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Scott wrinkled his nose at the dust under the bed—he’d have to remind the cleaning staff about getting down there—but other than that it was empty. Scott sighed.
“I swear, if Jimmy took them I’m getting out the Bo Peep outfit again.” Scott said to no one in particular. He jogged out of the hotel with a call to Owen about where he was going and took to the sky.
It was a swift flight to Tumble Town, the sky clear and wind low, and Scott landed in front of Jimmy’s house so smoothly he felt it was a crime no one saw him. He wondered what Jimmy would have to say to that. Considering his face after the joke Scott made if sexiness was a crime, he would probably rehang the For Sale signs at Scott’s house.
Oh well.
Scott knocked on the door. “Jimmy! I need to talk to you! Hi Norman.”
Norman hopped up on the windowsill and licked his paw. The deputy badge wasn’t hanging from his collar, so he was off duty.
“I don’t suppose you know where Jimmy is?” Scott asked. The door swung open.
“Scott! Hi! What uh, what do you need?”
Scott raised an eyebrow at Jimmy. “What happened to you?”
Jimmy’s flushed face brightened further. He was panting like he ran a mile and his hat didn’t quite hide the yellow feathers sticking out of his hair. They almost seemed to glow in the bright light of the mesa.
“Wha-what do you mean?” Jimmy straightened and tried to subtly adjust himself.
“Never mind.” Scott shook his head. “Jimmy, do you remember when I said the hotel would stop with the Sheriff toys when we ran out?”
Jimmy scowled at him. “Yeah. Why, have you changed your mind?”
The hopeful look Scott got was so adorable he almost felt bad for squashing it. “No. And it doesn’t extend to the toys getting stolen.”
Jimmy gasped. “They were stolen? Yes—I mean, that’s bad—wait, how do I react to this?”
“So you didn’t steal them?” Scott checked.
“No! I’m the Sheriff, I can’t go breaking the Law!” Jimmy looked insulted Scott would even suggest such a thing. Scott decided to keep quiet about all the crimes Jimmy himself had committed.
“So will you track down the culprit? Those are currently the property of Chromia’s hotel and its guests.” Scott crossed his arms and watched Jimmy’s pride fight with itself.
“Ugh, fine. I hope someone threw them in a pool of lava.” Jimmy closed the door behind him.
“That would be destruction of property and you would have to charge them.” Scott reminded him gleefully. Jimmy groaned.
“Fine, I’ll treat the thief like they stole… I dunno, your hat.” Jimmy said.
“That’s the spirit.”
--
“Here you go officer, the crime scene.” Scott opened the hotel room and grandly swept an arm out. Jimmy didn’t acknowledge the gesture and poked around the room. Like Scott, he seemed to find nothing.
“The lock was intact and everything?” Jimmy crouched next to the door. “Huh. Hey, did it always have these scratches on it?”
“I dunno, I don’t regularly study the locks around here.” Scott said. He took a look at the lock. Tiny scratches decorated the keyhole, though whether it was because of lockpicking or someone struggling with the key Scott didn’t know.
Jimmy hummed and checked the other doors. “Which ones weren’t broken into?”
“That one there. It had someone in it, though someone was in that room to the left and the Sheriff went missing in there so.”
“All the locks are scratched up.” Jimmy stood up. “Can I talk with the residents?”
“If they’re still around, be my guest.” Scott said. “I know the one from the left room is.”
--
They found both guests in the tavern, thankfully. Aside from a glare at the stage, the pole empty but standing proud, Jimmy conducted the interviews professionally. From what Scott could see at least; he decided against following Jimmy around for this part and did some office work while he waited. Running a town was boring work.
“The occupant on the left had their toy on the table, the one on the right was sleeping with it.” Jimmy grimaced slightly and went back to being serious. “I bet you someone broke in all the rooms and missed that one because they were holding it.”
“A lot of effort for some toys,” Scott said. “I mean, they’re limited edition now, sure, but Joel probably has leftover stock in a chest somewhere. I doubt he’d notice them missing right away either.”
“Ha! That’s more effort than sneaking into a few hotel rooms.” Jimmy shook his head. “Which employees were on duty last night?”
“Just Yeti. Want me to get xem?” Scott asked.
“Yes please.”
Yeti wasn’t much help either. Xey fell asleep at one point during xeir shift and did chores in the back twice, so there were plenty of opportunities to sneak by. Scott confirmed that was normal behavior of the night shift.
“Thanks Yeti, maybe take a few more naps before your shift, huh?” Jimmy waved off the little llama and slumped in his chair. He rubbed his face.
