Chapter Text

Chapter 1:

TWS: Character injury, gore

“Im sorry-“ 

Rae coughed between his words, blindly feeling around for a railing to stabilize himself on.

“Im going to step away for a moment i’ll- i’ll be right back..”

Caspian gave a soft glance in his direction, eyes heavy with concern.

Rae quickly shut the door to the side bedroom behind him, his lungs burning from the new intensity of this coughing fit.

“It’s fine, it’s okay, everything-, everything is fine”

Rae consoled himself repeatedly, commonly being interrupted by a painful hack or two. He pulled a healing potion from his pockets. The potions seemed to help usually, but as of late the potions hadn’t seemed to have much effect on his fits. Before he could bring the bauble shaped glass bottle to his shaking lips, he was once again interrupted by a heavy hit of coughs, causing his vison to spot with splotches of black.

Shattering of glass echos throughout the mansion.

Everything goes black.

The ground trembles.

Caspian felt the vibration, and he’s almost certain that everyone else at the party did too. Unfortunately, everyone else seemed too enticed by the games to think much of it.

His gut twists. Something feels very wrong here.

His eyes travel towards the room Rae had entered, and slowly backpedals away from the group towards the doorway.

“Rae?” He softly calls out.

His words are met with a low snarl.

what the hell?

Caspian chose in that moment to ignore all of his instincts and reached for the door handle, but before he could even take hold of the metal, the door was ripped from its hinges.

He’s frozen.

He needs to run.

He cant run.

Why can’t he run?

He stares at the creature in front of him, it towers over him, snarling and growling in such furious manner no one could ignore.

Everyone screaming, running…

It seemed muted in this moment. Caspian remained stagnant, despite the seemingly distant calls of his name.

The only thing he could manage to do was tear his eyes away for a moment to look into the room behind the creature.

Rae was gone.

The only remnants of his presence was the shattered remains of a healing potion, splattered upon the hardwood flooring.

Caspian looked back at the creature again.

He looked just in time to see it swing.

~

 Muffled voices echoed through his ears, glimpses of blurry pines far below him flashed through his fleeting consciousness. He felt warm though. The embrace of familiar arms, their heat washing over him like a campfire.

His back screamed agony, it’s fury coursing through him like a raging flame.

Aax thanked the prince as he was handed the barley-conscious Caspian, and carried him into their house. His hands resting on his partner’s back felt his burning skin, leaving a trail of mixed blistering red and  luminous teal essence that leeched from the wound. He laid his partner on the triple bed, the man’s breathing pained, labored, and very shallow.

~

Rae awoke in the mansion’s doorframe, the intricate stone carvings blocked by pulsing veins of skulk.

His head feels oddly heavy.

He reaches to brush his hands through his ratted hair, finding a large antler, sprouting from his skull. As he looked closer at his hands and skin, the spores sprawled over the surface of his left side, almost encasing his left arm and upper body.

What the hell is happening? Where is everyone?

Rae took a second look at his hands, hazy memories flashing through his mind with haunting familiarity.

No. no. NO.

He was the destruction.

He was the monster.

HE had hurt Caspian.

Suddenly Rae couldn’t breathe. 

The walls of the vast mansion began to close in.

He KNEW what he did. Why couldn’t he stop it?

no. no. NO.

Rae’s lungs felt like they were imploding.

He couldn’t breathe.

So, he ran.

Far, Far away.

~

Rae arrived at a castle on a hill, or, what was left of one. And with stepping inside the gates, he collapsed to his knees. 

He just screamed.

The scientist screamed into the never ending snow untill his throat was nothing more than sandpaper,

Crying into the blackened remains of grass.

He was the one who had been destroying the town.

He. Hurt. Caspian.

Rae crumpled under the immense weight of his own conscience into the cold, wet grass.

“What have I done…?”  the man choked.

For hours he laid in the courtyard, in the charred grass of a castle of a time long passed, and just sobbed.

Chapter Text

Ch. 2: 

TWS: Body Horror, mild violence

Dawn approached over the peaks of the castle’s turrets, it’s bright colored hues muted by the blizzard raging outside the walls. Rae fluttered his eyes out of his derealized state and shot his body forward. For a mere moment, he didn’t remember where he was, or why he was here.

He glanced over at his hands. The teal webbing on his left side reminded him that he was here because he was a danger.

No actually, he was THE danger.

“ I guess i should get out of this sleet before i get even more sick.”

He stumbled to his feet, causiously approaching the looming and partially charred archways. The castle was abandoned, desolate, and very quiet.

Not too empty however.

On the top floor of the castle, a bedroom, seemingly untouched by what he assumed was a fire, decorated with shelves of books and wilted blue orchids in flowerpots scattered throughout the room.

A portrait hung on the wall, a beautiful light blonde woman, crowned with orchids sky blue in color.

He knew that face. That was Orchid. It was a oil portrait of his mother.

“ So she really is a princess huh?  This is your castle?”

He spoke to the portrait, not expecting a response.

So was this his castle too?

“No-“ Rae lightly smacked himself on the forehead.

“This is not the time for selfish pursuit.”

He began to exit the bedroom, but found himself doing a double take at the portrait once again. She was beautiful. Rae rapidly shook his head and quickened his pace, barreling down the very rickety stairway.

