Baited in by my own weakness for validation, I was lured by the voice. And just like that, I allowed myself to be betrayed once more.
"Kill him!" the snail shouted as I was flooded with the sense of self-loathing.
Weakened by my emotions and deprived of all my strength my fake siblings swarmed around me. Like ravenous piranha over a piece of meat, some began to latch on in an attempt to bite at me even though their jaws didn't allow them to. From my sides, dozens of shells collided with mine as their tiny impacts hit me from all over. Using their eyestalks they began to bombard me with a shower of tiny hits that did little to damage me while I just stood there and accepted every hit.
My mind ran chaotically. I didn't know what I was doing. My feelings were a mess as I continued to take their tiny beatings.
Why didn't I move under their assault? Although I was reluctant to hurt them, surely I could have just run or swept them off, right?
The reason was simple.
Penitence.
Like I was paying them back for my sins, I let them hit me. Even though they weren't really my true siblings, I felt a sense of justification and ease as they did. I felt a sense of peace roll over me as I felt the trickling of pain ease my burning body if just a little. Maybe I was truly a masochist?
...
But it didn't last long.
Bam!
I was hit suddenly from my rear as my clone slammed into my body.
"Die!" the clone of myself shouted as it slammed again, knocking my shell over and making me crush tens of snails into dust beneath my body. Shamelessly, it began to blame me for its own actions.
"See this traitor? It just killed your brothers and sisters!" it shouted as it reared up from beside me and knocked into me once more as I felt innards jostle around with the hit. My illusionary siblings roared in response as dozens of them slid atop my body once more and bombarded my body.
"Get off," I yelled. "I don't want to hurt you all," I called out as if they were truly the siblings - the siblings that I cherished and loved.
Of course, they didn't listen.
Soon I was smashed once more from the side. Bang! More of them exploded into dust between the body of my clone and mine.
"Look at the self-proclaimed saviour of your colony. Look at the super snail." my clone called out as it continued to taunt me as the air around me seemed to grow colder and a white mist gathered around its body. The seed that was in my body had seen my memories and used everything from it against me.
"Look at the weak coward. Unable to even lift its foot to fight back." I shouted once more as the mist seemed to solidify into the shape of a sharp needle. "How could this weak little thing even protect you all? It can barely even protect itself." It yelled as the needle disappeared and became a blur of white.
Even though my body was lame and I felt weak, my body reacted on its own. Jolting towards the side, snails fell off my body due to my sudden movement. But because I was weighed down by the illusions and my weakness, I was just too slow.
I was run through. The chill, numbness and bitter frost run through my body as my shell and insides were pinned into the ground by a spear made of frozen mist.
It was a blessing.
Counteracting the heat that was generated from within my body, the cold undid the shackles that had placed on my emotions by the trial.
Instantly, I regained control and my sanity.
'What am I even doing?' I questioned myself. 'Why am I even repenting to these illusions that aren't even my own siblings. Why am I letting this fake version of myself assault me?" I continued as my own true anger began to build up inside and replaced the fake anger that I was forced to endure the whole time.
I slid forward.
Instantly I shook off the fake version of my siblings as I heard shouts from 11 fill the air. "Formations everyone." Shifting below me, the fake versions of the snails from the defence team began to form lines and groups like I had trained them to do.
'Oh, I'll show you formations.' I thought as I charged towards their gathering groups but before I could hit them, I felt a sense of danger and jolted towards the side as another spear of ice landed right before me scattering the illusionary snails into dust.
"Look at the stupid traitor "big brother" run away from danger. Look at his selfishness, as he leaves you all behind!" my cloned called out once more, but it didn't even phase me at all.
"Look at you!" I shouted back at it. "Look at the countless siblings you had slaughtered with your icy mist spear, you idiot. I'm not a murderer. You are!"
"You!" the clone of mine replied as its anger seemed to grow. I didn't care for it as I barrelled forward through the crowds and chomped down on the fake siblings that were before me. "How dare you impersonate them!' I thought as I smashed my shell into their bodies.
The fake 11 yelled out more directions as I did.
"Stop!" my clone shouted as it not only gained my skills but my sense of protectionism.
But I was just too fast. I reached the body of 11 in an instant. Opening my mouth, joyously crushed her body within my mouth. She screamed as she burst into dust.
"Look at your weakness. I just killed your sister. The commander of your armies is now gone." I yelled, I laughed and I taunted the fake version of mine. Turning around I slurped up even more snails that were in front of me as I continued to rain one taunt after another onto my clone. I repaid it for the amount of emotional pain that I had felt just minutes before.
Next was the fake 7.
Like the real 7, he was intuitive and took his role a leader seriously. Knowing that he couldn't outrun my body, he stopped running and used his own body to block me off from a group of snails behind him.
He looked at me sorrily like he was looking down on me and my actions. "Don't do this." he gestured. "Your better than this brother."
But in my mind, I already solidified him as a fake. Before he could utter another word, I opened my mouth I swallowed him whole. Another pile of dust that filled the endless void within me.
Boom.
I felt a shell slam against the side of my shell as my clone smashed into me. My insides - rattling from the hit.
...