#merling!scott

Chapter Two

It might have been the sound of his own labored breathing that disturbed Sausage during the night, but after a few moments he also noticed that there seemed to be something scrabbling around in his room. He could swear he heard a faint beeping noise but then it stopped. “S-Scott? Is – Is that you?” he called blearily. He couldn’t see much in the dark but didn’t have the energy to turn on the light.

Someone who definitely wasn’t Scott muttered, “Signal is weak but this is the source. Bad and good timing it seems.”

They sounded like they were almost right next to his pillows. Sausage turned and attempted to push himself up, black mist curling around his hand. “W-Who’s there? H-How did you get in here?”

“Oh, you really are in rough shape. That will make this easier. Hey, over here.” A dull greenish light lit up beside the crate of health potions. Sausage was very confused by what he was seeing. There seemed to be a very small, semi-transparent bipedal creature dressed in some type of red bodysuit with a closed helmet standing on the wooden chest, holding a tiny silver box which was the source of the light.

“Who – and what – are you?”

“That’s going to take some explaining. Let me start with this: I’m from somewhere far away, and I arrived here on the night of crimson, and you caused me to crash land because of some gravity malfunction. It has taken me far too much time to track you down because everything on this planet is absurdly large, and as I now see you don’t even have that much gravity power left. Since you obviously won’t be able to help with that part of the matter, you can help me in another way – because right now, as I see it, you owe me one.”

Sausage gave a quiet little laugh then coughed. “What? I was – I was fighting monsters half the night. What do you mean ‘this planet’? …I must be delirious or something.” He eyed the tiny creature then reached over it to try to pick up one of the potions. His fingertips caught at the top of a bottle but he only managed to knock it over in the attempt.

The creature watched and shook its head judgingly. “You really don’t have a lot of time. Listen: I can give you more time, but we need to make a deal. I have a mission to carry out and I need a host to get me across this stupidly big landmass. You’re about to die, and you’re responsible for my delay. Work with me and we both benefit.”

“A mission? A host? What does that even mean?” Sausage huffed in frustration and tried again, although his hand was shaking, and he was unable to grip the neck of the next nearest bottle. He was beginning to fear what this creature meant when saying he was about to die.

“The princess of my people came to this world and was murdered. I’m here to find her killer and enact justice. But not being of royal blood, I can’t fully function in this atmosphere and have to conserve my body’s energy. If I have a host – that is, if I possess a body like yours – I’ll be able to do what I need to and then be on my way. You can have an extra day here, then let me take over and complete my mission, and afterward I leave and you can do whatever it is your species does when it expires.”

“How do you even know how much time I have left?”

“If I can possess a body, don’t you think I would know what condition it’s in?”

Sausage couldn’t believe he was still entertaining this delusion, but had to ask, “So how much time, exactly?” He remembered that at the end the mist had overwhelmed Scott without much warning.

“About four and a half hours.”

“Uh… So that’s… What time is it now..?”

“You’re not making it to sunrise, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Sausage tried to think if he could successfully manage to find Scott, get through another possible argument with him, and still say what he needed to in order to make peace with him within that time frame. As he grabbed the side of the blanket to pull it back so he could get up, he saw the mist surrounding his hand. He realized he had two options: he could try to yell for Scott so he would come to him, but he didn’t feel like he had the lung strength for that right now; or he could agree to this alien creature’s proposal and buy the time to talk to Scott in the morning. He wasn’t sure how he would explain the latter, but maybe Scott would be more reasonable by then.

“If I agree to this, promise me you’ll leave Scott out of it. Actually, no, I want you to help him. All he can think about is blaming himself, and I don’t want him to keep on like that. There has to be a way to get past all this.”

“I’ll see what I can do, after I get back.”

“Fine. So…what happens now?”

“Lay down for one thing. You’re going to fall off of this rest platform if you don’t, anyway. Then just close your eyes. I promise you won’t feel a thing.”

~*~

It was more than four hours later when Sausage opened his eyes to see daylight streaming through the curtains. He held a hand up, staring as he tried to determine if there was mist around it or if he just wasn’t fully awake yet. He felt… nominally better. Breathing seemed a little easier and his arm wasn’t as weak when he reached over to pick up one of the potions. He took a cautious sip. Much like the last time it didn’t seem to do anything to help, but he drank the whole bottle just so Scott would see that he had listened.

If only the former merling would listen to him. However, he didn’t know what else to say to ease the guilt. He could go over each incident that had led to his deaths and try to rationalize them, but he knew Scott had never gotten over the first one. When he had tried to remove that specific guilt Scott had stopped him, not wanting to be forgiven. The guilt was a part of him, integral, important to him, to always have inside. Maybe it was due to not having much of a conscience as a vampire then gaining one as an angel, particularly in regard toward Sausage as he fell in love with him.

It hurt Sausage to think about it, but maybe he himself needed to accept that Scott would continue carrying those feelings through all of his future lives. He would prefer still trying to help him heal, but this life, right now, wasn’t the one to do it. Maybe he could try again in whatever followed when the alien was done with him.

A knock on the door made his thoughts scatter. “C-Come in— Oh.”

Scott walked through the door without opening it, seeming to make a point to face away into the room as he spoke in a clipped tone, “Good morning. I’d ask how you were feeling but I know the answer won’t be ‘better’.”

“N-No, actually, I do—” Sausage stopped himself. Should he tell him about the alien? Would it make much difference? It was only an extra day – well, less than that by this point – and he would still die with no way of knowing what would happen next. “—because… I slept all right,” he continued. He felt he should say something else, but no words were coming to him.

Scott tilted his head, ear turned toward the bed. “No cough right now?”

“No, it – it cleared up a little. Maybe the potions are working better this time?”

“They’re not a long-term solution. You know that.”

“Scott, can we please just talk without all the impending doom hanging over our heads?”

The former merling didn’t reply so much as exhale loudly through his nose.

“Fine,” Sausage said sadly, “Be that way.” He fidgeted with the edge of the blanket then sighed, unable to commit to the silent treatment. “But, just— Remember, no matter what I come back as, I love you.”

“I – I know.” Scott struggled with the traditional response. He uttered a sigh of his own and finally moved, sitting at the very end of the bed out of reach but feeling like he owed it to Sausage to sit with him for at least a little while. “I still hate every second of this. I can’t think of any way it could have gone worse.”

Sausage had a few ideas but kept them to himself. He racked his brain for something funny to say instead, something to try to lighten the mood, but then Scott said, “I… won’t see when you go, or when you come back because then I might curse you all over again. I won’t know what you are. I hope it isn’t also bad, because… well, remember what I said when angel-me died? I can’t be much of a conscience for you if I’m like this.”

Sausage was about to ask him to stay beside him until that moment, but realized the situation could change very fast when the alien took over. “Hey, um, how about this for an idea: if you get some paper and a quill, I can write a note for myself, to remind me to keep that promise, too! And I’ll—” He stopped himself again. “…I’ll, um, I’ll let you know what I am when I can.”

He had to include that last part in case he wasn’t near home when the alien left, although he would hope it would have the courtesy to not abandon him thousands of blocks away. Maybe he should add a reminder in the note to keep obsidian plus a flint and steel on him so he could take a shortcut home if that did happen.

“I’m not sure that would work,” Scott replied, although he stood up. “But I’ll do it if you really want. Let me go look.”  He walked directly through the door again.

Sausage let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. He really should have asked the alien creature more questions about what would happen when it took over, and when it left.

If he hadn’t simply dreamt the whole thing.

But then, he was better right now, and it was true the potions didn’t ultimately work. His thoughts then doubled back on themselves. Scott didn’t seem any more agreeable this morning, and the rest of the day would likely go the same.

“You don’t have to give me a whole day anymore,” Sausage whispered out loud. “It doesn’t matter.” He got out of bed and picked up one of the empty potion bottles, clutching it tightly as he went over to the open window beside the desk. It would be a simple matter to climb out. “Let’s go now, before he comes back. It won’t be fair, but none of this is.” He placed the bottle so it sat precariously close to the edge of the desk. “Don’t let him catch us leaving.”

“If that’s what you want,” said the creature’s voice inside his head. “Hold on to your bronchial tubes.”

Sausage then began to cough violently. His legs started to give out, causing him to stumble until he caught himself on the wall, where he saw the mist surrounding his hand once more. Scott would undoubtably hear. He shakily reached out for the windowsill.

He blacked out before he even hit the floor.

.

The sound of glass shattering caught Scott’s attention more than the coughing. The latter he couldn’t do anything about, but if Sausage got hurt by any broken pieces that would just be literal insult to injury. He left the book and quill in favor of a dustpan to clean up the glass with. This time he opened the bedroom door instead of walking through it. “Sausage, are you all…”

The room was now utterly silent. He could see some of the broken potion bottle from under the edge of his blindfold. It was across the room, not near the bed. He set down the dustpan and felt around along the blanket to be sure. No body was there. He carefully searched around to make sure Sausage wasn’t just slumped somewhere out of view, but there was also no other sounds besides his own breathing. For a second he entertained the thought that Sausage was now also something that could walk through walls, but the more acceptable thought – and what he preferred to be true – was he had come to his senses and left altogether to avoid being cursed again.

Allowing listlessness to take hold, Scott lifted his blindfold just enough to be able to more safely clean up the glass, then pulled it back into place once it was taken care of. He put away the remaining potions then returned to the bedroom, curling up on the bed and imagining that it still felt warm, that Sausage had not been gone for long.

He should have told him that he loved him one more time, or had the guts to say goodbye when he knew this was what could happen.

~*~

The next few days blended one into the other for Scott. He tried to do some upkeep around the villa, tried to make sure all the flowers in the garden patches were watered, tried to tend the animals. It was just things that had to be done. He considered letting the animals free to return to the fields, considered letting the gardens grow wild.

But what if Sausage returned and decided he wanted his home back?

Scott thought about returning to his vampire mansion, long since left to the elements after Sausage basically took him in while he regained his strength when he became an angel, and then it just seemed right to stay in Heaven’s Reach after that. As a compromise to himself, he went down to Wither’s Grasp and made the manor a little more livable since it had also been left to gather cobwebs. Boarded up windows were certainly suitable for whatever his new life alone was going to turn out to be.

He didn’t know yet what else he was going to do. Just wait, perhaps, and let nature take its course. One thought at the very back of his mind – something he didn’t dare call hope – was that Sausage, reborn hale and hearty, had left to find a better answer to the problem.

It occurred to Scott that he should write down everything he knew so far, since he had left that one book back at the stronghold, just in case Sausage did return, and there was the chance that one of them might become an Enigma again in the future. The project took up part of an afternoon, and he was leaving the manor to bring the book up to the villa when he heard footsteps crunching on the rocky dirt of the path. He quickly tugged at his blindfold to make sure he didn’t accidentally catch sight of them.

“Hello?” he called out, keeping his voice steady to avoid giving away his weakness. “Who’s there?”

“An old friend,” came a semblance of Sausage’s voice; something seemed off about it, not to mention that was a strange way to refer to himself. “Ssscott,” he then sounded out the other’s name as if it was an unfamiliar word. “Come with me. We have business to tend to.”

Before Scott could react, a hand closed on his arm and he was practically dragged across Wither’s Grasp, over the bridge, and partway up the stone staircase. “Saus—where are we going?”

“Back to the scene of the crime.”

That phrasing didn’t sit well with him, but he didn’t protest as he was encouraged to climb up into the cave that sat inside the wall, left just as it was on the night of the Blood Moon. Still holding onto the book, Scott was about to ask why they were there now, but hands turned him to make sure he was facing toward Sausage and then the blindfold was yanked off his head. “No-!” He started to cover his face with his arms but the glimpse he caught of who he thought was Sausage made him stop and stare in shock.

Green, translucent skin and pink hair greeted him, strange clear eyes staring back from what was definitely Sausage’s face. He was wearing the same clothes as the last time Scott had seen him, although they hung oddly on his frame and there was residue from gunpowder dirtying his shirt. Scott recovered from his shock and tried to block his line of sight again, but the alien version of Sausage stopped him. “No, don’t look away. This is important. Now, listen to me: Do you want to forget this ever happened? I can make him forget, and I can make you forget.”

“Make… him? So you’re… not Sausage? What are you?”

“Very long story. If you forget it won’t matter anyway. Let’s just say I needed to borrow him. No, keep looking at me. I still need you to end this.”

“Then…make sure we get this book. In case one of us comes back like me again.” Scott pointed with the book’s spine toward the bit of cobblestone wall where the black cloth was still laid out. Pseudo-Sausage nodded, and Scott backed up to place the book on it, glancing away only long enough to make sure it was properly on the wall and wouldn’t fall off. Then he said, “Forgetting won’t take away the guilt, you know.”

“That’s a matter for you. My business is vengeance. You can think of this situation as that. You’re knocking me loose, but I’ll avenge this mate of yours before I go.”

Understanding dawned on Scott. He suppressed a grateful smile and continued to hold his stare. The black mist appeared around pseudo-Sausage’s hands and feet, progressing even faster than before.

The alien looked down at his hands, holding one up to study the effect. “Hm, that will do. Next we just…” He took a small silver box from his pocket and fiddled with it. “Wait, that’s not… Right, got it.”

Scott watched curiously and leaned forward a little. A beam of bright red energy shot out of the front of the box, striking him in the chest. He dropped to the floor without a sound. The alien then sighed and placed the box on the ground by the cave’s entrance, then sat down next to Scott and waited.

~*~

When Sausage woke he first registered the sunlight streaming in from the front of the cave, and that was a relief. At least the night full of hordes of monsters was over. Next, however, came the feeling of the cave wall pressing in on him. His body felt oddly spread out, like his shoulders were too wide and his arms farther apart. He tried to move a little and nearly hit his head on close-hanging rock. Had there been some creeper around that collapsed a wall on him?

His gaze fell on a book sitting upon the black cloth where arrows and a potion had been, seeming far below his line of sight. That hadn’t been there before. He reached for it and—

Well, if he had been able to pick it up he probably wouldn’t have been able to turn the pages. His hand was gigantic in comparison. It wasn’t the cave that had changed. He had gotten bigger. But where was… “Ohgod. Scott? Scott??” The only thing stopping him from looking around in a panic was the threat of hitting his head again. “Please don’t tell me I crushed you…”

“Over here.” The voice had a strange quality to it, reminding him of endermen speech.

It took a moment because he was looking for a regular-sized person, but what he finally did see was a small (was it extra small because he was so big?) creature with purple crystalline horns coming out of its forehead, strangely shaped motes floating around pale yellow hair, and violet eyes that stared up at him. “Or down here, I guess I should say.”

“Oh, you’re tiny. That’s kind of cute.” Sausage giggled.

“And you’re stuck. I don’t know if you’ll fit through the way out even if you can crawl over there. Of all the places to turn into a giant,” Scott mused. “I’ll go get a pickaxe and try to get you out.”

“Wait, there’s a book here, it wasn’t in that bundle. I can’t, uh, pick it up.”

“All right, let me see.” The wall was just low enough for Scott to reach it. He started to flip through the book, wondering what relevance it had in the wake of them being shot by the terrifying skeletal archer. “This is…my handwriting. I don’t remember doing this.”

“What does it say?”

“Something about a creature called an Enigma. Huh… Oh! I put a little note at the end. …Oh.”

“That didn’t sound good.”

“That’s the thing that killed me when I was an angel.”

“Oh.”

“I don’t know why this was here, but I guess I found information or something? But I still don’t remember writing this.”

“Maybe… it’s the cave. Like you found the crossbow and stuff, and the first time I came in here I found stuff I could use as a wither. I didn’t question it before.”

“The cave has prescient abilities?”

“I don’t know. Weirder things have happened.”

Scott batted at one of the motes floating around his head, not that it really did anything to affect it. “Obviously. Well, give me a few minutes.” He scurried out of the cave and Sausage couldn’t contain another giggle while watching him. He then worked on maneuvering around to do the aforementioned crawling toward the cave’s entrance, earning a few scrapes in the process when trying to figure out where his limbs could fit. This was going to take some getting used to.

Scott returned and started work on expanding the sides of the entrance. Sausage noticed the extra pickaxe strapped to his back. “Why did you bring a gold one?”

“I don’t know. I just kind of wanted it.”

“Huh, so… where am I going to sleep now? I’m not going to fit in the house…”

~*~

As time went on the cycle just kept continuing for the two of them. An excessively packed TNT trap took out Sausage despite his extra resilience as a giant, although it was that resilience that shielded Scott from the blast. Yet before long, in a similar fashion, Scott was caught unaware by a creeper, which dealt immediate death due to his smaller, less hardy state.

