Chapter Text
Flux POV
Conversations came from all directions, he could see Schpood talking with his right-hand man 5pyder regarding a traitor of sorts, Cynikka in the distance exchanging pleasantries with Turntapp — She’s probably thanking him for bringing Lingulini to the meeting but he can’t be bothered with the details.
Saps was organising some documents at the table, the contract with both Infernus and The Linguilini Mafia’s signature on it. A contract that had not existed in his first life, a contract that without — would’ve singlehandedly caused the biggest war on Island 1.
Looking around — at the people standing idly, lighthearted conversations going around, the leaders actually having normal conversations, Flux finally realised: He changed fate.
There wasn’t any bloodshed — The Lingulini Mafia is still alive, Saps isn’t a wanted criminal, no one had died. He reunited with his sister properly this time, he has the love of his life by his side.
He made this happen.
His gaze flickered towards ish standing at the side, a smile crawling up his face as ish flashed him a look of pride.
“We shouldn't be trying to befriend our enemies, the only way we can achieve world peace is by uniting Island 2 against Island 1.”
“What if they finish the bridge?”
“Well…then at least they’ll know I tried to warn them when Island 1 tries to kill us all.”
“I won’t screw this up again.” he mouthed towards ish
“I know you won't” Flux watched ish disappear as Saps walked up to him, a look of worry on his face.
“Flux? Are you okay? You're spacing out.”
Memories of his past life flashed before him – proposing to attack Island 1 at the meeting, setting up the dripstone traps at Saps house, Cynikka falling off the castle, the burning agony of swimming through lava, him standing face to face with Saps at the colosseum, him wrenching all his lingering regrets to the crying Saps. Looking at the now peaceful Island, a stark contrast to how it was back in his past life, he let out a small laugh.
“Yeah I’m good.”
…
Returning back to Westhelm, Saps and Schpood were engaged in discussions for the wedding while Flux trailed behind — not wanting to get into whatever chaos they were plotting.
“Okay so for music it would be one chamber orchestra for the actual ceremony and the band for the afterparty?”
“Yeah, flower arrangements I’ll leave it to tricolor since they are knows for priding themselves on their lush greenery.”
“Heyyy you did your homework!”
“As if I wouldn’t when a marriage is at stake.” Schpood rolled his eyes at Saps quips
When they had arrived at the docks to welcome Jophiel, Schpood went on one knee and pulled out a flower from thin air, presenting it to Jophiel with glimmering eyes — Jophiel laughing at the absurdity but played along regardless.
While walking to the castle, Schpood pointed out “Why wasn’t Jophiel there for the meeting, wasn’t she the one who had arranged the meeting?” Jophiel’s response only confusing Schpood more.
“Hm? I wasn’t the one who arranged that meeting?”
Jophiel smiled, amused, glancing at the exasperated Flux before explaining. “Fluixon is Cynikka’s brother, I found that out while doing my research on her and realised they were related."
Schpood had a flabberghasted look on his face, slowly turning to Flux as the gears in his head turned.
“The signs…I should’ve realised it when I noticed he had no reaction to Cynikka’s speech…not to mention the uncanny resemblemce…” Schpood groaned at his own obliviousness.
Finally at the castle, Saps and Flux took a seat beside Jophiel, Schpood seating across from them in the meeting room.
“Before we start anything…” Saps turned to Schpood, smiling even as his expression became more terrifying by the second.
“If I ever hear that Jo is being hurt by you, mistreated, or anything of that sorts, I will rally up every single nation against you, whether it takes favours, blackmail, I will keep my promise on that. Understand?”
Schpood jaw dropped to the floor, “Hello? Who do you think I am!? I’m not some bastard that would foolishly do such things!” Schpood exclaimed, shocked by the amount of conviction in Saps voice.
Saps continued to stare him down…until he was hit on the head by none other than Jophiel.
“Ow! Jo! What gives?” Saps cried out, hands covering the top of his head where she just hit him.
“You’re not all that. Sorry about him, my brother can get very…passionate regarding this situation.” Jophiel sheepishly laughed, leaving Schpood and Flux more surprised.
“I’m sorry, why am I just finding out so many people are related to each other?” Schpood darted his head between the pair of siblings, Flux following suit.
