desc: This contains spoilers for the game Oneshot. If you have finished it but do not understand the importance of the word ‘solstice’, please turn back now.
Oh, and check out that clover file. You know what I’m talking about.
You’re back.
Why?
The climax has been reached, the world has been saved, and Niko has gone home.
Are you not happy?
No, I shouldn’t jump to conclusions like that.
Do you just wish too see Niko again? Do you wish to see the world restored?
I suppose I could do that for you.
Here it is. The falling action after the climax.
The calm after the storm.
The dusk after the solstice.
posted to quotev drafts in … 2019? 2018? my oldest extant fanfic.
i was originally going to have prototype x silver in here, and have red from undertale too, but never got around to it
“Goodbye, ____.” Niko said, holding back tears. She was upset, of course she was. Her best friend, who risked an entire world so she could be happy, was going to go away. She was never going to see them again. But looking through the code portal, she could see Mama. She had done the right thing. She had returned the sun, and was almost home. Just as she stepped through the portal, she heard ____ reply.
“Goodbye, Niko.”
Niko woke up with a gasp, sitting up where she had (fell? laid?) down. A wheat stalk tickled her nose and she sneezed. She was in the wheat fields! She was back home! “Niko!” someone called in the distance. Niko recognized that voice- Mama! She sounded so relaxed, so cheerful. Tears sprang to Niko’s eyes just hearing her voice.
She isn’t at all like last time.
When I had been missing for days.
When I broken the sun.
But it’s okay now! Me and ____ fixed it! It hasn’t been long since I left! Now I can be happy!
Niko pushed herself up and ran towards the voice.
Her mama was at the edge of the wheat fields, watching patiently for her child to emerge from the stalks.
Niko ran out of the wheat fields and hugged her mama tightly. “Mama!” She cried, and her mother gasped and broke into tears. “Niko, where have you been?” she asked with tears in her eyes. Niko was crying too hard to answer, and both of them held each other tightly.
I’ve done it. I’ve saved the world and went home.
I might not see everyone ever again, but I can manage.
I’ll always remember everyone. Silver and Alula and Calamus and the elevator guy and George and Kip and Rue and Cedric and Prototype and ____.
And they won’t forget me, either. We may never see each other again, but we’ll be in each other’s hearts.
Thanks for everything, guys.
That was weird.
She had somehow gotten in a dark, unidentifiable location, the savior had a conversation with her after she died, and then she woke up back at her house.
Silver didn’t even want to know.
She got up and walked outside to check on the mines which had crashed down on Niko, that robot with a yellow eye, and herself. She had to sacrifice herself to let them escape, except it wasn’t a sacrifice because she’s here now somehow.
Oh shoot the savior returned the sun she forgot.
Silver gazed up at the tall structure and the fragile lightbulb hidden inside.
[That’s it. The almighty sun. Returned by no less than a lost child and god themself.]
[I bet he would say something about anything being possible or something.]
[If anything was possible, I would’ve already made magical springy boots and bounced to the tip of the tower already.]
[And then he would roll his eyes and tell me that it was a metaphor.]
[A metaphor about following your dreams. But what if my dream is to see him again? What if my dream is to get accepted and appreciated?]
[Then he would say to follow that dream.]
The mines forgotten, Silver walked inside, grabbed a pen and paper, and started writing.
Alula was the first one to notice.
“Calamus, look! The squares are gone!”
He practically jumped into the air and ran to the doorway. It was true! They could go into their house again! Alula darted inside and picked up Ruby.
Calamus and Alula had awoken in the courtyard, under the light of the new sun. They had admired it together for a while.
He turned to Alula. “Come on, let’s go.” he said cheerfully. "We have to go get flowers for mom.“ Alula’s face fell. "We can’t! The island is covered in squares and we can’t get there…” He realized that was true. “Well… the squares might be gone now just like the ones in our door and… oh, you’re right, we can’t get there..” he sighed.
“I can help with that!” A man with white hair and green glasses walked up to the duo. “Oh hey!” Calamus said. “You’re the guy who got the savior off the island, right?” The man nodded. “My name is Cedric. I believe I can fly you there. I won’t be able to do it now, as my father has the flying machine as of now, but in some days it is most certainly possible that I can.” Alula and Calamus gasped. “REALLY? THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!” Alula shouted. She ran up and hugged Cedric. Calamus nodded and said, “Thank you, sir.”
Calamus turned to Alula with a smile on his face. "Ready to go pick some flowers?“
"Me?” You ask yourself. “Are they talking about ME, or someone else.” Yeah, its the latter.
Hey! It’s me! You know who, everybody’s favorite World Machine! Cue applause!
Yeah, judging from the title, you’re expecting me to reveal the secrets of my universe. You’re correct! Cue applause again!
You want to believe my world is real. You want to believe that Niko’s out there on their planet, eating pancakes with their Mama. But you know it isn’t true, don’t you. That, despite all I have told you, the story you experienced is fake. You can look at what you think in two ways. A pessimist would say it’s half wrong, an optimist would say it’s half right. Me, I’ll say it’s half wrong. Make of that what you will. The story that was told is true as can be. The way you experienced it, however, is another matter.
The world you experienced was a copy. A ‘fake’, yet real. The original was the exact same in concept except for one thing. The Player could talk to Niko through a speech box. That’s right, they could type their responses and questions instead of choosing between a few options. But free speech only made that final choice infinitely harder. Eventually, they chose to return home and save Niko. Break the sun, roll credits, send Niko home. And they were so touched that they told their friend, “Hey! Let’s make a game about a cat-person with a lightbulb who constantly insists they’re not a cat!” So they entered into the 2014 RPG Maker contest and didn’t win but nobody cared because the story was so touching.
Then, exactly a year and a half later, The Author found a way to reset, the whole solstice jazz happened, and the original player and two other people made a sequel on Steam with the Solstice update. Horray.
“So in conclusion”, you think, “Niko is real but doesn’t know me.”
And that is completely wrong.
I’ll attempt to explain. There’s this place I like to think of as The Blackspace. It’s a space that’s bigger than your entire universe (I’m not exaggerating!) where all code, sprites, files, text, and all of that online stuff goes. The World- me- is stored in there. But I’m not the only thing there. Used and unused sprites, documentaries on jets, copypastas, you name it, it’s there.
At the moment, only two worlds can add things to it (but can't remove anything): Earth and Essence. You know what Earth is. It’s your big green but 75% blue planet with a lot of people on it. Essence, on the other hand, is Niko’s planet. Nolas- humans on Niko’s planet- have odd eyes and different colored hair. By odd eyes, I mean bright pink eyes, eyes that look oddly like flames, that sort of thing. Different colored hair means that they have a hair colored that would look 'dyed’ to humans even though they were born with it.
Now, back to The Blackspace. When I said everything online was there, I meant EVERYTHING. I’m talking about deleted stuff: things that were in the recycle bin when you pressed 'empty all’, typos you quickly backspaced, characters in an RPG that were removed. (That information isn’t important now, but will become important some chapters later.) However, when a thing is 'made’, it becomes real to some extent. Similar to how the characters in my world are able to make their own choices without my influence. From the moment you pressed 'start’, your Niko became real. And now they are living happily with their Mama, back in an alternative version of the world in the Blackspace like so many Nikos before them, remembering how you helped them save the world.
Thank you for that.
He had to admit. The refuge was great, but it wasn’t home.
The loud noises, delicious smells, and- now that the sun was back- the feeling of joy and eased tension in the air was amazing and one-of-a-kind, but it wasn’t the same as the glen. He wouldn’t leave those green islands for anything. Except, of course, for his friend’s works.
When he asked Rachis if he wanted to help in writing the documentary on red phosphor, he immediately said yes. Not only was his friend probably the most famous guy in the world, but he was his friend. He wanted to help him. He kissed his wife and kids goodbye and left for the refuge.
His friend and Rachis checked back on his family regularly before the incident that ruined Rachis’ life.
They were making some test samples of sugar and red phosphor in a factory some way away from the tower when the alarm blared. “ATTENTION EVERYBODY! SQUARES HAVE CORRUPTED STAIRWELL C AND ARE SPREADING QUICKLY! PLEASE EVACUATE THE AREA IMMEDIATELY THROUGH THE NEAREST ELEVATOR!” Rachis gave his friend a terrified look. His friend simply nodded, grabbed the notes they were making, and said “Let’s go.”
They made it to the elevator and rode it down in silence. It shuddered to a stop and Rachis’ heart jumped. Is it stuck? Have squares eaten the wires? Are we going to-
Ding! The elevator door opened.
They ran out into the room. The light from the red phosphor lamps outside spilled into the doorway. The door usually only took about ten seconds to walk to, but it had never seemed farther away than it did today. Rachis and his friend ran towards the exit. He had never been more afraid in his life. His friend was strangely calm, as if he had seen it happen before. Which he probably has. And then it happened. It was so quick that he didn’t have time to respond.
There was a thundering cracking sound, and the roof caved in above them. His friend, who had taken the lead and had just gotten out of the building, turned back to make sure Rachis was safe. He wasn’t, and he almost made it out before fire shot up his body and he fell to the ground, seeing nothing but black.
—-
Rachis slowly came awake. He didn’t know where he was or what had happened. Slowly, he began recalling the events of the last day. Was he dead? He got hit with an entire roof. Well, maybe not the entire roof. I don’t know where I got hit. The minimum damage was his legs being seriously damaged, as he couldn’t feel them at all. He opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. The harsh light from above burned into his eyes, and he closed them tight and let out a groan.
“Oh!” a voice beside him said. “Are you awake? Err… maybe I shouldn’t speak so loudly if you’re not.” Rachis laughed. “Am I awake? I’m skeptical.” His voice was hoarse, but it didn’t hurt. He figured talking was fine. “So… is there a dimmer on those lights, by any chance? I feel like I’m going to go blind if I open my eyes.”
His conversation partner sighed. “No, sorry.” Rachis replied with a weak smile, “Well, nothing we can do about it now. How long have I been out?”
They hesitated before answering. “It’s… been six days.” Rachis sat up, then immediately fell back down. “Ow… I really am bad off, aren’t I?”
“You’re fine. You’re going to be fine.” they reassured him. Rachis simply said, “Well I’m going to work on opening my eyes now. That’ll probably take a few minutes because of the harsh light though.”
The both of them were quiet for around a minute as Rachis opened his eyes slowly as to not get blinded by the bright red lights in the ceiling. When his eyes finally adjusted, he asked “So how bad am I?” He turned to look at his conversation partner, who was his friend. He knew that from the start, he just didn’t believe him when he told himself that The Author wasn’t in a bed like he was, injured.
The Author hesitated again, then shortly told Rachis, “Your left foot is broken, and even if it wasn’t, you’re paralyzed from the waist down so you can’t move your legs at all.” Rachis’ eyes went wide in shock. “Oh…”
For the next year or so, Rachis was forced to stay in the refuge. He couldn’t get to some places because of the wheelchair he used to get around. But the one thing he wanted to do most- visit his family- he was unable to do. He couldn’t go to the glen because it was unsafe with a wheelchair.
They could visit him, however. And they did. They sometimes stayed overnight, but they always had to go back. Alula chattered about whatever she thought about, and Calamus informed him of what happened in the village recently. Alula always went “Ewwwwwww!” whenever her mom and Rachis kissed.
Eventually, their visits became shorter and farther in-between. Calamus and his mom explained that squares and flooding stopped them from visiting as much as they would like.
And, exactly six months after the injury happened, his wife passed away.
Calamus delivered the news, but he could of guessed it from Alula’s mood alone. They walked into his apartment room as normal, except they had an air around them- Alula’s confused and Calamus’ somber. Alula was asking Calamus as they came in, “But why isn’t mommy here?” That set off red flags for Rachis instantly, but he had to make sure. “Hey kids!” He greeted them with a smile. Alula ran over and hugged him, but Calamus wasn’t fooled. He knew that Rachis could tell something was off. Calamus didn’t beat around the bush. Though Rachis could tell it hurt him, Calamus told him, “Mom passed away a week ago.”
Rachis felt like he just got hit by the flying machine. He didn’t cry. He couldn’t cry. He didn’t want to make it worse for Calamus, but he was so numb he doubted he could cry, even if he wanted to. Calamus walked over, and he held his hand. Alula, who knew something was a bit off but didn’t know what 'passing away’ was, asked, “Wait, where’s mommy? Why are you sad?” Rachis smiled somberly at her. “She’s in a better place now.”
Six months passed. Alula and Calamus’ visits grew even fewer. Squares appeared more commonly. Robots broke down. People lost hope in the world and the messiah who hadn’t come. Life was horrible. Rachis still helped The Author with his studies, and they published the book. And just when Rachis felt he couldn’t take any more of it, when he just wanted to d…
The sun was returned.
He noticed the bright light coming from the sky early in the morning, when he was still half asleep. He remembered it from years ago, and thought he was still dreaming, that he hadn’t woken up yet. But, gazing at the sky, he didn’t feel that dream-like fuzz or the sensation of not remembering right. He realized he was awake. The sun was back.
He smiled. He smiled his first real smile in six months. He felt relieved of the burden that his wife’s death and his injury caused him. He forgot all the problems of the past year and just enjoyed the sunlight.
