Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This was probably his dumbest idea yet, and for Charlie, that is impressive. He knew it wouldn’t end well for him, but the urge to do what could potentially be the best thing could also turn out to be the stupidest.

He was only a few feet underneath the scene unfolding, enveloped in the cool earth, listening intently to the bandits above him and their argument. Laying in wait for what will happen. 

From what he could gather, they were worried about being discovered by someone or something, but Charlie couldn’t really detect anything in or around the cave they’d made into their hideout. A noise or something probably spooked them, and it’d be a matter of time before they let their nerves take over and they hit the road with all their stolen goods.

There was just one little problem. They were holding cargo Charlie needed to steal from them. Stealing from thieves, well, that’s the stupid part. But the potentially morally good part? He might just save a life. An egg, to be exact.

Listen, he could try his hardest to explain what it was about this egg that compelled him to sacrifice his own well-being just to hope that they’d forget about it and leave it behind, but he couldn’t think of any good explanations. There was something about this egg, something about it that felt important. 

Charlie wasn’t exactly an expert on eggs or anything, but he never turns away from a gut feeling like this one.

So there he was. A slime, smooshed up against some dirt and tree roots, nestled in the ground, waiting for these bandits to make their move and thinking about how big of an idiot he was by even being here. All he was doing was traveling along until the sounds from the surface caught his attention.

His patience was waning with each passing moment as he struggled to keep himself still. While his sense of vibration and hearing were top notch, being unable to see what was going on was frustrating. He could only sense where the egg might be; any additional details weren’t included. 

Charlie sludged his way through the dirt as quietly as he could manage, eventually forcing his head up and through the cracks in the cave floor and forming into his goopy, blobby form and collecting any little bits he might’ve left behind.

He skirted his gaze around the cavern, eventually slinking over quietly to some crates and hiding behind them. He didn’t hear any commotion over him appearing from the ground, so he let out the breath he was holding as he looked around for the egg.

The egg itself was on a pedestal, cracks already forming on its surface. It was hidden towards the back of the bandit loot in an attempt to keep it secret. It was also much larger than anticipated; it was clear trying to sneak it out while the bandits were still messing around would surely end badly. Glooping quietly around the pedestal, Charlie decided to hide near the egg just in case he had a chance.

Peering at the bandits it was clear they were still panicked by whatever spooked them. Something felt off as they began stumbling around and gathering whatever they could and hauling it outside in a hurry. Charlie could sense their nervous states and it made him feel a bit anxious, too.

“Guys! They’re getting too close! We need to leave ASAP!” A voice boomed in the cavern, causing Charlie to wobble and seep into the dirt.

“But what about the rest of our loot? We aren’t gonna get paid fully if-”

“Can it dimwit, we can come back for it later! They aren’t gonna find this cave if we ain’t in it! Just cover the entrance!”

Grumbles and sounds of rushing around echoed in the dim space, and after only a few more minutes there was the sound of a cart driving away before silence finally filled the cave, only broken by the sounds of dripping water. 

Charlie emerged fully from the ground, no longer sensing any additional people nearby. He formed into a humanoid shape, finally able to size up the egg they’d left behind in their hurry. He got lucky, just this once.

Gingerly touching the cracks, he could feel a warmth radiating from the egg. It was mottled with green spots on its light yellow exterior, and if he focused hard enough he could even feel the little heartbeat within. Whatever the egg held, it would surely hatch soon. Too cautious to take it off its pedestal, he decided right then he’d stay with the egg but leave it be for the time being.

As he stood next to it, he looked around the room with a curious eye. It was clear this egg was one of many exotic finds, and while Charlie was no expert on the humanoids of the surface and all their ways, he could determine these crates and trinkets held things that were quite rare. They were all packaged with care despite being stolen and labeled with words Charlie didn’t recognize or understand.

Milk crates with brightly colored liquid stacked end to end were against one wall, a preserved skeleton of a creature that could only be described as ‘freaky’ leaning against another; dozens of smaller, golden eggs in buckets; there was all manner of things, and much of it left behind with the intent of returning to gather it. Maybe it was a black market thing. Charlie could only really guess. He’s been a careful observer of humans and other beings for long enough that he’d figured some things out. None of it was of any real worth to him, though. As a slime, material wealth wasn’t exactly top priority. Where would he even keep a wallet? 

Pondering all these things, he walked over to a small clear pool of water towards the far end of the cave. He peered at his reflection and at the face he took on as a slime humanoid. The face he made didn’t carry any specific features, as it was the one he always defaulted to when he didn’t think about it. Maybe this would be a good time for him to practice a human form just in case. He’d been practicing one for a while, and now he had a fair reason to do so.

Putting on some spare clothes the bandits left behind, (man, they just really left everything behind didn’t they?) He adjusted his physique slightly to fit into them, making him a bit taller and broader than he usually is. He donned a ratty white tunic with three peculiar red hearts stitched on the front complete with simple leather pants and boots, all well-worn and comfortable.

Walking over towards the water again, he leaned in close, shutting his eyes in concentration as he let his face and skin form into the proper disguise.

Green, slimy skin turned more fair, pale and solid; hair replaced the gooey shapes that resembled it on his head. Opening his bright green eyes he squints, realizing he needs glasses in his human form and creates a pair with his goo. Charlie gazes at his now human face in the water, satisfied with the result. He even managed to get his nose mostly centered this time around.

It wasn’t an ability slimes used often, nor was it as honed as Charlie’s; slimes didn’t typically have any reason to appear humanoid. 

It’s one of the many reasons Charlie became an outcast to his family, another thing wrong with the already messed up pile of problems he was known for. 

Blinking, he stepped back and felt his clammy skin. If there was anything that could give him away, it would be the fact that his skin and general complexion would always have a slimy green hue. His ‘blood’ would be green and cold, unlike that of actual human beings. But it would suffice.

Walking back over to the egg, he let out a sigh. He was in too deep now. No turning back. Whatever was in this egg, he’d make it his personal mission to make sure it was safe. 

It was odd how willing he was to protect it; but it was defenseless, the only living thing besides himself in this cave. It was alone, and he knew that feeling and how painful it was to deal with. Maybe he could do right by this little living, breathing thing in keeping it safe.

Charlie lets out a sigh as he leans against the stone pedestal, listening to the sounds outside of the cave as he closes his eyes.

A few days passed, and the bandits still hadn’t returned. Sounds of people around the cave were heard, and he did his best to hide, but nothing ever came of the sounds; nobody ever found the entrance.

The cracks in the egg did grow with each passing day, and he had a feeling that it would hatch pretty soon. He even plucked up the courage to pick the egg up and wrap it in a little nest of blankets he’d found, deciding it to be more comfortable than the stone pedestal it was seated on. He took some inspiration from birds he’d seen in his travels; surely this mysterious egg couldn’t be too different, right?

It was around day 4 or 5, Charlie wasn’t sure, when odd things began happening. 

The sounds of people moving around outside were relentless all day and even all night; it was clear from their tone and the few words he could pick up that they were indeed looking for the stolen goods. 

They didn’t sound like the bandits from before, and didn’t seem quite as mean, so he assumed maybe they were the true owners of the valuables or maybe people coming to reclaim it; but he really couldn’t be sure. As keen as his hearing was, it wasn't enough to make out all the details. 

Taking no chances he did his best to shield the cave entrance with vines and assorted tarps laying around. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be enough even with the additional coverings the bandits first made.

“Hm. Take a look at this, Bad.” A woman entered the cave a few moments ago, forcing Charlie to hide behind some large boxes. He caught a glimpse of her and her large, iridescent blue wings. She seemed like a harpy, or avian-bird person of some kind, as similarly blue feathers sprouted from where her ears should be. She was bending down and peering at some of the marks on the ground left by the bandits, probably made by moving some of the bigger crates that they took with them. 

Another figure was standing next to her, a cloaked demon with sharp jet-black horns jutting out of his hood and a curled tail flitting back and forth like a cat from under his red robes. 

Charlie glimpsed at the both of them again through the openings in the box to catch some extra details.

The pair wore matching decorative armor with sun and star insignias he couldn’t recognize. They almost looked like officers of a guild or faction with the way they carried themselves, not nearly as stuck-up as knights of a kingdom might be. It was a guessing-game as Charlie tried to see if maybe they weren’t as willing to kill him on sight as they appeared.

The demon, dubbed ‘Bad’ by the winged woman, knelt down next to her and observed the marks. “They were in a bit of a hurry. Must’ve been recent, maybe a few days at most judging by the campfires outside and inside.” 

Charlie could hear them both shuffle around, armor and weapons clinking together as they shifted. “Seems about right. Any details about where they might’ve gone?” The woman  asked.

“Nah. Earlier patrols had an idea, but the tracks were covered… whoever these guys were, they were prepared. Not enough to take everything, but enough to snag the more valuable stuff.”

The woman walks towards one of the walls, inspecting the colored liquid bottles stacked up high. “More valuable than these luck potions? Jeez…” She rubs the back of her neck, grimacing at what could’ve been of even greater value than everything left behind.

“We can at least reclaim everything left behind! It’s still something, Jaiden.” Bad says with optimism, gesturing to all the valuables. “It’ll take a while to get everything, but we can get started with cataloging. Let me get Fit in here to help start sorting and we can send word back to home base.” 

The woman, now identified as Jaiden, nods in agreement. They both retreat outside to find whoever ‘Fit’ was, giving Charlie ample time to start panicking.

“Shit. Shit shit shit.” He whispers to himself, stumbling from behind the boxes towards his egg. He scoops it up, feeling it crack as he does so. A feeling of dread spreads like a sickening ooze in his chest. 

“Fuck, don’t you dare hatch on me now, stay in there for just a little while longer, please please don’t- ” He is quickly interrupted by a piece of shell falling to the floor. 

Standing in shock, he slowly turns the egg over to observe the opening, and a bright, amber colored eye looks at him through the large crack.

“Shit fuck.” Hey says eloquently.

Chapter Text

Charlie rushes over to a different hiding place, behind some large rocks towards the back. There was still plenty of stuff there too, so those people would certainly find him; but it could buy him some time to formulate a plan.

He had no clue what they would do if they found a slime man disguised as a person holding a potentially illegal creature. What if they thought he was a bandit? What if they straight up just killed him for even being in here? This was so stupid. He couldn’t believe his luck had run out so quickly.

Wait. Luck.

Charlie holds a breath in as he looks at the colored liquid across the cavern. Maybe, if he ran over there in time, he could snag a bottle and maybe get himself an advantage.

Just as he was about to make a run for it, the two warriors plus another, even stronger and broader one appeared in the entrance, small scowl lines etched in his face in spite of his calm expression. He assumed this new, battle-hardened bald one was Fit.

“Alright guys, fan out and start writing down what you see and how much. Gotta know when we send more carts to gather everything.”

“Got it.”

“Right!”

The three moved out, scanning the cave and turning over every box and container carefully. Charlie could feel a heart attack coming on any second, panic running around his mind. He stared down at the little face peeking through the egg’s now large opening, and he blinked in recognition at his- her- their face. He was holding a mother-effing baby dragon.

Okay. Alright. Cool.

He really needs one of those luck potions right about now.

He looks back towards the crates with said luck potions, eyes widening at the sudden approach of a distracted Jaiden. She was looking down at a little notebook, taking note of some fragile-looking artifacts laying on some crates.

Suddenly, her ear feathers twitch as she looks right at Charlie, their eyes meeting briefly. Her purple ones widen in surprise as Charlie ducks back behind his hiding place, praying she thinks it was only her eyes playing tricks in the dimly lit room. He hears her walk close, obviously trying to stay quiet as her footsteps become more sneaky.

He finds himself rooted to the spot as he resists the urge to slide back into the safety of the earth, meeting the now suddenly bright green eyes of the baby dragon. Wait, green? Weren’t they just amber colored? And why did it have glasses now? And clothing? Confusion and pure panic battled in his brain and before he could even think of a plan, he was being hoisted up by Jaiden.

“Who are you? What are you doing back here?” She interrogates, soft eyes betraying her harsh tone.

Charlie speaks fast, still clutching the half-broken egg with the now fully emerged baby dragon in his arms. “Um- well- okay, okay, this looks really really suspicious I know, but I swear by the gods I’m not a bandit or anything I was just-”

“Hold your horses dude, take a deep breath. I’m not gonna hurt you, as long as you tell me who you are and what you’re doing here.” Jaiden says, her voice softening only a little bit.

Charlie settles, not quite trusting her, but having no other choice but to answer her questions. She said she wouldn’t hurt him, but that longsword at her hip says otherwise.

Eyeing the weapon with a nervous look, he swallows thickly and starts over. “I’m- I’m Charlie. I was just passing through, and I found this cave by accident. Um. And- and I thought I’d stay here a while, I guess.” As he talks, Jaiden’s gaze flicks down to the baby dragon, her surprise evident.

“Alright, you answered my first two questions. Now, why exactly do you have a baby dragon, and how in the world did you even get one?”

Charlie puts on the most trustworthy grin he can muster. “Well I found the egg in here, and decided to see if maybe I could take it with me once it hatched? I didn’t exactly realize it was a dragon egg until it hatched just now, while I was hiding. I swear I would've turned it into someone or whatever it is you do with a dragon, I promise.”

Jaiden puts her hands on her hips, wings flaring slightly. She thinks about his response for a moment. “Hmmm. I believe you, but I’m gonna take you to my friends first. We need to decide what we should do with you, being here in a cave full of highly illegal substances and all. You could've stolen or used or sold any of the things in here, at any point. You get what I mean?”

Charlie only nods, before making a small pained noise as the little dragon still in his arms pokes him with a tiny claw to get his attention. He bends his neck down and whispers, “What?”

The dragon points at the ground, a firm expression on their little face. They still bore the shockingly green eyes instead of the amber ones he’d first spotted, which was really freaking weird. They looked… startlingly like his own.
Not to mention the fact that this newborn has glasses and clothes also strangely close in appearance to his own tunic and pants. It was like… it imprinted on him, somehow, and now looked like a little mini-me.

They toddled along after him, weaving in-between the boxes as they got used to walking on their wobbly feet as they fully broke free of their egg shells. Charlie watches them with the smallest inkling of fondness, shaking it off once he’s met with the stern face of Fit and Bad up close.

“Who’s this guy? One of the bandits coming back for their loot?” The dark one known as Bad questions, arms crossed. It’s obvious with how he carries himself he’s doing his best to look menacing but really comes off more friendly and conversational, similar to Jaiden.

Jaiden steps forward. “I found him behind some boxes. He just told me he was taking refuge in this cave for a while, but I haven’t really looked him over to see if he stole anything. Fit?” She turns to the burly man, who also takes a step towards Charlie as soon as he steps back, gulping and doing his best not to be intimidated.

“I’ll take your word for it, Jaiden, but I’m gonna have to question him myself.” Fit looks him over with a calculating stare as Charlie puts on his bravest face. He can feel tiny dragon hands clutching his leg protectively, eyeing up the strangers suspiciously.

Fit glances downwards at the dragon, raising an eyebrow. “First off. The baby dragon.” He points, and Charlie looks down at the dragon and back up to Fit. “I found the egg here but had, like, no idea it was a dragon egg. I swear.”

Fit’s confused look deepens. “And you stayed in this cave, with all these priceless valuables, and you just- stayed for an egg?”

Charlie’s bullshitting springs into action. “Well, I thought I’d do the good thing and turn it in once it hatched, since it seemed pretty close when I found it. Just being a good samaritan and all that, y’know?” He smiles sheepishly hoping it doesn’t seem obvious he’s lying. Fit narrows his eyes.

“Hm. May I ask, one more thing…?”

“Charlie.”

“Charlie, yeah. Why do you look…” Fit waves a gesturing hand across Charlie’s whole form. “Why do you look so green?”

Charlie now commences internally cursing himself a million times over. He might look human, but he often forgets how green he appears.

Quickly, he formulates a lie. “Ah uh, well, it's um. Kinda awkward for me to talk about, but… I’m. I’m sick?” His voice cracks a little, and his eyes dart around the room anxiously, but he silently prays they buy it.

Jaiden and Bad glance at each other and back at Charlie while Fit stands still in front of him, obviously disbelieving.

He sighs and shakes his head. “Sure pal. You’re sick. We can help you with that, but you’re gonna have to come with us. And we’re bringing the dragon, too. Capiche?” Charlie nods quickly in reply. At the very least the lie can buy him a little time.

By the time the trio had finished with their counting thing and carried what they could, they took Charlie and the dragon with them into their cart alongside the valuables and had begun the trip back to ‘home base’, wherever that was. All Charlie could think of was how deep in shit he was gonna be once they figured out the truth. It was clear they didn’t believe a word he uttered; he was a pretty bad liar.

But he was scared, terribly scared at what they would do if they found he was a slime. Did people on the surface even tolerate slimes? He couldn’t know, seeing as all he’s done was hide under the ground, keeping himself from harm's way and only watching how people above ground lived their lives. He never interacted, and so he never knew.

As he fretted about his steadily worsening situation, the baby dragon stayed close to his side, silent and watching. They stared at him as they rode in the back of the cart, Jaiden and Bad in deep conversation and sitting close by to keep an eye on the pair. Charlie broke free of his thoughts to questioningly look back.

“Do you um. Did you need something?” The dragon blinks.

“Can you even understand me?” The dragon blinks again, slowly nodding. Charlie blinks back in surprise.

“Okay. Okay. Can you speak yet? Or communicate at all?” The dragon furrows their brows before shrugging and doing little hand gestures, as if to imitate writing on a piece of paper.

Charlie’s eyebrows raise before he looks at Jaiden and Bad, waving at them to get their attention. Jaiden shuffles over. “What is it Charlie?” She asks, curious.

“I think the dragon can write, or something. He- they- she- I don’t know, I think they need something to write with. Do you have anything?” The dragon frowns at the usage of he and they, crossing little arms and going deep into thought.

Jaiden pulls out a scrap of paper. “I don’t have a pen or anything, let me ask Bad real quick.” She shuffles back over to Bad, talking briefly before she returns with pen in hand. She hands both items to the dragon who takes them gingerly, getting a feel for them both.

The dragon starts to write, shakily, not really used to the feeling yet. In some truly awful handwriting, the paper says simply. ‘i don’t like he.’ The dragon presents it to Charlie who’s expression turns from curiosity to bewilderment.

“He? You don’t like he? Like, as in me or-” The dragon shakes their head before pointing at the paper, then themself. “Ohh. Wait, YOU don’t like he! Okay um. What about… she? Do you like using she?”

The dragon’s face cracks into a little toothy grin after a few moments, wiggling their tiny tail excitedly. Charlie grins back, sensing her glee. “She it is. A little girl!” She nods enthusiastically.

Jaiden smiles at the both of them, puzzled at the fact that the baby dragon was even able to write at all before giving the dragon some more scraps of paper to write with. “I’ll leave you both to it. Let me know if I can do anything else.” They nod in unison as Jaiden moves back over to Bad, who was eavesdropping on the conversation. They start talking obviously about what just happened.

Charlie looks down at the dragon again, ignoring the two. “Now that we have that part sorted, do you have a name you want to be called?” She shrugs again, unsure.

“Hm. Maybe you could be named after something you can do? My siblings used to call me ‘Backflip’, because I can do a mean backflip when I want to. Does that make sense?” She nods once more, getting the gist.

“Okay sweet. Honestly I didn't think you’d even know what a backflip was seeing as you were born an hour ago, but awesome.” She adamantly sticks her tongue out at him and crosses her little arms. She stands up carefully, still the tiniest bit wobbly.

She stumbles and catches herself as the cart bumps on some rocks, but she sticks out her arms to balance herself. A look of pure concentration crosses her face as she does a single, rather impressive backflip, especially for someone so young and new. She falls backwards a bit, but she looks triumphant at proving Charlie wrong nonetheless.

He gives her an incredibly impressed awed expression and claps which only serves to make her more pleased. “That was actually so cool. Incredible, show-stopping, nobody else could ever do what you do. A true hero for showing us your skill without expecting anything in return.”
She giggles at him, which sounds strangely chirpy for a child’s laugh. She even does a little humble bow, causing Charlie to snicker.

“Did that help you decide what you wanna be called?” He asks once she’s sat down next to him again. She shrugs, still unsure.

Charlie thinks for a minute before snapping his fingers. “Aha! I got it!” She looks at him, expectant. “What if I called you Flippa! Flip, but with an -a at the end. Kinda works doesn’t it?” Thinking hard, she brings out the pen and paper again before scribbling haphazardly and showing it to him, ‘silly but i like it’.

“At least now I won’t have to call you ‘dragon’ all the time. It's probably super annoying, huh?” Flippa does a little half shrug and gives a knowing smile, flopping her head to the side.

Somehow, even her grin reminded him of his own. He frowns slightly. “So um. I have another question, Flippa. How come you look so… similar to me? Is that something you can do? Like, shapeshifting?” He brings his voice down low, just in case.

She leans in and blinks, slightly confused. She shrugs for what feels like the hundredth time. He straightens back up and sighs. “Yeah I guess I should’ve expected that. Just thought you might’ve known, seeing as you were born with being able to read and write and all that. I dunno. But I guess you don’t know a whole lot beyond that, either.”

As he says all this Flippa begins writing a response, flipping the paper scrap to him again, ‘i dont know. it feels like i was born with some things but not other things is that normal’. Her lack of punctuation is endearing, but her question comes off oddly sad.

“I can’t say Flippa. I really can’t. Maybe, when we get to wherever they’re taking us, we can get some answers from the people there. Maybe we can even find a baby dragon expert or something.” He offers, smiling as she cracks a grin. ‘maybe. as long as i can stay with you’ She writes.

Charlie blinks rapidly, something tugging at his heart. “Yeah. Yeah, sure. We can stick together if that’s what you want. But I don’t think… I don’t really think I’d be the best caretaker for you, you know. If we find someone who’s better suited to that stuff…” He trails off as Flippa gives him a sad look but she doesn’t reply, as if to agree not because she wants to, but because she might not have a say in the matter.

Charlie wishes he could take care of her, but to be fully honest, when the egg hatched he was expecting more of a bird or some kind of small animal. Not what is technically a child with tons of responsibility attached. He had to be honest with himself; he’d probably be the worst caretaker for her. The F tier option. He’s like the babysitter that’s banned from watching kids because he ends up launching them off makeshift swings by accident, or sending them careening off the side of a cliff on a sled. Sure he’s protective of her, but it doesn’t really mean anything. Most adults feel that way about kids anyway, he was sure of it. Especially-

“Hey, Charlie! Anyone home? Hellooo?”

He flinches out of his thoughts, interrupted by Bad the demon’s very close face. His hands were cupped around his mouth to imitate yelling and had even taken to waving his hand in front of his face, much to Jaiden and Flippa’s amusement.

“Jeez dude! What!?”

“Oh, sorry. You were looking kind of spaced out. But what I was trying to say was that we’ve reached our first checkpoint! It's almost night!” Charlie looks over Bad’s head towards the horizon, surprised by the already setting sun. “Woah. I didn’t even realize.”

Bad gives a half grin at him as Charlie scans the area they’ve stopped at, enjoying the cool breeze of the quickly approaching night. The tall oaks danced in the calm wind, the sound of animals echoing in the distance.

“Yeah man. I almost thought you were asleep. What were you thinking so hard about?” Charlie merely shrugs.

“Nothin much, just thinking.”

The group hop off the cart, with Bad and Jaiden starting a fire nearby and Fit tying up the beasts hauling the wagon on a nearby post. Charlie had no idea what they were, but after seeing their sharp tusks and large hooves he wasn’t willing to find out.

The ground was well-worn, indicating that they weren’t the first group to be using the site. Charlie hoists Flippa off the cart by picking her up under the arms and setting her on the grass, causing her to gasp in delight at the feeling. She plays with the grass for a while as Charlie leans against the cart and watches the others go about their routine of setting up camp for the night.

He gets an odd feeling run up his spine, and suddenly senses a piece of his slime fall into the grass. Looking slowly at his hand, he notices something. He’s missing a finger.

Picking it up quickly, he molds it back on before anyone can notice. Smacking himself in the face internally, he stands up in a rush and glances around.

Jaiden, who’s just arrived from the nearby creek with some water pails, cocks her head at him as he catches her eye. Charlie practically runs over to her, not even trying to hide his worry.

“Jaiden. Jaiden, where is the creek? I need to get there, like, right now.”

She sets the pails she’s carrying down, ear feathers twitching. “Um, just down that path. Why? What’s going on?”

“Can’t explain! Gotta go!” He calls, sprinting down the worn grass path in the direction she pointed to.

Amidst all the- well, everything that happened, he’d almost forgotten to regenerate the goo he’d been using to keep up his disguise, which, if he didn’t do so soon, would mean he’d revert to his original green, gooey, humanoid self and blow his cover entirely.

He’s upon the river in seconds, practically diving in. Charlie dunks his entire head in the cold water, spluttering only a little bit. The feeling of water rehydrating him brings him enough relief to ignore how freezing it is feeling any visible slime receding back into his disguise.

Not even a whole minute passes before he hears the sounds of yelling behind him, and eventually large hands yoinking him right out of the water. He’ll admit, he squeaks just a little bit in surprise.

“CHARLIE! What in the hell are you doing?” Fit asks not too kindly. “Were you trying to make a break for it, or what? Cause it’ll take a lot more than that to-” Charlie shakes his head and puts his hands in the air to interrupt him.

“Wait dude! I’m- I’m not running! I just- I just needed the- I just needed to get freshened!” God, he was terrible at being convincing. But when a large bald man is scowling at you, holding you up with only one arm, you’d be struggling to find a good excuse too.

“We could’ve just as easily come with you. Whatever you needed with water, Jaiden brought some as soon as you ran off. You’ve been making too many excuses so far, and I’ll be honest with you; I don’t trust a damn word you say.” Fit replies, setting Charlie back down but not enough to let him go.

“I don’t know what or who you are, Charlie, but I’m not letting you out of my sight till we get to our destination. It's either you tell me the whole truth now, or you have two eyes burning a hole in the back of your head for the rest of the trip. Got it?” He could only nod silently, not daring to speak a word in fear of digging himself an even deeper hole.

Fit exhales, irritated as Charlie stays silent before turning and taking him back to camp, who was now shivering slightly from the chill. As long as he managed to keep his identity hidden, he didn’t mind.