“I have to say, you’re doing this with more professionalism than I expected, so thank you.” Scott said.
Jimmy just grunted. Scott tilted his head.
“You okay, Sheriff?”
Jimmy sighed and sat up. “Just… Tumble Town issues. Hopefully just Tumble Town issues.”
Scott raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like something I would want to know.”
Jimmy shook his head but elaborated. “There’s a cult trying to put down roots in Tumble Town.”
“A cult? For what?” Please not Exor, please not Exor. Or Xornoth, please not Xornoth.
“Some kind of… bird of doom? Or something? I don’t know, they don’t have much presence and I’m trying to keep it that way,” Jimmy said grimly. “Keep an eye out, okay? It sounds like they’re trying to start the Rapture Part Two: Electric Boogaloo.”
Scott shuddered. His memories as King of Rivendell were spotty at best, but he was grateful wasn’t around for that part.
“I will. Thanks Jimmy.”
Jimmy nodded. “Well, I think I got everything I can from here. If you find any other clues, let me know. I’m going to talk with fWhip. If they’re after toys they might have gone after him.”
“Assuming he didn’t take them himself,” Scott said dryly. “It’d be easier to get a hug from a creeper than take his Sheriff toys.”
Jimmy was trying very hard to keep the pained look off his face, but he was failing horribly. Jimmy was very much an open book, if he was excited or upset about something, everyone in the vicinity knew it. It was what made Scott so confident about teasing him.
“Yeah… I best get it over with. Wish me luck, I’ll tell you how it goes once I recover.” Jimmy stood up.
“Break a leg.” Scott grinned. He walked Jimmy outside and leaned against the door as Jimmy prepared to take off.
Jimmy made a face. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“Me neither, I might have to be nice to you if you’re laid up in a cast.”
“Oi!” Jimmy swat Scott’s hat. Scott ducked, laughing.
“Good luck Jimmy!” Scott quickly closed the door. He heard Jimmy laugh once before the wee of rockets took him away.
--
Scott scowled at the vandalism on the wall.
“The least they could have done was be consistent with their medium, gods.” He put his hands on his hips and turned to Owen.
Owen didn’t respond with a biting comment like he usually would. He just stared at the vandalism with a disturbed expression.
It was something to be disturbed by, certainly. Garnish yellow paint created the shape of a large bird. Splashes of red spilled from its beak. Purple paint covered its eyes. The Canary is on his last breaths, listen to his song to avoid his fate! was written in black chalk.
“And it’s on how many places?” Scott asked.
“Nether portal, auto farms, windmill, and… here.” Owen gestured pointlessly to Scott’s house.
“Damn.” Scott muttered. He tapped the paint. It was tacky, not yet fully dry. “I’m calling the Sheriff.”
--
Jimmy showed up less than ten minutes later. He must have taken off the moment he got Scott’s message and broken some speed records while he was at it.
“Where… is it…” Jimmy gasped for breath. Scott wordlessly took him around to the back of his house. Jimmy took one look at it and cursed. Scott gaped at him.
“This is bad. This is really, really bad.” Jimmy ran his hands through his hair, nearly knocking off his hat. A bright feather dislodged. Scott could see a couple more stuck to his clothes. “Is it just graffiti?”
“We think so, what else have they been doing?” Scott asked.
“Leaving dead canaries around for one thing.” Jimmy said grimly. “Suffocated ones, from coal dust.”
Scott gagged. “Oh Nether no.”
“Yep. They like to drop them at doorsteps, so keep an eye out for that.” Jimmy looked around. “Where else are they?”
“Follow me.” Scott took him around to each one.
“And these are all of them?” Jimmy eyed the windmill.
“I mean, they’re very hard to miss.”
Jimmy shook his head. “Some of them are very small. They skip notice for ages. I think it’s supposed to try and normalize them.”
Scott turned and looked over Chromia, all its decorative curves and bushes and little crevices where tiny graffiti could hide from all but the most dedicated searches. He groaned.
“Yeah, that’s how I’ve been feeling.” Jimmy pursed his lips and stepped away from the windmill. “Look, take this down, try to set up traps or watches or something, and warn your citizens.”
“We can do that,” Scott said. “Hey, what did you get from fWhip?”
“His… rooms… were empty.” Jimmy carefully navigated around the subject of fWhip’s shrines. “Everything gone. I… could be wrong, but I think it’s the cult.”
“What would a cult about—” Scott looked at the graffiti again. “—a dying bird want to do with you?”