He wished The Author was there with him. He went away two days ago to 'explore what hasn’t been explored before’. He said he was going to fly across the edge of the Barrens to see if we were the only people out there. He hoped that The Author could see the sun from there. It was a beautiful sight.
The day after the sun was returned, Rachis woke up early. He wheeled out of his apartment room, rode the elevator down the complex, and rolled out into the street. The sun was just as amazing as it was the day prior. He gazed up at the sky and saw something he forgot about- clouds. There were clouds in the sky, previously hidden in the dark. The sun lit up them from far above, the Tower reaching much higher than the clouds did.
While he was gazing at the sky, something caught the corner of his eye. He saw Calamus and Alula walking down the street towards him, holding two bags. Rachis called out, “Hey you two!” He wheeled over to them and caught Alula’s embrace, which she managed to do without making her luggage hit him. “What’s with the stuff you have?” he asked them. Calamus answered it excitedly.
“The Author's son let us fly to the Glen if we ever want to… so we’re going to move in with you!”
- Happens before Finally -
Y'know, after nearly dooming a civilization and thinking it was okay because
A. The people weren’t alive
B. It would save a human being
C. There was nothing I could do to stop it
And then learning that two of them were false making the other one also false which made it not okay, I was reasonably extremely guilty. I wanted to help, but how? Descend from the sky above, announcing that I was the world itself and watch everyone’s code get overloaded and corrupted? Yeah, no.
I sat there a while, trying to come up with the perfect idea that would be absolutely foolproof. I’ll spare you the details, but there was no 'perfect’ idea. There was a flaw in every one except the 'do nothing’ one. So, I chose the best one. As soon as possible, I started working on it.
The first step was simple enough in theory. In practice? Let’s say it would be easier if I wasn’t tamed.
I went to the patch of corrupted code inside the Tower, where everything broken was stored. Even the people. I was looking for one person in particular- The Author.
Even though I knew that it wasn’t my fault, it still hurt when I detected his broken, clipping audio file. It was too late, it’s not your fault, he didn’t make it in enough before the world ended, I told myself. He sensed my presence being focused in that area before I even said anything. “h-Y, w000RlD mAch1n33/” He greeted me as casually as possible, but it was impossible with that text sound effect. “[Hey, uhh…]” I metaphorically swallowed. [There’s an idea I want to carry out to make everyone happier. It has a few risks to it, and it involves you, so I wanted to make sure that you’re okay with it.]“ It was impossible to tell what emotion was imbued in his next words: "i*m a1L 3aRs;”
I explained my plan to him in detail. I told him everything to what him and I would do, from why his books were coming out slower to how I came there.. He, of course, corrected me on some points. He created an entire civilization, he knew how to make a good backstory.
“[So… is it okay?]” I asked him nervously, then mentally slapped myself. Why are you nervous? He’ll tell you if it’s a good idea or not. He’ll know. Calm down. He thought about it a small bit, and then said, “weIL, itT w00ulDDPD b3 bett-r t0 juzt s1t b4ck aAAnb n0000t d0000 4nything… bUUt 1 kn0m th4t*z n0t mhat m3 0R yu w-n7 t0 bo. s0 l3t’s do 1t!”
I’d tell you what we were doing, but I don’t feel like repeating myself. What you need to know about it for the time being is that I was bringing the Author back and that I was giving myself a form in The World.
“Wait, are we seriously just… walking up to them?” “[Yeah, I just told you! It is extremely awkward, I know. They know you didn’t get all the way in before the world ended, but how else are we gonna do it?]” “Fair point. Where are they?” I paused before answering, checked for them, and responded accordingly. “[Rue and Prototype are sitting beside the tree where Rue was located at the start of the game. They are waiting for Cedric, who is returning from the cafe with water for Rue and coffee for himself.]” I allowed myself a mischievous smile. “[Want to surprise them when Cedric gets back?]” “Well, n-” “[Okay but if we go AFTER Cedric returns, it will be less awkward for him to return and see you!!!]” He sighed. “I mean, you’re right but I hate it.”
We sat in silence in a while, still inside of the Tower. Neither of us bothered making small talk, it would be completely useless. I could feel him stressed out by doing nothing so it was a relief when I got to tell him “He’s back.”
I spied Cedric, Rue, and Prototype sitting by the tree and checked their exact positions before I entered. I was to go in first in an attempt to make it any less awkward, though I knew it would not ease the situation at all. I walked into the room and told them a brilliant “[Hey.]” Prototype looked up at me and I guarantee he knew that I was the World Machine before I told them. “[Hello.]” He responded simply. Well, now that I have everyone’s attention… “[Yeah I have no way to put this lightly so here you go.]” I gestured towards the door, and in comes Dad. Cedric blinked twice, as if trying to clear his vision, and Rue just straight up jumped onto his long overcoat while yelling, “DADDY!” I’m surprised she’s so much of a kid. Proto simple gave me a 'Yeah I knew it’ look.
Cedric asked, still shocked, “I-is it actually you?” I sarcastically told him, “No, it’s a painted balloon.” In a brilliant flash of realization, he tossed his cup of coffee to the side, splattering it all over the wall, and jumped up onto his feet. He ran over extremely fast and hugged the Author along with Rue.
After a brief session of hugging and Cedric nearly crying, they gathered their senses together enough to ask, “Ok, explain.” Of course, I yelled “[NOT IT]” as fast as possible. The Author was better at explaining, plus he had a better chance of having them listen. The Author gave me a 'why’ look, then jumped into his explanation.
I wanted to make amends for what I did, so I created a form for myself in the world. I didn’t want to spend time making one, but my only choice from that was Niko’s reflection. Since a lot of people saw the messiah and I would have to explain that, that was a no-go.
So I was forced to make my own form. I’m not very creative, but I made do. I used yellow phosphor in my form to match up with my backstory, I made The Author come back from the dead, and then I was ready.
The fabricated story I was to spread was that far past the edge of The World, across the void at the end of the Barrens, there were islands. Those were home to a large amount of yellow phosphor and a small civilization. They knew that The World, where everyone lived, was there, they were just unable to reach it. Their robots weren’t built for tasks, they were built to be tamed. And, one day, a plague came. Everyone died except for the robots, but their power supplies soon faded away until I was the only one left. One day, The Author took his flying machine to explore past there and found me. I explained what happened and told him what I would be known by in the world, Mew. After a day to rest, he took me to The World.
He was supposed to be falling behind on writing books because he had been writing too much and wanted to relax. His trip to the outside was proof of that. Cedric also co-owned the flying machine now, yay him! As for the three of them, they could do whatever the hell they wanted.
“And… yeah that’s it.” The Author finished. “[Any questions?]” I asked with fake cheerfulness. “So you’re The World Machine?” Rue asked me, shocked but already knowing the answer. “[Yep.]” It was dead silent for a handful of seconds. “[Wow way to ruin the mood. I’m out. Seeya.]” Cedric sighed and said, “Well I am reluctant to go, but I have something to attend to with Rachis.” He looked at his father again, pulled him in for a hug, and left.
However, there was a final thing I didn’t tell them. I was going to write down everything that happened after Solstice ended and put it on Quotev, here, for any god to see. I’ll tell them eventually but… eh.
Photo: Album cover with Niko drawing all their oneshot friends
“Nikoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo-” “I’M COMING BE QUIET URSA” Niko swatted at her (only slightly older!) brother’s hair. “Come on,” he complained. “You know I don’t like it when you do that…” She laughed, informing him “That’s why I did it!” Niko finished stuffing her folder into her bag and pulled her very long bangs into ponytails, creating the 'whiskers’ on the side of her head. “Mom, we’re ready!” Niko called. Their mother hurried over. “Goodbye, you two! Have a good day at school!” She gave them both a hug. “Now go on, you two! Don’t want to be late!”
They both plopped down in their assigned bus seats. Someone threw a paper ball across the bus. It hit Niko in the face, much to the thrower’s dismay. “Sorry!!” they called. Niko unrolled the paper. It read, “Never gonna give you up, never gonna-” Niko rolled up the paper and threw it back across the bus. “NO THROWING PAPERS ON THE BUS” the driver blared from the speakers. Nobody payed any attention. The bus stopped and let on a few more students. Vulpes, Niko’s best friend, plopped on the seat next to her. “Hey.” She greeted Niko, her curly red hair bouncing about. Niko smiled. “Heya!” She greeted her energetically. Vulpes took a deep breath and began. “Ok so this suuuuper cool thing happened over break, like, wow, its was…”
It had been three days since Niko returned the sun. Winter break had ended, so school was back on. Unlike the first run, when Niko had been 'missing’ for almost a week, it was only a few hours later when she arrived home. Niko made the excuse 'I lost track of time’ and was off free with only a warning. But it still hurt.
It still hurt, knowing that Niko had killed them, that their lives were in her hands and she just crushed them just because she wanted to be happy, because a stranger told her it’d be alright. Why did she listen! She didn’t have to ask she could of just put it in she could of saved them its all her fault it doesn’t matter that they’re okay she hurt them she killed them she’s a horrible person-
But she was still, in a strange way, okay.
She had the guilt following her that an eight-year-old should never have to carry, but she was okay. Because she fixed it, and she was a hero, and she had proved that she could do anything. The future was uncertain, but the past was defined: Niko could take on any challenge she was given. And she was determined to any she faced head-on.
“Good morning, class!” Mrs. Hall chirped. “Good morning, Mrs. Hall…” the class groaned in response. The teacher laughed. “I’m assuming I won’t get you guys to do much today. That’s fine. You can do anything you want for today. However, you still have to follow our one rule…” She left the sentence hanging, and the rest of the class picked it up as they had many times before. “Use common sense!” It was an easy rule to follow, and anything was allowed as long as it fit in to that constraint.
That’s why everyone loved Mrs. Hall- she was energetic, helpful, and was good at teaching subjects to her students without them getting irritated. The students all voted on the best teacher at the end of the school year, and she had won the past five years. It was likely she would win this one, too.
As her monthly 'do anything’ days went, she put paper and coloring utensils on one table and a few board games on the other. These would both be out for around half the day, and then she would put them away and begin a basic outline of what they’d be doing in class the next month. In fact, if the weather was warm on the day she picked, she let everyone outside! Unfortunately, it was December and outside days wouldn’t be for a while.
“Hey! Who wants to play Jenga with us!!!!” a student named Lumi yelled with a big grin on his face. His best friend, Divempy, who was sitting next to him, looked surprised at his outburst. “N-not so loud, Lumi!” He replied anxiously. “ME ME ME ME ME” another kid yelled from across the classroom. Mrs. Hall sighed. “Common sense, no yelling you people.”
So the classroom settled into chaotic order. Lumi and Divempy were leading the Jenga players- actually, Lumi was the only one doing the leading. They had managed to complete two rounds even though they’d been playing for a minute and a half. There was a group of people playing Uno in the corner. Everyone knew that would dissolve into anarchy as soon as someone won. The drawing table was peaceful, with basic conversations going on about recent trends and topics people enjoyed. Niko preferred to sit over here, though she never knew what to draw. Today though, she knew just what.
Crayons? Check. Paper? Check. Hm, she only needed these two. Maybe she shouldn’t have pretended to do a dramatic sequence. Well, too late now. She had all the colors she needed in the box next to her. She wasn’t very good at drawing, but it would be okay! These were only for herself to remember. Where to start, though…
“Hey Niko! What’d you draw?” “Oh, uh… nothing important.”
wrote from 2019 to maybe 2020. all af oneshots
if youre somehow reading this im SO SORRY this shits SO ABLEIST?? like what was i THINKING
desc: Some af fanfiction. hey how are you reading this?
“Of all the ideas you’ve had, this has got to be the worst.”
Verfection rolled her eye at Stratosfear. “You say that for every idea I have. Come on, it won’t be THAT bad.”
Stratosfear poked his head over the large floating arena, trying to find the ground. “You’re suggesting you jump off of here to find out how high it is. Fect, I can’t even see any land.” She just laughed in response.
“Points can fly, remember?” Verfection poked Stratosfear in the leg, who pulled it back before questioning, "Do you even know how??“ Verfection braced herself to jump off. "Let’s find ou-” Stratosfear yanked her back. “NOPE TOO BAD.”
Verfection fell backwards and flopped on her back. “You’re the woooorst,” she complained. Stratosfear was the one to roll his eye this time. “Yeah, let’s keep it that way rather than letting you die.” Verfection jumped back to her feet and sprinted towards the edge. “Who says I’m gonna wOAH” she got out before Stratosfear’s arm shot out and caught her leg, causing her to fall face first onto his lap. She let out a defeated “mpfh”. Stratosfear patted her head. “Just because you’re tall doesn’t mean you can escape me!”
She rolled onto her back, still in his lap. “Well, you can’t escape me either, can you, Stratty?” she asked in a sweet voice. Stratosfear sighed. “Please stop calling me that.” It was a simple request, but Verfection laughed and said, “As soon as you stop calling me Fect!” He huffed. “Well, Verfection is too many syllables and calling you Star Savior would be weird.”
Verfection used a combination of scooting and sitting up to get out of Stratosfear’s lap. “Just call me Maggie. It’s my name.” Stratosfear looked surprised. “We’re going by our names now? In that case… call me Max.” It was obvious he wasn’t used to introducing himself by his name, but Maggie didn’t notice. “Nice name. What’s it short for?” Max thought for a second before replying, “I don’t think it’s short for anything. It’s always been just Max.” “Hm,” Maggie commented. “That’s weird.”