Jaiden and Flippa come over to him first, confusion and worry painting their faces. Flippa tugs on his pant leg and waves a paper around while Jaiden hands him a ragged towel after seeing his sorry state, frowning.

“Why did you just run to the river like that, man? What were you thinking?” She asks as Charlie bends down to read the paper Flippa is showing him. He reads, ‘why did you run away?’.

Processing both questions he answers simply; “I just… wanted to get refreshed? I’m like, super serious about hygiene. I’ll actually die if I don’t get into contact with water every 12 hours.” It wasn’t a full lie this time, at least.

Jaiden’s ear feathers fold in as she wrinkles her nose in disbelief, Flippa glancing at her and imitating her. Their combined expressions of discontent were truly intimidating. Eventually, Bad walks over to ask the same question, and Charlie just merely shrugs in reply. Nobody was truly satisfied with his answers, but it was enough to keep them from asking too much. For now, anyway.

The group eventually graduated to sitting down around the newly lit campfire, Fit still shooting stink eyes at Charlie from across the flames. Charlie only sheepishly smiled back in an attempt to appear innocent, teeth still chattering from the cold as he sidled up close to the fire. Flippa, still bewildered, chose to lean against him and curled her tail around his leg. It was rather sweet, and that increasingly familiar fondness in his heart grew a little stronger at the gesture.

Chapter Text

The morning came quickly, and with that, so did packing up and hitting the road. It was still dark as they yawned and stretched, taking what few things they’d removed from the wagon and putting them back in their rightful places. Charlie did what he could, but with Fit watching him he felt a bit too awkward to do anything useful. 

The sun barely broke over the clouds once they’d made their way far down the road, Flippa still doing her best to wake up as she rubbed her eyes.

“You know Flippa, if you’re too tired you can always just go back to sleep. Yesterday was pretty exhausting for you, y’know, from being born and all.” She merely shrugged, which Charlie was now beginning to see as a common response from her. 

Yawning again, she made up her mind and decided to slump against Charlie and fall back into the embrace of sleep. 

He smiled fondly at her as she did, letting her get cozy as he watched the sunrise appear over the treeline. About an hour or so later, he could almost feel himself getting pulled back to sleep as warm dappled sunlight shone and the gentle rhythmic bumps of the cart rocked him into a slumber.

Before he could fully do so, however, he was jerked awake by a sudden whooshing sound and a ‘thnk’ of something hitting the thin plank wall above his head. 

Twisting his neck to look at it, his eyes widened before more whooshing and a loud “GET DOWN!” forces him to duck as more arrows begin peppering the cart. He could faintly hear Bad and Jaiden’s noises of surprise and Fit’s cursing as the wagon screeched and jolted forward, pushing faster with the crack of his reins.

He gasped, as three- four- five archers on horseback, each equipped with their own bow and arrows, chased after them. Flippa, now suddenly awake, squeaked in fear. Charlie squashes down his panic and puts on a brave face for her. Seeing Flippa scared made him angry. He had half a mind to jump off the cart and sludge these archers to death if it wouldn't end up giving his disguise away or being killed. 

Jaiden retaliated for him by shooting back, aiming true and taking out one of the riders. Bad did a little war cry before bringing out a scythe from seemingly nowhere, slicing an arrow in half and getting nicked in the arm by another, hissing in pain. Fit rode on, his firm gaze steeled over as small red marks from arrows peppered his arms and chest. And Charlie- well, did nothing except cower a little bit, but not before shooting as many murderous glares as he could muster at the assailants.

Two riders managed to circle each side, one eventually being brave enough to jump onto the side of the wagon and nearly topple it over. The rider was masked, with only bloodshot eyes visible above the fabric covering most of their face. They wielded a dagger menacingly and had begun to descend upon Charlie, leaping onto him and slowly inching the blade down close to his neck as Charlie struggled to keep them at bay. 

Jaiden eventually gets there over a second later, barreling into them full-force as she uses her powerful wings to propel herself forward. The rider was taken aback and knocked off the cart, forced to hang on by their fingers. Charlie, seeing his chance, stands up and scrambles over to stomp on their hands with a well placed kick of vengeance, causing them to yelp and tumble backwards and fall onto the road. 

Fit, who’s still holding on and riding as quick as the beasts carrying the cart can take them, is eventually engaged by a second rider jumping on, forcing him to grapple with one hand and tighten his hold on the reins with the other.

Before Charlie could even begin to give Jaiden a high-five for helping him, the cart suddenly jumps off the road and runs over several large rocks, each bump bigger and more threatening than the last before suddenly he finds himself lifted off the floor, nearly falling right out of the speeding wagon. 

Jaiden manages to grab and pull him back in by the collar of his shirt before he could crack his head open on the hard dirt below, and he gasps out a quick ‘thank you’ before another rider manages to jump in, clearly angry about the loss of his fellows. 

Bad, who had already begun to assist Fit with his own rider issue, is unable to prevent the fourth rider from springing into action and landing on the wagon, right next to Flippa. Charlie watches her cower with fear as the rider bears down, glaring at her with a sword in their hand.

He feels almost a primal anger rear its head in his brain, protective rage forcing his body into action. He was scared out of his mind fighting these mercenaries without a weapon of any kind, but he knew he still had to do something . Flippa needed his help, and she wasn’t about to die because of all this. 

Before he can think about how stupid it is he decides to use his head for once.

Charlie bears down and headbutts the sword-wielding one smack-dab in the chest, forcing them to let out a pained wheeze. 

He rubs his head in pain, seeing a few stars from the force of impact before shaking it off and lunging again, forming a fist and connecting it directly into the side of their face. They drop their sword in surprise and Jaiden takes the chance to pick it up and throw it over the side of the wagon, leaving them weaponless. 

Charlie doesn’t relent, continuing to punch and jab as best as he can. He feels the slime in his arms wobble strangely, not used to this kind of fighting, but he ignores the weird feeling in favor of turning this guy into a fine pulp. 

Eventually and rather quickly he slows from fatigue, letting them get the chance to take out a wicked-looking knife and slicing it across Charlie’s face and hand as he misses a few separate punches. He stumbles, feeling a green trail of slime trickle down his face. Shocked, he touches the mark as it stings, matching the one now oozing from his palm. He panics, unable to make a move before they attempt another strike.

Suddenly, a look of surprise appears in their eyes as they trip and fall over the side of the wagon as they had gotten too close from Charlie’s punching. Flippa had grabbed their leg and bit down with sharp teeth, forcing them twisting and tumbling over the cart wall and into the bushes. She gives Charlie a thumbs up as she spits out one of her own baby teeth having lost it to the bite. He almost sheds a tear of pride. 

Jaiden gives her a grin before eventually turning to the last rider, this one bigger than the last. The one Fit and Bad were struggling with is eventually tossed over the side, and the group turn in on the last mercenary. Their eyes were malicious yellow slits with no pupils, jagged horns sticking out from their hooded mask. They wielded a large mace attached to a chain-whip, and they were clearly unhappy with how this cart-jacking was going. 

Charlie feels his brain mumble a simple ‘uh-oh’ before the mace comes swinging, smacking him so hard in the side he crashes right into Bad, sending the two falling over each other in a heap. Charlie coughs in pain as Bad does his best to escape from underneath his sudden dead weight. Fit jumps to protect Flippa, brandishing his greatsword. Jaiden aims an arrow and fires, lodging it deep in one of their shoulders. 

The mercenary growls in pain, swiping the other end of the mace and whipping her with the chain, forcing her to duck and roll out of the way. Bad scrambles out from under Charlie and scurries to the other side of the cart, ready to jump the enemy with his scythe. He meets eyes with Jaiden who nods, and the two rush at them. 

Jaiden smacks them with the sharp end of her bow in a stun-move while Bad comes down low and slashes at the back of their legs with a well-placed swing. They howl and crash to the ground in agony before both Jaiden and Bad toss them off the side with great effort, whooping as Fit takes his chance and hops back over the top of the cart’s rider seat to grab at the reins again, getting the wagon all the way back on the dirt road and pushing them faster, away from the riders they’ve now left in the dust.

“Holy fucking shit.” Charlie gasps, clutching his side as he tries to catch his breath. 

He’s still mostly on the floor from getting whapped in the abdomen by a sharp mace, feeling more slime oozing through his tunic. “That was fucking crazy. Who the hell were those guys?” He exclaims, trying to keep his goo together while still slightly delirious from pain.

Jaiden, gingerly touching a slash on her arm, shrugs slightly. “No clue. Fit? Bad?” 

Fit shakes his head from the driver’s seat and Bad frowns. 

“Not too sure. They weren’t wearing any symbols or anything I recognized… if only I could’ve gotten a glimpse of their faces…” He sighs, frustrated. 

Charlie then sits up to look at Flippa, who is sitting on the ground with a shocked expression. Thankfully, aside from the lost baby tooth, she appeared unharmed.

“Flippa, are you alright? You aren’t hurt, are you?” Charlie asks hurriedly, ignoring all the oozing from his injuries as he looks over her some more. 

She nods slowly, looking at all the green slime smeared across his face, arms, and stomach. Flippa points questioningly and he cringes. “Ah- it's um, it's nothing. Just a side effect of me still being sick and all!” He says quickly. 

He hears Jaiden speak. “You’re sick with something that makes you leak green slimy stuff instead of blood?” 

Charlie winces as he clutches his side, unable to think of a good answer. Bad speaks up next, not helping his case. “You know, it almost reminds me of some slime friends I’ve talked to before, with all the goo. But I’ve never seen any of them want to look like… people.” 

His voice comes closer, causing Charlie to turn and see him looking curiously at his slime now growing into a small, blobby puddle on the floor of the cart. He’s become stone-faced and silent, unable to lie anymore.

Fit, now eavesdropping, has fully slowed the cart to turn around. “Charlie, you’re obviously hiding something from us. We need to know what’s going on if we’re going to bring you and Flippa to our base as guests instead of prisoners. Tell us the truth.”

Charlie’s eyes bounce between the three of them and finally lands on Flippa, who is looking at him with a calculating expression. He lets out a large defeated sigh. “Alright, alright. I’ll tell you guys, for real this time. Just- just promise me, you won’t like, hurt me or anything. Please.” They all nod at him collectively awaiting his answer.

“I’m… not actually sick. I’m a slime.”

They blink at him, waiting for him to elaborate. 

“Uh. I guess that’s it.”

He hesitates before continuing, speaking slowly. “I… can disguise myself with my goo, but I need to stay wet with water or other liquids to keep it up. It’s why I ran into the river last night, and why I look greenish? Green-like?” Charlie’s voice cracks a little, trying not to seem freaked out. He couldn’t tell what they were thinking, as they all wore blank expressions. Flippa, on the other hand, didn’t seem very surprised; just curious. 

Jaiden is the first to break the silence. “That makes a whole lot of sense, actually. The hygiene thing was a little far-fetched.” She cracks a humorous smile, which calms Charlie’s nerves a bit.

Fit smiles too before speaking up. “Thanks for telling us the truth Charlie. Sorry if I made it harder for you.” 

Bad speaks last. “Yeah, sorry man. All our weapons and everything weren’t super helpful for confessing, huh? But listen. I get it.” He extends a hand to pat Charlie on the shoulder, albeit a little awkwardly. "I promise you’ll be safe with us.” 

Charlie barely knows these people, but he feels a sense of relief from their underwhelming reactions. “Thanks guys. I appreciate you all for not killing me.” The group laugh a little before Jaiden approaches him, handing him some bandages. “I don’t really know how healing for slime people works, Charlie, but maybe these can help.”

He gratefully takes them from her and shoots her a sarcastic smile. “It’s not too different from you flesh mammals, to be completely honest. I just don’t bleed blood, or guts, or whatever you guys have in there. Just my good ol’ green goo.” 

She chuckles slightly. “Fair enough. Here, I got some medicine and a little water to clean them, too.” She hands him a small black bottle and a waterskin pouch to go with the bandages, which he grabs and begins to use. 

“Maybe when we get back to base we can all start over. Do some proper introductions, and you can tell us the real story of you in that cave. Unless you were actually being truthful?” She asks conversationally.

“Not quite. I mean, I stayed in the cave for the egg, so that part was true. But I wasn’t exactly traveling… above ground.” Jaiden arches an eyebrow in curiosity, but decides not to press further for the time being and lets Charlie continue mending his wounds as she goes to help Bad with his. 

Once everyone was fully bandaged and tended to, Fit stops briefly to have a short meeting about what they’ll do when night falls. He claps his hands once to get their attention and clears his throat. “Here’s the plan guys. We don’t make any stops unless absolutely necessary, and we won’t be staying at the next checkpoint.” 

Bad groans a little at that, seemingly annoyed by having to sleep in the cart. “Me, Bad, and Jaiden will take shifts driving and keeping watch while the rest of you try to get some sleep. We’ll get back home a lot quicker that way and it’ll buy us some time in case those mercenaries decide to try catching up to us. Sound good?” 

Everyone nods solemnly, still worn out from the ambush. “I’ll be taking first watch. Jaiden, you can go next, then Bad. We should arrive at our destination by tomorrow sometime in the early afternoon if we keep moving.” 

Jaiden gives Fit a thumbs up, bringing out the sleeping bags for everyone. Bad gripes a little about being unable to sleep in wagons and Jaiden gives him a sympathetic pat on the back before turning and rolling over to sleep.

Charlie’s lost all the adrenaline from the fight and feels more like a deflated cushion now, and he can feel a bit of his disguise slipping away and showing large green patches clashing with skin. Nobody really cares, so neither does he as he focuses on tucking Flippa in. 

“You were so brave today, Flippa. You really saved my hide out there with that move you pulled.” He says quietly, earning him a proud and very tired smile. 

She reaches up and wraps her arms around his neck as he’s knelt down, giving him a little hug before she lies back down and closes her weary eyes. 

Charlie watches her fall into a peaceful slumber, thinking about how easily he could have lost her already. She didn’t deserve to go through all that, being so young and small. He feels guilty for it despite not being the perpetrator. 

As everyone is lulled to sleep (Bad ended up struggling a bit) with Fit at the helm, scanning the road ahead, Charlie stares up at the now quickly darkening sky. He gets lost in the endless abyss as he watches the stars travel slowly across the inky black of night. Despite how exhausted his body feels his mind can’t seem to fall asleep, so he zones out for a long while before he suddenly blinks out of his trance, looking at Flippa as she furrows her brows in her sleep. Her expression turns terrified as she curls into a fetal position under her blanket.

He watches her with concern before she wakes up only a moment later, gasping and clutching the fabric like a lifeline. Flippa’s eyes darted around the cart as she began to calm down, as if she was somewhere terrible and needed confirmation she wasn’t there anymore.

Charlie gently rests a hand on her back as she jolts slightly at the touch, eyes brimming with tears as she pushes into his arms. He hugs her back a little awkwardly, letting her get the tears out before he asks as quietly and softly as he can, “Did you have a nightmare?” She nods her head, still clutching onto him. 

“Do you wanna tell me what happened?” Flippa moves back and sniffles, wiping her nose with a tiny clawed fist. She thinks for a few seconds before slowly moving to grab the pen and papers she’d taken to carrying in her pockets. She writes, ‘i dont know. it was really scary’ .

Charlie rubs his eyes a little, still tired. “Well, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. But I know talking about things can make you feel better.” Flippa tilts her head and writes a bit more, cramming the words under her previous ones on the scrap. ‘i do want to but it was really confusing and hard to describe’.  

He scratches his chin, thinking, before he eventually replies. “Just do your best. Whatever you can tell me that helps you get it off your chest will work even if it doesn’t make much sense. Give it a try.” 

He gives her a comforting smile which she returns before taking out a whole new paper and writing as small as possible to fit everything. He gives her a few minutes, watching Jaiden and Fit switch roles. Fit gives Charlie a tense smile before retreating to his own cot facing the back-end of the cart. His stiff posture indicated he probably couldn’t sleep, either, and was probably just watching the road behind them, maybe either out of paranoia or anxiety. Charlie felt a bit of pity for the battle-hardened man.

Charlie eventually turns his gaze from Fit’s turned back to Flippa, who tugged on his tunic to get his attention. She gives him the paper to read, sitting criss-crossed and fiddling with her hands as he does so. The grammar is wonky and her chicken-scratch writing is almost intelligible, but he does his best to parse out the important bits.

‘It started dark but i followed a light in a tunnel for a while. Then i saw myself surrounded by a bunch of eggs . then there was a scary smiling face. I cant remember well. I just remember me and the eggs being really scared. They looked like my egg too. I dont know what it means but it doesnt feel like a memory or anything… but it feels like its going to happen.’

He has to read through it a few more times to understand fully, but it only raises more questions. Obviously, it couldn’t have been a memory… it mostly just seemed like a strange nightmare. A very, very ominous nightmare.

Still it was rather odd for a child- no, a literal infant such as herself to seem more like a 7-year old with each passing day rather than a baby. Of course she couldn’t exactly have memories before being born. Maybe, it was just- a dragon thing. 

The fact that she is able to write surprisingly well and understand sentences fully, as well as the unexplainable shapeshifting, made Charlie believe it was just some strange dragon thing initially. But it was all just assumptions. Before all of this, he didn’t even think dragons were around anymore until he held one in his arms.

It didn’t seem like Fit, Bad, or Jaiden had any knowledge about it either, but they seemed much more worried about the whole bandits-stealing-priceless-items thing than a little dragon kid that could write full sentences only an hour after hatching.

Maybe he was thinking too hard about it, but his curiosity got the best of him sometimes. And with Flippa so worried about it and picking up on Charlie’s confusion, he really wanted to try finding some answers. If not for him, for her sake at least. He’d do right by her as much as he could.

Flippa looks to him, waiting for his response to her very vague, strange dream. Charlie could only answer honestly. 

“I’ll be honest, Flippa, your dream doesn’t make too much sense to me. Maybe by tomorrow we can find someone at this… base, we’re going to, and they can give us some ideas. Sorry.” He gives her an apologetic smile as she nods, visibly disappointed. She takes the paper back for safe-keeping until such a person could be found.

“Try and get some more sleep, Flippa. We have a long way to go.” A look of anxiety crosses her face. “But hey, if you get another weird dream, I’ll be right here if you need me okay? If you want to I can even wake you up if you do. Does that sound good?” 

Flippa nods slightly before she curls into a little ball in her blankets, almost like she’s forming a cozy nest. He watches as she closes her eyes, not daring to close his own until she’s well-rested. 

The night passes in a haze as Charlie fights sleep as much as possible, head nodding off and eyelids drooping. When Bad is made to get up for his shift, he gives him a goofy and rather tired grin but makes no comment as he makes his way up to the driver’s seat to relieve Jaiden of her duties. 

It takes what feels like forever for the sun’s rays to finally break across the sky and scatter beautiful colors across morning clouds, the sounds of birds chirping to fill the silence nighttime crickets once occupied. 

It's peaceful, Charlie thinks to himself, enjoying the sights and sounds of the early morning. He even takes in the slowly changing scenery, lush oak woods being replaced by a place full of white trees mottled with strange black markings that reminded him of eyes. He’s never quite seen a forest like this one and it almost unsettles him. Almost.

Compelled by curiosity, he slowly and carefully makes his way over to Bad who had one hand on the reins and another under his chin, slowly blinking heavy eyelids. Charlie could almost hear his neck creak as he turned to look at him from his spot, clearly having been staring straight for quite a while.

“Good morning Charlie. What’s up?” He yawns, causing Charlie to copy him.

“Not much, really. I was just wondering, what are these trees called? I’ve never seen them.”

Bad smiles faintly, adjusting himself to hold reins with both hands as he straightens his back into a more comfortable position. “They’re called birch trees. Don’t ask me why cause I dunno, but they’re pretty neat huh? I used to live in the Badlands a long time ago, which is like a big red desert with ravines and stuff, so coming north and seeing all this greenery was incredible. The birch forests were the first ones I ever saw.” 

Bad’s smile grows bigger at the memory and Charlie can imagine it too. It seems to invigorate the demon as he reminisces on old adventures and times long past.

“What were the Badlands like? Is that how you got your name?”

He shakes his head, large hood flopping as he does. “Nah. Jus’ mah name. Or a nickname, technically. My full name is BadBoyHalo, but lots of people just call me Bad or Halo. Bit of a mouthful.”

Charlie nods wisely. “I get it.”

“Do you? Go on, what’s your full name?” Bad arches an eyebrow, half turned to give Charlie a look.

“Okay, but don’t laugh.”

“I would never.”

Charlie looks him dead in the eyes. “Charlie Slimecicle.” Bad stares right back, blinks once, and says. “I honestly do not know what I expected.”

Charlie shoves him lightly and laughs. “What did you expect me to say dude! Charlie Goobiegooberson?” 

Bad shoves back. “Don’t make fun of me bro, I don’t know what you want from me. Your name isn’t even that long.” He jokingly whines, flicking his tail back and forth. Before Charlie can reply, the two look over their shoulders to see Jaiden getting up from her sleeping bag with some truly incredible bed hair. 

Her eyes remain closed as she sits up, facing the direction of their voices. “Whuzzat?” She mumbles. 

Bad calls out. “Nothing Jaiden, go back to sleep.” By the time he announces this, she’s already attempting to rub her eyes of sleep and stretching. Fit, who was out like a light, also begins to rustle around. 

Bad whispers loudly. “Sorry guys, didn’t mean to wake you.” Jaiden waves a hand as she rolls up the bag she was sleeping in. “Don’t worry Bad, I was just about to get up anyway.” Fit grunts in agreement as he scans the front and back of the wagon with a strategic eye, already alert and awake. 

As they move farther along the straight dirt road, the birch trees on either side begin to slowly thin out, with occasional tree stumps dotting the growing grassy landscape. He looks around before a high-pitched whistle catches his attention.

He turns to see Jaiden with a black bird perched on her hand, talking to it in deep conversation. The bird would turn its head this way and that and seemed to nod once before taking off into the sky, flying off in the direction they were headed. Charlie makes his way over to her to ask, “What was that all about? You can talk to birds?”

“Yeah. I can talk to all birds which makes message-sending a lot easier. I was just letting him know we were on our way, so he could tell our bird-keeper and messager Phil that we were arriving. He’s kinda like me.” 

She points at the ear feathers on the sides of her head and her brightly colored wings. “We like to notify him just in case, that way they know we’re coming and they can start preparations. Lots of work has to be done once we arrive.”

Charlie’s eyebrows raise at all this new information. “Enlighten me Jaiden. What is this place we’re going to? Like, I know it's your guy’s base and all, but what is it? What’s it called? What’s gonna happen to me and Flippa once we get there? I need details!” He exclaims. Jaiden’s eyebrows raise as well.

“Phew. Okay. I’ll try and give you the shortest run-down I can, but it's a lot.” 

“As long as I get some answers, cause I don’t know…” Charlie rubs his arm anxiously. “I just like to know what’s going on before I go anywhere. It feels weird to go somewhere new and not see it before I decide if I want to be there.” 

“That’s understandable. Well, nobody knows the City of the Sharpener better than me. Well… besides everyone else, hah. I mean… I helped found the whole place so I’m a little bit of an expert.” Jaiden smiles before exhaling, beginning to tell her tale. 

“Alright. I’ll start from when we first made it, cause the whole history behind the Wall-” Charlie briefly holds up a finger to ask, but she continues, “Is. Long. And we can discuss it more when we get there, cause trust me it's a long story.”

“La Ciudad del Sacapuntas, or The City of the Sharpener, or better known as just home base, base, the city, etcetera, was made by me and Phil a few years ago. We both wanted to make somewhere for us to live along the ruins of the Wall as a safe haven for us and a few friends, seeing as we’d been stranded there for a while with no way home. So we just- made one! …However, in recent years, it's been more of an outpost-base sorta thing as it grew from a small village to more of a city, and it's kinda been repurposed to help others. It's more of a place for travelers and anyone who needs help, now.”

“Even more recently, some nearby kingdoms and governments took interest in us and some of our ‘operations’ and decided to provide us with some leadership. Since then, we’ve been more actively going after bandits who keep stealing not just our stuff, but stuff from the government as well. Kinda like a mutual partnership of sorts. Mariana was appointed to us since he’s pretty good at organization and paperwork. She’ll be able to introduce himself better when we arrive. He’s pretty chill.” 

Charlie, who has been listening as hard as he can, blinks slowly as he processes all this new information. “Wow. That is a lot.” She nods wisely. “ We’ve done a whole lot since the beginning, so there’s a whole lot to talk about.”

“Just- one more question.” Jaiden nods. “Nobody is gonna be weird about me being a slime, right? I mean- you guys were chill with it. But will everyone be like that?”

“Of course! We get all kinds of people passing through and settling down. Now that I think about it, I think we even have a slime-hybrid living in one of the town homes. Depending on what areas people come from we have specific areas they can live in, if they want to live with others like them. From different countries, kingdoms, anywhere really.”

Charlie’s eyebrows manage to travel up his forehead even farther at the news of a slime-hybrid. “A slime… hybrid? Not a full slime?”

Jaiden half-shrugs. “I mean… That’s what he told me. One parent was a slime person, like you, and the other was human. I don’t know the details and I didn’t ask, really. His name is Mike, but he looks fairly human. He’s also one of our top scientists. I’m sure you’ll get the chance to meet soon!”

Charlie tries not to seem too disappointed. “Huh. That’s neat.” He’d hoped there’d be at least one person to find something in common with, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

It’s as if Jaiden reads his mind, because she immediately reassures him. “Don’t worry, you and Mike actually might have more in common than you think. Maybe once you meet and talk to him you’ll connect a little easier.” 

Charlie rubs his arm again before turning around and seeing Fit approaching them both, a now awake and cheerful Flippa riding on his shoulders. Charlie looks up and grins at her. “Catching a ride huh?” 

She nods as Fit chuckles. “She asked and I thought; why the heck not?”

He sets her down as he joins the group and sits down cross-legged. Flippa walks over to Charlie and plops next to him, waving hello as she does. He quietly waves back as Fit clears his throat. “We’ll be at the city soon. It’ll be a few hours at most.” 

He points at the sun above to indicate it being noon and slowly beginning its descent to the west. “If you guys have any personal belongings left anywhere in the cart I’d suggest collecting it now just so it doesn’t get lost with any of the valuables.”

Jaiden gives a thumbs up before turning to her things and getting it all together.

“Should… me and Flippa do anything?” Charlie asks lightly. 

