Dead Bass Wonderland 4: Heart's Land

「」

"Her, you parasitic imbecile." He pointed out through the crowd to the slim figure that was standing at the door. "Why don't you step on up, Sunset Shimmer?"
Sunset wanted the world to open up and swallow her whole. Or for the heavens to strike her down. Hell, maybe even have Princess Celestia and Princess Luna swooping down and goring her with their horns. ANYTHING to get out of this situation.
The boy across the room no longer held sad eyes. They were angry and burning right through her. Daring her to try and run. There was a lump in her throat and she found herself feeling something she hadn't felt in a while. Fear. It wrapped itself around her, holding her in place. Her knees shook and her breath faltered.
"What's the matter, Sunset? Why don't you come here and tell my GOOD FRIEND Brad what you did last year?"
Please. Don't do this.
"Tell him how you tried to seduce me!"
He stepped away from Brad, allowing her boyfriend to finally look at her. His eyes were wide, imploring her that what Soren was saying wasn't true. "You...you wouldn't do that...right, Sunny?" Brad's voice cracked.
The cafeteria was silent. Everyone's eyes were on Sunset Shimmer.
She bared her teeth at Soren's smug face. How dare he? Flipping her hair back, she cocked her hip and folded her arms across her chest. "What's it to you? I was planning to break up with you anyway." Tapping her finger against a cheek, she stared at Soren, as if judging him. She grinned. "But better choice? Ha! Don't think so highly of yourself, Soren. So what if I tried? I was sick and tired of the way you looked at me." One of the students in the crowd said 'ooooooh'. "You're always going to be second best." Something caught her eye and her grin got bigger, "And not even that! You couldn't get into his band, could you?" Sunset nodded over to Axel's direction.
 The hall monitor gripped his ax, not saying anything. He was looking between them and the door, trying to decide what the best course of action was. It looked like he was torn between cleaving them in two or running to the human princesses. Only problem with the second option is that she was standing in his way. Soren narrowed his eyes for a second and she knew she had made a small victory.

-

Brad looked hurt and he stared up at Soren. He was unsure of what to do. On one hand his girlfriend had just broken up with him, yeah...he could deal with that later. On the other, his best friend was acting crazy and saying things he normally wouldn't say.
Still clutching his stomach where Soren had kicked him, he gingerly picked himself up. "You're all...crazy!" He swung his arm for emphasis and took a step backward. "Are you even listening to yourselves? You!" He pointed at Soren. "You're my best friend and you're fighting me over her?!" He jabbed his finger in Sunset's direction. She had the audacity to give a small gasp. "And Sunny, I knew it was coming but goddamn it. Really? I knew you were a bad egg at the start. That's why I couldn't let Soren have you. You're a harpy, a siren, a Lorelei."
 "Are you insulting or complimenting me?"
"Yes! No…maybe. Uh...shit." Brad clapped his hands over his mouth, realizing what he had just said. "The point is, you're not dumping me. I'm dumping you!"
Shimmer waved him off, like she hadn't heard him, and inspected her manicure. "Uh huh, sure."
"You bitch..."
"Wouldn't let me have her because of that?" Soren repeated. He hung his head and his shoulders began shaking.
For a moment, Brad thought his friend was crying and when he moved towards Soren, he lifted his head and started cackling.
"HAHAHAHA!" Soren staggered forward, clutching at his shoulders. Slowly, he lowered his arms and faced Brad, a feral grin planted firmly upon his lips. "For such a stupid reason...you stood in my way...took my dream..." With each word he said, Soren stepped closer. Raising his head and staring Brad right in the eye he added in a low hoarse whisper. "I'll never forgive you."
"SOREN!"

