Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The second I'd gotten through that portal, bodies appeared. Which sounds very morbid if you consider it. Well, they were more like shadows than bodies. I found myself trying to gather balance as one body slowly began to unwrap from its shadow. I was about to check on them, but something caught my attention.

A giant, coffin-shaped package wrapped in Christmas paper.....but not just Christmas paper. Something seemed off. In a demonic way.

I guess this is what Ravyn meant.

I felt something tugging at my dress. I looked down to see to see a tiny elf girl. I don't know how she got out so quickly, but at this point, I wasn't going to question it.

"Open it," Sugarbelle told me, pointing at it.

"You want me to open the coffin?"

She nodded.

"I'll start," she volunteered.

She ran over and started tearing off the wrapping paper like a kid on Christmas. However, she seemed uneasy about it all as well, so she was very quick to get it off.

I rushed over.

"Something's off," she gulped.

"You sense it too?"

She nodded again.

"Scary Christmas."

"I know," I said, not wanting to reveal the whole reason for being here.

"Open it," she urged me.
"Quick."

I went around to the lid and, with some effort, pushed it open.

I nearly dropped it when I saw who it was.

"H-huh?! You're.....they weren't.....!"

I couldn't get the words out as they opened their eyes.

"Mystic?!"

I could barely contain my mixture of excitement and fear as I cried out their name.

"Cyrille!"

I quickly yanked her out of the coffin and hugged her, tears falling down my face.

"Holy shit. I thought you were a goner! What the fuck happened?"

She blinked.

"I....honestly I have no clue. My soul was basically yeeted from my body--"

All of a sudden, she stopped. It was only a moment or two later before she returned.

"Just the High Bitchess shrieking," she shrugged with a smirk.
"Anyway, they basically just yeeted my soul from my body."

"Mama?"

We looked over to see a small tiger emerge from the unraveling shadow.

"When the fuck did that get here?!" Cyrille exclaimed.
"What the fuck did I miss? Where the fuck are we?"

"I don't know. A lot. And I'm not entirely sure," I answered.

The tiger began to shake the shadow but pulled back when it started enveloping their paws.

"This is bad...." Sugarbelle gulped.
"Really bad."

"....Yeah, I'm with Babey Elf here," Cyrille said.
"Something's wrong."

Finally the shadow uncovered.

"Delta!" I called out.

She slowly stirred and pushed herself up.

"Mystic! Sugarbelle!.....Stranger I've Never Met Before," she exclaimed, a little confused on the last one.

"Cyrille," Cyrille introduced.

"Delta," Delta introduced.

"Jasmine," the tiger introduced.

"Sugarbelle," Sugarbelle introduced.

"A walking pile of trash," I introduced.

"Trash can't walk," Sugarbelle pointed out as more shadows started opening up.

"I'm guessing you appeared after I died," Cyrille told Delta.

"Probably. Wait, you died?!"

She nodded.

"I was the one chosen to become a vessel for this coven's High Priestess."

"She died second. Kyrie was first."

"What about me being first?"

Another shadow unveiled itself, as did my guilt.

"Kyrie!" Cyrille exclaimed.

"Cyrille!" she gasped excitedly as she stood up.

My stomach churned as everything returned to my mind.

"Kyrie....." I gulped.

"Mystic!" she smiled before noticing my guilt.
"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I replied.

I tried to shake it off and gave a less-than-convincing smile.

"Oh my."

And the next to appear didn't help matters.

"Genevieve!" Kyrie and Cyrille exclaimed.

"Wha....what happened?"

Another stood up, one I was pretty sure I could trust.

"Alice," I smiled and ran over to hug her.

As we hugged, we also felt a soft fluffy coat, smelling of cinnamon rolls.

"Hey Ro," I chuckled.

"'Oy! Where are we?"

My heart thumped in GAY as that voice entered my ears. Someone else I could trust. Cyrille's heart seemed to be thumping in GAY as well. Immediately I rushed over to Ivy and hugged her as tight as I could.

"Missed ye, love," she smiled before giving me a peck on the cheek.

"Oh," Cyrille's voice dropped in disappointment but then perked up again.
"You got any other relatives, whoever you are?"

"This is Ivy Flora," I giggled.
"She's my girlfriend."

I can't believe I actually said that!

"What the fuck is up, Kyle?!"

Andrea Russett went over to Cyrille.

"It's been a while," Cyrille chuckled.

My heart also thumped in GAY as I saw Andrea.

"Mystic!" she gasped.
"Oh thank God, you're okay!"

"I'm okay? Forget about me. Delta, are you okay?"

She weakly gave a thumbs-up, but I glared at her and she sighed.

"I mean, to be fair, it's not entirely a lie; you just saved me from becoming the next Izuru Kamukura."

Fuck.

"Junko Enoshima's here?!"

She nodded.

"I wasn't even her first choice, mind you. She wanted you first."

"Why do you sound sad about that?" Alice asked.

"Well excuse me if I want to be a first choice for something."

"Girl, you need to get your priorities together," Nikita scoffed.
"Also who's the furbaby?"

Delta, hearing this, proudly picked up the tiger.

"This is Jasmine," she beamed.
"She's been keeping me company while I was being held captive. You can thank Cindy and Mikan for it later."

"Wait, Cindy?" Nikita blinked.
"You mean that snake bitch who could've killed me? Why should I be thanking her? She's evil."

"Tell you what," Delta spat back.
"You try being stuck in a cell for weeks with no idea of when you're gonna get out before finally getting a gift, even if it's from a villain, and then tell me she's evil."

I could tell that Delta was just straight-up done with everyone and anyone's bullshit.

"What the hell?"

I looked to see one of the other writers emerge from her shadow alongside a bear-shaped shadow.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked.

"I'm Montana," I nodded as more of us emerged.
"I don't know why I'm here, but I'm here....wherever this is."

I nodded.

"Good to know."

"So where are we?" Andrea asked.

"And what are we wearing?" Teala wondered.

I looked to see that they were all horror versions of Christmas characters.

"Oh cute," Nikita said to Bretman.
"You're Rudolph."

More like Werewolf Rudolph.

I could tell by the looks on Cyrille, Delta, and Sugarbelle's faces that I wasn't the only one who saw a feral reindeer/wolf hybrid with glowing red eyes. Even Ro had a look of unease on her face, as did Ivy. This confused me. Why just us? Why did no one else see how creepily jolly this place is.

"Where even are we?" Safiya asked.

I looked over at everyone.

"Beats me," Andrea said.

"Door!"

Sugarbelle pointed at a door just up ahead and ran for it.

"Sugarbelle!" I called after her as I dashed after her. 

I could hear the group after me. I caught up to the elf babey as she was reaching for the doorknob. 

"Sugarbelle, you don't know what's beyond there."

"Only one way to find out," she argued.

I blinked.

I mean, she's not wrong.

I reached for the doorknob and turned it.

"Aww! This is cute!" Matpat said.

"It's so Christmas-y!" Alice called.

It didn't look cute to me. It looked demented, but in a subtle way, as if it slightly went past the uncanny valley. And I could tell exactly where we were.

We were back at the North Pole.

Chapter Text

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Cute?

CUTE?

How was any of this cute? It looked like Hell had been eaten and then spat out by Christmas. Were the six of us the only ones seeing it?

"I'm not going anywhere near--."

"!!!"

I jumped and whirled around as two people jumped into consciousness, or just here in general.

"God fucking dammit!" Candy Pop grumbled, still stuck in Alice's body.
"Another Christmas saga. And knowing the narrator, it's gonna be sickly-sweet."

"I'm sorry, what the fuck is going on?" Cyrille asked.

I took a deep breath.

"These two got mixed up. Alice is in Ciel's body and Candy Pop is in Alice's body."

"And I want my body back," he grumbled.
"I hate being in here."

I started looking around.

"Hmm....I can't seem to find it, can you, CP?"

"Find what?"

"Where the flying fuck I asked for your opinion."

I smirked as he seethed at me.

"Excuse me?"

We all turned around to see a woman wearing a Christmas dress-or that's probably what they saw. I saw vampires trying to look festive and so did the other five. But everyone else seemed to admire it. Except for Candy Pop, who was getting ready for the sickly-sweetness of Christmas.

"You all seem quite lost."

The woman had sort of a British nanny voice. A very sweet one, calming and caring.

What weapons do you have hidden in your nursery, Massacre Poppins? Huh?

"Um, nah, we're fine," Cyrille said quickly.

Clearly she saw through it too, though I had a feeling that both of us had some doubt.

"Where's the exit?" Candy Pop asked.

The woman sighed.

"I'm afraid we're snowed in at the moment. No one can come in, nor can they go out."

"Oh, well maybe we can help," Alice offered.
"And then we can get out of your hair."

The woman approached her, and I could tell Alice was immediately relaxed by her presence.

"Now? Oh nonsense, my dear. You just got here. You must be rather peckish and fatigued, aren't you?"

At that moment, Alice gave off an adorable yawn and nodded.

"A bit, yes."

The woman smiled and turned to the rest of us.

"You must all be rather peckish and fatigued as well, correct?"

Everyone seemed to feel it, even those of us who saw that something sketch was possibly up, but I was not relaxed by this woman. And yet Candy Pop was?!

"She's right," he yawned.
"We just got here. It'd be rude for us to leave."

The seven of us looked at each other in shock. Since when did CP care about manners?! And why were we the only ones bothered by that?!

"Lovely," the woman giggled, clapping her hands together.
"Now, my name is Delilah Fletcher, and I'm very much looking forward to getting to know you all. Please follow me to the dorms."

Cyrille and I did the NO meme face to one another as the others seemed to skip off.

"We all agree that there's no way in hell that this woman is as nice as she seems, right?" I asked when they were out of earshot.

"Yup," Delta nodded fearfully.

"Mm-hmm," Sugarbelle gulped.

"'Undred percent," Ivy nodded.

"Oh yeah," Ro agreed.

"Does Tom Nook want your kneecaps when you don't pay off your debt?" Cyrille asked.
"There's your answer."

"Something's amiss with Miss Fletcher," I said.
"And I don't like it. I don't like it one bit."

"But what is amiss?" Sugarbelle asked.

I gave this some thought.

"What about how relaxed everyone got all of a sudden?"

"And how Alice started yawning after she asked if she was feeling tired," Cyrille added.

"And how CP actually cared about manners," Delta said.
"That's a red flag right there."

We all nodded in agreement.

"So then why is it just us six?" Ro asked.
"Why do only six of us see that something's off about this whole thing? What do we have in common that the rest of them don't?"

We looked around at each other, trying to find some sort of commonality, besides us all being in this predicament.

"No clue," Sugarbelle shrugged.

"It's stumpin' me too," Ivy sighed.

"Well, we're all girls," Delta said, petting Jasmine who'd fallen asleep in her arms.

"Yeah, but if that were the commonality, then all of the girls would be seeing beyond the smoke and mirrors," I said.
"But it's just us six girls. Height's out of the question, so's age and nationality. Hmmm."

"Hmmm," Ro wondered.

"Hmmm," Sugarbelle wondered. 

"Hmmm," Delta pondered.

"'Mmmm," Ivy pondered.

"Thinking noise," Cyrille said in a similar tone, which caused us all to snicker and then burst out into laughter.

We spent a good five minutes calming ourselves before trying to figure out what we'd all have in common. Hair color was out, so were weight, zodiac, MBTI, Enneagram, skin color.

"Ugh!" I cried out after about 10 minutes.
"I'm stumped."

The other five agreed. 

"If you're trying to find your way to the dorms, I'm more than happy to escort you."

We all turned to see Miss Fletcher. 

"Why on earth did you stay behind?" she asked in a concerned, and somewhat hurt, tone.
"I made you all hot cocoa and cookies."

"Um..." I gulped.
"We're not that hungry actually."

She giggled.

"Of course you are, my dear."

She gave my nose what I assumed was supposed to be an endearing tap, or a boop as we call it, but I did not feel endeared. Quite the opposite in fact. And just as she said that sentence, I felt my stomach growl. 

What sort of demonic witchcraft?!

"Come along now," she said to us. 

But the majority of us were stubborn bitches. Sugarbelle was the first to follow. Then Ro after a good minute. Delta was next. Cyrille and Ivy seemed to be battling it out for second place, but in the end, Cyrille caved. It was just Ivy and I.

"Oh do come along," Miss Fletcher told us in a soothing voice.
"I promise I don't bite."

But Ivy and I weren't having it. We were rock-hard stubborn bitches.

"I'll be back for you two later then," she giggled before looking at the rest.
"In the meantime, let's get you little angels to some hot cocoa and cookies, shall we?"

And she lead them away.

Chapter Text

It was only Ivy and I left. And thank God that it was. Even though we'd established our relationship literally twenty minutes ago, I still felt shy around her, like a sweet high schooler getting her first crush. 

And apparently it showed.

"Why are you smiling?" I asked.

She giggled.

"Yer just so cute, love."

I could feel my face heating up as I looked down at the ground and shook my head shyly.

"C'mon. I know ye are," Ivy insisted.
"If ye could see yerself as I do, I fink ye'd at least consider it."

"I really don't look that cute."

"It's not solely 'bout looks, love," she said.
"Ye do 'ave the adorable face an' eyes, but personality counts fer it as well."

"My personality isn't cute," I argued.

"Yer finkin' the same fing as I am, aren't ye, love?" she asked me gently.

I nodded.

"Something's up for sure, but it's still hard to figure out why it's just us six."

She nodded in agreement. I decided to go back down to where everyone first appeared. I went over and laid in the coffin.

"Love?" Ivy asked in concern as she approached me.

I sighed.

"Just...just shut me in this coffin. Don't ask any questions. Just shut the lid and wrap it back up. I would very much like to be unalive right now for getting you all sucked into this."

"What d'ye mean?"

I felt the tears of guilt return, and I turned on my side. Ivy reached out and wiped them off before rubbing my back.

"'S'okay, love, just take yer time."

It took me a few moments to calm myself before I explained.

"There was a candle and I wasn't supposed to let it touch the ground, but it did. So I got teleported to this witches' cottage and I couldn't leave because I'm a virgin and the spell that they placed would keep virgins trapped inside. So then there was something to do with Halloween and Christmas getting mixed up and they have a token so I got permission to come here so that I can fix this."

Ivy gave me a confused and surprised look.

"Wait. So this 'ole creep factor's cause a two 'olidays mergin' togevver?"

I nodded.

"That's why everything seems off to some of us. I just don't know why it's just us six. If there's any sort of pattern, it's not all too obvious."

"Yeah."

