your evil shadow has a cup of tea

[fallingdream]

Who: Song and Medrau
What: When they say "internal monologue", this probably isn't what they mean.
Where: Song's head
When: horrendously backdated... something like two weeks ago. The night Mabry left.



Her sister's advice had been sound. Song had meant to go through with it right away, but she was a talented master of procrastination. And there were the kids to take care of, after all. Before she knew it, a full week had gone by. There were only so many times she could swear to herself that she'd get something done, only to say the same thing the next day. It was a matter of pride, let alone practicality.

Whatever the case, it was well past time to get this over with.

In the beginning, she put little thought into the scenery. Her dream-self manifested in the usual purplish, goldish, greenish void (and why was her headspace always Mardi Gras colors, anyway?). There was no search, and no need to call out. Medrau stood before her, a warped, discolored reflection of herself. She considered asking why her shadow had made it so easy to find her. Knowing herself, though, there was an obvious answer to that. Song's greatest weapon had always been her words. It was entirely likely that Medrau would play the same game, especially now that she had no other means of controlling her reality. This would not be a repeat of the last time the two halves had exchanged words.

Song studied her shadow thoughtfully for a moment, and Medrau stared back at her impassively, waiting. It would be up to Song to break the ice.

"So, Mabry said we should talk."

"I heard."

Song resisted the temptation to be annoyed at Med's bored tone of voice. "I'm not sure exactly what we have to talk about, you being me and all."

"Shall I start for you? Let's see..." Medrau pitched her voice a little higher and added a melodramatic lilt. "'Oh, Medrau, why must you be so evil? Please, let me mend your wicked ways so that we may live in peace and harmony until I come by the means to fulfill my glorious purpose and recreate the Dreaming!'"

Song answered this with a flat stare and a slight tug at the corner of her mouth that couldn't decide whether to be a smile or a frown. "Well, my hopes weren't quite that high, but it has crossed my mind to wonder why we can't just merge. You know, become whole again and all that."

Medrau waved a hand sharply, dismissively. "You know exactly why we can't. Our survival instinct is too strong. I won't give up my consciousness just to become you again." Her tone was insulting, condescending, and haughty. In other words, it was her normal speaking voice.

Song rolled her eyes. "I think we need a change of scenery." People were easier to manipulate if they were distracted. Did Medrau count as 'people'?

Song snapped her fingers, just for show, and the colorful void around them billowed away like mist, eaten up by a pale city street and the outdoor patio of a cafe. Song claimed a chair and took up the cup of tea that was waiting for her. She wouldn't admit it, but she was relieved when Medrau did the same. At least her shadow wasn't completely refusing to play the game.

"So. Medrau..." she hesitated. "Or is it Tinuvial? Which do you prefer? They're both just aliases, aren't they. Like Song. What's your real name, Shadow?"

Medrau sipped her imaginary tea before replying coolly. "I don't have one. No name, at least, that you don't bear yourself. For all your attention to detail," she nodded at the little round table between them, "you ignore too easily what I am. I come from nowhere but yourself. I suppose.... the most accurate name you could give me is Robin."

"Alright Shadow," Song said, congratulating herself on the lack of emotion she showed. It had been four years now since she regained her heart, but she hadn't forgotten how to act the Nobody. "So then, what are you trying to accomplish? I mean really. I know we love the whole villain act. I know how fun and exciting it is, but how did announcing your intentions help you at all? It was like you wanted to be stopped. I wouldn't have a problem with that, of course, except that you nearly got us both killed. That and it's a little embarrassing, frankly. We're supposed to be clever and sneaky about these things, right? The lies, the innocent acts, the subtle manipulation, what happened to all that? We don't go around announcing ourselves to the enemy, unless that's part of the manipulation." With that off her chest, she leaned back in the painted wire chair and savored her tea. Earl grey, of course.

Medrau blinked at her slowly, owlishly, and took her time in formulating a response. "Well... for one, I thought I'd try my hand at honesty. You seem to like it so much. I have to wonder why, though. Given the failure of that experiment, I've come to the conclusion that It could only be useful under very specific circumstances."

