Hello, Welcome to my Art Tumblr

Ah.

Excellent.

Now We May Begin.

Let Us Start

With Your Vessel.

Select The Form You Wish To Wear.

[*BASEBALL CAP]

[*BRAIDED HAIR]

[*FLANNEL SHIRT]

[*JEANS]

Is This The Form You Desire?

…

Good Choice! Now To Intwine Its Mind As Yours…

What Is Its Favorite Food?

[*SWEET]

*SOFT

*SOUR

*SALTY

*PAIN

*COLD 

Your Favorite Blood Type?

*A

*AB

[*B]

*C

*D

What Color Does It Like Most?

*PINK

*BLUE

[*YELLOW]

*GREEN

*PURPLE

Please Give It A Gift

*KINDNESS

[*MIND]

*AMBITION

*BRAVERY

*VOICE

How Do You Feel About Your Creation? (It Will Not Hear.)

*LOVE

[*HOPE]

*DISGUST

*FEAR

Have You Answered Honestly?

[*YES]

*NO

You Acknowledge The Possibility Of Pain, Seizure, And/Or Death?

[*YES]

*NO

Understood.

Name Your Vessel

*HANNAH

And It Was Named "HANNAH"...

And Its Creator?

…

Ah, I See… Very Well.

I shall call you… the "AUDIENCE", then.

Fitting, is it not?

Thank You For Your Time.

Your Answers.

Your Wonderful Creation

WILL NOW BE THROWN AWAY.

YOU CANNOT CHOOSE WHO YOU ARE IN THIS WORLD.

YOU R    NA ME     I   S

"EMMA!"

A lanky bird monster – a Checkered-Tail Nighthawk, to be precise – flicks on the light, waking up the human girl from her slumber with a groan.

"Emma, if you do not wake up, we will be late for school," The Nighthawk opens the window, letting in natural light, before approaching the starkly decorated side of the room and gently pats the lump under the sheets. "I will wait outside for you. Take care to hurry."

With that, Ezekiel Perkins takes his leave, and Emma Perkins perks up and out of bed to follow. She quickly gets ready, slipping on her blueand magenta striped hoodie over gray sweatpants and brushing her teeth monotonously (not before flushing the toilet a couple of times. For good luck), and meets her father outside.

"Ah, Emma, there you are." Ezekiel unlocks the door and enters the driver's side, Emma following into the passenger's seat while the car starts up. "We might still be able to make it."

"Emma, it's a beautiful day today, isn't it?" The human's father backs out of the driveway and onto the street. "I hope it stays like this when Jane comes by next week."

Emma only responds with a hum, looking out the window. Driving down the road lined with trees, her dad continues to ponder. "But I wonder… after the excitement of college… Will she still enjoy coming home to this little town?"

Driving through said town, they're waved at by several of their neighbors, and go largely ignored by several other Hatchetfield citizens. They pass Miss Retro's Diner, Mr. Keane's office, and the Librarby (some kids thought it would be funny).

Finally, they reach the school, quickly parking and leaving the car and entering the schoolhouse. With first period just about to start and only a few stragglers roaming the halls, Mr. Perkins pats his daughter's head and shares a quick goodbye, before rushing to his class. Emma, however, takes her time heading to her homeroom class.

"Alright, does everyone ha-" Mr. Davidson, the ghost monster, is interrupted by Emma opening the door and entering class, thus directing all attention unto the human girl. "Ah, Emma! We thought you wouldn't come in today! But I'm glad you showed up anyways," His glasses lift from his face and he gives a wink, then flips through some pages on his clipboard. "Well, now that you are here, how about you choose your partner for the group project?"

With a stiff nod, Emma beelines for the smoggy-fire monster in the back. They reek of weed, but everyone is used to it by now, Emma especially.

"Yooooo, Emma!" Ziggs waves at the human lazily, "What took you so long? Man, you should've gotten here sooner! Now I have to partner up with Mark Chastity," They sigh, releasing more smoke into the air. Thank the angel Davidson keeps the windows open. " I mean, he's fine – I won't get a bad grade, right? – I just wish he'd chill out a little, ya know? I already get enough preaching from my Mom, I don't need him trying to convert me, hahah!"

