Chapter 6: Ego (by the Sounds)

Subtitle: In which we learn that Gilbert's middle name is Elliot.

As the Kirkland family, Matthew, Lovino, Gilbert, and Hugo loaded themselves into the kitchen where a bar was located for extra seating and attached dining room, all eyes were on a gleefully ignorant (or seemingly so) Matthew.

Matthew had been acting weird ever since Gilbert and co. met up together at the airport, and it wasn't only in the way he acted.

Gilbert had always been able to see a faint light around the boy, not black like a devil's but not white like an angel's. Almost… grey. Fitting for such a bright creature to carry such a dull aura. But now, Gilbert couldn't see anything, not a grey or a white, nothing. In fact, the Euphorian was actually becoming quite blurry himself, almost as if he was trying so hard to repress something that he was inadvertently repressing everything. It was amusing for a while, then it was odd. And now it's just suspicious. It was like he was trying to be normal. Natural. Real.

Throughout the entire dinner, everyone seemed to have changed.

Auntie Clementine didn't tease anyone as much as usual and refrained from hugging her favorite nephew, even smiling became eerie, as the smile she got back wasn't faked so much as it wasn't natural. Who could have believed that such a quiet boy could smile so fiercely that the corners literally reached his eyes?

Adrian, well, Adrian didn't eat at all. Instead, he sat in the living room, staring blankly at the TV and trying to recall where he had heard that name from before. Phoebe, Phoebe, Phoebe… wait…

Hugo ate calmly, talking regularly to anyone who would halfway listen or even attempt to respond. This mostly meant he talked to Matthew or Abbot, as Noah was too busy sending Matthew worried, "we need to talk" glances, Abbot was oblivious (as always), and Gilbert was too busy glaring at Matthew – or what he believed to be a stand-in Matthew. A fraud. Probably Francis; he looked identical to Matthew and was quite skilled in the art of form-stealing. No doubt his people had finally caught on that their beloved reject wasn't going to deliver their precious pawn/weapon/toy-thing back to them. At least, not without a fight first.

When he eventually zoned back in, he noted the way the energetic blonde(s) were in conversation, as if a glee-sucking, body-stealing imposter weren't sitting with them currently, giggling when spoken to and occasionally when not. Gilbert sent Hugo a "you traitor, tell me what you know" look and was rewarded for his efforts by a comforting, "relax" smile and a pat on his hands.

Eventually, when the tension got too thick to ignore but not thick enough to acknowledge, Aunt Clementine left, followed by a reluctant Noah, who also dragged the two blondes away, clearly seeing that the "grown-ups" needed to have a chat more than he did. Before they left, Hugo paused and turned to Matthew.

"Good to see you again, Lord Williams," he said with a warm smile, beaming and smiling and being just all-around happier than Gilbert had ever seen him. Hugo mocked a salute, earning a giggle from Matthew and a teasing, yet somehow serious, "As you were, soldier."

After the trio had left, Gilbert stood and took his plate to the sink.

"Wait!"

Gilbert spun around, expecting the imposter to reveal him or herself or something of the like. "Yes?"

"Can I have that cranberry sauce if you're not gonna eat it? I'll admit, I've only had two servings and I'm already quite fond of the stuff! I must be developing a food crush!" [(A/N): Don't be judgin', you know you've had one before.]

Gilbert grit his teeth and told himself to stay calm and just wait. Maybe if he fed the filthy monster, it would let its guard down and admit to its one touched what belonged to a demon, and Matthew, in his mind, most definitely belonged to one Gilbert E. Beilschemidt.

Gilbert forced a grin on his face and walked back, raking his cranberry sauce onto the others plate before dropping his own into the sink along with his fork, spoon, all his leftover kindness towards this… this… being that has stolen his Matthew from him.

"So, Gilbert, how long have you known I wasn't your Matthew, as you so call him."

Gilbert froze and held his breathe, listening carefully for signs of attack or weapons being drawn or even moving. The only sounds were the TV, the clacking of keyboard keys from the living room (He had to pause and wonder what Adrian was looking up and if it would be of any use to him to go… investigate [aka, snoop]), and the occasional screech of a fork against a plate as Matthew ate his growing mound of sweets.

