Chapter 56. Self-Care.

"What the hell," Everly said as she beheld herself. "You duped me? You actually made a dupe of yourself? That is nuts."

"Personally, I thought it was brilliant," Everly replied to herself with a smirk.

After Grail had returned to his quarters for the evening, Everly remained behind. She claimed she had one last project she was working on. He was very suspicious but eventually moved on at her insistence.

"It's not like I'm planning to jump again!" she said to him with a smile.

Once he was gone, Everly began to create once more, using the methods taught to her by Eris and Titania. When she was finished, she inspected her work, pleased by the results.

"Yeah, obviously! You thought of it, which means I thought of it, which means I'm brilliant!" replied Dupe Everly.

"Hey, is it weird that I think you're really hot? That's just narcissism, right?" Everly asked herself.

"The worst kind imaginable," Dupe Everly said. "But I'm okay with it. You're looking pretty tasty yourself. Hey, is that why you made me? Oh, shit, are we about to commit the ultimate taboo? Because if the answer is yes, I just want you to know I'm okay with it."

"Shut up, Everly! Jesus, do I need to hit myself with a rolled-up newspaper?"

"Oh, come on, I'm just saying what's on our mind," Dupe Everly pouted. "Besides, why would you want to hit a face as pretty as ours?"

"Oh, is that the dynamic you're going for?" Everly asked herself. "You're going to be my unchained libido? The one who unhesitatingly says what's on her mind? The window into my secret desires?"

"Hell, yes! You love the idea, don't you?" Dupe Everly preened.

"Actually, no. No, I don't," Everly frowned. "I already say and do whatever I feel like. What's the point of you doing more of the same? Sounds redundant, Dupe Everly."

"Yeah, about that name. I don't want to be called 'Dupe Everly,'" said Dupe Everly. "It makes me sound kind of dumb."

"Why? It's shorthand for 'duplicate.' It's a very accurate name."

"Yeah, okay, I get that," said Dupe Everly. "But being called a dupe isn't very complimentary, is it? I've never heard of anyone being called that word and feeling very good about it."

"Well, what do you want to be called?" Everly asked.

"How about Kerri?" Dupe Everly wondered.

"Not a chance!" Everly said immediately.

"Aww, why not?"

"Because that's my name! If I let you claim it, it'll muddy up the waters."

"In what way?"

"All kinds of ways! That I can't think of off the top of my head. But they're there. Waiting."

"Fine," grumbled the dupe. "Okay, what about Averly?"

"Is that even a real name?" asked Everly. "It doesn't sound like one."

"Well, what do you suggest, then?" asked the exasperated duplicate.

"How about…Neverly?" Everly said with a grin.

"By the great pumpkin, that is just about the clone-iest name I've ever heard in my life," Neverly said with a scowl.

"Come on, it's perfect. You know it's perfect!" Everly said enthusiastically.

"Do I even get a say in this?"

"Do I even have to answer that?"

"Fine! Neverly it is, I guess," said Neverly with reluctant acceptance.

"Wunderbar!" Everly said cheerfully.

"Yeah, yeah," Neverly replied. "So, what's the point of making a copy of yourself? I can't use any of your powers except for harada, so that makes me fifty percent less effective than you are."

"Funny you should mention that," Everly replied. "You're actually a good deal less powerful than that. I've sealed most of your techniques, you see. Can't have you running around being a potential threat to my position, right?"

"You're such a paranoid bitch," Neverly huffed. Then she smiled and said, "Aww, I can't stay mad at that face. I would have done the same if I were you, which I am, so I did. Unnecessary risks are the epitome of foolish behavior."

"Right? I'm glad you agree," Everly said happily. "Listen, you're not completely helpless. In emergency situations, your seal will release and let you use our magic. Just don't act with abandon."

"Why not, though? I like acting with abandon."

"Well, that is true, I suppose," Everly said. Then she cried out in pain when a bottle flew towards her from behind and collided with the back of her head. "Ouch!" she yelped. "What the hell was that for?"

"Don't act like you didn't have it coming," snorted her assailant, who looked exactly like her. "Exactly how long were you going to lead her along and make her think you were the real me?"

