Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Wait for me, guys!” Quackity shouted, stumbling behind the other two boys.

Karl giggled, only running faster. “No!”

“But you’ve got longer legs than me. That’s no fair.”

“Just run faster!” Sapnap yelled, turning his head back to stick his tongue out at Quackity. This turned out to be a bad decision because not even two seconds later he tripped and fell.

Both Karl and Quackity stopped as they watched him tumble down the hill. When he finally stopped, there was still silence, none of the boys dared say anything. That is, until Sapnap started laughing. Great big belly laughs as he laid on his back in the grass.

Karl and Quackity looked at each other before running down to their friend. They were both giggling the whole way down, and Karl held a hand out to help Sapnap up.
“You okay?” he asked, pulling him up and helping him brush off his white hoodie.

“Yeah, just don’t tell Bad, he’d be worried,” Sapnap said, retying his bandanna to keep his hair out of his face.

“It’s your fault anyway,” Quackity said, “If you’d slowed down for me you wouldn’t have tripped.”

Sapnap rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. “Yeah, but it was funny!”

“It was,” Karl said, “but it also was kinda your fault. I’m hungry, can we go back to Manburg?”

“Yeah!” Quackity said, “My mama was making tamales when we left, and I wanna eat it before everyone else gets to it.”

“Okay,” said Sapnap with slight disappointment, “I guess we can go back. Race ya!” He bolted off without waiting for the other two to start.

“Hey! You got a head start!”

***

There was fire and screaming and explosions everywhere. Karl, Quackity, and Sapnap were only ten years old. Ten years old and watching the nation they had grown up in crumble to pieces as the Pogtopian rebels rose up against Manburg and blew it to bits in the crossfire.

Sapnap saw the flames and fell in love. Their chaotic, flickering patterns helping him not look at the death and destruction around him.

Quackity saw the rebellion and remembered the story of The Betrayer from the war for L’Manburg independence. He learned to love the lies and the slight changing of chance, because sometimes having an ace up your sleeve is the only way to survive in the crumbling remnants of society.

Karl saw history unfold before his eyes and wanted to know what led them there. What were the stories that brought all these people to fight against the nation that housed them?

***

Karl flopped down into the grass between his two best friends. “So, you’re really leaving, Sap?”

“Yeah,” Sapnap replied, “This ‘Manhunt’ thing seems to be a good opportunity to travel and see things now that I’m legally an adult, plus Bad’s already done it a few times, so I’m sure it can’t be all that bad.”

“Good riddance, I say,” Quackity said, “Now we won’t have everyone on our backs about arson anymore.”

“Yeah,” Sapnap snorted, “They’ll just be complaining about the underground gambling ring you’ve roped everyone into.”

“Hey! That’s just my savings to go to Las Nevadas.”

“It’s kinda weird to think that in a couple months we’ll be in completely different countries,” Karl said.

They sat there in silence for a minute before Sapnap spoke up, “Yeah, but at least Q and I can always come visit you here in Kinoko.”

“I guess, but who will I tell new stories to?”

Quackity laughed, brown eyes sparkling. “Aren’t the kids always begging you to tell them stories?”

“Yeah, but it’s always the same ones they want,” grumbled Karl, “I wanna tell a story that isn’t about The Blood God or Death’s Angel for once.”

“Well, stories like ‘The Builder of Gold’ and ‘The Glowing Boy’ aren’t as fun,” Quackity said, “Maybe you could tempt them with The Captain.”

“I could, but they’d probably mix her up with Sparklez.”

“I mean, who wouldn’t. You could always just call her story ‘Captain Puffy’ instead of ‘The Captain’,” Sapnap said, twisting dandelion stems together.

“It doesn’t feel right to do that though. She is The Captain. It just so happens that there’s another captain that is more popular.”

Sapnap placed his dandelion crown on his head and sighed. “Well, write them to me. Maybe I’ll tell the stories to the other guys around the campfire. I bet that’d be fun.”

“It probably would be. Time be willing, I’ll actually remember to do it.”

“Your memory still bugging you?” asked Quackity, brushing a lock of black hair that had fallen into his eyes back into his beanie.

“Being hit in the head by falling building will do that to ya, Q,” Sapnap said, “My man Karl here is lucky that the scar isn’t visible behind all those squirrels he calls hair.”

“Hey!” Karl said, “It’s not squirrels, it’s just fluffy. You’re just jealous because your hair isn’t as fluffy as mine.”

“Why you-“ Sapnap said, jumping on Karl and starting wrestling playfully, “That’ll teach you to call me jealous of your squirrels.”

Karl laughed, reciprocating the wrestling, which just devolved into rolling around in the grass when Quackity decided to join it. It wasn’t too long before they were interrupted, though.

“Sapnap!” Bad’s voice drifted across the meadow, “It’s time to go.”

The boys stopped, looking at each other in their tangled mess.

“I guess this is it then,” said Quackity.

“Yep,” said Karl, “Make sure to at least write, okay?”

“No problem,” Sapnap said, “Keep this safe for me, alright?” he took the flower crown off his head and weaved his bandana in it before placing it on Karl’s head.

“Will do,” Karl said, voice trembling.

“What am I,” Quackity said, eyes filled with tears but a smirk on his face, “Chopped liver?”

“No, you’re taking care of something even more important,” Sapnap replied.

“And what’s that?”

“You’re taking care of Karl while I’m gone. Check in on him for me. Las Nevadas is far closer than anywhere I’ll be.”

Chapter Text

It had been a quiet day at work for Karl, and he could see the sky just starting to turn from blue to a soft orange when he heard a sound. Someone was crying outside of the library. Karl couldn’t hear it well from the main desk, but the quiet sense of life and peace throughout the library seemed to carry it to him. He was about to get up and investigate when the doors opened to reveal a man. Karl didn’t recognize him immediately, but the second he looked up, tear-filled eyes met Karl’s, and he knew the man immediately.

“Sapnap?” he said, getting out of his chair and rushing around the desk, “What’s wrong? Is everything okay? Where’re your teammates?”

Sapnap just shook his head and collapsed into Karl’s outstretched arms. Tears seeped into the shoulder of his multicolored hoodie as he did his best to get his old friend into one of the comfortable armchairs scattered about the library, hugging him tight the entire time.

He’d never seen Sapnap this distraught. Not even when Skeppy, Bad’s … Bad’s something, had finally succumbed to the diamonds that had crept up his limbs for longer than anyone they knew could remember. It worried him. What could have made his friend this sad?

He didn’t know how to help, but Sapnap finally let go, still crying, though it was softer now. Karl shifted from foot to foot for a second before speaking up, “I’ll go get some hot chocolate and tissues, and we can talk it over, okay?” Sapnap just nodded, and Karl left for the back room.

It wasn’t a very big place, and it didn’t need to be. All Karl needed right now was two mugs, hot chocolate powder, and the pot of water all the staff members kept warm for tea or hot chocolate. He also rummaged in the cupboards and drawers, finding some marshmallows and tissues to take with him.

