Chapter Text
The fog of war cleared and it left the ten of them with that thing.
Hermie stared at the eldritch-being-turned-teenager just standing there. It clung to itself like a scared child. Its eyes darted around across the room and even noticed Hermie for a few seconds. But like everyone else, it looked away immediately.
“How bout we call him Dude?” Normal’s pitchy voice drove his attention back, he was the only one in the room whose expression was fully devoid of any kind of fear or aversion. He had seen this thing in its real form, after all. He had carried its energy in his veins since he was born and when they first appeared in the forgotten realms had been petrified in terror upon first seeing him.
If anybody had a right to be scared, it would be this fool.
D͙̟̦̦͑̀̆̊͗̊͌̿͊̈́̓̈̚u̳̲͍͚̙̞̙̘̭͉̦͙̥͋͌͑̊̓̆̂̿̍̉͌̃͗͆̐̈́ͅd̮͚͇̪͓̬̯͓̞͖͍̖̩̝́̋̃͐̒ë̩̖̣̯̗̟̗̩̃̈́̔́̎̔̉͆̓.͉͕̟͔̭̙̜͇͕̜̣̦̀͗̓̾"̞̦̲̥͇͉̪̦͒̂̏̉̊͒͒
̣̲͚͓͓͈͔͐͛̅̑͆̏͊̃̀̂͌̇̚ͅ"͓͚̮̗̟̭͓̦̤̜̯̪͙̮̙͔̂̒̒͗̐̊̄͛̚D̬̘͙̬̗͔͕̬̪̘͕̦́͗̌͛̒̆̏͑͌̋͛̽̀ͅó̙̲͚͎̦͈̘̖̲̠̝͈̞͙̤̿͋̄̑̀͂̅͂̄̀̑̊̿̚̚o̰̲͙̰̙̪̖̱͉̮̭͎͔̣͛́̂̒̅̓́̏̂̊̓͊̓̈̅̑ͅd̤̳̜̠̞͙̙͔͖̽̒̆̍̽̔͌̾̇͐̾̌̋͆ͅê̝͇͔̥̩͉͍͖̮̠͎̘͇̳̞̬͗͂̾.̳̰̯͎̣̭̘̞͓͇̪̬̐̿̑̔͂̊.̩͍̖̰̋͌͌͆͂͐̏͆̄̒̆̒.̝͇̰͉̝̌̆͗̅̏̀͆̈͑͋"̦͈̠̲̳̬̮̮́̿̑̿ͅ
̙̘͖̦̾͋̀͊̀̌͊̂̄̈́"̝̩̥̟͚̞͙̟̀̒̒͒͗̽̆̂͛D̗̭̤̮̥̭̫̱͎͖̜͎̩͐̓̏̅̐̀̽̈ͅu̗͇̞̙̦̘̤͕̬̭̿̓̔̈́̔͆͒́͋̅̓̊̅̄̓ͅd͙̭̟͕̋͑̓̈́͌̄è̗̟̩̩̳̥̠̞͕͌͋̏̂̅̌̊̃̚ͅ,̩̭̜͎̠̃̇̔̐̉̒̆͒͛͌̓̑̚ Ḍ̜͎̦͔̤̫̯͍̞̓̆̌̽̔̄͂͆̽̐̊̎̈́͂̎ͅô̳͓̣̣͚̰̜̱̳͚̗̖̮̔̌̌̚ͅȍ͕̝̲̟̬͖̪͔̗͔̦̱̠͚̖̅̑͐͒̅̋̒̏͌̿̿d̦̗̬̭̖͔̖͔̫̞͓͚̏̈́̊͊͒̌̇̈́́͐̿̀̏̈,̱̪̙̬͚̮̘͈̭͑̈́͑̐͗̊̓̒͗̎̍̅͑͑͊̀ͅ D̜͍̱̰̗͍̤̠͚̜̽̉̿͊͋̍̊̉͗̀͗͂u̬͖̲̮͎͇̘͕̜͛͒̈͑̓̒̒d̤͖͎̞̲̤͛̒̋͒̑͒́̉͗è̩̜̫̝͍͎͔̖̥̥̍̀̽̈́̈́̑̊.͈̭̱̦͈̪̟̙̝̦̪̬͔̞̦͑̆̂̀̾̀̀̀̌͊͆́̃͆̚.͔̮̬̬̜̲̟̯̘͕̙̟̪͓͕̾͗̀̂́͐͒͂.͕͔̩͎͔̗̿̂͗͛́̅̐͆̉͊ͅ D̥̖̖̤̦̃͑̉͆́o̘̥̲̮̝̲̭̦̯͈͓̓̇̅͗̉̈́̓́͛̏͐ò͉͚̖͕̬͈̤̐̏̔̏͌͋̆̽̃̈͒o̳̫̫͇͓͈̭̯̠̍̿̂́̌̇͗̆̀͒͂͒͑ǒ̱̫͚̠͍̞̞͕̜̬̟͎̝̠̜̬̀̅̅̈̋d͕̫̠̪̠͈͎͎̠͉̔͆͐̉ě̜̦̜̟͈̖̖̗͙̊̊͆̀̆̊͐.͈̣̖͎̘̦̤̟̃̃̇͛̏̐̓̀"͇̘̲͚̥͖̦͎̤̤̱̍̍̿̒̾̚ͅ
̲̮̰̝͇̱̲͓̤̗̠͍̤̮͋̑̈͐͂̇
"͈͙̦̜͇͙̰͚͓͔̃̂̎̂͒͌̎͋̋͛̏Î̭̠̜͓͋̅͆͊̒̀̚̚ l̬͈̬̘̍́̊͐̇̆́́̀̍̉̀i̟̰̥͉̦̖͕̜̟̥͂́̆̽k͉͉̝̯͇̔̅̾̀̂̊̄̀̐e͔̙̲͙̠̩̳̩̭͗̓̓̀̚̚ D̫͈͖̞͖̮̠̈̂̓͗̉̑u̝͓̯͔͌͒̀̂̈́͋͗̀̃d̜̲̱̲̃̋̿̍͆̔̇͆͆̄͒̏ė͔͍͈̣̪̙̩̠͔̬̑͑̂̃̂̽͊̂̈̑̓.̭̣͖̬̇̔̽̚"͓̥̟̫̯̲͑͋̑́̈́̓̋̈̚
"͋͗̕Ì͂͆̕'̄̅͂̈́̈̕m̐͊͡ D͊̽͡u͂́̎̅̏͠d̀̐̔͆̊͞e͊̀͛̋͝,̀̓͠ n͐̂̋̂͝ĩ̐̃͊̏͠c̛̏̓ȇ͒̾̆͝ t҇̄̾͌̚ó͂͛̑̀͝ m̏͒̿͗̂͞e̾̌͡ê͒̈́̕t͊̑̚͡ y͋̉͝ơ͐̓̏͋̚ǘ̍̒͆͝"̆̉́͛͑͠ The creature reached out to shake Normal’s hand but instead it was Link who caught it.
“We’re a hugging family around here.” Link pulled Dude into a hug. Hermie was glad no one saw him cringe as the demon squirmed away and Link awkwardly apologized, shifting away to shake their hand instead.
Dude shook the hands of the four teens first. Only after, did it look around at the adults before sheepishly extending a hand to Grant.
He took it.
One by one, all the adults moved close to shake its hand, until the only ones remaining were Lark and him. The man still stood far away from him, a frozen look on his face.
Normal was the one to cut the awkward silence first.“Okaaayyyy…” He grabbed his uncle’s wrist. “Why don’t you and I move over here, and we can have a little talk from er... Uncle to nephew. Excuse us guys.”
He pulled Lark across the door towards the gothic architecture halls. Hermie took advantage of how unnoticeable he was to lurk toward them. His heart started racing with the anticipation of this mischief. Elated with this rare emotion of feeling like himself for a minute.