"A while," he finally replied.

"Matthew" hummed and set down the fork and picked up his plate, taking it to the sink, which Gilbert was currently gripping with all his force in an attempt to not murder the imposter. After washing the plate off and putting it away, he dried his hands on his pants and put a hand on Gilbert's shoulder. "Why don't we go on a walk, eh?"

Gilbert jumped and spun on his heel to face the other, rage making him almost ooze the black, powerful aura that Matthew was so accustomed to. He smacked the other's hand away and formed the blackness into a deathly sharp knife, pressing it to "Matthew's" neck.

"Don't touch me. Only a fool would go for a 'walk' with their enemy."

"Matthew's" smile widened to almost scary proportions, before he brought a hand to his mouth to cover the chuckles, laughs, giggles and snickers his mouth was producing, thoroughly angering and confusing the other. After he managed to calm himself, he pushed the knife away from his throat like one would bat away a fly. As if it meant nothing to have death bleeding at your neck. Gilbert almost smiled. Maybe this "Matthew" and his own weren't as different as he'd originally thought.

"Relax, it's just a walk. Besides, I'm sure you want answers, and I refuse to tell such terrible things in front of such company."

"You will give me answers when I want, where I want." Nevertheless, he grabbed his coat and walked outside, "Matthew" following him out in only a light, red sweater.

When the two were a suitable distance from the house and any surrounding houses or wandering people, Gilbert brought out his self-created, aura/black matter knife, this time making it slightly bigger and slightly sharper and bringing it slightly closer to the "fake" blonde's throat.

"Who are you, what are you, why are you here, can I kill you without killing him- Gimme answers, now, imposter."

The imposter laughed again, this time putting his hand around the knife and slowly sliding it down. Immediately, red blood sluggishly flowed out. "Matthew" seemed to concentrate extremely hard on this, his ever present smile diminishing to nothing in favor of… what? What was he trying to achieve, cutting himself like that?

Gilbert cursed and ripped off his jacket, tying one sleeve around the wound.

"You idiot, you-"

"Look."

Gilbert flung his head upward at the voice that entered his brain. It sounded exactly like Matthew's only… different. Harsher. More alive. Less innocent. And, for some reason unknown to Gilbert, it was also strangely familiar. Gilbert shook his head and looked down at "Matthew's" hand, where the other was pointing with what might have been his biggest smile yet.

"Matthew's" hand was just as he'd left it, but another hand-another body-layered on top of it-on top of "Matthew" completely. "Matthew" was separating from Matthew's body completely.

Gilbert almost smiled. Finally, he would get some answers. But he didn't because what he saw left him even more confused.

Matthew's body fell to the ground, momentarily empty and in an almost comatose state. Floating above him, black blood dripping from his hand, was…Matthew.

"M-Matthew? You really were – are – Matthew? B-but-"

Matthew tsked and shook his head from side to side, smirking and floating a little higher, crossing his legs and resting midair in a sitting position. "Wrong again, my dear, dead Watson. Think back. Way back. To what I am guessing was your first ever mission on Earth alone. Back when you were still in your father's favor. You'll remember me, won't you? Well, us really. You..," here his eyes softened. "y-you told us we were your first friends…You'll remember us, won't you? For me? For him? For us?"

And suddenly, it hit Gilbert, and boy, did it hit hard. Knocked him right to his knees, then his hands, where he clutched the snow in his hands and tried to prevent the already falling tears. "No… not him… I-it was an accident… I-I didn't mean t-to-", he looked up at the other, whose smile had dissipated for a hard look. "B-but how… you… you both d-died when-"

Matthew's eyes suddenly widened, and he swept through Gilbert. Gilbert turned around, amazed to see the two people he thought he'd never see again-his one and only friends. Matthew and Matthew Williams, or as they'd gone by back then, Andy and Drei Pierce. Of course, these had just been shortened versions of the name they both shared; Andrei Pierce. They had had black hair back then, but it was still just as curly then as it was now. They had all been young, too young to be fooling around with potions and books, both human and Hadesian.