When he got back to Sapnap, the twenty-three-year-old had mostly stopped crying, flowing tears turning to a drip and sniffle. Karl handed him the tissues and placed the other things on the table next to the armchair before pulling over another armchair. “Hey,” he placed a hand on Sapnap’s arm, “Am I good to lock the doors before we talk? If it’s anything sensitive I wouldn’t want anyone walking in on us.”

Sapnap’s voice shook and croaked, but he managed a soft “Yeah.”

Karl practically ran to lock the doors, and when he returned to Sapnap, his friend had already made himself a steaming cup of hot chocolate and was carefully nursing it. He sat down on the armchair, making himself a cup and setting it aside to cool a bit.

“So,” Karl said, pulling his legs up to sit cris-cross on the seat of the chair, “What’s going on? How can I help?”

Sapnap’s red eyes watered again, but he sniffed the tears away and took a sip of his hot chocolate. “Dream’s gone.”

Karl furrowed his brows and tilted his head, some of his brown locks falling in his face. “You mean, like, you lost him?” he asked, pushing the hair out of his face as best he could.

“No,” Sapnap croaked, turning his head to look out over the library instead of at Karl, “We’d almost caught him. Tracked him down to a harbor. Specific ship, even. Ship had left just before we got there, but we knew where it was going, and ended up getting there first.”

He fell silent for a moment, playing with an earring that Karl hadn’t noticed before. “And?”

Sapnap took a huge gulp of his still-steaming hot chocolate in what seemed like an attempt to keep himself from crying again. “He wasn’t on the ship. He had been, we’d seen his smug face and that stupid neon green hoodie as they sailed off, but he wasn’t on the ship. Ant asked the captain what happened, and apparently, it was sirens,” he cut off for a moment, grabbing some tissues and blowing his nose before continuing on, voice getting progressively wobblier as he continued, “Said ‘t was a pair of em, a sorta shiny gold one and one that had white hair and red scales. They jumped aboard one day and just took him over. They would’a gone after him 'cause he was payin’ them a lot, but when they looked over where the sirens had disappeared, there wasn’t anything that said they’d been there.” A few more tears slipped down Sapnap’s face as he sipped more hot chocolate.

Karl picked up his own and took a sip as they sat silently for a moment, processing. “Is there anything I can do? How’s Bad?”

Sapnap shrugged, “He went off to the Badlands, said he wanted to go home. I wish he meant the house in Kinoko, but he’s always felt more at home there.” His voice cracked badly on the last word, but otherwise, it only shivered a little.

“That doesn’t tell me if there’s anything I can do.”

Sapnap finally looked back at Karl, puffy red eyes meeting blue, “Can I stay with you?”

“Yes.” Karl said without hesitation, “For as long as you need. I’ll write and let Q know, okay?”

“Okay.”

***

Five years. Five Years since Karl had seen Quackity. It was understandable; about two months before Sapnap had stumbled into the library, Q had adopted a kid. Kids take a lot out of you, and Karl had already expected Q’s visits to become sparser because of his kid, but now it’s been almost ten years since their trio had been together. Standing on the ship's bow as it neared the Las Nevadas harbor and watching the sunrise, he was excited to finally have his childhood friends together again, but he was worried.

So many things had changed in the years since they’d all been together. Would they be able to pick their friendship back up? They’d been eighteen the last time they’d all seen each other. Now they were nearing twenty-nine. Quackity was a dad; Sapnap had lost one of his closest friends; if he was completely honest, Karl was probably the only one that hadn’t changed much in the years since he’d last seen his friends.

It was almost as if he’d skipped the years between, but he knew that couldn’t be true. He had to have gotten his job at the library somehow. The memory problems from the fall of Manburg were bad, yeah, but he had things to prove that those years had happened to him.

Karl was startled out of his reverie by a hand on his shoulder. Quickly turning to look, he saw a pale and tense Sapnap. “How about we maybe stay below deck?” he said in a strained voice.

Karl smiled softly at him, “It’ll be okay, Sap. We weren’t too far from the docks when I wandered up.”

“I know, but still…” Sapnap trailed off.

“I know, you don’t want to lose me. I’m okay. I will be on the way back, too. I promise.”

They sat in silence as the boat pulled up to the docks, the crew prepping to leave the ship for their ashore chores.

When they finally disembarked, Karl messaged Q on his communicator, and he and Sapnap wandered about the docks for a bit. They’d made good time and had gotten to Las Nevadas a couple of hours earlier than expected, so it would be a while before Quackity would get there.

The docks of Las Nevadas were just as bright and flashy as most of the small country, neon lights just beginning to blink off after having lit up the horizon the night before. After around half an hour of window shopping and trying things from the few street food stands open so early, Quackity finally arrived.

He was holding the hand of a pale kid wearing a white tee shirt who looked around nine or so years old. “Karl! Sapnap!” Quackity yelled, running over and slightly dragging the grinning kid behind him, “It’s so nice to see you guys. This is Charlie, Charlie, these are Karl and Sapnap, my best friends.”

The kid absolutely beamed at them, holding out his free hand, “It is very nice to meet you, Karl from Kinoko Kingdom and Sapnap from Badlands! I am Charlie Slimecicle, and I have many bones. Dap me up!”

Karl and Sapnap looked at each other, then at Quackity, slightly confused. Karl smiled though and crouched down to meet Charlie’s outstretched hand. “It’s very nice to meet you, Charlie. Quackity has told me a lot about you.”

Charlie nodded vigorously, lime green hair falling into his small red glasses. “Quackity from Las Nevadas is very nice. I am glad that he wanted me to stay with him. He’s taught me a lot of things.”

Quackity smiled down at his son, ruffling his hair, then turned to his friends. “I’ve got us a ship back,” he said, “got a good deal 'cause the captain owes me. They leave in the morning, so you wanna look around? I could show you some of the sights before we head back to Kinoko.”

“That sounds like fun,” Karl said, smiling, “What do you think, Slime?”

The kid blinked out of sync, one eye before the other, then smiled. “Yeah! I can show you all the small places only I can go!”

They all laughed, and Quackity led them off into the city.

***

That night Sapnap, Quackity, and Karl sat together at Q’s kitchen table. They were talking quietly, not wanting to wake the child asleep on the nearby couch.

“I can see why you wanted to get him out of here,” Sapnap said, “it doesn’t seem like a very kid-friendly place.”

“After walking around, I agree,” Karl said, “Why did it take you so long to have us come get you?”

Quackity sighed, taking off his signature beanie and running a hand through his hair. “To be honest,” he said, “The kid’s traumatized. Something big happened to him, and he won’t tell anyone what. I said I’d adopted him years ago, but it wasn’t legal until last year, and he didn’t feel safe enough to travel with me until now.”

“Why lie about adopting him?” Karl asked, glancing over when he heard Slime shift.

Q’s mouth twitched up in a tired but loving smile. “You two are lovable idiots,” he said, “I knew if I told you I was just taking care of this random street kid, you’d want to come help. Heck, you wanted to help me when I said it was adoption. I knew it might be too overwhelming for him, though, and I didn’t want to scare him off.”

“Well,” Sapnap said, “at least we can take him somewhere more friendly. I hear that a new children’s therapy office just opened up in Greater; maybe we could organize something with them.”

