Chapter Text
“Where even are we?” said Lucy as the group walked along the steep cliffs. “Well,” said CG, “I think we are near the ocean!” They gestured at the vast expanse of water. “ That doesn't really help, CG…”
Above the group, clouds gathered in the sky. They were the type of clouds that promised heavy rain. And unfortunately, Blu couldn't really be in the heavy rain.
“Uh, I really think we should get a move on and find some shelter, I think it's gonna rain” said Blu, a slight edge of worry creeping into his voice. The rain water could damage his arms and make them rust or malfunction, and since Lucy's mom wasn't there to fix them…. Well he didn't really want to think about what could happen.
Everyone began to hurry as the sky grew darker, thunder beginning to rumble in the distance. Suddenly, Lucy spotted a sheltered area down at the beach. “Over there, quick!”
They got there just in time before the rain began to fall. Blu breathed a sigh of relief. “That was a close one wasn't it!” Lucy exhaled “yeah, it was… wait, what even is this place??”
Looking around, they could all see that they were standing in some sort of makeshift camp. Paper and other art supplies were littered around the place, and a pinkish-purple sleeping bag was in one corner.
“Whose there?” A voice came out from around the corner. “Marc, is this one of your illusions or is it real?” A tall girl rounded the corner. She had dyed pink hair and a beanie with a cat face stitched on.
“Oh! You guys look real! You are, right?” Everyone looked dumbfounded at the girl. “Yes…?” said Blu.
The girl surveyed the group and suddenly jerked back when she saw Mole. “WAIT! I swear I've seen you before! I wrote an article about you, you worked as… a conductor? Right?”
Mole was shocked ‘What! Are you…” he pulled out the paper from where it was crumpled in his pocket and scanned the top.“Dahlia Cormuse?”
“Oh my god yes!” Said The girl- Dahlia, excitedly “I can't believe that I'm seeing someone I knew, well, knew of, before the sun exploded!”
She bounced on the soles of her feet and smiled. “Wow! This is so cool!! Do you remember me?” Mole felt bad.”Uh, I'm sorry but, um, I don't really remember anything at all. Well- like from before the sun exploded. I'm sorry.”
She looked slightly crestfallen but quickly perked back up. “Well! I think that I should show you guys around, because I seriously doubt that you wanna go out in that.”
She gestured at the rain, which had picked up and was now hammering down. “Yeah,” said Lucy, “good idea.”
As she started to show the group around the camp, Blu took Mole to one side.
“Uh, mole, I know it's probably nice to have someone who knew you, but do you really think that she's all there? Like, her asking us if we were real was quite strange…”
Mole blinked. Why was Blu asking him this, why not Lucy or CG. “Well,” said Mole, “I mean, sometimes being completely alone makes you a bit… out of it,”
He remembered the times that Acedia would leave him alone. For days at a time she would leave and he practically had no choice but to stay, due to him being so tired that he would probably collapse before he could reach the surface.
“But, she seems harmless, and it's not like we really have a choice but to stay here.” Blu sighed ”You're probably right, I'm just a bit paranoid after Emet. Well, we should probably head back to the group now.”
The two returned to where Dahlia was showing Lucy and CG around. “-And this is where I keep my art supplies, and this is where I store my food! That's basically it!”
Lucy looked at the torrent of rain that was thundering down. “Are you sure that you're ok with us staying?” She asked “Of course! It's nice to finally have some actual company. By the way, are you guys hungry?”
Lucy and CG nodded vigorously. “Well, if you guys are ok with it, I might make us some food!”
As Dahlia began to cook, the group sat around in various places in the camp. Lucy and Blu were having another debate about horses, and CG and Mole were discussing his memory loss. “Why do you think you lost your memory?” Asked CG “I'm honestly not sure,” said Mole “it must have hit my head or maybe…. It did something to me.”
CG looked puzzled. “Usually if it was a concussion you would be remembering things by now, unless you have brain damage, do you think you have brain damage?”
“I don't think so,” said Mole “But who knows, maybe my memory will start coming back soon.” “I hope so.” Said CG.
……
“I'm trying to focus on cooking right now.” Muttered Dahlia, seemingly to no one.
“Well that's no fun.” Said a demonic looking man who floated above her. He was making illusions to try and distract her from her job. “I forgot that you hate fun.”
“I don't hate fun! I just need to focus right now, we can do this later, Marc.” Marc rolled his eyes. “Ugh whatever, I'm doing something else.”
The demon slinked off, leaving Dahlia to her thoughts. Marc Oni had been toying with her mind for months now. Even before the sun exploded he would follow her around and disorientate her. Seemingly for no reason at all.
And yet, she found herself grateful that she at least had company in this dark time. Even if it was a demon whose only purpose in life was to annoy her.
But, maybe it would be good to have more people around her. They all seemed nice enough. And it was certainly cool to have someone she wrote an article about there.
She would just have to see where this goes.