Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“don’t worry, everything will be okay… we did the right thing.”

“Welcome to white space! You’ve been living here for a long time, it’s cozy here.”

Hikki was standing in white space again, relaxing on the empty floor, she went over to pet Mewo, “meow? (waiting for something to happen?)” Mewo's fur was soft, she was very fluffy, perfect for comforting. She looks over to her box of tissues, it’s completely full, and restocks whenever she needs it. It's very useful, she sometimes can use them to wash her sorrows away. Not that she has any, she has everything already. She opened up her sketchpad. She was a great drawer, with lots of lovely drawings of her friends, herself, and shapes. It wasn’t perfect, but it didn’t need to be. There was a small softball in the corner, she didn’t have anything to throw it to but it was still fun. Sometimes, she would try to see how far she could throw it, but it always teleported back, at least she can’t lose it. She booted up her laptop, it felt warm, soothing even, she stared at the screen a little bit before hearing a thud nearby. Mewo jumped up in fear and Mari went over to make sure she was okay. Thankfully, she was.

She went over to where the noise was and found a shovel, lightweight, but long, and strong, it’s like it was made to fight others. Just then, a door appeared, her friends were probably behind that door. Well, she can’t keep them waiting now can she? She walked through the door.

She entered the Neighbours room, it was always peaceful here, a huge cat that watches over them, a toaster... a table... board games... there was always plenty to do here. It was a nice purple room, her favourite colour! Her friends greeted her. “O-oh! Hikki! you're finally here! Hi there!” it was Basil, he was always so sweet to her.

“HIKKI! HI!!! How are you? Do you want to go hang out later?” Aubrey said as she ran over and trampled over the deck of cards they were playing on.

“Aubs! C’mon! You ruined the cards! How are we supposed to play!”

“You're just mad cuz you were losing anyway! I won most of the matches so I’m the winner!” she teased.

“You just got lucky Aubrey! How’d you have 5 +4 cards in a row??? I had to get… how many… 18 cards!” (they’re playing UNO if you couldn’t tell)

“You were supposed to grab 20! You can’t even count!”

Ah, Kel and Aubrey were fighting again, no matter how stupid it was it somehow never got old. Basil or her should probably end the fight before it got out of hand, just then Basil spoke up, “G- guys, stop fighting, Sunny and Hero invited us to a picnic remember? We- we should probably get going, we shouldn’t keep them waiting!” Kel and Aubrey stopped dead in their tracks.

“HERO’S HAVING A PICNIC! C’MON HIKKI! We’ll follow your lead! Don’t take too long though! I wanna get some Orange Joe from Hero!” Kel was bouncing up and down next to her, Kel would get antsy if she took too long, so she should hurry up.

“We’re ready whenever you are Hikki!”

Basil and Aubrey lined behind Kel, she wanted to look around the Neighbours room before leaving, and make sure she had everything packed away safely. She picked up a few things, some garden shears for Basil along with his photo album, Aubrey’s plushie and bat, and Kel’s basketball. “Thanks a lot Hikki! I totally would have forgotten these if it wasn’t for you!” kel exclaimed.

“y- yeah, y’know, your… kinda like a- a big sister to us! Even if you already are a big sister.”

Hikki smiled softly at that, it was so sweet, she would have to work hard to protect them, and they would protect her, because she was their big sister figure, and she never would want to lose that title. She talked to the small purple cat at the door. It kinda looked like Mewo, but no cat could replace Mewo though. “Meow? (Going out Hikki? Here’s your allowance.)

(You got 50 seashells!)

Hikki, Kel, and Aubrey popped out of the tree trunk, the sky was a beautiful sunset! It looked wonderful! “WOO! FRESH AIR AT LAST!” Aubrey looked annoyed, “I swear Kel you’re so loud.” as Kel was about to make a comeback but failed to come up with one.

“Alright! Let’s head over to the picnic! Hero’s cooking is god tier! Let’s get there quickly! It should be… down there right? We just go straight down?” All her friends nodded in agreement, she should get there as soon as she can. Her little brother was also waiting for her after all, he had Hero with him, but who knows? He might get a little lonely without her. Without hesitation she went over to the park where Sunny and Hero were.

“SUNNY! HERO! HEY!!!” Kel was super excited for this, maybe a bit too excited.

“...hey Kel, hi everyone…”

Hikki knew that voice so well, it was her little brother! Sunny! They walked over to the picnic blanket. “Hey everyone! I had some time so I whipped up some burgers and desserts for you all! I really hope you enjoy them! Oh! Hikki! This one’s for you!” Sunny chimed in, “Hikki? Just letting you know… Hero wanted to make that specially for you…”

Awww... That was so sweet of Hero to do! He was so cute at times! She didn’t express tons of emotion but she wanted to say something anyway.

“Thanks Hero, they taste really good, it’s really nice that you made this for me.”

Hero blushed at the sudden compliment, “I- thanks a lot Hikki! My cooking doesn’t even compare to yours though!”

Aubrey suddenly piped in, “Oh c'mon! Get a room you two!” they all started laughing, she wished they could stay like this forever.

“By the way, Hikki brought the photo album for me! Do you guys wanna look through it?” Hikki nodded, she hadn’t looked at it in a while, there might be some new photos.“

(new photo ideas)

“Hero’s trying to teach Sunny how to cook! It’s taking a bit of work, but he’s doing a great job! He’s making a beef casserole! I can’t wait to try it!”

“The beef casserole ended up being really salty, it turns out both Sunny and Hero put extra salt than needed at Kel’s request, it still tasted really good though! I hope I can try it again sometime. Kel ended up eating most of it… really quickly actually…”

“It’s love day! Hero really went all out for Hikki huh? He even got a suit and everything! It feels like Hikki and Hero were a match made in heaven!”

“Kel didn’t seem to understand that love day is for couples specifically and not for friends, so he gave chocolates to Sunny, Sunny got really confused for the next few days.”

“We all found these new outfits! I found these overalls with a really dark purple! Along with a dark blue long sleeve shirt! It kinda looks good on me! It doesn’t really suit my hair though… maybe it’d look better if I dyed my hair something different...Maybe black hair? I don't think black hair would suit me well though.”

“We put some plants in the front yard of Heros' house! We all chose different flowers! If we take care of them well, they’ll grow big and strong! Hero made Kel plant a cactus, probably because it doesn’t take much water,”

“The plants have fully grown! They look so pretty! Luckily, they all bloomed perfectly! Even Kel’s cactus!”

The new photos looked so cute, all their memories were stored here, she was spacing out, looking at the photos when Basil spoke up again, “actually, I have more photos at Hero’s house, I gave them to you right?” Hero nodded, “right! They’re at my house, let’s head over now then! I uh… may or may not have taken a small peek at the photos though, they were so good! We should get going though, so you take the lead Hikki!”

Everyone got up, except for one person, Sunny. “Hey Sunny? Aren't you coming?” Kel asked, he seemed a bit sad asking. Sunny spoke very softly, “...I think for this one I’ll stay behind… you guys can go without me though! My leg just hurts a bit right now. I have snacks and pillows here though if you ever need it!” Sunny gave a soft smile.

“hey Sunny? Here. if you ever get lonely!” Aubrey placed down her plushie, Mr.Plantegg,

“Thanks Aubrey!” Sunny waved goodbye and off they went, down to Hero’s house.

It wasn’t too far of a walk from the park, pass a few small gates, pet Hector, Kel’s and Hero’s dog, and they made it to Hero’s house in record time! The flowers they planted a long time ago were still there! They still took care of them to this day.

They walked to Hero and Kel's room to put the photos in the album. One side was nice and neat, meanwhile the other side... We don't talk about that. But seemed a bit odd, there seemed to be something missing… somewhere, one of the photos flew out of Hero’s open window! If only Kel didn’t open it earlier! Hero went outside to pick it up while the others went to put the pictures back at the right date. After a short while and pretty much all the photos done, Hero found the missing photo and went back into the room.

“Sorry I took so long, the picture kept blowing away from the wind, I haven’t checked what the photo is yet though, do you mind if I see it Basil?”

“Go ahead!”

Hero flipped the photo over, “...what...? What is this? I know you didn’t take this Basil… you wouldn’t? it can’t be… Sunny… he-

And she was back. Back in white space, the door was gone, the light bulb seemed to be leaking, she had no choice. With hesitation, she slowly took out her shovel, and hit herself on the head with it.

Chapter Text

3 days left…

“Remember these? There are a lot of photos, with all our memories together… Let's make some new memories in the future.”