“If that’s a bit far for him,” Karl chimed in, “I’ve got a couple of regulars at the library who I’m pretty familiar with that come from the university. They might know some good therapists.”

Hearing the support from his friends, tears gathered in Quackity’s eyes, and he leaned back in his chair, blinking heavily. “You guys are the best,” he said, getting choked up, “We haven’t seen each other in so long, and you’re already prepared to help me raise this kid.”

“Hey, we’re not your douche of an ex,” Sapnap said, scooting his chair to be closer to Q, “We’re friends. We’ve got your back no matter what, right Karl?”

“Yeah, we’ll always be here for you. Alright, Q? Just because you haven’t seen Sap and I in person for years doesn’t mean we're any less friends than we were before.”

Quackity opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, a small, tired voice joined in, “Quackity from Las Nevadas, why are you crying? Do you need me to beat someone up?”

Quackity sniffed. “No, I’m okay. Go back to sleep. We have to wake up early tomorrow.”

Slime huffed, climbing off the couch and dragging a blanket with him. “No,” he stubbornly said, stumbling over to the table, “Imma keep you safe. No tears.”

Karl smiled at him. “Tears are okay, Slime. How about I tell you a bedtime story?”

Big green eyes looked up at Karl, sparkling with excitement. “That would be amazing, Karl from Kinoko Kingdom.”

Karl giggled a little at the kid’s enthusiasm. “What story then? I know a lot.”

“Um… the one Grizz told. With the Gillion from Undersea. I liked him.”

Karl didn’t know who ‘Grizz’ was, but he thought for a moment, mentally paging through the stories he knew at the familiar name. “Oh!” he said, “The Riptide Pirates! I love those books. Lemme see if I can remember a story. First, let’s get you to sleep somewhere more comfortable, yeah?” Slime nodded and ran off to his bedroom, Karl giving his friends a quick “be right back,” before following right behind.

“Okay,” Karl said, watching as Slime wiggled into a veritable nest of blankets and plushies that had been left to pack in the morning, “You ready?”

“Yeah!”

“Okay. A long time ago, somewhere nobody has been since, there were three pirates: Gillion, Chip, and Jay. They went on many different adventures together, but the one we will talk about starts with their ship, the Albatross, coming across a floating casino.”

***

The “Casino Royale”, it was named. It was a huge building, but before the pirates were allowed to enter, they needed to change into more formal clothing. Chip was in a nice light blue suit with patterns of waves and fish, Jay following close behind in a sparkly red dress with golden accents and heels, and Gillion coming out of the dressing room last in a dark blue suit with ruffled sleeves and a matching cape.

The main room was a vast hexagon filled with lights, sounds, and different kinds of gambling games all over. Right ahead was a Blackjack table, with High or Low Tide and Riptide Roulette on either side. On the other side of the room were what looked like Frogtopus Races near a dancing stage. Gillion dragged Chip over to the Blackjack table where a large dragon-like man in a bright pink suit sat. He had obviously been playing for quite a while and seemed very good at the game.

When Gillion strode over, the man introduced himself as Clorton and tried to explain how poker chips worked to Gillion as a server gave everyone lobster cocktails. Gillion wasn’t quite as interested in staying to gamble as Chip and Clorton, so he wandered off to join the Frogtopus races. His loyal friend, a pink Frogtopus named Pretzel, gave a valiant attempt, fending off many of her competitors. Unfortunately, a green Frogtopus named Coral pulled ahead at the very end.

While Chip and Gillion were doing that, Jay lost all of her gold playing high or low tide.

When Chip saw that Coral had won the Frogtopus race, he began flirting with her owner to try and steal Coral from her. He, unfortunately, lost all of her money in a risky bet. To cheer Pretzel up after her loss, he plays Mussel Man, an old game where you try to crack open a giant mussel. He overestimates how much strength he needs to use and nearly shatters it.

At that moment, the spell of the casino that was laced within their cocktails broke for the pirates of the Albatross and Clorton. Clorton remembered that he’d been held in the casino against his will as Chip realized that the woman he had been flirting with all this time was a giant eel.

Looking around, they’re all slightly startled to find that all the casino workers had the heads of fish.

***

“The bouncers noticed that the pirates and Clorton were no longer under the spell of the casino and stalked toward them menacingly,” Karl said, pausing to take a sip of water.

Charlie yawned widely and nestled deeper into his blanket nest. “What next?” the young boy asked, sleep clinging to his words.

Karl noticed and ruffled Charlie’s hair. “You’ll have to find out later, kiddo. I’ll tell you the rest of the story next time you can’t sleep, but it’s time to sleep now.”

Small green eyes glared at him with suspicion. “Promise?”

“I promise.”

“Pinkie promise, crossies don’t count?” Charlie asked, taking his left hand out of the blanket burrito he’d built around himself and offering it to Karl.

“Pinkie promise. No crossies,” Karl said, reaching out and linking his pinkie with the younger boys and shaking, “Now get some sleep.”

***

Three days from Las Nevadas, Karl stood leaning against the railing at the bow, the salty spray of the ocean gently hitting his face. The sound of the sea gently lapping against the ship nearly matched his heartbeat, and he closed his eyes as he turned his face towards the warmth of the sun. Only a few small clouds lazily drifted their way across the sky, and the day seemed perfect, especially after spending the last few days below decks to soothe Sapnap’s anxiety.

Captain Keralis walked up beside him. “I see you’re enjoying the nice weather. Your friends don’t seem as inclined to spend time above decks.”

Karl shook his head. “One of the last times Sapnap was on a ship didn’t go too well, and Quackity wanted to get a head start on building plans for his house. I’m just here to make sure Slime doesn’t fall off the edge and keep him away from it at least a little bit, but your crew seems to be doing a fine job of that themselves,” he said with a smile.

Keralis smiled back at him. “Pearl and Gem are having fun with such an energetic little one around again. Showing him around the ship was the highlight of this journey for them. They’ll be sad to see you go when we reach shore in a couple days.”

Karl turned to look at where the two women were helping Slime climb about some of the rigging. “I’m sure we could keep in touch if you and your crew want.”

“We don’t have a set schedule, so it’d be pretty tough, but we’ll keep an eye out when we dock in Kinoko.”

Karl laughed a little at that. “Good luck,” he said, “We’re planning on starting our own little nation a bit away from the Kingdom. Figured if Manburg started out as a drug van and Kinoko as a library, why couldn’t we just make our own nation starting out with just three friends and their kid?”

Keralis nodded at that. “Seems like you’ve got a good plan. We’d be happy to do business with you when you start getting trade set up.”

“Thanks,” Karl said, “I was thinking about maybe building a big mansion like the one in Snowchester or-“

A loud and comforting melody interrupted him, floating across the waves. There was loneliness in it, but it was beautiful. While Keralis and everyone else on the ship seemed entranced by it, it tickled something in the back of Karl’s brain uncomfortably. Like something was trying to sneak in, but it tripped the alarms. The ship slowly drifted in the direction the sound was coming from as the first mate, Ren, if Karl remembered correctly, leaned on the wheel in what looked like an attempt to get closer to the sound.