-

Something didn't feel right. His eyelids fluttered open and he found himself back in that strange place the other had called his inner heart. Or was it? The terrain didn't look dead at all. It was warm here. Safe. His other was wrong. This place wasn't dying at all.
His other? Who was the other?
 A gentle breeze brushed over his face, tempting him to close his eyes again. Who cared anyway? This place was a paradise. Nothing could hurt him here.
 'Soren!'
 Wait. He opened his eyes again and tried to remember. Dim memories surfaced- light, colors, a warm hand holding his.
His friends.
Amy.
Brad.
They were waiting for him back in the real world. He tried to stand up but found that he was bound tightly against a web. How had he not noticed? He struggled against his bonds, trying to free himself. Useless. They held on strong, no matter how hard he tugged, pulled, or yanked.
>「Why are you fighting?」
He stopped struggling and scrunched his face. Why? He had to get out of here.
>「Yes, but WHY?」 that familiar voice persisted.
This place wasn't real. It was all in his head. Nothing here was real. Why should he stay in a place that held nothing for him?
> 「But you're safe here. Why do you want to go back to the place where all you know is suffering?」 it sounded desperate.
Safe from what? There's nothing here. There is nothing to hide from. But there were people outside who cared for him. Friends. Family.
> 「Fair-weather friends, Soren Skyler. They don't care about you. You're just a lonely boy adrift in a sea of confusion.」
He shook his head. "That's not true!" he shouted. "Amy cares about me! She's always been there for me!"
> 「Do you really know that? How do you know she isn't using you to further her own selfish interests?」 it hissed in his ear. 「No one NEEDS you. Not your so-called best friend, not your childhood friend, and not her.」
 He tried to shut the voice out. He didn't care about what Sunset thought about him but Amy wasn't that type of person. Yet those words pierced his heart and slowly began to cloud his mind. He thought about Amy. And then her smile, her eyes, her...her everything. Why hadn't he noticed before?
> 'So hey, while you were taking your nap, I met this new guy and...' Soren stopped walking and gave her a weird look. 'Hey, no. Don't give me that! It's just that, h-he kissed my hand! Like a knight kissing his princess.'
He recalled her words and the way she had blushed. 'I see. They weren't lying when they say you'll miss what you have now when it's gone..." Shoulders slumping forward, he stared at the ground. Why did he always end up getting screwed over?
"But..." he started to struggle again. "But!" There were other things to do first. "But!" Namely escape this place. "I can't let it end like this!" If this was really HIS mind then he should be able to control what happens here. While he struggled the voice kept on talking, its tone growing increasingly unstable.
>「Alone isn't the same as loneliness, you know!」
Sometimes it was. And there were others willing to help him, willing to care for him.
> 「You're cursed! Beyond their help.」 And then there were cold hands wrapping themselves around his shoulders. Something reminiscent of comfort. 「Let me handle it all for you, Soren Skyler. Give up.」
Shoulders slumping forward, he stared at the ground. Cursed? Beyond help?
>「Give up」
>「GIVE UP」
"LIKE HELL I WILL!"

-

Unseen by all except by Sunset Shimmer, was a sickly green glow around Soren. She grit her teeth, cursing this world's limitations on her own powers. If she only knew what the source was and destroy it...
The boys were having a stare down, neither backing down from the other. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Boys were truly stupid, be they humans or ponies.
She took the opportunity to look around the cafeteria and gauge the reactions of the students. Most were watching Brad and Soren. A few had already lost interest and were picking at their lunch, but their eyes still flickered to their general direction. And then there was Axel Jones.
 The hall monitor was still glaring at her, but had finally let go of that ax of his. One of the Dramas was tugging at his arm, saying something she couldn't hear, trying to calm him down and making over-dramatic gestures at her and the combatants.
She stood her ground, boot-clad feet planted on the floor. She was trying to remember if it was possible to erase all their memory of this event with the limited magic she had.
Her fingers curled even tighter against her palms, nails digging in. It wasn't possible. Something of that magnitude required power she did not have.
She eyed the green glow with a wary expression. It felt powerful, too much so for even her to try and control. This was something evil. 'A curse?' There had to be a source somewhere close by. 'Where?' Her eyes scanned the room again. 'Where is it?!'
In her peripherals, she caught sight of a shadow looming over Soren, arms outstretched over him as if it wanted to devour him. Its maw was opened wide, screaming out in soundless rage. Its eyes rolled in its sockets, almost like they were searching for something and when they caught sight of her she took an unconscious step back, her hands clamping themselves over her chest as an attempt to shield herself.
"What in Equestria is this..." she whispered.

