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A Colorful Month

Part 12

For Taiko

By Draconicon

Than couldn't see the world. For that matter, he didn't know where the world was. He remembered being lifted up and attached to a set of wires and ropes, but that was as far as it had gone for him. Now...

Now, he was in the depths of some darkness. Here and there, he could see green lines sparking, forming and then stopping before being deleted again. There was little else to see in the blackness around him, and he wondered just where he had been sent. The mule flexed his arms, feeling his body was still there, but it was a strange feeling of disconnect. He was here, but there was something else somewhere else, somewhere that he couldn't see or hear.

Quarantine?

The term came to mind, and he wondered how accurate that was. He felt like there were things in quarantine, yes. He'd felt that since he had been 'born' when the Prince in Rose had come to see him and saved him. He remembered that much, remembered that so much that had been him had been locked up in there. What that was, he didn't know, but he knew that his body and mind protected him...to some extent. That, and he was missing things. The memory had holes in the code, holes that meant that things had been taken from him.

But Than didn't mind waiting. He was a patient mule, for the most part. Well, mostly the most part. He did get a little eager when it came to the right people around him, and for sex. A lot for sex, actually.

So, he sat down in the dark, watching the green lines rise and fall around him, and he cocked his head to the side as he tried to guess what they were writing.

Suddenly, the green lines sprouted faster, going further than usual. Than leaned back as they soared overhead, rising like trees grown at hundreds of times the proper speed. Each line was made of letters and numbers and symbols, written out at insane speeds, and they spread further and further up until they formed a dome around him, a dome of pillars interconnected with 'vines' of other lines -

Code. He realized that they were code writings. Before he had the chance to read what they said, the pillars touched together at the top, and the green split into white, forming something like a tube that reached off into the ether. He stared with wide-eyes and a grin as something glittered at the other end, almost like someone was dropping something down a tube to him.

They came in colors, first. Green, blue, white, red, all sorts of things coming down and into his little space. He cocked his head to the side as they slowed as they came closer to the ground, only to float at the very end of it. The more of them that arrived, the more that the started to coalesce around themselves, becoming more 'friendly' with one another, for lack of a better word. They orbited around a central point, almost like planets around a star, but the paths that the sparkling colored balls took was shaky, not quite powerful enough to center themselves properly.

Then a blue and red ball fell down. It was bigger than the others by some way, and it almost looked familiar. Kind of like that thing that Theft had dropped in the meeting hall, but different than that, softer looking, more...permeable rather than so solid as the other had been.

Than expected the two-colored ball to become the thing that the others circled around, but instead, it acted more like a black hole, sucking the different pieces in. The mule slowly stood up, cocking his head to the side as it kept getting bigger and bigger, slowly taking in the substance of the other colored pieces.

"What are you?" he muttered under his breath.

The bigger that the new ball grew, the more that the green lines around him seemed to react. Tendrils that cracked and wriggled in ninety-degree turns moved forward, almost like pet snakes looking for their owner. They pushed closer and closer to the ball of blue and red as it expanded outwards, thickening into something like a torso shape and then expanding out further, taking on the shape of limbs and the beginning of a head.

It almost felt like something that deserved a soundtrack. Than cocked his head to the side, then looked down at the black floor. He drew his finger along the ground, and green light followed his digit. He smiled, and wrote:

Play something awesome.exe.

And as soon as he wrote that, the air filled with the roaring, swelling sound of a classical symphony. It was like he had just stepped into the triumphant end of a movie, and Than grinned, almost giggling to himself as he watched the transmutation before him. The forming 'person' of colors finally came together, and then -

"...Nor?" Than asked.

"...That's me...that's me!"

The blue and red mule wrapped his arms around himself, and for a half-second, his eyes were wild, his body looking like it was about to rip itself apart again. He looked like someone that was about to lose it, that a breakdown was about to hit.

Then the tendrils struck. The green lines snapped at Nor, pulling things from his digital body, taking it away from him. Unlike the beautiful jewels that had descended from the tube, the things that they took from the other mule were things that snapped, things that burned, things that bit and clawed. They were scrambling, crimson-red pieces of code, mixed with a sickly emerald green that had been left behind. Not the clear, soft green of the code, but something that looked just wrong.

Nor and Than watched as the removed chunks were taken away, put into a rapidly-created square. As soon as the green square was filled, another layer of cube was put around that, and then another, and another. Dozens of layers were applied, sealing it down so far that both mules almost forgot what was there.

Almost, that is, for Than. Nor looked relieved, like he had completely forgotten what the pieces were, but Than didn't feel the same. He felt...curious. He walked over to the sealed chunks, resting his hand on the outermost layer.

