Soft and Well fed ʕ •ᴥ• ʔ

"This house has waited so long to have its shrouds of darkness lifted. And tonight, for the first time in -- oh, so many years, I believe it may be possible; that the story would finally end differently…

Do you believe that love is about second chances? About forgiveness?"

.

.

.

Time slowed as Yume fell and gravity took hold of them. Beyond the length of their arms seemed to be nothing but darkness. Though around them something shimmered. An array of sparkles that glistened; imitating the arrangement of small galaxies and blending in with the stars… For just a moment, a single thread seemed to connect all of them…creating a never-ending constellation…

A hand shot from the darkness.  

Desperately reaching for them as they just barely slipped through its grasp.

Falling…

Falling…

F

A

L

L

I

N

G

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**SLAP!**

Yume gasped;their eyes shot open at the loud, echoing strike that sounded through Ortho’s speakers.

“Pfff-! Ohoho Man! Did you see that!” Ace snorted, then good-naturedly elbowed Yume’s arm. 

Yume jumped at the touch, their vision fading as they reoriented themselves, coming back to the reality of their surroundings.

A dream…? How? They had only closed their eyes for just a second! They couldn’t have fallen asleep? …Could they? 

Yume swallowed, rubbing their forehead to stop the small ache forming. There were voices…they sounded similar to the recurring dream they had been having for the past week…the one about the family…and some kind of mansion? Their dreams never repeated, unless they were important? Yume clenched their fist, pressing it hard to their temple, struggling to recall it…

 How was it important?

 Flashes ran through their head, images and blurs. Two voices? They didn’t know; they couldn’t quite remember. 

-

"Don't you remember?"

"Remember? .. Are you all right?"

"Don't you recognize me, at all?"

"                  --?" 

"I thought certainly, bringing you back…

 would help you remember."

"Remember what-? You’re scaring me!?

-

Yume’s concentration broke, and their train of thought went off the rails as Ace, once again, bumped their arm.

“Hey, hey Yu! Didja you see? She almost knocked the glasses right off Azul’s head!” Ace snickered, giving a shit-eating grin as he pointed a thumb at Ortho’s projection of the school’s cafeteria cameras onto the side of the Mystery Shack…

Yume frowned, not having the heart to join in their friends' laughter right now, even at Azul’s expense. To be honest, they were more than a little upset he wasn’t taking this seriously. They knew Ace wasn’t close to Idia or anything, but they were still shocked by how lightly he was taking it. How almost all of them were.

And by the look in Ortho’s eyes as they cut to Ace, he was sharing the same sentiment. His large golden artificial eyes narrowed as his brow furrowed in worry, before he looked back to the camera projection streaming from a small lens, coming from a compartment around his shoulder.

“Ace…reel it in.” Yuuta chided, crossing their arms and glancing in Yume's direction. 

Yume turned away, not willing to meet their brother's eyes at the moment. After all, they knew just what they would see. A worried and pitiful stare as Yuuta blatantly felt all the mounting dread, anger, and anxiety from them. They knew Yuu didn’t mean any harm, but…they weren’t in the mood to share right now. Though due to Yuuta’s powers, they didn’t have much of a choice. Still, they tried to mentally block off any possible connection they could. Yume’s own feelings were still so mixed up and…they wanted to get their own emotions in order before sharing them with anyone.

Yume sighed, looking down, fiddling with the phone in their hand. Their phone. The one Idia had given them after they left Ignihyde…right before they…

Yume blinked, their face flushed and swallowed hard; trying to force the memory back. But the emerald charm dangling from their phone provided a crystal clear vision of the memory. 

-

“A-are, y-you sure you want to give me this one?”

 “I…made that one for you.”

“Y-yu, I-I-I-I d-don’t w-want t-t-to-”

“Hey, hey… it's okay…...you don’t have to say anything Idia…

“I’ll be here when you’re ready…”

-

That’s what Yume told him; that’s what they promised him, though, since their confession, things had been…strained. They knew they told him they could wait, but honestly, they weren’t expecting it to take so long. It had been weeks now with no straight answer from Idia. Every day that passed, their anxiety about the whole situation spiked more and more. And what made them more confused was that Idia still kept talking to them. Immediately, the day after he texted Yu, gushing about the Ocarina of Time Mirror Mode replay he was doing, as if nothing had happened.

The only real evidence of their confession was the changed nicknames on Magicam. 

A small, mean voice in Yume’s head was telling them that they should give up, that this was just Idia’s way of being nice and letting them down gently. But they couldn’t believe that…not the rejection part. That part was VERY believable. No, Yume believed that even if Idia didn’t feel the same way they did about him, at the very least, he would give them a response. A clear, honest answer. No hiding, no beating around the bush, just an honest yes or no.

They both cared for each other, at least in some way. Not to mention they had spilled their guts to him, on more than one occasion so, so he owed them that…at least that’s how they felt about it. Yume frowned, clicking on the magicam app and opening up their chat with Idia. Looking at the messages from a few days ago.

(StarGazers ✫彡)

You are viewing older messages

[3 days ago]

Nightlight: I’m so excited!!