"Hey, I was just having a little fun!" whined Everly, who as it turned out was not the original Everly at all. "God, when did I become so abusive?"

"Wait a second," said the now cross Neverly. "Do you mean to say that you're a dupe too?"

"Heh, heh. Pretty funny, right?" said the second Everly.

"Wait, so why do I have to be Neverly if you're a Neverly too?" demanded the outraged Neverly.

"Uh, doy? Because I'm Everly B," said Everly B with exaggerated patience.

"Oh, Everly B, is it? To hell with that! If I must be Neverly, then you should be BEVERLY!" shouted Neverly.

"Whoa! Not happening! Do I look like a Beverly to you?" Everly B shouted back. "Neverly is clever and comedic! It suits you perfectly! But Beverly is way too nineteen eighties for me to willingly consent to! I can't allow that!"

"I kind of like it," said Everly, who decided to weigh in on the matter. "Yeah, it works. We're going with that. You're Beverly now."

"Noooo!" shouted the defeated Beverly as she dramatically sank to her knees in exaggerated distress.

"Ha ha! Serves you right," gloated the triumphant Neverly to her vanquished fellow duplicate. "Your defeat was assured the moment you dared to challenge me."

"God, sometimes I hate myself so much," moaned Beverly.

"Well, that's just part of the human condition," Everly said to herself sympathetically. "You'll grow past this one day and become stronger for the experience, Bev."

"God, you're calling me Bev, now. The abyss truly has no bottom," Beverly said before breaking out into tears.

"All right, so you're Prime Everly then? Can you please explain why I currently exist? And her as well, I guess?" Neverly asked as she gestured at the weeping Beverly.

"What, don't you like existing? It's a pretty sweet setup. All the air you can breathe and more skin cells and tastebuds than you'll know what to do with," replied Everly. "Hell, wait until you try eating. Eating is sooo good."

"What about sex?" Neverly asked.

"Wait until we're at least eighteen. That's the only legal standard we'll ever commit to," Everly commanded her.

"Nuts," said the disappointed duplicate.

"Oh, we've barely got a year left to go," Everly snorted. "Anticipation is the best spice."

"You said it wrong," Neverly corrected her. "It's supposed to be hunger is the best spice."

"Like we care about old timey sayings," Everly said with a roll of her eyes. "Anyway, to answer your question, the two of you now exist because there's too much I want to do and not enough time in the day to get it done."

"How's that?" asked Neverly.

"Well, we're going to school, right?" Everly said. "An academic experience in another world is something I've wanted to enjoy for ages! And it even has my favorite storytelling cliché baked right in, nobles vs. commoners!"

"That is a deliciously trashy cliché," Neverly agreed with a smile on her face.

"Right?" said Everly. "I'm glad you agree, because you're going to be student Everly."

"Awesome!" Neverly cheered. "Oh, that's going to be so sweet! God, I hope I get into a magical version of one of those bullying situations like those chicks in The Glory. Is it weird that I thought Dong-eun and Yeon-jin had so much chemistry?"

"Yeah, that's actually really weird," Beverly said from the floor.

"What the hell is wrong with you and by extension, me?" Everly asked her.

"Oh, to hell with you both, you know exactly what we're like," Neverly said to her other selves with a frown.

"Well, that is true," Everly said with a nod.

"We are a pretty messed up girl," Beverly echoed in agreement. "So, what's my role? If she's the student, then who am I?"

"You're going to continue being an adventurer," Everly informed her.

"Oh! Cool! Looks like Grail the golden wanderer will ride again!"

"Nah, pick a new name. Grail hates us using it," said Everly.

"What? Aww. Since when do we care about what Grail thinks?" groused Beverly.

"Hey! Grail's been loyal; maybe we should be a little kinder to him," Everly said.

"Blah, blah, blah. He's loyal because we donked his brain up and he's too stupid to realize it," sneered Beverly.

"Yeah, and you know, lately he's been just a little too, I don't know, involved with us? Is that the right word to describe it? He feels like he's been too involved," said Neverly.

"God, I'd really like to just like pound those good intentions right out of him," giggled Beverly. "Split his silly heroically inclined face right open."

