following it. “Of course.” He whispered into her ear. “And we’ll rule the new world together.”

Levia leaned back, holding his face with her hand. Blood rolled down in rivulets that made a bloody archipelago on her face. She smiled at him. “Together.” 

“Forever.” He smiled back.