~

The cell was cold. Rae slid to the ground against the iron door, defeated. Tightly grasping the lever in his hand, prying it away from the walls and tucking it away with a heavy sigh. 

Rae kneaded his hands and wiped his face. He took another heavy, choppy breath, grazing the purble reflective stone surrounding him.

CLANG.

The metal caves beneath his fist. His gaze travels up to find he had bludgeoned the iron door. His hand throbbed, but the indent left by his brute force enstilled an abhorrence within himself. Faces of friends flashed through his mind, but it was futile in smothering the building hatred within him

~

An icy presence curled it’s talons around his spine, tearing his soul from the form that currently resides in the cell. An overpowering drumming sound pulses through the thick air, making his eardrums throb.

Rae is reduced to only a spectator, obligated to watch the beast ransack the only sense of security he currently had.

His eyes were locked on this monstrosity, gargantuan in size. It’s torso seemingly gouged, with a vile, pulsating organ at its center caged behind prongs of bone. Horns sprawl from its crown, illuminating with every prickle of noise in its vicinity. It’s mouth a gaping cavern, permanently carved into a wretched frown. Traveling up its face, Rae expected to be met with a pair of nefarious eyes, only to be met with…

Wait.

Where the fuck are it’s eyes??

Rae watched as this entity wrecked the cell with such wrath he had never hoped to experience. He gazed in awe at this marvel of nature, this-

What the fuck was he thinking?

This THING. was detrimental to everyone around him.

What the fuck was happening?

Why the hell is it me?

And with that thought, Rae was snagged back in, his body searing in agony as his limbs distort and unravel, reverting back to its original, humanoid form.

Chapter Text

Ch. 3: 

TWS: Panic attack, Self harm/ attempted mutilation

Rae awoke with a sharp gasp for oxygen. The fury within his body only a moment before had evaporated within seconds, leaving behind only an aching sensation.

He simply didn’t understand.

Instinctively, he begins to attempt to clear the remains of the splintered bed frame and still smoldering torches from the floors of the cell. 

It’s his nature to fix what’s broken. He has to be able to fix it .

What if he can’t fix this?

Rae slowly caved in on himself.

He can't fix this.

His pulse began to quicken. Digging his trembling hands into his not-so-neatly braided hair for an attempt at self consolation.

He cant breathe.

The obsidian walls were crushing him, collapsing into himself for a last resort to escape the walls threatening to squash him like a beetle.

His chest aches, his lungs filled with the sensation of breathing in sand, his eyes blurry and void of depth.

He can't see.

Fuck- he can’t see!

Rae’s incoherent blubbering occasionally hiccuped with choked sobs, hands clawing at his face, tearing into his skin to just be able to see.

He is NOT  that creature.

He has to be able to see.

Rae’s grievous heaving had drawn the attention of a companion he had found earlier in his journey, a cat named Ollie.

 Ollie sat afront the partially mangled iron door, and simply meowed.

“Mrroww?”

Rae’s breath hitched.

“Mrooowww”

Shaky exhale.

He took a few labored breaths, and after a few minutes he could see clearly again. The man patted himself down.

His face. His arms. His body. His 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝.

His hands grasped the antler that was bestown upon his head.

A wave of rage and pure frustration washed over him as he took hold of the antler. Using every ounce of strength he had, he pulled down.

He NEEDS it off.

Unfortunately for him, all that struggle for him was magenta colored blood and a raging headache.

Rae growled in frustration.

Fuck, that hurt.

He brushed the base of the still intact horn, hot magenta fluid smearing his fingertips. Tiny droplets could be heard, a quiet repetitive sound of blood hitting the obsidian floors. It soothes him in a way, seeming the only thing he could predict as of now.

Wait.

“Why can I hear that?”

Rae puzzled as he listened to his surroundings. The skittering of bugs across the floor, and the fierce whipping of the everlasting blizzard outside.

These sounds usually so distant now rattled his ears, giving a very unpleasant feeling of uncomfortable hypersensitivity. His hearing felt as if someone had turned up the volume dial in his head, loud and severely overstimulating.

Replacing the lever to open the now quite mangled metal door; He’ll fix that later; and stepping out into the castle. 

Maybe a distraction would help?

A distraction, where his ability to fix the crumbling castle was trackable, and actually progressing.

In significant contrast to his- well, everything else.

Chapter Text

Ch. 4:

TWS:light mentions of gore

songs for this chapter!: 

Somewhere only we know- Keane

When the sun loves the moon-Reinaering

Caspian ached.

Everything was just hurting.

Earlier in the day, Aax crept into his study, Holding a letter and a shimmering compass. His partners expression was burned in his mind, heavy and sunken with grief and devastation.

A letter from Rae.

𝒞𝒶𝓈𝓅𝒾𝒶𝓃，

ℐ 𝒶𝓂 𝓈ℴ 𝓈ℴ𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝓂𝓎 𝓁ℴ𝓋ℯ．

ℐ 𝒶𝓂 𝒶𝓁𝓇𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉， 𝒷𝓊𝓉  𝓹𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝒹ℴ𝓃𝓉 𝒸ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝒶𝒻𝓉ℯ𝓇 𝓂ℯ

𝒫𝓁ℯ𝒶𝓈ℯ 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓎 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎．

ℐ 𝒸𝒶𝓃𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓁ℴ𝓌 𝓂𝓎𝓈ℯ𝓁𝒻 𝓉ℴ 𝒽𝓊𝓇𝓉 𝓎ℴ𝓊 ℴ𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝓎ℴ𝓃ℯ ℯ𝓁𝓈ℯ ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇 𝒶ℊ𝒶𝒾𝓃．

－ℛ𝒶ℯ

His heart felt as if someone had torn it apart. Every cell in his body yearned for his lover’s presence.

