Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A boy with one eye stares out the car window, powerlines dot the side of the road, and the view of the wider world is blocked by trees.

He yawns, he’s tired but he doesn’t feel the need to rest.

However, his mother chimes up, “Sunny, you should probably take a nap.” His mother keeps her eyes on the road as she speaks, “Don’t worry, I’ll wake you up when we get to our new home.”

The boy, known as Sunny, trusts her to wake him up, but he isn’t too sure if he will fall asleep.

Regardless, Sunny closes his eye to pass the time.

.

.

.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

W31C@M3 84CK

Sunny opens his eye to a grey and black sky, patterned like static, black trees with no leaves surround him, and the white blanket that he was laying on was cold.

He doesn’t want to be here, but he also doesn’t want to stab himself awake.

So, Sunny decides to stand up, waiting for his mother to wake him up, however . . .

A lone tentacle pokes from a small pool of water, both are black, no longer having colour to them, and Sunny decides to finally check what it is by walking down the gravel path.

When he reaches it, he bends down, and reach his hand towards it, touching the tentacle.

Tentacle responds by wrapping around his arm, surprising him, however, instead of being pulled into the black water, Sunny hears a voice, “Is that you . . . My best friend . . .?”

That line. He heard Basil use it, but this voice was different, yet familiar . . .

“Hello . . .” Sunny gulps, slightly nervous, “Um . . . Who are you?”

“It’s really you Dreamer . . .” The tentacle turns blue for sadness, “But forgot about me . . . What about the truth . . .”

Sunny frowns, “The truth . . . I know the truth and I’ve told my friends.”

The tentacle turns yellow for happiness, “Really . . . That is great . . .!”

“Yeah . . .” Sunny doesn’t deserve to call them friends anymore, “Anyways, can I see you?”

“You don’t need me . . .” The tentacle turns back to white for natural, “Besides . . .”

“I might be closer than you think . . .”

What does that mean? Who really is this being? Is there something else that is forgotten?

Before Sunny could ask any questions, the tentacle unwraps itself and disappears in the pool.

Sunny is alone now.

“Sunny . . .”

He hears a voice in the distance.

“We’re here . . .”

It’s his mother.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

He stirs and opens his eye, “Ah, Sunny! You’re awake.” His mother smiles, “Anyways, we’re here now.”

Sunny notices how dark it was as he and his mother exit the car. They take their stuff and walk to the door.

Despite the darkness, he sees two houses next to his, and after his mother opens the door and flicks the switch, turning the lights on.

Sunny looks around the living room, and he notices that this house was very similar to his old house, minus the sliding glass doors.

“So, what do you think?” His mother asks, “It looks similar to the previous one, huh?”

Did she intend for this? “I wanted you to feel like you were right at home.” Sunny’s mother answered the question he didn’t ask, “Of course, there’s no closet, and the piano room is . . . Well, a spare room! But I hope you like it.”

He nods, although a part of him doesn’t really know how to feel.

“Good, I’m glad!” His mother places her bags down on the couch, “Anyways, I should start making dinner. In fact, I should make steak, your favourite!”

Sunny's face reflexively frowns, “No . . .” His mother turns to give him a confused look, “I mean . . . Can I have something else, please?”

“Oh, Sure!” Him mother agrees, still giving him a puzzled look, and she heads into the kitchen.

Sunny sighs and decides to head to his room, up the stairs.

He shakes those thoughts and enters his empty room, placing his bags on the floor, and empties his pockets.

Only to find Kel’s and Basil’s phone number.

Right . . . He was supposed to call them when he got here, but . . . Does he deserve them? After what he did?

He’s a murderer! A monster! He killed Mari! He doesn’t deserve them! HE-

“Sunny! Dinners ready!” Already?

Sunny brushes his thoughts to the side and heads to the dining room, his mother was sitting there, already eating chicken. She gulps the food down and smiles at him, "Come on sweetie, your diner is getting cold."

He pauses, taking in the serene nature, before coming into the dining room, and sitting. He doesn’t smile, but he’s internally happy for this.

Maybe . . .

This new life, away from the old, will make everything okay.

Chapter Text

\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\

“Hello?” A girl’s voice curiously wonders who’s there, “I know you’re there!”  

A boy stumbles through ‘her’ forest, “Oh, hi there!” She is the creature of the lake, one of the scariest squids known to humans. Of course, she’s just a girl standing in a puddle, pretending to be her favourite animal ,“Who are you?”  

. . .  

“You don’t like to talk?” The girl smiled reassuringly, “That’s okay! Anyways, do you want any wisdom?” She can provide infinite wisdom.

. . .

“No? You want to stay with me?” She tilts her head to the side; nobody wants to hang out with her because . . .  

. . .  

“Sure!” The girl accepts the boy, “Anyways, what do you like to do?”  

. . .  

“Really? Can I see your drawings?” She loves drawing, even if she was bad at it ,“Wow . . . That looks so cool . . .” It really was to her, “Huh? My name?”

“My name is-”

\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\

She wakes up from the strange dream, it was weird, but it felt . . .

After thinking for a bit, she couldn’t get any answers, so, she shrugs it off and decides to head for breakfast.

Entering the kitchen, she sees a note from her mom, telling her that she needed to go to work. The girl disregards this note and gets ready for the day.

Breakfast? Simple cereal with simple milk, although the expiration date is close by, perhaps she should go out for more.

Shower? After she has a soothing shower, she puts a black t-shirt with a white question mark on it, black shorts for the summer heat, and her bra and pants. And yes, it was in the correct order.

Brushing her teeth? Minty fresh, but looking at herself in the mirror, it seems like her natural black hair roots are starting to show through her white dyed hair, maybe she should get it redyed soon. Regardless, she put her short hair into pigtails on the side of her head.

Chores? All done, except the one that she made herself.

Right! She better get a move on.

After putting on her clothes, she grabs her wallet and house key, puts on her shoes, and heads for the door.

Only to be stopped by another sticky note.

It reads: 'Hey sweetie! While I’m at work, don’t forget to say hello to our new neighbour! Maybe you should show the boy around town!' <3 Mom~

She couldn’t believe it, the new neighbours finally came. Honestly, with how long it took for them to get here, she didn’t believe they existed!

Regardless, her mother talked a lot about them, and how she spoke to the mother and showed her the town, but the boy was very shy, didn’t know the town, and . . .

Actually . . . What was his name again?

The girl shakes her head, she has a new quest now! In fact, this could double as a way to get the milk.

The girl smiles, closes the door and locks it, and heads on over to the neighbour’s door.

Eventually, she reaches the front and knocks on it.

. . .

She knocks again.

. . .

Maybe her mother was lying?

She kno-

The door gets unlocked and slowly opens to reveal . . .

A boy with black raven hair, dark brown eyes that almost seemed black, his black vest over his buttoned-up shirt, beige shorts, and knee high black socks.

There was also the fact that he had an eyepatch on.

She realises that she was staring, “Hi!” She seemed to also snap the boy out of his state, “I heard you just moved in! I’m your new neighbour, by the way.”

The boy nods, “Hello . . .” His voice sounded rough, “Um . . . I don’t like talking . . .”

“Ah, that's okay!” The girl can’t help but note the similarity to her dream, even though it could be a coincidence, “Besides, I’m just going to show you around town, so I’ll be doing most of the talking! If you want me to show you around, of course.”

“Uh . . . Sure.” The boy nods, however, he goes to the nearby table and picks up a notebook and pen, then puts on his shoes.

“A notebook? I guess that’s for when you don’t want to talk?” She feels that it’s an obvious answer, but the boy still confirms with a nod, “Right! Well, we better get going!”

The boy grabs his wallet and house keys, closes the door and locks it, “Alright! Here we go!” The girl says as they start to walk together, “By the way, what’s your name?”

“Sunny.” He answers.

Sunny . . .

That sounds . . .

“Good to meet you, Sunny!” She perks up, still curious as to where she heard that name before, “My name is . . .”

“Abbi!”

Chapter Text

He sorts out his stuff while wondering what to do today. His mother already had breakfast with him and had to go to work afterwards, he’s brushed his teeth, he’s got his clothes on . . . Hmm . . .

Wait, Sunny knows! He needs to finish unpacking his stuff and sort them.

So, walking across the room, he finds a box and opens it. Sunny was about to organise the stuff until . . .

He heard a knock.

Sunny thinks it’s his mother, and that she forgot something.

But no! It cou-

Another knock.

He should go see who it is.

After grabbing his phone and heading down the stairs, he opens the door, stopping the knocking midway, and sees . . .

A girl with brown eyes, short white hair with pig tails on the side, Sunny guesses it was dyed considering black hair roots starting to show through, black shirt with a white question mark on it, black shorts, and black shoes.

Honestly, she was kind of cut- “Hi!” The girl snaps him out of his thoughts, “I heard you just moved in! I’m your new neighbour, by the way.”

Sunny nods, “Hello . . . Um . . . I don’t like talking . . .” It was a wasn’t a lie, but to be honest, he didn’t know what to say, and the fact that he suddenly thought that about her, made him curious-

“That’s okay!” The girl seems to not notice Sunny wandering off to his thoughts, “Besides, I’m just going to show you around town! If you want me to, of course.”

“I do.” Sunny nods and heads to a nearby table, he picks up a notebook and pen, and then puts on his shoes.

“A notebook? I guess that’s for when you don’t want to talk?” Sunny nods in confirmation, this girl seemed nice, and she does look pretty- “Right! Well, we better get going!”

Sunny is unsure if he should be thankful for the girl snapping him out of his thought, or angry at himself for having those thoughts in the first place.

He grabs his wallet and spare house key, closes the door and locks it, “Alright! Here we go!” She seems excited as they start to walk together, “By the way, what’s your name?”

“Sunny.” Sunny notices how she thinks about that name, although he doesn’t ask questions.

“Good to meet you, Sunny!” The girl seems to brush those thoughts to the side as she perks up “My name is . . .”

“Abbi!”

Abbi . . .

“Abbi . . .” Sunny recognises that name, but can’t place his finger on it, “Good to meet you . . .”

The “again” is unsaid.

“Anyways, let me show you around the town!” Abbi smiles and Sunny follows.

He can’t help but wonder if he has met her before.

\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\

“Abbi!” The girl stands tall and puts her hands to her sides, “Anyways, back to the drawings!”  

. . .  

“Huh? Really?” Abbi pouts at the fact that Sunny has to leave, “You’ll come back, right?”  

. . .  

Abbi beams ,“Good! You better keep that promise!” She chuckles and notices that the boy looks afraid, “I’m just joking . . . But, uh . . . Please come back . . .”  

. . .  

“You’ll draw more for me? That’s so kind of you, Sunny!” Abbi then gets an idea, “Wait! Are we friends now?”

  . . .

  Abbi pulls Sunny in a hug, “Yay! New friend!” She pulls back and notices how surprised Sunny looked, “Was that too much?”

  . . .

“Really? You liked it?” Abbi tilts her head, “You want another one before you leave?”

. . .  

“Okay!” And Abbi hugs her friend again.

No! Her best friend!

\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\

They walk home because of how dark it was starting to get. Throughout the day, Sunny had seen multiple places, afterwards, they went to get some groceries, although Sunny didn’t buy anything.

Despite Abbi doing most of the talking, it seems like she enjoyed herself, which, Sunny is glad for.

That’s another thing! In one part of his mind, he can’t let go of the fact that she was familiar, and another part . . .

Well . . . Let’s just say that a part of him wanted to be friends, even though he doesn’t deserve-

“Sunny!” A hand was waved in front of his face, bringing him out of his thoughts, “Were you listening?”

Sunny gulps and turns away, “No . . . S-Sorry . . .”

“Huh? Honesty!” Abbi sounded . . . grateful? And surprised? “You don’t need to apologise as I wasn’t saying anything!”

Sunny shoots her a glare, which is hard to do with one eye, while Abbi smirks, “Sorry . . .” He already forgives her.

“Anyways, you looked like you had your head in the clouds, what’s on your mind?” Abbi tilts her head to the side. Even that was familiar and cute-

GODDAMMIT BRAIN! “Um . . .” Okay Sunny, just stop being weird, “Stuff . . .”

“Right . . . Stuff . . .” Abbi gives him a suspicious look, before shrugging it off, and saying, “Whatever! If it’s personal, I won’t pry!”

“Thanks.” He is internally relieved.

“So, I was wondering . . .” Abbi taps her chin, “Do you want to hang out at the arcade?”

“Yes.” There was no hesitation.

“Great!” Abbi tries to clap her hand, only to realise she’s still holding milk. She shakes her head, “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, Sunny!”

She waves and turns to leave, Sunny only just realising that they were home, how did he not notice? He’s not going to answer.

Sunny waves back and decides to head back home as well. It was a great day, despite how . . . Strange his mind was acting.

He shakes those thoughts off and decides to head to his room. It seems like his mom isn’t home yet, but Sunny is fine with that.

However, Kel’s and Basil’s phone numbers are still there.

. . .

Sunny hesitates, maybe . . . Maybe he should tell them that he made a new friend, and that they should move on and forget him.

But no! Sunny doesn’t text that. Instead, he texts them that he’s at his new home and has already explored the town, leaving out the details of Abbi.

Sunny sighs, it was probably a bad idea to keep in contact, but he can’t help himself.

Regardless, Sunny has a lot of stuff to sort out.

Both physically and mentally.

Chapter Text

\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\

“So, what animal do you like?” She asks Sunny.  

. . .  

“Cats, huh?” Abbi could have figured that out based on the number of cats he draws, “Cats are cute, but what about squids and octopuses?”  

. . .

  “Okay, I wouldn’t call them cute, but they are cool!” Abbi loves squids and octopuses, “I mean, they can give you lots of hugs and have a lot of cool facts about them!”  

. . .  

“Yeah, I would love to hug and to be hugged by a squid!” Abbi is strange, and her weirdness makes her alone, but Sunny doesn’t care, “Anyways, you want to hear some facts!”  

. . .

  “Okay then.” Abbi smiles, “Did you know that squids and octopuses have three hearts . . .-”

  Despite Abbi doing most of the talking, it seems like she enjoyed herself, and Sunny enjoys listening to her, glad that she’s so enthusiastic.

\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\

They finally made it to the arcade. “Welcome to Omocat arcade! Strange name, I know.” Abbi is already ecstatic, “It has many rigged claw machines, cabinets with older than old games in them, the usual flashing lights, and prizes bought by tickets!” Sounds like a normal arcade, “So, what do you want to do?” Abbi asks.

Sunny shrugs. “Any Spaceboy arcades?”

“There’re tons of them!” Abbi perks up, “I guess that’s something you’re familiar with?”

Sunny nods and they head to the first arcade machine with Spaceboy game on it.

It was a simple shoot-em-up type game, Spaceboy’s ship firing against the bad guys. Luckily, it had a two-player mode where both players compete to get the most kills and points.

Although the controls were easy to understand, Abbi beat Sunny three times in a row, “You’re very good at this.” Sunny complements, totally not angry at his lack of skills.

“Thanks!” Abbi smiles, “After this game, shall we head to the next?”

“Yes.” Sunny then lost that game and they proceeded to the next cabinet, this time, it was Abbi’s choice.

The next game was about some sort of underwater, octopus, racing game. Basically, you could mash the button to go a small distance quickly, or hold and time it to go further.

When they started the race, Abbi was immediately dominating Sunny, “You’ve put a lot of time into this!” Sunny notes, losing the race.

“I have! And if you were wondering why, it’s because I love squids!” Abbi wins again.

Sunny doesn’t ask question because it felt natural and familiar, he didn’t know why though.

“You know, most people would ask why I love squids.” Abbi points out, “And the reason why is that they’re cool, unique, and very interesting!”

“Do you want to hug them?” Why does he feel that he knows the answer to that question?

“Of course I do!” Abbi perks, “I’m very surprised you didn’t ask any questions, but if you want some cool facts about squid, then you can come to me!”

Sunny nods, “That’s good to know.” And then he gets an idea, “Hey, where are the prizes?”

“They're over there!” Sunny looks to where Abbi is pointing, not caring if he’s losing right now since he will never win.

In the distance, he spots a black squid plush hanging on the wall. Hmm . . . Maybe he could . . .

The game is over, Abbi wins again, “Anyways, I’m guessing you want a prize?”

“Yeah, you see that black squid plush?” Sunny notices a spark in Abbi’s eyes as she nods. “I could get that for you."

“Really?” Abbi is surprised, “I mean, I could get it myself.”

“No! I want to give it to you as a gift.” Sunny swears his face is not blushing right now, “For being nice to me.”

