Chapter Text
There are some things minds are capable of creating that they really shouldn't.
Gaping faces staring you down when you close your eyes, the distinct sound of breathing coming from a dark corridor, quickening steps coming from behind you when you knew you were alone.
An eerie reflection of the island you've been stranded on for months.
An island that was already bad enough by itself without trying. So there was no need for his mind to try and make it worse, but it had wonderfully succeeded.
There was no sun, no moon, no stars—no skies. Just a void, a silent nothing that encompassed everything. There was no song of crickets, no soft swishing of water, no distant cooing from owls. There was nothing.
Just the silhouette again.
It stood just over the edge of where his eyes could comprehend what was darkness and what was less dark, seemingly floating and stretching itself to touch the grayed grass and the wall of dense mist around them. The only suggestion of a feature it had being the faint glint in what would be its eyes. Or was it its mouth?
As usual, they stayed locked in a staring contest for what felt like centuries. Until the silhouette eventually seemed to glitch and dissolve, and the darkness swallowed what was left of the world it left behind.
The storm didn’t seem like it’d stop any time soon.
Forever couldn’t remember the last time they’d had such strong winds, the rain splattering against his roof sounding like gunshots, the low grumbling of distant thunder almost a constant thrum.
Except, maybe, the storm that brought the French and his sister to the island.
He watched the storm from his reinforced windows, listening to the occasional deep rumble of thunder, and weaving his hand through his son’s curls he had just painstakingly untangled in the shower.
After playing around all day, giving Cellbit five heart attacks, and running away from almost all his family to escape a bath—Forever had finally managed to convince him to go home when the first drops of rain started falling. Now Richarlyson was snuggling into his lap, his head resting on his legs and his arms circling his torso as far as they’d reach. Not sleeping yet, but close, that comfortable space between unconscious and unbothered peace.
Forever smiled, brushing his son’s hair back from his face to watch the soft flutter of his eyes.
“Boa noite, filho,” he whispered into their silent room. Leaning back into the sofa and listening to the heavy pitter-patter of the storm, he made mental notes of how many things he’d have to fix. Tomorrow would be a busy day.
A loud lightning strike made Richarlyson startle awake, his wings flaring as if mid-flight, and his hands tightening on his shirt—tiny nails digging into his stomach and drawing a yelp from his father.
The silhouette was closer.
Its glinting eyes now had color to them, he noticed. Crimson—bright, bleeding crimson. It loomed, higher up this time, and if there were light sources in their little void, perhaps it would have been casting down a mighty shadow over him.
It was strange how he was never afraid. Disconcerted, yes. A little creeped out too, sure. But not afraid.
He'd wake up and remember those eyes throughout the entire day, he'd lay in bed already expecting the darkness in his room to extend to his mind, tangle its fingers through his thoughts, grip at his lungs so he could never speak, never ask what that silhouette was, what it wanted, if this meant more than just a craft from a tired brain.
But it would never hurt him. It would never try to. How could he ever think such a thing?
He woke up with a hollow feeling in his chest, earlier in the night instead of morning, wishing he could go back to staring into nothing and having it stare back.
On one of the many beaches of Quesadilla Island, a boat washed ashore toppled over its side. The sand succumbed under its weight and welcomed it deeper into its embrace, accepting yet another rarity onto the Island.
The ship wasn’t too damaged, and all things considered. It would have been functional had it not been claimed by the sands. Its broken and twisted windows could have been fixed, but now, they served another purpose; an easy exit for wings to fly through.
Thin but strong wings flapped, then settled as their body landed on the coast. Crimson eyes took in the scene around them, and muted blond hair danced with the slowly quieting howling winds as a pale hand fixed the lapel of a suit.
High boots crunched on stones and grass, stepping deeper into the island, and leaving behind a slowly dissipating storm.
“Jesus Christ, man.” Cellbit dropped himself into the chair ahead of him, reaching forward and depositing the coffee on his dinner table. It was a little ridiculous how long it was, considering they were both sitting on one extreme of it. “Did you see what happened to my coffee plantation? Can’t even imagine what happened to your crops.”
“Ah, they’re all gone.” Forever poured himself a cup, leisurely adding four spoons of sugar. “Serves me right for trusting the weather in this place. With the way things were, I thought we wouldn’t be getting any rain anymore. But no.”