Jimmy threw his hands in the air and spoke quickly. “I don’t know! Maybe they think the Sheriff toys are a rival cult—honestly, it kind of feels like that sometimes—”
Scott winced. Okay, he could see that point. Maybe he should lay off the Sheriff toys…
“—maybe they’re threatening me, maybe it’s just weird cult things! Do I look like I understand how cults work?”
Jimmy was lying. Or at least he wasn’t saying the whole truth. Scott opened his mouth to press Jimmy about it.
“fWhip also got the graffiti in his rooms. I haven’t been able to check with the other empires, but I think we officially need to call a campfire meeting.”
Scott nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.”
“Great! I’ll do that, grab some pictures of these to show the others, I’ll see if there’s any still up in Tumble Town for my own evidence.” And with that, Jimmy flew off.
Scott lifted his comm to snap pictures and realized he hadn’t asked Jimmy about what he was hiding.
--
The meeting was set for the next day. Something about an accident at Shelby’s shop—Pirate Joe was currently a cod. Scott rather doubted it was an actual accident, but they couldn’t have a campfire meeting when there were dangerous potions smashed all over Shelby’s shop and one of the emperors was flopping around. He might “accidentally” get cooked. Scott didn’t think that was the kind of smoking hot Joey wanted to be.
Even more of Chromia was vandalized that night. Scott grimly helped clean a building up before the meeting started.
When Scott got there, Sausage had yellow paint in his hair, fWhip had red eyes and was hugging his emotional support Sheriff plushie, probably the only toy Sheriff left in his empire, and Joel was sparking. Joey and Shelby were exchanging furious looks, smeared with paint and Joey with a few scales clinging to him. Patches of Lizzie’s fur was missing; from the rant she was giving in fWhip’s general direction, she got paint in her fur and had to cut it all out. Feathers clung to Katherine’s clothes. Black chalk was smeared over False and Gem, Pix looked more furious than Scott had ever seen him, and Oli picked at his lute mournfully while Jimmy stared at the fire blankly.
“We’re all here?” Pix said. “Good. So I take it we’ve all got cultists?”
Everyone nodded.
“They got into my temples and painted everything!” Joel threw his hands in the air. “They slandered my name and called me inferior compared to a songbird!”
“Oh you think that’s bad? All I have is a tent! And now I don’t even have that, I had to throw it out because dry paint doesn’t come out of cloth! Hours of work, down the drain.” Oli complained.
“There are piles of dead canaries in my monster museum! It’s awful!” Katherine wailed.
“My Sheriffs… all gone…” fWhip whimpered. “Replaced with those stupid birds!”
Jimmy hastily cleared his throat. “So we’ve all experienced the same thing, yeah?”
“It looks like it,” Pix said, his eyes hard. “Does anyone know where they came from, what they’re trying to do, anything?”
“I don’t know where they came from, but they’re bigger than I first thought.” Jimmy shifted in his seat. “I thought they were a new cult setting up, but there’s dozens of them at least. There’s no way for them to uh, do everything they’ve done otherwise.”
“Unless they have cloning or time powers.” Sausage suggested.
“I doubt that for some reason.” Gem said.
“What are we going to do?” False asked. “They’ve jammed up my clock tower with messages about time ending. And I had guards at the entrances, they used invisibility potions or something.”
“We need to stop them!” Joel slammed a sparking fist into his hand. “Throw them in jail, kill them, whatever!”
“We’d have to find them first.” Scott pointed out.
“I might have a spell or two that can help.” Shelby offered.
“I have my animals keeping an eye out!” Sausage said. “Invis doesn’t fool them very well!”
“I know where they are.” Jimmy said.
All eyes turned to him.
“And you didn’t mention this earlier… why?” fWhip demanded.
Jimmy squirmed. “I was going to! Just…”
“Well there we go! Let’s go beat them up!” Lizzie’s tail snapped.
“No!” Jimmy waved his hands frantically. “No, we cannot go in there half-cocked—don’t even think about it.”
Sausage closed his mouth.
“Why not? We’ve got a god, a warrior princess, a witch, one of the best pvpers I’ve ever met, we’re good to go just with that! And we have the rest of us too!” Gem said.
Jimmy shook his head. “They’re ready for that. They’ve got all sorts of traps—even something that can hold gods.”
“How do you know all this?” False asked suspiciously. “Did you see it for yourself?”
“Ooo, did the Sheriff trespass?” Oli asked far too eagerly.
“I listened.” Jimmy scowled at him. “I didn’t set foot in there, I just listened outside and heard them talking about it. They never knew I was there.”
“So what are we going to do?” Katherine asked. “We can’t leave them alone.”
