Haroun31

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[MINORS DO NOT INTERACT FURTHER– SENSIBLE CONTENT UNDER THE CUT] –for any questions my inbox is open–

Chapter 27: Hunting past

Before starting!!! Thank you so much Tamie for this fanart about our fav cat Marilyn!!!! She looks so adorable and cute !щ(゜▽゜щ)

{~♤♡◇♧~}

Your eyes shot open, followed by your body jerking upwards and narrowingly missing the wooden table beside you. Your breath was elaborated as you slowly managed to calm yourself down enough to become aware of where exactly you were. Inside the hunter cabin, with your belongings tucked in a corner and your sleeping bag half off you.

Then you finally connected the dots–

“Not again!” and you fell back down, rolling back and forth while lightly hitting your head “Stop missing them. Stop missing them. Stop missing them. They are trying to kill you. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupi–” 

It happened again. A dream seemingly peaceful and mundane– you helping Ticket Taker counting money while you sat at your dinner table, a beautiful day outside, a random program on TV in the background and the smell of tea as you spoke of the randomest things. Why did it have to be one of them? Why couldn’t it have been Blake or Samuel?

. . .

God. . .you miss your normal life.

“Stupid. Stupid stupidstupidstupid–”

Spaventa blinked his eyes, features twisted in a deadpan expression at the sight of the human rolling around like a complete nutcase “Not this again. . .” he groaned. Maybe it’s a good thing that he doesn’t eat them. . .who knows what kind of illnesses he could get from a mad human! Thankfully though, he at least won’t have to deal with other insane things. . .

Right?

. . . .

“Aaaaaand done!” you took a step back with a proud smile and placed your hands over your hips “Look at you. I should become a fashion designer instead of working in that crappy corporate” 

Your victim–ahem. Spaventa stood in front of you, looking completely unamused– with your mimetic jacket wrapped around his body. sleeves going past his claws, hood over the head to cover the horns and a scarf around his lower face to hide the sharp teeth “I shouldn’t have trusted you. . .” he whines, trying to get his tails out only to stopped by you “Hey buddy, we are trying to not have people freak out here, alright?”

Then knelt in front of him, placing your arm over your knee “People are quick to panic when they see something different from what they are used to and, since we are just gonna pass through the town to get more food, it would be useless to get them all worked up. Is that fine with you, champ?” Spaventa lifted his hand to take hold of the scarf and pulled it down only to show you how much he was NOT fine “They are heavy. . .”

At that you chuckled “Once we are back on the road you can take it off” your words seemed to reassure him a little bit and he, reluctantly, nodded his head and tilted his head to the side, eyeing the billboard behind you. In it was written the name of the town you were about to enter, the letters slightly faded away by time and weather. It was a typical farmer town, mainly for old people to live the rest of their days in peace or for the workers that needed to stay near the fields. . .especially at this time of the year. Perfect to start plowing the field, tilling it or sowing it.

Then you turned your head back toward the monster “One last thing before we enter” and held out your hand for him to take “From now on, we are gonna be siblings” the words seemed to make Spaventa tense up in surprise and then echo them back like he heard them for the first time “Siblings?” it earned a nod from your head, your hand still open to be taken “ Exactly, I will be your older sibling– your big sib. While you will be my little brother. This way, people won’t question us if we tell them that we are reaching our parents”

For a second, the little monster mulled over the words while playing with his fingers “I. . .never had an older sibling. . .” he admitted quietly– his mouth twisting at the idea, not really sure what exactly he was feeling nor if he liked it or not “It’s just play pretend, you don’t have to worry. Out of the town everything will be back to normal”

It wasn’t the answer to all his questions but it sufficed as he nodded his head, lifted the scarf over his mouth and finally took your hand– his small claws slightly digging in your flesh.

Then you made your way, entering the small (even smaller than the one you lived in) town. Most of the important buildings were situated at the sides of the main road and between them, smaller roads stretched through the rest of the town. Not a lot of people were out and the ones who were had too much work to do– between taking care of their garden, working on something smaller, tending the crops or enjoying the sun and chatting away the latest gossip. 

The only humans that weren’t working were the kids who, instead, ran around the empty streets– some of them opted to spend their time in the playground and others were kicking a ball. School must’ve ended and now all the little demons had been released. Spaventa eyed them play, his head even turning around as you continued your path in search of a supermarket. The young monster looked at the kids in the playground one last time before frowning and turning his head back toward you.

Making your way deeper inside, the sight of a famous supermarket brand immediately caught your attention. It wasn’t big, maybe below average, but that made sense for a town of this size and population “We found our target” you nudged Spaventa toward the building, glad that he wasn’t receiving any weird looks– they must be thinking he might be playing pretend or something like that. Probably you being by his side helped.

Slipping inside the market, cool air hits your face with delicious smells all together. Fruits, vegetables, spices, sweets– you could spend the rest of your life roaming around. Spaventa looked equally stunned by all these new stimuli, whipping his head around and ‘oooh’ing to literally anything. Without thinking he let go of your hand and started skipping toward the fruit section. You debated stopping him from wandering around– only to catch yourself and huff a chuckle when you saw him simply sniffing at a couple of apples “Are you getting all worked up for some apples now, uh?”

Your tease earned a flinch from the monster and, even if you couldn’t see them, his cheeks flushed in embarrassment “Apples were something common in my garden, however I haven’t seen one since I had to run away” making your way closer, you eyed the fruits and weightened the pros and cons. The price wasn’t the real problem as apples are pretty cheap. . .your only worry is that they might take up too much space. That’s when you heard a soft laugh from your side, making your head snap to the left “My, what a cute little kid you have there”

Your eyes landed on an old lady, she was shorter than you with her gray hair tied in a lower bun, a long black dress fell down past her calves with a white collar over the shoulders. Right in the middle of her chest rested a religious cross. Was this. . .a nun?

The elderly woman smiled, shifting her brown eyes over Spaventa and offered him a wave “Ahh, you like apples little one? They are delicious aren’t they? What’s your name?” the monster child immediately became nervous under the new human’s eyes and stepped back until he tried to hide behind you “He is uhhh. He is Spaventa– don’t mind him. He is very shy” you quickly replied, coughing inside your fist “He is my. . .little brother. . .”

The nun cooed, covering her mouth “You two are truly adorable youngsters. I’m sister Maria. . .don’t mind the improper outfit, it’s hard to browse for the convent’s pantry with my veil on. However I couldn’t help but notice you two immediately!” you saw her placing down the basket she was holding “I hope it doesn’t seem off putting, it’s just that I know every soul that resides inside our little town so seeing two new faces couldn’t help but pique my curiosity. What are you two doing here?”

That was a question you hoped to avoid, but alas it seems that heavens weren’t on your side no matter how much you wished that “We are. . .travelers. There was a storm a couple of days ago which separated us from our parents and thus we are simply reaching out meet up spot to be reunited” the story wasn’t completely true but seemed believable enough to be held if further questions would ever be made. Which surprisingly worked as Maria gently shook her head with a sad expression, looking completely devastated.

“Oh you poor souls” she sniffled, wiping away a tear from the corner of her eyes just as you felt Spaventa make his way out of his hiding spot and exploiting the fact that you were distracting the nun to sneak behind her and take an apple “To be separated by your family! May God protect you and your younger brother” you had to stop yourself from glaring at Spaventa trying to steal on of the apples, forced to simply allow your eye to twitch before stiffly nodding your head with a strained smile “Life is not fair unfortunately”

Maria sniffled, turning her head to wipe away the tears, which you promptly exploited to glare at the young monster– who froze with his scarf half down and apple between his sharp teeth.

“Wise words. . .if everyone cared for everyone. . .there wouldn’t be so much evil on earth. However I believe that there is goodness in every single person, alas strength is needed for it to surface and many aren’t willing to shoulder the suffering that comes with being kind. . .” the old lady turned her head back over you, offering a kind smile of her own “That’s why I always try to make the first step, even if some would call me foolish for believing in this” before you could speak, the nun took out what looked to be a brochure featuring the local church and placed it in your hands.

“You two are not the first travelers that go through this small village and the journey for the next town is quite far away, with only fields as company. The church is open to welcome anyone who wants to spend the night sheltered by the cold night. . .it won’t be as comfortable as a hotel but it’s free of charge” she curled your fingers around the paper “Please, rest your aching limbs. . .especially the child that is with you. I’m sure that the other kids will be excited to play with a new friend”

Eyeing the brochure, your shoulders almost slumped down as you were abruptly made aware of the exhaustion running deep inside your bones. Would it be bad if you stopped for a single night? Just one to regain more energy, surrounded by the safety of more people and quietness to process everything once again. You are just so. . .so goddamn tired of everything. . .

“I don’t know how to thank you, sister. . .” your gloominess must have been evident as Maria simply smiled sweetly and squeezed your hands “We give a free meal toward seven in the evening and then one tomorrow at midday. I would advise to not arrive after eight as most personal goes home”

You nodded once again, thanks slipping past your lips one more time before the nun waved goodbye and you reached Spaventa.

He looked at you from the corner of his eyes, toying around with what remained of the apple “She was kind. . .” he muttered, more to himself “Why couldn’t they also be kind with me and my family?” 

You patted his head “Come on. We are going to spend the night here today, sleeping in a fluffy bed”

He swatted your hand away, mildly annoyed by the gesture which made you chuckle in amusement. He hid behind one of the fruit stands, looking at you with a glare– reminding you of how Marilyn would stare at you with disappointment and betrayal whenever you came back from the vet. Tucked away in some corner you couldn’t reach.

A couple of kids riding a bicycle passed down the road, their laughter echoing inside the supermarket and prompting Spaventa to turn his head toward the sound– his body stiffening before slumping with disappointment and longing before timidly shifting his attention back on you, the words in his throat struggling to come out “Can I. . .Can I. . .go and play with the others?

You sighed before slowly nodding “Don’t get caught”

And just like that, you saw him beaming with excitement before rushing out– making sure to keep his hood over the head and wagging tail hidden underneath the shirt. Your attention shifted back to the goods displayed on the shelves, an ear focused on catching anything that could be wrong outside and ready to spring in action if it was required. You still need to get some groceries though.

It’s hard for kids to not make friends, especially when they are trying to play a team game and they are just short of one player. That’s why none of them even questioned the weird appearance with which Spaventa presented himself– not when there were kids who swore were fairies, mermaids, dragons and everything else the imagination of a kid could conjure.

The parents at the edge of the park did question the huge jacket covering him from head to toe. . .but this is a kid. . .he is probably playing pretend.

You gathered all the necessaries, cursing under your breath whenever something was missing or you could insert it within the budget you had. Despite everything. . .you missed this type of routine– to simply browse through shelves stacked with products and bask in the different smells all around. You could close your eyes for a second and pretend that everything was as it always had been.

Paying for everything, you made your way outside–

“Oh ____, greetings once again”

–until you bumped into Maria once again, who no longer had any plastic bags and instead held different bouquets of beautiful flowers in her arms. She must have managed to go back to the church and walk here in the time you spent inside the market “Sister Maria. . .” you greeted her politely once again, earning a chuckle from her.

“Say. . .would you mind helping an old lady carrying these flowers to the cemetery? It is not that far away however my bones are starting to get weak. . .I’m not as agile and full of energy like you younger ones anymore” the question made you stiffen slightly, shifting your eyes toward Spaventa– who was busy running behind a kid to try and get the ball– before fidgeting with your fingers “I’m. . .I’m not– I would love. . .”

“Oh worry not” Maria shook her head “Your little brother seems to have a great time with the other kids and there are always adults keeping their eyes on the ducklings so he is safe.” the corner of her eyes softened “I’m asking because it’s you who seems to need a break”

“. . .”

Was it that obvious?

“I would love to. . .” you extended your arms, grabbing most of the flowers from the old lady's hands as you felt your cheeks heat up from embarrassment when she thanked you, calling you a ‘God sender’.

The nun led you toward a small cemetery, which made sense for a town of this size yet it still didn’t fail to make your heart sink. Cemeteries are a place– if not the place– surrounded by death. And when you think of death. . .you think of everything you ran away from. No longer can you imagine someone peacefully passing away in their bed and instead every time you think of your own death. . .it was like there wasn’t a single timeline where it wouldn’t be brutal or violent. Without a grave. . .just like every single one of them.

Your own legs locked in place before you could place a foot inside and your nails dug on the wrapping paper around the flowers.

“Dear?”

You feel sick at the sound of that world.

You feel sick each time you remember what exactly you dream about each night. You feel sick because you are sooo terrified that maybe you are sympathizing with them. With the murders of your best friend. That maybe you never really cared about her if your subconscious manages to make up so many nice scenarios with them inside. That maybe. . .deep inside. . .you are truly just a scummy person.

You want to scream, claw the inside of your chest whenever a nice memory flashed before your eyes. Bashing your head on a rock till you can’t think anymore. Till you can’t think about them anymore.

“My child” you didn’t even realized that your legs gave out and you knelt on the ground hugging the flowers close to your chest while ragged breaths made it impossible to properly inhale oxygen “My child please look at me” wrinkled hands took hold of your face, lifting it up till your eyes landed on a blurred mass standing right before the sun and casting a shadow over you.

“Am I a bad person. . .for still caring about someone who hurt me?” you managed to choke out between the jumble of incoherent words vomiting all together– trying to race each other for first place. Maria looked down at you with furrowed eyebrows and concern painted all over her old face before she slowly exhaled and recognition flashed in her eyes.

“_____. . .please ____ look at me and listen to an old woman's words, will you?” with nothing better to do, you followed her instructions and tried to focus all your attention on her. She gently pried the flowers from your hold, looking down on the ground with a sad smile “You know. . .I actually never had been a nun till my forty birthday. . .I was married even. . .married to someone who made my heart beat so fast it left me giggling like a young maiden. Chatting my poor mother’s ear off about this guy all the time, backing goods and daydreaming about the next time we would have met”

She seemed to recall a past long gone with a nostalgic smile, the corner of her eyes lifting her so slightly and her hands squeezing yours with each words “He was. . .perfect. Well for young me he sure was, but he had his fair share of imperfections of course. However they were so forgettable when he acted so charismatic, so gentle, so funny, so attentive. . .I fell in love immediately. How could I not? And we married at the end. . .” the tone of her voice lowered slightly, like she was reading herself for a fall.

“Then he changed. . .maybe he was never like I saw him the first time. He was no longer gentle with me, his voice would get louder and louder with the days passing by. There were secrets I had to dig out myself, dangerous secrets which led to constant fights. I was no longer happy– dreading each time I would’ve to open my eyes” you cringed at the mental image, finding so many similarities that it became obvious (even without the man eating part) that deep down nothing was ever alright.

“So why. . .I saw the changes, I was so sick while staying with him. . .why did I still harbor feelings for such being? Why did I still love him? Why couldn’t I leave. . .” tears built in the corner of her old, tired eyes as she took a deep breath “The truth was that I wasn’t in love with him. . .I was in love with the version I fell to care about. . .and I was trying everything in myself to force that version to come back. Which is really silly, isn’t it? Loving something that doesn’t exist anymore. . .something dead”

Her gaze shifted back on your shocked one “So you aren’t a bad person for still missing that version you spent time and energy caring for. It’s normal to mourn it with your whole heart. . .but please don’t mistake it for what it’s really there”

. . .

At the end, whatever you do, you will always end up mourning something. It’s inevitable.

Yet. . .somehow, these words made your heart feel lighter like a huge burden had been lifted and air invaded your lungs. Seeing that you weren’t dumb for making these mistakes filled you with hope for a happier ending.

“Sister Maria! Sister Maria!” a young voice broke the silence between you two, who shifted your gazes to the side just in time to see three young girls quickly approaching with wide smiles. The oldest could’ve been maybe fourteen maximum while the youngest eight “Sister Maria! You won’t believe this!” the middle one, with a ponytail, tugged at the nun’s arm to have all her attention “Guess what! Guess what!”

“There is a circus passing through the town!”

Your heart dropped to your stomach, limbs going heavy and numb. Head ringing.

*zzzzzzzzzzz*

“Is that so?” Maria chuckled, completely unaware of the war going on in your mind, and she took hold of the youngest girl, lifting her in her arms “Do you think they will perform?” the nun thought about her question for a couple of seconds.

*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*

“I don’t think so. They are probably just passing by to reach the border and go perform on bigger cities than ours”

Collective disappointment spread through the cemetery.

*ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ*

 “What if we ask them with some home-baked cookies? Do you think that they will show us a trick? I made apple cookies with my mom!”

You snapped out of your panic, as a thought made you instantly stand up– your legs moving before your mind could.

“Maybe. How about I help you pack them?”

You have to grab Spaventa and get the hell out of here!

{~♠︎♥︎◆♣︎~}

A/N: Not gonna lie guys. . .this shit is so damn depressing, I need to write something more lighthearted. . .

*The humble Deltarune chapter 5 rolling by*

. . .

. .

.

HOLY SHIT!

–

Yea. . .I went missing because chapter 5 released and I spent hours re-playing the entire Deltarune and now I can't think about anything else but deltarune. . .so. . .guys. . .if you are in need of a good laugh. . .ehe. . .just to let ya know. . .there is an humble fic by yours truly about Deltapeak.

Okay bye.

Chapter 2: Never trust the quiet kid

❤︎⁠Chapter 3: It was the damn phone!

Chapter 4: —

—❤︎⁠—

When the divine light disappeared, you found yourself in front of the closet once again– hand stretched forward like you were about to grab something and halted mid action which left you staring at the door dumbly. Processing exactly the fever dream you just went through.

. . .

. .

.

“She really pushed me!” you gasped to no one in particular, snapping your head to the right and to the left– like you wanted to make sure others saw this shit. However, thankfully, no one was around to witness your psychotic breakdown otherwise you might be diagnosed with insanity “I–there was NO reason to push me!” stepping back, your features fell into a deadpan. . .a little ticked off by the whole ordeal.

Either way all you could do at the moment is to wait for them to finish whatever hero things they need to do.

How could you kill time in the meantime? Would someone get mad if you explored the school? Maybe find which classroom Toriel teaches in. . .

“Kris! What happened to you? Your entire look is different! Hair and skin and height! [¹]”

A new voice made you jump out of your skin and snap your head back, your eyes landing on the deer girl you saw briefly while being dragged by the brunette toward the closet. Her fur was caramel colored, with light dots on the tip of her ears and cheeks. On the top of her head rested two antlers, peeking from the golden strands of her long hair. “I–uh. . .--” you tried to explain yourself when a blue bird jumped out of nowhere “My dear Noelle! What might have passed through your head to come here, when the exit of the school is on the other way!” he dramatically posed.

“It almost seems like you were trying to avoid me! Of course you wouldn’t and it must have been. . .” his gaze snapped over you, mid escape attempt to avoid whatever this interaction was. Instead, the bird monster blinked his eyes before dramatically pointing his fingers in your direction  “You! Kris!” 

“NOT Kris!” you crossed your arms in an X motion with sweat dripping down your temple. Sure, you might be wearing basically their clothes and, sure, they might have been the only human. . .but there is no way monsters confuse you for them!

“. . .” the bird narrowed his eyes “You look different”

“Because I’m not Kris!”

“Ah whatever! You are probably trying to make yourself cuter because that’s the only way for you to lift your grades. . .or more pathetic. I can’t understand what vibe you are going for” he hummed, rubbing a finger beneath his beak pondering on the answer to this new look. . .not like you might be a completely different person. Not at all. 

He then turned toward Noelle, not paying any mind to your bewildered expression “Noelle! We need to go to the library and finish our group project! You can’t possibly think of losing our precious time talking to such simpleton, you know they are a lost cause!” then, he turned on his heels and marched toward the school exit “Let’s show them our team is the superior one!”

. . .

. .

.

“.................”

You shifted your gaze toward the deer monster, also known as Noelle, and she looked away with red cheeks “You know. . .that I’m not Kris, right?” pointing out the obvious made them get even warmer than they were before a cough cut through the air and she stammered, playing with her fingers “Yeah, I–. . .ehm. . .I caught that with the fact that you strung more than four words together” 

The blunt jab toward the brunette made you grin and scoff out a chuckle “Can’t blame ya. Half of the time you need to decipher whatever riddle they throw at you” the words made Noelle choke out a giggle, trying to cover her mouth with her hand “You think that after being neighbors all our life I would be a bit better than other people” her eyes shifted to the side “But it’s like every time I manage to crack open a box, there is another one made of metal”

Oh? So this deer and Kris are neighbors? She lives inside that huge manor you saw?

“Anyway! Are you their friend? My name is Noelle Holiday. I have never seen another human that wasn’t Kris. . .so I apologize for confusing you with them” she extended her hand for you to take, which you did with a grin over your lips and exchanged your own name “You could call me something like that, yeah. Susie and them found me one day and decided to kidnap me”

The name of the purple monster seemed to make Noelle gasp in surprise, a shaky smile on her lips and the red on her cheeks intensifying “You know Susie?” the reaction made you raise an eyebrow, which immediately prompted the deer to look away with an awkward laugh and proved your doubts even more. Someone got a crush on the purple dino.

“I mean. . .if you see her. . .” Noelle looked away with a shy smile “Would you be able to get her to go to the library?”

You grinned and made an ‘OK’ sign “You got that, miss” it didn’t matter since you still needed to go to the library either way for your mausoleum research.

The blonde girl chuckled “You even act a bit like Kris. . .” then mumbled under her breath “Not sure if that’s a good thing to be honest. . .” and then raised her head, flashing you a grateful smile “Thank you so much, ___! I better go before Berdly wonders if I've been kidnapped by an evil robot. . .or whatever it is he talked to me about. . .”

And, just like that, you waved her goodbye as she sprinted toward the school exit. Leaving you alone.

Ahhhhh finally peace and quie–

“Sup loser! We are back!”

You flinched so hard that you ended up splattering on the ground with a loud ‘THUD’! Limbs crossed one over the other and face pressed on the hard, cold floor. Susie and Kris gazed at the sight presented in front of them– at the immaculate form– at the gracefulness that you graced them with. . .and exchanged glances.

❤︎Show solidarity

✱Step around.

Kris walked near your dead body, before letting themselves also fall down face first in a mess of limbs by your side.

You appreciated that.

“...........” Susie looked around before stepping over your bodies “Weirdos”

You didn’t appreciate that.

—✧—

“Librarby. . .”

You read the big ass sign posted over the building.

“We don’t talk about that” Kris muttered with a deadpan expression, watching as Susie marched inside and motioned you two to follow. . .so that’s exactly what you did– especially after she flashed those sharp looking teeth. The inside of the library wasn’t anything special, a bit bland in your opinion, with just a couple of bookshelves, a singular table and some stairs that led to the second floor. You are not sure how much you can find to be honest. . .

Susie walked over some shelves and took a random encyclopedia “Books. God. Damn. Crazy about them” she replied sarcastically, turning the one between her hands over before throwing it over her shoulder and shifting her gaze around– narrowing her eyes when she noticed that there was something off “Hey guys. . .where the hell IS everybody?” then she walked closer, hands over her hips “Something seems kinda off. . .”

“Maybe they are on break?” you proposed, which made Susie cross her arms, turn around once more. . .before rushing toward the computer room “Screw it, let's just go play Space Pinball in the computer lab–!” yet, when her hands slammed open the doors of said laboratory– instead of being met with computers and all sorts of technological devices– only pure darkness welcomed you three. The same darkness that you previously saw in the closet leading to Ralsei kingdom.

“Another Dark World?” you muttered in awe, missing the way Susie backed away in shock and threw a glance toward Kris to confirm that she wasn’t seeing things. No, this looked like the first time they entered a Dark World. . .this looks like yesterday as they fell in Lancer kingdom. . .this looks like. . .a new adventure. And if there is another Dark World, there is gonna be another Dark Fountain they need to close for the peace of the world or whatever Ralsei said!

“Guess this means that we can’t do all that research thing, ya know?” Susie smirked, cracking her fists before shooting you a glance “Sorry B, it seems that the world is in need of our assistance. . .”

“B?” you deadpanned at the weird way she called you.

“Short for Zombie” Kris exclaimed (more like muttered in your ear) which prompted you to send an unamused glare at the dark haired girl. Of course it was something correlated to this stupid zombie thing!

“. . .and either way, we can’t find out more about you if half of the things are hidden because of this Dark World” she patted your back with a smug grin “So leave it to us. We are gonna enter, seal the damn fountain and come back before you can blink just. . .relax on a chair and read a book” you stared at her like she grew another head. The fact that the two of them would go and risk their lives while you are bound to stay in a plastic chair bored out of your mind. . .you couldn’t stomach it at all. Truly.

It was like your mouth was full of tiny pins.

“No” you stepped back, pushing away the dark haired girl’s arm who blinked her eyes in surprise “No?” your own answer echoed with her voice and you used this opportunity to keep going and not let yourself be intimidated, taking all the courage in yourself– you looked directly in Susie’s eyes “You heard me. If you guys go there. . .I’m coming too. I’m gonna help seal the fountain”

. . .

. .

.

“Eheh” the purple monster chuckled, giving you her back “Perhaps I had not been clear enough” then she turned around, grabbing the front of your sweater and lifting you in the air, close enough that if she wished for she can and will bite your head off “This adventure-in-the-Dark-World is a me and Kris thing. The only motive that you know about it, it’s because we made the mistake of believing you to be a darkner. You know nothing and this is of zero importance to you. Now back off” she growled in a threatening manner.

You bit your tongue with barely veiled anger “Go and argue with a damn wall!” now grabbing her white shirt back– like that would do something other that look theatrical “This DOES concern me as it’s my only way to discover more about myself. If this Dark world keeps locked information that I need. . .then the only way for me to get them is to seal this fountain! So, no. I’m gonna come whenever you want it or not”

“...........” a couple of seconds went by painfully slow, that damn grin now strained, jaw clenched and eyes narrowed “You are gonna die in ways that you can’t imagine”

But you were ready, you felt brave enough to go through anything that will be thrown at you “It’s not like I have much to lose anyway”

. . .

. .

.

“.........”

“Whatever” Susie suddenly said, letting you fall on your ass and turning toward the computer lab “Forgot that we found you inside a cemetery. . .it wouldn’t surprise me if you are used to death or if killing you is impossible” she sent you another sharp grin before jumping inside the dark void “Try to keep up, B!” you pushed your legs forward, watching with wide eyes as she disappeared.

Then you felt a presence approaching you from behind, and when you lifted your gaze– a hand was stretched toward you and Kris' grin welcomed you first thing “Let’s go then?” you eyed their hidden expression for a couple of seconds before wrapping your own fingers with theirs and nod “After what I said to Susie? You won’t catch me dead backing off now”

And with that, the brunette also jumped inside the void together with you by their side as darkness wrapped around your vision.

You fell for what felt an eternity and, for a second, your fingers accidentally let go of Kris– leaving you completely alone. Not even Susie’s laughters could reach your ears and, before you could think of calling out for any of them, your body collided against something solid which made you groan in pain. . .you need to work on your landings.

You can't keep getting concussions.

Your eyes opened once light graced them and you sat up, rubbing your poor shoulder while looking at yourself. Yep. . .those are the same clothes you found yourself in when you met Ralsei for the first time. Is it like. . .necessary the change of clothes. . .like magical girls or something. Does EVERYONE change clothes or just the heroes?

No time to wonder about that. Not when you are completely alone in what looked like a dystopia,  futuristic, technological setting. Nothing similar to Ralsei's kingdom.

“So” you looked around, scratching the back of your head “When I said that I wished for peace and quiet. . .” Noticing the cracks on the green floor which you could only theorize being made by something either heavy or deadly “I didn’t mean in a world where every step could be my last. . .” The fact that you already lost Kris and Susie not even a second after entering the Dark World could be classified as a C Rank misfortune.

What should you do? Staying still like a baby is not gonna work. . .however neither will aimlessly wander around. Susie said that sealing a fountain will close a Dark World and bring everything back to normal, so it’s safe to assume that you are bound to cross paths if you reach that same fountain. It felt like a solid plan. All you got to do now was–

“OhOhOhOhOhOhOh”

. . .

Why do you hear boss music?

Turning around, the sight of a. . .--woman/robot/thinghy laughing obnoxiously while holding a glass of radioactive green liquid– welcomed you. She was sitting on a dark blue throne with a rocket placed underneath it, which allowed her to fly in the air and look high and mighty “What’s Decoding Good Looking? Lmao” 

You eyed her with a disbelieved expression.

“What? Still Loading The Main Menu?” the robot inquired, the screen over her eyes turning on to display several red question marks. After yet another second of your neurons trying to catch up with what you were seeing, you shook your head and pointed your finger at her “And who are you?!” 

The robot didn’t seem phased by your outburst and instead sipped from her glass “Initiate Presentation Cut Scene. . .Again” before you could question the words, she threw the glass near your feet– which exploded upon impact making you jump in the air “I Am Known As Serial Number Q5U4EX7YY2E9N. But You– Yet Another Foolish Child– Can Call Me ‘Queen’” immediately after, a neon screen appeared beside her head, the words ‘Queen’ beeping green with an arrow pointing toward her.

. . .

. .

.

You looked around, confused and hesitant “Queen. . .”

“Would You Like To Watch The Cut Scene Again?”

“NO!”

You don’t fancy another glass exploding mere inches from you. Instead you coughed in your fist and looked around once again at the place you landed into “Soooooooo. . .Queen. . .is this like, your kingdom or something? Since you are called ‘Queen’. . .and are flying in a throne and. . .you look. . .ehm. . .very regal” The screen over Queen’s eyes turned on once again to display the letters ‘Nice’ and she laughed “We Got Einstein Here”

You’ve heard that phrase already. . .

“Exactly, You Foolish Child, I’m The Queen Of This World And All The Citizens Are My ‘Willing’ Peons. . .Or Will Be With Their Next Upgrade” red screens appeared all around her with the image of earth and a smiley face over them “In My Quest For World Domination!” Oh, of course you just had to meet the final boss as the first entity in this bizarre world. Just your horrible luck.