Emma, following the row of desks, approaches Mark Chasity, the sheep monster, who looks up from his copy of the Bible, "Ah, Emma! I'm so sorry, but I already have a partner for this project; Ziggy just behind me. But may the Angel help you find one!"

Emma slowly backed away and moved onto the next classmate… and the next… and the one after that. She even asks Davidson, but they all give essentially the same answer.

Bill, the cyclopean snake monster looks up from his textbook as Emma taps his desk. "Oh! Hi Emma. Um, you know me and Charlotte always work together – it's just what works, ya know?" His eye looks away. "And… you know you have a bit of a… track record with your grades, ya know? I-I can't let you drag Charlotte down like that! We both know she can't handle that kind of stress right now…" He sighs, turning back to his book, "I'm sorry, but you'll just have to find a partner somewhere else."

Suppressing the urge to roll her eyes, Emma moves on to Charlotte's desk. The dog monster looks up from her notebook with a kind, albeit anxious smile. "Oh, hi Emma! Did you need an eraser again?" She rummages through her pencil case, "Would you like the black cat or the calico one this time?"

Emma shakes her head and mutters something about partners and projects. Charlotte has the decency to look guilty, "Oh, Emma, I'm sorry, but I'm already partnered up with Bill… as always," Glancing at Bill, the dog gives a nervous smile, "… but maybe we could ask if we could have a three-person group?"

Emma agrees, so Charlotte raises her hand, "Pardon me? Mr. Davidson? Could we possibly form a group of-?"

"WHAT?" Bill all but shouts, then leans over to his project partner and whisper yells at her, "Charlotte, you can't be serious! We can't work with Emma! You didn't even ask me!"

Wide-eyed, Charlotte stutters out, "But- but she doesn't have-"

"What was that, Charlotte?" Mr. Davidson looks up from his board. If Emma remembers correctly, a picture of his wife was hidden in there. He mostly just stares at that while everyone's working on an assignment, or the framed photo he keeps on his desk.

"Oh, she was just saying how we're FINE working alone!" Bill grits out, giving the dog monster a pointed glare.

"Well, no, I just wanted to know-"

"Miss Sweetly," the teacher locks onto his student with an empathetic look, "please speak up. I can hardly-"

Suddenly, the door kicks open, revealing a tall, grinning goat monster. The room goes uncomfortably quiet as he leans against the door frame, scratching at his mustache fur.

"What's up, fuckers?" He spits out, his grin growing at everyone's unease. "What'd I miss?"

"… Spankoffski," Mr. Davidson addresses the student, sweating slightly, "we were just, um… choosing partners for the next project! Emma," in contrast, the ghost looks the human in the eye, only nervously glancing at the goat in the doorway, "you and Ted will be working together."

"…" Ted looks Emma up and down, judging, "… Heh, alright. Thanks, teach." He winks at Mr. Davidson and he doesn't make any point to go to his seat, just keeps leaning against the door as he looks around the room. Neither does Emma, but that's besides the point.

Davidson clears his throat even though he doesn't breathe. "Well then, now that everyone's here, let's start!"

Turning to the chalkboard, he floats to the sill… only to pause. He lets out a sigh, "Alright, where's the chalk? This is the third time it has gone missing, and… and you all know I can't start the lesson without it!"

Silence.

The teacher's looks around with an anxious smile. "Okay, how about this? If no one comes forward now, everyone is punished for this!"

A cricket monster chirps as Mr. Davidson starts sweating profusely. "… Anyone?"

"Um, I think there might be an extra box in the supply closet," Charlotte nervously raises her paw, and Emma can see her tail swishing behind her, "Mr. Davidson, how about Ted and I-?"

"Excellent idea, Miss Sweetly!" The ghost monster interrupts, swooshing as he turns, "Ted, since you were the last student to show up, how about you get it for me?"