“Yeah. Saps, you never told me about this…” Flux said, a hint of betrayal in his voice.
“I thought you knew? C’mon the signs were obvious! Who calls a queen by a nickname? We do look alike, no?” Saps tried pointing out.
“Anyways back to what I was saying. Schpood, hurt my sister one time, and I’ll make sure your colosseum will never see the light of day again. Understand?’ Saps expression hardened, causing Schpood to sub-consciously nod frantically.
“Good, now we can get started with wedding planning!” Saps cheered silently, going back to his chirpy mood, seemingly satisfied with Schpood’s response.
…
The rest of the day went by in a blur of planning, making decisions and going through a whole long list of traditions and customs that must be included. By the time they had finally finished briefly going over all the details of the wedding, Saps was slumped over the piles of papers haphazardly placed all over the table, eyes blinking slowly like he was on the verge of dozing off.
“You worked hard, Saps.” Jophiel let out a breath of amusement at his predicament
“You owe me one…” Saps stared hopelessly at Jophiel, making a point to avoid eye contact with the documents sprawled over the table.
The crackling sounds of leaves could be heard as they strolled out of the colosseum, the golden glow of the sun setting in the distance shining on their faces.
A dawning realisation came unto Flux
ish hadn’t told him whether he was allowed to talk about his first life with other people
Shit. What if there’s consequences to it? What if the world warps into something intangible and vanishes.
He jumped out of his skin when he felt someone tap the back of his shoulder. “Flux? You good? It has been quite a long day…I’m sorry for making you accompany me.” Saps sheepishly apologised, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Huh? Oh yeah it’s fine, I'd rather be with you than alone anyways.” Flux smiled while tucking a loose strand of Saps’ hair behind his ear, leaving Saps flustered and blushing at the tip of his ears.
“I need to contact Thomas first regarding the bridge first before I leave…duty calls” Flux groaned while Saps giggled along.
“You want to head back to our inn first? You look like you need all the rest you can get.” Flux suggested taking in Saps’ pitiful state — prominent eyebags and disheveled hair.
“Of course! I’ll meet you there after you’re done!” Saps briskly giving Flux a peck on his lips before strolling away.
After Flux had calmed down from the stunt Saps had pulled, instead of texting Thomas like he said he would, he found his chat messages with ish
Fluixon
Yo ish, can you come over to me real quick? I gotta ask you something
ish
Sure! Give me a sec.
Sure enough ish had appeared before his eyes, a look of curiosity and excitement half-hearted hidden.
“Hi Flux! How have you been? It feels like ages since I saw you.” Ish floated around Flux in circles, trying to spot any changes with him.
“You saw me at the meeting just now…” Flux deadpanned, ish choosing to ignore him in favour of moving to another topic
“Anywaysss, what did you want to talk about?”
“Am I allowed to tell people about the first life? Like I have shared it with someone but I’m worried the world would collapse or something…” Flux expressed his thought, voiced laced with anxiety as he waits for ish to respond.
“…I mean, has the world collapsed? Looks pretty fine to me?”
Flux gaped, realising what he had just said.
“Oh my god…” his sound muffled as he covered his face in his hands.
“I mean if what you said is true and you had told someone already I’m pretty sure the world would’ve collapsed by now.” ish joked gesturing around their surroundings.
“If anything I’m more surprised people would believe it.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Flux eyed him indignantly.
“I’m going to be honest, if I was a regular citizen and you told me you went back in time, I would have thought you lost your sanity.”
“I can be believable…” Flux tried salvaging whatever remains of his dignity as ish laughed at his sufferings.
“Name me one person that believed you at that meeting.” ish stared him right in the eyes, Flux turning away — suddenly very interested at the pillar in the distance.
“…” ish nodded to the silence, seemingly satisfied with his answer.
“Ugh okay, so I can tell people right? You don’t mind?”
“I mean it’s yours to share. I wasn’t the one who experienced all those things, I was just an observer. It was and still is part of your life, I won’t make someone keep things to themselves if they want to share it with people whether to vent frustrations or to share joy. So yeah, share all you want.” ish ruffled Flux's hair, and Flux couldn’t be bothered to stop him.