Queen turned her head toward you “Knowing This –And Your 0 Chances To Beat Me Lol– Do You Wish To Become My Willing Peon, Foolish Child. . .Ehm. . .I Can’t Find Your Name In My Database. . .Whatever. I’m Gonna Call You ‘B’. Short For Beta Character! [²]” she announced, proud with herself for this new development, you– however– were horrified “I Might Not Even Turn Your Face Into A Robot One”

You were really horrified!

“Wait! Pause! Break! Halt! Hiatus! Hold-up! Hold on! Stop! Sit tight! Keep your wires in check!” you sputtered out, lifting your arms like that could help your case in any way. It seemed to stun Queen long enough to leave her without any pre-made cut scene she could throw in your face. Even the fire under her rocket throne went still “. . .Go On” 

“You are a robot right?” just as those words left your lips, on the screen over her eyes appeared a giant X followed by the sound of a horn “Wrong. I’m A: Computer (Smart). The Opposite Of You: Child (Dumb)”

You weren’t a child but. . .whatever at this point. Anything to not have your face turned into a robot one.

“Queen, you are really smart–”

“True”

“So, I have a deal to propose” you took a deep breath, if you have to be in a shitty position. . .you will get the most out of it. After all, didn’t you go to the library to find answers to your questions? Might as well do that now. “Since you are smart and know everything!” you watched as her chest puffed with pride with another glass of green liquid already resting between her fingers– which came out of nowhere “I Do! I Do!” followed by laughter.

“I will become your willing peon if you are able to help me find the person that has hopes for me. You see, I got lost and can’t find them anywhere. If you can help me, I will aid you in your world domination plan!” you exclaimed, pointing your finger at her.

“OhOhOhO–” Queen cut herself off.

. . .

. .

.

“........” 

She looked around in deadly silence as you started sweating from nervousness “.............I Mean” she looked around, twirling the green liquid in the glass “I Mean………You Mean……….Well…….” her throne turned left, right, left, back, right, front, back, before she graced you once again with her attention “Look. . .B. . .I’m A (Computer). . .Not A Global Positioning System (GPS). I Don’t Find People Or Things, Otherwise I Wouldn’t Lose Dear Noelle Each Time!”

At the familiar name, your eyes widened in surprise. Noelle. . .she was the blonde deer monster, no? Kris’s neighbor and classmate! She is also in this Dark World? She did tell you that she was going to the library. . .in that case. . .oh no. Hopefully her face hasn’t been turned into a robot one!

“But, Oh Well! If All I Have To Do To Make You My Willing Peon Is Find That Poor Idiot You Are Stuck To. . .” suddenly, a wire came down from the sky upon Queen’s gesture. The cord wrapped around your arms and then tugged up, making you bite back a curse and not so nice words “I Will Just Dump You Into The Lost And Found!” Queen laughed at your struggles, the rocket under her chair increased power as she downed the rest of the glass before throwing it over shoulder– which exploded not even a second later–

“Onward My Future Willing Peon!”

“This is not very much willing!”

She flew away in a roar of laughter as the wires dragged you behind. The scenery wasn’t that different, always the same green labyrinth with wires hanging from the dark sky– monsters that you had never seen before roaming around, some terrified, others wearing the same cord trapping you over their faces. The little journey lasted maybe a couple of minutes before you heard Queen exclaim “(Gasp!)” and fly down on a platform with a cage right in the middle.

The wire around your body followed her.

“Noelle Honey!” She cooed, jumping down from the throne– which actually exploded– and walked closer to the poor deer trapped inside the cage. She wasn’t wearing her school outfit and instead a long white dress, making her look like a pretty ice princess. You saw her flinch at the robotic voice of Queen, jumping in her spot and turning around. . .just in time to see you suspended by a wire at the robot’s side “_-____!?”

All you could offer her was a nod “Sup Noelle. . .” before Queen pushed you away, making you spin around “Noelle. . .Noelle Christmas Bell! Noelle Excel! Noel In A Nutshell! Become My Willing Peon And I Will Free You” she explained while you kept spinning off screen “All You Have To Do Is Hit Yes On The Peon Release Form”

The deer casted her eyes on you with worry, not sure what she could do for you and instead opted to re-direct her focus on the darkner that kidnapped her “I. . .I’m scared. . .” the fear in her voice didn’t seem to register for the computer “Oh Have You Never Signed A Form Before?” Noelle held her hair in pure frustration “No! It’s everything else that’s scary! Why is ___ tied up?!” 

Queen did not look bothered in the slightest “Please Abort Your Sadness Protocol. I Told You Being A Peon Will Be Cool” then she turned toward you “And B Is A Little Lost. I’m Searching For Someone To Claim Them So They Can Become My Willing Peon!” 

“B?!” Noelle gasped in confusion.

“My name is ____!” you kicked your dangling legs in frustration.

Just then, several footsteps echoed in the distance before the hero-trio reached your small group, with blue-Kris leading the pack. The first to notice the bright cage was Susie, who shouted in surprise “Noelle!” the deer stuttered in surprise “S-Susie! Kris!” which made the dark haired girl smirk smugly “Don’t worry, we won’t let your face get roboticized!”

. . .

. .

.

“That’s. . .something they are going to do?!”

Oops. . .it seems that she wasn’t aware of that. Then her eyes landed on a rather dangling you “B?!” Stars. . .you never wanted to choke someone more than now. You gave everyone a rather unexcited waved with unamused expression rivaling Kris’s. Susie took a step forward, pointing her finger at you “Hey! Zombie! Didn’t I say to keep up with us and NOT get into trouble? You got kidnapped not even five seconds in!”

By her side, Ralsei closed his eyes trying to find the words to calm down his friend “Come on Susie. . .”

Your eye twitched before you started trashing around so much that Queen had to summon more wires because the one keeping you trapped was coming loose “How do you think I could have escaped when the game threw the final boss in my face before I could even understand where I ended up?!” The blue robot’s screen lit up with the words ‘TRUE’ “I Am The Final Boss”

She turned her head toward the trio “Wait A Minute. . .You ‘Guys’ Know This One? I Am Bringing Them To The Lost And Found For Someone To Claim Them So That They Can Become My Willing Peon” she explained like it was nothing, a hand over her hip “So. . .Like. . .Are They Yours?”

Everyone looked at Kris, waiting to see what their answer would be.

✱Don’t claim them.

❤︎Claim them.

“Amazing!” Queen exclaimed with a laugh, before making a gesture with her hand and the wires trapping you moved with it– sliding over the blue haired teen like a claw machine “Wai–!” you didn’t have time to scream that the cord spun you around to unravel, letting you fall directly in the knight’s arms– which thankfully caught you, avoiding a pancake mess.

✱You have claimed ____ back into the team.

“Thank. . .you. . .Kris. . .” if you had to spill mid air one more time. . .you would puked your guts everywhere.

“Good! Now, B. . .I Found You Someone. Which Means You Have To Become My Willing Peon” a laugh bubbled from Queen’s throat as she covered her mouth the back of her hand, ignoring the weirded out look you were giving her which turned in your eye twitching– close enough for this being your last straw. Ralsei shivered as a metaphorical dark cloud formed around you. “Unfortunately our deal was for you to find the one who has hopes for me– which for your information aren’t they! WHICH MEANS that I won’t have to be you willing peon!”

. . .

. .

.

“...........Damn”

Queen jerked her hand to the side and the cage with Noelle inside flew away.

. . .

. .

.

“NOELLE?!”

“W-Wait!” Susie rushed to the border, hoping to see where the blonde girl might have been sent to. However it was too dark to make out anything, which only made the purple monster bit the inside of her cheek in anger "Is It Quite Troubling" Queen cut off the tense, worried silence shared between you four as she frowned with confusion "A Peon Must Be 'Willing' To Assist Me In World Domination. If Only She Had More Peons To Encourage Her"

You and the heroes of the prophecy shared an hesitant look, wondering what the hell this robot was talking about ". . .So?" Susie tried to voice the doubts which made Queen turn around and step closer to you four "So, Like. . .You Guys. . .Hey. . .Are You Like. . .Doing Anything Right Now–"

"We aren't going to help you!!" Ralse cut her off with an angry glare, backed by you "You had you chance with me (unfortunately) but wasted it. No way in hell I'm coming back"

Queen took a step back, an exclamation point appearing on her display "Understood. Mind-Changing Protocol Necessitated" from nowhere, a butler like monster with a red suit dropped down from the sky, a second late followed a silver plate with a cloche on top of it. The butler laid the plate on the ground and lifted the cap, allowing an ARCADE MACHINE to stretch back into normal shape before bowing to everyone present and slide out of screen.

The arcade was blue with red commands and Queen's head right in the middle of the display. Apprehensive but curios, your small group walked closer to the machine to inspect it. . .not find anything out of the ordinary– if we ignore the physics of how was it able to stay inside a cloche.

"A giant arcade game?!" Susie lifted an eyebrow "I Shall Humiliate You At: Simple Children's Diversion" Queen explained, proud of herself "With Your Self-esteem Eradicated There Will Be No Choice But To Serve Me"

Susie freaked out "The hell!? I've never played this one before!" she turned toward you "B! Do you have any idea on how to beat this thing? You are a nerd, no?" 

Shaking your head, you crossed your arms in a X "I basically gained consciousness like. . .yesterday– Never played a game in my (short) life. I have the skills of a newborn. . .literally"

By your side, Ralsei gasped– eyeing the blue haired teen with a shy smile "Oh! But Kris is quite good at games, aren't they?" Which prompted Susie to grin and nudge them on their head with her elbow "Oh yeah. Kris, forgot you were a nerd. Show her!" 

Is everyone a nerd for Susie?

Puffing their chest with pride, Kris walked over the arcade machine. . . .only to crumple on the ground when they noticed that they weren't tall nor strong enough to use the commands. Oh. . .that. . .that was really sad. . .

"Self-Esteem Eradication Complete" Queen announced without missing a beat "Running Laughing Protocol" she covered the side of her mouth before a pre-recorded laugh come out of her speakers. Which felt more a jab to the teen's pride– who seemed to fold on themselves more.

"Uh. . .ummmm. . .it's ok, Kris. . .err. . .I'm short too" Ralsei tried to comfort them before suddenly gasping in excitement "K-Kris! Wait, I have an idea!! If we combine our powers then we will be able to beat it!" he walked over the arcade machine "Look! I'll show you what I've been practicing!" A bright light enveloped the goat monster, forcing you to close your eyes when it became too much to handle.

Were you about to witness to a magical transformation? Ralsei spoke of powers– Do they have powers!? Oh stars! You are so excited to see some sick ass moves!

The bright light slowly dimmed, leaving you to see–

. . .

. .

.

"Magical Stool Form R!"

Ralsei acting like a stool.

"............"

Susie clapped her hands with a smug grin "Now we're talking!!! Alright Kris, leave it to me! Put your arms out!" The knight did as instructed while their friend quickly approached them from behind– another light enveloped the both of them before dissipating.

"Power Beast Form S!"

Susie was controlling Kris’s arms.

"............"

You watched the two of them jump over Ralsei, who splattered on the ground, with a blank expression. These. . .These are the heroes of the world– let's remember that.

"Incredible" Queen clapped her hands "Your Transformation Is Combining All Your Weak Points. Self-esteem Crushing Efficiency 300% And Rising"

Not sure if you should just. . .ya know. . .exploit the fact the Queen was distracted to go and search Noelle, you ended up pinching the bridge of your nose and sighed– before walking over the blue haired teen "Hey Kris. . .so. . .do you want me to do anything to help you or distract Queen?"

✱Distract Queen with dumb puns.

✱Cheer for me with pom-poms

Kris bit the inside of their cheek at the choices.

✱Distract Queen with dumb puns.

❤︎Cheer for/   "There is no way I'm gonna do that Kris!"   /me with pom-poms

They looked away with cheeks dusting in red from the embarrassment.

✱Distract Queen with dumb puns.

❤︎Cheer for/   "I already said no, buddy. . .don't keep this up"   /me with pom-poms

Their cheeks heated even more, feeling like hot fire on their skin while screaming in their head that it wasn't them insisting on this dumb choice. . .actually. . .why the hell is it keeping clicking it!?

✱Distract Queen with dumb puns.

❤︎Cheer for/   "You are doing this on purpose. . ."  /me with pom-poms

"Guys?" Susie awkwardly coughed while looking around "Are like. . .humans capable of telepathy or something–? What's going on? You both are standing there in silence like idiots!" she exploded with an angry roar "Humans Do Not Posses Telepathy" Queen confirmed.

"Then stop this bullshit already!"

❤︎Distract Queen with dumb puns.

✱Cheer for me with pom-poms

"Alright Kris!" You grinned, cracking your knuckles before nonchalantly sliding on the other side where the blue robot was "Leave it to me!" Queen lifted an eyebrow, her hands going on the commands "Commence Virtual Combat" and the video game started. Showcasing the avatar of your team character going on a boxing match again a Queen looking looking character.

✱Dodge to the right! Then attack!

"What was the spider doing on the computer? He was making a web-site!"

Queen got hit! [25%]

✱Dodge back! Then attack!

"How does a computer get drunk? It takes screen shots.

Queen got hit! [50%]

✱Dodge to the left! Then attack!

"Why couldn’t the computer take its hat off? Because it had CAPS LOCK on.

Queen got hit! [75%]

✱Dodge to the left! Then attack!

"I told my laptop a joke about RAM… it needed time to process.

Queen got hit! [100%]

The character in the arcade started shaking upon losing all the healt bar and with it so did the machine itself, which prompted everyone to back away before suddenly exploding right before your eyes.

. . .

 . .

.

"Does everything in this world explode!?!??!?!?" You snapped your disbelieved expression toward Queen.

"Yes"

She stepped back, laughing to herself "Oh My That Was Actually Quite. . .Amusing. You Lifeform(s) Have Exceeded My Expectations" then she turned toward you with a blank expression "No You B. Please Never Make Puns In My Presence Ever Again. Thank Bites I Can Delete My Memory" before you could retor, she condescendingly patted your head.

"I Will Offer You A New Exceedingly Benevolent Compromise. Assimilate Into My Cyber-Army And There Is Only A Fifty Percent Chance I Will Reprogram Your Face!" She proposed like this was a deal you couldn't possibly refuse "Please Select Your Choice. Perish In The Chill Of Absolute Destruction Or Flourish Under The Warm Bosom Of My Hellish Reign.

Everyone looked at Kris.

"Perish"

Yea. . .that check out.

"Understood. Preference Settings Set To 'Perish'" and, just like that, she turned on her heels and basically sprinted away who knows where.

. . .

. .

.

"Guys. . .shouldn't we like. . .follow her to find Noelle?"

. . .

. .

.

"EVERYBODY AFTER HER COME ON!"

—❤︎⁠—

A/N:

Do we fw with the humor or is not funny at all?

[¹] Since Kris is goddamn yellow and sure, I’m aware that people have yellow undertones on their skin, however no one has the same color as Kris without them being sick–THEREFORE! To embrace all types of readers, I decided to add this detail and not assume anything (If you truly have Kris’s skin, haircut or height– I’m so sorry) [²] A beta is a test version not usually released to the public that ends up being scrapped, so essentially they are early concepts.  After a beta is finished it will be refined and adjusted til it’s ready to be fully released.  

[Tag corner: @squ4respace @artzy12 @peristylee @ccaerulys ]

Chapter 1: Zombie? Vampire? Ghost!?

❤︎⁠Chapter 2: Never trust the quiet kid.

Chapter 3: It was the damn phone!

—❤︎⁠—

“You know Kris, there are many benefits to sleeping inside a casket” your voice was strained, fingers curling and digging deeper in the concrete “You could pretend to be a vampire. . .the walls are oddly cool when summer rolls around. . .” a breeze swept over your head, ruffling your hair as you slowly looked down “And especially I don’t have to risk my goddamn life!”

You hugged the wall, closing your eyes to accentuate your unwillingness while being several feet away from the ground with the knowledge that if you slip you will end up inside a casket once again. . .this time dead though!

Muffled chuckles reached your ears from above, making you snap your head up where the brunette was looking down at you from the comfort of their room. Their arms rested over the window and their cheek snuggled comfortably against the sweater. You deadpanned, gathering all your bravery and moving your hand to touch around and reaching for the small indent.

“Don't look at me so smugly– why are we entering your room through the window!? Are doors such foreign concepts– shit!” your foot slipped and that little of your life just flashed in front of your eyes like a high-speed train.

After kidnapping and dragging away from your beloved casket, Susie dropped you in front of a two story nice looking house with a red car parked beside. "You better sleep zombie, tomorrow we will bring you back to your home!” she grinned at you, sharp teeth full on display, hand slapping your back so hard you almost fell down onto the grass.

Despite that, the thought of home. . .filled you with happiness somehow.

She then high-fived Kris and gave them her goodbyes before turning around and disappearing back into the forest. Leaving you in the brunette's hands.

Grave mistake.

“Why did I decide to trust strangers that accused me of being a zombie. . .” You muttered to yourself, actually regretting all your life decisions. . .which are few but still “Oh wait. . .I didn’t had a choice”

Your eyes snapped open when you heard the creaking of the window and a hand entered your vision, trailing your gaze upward– Kris was leaning out of the window and offering you the much needed help if you wanted to avoid the quickest life speed-run.

“Figured that jail might not be the best outcome, uh?” Despite your sarcasm you did well immediately lacing your fingers with theirs and climbing the rest of the way till your body was safely inside and slumped on the ground. The sound of footsteps circled your body until a mop of brown hair entered your vision “You are so sassy for being a zombie”

“I'm not a zomb–you would be it too if one of the you strangers you placed your life in made you climb up a window in the middle of the night” you protested with a deadpanned expression before rolling around and sitting up “At least you guys are not like this when you save the world, right?”

. . .

. .

.

“Right, Kris?”

. . .

. .

.

“Kris!?”

You snapped your head toward them, which only earned a mischievous stick of the tongue out– not even attempting to deny your accusations nor easing your worries. . .on the contrary, your miserable expression only prompted them to chuckle even when you took hold of the nearest object (which happened to be a random book) and tried to throw it in their face “The world is doomed if someone like you has to protect it”

They easily caught it, making a motion to lower your voice while throwing glances at the bedroom door to make sure that their mom did not hear the mess happening and their silence finally gave you a good excuse to look around. Even in darkness, you could definitely make out the two beds placed on either side of the walls– mirroring each other with drawers and shelves above them. Only difference was that on the left side, trophies, awards, and certificates adorned the walls and surfaces, while everything on the right was bare and devoid of anything that could make up a personality. The rug stood in the middle, with a beautiful design stitched on it.

“So, I know that I just recently gained consciousness and all of that. . .and that I’m supposed to be a dar-darkner-something. . .but I’m still in the dark about everything” you started, cringing when you stood up and noticed the dark spot you left on the floor thanks to the ashes all over your figure “Ehe. . .pun intended by the way” trying to direct their attention away from the mess you made, a soft chuckle and shake of head made your shoulders relax and ease.

There is something comforting in someone your age being the one to find you. . .it’s hard to explain but there is something in Kris that screams at you to come closer. 

“It’s hard to explain. . .Ralsei is the better monster for these types of summaries” They replied, not really satisfying your curiosity before you watched their lips part when your stomach betrayed you and started growling, prompting a cough out of you– desperately hoping to conceal it. Instead you saw them smirking in the corner of your eyes making your scowl grow further “But I guess you have more important matters to resol–”

“Kris?”

The creaking of a door froze you two in your spots and, before any attempt at jumping out of the window to hide, a goat looking monster made her way inside– rubbing her eyes with her pawn, reading glasses half way down her muzzle, a sleeping hat messily placed over her horns and curlers on the fur of her ears. She looked like she just woke up from hibernation.

“Did you enter through the window again? I told you that if you forgot your house keys to call. . .” her eyes adjusted to the dark and she finally seemed to take notice of the second human near her child “. . .me. . .” she blinked a couple of times, surprise written all over her face, mouth opening and closing.

“Mom. . .” Krist started “It’s not what it looks like”

*SLAP!*

You face-palmed hard—Out of all the things they could’ve said THIS was the most incriminating one! Totally not suspicious!

Toriel gasped and flipped the light switch to allow the light to submerge the room “Oh my stars, Kris!” she took several steps closer, covering her mouth with her hand and you readied yourself for a life scolding yet the older lady simply gave a non threatening glare toward her child and placed her hands over her hips.

“How many times have I told you to use the front door with guests? I’m willing to ignore your bad climbing habits however I won’t tolerate them when it could endanger someone else” then her gaze drifted back at you and her eyes softened, taking in your appearance “Oh my. . .you are a human! So this is the friend you spoke of with me on the phone” your eyes snapped over Kris, who was moving their hands trying to tell you to just go along, and since you didn’t fancy an angry goat so you did.

“Exactly ma'am. I met Kris uhhhh, outside of school and they showed the entire town! Really, umh, pretty” you gave her your name, looking nervous as ever while Toriel simply chuckle “How sweet. I’m glad you two had fun” before noticing the state she was in and blushing in embarrassment while quickly taking off her hat and fixing the reading glasses before addressing the brunette once again “Kris! You should’ve told me that you planned on bringing home a guest. You want to make a fool out of your mother?”

Kris gave a thumbs up.

“That child. . .” the goat monster shook her head just as your stomach started growling despite your best attempts at avoiding it, guilty watching her features morphing into concern, Toriel took hold of her cheek “Are you hungry dear? And those clothes! Ash? Where were you guys gone to play to get so dirty!” the concern melted in determination scarily fast and the next thing you knew, a large paw enveloped your hand “I can’t let you stay like this!”

You were startled.

“Worry not, I’m sure after a bath you will feel better” she insisted as your complexion went pale, you absolutely don't want to be a burden to this nice looking goat!

“There is no need Ma’am. I won’t stay here long anyway so–” you tried to argue only to be cut off by a shake of head “Nonsense, my child. I can’t possibly let you stay in those dirty rags. . .and you plan on walking home at this hour? That’s absurd, I can’t allow that. You can crash at our home, I’m sure Asriel won’t mind if someone uses his bed when he is not here” Toriel’s voice did not leave space to argue against.

A quiet ‘That had been easier than I thought’ reached your ears, making you snap your head toward the culprit– who simply waved at the sight of your frustrated expression.

Reaching the door, you tried to latch at the side and scramble to find any possible excuse “But-”

“No but, youngster” Toriel gave you a glare that shut you up, those motherly glares no child can argue against “Now go in the bathroom downstairs to the right, I will be there with a fresh pair of clothes. Thankfully we already have all the human necessities so do not worry. Have I made myself clear?” 

At the stern voice you nodded “Yes ma’am!” and sprinted out of the room to follow her orders “You may call me Toriel, dear. No need for such formalities” she called after you, before sighing under her breath and shifting her attention toward the brunette standing in the middle of the room as a smile slowly formed on her lips.

“Such a nice teen. . .I’m glad you’ve found friends Kris. . .” a sigh slipped past her smiling lips, fluffy hands one over the other while she gazed affectionately at her child. Kris just looked to the side, wherever it was because of the embarrassment of having their mother subtly pointing at their loner nature or ignoring the fact that they tried to keep everything some sort of secret. Either way, they didn’t say anything. As usual. 

And Toriel didn’t expect an answer. As usual.

Instead she walked over Asriel’s part of the room, where the closet was placed, and started rummaging around searching for clothes that could be worn by the new guest in the house “I hope you have been a good host Kris. . .because if I find out that you made someone climb up to your window. . .” she shot a glare, prompting the human to nervously look away and whistle hoping to appear innocent. It didn’t work.

“Well. . .there is pie in the kitchen, it might not be the best time. . .” she glanced at the clock, walking toward the exit of the bedroom before stopping just at the edge “But your friend must be starving, go and get you two a slice. How does that sound?”

Kris nodded their head.

Satisfied, Toriel smiled and made her way down the stairs– leaving the brunette alone in their room.

—✧—

Pulling down the lower lid of your eye, you looked at yourself in the mirror of the Dreemurr's bathroom before furrowing your eyebrows and leaning back with an uneasy expression. The sound of water flowing from the tap filled the small bathroom, drawing away your thoughts. Upon entering the bathroom and laying your eyes on your reflection, you immediately understood why Toriel insisted on you taking a shower.

You weren’t filthy per se. . .but it definitely looked like someone dunked a whole bag of incense over your head and called it a day. No wonder Susie thought you were a zombie.

Immediately you went to wash your hands, lower arms and face, watching the printing water turning darker before dripping down the drain. And when that was done, you were left with the sight of. . .you looking back.

It's not like you were expecting to see who knows what, that's still just. . .you. Hair, eyes, lips, skin.

But it was like it was the first time you have seen yourself in a mirror.

*Creak. . .*

“Can I come in?” a gentle voice asked, slowly pushing the door open until two horns popped inside “Miss Toriel, of course. This is your bathroom” your reply earned a chuckle followed by the lady goat making her way inside with some clothes in her hands. A green and yellow sweater, much similar to what Kris is wearing, paired with black trousers “Please, just call me Toriel. None of that Miss or Ma'am. I already get called that everyday by my students” She walked closer and placed the clothes over the sink.

You couldn’t help but inquire further “You are a teacher?” the question prompted a tired smile “Oh yes. I work in the same school that Kris goes to, albeit in a different year completely. Miss Alphys is the one who teaches in their class” she then made her way toward the tub/shower and turned it on.

Despite you knowing how everything worked, the monster lady still acted like you were a young child. . .checking the water temperature, taking out the towels, placing human hygiene products on the rim. She was really. . .motherly. Maybe it's simply something she couldn't control.

It was nice. Kindness is always nice.

“Thank you. . .” 

Your train of thoughts got cut as those words registered in your mind, eyes snapping over Toriel who was looking down at you with a warm smile “For being friendly with Kris I mean. They. . .I think you might know this already but Hometown isn't big and all its citizens are actually monsters.” shifting her eyes to the side, you noticed the smile on her lips getting weaker “For Kris being the only human. . .I always feared that they might be bullied for it. Or perhaps come to hate part of themselves, be confused about things that I can't give them an answer for”

Her voice was softer, full of concern and at the same time fear before she caught herself from spiraling down and shot you a brighter smile “So I'm glad they found someone they can relate too. You are welcomed to stay as long as you wish for, however you should call your parents first”

. . .

. .

.

Slowly you nodded your head robotically, it felt wrong to receive praise for something that you haven't done– you couldn’t even call yourself Kris’s friend as you just met them today. But can you let down someone as kind as her! “Of course, I will make sure to take care of your child”

Toriel laughed, covering her mouth “What a sweet child you are. Hopefully you can straight up that prankster side of their” looking to the ceiling with a disappointed expression, which told you that Kris might not be an angel as a child, she sighed one last time and then finally walked out of the bathroom “If you need anything else do not hesitate to call me or Kris!” came her muffled voice from the other side.

And then you were alone once again.

After a much needed shower, you got dressed with the green and yellow sweater, put on the back trousers and quietly dried the bathroom from the water that accidentally fell over. You folded the used towels and placed them in a corner, with your old clothes over them, and finally made your way out of the bathroom. Cleaner than when you entered. Not less confused though.

Halting your steps, your eyes widened when they landed on a figure over the stairs– light coming from Kris’s bedroom casted a shadow over their features and made the sharp blade of a knife glinting. The brunette simply stood there without uttering a word, before lifting the knife. . .

“Kris!?”

And stabbing a slice of cake on their other hand!

You watched in horror as they lifted the whole slice with the knife before biting into it like it was nothing which was straight up the most disturbing thing you ever saw “How the hell do you eat pie? You should go to jail for such a crime. I'm sure there is a federal offense for that!” 

The bastard just shrugged and had the courage to smirk like a devil before taking another bite “Hey, that rhymes” completely ignoring their weird ass way of eating “But that hurts you know? I came all the way here to offer you a slice of the pie my mom spent soooo much time doing with love and care. . .however if you don't want to, it just means more for me” and they turned around nonchalantly.

“You–” your breath caught in your throat and your stomach growled “Hey! Wait! I want to taste your mother pie!” your legs moved in a chase, running after the brunette who, at the sounds of your steps, actually started sprinting away themselves “Are you a child, Dreemurr? Is this how you treat your guests?”

They sounded more lively than before, as you reached their bedroom and found them sitting in their brother's bed, still eating the pie “Wow, calling me by my surname? Who gave it to you?”

"Your mom" you replied sarcastically (well it had been really Toriel to be honest) which actually almost made Kris choke on their laughters while pressing their lips together to not wake up their mother again. It came to a point where they started coughing like crazy and hitting their chest with their fist.

"You have the humor of a child" smirking, you exploited the opening to dive and grab the tray with the pie on it, mentally celebrating for your win. . .

. . .

. .

.

That's it until you saw only one slice left. You were bewildered, being certain that there must have been at least half of pie on it– before dread washed over your body and your gaze snapped over Kris "Dude. . .don't tell me that this was a whole pie. . ."

Kris smirked mischievously and leaned their chin in their palm.

You stared at them, questioning their sanity "You ate an entire pie?!"

"Almost an entire pie. I left you a slice" they replied cooly.

"How do you eat an entire pie in fifteen minutes!?"

Kris shrugged their shoulders.

Just outside the bedroom door, as the argument kept going muffled by the wood, Toriel leaned her back against it with a smile slowly making its way on her face and her eyes closed for a moment, listening to the laughters. She then pushed herself away and strolled down the corridor, hoping for the two teens to not stay awake too long on a school night.

—✧—

You guys totally overslept the entire morning, woke up to an angry Toriel scolding you two (mainly Kris) about eating the entire pie and quickly got dressed up, stumbling around to try and reach the car and go to school.

. . .

. .

.

Wait a second. . .

Why the hell are YOU going to school?! I mean, obviously because this ‘Ralsei’ (also called the ‘even lesser badass hero’) apparently has an entire kingdom in the closet– aka Dark world– which is actually your home. Sure. Okay. . .but couldn’t you wait like, after the lesson? Why do you HAVE to go?!