I lay in the coffin for a bit, just kinda, you know staring into oblivion, waiting for Discount Mary Poppins to return.  I had a strange feeling that she knew that we had some intuition, at the very least, about what was going on. I figured it was also possible that maybe she knew the pattern of who could and couldn't see through the illusion. Though part of me was beginning to doubt myself. Was this holly-jolly Christmas setting an illusion? Or was what us six seeing the illusion instead? Either way I needed-no, we needed-an answer. 

All of a sudden, I heard a flashing sound and I perked up.

"What the hell?"

I looked over to see another silhouetted body. It was smaller than the majority of us. 

"Huh? Why did one appear much later?" I asked.

"No idea," Ivy shrugged.

After stepping out of the coffin, I cautiously went over to investigate. The shadow soon began to peel away only to reveal.....more shadow?

Oh wait.....that's just black fabric. But who--?

"Ugh....what sort of drug trip did I get put under?"

Both of us looked at each other as she began to stir.

"Lydia?!" we asked.

She looked up. Sure enough, it was Lydia Deetz.

"Oh hey," she greeted.
"You're....uh....Plant Lady and Miss Protagonist, right?"

I shrugged.

"Ivy and Mystic, but close enough. Anyway, what the hell are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same quest---"

Something seemed to catch her attention. Standing up she rushed down to the end of the hall and peeked through the door, Ivy and I following behind.

"What kind of Halloween-Christmas nightmare--?"

"Wait....you see it too?" I asked in disbelief.

"See what?"

"About six of us keep noticing a demonic sort of Christmas aura or something. Of course I was kinda sorta warned about it beforehand, but---"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute!  What do you mean you were 'warned about it beforehand'?"

I sighed.

"These witches told me that since Halloween hasn't been celebrated, it's combining with Christmas and they let me go fix it because apparently this is being powered by one of the token pieces we need."

She blinked, seemingly confused.

And rightfully so.

"Sorry. I'm....still new to this whole thing....why do you need that token piece?"

I sighed. I guess it couldn't be helped.

"Because they're what's keeping the Cursed God tethered to the mortal world, more specifically Everlock, but because his armies are......actually I dunno if they're growing, but I think it's a safe bet. As I was saying, since he's still able to access the mortal plane, he could still persuade me into marrying him and giving him consent to use my magic to open the barrier between reality and fiction."

"Well, what happens if he succeeds?"

I blinked. That was actually a really good question. Why was this such a bad thing? What made this something that needed to be dealt with so immediately?

"I....I honestly don't know....." I confessed.
"I need to talk to the Society Against Evil about it.....if I can trust them, that is...."

"What d'ye mean by 'if'?" Ivy asked.

"Well....it's not much evidence to go off that they're suspicious. It's just something deep down. They haven't really provided us with much help. And I've been thinking; maybe the list Chiaki gave me was wrong......maybe the traitor--"

"Traitor?" Lydia asked.

I huffed. I had a feeling that this was going to happen a lot.

"When I was brought to the sanctuary for the SAE, a few months after, someone infected our water supply with a strange parasite. Whoever drank the water became compelled to protect me at any cost."

"That's an oddly-specific symptom," she commented.

I nodded.

"After a mass infection, Safiya, Matpat, Rosanna, and I all escaped with the current writers into the sewers below where we met up with Genevieve, this really posh hypnotist. And she told us that there was a possibility that there was a traitor among us."

"Just see if any a them vented," Ivy joked.

I snickered a bit.

"Not the time, love. Not the time."

She smirked as I continued.

"So anyway, I feel like maybe the list of people Chiaki Nanami, someone who's currently MIA, told me might be wrong."

"So then....the tokens?"

"Right......see, we have to destroy them all at once."

"How many are there?"

"....Jury's kinda out on that one. We thought 7 at first, but apparently there's 8. And the 8th is a who, not a what."

"So....the token's inside of them?"

I nodded.

"Seems likely."

"....You realize that means you're gonna have to kill them, right?"

"Yes, but also I one, realize there's a possibility we can get it out without killing them, at least I hope so, and two, am pushing it to the very back of my mind until it's actually time to kill them."

She nodded as we heard footsteps come our way. Soon enough Discount Mary Poppins was back with that smile on her face, which only got wider when she saw Lydia, who looked uncomfortable.

"Ah, a new face! And such an adorable one as well!"

Lydia blinked at her confused.

"Um...thanks?"

Delilah beamed.

"You look quite hungry."

Cue stomach rumbling, but Lydia was still unfazed.

"Come along. I have hot cocoa and cookies waiting," Delilah said.

"I'm allergic to Gluten and Dairy," I said.

"Oh don't worry, poppet."

Who says that word anymore?!

"These are Gluten and Dairy free. Now come along. I don't want to leave you behind."

We sighed and reluctantly followed. I eyed her the entire way there, waiting for something suspicious to happen.

Chapter Text

Well, nothing suspicious happened on the way there. There being a room that looked more like a Christmas nursery if Satan had decorated it. Everyone else, except for Cyrille, Delta, Sugarbelle, and Ro seemed to be settling in fine. Even Candy Pop was smiling. How was no one freaking out except for us?!

"Mystic," Alice beamed after she swallowed a bite of a Christmas cookie.
"You made it!"

"Of course she did!" Delilah said.
"I wouldn't want to leave any of you behind."

"Mmmmmm," Kyrie sighed.
"This is some amazing hot cocoa."

Delilah beamed once more. 

"Why thank you, dear. I made it with love."

Normally CP would be gagging, but this time he was cooing and hugging a teddy bear. My eye twitched.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," I whispered to Lydia.

"Yeah, no kidding," she whispered back.
"This is like Hell."

Something else I noticed was that they were also wearing was I assumed was supposed to be cute Christmas clothing, but for whatever reason, the outfits looked satanic. 

"Love," Delilah sighed.
"Such a fundamental aspect of any relationship. Whether it be platonic, romantic---"

She moved over to Delta and booped her nose.

"---or maternal."

Delta jumped a bit, and I just stared. Something about that got my blood boiling. I tried to calm myself, but my irritation pushed through.

"And mine is especially maternal, especially to you."

She turned to the writer.

"Just look at how cute you are! With your wide eyes. That button nose. And those rosy cheeks. Oh, simply adorable! I could eat you up."

As the "awws" went around the room, except for us 7, I could feel my blood boiling and bubbling even more as this bitch fawned over Delta. But.....I didn't understand why. I shouldn't have cared, but I did. And for a moment, I thought to myself

Why her? Why is she the one being fawned over? What about me?!

Was this what Delilah wanted? Did she want to pick a favorite out of the rest of us to turn us against one another?

......Well, it didn't seem that way. Lydia looked kind of sad, but that was about it. The rest just looked weirded out. Why was I the only one who felt angry?

"Oh? Are you alright? You look quite red," Delilah said.
"And you're trembling rather profusely."

I looked to see that she was talking to me. That was when I felt the agonizing tension in my fists and my fingernails practically digging into my palms. Mustering up as much strength as I could, I slowly unclenched my fists and tried to hide my feelings.

"Never better," I said, with a bit too much resentment. 

Smiling she turned back and fawned over Delta some more. I could feel that green-eyed monster stabbing me in the back as I just flopped onto a bottom bunk bed and gritted my teeth. 

"You all enjoy the hot cocoa and cookies," she giggled after a while.
"But after that, right to bed. It's getting very late. I've set out pajamas for you all. Once you're finished with them, I want you all to brush your teeth and go right to sleep. Promise?"

"We promise," most of them beamed.

Even Delta seemed eager now as she skipped out of bed and went to the bathroom to put on her PJs. I stayed in my bed, refusing to even *look* at the PJs when I heard someone whisper in my ear.

"What's the matter, Lil Miss Mary Sue?" Candy Pop sneered.
"Can't handle giving someone else the spotlight for once?"

A few nearby people snickered. I swear I even heard Alice snicker a bit.

"Lay off," Ivy snapped.

Satisfied CP went to brush his teeth. 

"Somefin' the matter, love?" she asked me.

I huffed.

"I don't know.....it doesn't make sense to me.....just...seeing Delilah fawn over Delta like a mom would fawn over her own daughter.......it just made me feel......it made my blood boil."

"What about yer real mum?"

I sighed.

"We....don't have a great relationship. In fact, it's mostly kind of rocky."

"Nice excuse for not wanting to give up the spotlight," Montana scoffed.

"Maybe you should learn to share for once," Kyrie snickered.

Ivy glared at them and they went off, giggling.

"I just....I don't get it....." I huffed as Ivy hugged me close.
"I was suspicious of her the moment we stepped in here. Why do I care that she's fawning over her now?"

Ivy shrugged.

"Maybe she likes te focus in on one person each day?"

As much as I wanted to believe that to be the case, something in my mind told me otherwise. 

"I think you're just overreacting," Alice told me.
"She's been sweet to us since we arrived."

I shook my head.

"No....there's no way I'm overreacting."

"Mystic," she sighed with a hint of annoyance.
"It's the first night here. Just give her some time."

"She's right," Ro said sitting on edge of the bed and rubbing my hand.
"I get that it feels horrible, but maybe she's just especially warmed up to Delta. Besides the poor girl's rarely been seen. And while you definitely deserve to feel loved, so does she."

I nodded.

"Of course but.....something feels weird about this....."

Ivy gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"I fink maybe gettin' some sleep may 'elp a little, love."

Once everyone was finished, Delilah tucked them all in, passed right over me, and spent a lot of time making sure Delta was comfortable before bidding us goodnight. I tried to push the frustration out of my head, but something wouldn't let me. It felt like Delilah was plotting against me. But at the same time, were the others right? Was I just being selfish? Was I right? Was I wrong? What was happening felt like gaslighting, but in the back of my mind for the past God-knows-how-long, I had consistently considered whether or not I was being selfish for taking the spotlight all the time. Parts of my mind kept fighting for control of which thought was right, and both sides were equally persistent.

Needless to say, it was a sleepless night.

Chapter Text

And after that, it didn't get much better.

"Who wants breakfast?" she beamed the next day.
"I made pancakes!"

Most of the others rushed over right away. I tried to find a way in, but I kept getting pushed back. Ivy helped me up and had me wait until it was clear. She gave the other six their pancakes before turning to leave.

"Hello?" I exclaimed.
"I'm hungry too!"

She whirled around.

"Oh," she said snarkily.
"I forgot you were here."

She just thrusted a plate of pancakes at me as most of the others giggled. Even Delta seemed to be falling into the majority, which began to worry me. 

"Hey!" Lydia snapped.
"What's your deal, lady?!"

"That was mean!" Sugarbelle added.

At least the other five were there to comfort me.

Day 3 was when we started working. How the elves didn't see us I have no clue. Must've been in a separate area. Promising to call us in alphabetical order, she went right past my name, saving it for last. While Delta got to be in charge of sweets.....

"Hey, you forgot about me," I spoke up.

"Oh, you?" she huffed.
"*You're* working in the coal mine."

She just thrusted a helmet and pickaxe at me. 

"It's about a mile from here."

I wasn't sure if I was hallucinating, but I could've sworn that I saw a tear in her eye. And then she left.

"A...a mile?" I gulped.

"Oh stop complaining," Colleen scoffed as she worked on a nightgown.
"You've had to walk much further."

"Yeah," Safiya agreed.

"Leave her alone," Ro snapped.
"Walking a mile isn't easy."

"Yeah!" Cyrille agreed.
"Especially in winter."

Sighing, I tried to look around for something I could use to keep myself warm. The only things I could find were a light coat and some surgical gloves.

"I guess they're better than nothing."

I trudged through the snow, which went up to my knees, the pickaxe too heavy for me to carry and the helmet like lead on my head. 

This must be kind of like how Vanya Hargreeves felt. Except she didn't have to walk a mile to a damn coal mine. In the fucking snow.

When I got there, I found that there were wooden bars hammered onto it. And I had a good guess as to why they were there.

"That fucking bitch," I mumbled under my tired breath.

I tried to lift the pickaxe, but after a mile of walking, my muscles were aching and I was cold as hell. After about ten minutes, I just decided to try to pry them off. Grabbing the first one, I felt something pierce my skin. Wincing in pain, I tried to pul at it, which only drove it in deeper. By the time I had it halfway off, my hands were covered in my own blood. Tears were streaming down my face, the tracks freezing almost instantly. I felt my fingers going numb, but because of the splinters, whenever I tried to rub them for heat, it would just drive them in deeper.

This went on for some time.........

I opened my eyes to feel a tugging sensation in my hand. Turning my head, I saw Ro, Ivy, Cyrille, Sugarbelle, and Lydia looking over me. Ro had a pair of tweezers in one hand and my hand in the other. 

"Wha...what happened?" I groaned.

Ivy nearly screamed in relief.

"Oh fank God! I fought ye were a goner fer a second!"

Tears raced down her face as I felt a painful yank.

"Ah!" I exclaimed.

"Sorry," Ro apologized.
"There are still quite a few of these."

"What even happened?" I asked.

"Ivy found you unconscious by the coal mine," Lydia answered.
"You were all blue and I think you had frostbite as well."

I huffed as Cyrille put a warm compress on my face.

"What's her deal?" I rasped.
"Why is she abusing me, and why are you the only five to come to my defense?"

Cyrille shrugged.

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"Awful lady!" Sugarbelle exclaimed angrily.

"Definitely," Ivy nodded.

"Whatever the reason, you don't deserve it," Ro added.

The other four nodded in agreement.

Days 4, 5, and 6; just the same. Being forgotten at breakfast, trudging to the coal mine, splinters, bleeding, frostbite, passing out. Only they were getting worse and worse each day. Delilah had gone from snarking at me to yelling at me for doing one single thing wrong, which would give me a fucking panic attack which would only make her yell at me more, to outright ignoring me, and the tear illusion seemed to be getting stronger. And what was worse was that only Ivy, Cyrille, Lydia, Sugarbelle, and Ro seemed to care or stand up for me. The rest of the group just....seemed to be getting meaner and meaner to me. But I was just stewing in my own self-doubt so much that I didn't think much of it. 

It wasn't until Day 7 when those five had retrieved me from the coal mine for the fifth time in a row, only this time in a fucking blizzard, when it hit me. Everyone else was returning from work as jolly as ever, of course not to me.

"Wow, lying around again, Mystic?" Kyrie scoffed.

"Way to do your part," Montana added.

"Just forget about her," Colleen snarked. 
"Little Miss Perfect Protagonist is just angry because she can't have her precious spotlight anymore."

Hearing this, my eyes widened and my jaw dropped as the laughter was at its loudest by this point. I knew that Colleen would never say something like that. Something was up.

"I'll be right back," I growled.

I launched out of bed, not caring when I heard the snap of the splinter. I power-walked to the door.

"Oh, so now you can get up?" Delta snarked.
"What happened to when you had to work?"

This made me stop. 

