Øverturning the lies (a twenty one pilots fanfiction)

~Mari~

Something's wrong something's wrong something's so very wrong...

Mari jolts awake, her mind troubled, filled with images of figures dressed in red and neon lights.

Her heart is racing a thousand miles an hour.

Her mind is nothing but confusion, confusion and chaos.

But she knows one thing.

We haven't forgotten you, child, a voice seems to whisper.

She shivers, shivers, shivers.

Touches the yellow flowers she wears in her hair, trying to reassure herself she's safe.

But she doesn't feel safe.

She pulls her jacket around her even tighter.

She feels something pulling her back. It's like there's a string tied to her, yanking her towards a place she'd rather forget about.

She hears a voice in the back of her mind.

You'll never see him again, little one. He's left you for good.

She doesn't want to believe it-knows better than anything just how low the bishops have sunk before in an attempt to control their subjects.

Because even now, they are still affecting her mind, twisting her thoughts and her actions.

Making her believe their lies again.

Mari shakes her head almost like a dog trying to rid itself of water, as if that will get rid of her negative thoughts.

Or are they even hers?

For all she knows they have somehow been planted there by the bishops. She suspects they might have been.

How is here time in Dema still affecting her so much?

Because we've been here the whole time, a voice in her mind says, making her hands tremble and her legs shake uncontrollably.

She believes it.

One of ther reasons her time in the concrete, gray city took so much out of her was because the feelings it made her feel weren't very different than how she had felt for so long.

They were simply stronger there.

Stronger.

Easier to manipulate her with.

She lets out a sob.

No one's around to help her. Not now.

They're all still sleeping.

Her thoughts turn to Josh. Is he okay? Is Jenna? Is Tyler?

She finds herself gripped with a terrible feeling.

You'll never see him again...

No.

Of course she'll she Josh again.

She may not have known her fellow banditø for very long, but she feels a sense of kinship with him.

He's a source of inspiration in her mind. Of strength.

And she knows, knows that he will be all right.

Won't he?

Once the seed of doubt has been planted it begins to grow.

She tosses and turns, knowing its too early to be awake.

But she can't find sleep.

The longer she lies there, the more she finds herself worrying. Worry, worry, worry. That seems an accurate summary of her existence.

And she wonders.

She finds herself being pushed in another direction.

There's a feeling inside that she can't quell, telling her the banditøs can't stay here.

In fact, the feeling that they need to leave hits her so strongly.

She doesn't know whether to listen to it or not. Doesn't know. Doesn't know.

Doesn't know.

But she feels it so strongly.

She throws the blankets off of herself.

Gets up.

"Xavier," she whispers, knowing the two of them have only had a few conversations but not knowing who else to talk to.

The boy's eyes open.

He has nice eyes, she realizes.

Then she scowls and tries to push those thoughts aside.

This was no time for silly crushes.

"Wh-what?" he asks. "Oh. Mari."

Mari looks down and is confronted with another problem.

She turns away, relieved the darkness hides her blushing cheeks. It's a great look on her, she's sure.

"You're wearing clothes, right?" she asks.

To her great relief he doesn't laugh.

"Don't worry," he says. "I am."

"Yeah...just put a shirt on," Mari says. "Please."

"Okay," Xavier says.

And he does.

Its not a yellow one, but he puts a yellow hoodie on over it.

Mari approves. The banditø's colors always make her feel a sense of peace. Security.

"I'm scared," Mari sees. "I think...I really think we need to leave."

"Then lets do it," Xavier says.

"You trust me?" she asks, mildly surprised.

"Of course," he replies.

"But-you barely know me," she says.

"Deep down, all of us are the same," he says. "The two of us, we aren't so different, I think. And so, I trust you."

That makes Mari's head spin, that some people are quick to trust.

But she nods. "Also...I'm scared. I'm so scared that something happened to Josh."

"Don't worry," Xavier says, "I'm sure he's all right."

But that doesn't silence Mari's fears.

Not at all.