Mari woke up, it looked dark outside, as much as she would like to go back to sleep, she was feeling pretty hungry, and also needed to redo her hair dye. Guess I have no choice, I’ll start with my hair I suppose. She looked around her room only to find that her phone had a message, she clicked it. “Hey Mari, It’s dad. I’m still in the city right now, the movers are coming in around three days, make sure everything is perfect before they arrive. We don’t want the new home owners to have a bad view of our house. The power might be out sometime tonight as well. I made a list of what you need to finish up. Say goodbye to your old friends before you leave, that Aubrey girl has been trying to get a hold of you ever since she saw that sold sign on our house."

Well, she saw the message, she should get going. There was a sticky note on the wall from her mother as well.

“Hi sweetie! The city is great! You’ll love it here! I put some of your favourite snacks downstairs! I know how much you loved fruit!”

She walked away and was trying to be quiet so su- wait a minute, she’s alone in the house, there is no one else except for her. She slowly got out of bed and went into the washroom, she tried to turn the lights on but it didn’t work. She kept flicking the lights before she gave up. She can do her hair dye another day.

She walked straight out of the bathroom quickly and went over to the stairs. There’s nothing to worry about, it’s just some stairs right? It felt harder and harder to go down each step, painful even. She could feel the hands reaching out to her, almost like they were begging for help. In the distance, she saw something. MARI BECAME AFRAID. Something shoved her and she went backwards, she tried to attack back but it didn’t work. Something called out to her. “don’t be afraid, It's okay Mari... after a while… it’s not as bad as it seems…” she attacked again, wanting to get rid of the monster. It taunted her, she felt dizzy fighting this and attacked again with more force. Something reached out to her.

“...Mari? Just remember what You taught me, to calm down whenever something scary happens… take a deep breath, and breathe.” Mari steadied herself, and learned how to calm down. Taking a deep breath, she tried to reassure herself, and found that something was gone now. It wasn’t so bad. Well, she’ll just quickly get some snacks and go back to sleep.

The wood was creaky as she walked along, there was a banana and a few strawberries, she picked up the strawberries, they seemed a bit mushy but that was fine, she can’t just waste perfectly good food right? She popped a few into her mouth and felt her stomach churning. She felt sick, She rushed herself to the washroom… and threw up. She has to replace those, what if her friends eat it? Walking past their front door Mari heard a voice, it was soft, but she could hear the voice and recognized it immediately, it was her little brother, Sunny! What was he doing outside? But still, something felt… off… like she couldn’t open the door.

“Mari… are you there? I -i’m sorry i’m out so late, I… wanted to hang out with Kel but… I forgot my keys… it’s really cold out though… I’m so sorry Mari, can you let me in?”

While she was angry he snuck out this late, she would just lecture him later, he might get really cold outside, there’s also bugs outside, and she knows how much he's afraid of spiders. So what was stopping her? She felt...anxious, for some reason, and with some hesitation, she slowly opened the door to see Sunny. It looked like Sunny was okay, but slowly he started forming into something else. He reached out to get her with his head gashed open, his skull cracking and with eyes she’s never seen. Quickly closing the door she bolted up to her room.

...What was that...? Was it Sunny? It couldn't have been... where was her little brother?

...

...

...

She slowly went back to bed, and tried not to think about it, as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

“Welcome to white space! You’ve been living here for a long time! It’s cozy here.”

Chapter Text

Becoming Hikki upon entering, she found herself in white space again. Mewo seemed a bit lonely, she just wanted Mewo to know that she was okay. She shouldn’t keep her friends waiting though, they probably miss her and are waiting for her right past the door. She opens the door, her friends rush over to her.

“Hikki! Hikki! Thank goodness you're here! We’ve got to tell you something!” uh oh, what could it be? Did she do something wrong? She didn’t want to upset her friends…

“h- Hero’s gone missing! We- we couldn’t f- find him anywhere! I- i’m getting worried…” Basil sounded dreary, he seemed really upset. Hero’s gone missing? I wonder how that could have happened…

“let’s go find him then.” she said, her friends nodded and went up to line up behind her. They went out of the tree stump and off they went, following the weird bloody footprints on the ground. Back in the playground Sunny was sitting at the picnic blanket, he was shuffling around and seemed a bit nervous. At least Sunny was okay. She went up and hugged him. “Hi guys… I’m glad you’re all okay… have you seen Hero? Normally he and the playground kids are here but… he disappeared… Did you see him?” the playground kids were also gone? This was really strange.

“I don’t think we have, right? All I remember is going to Hero’s house and waking up in the neighbours room. We have to go and look for him! We can’t just leave him behind!! Sunny? You wanna come along?” Kel asked, Sunny had a small frown on his face.

“ah- sorry Kel but I’d only slow you guys down, we should look for him as quickly as possible, I’ll always be here if you need to rest up though!” Sunny quietly mumbled to himself, “it’ll be lonely though…” Basil saw this and reassured Sunny, “Don’t worry Sunny! You can have the photo album if you ever get lonely!”

“You’ll have Mr.Plantegg to keep you company as well!”

“We’ll visit you ok? We’ll find Hero and we’ll all be back together again! So don’t worry ‘bout it ok?”

“Thanks a lot you guys… if you’re looking for a place to start… You could first check his house?”

Basil seemed more sad now, “I- I already tried to check but- but he wasn’t there, where could he have gone?”

Sunny suddenly perked up a little bit, “I have an idea. How about you check the softball field? Hero sometimes told me he goes there to get… items for Hikki I think. It’s in Otherworld.”

“Thanks a lot Sunny! See ya around!’

They headed off to Otherworld, which was… up a high ladder… she could handle it! She’ll just deal with it later! It’ll be okay…

On the way to Otherworld was crafted forest! So they decided to look around there first. While they were out Kel took something out of his pocket. “GO HECTOR!!!! I CHOOSE YOU! C’mon Hector! Help us find Hero!”

………

“It was worth a shot…”

Aubrey seemed frustrated at Kel now, “Serioudly Kel...?”

Although she knew she shouldn’t mess around, she couldn’t help but look at the crafted forest. She didn’t go here often but it looked beautiful! The trees looked like hand crafted cotton candy! The grass felt kind of… fake? At least the pathways were better. Just as she was looking around a messy sprout mole attacked her! Well, they had no choice, she didn’t want to fight it but the sprout mole did attack her.

*One minute of Hikki smacking up a sprout mole with her shovel later....

They never tried fighting together before, but for a first timer, they did really well! If they keep this up, they could fight anything! If they wanted to protect Hero once he was found, she would have to level up, so along the way they fought some of the other sprout moles that were attacking her. Even though sprout moles aren’t too strong, fighting so many of them made her tired. It seemed Kel, Aubrey, and Basil were getting a bit frustrated with all the running around. But they pressed forward. Walking a bit further ahead, there was… Sunny? Peacefully sitting at the picnic basket, he seemed to be trying to make something, Sunny called them over.

“Guys! Over here! You look tired, I set some things up, it’s not perfect though…" What was her little brother saying now? “It doesn't have to be.” Sunny looked happy to hear that

“thanks a lot Hikki!” everyone sat down at the picnic blanket and ate and chatted to their heart's content, it felt reassuring that Sunny would always be there for them! Before long they had to leave though, the ladder to Otherworld was nearby. Feeling refreshed, they headed to the ladder.

When they reached the ladder, something in her gut felt off, she felt like she shouldn’t climb this. She could fall off! Even worse, her friends could fall off the ladder! What if they all fell off and she couldn’t see them again? Sunny would be sad, what if the ladder broke? She couldn’t risk this! As their older sister figure, it’s her job to keep them safe. She should tell them, sh-

“Oh! Right, you have a fear of heights don’t you Hikki? Sunny has one too, guess it runs in the family.”

“Don’t worry! We’ll be fine! We’re all strong! If one of us falls, we catch them! No one will be left behind! So don’t worry about it!”

“R- right! We have your back Hikki! You can trust us!”

Oh. she remembered, she doesn’t have to worry, she just needs to calm down, She can put her trust in her friends! They’ll always help! If she did something bad, they’ll forgive her! She can do this! Hikki doesn’t feel afraid of heights anymore. Hikki slowly stepped onto the ladder, gripping it tight. And began to climb up to Otherworld.

The ladder to Otherworld was long. It was weird being this high up, but it was really beautiful...The skies never looked better... She’d never seen anything like this before, and wished she could see this every day! After a little bit they reached the top, it was super cool up here, but they couldn’t afford to waste time, the others wanted to find Hero, Hikki was about to go off when she realized Aubrey wasn’t there. Where could she have gone? Just then Aubrey popped from out of the ladder.

“Huff… huff… geez! How did you guys climb that!?! That was exhausting! How do you do it Basil?!? You climbed that thing like it was no sweat?!? I’ve never seen you exercise that much!”