“Yeah. When was the last time we got any rain, again?” Cellbit leaned back into his chair, one hand scratching at his stubble beard. “Sure, it’s normal for there to not be any rain for a long while and then a big storm. But we have such a variety of biomes so close together, even a mini Amazon forest, rain is supposed to be a constant.”
Forever could see that line appear between Cellbit’s brows, that pensive air downing on him like a cloak. Forever stirred his drink.
“I missed it.” He took a sip of his coffee, not too strong, not too watery. Just perfect. Cellbit was the right person to open a coffee shop. “The rain. Not the lightning, though. Did you know Richarlyson is afraid of them? It’s a new fear. He wasn’t that on edge with them before.”
“Lightning?” Cellbit blinked, and that distant look in his eyes was gone. His eyebrows furrowed as he tilted his head. “When would he have time to develop that fear? The last time we had lightning strikes was... months ago. When they were still answering us.”
Cellbit’s voice was distant again, losing himself in another memory. “...Maybe the nightmares?”
Forever hummed. “I wouldn’t know.”
Cellbit sighed. Forever knew he didn’t like any of it, knew it wasn’t Cellbit’s fault. But it was a fact that Richarlyson’s episodes started when he moved into the castle.
“I’ve been trying to keep watch. But they always happen when I’m not ready. And then when I go check on him he’s covered in paint and there’s a new painting.”
“Were there any paintings like that again?”
“No. Only the most normal ones. But he took all the paintings I was hiding. Probably burned them all.” Cellbit sighed through his nose, spinning his cup on the table by the handle. “...Would he want to burn his self-portraits too?”
Forever mumbled into his cup. “I don’t think it’d be good to let him see it yet. You remember how he got when he saw his diary.”
“I’m not letting that happen again.” Cellbit shook his head, his white fringe falling over his eyes. “But back to the lightning, did he explain why he was scared? Was it just the sudden noise? His ears are sensitive.”
“They are. But no, he just wanted a hug and tried to write something but gave up.” Forever put his cup down, his brows furrowing with the struggle to remember. His brain was starting to seriously worry him. “I actually... I think he did have a nightmare. But he... he never fell asleep? He was just resting, but he got up like he’d woken up from one of those dreams where you’re falling.”
Cellbit tilted his head again, ears flicking back, eyes tracing an invisible pattern as he thought. “Maybe a vision? Tallulah has those sometimes, she’s told me.”
“Now we have visions to worry about too? What’s next, prophecies?”
“...I do think there’s still a lot to find. And Montelyson did mention a sea that swallowed the sun in his diaries before.”
“And the lighthouse and the bells. I remember how cheery you were when you told me.”
Cellbit glanced at him from under his lashes, and the warning look was enough to shut that topic down. For the time being. They had already gotten into an argument about it before, they would get into another eventually.
The Other side. The Membrane. Cellbit had become near manic on his new hidden evidence board. Mumbling words Forever could only half understand, something about Felps and the Island maybe using manancial energy. He'd lost count of how many times he'd heard the word heart being whispered like he wasn't even in the room anymore. Just scared mumbles that spoke of bad past experiences.
He’d gladly leave the Paranormal to Cellbit. His job was keeping the kids safe in their own reality.
“It’ll be alright, you’ll figure it out.” Forever put his lukewarm cup down, the bitterness now sticking to his tongue in the most unpleasant way. “You always do, don’t you?"
Cellbit nodded, hands fiddling with the ring on his finger, staring at him with those cold eyes he thought looked confident. But weren’t, they were as open as his face could manage to be indecipherable. No matter how good of a poker face he could do, his eyes would always give him away. He was unsure, afraid he’d hurt their son, afraid he’d mess up.
Forever smiled, reaching forward as far as he could for Cellbit's hand. “Then it’s alright. We just need to worry about Romero Richas for now. No beating yourself up over something that didn’t happen yet and won’t.”
Cellbit sighed through his nose, the tense line of his shoulders settling in a more comfortable posture, and Forever didn’t open his mouth to warn him about the cold coffee when he took a sip, but did chuckle at his disgusted frown.
“Ugh, alright. Heavy talk’s over. Is he staying with Pac and Mike today?”