They soon found themselves in a new unusual situation when Sausage became an owl and Scott a red panda. They made a nest inside a small forest cave as they adjusted to animalistic senses, although it didn’t last long anyway when a dire wolf found them.

Throughout it all they stayed together as best they could, while Sausage soon outpaced Scott in the count as he continued to be driven to protect him. A lengthy amount of peace came again when Scott found himself settling in as a floran, content to just tend gardens again while the very plants themselves grew upon him, giving him his own personal flower crown at all times. Meanwhile, the various pools and house pond came in handy again when Sausage had a turn at being a merling. Scott took out his old trident to give him tips on using it, and showed him the best spots for fishing in the river. There weren’t as many adventures anymore, and as Scott put it one time, “Now I don’t have to go far to get the flowers I want.”

Reminded of a particular flower-gathering disaster, Sausage was glad to agree.

~*~

Scott idly kicked his bare feet in the water of the deeper of the western ponds, smiling at a late afternoon butterfly that was investigating the flowers growing in his hair. Sausage had been napping at the bottom of the pond and was on his way up while Scott simply waited for him, a picnic dinner set out nearby and plans to watch the sunset ahead of them.

Surfacing near the middle, Sausage swam over and rested his webbed hands on the tops of Scott’s feet, which the floran lightly alternated again to create small ripples between them. Sausage smiled up at him then patted one of his knees before going to the side and hauling himself out. With water running down his face from his hair, he gave Scott a little kiss, then they moved to the picnic blanket to eat.

It was a perfect evening… up until the red of the sunset failed to fade from the sky. Sausage peered at the horizon, doublechecking the sun’s position. “Um… Not liking that. We should maybe get inside…”

“Too late.” Scott was already looking toward the villa. Creepers and spiders had begun to appear en masse, and a group of zombies was starting to head their way. Scott put his hands to the ground and after a scowl of concentration, twisting vines emerged from the grass in front of the undead, tangling around them as they shambled forward. He caught up a few creepers as well.

Sausage reached back into the pond where he had left the trusty trident leaning on the wall, having a habit of keeping it nearby at all times. “We’re getting to the river this time,” he insisted. Scott nodded and left the sentient vines to do their work without him, and together they ran for the waterfall. Unimpeded this time, they reached the fountain and slid down into the river below. After the brief plunge they both surfaced and assessed the threat collecting on the banks to either side. They began to swim underwater with the current, hoping it would speed them along a little faster, with Scott leaving a trail of petals as the flowers were pulled from his hair by each dive.

Sausage dealt with any Drowned they encountered, which for the moment were thankfully few. But skeletal archers on the banks were becoming wise to their presence, and the two had to start diving deeper to avoid the arrows, with the merling providing breaths of air when it became too dangerous to surface. They found respite when the river opened up toward the ocean, but colder depths weren’t very agreeable to a floran so they started to head back up and hoped to find a spot of land with the least number of mobs possible.

As much as Scott didn’t mind Sausage kissing him to give him air, he was glad for the next breath he took on his own as he reached the surface first, and one of the green tendrils in his hair poked at his ear as if to tell him they didn’t appreciate being submerged for that long. Scott brushed at it and looked around for a safe place to get out, starting to feel a little uneasy without soil beneath his feet. The nearby beach, however, was already crawling with zombies, and they were now beginning to funnel toward him, sinking as they hit the water only to start being converted into Drowned.

Sausage had been scouting from below and grimaced at the sight as he swam back upward, but he had located what he had been looking for. He surfaced and reached for Scott with his free hand. “I know you would really rather get back on land right about now, but there’s no safety at all there. I found a spot we can hide out in until daybreak, it’s just another little swim down. Come on, I’ve got you.” He offered a reassuring smile.

Scott brushed at the tendril by his ear again, then smiled back, trusting the merling. Together they dived back under and Sausage guided the way. A trench lined with exposed magma provided a natural barrier but crossing it was risky for the floran. Sausage wrapped his arms around him and used the trident to propel through the water across it as fast as he could, then continued swimming for a little ways through a crevice before letting him go and pointing upward.

Above was a small pocket of humid air within a section of the tiniest lush cave either of them had ever seen. The glowberry vines barely had any fruit but it was enough light to see by. Scott gratefully climbed up from the deepslate to sink his feet into the clay. It wasn’t dirt, but it was enough to sustain the dripleaf, the nearest of which he petted as it leaned toward him on its stalk. New flower buds began to form in his hair. Sausage watched with a smile. It was always fascinating to see that happen.

Something gurgled behind him. The smile fell from his face, stomach turning with dread. So much for being safe. He only had time to notice that the Drowned that had found them had a head like a wither skeleton before a smoky black trident was thrust into his chest, and then he was the one gurgling as he was pushed backward against the clay wall, his own trident falling from his hand.

“SAUSAGE!” Scott yelled. Acting fast, he caused scores of dripleaf to erupt from the ground and shoot up to the ceiling, cutting off the wither-Drowned. As he rushed over, glowberry vines descended upon Sausage, wrapping around his chest to stem the flow of blood from his wounds, although Scott worried how effective it would be if the accursed trident had pierced too deep. “Hold on, hold on, Sausage, I’ll – I’ll think of something, okay?” He clasped the merling’s face between his hands, hoping to get him to focus on him. Sausage smiled weakly but there was already blood seeping out between the vines.

And then the withering took effect. With nothing to counteract it, at that point Scott could do little more than hold Sausage’s hand until the merling’s grip grew slack. As unfortunate as it seemed, it was now something they had grown accustomed to. Scott cradled him in his arms, leaving the vines in place to keep the wounds covered until Sausage regenerated with the change to a new form.

With no other indication of the hour, he relied on the progression of the original meager vines on the cave ceiling to mark time. Slowly but steadily they grew downward, and occasionally a new cluster of berries blinked into existence, adding a little more light. But after a while Scott decided it was a terrible way to keep track of time, because it seemed to be taking too long.

“Sausage, come back to me, please. Y-You can’t just leave me in here, okay?” He tried to laugh. “This was your idea. You know, it’s kind of silly, putting ourselves in a dead end like this with no plan for a way back if you can’t swim us out.” He leaned his head over his face, teardrops falling onto Sausage’s cheeks. “I’m sorry I said that. It wasn’t silly. It was a good idea. I should have blocked the way behind us sooner, just as a precaution. I’m sorry I keep relying on you to protect us. Y-You’re going to come back, right? You have to. …Sausage?”

He stroked his hair then slipped a hand under the vines to check for a heartbeat. “L-Listen, Sausage, I can get us out, don’t worry about that part. I can get roots to dig through even the stone and we won’t have to worry about the swimming part no matter what you are. But you’ve got to come back first. Okay?”

Scott gently laid him against the clay wall so he could climb a little higher and touch the ceiling to start summoning the roots as promised. If the unthinkable happened, he still needed a way out…  He then sank to his knees and looked at his hands, feeling helpless. “W-What am I supposed to do if you don’t come back? Sausage…tell me?”

New light suddenly blazed into view, but it wasn’t the soft orange of a glowberry. It was silvery and bright, and it came from between the vines around Sausage’s chest. Scott uttered a gasp of relief and hurried back down toward where he lay. The light spread, engulfing Sausage’s body as he was finally revived. The vines fell away, and before the glow even faded his silhouette alone stopped Scott in his tracks. The former merling didn’t move right away and so he couldn’t help crying out, “Sausage! Sausage! Please, wake up!”

On Sausage’s part, he was a little disoriented by the light but as it dimmed he could see the new, full blooms in Scott’s hair and thought to himself that this was good, because it meant the floran was unharmed. But he himself felt like he was on fire. “Urg…my head…is buzzing. Am I a thunderborn again?”

Scott answered with a voice full of awe, “No…No, you absolutely are not.”

Sausage shifted to sit up and felt a weight on his back. A familiar one, and… in three different places. The fire actually seemed to be focused behind his head. He stood up and like he had as a giant felt like he was towering over Scott, but it was only an illusion because of the power thrumming through his body.

“A-Angel,” Scott stammered. “…My…angel.”

Holy power was what he felt, stronger than ever before. Sausage looked around at himself, folding one set of wings forward so he could look at them. This time his feathers were white with silver edges, a barely perceptible pattern along the tips. There were three pairs of wings altogether; he wasn’t just any old angel this time. The memory of hierarchies and titles came to his mind. The fire at the back of his head was his halo, and its light was shining on Scott’s face like the sun. When he held out a hand toward the floran, Scott reached for him in turn and a vine coiled out along his arm, splitting into multiple leaves and a small sunflower that all turned upward toward the seraph’s face.

Sausage offered a quiet laugh and made an effort to consciously dim his aura. The vine withdrew and the sunflower popped up in Scott’s hair amongst the others. “Well, I think I can safely say that with this much power, nothing is going to hurt you ever again.”

Scott gave a laugh of his own. “So, you’re now the guardian angel you’ve always wanted to be. I would say you’ve earned it, and… everything might have been worth it.”

Sausage grinned at that, and pulled him closer to wrap him in his larger pair of wings for a hug. “We’ll wait here a little longer. I’m not that eager to test out my smiting abilities yet.”

As he leaned in for a kiss, the other flowers in Scott’s hair fell off and were replaced by a new crown made up of more small sunflowers.

 ~To be continued in Then We’ll Rewrite the Stars~

[A/N: The rest of Scott’s canon origins didn’t give me much to work with so we’re going completely off the canon rails now. Actually we’re going off canon a little for both of them, because it’s fun. Also borrowing origin designs from other characters because the concepts were too cool not to use, but I won’t spoil which ones here, you’ll have to read to find out… | Bonus semi-related artwork by Cynthrey of merling!Scott and gravital!Sausage cuddling! <3]

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Chapter One

Heaven’s Reach was turning into a flourishing landscape of flowering trees, an assortment of garden patches, and pathways made from both rocky soil and meandering streams of water. Colorful vines accentuated by those sporting glowberries cascaded down the cliff alongside the customer waterfall, and an ever-increasing number of ponds showcased dripleaf and exotic water plants from The End. Scattered outbuildings for various hobbies cropped up along with occasional larger structures, such as a new watchtower on the south side. Even a few less ominous-looking buildings were added around Wither’s Grasp, although mostly for extra storage or horticulture.

Scott and Sausage were happily making the area into their own personal eden. Things had settled down nicely since striking a balance between merling and gravital, and they had navigated quite a few adventures together, including one harrowing incident when they stumbled upon an ancient city in the Deep Dark. Now that Sausage could safely enter water, there were plenty of casual moments such as sitting in one of the ponds side by side watching the sunset, or having an early morning swim along the river.

There was also the afternoon when Scott returned from a fishing trip to find that Sausage had taken down the villa wall that abutted the small enclosed pond where the merling slept at night. Scott stored away the fish in the kitchen then returned to watch him remove half the floor and create a spot level with the bottom of the pond. “What are you up to?” he asked with amusement.

“I had an idea! Give me a few minutes, you’ll see!” Sausage proceeded to flood the entire new section by breaking through the wall of the pond.

“Did you mean to do that?”

“No! Well, sort of. Just – give me a minute!”

Scott chuckled and moved closer to crouch at the edge of the remaining original floor, catching some loosened pieces of kelp that floated by. He nibbled on one as Sausage built a new wall for the pond out of glass, then cleared out the leftover water and put down a small section of wooden floor which led directly into a set of stairs that he connected with the original floor.

Scott stood to let him pass as he went off to get something else, which turned out to be a spare bed that he then plunked down in the space beside the glass wall. Sausage grinned. “See? Look! We can sleep in the same room now!”

“You’re a genius,” Scott praised, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. “That’s better than trying to put a pond in one of the bedrooms.”

“I had been thinking of using a sleeping bag out there sometimes, but I didn’t want to risk falling in if I rolled over or something. So, it’s this instead! We can see each other and not have a whole outside wall separating us! A little bit safer, too, if you ask me.”

Scott smiled patiently, ever-aware of Sausage’s tendency to be overprotective of him. “Well, now that you have that sorted, are you interested in planning a little journey? I got a new treasure map in trade. Maybe we’ll finally find a Heart of the Sea and make that conduit.” It was something they had been wanting to set up in the river for a while, but the one crucial piece had been missing.

“Oh, yes, show me!” Sausage dusted off his hands and followed Scott to the kitchen, where he spread the map on the table and then they began making comparisons to locate where exactly ‘X’ marked the spot. An actual trip out would wait until another day, however, for it was getting late by the time they had drawn up a larger map to reach the treasure location.

They had dinner and then relaxed for the rest of the evening, then Scott climbed into his pond and Sausage settled into his newly placed bed, and for a while they laid in proximation of side-by-side, each with a hand against one side of the glass and smiling. It was comforting in a way, and, Scott agreed, better than having the wall of a house between them.

.

The one catch with the glass wall that Sausage found, when he randomly woke up during the night, was his eyes first focusing on his own reflection. The slight warp made him pat at the right side of his face as he vaguely felt the urge to check if his scar had changed. It seemed like an unfounded worry but for some reason he wanted to be sure, as if there was some nightmare he was forgetting.

Then he focused on looking through the glass instead and could see Scott’s face as he slept, head resting on his arms and one hand still out toward the wall, small strands of seagrass swaying against him. The peaceful sight calmed whatever concern had bothered Sausage’s mind, and he put his head back down, moving his arm so that his hand was in line where it might have touched Scott’s if the glass wasn’t there.

~*~

The treasure hunt ended up not yielding what they were looking for, but while they were out they explored around for any sunken ships that might have other maps, meanwhile collecting some coral and a few more fancy sea creatures for the fish pond. A second map recovered from a wreck had the same result, so they decided luck just wasn’t with them and headed home before it got any later. They finished the day simply puttering around with a few chores.

It was when the light washing in from the kitchen window as the sun set remained a strange crimson color instead of fading to blue that Sausage glanced outside out of curiosity, only to yelp in surprise. “Scott! I think we have a problem!!”

“What is it?” the merling called over from where he was putting away the last of the dishes.

“Moon’s red.”

“What?”

“Moon’s red.”

Scott came over and leaned to also look out the window. Sure enough the moon, full and looking extraordinarily large, was glowing an ominous bloody hue. They both jumped as a violent pounding sound came from the front door. A similar sound came from the direction of the villa’s other door. “Zombies,” Scott said grimly.

They sprang into action, Sausage going for a bow and arrows while Scott grabbed his turtle shell helmet and the first other piece of armor he could get his webbed hands on – a mere leather chestplate, but it would do – then took out his trident. First was the front door, where Sausage blasted the zombies back with a pulse of repelling gravi, giving Scott an opening to start fighting them off, then the gravital went back inside to blast the other group away from the back door so they wouldn’t get inside that way. The two fought their way along the perimeter of the house, meeting up once they had cleared the immediate area.

But there were many more of the undead all around the mountaintop, and their own presence outside drew the attention of skeletal archers, creepers, and other dangers.

Sausage flung a sparking creeper into a group of zombies, causing a shower of rotten flesh to rain down on an approaching cadre of skeletons. “Why are there so many of them?!” he cried in frustration, turning to repel away a leaping spider.

“Something about the moonlight – the darkness is different than normal, or it’s causing extra ones to spawn.” Scott sliced through a skeleton then rammed the end of the trident into a zombie’s chest, knocking it backward so he would have better space to stab it.

They heard the horrifying scream of an angered enderman, which came rushing in to pummel Sausage multiple times before he was able to put a hand out to repel it. “I didn’t even look at it!!” he protested. As it charged back in, Scott braced his trident at the last moment in front of the gravital to skewer it. It hissed and flailed, knocking off Scott’s helmet, and seemed to take an extra amount of time to expire.

Sausage flinched repeatedly, feeling nauseous, and had to put his head down to wait for it to pass. “That – that wasn’t a normal one.” He then stumbled as an arrow punched right into the back of his armor. “W-Wait, they’ve got high piercing, too?!” He grabbed Scott to pull him into his personal sphere of gravi, then released a forceful repelling pulse in all directions.

Mobs went flying, but a glance toward the villa revealed it surrounded once again. Sausage pointed toward the waterfall and then raised his bow, firing off shots into the monsters that moved in to take the place of the others. Scott swung his trident at anything that got too close, throwing it a few times when Sausage needed to get out more arrows and recalling it right back to hand for another swing. He would have to worry about his helmet later, water breathing boost or not.

They were then forced away from the waterfall by a chain of creeper explosions, and a skeleton got in a hit with a poisoning arrow on Scott. Sausage held him steady with one arm wrapped around him, blocking further shots with a shield of gravi, but over a dozen zombies were closing in. The gravital threw a glance toward the edge of the plateau, then tucked Scott behind him. He used just enough force to knock the zombies back a few steps, then turned to place his palms against Scott’s chest. “I can get you to the river from here. You can outswim anything that’s in there – find somewhere underwater to wait this out. I – I’ll meet you after sunrise if I can.”