“Ah.. well… I- I do a- a lot of gardening! That’s probably why, lifting soil is heavy, y'know? I- I also climb ladders a lot to reach things so…”

Aubrey pouted. Hikki let out a small chuckle. Aubrey hobbled over to line up to Hikki while Kel was silently laughing at Aubrey. There was a sign right near the entrance, the softball field was to the left so they went as fast as possible to reach Hero. When they got there though, Hero didn’t seem to be there. Maybe he was near the popcorn stand? Nope. hiding in the forest? Not there either. It seems like he wasn’t here, but if he wasn’t here… then where was he?

“H- hey… Hero isn’t here… there’s a city in Otherworld, do you think we should check there?”

Hikki nodded, their friend group isn’t complete without Hero, after all, friends are meant to be there for each other, and they won’t stop till they find him! Otherworld city was super huge, small and large houses, a few with different shapes and sizes, and- hey! Sunny was here as well! They all looked so happy to see him!

Kel first spoke up, “Hey Sunny! You know where we are? Cus I sure don’t.”

“This is Otherworld city I’m pretty sure… you see the house at the top over there? Apparently there’s someone who is an amazing captain and has been to all over the world! She sounds super cool! I… forget her name but I think you could ask her where Hero might be!”

“I feel like I know her… Thanks a lot Sunny! Hey before we leave, you mind if I take a few snacks first? Hehe, thanks Sunny!”

Kel started to run off to the house at the top and Hikki and the others followed him, but not before saying goodbye to Sunny. Once Kel reached the house he started talking to someone, for some reason they started yelling at him... What could have happened?

They finally caught up to Kel and noticed a pirate who seemed to be blocking Kel, “c’mon Mr.Pirate dude! I just wanna ask the lady something! Can’t you let me through?” the pirate seemed annoyed.

“listen, if you're trying to become a space pirate I wouldn’t, captain sweetheart is very… passionate about what she does,”

Aubrey ran over to Kel, “we’re not trying to become space pirates! We heard that she’s an amazing captain and we need to find someone!” The pirate seemed confused, but let them in anyways with a concerned look on his face.

“HEY MRS.SWEETHEART LADY! WE GOT SOMETHING TO ASK YOU!!!” ...There was no response...Maybe it wasn't a good idea to break in here, until woman kicked down the door, she was wearing a short dress with belts and buttons, she looked like a military woman who decided to become a pirate. The whole room was a dark pink, covered in magazines and posters all over the walls and floors.

“What. do. You. want.” she sent a shiver down their spines, she sounded cold as a cucumber. Basil shushed Kel as he frantically explained.

“s- sorry mi- ma’am! W- we uh, we lost our f-friend and were uh… wondering if- if you know where he we- went? He’s got uh… dark blue hair, a- about this tall… likes cooking and… wears pyjamas all the time.”

she thought for a second, “never seen him, now… GET. OUT.”

Kel suddenly looked up at sweetheart, “WAIT!!! I know you! Your prince charming's fiance right? Congrats Mrs.Sweetheart lady!” Captain sweetheart looked even more pissed at Kel than she already was.

“Tch. that loser huh? I didn’t even want to be with him!!!! And now, HE FOLLOWS ME AROUND EVERYWHERE!!! I HATE HIM!!!” The room went silent for a few seconds, until a spacecraft crashed right into captain sweetheart's house. “MY DEAR SWEETHEART!!! I LOVE YOU SO! Please, come back to the palace! I shall have the royal guards give you a better lifestyle than your current situation! The dirty tragedy of the pirates shall be no more once you come along with me!”

Captain sweetheart became angry!

“WHAT’D YOU JUST SAY ABOUT THE PIRATES!?!”

“The pirates are not suitable for such a maiden as yourself! Please, allow me to take you out of your hole of misery and suffering!”

Captain sweetheart became enraged!

“I just need to say that I don’t want someone as sweet as your donut clan to become part of the pir-”

Captain sweetheart became furious!

Prince charming got scared hid behind Hikki, Aubrey, Basil and Kel, maybe they should get out before she got angry- “Oh so now you're hiding behind your bodyguards huh? I'll finish you kids up before I get to you!” Well, they’re not escaping this are they?

30 minutes of pain, toast, depression, pep talks, a furious sweetheart, an afraid prince charming, and becoming stronger and more close to each other, along with the power of friendship and harmony, they defeated sweetheart!

“Geez, sweetheart, I get that you’re angry at prince charming but don’t drag us into the mess! C’mon!”

“I- I don’t want to be rude b- but, prince charming? W- why did you hide behind us…?”

Somehow, prince charming looked offended when Basil said that, “she’s furious at me! I’m not dealing with that! Until we meet again my true love! I shall come back for you!!!!” and… he’s gone just like that. Hikki felt like she had to say something about this. "Sweetheart... You can do better than him...! You should probably get a divorce...”

She thought about it for a second “That’s… not a bad idea actually… I'm sorry for lashing out on you guys earlier.”

“Yeah! We’ll help you out! Here! Just write divorce on the paper and BOOM! You won’t have to be together anymore!”

"We were really lucky we won... if only Hero were with us to help..."

“R- right! I almost forgot! We have to find Hero! S- sweetheart! We wish you good luck! W- we have to go look for our friend! Hikki! You lead the way!”

Hikki went out of the room and decided to go back to Sunny to heal up, they were heavily tired and really hurt from sweetheart, kel turned into toast 3 times! He was lucky she had jam packets on her! You can never be too safe! They walked down, Sunny called out to them, “HI everyone! Did any of you find Hero yet? Did she say anything…?” Kel reported the news “nah, she was more focused on her divorce and we couldn’t find anything.”

“... Okay then… where are you Hero… I’m sure we’ll find him soon though! I have faith in us!”

Sunny used encourage!

She felt a lot better knowing Sunny would be with them every step of the way. Kel lit up and wanted to go back down to the playground to see if Hero was there yet. Kel was getting impatient so everyone decided to go, not before giving a hug to Sunny, with Kel pretty much crushing him.

“Ow… Kel… you're crushing me… good luck though! By- Ow… Kel! I’ll- try to meet you at the playground! See you guys! Hikki stood up again, she led the party down to the ladder as when she was going to go down she noticed something in the corner of her eye. It was a pitch black person, with a silhouette of someone familiar… Hikki followed it, and it led her to an area with tall grass. Her friends disappeared when she entered the area, she hoped they were okay, hopefully back in the neighbours room. It motioned her to follow it, it looked like a stranger, Hikki followed it past the walkways in the tall grass. She kept walking, on the way there were plenty of things, cakes, sleeping bags, It sorta reminded her of something... Like an old memory she had forgotten... it always seemed like there were messages behind them.

“Kel and Aubrey were fighting again, late at night at a sleepover too! It took me a while to get them to fall asleep, I don’t get how Sunny can sleep with all the noise we were making.”

“It’s almost valentine's day! I really wanna try my best to make this valentine a good one. Kel made one as well, it was so neat, well, with some help from me, I wonder who it’s for?”

Looking in front of her was a barn. She went inside. The whole thing was a corridor painted a dark grey. It felt eerie walking through, almost as if it was abandoned. There was a family photo at the end, with four people, who’s faces seemed to be strangely scratched out with markers. Below it was a small music stand, a bit bloody, but still readable. She could feel something as she tried to run out of the barn, it was following her, it quickly was catching up to her, it almost caught her when she was teleported back into white space.

It was quiet, empty, with no way out, she picked up her shovel, and hit herself on the head.

Chapter Text

At the time… I saw everything… Can you see it too?

Three days left…

Mari woke up to the stinging noise of the door being knocked on and a phone ringing because of a voicemail, the person at the door could be patient. She clicked on the phone.

“Hey Mari. it’s daddy again, I was going to visit you today but there’s still paperwork and sales down in the city, your mom cooked you some pizza in the fridge, so you can eat that. You can take care of yourself Mari, you're almost in college, so make sure you get it together. Make sure the house is spotless, our new home owners certainly won’t be happy if the house is dirty. I made a list, you used to be really good at chores, shouldn’t take too long, unlike… Nevermind. Bye.”

Well, now that the voicemail was done, she should answer the door. It felt a bit scary walking down the stairs but now she wasn’t as scared. She was at the front door, a voice started speaking, it was Aubrey!

“Hey Mari? Are you there? Do you remember me? It’s Aubrey! The one who did girl nights with you and stuff like that? So uh… I saw the “for sale” sign in front of your house… Turns out you're moving soon… so, do you wanna hang out again? For old times sake? It’ll be like the fun girl days we had back then!” She should see her friends again, a girl's day doesn’t sound too bad either. Mari opened the door.