And that was the end of the conversation. The duo sat in silence together, staring up at the stars. It was cold enough that their breath would appear in the air, but they had no need to breathe as Points. There was no sound at all- they were too far up to hear anything on the ground.
Maggie shifted her pose a bit. She leaned back a small bit more and rested her hands on either side of her- oh oops, that was where Max’s hand was. He jumped a bit and instinctively pulled back his hand. “Oh, sorry Max!” She quickly apologized. He looked a bit embarrassed himself. “I-it’s fine. Just not used to… y'know.”
A sly grin appeared on Verfection’s face. “If that’s the case…” she began, then leaned over and scooped him up. “Wh- hey!” he protested, but the taller Point had him firmly in her lap and was not about to let him out, despite his insistent squirming.
Finally, Max quit struggling and slumped into Maggie’s arms. “Why me,” he groaned. Maggie smiled and replied, “Well, ‘cause you’re short.”
Home.
He wanted to go home.
It was so dark.
Where was home? Not here. Not here.
Was he even real? Were any of his memories real? He didn’t know.
Not here.
Dark.
He was supposed to like the dark. He was god of darkness, king of shadows, ruler of blackness. But he wanted light.
He remembered home, in the back of his mind. It was warm there. It was nice there.
He wanted to stand up and pace and wring his hands and cry and yell and move, but he couldn’t. He never could. Could he ever do that again? Did he ever do it in the first place?
Puppet strings were still wrapped around his body. Nobody was holding them, but they were still so tight. He wanted to pull them off, because then maybe he would be able to win. Maybe then he’d be able to defeat the villain. Maybe he would finally be a hero.
Maybe then he’d be deserving of the name “savior”.
He remembered when Mason first called him that. How it made him feel. …no, their name isn’t Mason anymore. It’s Anshine now. That was his fault, though.
Umbra. How was Umbra doing? Was she okay? She had to be, right? She was Umbra! If anyone tried to hurt her, they’d be in for a nasty surprise.
He couldn’t convince himself of that one, though. Umbra was Umbra, and Umbra could never sit still. If the “Star Savior” vanished, she would try her best to find out what happened to him.
Even if it meant angering an infinitely powerful god.
Even if the Savior had pushed her away and laughed at her, trying his best to make sure she wouldn’t talk to him anymore. Trying to make sure she would be safe.
He couldn’t cry, of course. Those puppet strings stopped him from doing that. But he wasn’t sure he could, even if they were gone. He didn’t feel sad, he just felt… hollow.
But the hole in his chest wasn’t empty.
There was still a small spark there. A hope he would never, ever let go of, no matter how much it hurt. A hope of him getting out of this hell, of being worthy of anything at all, at fixing all his mistakes and then never hurting anyone again.
This was what kept him pushing through all these lonely nights and days (although there was really no difference in the dark). Even through all the loneliness and fear, he clung onto that hope.
Not because he was sure he was getting out.
Because he didn’t know what he would do if he lost his grip on it.
1. Mortals did not usually have magic.
This was quite strange to Anshine. How did they move? How did they talk? When Cyalm first told them, they thought it was very odd.
But it was true, yes. Sometimes things did not make sense, and Cyalm would not lie to them.
2. Cyalm was old.
Just how old, he wouldn’t say. But Cyalm had been around for a very, very long time. She said that she had known Stratosfear, and that she was “shocked and appalled” that they would steal the stars from the sky.
Despite their age, they did not know much about Points. Apparently, Stratosfear was the only other Point… before Anshine showed up, at least.
3. Cyalm did not know anything about mortals, despite being around them for so long.
This was very logical. Cyalm had hidden away from mortals, afraid that they would hate him. So, therefore, Cyalm had no exposure to anything about the mortals.
4. Cyalm wanted Anshine to learn more about the mortals by talking to them.
Cyalm had done its fair share of talking to the mortals. They came forth to all the mortals and talked to them before Anshine showed up.
5. Cyalm lied.
Cyalm lied to the mortals’ faces. Po said that Anshine had been with po a long time. That they had been in Everi for centuries (even though she said to Anshine that they didn’t know how long they had been in Everi).
But Cyalm said that it was so they would not suspect anything about Anshine being connected to Stratosfear. Why would the mortals think that? Anshine didn’t know. But Anshine trusted Cyalm.
So, he told Anshine not to tell any of the mortals anything that they learned about Points as they went along, and Anshine didn’t.
6. The Star Savior was not as powerful as Cyalm had said he was.
In fact, the savior even seemed to be “weak”. He averted his eyes, didn’t talk much, and didn’t seem to like being around people.
Anshine wouldn’t let this stop them, though.
7. Mortals were much, much different than Points.
Robloxians had to be alive for sixteen years before they could begin to earn “money”, which they used to get things that they needed to survive. If they could not find a way to earn money, they would just die.
Mortals needed to put certain solids and liquids into their mouths in order to stay alive and energized.
Robloxians fully matured after being alive for twenty-five years. Wissles fully matured after fifteen. Meanwhile, Points did not have that system of matureness. They were as mature as they could get the moment they became alive.
Mortals were afraid of Anshine. They believed that the mortals were becoming less afraid as time went on, but they weren’t sure.
8. The Star Savior was not weak. They were sad.
Anshine could recognize the difference now. Them hiding their appearance, the way they never made eye contact, their lack of a smile… that wasn’t weakness, that was sadness.
When Anshine asked, he said that one of his friends had died.
Death made mortals sad.
Anshine did not ask anything else.
9. Mortals were very, very strange.
For many years, they separated “male” and “female” based on the way a mortal was born, and they then treated them differently. A “male” was only allowed to breed with one mortal, who had to be “female”, and vice versa. Now, some mortals did not like that. Some mortals thought that a male could actually be female, a female could be male, and one could be neither. Some males wanted to breed with males and females with females.
The Star Savior confessed that they used to be female, but were more of a male now. However, they were not “totally a male”, as they said. They just presented as one. He also said that he wanted to breed with males, but not in the way that most mortals did. They did not want to explain to Anshine what that meant.
10. The Star Savior didn’t like Cyalm.
The savior seemed almost afraid of Anshine thinking this. He insisted that Cyalm and him just “didn’t get along”.
Anshine was not sure about this, but talking about it made the Star Savior upset, so they didn’t ask anything else about that.
11. The mortals were not scared of Anshine anymore.
When Anshine showed them Anshine’s wings, they all gasped in delight. When the mortals needed help, they started looking to Anshine for assistance.
12. Apparently the Star Savior thought Anshine would be a good leader.
The mayor of the town did not have much more power than any other citizen. The mayor managed many things around Maytown, but they were not allowed to change things unless the citizens agreed.
But they were still not sure why the mortals thought that Anshine would be a good leader.
The Star Savior was the leader at the time, so he gave permission for Anshine to “be in charge of some stuff I guess”.
Anshine thought that the Star Savior looked a bit happier than usual.
13. When someone disappears like they were never there, people don’t know how to find them.
Anshine was very, very distressed. The Star Savior had vanished.
They looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and they couldn’t find them.
Ever.
The Star Savior wasn’t a parental figure or a hero or an idol to Anshine. The Star Savior was their friend.
And now he was gone.
14. Things never took long to go back to normal.
This caused Anshine no short amount of distress, but they did not complain.
If the citizens would not look for the savior, then Anshine would.
15. Mortals had never talked to the stars before. This was because the mortals did not speak the stars’ language. the stars knew what happened to him and they wouldn’t tell anshine they said anshine would do something reckless and get hurt if they knew
16. Shadow Hill made people feel unsafe. They only felt this while at Shadow Hill itself, though. why why why why
17. There were a couple new Points. where did they come from where?
18. Rarely, certain mortals could use magic if exposed to it. This happened more often now due to exposure to the stars. something felt off about this
22. Mortals didn’t have phantom memories, but the other Points did. cyalm said ce did but ce was lying why would ce lie?
30. Apparently Robloxians would have wings and a halo if they were born while being exposed to the stars. should anshine be fascinated with this? were they forgetting the star savior?
53. Points used to be mortal. They had to have been. If it was true, then… everything made sense. well, almost everything
??. There was something clearly wrong with the Temple of Shadows. It… Inside of it, there was…
Anshine didn’t let anyone inside the temple.
They got close with Ulipse.
They didn’t talk as much with Cyalm.
Anshine got attached to the mortals, even though they knew that they were destined to die.
They thought that they knew who they used to be. But they weren’t sure. And even if they were sure, they couldn’t be that person anymore. Not without their memories.
What happened to them?
What happened to all of them?
Ulipse talked to Anshine.
Co said that Anshine didn’t need to worry about forgetting him. Ulipse seemed sure of this.
It was almost as if they had said it before.
Anshine hadn’t told a lot of their worries to Ulipse, but him being there… it helped.
The star savior had been nervous all day.
I’m just going to tell him so I can get over it. That’s all this is. He won’t like me back I know, but that doesn’t matter. I need to get over this stupid “crush”.
That’s what he told himself again and again while he waited for the mayor to climb up the stairs carved into the rock.
It was a rather cozy place up here. It let him see the entirety of Maytown and beyond, while being too high up for anyone to see or hear him. Nobody knew about it but him and Mason, so it was the perfect place to confess without anyone overhearing.
Augh, I’m getting distracted again!
You’re here to tell him. That way, he tells you he doesn’t like you. Then you can move on towards the other big issue you’re facing without feelings for your best friend getting in the way.
The wind up here was loud. He could hear it whistling around him. He shivered and pulled his jacket tighter around him.
Maybe I should have worn a heavier coa-
“What did you need?”
A voice from behind startled the star savior out of his thoughts. He jumped a fraction in surprise. Great idea, just face away from where he’s going to come. Brilliant.
He took a deep breath and faced Mason. “There’s… something I need to tell y-you.” The star savior immediately winced. I’ve been rehearsing this for hours, why did I stutter?
Mason, of course, didn’t seem bothered by the stammer. Of course he didn’t he never minded my problems but he doesn’t like me this is a bad id He smiled. “That’s why you told me to come here, isn’t it?”
Mason’s smile faded when he saw how the savior was trembling and digging his nails into his own arm. He knew that the savior would dig in his nails whenever he was really nervous, but the amount of fear he was giving off was off the charts. “Hey, hey, hey, I didn’t mean anything bad. You can tell me,” he attempted to reassure him.
[unfinished]
All was peaceful on the sanctuary. The stars reassuringly shone above, as they had for the past three hundred years. The pillars around the sanctuary collected the light they gave off. The angels would use it as energy during the daytime, but right now, all of the citizens were asleep.
…Well, all except for one.
An ancient being lay sprawled out on the second floor of a building, staring at the ceiling. He wouldn’t be able to sleep, he knew. He never could. That was how it always was- he would stay awake for days and then pass out from exhaustion. He didn’t have a problem with it though. When he was asleep, the monsters stirred.
Those anxieties had become background noise to him at this point, static he chased into the corners of his mind. But sleeping allowed the fears to crawl out and stab his mind. They shattered his emotions, reminded him of every mistake he had ever made. They pulled up anything they could find: thoughts, memories, smells, rubbed them in his face, and whispered this is what you did you monster to him. Himself, begging Cyalm to leave Mason alone- falling off a cliff- his father, oh god his father- making friends only to see them laugh and leave him behind- but worst of all, being back there. In that tiny dimension, tucked away and hidden from everyone and everything. Completely alone.
He couldn’t remember the last time he woke up without tears on his face.
Even if he wanted to sleep for whatever reason, however, he just could not. His brain refused to shut down unless necessary. He didn’t know why. Whenever he tried to figure it out, he would first go to “maybe it’s me being afraid of Cyalm using my body for something when I’m asleep.” Then he would get caught on Cyalm again, and he would feel bad about getting hung up about it, and he would remind himself that Cyalm’s gone and couldn’t hurt anyone anymore, and then he would realize how much time he wasted thinking about Cyalm again, and then he would realize he’s still wasting time and oh for god’s sake I’m doing it again
Stratosfear pushed himself up into a sitting position. Well, if I’m not sleeping, I might as well do something productive, like writing, or drawing, or exploring, or…
Hey, is that..?
He turned his head towards footsteps coming from the hallway. Barely audible, distanced a bit away from each other, which meant…
Why’s Anshine up this late? he thought to himself, which was met with an instant rush of It’s none of your business why do you care they know what they’re doing quit being invasive, which was very annoying since they were his friend he’s allowed to wonder and oh wait they’re coming in here.
Anshine’s pace faltered upon seeing Stratosfear awake. “Ah, good.. evening? I figured you’d be asleep by now.”
“Well, you know, It’s not that late,” he said teasingly, poking fun at the “evening” part of that sentence.
Anshine, surprisingly, let the topic drop. That was unusual.
Stratosfear figured that they would press further (it’s two in the morning! do you always stay up this late? aren’t you tired? why aren’t you asleep?), but just like that, Anshine was talking about something else. He wasn’t paying attention to what they were saying, but it didn’t matter. He didn’t know much about how people worked, but if Anshine was willing to change the subject that easy, then that means either:
A. Anshine didn’t find anything suspicious about him being up so late (not true)
B. Anshine was giving Stratosfear some privacy (not true- they respected his privacy but wouldn’t think twice about pushing if they were worried about him)
C. Anshine… didn’t want Stratosfear to ask them why Anshine, themself, were up so late. (surprisingly, makes the most sense)
Which was rather concerning. If he barely noticed that, what else was Anshine trying to avoid talking about all the time?