Fit gives a thoughtful expression and rubs his chin. “No. You’ll be sticking with me until you meet the others and get better acquainted. I know Jaiden already told them with one of Phil’s crows, which you probably saw her do a little bit ago, right?” 

Charlie nods and Fit continues. “Right. She let them know to expect two new visitors so they’ll be waiting for us in the main building. You’ll see.”

Charlie gives Fit double thumbs up which Flippa copies, causing Fit to smile. “You’ll both be just fine. I’ll even put in a good word just in case.”

“Sounds good dude.”

Chapter Text

Charlie didn’t know what to expect upon seeing the city once he’d arrived. Still had no idea how to pronounce the name, or even what language it was seeing as he had no experience with humans beyond the language he can speak currently; but at least he knew what it meant. The City of the Sharpener. He wondered who this Sharpener person was, or if it was just a name.

So far all he knew was it was located in the Wall, whatever that was, so he was thinking of a fairly large but not super big structure with maybe a few decently sized human homes scattered about. It was a city, but in contrast to what he knew a town and village was, he could only assume what it would be like.

The size of it was probably the most unexpected part. He felt himself gasp as they made their way over the hill leading up to it, a few hundred feet away still but nonetheless able to see it in all its glory. 

The Wall was utterly massive, nearly touching the clouds above. The slowly setting afternoon sun rested perfectly in-between the worn down, utterly destroyed section of the wall, cut straight down the middle and forming a small valley in-between the broken portion. It was like someone took a super-sized axe and split it in two. 

Trees and fauna grew at the very tops of the walls, so small from this distance Charlie couldn’t even tell what it was at first. Shapes of birds flitted about the top and bottom sections of the walls, almost dozens upon dozens of flocks flying around in groups.

Eventually he could make out the shapes of large, wooden structures having been built right in the sides and middle of the wall, some scattered around its base and shielded by the sun. Small trickling waterfalls fed into pools and watermills while other buildings had been placed along the large main road in the center leading through the wall. Some structures were even built in some of the stone holes and pockets that had been worn down over many years, small lights illuminating the scars of the massive wall.

Everything was bathed in the beautiful orange glow of the sun, making everything look extremely cozy. Charlie definitely wouldn’t mind staying here, at least for a little bit. Flippa seemed just as in awe, pointing at the buildings as they grew closer. 

As they did, Fit stood at the driver’s seat and waved to a couple figures in the distance who caught sight of him and waved back before running off, presumably to get things more situated for their arrival. 

The closer they got to the wall, the more Charlie ended up having to crane his neck to make out one of the structures on the very top. It looked like someone had built all the way up there too. It was astonishing.

Despite all the excitement of finally reaching their destination, Charlie’s fatigue was starting to weigh on him as they stopped to a halt in front of a considerably sized warehouse. Flippa was quite the opposite, bouncing up and down and flapping her wings. 

She was eager to get out of the cart and start exploring, but Charlie was wary of this new place and kept her close to his side. He almost felt a sense of vertigo standing next to the massive wall, and being exhausted from getting no sleep the previous night wasn’t helping his nerves.

He held her hand as they jumped off the back of the cart and took in more of their surroundings, noting several people coming in and grabbing crates and bags of valuables. Two of them even flew down from above, both being bird-people similar to Jaiden. He was endlessly curious by all these new people, but he took Flippa’s hand again as they moved out of the way.

Eventually, Fit is finished talking with a few of the people collecting things from the cart and he makes his way over to Charlie and Flippa. “Before we get you guys a place to stay for the night, I’m going to introduce you to Mariana and Quackity. They help run things around here.”

Charlie must have nervousness written all over his face because Fit puts a hand on his shoulder and smiles encouragingly. “No worries Charlie. I made sure to put in a good word. You helped us fend off those mercenaries yesterday and for that I thank you. I might not trust you fully yet but I can tell you got a good head on your shoulders. You’ll be fine.”

He cracks an anxious smile as Fit beckons him to follow, leading both of them along as Flippa turns her head in every direction, staring avidly at her surroundings. Charlie whispers to her, “Once we get these guys to trust us we can look around some more, okay? Just stay with me.” She nods as the three of them come upon one of the largest buildings in the area.

It's not particularly fancy and looks slapped together with all kinds of wooden planks, held up by large support beams. A huge balcony juts out of the top and connects to the broken section of the Wall, while the main portion of the building sits right in the middle, built directly into the crumbling stone. It was still very impressive in spite of its very rustic appearance, and once they’d made their way inside Charlie’s anxiety was not dampened.

For the most part, the interior of the building wasn’t particularly grand either. Torches lined the walls and there were a few paintings, bookshelves, and other furniture, but it was all worn and heavily used. It was scarce but cozy, and judging by how creaky the wood was underneath their feet, also frequently occupied. Fit stopped in front of two double doors before opening them, showing a large room with a high glass roof, letting the room be bathed in the warm, late afternoon glow of the sun. 

Even more wooden beams were built into the interior walls, extended upwards and connected through criss-crossing beams on the ceiling. A big round table sat neatly in the middle of the room surrounded by numerous chairs. The table presented an incredibly big map of what Charlie assumed was the surrounding area and places far away. Additionally, it was dotted with small red, black, and white pins. 

Another notable feature were the banners that hung on the walls; most of them black and blue with golden suns, the same shape seen on the armor of the people here. The largest banner of all was a bright white one with a jet black insignia of some kind of building, but he couldn't make out what it meant or who it might’ve belonged to.

There were three people in the room as they entered. Jaiden was the first he noticed and the most familiar, and she waved at the three of them as they entered. Charlie only gave her a wobbly smile in return while Flippa waved excitedly. He looked next to her to see a figure pouring all of his attention to the map on the table, deep in thought. 

He wore glasses much like Charlie’s, but the visible similarities ended there. 

His hair was dark and slightly curled, and behind his glasses were intense, deep brown eyes. Her skin was not as light as Charlie’s, tanned slightly and she was only an inch shorter in height. As for his clothes, they were very interesting and brightly colored. Red leather fingerless gloves covered her hands and forearms with matching red laced boots. He wore something akin to a jumpsuit that was tucked into his gloves and boots, the mustard yellow of it clashing with the red spectacularly. A white cape was draped across his shoulders and it all came together in a peculiar way.

The third person, also very unfamiliar, was another bird-person like Jaiden (just how many of them were there?), his wings were much smaller, fluffier, and yellow. His ear feathers blended in with his black hair which was covered underneath a simple navy blue cap. He wore a very long dark blue jacket and he had his feet kicked up on the table as he leaned back in his own chair, revealing even more dark-colored pants and shoes. He cast a very stark figure in contrast to the white-red-yellow mustard man.

Charlie swallowed his anxiety and replaced it with false confidence as he walked towards the yellow-jumpsuit guy.

Fit, still standing next to him, introduced the stranger to him. “This is Mariana, Charlie. He’s our main records keeper, helps with paperwork and planning and all that. You’ve probably already heard about her.” The now-named stranger, Mariana, finally looks up and adjusts his glasses as he looks Charlie over. Her face is set in a deep frown as he does, and Charlie feels faint irritation as he stares back.

Holding out his hand to shake he decides to at least be nice. Maybe his face was cursed to be grumpy forever. “Hey dude. I’m Charlie, short for Charlie Slimecicle, also short for Charlie the Awesome. What’s up?”

Mariana looks at his hand for a moment before asking in a flat voice. “¿Quién es?”

The other guy with the yellow wings smirks as he replies, arms behind his head. “Él es el chico nuevo. Jaiden lo encontró. ¿Recordar?”

Mariana arches an eyebrow at him before looking at Charlie again, more curious. His expression still spelled annoyance which really threw him off, so he lowered his hand and kept his arm stiff to his side. He didn’t know what they were talking about, but it didn’t seem to be insulting.

“I am Mariana. It is important you understand that you are not trusted here. We do not know you yet.” 

Charlie’s blank expression turns into an uncomfortable frown, looking down at Flippa briefly. She’s still holding his hand and seems more baffled than anything. Mariana follows his line of sight, and his gaze softens slightly. “Who is this?”

Charlie’s hand tightens around Flippa’s own. “This is Flippa. I uh, I found her. She’s my-” He pauses. “...I’m just… keeping an eye on her until we find someone who can… help answer some questions we have about her.”

The stranger sits up straight, yellow wings fluttering. He’s peering over the table to get a good look at Flippa before he snaps his fingers. “I think I can help you with that.” 

He makes his way over to Charlie and introduces himself briefly. “The name's Quackity. I’m like, the informant around here. I know lots of stuff.”

Charlie replies, a little more at ease with Quackity than Mariana. “Cool. Do you know anything about dragons? Or baby dragons like Flippa?” 

He nods. “I don't know the details, but I have some papers and recordings about them. Maybe after we get you settled, then we can talk a bit more. Right, Mariana?” Quackity says, giving him a pointed look. Mariana exhales.

“Fine. But we will keep an eye on him. No te sientas demasiado cómodo con eso, Quackity.”

Quackity merely shrugs which seems to visibly annoy Mariana further as Quackity and Fit lead Charlie out of the meeting room. He can distantly hear Jaiden and Mariana talking some more after they’d left, but he can’t make out what their discussion is about. By the time the small group had made it out of the building, night had set and the wagon they arrived in was nowhere to be seen.

“Since you’re a newbie around here Charlie, you’ll have to stay at the inn until we can think of a permanent residence.” Quackity says, breaking the awkward silence. 

Charlie stutters. “Well- I don’t think I’ll be, like, staying here. I just want Flippa to be okay, and when she is…” Charlie trails off for a minute before picking up again. “Plus I’m pretty sure Mariana hates my guts. I don’t think he’d appreciate me staying here.”

Quackity waves him off. “Don’t worry about Mariana, she’ll get used to you. We’ll probably end up having a meeting with you and stuff tomorrow, a proper one. Ask a bunch of questions, where you came from, who you really are, all that junk. Just safety measures, y’know?” 

Charlie feels exhausted just thinking about it, so all he does is nod quietly. It did make sense somewhat, but he really didn’t feel like having a full-on interrogation session with Mariana. Maybe Jaiden or Fit could do it. At the very least they seem much more tolerant of his general existence. 

Fit speaks next. “Let’s just worry about sleeping arrangements first.” Charlie silently agrees with that sentiment as they make their way to the inn down the road. An illuminated sign was plastered across the front, simply written “Cellbit’s Hotel”. The building itself was simple yet tall and looked surprisingly secure.

As they all made their way inside, Quackity immediately went to greet the presumed owner of the inn, a tall, slightly-muscular man wearing a simple green tunic with leather straps and pants. He had curious pointed brown ears sticking from his head, which was covered in shaggy brown hair with a white streak passing over one of his dark eyes. He greeted Quackity with a firm handshake and smile.

“Olȧ Quackity! How is it going?” He exclaims. 

“Hey Cellbit! Got two new people here who need to stay a couple days.” He points a thumb back at Charlie and Flippa who wave. Cellbit’s small smile grows wider as he moves to greet them.

“Olȧ gente nova! Welcome to my hotel!” He extends a hand to shake Charlie’s own, doing so kindly. 

His calm energy quickly makes Charlie more relaxed as he grins. “Hey, my name’s Charlie. And the dragon’s name is Flippa.” 

Cellbit bends down on one knee and shakes Flippa’s hand as well, which makes her giggle. “Saudações pequenina. Please, make yourselves at home.”

Fit and Quackity wave goodbye as Cellbit leads Charlie and Flippa to their shared room, complete with double beds. It's small but nice and comfortable, illuminated with plenty of torches. The door even came with double locks for protection.

Charlie practically falls asleep as soon as he hits the bed, still wearing his torn grimy clothes covered in slime. Flippa tugs on his hands impatiently as he lays, arms out and face down on the mattress. 

He distantly hears her scribbling something before poking him several times, forcing him to grumble and turn his head to look at what she wrote. Rubbing the spots on his face where his glasses got smushed in, he reads, ‘could you tell me a bedtime story. It helps me sleep’

“I don’t know Flippa… I’m terrible at making up stories.” She pouts a little before taking the paper back and writing some more.

‘could you tell me a story about you then?’

Shuffling to sit up, Charlie rubs the back of his neck. “Well- I guess it couldn’t hurt. Anything you have in mind I could tell you?”

‘What about your siblings?’

He frowns slightly at the question and nods before quickly shaking his head. Flippa tilts her head in confusion.

“I don’t really- I don’t have siblings. Anymore.”

‘What happened to them?’

Charlie sucks in a breath. He tries not to think about the past, because really, it doesn’t do him any good whatsoever. It only brings up bad feelings. It’s an innocent question she’s asking, but the mere thought of it makes his hands shake, so he does his best to divert the subject. 

“Y’know I think I actually just came up with a fantastic story just now. Why uh, why don’t I tell you that one instead?” He offers. She doesn’t notice him avoiding the question, far more happy to get a story than an answer. Charlie picks her up and tucks her into the bed next to his, large and comfortable. She’s a bit grimy from all the travel, but neither of them mind. They’ll worry about it tomorrow.

As Flippa gets cozy, Charlie sits at the end of her bed and pretends to open an invisible book for extra effect, which makes her smile. He thinks fast and decides to improvise a story on a whim;

“A long time ago there was a big dragon who lived in a lovely valley that belonged all to her. She had lots of good food and always had a cozy place to sleep when she got tired. She played all day and all night and never grew bored. But she missed one thing; a friend. She wished she had one who not only kept her company, but understood her too. One night as she laid awake, she saw a shooting star overhead-”

Flippa raises a hand questioningly, like a student trying to get the attention of a teacher. “What’s that Flippa? Do you not like it?” She shakes her head before reaching over and grabbing the paper she had set on the nightstand next to her head. ‘What is a shooting star?’

“Oooh. That’s a good question. You know, once a long time ago, I didn’t know what it was either. I lived underground my whole life and only learned about it when I saw a meteor shower for the first time, which is something that happens in space. A shooting star is like, a star that moves across the sky really fast, and if you wish upon it it’ll grant you whatever you want.”

‘Do you think there are any outside right now? I have a wish’

Charlie scratches his neck. “I’m not too sure… I don’t think they’re all that common Flippa. Maybe later we can try and see if we can find one. Then you can make your wish.”

‘Can I tell you my wish?’

“I don’t see why not. Do you still want me to finish the story?” Flippa yawns at the same time and rubs one eye, tired. She shakes her head and writes a little more, although much slower. ‘I am too tired. Maybe tomorrow.’

“Alright. That’s fair. Go on and tell me your wish so you can go to sleep.” He offers gently. She smiles before writing a little more. She hands him the paper and Charlie almost tears up a little bit. Almost.

‘I wish you could be my friend forever.’

“Oh... Flippa.” He pats her head. “I’ll always be here for you, you won’t need a wish for that. You should wish for something epic, like a flying unicorn or a magic knife, something really cool.” She yawns again, taking off her oversized glasses. Charlie takes them and places them carefully on the bedside table before leaning in and giving her a small hug. 

“Get some sleep kiddo. We have a big day tomorrow.” She nods, turning over to sleep. Charlie retreats to his own bed, allowing the allure of rest to overtake him as he falls into a deep, comfortable sleep.

The following morning would not be nearly as relaxing.

A loud knocking on his door causes him to shoot awake almost violently, instantly smacking his skull against the baseboard. He exclaims in pain, nearly falling out of bed as he attempts to stand and answer the door, but not before he manages to trip on Flippa, who was also very much awake. He rapidly apologizes to her before scooping her up and opening the door forcefully, a frown already set into his face.

He’s greeted by Fit and Cellbit, who both give him an odd look over his current state. Fit is wearing his usual armor, but with different clothes underneath. “You okay Charlie? You look a bit disheveled.” Fit points out.

Charlie grumbles as he sets Flippa down. “Yeah yeah, just woke up to a battering ram slamming into my door.” He rubs his head, still quite sore. The small scar on his face from the bandits still stings, and he touches it gingerly.

Fit only chuckles, leaning down to allow Flippa onto his shoulders. 

He wrinkles his nose. “Did Flippa ever get cleaned at all? Do you guys have a change of clothes? With all the stuff happening yesterday I forgot to ask.”

“Why, I don’t look good enough for you?” Charlie jokes, still wearing the same disgusting shirt he’d been wearing for several days straight, caked in slime spilled from his wounds, dirt, and other mysterious stains. Flippa was pretty much in the same boat, and she seemed to realize it.

Fit stares at him blankly. “Definitely not. I’ll let everyone know you’ll be a little bit late, because I’m going to get you both some new clothes. And maybe shower while you’re at it, you reek man.”

“I’ll have you know, it’s not a ‘reek’ smell, it’s a distinguished smell!”

“Says the guy who nearly froze to death in a river a few days ago because he claimed he needed to be ‘hygienic’. Go take a shower Charlie.” Fit states simply. Cellbit is still standing off to the side, clearly amused.

What makes things even worse is Flippa holding her nose and making a gross face at him, as if he was the only dirty one! Charlie fake gasps. “Betrayal, Flippa, betrayal!” 

“Don’t you worry. She's gonna get cleaned up too. You’re both a mess.”

Charlie sighs. “Fine dude. If it matters that much to you.”

Fit rolls his eyes, still carrying Flippa. “I’ll be back in about 20 or so minutes. I have a shirt and pants that might fit you. Stay put until then.”

Charlie rolls his eyes right back, trying to not be too worried about Flippa being taken care of by someone else for a while. Fit was a trustworthy guy, she’d be in safe hands. 

As he showers, he lets himself regenerate and debates leaving the obvious slime patches on his skin remain. Everyone already knows what he is, so he doesn’t have to put in as much energy into his disguise as he needs to; just enough so people can recognize him. His original blobby self is much less distinct. He decides to leave them be; he feels more comfortable with his slime to reveal it to these people, for the time being.

Fit got him the clothes much quicker than expected, as when Charlie steps out he finds them on his bed. He slips into them easily, enjoying their comfort. They look a bit different from his other clothes, with the shirt and pants being dark green (which honestly felt intentional, seeing as he was also green. But the thought was appreciated). 

Feeling more refreshed than he had in days, he emerges from the room and enters the main lobby, seeing Fit and Flippa playing a game. They keep talking about rocks, papers, and scissors, which he assumes is a human thing he’s never seen before. Whatever it is, Fit seems to pretend to lose as Flippa quietly cheers at her victory.

“There’s the man of the hour. Looking fresh.” Fit says cheerfully, holding up an ‘OK’ sign with his hand. Flippa runs up to Charlie, scribbling and presenting a message. ‘I beat Fit at rock paper scissors for the tenth time!’

Still not knowing what that is, he pats her head and gives her a proud smile. “Wow, look at you! You’re a pro, Flippa. Fit doesn’t stand a chance.” 

She bounces on her feet and makes a happy noise. Charlie takes note of her new clothes as well, looking more patched together than his own. She has a large green sash around her waist to go with the dress she’s wearing, which looks a bit too large for her.

Charlie kneels down on one knee and offers to tie it tighter, but she puts his hand down and takes the sash off , handing it to him. He gives her a questioning look before being handed another of her written papers. ‘Its for you. I found it and wore it so i wouldnt lose it until i could give it to you.’

It was a very nice lime green, and it matched the blotchy patches of slime on his skin in hue, so he stood up and tied it around his own waist. Now he was a bonafide green man. 

“Thank you so much Flippa, I look fantastic. I’ll never take it off.” Her already wide smile grows as she rushes to cling onto his leg, giving him a big squeeze. His own face hurts from how much he’s been grinning, and he looks up to see Fit watching them both and letting them have their moment. 

After a few more seconds Fit eventually stands up. “Alright you two. Time for the meeting.”

Chapter Text

As they walk back towards the big main building, Charlie takes in the fresh morning air and the hustle and bustle of the city. It feels comfortable here, and he even waves at a few strangers with a smile. He was in a pretty good mood despite the rude awakening from nearly having his door busted down, but he didn’t hold it against Fit. The man could probably fold a fork in half by accident. 

As they make their way inside, Charlie notices Bad by the entrance to the double doors, patting Charlie on the back. “Come on in. Everyone’s waiting for you guys.” As promised, the doors open to reveal a group of six people all sitting in chairs around the table. 

Mariana is at the far end in deep conversation with a guy that looks almost like a spider, with several eyes and mandibles. The spider guy seemed cheerful. Maybe Charlie could ask him how he managed to talk to Mariana without ticking her off. 

As the group turned to look at Charlie, he smiled faintly and tried not to sweat under their combined gaze. Bad gestures to the chair across the table from Mariana’s for Charlie to sit in, which he does. Flippa is given her own chair next to him, and as she goes to sit she sinks right into it which Charlie finds faintly amusing.

As Bad and Fit move to stand near Mariana, she eventually looks up and puts on an annoyed face once again which reignites Charlie’s irritation. Seriously, what was his problem?

Quackity stands up to give Charlie the run down before he can start making annoying faces at Mariana, putting on a semi-dramatic flair. “Hello everyone. This meeting is so we can meet Charlie properly and decide if he is okay to stay. Before we begin, Charlie, do you have any questions?”

Charlie stands up. “I do, actually.” He gulps as everyone continues to stare. “Is this… something you guys do with all the new people? This feels like a bit much.”

Quackity thinks for a few moments before answering. “Honestly, we don’t do this often. But judging the circumstances we found you in and your involvement with… Flippa? Did I get that right?” Flippa gives him a thumb up behind the table, still a few inches too short to reach it. “Right. We just want to understand you better. Make sure you’re not some kind of special agent, or whatever. Federation rules.”

Charlie holds up a finger. “Actually, second question. What is the Federation, exactly?”

Before Quackity can open his mouth to answer, Mariana interrupts. “Enough questions. Let us get this over with. We have more important things to do today.” Charlie gives him a very forced smile as he sits back down, eyebrow twitching. Quackity also sits back down a little awkwardly, coughing into a fist.

Mariana then turns sharply to Fit, who moves forward. “Alright. Firstly, who are you?”

Charlie huffs, a little annoyed by the question. “I feel like I’ve answered this already. I’m Charlie, I’m a slime, that’s it.”

“Do you have a residence? Occupation?”

Charlie arches an eyebrow. “Uh, weird question, but technically no to both. I don’t really need either.”

“What were you doing when we found you? What was your purpose in the cave?”

“I was just kinda traveling along under the earth, y’know? Then I heard a commotion above me and stopped to investigate. I don’t usually stick my nose in human business, or anything, but I got curious. Then there was like, this weird egg I found, and it seemed special to me, and I always trust my gut so I stuck around and kept an eye on it once the bandits left.”

“Interesting. Do you have any clues to where the bandits fled to?”

Charlie shrugs and crosses his arms, leaning back in the chair. “Nah. They just left, didn’t say where to. That’s all I know.”

“Do you have any family? Where do you come from?”

Charlie’s brows furrow at the oddly personal question, suddenly more aware of everyone in the room. He rubs the back of his neck and averts his eyes. “Uh, no, not really. And I come from the ground, obviously.”

Mariana’s voice questions him next instead of Fit. “What happened to them?” She doesn’t sound as rude, more curious than anything, but it still ticks Charlie off. Nobody in this room needs to know anything about his life.

“Listen, it doesn’t matter what did or didn’t happen, alright? I just don’t have one. Sometimes, that’s all you need to know.” He says, throwing his hands in the air. Mariana’s gaze tightens.

“Fine. Then answer this last question.”

“Fine.” Charlie shoots back. 

“Why do you disguise yourself as human when you are clearly not?”

Charlie’s bitterness escalates suddenly, and he then proceeds to look Mariana dead in the eyes. He replied sarcastically. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Mariana stands abruptly, now equally frustrated. “Will you take this seriously!”

Charlie stands as well, copying him and planting his hands on the table as he leans forward. “Oh I am , trust me. But when you start interrogating me with stupid personal questions when I’ve done nothing wrong, I don’t really feel as keen to give you any straight answers.” 

Mariana's brow someone manages to furrow even more, mouth set in a firm line. "Then maybe you are not fit to be here."

Charlie grits his teeth and raises his voice. "Then why are you keeping me here, chucklenuts? If you guys don't trust me then why don't you just kick me out?"

Before the two can start really yelling at each other, a bright golden-skinned shark man opens the double doors, interrupting them. “Hello everyone! Sorry I'm late, was just getting caught up on my schematics. What's happening?" He questions, contemplative, seeing Charlie and Mariana's moments away from jumping across the table to strangle each other.

Mariana somehow manages to become even more exasperated at the arrival of this new face. "Foolish. You're interrupting an important meeting. Sit down."

'Foolish' (which Charlie guessed was his name, not him being an idiot, that would be mean) seems visibly hurt by his harsh tone, but does as he's told. "How could you be so cruel to your bestie?" 

Mariana grimaced. "Just. Be quiet, please."

Foolish waves to everyone in the room and eventually lands his brilliant green eyes on Charlie, reminding him of his own. Oddly, they looked more like bright gems rather than eyes. 

"Are you the new guy?" Foolish yell-whispers at him. Mariana is still glaring daggers, so Charlie merely nods in reply. 

Fit is the one to speak next, perturbed by the argument and sudden appearance of Foolish. "Well… anyways, I'd like to clarify, Charlie; we won't be kicking you out. You've made it clear you care for Flippa, and if you wish we could make it so you're her caretaker. Plenty of us have room and time for her if you decide against this, but seeing as you've cared for her the longest, we decided to make the decision with you."

Charlie's anger seeps away into bewilderment. He looks at Flippa, still sitting next to him and happy as can be. She looks at him and smiles, and he can't help but smile back. 

"I don't know how good I'll be at caring for her but… I'd appreciate it if I was. Flippa, would that be alright with you?" Charlie asks, seeking her input. Flippa stands on the chair so she can look over the table and nods, clearly happy with the decision. 

Fit smiles faintly. "Then it's settled. Charlie will look after Flippa, and in doing so we will provide him a residence. He will be welcome here for as long as he stays. All in agreement with these terms?" He announces, everything stated precisely as if he'd said it a hundred times already. 

Everyone, even Mariana (although with some bitterness) raises their hands. Jaiden and Bad smile the widest and Charlie can't help but feel content. 

He turns to Flippa once more, who has now gotten down from her chair and hugged Charlie around the middle. He gives her a squeeze in return. "Guess you'll be stuck with me for a while huh? Sorry about that." 