Kris stared at the front school “We missed most of Alphys class. . .” since Toriel had to go without you two, if she desired to not get fired, you and Kris had to walk your way to reach it– which had been a good excuse for them to show you the town since, well, you lied to their mom when you told her that you already visited it “Isn’t your mom gonna be angry?” you questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Not if she doesn’t find out” was their answer.

Entering the school, you looked around mesmerized by the quantity of different monsters of all sizes, colors and species. There were cats, snakes, shapes you couldn’t even comprehend, and even a blue bird talking animatedly to a cute looking deer.

Kris dragged you away before he could spot you two, muttering something about ‘Berdly smartass’ and instead B-lined toward what looked to be a closet at the end of the corridor.

“Kris!” Susie's voice made you jump out of your skin from how loud she had been and almost smashed against the wall when the purple monster grabbed both of your sweaters and dragged you two closer “You bastard! If I knew you were planning on skipping school I would’ve done the same! You left me looking like a damn idiot the entire time!” then her eyes snapped over you, who was praying whatever god was up there to survive long enough and see the next sunrise  “And YOU!”

. . .

. .

.

“You look even more like a zombie, too scared to sleep or something?”

You felt dead, that’s for sure.

“Whatever, what’s done it’s done” and to your delight, another day was granted. The purple monster took a step back, crossing her arms and eyeing the two of you, specifically eying your clothes “The hell are you wearing? Does Kris really have NOTHING but SWEATERS?!” she laughed like a maniac, finding your matching clothes to be absolutely hilarious. 

“It’s fashion baby” the brunette responded, giving you the opening to add a dramatic effect “You only wish to be this stylish. All I see is you being jealous of not matching with us”

Susie scoffed, rolling her eyes “Fashion? Stars if you call that pile of utter boredom and blandness fashion you do you”

“Like strapped jeans are still in fashion” Kris pointed at her trousers, earning a rather close meet and great with sharp teeth when she grabbed them by the sweater and dragged their face close to her mouth “Say that again and chalk won’t be the only thing I will chew on” Okay, new rule learned. Don’t piss off Susie.

She then dropped them with a satisfied grin “Anyway, we have a mission to do, no?” next thing you knew, her large hand was around your wrist “Come on already! We have a zombie to bring home!”

“I’m not a zombie for fuck sak–!”

. . .

. .

.

The closet’s door stood in front of you three, your eyes skimmed over it with confusion– slightly unimpressed and lifted your finger to point at it “That’s a closet. . .” by your side Susie snorted “We got Einstein here.” rolling your eyes, your legs moved to come closer at the door— hand lifting and gently knocking on the surface "And behind this, there is a whole kingdom in the Dark World?"

Once again, Susie grinned before nudging at Kris with her elbow "Hey, they are learning this stuff really quick, uh?" the brunette simply nodded their head and made the 'OK' sign with their fingers to indicate you being on the right track. 

With these information in mind, you took a step back and wrapped your fingers around the knob before hesitating "Uhm, not that I doubt your words and call you guys liars. . .but I'm totally thinking you guys are lying and pulling a prank on me–"

"God you are so slow!" with the patience of an explosive, the dark haired girl shot forward and opened the closet door for you– revealing a complete darkness right behind it that extended for who knows how long. . .especially since the very first inches already disappeared "Wow. . ." A mutter escaped your lips while your eyes took in this strange and new sight.

It was dark, of course, really REALLY dark.

Though. . .for some reason. . .it didn’t feel like the darkness you had been prior your awakening in that mausoleum.

"What are we waiting?" Susie teased, peeking her head from over your shoulder– words barely able to register in your mind "Waiting– what do you mean waiting? Are you saying you want to enter this abyss with no end!?" 

“Nha” Kris replied with a grin that immediately made all the alarms in your head SCREAM at the top of their lungs to run far far away “We are not gonna walk inside it. . .” a second later, Susie grabbed your and the brunette’s hand so you knew it was too late for your escape attempt “We are gonna jump in it!”

And that’s the story of how you got convinced to follow two strangers inside a suspicious looking closet.

You expected your feet to touch the ground or the floor or something–! Instead they sank into the void, your body following immediately after as the wind made a mess of your hair– the clothes the Toriel gave you dancing in beautiful color patterns and, more importantly changing right before your eyes. You don’t know if the adrenaline was making you see things or if it was the dark itself– it was hard to make out your surroundings after all. Only Susie’s laughters reached your ears before your body collided on something. . .soft?

“Holy shit! Out of all the space possible you just HAD to fall on Kris!” Susie exploded in more laughter, throwing her head back and holding it while pointing at your body splattered over the bruuuuuuuuuu-blue haired teen?!

Noticing the new look, you immediately pushed yourself off and blinked a couple of times in utter shock at the way that. . .Kris’s(? That was Kris?! They looked like Kris) hair, instead of being brown were of a dark blue instead. . .and speaking of blue– their own skin was now of cyan color– completely unnatural for a human by the way– and were wearing an outfit akin to a knight armor. Then your eyes snapped over Susie.

She also looked completely different. Well. . .less than Kris but still.

Her skin was more on the pinkish/fuchsia range of colors, bright purple hair and a dark outfit– something that could have very well come out of a metal concert. She was looking down at you with a satisfied grin, chest puffing at your bewildered expression “What? Do I have something on my face, zombie?” the teasing tone went completely over your head when all you could think was–

“I must have hit my head when I totally fell from Kris’s window and now I’m in the after life. . .”

A roar of laughter echoed in your ears “Ahhh? I told ya I was a badass hero, no? And a badass hero needs an equally badass outfit. . .mhm. . .yours is not bad too I guess”  processing the implication of her words, you immediately looked down at yourself only to notice that. . .ohhhh no. . .

Oh no.

Oh nha.

Hell the heck nha.

Oh stars.

Holy Maria.

HOLY SHIT!

Your clothes–! They are different too–you are different too!

Kris seemed to finally recover from your merciless squash-a-bug technique as they slowly stood up on their feet and sent a thumb up to show you their approval of your outfit. You would love to actually be as excited and happy, if you weren’t struggling to process everything that just went down– the awakening, the closet, the Dark world, the outfit change, YOUR outfit change, the–

“Kris!! Susie!!” 

A new voice cut your train of thoughts as from the shadows some white came rushing toward you three “It’s been ever so long!” deja-vu hit you like a train when a familiar looking monster approached your small ground, a goat monster to be precise. Shorter than Toriel, wearing big circular green glasses and a long equally green dress with dark sleeves and an upside down spade in the center. Wrapped around their neck was a long pink scarf.

“Yeah. . .yeah. . .It’s been what? A day?” Susie replied, seemingly on good terms with the new addition– which made you suspect that this goat monster might be indeed the ‘even lesser badass hero’ AKA Ralsei, You saw his cheeks dust in embarrassment and looked away shyly “Oh! That is. . .short, isn’t it. . .? It’s just that I never had friends before. . .so I never waited so long to see them again either!” 

His sincerity made the purple haired monster chuckle “Fine, guess we will TRY not to let you die of loneliness”

The goat giggled only for his eyes to widen when they finally landed over your figure, who was doing everything to make yourself smaller “Oh my!” he gasped in a way that wasn’t bad per se, more like excitement “I didn’t see you! I’m so sorry! Are you Kris and Susie’s friend?” he walked closer and a pleasant smell of books overwhelmed your senses “I’m Ralsei, it’s nice to meet you”

The fluffy monster extended his paw toward you, who took it between your hands and gave a gentle shake “It’s nice to meet you Ralsei. . .” you had time to only give him your name before Susie jumped between you two and took your shoulder “Oi Ralsy! Look who we brought back for you” the words confused the poor goat, who looked nervous yet still graced her with a smile “You. . .erhm. . .gifted me a human?”

Behind, Kris slapped a hand over their mouth to absolutely not burst out laughing while you sighed, looking at the dark sky.

“You wish, uh?” 

Ralsei's cheeks exploded in a soft pink as he looked near a breakdown “What?! No! I didn’t mean—I just– I, uhm. . .I wouldn’t know why you brought ____ here to me specifically– are they hurt? Sorry! Uhm. . .” he tried to explain himself, failing miserably while Susie– being the ass she was– was laughing like a maniac and you took it in your hands to give her the meanest elbow between her ribs. How dare she upset the nice looking goat?!

“Nha, we just brought ____ here at home since. . .ya know. . .darkner and everything. We thought you could give them a place in your kingdom or something.”

Ralsei’s smile dropped an inch “Darkner. . .” he mumbled in confusion.

“Duhhh? ____ here is a darkner. We found them in some creepy graveyard” her eyebrow raised a little when her friend looked at the side with his grin strained and nervous “And you found them in the. . .Lightworld?” Kris nodded at the question which confirmed Ralsei doubts and worries. He eyed you one more time before bringing his arms behind his back “I’m afraid there had been a misunderstanding. . .”

“Uh?” Susie replied puzzled.

“Well, you see. . .they are not a darkner, Susie, Kris. . .you, ehm. . .brought here just a lightner instead” Ralsei explained, which made the headache in you, worsen even more as now– the little you were sure of– just exploded in tiny tiny pieces right in front of your eyes “WHAT?!” the purple haired girl exclaimed, one would say even more shocked than you at the news.

Ralsei looked to the side “The citizens of the dark world. . .well. . .it’s hard to explain but just know that it can’t be possible for us to keep our form in the Light World, so. . .____ is not a darkner. . .” he explained, before turning toward you with a huge encouraging smile “Not that there is anything wrong with it! On the other side! People of the Dark World are always excited to meet Lightners!”

Your eyes dropped on the wìground, the disappointment of meeting a dead end pooling at the base of your stomach.

“But!” Susie took a step closer to Ralsei, snapping her head between you and him “You are a nerd! A smartass! A know it all! Surely you can still help them– we found them in a mauso-masole-whatever. A graveyard. And they don’t remember jack shit! Do you know anything that could aid us?”

Ralsei shot her a guilty smile “I know everything about the Dark World, not the Light World. . .”

Susie groaned.

“But! If you guys are trying to find something out why don’t you do some research? You have said that you found ____ in a mausoleum? Why not do some research on it? I’m sure you are bound to find something!” the goat suggested, excited and proud of his own words– but all it earned was a scoff from the purple monster “Oh yeah? And where would we find these information?”

“The. . .umh. . .library?”

“Laaaaaame”

A second of silence passed before your voice broke it. nervous yet with a twinge of disappointment “Ah. . .I’m sorry guys. I just made yall waste time for nothing” but it seemed that this loser attitude of yours won’t fly under Susie’s presence “Oi. . .” she walked over you, grabbing the front of your outfit and lifting you on the tip of your shoes “The hell are you apologizing for like some sort of wimp? Hope to the stars that you are joking” it was so unnerving when someone like her wasn’t smiling at all.

“Who cares if we failed this time? An adventure is no fun if it’s so damn easy after all” her fingers uncurled from the fabric, leaving your feet to find the ground once again and, upon lifting your eyes over her, that damn grin welcomed you “We will find what your deal is, I’m too invested in this mystery to let it go now”

You felt your cheeks heat up from the embarrassment of the spot light being pointed on you and the only words that could escape your trembling lips were “You are so cheesy. . .”

A fist punched your shoulder “And you are smiling” Kris pointed at your lips, prompting you to place a hand over their face and push them away “Shut up”

Ralsei chuckled at the sight, covering his mouth with his paw “Are you gonna go already? I have something to show you and Kris” 

Not wishing to get third wheeling (fourth wheeling?) in their dynamic, you shook your head “In that case yall can stay here if you need to, I will be waiting near the closet for when you two are done” 

Both Kris and Susie nodded their heads, that being your signal to go back to the school.

. . .

. .

.

Wait a second. . .

. . .

. .

.

“Uhm. . .guys. . .how do I get back in the school exactly?” you questioned with a nervous smile, turning around to lay your gaze on them when all you saw was the divine light instead of stairs or a door. “Oh! You just need to stand underneath the light!” Ralsei explained.

“The light?” 

“The one behind your back, you dumbass” Susie pointed with her finger.

“But, how does that work?”

“Like this”

And then she proceeded to push you back inside the light, much to Ralsei disappointment toward her rough manners. Kris waving you goodbye and Susie chuckles being the last things you caught before god themselves dragged you upward.

—❤︎⁠—

[Tag corner: @squ4respace @artzy12 @peristylee ]

❤︎⁠Chapter 1: Zombie? Vampire? Ghost!?

Chapter 2: Never trust the quiet kid

Synopsis:

Waking up knowing only about your name and very few useless things it's never a funny experience and when all you got was to find the person that named you to obtain the answers, all you want to do is smash your head against a wall. . . . And how exactly did you end up helping the heroes of the prophecy saving the world?

—❤︎⁠—

-Disclaimer-

This fic had been written before chapter 6 and 7 came out so you might come across some wrong or non canon events from the game. The characters here presented are not mine and, instead, the original creator is Toby Fox. You can find the game on Steam for 20 bucks. Or watch countless gameplay on YouTube.

The reader is gender neutral to accommodate a larger audience. 

The route that will be followed is the main one, however I can't assure that there won't still be topics/mentions that someone can consider disturbing.

Enjoy.

—❤︎⁠—

"Hey dude, come and look at this! I swear it’s the coolest thing you will be seeing all day!" 

A purple monster urged her new companion to follow her, walking through graves neatly placed one after the other and promptly ignoring them to, instead, venturing deeper inside the graveyard. Now that Kris thinks about it. . .maybe following someone who threatened to bite your face off the same morning might not be the most intelligent thing. . .

Oh well, they had to do worse.

"Well, not the coolest after. . ." She turned her head back to make sure the brunette was still behind "You know. THAT was definitely the coolest thing I ever did in the world– BUT! This thing is the second coolest thing after that" she gave a narrowed glare to the human, like she was daring them to disagree with her words despite not having seen the 'thing'. Susie turned back toward the graves "Man. . .I wish Lancer was also here. He would totally set the mood right" reaching a secluded part of the graveyard, Susie inspected the surroundings before making her way toward a corner near the tree– where the vegetation seemed to have overtaken something. "Hurry up" she quickened her pace.

Kris followed her with a more leisure walk–

Susie ran back to grab their wrist and drag them "HURRY UP!”

Next thing the brunette knew, vines and leaves slapped on their face, making them close their eyes– Susie didn’t seem bothered at all and, soon enough, she let the human’s wrist fall down while her claws ended over her hips and a satisfied ‘humph’ left her mouth stretched in a huge grin “I found this little gem while I was strolling around the graveyard and stopped to eat some of those vines–” she halted herself, expression falling down “Well, not that you need to know the whole story– point is! I didn’t know that there was a section of the graveyard completely abandoned to itself”

Kris finally lifted their head only to land their hidden eyes on a structure in the middle of this forgotten garden. It looked like a sort of mausoleum [¹]. It had a circular floor plan with a ring of columns around it—some broken or crumbling, revealing the state of decay the structure had fallen into before its rediscovery. Kris wonders for how long this tomb has been here. . .maybe years? 

Their red eyes involuntarily lifted higher, looking at the dome that formed the roof—part of it broken, perhaps having collapsed during a severe storm. Vegetation started its feats on the old rock that made the walls, vines climbed the pillars, grass so tall it reached the small openings on the walls, flowers blooming where they shouldn’t bloom. Only a vase of beautiful bog-rosemaries[²] seemed to belong where it should belong, right in front of the entrance.

“Man, isn’t this awesome?! I only ever saw it from the outside but never dared to enter, you know? What if the floor gives away or something?” Susie turned toward Kris with a huge grin, the teen suddenly felt doom and despair wash over their bodies as they forced themselves to move before the inevitable will happen. Unfortunately for them, Susie is quick to act– her hand clasping the front of the green/yellow sweater “And that’s why YOU will be the brave idiot to enter first!”she twirled them around before launching Kris inside the mausoleum, their foot stepped over a wooden plank at the entrance, which was actually loose, which actually rotated down, WHICH ACTUALLY LAUNCHED THE VASE OF BOG-ROSEMARY IN THE AIR!

“Quick Kris! The vase!” Susie urged, watching her friend launch themselves forward and managing to catch the vase at the last second at the cost of slamming their face on tge ground, the fragile ceramic only a few inches from the floor. Everyone held their breaths for a second before Susie quickly sprinted toward Kris, looked at them and laughed “I knew there was a trap! This must be a secret base or something! There could be a treasure somewhere like. . .” she looked around while Kris slowly got on their feet, their face having a huge red mark all over it.

Kris tried to call out for Susie and inform her that this was not some ‘secret base with a treasure inside’ and simply the tomb of someone– even if with the way it was left they doubt it was used in the first place and if it really was. . .they looked around, complete destruction everywhere. . .like someone or something came inside and started trashing the place, taking objects and smashing them on the walls, clawing at the ground, slamming heavy objects everywhere. 

Kris looked away.

Either way, this was only an abandoned place.

Susie ignored them.

They started exploring it, looking at the bare walls and being mindful of the obstacles along the way and especially not to trip and fall on something dangerous. Red eyes swept all over until they caught something in the corner, something that the moonlight was shining over like it was precious. They walked over, cheeks feeling warmer with excitement as they finally saw what the gods blessed them with.

A gift from heaven itself.

A sight for the blind.

A melody for the deaf.

A song for the mutes.

Moss.

A single tear slid down their cheeks “Thank you Father”

✱ You ate the moss.

“Look!” she cut them before they could even speak when her eyes landed on what looked like a casket in the middle of the room, right under the circular opening of the dome which let the moonlight drape over it. Or well, calling it a casket was a bit. . .underwhelming. It was an ethereal rectangle structure, with the finest details on the marble. . .they looked to be telling a story however whatever happened ruined the end. Something about a higher being, those looked like hands moving away to reveal a. . .uhhhh. . .this part seemed to have been completely carved off by something like a knife. Then a figure appeared and the hands looked like they were petting it. The figure liked it, embracing the higher being’ love. The figure wields a scythe[³] and ventures into the world with the hands guiding it. The figure–

. . .

. .

.

Everything else is completely unreadable.

“It’s just the same old story about creation. . .” Susie pointed out with a tch “I’m not exactly into this but it still sucks that some idiot had to break in and vandalize everything, even worse. . .they destroyed art.” she turned toward Kris “Do you think they took the treasure already?” when all she got was a shrug of shoulders, a groan rumbled from her throat and she approached the casket. The purple monster placed her hands over the lid and tried to lift it. . .failing miserably.

“. . .” she looked at the casket with anger boiling under her skin and kicked the bottom “Damn it! It’s too heavy”

Kris approached it, the vase between their hands held tightly as they inspected it while Susie kept cursing under her breath. Red eyes swept over the lid, the image of a dove[⁴] carved in bas-relief and at the top of it a small indent– big enough for something circular to rest. Kris looked at the vase between their hands- at the bog-rosemaries. . .their legs moved before their mind could.

And they placed the vase of gob-rosemary on the indent, right above the dove. [⁵]

The bird silhouette glowed and, right before their eyes, it became alive and flew on the marble toward the vase- pushing it off.

*SMASH!*

“Kris!” Susie called out, quickly approaching her friend “What was that. . .!” her eyes snapped over the casket, the lid now slightly moved to the side “. . .noise. . .?” she looked at the casket, then snapped her eyes on Kris, then back at the casket, then– “You opened it!” she grabbed the side of the lid, lifting it much easier now “You! With your noodle arms! Your skin even looks like noodles damn it! You–!”

Kris did not look amused.

“Don’t look at me like that dude” Susie narrowed her eyes before couching in her fist and turning back toward the ‘treasure’ with barely concealed excitement “I mean. . .” her fingers wiggled as they gripped the side once again “Let’s see what kind of treasure–”

“Achoo!”

Susie jumped back, spooked by the sudden noise coming from inside the casket. Kris remained unbothered like the monarch they were.

“. . .” the purple monster snapped her eyes toward the human, her body tense and ready for action “Hey Kris. . .have you heard it too right? That. . .that noise coming from the treasure. . .”

“Achoo!” the lid rattled a little higher.

“!” Once again, Susie jumped back, she could see something leaking from the casket. . .something dark. . .like dust.

“Hey Kris. . .” she mumbled out “Doesn’t that. . .doesn’t that look like the stuff from the closet? Could it be. . .” her expression hardened, eyebrows furrowed and fists closed “Could it be another dark world!?”

“Achoo!” the lid jumped higher!

“Prepare yourself Kris!” Susie warned as the brunette crossed their arms like a shield.

“Achoo!”

The lid totally came off as a figure sat up, a cloud of dark dust hid their features with the exception of a silhouette “Achoo!” the figure sneezed again, waving their hands around until the cloud slowly started dispersing and all it was left was the sight of. . .

. . .

. .

.

“There is too much ash and incense here! I can’t breathe!"

Susie eyed the figure, blinking so fast that her lashes were about to come off. She snapped her head toward Kris, who looked. . .shocked- or as much shocked as Kris could look– then snapped her gaze back to the coughing figure, then back Kris, then back to the figure, the back to Kris–

Figure. Kris. Figure. Kris. Figure’s hands. Kris’s hands. Figure’s arms. Kris’s arms. Figure’s head. Kris’s head. Figure’s face. Kris’s face–

“Susie. . .” the brunette spoke, which was rare in itself, their voice feeble but their breaths itched as they processed what they were seeing “That is a–”

“ZOMBIE!” Susie shouted at the top of her lungs, which scared both Kris and figure.

“Kris! That’s a zombie! They came out of the casket!” she grabbed the human’s shoulders and started shaking them back and forth while keeping her eyes on the weird new addition that was still looking at them puzzled, and slightly put off– “Susie, that would be a vampire–”

“Zombie! They want to eat your brain Kris! You have to smash their head open with a bat!” from nowhere, the monster took out said bat and pointed it at the figure– you– who paled and backed away against the casket “W-Wait!” the purple monster swung her bat, making you lean back and fall down the casket “Ow. . .ow. . .” you groaned, pushing yourself on your knees just as the same monster quickly tried to approach you again. “Damn, they are even making weird noises. . .like a zombie!” she tried to hit you with her bat. 

Kris tried to intervene but their joints locked in place like they were watching a cutscene.

You pushed yourself on your feet but your legs trembled and fell right back down, dodging the bat by mere inches. It was like you could feel the very life in you being exposed to that weapon and if you won’t do something then it will be over.

“Are you mocking me, uh?! Kris stay back. If humans get bitten by a zombie they turn into zombies too, no? Let me handle this” that was your clue to roll away and keep rolling while the bat slammed down continuously where your head would’ve been till your back hit a fallen debris. . .those damn tiles fallen from the roof. You tried to dive on the right but something stopped you from doing that, giving enough time for the girl to be right in front of you “Okay, end of the chase” and lifted the bat.

“I swear I’m not a zombie!” All you could do was raise your arms to try and shield yourself, waiting for the inevitable—

You felt the wind push aside the hair from your face, something was mere inches from your face- you could feel its presence, so threatening and so, so damn dangerous. Your heart was beating wildly in your chest, pumping blood all over your body and making you feel warm and fuzzy at the same time. When you re-opened your eyes, the moonlight that allowed you to look at your surroundings was blocked by the bat over your forehead.

“. . .” Susie did not say anything, she stared down at the figure for a long while with her weapon of choice still in place “Damn. . .now that I see you better in the moonlight. . .” she narrowed her eyes and rubbed her chin thoughtfully “They. . .they don’t look like a zombie. . .” she then turned toward the other teen, who finally was able to reach you two “Right Kris?”

The brunette– Kris– took a second to answer and snapped their red eyes from Susie to the person behind who was quickly nodding their head in a clear begging motion. They considered it, choosing between the two options before finally speaking “Zombies have green skin”

It seemed to work because Susie nodded her head “Right. . .zombies do have green skin” and Kris nodded along while keeping their eyes on how you were slowly crawling away while they kept the purple monster busy. [25%]

“And miss chunks of meat”

You slowly proceed to crawl away further as she snapped her fingers “Right!” [50%]

“And can’t speak”

You slowly proceed to crawl away further as she hummed thoughtfully “Hey. . .I did hear words” [75%]

“And drool”

You slowly proceed to crawl away further as Susie considered the words “Well uhhhh. . .I didn’t check if they were drooling. . .” [10–

“But if they aren’t a zombie. . .”

You halted mid escape, feeling your body freeze when the music suddenly stopped and the dark haired girl suddenly assumed a serious expression, grabbing one of the crucifixes nearby. . .one that had the end broken in a sharp blade “This means that you are a vampire!” and she pointed it at you (the teen beside her loudly facepalmed at the absurdity) which was your last straw–

“I’m not a zombie or a vampire or anything damnit!” the sheer volume of your voice both made Susie and Kris flinch and you used the broken statue of an angel to finally push yourself on your feet, eyes narrowed and a bead of sweat running down your temple. Now, more than ever, you felt brave enough to finally confront these two strangers.

“I’m not buying that dude, I mean. This place looks like it had been built by dinosaurs and then went through two world wars-” she pointed around like that was supposed to be the explanation “Plus you literally came out of a casket like a zombie or vampire or whatever! What were we supposed to think? Tell them Kris! What do they look like?” Susie nudged the brunette, urging them to not always be so nonchalant and to react when there was a zombie trying to eat their brain.

A familiar feeling overwhelmed Kris and two options seemed to register in their mind.

✱They are definitely a vampire. Take the garlic Susie!

✱Probably some homeless trying to find a place to sleep tonight.

It’s not true. . .they would never say either thing. . .why are they stuck with– with this. . .!?

Taking a deep breath, they bit the inside of their cheek hard as they saw the indecision.

❤︎‬They are definitely a \       “I’m not a vampire             \ vampire. Take the garlic Susie!

✱‪‪Probably some homeless \      nor a homeless damn it!”    \ trying to find a place to sleep tonight.

Kris eyes widened in surprise when you suddenly spoke up not only before a choice could have been made. . .did you. . .how did you know what they were about to say before a choice could’ve been actually made?

“Uhhhhhh. . .” Susie deadpanned, awkwardly looking around before rubbing the back of her neck “No one said anything about you being homeless ya know? Shit, did I actually hit you in the head? I know I’m strong but a simple tap can’t have made you stupid!” when you processed those words, your shoulders slightly fell down in shock “Are you for real? I. . .I swear I. . .”

“Human”

Everyone turned toward Kris, who finally spoke up after an unsettling amount of time being completely silent. Both you and Susie blinked your eyes in surprise watching their expression switch from a monotone to a lazy smirk “That or perhaps they are the ghost hunting this place coming to punish you for trying to steal their treasure” they teased, making Susie ears flare red from embarrassing before she pointed the crucifix dagger toward them “Dude that’s not funny! Quit it!”

“Yes!” you jumped on your feet, clapping your hands.

“You are a ghost who came to hunt me because I tried to steal your treasure?!” Susie shouted out, the crucifix back to being pointed at you.

“What?! No! I didn’t mean that!” shaking your head you pointed to yourself closing your eyes “I’m a human! No zombie! No vampire! I’m-. . .I’ve been named ____.” it felt like a huge burden had been lifted by your shoulder and suddenly breathing became easier. A second of silence passed by before you slowly cracked an eye open to peer at their reactions.

“Ah? Why did you not say so?” Susie tched, lazily throwing the crucifix behind her back while rolling her eyes “And here I was ready to smash some zombie’s brains. You shouldn’t have waited so long before saying that you were human, dude– people aren’t as understanding as me, it could’ve ended up badly for you” she scolded you, placing her hands behind her head.

“I’ve been trying–!” you groaned, feeling your frustration grow when you caught Kris trying to muffle their chuckles.

. . .

. .

.

“WAIT, THE FUCK YOU MEAN YOU ARE HUMAN?!” 

It seems that Susie caught up to what you have said. She quickly made her way toward you, looked at you top to bottom with wide eyes before snapping her head toward Kris “They are you!?”

Kris shrugged their shoulders.

“Dude, don’t act like an unbothered bastard– that’s a human! You should be ecstatic to see another one of your species! You are– or well– you were the only human in the entire town–and now!” she turned toward you again “It turns out that there is another one hidden in a creepy graveyard?!”

Kris shrugged their shoulders.

“DO SOMETHING ELSE INSTEAD OF SHRUGGIN!”

Kris raised their thumbs up.

“. . .I’m gonna shove you inside a locker”

Kris pointed behind her.

“Okay dude, quit it. You are playing with your life”

Kris took a second to think before suddenly making signs with their hands that looked more like gang signs.

. . .

. .

.

“YOU, DON’T TRY TO RUN AWAY AGAIN!” Susie turned around, catching you trying to sneak away. . .again. . .which prompted an awkward laugh out of you as instead you opted for a plan B “Uhhhhhh. . .I don’t want to be smashed by a fierce dinosaur?” the flatter didn’t seem to land as desired since you saw the monster’s left eye twitch while behind her Kris was shaking their head with their arms crossed in a X. A clear ‘abort’ signal “Who did you call dinosaur?”

It took her three steps to reach you, wrap an arm around your neck and give you a good old noogie on your head “Are you trying to call me old, zombie? I’m a dragon! A dragon! Get it in your head! I’m the great dragon Susie destroyer of worlds” when she finished with the beat up, you were left kneeling on the ground with a cartoonish bump over your head and a sour expression “I’m sorry great dragon Susie destroyer of worlds. . .”

Kris snickered a few feet away, Susie snapped her head toward them.

Oh. . .

Oh no.

Now both you and Kris were side by side with bumps over your heads.

“Jeeze, are all humans this idiotic or have I had the misfortune of meeting the only odd ones” dusting her hands, the dark haired girl finally looked back at you specifically, her expression became more serious, lips frowning, eyebrows furrowed, the whole deal “So, ehm. . .you said that your name is ___, right?” Susie asked.