Ted shifts his stance to stare at the teacher for a moment, his ear flicking once. "… Pfft, whatever," And with that, he makes his leave, slamming the door shut behind him.

The classroom is silent before Mr. Davidson sighs again. "Emma, could you please make sure he stays out of trouble?" he turns back to his clipboard, "and actually gets the chalk?"

As the class fills with whispers and tension, Emma nods and walks out of the classroom…

… to see Ted leaning over the hallway desk, snorting chalk.

As Emma shuts the door, he quickly stands up straight, wiping the powder away from his nose.

"… Hey," he coughs up a cloud of chalk, "… didn't see you there."

Ted glances around, then looks back at the human with a sharp smile. "You didn't see anything… right?"

Emma stays silent even as Ted's grin twitches.

"Got nothing to say, huh?" He taps the desk, then starts to approach Emma. Even while she tries to evade him, clearly unnerved, he continues. When her back hits the lockers, Ted rests a hooved hand on her shoulder. "Hey, sweetheart… wanna know a secret?"

Suddenly, the hand on her shoulder lifts and punches the locker, inches away from her face and denting the metal. Ted leans close, close enough Emma can feel his hot breath and fur tickling her skin. His yellowed teeth are bared as he snarls, "Quiet people piss me off."

Emma stares at Ted, tense and as still as she can be. This seems to make him laugh, "Oh-hoh, yeah! Do you really think I don't know exactly what you wanna say?" He leans back and puts on a silly, high pitched voice, mocking Emma. "'OH, I've got 'im now! I caught ol' Teddy snorting all the chalk! Now he's sure to be expelled!' Fuckin' FINALLY, right?"

He laughs in Emma's face, flecks of spit making her flinch in disgust. "C'mooon, don't even try to deny it! Everyone's waiting for it! Everybody wants it! So good job! Ya got me!" Raising his hands, Ted dramatically waves them beside his face.

Then he drops his hands and his smile, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Although… it does feel like a waste to get sacked just for a little fix, doesn't it? I mean that flaming fuckhead smokes weed in the unisex bathrooms every-fuckin'-day, and I can't have a bit o' chalk?" He grins once more. "So how 'bout I cause some real carnage, eh?"

A hand grips Emma's shoulder once again, more violently this time and sure to bruise. "Erica, was it?" Despite everything, the human opens her mouth to correct the asshole, but he doesn't let her.

"How do you feel…" Ted grabs her hood and lifts her up against the locker and leans forward, his jaw in line with her throat, "about losing your fucking head?"

Slowly, he opens his mouth, his jaw seeming to unhinge as he places it around the girl's neck. Emma can feel his yellowed teeth press against her throat, can feel the canines threaten to break skin and the power behind his molars. She breaks a sweat as the possibility of decapitation is clear and real…

He suddenly backs off, dropping her on the floor with a thud, and walking away.

"Nah…" he sticks his hands into his pant pockets, "you'd probably be into that shit. And besides," leaning his head back, he stares at Emma through his bangs. She hasn't made any move to get up, but stares back at him, "you've got a good dad. It'd be pretty douchey of me to make him bury his own daughter."

The two teenagers stare at each other for a long moment, both too stubborn to look away, until Ted chuckles and shrugs, stepping further away. "C'mon, let's get that stupid chalk, and when we get back? I ain't doing shit on this project. Got it, Ella?"

Once again, Emma tries to growl out a response to correct him, but the goat monster waves his hand back at her, "Yeah, yeah, I don't fucking care. In case you haven't picked it up by now," He snarls at her, "No one gives a shit what you think."

Silence fills the hall once more as Ted walks down the hall. "Get up. We haven't got all day, freak."

Emma rubs at her neck for moment, feeling the indents made by Ted's threat. She pulls her hood closer around her throat and pushes herself up, forcing out a "Fucking creep," as she does so.

"Fuck was that?" Ted calls out from down the hall.

Emma can't bring herself to say much more than a hum as she rounds the corner.

"… Yeah, that's what I thought, bitch." Ted turns again. "Now come on. You don't need me to hold your hand, do you?"

