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“I need you to kill that alien fuck.” Was not the sentence Aimsey was expecting to hear at 2pm on a Tuesday, sitting in the so-called ‘Not Owl House’ across from a ghost.
‘Beep’ was an…interesting guy to say the least. He often spoke in music, making sounds and chords out of nowhere rather than coherent sentences, he got very aggressive and defensive at seemingly random periods, has quite the strange backstory, and most of all he had the most passionate hatred for aliens.
“I’m sorry what?” Aimsey asked incredulously.
“That alien son of a bitch. Blondie, weird purple shit on her head?” Beeps high pitched voice rang through the room.
“Guqqie? Psshh Guqqie’s not an alien,” Aimsey chuckled.
Beep hummed, something in between observation and a sort of mocking.
“What? I would know if Guqqie was an alien, she would tell me.” Aimsey was confident in his response. Guqqie would have told him something like that.
“She literally crash landed from the sky in a spacesuit.” Beep’s voice was the same straightforward tone it always was, he was usually quite blunt.
“That doesn’t mean anything! She could just be an astronaut from Earth, plus she said she doesn’t remember much about how she got here anyway!” Aimsey said.
“Oh yeah? I’ll prove it.” Beep disappeared with that, leaving Aimsey to yell at nothing in the house, asking where he had gone.
Guqqie looked into the void, the void beneath the surface. Their head was pounding. They hadn’t slept in, what, 36? 37 hours? They lost count after 24. They worked relentlessly in the lab. Begging, searching for anything, any answers. Any way home. They would do anything to get home. The thought of that should scare them, they truly meant anything, but they were so desperate. So tired. Tired of trying, tired of fighting, of lying to people. All they wanted was a home. It was becoming more and more fuzzy of where that home was anymore. Any home would do at this point. But they were scared they didn’t belong in the BearSMP or on Earth at all. So they would continue trying to get home. To Guack.
They eventually gave up for the night, kicking something over in frustration on their way up the stairs of the lab. They were so ready to sleep. But there was a light tapping at the front door, the soft rapping of knuckles against the cool metal.
They dragged their feet across the quartz tile sluggishly. With a tired hand they opened the door to see Aismey, looking off to the side about to speak. He saw Guqqie and paused in the middle of making a face at something in the distance before giving a nervous smile and a little wave.
“Guqqie! Hi, how ya doing?” Aimsey was cheerful as ever and it made Guqqie smile, even if it was only a small, tired one.
“Hi Aimsey, sorry I’m a bit busy right now. You need anything?” Guqqie answered sleepily.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you. What are you up to?” Aimsey looked a bit disappointed, glancing back and forth between the side of Guqqie’s lab and her face. Guqqie raised an eyebrow at this, stepping slightly outside the door to look. There was nothing.
“I was uh, I was making more portals. Haven’t slept in a bit. Was gonna go take a nap.” Guqqie rubbed at their eyes and suppressed a yawn.
“Oh yeah I forgot you were working on that! Say, Guqqie, where exactly are you from?” Aimsey asked, a bit hesitant.
Guqqie stuttered for a good while before they got out a response.
“I uh, uhm. Does it, does it really matter where I’m from?”
“Oh no, no! I was just curious. I guess it doesn’t really matter.” Aimsey trailed off a bit, almost looking hurt.
It was quiet for a minute. Guqqie couldn’t really think of what was happening due to sleep deprivation and Aimsey kept making faces at the side of the lab.
“I’m gonna go to sleep. Sorry Aims, I’m really tired. I’ll talk to you tomorrow though okay?” Guqqie spoke up while almost falling sideways, catching themself at the last second on the door frame.
“Oh yeah sure. Get some rest Guqqie, you look really tired.” Aimsey spoke softly.
Guqqie waved for shutting the door. They stumbled over to the bed and immediately passed out, they didn’t even hear the seemingly one sided conversation happening outside.
“SEE!! Told ya, she’s an alien.” Beep said before the door even closed. Aimsey waited until Guqqie walked back into the lab to respond.
“Guqqie is not an alien! What about that screams alien to you?” Aimsey protested.
“She is making a portal to get home and she wouldn’t tell you where that home was. She got all nervous when you asked. ALIEN!!” Beep yelled as Aimsey walked away from the lab.
“She’s not an alien! Even if she was, what’s so bad about them anyway?” Aimsey asked back. Beep froze, face turning to a cold stare straight ahead. He floated over and stopped directly in front of Aimsey. His voice lost it’s high pitched nature as he spoke.
“The only thing those fuckers want to do is invade. That’s why she’s here, to scope out the area and invade. Face it Aimsey. She’s lying to you. She’s got her evil little plan and is likely reporting back to people on her planet. She’s using you, she doesn’t give a shit about you. When was the last time you two actually hung out?” Beep ranted sharply.