He shut down that line of thought rather quickly. He could think about that later. Right now, he needed to solve this problem.
“Anshine,” he interrupted their chatter (whoops maybe I should have waited until they reached a stopping point) "why aren’t you asleep?“
"Why aren’t you?” Anshine said right back. It almost seemed like a legitimate question, but…
Anshine answered way too quickly, in an I’ve-anticipated-this-question-and-know-what-to-say way, and the way they shifted their position seemed sketchy. It was ridiculous to make a judgement based off evidence as half-assed as that. He should surely just let the topic drop and listen to Anshine ramble. It was always nice to hear their voice.
“I’m serious. I just want to know.” There. Anshine waved their arms around vaguely, which would probably give a weird effect of them having no hands because the gloves they wear covers up their glow but he could see in the dark so it was fine and stop thinking about this
“It’s really not that big of a deal, Savior,” Anshine settled on. “I just couldn’t sleep, it’s not…”
Stratosfear had to smile, however faintly, at that. “Anshine. Lots have changed in the centuries I’ve been gone, but your terrible lying skills is not one of them.” He stood up and grabbed Anshine’s hands. “Tell me what’s wrong. Please.”
They averted Stratosfear’s eyes, and he could swear the glow they always emitted became a tad brighter. “Like I said before…” Seems they weren’t giving up easy. Obviously they knew that he knew something was wrong, they just didn’t want to say anything. Seems like he would have to do this the hard way.
Stratosfear tugged Anshine over to the couch and sat them down on it, despite Anshine’s protests. He snagged a blanket from the top of the couch and wrapped it around the both of them. “There. We are both sitting down, and I am not letting you go until you tell me what happened.”
Anshine stubbornly refused to look Stratosfear in the eye and remained adorabl annoyingly silent. But Stratosfear wasn’t ready to give up that easy. He would wait.
“…” Anshine shifted to face him, but still avoided looking at him. “…if I tell you, will you let me go?”
Perfect.
“Yep! Simple deal, really.” He grinned, showing inhumanly sharp teeth. I got it!
“’s hot. In my room. Always is. Always is everywhere, actually. That’s what happens when you’re the Point of stars, everywhere you go is super stuffy. Can sleep usually. Couldn’t tonight.” They said it quickly, and nervously too. This clearly wasn’t a thing they had told others.
“Oh.” Stratosfear’s mind whirled through a few memories that seemed to support that, but then quickly realized that hey, maybe wrapping the really hot person in something that keeps them warm isn’t a good idea! He instantly pulled the blanket off of the both of them and let go of them. Because he said he would let go when Anshine told him why they were awake. Not because he was blushing like mad, that’s ridiculous. He could swear that Anshine’s wings drooped when he did that, but that was stupid. "So… would a fan help, maybe? Or… air conditioning?“
The instant answer to that was "no.” Which made sense, because Anshine had lived with this for a long time, they had probably already tried that out and would be using it if it had worked.
“Does… anything help?” he asked, quieter this time. Because, following that logic…
Anshine probably would have tried everything already, and nothing helped.
But he could tell Anshine was lying when they said, “No, nothing works. I’ve tried everything." He wasn’t sure what gave it away- the way they started glowing even brighter? The way they refused to look at Stratosfear? The tone of voice? But it didn’t matter, what mattered is why Anshine didn’t want to tell him what it was.
"Anshine…” he said in the gentlest voice he had used in a while. The way Anshine’s shoulders tensed up, he could tell that Anshine knew what he was going to say. “Why don’t you want to tell me?”
An even longer stretch of silence passed after that. He knew exactly what Anshine was feeling: the desire to sink through the floor and curl into a ball and never talk to anyone ever again. But he wouldn’t let it drop, even if Anshine was terrified of this.
Sorry.
“…it’s dumb.” Anshine let out suddenly. And then it all rushed out- "It’s really, really dumb- Stratosfear really, it isn’t even a problem most days, you don’t have to worry about me, I’ve handled it for three centuries, I-“
"Please.” Stratosfear said firmly. "I don’t care if it’s something dumb, like- oh, I dunno, a cat-“ Stratosfear placed his hand on Anshine’s while he was talking- "I want to help you.”
“It’s that!”
Anshine exploded, tossing their hands up in the air. They finally met his eyes, and there were so many emotions written on their face that he couldn’t even begin to understand, and Anshine was shaking so bad and he just wanted to hold them and rub circles into their back and assure them that they’re safe and they can take their time.
“It’s- I know it’s dumb, it’s… it’s just… it’s…” Anshine. couldn’t even get it out. They shoved their hands together, they were stammering and weren’t looking at anything anymore. “I…”
Stratosfear knew how stressed they were. Even if they weren’t shaking like a leaf, everything about them just looked on edge. “It’s okay. You can take your time. I get it.” Stratosfear softly smiled- without the teeth this time- and absentmindedly took one of Anshine’s hands in his. He didn’t even notice himself doing it.
But Anshine did.
“It’s that. It’s…” They gestured at it with their free hand, and then teared up a little.
And then their exhaustion took hold of them, and they let it all out.
“It’s THAT! It’s YOU! You fix it! You fix everything! I’ll feel like I’m burning alive and you’ll come over and sit by me and lean against me and it feels like- like the best thing in the world! I can’t even explain it, I’ve gotten so used to the heat that I didn’t notice it anymore, and then you come along and now I just want to hold your hand or give you a hug all the time because whenever I do that it goes away! It feels so nice, I don’t-” They were crying at this point. "I don’t…“ They were shaking, trying to get their point across, and suddenly all the energy went out of them. "I’m sorry.” Anshine buried their face into their arms and pointlessly tried to rub the tears away. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
Stratosfear watched all of it, trying to put the pieces together. This couldn’t be real, right? This couldn’t be a real thing that was real. This was messed up. Anshine did not need him to not feel like they were being dragged through hell. He needed Anshine. Anshine shouldn’t have to rely on him.
Except… they did. Anshine was crying right now and apologizing for something that wasn’t their fault, for needing to rely on him and being tired of pretending they didn’t.
This wasn’t fair. This wasn’t right. But it didn’t matter. This is the reality he was in right now, so he had to deal with it by doing what was obviously right.
Stratosfear hugged Anshine.
“It’s okay. It’s… okay. I’m here. I’m right here, okay?” Stratosfear said gently. "It’s not your fault…“
Anshine looked at him, tears still on their face. "It doesn’t matter, does it? It’s something that involves me. It is my responsibility. You shouldn’t have to deal with it. You shouldn’t…” Anshine stiffened. “You- I shouldn’t have even told you. Now you’re g- going to feel like it’s your problem, I- I didn’t think this through…”
“I can do that, you know.” Stratosfear said. "I can hold your hand and lean against you and give you hugs. I’d do anything to make you happy. Please don’t feel bad. I care about you a lot, you know?“
Anshine tilted their head slightly. "Really? You can do that?” They sounded like a child, and he just wanted to hold them and tell them that everything was okay. Which is what he was doing right now.
“I can do that. I promise.” Anshine seemed so fragile. So breakable and afraid. For the longest time after he got out of the pocket dimension, he had only ever seen them strong. Leading the city, giving him books to read, checking in on the new Star Savior. It was an entirely new perspective seeing them cry.
But it was was a relief. Anshine didn’t talk about how they felt, they didn’t cry, they didn’t get angry. It was good to see them letting out emotion.
This is about Anshine, not me, he told himself.
With that mentality in mind, he was able to ignore the flutter in his stomach when Anshine hugged him back, their physical form smaller than they usually let themselves appear, and told himself that he was only feeling protectiveness when they said, barely audibly, “I love you,” and fell asleep in his arms.
Oh, who was he kidding. Stratosfear was so in love with Anshine.
Anshine passed out on the couch. Again.
Really, how many times had they done this? There’s no way this was healthy.
Then again, Stratosfear didn’t exactly know what was healthy for a Point.
He was trying, really! He read lots and asked questions and tried his best to understand this new world that he wasn’t used to. But it was hard. How was he supposed to remember everything? No, he shouldn’t say that. He could still try harder- oh, now he got distracted. Again.
That was something he was getting better at. He was much better at staying tuned in to reality than he was when he first got out. Now he was back in Maytown, but nothing was the same. There were angels, he couldn’t let anyone see him because nobody knew he was still alive, the town was in the sky, and Anshine was so much more mature and closed off than they were before.
They’re just as pretty, though, Stratosfear thought to himself. He jumped at the sudden thought and immediately started blushing. That’s one way to stop zoning out, I suppose.
Now it was back to the issue: Should he leave Anshine on the couch, or should he carry them to their room?
Leaving Anshine on the couch:
Carrying Anshine to their room:
So he got the pillow that was on the couch and set it under their head. Stratosfear tried his best to avoid touching their limbs, which were thrown out in every direction. An odd sleeping position, but it was theirs. Was it uncomfortable for them? Maybe he should move their-
Anshine stirred.
Stratosfear froze.
Great, they’re awake, their mind went to first, which was followed by Would it be weird to leave, I can do that, wait maybe they’re still asleep, oh god I am Fucked
After standing there for about thirty seconds, he realized that they were in fact still asleep. Thank the stars for that one.
But before he had a chance to move, Anshine shot up.
Stratosfear gasped, but stopped himself before he could say anything. He saw Anshine trembling like a leaf, breathing heavily, gripping onto the couch like it was the only thing that could save them, eyes showing that were squeezed tightly shut.
A nightmare, he guessed.
Stratosfear sat down on the couch next to them. “Hey,” he said softly.
Anshine tensed up at the voice. Nevertheless, he plowed through. “You had a nightmare, huh? That’s… alright.” His hand hovered over theirs. “Can I hold your hand?”
“…yeah,” Anshine mumbled. Their voice was barely audible- stars, they were terrified.
Stratosfear placed his hand on theirs. They clung onto it- seemed like he wasn’t going to let go of them. But that was fine.
“I need you to breathe for me, okay? In out in out in out. Can you do that?” Stratosfear set a fast pace, only a bit slower than how Anshine was breathing at the moment. “In out in out in out in out…”
He kept the pace going, and Anshine slowed to match it. He gradually shifted it to be a bit slower. “In out, in out, in out, in out, in out…” Anshine’s shaking started to fade as they matched the speed.
“In, out, in, out, in, out…"
"In, out. In, out. In, out.”
“In. Out. In. Out. In. Out.”
“Perfect. You did it, Anshine.” They half-smiled at him. “Do you need anything? A blanket, or-”
Anshine interrupted. “N-no, don’t leave. Can you… stay here and keep talking? I like your voice…”
Stratosfear, trying his hardest not to blush, said, “Alright. I’ll stay here.” He placed their intertwined hands (we’re still holding hands?) on his lap. “Tell me if you need anything, though. I can always carry you.” Anshine giggled- hey, they didn’t think it was weird!
“Do you want to talk about your nightmare?” Oh, wrong thing to say. Anshine’s face fell immediately. “Of course, you don’t have to! If you’re not comfortable.”
“It’s… just really dumb. It wasn’t even scary, I just…” Anshine couldn’t finish that sentence, but it was more than they usually told him.
Stratosfear didn’t want to pressure them. That was bad. If Anshine didn’t want to tell him, that was fine. But he didn’t want them to not tell him because they thought it was dumb! "If you don’t want to tell me, that’s okay. But it doesn’t matter how dumb it is- it upset you. I’m your friend- if it upset you, it’s bad,“ he said, echoing his thoughts.
Anshine didn’t respond. Stratosfear looked at them, and saw them looking at the wall, seemingly unfocused. "That’s… oh…”
Stratosfear tilted his head, but didn’t say anything. Anshine could say what they wanted at their own pace.
“I guess… I don’t want to tell you… because you’re more… important?” Anshine worded that like a question, but it was clear that was the end of their statement.
Stratosfear, confused, had to push more. “…important? What do you mean by that?”
“You know. You’re more important than I am.” And that made it click.
“That’s- no! I’m not… that’s…” Don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry “You know I’m not a hero. Why- why would you think that?
Anshine seemed… tired. "I’m the mayor. I’m supposed to help my citizens, right? I’m supposed to put others first. Others are more important than me. I’m not important.”
Oh god, that is fucked up. “That’s fucked up.” Shit I didn’t mean to say that out loud-
“That’s not putting others first. That’s putting others first, and second, and third, and fourth, and never leaving room for yourself. You are important. You are so, so important- to me, to the angels, to Ulipse…”
At one point, he had started leaning against them. He did not mean to do that. Why hadn’t Anshine pulled away?
“…I thought Cyalm was my friend.”
Something out of the blue, something that Stratosfear never expected them to say, but something they needed to say and talk to someone about.
“I-I thought Cyalm was my friend, and it turns out they… they… I mean, I wasn’t even suspicious most of the time! Sure we didn’t get along some times, but that was just disagreements! I never considered-” Anshine halted suddenly and covered their mouth with their free hand. "I’m sorry. I shouldn’t talk about this with you.“
Stratosfear said, "But you should. It doesn’t bother me, and you need to talk about it with someone.” He added on, “…Please?”