But he wasn’t here.

Caspian and Aax held each other tightly, both feeling the weight of their partner’s absence. The embrace was warm, the shorter balled into the taller’s side. A hollow feeling etched at the two, the emptiness of where Rae should be bearing holes through them. Their hearts laid shattered, but Aax and Caspian had each other, and they were the glue. 

~

Hours of scribbling and longing for his prince to return, Caspian had returned to his days as an author. He decided to write about his Morningstar, telling the story of how he fell in love with his scientist in an attempt to distract himself from Rae’s void.

However, Caspian had a difficult time ignoring the throbbing in his spine. The pulsing fire that crawled throughout his skin made it near impossible to focus. The potions helped a little with the pain, but like a band-aid on a stab wound, they didn’t seem to make a dent.

He really missed Rae.

It may not have been even a day, he really doesn't know how long it’s actually been since he left. Caspian locked himself in his study, a build off of Rae’s original one. He dosent remember what day it is, all he really knows is that his back hurt, and he missed Rae.

so much.

Aax was helping, but Caspian knew it was hard on him too. He had to remind himself sometimes that Aax also lost a partner just as much as he did.

Caspian skimmed his writing, a few droplets of saline bleeding the ink into splotches across the pages.

A soft knock on the study’s door.

“Cas?”

 Aax’s gravelly voice made Caspian melt, slowly approaching the door to the study.

Aax sat on the floor afront it, and Caspian wondered how long the olm had been sitting there…

“ Can we uh- Can we go sit up at the bench? I’ll- Ill carry you-“ 

Aax picked at the floorboards anxiously, avoiding eye contact with the taller standing above him.

Caspian’s gaze softened, and he slowly brought himself to the floor to meet the eyes of his boyfriend. Caspian gently cupped the olm’s face in his scarred and calloused hands and softly put their foreheads together.

“Of course we can love.” 

Caspian spoke with such a delicate manner, as if trying not to break china plates balanced upon their heads. Aax swiftly lifted the taller man on his back, like he weighed nothing to the olm. Caspian sunk his head into Aax’s shoulder, his arms cradled loosely around his neck.

Once atop the snowy hill, the two lovers sat beside eachother in proximity of the campfire’s warmth. The two spoke rarely, simply savoring each other’s presence in this moment. Aax hummed as Caspian laid across his lap, cautious to the wound on his back. The soothing vibration from Aax’s slightly melancholic lullaby reminded Caspian of how much he still has. And that Rae isn’t really gone. He remembered he needed to be strong for Aax, strong for Athena, strong for Rae, and strong for himself. But right now he didn’t need to be strong. He was with Aax, and he was safe. Caspian relished in this moment, despite how lonely it felt for them both. He was reminded by the brushing of a hand through his hair that he was loved by his sunset and his stars, and how much he truly loved them.

~

(Start the song “when the sun loves the moon” along with Aax if you so wish)

Aax hummed a tune that he had learned from a certain scientist so long ago, when it was only the two of them. Rae had sung this melody to him once or twice before, trying to coerce the olm to sleep after many a restless night. 

The songs rythym soothed the other, finally lulling the wanderer to snore softly as he slept. Hot saline leaked from the olm’s eyes as he ran his hands through Caspian’s voluminous brown hair, occasionally stopping to weave the white streak through his fingers.

𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑛

𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛

𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑙

𝑂ℎ 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑠

𝐴𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡

𝑇𝑜 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 

𝐼𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑦 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠

𝑂ℎ 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑛

𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛

𝑁𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑟

Aax looked up at the sky.

The stars he wished so deeply he could see were hidden behind a cloudy screen of black and grey, sprinkling their crystals of icy rain. Tears flowed down his pale, scarred skin. Everything he had now was all because of Rae.

He really missed his Morningstar.

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠

𝑂ℎ

𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛

𝐻𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡

𝐻𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑢𝑒

𝐴 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑔

𝑂ℎ ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑤𝑛

Chapter Text

Ch. 5

TWS:  Mentions of Ed behaviors, animal injury, body horror, violence, gore

Rae was abruptly snapped out of his disassociating by the rapid buzzing of his communicator, laying far to his right on the granite tables. It startled him, as he could swear up and down he had turned it off days ago. 

A message stretched across the screen, a sinking feeling settling at the bottom of his stomach. His heart lurched when he finally built the courage to read the sender’s name.

𝙰𝚊𝚡: 𝚑𝚒 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎, 𝚒 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎.. 𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎? 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜? 𝙸𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝚂𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑.

𝙰𝚊𝚡: 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 <𝟹

Rae’s heart had dropped through the floor.

What was he supposed to say? 

What can he even do?

His hands clamp around the device, hovering and circling his thumbs over the keypad. His hands began to tremble,  and his lips pressed together in contemplation. A burning sensation crawled up his sinuses, hot tears beginning to pool near the corners of his eyes.