Scott grabbed Sausage’s wrists. “No. Don’t do that to me – don’t make me have to survive while you fall, alone. You can’t beat all this by yourself. We’ll run wherever we have to, but we do it together.”

Sausage wanted to insist, but there was no time. He turned, directing the pulse he had been holding at the resurgence of zombies, then grasped Scott’s wrist in return and ran blindly for the switchback staircase down the cliff. He took a few more arrows to his armor as he made a path through the mobs.

They were halfway down the steps when Scott remembered the small cave that was within the wall. He pulled back on Sausage’s arm and pointed over to it. “Maybe in there. We’ll be out of their sight, we’ll have a solid wall to our backs, and have a bottleneck to fight them through if they do follow.”

“Good idea!” Sausage boosted him up to the entrance then followed, blocking several arrows on the way. He turned to kick a spider that had begun climbing the wall. “Check in the back – there was a chest there and maybe there’s something in it we can block a little more of this hole with before I have to pull down part of the ceiling.”

He withdrew beside the entrance, intending to break line of sight from the mobs, but kept on watch. He was still hurting from the punches by the overpowered enderman, and an arrow that had made it into his thigh was causing a trickle of blood down his leg. He grimaced as he pulled it out, not waiting for it to fade on its own, and he leaned against the wall for a long moment, panting.

Scott returned with a bundle of black cloth, which he set down on a raised bit of cobblestone wall. “This might not have been what you meant, but did you know these were in here?” He opened the bundle to reveal one potion bottle, a dozen silver arrows, and a shimmering golden crossbow.

“No? That’s weird.” Sausage limped over to have a closer look. He picked up the crossbow but no enchantment was revealed, and the arrows were a mystery as well. He took them and went back to the cave entrance with Scott following, careful to stay out of view while loading an arrow. He sighted down a random creeper in a crowd of zombies and fired. The arrow duplicated in mid-air, taking out the creeper and a dozen undead in the same one-hit strike.

“Wow. Could have used that ten minutes ago!” Sausage chuckled, then loaded another arrow. Scott watched, then held out his hand to have a try. They were able to clear the immediate area, and although they could hear more zombie groans and the clatter of bones elsewhere out of view, it seemed they had earned a reprieve.

Sausage staggered back to the improvised table and began to remove his armor. “I think a few more made it through than I noticed, and that enderman really hit hard…” He moved the potion bottle and tore a strip from the black cloth, wrapping it around the one arrow wound that was visible. Then he pulled at the collar of his bodysuit to check his chest for bruises. “Hmm, yeah, that already left a few marks.”

“Well, hold on.” Scott placed the crossbow and remaining three arrows on the floor, then picked up the bottle and uncorked it, closing one eye to peer inside with the other. “This could be a healing potion, or a strength one, I think. I didn’t get hit as badly, so you have some first.” Realizing the gravital would protest upon hearing that, Scott pushed the potion into Sausage’s hands. “Nope. It’s yours.” Smiling as he for once obeyed, the merling went about pulling more strips from the fabric for makeshift bandages until they could get back into the villa.

Sausage took an experimental sip, and when he felt a little of his pain ease he had a bigger drink – only to choke on it as his gaze went toward the cave entrance. “Sc-Scott!” he coughed, “The crossbow!”

There was a massive skeletal archer with crimson bones in the entrance, tall as an enderman, and it peered in at them with a dark intelligence behind its scowling eye sockets. It brought forth a black bow and knocked a long, blood-red arrow. Scott grabbed for the golden crossbow but knew he couldn’t load it in time. His eyes slid to Sausage, already wounded and vulnerable without any armor on, and moved with purpose to block the arrow with his own back. He would have said—

My turn to protect you—

But he didn’t expect the arrow to pierce straight through him, carrying him forward until the arrow tip was driven home into Sausage’s shoulder, pinning them together with the momentum smacking Sausage’s head against the wall. Scott drew in a wet breath, wanting to apologize, but…

Well, at least they would be in each other’s arms as they died.

~*~

The back of Sausage’s head ached something fierce when he woke up, but the next thing he registered was sunlight coming in from the cave’s entrance, and that was a relief. However, it took several more seconds to work out what he was seeing when he looked down… and then realization hit that he was looking through the transparent top of Scott’s head from where he lay against Sausage’s chest. His first thought was that the merling had become a phantom, but he could feel the weight of him, and when he chanced putting his hand on Scott’s back he didn’t pass right through him.

He looked at his own hand and clenched his fist to see how he felt, and came to another realization: he could still sense the forces of gravity around him.

He hadn’t died.

Whether because of the potion – long since spilled over the floor now – or if the red arrow hadn’t hit anything vital, he was still a gravital. But Scott was…something new. His hair appeared to be white, and when he stirred Sausage saw some kind of pattern of glittering markings along his arms as he used the floor to push himself up, head still down as he focused on not pushing on Sausage himself.

As he settled back in a sitting position, Scott lifted his head with a resigned look, but the gravital gave a start for another reason. One of his eyes was blue and the other was gold. Sausage glanced at Scott’s arm again and the pattern became clear: it was in the shape of small feathers.

A feeling of nausea suddenly hit him, but he tried to attribute it to his head still hurting rather than the revelation, and he forced his hand to move to gently touch the side of Scott’s face. “Hey – uh – the weird moon is gone. We can go home now.”

Scott sighed quietly and stood up, looking around at his body. “Well, I can breathe air again at least. But what am I?” He stared through his own hands at the floor, then raised them toward Sausage and looked through them at him.

“I don’t know, but you’ve, um… got a little bit of everything you’ve been so far going on.” Sausage took one of his hands and led him over to a small pool of water so he could see his reflection.

Scott patted at his hair, then touched his face under his gold eye. “I have no idea what’s happening. I don’t really feel any kind of powers yet, although I do wonder if I can, like, walk through walls maybe?”

“We can test that out when we get back to the house, if you really want to. I don’t feel so hot, and if I’m going to pass out again I’d like it to be in a bed.”

Scott gave him a look of concern and wrapped an arm around him to support him as they headed to the cave entrance. They carefully climbed down onto the staircase, then Scott let Sausage lean on him all the way back to the villa. Once inside, he helped Sausage wash off some dried blood and change into a loose tunic and trousers, checking over any other arrow wounds besides his leg and shoulder as Sausage rested in a chair. “I’m glad you didn’t die, at least. These we can patch up with healing potions, but let’s get you to bed for a while.” Scott held out a hand to help him stand.

“I think that one potion helped, as little of it I got, but yeah, my head is ki—" Sausage completely missed Scott’s hand as he lurched forward and abruptly dropped like a ton of lead to his knees. Black mist puffed up from the floor around where he landed.

They exchanged horrified glances. “Oh, no…” Scott clenched his fists, drawing a sharp breath before crouching to wrap his arms around Sausage. “There must have been one of those things that cursed me out in the field somewhere, and… maybe that potion held off the effects until now. Sausage, I’m sorry.” He held him for several moments, gently stroking his hair while Sausage hugged him back. “It’s… not going to be easy, but… just… sleep as much as you can, all right? Don’t think about it too much. We’ll get through this.”

Scott pulled one of Sausage’s arms around his shoulders to lift him up, doing most of the work to get him toward his old bedroom, thinking it a better place than the bed beside the pond. The gravital seemed somewhat despondent but clung to Scott’s hand once he was lying in bed. “We never found an answer last time,” he mourned, then closed his eyes as he was overcome by dizziness.

“I’ll look again. We have nothing to do but try.” Scott’s heart ached. He leaned over to kiss Sausage’s forehead. “Just rest. I’ll brew some fresh potions, and we’ll… We’ll wait it out together.” He continued to hold the gravital’s hand until he was sure he had fallen asleep, then slipped free and silently walked out of the room.

He had no way of venting rage like Sausage’d had with his lightning; but, in fact, he didn’t feel rage so much as a resigned sorrow, knowing there was not much they could do, or have a direct source to blame. There was just something out there, striking people with a deadly wasting illness.

With the trappings of a merling not feeling suitable to life back on land, he changed his own clothes to a plain blouse and leather pants, which gained transparency as soon as he put them on. Then he returned to the cave to collect Sausage’s armor and his trident. He inspected the tines, figuring he could still use it. There was some odd, glittering residue on it, and he remembered the overpowered enderman. What if that had been it? What if it had some other ability unique to its type? When he had fallen ill as an angel, he had been smiting hostiles in the area, and what if one like it had hit him and he just didn’t remember it happening in the midst of the fight?

That didn’t offer any solution, but maybe it was at least an explanation, and it gave him an idea. He quickly returned to the villa, trying to keep quiet as he stored away the armor and the weapon, then prepared a travel backpack before going out again to start on the health potions. While they brewed he experimented with his transparency, finding that he could, indeed, pass through solid walls. It didn’t seem like much of an ability, but it would come in handy for his search.

A little while later he brought a crate of filled bottles into the bedroom, setting it on the chest beside the bed for the time being before checking on Sausage. He was still asleep, but his brow was covered in sweat and his breathing was labored. With growing worry over how fast he was being affected, Scott went to get a cold, damp cloth to dab at Sausage’s face and hopefully ease what seemed to be a fever. He couldn’t help but gaze at him with sympathy, knowing exactly what he was experiencing even as he slept.

.

Somewhere around evening time Sausage woke again while Scott was at the desk flipping through a book on astrological events, investigating occurrences of a Blood Moon. “Hey,” Sausage croaked. “Been there all day?”

Scott smiled softly as he closed the book. “No. I was busy, but you missed all the action.” He got up and went to sit on the side of the bed, gently taking hold of the gravital’s near hand. “I thought of a place to look for more books that might have an answer. Tomorrow I’ll go to the End stronghold and check the library there. I made a bunch of potions and I want you to drink one every few hours while I’m out, all right? And then you stay put.”

Sausage managed a weary smile. “Who am I to argue? You’re in charge…” He then put his other hand over his eyes. “This dizziness is something else. Did you keep feeling it a lot? I just thought you seemed, well, weak and tired.”

“Not too much,” Scott replied with a frown. “Mostly that first time before I fainted. It might be affecting you differently – maybe because your powers are different?”

“Oh, yeah, maybe. I guess that can be a side effect of messing with gravity.”

They sat quiet for a few minutes, then Scott tried to make a lighthearted comment. “Hm, well, I did find out I can walk through walls, so I might be some kind of living, composite ghost. It’s kind of a good kind of haunting, where I can still kiss you and be able to get through the stronghold faster.”

Sausage didn’t laugh so much as cough. Scott squeezed his hand then picked up one of the potions and helped him sit up to take a few sips, waiting a moment or two before finishing the rest. He put the bottle back in the crate, then watched to see if it helped any. Sausage only groaned and turned away to scrunch over against the pillow, hand going to his stomach. “Ughh, I hope I can keep that down…”

Scott lightly rubbed his back. “I’ll let you get back to sleep. I’m going to stay up a little longer to check books, but I’ll keep the door open in case you need anything. I promise I won’t leave until morning, okay?”

“Yeah…Yeah, that’s fine,” Sausage mumbled into the pillow, “No sneaking off… That always gets us in trouble…”

Unable to reach his face, Scott pressed a kiss to the fabric covering his shoulder, then gave his back one more little rub before going to the desk to collect the book and go out to the kitchen.

~*~

Despite another health potion in the morning Sausage wasn’t faring any better, still complaining about dizziness and nausea, as well as discovering that his field of gravi was gone. His power was waning a lot faster than Scott’s had, and now that worried them both. With a promise to return as soon as possible, Scott set out for the End stronghold.

Not only was it faster to sink through the ground to reach it but looking through each wall helped avoid any hostiles lying in wait. He bypassed several spiders, a small horde of silverfish, and two endermen this way, and spotted the back of a bookcase that finally led him to the library. Unfortunately, he caught a glimpse of a creeper just as he was about to step out of the wall, so he quickly withdrew further back into the stone bricks. He tried moving around to a different section but the creeper was smack in the middle of everything. He sighed impatiently but waited to see if it would wander off, not wanting to risk it exploding and destroying a book he might need.

He ended up glaring at it and muttering, “Come on, move already, you stupid thing.”

The creeper hissed and began to flinch, moving forward, then sideways… and black mist began to curl up around its four feet. Scott could only stare in shock, then with fear, as the creeper keeled over and dissipated with the mist.  He looked around for any other creatures, glancing to the upper level of the library then quickly running around the room while staying inside the walls, but he saw nothing.

Was this thing invisible, too? He didn’t want to think about it somehow following him there, and was now grateful for his new ability to hide lest it curse him again. He backtracked to where the endermen had been to see if the thing was just going through killing mobs.

They were still there, apparently chatting to each other in their strange, warped language and appearing to be fine. Yet as he watched them for longer than his initial first glance through had been, the closer one began to twitch and flinch like the creeper had, the black mist soon appearing. It unhinged its jaw and Scott thought it was going to teleport to wherever the thing was, but—

It turned and charged at the wall where he was hiding.

Scott clapped both hands over his mouth as his gut wrenched, stumbling backward out into the corridor. But… he had to make sure… He stepped into the wall again, just in time to see the first enderman expire, then he dragged his gaze to the other one. The same thing happened. There wasn’t even a single enderpearl left behind.

He was causing this.

That meant he had…

He ran back to the library and began frantically tearing through the bookshelves, desperate for any titles about monsters or illnesses. What was he now? There had to be something somewhere – anything – some way to stop what he could do.

He felt absolutely sick to his stomach but he couldn’t stop, he had to keep looking. He needed to save Sausage from what he had done to him.

.

Books and even pages torn out in frustration littered the entire floor by the time he found it.

The Enigma often goes unseen. It lays a curse with its eyes to drain the life force of its victims. Only a few have ever been captured, and they don’t give up their secrets, usually baiting their captors with puzzles and riddles, eventually tricking them so that it may set its gaze upon them. To date no cure has ever been worked out in time. Rumor has it the Enigma itself can lift the curse, but that remains mere rumor. None of the creatures have ever cooperated to do so.

Scott closed the book and pressed it against his chest. So maybe he could undo this… but he didn’t know how. He hadn’t purposely laid the curse. What if it didn’t work anyway, because he wasn’t a naturally born Enigma?

All he could do was fill his own head with doubts.

He dropped the book and picked up his backpack, letting it hang from his hand by one strap, not bothering to put any of the books in it. He didn’t see the point. He had his answer, and a new heartful of guilt.

Once he was home he threw the backpack on the floor and went to his room, ransacking his store of clothing until he found the short chiton he had worn as an angel. He yanked at the seams until they gave way, stifling sobs as he did so while hoping Sausage wouldn’t hear him. He tore off a wide strip that he wrapped over his eyes and tied at the back of his head. He waited for the sobbing to subside, then adjusted the bottom of the improvised blindfold so he could see just enough of the floor under the edge to make his way around. It was more to avoid abruptly bumping into things and startling Sausage, since he knew his way around the villa like the back of his hand.

He half-heartedly threw some of the clothes back into the chest, not bothering with the rest, then left for Sausage’s room, hand trailing over the wall more for a physical object to touch than as a guideline – ironically, since he could also have just passed his hand into it.

Under the edge of the blindfold he could see light coming from beneath the closed door. The gravital was awake, at least. “Sausage,” he called out softly, hesitating with a hand against the door. “I’m… I’m back.” He pressed his forehead to the wood. “I need to tell you something. It’s not good news…”

Sausage’s puzzled voice called in return, “You can come in, you know. I’m not going to be mad about bad news. I’m just glad you’re back now!” The sound of coughing followed the enthusiastic statement.

Scott drew a steadying breath, squeezing his eyes shut under the blindfold and then thought about wishing Sausage’s illness would go away, as if maybe that would be all it took and when he opened the door he would be better.

But the coughing continued, then came a groan. “Sorry, sorry. But you can still come in, silly!”

Scott vented one last frustrated sigh then pushed the door open. He had expected a response to the blindfold, but the cry of apprehension still turned his stomach.

“W-What happened?? Your eyes – did you get hurt? Let me see – you should have taken one of the potions!” Sausage reached out toward him but Scott had made sure to stay out of range when he entered.

“No, this is for your protection.”

“Uh-??” Baffled, Sausage lowered his hands.