Flippa frowns and puts her hands up with exasperation, clearly unamused. "Kidding! I'm just kidding." Charlie chuckles while patting her head.

As everyone moves to stand and leave, or mill about and talk to each other, Foolish and Quackity both move towards him instead.

Quackity speaks first, "Congrats big guy. You're officially one of us and passed the exam with flying colors."

Charlie shrugs. "Literally just got interrogated but sure. And Mariana hates me."

Foolish shakes his head, shark fins waving. "Hate is such a strong word Charles!" 

"It's just Charlie, dude. But seriously, what was with those questions?" He says, crossing his arms. "I don't feel like airing out my family drama in front of a bunch of strangers." 

Quackity tilts his head. "To be fair, Mariana couldn't have known that. The questions were all legitimate, but she definitely could've been… kinder about it."

Charlie just rolls his eyes. "No duh Mariana could've been kinder. It just felt like I got singled out." 

Quackity frowns a little. "It's not your fault Charlie. Mariana is a hard sell sometimes, but he has his reasons for being cautious. Trust me." He pats Charlie on the shoulder and then proceeds to whip out some papers from seemingly nowhere. 

"Now, let's shift the topic. I've got some forms for you, really fun stuff. They're for your new home, to make it so you actually own it, you'll be protected along with all your things, blah blah blah, you get the idea. I'll be showing it to you first to see if you like it."

Flippa and Charlie give double thumbs up. "Sounds good to me. Lead the way." 

Most of the people in the meeting left early to do their own things, so Charlie, Flippa, Quackity and Foolish exited the building without issue. Mariana stayed behind doing whatever because Charlie has firmly decided he doesn't care a single bit about what he does. 

As they walk as a group, Charlie gazes around as the day has turned from morning to noon, the sun high above and casting dark shadows in the crevices of the broken wall. Cool breezes whisked through the small canyon, which seemed like an apt description. 

Flippa chose to ride on his shoulders and played with his hair, tying in pigtails and other braided knots with the longest hair she could find. Foolish was chatting up a storm with Quackity who also seemed a bit lost in thought, only managing quick nods when Foolish needed to take a breath.

Charlie suddenly and abruptly speaks. "So, why do they call you Foolish?"

Foolish jumps at being spoken to. "Huh. I don't actually know! It's just what I've always been called." 

Quackity speaks at the same time as Foolish. "Because it fits him perfectly." Foolish pretends to act hurt and makes a very convincing sad face. "I'm just kidding. You're like, one of our best architects."

Foolish's already blinding face becomes even harder to look at as he grins from the compliment. It's like he's a living piece of jewelry, green gem eyes and golden skin clashing to make for a very shiny appearance. Not to mention that he's absolutely ripped. What is it with the people here being completely jacked?

Charlie was about to ask about that, too, until something caught his eye as they walked past, more so than Foolish's strange glowiness. 

It's incredibly unremarkable, practically just a house in the ground, but something about it draws him to it. Another one of those gut feelings. Something about how it was built into the ground, surrounded by dirt and earth made it feel comforting. Even if it is completely overshadowed by the large home positioned right on top of it. Quackity makes a face, noticing Charlie's interest.

"Let's keep moving. The house is just down this way." 

Charlie doesn't budge. "What about this house? I kinda like it."

Quackity and Foolish exchange dumbfounded looks. "That's… not a house. I'm pretty sure that's just Mariana's cellar or something."

Charlie stares at them both, disbelieving. "What."

"Yeah dude. That house belongs to Mariana."

He laughs sarcastically. "Really? No. I thought he slept in the meeting room just so she wouldn't have to leave them." Charlie then sighs. "So there's no way I can live there, huh?"

Foolish seems utterly confused, "Are you really THAT disappointed about not being able to live in someone's basement?"

Quackity, on the other hand, actually thinks about it for a moment. "Well… I feel like it'd be better if Flippa didn't live in a basement, don't you agree?"

Flippa, still idly playing with Charlie's hair, perks up at the mention of her name. Apparently she doesn't seem to mind as she shakes her head, not really paying a whole lot of attention. 

Charlie ponders this. "I guess so. But I like the holes I live in to be dark and moist." 

Quackity looks disgusted. "Dude don't- don't say it like that, that's nasty." Charlie tries not to laugh.

He then sighs, fiddling with the papers. "Listen. I can try talking to Mariana but I'm pretty sure it'll be a definite no. Why don't we just go see-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Mariana emerges from the cellar as if on cue, peering at everyone gathered around it. 

"Can I help you?" He questions, eyes narrowing as they meet Charlie's. Charlie smiles with all his teeth, but it really comes out more like a sneer. 

"We were just leaving." Charlie states. Seeing Mariana again has suddenly changed his mind on trying to negotiate shared living arrangements and moves to start walking away, before Quackity holds him back. 

"No, we were actually thinking about some different living arrangements. Isn't that right Charlie?" He just groans in reply. Quackity has a shit-eating grin on his face, which does not bode well for Charlie.

Mariana just seems terribly confused, brows furrowing. "Huh?" 

Quackity then steps a bit closer, and the two start conversing in the language Charlie hasn't learned the name of yet. Besides the one he can speak now, he hasn't had the chance to learn any other human languages. 

Charlie decides to ask Foolish while the two are talking. "I'm curious. What language are they speaking? It's not like… whatever we're speaking right now."

Foolish chuckles. "They're speaking Spanish. It's pretty common around here, actually! Don't worry if you don't get all of it yet, you'll pick up on it." 

As he watches their conversation unfold, Mariana's eyebrows shoot up and then right back down to form into a familiar expression; frustration. Charlie has gotten to know that one very well.

"Why would you want to live in my basement?" Mariana says, turning to Charlie. His tone implies that makes it seems that he is aware of the faint dislike he's implanted in Charlie. 

Before Charlie can think up a snarky retort, Flippa pokes his head to get his attention. He exclaims a little before realizing she wants to be let down. As he places her on the ground she wanders over to Mariana and holds up a paper. He adjusts his glasses (almost endearing but not quite. Charlie won't have a single positive thought about Mariana) as he reads. 

Once again, Mariana's face shifts between several different expressions. Once she's finished reading the scrap of paper, he hands it back to Flippa. 

"Tu español es excelente, Juana, pero ¿estás segura de que quieres vivir aquí? Es tu elección." She says it with a sliver of pride. Flippa just nods before writing something else and handing it back.

"Si eso es lo que realmente quieres. Pero dime si cambias de opinión. Si te gusta Juana como nombre, entonces te llamaré así también." He smiles. "You are a good bargainer. Your Spanish is also very good."

Flippa gives Mariana a big hug around his leg, which surprises him greatly. Flippa eventually runs back to Charlie who was looking on in pure awe. "Flippa, you understand Spanish? But how?" She shrugs, thinks, and writes something in a quick scribble. 

'same as english.  same as everything i can do. i just… know.'

Which, Charlie thought to himself, made a whole lot of sense when you put it that way. 

Quackity had been eavesdropping and looked utterly lost. "Soo… you're… okay with Charlie and Flippa living with you?"

"Yes. It is… alright. As long as he does not irritate me."

Charlie smirks. "No promises."

Mariana doesn’t bother responding, only choosing to roll his eyes. Flippa, however, seems pleased with the arrangements.

“I only do this for Juana. If this is what she wants, then it is okay with me.” Mariana says, causing Charlie to scoff.

“Her name is Flippa .”

Mariana’s eyes narrow. “She is okay with me calling her Juana.”

Flippa is already looking between the two with worry, tugging on Charlie’s pant leg. “But she didn’t even do a sick flip for that name-” His complaining is interrupted by the tugging and he looks down. Flippa hands him a paper, her little face scrunched up in annoyance. Charlie reads it aloud.

“It is okay, I wear- no wait, that says want… I want to have a full name. I like Juanaflippa.” Charlie does his best not to feel crushed. “Did the name I give you- was it not enough?”
Flippa shakes her head rapidly and waves her hands. She takes the paper back and writes some more. 

‘I like the name you gave me , but i like this name too. That is why i want both’

He reads it quickly and instantly feels guilty. “I’m… sorry Flippa. It’s your choice what you want to be called, not mine.” She gives him a pat on the leg, nodding in forgiveness. 

Mariana eventually walks over to Quackity to discuss the details of living in a basement. Charlie was honestly surprised Mariana even agreed to begin with, expecting an instant nope and a slammed door in his face. The major plus of that scenario never playing out was living in the ground, which would be nice as it was his natural environment and preferred to living in an above-ground wooden box. 

As the day progressed and the two had managed to move into their new home, he could see the visible wariness in Flippa’s face in living here. Mariana’s house was honestly really nice, even the basement, with its wood floors and carpet. The walls, much to Charlie’s delight, were indeed made of packed dirt with the occasional large tree root growing through to really enunciate it.

There were some individual rooms along with a fireplace to make up the main area, with a few comfortable sitting arrangements. Charlie let Flippa have what was admittedly the best room, with wooden walls and a roof that didn’t have dirt falling all over the floor. Charlie took the one that was entirely stone and dirt with a small boiler in the corner. The warmth and dampness of the room would do just fine for him. 

Seeing as neither of them had many things to carry, their moving in took little time. Flippa spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the rest of Mariana’s house, which he revealed he had made entirely by hand. Charlie was only mildly impressed whereas Flippa thought it was the coolest thing ever.

As the two got ready for bed in their new home, with Charlie tucking Flippa in, he decided to ask her something he’d been wondering about. “Why did you agree to live here, Flippa? Besides the fact that I’m taking care of you now, and would have to live with me anyway. We could’ve moved on after we found out Mariana already lives here. Quackity had a whole house ready for us and everything.”

Flippa didn’t take much time in writing a response. ‘I dont like seeing you fight. i want you and mariana to get along and i knew you wouldnt agree if i didnt. I want you to be friends’

Charlie is silent as he soaks in her words. After a few minutes he replies slowly. “Flippa… you didn’t have to do that. You should worry about what you want, not what I need. That’s my job, worrying about you .” He tucks her in some more as she looks up at him with large, knowing eyes. “I’m going to do my best to take care of you. Annoying Mariana comes second. I swear it.” Flippa swats at him lightly which he laughs at.

“But seriously. I will. I’ll… always be here for you.” She smiles at him as he stands and moves to blow out the torch next to her bed. “Goodnight, Juanaflippa.” Charlie says softly as he closes the door behind him and takes in a deep breath.

He turns around before nearly jumping right out of his skin to see Mariana standing before him with his arms crossed. 

“We need to talk.” 

Charlie calms his racing heart, lowers his defensive arms and frowns. “Oh great. What did I do this time?”

Mariana’s stern gaze doesn’t falter. “Nothing. Yet. Not unless we cooperate.”

“You? Want to cooperate? With me? ” Charlie scoffs. “And why would you want to do that?”

“I…” Mariana’s face becomes more uncomfortable. “I want to- it would just be easier for Juana. If we are living together, we must be on good terms.” 

Charlie remains silent for so long Mariana begins to shift and look around awkwardly, struggling to meet his gaze. After a couple more minutes of uncomfortable silence Charlie eventually speaks. “Fine. We can do that. On two conditions.” Mariana perks up and eyes him suspiciously.

“One. You apologize for practically embarrassing me in front of everyone during the meeting earlier. Two, we shake on it. That makes it official.” Charlie didn’t know how human deals worked, but he’d seen enough hand shaking to know it made this more serious. Mariana ponders it before extending a hand. Charlie takes it, and the two shake with a forced grip. Mariana eyes him and grits out, "I'm sorry... for embarrassing you", which makes Charlie nod curtly in response. It would have to do. 

“Good.” Mariana says.

“Great.” Charlie replies.

The two share strained smiles as they back away. Mariana walks back upstairs with all the stiffness of a wooden board and Charlie stands there watching his retreating silhouette. 

“Well that was… something.” He mutters under his breath, turning away and entering his own room.

As he lay there, staring up at the dirt ceiling, he could only wonder how he’d managed to get to this point and what tomorrow might bring.

Chapter Text

Over the next few weeks, Charlie and Flippa slowly began to get acquainted with the rest of the people living in La Ciudad del Sacapuntas. 

The first priority for the both of them was to track Quackity down and get some answers regarding Flippa’s general existence. After a lengthy conversation, there was lots of rummaging around in the city library and records department which was only done under the watchful eye of a woman named Bagi, who seemed to be the actual records keeper as opposed to Quackity (who sheepishly admitted he mostly just acts as a treasurer).

After that debacle, the three of them found what little information they could find about dragons with the only one in recent recorded history having been found to be missing after investigation by The Federation. Judging by the time of the record they discovered it was a fairly recent event and also vague about the details, only revealing that the dragon had eggs which were stolen once the dragon disappeared for unknown reasons.

Flippa seemed very distraught by this information as it confirmed her worst fears; that she really did have siblings, and they were out there somewhere in some kind of trouble. Charlie and Quackity did their best to comfort her as she took it in.

Quackity took the recounting of her dream-vision seriously, promising he’d do what he could in telling the others to keep their eyes out for missing dragon eggs on expeditions, similar to how she was found. Flippa seemed to calm down somewhat, but Charlie and Quackity could only exchange worried glances. 

After some more milling about in the archived section, which led to Charlie accidentally spreading slime over a considerable amount of the books, they were all kicked out by Bagi while receiving some choice words. 

Regretfully they were unable to find any additional information about shapeshifting dragons or if such things even existed, much less if it was an ability shared by all dragons. It then went on to dampen the mood for the remainder of the week. However, despite the unfortunate lack of answers Charlie did what he could to cheer her up.

“Okay just don’t drop her, or else.” Charlie warns, holding up a threatening finger. 

Phil waved a hand. “She’ll be safe with me, no worries. We’ll just do a loop around the city and be back in a minute.” He flared his pitch-black wings as he let Flippa hold onto his neck piggy-back style. She copied him and flapped her own tiny wings.

Flippa had seen Phil and a few other of the avians flying around early that morning, pointing at them as they flew by. Phil landed to say hello, she begged to fly with him, and Charlie couldn’t resist her pleading face. So here they were, with Charlie trying very hard not to wig out. 

This was the happiest she seemed in days so he had to wrestle with his own caution for a minute. He wasn’t always a cautious person, but having to care for a little tiny being injected the feeling straight into his veins. 

"Alright you two, just be-”

Flippa and Phil took off, waving to him as they soared across the sky.

"... Careful."

Charlie clenched his fists and grit his teeth as he watched them turn into a small dot amongst the sea of blue, eventually sitting on the grass with his chin resting in his hands. 

He took in his surroundings as he waited for their return. Flippa had asked for a morning walk and they’d made their way past the north end of the wall, reaching a grassy field with some hills. It was nice out, air fresh with the smell of rain from the night before and dewy grass. His anxiety settled into a small thing in his mind as he enjoyed the peacefulness of the plains, away from the bustle of the city.

The peace and quiet always made him think.

As his mind wandered, he reminisced on meeting Mike for the first time. Jaiden had told him about Mike when they were still traveling to the city by wagon, and Charlie subconsciously thought of what he’d be like. After things settled down into more of a routine, Charlie left Flippa in Mariana’s care (much to his hesitation) to hopefully get acquainted with a person somewhat like him. 

Charlie was pleasantly surprised to find that Jaiden was right; they did have a lot more in common than he thought. 

He was given the grand tour by Mike, who had shocking-green eyes behind thin rimmed glasses much like his own. His outfit choice was interesting, with boxer shorts and a lab coat clashing to make a very odd appearance. Despite first impressions Mike was incredibly kind and talkative, showing him around his lab and all the towering machines with hundreds of uses.

Charlie kept looking at Mike, utterly lost by the explanations but still intrigued. With all the looking he distinctly noticed the lack of slime; maybe he was more human than slime. As Mike walked him up to a duplicator machine of impossible intricacy, he asked him about his nature as a slime-hybrid. Mike revealed that while he had no visible slime to speak of, he did seem rather bouncy for a human. Charlie just thought it was attributed to his lively nature.

He couldn’t be too disappointed, because Mike was welcoming and curious of Charlie as well. More knowledgeable about slimes than some of the other citizens, Mike had commented on how strange it was for Charlie to know so much about the surface, as most slimes were recluses and tightly-knit with close family circles. It made him feel a bit called out by the observation but Mike didn’t take any notice of his unease, claiming that the two could be far-flung brothers and should hang out more.

After a bit more visiting and conversation about Mike’s many creations, Charlie left with an odd feeling. He liked having the idea of another sibling; he was, after all, family-oriented at heart no matter what happened. Not wanting to ruin the new connections he was making he decided to keep what had happened in his past to himself. Surely, nobody would trust him if they’d found out what he had done. 

There was the fear of that scenario happening again. He didn’t know if he could ever live with himself if he’d accidentally hurt Juanaflippa. It had only been a few weeks but Charlie was certain he would kill and die for her if he had to. 

Even deeper below that he worried that keeping the truth would eventually come back to bite him. Maybe his new friends wouldn’t care; they didn’t mind when Charlie kept the fact that he was a slime from them. Maybe it would be different. Not that he would ever risk it to find out.

Charlie’s thoughts dispersed once he spotted Phil and Juanaflippa returning. They landed gracefully and Juanaflippa was smiling wider than she had all week.

“Did you have fun kiddo?” Charlie asked, which was met with a hug and very aggressive nodding. Phil wiped his forehead with his hand. “She certainly did. She was an excellent passenger too, so if she ever wants to go flying again, just let me know, cause I’d be happy to.” He shakes his wings, stretching them out again.

“If you two need anything else, let me know!”

Charlie gives him a thumbs up before watching the black-winged avian take off into the sky again.

Juanaflippa and Charlie went about their day and began walking back into town at a leisurely pace, stopping by the house. Mariana had promised to look after her while Charlie went on his own personal mission, as he had decided to help fulfill Flippa's wish to see a shooting star. After some questioning, he was told to find and consult the local astronomer; a warrior named Etoiles.

After leaving Flippa to be looked after under the care of Mariana and Jaiden, he set out to make the event a surprise and reveal it the night the shooting stars appeared. He'd ask Etoiles about some of the details and maybe find some better ways to view the stars from the ground.

He walked up several flights of stairs to a tall ornate building studded with tiny metal stars, which decorated the dark bricks making up its walls. It had a dome and a huge old-styled telescope poking out of the top and pointed up. The building was hidden behind a rocky outcropping within the wall, a few meters away from most of the main city. 

Charlie stood at the door after knocking a few times, rocking on his feet and whistling absentmindedly as he took in the nearby surroundings. The door then opened to reveal a completely green man with iridescent blue eyes wrapped in a black mask. His skin was entirely dark green and honestly kind of beautiful; it almost shimmered in the light. 

Charlie blinked and waved a hand. "Hey- are you Etoiles?"

The man nodded and revealed a crooked charming smile. "C'est vrai ! I am Etoiles! Please, come in and make yourself at home."

He opened the door wider, ushering Charlie inside. He gaped at the decorative interior, filled with star-maps, armor stands, weaponry, and what looked like a combination of astrology books and battle strategies piled on wooden desks and cabinets that winded their way up the circular walls up to the top of the observatory.

As Charlie took it all in, Etoiles handed him a glass of water with courtesy. 

"I take it you are the one they call Charlie. Am I right?" Etoiles asks, tilting his head to the side.

His accent was different from the others which intrigued him. Before he could get carried away with asking an assortment of questions he merely answered, "Yep. That's me." He takes a sip of the water and finds he enjoys the cucumber slice added to it.

Etoiles smiles that charming smile of his again. "It is a pleasure to meet you finally. You have been the talk of the town, mon ami."

"Apparently. Feels like everyone practically knows me by now."

Etoiles laughs. "Indeed! We do not get visitors who stay often! Most stay 2, 3 days, then leave. It is nice to have new faces."

Charlie chuckles a little before Etoiles continues. "Now, I am sure you are not here for small talk. What can I help with?"

Setting the glass down on one of the nearby surfaces, Charlie sits down on a chair. "Well, I wanted to make a surprise for Flippa. I thought maybe you could help."

Etoiles snaps his fingers. "Aha! That is why you do not have your sidekick!"

"She's not my sidekick. She's my-" Charlie hesitates and looks Etoiles in the eyes, then looks away. "Would it... be too soon to even call her my..."

"Daughter?" Etoiles finishes for him. 

"Yeah." Charlie scratches at his neck, feeling a little embarrassed. "I mean, I take care of her and all and feed her. Take her on walks when she asks. Talk to her and read her stories. But she doesn't even really call me her... dad. I don't know if she really sees me as one."

Etoiles is silent for a minute as he thinks. Charlie begins to feel self-conscious anxiety worm its way into his brain as he sits. "Sorry I didn't mean to just dump all of that on you. You barely even know me." 

Etoiles waves a hand at him. "Nonsense. We are friends now! I am okay with you talking to me about what troubles you. For what it is worth, and from what I see, she looks up to you. You come to me, to make her a surprise because you care that much about her. That tells me enough already." The smile returns to his face, even warmer than the last. It's the kind of smile that dimples cheeks and crinkles eyes.

Charlie immediately feels at ease with his fellow green man. "Thanks I... really appreciate it. Seriously."

"It's no problem. Now, why don't we get started with this surprise you have in mind?"

Charlie left much later that afternoon with his head full of ideas. Etoiles claimed there would be a shooting star shower sometime in the coming week based on some of his science astrology mumbo jumbo. He carried his new telescope under his arm he had borrowed, making sure to keep it covered just in case. It was meant to be a surprise after all.

As he walked through town and got some cheerful greetings, a familiar face poked its way out of one of the nearby shops and grinned at him.

“Bad!”

“Charlie!”

The two fist bump as they walk up to greet each other.  Bad flicks his tail happily. “What’s up man? What’ve you been up to?”

“Not too much. Still just getting adjusted to the house and all.”

Bad nods approvingly. “Awesome! Hopefully everyone’s been chill so far.”

“Well, besides Mariana, nobody has really been an issue. You’ve all been so nice to me.” Charlie smiles.

Bad claps a hand on his shoulder. “I’m happy to hear that nobody’s giving you too much trouble! Mariana’ll get used to you eventually, just give her time.”

Charlie rolls his eyes, holding the telescope a bit closer as it slips. “Yeah, uh huh. It’ll take a few years but I’m sure it’ll happen eventually.” Bad throws his head back and laughs. “C’mon Charlie! Try giving him a chance!”

“Maybe I will, if she doesn’t act like a complete-”

Speak of the devil.

Mariana is speed-walking towards the two of them in a bee-line, white cape fluttering in the wind. His face is surprisingly pale with worry as he walks up to Charlie and grabs him by the arm.

“Charlie, you must come quickly. Something is wrong with Juanaflippa.”

Bad looks alarmed as Charlie hastens to follow Mariana back to the house, half-running after him. Mariana still has a firm hand around his wrist, pleasantly warm and grounding. Charlie lets himself be dragged along.

“What happened-” Charlie begins before being interrupted by Mariana opening the door to Juanaflippa’s room, leading him in. Inside, her eyes are wide and her breathing seems shallow as she sits on the floor, arms clutched to her sides. Her little wings are wrapped around her body as she whimpers, eyes staring forward but seeing something beyond what’s in front of her.

Charlie instantly rushes to her side, hesitating to touch her. He distinctly hears Mariana speaking above him. “I found her like this, after Jaiden left. She went to sleep…” He trails off before exhaling and saying quietly, “Me temo que he hecho algo mal…”

He didn’t quite understand, but Charlie replied with gentleness. “I think I know what’s going on. Let me see if I can help her out of this.” Charlie is kneeled next to Juanaflippa, so he cranes his neck to give Mariana a grateful smile. “Thanks for coming to get me.” Mariana looks away, seemingly embarrassed.

Charlie turns back towards Juanaflippa and offers a hand. She glances briefly at it but continues her shallow breathing. “Flippa, can you hear me?” She nods slightly.

“Can you try breathing slower?” She closes her eyes and trembles, doing her best to control it. Charlie places a comforting hand on her shoulder before offering his hand out to her again. 

“Do you want to hold my hand until you feel better? Would that help?” Flippa flinches at his touch before nodding again, opening her eyes slowly and putting out a small, clawed hand to meet his own. He squeezes her hand comfortingly as he smiles.

“Just focus on breathing.” She nods once more before closing her eyes again and squeezing his hand back, as if to confirm he was still there. They sat on the floor together for a while long enough for Charlie to feel an ache in his back and legs as he remained still, not wanting to spook her with sudden movements.

Once she’s calmed down and entirely worn out, Charlie makes an effort to tell her a funny story before tucking her in. He promises to stay with her, which eases her slightly as she goes back to sleep.

Mariana had stood in the corner, silent as a mouse as Charlie moved to a chair across the room. If Juanaflippa wanted him to stay, he would.

“Is she going to be okay?” Mariana asks, looking rather worn out himself. He’s sitting on the floor now, back leaned up against the wall across from Charlie.

Charlie sighs. “For now. She’s calmed down, at least, so that’s better than nothing. I didn’t realize her nightmares were getting to her so badly.”

Mariana furrows his brows in concern. “How many times has this happened?”

“I’m not too sure. Maybe three or four, and it seems to be getting worse. I don’t… I’m not sure what to do.”

“We must stay close to her.”

Charlie nods, head hung low as he slouches in the chair. “Yeah… I just, I don’t want her to keep dealing with this, you know? She’s just a little kid. She might not really look like one, being a dragon and all, but she is. And I don’t know what to do to get them to stop.” He rubs his eyes, already feeling a bout of exhaustion sweeping over him.

The two remain silent for some time, watching Juanaflippa or looking at the ground. Mariana eventually speaks.

“You are a good caretaker.” Charlie jerks up to look at Mariana quizzically.

“Wow. I think that’s the first compliment you’ve ever given me.”

Mariana rolls his eyes so hard Charlie fears they’ll fall out. 

“Don’t get excited. I won’t have any more if you annoy me.”

Charlie smirks and leans back. “What, so you did have more? Well, don’t let me stop you.”

Mariana huffs and crosses his arms. “You are impossible pendejo.” There isn’t much venom behind his words, so Charlie takes it in stride. Mariana huffs again before his stern gaze softens.

“You should go to sleep. I can watch Juanaflippa.”

Charlie doesn’t move. “I promised I’d be here when she wakes up.”

Mariana nods. “I know. But you need rest.”

“I can sleep in the chair, it’s fine.”

