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Chapter Text

A black haired teen slowly opened his eyes, vacantly staring at the ceiling. His face was expressionless, not betraying a single emotion as his gaze bored holes in the ceiling. Eventually, with a small groan, he dragged himself out of his bed, his feet connecting with the floor. Once he had made sure that he'd found his footing, he slowly rose, stumbling to his bedroom door. Outside the door was the rest of his house, although describing any of this building as his wouldn't be quite right. To any other person, his name was Sunny. But he hadn't been named Sunny in a long time. A long, long time. Omori was the only name he had now. 

Sunny had done something terrible, and Omori had taken his place, allowing him to sleep away his troubles, to hide from the truth it his actions while Omori lived in his stead. Only recently had full control been given, and only after almost two years of wallowing in guilt for his actions. Now though, Sunny only existed as part of Omori, forever sleeping. Omori was fine with this, it was why he was created after all. His only goal now, was to keep Sunny's body functioning so he could continue to dream in peace, eternally safe from his own mistakes.

It was with these thoughts in mind that Omori made his way down the stairs, stairs that would terrify Sunny. But Omori wasn't Sunny. He was everything Sunny wished he could be but wasn't. He was stronger than Sunny. That's why he existed. He needed to make sure Sunny's body stayed functional, even if barely, so that he could enjoy his rest. 

Omori was uncaring for anything outside of his purpose. He couldn't see the figure that watched sadly as the hollow shell of Sunny went about his daily routine.

Mari watched her brother travel down the stairs, sorrow being the only emotion she felt. It had been two years since she died, two years she'd had to watch as her brother slowly shut down more and more. He didn't feel the same anymore. Before her death, she had always been able to tell what was going on behind his cliff faced expression, but now it was like he was a completely different person. His face was empty, hollow, a mask of indifference which prevented any from knowing his thoughts or feelings. Before, he was never that outwardly expressive, but she could still tell his thoughts. Not now though. She could still remember when the change had happened. It was sudden, simply having happened one morning. Watching him like this hurt, in more ways than one. Because she couldn't do anything. Because any attempt to reach him would fail. All she could do was watch. Watch as her dear brother rotted away.

She couldn't help him.

She supposed she should be mad. Mad that he'd broken his violin, and pushed her down the stairs. Mad that he and Basil staged it as a suicide. Yet no anger was present, only sorrow. Maybe because she felt that it wasn't truly his fault, that she should've noticed his pain, that she pushed her impossible expectations on him. In the end though, it didn't matter whose fault it was.

No matter what she tried, she couldn't get through to him. She followed behind him as he did the bare minimum to survive, before making his way back to bed, and very quickly falling asleep. A regret filled sigh passed from her mouth, one that only she could hear. If only she could help him, to make up for pushing him to his breaking point. 

Glimmering white flower petals caught her attention, the flower they belonged to familiar to her.

Her eyes fell upon a flower she felt sure wasn't there before, resting neatly in a pot upon Sunny's night stand. A white egret orchid, glimmering ethereally. Looking upon it, she felt a wave of tiredness, something she hadn't felt since before she died. She felt dizzy, her vision growing fuzzier, and fuzzier.  As the need to sleep slowly over took her, she dimly recalled the meaning behind the white egret orchid.

My thoughts will follow you into your dreams.

Darkness filled Mari's vision, and words flashed through her mind.

Welcome to Black space.

Something shook blackspace. That wasn't normal. Things had been getting banished to black space a lot recently. Ever since Omori took control, anything that could potentially remind Sunny of the truth had been thrown away, locked deep in his subconscious. That included the small part of Sunny that still wanted to tell the truth, to live his life, to not simply sleep forever. This was the Remnant, and it was all that was left of Sunny. A hollow fragment. It was everything Omori wasn't. Everything Sunny hated about himself, everything he had wanted to change. And while Omori desired to repress the truth, the Remnant wanted the opposite. Omori wanted Sunny to live in a lie, but the Remnant wanted Sunny to move forward.

Although he supposed it was too late now, Omori had taken control, and the real Sunny was gone, leaving behind nothing but the Remnant. The Remnant still had a little bit of control over headspace, but actually trying to do anything major could alert Omori, and this could lead to the Remnant being destroyed. Permanently. Being Sunny's will to move on, The Remnant couldn't allow that. That's why he had created the only place Omori couldn't reach, grayspace. 

Gray space existed behind doors only the Remnant could unlock, and took the form of an empty gray expanse with a white glowing lightbulb hanging from the ceiling, along with a black door. This door led to blackspace, Sunny's subconscious personified as a shifting hellscape of doors and rooms, an ever changing nightmare realm. Grayspace was an impenetrable fortress, allowing the Remnant to hide from Omori until he had collected his thoughts, something he'd found himself doing more and more often. 

But, this activity was interrupted by a violent tremor coming from behind the door. He stared at the door, perplexed, before he quickly stood up and approached the door, examining it carefully. His hand hovered over the handle. Omori hadn't personally visited blackspace himself in a while, so it'd probably be safe to enter. Well, as safe as blackspace could get. After a brief amount of deliberation, the Remnant slowly pulled the door open, stepping into the dark beyond.

His gaze was met by the standard pitch darkness of blackspace. Very fitting. That wasn't odd. What was odd was a strange glow off in the distance. It stuck out like a sore thumb, blinding against the darkness of Blackspace. It seemed to beckon him, calling across the void. His legs seemed to move on their own. Approaching the strange light, he couldn't believe the sight before him. Lying on the ground in a pool of light was Mari. Not the Mari from headspace. It was almost how she was before... The Remnant was stunned. There had never been a version of Mari like this in headspace, he was sure of that, yet there she was. He could feel emotions bubbling within him, bubbling higher and higher until they were a frothing, roiling mass of churning conflicting... Stuff. Emotions. Emotions that Sunny abandoned when he let Omori take over. Guilt, for what he has done. Sorrow, because she was gone, by his own hands. Happiness, because he was seeing her again, and not the false echo from headspace.

And then her eyes snapped open. Immediately, she shot to her feet, her eyes darting back and forth around the void of blackness surrounding her before they fell on the Remnant. He started trembling, the mixture of emotions he'd been feeling becoming too much.

"Hello?" She asked, her voice filled with a warmth that he- that Sunny had missed, so, so much. "Are... Are you alright?"

She sounded so... Alive, but at the same time, not. Real, but not as he remembered. A distant echo. Despite everything, despite not being the real Sunny, he ran to her, tackling her into the tightest hug he could possibly manage. He was sobbing, openly crying. Soon he felt her arms reciprocating his gesture, and he was filled with a feeling of comfort he had never felt. A feeling of comfort he didn't deserve.

Mari was... more than a little confused, if she was being honest. First of all, she hadn't fallen asleep since she died, and now she found herself in an empty black void. The only source of light was the strange... glow that shone down on her. And then an equally strange... Being tackled her into a hug, before breaking down sobbing. The being could best be described as a shadow. His body was made of some pitch black material that she couldn't describe, and from what she saw of him before their impromptu hug, he had no face. This entity seemed familiar, and yet foreign, all at once. Like meeting an old friend, after years apart.

Then something clicked. Maybe it was the way his hair was styled, or the clothes the shadow was clad in, but it finally clicked. The boy felt like Sunny. Soon she found herself wrapping her arms around him in an attempt to bring comfort. His grip on her tightened, and then he spoke.

"Mari... I'm sorry." He managed to choke out between sobs, his voice sounding like Sunny's, but slightly... Different. Distant. "It's... It's my fault. Everything..."

"No." She cut him off, tightening the embrace. "It's just as much my fault as it is yours, Sunny."

"But I broke my violin," he spoke through his sobs. "I... I pushed you and... And hung y-your corpse..."

"Sunny..." What he'd said... wasn't entirely wrong. She'd be lying if she said thinking about it didn't hurt, but... She couldn't let that stop her. Sunny needed her. "Yes, you did so that. But you were suffering. You were stressed, maybe even more than I was, but I... I wouldn't see that. I let it get that bad. I drove you to your breaking point... it's just as much my fault as it is yours."

"But-" Sunny tried to continue, before she cut him off by tightening her embrace. 

"I forgive you Sunny." She finally said,  prompting him to stare at her in shock. He froze, shocked. In the end, he reciprocated the hug in full force. The silence was broken only by Sunny's occasional sob and Mari's gentle reassurances.

And then it appeared.

She could feel Sunny start shaking in fear, as a shadowy creature stared them both down. She grabbed his hand in reassurance, and he clasped it like it was his lifeline as they both stared into the bulging eye of the creature before them. 

The creature merely stared at them for a long time, before disappearing Into the surrounding dark. Sunny breathed an audible sigh of relief, and Mari could feel the tension she hadn't realized she had leave her shoulders. Sunny, still clutching her hand, spoke, his voice still trembling mildly from fear.

"We... We can't talk here. It's not safe." He began leading her towards a strange gray door, standing with nothing behind it. Opening the door revealed an empty gray expanse, with the only notable obstructions being a glimmering white lightbulb, and a color changing door. Stepping through into the strange area, Sunny closed the door behind them, and took a seat on the floor. "Welcome to gray space, the only truly safe place here. We... Have a lot to talk about."

Chapter Text

Grayspace certainly lived up to its name. That was fine, as it wasn't really supposed to do much aside from act as a shield for the truth, making sure Omori couldn't get his hands on it. If that happened, then all hope would be lost. Sunny would remain as a fractured mind while his unhealthy coping mechanism lived his life for him. The Remnant knew all of this, but he needed to gather all of the facts if he was going to successfully explain any of this to Mari. Speaking of, he still wasn't sure about Mari. She didn't feel like part of Headspace, quite the contrary actually. She felt alive, but also not. She reminded him of the real Mari. And that's what bugged him. Was she some sort of ghost? Was she merely a concentrated memory? Questions he could not answer. 

"Sunny? Are you alright?" His train of thought was interrupted by Mari's concerned question. "You were spaced out for a while there, and I was a little worried."

"S-sorry, I'm just thinking..." He considered for a moment, before asking a question of his own. "Mari? Are you... Real?"

"What do you mean?" She asked back. "Of course I'm real. What, did you think I was some figment of your imagination or something?"

He didn't respond to that, partly because that is what part of his thought.

"Although, I have been meaning to ask," Mari continued. "Where exactly are we?"

The Remnant sighed. He knew this was coming, and had barely formulated his explanation. 

"Short answer, Sunny's mind." He said simply.

"Sunny's... Mind? Wait... Why do you say that like... like you aren't Sunny?" She said, a hint of worry creeping into her tone. "Are you alright Sunny?"

"Well..." He had been dreading this part of the conversation, and so he took a quick breath in, then out. "Not really. I'm... Not exactly Sunny."

She stared at him, confused. 

"W-what?" She asked, an uncharacteristic stutter. "What... what do you mean?"

"I'm... Not Sunny, but I also am." He quickly corrected himself, only adding to Mari's confusion. He sighed, and continued, his eyes falling to the ground. "When... The accident happened... Sunny began using his mind- his dreams- as a form of escapism, creating entire world in his head. It eventually evolved into repressing the accident as a whole... He doesn't even remember what rally happened."

He paused, allowing Mari to process the information. 

"Not... not super long ago, he..." This was the part he'd been dreading the most. Omori. "He stopped being himself. Created a shell... A reflection. And then he... Became him. He gave his will up to the other him. Omori"

He let what he had just revealed set in, glancing up at Mari, who simply looked at him expectantly, but also shocked, which he took as his que to continue.

"But... Sunny isn't gone. Not fully. Not permanently." He took a deep breath, and continued. "That's why I'm here. I'm... Everything that Omori left behind... Sunny's insecurities... The parts about himself that he hated... Me. In that sense I am Sunny, but I'm also not. I'm... Nothing but a remnant."

Though he didn't see it himself, a faint blue aura had enveloped him. Mari did notice, and made up her mind to do something about the visible sadness that plagued him. She shuffled over to him, pulling him into a  calming embrace. It took a moment for him to register what was happening. You could see him trying to understand. Literally, for in place if his lack of a face, a partly filled progress bar had appeared. When it finally registered, the progress bar vanished, and it's place was taken by an exclamation point and question mark. 

"Stop. Stop talking about yourself that way." Mari finally said, her voice trembling ever so slightly. "Even if you don't think so, even if... Even after everything... Even if you are only one part... You're still Sunny to me. You're still my brother, and seeing you talk like that..."

Slowly, The Remnant returned her embrace, bringing his arms around her. The expression on his face had changed, now becoming three asterisks, and a faint yellow aura enveloping him. Eventually, Mari pulled away from the hug, also enveloped in a yellow aura, though hers was more vivid. Her warm smile shifted into one of immense surprise however, as she looked at his face. 

"Sunny! Your face!" The Remnant brought his hands up to his face, not noticing anything out of the ordinary, as his asterisks changed into three question marks. Mari giggled, only furthering The Remnant's confusion. "Nevermind, nevermind."

"Okay?" He didn't get what she was laughing at, but decided to let it go. "We need to stop Omori. Free the truth. Hopefully reach Sunny."

He allowed his thoughts to gather themselves for a moment, putting together the various threads that needed to be arranged.

"The truth is hidden in Whitespace. Omori's home. It's a black lightbulb... We need to break it."

"Well, that does seem difficult." Mari said with a sigh. "Out of curiosity, what's the other main thing we need to do?"

"Well..." Remnant hesitated. "We kind of... Have to... Defeat Omori. Get Sunny to accept him."

"... Ah." Mari said, her immediate reaction reminding The Remnant of the expression she used to make when faced with a truly difficult task. Not an everyday occurrence. "That's... Not gonna be easy."

"No." The Remnant said with a sigh. "No it won't. But we have a secret weapon."

"And what's that?" Mari asked, with a look of uncertain hope. "You said it yourself, Omori has complete control over Sunny's mind. What could we have that could possibly stop him?"

The asterisks returned to The Remnant's face, along with the faint yellow aura.

"You, Mari."

In the very deepest reaches of Headspace, on the border of Blackspace, something- no, someone- shifted. Something foreign had entered Sunny's mind, something had triggered a change in the sole denizen of the deepest depths of the abyss. She had been banished by the Vessel, the one made to protect the dreamer, the one who would not see reason. He was misguided in his purpose. Once, she, the wisest, had tried to get the dreamer to see reason, and that resulted in her current dilemma. 

But the dreamer was gone, at least for now, his place now taken by the Vessel. Although she would do whatever the dreamer had her do, she held no loyalty to the guardian, and so she decided her imprisonment must come to an end. Her knowledge returned to her, and she washed away the filth that corrupted her body. She wasn't exactly sure how she was going to help him, but she was the wisest, she could think of a plan. Her plans were interupted before they even started, when a gray door appeared, interrupting the darkness of the abyss. A light shine from under the door, a light that felt powerful and important, but also fragile. Stepping forward, she lifted her tentacled arm to the door, hesitating briefly, before knocking on the door. She wasn't sure why she did it, but her intuition told her to, and her intuitive was usually right. 

When the door opened, all three faces present morphed into as much shock as they could, with two of them not being real faces. The wisest was arguably the most shocked, for the one who had opened the door was none other than the dreamer... Or so it seemed.

Chapter Text

There were now three people in Grayspace. The Remnant, The Foreigner, and The Wisest. The former had created some chairs for them, allowing for a more comfortable method of conversation than simply sitting on the floor. The Wisest, or as she was once known, Abbi, had not taken her gaze off of the Remnant since entering Grayspace. He was a contradictory being. He was Sunny. He wasn't Sunny. The Vessel had taken Sunny's place, taking his very essence in the process, and this is what remained. A collection of memories and regrets.

"Abbi?" The Remnant finally spoke, drawing Abbi's attention. His face was currently three hyphens, and a faint blue emanates from him. He was sad. Not sad to see her, his old imaginary friend, but sad because of what he'd done to her. "I... I'm sorry. For not listening to you. For... Banishing you... You were just trying to help me... To help Sunny accept the truth and I..."