-

"-will not have this foolishness continue, Lawyer!" Axel tried to pull himself free of Sophie Sophisticata's grasp. The damn woman had more strength than he had given her credit for and he didn't know how to get her off of him. His threats of detention and expulsion fell on deaf ears as she tried to reason with him.
 He looked down the table and noticed one of the girls not even paying attention to what was going on around her. He tried to think back to what her name was. Soren's friend. A...something Heart. She was staring intensely at something. As long as she was being civil, this was fine.
"I agree with you, but I will not allow you to go in there while you wield that thing!" Sophie gestured at his ax. "Hand it over."
"No! This is my tool for justice!"
"Excessive force for something like this is not needed!" She slapped her hand on the table, startling him. Her other hand was pointing straight at his face. "And it's against the rules to bring weapons to school! Didn't you read the student handbook?!"
"Geh..." she had him there. This lawyer girl knew how to press his buttons and Axel didn't like it. Didn't like HER especially for interfering with his work. "You win this round, lawyer. And stop pointing at me."
"Fine."

-

She wasn't 100% sure, but Amy Heart was positive that whatever it was that was making Soren act strange had something to do with his bass. That glow from earlier in the hallway. It just didn't sit well with her. And she couldn't stand around and let this happen to Soren. Whatever it was.
She slipped under the table and crawled towards the table he and Brad had been sitting at. She grimaced when she felt her hand plunge into the sticky mess of mashed potato. Slightly irked, she smacked the foot of whoever it was sitting over this spot.
'I need to find out if I'm right about this.'
After what felt like forever and a day, Amy finally reached their table. She peeked over the top and let out a sigh of relief. Good, she hadn't been noticed by Soren or Brad yet. She found the bass's case resting against an empty seat and concentrated on it.
It looked so ordinary, but Amy still didn't trust it. She reached for it and grasped the bag's handle.
"Ack!"
She dropped the bag and stared at her hand. There was nothing but it felt like she had been burned. Bringing her hand to her mouth, she dragged her tongue along her palm to ease the sensation.
Wiping it on her skirt, she slowly stood up. It seemed like the boys were still caught in the middle of their intense stare down. And then Soren took a step forward. In that moment it felt like the entire room had frozen over. A chill ran down her spine and she realized what it meant.
Soren Skyler was out for blood.
 Steeling her nerves, she took a deep breath and grabbed the bag's handle. She yelped when it stung her again, but she didn't let that stop her from opening it and revealing what lay within.
"This is..."
 Her entire body trembled. The bass was glowing and emitting green sparks at her, as if it was angry for being disturbed. Hands shaking, she reached into the case and wrapped her hand around the bass's neck.

-

"I would have been fine if it had been someone else. And you stand there and dare say it was for my own good?" the dark-blue haired boy felt pinned under Soren's accusing glare.
The other students were beginning to feel uncomfortable and standing up to leave.
"Too weird man, let's bounce." Reggie Sweetleaf tugged on his sister's arm, leading her towards the door, the other Eco-kids trailing behind them. Sunset made no move to stop them and they swept past her and out into the hallways.
Sunset kept watching the figure and tried to remember what it was. Her shoulders slumped. Fucking hell. If only her magic...magic...wait. If that thing looming over Soren was made of magic then she had to obtain it. For power. 'And even in this state, you're still useful to me, Soren Skyler.' Smirking to herself, she decided that locating the origin was her priority now.
"I was just trying to help..." Brad didn't even try dodging the next punch. Down he went, teeth cutting into his lip.
"You're not my keeper, Brad!" he advanced towards his fallen friend, ready to continue his onslaught. Brad closed his eyes and braced himself.
> 「Stop...」
Pain wracked through Soren's head and he flinched, grabbing hold of his temples. 'STAY OUT OF THIS, FOOL!'
> 「He's...my...friend...」the real Soren's voice increased in volume, ringing in his ears, wrapping itself around him. 「You won't hurt him anymore! Get out get out get out get out get out get out GET OUT」
Each cry was louder than the last until the Other couldn't take it anymore.
Dropping to his knees, he clamped his hands over his ears and screamed his rage.