He took in the view, a part of him found it strangely aesthetic for the floors to be covered in bleeding, unconscious, Doodlerized bodies, there was an uncanny poeticism to the very damage this whole ordeal had inflicted upon the world. The same events the two Oaks had withdrawn to discuss.
“Look, uncle lark. I read the story of what happened when you were a kid and I... I also saw it when I sat on that chair and saw Dude’s… perspective on it. You know? You and I are the only people who saw that.”
Lark was only looking at the ground. His arms crossed in front of him. “You didn’t live through it, Norm. Everything it touches, it destroys. And you… It didn't speak to you since birth the way it did to me. It wanted me to bring it here. I did what it wanted before and it ruined everything.”
“You were just a kid, Uncle Lark. You were twelve. You had been kidnapped and had to grow up fast and no one knew what this was back then.”
“Well, now you’re a kid. And I’m an adult. I messed everything up and I spent my whole life trying to fix it and it just wasn’t good enough… Stupid, STUPID.” He tightened his fists and aggressively hit them against the side of his leg.
“No, no Uncle Lark, look at me.” He placed himself in front of him. “I think you just need some time, then you and Dude can have a nice, healing conversation, and just… hash things out. You know?”
The bearded man was staring at his maybe son with an indescribable expression. Hermie tried to study it carefully for future roles. You'd never know when a “my maybe son is schooling me about breaking cycles of generational trauma after saving the world when I failed miserably to do it” face might come in handy.
After an eternity. The man spoke again. “Sometimes you sound just like my dad.”
Hermie was expecting a chuckle, maybe a self-deprecating comment, just typical self-effacing Normal behavior. Instead, he stood straighter and spoke in a serious tone.
“Well, I would have liked to have a dad who was proud of me and made me feel I was loved and good enough just as I was. But I guess we don’t all get to be that lucky. Huh.”
For the first time, Lark’s unshakable stance and unhinged but under-control expression faltered. He gawked at his nephew, but then his expression softened. “No one in our family got to be lucky. But Sparrow and I… We really screwed everything up. I’m sorry”
“Yeah well, that doesn’t make it better. But… thank you for not shooting Dude. It was a good first step and I know it was hard.”
Lark shrugged. “I was never able to forgive my dad for not trusting me, so it’d be… Basically, the last thing I could possibly fuck up if I didn’t trust you now.”
It almost looked like they were getting somewhere, but before Normal could respond, Taylor’s whiny voice echoed through the halls. “Hey Normie, come over. Scary just got a bunch of letters from her dead grandpa.”
Ah yes. The plot. Hermie waited until they were both gone before walking back himself. Somehow, he didn't feel guilty for eavesdropping, but something about what he'd seen kept his chest feeling tight either way. Whenever it came to Normal Oak, he always found himself feeling the same emotion. Something that he struggled for months to understand for his role as the Joker but it only took a few days around the mascot kid to internalize: Envy.