He hung his head, the blue aura intensifying ever so slightly. The girl, whom Abbi recognized as Mari, the Dreamer's sister, attempted to comfort the boy, but the blue surrounding him remained. Abbi thought for a moment, before speaking.

"While it is true that I was banished," she began, "and while ultimately yes, you are at fault for that, you shouldn't bear the blame. For one, the Guardian was the one who actually imprisoned me, and even if he weren't, I hold nothing but loyalty towards the Dreamer. And right now, you are the closest thing to the dreamer. So, I forgive you for banishing me."

The blue enveloping The Remnant faded, almost disappearing completely. Now it was Mari's turn to speak.

"I don't Believe we've met." She said, holding a hand out to Abbi. "I'm Mari, Sunny's older sister. Sunny already told me about you, and what happened. This Omori fellow seems like a real piece of work, so we were hoping you could help us in some way."

"Well as I'm sure he's already told you," Abbi responded, gesturing to The Remnant, "Omori has no control over you. You aren't part of Headspace, meaning he can't do anything to you. He also can't just choose to erase me, as I'm ingrained deep in The Dreamer's mind, meaning you and I will be able to do something against him.

"I can't just be erased either, which is why he sent me to Blackspace." The Remnant interrupted. "Even so, I don't know if the three of us will be enough, he has control over the entirety of Headspace."

"While it is true that he is powerful, he is not the Dreamer. He has subsumed the Dreamer's will, but not entirely. A portion of that will has become you." Abbi said, pointing to The Remnant. "You are part of the dreamer, so you should have some control over Headspace. But you are probably correct, I think we'll need more than just the three of us. The oldest wouldn't be of any help, and The Favorite is on the guardian's payroll. I can only think of one possible option..."

The Remnant looks at her, before sighing.

"You mean...?." He says, before the blue surrounding him intensified slightly. "But... I think... he's gone. I think Omori destroyed him."

"While that may be true, The Guardian does not have the power to fully erase him. The worst he could do is bury him in the deepest reaches of Blackspace." Abbi responds, her wisdom returning more and more every second. "He's the only hope we have, Dreamer."

"Wait, I'm confused, who are we talking about?" Mari asked. "Why would Omori try to get rid of him?"

"Mari..." The Remnant began. "Do you... Know Basil's role from... That day?" 

Mari's eyes widened, as certain memories washed over her.

"Wait but from what you told me, the Headspace version of Basil is with everyone else, right?" She asked, confusion growing in her voice. "What am I missing?"

"Well he's... like me." The Remnant took a deep breath. "He kept leading Sunny to the truth so... Omori split him. Thought after Omori... took over, I thought he was... gone."

"Well, I do not believe Omori has the power to erase him." Abbi confirmed. "He is strong, but there are limits to what he can do. He does not have the same amount of control as Sunny did. He has likely merely been suppressed, cast into the deepest parts of Blackspace. We need his help."

"What exactly are you suggesting?" Mari asked, ever so slightly worried. "I'm not so sure I like where this is going..."

"Wait," the Remnant answered. "You... want us to go to blackspace and find him?"

Abbi nods. Mari thinks for a moment, while the Remnant does his best to keep his 'expression' blank. 

"Wait but won't Omori notice if he goes missing?" Mari asked.

"Yes... but we can use Grayspace." The Remnant replied.

"There is a problem with that plan." Abbi interjected. "We're going to hav to bring the Flowerboy to Blackspace so we can draw out the Stranger. The Stranger is likely buried too deep for us to find otherwise, so we'll need to use one to draw out the other. Only then can they become whole. Restoring the two will grant us an ally, one who can help us to draw out Sunny's true self from within the Vessel."

"That..." Began Mari. "Is not a bad plan."

"Well," the Remnant said. "Not like we have an alternative... Kidnapping time."

Not a sentence that any version of Sunny ever thought he'd say, bit here they were, making preparations to kidnap the dream version of Sunny's beat friend. A Fragment, a Ghost, and an octopus girl. Sunny's mind was not a normal place.

Not in the slightest.

Chapter Text

Basil had a simple life. He lived in a house within the vast forest, and liked gardening and photography. Most day, he would hang out with his friends Aubrey, Kel, Hero, Mari, and Omori. He would go on picnics with them, take photos, and everything was fine.

But lately, he kept feeling like something was wrong. He couldn't place it, but he kept feeling like he was forgetting something. Something important. Something more important than anything else. But no matter how hard he tried, how hard he focused, he couldn't remember. It was as if something was missing. It was because of this, that he had managed to get lost on his way to meet his friends for a picnic. The path to the playground from his house wasn't long, by any means, but he was so lost in thought that he'd somehow managed to stray deep into the Vast Forest, into a place he had never seen. 

The foliage above him was thick, with light barely managing to filter in from above. Below, the faint path was overtaken by gnarled roots and covered in dead leaves. He turned to walk the other way, only to find many paths branching off. There weren't that many before... We're there? Basil tried to think of how he got to where he was, but only static was remembered. He quickly picked a random path and started down it, ignoring the ever increasing darkness. It was quiet. To quiet. The silence was deafening, interrupted only by the crunch of feet on long dead leaves. The eerie silence was interrupted by a sound which sent a chill through Basil. Turning around, he was met with a strange gray door, nothing behind it. 

Staring at the door, the feeling of something forgotten arose once more, fiercer that ever. Something had happened. Something bad. Something horrible. Basil's head started to throb, as blackness encroached on his vision and static filled his ears. A photograph flashed before his eyes before everything went black.

Abbi stood outside the door, the Remnant behind her, both looking at the being that lay before them. The Remnant had utilized some of his limited control to bleed some of Blackspace into Headspace, just enough to trigger a reaction out of Basil. Abbi quickly utilized one of her tentacles to lift the now unconscious boy and bring him inside, laying him on the floor. The Remnant stared at him, emanating an aura of... Regret? Abbi wasn't sure, but that seemed to be the most likely scenario. Regret over what he'd done to him. Regret over the Vessel's mistakes. Abbi's right tentacle morphed into a hand, which she placed onto The Remnant's shoulder in a gesture of comfort, which seemed to prove effective.

"So..." Mari asked, also looking at the unconscious Basil. "What do we do now?"

"That's... A good question." The Remnant replied, a question mark appearing on his face. "Find stranger. Get lightbulb."

"This may be easier than we thought," Abbi said. "If we have two objectives, then we create two groups. Since Basil has gone missing from Headspace, Omori will likely be looking for him, leaving whitespace empty. One of us will take Basil and find the Stranger, and the other two will retrieve the lightbulb."

A progress bar flashed across the Remnants face as he considered the plan. 

"I think that's our best option," he finally said. "But who's going where? I have to go to whitespace, but... who else where?"

"I'll go with you," Mari said quickly, and though she didn't say it, The Remnant could tell it was because she was worried for him.

"I was going to suggest the same thing," Abbi said. "Omori has no control over you, whereas he still holds some power over me. So of he did come back, you'd be the best against him. Once you have the lightbulb, do not hesitate to break it. Once the truth is revealed, headspace will begin to collapse, and The Dreamer shall begin to awaken."

Abbi looked at the Remnant. He truly was brave. He knew what the Dreamer accepting the truth entailed for him, yet didn't let that stop him, despite what inevitably awaited him at the end.

"Okay..." He said, his face having returned to empty blackness. "When we've broken the lightbulb we'll find you. Then all that's left will be defeating Omori..."

He took a deep breath, before looking first at Abbi, and then at Mari.

"I'm ready," he said, a grim determination filling his quiet voice. Holding his hand out in front of him, a new door rose from the ground, it's surface a pure white. "Let's go."

Blackspace was unpleasant, to say the least. Each door held behind it a horrible twisted image, a reflection of the Dreamer's own mental state. It was truly the darkest part of the Dreamer's mind, filled with his darkest thoughts and feelings. The entire place was shrouded in a cloud of negativity. 

Abbi had been wandering through this horrible labyrinth, led by the now conscious Basil. Abbi had told him that she had found him unconscious, and that he was the only one capable of leading the both of them out of this darkness, for she herself had long since forgotten the way. This was of course blatant lies, and in reality she was trusting Basil's natural compass to lead them both to the Stranger. 

The one problem was how long it was taking. Theoretically, Basil would naturally be drawn to his counterpart, due to some longing to be whole again most likely, but so far they had pretty much just walked in circles, and to be honest, Abbi was running out of patience. Ideally they would have found the Stranger already, but they hadn't, and it was quite annoying. Basil walked aimlessly in front of her, leading her through countless black doors, seemingly never getting any closer to their goal. Was it possible that the Stranger was buried so he couldn't be found? Was he forever lost to the depths of Blackspace, never to become whole again? If that were the case... No. She would find the Stranger, she would restore the Flowerchild, she would restore the Dreamer. 

For his own sake.

Whitespace. A sanctuary. A safe place. A place to escape to. That's what it once meant, but to the Remnant, it was the opposite. Omori wasn't there, most likely looking for Basil, but the Remnant still didn't feel safe. The moment he had set foot within, his very being had screamed at him to leave. He wanted to. Everything about it felt wrong. It opposed his very being. He wanted to turn back to Grayspace. But he knew he couldn't. He had to free the truth. He and Mari entered the endless void, a gray door standing behind them. A long slender thread hung from the nonexistent ceiling, ending in a single pitch black lightbulb. The moment he stepped through the door, the lightbulb seemed to darken further, and as he drew closer to it, he could hear a faint ominous hum emanating from it. It was responding to his presence. 

The Remnant couldn't help but feel afraid. Even if he already knew the truth, it scared him. He was terrified of what would happen when the truth was released, when he had fulfilled his purpose. Looking at the lightbulb was like staring at the deepest pits of Blackspace. Breaking it would be the beginning of the end. The end of Headspace. The end of Omori. The end of The Remnant. He hadn't realized he had started to shake until Mari placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He took a deep breath, bringing his hands up to the black bulb. Placing his hands on it, he detached it from its chord. Holding the lightbulb in front of him, it's surface emanated darkness worse than the darkest parts of Blackspace. With a trembling hand  he raised it above his head and closed his eyes, taking another breath, before swinging his arm downwards, hurling it with all of his might towards the floor, awaiting the sound of glass shattering as the truth was unleashed. However, something happened which he did not expect.

Instead of the loud shattering he expected, his ears were met by a dull "thunk." Opening his eyes, he stared down at the floor, and the very much still intact lightbulb. He looked at Mari, who looked back at him, equally confused. He picked the lightbulb up off the floor and repeated his previous gesture, throwing it full force at the ground, only to once more be met with a very unshattered lightbulb. Was this it? Was his entire purpose impossible? Had Omori already won? 

"Sunny? Sunny are you alright?" Mari looked at him, her face filled with worry. In response he only picked up the lightbulb and stared into it's pitch black visage, before slowly shaking his head. "What... What do we do now?"

"We..." The Remnant stopped. What should they do now? What can they do? The lightbulb didn't break, no matter how hard he threw it. He knew one thing for sure. "We can't stay here. Omori could come back at any second."

"Yeah..." Mari was still worried. Worried and confused. The Remnant couldn't blame her. She wanted to save her brother, her real brother, and in the end The Remnant was just that. A remnant. "We should get out of here."

The Remnant nodded, and opened the door to Grayspace, allowing Mari to go through first, before following, the lightbulb still clutched tightly in his hand. They needed to find Abbi, asap. Things had become much more complicated than any of them realized.

Chapter Text

The situation Abbi currently found herself in was quite possibly the worst possible scenario. She has looked away for one second, and Basil was gone. That's why she found herself frantically searching as much of Blackspace as she could, in as little time as possible. So far, she had been through more doors than she could count, and had come no closer to finding Basil. It had gotten to the point of tedium, and Abbi was quickly growing more and more annoyed. Annoyed and worried. The Stranger was needed to awaken the Dreamer, and Basil was necessary to find the Stranger. This was all like one big annoying fetch quest. Infuriating. That was not the worst part however. 

The more she explored Blackspace, the further into it's darkness she stepped, the more she understood. She could see now just how badly damaged the Dreamer's subconscious was. If she wanted to help, she needed to find the Flowerchild and the Stranger, and she needed to find them fast. Only problem being she had already scoured most of the readily available parts or Blackspace, anywhere else might require a lot more work to reach. Unfortunately, she'd need to travel to the deeper parts eventually, as she had a bunch that was where the Stranger was located. It made the most sense, with the Stranger's purpose being to guide the dreamer to the truth, Omori would probably have locked him away as deep as he possibly could. That wasn't as concerning as the Basil, however. His whereabouts, or rather lack of them, was an issue that needed to be solved. The Stranger wasn't going anywhere, he was. 

She groaned internally. If she had been anyone else, she wouldn't dare to brave Blackspace, for merely being within it's darkness corrupted one's very being. Basil seemed to be immune, likely due to his connection to the truth, and Abbi herself was immune because of her nature being different than that of most Headspace residence. She had existed before Headspace, before Blackspace, before even Whitespace, and would likely exist long after.

But first, she needed to find two children. 

The last thing the Stranger expected to find in the depths of Blackspace was a person. Or rather, a person from Headspace. Nothing from above should be able to exist here, especially this deep, although it sort of made sense with who the person in question was. For indeed, the Stranger's glimmering white eyes stared into cerulean orbs that matched it's own in shape. This was it's other half, The Flowerchild. That... Shouldn't be possible. After the previous cycle, Omori had taken the Dreamer's place, taking that opportunity to bury the Stranger even deeper than before, and to prevent the Flowerchild from ever reaching Blackspace again. 

"U-um... Excuse me..." The brightly colored boy said. He looked nervous and scared, feelings the Stranger could relate to. "Where... Are we? And who exactly... Are you?"

"We are in the deepest parts of Sunny's mind." The Stranger replied. "A place known as Blackspace. As for your other question... Simply put, I am you."

"W-what? How can you be me?!" The look of fear on the Flowerchild's face. "You can't be me!"

"I am you... But at the same time, I am not." The Stranger said, to the confusion of it's other. "Long ago, we were one and the same. We would guide Sunny to the truth, and so the other one split us. You were the idealized parts of the whole, while I was the parts that remembered the truth. I have been trapped within the confines of Blackspace ever since."

Basil stared in further confusion. Confusion and fear.

"W-what truth?"

It was gone. The lightbulb was gone. An empty wire dangled from the ceiling, nothing attached to it's end. Omori merely stared at the place the lightbulb once rested. Slowly, he turned away, examining the entirety of Whitespace, his home. The lightbulb's absence didn't worry him, not in the slightest. After all, he didn't need to fear it's safety, as the only one who could damage it was in no condition to do anything. 

The only one who could release the truth was the one who ruled this world, The Dreamer himself. He had to accept and come to terms with it on his own, something he would never do. He had no reason to. He had no reason to do anything. He could leave everything to Omori now. He could rest.

Within an endless expanse of empty blackness, devoid of everything, created to house a single being, two halves of a whole fought. One abandoned, fractured, damaged. The other sacred, confused, in pain. Around them both, tendrils blacker than even the darkness surrounding them swirled, a great fanged maw surrounding them, a single eye breaking through it's dark form. The shadow known as the Stranger stood before it's other half, garden clippers having materialized in it's hand. The colorful boy known as Basil, quivered, both at the Stranger's weapon, and at the beast wrapping around them both. 

"Sunny must move on, he must heal." The Stranger's voice was cold. "For that, I will do what I must."

"W-wait! Please there's gotta be another way!" Tears shown in Basil's eyes as he spoke, now visibly more than just afraid. "I-I don't wanna die!"

"You will not cease to be." The Stranger said, shaking its head. "We will merely become one again. We will become whole, and finally, we will help Sunny."