Rae was at a loss.

The scientist blankly stared at the text, his mouth slightly ajar. As if his words had been stolen from his mind, he just- stared. After a few minutes, Rae violently shook his head to snap himself out of it, making him the slightest bit dizzy.

Nauseous, aching, and drained, Rae decided to return to restoring the castle to its former glory to distract his mind once more. But before he could get too ‘in the zone’ as Centross would call it, his stomach growled.

Hell, when was the last time he ate?

Rae contemplated this question for a few moments, trying to recall the last time he actually had legitimate food. 

Rae has proven it difficult to make himself eat sometimes. In most cases, it isn’t completely intentional. He gets a bit preoccupied with his studies, and the simple necessity to eat seems to slip his mind. It isn’t until he’s blacked out on the floor of the workshop, or crumpled over his desk from the cramping of his stomach from hunger pains, then he remembers he actually needs nourishment to have the ability to continue his work. However, in situations like this, Rae has a hard time letting himself deserve to have luxuries such as good food. According to some of the more personal books he’s found in libraries, they had a difficult time finding food when him and his sibling were children, so this behavior checks out. But Rae still didn’t quite understand why he still felt undeserving of eating. He didn’t remember this childhood of his at all, so why did he still feel guilty for enjoying a meal? Was he punishing himself? He took that as a likely option. The scientist was a very logical and intelligent man, but when it came to taking care of only himself, his own wellbeing was his last priority.

Rae sat at one of the tables in the dining area, slumped over a intricately carved dark oak chair with a purple cushion embroidered with silver stars. The room was dimly lit, a bit gloomy and foreboding. The scattered lanterns he had placed throughout the castle casting a warm amber hue throughout the structure. The room was open and very spacious, corners and hallways casted in shadow. 

Rae cradled his chin in his hands. Everything was too much. The man seem dazed, his eyes glossy and clouded, as if he’d drop to the floor with any sudden movements with only his fear as his backup gasoline.

The repetitive buzzing of his communicator across the table scratched at Rae’s ears. Ever since his hearing had been somehow heightened in sense, everything had become so loud. Rae’s internal turmoil was already taking its toll, and this surely was not helping.

The buzzing continued. Each message of wary and concern irritated the man even more, pressing his hands against his ears to block it all out.

“ GOD make it stop!” He growled in frustration.

Digging his hands through his hair, his elbows being sanded by the rough surface of the stone countertops.

He just wanted to go home.

But he knew he couldn’t. Unfortunately, out of all the inconceivable things that have happened to him in light, accepting the fact that he couldn’t even begin to know how to fix this; and that he wasn’t going home anytime soon, is one of the most heartbreaking acceptances of fate he has ever had to face.

And he hated it.

Fuck how he hated it. 

Every cell in his body wished he could just go home, see his beautiful boyfriends. He missed them so much. For the amount of time he’s spent here so far, his attempts at distraction from his longing had proven to be helplessly futile. The only thing keeping him from racing back to his boys was how afraid he was. He knows they miss him, and gods he missed them too. But he knew they were safer without him. They were safer with him here, locked in an obsidian box in his ‘slumber’. His chest ached. It ached with a longing and loneliness so deep, it’s as if his soul itself was sore. He felt so alone, nothing like he’d ever felt before.

In the last reset, Rae had worked alone. He researched and analyzed on his own, and it was comfortable. He didn’t need to worry about anyone else, or anyone else having to worry about him. He could research and just do his own thing, and he enjoyed it. But this? This was so much different. This was empty. This was heavy. He was all alone. 

Rae was getting really tired of being lonley, but his fear and guilt currently tipped the scale over his impulse.

Rae was also really tired of how weak he felt. As he yanked himself from his draped position over the chair, he felt his head spin. By the time he came to the realization he was, in fact, about to pass out-

it was too late for him to go running back to the cell.

~

The creature arose.

Something about this time was different. Instead of having to watch his own demolition as he had many times for the past week or so, Rae’s consciousness was elsewhere. His soul was dormant inside the monster, unbeknownst to his current surroundings.

The creature grudges around the castle aimlessly, distracted and disgruntled by the overwhelming amount of noise in the vicinity.

A long, whining meow was sounded from the upstairs bedroom.

Ollie’s unaware whining for food had ensnared the creatures focus, enthralling it as it searched. It’s new target locked. 

With a splintering crack, the bedroom door was pulverized by the entity’s grotesque claws, shredded into only splinters of spruce. The creature seethed, scouring out the bedroom for the source of the sound.

Ollie quivered under the large bed, his fur spiked. 

The creature has no eyes, so when the kitten ceased his noise, the creature seemed to waver its laser-like focus on the cat.

Untill it sniffed the air.

The creature snagged onto the animal’s scent, and unfortunately for Ollie, his secure hiding place had become a trap. The monster blocked the hole in the grand wooden bed frame that he had used to sneak under the bed, which was the only way out. 

The creature reached its talon- like claws in the hole, grasping for the kitten it couldn’t see. Ollie attempted to defend himself with his own claws and teeth, latching his canines deep into the creature’s limbs. It recoiled in disdain, luminous teal liquid dribbled onto the blue silk. The act of defiance from its prey infuriated the beast, lashing claws first into the luxurious mattress burrowing to reach its next meal.