“Exactly, I’ve been named ___, oh great dragon Susie destroyer of worlds”

“Quit it” 

“Yes”

“So, uhhhh. . .listen, I don’t know jack shit about humans but. . .I’m sure as hell that it’s not normal to sleep in a graveyard- inside a casket and scaring the living shit out of us. So, what the hell were you doing? Who are you? And we didn’t know that there was another human in the town all this time?” one question after the other came barrelling toward you like bombs exploding upon contact, prompting your head to lower further while you toyed with your fingers.

It wasn’t like you were purposely trying to keep something hidden from this monster girl and brunette human. . .just. . .ah. . .these questions, you hoped to have someone answer them too since you are as much in the dark as them if not even worse “I. . .would you believe me if I said that I don’t remember anything?” by your side, Kris deadpanned– shoulder dropping down “How convenient. . .”

Your cheeks flushed red out of embarrassment “No–! I mean, I’m serious. I truly am also unaware of the reason I was inside that casket. I felt like I had such a deep slumber, waiting for someone or something to wake me up– okay that sounds cheesy I know! The thing is–!” looking around inside the mausoleo, you frowned when your eyes landed on the different paintings destroyed “I remember my favorite food. . .soft. My favorite blood type. . .C. I like the color cyan the most. Someone gave me the gift of bravery, and I felt. . .” your gaze lowered to your hands “That someone had hope for me”

. . .

. .

.

“Next thing I knew, I was submerged in darkness”

It was like swimming in a cold, dark lake– everything around was non-existent while you felt something freezing, weighing you down and down and down as you waited and waited for something. You weren’t sure what exactly you were waiting but you didn’t dare to think about more than necessary nor did you wanted to find out an answer.

Then something fell into the lake, something small yet so incredibly warm, making its way down and down and down. It was only able to see where it was going thanks to the faint glow which emitted. Before long it reached you. . .you think it did. Your eyes weren’t actually open.

Then it hugged you.

“Darkness?” Susie mumbled, like that specific word held more weight than you could ever comprehend. She snapped her head to the side and toward Kris who was already gracing her with their attention “Could it be. . .” the monster saw them nod their heads in agreement “No way dude! They– you think they are a darkner?”

Kris frowned "Technically it was you who suggested–”

“There are darkner humans? Oh shit! I have an amazing theory! Listen!” Susie cut them off, nudging their shoulder with her elbow “What if the dark world is like. . .a parallel to the light world? Like in. . .how was it called? Stranger happenings? That would mean that there must at least be ONE human darkner! And ____ might have accidentally got out by. . .I dunno! A backdoor? A back closet?!” 

Kris looked utterly unamused as Susie just basked in pride. Look at her– she is really good at this hero stuff.

. . .

After a second you coughed “Uhhhh” narrowing your eyes, you looked to the side like you were contemplating if running was still an option “Darkner? Dark world? Light world? Look. . .I just woke up covered in ashes and with my nose full of incense– I still need to understand how I ended up there, where I am and how to go back. . .” you pressed your lips together “I need to find the person that gave me my name, they have high hopes for me”

“Like a parent?” the brunette lifted an eyebrow, even if you couldn’t exactly see it “AH! Don’t worry darkner! You must be extremely confused and lost but luckily for you, you are in the presence of a badass hero. . .” she made a pose “and a less badasss hero!” soon enough Kris followed, doing themselves a pose “And we will bring you to meet the other even lesser badass hero!”

Everyone stood still for a couple of seconds like they were waiting for something. . .

“Okay that’s enough”

Her words, albeit weird and confusing, did fill you with hopes of making the first right step to find an answer to your questions. And especially find out the person that you are searching for “Is this ‘even lesser badass hero’ the one who has high hopes for me?”

Susie deflated slightly “Well no” she shook her head “But I bet that he knows something– that nerd knows everything!” by her side, Kris nodded with a smirk before nudging the monster and making a motion, pointing at the entrance. It was clear that they were asking if they should go now– to which Susie considered it for a second before shaking her head “Nhaaa, school it’s already closed isn't it? I never would’ve thought to WANT to go back into the school and be DISAPPOINTED that I couldn’t go” her tone was disgusted at the mere implication of her intentions.

“Wait. . .this hero. . .lives in a school?” you deadpanned, eyeing the two teens with suspicion.

Kris smirked in amusement “Yep, and he has a kingdom made of chess pieces and card games”

You felt like they were messing with you yet at the same time something told you that there was truth to their words.

“No– it’s a long story, listen” Susie threw the brunette a half glare before crossing her arms “Thing is, we can’t reach him at the moment so we have to do it tomorrow. . .Kris take them back to your home”

“!” the teen snapped their head toward Susie, completely against the idea. It’s not like they want the new person to spend the night outside. . .but they can’t sneak someone inside their house in the middle of the night– if Toriel sees them covered in ash she will freak out!

“Don’t look at me like that. I can’t host them because. . .uhhhh. . .no space. . .but I have heard that your house is really big. Do you not have a brother who went to college?” she laughed, slapping their shoulders as Kris bit their lip.

✱Mom loves strays, it’s not a problem.

✱No.

Sure, it’s not like they could appear to the police with a random human without them asking all sort of questions and they are broke, they can’t buy a night in a hotel. . .maybe if they steal the keys for the school in their mom’s purse. . .

❤︎Mom loves\        It’s fine               \strays, it’s not a problem.

✱No.\                really  guys                \

The two of them turned around just in time to watch you approach the casket “I can totally sleep here for tonight. One more time is not gonna kill me!”

. . .

. .

.

“Okay you are coming home with me”

“Heard the boss?” Susie suddenly grabbed your shirt and hoisted you over her shoulder “Let’s get out of this creepy graveyard!”

. . .

. .

.

“WAIT UH?!”

—❤︎⁠—

Extra:

Susie taking up most of the screen time because Kris is too emo to talk and MC is barely aware of their existence: Damn, are all human quiet losers?

A/N: theories are well accepted and encouraged (*゜▽゜)_□

[¹] Mausoleum: A mausoleum encloses a burial chamber either wholly above ground or within a burial vault below the superstructure. This contains the body or bodies, probably within sarcophagi or interment niches. Modern mausolea may also act as columbaria (a type of mausoleum for cremated remains) with additional cinerary urn niches. Mausolea may be located in a cemetery, a churchyard or on private land.  [²] A small evergreen shrub reaching no more than 40 cm, bog rosemary produces tiny bell-shaped flowers, deep fuchsia when they first open in early May, fading to pale pink by June.(I’m aware the game is theorized to be set in autumn buuuuut. . .theme and such) Despite its name, the flower bears little resemblance to the classic herb, and it is considered extremely poisonous; handle with care and never use it in edible arrangements. In the language of flowers, bog rosemary (Andromeda polifolia) universally symbolizes being "bound by fate" and a plea for help.  [³] Uranus, fearing that his children might use their fearsome strength against him, threw them into the dark pit of Tartarus and therein lies the origin of the scythe of Cronus. Gaia pleaded in vain with Uranus to set her children free and, descending into Tartarus, she urged the Titans to conspire against their father. Only the youngest, Cronus, had the courage to obey. Gaia set him free and gave him a scythe. Thanks to that weapon, he defeated his father and declared himself ruler in his stead. The scythe is an implement that cuts down and mows. It is symbolic of that practice as associated with Cronos (Time) who creates only to cut down and devour.  [⁴] Gothic literature often plays with the duality of birds as both symbols of freedom and entrapment. While crows and ravens might represent doom, doves and swallows often signify lost innocence or a longing for escape  [⁵] It symbolize ‘Freeing’ yourself by ‘Fate’-  The ‘Dove’ and ‘Bog-Rosemary’

[If you wish to be tagged let me know in a comment]

Faster updates in Quotev:

So, in honor of chapter 5 literally behind the corner I was wondering. . .would any of you be interested in a Deltarune fic?

I have replayed the game (still in chapter 2 because. . .work :() and I have a few ideas I wanted to explore, however I'm not sure which vibes going for. . .so I want you guys to help me decide!

I think it will mainly Kris for the moment but I will see how the plot develops.

Previous part <-

Next part ->

[MINORS DO NOT INTERACT FURTHER– SENSIBLE CONTENT UNDER THE CUT] –for any questions my inbox is open–

Chapter 26: Dream or reality?

~Don't forget to comment your opinion~

{~♤♡◇♧~}

Your eyes opened on their own, and not because there was the sun beating down directly on your face. . .and not even because you could hear metal/rock music muffled in the distance–no. You opened your eyes, before your brain could protest against it, at the sound of mischievous giggles that were intended to be kept down by the culprit but that definitely were failing.

Your eyes opened and the first thing they saw was a white concrete ceiling with a lamp on the left side– barely in your field of view. It made you freeze. . .you don’t remember the sky to be so. . .well. . .so made of concrete. . .why are you inside? Oh god, you processed it now– you are inside a building– why are you inside a building?! Have you been discovered? While you were unconscious, sleeping in the made up tent, have they found you and kidnapped you who knows where? Is it over–!?

“Boo!”

Something entered your vision, a body launched and collided toward you– knocking the wind out of your lungs as you bounced slightly. . .you were definitely on a bed “Heeey! Earth to ____? Why are you looking like a fish out of water? Uh? Look at your face– it’s like you saw a ghost!” the person above you giggled, tilting her head to the side and narrowing her blue eyes the more her lips stretched into a smile. You felt light.

It was a weird sensation, really, completely out of this world. . .well. . .that was probably because you are seeing a real ghost.

“Livia. . .” you muttered in disbelief, slowly pushing yourself in a sitting position while the ebony haired girl remained comfy above you– even kicking her feet with a dumb smile– like you weren’t going through the seven stages of grief. . .hell you don’t even know if they are really seven but it felt a lot anyway.

“Yeah? What? Is my make up today really that bad? You look straight up horrified to see me– I will let you know that Jester had been the one helping me this morning, so if you have a complaint you better talk with him” She shook her head in a teasing way, pointing out your distressed expression, which further worsened once you processed those words “Jester. . .?” the name felt like poison in your mouth and you almost immediately regretted ever speaking.

“Jester, duh?” Livia playfully flickered your head before getting off of you and placing her hands over her hips “I know that you two don’t see eye to eye but I thought there was progress? At least after me and Harley forced you two inside the bathroom for three hours” you felt yourself choke on nothing “Y-You and Harley. . .quin?” Livia pursed her lips, furrowing her eyebrows and looked at you for a couple of seconds before humphing “You are acting weirdly ___. . .let’s go and eat some breakfast. Maybe you just need to wake up”

Next thing you knew, she dragged you out of bed– legs almost giving up like you weren’t used to moving them. Either way, you weren’t allowed the time to admire your room, the same room that burned down in a horrible fire, as Livia took hold of your hand and instantly led you out in the corridor, past a couple of rooms and you had only a fraction of a second to notice a flash of purple peeking from inside one of them which made your muscles stiff instinctively and stop in your tracks, accidentally letting go of Livia’s hand.

Your eyes were fixed on your old office room, something that you never used and that instead became a sort of storage. . .yet now it looked so different, cleaner, bigger, with a figure sat at the desk– busy writing something on paper till he felt eyes on himself and tilted his head to the side to look at you. . .Jester. That person was Jester, wasn't he? You could recognize those goddamn eyes and smirk everywhere. . .he. . .

He wasn’t wearing his uniform though– none of those extravagant clothes worthy of the venice carnival. Instead something comfier. . .that still screamed Jester but less constricting and especially there was no big purple hat. You could see his long violet hair, two white horns and–

. . .and–

. . .

You don’t know what was supposed to be over his head, instead all your eyes could process was a blurred mass, like they were refusing to see. [¹]

“Well, why are you looking at me like that little monster? Do I have something on my face?” Jester mused, twirling the pen between his fingers while lifting an eyebrow. You just stared at him, thousands of questions filling your head like a storm. “Jess!” the next second, Livia popped beside you, holding the side of the door and calling the purple haired man, who shook his head with a sigh “How many times have I told you to not call me any nicknames, little one?” at that, your best friend scratched the back of her head bashfully “Sorry. . .I will be more mindful”

Then you felt violet eyes back over your head and you shivered “Well? Cat got your tongue ____? You are never this silent, not even if I pay you” you went to open your mouth and say something. . .ask him what was he doing in your house, what the hell was going on–

“You write?”

However something else entirely slipped past your lips. Like you weren’t fully in control.

Jester stared at you for a couple of seconds before bursting out in chuckles he barely tried to hide “My, what an odd little monster. Did you just wake up? Or is this one of yours and Harlequin pranks? Tell him that we won’t make the sombrero hat made of nachos if he thinks he can keep making pranks. And you stop enabling him” his words confused you so much that you weren’t able to reply anything at all. He, instead, took advantage of the silence to turn his attention back at the piece of paper on the desk.

“I’m simply writing down my thoughts for the next time we will visit Columbina’s grave” he admitted like it was nothing. Then Livia nudged you with her hip “You should be proud that he is actually following your suggestion, knowing your rocky relationship”

You. . .suggested that?

Jester shot you two a grin full of sharp teeth “Now, now, you two humans better run along and go eat Pierrot’s breakfast before I decide I want a snack” his words were threatening yet they didn’t feel like so, not with that teasing grin on his lips nor by the tone of it.

You are so fucking confused.

Livia waved one more time in the direction of the purple haired man before lacing her fingers with yours and continuing her journey to your kitchen. You let her drag you wherever she pleased, your body felt light and tingling. . .was this real? Could it. . .could it be that all of that. . .all of that horror you had to go through– all of that nonsense that tore your heart in half. . .could it have been all just a nightmare?

You felt your eyes sting, not noticing a certain red haired bird monster standing in the middle of the corridor till you directly ran into him, slamming your face right in his goddamn chest “Ow–!” you whined, hearing Livia’s gasps as she halted and turned around with her eyebrows furrowed “___!” her hand was on your back as you hunched over in pain “Gosh, what’s going on today with you? Are you sure you are not sick?”

In front of you, Doctor slowly placed down the vase of moonflowers [²] and stepped closer before taking your face between his hands “Let me see what might be causing you pain” gently he pushed away your hand and gazed at the blood running down your nose and over your lip, you could hear the rumbling in his chest as he muttered under his breath something about nosebleed.

Asking Livia to keep your head and this position, he took out a piece of cloth and began wiping away the blood that threatened to enter your mouth “Keep your nose pinched and grab an ice pack from the kitchen. It’s nothing serious but you should know better than underestimating something simple, sweetie.” having said that, he gently ruffled both yours and Livia’s hair before he bent down to pick his plant “Do call me if the situation worsen”

“Thank you doc” Livia answered followed by your meek ‘Thank you. . .’ as you were busy keeping your nose pinched while reaching the kitchen in search of an ice pack.

Upon entering it, the smell of eggs welcomed you– followed by sweeter ones like chocolate and cakes or something like that. “Goodmorning–” in the middle of it all stood Pierrot, wearing a pink apron with ‘Kiss the chef’ written on it. . .well. . .more like the original ‘Kiss’ was crossed and ‘Fuck’ replaced it in a black sharpie, only for that to be also crossed with an angry face doodle beside and the words ‘____ kiss’ tried to fit in the remaining space. His long silver hair fell on his shoulder while three horns rested above his head.

Well thing is. . .the huge smile on his face immediately fell when you and Livia entered the kitchen and he could smell blood “Oh dear– what happened? Is everything okay” he jumped toward you just, hovering beside you like a worried mother hen “Can you get an ice pack? They accidentally slammed their face against Doctor’s chest” at Livia’s request, he nodded his head and hurried toward the fridge while you were accompanied to sit down at the table.

“Ow. . .ow. . .what does he have? Wood in the place of the tits?” you grumbled under your breath and heard Livia trying to keep her chuckles muffled but failing miserably. You shot her a nasty glare. She burst out laughing just as Pierrot came back and gently placed the ice pack on your nose “Please my dear, be more careful where you walk next time. . .do you remember the last time you tried teaching me roller skating and I fell on you? Our bodies can be dangerous for humans” he cooed as your best friend kept laughing like a chicken at the memory, going as far as kicking her legs under the table and holding her stomach.

You were not laughing.

*SLAM!*

“Guess who is back? Everyone’s favorite green performer!” 

The front door slammed open, followed by a figure entering the room– an obnoxious figure that’s it. Green eyes swept over the kitchen, making sure that everyone’s attention was on him before dramatically taking off his hood and allowing a pair of dark horns to be visible “Behold!” Harlequin’s hand fished through his pocket before taking out a small plastic rectangle and shoving in everyone’s faces “I passed the driver test. I can, now, legally drive bikes”

Then, his green eyes snapped over you with mischievousness swimming in them “You know what that means love? You have to pay up– I can drive your bike without you bitching in my ear about the police stopping me”

You looked at him from over the ice pack “Cool. . .”

[³]“Congratulations Harlequin, I’m glad to hear that” Pierrot clapped his hands while Livia cheered “We should celebrate or something like that. Harley managing to get a driver license is a once every millennium type of thing!” she proposed just as someone else entered your house “A celebration?” Ticket Taker made his presence known, walking just behind Harlequin while carrying a small box with a bow on it “What a coincidence” he smiled.

“I just went by Mister Blake’s residence and he asked me if we wanted to join his family for a small Sunday lunch together. Miss Thalia also gifted us a box full of tea to enjoy” the ebony haired gentleman informed while lifting the wrapped container and made his way to the table so he could place it down “That means that you can’t get yourself hurt, darling. It would be a shame to miss such occasion”

You felt your cheeks warm in embarrassment.

“I swear it’s nothing, Doctor even said so” you protested as Pierrot gently took away the ice pack from your nose “What’s up with you anyway? Woke on the wrong side of the bed? Man. . .I don’t want an idiot as partner in crime” Harlequin teased, walking just behind you and placing his hands over the backrest “No–it’s just–” you tried to explain but your head started to pound.

“It’s just. . .” Ticket Taker trailed off.

“Y-You guys– this. . .this is not. . .” speaking felt like you were trying to spit your heart out, the corner of your vision slowly darkening the more you went on.

“This is not real”

“Right?”

■__—_________—__■

You woke up abruptly, despite the content of the dream being peaceful and a breath of fresh air that you desperately needed. Pushing yourself in a sitting position, your chest went up and down and up and down till it slowed to a quiet movement together with your heart. Beads of sweat built in the back of your neck and trailed down inside your shirt before you hastily wiped them away while trying to gather your composure and calm down.

Once rationality came back, a sense of being watched overwhelmed you until your eyes naturally snapped toward the culprit– only to come face to face with Spaventa several feet away and intent on watching you with confusion, his white fluffy hair blocking his furrowed eyebrows and narrowed red eyes “Why were you trashing around like a fish out of water?” he finally spoke up after several seconds where you just looked at each other.

It dawned on you that you got worked up for a dream.

“Oh my fucking god, just kill me already” you groaned loudly, falling back down on the ground and covering your face in utter shame while Spaventa leaned closer, surprised by your behavior. Are all humans this weird or did he have the misfortune to find the odd one?

After breaking down for another couple of seconds, you finally found it in yourself to move and stand up– gather all your personal belongings– and rub one of those leaves that left a scent to cover up yours. Then up and away you go, to continue your deadly journey. . .with a new cute companion mere feet away. The monster child still didn’t dare to come closer than a few inches from yesterday but he also looked less on edge and ready to jump you at any moment.

Curious.

He was like a child at the end of the day. Curious and naive if you had to say, maybe that was what was saving you from being devoured and you will thank whatever god might be up there for not having to save your skin again. . .or at least not so soon.

You tried to strike a conversation– more like questions and answers– and, even if at the start he seemed to be hesitant, the white haired monster relaxed just enough to spit out a couple of words which felt like a huge improvement. It wasn’t like you weren’t apprehensive yourself– he was a child. . .which meant that he had parents. . .and if monsters behave like animals. . .

You are as good as dead if they see you near their son.

Even worse, you are a human to them– they will make you suffer if they think that you were hurting Spaventa.

And then there was a small part of you. . .a small part that kept whispering in your ear to abandon the child, run away, get rid of him. At the end of the day he was a predator– a monster and monsters will all just hurt you and everyone you care about. You tried once, you truly did believe that despite being different from you, they wouldn’t be dangerous. You connected the dots, had enough context to understand that they had a hard past– something traumatic and that they had been hurt because they looked inhuman.

You believed that it didn’t matter what they looked like, you would’ve accepted them.

. . .

Look where that brought you.

But you shook your head, took a deep breath and turned around to watch him safely walk across the old log over the torrent– feeling your heart skip a beat when he almost lost his balance. He made it anyway and you kept going.

Sunset quickly approached and, once again, you were forced to stop and set camp– luckily you two took a small drag path and avoided a lot of unnecessary waste of time, therefore you still managed to reach the second hunter cabin. Everything according to plan! 

It’s not like you had to swim in the mess of bushes, trees and vegetation. Not at all. 

At least you have a roof over your head tonight, if it rains you will be set, although it’s still better to turn on the gas burner outside. That’s. . .if you even manage to turn it on. . .and in the last twenty minutes you had yet to make progress and settled to just contemplate your life choices while cursing under your breath and wondering if being the pet of killer clowns would be less shameful than not being able to use a gas burner correctly.

Spaventa kept his eyes on you, hidden inside the hunter cabin while mentally trying to understand what exactly you were doing. That thing. . .it’s the same object you used in the last two days. The thing that makes a small, the smallest fire he ever saw. And it seems that you are having problems with making that work. He never saw anyone make a fire like that– no wonder you were having problems! Why would you push and turn buttons to summon a flame?!

“Goddamn, I swear this thing is broken. . .” biting your lip, you leaned back and restrained yourself from picking the gas burner and throwing it at the nearest tree. Blake made it look easy enough. . .why can’t you do the same?

“I can do it” 

A tiny voice spoke behind your back, prompting you to turn around and set your eyes on the white haired monster child standing at the entrance of the door while his tail gently swung from side to side “What?” you blinked, tilting your head to the side “The fire. . .” Spaventa repeated “I can give you fire” and then pointed at the gas burner at your feet which you stepped aside to look at better. Was he being serious? Could it possibly be that a monster child knows how a gas burner works better than you?

“Ah. . .” You mumbled out and made a gesture with your hand like an invitation for Spaventa to go on and take the stage “All yours then” let the monster come closer, the same voice whispered in your ear, let him come close enough to burn you– believe his words in the same way you believed theirs–

You shook your head, mentally pushing it away and under a rug to suffocate all those ill words. 

Spaventa stood still at your invite before frowning which made you lift an eyebrow in confusion. Trailing your gaze between him and the gas burner you finally made the connection in your mind and almost barked out a laugh “You could've said it instead of looking at me like that, you know? I'm not a mind reader” and just like that, you walked to the opposite direction till reaching a tree farther enough for the red eyed monster to deem good and, in turn, finally making his way to the item built in the depths of hell.

You leaned your back against the tree trunk and simply watched. Your eyes followed the child coming up to inspect the item, taking it into his hands, turning it around with child-like wonder and curiosity, pushing buttons and even giving it a bite before placing it down after a while he didn't find what he was looking for. You almost huffed a small smirk, glad that you hadn't been beaten by a kid and that the gas burner was truly something incomprehensible– only to freeze at the weird clicking sound.

Spaventa knelt near the gas burner, turning the button that was supposed to release gas, as you saw his throat doing a weird movement only for his mouth to open next and fire coming out. It hit the gas, prompting it to catch fire and actually turn on.

The child leaned back, smoke still coming out of his mouth, before turning toward you and give a thumbs up “I've done it”

Your flabber was gasted.

“Th-That–!” You stammered with your jaw to the ground “That was amazing Spaventa! You breathe fire?! I've never seen something so cool! You are like one of my father's comics’ superhores!” In that moment all rationality and caution flew out of the window at the sight of magic happening before your eyes. You knew that monsters possessed it– you saw Ticket Taker emerge from a mirror and Jester hypnotizing fools– but seeing it in first person will always be so cool.

The visible cheeks under Spaventa's white hair slowly flushed red as he stammered “I-It's nothing! You are lying human!”

“I'm serious! I never saw anyone literally spitting fire from their mouths!” You insisted, bawling your hands in fists and stepping closer.

“I-I am not great or anthing–! This is just a tactic to get me to lower my guard so you can eat me!” Spaventa argued, his cheeks a fierce red of embarrassment. 

“I already told you that I don't eat monsters!”

“Liar! Human liar!”

“I changed my mind. I’m gonna eat your hair and make you bald”

“See?! I knew you were evil!”

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The fire tonight is warmer.

You were sitting in front of the gas burner, barely out of the hunter cabin, while Spaventa sat just inside the circle of light as he watched you eat some bread. Then a low rumble echoed in the air, halting you from biting down at the bread. Soon enough you connected the sound with the monster child’s stomach as he curled himself further like he was guilty of it.

Was he hungry? It doesn’t make sense, you kept sharing some of your rations with him and– even though he denied at first– he did consume them. Then. . .maybe monsters ate more than a regular human? Even if they are a child? Or maybe. . .

You thought back at the Circus, at the. . .content you found inside the black tent, at how that monster was trying to get you during the first night. That wasn’t simple blood lust or a wish to kill something. . .that was hunger.

They eat humans– or something akin to humans that’s it.

. . .

You lowered the slice of bread and let the information slowly process in your mind before your gaze snapped back toward the child sitting on the grass, curled on himself while his tail wrapped around his abdomen “You are starving” the words felt like a bomb detonating and for a second you thought the entire forest went deadly silent while Spaventa froze.

“I’m not” he immediately denied only to be betrayed by his own stomach rumbling “I will just have to endure it till I reach the border. . .my mom and dad will surely have something for me. If I eat you now. . .I will never be able to find my parents” but for how long will he be able to ignore it? How long before he snaps and follows his instincts?”

“Spaventa. . .why are you even trying to reach the border? And where are your parents? Seems weird that you are here all alone” finally, you uttered the question burning in your mind the most. You suspected that he might be a runaway– maybe he made a stupid choice, got angry with his parents or wanted to show them he was independent and took off. Problem is, your theory immediately falls off when you remember that he is desperately trying to reach the border.

Spaventa bit down his lip with those sharp teeth, shoulder shaking slightly before he further curled into himself like he wanted to disappear “I’m just doing what my mom said. . .” he confessed, looking at the patches of grass beneath him while his eyes slowly got blurred “Me. . .mom and dad are running away actually. Bad people. . .dad said that bad people found and wanted to hurt us so we had to leave the house and go to the other side. He said that there was someone who will help us and we will be safer”

“Bad people?” you repeated, the shadows on your face flickering when the fire was tormented by the wind.

“Bad people. . .” Spaventa repeated “The same bad people who killed my mom’s sister. He said that they wanted to take our horns, sell them somewhere” small tears rolled down his cheeks, you could see them peek out from his hair “So we ran, we ran in the direction of the border. However one day a storm came up, it was huge and ugly and dark. It started raining before we noticed it. Everything was a mess, I lost my mom’s hand and I couldn’t see anything and I couldn’t hear anything. My fire signal did not work under the rain and before I knew it, the ground under my feet gave away and I fell down a small hillside. Then the rain stopped and I was alone”

You have heard of that storm on the news, it happened a couple of days ago– it formed suddenly and caused so much damage. . .rooftops completely shredded, trees fallen on cars  parked beneath, trashcans everywhere– it was hell. Then it moved away from the city and toward the forest, that’s when it fell over Spaventa and his family.

“My mom said that if one of us, for whatever motive, got separated to meet up at the border. So that’s why I need to go there, I–” his voice stumbled and the monster child looked away “I miss my mom and dad. . .”

. . . 

Your eyes rested on him for a couple of seconds and then shifted down on the bread between your fingers. 

*SLASH!*

Spaventa’s nose twitched as a new smell suddenly hit his senses, making him lift his head from his arm to peek between the strands of his hair and look at what the human was doing. He watched as your expression twisted in a grimace, your dominant hand holding the other one as a cut ran from side to side and blood already started flowing down and a knife dirt with your blood rested in your lap.

You let go of the injured hand to grab the slice of bread before lifting the other one and squeezing your fingers shut, forcing more blood to drip down and soaking the bread. Then you grabbed a couple slices of dried meat and placed them over before quickly leaning over and offering the new monstrosity to the child.

He stared at it in shock, his red eyes widening and shining.

“I know it’s not the same” you then spoke up “I know it won’t taste the same nor will it be a suitable replacement. And I know I can’t offer more– but this is better than eating something that won’t fulfill you no matter how hard you try. At least until we reach the border” you felt the injured hand throb from the pain but you ignored it in favor of keeping your focus on the child.

“If you wish so, you are free to follow me until we find your parents at the border. I won’t stop you”

A sniffle echoed in the night, then another and then another one as Spaventa, for the first time since meeting him, cleared the remaining distance and walked over you to the take the poor excuse of a sandwich before quickly running back to his spot with tears falling down his cheeks and devouring the thing.

You huffed out a smile and leaned back, finally able to pay attention at the self inflicted injury. You need to clean it. . .and especially burn the patch of grass that was soaked in your blood. Plus. . .

You looked at your backpack.

Sharing the carefully selected rations of food means that it will run out much, much earlier. . .tomorrow you need to stop at a town and buy more.

You will have to buy more meat too.

■__—チケット—__■

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“So?”

Columbina fiddled with her fingers, tilting her head to the side and shooting a glance to Ticket Taker who was inspecting the old, broken station “No traces of them, however there was a monster here” he notified, standing up back tall “A monster?” the ebony haired echoed in surprise. This was not good news, she forgot that there could be more monsters still hiding inside this forest. . .which means that they could hurt you if you stumbled into each other.

Yet another reason why you shouldn’t have run away– the world is dangerous. Humans, monsters– everyone! 

God, once you are back she will make sure that nothing will be able to hurt you, not even yourself.

“A child monster, sweet angel please don’t get so worked up. They usually still depend on their parents for food so it’s possible they are just play around in the forest” Ticket Taker comforted her eyeing her expression slightly calm down “Moreover, Jester and Harlequin had been contacting all the monsters we know of to keep an eye out for our darling escapee. They know not to hurt them and simply bring them back with the reward of some high quality meat.”