Aubrey was as tall as her, maybe even a bit taller, she still had the brown hair that went down to her shoulders, Mari felt bad about not dyeing her hair along with Aubrey now. She looked nice and clean, unlike her, her hair was probably a mess, her clothes might be a bit dirty as well, maybe she should’ve cleaned up before going outside, she doesn’t want to leave a bad impression for Aubrey. The sunlight was harsh, it was really bright and took a while to get used to. She looked so shocked to see her. Aubrey ran straight up to her and hugged her tightly.

“It’s been so long Mari! You came out! You came out! …… I… didn’t really expect you to come out, so I don’t really know what to do… Oh! I have an idea! I was going to meet up with Kel later at HOBEEZ so why don’t we just hang out at the park and then meet up with Kel?” Mari nodded. “Alright then! Let’s go!” Aubrey took her by the arm and started running really fast. She might hit something.

“Aubrey, slow down, You might hit someone.” Aubrey looked back at her, ah, maybe she shouldn’t have said that, she seemed like she was having fun as well…

“Ah! I didn’t realise, you're still so smart Mari! It feels like you never changed! We’re at the park now by the way.” that quick? No enemies along the way? “Hey, how about we sit down on a bench, it’s been so long, how have you been doing Mari? I've been- wait a minute, is that Basil...? And... what’s he doing to Kel? C’mon Mari let’s go!”

“What the heck Basil! Why do you have garden shears!?! That’s dangerous y’know!”

“Don’t talk about Mari. I don’t want anything to do with her after what she did!!” What was going on? Kel and Basil usually never fought. And why did Basil seem angry at her? He doesn’t… ah, nevermind.

“Something wrong?” Aubrey asked,

Basil quickly responded, “Yes Aubrey! I- It’s- wait… M- Mari? You're here…? Wow… it really is you... How long has it been since what you did? Two years? Maybe three? Must have been nice dealing with it so easily...”

“Hey c’mon Basil! Mari’s probably had it really rough you know!”

What happened to Basil? Why does he have black hair? He looks completely different.

“I don’t care! Just… leave me alone… it’s been rough on me as well… I’m going back to the church…” …Basil started walking away, they all didn't say anything for a while. “...Well... I guess we can all go to HOBEEZ now since you’re here Kel. By the way are you okay? did you get hurt at all?”

“It's fine! He didn't hit me, I'll race you to HOBEEZ!” And just like that, they bolted off. Mari tried to keep up with them as they went into HOBEEZ. “By the way Mari, it’s so cool to see you! You and Hero used to be dating right? Hero’s almost going to college soon, So I thought you guys could help me pick out a goodbye gift for him! Since he’s going to be a doctor… maybe I could get him… some medicine?”

“You’re such a fucking idiot you know that Kel?”

It'd been so long since she was last here, but it didn’t seem to change that much. Everything she loved, captain sweetheart comics, some pet rocks, plushies… and some books as well. Maybe Hero would like a book. Mari walked over to the book stand after spacing out a little bit, nothing of interest, a few fantasy novels, Yaoi manga? A few cookbooks… hey, maybe a cookbook would be okay? Picking up the book, she saw that it was a limited edition “PAPA-CHIPS CHIP OFF THE BLOCK CHIPPED OFF THE BLOCK CHIPPING OFF THE BLOCK COOKBOOK!” Wow that's a mouthful, who made these names?? These were so rare back then, now it was sitting here collecting dust.

“Wow, thanks a lot Mari! You were always kinda good at this sort of stuff! Hero would love this! Man I can't wait to try his cooking! he hasn't cooked in a while now.”

Aubrey interrupted him, “hold on a sec Kel, what’s the price tag on that?”

“I was just about to check it, chill out Aubrey, let’s see here… 20$!?! Dang, How rare are these things??”

“Ooh… tough luck Kel, cus I ain’t helping you pay for it.”

“Ah shoot! I forgot my wallet! Mari? Can you help me out? Pleaseeeeee! I’ll pay you back! Promise!”

“We all know you’re not going to pay it back, Mari, you don’t have to pay for it if you don-” she nodded. Might as well, she had some money to spare. Kel hyped up in excitement, “let’s go!! Thanks a lot Mari! I knew I could count on you! Unlike someone here…”

She quickly paid for it before things escalated and walked out of HOBEEZ. Just then kel's phone rang, she pulled out a flip phone. Since when did he have that? It looked old and used, it made a small buzzing noise when he opened it as well. He stepped away to pick it up.

—-------”kay’ sorry, bye.”

“My mom wants me home right now, Hero’s having a hard time with Sally. Oh! Yeah! Later I’ll introduce you to Sally, kay’ Mari? She’s my lil sis.” Kel explained sadly, she didn’t realize until now but looking at Kel, he looked around 6 feet now, way taller than she was. She probably looked really short and messy, she should clean herself up later, she can’t be a bad influence to them! She’s their older sister figure after all! She started getting lost in thought when Aubrey interrupted her train of thoughts.

“Whatever Kel, let’s just drop you off at your place kay’? Say hi to Hero for me alright?”

“Will do!”

They walked along, chatting, (pretty much just Kel and Aubrey bickering about pickles) until they reached Kel’s house.

"thanks for walking me back guys!" Kel said as Mari was petting their dog, she didn't want to let it go.

"no problem, hey, if you got any problems, let me know kay'?"

Kel perked up when Aubrey said that, "actually... if you could... there is something that's been bothering me..."

"if it's from a lack of Orange Joe then I'm not helping."

"no! it's not! And Orange Joe is good anyway! It's just that... Basil gave me his photo album to hold onto a few years back but he suddenly took it back without reason. I mean, it's his, but I just don't really get why he took it back in the first place, I gave it to Hero for a little while, so I know he took care of it but still..."

that was strange... Basil usually wouldn't do something like that. Aubrey seemed to be thinking, when she remembered, "Basil mentioned that he was at the church right? I'll just ask him, it's no biggie." "thanks a lot Aubs! I gotta go take care of Sally before mom yells at me, you know what she's like." and... he's gone, just like that, time to head over to the church then.

Chapter Text

it took a little trial and error before she made it there. Aubrey seemed a tiny bit distracted while they were walking. the church was nice and clean, just like it always was. "I actually come here sometimes... this is around the time where they do a sermon right? Maybe we shouldn't interrupt this..." well, there's no time like the present right? Mari deciced to walk right on in. "wow! I... really didn't expect you to just walk in like that, look! Basil's over there! we can just sit right behind him." Aubrey said whispering, trying to be as quiet as they possibly could, they went behind Basil and tried to get his attention. "Basil! can you hear me?" Basil got startled and turned around, "w-what are you guys doing here?"

"Hey Basil, we were wondering why you took back the photo album you gave Kel, I don't think he did anything wrong with it, why'd you take it anyway?"

"he's still upset about that? It's my album a-anyway, I- it's none of your business okay?" Aubrey gave a frown, "c'mon Basil! we're friends! It is our business! Sunny would be sad to hear you say that y'know?"

"...He's dead Aubrey. I won't ever hear him again."

Aubrey stopped talking for a second, "Sorry about that... but seriously though, I know you're mad about what happened but you have to move on...!" ...

...

...

"...When... Sunny died... we were all mourning, it was hard on all of us! I was really angry about it before...we were just kids..."

"It's not that simple Aubrey, it might've been for you but it's not to me okay..."

"I know that but even if Kel is an idiot, he didn't do anything to the photo album! It was really special to him to have it!"

"I-It was important to all of us Aubrey! Your so persistent... w- when Sunny died... you and Kel seemed to move on so fast... He was my best friend... there really didn't seem to have many people who really cared... I- I still come here every week... with all that has happened... I- I just want some peace for once! We've barely talked in- in like what... a year and a half? A lot changes... You and Mari can't just come back like nothing happened!!"

Mari was shocked. She didn't know what to say, or if she should say anything at all. Basil almost never got angry at anything. Aubrey was trying to calm him down, "Basil... c'mon, I get your angry but still... I'm sorry okay... I really should've been there more when Sunny died..."

Basil looked at them before standing up. "y- you know what... no. I-I don't want to talk to you guys!" he started walking out. Aubrey blocked his path with Mari following behind. "Wait! Basil! where are you going! at least tell us why you took the photo album back from Kel!" she could hear the church peoples whispers among the building. "Kel? isn't that the man which Basil sometimes bullies? I hear he doesn't do it often... but now he's stealing?"

Now Basil looked even more pissed off then he was before. "......I'm seen as the bad guy here huh..."

Basil was pulling out his gardening shears, whispers from the church echoed loudly.

"look at his clothes... their all dirtied up... such disrespect in a church like this..."

"I can't believe he would pull out a weapon in here!"

Aubrey was going up to Basil when he shoved her to the ground. "Just... Leave me alone..." Basil started crying a little bit. The church people never stopped whispering, she doubted they even knew they could hear them.

