North Gate; High Void Sun -- Noonday.

The land was cold and filled with a sense of absence like no other. Barren as the arctic polar regions of the earth, the hard and frozen terrain bore no life nor activity all across the North Gate -- common. The dwelling of the souls of the lost (those who did not make it up the top of the mountain) were trapped here in the polar region; lifeless and suspended in place. The unconscious spirits resembled snow that did not fall nor blow and maintained an eerie silence and solitude between them -- no resonance. Trapped in place and locked in their own independence, each of them had long since retreated into themselves and rested within the confined of their own individual spiritual realms deep inside their own souls. They were like babes, and their inner turmoil was found within the fetters of their own binding afflictions, which they searched through in an eternal 'Soul Search' of which they could not emerge from. The saddest fate of the unborn and unconscious; those that had sought life and lost it to the mountain of death before being allowed escape and rest in the afterlife.

Among them, there were those which had found means of adhesion to each other by the bindings of an outer force -- a third party seeking to consume them. By their mutual implications of affliction, their souls attached to each other by turmoil, and through this an unholy beast forged itself unconsciously. It started off small, bound by its own palms with fingers blended together to the point of obscurity and eyes upon both sides, which were black and white and inverted from the coloration of the monochromatic hands -- either eye beheld the opposite of the other. Stretching out from either side, as if in opposition, were two branches -- arms -- both of the opposite color (black or white) from the blended hands and conscious eyes that were the souls which had come together. Eventually, a very large body on either end of the stretching arms mirrored the other -- black or white -- and continued to forge more of itself based on the image of the one it gazed at in reflection. They bore a single eye on either head and a single independent arm on either body that belonged to either side, yet their other eyes were in the blend of the obscurity in the palms, gazing at each other. Two dislodged protrusions extended from the base, which was connected at the pelvis, yet the legs of whichever being were independent, just as the single arm and single eye on the independent bodies born from the mirroring arm branches.

This unholy monster was, like the souls it consumed to create its form, locked in affliction with itself, attempting to mirror and oppose the other. They could not detach by the linked hands, nor could they move beyond their own attachment to each other, despite one seeking to move in one direction and the other in the complete opposite. Bound in suspension, the entity looked at itself and bore great hatred for its adhesion and inability to move. So, from either end, the two hands that belonged to the independent bodies reached out to snatch more souls out of envy and consume them in order to grow stronger -- strong enough to unhinge at the hand and slay the other.

-Pumpkin Head-

The Pumpkin Head appeared before the Gemini as the fire spread from the Taurus down below and it was left as fodder for the birds, insects and flames during the slow roast of its simmer in the Void Sun. It was being torn apart by figments of Tymon's imagination in the form of his own Malice, and Gemini was next.

Whilst the Gemini was fighting over the souls that were within it with itself, it would sense with its envious eyes the sight of power, causing both sides of the Gemini to become unified in their consciousness and no longer fighting with itself. Now, its power could be utilized for what it was meant for.

Yet...

The two heads were still competing against each other to acquire a greater power than the other and have total control over the entire vessel, snatching it from the other side. This division between them hindered the Gemini from moving, but still the envy of the creature kept it locked on where it could find the source of power. This 'Pumpkin Head' that was floating before them had a great deal of power, and the flames that were associated with it were burning the flesh of the Taurus, one of the eldest and most powerful of the Zodiac. Gemini was one of the younger, and was more or less envious of many of the other Zodiac signs and liked to restrain them using its power to Divide and Conquer.

Gazing at the Pumpkin Head brought fear to it, but fear brought it power, and power made both sides of the Gemini feel more satiated from their deficiency in power. Fighting over the same souls cycling about drained them of energy, and eventually Gemini would die of the deficiency by standing in the same spot, stuck, and fighting with itself.

Now, with a new target in play, it would not have to fight with itself for very much longer, for the souls that it needed were right down at the bottom of the mountain... where the Taurus and the Beasts of the Beast Kingdom were.