Another moment of silence passes between them, still slightly awkward. Eventually Mariana nods off, arms still crossed and face set in the hard lines of a scowl. It seemed like she wasn’t even able to relax in sleep which amused Charlie, but he too could feel sleep approaching as he yawned.

It felt like only a few minutes had passed as he fell asleep and was jolted back awake, still incredibly groggy and now slightly achy from the uncomfortable wooden chair. 

Both Juanaflippa and Mariana were gone from the room, and as he moved to stand up and stretch his stiff back he removed a large blanket that was wrapped around his shoulders. He blinked at it before folding it neatly on the bed and opening the door to the room.

He ended up walking upstairs to the kitchen area in the hopes of finding them there and was greeted by Mariana setting out plates. Juanaflippa is sitting on a low-rise stool and eating with her hands. When she spots Charlie, she puts the plate she’s holding on the small table next to her to give him a big hug. 

“Wow, you’re energetic this morning. Were you able to get some better sleep Flippa?” He inquires. She gives him a toothy grin and nods before letting go and grabbing her plate again. Mariana takes it from her once she’s walked over to him before running downstairs as fast as her little legs can carry her.

Charlie chuckles at her enthusiasm. “Looks like she’s feeling a bit better today.” Mariana turns to face him while she fixes some things on a nearby table.

“Yes. I am glad. I was worried.” He still spoke a bit short with Charlie, but at the very least the air of annoyance was largely gone from most conversations. 

“She’s a trooper. Flippa is going through a lot, but she always tries to be optimistic. Can’t help but be proud of her.” Charlie walks towards the table Mariana is working on, grabbing an apple and wiping it on his shirt. Mariana quirks an eyebrow at him before gesturing to Charlie to give it, which he allows. Curiously, Charlie hands it over and watches Mariana wash it with water.
Charlie gives Mariana an amused smile but is ignored, so he shrugs as he bites into the fruit.

Juanaflippa eventually climbs back up the stairs, having to take one at a time carefully due to her short legs. Once she’s completed her trek she wanders back over to Charlie and holds up a paper for him. He’s greeted with a drawing that does incredibly funny things to his heart:

He’s stood still for so long holding the picture that Juanaflippa tugs on his pant leg to get his attention, anxiously searching his face for a reaction.

As Charlie fought against the tears he choked out, “This… is the best thing I’ve ever seen, Flippa.”

He bends down and gives her a big hug which she happily returns, wagging her little tail. Mariana is leaning against the table nearby and watching the two with a smile, and as he and Charlie meet each other's gaze Mariana quickly turns away.

“I’m going to treasure this forever, Flippa.” He says, wiping his eyes hastily. Juanaflippa’s face is full of joy, and she pulls out some paper to write her response.

‘I’m glad you like it!’

“I don’t just like it. I love it!” Charlie holds it out again to appreciate it, still surprised by the writing in the corner. “Flippa, do you really see me as your dad?”

‘Do you hate it?’

“Far from it! I just- I’m happy you…” He struggles a bit to find the right words, but Juanaflippa pats his hand in understanding. He chuckles lightly and gives Juanaflippa another hug which she returns. 

“I’ll need to find a good place to put this. Somewhere safe.” He wished he could put it in his own room, but the entire thing was covered in dirt and he couldn’t afford to get it dirty. 

Mariana approaches them with a frame. “We can put it in this.” Charlie gratefully takes it and slips the paper in. “Thanks.” He smiles warmly at Mariana, which causes him to look a bit flustered. 

Charlie’s eyes then sweep the room before entering the living area, complete with even more tables and chairs. A large fireplace with a mantle stood in the middle, which had an assortment of frames and potted plants already on it. “We could hang it up there, that way everyone can have the chance to see this masterpiece. What do you think Flippa?” She gives him a thumbs up, which is all the confirmation he needs.

He sets the drawing right in the middle, standing proudly amongst the other pictures all in their own frames. As they all step back to appreciate it, Charlie puts a hand on Juanalippa’s shoulder.

All he can think about is how proud he is of his daughter.

Chapter Text

“Listen, I could be helpful! I’m great at sneaking, I mean- I can even do a little camouflage! C’mon!” Charlie exclaimed, arms brushing slightly with Mariana’s. The two were walking out of the meeting room side-by-side as Charlie rushed to join her.

“I don’t- you don’t need to go on the mission.” Mariana replies as he walks down the corridor. His cape fluttered slightly as he sped ahead of Charlie who resisted grabbing her by the arm. 

Charlie catches up to him. “Yeah, I know I don’t need to do anything- but I have to help Flippa.”

It had been three nights since her last nightmare, and while it should’ve been a cause for celebration, the deep gnawing worry in Charlie’s mind wouldn’t cease unless he could do something to stop them from happening for good.

“You can help her by staying here and keeping her safe. The others have more experience.”

“I can actively help her this way. I’m not just gonna sit and watch her have more nightmares when I could just go out there and get her siblings back myself!”

Mariana turns on his heel to glare at Charlie. He smiles awkwardly and backpedals. “Er- I mean, with everyone on the mission!”

“You will only get hurt.”

“You don’t even know that! Why does it even matter to you anyway, if I get hurt or not?”

“Because, I-” A strange look comes over Mariana’s face as he suddenly stops mid-sentence, clenching and unclenching her fist. As he looks at Charlie one last time he immediately turns around and keeps walking.

Charlie doesn’t hesitate to rush forward to put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Please. Let me go, and I won’t bother you for- for a week. A month, even.” Charlie musters his most convincing, pleading face.

Mariana turns his head around to stare in a battle of wills. After a few silent moments he sighs and closes his eyes in defeat. “Okay. You can go with them. But I will kill you if you die.” 

Charlie chuckles as he releases his hand from Mariana’s shoulder. “No promises.”

Mariana walks off before faintly saying, “I hate when you say that.” Closing the door behind her as she leaves the building into the dark road.

Charlie gets a sinking feeling as he’s left to stare at the closed door before shaking it off and exiting the room himself. Mariana would understand, once he’s managed to help get Juanaflippa’s siblings back and end her visions. Mariana cares about her, too.

Later on in the night, once everyone who was joining had packed, Charlie climbed aboard the large wagon that they were taking off in. Lanterns hung on poles attached to iron bars, illuminating the floorboards as they packed up, slightly waving in the breeze. Charlie didn’t bring anything of his own seeing as he had no possessions, so he ended up helping the others with their equipment. He was pleased to see Bad and Jaiden had volunteered as well as the two other friendly faces of Roier and Phil whom he’d grown to be acquainted with over the weeks.

Before they were set to leave, Charlie hopped off the wagon to say goodbye to Juanaflippa and Mariana. 

“I’ll see you again in a few days kiddo. You take care of the house and Mariana for me, okay?”
He says, giving her a smile. Juanaflippa holds onto the arm placed on her shoulder, face full of sadness. Charlie opens his arms for a hug and Juanaflippa clutches onto him. “Hey, I won’t be gone for long!”

Charlie fixes her crooked glasses, having been knocked askew as they emerge from the hug. “You’ve gotta be brave for me. I know you are. You’ll do just fine without me for a while.”

Juanaflippa holds up a written paper and watches Charlie hold it up to the light to read.

‘What if I have another nightmare?’

His heart hurts as he looks at her tearful little face. “Listen… even if you do, just remember, I’m gonna get your siblings back and stop them for good. And- and if you really need to, Mariana is gonna be there to protect you. She’s super strong and can kick butt like nobody’s business. And trust me, I know from all the beat downs.” Charlie jokes, which makes Juanaflippa smile a little bit. She frowns again and kicks at the dirt, still dejected.

“Juanaflippa, I’m going to give you something important that you’ll need to keep safe for me while I’m gone. It’ll be like your own mission while I’m off on my own! What do you think of that?”

She nods, curious. Charlie holds his arm out and plucks a small piece of slime from one of the splotches on his arm, giving it to Juanaflippa as she holds her hands out to take it. She looks unsure as she does so.

He thinks hard about how to make it important so she’d feel better about staying,in the hope she’d feel more inclined to protect it then try and follow him. Really, it made more sense to him in his mind, “This is a really, uh, important piece of me. It’s part of my… brain! So, you need to protect it for me until I get back. Wouldn’t want it to get damaged, right?” Juanaflippa looks baffled but nods anyway, gingerly holding the slime. “Thanks sweetie. I can always count on you. But I’m gonna have to go now, alright?” It wasn’t the best excuse, but it seemed to convince her; at least until he’d already left.

The two hug one last time before eventually breaking apart. Charlie then stands face to face with Mariana, who stood close by and watched their exchange. They look at each other and attempt a strangled hug before giving up and doing a half-hearted handshake.

“Take care of her. Please.”

“I will.” Mariana looks on with a solemn expression as Charlie turns away to climb onto the cart.

Fit, who had been helping pack up, turned to Charlie with a long, flat wrapped gift. “I saw you wanted to volunteer for the mission earlier and I thought, what better time to give you this than now?”

Charlie unwraps it, revealing a decently sized lightweight sword with a dark green leather wrapped handle.

“I made it a while ago, but was waiting for the right time to give it to you. I hope you make good use of it out there.” Fit says with a grin. Charlie returns the smile, holding the sword up to the light to appreciate it.

“Thank you. I mean it. I’m gonna chop off so many heads with this, and they’re all gonna be in your name.” 

Fit chuckles and gives Charlie a pat on the back. “I’m sure you will.”

The group on the cart wave as they take off into the night, with the faces of those sending them off slowly growing smaller. Juanaflippa and Mariana stand side-by-side, with him holding her hand in comfort as they wave. Charlie squints after a while, seeing them as specks as they walk back to their home. What a funny thing it was to see it as theirs.

The night went quickly as they had set out rather late, and those who did their best to sleep were quickly woken up by the rising sun. Charlie spent the entire day of travel learning how to steer the cart, as he was the least tired out of everybody and was elected to take first shift later that night as the driver.

He had a vague idea, watching other people and asking questions about it, but actually using the reins was a different story. 

“So, I just flick the reins and they’ll go faster?”

Roier, who was sitting next to him and giving instructions, nods cheerfully. “Yes! You are getting it! Excelente trabajo!”

Charlie grows bashful with all the praise. It’s a trait about Roier he still has trouble getting used to. 

“It’s not that impressive, I’m just holding them.” 

“Still, you are doing great!” Roier’s smile reveals more of the mandibles sticking from his mouth, all four eyes crinkling. The spider-hybrid carried an energy on the trip that couldn’t be rivaled by anyone else Charlie knew. It was equally fascinating how he was such good friends with Mariana, judging his rather stoic personality in comparison to Roier’s cheerful one. 

“Well, thanks. Now how do I stop them?”

“You pull back on the reins! And if we need to run, flick twice. Easy to remember, no?”

Charlie nods as he tests the double flick, sending them forward faster. He slows them as instructed, impressed with how easy it was. 

Roier gives him a thumbs up in encouragement. “Good job man!”

Charlie returns a smile and continues staring at the road ahead, eyes scanning for any dangers. He knew he’d probably get incredibly bored soon, but it would only be for a few hours at most. 

“So. How are you doing lately man?” Roier asks with a smile. Charlie looks away from the road in faint surprise, thinking Roier had already retreated to the back of the cart.

“Could be worse, I mean… I’m going on a mission in the vain hope I can cure my daughter’s nightmares, so what else is new?”

Roier laughs and gives Charlie a hearty pat on the back. “You are too much, Charlie.”

Charlie chuckles half-heartedly, not sure what else to say. Roier seemed to pick up on his vibe and looks at him curiously. 

“But, that is not all, is it? Something else is wrong?”

“Nah. I mean…I’m thinking about my kid, hoping Mariana is keeping her safe. It’s just, we haven’t been apart this long since I first found her. Feels weird. Wondering what she’s doing right now…”

He trails off and stares into the distance. Roier rustles and leans forward into his field of vision, all four eyes still curiously trained on his face.

“She will be okay. Mariana is very responsible.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about. She’s gonna be bored to death.” Charlie jokes.

Roier gasps. “No! How horrible!”

Charlie nods with a solemn expression. “Yep. I’ve almost died once, during one of Mariana’s debriefs. Don’t ask me why he always wants me to come to them.”

“Maybe, it is his way of protecting you.”

Befuddled, Charlie furrows his brows. “What, protect me with meetings? What can that do? Why would he ever do that?”

Roier becomes equally as confused. “Are you not friends? Do you not know he cares about you?”

Almost stopping the cart by accident, he clenches the reins and stews in what Roier said. After a few silent minutes Roier speaks. “Do you not see her as a friend?”

“I mean- I don’t- he doesn’t really… I don’t know.”

“You live together, both take care of your child, and do not know?”

“It’s… complicated. I can never tell if Mariana is sick of me, or tolerates me, or what. Like, why does he care so much about protecting me but still scowls at me all the time and tells me off for random shit? Even after spending time with him for days, he’s still just… so confusing.” Charlie sighs in a defeated way. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s kinda fun to mess with him, and maybe he hates me for it.”

Roier thinks hard for a moment before replying, “Mariana is hard to understand, sometimes. But I can tell he cares very much for you, much more than you think.”

Charlie sits and thinks on that as Roier gets up to leave behind his mysterious words, retreating to talk to Jaiden who is relaxing nearby with her arms behind her head. They instantly strike up conversation as Charlie turns his gaze back towards the road, deep in thought.

He’s so used to the brutal honesty and immediate admittance to things that all this avoidance of talking about feelings or whatever was seriously messing with his mind. Why couldn’t Mariana just admit that he liked Charlie, at least a little bit? Though to be fair, it wasn’t easy for Charlie to admit anything, either. Maybe once he got back from this mission maybe they could work something out and properly talk about all that.

One thing didn’t make sense to Charlie, however. Mariana’s way of ‘protecting’ him didn’t feel like protection at all. The meetings he was subjected to were always such a drag. When it came to protecting people, Charlie only understood diving headfirst into danger to save them, fighting anyone and anything to get in-between and act as the shield. Words and long-winded tangents don’t do a whole lot of that.

Not that he minded spending extra time with Mariana. But was he going to admit it out loud? Over his dead body.

He once again falls so deep into his own mind that time passes by in a wink. His train of thought is interrupted by Phil’s hand on his shoulder.

“We’re gonna head to sleep Charlie. Are you up for driving a few more hours?”

Charlie nods stiffly, hands hurting slightly from clenching the reins subconsciously. 

Phil doesn’t seem to take notice of his uncharacteristic silence as he moves to sleep with the others, once again leaving Charlie to his own devices. 

The night is cool and crisp as he allows the reins to slacken in his grip, slowing the cart slightly. He cranes his neck upwards into the illuminated sky, the moon now starting to disappear behind shadow as it wanes. The chill of the wind eventually encourages him to shrug on a leather jacket gifted to him by Etoiles. 

The lantern hanging on a pole attached to the cart had been extinguished, which allowed Charlie to see the stars even better as they winked at him lazily from the dark. It reminded him of being a young slime, sleeping under glowworms in deep underground caves. This, however, was definitely better in his opinion. The air of the above-ground was so much more lively and fresh, especially out here in the wheat fields they were crossing through.

Charlie lets out a content sigh as he enjoys the night, not paying any attention to a small figure emerging from one of the crates they’d packed for the trip. The tiny shadow crept closer, careful not to make a sound. 

Eventually a small clawed hand reaches out and tugs on Charlie’s arm sleeve. Whipping his head around he nearly falls off the cart in shock.

“ JUANAFLIPPA? ” He says far too loudly. 

The others rustle around in their sleep, and he immediately drops his volume to a harsh whisper. “What- why- how are you here?!”

Her face appears just as shocked, hesitating at Charlie’s loud tone. She brings out a paper, scribbling on it as quickly as possible.

The writing is rushed, incredibly squished and little punctuation, causing Charlie to squint hard at the paper to make out the words.

‘I wanted to help you find my siblings , i couldnt do nothing while theyre out there and i wanted to make sure you were okay too because i didnt want you to get hurt. I was able to follow you guys for a while, and i even flew, and i left after mariana went to sleep. I left her a note’’

“Flippa…” Charlie says, completely lost. “You shouldn’t be worrying about me. And- wait, you flew? And managed to sneak out and follow us? I would be so proud if I wasn’t so mad at you right now.” 

Juanaflippa shrugs and gives an awkward grin.

“You’re a little rebel and I am so happy, but Juanaflippa that was also incredibly irresponsible and you should be ashamed! And now we’re too late to turn back and get you home! What are we going to do now?”

Juanaflippa mimes throwing some punches and then retrieves a bow and arrow that was slung over her shoulder, holding them up proudly.

“No Flippa, you will not be doing this mission with us. I know you’ve been practicing, but all that training was only so you could protect yourself. We’ve been over this; I don’t want you getting hurt!”

Juanaflippa looked down at the ground in shame, enough to make Charlie undo his crossed arms and stern face. He sighs and kneels down to see her eye-to-eye.

“Flippa, I’m not mad at you. Not really. I just worry a lot about your safety, you know? It would kill me to see you get injured somehow, and we don’t know how dangerous this is going to be. Do you understand?”

She nods, still visibly distraught at upsetting her dad. He offers her a hug which she accepts, and he rubs her back comfortingly. 

“Now, once we get there, you’ll need to listen to us very carefully, okay? Can you promise me that?”

She nods again as they break apart, looking more determined now to regain trust.

Charlie knew she was a tough kid, headstrong and resolute when she needed to be. Under Mariana’s supervision she even became more stoic in a sense, and adopted Charlie’s slight impulsivity to create a very indomitable personality in the little dragon.

Before he can speak again, he hears a harsh crunch and the sound of wheels meeting rocks as Charlie realizes he’s the one driving. He veers the cart back onto the road, spitting out wheat stems that hit him in the face. Flippa giggles, which is interrupted by a stern look from Charlie. He might’ve been happy to see her after several days, but it wasn’t going to stop him from being mad at her irresponsibility. 

There wasn’t any point in trying to hide her from the others, and as daybreak approached and everyone rose from their slumber, he had to hastily explain to everyone what had happened. Jaiden and Roier found it amusing, Bad was perplexed, and Phil was concerned. He had the good idea to send a raven to Mariana, who was no doubt in a panic by now. 

The day went by once more, and Charlie’s worry increased. He was expecting to face the brunt of this mission, but now he had to worry about his daughter on top of that? He couldn’t bear it. 

Eventually his anxiety peaks once they arrive at their destination; a dark monolithic building hanging off the side of a cliff. 

It was getting darker, with storm clouds blanketing the sky and bringing the smell of rain and lightning. The building they approached, mainly from the back was obtrusive amongst the green landscape, with its dark iron bars and towers jutting upwards against the sky. Flippa was ordered to remain hidden in the cart, and she did so with a serious look on her tiny face. Charlie gave her a hug as he exited the cart, following behind the group with sword in hand.

“Well, this isn’t ominous at all.” Bad whispers, holding his deadly scythe. Phil shoots him a look, which Bad sheepishly smiles at. Phil speaks, “Let’s take this seriously guys. Now, do you all remember the plan?”

Everyone nods. Phil sighs. “Okay, good. But let’s go over the important stuff one more time.”

“Jaiden, I need you to scope out the perimeter. Who knows how many guards might be here. Bad, you stick with me, I’ll need your help to see if things get dark in there. Roier, I need you standing watch. You got more eyes than anyone. Charlie, you stay close by, help Jaiden check the perimeter, go underground if you need to get a better feel of this place. Me and Bad will free the dragon eggs, and when the time is right we go in together.”

Charlie feels a question climb up his throat, but he swallows it down with anxiety. No backing out now, especially when so much rides on this mission. Quackity had said how important it was that they get in and out quickly, with no sight-seeing. Whatever was in this place couldn’t be good, and who knows what could happen if they messed up. 

The group scatters, with Jaiden taking to the sky with her wings covered in dark colors to mask them. Bad and Phil break a lock on one of the back doors, quickly slipping inside. Roier begins to scale one of the walls, and Charlie is left standing blankly for a moment.

He concentrates for a moment, both on himself and the things he wears and holds in his hand. Wrapping them up in his body, he seeps into the earth, pushing through the earth. Sensing movement, he follows along underneath the hard stone of the fortress, keeping pace with Bad and Phil running through the halls. There’s movement ahead they both run towards, quickly putting an end to whatever they found. The fall of a body hits the earth, and Charlie can’t help but shudder at the feeling.

He hears their muffled voices from below, and after several minutes he hears them exclaim; they had found what they had come for. Charlie attempts to push through the ground, but there aren’t any cracks big enough for him to do so. Resigning to a different room, he slips up from the ground and reforms in a room further away, shaking from nerves. Remembering the path, he goes to push the door open to the room he’s in before he realizes his surroundings.

The room is lined with large, person-sized tubes with labels. Bright blue fluid flows through them, lighting up the room with its cold luminescence. Something about the space screams danger, but he can’t bring himself to leave. What had Quackity said? No sight-seeing? Is this what he meant?

Charlie senses two individuals move into the room from the opposite end, hidden behind large machines that form a wall between himself and them. He is grateful for it as he ducks behind it, trying to ignore the permeating smell he’s only now starting to gag at. It smells almost like rot, but more… artificial. 

He hears the individuals speak, one with a robotic and chilling inflection devoid of emotion, and another that sounds far more familiar. 

“Cucurucho, I thought you told me everything. You didn’t tell me this facility was owned by the Federation…”

“You should not have seen that.”

“Why even let any of us come here? It makes no sense! One of us was bound to see-”

“You should not have seen that.”

“Fine, fine. Okay. I know I shouldn’t have, but… why? Can you at least tell me why do all of this in the first place? Don’t I deserve to know?” The familiar voice shakes with emotion.

“No. It is classified.”

“I’m your confidant! I’ve helped you so much, I even told you about the stolen egg!”

“It is for your own good. Tell no one.”

“So I can’t even…”

The familiar voice sighs, and it sounds frighteningly like Jaiden.

The cold voice laughs, and something about this conversation gives Charlie the impression he wasn’t supposed to hear any of that.

The dread of it fills his mind as he attempts to back away, not even worried about eavesdropping on the rest of the conversation. However, as if the universe itself hates his guts, he steps on a large piece of connected tubing which causes him to trip, hitting his back against the hard metal ground. Charlie lets out a yelp of pain, and he senses Jaiden and Cucurucho approach him quickly, their talk interrupted. 

He scrambles to his feet and back towards the door he now chastises himself for not leaving through in the first place, hoping neither of them saw him. He pants heavily as he runs, trying to ignore the smell still stuck in his mind. Running with no rhyme or reason, he eventually crashes into an unknown figure; one clad in all white. The figure is silent as it gets to its feet, wielding a black baton with strange blue rings lighting it up. It crackles with electricity.

Charlie holds his sword still clenched tight in his hand upwards, eyeing the white figure with unease. He couldn’t even tell if the thing was breathing as it got closer, and he noticed the lack of discernible facial features. 

“Stay back dude! I got a sword!” Charlie tries, sounding much less intimidating than he hoped. The white creature laughs and lunges, forcing Charlie to block. Hoping the muscle memory of training with Fit would kick into action, Charlie eventually rolls to the side before blocking another swing. 

The baton jolts electricity through the metal of his sword and down his arm, causing him to yell out in pain. He clenches his jerking arm before switching his sword over to his other hand, aiming a swing at his attacker with as much force as he could muster. It dodges, and he swings again, catching it off guard.

The white figure barely makes a whisper as blood seeps its once perfect uniform, and Charlie removes his sword to stab again. His arm is still weak from the baton, and he slides down to the floor trying to catch his breath. Choosing to ignore the dying person, he closes his eyes and breathes. Eventually he hears the voices of Phil and Bad, along with the sound of many following feet.

“Charlie? Oh thank heavens, we were looking for you.”

“Were you?” Charlie asks, his own voice distant in his ears.

Bad looked perturbed by the corpse lying nearby. “Yeah, we were worried you’d popped up somewhere and got caught. We heard a commotion and… well.”

Charlie noted the new little dragon held in his arms. It looked shockingly similar to Bad, with pure white eyes and ebony black scales. Bad was holding a hand over the eyes of this new dragon to prevent them from looking at the scene. 

Phil offered a hand which Charlie took, still wobbly. His arm had stopped hurting, but angry red lightning marks ran up his arm towards his shoulder, and it felt tingly all the way down to his fingertips. He also noticed the blood coating his tunic and jacket, and the smell of copper. 

Another dragon, probably the biggest of the small group, peered at Charlie suspiciously. He wore a strange mask that looked almost like a skull, and he had his little arms crossed. Phil patted the dragon and urged them all along. 

There were a few more, each with distinct features that made it hard to tell that they were all related in some way. Charlie offered a kind hand to one of them, trying to shake the weight of the blood-covered sword in his hand. As they hurried along the small dragon took his hand, sweeping away short black hair from their face. 

Phil led the group outside in haste, ushering the little ones along first. In the gray daylight he noticed them all wearing the same stark white clothing, simplistic and coarse. It was off-putting, but Charlie pushed the observation aside in favor of looking back, searching for any signs of Jaiden. What had she been up to? Who was Cucurucho? His mind was flooded with questions as he stood still, ignoring Phil’s exclamations. 

Roier eventually emerged from around one side of the building with Jaiden in tow, and Charlie couldn’t help but narrow his eyes at her as they all finally gathered into the crowded cart. 

His mind once again was pulled from his thoughts to watch Flippa carefully approach the group of dragons before her. They watched her curiously, and the one Charlie had held the hand of approached first. They waved, and Flippa rushed them with a huge hug. She made a few short chirping and growling sounds, which caused all of the other dragons to start conversing excitedly. This must’ve been some sort of language they could speak, and it was comforting to see Flippa finally have others around her like her. Perhaps, her nightmares and visions could finally be over.

As they rode and dusk turned to evening, the others comforted the dragons who approached them. An angry looking one with dark blue scales was curled up with Jaiden and Roier, the skull-head, brown-curly hair, red-cap and stern-looking ones slept in a group around Phil, and Bad kept the ebony one close. He seemed particularly pleased once the little dragon he was with finally fell asleep next to him, beaming at Charlie who faintly smiled back. It was clear that everyone was getting attached, and he couldn’t blame them. 

He looked down at Flippa still talking with the one with short black hair, the two looking up at Charlie. Flippa shared his smile, but the other appeared much more wary. Couldn’t really blame them, seeing as he was still covered in dried blood. He didn’t really think bringing an extra shirt would be a requirement, to be fair. 