Scott moved to sit on the side of the bed, and pushed Sausage’s arm down when it came into view of the blindfold’s bottom edge as he reached for him again. “Just – wait, please. Listen to me first. I… I learned what I am. One of my new abilities is...” He turned his face toward the floor, gripping the edge of the blanket in his fingers. “Sausage, I did this to you, just by looking at you. And I might have made it worse because I kept looking at you. I’m something called an Enigma, and I’m draining your life away. I’m sorry. It’s my fault you’re now dying. There could be a way to stop it but I don’t know how. All I can do is not look at you anymore, and because I know how it's going to feel right up until the end… I’m so sorry I did this to you.”

He lifted one hand to finally let Sausage touch him, their fingers twining together. “I don’t blame you,” the gravital assured, “Please know that. You couldn’t have known about this. We couldn’t have known. We’ll ride it out together, like you said, and-and we’ll figure out something just like we always do! This isn’t going to drive me away from you. I’m not going anywhere.” He coughed a little then recovered and joked, “Couldn’t if I wanted to right now.”

The attempt at humor was lost on Scott as a new thought occurred to him and he pulled his hand free to stand up, turning away. “Maybe you should. Maybe that would be better for you. I’ve caused all of your deaths, Sausage. You’re not safe around me.”

“Wh— but— the last one was fWhip’s fault!”

“If I hadn’t gotten caught that wouldn’t have happened to you!”

“Scott, no, please – death itself is not going to keep me from being with you! I love you, and I know you love me. We—” He had to stop to catch his breath. “W-We are going to continue defying this! You came back to me, I - I’ll come back to you! We’ll find a way!”

“How, Sausage… How can you still love me when I keep doing this to you? I’m still more of a monster than anything else – how can I be anything else, when all you ever do is die when you’re around me?”

“But what about everything else? All – All the other time we – we’ve spent…” Sausage tried to hold his voice steady, even though the strain he was feeling made him almost gasp for air right there. “We’ve built so much together… T-To have a life together… Please… Don’t do this to yourself. I – I know what you must be feeling – stealing souls didn’t make me like myself much after a while, either.”

“At least you tried to give my soul energy back. I can’t do that for you. I can’t even die right trying to save you.”

“S-Scott… P-Please…” Sausage’s next breath got stuck in his throat and he clutched his chest until it passed, and for a split-second he was glad Scott couldn’t see what was happening to him just then. “M-Maybe you should get some rest, just – give things a little time. It – It’ll be okay in the end.”

“No, Sausage. Stop. I can’t accept that right now. Where does it end? How many more times am I going to cause you to die?”

“I don’t know where it ends.” Sausage fell quiet, both to catch his breath again and to try to think. “And I don’t care, either. I just want to be with you. I could die a hundred times and all that matters is the moments in between that we spend together.”

“Pretty words,” Scott mumbled, walking toward the door. “But it doesn’t make me less of a monster right now. Go back to sleep, Sausage. You’re going to need it.”

The gravital didn’t try to say anything more and could only watch him leave.

[A/N: While Gravital! and Crawler!Sausage were great, in the spirit of this fic they’re being skipped. | While we’re at it, let’s get meta with this one.]

 Heavensent

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There wasn’t any particular god Scott was building a church for. In a way it felt like a pretentious thing to do, so he went ahead with it. Let everyone think he was now a beacon of light, that there was hope and refuge to be found in his lands. They would see a figure bedecked in shining white and gold – and then they would see his sword, and they would know they were being judged.

He didn’t need Sausage’s pathetic brand of kindness to show how he was an angel. He had his own personal sense of how the world should be and now he had more means to define it, even literally shape it to his vision. Creating floating islands was becoming his favorite hobby, showing how the very earth was under his control.

It was while planning out his latest set that the sound of thunder reached his ears. There was no sign of rain yet so it wasn’t a concern. In fact, the sun was still out. Whatever storm was rumbling around, it must have been some distance off. Maybe it was one of those types that got stuck on one side of a mountain and just made a lot of noise without going further.

When he flew off to gather some supplies, however, he heard thunder again at the new location. He was a fair distance away from home and the only mountain around was the one he stood on – and it was nowhere near cloud height.

For a while he wondered if it was a side effect of his new angelic nature, that whole thing about calling down holy fire from the heavens, which could very well translate to lightning. Obviously it had never occurred to him to ask Sausage detailed questions about what being an angel was like. All he’d cared about was that his blood tasted amazing. Later, of course, it had been in his best interest to not go out of his way to remind the wither about his past self by asking about it.

The thunder continued for the rest of the day, reverberating off the stone he placed and causing loose rocks on top of the soil to rattle around. He tried to ignore it as he planted flowers and made artificial ponds; he tried to ignore it when he flew back to his church to sleep for the night.

It boomed throughout the night and into the next day. And the one after that.

It was almost like the heavens themselves were trying to drive him mad with atmospheric tension. There were never any clouds to herald an actual thunderstorm, and then on the one day where it did rain, it was a regular storm. The lack of thunder was almost as deafening, and Scott dared hope the strange phenomenon was over. He passed out during the afternoon and finally got some restful sleep.

The sun came out the following day and the thunder resumed. At his wit’s end, he took off to scout around for a source. To his frustration, no matter where he went the sound didn’t change, giving him no chance to figure out which direction it was coming from. He went so far as to risk going near the local giant’s home, but there were no noise-inducing mining activities going on there. Resigned to being cursed with the sound for the meantime, he turned back for home, thunder punctuating every flap of his wings.

When he entered the church he was bewildered to see an old man sitting on the altar, his head bowed as if in prayer – except that was not at all the appropriate spot for a repentant peasant to be. His hair and full beard were white but his bare chest and arms looked well-muscled, perhaps belying his age. Scott pretended to clear his throat. “Excuse me, do you mind if I ask you to move? The actual seats are over here.” He motioned to the bench to his left.

The man kept his head down, not acknowledging him. Scott thought he saw a slight smirk begin to form, and then the man giggled.

“Excuse you,” the angel said impatiently, “I think it’s time for you to leave, sir.”

The man lifted his head, now grinning broadly. If the familiar blue eyes didn’t give it away, the distinctive scar on the right side of his face did.

Scott rocked back on his heels. “Sausage?”

“That’s right!” He continued to grin, perhaps unnervingly so. He seemed pleased about something, not that the angel could guess as to what.

“Why in the world would you bother coming here?” Scott sighed in exasperation. “I think I told you what could happen if we met again. You look like you’ve got one foot in the grave already anyway.” He massaged his forehead as if warding off a headache. “Somehow you’ve quickly lived to a ripe old age as whatever you are now. Just…get out of here.” He rolled his eyes and made a flicking motion toward the door with one hand.

“Hmmmmm… No.” Sausage hopped down from the altar and walked right up to him, back straight and head held high. He stopped an arm’s-length away and looked down at the angel through half-lidded eyes, that small smirk back on his face.

Scott immediately resented the smugness. He didn’t sense anything unholy about Sausage this time, so he couldn’t just go and smite him on the spot. He settled for uttering another impatient sigh. “What do you want, Sausage?”

“How’s the angel business going? Are you counting up the good deeds, helping out those in need and saving the day, and all that fun stuff?” Sausage smiled and took a step closer.

Scott took one step back, preferring to keep some distance between them until he found out what the other was up to. “In my own way. I’m not following your rulebook, if that’s what you mean.”

“Hmm, just wondering.” He stepped forward, not appearing to take any offense.

“Do you want to take this outside?” Scott asked with an indifferent tone, moving back again. He wasn’t going to run; he wasn’t intimidated by what Sausage was doing, more so only disconcerted.

“If you like. I thought we were just chatting. But the weather is nice, isn’t it?” As if on cue, a boom of thunder rang out. His smile seemed to grow. “Well, maybe a little noisy lately, but still nice.”

“Oh, it’s been absolutely wonderful,” the angel replied sarcastically, then realized maybe that at least meant the thunder wasn’t all in his head if someone else was acknowledging it, even if that someone was Sausage, and even if he was being frustratingly cryptic just then.

“Come now, let’s take a walk! We can keep talking like reasonable beings of questionable power,” Sausage said cheerfully, motioning toward the door. He almost seemed about to put an arm around Scott, but the angel moved out of range, not trusting him for a second. Thunder echoed up and down their surroundings as they left the church. Sausage tried and failed to stifle a chuckle.

Realization hit Scott like a meteor and he turned an accusatory glare on the white-haired man. “You’re the one doing this, aren’t you?” There was another giggle. “What are you on about, Sausage?” The giggle turned to full-on laughter. “Sausage!”

Reigning himself in to a quieter chuckle, the former wither offered a shrug, splaying his hands out before him. “Oh, I was just having a little fun. You’re so above it all now, flying around so freely and generously using your new power, but I figure, well, the sky is still above you.” He promptly jerked one hand upward, his smile becoming triumphant.

A lightning bolt struck the ground at Scott’s feet, startling him into jumping backward. The jagged stream of light lingered far longer than normal. He stared at the patch of ground where it was hitting, then lifted his gaze to regard Sausage. The other’s eyes were bright as he gazed past the bolt at the angel. “Try to destroy me now, little man.”

Scott merely scoffed at him as if all this wasn’t worth his time. He spread his wings, preparing to launch himself upward. Noise and showy lights gave no indication Sausage was anything more than land-bound, and even if he could haunt him with thunder, at least he could leave him behind.

But then the next lightning bolt struck him dead on.

Scott stumbled, dazed for several painful seconds. It wasn’t enough to kill him, but it set his heart thudding in his ears, almost as loud as the thunder that followed. Sausage’s voice cut through the sounds. “Nuh-uh-uh, no flying away for you.”

Panting, Scott clutched at his own chest, willing himself to recover as he glared across the scorched ground. “So what are you, to come lording over me again?”

“Well, I could tell you the whole story of how I woke up in an ancient temple surrounded by the followers of a storm god who called me the Avatar of the Thunderborn, but you would probably find that beneath you to believe. I guess my soul went looking for the next best thing after you released me from my withered form.” Sausage grinned. “Thank you for that.”

He twitched his fingers and another bolt of lightning hit the angel.

Scott gritted his teeth, determined to ride it out without collapsing despite how his limbs began to spasm. He couldn’t yield. He refused. When his vision cleared, he growled, “How many times are we going to go through this dance, Sausage?”

“You started it!” the thunderborn accused.

“No, you did,” Scott replied flatly.

“But you’re the one who killed me first!”

“That makes you the one hung up on revenge.”

A rumbling swept across the sky. “Why do you get to walk away unpunished?” Sausage’s eyes narrowed. “Where is the justice for what you did? Why did you get rewarded, even?”

“Did you forget about the part where you were devouring souls while I was drinking blood?” Scott laughed coldly. “You don’t have room to talk about the moral high ground.”

“Maybe not. But I could do this all day.”

The next lightning strike brought the angel to his knees, arching backwards with his wings jerking uncontrollably. When the bolt faded Scott slumped forward onto his hands, golden hair falling in his face. He wasn’t sure how to get out of this situation. Would any amount of his own holy power be effectual against someone who was, for all intents and purposes, a god? “I – I’m clearly not going to win here,” he managed through still chattering teeth. He swallowed and attempted to gather his thoughts. “Fine. I wronged you—”

“Twice,” Sausage chirped.

“Twice. Yes. I killed you twice. But you came close to getting me last time. Some twist of fate seems to have decided that we keep being at odds with each other. Is the cycle just supposed to continue no matter who kills who?”

“Are you saying that because you think I’ll be the one to break the cycle?”

“You’re the better one of us. It might as well be you.”

“Ooh, flattery. That gets you everywhere, you know.” Sausage gazed down at him, his expression saying that he was unmoved. “But that means you get to just walk away again.”

“What would you risk me coming back as? There are things that can kill a god’s avatar.”

“You could also come back as a mere ant.”

Scott relented, lowering his head as he exhaled. He wanted to at least stand up, find a way to somehow defend himself, but he suspected the thunderborn would strike him right back down again. He didn’t know how much more his body could handle, either. And if anyone knew the limits of an angel’s vessel, it was Sausage.

A hand closed on the roots of one of his wings and yanked him upward, not exactly a kindly way to help him to his feet. He put an arm out to push against the former wither’s chest in anticipation of whatever escape he could attempt. Sausage’s eyes held angry storm clouds. “Say that I did spare you. What would stop you from coming after me anyway the next time you die some other way? I might as well get the satisfaction of avenging myself while I can.”

“Nothing.”

“Come again?”

“Nothing would stop me, if that’s what I was destined to do. If I come back as an ant, you crush me. Then we see what plays out next.” Scott fell silent, thinking back to the look that had been in the vampire slayer’s eyes. “I think I knew them from a previous life, too.”

Sausage scowled, giving him a confused look. “What are you talking about?”

“The one who actually killed me when I was a vampire, instead of you doing it.”

That made Sausage think back, too. His grip on the angel’s wing loosened. “Just because we were working together doesn’t technically mean I forgave you,” he said, voice dark. “And just because I tried to defend you that time doesn’t mean they weren’t doing me a favor, whoever they were.”

“So, maybe destiny made them a tool for your ends, even if they meant something to me at one time, or I meant something to them, since I… didn’t remember them.”

“Oh, are those regrets you’re feeling?” Sausage mocked. “That has to be beneath you, too. Snap out of it!”

This time the lightning formed around his arm, tiny bolts forking off into the air along his skin. Sausage put his free hand on Scott’s other wing, creating a closed circuit. The angel’s eyes widened in horror. “Saus— Wai-!”

He didn’t get time to finish the word. Electricity shot across his shoulders, and it felt like it was tearing through his wing’s roots. It was only fair, he tried to tell himself. It was only fair. Burned and blackened feathers drifted at the edges of his vision before white-hot pain filled his head.

“One angel, clipped,” Sausage proclaimed.

 The next thing Scott knew, he was laying on the ground, gasping for breath. His back felt like it was on fire, and he wasn’t entirely sure it wasn’t literal. He pulled himself to the edge of the cliff beyond where the church sat and looked at the lake down below. Then he closed his eyes. It took little effort to slide off and plunge headfirst toward the water. It would put out any actual fire, right? There was only half an instant where he thought about how spread wings would slow such a fall, but even without looking he was certain Sausage had made sure he would never fly again. He hit the water and…well, didn’t exactly sink, but floated comfortably below the surface. It took several moments for him to notice that breathing was much easier now.

He was breathing water.

Scott opened his eyes and looked down at himself. His skin was blue and dark green hair framed his face. He patted at himself and felt rows of gill slits along his neck. He was…some sort of mer-creature. He nearly laughed at the contrast of air to sea, but then it sank in that Sausage hadn’t merely zapped his wings. He had followed through and killed him.

Scott lowered his hands and drifted silently with the current. He thought about everything he had said about fate and destiny. He wondered what he should choose to do if he happened to see Sausage again, although for the moment that would require the thunderborn to purposely come for him again, because this lake was only so big and Scott didn’t know yet how far he could get on land with breathing air being a problem.

He did wonder why Sausage hadn’t stuck around, since they both knew now that they would reappear in one form or another. He also couldn’t help thinking about what it would actually take to stop the cycle.

~*~

Through some trial and error, he found he could walk around on land using enchanted items along with copious amounts of bucketed water. Using these he made his way to the open sea, where there was much more space for him to move around and get used to his new body. He had yet to figure out any special abilities beyond swimming fast and buoyancy, a far cry from his last two forms. At least it seemed peaceful, just swimming amongst the kelp and sea life.

No, make that boring.

He made his way into a river, looking for signs of anyone, anything. At one point he caught sight of the bottom of a pier and he considered pestering the lone fisherman who stood casting out a reel.

He ultimately decided against it and swam onward. He didn’t know where he was going at that point, just that he wanted to keep moving. The feeling of the water flowing past him was almost like how the wind felt when he had flown.

Almost.

He didn’t understand why he missed being an angel when, quite frankly, he hadn’t been one for very long. Nor did it make sense to miss the flying part, when he’d had similar enough abilities as a vampire.  It might have been the sense of freedom. As a vampire he had been limited to the night, and now as a merling he was limited to the water. Suddenly he had a very clear understanding of Sausage’s behavior after his imprisonment. The pang of empathy felt strange. He really didn’t like it.

A flicker of light above the surface to his left caught his attention. Even though it made his stomach twist from memory he swam upwards to investigate. He slowly raised his head out of the water just far enough to have a look.

Sure enough, Sausage was there with someone and appeared to be showing off his new powers. He was talking animatedly about his time at the temple and everything the thunderborn worshippers had spoken about. He was very distracted, the merling thought. The person listening looked like they were hanging on his every word, too fascinated to be paying attention to anything else. If Sausage was going to so thoughtfully stand that close to the river, well…

Scott decided to take the chance. He slipped out of the water and kept low as he crept toward them. Although he was somewhat protected by enchantments, the open air still stung a bit. He would make this quick.