"IT'S MINE!!!" cried both Gemini heads simultaneously, somehow detracting their focus from the prize it sought for both heads to suddenly become divided in their mentality again in order to fight with each other. "NO, IT'S MINE!!!" the twin sin cried out again. "NOT IF I GET THERE FIRST!!" The two heads sounded like that of children, but the sheer will to compete gave it power. So, competing with itself for a target that was to the benefit of either would end up with the entire body gaining enough strength to power itself on.

All Gemini needed was a third party. After that, the competition was to get to the third party. This is why every other being left Gemini alone -- because they were already aware of its competitive nature strictly due to envy, alone, of all of the others being more powerful than it. The only thing it had was the power to Divide and Conquer, which only worked best when there was something stronger than it or that had completeness and wholeness. Therefore, the very moment a third party engaged with it, the battle was on to see who could get to the goal first.

The Pumpkin Head watched over the Gemini and realized that its lust for power was because it was a weakling at heart and in mind. Pumpkinhead could see the weakness and where the division happened, because of how they interacted with each other and how they moved when they attempted to do anything. It was actually rather disgusting to have to see this weak creature clinging to life. Yet, somehow, after an eternity, like with the other Zodiac signs, it still maintained and retained its own life. That meant something very grave to Pumpkinhead and the Pumpkin Head would not take this matter lightly.

Still, the cretin moved hastily toward the already burning Taurus seeking the souls that were at the bottom of the mountain. Little did it know, each of them were already being consumed by Pumpkinhead and the fire that was down there was part of its actual body, which was now in an imaginary ethereal form as figments of Tymon's own imagination being malicious toward something. This, known as 'Psycho Panda', was already lain down as a trap and the Gemini was rushing toward it, and was going to be consumed by the flames of Tymon's malicious imagination ruled over by Pumpkinhead at this time. Pumpkin Head nearly thirsted for the Gemini to run head strong in ignorant competition toward this automatic trap so that it would be burnt up by malice, itself, but the spreading flames would deal with that better than Pumpkinhead acting out in haste like the Gemini did.

Still, underestimating this situation just because the creature was fool enough to rush into a burning fire where an elder that it deemed superior was smoldering to a crisp did not mean that Pumpkinhead should count that as a victory. In fact, if the Gemini realized that the Pumpkin Head was more powerful than the Taurus as well as the Souls that were within the flames, it might turn right around and go for the Pumpkin Head instead of for the fire with all of the souls.

Sadly, Pumpkinhead was aware that the best way to deal with this situation was to actually leave it alone and let the fire spread instead of actually engage with the Gemini. It could see why everyone left this creature alone rather than seek to engage it, and that is where it's power came from -- anything attempting to engage with it, especially competitively. Perhaps it was almost dead and just from interacting with it, it gained some power from Pumpkinhead. This was a curse of Envy, itself, and Pumpkinhead hated it. One of the most hateful of all sins, especially when those afflicted drew power from it and a third party, which is how it seemed like this type of creature survived. There was no way for Pumpkinhead to interact without giving the Gemini power, and so... The Pumpkin Head would begin to hover away, toward where it sensed the next Zodiac Spirit -- Cancer.

Gemini continued on its path toward the souls that it wanted which were burning in the fire, believing that if it could salvage the souls, it could keep itself alive longer. That was its only purpose, after all, and had been the sole meaning of its life for what seemed to be eons. Though many souls were born under Gemini, and were able to achieve power for it through competition, many of them were actually subservient or weak and were taken advantage of, especially during competitive means and bouts -- just like Gemini was doing with itself. That meant that Gemini was weak from the beginning, and even drawing power from the more powerful Geminis born under its sign meant taking away power from itself, as well, in order to selfishly consume the power that it wanted to grow just so it could have the power before the power was gone.