Karl almost didn’t notice, but he knew it was pulling them off course, so he ran up to the wheel. “Ren!” he shouted, “Ren, what are you doing?”

The first mate didn’t respond, only continuing to look off into the distance. Karl took off his sunglasses and waved a hand in front of his face, but his blue eyes were glazed over and unseeing. Karl tried shaking the man, but that didn’t work either. He was about to slap Ren when the song suddenly cut off with a piercing high note.

Everyone seemed to go boneless as Karl slapped his hands over his ears, and he heard a sticky splat as some sort of green goo fell from the rigging onto the deck. Everything was quiet and still for a moment before Sapnap, Quackity, and a few of the other crewmembers burst through the door that led below decks.

“Was that a siren?” Sapnap asked, “Is everyone okay? Where’s Charlie?”

Karl opened his mouth to reply when he heard a large splash from the ocean behind him. He turned around, and sitting on the deck, with its tail half off the railing, was a siren. Its eyes were solid black, and the ray-like wings on its back were flared out, blocking Karl from the sun. It hissed sharply before grabbing him with strong, clawed hands and pulling him over the side of the boat.

He yelped and heard shouts ring through the air, then he hit the water. He gasped at how cold the water was, but all that did was waste precious air. The chill brine of the ocean invaded his lungs as the siren continued to drag him deeper.

He couldn’t breathe, but it felt like he was hyperventilating, and darkness was closing in on his vision.

He looked up toward the sky to see it one last time and saw someone jump in after him.

At first, he couldn’t make out their face as they were backlit by the lights above them, but as they swam closer, Karl could see the fear-filled face of Quackity. Karl reached out to him, and the tips of their fingers brushed as the blackness closed in.

The last thing he saw was his best friend's face, dark brown eyes wide with fear and regret as he turned back for air.

Chapter Text

The first thing he noticed was pain. Pounding in his head like a thousand hands clawing to escape. He tried to curl in on himself, but his movements felt uncoordinated and sluggish. He groaned, trying to think past the pain to figure out where he is.

There was light dancing across his closed eyelids. It stabbed at the headache, making him scrunch his eyes closed tighter as the unfamiliar feeling of a gentle tide tugged at him. It was comforting, seeming to soothe his pain as the light warmed him.

When his head stopped pounding so hard, he opened his eyes. He hissed and shut them again, clumsily turning over to squint at the sandy ocean floor while his eyesight adjusted. There was a sort of whooshing sound, like someone moving quickly, so he looked in that direction as best he could. Everything seemed blurry as he blinked dry eyes to try and focus on what surrounded him.

He seemed to be near the shallows of an island surrounded by vibrant coral reefs. He could see the arms of anemones lazily fluttering in the gentle tide as they clung to rocks surrounded by twisting and fanning coral in all shapes and colors. He scanned what he could see, and saw someone somewhat to his left.

They seemed tall, with a long tail mottled green and white. They were scanning the area as well, but when their piercing yellow eyes met his, they swam over. They seemed intimidating, especially with the trident they were carrying pointed at him, but they might know where he was.

“Who are you?” he asked.

The other reached up with a wickedly clawed hand and adjusted a dented crown that only had a single glittering ruby among its empty settings. “I could ask the same of you”, they said, their deep tenor voice resonating strangely inside their gas mask oddly shaped face covering.

“Ah,” he coughed, heat spreading from his cheeks to the tips of his pointed they were pointed? ears, “Sorry. Um,” he thought for a moment. What was his name? Memories reached out, almost brushing his brain before being fought back by the lingering headache. “I’m having a hard time remembering?”

The other huffed somewhat impatiently, the gold-tipped fins on their forearms fluttering slightly. “Pronouns then.”

“Oh!” he said, “He/him.” It reminded him of a conversation with someone at the library far away, one where they’d called him something. There was a name on the tip of his tongue that he just couldn’t reach.

The other nodded. “I’m Sam. I also use he/him”

He automatically stuck out a webbed webbed? hand and smiled, “Karl Jacobs at your service.” Both of them blinked, surprised, and Karl quickly retracted his hand, smile turning sheepish. “Sorry,” he said, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck, “I guess that was just instinct. Do you know why I’m here?”

“Somewhat,” Sam said, “We found you unconscious out in the middle of nowhere about an hour ago when we took the pups out to practice open ocean hunting. Phil and Puffy didn’t want to leave someone vulnerable out there, so we brought you here. Do you know how you got there?”

Karl wracked his brain for anything, but all he could remember past the pounding of his head was a feeling of indescribable loss and the shape of Quackity’s someone’s fingers brushing his as he was swept away. It made his head pound more, so he winced before he said, “Either I was looking for someone, or I was caught in a particularly fast current and pulled from them. I can’t really seem to remember.”

“You okay? I know Puffy was concerned about a head injury, but it didn’t look like you have any bruising.”

“I’m fine, just a bit of a headache. It’s kind of hard to think around.”

“Well, we should probably go meet up with the rest of the Pod to see what to do,” he raised his voice a bit, obviously talking to someone nearby, but out of sight, “You too, boys! I know you stuck around even though you weren’t supposed to.”

Out from behind a nearby cluster of rocks swam a kid pup. He was by far the tallest person Mer he’d ever seen, and had a split black and white coloring. When he spoke, the pupils in his mismatched eyes contracted to mere slits, “Sorry for sneaking out, Sam. I just wanted to be the first to meet the purple guy.”

Karl was confused, and then he looked down. Where were his legs? He was met with new dark purple scales swirling with teal coating his tail WHERE WERE HIS LEGS?, slowly transitioning into the warmer ones on his torso. This is wrong! Something’s wrong! His headache pounded harder, and he hissed, bringing a hand to his head.

He couldn’t hear what was going on around him past the rushing in his ears. After a moment, the headache quieted down and he was able to look up. Both Sam and the pup were looking at him, concerned. “Are you okay?” the pup asked.

Karl tried to smile at them, but it turned to more of a grimace. “I’m fine, just a bit of a headache.”

“If you say so,” the pup said, “Anyway. I’m the only one here, so we can go now.”

Sam gave the pup a deadpan look. “Ranboo, we both know that you wouldn’t be out if it weren’t for the other two.”

There was a huff as another pup swam out from behind the rock, scales ranging from nearly pink to dark vermillion with protective pup scales circling their whole torso in teal patterns. “What an L, Boob boy. Plus, I thought we agreed he wasn’t the purple guy. He’s obviously the spiral dude. Even multicolor man’s better than ‘purple guy’. C’mon. Tubzo, back me up here.”

Another pup came out from behind the rock. They were by far the shortest, and they had a mossy green tail. They shook their head, revealing tiny horns nestled in their brown hair. “Nah, bossman. He definitely seems like more of a purple guy.” Their blue eyes shone with mischief while ‘bossman’ scoffed and made all sorts of offended noises. Ranboo and ‘Tubzo’ both stifled laughs and fist bumped behind the red pup’s back.