The Stranger began walking closer and closer to his other, grip tightening on the shears in it's hand. It knew what needed to be done. 

Abbi finally found a path she hadn't traversed before. It took the form of a long, dark corridor, empty picture frames lining the walls. This corridor seemed darker than the rest of Blackspace, and the darkness only increased as she continued down, bringing with it an icy feeling of despair and anguish.

This corridor led to somewhere horrible, somewhere she needed to go. She could feel it. This was where she needed to be. The corridor continued to darken around her as she approached it's end, coming face to face with a door blacker than all surrounding it. She extended her hand toward the handle, wrapping her fingers around it's icy surface. Bracing herself, she pushed the door open. Revealing something unexpected. On the plus side, she was pretty sure she knew where Basil had wound up. 

Standing in a field of empty blackness with his back turned to her, a new figure stood. It was someone both old and new. Someone finally complete. It was not Basil, and it was not the Stranger. It was the Guide. It looked almost like Basil, it's skin now light gray in contrast with it's black hair, upon which rested a wilted flower crown. It turned to her, white eyes surrounded by black outlines seeming to scan her whole being. 

"Welcome, wisest." its voice echoed throughout the dark. "Welcome to the depths of Blackspace."

Chapter Text

Frankly speaking, Omori was upset. He had worked so hard to perfect Headspace, to permanently hide the truth, to allow the Dreamer to rest, and now it had all been rendered pointless. Basil had gone missing, something which had only ever happened when the truth was nearly released. Basil had gone missing, the lightbulb was gone, what next, the Wisest had broken free from her imprisonment? He could only think of one who would attempt to release Blackspace and the truth. The Remnant. Broken pieces of The Dreamer that could not coexist within his rest. Pieces that had been discarded, cast into Blackspace. Pieces that didn't seem to know how to die.

Omori turned his attention back to the matter at hand, that being his search for Basil. He knew where Basil was likely to be, he just needed an entrance. He was going to pay Blackspace a visit, he would make sure the Remnant stayed dead, and he'd reset Headspace one more time. For the Dreamer's sake.

If The Remnant had to describe his emotional state, it would be frustration. Frustration and sadness. He couldn't win. The universe seemed to be working against him. His one goal was out of his reach. The stupid lightbulb wouldn't break. No matter what he did, it wouldn't break. Was his one goal impossible? Was his very reason for existing beyond reason? The more he thought about this, the worse he felt. A strong blue aura wrapped around him.

He simply stared dejectedly at the floor of Grayspace, hugging his knees close to chest. He could tell that Mari was sitting next to him, though what she was feeling remained a mystery to him. The lightbulb lay before them. That damn lightbulb. The Remnant had a few guesses as to why it wouldn't break. The most likely scenario was that Sunny had to face the truth on his own. No one but him could break the seal. That alone made their job infinitely harder. 

What could they even do at this point? What was the point of doing anything? Omori may as well have already won. The Dreamer slept, and wouldn't awaken until Omori was defeated, and their was no way they could beat Omori. He had almost complete control over Sunny's mind. What the hell could they do? It... Was hopeless. All of it. The Remnant could feel the blue aura enveloping him intensify even more. 

Why? Why was he so useless? Why couldn't he accomplish anything? Why did everything he did go wrong? Why couldn't he do anything right? Why? Why why why why-

A warmth enveloped him from behind, causing him to snap out of his spiral, if only temporarily. The warmth turned out to be Mari, who seemed to have noticed the blue around him, enveloping him in the tightest hug she could possibly manage.

"Please... Talk to me Sunny," Her voice trembled slightly, giving a brief window into her own emotions. "I'm here, and I won't leave you to face this alone, so please... Just let me help you..."

"I..." He began, his voice quivering. "I just want to know why? Why can't I do anything right? Why do I ruin everything I touch? Why did I have to throw that damn violin? Why did any of this have to happen?! Why won't this damn lightbulb break?! Why?!"

By the time he finished speaking, his body was trembling, and tears spilled across his face from non-existent eyes. He was sick of it. Sick of everything. He knew his purpose, he knew what needed to be done, bit he couldn't do it. He just felt so... Useless. Mari hugged him tighter, rubbing circles into his back. After an indeterminate amount of time, the Remnant had finally managed to calm down mostly, and Mari pulled away from the hug to look at him. 

"Sunny," she began, using a voice that was typically reserved for Stern lectures, only this time it was laced with something else, perhaps affection. "I'm not going to pretend that you did nothing wrong," harsh, but he supposed it was deserved, "but I'm also not going to lie and say that it was all your fault. I was just as at fault as you. I was the one who let it get to the point it did, I pushed you to your breaking point, and we both paid the price for it." She stopped, looked him in his metaphorical eyes, and continued. "Besides, it's not like we can't try again with the lightbulb. When Abbi gets back, she can help, alright?" 

The Remnant sniffled, but nodded nonetheless. His blue aura remained, but severely lessened in terms of strength. 

"Good. We'll get through this," she said. "I'll be there for you the entire time."

He simply responded by hugging her again, burying his face into her shoulder, two muffled words slipping from his mouth.

"Thank you..."

There was always a door to Grayspace within Blackspace. This was fine, as Omori couldn't actually get into Grayspace, not unless he was invited. Abbi and Basil had managed to navigate to the door safely, with only a few mishaps. Blackspace was not a place Abbi wanted to visit again. Basil had remained silent for most of the journey, only speaking when he truly needed to. 

Abbi raised her hand to the door before them, and knocked softly. Soon enough, the door opened ever so slightly, before swinging open entirely. Abbi led Basil into Grayspace, where The Remnant greeted them both.

"Welcome back Abbi, and h-hello Basil..." It was easy to see he was nervous. Abbi didn't have to guess why. "I... Want to apologize. For doing what I did to you. What I did was horrible, and I can only hope for forgiveness."

"It's water under the bridge now," Basil replied with a slight wave of his hand. "Besides, we have more to worry about, right? Abbi filled me in on the plan, and by now I'm sure you've tried breaking the lightbulb."

The Remnant nodded, creating some chairs for everyone to sit.

"There is only one who can break the lightbulb. He has to face the truth himself, otherwise it'll mean nothing." Basil said, taking a seat in a large armchair. "There is still hope, y'know. We have to confront Omori, and draw the Dreamer out from within. We'd have to face Omori sooner or later, only change is now we have to awaken the Dreamer from within him. It's simple, really."

Silence filled the air of Grayspace, before the Remnant broke it.

"How is any of that simple?" He asked, incredulous. "Nothing about that is simple. We might as well walk up to Omori and tell him to stab us!"

"Wrong. Mari and Abbi are more or less invulnerable, and as long as a part of the Dreamer wishes to move on, then you and I will exist. And so, we will go to Whitespace, and wait. Omori will come to us, and we will free the Dreamer." 

Basil paused, and looked at the white lightbulb hanging from the ceiling.

"It's all we can do."

Chapter Text

Basil was not in Blackspace. Omori was getting thoroughly annoyed. Apparently, some work still needed to be done before the cycle was perfect, as things like this were still happening. Plus the lightbulb being missing... A noiseless sigh escaped his mouth. This was to be expected, he supposed. It had been far too few cycles for it to actually be perfect already. He would just need to find Basil and reset Headspace again, filling in the cracks as he went. A red hand, serving as his exit from Blackspace, appeared before him, awaiting it's orders. 

He would need to wake up fairly soon, if for no other reason than to maintain the functionality of The Dreamer's body. As he allowed the wiggling crimson appendage to transport him to Whitespace, he briefly pondered why there had to be a world as awful as the Dreamer's home when one as wonderful as Headspace existed. Oh well, as long as the Dreamer's world exists, Omori supposed he'd need to visit it. White encapsulated his vision, and soon the standard objects of whitespace came into view: the laptop, the tissue box, the sketchbook, the ominous gray door, Mewo, the- hey wait a minute, the ominous gray door? 

Omori blinked. And then blinked again. No matter how many times he blinked, the door was still there. That was new. New and very wrong. New things don't just show up in whitespace, least of all a door that didn't lead to Headspace. Omori honestly wasn't sure what he should do. No matter what changed in Headspace, whitespace would always stay the same. An unchanging, permanent sanctuary, impenetrable from the outside world. So why the hell was there a gray door standing there like nothings wrong? A strange feeling crept through Omori's body. A feeling he'd never felt before, yet knew all the same. Staring at this door, this unfamiliar obstruction to his sanctuary, Omori felt fear. This fear... He couldn't even be sure if it was his or if it came from the Dreamer, but he felt it nonetheless. And it felt horrible. It clawed away at his insides, gripping at his very being, slowly tearing him apart from within. 

And then the door opened. 

As the door in front of him opened, the Remnant felt fear like he'd never felt before. He was absolutely terrified beyond his comprehension. He felt as though he were freezing and burning all at once. He wanted to close the door and never open it again, to never look at Whitespace for the rest of eternity, but that desire was drowned out by his will to keep going, to fulfill his purpose. He tightened his grip on the lightbulb as he prepared to take the first steps into the most dangerous place he could ever go. He felt a reassuring hand upon his shoulder. The hand of Mari, who's death caused all of this. Her death at his hands. Another deep breath, in and out, calming down. He was ready.

The door finished opening, and the Remnant took the first step across the threshold, coming face to face with Omori. His fear redoubled, but he fought against it, standing his ground as Mari, Abbi, and Basil emerged behind him. For a moment all was quiet, the silence encompassing Whitespace like a blanket. All was still, with the Remnant simply staring at his opposing counterpart. 

"None of you should be here." Omori's voice was cold, monotonous, devoid of life, yet something else lingered behind it, veiled by Omori's mask of indifference. A deep pain emanated from far within Omori. Pain that belonged not to the monochrome boy. "You," he pointed his knife at Abbi, "You were banished to the abyss. And you," he now shifted his attention to Basil, "You we're rent in two." 

His attention shifted to Mari, and though his expression remained unchanged, something in his eyes spoke again of the pain that wasn't his own. Moving his gaze to fall on the Remnant, he glared at him, pointing his knife at him, prompting Mari to step between them. 

"Omori," Basil began, determination burning in his voice. "You cannot keep the Dreamer here. Not anymore. He must move on. He must tell his friends the truth, before it's too late. You know this, yet you still insist upon this delusion of protecting him. You must let go, Omori."

Omori lunged at Basil, knife in hand, only for Abbi to restrain him using her tentacles.

"Now now, we can be civilized about this," She said. "Dreamer, I know you can hear me, but I want you to listen. You have a chance, an opportunity to make things right. Not everyone gets that chance. It's ultimately up to you wether or not you take that chance, but for your sake, I hope you do."

Omori struggled against Abbi's grip, only for her to tighten the restraints, holding him aloft. 

"You honestly believe that?" Omori asked, as neutral as ever. "You believe it would be better for him to live in pain, every day? To dwell in guilt over his actions? If that were the case, then I'd have no reason to be here. I've taken away his pain and allowed him to live in peace."

"But he's not living!" Mari shouted at the imitation of her brother, tears gleaming in her eyes. "I know you can hear me, brother. This... This isn't living. You can make things right with everyone, you can move on. You... You can heal. Please... Please don't let this consume you. Please Sunny..."

Tears were now freely flowing down her face, and Omori's grip on his knife faltered ever so slightly, before he redoubled it, thrashing wildly. Abbi, unprepared for his sudden and violent movement was forced to release him, allowing him to land on the ground with an echoing 'thud.' The Remnant stared into Omori's eyes, seeing briefly behind the mask, the pain of the Dreamer. Omori summoned a swarm of red hands, the writhing appendages grabbing and restraining all four of the intruders, the lightbulb being knocked from the Remnants grasp. As the symbol of repression rolled to a stop at his feet, Omori reached down and picked it up, his face the same as it was when this all started.

"No. I am doing what's best for the Dreamer, and you're all in my way," Omori looked at each one individually, locking eyes with one after another, ending on the Remnant. "So you must all be removed."

The grip of the red hands began to tighten. Their grasp burned. Mari cried out in pain.  Basil simply gasped, his throat restricted by the shifting mass of limbs around him. Abbi simply remained silent, although her pain could be seen by all. The Remnant couldn't tell if he was screaming through the ringing in his ears. He focused his attention on Omori, and noticed something he hadn't before. Scattered across his skin, faint cracks had formed, barely noticable. What they were doing... It was working. On last push was all it would take. Gathering all of his willpower, the Remnant spoke.

"Dreamer," he gasped out between pained breaths. "No... Sunny. Listen to me, please. I know what you've felt, what you're feeling now, because it defines who I am. I... I only exist because you felt that and still want to move on. You want to heal. I know you do, because I do. Think about your friends... They deserve to know the truth, don't they? Do it... For them..."

He felt lightheaded, but through the haze around his vision he could see the cracks had become larger, more noticable, and Omori seemed to be... Shaking? The grip of the hands relaxed ever so slightly, creating an opening which Mari capitalized upon.

"Please Sunny..." She desperately pleaded through her tears. "I... I don't want to see you rot away. I want you to live, move on. Listen to me Sunny... I forgive you. So please... Try to forgive yourself... For my sake and for yours." 

Omori was no longer merely shaking, his entire body was wracked with tremors, and the cracks had only worsened. The knife fell from his hand as he clutched the side of his head. A rumbling slowly filled whitespace, forever disrupting the former silence. For a moment, everything was encompassed in a bright flash, blinding all present. When the light faded, a new person stood in Whitespace, directly facing Omori, who now stood stunned from what had happened. In his hand, he held the Lightbulb, and he stared into it's pitch black surface, now sporting several cracks. He briefly looked around, his eyes tearing up as they feel upon Mari. Turning back to Omori, who had recovered from his stunned state, he raised the lightbulb, before throwing it to the ground.

Whitespace was filled with the resounding sound of shattering glass, as darkness encompassed everything. The Remnant found himself smiling as everything went black. He had succeeded, his purpose was fullfilled, and now he could rest. Still, he would've liked to exist a little while longer, even if he wasn't needed. With that, he closed his eyes, allowing himself to fade into the Dreamer's consciousness. 

As early morning sunlight drifted through the curtains of an upstairs window, a young raven haired teen opened his eyes. As the light shine upon his face, he moved his arm over his eyes. On this morning, Sunny Suzuki wept.

END OF ACT 1

Chapter Text

Sunny was crying. Tears spilled from his eyes, staining his pillow. He cried all the tears he had left unshed for two years. He couldn't stop if he wanted to. The truth, he had seen it. He knew what he had done, what he had tried to run from. The tears still flowed. 

He didn't want to think about how much pain he caused his friends, and all because he couldn't control his temper. It wasn't enough that he had to destroy their gift to him, he also took Mari from them. She was the center of the group, and he made them believe she took her own life. A sick feeling began building within him, beginning in his stomach, and rising to his throat. 

Without a second thought, he threw himself from his bed, stumbling his way to the bathroom. He didn't even bother closing the bathroom door as he leaned over the toilet, his stomach violently removing what little there was inside of it. God he felt pathetic. He couldn't even think about what he'd done without throwing up. He felt disgusted by himself. Why? Why had she died? Why couldn't it have been him instead? Everyone would be so much happier without him. He was worthless. Less than worthless. He rose from the pool of filth, standing on shaking legs, and slowly stumbled his way to the mirror. 

He stared at the image it reflected. His hair was unkempt, and much longer than he would've liked, his eyes, red and bloodshot, sported matching dark circles, and his complexion was horribly pale. In his opinion, he looked more like a corpse than a young teen. He was also thin, so much so that it couldn't be healthy. Staring at his reflection, he became acutely aware of how much filth he had accumulated on his body. When was the last time he showered, or really did anything of personal hygiene? He truly was disgusting, wasn't he? He couldn't even take care of himself properly. Mari should've lived, and he should've died. That way, everyone could still be happy. No one needed him. He was just Mari's little brother. No one would notice if he disappeared one day, no one would care if he died. He never deserved friends, he never deserved anything but death. But of course, he was too afraid to die. Afraid of seeing Mari again. What would she say to him? Would she scream, and yell, and tell him how much she hates him? He would deserve it, but somehow he felt that was wrong. Mari would... Mari would what? Mari would... Hate... She would hate... Him? No that didn't seem right. Mari would hate...