‘Can they sleep next to me dad?’ Flippa wrote, holding up for Charlie to see.

“I don’t see why they can’t. Go on you two, try and get some rest.” They chirped at each other, curling their tails around the other for warmth. He reached over to a nearby crate to grab one of the few blankets left and wrapped it around them both as they began to fall asleep. 

Charlie exhaled sharply through his nose, noticing Jaiden was the only other one still somewhat awake. She had taken the reins this time, and his unease was potent. Perhaps she could feel his gaze on her, as she turned around with a strange smile. “Charlie, do you want to sit up here with me?”

The gut feeling of dread had returned once again as he complied, ignoring it in favor of sitting next to her in the driver’s seat.

“Is something on your mind?” She asked kindly. His eyes met hers, and he shifted uncomfortably. He wasn’t trying to seem tense, but he couldn’t really help it when… 

“No, nothing. Just… It was a hectic day.”

Jaiden laughs briefly. “Yep. But we got in and out unharmed-” She glanced at his arm and bloodied clothes. “-Mostly, unharmed.” She sighed at the sight of his electric scar. “Is that going to stay there?”

Charlie shrugged. “Probably. I could always just… shift it to make it less visible, I guess. But I’ve never been electrified before so I have no idea what it does to my slime, I guess…”

They sit in awkward silence before Charlie decides to get risky. “Say did you… notice anything odd about that facility? We never did find out why they had the eggs.”

Jaiden’s expression turns blank. “I didn’t notice anything. It wasn’t unusual for a bandit outpost anyway… I’ve seen my fair share that looked like that.”

He supposed he couldn’t exactly dispute that. She knew more about these missions than him, about where they went, what the supposed bandits were like.

“What about the bandits, though? I uh… I had to… kill someone, and they didn’t look like a bandit at all. They were dressed all in white. Do you know why that is?” His questions were prodding, but he needed to know if she was at all willing to tell the truth.

Her expression flickered for a moment. “No. I’ve… I’m not sure what you saw, but I don’t think it’s anything to worry about.” She looks at him, and something about it tells Charlie that this conversation is done.

“Alright, thanks… Jaiden. Just thought I’d ask, y’know.” 

Jaiden doesn’t respond, instead turning her gaze back towards the road.

Charlie moves back towards Flippa and her sibling, and he stares into the deep black sky until morning.

Chapter Text

After two more days of long travel, the tired group had finally been greeted with the familiar sight of the city. Home.

It was just starting to turn night as Phil began to shake some of the eggs awake from their sleep as they rode closer and closer.

Unsurprisingly, the first person Charlie sees is Mariana who is standing off to the side of the dirt road, worry etched all over her face and characteristic yellow clothes visible even from a distance. He instinctively prepares himself for the scolding he would no doubt be receiving.

As they finally roll to a stop, Phil, Roier and Jaiden work on getting the dragons down from the cart. Flippa moves to help, hopping down and reassuring them in their odd dragon language. Bad takes to unloading the cart, and other villagers start helping get the eggs warmed up with blankets and food brought by the townspeople who expected their arrival.

Charlie only has eyes on Mariana, who is staring back with such intensity it almost makes him want to jump back on the cart and ride away to escape her wrath.

“You said you wouldn’t get hurt! Qué tonto eres… and Juanaflippa!” Mariana suddenly pivots and stares down Flippa, who turns and gives the saddest eyes she can muster. Charlie has to commend her for trying, but the effort is in vain as Mariana puts his hands on his hips. “You are in so much trouble! ¿Sabes lo preocupado que estaba? Eh? You could have been hurt, or died! You are grounded!” 

Flippa gasps, expression turning to shock and then a pout as she crosses her arms in a huff. Charlie is almost about to escape the scene before Mariana turns back to him and grabs him by the shirt, eyeing the blood and grime before his dark eyes catch the scar still on Charlie’s arm. He was able to get it to fade, but it decided to be persistent as it cast a darker green hue against his pale skin.

“What is this? You promised you wouldn’t be hurt, pendejo!” 

“Hey, this isn’t even my blood! And this?” He holds his arm up and waves it around painlessly. “It’s nothing, I swear! Just got into a tiny scuffle but I’m fine, Mariana, so stop nagging!”

Mariana glares. Charlie gulps.

“Whatever. But you are going home, no debrief. That is final.” Charlie sputters but decides to give in, having no energy for an argument, so he carries on watching the rest of the group go about their tasks. Mariana eventually returns to Flippa and crouches down to her level, most likely to talk to her about her grounding.

Roier had been watching them with a strange expression of amusement, and decided to approach Charlie with a question. 

“Still think she hates you?” Roier says with the smugest expression.

Charlie flushes green with embarrassment. “Oh, still having that conversation are we?”

“Well, you cannot deny Mariana cares for you now, eh?” He gives Charlie a playful jab, all four eyes crinkled as he grins.

“Yeah, whatever you say dude. Felt more like my mom was scolding me for staying out late, but whatever you say.” He mumbles.

Roier clicks his mandibles as he chuckles, giving Charlie a pat on the back as he lets him return to Mariana and Flippa, who had returned to his side after their conversation. He sighs as the trio return home, all in varying states of grumpiness.

Charlie returns to his room bone-tired, finally switching out of his old clothes into new ones, pulling a lime green tunic over his head. Before he goes to open his door and walk upstairs in the hopes of grabbing a bite to eat, he is greeted by Mariana once again. She’s holding a plate of snacks, as if she had them prepared for his and Flippa’s arrival. Charlie smiles at the gesture, which makes Mariana turn his head as if the sight of it burned his eyes. 

“Thanks Mariana.” He takes the plate gratefully before setting it off to the side for a moment. He looks at Mariana again, who is still standing sheepishly in the doorway. “Was there anything else you wanted to say?” Charlie asks.

“Ah, um. I’m just… I am glad you and Flippa are okay.”

Charlie smirks. “Aw, so you do care.” Mariana scowls, but softens his expression. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Now it’s Charlie’s turn to be shy. “Oh. Well. I just thought you didn’t like me very much.” He admits. 

“I- I do. I care for you- both of you. I am sorry it was not clear…”

“No, no it’s chill. It’s fine. I shouldn’t have assumed you didn’t. And for what it’s worth I uh- I care about you too.” He cracks an awkward smile which Mariana returns, dark eyes catching the candlelight illuminating the room. Charlie gulps again. This is getting too weird, he thinks, so to lighten the mood he gives Mariana an even more awkward shoulder pat. The action makes Mariana smile more which seems to make the situation worse, so he goes in for a hug to avoid looking at her directly.

Mariana stiffens from the contact, but relaxes into the hug after a moment. Charlie can’t help but enjoy the warmth, and they both sigh. 

Charlie flushes green, backing up with a cough. “So uh, good hug. Grade A hug. Thanks.” Mariana shakes his head and mirrors the smirk Charlie gave him earlier. Whether she noticed the blushing or not didn’t matter, but he was glad Mariana didn’t embarrass him further by pointing out his embarrassment. 

“Get some rest, Charlie.”

As he lays in his shoddy bed of blankets and mud, staring at the ceiling for hours, he wished he could’ve. 

He had been tossing and turning all night, having eaten his food and attempting to get comfortable not doing anything for him. Despite his exhaustion, he could only think about all the stress of the past few days. Maybe a walk and some fresh air could help clear his thoughts, and as he moved quietly through the house, he spotted the door to Juanaflippa’s room cracked a few inches.

Poking his head inside out of curiosity he’s greeted by the domestic scene of Mariana sleeping sitting up with his head laying at the foot of the bed, glasses skewed and hand still clasped around a storybook. 

Flippa is cozy under her blankets, and Mariana is as well, to an extent. He feels compelled to wake Mariana from her uncomfortable position, but thinks better of rousing him up at this hour. Charlie exits the room and smiles softly to himself as he opens the main door out of the cellar.

The breezes of the night haven’t fully dissipated, causing Charlie to shiver as he looks about. The cart from the mission had been put away, and the only remnants are the teams of footprints and tracks from earlier that night. Even in the darkness, the moon and stars keep things well lit. 

However, they weren’t the only sources of light, as he notices the main building still has lights on. Who else could possibly be up at this time of night? 

He instinctively sinks into the earth, moving into the building without bothering with doors. He slips up between the cracks in the wooden floorboards and is greeted with hushed voices from the meeting room, and he’s hit with memories of eavesdropping a few days prior. Wiping invisible sweat from his brow, he creeps towards the door, curiosity out-weighing reason.

Immediately, Charlie hears Jaiden conversing with what sounded like Quackity, and he nearly leans right into the door in an effort to hear them better. He catches a glimpse of their shadowed forms through the crack of the door, arms up and wings flaring.

“... You shouldn’t have done that, Jaiden, Cucurucho sounded upset- or as upset as they can sound, anyway, the last time I talked with them.”

“It was an accident Quackity, how else was I supposed to know everything I saw was classified?”

Charlie hears Quackity let out a breath of frustration. “Jaiden, you shouldn’t even be talking to them at all. That’s my job. I’m not sure what you’re trying to get into, or what you two have been talking about, but that’s got to stop.”

Jaiden sighs. “Cucurucho is my friend, and if you’ve forgotten, I was the one who helped the Federation help our settlement! I trust them, I really do. I want to help the Federation, like I’d promised them since the beginning. They help us, we help them, and that’s all I’ve been doing with Cucurucho, I swear.”

“You know that doesn’t mean anything Jaiden. It’s still classified for a reason, and you don’t work for the Federation like I do. Not anymore.” The two fall silent for a minute before Quackity talks in a more hushed tone. Charlie strains even more, hands pressed to the door. “... Just stay out of the way, okay? There’s things you don’t understand. I don’t want you or anyone else getting hurt because of it. We just need to make sure everything goes smoothly tomorrow, so no contacting Cucurucho, and no asking questions.”

Jaiden seems to put her hands on her hips, judging from the shadows on the wall. “... Fine Quackity. But you can’t stop Cucurucho from contacting me .” The shadows begin to move closer to the door, and Charlie has to scramble out of the way. Before he can slip into the ground, the door swings open as he turns a corner and out of sight. 

There’s silence before Quackity asks, “Did you see something?” Jaiden makes an indiscernible sound as the two approach the location Charlie is hiding, and before they can spot him fully he slips back into the cool dark earth between the floorboards, hoping they hadn’t seen even a glimpse of him.

Head full of even more thoughts than before, he decides to go on that walk. He speed walks away from the building after popping back up and reforming, heading towards the fields hastily and turning to look back at the windows. Walking through the dewy grass he starts mumbling to himself in an attempt to parse out his thoughts. 

“What are they up to?...” He asks nobody in particular. 

“None of this makes any sense. Who is Cucurucho? What was Quackity even talking about? Can we even trust him?” 

Charlie kicks a rock, pondering his own questions. He didn’t want to have to take Flippa and leave if he had to, seeing as they both just started getting on Mariana’s good side; not to mention that they finally found her siblings. It would be too cruel to wrench her away from a safe, comfortable life. But at the same time, something was clearly happening behind the scenes. Something Quackity, Jaiden, and gods know who else don’t want anyone else knowing. Something sinister.

And what exactly was going to happen tomorrow? What is he planning? He didn’t know how he was going to find out, but he was going to get to the bottom of it somehow… for Flippa’s sake.

Speaking of, wasn’t he meant to do something with her tomorrow?

“The meteor shower!” He exclaims, slapping a hand to his head. He had forgotten amidst all the chaos, totally forgetting tomorrow was supposed to be the day the shooting stars would appear like Etoiles had said. How could he have misremembered the date?

All thoughts about Quackity, the Federation, and secret plots were instantly swept from his mind. Everything had been planned, but he was fretting about forgetting something. He worried and paced, flattening the grass as he chewed on a nail. He would need the blankets, extra food now that she had some siblings she’d likely want to bring along, the telescope, of course- 

Suddenly, he is interrupted from his frantic thinking by a groaning and the air of a swiping claw ghosting past his face.

“Woah!” He exclaims as he dodges, spinning around and setting his eyes on the rotting corpse of an undead. “What the hell- a zombie? I thought those guys were only in-” His observation is halted as he dodges another monster that seems to come from nowhere.

Without thinking, he sprints back to the city. “Nope. Nope. Nope. Not dealing with that.” He mutters, looking around for anyone who could possibly be around. The groaning seems to be coming closer, the zombies having chased him from the fields. He runs towards the closest door he spots and knocks frantically.

“HEY! Open up, there’s zombies! Let me in!” 

Practically feeling their hands grasping for him, he feels someone else yank his shirt forward and into the building. The doors slam shut behind him and he falls forward, gasping. 

“Hey, you okay?”

Charlie looks up to see Cellbit’s worried form standing above him. He then looks around and realizes he’s in the hotel.

He stands up hastily before jumping from the sound of the zombies slamming on the doors. Cellbit’s stern expression deepens as he moves to ensure they’re locked and the windows are shuttered. 

“We will be safe here. They did not bite you, I hope?” 

Charlie shakes his head, but Cellbit approaches him with ears down. “Show me your arms.”

Charlie complies, allowing the cat-man to assess him. “You don’t think I’m lying, right?”

Cellbit stares at him. “No, but I cannot take any chances. Getting a cure is hard.” Looking at him closely, he could feel the exhaustion and worry lining his face. Charlie can’t help but feel bad for the hybrid. 

“Well… thank you. I’m not sure what would’ve happened to me if they did bite me…” Charlie rubs at his neck, trying not to think about the consequences of that. “...But… How are there zombies here? I thought they were only found underground?” 

Charlie doesn’t like to think much of the times he had slept in caves and crevices. It was a lonely time in his life, one fraught with monsters and strangers who didn’t take a liking to him.

Cellbit shakes his head. “The Federation has been working to eradicate them for many months. They appear sometimes on the surface, but…” 

He chews his lip, deep in thought. “From what I heard, they had been. I suppose now it is not true…” Whatever he knows seems to bother him, as if what he had been told has become a lie. Charlie has been feeling that for a while now and sympathizes. 

“Well, whatever is going on, hopefully we can all get to the bottom of it. Because things have been weird lately.”

Cellbit perks up at this, “Weird how?”

Charlie fidgets with the hem of his tunic, debating telling Cellbit what he had overheard. He didn’t know how well acquainted the cat–hybrid was with Jaiden and Quackity, or if he would alert them to Charlie’s eavesdropping. Who could he trust now?

He decides to take the plunge; maybe, just maybe, Cellbit could help him with all this.

“It’s just, Jaiden and Quackity have been acting oddly. They were talking about something with the Federation, and during the mission we were on, I overheard Jaiden talking to someone named ‘Cucurucho’ about something she wasn’t meant to see. And just an hour ago Quackity was talking about the same thing… telling her to stop asking questions.”

Cellbit raises an eyebrow at this information. “Well. It isn’t a surprise they are talking about the Federation. Seeing as they both work for it. But it is odd they would talk that way. Did they ever mention what it was she saw?”

Charlie racks his brain trying to remember the conversation. “Something regarding the place we found the eggs at, I think. That it wasn’t bandits, but the Federation that had them captive… and Quackity said Jaiden wasn’t working for the Federation.”

Cellbit’s expression turned confused and concerned all at once. “Are you sure?”

“No, not really. But that’s what it sounded like to me.”

After a few moments of silence Cellbit comes to an ultimatum. “I believe you. It seems the Federation may be up to something. I knew they had been untrustworthy in the past, but this is very suspicious. I wonder if even a worker like Jaiden was demoted because of it… ” He looks at Charlie with a hard look in his eyes. “I think it would be best for you to keep away from them.”

Charlie nods as Cellbit continues. “I will… keep an eye on them. I have not always trusted Quackity, and if what you say is true, I should keep it that way.”

“Are you sure? I mean, maybe I misunderstood them or something. It’s not like they’d hurt us, right?”

The cat-man casts a very ominous look at him. “That I cannot say for sure. I would be careful, very careful. The Federation and its workers are not to be messed with.”

Charlie nods again, removing his gaze from Cellbit. Noticing the groans had subsided, Charlie peeks outside the shuttered windows to find the zombies had disappeared with the daylight fast approaching. He rubs his tired eyes. “I suppose I’d better get going… Thanks for saving me, Cellbit.”

Cellbit’s gaze softens, and he waves a hand goodbye as Charlie exits the hotel. 

The sun immediately hits his face with warmth, something he is more grateful for than he realizes.

People are already up and about, most of them talking amongst themselves as they begin their daily tasks. Charlie decides to approach the first two friendly faces he spots.

“Hey Etoiles, Foolish. You guys are up early.”

Foolish cracks a blinding grin. Charlie doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to his golden aura. “You are too! Which is surprising, because Mariana always complains to everyone about how much you sleep in!” Etoiles elbows Foolish, which the large golden man barely seems to acknowledge. 

“Eh, ignore Foolish.” Etoiles says tiredly. “But, how are you mon ami? Ready for the meteors tonight?” 

The slime man rubs his eyes for what feels like the hundredth time already. “Could be worse, I guess… had to deal with some zombies last night, which was a bit of a shock, but Cellbit helped me out so it’s all good.” Etoiles and Foolish both exchange raised eyebrows. “I know Flippa is gonna love the shooting stars tonight, I can’t wait to surprise her.” Charlie says fondly.

“Woah. Zombies? I thought the Federation took care of those?” Foolish exclaims. Etoiles shrugs. “Eh, it has been a struggle for them. Maybe Quackity will talk about it at the meeting. J'espère…”

“Hold on. What meeting?” He perked up immediately upon hearing Quackity’s name, his mind snapping back to much earlier that morning.

“Oh yeah, you were on that cool mission to save all the little eggs! Well, a few days ago Quackity said he had good news about the monster problem, and he was gonna go over it today. I think he’s gonna talk about who’s gonna take care of which dragons, they all need homes now… I wonder which one I’ll get?” Foolish wonders, scratching his chin. Etoiles continues, “It should be starting soon. Let’s go, shall we?”

Foolish and Etoiles return to talking about the eggs while Charlie trails behind them, head buzzing. He barely registers walking into the meeting hall where most of everyone has gathered. Quackity stands on a makeshift podium with Federation banners and symbolism adorning the walls. Charlie can’t help but eye them suspiciously, keeping his head down and towards the back of the crowd, remembering what Cellbit told him.

Quackity clears his throat as he addresses everyone, looking around at everyone in the room. Charlie instinctively ducks his head to keep out of sight, now paranoid of the avian.

“Hello everyone! I have an important announcement for you all from the Federation, but first I’ll address our new arrivals!” He sweeps a single hand towards the gaggle of baby dragons standing together in a group. Many of them are still wearing the white clothes they were found in, but some of them had also received coats and shawls to bundle up with.

“For those that volunteered last night, you will receive one or two of the eggs to take care of. First off, Jaiden and Roier have agreed to take… let’s see…” Quackity looks down at a sheet of paper attached to the podium. “Bobby!” 

‘Bobby’ steps forward and puffs out his chest, glaring at the crowd. He pushes through, punching someone in the leg (Likely Foolish, judging by the corresponding yelp) and stands next to Roier and Jaiden who bend down to talk to him. Probably about not punching people. 

The time moves quickly as Quackity moves down the list. Tallulah and Chayanne with Phil. Leonarda with Foolish. Ramón with Fit. Dapper with Bad. The last egg, dubbed Tilín, was claimed by Quackity and was the one Charlie was most familiar with, recognizing them both as the one they had helped back in the fortress and as the one who was closest to Flippa. Quackity had bent down to give a half-armed hug to them. Despite the distrust Charlie had for the avian, he couldn’t help but smile.

“Now, while you all get adjusted to your new eggs, I’d like to make another announcement that has been planned for a while!”

He clears his throat and shuffles some papers around, holding one up to read. “The Federation has declared that monsters are officially wiped out! We’ve had a few minor issues, but the Federation firmly believes that with their new experimental ‘cipher’ guards, the monster issue has been firmly dealt with. There shouldn’t be any further issues, so you all will be safe to go out at night if needed!”

The crowd murmurs amongst themselves at the news, and Charlie can’t help but wonder if Quackity was just not aware of the zombies, or… maybe he was lying. Maybe it was the Federation itself that was lying. And what was that about experimental guards? Maybe Quackity could give him some answers.

‘You know he won't,’’ a small voice in his head whispers. 

He ignores the voice and chooses to stand outside as everyone filters out, parents talking and showing their new eggs around. He breathes in sharply before moving to head back inside to ask Quackity before the man himself shows up right in front of him with Tilín sitting proudly on his shoulders and braiding his hair. 

“Oh, hey Charlie! You doin’ okay?”

Charlie nods sharply. “Yeah. I just had some questions about that announcement.”

“Alright, shoot.”

“Well… about the monster problem. I actually ran into a couple zombies last night, and-”

Quackity holds a single finger up to his mouth, shushing him. Charlie falls quiet, eyes widening.

“The Federation says we don’t have a monster problem, so we don’t. I’m sure whatever you saw-”

“But I didn’t-”

“Whatever you think you saw wasn’t a big deal. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get Tilín comfortable in her new living arrangements. I’ll see you later.” 

“But- I didn’t- what about the new… experimental…” Charlie trails off as Quackity speeds away with Tilín sporting a confused look on their face. The little dragon waves goodbye as Quackity walks off, leaving Charlie incredibly confused as he returns the wave half-heartedly.

“Well that was… weird.” He mutters to himself, kicking the dirt dejectedly. 

Without much left to do, Charlie decides to head back to the house and start planning for Flippa’s surprise. When he enters, he looks around to see if Flippa and Mariana are around. No sign of them. Walking upstairs he doesn’t hear any movement, and he finds the kitchen bare. No signs of life in the living area, either.

Scratching his head, he decides to head back outside to ask if anyone’s seen them around before he smacks directly into Mariana. 

“Ah, Slime! I am sorry.” His dark eyes are apologetic as he steadies Charlie with firm hands. “No you’re good, I should’ve been looking where I was going. Well I mean, it kind of works out for me actually.”

Mariana gives him a questioning look before Charlie waves a hand. “I mean, I was looking for you and Flippa, haha. Speaking of, where is she?”

“Juana is playing with the new eggs. She seems to be doing much better. No nightmares last night.” 

Charlie lets out a long sigh. “Thank the gods. Hopefully having her siblings back will keep it that way…” He thinks for a moment before jumping topics. Mariana notices the gleam in his eye and quirks an eyebrow.

“Say, Mari, would you be able to help me with a surprise I have planned for Flippa?”

“Mari?” Mariana questions, a smile playing on her lips. 

“Oh- that just kinda slipped out, sorry.” He replies, lowering his gaze bashfully.

“No, I like it.” 

Charlie’s eyes meet Mariana’s once more but the way his stomach twists when greeted by her warm gaze is enough to make him immediately regret it. “Now, about this surprise?” 

Charlie perks up. “Oh! Yes, I was planning this for a while! Flippa has always wanted to see some shooting stars, so I talked to Etoiles and he told me a bunch of nerdy star stuff, and apparently there’s going to be a meteor shower tonight. I hid a telescope he gave me in my room, and I’m going to give it to Flippa so she can see them better. I was wondering if you could help me set it all up?” He says it all rather fast, and Mariana becomes a bit baffled as he mentally translates the word salad.

“Um. Yes, I can help. But how?”

“Well, you make killer meals. I can’t make human food to save a life and I didn’t really know how I was going to… y’know, since we’ll be out there for a while.”

“Oh, like a picnic?”

Charlie snaps his fingers. “Yeah! Whatever that is!”

Mariana nods, amused. “I suppose she must be un-grounded for a while, then…”

“Oh shit, that’s right. You grounded her for running off.”

Unconcerned, Mariana shrugs. “I am still mad, but I want her to be happy first.”

Charlie rubs his scarred arm. “Well, anyways, I can help carry whatever you make. You don’t have to make a ton of food, just whatever you want! I’ll bring that blanket Flippa likes so you can sit on it, I know you humans don’t like to sit on grass… why are you looking at me like that?” Mariana had begun staring at him avidly, and it was getting a bit unnerving.

“I forget you are not human sometimes.”

Charlie falters for a moment. “That doesn’t change anything, does it?” Mariana puts his hands up and shakes his head frantically. “No! No, I am just… olvidadizo, I forget. Lo siento.”

The two look at each other awkwardly for a few moments before Mariana coughs into his fist to interrupt the silence. “I suppose… I should start working on the food?”

“Yeah… good idea. I’ll um. Get the spot set up.” As they brush past each other, Charlie shivers from the momentary touch. 

‘Get a grip, dude,’ He thinks loudly to himself as he descends the staircase. 

After some rummaging, he pulls out the telescope in its case from the earth. He doesn’t really have a chest or wardrobe, but dirt works just as well at keeping things safe and hidden. Once it’s been thoroughly brushed off (humans seemed pretty particular about dirt, too) he put it under his arm as he went into the cellar’s living area to pull Flippa’s favorite blanket off the nearby sofa. It was soft, sweet-smelling and covered in flower patterns. It was heavier than most and very durable, something that brought her great comfort during nightmares. 

He wraps the telescope case up in the blanket and calls out for Mariana; “I’m going to go into the fields! I’ll meet you out there!” 

Charlie hears her call back. “Ok! ¡Cuidado!”

He squints as he steps back outside, noting the sun sinking further towards the horizon. He holds a hand up to shield his eyes from the light before he looks down to see Flippa eagerly tugging his pant-leg. Her other hand is holding the hand of Tilín, who still seems a bit shy. 

“Oh! Flippa, I wasn’t expecting you!”

She flashes a toothy grin and waggles her tail and points a talon at Tilín, who waves.

“Hey again Tilín! Are you getting along with everyone alright?” The smaller navy-blue dragon nods, keeping a claw on the new bright red ribbon in their hair. Flippa steps back to fix it so it’s not so loose, which makes Tilín smile at her.

“Well, Mariana is making some food inside if you want to grab a bite to eat. The two of you look like you’ve been rolling in dirt for fun.” He noted the dirt covering most of their scales and clothes. “Maybe you should get cleaned up, actually. I think Mariana might blow a fuse if you get dirt all over the floor.”

They nodded and scampered inside, closing the door behind them. Charlie shakes his head and chuckles before continuing down the path and towards the field. 