Aimsey couldn’t give an answer. Guqqie had become increasingly more and more obsessed and stressed over ‘getting home’, he couldn’t remember the last time they had spent time together for longer than a few minutes. His face dropped as Beep stared at him with a cold smirk.
“Exactly. She’s lying to you. She just lied to you. She. Doesn’t. Care.” Beep spoke slowly. It honestly scared Aimsey a bit.
“Fine! Maybe she’s lying to me, so what? Why should I kill her over that?” Aimsey yelled back.
Beep kept a poker face as he stared off, thinking. Then, Aimsey could see something click and his face lit up. It sent a chill down their spine.
“Because she’s using you to hurt all of your friends.” Beep paused and watched as Aimsey froze. “Think about it, does she have any other ‘friends’? No. It’s just you. You’re the only one she has an attachment to. She’s using you, getting close to you, so she can hurt everyone else. Ships will come raining down from the sky, hundreds of aliens with guns ready to take over and kill all of your friends. You want to help with that?” He looked almost gleeful as he spoke, it was unnerving.
Aimsey couldn’t respond verbally. His mouth went dry and his throat closed up at the vivid picture Beep had painted in his head. He shook his head slowly.
“Then kill her.”
Another sleepless night and Guqqie was starting to hear voices coming from the void in the lab. They were telling her horrible things. Things she couldn’t even imagine doing. All to get home. To sacrifice things. To use the weird substance coming out of the hole in the ground to create a portal. To sacrifice. To make strange orbs out of blood and glass to light it. To sacrifice. It was so persistent. Her head was starting to throb and her ears had already begun ringing.
“Alright, alright! FINE! What the hell do you want me to sacrifice?” Guqqie finally yelled out to the void, sitting in a corner hugging her knees.
“The girl? That’s not specific. What girl?” Guqqie responded to the voice in her head. “The knight? What-” She gasped sharply.
“Aimsey?? No. NO. Why would I kill Aimsey?” She yelled.
“You’re wrong. YOU’RE WRONG! She does care about me. She’s not getting in the way. STOP IT. I don’t. I don’t wanna kill her please.” Guqqie sobbed, clutching her head in panic.
Guqqie denied the voice. She denied it for hours straight. Stuck in that corner, unable to move. Hugging her knees. Crying. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t do it. To kill Aimsey? Never.
…but she was so tired. Hours and hours later she caved. A heartbroken scream escaped her as she realized what she had just agreed to do. But she was so tired. If this would mean she could finally go home. Finally, be over with all of this, she would do it.
To go home; she would kill Aimsey.
The following weeks were rough. The two were constantly attempting to both stalk and avoid each other at the same time. They would watch each other’s every move but if one saw the other it would end in a tense greeting, sometimes even a conversation. They were both incredibly bad at hiding things. Especially from each other. Guqqie would watch Aimsey from a distance, he was alone most of the time making it easy. They started noticing how much he truly talked to himself. Aimsey had a harder time watching Guqqie. She spent all of her time in her lab, working away on her portals. Beep had to do most of the spying for him. Over time Aimsey became content with the narrative of Guqqie working away to kill the people he loved. The idea that Guqqie never cared and that she was evil. He was determined to right her wrongs, no matter how twisted the solution.
Eventually they started to plan how to kill each other.
For Aimsey this was hard. After everything Guqqie was still one of his best friends. They were so close. Plotting to kill a loved one because a weird ghost told you to? Bit nerve racking. For Guqqie on the other hand; this was complicated. She had spent weeks already obsessing over how to get home, how to make portals, how to just get the hell out of here. She had already given up so much and she was so desperate. For Guqqie this was challenging. But she had already slipped so far, slipping a little further couldn’t hurt.
The voices became more demanding of Guqqie. Constantly screaming in her head and begging her to just “KILL THE KNIGHT, PURE OF SOUL”. At one point her ears and nose started to bleed when the noise became too overwhelming. Around this same time Beep became more impatient. He became obsessive over killing Guqqie, yelling how he would do it himself if he could, that Aimsey should just get it over with and stab her. He didn’t joke much, he didn’t spend much time with Aimsey unless it was to watch or plot, he snapped at them all the time. Aimsey now felt like he had lost both his friends in one go.
After weeks of watching and a few attempted traps the two caught on to the fact they had the same goal. It became even more tense between them after that.
Wind. Wind rushed through her hair as Guqqie sprinted through the hills, Aimsey running after her. He had his sword drawn. It had been almost two months since they first decided to kill each other. A month since the first attempt, made by Guqqie. They had both grown to hate each other. Despising everything about them, spinning their own twisted narratives about the other constantly in their heads. If you were to look at the two now you wouldn’t be able to tell they were ever close friends.