“That’s so nice of you!” Abbi says to Sunny, “Okay, sure! But we’re going to get it together.”

She leaves no room for debate as they head for the ticket machines.

Sunny has a newfound determination to complete his new quest.

--- --- --- --- --- ---

Eventually, they did it. They finally did! After hours of blood, sweat, and tears, they got enough tickets.

Okay, Sunny! Stop exaggerating! It was only 1 hour, and he knows that he would go longer for Abbi, whatever that means.

“Here you go.” The clerk hands them the squid, Abbi takes the prize, and they thank the clerk.

“This was fun.” Abbi squeezes the squid in a hug . . . And Sunny is totally not jealous.

“Yeah!” Even though Sunny got beaten a lot of the times, he really did enjoy himself, “Want to go again sometime?”

“Of course!” Abbi states with a smile, “Anyways, we should head home!”

Sunny nods in agreement, then asks, “Say? Didn’t you have some squid facts to give me?”

He swears that Abbi’s smile couldn’t have gotten any wider than what it was currently was as they head home.

Sunny feels like he’s heard some of these facts before, but he doesn’t mind listening to Abbi, In fact, he finds it cute how enthusiastic she was about them.

It was then that Sunny knew that he couldn’t control his thoughts.

Chapter Text

W3LC0M3 T0 8L4CK5P4C3

You’ve made quite the mess.

Immediately, Sunny knew where he was, and he was already dreading what it was going to provide.

“You should stop running . . .” Strange warns him, yet gives him no details.

“Running? From what?” Sunny hopes it’s not another truth, he can barely handle the first one.

“It’s not another truth . . .” Stranger clarifies, making Sunny sigh in relief, “It’s your friends and your guilt . . .”

. . .

“What?” Sunny knows that he isn’t going to get a direct answer.

Stranger looks through him, “Running from your friends only makes it worse . . .” But he doesn’t deserve them, “You must face them . . .”

“But . . .” The doors that were there give him answers that he doesn’t like, “What if I don’t want to?”

“You’ll repress back into a husk . . .” Stranger glares at him, almost saying that if he were to run away from his problems, then he’ll become one himself.

“Okay . . .” Sunny stands up, “But I will take my time!”

“That is fine . . .” Stranger sighs out in relief, “Good luck, Dreamer!” And then he fades away.

Sunny sighs, picks up a key from the blanket, and heads to the first door.

He inserts the key and unlocks; he then puts his hand on it and twists.

Sunny enters and notices the endless orange sand with cactuses and palm trees dotted about.

Frowning, he proceeds to explore the place, wondering where-

“Hey Sunny!” A Kel zooms by him, and just as quick as he came, Kel has disappeared.

. . . Okay . . .

Suddenly, he’s bonked on the head. Ouch! What was tha-

His head was hit again. OUCH! Would you stop-

Once again, another bonk on the head. Sunny decides to run away.

However, he feels the pain in his head again. What was going-

“Why are you running away, Sunny?” It was Kel, and he sounded hurt, “I thought we were friends!”

Sunny turns to see a crying Kel with hollow eyes holding a basketball, “You . . . You don’t want to be my friend . . .”

The ball was kicked to his face and bounced back to Kel “Yeah! Why would I want to be friends with a monster like you?” Kel’s voice distorts, “I shouldn’t have wasted four years of my life trying to get you out of your house!”

That’s . . . That’s right! Kel wanted to be his friend, despite everything, he told Sunny that he forgave Sunny and even gave him his number. Sunny couldn’t believe it, but Kel deadly serious.

He . . . He . . .

“Do you understand?” Kel is no longer crying and is back to his original self, “I still want to be your friend Sunny!” He smiles

“I . . . I . . .” Friendship is not a one-way highway, “Okay . . . I promise to be your friend.” Sunny smiles back.

Kel smiles and disappears, only leaving behind a black key. Sunny walks up to the key and picks it up, however, instead of red hands appearing, he’s immediately teleported back to the main hub

“Ah, you’ve done it, Dreamer!” Strange is back and his voice is filled with praise.

He has, but he’s now tired, “You’re waking up . . .” Stranger pauses, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Dreamer.”

And . . .

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

He wakes up in the middle of the night, not because he was thirsty, but because he needed to do something.

Sunny picks up his phone and calls Kel.

“Hello?” Kel groans with tiredness.

“Hey Kel, sorry for waking you up.” Sunny apologises, also feeling sleepy himself.

“SUNNY!” However, it seems that Kel is wide awake now, “How are you doing? Is the new town good? Do they have a Hobbeez over there?”

Sunny blinks, a bit overwhelmed, “Um . . .”

Kel chuckles, “Sorry, I got a bit carried away . . . Say, why did you call in the middle of the night?”

“I had a nightmare.” It’s a half-truth.

“Oh!” Kel pauses, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No . . . But it reminded me of something . . .” Sunny smiles gently, “I want to thank you for being a friend, for being there for me, and well . . . I want to thank you for everything!”

“Hey, it’s no problem.” Kel has calm down.

“No! It is a problem!” Sunny argues, “I've been a bad friend to you this whole time, yet you’ve expected nothing in return! So, from now on, I’m fully committing to telling you everything that has happened in this new town, okay?”

There was a pause, honestly, Sunny thought he was on mute, but no.

“Sunny . . .” Kel says, “I . . . Thank you . . . You don’t have to . . .”

“You don’t have to be my friend, but you are!” Sunny points out.

“Heh! You got me there!” For some reason, Sunny can tell that Kel was truly smiling, “Well, I would like to know everything, but I’ve got something important to do in the morning, so, tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow.” The 'I promise' goes unsaid.

“Okay, goodnight, Sunny!” Kel yawns.

“Goodnight, Kel.” Sunny is influenced by the yawn as he hangs up.

Sunny lay back down and closes his eye, perhaps Stranger was right, maybe he should stop running from his friend.

However, a part of him still thinks that he will get abandoned by them, and that he deserves it.

Chapter Text

Sounds of cutlery clinking against the plate fills the awkward silence in the air.

“So, are you enjoying yourself?” Abbi’s mother asks Sunny.

“I have.” It’s almost been two weeks, yet Sunny answers honestly.

Sunny, his mother, Abbi, and her mother were having dinner together, it was a way to get to know each other, however, it doesn’t seem to be working.

“What was it like before you moved?” Abbi’s mother did not know how awkward that question was.

“Um . . . I mainly stayed inside and got home-school . . .” God! That was awkward! But Sunny wanted to be honest, he also didn’t really want to talk about his friends or Ma-

“Actually, that’s something I want to discuss!” His mother speaks up, “Would you like to go back to a public school?”

He doesn’t know why his heart rate increased, “Sure . . .” Sunny doesn’t sound so sure, but he wants to for his mother.

“OH! Maybe you’ll be in my classes!” Abbi chimes up.

That . . . That reduced a lot of the nervousness that he had. Although his nervousness increases when Abbi’s mother looks at his eyepatch, thankfully she doesn’t ask, but he can tell that she’s curious.

Actually, that’s a good point! Abbi has never asked Sunny about his eyepatch. Maybe he should . . .

“Do you have any friends back at home?” Abbi’s mother asks the question that he was dreading.

“I do.” Sunny internally sighs. Not because he doesn't like them, he just isn't sure if they are his friends, except Kel.

“Really?” Abbi is the one that speaks up, “Do you think I could meet them one day?”

. . .

“Sure . . .” Sunny bites his lips.

Abbi gives him a look but doesn’t question it, and they all continue to eat.

Then, Awkward silence fills the air once again.

---~---~---~---~---~---~

Sunny awakes back in Blackspace. “Hello again, Dreamer!” Stranger greats, but Sunny ignores as he heads through the next door. He doesn’t want to deal with any of this right now.

He entered and was immediately hit with coldness. It was a snowy land that had trash laying around the place, but Sunny trudges forward.

Soon, he sees a frozen body that looks like Spaceboy. Hesitantly, he checks the body to see . . .

Hero’s face.

“You did this to me . . .” It wasn’t Hero’s voice, but Sunny is still impacted.

The key was in his body, Sunny was going to have to smash it open.

“You’re going to kill me?” Sunny shivers as he brings his hand down and smashes Spaceboy’s chest open.

“Murderer . . .”

Sunny grabs the key and gets teleported back to Blackspace.

“You’re very rude . . .” Stranger doesn’t know what he went through, “Aren’t you going to greet an old friend?”

Are they friends? “Are you and Basil still friends?” . . . “You shouldn’t hate him, Dreamer.” He doesn’t, but he just . . . “Please contact him soon . . .” He will.

After that, Sunny goes through the next door, and opens it to see.

Whitespace?

And Omori?

Why is he back?

Omori turns around and . . .

That’s not Omori.

“You came back, Sunny!” Omori’s voice distorts and glitches, “I knew you would need me again!”

No! He doesn’t!

Omori gives him a disappointed look, “But you’re running from your friends! It’s just like last time!”

That sent shivers down his spine, “But they need time!”

“Really? And how long are you going to wait?” Omori tilts his head too far, “Until they forgive you?”

Sunny knows that is impossible, but, “I’m going to wait until they’re ready to speak to me again!”

“And what if they hate you forever?” Omori asks with a scoff.

“That’s fine . . .” Sunny sighs, “It’s their choice after all . . .”

Omori starts to disintegrate, however, he makes one last comment, “You’re going to need me again, I promise.”

The dust of Omori fades, leaving behind a key. Sunny picks it up and teleports back to Blackspace.

“Stranger . . .” Sunny wants to ask him something, “Will Omori come back?”

“Only you can decide that!” Strange answers, “However, I will try to stop you before that happens!”

Sunny is grateful and heads through the next door, ending up in.

His old house.

Why is he back? Why is he here again?

Sunny shakes those thoughts as he leaves his room and head down the stairs.

However, at the bottom of the stairs lays his violin and Mari.

He gulps. He just needs to get past it, and . . .

Something grabs him.

“Sunny . . .” Mari’s voice whispers to him, “I hate you . . .”

N-No she do-

“I hate you . . .” Mari claws his leg and stands up, revealing Hellmari, “You’re worthless . . .”

H-He isn-

“You mess everything up . . .” The voice bounces around his mind, “You should’ve been perfect, but you weren’t . . .”

Please, he’s sorr-

“Sorry will never bring me back . . .” Hellmari growls, “Sorry will not make me forgive you . . .”

L-Let go-

“You should just die!” Hellmari shouts

Sunny feels her hands wrap around his neck, restricting his breathing.

Sunny’s vision goes blurry, only seeing Hellmari.

Sunny struggles to move, unable to not give up.

He . . . He’s going to die.

Suddenly, he was pulled downwards into water. Strangely enough, he can breathe again, and he grips the tentacle that wraps around him.

Wait, tentacle?

“Dreamer . . .” A voice that sounded familiar spoke to him, “You’re not ready to face that . . .”

He isn’t, “Thank you . . .” Sunny is unable to turn, “Who . . . Who are you?” He will deal with that door later.

“That doesn’t matter . . .” The being’s voice echoes through the water, “You need to repair it . . .”

It?

“Violin . . .”

The violin . . . “Will that help me?”

“A lot . . .” The being answers, “You must leave now . . . Goodbye . . . My best friend . . .”

“Wait!” Sunny stops it, “Can I see you?”

. . .

“Do you forgive me?”

“Yes!” Sunny doesn’t know what he’s forgiving, but he's honest.

Then, after a moment, he is turned around.

“Thank you . . .”

It was Abbi, not the human, but the Wisest.

Abbi and Sunny wake up.

Chapter Text

Abbi wakes up in the Abyss.

This was a recurring thing for her, and she didn’t know why, she just wants the Dreamer to forgive her, whoever that was.

In fact, that was another thing! Her mind is . . . Sluggish . . . She doesn’t know how to describe it, but let’s just say that she’s slow at talking and remembering things, she’s also not in total control of herself, like someone or something else is making her move and talk.

Whatever, she just needs to wait for something to happen-

She senses that the Dreamer was in trouble.

Abbi subconsciously reaches out a tentacle and grabs the Dreamer.

She brings them down and makes sure that the Dreamer is safe.

“Dreamer . . .” Abbi speaks without any control, “You’re not ready to face that . . .” What was 'that'?

“Thank you . . .” That voice sounds familiar, but she can’t turn them around to see who it is, “Who . . . Who are you?”

“That doesn’t matter . . .” It does, but Abbi is forced to not say her name, “You need to repair it . . .”

Violin.

“Violin . . .” Abbi doesn’t know what was up with this violin anyways. Something about the truth? She doesn’t know.

“Will that help me?”

“A lot . . .” She feels that this will help her as well for some reason, “You must leave now . . . Goodbye . . . My best friend . . .”

“Wait! Can I see you?”

PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!

“Do you forgive me?” What?

“Yes!” She’ll take that as an answer, but as for the being that controls her, well . . .

The Dreamer is turned around.

“Thank you . . .”

It was Sunny, not the Dreamer, but her neighbour.

Abbi and Sunny wake up.

At the dead of night, Abbi wonders about her dream, why was Sunny in it? What was he facing?

Maybe . . . She should ask question tomorrow.

She sighs and hugs the squid toy that she got from Sunny.

If only things weren’t so confusing then maybe . . .

Maybe she could figure out her feelings towards Sunny.

--- --- --- --- --- ---

“This shop?” Sunny carries the broken violin in the toy box, which Abbi is curious about, but is hesitant to ask.

“Yeah! This shop can fix it!” Abbi answers, pointing towards a music shop nearby.

They enter to give the violin to the person behind the desk; however, last night’s dream was still on their mind. So many questions that they wanted to ask, but they didn’t know how to bring it up.

After Sunny hands over the violin, the money, and his phone number, he is told that he needed to wait until it was fixed. So, after exiting the store, Abbi thought this was a good opportunity to bring her dream up.

But how? How can she do it? Maybe-

“The Wisest.” Sunny said that.

“What?” Okay, that confirms a lot of things.

“Sorry, I’m just . . .” Sunny looks shyly to the side.

“The Dreamer.” Abbi makes his head turn in surprise, “Are you . . .”

“I am . . .” Sunny doesn’t need to know what Abbi was going to ask, “So, you saved me . . .”

“That technically wasn’t me . . .” Abbi gets a confused look, “Like . . . Think of it like this! I could see everything, I could still think, and I could still feel, but I wasn’t really in control of myself most of the time! Does that make sense?”

“It does . . .” That description . . . That feeling seems to hit too close to home for Sunny.

“So . . . I have a lot of questions . . .” Abbi notices that Sunny looks uncomfortable, “You don’t have to answer them, if you don’t want to.”

“Okay . . .” Sunny is thankful, “I’ll answer if I want to, okay?”

“Alright!” First question, “What is the truth?”

. . .

“That was probably not a good one to start on!” Abbi feels guilty, “Anyways, why is the violin destroyed.”

. . .

The silence is somehow louder, “Um . . . What about me? Did you know me? Did we know each other some time in the past?”

“I think we did?” Sunny is unsure, but Abbi is thankful that he spoke up, “I don’t know, you seem familiar, but . . . I just can’t remember.”

Abbi nods, then asks, “Why are you called the Dreamer?”

“Well . . .” Sunny looks distant, “You see, for the past four years, I’ve done nothing but dream . . . Well, not exactly, but I did shut myself away from everyone.”

Four Years . . .

“Right . . .” Abbi can’t help but feel sympathetic, “Friends as well?”

Sunny nods, “Yeah . . .” Something about the way he sounds makes Abbi question about how Sunny feels about his friends, and vice versa.

“Okay . . .” Abbi won’t ask, “Do you want to get better?”

“I do.” Sunny perks up, “It’s going to take some time, but I want to move on.”

From what? Abbi doesn’t ask, but instead says, “So you don’t want to shut your friends out again?”

Sunny pauses and stops “Um . . .”

“Sunny?” Abbi stops as well and gives him a look.

“Well . . . I . . .” Sunny rubs his arm, “It’s complicated . . .”

If her previous dream where she talked to the Dreamer was him and was true, then “Does it have something to do with the truth?”

. . .

Sunny doesn’t answer.

Abbi looks at the sadness and regrets everything she had said.

She wishes that she could take it all back, and so does he.

The rest of the walk home was an unbearable and awkward silence.

Chapter Text

Abbi contemplates, still laying on her bed, staring at her squid plush.

There was so many feeling stirring through her when she thought about Sunny.

Guilt, regret, curiosity . . . And something else.

Something that makes her heart beat faster, something that makes her face warm up, something that makes her nervous and giddy, something that makes her want to grab Sunny’s hand.