"Ever since his friend died, he's been so angry... such a sweet boy turning so moody and disrespectful. I feel bad for his caretaker."

Basil ran out, with Mari and Aubrey trying to catch up to him. Aubrey tried calling out to him but he didn't respond, he just ran to his house, still crying, threw the album on the ground and told them to just give it to Kel. they tried knocking on the door but Basil didn't respond. Aubrey tried throwing a small rock at his window but he didn't come out. Aubrey tried to stay positive,

"well, at least we have the photo album, he did say to give it back to Kel, so... let's go there now then. and hey! we still got some time in the day to hang out! once we return we could get some snacks and go to the park! Let's go Mari!"

Aubrey was practically dragging her along, she always was full of energy. They got to Kel's house really fast as Aubrey rang the doorbell, Mari was still petting their dog. Kel's mom answered with Kel holding Sally right behind her. "hey Mrs. Desoto! Hey Kel! we got the photo album, Basil said to give to you."

"seriously? he just gave it back? I thought he wanted it or something, I'll take care of it though! don't worry!" Kel's mom looked back at him, "Kel! why didn't you tell me that friends were coming over! And Mari! your here! look at you! Why don't you both stay over for dinner? I always make too much when I'm cooking with Hero, please, come on in!"

"I was feeling kinda hungry anyway, it's free food, what do you say Mari?" she nodded, she hasn't really ate anything yet.

"Sounds good" She said with a smile.

"Hey Aubs, you got the photo album right? why don't we look through it? it'll be a while before my mom and Hero finishes cooking." they both nodded, it'd been a while, and the photo album was always nice to look through.

new photo ideas:

"Happy birthday Kel! Hero made an Orange Joe cake for him! when I tried it though... Hero's cooking is always amazing but Orange joe in cake...? it... left me with a stomach ache for a few hours."

"Mari took a photo of me on the floor, Aubrey was trying to make me feel better, I should really keep better track of my things though..."

"Aubrey got a set of keychains! she gave one to all of us! I got a cute watermelon one!"

"Kel was walking down the road really late at night with Sunny! Too bad I couldn't get Sunny in the photo though. I wonder what their doing so late at night? I should get to bed soon though."

The photos were always so cute, all their memories were in here. But something seemed to be wrong, Aubrey noticed it too. "hey... a lot of the photos are missing! you think Basil kept them to himself?"

"they're his photos, but still, it'd be nice to have them back... maybe we could ask him tomorrow? Hey, look! we've both grown like... a foot since we last saw the album! isn't that cool! Maybe I'll finally be the taller brother this year! ......Hey Mari? do you want the photo album? I mean, I probably didn't take care of it the best if Basil took it from me, but you always good at taking care of stuff! besides, you could probably use it more than I did since you're moving away soon."

"KEL! DINNER'S READY!" Hero's voice yelled out, Kel bolted to the dinner table, there were mashed potatos and steak, she walking over with Aubrey and Kel already eating.

"oh! hey Hero! forgot to mention, Aubrey and Mari are here!" Hero was walking over, he seemed really surprised. "......Mari's here...?"

Aubrey spoke up, "yeah! by the way, she's moving in three days, thought you already knew but... yeah. So, we're all hanging out before then!" Hero jolted in shock and started trembling a bit, "oh... Is she? um... please excuse me... I have to go to the bathroom..."

That's weird, she should check up on him. she knocked on the bathroom, hearing Hero's voice, only to find out it was unlocked. Hero seemed to be talking to himself. "it'll be alright, everything's gonna be alright. Oh.. it's you Mari, I'm glad your here... you remember what happened? Don't worry... I'm your Hero... I'll protect you from it, Please don't leave us-"

She walked right out, closing the door behind her. When she walking out, she was greeted by Aubrey. "Hey there Mari! it's getting pretty late so we should go home, we can hang out tomorrow as well! Mrs. Desoto! If you need something, you know where to find me! See ya later!"

Kel and his mom waved them off before they walked out, Aubrey walked Mari to her house. "It was great to see you Mari! Hey, how about we hang out again in the morning? I'll come back, don't worry, night Mari!" "Sweet dreams Aubrey...!" And she was off, she should head to bed, it's not good for her to be up this late.

She walked into the house, it was dark, and spider webs seemed to be everywhere. MARI BECAME AFRAID. there were so many spiders everywhere. she has to get rid of them, walking up the stairs, she saw that something was there. spider legs seemed to be getting closer to her as something appeared in front of her. she tried to calm down and think rationally, she tried to attack but she couldn't get rid of it. Were there any ways to get rid of the spiders? She can't let what happened happen again. something was entangling her in spider webs, she felt powerless and slow. Something called out to her.

"Remember what you said to me? Block out the small things, and figure out what's important!" YOU LEARNED HOW TO FOCUS!

she focused, it wasn't as bad as she thought, it's still late, she has to get herself to bed. Looking around the dark room, with nothing around her except for small potted plants. She slowly drifted off into sleep.

Chapter Text

she's back in white space, the lightbulb seeming to be leaking out even more than before. she's really worried about her friends, it'd been a while, they could have gotten themselves in danger, she walked through the door.

"Hey Hikki! Your back! What'd I tell you Kel? Hikki will always show up when we need her! So don't worry!"

"Now that your here, we should go and look for Hero! C'mon let's go!"

"Meow? (going out Hikki? Here's your allowance.)"

YOU GOT 150 SEASHELLS!

She should check up on Sunny before they leave, Sunny might know where Hero is as well. Before she even got to the picnic blanket Sunny ran up to her and hugged her. "Hikki... Don't worry me like that... I thought you would've gone missing as well... my heart can't take that...!" She promised herself never to leave Sunny behind ever again. she shouldn't worry him too much, she can't hurt her baby brother like that! "Is there still no sign of Hero...? I couldn't find any clues of where he went..."

"W-we're not sure yet... we've looked for him everywhere! A-and we couldn't find anything! what if he got into trouble!?"

"I don't know... I honestly miss him a lot... Him rambling about cooking all the time, messing around with us, I miss my big bro."

"Still... we haven't checked everywhere... we should still be able to find him...! Hero would probably want us to be positive."

"Sunny's right guys! But... where haven't we checked actually?"

"O- Oh! I- I think I know a place! there should be a forest west of here right?"

"Isn't that the forest with a bunch of spiders there? Why would Hero ever be there?"

"C'mon Aubs! we have to least try! You can't back out now!"

"Fine!"

Going back up to the tree stump, they noticed a bunch of sprout moles up there, they said something about... tickets? To something? Kel asked them about it, "Hey! just wondering, what are those tickets for?"

"thief! he's going to steal our tickets! we must protect our tickets from others! otherwise we'll never get front row seats! ATTACK!!!"

3 minutes of beating up sprout moles and Hikki yeeting one into the atmosphere, they ran off, dropping their tickets behind them. Looking at the back, the name seemed quite familiar... "Prince charming? Isn't that captain sweethearts ex? y'know, the person who was a coward and hid behind us?"

"H-hey! K-Kel! Don't call people that! Well... Do you guys think hero went to see a show...? I think it should be right past Pyrefly forest! let's head over now!"

It wasn't too far of a walk luckily, with a small spider web blocking her from entering. She could feel the spiders crawling up her legs as she got closer. what if they're poisonous?!? Or even worse, they could bite their skin off!! She can't risk this, she can't do this, maybe they shouldn't have ever gone here-

"Hikki! Don't worry, we'll be right here if you ever need us kay'?"

"y-yeah! If you ever need help, we'll be right behind you!"

As worrying it was, knowing her friends would be okay made her feel better, maybe... they would all be okay... She could protect them... and if they find Hero... everything could go back to the way it was... taking a slow, deep breath, she cut the spider web.

"Man this place is dusty ain't it Hikki? HEY AUBREY!!! THERE'S A SPIDER IN YOUR HAIR!!!"

"WHAT? WHERE IS IT??? GET IT OFF!!!"

"I'm just messing with ya Aubrey." Aubrey grumbled. "H-hey Aubrey...? don't worry! spiders aren't as dangerous as you think! l- look! I've got one in my hand, I- it doesn't bite, I promise! they only bite when they feel threatened, even then most of the time they're harmless, I'll be here if you ever scared!"

"aw, thanks a lot Basil! unlike someone here..."

Aubrey and Kel continued their bickering as she was following a set of railtracks she'd found, it seemed to lead towards a... thing? a blue lump of... thing? It was rock hard, she tried to hit it with her shovel. nothing happened, and she got a small web stuck on it as well. "Lemme try Hikki! I've got my bat! I got this! HEY KEL!!! Watch and learn!" she and Basil encouraged Aubrey, using all her power, she hit with all her might!