But what could be done? Gilbert, back then known as Luchesi, or Lonnie, had fallen in love with both of them as soon as they'd met and had been determined to help the two. Because Andy and Drei Pierce had a secret, just like he did. A last name wasn't the only thing they shared. They were actually the same person, with the same brain and the same thoughts, just in two bodies. Gilbert had known then too that there was something special about them. They didn't glow like the other humans did, as a grey, murky mess of good and bad aura. Andy shone a bluish white (like an angel, but he strangely didn't seem to fit the description for one), and was dreadfully quiet and shy and delicate, yet snarky sometimes. Drei, on the other hand, had an aura similar, if not darker than his own, showing him to be a demon, but Gilbert didn't recognize him as one of his own. Drei was brave and blunt and protective and possessive of his sibling, though had an annoying habit of being extremely cold to anyone he didn't know well.

They had found what they were looking for within a year. A mixing spell, not for potions, but for souls. One touch, a few thought transmissions, and just one spoken word and then Drei and Andy could be one person, Andrei Pierce.

But… something had gone wrong. Someone had said a wrong word or maybe their intertwined hands had somehow slipped… Gilbert didn't remember. All he remembered was the screaming, the blood, and the hideous, scarred body that he'd created. Eyes on necks, arms coming out of a stomach, and blood, blood, blood. It was disgusting, but even worse were the thoughts being transmitted to him faster than he could ever catch them completely. But he got the general message, oh he got it all right. It had never left his head, or his dreams for that matter.

"You fool! You split us! You broke us! YOU BROKE US!"

He ran away from the empty lot they had chosen to complete the ritual.

He had ripped one soul, one brain, one boy, in two. Sure, he was now in one body, no matter how deformed it was, but now there was two Andrei Pierces for real. Two Matthew Williams.

And now, those same two souls huddled together, the more mothering (and ghostly at the moment) one of the two, humming a nursery rhyme to the other, occasionally muttering reassurances to the sleeping, angelic Matthew who was whimpering and crying in his slumber.

Ghostly Matthew glared over at him, but the glare was quickly wiped away by the look on Gilbert's face, a mix between pure agony and sorrow, and pity. Instead, that same cold indifference Drei had shown to him when they'd first met appeared on his face.

"Gilbert Elliot Beilschmidt, you have wronged the middle landlords of Euphoria. Now you must correct it."

He slowly stood up, cradling his other half in his arms like a mother would her child. The black aura so like his own, so familiar, grew stronger around him, and it encased the both of them, growing into a multitude of blade-like branches, which shot out and tangled around him, pinning him to the ground (in quite an awkward position due to the fact that he was still on his knees). He shook with terror as the knife-like ends to the branches poised above his neck, forehead, belly, and nether regions, threatening to run him through and gut him like a Christmas turkey with only one simple command.

He closed his eyes, a drop of sweat running from his hair line, down his face, and off his chin, dripping to the bloodstained (not his blood, but Matthew's, both red and black blood seeped through the white powder) snow below.

He waited, expecting the piercing stab of the needle sharp branches, killing both his body and himself. It vaguely occurred to him to wonder where he'd go if he did die, considering he couldn't go to Hades, and he surely wouldn't be allowed to go to The Fate's kingdom. Maybe…

But those thoughts were cut off by footsteps making their way over to Gilbert. He opened his eyes cautiously, only to come face-to-face with the Matthews, both of them awake this time. The previously sleeping Matthew smiled sleepily at him and waved, while the other was smirking and grabbing his chin.

"Don't worry, pet. This shouldn't be too hard for you. In fact, it might even be beneficial for you."

"R-really now?" Gilbert said with a hint of a smile, one branch coming a bit too close and making a small cut on his cheek.

"Yep! All you have to do is finish what you started," said the yawning Matthew, and Gilbert felt the black matter in his veins freeze.