Something that wants to make her hold him and vice versa, something that makes her want to stare into his eye for hours as he stares back, something that make her observe every detail of his face.

His hair, his cheeks, his eye, his lips.

His lips . . . His lips . . . His lips . . .

Abbi has a moment of realisation.

She has a crush on Sunny.

Well that just made everything more complicated.

--- --- --- --- --- ---

At the library, Abbi reads a book. She loves reading books, they help her calm her down and remove any thoughts from her mind.

Yet, no matter what she does, the discussion she had with Sunny the previous day is still fresh on her mind . . . And the other thing.

She sighs as she puts down the book that she was currently reading, nothing was working, and she can’t even concentrate.

Maybe she should . . .

“Abbi . . .” It was Sunny.

“Sunny . . .” Abbi places her book down, bookmarking the page she was on, “I’m sorry for-”

“No!” Sunny stops her, “I should be sorry.”

“Why?” Abbi sees him look in the distance as he sits down beside her, and she already feels her heart beating faster, “What for?”

“For everything . . .” Sunny answers, “I . . . I don’t deserve to be-”

“Stop!” Now it’s her turn, “Look, whatever happens, it hurt you a lot, right?” Sunny nods, “And you feel guilty for it?” Another nod, “And, you didn’t mean to?”

“I didn’t, bu-” Once again, Abbi stops him, “Listen here, Sunny! What you did might have been bad, but that doesn’t make you a bad person . . . I mean, would a bad person want to get better?”

“No . . .” Sunny processes that information, “But that’s the thing, you don’t know what I did.”

“So . . . I don’t have any reason to hate you.” Abbi doesn’t know the truth.

Sunny gives her a strange look, “But . . . But . . . You’ll hate me!”

“As I’ve said, if I don’t know it, I don’t have any reason to hate you.” Abbi shrugs.

Sunny looks like he wants to say something, but he can’t. He sighs in defeat, “I promise you’ll hate me . . .”

“That’s for me to decide!” Abbi ends the debate, “Anyways, why are you here? I know it wasn’t to apologise to me, so . . .?” She tilts her head to the side.

“I wanted to clear my mind before I apologise to you, but it seems like I bumped into you.” Sunny answers.

Abbi hums, “Fate . . .” Abbi doesn’t believe in it, but . . . “Regardless, do you want to read with me?”

“Let me get a book first, okay?” Sunny doesn’t get an answer as he stands up and search for something to read.

As he searches, Abbi still wonders about the truth, however, she knows that Sunny will need some time to himself. So, she’ll be patient for her friend.

. . .

Ah, there are those . . . Weird feeling again! The feeling that she gets when she thinks of Sunny as a friend . . . No, wait! Sunny in general.

Dammit, not again!

\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\

“Hey, don’t worry.” The girl reassures the boy that accidentally tripped on her, pushing her into the puddle, “It was an accident; you didn’t mean to . . .”  

. . .  

“Sunny . . . Come here . . .” Abbi hugs him and pats him on the back, “Shh . . . There, there . . . I’m still your friend . . . Your best friend!”  

. . .  

“Yeah! It’s alright!” Abbi smiles, “Besides, my mom can clean it up, so it’s no big deal.”  

. . .

  “Glad that you understood!” Abbi decides to hold Sunny’s hand, “Hey, why don’t we go to the library? It’s dryer there!”  

. . .

  “Okay, let’s go!” Abbi and Sunny hold hands and walk to the library ,“You know, I love the library!”  

. . .

  “Yeah! I love reading books!” Abbi has sparkles in her eyes, “There’s so many worlds in them, if that makes sense.”

  . . .  

“Sure, we can read the same book together!” Abbi replies, “In fact! I could read it to you, if you want.”  

. . .

“Alright then.” And they enter the library.

Abbi know that no matter what, they’ll be best friends forever.

\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\

Chapter Text

Welcome back.

“I was worried about you.” Stranger is glad that the Dreamer was back, “You haven’t repressed, have you?”

“No. I’m just not ready to face that door yet.” Sunny stands up and sees that the door he went through is now glowing red.

Stranger sighs, grateful that The Dreamer is okay. “Very well . . .” He hands him a key, “I can only give you so much, so you should be more careful.”

He doesn’t know how to, considering how random these were. Sunny grabs the key and enters a different door. This time, Sunny won’t run.

The smell hit him first before he saw what the land was.

There was . . . So many dead creatures from Headspace. Sprout moles, bunnies, even a corpse of Jash was muddled in there. The path was pink mixed in with black and red, it also made a squelching noise when stepped on.

Sunny should probably not focus too much on everything around, although, that’s easier said than done-

“Sunny!” A wild Aubrey appears from the trash. She had so much blood on her and she was wielding a nail bat, “You accepted my letter! That means we’re going on a date!”

Uh . . . What?

Oh right! His old crush!

Uh . . . Whatever . . . This is most likely going to awkward.

Regardless, Sunny continues forward being followed by the bloody Aubrey.

Wait . . . Shouldn’t she- “What took you so long, Sunny?” Aubrey pouts, sounding genuinely mad, “I was waiting for you for so long!”

Ah! “I’m sorry.” A part of Sunny already knows what’s going to happen and he’s afraid of it.

“You know Sunny! You shouldn’t ignore a girl . . .” Aubrey turns red for anger, “You shouldn’t abandon her . . .”

“I’m here for you now!” Was he? He didn’t have any way to contact her.

“You made me so lonely, Sunny . . .” Aubrey looks furious, “And now you’ve done it again!”

“I didn’t mean to . . .” Sunny doesn’t know what to say, “I . . . I . . .”

“You left me to rot!” Aubrey slams her bat on the ground.

“I . . .” Sunny takes a deep breath and calms down, “I know . . .”

Aubrey’s eyes pierce through his soul . . .

“I did this to you . . . I did this to everyone . . .” Sunny admits, “But we don’t have to abandon each other anymore . . . We can . . .”

“We can get some happiness, or some peace . . .”

Sunny doesn’t expect her to forgive him, in fact, he wants her to hate him, but he wants her to be somewhere better, somewhere safe.

“Thank you . . .” Aubrey no longer has blood on her clothes, “I’ve been a terrible friend, haven’t I?”

“No . . . You were just mourning . . .” Sunny points out, “And there’s no proper way to do that, is there?”

Aubrey smirks, “You were always a dork . . .” And she fades away, leaving behind a key.

Sunny smiles and picks up the key.

---~---~---~---~---~---~

His phone buzzes from an unknown number, “Hello?” Sunny greets.

“Hey . . .” It’s Aubrey, “How are you?”

“I’m doing . . . Better . . .” Sunny only knows that, “You?”

“I’m . . .” Aubrey sighs, “Okay, let’s just get this out of the way! I don’t hate you!” Sunny is speechless and Aubrey continues, “Like, I still don’t forgive you, but I still . . . I still . . .” She doesn’t know what to say.

“You don’t have to force yourself . . .” Sunny reassures.

“I’m not!” Aubrey groans, “I just . . . Look! I still want to keep in contact with you, okay?”

“You do?” Sunny wants too as well, but-

“Yes!” Aubrey leaves no room for arguing, “I want to check how you’re doing . . . And stuff . . .”

“Stuff?” Sunny has a feeling what it is, “Like, continue being friends?”

“Yes, Sunny!” Sunny is pretty sure that Aubrey is genuinely smiling, “And if I don’t see any improvements from you, I’m going to hit you with my bat!”

Sunny blinks . . .

“Sunny?” Aubrey is worried that she went a bit too far.

“I understand,” Sunny does, it's just her wording, “But what do you mean by if you don't see any improvements from me?”

Aubrey pauses, “Well . . . Me and Kel were considering coming over for a sleepover.”

“Oh . . .” That actually sounded nice, “Sure . . .”

“Later though! I still need a bit of time before I see you.” Aubrey chimes up.

“Okay, Aubrey . . . Take as much time as you need . . .” Sunny gets a text, “Anyways, I’ve got to go now! Speak to you soon?”

“Speak to you soon!” Aubrey hangs up.

Sunny adds Aubrey to his contacts and checks the text.

What he read made him feel something . . .

The violin was ready.

Sunny was dreading this. In a way, he feels that this will make him hate himself more than he already does.

But he has to do this.

For . . . Abbi and for himself.

Chapter Text

Sunny enters the classroom, he’s not late, but he’s the last one there.

“Ah! You must be the new student!” The teacher greets him, “Sunny Suzuki was it?”

Sunny nods, and the teacher faces the class, “Okay, class! We’ve got a new student! Sunny Suzuki!” The teacher then turns to Sunny, “Why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself?”

“Um . . . I like video games . . .” God, this is embarrassing, “And, uh . . .”

“Why do you have that eyepatch?!” Some random dude shouts out.

That was what Sunny was dreading.

“Hey! Don’t ask personal questions!” The teacher reprimands, “And why are you waving, Abbi?”

Abbi? Sunny looks, and . . .

“Because he is my neighbour!” There she was, it looked like Abbi redyed her hair to fully white; Honestly, Sunny was surprised that he missed her. Not only that, but she was sitting next to an empty seat, which was next to the window.

“Oh!” The teacher seemed surprised, “Well, anyways! Sunny, you may take a seat!”

Abbi was hinting at Sunny by patting the table next to her, even though Sunny was already going sit next to her.

“Hey!” Abbi whispers as he sits down, “It’s good to see that you’re here!”

“It’s good to see you too.” Even though Sunny has spent a lot of time with Abbi, he is still feels giddy whenever he sees her.

“Do you want me to show you around school?” Abbi asks Sunny.

“Sure!” She didn’t need to but Sunny is glad.

The teacher then starts class, and all the students go silent.

--- --- --- --- --- ---

“And that concludes our tour!” Abbi finishes up, “So, rating?”

“Five stars, would recommend going again!” Sunny jokes even though he means it.

“Good, I’m glad!” Abbi claps, “Anyways, what do you have next?”

Sunny shows her the timetable, “Music.” He notices Abbi pouting, “What’s wrong?”

“We’re not in the same class together.” She sounded genuinely hurt, “Whatever! We’ve still got other classes!”

“Yeah . . .” Sunny is also disappointed, but . . .

He’ll survive . . . Right?

--- --- --- --- --- ---

He did not survive.

When the teacher asked him what he played and he said violin, Sunny didn’t expect to show what he could do.

And let’s just say he embarrassed himself, even though the teacher said he was good at it.

And . . . That one stupid note!

Regardless, he had his next class with Abbi, so it was okay . . . But secretly, he felt great to be with Abbi.

But then there was a class before lunch.

He was all alone again, he missed Abbi a lot.

Not only that, but some jerk threw a note at him. It was a poorly drawn version of himself with one eye and the words ‘Cyclops!’ written at the top.

Let’s just say that Sunny felt angry, but he had his methods to calm down.

If only the jerk could just stop already.

Whatever!

As soon as Sunny got used to it, the class ended, and it was lunch.

As soon as he enters, he was unsure where to sit.

Until he saw Abbi.

Internally grateful, Sunny walks towards her.

However, he was tripped.

“Hey, cyclops!” Oh great, some school bully. He had natural spiky red hair, blue jeans, and a purple jacket, “You know! I think that eyepatch is fake, and you’re just wearing it for attention!”

That . . . Doesn’t make sense. Like, oh hey everyone! I’m going to hinder my vision to get attention.

“Well cyclops!” Forgot that he was here, “Are you going to say anything?”

Before Sunny says something, someone comes to the rescue, “Hey, step away from him!”

It was Abbi that saved him.

“W-What are you doing here, Abbi?” The bully is acting strangely, “Whatever! Just, stay away from my business!”

“No! I’m not stepping away until you let him go, Luka!” Abbi argues, crossing her arms, and huffing.

Luka? Was that his name? Sounds familiar, but Sunny doesn't know why.

Luka hesitates but before he can speak, a teacher calls out, “Hey! Step away from him!”

Luka turns away and snarls, “Whatever!” He then turns to Sunny, “This isn’t over, Cyclops!” And he then he forcefully pushes his foot away from Sunny and stomps towards the teacher.

“Are you okay?” Abbi offers a hand.

Sunny takes it, noticing how soft and gentle it- Okay Sunny! Focus! “Yeah . . . I’m okay . . .” He’s helped up, “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Abbi shrugs and lets go of Sunny’s hand, “By the way, just to warn you, he’s the worst of the bunch!”

"Oh . . ." That’s . . . Reassuring . . . Sunny wonders if anyone can hear the sarcasm.

“Anyways, want to spend lunch together?” Abbi asks, which almost makes Sunny immediately agree, “Oh, that reminds me! I could introduce you to my friends! Don’t worry, they're nice!”

“Um . . . Sure . . .” Sunny doesn’t sound so sure, but he does wants to stay by Abbi.

And besides! A part of him wonders what her friends are like.

Chapter Text

“Merci! Lilli!” Abbi calls out to her friends, “I want you to meet, Sunny! He’s my neighbour, by the way.”

“Um . . . Hi . . .” Sunny is nervous and intimidated.

“Hello there!” Lilli greets him. She had a lot of spots on her face, and short hair that went down to her neck, “I’m Lilli, nice to meet you.”

Sunny nods, and Merci, the tallest girl in the school, says, “H-Hi . . .” She is always nervous, “S-Say, Abbi! Where’s A-Angi?”

“He’s probably still getting lunch.” Lilli suggests, as Abbi and Sunny sit next to each other, totally not internally screaming because they were sitting beside their crush, “By the way, we saw what happened, you should probably avoid Luka from now on.”

“I will.” He was already going to do that, but was glad for the warning.

“Hey! Who is the new kid?” Angi appears. He had short hair, and a short and thin stature.

“This is Sunny!” Abbi gestures, “Sunny, meet Angi.”

“Hello.” Sunny waves at Angi.

“Hi there! Name Angi!” Angi beams a smile, “So, do you like video games?”

“Uh . . . Yes . . .” Sunny can already tell that this guy was energetic.

“Really? What games do you like?” Angi immediately asks.

It seems like they’re going to be there for a while.

\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\

“Is that boy being mean to you again?” She hugs the crying boy and rubs his back.  

. . .

  “Luka? Is that what his name is?” Abbi asks to confirm.

. . .  

“Ah right, that makes sense, Sunny! Though it’s strange that I’ve never had him in any of my classes . . .” Abbi points out, “But I still need to know, what did that- No! What did Luka say to you?”  

. . .

“Don’t listen to him, Sunny! He’s a liar!” If there’s one thing that Abbi hates the most, it’s liars, “You’re not weak! And I like you the way you are!”  

. . .  

“Yeah! I do!” Abbi leaves no room for debate, “I like you a lot Sunny!”  

. . .

  “Aw . . . Thanks Sunny!” Abbi kisses his cheeks, that’s how you give thanks to a boy who complimented you, at least, that’s what her mother told her.  

. . .  

“Uh . . . Sunny?” Abbi chuckles at the face he’s making, “Hey! Stop daydreaming, dreamer!” That’s what her mother tells her when she’s stuck in her mind. "Now come on, lunch is ending soon!"

As they walk back, the kiss from The Wisest and 'dreamer' is stuck on his mind for a very long time.  

The Dreamer wonders how and where he can get more kisses from The Wisest, not knowing this strange new feeling, but he thinks it's related to happiness.

\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\

Abbi and Sunny were walking home together, “So, what do you think of my friends?"

“They’re nice.” Sunny is honest. In a way, if Sunny were to describe them, Merci was tall, shy, but friendly, Lilli had spots, but was observant and smart, and Angi was energetic and an extrovert.

“I’m glad that you got along with them.” Abbi smiles.

“Yeah . . .” Sunny nods, the nervously turns away, “Hey . . . Abbi?”

“Yes, Sunny?” Abbi glances at him.

“Do you want to know what happened to my eye?” Sunny looks uncomfortable.

“I do, but I don’t want to have to force you.” Abbi is curious about it, but hasn’t asked because she knows that it’s personal.

Sunny stops walking and takes a deep breath, “Okay . . .” Abbi stops as well, “I want to tell . . .”

Abbi can clearly see that Sunny doesn’t want to talk about it, but Sunny starts speaking, “My friend stabbed it out . . . He was . . . We were seeing things and . . . I wanted to save him from himself, but . . .

“I understand . . .” Abbi does, but still has questions, so she asks to confirm something, “Was he going to kill himself?”

“He was.” Sunny answers.

“I know you said that you were both seeing things, but . . .” Abbi better be careful, “Did he stab you because of what he was seeing, or was it something else?”