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said as I approached her wearing fancy silk pajamas, my volume escalating.
"You're not the one who has to walk a mile in knee-deep snow to a coal mine with a door that always has wooden boards nailed on it. You're not the one who has to pry off those boards every single day and get blisters stuck in your hands. You're not the one passing out in the snow and getting frostbit. No, you're that bitch's perfect little angel who can do no wrong, aren't you?"

"Oh stop complaining," Delta scoffed.
"You're just not used to being treated normally."

"Being treated normally doesn't mean being gaslit by 95% of your friends every single day!"

"Tough luck, buttercup," she sneered.

My eyes widened as the laughter escalated to its loudest with the other five trying to get them to stop. I knew they were yelling, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. I didn't even care that the others were laughing. It was what Delta had just said that lit my fuse. 

Tough luck, buttercup........

Those three words echoed in my mind as I thought back to her text. I didn't know why I had applied. I didn't even remember applying. I didn't want to go to the dean's office alone to talk about my suicidal ideation. You were supposed to be a best friend. You were supposed to be there for me, but "tough luck, buttercup" was all you could fucking say?!

A surge of seething anger raced throughout my body as the memories flooded back to me. I clenched a fist as the wrist of my other hand trembled. What happened next.....I know I shouldn't have done it, but not only did I feel some major resentment to the situation, but those three words had been stuck in my mind since May of 2016. I was seeing red by this point, and at the time I didn't care what the consequences were for it. I just....went on autopilot.

It all went in slow motion for me. I winced as I felt the force I applied to her cheek plunge the splinters in to my fingers even deeper, especially the ones near the joints. The crack of my hand against her cheek echoed and bounced off the walls of my mind. My face was boiling hot. 

When things sped up back to normal, Delta clasped her cheek and started bawling; the others were glaring at me. After asking the other five how they reacted, Cyrille was torn between being upset and being proud. Ivy was proud of me. Ro was concerned and angry, but not entirely angry at me. Lydia was smirking and nodding, arms folded, pretty proud of me. And Sugarbelle looked like she was about to cry. But at that moment, my focus was only on Delta. And after the three words she gave me, I decided to give her three words of my own.

"Go to Hell."

Once again, my body went on autopilot as I ran out of the dorms. I essentially blocked out all sound as I ran around trying to find a way out of this nightmare. I couldn't take this emotional abuse any longer. I didn't care who I was leaving behind at this point, I had to find a way out. I had to get that token piece. I had to---

"AH!"

I cried out as I felt something stab me in the back of the neck. Fumbling around, I pulled it out to find two tranquilizer darts.

Wait....two?

I began to feel dizzy as the world split into two, then three, then four. I stumbled around, my head beginning to hurt and my vision becoming blurrier. I could vaguely make out the sounds of echoing footsteps before I saw a figure in a vampiric Christmas dress in my vision.

Come to yell at me for passing out, have you?

That was my final thought just before my head hit the polished wooden floor.

Chapter Text

Warmth........

When I woke up, there was warmth. And softness. And comfort. I couldn't feel the splinters anymore. 

I was about to burst into tears of relief when I realized that it felt too warm and too soft.

"Oh good! You're awake, darling!"

That voice......it was too familiar. It was the one I'd planned on talking to. Had Delta passed out from me hitting her face?

No. When I opened my eyes, I saw her standing at the side of a bed covered in stuffed animals, the bed I was in, smiling warmly at me. Unlike the others, this smile seemed different to me. I don't know if it was a delusion or not, but it seemed more genuine. Confused I looked around to see who she was talking to. That was when I heard her giggle.

"Oh, aren't you just adorable?"

Whirling my head back around, I blinked and look at her.

"What the simulated heel-face turn?" I exclaimed.

Delilah tilted her head.

"Oh, it's not simulated, my precious girl. I'm being quite sincere."

I felt a mixture of anger and confusion. 

"Sure," I spat.
"Says the one who made me work in the coal mine! Do you know how many splinters I got?! How much frostbite I probably have?!"

Hearing this she frowned ruefully.

"I'm so terribly sorry to have to do that to you, but it was the only way."

"The only way to what?"

"For you to feel resentful against them."

Hearing this, my eyes widened.

"You're the one who made them act this way?!"

She nodded.

"I had to make sure you felt as love-deprived and as alone as possible. Trust me when I say I felt such immense guilt each time, my darling girl, but there was no other way."

So the tears weren't illusions?! Or was this a trick?

"Hold up, what are you talking about?!" 

She sat down on the side of the bed. 

"It was the only way that will guarantee my plan will work."

"What plan?"

She smiled gently.

"To make you my daughter, of course."

"......"

For a few moments, I was left speechless. Another Cecelia? I thought Delilah adored Delta. I was so busy wondering why she switched gears right the fuck out of nowhere that I didn't see her reach out until I felt her petting my head.

"I could sense that you had a need for a mother figure from the moment I laid eyes on you. And I have a need for family love as well, so it's simply meant to be."

"But.....you were doting over Delta."

She gave a musical chuckle.

"Only as a façade. She was a vulnerable pawn, needing to feel seen and loved. I couldn't pass that opportunity up."

A pit formed in my stomach and my throat as my eyes watered up with guilt. I'd hit someone who was being manipulated and lied to just like I was, and not just that, someone who was constantly being manipulated or ignored. I tried to hold back my tears, but something inside of me seemed to be forbidding me and I began to weep out of guilt and a bit of fear.

"Oh, my sweet, precious darling," she cooed, hugging me close and still petting my head. 
"This is why you'd be the perfect daughter. You care about your loved ones so deeply."

"Why....how....?" I stammered, trying to figure out why I couldn't keep my tears down.

"I gave you some medicine to help you open up a bit more. Children aren't afraid to be emotionally vulnerable."

"I'm not a child!" I objected through tears.

"You are to me," she said soothingly.
"And once I give you enough affection energy, you'll not only be my sweet little girl, but you'll be my sweet little girl for eternity."

"E-Eternity?!"

"Yes, of course. It would break my heart if you were to stay a mere mortal."

"Mortal?!"

She gave a little giggle.

"I guess it would be a surprise. I suppose you wouldn't be able to tell an energy vampire from a regular one."

Vampire?! Well....this was a first. I tried to stop my tears, but she kept petting my head.

"Shhhh," she soothed.
"Just let all those tears out, my little darling. Mother's here to keep you safe."

It was a long time before the tears were even close to stopping. 

"Unfortunately," she sighed.
"That first dose of the vulnerability serum won't be enough for it to be permanent. It'll take a lot more in your case."

And the tears began again, this time I didn't even try to hold them back. 

"I don't want to be emotionally vulnerable forever!"

This seemed to surprise her.

"But doesn't it hurt you to keep all of your emotions bottled up inside? It's not healthy."

"I don't care! I can't be emotionally vulnerable. I just can't."

This time I felt the tears come back again, but I used every ounce of strength I had to keep them at bay. 

"I see," she said.
"You're afraid of being hurt and betrayed."

I nodded weakly.

"And it's only gonna hurt me to stay with just you."

"Oh, it won't be with just me," she said.
"Your friends will stay as well. And worry not, Ivy can still be your girlfriend. I know that your relationship is purely romantic. And I know it would hurt you to be kept away from them when they care about you so much."

"Wait....so....you're not planning on them being cruel to me anymore?"

"Not even in the slightest. I've turn that energy off. Sure, there's a blank in their memories, but they are now their true selves, well most of them. The demon probably won't be. Aside from him, they'll just be pacified to stay here for eternity. And we can bring the rest of your friends here as well. Oh, just imagine how lovely our lives will be. We can watch movies, cuddle together, make treats, play with toys, read new books, it'll be Christmas and Halloween here forever. But the best part will be all of the affection that we'll extract and exchange."

I looked at her in horror.

"Extract?!"

"Well, not exactly extract, so much as absorb. You'll become an energy vampire like me, but unlike regular vampires, we don't just take; we also give. On top of it, the more they are fond of you, the more affection they produce. And the more affection they produce, the more fond they are of you. And it's not hurting them by any means. Plus you'll be able to manipulate their thoughts and senses to your desire, my dear. That way they'll produce more affection and they'll never want to leave here. It will be a paradise free of anxieties. You could stay a child forever here. I'd just have to keep you away from Sugarplum and the others."

I heard that name and gasped.

"Y-You know them!?"

She nodded.

"I managed to get stuck here on one of my many flights. They had no power source, so I used a small token piece I'd found on my travels. They told me about how you were supposed to be the one powering the North Pole and I promised them I would bring you to them if I were to find you. But when I saw you, I sensed your need for a maternal figure you could depend upon. I decided right then and there that I can't let you get captured by them."

"And so you abused me?!"

"It wasn't easy for me, I promise. I had to send you to the coal mines because it was out of the way of their line of work. No one had used that mine in years and each night, I had to go out and board up the doors to stall for time."

I pushed her away.

"You still abused me! What kind of mother would do that?!"

I was infuriated and she looked hurt, but I didn't care. 

"I know," she sighed.
"I'm not fit to be a mother with a plan like that, and I truly am sorry. But I want to be a mother. I want to be your mother. I'm willing to make it up to you however you wish."

"Give us the token piece and let us go free."

"......Almost however you wish."

I growled angrily. At that moment, I heard a ding! sound from the room next door.

"Oh!" she exclaimed.
"That must be the coffee cake. Wait right here, darling. You'll be the first to have a piece just as soon as it's cooled down."

She left the room. Immediately I started throwing the stuffed animals off of my bed. I don't know how long I was doing that for but.....

"Mystic!"

I stopped as Delilah came back into the room.

"Such a naughty child, throwing your stuffed animals around like that. I arranged them all with love, especially for you," she said setting the coffee cake down on the armoire by the door.

She went over and started cleaning them up, but I threw them back out of spite. After a few tries, she sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Perhaps you need some more sleep, darling," she suggested as she pet my head.

And that was when I began to feel tired. Extremely tired. My eyes fluttered down and I couldn't bring myself to resist the feeling. So much to my reluctance, while she began picking up and rearranging the stuffed animals, I dozed off.

Chapter Text

A few moments after Mystic ran out, the others woke up, confused.

"What the hell?" Colleen rubbed her head.
"What happened?"

C.P. looked confused.

"I....I don't know.....but I feel like I'm forgetting something....."

"Why does my cheek hurt?" Delta wondered aloud.

"I'll get you something to help, hon," Colleen said as she ran to the bathroom.

There were five others, though, that seemed to be relatively aware of the situation. They were upset, but also confused.

"Where's Mystic?" Nikita asked.

But Ivy was furious.

"She ran out after ye all laffed at 'er!" Ivy spat.
"An' not te mention everyfin' she 'ad te put up wiff fer the past week. Shame on ye! All a ye!"

Everyone looked at each other, confused as hell, and even a little hurt.

"You've been treating her like garbage for the past week," Cyrille explained calmly.

"How do you know about this?" Safiya asked curiously.
"Why didn't you get affected?"

"We still don't really know," Ro shrugged.
"We just have a feeling that there's a pattern."

"Wait....." Alice gulped.
"What....happened?"

They told them everything; the pancakes, the coal mines, the gaslighting, the bullying. The empaths were near tears.

"Okay, that's.....that's horrific," Colleen sniffled, tears rolling down her face as she gave Delta ice surrounded by a cloth to help with the pain.
"I feel like such a bitch....."

"I have to admit....." Delta sighed, trying not to cry.
"Even I haven't been treated that badly by you all. I've just been complaining for nothin---"

"Okay hon, I'm gonna have to stop right there," Nikita sighed.
"You're comparing Fenty Beauty to a store name brand. Her struggles do not invalidate your own. We've been bitches to you by ignoring you. You've been struggling too."

Delta was silent for a moment.

"Okay, but constant hypothermia.....daily splinters......barely any protective gear."

"You're still struggling, honey. Her. Struggles. Do. Not. Invalidate. Your. Own."

This confused Delta a bit. Why was Nikita being supportive of her all of a sudden? But she didn't need to wait for an answer; Nikita seemed to have read her mind.

"Struggles are struggles; we all go through shit, and we....really need to be there for each other more."

The others nodded a bit sheepishly. 

"Okay, but what I'm struggling with is what commonality the six of us have," Cyrille said.
"I don't know if anyone else had some suspicions or--"

"Oh crap!"

All of a sudden, Colleen seemed to have a realization.

"I....I remember now....I felt iffy for a bit too.....but I wanted to give her a chance, so....I went along with it.....something deep down kept telling me not to trust that bitch."

"An eighth?!" Lydia exclaimed.
"But what the hell do we all have in common?"

They all gave this some thought. 

"Age is out of the question?" Montana asked.

They nodded.

"So's height, and eye color, and everything else....." Cyrille said.

"Well, you're all female," Alice pointed out.

"True, but if that were the factor, a lot of you would be aware of what happened," Ro added.

"But it's literally just five of us. Well, it was six at one point."

"Six?" Nikita questioned.

Ro nodded.

"Delta questioned it too, but then suddenly did a 180 after Delilah started fawning over her."

The one in question blinked in confusion. 

"I did?"

"Yeah, and you and Mystic ended up getting into a fight just a few moments ago," Lydia answered.

"W-well, where is she now?"

"We don't know."

"So many questions and so few answers," Alice sighed.
"There has to be something we missed."

The group began to think when Delta seemed to notice something.

"Ivy? Why are you fidgeting with your hands?"

Ivy looked up, seemingly confused.

"What?" she asked.

Delta pointed at her hands.

"You've got them in a fist, and you're kinda rotating them on your middle phalanges."

"Nerd," Candy Pop coughed.

Delta gave him a glare, and then looked back to Ivy who shrugged.

"I dunno. I kinda just do it when I'm finkin' or when I'm nervous. It's somefin' I done since I was a kid."

Then probably the least likely person to contribute something.....actually contributed something.

"Wait.....what if the commonality isn't physical or anything to do with weight or gender or whatever? What if it's internal?"

A lot of the others looked confused, but it seemed that Sugarbelle got the idea.

"Something about the mind!" she gasped.

"Bingo!" Candy Pop said. 

The others looked around, still puzzled. 

"Think about it," Sugarbelle continued before pointing at herself.
"I think different. I do things different because of it. I speak different because of it. It's our brains! We're not typical-minded."

"Not typical--?" Lydia began before gasping.
"Shit! She's right. Isn't the kid autistic?"

Sugarbelle nodded which gave Delta the spark.

"I'm autistic as well!"

"Same here!" Cyrille added.

"Count me in that club as well," Lydia said.

"Okay, but if it's autism," Colleen said.
"That still doesn't explain--"

But then it dawned on Ro and her eyes widened.

"Oh my Gosh.....I could see it because I'm dyslexic!"

"But then that leaves Ivy and I," Colleen said.

"Well, do you have any disabilities?" Safiya asked.

Colleen nodded.