Read-Only Access Permission: Than. Forbidden Access: Nor.

The letters popped up on the outside of the green memory trap, and Than nodded, slowly stepping away from it. Whatever was happening with that, he was the only one that would be able to interact with it, and even then, it would be something that would be less than full access. Whatever had happened there, it was something that Nor needed to never come into contact with again.

He looked back at Nor, and he cocked his head to the side. He could see why other people had called him by the mule's name. They had similarities. Both of them were mules, after all, and they had somewhat similar colors. Than could feel his changing just by looking at his counterpart, though, his blue becoming something closer to a teal, and his red becoming something more like rose. More than that, his muscular body, while remaining just as well-built, flared out more in the hips, something that made him feel a little more differentiated from the base build, and more in tune to what he was supposed to be.

What he was supposed to be. Huh. That was a thought that hadn't come to him in the same way before. Was it what he was supposed to be, or what he wanted to be?

Heh, I think philosophy can wait for later.

As he shook his head in amusement at his own way of thinking, Nor finally got to his feet. The white-eyed, striped mule looked at him, and Than realized that he must have been just as strange to Nor as Nor was to him. The only difference was that Than had realized that Nor existed, and Nor probably hadn't realized that he did.

"Do I look so weird?" Than asked. "I mean, I try to look sexy, but then I see that I might be a bit of a knock-off."

"...You don't look like a knock-off."

"Well, that's good, at least."

"Do...I know you?" Nor asked, his head slowly cocking to the side. "I feel like I do...and..." The blue and red mule slowly looked around. "We're here again. Why are we here again?"

"Best guess? They're putting you back together."

"They?"

"The mouse, that panda -"

"Choin?"

"Yeah, I think that was his name. Pretty sweet guy; do you know him?"

"He's my boyfriend."

"...Oh. That explains a lot."

"What?"

"Well, um..." Than looked over his shoulder. Right. Not supposed to talk about that. "Well, long story short? The Council did some pretty horrible things, and you kinda...died."

"...What?"

"Well, not 'died', exactly. Your body was still there, but the 'you' that was in it kinda went poof. We remembered -"

Nor held up his hands, shaking his head rapidly. Than stopped, feeling some of the emotions that were coming through the code. They were starting to connect, he realized. They were both attached to the same database and memory, which meant that it was inevitable that they were going to get some of each other's feelings. Right now, he was getting a very heavy dose of confusion and barely suppressed fear.

"Let me get this straight. Let me...let me get this straight. I...died? And you and me..."

"Well, there wasn't either of us for a bit, but then we found Seduction, and -"

"He made you."

"Well, more like he helped me become an addition to you. The part that you really like but don't really want to be all the time."

"Like a...bedroom personality?"

"Well, kinda. More like someone who likes the stuff that you have to be forced to like. That make sense?"

"...Kind of?"

"Well, go with it for now. I'm not that clear on the details, either. When they're done, they'll probably be able to tell us more."

"...You're part of me now, aren't you? You're not going away?"

"Well, that would kiiiiiinda be digital murder at this point, so I hope not."

Quite honestly, he hadn't considered the possibility that they would just get rid of him or try and fold him into Nor. That said, he was pretty sure that he was safe from that. He was as tied to the integral systems as Nor had been, and that meant that they were going to have to keep him there unless someone like Theft came in and decided to try and take him out of there. Considering the sheer trauma that had caused before - and how even that clinical thought nearly ripped his thoughts to shreds from fear and anger - he doubted that anyone would dare even suggest it.

The two mules watched each other for a time, and eventually, Nor sat down again. Than did the same, noticing that he had further differentiated, getting a pair of feet rather than a pair of hooves, and his tail was a little longer than Nor's something that could more easily grab or be grabbed than the mule's standard tail. He looked down at himself, and he saw that his stripes were a bit thicker, wider, looking more like broad falling petals rather than just stripes running across his body. He chuckled.

"Do we get to do this all the time?"

"You mean transform? Only somewhat."

"Just somewhat? That's a shame."

"It's part of what keeps us stable. I can look like this, or like Denith."

"Oh, you mean that boring, brown-furred form?"

"...It's not boring. It's our - God, why is that so easy?"

"The 'our' thing?"

"Yes! I was just one person before."

"I don't know. Maybe that's getting coded in?"

"That's some bullshit," Nor muttered, looking at the dome of green around them. "I thought I was done with this sort of thing."

"I don't think anyone like us is ever done with this. What is, um, this, anyway?"