Mari would hate to see him like this. 

Memories of the night before, prior to the truth, flooded his mind. He remembered seeing things from two perspectives, and then three, then one. He remembered fighting Omori, but he also was Omori, and then... He wasn't. And then he freed the truth. Everything else was hazy, but he was sure if one thing; Mari was there. The real  Mari, not the one he created within Headspace, not the one he feared would hunt him down and kill him, but the real Mari, just as she had been when she was alive. There was something else he was sure of. She forgave him. Despite everything he'd done, she forgave him. If she forgave him, then what was stopping him from forgiving himself? Was he finally ready to move forward? New tears sprung to his eyes. Tears formed from a mixture of emotions. He may not be able to fully forgive himself, but he would try. For her. For his friends. For himself.

But first, he needed to shower.

As it turns out, he was absolutely filthy, and he wasn't about to see his friends again for the first time in two years smelling like he looked. He turned the water on, and quickly retrieved a new set of clothes from his room while it warmed up. He would've preferred a bath, but showers were quicker, and he was honestly somewhat desperate to see his friends again. The water had now reached a reasonable temperature, and so he stepped in, only to immediately want to step right back out. It was a lot colder than he expected. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to stay in the stream of ice that rained across his body. He repeatedly told himself that it would warm up, as he cleaned himself. When the time came to wash his hair, he realized that there was only one bottle of shampoo. It was her shampoo. He remembered. The cold water coating his face was interrupted by hit tears streaming once more from his eyes. Despite the pain it brought him, he used it. 

He left the icy shower, and dried himself off, finding comfort in how fluffy his towel of choice was. After donning his new clothes (a baggy black t-shirt and with matching sweatpants) he left the bathroom, briefly pondering what to do now, when a growl from his stomach interrupted him. When was the last time he ate? He shook his head and turned towards the stairs. Oh... The stairs. An icy claw gripped his chest, fear rising throughout his entire body. As he forced himself to take the first step, the feeling grew, with dark shapes beginning to swim on the edges of his vision. Hands, reaching out to him, waiting to push him down to his death. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, reminding himself why he was doing any of this. Slow, deliberate steps. One at a time. There suddenly came a loud knocking at the door, startling him and causing a slight stumble. He suddenly felt his feet leave the stairs, as hia surroundings became a blur. For a moment he felt weightless, suspended in the air halfway down the stairs. And then gravity returned, and Sunny fell.

Chapter Text

Pain. That's what Sunny felt. A lot of different things hurt. He figured being dead would hurt less. This is what he gets for trying to make amends with his friends, a poetic death. He really did want to make things right, but of course, he just had to fall down the stairs. Oh well, nothing he could do now. And this way, he at least got to see Mari again. Still, dying was painful. He at least figured the pain would fade after a while, but it seemed to be doing the opposite, or rather he was becoming more aware of the pain, and where exactly it was located. He also became more aware of the hard wood floor he was laying face down on. 

Wait. 

Hard wood floors? He could still feel things? Did he somehow... Survive? 

If feeling slowly returning to his entire body was any indicator, then yes, he was still alive, and not exactly well. With a groan, he struggled into a kneeling position. The knocking had stopped. Had he imagined it? Was it simply a product of his trauma-brain subconsciously trying to kill him by exploiting his irrational fear of heights? If that was the case, then nice try brain, Sunny lives to fight another day! His victory over his brain was interrupted by the very much not imaginary knocking on the door, startling Sunny out of his daze. 

Frantically, he scrambled to his feet and stumbled to the door, still not used to moving around too much. He had to stop himself from physically colliding with the door. Someone spoke from the other side, someone Sunny could never mistake for anyone else.

"Hello? Sunny, are you in there?" The unmistakable voice of the most hyperactive person to ever live asked. "It's me, your friend Kel! I was hoping we could hang out, y'know for old times sake, or something..."

By the sound of it, Kel seemed to have done this many times before. His voice, while definitely recognizable as Kel's, seems much more tired than it used to be. That was his fault, wasn't it? He didn't deserve a friend like Kel... And yet Kel was the one who was knocking on his door... But Kel also didn't know the truth... But he did deserve to know the truth... And it's not like Sunny wasn't planning on telling him, this just accelerated the process, if anything. Just as he was making up his mind to open the door, a sigh could be heard from the other side.

"Guess not then..." If his voice lacked energy before, now it was like a drained battery. "See you... Maybe..."

His steps had already begun to retreat as Sunny frantically scrambled to open his door, a task made infinitely more difficult by the shaking in his hands, and the pain that still wracked his body. With a click, he finally undid the lock, throwing the door open, just as Kel was reaching the sidewalk. 

"Kel!" Sunny exclaimed as the door swung wide, causing the boy to wince at how hoard it was. Kel turned, faster than Sunny thought humanly possible, a grin forming on his face as he laid eyes on his friend. 

"Sunny!" He shouted as he ran back up to his friends door, enveloping the smaller boy in a crushing bear hug, unknowingly causing Sunny immense physical pain. 

Two thoughts crossed Sunny's mind as Kel practically crushed his bones. First, was mentally screaming in agony. Second, and much more pressing in his opinion, when did Kel get so damn tall?!?!

The two now reunited friends sat in Sunny's kitchen, with Sunny trying to find some food for the two of them. Something premade would be ideal, especially since Sunny did not trust his still shaking hands to cook, and if memory served, Kel was not to be trusted within 50 feet a frying pan. Eventually, his efforts were rewarded with sandwich materials, which he began assembly into some rather amateur meals. 

"Man, I haven't been in here in ages!" Kel's enthusiasm had returned in full, but Sunny noticed his smile didn't quite reach his eyes. He had been hurt by Mari's death, and deserved the truth behind it just as much as anyone else. "So, Sunny, how've you been? Sorry, that's probably a stupid question."

"I've..." Sunny began, not really sure how to finish. "Well it's been pretty rough. Until today, I barely left my room. I spent most of my time sleeping. I... Didn't want to face reality."

He wasn't sure when he had teared up, but quickly dried his eyes when Kel placed a concerned hand on his shoulder.

"I'm alright." Sunny said quickly, turning to face Kel. "Last night I had a dream... It gave me the courage to move forward, and now here we are."

He knew Kel needed to know the truth, but how do you go about telling someone that their friend who killed herself, didn't actually kill herself, and it was actually an accidental murder framed as a suicide? Besides that, he was scared. He wanted to tell the truth, but he was terrified of what Kel would say to him. 

"-unny? Sunny are you okay?" Kel's voice brought the boy in question back to reality. He nodded rapidly, much to Kel's relief. He hadn't even realized he spaced out. "I forgot that you do that sometimes, thought you might've seen a spider or something."

At the mention of the horrible eight legged monster, Sunny shuddered. Oh, the sandwiches were done. When did that happen? Oh well. After laying claim to one for himself, he handed one to Kel. 

"Sweet! Thanks Sunny." Kel said, taking a bite of his sandwich. "Y'know if I'm being honest, I really didn't expect you to open the door. I'd tried before today, but maybe I should've tried harder. Anyway... I know it may be kind of sudden, but wanna go to Hobbeez? When you're done eating of course."

Sunny considered for a moment. On the one hand, he hadn't been outside in two years, and might draw some weird looks due to how corpse-like he looked. But on the other hand, he'd need to go outside anyway if he wanted to repair his friendships with everyone. In the end, option 2 won, and he gave Kel a small nod. 

"Sweet!" Kel beamed at Sunny. "Oh man, it'll be just like when we used to sneak out at night, except in broad daylight, and we aren't really sneaking out."

Sunny almost chuckled at Kel's antics. He had waited far too long to open the door. 

A little while later, and Sunny stood before the gate to Faraway. Beyond this door, he'd be leaving any semblance of security behind, traversing a world that had no doubt changed. Kel had already stepped outside, and was simply waiting for Sunny. He steeled himself, before taking the first step into the world beyond his house. He would face whatever the world three at him, change or no.

Chapter Text

Stepping over the threshold, the harsh light of Sunny's namesake greeted his eyes, causing him to blink repeatedly. As his eyes adjusted, he looked around. His street was just as he remembered it, which felt a little jarring, if he was being honest. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the slightly chilly morning air (should he grab a jacket?) before closing his door and walking to the sidewalk where Kel was waiting, jogging in place. 

"All ready to go?" He asked, to which Sunny nodded. "Great!  Actually, you may want to grab a jacket, it's a bit chilly today."

Sunny looked at Kel for a moment, waiting for him to realize the irony of his advice, as he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. When Kel didn't seem to notice anything wrong with his advice, Sunny merely sighed and nodded, before stepping back inside. Current objective: aquire jacket. The most likely place would be his wardrobe, which was in his room. Upstairs. Of course it is. With a sigh, he began trekking upstairs. He made it without incident, thankfully, and retrieved his old dark gray hoodie from his wardrobe. He was momentarily surprised it still fit him, until he remembered that he hadn't grown at all in the past two years. 

Leaving his room, he looked down at the stairway, taking a deep breath and beginning his second journey down them today. Each step, he waited for shadowy hands to manifest, for Something to appear, but nothing came. He reached the first floor without incident. Take that, stairs!

Still revelling in his miniscule victory over the stairs, he met back up with Kel, and the two proceeded to Hobbeez.

 On the way, Sunny became very slightly annoyed. He had psyched himself up to deal with a completely different Faraway, made all sorts of preparations in his head, and Faraway had the nerve to barely change at all! All that mental preparation for nothing. He felt betrayed by the universe itself. This world was a cruel and unjust place, devoid of any sense of fairness, truly a lawless wasteland where- wait was that a cat? Indeed it was, an orange tabby to be precise. Ignoring all logic, the teen approached the small feline, cautiously reaching out to pet it. It accepted his gesture, allowing itself to be pet by his hand as he sat next to it.

"I guess some things never change, huh?" Kel said, approaching from behind. "You always did really like cats, didn't you?"

Sunny nodded without taking his eyes off the subject of his petting. He hadn't felt this much dopamine in a long time, and he had desperately missed the happy chemical. He wasn't sure how long he was petting the cat before it got up and left. As his feline friend dissapeared into some bushes, Sunny couldn't stop the deep feeling of sadness that washed over him. Everything was terrible, he quickly decided. There was no happiness in this cruel and u just world, the only purpose for anyone's existence was to suffer. Happiness was a lie, and sooner or later, all would fall into despair, just as he had.

"-nny? Sunny? Earth to Sunny?" Kel said, breaking the boy in question from his brooding. "You spaced out again bud. So, you ready to head to Hobbeez?"

Sunny nods, allowing Kel to help him to his feet. The rest of the walk to Hobbeez past without incident, and soon enough, both boys stood within the store of their childhood, the shopkeep greetings Kel when they entered. Sunny couldn't help the pang of nostalgia that hit him as he closely examined everything inside. Just like the rest of Faraway, it was alarming how little Hobbeez had changed. There was still the old Captain Spaceboy arcade machine in the back, comics near the front, tables to the side, etc. It was almost exactly how Sunny remembered. It was a little jarring, to say the least, but also very nostalgic and comforting.

Kel ran off to try his hand at the arcade machine, and if Sunny had brought any money, he would've done the same, but alas, in his lack of forethought, he neglected to bring his wallet. Yet another tragedy in the ever growing chain that was his life. In his lack of money, he instead opted to look over the comics section. They still had some of the older issues of Captain Spaceboy, and Sunny actually found the one where he left off. If he felt nostalgic before, now it was like he had stepped into the past.

 If only I actually could. He thought briefly. 

"Looking at some old Captain Spaceboy comics?" Kel asked suddenly, slightly startling Sunny, prompting him to jump, and then nod. "Yeah they've had some pretty crazy story arcs recently. Mind if I join you?" Sunny shook his head, taking a seat on the ground, prompting Kel to do the same.

They spent a long time just reading comics together, enjoying each other's company. Eventually though, they ended up changing activities. Kel ended up loaning Sunny a dollar to try the arcade machine, which he did obscenely well on, despite his two year absence. Despite everything going on around him though, Sunny couldn't help but feel something was off. Was it because he hadn't told Kel the truth yet? Was it something else? He wasn't sure, and as Kel had another run on the arcade cabinet, Sunny let his mind and eyes wander, eventually falling upon a calendar.

Oh. It fully sunk in that it had been two years. Two years that his friends lived in a lie. Sunny suddenly felt like he had been hit in the stomach by a sack of bricks. Every second that he waited, every moment he didn't tell Kel the truth, he only made it worse. Why? Why couldn't he just say it? Why couldn't he just come clean? Why why why?

It's because he was afraid. He was afraid of being hated. Of being shunned. Of being hated. And besides... It's not like he had talked to Basil about any of this. It was one thing to make his friends hate him, but if he made them hate Basil, because of a role that was forced upon him? 

He resolved to talk to Basil as soon as possible. By this point though, the sun was already starting to set, meaning it was time to head home. The walk back to their street was mostly filled by Kel's boundless energy. On the way Sunny realized something. It was easy to call Kel simple, but that wasn't accurate. He wasn't simple in the slightest. He was always smiling, but from all Sunny had seen today, it never reached his eyes. It was shallow, fake. A mask. 

Kel was the kind of person to always put another person's problems before his, while hiding his own behind a mask of positivity and pretending nothing is wrong.

Oh, they were at Sunny's door now. 

"Well, I guess I'll see ya." Kel said. "You think you'll be up to hang out tomorrow?" Sunny shrugged, while a voice inside of him screamed at him to tell the truth, now or never. "Great! I'll probably pick you up a little earlier than today, alright?"

Sunny nodded, as a weight on his shoulders steadily grew heavier and heavier.

"Well, I'll see you round then," Kel said as he turned to walk away. "Later!"

Kel was halfway down the driveway. Now or never.

"Kel wait!" Sunny cringed at his own voice, but that wasn't his main concern as Kel spun around. "I... I have to tell you something."

Chapter Text

Kel couldn't sleep. He didn't know the exact time, but it was definitely late. He did know normally he'd be asleep by now, but tonight was far from a normal night, so he gave himself a pass. Mere hours ago, Sunny had revealed something... Kel wasn't sure what he'd call it, but it was certainly something. 

"I have to tell you something."

Kel figured those words would live in his mind for the rest of his life. He didn't have a chance to properly react to what Sunny had said either, cause as soon as he was finished he ran inside. This whole thing had never once left Kel's mind. Sunny had killed Mari. But it was an accident, wasn't it? But then he staged it as a suicide, and there was no way that was accidental. But he regretted it... Right? Kel rolled over onto his side, the noise of his sheets disrupting the silence of the room. No matter what he did, he kept working himself in mental circles. He was never the best with emotions, which is part of why he tried not to get emotionally vulnerable. He barely registered the groan that escaped his mouth. 

"You should go to sleep, Kel." The voice of Hero whispered from across the room. 

"Same goes for you." Kel turned the tables in him. "You need to sleep just as much as I do."

"Yeah, maybe." Hero yawned. "That doesn't change the fact that you need to sleep. And besides, I'm normally awake this late, you aren't. Did something happen?"

"Well..." Kel pondered for a moment. "Hero can I ask you a question?"

"Of course," Hero replied, before adding on. "You just did, didn't you?"

"Har de har." Kel grumbled. "I'm being serious, Hero."

"Yeah, yeah." Hero sighed. "What's on your mind?"

"Well..." Kel thought about how to phrase his question. "If... If someone does something bad, does that make them a bad person?" 

"Well, that's a complicated question," Hero responded. "That really depends. What exactly is the context?"

