Chapter Text
“ Ohhhhh you little bitch!”
“Not my fault you weren’t paying attention~”
“I’ll give you something to pay attention to!”
Chase couldn’t help a chuckle, hearing the unmistakable thud of someone falling off the couch. Probably Jackie- he and Anti got so competitive when playing Mario Kart, Chase had made a tactical retreat as soon as the game was mentioned, announcing they were out of popcorn.
That much was true, at least, and he hummed softly as he waited for the microwave to finish, closing his eyes to just listen to the growls and laughter coming from the next room.
He hadn’t expected things to go this well, even three months ago when they’d all made peace with Anti... They had all been so unsure of how to continue, not knowing where the boundaries were- and with Anti being easily overwhelmed, thanks to his weird emotion sensing power, it’d taken a while to find a good rhythm, to figure out how to coexist.
This, though... This was more than that.
The seven of them, they were family now, no matter how they’d started out. Chase would give anything to stay just like this forever, happy and chaotic with his brothers, with Marvin...
It was more than he could’ve hoped for, and the thought brought a wide smile to his face.
...Or maybe that was just the arms closing around his stomach from behind, the head leaning on his shoulder to murmur fondly in his ear.
“Can’t believe you left me to deal with them, I thought it was your turn to corral the children, hm?”
Chase laughed, leaning into the warmth and turning to press a kiss to his boyfriend’s cheek.
“Sorry, love, but you know Jackie doesn’t listen to a word I say- you’re just more intimidating!”
“Oh, I see how it is-”
Marvin laughed against him, returning the kiss to Chase’s temple. “You only want me so I can do all the work, is that it?”
Chase pulled away with a huff as the microwave beeped, nudging Marvin away with his elbows so he could pull the bag out. “Damn, you’ve discovered my secret, whatever shall I do?”
“Maybe you could stop making out and go get the door!”
Anti crowed from the living room, laughter in his voice. “I can feel your sappiness from here! ”
Chase finally registered Jackie’s chanting for pizza, interspersed by another ring of the doorbell, and the dad heaved a real sigh, giving Marvin an apologetic look before taking Jack’s wallet from the counter and heading towards the door.
They’d long ago agreed that Chase would be the one to get the door if Jack couldn’t, and last he saw, the creator was buried under Anti’s cat- he wouldn’t be getting up for a while now.
“Sorry about that, my family’s crazy loud,” he laughed as he opened the door, cash in hand. “How much...”
His voice died in his throat, eyes going wide as he took in the sight in front of him.
“Well- uh,” the man blinked, giving him a grin. “Guess you were expecting something else, but surprise?”
Fuck, fuckfuckfuck-
If any random person saw them, it was fine- it was unlikely they’d understand the significance, if they even realized it wasn’t Jack.
But this... Wasn’t some random person.
As he went on without an answer, a hand was put on his shoulder, and he felt frozen in place with it, heart pounding in his ears as the grin turned into a look of concern.
“You okay, Jack? Wasn’t trying to scare you, I swear-”
“Mark,” the woman started, coming up behind her boyfriend to peer around him. “I don’t... Think that’s Jack.”
Markiplier frowned at him, eyes searching his face, and Chase swallowed harshly, managing to take a step back and choke out a few words.
“U-um, I swear I c-can explain-”
“Well if you’re not Jack then who the hell-”
Mark cut off, and Chase learned why a moment later as he was tugged back, Jack’s tense voice greeting his ears.
“Mark, Amy, wh-what the- what are you doing here??”
Aura: A World Unseen.
Chapter One - Sparks
"Well we came to see you -" Mark sputtered, waving an arm at him. "But then we're apparently faced with your doppelganger, wh-what the hell is up with that- "
Jack sighed, glanced back at Chase, who was still standing awkwardly just behind him.
"...Go tell the others what's going on, we don't have much of a choice at this point."
The dad nodded and hurried off, and Jack turned back to his friends, ready to try and explain-
-only to stop, as something… Concerning caught his eye.
Okay, that's- okay. Ask about that in a minute.
"There are more ??" Mark stared at him, eyes wide.
Jack shrugged, trying not to look as nervous as he felt as he moved his gaze away from Amy, suddenly incredibly aware of how serious she looked.
"Well, yeah, I have six egos, not just the one."
Mark gaped at him. He’d start asking questions at any moment, Jack knew
Amy nodded slightly, as if she'd just figured something out.
...One problem at a time.
"Okay-" he cut Mark off just as he began, putting a hand on his friend's arm and giving him a teasing grin. "I know, I know you have questions- but the pizza guy is behind you, so why don't we grab that, go inside, and have our collective crisis while stuffing our faces. That sound good?"
Mark agreed, with a touch of reluctance, and Jack herded his friends inside so he could get the pizza, the whole time trying to figure out what he could
possibly
say to explain this.
It’s not green, but… Maybe Amy knows something about it.
Then he was carrying the boxes into the living room, and while the sight of his friends and egos staring at each other in an awkward silence
was
fairly amusing, it was only a matter of time until that fell apart.