“I think so,” Forever put his coffee back on the flask, Cellbit wouldn’t be able to harvest any new seeds for a while. He didn’t know how he’d manage to keep going on so little caffeine. “He’s been wanting to spend more time with you and Felps, make up for the time you two were gone.”
“I know. I’m planning all sorts of things for us to do with Roier. He wants to do a family trip with Jaiden.’’ Cellbit smiled, but it slowly disappeared, his face falling into a mask of indifference. He picked at his nails, the tone of his voice enough to set Forever on edge. “How’s his zoo coming along, hm? Any new snakes? Maybe the tiny colorful ones?”
“No. No snakes. I already told him.” Forever shuddered. Just the memory of the anaconda trying to circle him, the feeling of her scales tightening around him and digging into his skin enough to make him want to pace around and stretch his arms. “We already have enough animals to rebuild the world and the entire ecosystem. I told him if he wanted snakes that fucking mosquito had to go.”
“Where did he even find—why did you let him take that?”
Forever groaned, throwing his hands up exasperatedly. “If I saw him taking that I would have tragically lost it on the way, or accidentally bumped into it on the boat and heroically tried to swim after it. But he acted behind my back. He knew I’d want that thing gone, I wonder from which dad he got that from—ah, hi son!”
Forever beamed at Richarlyson’s hair, as far as he’d reach over the table, glancing at Cellbit with way less enthusiasm in his smile. Cellbit was smiling back at him, tilting his head cheekily like the bobbing head toy he was apparently.
“Your dad and I were talking about where to take you on our next big adventure.” Forever leaned forward to rest his arms on the table. “Why are you back so soon? Did something happen? Where’s Tio Phil?”
Richarlyson quickly wrote on his sign, resting it on the table for him to see and blocking his view of him entirely.
Tio Phil asked me to come get you, there’s a boat on the beach. He says there’s something weird about it
“Something—a boat?” Forever frowned, leaning further forward as if it’d help his brain understand better.
“A what?” Cellbit practically jumped off his chair, carefully taking Richarlyson’s sign and reading it. His eyes flying over the words with a single glance. “What are you waiting for, Forever, come on.”
Cellbit whirled around, stabilizing his chair with a flick of his tail and bolting down the stairs. He rushed for the entrance of the castle, his voice ringing after him. “Quick, Quick!”
Forever got up from his chair, stacking up the cutlery and double-checking that the sugar pot was sealed. “And I just wanted to play repairman today, Richas.”
Richarlyson smiled, tiny canines peeking from under his lips as he ran under the table to grab his hand and pull with all the strength in his body. He managed to almost make him faceplant into the floor Cellbit really needed to clean.
"Alright, alright, we’re going.” Forever let himself be pulled forward, smiling at the distant swoosh and whirl of Cellbit being teleported away.
Maybe that’s what he’d needed, something to get his brain going again and distance himself from so many possibilities. The debates were fun for the most part, but as good at them as Cellbit was, they were draining him. He knew he missed his mysteries and riddles and enigmas. What better than possibly new people to add to this already big mess?
Maybe this could be a good change.
His breath made the silhouette's face dance, dark misty shadows twirling and twisting like watercolor paint in a water cup. Its eyes stared deep back into his. Not blinking, not moving.
Today they were graced with a beautiful scarlet moon. She framed the silhouette's form, occasional little fades and cracks in its shape allowing her light to shine through it and grace his eyes.
She bathed everything in hues of crimson, sharp edges, and stronger shadows. The dead grass rustled softly with the faint cold breeze around them, the softest hint of salty sea water clinging to his nose, his ears managing to catch the distant distorted cry of a seagull.
Just as the first glitches started to course through the silhouette's body, its eyes morphed and squinted—reminding him of Bad's peculiar smiles—and soon after he was blinking up at his ceiling, squinting at the harsh light of the midday sun intruding his room.
"Who would be crazy enough to come so far into the ocean on a yacht? Did they get lost or... maybe they were forced to come?"
"Ooh, more rich people on the Island...? Such great news."
"You're one of the rich people on the Island already, Forever."
"Ah, but you can never be too rich. Maybe. No, yeah. You can. But you can always be richer."
