“Will Dad be okay?” Luna restlessly paced around the ward while Sol and Dr. Jerami carefully laid Carl on one of the beds near the window. “Can they stop his bleeding? Can they heal him? Will he still be…”

“Dad will be okay,” Sol quickly interrupted his twin brother's dreadful train of thoughts. “Don’t you ever doubt that we can save them alive,” he firmly added as he pulled Luna beside a bed opposite the unconscious Carl and made him sit on it.

Dr. Jerami was carefully checking up on her son, oblivious of Luna's bothersome ranting.

“If I keep on resisting, they will eventually kill them,” Luna sighed in frustration as he got up on his feet again.

“We will save them before they can do that,” Sol pulled Luna down on the bed again and the unyielding confidence in the voice of the former somehow calmed the latter.

“How can we save them? We don’t even know…”Luna’s voice faded as he glanced at Carl and realized something that made him feel a little hopeful. “Does Carl know where our parents are being held captive?”

“He should,” Sol was also glaring at Carl with hope.

“I’ll get us something to eat,” Dr. Jerami offered with a sigh of resignation. She finally accepted that there was nothing wrong with Carl physically. It was his soul that needed mending. “Take turns in guarding my son while I’m in the kitchen.”

“Is there no other way to take envy out of his body?” Luna asked, seriously wanting to help Dr. Jerami with her burden.

Dr, Jerami stopped at the staircase landing and miserably answered, “If you look closely at each of us, you will see tiny bits of those sins. It is in our choices that make those sins bigger than the light within us. Carl is the only one who can bring that smoke to what it once was. We already did what we can for him,” Dr. Jerami sadly answered.

“How can we make him cooperate if he feels envious towards us?”Luna asked, starting to feel frustrated again.

“I’ll talk to him again once he wakes up. I’ll prepare his favorites. Maybe he’ll be a bit cooperative if he eats something warm and something he likes,” Dr. Jerami said with a sad and hesitant smile.

“Luna, get some rest,” Sol ordered after Dr. Jerami had left. “You are more exhausted than me.”

“Okay,” Luna eagerly complied and rested his back on the bed. Though he was terribly worried about his parents, especially his father, his weariness was stronger. “Wake me up if you feel sleepy.”

“I will,” Sol promised and the moment Luna closed his eyes, sleep quickly claimed him.

^#######################################^

Stop fighting who you are and just come with me, Luna.

He was surrounded by that familiar darkness and that awful voice again. It had been days since he last dreamed about that disgusting place inside his mind.

“Are you not tired of repeating yourself?” Luna impatiently asked.

I am, the voice replied and for the very first time, his voice sounded surprisingly annoyed. Your continuous resistance is making me impatient and I hate it. I hate it so much that I decided to take your parents away.

“Your lies could never change my mind,” Luna said despite the pounding in his heart. “You are only a voice inside my head. You cannot do anything to harm my parents.”

Oh… but I did, the voice playfully uttered. Do you want to see them?

“I said…” his voice faltered when the darkness faded and was replaced by the image of his parents.

They were lying unconscious on separate beds. Both their hands and feet were tied on the bed posts. Dad appeared to be safe. Luna could not see a trace of blood on him.

Don’t worry. I will take care of them. But I cannot wait for long, Luna. If you don’t surrender yourself to me, I will take your twin brother and kill them all in front of you, the voice threateningly uttered.

“STOP MESSING WITH MY MIND!!!” Luna yelled with all his might but the voice roared much louder.

THEN I WILL TAKE YOUR TWIN BROTHER!!!

“NO!!!”

“LUNA!!!”

He jerked awake and grabbed his twin brother's hand that was gripping his shoulder.

“The voice inside my head is doing this to us,” he frantically mumbled.

“Luna, relax,” Sol was stroking his back, trying to calm him down but Luna could not calm down.

“He will not stop until I surrender to him! I should surrender before he takes you away!”

“Whoever took Mom and Dad could never take me away. I will always stay with you,” Sol promised, tightening his grip on the trembling shoulder of his twin brother.

Luna stared at Sol for a long time, too afraid to believe in his words.

“We are twins,” he reminded Luna. “We cannot be easily separated. Mom tried countless of times but never succeeded. Whoever this person is will have a hard time separating us. Believe in the bond we have, Luna. We will always stay together.”

“You should believe in your brother when he warned you about me.”

Luna's heart that was starting to calm down had pounded harder when he heard the voice inside his head. It was no longer thundering within the walls of his mind but from the outside.

That voice came out from Carl's mouth.

The arrogant young man sat up and stared ominously at Sol. The yellow smoke surrounding his body had been replaced by red and the tiny white light glimmering in his chest had completely vanished.

“Don't worry about his soul. Envy already devoured it before leaving this empty vessel to me. You cannot save him anymore,” his smile was guiltless as he said those words. “Now, Luna, come with me before I take your twin brother away.”

“You will not take either of us,” Sol had bravely spoken. He moved out of the bed and surrounded his arms with white light.

“You cannot fight me with that,” Pride mockingly reminded him through the annoying body of Carl.

“I can,” Luna also moved out of the bed and covered his arms with glowing scythes.

“Okay, if this is what you want,” Pride smiled threateningly using Carl’s body. He got to his feet and made his arms glow with red sword-like blades. “I keep on giving you better options but you keep on wasting it. You will deeply regret this, Luna.”

Still using Carl’s body, Pride moved at lightning speed, leaving Luna and Sol no chance to react on time.

He was instantly standing in front of Sol and one of his blades had pierced the latter in the chest.

“I'll be taking you now,” he scornfully stated and Sol's body gradually disappeared behind a thick fog, just like how Gluttony vanished after swallowing Dad.

“You can never take me!” Sol stabbed Carl in the chest with the white light in his hand.

“You cannot take my twin brother away!!!” Luna shrieked at the same time and pierced a scythe at Carl’s back.

Luna quickly removed the scythe from his free hand and tried tugging Sol to his side.

“You can never hurt me! Much more stop me!!!” Pride roared through Carl’s mouth. He was still smiling triumphantly despite the blows he had received and when the fog fully covered Sol's body, it instantly vanished, leaving Luna and Carl alone in that room.

Carl's lifeless body collapsed on the floor, face down, while Luna slumped on the floor, shocked at Sol's sudden disappearance.

^###############################^