"Our inner self, I guess. It's where all the coding happens." Nor shook his head. "Last time I was here, a bear was trying to turn me into his perfect little buddy. I was kind of hoping to avoid coming back."

"Well, looks like it's helping us come together, at least."

"Not the way I want to, though."

"Then why don't we start making our own rules?"

"You know, that's the first thing that's made sense all day."

The two mules stood up again, walking to opposite sides of the dome. Than dragged his finger through the coding, and he realized that he could start re-writing the lines without even trying. It was like he and Nor had free access to the codes, up to a point.

"So, how do you want to do this head-sharing thing?" Than asked.

"Ideally, not. But...I guess that since you're here now..."

"Trust me, I'm not going to be an ass about this. I just want us to have a good life. Plus, I kicked Theft in the nuts."

"...You did that?"

"Yeah. And the big boar guy really liked me doing it, and almost let me keep doing it."

"Wow. The Baron must have really hated him."

"I think it's more that he hated what Theft did to us."

"Ah. That would make sense." Nor hesitated. "You give me your word that you won't hurt anyone while you're in charge? Keep in mind, you can't lie in here."

"Oh, I don't want to hurt anyone. Might let someone hurt me a bit - in bed, Nor, in bed! Geez, what do you call spanking, for crying out loud..."

With little trips and stumbles along the way, they gradually negotiated the different rules that they'd need to share the same body. Awareness was always on for both of them as a default, though they could make limited requests for privacy if they wanted it (Nor insisted on that, wanting to be able to spend alone time with Choin every so often). Shifts in who was in charge would be dictated by the one that was in charge at that point, with the one that was underneath not allowed to just slip forward and take the reins without the other giving consent.

That was a bit of a sticky issue, but they managed to negotiate it with better grace than either of them had particularly expected. Nor, in particular, had seemed more than sure that he would be fighting tooth and nail to keep his place in front, but as soon as Than gave him the extra assurance that he was willing to include a guaranteed flip after a week of time being in front, no matter the circumstances, Nor was willing to go for it.

That settled, they moved on to other issues. Their ability to share the body, ground rules for when they were out and about, how they would use their civilian body rather than their hero body. The more that they discussed what they needed to do, the more distinct they became from each other, and the more visually different their bodies were.

By the end of re-writing the dome around them, they were no longer in a dome, but in a gazebo, and even had little code-tendrils bringing them drinks as they talked surprisingly civilly. Nor shook his head as Than leaned back, and Than chuckled.

"What's the matter?"

"I was ready to hate you, I guess. And I can't."

"For what?"

"For...I don't know. Being sexy as me."

"I told you. I'm just the part that you don't want to be all the time. That means that, some of the time, you want to be me."

"Yeah...doesn't mean I like it."

"But it doesn't mean you hate it, either."

"Just...admitting things like that is hard."

"I know. Just like admitting that I'm not entirely complete on my own."

"What do you mean?"

"Well...just looking at you." Than shrugged. "I'm looking at you, and I see a full person. I see someone that's pretty put together, someone that is a little uptight, maybe, but still their own person. Then I look at me. I see a sex fiend. I see someone that enjoys going out and having fun. I see someone...someone with no real experience. The Prince put me together, helped me become, but...I'm not as put together as you. I don't have that experience, don't have that life that lets me really live."

And it was hard to admit that, but admit it he did. He was less of a full person than Nor was. That might change over time, but he was more of a second personality rather than a second person. A better developed, stronger personality than one born of trauma or something like that, but still someone that hadn't entirely become a person yet.

As he thought about that, he couldn't help but pull in on himself a bit. And as he did, Nor reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be alright."

"I know."

"I guess...I don't mind you being here."

"Heh. I'm glad, because I don't think I can go."

"Speaking of going..."

"Where do we go from here?"

"That was my question," Nor admitted.

"Well, I think that it's going to be you in charge when we 'wake up' and they're all done with us. Choin's going to want you; I'll watch if that's alright, so I can understand?"

"Please. He matters a lot. A lot."

"I can feel that," Than admitted.

"Don't feel it too much. He's my boyfriend, after all."

"I know, I know."

"...What..." Nor pressed one hand to his forehead. "What's happening?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm..."

"Forgetting things?"

"Yeah. What's going on?"

"I think that's the quarantine box over there," Than said, nodding over his shoulder. "Some of the stuff I told you must have been stuff that got quarantined that you're not supposed to remember."

"It was that bad?"

"It was that bad. It almost killed you, and us."

"..."

"Maybe Murder had something right."

"Murder?"

"Wow, they are taking a lot."

