Remington headed down the stairs following Alt to the basement. It was clear right away that Demetri and Maxwell had been packing and getting ready to move into the new house they were buying. When Remington made it to the bottom of the stairs Demetri immediately stopped what he was doing, sprinted over and crashed into him to hug him. Remington staggered nearly losing his balance but recovered and hugged Demetri back.

  “I was so worried about you! Are you alright??” Demetri pulled away just enough to see Remington's face. He had a bandage covering his eye, but the rest of his gash and stitches were clearly visible and there was deep bruising from his temple to his chin. He was also pale and he looked like he was sick. “Oh, Rem, look at you….” Demetri mumbled growing even more emotional. “…..your eye…..your face…..”

  “Its fine….I really needed to come here and see you.” Remington said softly. “I've done some terrible things…..and I've made some horrible mistakes……and now Vezaias is…..” Remington choked on the rest of the sentence and it quickly overwhelmed him. His eye gushed with tears and he desperately tried to suppress them so he could finish saying what he wanted to say. “I just wanted to see you one last time.” Remington said very emotionally

  “What! No, Rem, no! What are you saying??” Demetri huffed in fear.

  “I can't live like this Dem…” Remington choked.

  “Rem you can't!” Demetri hugged him again even more urgently. He began to cry, and this made Remington cry. “No Rem, please don't die!” Demetri sobbed.

  “You don't understand Dem. If you only knew what was going on in my head.” Remington sobbed.

  “Did they vote to kill him?!” Demetri demanded to know, looking at Alt in desperation. Alt shook his head no.

  “It needed to be unanimous. Only two people voted for his death, I personally did not vote to kill him.” Alt said seriously. “Rem has made it clear that if we do not kill him, he will handle it himself.” Alt said seriously.

  “Rem…..No……” Demetri turned back to Remington. It was quiet for a long moment.

  “Did they tell you what happened…….what I did?” Remington said softly.

  “Just that there was a confrontation, that you were involved and seriously injured, that Vezaias was killed, and Rocks, and that Maxwell was missing. That's all I know.” Demetri said worriedly.

  “Vezaias has been trapping people, he trapped Vincent, and Ziona. He told me to kill Ava. So I did. Then during the confrontation he told me to kill Rocks. So I did. He trapped Maxwell before they were able to stop and kill him.” Remington said. Demetri looked struck and continued to cry silently.

  “I don't trust myself, Dem. I'm dangerous. I've killed three people, and Vezaias is gone. I just don't want to live without him.” Remington explained but it was a terribly unsatisfying reason for Demetri to accept.

  “I don't want to lose my best friend Rem. It will break my heart!” Demetri pleaded. Remington shook his head and stepped back.

  “I'm sorry Dem. I love you. You were the best friend I ever had. Thanks for everything you did to help me. I'm sorry that I couldn't get better after you worked so hard to help me. Goodbye.” Remington said. He turned to Alt. “Take me back.” He said softly. Alt took a deep breath and opened a portal to leave.

  “Please don't do it Rem! Please stay alive! I don't want you to….!” Remington walked through the portal and it closed behind him before Demetri could finish yelling the sentence.

  They landed in the laboratory. Remington was crying still and he didn't bother to do anything at all. Demetri pulled Remington into a hug.

  “It's okay Rem.” Demetri said softly. “You don't have to do it. I don't want you to die either.”

  “I think you will regret that someday.” Remington said maliciously. He was angry now and jerked away from Demetri. “Can I just be alone for a while?” Remington said. Demetri looked very serious and nodded.

  “You want to go to your bedroom?” Demetri asked solemnly.

  “Yes I would. I'm sorry. I will take you to free Maxwell soon. I promise.” Remington said

  “Before you run off into seclusion, I would like to let you know that Rocks will be returning here very soon. I've already prepared his new body, and once I’m finished with him, I’ll be immediately working on Lux's situation, and he should be finished very quickly as well. Possible by tomorrow morning.” Zexich said. Remington was quiet.

  “Can I be there when Lux is activated?” He asked finally.

  “Of course.” Zexich said mildly. Remington paused for a minute soaking in his feelings.

  “Tell Rocks that I'm sorry.” Remington said solemnly.