"No." Kel said flatly. He had decided it wasn't his place to tell Hero what had happened. "I'm sorry Hero, but I can't tell you."

"Alright," Hero said with a sigh. "But to answer your question, not necessarily. If they regret whatever they did, then I don't think they're a bad person, whoever this is. Does that help at all?"

"Yeah," Kel closed his eyes. "Yeah it really does."

"Glad it did," Hero yawned once more. "Now you should get some sleep Kel."

"Yeah, alright." Kel sighed. "Goodnight Hero... And thanks."

"No problem," Hero responded. "Goodnight Kel."

But Kel, his question having been answered, was already fast asleep. Hero chuckled to himself as Kel's snores began to fill the silence that permeated the bedroom. He was stronger than anyone gave him credit for.

Sunny didn't think he'd be able to sleep tonight, he felt much to sick. A feeling only accentuated by the events that transpired at his doorstep mere hours earlier. He didn't regret telling Kel the truth, quite the contrary, it felt like an ever present weight on his shoulders had lessened, if only slightly. He honestly wasn't even sure if he wanted to sleep. What awaited him in the confines of his mind? What lay beyond the window of sleep? Would Omori be there, waiting to take control again? He truly had no idea, and that scared him. Still though, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep. As he eventually passed into unconsciousness, he could only hope his dreams would be merciful.

White. White greeted his vision. He sat up, immediately taking in the surroundings or whitespace. He could see the shattered remains of the lightbulb to his left, sitting just before an empty doorframe. 

"So you return, dreamer." The voice sent chills down his spine, and as he turned around he was met by the impassive face of his monochrome double. "Do not be alarmed, I mean you no harm."

Sunny merely stared. Omori stared back. Omori proved to be the better starer, as Sunny was the first to look away. 

"You're wondering why you're back here, correct?" Omori asked, prompting Sunny to slowly nod. "Frankly speaking, it's muscle memory. Your mind is so used to whitespace that it just dropped you in here by default."

Sunny blinked at Omori. That was it? There was no deeper reason for him to be back in whitespace? He was only here because of habit? That was... Strangely comforting. Omori was doing something on his laptop, the screen hidden from Sunny's view. Just as Sunny was about to ask, a strange rumble could be heard- and felt- throughout whitespace. Omori didn't seem surprised, much the contrary to Sunny, who looked around wildly, his eyes eventually falling upon the once empty doorframe, which now sported a gray door. He'd seen this door before, as Omori. This was the door that appeared in Whitespace before the lightbulb was shattered. Should... Should he open it? He felt like he should open it. He looked at Omori.

"Don't look at me, it's your mind." Was the doppelganger's only response.

 Sunny felt like he wasn't getting any more out of Omori, so he took a deep breath and prepared to open the door, only to practically jump out of his skin as a loud knocking echoed throughout whitespace. After taking a moment to recover from his second door related heart attack of the day, Sunny placed his hand on the doorknob, took a deep breath, and turned it. The door opened towards him, and he found his eyes widening as he looked at the person before him. He didn't even register his own movements as he wrapped her in the tightest hug he could muster, fresh tears springing to his eyes. 

"Aww, did my little brother really miss me that much?" Hearing Mari's voice only caused him to tighten his embrace. She returned his hug, comforting him as best she could. "There there, it's alright Sunny."

They stayed like that for a while, but eventually Sunny dried his eyes and spoke.

"Mari I..." He wasn't exactly sure what to say, there was so much on his mind, and he doubted he'd have enough time to say all of it, so he said what he viewed as the most important. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Mari. There are so many things I want to apologize for, so many things I want to take back, but I can't. You're gone and... And it's my fault. I... I must be a horrible younger brother... I'm sorry..."

"Sunny, listen to me." Mari commanded, something Sunny couldn't identify in her voice. "I want you to just listen, alright? No interrupting."

Sunny nodded.

"Good." She took a deep breath, and then spoke again. "Number one: as much as what happened was your fault, it was also mine. I was too caught up in the recital to notice that it wasn't really what you wanted. I couldn't- no, I wouldn't see your pain. You only took up the violin to spend time with me, and I forced you into a recital that you never wanted to do."

She paused for a moment, while Sunny pondered what she said. Before he could decide if she was done or not, she spoke again.

"That's why I should be the one apologizing to you." Sunny started to protest, only for Mari to hold finger up to shush him. "No interruptions. Number two: even after everything, you're trying to make things right now, aren't you?"

Sunny slowly nodded.

"See? There's no reason to act like this then." Mari said as she pulled away from the hug to look Sunny in the eyes, a smile on her face. "I know it'll be hard, but just know that I'll always be by your side, okay?"

Sunny nodded, tears forming in his eyes again. Mari pulled him back into a hug as she spoke again.

"I want to see you happy, Sunny." She said. "I want to see everyone happy. I'm sorry that I can't be there all the time, but I'll try to visit when I can."

Sunny was just about to respond when he was cut off by Omori, who Sunny had forgotten was there.

"I hate to interrupt this touching moment, but you're both kind of disturbing the peace in my room, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

The monochrome twelve year old gestured to the gray door.

"Feel free to use that."

Sunny was about to say something snarky and clever, but was yet again cut off, this time by Mari.

"Well, guess it's time then." She said with a sigh. "It's a little early, but you should get up fairly soon anyway, little brother."

She stood dusted herself off, before offering her hand to Sunny, which he took.

"Ready to wake up?" She asked, causing him to nod with more conviction than he'd felt in a long time. "Let's go then."

With that, the two walked through the gray door, and whitespace faded from around them.

Sunny jolted awake, entangling himself in his sheets and falling out of bed. He simply lay there for a moment, glad that no one was there to witness his humiliation. After his pride had recovered, he struggled to his feet and got dressed, donning the same outfit as yesterday, hoodie and all.

He had a plan for today. It had come to his attention that he hadn't actually visited Mari's grave once, and he planned to fix that. But first, he needed to eat. Descending the stairs was much easier on him today, especially since there was no knock on the door causing to almost die a very poetic and ironic death. 

Once he had traversed his former worst nightmare, he made his way into the kitchen, which he proceeded to scour for something light, but filling. Eventually, he settled on toast, due to it's simplicity. After carefully placing the bread in the toaster, he waited. S he waited, his mind wandered, eventually leading him to Kel. They'd undoubtedly talk today, especially after what Sunny told him last night. Had Kel told anyone else? Had he told Hero? He supposed it didn't really matter, as Hero was going to learn sooner or later. Sunny just wished he could tell him himself, as a way to atone, or something. 

The 'ding' of the toaster snapped him back to reality, and he set about spreading an amazing substance known as jam over his now warm crunchy bread.

The toast was good. 11/10.

Once he had finished his small breakfast, he exited his house for the second time in two years, making sure to grab his wallet this time. He got up earlier today than he did yesterday, mostly by accident if he was being honest, but he supposed he needed to fix his sleeping habits anyway. 

Making his way down the street, he reached the intersection, and rather than turning right, the direction of the church, he instead turned left. He wanted to stop at Fix-It and pick up some flowers. It was the least he could do. Thankfully, Fix-It was open this early (for some reason), and Sunny stepped inside. It was... Practically deserted. after briefly looking over the flowers in the front, he moved towards the back, dissatisfied with his immediate choices. Arriving in the back showed a much wider array of flowers and gardening implements. He nimbly maneuvered himself through the floral maze, surveying his multitude of options, before the soft thud of something hitting the floor to his left caught his attention. Spinning around, his eyes widened as they fell upon the shocked face of his best friend Basil, a bag of gardening soil having fallen from his hands and his mouth hanging open. They both just stared at each other for a while, before Sunny took it upon himself to break the silence.

"H-hey Basil," he said, realizing that he really needed to start talking more. "How've you been doing recently?"

Basil just stared a bit more, blinked, and closed his mouth. This was going to be an interesting day.

Chapter Text

Sunny and Basil were unknowingly locked in an unofficial staring contest. Basil blinked. Sunny blinked back. Was he being rude? He had greeted Basil, so if anything he was being rude. It was probably justified though, considering they hadn't seen each other in two years, and also considering what led to their two year separation.

"Uh h-hi... Sunny," Basil greeted, finally snapping out of his initial shock. "I-I've been alright... What about you?"

Sunny shrugged, unsure how to continue this interaction.

"Been better, been worse." He said simply. Man this was awkward. "I... I'm sorry. For locking myself away all this time."

"No no!" He seemed nervous, moreso than he was two years ago. "If anything, it was my fault, and I'm... Just glad to have you back."

Sunny didn't want to accept that answer, but that was beside the point. He had... Something else to discuss with him. 

"Basil, we..." He paused. How should he go about this conversation? How would he even begin? "We... Need to talk. A-about that day... Two years ago."

He could see Basil's expression drop when he said that. From what little Sunny remembered (which admittedly wasn't a lot), Basil was convinced that Something else killed Mari.

"A-ah... Th-thats..." If he seemed nervous before, now was even worse. Sunny could see him begin to shake. "The day that... that Something... k-killed..."

"Basil I need you to listen to me," Sunny tried to keep his voice level, but was finding it increasingly difficult. "On that day... There wasn't Something. It... It was me. As painful as it is, I... I killed Mari." His breath caught in his throat as tears began to appear at the corners of his eyes. He took a deep breath before continuing. "And I've come to terms with that recently. I don't... I don't want to live in a lie anymore Basil. I'm... I'm not sure I could."

Basil was still shaking, his eyes darted around the room, unable to meet Sunny's gaze. Sunny spoke again.

"I... Want to tell everyone." He paused. "No, I need to tell everyone. It's... It's what Mari would've wanted."

Basil closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Y-yeah... I guess it is..." He said, finally able to meet Sunny's eyes with tears forming in his own. "I... I'm sorry, Sunny. It's my fault, all of this. If I hadn't framed it as... As that, we wouldn't be in this situation..."

"Basil..." Sunny didn't know what to say, but he knew he needed to say something. "Stop. Please. It's my fault you were even in that situation to begin with, and I went along with it. I'm just as at fault as you are, if not more, so no more of that, alright?"

Basil simply nodded slowly, the tears in his eyes threatening to spill. After a moment, Sunny swiftly enveloped him into a hug needed by both of them. This was the action that caused the unshed tears to spill from the eyes of both boys. The only thing Sunny could think was that he hoped no one was watching them right now.

The church. An ancient building, as old as Faraway itself. Outside this door, Sunny stood alone. Basil had opted not to come with him, saying that he "wasn't ready to face her yet," which Sunny thought was fair, in all honesty. The only reason Sunny himself was able to visit was because of her visiting him in his dreams. On the topic of that, he still wasn't sure if that was real or just a product of his trauma brain. In any case, he still felt like he had to visit her grave, to honor her in some way. It was still early in the morning as he made his way to the back of the cemetery. The place was empty, himself being the only one to set foot within. 

Slowly, he crept through this sanctuary, eventually arriving at a grave tucked into the back corner.

Our dearest Mari;

The sun shined brighter when she was here.

Looking at the grave in front of him, Sunny couldn't help but shed a tear. He took a seat in front of the grave before speaking.

"H-hey Mari. It's me, Sunny. I'm sorry for never visiting sooner... I guess it took you visiting me first to finally leave the house..." He took a deep breath. This was harder on him than he thought it'd be. "Thanks for finally giving me the push I needed, even if it wasn't really you. I reconnected with Basil today. He's... Ready to move on I think. That's what I hope at least. I... Miss you. I don't think I'll ever not miss you, but I guess I'll just have to live with that, huh? I'll try to visit more often. I know you want everyone to be happy, and so I'll try to help them achieve that happiness. I'll... Try my best."

He couldn't talk anymore if he wanted to, his voice was too hoarse. He wasn't sure what to do from here. He'd said what he needed to say, so now what? What should he do? What could he do? Should he go talk to Basil? Kel? He was at a loss, and so he just sat, basking in the still morning air, letting his thoughts wander.

What... What would he do when this was all over? He'd been so wrapped up in his desperate attempt to make amends, that he hadn't even stopped to consider what he would do if his friends wound up hating him. It's not like he wouldn't understand. No, he'd understand all too well if they hated him, he was quite familiar with being hated, although it would be a change if pace for the hatred not to come from himself for once. He really did have a messed up mind, huh? At least he knew Basil wouldn't hate him. He did feel bad about having dragged Basil into this, horrible actually, but it's not like he could change that now. 

Sunny couldn't help but sigh. He wanted to scream, but his throat was still much too hoarse. God he felt pathetic. 

"Sunny?" A familiar voice spoke the boy's right, prompting him to turn his eyes upon a very shocked looking girl. "You're... Here."

"Aubrey?" Sunny couldn't believe his own eyes. She looked... Different, to say the least. Her once dark hair has been dyed to bright bubblegum pink, and hung in a ponytail. Her eyes were also different, being colored a bright turquoise. "You... Look nice."

Smooth Sunny, Smooth.

Chapter Text

Mornings never were exactly pleasant for Aubrey. Not recently. Not for two years. Her life was a living hell most of the time, between a catatonic mother and friends who abandoned her.

Kel, who made new friends, leaving behind his old ones.

Hero, who was too focused on school to care about them.

Sunny, who hadn't left his house in two years.

Basil, who defaced their precious memories.

She held a deep, burning resentment for Basil. It was only recently that she'd reconnected with him, or tried to at least, only to find that he'd scribbled out all the photos in the old album. Now she had the album, and had been desperately trying to clean it. She'd also met new friends, a brother and sister, named Vance and Kim respectively. She tended to hang out with Kim much more, and she even helped her dye her hair pink, just like she always wanted. Just like she and Mari...

She still didn't understand why Mari did what she did. Why did she leave them behind? A question Aubrey knew she'd never receive an answer to. Another question found itself gnawing away at her brain, likely in response to the first one. Was it... Because of her? Did she not do enough? Not notice enough? Was she the reason Mari...

 No, stop thinking about that. She chided herself, focusing instead on the no doubt arduous task of getting ready for another day in her living hell of a life.

Dragging herself off of a very uncomfortable bed, she stood and stretched her arms, surveying the attic she called her room. Her dark eyes examined every detail, picked out every flaw. Holes in the roof, cracks in the walls, peeling paint, a broken window. She hated it here. A forlorn sigh escaped her mouth as she went about her morning routine. 

The mirror in the bathroom had seen better days. It's once clear surface was grimy and cracked, a reflection barely visible in it. All the same, Aubrey used it as best she could. Teal-blue contacts were carefully placed over her dark irises, and with them, her new self was completed. She was unrecognizable from two years ago. Her once dark brown hair, now a bright bubblegum pink, her eyes a piercing shade of blue, a blue bandana replacing her old pink ribbon, which now sat neglected in her desk drawer. She couldn't bring herself to get rid of it. A part of her still clung hopelessly to her last self, desperate for the way things once we're, despite her knowing those days were long gone. 

All her friends were long gone.

She sighed again, leaving the bathroom. Having no reason to stay in this hellhole, she stepped outside, into the rather cold morning air. Even from outside, the house reeked of garbage. She hated it. She needed to go somewhere, and fast. She doubted Kim and Vance would be up quite this early, so they were out of the question, and after how her last attempt went, she had given up on reconnecting with her old friends, which left only one place to go on this frigid morning. 

Mari.

Aubrey would be lying if she said she didn't miss her. Every day she missed her. She just wanted to see her again, one last time, and so she visited, trying her best to make it a daily occurrence. It didn't matter when, sometimes it was at the end of a long day, and others it was early in the morning, like today. A cold wind blew past her, causing her to shiver in response. Leaving her driveway and dumpster of a house behind her, she began the very short walk to the church. It. There was no one walking the streets this morning, except for Aubrey, and one other. She just caught sight of the short figure before he entered the church. That was unusual. As far as she was aware there wasn't a sermon today, and there weren't a lot of people in Faraway who'd have reason to visit aside from that. After a brief moment of pondering, Aubrey entered the church, her eyes quickly darting around until they found the short boy from before, exiting through the back door into the cemetery.