Columbina nodded her head “Glad to hear that. It will make it easier with our research”

“It would have been easier if they brought their cat with them. Jester was so sure of that fact, usually humans develop bonds with their pets but with them leaving it at home with lost some points” the ebony haired man shook his head “At least we know where they are headed though” Columbina pointed out, earning a nod.

“Exactly. . .one way or another, we are bound to cross paths”

{~♠︎♥︎◆♣︎~}

A/N: I lied, I'm gonna write the note in the next chapter– trust!

[¹] Since MC has only ever seen Pierrot and Harlequin monster traits, their brains can’t elaborate on what might be Jester, Doctor and Ticket Taker monster traits. That’s why in the dream parts of them are blurred, it’s because they don’t know what to place. [²] Moonflowers represent the mystery and magic of night, dreams, and feminine lunar energy. Its evening blooming habit connects it to intuition, the subconscious mind, and the hidden beauty that emerges in darkness. This is a subtle telling that what MC is going through is a dream. [³] Another tell sign that MC is in a dream, it’s the fact that Harlequin and Pierrot are getting along. Since they never knew really how much they despised each other. 

Thank you for bestowing us with your writing and I am so thankful that you popped up on my feed two days ago. You are amazing and loved <3

I will also be read through your other Quotev works as I wait patiently (nawing on my pillows /j)

Not my Circus! Extra content + answered questions.

The pleasure is all mine!!! I'm a but a simple author that has way too many ideas storming in their heads so I'm glad people finds them cool!

I’m curious if spaventa will ever meet the circus cast and the impact he may have and if they will have a happy ending(I hope so) and also where are his parents?

Not my Circus! Extra content + answered questions.

Oh boy, you can bet all your money that he will meet the Circus crew one way or another! Ehehe, as it is- Spaventa will be an important character for the MC journey and they will be important for him to showcase that coexistence between monster and human IS possible even if both of them had been hurt by the other.

They both need to break the cicle of violence to earn peace. It will be difficult, it will be hard but it will be worth it.

The relationship between Spaventa and MC parallel the relationship between MC and the Circus (Not in the romance way but in a 'we are both equal' way. Since none. . .not a single member in the Circus truly sees MC as equal [Perriot sees them as delicate– Jester as beneath him– Doctor as something to be studied– etc. Etc.])

Previous part <-

Next part ->

[MINORS DO NOT INTERACT FURTHER– SENSIBLE CONTENT UNDER THE CUT] –for any questions my inbox is open–

Chapter 25: Capitan Spaventa

~Don't forget to comment your opinion~

{~♤♡◇♧~}

How did you get into this situation? Truly, how could a person be so damn unlucky to end up in the exact situation you were in?

No, I’m not talking about a bunch of monsters dressed like clowns, with delusion in place of thoughts, who somehow developed an obsession with you. Fuck those, we talked about them enough. No. . .it’s not them the problem now (surprisingly) as much as the red eyes you were looking into at the moment. You have to let Doctor study you.

Because there is no way that you stumbled into a monster trapped in metal wires in the middle of a forest.

Okay, wind back, let’s start from the beginning.

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“Do you have everything?”

Fabric against fabric, a sudden heaviness rested against your back just as your hands sneaked around the straps before bringing them in front of your stomach and clicked shut the two locks to secure the backpack on your body. “I’m still of the opinion that I would rather take the chance and use a car to reach the border” your voice came out gruff, heavy with anxiety and tiredness.

“And have the weirdo with a top hat come out the mirrors inside the vehicle? No thanks. That was how we got discovered the last time” Blake shook his head, helping you put on a cloak that could keep your features partially hidden “You think they knew we were directed to the train station because Ticket Taker stalked us through the car’s mirrors?” your question earned a scoff from the older man “That or it was the mirrors inside my house, either way. . .no more mirrors for you”

The thought of walking. . .while not as horrifying as you might have thought, it puts you in unease with the knowledge that you will be completely alone while running toward your only chance to survival and freedom, with the paranoia that every sound might be them stalking you. That is not appealing at all, which is why you were trying your best to persuade for the riskier plan “What if we smash all the mirrors?” you proposed, immediately earning a glare “And have the police taken us into custody? You out of your mind”

Just then, Samuel walked inside the room with a bag full of different containers “Here, the most important part” he pushed them in your hands to be attached to your hip “Completely eliminating one’s scent is not possible, however there are techniques to help mask it. First, carbon clothes. They are used by hunters and are great for the outdoors”

With his experience on the matter, Blake suggested a good brand and bought a couple of mimetic outfits for you, not only to hide within the forest but they are also great when it comes to protection.

“Second, you can use commercial scent-killing sprays and then mask what you couldn’t with natural cover scents like pine or cedar” the bag he gave you was full of said bottle sprays, together with some dried leaves for your mouth and some natural soaps if you needed to clean your clothes and you weren’t near a town “Don’t worry about the blood, we cleaned all the wounds thoroughly however you will need to do that again or the smell of blood will still seep. Be very careful when treating cuts and be sure to wrap them really tight” 

You nodded your head, grateful for the help you’ve received until now. An overwhelming amount if you said so– still, it’s nice to know that there are people who care for you. . .who genuinely care for you.

You felt a hand land over your shoulder making your eyes shift from the floor and toward the blonde boy who was smiling at you before squeezing your shoulder “You might have heard it a lot in these hours but. . .hang there just a little lore. Just a week, that’s all it takes to reach the border, so clench your teeth and move forward, alright?” his eyes started getting shiner and shiner, his bottom lip trembled slightly before he bit down on it and brought you into a big hug, hiding his head against your shoulder “Please. . .please make it okay? Get to the border safe and sound. . .I don’t want to lose someone else. . .“

Snapping out of your stupor, you wrapped your arms around him back and hummed “I will, I promise that not psycho monster will sink their teeth on me– will that be the last thing I allow” a muffled chuckle escaped Samuel’s lips just as Blake walked over and gently pried his son away from you “So that’s it. . .we won’t probably see each other for a long time, a very long time– perhaps even years. However, the day will come where everything will calm down and we will meet again. Nothing will be as before but every storm at the end dies. This is not a goodbye forever. . .just a mere see you in a while”

You snorted “A long while”

Blake tilted his head “But a while nonetheless”

It made you feel better. . .false hope is such a nice thing to believe in.

Something soft walked between your legs, shifting your attention down only to come face to face with Marylin rubbing her head affectionately with a small pouch between her teeth– like she was telling you she was ready to embark in this adventure with you too which prompted a tired chuckle out of your lips “Mari, sweets, I appreciate the support but unfortunately you won’t come with me” gently, you wrapped your fingers around her body and lifted her so that her eyes could meet your.

The empty pouch fell to the floor as she meowed in protest.

“I’m sorry, I’m afraid that from now on we will be on different paths. . .it’s for your safety. You are a stubborn kitty but against 6,6 ft tall monsters who could literally ate you in one bite your stubbornness won’t be enough” Marylin lifted a paw to touch the tip of your nose and once again meowed, this time sounded sadder.

“We won’t stay separated forever though, I promise that we will be together once more and you will have so many treats you can make a throne out of them” you placed her down and knelt so you could pet her one last time “So stay with uncle Samuel and grandpa Blake, okay?”

Behind you heard the older man grumble under his breath “From mister to grandpa. . .this kid can’t call people’s names normally. . .”

Finally, after going back and forth, you approached the front door placing your hand over the knob and hesitated. Your lungs expanded, gathering as much air as possible before exhaling and turned around to gaze at Blake and Samuel one last time, who were already looking at you back, the younger of the two holding Marilyn in his arms while the other with his arms crossed “Thank you again for everything”

Blake lifted a hand “Stay safe out there”

You wanted to promise it but the words felt like flour in your tongue.

“See you in a while” you settled with a smile.

“See you in a long while” were the last words the two of them uttered before you opened the door and started your escape for the border.

The sun was barely out, the air chilly and the smell of flowers overwhelmed your senses. . .such a nice day for trekking.

The plan was simple, really. Hike all the way up to reach the border while using nature to conceal your presence and, once on the other side, get the first plane available and get as far away as possible. The city you were in, where Samuel held his studies to obtain his veterinary degree, was the last big city before the border– with only small towns, patches of forest and empty fields as everything else. 

You will occasionally follow small streets near the forest without ever actually stepping on them and instead exploit the trees to stay hidden– there were a couple of risky sections where you would have to walk along wheat fields that might have the occasional tree here and there but nothing else. And then there were a couple of towns, mainly occupied by farmers that tended to the wheat or woodworkers.

First part? It is a walk through the woods, a small path that can make you skip a lot instead of sticking to the roads– also technically safer as no insane driver can accidentally hit you.

And so the first day you spent like that. Alone. Walking. In an unknown place. And freezing every time you hear a weird sound.

There are a lot of weird sounds in the woods. Rustling, birds’ chirping, water flowing, the wind blowing through the leaves, groaning and crying. . .

Groaning and crying?

Ahead, near an abandoned cabin someone probably used as a station before they closed the path to the public, your ears caught what sounded like someone struggling with doing something, groans followed by rustling and metal against metal. It made you freeze, body going rigid and heart almost bursting out of your chest. Something. . .something alive was far ahead, right in the path you needed to take.

What could it be? An animal? What if it was another human who needed help? Or. . .no, that’s your paranoia speaking. There is no way that it could be them– there is no way that they knew you were here–No way! You don’t have mirrors on you and avoided all the ones in the city before entering the forest. Plus the first thing you and Blake did upon arriving at Samuel's apartment had been taking off all the mirrors or covering them.

No, calm down. . .you are losing your cool–you can’t lose it on the first day damn it!

. . .

You debated if you should approach the sound. The problem was that it was exactly in the middle of the path you have to take and walking around it won’t be possible since the vegetation grew so much that you will be forced to step inside and you don’t want to leave traces of your passage nor accidentally tear the new clothes. Therefore you did the only thing you could.

You persevered on.

The closer you got to the sound, the clearer it became. It sounded like grunts and struggle. And once you approached the old station you understood why.

The ground near it gave away, debris, mud and all sorts of things filled the hole. And right in the center. . .there was the origin of the sounds. . .and you wanted to fall to the ground and never move again when your brain finally made the connection of what it was looking at. Of what it was looking at.

A monster.

A monster child.

His skin dark as the night, short fluffy white hair sticking out everywhere as he kept moving, desperate to be free from the wires holding him down. His fierce red eyes, filled with tears to the brim, snapped around frantically before suddenly landing on you– which prompted the child to become even more agitated, baring his sharp teeth, kicking around and hiss “G-Go away!” he tried to lift his clawed hand like it was threatening and bit the metal wire with his teeth hoping to free himself.

You stood there, a bit dazed, and watched the scene like God himself woke up one day and decided to throw random bullshit at you. Because this was a bullshit. . .a colossal bullshit. Not even a day. . .not even a day in and you still managed to meet a monster. . .you spent more than twenty years without seeing one– how is that now they are everywhere?!

. . .

What to do now? Should you. . .ignore him and just go your way? He doesn’t look like he wants you anywhere near him anyway, you will lose an arm if you try to help him. . .where are his parents anyway? Oh God, what if they are close and absolutely tear you to shreds if they think you hurt their child?

Maybe the best decision is really ignoring him.

You took a step back. . .then another. . .and started walking away.

. . .

“Gh! It hurts. . .”

Before power walking back with your features twisted in an exasperated scowl. Not even five seconds– you didn’t last five seconds before feeling guilty! For fuck sake! You are gonna die. . .you are gonna die soooo badly– how can you hope to last until reaching the border?!

“Uhm, hey. . .” awkwardly, you called into the hole to attract the monster’s attention who stiffened and snapped his wide red eyes on you “N-No! Go away! I-I’m not afraid of hurting you human! Stay away! Don’t touch me!” he gasped out, the abrupt movements digging the metal wires in his flesh.

“Hey! Hey! Calm down, I’m not gonna hurt you. If you keep trashing around it’s gonna be you the one that will do the damage” showing your empty hands seemed to slightly calm down the monster, not enough to allow you a closer inch but enough where he wasn’t accidentally gonna choke himself. His chest went up and down frantically and his stare never left your face as you examined the situation at hand.

He was wrapped by metal wires, probably caused when he accidentally fell into the pit. Horns, arms, legs, torso, it was a mess only the most fanatic puzzle master would enjoy solving.

The wires run all along the pit and up the wall, reaching the station where they originated from. “Okay, listen” you called the monster again “Here what is gonna happen if you want to be free from your restraints. You need to follow what I’m going to tell you to do, okay? I’m not gonna come closer, I’m not even gonna touch the wires, but I need you to pay attention to my movements and repeat them. Do you understand?”

The small monster looked at you in muted scared silence before slowly nodding which made you sigh inwardly. Good, he is gonna cooperate. “Okay, look. With your left hand, take the wire around your horn. We are gonna free your head first so you can look around yourself.” you made a show of reaching with said hand where your hypothetical horn would be. 

The red eyed kid hesitated before following your movement. “Now, slowly do this” and you made the motion of unwrapping the wire from the horn. For the next half an hour you gently guided the monster child to free himself from his restrainings, never getting closer, mindful of making slow movements and keeping your voice low. Soon enough he was standing on his own and able to walk around.

That was your clue to get the fuck out of there and as far away as possible. Your good deed was made and hopefully it won’t be repaid with you as his next meal “Okay, bye now. Stay away from wires and go back to your parents” and having said that, you turned on your heels and continued your journey without turning around, as quickly as possible. Run, run away from your stupid decisions and bleeding heart. 

*Crack*

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Not even a minute later, you heard a twig snap behind and immediately turned around only to see the monster child a few feet away from you freezing in his place and just staring at you. . . was. . .was he following you? You deadpanned, feeling yourself putting on a guard and eyeing the white haired child suspiciously, only now noticing that his bangs actually were long enough to cover his eyes  “Did I not tell you to go back to your parents?” 

He awkwardly fixed his hair, picking a strand that fell on his left horn “Are you going to the border?” you lifted an eyebrow in confusion “And if I was?” eyeing his reaction, you could see that he was afraid, suspicious but also anxious– like he was sure you were about to jump him any second now “I saw the big circle on the map”

Of course he did, monsters have an excellent vision.

“You need to also reach the border?” the question did not get any answer.

. . .

“I’m going to the border” you spoke again “You don’t seem to know your way there so. . .let’s do a deal. You don’t eat me and I won’t hurt you. In exchange you can follow me to reach your destination” once again you did not gain any answer but he wasn’t also baring his teeth or claws at you so you will take the win and go on with your journey– even if it meant having a kid trailing after you.

Legs working again to walking, the journey re-started once again as you made your way down the path. Several feet away the monster child followed after you, never getting close but also never disappearing from your view. Just enough to have you in his covered sight.

After an hour of silent walking, the sun started lowering too much for you to continue so, painfully, you had to set up camp. The plan was to reach one of those hunter cabins left around so you could have a roof over your head, but helping the child ate away too much of your precious time and you will be forced to sleep under the stars tonight.

Finding a clearance, you stopped and took off the heavy backpack from your shoulders and lowered it to the ground. A pair of red eyes watched you with curiosity, the small monster wondering why you would already stop even if the sun was setting in the horizon. He wondered what you were doing, from the safety of distance, taking out an old piece of. . .something and placing it on the ground before meddling with it.

He watched you curse under the breath and recoil when the object sparked some flames that burned your hand. He covered his mouth to muffle a chuckle as the amusing human kept struggling with whatever they were doing. After arguing with it a couple more of seconds, you managed to finally turn it on and a small flame appeared. Too small for warming anyone, must be for food then or perhaps you didn’t have anything else that could be better.

Hours passed by and the darkness started spreading all around you, never reaching the fire though. You sat near it, watching the flames dance while not finding in yourself to actually fall asleep. Not when there was a monster (albeit a child) standing just outside of the light ring. Questions on whenever he would attack you once your eyes closed made it impossible to relax. Hard was trusting his words after all you had with his species were bad experiences.

The first day and night came and passed like this, with you and child never utter another word after the whole metal wires incident. You slept at intervals, well. . .sleeping might be a way to put it– all you did was go in and out of consciousness every couple of minutes to make sure you weren't actually being eaten by the kid. However all he did was staying far away from you but never enough to disappear.

The next morning arrived and so your journey started once again, thr objective of today was reaching not the original hunter cabin but push it until the next one. And, once again, the kid monster was just right behind you, following in your footsteps the whole time. You never attempted to talk with him, it wasn't your plan to be friends and you doubt he wants to in the first place.

Midday arrived sooner than expected and the pangs of hunger started to eat your stomach away, so you decided to stop. The kid also stopped, sitting down under a tree on the other side of the small stream you found. You took out the necessary to have a small meal, together with your bottle water, and just sat down in front of him. Staring.

He stared back. . .you think. . .you can't see those red eyes under his white bangs.

"You know right that you can come a little closer? At least when it's night, it can be cold" Finally you spoke up, feeling bad to have him always just outside of the heat ring. He perked up, shuffled his feet and looked away "I don't trust you. . ." 

Go figure, you learned a long time ago that monsters have crazy trust isses–

"To not eat me!"

*SPRFFFF!*

The water you were drinking suddenly flew out of your mouth as the last bit of the sentence reached your ears, making you double down and cough your lungs before snapping your head up in disbelief "Excuse me, what?" the shuffled around once again, before finding the courage to speak "Yes! You humans! You humans are evil and eat monster children who are naughty! And– And you will use our bones as decor!"

You stared at the kid. You stared at him really hard.

His parents must have told him scary stories to make him stay away from human. . .

"I won't eat you. . ." You let out a long sigh and rubbed your temples "I heard your flesh would taste horrible anyway, I have fine palate you know?" the tease seemed to get out a reaction as you saw the child gasp "I-I do not taste bad! I actually taste super yummy! My mom always bite (lovingly) my cheeks and says so!" He argued with his cheeks puffed.

"Ehhhh? Are we sure?" You drawled, smirking and twirling your water bottle around "People says that monster flesh is so salty" You saw him vigorously shake his head "I'm not salty! I'm the perfect balance!"

You stuck out your tongue "I don't believe it"

He jumped on his feet, the tail behind his back waving around in protest "I swear!"

With a laugh, you leaned back against the tree and shook your head "Well, unfortunately I won't know since I can't actually ate any of you. My teeth aren't made for that diet, see? They are duller than yours" and pointed at your teeth "So you can stay sure that the only one in danger here is me"

Instantly, things seemed to click in the child's head and he visibly relaxed "Oh" before sitting down on the grass "So you won't eat me?" 

You shook your head.

"Hurt me?"

Again, your head shook "If I wanted to, I would've done so when you were trapped"

He fell silent for a second, then– "Why did you help me?"

You hummed and lifted your gaze to the sky before closing your eyes "It's nice. . .helping other people, even if I'm not always brave enough to offer it, but when I do. . .it fills my chest, make it warm and heavy. People are mean enough on their own, if I can. . .I want to avoid being like them"

The white haired monster opened his mouth, the words failed to come out of his mouth, before he finally managed to utter out a weak "You are a kind human. . ."

To which you just shook your head "I'm just a human" then you pointed your bottle in his direction "My name is ____, what's yours? If we are gonna share a journey I would like to avoid always call you 'Monster child'" which prompted him to raise his shoulders slightly and his to wrap around his torso "Oh! I'm–"

The next words words that came out of his mouth did not sound like words at all and just jumbled noises incomprehensible to you. That must be his name in whatever language monsters speak. . .which of course it would be impossible for you to replicate as. . .well. . .you are just human.

"Afraid I can't pronounce it. Me and my weak human vocal cords" your words prompted a chuckle out of the child and you grinned "What about a nickname?" That seemed to please him as he nodded his head eagerly.

"What about. . ." You muttered under your breath.

"Spaventa?" [¹]

{~♠︎♥︎◆♣︎~}

Extra:

MC: *Completely traumatized after everything that they went through*

Life: *Yeet a monster child to them like a sniper*

A/N: I always say that I will finally make a note explaining why Livia was a perfect match for Columbina and why MC and Harlequin had such affinity, however I'm always so tired after writing. . .I promise next chapter I will do it!

[¹] The name comes from the character 'Capitan Spaventa' in the Commedia dell'arte. He is a sophisticated and cultured character, not at all presumptuous: rather a poet, a dreamer who struggles to distinguish between fantasy and reality, a sort of Don Quixote of La Mancha.

I do have to ask though: in a hypothetical situation in which MC, during the bathroom confrontation, gave in and decided to go with Jester, how would the Circus cast react/behave? I assume there would be a collective relief, but would that change how they treat MC?

Regardless, please remember to rest and take care of yourself!

Not my Circus! Extra content + answered questions.

So, I have to be honest. . .at the start I didn't plan for this whole running away– I mean! I did! But it should've have ended with MC backed to a corner where Jester gave them an impossible choice.

Either come back willingly or Pierrot would've continued killing the people in the town in a sort of crash out– something like that.

The plan was to have MC givin in, guilt about what happened to Livia creeping in– not wanting for more people to lose their lives because of them. Volume 2 should've been centered around MC imprisonment into the Circus and the toxic dynamics with the clowns.

Then I had a vision– scrapped that idea and instead kept the chase plot. And all thanks to a new character coming next chapter 👅

Thank him, because otherwise I had planned far worse for MC.

Coming back to your question. If Jester managed to worn out MC mental strenght enough to be able to crush them between his fingers. . .first of all he would feel extremely smug. That's right, little human, just follow his orders like it should've always been.

As you said, extreme relief but also a lot of tension between the members themselves. They haven't had the 'Share them or not shared them' discussion so I feel like a lot of fighting would break out (especially between Harlequin and Pierrot) where the golden eyed monster would keep you to himself and growl to anyone who would come closer. Though, it could be that you might also get involved in these conflicts– not that you would be much of help. With your spirit crushed you would hardly speak or move– like a doll.

Only after everyone sat down and discussed the situation, an arrangement could be decided.

Restrains (Especially from Jester and Ticket Taker). At least at the start surely– there is no way that they will take the chances and allow you to run away again. Not anymore. Some of them would also become paranoid so it's likely that you will never be alone.

I wouldn't rule out Doctor injecting you with all sort of medication to keep you numb, or your legs paralyzed or straight up to the point that you can't think anymore. He is there is case something goes wrong so the others aren't that worried about him stripping away from you any form of self mobility.

Previous part <-

Next part ->

[MINORS DO NOT INTERACT FURTHER– SENSIBLE CONTENT UNDER THE CUT] –for any questions my inbox is open–

Chapter 25: Reorganizing

A/N: Before starting! Thank you so much to Yaritza for the fanarts about Mister Blake and Livia –AH! THEY ARE THE CUTES EVER!!! ( ´∀｀)σ)∀`)

~Don't forget to comment your opinion~

{~♤♡◇♧~}

You were scared, relieved, hysterical, numb and so many other emotions that you couldn’t even acknowledge that right now you were inside the same vehicle that had been the protagonist of many nightmares hunting your mind. However, in all honesty, you couldn’t focus on the sound of wheels hitting the metal rails and instead only thought about the arm around your shoulders and the smell of dirt and blood all around you. No more anguish cries begging you to come back, no more invasive touches all over your flesh, no more sharp claws digging just below your jugular like you were constantly under threat. No more of that. . .for the moment at least.

“I’m glad to see you still in one piece” Blake was the first to break the hug, taking a step back and offering a gruff smile instead “None of those bastards took a bite out of you, right?” he then added, looking you up and down to make sure that there were no teeth marks anywhere “I’m. . .alive i guess. Can’t say the same about you, though– did you fight a bear?!” you gasped out. While, sure, you weren’t the picture of perfection– looking more like a minefield rather than a human being, Blake himself seemed to have sustained some damage.

“You aren’t that far off” his black hair was a complete mess, small ponytail completely undone and part of them sticking to his right blue eye covering it “He was vicious, I must admit that. They know how to fight and they know how to fight well. The purple grape is also resilient as hell” he gritted his teeth and scoffed “He managed to snap my arm clean off”

And indeed, his left arm was looking pretty limp under his cloak and blood was already slowly dripping down between his fingers and forming a small puddle on the floor “Shit– does it hurt? Maybe there is a medic on board and we should–” your fretting was cut off by a hand resting over your head for a second before ruffling your hair like a little kid and earning muffled protests “We are both pretty messed up, kid. Let’s focus about one thing at the time, you worry too much”

You stared at him in disbelief.

Too much–WORRY TOO MUCH?!

Oh yeah, it’s not like you left him to fight the only monster that has so much hatred for humanity he could very well be hate personification himself.

“I didn’t have anything to fear, not when this little lady came to my rescue” Blake chuckled, looking at Marilyn on his shoulder and scratching beneath her chin with his finger “Climbed over the bathroom window just as that bastard managed to toss my rifle away and broke my arm. Genuinely thought my end was here when I saw a blur of orange and white coming like a missile and landing over his head” a laugh at the memory broke out of him.

“She started hissing and scratching like crazy– not getting off his head no matter how much he trashed around! I think he was cursing in Portuguese, I’m not sure but he was so mad it felt great.” your gaze flickered on your cat, which was already looking back with a smug gaze– proud of finally showing those monsters who was the real boss here. Which of course was her “Then I got my rifle back and shot him in the leg before scooping the lady here and running away.”

Blake chuckled before his gaze softened “I bet everything that you were already on it despite your fears”

At the explanation you uttered a laugh of disbelief “Is it over?” stubborn tears made their way in your eyes yet again and the ebony haired man simply stared at you for a second before finally speaking “I’m not sure, if they are as stubborn as they fight I would probably say no. But. . .I’d say that for now we can take a break” people from inside the carriage looked at you two, whispering to each other with confused expressions– some tempted to call security, others not even bothered and simply kept their heads down. This was a normal occurrence.

“Anyway, how long will it be before we reach Samuel’s college city?” you asked, feeling the adrenaline slowly wearing off and only now starting to process that you are truly inside a train, to which Blake just patted your back “Three hours”

“Three hou–THREE HOURS?!”

.

.

.

.

.

.

For the rest of the time, you spent it curled in a ball sitting against the corner of a carriage while Blake walked back and forth from the bathroom to clean his injuries– at least as much as possible to not trigger the police at the station or being accused of straight up murder. He wasn’t a doctor, but he had his fair share of broken bones therefore building a makeshift cast with what you two had hadn’t been such a huge issue. Blake is simply ticked off than now he is injured.

He washed away the grime from his face before suddenly groaning and doubling over as a headache bloomed– slamming the inside of his forehead “Fuck ass old age. . .don’t do this to me now” he cursed under his breath, briefly stealing a glance in your direction and at the display at the end of the carriage where it was written the next stop– their next stop.

“I better go and wake up ___, once out we have to run off any potential cop” muttering to himself, he dried his face from the water and walked over the sear you were in and shook your shoulder “Kiddo wake up, we are here” he called out, waiting for you to stir and stretch. . .only to earn a meek “I’m already awake. . .” from you who still hadn’t moved nor lifted your face from the corner you platted yourself.

Blake blinked in confusion, looking around before clearing his throat “Okay. . .do you plan to get up anytime soon?” once again, he earned silence followed by your head shaking slowly “Trains are so scary. . .”

Blake sighed deeply at the sight and shook his head “Good lord, I can’t believe it”

■__—ブレイク —__■ [¹]

Samuel is a normal guy, or at least, he likes to think he is. Sure, by someone standard he might have had quite the hard teen years, becoming famous for the disappearance of his mother and having to take care of his father least he wanted to end up with two dead parents (allegedly, he doesn’t know if his mother truly ran away or not)

Either way, Samuel likes to think that, despite everything, things are starting to look upward and soon enough he will finish his studies and find a job, like the good citizen he is.

. . . .

Then, why the fuck is he now looking at his father and ex neighbor standing in front of his door cosplaying WW2 soldiers?

“D-Dad?! ___?! What is going– are you okay?!” he wasn’t expecting a visit from his father who lives three hours away by train and he expected even less for him to be accompanied by his neighbor “I will live, Sam. . .” was everything Blake said before making his way inside the modest apartment while helping you not fall down “Can we take a shower?” 

Samuel stared at you two with a baffled look–only to snap out of it immediately after “You are injured dad! Your goddamn arm shouldn't be bent like that–! Let me check it, oh my GOD!” useless to say but the next hour had been a complete mess. 

You finally took a bath and cleaned yourself raw, not wanting any remainder of them. Each hand print left on your skin, each scratch made with their claws– everything! You scrubbed everything raw, and dunked yourself in five different shampoos to cancel any scent or whatever the heck they might have left on you. Meanwhile Samuel was running around trying to play doctor and fix his dear father's arm “What the hell, what the hell!? I’m studying medicine yea. . .bu medicine for animals– I’m gonna be a veterinarian not a doctor!?”

At the end of that hellish hour, you three were sitting on his couch just staring ahead to a turned off TV– most likely just processing whatever hell you crawled out of.

. . .

“So. . .” Samuel started slowly, pushing himself forward and placing his elbows over his knees; he laced his fingers together brought his hands over his mouth before changing idea and letting them dangling “Am I allowed to have an explanation or. . .” the question hung in the air like a bomb ready to detonate. And, just like a switch, the air suddenly got tense and heavy followed by a knot forming inside your throat– hard to swallow but hard to push forward too. After all, how do you start explaining to someone what you just lived through?

Should you lie? Would telling him the truth put him in danger too. Are YOU out of danger? Will you ever be out of danger from now on?

Would it be cruel to burden him with the knowledge of what happened to Livia? Would it be more merciful if you told him a kinder version?

. . .