  “I will, but I would prefer it if you told him yourself.” Zexich said reassuringly.

  “Ziona is right. I should stay away from him. I should stay away from everyone……” Remington trailed off unhappily.

  “I do not believe it is necessary that you stay away from….” Zexich insisted.

  “Can I go to my room now?” Remington interrupted.

  “Very well. Demetri will make sure you are alright.” Zexich said, glancing at Demetri. He nodded, then opened a portal to exit. Remington was a bit confused as he landed in the kitchen instead of the bedroom.

  “You are going to eat something. I know you haven't been eating and you look like it's really affecting you physically.” Demetri said. Remington looked irritated now. Demetri ignored this and got into the refrigerator and made Remington a plate of food that was left over from the previous meal.

  “Go and sit down.” Demetri said, taking the food to the table. Remington only stood stubbornly in place.

  “You listen to Vezaias when he orders you to kill people, but not me when I am only trying to care about you?” Demetri said seriously. Remington scoffed but went to the table and sat. Demetri pushed the food in front of him.

  “I don't understand why you are doing this.” Remington said, sounding very irritated.

  “Just because I get angry at you doesn't mean that I don't care about you. I had no idea you were suffering so much or so out of control in the situation with Vezaias. If I would have known, I would have protected you from him.” Demetri said seriously.

  “I didn't want to be protected! He was making me strong and I deserved the suffering! What I don't deserve is yours or anyone else's forgiveness or compassion!” Remington snapped.

  “Why don't you?” Demetri said impatiently.

  “Because, I just can't explain it.” Remington said firmly.

  “Just eat your food. Then I will take you to your room.” Demetri said angrily. “We can go and free Maxwell after you get some rest.” Demetri said as if it were an order. Remington picked up his chopsticks and began to eat. He hadn’t realized that he was so hungry until the food hit his mouth, then he ate everything Demetri had served him very quickly. Demetri must have known to serve him extra teriyaki tofu and pot stickers, because he loved it so much. He felt much better by the time he was finished, then he leaned back in his seat looking satisfied.

  “Thanks.” He said softly.

  “No problem. Do you want to go to your room now?” Demetri asked mildly.

  “I would. I feel exhausted.” Remington said softly. Demetri nodded and got up then opened a portal to Remington’s bedroom.

  “Just let me know when you are feeling better, then we can go and rescue Maxwell. Just take it easy okay?” Demetri said solemnly.

  “Yeah, I will.” Remington said then he went through the portal and landed in his bedroom alone. It still smelled like cigarette smoke and the overflowing ashtray still sat on the desk. Remington dumped it into the garbage nearly gaging on the smell then he put the trash can outside of his bedroom. When he got there the first thing he did was obsess over the amount of food he had eaten. He stripped off most of his clothes and began to pinch his skin in different areas to measure the amount of fat his body had, and how eating had affected how much his abdomen stuck out. He walked around in circles for at least an hour before sitting down on the bed and carefully peeling off the bandage covering his eye. He felt the tender sunk in skin. It made him cringe at the thought of his mangled eye, then with the already terrible body image he had all he could do to cope with this was crawl into bed and cry himself to sleep. He woke in the Mindscape and looked around. There was nothing really pressing that he wanted to do so he didn't bother to use his telescope, instead he only soaked in his emotions holding his face in his palm as tears escaped. He cried painfully for a few minutes.

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  “Aww don't cry Rem.” Vezaias was now standing behind Remington. Remington jerked at his smooth voice looking thrilled.

  “Zay! Are you really here??” Remington shouted excitedly.

  “Nah, I'm definitely still dead.” He tilted his head looking amused.

  “Oh…” Remington sighed in disappointment. “Please tell me there is a way for you to come back.” Remington said unhappily, trying to wipe his tears.

  “Hm, unless you think you can convince those assholes to make me a new body.” Vezaias said, looking thoughtful.

  “I doubt it. They wouldn't even vote on it.” Remington said unhappily.

  “That's what I expected. Oh well guess we are going to have to go with another plan.” Vezaias mused.

  “There's another way?” Remington asked, trying not to feel too eager.