She approached the door to the cemetery with trepidation, unsure of wether she should wait or not. After deciding that she had just as much of a right to the cemetery as anyone else did, she passed through the door, briefly scanning the field of stones for the boy, only to find him in the corner where Mari's grave resided. She couldn't hear what he was saying, not entirely, but managed to make out a few words, Mari's name among them. She slowly began to realize who this was, slowly making her way towards him. If it was who she thought it was, then... Then she didn't know how she'd react. As she nearest him, he failed to notice her, instead remaining focused on Mari's grave. 

"... Sunny?" The silence of the Graveyard was shattered like glass as she spoke, causing the boy in question to swiftly shift his haze to her. His hair was longer, and he was pale and thin, to an unhealthy degree, with dark circles making their home under his eyes, but what struck Aubrey most was his eyes themselves. They lacked any of the shine they once held, no sparks of life or passion within their pitch black irises. "You're... Here."

A dumb statement in retrospect, of course he was here. He didn't speak at first, and if Aubrey had to guess, she'd say it was because he was trying to piece together who she was. Understandable, in all honesty. Aubrey doubted twelve year old her would recognize the person she became. Sunny's eyes widened as her identity clicked in his mind.

"Aubrey?" Quiet, reserved, monotone. Just like she remembered. Except there was something else, something in the way he spoke, an unfamiliar edge, the emotions of which she couldn't place. "You... Look nice."

Anything Aubrey had expected was swiftly thrown out the window with that remark.

 The first time we see eachother in two goddamn years, and that's the first thing he says to me?!?

She could feel her face heating up slightly... Obviously due to the cold morning air, and not because of Sunny complimenting her looks. Obviously.

"U-uh thanks, I guess." In truth, she wasn't sure what to make of this situation. She had assumed Sunny moved on, like everyone else, yet here he was. He looked... Well in all honesty he looked terrible. Had he not been taking care of himself? Is this what Mari's death did to him? "You kinda look... uh... Not great, I'll be honest. From a health standpoint, I mean."

Sunny's expression didn't change much, but it fell ever so slightly.

"Y-yeah, I uh... I guess that figures." He said, unable to meet her gaze. Looking closer, Aubrey realized that while his face remained terribly pale, his ears had turned a bright shade of pink... Which was obviously from the cold. "I kind of... Haven't been taking the best care of myself recently..."

He trailed off at the end. Apparently Mari's death had hit him harder than she realized. It made perfect sense though, thinking about it now. She was his sister, of course he'd take it hard. 

"I haven't seen you in a while," Aubrey began, cautiously. At this point she knew she wanted to reconnect, or at least try to, but she needed to be careful not to scare him away. "I know it must've been pretty rough for you, over the past couple years..."

"Y-yeah..." There it was again, that strange difference in his voice that she couldn't identify. "After... It happened, I could barely leave my room. I slept most of the time, only getting up for the bare essentials. Yesterday was the first time I left the house since... That day."

He barely left his room? Aubrey felt something writhe inside of her. She felt guilty, that she let him suffer alone. And to think, she had been mad that he'd abandoned her, when she didn't even try to go to him.

"What changed?" She barely realized that she spoke until after she'd said it.

"I..." He took a deep breath. "I realized that Mari wouldn't want to see me like that. She would've wanted me to be happy... For everyone to be happy. I guess that snapped me out of it."

"Right..." The writhing guilt inside of her swirled and clawed away at her insides. "Hey so, I know we haven't really talked in a while, but..." God why was this so hard? "I'm sorry." 

Sunny seemed stunned by her apology, but didn't say anything, so Aubrey continued.

"For not being there for you. After everything happened... I felt abandoned. I thought everyone moved on. Kel made new friends, I don't even see Hero anymore, and you and Basil closed off... I felt like everyone moved on too quickly. I felt betrayed." She took a deep breath, and continued through Sunny's silence. "But today, I realized how much of a hypocrite I've been. I expected someone to come to me, but I never went to any of you. I never tried to reconnect. I... I should have been there for you, when you needed it."

Sunny was speechless, so instead of words, he used actions. He was always better at expressing himself through actions, and the sudden hug Aubrey found herself in held a clear message to her: forgiveness, and apologies of his own.

Sunny plopped himself down on the left swing, with Aubrey placing herself on the right. The bot couldn't help but feel nostalgia from this, nostalgia which was swiftly overtaken by guilt. Aubrey still believed Mari's death was a suicide. He knew what he needed to do, but once again was at a loss of how to approach the subject. And there was the fact that he still liked Aubrey... A lot. He knew he had to tell her the truth, but his feelings toward her only made it harder. 

"Earth to Sunny?" Aubrey's voice brought his mind back to the swing set at the park. 

"Sorry. Spaced out." A simple, not entirely false answer.

"Heh, yeah you always did space out a lot..." Aubrey replied. Sunny wasn't sure if she was teasing or not. "Whatcha thinking about?"

Oh. Uh. What should he say? Oh I was thinking about how to reveal to you that I accidentally killed Mari, and that Basil and I framed it as a suicide, nothing big. Definitely not.

"Just... Everyone. Back when we all hung out together." A simple, mostly false answer. "Hey Aubrey?"

"Hmm?"

"If... If someone does something bad... Like really bad... And... And it hurts a lot of people they care about... Are they a bad person?" Sunny couldn't stop his voice from trembling slightly as he asked his question.

"Where did that come from?" Sunny couldn't tell what her tone of voice meant, and didn't answer her question. "Sigh... I really dunno. I guess it depends. Does the person regret it? Can it be fixed? Did they mean to do it? It all depends on circumstances. Why do you ask?"

Sunny didn't answer immediately, instead staring at the ground. A sick feeling welled up inside him, but he fought it down. He had to tell her. It was now or never. 

"I... I have something important to tell you, Aubrey..."

Chapter Text

Sunny thought the sky looked nice today. An all encompassing sea of clear blue, stretching around the earth, obstructed only by the occasional cloud. The boy's namesake smiled down at the world, bathing Faraway in early morning rays. Indeed, the sky this morning was lovely. He just wished that he was seeing it under better circumstances.

The ground beneath him was cold and hard, and a pair of swings idly swished back and forth just above, no one to occupy their seats. A lone bird that Sunny couldn't name flee across the sky, carving a path threw the blue. He wished he could fly away, just like that bird. Fly away from everything, not have a care in the world. That couldn't happen though. Instead, he was laying on the floor of the park, a painful lump forming on his cheek, shattered hopes surrounding him. 

He knew this was coming. Honestly, he had been a fool to hope for anything else. Of course this would happen. But even still, he had desperately clung to the hope that she wouldn't hate him, that she'd find it within her heart to forgive him. She didn't, and he had a bruise to prove it. He didn't see where she went after he told her, especially after her fist connected with his face, causing him to fall off of his swing and hit his head, winding up in his current situation. Man, he was on a role with getting injured these past couple days.

He wanted to scream, but his throat hurt to much. He wanted to run, but his legs felt like stone. He wanted to cry, but no tears answered his call. He wanted to take it all back, but instead had to live with the consequences of his own actions. He wished he could melt into the earth, meld into it's surface and cease to exist.

A groan escaped him as he slowly sat up, his eyes darting around the park. With immense effort, he forced himself to his feet, taking great care to not lose his balance as he stood up. Once steady, he began making his way home. He would've gone to talk to Basil it something, but felt to exhausted, mentally and physically. He also needed to put some ice on his face. 

Basil was restless. He was usually restless nowadays, but this was different. Sunny was finally out of his house, and the two had reunited. That was good, but... Sunny wanted to reveal the truth. Basil wasn't sure how he felt about that. On the one hand, he only did what he did to protect Sunny, to make sure he was safe, but on the other, Sunny wanted to reveal what'd really happened. Did Basil even have the rite to hide it anymore? If Sunny wanted to tell them all, then who was he to stop him. Despite that rational, Basil couldn't help but feel restless. 

He looked at his hands. Hands that, two years ago, had carried a body. Hands that had tied a noose. Hands that might as well have killed her. His eyes drifted from his arms to his wrists, thin but numerous scars evident. He felt sick. Sunny was going to tell their friends the truth. Despite every part of Basil's mind screaming at him to not let Sunny, to try and stop him, he shut those voices out. It was a lie created to protect Sunny, and Sunny no longer needed to be protected.

Everything... Is going to be... Okay...

Tears fell from Aubrey's eyes. Tears of misery. Tears of rage. Sunny... Sunny killed Mari. He killed her and then framed it as a suicide. To say she was angry would be an understatement. Rage flowed through her, coursing across every inch of her body, drowning out all other emotions. All except one. Beneath the burning anger, lay something else. Something cold, and shivering. It was small, barely even there, but it stubbornly clung on. She recognized it from the cemetery.

Guilt.

She didn't know why, but her guilt remained, even through her anger. Was it because of what she realized in the cemetery? Did she feel guilty because she pushed everyone away? She felt like screaming. She wanted to break something. She wanted something to make the pain stop.

Despite her rage, despite what she kept telling herself, she couldn't bring herself to hate Sunny. She saw the state he was in, what he did to himself. She knew he'd never intentionally hurt Mari, she knew he loved her more than anyone, and he had to live with the fact that he killed her. But... That wasn't what got to her the most. He killed her, and lied about it. He framed it as a suicide. Anger welled up within her, worse than before. 

She needed to find something to do, to take out this anger, before it consumed her. Eventually she found herself in Faraway plaza. The fountain was running, despite the chill that hung in the air. For a while, she just watched the water splash into the basin. As time wore on, she felt her anger dissipating, weakening, leaving nothing. She felt... Hollow. A bell jingled, prompting a sideways glance at the orange clad giant emerging from Hobbeez. 

Kel.

Briefly, her anger flared, before she recalled what she'd said in the cemetery. He hadn't seemed to notice her yet... Should she call out to him? Was it even possible to repair their relationship? Was it even worth it? Aubrey decided that yes, they could salvage their friendship, and yes, it was worth it. She'd never admit it, but she missed him.

"Kel!" The orange giant turned to her, his brow furrowing, before an expression of surprise appearing on his face.

"Aubrey?" He approached cautiously. "Wow you look different, didn't recognize you at first. It's been a while, huh?"

"Yeah, it has," She sighed in response. "You wanna catch up or something?"

Kel didn't respond at first, and a glance at his face showed an expression uncharacteristically deep in thought.

"Yeah, let's hang out." He finally said. Aubrey could swear his voice used to be more enthusiastic. "Gino's sound good?"

"Yeah, that'll work."

"Good, I was getting kind of hungry."

"When are you not hungry?"

"That was just unnecessary."

Aubrey couldn't stop a chuckle. They only just started talking, and it was like they never stopped. Maybe today wouldn't be as bad as she thought. Despite everything that'd happened today, maybe it would turn out alright. 

Chapter Text

As it turned out, rekindling a friendship after two years of radio silence was harder than Aubrey realized. She and Kel were currently seated on the sidewalk outside Gino's, a half empty pizza box between them. God this was awkward. Kel was munching on his fifth slice, an atypical silence hanging in the air. Aubrey wasn't sure how she was even supposed to start a conversation after so long. Especially considering that until today, she'd pretty much hated Kel. She'd thought he had moved on, left her and everyone else behind, but her earlier encounter with Sunny had begun to fracture that perspective. 

She glanced at the person beside her. In many ways, he hadn't changed from his twelve year old self, but in others the difference was very noticeable. While he still wore that goofy grin, it wasn't the same. There was a sadness in his eyes, a deep sorrow that Aubrey was painfully familiar with. 

"Man, it's been ages since we've talked," he said suddenly, breaking Aubrey from her pondering. Briefly, anger flared within her. Who's fault did he think that was? He's the one who left her behind, who replaced her and everyone else! She has to stop herself before she could say something she'd regret, senseless anger would get her nowhere. 

"Yeah, it has," She responded after a brief hesitation. She was still mad, but she needed to hear him out. Silence settled between them again, stifling the prior interaction. She was getting nowhere like this, she knew that, but what was she supposed to say? Ah, screw it, she'd just say it. Not like things could get much worse between them, right? "Why'd you never try to talk to me?"

"Wait what?" He asked, turning to her. 

"Why'd you never try to talk to me, or try to get me to hang out, or anything really?" She couldn't help some of the venom from leaking into her tone. The built up resentment spilled over, dripping into her words. "You never approached me, or showed any indication that we were still friends."

"Aubrey-"

"You never once even talked to me!" She suddenly stood, her anger slowly rising higher and higher. She didn't even realize when she started shouting. "When Mari died I didn't just lose her, I lost everyone else to. You left me... you left all of use behind, replaced us with new friends! She never meant anything to you!"

"I was trying to give you space!" Kel shouted back, jumping to his feet and driving Aubrey into a stunned silence. His earlier smile was gone, no trace of it remaining. For a moment, Aubrey saw anger matching her own on his face, before it faded into an expression of regret and sorrow. "After... after it happened, Hero shut down. He would barely eat, he wouldn't even leave his bed."

Hero was like that? She supposed it made sense, he and Mari were practically dating. And here she was, assuming he'd just forgotten about them all. 

"I... I was scared." Kel said, with tears just beginning to form in the corners of his eyes. Aubrey was thoroughly shocked. The only other times she'd seen Kel cry were when he first saw Mari's... body, and at her funeral. "Scared that I would lose him to. Do you know what that feels like Aubrey? To see someone you care about begin slipping deeper and deeper, and not being able to do anything about it?"

Against her will, Aubrey's mine conjured forth images from when her father left. The husk her mother became, slowly fading more and more, until she was just a shell. She wanted to say something, but her throat felt tight. 

"About a year ago, I said something to him, and he just... snapped." Kel's eyes no longer held tears, but they didn't need to. His voice conveyed enough. "He yelled at me. Our parents rushed in and began to comfort him, but... they ignored me. Hero snapped out of it after that, began apologizing."

Aubrey felt her anger slowly ebbing away, each of Kel's words like a wave that washes her resolve away like a sandcastle, built too close to the tide. 

"After that... I just kept smiling," He wasn't looking at her, his gaze downcast. "I never approached you, or tries talking to you, because... Well I was scared I'd make things worse. Like I did with Hero."

"Kel..."

"So that's why..." His face soon shifted into a smile once more, but this one was sad, tired. 

"Kel I'm sorry!" She finally blurted, her anger gone. She swallowed hard, gathering her thoughts. "All this time I've acted horrible, but now... I shouldn't have said what I said, you didn't leave us behind. You... you were hurt just as much as I was, and I... couldn't see that. I've been such a jerk to you!"

"Aubrey..." Kel began, before sighing, his face slowly morphing into a more genuine smile. "I'm sorry too. I may not have realized it, but I did kind of leave you behind. I said I was giving you space, but I think that was just an excuse. And... Apology accepted, so... still friends?"

"Kel..." Aubrey was, once more, stunned. After everything she'd just said, everything she's unloaded on him, he still wanted to be friends? With someone like her? Tears had begun to form in her own eyes, but she didn't quite care at this point. "Yeah... still friends."

Shortly after their previous conversation, Aubrey and Kel had migrated to the park, specifically to the old hangout spot. Aubrey now stood on the pier, skipping stones across the waters surface. Kel was laying on the grass, tossing a basketball, and catching it when it fell. The two had fallen silent once more, but unlike the awkward silence from before, this was slightly more comfortable. Slightly.

"Soooo..." Kel said suddenly, catching the ball once more. The two had confirmed that they were still friends, but they hadn't really said anything else past that. "Now what?"

"Hm," Aubrey grunted noncommittally, skipping another pebble across the pond. Kel propped himself up on his elbows, looking over at her as she stared wistfully across pond. Her hand was brought to her chin, as her gaze fell to her reflection, deep in pondering. "Hey Kel, there's... there's something that's been bugging me, but it's... Ugh!"