"I have ADHD."

"Wait, so do I!" Ro said.

"So do I, but I was treating her like shit," Gabbie said confused. "I think I saw something off, but.....I dunno."

Everyone seemed to be grasping it, except for Ivy.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" she said.
"That still don't explain 'ow I can....."

And then she seemed to reflect on something.

"What...what are some a the symptoms a disabilities?"

Cyrille shrugged.

"They vary from person to person."

"Her stimming!" Sugarbelle gasped.

She pointed at the fists, causing Ivy to look down.

"Wait....is that what it is? I always fought it was just an 'abit."

"You said you did it when nervous, right?"

She nodded and Sugarbelle gasped excitedly.

"Autism or ADHD!"

Hearing this, Ivy blinked.

"What? Me? But....what?"

"Wait a second," Matpat piped up.
"Alice, did Envy say anything about Ivy? Like about when they were kids?"

The girl in question pondered this.

"He didn't indicate her by name, but it was a safe bet they were about Ivy."

"What did he say?" Safiya asked.

"She had a tendency to fidget and couldn't sit still. She got into fights a lot at school. When she got rejected for something she cared a lot about, it would upset her. She couldn't focus on a subject unless it really interested her. She had a tendency to lose track of time. She used to have poor attention problems, but they got better after she started getting better at sword-fighting. Come to think of it, her training to be a pirate and use a sword seemed to help a lot, as well as practicing hypnotism. I think he said she'd also talk nonstop about swords, the sea, pirates, treasures, things of that nature."

They turned to Ivy.

"Is this true?" Nikita asked her.

The pirate princess was stunned.

"'Ow....'Ow did 'e remember all that?" she gasped.

"Wait, so that's all true?" Cyrille asked.

Ivy nodded.

"Okay, I'm not a doctor or a psychiatrist or anything," Colleen said.
"But that sounds like ADHD."

For the first time, Ivy seemed to be at a complete lost for words. 

"Ivy?" Cyrille asked in concern.
"You good, fam?"

She kinda blinked.

"Sorry, I'm just.....I'm tryin' te retain that, but....it's just not settin' in. Is....is that possible?"

"A lot of things are possible," Montana sighed.
"Just look at the dumpster fire that was 2020."

"But.....me......'avin' a disability.....?"

"Your girlfriend's got the same thing," Candy Pop chimed in.
"And she's autistic. And ADHD."

This only stunned her more, and then something seemed to strike her.

"Oh God.....what if love found out I was questionin' if I 'ad a disability? It's just.....I don't.....I don't even wanna say it, I'm worried that I'll 'urt 'er....."

She was trying to swallow down the tears, trying to think of anything to change the subject. Then she remembered Mystic was still missing. Immediately, she got up and ran off.

"Great, more chasing," Candy Pop huffed as the others got up to follow her. 

"You can stay back here by yourself," Lydia smirked as she rushed ahead.

Candy Pop blinked, thinking about those cutesy elves finding him, and he shuddered.

"Nah, I'm good," he said quickly before following.

Chapter Text

I felt myself stir. My eyes fluttered open and I found I was still in that four-poster, canopied nightmare of a bed. Delilah still had me in her care. 

And she was petting my head.

Do....do these villains have no concept of consent?

"Good morning, darling," she smiled.
"Did you sleep well?"

I did, surprisingly, but I wasn't going to admit that to her.

"I saved the coffee cake piece for you. It's in the oven. Would you like to eat it now?"

And why should I trust her, especially with food? I just turned on my side.

"Oh, come now, my dear. I just want the very best for you."

"Then let me go. Let us all go."

"I'm afraid that I can't."

"Why not?"

"I'm worried for you. Who's going to be your mother figure if you leave?"

Likely someone much, much better.

"If you stay with me, you'd never have to worry about feeling unloved ever again. I'd be able to give you everything you want and need. All I ask is that you stay and love me. I don't think that's too much to ask of you, do you?"

That felt like a red flag.

"Actually, for a woman who emotionally abused me for the past week, it fucking is too much to ask of me," I spat.
"I don't fuck around when it comes to emotional abuse!"

Delilah seemed confused and hurt, but at this point, I was just focused on getting out and getting back to my friends. You know, the people who actually love me.

"Don't act so surprised. You know you're a toxic bitch."

"There's no need for such language, my dear child."

"And there was no need to make me feel like shit!"

"How else was the plan going to work?"

"Maybe that was a sign that you shouldn't have gone through with it to begin with."

"But I need the love you give."

"You barely know me."

"I can tell in your heart that you're a loving girl, and I just want some of that for myself."

"You can't force me to give it to you."

"And I'm not."

"Of course, because trapping me in here isn't forcing me to give it to you."

"You can try to leave, but I'm not saying I won't try to get you back. Here, let me get you something to eat."

She got up and went to the kitchen. That was my cue. I rolled out of bed, and went out the opposite doorway only to find....

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me."

The room was like Minos' labyrinth. There were so many doors and hallways. How the hell was I supposed to find my way out? If I was trying to find my way in, using string or thread might not be a bad idea, but I wanted out, not in. 

"Guess I'll have to hope for the best."

And in I went.

Chapter Text

The others dashed off after Ivy, who was desperately searching everywhere for Mystic. And yet she was doing it in such a way that she wasn't getting caught? 

Could've sworn there were demented elves here last time we checked.

"Scary," Sugarbelle gulped.

"You and me both, but in different ways," he mumbled.

They came to a stop at a four-way intersection.

"Where now?"

That was when Delta had an idea.

"Jasmine? Can you track her scent?"

"I....I can try....."

The tiny tiger sniffed around, trying to pick up on Ivy's scent. Everyone was waiting with baited breath. The tiger herself, meanwhile, was using as much strength as she could to find her. 

"No dice...." she sighed.

All of a sudden, everyone's memories seemed to cut out. And the next thing everyone knew, three people were gone, leaving a corpse.

"Ciel!" Ro gasped.

"What happened?" Colleen exclaimed.
"Where's Alice? Where's Candy Pop?"

At this point, Ivy had stopped and was looking defeated.

"They're.....gone....." she sighed.
"It fer the best fer 'er, though...."

Everyone was speechless.

"Maybe they'll come back one day?" Ro suggested.
"Or maybe jump in and out, just to see how we are?"

"Maybe.....at least they're safe now."

"At least she didn't die in a death challenge," Delta said.

"Damn," Cyrille sighed.
"I barely knew them, but I'm glad they're somewhere safe."

Something seemed to shift in her suddenly, as in literally, it seemed as though she shifted roles in the story. 

"Did....did something just happen?" she asked.

They shrugged.

"--back again, and we need to get what we've been after."

"Shit," Ivy exclaimed.

"Why didn't Delilah deliver her to us by now?"

"I don't know! She's a sentimental bitch, maybe she took her in."

"In that case, we'll have to behead her, and take Mystic back!"

"Crap," Delta gulped.
"This is bad, like extremely bad!"

"Yeah, I don't like the way things are sounding," Cyrille gulped.
"We'd better get moving---"

Suddenly they heard a pounding on a door nearby.

"What was that?"

"Sounded like it came from Deli's chambers."

"No better chance than now for a beheading, I guess."

Cyrille rushed over to the door and fiddled with the doorknob.

"Let me help," Andrea volunteered.

The three, including the one on the other side, finally got the door open. Mystic burst out and into Andrea's arms, tears pouring down her face.

"What the fuck happened?"

Mystic could barely control her tears.

"Delilah.....she made you all----wait....where's Alice? Candy Pop?"

The others looked at each other, uncertain of what to say.

"Vee managed te get Alice an' C.P. out," Ivy finally spoke.

Mystic could feel her heart sink, but at the same time, there was hope.

"Well....she's safe now, right?"

Ivy nodded.

"Yeah, she is. So's Vee."

Hearing this, Mystic felt a mixture of grief and relief.

She's safe at least. No more of this nightmare for either of them. Maybe she'll come back someday, but.....

"There's gotta be a way I can at least remain in contact with her," she sighed.
"There has to be."

"We'll find a way," Ro assured her.
"We always do."

Mystic nodded.

"Yeah.....yeah, we do. And she's safe now."

She swallowed her tears as Andrea rubbed her back.

"Anyway.....Delilah made you all act mean to me. She's some sort of....energy vampire."

"I had a feeling she was a bitch," Colleen fumed.

"And she's another wannabe mom."

"Another?"

"Long story."

"Okay, it's great we're talking this through," Cyrille panicked.
"But we probably shouldn't be hanging out in the halls like this. Look!"

Mystic peeked out and her eyes bulged out of their sockets. They were a decent enough distance that she could see them, but not close enough to make out their faces. However, the pointed ears said it all. 

"Those goddamn elves are back...."

Chapter Text

This definitely wasn't where they were supposed to end up.

"I thought you had control over these powers."

"I do. Something just happened that fucked me up."

"Okay, but did it have to be somewhere cold?"

"It wasn't as though it was my choice!"

"Can you at least teleport us inside?"

"......I can try."

And they were gone.

The four of them fell onto the floor of a grandiose room.

"Is everyone okay?" a woman with dark, wavy hair asked.

"Relatively," replied a girl with brown hair as she got up.

"I don't know exactly what okay is," a boy in a school uniform sighed.
"After being in the apocalypse for almost fifty goddamn years, you kinda lose track of your emotions."

"And your sanity," a man with long hair said.
"I mean, your girlfriend was a mannequin. And not even like a full one. Just the upper half."

The boy turned on the man angrily.

"Do not bring Delores into this, Klaus!"

"Okay, but you at least have to admit that that's strange," the wavy-haired woman told the boy who sighed in return.

"Look, when every human on earth is dead, you have to do some weird fucking things to get companionship, Allison. Plus Delores and I understand each other."

"How does a mannequin understand anything?" the girl asked.

"Vanya, now's not the time for this."

"I mean, that's a good point, though," the woman called Allison said.

The boy groaned and began pacing about the room.

"Instead of what happened in the apocalypse, we should be focusing on figuring out where we are. And maybe get some info about the Blood Moon if we can find that."

"Yeah, speaking of that, are you ever gonna explain that to us?" Vanya asked.

"I need to be able to understand it more myself," the boy said as he looked around.
"Very posh, modern but elegant--"

"The Blood Moon?" Klaus asked.

"The room, you idiot. If I can get a sense of what sort of environment we've gotten ourselves in to, I might be able to figure out--"

All of a sudden, Vanya's ears caught wind of something.

"Um, guys. I don't think we're alone."

The boy stopped.

"Hmm. Probably just the wind."

"No, I know I heard something, and it wasn't the wind."

Vanya headed over to the door and opened it to reveal a massive group of people. Immediately they charged inside and shut the first set of doors before heading into the room the four of them were in and shutting and locking those doors.

"Shit!" one of them exclaimed.
"That was too close!"

"Way too close!" panted another.

"And I don't think we're alone," said another.
"Look."

They pointed at the group of four who simply blinked at them.

(Mystic's POV):

"What are you doing here?" a boy snapped.

Oh God....are they gonna get sucked in with us?

"Us?!" I responded.
"We were here first!"

"Who the fuck are they?" Andrea asked.

"The Umbrella Academy....Five, Vanya, Klaus, and Allison. No doubt Ben's here as well."

"Ben?!" Montana asked.

I nodded.

"He's dead, though."

Klaus nodded.

"Yeah, he's here. You just can't see him. I can."

"They all have a superpower," I explained as quickly as I could.
"Five can travel through time and teleport, Klaus can talk to and summon the dead, Ben could summon monsters to attack people with, Allison can rumor people into believing, saying, or doing something, and Vanya can turn sound into energy and she's telekinetic."

"Rumor?" Colleen asked.

I nodded.

"Anyway, we don't have time to chat. We're---"

Suddenly there was a bang behind us.

"Oh Jesus Christ!" Matpat exclaimed. 

"Give her to us!"

"We're running low on power. We need her!"

"Her?" Allison asked.

I gave them a very quick rundown of just this scenario. The entire story was gonna have to wait.

"Holy shit," Vanya exclaimed.

That's one way to put it.

The rest of us ran into the other room and slammed the door shut.

"So you know them?" Five snapped at me.

"I didn't choose to know them."

"How did you get into this mess?!"

"It's a long, fucking story. I'll tell you when we're not----"

BANG!

"DUCK!" someone yelled.

The door flung open and off of its hinges. Wood splintered everywhere as we all dove to hide. I slid over to the side of a nearby bed, one out of the sightline of the doorway. Andrea R ducked beside me, and I felt her warm hands on the back of my neck. A chill ran through my body. At the same time, I felt Ivy's hands as well and a second chill ran through me.

Oh my God.....am I.....with both of them?

But I soon realized that I needed to get my head back to reality and figured out how to get out of this, because the next three words were roared out by Sugarplum and practically scared the shit out of me.

"WHERE IS SHE?!"

Chapter Text

"Where is she?!"

My body froze in absolute panic. I didn't dare come out from my hiding spot, especially not with Andrea and Ivy protecting me. 

"Come on out and give her to us and you'll suffer the consequences!"

"I....I think it's 'or,' not 'and'."

"Ugh! Fine. Come on out and give her to us or you'll suffer the consequences!"

Nothing.

"We'll give you one last chance to do it voluntarily! Come on out and hand her over to us!"

Still nothing. One of the elves sighed.

"Alright, you asked for it! Search everywhere, and kill anyone who stands in the way."

My panic meter shot up. Kill them?! I couldn't let that happen! I tried to get up to reveal myself, but Ivy and Andrea held me down.

"I can't let them kill you!" I whispered harshly.

"But we need you here," Andrea said.

"But......murder and death."

"It doesn't matter, we need te keep ye safe, love," Ivy argued.
"Now shut up or I'll kiss ye."

"Is that a promise?"

"An' a freat."

"It's not a very scary one."

All of a sudden, one of them spoke up.

"I hear the sounds of GAY!"

"Where?!"

"Over here!"

We heard footsteps and then the smell of candy canes reached my nose.

"Aha!" Sugarplum exclaimed.
"I knew you'd be here."

Ivy tried to attack, but an elf parkoured over to the other side of the bed and held her back.

"Listen," I exclaimed.
"We really need that token piece---"

"Not a chance! And no challenge this time. You're going in!"

"Never!"

"Then you're being selfish! We've had to take turns in there ever since they stole that dark-haired boy."

I suddenly felt a grasp on my wrists, pinning them together.

"Your GAY has betrayed you," the elf behind me said.
"But your innocence is still strong. That's why we need you."

I struggled against them, but they just grasped my wrists even tighter. Sugarplum gestured to 2 elves.

"Get some backup and the throne."

They each gave a nod and ran off. Meanwhile, I saw Delta army-crawling behind them. She went up to one of the elves and hit them behind the knees. They gave a cry as they fell to the ground, and soon pandemonium began.