He gets an odd feeling as he does so, noticing the lack of crickets and birds chirping in the distance. Sensing nothing immediately amiss, he shakes the feeling off and moves towards a couple of large boulders in the center field. He lays out the blanket and case, sweeping away any dirt. Charlie closes his eyes and breathes in the sweet, earthy air and gazes at the sunset, enjoying how the clouds coat the sky like watercolor brush strokes. The warmth of the sun remains in the ground from beating down on the earth all day, and it’s something he’s come to enjoy greatly after living in caves most of his life.

Life feels so much better above ground, and he can’t tell if it’s because of the people, or the world itself. Both, he thinks, because to him they are now one and the same. He can’t help but be reminded of Flippa when he gazes at a budding flower, or how a warm breeze feels like Mariana’s hugs. He breathes a sigh of satisfaction. 

Eventually, he hears the sounds of Mariana and Flippa behind him. He hadn’t even noticed how much time had passed as he stood there, basking in the last light of the sun.

“Slime! Aquí tienes!” Mariana gives a friendly wave with one hand, the other occupied with a basket of food. Flippa still has Tilín by her side, who still seems unsure but less so as they chew on a wooden plate of flan. How Mariana makes such good food so quickly still always manages to astonish Charlie as he moves to take the basket.

“I got totally distracted, I promised I’d come back to help and I didn’t.”

Mariana waves a single hand. “Psh. We can handle it.” She gives Flippa a pat on the head, who flaps her wings and chirps. Charlie smiles, green eyes crinkled.

“Well Flippa, I’m not sure if Mariana told you, but I have a surprise for you!” 

She tilts her head at him, eyes wide.

He turns around and picks up the case which he opens to reveal the simple telescope, taking it out and setting it up for her to see through. She approaches and puts her eye up to the scope, gasping silently. 

Charlie and Mariana share equally large grins as they watch her hop up and down in excitement.

“What’s even better is that there’s supposed to be a meteor shower tonight. Isn’t that gonna be cool?” 

Flippa’s excitement somehow increases as she flaps her wings and raises off the ground a few inches, much to Mariana’s delight. Charlie realizes that he never told her how Flippa had managed to fly when she ran away, and decides to keep it that way after seeing the look of pride on his friend’s face.

“Flippa! You can fly!” She laughs, clapping his hands together in delight. Flippa just nods ecstatically as she lowers herself, choosing to run around in circles chirping and growling. Tilín picks up on her energy and chases her, the two laughing inaudibly. 

Charlie and Mariana sit side-by-side as they watch her tussle with Tilín, shoulders ghosting past each other. The slime feels such a strong urge to lean on Mariana, but anxiety grips his mind and prevents him from doing so. 

Eventually, the shooting stars begin to make their appearance. Flippa eagerly plops down in front of the telescope and observes them, occasionally writing or drawing what she sees. Tilín munches on the food Mariana brought, sometimes tearing pieces off the food and putting it on a plate for Flippa. It’s such a serene moment in time and Charlie wishes he could capture it in a bottle, something to have and hold forever. 

His gaze settles on Mariana as she looks up in awe at the stars, leaning over the eggs to point out particularly bright ones. Charlie can’t help but appreciate… everything about him. Despite the rough patch in the beginning (and a few hiccups here and there), Charlie wouldn’t trust anyone more than her. 

He’s pulled from his staring with a blink, wondering if it would be a good idea to tell Mariana about all of the odd things he’d been noticing. What if she got in trouble because of him? What Cellbit had said hadn’t quite left him, and looking at Mariana, so carefree… would it be fair to put all of that on him? 

An odd chill crawls up his spine as he suddenly senses something far worse than his mental worries. 

Distant groaning and growling from the forest causes him to jump to his feet, remembering the incident from last night.

“Mariana- we need to leave.”

She turned away from Flippa and Tilín, whom she had been joking with, to give him a bewildered look. 

“There’s monsters, we need to get the eggs out of here, right now.” Charlie says with more urgency, already working on gathering everything. Why, why didn’t he bring his sword with him after what happened last night? 

Mariana picks up on his worry immediately, telling the little dragons to pack it up quickly. Flippa grabs the telescope, sad that they have to go already, and bundles up the blanket in their tiny arms.

They start speed-walking away, but it isn’t enough; one of the zombies, much closer than Charlie realized, lunges for him as he dodges. 

Tilín squeaks in fear, but Flippa hops forward and hits the creature full-force with her telescope, sending it reeling. Mariana scoops them both up and begins running with Charlie following suit.

The sight they are greeted with is enough to make them stop in their tracks for a moment as they gaze upon the city in horror. 

Chapter Text

The city has monsters crawling all over the place, drawn by the noise of people who stayed out late and had believed it to be safe after dark. The undead crawled between houses, attracted to the lights and flesh. 

Mariana gasps. “I thought… The Federation…”

Charlie sneers. He’s unsure where his sudden anger comes from, until he looks down to see Flippa and Tilín looking more frightened than he had ever hoped to see them.

Mariana urges them forward. “We must get back home, we need our weapons. ¡Muévete rápido, muévete en silencio!” He orders the eggs, and they take off down the road. Charlie and Mariana raise fists at any monster that dares get close, and by the time they get inside they slam the door shut and barricade it. 

“Hide downstairs, the cellar will keep you safe. Go to your room, lock the door, and open it for no one until we come back for you. And I mean no one . Do you understand?” Charlie says quickly. Flippa nods, and without a second to waste drags her sibling with her downstairs in haste. 

Mariana approaches Charlie and hands him his sword, who rolls it over in his hands until it sits firmly between his palms. She wields her own weapon, a trusty two-bladed battle-axe that was worn and scratched but certainly not dull.

“Let us help our friends! ” Mariana declares, and as he sweeps his cape out of the way and opens the door, Charlie can’t help but look on with awe. Smiling to himself he lifts his sword in anticipation, and the two step together into the fray.

After the minutes of battle grew into a few hours, the hordes had been cut down, but so had a few of the villagers in their attempts to get the eggs to safety.

Even air-borne avians suffered the wrath of bow-wielding skeletons, and blood grew in small pools and clumped dirt. Corpses of decaying undead littered the dirt road. Everyone was growing exhausted, but few monsters remained.

As Charlie swung his weapon, lopping the head off yet another one of the bloody monsters, he heard a familiar scream off in the distance that made his blood run cold.

“ MARIANA !” 

Whipping his head around he watches in horror as Mariana was surrounded, his axe knocked out of his hand and laying several feet away as the undead surround him. How had they managed to get separated?

Without thinking Charlie sprints as fast as his legs can carry him, already huffing and puffing from the overexertion of fighting his own group of monsters. In mere moments he gets to Mariana and puts himself in front of her, sword raised. The monsters blink, confused, before continuing their approach.

Panting, Charlie says firmly. “Go get your axe Mariana! I’ll cover you!”

One of the creatures raises a rotting, clawed hand to strike, causing Charlie to swing his sword up through its arm and slice it clean off. He then jabs his sword forward and guts the zombie before kicking it to the side and slicing through another.

He hears Mariana scrambling to get up, limping slightly as he dives for his weapon. Charlie decapitates another undead that thought about getting too close before he joins Mariana, the two of them now standing side by side. They share a nod and let out twin battle cries as they launch themselves back into the fray, hacking and slashing to the best of their ability. 

Charlie eventually finds himself face to face with five remaining zombies circling him slowly, hungry looks in their dead eyes. He steeled himself as he lunged for the one closest to him, stabbing it straight through the chest and using all his strength to yank the sword upwards, separating the creature in half from the chest all the way through and up to its head. 

The sight makes him stagger in disgust as its stinking, rotting body flops to the ground, sending him reeling towards another enemy by accident.

He yelps as the monster grabs hold of his arm with incredible strength, sharp claw-like nails digging into his skin and piercing through. His slime drips from the wound and he seethes before kicking the creature away from him. Another zombie launches itself into his back, sinking teeth into his shoulder. Charlie cries out in pain and anger before elbowing the one biting him from behind and stabbing it as he whirls around, clutching his shoulder.

Before he knows it, a slightly injured, bloody Mariana comes in for the kill, silent rage painting his features as he swings his large axe and it collides with two of the zombies that were about to attack Charlie. They cut through the last of the monsters together, the both of them quite injured which caused them to slow their efforts. 

As the last body finally fell, Charlie could feel himself collapse as well, which made Mariana gasp above him. 

The searing pain in his bite and scratches was almost unbearable. He couldn’t tell if getting bitten as a slime could cause him to become infected, and judging by Mariana’s panicked expression she didn’t seem to know either.

“¡Hombre estúpido, estúpido! How could you get bit?!”

Charlie has fully accepted laying on the cool dirt, so he cranes his neck to look up at Mariana kneeling beside him. 

“Listen dude, I never said I was a pro at this fighting thing.” He winces as Mariana gently holds his head up and to the side, causing him to shiver inexplicably at the touch. Mariana’s concern deepens as he inspects the bite in Charlie’s shoulder, ghosting a hand over it. 

“Will.. will you be okay? This bite is… it looks bad.”

Charlie only shrugs which makes him wince again. “Oof. Okay, not doing that. Ouch.”

Mariana then forces him to sit up, supporting his back with a strong arm. “I need you to take your shirt off. I need to look at it.”

“Wow, right now? Could’ve asked me when we were all alone.”

Mariana’s expression becomes incredibly flustered and frustrated at the same time while looking two seconds away from strangling him. It’s glorious to Charlie though as he holds back a laugh. 

“Take this seriously! You could be dying, pendejo!”

Charlie sighs a little before standing up fully. “Let’s get somewhere safer first, then you can play doctor.” Mariana rolls her eyes before getting to her feet as well, stumbling a bit from her twisted ankle. Charlie grabs him by the waist and holds him straight, which makes him even more flustered. 

The two of them hobbled over to a little outcropping in the wall illuminated by a single torch. They both sit on the hard stone floor together, nearly falling over from their combined unsteady gaits.

Charlie ends up struggling with the shirt due to his injured arm, so Mariana hastily lifts it over his head with some difficulty, as he’s dedicated his gaze to anywhere but Charlie. It would be amusing if there wasn’t some concern over him possibly dying. 

Mariana inspects it and the area around it, which no longer looks like skin but rather the slime underneath. The bite marks look clean to both of their surprise, and the sight seems to comfort Mariana.

“It is good you don’t bleed. I will bandage you up anyway. No infections.” 

Charlie gives a thumbs up as he watches Mariana pull out the tiniest kit of health supplies he’d ever seen from his pocket. “You just have that on you all the time?”

Mariana scowls. “It is good to be prepared. Is that a problem?”

Charlie shakes his head as Mariana moves closer, wincing due to his sore ankle, and starts to take a closer look at the wound, staring curiously at the slime slowly dripping from it. He dabs away at it with a tiny pouch of a wet rag from a water pouch, touching it so gently Charlie could hardly feel it. 

Once Mariana seemed satisfied, he began to wrap his shoulder, making him lift his arm up above his head to make sure it sat evenly. The wrapping continues with his arm, which wasn’t as badly beaten. The painful, dull throbs certainly hadn’t subsided, but his rapidly beating heart thankfully had as he relaxed. 

Mariana sighs as he finishes, looking more weary by the second. After several minutes, once they’d decided Charlie was no longer at any risk of being turned into a brain-eating undead beast, Mariana leaned against the stony wall of their hidey-hole cave and seethed at his twisted ankle.

Charlie practically crawled over and lifted her leg up, looking at it with concern.

“Is there anything I can do to help with this?” He asks, pointing at it.

Mariana smiles tiredly and gives a half-nod. “Wrap it tightly, and we can walk back. I will need your help.”

Charlie complies and wraps it similarly to how Mariana wrapped him while probably being more tender with it than was necessary. Admittedly, this much touching was starting to make his heart start beating feverishly once again, so he finished as quickly as possible before standing up and lending his good arm out for Mariana to grasp and pull up with. They grimace at each other for a moment before they limp back to their house.

They watched the rest of the city begin cleaning up the road as best they could, with some choosing to retreat to their homes or to another, unnamed building Charlie hadn’t been to before but guessed had something to do with their numerous injuries. 

He then noticed Fit and Phil, both of whom thankfully seemed less worse for wear than most. They had taken to surveying the area with weapons held tight in their hands, as if this was routine for them.

“Do these attacks happen this often?” Charlie asks Mariana, who is limping along as they support each other with arms wrapped around their sides.

Mariana bows his head, hesitating before getting to the door to their home. “Not as much. It has been a long time.”

He tilts his head as he opens the door himself, allowing Mariana to step inside first. “What could it mean?”

Mariana turns back with a foreboding look. “I do not know… Solo puedo imaginar cosas malas.”

Charlie didn’t understand that last part, but he picked up on the dire tone and could certainly imagine what it meant.

Once they had both stepped inside safely, Charlie moved downstairs as best as he could once he’d made Mariana sit down on one of the wooden chairs with his ankle elevated (per her request, of course). 

He found Flippa and Tilín huddled together on the floor with the blanket between them. Flippa had been teaching Tilín how to play ‘rock, paper, scissors’ like Fit had taught her, and the two dragons looked up to see Charlie approaching.

He sits on his knees as they run to him, with Flippa giving him the biggest hug she can manage. She whips out her trusty paper and pencil before writing something down. 

‘Are you okay??’

He looks down at his bare-chested, bruised and wrapped-up self before raising his eyebrows at her. “Bit of a hard question right now, but I’m not dying, so technically yes.”

Flippa crosses her little arms and glares at him while Tilín raises their eyebrows so high they disappear into their raven-black hair. 

‘Where is mami?’ 

“Who? Oh, Mari? She’s upstairs and doing a lot better than me, relatively speaking. Let’s go check on him.”

Charlie struggles a moment before standing as he gets scrutinized by a pair of emerald eyes. Flippa had clearly mastered the ‘Mariana Murder Stare’, as he had so fondly decided to name it. She would definitely nail it soon with enough practice, and if Charlie got into any more scuffles, he was sure Flippa would get plenty of it.

As he eased himself up the stairs, he was aided by Flippa who held onto his uninjured arm like it was her mission to make sure he got upstairs safely. Tilín tailed behind, holding onto one of his legs gingerly. 

Flippa let go of his hand once she laid eyes on Mariana, who smiled at her and hugged her close. Mariana spoke in quiet Spanish to the little dragon, who beamed and wagged her tail. His eyes met Charlie’s, and the smile grew. Everyone was okay.

Eventually Tilín emerged from behind Charlie’s legs to sit with Flippa on the floor again, and the two began conversing in their own language for a while. 

He took the chance to sit and scooch next to Mariana’s chair, laying against it and pressing his head into Mariana’s warm leg. He could feel her jolt at the touch which nearly caused him to back away before she eased up, and the two watched the eggs in comfortable silence. 

The exhaustion from the high-octane battle finally started ebbing away as his eyes began to close. He could almost feel his slime melting slightly as he relaxed and let out a short sigh.

He was suddenly jolted away by a soft weight being laid across his body, and he cracked an eye to see the two eggs doing their best to cover him with Flippa’s favorite blanket. 

He grinned at them both. “Are you trying to tuck me in like how I tuck you in, Flippa?” She nods and copies his toothy smile. “Well, you are doing a fantastic job.” Tilín gives a thumbs up paired with an oddly firm expression. He had to admit, they seemed to take comfort seriously. 

Tilín graciously lays a pillow behind his head which he obliges, and he is left to rest as he hears them doing the same with Mariana behind him. 

Gradually, Flippa and Tilín both settle in with Charlie and Mariana, and when asked why instead of heading to her own room with a comfortable bed, Flippa wrote that she had ‘wanted to keep an eye on them’, and who could really argue with that?

Finally, sleep caught up with the four of them and as time passed Charlie eventually found himself woken up by an unfortunately familiar sound. 

Tilín was having a nightmare.

He sits up and rubs his eyes as he watches them shake in their sleep, whimpering and curling in on themselves. As he reaches out to try and wake them, they kick and fight, and with the state the eggs had been found it practically broke his heart. What had they all been through he could only imagine in horror; and perhaps it was something he never truly wanted to know.

Flippa woke up as well and moved closer to Tilín, poking them in the back gently until they gasped silently and bolted upright. They started to cry, and Charlie gathered them in his arms as he sat up. They clung to him, shaking harder than they had when asleep. Flippa stared hopelessly before he silently coaxed her into his arms as well, ignoring how it hurt his shoulder and arm to do so. 

They sat together like that for long enough that it made Charlie’s back ache, but the sobs subsided and Tilín let out a shaky breath.

 He bent down and whispered, “I got you, Tilín. You’re safe, you’re safe.” 

Flippa chirped and nodded, and the both of them managed to calm Tilín down some more. They cast an embarrassed look, but Flippa took them by the claws and seemed to say something reassuring in the language they shared. It was enough to make them marginally less ashamed. 

“Do you want to try going back to sleep?” Charlie asked quietly. Tilín simply shrugged, so he continued to hold them until, gradually, they closed their tired eyes and tried to fall asleep again.

The morning came far too quickly for his liking, groaning quietly as the sun began making its way through the windows. 

His injuries hurt as he began to move, doing his best not to wake the sleeping dragons around him. A sting in his back made it hard to move quietly and he made a mental note to never sleep against a chair ever again as he stood up.

Having lost his last shirt to the fight he went to retrieve another from his room downstairs, only grimacing a little bit as he pulled it haphazardly over his head. Pondering what to do after getting dressed in cleaner clothes, Charlie thought it would be nice to cook for the others before they woke. 

Only when he was standing in front of the pantry did he remember that he had no idea how to cook human food, and he doubted they’d enjoy anything a slime made. He didn’t even know if humans and baby dragons could even digest sludge cakes, he thought, slightly crestfallen at his poor culinary skills. 

Perhaps just an array of fresh fruit on a plate would suffice, as it was something he watched Mariana do for Flippa often. After she’d told them her dislike of eating meat Mariana immediately switched to making meat-free meals. While Charlie certainly missed meat, as it’s one of a slime’s favorite things to eat, it was worth it to be able to eat with his family.

Once he’d made what looked like a pretty nice-looking plate of apples, avocados and other assorted edible things, he stepped back a little to admire the work. It might not have been as impressive as the intricate meals Mariana made, but it was enough. As he attempted some finishing touches and became a little too absorbed in the details of organizing the food on the plates he hardly noticed the yawn from behind him.

“Slime, how long have you been up?”

Nearly jumping out of his skin he turns around and sees Mariana hobble into the kitchen, cape removed and red leather gloves missing. 

“Not long. I was just making some food for you guys!” 

Mariana looks almost worried for a moment. “You tried to cook?”

Charlie shakes his head and holds up the plate. “Well no- I mean, okay. Maybe I can’t cook, but I can still prepare a good plate. What d’you think?”

She gives him a cheerful thumbs up. “Muy bueno! And thank you for not burning down the kitchen!”

He scowls at Mariana before handing him one of the plates he’d made. “Just take the damn food.” She snickers at him, and Charlie thinks about how he absolutely must hear that sound again. 

“I joke, I joke. Thank you very much for doing this.” Mariana says, holding up the food appreciatively. 

They eat for a few minutes before Mariana eventually needs to sit down at a nearby chair, ankle still bothering him greatly. Charlie can hardly feel his injuries anymore as he easily cleans off one of the other tables that was still a bit of a mess from the previous night’s cooking. Mariana seems to take notice of his lack of extreme pain and asks, “May I look at your shoulder?”

Charlie nods and moves to kneel with back turned to Mariana, who motions him to remove his shirt so he could take a better look. Removing the bandages, he could hear his shock as he revealed the bite had faded; no longer were the punctures as deep as they’d been the previous night. 

“How did this heal?” She gasped, putting her hand over it. The warm touch makes Charlie shiver, and she makes an additional comment, “And… were you always so cold?”

“Um. Well,” His brain is short-circuiting from Mariana’s hand on his bare shoulder as he stutters. “Well, I’m- I’m not exactly human. I don’t have blood, so I don’t think I can be warm like you.”

“I… guess so.” Mariana says with uncertainty. “But how do you heal so fast?” 

“Maybe it's a slime thing.”

“Eso es demasiado vago.”

“I’m not sure what that means, but I’m guessing that wasn’t the answer you were looking for. Haha.”

Mariana grumbles but doesn’t ask anymore questions while Charlie pulls his shirt over his head and picks up his own plate. 

“How is your ankle though? Does it feel any better?”

“Not much. Maybe in a few days.” He replies. “I will be careful.” 

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Mariana gives him a tender smile. “Well. I could use help around the house.”

Charlie’s eyes widened. “But when will I have time to mess around and annoy people?”

Mariana’s smile drops. “Eres idiota.”

“Now I’m sure that meant something good.”

She rolls his eyes at him as she continues to eat, smiling slightly as Charlie immediately complies and takes a nearby broom to sweep the floor. He’s rather stilted, but enough watching Mariana do stuff made him rather good at human things, he supposed. 

The eggs eventually make their way into the kitchen with Flippa wrapped in Mariana’s white cape and Tilín with the blanket. They yawn and Flippa rubs her eyes, and they sit on the floor together as Charlie hands them the food. Flippa gives him a thumbs up of approval and Tilín ends up sharing their food with her, again. The scene is a comfortable one, especially after all the pain of the previous night.

As Charlie looks down at Flippa and as he takes her plate once she’d decided she was finished, he says, “I’m sorry your time watching the shooting stars was cut short, kiddo.”

She pulls out paper and writes, ‘It’s ok. I know why, I’m just glad I could see them at all.’

‘You know, like you promised!’

He gives her a grin. “I would do anything you asked of me, Juanaflippa. You mean the world to me, my wonderful little egg.” She flaps her wings and gives him a big hug, which he returns with closed eyes and a smile.

“And you too, Tilín. You’re part of the family.” He adds, which causes the smaller dragon to wag their tail enthusiastically. 

Charlie cleaned up as promised while Mariana went to his room to tend to his hurt ankle and the eggs chased each other around the house with renewed energy. He chuckled as they used furniture for an imaginary makeshift obstacle course. 

While he was quite new to all this ‘cleaning’ stuff, he had to admit he did a great job. Patting himself on the back he decided to let the eggs have their fun while he went to check on Mariana. He hadn’t dared go in his room before, more worried of being throttled than anything. Had to respect her privacy.

Knocking he heard Mariana swear from inside, as if the sound had startled him. Charlie snorted as the door swung open to reveal a disgruntled Mariana limping slightly. 

“You doin’ okay Mari?” He asks hesitantly. Mariana sighs. “Eh. I tripped a bit, and hurt my leg more. Wasn’t careful enough…”

“Well if you need me to carry you around I’d be willing.” Charlie says jokingly, flexing his arms to make a point. Mariana flushes deeply and smacks a hand to his face. 

“Why must you embarrass me, pendejo.”

“I feel like we’ve established that’s my full-time job.”

“No, your full time job is being el idiota.”

Charlie snorts again. “Okay, I think I’m starting to learn what that word means.” Mariana rolls his eyes, a characteristic trait for him.

“Well anywho, I came to check on you and see if you were doing alright. But…” He hesitates for a moment. Thinking it over, did he really want to tell Mariana about it?

“I’ve been thinking it over, a lot, and I have something I’d like to tell you. Privately.”

Mariana’s eyebrows raise comically as he stutters, face still heated. “Something you have- something private?”

Charlie looks over his shoulder for some reason, despite nobody being there, and nods. “Yes. It’s… important.”

Wordlessly she coaxes the slime into her room, closing the door. Charlie can’t explain it but the vibe changed so suddenly he almost forgot what he was about to say. He turns to see Mariana standing so stiffly he could’ve mistaken her for a plank of wood.

He decides to take a moment to appreciate how neat and cozy his room was. It smelled like Mariana, of course, which reminded him greatly of citrus and woody smells. It was a pleasant space to be in, but the strange stomach-twisting feeling returns as he takes it all in. 

He blanks out when he looks at Mariana once again before several seconds of silence stretch into minutes. Mariana blinks at him. “Um. What were you saying?”

“Oh. Oh! I just. I don’t know if it’s even a good idea to tell you, because I feel like admitting what I’ve seen could… I don’t know, get you in trouble or something.”

“I’ve just noticed weird things about Jaiden and Quackity. They keep talking about something the Federation is doing, and just yesterday he was saying we were safe from the monster problem. And guess what? We got attacked the same night!”

“It’s just too suspicious. Cellbit seems to think so too, and he told me to stay away from them. I need to figure out what’s going on- I’m worried, Mari. What if there’s something worse coming for us now? How can we trust anything they say? What if Flippa gets hurt? What if you-”

Mariana grasps his uninjured shoulder which causes him to pause mid-rant. “I don’t understand, ¿te sientes bien? Do you feel alright?”

Charlie searches for something in Mariana’s eyes, a sign of recognition, maybe. Maybe he didn’t quite estimate just how much Mariana might’ve believed him, but honestly why would she? Compared to Jaiden, Quackity, and the rest of the townspeople, Mariana knew him far less. He had no reason to believe anything he said.

He shrunk back from his hand. “I- No, I feel fine… I just… I don’t know, maybe I’m just mistaking everything I’ve heard…” He pauses. “But you have to admit, the whole thing with the Federation announcement and the monsters is weird, right?”

“It would not be the first time they promised us something, and did not deliver.” He says simply, mouth forming a frown.

Charlie sighs. “You… yeah. You know better than me, I guess.” He says dejectedly. 

Mariana tilts his head at him. “Esto debe significar mucho para ti… Aye, Slime. You are confusing, but it is not hard to distrust the Federation. They have done a lot to make it hard not to.”

“I’m still going to talk to Quackity about all this. Even if it happens this much, has it ever gotten this bad?”

She thinks on that for a moment, tapping her chin carefully as he ponders. “Hm. Not that I remember.”

“Well, then I’ll just pay him a little visit. I have to return his egg, anyway, so might as well.” Charlie replies with finality.

After he leaves, Mariana sits on his bed, nursing his ankle from standing for so long. “Supongo que sí…” He says to himself, looking at the empty doorway from which Charlie had left through.

Chapter Text

Charlie stood outside of Quackity’s door after Tilín helped him identify which house belonged to the avian. 

He knocked and was greeted with Quackity’s face slowly slipping from a welcoming smile to a more sour expression. 

“I had Tilín over at my place with Flippa after the monster attack last night.” Charlie says, making sure to really enunciate ‘monster attack’ with raised eyebrows. He gives Tilín a gentle push towards Quackity, who walks inside with a wave goodbye.