“Thanks ish…”
…
After a few weeks passed, changes around their surroundings could be seen as well, the leaves turning from a vibrant green to a more mellowed out orange, the occasional breeze of winds becoming more frequent and powerful.
The wedding plans are going smoothly — despite Saps constantly coming home like death washed over him, he still tried his best to talk to Flux about his day, getting heated over the smallest things like flower arrangements and seating plans before falling asleep shortly after. Flux couldn’t count the number of times he had to carry Saps from their couch to their bed, making sure the blanket was covered over him properly.
He was once again back at the Infernus Castle, Cynikka making it a point to have bi-weekly tea sessions with him after all the conflict with Lingulini settled down.
“I should really visit the other island soon…I wanna see where you grew up” Cynikka mused absentmindedly.
“You know, I always wondered why you hadn’t tagged along with me when we left Aculon, as far as I can remember, the boat had enough space for both of us.”
“You really can’t remember much…” Taking a sip from her teacup, Cynikka let out a long sigh, adjusting her posture to be a more comfortable one.
“The people who invaded the castle were after me”
Cynikka’s POV
Her throat burned, the weather had been getting drier the deeper they went into winter, she trudged down the long corridors blearily, making her way to the kitchen before she heard a shrill scream, a thud, and it was back to silence.
She was fully awake now at that point, trembling half with fear and half with adrenaline.
‘What the hell was that? Didn’t that come from…Elanuelo’s room?’
Every fiber of her body screamed at her to go back to her room, but she couldn’t help herself. What if something happened?
Tip-toeing towards his room, holding back every little noise with all her might she spotted Elanuelo’s room at the end of the corridor, a sliver of light coming through from the crack of the door.
“…killed…one more…”
“…What about…other?”
“…said the boy isn’t important…matters is…”
“Cynikka.”
Her eyes widened in horror, peeking through the crack of the door.
She was met with a sword to Elanuelo’s chest and his head severed. She covered her mouth, horrified at the sight in front of her, holding her breath for when she was a safe distance away.
‘I need to get Flux out of here.’
But she had never ran faster in her entire life than that moment.
Bursting through Flux’s room, she shook him violently. “Flux, we have to go! Assassin are here!” She whispered-yelled, scooping up the still half asleep Flux.
“Cyn…?What do you mean? Attacked? It can't be!-” Cynikka slapped her hand over his mouth, eyes screaming at him to be silent as loud footsteps travelled past their room.
“Find the princess! Bomb the place up if need be!” Someone’s voice rang out, a flurry of footsteps following it.
“Flux, I need you to hold on really tight ok?” She clutched him close to her chest, opening the window before jumping down the wall as fast as she could, the impact causing a cracking sound from her ankle. She ignored it as she continued to sprint as fast as she could.
Explosions rang behind them, her ankle feeling more pain the more she ran. They finally reached the docks, her ankle swelling by a ton once she had stopped.
“Cyn-!” Flux’s words were cut short when she shoved him into a boat. “Flux, listen to me now. Aculon isn't safe anymore, sail to the closest island you can see and seek refuge there.”
“But what about Dad?” Despite the fact that Elanuelo never treated them as anything else but assets that could be used to strengthen his ruling, she wonders how he still could hold him in such high regard.
“Dad would follow along later, he's boarding a boat at another dock now.” Lying to her brother doesn't feel great, but telling a kid that his dad got slaughtered sounds far too cruel.
A sharp pain shot through her ankle.
She knew isn’t going to make it. Her ankle was basically numb at that point, she felt excruciating pain when she tries to put her weight from it
Maybe if she was a little bit more selfish, she would have boarded the boat with him, but for him to have the best chances to survive, he can’t have dead weight following him.
Trying to hold the grimace in, she tried to calm her brother down, patting him on the back while whispering reassurances into his ear.
“Time is of the essence, don't worry about me, I will follow along after I have helped a few more citizens to evacuate.” A loud explosion could be heard in the distance, he seemed close to tears at the chaos surrounding them. “Flux, don't let the Aculon name hold you down, start a new life fresh away from the burdens and hardships that the name carries. For that is my wish, for you to be free from the shackles of this cursed place and live freely.” With that she pushed the boat away from the dock with all her might as he screamed for her name until he was far enough to not hear.
She watched the boat sail away somewhere – anywhere is fine as long as it's far away from here.