-

Her body felt hot. How peculiar...she had only grabbed the bass and...and..."Nngh." With great difficulty she opened her eyes, and immediately wished she hadn't.
She felt like she was looking into Hell. Everything was dark, save for a few green lights floating everywhere. The air was stifling and she could barely breathe. It smelled like sulfur. "What's going on...?" Rubbing the back of her head, she looked around, trying to find an exit. There was none. "Am I dreaming?" Lifting her arm, she pinched herself and winced. "Nope, not dreaming."
One of the green lights caught her attention and she wandered over to it, her footsteps echoing loudly. "H-hello? Is there someone here?" As if to answer, the green light hovered close to her and landed. And then there was a familiar looking child standing in its place. "S-Soren, is that you?"
>「What are you doing here, little girl? Are you lost?」 the figure spoke, as if it hadn't heard her. It sniffed her curiously and circled around her, hazel eyes narrowed in suspicion. 「You don't smell right.」
"Um..." Amy didn't know how to react. Here she was in an unknown place, getting sniffed by a light that turned into a child version of her friend and getting told she didn't smell right.
 Then she bristled, the little fiend was touching her hair, inspecting it and again with the sniffing.
 > 「Amy...Heart」 he hissed and dropped her hair like if it had burned him. 「How interesting.」 Circling back into her view again, he plopped down and rested a hand on his cheek. 「I'm surprised you managed to find this place.」
 "And where is that exactly?" placing a hand on her hip, she glared at the rude child. "Tell me."
 Instead of answering, the child grinned and she noticed his serrated teeth. And then he began to laugh.
 Irritation filled her, her fingernails digging into the soft flesh of her folded arms. When had she crossed them? She doesn't remember. "What's so funny?"
> 「You are.」The spirit-child said, patting its sides. Stretching his arms wide, he gave her a bow. 「No matter. Welcome to Hartland. Where the dreams inside my heart」 it pointed to its chest, 「come true.」 He jumped up and landed on a gray cloud that seemed to have appeared from nowhere. 「Or that is what I would say if it was true.」
"You lied?"
>「...」 it almost seemed sorry. It stared at her, letting its legs dangle from the cloud. 「It used to be that way...」 Sighing, it snapped its fingers, making the cloud disappear and he landed in front of her again. A slim finger reached up to poke her cheek. 「But if you're here, there might be some hope left for our master after all.」
 She was beginning to lose her patience but his last remark caught her attention. Master? So there was a bigger entity around here to hunt down then. 'Hunt'? she thought to herself, her eyes searching the cavernous place they were in.
 "Oh." There. Ignoring the spirit, she made her way to a wall and placed her hands on it, searching for a handhold. Finding an adequate protrusion, she pulled herself up and began to ascend.
>「Hey! Are you listening to me?! You can't just-! Ah.」 it called after her, but she ignored it in lieu of concentrating on her task. She stretched out her arm, seeking for the next handhold but couldn't quite reach.
 > 「I'm serious!」
 "Will you shut it?! I'm trying to- come on...just a little...-get ou-kyaaaah!" She lost her footing and slipped. Down she fell, and she closed her eyes to brace herself for impact with the hard ground 20 feet below.
 The spirit was faster, and with a jump, caught her with ease. She opened her eyes and noticed that he had aged himself a little. Now he resembled the Soren from three years ago. Back when he was still happy and smiled easily.
> 「Hoh...you're lighter than I expected.」His hands squeezed her thighs and Amy felt the tips of his fingernails catch on her tights.
Amy's cheeks reddened and without thinking, slapped him. It didn't even faze him. He just laughed again. "What ARE you?"
> Setting her down, he looked up at the cliff side she had been climbing and swept his bangs out of his eyes.「Someone you knew. Probably. I forget my own name sometimes. You said it earlier, didn't you?」
 Her posture stiffened, her fingers weaving themselves into the folds of her skirt. "Y-yes."
> 「Say it again, please?」he pleaded, eyes bright. 「In return, I'll tell you something important.」
 Amy rolled her lips together, considering her possibilities. Her options were very limited and while he hadn't done anything necessarily bad...something about the spirit made him seem malevolent. Like if she said the wrong thing he'd tear her apart with his teeth.
Taking a breath, she willed herself to calm down. Meeting his gaze, she said Soren's name.
> It let out a quiet hiss, as if the name itself carried some form of pleasure. 「That's it. Soren...」 Nodding, he placed his hands on his hips. 「Very well, as I am a man of my word, I will tell you what is happening to our dear host. You might want to find a seat and make yourself comfortable, Miss Heart. It's quite the riveting tale.」