“We’ll attack, but we’ll be sneaky about it,” Pix said firmly. “We’ll set our own traps and lure them into it. Sausage, make sure there are animals on guard at every empire. We’ll pick them off as they do their little arts and crafts. And while that’s going on, we’ll attack the main base. Anyone who escaped the guards will be ambushed at their home. Jimmy, do you know if that was the only base?”
“I think so.” Jimmy frowned.
“Then we have a plan. Jimmy, where’s the base?” Pix took out a map. Jimmy pointed at a mountain by Tumble Town.
“There, under the mountain peak. Far away from the Deep Dark.” Jimmy said.
“Then we’ll strike as soon as possible. Sausage, how long will it take to get the animals together?” Pix asked.
“Depends on the animal, some listen better than others.” Sausage shrugged. “Maybe… an hour at most an empire?”
“Then get to work. You’re in charge of coordinating the animals to alert the humans and track down the cultists around the empires,” Pix said. He marked an X where Jimmy pointed. “Everyone, get your people ready to defend the empires, we’ll be going straight to the source.”
Eleven emperors cheered at Pix’s words. Scott noticed Jimmy was back to staring at the fire. His face wasn’t blank as Scott first thought; he was terrified and doing a much better job at hiding it than Scott had ever seen. Scott swallowed, his enthusiasm dampened.
--
It went smoothly until it didn’t.
The defenses were set up quickly, everyone eager to take down the troublesome cult. The emperors got geared up and the richer ones shared better gear with those who didn’t grind as much, and then they headed for the cultists’ base.
The entire time Jimmy was dead silent and only spoke in single syllable words when asked a question, if he spoke at all. He completely clammed up if he was asked about what else he heard. From the sick look on his face, Scott suspected he overheard a discussion about permanently dealing with anyone who went against them, one using words not appropriate for the dinner table; he had to hear about the god jail in some kind of context. Scott bumped shoulders with him before they took flight, trying to cheer him up. He only got a delayed and weak smile.
They landed on the very top of the mountain peak. The entrance was about halfway down the mountain, and with invisibility they should have been able to get in, throw on their armor, and start attacking before anyone knew they were there, if there was anyone left. If the base was empty, they would prepare it for ambushing.
They stashed their elytra away and snuck through the hidden door as cultists left to vandalize. The passageway yawned before them, dark and cold. And long too. It took several minutes to reach the end with their careful pace.
The passageway opened up into a large room, fire flickering in basins scattered around. Piles of Sheriff toys sat on shelves around the room. Scott swallowed. The fire lit up shapes of robed people wandering around, shuffling and chanting prayers under their breath. It raised goosebumps on his arms.
Scott’s hands hovered in his inventory, ready to take out his armor at the signal.
The cultists stopped.
The signal never had a chance to come.
“The intruders have reached us…” Someone spoke in a droning voice. There was a bright flash of light that completely blinded Scott. He cried out and clutched at his eyes, ducking and running for cover. Clangs filled the room, deafening him as well. A hand grabbed his arm. For a second Scott thought it was a friend before they threw him into cage.
His eyes were starting to clear by now. Scott blinked the spots away and sat up, clinging to the curved bars for balance. What he saw made his heart sink.
The room was well lit now, the fires coaxed into roaring bright yellow flames. Carved in the dark metal of his cage were runes Scott didn’t know. Around the entrance, all his friends were enclosed in their own cages.
Scott reached for his pickaxe, but his inventory refused to open. A row of runes glowed brightly. Scott took his hands away. The glow dimmed. His eye told him they were powerful.
Katherine and False had gotten their weapons out before their inventories closed. From the clanging they were making, their weapons weren’t of much help. Scott’s eyes found Sausage, his hands waving around in a desperate attempt to summon Sanctuary magic. All he summoned were more glowing runes. A quick look around revealed no one had more luck getting free. The bars were too tight for Lizzie or fWhip to squeeze through and Joel couldn’t summon more than a couple stray sparks. Joey struggled to pick the lock on his cage, an incredibly complicated one that glowed with its own runes. Shelby was slumped against the side of her cage, blood seeping from sparkling cracks in her hands and eyes glazed.
Something groaned and clanged, and chains suspended the cages in the air by several feet, swinging dangerously, like demented Christmas baubles. Scott cried out and scrambled to get his balance back. Joey yelped and reached for the lockpick that clattered against the floor.
Jimmy, however, wasn’t in a cage. He was half-sitting on the ground, trembling arms holding him up. A bruise forming on his forehead said he smacked into something. Or something smacked into him, Scott didn’t know.
“Behold, the emperors, who would do whatever it takes to see their empires last for eternity, disregarding consequences.”