That wasn't a very promising answer, Song thought, given that anything said afterward could practically be expected to be dishonest. Then again, it wasn't like anything Medrau had said already could be trusted more. Song's noble obsession with honesty had only taken root after the fall of Earth. Before she'd been split from her darker side, she'd been a habitual liar. She suspected that she never had fully knitted with the remains of her Heartless, if Medrau's existence was any clue. Once a heart was divided, could it ever mend completely?
She supposed it didn't matter right now. As long as Medrau existed, the answer was simple.

"So, what now?" She set her cup down and opened her hands invitingly. "I know myself, and we just don't give up that easily."

Medrau scoffed into her teacup. "I've just said I'm done with honesty, and you expect me to tell you my next plan? Come on now, that's just too easy."

"You're right," Song smiled coldly, "but I can always hope."

"Oh yes, don't get me started on hope. Countless villains have already covered the subject. More lives are wasted on hope than on every other temptation combined."

"Alright, don't get started." Song raised her hands in a mock-defensive gesture. "I'm not here for the evil monologues."

"That's a first," Medrau quipped.

"Or the snark."

Acting suddenly agitated, Medrau swept out of her chair to loom over Song. "Then why are you here? I don't care what Mabry intended. We both know you can't persuade or outwit me. I am you."

Song watched her tiredly, feigning indifference at the drama. "I just don't have time for all this, Shadow. All I want is raise Larkin and complete the Dreaming project. Whatever it is you're trying to accomplish can wait until later, can't it?"

Medrau stilled and her eyes sparkled with something akin to amusement. "Oh, so you're admitting to yourself now that you do want the Dreaming back? Maybe that honesty's good for you after all!"

Song only faltered slightly, but it was enough. "I meant the dream spell... Just the dream spell project."

"You're not as good at lying as you used to be. You shouldn't have fallen out of practice."

Song broke eye-contact, pretending to find her cup of tea fascinating all of a sudden. Sensing a surrender, Medrau pressed her advantage.

"Of course, I'm as much to blame for that, if you think about it," she went on slyly. "Let's face it, you haven't been yourself since you lost me. You vainly went about calling yourself 'Completion', but you've never been complete, have you? You all but openly admit it, going by the name you chose as a Nobody..."

Song wondered if Medrau could read her mind, or if it was a more subtle, subconscious connection that drove their thoughts parallel.

"I refuse to merge, and you refuse to surrender control. Perhaps we'll always be apart, but I think I am the only one of us who can be satisfied with that." Her tone softened at the end, conclusive rather than threatening, and Song took that as her cue.

Tossing back the last of her tea, she rose, and didn't bother to push her chair back into place. Her demeanor all but screamed unhappy resignation. It was clear enough that talking had failed.

Medrau crossed her arms loosely over her chest, watching in smug satisfaction as Song turned her back and began walking slowly down the narrow street, apparently set on ignoring her shadow. It was a ridiculous, childish act, Medrau thought. Even the fact that Song chose to walk away rather than simply wake herself up was silly. to think she'd waste time on a sulky display like that for the sole benefit of her darker half. Within seconds, she was bored of the display and let her attention fade.

Which was when Song turned sharply and expanded, flinging her arms out to become vast, wavering wings of light, like golden auroras. She rushed the shadow without taking a step, and those wings snapped shut around her as swiftly as they'd opened. To Medrau, they burned, as the very essences of Robin's light and darkness came into direct contact with each other.

And then the wings became talons, improbably huge, and lashed back, freeing Medrau and ruthlessly shredding her in the process. What was ripped from her body did not bleed or hang in dead tatters of flesh. It writhed, dark and slithering, and then sunk into the golden glow. Only for a moment did this darkness leave bruises upon the clawed wings, like sunspots, and then this taint was absorbed and balanced throughout the blaze of light.

And Medrau was left on her knees, speechless, clutching her mutilated sides as Song took her Light back into her where it belonged, along with her reclaimed Darkness. She was still not complete, not nearly, but she had scored a vicious victory tonight.

----

As she collapsed back upon her bed, exhausted, she couldn't even say how she'd done it.