In this struggle as everyone was punching, kicking, biting, everything the shit out of everyone, I heard whimpers nearby. I looked over and saw Sugarbelle rocking back and forth. My stomach clenched, praying that she wouldn't lose it, but the prayers were too late.

The poor babey let out a cry of pain, immediately attracting the attention of Sugarplum. In an instant, she dove for the babey and pulled out a switchblade, holding it to her neck.

"Attack any of us one more time," she growled.
"And she gets it."

Meanwhile another elf spotted the baby tiger and now had her at knife point as well.

"Now hand her over," Sugarplum demanded.

"W-w-wait," I stammered.
"Can't we....can't we work out a deal?!"

"No deals! It's time for you to go."

In a last ditch attempt, I turned to Allison, pleading with my eyes. She knew exactly what I meant. Carefully she stepped up close to the elves.

"I heard a rumor," she said.
"That you gave us the token piece with no conditions."

Sugarplum's eyes glazed over and she nodded.

"O-okay, you can have it," she said.
"There's just one problem.....it's in a labyrinth, one that us elves are barred from entering without the risk of death. Only the boss can enter, but he's.....incapacitated. But even as humans, the labyrinth is dangerous. Since it's become a hybrid of Halloween and Christmas, not only is there dangers of Christmas, but also monsters lurking about, guarding the piece. A few of you will need to go inside the labyrinth to retrieve it, in case one of you dies in the process."

"So....are we doing a death challenge?" Ro gulped.

Hearing this the elves looked at each other and Sugarplum shrugged.

"We might as well, but once that token is removed, the door won't open without a spare power source. So at least for the time being, we need Mystic inside there."

My stomach dropped. I would still have to go inside no matter what?! I didn't want them to get stuck inside, but I wasn't about pass myself around as a commodity of sorts.

"If I go inside this....chamber thing or whatever to power up the labyrinth, you promise I'll be let out once it's done?"

They hesitated at this, which made me panic some more, and I looked back at Allison who nodded.

"I heard a rumor that once the ones who ventured into the labyrinth are outside of it with the token piece, you will let her out."

Sugarplum's eyes glazed over once again and she nodded.

"Yeah, we promise to let her out once the rest of you are out with the token piece."

Hearing this I gulped and nodded.

"Okay, I'll do it."

The two elves brought in the throne and Sugarplum caught them up to speed.

"At least nine of you will need to go in," she said as they let go of Sugarbelle, who immediately ran to Ro, as well as the baby tiger who ran back to Delta.
"Ten if you wanna be on the safe side, but we can take up to 12."

We looked around at one another.

"I'm....not sure we have that many here."

"Leave that to me," Five said.

Out of nowhere, he teleported away. Two silent minutes later, he returned with several of the others.

"H-huh?!" Teala exclaimed.

"Where are we?!" Gabbie asked.

"Uhh, I think those elves answer our question," Orpheus pointed.

That was when I noticed that we were missing a couple.....but had also gained a few.

"So is no one gonna catch us up on what's going on?"

"Lele?!" I exclaimed.

"I'm here too."

And Jesse!

"But....where are Sasha and Caelan?"

"Surprised you remembered them," Nina said.
"We had to sacrifice them to get these two back."

Hearing this Montana shivered.

"Don't remind me."

"So is no one gonna tell us what's going on?" Nikita asked.

"The usual," I shrugged.
"Another death challenge."

"Oh bitch," Bretman said.

"It's been a while since I've been in one of those," Jesse laughed nervously.

"So what are waiting for?" Roi said.
"Let's do this."

The elves began to move me to the throne.

"Wait....what the hell is that?" Lele asked.

"A long fucking story," I huffed as I hopped on.
"I'll see you after this. I'm the one who's gonna power the labyrinth."

Lifting up the throne, they opened the door and took me away.

It was quite a walk there. Well, for them anyway. But eventually we made it to a lab of sorts. A nicely-decorated one, though.

"We had this all set up for you," Sugarplum sighed.
"You'd be in a dream world."

"Let's just get this over with," I said quickly.

They lead me over to the white coffin thing and opened the door. I stepped inside and laid down with my back up. As they shut the cover and locked it, I gulped. 

This must've been kinda like how Justine felt, she probably felt much worse, though.

They began to pump in oxygen as well as another gasp that began to make me feel sleepy. My vision blurred up, and then I fell into a deep sleep.

Chapter Text

Andrea R's POV:

Once they took Mystic, we all kinda just.....stood there. We didn't really know what to do or what to expect, but a familiar face finally spoke up.

"So.....what the fuck is going on?"

I looked up to see Orpheus.

"What's going on is another death challenge," I told him.

Hearing this, he just blinked.

"God fucking dammit, what did Mystic get us into this time? And whomst the fuck are they?"

They gestured to the newcomers.

"None of your business is who," Five told them.

"Five, Klaus, Allison, Vanya, and Ben," Delta was quick to introduce.
"But Ben's dead."

"Oh. Great,"  sighed.
"There's death everywhere nowadays."

"Can we just get this over with?" Gabbie snapped.
"I'd really like to not have us be here any longer than we need to."

They looked at each other and nodded.

"So....where do we go to vote?" Colleen blinked.
"And how do we vote? We don't have cards for voting."

"I think we can help."

"WHATTHEFUCK?!"

I jumped at the voice behind me. 

"Alison, you really didn't have to scare me like that."

Calliope also came the fuck out of nowhere.

"We have cards with each of your names on them--"

"--In the event that we need to vote each other to die," Orpheus sassed, causing Taylor to laugh bitterly.

As she and Calliope organized out the cards, we all sat down and tried to figure out who should go in. 

"Well, it doesn't sound like innocence is a factor this time," I remarked.
"So then that doesn't exactly narrow down the group."

"I vote that Jesse and I don't get voted in," Lele suggested.
"Like, we just got back here. If we were to suddenly die.....like, that's messed up. Do you know how much shit Matt gave me in the afterlife?"

"Ditto," Cyrille said.
"For the 'not-going-in-because-I-just-came-back-from-the-dead' thing."

"Same here," Kyrie added.
"I was like the first to die, I think."

"We should probably keep people out who were in the last challenge," Sierra suggested.

"I agree," Joey nodded.
"As well as people who've been working the hardest."

"Okay, but what the hell can we define as 'working the hardest'?" Gabbie asked.

"Well....most of us have been background characters," Orpheus said.
"So why don't we just send those guys in and narrow it down to the significant characters?"

"You know what?" Yana spoke up.
"Why don't we send you in?"

"Cuz I was in the last challenge, dumbass!"

"You've been trying to get rid of us since we got here!"

"Because we don't need excess cannon fodder!"

"You're making yourself sound an awful lot like this traitor we were told about," Nina said.

"I'm just trying to do what's best for us, and carrying dead weight---"

While the arguing continued, I noticed that Taylor had sat next to Montana, who was next to me.

"Damn..." Taylor said to them.
"This is bad....."

"I know," she nodded.
"I wish we had some popcorn."

Tyler and I looked at each other, unsure about how to fucking stop this, when suddenly a blast of light came hurling at us!

We all ducked as it whoosh-ed against something. Looking up we saw a burning hole in the door.

"OOOOOOOOOP," Tyler exclaimed as we all slowly turned our heads to Alison, whose hands were still lit yellow.

"It's time to vote," she said calmly.

"We barely got any time to discuss!" Yana exclaimed.

"Well, if you hadn't started an argument with me--"

"Oh sure, I started the argument---"

"Wasn't she the quiet one before?" I asked Tyler.

"I.....I thought so....."

WHOOSH!

Another ball of fire.

"Yana, you're first," Alison said calmly.

The girl got up, immediately turned in a card, and---you know what? Fuck this. I'm not gonna go through the whole process. Y'all know how it works. 

"I will now shuffle, and draw 12."

Silence.

"Twelve?!" Joey exclaimed.

"Twelve."

We all blinked as Yana handed in her card. Once again, y'all know how this works. 

"Orpheus."

Everyone else blinked.

"Okay, WHOMST THE FUCK voted me in?" he snapped.

He glared at the rest of us, but mostly at Yana, who didn't really give much of a reaction, as Alison flipped over the next card.

"Five."

And the next.

"Allison."

And the next.

"Trigorien."

And the next.

"Delta."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," she whimpered.

"Nikita."

"Andrea Russett."

"Vanya."

"Stella."

"Cedar."

"Matthew."

And finally.....

"Bailey."

"Ah!"

We looked over at the bear-kid. Not them. No, please, God. Not them....

"Does it have to be them?!" I exclaimed.
"Can't we do a revote?"

"The votes have all been cast," Alison said.
"There's no way to change it. You twelve, please follow me." 

I gulped as we all got up and headed out. None of us knew what we were about to get into, and I wish I didn't have to find out.

Chapter Text

Andrea R's POV:

Alison lead us down several flights of stairs, except for Five or whatever, who was flexing his teleporting powers.

"Can you go one second without teleporting?" Nikita scoffed. "Not all of us have superpowers."

"Let me think about it. No."

She groaned.

"LeT mE tHiNk AbOuT iT. No,"  Orpheus mocked, getting him a glare from Five.

"I find it pretty cool," Matpat said.

"Of course you would," Nikita said. "You nerd."

Nikita just rolled her eyes in response.

"How far down is it?" Allison asked.

"Pretty damn far," Five said. "Hope you're ready for Leg Day."

"I hate this challenge already," Orpheus groaned.

I'm gonna spare you the details of the walk. No one needs to know that. Needless to say, my legs were throbbing by the time we got to the bottom. It was dark, save for a strangely-digital-looking maze with ten different entrances, each emanating a greenish glow. It was a mixture of holly jolly and spooky and it made me shiver. 

We heard the clips of feet nearby, looking over to see the elves approaching. 

"Well, about time," Sugarplum said. "I'd have asked for a much better bunch if it were up to me, but we'll take what we can get."

"Nice to see you too," Orpheus snapped.

Don't be so fucking. RUDE.

"So....what exactly is this?" Vanya asked.

"This," Sugarplum gestured. "Is the Labyrinth of Gallimaufry."

"Gallifrey?!" Delta gasped.

Sugarplum sighed and said the name slower.

"Gallimaufry. Each path has its own obstacles, some of them harmless, some of them deadly, so choose wisely. We've put up a barrier which keeps you from using magic, in case any of you have any. That includes superpowers."

Five glared them down. Good thing I didn't have magic.

"Before we start, I want each of you to pick a number and stand on it."

We all rushed over to a number.

Orpheus took 1.

Bailey stood next to him at 2.

Allison claimed 3.

Stella slid over to 4. 

Five, of course, went to 5.

Trigorien was on 6.

Vanya chose 7.

I decided on 8.

Delta went for 9.

Matpat dove for 10.

Cedar walked over to 11.

And finally Nikita stood confidently on 12.

"Now," Sugarplum continued. "As I said, each path will have its own obstacles, both harmless and deadly. However, some of them may also be life-changing, literally---hey! Are you listening?!"

She pointed over at Delta who was speaking into a tape recorder. She didn't seem to hear Sugarplum, though, so I gave her a nudge.

"Dude. Dude!" I whispered harshly. 

She looked up, her finger still on the record button. 

".....Well," she said. "This is.....awkward."

"Awkward? This could cost you your life!"

The blood drained from her face.

"Oh crap!"

Her finger lifted off the red button, and I breathed a sigh of relief. That was a close call. Sugarplum gave a grumble before continuing.

“As I was saying, some of these obstacles might literally change your life in some way or another, so don’t go blaming us if you end up losing an eye or grow a tail or something.”

The twelve of us were thinking roughly the same thing, I could tell; why the fuck didn’t they tell us this beforehand?!

“Okay, if you wanna get your friend out of that chamber, you’d better do it as soon as possible, so prep yourselves.”

My heart was pounding in my chest. What the fuck were we gonna encounter? Were some of us actually gonna die in this? I looked over the rest of them.

Orpheus just looked kinda pissed, but also like he was gonna fucking kill everyone there. I saw bloodlust in his eyes....or maybe he was just really fucking tired.

Bailey was hugging themself as well as Allison, trying to remain calm. And Allison just looked pissed.

“Oh God….oh God…..” Stella kept panting.

I had a feeling this wasn’t gonna be her lucky day.

That smug-ass Five just smirked at me, and I aggressively flipped him the bird.

“Up your ass,” he mouthed to me, the smirk still there.

I growled and moved on.

“Okay; focus, Trig,” the boy told himself. “Keep your eyes on the prize.”

Vanya was scared, that much was clear, but she wasn’t panicking as much as the rest.

Delta was in an absolute frenzy, and I could hear her praying for her to get out of this alive. To be honest, I felt kind of sorry for her; she hadn’t had much luck getting in the spotlight. Maybe this was gonna be her chance?

One can only fucking hope….  

Matpat was clearly in his own head, probably trying to shuffle out the shit he knows about puzzles, riddles, labyrinths, the whole 9 yards. I had a feeling his chances were pretty damn good.

Cedar looked like they had their stomach in knots. I barely know much about this kid, but in terms of survival, I wasn’t sure if they had a chance.

If you don’t make it out, it was nice knowing your name.

And if Nikita was scared, she wasn’t showing it. Like Five she was acting like this was just another everyday thing, keeping that damn boss-ass bitch persona up at the front. 

“Ready?” Sugarplum asked, though I had a feeling it wasn’t really a question.

And I was right.

“Go!”

The doors snapped open and we all dashed through.

Chapter Text

(Bailey’s POV):

As I ran inside the labyrinth, I was scared of course, but if we didn’t get this token piece, Mystic might be stuck in there forever! She’s my friend. I wasn’t gonna let them keep her!

“Am strong and brave bear,” I nodded as I rushed inside.

The first leg of the labyrinth had me semi-entranced. It was bright-golden with honeycomb and bees all around, and I could smell that delicious nectar produce. It was as if I was inside of a beehive!

“Maybe this won’t be so bad,” I smiled as I skipped through. Sure I was getting some honey on my feet, but I could easily clean that up. Around me I could hear happy buzzing. I looked around and saw that those honeybees were hard at work. I waved to them with a smile, and despite me being a bear, a few of them smiled back. 

I felt like Winnie the Pooh, so I started bouncing through the hive like him.

“This looks like it’d be fun to draw!”

Maybe also a challenge, but mostly fun. I was pretty caught up in my head, trying to figure out how I was gonna draw this, and maybe it could be a portrait with Alice and Mystic! 

“I miss Alice…” I sighed. “But I’m so glad she’s safe with Envy.” 

I was actually getting pretty caught up in my own thoughts, so much so that I didn’t notice that the honey was increasing in height. This may not seem like a big deal to some, but let me remind you; am small bear! (Also am smol bear)

In fact, I didn’t notice the impending danger, until the honey was up to my neck.

