Chapter Text
Space was like a constant night. With no atmosphere for the sun to light up, the dead of space stayed dark forever, yet still the stars shined brilliantly all around, creating a beautiful cosmic view. It was more beautiful than any planet or floating rock could ever even try to be, and every single day The Wanderer got to fly through it and see all the wonders of the vast universe. After so many years of being trapped, it was the most freeing experience anyone could've asked for.
Some things have changed since the last time The Wander was seen by the witches, demons, and humans he helped save. Now that they were freed from their prison, they were allowed to age once again. The aging process was slow for someone of his kind, but there was still a noticeable difference in their apperance. Their hair was a bit longer and messier, he had gotten a little bit taller, and he had a new version of his outfit with shorter sleeves and an attachment for him to easily carry his backpack, which contained things like a notebook, a camera, and their good luck charm- The stuffed plushie that King gave them before he left, Francois.
In those two years, the being that was once known as the Collector decided to drop the name, no longer wanting to be associated with what his siblings tried to make him. Now, as their new name suggested, they floated through the cosmos and explored all the amazing things, along with taking some time to grow into a better person after all of his mistakes with the people of the Boiling Isles. Even all this time later, he still felt horrible for it all. He removed all ability to move or think from thousands and used them as their little playthings while King tried his hardest to snap them out of it and get them to see death for what it was. It was only when Luz came along that he finally saw the world for what it was- Temporary. And he was going to make the most of his time now that he could go as he pleased with nothing but his own thoughts.
But somehow he knew that this wouldn't last forever. And today was that day. As the Wanderer floated aimlessly through the cosmos, writing in their little journal about all the discoveries they made that day, something in the near distance pulled his attention away from the writing. His gaze fell upon and didn't move away from a familiar structure floating in front of him. It was a giant gray rock with multiple giant entrances and, though dark on the inside, there were many twisting hallways and rooms, all leading to the main room. It had been so long since The Wanderer had seen it, but they recognized it immediately. It was the old base of the Archivest, somewhere to rest when they were done taking over worlds.
The Wanderer got a little bit closer hesitantly, a flood of memories entering his head that he didn't want to be in there. The place filled him with much dread, but he could see clearly from how dark and dilapidated it was, the place had been abandoned for years, maybe even decades or centuries. Nobody was home. They neared it a little bit more, recalling the elegance it used to have, just as he and his siblings once did back in the day. The days before The Wanderer really knew how bad everything they were doing was. They were just a kid, innocently making mischief and trying to meet friends and the Archivest used that to their advantage to manipulate the young space child. It was the sole reason everything happened to The Wanderer, and despite being happy he learned to be better, they were still angry about losing the titans and the imprisonment and all of it.
There were two loud voices in The Wanderer's head, telling then two very separate things. One side wanted him to get away from that place- It only brought bad news and he was trying to explore new things, not revisit past memories. The other part of them said that if they were to get over the trauma associated with the structure, they had to go inside and clear up the demons of the past that floated around their brain.
Taking a deep breath, The Wanderer decided to listen to the latter voice and flew forward towards the structure. As he made his way towards it, they couldn't help but feel nervous and scared, but also a sense of determination to face their fears. With each step forward, his heart pounded faster, but he reminded themselves that they were strong enough to confront his past and move forward. Finally, he made it to one of the many holes and floated into it, being immediately surrounded by darkness with little lights from the outside here and there. He lowered him from above and eventually touched ground for the first time in months.
Glancing around the giant area of darkness, The Wanderer was quick to open the palm of their hand and a giant ball of light form in the center, lighting up the entire room. The halls were massive, made specifically for the Archivests in mind, and stretched out very deep within. Occasionally, off to the sides, there would be giant doors that led to giant rooms. The air was cool and damp within, as if the Archivests made a bubble of air within the giant rock just for the fun of it. Actually, now that he thought about it, they probably did exactly that. The Wanderer sighed and began to walk forward, fumbling a little bit as they adjusted to actually using their legs once again. Their footsteps echoed across the vast caverns despite having incredibly soft shoes and the hallways he walked seemed to go on forever, even as he tried making the light brighter and brighter.
But the Wanderer didn't feel afraid or lost. There was a sense of familiarity in the air as he had walked these halls many times before. Yet, there was still a heavy dread over their head as the bad memories also formed with the good ones. As he made his way through, The Wanderer passed by one of these giant doors and stopped on their tracks and turned to it immediately. As The Wanderer pushed the door open, a gust of musty air rushed out.
The dimly lit room he stepped into was filled with giant shelves of books and mysterious objects. Some were more regular sized objects and some were much larger, looming over The Wanderer. They were realizing quickly that this was the room that he was never allowed into, the secret room that they took the time to block off from their sight. And now maybe they could see why. Collections of books and artifacts that were probably too much for a small child, but while he was still small, The Wanderer could barely call themself a child anymore.