“Um . . . Kind of the first . . .” Sunny tilts his head from side to side, “Like, he first was trying to put this thing away from me, unknowing that he was hurting me, then he . . .”

Abbi doesn’t need Sunny to finish that sentence to know what happened, “And is he still your friend?”

“We still keep in contact.” That wasn’t a yes.

“Right . . .” Abbi finishes up her questioning.

. . .

“Do you want to see it?” Sunny asks Abbi.

Morbid curiosity got the better of her “Sure.”

And . . .

Sunny lifts his eye patch to reveal nothing, “I know it’s disgus-”

Suddenly, arms were wrapped around him “You must have been so scared . . .” Abbi rubs his back.

Sunny hugs back, “Yeah . . .” He was, but he’s better now.

Sunny smiles, he knows that things were better, even if it was still complicated.

Although, he dreads the day where he will tell her the truth.

Chapter Text

Over the past few days, Sunny and Kel have been texting each other, and eventually Kel brought up about a potential sleepover on the weekends.

Sunny agreed, then Kel mentioned that he’ll bring Aubrey over, which made Sunny scared, but he remembered that Aubrey didn’t hate him, so he was okay.

Cut to Saturday, Sunny decided to introduce Kel and Aubrey to Abbi when they arrived.

When Kel and Aubrey appeared, they had a small chat, before Sunny asked them if he could bring his neighbour along.

They agreed, going over to the next house, knocking on the door, and, “Hey! I’m Kel!” Kel meets Abbi for the first time, “And this is Aubrey!” Kel points to the pink haired girl with Sunny at the back of the pact.

“Hi, I’m Abbi!” Abbi greets with a smile, “So, you’re friends with Sunny.” That wasn’t a question.

“Yep! We are!” Kel answers anyways, “You know, I can’t help but feel like I’ve heard that name before . . . Aubrey?”

“What? What are you asking me” Aubrey frowns at Kel, “I don’t know her!”

Kel hum but then shrugs, “Oh, well . . . Anyways, Sunny told us about the arcade! Do you want to come with us?”

“Sure!” Abbi answers, quickly putting on her shoes, and stepping outside, “I guess this is an opportunity to get to know each other.”

“Doesn’t Sunny talk about us?” Aubrey asks and Sunny gives Abbi a look.

Abbi notices his look, “He does!” A half-lie, “But I want to know you . . . From yourself . . .” Abbi taps her chin and tilts her head to the side, “Does that make sense?”

“Yeah it-” Aubrey tries to speak, but Kel buts in, “So, what’s the arcade like?” Aubrey elbows him.

Sunny chuckles, the antics between Aubrey and Kel never lost.

This was the start of a new adventure.

\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\

“Abbi? Who’s Abbi?” Kel asks, bouncing his basketball.  

. . .  

“A friend that is a girl?” Kel is shocked, “But Sunny! Girls give you cooties!”  

. . .  

“What do you mean she's different?” Kel doesn’t know why Sunny is defending her ,“All girls are the same!”  

. . .  

“If you can’t explain it, then I’m right!” Kel gives no chance for argument, “Anyways! I heard that a new addition of Spaceboy has come out, do you want to sneak out to Hobbeez and read it?”  

He doesn’t understand Kel, nor does he understand cooties, but he still wants to be friends with both him and Abbi. So, for now, he’s going to agree with Kel until he understands more.  

He hopes that Abbi won’t be angry, even if he hasn’t seen her in a few years.  

And he’s not talking about the mysterious and wise squid girl called Abbi that appeared.

\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\

"What's your favourite animal?" Abbi asks.

"Is that how you-" Aubrey was about to ask, but Kel chimes in, "Dogs." Aubrey huffs, might as well do this, "Bunnies."

"Those are cute." Abbi nods, "But what about squids?"

"Squids?" Both Aubrey and Kel ask, baffled.

"Well, not cute, but cool!" Abbi perks up, "I have a ton of facts."

"Really?" Aubrey gives Sunny a look, who nods.

"Say, can you drink squid ink?" Kel asks.

Before Abbi could say anything, Aubrey says, "What? Squid ink is poisonous, everyone knows that!"

"Actually, it's not." Abbi clarifies, "You're probably thinking about lead, or pen ink. The only thing deadly about squid ink is allergies."

Aubrey stares at Abbi, who just told that fact with full confidence, "I'm going to search that up later."

Abbi shrugs, then turns and points, "Hey, that's the arcade!"

"Wow, it's so big!" Kel's eyes sparkle, "Also, why is it called Omocat arcade?"

"I don't know." Abbi answers, "Anyways, welcome to Omocat arcade! It's your usual arcade with-"

"Oh my god, is that a Spaceboy arcade machine?!" Kel interrupts with a shout.

"Kel, let her-" Aubrey was about to reprimand Kel, but he had already ran away. Aubrey sighs, "Sorry about that."

"It's fine." Abbi reassures, "So, want me to trounce you in some squid related arcade machines?"

Aubrey blinks, "Uh, what?" She turns to Sunny.

Sunny gives her a distant look, "Yeah, you'll learn quickly about Abbi skills with squid games."

Aubrey doesn't know what to make of that sentence, however, "You know what, let's do it!"

She doesn't know what she's getting into.

--- --- --- --- --- ---

After Kel, Aubrey, and Sunny were defeat by Abbi at the arcade, they went back to Sunny’s place since the sun was setting, and decided to have a sleepover that Kel planned.

Abbi has never had a sleepover before. Sure, she has been to her friends' houses and vice versa, but they've never stayed together for the night.

Anyways, after asking her mother, and getting some strange questions, Abbi gets to experience her first sleepover.

They had to ask Sunny’s mother, but they were able to get enough covers and pillows, and they, mostly Kel, created a blanket fort, although it was very small.

“I don’t know how he does it . . .” Aubrey comments on Kel’s secret skill, shaking her head, “Must be a family thing.” Aubrey shrugs.

Kel goes under the small blanket fort and immediately start snoring.

“Already passed out . . .” Aubrey chuckles, then turns to Abbi, “Anyways, hope you don’t mind the snoring.”

“It’s fine . . . ” Abbi hopes. Sunny wasn’t in the room right now since he was still brushing his teeth.

“Hey, Abbi?” Aubrey starts, “Do you like Sunny?” It’s something to she noticed during their time at the arcade.

“I like him!” Abbi smiles, although she swears her face wasn’t getting hotter, and her heart rate wasn’t getting faster. Nope! Nothing like that at all!

“No! Like . . . Do you have a crush on him?” Aubrey rolls her eyes.

“Um . . .” Abbi trails off, she understood what Aubrey was asking, but as for her answer . . .

“Well . . .?” Aubrey raises her eyebrow, smugly smiling.

Suddenly, the bedroom door is opened, Sunny steps into the room, and snaps Abbi out of her state.

“Oh, you’re back . . .” The conversation ends, and Aubrey yawns, “Anyways, I’m going to head in! Goodnight.”

Aubrey steps in and pushes Kel to make space. She fails this, making her grunt, and have to squeeze in.

However, a problem presents itself . . .

It seems like there’s not a lot of room for Abbi and Sunny.

“Uh . . .” Abbi doesn’t know what to do, so she attempts to pack herself in, but isn’t successful.

“I won’t be able to fit in there.” Sunny says tiredly, not even trying.

“Yeah, same . . .” Abbi speaks up, checking the floor that she was laying on, “I don’t think that the floor would be a comfortable place to sleep on, so . . .”

“Ah . . .” Sunny thinks about it, “Would you like to sleep in my bed?”

“But where would you sleep?” Abbi tilts her head from the floor.

Sunny pauses, deep in thought, then he blushes, “H-How about . . .”

Abbi tilts her head, wondering what Sunny was about to suggest.

“W-We could . . .”

Abbi has never seen Sunny so nervous before.

“Um . . . Sleep together . . .?”

Maximum blush for the both of them!

“Um . . . S-Sure, o-okay . . .” Abbi’s brain is telling her it’s a friend thing, but her heart is telling her something else.

Sunny lays down on his bed, clearly red as a tomato, as Abbi lay next to him.

“Alright . . .” Sunny shifts to a more comfortable position, “Well . . . Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” Abbi also shifts into a more comfortable position, though that position seems to be facing Sunny.

Meanwhile, in their minds:

"AAAAAH, he's so cute." Abbi screams internally, observing his cow lick, his deep brown eye, how pinchable his cheeks look, his lips.

"GAH, she's so cute." Sunny also scream internally, observing her white hair, how much he wants to kiss her cheek, her lips.

"Would he/she mind if I kiss them?" Abbi/Sunny think to themselves, "No, that would be creepy, and rude, so . . ." They resist the temptation . . . Just barely.

Regardless, sleep calls for them, and they somehow both fall asleep.

To answer Aubrey’s question, Abbi would answer honestly.

And the answer:

Well she has a crush on him, but she recalls having a crush on him since they were children when she started to hang out with him, and remembering through some lost childhood memories.

Regardless, The Wisest remembers the Dreamer.

Chapter Text

Welcome back, you’re probably getting tired of this greeting.

“Well, are you?” Stranger asks; it was him doing the greetings.

“No, I'm not.” Sunny stands up, “Say, do you just stand there all day?”

Stranger pauses, “No.” Liar, “Okay, fine! I do! But it’s only to make sure that you come back as yourself.”

Sunny sighs, “Thanks . . .” He guesses, although a part of him doesn’t want Stranger to be bored out of his mind.

Regardless, Sunny has a door to go through, and after opening it, he enters.

A black sky with realistic clouds, dark blue wooden path with grey gravel as the fields. Laying around were items used for cooking, like blenders, ovens, chef’s hats, and other related kitchen stuff.

Overall, it only made Sunny think that something was off, something was broken, but he didn’t know what.

Despite that, Sunny walks down the path, not seeing anything in the distance, nor seeing anything out of the ordinary.

If anything, it was kind of lonely, but he persists through.

“Sunny . . .” A voice whispers from somewhere, it sounded like Hero.

Oh no . . .

“Sunny, come here . . .” Black and brown stairs suddenly emerge from the ground, the wood was old, and dusty.

Sunny gulps and climbs up the stairs.

“You know what you’ve done . . .” Hero’s voice is accusing Sunny of his sin, “I’ve come to punish you . . .”

Sunny keeps going, ignoring the dread and the terror in his heart.

“You deserve this . . .” Hero’s aggressiveness makes Sunny agree with him, “You are a murderer . . .”

Sunny paused for a moment, knowing Hero was righ- No! He shouldn’t listen to him, though . . He can’t disagree . . . Maybe he should . . .

“You should just die . . .” Hero was standing in front of him, his body was burnt, several deep scars line his arms.

Before Sunny could act, he was pushed down the stairs.

Was this how she felt? CRASH!

Both physically and mentally? CRACK!

Did she regret this as much as Sunny does? SNAP!

What did she want to do when she landed? THUD!

Then, Sunny reaches the bottom and lays there.

He was in so much pain, but he persists. His vision was blurry, but he focuses. His breathing was erratic, but he calms down.

However, his neck was wrapped by Hero’s hand.

No! Please!

“YOU KILLED HER!” Hero shouts in Sunny's face.

Stop it!

“IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU!” Hero screams, still holding him.

Please . . . Please . . .

“YOU MURDERER!” Hero tightens his grip, “YOU MONSTER!”

. . . Please . . . Help me . . .

“STOP!” A sound of a familiar voice makes Hero’s grip was loosened to where Sunny can breathe, and Hero gives a surprised look to Sunny’s saviour.

Sunny takes deep breaths of air, before realising who had saved him.

It was human Abbi . . .

Might as well call her Abbi The Saviour after this.

“You don’t know what he did.” Hero has calmed down immensely, but is still furious.

“Sure! I don’t! But that doesn’t mean you should kill him!” Abbi points out, “And besides! What he did won’t get fixed by killing him!”

Sunny realises that Abbi was right. It . . . It won’t get fixed.

“Hating him won’t reverse things!” Abbi brings up another point, “This is just needless harm, and it will only make it worse for you and others!”

Sunny knows that it will not reverse things . . . And it does hurt.

“That’s why he should stay away from everyone.” Hero argues.

“No! If anything, that’s why he and his friends should stick together!” Abbi objects with something powerful.

There was a long pause, during which, Sunny was contemplating what Abbi said . . . And she's right . . . Sunny shouldn't be thinking about people hurting him or inflicting pain on himself . . . Sunny still has friends even after everything . . . And things will never be the same again, but that doesn't mean that he can't enjoy the present, that he can't make new memories, and that he can't be happy.

Hero turns back and fades away, “I’m sorry . . .” He disappears.

The key lands on Sunny and teleports him back to Blackspace.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Before he has a chance to act, he wakes up facing Abbi.

He observes her features of her face, she was so cute, and he had to admit, he was in love with her; Sunny can’t ignore his feeling for her anymore.

However, Sunny needs to do something. So, after exiting the bed, he leaves his room.

Before he leaves, he sees a sticky note.

Kel: “Hey, Sunny! We need to go home! Sorry for leaving so soon. Hope to see you again! P.S. You can bring Abbi with you.”

Aubrey: “I’ll see you again soon, Sunny! Although I’m jealous that you’re getting better so quickly, I’m glad that you’re happy. P.S. You and Abbi make a cute couple ;)”

Sunny ignores his blushing and crumples up the note.

He doesn’t have time to deal with his feeling, however, it was time to tell the truth to Abbi.

He just needs to practice violin for a bit to calm him down, preparing for something he isn't ready for, but he must do it.

Chapter Text

Welcome to The Abyss

Abbi wakes up in the same place again, however, this time, she felt that she could move herself. In fact, she was herself.

“Huh? What the . . .?” Abbi stands up and notices some tentacles, and a face with an eye staring at her, “Um . . .”

“Hello . . . Myself . . .?” This being? This face? Was she in it?

“Myself?” Abbi was confused.

“Yes . . . I am Abbi . . .” Abbi answers. Okay, this might get confusing, let’s just call the face Abbi The Wisest, and human Abbi, well, Human Abbi.

“How are you . . . me?” That’s what Human Abbi wanted to know.

“The Dreamer changed me . . .” Abbi The Wisest answers, “I am . . . Not wise . . . I used to be wise, but . . . Did something against The Dreamer’s will . . .”

“Right . . .” Human Abbi nods her head, “Well . . . Is there any way to get out of here?”

Abbi The Wisest thinks about it, “I can use tentacle . . .” A tentacle reaches down.

Despite how confusing everything is, despite how scary Abbi The Wisest was, and despite everything.

Human Abbi sees this as an opportunity to complete her lifelong dream.

Hugging a squid.

“Okay, sure!” And the tentacle wraps around her.

Although not the multiple tentacle hug like she hoped, Human Abbi was still over the moon. It was everything she dreamed off . . . Wait . . . Isn’t that quite literal?

Ah, whatever! Human Abbi was having the time of her life.

“Goodbye . . .” Abbi The Wisest started lifting her up, “And please . . . Help my best friend . . .”

That snapped Human Abbi out of her state. Is Sunny in trouble?

Before she could ask, Human Abbi surfaces on a strange place.

However, she wasn’t focusing on her surroundings as she sees . . .

“STOP!” Sunny was being strangled by an older boy.

Human Abbi notices Sunny take deep breaths of air, the older boy turns, and looks at her with surprise.

“You don’t know what he did.” There was venom to the older boy’s voice.

“Sure! I don’t! But that doesn’t mean you should kill him!” Human Abbi points out, “And besides! What he did won’t get fixed by killing him!”

She pauses and thinks about what she will say next.

“Hating him won’t reverse things!” Human Abbi hopes that she’s bringing up good points, “This is just needless harm, and it will only make it worse for you and others!”

She's determined to get through to him.

“That’s why he should stay away from everyone.” The older boy argues.

“No! If anything, that’s why he and his friends should stick together!” Human Abbi knows that Sunny’s friends stuck with him after the truth, whatever the truth was.

There was a pause, one that brought anxiety to Human Abbi . . . She hopes that she was convincing.

Suddenly, the older bot shifts into a more human form and fades away, “I’m sorry . . .” He disappears.

A strange black key falls on Sunny and he teleports away.

“Sunny!” Human Abbi shouts, panic in her voice, “SUNNY!”

“Don’t worry!” A young girl's voice that sounded familiar speaks behind her to her, “He’s okay.”

“Who are you?” Human Abbi turns around and . . .

It was a girl with black tentacle arm, legs, and horns, she had a black shirt and panties, her lips and short hair were white, and she had a white question mark where her eye and nose should be.

“I’m Abbi.” This was definitely getting complicated- “Abbi The Wisest!”

