It's been so long... and I have no excuses. Troll gave me a wake up call, which happened to be late at night.

so...

Don't sue me for mental trauma, please?

(ps, chapters will be shorter from now on. I just have so much to do.)

----

https://youtu.be/6ljegvS94qE

---

A drop of water, Crystalized in perfect detail. Such a common thing, yet unique.

It hung, suspended in air, completely unmoving.

"...o...i...o.i..oi! hey, you alive?"

I shook myself, and took my eyes off of the raindrop, and turned my attention to the lost soul vying for my notice.

"What kind of question is that? Of course I'm not alive."

He just stared at me, and it seemed that he was contemplating wether to laugh or take it seriously.

"OK...that makes sense, i guess."

Kill him.

I got up from my knees and walked over to a bench. I took a seat, and held up Black Moon for a closer inspection.

Azariah...

This blade that should feel like a companion to me, felt like nothing more than a piece of metal.

The lost soul was looking at me, trying very hard not to look scared. "s-so...what's your name? i-if you don't mind me asking!"

Eat him.

"Sha-" I still insist on using that farce of a name I chose as a child?

Then what else should I use?

Why not something that's an actual name? Idiot...

Somehow, getting called an idiot by myself makes me feel even stupider. "I don't really have one. I'll think of one, and tell you what it is. Maybe then I'll shut up and leave me alone..."

Fagot.

...

I don't know why I'm calling myself a bundle of sticks. I thought only Azariah called me that...

The sound of repeated banging sounded from inside my skull, and I somehow got a headache.

I wonder why I'm banging my head on the floor of my mind...

(AN: quick authors note. This is referring to the inner world that shadowpelt visited when he first met azariah. Ever since he visited that place, he made a copy and put it in his own mind, to make sorting his various self/selves out less confusing. It's already complicated enough dealing with multiple images of yourself, not to mention them getting lost in space and floating around, playing pranks on each other and such.)

Now now, I shouldn't be angry with myself just because I don't understand something.

U-um, could i not use 'I' and 'me' to point out specif pieces? I-I'm geting really confused...

All of me besides the timid piece turned to him, and looked confused.

Why is that confusing? I mean, I was even pointing.

B-but did you mean glee or peace? What if you were talking about Thirst or Sense?

...

I see what you mean. Then, I-we'll have to think of names for each other. Oh! I know, the gloomy one should be named freddy!

... ... ... ...

*whisper* Why did I-everyone get all quiet?

Well, at least I-we know where the IQ didn't go.

Amen. So, how am I- are we going to decide on names?

We already know who everyone else is. Don't you hear your own words?

W-what do I-you mean, Suffering?

Timid seemed to realize what he said, and nodded.

I see what I-you mean. It seems we already know each other instinctively. Also, I want to say.

You seem very comfortable talking about me-us as separate from yourself. Why is that?

The tall cat-like demi-human stayed silent for a long time. Finally, he responded to the clone of himself.

It's simple. I'm older than the rest of you, so I don't have a hard time telling the difference between myself and the rest of you.

Old? How come? I thought we were all the same person...?

The same body and-once upon a time- the same mind. But things are different now. All of you were born a month or so ago, so you're still getting used to having independent thought.

If I-we were born a month ago, when did you separate from the rest of the mind?

Since the time our body first killed someone.

All of the clones were looking confused, but interested.

I used to be the only one...

But on that day, Thirst was born.

Ever since, I've had to spend all of my energy keeping that lunatic under control, but lately...

Thirst is too strong. He has about half our power, while I, who used to be the king...

It's all right. I don't know how long you kept Thirst under control, and it must have been hard to keep him under control on your own, but we're here now.

Thank you, Despair... I've been alone with that beast for so long, I don't know what I'd have done if I'd been the only one here any longer.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Kukuehuhu...why, you'd have gone InsAnE at tHe VerY LeaSt.

Thirst! What are you doing here?!