Sam just sighed, gesturing to the trio. “These are the pups in our Pod. Tommy,” the red pup gave Sam a one-fingered salute, “Tubbo,” the green one gave Karl a two-fingered salute, “and Ranboo,” the tallest pup adjusted his face covering, it was very similar to Sam’s, but less bulky, and waved awkwardly.

Karl smiled at them. “Nice to meet you, I’m Karl Jacobs. Story collector extraordinaire and…” he trailed off, “Well, I can’t quite remember what I was about to say, but I’m sure it was fun! Pronouns?”

“I am a big man, and as such use only the he/himest pronouns!” Tommy said, “Though big men can also use any of them they want. No discrimination here.”

Tubbo just nodded. “I also use he/him.”

Ranboo adjusted their face covering again. “I’m trying out They/he.”

Sam nodded. “Now that introductions are out of the way, we’d best get back to the rest of the Pod. Everyone’s probably worried sick.”

Ranboo looked down, fiddling with their hands. “Sorry if we got you in trouble, Sam.”

Sam reached out and ruffled the boy’s hair. “It’ll be okay, Boo. I’m sure they’ll understand,” he lowered his voice to a conspiratorial stage whisper, "It's the person who was in charge of you that'll get in trouble anyway."

Ranboo paled, but Tommy snickered. "That green bastard's gonna wish he never signed up for pup sitting duty."

Tubbo smiled sharply, "Shouldn't be too worried about him. I said we were gonna go bother Wilbur."

Chapter Text

Fish darted in and out of the different parts of the reef as Sam led Karl and the pups toward the rest of the Pod. Karl watched them, fascinated by the flash of the shimmering scales of the much smaller creatures. He was looking at a long red and green fish when he heard voices from up ahead.

A lightly accented voice that felt like honey thick sweetness dripping into Karl's ears said, "We can't keep him forever, Dad. We don't know if he's trustworthy, and we've got to keep the pups safe."

Tubbo's cheery smirk fell, and he sighed. "Looks like we’ll be getting Dream in trouble after all." Karl looked at him inquisitively, but Sam didn't stop, so he kept going.

Sam swam into a clearing and said, "Our guest has awoken. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a son to talk to about not putting himself in danger," Ranboo pulled his shoulders up to his ears, and looked sheepish as Sam gently grabbed his arm, "Come on, we'll look for some pearls when we're finished." They swam off together, leaving Karl and the other two pups at the two stone pillars that formed an entrance to the fairly circular clearing.

Through the entrance was a fairly open area, seagrass gently flowing in the tiny currents wafting around. There were five sirens gathered somewhat in the middle. They all turned to the entrance as Karl swam in.

"Hello," said the one with fluffy-looking white hair, tipping their three pointed hat, "I'm Puffy. Are you feeling okay? We couldn't find anything physically wrong, but that's not always the only thing."

Karl giggled a bit nervously, unaccustomed to all the attention. "I've got a bit of a headache, and moving was a bit odd for a minute there, but otherwise I'm feeling fine."

A worried look crossed Puffy's face and they shifted towards Karl, but the one with large wings put a hand on their arm, stopping them. "We're glad you're not doing too bad, mate. I'm Phil, what's your name?"

Karl could feel the blush rush to his cheeks as he looked down sheepishly. "Sorry. It seems I'm not too good at introducing myself. I'm Karl, and I use he/him pronouns. I'm not sure where I'm from, or where I was going, but I'm grateful that you took the time and risk to make sure I was okay."

Puffy smiled at him. "Nice to meet you Karl, I use she/her."

Phil nodded, an emerald dangling from the bucket hat on his head swirling a bit in the water. "I also use he/him, and these are two of my sons," he gestured to the siren on his left, who had brown hair and glasses, and the one to his right, who had pink hair and a boar strange skull covering his face.

The first adjusted his glasses, the sun glinting on the gold. "Wilbur. He/him." His was the voice that was talking earlier, still containing sweetness, but it didn't have the same dripping thickness. This time it was more like it just was part of his tone

The second merely nodded, grunting out, "Technoblade, also he/him," from around the tusks jutting from his lower jaw.

Puffy nudged the last siren, who hadn't yet spoken. They had interesting brown fins on each side of their face, and ram's horns that curled around their ears. "J. Schlatt. Just call me Schlatt. He/him, I guess."

Even though they'd just introduced themselves, their names felt slippery in his mind. As if the memories were trying to find purchase on moss-covered stones in a turbulent sea.

"From Sam's exit earlier, I'm guessing you've already met the pups?" Puffy said, shrugging off Phil's hand and swimming to Karl. He nodded, and she gave a little snort, "Good. Fewer introductions to make. That does mean that they escaped Dream and Foolish though."

"I don't think I've met, um, those two."

Puffy clapped her hands together. "That's where we'll start them," she shot a glance over her shoulder at the other four, "We can continue this discussion later. Come with me," she grabbed Karl's hand gently and swam back toward the exit, "I've got sons to scold about letting the pups out of their sight. Speaking of pups," she stuck her head out of the archway, "You two. Get in here. I'm sure your fathers are going to be giving you a talking to as well."

Tubbo and Tommy popped around the corner, grumbling. "But Aunt Puffy," Tubbo said.

"Ah," Puffy cut him off, "No buts. You did what you did, now it's time to face the consequences. You both know what happened the last time a couple of you tried swimming off on your own."

Tubbo paled, and Tommy grabbed his hand. "Yes, ma'am," they said in unison, and then swam past Karl and Puffy to where the others were.

Karl looked at Puffy. "What happened last time?" he asked.

Puffy shook her head, hair parting to show small horns similar to Schlatt's curled close to her head. "Nothing good, but it's not my story to tell."

"Okay."

As they swam, Karl studied the way her hand felt in his. She had surprisingly rough hands for someone who looked so soft (in a "gives good life advice and will hug you when you're sad" way and not a "would get stabbed eaten by a shark in .2 seconds" way. She looked strong enough to win a wrestling match with a huge shark). Maybe it had something to do with her own pups.

They passed Sam and Ranboo sitting on a shelf of rock, talking. Puffy waved, but they kept going. Eventually, they neared an inland cove surrounded by tall cliffs that soared far above the surface of the water, but the waves weren't tall and crashing as they could be. Instead, they lapped at the sides of the cliffs gently.

"Boys!" Puffy yelled, "You better have a good explanation, because Sam found a certain trio hanging around the newcomer."

Around the corner of one of the cliffs popped two heads. The one above the other wore a round, rock-like face covering that bore an unsettling black smile, and the one below had what looked like a shark's skin resting on his head. Maybe Karl's assumption that Puffy could wrestle a large shark wasn't too far off.

"Hi, Papa," The shark one squeaked, "It wasn't me. Dream was in charge." Suddenly they flipped forward a bit, likely smacked by the other. They had a more shark-like tail than the others, and though it was the blue-grey coloration typical of a great-white, their skin seemed to shimmer gold and green when they flipped around to snap at who Karl could only assume was Dream. Shouldn't he know that name?

"Me being in charge doesn't mean it's not your fault too," a new voice said, with the way the smile twitched, it was probably 'Dream', "If anything, it's Wil's fault. 'Bo said they were gonna go bother him."