“What?” Human Abbi is confused.

Abbi The Wisest clarifies, “After you saved him, I was brought back to my original form, that face form was what I turned into after I went against The Dreamer’s will, but now I’m back.”

“But how?” Human Abbi’s mind is all over the place, “I mean like, how are you here? How did you change so quickly?”

“For the first question, when you saved Sunny, I changed back and managed to get here through my tentacle.” Abbi The Wisest answered, “As for the second question . . .” Abbi The Wisest taps her chin with her tentacle, “I don’t know! I guess the memories, and The Dreamer’s love had an influence.”

"W-What?" Human Abbi sputters, "How do you know that? His love? What do you mean?” Part of her feels like she got the wrong message, but at the same time, maybe it was true.

“He’s my best friend, of course I know his secret!” That was a bit weird coming from . . . Wait, is this herself? “We could be siblings?” Human Abbi doesn’t question the fact that Abbi The Wisest can read her mind because right now, she was entirely focusing on the possibility of having a squid sibling.

“Siblings . . .” Honestly, Human Abbi doesn’t care if it’s a dream, she has peaked in life, she can die happily now, "Yes please!"

“Not so fast!” Abbi The Wisest snaps her out of her thoughts, “Promise me that you will still help the Dreamer.”

“Okay, I will.” Human Abbi is determined, however, she notices a slight issue, “Uh . . . How do I get out of here?”

“Come here!” Abbi The Wisest opens her arms, was she offering a hug? “Give your sibling a hug!”

Human Abbi internally screams in happiness as she hugs her unofficial sibling.

A wave of comfort and exhaustion hits her.

"Oyasumi." Abbi The Wisest whispers.

And . . .

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Human Abbi wakes up in the morning, everyone has left, and she can hear the sound of a violin playing majestically.

Human Abbi . . . Okay, she can stop that now! Abbi gets out of bed and follow the violin down the stairs and into the spare room.

She gently opened the door to see Sunny, his eye closed, and he was playing the violin calmly and with elegance. It was beautiful to Abbi, so perfect, however, Sunny suddenly stops and scrunches up his face.

Sunny opens his eye and sees Abbi, “Oh . . . Hey, Abbi. Sorry for waking you up . . .”

“It’s fine . . .” It really was, “You’re really good with the violin!”

Instead of blushing at the complement, Sunny looks distant, “Thanks but I messed it up . . .”

“How?” Abbi couldn’t see, er, well, hear any mistakes.

“That one note.” Sunny says it like it was a lifelong enemy, “I keep messing it up . . .”

“What do you mean?” Abbi asks.

Sunny sighs and looks her in the eyes, “That one note . . . It made me fail everything . . .” Sunny pauses, “Everything fell apart because I wasn’t perfect . . .”

“Sunny?” Abbi says, gazing into his eyes, and he takes a deep breath.

“I have to tell you something . . .”

Chapter Text

A violin.

A recital.

A chance to prove yourself and spend more time with your sister.

A start to it all.

Practising.

Your sister belittling you.

Rising fury.

Pain increasing.

Struggling.

The day of the recital coming closer and closer, until.

The day of the recital. No breaks, no messing up, no pain, because if that happens.

Your sister will get angry. Shouting, insulting.

You’re hurt, you’re scared, you’re angry.

You’re imperfect.

You’re stressed out.

Then something in you snaps.

Running out, climbing the stairs, holding the violin.

Throwing the violin down the stairs which causes someone to run out.

Your sister climbs up, already shouting, reprimanding.

You argue, yet she screams back, towering over you.

Your throat closes.

Your vision blurs.

Your pain and exhaustion is catching up to you.

You try to run, but you are stopped.

So.

You push without thinking, without knowing, without looking.

Your sister falls down the stairs.

Crash!

. . .

Call out? No response.

Running down to check? No breathing.

Shaking, crying, begging? Your sister doesn't wake up.

She’s resting? Pull her up, lay her in bed.

Then . . .

Cry.

Cry because you failed, cry because you feel hopeless, cry as you apologise.

No one can hear you.

Except.

A stranger.

They put their hand on your shoulder, and tells you their plan.

You trust them, carrying your sister out the room, and down the stairs.

Then, out the glass door, then it’s all up to the stranger.

Then, you look in the distance.

The blood red sky calming you.

The animals are waking up.

The wind blows.

It’s peaceful, it’s calming, like fantasy, or like a dream.

Or perhaps a nightmare that you want to wake up from.

Then, a stranger holds your hand.

Their staring at something.

You turn to where they’re looking.

You shouldn’t have looked.

Your sister sways in the wind.

Something judgmentally gazes into your soul.

The stranger says.

Everything is going to be okay

. . .

Welcome to Whitespace.

--- --- --- --- --- ---

That’s what she has to contemplate.

She already know what happened, but she can’t help herself asking question.

Why? He was furious, he was stressed, he wanted to get out.

Why? His friend was protecting him, his friend didn’t want him to get into trouble . . . Perhaps something else happened . . . Perhaps Something was behind him.

Why? It scares her, she can imagine what it looks like, but not the feelings, and the reasoning.

It wasn’t the wisest choice.

However, that’s what she would have done if she was in his place . . . At her age . . .

That’s right, he was younger, he would have done anything to take it all back, and yet . . .

For him, he had already did it, there is no way to revert the past, and he knows that no matter how many times he apologise, his sister will never come back.

And after the action, his life was ruined. Afterwards, he suffered a lot. Afterwards, he was alone. Afterwards, he felt guilt. Afterwards . . . Afterwards . . . He became nothing.

So, she makes a choice, and although she still feels a whirlpool of emotions, she decides . . .

To make the wisest choice . . . To help him . . . For the future . . . For them . . . She knows that this is right . . . She knows that there will be stuff to work through . . . She know that it will take time . . . But she is ready.

She knows for now that this wise choice will make everything okay.

Or at least help him move on.

\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\

“I’m leaving.” He told her.  

. . .  

“I mean that I’m going somewhere new.” He doesn’t look her in the eye because it hurts, “I won’t see you again.”  

. . .  

“I’ll miss you too.” He hugs back, crying into her shoulder while she cries into his, “I promise to remember you.”  

. . .  

“Yeah . . . Forever . . .” He will miss her; He already does.  

“I love you.” They said that to each other. At the time, it meant that they cared for each other, they were innocent, they didn’t know the full meaning of the words or their feeling for each other.  

But now they know what it means, and . . .  

It is still true.

\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\

The boy calms himself down before opening the door.

It was her, “Hey . . .” She doesn’t sound mad, “I don’t hate you . . . Honestly, I don’t know what to feel . . . I’m not angry, maybe Confused? Definitely not disappointed . . . Regardless, I still want to be there for you.”

“You don’t have to force yourself.” He tells her.

“No! I’m not!” The girl crosses her arm, “I’m still going to be your friend! I still want to be with you . . .” She gives him a soft look, “Please . . . I want you to get better, to help you . . .”

“Okay . . . I . . . I will get better . . . I promise.” He didn’t need to promise but the girl is thankful.

She wraps her arms around him, “Good, I’m really glad . . .” He wraps his arms around her, “I didn’t want you to lose yourself again . . . I didn’t want to lose you . . . Not yet- No! Never!”

They stay there, providing warmth to each other, providing their needs to each other. This was more powerful than any words they can say to each other, more powerful than a promise.

They break the hug, they needed that, and a part of them wants more, but for now, what they did will suffice “Thank you . . . Abbi.” Sunny smiles.

“No problem, Sunny.” Abbi smiles back.

The moment ends and is replaced by the phone ringing, “Uh . . . I’ll just . . .” Sunny gets the phone out the pocket and frowns, another unknown caller, “Do you mind?”

“Not at all.” Abbi will wait there.

“Hello?” Sunny accepts the caller.

“Hi Sunny!” It’s Hero, “How have you been?”

“I’ve been . . . Good.” Not the full truth . . . Actually- No, think about it later Sunny, “How have you been, Hero?”

“Honestly, college has been stressing me out!” Kel told Sunny that Hero left for college after he told the truth, “Anyway, I want to tell you that I don’t hate you.”

Sunny stays silent and Hero continues, “I still need some time, but I still want to catch up, you know?”

“Me too . . .” Sunny accepts, “Don’t push yourself because of Mari, okay?”

“I’m not.” Hero unknowingly reassures Sunny, “I’m doing this because I want to, alright?”

“Alright . . . Thanks Hero.” Sunny thanks him, “Anyways, I’ve got to go now.”

“Okay, Sunny! I’ll see you later.” And the call is ended.

“Hero?” Abbi is still there, “Like the sandwich?” She knows too much.

“Yeah . . . And the guy that strangled me in my dreams . . .” Sunny gets a concerned look from Abbi, “Don’t worry! He didn’t actually do that to me.”

Abbi is still concerned, but Sunny is here to explain, as they decide to hang out at his house, sitting on the couch, just being there for each other.

Even though things are getting better, Sunny can’t help but feel that everything was still not okay.

Chapter Text

They decided to hang out at a coffee shop, Angi, Merci, and Lilli were sitting at a table, whilst Sunny and Abbi were getting their orders.

“You think they have a crush on each other?” Angi refers to Abbi and Sunny by pointing towards them.

“W-What? Why would you s-say that?” Merci questions.

“I have to agree!” Lilli nods in agreement, “It is kind of obvious! I mean, the way Abbi speaks about him a lot, and while I don’t know that much about Sunny, I can tell that he loves her by the way he looks at her.”

“I-I don’t think we should speak behind their b-backs.” Merci stutters.

“It’s fine, Merci!” Angi waves his hand “Besides, if he does something bad to Abbi, we’ll be there for her, right?”

“Y-Yeah.” Merci gulps, “Though . . . I-Isn’t it unfair to judge so soon?”

“I’m just saying.” Angi shrugs.

“They’re coming back.” Lilli says, and the conversation dies out.

It’s strange to be the ones outside looking at an obvious sign of their crush, however, Sunny and Abbi don’t notice. But honestly, Angi, Merci, and Lilli all think the same thing.

Are they going to confess? And when is it going to happen?

---~---~---~---~---~---~

Welcome back, you’ve got a visitor

“Hello Dreamer.” That voice, the being that stands in front of him.

“Abbi?” Sunny is surprised to see an old friend.

“Yep! The Wisest!” The half-human and half-squid confirms, “It’s good to see you again, my best friend.”

“Yeah . . . It's good to see you as well . . .” Sunny stands up and faces Abbi the Wisest, “I . . . I’m really sorry, sorry that I hurt you, sorry I didn’t listen to you, sorry I-”

“Hey.” Abbi The Wisest puts a tentacle over Sunny’s mouth, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m a bit angry, but at the same time, I’m just glad that you’re getting better . . . That you’re back and are ready to move on, and that really means a lot to me, so . . . I forgive you.” Abbi The Wisest pulls away her tentacle.

“I . . . Thank you, I promise to get better.” Sunny smiles.

“That promise means a lot to me, Dreamer." Abbi The Wisest smiles.

“Oh, that reminds me!” Sunny perks up, “Say, where’s Abbi . . . Uh . . . Human Abbi?”

“Aw~ You’re missing her already?~” Abbi The Wisest teases, “Don’t worry, we’ll find my sibling soon!”

“Sibling?” Sunny blinks.

“I mean, I think we’re sibling . . .” Abbi The Wisest shrugs, “Anyways! Before we can find her, I need you to meet my friends.”

“Okay . . .” Sunny sees Abbi The Wisest offer out her tentacle arm, he takes it, and follows her to a door.

Sunny unlocks it and they enter.

It was a dark library. In fact, it was at the bottom of The Lost Library!

“Meet my friends!” Three different beings appear, “Merci . . .” The tall one with one eye, “Lilli . . .” a being with multiple eyes, “And Angi.” And an angler fish.

“Wait . . .” Sunny is confused, “Why are they . . .?”

“I don’t know if you remember this, but you saw Luka bully them a long time ago, but were unable to help them.” Abbi The Wisest answers, “There were a lot of people that Luka bullied. I don’t know where they went, probably a new school or . . . Well, let’s just hope that they went to a new school.”

Sunny is still a bit confused but he accepts her explanation, “Okay . . . Well, hi!” Sunny waves at them.

Merci, Lilli, and Angi continue to stare, not saying anything.

“Um . . .” Sunny was creeped out, but at the same time felt bad for them.

Sunny shook his head, and they went through the library. Being followed by Merci, Lilli, and Angi made Sunny a bit nervous, but he ignored it as they reached the top.

There lay a key surrounded by white orchids.

He hesitated, but Sunny steps towards the key and grabs it.

Then, he was teleport back, Abbi The Wisest came with him, however, he didn’t expect Merci, Lilli, and Angi to also be there with them.

“Ah! New friends!” Stranger is saying that like he benefits from it the most, “Welcome to Blackspace.” The beings just stare at him.

“Anyways! Now that you’ve met my friends, it’s time to visit Abbi.” Abbi The Wisest chimes up and waves her other tentacle at the ground, creating a larger tentacle that picks them up and drags them into The Abyss.

Soon, they land on the ground and Sunny sees Human Abbi, “Abbi!”

“Sunny!” Human Abbi turns to him and they run towards each other, hugging in the middle.

“Aw, how cute?~” Abbi The Wisest teases, making them blush, and quickly split from each other.

“Abbi . . . Don’t say that . . .” Sunny is embarrassed.

“Sorry Dreamer . . .” Abbi The Wisest doesn’t sound sorry, “Regardless! Do you want to stay here, Abbi?”

“No . . . I want to stay with Sunny.” Human Abbi realises what she said and blushes, “I meant uh . . . Just take me somewhere else!”

Abbi The Wisest chuckles, “Of course~” And she produces another large tentacle to get them out of The Abyss.

And soon, they are back in Blackspace.

“Where are we?” Human Abbi looks around her and notices everyone else, “What is . . .” Human Abbi points to the others.

“We’re in Blackspace.” Sunny answers, “That’s Stranger.” Stranger waves, “That’s Merci.” Sunny Gestures towards the tall one, “That Lilli.” Gestures towards the one with multiple eyes, “And that’s Angi.” Gestures towards the angler fish.

“W-Why do they have my friend’s names?” Human Abbi frowns.

“I can explain that!” Abbi The Wisest offers, “I think you should all sit down for this . . .” They sit down and a tentacle comes up from the ground holding a book.

Abbi The Wisest takes the book and starts to read from the book as they all listen.

Chapter Text

\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\

The boy sees a tall girl.  

“Girls aren’t supposed to be tall!” Luka calls out, “Why don’t you go back to where you came from, freak!”  

The tall girl hesitates, “S-Stop . . .”  

“What are you going to do about it, Merci?” Luka sneers, “You're going to hide behind a tree! Oh wait! You won’t be able to!”  

Merci can’t take it anymore and runs away.  

“Oh, hey twerp!” Luka notices Sunny.  

Sunny steps away, “Oh? Already being a wimp like usual!” Luka smiles.  

Sunny runs away.

--- --- --- --- --- --- ---

The boy sees a girl with many spots on her face.  

“Hey ugly!” Luka shouts out, making the girl tear up, “You know that girls are supposed to be beautiful, Lilli!”  

Lilli starts to cry and runs away, as Luka laughs.  

Sunny wants to do something, but he can’t.  

“Oh, hey wimp!” Luka notices Sunny, “You come here to cry like she did.”  

Sunny runs away, “Yeah! Runaway! Baby!”

--- --- --- --- --- ---

The boy sees a boy who had a drawing of an angler fish.  

“OH! What’s this?” Luka takes the paper away from him.  

“Hey! Give that back!” The boy shouts.  

“Nah! But you already know that, Angi!” Luka grins, “And besides! It’s a terrible drawing anyways!”  

“N-No it’s not.” Angi’s voice shakes.  

“Tch! Whatever! You can have it back!” Luka rips the paper and throws it out in the air, “Oops!”  

Angi gather the paper and runs away with them, trying to put the picture back together.  

“Oh, hey baby!” Luka notices Sunny.  

Sunny shakes holding his own paper.  

“What’s this? This for me?” Luka steps up to him and tries to grab the paper, “Now give it here!”  

Sunny hesitates but he gives it to Luka.  

Luka hums “Impressive!” However, he rips the paper, “NOT!”  

Sunny runs away as Luka laughs, “THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE! DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT ANYONE WOULD LIKE YOUR ART, TWERP?”

And the cycle continues.

\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\

Abbi The Wisest ends her story.

“That was . . .” Human Abbi speaks up first, “Horrible . . . I mean, I know Luka is terrible, but . . .”