  “Hm, maybe. I won't be able to tell you because I know you're absolutely not very good at lying. So all I will tell you is that you are super insane right now, talking to your dead boyfriend again inside your head as if he were actually existing in some sort of actual way.” Vezaias laughed mildly. Remington scoffed and looked away to the ground.

  “I can't stand being there without you. I can't fucking stand them trying to fix our friendship. I screwed it up because I wanted to be with you. Now you are gone and it's broken and nothing will fix it. Don't they understand that if you ever came back I would just go right back to being their enemy!” Remington said angrily.

  “They don't understand that, and you shouldn't try and explain it either. You are going to remain on good terms with them for as long as possible. Understand?” Vezaias said flatly. Remington nodded softly. “The only other thing I can tell you is to trust Lux, no matter how insane he sounds. He is your new best friend and he knows what he is doing.” Vezaias paused. “Got it?”

  “Got it.” Remington said with a sigh.

  “You are doing fine Rem. I know I'm asking a lot but it will pay off eventually.” Vezaias said reassuringly. Remington nodded and brushed away more tears. Vezaias looked around the huge expanse of the void for a moment then smiled mischievously back at Remington.

  “Someone is at the door for you Rem. Play nice okay?” Vezaias said smoothly. Remington looked confused for a moment until he heard a knocking sound. He looked around and wasn't sure where it came from then there was another knock and suddenly he was back in his bed at the base. He shifted hearing the persistent knocking at the door.

  “Ugh…who is it?” He said groggily. He grabbed his phone and looked at the time. It was just after six in the morning. He groaned wishing whoever it was would go away but the knocking continued. He got up and pulled on some pants before shuffling over to the door and opening it. There was nobody there. He looked around the hallway very confused, even taking a few steps out to see if whoever it was had walked away but the hallway was empty. He turned back to go into the bedroom feeling annoyed when he realized someone was sitting on his bed.

  “Hey.” It was Rocks.

  “Uh, hey Rocks….” Remington backed up into the door nervously.

  “Just thought I'd come to see you, since I've been informed you are going to 'avoid me at all costs' for some damn reason.” Rocks said very seriously.

  “Heh, well, your girlfriend told me to stay away from you forever or she'll kill me, and I'm trying to avoid all confrontations now.” Remington said even more nervously.

  “Don't worry, I will have a talk with her. You don't have to avoid me. That's why I'm here. I wanted to tell you it was time to go to the gym.” Rocks said.

  “I'm not going to the gym today.” Remington said firmly.

  “Why not?” Rocks asked seriously.

  “Because I am not going to train with you anymore.” Remington pressed, trying not to sound angry.

  “And I want to know why. You don't have to worry about Ziona, she won't try to stop you, and I have no problem continuing your training, so there must be some personal reason that you don't want to be trained anymore. So what the fuck is it?” Rocks snapped.

  “I killed you.” Remington said bluntly. He had to address the elephant in the room.

  “I know that. I was fucking there remember?!” Rocks yelled. Remington flinched at his anger.

  “Well it's just…” Remington began nervously.

  “…..it's just you think since you killed me that somehow you've surpassed me? There's no longer anything I can teach you?!” Rocks shouted. Remington began to crumble against the door.

  “No it's not that….”

  “You think that you're better than I am now? Stronger than I am? You no longer need any training?!” Rocks shouted growing angrier.

  “No I…”

  “Do you know everything now?? What the fuck is it Remington?!” Rocks yelled.

  “I thought you'd be angry at me. You wouldn't want to train me again.” Remington mumbled in a shaky whisper.

  “Of course I am angry at you! You fucking killed me!” Rocks nearly screamed. Remington was cowering now wishing that Rocks would just kill him as punishment or leave him alone. He shut his eye and choked on his emotions twisting against the wall.

  “I'm sorry!” Remington sobbed. He just wanted to escape this situation. “I'm sorry, okay! I'm sorry!” He sobbed harder. He covered his face with the bend of his arm trying to hide himself. There was a pause and then suddenly he felt Rocks grab him and pull him. He struggled reflexively until he realized Rocks had pulled him into a firm hug.