......... Wow. She didn't even make a dent. Meanwhile Kel was rolling on the ground dying of laughter. "HAHAHA!! ALL THAT TALK AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN MAKE A DENT!"

"WHY DON'T YOU TRY IT KEL??? SEE IF YOU CAN DO BETTER!"

"G-guys! Stop fighting! l-let's just find a different way to get across! I saw a railroad track but it was really far away, we might as well try!"

Basil took the lead and Hikki cut the spider web blocking their path, with Sunny sitting on a picnic blanket. "hey Sunny! What's up? Mind if we grab some stuff? there were a lot of spiders back there!"

"huh? ...uh...yeah, sure... don't ever mention the spiders again... they terrify me..."

Sunny had a lot of nice stuff at the picnic blanket, along with some cookies he made himself, they were a bit burnt, but they were made with love, which was all that mattered. Getting the tracks were hard though, spiders following them everywhere, teleporting them back, so much so that Basil got a little bit motion sick... But at least they made it through.

After placing every railroad track down, they squished together into the little grey cart, it took a while for them to pick up speed before it slowly kicked in that they were going very, VERY FAST, and crashed right into the blue wall, sending them flying forward and crashing into the ground, as Sunny watched in horror as they plowed through the ground from the picnic blanket he was sitting at.

"are you okay...? You flew really far...!"

they all got up and she started to dust off her dress, "don't worry about me." They all nodded, "Yeah! we're perfectly fine Sunny! We got through that creepy forest!"

"...You sure about that?"

Basil was clutching onto his stomach for dear life, turns out he had mild motion sickness. 5 minutes later and a lot of pillows and back rubs Basil finally started to seem better. "Basil are you feeling better now?"

"I'm fine... thanks a lot Sunny, if it wasn't for your pillows it would've hurt a lot more."

"Now that you're better, let's go to prince charmings show and see if Hero's there!"

"oh yeah! What was the show called by the way?"

"Prince Charming's quest for Sweethearts!"

Chapter Text

Kel was already running towards the opera trying to get a head start, it was massive, even bigger than the entire playground! There was no time to lose though, they had to find Hero and bring him back. The path to the opera was tiled perfectly, pristine and clean, she looked up to see sprout moles kicking Kel as he hit them with his basketball. There was a sign that said, "THIS IS PRINCE CHARMING'S PERFECT ROAD! THE PRINCE CHARMING FANCLUB LIVES HERE! IF YOU STEP ON IT WE'LL CUT YOUR HEADS OFF!!!"

It was poorly written, like it was drawn by a five year old, the terrible writing annoyed her. It didn't look good at all and there were mistakes everywhere.

They walked on ahead anyways ignoring the sign and having fangirl sprout moles attack them a lot before finally making it to the opera. It didn't even look like an opera, it was a huge castle that seemed like it was plucked straight out of movie. Even so, the castle was off, the rooms were randomly placed in weird ways that were floating that annoyed Hikki to no end. Aubrey took a moment to look at the castle, she had a shiny sparkle in her eye that glinted like a mini sun.

"This thing looks so cool! c'mon! let's go in! I wanna see the inside!"

Before she could go in she bumped into a stop sign, there was a small sprout mole at a ticket booth.

"hold on weird looking sprout moles! This is Prince Charming's opera of romance! do you have tickets on you?"

Hikki gladly showed the sprout mole the tickets, if she had Kel or Aubrey keep them they might have lost them. The sprout mole jumped in joy and opened the gates for them.

"Wow! Check it out guys! Hey Basil! check ou- wait, Basil? where'd you go? BASILLLLL!!!"

Basil quickly appeared in front of Kel while profusely apologizing.

"S- sorry Kel, I didn't mean to make you guys worry... I- I'm sorry, I was checking out the flowers they had, I'd never seen them in real life... B- but still! I- I'm really sorry about that!"

Kel gave him a pat on the back and told him not to worry, while Aubrey started dragging them along to see the show, who knew she'd like this cheesy romance show so much? Not only that, but they had front row tickets as well! There were posters everywhere earlier, and it looked like so much fun! Aubrey quickly dragged them to their seats as the lights dimmed and the show started. A sprout mole came out from behind the curtain started speaking.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! WELCOME TO THE BEST, MOST WONDERFUL, AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL, HANDSOME, FANTASTIC, MIND BLOWING, AND EVERY OTHER WORD FOR GREAT SHOW OF PRINCE CHARMING'S QUEST FOR SWEETHEARTS! WHERE PRINCE CHARMING TRIES TO FIND SOMEONE WHO'S WORTHY OF HIM! LAST TIME, PRINCE CHARMING WAS CHARMED BY CAPTAIN SWEETHEART! WHO DIVORCED HIM BRUTALLY! So the show is airing again... Poor prince charming... a- anyways, we have three new attractive contestants! Will they be able to charm Prince Charming's heart? Well, let's see!" Hikki flinched at the sudden bright lights going off, as a spotlight quickly went towards a sprout mole walking onto the stage with some jazz music as well.

"We welcome our first guest! An illegal local of Prince Charming's road! Coming at around 3.5 feet tall, favourite thing is Prince Charming fanart and is known as the 31# Prince Charming fangirl! Give it up for contestant #1!" They seemed nice, had some fan merch on but compared to the sprout moles that RUDLY attacked her friends, she seemed nicer.

"Our second contestant is 1265# Prince Charming's fangirl! She dedicated her entire life and personatilty to being a fangirl and got kicked out of her parent's house! And for our third contestant, we have... Captain sweetheart? Wait... when'd she become a sprout mole? Moving on! It's time everyone! DIM THE LIGHTS!"

As the lights started dimming, Basil saw something from up above, "h-hey guys? I- I think that the sign there is a- a bit loose? I think..." Just as he said that, the sign fell down on contestant three. crushing her. They quickly shut off the lights as a sprout mole with a candle quickly scanned the room, as they dragged the sprout moles body across the floor, leaving a barely noticable trail of sprout mole blood.

locking eyes with Hikki. the sprout mole quickly dashed right up to her and started jumping.

"yes... yes... this one will do quite well... hair... check... clothes... could be better... alright! Hello ma'am! We are in need of help! would you be so kind to help out a lowly sprout mole such as myself?" The sprout mole had a sparkle in it's eye, it asked so nicely, it reminded her of someone, she didn't want to refuse them, but she didn't want to leave her friends behind, what if they got lonely without her? she's their big sister! she shouldn't leave them!

"If your wondering about your friends right here, you won't have to worry! they'll see you soon enough." well, in that case, she should help them out then. she nodded, the sprout mole lit up, "Thank you madam! if you would just follow me, the rest of you go sit back down!"

she was dragged along backstage, and filled out some random form she didn't even know what it was for, until the lights came back on giving her a headache, until they pushed her on stage as they started the show again.

"EVERYONE! because of an... accident... we have a new contestant #3! Coming from somewhere we don't know... it's our wonderful lady! Get this everyone... She has a perfectly clean white dress with flowy locks of hair who bakes and can clean! If that isn't a proper lady I don't know who is!"

...

...

wait what? She's a contestant??? She looked over to her friends who looked very scared and worried as she was silently panicing inside. "EVERYONE! Please welcome the best person in the world... PRINCE CHARMING!!" the curtains flew open to meet Prince charming sitting on a sofa filled with roses.

"We have brought the finest ladies in the land for you today! Will you find someone who charms your heart? but firstly... we must make sure your up to the task! contestant one... will you stay with Prince charming? forever and ever?"

"OF COURSE I WILL! I LOVE YOU PRINCE CHARMING I HAVE ALL YOUR MERCH!!!!" Prince charming didn't seem to feel the same.

"hmm... your not that tall, and you don't even have half of the beauty that Captain Sweetheart does! TAKE HER INTO THE DUNGEON!" guard sprout moles that pretty much came from thin air walked over and took her away, with the sprout mole yelling in protest, while also cursing at them, she really thought that she'd be nicer than the others, guess not.

"alright then! contestant #2! Will you stay with Prince charming, forever and ever?" The sprout mole was bouncing up and down with giddiness, "I'VE BEEN I FAN OF YOU SO LONG PRINCE CHARMING OF COURSE I WILL!" Prince Charming seemed annoyed at her and rolled his eyes. "She sounds annoying, TAKE HER TO THE DUNGEON!!" Hikki looked back at her friends, Kel was biting his nails, Basil was shaking, and Aubrey was already taking out her bat.

"It seems the contestants have failed to charm you! but we still have one left! contestant three, will you stay with Prince charming? Forever and ever?" she really didn't want to, she had her own life, and already had a boyfriend as well. "no thanks, I'm okay." Prince Charming lit up when he saw her.