“Ah!” I exclaimed, my heart pushing at the honey through my chest. “Where did this all come from?!”

And then suddenly, I heard something squeak open above me. In a flash, more honey began to drizzle down. I tried to push through, but I soon realized that the honey had become much stickier than before, making it even more difficult to push through. But I had to push through. 

“This may take a while,” I sighed, running through the honey as fast as I could.

(Delta’s POV):

I skidded inside of the labyrinth, completely unsure of what to expect, which terrified me. I didn’t have my furbaby with me to calm me either, so I had to rely on self-talk.

“Breathe, Delta. Breathe,” I told myself. “There are so many worse situations you could be stuck in. You could be back with Junko, doing that experiment, where you become talented and useful, but apathetic….”

I began to slow down. I couldn't believe I was thinking this, but.....was it possible that being useless actually had its perks? I mean, why should I give up my memories and emotions in exchange for talent? What if I didn’t recognize Dawn or Benny or Jermaine or Bart anymore? What if I didn’t recognize Mystic or Bailey anymore? The thought itself was terrifying. Imagine if it was a reality.

“Don’t dwell on it,” I told myself. “Just keep going, just keep go--”

I’d arrived at the first leg of the labyrinth. 

It was a bronze metallic room with a familiar aura. A...robotic extermination aura.

“Am...am I….inside of a….?”

I was hesitant to say the name. I wasn’t sure if that would wake them or not. Were they even around here? Were any of the other monsters here?

“Don’t blink,” I told myself. “Don’t blink….blink and you’re…..no, don’t say it, don’t say it.”

Out of nowhere I heard the sounds of them moving towards me.

“ASSIMILATE!”

My heart did a double backflip at the sudden noise.

“Assimilate?!”

Okay, I didn’t care how into the show I was. I didn’t want to become one of them, especially not when I was already at risk of becoming an apathetic being of destruction and chaos! My fight or flight instincts kicked in and I booked it, not even daring to look back, despite hearing their engines or gears or whatever they’re made up of, speed up.

“Gotta go fast, gotta go fast, gotta go faster, faster, faster-faster-faster!”

But as terrible as this first situation seemed, in the moment, I didn’t realize that things were most likely about to get even worse…..

(Andrea’s POV):

You bet your ass that as soon as those doors were opened, I was in that labyrinth. I’m pretty sure that, like the rest of them, I didn’t know what to expect. All I knew was that my heart was pounding and I was fucking terrified.

“Okay, where the fuck is that token piece?”

I felt like I should’ve brought a joint or something, because I felt stressed as fuck. What were these obstacles gonna be? They said each one was different, some of them even deadly or life-changing. Like I said, I didn’t know what to expect, but what I saw when I got to the first leg or whatever…..

“Oh fuck…”

Sure as hell wasn’t it.

My mind raced right back to 2017; Joey, that masquerade, the vampires, the riddle. This was what I was supposed to face? It was the ball room. Vampires were dancing everywhere…..some of them were even getting way into it, if you follow me. There was no way they’d recognize me, right? I was in a completely different outfit, and they looked so busy.

This’ll be easy.

But that was when I came face-to-face with her.

“....Vera….”

Yup, Vera. The vampire I danced with when I went into the ballroom to answer the riddle. Our eyes met and she gave a smile that made me wanna get the fuck outta there.

“So...we meet again, Andrea….”

She leaned toward me, close to my hair, and breathed in heavily.

“Ahh…..you smell just as divine as when we first danced together.”

And then she told a hold of my hand.

“And your skin is just as soft.”

Our eyes met again.

“And your eyes just as lovely….”

Andrea, get the fuck out of there, you dumb fucking bitch.

But I couldn’t.

“Oh…..but what’s this?” she asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

“H-huh?”

She scowled.

“You….are fond of another?”

“No….no, I’m not….”

“Oh, don’t lie to me, darling…..”

With a graceful transition, she circled around me.

“Oh…..it seems you have a fondness for….her….”

I gulped.

“We’re just friends.”

“Only just?”

My head nodded quickly, as if I was on fucking autopilot. 

“I see….but you wish for something more….don’t you?”

“No!”

She chuckled.

“You answer all too quickly, as if to protect her….”

All of a sudden, I felt her behind me, breathing down my neck.

“But if what you say is true….then I suppose you wouldn’t mind if I….took a drink…..to mark what is truly mine…..”

Before I could respond, I heard a hiss and then felt a surge of pain as something pierced the left side between my neck and shoulder. 

“Shit….fuck….get your fangs outta me, bitch!”

“Oh, it’s too late for that….far too late….”

I began to develop a haze in my vision as more of my blood was being sucked out from me. Dizziness began to set in and my legs felt weak. Eyes fluttering….a pain in my jaw…..

Complete silence and darkness.

(Vanya’s POV):

I was hesitant, but nonetheless I rushed inside the labyrinth. 

“Okay, you can do this, Vanya,” I told myself. “You’ve gone through worse than this.”

I actually was slightly confident in myself because I felt I had an upperhand; the labyrinth was a no-magic, no-power zone, and I’d spent the vast majority of my life believing I was just ordinary, whereas my siblings didn’t. So if there was any one of us who could get through it the best, it was me.

That is if I didn’t have to go through the first leg.

I was back at the academy…..

My chest began to tighten as I felt all of the pain rush back to me in a complete and utter implosion. But as terrible as I felt then and there, it was only about to get worse.

“I heard a rumor…..”

The voice of my sister….

“You think….”

At the age of four.

“You’re just ordinary….”

The age my life became a lie.

As I walked through the labyrinth as best as I could, her words began to overlap, followed by others.

“To go on a mission…”

Ben….before his death….

“You actually have to have a power, Vanya….”

My pulse quickened as sweat beaded down my forehead. 

“I told you, Number Seven,”

But his words hit the hardest.

“There just seems to be nothing special about you…”

And then there they were…..

My sister at the age of four….my dad who manipulated her into rumoring me…

“You two….” I croaked. “You ruined my childhood….”

“You’re far too dangerous, Number Seven--”

“I have a name!” I snapped. “I’m a human being and I have a name. I’m not just some number for you to toss aside!”

“I did it for your own good--”

“No, you did it because you’re selfish! There were other ways you could have handled this, but no. You decided that you’d rather destroy me. You destroyed my self-esteem. It was you who set me up to cause the apocalypse. You, Reginald Hargreeves; a man who thinks he’s so much smarter than everyone else. Well guess what? You’re not! You’re a bigger idiot than anyone I’ve ever met.”

Tears were beginning to well up in my eyes, but then I heard sniffling. I looked down to see Little Allison, her face was scrunching up.

“Vanya….” she squeaked. “I….please….I didn’t know….I’m sorry….”

I was ready to go off on Allison as well, but then I saw someone else in the background, in the shadows, with straight brown hair and in the uniform. It was little me. It made me remember all of the times after I found out; the times I blamed myself for not questioning how I was the only one without powers. Why didn’t I keep at it? Why didn’t I--?

“But….I was just a kid….how was I supposed to know…..?”

That was when it hit me….when we talked at that cabin...she’d been right. She was just a kid, just like I was….how was she supposed to know what she was doing?

“Allison, stop,” I sighed. “You have nothing to apologize for. It hurts, I won’t lie….but you didn’t know….”

I went over and embraced her.

“I forgive you,” I told her through tears.

Then I heard the clicking of shoes coming closer.

“So do I…” I heard little me say. “So do I…”

Soon we broke from the hug.

“C’mon,” Little Allison said. "We can help you get to the token piece, but it’s going to be a long walk.”

I nodded.

“Lead the way then.”

And we were off.

Chapter Text

(Mystic’s POV):

The first thing I heard was a sort of ringing sound, like the one you hear in your ear sometimes; it’s the one you hear when things are too silent. I opened my eyes to a bright white….expanse, I guess you could call it. Everything and nothing, I suppose.

“What sort of freaky shit is this?” I mumbled as I sat up. “Where the hell am I?”

“You really forgot? Oh my God. You’re such a fucking idiot. This….is your mindscape…..”

I whirled around….and there she was.

“Dystic,” I growled.

She smirked and gave a little chuckle.

“The one and only. Oh, and before you ask, the spell I placed on Alice isn’t nullified. It’s just transferred.”

My chest caught a hold of my breath when I heard this, and my pulse began to quicken.

“What-what do you mean?”

She chuckled.

“Oh hon, every protagonist needs a main supporting character….and when she left, it simply transferred over to someone else.”

“Who?”

She just kept laughing, beginning to push my anger up to the surface.

“Who?!” I repeated, louder.

More laughing, which only made it rocket upwards.

“Who?!” I yelled.

She stopped.

“What’s the fun in telling you? Better for you to find out for yourself. Just like the traitor, and the 8th token. Plus it’s way more fun to watch you struggle.”

I tried to swallow down my anger as she began circling me.

“So….it seems you’ve added a few new schmucks to the group….how lovely. All the more cannon fodder, all the more throwaways, all the more people in the group who will develop reasons to fucking hate you.”

“They don’t hate me,” I snapped at her.

“Oh? So you’re a mind reader now?” she smirked. “Interesting. How do you know that they’re not around you out of pity? How do you know that they’re not around you because they have to be? I mean, you are quite delicate, after all.”

“I’m not delicate.”

“Really? Because I’ve seen you crack at even the slightest bit of criticism.”

“That happens to a lot of people.”

“To the extent that it’s happening to you? I don’t think so, honey.”

My heart began pounding, banging against my chest as if it was trying to get out of a glass dome. I wanted this bitch gone, for good.

“Can you just….shut the fuck up for once?”

“Mmmmmmm, nah.”

She began to hurl insult after insult at me. I dropped to my knees and covered my ears. Like I said, I wanted this bitch gone, and I wanted her gone for good . I didn’t want to be here anymore. I had to save my friends. But where the hell was I supposed to go? I was trapped in the recesses of my mind.

And then something stranger happened. Her expression changed. Some of the malice left her eyes, replaced with a mix of melancholy and curiosity with a stitch of rage.

“Why am I like this?”

Those five words from her stunned me; they sounded…..sincere. I could feel the anger drop out of me.

“What did you say?”

“Why did you make me like this? Is it to fit your ideal? To fit what you needed?”

The sentence took a bunch of liquid confusion and poured it right into me. 

“I…..I….”

“Why?!”

My heart began to beat haywire. What was I supposed to say? What the hell did she mean?

“I’m not making you anything! You appeared like that.”

“Are you really trying to play dumb? We both know you’re far too smart for that. Tell me, is it to cope? Or is it really to….escape?”

Wait. Did Dystic actually say something good about me for once? What was going on? My heart rate was climbing the steps to a nonstop beat, only getting faster and faster. Of course I use fiction to escape, but I never made anything.

“You get bored so easily too…..where has that eldritch simp been? Where are you hiding him?”

“I’m not hiding anything!”

“Oh please, hon. You hide everything in plain sight. The only one who’s not seeing it is you. So let me ask you this again. Why did you make me like this?”

A lump was forming in my throat and I felt myself losing air. What the hell was she talking about? I didn’t make anyone like anything.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Stop lying to me!”

Snapping at me, she rose up in the air, and she brought me up as well. My heart was bouncing all over like a pinball.

“You really don’t know? You’re missing the most obvious thing. I saw it the second I appeared. How this is all working, why things are changing, why people are dropping dead….or being erased.”

“Just….just go away!”

“You don’t want me to, do you? Otherwise I’d have been gone long ago. Unless of course, I’m just knocking on your mind’s door to give you a reality check. Why else would I now sound like her?”

“Go!”

“You really like to torment yourself, don’t you? Why? Why can’t you just accept what they’ve all told you time and time again? Oh, now I remember. Trauma. So much trauma. That’s always your go-to, isn’t it?”

“GO!”
A shriek sounding completely different from my own voice shot out of my mouth. Dystic sighed as she floated us back down to the ground.

“Fine. I’ll play along. I’ll play into this little pocket of yours for now. But I’m not done with you yet, sister--”

“Hi sisters!”

Someone popped up, causing us both to jump in surprised.

“Oh! Well, would you look at that? I was wondering when he’d show up. Anyhow, I’m not done with you yet. You and I still have a long way to go. A long, long way to go.”

She whirled around and began to leave, but stopped and turned back a second.  

“Oh. Just a suggestion. Cut it off here after I leave.”

“Cut what off?”

She turned back around and started walking away.

“Cut what off?!” I repeated.

And then she just….disappeared, leaving me to wonder.

“What…..what is she talking about?”

Chapter Text

(Stella, Trigorien, & Cedar)

The Labyrinth of Despair.

(Stella)

By Stella Rhodes

(Trigorien)

Trigorien Kingsley

(Cedar)

And Cedar McIntire.

(Stella, Trigorien, & Cedar)

Entering the labyrinth,

Running through the halls

To get to each room.

(Stella)

Those are the easy parts.

(Trigorien)

The hardest part

(Cedar)

Is trying to cling to hope.

(Stella, Trigorien, & Cedar)

Whatever hope I have left.

But the hope has become a blur 

(Stella)

A blur of pain, 

(Trigorien)

Of screams, 

(Cedar)

Of agony. 

(Stella, Trigorien, & Cedar)

I can’t hear the others.

but I feel them screaming with me

It’s like we’re struggling 

through the very same obstacles together.

(Stella)

“Almost there.”

(Trigorien)

“Not far now.”

(Cedar)

“Might make it.”

Then a siren goes off, 

causing me to cover my ears.

When I look up, I see

(Stella)

A dark bird.

(Trigorien)

A seagull.

(Cedar)

A lumberjack.

(Stella, Trigorien, & Cedar)

They begin taunting me to no end.

(Stella & Trigorien)

Its beak pecking at the air.

(Cedar)

The axe swiping for me.

(Stella, Trigorien, & Cedar)

“You’ll never make it,” it says.

“You’ll be stuck here forever,” it says.

(Stella & Trigorien)

Why should I try to outrun a bird?

(Cedar)

A robotic lumberjack?

(Stella)

It’s better than doing nothing.

(Trigorien)

It’s better than just accepting a futile ending.

(Cedar)

It’s better to have tried and failed.

(Stella, Trigorien, & Cedar)

Than to simply not try at all.

My feet run as fast as they can carry me,

But I find new obstacles on my way back. 

(Stella)

A wall of spikes.

(Trigorien)

Broken sea glass.

(Cedar)

A room of buzzsaws.

(Stella, Trigorien, & Cedar)

“Is this my punishment?” I ask, to no voice in particular.

“But what was my crime?”

(Stella)

The wall begins to close in.

(Trigorien)

Green liquid spouts out of the glass.