…
Flux’s mouth gaped with horror
“Wait, so you're saying you jumped down from the THIRD story of the castle and still managed to sprint to the docks?”
“That's what you're hung up on? Yeah I did, a broken ankle is trivial compared to dying anyway.” Cynikka shrugged, trying to brush it off but Flux knows better, how her knuckles were slightly white from holding the teacup a bit too tightly, the almost imperceptible furrow of her brow that one someone who has known her their whole life would notice.
“Thank you Cyn. Without you, I’d probably be dead or worse used as a puppet king for those assasins…”
“Yeah…” Cynikka trailed off, taking a sip of her tea.
“My first life wasn't great if I was being honest. I was so caught up in wanting control I destroyed everything I had and I ended up dying anyways. When I saw that you had died, I was…quite sad actually.” Flux admitted silently, his words only meant to be heard by the two of them.
“I had tried my best to make peace with the fact you had died on the day that Aculon fell, when I found out you were alive, I was relieved. But I didn't have time to process before you died again.”
“I’m just…really glad you’re alive now, I wouldn’t want to go through all that just for you to die again.” Flux tried lightening the somber atmosphere with his joke, Cynikka playing along for his sake.
“You’re such a cornball, took after Elanuelo with how many love letters he wrote to Crow.” Cynikka pretended to gag, making exaggerated imitations of one of many love poems she remembered him reading in the past, Flux wincing at that memory.
“Don’t remind me…”
…
Saps’ POV
The streets always brought a strange sense of comfort, although he hates loud noises, the busy atmosphere really makes Saps feel like he's invisible, and even if it's just for a moment, he craves the comfort of being alone with his thoughts.
However it was quickly interrupted when he caught sight of ish interviewing some customers on his way back to him and Flux’s inn.
After waiting for ish to finish talking to the customer about a food poisoning scandal at Remy’s, he called out to him.
“ish!” Saps yelled, walking over towards the god, ish grinning and returning the gesture with an animated wave.
“Saps! How have you been? I heard you and Flux got together.” ish grinned like a little kid who was just given his favourite candy.
“That was ages ago, keep up with the latest news boomer!” Saps scoffed as ish let out an indignant sound.
“Hey! I’m very young, thank you. No one told me how you got together anyways so I just assumed it was rumours.”
“Yeah, it’s true, we had an argument and everything happened at once, we both agreed it’s best for us to be more communicative about things.” Saps admitted, a flush spreading across his cheeks when he thought of the day they had both confessed to each other.
ish cooed at his words, clapping his hands excitedly as he cheered.
“No wonder Flux asked me if it was okay to talk about his first life!”
Saps tilted his head in confusion, unable to wrap his head around what ish had said.
“I’m sorry? I can’t understand what you’re saying.”
ish also puzzled, asked him “Didn’t you know? He went back in time after he died? I assumed Flux had told you since he asked me whether it was okay to talk to people about it..”
Equally dumbfounded, Saps uttered slowly, “He had not told me that…”
ish, finally realising what he had just said, immediately stopped himself from saying anything further.
“Oh shit…”
“ish…what exactly do you mean went back in time?” Saps’ voice dropped an octave lower, the air surrounding them dropping by a few degrees.
“I…do not know what you're talking about.” ish persisted, trying his best not to cave from the tension of the situation.
Neither one of them moved, if not for the occasional bird flying by one would have thought the scene before them was a picture.
“ish please…this regards Flux, I’m not going to stop caring about him, he’s my (partner).” Saps let the weight of his words settle in, emphasising on the last work.
ish’s expression flickered through a multitude of emotions, before finally letting out a sigh, coming to a decision.
“I suggest you talk to Flux, I think it's something that only can be shared by him. I need to go now anyways, I can sense some tension in the Commonwealth.” He gave his suggestions to Saps, bidding him farewell as he vanished.
Saps still can’t wrap his head around it.
First life? Went back in time?
With ish now gone, there was only one person who could answer him.
Saps
we need to talk
ml🪻
ok?? What for?
Saps
come to our inn at Westhelm
ml🪻
dove? whats wrong?