As they made their way through the towering stacks, The Wanderer couldn't help but feel a sense of awe and wonder at the vast knowledge and history that surrounded them. As bad as he learned his siblings were, they had kept so much knowledge that it wad hard for The Wanderer to not be excited by the sites. And then their eyes fell upon a certain shelf of the room, one empty of books and instead filled with small glass balls, barley even the size of The Wanderer's hands. Curiously, he floated into the air to get a closer look at whatever these were.
The Wanderer reached out and grabbed one of the glass balls with the hand that wasn't producing the light. He couldn't exactly tell what was inside at first, but after looking closer, they realized and gasped loudly. Inside was a tiny planet floating in the middle, with a full environment on top of it. But it was completely frozen in time, trapped in the bubble of the Archivests forever. The Wanderer didn't even know how to free such a thing from such a mystical trap. And looking around, they realized there were hundreds if not thousands laying around, world's conqured and collected. Like what he was supposed to do. The Wanderer set the glass ball back down and floated away, as if the physical distance would also create a mental distance from the horrifying sight in front of him. So many worlds and peoples and now they're nothing but little trophies in an abandoned structure. He felt a huge amount of regret and sadness for being involved with this so long ago, not realizing how bad it was until some human taught him otherwise. How could they be so naive and immature for so long.
As The Wanderer thought things over, their mind was pulled away from the room when he heard a loud crash in the distance echoing across the halls and into the room. He turned immediately to the large door, hoping to see whatever caused it there, but it was just darkness. They floated down to the ground once again and began back into the halls with the light held high to see as much as possible. He wanted to yell out to find out if something else was here, but they decided not to. If there actually was something here, he wasn't yet sure if it knew he was there with it.
He cautiously made his way down the hall, taking one careful step at a time to not make any noise. The only sound he could hear was the pounding of his own heart, and they could feel the sweat beginning to bead on his forehead. Every fiber of his being was telling him to turn back, but he knew he had to keep going- he had to find out what was causing the noise. Besides, what harm could it do to them? They were basically a God, nothing could hurt them. Except...For that one time. But that was a titan. There was no titan here, or at least none that would want to harm The Wanderer. As he looked around, he noticed that the walls seemed to be whispering, distant voices feeling like they were reaching out to them, drawing them deeper into the structure. A part of him wanted to go back, but they braved on anyway.
Finally, after an amount of time not even The Wanderer was aware of, he finally apporched the giant door to the main room. The door opened on it's own, startling them immediately, as they stepped into a spacious chamber. There were unlit torches against the walls, old images behind those of many conquests of the Archivest. Most of the floor was stone as everywhere else, but there was a musky red carpet that led to a giant golden throne. Or at least it used to be golden, now it was so rusty and old that it looked like dirt. The room itself was dark and eerily quiet, with cobwebs covering every surface. A musty smell filled the air, making it hard to breathe if The Wanderer had to.
Cautiously, The Wanderer made their way closer to the throne in front of him. The carpet squished and shifted under their feet as they walked. When they finally reached the throne, they saw that something was etched into the base of it. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a map of some kind, with various symbols and locations marked in a language The Wanderer couldn't read. Maybe long in the past he would've, but at this point he had completely forgotten it.
They sighed and took a step back, and it was at that moment that a new sound filled his ears, one that filled them with absolute dread. A harsh whisper surrounded them, whispering into their soul- "Collector...."
Immediately after, the torches on the walls began to light up one by one, filling the originally dark room with a bright firey light. Without giving even a moment of thought, The Wanderer flew into the air and began back for the door as fast as he could. But right before he reached it, a strong force of gravity pulled him from the air and down to the ground, slamming them into the floor with a loud thud. The slam was even enough to cause a crack in the floor. The force of the impact sent a shockwave through the room, causing everything to shudder.
The Wanderer looked up, but couldn't move the rest of their body, like gravity was just turned up on him and only him. From the corners of the room, four dark and tall figures moved over to be in front of them. They stood extremely tall and wore black and gray robes with little dots of color upon them. Keeping the robes closed was a little circle connected to shapes like stars and such. They had hoods over their heads, and each had their own bright symbol shining through the darkness inside of that hood. The biggest one, in front of the rest, had a blue crescent moon. The one to the right had a pink star. The one to the left had an orange planet. And thr last one, the one sitting in the very back, had a yellow star which was a little bit smaller than pinks.
"Collector." Blue Moon stated in a loud and booming deep voice, looking down at the small child lying on the floor beneath him. "You have returned to us."