There was only time for the onlooker’s eyes to widen as the merling lunged, wrapping an arm around Sausage and hauling him backwards. There was a moment where the thunderborn almost regained his balance, but Scott kept pulling and toppled him into the water.

They briefly grappled as Sausage attempted to swim up. He flinched repeatedly, and the merling entertained the thought that water damaged him, which was ironic for someone associated with thunder and by extension rainstorms.

Sausage got one hand out of the river. Scott figured he might be reaching for help and he considered pulling the other person in, too, to add to the chaos. But they weren’t there, and then he realized what he was about to do. He threw himself at Sausage’s arm to knock his aim off.

An uncontrolled stream of lightning hit the water, electrocuting them both.

He had just enough time to look into Sausage’s eyes. Neither satisfaction nor sadness were to be found there.

They would come back, however different, and they would find each other again.

  ~End~

 [Post A/N: Will I keep pitting these two against each other? Depends on any insanely coincidental origins they get that might inspire me. We’re only halfway through at the time of this posting, after all. Things started with a mothling and an elytrian, who knew how crazy it would get? Their origins really are the plot twist gifts that keep giving.

[A/N: Cynthrey and I were tossing What If questions back and forth and came up with so many fun things that I had to write it out. XD | Not technically canon to Soul Liminality or SL2: I Would Die For You, but could kind of hint to a fifth part of Soul Liminality if I get around to it.]

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Chapter One

“Ohhh, Myth! Myytthhhh! Did you think you could hide from me down here? I can see that orange light from miles away in all this blue!”

Something rattled beyond the light of the soul lanterns hanging all around the city, and nearby something else issued a breathy shriek. The lanterns then guttered briefly.

“All that burning and smoke – you stink like a campfire that can’t catch!”

Another rattle, another shriek.

“I could track you anywhere, you fool. You’re no safer in these depths than you are anywhere on the surface. Were you that desperate for a Nether portal, or were you just looking for a quick snack?”

Several of the lanterns were knocked loose from their chains following the question. Then there was a third rattle, and a third shriek.

The ground crackled and split.

“Smajor, there is something down here even worse than you, and now it’s coming for you because you just can’t. Shut. Up.”

There was a roar, then a chilling heartbeat echoed through the city. The soul lanterns went out, washing the area in further darkness. But the light given off by the prey couldn’t be extinguished as easily; the pursuer ran after him toward the outline of the Deep Dark’s portal and the secrets it held.

~*~

Trident in one hand, Scott patted Sausage’s arm with the other and pointed it through the tall strands of kelp at an opening in the side of the underwater ravine they were swimming through. It looked likely enough to help in their search for an amethyst geode. Sausage, with his eyes covered by his goggles, nodded and used a small burst of gravi to propel himself closer to check if it went any farther in, then he waved Scott over. They swam through it for a few meters as it angled upward, and soon they emerged into the lowest basin of a lush cave.

Even though he still had the effects of a water breathing potion, Sausage took a deep inhale of the fragrant air, removing his goggles and blinking around at the light from the hanging glowberries, then set them up against his hair, giving him a rakish, spikey look.

Scott stayed in the basin for another minute, casually leaning on his trident while the gravital began picking out a path up the tiers of clay shelves, mindful of slipping on a tilting dripleaf. There wasn’t any amethyst in immediate sight but it wouldn’t hurt to check if the cave went further on.

A nearby axolotl squeaked at him. Scott smiled at it and waved. It bobbed up and down for a moment, then swam away. He shrugged and stashed his trident at his back then followed up after Sausage, collecting some of the smaller dripleaf on the way.

Beyond a curtain of glowberry vines was a smaller stretch of caves lined with deepslate. It was more narrow, so they couldn’t see too far ahead to where it might lead, but they decided to explore anyway. Sausage lit a torch as they left the natural light of the glowberries behind, while the only other light ahead was random patches of lichen across cave walls when the passage opened up again.

Yet then even the lichen stopped appearing, and when they exited another tunnel they found the area surrounded by a blue-black substance that covered the floor. They shared a concerned glance, having never seen anything like it before, and Sausage held the torch higher. “We might as well have a look around, we came all this way—”

What he thought had been some kind of plant twitched its fronds and emitted a rattle. Sausage lowered his voice. “Guh… Well, let’s just try to avoid that weird thing.”

After determining that the substance on the ground wasn’t harmful, they sidled past the plant – or creature, or whatever it was – and eventually found a path made of deepslate bricks, coming around a corner of the cave that opened up into a massive cavern where an entire city was laid out before their eyes, streets lit by soul lanterns.

“Whoa..!” Scott exclaimed. Another one of the plant-things rattled from nearby.

Something else made a different sound, like a strained rush of breath. The torch guttered even though neither of them felt the air move. Sausage flexed the fingers of his free hand, prepared to repel anything that might attack them. When nothing else happened they continued along, but stayed wary.

There were no other noises, no sign of any inhabitants. They poked around the smaller structures, all doorless, but a few contained chests with a scattering of random supplies in them. Scott found an enchanted book and held it up for Sausage to see without calling to him just to avoid any extra noise. The gravital gave him a thumb’s up gesture, then ducked into the next building.

This one was larger, and the entranceway opened into a room with a mural across three of its walls. Backing up to wave Scott over, Sausage whispered, “Come look at this!”

To his chagrin, one of the rattling things was on the balcony overhead. Scott made an exaggerated sighing motion and rolled his eyes, but followed him inside.

The mural seemed to depict the very city they were in, and at the center of the middle wall was what could have been a palace, with a rectangle that looked very much like a Nether portal, but with wider sides and blue jewels set into each square making up its shape.

“Enderpearls?” Sausage suggested quietly, hoping no one had kept indoor houseplants. “Could this have been another place like an end fortress?”

“Maybe,” Scott murmured. He cautiously touched one of the jewels. “Why not green, though?”

“Maybe all they had was blue.” Sausage glanced around the room and found a staircase nearly hidden by an illusion created by the placement of the walls. “Up here!”

The staircase led to the roof and another level of residences – as well as the palace shown in the mural. The top of it was lost in shadow, so they couldn’t see if there was a portal or not. Sausage lifted his torch up higher again, looking for another pathway. He stepped backward into a patch of the blue-black stuff – and grazed the fronds of an unseen plant-thing. He winced as it rattled, and then this time they saw what made the strained, almost shriek-like noise – a small thing with white stalks that lit up at the corner of the roof. The torch guttered again.

Having developed a sense for the motion of air pressure, Sausage thought he saw a ripple coming off the stalks. “Uh, that might be telegraphing to something,” he whispered. “I guess maybe it’s an old defense system? There’s nothing else alive down here, I don’t think. If it was, like, dormant iron golems or something like that we probably would have seen some by now. Or even artwork or statues.”

“No bones anywhere, either,” Scott pointed out. “Whatever was here—”

The plant-thing abruptly rattled again.

“I didn’t touch it!” Sausage hissed.

The thing at the edge shrieked again. Torch and lantern guttered again.

“Go, go!” Sausage gave Scott a little push, moving with him to leave the building’s roof and find an open spot with no fronds or stalks sticking up anywhere.

“This place is creepy,” Scott whispered. “We should leave.”

“Let’s wait a few minutes before going back that way. Maybe those things will calm down.” Sausage squeezed the merling’s hand to assure him that he didn’t intend to just keep bumbling around – but he did look for another staircase or some kind of way up to the palace. “We came all this way, might as well see that portal for ourselves.”

Scott made a doubtful face, silently weighing the odds. “Well…all right. Maybe it’s better to satisfy our curiosity now instead of trying to come back later. Just…watch your step.”

Sausage nodded and was about to head up into the darkness above when Scott waved for him to stop. The merling tiptoed into the nearest dwelling and came back holding one of the soul lanterns – a light source he could safely hold for himself, whereas holding a stick that was on fire wasn’t the healthiest choice for someone who needed to live in water the majority of the time. Sausage gave a sheepish grin and whispered, “Why didn’t we think of that sooner?”

Scott put a finger to his lips then pointed up. The gravital apologetically grimaced and then they continued onward in silence.

From what they could see within the range of their lights, the palace seemed grand but also devoid of royal accoutrements. No tapestries or carpets, no armor or weapons on display, and no throne room that they could find. Just an eventual ascent to where the portal was supposed to be.

Scott saw the gleam off of blue crystal first, and moved closer to investigate the bottom corner. He stopped short when a blue-black particle floated through the light from his lantern. “S-Sausage?” he stammered, realization making him forget to stay quiet, “It’s active. And those aren’t enderpearls.”

The tone of his voice drew the gravital’s concern. “What…do you mean?” he asked warily.

Scott’s face was grim as he looked at him then pointed to the portal’s frame. Sausage squinted, holding his torch closer. Then his eyes went wide. “Souls. Those are living souls.” Horrified, and with memories haunting his eyes, he jerked back a step, dropping his torch. “W-We’re getting out of here, now. I don’t want to know where that leads.”

Rattle.

Shriek.

The sound of stone cracking rang out.

Sausage clapped his hand over his mouth. He reached for Scott to grab his hand and prepare to run.

Both the torch and the lantern went out completely, leaving them in near-total darkness; the sole source of light, barely visible as it was, came from the blue gemstones in the portal.

Something that was definitely ­not a zombie groaned somewhere in the dark. Then they heard a sniffing sound, and…a loud heartbeat. Scott could feel Sausage shaking and knew what he was fearing. The heart in question came into view – giving off blue light through the exposed ribcage of a massive creature. Sausage kept his hand on his mouth but now pulled Scott against him, then wrapping his arm around him to brace him as he gathered a sphere of gravity around them both, preparing to launch off the building to escape if necessary.

The creature sniffed again, growling. Sausage shifted his feet and hoped he was facing the correct direction to clear the edge of the roof. Holding tightly onto Scott, he directed a pulse of gravi downward in anticipation of the jump –

The creature roared, emitting a sonic wave that slammed into them mid-air, knocking them off course and directly into the portal. Dazed by the blow, Sausage lost his grip on Scott despite the merling trying to cling to him. The world spun as they were transported to wherever a portal powered by souls might lead.

~*~

Scott found himself alone when he picked himself up off the cold stone floor, head pounding and slightly nauseous from the teleportation. It was still relatively dark and he didn’t immediately see Sausage nearby as he peered around. He was worried, but his next thought went to realizing how long he had been out of water; he would be of no use if he didn’t rehydrate first. He took stock of the water breathing potions and regular bottles of water in his satchel. There were still plenty of full ones, although he hoped he could quickly find Sausage and find a way out before testing their limits.

He poured one regular bottle over his head, saving a little to wet his hands and feet, then started taking a closer look around.

For one thing, there was no portal in sight. Only stone walls that stretched up into an unfathomable ceiling, and those walls branched off in multiple directions. Feeling uneasy, Scott gripped the strap of the satchel against his chest and chose the leftmost wall to follow. He already suspected this place was a maze, and he tried to keep in mind the rules for finding an exit.

He could only hope he either found Sausage along the way, or that the gravital knew the rules, as well. Perhaps there was even a chance Sausage would figure out a way to jump to the top of the walls and skip that part altogether, and find him. That gave him a little more hope.

As with most labyrinths, this one regularly had open crossroads where there were paths going in four separate directions. In the first one he came across there was little more than a crumbled plinth in the center, but the next one held the remains of a fountain. A crack in the far side had let most of the water out, leaving not much more than a puddle in the very bottom, but he decided to test it by first dropping a piece of dripleaf into it to make sure it wasn’t caustic, then he climbed in for a closer inspection. It didn’t smell stagnant despite no source of flowing water, and after a cautious poke he wet his hands and wiped down his arms and legs.

If he found more like this at least it would help save on water bottles. He would still need to use the potions, however, so he didn’t dally even when he found an intact fountain that was full to the brim; he still tested each one beforehand out of caution. He also considered refilling the empty bottles he had on hand, but there was no telling what would happen if he then brought that water back to his own dimension. It would have to be an emergency option if it came down to it.

After walking for what felt like over an hour, he started thinking about taking a serious rest in the next full fountain he came across. Even though he and Sausage carefully planned every outing, those trips always included a stop at a river or lake. Despite enchantments and potions, he still couldn’t be out of water indefinitely. It was the one drawback they hadn’t found a workaround for yet.

To Scott’s disappointment, the next fountain was completely empty. He leaned on it to take a break anyway, drinking one of the water breathing potions to take the edge off until the next one. He stowed the empty bottle for reuse later, then continued onward through the left passage.

Up ahead he finally saw an actual light, yellowy-orange against the pervasive dark blue. He also saw a vaguely Sausage-shaped silhouette – broad shoulders, slightly spiked-up hair, although taller; he might have been standing on something, maybe even another fountain. Scott resisted the urge to call out to him. Who knew if that sound-sensitive creature might end up being summoned again. But he couldn’t help moving more quickly, just short of running.

And maybe his footsteps were just that much louder on the stone, because the figure started to turn—

The orange light was coming from his eyes, and from hands wreathed in clinging fires. Scott drew up short and gasped. The scar on the right side of his face now extended down farther and was broken by four other horizontal lines, and Scott was reminded of how Sausage’s face had been damaged when he came back as a wither.

It must have been the creature, it must have attacked Sausage and… killed him. And now he was something different. Scott’s heart sank; they had the same problem yet again. Fire and water didn’t mix. Well, they were still in this together… He drew in a breath and moved forward again.

But then a fireball struck the ground in front of him. “Stop right there!” the figure barked, another fireball forming in his hand.

“S-Sausage, it’s me. W—”

The figure scoffed. “Sausage? You haven’t called me that for at least a dozen deaths now! Get. Back.” He raised the fireball over his head to throw it, casting orange light over the area and giving the merling a better look at him. Along with the new scars on his face was an overall gaunt look, and there were other scars up and down his bare arms ranging from burns to what looked like claw marks. Even his ever-present forearm guard was dented. The edges of his clothes were singed—

That was not what Sausage had been wearing under his exosuit the last time he saw him.

Scott took a wary step backward. This could be some type of illusion or trick created by the labyrinth. Maybe not entirely an illusion, though. The fireball had felt real enough, so much so that the skin on his legs itched, needing to be hydrated again.

The figure then scowled. “How are you that again? Neither of us have ever been the same thing twice. Oh, but wait – did the Warden get you after all? Of course you got away… But—” He suddenly smirked. “—Looks like I’ve got one up on you now, fish out of water…”

Scott stayed silent, debating whether to run and if he could keep away from the fireballs until he got clear of the possible-illusion’s range. There went his meticulously traced path out of here.

“Nothing to say? Really? Tell me! Why did you call me that?! You’ve been obsessed with calling me Myth for all this time..!”

The figure swooped forward and pulled up in front of him, and Scott now saw why he looked taller – he was hovering half a meter off the ground, ashy smoke drifting around his legs. At this close distance he could also hear a sort of deep huff as the figure breathed, sounding much like the Blazes of the Nether. Scott met the glaring orange eyes and gripped the strap of his satchel, trying not to look too unnerved. He could try throwing a bottle of water if he had to…

Then the blazeborn facsimile of Sausage – Myth, apparently, and an ironic name given the labyrinth surrounding them – closed his fingers around the fireball to contain it, narrowing his eyes. “You’re not Smajor. You look too sane. Who are you?”

“I’m— not whoever you thought I was. And you’re not the person I was looking for.”

“Amazing,” Myth said sarcastically. “That really cleared things up, there.”

“Okay then…” Scott tried picking his next words carefully. “My version of you and I were exploring and we found the ancient city and that – Warden? – creature appeared. It knocked us into the portal as we were trying to escape. I woke up here alone.”

“Sounds familiar. The portal I went through led to this limbo dimension, so let me try a theory: there are other Deep Dark ancient cities in other dimensions that all lead here. You’re some other version of Smajor.” He looked Scott up and down. “Apparently not a crazy one. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to trust you.” He held the fireball out closer. “One wrong move and you’re broiled fish, got that?”

Scott grimaced and took another step back. “Got it. So… I’ve just been here trying to find him and the exit.”

“Hmph. Good luck with either one. I haven’t seen a way out yet. But there has to be exit portals somewhere. On the up side there doesn’t seem to be a Warden here so you don’t have to keep sneaking around. Or well, maybe do keep doing that, to avoid my version of you.”

“Is he… that bad?” Scott questioned, imagining himself at his worst when he was a vampire.

“He’s completely insane. I’ve had my moments, I’ll admit, but all this has driven him right over the edge.” He peered down at Scott. “I assume you haven’t always been a merling?”