“Samuel. . .” you started, your heart begging you to not relive that nightmare again– not so soon. But you knew that if you waited more you will lose courage and never speak again “What. . .What I’m about to tell you. . .you have to believe me as it pains me to say that it is the truth no matter how unbelievable it might seem. And– And I want to say how sorry I am–”

“Kiddo you don’t have to say it” Blake cut you off sending what seemed a sharp glare but really, it was simply one filled with worry “I can do it, you already went through enough–”

“But it has to be me!” and now it was you cutting him off so suddenly that it surprised him and prompted Marilyn to open her eye briefly to look at you. Noticing the outburst you looked away, awkwardly coughing out the nervousness and trying your best to remain calm and composed “Sorry. . .for shouting. But I need to speak while I still can, while my voice still allows me and doesn’t remain stuck in my throat. Plus. . .it all started with me. The least I can do is warn others with my experience. . .”

Warn. . .warn what? About any circus because psychopath clowns could be hiding behind masks? Perhaps is simply wishful thinking, not wanting to admit that you and Livia were doomed from the start because–fuck! 

You really couldn’t have done anything at that point to save her. And hate not being able to do something.

“____. . .” Samuel called your name softly, his brows furrowed with concern and apprehension while trying to grasp and understand what was happening “You are scaring me. . .please just tell me what happened, I don’t like not knowing things” he pleaded, grabbing your hands in his and looking at you with those soft eyes of his “I’m worried about you and dad, I-I don’t like seeing you hurt. . .what’s going on?”

You looked at his hands holding yours and took a deep breath “Sam. . .” your mouth tasted like blood “Livia is dead”

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Samuel stared at you and Blake with wide horrified eyes as you finished recounting all the events that happened in the last days. His fingers felt numb, like his tongue and lips as he tried to find the strength to speak through all the information his brain had to process “A-Ah. . .” a blonde strand of hair fell in front of his face, tears quickly building in his eyes “L-Livia. . .she–. . .gh–!” he bit back what seemed to be a sob “Mom and Livia. . .” he repeated before suddenly standing up with a yerk “I-I’m sorry-” and rushed out of the living room with his head down, in the direction of his bathroom.

You felt like shit.

Watching him run away, trying to hide his tears– you always knew that Samuel was soft at heart. Perhaps you shouldn’t have been so selfish and told him a small lie instead. . .

“Don’t look like that, it’s not easy for anyone to hear something like that” Blake tried to comfort you, patting your healthy shoulder “Especially when he had something for Lilli. . .he is probably regretting never having the courage to confess” you felt even more shitty, your theory of being the wrong survivor intensifying each second that went by which was immediately noticed by the ebony haired man “Don’t you dare blame yourself, alright? Remember, don’t be stuck in the past and look at the future”

Then he stood up, petting Marilyn as he walked past you “I’m gonna go and check on him, you stay here and rest. Eat something, drink and watch TV but don’t stay still doing nothing. That’s the worst when you are grieving” and just like that, he also disappeared from the living room following the muffled sobs leading to the bathroom.

You stared at the turned off TV for a couple more seconds and then loudly groaned before laying down on the couch and covering your face with your hands. You are so miserableeeee. When is this sense of guilt ever gonna go away?!

“Oof!” something heavy fell over your chest, followed by a long soft tail slamming over your face and making your eyes twitch “Oi. . .” you huffed, looking at the cat giving you her shoulder through your fingers “You are heavy Marilyn. . .get off” the calico, however, swung her tail over your face once again and shot you a look over her shoulders before turning around (making sure to put all her weight on the paw directly over your sternum) before nuzzling her head against yours.

“Mar–pft!- Marilyn! You are filling my mouth with your fur! Quit it!” your protests were ignored as she kept purring and snuggling, making biscuits with her paws. It must have been ridiculous to watch as a grown ass adult that survived monsters was being overpowered by a mere cat. Insane, your life is insane.

“Alright, understood, you want treats” you chuckled, finally cupping her under the armpits and pushing the calico away who just meowed again “Stupid cat. . .” you murmured affectionately and looked at her before noticing something weird reflected in her eyes leaning closer with furrowed eyebrows “Mh? Were they always this–” 

“Kiddo” Blake reappeared inside the living room, Samuel closely behind him with red eyes “Now that everyone is informed we have to talk about something important” Marilyn wiggled out of your grasp and instead jumped over the headrest of the couch once again, making herself comfortable. Samuel shot you a brief look before shifting his eyes away “I’m. . .sorry for the scene I made”

You just shook your head and hummed “It’s fine, I don’t blame you. Heavy stuff and all. . .”

“Speaking of heavy stuff” Blake walked over the chair opposite to the couch “I know that we are all tired and I know you all just want to close your eyes, forget everything and sleep. . .however it’s in these moments that we shouldn’t let our guard down” his son sat by your side, latching his finger together “I can’t believe that monsters exist. . .” he muttered, mainly to himself.

“And not any normal monsters” his father added, pointing his finger at him “I could have not given a shit if they existed, however these bastards kill without a second thought and for the sound of it they meticulously choose people who are struggling or that won’t be noticed if missing. The weakest of the weakest. They are cowards” following his words you simply hummed and crossed your arms “Either way what now? Do we stay low? Change our documents?”

“Maybe you should call the police? There is surely gonna be an investigation on all the people that went missing and they will provide you with protection” Samuel tried to suggest.

“No, no and no. We won’t do anything like that” Blake shook his head at all the suggestion “You are gonna run away” he then settled, pointing his finger at you who blinked a couple of times in confusion before shouting a loud ‘HUH?’ and leaned forward “Run away? Again?! I just finished running away like five minutes ago. Can’t I. . .I dunno. . .stay hidden somewhere? Even if they come searching for me, if they can’t find me here they will be forced to go away. . .I’m sure they will eventually get tired”

Above you, Marinlyn growled, softly laying her tail over your face.

“They are animals, or at least they act like one but ten times smarter. Plus they are horrendously stubborn. Think about it. . .” Blake pointed out, tilting his head to the side “You know too much, you know much more than us– therefore they will be hell bent on finding and killing you no matter what it takes. You are the biggest liability to them” 

Samuel hummed, taking hold of his chin and looking to the ground with furrowed eyebrows “There are multiple animals who take days following their prey until it falls down exhausted before punching. . .once they get their eyes on you it’s impossible to lose. Their behaviors with you remind me of this. . .maybe they also hunt by stalking and lingering. If they are sure you are here, they won’t leave you alone till you are dead”

At those words you grimaced and Marilyn looked at the blonde man.

“Plus. . .is it only me or most of them exhibit mating rituals?” he then added, prompting you and Blake to grimace in disgust “Pretty sure you have studied too much because I’m pretty sure that killing and eating one's partner isn’t exactly ‘mating’ ritual. Almost died more times than I can count” your reply earned a flurry of apologies from Samuel who quickly shook his head “No, no, no, no–I mean! From how you described to me– and keeping in mind that they behave mainly like animals– exchanging gifts. . .taking care of each other's wounds. . .stepping in to protect the other. . .trying to bite you– especially in the neck–. . .well, that sound a lot like they were courting you”

You just stared at him with your mouth agape and completely baffled “Just kill me already” then you slammed your head on the couch pillows and just screamed your lungs out. What a goddamn bullshit! You have to deal with psychopath killer clowns who are trying to woo you?!

“A-Ah! But I might be wrong– I–!” Samuel tried to reassure you, awkwardly hovering near you, only to earn a glare from the cat beside him followed by a hiss that made him awkwardly back off.

“One more motive to get the hell away from this country” Blake settled, taking out a crumpled piece of paper “Out of the country?” you echoed in confusion and made your way closer as he opened what you recognized to be your country map “Exactly” the ebony haired man nodded, his finger trailing from the city you were in and away, away till it reached the border “You are going to reach the border, you are going to leave all together and go somewhere far”

Marilyn kept her ear up, listening to the conversation.

You looked at him like he was crazy– scratch that. He definitely was “You are out of your mind. . .”

Blake instead shook his head instead “It’s your only choice really. You think that you have lost them but until you are inside this country you will never stray away from their claws–even now you are just a breath away. Sure you have taken the train, but how long will it take for them to check each city it stops at before stumbling into this one? How good are they to track down your blood, sweat or scent? Those are first and foremost predators. They know how to hunt what they want. And they want you”

The words made you shift uncomfortably.

“If instead you reach the border and get inside another country, then get the plane, ship, whatever you prefer and reach a continent opposite. . .only then tracking you down will be completely impossible. Only then your chance of survival will multiply”

Reach the border. . .you have to reach the border. . .and leave the country. . .you have to leave everything behind? Granted that you literally have nothing but still. This country was something familiar to you. . .entering into another one. . .somewhere you aren’t familiar with and completely different? It’s scary. . .it’s really, really scary to think about.

“Kiddo. . .” Blake placed his hand over your shoulder, prompting your gaze to meet his, noting Samuel by his side smiled softly at you “I know that this is scary. . .what you had to go through was scary and what you will have to face will be equally so. However this is not forever. . .they won’t hunt you down for eternity. They are animals at the end of the day. They will always prioritize survival and if following you becomes dangerous they will give up. Just hang a little longer, okay? You will soon sleep peacefully” he squeezed your shoulder at the end making you nod and hide your gaze away from them.

“We will go as soon as possible” he said, before immediately being interrupted by his son “You can’t go with them– none of us can. Dad, your arm is broken– it will only be a liability. And the more people there are, the harder it is to hide your tracks”

“Tracks?” you lifted an eyebrow.

“You don’t think that you can reach the border with a vehicle, right? Sure, they are animals but at the same time they are extremely intelligent. If you take the train again, they will just follow the train tracks. If you use the car, it will be easily identified since it’s in my name. Bus, it’s the same” Samuel listed with his fingers and you could feel dread pooling at the base of your stomach.

“Your only option is on foot”

■__—サムエル—__■[²]

. . .

Pierrot stared at the woods in front of him, golden eyes wide, pupils shrunk into pin pricks shaking like crazy, expression blank, horns that still had to retract. He doesn’t know exactly how he is feeling. It’s like there were at least thousands of different emotions and thoughts clashing with each other– in the same way he feels whenever he was near you– but no. This kind of chaos was different– it hurt, but not the good kind of way– it hurt so much all he wanted to do was weep or maybe tearing his claws through his flesh till it reached his heart and squeezed it to stop suffering like this.

You were gone. . .

He were so close, one second he swore he had touched you– then other and you are no longer in his field of view and instead getting far and far away from him. From his embrace. From your place rightfully between his arms. 

He doesn’t remember much after that, only bits and pieces confused, however next thing he knew– he and the rest of his family were inside a villa Harlequin found, their disguises shed as no human would venture this far and even if they did. . .yeah. The Circus supplies and tents were left in a parking lot with the fools keeping an eye on them.

“They. . .They are gone?” Columbina's soft voice murmured, her shoulder high and closed on her body as she looked to the side with sadness in her eyes. Sure, she knew that you came to find the truth in quite the harsh way but running away like that without letting them explain? Humans are truly such a fragile species, so skittish of everything. Like a little kitten– make a sudden loud sound and it scurry away from you.

Doctor said nothing, standing close to her while looking through his notes about you– like reading and re-reading every single detail about you would unlock the secret den you hidden into.

Pierrot golden eyes abruptly snapped over Harlequin, who until now stood in the corner of the room cowering like a wounded animal and staring at the bandaged tentacle that you cut before freeing yourself. How cruel. . .to tear away from him the last piece that touched you. How truly cruel of you. So cruel it makes Harlequin want to do the same with one of your arms or legs.

“You. . .” Pierrot growled before suddenly lunging at him and grabbing the front of his shirt “You let them get away! You scared them into hurting themself! Were you trying to kill them?! Dangling my dear from such height” he snarled when the green eyed monster, instead of recoiling, got closer to him and bared his sharp teeth back, tentacles wrapping around Pierrot’s arms to push him back or maybe tearing them from his body.

Columbina gasped, her and Doctor quickly running to separate the two of them.

“My fault? My goddamn fault?! Of course it’s my fault! It’s always my fault for you! It’s my fault even if you were the idiot that revealed everything and let them escape the first time, uh?!” his sharp claws tried to cut the silver haired chest, as he in exchange tried to bite the ebony haired man face off “If you weren’t such a lovesick puppy who only needs to flutter your eyelashes or cry to have everything you wanted then maybe, instead of wasting time begging and sobbing for them to come back, you would have caught ____ before they could have got inside the train!”

“Why you–!” Pierrot growled, feeling Doctor’s arms wrap around his owns and drag him back as Columbina made sure Harlequin would not go back at the attack but no, the green monster just laughed like a crazy man “You boast and gloat about them loving you but have they ever saw you without your costume, saw your monstrous form and come toward you and instead of running away?!” he instigated further, earning a downright murderous glare.

“Harley, Pierrot, stop it. You are not helping anyone by fighting!” Columbina tried to find a common ground, shooting nervous glances at the door in hopes for Ticket Taker or Jester to come in help.

“Is that so? I seem to remember them always coming in search of me any time they were in need of support, you are nothing but temporary fun to them” Pierrot, despite not being the best with come back, still managed to anger Harlequin, who growled.

“Is that jealousy speaking? Wasn’t green my color?”

“Why don’t you get close so I can remind you why red is mine?”

“Enough” 

A cold, stern voice interrupted the fight, making everyone turn their head to the entrance where Ticket Taker stood with his arms crossed before stepping aside and letting Jester walk inside– all the gunshot wounds he sustained were already slowly healing themselves.

The purple haired man looked around the room for a second before placing his arms behind his back and puffing his chest slightly, his right hand right beside him while muttering about all the disorder happening "Look how a human reduced you, putting one against the other" he noted, earning a distraught cry from Pierrot "Bil! Jester! We can't– we need to find them please–!"

"This is exactly why they managed to run away" Jester cut him off, the statement followed by different grimaces "A human, a miserable lone human. . .they escaped–I don't doubt your hunting abilities, none of yours. However, despite my reclutance, I have to admit that some of them possess strong survival instincts. This little mouse is not out of that circle"

He brought his hands out, lifting a golden button he managed to steal from your satchel when you were distracted. He twirled it between his fingers, looking at his own reflection "We knew them but in exchange they also knew us. And our small rivalry between each other made it possible for them to exploit it and slip away"

Harlequin scoffed "What? You are proposing of collaborating together? Be a small happy group, holding hands and skip toward the sunset?

Jester stared at him with an empty smile "Exactly. Help each other. Do a coordinated hunt. One lure them toward the trap and the other catch them. Much better instead of this challenge you have between eachother."

"Wait" Columbina piped in, tilting her head to the side "You are suggesting that we could then. . .share them?" Immediately the words made both Harlequin and Pierrot let out growls of disagreement. They were monsters and monsters are quite possessive of everything– sharing. . .only few of them ever did that–and sharing a darling? Even less.

"I won't watch my family tear each other apart for a human so yes, we all will share it if it gets to calm you down" Jester answered her question, promoting a raised eyebrow from Ticket Taker "We?" his heterochromatic eyes watch a slow grin made its way on the ringmaster lips "What? And be the only one out? I like to participate in family activity, dear Bil."

Pierrot seemed to snap out of his frustration as he finally process the words "Wait! So you are saying that– are you allowing me to keep my dear?!" Harlequin scoffed and Doctor hummed "First we have to take them back though, which could be hard with the Circus"

At that Jester's smile widened "Worry not my dears" and his purple eyes glowed "For I managed to get a little spy with them" 

{~♠︎♥︎◆♣︎~}

【 Tag list: @crazyfor230 @worshipping-blue @neptuii @jupitermoonnnn @anaxaver @multishippers-trash-blog @homelessbb @fury118 】

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[MINORS DO NOT INTERACT FURTHER– SENSIBLE CONTENT UNDER THE CUT] –for any questions my inbox is open–

Chapter 24: Train to heaven

~Don't forget to comment your opinion~

{~♤♡◇♧~}

Harlequin’s eyes watched the blood slowly tickling down the old wooden table, green pupils unfocused enough to make everything around blurry and confused. He didn't even acknowledge the corpse over the forniture– if someone could still call it that– his head detached, probably rolled off under the table somewhere, and the rest of the body sprawled over the top with his clothes shredded and the flesh even worse.

Harlequin did not move, sitting on the chair at the head of the table, claws crossed together, red, soaked in blood– his tentacles limp all around, not paying attention to where they would wrap around. He is supposed to be happy, to feel relief upon being finally free from his torture– his personal hell– he dreamed of this moment during all his imprisonment stay!

Yet all he could now was staring blankly at the buffet he and his family just had, for the first time in a long while being full, his stomach no longer chewing its walls for something to satiate itself with. Despite that, he felt even more empty.

What had to go down for this to happen. . .what had to go down for them to finally be free. . .

What he had to do. . .

It changed everyone, it changed Harlequin more than he let on, more than he let the others know. It had to happen. . .the ebony haired monster would repeat to himself. . .it had to happen, he didn't have a choice– all of them would have died– the humans would have taken Columbina away and done who knows what. Placed her under who knows what torture.

This was an act of mercy. He simply had taken the better path. Yes. Mercy. He gave her mercy– a painless death– this world was too cruel for her anyway. An act of mercy. An act of mercy. Mercy. Mercy. Mercymercymercymer—

"No one escaped"

Popping his head inside the main hall, Jester let his purple eyes sweep over the massacre scattered all over before shifting his attention on Harlequin, still sitting in the same position that he left him in. Still looking dead despite all the words and taunt that he previously uttered out. At the sight, Jester sighed and allowed his shoulders to soften ever so slightly.

He made his way closer to the green eyed monster and placed a clawed hand over his shoulder "It's over. . .it's finally over. They won’t hurt us anymore. And we won’t let them anymore" his slender fingers squeezed the scales one more time "However we need to decide what to do now, take the best course of action and make sure that the humans won't come to know about what happened to the traveling Circus. For that we also need your presence. I'm gonna host a meeting"

Harlequin heard the older monster's words but it was like he wasn’t listening to them, offering a nod before catching himself and scoff loudly– harshly pushing the severed limb down the table with his tentacle "Finally, I was starting to think that you guys would have never stopped crying to yourself. All you have done was walking around the same place we already know too well"

Jester sighed, shaking his head and finally releasing his hold on the other monster "We had to make sure that no human was left. . .alive that's it. Either way, have you seen ★★★★? ♠︎♠︎♠︎♠︎ and ¤¤¤¤¤ are gonna be here shortly and he is the only one missing" once again, Harlequin scoffed and lifted his legs to comfortably lean them over the table without a care in the world. [¹]

"★★★★? He is probably back at the cages, sobbing like a baby and mourning his sweet angel. You know him, all he does is cry and cry and cry– act pitiful and pathetic. Try there or just follow the sound of choking wept" he pushed himself back a little, dangling on the back legs of the chair as Jester gave him a look hard to decipher– but he is always hard to decipher so it's nothing new "♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎. . ." [²]

Just then the flap of the main tent slammed open, followed by a loud rustling and an even louder voice "◆◆◆◆! ◆◆◆◆ look!" Pierrot rushed inside, his cheeks still dug by tears while more were already threatening to fall down from the corner of his golden eyes. He looked initially panicked, like he discovered something that could put all of them in further danger.[³]

Which is why Jester immediately tensed, claws digging in the soft wood and heart spiking up "What's going on ★★★★? Are the others okay? Has someone discovered you? Are you hurt?" However, Pierrot ignored his worries and instead lifted the object he held between his bloodied claws, grinning in a way that could only be described as desperation or delusion "L-Look ◆◆◆◆. . .look what I found– we can't bring her back! We can–" he bit back a sob.

Harlequin tensed at the mention of the female, green eyes looking anywhere but at the way that Pierrot’s tears once again flowed down, mixing with the blood soaking his face "Look!" The golden eyed monster pushed a book with the cover of a beautiful maroon closer to Jester’s face, who took a step back in surprise "★★★–"

"Look at what the humans have! A way! There is a way to bring her back– just look! Please–" Pierrot urged once again, with so much frenzy yet excitement everyone could hear his heart beating so quickly and loudly– it was insane. He was acting insane. But again, could they really blame him? After what he had to go through, after everything? When the next day the ‘Man’ came back to their cages, Pierrot had been the first one to spring into action despite the injury he still had. . .no one could stop him in that state.

No one wanted to stop him.

“This book! This book– please look! It says that we can bring her back!” the hold on the book shook, multiple times almost slipping whenever Pierrot would cut himself to gasp or sob or not choke himself with tears. Jester tried to calm him down, holding his shoulders, wiping away the tears before finally tearing away the book from his grasp and place it over the table, right in the vision field of a certain green eyed monster “Hey ★★★★ breathe please, I can’t understand what you are saying. . .”

Harlequin let his gaze linger on the book that his childhood friend just entered sobbing about, seeing the bold letters on the cover spell ‘GRIMOIRE’ and bit the inside of his cheek, narrowing his eyes and looking away– not offering a taunt nor a word. All this crying it’s spoiling his usual mood. . .

“A ritual. . .” Pierrot muttered out, sliding to his knees and hugging Jester’s legs “We can do a ritual. . .a-and bring her back. . .we can. The book says that we can. . .We just need a human! A-And she will be back! We can be together once again– please!” Pierrot’s grip tightened, his eyes quickly filling with tears once again while looking at the younger monsters, begging to be heard “Please Jester! I need her to come back–! We all need her to come back! I beg of you!” [⁴]

Harlequin scoffed, making himself smaller and crossing his arms to block out Pierrot’s voice. She is dead. . .he ate her flesh. . .what happened, happened– you can’t bring someone back from dead– you–. . .she is gone. . .

Jester looked at the book, opening the book and slowly leafing through it while eyeing the titles.

His purple eyes snapped over Pierrot. . .poor, poor, sad Pierrot. His claws moved to take hold of his face and move it so that his golden gaze could be on him “Oh ★★★★. . .my dear ★★★★. . .You shouldn’t trust what you find of humans. . .”

Pierrot eyes widen in horror, not wishing for his small hope to extinguish “But—”

Jester’s eyes glowed, cutting him off “However. . .” he spoke with a cold tone, with that same cold tone he always uses whenever he has to take charge “A human took her away from us. . .that means it’s only fair if we use a human to get our angel back”

Harlequin watched as Pierrot thanked Jester, feeling his lungs squeeze painfully and biting his tongue from spitting out some mean remark– instead he narrowed his green eyes over the purple monster, conflicted with what he might have planned. . .

■__—ハルクエン–__■ 

“Jester. . .”

Your heart hammered in your chest like a wild animal, the urge to scream out in frustration and punch the ground being the only thing that stopped you from fully curling on yourself and cry. You are soooooo tired! Why can’t things be easy for once in your stupid life!

“Harley. . .” you breathe out, taking a step back “Let’s talk. . .” his green eyes were pinned on you and, no matter how much you were trying to convince yourself, they still managed to keep you pretty much frozen in your place. If he was anything like Pierrot. . .then running would be useless. . .what to do? What to do? Should you take up time, hoping that the train will soon stop in this station and that Blake manages to deal with Jester so that he could save you. . .or do you try your luck and give chase?

Dealing with Pierrot would’ve been better. . you knew what to say to maybe get out. . .but Harlequin? Sure, you two had your moments, but he was by far someone too unpredictable for you to have a chance. . .but. . .but. . .

Could it really be that nothing you two went through meant anything to him?

“I’m not a guy of words, you know? Afraid that won’t be possible” he replied, taking a step closer which you immediately mirrored and felt your heart jump to your throat, memories of the ways he treated the fools and the way he tried to eat you flashed back in your head– prompting a grimace to appear on your features. . .grimace that was immediately noticed by the ebony haired man as he suddenly went still.

“Why are you looking at me like that. . .” he chuckled out yet it sounded more like a disbelieved gasp, like he was confused or in denial by such action from you “Why. . .ahahah. . .why are you looking at me with such hatred. . .ahhh. . .you are looking at me just like them” the way he kept laughing, taking a step back to stop himself from swaying while he ran his claws through the ebony curls– one of the tentacles slammed against the wall so hard it rose a cloud of dust and left an indent.

 “Harlequin. . .” you tried again, taking another step back “Yea?” he drawled and beneath his black mask you could clearly hear that he was smiling or grinning not in the typical Harlequin teasing way–no. . .no this was different. “I like it when you say my name all breathless” He was different– like even he lost it badly. Like he came to a conclusion that completely flipped his view of the world and now was seeing it in a different light all together 

“Who else is here?” you decided to buy as much time as you could and then run to the train, to Blake– to anything!

“Mmmmh?” he tilted his head to the side, narrowing his eyes in amusement before chuckling “Worried about someone interrupting us? That old dog with you seems pretty busy with Jester” he threw a glance back, yet before you could move his eyes snapped back on you once again “Lucky for you, someone had to stay back at the Circus to deal with annoying merchants. . .”

Ticket Taker.

“Someone is still not used to her new body”

Columbina.

“And someone doesn’t like leaving the Circus grounds”

Doctor.

. . .

That means that Pierrot is also out searching for you, he doesn’t seem to be anywhere near however by now he might be already informed of your location and is making his way here. Which means that you can’t actually buy yourself time standing still like a fool– and this is why Harley is so. . .no, calm isn’t the right word– not when he is laughing like a lunatic. However he is certainly not in a hurry to get you.

“You know something funny?” the ebony haired man chuckled under his breath, slowly making his way closer and closer “I tried!” he opened his arms and tilted his head to the side, the black mask slipping off to reveal a sick grin “I really tried to do it right this time! I really did it like I was supposed to do– like it was meant to be. I followed all these stupid rules, I held back–me! Can you believe it?! Me! I honestly tried to do it the right way–!” he rambled off, disbelieved laughs cutting between the words like he himself could not believe it.

“This time I did everything it was asked. . .and still it’s not enough? Will it end in the same way?!” he placed a hand over his forehead, claws digging in his scalp, looking completely disheveled and at his wits end “What the hell am I supposed to do then? Oh. . .am I cursed? Is it the poison in my veins? Is everything that I touch cursed to whiter away? To slip past my fingers– why can’t I have anything?”

He went on and on with his muttering and ramblings, words pouring out so fast that you couldn’t follow them– it was like he was spiraling into another breakdown, in the same style you have found him when he was panicking and going insane about Columbina come back “Foolish of me to believe that this sickly sweet approach could work for me. . .I tried it once and it didn’t work– oh but now it’s different– now I’m no longer willing to lose it again, no. . .so tell me. Why are you looking at me with so much hatred in your eyes? Why are you looking at me with his same eyes?”

The real question should be, why is he looking at you with such deranged eyes?!

Ohhhhh he lost it, maybe even worse than Pierrot–!

“You guys killed Livia–how exactly am I supposed to react?” you gritted your teeth together, digging your nails inside the palm of your hand “You think that I wanted that? Ah-HA! I could have been careless about your little friend– why am I supposed to be punished for something the others did? For once that it wasn’t my fault– for once that I was innocent!” he argued back.

“You tried to eat me, damn it!” yet you also did not back down, trying to find a small opening to exploit and have a small advantage of time. Harlequin stood still for a second and then laughed again “Oh. . .so it was really you. . .I knew it. That heart was so familiar– yet you smelled so much of death that I thought it couldn’t possibly be– why would you even be with the fools after all?” he dragged a claw down his face, yet did not even attempt to justify himself and instead went back to spiral “I was going to eat you. . .ahahah. . .I can’t believe it. . .isn’t it ironic? I ate Columbina and now I was about to eat you– how fucking ironic!”

In the distance, a robotic voice broke through the air sharply [“The train 123976 is arriving at the rail 1 in five minutes. Please stand behind the yellow line”]

Your train. . .your train will be here in five minutes. . .and still no sight of Pierrot.

Just a little longer. . .just a tiny more, two minutes. . .you just need two minutes to keep Harley distracted and then gather all your strength to run and hope that the little fucker won’t try to follow you inside the train full of people. They can’t, no matter how much they wish to catch you, they can’t be seen by humans– that’s gonna be your only advantage!

“S-So Harle–”

“I’m tired” the ebony haired man cuts you off, making your blood go cold with the sudden switch up in tone– more cold, lacking the amused or mocking bite. You watched as his extra limbs stood up behind him, surely indicating that he was about to do something, something that you won’t like “Just let me go Harley. . .you also know that this is insane. . .” you meekly fought back, reading yourself for anything feeling the combat knife resting on the satchel against your hip.

“Insane. . .” Harley repeated, slowly allowing the grin back to his face “You chose me. . .you, ahahah, you chose me–! You can’t just—! You can’t say that and then run away! You just can’t!” another tentacle slammed against the wall, prompting the electronic train display board to detach and fall down with a loud *CRASH!*-- he was about to act, you could feel it “Ahhhhh, I understand. . .I’m done playing nice. I’m done doing the right thing. . .” his vibrant green eyes snapped back over you, making you flinch.

“We are gonna play the game following my rules now”

You didn’t wait more than the first word before turning around and sprinting away, hearing a pair of boots giving chase almost immediately after. Round two of the chase however this time you knew what to expect more or less– this time it was bright outside– this time you had a plan!

A plan that completely relies on pure luck that’s it, but you have the feeling that all you can rely on is fate and that your courage will be rewarded appropriately. You know that Harlequin, unlike Pierrot, likes to play with his victim. . .with his food. You could gather as much from his playful personality and with the way he treated you before almost eating your arm. He played around, he mocked, he taunted– he was literally licking your blood and pushing fools around. This will be his doom!

“Where are you going? Ahah! You know right that I can’t refuse a juicy chase” you heard him laugh behind, not even hurrying to try and catch you– like this was all a game, like he was so sure that you would lose– that there is nowhere to hide and escape– not this time “And the catch is always more tasty after it” he sing sang, voice echoing all around.

You ignored him, turning a corner and running up the stairs, flight of stairs after flight of stairs– no matter how fast you were, he was always a step behind– you could feel his claws mere inches from your back, his tentacles sneaking around your feet and legs.

You burst open the old door leading to the roof. It wasn’t a tall building, just two stories with bushes all around its perimeter. . .yes. . .you had worse. . .yes. . .