A pained, shriek like meow echoed through the castle's halls.

The beast’s talons had punctured through the animals shoulder, and the second the creature retracted it’s claws from the wound Ollie bolted as fast as his three good legs could take him. The creature snarled as it’s prey escaped, it’s talons still dripping with a bright scarlet.

He felt his body twist and crunch, his bones crumpled like a piece of paper then laminated flat again. Rae’s consciousness was roped forward, a sensation like his ribcage had been cinched to an anchor. 

The creature retracted, it’s human vessel returning to control.

Rae seethed in agony, his body enflamed and searing. Rapidly blinking the fogginess out of his eyes, his surroundings he noticed were different than he last remembered.

What the hell?

Rae’s mouth gaped as he scanned the sight around him. He was in his Grandfathers’ bedroom. The door had been splintered and busted, the bed torn to shreds, and the rest of the room in skulk-covered shambles. His eyes spotted a splotch of red in the corner of his vision. Scratches and small punctures in groupings of two’s littered his hands, a mix of muddled magenta, cyan, and scarlet coated his hands.

“Wait… red?”

His blood isn’t red.

Droplets of crimson sprinkled the floor, forming a train towards the closet door. He followed the trail of deep red droplets, his mind beginning to piece together the events that had just unfolded. His trembling hands approached the slightly ajar closet door, dread like concrete in his stomach. 

Before he pushed open the door, a faint whining meow pricked at his sensitive ears.

Oh.

Oh.

Rae rushingly swung open the door, the disbelief not truly settling in him untill he found the small, trembling frame of Ollie, hunkered in the closet’s deepest corner, weak, breathing rapid and shallow, and bleeding.

Fuck.

SHIT.

Rae dropped to his knees and clicked his tounge to ease the kitten out of the corner. His heart felt like stone as he watched the cat limp towards him. Causiously scooping Ollie into his arms, he laid the cat on what remained of the baby blue sheets. Using a fresh bandage he found in one of the bedside tables, he carefully patched up his companion’s wounds as well as his quaking hands would allow. His bandaging skills were practiced and punctual. He sighed to himself, wondering how many times he’s going to have to remove skulk from destruction and wounds he caused. How many times is he going to have to fix problems he created? How long is it going to take for him to fix himself? 

Can he even fix himself?

Chapter Text

Ch.6: 

Something had changed.

The quiet pattering of the rain’s usual melody had morphed to a more melancholic and tense percussion. Nothing about the world was different truly, Centross knew that much. But something had changed, and based on the looming weight he felt in the air- not for the better he could sense.

Centross kept to himself for the majority of his time, farming and mining as measly tasks to keep his thoughts and hands busy.

He didn’t mind the rain all that much though. Sure it soaked his clothes, but it’s not like he doesn’t have more. Farming in the rain is in fact one of his favorite pastimes. He enjoyed the brisk air, the way the cold droplets grounded him to the earth in moments he felt so far away. The smell of the grass when it rained was a nostalgic and soothing scent. He relished in the lack of sunburns and the absence of the sun’s blazing heat.

He laid in the grass outside Banner Fam’s home, letting his eyes rest. He never let himself relax very much, and neither did the souls that trailed him. But in this moment, they were quiet. He knew somewhere in his mind that something was happening, but he’d worry about that later. Right now, he was comfortable in the silence of his head. The soothing rhythm of the droplets on his skin eased the man, drifting off to sleep in the rainstorm.

~

“Centross?” a voice chirped.

Centross groaned. His clothes were completely saturated, clinging to his body, but he didn’t really mind it though. He groggily sat up, rubbing his eyes. Centross looked towards the voice, finding a distraught -looking Athena returning his gaze.

“Athena?” Centross questioned.

The Nether Prince’s delicate frame rested on a crutch covered in alliums, braced by their left arm. Their pink hair topped by a golden crown encrusted with large rubies, a singular pink gem set in the front center. The Prince’s skin was split with white on the left side; a ghasts skin. The white being contrasted by veining, dark charcoal colored scars.

“What in the world are you doing sleeping out in the rain? You’ll get sick!” Athena exasperated.

Centross scoffed playfully, “Won't you also get sick if you’re out in the rain? What are you doing out here anyway?”

Athena’s gaze shifted from confused to troubled.

“You haven’t heard?”

They waved him to come inside the Banner Fam house.

“Come on, i’ll tell you everything”

Centross’s anxieties returned in an instant, the souls vengeful chatter biting into him word by word. His stomach felt  heavy with dread, sinking like an anchor thrown through the air. 

~

Athena passive-aggressively tossed a towel over David’s shoulders and pointed to one of the couches. They glared with a stern ‘sit down’ glare, and he decided it would be best if he put up no playful argument in this moment. He threw himself into the couch, aggressively rubbing his sopping wet hair in the violet colored towel. Athena snickered at him, shaking his hair like a wet dog. The giggle caught Centross’s attention. He looked in their direction with a cheeky grin, his hair draped over his head and facial features like a mop.

“What?” He laughed.

Athena snickered and shook their head, looking at the ceiling with a heavy sigh.

“So- you really don’t know, do you?”

They locked eyes with Centross. Their mismatched red and gold eyes held heartache he has never seen in them before.

He swallowed hard.