Nightlight:the manga will be coming out soon! 

And Sam came in clutch! He was able to pre-order

 to the mystery shack!

Nightlight: In just a few days

 I’ll be one of the 1st ppl to

 read it early! 

Starshine: That’s awesome!! 

Starshine: Man, Sam is so cool. 

#We stan a small business owner

Nightlight:  Lol does that apply to azul? 🤔

Starshine: Absolutely not (¬▂¬)

Nightlight: LMAOOOOO that's

 what I thought #getreckt

Starshine: Lol! 

 Anyway what's it called again?

Nightlight: ✨ “Love in a Time of Jellyfish!” ✨

It's based on a short story that 

got an animated adaptation and 

the movie did so well that they made

 a manga version!!

Starshine: Oh cool thats

 a little backwards lol

Nightlight: It happens more often 

than you think! Tho its more common 

to get a manga first

Starshine:So whats it about?

Nightlight: its about a girl who confesses but

 then the boy moves away b4 he can respond 

and she has to reconcile with those feelings.

Starshine: …

Nightlight: It’s not one of those cookie cutter

cliche romances, there's rlly struggles along with.

The whole typical finding yourself/internal protag story

that sets it apart from the shojo genre, 

but still has a good ending! I heard the manga goes into

More detail and changes the ending…

thats why I wanted to read it! 

Starshine: hm, confessing to someone and 

not getting an answer,

 I wonder what that's like

-

They hadn't meant to say so bluntly; but it was so easy to get lost in the flow of conversation when talking to Idia. And since staying at Ignihyde Yume felt more comfortable speaking their mind freely… their fingers had hit sent before they realized how harsh it sounded.

-

Nightlight: aHAa...yeah…

Nightlight: …

Starshine: Shit 

Nightlight: oh! You know!

Starshine: Wait

Nightlight: i just remembered I g2g! 

Nightlight: ortho needs me for something

Starshine: Idia

Nightlight: ttyl

Nightlight has logged off.

Starshine: I’m sorry.

(Message unread.)

-

Yume groaned, their stomach churning at their own past awkwardness. They clenched the phone in their hand, hanging their head low, and began tapping their foot impatiently. Out of the corner of their eye, they saw Yuuhi’s fluffy ears tilted downward at the noise. And a second later, they felt Yuuta’s hand come up and pat their shoulder.

“Hey, lil one, c’mon. It will be okay. I’m sure they’ll figure it out…” Yuuta said softly.

Yume said nothing, simply looked up at their brother, skeptically squinting their eyes and pursing their lips. A silent ‘will they?’ going unspoken. Yuuta gave a half-hearted chuckle at their expression.

“C’mon!” Yuuta said, shaking Yume’s shoulder a bit. 

“Surely one of those bozos knows how to woo a woma-!” 

**SLAP**

Their brother’s words died in his throat as another hard slap echoed through Ortho’s projection, this time claiming Lilia’s face as its victim.

“OOOOF!” Ace winced, his grin not letting up as he shut one eye in mock sympathy.

“Mon Dieu! Poor Monsieur Curiosity! '' Rook exclaimed, his eyes widening as he threw his hands up in shock.

“Sheesh~ It looked really painful. Poor Lilia…” Kalim said, rubbing his own cheek in sympathy.

“Well, shitfire! She’s a real hissy fit with a tail on it, huh?” Epel scoffed, then cleared his throat when Riddle gave him a confused look. “I mean…that was rude of her…”

“...Yes, that one seemed uncalled for; she didn’t even give him a chance to speak.” Riddle agreed, his brow furrowing as he crossed his arms.

Of course, of course, she didn’t even give him a chance to speak. Yume’s fists tightened, clenching the fabric of their pants. This crazy ghost bitch has already made up her mind; she’d find any reason to reject someone because she had already decided that Idia was the one. Crowley had explained her story…

A princess of a Kingdom that fell long ago…She dreamt of marrying a handsome prince, but tragically perished before that dream was realized. She has spent decades trapped in her own delusion, driven by centuries of grief to find her “true love”. 

But Yu didn't give a damn how sad her backstory was! Did she really think she was the hero in all this? That kidnapping someone and forcing a fatal marriage was romantic? That taking them away from their loved ones was the right thing to do? 

Yume’s jaw tightened, and their fists began shaking from the force of their clenching. 

 Regardless, their anger meant nothing if the others couldn’t trick her, and If they couldn’t…

Idia would be dead. 

At the thought, all the anger left them, and the overwhelming anxiety and panic they had desperately been trying to hold back since this morning flooded over them.

  Dead. Just like that. 

No more late night chats. No more waking up to messages. No more, deep conversations, inside jokes, or silly memes sent back and forth during class. No more nights huddled together in one of their rooms, escaping into their fictional fantasies together… All their possible time together…cut short.  

Yu swallowed hard, beginning to hyperventilate. 

And what would happen to Ortho? Could he even continue to function without Idia? Would he even be alright trying to?

Even now, it was hard to imagine…a future without Idia.

The thought made Yume’s chest ache. Their ears began to ring as a shrill voice spoke.

