We helped you to forget.
Tyler stiffens at those words.
And it's then when he knows-this place, Dema, it is not where he is meant to be. He should be...he should be...but he doesn't know. He doesn't know who he is anymore. This place has taken everything from him.
"Look at what he's wearing," Nico says.
Tyler blinks. For a moment he had forgotten there were others in the room. Nico had ways, ways Tyler did not fully understand, of getting inside his head.
Whatever small spark of rebelliousness he might have felt earlier has completely disappeared. He remembers what Josh had said to him, but he no longer understands why he should try to fight against Nico.
So he does what the bishop commands. He looks at what Clancy is wearing.
And he understands why Nico wishes him to do so.
"Yes," Nico guides him. "Yes, do you see? He is one of them. He, and a group of foolish-"
"We weren't foolish," Clancy interrupts.
His voice is raspy, but it sounds like he fully believes the truth of what he is saying.
Tyler glances at Nico, fearful of how he might react. But the bishop doesn't react to Clancy's words.
So the man continues speaking. And Tyler feels himself hanging on to every word.
"We weren't foolish," Clancy says again.
His eyes meet Tyler's and Tyler notices, in that moment, that the words are directed to him.
He isn't sure he wants that weight to have to carry. But he knows that if he doesn't...no one will.
So he listens.
It's all he can do, but he does it still.
Clancy adds, "We were just desperate. Desperate to leave-"
He breaks off for a moment, coughing. "Desperate to leave this place, this city built on nothing but lies behind."
He shifts his gaze to Nico.
"Lies that you started. Lies that ruined so many lives. That's why we left. To find truth."
One of the bishops makes a move towards Clancy, but Nico stops them.
He looks directly at Clancy. "And did you find it?"
Clancy narrows his eyes. "Yes."
Clancy knows, doesn't he? He knows that Dema don't control us. Will Tyler eve figure that out, though?
YOU ARE READING
Øverturning the lies (a twenty one pilots fanfiction)
FanfictionTyler is alone in the city of Dema. He can't remember who he was before then. All he knows now is trying to survive in this world. He sees others around him who are struggling too, and he wants to help them. But he can't. He can't even seem to help...