Saps
just come
ml🪻
ok
…
Flux POV
dove🌻
we need to talk
Flux
ok?? What for?
dove🌻
come to our inn at Westhelm
Flux
dove? whats wrong?
|dove🌻|
just come
Flux
ok
“Cyn, I think I need to go. Saps sent me a message, it seems urgent. I’m worried he ran into some trouble.” Flux jumped out of his seat, rushing to get his coat from the rack near the door.
“Oh okay, send him my well wishes, hope everything is fine.” Cynikka wished him the best, guiding the now distraught Flux towards the door.
“Thanks, take care.” Flux bid farewell to her before darting off towards the direction of their inn, running as fast as his legs could take him.
What happened to you again…
…
Bursting through the door of their shared in, Flux was met face to face with Saps, sitting on the edge of their bed, expression telling him he was lost on thought.
”Saps are you okay? Are you hurt?” Flux questioned between gasps, trying to catch his breath after running for who knows how long. His stare moved frantically, trying to quickly spot for any injuries on the white-haired man.
“Huh? I’m okay! Calm down!” Saps quickly stood up, grasping Flux’s shoulders firmly before setting him down beside him.
“No one is hurt okay? I just ran into ish just now. While we were talking ish mentioned you going back in time?” His tone ending on a confused note, staring straight into Flux’s eyes, preventing him from looking away from the tension of the situation.
“What is he talking about Flux?”
Flux’s heart dropped, he had found out. How would Saps react if he told the truth? Angry? Sad? Would he even want to look him in the eye after? What if he lied, say that he has no idea what ish was talking about? But that would be too obvious. Lie about what happened back then, say that Saps had been killed by some bandits instead? No Saps won’t be convinced by that…
“..lux? Love?” Flux’s head snapped up to Saps words, did Saps just call him love?
“You don’t have to tell me if you really don’t feel comfortable…I don’t want to see you spiraling because of this. But if you really feel like it you can tell me, and until then, I wait. No conditions, no consequences ok?” Saps cupped his cheeks.
‘Right, Saps is my partner, I shouldn’t have to keep these things away from him, I can share his troubles with him as well.’
“Yeah…I think it's about time to tell you…”
So Flux talked, – talked about everything – from the rare moments they actually enjoyed each other’s company, Jophiel’s death and how he had framed Saps of her murder along with many others, how the whole world turned against him, how he had been found out, how Cynikka died, the burning sensation of swimming through the lava to escape, how they met face to face at the center of the colosseum, and how he died.
An uncomfortable silence filled the air, Saps hasn’t said a single word since he finished recounting the previous events, Flux squirmed in where he was sitting.
After what felt like forever, Saps let out a shaky breath, "A lot of things make sense now…I think…I need some time to process what you told me. Could you give me some time?” Flux was close to tears, reluctantly agreeing before, walking towards the balcony avoiding looking at whatever expression Saps made towards him.
Staring out of the balcony, his thoughts only soured when he saw a young couple hugging each other.
He should've told Saps before he found out about it from someone else, now he looks like a coward who can’t even communicate with his partner…
As he slowly went down the rabbit hold of his thoughts, he felt a warm hand wrap around his waist — it was Saps.
“I’m sorry you have to go through that.” Saps leaned into the crook of Flux’s neck, embracing the comfortable silence
“…Aren’t you mad at me?” Flux asked hesitantly.
Saps laughed as if Flux had grown another head. “Why would I be mad?”
“I literally plotted your downfall.”
“Well did you regret it?”
“Of course I do!”
“Then I think it’s fine.”
“How could it be fine?” Flux muttered, too tired to understand Saps’ way of thinking, Saps only laughing at his confusion.
“Well, even if I hadn’t personally experienced it, if there’s anyone that knows me best it’s probably myself. Yeah, I probably would’ve been angry at you, maybe even hate you, but I much rather live a life resenting you than living a life without you.”
Flux was desperately trying to hold back his tears, failing miserably when he started sobbing into Saps’ arms.
“Just promise me…no more secrets okay?”
“Ok…”
Bonus
Coming back from the Westhelm castle, the pair trudged through the entrance of their inn, consciousness hanging by a thread. Like an unspoken agreement had been made, they made a beeline towards their closet, grabbing loose fitting clothes before settling into bed, limbs intertwined as they dozed off to bed, embracing each other's warmth.