Just saying that sent a shiver through him. The echo of what Seduction had said, that so much had been taken, was enough to make him feel a moment of pure, existential dread. And he barely remembered some of the things that happened.

Quarantine's a good idea, after all.

"I think we'll be waking up soon," Nor said.

"Glad that we got all the ground rules established, then. I'll make myself a room and watch then, if that's alright."

"You do that. I'll get ready to take charge of the body once more."

"Gotta say. This is gonna be weird."

"Look who's talking. At least you're still young. You can grow up sharing a body. I'm having to learn it."

"Heh, you said it, though. It'll be alright."

"Yeah...yeah, it will be alright."

The Prince in Rose knew that the Czar would want them to leave now, but he also knew that he had credit with the head of the Council. It was an old favor, really; keep the former Murder busy when the biggest homicidal impulses were on him, and then ensure that the rest of the Council knew when it was safe to come out. The Czar only used him for that when he himself was busy, of course, but it meant that there were favors to call in, little debts that he could activate to stick around for that little bit longer.

He imagined that the rest of the crew down there didn't know he was there. The Man in Red would, but the mouse wouldn't give him away. They had an understanding, and he was allowed to see the one he'd rescued, and see him off one last time.

He was no longer wearing his orca body. He had given that up shortly after he had given Nor that new identity, not bothering to hold onto it when there was no point in maintaining the old identity. Now...

Well, he hadn't decided what he wanted to be yet. Maybe the next time he'd try a rat for a challenge, or maybe do something a little more cultured rather than something more muscular. It had been a while since he had tried something smaller, or something more 'refined.' Maybe it was time to try a poodle for a bit, and see how that went.

The Prince in Rose sighed as he rubbed his semi-solid face, shaking his head. He was distracting himself, distancing himself from what was going on in the room below. Everything that was happening was a way of removing himself from the situation and making it more tolerable to see what he had created disappear before his eyes.

Than was never more than a stop-gap, a way to bring Nor back as much as possible. You should be happy that Nor himself is coming back.

And he was. He was just sad that it had taken Nor being utterly shattered like that to come to him and want that sort of closeness. He felt bad that the thing that he had helped the mule become would be buried, locked down in favor of the man that had pushed so much of his own needs to the back of his mind and pretended that they didn't exist. And, he supposed, he felt a little lonely now that he knew that he would be giving up what he had enjoyed for a few weeks. Truly, it was something of a pity.

The process had taken three hours, and it was finally ending. The different wires and lines that went from the computer to the back of Nor's head finally came undone, and the mule, back to his normal blue-red coloration, was lowered to the ground. He remained in the rafters, watching as the hooved mule got to his feet and opened his eyes.

Gone were the little heart-shaped pupils that Than had had, and back were the white eyes that the mule had always had before. He sighed to himself as he watched the greeting between Nor and Choin, and then slowly slipped away. He reached out to the winds of the ship, and allowed them to embrace him.

Everything wanted Seduction, and the world would do as he wished out of that love. He disappeared into the vents.

He reappeared as the wind returned his solid form at his request, the world wishing to please him once more. As he stepped out on the deck of the Man in Red's ship, looking back at Novus Ager, he realized that he was going to miss this place. Not merely for the challenge that it represented - it was difficult to work as Seduction here, as the world kept re-writing itself and his usual efforts of gradual build-up were hard to follow through on - but also for the wonder that the place presented.

So few places have such variety...so few places have this opportunity to rise up without something always pushing you down.

Some had looked at this place and seen it as stagnant, as a place where you never had to pay the cost of your actions. In some ways, that was true, but there was something more to it. It lacked consequences for failure, yes, but that also meant that it lacked the punch-down that followed, the way that the rest of the world would punish you severely, to the point where you would never rise again.

Sure, someone might have to learn how to accept failure in a different way, in a more severe way, but growing up here, they would at least have that time to build that confidence, to understand their failures rather than just being crushed by them.

It's a place that forgives. Perhaps it too-often forgets, but it is a place that forgives you.

He sighed, walking to the edge of the boat's railing. The battleship loomed larger than the other ships in the harbor, but he knew that it was still smaller than it actually was. The Man in Red had obviously poured a great deal of power into the craft, turning it into something that broke the rules wherever it went. He chuckled, shaking his head as the boat itself turned towards him, some of the railings bending ever so slightly in his directions, the cannons turning like eyes on the floor of a club, everything attending to him now that he was letting it all out.

It was his power. Reality adored him, and there was no getting away from that. He leaned forward, looking out at the city, letting it distract him again.