Rolling her eyes as the other mocks her, she follows him as they approach the supply closet.

"Well, here it is. Too bad," Ted smirks at Emma, who just grimaces back, as he walks up to the doors, "we were just startin' to have fun."

As he nudges it open… an unending darkness pours out of it, seeming to pulse in the light and simultaneously making everything darker. Dark yet darker…

Ted slowly backs away. "… Hey, uh, Girl? Is it just me or…" he turns to Emma, who's just staring at the puddle of blackened darkness at the foot of the door, "is it really fucking dark in there?"

"No shit, Sherlock," Emma whispers out, still staring at the closet doors.

"Well, al-fucking-right then, Watson," Ted snarks back, clearly sweating bullets, "Since you seem to know everything, why don't you go on ahead?"

She backs away, hands up and shaking her head.

"Oh, fucking pussy! Fine, then I'll…" He looks back at the doors and shivers, then turns back to Emma and grabs her arm. "We'll go in together!!"

Emma lets out an indignant squawk, one to rival her father's, as she's all but dragged into the closet. Once they're in, Emma yanks her arm out of the goat monster's hooved grasp, rubbing at it as they both look around at the dark room.

Well, "look" is being generous, as there isn't much to see in the dark aside from some papers on the floor and the pure blackness surrounding them.

"See? What were you such a wuss about?" He kicks some of the papers. "Nothin' in here to be scared about… unless you're scared of the dark and some scrap sheets of paper." He laughs at his own joke, and starts walking further in. "Let's try to find a switch, yeah?"

While Emma wants nothing more than to get the fuck out of here and ditch Ted, she follows him deeper into the depths of the closet, watching him pat the wall to his left for the lightswitch.

"… this closet's fucking huge," He starts patting down the right wall, "Like, shouldn't we have reached the end by now? Or at least… ya know, found a light?"

They keep going down the lightless closet. Eventually Ted gives up looking for a lightswitch and just starts walking faster, his shoulders tense as he just tries to find the end.

"… Okay, fuck this," Ted turns around to face Emma, allowing her to see him grit his teeth and look around. Earlier he was like a predator to the halls, preying on whoever was wimpy or stupid enough not to fight back. Now though, he was truly prey to the dark, trapped by the close quarters with no end. Emma would take a jab at him if she could. "This closet's fucking broken. Let's just go back, Davidson can just get the chalk himself."

As if on command, Emma turns around and jogs back where they came from, Ted close on her heels as they tread the literal paper trail to the entrance once more…

And the doors close right in front of them. Right on time.

"What the-" Ted pushes past Emma, shoving her into the dark wall as he rushes to the door and starts pounding. "HEY!!! This- this isn't fucking funny! OPEN THE DOOR!!! OPEN…"

Suddenly, the ground starts shaking beneath their feet. Ted backs away from the door as the papers fall way, until with a shout from the goat, the two teenagers fall with them. Down, down and further down, they fall into the unknown.

Bill next to Emma is oblivious as he scours the menu, sipping his caramel frappe through a straw. "Yes, Miss Retro's always felt like it's been frozen in time. It's… well, it's retro."

Ted snorts, lowering his menu so he can actually look at it, "Gee, thanks, Captain Obvious," He looks around briefly, his expression relaxing as he takes it in. "You gotta admit, though, it's… cozy, isn't it?"

Emma thinks back to the times she's been here; with her family and with Mr. Keane, talking about the fighting and the incident, how nice Duke and Miss Holloway were to her and Jane, how he'd always pay for their food and the hot chocolate Holloway always made special for her. She thinks back to when it was just her, Jane, Charlotte and… and Melissa, joking around and making a mess and then cleaning it up when they were done.

Emma thinks back to the conversation she had with Ted the last time they were here; about her mom treating him to a meal, about digging into the meal like it was the last meal of their lives, drawing on the window and laughing and just having fun. She smiles, "Yeah, it is."

Ted smiles back. "Right? Knew you'd agree, Em. You've got good taste."