(Cedar)

The buzzsaws turn on at max speed.

(Stella, Trigorien, & Cedar)

And I run like hell.

Dodging

(Stella)

Spike after spike.

(Trigorien)

Shard after shard.

(Cedar)

Saw after saw.

(Stella, Trigorien, & Cedar)

“There’s a chance I can still make it!” I exclaim.

“There’s a chance I’ll get out!” I exclaim.

My heart begins to fill up with hope once more.

(Stella & Trigorien)

I hear the screech of the bird.

(Cedar)

I hear the swing of the axe.

(Stella, Trigorien, & Cedar)

But I can’t look back.

It’s now or never.

It’s now or never.

It’s now or never!

But….

(Stella)

My shirt is caught on one of the spikes.

(Trigorien)

My pants leg gets hooked by one of the shards.

(Cedar)

The saws move in closer and I trip mid-dodge.

(Stella & Trigorien)

I try to pull myself free.

(Cedar)

I try to dodge the blades.

(Stella, Trigorien, & Cedar)

But it’s no use.

No.

Use.

(Stella)

The walls close in.

(Trigorien)

The acid begins to eat away at my leg.

(Cedar)

The blades begin to dig into my flesh.

(Stella, Trigorien, & Cedar)

An ugly scream from my mouth,

Tears falling down my face,

A lump inside my throat,

As I quietly know exactly what’s to come.

I resign myself to what’s to come.

There’s no escaping what’s to come.

Not for me.

Not for you.

Not for anyone.

(Stella)

“Roi…..Teala…...fulfill my wish….”

(Trigorien)

“Nina….Yana….Sybille….don’t forget our legacies….”

(Cedar)

“Survive this for me. Okay? I believe in you all.”

(Stella, Trigorien, & Cedar)

Goodbye…..

Chapter Text

(Vanya’s POV):

I was the first one who made it out, the token piece in hand. It was as if a heavy weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I made it. I was safe. I just had to wait for the others. But as I did, time seemed to move through molasses and my heart began to beat even more. Where were the others? Had the labyrinth gotten ahold of them? My stomach tensed up, but something else made my breath leave my body.

It felt as though the token piece had divided itself in half. I looked down and saw that it was no longer a single quarter, but an eighth of a token. What the hell was going on? Was I just hallucinating? But I really felt it divide in half, I swore I did. How? 

All of a sudden, I heard three buzzers pierce my eardrums. Blaring lights, like on a police car, came down from the ceiling just over three of the doors. Out of nowhere steel plates sealed themselves over the three and a lump formed in my throat. I didn’t know exactly what had just happened, but I had a feeling that it wasn’t good.

“Oh my fucking God!”

The guy from door 1 emerged, covered in blood and cuts, his hands on his knees as he attempted to catch his breath. I looked at him, not sure if I should help him or not.

“Are….are you okay?” I asked him.

He glared up at me with one so cold I could swear I was frozen to the spot. 

“Oh yeah, totally,” he snarked. “I’m not even phased.”

I put my hands up as if to surrender.

“I was just asking if you were okay.”

“Am out!”

A small kid/bear tumbled out of door 2, covered in sticky, golden honey. 

“Am okay!” they exclaimed. “I didn’t get the token piece, but am okay!”

“Good to know,” I nodded. 

They seemed like such a sweet bear-kid I think I would’ve been devastated if they hadn’t made it.

“Vanya!”

The third door opened and Allison….

“Vanya!”

She had tears in her eyes.

“I…..I’m so sorry….for what I did to yo--”

“Stop,” I told her. “It’s like you said; you didn’t know what you were doing. I forgive you.”

“Oh good. The two of you finally made up.”

Five strode on out as if nothing had happened, except for the fact that he was covered in blood. He also had a mug in his hands, weirdly enough.

“What the hell did you see?” I asked.

He shrugged.

“The Temps Commission had you and Delores captive, so I just killed them.”

Of course he’d say it with nearly no emotion in his voice.

“They also gave me a decent cup of coffee after I did.”

“God…..fucking damn it!”

Door eight opened up. The girl who emerged from it was gripping her jaw and wincing in pain. 

“What happened?” I asked her.

She immediately answered, shaking her head.

“I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Ahhh! Get me outta there!”

The woman with glasses and a pixie cut practically slid on out of door nine as if she was trying to reach home base. 

“Delta!” 

The bear-kid rushed to her side.

“What happened?”

She went into a fetal position.

“Daleks…..there were daleks everywhere….they were trying to turn me…..into one of them…”

Immediately the bear-kid cleaned themself off as best they could and hugged her; even though I barely knew who she was, my heart ached to see her like that. I had no clue what daleks were, but based on how she was reacting, I likely didn’t want to encounter them any time soon.

“Yes! Made it out!”

The guy in the leather jacket rushed on out like he had just run a marathon.

“You’re looking pretty pumped for someone who just went through a death maze,” I pointed out.

He’d also put his hands on his knees and was catching his breath.

“So much FNAF lore…..I could hardly keep track of it all.”

“Honey, that was so fucking easy.”

The lady with the platinum-blonde hair strutted out like she was part of a fashion show, flipping her hair when she exited.

“But oh my God, there were so many hunky men in there.”

I blinked at her.

“Can’t relate.”

“What about those three doors?” Allison whimpered.

She pointed at the three that were barred and steel-plated up; doors 4, 6, and 11.

“Who….who was in there?” Delta asked quietly, a tremble weaving through her voice as she got up from her fetal position.

“Those were Stella’s, Trigorien’s, and Cedar’s doors,” the kid-bear gulped. “But….if they’re all closed up, then…..”

It suddenly clicked for us all why they were shut off. Allison’s hand shakily rose over her mouth. Most of the others looked solemn.

“Oh God…..” the tenth door guy gasped.

“I…..I can’t take this,” Delta squeaked.

“This isn’t right.” The bear-kid shook their head. “People shouldn’t be dying so quickly. We’re being treated like fictional characters that you could just kill off at any moment.”

“Shit happens, I guess,” the catwalk lady shrugged, but her voice also sounded slightly saddened. “We just need to move on. C’mon, we gotta get Mystic and fucking go.”

Reluctantly we all turned back to the stairs and began the long trek up. I couldn’t help but think about the bear-kid and what they’d said. How much had this group gone through at this point? 

(Joey’s POV)

“Alright, this is too fucking much!”

At this moment, Miss Gabbie was having an absolute meltdown. 

“I just wanna go home,” she snapped as she stood up. “I want this to be done with.”

“Bitch, we all do,” Bretman huffed. “But we’re not complaining.”

“Don’t you think you should be? This is all Mystic’s fault. She brought us into this mess!”

Whoa, okay. That was more than enough.

“Gabbie, calm down,” I said. “It’s not her fault. She didn’t know what she was doing.”

“How the fuck do you know that?!” And now I was her target. “How do you know she wasn’t collabing with that tentacled freak?”

“She wouldn’t be running from him if she did,” Tana piped up. 

“She could be a really good actress for all we know.”

“Oop!”

Thank you, Tyler.

At that moment, she clenched her jaw and dropped back onto the couch.

“Ugh, this is so frustrating!”

“I think she’s genuinely scared,” Sierra said. “I don’t think anyone of us would want something like him going after any of us.”

“But don’t you think this shit’s gone on for too long?”

“Huh?”

A groggy voice emerged from the doorway.

“What’s gone on for too long?” Mystic arrived in the doorway with most of the group.

Immediately Gabbie’s anger blasted back up, as did she out of her seat.

“This shit!”

She rocketed towards Mystic.

“This shit’s all your fault!”

Mystic shifted from tired to angry in a second.

“You think I don’t know that, bitch?” she snapped back as Little Miss Jasmineania rocketed over and into Delta’s arms, the latter of which looked like she was going to implode. “You don’t think I blame myself every single fucking second of every single fucking day for dragging you into this bullshit?!”

“You’re the one who’s bullshit!”

A pair of hands pushing her chest later, the gal hit her ass on the ground wincing in pain, Gabbie towering over her. At that moment, Miss Ivy and Miss Russett went right up to her. 

“Gabbie, back the fuck up and leave Mystic alone.”

“Ye got a deaf wish?”

“Okay, don’t act like you’re not tired of this bullshit either! You know it fucking sucks!” 

“Maybe it does, but it’s not her fault!” 

“Oh come on! You’re buying into that too?!”

“Why are you suddenly acting like this, Gabbie?” Teala piped up.

“I’ve been going above and beyond to be patient and kind and tolerant, but now I’m fucking done.”

“Honey, you’re not going above and beyond by being a decent person.” Now Nikita had had enough.

"For someone like Mystic, I think I am!"

"Gabbie," the little cinnamon ROll was trying to defuse things now. "This isn't okay. Mystic's doing what she can to--"

And oh my God, Miss Gabbie whirled right on her. I could practically see and hear the snakes hissing at Ro.

“Can you just shut the fuck up?!” the monster practically screamed.

I was about ready to choke a bitch, and clearly so were a lot of others, when a shriek came over from Colleen’s spot. Little Miss Sugarbelle had situated herself in her lap and she was wincing….Gabbie’s yelling seemed to literally be causing her pain.

“Too loud!” Sugarbelle cried out. “Too loud!”

Colleen tried to calm her down, but that was when---

“Darling!”

Miss Vampire Lady slammed open the doors, looking worse than ever. Like it looked like she was about to pounce on the nearest person and suck up their blood.

“My darling!”

I looked over to Delta who was looking hopeful. But to our surprise, she bent down and hugged Mystic. 

“Oh my sweet darling!”

“Wha...wha….what?” Delta was speechless. “I….I thought I was the one you cared about…”

Miss Delilah didn’t even look up at her.

“Oh please….you were just a cover-up. I never cared about you.”

A squeak of betrayal emerged from Delta’s mouth, and I could tell that that hit her hard. This bitch wasn’t about to get away with saying that, not on my watch. I stood up.

“Okay, I don’t know what your problem is,” I began. “But no one talks to my friends like that and gets away with it.”

“There’s nothing you can do to me, boy,” she hissed at me. “You know you’re all powerless against me. I’m going to have Mystic as my little vampire daughter, and nothing you say or do will stop me!”

“Lady.”

Oh God. Not Miss Gabbie.

“I know you can do way better than Mystic. She’s just gonna drag you down. That’s all she’s done to us, but she’s never tried to make things better. Do you know how self-centered she is? How often she plays the victim? She doesn’t care about anyone except for herself.”

I didn't know too much about Mystic, but I had a feeling that she wasn't going to take that well. However, even I underestimated how poorly she'd take it.

“You fucking take that back, you lying bitch!”

And then Miss Gabbie was also on the floor, with Mystic just going at her like wild. She was almost like a wolf, biting and clawing at her, and she was practically screaming.

“Don’t you dare say I don’t care about anyone! Don't you dare say I'm self-centered! And as for playing the victim, why not look in a fucking mirror?" 

"Learn from yourself!" Gabbie began to fight back, her force trying to match Mystic's. "You try to make everything about you, but it's not about you! Why can't you get that through your fucking head?! Why can't you just stop acting like the fucking princess you see yourself to be? You're the most self-centered person--"

"SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!" Mystic was now roaring with fury, with what seems like thousands of emotions flying out, and I was terrified. "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S SELF-CENTERED! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S AN ATTENTION WHORE! YOU NEVER OWN UP TO YOUR MISTAKES! YOU NEVER ACKNOWLEDGE WHEN YOU FUCK UP! ALL YOU DO IS PLAY THE VICTIM!"

Colleen and I thought the same exact thing; if no one broke them up, someone was gonna get mauled, especially since this was AFAB rage which is terrifying. We immediately ran over and had to hold them back while they both clawed at the air.

“Mystic! Calm down!” Colleen said as I saw her struggle to keep ahold of Miss Mystic. “This isn’t how you handle things.”

“This is all Gabbie’s fault! She started it!”

“And I’m going to end it.”

Oh yeah, we’d almost forgotten that Miss Vampire Lady was in the room with us. And now that she was back on her feet, I saw that she had changed. Her fingers were now curved into sharp talons. She nearly touched the ceiling of that room. Her skin was now wrinkly as hell and even cracked, with blood oozing out of some areas. And on her back were these giant, ancient-looking bat wings.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Delta gulped.

“I’m taking Mystic as my precious, little vampire daughter,” Miss Vampire Lady replied, her voice now sounding more like a freaking harpy with laryngitis. “And the rest of you will make for so many lovely blood meals for us two.”

Speaking of blood, I felt all of mine drain from my face. We were all at the mercy of this old vampiric hag. What the hell were we supposed to do?

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.”

Miss Bat-Wing-Sleeves seemed to have the answer.

“What if we traded someone in as a meal? Would you let the rest of us go?”

Deep down, I knew this was a terrible idea, but what other choice did we have? So I nodded.

“I think that’s a decent trade.”

The Beldam knock-off gave this a decent amount of consideration. I’m not joking; you could literally feel yourself suffocate in the tension as she thought this shit over.

“Welllllllllll.” Of course she was going to stretch it out. “I suppose…..very well. You must vote for one person to be my blood meal for the day. Whoever is drawn will suffer.”

More blood drained from more faces. None of us wanted to do it, sure, but like I said; what other choice did we have?

“I’ll give you up to twenty minutes to discuss and choose,” she said as she left the room.

The door slams echoed against our ears as we all likely came to the same realization.

We had to betray someone.

Chapter Text

(Mystic’s POV):

The whole room was silent for a few moments as we tried to process what Delilah had just told us. We had to vote for someone to be betrayed. Of course, we’d sort of done this shit before with the Nutcracker thing, but this was a direct betrayal with a single person. One of us was going to go right into the lion’s den and never come out.

“Well, I know who I’m voting for.” Nikita was, of course, the first to break the silence. 

“So do I,” Bretman said.

I looked back and I saw Gabbie giving me a death glare. It was almost as if to say “If you don’t get picked to be this bitch’s meal, I’ll just eat you myself.”

“Gabbie, you know that wouldn’t go down well with the Cursed God.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Oh my God, can you just stop using that fucker as an excuse?”

“Well, I’m sorry if I’m trying to keep you all from dying!” I clapped back. “If CG finds out I died, I highly doubt that’ll go down well with him, to say the least.”

“She’s right.” 

I was surprised to see that it was Destorm who came to my aid.

“If we’re going to get out alive, we need Mystic to stay alive.”

And surprisingly, that kind of shut Gabbie up.

“Okay, let’s disperse a little bit,” Colleen suggested. “We’ll talk it over.”

We all nodded and a group with Joey, Delta, Sierra, Colleen, Cyrille, and a few others were over in the corner.

“Gabbie has got to go,” I whispered harshly. 