Scott turned to see the cultist with the most extravagant robes and wearing a purple blindfold stand on a stage behind what Scott hoped wasn’t an altar. What Scott could see of their face was twisted with disgust. Scott felt his own face match it. The other cultists gathered around their leader, arms open.
“But behold! We sensed their presence, for forced to hide among them like a cuckoo is our Canary, Warning of the End of Days, Harbinger of the Apocalypse, He Who Sings to His Last Breath.” The lead cultist pointed—right at Jimmy.
Jimmy’s eyes widened and he shoved to his feet, shaking his head and waving his arms around. “No!”
The cultists ignored him. “Such a day is Blessed indeed! I thought I, and many in this room, would not survive to the day the Canary stopped his song, but here he stands! He has Blessed us to Begin the End, and we will oblige. With his Blessing, may the other half of the Flock arrive before the ritual is complete to witness it themselves.”
The cultist picked up a ceremonial knife from the side of the altar. They raised it above their head. “Today marks the Start of the Second of Final Days, for our Canary has arrived to sacrifice his life for his Flock!”
The cultists cheered. Scott’s breath hitched.
They were going to kill Jimmy.
“No! No, that’s not what’s going on!” Jimmy screamed at them. He swayed and pressed a hand to his bruise, probably dealing with a concussion. “You’ve got the wrong guy!”
The lead cultist turned to Jimmy. “The Hearts do not lie. When they glow the Canary is near.”
Scott followed their hand to three large hearts hanging on the wall. The one in the middle glowed yellow. The other two were dark, the one on the left green and cracked and the other red and whole. Magic danced around them, so they were doing something.
“You’re insane!” Jimmy shot back.
“Yeah! Jimmy’s not some bird of doom!” Joel shouted.
“You are the Canary,” The lead cultist insisted. “With your death, all who practice evil and do not revere your name will suffocate on the dust of their sins, and from their ashes all who remain will recreate the world, one step closer to perfection, to await your third return for the Final Warning, and then the world will be perfect. As it is written, so shall it be, according to the Songs of Truth.”
“Jimmy’s right, you’re insane.” Scott snapped.
“You don’t get to hurt him. He’s ours to bully, thank you very much!” fWhip shook the bars.
“I-yeah sure, what he said!” Jimmy took a step back and wobbled. “At least they won’t kill me on an altar for a creepy fake ritual!”
The lead cultist frowned. “You are not aware of your true nature?”
“Perhaps the Truth has been hidden from him.” One of the other cultists suggested. Their robes weren’t as decorated as the leader but more than most of the cultists. “Even an ant may perform miracles. The God of Sky may have done something that succeeded, weakling he may be.”
“Hey!” Joel complained.
“Hmm. Yes, surely. Whoever has closed our Canary’s ears to the Song of Truth, Sky God or otherwise, admit your sins now and perhaps you will be spared to live in the next world.” The lead cultist swept his gaze over the cages.
“No one has hidden any ‘Truths’ from me because you’re spewing lies!” Jimmy snapped. “Let my friends go and leave our people alone!”
“Yeah!” Katherine said. “We don’t want your creepy cult around here!”
“Does no one repent?” The cult leader sounded disappointed. “Then we must find the culprit the hard way.”
“It shouldn’t take long, the most powerful of the empires are here,” The second cultist said. “Inferior compared to the Canary as they are, they would have the best ability—and the hubris.”
“Then we shall punish them accordingly. We’ll start with the most likely and work our way down. Start with the Sky God.” the leader cultist ordered. A pair of cultists took enchanted spears from a rack on the wall and pointed them at Joel.
“No!” Sausage wailed. Lizzie hissed and spit, thrashing against the bars. Scott grabbed the lock and tried to rattle it off. Around him he could hear the others shouting their protests, Joel loudest of all, voice squeaky with fear.
“Culprit of the Truth, last chance to repent before the Sky God’s soul is cursed to wander the remains of this world.” the leader intoned. The cultists began to chant and stomp their feet, soft at first and slowly building in volume.
“Stop! Stop it now!” Jimmy cried.
“The End is near. We will see it through,” the leader insisted. “Sky God, your time is—”
“No! STOP! Everyone shut up and Listen!”
A wall of silence slammed into Scott. He stumbled into the opposite bars of his cage. Metal didn’t clang. He never heard his head connect with what should have been a hard thump. Scott groaned and the sound never made it past his throat.
Scott’s eyes popped open and he gasped. He felt the air rush into his lungs, felt his vocal cords shiver, felt the heavy pumping of adrenaline-fueled blood, but he heard nothing.