「This is a flashback」

A gentleman sat down at the table, newspaper in hand. Looking over the edge of his paper, he saw his only son making his way down the stairs, his eyes staring at the floor. Instead of coming to eat breakfast, Soren sighed and slipped his jacket on and walked out the front door to his motorcycle.
 It had been like this for the past few weeks, and Mr. Skyler was getting worried about his son's health. Even if he wasn't home as often as he used to be, James Skyler had never seen his son act like this. Soren ate very little, hardly spoke, and insisted on staying in his room more than ever.
At first, James thought it was just Soren going through teenage puberty, until his wife told him that wasn't it.
 "I think he's in love," she had said.
 Something told him that his wife was only half right. The dead look in his son's eyes reminded him too much of jilted friends in his wife's beloved soap operas. Frowning, he set his paper down and stood up. His wife turned and raised an eyebrow at him, but she didn't speak. He walked over to her and reached out to stroke her hair and give her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be upstairs if you need me for anything."
 She jokingly bumped him with her rear and giggled. "As if, but do hurry. I need to pick up the others for today's carpool."
Grunting, he gave her a tired smile and hurried of the stairs towards his son's room. He paused before the door, uncertainty filling him. Was it really okay to invade his son's privacy?
 "Ridiculous, I'm his father." Slowly, he turned the knob, subconsciously apologizing to Soren, and opened the door. -

"Is there a point to this?" Amy asked.
> 「I'm getting to it. Now where was I?」

-He wasn't sure what he was expecting. Well, anything other than this really. Soren's room looked relatively...normal. And surprisingly clean. With all the time Soren had been spending up here, James Skyler expected more of a mess, like his own had been when he was a teen. He took note of the books stacked on Soren's desk and what looked like a single sheet of paper with sparse words hastily scrawled over the top half.
 With quiet steps, he made his way over and read the top line. "Biology homework, huh?" He set the paper down and smoothed it out. And then something in his peripherals caught his attention.
 Tucked away in the corner of the room was Teojushin, the bass he had given Soren for his birthday three years ago before Soren had entered high school. Wordlessly, he picked her up and tested its sound.
It was slightly off no matter how much he tried to tune it to his own tastes. Frowning, he set Teojushin down and made a mental note to buy his son new strings. But what to use as incentive?
"Why is this never easy?" he muttered. James eyes fell on the abandoned piece of paper on the desk again and it hit him. Of course. Last week, one of the teachers had mentioned that although Soren was a bright child, his grades had begun slipping.  "A C should be easy enough..." -

"Oh, I remember that."
> He let out a frustrated snort, and crossed his arms. 「Are you going to let me finish or not?」
She lifted her hand and drew it across her lips like a zipper.

- With that being decided, James had set out for work as usual. He picked up a phone book from the front desk at his office and every so often, he'd pause whatever he had been working on to scan it for the address of a music shop. To his dismay there were none listed close-by and he chided himself for thinking it would be that simple. As soon as lunch break started, he was out the door. There was only one place he could think of that was as close to a music store as one could get.
 Normally, he'd never venture to this part of town. It always seemed like it was crawling with shadows, rain or shine. Shaking his head, he dismissed those thoughts and made a beeline towards one of the shops.
The sign read "ছায়া বড়বাজার". It made him a little uneasy. What language was that? He could feel eyes on him from all sides, watching. Waiting. For what? Gripping the brass handle, he turned it and entered. The bell over the door jingled, announcing his arrival.
"Right with you, mon! Second!" a wheezy voice called out to him from the back of the dingy shop.
 "Uh...n-no hurry. Just do what you need to do." James said nervously, sweat forming on his face as he glanced around. The shop was little different from a pawn shop and carried all sorts of odds and ends. A wooden tribal mask caught his eye and he moved towards it. Picking it up, his fingers traced over the wicked looking feral grin with morbid curiosity. "How peculiar..."
 "Joo 'ave a good eye, sah." The sudden appearance of the shop owner almost made him drop the mask. James looked up and was met with a dark grey man dressed in the strangest clothes. His chest was bare, save for a metal breastplate that covered one pectoral and a pauldron on the other shoulder. A loincloth covered his crotch, with long peacock feathers attached to the belt, as a makeshift skirt.  He fumbled to put the mask back in place and gave the old man an embarrassed chuckle. "Joo lookin' to buy, yes?
 James swallowed and nodded. "Uh yeah...yes. I was wondering if uh...you carried any bass strings?"
The man blinked and scratched at his beard. "Bass...strings..." he moved towards the cashier's desk, muttering something in a language that James assumed was the same as the one on the shop's door. The man disappeared under the desk and started rummaging around before popping back up and slapping a fishing line down on the counter. "For fishing, yes? 'Ave good string here. Very strong. Can pull even largest fish."
 "Oh. Tha-that's nice. Uh, I meant as in the instrument? You know like..." James played the air in front of him like a guitar. He coughed when the old man gave him a quizzical look and he stopped. "Yeah."
"Hooooh. I see, I see." The man gave him a strange smile and moved out from behind the counter. "Music bring life, joy. Many laugh too." He motioned for James to move closer. He hesitantly leaned in, not entirely sure of what would happen. "I tell joo secret, mon." The old man looked left and right, as if looking for other intruders.
"...okay?" the close proximity of the shop owner was now making James really uncomfortable and he wished nothing more than having the old man step back.
"I have special strings in back. Only ones of kind. Guaranteed never fray or lose sound." As he spoke, the old man's wrinkly hands made gestures in the air, intricate shapes that made no sense and felt wrong. "Joo want, yes?"
James took a step back and considered it. The way the man made them sound was too good to be true. Never lose sound or fray? Bullshit. However... "May I see them, Mister uh...didn't catch your name?"
The old shopkeeper only laughed, shook his head and slapped James on the back. "No worries 'bout that, sah. Name not important. This way, this way. Show joo strings, yeah."