"You like bothering Wil too, though. Usually you would've gone with them. You're an accomplice."

Puffy sighed and dragged a hand down her face. "I don't care whose fault it is, you two weren't supposed to let the pups out of your sight until we knew whether or not our visitor was Serenaded. Luckily he's not, but if he were they would have been in danger."

The two looked ashamed as 'Dream' swam out from behind the cliff, revealing bright green and white scales. "Sorry, Mom," 'Dream' said, "It won't happen again."

"Good," Puffy said, "Now introduce yourselves to our guest, he will likely be staying with us for a bit."

The shark-like one smiled, sharp teeth gleaming, "It's nice to meet you! I'm Foolish, and my pronouns are he/him."

The other waved, "Hi, I'm Dream, also he/him."

Karl stared at Dream, the sound of waves crashing against rocks filling his brain as he tried to understand why the other was so familiar, yet so foreign. He hissed, bringing a hand to his head as the headache pounded once again, making itself known as more than just the background noise it had faded into.

"Are you okay?" Puffy asked, gently grabbing the sides of his face and twisting it from side to side, "I didn't see anything that would indicate a concussion, but there's not always a huge physical sign."

"I'll be fine," Karl said, blinking stars out of his vision, "Just a bit of a headache."

"That's good. Well, boys," she said, letting go of Karl's face, "This is Karl."

Karl waved at them, focusing more on Foolish since his... well, not face, but being? Yeah being. His being didn't make the headache pound at the sides of his mind more. "I use he/him pronouns too."

"Cool," Foolish said, "I'm glad you're not Serenaded, I've seen those who have been, and it doesn't look very fun."

"Um," Karl said, "You've used that word 'serenaded', I'm confused though. Doesn't that just mean 'sung to'?"

"Well, yes, but also no," Dream said, "It's what our Pod calls what some call Ocean Pulled or something like that."

"I still don't quite understand," Karl said, "Why would the ocean pull someone?"

"It's actually Ocean Thralled," Puffy said, "It's when a siren uses their Song too often or too long and the Ocean doesn't give them back to themselves after whatever they Sung for is finished or gone."

"Oh, I don't think I've ever Sung or been in a Pod with a Singer," would Q̶̯̃̿́̏̑̑̍͊̐́̂̚͝ū̷̬͔̯̄̓̉͌̀̀̐̂̕â̷̠̒̈̊c̷̜̜͔͆̒͆̔k̶̨͙̹̠̰͔͂͂͐͛̈́̇̀͘͘͠͠i̷̧͇̹̝̟̩̞̮̱̝̰̇̾̀͗̕t̴̨̢̢͈͖̠̲̹͎̹̻̱̝͉͎̓̎͒͝͠y̴̩̘̭͔͂͂͐͒̊̑́͋̉͂̍͑͝ have Sung for them?, "so I didn't know the Ocean took you."

"It's less of taking and more of... I guess, taking control?" Foolish said, "Wilbur's our Singer, though Phil also knows the Song, and he just used it earlier today when there was a ship too close to where he, Sam, Phil, and Techno had taken the pups out to practice open ocean hunting. It was their first time being around when a Singer Sang, and Tommy said something about it feeling like the Ocean put him somewhere far away from his body and he wasn't even there until it was over."

"That's near where they found you," Dream said, "So they were worried Wilbur's Song might have affected you as well."

"You shouldn't have to worry much, though," Foolish said, swimming upside down over his brother, "None of us know the Song except Phil and Wilbur, and they only use it in emergencies. Phil's having Wil teach Tommy just in case, though."

"FUCK YEAH, BITCHES! BIGMAN TOMMYINNIT'S GONNA LEARN THE SONG AND PROTECT YOU ALL FROM WRONGINS!" Tommy's loud and enthusiastic voice echoed through the water.

"You little shit-" Dream darted towards Karl and Puffy, but at the last second turned upside-down and went straight over their heads, ramming into the pup. Both Dream and Tommy landed on the seafloor and tumbled about, wrestling and kicking up a huge cloud of sand.

"Is Tommy going to be okay?" Karl asked, concerned for the pup.

"Yeah," Foolish said, poking his head between his mom and Karl, "They do this all the time. Play fighting and all. Sam said it's good for them to get the energy out, and Dream said he used to do similar things with his old Podmates, so we just let it happen as long as it doesn't get too rough."

"Old Podmates?" Karl asked.

"I adopted him a while back," Puffy said, "He was crying and swimming about, making a Pod Call with no answers. Poor thing was scared half to death. We tried finding his Podmates, but it seemed that they'd been separated long enough that they were long gone. His stay with us was going to be temporary, but he decided to stay with us long-term since we stay in one place. It took him a while to get used to, seems like they'd moved around a lot, but he's done pretty well."

"Will he be okay with you telling me that?" Karl asked, nervously looking at the obviously stronger siren.

"Yeah, he's been fairly open about it."

"Okay."

They watched the other two wrestle for a while longer before Dream put Tommy in a headlock pinned Tommy to the ground by his wrists. "You. You and your little 'Shelf Trio' got me and my brother in trouble," Dream said as Tommy tried to wriggle out from under him.

"Sorry Big D, I didn't mean it!"

"I told you not to call me that, pup."

"I AM NOT A PUP!" Tommy yelled. Dream went limp on top of him, putting more of his weight on the pup. "Oof. Sorry! Get off!"

It looked like Dream was going to get up, but Foolish yelled, "Dogfish pile on Tommy!" and darted over to them, Dream quickly flattening down the large lionfish-like spines on his back before Foolish leapt on top of him.

Both Dream and Tommy let out big 'oof's as Foolish landed on them, the bubbles escaping their mouths seeming to flee to the surface.

"Geroff," Dream said as he tried to shove his brother off of him. Foolish just wiggled to try and squish the others more.

"Not until Tommy apologizes to me too."

"Sorrysorrygetoffnow!" the youngest said, seeming short of breath.

Foolish rolled off of the other two, Dream followed and laid on top of his brother. "How's a taste of your own medicine?"

"Comfy," Foolish said, giving a fake yawn, "I think I'll take a nap."

Tommy growled, and jumped on Dream, starting another wrestling match.

"Let's leave them to it," Puffy said, "Hopefully they'll be cooled down by the time that Wil Calls everyone to the center. We'll just head there now to save on time."

Chapter Text

Karl, Foolish, and Puffy arrived back in the first clearing to Wilbur and Technoblade having a discussion under an overhand while Phil hovered nearby, seeming to guard an empty corner. Schlatt was across the clearing, Tubbo's head hooked under his arm while he messed with the pup's hair, revealing budding horns similar to those Puffy and Schlatt both had.

"Phil," Karl called, "why are you guarding an empty corner?"

Phil looked surprised, glancing over his shoulder before sighing and shaking his head. "I swear if that boy sneaks off one more time I'm going to put him on a leash," he said.

Puffy snorted, "Good luck with that. Anyway, we've finished introductions, so we should discuss our next steps."

Phil nudged Wilbur as he swam off, grabbing Karl's hand. "Come sit with me," he said, heading to a circle of large rocks in the middle of the clearing.