Suddenly Guqqie tripped over a plant and tumbled to the ground. Aimsey took the opportunity and struck her with the sword he was holding. Guqqie rolled over. The sword missed by an inch, slamming into the ground beside her. Guqqie pulled her own sword and swung upwards at Aimsey. He stepped back but the sword grazed him on the shoulder. He hissed. Guqqie used the time this had bought her to stand back up, planting her feet firmly onto the ground before running again. Aimsey ran forward and continued to chase after her, yelling and swinging. Guqqie just kept sprinting.
Overall she knew Aimsey was a better fighter. He was supposed to be the ‘Towns Knight’ after all. Guqqie was better at planning traps, luring him in, playing it safe. Aimsey used to be like that too until he snapped. So Guqqie ran. She was tired. Probably more tired than when she had first started planning to kill Aimsey, now that she was not only mentally exhausted but physically too. They hadn’t stopped this chase for days. All Guqqie could do was run at this point. She didn’t want to attack anymore. Just run. Run and hope Aimsey would give up no matter how unlikely she knew that was. She ran. Ran to the first place she thought of. The first escape she could make it to.
Guqqie dogged another swing from Aimsey’s sword, sprinting even quicker. They cut through Big Wheat as fast as they could. They ran and ran and dodged as Aimsey lifted and whacked the sword through the air, occasionally slicing wheat in their path. Guqqie then cut around the lab, sprinting through the town. She saw her target and climbed. Her tower.
As she was climbing she turned behind her, holding her own sword, and attempted to hit Aimsey down. Their swords clashed and Aimsey yelped. Guqqie rushed forward and continued climbing. Aimsey wasn’t far behind. Guqqie reached the top and stood on the platform of the tower. Looking down to see Aimsey right behind them, they kicked their foot out in an attempt to kick him off. Aimsey clutched his nose as blood poured out. He flew backwards and fell a few feet before grabbing back onto the tower. He rushed upwards faster than before.
Guqqie placed their feet steady onto the platform, sword raised defensively in front of them. Preparing. The second Aimsey got up onto the platform he attacked. He swung wildly. Guqqie blocked the best she could. They swung and blocked for what felt like forever, sometimes hitting, sometimes missing. There was a simultaneous clash. Both had struck each other across the face. They each fell to the ground on opposite sides of the platform.
Guqqie hissed as blood dripped down their cheek. Aimsey made the mistake of looking over at them. They were touching their cheek, wiping off some of the blood. They hissed as they accidentally touched the cut.
Aimsey then noticed how much pain they were in, the bags under their eyes, the heavy black and blue bruises everywhere, the way they flinched every time Aimsey so much as breathed too loud. It was the first time Aimsey had taken down his walls, removing the twisted narrative they conceived and registered Guqqie’s well being. For the first time in months he saw Guqqie as she was.
And Aimsey broke.
A horrific sob ripped its way out of his throat. He tried to push it down but Guqqie had already heard it. Their head whipped to look at him while Aimsey stayed kneeling, clutching his chest and sobbing. Sobbing. He couldn’t stop crying. All the tension and pressure and stress and emotion, physical and mental exhaustion leaving him all at once. He couldn’t breathe. It all hit him at once. Everything building up for weeks and weeks catching up to him in one painful rush. He sat and he sobbed. Guqqie stared wildly.
At this point Aimsey didn’t even care if Guqqie took the chance to swing and kill him right then and there. All he could do was cry. All Guqqie could do was stare. Then Aimsey started to laugh. He started laughing hysterically. Similar to how Aimsey had felt, for the first time in a long time Guqqie was seeing Aimsey as he was. He wasn’t the picture she had painted in her head, he wasn’t the strong knight that had been trying to kill her for weeks. He was someone who had lost everything. He was broken, just as she was. Guqqie stared at Aimsey while he laughed and cried. A few tears slipped down Guqqie’s face as well.
Guqqie took a few steps backwards and looked over the edge of the tower when Aimsey spoke up.
“What are we doing here Guqqie?” His voice was raspy, it sounded like lightning crackling through a silent sky. He laughed lightly as he said it.
Guqqie only stared back at him in shock. There was no malice in his tone, he just sounded helpless. Somehow that managed to strike more fear into her.
“...what are we doing here? What are we doing here? You’re trying to KILL me, THAT’S what we’re doing here!” Guqqie yelled in disbelief. Despite her fear she had dropped her sword a while ago and had no intentions of picking it back up again.
“Of course I’m trying to kill you! Why the hell wouldn’t I try to kill you??” Aimsey yelled back.
“What the hell does that mean? WHY WOULD YOU TRY TO KILL ME?” Guqqie clenched her fists tight.