-

> 「And well, as you can see...」the fake Soren gestured to himself, 「he bought the strings, brought them home and gave them to us.」
Amy raised an eyebrow and bit her lip. She shifted so her legs were more comfortable underneath her. "What was so special about them?"
> 「Cursed.」
"Curse? What kind of curse?"
> 「Hmm, it's a little hard to explain but let's just say that Teojushin has feelings too.」Soren scratched his cheek and turned away from her. 「Certain feelings can feed into others and I guess you can say that the feelings that we have for that witch are not our own.」
It took a few seconds for Soren's words to sink in. "Not...your own...? But that's..." Crazy. What was even happening around here? Curses....magic...she didn't understand. It was overwhelming her. Her hands gripped the hem of her skirt and she felt a drop of water on her knuckles. Surprised, she lifted a hand to her face but it was brought to a sudden stop.
> His hands were on hers and he was staring at her with such an intensity that she felt like she was being subjugated. 「Why do you weep for us, Amy Heart?」
Sniffing, she snatched her hand away from his and wiped her eyes. They burned with more unshed tears, but she blinked those away. This was no time for crying. Facing him, she spoke slowly. "It's just...I can't imagine being put through that. Being governed by feelings that aren't your own." A grinding noise. Where was it coming from? Her mouth. She was grinding her teeth so hard she could hear it. "Earlier you said there was hope for this place, didn't you?"
> He nodded. 「I did.」
Standing up, she dusted herself off and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Well? Are you going to tell me?"
 Smiling, he pried her hands off of him and pulled her close. For a terrifying moment, Amy thought he was either going to kiss her or eat her, but he just hugged her.
> 「Call our name with all your heart. Even after all this, we still hold you as our most important person.」
His hold on her loosened and he stepped back, leaving room for her to breathe. "That's it? Isn't that...?"
> 「Too simple? It is. Come here and hold out your hand, little girl.」
She held out her hand towards him and he gently took hold of her wrist. Something was pressed into her palm, and she winced at the burning sensation. "What...did you do...?" She looked up at him and was met with a resigned smile. "Hey! Are you okay?"
> Closing his eyes, he just kept smiling and dark blue liquid began to seep out of the corner of his lips. 「A seal. You'll...need it...」His knees buckled and he crumpled to the ground, face down.
"Soren!" Amy rushed to his side and carefully turned him over, placing his head on her lap.
> Coughing, he reached up with trembling hands to touch her face. 「Hey...you really shouldn't...waste time on me...I'm only a rem...nant after all. One more...thing...」
His words were barely audible, and she leaned closer to hear his last words. Gasping, she pulled back and the tears she had been holding back spilled over. "But I-!"
> 「Don't worry about it.」His eyes stared unseeing at the ceiling above. 「Time for you to go.」The world shone bright around her and the darkness disappeared.
"Wait!"
Her hand was still outstretched when the world came back to focus. She was back in the cafeteria like if nothing had happened. Shivering, she hugged herself, hot tears streaming down her cheeks.
"You're really annoying, Heart." That voice! Amy looked up and met Sunset Shimmer's teal eyes staring down on her with contempt.
"Shimmer..."
"To think you'd find the source first and close it off," Sunset continued, shrugging her shoulders and shaking her head. She reached up and ran a hand over her face, stopping to tap her cheek thoughtfully. "I commend you, Heart. Now hand it over."
Amy looked between Shimmer and the bass behind her. "No, you have no idea what this thing is and-"
"I don't care." Sunset clucked her tongue and moved past Amy to pick up the bass's case. Amy stood up and ignored the shriek of pain that followed. Turning her head, she searched for Soren and Brad. 'Oh. They haven't moved.'
The air felt heavy and she shoved past the students blocking her way until she reached the center.
"You're not my keeper, Brad!"

