The chains around the lock fastened on his tail seemed to weaker than before.

It was hard to try and take a look at it in his dorm when he was confined to his human form. All it entailed was making him look as though he was trying to look at his butt, and even when he was alone in his room, he wasn't quite alone. Lady would try and leap up and bat at his tail when he did so and Erebus found that chiding her was no use. After all, he had gotten distracted with chasing his tail once when he tried to peer at the white lock.

... Okay, maybe twice. Or maybe more. But the sight of a black puppy chasing his tail round and round wasn't a very surprising one to any boil or ghoul passing by. In fact, Xiu had thought it was pretty amusing.

Though sometimes Erebus wished someone would stop him before he got all dizzy.

He had to remind himself this when he got to the forest and unpinned his skull badge, shifting back into his natural form. He had sworn the chains had gotten less tight with each meeting with Tomoko; when she hadn't recognized him in this form, and when they had met at the New Year's Party. Memories had come flowing back with their meetings but he supposed that not everything he had forgotten had to do with her.

(It was a good thing, really. At least he hadn't forgotten anything important, nor was it permanently lost, but realizing that he had lost memories of someone he thought the world of was worrying. What if he had forgotten something she had told him and... )

What was important that he was sure that the memories to do with Tomoko were all back in their rightful place. He had thought back on all the times he had been with her, and there were no more holes, and so he was sure everything was right.

Except the lock was still right on his tail, and even as Erebus tried to bite it off, it wouldn't budge.

There was only one conclusion to make.

If his lost memories had nothing to do with Tomoko at this point, it made sense that the rest were of someone else as important to him. And there were only two people that came to mind; the two people he loved the most in the entire universe and would do anything for.

His brothers, the other two pieces to him that made him whole. Arthur and Thackery, whom he had shared a pumpkin with, grown up with and played with ever since they were tiny inseparable puppies. And yet, how long had it been since he hadn't seen them? He had only heard Thack's voice the last time he had discovered that they were in the same room but hadn't managed to find him at all. He missed them, missed the days they were always together and when everyone thought they had shared the same body just like the Cerberus of legend.

Even so, Erebus was hesitant to look them up without his memories. He didn't want to see them with pieces of himself missing, especially when those pieces were about them. If he was to try and reunite them again, it would be when he was whole, so that they would all be happy and carefree like they once were.

Besides, he had knocked on Thackery's door. No one answered and Erebus figured that fate wasn't in his favor.

So the next best thing was to write them notes, right? Maybe if he thought of them hard enough while he wrote to them, he would remember!

He shifted back to human form, pinning his pin back on his tie, albeit looser than usual, as he pulled a notepad and a pen from the bag he had brought with him. Perhaps writing out here in the fresh air would invigorate him. That and Lady was unpredictable; the bakekitsune would ignore him, and then leap up on his table and poke her nose into his book.

Dear Arthur and Thack, he wrote, and then paused. Wait, they didn't live so close to each other anymore...

Mist seemed to glaze over his eyes as he suddenly found himself having a vision of himself sitting across the table to someone, pen in hand, shoulders stiff as his hand moved across paper, writing lines that said,

Quote:
Dear Arthur and Thack,

I might not come back.

That's what they said anyway. I didn't think it was right to beat around the bush even in this letter of... farewell, I guess? I mean, I imagined what it would be like to get this letter from either of you and I wouldn't want to read until the very end to realize that I could lose one of my brothers forever...

We're triplets, after all. We were always together. And even though we drifted apart when we came to Amityville, with different hobbies and interests, we're always happy when we get to see each other. I know I certainly am. I can't imagine a life without either of you. I wish I could say these words to you both. But I can't. I wonder if I even could. Maybe I don't need to, with the unspoken bond between us. But maybe I should. Some things don't need to be taken for granted, after all.

If I don't come back, there's only one thing I ask of you both. Please take care of yourselves, and each other... and Tomoko. Arthur, you might have never met her, but she's the sweetest kitsune and a good friend to Thack and I.

The last thing I have to say is that I'm sorry. I haven't been around much, nor talked to you both in quite a while but you're both the closest people to me and it hurts knowing that I could never see both of you ever again.

It's been an honor being your brother.

With love,
Erebus


And as quickly as it came, it disappeared, only leaving the searing memory of the letter he had once wrote. Had his brothers gotten that letter? Had they worried for him, as he did for them back then? That piece of paper had held all his regrets because he had feared he would lose them, or more appropriately, that they would lose him. Perhaps it had been crumpled up, discarded, once Amityville knew that the students had returned to safety.

Erebus could only hope.

He had never done anything much.

But now, watching his brother lie there on the bed in a coma, and having them tell him that there was a way to save him, he felt a glimmer of hope rise within him along with determination.

He would save his brother.


He hadn't expected another memory to overcome him, along with that profound guilt that he could have done nothing to protect his brother from what had befallen him. The day he had found Thack in the hospital bed lying so still was the day he thought his world had shattered around him and that it had been all his fault.

But Thack wasn't unconscious any longer. They had saved him, hadn't th....

The stark realization of it hit him, and he realized, at that very moment, that the King was a mere shadow of his brother, and he had to kill him so Thackery would awaken from his coma. Everything was cold, and his heart hurt with the realization... how could he kill someone that looked so much like his brother? How could he kill someone that talked and laughed like him, even if it was to save his life-- how....


There was pain.

So much pain, like knives digging in his heart. Erebus knew the storm had blown over, knew that everything was fine now, but it didn't stop the memory from hitting him like a ton of bricks, even as it slid into place in his mind. The image of King Thackery was something Erebus dreaded, one that had once plagued his nightmares, and...

Something shattered.

No, that wasn't quite the right word. There was the sound of shattering yes, and the bonds that felt they were loosening around his tail, but it felt as thought it was going in slow motion. Erebus practically ripped off his skull pin as slowly, chain by chain broke into white dust that surrounded his tail until only the lock was left.

When he turned to look at it, the lock glowed a bright white, forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut from the blinding light. The sound; like a glass vase reaching its demise on the floor, came again, louder this time, and then everything was still.

The lock was gone, when he opened his eyes again.

He was whole, but he wasn't quite sure he wasn't still broken.