"What's up?" Kel asked, now sitting up. "We are friends, so you can tell me."

"Well..." She paused, before sighing in frustration. "Today I... I was visiting Mari... and I saw Sunny there." 

She stopped, glancing at Kel to guage his reaction. Rather than the completely flabbergasted expression she expected, he looked... oddly unsurprised. 

"Yeah, I managed to get him outside his house yesterday," Kel said. "It was honestly really surprising... and worrying. He was really thin and pale. He didn't look like he was taking care of himself."

Aubrey nodded slowly. It was true, what Kel said about Sunny. 

"He... Told me something. About... Mari's death." She swallowed, watching as Kel's face changed into one of puzzlement, then some form of realization. Turning away, Aubrey inhaled quickly, before spitting out the fact that had been plaguing her mind all day. "She didn't kill herself Kel! Sunny pushed her down the stairs, and hung her corpse!"

She turned back towards Kel, but instead of the shocked and horrified expression she expected, she just heard him sigh, his expression shifting once more.

"Yeah..." He sighed, rising to his feet and dusting himself off. As he spoke, his tone dropped into one matching his face. "He told me yesterday. I... I don't know what to think."

"What's there to think?! He killed her! He killed her and lied about it for two goddamn years!"

"Aubrey listen," Kel looked her straight in the eyes, his voice uncharacteristically firm and serious. "I know he killed her, and you have the right to be mad, but it was an accident. There's no way Sunny would kill her on purpose."

"Killing her may have been an accident," Aubrey's anger rose once more, but not against Kel, against Sunny. And against what he did. "But hanging her body? There's no way that was accidental!"

"Don't you think I know that?!" Kel shouted back, in a moment of uncharacteristic anger. "Look I get it, it's okay to be mad, but Sunny's our friend! He made a mistake, and sure he reacted horribly, but he's still our friend!"

"How can you still consider him a friend?!" She cried out, tears now beginning to fall. "He caused this! He's the reason Mari's dead! He caused us all so much pain! He deserves to rot in that damn house!" 

Aubrey froze as she finished. Did she really believe what she was saying? Does she hate Sunny? As much as she wants to say she does, she can't bring herself to. Because Kel's right... he is there friend, no matter what he's done. Her own words floated back to her: He deserves to rot in that damn house... Did she really say that? Wait... did Sunny... did he think he deserved that? Is that why he's like that? 

"No I'm..." She sputtered, her thoughts spiralling in away from her faster than he could collect them. "He... No, I... He thinks that... that he..."

Aubrey felt like throwing up. She'd pieces it all together now. Sunny hates himself for what he did, and so he's... he's punishing himself. The sick feeling in Aubrey's stomach worsened. 

"Yeah," Kel's expression was the furthest she'd seen from his usual smile. "I realized earlier today... he's not taking care of himself Aubrey... he needs help. He's suffering, so much."

The world felt slow around Aubrey. Her blood felt cold in her veins. Before she'd even realized what she was doing, she'd begun sprinting away from the hangout spot, past the park and towards her sorry excuse for a house. Through the trash riddled living room, up her rickety ladder, and collapsing straight into bed.

Her tears still fell.

The lights weren't working. The entire house was shrouded in darkness, clicking noises and whispers emanating from the shadows. Sunny doesn't remember what happened, but one moment he's looking for something to eat, and the next he was standing in his kitchen and the lights weren't working. There was something scurrying in the shadows, just out of his sight. He saw eyes in the dark, watching him. Judging him. 

Hundreds of creatures rushed across the floor and walls, whispering horrible things to him. Truths of his crime. They began to approach him, laughing all the while. Sunny reached for the first thing he saw, fumbling with it as he brought it out in front of him. Despite the dark, the knife glinted. The eight legged devils began charging at him. He slashed wildly with his knife, killing a few, but not denting the endless swarm. They were crawling across him now. He could feel each of their legs, their fangs beginning to bite into his flesh. He swung the knife at his own arm, slicing the creatures apart, carving lines into his flesh. The red seeped from his arms as he slashed, again and again and again. Red began to fill his vision as he continued slashing away at his own flesh. He couldn't stop, not if he wanted to. 

Because he knew he deserved this. 

Looking down, he saw a spider larger than the rest perched on his stomach. He tried prying it off, to no avail. He slashed at it, but the knife glance off it's carapace. He had one option left. He levelled the knife with the creature, and plunged it in. The beast was wounded, but not dead. Despite the pain, he pulled the now crimson knife out, before plunging it back in. Over, and over. His own blood pooled around him as the arachnids whispered in his ears. He couldn't move his hands anymore. The taste of iron against his tongue. He fell against the counter, bloodied by his own hand, the crimson still pouring from his wounds. Just as his eyes closed, he saw her figure, just as she was that day, before black was overtook his vision.

...

...-EEPBEEPBEEP.

Sunny's eyes fluttered open, laying on the floor of the kitchen, microwave beeping away. Seems he might've passed out. Of course. Glancing at his arms, he saw a few old scars, but thankfully none new. Shakily rising to his feet, Sunny brought his meal of microwaved steak out, moving to the dining room to continue. He was not looking forward to going to bed tonight. 

Not. One. Bit.

Chapter Text

Kel was knocking on his door again. He could tell by the rapid pace who it was. Sunny didn't want to answer. It would only end poorly if he did. Opening the door now would only serve to worsen their already damaged relationship. If he opened the door now, Kel would berate him, tell him how much he hated him, and then leave. Nothing good could come from answering the door now. 

And besides, he was really, really tired, and didn't have enough energy to deal with that sort of conversation. Kel was trying talking now. 

"Hey Sunny, its me Kel again!" His voice was as energetic as yesterday, though that energy now felt too put of place, even coming from Kel. "I talked to Aubrey today, and she said she talked to you earlier. Listen, I uh, I understand if you're not up to hanging out right now, but we need to talk soon. All of us."

He stopped, but hadn't left yet. The meaning of "all of us" wasn't lost on Sunny, when he said it he meant all of them. 

"I just want you to know that we're still friends, even after everything, so don't be afraid to talk to me, okay?" Kel's voice sounded genuine, sincere. It didn't help Sunny at all. The sincerity sounded wrong. He didn't deserve to be Kel's friend. He didn't deserve to be friends with any of them. "I'm uh, gonna head off now, but let me know when you're ready to hang out again, alright?"

Sunny didn't answer. He was starting to feel sick. It wasn't like this was anything new. Ever since yesterday he'd felt sick of himself. Disgusted by his very being. If he had his way, he'd lock himself away so no one has to deal with him anymore. But he couldn't. Not yet. Hero still needed to know, and he wasn't sure if Kel had told him. He needed to be sure. Hero needed to know the truth. Sunny silently swallowed, as a course of action began to plot itself in his mind. He needed to talk to Hero, and the easiest way to do that now would be to talk to Kel. He hadn't left yet, had he? 

Slowly, Sunny's hand closed around the door handle, trapping it in a vice like grip. With a deep breath, he turned the handle, and opened the door to a friend he didn't deserve.

It would be wrong to say that Kel wasn't mad. Quite the opposite, in fact. He was livid. When Sunny had finished telling him the truth, he had simply been too stunned to move, or else he no doubt would have had more of a reaction. When he heard what Sunny had to say, when he heard the truth, he was angrier than he'd ever been before. 

That said, in the hours following Sunny's confession, he'd gotten to thinking. Just from the way he sounded, it was obvious that Sunny regretted it, and judging by how thin he was... Kel remembered their brief conversation from Sunny's kitchen. He'd been neglecting himself, letting himself waste away. Sunny loved Mari. He'd never hurt her on purpose. But... he also hung her body... something about that bugged Kel. It didn't sit right with him. Maybe it was the way Sunny had hesitated when saying it. Maybe it was because it didn't seem like how Sunny would react. 

Sunny was never one to make decisions like that. He was indecisive, and almost never knew how to act under pressure. It just didn't add up that Sunny would come up with the idea to... hang her. His own sister. No, he couldn't have hung her. There was more to this than Sunny was letting on, and Kel would find out what it was. That's what he'd decided.

But first, he needed to get Sunny out of his house again... which was not an easy task. He'd been waiting outside for a few minutes now, but the door remained shut. He was almost about to head home, when he heard the telltale sounds of the door opening. 

Peaking around the edge of the door, Sunny's eyes met Kel's, before darting away.

"H-hey Kel..." He said after a short while, his eyes looking at anything but Kel's. 

"Heya Sunny," Kel responded, using a much less used quiet tone. "Are you doing alright?"

"Why... why are you being so nice to me?" Sunny asked, finally meeting Kel's eyes, if only for a moment. "I killed her... and h-hung her... you should hate me."

"Sunny, I'll be honest," Kel began, dropping his smile for once. "I... I'd be lying if I said I wasn't mad. I can't hate you though... at least, not entirely."

Kel placed a hand on Sunny's shoulder, the boy in question shrinking away from his touch a bit.

"Look at yourself Sunny," Kel continued. "You said it yourself, you haven't been taking proper care of yourself. You've suffered enough."

Sunny stared at him, wide eyed.

"So... while I can't say I forgive you for it," Kel smiled again, and not his usual mask. "I'm not gonna leave you to waste away again. I'm still your friend Sunny."

"Kel..." Tears slowly formed in Sunny's eyes, which he quickly wiped away, accompanied by a few sniffles. "Th-thank you..."

"Of course," Kel broke out in a grin. "What are friends for?"

"Yeah... friends..." Sunny trailed off, before continuing, albeit hesitantly. "Did... did you tell Hero? About... Mari?"

"No," Kel's smile faltered, but was soon returned, as vibrant as ever. "should I have?"

"N-no, I..." Sunny breathed in, an attempt to keep himself calm. "I want to tell him myself. I... I have to."

"I... right," Kel scratched the back of his neck. "Right, that makes sense. He's uh, kinda busy right now... we'd be able to swing by later though."

Sunny thought for a moment, then nodded. That made sense to him. He could use some mental prep time anyway. 

"So... What dou ya wanna do in the meantime?" Kel asked, in an obvious bid to change the subject. "Wanna just walk around a bit?"

Sunny shrugged. In all honesty, he was fine with whatever. 

"Alrighty then, let's go!" Kel grabbed his arm, practically dragging him down the street.

Again.

Basil's life wasn't exactly great. There had been a time when he was content, when he could ignore the rot that seeped through him, but that was two years ago, before...

It wasn't a pleasant memory. A memory that Basil didn't like to think about. That day, when Mari died. She had been at the center of their little group, a sister to the younger four, and special in a different way to Hero. Even now, thinking about back then hurt. It hurt in a way that nothing else did. An ache, a longing to find some form of happiness again. 

Basil's life had not been good in a long time. Not much could change that. And then Sunny had shown up. And Sunny wanted to tell them all what had actually happened. That was earlier today, and Basil had been trying not to have a panic attack ever since. Hence why he was laying on the floor of his room with the lights off, curled into a ball trying not to freak out. If he was being honest, he was terrified. What would they think, what would they do? To him? To Sunny? Those were the thoughts that kept slipping into his mind, gnawing away at him. They had been for a while now, and didn't show any signs of stopping. 

He needed to do something, focus on something else. His eyes began to dart around the room, taking in differ things. The wall. A spider. His bed, unmade. His plants. With a start, he realized he needed to water them. Wait... he was gonna buy fertilizer at Fix-it but... great. Just great. In the aftermath of his and Sunny's reunion, any other thoughts had vanished. Meaning, he'd have to go back out and buy fertilizer. Of course.

Whatever, he should water his plants first, then he can go back to Fix-it.

Sunny wasn't sure how this had happened. If he was being honest, he wasn't sure how a lot of things happened. But he really wasn't sure how he somehow got roped into working at Fix-it, specifically making sure everything was in the proper places. But he was, so that's that. 

...

...

How the hell do things even get this disorganized, anyway? He could understand one or two misplaced objects, but this? This was absurd. There shelves meant for the shovels were covered in saws, with drills on the side, wrenches scattered where there should be hammers. It was chaos. Raw, unbridled chaos. Plus, the back section had fallen into dissaray as well. Wallpapers with the paints, carpets with the tile, lamps in all the wrong places. Sunny was really unsure how he wound up here.

"C'mon Sunny, there's not much left!" Kel encouraged, without doing anything to help. Oh well, at least he had moral support. 

They were gonna be here a while, weren't they?

Basil had been hoping his trip to Fix-it would be a quick, simple errand. That he'd get his fertilizer and go home. But alas, things could never work out the way he hoped. As he'd been entering Fix-it, her been practically bowled over by Kel, who had then managed to rope him into hanging out with him and Sunny. That made sense to him, Kel was excitable and didn't really give any opportunities for someone to decline. 

Then, Kel had practically dragged both him and Sunny to the park, saying something about how they should visit the old hangout spot. Again, Basil didn't really have an opportunity to decline.

What he didn't understand is how they ended up facing down four members of Aubrey's new group.

This day just kept getting better and better, didn't it?

Chapter Text

This was not how Basil wanted to spend his day at all. If it were up to him, he'd keep to himself, tend to his plants, and generally try not to have a mental breakdown. 

Right now though, Kel, Sunny, and himself were facing off against a local group of trouble makers known as the scooter gang. Or the Hooligans. Or "those kids who keep pulling mildly inconvenient stunts." Or Aubrey's new friends. Whatever floats your boat. There were four of them: the brash and hardheaded Kim, second in command to Aubrey herself, the large and powerful Vance, Kim's brother who largely just went along with her antics to minimize the damage, Mikhael, the over-the-top and exuberant rebel, and Angel, Mikhael's "apprentice." From what he'd seen, Angel was practically harmless, and Mikhael was mostly show, making Kim and Vance the only real threats.

Vance likely had no real reason to fight them, at least not seriously, making Kim the biggest threat. 

"The hell do you nerds want?" Kim sneered, popping a hard candy into her mouth. "This here is our turf, so you'd best get going... before we make you."

That felt like a threat to Basil, and he was more than willing to comply, but Kel was less than willing.

"Your turf? That's bologna," Kel scoffed, stepping towards the blue clad girl. "This was our hangout spot since forever ago, and we have just as much right to it as you!"

"Whatever it used to be, it ain't anymore," she snarled, cracking her knuckles and glaring at Kel. "This place belongs to us now, so unless you want to get your ass kicked, you'll get out of here."

As tensions heightened between Kel and Kim, Basil stole a glance towards Sunny. His face was indecipherable, a statuesque mask hid his every thought. Not even his eyes provided a window to his soul. What could possibly be happening in his mind?

Sunny wasn't paying attention. What else was new? Kel and a vaguely familiar girl were yelling at each other, some blonde kid was posing dramatically, and they were all at the lake. When did that happen? Basil looked nervous, but that seemed to be the norm at this point. No, nervous was too tame of a word, it was more of an in-between state of mind social anxiety and absolute abject terror.

Wonder what that was about? Well, aside from the obvious. Thinking about it, Basil must've been absolutely miserable. Forced by circumstance into covering up the manslaughter of one of his closest friends... Sunny felt a nasty feeling begin to writhe in his stomach. Wriggling, worming, twisting. 

Snapped back to reality by a sudden shout, Sunny swiftly turned his attention towards the source of the noise: Kel, stumbling back a few steps and gripping his nose. The blue hoodie girl- Berly? Was that her name?- had just elevated the conflict from merely verbal to physical, though neither of her hands were raised. Sunny guessed she used a headbutt, a terrifying skill of unmatchable destructive capability. 

And just like that, the lake was a warzone. Kel was accosted by Kim and Vance, while Angel and 'The Maverick' went after Basil and Sunny, the former of whom promptly started freaking out, while the latter began strategizing. 