“No, I—”

Myth narrowed his eyes. “Don’t bother to tell me. I probably already know the sequence. Let’s just say Smajor and I are about twenty other steps ahead of you two. I was hoping to trap him in the city and let the Warden deal with him for what would probably be eternity, since neither of us seem able to permanently die because fate thinks it’s entertaining or something for us to keep ending each other, and I just wanted some peace for five minutes. Maybe you’ve got better prospects to look forward to if the thunderborn me isn’t out to fry a fish.”

“He, um, isn’t that anymore.”

“No? Oh, well. …Oh, wait. Okay,” Myth said slowly, “We need. To find him. Quickly.”

“Why?” Scott asked, his heart sinking again.

“Pray you don’t find out. Let’s go – but remember, no stupid moves.” He brandished the fireball again.

Scott pulled away, now scowling himself. “Or we could go our separate ways. Sausage doesn’t take well to perceived threats toward me. And you’re probably not going to like it if I say I really need some water right now.”

“Hmph. Considers himself a superhero now, does he? A little naïve. Fine. Get your water.” Myth drew back – and then conjured a second fireball as Scott took a bottle from his satchel, orange eyes following every move in case the merling used the chance to throw it.

But Scott only took a drink, and very deliberately bent over to pour the rest over his lower legs to recover from the earlier fire blast. He put the empty bottle back and then slowly moved his hands away from the satchel’s flap to show he wasn’t removing anything else. “Which way do you want to go? I’ve been keeping a wall to my left this entire way.”

“Nothing back this way,” Myth replied, then pointed. “Make that one your new left. You stay in front so I can keep an eye on you.”

Scott moved closer to the indicated wall and turned around, muttering, “And how do I keep an eye on you?” He knew it was best to cooperate, though. Even if he tried throwing his trident, he wouldn’t last long against the fire. And, well, maybe this toughened version of Sausage would at least be willing to help them get home.

There had to be something of a good heart in there, if he had ever been like Sausage at all. However, he didn’t like the picture Myth had painted of his other self; he knew how dark his own thoughts had turned in the past, and he really didn’t want to know what one even darker would be like.

---

Chapter Two

 This time Sausage resolved to not fall asleep, exhausted as he was from the emotional drain and unleashing so much lightning at once. He still itched with static electricity and wanted desperately to go scream at the sky again. If he ever got his hands on whoever or whatever had done this, they’d be atomized on the spot.

His heart had room for that much vengeance, anyway.

Proper daylight was approaching when he caught a bit of a strange shimmer passing over Scott’s body. Before his eyes, the angel began to transform. Starting at the roots, his hair turned green, and moving from his head downwards his skin became blue. An iridescent tint gleamed off it as he moved, and his mouth opened as if taking a breath – and then his eyes flew open, blue as the ocean. His gaze fell on Sausage, and the thunderborn started to smile—

Then Scott began to claw at the base of his neck. “Saus— Saus— I-I can’t-!”

Sausage then saw odd movement at the side of Scott’s neck, like small vertical slits opening up.

Gills. He had gills now.

The thunderborn grabbed him up in his arms and tore out of the room, glad he hadn’t bothered to fix the front door that he’d kicked open earlier. He ran straight toward the garden, and once there he promptly dumped Scott into the pond. The resulting splash hit his arms and he yelped, but he ignored the sting and knelt at the edge, waiting. After a few seconds he saw the newly created merling shift around under the surface, his motions appearing calm.

He took a moment to check his arms, and then new heartache took root in his chest.

 .

Scott tried to keep his panic down as he sank into the water, hoping Sausage’s instinct had been correct. When the pain in his lungs eased, he relaxed and opened his eyes, then reached out webbed fingers to feel along the bottom of the pond. The fish seemed just as disoriented as he was, bumping into his arms and legs then darting away into the sea grass. There wasn’t enough space for him to actually swim around, but at least it was deep enough to accommodate him. He let his heart stop racing before planting his feet to lift himself up.

He cautiously poked his head out the water and then briefly experimented with raising up high enough so his neck cleared the surface. When he didn’t immediately begin to suffocate, he deemed it safe. He saw Sausage perched at the edge of the pond, hugging his arms against himself and looking fraught with worry. Scott gave him a smile and slogged over to him. “Thank you. That was quick thinking.”

“Good thing we made this!” Sausage said a little too enthusiastically. “It’s a long way down to the river! I don’t think the fish will mind, they always seem to like when you visit. It’s like getting a new roommate! Of course, it is a bit on the small side.”

Something in the thunderborn’s eyes stopped Scott from getting fully caught up in his rambling. “Um, Sausage?”

“You’re going to have to stay in there for now or you might dry out too much. I can make you a bigger pond, or maybe we can block off part of the river so it’s safe, wouldn’t want any sharks or poisonous jellyfish or Drowned going after you, and we can set up a fishing spot because I bet eating fish and kelp would be best for you now, and—”

“Sausage, you’re babbling. What’s wrong?”

The thunderborn looked away and rubbed his elbow, hugging his arms in tighter.

“Sausage…” Scott raised a hand out of the water to reach for his face. Sausage flinched, jerking away, and the merling hastily pulled back his hand, startled.

“Scott, it’s…not just rain that’s a problem.” He held his arms out. His skin was raw from when he had been splashed, looking almost like he had been burned.

“Oh, Saus…”

“I can’t touch any water. I…I can’t touch you, now.” The pain in his eyes broke across his face. “Why did it have to be this? Didn’t we go through enough already?”

“If we can get past me murdering you, we can get through anything,” Scott reassured him gently. He reached up again and pointed to Sausage’s forearm guard then rested his hand on it, avoiding his skin. “We can figure out something. Don’t worry.”

“No, but, what if you ever need help? I won’t be able to get to you!”

“I’ll just have to be careful and take care of myself, then—”

“Scott, you literally just died in front of me like an hour ago. And we still don’t know what that even was.”

The merling withdrew his hand so he could sink back into the pond, submerging up to the bridge of his nose, and he exhaled into the water, thinking. That mystery might have to remain unsolved.

Sausage watched him for a minute then stood up. “I’ll get some supplies together and you can decide if you want a bigger pond first or if we should use the river. I’ll try not to take long.”

Scott nodded with a small splash, then dipped completely under the surface.

Sausage turned away, his expression crumbling now that his face was hidden from the merling. Each step that carried him away was like a new crack forming in his heart. He had wanted nothing more than to embrace Scott in gratitude that he was alive again, but touching him was too risky – never mind how water hurt him, this increased the chance of him accidentally electrocuting Scott. Holding hands, a hug, a kiss – all taken away from them. He knew those weren’t the only things that made a relationship, but they could be little comforts when wanted.

He wouldn’t even be able to do that much to help with making a new home for him when that meant handling and replacing a lot of water.

Why was fate always working against them?

Maybe if he had acknowledged his feelings sooner… He had probably fallen in love that first time the angel had soared along on his own, but it hadn’t seemed like a wither should be capable of love. He had been a creature of death, and angels were meant for life.

And now here he was, practically a god, but he hadn’t been able to do a single thing to save one person.

When he reached the storage building he kicked that door open, too, and let out an infuriated roar that echoed through the rafters. Thunder boomed overhead. He stopped himself from summoning another lightning storm, but the frustration stayed with him as he punched the wooden chests and threw materials on the ground. He knew he would only have to clean it up later, but it was cathartic enough to get his mind to calm down.

When he glanced into a chest looking for buckets and saw an assortment of enchanted armor instead, and his eye fell on a helmet boasting Aqua Affinity, an idea came to him.

 .

He returned to Scott carrying a backpack full of clinking glass in one hand and a turtle shell helmet in the other, a hopeful smile now on his face. “I want to test something. Put this on and try getting out of the water. Um, if anything starts to go wrong you can just jump back in.”

Scott took the helmet, knowing that it would automatically grant Waterbreathing, but it also had Respiration, and a really high level, too. Curious himself, he grasped the edge of the pond and pulled himself up. Sausage got a better look at him now that neither of them were panicking. Iridescent scales along his legs gleamed in the sunlight and after he put the helmet on, he brushed at the delicately frilled sides of his ears so they wouldn’t get pinned beneath it.

They both stood still for a good half a minute, waiting. Scott’s chest rose and fell without a hitch. “It’s working. I can kind of feel a little strain on my lungs, but it works.” He nodded toward the backpack. “So, what else have you got there?”

Sausage opened it and took out a potion bottle. “More water breathing stuff. I thought, if it works, you can walk around more instead of being stuck in the pond or the river all the time. Speaking of that…” He held the bottle out from the bottom, and Scott took it from the top so their fingers wouldn’t touch. “Give it a try, then I’ve got something to show you.”

As he pulled the potion from Sausage’s hand, he noticed the thunderborn’s skin had fresh markings and he wondered what he had been up to. It definitely hadn’t been enough time to dig an entirely new pond. He uncorked the bottle and drank it, again waiting for any adverse effects, but instead the small strain inside went away. “We’re good. Now, don’t go telling me you put a pool in the house just so I could stay in there.”

“Well, no, but now that you say that, I might just do it.”  Sausage smirked and was almost about to take his hand to lead him away, but stopped at the last second and closed his fingers, withdrawing his hand.  He set the backpack on the ground beside the pond for later. “This way.” He beckoned with his now-empty hand instead, and they walked out of the garden toward the switchback staircase that led down to the docks.

There was now a small, fountain-like structure at the edge of the cliff, and Scott glanced into it to see it was completely open on the far side, flowing off into a waterfall that was neatly contained by ledges to either side, reaching all the way down to enter the river.

“I wanted to decorate it more but I didn’t want to be away too much longer,” Sausage explained, clasping his hands in front of him. “I thought it would be easier for you to swim up or down instead of wasting water bubbles using the stairs.”

“Sausage, you could have waited and let me place the water. But thank you.” The merling climbed up into the fountain to wet his feet; admittedly, walking around did dry him out faster.

“I was thinking we could lay some moss on the ledges and put vines on the sides, maybe add some other details and change the style depending on what we do with the river. The pond would be good for staying close to home, but you should have the chance to really get out and have plenty of room to swim around, I think that would be good for you. We could - we could even try to get to the ocean, and maybe have an adventure that way, although I’ll just stay on a boat but you could tell me about all the fish and sunken ships, and-and then we can look for buried treasure—”

Scott stepped out of the fountain and tapped Sausage’s forearm guard in place of a shoulder pat. “One thing at a time. Let me get used to our river, first. Meet me down there?” He returned to the fountain and smiled back at him, then sat down and scooted feet-first into the waterfall.

The thunderborn waited instead of immediately going to the stairs, looking to see how well the waterfall worked out and only moving when Scott resurfaced and waved from below. Then he went down and watched from the dock as the merling got his chance to truly stretch his new legs, swimming through the water effortlessly.

In a way, it was like watching him fly, enjoying his element.

Sausage resisted the urge to sit on the end of the dock to continue observing and just kept his distance. Things could have gone worse in any number of ways, he told himself as he absently rubbed at his wrist. Scott was right. They could get through this.

~*~

The coming weeks saw renovations take place all over Heaven’s Reach. In addition to a larger pond outside of the garden, Sausage dug out a small area next to the house that he also enclosed so Scott would have a sheltered place to sleep at night, and the merling built a bridge over the new pond so Sausage could sit closer when they were hanging out there. They added all the foliage Sausage had first wanted to put in around the waterfall, and then they more slowly worked on modifications to the river, being a larger area and having more things to consider like the local wildlife – including Drowned zombies.

Once Scott got ahold of a trident, however, they became less of a problem. Sausage finally became less paranoid and let him swim off on his own farther along the river without constantly shadowing him, although the merling perfectly understood his fear. He himself would sometimes wake at the bottom of his enclosed pond, if not for any particular reason, and end up wondering what he should do if anything came for Sausage while he was alone inside the house at night. Why anyone in their right mind would even try to threaten a thunderborn was beyond laughable, but he couldn’t help thinking about it sometimes.

It was lonely out in the ponds.

~*~

“Hey, Sausage? I’m going to go looking for turtle eggs. I think it’d be fun to raise them in the big pond.” Scott shouldered a waterproof satchel and waited for a response, while the thunderborn had his head buried in some woodworking project in the shed next to the docks.

“Okay!” Sausage called in answer, looking up for a second to smile over at him. “Be safe!”

“You too!” Scott waved then headed to the end of the dock, hopping into the water and then making his way downstream. He kept an eye out for likely patches of sand, but knew he would probably have to go out rather far since he hadn’t recently seen any turtles nearby. When the river grew wider and deeper, he figured his chances would start getting better. He hugged one side for a while, dipping down into the sea grass a few times to pick up shiny rocks that he could also add to the pond. Then he headed across to where he had spotted a sand bank close to where a bend in the river was flanked by steeper slopes, possibly a good, sheltered location for a nest.

On the way, something near the bottom that glittered caught his eye and he decided to investigate. It looked a bit like a lobster trap, but was filled with ender pearls. Scott chuckled and considered opening it to take them. “That’s just weird. Free ender pearls? But…that’s maybe suspicious, too.”

Something slender shot past him through the water and he thought it was a Drowned throwing a trident, but then a large net came following after it, scooping him right up. Startled, all he could do was cling to the webbing as he was dragged through the water a few meters before he was pulled up and then unceremoniously dumped onto the deck of a large boat.

He didn’t know how he had missed the thing. It must have been lurking around the bend. While he and Sausage didn’t exactly own the whole river, he hadn’t remembered seeing anyone fishing in the area before.

“Aha! I finally caught you, you freaky— Oh. Oh, well now, this is awkward. I was trying to catch a different fish man.” A red-haired villager in a typical fisherman outfit peered down at Scott through the net. He had a long spear in his hands, the haft attached to the other end of the net.

The merling recognized him. “fWhip? What are you doing all the way over here?”

“Scott? Since when are you a fish? Ah, never mind. I’ve been hunting for the axolotl guy who invaded my private fishing pond. He keeps evading me so I set out some traps that I just knew he couldn’t resist, because of his weird orb obsession.” He waved one finger through the air in a scolding motion. “You shouldn’t go touching strange things laying around in the water. Sooo, what do I do with you now? You are still a fish, after all, and I do love catching me some fish.”

Scott muttered, “And you think someone else has a weird obsession?” Then, more loudly and with no small amount of sarcasm, he suggested, “How about just throwing me back?”

“Hmm, how about I keep you instead? I’ve been thinking about building an aquarium. That’s probably where I would put the freaky axolotl guy, if I’d caught him.”

“I wouldn’t recommend it. I’ve got someone who will be looking for me.”

“Oh, really? More fishy friends? Well, you could have a whole habitat to yourselves! It’ll be great!” He thumped the end of the spear against the deck for emphasis. “You can tell me all about what it’s like living in the water, and maybe that can help me finally catch that Ol—”

Thunder rumbled across the otherwise clear sky, drowning him out. fWhip glanced up. “Strange. Doesn’t look like rain.”

Scott made an attempt to tug the net off his head, finding one side of it, at least. “No, that would be him. You really should get me out of here, now.”  He caught a glimpse of the approaching platform of light. “Neeeeever mind, too late.”

Instead of helping, fWhip adjusted his grip on the spear and lowered the point toward the merling, thinking a hostage might deter whatever was coming his way.

Sausage zipped by overhead, taking stock of the situation, then came back around low enough to jump down onto the boat’s deck with a thud and stomped over. “Scott!! Are you all right? I thought I’d come join you, but, wh-what is going on?! fWhip, you’ve got some nerve coming here and doing something like this!” He started to reach for the net to pull it away, but the fresh glisten of water on it stopped him.

Scott hastily finished pulling the net off to give fWhip the impression that he had already been about to free himself. “I think I now know how a school of fish feels, but I’m not hurt. Sorry for worrying you.”

“Oh, it’s definitely not your fault,” Sausage reassured him, then tossed a glare at the villager. “Do you know what you could have done, leaving him out of the water like that?! Do you know what I would have done if you had hurt him?!”

“Well, uh,” fWhip stammered, “It wasn’t like I was going to make sushi out of him, just, uh, was going to keep him in like a fish tank.”

“What? You can’t just do that to people!” Sausage then pointed to the spear. “And that? I thought you were about to stab him!”

fWhip stared back at him, wary of his fury, and made a decision. He threw down the spear to lift his hands to show he was completely unarmed. “So you had a little scare. Consider this payback for that time you two scared Gem.”

Scott shook his head and flatly pointed out, “Gem already paid us a visit and got us back.”

“Yeah,” Sausage snorted, calming slightly with the spear out of the fisherman’s hands. “It took us hours to clear out all the spiderwebs. She went through and filled every single building we own, inside and out, and now that I think of it, I never even went down to Wither’s Grasp to check there, I bet it’s still full of webs. Don’t have too much else there to wreck, at least, not like with the garden—”

Then he remembered.