“I don’t believe so, I can somewhat tell something happened based on everyone’s mannerisms. I’ve also heard that Caspian is injured? What happened?” His voice hung heavy with concern.

Athena explained the events of the halloween party in great detail, and breaking the news of Rae’s absence. Centross’s heart broke a little for every time the pink haired prince had to pause to stifle a small sob. Centross sat silently frozen in shock, not quite able to process the amount of information he’s being told.

Rae is missing?

Rae is a huge skulk monster?

Centross rubbed his eyes. He seriously didn’t know what to think of all of this.

“Im gonna go after him.” Centross blurted out. He really didn’t know exactly what he was gonna do when he found Rae though. Punch him? Hug him? He really had no clue what he was saying, but he knew he wanted to make sure his friend was okay. He wouldn’t admit that part out loud though.

“Centross-“ 

Athena cut their sentence short and took a frustrated sigh. 

“Rae told us not to follow him, and i don’t think he wants to come home.” 

Athena then muttered ‘at least not right now’ under their breath, which Centross believed he was not supposed to hear.

“Im not going to try and bring him home; not yet at least; I only want to make sure he isn’t on his own.” 

Athena’s facial expression and body language showed their internal fight between uncertainty and pleading.

“ I’ll be alright Thena. I’ll make sure he is too.”

The teen’s shoulders visibly relaxed, exhaling in still somewhat anxious relief.

“Just be careful Centross. Okay?”

He nodded to the prince as he stood, already prepping himself to go on a search party.

“Wait- Athena do you know how to even find him?” 

Athena opened their mouth to respond, but before the prince made a sound, another voice chimed in.

“I do.”

Centross swiveled his head to see Caspian crouched on the stairs behind them, a deep indigo velvet cape scattered with stars draped across his back. In his hand was a compass, dangling from the chain in his palm. It shimmered with a fuchsia sheen, telling Centross that this was a lodestone compass.

“Caspian wh- Wait how long have you been there?” 

“Since I heard the door open to some incoherent yelling about wet clothes.”

Centross stood a bit dumbfounded.

 He blinked slowly. “ Well alright, can you give me any direction or location to where Rae is?” Centross chuckled, trying to lighten the very tense air that hung around the three. It was not returned. 

Caspian took a weighted, shaky breath. 

“He left us a compass so we would know he’s alive. It’s connected to his lodestone necklace. He also wrote Aax and I a letter.” 

Caspian rubbed his face with his hands.

“He told us to stay away. And as much as i don’t blame him for running after what happened-“ 

Caspian rubbed his left shoulder, side eyeing his covered wound on his back.

“I really miss him Centross. So does Aax. We have no idea if he’s okay and i just-“ Caspian hiccuped, covering his mouth with his palm to muffle his despair.

He held out the chain with the compass, and nodded for him to take it.

“Please- don’t loose it. It’s the only thing Aax and I have of him right now, so please take care of-“  He paused. “The compass. And be careful.”

Centross pretended not to notice the hesitation, took the compass and took his leave. He turned back to face then both from the doorway, his gaze returned by solemn but understanding looks from them both. Giving them a bittersweet smile, he nodded to them as he shut the etched mangrove doors.

Centross was frustrated.

He didn’t completely understand what was happening and why, but there was only one thing he knew for certain. Rae had been there for him in his darkest of times, despite his flaws and mistakes. Rae cared about him. He was the one that showed him that living was the way to forgiving himself, redeeming his former faults. Rae was the one who pulled him away, when Centross begged upon Death’s doorstep. Rae saved him from his darkest night, so now it was his turn to take care of him. 

To the grave this would stay, but Centross truly cared about Rae. A lot actually. And he cant let let the only real friend he has be afraid, alone, and weighted with guilt like this then left to their own devices.

At least not on his own.

He knows how that ends.

~

Centross scrambled and sifted through his many homes, searching for any necessities that he needed to bring with him. He wasn’t the best at packing, which he finds ironic. Shoving random items into all of his shulker boxes, unsure of what he is to face or what he or Rae would need. He had no idea how long he’d be gone out there.

A wave of deja vu washed over him, sending chills prickling up his spine.

Before he had left for the end not too long ago, he had packed his shulkers, unsure of when or if of his return.

He shook his head violently, trying to rattle those memories out of his mind 

Focus, David.

Continuing to gather supplies, he came to the conclusions that he would need to set out at dawn the next day. Now he had to wait, and he really didn’t like waiting. Waiting for this specifically made Centross very nervous. He knows what would have happened if Rae had waited to go get him. He hated waiting.

Chapter Text

Ch. 7: 

(icarus- bastille)

Tws: Violence, character injury, mild suicidal ideation 

As dawn approached, Centross paced impatiently, itching to take off without a second thought. Not having slept a wink, He was ansy. Something gnawed at his mind, forcing hesitancy onto him.

He never hesitates.

Choosing to ignore his own instincts, he steps outside in preparation to take off. The glistening compass in his left hand, rockets in his right. The needle of the compass waivered for a moment, and just as quickly setting on a westward direction. 