The Wanderer was quiet for a moment, just looking at the giant figures in front of them. The Collector. That wasn't them anymore, but he was too afraid to speak in the moment. They just watched in silence as his four siblings spoke quietly amongst themselves.
Pink Star hovered forward, standing right next to Blue Moon to observe The Wanderer after so long. "Where in the universe have you been? Father was worried sick about you for a full century." They said with a slightly worried tone. Their voice was almost as deep as Blue Moon's, but it was much less booming. "You can't just leave for a very long time and then just show back up! Except for that one time where I did that. That was different."
Blue Moon turned his body slightly to partially face his little sibling. "Silence, Pink Star. I will speak to the Collector myself."
"Apologies..." Pink Star nodded and backed away to the other three.
There was an immediate chuckle from Blue Moon as he bent down to get an even closer look at the tiny being below him. "So, Collector, I will ask the same thing-"
"It's Wanderer now." He blurted out, filled with a mix of anger and fear. The Wanderer shuddered a little bit, remembering the threat that came with talking back to any of their siblings. They all had a certain power that made disobeying them unwise, but now he just did. He nervously waited for a response from Blue Moon.
There was a moment of complete empty silence. Thanks to the lack of a face, The Wanderer had no idea what he was thinking. Finally, Blue Moon's body shifted upwards and he began laughing, followed by all the other siblings. "Wanderer? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard, Collector." There was a few more seconds of laughing, before the air turned hotter as Blue Moon leaned in closer again. "Now, where have you been? And don't say something stupid."
"I'll tell you if you stop affecting my gravity." He replied with a harshness in his voice. Blue Moon sighed, and The Wanderer felt the pressure leave their body. With a small groan, he pushed himself back to his feet with a little bit of a stumble. They looked back up to their brother after adjusting himself to standing again, and thought of something to say quickly. "I got trapped...For a while. By a titan. But I got out, and now I've been traveling."
Without any warning, Orange World slid forward and replied to this in her raspier deep voice, "Hm, so that is why you still look as a child." As soon as she finished her sentence, she returned to the previous spot once again.
Blue Moon tilted his entire body in curiosity, "I did not know those titan things had so much power. Good thing there are not left, just a bunch of corpses. But that does beg the question...How did you get out of there?"
"Titans blood." The Wanderer replied without a second of thought, making sure that his cautious steps backwards were slow and unnoticeable.
"Hm." Blue Moon thought for a moment, "So there were still remements of the titan lost centuries ago? I don't know, Collector, I'm not sure how likely that feels. There are more, aren't there?" The Wanderer opened his mouth to object to the statement, but was silenced by Blue Moon continuing. "And you're trying to protect it from us just like you tried protecting those little titans before. But you know what your job is. You know what our jobs are. Where is this place again?"
A rave bubbled up inside of The Wanderer, and they finally snapped, slamming their foot down. "I am not a collector anymore! My name is The Wanderer and you are not going to hurt my friends! NOT AGAIN!" He floated up into the air, his entire body beginning to glow with his power. The Archivests watched with much interest as The Wanderer flew at them, charging up all of his power possible. Like Luz told him once, kindness and forgiveness was possible but this situation was a little more complicated.
However, nobody moved despite the Wanderer charging at them. They just watched, and it was only seconds before Blue Moon would've been hit that he loudly sighed and opened his cloak slightly. A little bit below where his head was, there was a glowing blue light swirling within. But that wasn't the focus of the cloak opening, instead, from inside came five floating fingers without a hand to connect them. He chuckled as a small little moon sticker appeared in his fingers, and it caused The Wanderer to stop his attack without a second thought. But it was too late. Blue Moon flicked it forward and, despite trying to dodge it, the little sticker hit The Wanderer's head.
Immediately, his body seized up. Their body took a familiar wooden puppet feel, one that they put a lot of people through back in the Boiling Isles. Without any ability to move or use his powers, his body fell to the ground and bounced a little as it hit. The Archivest all moved over to him quickly, making sure that it worked and that Wanderer really was frozen.
Blue Moon returned his fingers to the inside of the cloak and shut it once more. "We'll get information out of him soon enough. Yellow Star, take him out of my sight."
"Yes brother." Xe replied in a similarly deep voice as the rest of the siblings. Xe moved forward and lifted Wanderer off the ground and into the air. He tried to move his body, tried to scream or yell or do anything to fight back but he was completely unable too. As they were taken out of the room, the light faded as they were pulled back into the dark hallway.
He couldn't move, he couldn't see, he couldn't feel, and there were no sounds for him to hear. If The Wanderer didn't know any better, they would say this is what death felt like.
They had to escape.
He had to get out of here.
They had to warn King.