Forever shielded his eyes from the sand when Philza flapped his wings and took off, circling the boat again, hovering over its windows and prow. His hat covered most of his face from the strong sunlight, casting his eyes in shadow, but even without seeing them Forever knew Philza must have been a sight to behold. The Crow man was in eagle mode.
It was a pretty boat, by boat standards and his vast knowledge of them. The boat was thin, and tall, and... white.
Cellbit had found the model was called Ferretti 550 by its design, tried finding hidden numbers by a something-something Cypher in its name, then thrust a camera into Philza’s hands and asked him to take as many pictures of it as he could as his own personal drone.
The kids were sat down on the beach, helping put away the evidence and photos into their bags, their signs filled with their gossiping and chit-chat, while Cellbit looked over at least twelve other pictures in his hands. Forever had taken one step closer to Cellbit and stepped away right after, if he stayed too close the steam from Cellbit’s head might have cooked him alive.
Philza took one last sweep around the yacht before landing beside Forever again, careful to not lift up as much sand now that the kids were so close.
“Found anything, Cellbit?” Philza asked, a hand pulling at his hat to shield himself better. How come the sun always felt so much worse after a storm, did the ozone layer just dissipate a little? Cellbit probably knew why.
Cellbit searched for one picture in the mess he’d made on his lap, lifting one up—a clear shot of the inside of the ship through broken windows. “From the pictures you took of the inside, I’d say there was only one person aboard. That’s not what’s weird, yachts can be manned by one person, even the bigger ones.”
He dug around again, pulling up a picture of the motor Philza had managed to find after weaving himself inside. Forever had been terrified he’d hurt his wings trying to squeeze past the broken glass, but he’d thankfully managed to kick the door open instead. “But this one’s motor is not made to travel great distances, let alone more than two thousand kilometers—if we really are at Point Nemo.”
Cellbit continued with a frown, letting the picture fall to rest with its companions on the sand. “There are other yacht models that can travel the whole world if needed. If this was a planned travel I don’t see why they’d choose this model.”
Forever cocked his head, rocking on the soles of his shoes. “It’s a pretty boat, maybe they wanted a big entrance.”
“What’s the use of a big entrance if your boat sinks before you reach anywhere? How did this boat even come this far—I don’t understand.”
Philza hummed, tucking his hands inside his robe sleeves to peer back up at the boat. “There was the storm too, yachts aren’t supposed to endure that much turbulence. Can’t even imagine what it’d be like in the middle of the ocean if they were influenced by the Federation’s weather... controlling abilities.”
“Right?” Cellbit sat back on his heels, ears flicking back when the kids laughed and giggled, chasing each other behind him. Richarlyson had taken his mission to distract Talullah very seriously. “There was also no food on the boat. Nothing in the trash cans, or the trash disposers, nothing. This is a two-week trip—minimum.”
“Maybe they were knocked out most of the trip? It seems cozy inside.” Forever smiled, then winked at Cellbit’s disappointed glare.
Philza glanced between them. “The bedroom did look a little strange. I know some people prefer a dark room when sleeping but they went out of their way to make it isolated.”
Cellbit pulled up another picture. “Using a wardrobe to cover the window, yeah. Maybe they did that during the storm?”
“Maybe.”
Forever balanced himself on one foot, glancing back at the boat then spinning around on the heels of his feet. Cellbit had already checked with everyone on the island to stay alert for any sightings of new people, Jaiden and Baghera had even scoured the Island from the skies, while Bad, Fit, and Foolish focused on the ground. But so far nothing.
The footsteps etched into the sands were halfway into fading. Faint echoes of Cellbit’s voice murmured in the back of his mind as he looked at it.
Light steps, not injured, perfect soles, these are new.
Most curious of all was how they disappeared as soon as the sand met the grass, and from then on there was no more sign of those pointy shoes. Cellbit had almost growled in frustration.
Forever narrowed his eyes at the faint outline of them, his ears catching the end of one of Cellbit’s heavy sighs. The ones that meant he needed a break but wouldn’t give himself one, or that he needed a cup of coffee.
He kept a coffee flask on himself at all times, but it wouldn’t do to have him work himself into the ground again. They all remembered how he got the last time he’d done that. He didn’t even know human eye bags could get that deep.