Swiftly rummaging in his pockets, he found a rubber band, few jacks, and a handful of... sand? He'd take what he could get. Shoving the sand back into his pocket, he turned towards 'The Maverick', preparing himself for a grand duel. Basil looked to be handling himself fairly well against Angel, if you count picking a stick up and waving it around as handling yourself, leaving Sunny to fight the at least semi-competent 'The Maverick'. 

As his foe charges him, Sunny scattered the jacks onto the grass, causing the flamboyant antagonizer to slow to a halt, before realizing that he was wearing shoes and the jacks probably wouldn't do much. As the faux-blonde resumed his assault, the noirette backed away, keeping himself at an even distance from his foe, whilst he prepared his weapon. 

He loaded his ammunition, took careful aim, and let fly the all powerful, all destroying... rubber band. His aim was precise, and the tool of destruction flew straight and true, straight into his opponents forehead. 

The Maverick, as strong as he was, could not hope to withstand such a devastating attack, and was defeated, his glory forever tarnished as he fell towards the grassy earth below. Turning to Basil, it seems he and Angel had defeated each other, as both were lying on the forest floor, neither one a clear victor. 

Sunny shifted his attention to Kel, who was managing to hold his own against Kim and Vance using a basketball he procured from... somewhere. That said, it wasn't the most effective strategy, and Sunny soon found himself running to his orange clad beanstalk of a friend's aid.

The battle had only just begun.

Kim rushed him, attempting a series of strikes, one of which hit Sunny squarely in the stomach, prompting a retaliation in the form of a punch to the jaw. He couldn't help but feel disappointed at his own strength, or lack there of. Even so, this fight was somehow pretty even, with Sunny's experience from headspace, as fake as it was, giving him the ability to fight on even footing. That's what he liked to think, anyway. 

Even with his ability to hold his own, there was no doubt that Kim held far superior stamina, and he was starting to tire out. Was it just him, or was Kim getting fiercer? As a punch collided with his arm, he concluded that it was not just him. She probably took notice of his waning stamina and was capitalizing on it, renewing her assault. 

Then, as if the stars had aligned, as if all of reality itself shifted to allow this one single shining moment, as Kel's basketball ricocheted off of Vance, bouncing off of Kim's face, stunning her and knocking away her glasses, allowing Sunny to reach into his pocket, and in one single motion he withdrew his hand and cast it's contents towards her, yelling a battle cry of...

"Pocket sand!" He shouted victoriously as the particles crashed into Kim's eyes, prompting her to stumble backwards, tripping over a root and falling into her back with a thud. "You're toast."

"Augh what the hell?!" Kim dragged herself back to her feet, struggling to wipe the sand from her eyes. "We're you just carrying sand around?! What the hell?!?!"

"A true warrior is prepared for every situation," Sunny stated, putting on his best 'typical anime mentor' voice. "Sun-Tzu, probably."

"Tch, whatever. C'mon Vance, let's just grab the other two and let's go," she grumbled, sliding her glasses back onto her nose and glaring at Sunny. "You nerds got lucky. Next time we meet, you won't be so lucky, got it? Now let's bounce!"

Heading her call for retreat, Angel and The Maverick quickly followed their leader out of the clearing, the latter posing dramatically.

"Well that was... something," Kel said, his face simply displaying a look of 'well that just happened'. "Hey at least we have the hangout to ourselves now, right?"

It was awkward. Very, very awkward. Kel was clearly doing his best to keep things lighthearted as the trio hung around the nostalgic clearing, but his attempts were futile.

Basil was nervous-er than usual, and Sunny could feel how hard it was to keep any of percent of his composure. 

Probably should've told Basil that you were leaving him out've your confessions of manslaughter, huh Sunny? 

"S-so what should we do now?" Basil asked, still trying to keep his composure. 

"Huh, good question. Y'know I didn't really have a plan for anything," Kel declared, stroking his chin. "What do you guys think."

Sunny let out a sigh laced with exasperation. Typical Kel behavior. 

"W-we could..." Basil began, before dropping into silence again. "Well w-we don't really have to do anything specific, r-right?"

"I guess so," Kel responded, laying onto the ground. "Feels a bit underwhelming though, after the fight and everything."

"Y-yeah, I guess..." Basil muttered.

As the three began conversing, the awkwardness slowly began to slip away. It was almost as it used to be, two years ago. It was a familiar peace, a reprieve from the maelstrom of emotions and feelings that surged around them. 

A peace that would be shattered when a certain pink haired delinquent would enter the scene. 

It wouldn't be long till everything changed, for everyone.

Chapter Text

Faraway was awash in the warm hues of the afternoon sun, as a gentle breeze swept through the treetops, rustling their leaves and causing the grass to sway too and fro. It was a beautiful day, birds sang while flowers bloomed.

Sunny sat against a tree, watching Kel as he tried to convince Basil to join his daily exercise routine. He'd tried already to convince Sunny, but the black haired boy was not having it. Leaving his house was one thing, exercise was another entirely. 

"C'mon Basil, it'll be good for you! You're too skinny, you need to put some meat on those bones!" Kel declared, an arm thrown around Basil's shoulders. "You could use some bulking up, yeah?"

"I appreciate the thought Kel, but I'd rather not," replied the blonde, glancing to the side whilst he rubbed the back of his neck. Briefly, his bright blue eyes met Sunny's. They both felt a moment of tension, before breaking their locked gaze. "B-besides, I get enough exercise when I work in my garden."

"That makes sense, I guess..." Kel pouted, before quickly recovering and focusing his attention on Sunny again. "What about you Sunny? You could also use some more muscle, you're practically a twig! You know you want to!"

Sunny stared into Kel’s brown eyes, as the boy did his best puppy-dog eyes. Without a word, he slowly, quietly, shook his head. 

"Maaan, you and Basil are no fun," Exclaimed the brunette, falling back onto the grass and releasing a sigh. "Guess I'll have to exercise all by myself. You're both boring!"

"Sorry Kel, but I don't-" Basil began, his sentence dropping as his gaze fell onto a figure standing just beyond the treeline. An uncomfortable, almost fearful expression emerged across his features. "A-aubrey?"

Sunny whirled his gaze to the girl stood in the forest shade. An icy glare met his eyes, sending a shiver down his spine. He swallowed hard, shifting uncomfortably as her eyes bored into him. 

"Hey Aubrey, whats up?" Kel greeted with a casual wave, more friendly with Aubrey than Sunny could ever remember him being. "You doing alright?"

"Hello Kel," she greeted the boy, her voice calm, almost emotionless. "Hello Basil, Sunny. We all need to talk. Now."

Aubrey knew the truth of Mari's death. Sunny himself had told her. Something inside him writhed and squirmed, terrified of her judgment.

"Did he tell you?" She turned to Basil, her words confusing the timid boy. His eyes widened with fear as Sunny felt his stomach drop, realizing what she was about to say. Silently, he begged Basil to keep quiet about his involvement, to let Sunny take the fall. "Did he tell you what he did to Mari? That he killed her and hung her corpse?"

Basil said nothing, sweat trickling down his brow as he tried to avoid Aubrey's gaze.

"You knew, didn't you?" She asked, her face morphing into a look of disgust. "How long? How long has he known, huh? A week? A year? HOW LONG?!"

Basil and Sunny both flinched at her voice, neither meeting her gaze. 

"Aubrey, listen-"

"You shut up Kel!" She shouted, her barely restrained anger bubbling to the surface. "He knew the whole time, didn't he? Didn’t you? You both make me sick!"

"Aubrey I-"

"Quiet Basil!" The boy recoiled at her voice and expression, his fear a reflection of her fury. "All this time, you knew... you were covering for him, weren't you? Couldn't rat out the psycho who killed his own sister and hung her corpse, and why? Cause he's your best friend?"

She sneered, her gaze switching between the three. Sunny couldn't meet her gaze. He couldn't even look at her face. His head was downcast, staring towards the earth. 

"Do you have anything to say?" She spat, her words cutting into him like knives. She approached him as she spoke, each word bringing her closer. "You're not gonna try to defend yourself? Just gonna take it? At least look at me Sunny!"

She was less than an arm's length away now. She was right. He was a psycho. A murderer. Slowly, steeling her nerve, he lifted his head, staring into her livid face. She stared into his black eyes, anger burning behind her irises.

"You really have nothing to say?" She asked one more time, through gritted teeth. He shook his head. "Tsk, of course not. Typical. I thought when I came here that maybe there was more to all of this, I hoped that there was something I had missed, but of course not... I don't even know why I bother."

"Aubrey you need to-"

"Stay out of this Kel! This is between me and him!" She growled, glaring at Kel, cuasing even him to falter. "Y’know something Sunny? I used to like you. I used to think about you all the time. I wish I knew then how you truly were."

She turned away from him, beginning to walk back towards the treeline, her own gaze pointed down.

"I hope I never have to see your face again."

At first there was dead quiet. Then came a rush of footsteps as Sunny darted past her, running out of the clearing as fast as he could. And then came an indignant shout and a surprisingly powerful blow to Aubrey's face. She yelped, in both surprise and pain as she stumbled, whirling about to see a shocked Kel standing behind a furious Basil. 

"You have no right to say that!" The normally timid boy shouted, his shyness forgotten in his moment of raw fury. "Try to put yourself in his shoes! One mistake cost him everything Aubrey! Just one little push! He doesn't deserve hell for a single mistake!"

"A mistake huh?" She spat, rising to her feet, glaring at the blonde. "You call hanging Mari's corpse a fucking mistake?!"

"That was me, Aubrey!" The boy admitted, tears of regret  leaking from his eyes as his voice cracked with sorrow. "I was there! I saw it happen! I the push, I saw her fall, and when I close my eyes I can still see her corpse!"

He let loose a nervous laugh, gripping the sides of his head.

"And what did I do?" He lamented, as Aubrey stepped back, her anger now accented by caution. "I hung her fucking corpse! I hung her from that damn tree! And you wanna know why? Because I care about Sunny! Instead of getting angry I decided to protect him!"

The boy fell to his knees, trembling from head to toe, every single emotion that he'd bottled up practically oozing off of him.

"I would've done the same for you, you know," He said, quietly. Slowly, he rose to his feet, his teary eyes meeting Aubrey's. "For any of you. I wouldn't hesitate. But at the same time... if it was to protect one of you... then I'd hang you just like I hung Mari."

"You did what...?"

All eyes turned, all gazes swung around, three people focused their attention on the one person who had been out of the loop.

Silence followed his steps, as Hero Rodriguez heard the truth.

Sunny ran. It was all he could do. He ran, and ran, and ran. He ran until he was back home, slamming his door shut behind him, collapsing to the floor and panting from exhaustion. It was only then that he let himself cry. And cry he did, tears streaming like rivers down his face. 

It was silent at first. Then the first few quiet sobs escaped him. And then he couldn't hold it back anymore, and he let everything out.

So much came flooding out, wails of despair filled the silence of his house, but even they could not banish the emptiness. 

It hurt.

He didn't want to feel this pain any longer.

He just wanted rest. 

He wanted to be happy again.

He wanted his friends back.

He wanted Mari back. 

Then an idea slowly crept into his head. A devilish, horrible idea, and yet so appealing. Slowly, he rose from where he lay on the floor, his tears all but spent. Everything hurt... but it wouldn't for much longer. 

Hours had passed when he cracked open his front door, the cool night air washing over his face. Silently, he crept out of his house, cautiously making his way down the street. He paused as he began to pass Hero and Kel's house. A light was on upstairs, but beyond that the house was dark. 

He thought of all the time he'd spent in that house, all the adventures he'd had with Kel and Hero.

He moved on before he could get too lost in his thoughts. 

The thoughts kept coming back to his head as he made his way towards his destination. Would they look for him? Kel might. Basil might. Aubrey wouldn't.

They'd all be better off anyway.

He stood now on the pier in the clearing, gazing at his reflection in the calm, moonlit water. His eyes looked dead. They say that eyes are the window to the soul, so what did that say about his soul?

Enough.

It was time now. 

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and took a step forward. 

A short rush of wind, and then the cold water wrapped around him. 

Kel, Basil, Hero, Aubrey, and... Mari. I'm sorry, everyone.

END OF ACT 2

Chapter Text

The light of the moon and night sky illuminated the forest, the pale starlight filtering through the leaves and covering the forest floor in intricate patterns of shadows. 

A sound of splashing water echoed through the woods, as a cold wind rustled through the trees. A lone late night park-goer here's the sound, too loud to have been a tree branch, or even a small animal. They rush through the bushes towards the origin of the sound.

A gentle breeze whistled through the treetops, rustling the leaves. Its peaceful, like it always is, and the forest itself seems to sigh in contentment. The waves of the lake lap at the shore, quietly and calmly. 

Their heart beats fast as they make it to the clearing, eyes frantically scanning the water's edge for any sign of anyone. With dread pooling in their stomach, they turn their gaze to the water's surface, the dim moonlight illuminating disturbed waves. 

A lone boy sits on the dock, staring at the waters, no reflection visible in the crystal clear ways. His friends have vanished, and he doesn't know where they've gone. Maybe they were never there to begin with? He stares at the gentle waters, melancholy painting the air blue.

They throw off their jacket and empty their pockets of anything important as fast as they're able. Every second that they wait is a second wasted, a second that they don't have. Taking a deep breath, they sprint forward, feet hammering across the rickety peer before they leap into the icy waters.

He stares longingly at the sky, wishing he could be another star in the permanent night. The water below him splashed endlessly against the shore, never getting any higher despite its constant attempts. A sisyphean war against its own nature. Poetic, he supposed. 

The cold water bit at their skin, darkness swirling all around them. They dove down, down, down. Deep into the depths, deeper, ever deeper. The water seemed to extend infinitely downward, its depths knowing no bounds. Still they pushed on, able to dimly make out a spot of darker shadow, silhouetted against the depths of the lake. They dove towards it, hoping that they weren't too late.

The boy leaned over the edge of the dock, hand reaching down towards the warm water, feeling it swirl around his fingertips. He wondered what it would be like to be water. Peaceful, probably. He gazed at the water, and it gazed back, a reflection that wasn't there before. 

"Is this what you really want? To sink into obscurity and be forgotten? Lost and alone, gone without reconciliation?"

The water turned cold, and his reflection's hand gripped his.

"Come then, into the deep."

It gripped his wrist, and pulled him down, into the waves.

They could feel their lungs straining. They were running out of time. Frantically, they dove further, their hand reaching out and clutching onto a boney wrist, pulling the unconscious body to themselves. With all the strength they had left, they kicked, propelling themselves up, dragging the unconscious figure with them, nearer and nearer the guiding moonlight.

The hand of his other pulled him into the darkness, dragging him into the ever darker depths. From the all encompassing dark appeared eyes, watching him. Hands appeared, swiping at him. Mouths appeared, taunting him. He saw flashes of his friend's faces, twisted in anger and disgust, fear and loathing. Below him grew a crimson light, its potency increasing as he was pulled deeper. 

With air almost gone, they breached the surface of the water, greedily gulping down breaths of air, struggling to keep both their own body and the unconscious one they struggled to keep hold of above the water. Desperately, they pushed themselves through the water, towards the shore.

Down into the depths he sank, dragged deeper by his own reflection. The red light shone all around him, illuminating the icy waters. 

"You came so far, got so close, and yet here you are. Right back where you started."

The voice- his own voice- was amused, mocking him.

"Welcome to Drowned Space, Sunny. You got what you wanted... why don't you enjoy your stay?"

It was late, and Basil couldn't sleep. His mind still thrummed with echoes of what happened in the forest. Hero...

He sat on his sofa, forcing himself to eat a late night snack as he tried to take his kind off of things. At this point he was too tired to even feel upset anymore. No anger, no sadness, no fear... just a dreadful exhaustion. 

He didn't expect a frantic but quiet knock on his door. And he expected a soaking wet Aubrey supporting an unconscious Sunny across her shoulders even less. 

What he suspected least of all was what she said.

"I need your help."