Scott saw cultists tumble into each other, mouths open in cries that never made it out. His caged friends were hitting the bars, moving their mouths, snapping next to their ears, trying to produce a basic constant of life and failing.
Scott looked for Jimmy. He found him easily, but he wasn’t… he wasn’t Jimmy anymore.
He hovered in the air, golden wings spread around him like the points of his badge. Feathers floated around like particles around a Nether portal. The human part of him stuttered and wavered, something between human and a form Scott didn’t—couldn’t—understand. A purple halo blindfolded him, and his clothes had changed into white robes with yellow and purple details. In his hands was a black pickaxe.
Cultists sank to their knees, arms raised and faces filled with awe.
“Stop that! I don’t want you to do that.” Jimmy said. His voice was layered with power that made every nerve in Scott crawl. His instincts screamed at him that he needed to run and not stop ever. “You disgust me.”
The cultists wailed silently and fell over themselves to bow and grovel and plead.
“You’re not Listening. It’s my turn to Speak.” Jimmy hissed. Scott pressed against the cage. He needed to hide. Looking at Jimmy made his head ache. His magic eye felt like it was going to explode, struggling to process the sheer power radiating off him. Listening to him made his body hurt and eardrums want to burst. He couldn’t force his eyes away from what Jimmy had become.
“I’m not here to start the apocalypse. I’m can’t create your perfect world, and I want nothing to do with you! So here’s what’s going to happen.” Jimmy rose further in the air. More wings unfurled, turning him into an eldritch flower. “You will free my friends. You’re going to disband and go far away from here. You’re going to live normal lives. And you will never, ever, return. You won’t hurt my friends. You won’t hurt their people. You won’t hurt my people. And you will certainly never have anything to do with me again! If you disobey me, I will kill you slowly and painfully. Did you Listen to that?”
The cultists nodded frantically. Most of them were already ripping off the robes. To Scott’s horror, he spotted a few wearing clothing and hairstyles of Chromia. More dotted around wore styles of various empires.
“Then get to it.” Jimmy snarled.
A lever was flipped and the cages hit the ground. Scott’s stomach was left somewhere by the ceiling and he crashed into the ground hard enough to get the wind knocked out of him. He struggled up on his elbows and blearily looked around the room. The cultists fled out a back door and were gone in moments, leaving behind only slowly dwindling fires, stolen toys, and discarded robes.
Jimmy—warped, and the wings folded up. And kept folding, until Jimmy was just Jimmy again. Feathers drifted slowly down. He opened his eyes and blinked them hard. Scott didn’t think he’d ever been more relieved to see those dark brown eyes.
Sound rushed back. Scott gasped at the pounding of his heart, the faint footsteps of the cultists, the shifting and clanking of his friends in their cages. The world spun for a second, overwhelming with volume.
“Jimmy?” False tentatively pushed open the door to her cage.
Jimmy locked up. His eyes darted around and Scott could hear his breath coming short and fast. Scott dragged himself to his knees and crawled across the cage, rotating it until he could open the door.
Jimmy spun around and booked it.
“Jimmy!” fWhip cried.
Scott struggled with the door and stumbled out. “Jimmy, wait!”
He couldn’t see Jimmy anymore, but he could hear him fire a rocket. The door at the end slammed open seconds later. Scott could see Jimmy didn’t bother closing it behind him, the glow of starlight off snow marking out the square. Wind howled in the distance, almost like a scream. Maybe it was.
“Jim—ow!” fWhip wiggled out of his cage and collapsed, clutching his leg. It was bleeding.
Scott hesitated, torn between running after Jimmy and helping fWhip. Pix, Gem, and Sausage dropped next to him, Pix already ripping his jacket for bandages and barking orders to check on Shelby, which Katherine and Joey were already doing.
“And Scott, if you’re clear go after him!” Pix finished. “Make sure everything’s okay, we’ll follow when we’re good!”
Scott didn’t wait another second. His head hurt but he charged after Jimmy. His elytra swung over his shoulders and he handled the rockets so quickly he burnt his hand. He could just see the flash of Jimmy’s rockets in the distance, descending toward Tumble Town. Scott angled his wings to follow.
Jimmy was nowhere in sight but a flame flickered in Jimmy’s windows. Scott found himself slowing down as he walked up to the door, a pit slowly carving its way through his stomach.
“—shoot shoot shoot, I can’t find—it’s fine, we can get them anywhere. Come here Flick, we gotta go—”
Scott raised his hand to knock. The door swung open.