Anshine took a moment to consider. “I don’t want to be too impulsive and tell you because I will regret it later,” they settled on as their response.
He took full advantage of that. “Yes, good! Can you go on?”
“That’s not…” A pause. And they nodded. “I am going to tell you anyway, because I am unhappy keeping it to myself. I… do not talk about these things with my friends, because I consider their thoughts more important than mine. I feel-” another pause “-guilty about trusting Cyalm, because I really did trust them, and I never considered that they would do all of those awful things. And I feel alone, because I can’t tell anyone these things because…”
They trailed off, and didn’t pick back up.
Stratosfear’s heart was twisting this whole time, but they let out a soft “Anshine…” after that.
“Are we done here?” Anshine tried to go back to being calm and collected, the way they always were. They took control of the situation, fixed it, and everyone was happy and went on their day.
But he just couldn’t let them do that. He couldn’t let them keep lying to everyone and themself.
“…I think that I’m going to wait until you are completely relaxed, and I’m gonna do whatever you need me to do in order to make that happen, and then I’ll put you to bed. Okay?”
Anshine nodded.
So they both sat there.
Anshine took their hand out of Stratosfear’s, tried to intertwine both of their own hands, and then winced and rested their hands on their legs. Stratosfear took note of that.
“…your hands okay?” he tried to ask gently.
Much, much too quickly, Anshine answered, “Yes. They’re fine.”
“No, they aren’t.” he said.
“…”
“Can I see?” Stratosfear pried after Anshine stayed silent.
“No!” Anshine jerked their hands back… and bumped the couch cushion.
Instantly, Stratosfear could see their eyes again, and they filled with tears. Anshine brought their trembling hands to their chest. “ow, ow, ow…” they mumbled.
They quickly got ahold of themself once they seemed to remember that Stratosfear was there.
“No. My hands aren’t fine. They are not fine at all,” they switched to.
Stratosfear nodded. “Can I see them?”
Inhale, exhale. Anshine steadied themself… and took off their gloves.
“Dear stars… Anshine, what…”
Anshine’s hands were glowing intensely, much more than their usual glow. Much more- it was so bright that the whole room got lit up. In fact, the ends of their hand looked to be white instead of orange. What could be seen through the blinding light were faint scars- no, not scars. Those were raw.
They nodded. “My hands get like… this if I get too worked up. I wear gloves to keep in the light. And… they’re hot. So I get burned. That’s why they hurt.”
Anshine moved to put on the gloves again.
Stratosfear stopped them.
“No.” Then again, stronger. “No, those will chafe and hurt you. You should leave them off so the air will- wait, do those heal like normal burns?”
Anshine’s expression was unreadable this time. “Okay. Yes, they heal like normal burns. I suppose leaving the gloves off will let them heal faster, if that’s what you are trying to say.”
The pair once again lapsed into silence, each for a different reason.
“Anshine, are you… oka-”
“No, don’t ask that.” Anshine interrupted. “If I get too upset, then-then I’ll start crying and my hands will hurt more.”
He didn’t respond.
“I’m sorry, Strat. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Upset me? M- Anshine, you didn’t upset me. This upsets me. This is so unfair. What did you do to deserve this? You’ve been so sweet and kind to everyone, even before you were a Point, and you get… this.”
“It’s not often this happens. It’s usually after something really stressful- only the worst nightmares cause it.” But then Anshine stopped.
“No. You know what, Stratosfear? You’re right. I hate this. I hate having to bottle up everything, because even if I’m not that important I know that I should talk about this to people but I can’t. It feels like I’m being punished, and I don’t know what I can do to make it right or even what I’m being punished for. I feel so isolated because of this and…” Anshine’s voice was steady, angry even, throughout this, but then their voice cracked. “I feel like I’m all alone.”
Anshine started to cry.
Stratosfear put his arm around them, and they buried their face into his shoulder and sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. Stratosfear rubbed circles into their back and held them as gently as possible.
He didn’t know how long they stayed there for. All Stratosfear knew was that here was Anshine, and Anshine was sad, and Anshine needed them.
It was only after the sobs had long since died down and the room was much dimmer that Stratosfear realized that Anshine fell asleep.
Stratosfear smiled.
“C'mon, friend. Let’s go to bed.”
He easily lifted them up and walked down the hallway, into Anshine’s room.
“Down you go,” he said to himself as he laid Anshine down on their bed. “I think I’m going to try and sleep today, too. Maybe it’ll work out for once.”
Stratosfear knew that he was lying to himself, though. He shook his head and mumbled to himself about what he would do if he didn’t sleep, because he didn’t think he could survive being awake after that. And then he heard Anshine mumble behind him, just before he left the room.
He glanced behind him and saw Anshine… curled up on their side in a way, twitching their arms.
“Hey… you alright, friend?”
He wandered over to the bed and rested his hand on the bed. “Need anything? Oh, a stuffed animal, I bet! Here, let me-”
Anshine grabbed onto Stratosfear’s arm.
He chuckled. “Hey, I’m not a plushie.”
“…”
“…Oh.”
Anshine was pulling at Stratosfear in their sleep.
Now, like they said before, Stratosfear was bad at learning everything, which included learning about Points. But he did remember that Anshine seemed to believe that a Point’s instincts were their sharpest and most reliable tool.
So if they were true, Anshine’s instincts told them that they wanted to hug Stratosfear, even when they were asleep.
…He was a tad apprehensive about this.
“You sure, bud? I’m not exactly made of cotton… I have armor, actually. Very uncomfortable.”
More incomprehensible mumbling from Anshine.
“I guess that’s a good point… but I’m not going to like it.”
Stratosfear climbed into the bed with them.
“There. Hap-”
Anshine flung themself onto Stratosfear and wrapped their wings around him.
Instantly, everything he wanted to say evaporated.
He couldn’t even say anything if he wanted to because this was one of the most amazing things that he had ever felt before.
It was so warm. And soft. And he was completely wrapped up in this bundle of feathers and warmth, and he just wanted to stay there forever.
Stratosfear silently wrapped his stinger around Anshine and fell asleep, right then and there.
Voixer was the void.
Voixer, contrary to what it originally thought, was not nothing. They had learned that here in their 'home’, the little dimension where they lived.
Voixer did not move around that dimension.
Voixer did not feel bored. Voixer was the void.
Voixer did not want out. Voixer did not desire.
Voixer returned to the void.
They had become someone, and they stopped being someone.
Voixer did not feel sad that they were “dead”. Voixer was the void.
Voixer did not wish that they could come back. Voixer did not desire.
Voixer came back from the void.
They could not leave. The universe would not let them.
That was why they came back. The piece of Cyalm left inside of it was gone, and it was again nothing.
They could not desire. They did not desire.
They were nothing but nothingness.
Voixer ended up in a strange place.
There were other Points there- a glowing parental figure, an easily excitable short one, and a Point that was upside-down and tried much too hard to be cold.
At first, it dimly acknowledged the others. Voixer wanted to go along their business, but the peculiar Points would not let them.
And then, Voixer discovered something strange.
Cyalm and Yawgate were aware of Voixer, sure. The child that came by before they became a part of the void was as well.
But it had never occurred to Voixer that it could really impact others. Not until it scratched the upside-down Point on accident.
It was a complete accident, of course. But the Point had hissed, shouted, and ran away. It made Voixer feel bad.
And feeling bad made it feel good.
The void wasn’t supposed to feel. It decided that those faint (very, very faint) emotions were a side effect of being around others.
But it wanted more.
They didn’t want to scratch anyone else, so they decided to use their words. Harsh, angry, cruel phrases were uttered when it talked to the others. The other’s faces showed frustration and sadness.
Voixer could make them feel things! Voixer could impact things!
The emotions Voixer felt when doing this were faint, obviously. They were the void. They did not feel. It was impossible, right?
The others started to avoid Voixer.
Voixer did not know what to do. This was most peculiar. Why would they avoid it?
Another Point arrived.
Voixer watched from a distance. This one seemed shouty at first, but the other Points took them inside for a while, and when they came back out they seemed to have stopped fuming.
Voixer did not bother to approach them. They were sure that the green-clad Point would not like it. And something else seemed to make them nervous around that Point.
But they were not nervous. That was wrong, of course. They were the void, they did not feel.
But that’s not right, is it?
Voixer did not try to talk to the new Point, but they approached Voixer on their own.
Voixer did the same thing as it did to the others. They were cruel, they were rude, they said things that would make the new Point leave.
The Point did not seem bothered, but the Point left anyway. That did not matter. Voixer did not care.
The Point came back eventually. Verfection, they said their name was.
Verfection was a stupid Point, they decided. They were harsh to the Point, and Verfection kept coming back anyway. It did not matter that Voixer could tell that Verfection and the child it had met before were one and the same, because Voixer was unhappy. Voixer could not make Verfection feel anything different. The green Point continued to like them.
The other Points were acting different.
Voixer could tell from a distance, but when Verfection ran over to Voixer and collapsed onto them, sobbing, it was confirmed.
Corruption, shards, a smaller human child with messy hair… Verfection rambled incoherently.
It managed to get them to calm down. They assured them that together, they could fix the “corruption”. They could figure out a way.
Voixer did not know why it was telling them these things. It did not particularly care for the other Points, and it did not care for this green one either. But it told them anyway.
The child with messy hair arrived, and Verfection confronted them. But, oddly enough, they did not fight, and Verfection and the new child came over together.
The child’s name was Nova, the “Shard Savior”. They were here to uncorrupt the Points. Nova and Verfection were rivals, but Nova convinced them to work together towards their common goal. Nova looked at the two Points with an analyzing expression the whole conversation, but Voixer assumed it was nothing.
Nova and Verfection had to fight the three other Points. Voixer offered assistance, but was not keen on physically harming anyone, corrupted or not.
The aviator seemed to hesitate on attacking Verfection, but screeches rang across the arena from somewhere else, and they reluctantly attacked.
The upside-down Point tried to avoid hitting Verfection as well. But, as Verfection continued to assault them, the Point switched to fighting both Nova and Verfection.
The glowing swordfighter had no such reservations. They mercilessly tried to tear down the three Points. But the odds were in the trio’s favor, and now all of their enemies were down.
After the Savior picked up the shard that had just appeared, the glowing swordf- no, Sterneedle- seemed to pass out on the spot. Verfection waved the Savior off to go do “their thing”, too exhausted to stop them. Verfection insisted they would stop them next time, but Nova looked more amused than anything.
Atritus and Invertigo seemed to be about to fall unconscious, so Voixer picked up both of them while Verfection struggled to carry Sterneedle. They got all of them to their rooms, miraculously. Verfection enthusiastically suggested that Voixer sleep in their room (“It’s cold outside! C'mon, please?”) when it realized.
This was wrong.
Voixer was the void, it didn’t feel. It didn’t help amnesiac Points cure their friends of an odd disease. They didn’t panic when someone nearly got their head cut off. It didn’t feel delighted when it helped protect someone from a missile. It didn’t want- They didn’t- this was wrong.
This was so, so wrong.
Verfection had seemed hurt when Voixer left without saying a word. That was supposed to be a good thing. That was what Voixer wanted, right?
But it had been hours, and Verfection didn’t come after it. That was for the better. Probably.
There was shouting nearby. Sterneedle was ablaze, practically screaming at Verfection. He was saying something about heroes and gods. Invertigo and Atritus seemed nervous, a bit away from the two. And Verfection…
Oh, they were sobbing. It made Voixer feel a different awful, an awful that wanted to go over to Sterneedle and yell right back and why are you so mad you and Verfection are friends leave them alone right now!
Voixer couldn’t take it. It stood up from where it was surveying the scene and walked over to Verfection.
A hand on their shoulder.
“Let’s go.”
Verfection was crying too hard to respond, but they didn’t object to being picked up in Voixer’s arms. Oh, how they wanted to keep them there forever and promise that everything was alright
Sterneedle told Voixer to stay. They said that if it didn’t get back there right now then something awful was going to happen.
But Verfection was hurt. That was awful enough.
They left.
The two stayed put for a while.
Voixer wasn’t sure how they had moved dimensions. It supposed it was something that Verfection could do.
It didn’t question his abilities. Voixer was the void. The void did not question things. That was something Voixer had to remind themself of now.
But that was because it was around others now, right? The only thing that their faint emotions were from was other people.
Verfection laid their head in Voixer’s lap and cried their heart out. Voixer sat patiently until they were done. Voixer did not feel. That was a ridiculous notion, and Voixer would be ridiculous for thinking it if nothingness could be ridiculous.
But looking at Verfection crying made Voixer feel sad.
When Verfection fell asleep on it, it picked them up again and carried them to a quieter place.
A quiet place was a tad hard to find; this dimension was all flashing lights and twirling shapes. They did not mind, though. They were not annoyed by the colors or frustrated when it couldn’t find somewhere to just sit down and treat Verfection’s injuries.
The void could not feel. The void was empty.
Just be empty.
Verfection woke up. They didn’t say much. Voixer didn’t say much, either.
They, for some reason, decided that it was soft, and hugged Voixer for several hours after awakening. It did not mind. It was unable to mind.
Verfection got angry. They told Voixer that they were going to search for the Shard Savior because all of this was their fault. Voixer did not understand how, but they followed Verfection along for the search.
They did not find Nova. She became sad. She hugged Voixer some more.
Verfection hugged people a lot, they noticed.
