Acheron, the Two

They were all looking at him. The entire class. To be expected, but still. It was disconcerting. Not just looking, but staring. At the top of his head. He knew he should have worn a hat. Or something to cover them. They just kept staring as he walked. Staring at his horns. Not large and jutting out, but small and just enough to be seen through his hair. Cain. He heard a small whisper throughout the class. Cain. Mayhaps they were looking at Acheros, in the avian chimera's body on his shoulder. Maybe they were looking at his grey skin in horror, wishing that a different sort of Cain were here. Cain. He kept walking, to the back, to a small group, the only group which did not have looks of judgement, of superiority on their faces, merely looks of interest. Cain. The humans could just as easily have been staring at his face, his mouthless face, his face which had no nose. Or they could have been looking at the vents on the sides of his neck, five on each side, common to him, but alien to them. Cain. One of them, a male, said, "Wait, don't say anything, let me guess, your name is Acheron Something-or-the-other. Am I right?"

Startling. How did he know? The group shifted, as though they were communicating telepathically. Were humans telepathic? Psionic, mayhaps. He continued to the seat behind the group, replying, "Yes. We are Acheron. How did you know?"
"Woah, no offense, but how do you talk? I mean, you don't have a mouth and all....."
"None taken," Acheron replied in a melodic voice, with multiple layers of sound, giving a feeling as if there were several people talking at the same time. "These... vent-like structures you would call it, along the sides of my neck. Through them, We speak." Acheron sat down.

-

Woah. I didn't expect a Cain. Cocytus thought through the mind-link they shared.
True. Especially a Grey Cain. Lethe thought back.
Sorry, but I'm not especially familiar with Cains. What's a Grey Cain? Styx asked. All Cains have an affinity with the elements. There are Reds, Blues, Yellows, Greens and Greys. Reds control fire, Blues water, Yellows lightning and Greens earth. But the Grey Cains, they master one main element and can manipulate the other elements to a lesser degree. And all Cains are also generally known to be sadistic and cruel, but Greys more so than others. Kestrel answered.
Phlegyas replied in all his innocence, Well, I ain't gonna judge no one 'til he proves himself to me.

"So, uh, why do you say "We"?" Styx asked.
"Yeah, why the royal third-person?" Lethe added sarcastically.
"That is because this body is occupied by two minds. I am Acherus, the other mind is Acheros, my twin brother. He currently occupies this avian chimera," Acherus gestured towards the hawk on his shoulder. "It's a rather unique condition. It occurred when we were both cells. Our bodies merged. This is amusingly known as "chimerism". But surprisingly, his mind developed. So We are two minds in one body. Recently, We've managed to place one of us in the hawk-chimera's body, either one of us."
"How do we tell when either of you are in control of the body, so to speak?" Lacier asked.
"These lines will appear over our body when Acheros is in control, these Blaschko's Lines. Refer to both of us collectively as Acheron if you please." Acherus turned to the hawk. "Brother, shall We give them a demonstration?" The hawk screeched once.
Without any visible movement, wavy lines appeared on Acheron's body, the Blaschko's lines in an intricate pattern. The hawk's eyes turned from a pure black, to pure grey and likewise, Acheron's eyes from pure grey to pure black. Neither of the bodies' eyes had irises. "My brother forgot to mention one more thing. The hawk body is a hawk-scorpion hybrid. See the talons, there's a miniscule stinger there, loaded with lethal poison I developed myself." Acheros said with a tone full of pride, though it was hard to ascertain with all the different overtones in his voice. "At any rate, what are your names?"
And introductions, such as they were, began all over again.
"So, you are telepathic. But you are an exception to the rule. Not all humans are telepathic." Acheron commented after listening to Styx. "We are all alike in our namings. Interesting."
Should I tell him? About my... ability. Lethe thought out.
Go ahead. He is one of us now after all. Cocytus replied.

In the interest of making sure that one of the qualities of this story is not long-windedness, we shall jump ahead to after Miss Glimmergaunt has explained.

"That is... an intriguing concept." Acheron said.
"Yeah, I didn't know you could do something like that." Phlegyas said, having heard the full story for the first time.
"Hmm, right, well, that's enough about me. Acheron. The following statement is potentially offensive to you. Is it true that all you Cains are sadistic bastards?"
The group froze. They were not expecting something like that from Lethe, and not worded so bluntly. However, Acheros took over and replied smoothly.
"I don't know about others, but Acherus ain't and me, well, let's just say that torture happens to be a hobby of mine. Just so convenient that Acherus is so skilled at healing, I don't get caught for it." Acheros shrugged. "Knifes are fun. Guns, not so much. You just gotta shoot them where it hurts." And Acherus took over. "Anywhere. It hurts getting shot anywhere. Pardon my brother, he is, in fact, how did you phrase it, ah, a sadistic bastard. He's just lucky that there's me to cover it up. I myself don't enjoy torture, but I don't got no nothing against it. But I, hmm, I-" He got cut off by Acheros. "My dear brother is a kleptomaniac. Also an excellent lockpicker. Loves thieving, he does. I guess it helps that no one suspects a hawk of being a thief."
The group just stared at Acheron. None of them had really expected such a reply, regardless of what they had said.
"Did I mention that both of us are also pyromaniacs? We love setting things on fire. To relieve stress, you know? You all ought to try it sometime." Acheros winked. And Acherus cut in.
"Well, there you have it, our life story. Mental disorders, one after the other."
"For the first time, I am actually stunned speechless." Kestrel blinked.