“End of the chase” soon enough, Harlequin appeared at the entrance of the stairs– a sick, sharp grin on his face as he tilted his head to the side “Delicious, we should do this more often. Don’t you feel it? This exciting shiver running down your spine? Eating your lungs? I should have done this much earlier” gone was any trace of possible vulnerability that he showed– the threat of you running away, leaving him alone, made him open his eyes and crumble anything left.

He won’t let you. No way. Not anymore. He deserves happiness too.

“Good thing that we will have all the time in the world” he slowly approached you, like a predator would do, with the green tentacles slithering at his feet. You mirrored his movements, walking closer and closer to the edge of the building. The blood rushing in your veins so quick and warm you thought your heart was about to exhaust itself from too much work “Harle–Ah?!”

The words weren’t able to leave your tongue before one of his extra limbs shot forward, wrapping around your leg and lifting you high in the air, dangling your upside body over the edge of the building as a sort of taunt. His features twisted in a mocking smile, cooing and chucking at your uncomfortable expression and the fear etched in your eyes “Aww, don’t look like that my sweet little partner in crime. You have lost. I’m just showing you what happens to those who lose to my games. Do you really think that I would let you go?”

The sound of the train arriving filled the empty silence and for a second you didn’t say anything, eyes looking at the beautiful bushes of magenta and light purple lilac flowers.[⁵] before taking a quiet deep breath and smiled. A sad smile. Confusing Harlequin more than anything else as he just stared at you.

“I thought about it for a long time, you know. . .” your hand went to the small satchel still tightly attached to your hip “Maybe in another universe we all would have been happy together”

Harlequin’s green eyes widened slightly, his mouth opening “Wha–”

However, before he could speak, you took out the combat knife and in a swift motion you cut off the tentacle dangling you into the void, prompting the ebony haired man to grunt on pain before he could process that you were falling down and try to grab your hand, missing it by mere inches. You felt the wind harshly slam against your body, clothes and hair flapping all around before you made contact with the bushes full of lilacs. 

It was a hard impact, but never as hard as it could have been if you fell onto the ground.

Groaning, your body protested when you tried to roll out of the bush but you forced yourself as the sound of loud footsteps were quickly closing by. It couldn’t be Harlequin as he was still on top of the roof and these ones were on the ground. Could it be Jester? Would he really be the type to come and charge after you?

. . .

It was Pierrot.

You bit your tongue as your whole body ached and cried in pain, the urge to cry or gasp and freeze out of fear was quickly overwhelming you– instead you ignored it. You ignored everything, you ignored the footsteps coming closer and closer and closer, you ignored the pain– your only focus being the open door of the train.

*STEP!* *STEP!*

It’s so close! It’s just– there!

*STEP!* *STEP!*

After everything! Just a little bit more!

*STEP!* *STEP!*

You won’t make it.

It’s too far away– Pierrot is too fast– your legs are begging you to just give up– if you aren’t quicker the door will close–! The train will go without you–! IF YOU–

Two hands rested on your back and the smell of lilies hit your nose as everything seemed to still, your own heart, the wind, the steps behind, the train. It felt like you were being hugged, a warm hug, enveloping you from behind. Then–

You were pushed forward, harshly, which sent you flying right inside the open door. You fell on the cold floor of the train, rolling before slamming your back against the surface of the door on the other side. Around you, people gasped at your sudden entrance, abruptly standing up and looking at you like an alien. You didn’t pay them any mind, coughing, sniffling and pushing yourself to your knees, confused, dizzy, wondering what just happened.

Without thinking, you stood to your feet and staggered toward the closed door, placing your hands against the glass and looked out before a sob choked out of your throat at the sight of a pair of deep blue eyes. Standing just outside, hands over yours on the glass, a sad warm smile on her face, stood Livia– your Livia. Looking exactly like you last saw her.

Tears filled your vision, legs feeling weak, fingers curling  “I-I’m sorry” you choked out, placing your forehead against the glass “I’m so sorry Lilli, it’s all my fault. I’m sorry” through your blurred vision you saw her also lean her forehead against the glass still smiling at you, not blaming you for anything “Goodbye” she mouthed and you shook your head “No–!”

*SLAM!!*

Something slammed against the door, making you immediately back off and fall on your ass. You lifted your gaze only to see Pierrot where once was Livia, slamming his fists against the glass, looking desperately down at you, begging for you to not leave him, his monster's features peeking out as you could see his horns tearing his hood. People screamed in terror, standing up and running toward other carriages. The door was miraculously holding.

You were stuck looking at the silver haired man with wide eyes– body too tired to move.

The train started moving and Pierrot started looking panicked, down right spiraling as the speed started picking up and he couldn’t keep up with it– until his figure disappeared and all you could hear were his anguish screams of agony echoing in your ears and mind till those too slowly faded away.

. . .

You. . .you did it?

You. . .you. . .oh god. . .

Did you. . .did you really escape them?

“____! Kiddo!”

A familiar voice called your name and an older male came bursting from the carriage beside the one you entered, his left arm limp and bloody beside him, a calico cat over his shoulder. He looked at you with his wide blue eyes, you looked at him barely managing to stop yourself from screaming in relief.

With the last strength in your body, you pushed yourself on your feet and you two ran to each other before you wrapped your arms around him and he did the same with his healthy arm over your shoulder.

You, Blake and Marilyn managed to get on the train.

{~♠︎♥︎◆♣︎~}

A/N: Is it obvious that I love writing about crazy ass men? Writing about Harlequin losing his mind had been the highlight of my day. And you escaped!! Yippie!! For the moment at least.

ALSO YIPPIE WE CAUGHT UP WITH QUOTEV FINALLY!!!!!

I'm actually surprised with how many people came to love Mister Blake, Livia and all the other in the cast! I'm actually so happy as it means I did a good job ヽ(´∀｀ヽ)

That means that I can share my sketches of them with you guys. And also this meme I made of Mister Blake tired of the clows bullshits with his not blood-related nephew MC.

If you guys have fanarts or memes you want to share you can do it in this email: [email protected] 

[¹] ★★★★ =Pierrot ♠︎♠︎♠︎♠︎ =Ticket Taker ¤¤¤¤ =Doctor [²] ♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎ =Harlequin [³] ◆◆◆◆ =Jester [⁴] The last phrase is the same phrase that Jester hallucinated back in the chapter ‘And they lived happily ever after’ [⁵] Magenta lilacs are associated with passion, love and the sheer thrill of being alive, especially after surviving a harrowing experience.  Light purple lilacs are associated with one’s first love or the first time one feels love for someone.  These two colors in particular represent MC surviving this whole ordeal and running away but also that they considered Harley and Pierrot as somewhat a first love to them and are mourning this lost possible relationship. 

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[MINORS DO NOT INTERACT FURTHER– SENSIBLE CONTENT UNDER THE CUT] –for any questions my inbox is open–

Chapter 23: "We are everything you have left"

~Don't forget to comment your opinion~

{~♤♡◇♧~}

“Do you think that it will work out?”

You stared at the fake documents in your hands, together with a good amount of cash held together by a rubber band. It was kinda weird that Mister Blake had an ‘emergency plan’ with both yours and Livia copy of fake documents and money in case you two had to leave the town in a dire situation. He said that Livia helped him with the preparation and that explained why you couldn’t find your ID that time.

. . .

Monsters exist and just turned your best friend into their dead companion, having your documents copied by a paranoid neighbor is the last of your problems. 

“It must, this might as well be our chance for getting out of town without being detected” you answered, putting away the forged documents and fixing your eyes back on the road, where Blake was driving down with his car. It was dawn, the first ray of sunshine filtered through the trees of the woods and illuminated your tired face “I know that, but I wouldn’t mind driving all the way instead of having to take the train”

Blue eyes briefly flickered on you before setting back onto the road “After all, knowing your deadly fear of tr–”

“And that’s exactly why we have to take it” you rubbed your arm uncomfortably, biting your inner cheek to calm yourself down “I– I’m aware that I don’t do well with trains. I freeze at the sight of one–I know that and they know that” your fingers curled around the combat knife on your lap “They will try to use any single information on me to make sure I won’t be able to run away. . .they won’t expect me to use the one vehicle I wouldn’t step foot in”

The rearview mirror reflected your sullen face, a flash of light passing through as the car turned in a curve.

“I will. . .I will just close my eyes” a nervous chuckle escapes your lips “I will keep my eyes closed and let you carry or lead me inside the train. I will just keep my eyes squeezed the whole journey. . .” you tried to reassure yourself, feeling your stomach already twisting itself in protest. Blake hummed.

“I can tell you stories about when Samuel was just a baby and made my wife go insane”

“I would appreciate that really much. . .”

Flickering your eyes out of the window, you leaned your forehead against the glass and closed your eyes. A meow broke your train of thoughts, prompting you to straighten your back and turn around to look at the backseat, where Marilyn was already watching you with her big eyes and swinging her tails lazily back and forth before meowing once again and making your eyes soften.

You debated with Blake if it would have been a good idea to maybe leave her in someone’s home, the old granny perhaps, and then take her back once things calmed down. . .however it’s since you came back that she insisted on being attached to your hip, hissing and growling whenever the ebony haired man tried to pry her off. Seeing the situation at hand, you decided to take the bet and made the feline tag along the journey to reach Samuel’s dorm.

“Hey girl. . .how is it going? Are you hungry?” you smiled at her, lazy, soft, and stretched a hand to pet her head “Hang there, once we are on the train, Mister Blake will give you all the treats you deserve” you promised.

She meowed in delight.

Blake scoffed with a small grin.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Your town has a train station. It’s small with only two rails going opposite directions, just beside the woods and barely used. Trains still stopped here, one going north and one going south with each passing once every hour– meaning that if you lose yours then it will be a long wait for the next one. Spending one hour in a small train station with the main building barely standing wasn’t a nice experience to everyone who had the misfortune of experiencing it.

“[Due to bad weather, the train 123976 had been subjected to a delay of 1 hour]”

And now you are also gonna be another soul victim of the poorly organized system of train departures.

“There is no way we are so unlucky” you groaned, running a hand down your face in what Blake could describe as pure annoyance. He himself wasn’t happy about the accident– not when he counted on taking the first train available in the morning and arriving mere minutes before its departure so that there weren't any possibilities for those creatures to reach you two in time “It’s fine. It’s like you said. They will never guess that you came to a train station out of everything”

Sighing, you nodded at his words and sat on one of the benches with Marilyn on your lap “I guess so. . .”

The blue eyed man looked at you for a second before shifting his focus on the building behind you two and swinging his rifle over his shoulder “I’m gonna map out the terrain, see if we may have an advantage or maybe a disadvantage. If something happens. Scream”

You just nodded and let your gaze get lost on the landscape in front of you, hearing Blake’s steps get smaller and smaller.

For a good half an hour, you did nothing but lay motionless and processed everything that happened once again. . .when suddenly a freight train rushed past the rails on the other side– snapping you out of your daze and spiking your heartbeat to your throat. The sound of metal again metal was so loud, the wagons speeding so fast that were simply unrecognizable blurry blobs–

Before you knew it, the train was gone, leaving behind just the wind to follow it which did nothing if not ruffle your hair and Marilyn's fur.

The train was gone. . .but it might as well reminded you why you were so utterly terrified of them. . .

Huge, loud vehicles driving speeds that could cut through objects and with no way of stopping in time.

The sound of the crash echoed in your mind.

Yea. . .

Your heart did not like that at all.

Standing up, you felt your legs shake and it took you a deep breath to gather your strength and turn around to pat your cat "I'm going to the bathroom, hun. . .you. . .you stay here. . .I'm coming back soon" 

All she did was meowing.

You made your way to the bathroom of the train station, searching for a working sink so that you could wash away the sweat around your wrists. With the heart thumping loudly in your heart and shallow breath escaping your lungs you opened the old door with a fading ‘Bathroom’ sign screwed to the surface. It has been years since you had been close to a train, took you months to stop flinching whenever the sound of wheels over rails flashed through screens and movies.

Stopped watching action movies with trains in it all together.

Maybe that’s why you moved to a smaller town, because trains don’t usually go through here– or at least, they go through but the station is barely used and stops once every hour. It’s not good in this case, not when you are trying to run away from man-eating monsters. Either way, the point is that you genuinely thought to have come to peace with your terror of trains– you did everything that the therapist told you, followed every advice.

Yet, when placed in a train station– not even the train itself– your heartbeat would spike and the fingers so numb that you thought they weren’t yours in the first place. Funny how you felt more calm against creatures that could shred you alive rather than doing something as normal as taking a moving vehicle.

You stumbled toward the sink, praying that it worked and especially that the water would not come out murky or disgusting. You have puked enough times in the past days. . .you don’t ask for water from the fountain of youth. Fingers curling around the edge of the sink, you leaned forward slightly and took a deep breath to calm your nerves. . .whenever you were anxious about the Circus finding you or the journey ahead, you couldn’t tell the difference anymore.

Speaking about Circus. . .

Your attention snapped over the wall in front of you, coming face to face with an old dirty mirror. . .you aren’t sure how Ticket Taker’s powers works, if he has to force the mirrors himself, if he has to touch it before his could travel through them or if his powers were so strong that anything reflective could count as a mirror but you wouldn’t take any chance. Not after what happened to Livia.

With the water running in the background, your eyes snapped to the corner of the bathroom and locked into a set of brooms and other cleaning supplies. Good enough. . .ahhh. . .it won’t matter if you destroy public property right? After all, you seem to be more than an expert when it comes to damaging bathrooms.

So, taking hold of one of the longer and sturdier brooms, you made your way to the sink once again and swung as hard as you could– shattering the mirror in smaller shards followed by a loud *CRASH!*

Perhaps you needed to let out some of the anger in you but it felt honestly good. Like a small revenge you knew won’t be possible to obtain with losing a hand or perpetuating a never ending cycle of violence between you and the monster. . .also because in a part inside you, an annoying small part, still wished you could have found a common ground– an explanation– a solution.

Was running away the right thing?

. . .

Pierrot made it clear that you had no choice.

“Stupid. . .” you muttered to yourself, lightly hitting your forehead against the stick of the broom “Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid” walking back to the sink you finally placed your hands under the water, being mindful of not soaking your bandages. You shuffled on your feet, pushing away the glass shards and under the furniture as you kept trying to stop your heart from jumping out of your throat.

The bathroom door opened, a pair of shoes entered and walked closer with slow and lighthearted steps. The person reached your side and turned on the faucet beside allowing the water to flow down yet never making a movement to dip their hands underneath it. No words were exchanged and the only noise that reached your ears was the rhythmic tapping of long nails on the ceramic.

The stranger hummed a melody under their breath following whatever music was in their head.

“Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye. Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie. And when the pie was opened, the birds began to sing, ‘now wasn’t that a dainty dish to set before a king.’”

The water kept flowing on your wrists as the song went on like a taunt in your mind.

“The king was in his counting house, counting out his money. The queen was in the parlour, eating bread and honey. The maid was in the garden, hanging out the clothes, when along came a blackbird and pecked off her nose”

Then the tapping stopped.

“They were all in love with dyin', They were drinking from a fountain, That was pouring like an avalanche, Coming down the mountain. . .”

In the corner of your eyes you noticed those black slender fingers barely hidden by a beige long coat and a brown cardigan and your heart beat spiked like never before now, mouth going dry and numb. “You have broken the mirror” your gaze shifted on the broken mirror, looking at the reflection of the stranger distorted by the shards. The way a scarf covered the lower part of his face, a pair of golden glasses framed his purple eyes– the same color as those long strands peeking out of the coat hood.

“I presume that you have seen Bil's performance then.” Jester mused with a low chuckle, making the hair on your neck stand up. The tapping resumed “I wonder what else you had witnessed for you to be leaving so abruptly. To choose and take a vehicle you are deadly afraid of stepping a foot in” 

He knew, of course he knew– Harlequin must have told him everything damn it!

“Jester, there is no point in risking your cover for trying to get me back. I know you can’t deal with the idea of having me near the Circus” you stepped to the side, turning around– he followed after you, unhurried– like this was merely a conversation between two strangers that met for the first time “You will be getting rid of me by letting me get far away. . .I won’t meddle with your business, I won’t say a word for no one will believe me anyway”

Another step back, he stood in front of your only exit. He might be one of the Circus members however the ringmaster had the reputation of hating your guts. Ironically he might be the only one who would let you go just to not see your face ever again. . .if you play your cards right then you might come out alive. . .always if his hatred won’t push him to kill you instead.

“Getting rid of you. . .that does sound nice, yes” he hummed and his eyes glowed, immediately you looked away when you remembered the purple diamond in the fools’ irises “But tell me, how am I supposed to believe your words?” he pushed, you could hear the grin at the sight of your action.

“In the same way that I haven’t called a priest when I figured out you guys being monsters”

. . .

Silence wrapped around the room, heavy and thick. Then–

A laugh– amused– disbelieved– prompting a shiver to run down your back.

“Of course you knew, all humans act like this when they eventually find out our true nature–”

“Don’t you dare start with this deflecting bullshit, you know that I’m not acting like this because you guys are monsters” you bit back, narrowing your eyes in disdain “What was I supposed to do? Let you guys drug me and then. . .I don’t know, probably kill me or dump in the pile of fools you have? Was I supposed to cover my eyes and ignore what you have done to Livia?”

Jester kept his gaze on you, on the way that you looked like a small animal ready to sprint away at the tiniest movement, eyeing in and calculating what your next choice might be. Such a weak creature managed to outrun them for so long, that’s quite the feat he must admit but that has been simply luck. And luck always runs out sooner or later.

“If you get on your knees and beg” he pointed at the ground “I might not drag you back by the collar”

. . .

Your eyes narrowed in disbelief “You have got to be kidding me. What makes you think that I would want to come back at all? You are making this a bigger deal than it needs to be” Jester hummed, in that way that clearly showed lack of interest, and placed his chin between his fingers “Oh but it is a big deal when you are still working under us”

“You mean the job you left me no choice but to take less I wanted to face your fury?” you reminded him “Job that wasn’t even my fault in the first place–tell me Jester! Since we both know the truth, who had really been the one who attacked me? Was one of you? Was all of this a meticulously crafted plan to rope me in the Circus’ affair to be used as a sacrifice for a satanic ritual?”

Jester scoffed, rolling his eyes “You give me too much credit, little monster. You getting attacked had been a mere coincidence that I decided to exploit” he opened his arms, the long coat reaching his knees and acting as a further obstacle to block you “One of our special guests had been a little careless that night. . .lost his way to a very special performance and mistake you for one of the prizes”

Your blood ran cold– actually frozen like a block of ice as it slowly dawned on you.

What happened that night. . .it happened for real. The creature slamming against the bathroom door, you running away, seeing Livia, the mirror maze, the acrobatics–

You almost got eaten in a communal bathroom. . .

Your expression must have mirrored the horror you were feeling inside because Jester’ grin seemed to widen in a cruel way.

“Why aren’t you hypnotizing me?” you finally managed to mutter out, pushing past the fear clawing at your insides “Oh? How are you sure I can do something like that?” the purple eyed monster drawled with joy tasting in his mouth– like he was enjoying having you with your back at the wall and trapped like a little mouse under his mercy.

“I can put things together” was all you said.

“True” he mused, tilting his head to the side “It’s nice when humans understand their places and follow orders like small cute pets. . .but you know what’s more gratifying?” his grin widened further, showing off his sharp dangerous teeth “When they follow orders willingly and not because they are under my fist. That is true control, that is what it means to truly own mind and body. When they know their roles and act accordingly, they hear my voice and that's enough for them” his claw stretched toward you like an invite “I want you to move those legs of yours and walk up to me. Come on, ____. Come here”

He was calling you over like a dog, like you were simply some misbehaving poor creature that didn’t know better– that needed help and guidance.

It made you sick thinking about it.

“You are completely insane if you think that I would ever roll over for you” Your features were scrunched in a grimace and the way that few hope you held onto crumbled right before your eyes was a painful reminder that no one in that Circus could be reasoned with. At this point being killed would have been better.

"You have no choice on the matter" Jester pushed on using that same tone he would reserve during his performance– like this was another tragic story reaching the planned end "You have nothing left but us. Nothing left but me. I made sure of that." the tone got sharper and you flinched at those words, mind immediately flashing to Blake.

"You have no parents left alive, no home to come back to, no job to sustain yourself with, no more support system" the more the list went on, the more you could feel a jab after the other piercing your lungs and making it hard to breath correctly "No one in that town is truly aware of your existence or will remember it after a mere week"

You tried to argue "You are lying–!"

"You said it yourself. Society would do better without someone like you" Jester cut you off and it felt like he just punched you in the guts "It was true that I was planning on using you to get back Columbina and that had been the plan till the last second– don't think that you 'proved me wrong' or 'changed my idea'. Pierrot was so attached to you I thought it would resolve this annoying problem by assuring to mix two of the creatures he cared about"

You felt sick, you actually felt like your legs were about to give up any time now.

"You were going to be part of our family someway or another"

He is delusional– everyone is fucking delusional and out of their minds–!

"But you hadn't been able to even live a week without getting yourself hurt. Have you seen what you have done? What you made me do?" You didn't even noticed when Jester started walking closer, his imposing figure towering over as his honeyed words slowly poisoned your mind "Haven't you understood it yet?" black claws grabbed your chin, lifting it up so that your attention could be on him.

The black mask slipped off, revealing that crude grin so huge it could split open his face. And those eyes—those eyes of an intense purple. Not trying to hypnotize you–no. He wanted you to willingly give him the leash of your collar.

"You are a mess" the words came out patronizing, with an almost motherly undertone as you looked at him completely horrified and battling an inner conflict "You can't do anything without me, don't you see? You don't know how to take care of yourself and always end up hurt or injured, poor silly darling. I should’ve known from the start and taken the right precautions. You need the Circus. You need me" his thumb stroked your cheek.

.

.

.

"So, how about you stop being so childish and come back? Let me lead you, listen to me and only me. You won't have to worry about anything els–"

*BANG!*

A gunshot rung into the air, loud, ear shattering– followed by Jester hiss of pain and him snapping his head back, stepping away and holding his bleeding shoulder. Blake stood at the entrance of the bathroom, rifle in his hands and the meanest glare you ever saw on his face, blue eyes narrowed and eyebrows furrowed.

"Get the hell away from them, you monster" he ordered, pulling back the trigger of the weapon– ready to stick another round of bullets right in the middle of the snarling purple haired man. Jester was down right growling in anger at being cut off before he was able to end this whole story. Blake did not back away from the challenge "I won't let you hurt someone else I hold dear– will this be the last thing I will do!"

Exploiting the clown's lowered guard, you knocked your elbow right in the middle of his chest and below his lungs with all the strength you could gather– earning a groan which was promptly ignored in favor of rushing far away from him "Run! Get out! The train is almost here!" Blake screamed, lifting his rifle once again and shooting another bullet when Jester tried to grab you with his sharp claws, barely missing you by inches "I will hold him off!"

"Don't look him in the eyes!" You warned, sprinting out of the bathroom as more gunshot and growls echoed right behind. You didn’t even managed to reach the end of the corridor when one of the doors you passed suddenly flew off its hinges and harshly slammed against the wall opposite with a loud *SLAM!* You looked back and immediately wished you didn't.

Coming out of the cloud of dust, two deep green eyes locked immediately on you– gone was the green jester uniform in favor on the same outfit he decided to wear that faithful night of the road trip. The irony of choosing such an outfit with which you have spilled your worries and weaknesses didn't got lost on you.

Ohhhh but now it wasn't only that, noooo.

His grey hood fell down with the quick movement, allowing you to see the short bouncy curls and two huge dark goat horns right above his head. And especially sickly green tendrils all around him, wrapping over his legs, his waist or simply laying on the ground.

You wanted to sob–

Why did everyone decide you would be the ideal prey!?

{~♠︎♥︎◆♣︎~}

Extra:

Jester while crumbling MC thin resolve: No one loves you but us.

Mister Blake bursting through the door America style with his rifle: Repeat that again for me purple asshole.

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Previous part <-

Next part ->

[MINORS DO NOT INTERACT FURTHER– SENSIBLE CONTENT UNDER THE CUT] –for any questions my inbox is open–

Chapter 22: Cry me a river

~Don't forget to comment your opinion~

{~♤♡◇♧~}

.

*Knock!* *KNOCK!*

“Who the hell is now. . .” stepping down from the stairs leading to his bedroom, a dark haired man stomped toward his house’s front door, scowl on the face at the incessant knocking and slamming on the wood. On his left hand, he held his phone ringing from what felt like an eternity before he scoffed when it went once again to the voice mail and glared at it “____ is not answerin–”

*KNOCK!* *KNOCK!*

“I’m coming!” Blake shouted, throwing the phone on the couch before turning around and yanked open the front door “What the hell do you wan–!” 

the words were cut from his tongue when he saw you come tumbling inside his house, falling to your knees, breath elaborated, shoulders shaking like an earthquake and looking like you went through hell itself. 

“Kid–? Oh God-!” his blue eyes widened, knees immediately falling down by your side, face scrunching as the smell hit his senses “Why do you smell like a dead animal? And these clothes. . .why are you dressed like this–?”

“She is dead!” you cut him off with a choked sob, shoulders hunching further your fingers curling and clawing at the floor– squeezing the blood out of your reopened wounds “She–She died! They all died and- and–! It’s my fault! It's all my fault–! Oh god! What the fuck! What have I done?!” the words coming out of your mouth sounded like jumble, too fast and messy to understand. Especially when all you were busy doing was crying your heart out, gasping for air and making zero sense.

“Kid–!” Blake tried again but was cut by more coughs and sobs as you punched the floor with your injured hand, leaving a huge blood stain “If I– If I just let them kill me none of this would have happened!”

“Kid–”

“If I just did what they wanted–Livia wouldn’t have—!”

“____!” two big hands grasped your shoulders, dragging your upper body back enough that he could slide in front of you and force your focus on him “Calm down! You are going into hyperventilation!” all you did was keep your lost eyes on the ground, chest still heaving up and down, the motion broken by the occasional choked sob and cough. Your chest hurt from the effort, limbs so numb that you could no longer feel anything– blood trailing down included. And your mind–

Oh. . .your mind. . .

It was like someone was constantly bashing it against a wall over and over and over again. The information and images you saw were fresh like bread and eating your very core, burning like an inferno. You felt empty and too much at the same time.

Blake eyed the condition you were in, questions at the tip of his tongue and ready to tumble out– yet he sighed and squeezed your arms “You look like a mess. . .let’s get you cleaned and a new pair of clothes” sneaking an arm around your back, he lifted you to your feet– basically carrying you at this point as you made no motion to stand on your own, too busy still trying to not choke on your own sobs. He threw a look at the front door, closing and locking it before carrying you to the bathroom.

After making sure you were sitting on the toilet (and that you wouldn’t accidentally fall down) he hurried out, only to immediately come back with Samuel’s old clothes that could fit you. Blake tried to give them to you and turn around to allow you some privacy, yet you didn’t even look at them– eyes pinned to the floor with soaked strands of your hair framing the empty expression and the silent tears rolling down your cheeks and hands uselessly limp by your side.

You. . .you looked dead.

No. . .you looked worse than dead. 

The dark haired man did not want to force you to do anything but his parental instincts were stronger than him and he wanted to at least have you change out of those worn and disgusting jester clothes or whatever they were. With a deep sigh, he took off your hat and threw it into the nearest bin before taking a pair of scissors and cutting off the upper part of the uniform. There is no way that he will try to understand how these things work.

Sometimes you tilted a bit too far to the side and he had to gently push you back before resuming his work. Once the uniform was off, he took a sponge and soaked it slightly before damping away the grime and smell of death from your shoulders, arms and back. Once you feel better he will have you take a proper shower. But this will do for now.

Helping to put on the plain shirt, he did the same with the lower part of the uniform and at least now you weren’t a walking corpse. . .maybe.

“I killed her. . .” your voice came out meek, shaky, hoarse “I let them kill her. . .” new tears quickly filled your burning eyes “Mister Blake. . .Livia. . .” the dark haired man looked at you, eyebrows furrowed and fingers curled around the towel. His expression was hard to understand, you don’t think you want to look at him as you force the next words to come out, stuck in the back of your throat like a fish bone.

“Livia. . .Livia is dead”

It felt like a bomb. A quiet explosion followed by heavy silence. Something that you couldn’t hold up as it allowed the mess in your head to take over your thoughts– and they were ugly and painful– you wanted to curl up on yourself and scream till your vocal cords gave up or your lungs break– “It’s all my fault if she is dead. They wanted me– they wanted to use me, not her! I was the one who was supposed to die! If I didn’t mess up then–L-Livia would–! It’s all my fault”

An image of the corpses inside the black tent flashed before your eyes and your mind, your oh so cruel mind, couldn’t help but imagine your dear Livia in their places and that was enough for you to fall down on your knees and lift the toilet seat before throwing up everything that was left in your stomach. Blake was immediately by your side, a hand over your back as he made sure no strands could fall on your face. He had yet to say something and that might be even worse than if he screamed in your face.

“If I just wasn’t such a disappointment. . .if only I never started shits with people I shouldn’t have. . .then. . .they wouldn’t have to change hosts at the last seconds and–and–!” your nails dug against the white ceramic “She was supposed to graduate next week. . .” the statement felt weak, so– so fragile yet so heavy. It did nothing more than reinforce your already devastated mind.

“I tore her away from her dream. . .I tore her away from everything, when I had nothing from the start. If it had been me. . .no one. . .would’ve noticed– not in the same way as it would have been with Livia” she had a family, she was kind, she had a promising future, she could have given society so much more– so why the hell couldn’t they have used you?! Someone with nothing! Someone which the society could only benefit from their disappearance! 

Oh right! Because you fucked up once again!

If you never roped any of them in your childish problems they wouldn’t have come to know about Nate, Martha, Alex, Jo— so many people would have not died because of you!

