#acephoric lore

You shake your head; You want to keep talking to Ace.

He pauses, gesturing to himself.

“You.. Wanna.. Me? After everything I just said..?”

“I.. Well, thanks, I uh… hm.. Oh! I know!”

Ace darted to his feet, to the path. “C’mon, let’s go for a walk!”

“Wait, really? YOU WANNA? YESYESYES LETS GO!”

You two start down the path. After a moment, Ace speaks.

“You know.. We really miss you ‘round here. Hell, I even got Trevor to agree to move out here, so he wouldn’t be by the train station all the time.”

“I mean— Look at this place! It’s amazing, isn’t it? We’re lucky Calypso’s parents are so loaded, even if he doesn’t talk to them anymore, we wouldn’t have been able to afford this, eheh..”

“It’s quite the garden, isn’t it? If you can call it that! More like a mini forest…”

“… It just isn’t the same without you..”

“B-BUT WE’RE PROUD OF YOU! All of us! We’re so happy for you and your new job, uh-“

“…. Do you remember leaving the station? When you moved?”

“… Do you remember the evening light? How.. Trevor looked at your window as your train started to leave?”

“I think he had something he wanted to say that day. Something to give you. . . I don’t think he ever did.”

“Not too long after you left, we met Sunny! In that very station, actually! She’s been quite the blessing in our lives.. But I don’t think it’s the same. I don’t think anyone can replace you.”

“….”

“Maybe that’s why you’re such a good friend..”

Thunder cracks through the quiet, and rain starts pouring down, making its way through the canopy.

“Oh, man! That was abrupt, huh..? We’d better head back — Wait! Shit! I have something I need to get— Here, you wait here! Or just go back. I’ll be in in just a minute!”

With that, they disappear into the bushes.

You wait for several minutes — Wait, was that a gunshot—?!

You dash through the forest, shaking the rain off. You push aside some bushes, looking desperately for Ace, and…

… holy shit.

Cheryl pushes past some bushes into the clearing, calling out,

“Ace? Are you out here? C’mon, we need to—“

She stops dead, her eyes landing on the body.

She slowly turns to look at you, horrified. Her mouth hangs open for a few seconds, before she hoarsely mutters,

“… what did you do..?”

You decide to go talk the street sign and the bat… Upon closer inspection, these two look familiar to you now.

But you shouldn’t get too distracted from your primary objective.

For now, you’ll simply make some small talk with these two.

You can hear their conversation as you approach.

“Looooook, I get it! I’m a hooooorrible person! I threw one too many blue shells in Mario kart.”

“You know that’s not what I meant! Can you take this seriously, please?! God, you’re insufferable. You owe them an apology!”

“Apology? Whatever! You don’t even know them! Grow up.”

“Are you serious?! I know exactly what—“

She trailed off, seeing your approach. “Oh, hi! Lovely seeing you!! It’s uh… It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I almost didn’t recognize you! Two years now, huh? Time really does fly.”

“Oh, great, it’s you,” groans the bat — You remember his name now. Calypso.

“Be nice!” Hisses the street sign — Cheryl. “It’s great to have us all back together! Y’know, ol’ Trevor’s been as uh… How do I put this…”

“Depressed? Boring? Lame?”

“Rude! But yes. Trevor’s really missed you. We all have, but I think you taking that new job really hit him the hardest.”

“Yeah, yeah, ‘nuff bout grouchy-pants. YOU.” Calypso points at you.

“WE have a SCORE to settle. Look me in the eye, you dimwit. Let’s … Chat.”

you slowly bow your head, looking regretfully at Calypso. You offer him an apology.

“Uh. You’re … Sorry?” Calypso echoes, glancing at Cheryl.

“Yyyeah! You should be!” They say, though it’s clear xey have no idea what you’re talking about. “But I don’t accept it! If you want my forgiveness…” he smirks.

“You’ll have to win it, in a shots contest! Juuust like old times, eh, pal? C’mooon, it’ll be fun! You know you wanna!!” He waved the bottle that they’d pulled from seemingly nowhere in front of your face, like an owner with a cat toy.

“WOW! Isn’t that a fun idea!” Cheryl said nervously, looking away. “But maybe not right now. The party’s only just started!”

“Oh, I know! Why don’t you go say hi to Trevor? I bet he’s dying to see you again! I need to have a little chat with Calypso, anyways.”

You would argue, but you don’t wanna deal with what might happen if you do; instead, you nod and walk away, to the other side of the room, where Trevor was.

Trevor was looking out the window solemnly, peeking through the blinds.

You look down at your hand. Would he forgive you…? Your new job was so much better paying, but you’d still left a friend to get there. . .

You look back up to see Trevor standing directly in front of you now.

“Ah. You’re here, ticket master — Though I suppose, perhaps, you’re not one of those anymore? Too good for that?”

You try to think of what to say, mouth drying.

“I’m simply playing, dear friend!” Trevor says. “It’s been so very long, has it not? We’ve been missing you around here.”

“This ol’ place has felt kinda empty without ya. Same for the trains.. Long drives with no one to talk too. I hope you’re happy at your new job, though! Even if it’s with the rival company. You sure do mean a lot to me, y’know.”

“Hell, Ace and I still took the annual fishing trip! It was fun, but… It wasn’t quite the same without you. Something was just … missing.”

“Maybe we could do something fun while you’re down here! How long are you in town?”

You open your mouth to answer, but you’re interrupted.

Ace walks in from the kitchen, Sunny behind him. He’s holding up a cake that definitely has some harsh ash on the frosting.

“HEELLLOOOO EVERYBODY! THE CAKES DONE, WE CAN OFFICIALLY START!”

“I have prepared drinks and snacks for everyone. Remember not to get anything on the carpet,” says Sunny.

“YEAH! WOOOO, LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!” Ace announces.

And start the party you did!

You lost an embarrassing amount of money to Calypso in Poker, (You’re sure xey’re cheating at the game, but you have no proof,) talked to Trevor and Ace for a bit, and even played ‘never have I ever’ with Cheryl and Calypso.

It was a great night so far! Though you kept trying to have a one on one with Ace, he was always with someone else. Not that you minded too much, as it was still an enjoyable evening nonetheless.

The clock struck midnight, the room now calm. Trevor had fallen asleep in an armchair by the fireplace a few hours ago. He was decently old now, so it wasn’t unexpected behavior. Calypso and Cheryl seemed to be having a conversation about someone you didn’t know;

Though, Ace was nowhere to be seen.