Øverturning the lies (a twenty one pilots fanfiction)

~Mari~

Mari stares at the ashes from last night's fire, wondering.

Those burnt sticks were once aglow with flames, with life.

But now they are not.

Mari picks one of the pieces of charcoal up, wondering.

It leaves black streaks on her thumb and pointer finger where her fingers rubbed against it.

Hmmm, she thinks.

Perhaps different. Changed.

But not useless.

Not quite.

Mari draws a simple design on her arm.

| |

But when she realizes what would be next-the simple curve of a smile, she erases one of the lines.

|

Then draws another symbol.

- |

Finally as she looks at it she realizes what she drew.

Swallows.

But picks up the charcoal and creates the next line, the next stroke, anyway.

/-|

She rubs her hand on the design, smudging it until its gone.

Then, sighing, she draws another symbol.

|-/.

She remembers what Tyler had told her once.

"Turn it on its head, and it means something different. See?"

"But what does it mean?" she asked.

"It means whatever you want it to mean. Life. Faith. Struggle. Anything. But it means we aren't alone in this."

Mari nods.

|-/.

She adds another line.

||-/.

Another.

||-//.

It still means the same thing.

Mari looks.

She looks at her arm and realizes the symbols have covered her scars.

They're still there, of course, but it's like they don't seem to attract as much attention.

They are proof of her mistakes but now they are proof she is still trying.

Mari crushes a little bit of charcoal in her hands, and, almost instinctively, brushes it across her cheeks.

She thinks.

Of how Nico used to touch her face there sometimes, like he saw something that belonged to him...and would do anything to try and claim it.

Something needs to change, Mari thinks. Something else.

Right now she's alone but its not so bad.

The stars are shining above her.

Reflecting across what seems infinity.

An infinite, endless expanse.

They bring light.

But then she feels so small.

The sliver of the moon she can see is glowing pearly white but it doesn't make her feel content, not anymore.