“Alright, everybody dig in!” he announced, setting the stack on the coffee table and nudging Glitch away with an elbow. “Mark, Amy, I can probably pull a couple chairs from the dining room, since…” he gestured to the couch covered in egos. “They’re probably not gonna move.”
Mark looked at him like he was crazy again, but that was a fair response. Amy just smiled easily at him, eyes lingering for no more than a moment before settling back on the couch.
“That’d be great, Jack, thanks.”
Jack nodded back, still trying to figure out how to address it, and hurried off without a word.
Soon they had all sat down, eating in silence as nobody wanted to be the one to actually
start
the conversation they had to have. Mario Kart sat forgotten on the pause screen, mid-race.
Finally, Jack sighed, knowing this wouldn’t go anywhere, and stood up, clearing his throat.
“So,” he gestured to the couch. “Mark, Amy, these are my egos- Henrik, Marvin, Chase, Jackie, Jameson, and Anti. Boys, you know my friends, say hi.”
A chorus of ‘hey’ and ‘hello’ popped up, along with a wave from Jamie, and the other two waved back- Mark confused, Amy thoughtful.
After a moment Mark spoke up, eyeing Anti who was wedged between Jackie and Jamie.
“So… Do we have to worry about him, or…?”
Jack chuckled, shaking his head and smiling at his friend. “No, he’s fine- perfectly harmless, even. Just.. a bit jumpy, don’t startle him.”
“Yeah, wouldn’t wanna get ‘souped’,” Jackie snickered, then barked out a laugh as the glitch elbowed him. “What,
you’re
the one that says it!”
Mark’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion when Anti ducked his head in embarrassment, driving another elbow into Jackie’s side.
“...What?”
“I have
no
idea,” Jack admitted. “I think it’s a joking way to say stabbed? Maybe? Pretty sure it’s quoting something, but…”
“Speaking
of weird,” Jackie interrupted, sitting up a bit straighter. “Uh, Amy? Why do you look like you’re on
fire?
”
“It doesn’t look like she’s
on
fire,” Marvin corrected, frowning. “More like… Fire’s around her, I suppose? A sort of glow, like Jack.”
Amy chuckled, setting her plate aside. “So you all
can
see it- I was wondering, since you’ve all been looking at me like that.”
“
Please
tell me you know what’s going on with that,” Jack interrupted, looking between the two. “They said
I
started glowing like,
months
ago, except I can’t see it and it’s not showing up anywhere, and then suddenly
you-”
He waved a hand at Amy, maybe a bit dramatically, but sue him. “You show up with some weird glow too! So don’t even
pretend
you can’t see mine, and
tell me what the hell is going on-”
“Hold the fuck up-”
Mark choked on his pizza, looking between Jack and Amy with his eyes wide. “He can- he has one too!?”
Amy nodded, looking thoughtful as she answered, “It sounds like it’s pretty recent, and since it doesn’t show up through cameras, neither of us would’ve noticed- this does explain the influx in ego videos over the past few months, having them around would definitely make it easier.”
Jack threw his hands up in the air and sat back down, feeling like he was on the edge of losing it.
“Yes, my egos are real and it’s cool, can we get to
why-”
“It’s called an aura, Jack,” Amy finally told him, smiling slightly. “It’s a sign of magic in a person, it appears when a person discovers their magic, and it can only be seen by other people who’ve discovered their magic- or awakened it, we like to call it.”
He already knew it was some sort of magic, really- there was nothing else it could be, and Marvin proved magic itself was possible.
But still, seeing one of his oldest friends nodding along to that reveal like it made perfect sense, it had his head spinning, leaving his mouth open with no sound coming out.
“So… Why can’t we see yours?” Marvin spoke up, nodding to Mark. “If Jack’s magic is related to us, that explains why we can see his, but we can also see Amy’s, and yet..?”
“Oh, I don’t actually have any powers,” Mark sighed, looking a bit pouty. “Amy just talks about it- I saw her using hers a few times when we first started dating, and when you see the girl you like making fire at her fingertips you’re gonna ask some questions!”
Jack nodded along as his egos continued to talk with them, not really listening as he tried to sort out his thoughts.
Amy can make fire, Mark doesn’t have anything- that makes sense, he definitely would’ve mentioned it already if he did. It doesn’t show through cameras, so potentially anybody could have powers and I’d never even know!
Jack took a deep breath and sat up straight again,
“H-how rare is this, anyway? Do I know anybody else with, uh, with an aura?”
Amy paused to take another bite of her pizza, probably considering his question.
“It’s pretty rare, though I don’t know any concrete numbers. It’s also a lot harder to find them these days, so I’ve heard, since so much interaction happens online. As for other people… Oh, Ethan awoke his powers a few years ago!”
“...Of course he did,” Jack sighed, dropping his head into his hands and starting to wish he’d never found out about this.
Why do I feel like things are just gonna get more complicated…