“Do you have all the evidence you need, Cellbit?” Forever spun back around, dodging out of the way of a beaming Tallulah, Richarlyson trailing close behind her. “It’s lunchtime, the kids must be hungry.”
Cellbit glanced over his shoulder at him, holding his gaze long enough for Forever to tip his chin and lift an eyebrow. Cellbit sighed, but started putting away all his photos into his backpack, mumbling a quiet ‘thank you’ when Chayanne plopped himself on the sand next to him to help.
Talullah skidded to a stop behind Philza, peeking from behind his waist at Richarlyson with a grin. His son let out a silent giggle but slowed to a stop as well, his tail wagging behind him excitedly while the two faced off to see who’d run first.
Philza smiled, watching the two with raised eyebrows. He patted Talulah’s head, fixing her beanie and brushing back the hair sticking to her forehead. Richarlyson’s own hair looked glorious, filled with sand from when he’d fallen headfirst into the ground and rolled around for good measure, with leaves and twigs sticking out of his curls from when he and Chayanne had chased a raccoon on the way to the coast. Thankfully It was Felps’s turn to shower their son.
Richarlyson abandoned his attack position, seeming to notice the faint wheeze in Tallulah's breathing. Instead, he walked forward to bump his forehead on Philza’s waist, fluttering his wings happily when Philza rested a hand on his hair too. That soft smile still in place as he looked down at his son, the one that made the corner of his eyes wrinkle with crow’s feet and quirked the corner of his mouth just a tiny bit.
Oh, the world could be so cruel.
“Forever.”
Forever shook himself out of his little daze, turning to meet Cellbit’s warning look. We talked about this, his eyes said.
I’m seeing ghosts again, his eyes answered.
But he nodded with a sigh, wordlessly lifting a hand for one of the backpacks on Cellbit’s shoulders. The bag was heavy, there was the soft clinking of glass inside and a strange smell accompanying it that seemed to cling to the depths of his soul, but Cellbit’s hand on his back stopped him from swearing out loud.
“Sleep and it’ll pass, Forever. Or eat something, hm? Chayanne said he’s been wanting to cook something special.” Cellbit smiled encouragingly, jostling him by his hold on his shoulder, turning to look at Chayanne when he stepped closer to them. “Not as special as my wedding cake, I hope.”
Chayanne shook his head vehemently, standing as tall he’d reach—just over their waists but with the air of the most serious little chef. He quickly wrote on his sign, then lifted it up for them to read.
I’ll make us Marzipã, don’t tell Tallu
“Ooh, I bet that’s really good.” Forever smiled, “And it’ll be even better because it’s you cooking. We’re so lucky to have a gourmet chef on the Island.”
Chayanne ducked his head, the emerald glint in the holes of his mask disappearing for a moment, but his tail gave a brief wag. Forever smiled.
“Alright, then,” He turned to clap Cellbit’s back too. “Now you just need to finish packing up all the mess you made so we can go.”
“I just did—” Cellbit’s ears fell, only now noticing where the winds had taken all the pictures the kids had abandoned to play. “...give me a minute.”
Forever smiled at Chayanne, lifting a hand to gesture at him to go to Philza, but Philza wasn’t where he last saw him. Only Talullah and Richarlyson were resting in the same spot. “Uh, Chayanne can you stay with Talullah and Richas while we wrap things up, please?”
Chayanne looked over his shoulder at his sister, returning the little wave she sent him, then nodded.
“Thank you, and can you save me a slice or bite, or—bowl...? Of what you’ll cook too, please?”
Chayanne nodded again, then lifted a hand to point over his back.
Following the softer caws and croaks he’d just started to miss, he found Philza way ahead of them, standing in front of the entrance to the dense tropical forest that surrounded the coast.
“Ah, thank you—” He turned to thank Chayanne, but he was already sitting on the ground with the other kids, leaning into Tallulah’s shoulder and accepting the pretty shell Richarlyson was handing to him.
He smiled, turning around and making his way to Philza. The crows nearby watched him approach, some hopped closer, but they didn't caw to announce his presence.
"Phil?" Forever stepped closer, mindful of the way Phil's feathers ruffled at his proximity. "Did you find something?"
Philza glanced at him, those sharp eyes softening into rounded pupils again. "No. Not really. Just more questions." He turned back to look at the forest, eyes seeing something he couldn't. "But I'll find out what it is."