"well, well, look at you! you look very pretty madam! and before, you were very strong, could you be the one for me?" the crowd cheered, "would you look at that! how amazing! has someone... charmed Prince charming?" She tried to protest "I never said-" "NONSENSE! you are perfect! what is your name?"

"It's Hikki..."

"Ms. Hikki huh? I HAVE FOUND THE PERFECT LADY! GUARDS! TAKE HER AWAY!" some guards came up to her, her friends yelled out to Prince charming.

"HEY! Your not taking Hikki away from us you pedofly!"

"uh... Kel... do you mean a pedophile?" Since when did they learn what a pedophile was???

"yeah! she's our big sister! C'mon Hikki! reject him! You know you can do better than him!" It was kind of flattering that her friends thought so highly of her, but she didn't want to be with Prince Charming. she spoke up. "sorry Prince charming, But I don't want to date you."

...

...

...

"HOW DARE YOU ALL!?! NOBODY, AND I MEAN NOBODY, REJECTS ME! GUARDS! TAKE THEM TO THE DUNGEON!!!! NOW!!"

The crowd of fangirls yelled at them, and cursed at them as the guards scooped them up and threw them into the dungeon, except for Hikki, she was put down gently. She was the reason they were in this mess now.

"sorry everyone.." they reassured her, "don't sweat it! c'mon! let's just find a way out!" Kel tried pushing the door, and somehow, the guards forgot to lock it. Basil was still trembling, and Kel and Aubrey were just moving on like nothing happened.

"Alright! let's see how we can get out of this place!"

Chapter Text

"You said we should get out of here right? I mean, how are we supposed to find our way out?"

"Well, you won't know till be try! C'mon! let's-" "WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT OF YOUR CELLS!?! YOU DISRESPECT OUR PRINCE AND YOU SHALL SUFFER!" Great. A sprout mole guard. and... there's more of them... and more... wait... are they even guards!? These aren't even official guards! Their just Prince Charming fans who were rioting againist them! It took them forever to deal with all of them! She was lucky she had kept some healing items in her bag! Getting some snacks from Sunny really helped out!

"There. All done." she said in a monotone voice, but that wouldn't be the last of their problems. The dungeon was hard to navigate and Hikki had tagged Kel as the leader, meaning now that they were more lost than before, they looked around for a little bit, let's see, a lever, a red button... some candy... wait, hold on, is that fanart? Even in the dungeon, Prince charming kept fanart of himself here? Was he trying to mock them? All the running around made her dizzy though, so they took a break, and hey, there were many glasses on milk lined up, they might as well grab it if it's here.

"Kel? Aren't you going to grab some milk?"

"Yeah Kel, Don't you need to heal up?

"But... I don't like milk..."

"Well suck it up Kel! Just drink the stupid milk!"

"Noooo! Aubrey! I don't want the milk!"

*Aubrey forcefully shoves the milk to Kel

While Kel was sliently cursing Aubrey in the corner, Hikki slowly started try to figure out how to get out, maybe the doors are colour coded? They walked around for a long time, for some reason Sunny was here too, turns out some fangirl just dragged him onto the show around 1 minute after they had gone to the dungeon, even though the show was for girls. Luckily Sunny had some pro tis to help them get out, or so he said anyways.

"The levers aren't actually colour coded... I saw a sprout mole click one and get sent into a pitfall... I didn't want to move after that..." He shuddered, as if he was going to die.

"W-wait, hold on... H-how do you know all this...?"

"I overheard a guard, they were really loud as well... There's a black lever on the other side, where you can open the exit."

Oh. Well that's a lot easier-

"There's charcoal black... black... jet black.. licorice.. Onyx.. coal.. and jade, the exit is Jet black."

What. The. Actual. Fuck. Wait, no, heck, no swearing, she shouldn't swear, she's doesn't know shades of black! Sunny only knows that because he wants to be an artist! At least he has a sample of what it looks like, because when they got to the levers, they couldn't tell the difference, they all looked the same.

"How are we supposed to figure this out!?!"

"c-c'mon Kel, I-I'm sure we'll find a way out!" Basil said, Although he didn't sound confident

"But how are we going to do that...? OH! HOLD ON! I just got the best idea!"

*Kel filps down a random lever ...

"WHAT THE HECK KEL! WE COULD'VE DIED!!"

"oops"

Thank god nothing happened, she wouldn't know what to do if her friends got hurt because she wasn't watching them, that would be a nightmare! Maybe she should just pull the lever herself... "Step back guys."

...

well would you look at that! Second time is the charm after all! There were sprout moles at the top though... in a huge line...? Whatever it was, they couldn't go out... Well, she could always ask Sunny for help, he always had a lot on his mind but never said much, Hikki was sure he had a bunch of stored wisdom to share with them! She went back down to find Sunny, and he gave them sprout mole masks to fit in, turns out they're not that smart because they fell for it! at the end of the line was... Prince Charming...?

"No, too posh for me, next, no, too short, why is it that the is no one who is the right person for me...? WHY CAN'T I FIND TRUE LOVE??" he said in a whiny tone, and... now he's on the floor, being overly dramatic.

"Sir... please don't cause a scene... I don't get paid enough for this..." Hikki felt bad for the sprout mole waiter, but she was in a situation of her own.

"No... I shall find an answer! FOR I AM THE GREAT PRINCE CHARMING!!" Now he's switched to 'hero' mode, standing on the table with his sword looking like an idiot while his fans cheered.

"...Does anyone else think he looks stupid?"

"K-Kel! That's mean! Don't say that!" Basil said in a frantic tone.

"I mean... he has a point..."

"wow... Aubrey... do we agree on something?! that's amazing!"

"let me think of an answer..." Prince charming was no sitting back down.

... ... ... ...

"Uh... pardon me, Prince charming? have you thought of an-" "I GOT IT!!!"

Prince charming swiped a microphone off a sprout mole announcers...Paws...? Feet...? anyways, and made an announcement. "IF THERE ISN'T A PERSON FIT FOR ME, I SHALL MARRY MYSELF!!"

"Sir, that's the stupidest-"

"MAIDS!!!! PREPARE THE WEDDING! CHOP CHOP! ANYONE WHO DOESN'T COME TO THE WEDDING WILL BE PUNISHED!!"

"I'm quitting my job after this..."

Hikki was then greeted by a sprout mole tapping on her leg. "We're having trouble creating a cake! please help us!!!" They didn't have anything better to do, so they went along with the bakers, and hey! They got fancy chef hats too!

"You said we should get out of here right? I mean, how are we supposed to find our way out?"

"Well, you won't know till be try! C'mon! let's-" "WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT OF YOUR CELLS!?! YOU DISRESPECT OUR PRINCE AND YOU SHALL SUFFER!" Great. A sprout mole guard. and... there's more of them... and more... wait... are they even guards!? These aren't even official guards! Their just Prince Charming fans who were rioting againist them! It took them forever to deal with all of them! She was lucky she had kept some healing items in her bag! Getting some snacks from Sunny really helped out!

"There. All done." she said in a monotone voice, but that wouldn't be the last of their problems. The dungeon was hard to navigate and Hikki had tagged Kel as the leader, meaning now that they were more lost than before, they looked around for a little bit, let's see, a lever, a red button... some candy... wait, hold on, is that fanart? Even in the dungeon, Prince charming kept fanart of himself here? Was he trying to mock them? All the running around made her dizzy though, so they took a break, and hey, there were many glasses on milk lined up, they might as well grab it if it's here.

"Kel? Aren't you going to grab some milk?"

"Yeah Kel, Don't you need to heal up?

"But... I don't like milk..."

"Well suck it up Kel! Just drink the stupid milk!"

"Noooo! Aubrey! I don't want the milk!"

*Aubrey forcefully shoves the milk to Kel

While Kel was sliently cursing Aubrey in the corner, Hikki slowly started try to figure out how to get out, maybe the doors are colour coded? They walked around for a long time, for some reason Sunny was here too, turns out some fangirl just dragged him onto the show around 1 minute after they had gone to the dungeon, even though the show was for girls. Luckily Sunny had some pro tis to help them get out, or so he said anyways.

"The levers aren't actually colour coded... I saw a sprout mole click one and get sent into a pitfall... I didn't want to move after that..." He shuddered, as if he was going to die.

"W-wait, hold on... H-how do you know all this...?"

"I overheard a guard, they were really loud as well... There's a black lever on the other side, where you can open the exit."

Oh. Well that's a lot easier-

"There's charcoal black... black... jet black.. licorice.. Onyx.. coal.. and jade, the exit is Jet black."

