Dee wasn’t wearing their armor, which just made their Black Queen-less appearance feel weird once again, like a presence we aren’t meant to understand in any way. But, as soon as they spoke, their voice was pretty much his usual

-So, you’re finally back in this twisted game, huh?- Dee said this with a laugh, clearly a bit surprised to see me here.

-Well, I guess someone has a grasp on me being here?-I looked at him, still a bit tired from the previous fight - Though, the bigger question here is definitely what are you doing here?-

-Honestly…- Dee shrugged while saying this -I have no idea, this wasn’t my plan-

-Then who- I tried to respond, but, I was cut off

-That would be me- From behind the tree next to Dee, James came out. He… looked like himself. His hair had been cut to its usual length, instead of the long mess he had before. He looked clean, as if he had come out of an addiction

-Oh, great, two people here to make fun of me- I stood up straight as soon as James came out, not wanting to seem pathetic in his eyes. Although, it was probably 022 the one in control, and not him.

-Don’t worry about that. Hell, with how that fight with Ness was going at first, I thought I would have to jump in for a save- Dee laughed again, but then coughed a bit -Shit, sorry, slip of tongue, that was a bit mean-

-It’s fine…-I just stood there for a bit, before I realized. I was talking with Dee… normally. The last time we had seen each other had been back when I took him to base, and he said he would probably forget about that whole interaction, but, he was just, talking like he had back then

-Hey, you good? You look like you’ve seen a ghost- James said this in a calm but stern tone, a bit mad

-No, yeah, everything is fine, do not worry about me. But… how are you two here? How are you the same after what happened last time Dee?-

-Funnily enough, Tabatha did not end up doing anything to me. She took it as an infiltration mission and she didn’t me to forget the experience. A surprising moment of pity you could say- Dee kept talking normally -James, however, didn’t get that treatment at first, due to how he was captured, but, ever since he took away your power overdrive, he’s been getting special treatment-

-Come on, it didn’t make that much of a difference, did it- 

-Yeah, it did- James laughed a bit as he responded, as he activated Power Overdrive right in front of me, as if to mock me -Which, by the way, thank you for the power up. You do not know how much this has helped me recently- 

-No need to rub it in… So, what are you two really here for? Are you here to kill me and you’re just giving me a false sense of security-

-No, we’re not going to kill you, like I said I…- Dee tried to repeat what he said beforehand, but James cut him off.

-I want to fight you- James said this, while still looking in my direction… but, he said it in a different tone. Instead of the usual mad I had seen him in while he’s been in Anima, this tone almost reminded me of how he acted when he was home

-Why? What would the point of us fighting be exactly?- I said this in a more serious tone, looking over in his direction

-Our last fight ended in a stalemate. I want it to be a fair finish, with a clear winner- James almost sounded honorable as he said this.

-And wouldn’t my current situation make it so that you would have an unfair advantage? I am still kind of tired after that bout with Ness-

-Bullshit. Sure, you were being beaten at the start, but, you kicked his ass- Dee said this with a laugh as they looked towards Colin

-Plus, I want to settle this before we have to kill each other again- James kept a stern tone, but clearly, he wanted to go

To be honest, after seeing how James acted when he attacked our home, I was wondering if maybe there was something else to him being here. So, I took the chance

-Fuck it, I’ll bite. Let's do this- I stanced up, ready to fight, about to turn on Fire Witch, since he already had Overdrive activated. But, then, I saw him smile, turning off Overdrive

-While I do want us to go all out, let's not go for the kill at first. Let's enjoy this- James said this while still smiling, as he summoned his double buster. Fire and Ice, just as before

-Well, I don't see why not. Make this fun, just like the old days- As I said this, I turned to look towards Dee -At whatever point you want, tell us when to activate our power ups. Sound good-

-Yeah sure. Won’t let you kill each other soon though-

-Then let's begin, shall we?- James pulled back his sword, preparing for an offensive stance, while I summoned my gauntlets, ready for any attacks on his part.

-Yeah. Let’s go!- Immediately after shouting this, James rushed in, hitting me in the stomach with the blunt end of his fire blade, launching me back into a tree. It was a hell of a start, that’s for sure, but I wasn’t going to pull back either. Once I recovered from the hit, I turned my head in his direction and dashed back into him, punching him in the chest once before throwing a punch right at his head. He moved back quite a bit, with the help of my gauntlets, but I wasn’t able to push him as far back as he did with me. Clearly, he was still much stronger than me, even with my weapon advantage. As he was still in his recoil, I quickly charged a Nova, launching it in his direction. But, he recovered quickly, redirecting the Nova with his sword. He laughed, before looking back at me, shouting -You’re going to have to try harder than that!-

-And I wouldn’t have it any other way!- I quickly dashed back to reach him again, and just kept attacking

—

-Come on! With feeling!- James shouted this as he kept blocking my strikes. He was always able to move faster than me, but I still tried my best to strike him

-Then maybe stop blocking and let me hit you!- I screamed back, laughing, but getting kind of mad.

3 years ago, James was always stronger than me, and to try and calm me down after a stressful day, we would have sparring matches. My hope was that, eventually, I’d be able to beat him and prove that I have been getting better.

But, of course, as I could never beat him, while I was able to get my frustrations out of my body, they just got replaced with the frustration of him being stronger.

I was a dumb 15 year old. I was reckless, I gave no second thought to my movements, and I just tried to go in for the quick victory. Which, of course, always ended with me beat.