'What is it? Do you want help? Can I go with you—?' He wanted to ask. But he smiled instead, lifting a hand and hovering it over Philza's shoulder in an approximation of an encouraging shove. "Of course, you will. In no time at all."
Philza smiled at him, and Forever felt like spinning around in circles. "Maybe you could even join us?" he asked. "Have a picnic with Roier and Jaiden?"
Philza's smile widened at the same time that his eyes softened even more. His wings ruffled behind his back as he cocked his head towards the children. "Don't wait for me."
With that he tilted his chin in goodbye, making his way to the tall trees and the foliage, his crows leading the way deeper and deeper inside.
Forever watched him go, waiting until his rich green robes faded into the forest to turn around and take some pity on Cellbit still jumping to and from to grab his photos. They were on babysitting duty for now.
Philza weaved himself deeper into the forest, ducking under dead Palm tree leaves, and sidestepping suspicious mounds in the grass. Two crows flew past him, one joined the others on their perch in the trees surrounding the small clearing they’d found themselves in, the other picked at the ground until a tarantula moved out from its home in the dirt and out of his way.
"What?"
The crows cawed, flapping their wings and jumping in place. Philza tried to focus on one at a time.
"...Bat?" The caws turned into positives, and one crow flew to circle him until he followed it with his eyes.
A bat stared back at him from its perch on a palm tree trunk. With both of its wings digging into the hard bark, the bat's head was turned all the way back to stare at him with unblinking red eyes.
It seemed almost... startled to meet his eyes.
Philza narrowed his eyes at it, calling the crow still circling him to rest on his fingers, then guiding it to perch on his shoulder. Not once did the bat blink, or its gaze wander, its strangely reflective eyes stayed glued to him in a way he'd dare call challenging.
Its lack of a heartbeat reflected back to him like a sonar.
"Phil! Phil!"
Philza broke the strange stare off, wiping the frown from his face to watch Forever slow down to a walk as he got closer, a blinding smile on his face.
"So, Tallulah and Chayanne wanted to spend more time with Richarlyson and I was wondering if you'd let them spend the day with us? Maybe a sleepover at Cellbit's castle?" Forever leaned forward, hands clasped behind his back, his bangs framing his face and eyes in the way only gold could compliment maroon.
Philza glanced back at his kids through the small breaks in the foliage. Tallulah was holding Richarlyson's hand, swinging it between them, and Chayanne snapped his head around to easily meet his eyes and nod with a little thumbs up. Cellbit was struggling to make a shell collar, now surrounded by hundreds of colorful shells instead of pictures.
Philza huffed a laugh through his nose. The crow on his shoulder crooned and tilted its head at Forever, blinking a dark little eye up at him. "Sure, why not. But make sure they don't pull an all-nighter. They need to rest."
"Aw, but that's the most fun part of a sleepover." Forever pouted, straightening up again and fluttering his eyelashes at the crow with a face he knew meant he would have been baby-talking it had Phil not been standing right there.
"It's called a sleepover, Forever."
"Good thing they'll be Cellbit's responsibility by then so I get to be the fun uncle for now."
Cellbit’s voice rose over the muffling silence in the forest. "My what, Forever?"
Forever winked at him, waved his fingers at the crow then turned in a swirl of golden hair, switching to shouting in Portuguese and striding back to the others. Philza thanked the Federation for once, their translator earpieces were invaluable.
"Responsibility! You love that, don't you. Your fourth most favorite thing after Richarlyson, me, then Roier."
"There are at least five people between Richarlyson and you, including Roier."
"But I'm still part of the loved list!"
"Of course, you are."
Philza watched Forever crush Cellbit's face into his chest with a fond little shake of his head, sharing a look with his crow when Cellbit failed repeatedly to free himself until he accepted the unconventional hug. Richarlyson joined in by clinging to his father's leg.
Philza turned away when Cellbit's arms came up to circle Forever's torso and his tail curled around his son.
The crows would have warned him if the bat had moved even just a centimeter. It was still there, its eyes still unblinking, its head still unnaturally twisted back. But its eyes had finally moved, and it didn't make him feel relieved.
Those crimson pupils wouldn't leave Forever.