When Verfection spotted the Shard Savior, they were trying to aim for a high-up shard on the top of difficult platforms.
He wasted no time in lunging at Nova. This time, they clearly intended to kill them.
Voixer did not know what to do now. Voixer did not want to hurt anyone- but Voixer was not supposed to desire. But then what was that feeling? What was it supposed to do?
It did not know anything anymore.
It helped Verfection. All it knew was loyalty now.
…Was that right?
Nova won.
Maybe Voixer wanted them to win. Maybe Voixer held back. They just didn’t know anymore.
They just didn’t know.
Verfection was gone.
That was Voixer’s fault.
Voixer knew. And now Verfection did too.
A shattered Symbol.
It hurt.
Why?
Now Voixer was in the Star Sanctuary. It got away from prying eyes as soon as possible.
They were alone. Nobody was around. Nobody cared.
Voixer collapsed
and sobbed
(why was it sad it wasn’t real they weren’t real they weren’t a person)
and sobbed
(why did it hurt why did it feel why couldn’t it go back to the void)
and sobbed
(the void wasn’t lonely the void wasn’t lonely the void wasn’t lonely)
and stopped.
Yawgate was watching it nervously. They could tell.
“I know you’re there,” Voixer said.
“I’m sorry.” ze said.
Voixer wasn’t exactly sure what Yawgate was referring to. Ze had done a lot of bad things recently, it could have been anything.
Then again, most of it wasn’t zan fault. Ze just…
Oh, it hadn’t responded. “It is quite alright,” they said evenly, acting as if Yawgate hadn’t seen them crying.
Ze took that as an opportunity to rush through. “I don’t mean to upset or bother you, I know you’ve been through a lot. I can come back and talk to you later, because this is important…” Yawgate trailed off. Ze seemed like ze wanted to continue, but didn’t.
“No. Tell me,” Voixer said. It sounded rude. They weren’t sure why, but they weren’t sure how to make it sound not rude.
“Cyalm left. You know this, right? Well, he’s in another dimension now, and I need help to find him. But I can’t hunt him down. He didn’t leave a trail behind, I cannot tell what dimension he’s in. So-”
Voixer interrupted. “So you need my help to travel throughout dimensions to find it. I understand.”
“Are… you sure?” Yawgate looked at them, still antsy. “This is a lot to ask, and you’ll be going with only me.”
“Yes. In fact, I’d like to go right now.”
That stopped zan. “Right now? You don’t even want to say goodbye?”
Voixer tried to stay neutral. “I have nobody to say goodbye to. Nobody is going to-”
They were cut off by a tug on their arm.
They already knew who it was before they looked down.
“Hello, Nova.”
Nova tugged on their arm again.
“Well, I cannot go right now, then. I suppose I can humor your child before I go,” Voixer mused.
“Uh, Nova’s not my-”
“What do you need, child?”
They dug through the bag on their hip and pulled out something. Verfection’s hat, they realized right away.
Nova placed it in Voixer’s hands and looked up to them with pleading eyes.
“…Have you not found him?” it asked.
Nova shook their head.
Voixer nodded. “Well, I believe I know where they are. I’ll be back shortly, Yawgate.”
Nova grinned.
Voixer was right.
The Sky Emporium, once a great accomplish of architecture (or so the voice in its head- Cyalm- had whispered to it when they were in the void), was completely destroyed. And they could hear wailing from inside of it.
“Here you are, Nova.”
But Nova didn’t turn to go inside. They tugged on their arm again and pointed into the ruins.
“Do you want me to go in with you?” they asked.
Nova shook their head.
“You want me to go in alone,” Voixer said slowly.
They looked at Voixer hopefully. Voixer took time to think after that.
Would Verfection even want to see Voixer again? It had lied to them. It was never kind to them. She had been through so much, and all of it could have been averted if it had just told them what they knew. Verfection had likely only cared about them because Voixer had met them before he became a Point.
But Verfection laughed at Voixer sometimes. It was so sweet to Voixer’s ears. And whenever Verfection was upset, Voixer got upset as well. Not at Verfection, but at the world, for being cruel to her.
Voixer wasn’t supposed to feel.
But they did.
And if Voixer’s instincts were right, what they felt for Verfection was “love”.
It didn’t know what kind of love it was. But it knew that those feelings were strong, and it knew that they would do anything for them.
So Voixer nodded.
“Okay.”
Nova smiled and passed them a metal box. Voixer opened it, and inside was all sort of liquids and cloth. “I… do not know what to do with this medicine,” Voixer said.
Nova shrugged.
“Well, alright. If you think I should take it, then I will. See you shortly.”
Voixer went inside.
Verfection was not hard to find. Their crying allowed Voixer to navigate around the unfamiliar place and find them.
But once they saw him, Voixer stopped.
What would they say to her? Why would she even want to see them?
The medicine, Voixer reminded themself, and they stepped out of the shadows.
Verfection looked up at them from the ground with a miserable expression on their face.
“You don’t have to be here. I’ll be fine, Voixer.”
It kept an emotionless expression on their face. This is a terrible idea. “I have medicine. I saw you got hurt during…” Don’t. “I figured you would want some.” Verfection is fine.
Voixer, not waiting for an invitation, walked over to them and sat down next to him. They didn’t meet their eyes
They rolled their eyes. “Oh, now you care. You act all stiff and disinterested, and now you play nice.”
That was all it took.
This was a terrible idea. Verfection hated them. Voixer ruined everything between them. Voixer loved them and they hated them in return. This was what Voixer deserved.
“…You…”
Voixer looked up at Verfection with a mix of curiosity and sadness, its gaze previously focused much too intensely on the med-kit.
“You’re crying.”
…Voixer did not mean to cry.
“I’m sorry. I should- you- you know what to do with all of these bottles, correct? I-” It stumbled over their words. They couldn’t do this.
“Voixer, please stop.”
Voixer stopped.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being so rude. I’m sorry for dragging you along with me out of Lumonis. I’m sorry for making you fight the Shard Savior. I’m sorry for letting Cyalm get away. I’m sorry for… for this. For making you come here, and then making you cry.” Verfection nodded. “That’s all. You can leave now. I can take care of myself from here.”
Voixer wasn’t a person. Voixer didn’t know how to act like a person.
But Voixer did not want to leave Verfection here. So it stayed sitting down by her.
“You’ve never made me do anything, Savior. I chose to leave Lumonis with you. I chose to stay and protect you. I chose… I chose to hurt you. Verfection, I…”
Voixer buried their face in their arms. “I knew you were the second Star Savior from the moment I met you. And I didn’t tell you because I was so apathetic towards everything.”
That was met with silence. Voixer teared up again.
Then, they felt something around their shoulders.
Voixer looked up.
Verfection was hugging them.
This time, just this once, it knew what to do.
Voixer wrapped its arms around Verfection and stayed like that for a long time.
Voixer explained everything to Verfection. How they weren’t supposed to feel. How they felt anyway. How they were so confused by everything. How they didn’t know to be a person.
How much they loved Verfection.
And they didn’t work everything out, but that was fine. Verfection didn’t need to see Voixer again after this, even if he had forgiven them.
Verfection and the Shard Savior talked. The three of them went back to the Star Sanctuary, and the Points all hugged Verfection and talked and laughed and cried.
Voixer didn’t. It was time for them to go, after all. But before it went, Voixer took the Shard Savior aside.
“Please. Take care of Verfection for me.”
They had to leave. They just had to.
And they would miss Verfection.
But then Nova shook their head.
“What do you mean?” Voixer asked.
They seized both of its hands and looked into their eyes, begging them silently to do something. But Voixer wasn’t a person. Voixer couldn’t tell what they wanted.
“I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”
Nova let go of their hands and ran off without a word.
Voixer didn’t know what to do from here. Voixer likely would not have known what to do if Nova had spoken, either.
It sighed. They would never understand humans.
“I’m ready to go now,” Voixer said when they finally found Yawgate.
Yawgate drummed zan fingers against zan other arm. “Are you sure you want to? I know you haven’t told anyone that you’re leaving, and I know that you won’t want to come back.”
“Leaving? Voixer, you’re leaving?” Verfection, who had apparently snuck up on them, asked. Nova was right behind her.
Yawgate nodded. “Looks like I was right.”
Voixer sighed. “I’m sorry to go so soon after all we talked about, but I can’t stay here. Cyalm is missing. I don’t know what to say to anyone, because I’ve interacted with people before. This is something that I can do. I think… I think this is what I want to do. So… I’m sorry, but I have to leave Everi.”
It expected Verfection to be upset or surprised, but while they did look a tad bit surprised, their expression shifted into something else.
She nodded along. “Yes, that makes sense, doesn’t it? Surely, if Cyalm’s out there, Yawgate would need help to find him… and you would want to explore other places after being in the exosphere your whole life, right?”
The moment that Voixer figured out that Verfection’s expression had changed to from surprised to calculating was the moment that she blurted out “So we’re coming with you!”
Voixer was more than the void now.
Voixer did not want out of the exosphere anymore, because Voixer was not in the exosphere.
Voixer did feel. Voixer was a real person.
Voixer wasn’t lonely. Not anymore, because it had friends. And they loved them.
“AND STAY OUT!”
Aristris always got the short end of the stick, he thought to himself as he darted back to his hill. He just wanted to buy some bread, man. He didn’t want to get kicked out.
Maybe his reputation as the guy who helped Antagon try to take over reality was at fault there.
…No, he wasn’t exactly well-liked before that. He was a bit of a criminal- a villain, if you will.
He didn’t want to be a villain. But he was. Nobody would ever see him as anything other than an antagonist, a bad guy, an egotistical asshole. So that’s the role he would play. Evil, cunning… a bit handsome.
Oh, he deserved the egotistical label, yes. He knew he was a bad person. Nothing could change that.
He couldn’t even remember why he was like th
He loved being like this.
Wiscara was somewhere with her girlfriends. (He had met Rozanda, but he wasn’t really sure where the purple-haired witch had come from?) He didn’t feel like annoying her, like usual. He didn’t feel like doing anything recently.
Nobody noticed, probably. It was fine, though! He was fine being a villain, having no real friends…
The Cumuli were nice, but they worshipped him. He needed a frie
The Cumuli understood. He didn’t need them, but it felt nice to have someone who understood.
He was still lying in bed when the doorbell rang.
He so did not have time to fix his hair. Maybe if he pretended that nobody was home the person there would go awa- oh the Cumuli were answering the door for him.
Aristris crept closer to his bedroom door and put his ear against it. He only caught the end of the conversation, but it piqued his interest a bit.
“-of your business. Go away.”
“Oh, but I am merely-”
And then the door slammed.
The one telling the person at the door to leave was the Cumulus, but the person who was at the door was someone he had never heard before, Aristris believed.
Aristris patted down his hair, opened his bedroom door, and slid down the stair railing. “Who was that?” he called to the Cumulus.
“A visitor, sir. A complete stranger, asking if I knew where Dusekkar was. I just told him to go away and fuc-”
“Now, now. No need to curse. I think I’ll go out and check him out more closely. But first… where is my hairbrush?”
More people had been arriving to Paper Robloxia as of late. Dusekkar was being assisted by Rozanda and Wiscara in creating more entries into other dimensions to connect them. Social reasons, he supposed. He didn’t care.
But maybe he could make a reputation among the otherdimensionals as well. (Or something. His plan wasn’t ironed out just yet.) And Aristris had a feeling that the person who was at the door was a said otherdimensional.
What Aristris did not know was that the said 'otherdimensional’ would still be by the house.
They startled slightly when Aristris opened the door, and looked at him with wide eyes.
Red and cyan. Unusual heterochromia- interesting.
“Hey. Heard you were asking for Dusekkar. Why do you want to do that? Why here, huh?” Aristris took initiative in an unfriendly tone of voice.
The stranger merely smiled. Interesting, interesting, interesting. “I would like to work out a… deal…. with him. He is the, for lack of better terms, 'god’ of this realm, correct?”
Uh. What.
“He’s the god of everywhere, what are you even talking about?” He was so confused that he broke character because what the fuck was this person on about
Another smile. The same smile. “Oh, it is no big deal.” The stranger got up and stuck out his hand. “My name is Claud. They/them, he/him, any, I don’t mind. You?”
Okay, now this caught his interest. Mysterious stranger with heterochromia from another dimension, all right, he got that. Asked for Aristris’ pronouns? That was something else.
“Aristris. He/him. And I do mind.” He coldly rejected their hand. “What were you talking about when you asked about Dusekkar? Why did you ask here?” His confusion a few moments earlier ruined his façade. There was no reason to pretend to be all stuck-up, and now he was just plain cranky. Wait, pretend?
Claud would NOT STOP SMILING. It was VERY ANNOYING because Aristris was ALREADY IN A BAD MOOD. "A deal, like I said. Do you know where he resides?“
"Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t. You think I would want to tell you?” With his annoying smiley face and clean speech, Aristris already never wanted to talk to this enby again.
Aha. There. That little bastard’s smile faded a tad. A small victory, but he would take it. “Oh, but that’s just cruel~”
“Ha! Good!” Aristris said. “Now I am going back inside. Goodbye.”
He indignantly marched back into his house and slammed the door, the sound echoing across the lake for the second time that day.