What. The. Actual. Fuck. Wait, no, heck, no swearing, she shouldn't swear, she's doesn't know shades of black! Sunny only knows that because he wants to be an artist! At least he has a sample of what it looks like, because when they got to the levers, they couldn't tell the difference, they all looked the same.

"How are we supposed to figure this out!?!"

"c-c'mon Kel, I-I'm sure we'll find a way out!" Basil said, Although he didn't sound confident

"But how are we going to do that...? OH! HOLD ON! I just got the best idea!"

*Kel filps down a random lever ...

"WHAT THE HECK KEL! WE COULD'VE DIED!!"

"oops"

Thank god nothing happened, she wouldn't know what to do if her friends got hurt because she wasn't watching them, that would be a nightmare! Maybe she should just pull the lever herself... "Step back guys."

...

well would you look at that! Second time is the charm after all! There were sprout moles at the top though... in a huge line...? Whatever it was, they couldn't go out... Well, she could always ask Sunny for help, he always had a lot on his mind but never said much, Hikki was sure he had a bunch of stored wisdom to share with them! She went back down to find Sunny, and he gave them sprout mole masks to fit in, turns out they're not that smart because they fell for it! at the end of the line was... Prince Charming...?

"No, too posh for me, next, no, too short, why is it that the is no one who is the right person for me...? WHY CAN'T I FIND TRUE LOVE??" he said in a whiny tone, and... now he's on the floor, being overly dramatic.

"Sir... please don't cause a scene... I don't get paid enough for this..." Hikki felt bad for the sprout mole waiter, but she was in a situation of her own.

"No... I shall find an answer! FOR I AM THE GREAT PRINCE CHARMING!!" Now he's switched to 'hero' mode, standing on the table with his sword looking like an idiot while his fans cheered.

"...Does anyone else think he looks stupid?"

"K-Kel! That's mean! Don't say that!" Basil said in a frantic tone.

"I mean... he has a point..."

"wow... Aubrey... do we agree on something?! that's amazing!"

"let me think of an answer..." Prince charming was no sitting back down.

... ... ... ...

"Uh... pardon me, Prince charming? have you thought of an-" "I GOT IT!!!"

Prince charming swiped a microphone off a sprout mole announcers...Paws...? Feet...? anyways, and made an announcement. "IF THERE ISN'T A PERSON FIT FOR ME, I SHALL MARRY MYSELF!!"

"Sir, that's the stupidest-"

"MAIDS!!!! PREPARE THE WEDDING! CHOP CHOP! ANYONE WHO DOESN'T COME TO THE WEDDING WILL BE PUNISHED!!"

"I'm quitting my job after this..."

Hikki was then greeted by a sprout mole tapping on her leg. "We're having trouble creating a cake! please help us!!!" They didn't have anything better to do, so they went along with the bakers, and hey! They got fancy chef hats too!

"You said we should get out of here right? I mean, how are we supposed to find our way out?"

"Well, you won't know till be try! C'mon! let's-" "WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT OF YOUR CELLS!?! YOU DISRESPECT OUR PRINCE AND YOU SHALL SUFFER!" Great. A sprout mole guard. and... there's more of them... and more... wait... are they even guards!? These aren't even official guards! Their just Prince Charming fans who were rioting againist them! It took them forever to deal with all of them! She was lucky she had kept some healing items in her bag! Getting some snacks from Sunny really helped out!

"There. All done." she said in a monotone voice, but that wouldn't be the last of their problems. The dungeon was hard to navigate and Hikki had tagged Kel as the leader, meaning now that they were more lost than before, they looked around for a little bit, let's see, a lever, a red button... some candy... wait, hold on, is that fanart? Even in the dungeon, Prince charming kept fanart of himself here? Was he trying to mock them? All the running around made her dizzy though, so they took a break, and hey, there were many glasses on milk lined up, they might as well grab it if it's here.

"Kel? Aren't you going to grab some milk?"

"Yeah Kel, Don't you need to heal up?

"But... I don't like milk..."

"Well suck it up Kel! Just drink the stupid milk!"

"Noooo! Aubrey! I don't want the milk!"

*Aubrey forcefully shoves the milk to Kel

While Kel was sliently cursing Aubrey in the corner, Hikki slowly started try to figure out how to get out, maybe the doors are colour coded? They walked around for a long time, for some reason Sunny was here too, turns out some fangirl just dragged him onto the show around 1 minute after they had gone to the dungeon, even though the show was for girls. Luckily Sunny had some pro tis to help them get out, or so he said anyways.

"The levers aren't actually colour coded... I saw a sprout mole click one and get sent into a pitfall... I didn't want to move after that..." He shuddered, as if he was going to die.

"W-wait, hold on... H-how do you know all this...?"

"I overheard a guard, they were really loud as well... There's a black lever on the other side, where you can open the exit."

Oh. Well that's a lot easier-

"There's charcoal black... black... jet black.. licorice.. Onyx.. coal.. and jade, the exit is Jet black."

What. The. Actual. Fuck. Wait, no, heck, no swearing, she shouldn't swear, she's doesn't know shades of black! Sunny only knows that because he wants to be an artist! At least he has a sample of what it looks like, because when they got to the levers, they couldn't tell the difference, they all looked the same.

"How are we supposed to figure this out!?!"

"c-c'mon Kel, I-I'm sure we'll find a way out!" Basil said, Although he didn't sound confident

"But how are we going to do that...? OH! HOLD ON! I just got the best idea!"

*Kel filps down a random lever ...

"WHAT THE HECK KEL! WE COULD'VE DIED!!"

"oops"

Thank god nothing happened, she wouldn't know what to do if her friends got hurt because she wasn't watching them, that would be a nightmare! Maybe she should just pull the lever herself... "Step back guys."

...

well would you look at that! Second time is the charm after all! There were sprout moles at the top though... in a huge line...? Whatever it was, they couldn't go out... Well, she could always ask Sunny for help, he always had a lot on his mind but never said much, Hikki was sure he had a bunch of stored wisdom to share with them! She went back down to find Sunny, and he gave them sprout mole masks to fit in, turns out they're not that smart because they fell for it! at the end of the line was... Prince Charming...?

"No, too posh for me, next, no, too short, why is it that the is no one who is the right person for me...? WHY CAN'T I FIND TRUE LOVE??" he said in a whiny tone, and... now he's on the floor, being overly dramatic.

"Sir... please don't cause a scene... I don't get paid enough for this..." Hikki felt bad for the sprout mole waiter, but she was in a situation of her own.

"No... I shall find an answer! FOR I AM THE GREAT PRINCE CHARMING!!" Now he's switched to 'hero' mode, standing on the table with his sword looking like an idiot while his fans cheered.

"...Does anyone else think he looks stupid?"

"K-Kel! That's mean! Don't say that!" Basil said in a frantic tone.

"I mean... he has a point..."

"wow... Aubrey... do we agree on something?! that's amazing!"

"let me think of an answer..." Prince charming was no sitting back down.

... ... ... ...

"Uh... pardon me, Prince charming? have you thought of an-" "I GOT IT!!!"

Prince charming swiped a microphone off a sprout mole announcers...Paws...? Feet...? anyways, and made an announcement. "IF THERE ISN'T A PERSON FIT FOR ME, I SHALL MARRY MYSELF!!"

"Sir, that's the stupidest-"

"MAIDS!!!! PREPARE THE WEDDING! CHOP CHOP! ANYONE WHO DOESN'T COME TO THE WEDDING WILL BE PUNISHED!!"

"I'm quitting my job after this..."

Hikki was then greeted by a sprout mole tapping on her leg. "We're having trouble creating a cake! please help us!!!" They didn't have anything better to do, so they went along with the bakers, and hey! They got fancy chef hats too!

"Don't worry guys, I totally got this!"

"Kel... the last time you baked something you and Sunny almost set a fire..."

"S-So what? I've honed my craft perfectly for this very day!" Kel was standing so confidently and shined so bright Hikki almost let him bake, but she just couldn't, it went so bad last time and her friends might get hurt from the stoves, she would do this. "I'll lead us."

"please Hikki? C'mon! You barely let in into the kitchen!"

"There's a reason for that Kel..."

"I-it's alright Kel! Hikki is great at baking! she'll help us! don't worry."

As soon as Kel opened a bag of flour it got all over his face as Aubrey started rolling on the floor in laughter, "BWHAHAHAHA!! KEL!" meanwhile Basil pulled out his camera. *CLICK!

"wha?? BASIL!!! don't take a photo of me like this!! c'monnnn! take my side in this!"

"Ehehe... S-sorry kel... it was so funny I couldn't help myself!" Hikki took a quick look at the photo, it did look funny, it put a slight smile on her face.

"Whatever..."

"Don't be such a downer Kel! C'mon! Let's get baking! We can do this!!!"