A waitess approaches their table with a plastered smile and notepad. "Are you all ready to order?"

Charlotte goes before Bill can start, ordering her usual – a bacon cheeseburger, no tomatoes, with fries and no sauce to go along with her strawberry shake. She's gotten the same thing since they were little, even when Melissa would try to pressure her into a different order. This is the one thing she'd put her foot down over.

Bill is next, getting a water and some complicated burger order that he had the waitress repeat and Emma didn't bother paying attention to, else she'd fall asleep from his droning. Instead, she and Ted decided to start flinging their straw wrappers at each other in a game of table football.

Emma orders a bowl of bacon mac n' cheese, an old classic she hasn't ordered in a while. And as a treat, she orders a slice of today's pie, strawberry rhubarb.

Then… Ted orders.

"The chicken strip basket sounds good. I'll get a six piece o' that," he turns to the waitress with his best smile – or rather, his most skeevy smile in Emma's opinion, "and if I could get your best tartar, that'd be swell, sweet cheeks."

Emma fake gags at her friend's gross attempt at flirting, which Charlotte laughs at behind her hand. If Ted could, he'd flip the human off.

Bill, however, is just staring at Ted absolutely gobsmacked as the waitress rolls her eyes and walks back to the kitchen.

He leans over and hisses at the goat monster. "Ted, don't you think that's… insensitive?"

Now everyone's confused, staring at their serpentine classmate.

"Bill, what the fuck are you talking about?" Ted scowls, glancing at Emma and Charlotte to scope their reactions. The human girl shrugs, shaking her head to confirm that, yeah she doesn't know either.

Charlotte fidgets a bit with her paws, circling her well-trimmed claws around each other. "I-if it's about the flirting, Bill, he really doesn't mean anyth-"

"No, not the catcalling, although that is an entirely different issue," With his single eye, Bill glares at Ted. "Do you seriously have no idea what else you could've done wrong here?"

Ted flings his hands against the table, his hooved fingers clacking against the wood. "No, Bill I have no fucking clue what you're talking about, and it doesn't seem like anyone else here does either."

The snake leans back to actually look at the other two at the table and seems to realize he's the only one who has a problem with this. He looks at Emma nevously, and she can feel his tail coil into himself under the table in embarrassment. "C'mon Emma, surely you can see the problem with this?"

Ted's fist hits the table, causing the other occupants to jump, Charlotte to squeak out a bark, and some customers to stare as he all but growls at Bill, "And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"Ted, calm down," Emma grits out, looking pointedly at her friend. While she appreciates it, she can handle herself.

She glares at the monster seated beside her. "Bill, what the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Clearly tense, Bill looks at the three of them – Ted glaring him with a venom that rivals his own, Emma's glare just daring him to elaborate, and Charlotte just silently begging him to choose his next words carefully – and looks away, his eye avoiding their gazes. "Well… considering your family, wouldn't ordering… chicken be poor taste?"

Silence… a cricket monster sings in the diner.

"Are you fucking stupid?" Ted holds back a grin.

Charlotte smacks him, hard enough to make him bleat snd rub his arm, "Ted! Be nice!" She then turns to her friend with a kind but amused smile. "You can't be serious, though, Bill."

Despite his cold blood, Bill's face flushes. "Wh-what do you mean? Of course I'm serious! What- why wouldn't I be serious?"

"Bill, Nighthawks are scavenger birds," Emma deadpans at him. "As long as it's dead, they'll eat just about anything, even their own children."

Bill's eye widens at this, his face flushing even further to a deep purple. Ted in response starts bellowing in laughter, Charlotte trying her hardest to hold hers in, but eventually giving in to softly chuckling. "Oh."

"Yeah. 'Oh.' Let's just eat our food and get studying, alright dumbasses?"

"Right… let's."

"Oh, poor taste!" Charlotte giggles, "Bill, you're a riot!"

Ted's laughter bursts even louder at the serpant's expense. Bill smacks his head onto the table as Emma chuckles along, taking another sip of her hot chocolate.