As they sat down, a loud sound similar to a whale's song, one long low note shooting higher before fading out, rang through the water. Karl shifted, not knowing what it meant, but Phil put a hand on his arm.

"It's okay, mate," the older man said, "Wil's just calling everyone for a meeting. Look, they're all coming over here."

Karl turned to look, seeing everyone laughing and joking with each other on their way over. Watching them interact with each other so easily and happily gave him a sour feeling deep in his chest that was cold, hard, and sad. That was us. That was me and Š̷̠͚̠̰͕͍̳̦̞͈͔̲̋́̋͐̌̆̔͛͋͊̓̿͝͠ͅā̶̯̠͕͔̿̂̓̄͜͝p̸̨̨͉̯̖̩͙̲̟̭̳̗͓̫̿̐̓̉̈͗͐̈͆̊̕̕͝ and Q̴̛͇̤̖͇̿̋̂̏̂͠. I didn't get to do that with S̴̫̖̼̟̜̤̤̗̤͛͑́̏̕ļ̵̭̬̭̘͍̆̈́͜i̷̛̫̿̍̌̀̋̉͝͝ͅm̷̧̨̜̹̖̭͇̯̖͇͎̝̠̓̀͜ͅe̷͉̮͐. He didn't like that feeling, so he chose to ignore it and focus on a nearby school of fish while fiddling with a curl that had fallen in his face.

It wasn't long before the anxiety that he'd been pushing off since first hearing Wilbur in the clearing came back. What if they decided he couldn't stay? He didn't know anyone else. Did he even know how to survive on his own? Something deep in him that hissed like the sea on the shore told him that of course he could, but sifting through the fractured memories that didn't hurt to think about couldn't confirm that. The lack of anything was concerning, and he twitched the fins on his forearms, tugging on them a bit anxiously as he tried to banish the headache that always seemed to pound like a hurricane when he tried to remember.

"Hey," Foolish's voice broke through Karl's thoughts as the emerald-eyed siren settled on the rock to Karl's right, "Don't worry about it so much. Phil's a notorious serial adopter. You'll be fine."

Phil spluttered from Karl's left, "I am not!"

Puffy settled down on the other side of her son, grinning. "Says the man with the most Pups in the Pod."

Technoblade and Wilbur sat on the boulder on the other side of Phil. Wilbur spoke up with a teasing smile spreading across his face, "That's rich coming from the one with the second largest number of Pups in the Pod."

Dream draped himself over his mother's back, resting his head on hers. "That's only because she wouldn't let Phil have me. He tried, but she got to it first."

Schlatt and Tubbo sat down near Techno. "I'm good with Tubbo," Schlatt said, ruffling his son's hair again, "I've got my hands full as-is."

"That's because you have half of the chaos duo," Sam said, sitting next to Puffy with Ranboo close behind, "Ranboo's a breeze when they're not dragging him into their schemes."

"We're not the Chaos Duo!" Tommy yelled, barreling onto the rock between Tubbo and Ranboo, "If anything, we're the Bigmen duo! Pogchamp boys."

Technoblade snorted, "Clingy duo, more like."

Karl laughed alongside the others while Tommy yelled about how he wasn't clingy. The friendly banter had warmed the sour feeling, but it sat there pulsing against his ribs like a physical weight. The joking had chased off his anxieties for now, though, and that was enough.

As the laughter died down, Tubbo was able to say, "Maybe I'll become the serial adopter."

Ranboo's laugh had died down to a mere chuckle when they said, "You can't adopt anyone! You're still a Pup."

Tubbo seemed to contemplate that for a moment before saying, "Yes I can. Adopt them as siblings," he turned and looked Karl in the eyes, "You're my brother now. You can't say no."

Karl just giggled and looked at the Pup, a bit confused. "Okay?"

"Now, now," Phil said, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves you little shit. We've gotta ask him if he even wants to stay, plus figure out how long he can."

"Do you?" Schlatt asked.

Karl blinked at him, "Do I what?"

"Want to stay," Tubbo said.

"Um," Karl said, looking at his lap, I don't remember where I was going. Or who I might have been with," he looked up, catching sight of Tommy making a silly face at him and holding back a laugh, "You're all very kind to offer to let me stay, but I'm sure I could leave if you would prefer."

There was silence as if they all expected more of an argument to stay. Then Schlatt spoke up. "I'm sorry to hear that you're havin’ trouble remembering, kid. I wouldn't mind taking you in till you can figure out where your Pod's gone if you're okay with that"

Karl went to accept, but before he could say anything, Wilbur interrupted. "Can we keep him around though? Do we have the resources here to support someone else? I'd-"

Phil cut him off by placing a hand on his arm. "Hey. You're not there anymore, Wil. It'll be okay, mate. We've got plenty here, this isn't like that place. If we have to, we'll just move to deeper waters. Nobody is too young for that, okay? Take a deep breath. It'll be alright."

Wilbur nodded, taking a deep breath and leaning slightly into Technoblade.

Sam spoke up, "I think we can allow him to stay until he can find his Pod. Unless," he turned to look Karl in the eyes, his black sclera making the yellow of his eyes seem to glow comfortingly, "were you Solo?"

"I-" Karl started, then he stopped. Was he Solo? He didn't think so. Things would trickle past the headache crashing at his skull. Worried brown eyes, a hand reaching for his, the faintest hint of other voices laughing alongside his, green eyes and a lopsided smile, yells of his name as he was pulled away by something. "I don't think I was. I can remember..." images, not quite memories. Not yet. Watching a long wound be torn through a face. A flicker of fire licking fingers reflected on white fabric. "I can remember a little, and I know that I miss them, but I can't remember any specifics."

"Well," Schlatt said, "It's a start. I've known people who remember less who've gotten most of it back, so there's a pretty good chance that it'll come back with time. Ranboo's also had his own share of memory problems, so we know how to help if it gets bad."

Ranboo ducked their head, quietly saying, "I still can't remember the old stuff too well, but it's been easier to keep the new stuff. I can tell you what's helped me, but it won't always work."

"Thank you, Ranboo," Karl said, the Pup responding with a blush and a mumbled 'welcome'.

"So," Phil said, "General consensus is he can stay until either he remembers enough to find his Pod, or we find them?"

Nods and murmurs of affirmation echoed around the circle. Puffy said, "So that's settled then. Karl can stay. Who's going to be in charge of keeping an eye on him for a bit?"

"I could-" Wilbur started, but Tubbo interrupted him.

"I already claimed him as my brother. I'm the only one that hasn't had one before."

Ranboo flinched, and Sam pulled him closer. Karl decided not to ask. From that reaction alone, it was obviously a sensitive subject.

Schlatt shrugged in response to Tubbo's statement. "I don't mind, but I was on hunt duty tonight. Wil can definitely cover me until then."

The mentioned Mer perked up, a small amount of tension being released from his tight shoulders. He nodded, then looked back at Karl before drooping a bit. "I was supposed to be the first shift of night guard with Phil though."

"I can do that if someone else can take the Pups," Dream said.

"I WANNA SHOW KARL AROUND!" Tommy yelled, shooting across the circle and grabbing Karl's arm.