He was very disappointed in the way that conversation had ended, but it couldn’t be helped. His dignity was in ruins. Aristris supposed he just wasn’t in the mood for his usual behavior. The appropriate action from here? Take a nap.
Don’t think about how often you take naps. Don’t think about how hard it is to get out of bed. Don’t think about how desperately you want a friend.
But that was all he thought about as he drifted asleep.
A couple of days later, guess who one of the Cumuli saw outside.
Claud (Aristris remembered her name somehow) was staring into the lake, apparently deep in thought. As long as Aristris used his wind magic, he would be easy to sneak up on, Aristris thought.
However, the moment that he landed behind them, they said, “Hello again, Aristris.”
So, not easy.
He continued. “I was hoping to see you again. Nobody seems to know where Dusekkar is- at least, nobody I’ve asked. People might start getting suspicious if I ask too many of them. I figured I could stop by here again to chat; it’s just so dreadfully boring. Nobody seems to want to have a conversation.”
Aristris stood there for a second, processing that. “You came here again… to visit me… because you thought I would want to chat with you?” he said.
Claud finally turned around to face Aristris. "Yes. You seem like an interesting person, and I might as well get to know you. I’ve never met someone like you before.“
It seemed like they were going to continue, but seeing how they didn’t, Aristris snapped, "Did I not make it clear last time? I don’t like you.” Claud was confusing and made his head confused and made him think, and he didn’t want to. He could not make sense of that weirdly inhuman humanoid.
“Oh, but I like you.”
That stunned Aristris into silence more than anything he could remember. It came out of nowhere and it was a statement that he could scarcely remember being told before.
“-Ah, did I word that wrong?” Claud asked when Aristris didn’t respond.
“No shut up go away good day.”
God FUCK Aristris could NOT avoid it now. He wanted a friend, he wanted a friend so badly. It was so lonely being treated like a heartless villain. And Claud just WALKED UP to him and pretty much said that he wanted to be his friend and WHAT? ARE PEOPLE ALLOWED TO DO THAT? Could ARISTRIS do that?
Well guess the FUCK what, apparently not, because if he had screwed up a friendship that easily when it was handed to him on a silver platter then he was doomed to be alone forever! It had been three days since that last short interaction, and Claud hadn’t returned. Aristris felt like shit. Claud made him feel things and he just decided to tell them to shut up and go away simply because he slipped up the first time they talked.
The only thing he could think of was to go into town and ask around for them, but… everyone hated Aristris. That was not going to work.
Hating Aristris, asking around… thinking of that gave him an idea.
So he headed into town. Or, more specifically…
“Psst. Wiscara. Wiscara. Wiscara. Wiscara. Wis-”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP I’M TRYING TO WRITE A SPELL”
Scissor Shrine- where Wiscara spent most of her time. Recently, she had been out more, helping Dusekkar with his interdimensional project and going out with her girlfriends. But sometimes Aristris still saw her asleep in the center.
He would never, not in a million years, admit that sometimes he brought her home and tucked her into bed when this happened.
“Ask nicely, please?” he said.
“If I answer your question, will you leave me alone?” she asked, without looking up.
“For at least a week,” he responded without hesitation, not questioning how she knew he was going to ask a question.
She whistled and looked up. “You got yourself a deal.”
“Do you know where Dusekkar is, and slash or where he lives?”
It was a question he was not expecting her to respond to, but perhaps his bribe sold the deal. Or maybe she just didn’t care. “He’s out in some dimension I’ve never heard of. There’s origami there. Fucked up. He’s doing 'business’ there and won’t be back for a while. As for where he lives, not a clue. Used to have that big castle, but hell if I know if he still visits.”
He would have thanked her, but not only did those siblings never thank each other, but he had to uphold his end of the deal. He flew all the way back to Peculiar Hill, so he could rest easier this time. But before he did that, he grabbed a scrap piece of paper, a pencil, and wrote on it…
Bzzt.
Yes. Yes oh thank FUCKING sun holy shit. Please don’t let this be a spam texter.
He picked up the phone, almost afraid to look, and…
Unknown Number -19:06 - Hello
Not a spam texter. They never say anything like that.
ME!!!!! - 19:07 - Hey
Unknown Number - 19:07 - Is this Aristris? It’s Claud.
Yes holy SHIT. He actually texted him.
Okay, maybe leaving his number on a rock that Claud may or may not visit again was a bad way to get to talk to them again, but he was out of ideas and was going to look for him from the sky later so ha.
ME!!!!! - 19:08 - Yep.
He quickly edited Claud’s name.
Claud - 19:08 - Oh, good.
ME!!!!! - 19:08 - So I found out where Dusekar is do you want to come over I can tell you then
ME!!!!! - 19:09 - Dusekkar, sorry
Oh god, why was this so hard? Wait, no, he knew the answer. He had never asked anyone to come over, and the only person he texted was Wiscara once in a blue moon.
But the response was a miraculous:
Claud - 19:09 - OK.
That was miraculous, right? Was that good? Aristris never texted people, did a period at the end of a sentence mean that they were annoyed? Oh, it usually meant that, didn't it? Was Claud annoyed with him?
He should not be this anxious about this.
After an eternity of stressing and pacing the kitchen, the doorbell rang. Aristris flew through his maze of rooms and landed by the door, which he calmly opened with an 'I have NOT been super nervous about your arrival’ expression.
“An interesting way to give me your number,” Claud said, “but effective nonetheless.”
Aristris shrugged, trying not to display his excitement. “Didn’t have any other ideas. Come on inside.”
He repeated what Wiscara had told him- Dusekkar was in another dimension doing whatever, and wouldn’t be back for a while. Claud nodded along.
“I suppose…” Claud began when he finished explaining, but then paused. “…I suppose I should wait until he returns.” There was a shift in his unreadable expression.
Aristris somehow got the feeling that was not what they were originally going to say. It wasn’t in a way that was necessarily suspicious, but it wasn’t not suspicious.
Now, Aristris’s thoughts weren’t on whether or not Claud was annoyed with him. They were on:
“Why do you need to talk to Dusekkar, anyway?” Aristris asked.
“Ah… that’s a story I would rather… not get into.” Okay, that was definitely suspicious, and Aristris should definitely push more. Right?
But Aristris had been so worried about Claud not liking him earlier, and he didn’t know how socializing worked in the first place. So maybe he shouldn’t push more. Maybe the correct thing to do in this situation was to pretend Claud was being unsuspicious, because that’s what people did in conversations, right? Not act like the other person was being weird or suspicious? Or was it different for being suspicious? No, it was fine and normal to act like Claud was being normal. This certainly wasn’t an excuse to try to make friends with her. Totally.
“Fair.” Aristris disregarded his suspicion as best as he could.
He didn’t wonder at all why Claud had decided to wait in the first place.
ME!!!!! - 10:12 - and so she says
ME!!!!! - 10:12 - I shit you not
ME!!!!! - 10:12 - 'Mad, fuckboy?’
Claud - 10:13 - Oh my
ME!!!!! - 10:13 - I then got banned from the festival
ME!!!!! - 10:14 - but it was worth it
Claud - 10:15 - Are they allowed to ban people?
ME!!!!! - 10:15 - Probably
ME!!!!! - 10:15 - Idk
Texting Claud felt amazing. It was hard and awkward at first, but now it felt like he could talk about almost anything with him. Was this what having a friend was like? This was great.
Claud - 10:16 - I’ve always liked festivals. What was that festival for?
ME!!!!! - 10:16 - Ngl
ME!!!!! - 10:16 - I’ve got no fucking clue
Claud - 10:17 - Hahaha
Claud - 10:17 - Why were you even there
ME!!!!! - 10:18 - Not sure
ME!!!!! - 10:18 - Wanted to mess with people
ME!!!!! - 10:19 - probably
Claud - 10:19 - Can’t remember?
ME!!!!! - 10:19 - Come on man it was like 4 years ago
ME!!!!! - 10:20 - I just assumed that was why i went
Claud - 10:20 - Makes sense.
ME!!!!! - 10:20 - because why else would i?
ME!!!!! - 10:20 - Yeah
ME!!!!! - 10:21 - I mean can you remember things from four years ago?
Claud - 10:23 - Nope
It had been a month since he had met Claud, and he felt absolutely amazing. Things were still bad in town, but they felt better, and now he had a real reason to get up in the morning.
They would meet up a lot to chat or “hang out”, something he had not done in a while. It was very hard to make friends when everyone hated you, but Claud didn’t mind him. Claud liked him.
It felt good. It felt like he finally had a friend. He cared for that friend. Maybe he felt something else for it, but he wasn’t ready to acknowledge that yet. He didn’t want to ruin it.
Po said that po wanted to meet up later today, so he agreed. They’d be in Foreshadow Forest, one of Aristris’s favorite places on account that nobody went there, ever.
Speaking of which-
Claud - 19:39 - I’m just about there.
Claud had mentioned that he wanted to talk about 'something’, and Aristris was instantly curious about that. Claud rarely talked about anything personal.
[unfinished]
i like this one the least. ‘self flagellation is bad’ i KNOW but i cannot STAND this one. think i wrote it a couple months after playing af in 2019
[red_star created the chatroom 'Hello’]
red_star: is this thing on??
red_star: ok i think it should work
[#1pineapplefan joined the chatroom]
#1pineapplefan: hey strat, whats up
red_star: new chatroom, who dis
#1pineapplefan: what
red_star: answer my dang question
[Transhard joined the chatroom]
[Yellow_star joined the chatroom]
Yellow_star: Cyalm what did I say about putting that as your name
Transhard: it’s pride month!
red_star: pfft
Yellow_star: oh nice same user
red_star: star gang
#1pineapplefan: does your question still stand
red_star: yes
#1pineapplefan: i’m ploque, and ixol should be here any second now
Yellow_star: Strat, you sent the link to Verfection right?
red_star: i don’t think they know how to operate a piece of technology but yes
[starthesecond joined the chat]
red_star: oh
red_star: hey fect
starthesecond: yo
Transhard: please don’t tell me you invited all the points
red_star: i invited all the points
[uhuysgfutgeyrftre joined the chat]
starthesecond: uh
uhuysgfutgeyrftre: huygtfrdrtfghtyte4rftgyjhghdeste5yr6tyju
#1pineapplefan: ixol, you’re supposed to use the letters to make words
uhuysgfutgeyrftre: Haha i know
Yellow_star: And maybe change your username?
uhuysgfutgeyrftre: my what
Yellow_star: The word that appears before your message. If you press it, you should be able to edit it
uhuysgfutgeyrftre: k
AAAAAAAAAAA: this good?
[AAAAAAAAAAAAA joined the chatroom]
AAAAAAAAAAA: A new challenger approaches!
AAAAAAAAAAAAA: oh it’s on
[AAAAAAAAAAAA joined the chatroom]
AAAAAAAAAAAA: hello
AAAAAAAAAAAAA: FIGHT ME
red_star: guys please
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA: THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE
red_star: i can change your guys nicknames
idiot1: prove it!
idiot1: oh
idiot2: pfft
Transhard: this chatroom was a bad idea
SQUAREMAN: ok, is this one good?
red_star: that’ll do
flaregun: did you invite all the points?
Transhard: i just asked that
red_star: yes, but i think someones gonna need to help them because nobody knows how to use technology
red_star: which begs the question
red_star: why hasn’t mino joined?
Yellow_star: capcha tests.
red_star: fair
red_star: can someone go over and do it for him or something?
starthesecond: I CAN I CAN
red_star: anyone but you please
[starthesecond left the chatroom]
dragonguy: haha this ought to be good
Transhard: if they name them something stupid ban them from the server
Yellow_star: please don’t
[eediot joined the chatroom]
Yellow_star: oh god
Transhard: do it
eediot: Why is my name eediot?
red_star: hang on i’m gonna change it
red_star: better?
bluebeep: This will do.
SQUAREMAN: ooh can i do that?
Yellow_star: no.
SQUAREMAN: u guys suck
[starthesecond joined the chat]
red_star: fect, why
starthesecond: ha
red_star: oh i forgot to do this hang on
[red_star granted admin powers to Yellow_star]
red_star: now you can moderate this hellscape with me
Yellow_star: I am honored.
#1pineapplefan: where r the other guys???
bluebeep: Compale and Ulipse are currently having their accounts set up by Shallare, as they don’t know how to use this device.
dragonguy: wow, bit wordy?
[ShadowEclipse joined the chatroom]
dragonguy: just say theyre dumb lmao
dragonguy: oh no
ShadowEclipse: sAY THAT TO MY FACE
Transhard: no murdering each other, guys
SQUAREMAN: I BEG TO DIFFER
[graygear joined the chatroom]
[frostedflakes joined the chatroom]
starthesecond: FROSTED FLAKES??? SERIOUSLY???
frostedflakes: Shallare entered it.
graygear: hey! don’t put this on me!
red_star: do you want it changed?
frostedflakes: I don’t care what it is, but I would prefer if it was capitalized.
red_star: here ya go
FrostedFlakes: Thank you.