-

The blow never came. With careful movements, Brad opened his eyes to see Soren hunched over, grasping at his hair in pain. Holding a palm against his bruised cheek he stood up but didn't move any closer.
Then Soren dropped to his knees and screamed.
It was like the sound of a mad beast that had been backed against a wall. His hands clawed at his face and clothes, fingernails leaving rips and welts in their wake.
Brad saw his chance and took it. He ran up to Soren and tackled him to the ground.
Soren continued to scream and thrash under him and when his eyes met Brad's again, Brad noticed something odd about them.
His left eye was the same hazel gold it had always been but his right eye had no visible pupil.
"...away..."
"No. You're my best friend and-" Brad ducked as one of Soren's hands swiped at him. "I'm not gonna leave you like this."
 Soren swiped at him again, this time managing to grab hold of Brad's jacket. Jerking him closer so that their noses were almost touching he hissed. "You don...understa....not me..."
And then he pushed Brad off of him.
It looked like a light push, with hardly any force, yet Brad was practically thrown off of him and he landed a few yards away, his back colliding with the wall with a loud thump. He coughed and spit up a bit of his lunch along with fluids. Then he slumped and lay immobile.
 Soren dragged himself to his feet, a slasher smile painted on his face. "You really should have just given up earlier, little boy. It wouldn't have hurt this much!" His eyes narrowed and he lifted his hands to inspect them. "Fascinating, so this is the outside world...How boring." He stepped towards the fallen Brad, hands twitching.

-

The few students that remained were backing away from Soren. What was one to do when one of your fellow classmates is literally possessed?
 "Teojushin."
'Soren' froze and with great difficulty turned his head towards the soft feminine voice calling to him. Amy was standing there, cheeks still damp, a hand held out towards him with a burn mark on her palm. Advancing slowly, she kept her palm facing him. "..." It was hard retaining focus on the seal.
> 「It will be…painful, but just bear with it. It should weaken him and you will have to...press that against his forehead. 」
"That mark..." He narrowed his eyes. It was an eight-point binding seal. With each second that passed, he found that it was becoming harder to move. "Hoooh? Where did you get that, little girl?"
Gritting her teeth, "Shut up! Give Soren back!" Only a few feet remained between them, she could do this. She could seal this monster away and get him back.
"...ridiculous. I AM Soren." Even with his restrained movement, he managed to turn and face her. Blood from where he had clawed himself was running down his face, one particular rivet skirting around the edge of his right eye, making it look like a tear.
> 「This will seal him away. I cannot...guarantee we will be all right after that」
"Liar. You may try to be him, but he isn't so weak as to let you take over! You hear me? TEOJUSHIN?!" She was close enough to almost touch him. Memories of a happier Soren hit her hard and the spirit’s words echoed in her head. ‘He might not be the same…he…”
A wave of nausea hit her and she lost concentration. Teojushin took the opportunity to lash out and knock her off her feet. She squeaked when she found herself staring up at an amused Teojushin. Red eyes that didn't belong on Soren's face danced with mirth.
 "That's right, be a good little girl and kneel." He bent down and pet her cheek. His hand was so cold and she recoiled, her task forgotten.
Demon. Monster. She wanted to yell at him to get out of her face. He was now tracing her jawline and pinched her chin between his fingers, forcing her to look at him.
"Where did you get that seal?" he demanded, his fingers digging into her skin. He was answered with another glare and pursed lips. Something inside him stirred when he saw the fire in her eyes. It was captivating. He let out an amused snort and dropped his hold.
The girl hissed in pain, baring her teeth at him. One could practically feel the hate radiating off of her. And inside him, Soren screamed.