"Stop that you little shit," Phil said, Grabbing the pup by the wrist, "Not everyone can see in the dark like you or bioluminesce like Wil, and it's getting dark out. Plus, you're not allowed out of the main areas."

The Pup pouted, then turned to Karl, eyes shining, "Can you do either?"

"Huh?" Was Karl's eloquent reply.

"Can you see in the dark or bogglements?"

"Bioluminesce," Tubbo corrected, swimming over.

Tommy waved a webbed hand at the other pup, "Eh, Biolumminche, or something. Do you?"

“I don’t know”

“Have you before?” Tubbo asked

“No?” Karl said, not wanting to think about it and worsen his headache.

“You’re a beautiful man, a beautiful man, will you Biolms?” Tommy asked.

“Uh, maybe?” Karl said, glancing at his scales. It wasn't quite dark enough to tell yet.

“When will you Bilumas?” Tubbo butted in.

Karl laughed a bit uncomfortably and Puffy chimed in. “That’s enough bothering the poor man. We’ll just put Wil in charge since he’s supposed to be watching Karl. That way we also aren’t down a man for any of the other jobs.”

“Yay!” Tubbo and Tommy yelled together, “We get to hang out with Karl!”

Tommy turned to Karl with a surprising look of seriousness. “What is the worst word you know?”

Phil sighed. "Stop bothering the poor guy. You're going to bed right after dinner," he let go of Tommy and stretched, "Let's all head out before it gets too dark."

The rest of the adults swam off, leaving Karl and Wilbur alone with the pups. "I don't trust you," Wilbur said with a wary scowl on his face.

Karl smiled at him nervously. "I wouldn't expect you to."

Wilbur just nodded and settled down to watch everyone, crossing his arms across the yellow scales of his torso.

Chapter Text

Wilbur glared at Karl from across the clearing, practically looming like a dark shadow over all of them. At least, that’s how it felt to Karl. The Pups had had no trouble messing around since the other adults had split a while ago.

“Karl, what if we made nukes?” Tubbo said, face inches from Karl’s with his blue eyes seeming to stare into the older Mer’s very soul.

He giggled a bit uncomfortably. “Well, um. I guess I wouldn’t be able to see if I bioluminesce? Because then it might be radioactivity. Unless I’m thinking wrong and that’s just a story.”

“Story?” Tommy asked, “You know stories? Like the ones about the stars Techno tells?”

Karl blinked, zoning out for a moment in thought. “I... I think I might collect them? Stories, that is. I know a few about the stars, but most are different legends, like the Blood God, Death’s Angel, and the Golden Builder. The Captain is one of my favorites to tell, but most think of Captain Sparklez. His story is great, but I uh..." he paused, The Captain had another name, right? Puffy. They always laughed. "I don’t remember the other name for The Captain, she’s just The Captain, so sometimes there’s confusion.”

“I’ve never heard any of those stories,” Tubbo said, “Will you tell us one while we wait for it to get dark?”

“Sure! What story?”

Both of the pups said something at the same time, leading to it sounding more like Theonbelog. Which would be really interesting, but what would that story even be about?

“Okay,” Karl said, “One at a time. Maybe choose one of you to pick tonight and the other gets to choose tomorrow?"

The Pups turned to stare each other in the eye, then Tubbo said “Nose-goes!”, bringing a pointer finger to their nose. Tommy’s finger landed second and Tubbo cheered.

“That’s not fair,” Tommy whined, “nose-goes is usually for who doesn’t do the thing.”

Tubbo stuck his tongue out at Tommy and then turned to Karl. “I want the one you said earlier. About glowing radioactivity.”

Karl nodded, “Okay. That’s one of my newer ones, so it might not go great.”

“That’s okay.”

***

There is a legend in the small port nation of Snowchester. It was founded by scientists fleeing their countries seeking a way to protect themselves from the corrupt and very powerful shadow leader of Greater.

One of them was quite young, though his name hasn’t stayed with his story. One day, he disappeared and was never seen again.

Asking the other scientists what happened never gave any answers, only more questions. One claimed that the young boy had fallen into water that was glowing because of the radioactive waste from their experiments, while another claimed that the boy himself had begun to glow due to the radiation.

No two stories were the same, but in the years following more stories came. The one we follow leaves us with the glowing afterimage of a boy somewhere around sixteen years of age.

He was a scientific prodigy, having already made great things under the direction of his mentor. He had been working with the elder scientists on the idea of a bomb powered by this new nuclear energy they’d found. Something went wrong and the minuscule explosive they were working on detonated. One of the older scientists flung his arm out in an attempt to keep him safe, but the boy pushed through, covering the worst of it from reaching the others.

The boy still can be found in Snowchester. On stormy nights, in the far distance, you might see the glowing green outline of the boy reflecting off of the rain or snow.

***

“Ooh. That was sick! Did that guy die?” Tommy asked, “Was he just ghostified or too nuclear to be around people?”

“Nobody knows. I personally think that this version of the story is the least likely, but it’s the most common.”

“Well I think that he got superpowered but nuclearly. Because that would be cool,” Tubbo said, looking up at the surface of the water, “It should be dark enough now. Let’s go.” The, surprisingly strong, Pup shoved Karl to a wall.

“What?” Karl said, allowing it but very confused.

“You’re gonna find the darkest crevice, and we’re gonna see if you glow.” Tubbo said.

“Oh, okay. That’s fine by me.” Karl said, contorting a bit to fit under a shelf of rock that cast a darker shadow. After a moment, a small glow started, then grew. Each swirl of teal scales glowed a soft, lighter teal. It wasn’t very bright, especially given how light out it still was, but it glowed a little.

Tubbo’s eyes sparkled, “You glow. This will be exploited.”

Karl laughed. “That is like, the most ominous way to be excited about this.”

Tubbo smiled with all of his teeth, showcasing their sharpness. “That was the point.”

A short whistling noise came from somewhere outside the clearing. “Okay, Pups,” Wilbur said, “That was Schlatt. That means dinner. Toms, you’re coming with me. It’s family dinner night, so we’re eating by Phil’s nest.”

The Pup grumbled, but went to his brother as Schlatt entered the clearing. “You’re free to go now, Wil,” he said, “I’ve got Tubbo and Karl from here.”

Wilbur glanced over his shoulder at Karl. “Keep an eye on him.”

Schlatt put a hand on the younger Mer’s shoulder. “I might not know the whole story, but I get it. I will make sure he’s not a danger to anyone.”

This seemed to comfort Wilbur, and he swam off with Tommy trailing close behind. Schlatt turned to Karl, giving him a gentle smile.

“Here’s dinner,” he said, handing Karl a piece of a fish, “We tend to hunt further out from the reef to keep the population here healthy.”

“Thank you,” Karl said, accepting it gracefully. He quietly sat there, eating his food. Tubbo was chattering at his dad about something, but everything seemed far away.

There was a different voice that should be taking all the conversation at dinner.

“Hey,” Schlatt’s voice broke through the far away haze and crashing waves of Karl’s thoughts, “You look tired, no doubt you’ve had a long day. Come with me, and we’ll get you situated in a sleeping spot.”