“BECAUSE YOU’RE AN ALIEN!” He yelled.
Aimsey almost flinched at how violent Guqqie’s reaction was, how visibly she recoiled in shock. How hurt she looked. Like someone had just stabbed her in the heart then ripped the knife out.
It was silent. A harsh, cold silence.
“Because you’re an evil, cruel, alien. You don’t give a shit about anyone and the only reason you’re here is to hurt us.” Aimsey’s voice wavered as they continued. The look on Guqqie’s face making them less confident in their statement by the second.
Guqqie chuckled humorlessly. “That’s what you think of me, huh?”
“How could I not? You lied to me. You never even told me I had to find out on my own.” Aimsey spat.
“OF COURSE I LIED! Look at what happened when you found out on your own?! No matter what I do, no matter what I could have done, no one on this fucking planet will ever think of me as anything but a monster.” Guqqie pointed an accusing finger at Aimsey.
“BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT YOU ARE!” Aimsey shouted, though he didn’t sound entirely convinced of himself.
“Then why don’t you get on with it and kill me?” Guqqie looked spiteful but in truth she was just tired, she really didn’t want to continue the fight. She raised her arms up and motioned for Aimsey to attack. It only took him a moment before launching forward and tackling Guqqie to the ground.
Aimsey raised his sword to Guqqie’s throat. He paused. Why did he pause? This is what he had been waiting for. To kill her. She was evil. Corrupted. Cruel. So why was he hesitating? He looked her in the eye and froze. She didn’t even look scared. She saw his hesitation and smiled sadly, somehow understanding what he was feeling even when he couldn’t. And then it hit him. For the second time that night Aimsey was overwhelmed with a multitude of emotions, all hitting him at once like a storm. His sword fell to the ground beside Guqqie with a clash and Aimsey took a few steps backwards. He could hear Beep yelling at him in rage from a distance.
“Why have you been trying to kill me Guqqie?” Aimsey asked quietly.
Guqqie hesitated. “...they told me if I killed you, ‘sacrificed the knight, pure of soul’, I could go home.”
Aimsey’s breath hitched. This was still about getting home. All Guqqie wanted was to go home. In the most twisted way, yet considering the situation he wasn’t really one to talk, all she wanted was to go home. Guilt. Guilt swarmed around Aimsey, filling him head to toe. Drowning him. Suffocating. Guilt.
Aimsey fell to his knees. “I can’t. I can’t kill you.” He gasped, almost pathetic. Guqqie picked up Aimsey’s sword and handed it to them. Aimsey launched backwards, stumbling away and shaking their head furiously.
“I can’t. Guqqie I can’t. I. I.” Aimsey swallowed thickly, eyes tearing up. “I love you.” They sobbed.
Guqqie only smiled sadly at them, tilting her head.
“You know only one of us can live after all of this Aimsey.” Guqqie said.
“No, no! Guqqie, we can do something. We can figure it out please. I- I can’t do this!” Aimsey shouted.
Guqqie look at them for a while, as if studying them. Then she took a deep breath. She took Aimsey’s hands into hers and held them for a moment. Aimsey looked at her confused. Guqqie then let go and took a few steps backwards, eyes still trained on Aimsey. She kept walking until the heels of her feet hit the edge of the tower platform. Aimsey’s face moved from confusion to horror.
“NO NO. GUQQIE NO!”
“You said it yourself Aimsey, weeks ago now, I’m not getting home. It’s bullshit, isn’t it?” There was no malice coming from Guqqie, she said it like she was stating a fact. An unfortunate, yet content, fact.
Aimsey recoiled at the callback. Weeks ago she had said it with the harshest tone, intending to rub salt into the deepest of wounds. Now it felt pathetic, that she had tried to insult her that way. Aimsey shook her head again. She felt nauseous.
“Guqqie please,” Aimsey was pleading, crying.
“You were only trying to protect the town right? From the mean, evil alien? And you were right. That’s all I’ll ever be. Foreign. A stranger. I don’t belong here, Aimsey, we both know it. Hell I tried to kill you just so I could go back to my own planet! But you belong here. You have friends, a family. My time’s up.” Guqqie said, her own tears streaming down her face as well. She didn’t look nearly as scared as she should have.
Aimsey tried to take a step forward towards her but Guqqie took a step back in unison.
“Guqqie I love you. Please.” Aimsey’s voice cracked desperately.
“Goodbye Aimsey.” Guqqie gave one last bleak smile before taking that last step backwards, falling off the platform.
Aimsey ran forward and reached out an arm, desperate to pull Guqqie up. But he didn’t make it in time. Guqqie had fallen off the platform and landed on the grass below, laying in the flowers. Aimsey fell to his knees.
The scream that followed shattered glass and shook the Earth.