The wrecked garden that caused Scott to fly off to get replacements. The whole reason the angel ended up dying.

And maybe it wasn’t Gem’s doing. But it wasn’t right for fWhip to threaten the innocent merling. Neither version of Scott had hurt anyone. He hadn’t deserved any of it.

Anger flared up again and Sausage’s eyes glowed, lightning forming around his fingertips.

fWhip took a step to the side, putting a hand out toward Scott for an explanation. “Hey, uh, what’s happening to him?”

“STAY AWAY FROM HIM!” Sausage shoved the villager backward. A crack of thunder rent the air.

“Wait!” fWhip cried in a pathetic tone, “Please don’t hurt me!”

He instinctively spawned an iron golem.

Sausage’s eyes widened, the glow disappearing. He threw his arms up in front of his face to block as the golem swung at him, knocking him toward the side of the boat.

Scott lunged and made a grab for him – his hands might not have been completely dry, but a little shock now was better than the alternative if he fell in. Sausage reached for him – but then the golem swung again and the thunderborn toppled over the side. He heard Scott utter an agonized cry just before he hit the water.

He expected the sting, worse now that it was across his entire body. He tried to focus on kicking his legs, he needed to get to the surface, he needed to find the quickest way out—

A tingling sensation ran over his scalp and then a jolt shot through his chest. Electricity surged around him, over him, through him. His back arched and he could do little more than squeeze his fists tight to try to endure it.

 .

“No!” Scott cried, leaning on the railing and looking to where Sausage had landed. “FWHIP! He can’t touch water! He hasn’t even been able to touch me! We have to get him out! Now! You had better help me, or else—”

Before his eyes the river lit up with coruscating waves of light, chains of lightning dancing over the surface. Scott screamed. “NO!!” You – You’ve killed him!!”  He rounded on the villager, and the only thing stopping him from pouncing on him was the golem still lumbering nearby.

fWhip shrank back under the force of the merling’s rage. “I – I didn’t know—”

“He would have just hit you with lightning if he really wanted to hurt you! He was just trying to protect me from you! I told you to let me go!!”

“I-I’m sorry…”

“That’s not good enough.” Scott turned away from him and climbed up on the railing, staring down into the water again. Maybe…Maybe he could get to Sausage in time…

“Hey! Stop!” fWhip’s hand closed on his arm, pulling him back to the deck. “That’s a good way to become a fried fish. We have to wait until it’s…no longer electrified.”

Scott bowed his head, knowing the villager was right. He mumbled, “We put those evil deeds behind us. Even Gem didn’t seem to hold a grudge. We were just trying to live our lives… quietly… in peace… together.”

The light in the water faded out. fWhip released Scott’s arm and took a look over the side of the boat. “I’ll help you find him and get him out. There’s always a chance he can be revived after an electric shock, you know? Don’t give up hope.”

“And if not?” Scott looked up, bitterness in his eyes, remembering what Sausage had said to him on his own previous death bed. “We’ve been through this before. What if he comes back different? What if he’s a ‘monster’ again? What will you do then?” He pointed past fWhip at the iron golem. “Will I have to watch you kill him again? Well, at least I would know what I’d be doing once you can no longer summon those things.”

The villager put his hands up in front of him in defense. “This…has all gotten very messy. Maybe we should stop talking in hypotheticals and try to think positive? And if I could un-summon this guy, I would, just so you could punch me, if it would make you feel better.”

Scott gritted his teeth. “fWhip, it is taking everything in my power to not rip your throat out right now, golem or no golem.”

“You two seem to have some anger issues.”

“Repeatedly being forced to watch the person you love die and being helpless to stop it will do that to you.”

“Would it make you feel better if I said I can relate? Even if it’s more of like a sibling thing—”

“No. Be quiet.” Scott grabbed the railing and prepared to jump over again.

Yet before either of them could make another move toward leaving the boat, the water below began to churn in one spot. Scott emitted a hopeful noise, a look of relief coming to his face. As he watched, a now brown-haired Sausage was propelled out of the water, arcing over the railing and managing to land on his feet on the deck, although his arms pinwheeled as he teetered for a second.

As soon as he gained his balance, he pushed past fWhip to wrap an arm around Scott and pull him against him, kissing him full on the lips. His eyes, returned to their original blue, were full of joy. “Been waiting way too long to do that!”

Scott, now breathless, could only smile back as he rested his hands on the former thunderborn’s chest.

Sausage kept one arm around him then looked at the stunned villager. “fWhip, one question for you…”

The fisherman braced himself for another bout of anger, but Sausage calmly asked, “Being the collector of sea life that you are, do you have any turtle eggs?”

Scott gave a little laugh.

fWhip joined in with a chuckle to shake off his worry, and he assumed everything was all good between them now. “No, I haven’t picked up any recently. But if it’ll make up for everything, I’ll help you look for some.”

“Eh, no, that’s all right. Thanks, but also – get yeeted.” Sausage raised his free hand, palm outward, toward fWhip. A pulse rippled forth from around his hand. Both the villager and the golem were launched off of the boat and far out into the water. Sausage giggled. “That worked better than I expected!”

Scott reached up to run his hand over the former thunderborn’s hair to get his attention. He also touched his face, specifically below his right eye. Sausage put his hand over Scott’s fingers and pressed them into his cheek, acknowledging what he was looking at. “Yeah, no, I didn’t survive that one. But I’m more waterproof now.” He kissed him on the lips again, then planted a bunch of little kisses all over his face until the merling laughed.

“All right, all right,” Scott said gently, “We can make up for lost time when we get home. Let’s just get away from this stupid boat.”

“Do you still want to look for those eggs? We can both search around in the water this time.” Sausage finally let him go so he could clamber up on the railing, then offered a hand to help Scott climb up next to him.

“Don’t you want to rest first? After what just happened…”

“Nope! Lost time, as you said.” Sausage grinned at him, then squeezed his hand, and then they hopped down into the river together.

---

Chapter Three

 The sound of something ringing off stone penetrated the rubble pile. Sausage felt an odd tingle cross over his scalp. He looked down at his hands and figured it was about time to try another gravi blast. He moved to the middle of the space and pushed outward.

The large chunks of debris flew apart in various directions. Myth nearly went backward with one of them, but recovered and reappraised the gravital. “That was really powerful. Maybe you do have some chance against Smajor. Let’s get back—”

“No. You keep going. I’ll rescue Scott alone. You – You’ve earned an escape.” Sausage offered a smile.

But Myth shook his head, eyes burning orange once again. “Stupid heroics are going to get you killed. We stand a better chance together.”

“Fine. Try to keep up!” Sausage then propelled himself off through the passageway, Myth’s orange light not far behind. When the crossroads came into view, he could see Scott and Smajor facing off by the fountain, Scott with his trident pointed at the mad gravital and Smajor raising a hand. “Don’t you DARE!!” Sausage roared, sending out a focused blast of gravi directly at Smajor, completely bypassing Scott and knocking the mad gravital into the far wall, where he then fell face-first to the ground.

“Sausage! You’re all right?” Scott called without changing his stance.

“Yeah! We came to an understanding. I just had to pull a wall down first.” He grinned as he halted beside the merling.

“Do we run or fight?” Scott asked, and then the light coming from Myth caught his eye. “Wait— he’s out—”

“No, no, that’s the understanding. He’s going to help for real this time.”

Smajor was getting to his feet by then. “I. HATE. ALL. OF YOU!” He released a wave of gravi, but Sausage blocked it, and then Scott went for a trident throw at the same time that Myth hurled two fireballs. Smajor blocked both attacks with a gravi shield; Scott recalled his trident to his hand, but then had to dodge as Smajor caught up the fireballs in a gravity well and then flung them toward the merling.

Sausage threw a glance at Myth. “Um, you might need a different tactic!” He was then swept forward off his feet as Smajor reversed polarities on him, ending up face to face with the mad gravital and a hand on his throat again.

“Fine! Fine!” Smajor spat. “I kill you, I kill Myth, and fishy me over there gets to watch the light go out of his precious beloved’s eyes one more time!”

“His what?” Myth’s tone was stilted enough to freeze the air.

Smajor snickered, then snorted, then burst out laughing. “You didn’t notice? You didn’t figure it out?” He shook Sausage. “If you and I hate each other, they looove each other!”

Myth’s eyes and fires turned blue again for a moment, but then shifted back to orange.

Scott, meanwhile, took the opportune distraction and threw his trident, striking sparks off the wall next to Smajor’s head. “Let him go!”

Smajor flinched at the sparks.

Sausage put his hands between himself and the mad gravital and pushed away. It earned him a row of scratches on his neck from Smajor’s fingernails, but it got him out of the way so Scott could aim directly at him this time.

Myth remained quiet, unmoving for a solid minute before hurling a fireball at Smajor again. The other two looked at him as it interrupted Scott’s throw. Myth’s gaze fell squarely on Sausage, but he still didn’t say anything.

Smajor, meanwhile, dodged the fireball and sent out three separate blasts of gravi toward each of them. Sausage sensed them and turned away from Myth, reversing polarities to pull Scott toward him to get him out of the way of one blast while shielding them both from another. “Can-kiss-now?” he asked cheekily, knowing they really did have other concerns at the moment.

Scott smiled at him and danced back a step, readying his trident again—

Only for Smajor to pull the exact same reversal trick on Sausage once more. “You know, I really can just keep tossing you back and forth like a ping pong ball,” he bragged, fingers digging into Sausage’s shoulder this time. “I’m better at this than you! And your little secret broke Myth’s brain, so there’s no help coming from there!”

Frustrated, Scott struck his trident against the ground again in hopes of distracting Smajor. The sound rang out, clear as a bell.

Sausage felt the static run over his scalp again and the familiarity made him ignore Smajor’s threat. He turned his head enough to look over his shoulder. “Scott! Throw!”

“You’re in the way!”

“Just anywhere!”

Smajor laughed at them.

Scott aimed at the wall beside him again. The trident tines chimed off the stone.

Strike. Spark. Static. Lightning.

Forks of bright blue arced off of Sausage and clung to the trident as Scott recalled it to his hand. Confused but marveling at the sight, the merling held the trident up and a rain of blue lightning began striking the ground between him and the mad gravital. Sausage calmly smirked as Smajor’s eyes widened; then he shoved Sausage into the path of the lightning and threw himself to the side.

Gravital, former thunderborn, stood in the hail of bolts and simply held his hands out as the light harmlessly cascaded over him. “I don’t know what’s happening, but it’s kind of cool!”

“NO!” Smajor screeched. “How are you doing that?!” He scrambled to his feet and threw out his hands, poised to grasp at empty air.

“Back off,” Scott warned, now tilting the trident and directing a bolt of lightning directly from the tip toward him.

Smajor’s face was panicked as he dodged again but he still made a motion afterward toward Sausage that launched the other gravital straight into Myth. The collision seemed to bring the blazeborn out of his fugue state, but only to grab Sausage by the shoulders, his gaze not-quite-literally burning into him. “I can overlook not killing a lesser evil version of Smajor, but… you-you’re in love with him? How did that even happen?!”

Sausage winced, his shoulder already sore from being manhandled by the mad gravital. “Uhm, is now really the time for this? How about if I explain later, when we’re done dealing with the actual evil one?”

A strange cry came from Scott’s direction and Sausage whipped around, mentally cursing the distraction that might have given Smajor an opening. But what he saw instead was a pair of yellow-and-orange feathered wings unfolding from the merling’s back. Scott, appearing just as baffled, leaned on his still-sparking trident. His eye color vacillated between blue and gold. “Uh, Saus— What’s happening?”

“I don’t know,” the gravital murmured, tiny forks of lightning dancing over his skin. “But you get to fly again, my angel…”

The enraptured expression on his face gave everything away.

“That--?!” Myth exclaimed, rising up, embers flaring off him. “That’s what did it?! How-How could you?! He MURDERED US! He STOLE OUR HOLINESS and you FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM?!”

Smajor barked out a laugh. “Oh, you’ve done it now. That’s his favorite sore subject. One barbequed fish and gravity man, coming up!”

Scott swung the trident around, firing off one lightning bolt at Smajor and then another at Myth. Sausage threw a right hook full of repelling gravi at the blazeborn for good measure, then ran to stand before Scott, pausing to just take in his appearance for a moment.

“One thing, Sausage. If we’re getting some of our old powers back, does that mean they’ll get their twenty-some-odd insane amount of abilities, too?”

“Let’s hope not!” Sausage grabbed one of Scott’s hands, squeezing lightly before holding it to his chest. “Actually, let’s hope they’re such a mess that it all cancels itself out. Just remember, we’ve got darkness waiting inside, too.” He pressed Scott’s hand over his heart, then let it go and turned to evaluate the next move against their doubles; he couldn’t help but give Myth a look of pity, however.

Smajor, panting and appearing panicked again as he kept watch of the trident, snarled, “No more playing around!” This time he manipulated the gravity around the statue he had thrown earlier, lifting it up from where it had landed, both arms posed high over his head to slam it down on the nearest target. Sausage braced to catch it, but was suddenly bombarded with fireballs from Myth, and had to shield himself and Scott from those.  

Scott lowered his trident. He stared intently at Smajor; his eyes flashed red, and then with a sweep of his wings he launched himself upward. After half a second Smajor vanished and Scott stood in his place. The statue thudded back to the ground without hitting anyone, and a few seconds later Smajor plummeted down from where Scott had switched places with him. Obviously the mad gravital wouldn’t be hurt by the fall, but it worked to foil him – and put him in line for Sausage to gravi-punch him clear to the other side of the crossroad and through the opposite wall.

Meanwhile, Scott used his wings to knock away several fireballs thrown by Myth before trying to strike the blazeborn with lightning. Myth wove around the bolt and then charged at Scott, his eyes pinpoints of blue fire.

Scott’s eyes flashed red again and he marked the blazeborn, then he turned and ran.

Straight for the fountain.

Despite his enraged state, Myth realized what was about to happen. “NO! Not that! I can’t die now!!”

“Should have thought of that before you attacked us!” Scott called. With a boost from his wings he jumped right up over the side to land kneeling in the water, then triggered his mark. He fell a full meter to the ground after the switch since Myth had been hovering, but it was gratifying to hear the hiss of fire being extinguished.

Another thought occurred to him and he triggered the mark again, swapping places and earning himself a quick splash of warm water, then he switched a third time. Steam issued from the fountain as Myth cried out in protest. Scott swapped places again. The water burned a little this time, but he kept it up until Myth was left sitting on the ground, spluttering and bedraggled like a drenched cat, no longer on fire at all.

Scott perched on the side of the fountain and regarded him earnestly. “Have you cooled off enough yet? I really don’t want to do that again.”

Myth coughed out some steam. “You…You’re letting me live?”

“Of course. I’m not a murderer, as I’m sure Sausage tried to tell you. I… I understand your pain, about that first life. I’ve regretted it for every moment since then,” Scott explained softly, “But he redeemed me after that, and I redeemed him. That’s how this happened between us.” He offered a sympathetic look. Myth averted his gaze to the floor.

In the meantime, Sausage had jogged over to see if Smajor needed to be yeeted through another wall to put him in check. Yet before he got there, he felt a tingle between his shoulder blades. It dawned on him that he could be getting his wings back, too, but the armor of his exosuit would be in the way. Well, they would just have to be pinned under it until he figured something out. He could technically fly with his current abilities so they weren’t really needed.

He halted as the tingling grew into a full phantom sensation – and then the bright white wingspan was produced behind him anyway, partially ethereal in appearance but he was able to manipulate them as if they were completely solid. He could feel the wing roots under his armor, he could sense the muted air currents of the labyrinth through his feathers, and he felt another wave of returning power welling up inside.

It was almost overwhelming enough to make him fall to his knees. He was – He was himself again. But with electricity and alternating polarities also running through him. If this was how only three powers felt, he couldn’t imagine his double handling nearly ten times as much without self-combusting.

Then Smajor let out a terrifying wail and was upon him, scrabbling at Sausage’s neck and bearing them both to ground. “I had you! I had you! I had you! Locked up tight, hidden away! I had you under control, neatly trapped, you gave up, you surrendered! Give me your blood, angel! Let me taste it again!”

A lightning bolt struck Smajor, the current harmlessly passing through Sausage as well; the mad gravital cried out, almost sounding fearful, but then he released a wild pulse of gravi and Sausage heard the trident hit the floor, likely knocked from Scott’s hands. He didn’t get a chance to check on Scott himself because Smajor then altered the density of the gravity around them, making it impossible for Sausage to even lift his own head. Smajor leaned over him with hungry eyes.

“No more of that, just you and I again, angel, just you and I. Don’t you remember? I clipped your wings once, and now I can do it again. You were just all for me. No one got to see you ever again. I never forgot the taste of your blood, slowly taking your light drop by drop by drop.”