"Oh, that sounds like so much fun," blushed Neverly. "There's three of us here too! Why not summon him so we can run a pain train on his goody-good ass?"

"Hey! No!" Everly yelled at her duplicates. "God, this is why we keep him around, you idiots! We need someone with morality around this dump to point out when we're about to do something utterly psychotic! What's our goal again, ladies?"

"To be the ultimate villain," said Beverly quietly.

"To execute our villainy with style," Neverly pouted.

"Exactly!" Everly said. "We don't just hurt the ones who've entrusted themselves to us. We reward loyalty with loyalty!"

"Uh, Alex, I'll take what is utter hypocrisy for ten thousand, please," said Neverly with thick sarcasm while Beverly snickered at her words.

"And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Everly scowled.

"Uh, only that we yanked Eris out of the mind palace a few months back and scared her within an inch of her life even though she loves us tremendously and is by far the most loyal member of our coterie," Neverly said to her without fear.

"Yeah, we also threaten her like, all the time," chipped in Beverly. "Honestly, compared to everyone else, we treat her a bit like trash."

"Oh, and don't forget that Carter hasn't felt safe alone in our presence since that time we nearly split his skull open for laughing at us. God, we were awful to him!"

"Oh, shit, Carter!" Neverly laughed. "Hey, remember all those living dupes we tricked Eris into helping us make of him? Didn't we butcher every single one of them to improve our mastery of harada? I really doubt he'd forgive us if he ever found out."

"Oh, man, we're absolute monsters," giggled Beverly. "And that's like nothing compared to what we did to Fenn, right? Heh, we made her love us and hate us within a day, and then we freakin' murdered­ her-ACK!"

Everly now held Beverly by the throat in one hand and was gradually throttling her. Her face was blank, utterly devoid of any apparent emotion. Only her glowing red eyes hinted at the rage she now felt.

"Don't…ever mention that name in front of me, again," she said to Beverly in a voice that was icy with fury.

"Everly…Everly, stop," Neverly said. She grabbed the other girl's arm and tried to dislodge Beverly from her grip. In response, Everly shoved her to the floor without looking at her and continued to strangle the helpless Beverly, whose feet kicked desperately in the air.

"Everly, stop this!" Neverly shouted. "This is stupid, you're literally just hurting yourself!"

"SHUT UP!" Everly roared at her. "I'm sick of this! I'm sick of…of her affecting me like this. I didn't do anything wrong! It was for our…my survival! That…that girl was too much of a liability!"

"Hey, who are you arguing with? I agree with you!" Neverly said to her placatingly. "Leaving Fenn around would have been like living our life under the sword of Damocles. To hell with that! It was her or us!"

"Then why do I feel this way?" Everly asked her. "Why does even hearing her name make me…make me feel…this?"

"How the hell should I know?" Neverly replied. "We barely understand anything about ourselves! We've never experienced attachment on this level before, it's new to us!"

"Well, I hate it!" Everly shouted. "It doesn't even feel like me! It doesn't even feel…wait. Wait. It doesn't feel like me, does it?"

"No," Neverly agreed. "It really doesn't. It sucks that we had to do what we did, but genuine remorse isn't really in our wheelhouse. Honestly, we should have moved on almost immediately."

Everly dropped Beverly to the floor and began pacing around in a restless circle. "I mean, I don't like using outdated terminology, and this is absolutely a self-diagnosis, but I'm pretty sure that I'm a psychopath, or somewhere near that spectrum. Human lives just don't matter to me."

"And yet, that girl affects us so. But why?" Neverly wondered.

"We took her life. I took her life. I remember everything about that moment," Everly said. "When I crushed her heart, it was like I felt something leaving…"

"She was a holy warrior," Neverly said. "She could heal people. That was her specialty, wasn't it?"

"No…," groaned Beverly painfully from the floor. "No, she didn't heal people alone. She had an…"

Everly and Neverly froze in shocked realization.

"Of course," Neverly said. "These emotions…they're not ours at all! Fenneth had a light elemental! She had a light elemental, and it didn't die when she did!"

"There's a fucking trespasser in my mind," Everly said furiously. "Fenneth's pet is running loose in our head."