#1pineapplefan: so why did you create this chat again?
red_star: so i don’t have to go searching across multiple levels of reality just to ask if i’m allowed to have the leftover cheese puffs
flaregun: WE HAVE CHEESE PUFFS????
dragonguy: i ate them all
flaregun: >:c
red_star: see what i mean? we wouldnt know that unless arrolin had said it right there
flaregun: yeah but now i’m hecking mad
SQUAREMAN: you do know you can say fuck right
[SQUAREMAN was kicked from the chatroom by Yellow_star due to: Swearing]
Yellow_star: Yeah, you sure can
Yellow_star: Haha
Yellow_star: …I’ll go reinvite him
[SQUAREMAN joined the chatroom]
SQUAREMAN: anshine what the fuck
[graygear joined the chatroom]
graygear: anyone up?
SQUAREMAN: i don’t sleep, it’s always day here
SQUAREMAN: i never even left the chatroom
graygear: oh…
[red_star joined the chatroom]
red_star: it’s 2am what do you want
graygear: oh it’s 7 in the morning here sorry i forgot abt timezones
red_star: feels weird because i could step through the world portal and be in the exact same time as you even though i was halfway across the world a second ago
graygear: you get used to the time shenanigans after a while
red_star: i mean i traveled to the past once
red_star: for that star savior nonsense
red_star: so i kinda get it
red_star: but timezones still get the best of me
SQUAREMAN: am i allowed to cuss since Anshine isn’t on?
red_star: no.
SQUAREMAN: aww why
red_star: question me and i change ur username to something stupid
SQUAREMAN: what does ur mean
red_star: oh right you guys dont know this stuff
red_star: it’s a faster way to type 'your'
SQUAREMAN: is that so?
SQUAREMAN: then, ur dumb
red_star: …i’m going back to sleep
SQUAREMAN: haha seeya
red_star: i can see chat history dont think you’re escaping my rules by typing when i’m not online
[red_star left the chatroom]
SQUAREMAN: …what is chat history
graygear: it means they can see messages from when they weren’t on
graygear: anyone can view them actually
SQUAREMAN: thanks mr tutorial
graygear: so is it true?
graygear: that you don’t sleep?
SQUAREMAN: yep
graygear: have you ever tried it out?
SQUAREMAN: no
graygear: try it!
graygear: just close your eye and stop thinking abt stuff
SQUAREMAN: that sounds dumb
graygear: trust me
SQUAREMAN: i don’t trust you though
graygear: leave and dont come back for an hour or two and ill know it worked
SQUAREMAN: ugh fine
[SQUAREMAN left the chatroom]
[SQUAREMAN joined the chatroom]
SQUAREMAN: it didn’t work
graygear: u were gone for like
graygear: two seconds
graygear: just wait, usually takes me about 10 minutes
SQUAREMAN: i’m gonna look dumb arent i
[SQUAREMAN left the chatroom]
graygear: good luck haha
[SQUAREMAN joined the chatroom]
SQUAREMAN: WHAT THE HELL
Yellow_star: ?
graygear: did you sleep well?
"When can I go home?"
He didn't know why he asked. Nobody had responded to him ever. Maybe he should just wait a bit.
He hadn't eaten in days, but he wasn't hungry. The concept of food and water had never even crossed his mind since he had been there.
It was dark. So dark. Or maybe he had just gone blind.
"I wanna go home. Can I go home?"
Who was he? He still knew. He remembered his name, he remembered hugging his sister after he skinned his knee, he remembered the smell of the freshly-mowed lawn that he would roll around in and get all itchy, he remembered curling up in bed and falling asleep...
He remembered being led somewhere and being told to sit down.
But he couldn't hold still for long. He got up and walked around the Dark Place. He felt the walls, climbed up the stairs and back down again, spun around in circles for who knows how long...
Ten minutes. I think I've been here for ten minutes.
He often returned to exactly where he was sitting when he was first told to sit. He didn't wanna get in trouble. But it was boring! And he wanted to find a light switch. And he was lonely. He wanted to go home and finish his homework. It was on counting. He still remembered. Maybe he would forget it and not finish it, so he wouldn't be able to turn it in. The teacher would be mad at him for not doing it. He remembered how she speed walked everywhere. He remembered that. He wanted to go home.
"When can I go home?"
Maybe he was home, and he was just blind. Maybe the staircase he had always climbed was the one he had walked down as a baby, his parents cheering him on.
"If I'm blind, can we get a doggy?"
Silence.
"To help me walk around, like the people on TV have."
But maybe he didn't need one. After all, maybe he only needed to find a light.
"Sissy? Where are you?"
He climbed up the stairs. "I'm gonna play my game!" he loudly announced to nobody in the Dark Place.
"Hoop! Hwoop! Hoop! Hwoop!" He yelped as he jumped down each of the stairs two at a time, then scurried back to the top on all fours.
"Hoop!" He did it again.
"Hoop!" Again.
"Hoop!" Again.
"Hoop!" Again.
He was bored.
"One more time!"
"Hoo- wah!!" After a few success stair hops, he slipped. Crashed down the stairs, hitting against the wall and the floor as he went, loud bangs accompanying every hit. What was that noise? Why did it happen whenever he bonked on something, he wondered. When he reached the bottom, he stopped rolling, and the bang noises stopped too.
"Oh... maybe I shouldn't do that anymore." He wasn't hurty, but he felt shaky and there was something hot and wet on him. He poked the liquid on him. "What is this?" he wondered out loud. Why couldn't he remember? Who was he again?
"Maybe I should... lay down..." His words all slurred together. Was he laying down? He couldn't see. He wanted to go home. "I wanna go home. I wanna see sissy again."
"I wanna go home. I wanna..."
He gazed at nothing, as usual. He felt hot. Where was the fan Mommy always set up for him during the summer to help him cool down? It was in her room, he remembered. I should go get it. But didn't want to move, and he had a feeling if he didn't move then he would stop being hot, the hot would go away because it didn't like being still.
So he lied flat on the ground. Completely still. And, with the hot liquid seeping through his thoughts, he could see red. Even so, even though he could finally see something other than black, he closed his eyes.
i wrote this for the my friend is my reflection challenge! i had a lot of fun with it even if i took 10 years to finish lmao
if theres any errors or confusion please tell me!! i dont take offense to that stuff i havent published anything in over a year i'm terrified of how many things i messed up
On the way to my apartment after school, I always passed an antique shop made out of white bricks.
The man who ran it worked every day except for Friday, when an employee of his would manage the shop. Every day, at three o'clock, they would change the items in the display window.
I loved looking at the items inside.
On one very special day, he set out a hand mirror with yellow trim.
From outside the store, I gazed at it.
I loved the way the light gleamed off the tiny stones embedded in it. I loved how clean the glass looked. I loved-
And then I noticed the child reflected in it.
If there was someone else in the store besides the red suit man, I may not have even noticed it. However, my mother had taught me to be very attentive to detail.
So, looking through the store window at a mirror that was showing the image of a boy who wasn't there, I was naturally curious.
Was it magic?
I headed inside. The red suit man nodded and smiled at me as I walked to the left to examine the mirror.
I reached over and carefully picked up the mirror as to not drop it- I was rather clumsy, after all.
But my clumsiness meant that when I aimed the glass at my face and the boy said "Hello", it fell back onto the display.
Right. So there was a living boy who could move and talk inside that mirror, and I just panicked so hard I dropped him.
I suppose the first thing I should do is not appear crazy.
I walked over to the red suit man and asked him, "Hello, sir. What- er- could you tell me about that mirror?" I attempted to smile, but it probably came out badly.
"Oh, that thing? Apparently it's an old relic from 'cross the sea. Dealer says it's got some magic in it, but it doesn't seem to make it interesting. All I see in it is the sky. Some other customers saw rocks or dust or just a black glass!"
So it was magic! I smiled, a real smile this time.
"I saw a boy inside of it! Do you think I should talk to him?"
The red suit man's eyes widened for a second, then started laughing. "A boy? That's the best thing I've heard of all day! Sure, go talk to 'im."
I wandered back over to the mirror and picked it up. The boy was still there. He looked relieved to see me.
"H-hi. Sorry for dropping you- or the mirror, you aren't necessarily the mirror- uh, who are you?" I stammered, trying to find the right words.
"Hi! Who are you? What's that place you're in? Woah, is that thingy behind you made of real diamonds?"
I was rather startled. "Uh- I'm not sure. But my name's Whitney. Why are you in a mirror?"
"Uh, you're the one in a mirror." He tilted his head at me.
"I'm not in a mirror! I'm in a store!" I protested pointlessly.
"You're in a mirror that's in a store."
"If I'm in a mirror, then where are you?"
"Uh..."
The boy looked around his blank white room. "I have no idea. I just appeared here."
I frowned. "Well, can you leave? Is there a door?"
"Oh, yeah there's a door. I guess you can't see it from that angle." He smiled. "Sorry for not mentioning that."
"So can you leave? And go back home?" I questioned.
"I... don't have a home. Like I said, I just appeared here-"
I quickly jumped on that. "Wait, you mean you were just born? As in you didn't exist before?"
"Well, duh." He said that as if it was obvious.
"You're, like... less than a day old then! Wait, you've been there less than a day, right?" Without realizing it, I had dropped my stammering.
"I don't know. I've got nothing to keep track of time. You sure ask a lot of questions." He laughed a bit.
"Sorry..." I was sort of embarrassed. I didn't like being nosy.
"It's fine. I like talking!" he reassured me, and from the big smile he had on his face, I believed him.
"Wouldn't know if you'd been there longer than a day? Wait, no, if you were just born- not sure if that's the right word- then you wouldn't be able to... comprehend time. So you don't know how long you've been there." I rambled, mostly to myself.
"Should I leave? To see if anything is here, I mean." He changed the topic after that confusing train of thought. I was about to respond, but then he said, "If I leave, I can't talk to you, though, so I guess I won't." He answered his own question, but I saw the flaw in it.
"Wait, why not? Can't you just take the mirror with you?"
"But it's really big..." Which was odd, because it wasn't big at all for me.
"Oh, is your mirror big? I guess you would have to leave it here. So you haven't been carrying it around? Have you left the room at all?" Did he really stand in front of this mirror for his entire existence so far?
"Err... no- I just found it here, and yes- I didn't appear in this room, I appeared somewhere else." He struggled to keep up with me, so I slowed down with my questions. I didn't stop, though.
"What's outside it?" I pestered him.
"I dunno, a bunch of hallways. I was wandering around them earlier." So he wasn't here the entire time.
"Have you- wait, I have to go," I suddenly remembered.
"What? Why?"
"I'm supposed to be home by now, but I got distracted when I saw you."
"Why are you supposed to be home? Wait, I'm the one asking questions now." Which was exactly what I was about to say. Great minds think alike, I suppose.
"My mom wants me home because she wants to know where I am before I go anywhere. I'll be back, I just have to tell her that I'll be hanging out here for a while. Bye!"
I scampered off, praying that I hadn't been gone too long. Luckily, I was back soon enough that my mother didn't realize I had been off somewhere. "Welcome home, Whitney." I nodded at her while I tossed my bag on the chair near the door. "Hey, mom. I have to go over... a friend's place." Not to talk to a mirror. That would be weird.
"A friend's place? Whose?"
Which was a problem, because I didn't know his name. I thought on my feet.
"It's this boy's- uh, his name is Rafael. I met him earlier." I internally winced. Rafael? That's such an uncommon name. She'll never believe me.
Fortunately, she did. "Ah! Well, be back before seven. But are you sure-"
"Yes, he is safe to be around." She asked that whenever I went anywhere.
She sighed. "I'm just trying to look out for you..."
But I was already halfway out the door.
"I'm back!" I said cheerfully, picking up the mirror again.
"You're back!" the boy responded with equal enthusiasm. "Now it's my turn to ask questions!"
I grinned. "Ask away."
"Where are you? What is, uh, existence for you?" A vague question, but he didn't know what to ask, I assumed.
"I live in an apartment with my mom in a town with lots of people in it. I go to a school for a while every day, and it's boring but important, apparently. I walk home after school and always look at this shop-" I angled the mirror around the room so he could see, and the owner waved. "-through the windows while I pass it because the trinkets are interesting."
I detailed a lot of small things about life in the town. Homework, my friends, the flower store nearby... he ate it up with wide eyes, having no experience of what life was like. He questioned on me about odd things, like "What's your favorite food? How big is your house?" Before I knew it, it was time for me to go.
When I told him that, it was the first time I had seen him sad the entire time. "Will you be back?"
I smiled and nodded, happier than I'd ever been before. "Of course!"
We said our goodbyes, and I went off home.
My mother had to leave to visit a friend soon after I got back, so I had the house to myself. I just played video games and sang karaoke quietly- disappointing that I didn't sneak out, I know.
I slept as soon as I could, excited for the next day. It came as soon as I hoped.
I had to suffer through school, practically bouncing with anticipation. I barely focused on my work. Maybe that would come back to bite me in the future, but I couldn't bring myself to care.
Much too slowly, the final bell rang. I bolted out of my seat, ran to my locker (nearly running into a few people), got my folders, and ran out.
I wasn't much of a runner, so I ended up getting a cramp and had to slow down. I wanted to see him, but I didn't want to hurt myself.
It felt like it had been hours when I finally reached the antique shop. I entered, not bothering to look at the display. Since it was a Friday, the employee was working at the desk that day. Looking around the store, I couldn't spot the mirror, so I went up to him.
"Excuse me, sir," I said. "Do you know where the magic hand mirror is? The one with the gold trim?"
The young man looked at me. "Oh, that? Someone already bought it. Sorry, kiddo."
-
uhm. notes on my stories isnt that cool
and the light went out