“You felt that you could have done something.” Sunny looks distant.

“Yeah . . .” Human Abbi nods, “And the fact that he’s the same after all this time . . . It’s just . . .”

“You feel useless.” Sunny turns to Human Abbi, “But we can do something now . . . However, if we can’t, we’ve still got each other . . .”

“The fact that Luka only gets a slap on the wrist kind of makes me think that we can’t really do anything.” Human Abbi points out, “But you’re right, we can comfort each other if he does anything to us.”

If anything, it has only made them stronger. Yet Human Abbi can’t help but think, why hasn’t Luka been expelled yet? Why hasn’t Luka targeted her, considering he seems to target the odd ones out?

Regardless, Human Abbi makes a promise to stick with her friends and Sunny.

No one is going to break them apart.

Chapter Text

A strange letter was in Abbi’s locker. Confused, Abbi picks up, opens the letter, and she reads it: ‘Meet me by the hill after school. Don’t bring anyone.’

The fact that is said to not bring anyone makes Abbi’s face pale.

“Is something wrong?” Lilli notices her friend’s reaction to the letter.

Abbi shows the letter to Lilli, and she frowns, “Ah . . .” Lilli thinks about it, “I’ve got an idea!”

Lilli whispers it into Abbi’s ear and Abbi gives her friend a look, “What? But why?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll still be there!” Lilli reassures, “So if anything bad were to happen, we can come to the rescue!”

Abbi sighs and hesitates, thinking about Lilli's plan.

Eventually, She comes to a conclusion.

“Okay . . . Fine . . . Let’s gather everyone up!”

--- --- --- --- --- ---

The plan was that everyone one would stay from a distance while Abbi went on her own.

Of course, Sunny wasn’t too sure about and so was Abbi, but after some convincing, they come to an agreement.

Merci, Lilli, Angi, and Sunny stay at the side of the school building and watch Abbi walk up the hill.

No one was there and the silence was making Abbi nervous, but she persists onward.

Eventually, she reaches the hill’s tree and . . .

“Hey . . .” It was Luka, and he was hiding behind the tree, facing away from her, “You got my letter.”

“What? Why are you here?” Abbi is in flight or fight mode.

“No one is here with you?” Luka asks.

“N-No . . . What do you want?” Abbi clenches her fists.

“I needed to confess something to you . . .” Luka turns to look her in the eyes, “I . . . I . . .”

“I love you . . .”

Her heart drops.

“What?” Abbi says.

“I . . . I said I love you.” Luka clarifies.

Rage fills her body.

“What.” Not a question.

“Um . . . I love you.” Luka frowns.

Her eyes pierce through his soul.

“What!” Abbi is furious.

“Uh . . . Um . . .” Luka stammers.

“After everything you’ve done.” Abbi starts to see red, “After all the pain you’ve caused to everyone.”

“Why do you think anyone would ever love you?”

“You . . .” Luka gulps, “I did it for you . . .”

. . .

Abbi snaps.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” Abbi shouts, “YOU THINK I LIKE YOU TORMENTING MY FRIENDS?”

“Wait, they were your-”

“SERIOUSLY!” Abbi cuts Luka off, “YOU LOVE ME BUT YOU DIDN’T EVEN NOTICE THEM HANGING AROUND ME! OH MY GOD! YOU’RE A FUCKING IDIOT!”

“T-That’s . . . I just . . .”

“JUST WHAT?!” Abbi stomps, “DON’T GIVE ME EXCUSES! NOTHING WILL EVER MAKE ME FORGIVE YOU!”

Abbi turns around and starts to leave but Luka reaches out, “Abbi, wait!”

His hands lands on her shoulder.

Time freezes as it all starts to process in her mind.

And as soon as it finishes.

Abbi screams.

\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\

“You know, I like to think of myself as a terrifying squid!” The girl tells the boy.  

“Why?” The boy asks the girl.  

“Because it’s the reason why people are avoiding me.” the girl doesn’t know that people are avoiding her because she’s weird, “And, in a way, it makes you a very brave boy . . .”  

“B-But I’m not.” The bot stammers, “If anything, you’re the strong one.”  

“What? Me? But I have weak, noodly, squid arms.” The girl says, displaying her weak, noodly, human arms, “And I didn’t say you were strong, just brave.”  

“But I run away.” The boy points out, “Besides! You’re the one that isn’t affected by Luka.”  

“That’s actually a good point.” The girl taps her chin, “Why does Luka avoid me? In fact, it seems like he’s afraid of me . . .?”  

“Maybe you are a terrifying squid . . .” The boy suggests.  

The girl smiles and chuckles “Guess I am!”

  The boy doesn’t feel that she’s terrifying¸ but he does feel that she will use her tentacle powers to beat up Luka one day. Though, he can only dream.

If only he knew at the time . . .

\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\

“Jesus Christ, Abbi!” Lilli speaks up; They were all sitting outside the principal's office, waiting to be called in.

“I’m sorry.” Abbi sounded guilty, but not regretful. Honestly, she would beat the crap out of Luka again if it meant protecting her friends.

“I didn’t know you had it in you.” Angi was amazed, “You’ve got to train us.”

Her hands were hurting, “I didn’t train! If anything, it was kind of a fluke.”

“W-Why would you think t-that?” Merci asks, “D-Do you think L-Luka wanted you to do that?”

“He said he loved me.”

. . .

Suddenly, the door opens, and the principal and Luka come out. Luka was heavily bruised, and he looks at Abbi with a terrified expression.

Luka sits down at a far distance and the principal speaks up, “Okay Abbi, your turn.”

Abbi follows the principle into his office and an awkward silence fills the air.

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

“You said that you loved her.” Sunny speaks up.

“S-Shut up . . .” Luka turns away.

“But why?” That’s what Sunny wants to know, “Why did you think she would accept you after everything you’ve done?”

“I said shut up!” Luka glares at him, staring into his eye.

Sunny stares back, “Luka . . . After everything you’ve done . . . I hope you’ve learned your lesson.”

. . .

The door opens, and the principal and Abbi exit, “Okay Everyone! You can go home now!” However, the principal turns to Luka, “Except you, you stay here!”

Everyone else stands and the leave with Abbi.

“So . . . What happened, Abbi?” Lilli asks, “Do you know what’s going to happen to Luka? What’s going to happen to you?”

“I . . . Don’t know . . . I mean, I got a mark down for physical abuse, but I can live with that.” Abbi shrugs, “But with how the principle acted when talking about Luka, well . . . It makes me think that Luka is going to be expelled . . .”

Expelled . . .

“Wow . . .” Angi said that everyone else was speechless.

“Yeah . . .” Abbi sighs.

“Hey! Don’t feel bad!” Angi reassures, “He kind of had it coming.”

“I know, but does that mean what I did was unnecessary?” Abbi asked, “Did I hurt for no reason?”

. . .

“You hurt him because he hurt your friends.” Sunny chimes up, “And I know it doesn’t undo everything he’s done to everybody here, but I know you would do anything to protect your friends.”

“I would . . .” Abbi smiles.

“Yeah! And we would do anything to protect you, right girls?” Angi pipes up.

“We’ll stick by your side!” Lilli says with determination “Of course.” Merci says without any stutter “Forever.” Sunny promise.

“Oh, you guy . . .” Abbi starts crying with happiness, “Come here! All of you!”

Abbi brings them all in a group hug and all of them hug back.

It seems that everything will be okay for this group.

Chapter Text

The sun starts to set down as two people stroll on a path in peaceful silence.

“Hey,” Abbi speaks up, “I keep thinking about what happened today, and I know what you guys said, but . . .”

“Yeah, so how are you feeling?” Sunny asks. It had only been a few hours since they heard the news that Luka was going to be expelled.

“Still unsure, I never expected that my actions would do that.” Abbi replies, “Honestly, I want to move on from this whole mess, and live my life as normally . . .”

“Same . . .” Sunny nods, “I know you had good intentions and all, but . . .” He’s a bit hesitant.

“But what? You can tell me anything.” Abbi reassures.

Sunny sighs, “You let your emotions get the better of you.”

Abbi turns, confused,, and sees Sunny look distance . . . Then she realises.

“Oh . . .” Abbi turns away.

“Look, you didn’t kill anyone.” Sunny points out, “I just . . . You just . . .” Sunny is unsure what to say.

“It’s fine, I understand.” Abbi nods, getting a look from Sunny, “Really! I know what you’re saying, and next time, if there is a next time, I’ll make sure not to let emotions take control me.”

“Good . . . That goes for me as well.” Sunny replies, “You know, to be honest, it kind of makes me afraid to . . .” Sunny turns away, thinking if this was an appropriate time to ask Abbi on-

“Afraid to what?” Abbi tilts her head, snapping the blushing Sunny out of his thoughts.

“Never mind, we’re home now.” Sunny points out, “Whelp, I’ll see you in my dreams . . . “ Wow that sounded . . . Never mind.

“Heh, see you too, Sunny.” Abbi waves, and Sunny waves back.

Sunny then goes to his front door and enters, sighing longingly, putting off his shoes.

“Sunny.” His mother greets him, sitting on the couch, typing on the laptop, “So, how was your hangout with Abbi and her friends?”

Sunny remembered to send his mother a text, lying to her by saying that he was hanging out with Abbi and her friends, which was kind of the truth.

“It was good . . .” Sunny answers, “I already had dinner, and now I’m tired, so . . .” Both were the truth, they went to get something to eat afterwards.

“Alright then, good night Sunny.” His mother replies, going straight back to work on her laptop.

“Good night.” Sunny says back, going up the stairs.

First thing first, before going to bed, Sunny needs to prepare himself.

Bath? Refreshing and warm as always.

Brushing teeth? Minty fresh.

Pyjamas? Comfy, soft, and now fully on him.

Whelp, time to go to bed.

After switching off the light, Sunny tucks himself in, and closes his eye.

Oyasumi.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~

Welcome back. Hello Dreamer

“Hello Abbi.” Sunny greets Abbi The Wisest.

“By the way, Abbi isn’t here yet.” Abbi The Wisest informs him. Angi, Merci, Lilli, and Stranger were sitting in the distance.

“Thank you for telling me.” Sunny nods and decides to head to another door.

“Wait! Where are you going? Don’t you want to go with Abbi?” Abbi The Wisest asks him.

“I don’t know, this sort of stuff can be a bit much . . . Even for me.” Sunny answers, glancing at the red door, “And I want to do this alone.”

“Ah, I see . . . I guess you really care about her, huh?” Abbi The Wisest smirks at the blushing Sunny, “But fine! If she does come here, then . . .” Abbi The Wisest thinks about it for a sec, then comes up with an idea, “I’ll just tell her a story while you’re away.”

“Thank you.” Might as well give her company whilst he’s away.

Sunny then enters the door.

He’s put on a dark wooden boardwalk over the water, crescent moon shining down, dark clouds nearly covering the entire sky. There were corpses of Basil floating on the water, all of them varying from having a knife in their chest, to their heads being chopped off, to cobwebs wrapped around them, to being heavily bruised and beaten.

Surprisingly, there was no smell, it was just . . . Disturbing to look at, and in a way, reminded Sunny of all the times that Basil was killed by . . . Him? Omori?

That’s probably something he should think about later. Shaking his head, Sunny manoeuvres his way through the maze-like boardwalk, though it seems linear.

However, he can’t help but glance towards the water and notice that some of them had their eyes open, watching him. Were some of them alive?

Sunny shudders at the thought, he doesn’t want his friend to be alive and suffering, even if this was a dream, he still care about-

Sunny was snapped out of his thoughts when he spotted something in the distance. It looked like another Basil, and Sunny can’t help but shiver at the thought of this being the worst thing he has done to Basil.

And this thought . . . a part of him thinks that this is true, though he hopes not.

Sunny walks towards the Basil that stands at the end of the pear, railing cut off, and he gets closer and closer. Sunny notices that Basil is . . . Relatively normal, except for his pastel green hair, and green shirt with his overall over them.

It reminded Sunny of Dream Basil?

Dream Basil turns around to reveal that everything about him was normal, expect for the fact that he had red eyes to piece through Sunny’s soul.

“Omori!” Dream Basil greets, “You came here to save me!”

Sunny is confused, he’s not Omori, why is Basil referring to him as that?

“Omori? Why are you looking at me like that?” Dream Basil looks frantic and confused, “Is there something wrong? Something behind me?”

Something behind you . . . That . . . Brings bad memories . . .

Sunny shakes his head, “N-No Basil, I-”

Dream Basil’s smile drops, “You’re . . . You’re not my best friend.” Dream Basil’s voice wobbles as steps back, close to the edge, closer to Something, “Omori never talks!”

“I know, but I’m a friend of Omori.” Sunny tries to reassure, but to seemingly no avail, “Please! I can take you back to Omori . . . To your friends!” Sunny pleads.

“N-No . . .” Dream Basil starts to cry and shake, “I don’t trust you . . . I don’t know you.”

“I . . .” What can he do? “I’m sorry Basil, but you have to come with me, I’ll take you back to Omori.”

But Omori is gone . . . Is he not? . . . Sunny realises that he’s making fake promises.

“NO!” Dream Basil shouts “Just stay away from me!” Dream Basil is so close to the edge.

“Basil.” Sunny lunges, reaching out his arm, and tries to grab Dream Basil.

But Dream Basil falls, his screams echoing through the air as he descends into the dark water, disappearing, only leaving behind a trail of bubbles.

Then, Something disappears, leaving behind a key.

What did it all mean? Sunny can’t help but wonder . . . Does he think that Basil doesn’t trust him? Does he even trust Basil?

That’s . . . That’s something Sunny is going to have to consider later.

For now, Sunny grabs the key and teleports back to Blackspace.

There, Human Abbi was sitting in front of Abbi The Wisest, facing away from him.

Before he could say anything, Human Abbi starts talking about people loving and that she loves him no matter what, and that he should love himself.

What the . . . Did Human Abbi just confess to him?

What happened while he was gone?

Chapter Text

\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\

“I want to dye my hair white.” The girl suddenly says.

“What does that mean?” The boy questions Abbi.  

“Dying your hair means changing its colour.” Abbi explains.  

“But I like your hair.” Sunny is confused “Why would you change it?”  

“Because white is the combination of all the colours in the rainbow.” At least, that’s what Abbi heard, “And, you know, I love rainbows!”  

Sunny understands now, but there’s still one more thing, “Why don’t you actually change your hair to rainbow instead of white?”  

Abbi hums and nods, “That’s a good idea! Thanks Sunny!”  

Of course, it would have been very tedious if she was to dye her hair rainbow, but at the time, she didn’t know any better.

\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\

“And that’s why she dyes her hair white!” Abbi The Wisest finishes off.

“Wow . . . You know a lot about me . . .” Human Abbi out, “Well, my past I mean . . .”

Abbi The Wisest, “Of course I know a lot about you! In the past, I’ve explored a lot of the Dreamer’s mind and found a lot of information on you, sibling.”

Human Abbi chuckles, “Well if that’s the case, then why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

“I mean . . .” Abbi The Wisest taps her chin, “I’m basically you, except I’m mainly focused on being wise, I live in my best friend’s head so I know everything about him, and I only love The Dreamer platonically, where as you-”

“Okay, Okay! I understand!” Human Abbi blushes and waves her hands.

“What?~ The Dreamer isn’t here, we can talk about you crush~” Abbi The Wisest teases.

Human Abbi sighs, “I know, it’s just . . .” How does she word this? “Even if he does have a crush on me, he’s still probably going to tell himself that he doesn’t deserve me.”

Abbi The Wisest hums, “I see . . . Well, consider it from his perspective, how would someone convince you that they deserve love? Once you get the answer, you reverse it and tell him that.”

She thought about that, tilting her head from side to side, not noticing that Sunny was back.

At that moment, Human Abbi comes up with an answer, “I would tell him that people love him! His mother, his friends, me, and that he deserves this! I would tell him that I love him, and that he deserves every type of love! Regardless, even if he thinks that he’ll never be in a relationship with me, he should still love himself.”

. . .

Human Abbi notices that Abbi The Wisest was looking behind her, she turns around, and . . .

“Ah, Sunny!” Human Abbi blushe,s “You . . . Did you hear everything?”

“A . . . Are you . . . Do you . . .” Sunny blushes “Do you love me?”

“Um . . . Y-Yes.” Human Abbi doesn’t like to lie, “N-Not platonically.” Human Abbi clarifies.

Sunny stares at her with disbelief, “But I . . . Hurt everyone . . .”

Human Abbi stands up and walks towards Sunny, “Sunny . . . Are you afraid of hurting me?”