He pawed at Sausage’s chestplate as if trying to figure out how to get it off, but his gaze didn’t leave the other gravital’s face to really find out. Meanwhile, Sausage silently worked to change gravity back to normal so he could move his arm.

Not paying attention to his gravital senses anymore, Smajor ran his fingers along Sausage’s throat then touched his own mouth, murmuring. “My fangs… They’re not… working…” He seemed confused, then he reached to the side and came up with a sliver of broken stone. “No matter.” A triumphant smile came to his face and he brought the point of the stone downward.

Sausage’s hand shot up and caught him by the wrist. “I don’t think so, Smajor. Your time of sucking blood is long over, and I think avenging a poor, lost angel is overdue.”

“Avenge yourself? No. Get back in your place!” The fury returned to Smajor’s eyes and he pressed down harder, though fortunately not manipulating gravity again. “I’ll see your blood spilled, angel! I’ll watch that holy light leave your eyes! That bravado, that righteousness, that conviction, all those things that made you taste so delicious! You’re not getting away this time!” He jerked the stone to the side and nicked Sausage’s throat, but Sausage stopped him from trying to stab a second time, shaking with effort as he added his other hand against Smajor’s forearm.

He had one more card to play.

He was loathe to use it.

And he didn’t know what side effect on himself it might ultimately have, but Smajor wasn’t giving up, putting all his weight behind pressing the edge of the stone against Sausage’s neck. Gritting his teeth, Sausage began to slide one hand toward the mad gravital’s chest. “Don’t make me do this, Smajor… Don’t make me do this…”

“Shut up and bleed for me!”

Sausage mentally reached for the fourth ability that hadn’t yet physically manifested— and plunged his hand into Smajor’s chest, grasping the ethereal soul energy and yanking it out before he could think about it for too long. He left it tethered, unable to bring himself to sever it completely.

Smajor choked and dropped the stone, staring in disbelief at the ever-shifting, pulsating mass in Sausage’s hand as the gravital, former wither, stood up. First it looked like a sickly green fire, then a jittering cloud of red shards, then a cluster of faded yellow crystals, then a flash of bright plasma – and then it began melting like candle wax. Sausage uttered a noise of revulsion as it dripped on to his palm. “Oh, that is just gross. Not that I think I can anymore even with this power back, but I wouldn’t eat that anyway.”

“Mygod,” came Myth’s horrified voice. “Y-You did not just do that…” Sausage spared a glance at the quelled blazeborn, still seated on the ground where Scott had last teleported him, the only fiery glow left to him being his eyes as he stared at the disaster of a soul before staring with dread at Sausage, and then turning an incredulous look toward Scott – who appeared shocked for an entirely different reason; one eye gold, one eye blue, both wide with fear.

Sausage winced, seeing his worry. “It – It’s fine. No shadows, no hunger, I promise. I just – I had to do something. Believe me, I don’t want this power again, either.”

“A-All right,” Scott stammered. “Just – just be careful. You’re not… feeling anything like with what happened between us, right?”

“No.” Sausage replied thoughtfully, “I think— that only happened because you were willing to share your soul with me. This is more like—bleagh.”  He switched hands to flick some of the melted soulstuff off his palm. “I don’t know what’s going on here.” He peered at Smajor. “You really are a mess.” Then he looked at Myth again. “So do you want to see what yours is like, or are you done losing your mind?”

Myth slumped down, defeat clear in his motions. “Finish it, then. Do whatever you’re going to do with that thing, and then pull out mine if you want.” To Scott, he said, “You just trusted him to do it to you, huh? Was that before or after you two…” He made a vague gesture with one hand, grimacing then muttering, “I still can’t believe that you…”  He sighed in disgust.

“I was faced with risking my soul or losing him to something even worse. If not out of love, then it was the right thing to do to make up for what I had done.”

Myth’s expression grew puzzled. “So, wait – who fell for who first, then?”

“Not sure,” Scott answered before Sausage could say a word. “But he found out when our souls kind of got tangled together, when he reached into mine.”

“Well, that’s some romantic nonsense.” Myth rolled his eyes, then traced the lines of Scott’s wings with his gaze before looking over at Sausage’s as well. “I’m jealous of you, having those back, but I’m just so tired of the cycle that I…can’t bother being angry anymore. You two find the way out, I’ll deal with him.”  He managed to get to his feet but his steps were unsteady, clearly used to being able to hover, but wouldn’t be able to again until he dried out enough to reignite his flames.

“Let’s not be too hasty,” Sausage said. “Let me try something.” He put his free hand over the top of Smajor’s soul and focused on accessing both his thunderborn and gravital powers. Small bolts of lightning passed up and down between his fingers, and with a bit of gravi energy he contained the waxlike drips. Then he sent a jolt of electricity directly through the middle of it.

Smajor made an incoherent noise, a single spasm rocking his body before he went still again.

The soul solidified into a sphere of light, now alternating from red to blue, pulsing between them in time to a heartbeat. Sausage seemed satisfied with the result. “Here, you can have this back now—” He shoved the soul into Smajor’s chest and released the life-thread from his witherly hold. “—But also, go take a nap.” He slapped his palm against the mad gravital’s forehead, administering a small electrical shock. Smajor’s eyes rolled back and he collapsed.

Myth’s mouth was agape. “Wait, you can put it back?”

“Yeah, of course – as long as you don’t remove it completely and just leave a little bit attached.” Sausage dusted off his hands and walked toward where Scott stood. “I doubt that fixed him for good, but maybe it will buy you some time.”

Myth shook his head with a wry expression. “Just remember what I said about stupid heroics.” He glanced back and forth between the two of them. “But I guess you’re both in for a lot of that if you’re going to insist on saving each other all the time.” He then studied the ground for a moment. “… I could give you some insight on what to expect, but maybe the sequence will turn out different for you because you’re not trying to kill each other.”

“Have you ever tried not killing each other for five minutes?” Scott suggested, and he suddenly worried what the blazeborn would do once he did make it over to Smajor.

Myth shook his head and put a hand to his heart. “There’s no room for redemption here if that’s what you’re thinking. It’s been too long, and I’ve been through far too much pain already that I can’t ever dare to hope it will be different on the next round. I don’t know if this can be fixed… And maybe you shouldn’t even worry about trying to fix it. This fate isn’t for either of you.” He made a point to turn away and continue walking.

Scott took Sausage’s hand for a reassuring squeeze and smiled wearily at him. Without hesitating, Sausage wrapped his wings around him as he hugged him, and Scott folded his wings around in return, their feathers rustling over each other’s. A bit of shyness came to Sausage’s face when they parted just enough to gaze at each other, slowly shifting his wings so they continued to brush against Scott’s, and the merling got a sense this was some form of an intimate gesture between angels.

He mouthed the words I love you, and Sausage murmured, “I know…” He then kissed Scott’s forehead and drew his wings back, peering upward. “I almost made it to the top of the walls before. We should be able to get even higher now like this! Then we have a little fly around and find the exit, no problem!” He turned toward where Myth was now standing over Smajor. “Do you want us to try to take you with us now, or come back once we find it?”

“I was just going to say to leave us here,” Myth said point-blank.

“What? No, we can’t do that! There’s - There’s nothing here!” Sausage exclaimed.

“Better to be in limbo than get anyone else caught in more collateral damage,” the blazeborn replied, holding out a hand to test if he could relight his fire. “You have no idea how much has been destroyed back home with two psychopaths rampaging around.”

“Myth, you’re not truly a—”

“Sausage,” Scott interrupted quietly. “Let’s just start looking. Then we can drag him kicking and screaming out of here if we have to.” He gave a little smirk, knowing Sausage wouldn’t give up on his double so easily.

“Right. All right.” Sausage sighed in frustration then talked out his plan. “I’ll give us a boost, then we bounce off a wall, boost again, and fly from there.” He turned around and flattened his wings against his sides then looked over his shoulder at Scott. “Hang on to me.”

Scott nestled between Sausage’s wings, wrapping his arms around to his chest. “Ready.”

“Okay. Here we go!” The gravital pointed both hands downward and propelled upward, angling to push off the wall as the first boost began to lag, then twisted to plant his feet against the opposite wall and braced his arms backward against Scott. “Go!!”

Scott spread his wings and launched off the surface Sausage provided, then Sausage boosted himself again and joined him. A few flaps of their wings gained enough altitude to finally clear the labyrinth walls.

The convoluted trails below seemed to go on forever, although there did seem to be a repeating pattern. Somewhere higher still was a ceiling in shadow, pervasively blue-black with the occasional dusty particle floating by. They flew in an ever-widening circle to not lose track of where they had left their doubles, but there was little evidence to point the way out from up there, either.

Sausage gestured for them to land on top of a wall that formed a spiral, one of the few changes in shape they had seen so far. When Scott was beside him, he gave him a nervous look and reached for his hand. “I have an idea, but I’m scared. D-Don’t let go of me. Time to use the wither again.”

Scott clasped Sausage’s hand between both of his, watching with apprehension as Sausage took a deep breath and closed his eyes. After a few tense seconds he opened them, and they were pure white. He turned sharply and seemed to be scanning the horizon. Scott held his hand tightly, and was pulled along as Sausage moved toward the right. The gravital’s wings faltered, then twitched, and he nearly stepped off the edge of the wall but Scott pulled him back.

Sausage shook his head, blinking, and the color returned to his irises. “This way.” He pulled his hand from Scott’s grasp and launched off the wall, heading in a straight line for a spot where several more spiraling walls converged. Scott took a quick note of where the new aerial path broke from their previous flight pattern, then followed.

With certainty Sausage dived into the large gap in the center, and down below they saw dozens of normal-sized active portal frames, smaller than the one atop the palace, some free standing and some set into the walls at varying heights. After landing, Scott slowly spun to look around at them all. “This is a problem. Which is the right one? Or do you think it matters?”

“I think it does. Give me your hand.” Sausage’s eyes went white again. Scott did so, and the instant their fingers touched a golden glow speckled with red and turquoise appeared over his heart. A white glow with a golden center that radiated light blue sunrays appeared in front of Sausage’s chest as he turned, seeking something among the portals. Scott’s heart began to pound and he felt a strange ache as he watched, but he trusted in whatever the former wither was doing.

Sausage pointed. “That one.” There was an imperceptible difference in the gemstones embedded within the portal’s frame, something he somehow sensed. He let go of Scott’s hand and the soul glows faded from view. “Sorry. I needed a connection.” He then gave another shy smile. “Your soul is just as beautiful as I remember, my love.”

Scott leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. Then, with another set of gravi boosts and sweep of wings, they headed back to where Myth waited with the unconscious Smajor. To Scott’s relief, the mad gravital appeared to still be breathing, while Myth simply hovered just within reach of him. They explained the distance to the exit and Sausage offered to carry Smajor since he could lighten his personal gravity, and at the same time he could boost all three of them high enough for Myth to also reach the top of the walls.

Myth did not seem entirely happy with the experience once they did clear the walls, but he followed along the top edges, keeping stone beneath him as often as he could lest he sink too far and need another boost.

Then came the portal conundrum again, as Myth gazed around at them all in astonishment, then in resignation. “This could take days. If we pick the wrong one and have to come back, they’ll just spit us out somewhere random in the maze just like how we first got here—”

Without warning, eyes turning white, Sausage grabbed the blazeborn’s hand. He gasped as a different sort of jolt went through him, but he hung on until Myth’s soul manifested, gray and yellow, torn at the edges but with a hint of blue radiating from the center. Sausage swung around and pointed at a portal directly opposite from his and Scott’s.

Scott, meanwhile, shook his head at the irony. “I guess that should have been obvious. …Um, Sausage?”

Myth stared down at his exposed soul, then let an accusatory glare burrow into Sausage when the former wither turned toward him again, fear blossoming across his face.

Alarmed, Scott cried, “Sausage! Let go!”

Myth yanked his hand free, demeanor turning cold but regret in his voice as his soul faded out of view. “Probably would have been better to do it the other way, fool.” He stooped to heft Smajor over his shoulder. “Good luck. I hope we never meet again.” He stepped into the indicated portal, but turned to them one last time, eyes burning blue as the teleportation magic whisked him and Smajor back to their own world.

Scott grabbed Sausage by the shoulders and tried to get him to focus on him instead of continuing to stare after Myth. “Sausage. Sausage. Talk to me. What did you see? Sausage!” There came a small whimper. Scott wrapped his arms around him, and then had to catch him as Sausage’s legs gave out. He lowered him to the ground and simply held him until he was ready to speak. “Oh, Sausage. Why did you do that?” he asked gently. “You knew what could happen…”

Sausage threw his arms around Scott, nearly crushing the air out of him in a desperate hug. “I shouldn’t have looked, I know I shouldn’t have, but I couldn’t help myself, I wanted to know— I’m sorry! I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry! I won’t let any of that happen to you, I promise! I’m so sorry! I’ll never let myself become a monster again!! I’ll never hurt you, I swear!”

“Sausage…” Scott gingerly hugged him back. “I know, you’ve already made that promise. Let it go. That was his soul, not yours. We’re not like them, we’re not going to become them. Come on, I think you’ve had well enough of this wither business. Time to go home, and hopefully get back to normal.”

He could only sigh softly as Sausage kept on clinging to him. He rested a hand on the back of his head and let him grieve for a life he had never even lived but had just had the misfortune of glimpsing. He folded his wings down over him, and then made an attempt at brushing the edge of one over Sausage’s wings, hoping it would comfort him.

He was starting to feel exhausted from everything himself, but he preferred that they get home before anything else could show up. And hopefully the Warden wouldn’t still be waiting on the other side. “Sausage, come on. I need you to be with me. If we lose our wings as soon as we step through, you’re going to have to bounce us to safety right away. I can’t just drag you through that whole city, either,” he tried to joke.

Sausage sniffled and nodded against his shoulder. Scott helped him stand, then Sausage reached out to gently cup the side of Scott’s face next to his gold eye, smiling fondly.

The merling smiled back. “You can save me from the real monsters, and I’ll save you from yourself, all right? Let’s go.” Sausage gave a little chuckle, but hushed as they stepped into the portal.

~*~

They emerged on the other side wingless, lacking lightning and blood marks, and with no more sensing of souls. There was also no waiting heartbeat, and the lanterns in the city below shone with just enough pale blue light to be brighter than the labyrinth. Sausage remained wary, gravi blast at the ready, while Scott took the silence as a good sign and quickly swigged down half a water breathing potion before his full merling limits kicked back in.

They crept down through the buildings, watching every step, and eventually made it to the tunnel leading out. Sausage stopped just long enough to pull down the stones behind them, blocking the way into the cavern. He did the same at the other end once they reached the lush cave. Scott made no attempt to be at all graceful as he hurried down into the nearest pool of water, sighing loudly in satisfaction at the refreshing feeling of non-limbo water, indulging in a good splashing around.

Sausage laughed as he watched him, plunking down on the next tier to remove part of his exosuit and wash off some of the dust and grime. After a few minutes Scott joined him and they spent a little time assessing their remaining wounds, then sat quietly leaning on each other for a while afterward.

Sausage then patted Scott’s arm and stood to climb back up a few tiers to collect some glowberries to munch on. Scott idly kicked his legs through the water, then remembered he had a bunch of empty bottles he could refill from another pool while they were there. He moved down one level lower and started looking through his satchel.

He really had gone through a lot of them while in the labyrinth. Regaining his other abilities had helped offset his current limitations, but it looked like they had found the exit just in time. He began refilling the empties, lining them up in the clay beside him to keep count.

Sausage came over and offered a handful of glowberries to him, then noted the number of bottles. “Oh, that’s a lot. We – We cut it close, didn’t we?”

“That’s what I was thinking.” Scott took the berries and ate a few before picking up one half-empty bottle that shimmered. “That’s not the only thing. This is our last potion.”

“Uh— Oh. That’s…not going to be enough to get me back to the surface.” Sausage frowned, instantly worried. “I’ll have to wait here while you get more – not that I want you to have to go off alone, for obvious reasons.”

“But I lost my trident, so I’ll need you to watch my back. I’ll just have to do the breathing for the both of us.” Scott gave a sly smile then kissed Sausage full on the lips to illustrate what he meant.

Sausage smiled, not at all opposed to the idea.

~*~

“Myth! Get over here where I can see you, you coward! Nether blast you, when I get out of here--!!”

“You’re not getting out. Enough is enough.”

“Why do you look like that? What have you done to me?! Why – why are none of my powers working?!”

“I brought us to the inevitable conclusion. Funny it turned out this way. It seems you were right. I’m immortal, you’re immortal… And now I am your warden.”