After sealing the fountain within the Titan in Black, the Lightners land in the library where it once stood.

"We…" Ted huffs for breath, "We did it…"

Emma huffs out a laugh as she pushes herself up, "Hell yeah, we did." Ted laughs along with her as Emma helps her friend stand up.

The goat monster gives her a thoughtful look. "Hey, Emma… what's the deal with that… blue… heart shit? … Is it really… your…"

The two heroes are silent for a moment… and then Ted jolts back. "W-wait! Shit, the old man!"

He makes his way to the doorway ahead of them, "C'mon!!! We… we still gotta talk to him!"

Ted's already gone before Emma can say anything. Alone, she clutches the heart at the front of her hooded shawl with an unreadable expression.

"Emma!" Emma's hand drops to her side as she turns to the source of the voice – Paul, frantically running into the room – and she can't help but smile despite it all.

The blue Darkner skids his claws to a halt in front of her and grabs her shoulders in excitement. "Emma! Emma, you're okay! I- I can't believe-" he sputters, so caught up in the euphoria of the battle that his words are struggling to come out, "You did it! You and Ted-! We- We made it! We defeated a Titan!"

He pulls her into a hug. She tenses up for a moment, still unused to the physical contact, then wraps her arms around the bird. His feathers are soft on her skin. It reminds her of…

Paul pulls away, his hands still on her shoulders, and with the biggest smile Emma's ever seen on him, and she imagines that hers is matching. "If we can do that then…"

He looks around for a moment… and his smile fades, the hope in his eyes giving way to pure dread. "Emma… where's Ted?"

Emma just looks at the doorway to the next room. 

And that's all Paul needs to start dashing to follow.

"TED! TED, WAIT!!!"

"PAUL!?" Emma dashes after him, almost tripping on the broken floorboards.

In the next room… there is another prophecy. One she and Ted have seen before.

"THE LAST PROPHECY.

THE STORY'S END."

"No…" Paul gasps, then keeps running, pure fear lacing his voice, "TED, STOP!!!"

Emma keeps following, almost running right past the next panes.

"AND THEN, WHEN ALL HOPE IS LOST FOR THIS TALE

THE FINAL TRAGEDY UNVEILS.

TO SAVE THE WORLDS, THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY."

Paul is standing in front of the penultimate panel, causing Emma to skid to stop.

"TED, DON'T LOOK—"

CRASH!!!

Paul and Emma run over to Ted, whose face is blank, and his fist is leaking red.

Paul starts shaking his friend's shoulder, desperate and pleading, "Ted, I'm sorry- I- I'm so sorry, I'm sorry- I-"

"Shut the fuck up, Paul," Ted hisses out, pulling his shoulder away from Paul's shaking feathers…

And laughs. It takes both Paul and Emma off guard.

"The hell you apologizing for?" He gestures his good hand at where the offending prophecy once stood, "You're seriously worried about THAT shit!? C'MON!!!"

He lowers his head, and crushes some glass beneath his hoof, almost offended it dared to stay in front of him. "… this stupid bullshit?"

Laughing again, he stomps, scattering the shards. "Like THAT'D ever happen!"

Ted's grin turns into more of a scowl, "Like hell I'd let that happen," He gestures at Emma with his hand, although he doesn't turn to look at her or Paul yet, "Emma wouldn't let that happen," his hand falls to his side again with a smack, "... and obviously you wouldn't let that fucking happen, Paul."

"So…" Finally, finally, he turns, facing Paul, who looks down and away from Ted and the glass. Ted's still smiling, as always, as if it's just a big joke, "How could you NOT laugh? It's just too fucking stupid."

Reaching out, Ted places his hand on Paul's face. "So quit crying already, ya baby! Everything'll be okay, man."

With a pat, Ted walks away with his hands behind his head. "Heh. C'mon, Em. Let's go seal the fountain!"