David sucked his breath through his teeth. The frigid, early morning air created a cloud as he exhaled, a swift breeze whipped his thin t-shirt around his body. Centross didn’t seem to be too bothered by the cold though. The End was one of the coldest paces he’d ever set foot in. It’s sheer emptiness and vastness had been his home for the longest time. The Mind Goddess’s dimension’s cold was vacant and bitter, it’s void an echoing embodiment of empty. In the past, Centross felt like the End was where he belonged. It was the Violet Reaper’s domain. The souls that trailed him were the lost spirits of thousands of Ender he slayed while under Enderian’s service, while he was known as the Violet Reaper. They were vengeful, and very loud.

Half focused on the compass clutched in his palm and the rest of his head elsewhere, Centross mindlessly glided through the sky. He was distracted, his mind occupied. So occupied in fact, that he failed to notice the whizzing of an arrow ripping through the air, directly for him.

Before he knew what was happening, Centross was falling. He frantically scanned his wings, searching for the reason he was suddenly plummeting to the ground. His eyes caught the glint on an arrow’s tip, plunged through the thin tissue of his right wing.

He needed to think fast.

David scrambled to continue his glide, twisting the already searing pain to absolutely unbearable. His mind fogging with agony, he plunged towards the earth, the wind whizzing through his ears. Squeezing his eyes shut, he clutched the compass to his chest.

With the last ounce of breath he had within his lungs, he shouted out.

“RAE!”

Centross’s voice echoed throughout the valley. The rawness of his cry bellowed throughout the earth, the fear with which he yelled held such emotion, it felt as if the world itself was shaken.

And so did the splash.

Centross hit the water and it’s thick cover of ice like it was made of stone. His gasps for air were met with only rushing falls into his lungs. His ribs had been shattered by the impact, furthering his slight ‘complications’ with breathing. The water overflowed his airways while he thrashed, desperately reaching for the surface so far above him.

Centross was not a very strong swimmer.

His body began to tire.

The souls that shadowed him spoke with venom, their whispers lulling his fighting will.

Accept your fate.

This is merciful.

They were right.

This was a merciful way for him to meet his end.

As his vision blotted with black, he was content.

He might not get to Rae, but someone else could. He knew that they would all feel safer with him gone, lost in the depths of a frozen river. He knew someone else could help Rae. They didn’t need him.

One of the souls spoke.

“Not without the compass.”

Shit.

The compass.

Centross still had Caspian’s compass, it’s golden chain still looped around his wrist. It was the only thing Caspian had of Rae at the moment, and the only way they had to find the scientist. If he gave in to death’s welcoming arms now, that compass would forever reside at the bottom of that icy river, alongside his own skeleton.

He had no strength, but he had no option either. Using his wings to propel himself upwards, staggering through the freezing waters.

Fuck, it hurt like hell, but this wasn’t about him this time. Centross needed to get that compass out of the water, even if it costed him his life. He latched onto the sharp, shattered ice at the surface, and with a wave of adrenaline and a miracle, heaved himself onto the ice. 

He coughed up the water that had infiltrated his lungs, every hack feeling like a stab.

Struggling to keep himself conscious, Centross reached for his now slightly glitchy communicator. 

He managed to hit the call button.

Coughing up a mix of water and blood, he crumpled into himself on the ice, the compass laying limply in his weak, bleeding hands. Through the hacking, a voice broke through.

“Hello?”

~

Aax swung his feet as he rested on his fishing dock. His reel laid at his side, his hands cradling his chin.

Aax had been fishing for what appeared to be days, his hands starting to callous from the intensive use of a fishing rod. After all it was his best way of de-stressing. Fishing was a mindless activity for him, keeping his hands busy and distracted all while providing a food source for his friends and partners. As the sun began to dip below the horizon, a chiming sound echoed from the device settled in his back pocket.

He expected the call to be Caspian, maybe Ocie, hell even Rae, so to say the least he was suprised to find the caller ID showing Centross’s name, blinking across the screen.

He stares for a moment, a bit dumbfounded as to why Centross would be calling him.

Wait, if Centross is calling me, there must be something wrong.

Aax knew David wouldn’t Call Caspian if something went wrong, that much he could infer. There wasn’t any way Cas could take any more bad news about Rae at this point, his mental state was about as fragile as a bubble.

A hint of fear pricked at his mind as he pressed the answer button. The fear proved to hold root as the fist noise he heard from the other end was a fit of wet, struggling coughs and labored, shallow breaths. 

“Hello?” Aax stuttered.

No response.

The coughing on the other end of the line had ceased, and what he had assumed was Centross breathing, had become very faint and hard to make out.

The silence was deafening. Aax knew he had to do something. Thank the gods that the communicators had a gps, and tracking built in. After a few moments of puzzling about how to pinpoint Centross’s current location, it finally locked on.

A tiny red dot pulsed in the screen, showing to be located in the center of a frozen river.

What the hell Centross?

Why on earth is he in the middle of a frozen river?

The realization hit him when he looked at the compass rose in the bottom right of the screen. He had been heading west, the direction the lodestone compass had pointed. He raced home, as fast as his 4’11 self could take him. Frantically grabbing potions, blankets, and anything else he could carry that even had the slightest chance of being helpful, zipping through the house like a hummingbird. His sensitive ears picked up on Caspian’s incoherent mumbling and humming as he zoomed past the study, halting him in his tracks.

Yeah Aax, you can’t just leave without telling Caspian at least something.