Just to clarify; I don’t consider myself to be a very violent person. I apologize to objects when I bump into them in the middle of the night. The only time I can really get violent is within my stories. But at that moment, I’d never wanted someone gone more than I wanted Gabbie gone.

“I agree,” Joey nodded. “She’s being extremely disrespectful and unfortunately, this isn’t uncommon for her. Her reputation kind of precedes her.”

“For once I’m okay with this,” Delta added.

I assumed we’d fixed this at first, but another thought jumped into my head. What if Delilah was like the Beldam? What if, even if we gave her what she’d wanted, she wouldn’t let me go? I decided to bring this up to the group.

“We could probably sneak you and the others out while she’s feeding,” Cyrille suggested. “She’ll be so busy that she likely won’t notice us going.”

“But what if it backfires?” Sierra whimpered. “I don’t want to end up as a blood meal!”

“We’ll have to improvise then,” Colleen said. “We’ll fight, run, hide, whatever we need to do, we’ll do it. But I’m not leaving anyone else behind to face off this…..vampire bitch.” 

The rest of us agreed. We only needed to leave one behind, and that was hopefully gonna be Gabbie.

“So we all agree?” I asked, just to be sure.

Thank God, the rest of them nodded.

“Okay, let’s go.”

We dispersed and waited for the others to finish discussing. Despite the knowledge that even Destorm said we needed to make sure that I stayed alive, I still felt like I was on thin fucking ice. I looked around at the others. The Hargreeves were discussing with Matpat, Ro, and Saf. The beauty gurus had grouped together. Most of the others were sort of interacting with each other at random. Joey was over talking with Delta who was still in tears, despite Jasmine’s best attempts to lick them away. And Gabbie was struggling to find support. 

Good, I thought, and I only partially hated that I thought that.

“We should probably just get this over with,” Manny sighed.

Most of us nodded in agreement as Alison and Calliope prepped the cards. It was at that moment I noticed that we were down a few people. I couldn’t quite tell who’d never left the death challenge, but I knew that we were probably never gonna see them again.

“Is everyone ready?” Alison asked as the rest of our group returned to their seats. “Gabbie, you first.”

She got up and rushed over to the table, quickly picking up one of the cards and handing it to Alison, and based on the sort of glare she gave me, I could just tell that she’d put my card in the stack. Now my determination was solidified. If Gabbie couldn’t realize that I was important to the safety of the group, as Destorm had pointed out, then she had to go.

When I got up there, I immediately picked up one of Gabbie’s cards and handed it right to Alison. The two of us made brief eye contact and I could tell that, even behind her stoic eyes, she was worried for me; the fact that I was acting so brutal towards someone was fairly unheard of. But at that moment, I didn’t give two fucks. I just gave her the card and went back to my seat.

Time seemed to go by slowly, but finally I heard Calliope say 

“I will now shuffle and draw one.”

Each time she switched around and shuffled the cards, my heart pounded. Of course there was a high chance of me being safe, but still. Gabbie had most likely put my card into the deck. There was still a chance I could die.

But…..she wouldn’t let that happen, I thought. There’s no way. She wants me to be her daughter, not her dinner.

Finally my heart shot up to my throat as I heard Calliope pull a card out of the desk and look at it before handing it to Alison who looked at it as well. Finally she turned it around.

“Gabbie.”

I felt a wave of relief wash over me. But as I looked over at Gabbie, her face was pale as hell. 

“Guys, no,” she began as she shook her head, chuckling nervously. “This is a joke, right? It’s gotta be….”

She slowly got up from her chair and her head turned slightly towards the doors. 

“You’re not actually gonna…..you know….right?”

The people over by the door, including Joey stood in front of her, blocking her path. The more she began to realize that none of us were joking, the more desperation I heard in her voice.

“Guys, no! No! Please, no! Stop! Stop!”

“Miss Deliliania!” Bretman yelled out, Gabbie shrieking over him. 

He kept repeating himself until the bitch finally emerged.

“You have--silence, you infernal thing!--you have my blood meal?”

Immediately the rest of us snuck over to the door as Bretman and Joey pushed a shrieking and pleading Gabbie forward onto the ground.

“No, no, no, don’t do this!”

Delilah hissed as her shadow eclipsed Gabbie.

“Guys, stop! Listen! Let me explain!”

“Bye, bitch!” Bretman barked.

She spied me and turned my way.

“Mystic, please! You have to stop her! You need to save me!”

Tears were gathering in her eyes as they begged me for mercy, making me grit my teeth. I knew that in any other circumstance she didn't deserve to die, I’m not without a conscience, but she was acting way too rude and horrific for me to trust her. Plus she was someone I came to for comfort several times; a sense of betrayal was slithering around me, a sensation I don’t take lightly to.

Also, honey, you totally wanted me gone. What makes you think you can do a complete 180 and get my respect back?

“I’m sorry, Gabbie,” I told her as deadpan as I could muster, which wasn’t too hard, shaking my head before turning away. 

As Colleen and Ro lead me to the door, I heard Delilah hiss ravenously and Gabbie give out a long and ear-piercing shriek before the sounds of flesh being torn into invaded my ears. I locked my eyes shut as they lead me out.

“Go, go, go, go, go!” Eva panicked. 

“But where do we go?!” Colleen panted.

“Back to where we woke up,” I said suddenly, opening my eyes.

“What?!”

“Just trust me, Colleen.”

Before she or anyone else could say another word, I rushed through the halls; at that moment, the lights began to flicker and I realized that the North Pole was running out of power. So despite my aching ankles, I ran back to where this shit began. 

Finally as soon as I had made it to the dead end, I practically collapsed to the ground. I was still trying to process exactly what the fuck just happened. I’d sent Gabbie to her death, many of us did. But…..now what? How the hell was I going to fulfill my end of the bargain? Who even had the token piece? What happened? What sort of challenge was it? I had so many questions; I wasn’t even sure where to begin.

But then I remembered; Esme had cast some magic on me. Why I couldn’t have just used it to retrieve the token piece, I wasn’t sure, but that didn’t matter. The others ran in.

“Who has the token piece?” I asked.

Vanya searched her pocket and held out her hand. I snatched it from her and looked it over, only to be met with a shock.

“What the hell?”

It wasn’t a quarter of a token anymore; it was now an eighth of a token.

“What? I thought these were in quarters!”

“Doesn’t seem to be that way anymore,” she shrugged. “It just separated in my hand.”

“Right in your hand?”

She nodded.

“So how do we get out of here exactly?” Jasmine asked.

“Ummm…..well, don’t be mad at me, but…..up until this moment, I forgot that some witches I ran into gave me some magic for the trip here.”

They blinked.

“You had magic all this time and you forgot until now?!” Nikita was squawking in fury.

“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger!”

“You’re both the messenger and the sender, honey.”

“Okay, we don’t have time to argue!” Delta spoke up. “We need to get out of here and we need to do it no--”

All of a sudden, a feral roar thundered throughout the workshop.

“....Please tell me that’s a bear,” Cyrille gulped.

“Am right here,” Bailey whimpered.

“I think a bear chasing us would be better,” Colleen said. “than what I think is coming after us.”

And I was definitely inclined to agree. 

“Come back to mother, darling!”

Her voice had become demented.

“Love, I fink now would be a good time te use that magic ye got!” Ivy told me quickly.

“I know, I know,” I nodded. “I’m just not sure how to use it.”

“Just try some random shit until something happens!” Cyrille suggested.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, like, abracadabra or something!” 

Sweat began to bead on and down my forehead. From the sound of her footsteps and how louder they were getting, I didn’t really have time to experiment, so I just decided to say some random things.

“Uhhh…..can I get a HOOOYAH?!”

Nothing.

“Ummm…...freesh avo-cadooo?”

Nada.

“Road Work Ahead?”

Uh, yeah, I sure hope it does!

“Miss Keisha?”

Fucking dead.

“Hotel?”

“Trivago,” Cyrille added.

Despite the danger we were in, I couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“Not the time for memes!” Delta snapped. “Try…..sketching something on the wall with your finger!”

Quickly I just started to scribble around random shapes; my heart was on overdrive. My fingers were practically racing to make something, anything, that could get us out. The footsteps and hell-raising roars were getting closer and closer. 

“AHHHH! WORK DAMMIT, DO SOMETHING!”

I practically smashed my hands against the walls when suddenly a blue light erupted from the wall, swallowing me whole. And based on the screams behind me, it had also swallowed the others. I felt as though I was being carried down a lazy river, but one that infused you with anxiety. I couldn’t move or speak, seemingly near complete paralysis.

I couldn’t do anything except let this river take me wherever I was meant to end up.

And hopefully, I thought. It’ll be somewhere safe.

Chapter Text

The young woman’s breathing was silent and steady as she focused on the blocks in front of her while they rose into the air as gently and lightly as balloons, and yet quite slowly. Every particle, every atom, every molecule, it was all at her mercy. This sense of control--of stability--calmed her tremendously. Though she’d done this for years--mostly not by choice--she still had to assure total focus for her powers to work. Even a single note of distraction often made this relaxed sort of practice fall to dust. And with her goal nearing each day, she needed to assure that her magic was at its best.

Her brown eyes had a look of deep concentration, only blanketed by a soft, dreamlike glaze as her hands moved gracefully, as a sculptor leading their finest work, guiding it to perfection. And yet, her fingers also tremored slightly, as if her own atoms were shaking them as she crafted the power. As she went through with her craft, the shaking became more and more prominent, seemingly overwhelming her; yet a stoic mask hung onto her face, hardly a single nerve or muscle in her face morphing. The mark of what seemed to be a professional, one who felt far from being so. The tremors escalated to a peak until…..

BANG!

The blocks collided together, demolishing one another into bits, whereupon they began to drop to the floor she was kneeling on. However she’d practiced this many times. An aura of magic surrounded these bits of wood stopping their descent, and she floated them in the air, the glaze in her eyes never fading for even a single second. This time she lightly began to twirl her finger and the pieces of wood twirled along with it, as if they were both connected to one another. Each bit of wood was beginning to rearrange itself into something much greater, much bigger, much more…..significant to her. 

In her craftsmanship, the chips and splinters of wood began to form into the shape of a soldier holding a gun. They almost seemed to fuse themselves together, as when it all came together and gently floated down into her hand, there wasn’t a splinter or chip out of place. She focused on this new creation for a while, inspecting it with both the curiosity of a child and the wise eyes of an older woman. But then seemingly out of nowhere, the glaze in her eyes hardened into steel; she gave out a cry of fury and threw it at the wall across from her as hard as she could. 

SMASH!

The wooden statue exploded into sawdust by the wall, falling into a large pile. Her rage immediately returned to the stoicity she kept up for so long, and she stared at what was left of her handiwork, her hands resting flat on her lap. Memories were flooding through her, ones she wished to never see again. And yet they were memories that would never seem to leave her, no matter what she did. 

At that moment, a squeak arose as the door opened. In walked a young man with scruffy hair, carrying a simple paper bag. He looked over at the wall, seeming to have noticed the young woman’s former handicraft.

“I see you’ve been practicing again,” he commented, a sort-of Eastern European dialect within his voice.

She nodded silently and slowly, not even taking her eyes off of it.

“Weren’t you also here last night doing the same thing?”

She nodded once more.

“I haven’t left this spot since,” she said in the same dialect as the man set the bag on the counter, her voice nearly void of emotion.

“Again? How many times have I told you, Anya?” he told her. “You need to sleep.”

“How am I supposed to sleep,” she asked, anger slipping in and out of her voice. “When I know that the people who did this to us are still out there? Still waiting to find their next guinea pig? I’ve heard news that the gatekeeper is their next target, Erik. If they get ahold of her…..it’ll only be a matter of time before they hand her over to him, after experimenting on her just like they did to us.”

“What are we supposed to do then?” Erik asked as he sat down beside her. “We don’t know where she is or if she’s even going against him.”

“Believe me,” Anya nodded with determination. “She’s still in her right mind to avoid even associating with him. As for the former.”

It was at that moment she stood up.

“We’re going to find that out. We’re going to retrieve her ourselves.”

“Anya!” Erik stood up.

“It’s the only way we can keep her safe!” she retaliated. “I won’t let her be taken captive by them. I won’t let them do to her what they did to us…..or worse.”

She took Erik to the back of the hideout and into her bedroom. In the center was a rug. Holding her hand out slightly, an aura of magic surrounded the rug and it lifted to reveal….

“That’s just another part of the--” Erik began.

“Shh!”

Once the rug was uncovered, Anya went over and knelt down by it. She waved her hand over it and the floor opened slightly. Inside was a rush of darkness and a long ramp, but with another wave of her hand, the ramp slowly transformed into stairs. Anya gestured to Erik who followed her down an extremely long flight of stairs, through a labyrinth of hallways, various rooms, more stairs, more hallways, and many more rooms, along with several other things. Finally they approached two oak double doors. Reaching out, Anya slid her finger down the door to the lock. A wisp of magic flew inside the keyhole and it let out a solid click! The doors opened to reveal a bedroom.

“Is this for…..her?” Erik asked.

Anya nodded.

“It’s mostly done.”

“When will it…..fully be done?”

“When I get my first impression of her.”

Erik was still overwhelmed by all of the halls, rooms, doors, stairs, and more that they had to go through just to get to one person’s bedroom.

“You….you really aren’t taking any chances are you?” He was both in awe and fear of what his sister had done.

“You know what they’re capable of, Erik.”

“What if she doesn’t want to?”

This was where she smiled.

“You know what I’m capable of.”

Without warning, she shut the doors and locked them before heading back to her bedroom, Erik following beside her.

“How….how long did it take you to--?”

“I’ve been preparing this entire thing for nearly three years now,” she told him. “It’s only now that the magic is holding it tightly. Tonight we’re going out and finding her.”

“But Anya, what if they--?”

“They know how powerful I am. They wouldn’t mess with me.”

“They could’ve gotten more powerful!”

Erik slid in front of her, blocking her path. 

“They’re constantly building and developing. Recruiting and training. There’s a chance they’ve found someone more powerful, especially if they came across something as powerful as…..Look, once people escape from them, and once they’ve tracked them down, once they’ve discovered that they’ve been betrayed…..you know what they do to them. You and I saw it happen ourselves. Don’t you remember?”

Anya’s eyes were cold and hard as steel once more.

“How can you forget something like that?”

The screams of mercy from the boy still rushed in and out of her mind every night.

“And that’s why we’re going to find her first,” she continued. “I will not have her mind be torn to shreds.”

In an instant, she whipped around Erik and started walking away.

“Are you coming or not?” she called without looking back.

Erik closed his eyes and shook his head with a sigh. Despite being the older one, he was clearly not having much luck being a leader like one.

“Tetyana Iryna Malinovsky….one of these days, your plans are going to get us into serious trouble,” he thought as he rushed to catch up.