You're not supposed to be here! we aren't fighting, so you should be asleep!

HAHA! Who are you, to command me? I'm IN CONTROL!

The new copy was different from the others. Streams of blood ran down his chest, and the muscles, claws, and fangs were all more pronounced. His hair was wild and caked in dried gore. Every now and then, he'd rack his hand through his mane and lick his fingers.

Not if I have anything to say about it.

A scarred copy appeared behind Thirst, and spun while kicking out. The result was that the unstable demi-human rocketed at sixty miles per hour in a horizontal direction.

The assembled copy's looked with shock at the slightly bigger version of themselves. His skin was folded, and blood ran down his body just like Thirst's. The difference was that the scarred agrias was covered in his own blood.

The scarred one looked at Despair, and tilted his head.

Are you just going to stand there, or help me?

Despair smiled, and seemed to phase through the air, appearing right beside the torn copy.

I didn't catch your name...

The scarred demi-human looked at Despair with a confused expression.

I don't really need one...but if you need to call me something, Pain would be acceptable.

And with that, the screaming madman named Thirst slammed into the ground, and started the battle.

W-will Pain and Despair be able to win...?

Suffering looked at the two who could barely keep up with Thirst, and sighed. I honestly don't know. But, out of all of us those two are the most powerful.

Thirst punched forward, piercing the air by Pain's head, but was unable to follow up because Despair kicked him from behind, breaking Thirst's knee at the joint.

Ah! Stay still and die! I'm iN coNtrOl NoW! yOu Can't KeEp mE heLpleSs anYmOrE!

In terms of physical strength and speed, Thrist is stronger than Pain or Despair by far. However, being attacked from two sides made him too spread out. If it was a one-on-one fight between the combined power of Pain and Despair versus Thirst, Thirst would win. In this way, it was fortunate that my mind is broken into so many pieces.

Finally, the two pieces subdued the larger piece, and both stood panting.

Ha, ha, that was too close...

It wouldn't have been so close if you'd been good at fighting.

Shut up! I didn't see you doing any better than me, flappy skin.

haa?! Trading insults, are we? well then, I think you should stop writing deppressing poetry, emo.

I'm not emo! The darkness of my art fills the empty void that is my soul!

...

You are a soul.

...

Shut up. I was speaking figuratively.

I'm pretty sure that you were talking literally, since your muscles are so empty they could be filled with nothing but hot air-

Despairs fist knocked out two of Pains teeth, then Pain broke Despairs arm. After that, they descended to the ground and started grappling.

Ignoring the squirming bodies rolling on the floor, Suffering dragged Thirst's unconscious body up to his eyes.

What am I going to do with you, you poor, poor child...

S-suffering, since we all have names, what's the name of our body? Shadowpelt doesn't really fit anymore...

Suffering looked at Timid, and smiled. How about Jian? It would be appropriate, in my opinion.

Jian... I have no objections.

Woohoo! We have a new name!

...What does it mean...?

Jian means 'Pieces' in chinese.

---

Lost Soul's POV

The scary demi-human had been sitting for a long time. After awhile longer, he stirred. I waved, and said "yo, are you okay?"

He seemed confused. "Why do you ask?"

"You've been sitting on that bench for three years."

He seemed surprised. "What?! How?"

I pointed at the rain drop the man had seemed so interested in three years ago. "In this place, time moves in strange ways."

The drop of water had moved an inch.

"you see, what was a blink of an eye in the living world is reflected as three years in this one. Sometimes, I'll take a step only to realize a building appeared where I was about to step. Time is no longer relative."

The man had seemed disbelieveing, but he seemed to trust me. i leaned back...

"We could sit here for the next five million years, and that drop could still be in the same place. I don't now why time changes like that, but it probably has to do with the unstable mana in this dimension."

"you seem knowledgable about this."

I smiled wryly.

"I should."

After all,

I've been here for fifty thousand years already.