“I . . . I am.” Sunny answers honestly.

Human Abbi shakes her head, “Sunny, I am strong . . . You know that right?”

Sunny looks everywhere except Human Abbi, unable to argue against her.

“Hey . . .” Human Abbi says, and Sunny turns to face her, “Let’s try it, and if you don’t like it, well, we can stay friends . . .”

“I . . . Okay.” Sunny agrees.

Human Abbi smiles.

She the grabs his hands with hers.

Gulps down her nervousness.

Closes her eyes.

Leans into him.

And . . .

They kiss each other.

They had some many emotions running through them, love, happiness, care, joy, all swirling inside, their hearts beating.

Then they part, the kiss wasn’t long, but it felt like hours.

He speaks up, “Abbi . . . I . . . Thank you so much . . . I liked that- No, I loved that!” Sunny smiles.

“Me too . . .” Abbi replies, both gazing into each other.

Sunny knows that he’s still got some things to sort out.

But . . .

He accepts this love.

Sunny feels that everything is okay.

Chapter Text

Despite the confession of their crushes and the kiss, Abbi and Sunny was still shy around each other.

“S-So . . .” Sunny anxiously glances to the side, standing at Abbi’s front porch, “Um . . . You want to hang out?”

“Uh . . Sure!” Abbi hides her nervousness, “Where are we going?”

“Do you . . .” Sunny is hesitant, “Want to get ice cream?” They swear they’re not blushing right now.

“O-Okay then.” Abbi answers, “I’ll just be a moment.”

Eventually, Abbi and Sunny make their way down the street, and despite the temperature dropping as the days heads to the next season, Abbi and Sunny were quite warm.

And it’s totally not because they think it’s a date.

Regardless, they soon make it to and ice cream truck, and order ice cream.

“I’m surprised you didn’t order squid.” Sunny jokes.

“Har har!” Abbi rolls her eyes, “Besides, they don’t serve that . . .”

Sunny chuckles and then thinks of something, “Hey, what does squid taste like?”

Abbi looks hurt, “What? Why are you asking me? I would never eat squid?!”

“O-Oh, s-sorry.” Sunny scratches the back of his head.

“Hey, it’s okay . . .” Abbi reassures, “But the texture is firm and sometimes chewy, and the taste is mild and slightly sweet.”

"Interesting . . ." Sunny nods at her.

“Oh, and another thing . . .” Abbi sighs, looking distant, “Don’t search up tentacle women . . .”

“What?” Sunny frowns in confusion.

“Never search for tentacle women on the internet . . .” Abbi repeats with seriousness that puts so many questions and concerns into Sunny’s mind that it makes him morbidly curious.

However, before he could ask, they were then snapped out of their thoughts when the ice cream man announced that their ice cream is done.

After paying and thank the ice cream man, they take their ice creams, and decide to spend the rest of their time together just walking around, eating ice cream.

--- --- --- --- --- ---

“So, I had fun.” Abbi says, and Sunny agrees, “Um . . . I’m guessing this was our first date?”

“Uh . . . If you want to . . .” Sunny blushes, turning slightly away.

“S-Sure!” Abbi smiles, also blushing, “Anyways, thanks for the date, Sunny.”

“You’re welcome, Abbi.” Sunny smiles and turn to leav-

“Wait, hold on.” Abbi stops, “I feel like there is some sort of customary thing we need to do at the end of the date . . .”

Oh . . .

Sunny takes a deep breath.

He leans in.

And kisses Abbi on the cheek.

Abbi.exe has stopped working.

“I’ll see you tomorrow for our next date, Abbi.” Sunny says, blushing madly, and leaving behind a frozen Abbi.

When he enters his house, he immediately went to his room and face planted onto his pillow, feeling both stupid, yet so, so great.

Sunny thinks about what their next date would be and sighs longingly.

. . .

But then he then remembers something.

Abbi telling him not to search up tentacle women.

Hmm . . .

On the one hand, Abbi is wise, and smart, and cute, and beautiful, and- Okay Sunny, we know that you love her.

On the other hand, what could possibly be so bad that even Abbi is traumatised?

Then again, he too is traumatised, so it might be a bad idea.

. . .

Dammit, Sunny can’t stop think about what Abbi said.

He boots up his laptop and opens up the internet.

He then searches for tentacle woman.

Today, Sunny realises where he got the idea for the slime sisters.

Chapter Text

Sunny and Abbi were at the arcade again, but this time however, they were holding hands.

“Hey, did you have arcades back at your old home?” Abbi asks Sunny.

“I did.” Sunny nods.

“What were the arcades called?” Abbi glances around the arcade.

“Uh . . . Sprout Mole Eater and Capt. Spaceboy's Space Adventure.” Sunny answers, “Why?”

“I think the arcade has that somewhere . . .” Abbi smiles, “I want to see how good you are at them.”

“Don’t you already know that?” Sunny questions.

“What? The games you played against me? Don’t you remember that I trounced your but.” Abbi is smug.

“Fair point.” Sunny can’t help but also smile.

Eventually, they make it to the Sprout Mole Eater arcade cabinet that Sunny was talking about.

“So, are you going to show me what you got?” Sunny nods in response to what Abbi said.

However, there is a problem.

Their going to have to let go of each other’s hands.

They both look at each other and internally communicating.

“You want to do this together?” Sunny wants to confirm.

“Yes.” Abbi answers with no hesitation.

And so, using both their hands, they insert a count, and start the game.

“Wait, before we really start, who’s at the top?” Abbi asks.

They check the scoreboard and sees.

Inko?

“Inko . . .” Abbi said that like it’s her archnemeses.

“Who’s that?” Sunny is curious.

“Inko has beaten a lot of my score, which is something that I’m fine with.” Abbi explains, “However, they touched an octopus game and beat me!” Abbi puffs, “Of course, I got my high score back, but they just came back.”

“Alright . . .” Sunny nods, understanding what's going on.

Regardless, Abbi will -hopefully- defeat his archenemies, and get a high score.

So, they press play and begin the game.

There was an immediate struggle, and almost immediately losing a life. However, once they got a handle of each other’s movement, they started to climb up the scoreboard, collecting the fruit with increasing efficiency, and avoiding the tail or the walls.

“We’re doing it . . .” Abbi is excited.

“I can’t believe we’re doing so well.” Sunny would shake his head, but he’s stuck to the screen.

“Don’t say that! Come on! I believe in us!” Abbi cheers.

Sunny nods and they proceed through ranking, getting more and more point.

However, he takes a quick glance at her, her white hair, those deep eyes that he could stare at for forever, the details in her face that makes her cuter, and Abbi’s lips.

Abbi’s lips . . .

“Sunny.” But it was too late, the kind crawler hit its tail, and they lost the game, “Were you distracted?”

“Uh . . . Yeah . . . Sorry . . .” Sunny looks away with guilty.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Abbi reassures, “And besides, we got a pretty good score working together, you know?”

Huh . . . Would you look at that? They did pretty good! Although, it seems like this Inko person is still on top . . .

“Say, what were you distracted by?” Abbi questions Sunny.

“You.” Sunny says, before blushing in realisation.

“Huh, was I a good distraction~” Abbi teases with a blush.

“Abbi . . .” Sunny wants to cover his face, but once again, it would mean that he would have to cover his face with his hands.

“I’m just teasing . . .” Abbi smirks in victory, “So, what should our name be? Even though we won’t show up . . .”

Sunny hums, “Good point . . . How about . . .”

“Daydream?”

Abbi blinks at that, deep in thought, “I don’t know why, but I really like the name.” Abbi inputs the name, “Anyways, now that we’re done, want to go to that Capt. Spaceboy's Space Adventure thing you were talking about?”

“Don’t you want to beat Inko?” Sunny questions.

“Only if it’s a squid game.” Abbi replies.

“Right . . .” Sunny nods, “Well okay then, let’s go!”

And they head to the next cabinet, holding each other’s hand.

Chapter Text

The rain falls gently down upon the window, the grey sky covers the land, and no one is outside, barring few who need essential items.

“Looks like I’m going to be here for hours.” Abbi notes while playing a video game. She not complaining about being stuck at Sunny’s house with Sunny, it’s just that she’s bored.

“What do you want to do?” Sunny asks, controller at the side since it ran out of energy, and there was no batteries left.

Abbi hums, then shrugs, “I don’t know . . . Movie?”

“I’ve only got Spaceboy and Sweetheart movies, which I’ve watched countless times.” Sunny answers.

“Right . . .” Abbi nods, “TV show?”

“Is there anything good?” Sunny asks.

“No . . . Not even a cephalopod documentary.” Abbi replies. “That’s the species name for squids and octopuses by the way.”

“Okay . . .” Sunny then gets an idea, “Drawing?”

“Drawing . . .” Abbi thinks about that for a second, then shrugs, “Sure!”

With that agreement, Sunny stands up, searches around the house, collects some materials, and brings them back to the table.

“Alright then . . .” Abbi picks up a paper and some coloured pencils, “What should I draw?”

“Maybe you should draw what you like . . . Except for a squid.” Sunny suggests, not knowing what he unleashed.

“So . . . You?” Abbi smugly smiles, making Sunny blush.

“Abbi . . .” Sunny glances away, “Well, in that case, I guess I should draw what I love!”

. . .

“Love?” Abbi is surprised.

“I . . .” Sunny felt his heart drop, “Yeah . . . I love you.” He was worried that he went too far, “Um . . .”

He suddenly felt Abbi’s hand hold his cheek and pulling him towards Abbi’s face.

“Sunny . . . Remember what I said in . . . Our dream?” Abbi frowns before shaking her head, “What I said to you?”

Sunny stares deep into Abbi’s eyes.

“I said that I love you, and well . . .” Abbi smiles warmly, “That still holds true, okay?”

“So . . .” Sunny says slowly.

Abbi leans in and kisses him on the lips.

It was a kiss that couldn’t be replicated through the mind . . . Well . . . Technically it was in Sunny’s, however, the softness and the experience of the kiss was unique, familiar, but also unfamiliar, though it was still comfortable, full of love.

Then Abbi parts from him, It was a short kiss, yet it was magical, and it felt like forever for the both of them.

“Does that answer your question?” Abbi raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah . . .” Sunny nods.

“Good!” Abbi turns to the page, “Now then, what do you think a combination of a squid and you would look like?”

“Um . . .” Sunny is still processing what Abbi said, “Red tentacles for arms and legs, also horns, and regular human body . . .”

“Taking some creative liberties?” Abbi only gets a blink from Sunny, “I see . . .”

Sunny continues to stare at her before turning to his page.

And then it finally caught up to him.

“We kissed in real life.” Sunny says.

“OH MY GOD WE KISSED IN REAL LIFE!” Abbi shouts, face palming with both hands to hide her blush as she leans back.

Sunny blushes, then chuckles at the absurdity, before starting to laugh out loud.

“What are you laughing at?!” Abbi turns to him, then couldn’t help but find the laughter contagious, laughing as well.

They continue to laugh, clutching their stomachs, and each other, filled with joy, silliness, and love.

Eventually, they manage to calm down.

“Man . . . If anyone saw this from the outside, they must think that we’re insane . . .” Sunny sighs.

“Yeah . . .” Abbi rubs her eyes, they then turn to each other, “So, did you like it?”

“I would draw it.” Sunny smirks.

Abbi rolls her eyes, “That was cheesy!”

“You liked it.” Sunny points to the smile on her face.

“Whatever!” Abbi puffs, “You’re pushing your luck into getting drawn, Sunny!”

“On no . . .” Sunny puts an arm to his forehead, “What ever shall I do?”

Abbi glares at him, “Hmph! Fine then!”

“No, wait, I’m sorry!” Sunny pleads, “Please, whatever shall I do to get your forgiveness?!”

Abbi tabs her chin and tilts her head from side to side, “I don’t know . . . Maybe . . .” She points to his paper, “How about you give me the most beautiful drawing?”

“When drawing you, that’s easy.” Sunny smugly smiles, making Abbi blush

“Sunny . . .” Abbi turns away and Sunny chuckles.

Sunny then smiles, internally sighing longingly and lovingly at the fact that this was real, this was happening, and that he was here with Abbi at his side.

Honestly, a part of him doesn’t believe it, but he will be forever grateful for it.

And with that Sunny and Abbi begin to draw.

Chapter Text

It’s official, Abbi and Sunny are a couple, both in dream and the real world.

Of course, Sunny is afraid of revealing it, mostly due to the fact that his friends might tell him that he doesn’t deserve her after what he did, but Abbi reassures him that it’ll be fine, and that she’ll still love him no matter what.

Gosh, Abbi is more than a saviour, and it makes him giddy to think that she’s his girlfriend.

Girlfriend . . .

He doesn’t think they’ve made it that far; they’ve only confessed two weeks ago and they haven’t told anyone, but Sunny can’t help himself, he just loves Abbi so much.

And so, he makes a promise.

He’ll be the best boyfriend ever and he’ll get better for her!

It’s a promise that he’ll keep forever, and it’s one that he’s going to make sure that it still holds true until the day he dies.

Right now though, he’s finally going to his first therapy session, it took so long because of the amount of people booking in, but now he’s ready.

Ready for the future.

Ready to move on.

Ready to forgive himself.

---~---~---~---~---~---~

Welcome back, you don’t have much left

“You’ve only got two left.” Abbi The Wisest points out.

Sunny stands up and realises that Abbi The Wisest is right. Of course, he trusts her, but he’s very surprised that he made it this far, he almost can’t believe because he swears there were more.

One door was glowing red, while the other was black.

“That’s because you’ve gotten better in dreams and reality.” Stranger clarifies, making a lot of sense to Sunny.

“You want to do the next one together?” Human Abbi holds out her hand, “And before you start saying anything, I don’t mind, really!”

Sunny was about to argue, however Abbi seems determined, so he accepts the help, and accepts her hand. They then walk through the next door.

It was dark, the moonlight just providing enough light to make Sunny be able to tell that he was in Basil’s house because of the flowers.

Actually! It reminded him of the night that he spent with his friend, however, they were nowhere to be seen.

Where were they?

“Is that crying?” Human Abbi asks, Sunny listens out and hears it.

It was his friend’s voices, or cries to be more specific.

Sunny guides Human Abbi into the hallway and sees all his friends standing outside.

“I’m sorry Basil . . .” Aubrey’s eyes are shadowed, “I’m so sorry . . .”

What’s going on?

“Sunny . . .” Kel was crying, “Why does this keep happening to us?”

What does that mean?

“Sunny . . . I would suggest you leave . . .” Hero looks distant, “You shouldn’t see this . . . You’re moving out tomorrow . . .”

What shouldn’t he see?

Basil’s door was open just a bit, not allow them to see what’s in there.

Sunny pauses and hesitates, and then he gently opens the door.

There, Basil is lying on the ground against the bed, sheers in his chest. Something surrounding him, and a key was at the window.

Sunny gulps, “We need to grab that key . . .” This is what could have happened if he didn’t save him.

“O-Okay . . .” Human Abbi is afraid but she follows Sunny in the room.

However, before they could reach the key, Basil speaks up, “Sunny . . .”

He’s alive?

“Promise me . . .” His voice is a whisper, “Everything is going to be okay . . .”

That line . . .

“I’m sorry Basil . . .” Sunny can’t say it right now.

“Don’t leave me . . .” Basil sounds desperate.

“I won’t . . .” Sunny means that in the real-world sense.

“We’ll make new memories together . . .” Basil turns his head upwards, “Won’t we, my best friend?”

“We will . . .” Sunny hopes that Basil is okay, “We will . . .”

“Thank you . . .” Basil succumbs.

Sunny sighs sadly and picks up the key, teleporting them to Blackspace.

“That was . . .” Human Abbi doesn’t know what to say, “Do you face that kind of stuff every day?”

“No . . . Not really . . .” Sunny shakes his head, “Besides, once I get better, I won’t be affected anymore.”

“Oh, Sunny . . .” Human Abbi hugs Sunny, “I’ll be there for you every step of the way . . . And I hope that one day, you will get better.”

“Thanks . . .” Sunny smiles and hugs back.

This was it, one last door. With everything that has happen, Sunny knows that he will be able to face it eventually.

Regardless, they both want a future for each other, they want to make sure that the other is okay, and they will be there for each other.

They are together.

Chapter Text

Tomorrow, all of his friends were going to see him. Kel, Aubrey, Hero, and Basil were coming together to his house.

Not only that, but Abbi plans to bring her friends as well, it made Sunny think that she was going to announce their relationship, but he didn’t mind.