Jimmy had a stuffed bag clumsily slung over one shoulder and a grumpy cat under each arm. He stared at Scott like a deer in headlights. Despite himself, Scott froze too. He hadn’t thought about what happened when he caught up with Jimmy. What did he say? What could he say? Jimmy was right there and he looked so normal but Scott couldn’t get that thing out of his head—
The door slammed shut.
“Out the window! We’re going out the window!” Jimmy gasped.
Scott unfroze and dropped his hand to open the door. Jimmy hadn’t locked it, too desperate to leave. Scott threw it open and lunged into the house.
“Jimmy!” He grabbed the Sheriff’s elbow. Jimmy instantly stopped. Flick slipped out of his grasp and rubbed against Scott’s leg. Feathers dotted Jimmy’s shoulders, and there was no morning light to give a reason for their glow. Scott closed his magic eye for a second. The glow disappeared until he opened it again.
“Jimmy.” Scott repeated softer. “Jimmy, what-are you okay?”
“Jimmy?”
Scott glanced over his shoulder. Lizzie, Joel, False, and Oli crowded around the door. Flick rubbed against Lizzie and she picked him up. Scott looked back at Jimmy. He hadn’t made another move to leave. There was no way he would, not without Flick.
“Jimmy?” Scott prodded. “Are you okay?”
Jimmy swallowed. “I’m-I’m okay. Are…”
“Are what?” Scott slowly released his elbow and walked around to his front. Jimmy had his eyes tight shut and he turned his face away from Scott. Scott thought about the halo blindfold and wondered if Jimmy was really hampered by lack of eyesight.
Jimmy’s mouth moved but he didn’t say anything, like he was trapped in the soundless bubble he put them in earlier.
“Jimmy.” Lizzie said. She came up on Jimmy’s other side and tapped his arm. “We’re just confused. What happened?”
Jimmy’s face scrunched up trying to hold back tears. Outside, Scott heard a clumsy landing and the rest of the emperors coming up the porch.
“Jimmy? Is Jimmy okay?” Pix asked.
Jimmy buried his face in Norman’s fur, shoulders shaking.
“Ah,” Pix said. “How about we sit down?”
Somehow they got into a rough circle on the floor. Shelby and fWhip had to be carried around by Katherine and Sausage. Jimmy hadn’t looked up from Norman’s fur the entire time. Lizzie convinced Flick to rejoin his owner, but even with both cats back Jimmy made no move to leave. Scott hovered around Jimmy, unsure if he needed physical comfort or not.
Joel was the one who broke the silence first. “What the blooming Void was that?”
“Joel.” Gem scolded.
“We’re all thinking it!” Joel defended. He eyed Jimmy like he was about to warp again. “Since when is Jimmy some—some super powerful Being? That was enough power for ten mes, and now I’m not picking any of it up!”
Scott’s mouth felt dry. Say what you would about Joel, but he was powerful. Scott figured he chose not to use the extent of his power mostly because his friends were very much mortal. It was the way Joel looked and sounded that gave Scott’s brain the ability to process Jimmy was a volcano of magic that made Joel’s bonfire look pitiful. And now he was regular old Jimmy, human as they came, an ember of a candlewick next to the god.
“Jimmy, talk to us?” Lizzie asked. “We’re just confused. What happened?”
Jimmy mumbled something too quiet to be heard.
“What was that?” Pix asked gently.
“I said I’m sort of a Listener.” Jimmy whispered.
“Listener? I thought you were that canary thing they were worshipping.” Oli said.
“I-that too.” Jimmy shifted and peeked at them. “I… Listener is the-the species, I guess, and Canary is my title.”
“Listener?” Pix repeated. He leaned forward, an excited look on his face. “Any relation to Watchers?”
Scott’s eyes widened. He’d heard of Watchers before, Beings of great power that observed servers and everything within them, looking for lives to twist like nothing more than an interesting story. Jimmy couldn’t possibly be…
“We’re… a type of Watcher.” Jimmy said haltingly. “Watchers… Watch. Listeners Listen.”
“So you’re here to what, spy on us?” False crossed her arms.
Jimmy’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “No! I’m here because this is my home! Like it’s been since my first life, ages before I became this!”
“Is that how you’re able to interfere with this world?” Pix asked.
Jimmy shook his head. “Those were the old guys. They can’t stop us anymore.”
There was a note to his voice that made Joel scoot away a little more and Scott resisted the urge to do the same.
“I’m still Jimmy.” Jimmy pleaded. “I’m still-I’m still me. I’ve just-had a change, in one of my lives. Like you guys! You change throughout your lives! Just-I’ve become a Being, that’s all! I can’t-I didn’t have anything to do the Rapture either, I wasn’t a Listener then! I didn’t choose to be the Canary, I didn’t-I didn’t choose any of this! I’m-please, I’m just Jimmy.”