For a moment, Emma just stands there, unable to move, unable to talk… so she thinks. Thinks about Paul and how he's had to keep all of this to himself for so long, remembering his barren room with nothing but a window to look upon the fountain with, with his whole existence being dedicated to guiding her and Ted. She thinks about Ted, who despite everything, is still smiling, still laughing… she wonders how he does it. She wonders if one day, she can believe just as much as he does that everything will be alright.

Without her say, she moves. Walking up to Paul, she says, "… Paul?"

She can't see his face as he talks. "Ted… he's…"

"… he's so much nicer than he gives himself credit for, Emma," His shoulders rise as he chokes up. "How can he be so kind? … How?"

Neither of them have an answer. Ted is a mystery of his own.

Paul sighs. "I'm sorry, Emma. I'm sorry I didn't say the whole prophecy at first. I just," he gently bumps his fists together repeatedly, "I thought that… if I said something different… if we did something different, if we were just… nice enough, maybe by the time we got here… that it would be different too."

His nervous movement starts going faster for a moment, then he stops, and just clasps his hands instead, "But… heh, no matter what we do…"

He turns to Emma, "Our fate…" and then looks up at her with a smile, his cheek stained with Ted's blood, and tears forming in his eyes, "… it's inevitable."

Paul isn't able to keep face as he collapses to the floor sobbing, "S-sorry, don't- don't look at me… I don't- I don't wanna… always make everything all about me, I just… I'm sorry, I…"

He rubs his eyes and looks up at Emma, still smiling even with tears streaming down his face. "Everything's okay, Emma! Look, I-" He forces his smile wider, looking truly pathetic. "I'm smiling!"

Emma looks down at him, at her friend, and wants to cry herself.

Instead she kneels down and whispers, "It's okay to… not be okay, man," then wraps her arms around him, pulling Paul into a tight hug.

Paul's face grows warm as he's buried into her shoulder, "Emma… Emma, you…"

Emma feels his head move, his beak burrowing deeper into her hood as he reaches around to hug her back. He lets out the most pitiful and wet laugh as he continues to cry.

"I'm… I'm scared, Emma," his hands pull at her shawl, "It's getting harder and harder to just… stand there smiling all the time, to pretend I'm not terrified of… of the implications. But I…"

He sniffles, and Emma tried not to cringe at the sound of snot coming from it. She's never really been good at the whole comforting thing, but with Paul she's sure as hell gonna try.

"Being with you two…" Paul tightens his hold, pulling the fabric with his hands in the process. "The more I hang around you two, I realize… Friendship… isn't just being happy all the time. It's more than that… it's more than I could have ever imagined…

"… I," The resolve starts to return in his voice as he raises his head from Emma's shoulder, "I want to… believe again. I wanna believe it can change! That there isn't just one ending!"

Paul squeezes the cloth between his feathers. "Ted's hope… his stubborn hope…" he chuckles and turns his head to Emma. "It's infectious… isn't it, Emma?"

Emma, urging her face not to flush, nods. Because he's right. Ted has a way of making someone care. He's still an asshole most of the time, but he's their asshole. Thinking more about it, she chuckles back at Paul, "Yeah… it is."

Paul nods back, "... Until we see the end with our own eyes," he squeezes Emma again, and she squeezes back twice as hard, "… Let's believe, too."

As he pulls away – much to Emma's disappointment – his smile is clearer now, and much more genuine, "… You can go to the fountain now, Emma. I doubt Ted will wait for you much longer."

Emma smiles and nods back, heading towards the Dark Fountain. But…

"Hey, uh… Emma?" Paul speaks up again, a bit more nervous this time, causing Emma to turn her head back at him.

"You um…" he clears his throat as his cheek feathers fluff up slightly, "You were uh… pretty good with the choir puzzle earlier!"

Emma feels her cheeks heat up as she smiles at Paul, then turns away and walks down the hall.

She only glances at the last prophecy, walking right by it to reach her friend.

"ONLY THEN,

So! I don't really know how Lars and Hat Kid (Harriet, Harry, or just Hat or Hattie in this AU) ended up travelling space but something happened because here they are

During their explorations of planets, they found Bow, a young orphan living on the streets of her hometown, and Timmy, a boy with a not so great home life (understatement).