-

>「You gave up easier than I thought.」
Through the bars of the cage he was in, Soren glowered at the spirit that looked like him. His doppelganger paid no attention to him, his attention concentrated on an apple in his hand. "You...let me go!"
> Biting into the apple, the spirit finally turned his gaze to his captive. 「I don't think you are in any position to make demands. Look at you,」he walked closer to the cage and tapped one of the bars. 「What can you even hope to accomplish from inside this place?」He smiled. 「Keep quiet, my dear host. Keep quiet and watch as I destroy your friends and take what is rightfully mine.」 He tossed the core at Soren's head and left.
Soren stayed silent for a while watching the core until it vanished, rethinking his life. After spending some time here, he found the reason why he had been suffering all along.
Sagging against the bars, he sank to the floor and hugged his knees to his chest. He hated this and wanted to disappear. For a brief second, he wondered if anyone would even miss him.  Was he like that apple's core? Just a figment of a dream?
"Ha." After all this time of being confused, of pushing others away he found that his feelings for Sunset Shimmer had never existed. He really was pathetic. And that other, the one that was not Teojushin had warned him. Why didn't he listen?
>「I ask myself that too. Why didn't Soren Skyler listen after I warned him?」The voice came from above his cage. He looked up and sure enough, the other was there, staring down at him with an unreadable expression on his face.
Soren was up in a flash and retreated to the other side of the cage. Not like it made a difference, considering how small it was. The other just gave him a look of disinterest and yawned.
> 「She was here earlier you know.」It rolled over to its side and rested its chin on his hands.
"Who?"
> 「That girl with the scarf.」
He was stunned. Girl with the scarf? Peering up at the Other, Soren questioned it. "Amy? Amy was here?" He couldn't believe it. How had she even...? The other nodded and went back to staring at him. "How...?"
> 「I suppose Amy was her name. How she got here? Even I do not know. Perhaps she wasn't real after all.」
He held back a frustrated groan, of all times to be a cryptic dick, the Other chose now. “So what did you do with her?”
> He raised a finger to silence him, and cocked his head to the side as if listening for something. Frowning, the Other shook his head and looked down at him.「A little something to help. However it seems our invader was able to stop her. And so,」He crossed his arms and bit his lip. 「I guess I’ll have to help out as well. Listen well, Soren Skyler, it is Teojushin’s main goal to obtain the witch at all costs. If Amy Heart can use the half of myself that I gave her, you can be saved.」
Taken aback, Soren digested the words the Other had said. “What do you mean the half you gave her?”
> 「Think of it like Harry Potter and Horcruxes.」The Other looked amused and even had the gall to snicker. Soren was not amused and just gave him a forced grin.
“…okay, that…works. I guess?”
> 「Indeed. I can’t spend much energy on you. I’m having enough trouble moving as it is.」And then he spoke so softly that Soren almost missed it. 「She called me by our name. 」 Then he jumped down and touched the cage’s door, making it disintegrate. 「And you’re an idiot if you don’t hurry up before someone else takes her away from you.」With that said, he also vanished, leaving Soren all alone again, confused and in the dark.

-

She stared at her stinging hand and furrowed her brows at the case. So that’s why Amy had just let her pass. Rubbing her hand, she tossed a glare over her shoulder to see Amy confronting the possessed Soren. Even though they weren’t so far, she still had trouble hearing what they were saying. Suddenly, Soren kicked Amy down and said something that left the poor girl floored. He began walking away when he spotted her and his face contorted into a shit-eating predatory grin.
Sunset felt her body tense up. She knew he was coming for her now. Her mind screamed for her to move, to run but she remained in place as he drew closer. From behind him, Amy slowly rose to her feet and just…stood there.
 “Sunset Shimmer.” He was in front of her, daring to look shy. It probably would have worked if his eyes didn’t look so crazy. He reached out and took hold of her hand and she had to do everything in her power not to yank it back from his icy touch. “We finally meet.”