"We were once one, and you split us apart. Now you will put us back together, or I will kill you. And if you succeed," they said at the same time, "I will allow you and Lovino to live as guests in my kingdom, where no one can reach you without causing a war."

Matthew stood back up and retracted the blades, letting go of Matthew with one hand to extend it to Gilbert with a smile. "Deal?"

Meanwhile, back at the Kirkland Residence:

Adrian tried not to panic, looking at The Times, The Gazette, any and every online newspaper he could get his hands on. He finally found one addressed to go out tomorrow about the world events going on recently.

Drat. It wasn't there.

Suddenly, an idea came to him. He grabbed the TV remote and changed the channel to one of the news stations. Immediately, he got what he was looking for.

On the telly, a news reporter showed security footage of a woman getting off of a plane – his plane – running around frantically, asking where everyone was and then why she couldn't see them. Then, the tape frizzed up and she fell to her knees, blood dripping out of the corner of her mouth. She coughed several times and asked, begged for help, but she wouldn't let the police near her, swatting them away at the same time she pleaded with them to come closer. Eventually, she fell down completely, dying of what appeared to be severe hemorrhaging from the inside,and blood loss, as was later revealed in an autopsy. They then showed a picture of her driver's license, identifying her to be Phoebe Louise Quentin.

And hadn't Matthew been telling him about a girl he'd met on the train by the name of Phoebe?

Adrian had to be sure. He rewound the scene (for once very thankful that he'd paid thew extra money for Freesat+) to where it showed the girl getting off the plane. He leaned in and tried to see what section of the plane. After a while, it switched to a view of the whole plane. Adrian paused it and smirked. How convenient.

After a few minutes of scanning and rewinding to look at both images, he finally managed to figure out that she did indeed come out of Matthew's section, section B.

Matthew wouldn't… murder someone, would he?

Adrian quickly shook his head. Of course not. Matthew was a sweet, shy boy who probably hadn't even seen her after initially meeting her in his seat. And besides, there were plenty of other people on the plane, plenty of other suspe-

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Adrian that stopped him in his tracks and turned him pale, cold, and shaking.

Hadn't Matthew been wearing white when he entered the plane?

(A/N): Okay, so, that was confusing, even for me. AND I WAS WRITING IT! But yes, if all this goes in one ear and out the other, completely making no sense to you, don't be shy! Comment with a polite, "What the crap were you thinking, this is completely unreadable! GRAAHHH! FANRAGE!", and I will politely tell you to chill your beans and explain what the heck I MEANT to say with this….which will likely make just as much sense as it does now :L Sorry.

Anyway! Guess what time it is? (It's actually 3:00 am, but that's beside the point) IT'S EXCUSES TIME! See, why I have totally neglected you poor babies YET AGAIN is that I had semester tests, and then I had to go to Gramma's for a week 'cuz Mom and Dad have finally decided to go on that honeymoon, then it was Christmas and now we're at where we are now! So if you wanna comment with some "You suck as a writer cuz you're slow and ADHD," I will kindly reply with, "Yes. Yes I am." And that will be the end of that. But, just so you know, I have NEVER received a rude or mean comment. You Hetalia Fanfiction Readers must be THE nicest people on here, I swear…

OH, and I apologize if I didn't respond to your comment, it's just that I was super busy and people kept saying the same thing over and over, like, "what in the name of flying sprinkled donuts is going on? Mattie's possessed? And what about Noah and his gang?" Strangely, no one said anything about Phoebe… (*cough*forgottomentionshe'sSeychelles*cough*)

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chappie, can't wait to see you next time around.

REVIEWS FEED MY NEED TO BREED NEW STORIES FOR THEE~ Also, when and if you do review, I would like to know

a) how many male readers there are (I just assume everyone here is female *derp* Probably none anyways)

b) what you got for christmas/your favorite present

(I'll tell you mine: I this AWE-MAZING Gir hoodie [from Invader Zim, dontcha know?], Anya's Ghost, Johnny Wander #1 and #2, and some Boston Baked Beans. I got more than that, but that's probably my favorite :P)

and c) what you think about this chapter, duh~!

With love,