“’Just’ he says.” Joey mumbled.
Lizzie placed her hand on his. “It’s okay. No one’s going to turn on you just because you’re a totally powerful and all-listening guy…bird…thing. It’s fine. Right guys?”
Jimmy looked at her like he wasn’t sure whether she meant that sarcastically or not. Scott wasn’t sure either, but he knew his own thoughts.
“It’s fine, Jimmy. It’ll… take some time to get used to the idea, but I won’t treat you differently—unless you want me to?” Scott said.
“…I would like the toys to stop. And fWhip’s stupid little shrines,” Jimmy muttered, eyeing the goblin, who looked like he wasn’t sure whether to be more in awe or completely back off. “I don’t-people keep getting obsessed with me and it never turns out well. Uh, like just now.”
“Right. Right, no more-no more of that.” fWhip joined Joel in scooting back. Scott wouldn’t want Jimmy to turn that warped form on him either.
“Thanks.” Jimmy buried his face in Norman’s fur again. He peeked up a second later. “You’re not… mad, I hid this?”
“I’d say you have a lot of reason to get mad at us now.” Katherine pointed out. “Some of us here haven’t been the most… respectful of you.”
Joey, Joel, and fWhip looked the most scared by her words. Scott knew he was on that list too, with dressing up to join the toy teasing and creating the secret market, and he eyed Jimmy, suddenly worried for his own health.
Jimmy, thankfully, shook his head. “No. That’s exhausting. I’m not Joel, I can survive a few knocks to my pride.”
“Hey!” Joel protested, though he looked very relieved.
“We’re all good then!” Shelby said as brightly as she could with pain in her smile. Her hands were healed from the cracks, but they were still covered in bright scars and she held them close to her chest as she leaned against Katherine. “Right?”
“Yeah, we’re good.” Scott joined the general chorus of agreement.
Jimmy slowly relaxed, a look of pure relief on his face.
“Okay. Okay! That’s-that’s really good. I-thank you, guys.”
“So long as you don’t go mad with power or something, it’s okay.” Scott promised.
Jimmy laughed and rubbed his eyes. “I won’t. I promise, I don’t use this lightly. I know what I can do.”
“Can we see some of what you can do?” Pix took out his notebook with an eager gleam in his eyes. “If that’s okay with you, of course.”
“I-really? Now?” Jimmy looked surprised.
“Whenever you want.” Pix shrugged.
“Then not now. Please.” Jimmy buried his face in Norman’s fur again.
“That is something we can do.” Pix promised. He put his notebook away. If he was disappointed, he was doing a good job of hiding it. “Are you okay now?”
“…Yes. Can I-can I be alone now?” Jimmy looked at Pix pleadingly.
“Of course. Come on, let him have his space. We need to collect the cultists that we hopefully trapped anyway.” Pix stood up and paused by the door. “And Jimmy, if you need anything, my door is always open, okay?”
Jimmy mutely nodded as the other emperors shuffled out with their own variations of Pix’s promise, until it was just Scott and Pix left.
Scott hesitated before he stood up. “You’re not going to leave when we’re gone, are you?”
Jimmy shook his head. “No. No, I… I wasn’t expecting… I’ll stay, if you want me to.”
“We do. You’re ours.” Scott squeezed Jimmy’s wrist, unable to reach his hand in his cat’s fur. “We won’t turn you away, I promise.”
Jimmy gave him a small smile, much lighter than the weak one at the start of the night. “Thank you.”
Scott nodded. “Good night Jimmy.”
“’Night Scott. ‘Night Pix.”
Scott got up. He left the house, Pix closing the door behind them.
“What are we going to do about the other cultists?” Scott asked. “I don’t think Jimmy’s going to be up to the angry god routine any time soon.”
“I doubt he’ll do that again willingly.” Pix agreed. “Just deal with them however you would have before. If Jimmy wants to unconvert them, he’ll tell us.”
Scott nodded. “Good night Pix.”
“Good night Scott.”
Scott fired his rockets and breathed in the cold night air. It would take lots of adjusting, especially from Jimmy if his response was anything to go off of, but Scott would have to trust they would get there eventually. And trust that even if Jimmy did decide to run off, he would come back. They were bound by the cycle, he would return to open arms no matter what. And if Scott’s past lives had taught him anything, it was that things turned out alright eventually, no matter the path to get there.
So Scott pushed the Canary to the back of his mind and prepared for the long night ahead, and days after. There were more important things than what Jimmy was. He was still Jimmy, after all.