The olm slowly approached his boyfriend’s study, contemplating whether to tell him the whole truth of Centross likely being hurt, or to lie for the sake of Caspian’s current level head. By the time he reached he’s the door, Aax decided that telling him the truth would be the best option. As much as he didn’t want Cas to worry, he realized that when he returned home with a possibly very-injured-Centross, Cas might not be too keen about Aax’s dishonesty. Aax lightly tapped his knuckles on the door, hearing Caspian’s suprised gasp. With a quiet click, the dark wooden door opened to a very tired-looking caspian, wrapped in Rae’s velvety star cape and holding a mug with what appeared to be soup. 

“Oh- Aax!”

Caspian leaned down to kiss the olm on the forehead, gently pushing back his white fringe with the back of his hand.

Aax looked Caspian directly in his beautiful, ruby eyes.

“Caspian I- …” He sighed heavily. 

“Alright so I think something happened while Centross was traveling, and i think he’s seriously hurt. He called me, and whether on purpose or not he seriously didn’t sound good at all. Im going to go get him, and bring him back here.”

Caspian shuddered and pinched his nose bridge with an exasperated and tired sigh.

“ I’ll get things ready for him, like blankets, soup, potions and stuff.” Caspian’s gaze was dull, and full of worry.

Aax nodded, and reached up to hold his partner’s face. Putting their foreheads together, the olm whispered his thanks and practically flew out the door, to Caspian’s surprise

~

Aax had never flown so fast. The olm darted through the air like a missle, almost loosing his sunglasses a few too many times to count. As he approached the river, the olm noticed just how cold it really was over here. As he flew, he spotted a figure atop the ice, crumpled aside a large hole in the encased river.

Centross.

He practically dove towards the man, skidding across the ice as he landed. Before even getting close, he could make out the spindly feathers of an arrow protruding from the man’s right wing. The deep scarlet fluid that leaked from the puncture was still quite fresh.

“Thank god you haven’t been out here too long.”

Aax’s eyes examined the man. His skin had borne a bluish hue, his fingers crawling with purple from the tips. A small dribble of blood from his mouth, and shimmering compass in his limp left hand.

Aax may be small, but boy was he strong.

Aax causiously lifted the 6’2 man into a bridal carry, noticing the black and blue splotching along his ribcage beneath his tattered and soaked t shirt. Aax was strong, but flying as fast as he could with a very large deadweight man in his arms proved it to be a bit more challenging of a task.

His skin was so cold.

The only thing that reassured the olm that he was alive, was the very faint pulse he could feel, and the tiny clouds of fog that escaped as he breathed.

His pulse was dangerously slow, but it was there. And truly that is all Aax cared about in that moment.

~ 

Aax finally arrived at the mangrove doors after what felt like the longest flight in history. He sat outside the doorstep, taking a moment to rest his arms and aching back. After a few moments of staring and stretching, he regathered the unconscious man into his arms.

“Caspian?” He called.

“Can you come open the door? I kinda have a very large man in my arms at the moment.”

Caspian heeded his partner’s calls, and opened the front door. His breath hitched in his throat. He was met with the sickening sight of Centross’s unconscious body, limp in Aax’s arms. It was somewhat comical of clash between the two figures, their size difference making them a bit unbalanced of a sight. He kept his snickers on the inside though.

Aax carefully laid Centross’s limp figure on one of the blanket covered couches that Caspian had prepared, and rushed off immediately for first aid equipment.

~

Caspian felt guilty. He sunk to the floor beside the couch and brought his knees to his chest. He knew that Centross had wanted to go after Rae, but he somehow felt responsible for his seemingly extensive injuries. Centross was not an easy one to take down.

Hell, Centross was probably on the brink of hypothermia, and maybe even death! Why was he making this about him?

Caspian wiped his face with his hands. He rotated his body to face where the other man laid, one of his hands dangling lifelessly off the edge of the cushions.

Centross’s hands were calloused and scarred, a periwinkle color creeping up from the tips of his fingers. His veins were visible, as if the blood in them had been frozen into a deep, cool-toned violet. Caspian grazed Centross’s hand.

Shit, he was so cold.

Caspian shakily rose from the floor, examining the rest of the injured’s form. His face was tattered, morphed into an expression of pain and what looked like… frustration? He couldn’t really make it out. Centross’s body was covered in splotches of black and blue, fresh gashes accompanying the violet scars that veined his body. An arrow pierced David’s right wing, blood slowly trickling down the flint tip and onto the spruce floors. Aax had draped this wing over the back of the couch delicately, likely to be able to patch it back up. The other wing neatly tucked to his side, as to not hinder the man’s ‘rest’.

Aax returned to the room with an arm full of medical supplies, noticing Caspian’s puzzled and remorseful gaze towards Centross’s body. Aax cocked his head to the side, giving Caspian a concerned, questioning glare.

Caspian met his gaze with a pleading look, his eyes glossy and wet. He returned his partner’s glare with a ‘talk about it later?’ glare in return. Aax nodded, and proceeded to patch and tend to Centross’s wounds.

Caspian watched Aax intently, analyzing the olm’s every strategic move, his tactics so precise and punctuated. He knew exactly what he was doing, and Caspian’s fixated gaze followed each step preformed with mild fascination. Amidst that fascination, he couldn’t help that guilt from resurfacing. Aax shouldn’t know all that he does… at least, not for the reasons he knows it.