The soft clip-clop of hooves finally drew him from it. He dragged his half-solid self back to his orca form, allowing Shore Guardian to form around him once more. As he turned around, he was unsurprised to find Nor waiting for him.

"Hey again, little guy," he muttered.

"...I know who you are."

"You remember that much?"

"I remember...some."

"..."

"Why did you pay so much attention to me?"

"Hmm?"

"You could have had anyone in the city. Done anything with anyone. Why me?"

"...You know, that's a hard one to answer," he said, shaking his head. Nor joined him at the railing, and the two of them looked over the city. "It's not like I couldn't have had others, you're right there."

"So, why not?"

"I guess another way of looking at that is to ask 'Why in the first place?'"

"That'd imply that I was the best you had."

"Heh. That's true." He shook his head. "Much as I wish I had a better answer, Nor, I don't. I was looking for someone to enjoy my time with, both intimately and otherwise. You were a closed door, someone that didn't want to let a lot of people in, but there was...a contradiction there. A way that you live, a way that you act. It made me curious, and so...I pushed a bit."

"A bit?"

"Okay, maybe more than a bit." He smiled. "I did what I did because I thought you could use a little freedom. A little chance to be more than you were. Someone that didn't have to bow to the expectations of the world around him, but could be someone...free."

"Free, hmm?"

"Free to do what you like. To love who you wanted. To enjoy who caught your fancy. And to not care what others think."

"You wanted Than."

"Not really," he said. "Or...half-true. I wanted someone like him, but you. I wanted you to have things like him. Than would not be Than without the foundation that is Nor."

"..."

"Well." The Prince sighed, pushing himself upright. "I should probably get going. Conspiracy is going to get angry with more than LiL if I -"

Suddenly, he was grabbed. Not just grabbed, but embraced. The mule held him tight around the middle, and for a moment, he was half-worried that he was about to be thrown overboard and into the drink. The embrace deepened, and he slowly hugged the mule back.

"I'm not...I can't remember what happened," Nor muttered. "But I know that you were part of it."

"...I did what I could."

"You did more than that. You were part of what saved me. Saved us."

"...How could I do anything else?"

"And that's why...thank you. Thank you."

For the first time in some time, Seduction, the Prince in Rose, felt the odd power of someone else seducing him. Not romantically, not sexually, but merely towards a deeper friendship. For that, he was grateful, and he hugged Nor in return.

Nor watched as both the Man in Red and the Prince in Rose left, and he could feel Than watching from the back of his head, as well. That was something that would take a long time for him to get used to, but he supposed that it wasn't as bad as some of the things that he had gone through. There was a lot that he would need to get used to with his new life, including having such a blank space between when the Baron arrived and what had happened afterward. So many things had been quarantined, and even Than agreed that it was for the best that they didn't remember them now. Perhaps not ever.

Choin, too, for that matter. The panda walked up beside him, looking more tired than Nor had ever seen him. The mule reached out and took his boyfriend's hand, and for a moment, Choin squeezed so tightly that he wondered if he should be worried.

Then the moment passed. They looked at each other and shared a short kiss as the sun went down on the water.

"Nor?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm going to get better than this."

"Hmm? What do you mean?" the mule asked. "You've always been more than good enough for me."

"No, I haven't. You didn't believe that you could come to me. You didn't think I could handle what was going on."

"Choin -"

"No, no, you would have been right. I'm not ready to handle all of the things that happened. Not yet." The panda shook his head, turning back to the departing ship chugging away from the city. "But I will be. I want to make sure that you never, ever have to be afraid of coming back to me. I want you to be able to lean on me...and I want to make sure that I'm strong enough to take care of you the way that you deserve."

Nor didn't know what to say to that. All he knew was that the panda sounded more determined than he had ever heard before, and he knew better than to try and dissuade his boyfriend when he got to that point.

So, instead, he chuckled and took him by the hand. They squeezed, and then sat down on the edge of the city. It was their time, now. It was their place, again. They could and would be together, and that was all there was to it.

The city would have to change after this. There was no doubt in Nor's mind that there would need to be some changes if the Council ever came back, even though he wasn't allowed to know why. But whatever those happened to be, he and Choin would face it together. They would be together.

And that would be enough.

The End

Summary: And we hit the END of this little series. I hope you enjoyed Nor's final bit, and the adventure that the Colorful Council brought to Novus Ager.

Tags: No Sex, Virtual World, Two Personalities, Sexual Memories, Nor, Novus Ager, Series, Colorful Council, Mouse, Man in Red, Prince in Rose, Superpowers, Superheroes, Orca, Mule,