Power-mad, the Gemini rushed with sharp, pinpoint legs shifting in a spiraling fashion and alternating between left and right via rotating around the pivotal point of its loins, looking something like a revolving wind-up toy. It could not even move straight because of how its legs walked, switching between each other and then rotating around to become the new left or new right leg; black and white, white and black, back and forth, forth and back. It looked literally challenged in the way that it walked, but it mattered not as long as it moved. In fact, it liked the challenge of being challenged and also having a challenge in its movement, even if it was dangerous and it could easily stumble, trip and fall down to its demise and injure itself greatly along the way. It seemed not to care as long as it got those souls.

Though, even with its competitive mentality and seeking of challenging in literally any and every way imaginable -- especially within itself -- the black Gemini head noticed the Pumpkin Head floating away and disregarding it, which meant something to it. "DO NOT IGNORE ME!!!" it cried, reaching out to try to grab the Pumpkin Head and simultaneously pinning its foot down at the point like a sharp nail driving into wood. It halted the entire body where it was and planted it firmly at the exact point where its foot was driven into the ground.

"HISSSS!!!" the white Gemini head cried out, screeching in frustration at the black Gemini for halting them, leg and arm still wriggling violently out of what looked like pain and wrath. "DO NOT STOP!!! THE SOULS ARE THERE!! WE HAVE THE SOULS!!!"

"NO!!!" cried out the black Gemini head, "THAT FLOATING HEAD IS MORE POWERFUL!!! THAT IS WHAT WE NEED!!!"

"NO!!!" cried out the white Gemini head, "THE SOULS OF THE TAURUS IS WHAT WE MUST EAT OR WE WILL SURELY DIE!!! THAT IS WHAT WE NEED!!!"

The black Gemini pulled at the white Gemini, crying out once more, "NO!!! THIS WAY!!! WHERE THE HEAD GOES!!!"

The white Gemini pulled at the black Gemini in the other direction, screeching now, "NO!!! THIS WAY!!! WHERE THE SOULS ARE!!!"

This conflict is what literally tore them apart, both mind and body, and their spirits were divided amongst themselves so that the White Gemini and the Black Gemini were no longer together, but were now two separate beings that were completely opposing each other -- something they had not done in a very long time. "FINE!!!" They both cried out to each other before hobbling away, since they were literally torn in half. "YOU GO THAT WAY AND I WILL GO THIS WAY!!!" they screamed out simultaneously, using their arms and one-leg as means of mobility.

The Black Gemini went off to where the Pumpkin Head went, whilst the White Gemini went off to where the Taurus and the souls were before they got burnt up.

"How Did I Know..." Pumpkinhead uttered angrily, "That It Would End Up This Way...?"

It was clear that Gemini had the power to divide itself, but perhaps it was too early to have done that. Divide and Conquer worked well for a being that required the completeness of self to be at full power, even if its special power was also to divide itself up in order to accomplish two or more tasks together at the same time in different places.

"Come..." The Pumpkin Head beckoned, drawing forth the Black Gemini toward where it could sense the Cancer Zodiac Spirit, "... To Your Demise." Saying something like that would definitely trigger the effect of the Gemini seeking a challenge, and it would be lured toward something far worse than the loss of a competition -- the loss of life.

Pumpkinhead paid no mind to the White Gemini, however the flames of malice that were still consuming the souls and the Taurus for sustenance gave power to the Pumpkin Head, just as the White Gemini was seeking for itself. That sort of conundrum paradox was important for dealing with a creature that lived as a paradox and conundrum literally as an existence, and needed to be resolved through the removal or resolution of the paradoxical means in which it perpetuated itself. The perpetuity was through their being together, and now divided, there was no perpetual energy between them. This was good, and Pumpkinhead had his Pumpkin Head hover faster away, just out of reach of the Black Gemini -- like an apple from a tree on a branch just out of the grasp of a hungry forager.

Meanwhile, the fires crept closer and closer to the White Gemini, spreading out the souls that were within the flames to encircle the area, something like how oil functioned when one makes a slick and lights it aflame. The White Gemini and its lust for souls would be surrounded by the fires of malicious imagination and the Psycho Panda would appear before it from the figments of Tymon's imagination ready to reap the souls that were within the White Gemini's possession, just as with the Taurus.