Their spaceship is basically the same, with another couple of rooms.

Hattie's room, now shared with Bow, is the same but with more furniture and decoration for the latter kid. Hat still has her lil' diary hideout because sometimes the girl just needs some space to be on her own. Lars is the only person on the ship allowed in with permission

Timmy's room is in the basement, as an area renovated and repurposed to be a room. Think the room with the Alpine Skyline Warp Telescope. Harry did argue at first, but was eventually persuaded in the end. I'm not gonna explain, that'll have me writing an entire scene

Lars's room is the attic, where the Finale Warp Telescope is. They repurposed the attic in the first year or so of living on the ship so that they could have their own room.

Anyways, let's go onto the game events!

It all starts relatively the same, the kids wake up, Lars sleeping through the first alarm. Timmy and Hat, knowing how to handle the ship on their own, get started for travelling through the day when, Uh Oh! Mafia!

A couple of five minute alarms later.

Due to damages on the ship, the first couple of Time Pieces on the ship don't warp the kids back to the ship, but once Lars fixes it (and the hole in the window) it works again. After some talking, they start a plan:

Timmy, being a bit more tech oriented and avoidant of most conflicts, will stay on the ship to locate the Time Pieces while the other three track down and retrieve them, Tim relaying to them through earpieces and walkie talkie things. Mustache Girl still goes on the ship to plan Mafia Takedown with the kids, but Lars, back on Earth, remains unaware of their adventure until last second. ("Great. A kid working against us to gather the Time Pieces. Just what we needed.")

After that fiasco, the girls aren't allowed outside of Lars's sight when on field.

Which, of course is quickly disobeyed when Lars loses them at Dead Bird Studio, finding them again while DJ Grooves and the Conductor are roping Bow and Harry respectively into their movies

After a bit of persuading (the girls to Lars) and threatening (Lars to the directors) the girls are allowed to help the birds while their mostly legal guardian checks out Subcon Forest.

If you've played/watched the game, you can guess how that turns out

Anyways, a couple more things I wanna point out is, in my mind, the kids go on the cruise while Lars looks around Nyakuza Metro ("I feel safer leaving yall on a boat than wandering around a bunch of speeding vehicles"). That leaves them all to got around the Skylines together. Family Fun!

so, the Wright kids, am I right? For this post I'm gonna stick to this post-canon trio

So in my mind the way they meet is some typical undertale-multiverse bullshit. Frisk just comes home with these two in tow like "Hey, Dad, I found new siblings aka your kids from other universes." You can imagine Tim's reaction.

Even though they all have Tim Wright as their dad, each of them are slightly different from each other, so meeting another Tim is just... Uncanny. It makes Sam uncomfortable while Liam, I imagine, is just fascinated with it.

It was Frisk's idea to make matching bracelets so that they all have somethings to remember each other by. They and Leah do the best they can, but Sam's bracelets are by far of the best quality because she has done this several times before as a little hobby.

Sammy is 6'4" so she constantly makes fun of Lee for being short. When he points out that Frisk is even shorter, Sam says that at least they have an excuse. Because they're, like. eleven.

Points at Leah Marie: Assigned Middle Child by the Multiverse

Once they get over the fact that they're in a whole 'nother universe with monsters, Sam tries to learn all she can about them, while Liam is just looking around trying to see them all

When they pop into Frisk's universe, they've already freed all the monsters. idk I felt like that was something I should mention

I think Leah Marie is gonna have a field day when they find out Tim is gay in this universe (and bi in Sam's).

"Diversity Win! In another universe my dad has a robot boyfriend!"

Meanwhile Sam is still grappling with the fact that her dad's dead friend was revived in this universe.

Frisk: "Don't worry! I'm working on the rest!" Does not elaborate

Frisk calls Liam "Lee-Mee" or "Lea-Mar" (pronounced like Lemur). I thought it'd be cute

Anyways, in older sibling fashion, Sam calls her "King Julian" and makes various jokes to tease him.