HOW DID WE GET HERE

I DONT K N O W

I DID NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS DODGEBALL GAME. YET HERE APOLLO IS, NAILING US IN THE FACE WITH IT,

(secret life spoilers below the cut)

I'm so sorry, hehe. When you meet Raud, you can give him all the love he has missed for the past however many years!

SO TRUE BESTIE

Lizzie can't remember Jimmy, nor does she really remember Last Life, but she has this strong sense of needing to protect him. She doesn't realize that's her brother, that's the person she's been forced to abandon so many times because she can't remember why can't she remember anything what is wrong with her

Jimmy remembers her though. Jimmy remembers being loved unconditionally and having that torn away from him because tragedy must follow those who bare the canary's wings. Jimmy recognizes her and has to tell himself that this isn't Empires but void, does he wish he could run to his sister when he's too tired to care anymore

But it doesn't matter. Lizzie doesn't remember him. Jimmy is tired of listening.

So why is she trying so hard to team up with him now?

How did she manage to save him from the curse only for Them to strike him down moments later?

:]

I will cry. I will become a Puddle Of Tears On The Floor

i don’t know if you meant this as limited life or what but i am placing this in Unnamed Life Series Game for a moment

I’ve Got You, Brother

Lizzie knows something is wrong. Somewhere deep in her blood, she knows.

It has something to do with that blonde boy, she’s sure of it.

TW: blood, death, all that fun Life Series stuff

not proofread because i’m writing this at like eleven but it’s f i n e

—————

The grass is green.

The grass is crumbled and black and dying, turning to ash under the force of the explosion.

The sky is blue, and then it isn’t, turning a dark inky black, then right back to blue again.

The sky is red and grey, filled with smoke as she coughs and cries out through the crumbling streets of the Grimlands for her brother, where is her brother, where is he?

The water of the river is blueish-green.

The water is disappearing and she knows she should care, but she doesn’t. It’s enough to scare her, but not enough to get her to say a thing as water gives way to dirt and stone and dry land and she wonders why she’s here, where this palace came from, why should she stay?

Lizzie knows these basic facts. She has eyes, thank you very much. They have reasoning and proof behind them, and they’re consistent in this bloody game of backstabbing and death. Some of the reliable truths she can ground herself in when she’s so confused, when Joel is shouting at the others and Pearl is telling her they have to run and Jimmy, Jimmy is quiet and she knows it’s wrong, that Jimmy is wrong, but-

Her mind hits the same block it’s hit for the entirety of the game. Something is off, just off enough that she knows it, but she doesn’t know why she knows it. Why she sees Jimmy’s smile twitch slightly and know the comments have gone to far. Why she feels such a genuine surge of remorse each time his death message pops up in chat.

Why she steps blindly between Joel’s axe and Jimmy’s chest, chuckling nervously that they should go find another topic.

The games usually have a memory block, sure, but- this is different. It’s not hazy recollections of an experience so distant it might be a dream. It’s something ingrained deep in her bones, crying out in words her mind has long forgotten.

She has the fleeting thought to go find Joel, but he’s snoring a few feet away. She doesn’t need to go find him, he’s right there. He’s right there.

He’s right there, standing at the altar with the most nervous look she’s ever seen on his face as the other emperors mingle.

He’s right there, holding her hand as the last of her memory fades before leaving her on the beach.

She doesn’t know why they’re fuzzy. Why Joel and Pearl and Scott and Jimmy all ignite that same ache deep inside her, like a part of her has been torn away and hastily stitched back together with thread that clashes horrible with the shades of her heart. She hates it, because she’s apathetic towards it. Her brain actively tries to ignore these signals, these alarm bells sounding in her soul, and she just wants to listen to them and find out what’s wrong, she’s so tired and scared and confused someone please just tell her where her brother is-

She needs to get out of this damned base, the air must be getting to her. Yeah. It’s the air.

It’s only a moment before the spruce door is shutting softly behind her, Joel and Pearl none the wiser. Wind blows her pink hair past her eyes, and she grumbles as she twists it back into a braid.

With her hair finally tamed, she sighs, tilting her head back as she listens to the night. Thankfully they’ve spawnproofed the area, so there are no nearby creeper hisses or rattling of bones. Just the quiet whistling of the wind, the occasional hum of an enderman, the soft sound of hiccuping sobs, the leaves rustling in the trees-

Wait.

It’s much more noticeable now that she’s noticed it, which she’s fully aware is redundant, but that’s the only way she can describe it. Like her brain was hoping she just… wouldn’t notice it if she didn’t think about it too hard.

Focus. Focus.