“Idia is nothing like the rest of you. As I said, he’s a perfect prince!” The ghost bride scoffed, looking down on their friends and schoolmates. 

Yume grimaced at her words; a tiny part of them was almost amused as they imagined Idia’s exasperated reaction to that description…But really, they hadn’t seen him. Not once yet in Ortho’s projection of the school cameras or even before that…in fact, the last time they had seen him in person…

Idia was still standing where they had left him. His knees slightly buckled together. His eyes half lidded and face flushed, gazing at Yu with a dazed expression. A wide, awestruck grin on his face. One hand was clutching the charm tight to his chest, while the other was touching the side of his neck Yume had kissed. The flames of his hair had entirely shifted to the soft cotton candy pink Yume loved; the bright color made him glow and stand out against the dull dreary entrance of the Ignihyde dorm. It was so mesmerizing, they were entranced, Yu couldn't look away…

…The last thing they saw was Idia. He slowly moved his hand from his neck, taking a small step forward as if he wanted to follow them, before giving them a small wave back…

Would that be the last memory Yume had of Idia? Would that chat be the last words they’d ever have with him? At the thought, they felt a lump in their throat, their eyes began to water and their stomach tangled in knots; as their thoughts began to spiral downwards.

In the midst of the beginnings of their panic attack, they heard a deep weary sigh.

“Dear me…” Lilia’s deep voice spoke, contrasting the ghost bride's shrill tone from earlier. The soothing tone made Yume look up, and as he spoke Ortho zoomed in, focusing the camera feed on his face. There was a large red mark on his cheek from the powerful slap, he seemed unbothered by the physical pain, as he spoke clearly.

“Those claims are absolutely delusional. It seems to me you’re projecting your notions onto Idia and refusing to see who he really is…” He said, the serious tone reminding Yume of Lilia's previous speech to Leona during his overblot. The ghost bride looked taken aback, holding an offended hand to her chest; she opened her mouth to rebuff him, but Lilia beat her to it. 

“So long as you gaze into the distance, you’ll never find what you seek. It’s much more important to see what’s right in front of you.” He said solemnly, with an almost heavy well-founded wisdom to the words.

Yume blinked, and their eyes widened. The words resonated with them. Although they knew it was impossible, it felt as though Lilia spoke those words directly to them…They took a deep breath, their body un-tensing and buzzing thoughts calming down. He was right, they won’t get anything done just sitting around and crying about a future that hasn’t even happened yet. There was no time to worry about “what ifs”, they had to do something now.

The ghost bride's eyes widened, and her shoulders tensed. Her face pinched up for just a moment as she pondered the words… But then she shook her head, brushing him off.

“Enough with your gibberish!” She huffed, turning away from Lilia. “I know what I’ve found, and that’s Idia! My perfect prince!” She said dismissively and floated away somewhere off screen. As she did, the camera settled on her head ghost guard, who was standing behind her. The ghost's eyes cast downwards and his transparent lips pursed as if he was in pain…

“...”

“This whole endeavor was a waste of time! We need to get the ceremony preparations on their way for tonight!” The ghost bride said.

“Tonight!?” All the paralyzed would be suitors, shouted in shock.

“Ohhhhh-!” Crowley wailed as if he was in pain, dropping to his knees on the grass.

“This is going to be a PR nightmare! How is the school going to deal with this?!” He bemoaned, looking down at his hands.

“...Seriously?” Yuuta deadpanned, as he and Yuuhi looked down at the pathetic man. 

“There's not much time until midnight; we need a successful proposal quickly.” Riddle said.

 “But everyone failed. The only dorm leaders left are me, you and Malleus.” Kalim said, crossing his arms in thought.

 “Pff~, they all paraded in like they owned the joint and then got a smack down!” Grim snickered along with Ace. 

 “I know! Did you see Deuce, he totally froze after just saying his name!” Ace laughed. “Talk about comedy gol-GAH!” Ace flinched, holding his palms up defensively, as Ortho suddenly flew up to him, inches from his face. 

“It’s. Not. Funny.” Ortho said sternly, a small red flare to his short flaming hair as he stared down Ace. “The wedding is happening tonight!” Ortho said, the anger in his tone being replaced with concern. “My brother is about to be unwillingly dragged to the land of the dead.” He whined.

“...As opposed to willingly?” Yuuhi raised an eyebrow.

Yume’s fists clenched, the overlapping voices and conversations getting to them. So they pinched their eyes shut,  blocking them out, and began to form a plan in their mind.

“Then I suppose we have little choice…” Crowley began quietly, slowly getting up from lying face down on the grass. 

“WE MUST GATHER EVERY REMAINING POTENTIAL SUITOR!” He said, pointing his cane dramatically in the air.

“...Do we have to…?” Grim asked, before yowling in pain as Crowley struck him on his bottom with his cane. 

“NOW!” He demanded, and everyone around Yume began to scramble running in different directions. Amidst all the chaos Yume stood up, the plan in their mind now clear. Finding another suitor for that crazy bride would do nothing…no, they needed something else…