It was strange to think that when he first arrived, Sunny didn’t want anything to do with his friends, he thought they were going to abandon him, that they hated him as much as he hated himself, and that nothing will ever truly be okay again. Sunny also believed that he didn’t deserve them or love, and that he will be okay without them.

However, it seems that fate -or whatever it was- had different plans.

His friends suck by him, they didn’t abandon him, they don’t hate him, and everything was okay in Sunny’s life. Sunny won’t abandon them either, he will never think that he doesn’t deserve them, and he will continue his journey of self-forgiveness.

Not only that, he met someone, well, re-met Abbi, not only that, but they are dating, which is a thought that he was sure was impossible and yet.

Abbi is his girlfriend, and he is her boyfriend.

There was some much to unpack from the sentence despite how small is it.

Regardless, Sunny smiles, happy for the future, happy to think about her, happy in general.

He is ready to fall asleep and end his guilt once and for all.

.

.

.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

W31C0M3 T0 R3D5P4C3

There was no Stranger.

No Abbi the Wisest.

No Merci, Lilli, and Angi in their Something forms.

No Abbi the human.

Nobody at all.

Sunny was alone.

The sky had clouds of red rolling through the sky. Around him, the land was a fading red while the path was crimson.

This path leads to his old house.

Sunny walks down the path; Dread fills his body and veins, but he isn’t afraid.

Fingers lay on the ground, but he ignores them, ignores the dead trees with black branches, ignores the red hands crawling around, ignores the impending doom.

Eventually, Sunny reaches his door and takes a deep breath.

He opens the final door.

The living room was dark, but he could still see everything: The couch, the moving boxes, the table; it seems that it was his house before he moved.

However, he catches something in the corner of his eye.

What was that?

It was Hellmari.

“Sunny . . .” Hellmari growls, “I’m glad you’ve come back to suffer . . .”

“I’m not here to do that . . .” Sunny takes a stance, “I’ve come here to tell you that I’m moving on . . .”

“But what about your sister?” Hellmari sounds disappointed, “Won’t you miss your big sister? Don’t you love her?”

“I will miss her; I do love her . . .”” Sunny turns away, “But I . . . I need to do this . . .”

. . .

Sunny t-

Hellmari lunges at his, gripping on his neck, and choking him.

“If you loved your sister so much, you wouldn’t have abandoned her!” Hellmari screams in Sunny's face.

He’s not!

“If you loved your sister, you wouldn’t have killed her!” Hellmari’s grip tightens.

That was an accident; He didn’t mean to! He’s sorry, but he knows that won’t bring her back.

“If you loved your sister, you would stay with her . . .” Hellmari says, loosening her grip, and allowing Sunny to breathe,

What . . . What does that mean?

“You would . . . Stay with me . . . brother . . . Wouldn’t you?” Hellmari’s face turns into Mari’s face, “You love me, right? You would do anything for me? You would listen to your sister?”

That . . .

That that doesn't sound right . . .

He can’t, “I do love you, but I can’t stay.”

Mari frowns, “What?”

He won’t, “I love you, but I won’t listen.”

Mari has rage in her eyes, “What?!”

Because she’s dead, “I love you, but I don’t want to do anything for you because you're dead . . .”

Mari is furious, “WHAT!”

Sunny knows that she’s gone, “I love, but I’m sorry to tell you that-”

However, Mari wraps her arms around his neck, stopping Sunny from talking, “NO! YOU LOVE ME! I’M YOUR SISTER! YOU LISTEN TO ME! I HATE YOU! STAY WITH ME AND SUFFER FOR EVER!”

What? But . . . Why?

Sunny has done everything, he’s been getting better, he’s faced many challenges, so why is this still happening? He’s still guilty, and he accepts that it’s going to be a part of him forever, but what is he missing.

No one is there to save him.

No one is there to give him the answers.

No one is there to guide him.

No one is there.

It’s only him, Mari, and his memories.

He . . . He . . .

Wait . . .

His Memories . . .

Sunny remembers Mari comforting him after a nightmare.

“Take a deep breath, Sunny . . . nothing is going to hurt you . . .”

Sunny remembers Mari helping him from a spider that made him panic.

“You need to ignore the small things, and focus on what’s real . . .”

Sunny remembers Mari saving him from a lake.

“Steady your heartbeat . . . I’m right here with you . . .”

Sunny remembers Mari.

Sunny knows that this isn’t Mari; She is friendly with everyone.

Sunny knows that this isn’t Mari; She wouldn’t abandon him or anyone.

Sunny knows that this isn’t Mari; She is his sister that won’t hate him.

Sunny knows that this isn’t Mari; She would forgive him.

Sunny overcomes his guilt.

.

.

.

When he wakes up, he’s in-

“Welcome to Whitespace . . .” It was Omori.

He stands up and turns to Omori.

“You should kill yourself . . .” Omori sounds like a broken record, broken, bloody.

“I won’t do that . . .” Sunny tells him.

“Of course, you won’t . . .” Omori sighs, “Because you’re selfish . . .”

“I’m not . . . I want to move on . . .” Sunny argues with him, leaving no room for argument.

“I know . . .” Omori sighs, “Guess you didn't need me after all . . .”

Sunny doesn’t, but “It’s okay Omori . . .” He hugs Omori.

“I’m sorry . . .” Omori say, the ‘for everything’ was left unsaid.

“I’m sorry too . . .” He apologies for using him and tossing him away.

“Tell Abbi that I’m sorry . . .” Omori asks of him.

“Can’t you tell her yourself . . .” The door was there after all.

Omori shakes his head, “No . . . And besides, you don’t need me . . . You don’t need any of this . . .”

“Okay . . . Thank you . . .” He’s glad that he won’t need this place anymore, yet he’ll miss it.

Omori then disappears, being absorbed by Sunny.

Sunny walks up to the white door.

He puts his hand on the handle, twists it, and opens it.

Chapter Text

“And then I woke up.” He said to the girl, finishing his story, “Crying but not in a bad way.”

The girl nods in understanding, holding his hand, “And how do you feel?”

Sunny pauses to think, “Better . . .” A lot better.

Abbi smiles, “Good! I’m glad!” She kisses his cheek, “We were so worried about you.”

Sunny smiles as well, “You don’t have to be any longer.” He kisses back, though, on the lips.

They hear a gasp, “Oh, Sunny!” It was his mother, “You have a girlfriend?!”

Both of them blush in embarrassment, “Mom . . .” Sunny whines.

“Aw~ Can’t I tease my son?~” His mother smugly smiles, akin to Mari’s, "Well, I'll be in me room if you need me, don't be too loud~"

Sunny's mother leaves, and before they can say anything, there was a knock at the door.

They let go of each other and go to it.

They open the door to reveal that . . .

It was all of their friends.

“Hey Sunny!” Kel was the first to greet them, “So, uh . . . These are all of Abbi's friends, huh?” Behind him is everyone: Angi, Aubrey, Basil, Hero, Lilli, and Merci.

“They are!” Abbi confirms.

“Great! The more the merrier!” Kel perks up, “Also! Hey Abbi!”

“Well, guess we should get going . . .” Sunny speaks up.

“Wait . . .” Abbi turns to Sunny, “Are we . . .?” Then she comes up with something, “We should do it later . . .”

Sunny thinks about it, “Later?”

Abbi nods, “Yeah! They need to know me first . . .”

He hums, “Guess that’s the wisest discussion . . .” Sunny nods.

Everyone just stood there, looking confused.

Sunny just shrugs it off, “Anyway! We should get going!”

Today, Sunny, Abbi, and all of their friends will spend time together, and later on, Abbi and Sunny will confess that they are in a relationship.

But for now, they will enjoy the present.

The future is looking bright for the Dreamer and the Wisest.

/// /// /// /// /// ///

They stare upwards into the clear blue sky, surrounded by trees, laying on the dry ground.  

They hold each others hand, both happy to be there for each other, but sad that they have to leave each other.  

This is the last time they will see each other.  

Unless . . .  

“Hey, Sunny.” Abbi says with sadness and hope in her voice, “Can you promise me something?"  

“Anything.” Sunny will do anything for her if it makes her stop being sad.  

“How about, in a few years, when we’re like . . . I don’t . . . Sixteen or seventeen, we find each other . . .” Abbi turns to him and sees that he’s looking at her, “How does that sound?”  

Sunny smiles, “Okay then . . . I promise.”  

Abbi smiles back and rolls over to hug him, “I’ll miss you . . .”  

“I’ll miss you too . . .” Sunny hugs back.  

This ancient promise is a bittersweet one, but it’s one that they kept in some way, and it’s one that they fulfilled.  

But they didn’t know at the time.  

Regardless, The Dream and The Wisest were just happy to make memories together, no matter how ancient they become.  

At the same time, they hope the ancient memories will bring them together again one day.

/// /// /// /// /// ///

Chapter Text

/// /// /// /// /// ///

“Okay sweetie . . .” Abbi’s mother positions herself, holding a camera, pointing it at her daughter, “Say . . .” She was about to suggest cheese, however, there’s a better word, “Say octopus.”  

“Octopus!” Abbi grins widely, her smile going from cheek to cheek, wearing a pink octopus costume. The camera takes a photo of the moment.  

The aftermath of the flash makes Abbi blink and rub her eyes, and the polaroid spits out, getting grabbed by her mother.  

“I’m going to show all the pictures to Sunny when he comes back!” Abbi declares on that promise.  

“I know you will . . .” Abbi’s mother chuckles, though still a bit sad that the boy had to go. Abbi seemed to really like him, but life can be cruel and unfair just like how Abbi’s father died-  

Abbi’s mother reminds herself that it’s not time to think about that, that Halloween was a day that should be celebrated with happiness, especially since it’s Abbi’s birthday.  

“Hey mom, stop daydreaming, dreamer.” Abbi shouts out, using her mother’s words against her.  

Abbi’s mother chuckles, “You rascal . . .” Abbi’s mother shakes her head, “Anyways, ready to go?”  

“I’m ready!” Abbi shouts, jumping up and down.  

Abbi’s mother smiles, promising herself that her daughter’s smile should always be protected, just like Abbi herself.  

And with that, Abbi’s mother and Abbi go out to celebrate Halloween, and Abbi’s birthday.

/// /// /// /// /// ///

“Here.” Abbi holds out a book towards her boyfriend.

“What is this?” Sunny takes the book, noticing how bashful and embarrassed his girlfriend is.

He reads the cover and “Abbi’s childhood?” Sunny looks up.

“It’s a collection of pictures from when I was a child.” Abbi explains, “In a way, think of it like we’re catching up on all the years we’ve missed since you left, if that makes any sense.”

“Oh . . . “ Sunny slowly nods, “So . . .” Sunny turns to the book, unsure if he should really open it.

“Actually, let me just . . .” Abbi opens the book for him and points to a picture, “That was my first Halloween.”

In the picture is a small Abbi, beaming, with a smile wearing a pink octopus costume, ready and raring to go. To be honest, it was very adorable to Sunny.

“Huh . . .” Sunny smiles, “Did you have an octopus costume every Halloween?”

“Of course.” Abbi says it like there were no arguments, “However, I stopped doing Halloween by 14 because you know, teenager.” Abbi shrugs, “Oh, by the way, I was born on Halloween.”

“A Halloween baby.” Sunny replies, “Halloween is a week away.” Sunny also points out.

“Yep.” Abbi nods, “I don’t want anything grand, I just want to spend time with my friends, and a special someone on my seventeenth birthday.”

Sunny hums, “I wonder who this special someone is?”

“Hint: They’re about to get a kiss if they get it correct.” Abbi smiles.

“Me.” Sunny says, getting a quick smooch on the cheek, “Yay, reward.”

Abbi giggles, “Anyways, want to look through more photos of child me?”

“I wonder how many Abbis there are?” Sunny taps his chin, “There’s Abbi The Wisest, Human Abbi, Child Abbi, Face Abbi, Tako-chan . . .”

“Tako-chan?” Abbi perks up at that.

“Let’s just say I created another Abbi, but I didn’t want them to be the same.” Sunny replies.

“Heh, two Abbis.” Abbi smirks, “Damn, when do I get two boyfriends?”

Sunny shrugs, “Sorry, order is not available.”

“Well that’s okay,” Abbi hugs Sunny, “Because one is enough.”

Sunny smiles and hugs back, “Yeah, same . . ."

After a bit more hugging, they go back to reading the book.

--- --- --- --- --- ---

Today was Halloween, and after a long and fun day with Abbi’s friends, Sunny and Abbi decided to go to Sunny’s house, snuggle up on the couch, watch some sort of squid documentary, wrap themselves around with a blanket, and cuddle.

“Happy birthday.” Sunny says for the umpteenth time to his girlfriend.

“Thank you.” Abbi nods, rubbing her head across her boyfriend’s shoulder.

“I got you something . . .” Sunny grabs a book and shows it to Abbi, “Since you showed me your childhood, why don’t I show you mine?”

“Really?!” Abbi perks, “Ooh, show me your Halloween pictures.”

Sunny chuckles, “Okay . . .” He opens it up and-

“OH. MY GOD! You were so cute!” Abbi squeals, while Sunny looks away with embarrassment, “Not like you aren’t cute now, but OH MY GOD!”

“Heh, thanks . . .” Sunny says, the picture in question was him wearing a cat costume.

Abbi then perks up, “I wonder . . .” Abbi reaches her hand up and place it on Sunny’s head

“What?” Sunny is baffled, and Abbi starts to pet him, “What are you doing Abbi?”

“I was wondering if you have any cat traits . . .” Abbi continues to pet.

Sunny stares . . . Totally not leaning in the touch . . . Totally not finding it peaceful and closing his eye . . . Totally not humming which could not be mistaken for purring . . .

“My theory was right~” Abbi says, lies and slander in Sunny’s opinion, “I wonder if there is a joke about a squid girl petting a cat boy . . .”

Sunny then pulls away, “Gah, stay back. I’ll . . . Actually, what would be the equivalent to a cat getting pets when it comes to squids?”

Abbi opens her mouth, then her stomach growls, making her look down, “Food.” Abbi looks back to Sunny.

“Food.” Sunny nods, standing up, and going into the kitchen.

Abbi already misses her boyfriend’s hug, but then her mind wonders if the hug she got from a squid would be better than her boyfriend’s.

“Here you go.” Sunny snaps his girlfriend out of her thoughts by handing her-

“Chocolate chip muffins!” Abbi perks up, “You totally bought this yesterday . . .”

“I bought this yesterday . . .” Sunny confirms.

Abbi doesn’t mind, chocolate chip muffins are still chocolate chip muffins after all.

“Well, they’re not going to eat themselves.” Abbi says, “Come on, let’s dig in.”

Sunny smiles, going back into Abbi’s embrace, hugging her.

They then start to eat the chocolate chip muffins while watching the squid documentary and snuggling each other.

Best birthday ever in Abbi’s opinion.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Meanwhile, in Blackspace

“Happy birthday.” Stranger hands Abbi The Wisest a chocolate cake.

“Thank you, Stranger.” Abbi The Wisest smiles, “But you need to remember that we’re fictional beings.” 

Stranger shrugs, “I thought it would have been a nice thing to do.” 

“It is.” Abbi The Wisest reassures, “It’s just . . . We'll probably be gone soon.” 

Blackspace, whatever is left of it, is crumbling, falling, indicating an end to The Dreamer’s world as he moves on to something other than his Headspace. 

“Might as well enjoy it while it’s still here.” Stranger shrugs. 

“Of course . . .” Abbi The Wisest nods, looking in the distance, “Sad that I couldn’t see The Favourite and The Oldest one last time.” 

Stranger hums, slowly nodding, “Maybe we could . . .” 

“You really want to go through that wreck?” Abbi The Wisest is referring to Headspace. 

“We’ll have each other . . .” Stranger point out, “Plus, we’re powerful.” 

Abbi The Wisest considers it, tapping her chin with her tentacle. 

“You know what . . .” Abbi The Wisest comes up with an answer, “Even if we never find them, I would like to go on one last adventure.” 

Stranger perks up at that, standing up, and holding out his hand, “Well, why don’t we go now?” 

“Hold your horses, I still need to eat this cake.” Abbi The Wisest points out, “But fine, afterwards, we’ll take a trip down Headspace.” 

Stranger nods, sitting back down. 

In a way, a shadow person and a squid girl having an adventure was probably a set up to a joke, but for Stranger, it’s no laughing matter. 

In the end, Stranger is satisfied with this, and smiles even though he has no mouth. 

He finally knows that everything is okay, and this last thing was just a bonus, one that he will fulfil with his friend. 

Abbi The Wisest eventually finishes her cake, and she and Stranger set off on a journey.