Focus because the crying sounds familiar. Focus because it has your feet moving and your heart pumping with no input from you at all. Focus because you already have a name on your lips as you round the corner, one that you have no business in guessing.

Focus because Jimmy is sitting by the riverbank, crying.

She doesn’t realize she’s beside him until he jolts under the touch of her fingers carding through his golden hair. He freezes, wings twitching and shoulders shuddering from the effort of suppressed sobs. “Sorry- I didn’t mean- I didn’t think you-“

“Do you need a hug?”

Silence.

Then he melts into the touch, turning and leaning his face into her shoulder as she plays with his hair, whispering quiet words in his ears. They’re drowned out by his own, ones she doesn’t understand.

“I jus’- I jus’ want you back. I jus’ want to be a brother again.” He murmurs, and she doesn’t think she’s supposed to hear this. “Please, please, whoever is listening, I just want to be a brother again. I- I’ll be good. I promise I’ll be good, I’ll die first, I’ll do whatever you need, but please- please-“

“No.”

She doesn’t know why she says the word, where it comes from, but the words ‘I’ll die’ coming out of Jimmy’s mouth sends such a cold bolt of fear through her that she doesn’t care.

“Don’t- It’ll be ok, Jimmy. I promise.”

He laughs, wooden and hopeless against her shoulder. “Don’t make promises that can’t be kept. It’s fine, Lizzie. You don’t need to worry about me. You don’t worry about me, period. Not here.”

“Jimmy, I-“

“Can we just keep hugging? Please? I need to pretend everything is normal. Jus’ for a bit longer.”

“… yeah. Yeah, sure.”

She doesn’t know when she fell asleep. All she knows is one moment, Jimmy is in her arms, and the next, she’s shaken awake by Joel with no sign of the blond but the golden canary feather tucked behind her ear.

—————

The world is chaos.

That hasn’t changed.

There’s blood starting to stain the ground.

Just like back then.

Everyone is screaming, she’s at low hearts with broken armor and an arrow in her shoulder, Pearl has Cleo engaged in a swordfight that Lizzie suspects she isn’t fully trying to win- it’s still going on after all- and Joel is arming his axe with that look in his red eyes.

She loves Joel.

She loves Joel.

She doesn’t want anyone to die.

Please don’t let anyone have died.

Joel lunges forward, diving into the frenzy. The Reds have turned on each other faster than usual- there are still yellows. There are still yellows, and yet.

And yet.

No one has permadied, but there’s no doubt that won’t last for long, not when Joel is cackling, swinging his axe with wild abandon, completely blinded by bloodlust and not even noticing who he charges for as he swings at-

At-

At golden canary wings. At blonde hair and brown eyes as a heart of gold. At a man who already looks resigned to his fate.

He’ll hate himself for this, if he does it. She knows that much about Joel for sure.

“I’m gonna protect him, if it comes down to it. He- he gets so sad, Lizzie. I don’t like seeing him like that.”

She’ll hate herself for it, if she doesn’t stop it.

“I’m sorry I left. I won’t do it again, I swear it.”

The sound of the axe slicing through fabric and flesh fills the air. Joel laughs, throwing his head back before his comm buzzes. He looks down, expecting the message that means he’s winning.

His heart shatters.

LDShadowlady was slain by SmallishBeans

Lizzie is dead. He killed her. She’s gone.

It’s not long before he charges off again, considerably more unsteady on his feet and tears streaming down his face. Lizzie watches him run through the carnage.

It hurts more than you would expect, being a ghost. The sharp sting of an axe wound across her chest isn’t fading, and she can barely make heads or tails of what’s happening in the realm of the living. It’s thick, hazy, dripping down her vision like a cold sludge. She sees just enough to watch the arrow fly. To watch it find its mark, right in the back.

Then he’s in front of her, clutching his chest and heaving.

Jimmy.

Her brother.

Her eyes widen as she thinks it, no longer messy static covering the words.

Her brother.

Her brother.

Her brother.

She’s pulling him into a hug before he’s even aware she’s there, squeezing tight and trying not to cry.

“I’m not- I didn’t die first. I didn’t- Lizzie? Lizzie, you-“

“Jimmy,” is all she can say as tears fall from her eyes. “I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I- I forgot- I-“

“No, don’t apologize, never apologize. You- you saved me, Lizzie.” The words are spoken with no small amount of awe and wonder, and soon she feels tears hitting her shoulder.

She has a brother again. She’s a sister again.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too.”

—————

exactly, he just uses his powers to be a journalist and grian is five seconds away from banging his head against a wall as he feels pix very unsubtly Watching him and could you not be ANY LESS STEALTHY-