  “Skyler told me what Vezaias was doing to you. I am so sorry that I didn't do anything to protect you.” Rocks said with his voice full of sorrow. “As your trainer I should have been protecting you. As your friend I should have been looking out for you. I feel like I failed at both completely.” Rocks said, soaking with emotion. Remington fell quiet and tried to relax his tension but all he could do was shiver. He wanted to run away from Rocks as far as he could. He wished he didn't have to be here at all trying to pretend like he wanted to fix anything. Truthfully he'd rather be dead. He suppressed the urge to become hostile just to escape this moment. Rocks pulled away looking closely at Remington's face as if to examine his missing eye.

  “Let me guess, Lucius ended the battle violently? We told him beforehand not to use lethal force. We wanted to help Vezaias, not kill him. I am sorry that you lost your eye because of this too.” Rocks said solemnly. He sounded sincere. This made withstanding the urge to attack even more difficult. Remington looked away and to the wall trying to avoid Rocks's eye contact.

  “If you don't want to train today I understand. You are probably still in pain. You have suffered a great deal of trauma. I just want you to know that I am still here for you. I don't hate you and I hope you do not shut me out. As far as I am concerned you really are my twin brother.” Rocks said sincerely. Remington cringed at this. How could everyone be so good and forgiving? “I will do anything to help you.” Rocks pressed. Remington swallowed back his emotions and wiped his tears away.

  “There is one thing you can help me with.” Remington said, his voice soft and shaky.

  “Anything Rem, what is it?” Rocks said reassuringly.

  “I tried to free Ziona from Reality from the delusion Vezaias trapped her in, but she is refusing to leave because her delusional world is with you. Well a manifestation of my real brother. She can't let him go.” Remington said seriously.

  “How do you free her?” Rocks asked.

  “I have to make her want to leave somehow.” Remington said.

  “I will help you however I can.” Rocks said solemnly. Remington took a deep breath. This was going to help somehow. He had to be strategic. He was quiet for a moment.

  “I am in a lot of pain still, but I might at least be up for a good run on the treadmill.” Remington said softly. Rocks grinned.

  “Let's go.” Rocks said mildly.

  Remington went to the gym with Rocks. They got ready then ran on the treadmill together for nearly an hour before a portal opened and Lucius strolled into the gym followed by Ava. He immediately focused on both of them at the treadmill. Remington quickly hopped off the treadmill becoming defensive. Rocks moved in front of him to protect him from Lucius. Ava stood farther back looking worried.

  “Do you really think it's wise to continue to train your murderer?” Lucius said very haughtily.

  “I think that's my decision and absolutely not yours.” Rocks said firmly.

  “Don't be foolish. This human is not at all worth protecting.” Lucius sneered.

  “If you voted to kill me, why don't you just finish what you started already?” Remington said angrily highlighting his missing eye.

  “He will not.” Rocks said defensively.

  “I find it amusing how either one of you believes you could outmatch my speed. The only reason you had any contention is because you were able to hide under that bastard's veil. That missing eye would have easily been your death had the crystal blade wielders both insist we use non lethal force.” Lucius spat smoothly.

  “Oh yeah? And where was that non lethal force when you killed Vezaias?!” Remington jumped forward angrily but Rocks held him back.

  “Oops.” Lucius said maliciously. Remington lunged for him but Rocks swung him by the arm, keeping him from reaching Lucius.

  “Remington, do not engage him! He will use your aggression as an excuse to kill you!” Rocks shouted. Remington tried to retract himself desperately.

  “You sure have a lot to say for someone who is still in love with his own murderer.” Rocks said coolie.

  “In my case I was the villain. In your case he is the villain, and do you really think that after slaying his mate, that this friendship is anything more than the wolf wearing sheep's wool to fool us?” Lucius hissed pleasantly.

  “Haven't you taken advantage of your chance at redemption? Why shouldn't Remington do the same?” Rocks said seriously.

  “You believe what you want to believe. Let it blind you. Just remember what you are risking by trying to tame this rabid dog. His kill count rivals that of Ax's and not at all as heroically.” Lucius warned.

  “He is my responsibility, stay the fuck out of it or we will have a problem.” Rocks threatened. Lucius turned up his nose smugly and walked away, over towards Ava who had stayed back watching from afar. He threw his arm around Ava and pulled him in close, kissing his forehead.

  “Common Rem, I think that's enough for today.” Rocks said with a sigh. Remington nodded unhappily then followed Rocks to the locker room.