Today was going differently though. I was starting to get some small hits in. I was breaking through him. If my sword could do anything, it was doing damage. So once I started to breaking his defenses, I knew I would get the upper hand.

But, in the blink of an eye, he pushed me back heavily with his blade and rushed into the woods, disappearing.

I could hear him rustling the bushes around me, as I tried to figure out where he was running to, when suddenly, I heard him running again. But, by that time, it was too late. He jumped right at me and hit me straight in the head with his hand, bringing me to the floor. It didn’t hurt much, but, he won

-Heh, surprise attack- He laughed a bit as he threw his sword to the ground. He was smiling as he turned around to see me, just sitting on the floor. -Hey, you were definitely getting better, you actually got a few solid hits in- He extended his hand out to help me out -Hopefully you were able to free some of that stress-

I turned my head to see him. His smile, his happy attitude. I know he was trying to make me feel better. But for him to use a cheap tactic like that, to strike me from the back. It was all so frustrating. When I saw his hand, something in me just snapped. It had been such a long time dealing with his bullshit tactics, that I had had enough. As soon as I grabbed it, gripped on to it tightly, not giving him a chance to let go.

-H-hey buddy, what are you doing?- James said this in a calm, but slightly concerned tone

-I’m tired of this- I slowly stood up, while still holding his arm -If you aren’t going to stop with your bullshit, then I’ll start with mine-

I had read somewhere about a soul merging process. From what I read, if the other sylph was alive, it was completely reversible. So, I thought, why not do it, why not just screw with him. Why not give me that little extra boost. 

As I started the process, our hands started to glow, with energy slowly beginning to flow from James to me. James’ expression quickly changed, from concerned to scared. He tried to pull away, but it was almost like our hands were stuck together

-Colin, this isn’t funny anymore, let go, stop!- His deep black eyes were glowing as the process continued

My dark blue eyes started to glow, with one of them slowly beginning to turn the same color as his. 

James slowly began to buckle, seeming a lot weaker by the moment.

Eventually, my mom, who had gone outside to call us for dinner, saw what was happening. She quickly jumped onto the situation and separated our hands, with a lot of force. James fell to the ground. He was still breathing, but looked really weak. Meanwhile, I was feeling stronger than ever, but, once I saw his state, the regret slowly started to sink in. I tried to get close, but my mom pushed me away, carrying James inside the house and into his room.

That was when I first started hearing his voice in my head. But, he only said one thing at the time

-Why? Why did you do this?- His voice was faint. Clearly, his soul did not go fully into me, but rather only half.

For the next few weeks, my parents did not let me see my brother while he recovered. They grounded me indefinitely, at least until I was able to return the half of the soul that I took from him. It took me a long time to investigate it, but, after a month, I was able to find it. I showed the process to my parents, and they approved it. I hadn’t seen James out of his room that whole time, with my parents catering to him for that whole time.

We planned to do the process the day after I showed it to them…

But, when we entered his room, he was gone. He had disappeared, as if he had never been there.

We looked for him for months and months. We put up missing person’s posters, we went to the police department to report his disappearance. But there was nothing. It was as if he had fully disappeared off the face of the Earth. My parents lost hope about ever finding him. I remember passing by their rooms multiple times, and just hearing them cry loudly.

I never lost that hope, but,it was still disconcerting not knowing anything about where he was, or what he was doing. Hell, even the how.

—

But now I knew. Now I knew that all this time, he was out in the world, destroying shit while not being himself. Now I knew that he probably couldn’t think about us, or the damage he did to all of us. Although, I didn’t fully think about the damage I did to him.

But I’ll rectify that. I’ll make him remember

-Come on! With feeling!- James shouted this as he kept blocking my attacks. That phrase bringing back a feeling of deja vu. But, I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I had grown since that spar from a long time ago. 

As I attacked, I kept launching Novas to the side, making them start floating around to hit him from behind as I striked. I was doing some decent damage, and he seemed to be struggling a bit. But that’s when I saw him smile, as he quickly pushed me back with the blunt side of his blade and rushed into the woods.

I knew what was coming. I knew he was gonna pull that same bullshit as before. But I wasn’t going to let him. I quickly charged multiple Novas and put them all around me. And, as I heard the rustling, I aimed my head towards where I heard it. Once I saw him almost in my face. Both him and I knew it was over. I raised my fist, ready to punch him, as he prepared his sword.

We both hit at the same time. I was able to do a huge hit to his stomach, while he struck me on my head. We both were sent flying to the ground. 

It took us both a bit to be able to stand back up, and the moment we saw each other, we both broke down in laughter. No evil laughter, no nothing. Genuine laughter. We had been having fun.

-Did you really think that was going to work again? I knew that trick already- I said, while still laughing, a smile on my face

-Hey, it’s been 3 years, you could’ve forgotten all about it- He said it in the same way I did.

At that moment, I finally knew it. I wasn’t talking to 022 anymore. In front of me was James. My brother. My actual brother. 

The moment I realized it, I quickly jumped to him in a hug. He was surprised by this. But, the moment I started crying, he hugged me back, not with force, but, in a caring way.

-I missed you little bro- He said this as he patted my back, holding me gently

I couldn’t say anything. I was crying so much about finally getting my brother back, about him finally being right in front of me. About him finally being back with me. About finally finding him after years of not being able to locate him.