“Kid” Blake's voice reached your ears, prompting for your blurry eyes to shift on him just in time for his hand to pass you a handkerchief to wipe away the tears over your cheeks “I know that this is hard for you but I need to tell me what happened. I don’t want to know whose fault it was, I just need a timeline okay? We discuss blame later on”

Even if his expression was stoic, you could catch the brief clenching of his jaw and the way his fingers curled inside his palm. He was trying to process your incoherent words and information trying to not panic and make your situation worse. “Mister Blake. . .” you looked away “You were right. . .the Circus. . .they. . .”

You thought back at the happy memories you have shared (if they were even real in the first place) and it pained you to speak the next words.

“They were the one behind Thalia’s disappearance”

Blake felt his blood run cold, blue eyes widening and expression downright looking horrified and disgusted at the same time, like he always thought about it being true but hearing it felt like a bucket of ice cold water dunked on his head. A small part of him truly wished for his wife to have simply run away with a secret lover or something like that. But this? This was the worst.

“They were trying to do a ritual– something of the sort–I don’t know! And it needed a human and–and–” breathing was starting to get hard once again “And I was the one that was chosen to be used a-as a host. I was supposed to be the one to die and yet because of my error–”

“Livia was the one paying once again”

And this time there was no going back.

“It’s all my fault–like an idiot I didn’t listen to you and instead kept being blind to everything that was around me. The signs were there! How did I–!” You started spiraling once again at the fresh memory and everything that happened previously overlapped, only to be enveloped in an embrace by the last person you ever thought would be willing to hug someone “It’s not your fault kid”

Your vision began to get blurry once again “How can you say that? It’s obvious that if I never accepted—!”

“And if an asteroid hit earth then none of us would be here” leaning back, Blake kept his hands on your upper arms– making sure that you were looking at him and you heart dropped to your stomach as your eyes landed on his deep blue one, watching as a single tear quietly rolled down his cheek without him acknowledging it. You have never seen. . .Blake cry before now. Not a single tear.

“Listen to me kid, and. . .listen to me carefully, okay?” even his voice sounded different, softer, more tired “What. . .” he cut himself to take a deep breath “What happened to. . .Livia and my wife Thalia. . .could not have been predicted. None of us could have even thought that a– a satanic cult would have tried to use them in a ritual. It sounds impossible even spoken out loud” he squeezed your arms “There was nothing me or you could have done”

Your eyes watered, teeth clenching and nails digging in your palm “And I hate that more than anything”

“I know” Blake nodded his head “I hate that too”

Another second passed by and Blake’s hands finally let go of your arms and wiped away the few tears staining his cheeks “You speak of being the best option these. . .these creatures should have used. Someone who had nothing left in this world, but the truth is– if it really happened to you, I’m not even sure Livia would have been able to find the strength to escape or go on with her life.”

Your eyes lowered to the ground.

“Once, when Lilli spent the dinner with me and Samuel, and she was helping me clean the dishes, she told me something.” standing up on his feet, he walked past you to reach for the sink and turn on the water “She told me that she doesn’t know what she would do if that witch of her step-mother ever tried to send her somewhere far away from you” at those words, your eyes abruptly widened– snapping your shocked face toward the man.

“At the time she still had two years of Uni to get over with and unfortunately she would have to rely on her parents' decision if she wanted to continue her studies. Granted, I told her multiple times to ignore that witch and if she needed anything she could’ve come to me” he splashed some water over his face “But you know how she is. Meek and shy, completely envious of your more outgoing demeanor. Either way. . .”

He turned around to look at you “The mere idea made her damn right almost have panic attack”

There were no words that you could speak out loud. It was like they all had been completely dissolved together with your thoughts.

“The truth is that both of you were everything to the other. If you had been the one killed, at this moment I would have the same conversation but looking at a different pair of eyes”

For some reason those words hit harder than they should have. They made your heart clench so painfully you thought it was trying to tear itself from your flesh.

“Before retiring to a quieter job I used to be a history teacher. I met I think. . .thousands of kids. Seen hundreds of friendships” Blake shot a glance to the upper window of the bathroom, seeing the moon picking up from behind the trees “But I friendship like yours and Lilli?”

Your heart squeezed further, forcing you to double over and lean your forehead against the floor. No tears left your eyes for they had no longer left to shed.

“That’s truly a once in a century thing”

You know that he was probably trying to cheer you up, to make you see the truth. To make you see value in your own life. But you still felt so shitty and dirty and disgusting for what happened. And it didn’t hurt only because you have lost Livia. It hurts so much because you thought you have finally made new friends, new connections– you thought that maybe you weren’t the problem–! Only for losing every single goddamn thing under a blink.

“I couldn’t even tell her goodbye. . .” 

You couldn’t say goodbye to the others too. . .would they even let you go now? After you have found out everything? What were they planning on doing to you if they ended up using Livia? Would they have added you to their corpse collections? Ate you?

The thought pushed another wave of nausea to hit your senses.

A hand landed on your head, making you lift it slightly “If you keep playing the blame game, then you have to also add me” Blake informed you, his expression serious “If I never acted irrationally and confronted that Circus member, you would have never had to interact with him in the first place. If I acted cautionally and called the police or investigated a bit more to find proof, the Circus would have never been able to get you two”

“If they never had someone to bring back then they would have never used either of you”

He tilted his head slightly “See? It’s my fault too” you had no clue on how to answer that, you had no clue on how to answer anything anymore. You were so tired–your own bones felt so tired you just wanted to sleep and forget that anything ever happened. You wanted for this to be just an ugly nightmare.

“But we can’t keep being stuck in the past least someone will sink their teeth on us in the present” he patted your head once again before standing up and offering his hand “You escaped them but it’s far from over. You know too much. They will want to erase any liability. . .” that knowledge made a shiver run down your spine as you took hold of his hand to stand up and try to not fall “We have to warn the police–”

“And tell them what? That a bunch of monsters with superpowers are trying to kill me because I found out about their satanic ritual?” you cut him off, biting your lips and furrowing your eyebrows in a grimace “They will never believe me and if they miraculously do, they will never be ready to go against them– no matter how much I describe. You have to be there to truly understand what they are capable of”

Blake hummed, placing a finger under his chin in thought. You weren't wrong, the police most of the time already slack with any kind of crime– the police of a small town even more. It would be stupid to lose that thin veil of time you managed to buy yourself. Right, even if the police get into action now, it won't be enough and those creatures will get you. . .

"Alright, I have plan. You should take a shower while I gather all the necessities. In these conditions you won't go far away. Clean yourself, treat your wounds and wear light and comfortable clothes– Samuel should still have something that suits you" He ordered and only now, we a clearer mind, you finally gave yourself a long look– grimacing at the state you were in. Getting clean. . .you will scrub off their touches with sandpaper if necessary.

"What's going on? What do you plan on doing?" the question came out with a bit concern.

Blake opened the door of the bathroom, casting you a last look "You are gonna run far away from here."

"Far away from them"

{~♠︎♥︎◆♣︎~}

ANALISI CORNER OF MC! (And my choices on a writing stand point) 2– The main theme of the book. As you guys might have noticed, there is a recurring theme in my fic, which got more prominent in the last chapters and that is: ●Being stuck in the past. When I played the VN for the first time, what impressed me the most was the fact that all the Circus members (or at least those that we saw) have a weird way of remembering Columbina. Implications and bordline obsession with jer 'sacrifice' every single member seem to try and implement her or her memory into their acts. At the start it might seem sweet or perhaps a way to grieve and keep her in their memories. However the more you think about it the more, instead of a small appreciation, it looked like they were. . .still stuck in the moment of the accident. Like they didn’t want to let it go. And when you obsess on the past, on something that's no longer here. . .well, using Blake's words, someone will sink their teeth on you in the present.  I wanted to take this concept and place it inside my fic in a sort of tragedy. They could have had everything–! If only they didn’t obsessed on the past and learned to let go. Not that's entirely their fault. They had been abused and starved in the past, pushing them to act drastically. But that also doesn't mean thag this way of thinking won't have problems in the future. And it's not only them with the problem of not letting go of the past. All the major characters has it. Mister Blake obsessing over his wife's disappearance (tied to the Circus inability of moving on) Livia insistence on getting over her fear of the circus, wanting to find that spirit she met when she was younger (tied to the Circus inability of moving on) MC inability to let go of people who hurts their loved ones, most of the time going back and take revenge even when it’s no longer necessary. (Everyone is tied to everyone. Sometimes I wonder if the Circus ever went to therapy and learned a healthy way to process loss how things would be right now) Actually, MC already got hit with the repercussions of their actions back when Nate burned their home and jumped them. It was a wake up call (not that they deserved it) and right now they are struggling with no falling down the self blame rabbit hole linked to Livia’s death. From now on starts MC journey to learn this lesson and someone will show them just how to do it. Will trying to survive a crazy Circus crew with even crazier clowns of course!

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[MINORS DO NOT INTERACT FURTHER– SENSIBLE CONTENT UNDER THE CUT] –for any questions my inbox is open–

Chapter 21: Bon appetit

~Don't forget to comment your opinion~

{~♤♡◇♧~}

“Where did they go?” 

Green eyes snapped from side to side, black tactical boots coming to a stop at the edge of the entrance of an abandoned fabric “There is no way we have really lost them” snapping his head back, a hand running its fingers through blonde strands– trying to push them back under the dark hoodie. “For the umpteenth time Nate. . .I don’t know” Martha groaned, leaning her shoulder against the wall and holding her aching cheek. A bruise was already forming in the place you had hit her with your elbow.

“They are good at running, we have been searching everywhere now and not a single trace yet” Alex added “Yea, like a goddamn rat you mean” Nate bit the inside of his cheek, slamming his closed fist against the door frame “We were so close and they–! They slipped away once again, damn it! And we still don’t know where Jo and Lucy are!”

Marth watched as her friend kicked a nearby bucket full of sand, spilling all the content to the ground. She calmly lifted an eyebrow and fixed her smudged lipstick with her finger “What were you planning anyway? We burned their home and we taught them a lesson they won’t forget for a very long time” then she narrowed her eyes, tilting her head slightly “Don’t tell me you were planning to. . .you know. . . That’s not a crime your daddy can pay your way out. Be stupid but not too stupid”

Nate scoffed, shaking his head “And what if I wanted to do that? They kidnapped Jo and Lucy, Martha! They tortured us this whole time– we would do a favor to the world by getting rid of them”

Alex took a step forward, trying to resonate “Okay buddy. . .you are exaggerating now. We will get Jo and Lucy back but committing something like that will involve more than just the local cop down the street. They will connect the dots and–”

“Then we will blame the Circus!” Nate cut him off, lifting his hands to the air with a twisted expression making its way on his face. It made his two friends grimace and share a look between each other with concern. It might be their impression, but he was starting to sound straight up insane– like he was losing it.

Completely unaware that one of the shadows behind them started stretching closer and closer.

“They're just a bunch of freaks, no? People already fear them, rumors run rampant between neighbors– everyone will accept the lie if we say that they killed them or kidnapped or god only knows what!” the blonde man turned his back to his friends, digging his nails in the palm of his hand.

“Nate. . .” Alex tried again to reason, taking a step over a green looking cable.

“And then! And then we will call the police! Have the place raided and save Jo and Lucy!” he kept going, voice trembling, broken only by shaky laughs.

“Nate! Quit it, you are freaking me out!” Martha cried out, hugging her arms around her body and taking a step back–. . .only for her eyes to widen when her back hit something solid. Weren’t. . .weren’t they near the entrance?

Then. . .how it is that she already hit the wall on the other side of the room?

“It will be perfect! We just–!”

Martha screams cut through the air like a sharp knife, prompting the two men to turn around abruptly. Only to feel their hearts drop once their gazes landed on the red head girl, firmly held against a body– her arms pinned to her sides, head to the side while a sharp clawed hand dug deeper in her throat, nails leaving small bloody indents from the pressure.

“I’m sorry” Harlequin’s smile was cruel, all sharp teeth and mocking intent “But I’m afraid we can’t allow little pests to jeopardize the Circus. Your opinion on my home wound me greatly” then, the green ‘cables’ on the ground wrapped around Alex’s legs and lifted him up before slamming him back down on the cemented ground, head first “Never do that again, little one” 

Martha choked out a sob, seeing her friend’s body dangling from this. . .this tentacle and blood slowly dripping down from his forehead. Harlequin just chuckled, delighted by her terror and the smell of blood filling the air.

“Ale–!” 

Then a red blur appeared from behind Nate, just as a heavy brick was slammed on the back of his head– sending the blonde guy to the ground with a sickly crack. “How dare you” without leaving room to even attempt and catch a breath, Pierrot was already over his body, the hard brick secured on his grip “How dare you. How dare you. How dare you! How dare you! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DA–”

His expression was twisted into an ugly grimace, golden eyes shrunk to mere pin pricks, his horns tearing the fabric of the red hat as he kept slamming the brick over and over and over Nate’s head.

“How dare you hurt them!”

*CRACK!*

Blonde hair mixed with the substance leaking and tainting them of a deep red.

“How dare you touch them with your dirty hands!”

*SQUASH!”

Brain pieces remained stuck to the sharp corners of the brick, flying around with every erratic movement.

“How dare you! How dare you! Howdareyouhowdareyouhowdarey–!”

The clawed fingers dug deeper into the cement to the point that Pierrot accidentally broke it, crumbling the pieces in his hands– yet, despite this, he did not stop with his rampage and instead passed to dig his nails into the flesh of the unrecognizable boy and tear apart everything.

Martha was left to watch her friend being completely brutalized by a 6,6 ft monster, sobbing and whimpering from pure fear and terror. She wanted to look away so badly but the man behind her would not let her do that, going as far as using his extra appendices to keep her from falling to the ground. She cried and recoiled when blood, Nate’s blood, splattered over her legs.

“Hey big guy” Harlequin called out with a cheerful tone, like all of this was totally normal, like witnessing a brutal homicide was just another average day “There is no need to go on. You already squashed his head like a fly, you are just gonna dig a hole if you keep going” and then laughed when Pierrot’s wild eyes snapped on him in a heated glare, while the girl in his grasp just choked out more sobs.

“Messy as usual” the ebony haired monster whistled, looking at the previously pristine white mask now completely drenched in blood. Even his silky long silver hair resembled Doctor’s, wet and still dripping down “Aww, I thought we would take turns. You had all the fun alone”

“Shut up” Pierrot growled, baring his sharp teeth to his fellow monster “Look at me” Harlequin lifted Alex’s body higher to the sky with his tentacle before slamming him down on the ground with a sick *Crack!*.

“So efficient”

*Slam!*

“Clean”

*SLAM!*

“Nothing dirty.” *SLAM!* “Fast” *SLAM* “And still good for consumption!” *SLAM!*

Martha sniffled in his arms, tears and snot mixing together, her legs given up long ago with the only support being those disgusting tentacles and sharp claws. Her eyes were closed, forced to hear that repeated cracking sound over and over and over again. Dreading for when it will be her turn and praying to any god to be spared.

“Please. . .I-I won’t say anything. . .please. . .I beg of you. . .don’t kill me”

But her words fell to deaf ears and the two monsters ignored her.

“Plus we need the bodies and as much meat as possible” Harlequin’s grin widened, green eyes glowing lightly stuck on a pair of golden ones “Jester’s orders”

■__—ピエロ—__■

Your wide eyes looked at the scene in front of them.

You think the smell hit before the sight could land on the scene you stumbled in.

Death.

That’s the only way you could describe what you were looking at. A pungent, disgusting odor first hit your senses, overwhelming them and forcing your features to scrunch in a grimace as your hand flew to cover your nose. But it didn’t manage to come all the way before freezing and your eyes got used to the dark, finally processing what they were seeing.

Bodies.

Or worse. Corpses.

Thrown around carelessly, piled one above the other, completely brutalized in the worst ways possible. Limbs missing, heads cracked open, blood caking every surface your eyes could land on, dripping to the ground and forming pools. Some of the blood was dried, other seemed to be still fresh.

You felt yesterday’s dinner come back up your throat, prompting you to snap your head to the side and empty your whole stomach while your mind was desperately trying to erase the image you have just stumbled on. Your legs felt light and heavy at the same time, the fingertips going numb and your head spun like you were in a carousel. 

Those. . .those are not props. . .those are real humans, aren’t they?

You hesitantly shifted your gaze back to the inside of the black tent and clenched your teeth when your eyes confirmed that yes. Those are definitely human bodies, those empty eyes (the one that still had eyes) were the same empty eyes that you last saw on your parents. That means. . .that means that the Circus is some sort of. . .I don’t know, serial killer organisation?

It would be in line with the cult shits. A lot of those rituals need human blood or human hair or whole humans.

Swallowing the thick knot formed in your throat, you took a deep breath and walked deeper, hearing Pierrot calling your name from outside. He hasn’t seen you coming inside here, good. That means that you have an advantage and exploit this moment of confusion to quietly sneak away. But how could you do it? The Circus is half down and from here to the nearest exit or even the bathrooms there is nothing you can use to hide behind. And running in the open is not an option.

Blend. . .you have to blend in. . .but how?

Looking around frantically for anything that could help you, your eyes landed on a group of fools huddled together like cargo. They were still as statues, staring ahead, not acknowledging the clear massacre near them. You looked at their uniform, at their masks, heart beating hard in your chest and teeth sinking inside your inner cheek. 

This might be a gamble. But it will also be your only chance to possibly escape.

Taking a deep breat–no scratch that. The air here is unbreathable. Instead you covered your mouth and nose, making your way closer to the group of fools as quickly and silently as possible “Hey” you tried to call one of them, snapping your fingers in front of the girl with deep red hair. No answers at all. 

You tried to gently push her. No reaction.

Seeing this, you took her mask off and your heart dropped once you recognized the person in front of you. Martha. Yes, of course. You would recognize one of your perpetrators everywhere. Snapping your eyes back on the pile of bodies, your heart hammered in your chest and your mouth went dry as disgust washed over you.

There, just under a chest, peeking his head out. Alex.

Nate must be somewhere here too. . .unless he hasn't become a pile of mush already.

Nausea hit you again and you snapped your head back on Martha– grimacing at the way her eyes now looked dull with a bright purple diamond just in the middle of them. She was no longer a human. She was nothing more than an object.

“I. . .I’m so sorry” it came out almost instinctively, the apology tumbling out of your lips before you could stop it “I’m–! I’m so sorry, really” you didn’t even know why you were apologising–no. You perfectly knew why. And it is because it was your fault if they ended up like this, if they died in such a brutal inhuman way. If you never got them involved with you. . .if you never got hurt. . .if you never roped Harlequin and Pierrot with your problems. . .

They would be alive.

No one deserves this kind of fate, not even someone like them.

An image of Livia passed through your mind and you froze, breath stuck in your throat and eyes quickly getting stinging.

“I’m so sorry. Oh god–, I’m so sorry–!”

You grasped Martha shoulders, hard, shaky, digging your fingers in the fabric as your head leaned against her chest– trying your best to remain whole and not break now of all times. Biting down your lip hard enough to draw blood, you pushed yourself back and started searching for one of the fools that had your body built and thank god that there they were.

Repeatedly apologizing for stripping them of their clothes, you did the same with yours before throwing them in the pile of corpses and putting on the pink uniform. If these monsters have animalistic traits that means that they could track you down by the odor, throwing your old clothes in a pile of foul stench will make sure that they won’t be able to follow anymore lead. Plus, with this new uniform you yourself should not have the same smell as before.

With the mask in place, you felt just a tiny more secure. . .not that it changed much your situation but at least you feel a bit more in control. Now, to go and gamble with your life, it would be dumb to just go out like this and especially alone. You will stick out like a sore thumb and get zeroed immediately by Jester or Ticket Taker and then it will be game over.

Eyeing the fools once again, you took hold of your chin. . .if only you could convince them to follow you. . .to give the illusion that someone gave you an order. To blend in.

Then you remembered. Jester gave you two fools! Pinco and Pallino! You are not sure if it will work. . .but if they could listen to you then. . .

“Pinco, Pallino, uhhh. . .get here” you awkwardly commanded and for a long while none of the fools seemed to move, prompting a frown to etch on your face behind the mask. Then, against all odds, a man and a woman stepped forward. Your fools! Oh thank god! Maybe it’s not all over yet.

“Okay guys, Pinco grab the box, Pallino you hold this one” you passed one of the containers with props inside to the woman fool and then you wrapped your hands around the pole of a flag. Just in case, if they discover you, this could be used as a nice last resort weapon. Peeking your head out, you made sure that no monster was near and signaled for your two lackeys to follow you.

And so it started, with your heart beating relentlessly in your throat, the journey to your doom.

You tried to make yourself unrecognizable, hiding all your hair, or most of them, under the pink hat. The hand you used to punch the mirror and escape Ticket Taker faintly ached which each movement. But it’s fine. . .everything is fine. . .just act like a fool. Match the steps of the other two until you reach one of the exits and then ditch them. Act mindless. . .you are a fool, you are a fool, you are a fool, you are a f–

“Oh my, what do we have here?”

Your heart dropped at the sound of a honeyed voice yet at the same time it couldn’t help but feel a twinge of relief. You cursed yourself inwardly, making sure you didn’t break formation nor give Harlequin any sign of you acknowledging him. The ebony haired monster chuckled, eyeing you three making your way who knows where, and fell in a walk just beside you.

Your heart never felt more heavy than now.

“How cute, I thought Jester already placed you all inside the toy box but it seems he still needs your help” he mused, mocking tone dripping down from his lips before he suddenly pushed Pallino harshly to the ground, just in front of you. The content of the box scattered all around the ground, forcing you and Pinco to stop in your tracks, watching as the other fool robotically pushed himself to his feet. Harlequin looked so smug, it made you feel less than an ant.

It was weird, you have always known that Harlequin was quite the teasing guy, he picked fun on Pierrot, his character is crude and he doesn’t shy away from making innuendos and poking insults. But until now it all felt more like a way to have harmless fun. . .well sort of.

Watching how he pushed the fool to the ground, treating them like a mere toy, pushing and prodding them around. . .cruel. He felt so cruel at the moment and it was twisting your heart so hard it took everything in you to keep your blank stare forward and not punch him in the face out of anger.

Did he know?

He surely did.

Does that mean that all those times you spent together were. . .was anything he said to you. . .did anything you share really matter?

Don’t think, don’t question, you are just a fool– in all senses.

“Ahhh! Wait a second you little one” gracefully he stepped in front of you, ignoring Pallino and even pushing them further to make space and swiftly standing so close to your body you were seriously thinking that he figured you out. Harlequin looked at your mask for what felt like eternity, yet you are sure that only mere seconds went by.

*Thump!* *Thump!*

He smiled. You kept your eyes forward, lost somewhere, praying that he will shove you and be on his way.

“What is my nose telling me. . .” then he shot his claw forward, grabbing your injured hand and dragging it up in the air– almost making you stand on your tippy toes. Pain bloomed under his grip, travelling down your arm and choking you in a muted cry. Don’t make a sound, don’t make a sound, don’t make a sou–

With a quick movement he ripped the part of your uniform covering your arm, revealing the fresh cuts the glass shards left– still bleeding, painfully so “An injured one. What a shame. The others haven’t been careful with such a delicate fool such as yourself, mh?” another crude chuckle escaped the ebony haired monsters and, while all you wanted to do was scream, the only thing that kept you going was the fact that he still hasn’t recognized you.

He didn’t know that under the mask there was you.

This was his real self. . .

“Thump!* *Thump!*

. . .don’t think about that now.

“That means that you will be our dinner tonight then. How, exciting” he dragged you by the arm closer, you stayed as limp as possible– even letting the flag fall down to really sell the illusion even when fear was eating you alive “I had been craving something sweet all this time and, from the smell of your blood, I wonder if also the flesh will be as tender”

Then, as if this situation wasn’t already nightmares fuel as it was, Harlequin mask opened up– letting you seet a long biforked tongue coming out “Would Jester mind if I get an appetazer early?” his spoke, mainly to himself, tapping his chin with a sharp nail “Ohhh he seems to be in such a good mood, I guess I can go by with this one. It has been quite a while since I had something tasty under my teeth” his grip tightened and only the smallest twitch of your eyes could show your pain.

Your injured arm was dragged closer to his mouth, your heart beating like crazy– slamming against your ribcage, a primal instinct urging you to step back, get away, punch, scream–ANYTHING! 

*THUMP!* *THUMP!*

However you remained limp, watching in the corner of your eyes as that long biforked green tongue wrapped around your arm– your fingers doing the smallest twitch you could allow yourself, breathing was starting to become hard to do, the pounding in your head and the tongue over your skin the only thing you could focus on.

Don’t move, don’t breathe, don’t make any indication that you were aware of what was happening.

*THUMP! *THUMP!*

Don’t think about the warm breath hitting your flesh. Don’t think about those sharp teeth opening and ready to sink in your arm. Don’t think about how happy he looks at the moment.

*THUMP!* *THUMP!*

You are a fool, you are a fool, you are a fool, you are a fool, youareafool, youareafoolyouareafoolyouareafoolyouareafo–

You are a fool who is about to get eaten–

“Harlequin!”

The green eyed monster stopped his advances, leaning back from your arm and closing his mask before snapping his focus on a general direction where Ticket Taker’s voice came from. You don’t know. You weren’t daring to move a single muscle.

“What?” Harlequin called back quite snappy, it was obvious that he was ticket off with his meal being abruptly interrupted– you could hear it in the tone lacking any type of bite or playful tease “Quit playing around with the fools and come here, it’s important” Ticket Taker urged again, his words not leaving space to contradict him.

Rolling his eyes, the ebony haired man pushed you back and making you unceremoniously falling on your ass “What a shame, we have to interrupt our dinner date before the main dish” your eyes were pinned to the ground, all you could see were his boots “Well then, don’t think this is over little one. Give me a minute and I will be back. Try to not run away” his sharp chuckle reached your ears.

“Not that you can in the first place”

And then only steps growing gradually farther filled the air.

. . .

And of course your racing heart– that might be the loudest sound.

A minute passed where you didn’t dare to move, then another, then anoth–

You jumped on your feet and resumed the robotical walk with Pinco and Pallino, gaze pinned on the floor, blank, empty.

Just like it was all you could feel at the moment.

The communal bathrooms came into view and a small sob of relief escaped your throat before you could stop it. You dived inside them, making sure to duck beneath the mirrors, reaching one of the top windows leading to the main road and climbing over it. An overwhelming urge to broke down and cry your heart out washed over you as your legs almost gave up when you jumped down.

You looked at the empty street.

You escaped the Circus’ grounds. 

{~♠︎♥︎◆♣︎~}

ANALISI CORNER OF MC! (And my choices on a writing stand point) 1– Morality of humans. Do good humans exist? So, for this corner I wanted to start with a core aspect of MC: they are not a perfect person (I don't use 'moraly gray' as I'm not sure that's the right term) I chose to make MC a flawed character for two main reasons. ● Does Pierrot love the person or the act? ● The two extremes opinions on humans, Pierrot–Jester For the first point. I wanted to explore Pierrot as a character and his obsessive love with MC. We all know that he would love a kind person, who wouldn't? They are perfect, they saved him, they are always ready to put themselves out for others. But would he have loved someone who is not constantly a saint?  MC is flawed to challenge this variable, and also to place the scenario in a realistic setting. I'm not saying that a kind and good human doesn't exist (I'm not Jester) however it's also true that an average person most likely won't be like that to that degree. And most of the time an overly kind MC has to be dumbed down to an idiot just to keep the story going on. It is stated that Pierrot loves everything about MC and, while I acknowledge that it is made so people of all looks and gender can feel represented, in a real life scenario that can feel. . .superficial. A partner feels appreciated when they are seen. To be loved is to be seen. However with Pierrot feels like, if the next person came by and made a kinder gesture then they will be his next darling. Ence the, does Pierrot love MC or the act of kindness? Now, onto my next point. Once again I made MC flawed to challenge mainly two beliefs in the Circus. MC (a human) is the Devil on earth. MC (a human) is an angel sent to earth. Both statements are completely WRONG! MC is a human capable of good (helping Pierrot) but also capable of evil (decided to pick fights) and their journey is that of learning and changing for the better. They represent (this is a big statement) humanity itself. And everyone can see them and decide on which scale to place them. Here a a rough line of the map where the Circus members stands on their view of MC and their morality: 【Good】: Pierrot; Columbina  【Good with a hint of evil】: Doctor 【Balanced】: Harlequin  【evil with a hint of good】: Ticket Taker 【Evil】: Jester Also in the future chapters I will also explain why Harlequin is the one who closely sees MC for who they really are ehehehhe

Jester will be sulking becayse everything was perfect with Columbia back and he reluctantly accepted you into the circus but then you ran just because they may have sacrificed your friend! It’s not that big of a deal plus you have them now so why would you even need anyone else

Not my Circus! Extra content + answered questions.

Jester is one of those people who swear they don't want a pet and then ends up taking care of it. I believe is also canon that he doesn’t like pets because they are too high maintenance.

I think he was so convinced that you would be used as Columbina's host that now he doesn't know what to do with you. The first thought would be to kill or turn you into a fool– but Pierrot and Harlequin got too attached (much to his displeasure), Doctor got used to have an assistant and Ticket Taker doesn't mind as long as you follow his rules and keep being obedient.

And to not forget that Columbina begged him to keep such a cute and adorable thing– she promises she will look after it!

The new plan was then to tear you away from everything you have left with the excuse that you have to still pay up the debt with them and therefore he would make sure that you depend on them and on them only.

. . .

But you ran away. And now everything is in shambles– tch. Humans always ruin everything, what a pain.

I was wondering on if i could also get tagged for the next parts?! Please and thank you!!

Not my Circus! Extra content + answered questions.

First of all, thank you so much!!! You have no idea how much I appreciate those words 😭🫶!

I'm gonna be honest, out of all the clowns, writing about Harlequin had been the thing I feared the most– too afraid of making him ooc or completely butchering his character.

He ended up being the one I love the most writing about, lol. So I'm glad you liked it!