“Okay. Thanks.”

He moves to close the door, but not before Charlie manages to put a hand between the door and the frame.

“You need to explain to me why the Federation lied about the monster problem. Is it true that this has happened before?”

Quackity huffs in frustration. “The Federation didn’t lie. They believed the problem to be resolved, but that was- is , apparently no longer the case. But sure enough they will have a solution soon, a permanent one.”

Charlie scowled. “And just how many times has someone like me come to someone like you, with the exact same question, and gotten that exact same answer, Quackity?”

“That’s none of your business, Slime . What happened has happened, all we can do now is offer solutions. If you’re more caught up in the past than our future, then it might be best if you just stayed out of it entirely.”

“And what if I don’t?”

Quackity stares him down, something akin to anger in his eyes. “Then you’ll regret it.”

“Is that a threat?”

The avian narrows his eyes. “You wouldn’t know a threat if it slapped you upside the head, dumbass. Now get off my doorstep before I make you.”

The door is slammed shut, leaving Charlie fuming as he walks off. If he had any amount of distrust towards Quackity before, it had multiplied tenfold. 

But what could he do? Cellbit had warned him about the Federation, but he had no idea what they would do to him or even his family if he continued to question what they were up to. Maybe Phil could help. He was pretty trustworthy.

Seeking out the man he walks out into the road and peers up at the house at the very top of the Wall. Apparently, the black-winged avian lived up there. Now, what would be the most efficient method in climbing a two-hundred foot wall? 

Thankfully it seemed he wouldn’t need to resort to such measures as the man himself flies down from above, holding a basket and sporting a large straw hat.

“Charlie! How are you doin’ mate?”

“Good enough, I guess. Is everyone okay after last night?”

He wipes his brow, lifting up his hat as he does so. “Eh, as okay as we can be. We’ve cleared most of the undead bodies, and nobody was bit, so I take it as a win for us this go ‘round. Hopefully the Federation has something better this time for preventing all this!” 

Charlie bristles. “How can we even trust them to do anything for us?”

“They’ve been more helpful than most, that I can say. Sure, maybe they haven’t been the most reliable, but they can only do so much.”

Shaking his head, he starts pacing. “They keep lying to us, Phil. I asked Quackity about it but he practically threatened me. Whatever they’re trying to keep secret, it has to be something huge.”

Phil looks much more alarmed now, ear-wings flaring. “Charlie, you really shouldn’t be saying these things out loud.” He brings his voice down even lower, leaning in. “The Federation is very strict.”

Charlie almost explodes. “WHY are we putting up with this!?”

Phil points a finger at him. “Would you please keep quiet? We can keep talking about this, but it’s not a good idea with so many eyes on us. Please?”

“Fine. But we are continuing this conversation!”

As one follows after the other, Phil leads him away and near Etoiles’ large telescope building. They stand close to its black stone walls, away from the main road and out of earshot of anyone who might’ve been listening.

“It’s not that we put up with it. They do help us. Even if-” 

“Even if they’re lying, sneaking, threatening-”

Phil casts a stern look at him. “No, it’s that even if they haven’t always managed to uphold their deals, especially with the monsters, they still try to help us. But we’ve been having less issues with that, so in some ways they technically have fulfilled their promise.”

“What about Quackity? Why did he threaten me?” Charlie questions. Phil fiddles with his belt as he ponders. “I… don’t know him all that well, to be fair. Maybe he’s under a lot of stress and snapped at you. To be honest, your line of questioning can be seen as a little, well… aggressive.”

“Well is it my fault that I don’t want Mariana or Flippa to get hurt?”

“No, of course not. But if you keep this up, it’ll end up happening anyway. It’s happened to me.”

Charlie casts a questioning look at him, and Phil rubs an eye. Only now does he notice how prominent the lines of stress are in his face, and the eyebags giving him a sagged, exhausted look.

“I lost someone close to me because he got too curious, and he’s been missing for months. I can’t confirm if it really was the Federation or not, but I don’t want you to go through what I or he went through.”

HIs shoulders sag. “I don’t want you getting hurt Charlie. You’re already become a staple of our community, and someone I consider a friend; so as your friend, I must warn you to tread carefully.” Pausing, he looks over his shoulder before looking back at Charlie, voice dropping even lower. “And for the record, between the two of us, you’re not the only one who feels this way.” 

Charlie blinks at him.

“I’ll see you later mate. Take care now.”

Phil gives him a pat on the shoulder, eventually taking off into the blue sky once again. 

Charlie couldn’t help the foreboding feeling that crept up on him. Something bad was going to happen, but he couldn’t place it as he watched the people walking about, living their lives as if last night simply hadn’t happened.

What was going on in this place?

Nearly two weeks had passed, and the city had begun construction on a large, wooden wall around the perimeter to keep out the monsters. Each end was built into the large wall the city was built into, and everyone had pitched in to work on it. While it wasn’t mandated to help out, there was some strange obligation everyone had for the Federation and what they asked of them.

Charlie eventually caught up a bit more with Mike, who was helping smooth out some details with the schematics of the wall. Apparently, wall-building had to be very precise, both in the amount of materials needed and the process of constructing it.

Mike had lamented to Charlie about the lack of a very helpful engineer, whom he’d named Tubbo, and how he could’ve been a huge help in engineering some mechanical stuff to speed up the process. 

He told Charlie how he was really more of a scientist guy rather than an architect, and even with Foolish doing his best to assist in the building, Tubbo could’ve been a great help. Charlie asked where he went, and he almost expected it; he went missing a few months ago, and nobody had seen him since. 

He walked away feeling a great sense of unease settle within him, something he was slowly becoming accustomed to. Charlie didn’t go to Mariana about what he’d heard and seen anymore, either, after what Phil had warned him about. 

He kept clear of Quackity whenever he saw him, averting his gaze or leaving the room if he ever made himself present. Quackity seemed to do the same, diverting his attention or just flat-out ignoring Charlie whenever he spotted him. It suited him just fine, really.

Flippa, ever the smart one, seemed to pick up on her father’s growing paranoia. He’d taken to locking all the doors at night, to the point he’d put chairs under the doorknobs. There was a gut feeling he just couldn’t shake and nothing he did to safeguard the house seemed to help. He ended up giving her a wooden sword, which only helped ease his nerves a little bit.

As everyone grew to love and raise their new eggs, the wall built and enforced, and the   monsters scrabbling at it and filling the cities with their groans each night, Charlie could only see bad things on the horizon. The worst part was he just couldn’t figure out why, and it was driving him crazy.

After yet another night of fitful sleep he decided to get up and get a drink, being careful not to step on any sleeping dragons. Most of the eggs had decided to have a sleepover at his and Mariana’s house, as Flippa had invited them for a night of fun and games. 

Charlie was exhausted from lack of sleep the previous nights, but it didn’t stop him from playing hide-and-seek and telling them spooky stories at their request. It took a while for Tallulah and Tilín to fall asleep but they seemed to enjoy it all the same. 

As he drinks water from a mug, absorbing it into his body, his mind wanders. Mariana and Flippa had certainly noticed his behavior becoming increasingly more worried, to the point that they’ve taken him along to everything as a distraction. It was appreciated; it did take his mind off things. But he couldn’t tell them, could he?

Taking another sip he faintly hears footsteps coming up the staircase, causing him to stare at it unnervingly. He loses the tension once he sees that it’s just Tilín. 

“Oh, Tilín!” He laughs uneasily. “You gave me a bit of a fright.”

Tilín walks up to him and gives him an apologetic leg pat. They bring out their own little notepad and write, ‘Why are you up?’

He drinks the last of his water and sets the mug down. “I could ask the same of you, Tilín.”

‘I had trouble sleeping again. I think the scary stories were too much for me.’

“I’m sorry. I knew I shouldn’t have let Chayanne talk me into it, but the kid kinda scares me.”

‘It’s ok, I know he really wanted it. I’ll force him to make flower crowns with me tomorrow.’

He smiles down at them. “Sounds like a fair trade to me.” He then looks over at his now empty mug. “I’m guessing you want some water, huh?”

They nod eagerly and he gets a new cup, fills it, and hands it to them. They shove the notebook under their arm as they take big gulps before moving to a chair and sitting on it. Charlie lights a few torches and sits down as well. 

“So how have things been with your dad?” He asks curiously. It was the first time in weeks since he’d asked anything about Quackity, to anyone. Tilín shifts a bit in their chair.

‘He’s okay.’

Tilín’s expression seems to fall as they show him what they wrote. 

“Just… okay?”

They nod and shrink in their seat uncomfortably. ‘I just wish he was around more often,’ They wrote. ‘He is always busy with work.’

A feeling of resentment rises up within him. “I’m sorry Tilín. He should be looking after you more.”

‘I should be lucky I have a dad at all…’

“That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t… he should be taking better care of you.”

Tilín looks at Charlie and gives a sad chirp. They play with the bow on their head absentmindedly while they think about what he said.

“I don’t really know how busy he is, but I’m sure he loves you even if he isn’t always around. But hey,” Charlie says quietly, “ Even when he isn’t there you’re always welcome to stay over, with us. I’m sure Flippa and Mariana wouldn’t mind in the slightest, you know how they are.”

Tilín runs at him and buries their face in his leg as they cry, and he bends down and holds them in his arms. 

He says gently, “You’re just as much my child as Flippa is. I care for you both, and you can stay over as long as you want. You’ll always be loved here.”

They sniffle, and Charlie offers a towel from one of the tables for them to wipe their tears with. Tilín takes it gratefully and takes a moment before scribbling something on their notepad to show him. They seem embarrassed, but he takes it gingerly as they blow their nose.

‘I sometimes wish you were my dad instead.’

Not sure what to say, he scratched the back of his neck and exhaled. He wasn’t a big fan of Quackity to begin with, and now… 

He almost felt bad for the guy. How busy was he shilling the Federation’s semantics that he wasn’t even able to spend time with his own child?

“Well… he’s not… he’s not all bad. You know he’s doing the best he can.”

The little navy-blue dragon nods. 

“I’m sure he’ll make time for you. He’s been able to before, right?”

Tilín nods again, blowing their nose one more time.

“See, there you go! I’m sure he will soon! Just ask him, y’know? He cares a lot about you. And even if he doesn’t, then… I’ll just have to knock some sense into him.”

Tilín smiles weakly and rubs their little eyes. 

“I’m sure you’re pretty tired huh? Y’wanna head back to bed with the others?”

They nod a third time before getting down from their chair and plodding off. Tilín gives him a cheerful smile that he returns, his expression sagging once they’d disappeared back down the stairs. 

Charlie moves to one of the windows in the living area, staring out into the road. He’s been doing it a lot more recently, either out of worry of something popping up in the darkness or waiting for someone to come. Maybe neither. Maybe both. He wished he knew what had gotten into him lately, and as the sun began to slowly rise he couldn’t find an answer for himself.

The eggs eventually got picked up by their parents, each giving Charlie a friendly greeting in return. Mariana had woken up around the same time and encouraged him to talk and engage, which he did, but it didn’t feel like he was really there. Just watching everything outside of his mind. Quackity showed up last, looking more haphazard than usual. He didn’t look at Charlie, instead choosing to speak to Mariana in fast Spanish as he grabbed Tilín by the hand. 

Tilín gave Flippa one last hug before they departed with their father, and Flippa seemed wistful as she looked back at the empty living area. 

“¿Te estabas divirtiendo, flor silvestre?” Mariana asked her. She nodded and wrote something for him to see, bringing out his beautiful smile. Charlie couldn’t help it some days, the way he thought…

“Ah, lo sé. Tienes un gran corazón. Pero puedes volver a pasar el rato con ellos pronto, ¿de acuerdo?” Flippa sighs a little but switches to a grin before writing one last thing.

“Por supuesto que podemos, prometí que hornearía contigo hoy, ¿no? Pero primero tengo que hablar con tu padre. Go get everything ready Juana!” 

Flippa runs off eagerly, followed by a cacophony of banging and clanging from the kitchen. Mariana locks wide eyes with Charlie and they chuckle. “Eh she is fine.” Another crash from the other room makes them jump. Mariana gives him an apologetic smile. “...Probably.”

They stare at each other for a moment before Charlie is asked, “Slime- eh, Charlie, I have something I need to talk to you about…” She steps forward, muttering under his breath, “Maldita sea, esto es difícil.”

Charlie was expecting this conversation. He guessed it was about his odd behavior the past two weeks and he was not looking forward to being chided about it. Mariana was the type to scold, albeit gently, about things if he thought they needed to have a talk. Nothing wrong with talking things out, but the way he would always have that look in her eye- one of disappointment and concern- it wasn’t something he could deal with some days.

There was something definitely different about her expression this time, almost unbearingly soft and vulnerable and enough to make Charlie swallow thickly. He assumes it’s probably nothing. 

“Is it about me being so jumpy lately? Because I’m fine, I swear!” Charlie says semi-defensively.

Mariana blinks confusedly. “What? No! Well… maybe. But not right now. I wanted to tell you something else.”

Charlie looks at him closer and notices a lack of utter disappointment in her eyes. She's oddly bashful, only standing a few feet away as if he was afraid of getting any closer. His gaze tried to meet his own but it flitted about the room as if he couldn’t look at Charlie. Maybe he did something else to upset her?

“Oh… okay.” He replies meekly, waiting for Mariana to continue.

“I-! I-” She starts, choking on her words. He grumbles and tries again. “I think I…” Mariana clamps up again and clenches her fists. “¿por qué es tan difícil?” He says to himself, putting a hand to her face.

Charlie stands there awkwardly as he waits for her to keep going. Whatever it is seems to be causing her immense grief, which would’ve been funny if he wasn’t also concerned. 

Mariana has, at this point, turned away from him as he stared, still face-palmed. 

Before he is able to turn around and try again, there’s another crash from the kitchen that she must’ve seemed thankful for as she whipped around, face flush and bearing an unreadable expression as she announces, “I will check on our daughter!” 

She laughs, but it’s so stilted and strange that Charlie can’t help but continue to stare at his retreating back as he speed-walks to the kitchen.

“That was certainly something.” He mumbles to nobody in particular before entering the kitchen as well. 

Mariana is cleaning up the massive mess left in Flippa’s wake, and neither of them seem to be acting normally. Mariana is waving his hands at her frantically as she crosses her arms (a very normal gesture from her at this point). He’s saying more stuff in Spanish that Charlie can’t understand, but judging by Flippa rolling her eyes and pointing in Charlie’s direction, it must’ve been about him. 

“You guys need some help here or…?” He questions, looking around at the flour and bowls strewn everywhere.

Flippa stomps up to him and scowls, shooing him away. 

“What did I do? Hey!” Charlie exclaims as he’s pushed out. “Seriously, did I do something wrong or not? Cause it kinda feels like I did!”

Flippa shakes her head, rolls her eyes, and points towards the door with a trill. Charlie looks at the door, back at her, then at the door again. 

“Am I being kicked out of my own home right now?”

Flippa points again.

Charlie sighs deeply and ambles away, grabbing the handle and looking back at her forlornly. 

“How could my dear daughter betray me like this…” Shaking his head as he walks outside. 

At least it was nice out today, he thought, despite that bewildering conversation. Definitely a head-scratcher.

He decides to set a course for Roier and Jaiden’s place, hoping the former was home instead of the latter. Maybe Roier could help him with whatever Mariana seemed to be struggling with seeing as they were good friends.

Knocking on the door, he rocked on his heels as he looked at people walking on the road, going about their business. Charlie waited another minute before it opened, and his eyes traveled down to a very stern-looking little blue dragon with a red headband and overalls. He had dirt and colorful paint smudged on his face as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him. 

“Hey Bobby. Is Roier home?”

Bobby scowls and seems to ponder the question before turning back into the house and gesturing to Charlie to follow. At least he didn’t get his kneecaps shattered by the egg upon meeting this time, because he can certainly remember the last few times he’d visited if the leg pain wasn’t enough to go off of.

Bobby leads him upstairs, where canvases and paint cans littered the floors and windows. Roier was sitting at a stool and humming as he painted. His four eyes glanced up and a large grin broke across his face as he spotted Charlie from across the room, getting up and giving him a hefty slap on the back. 

“Ay man! Where have you been? Not hiding from me again, eh?”

Charlie chuckles. “Nah man. I uh, I was just coming over for a bit of advice. Plus I was kicked out of the house by Flippa.”

Roier raises an eyebrow. “She really rules the house! Kind of like our Bobby here.” Bobby seems to nod in acknowledgement before moving towards a half-finished drawing on the ground, ignoring the two adults. 

Roier has Charlie sit on another stool as he continues his painting. “So, what is the problem?”

“Oh it’s just Mariana. She was acting oddly earlier, like, she was trying to tell me something important I guess, but he couldn’t really get it out. It was super weird. I feel like I did something wrong and maybe he feels like he can’t tell me, or maybe he’s just uncomfortable with me now. I don’t really know.” 

The spider humanoid processes everything he said, clicking his mandibles. An odd look of realization flashes in his eyes before a smug smile appears. “Ah… I know the problem.”

Charlie leans forward eagerly. “Really? What is it? Cause like, if I got on her bad side, I’d love to fix it immediately. We got a good thing going, y’know?”

Roier shakes his head and his smile grows, which unnerves Charlie. “No tienes ni idea, ¿eh? Eso es divertidísimo. No, you are fine! Slime, it is quite the opposite. He is, how do you say, embarrassed? I know it, she has confessed to me… but it is a private matter.”

Charlie sinks back, put-out by the answer. “Oh… does she… not trust me?”

Roier rolls all four of his eyes. “No man! Mariana just needs time. He will tell you when he is ready, it is not my place.”

“And if you do not know yet… then I am impressed.”

The slime man tilts his head. “What, is it like, an obvious thing?”

Roier laughs loudly. “Ha! Oh, you have no idea my friend. But you will see!”

“Well, thanks anyway dude. I appreciate it.” He didn’t entirely understand, but at least Mariana didn’t seem to be uncomfortable or weirdly mad, so it was a win.

Roier seemed to ponder for a moment, playing with the brush in his hand. He casts a curious look at Charlie.

“You seem to overthink. Why is that?”

Charlie scratches his head. “I uh, I don't really know. I'm just worried about making Mariana upset, like, in a non-joking way.”

“You seem to care about her a lot. You are… very considerate.”

“Well yeah! I mean, he lets me live in his house for free, practically. Y’know, despite all the shit I put him through. Mariana is too nice to me sometimes, and I don't really do anything to deserve it… I guess maybe I'm just grateful.”

Roier gives him a kind smile. “That is very thoughtful of you. I am sure he appreciates it.”

Charlie nods and sighs a little before Roier wraps up their conversation.

“Go for a walk, get some fresh air, you know? You have been too stressed.” Roier says finally, holding Charlie by the shoulder. “You worry too much!”

Charlie smiled weakly. “Yeah… yeah, that’s a good idea.”

“If you need to talk, I am here. My door is always open!”

He walks out of the house and takes in a deep breath of fresh air. Taking Roier’s advice wasn’t a bad idea. It certainly has felt like he hasn’t been out of the house much at all, what with his worrying. But nothing could really stop his train of thought.

It felt like Roier had spoken in riddles. Some sort of weird, obvious, embarrassing, private thing Mariana was having massive trouble talking about? What could it even be? Maybe the conversation really just left him with more questions than answers. 

Maybe Mariana had a weird backstory or history. Maybe she was raised by birds or something odd like that. Or she had a secret third arm. Or maybe she’d fallen in love with someone and wanted to tell him about it but was having a hard time. Charlie wasn’t going to think about the sting of jealousy at the consideration of her being with someone else. Seriously, what was wrong with him?

Charlie walked a little faster. It couldn’t be possible for Mariana… that he… no. No way. It was Mariana , how could someone like him possibly like somebody like Charlie? He could feel his face turn an embarrassed green, like he’d just committed some egregious crime. But now that it was a thought, it wouldn’t leave his mind. 

Well it probably wouldn’t be weird if… they were together, right? They were raising a child together, after all. But then he thought of Jaiden and Roier. They were just friends, living under the same roof, caring for the same kid. He and Mariana couldn’t be anything different.

‘You’re just lying to yourself’, a little voice whispered in his head. Great, now his own brain was against him. 

Huffing to himself he decided to head back home, through the cellar door this time. Maybe if he stewed in his room long enough and buried himself in dirt he’d forget about ever thinking again, and then he’d be fine. Maybe it will finally work this time.

As he does just that, the annoying voice continues to pester him. ‘You know it won’t end well if you keep ignoring it,’ it says. Yeah, well, maybe you should shut up and stop being so annoying, he replies. That seems to do the trick, as the voice quiets and he continues to sink into the earthy dirt of his room. 

But the universe is cruel and unkind, and it never wants him to be at ease, as the familiar voice of Mariana appears on the other side of his door.

“... Charlie? Did you come back?” His voice is so soft, so caring, it makes Charlie want to start eating the dirt.

Begrudgingly he seeps out of the ground just enough to reply. “... Yeah, but uh, I’m not feeling too good right now…” Charlie says, coughing a little as if to prove it. He could hear Mariana shuffle a little on his feet, something he did when he was anxious. 

“Oh. Okay. Me and Flippa are going to keep baking, I will bring you food once it is done. I’ll leave it outside.”

Mariana sounds sad, and Charlie hates himself.

“Maybe I’ll feel better tomorrow.” He says back at the door. Mariana shuffles a little more. “I am here if you need me.” 

With a swish of a cape and the sound of footsteps fading away, Charlie fully remerges and lays flat on his back as he stares at his ceiling. He groans and puts his hands over his eyes. “You’re such a fucking idiot.”

He knew right then and there; it was over for him.

Chapter Text

It's a beautiful day, he thinks.

Flippa and Tilín had asked repeatedly to be let outside the wall, they wanted to explore, to play in the fields and forest like they were able to before the wall, before the monsters came every night.

But he knew what was beyond it, didn't he? But he didn't feel uneasy, as he let them drag him along, shoving and playing and racing around him in dizzying circles. His concerns felt far away as he tagged along, humming a tune he'd heard Mariana singing once on an especially good day.

It was so beautiful, he couldn't help but let the worries of the past week seep away as he played tag and rolled down hills of grass at their request.

So why did it have to happen?

It was on them before he knew it. A strange, terrible creature, so much faster than any other he'd seen before, the daylight stark against the tall dark figure. 

Its body was charred and blackened, not from fire or injury, but rather like it was meant to be that way. Twisted talons grew from hands and bright, unhealthy green markings adorning its twitching body. It bore no face, and had no expression.

It moved with such disturbing efficiency despite its appearance, and it rose from the treeline like some great beast, so cunning and cruel that Charlie hardly believed it was just a monster at first.

Its roar, which emanated from its whole being due to the lack of a mouth, was glitched and hoarse. It smelled strongly of something synthetic, and it burned his nose as Charlie came in close with a swing of his sword. He'd promised to never forget his blade at home again, after that first night.

His fear spiked, panic coursed through his body, and his brain screamed at him to run and protect the eggs. 

Flippa and Tilín's blood-curdling screams made him want to scream with them, but he barely had enough breath from running at the creature as he swung again. He put all his energy into trying to keep up with its speed and strength and it almost felt futile as he swung and missed again.

The creature yowled and swerved, striking him and sending out waves of blistering pain across his chest, his arms, his face. The precious green sash he was wearing, the one Flippa had given him was torn and he was sent reeling. But it didn't stop him for long.

Rage took over his fear and he grappled with the beast as it beared down upon the shaking form of Tilín, and he struck his sword down, down, down into its terrible back and impaled it through its chest.  

He'd hoped it would've stopped just enough to pierce the terrible creature's heart, but it went too far.

Tilín gasped as the sword stabbed all the way through, and the beast ripped itself out of the blade as the sword laid destroyed by the pure force of its escape. 

It ran off again, limping into the woods, as if it hadn't just ended Charlie's whole world. It was just there, then gone, and nothing could change what it had done.

What he had done.

"Tilín... Tilín, please... no..." Charlie's voice shook, his hands and legs trembling, unable to process what had just happened. He choked on his words as tears streamed from his eyes.

They coughed blood, holding a single, little claw over the open wound that was painting the ground red.

He needed to move. He needed to get help. Why weren't his legs moving? Why couldn’t he do anything? "No... no, no, no, this can't be happening, I can't let this happen-" He whispered, holding Tilin as carefully as he could. 

He supported their head, and they looked at him with such pain and guilt. What had they done, to look so guilty? They weren't the source of his pain, he was. He did this to them. They were dying, because of him. 

They held a bloody claw to his face gently, so weak, and they seemed to speak forgiveness with their tearful eyes. He was supposed to protect them. How could he have failed?

They inhaled, shakily, and gasped as their eyes laid still, staring into the open blue sky one last time. Their hand went slack, and Charlie wept as he clutched their motionless body. 

Flippa had watched it all. He realized, and he looked up to see her shaking form. Rage in her emerald eyes, fists balled at her sides as she glared at him with such pain and rage it made him cower.

She took out a fistful of paper, and scribbled so hard onto it it nearly tore in two. 

She threw the paper at him, and he saw the angry words scrawled across them, 'I hate you. You killed my best friend'   

It didn't feel like his heart could break anymore, but what pieces were left crumbled to dust. 

He whispered, hoarse and begging. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." 

She blinked as tears streamed down her face to match his own. She screamed, the loudest sound he'd ever heard her make, and she ran back to the city as fast as her legs could carry her.

He couldn't bring himself to go after her, to explain, to apologize for what he’d done. He was sure she would get someone to come and kill him where he was, holding Tilín gently in his arms.

He looked down at them, and he couldn't believe how small they looked then. Smaller than when he'd found them, taking their hand for the first time, promising them he'd always love and protect them not even a week ago. They were like his child, and now their eyes bore no life. 

Charlie relished in the pain the monster gave him. Ugly black wounds marred his arms and face, glasses cracked and askew. It wasn't enough.

He stares at Tilín, sobbing and clutching them, wishing he'd wake up from this nightmare. Wishing he'd experience all the pain they had felt, wishing it was him laying there, wishing he hadn't done it. 

But no amount of wishing on stars or dreams could ever undo his broken promises, or give him the pain he deserved.

They came for him eventually. He was surprised they hadn’t come faster.

Two people, familiar to him but strangely distant, pulled him away from Tilín. 

He could feel himself scrabble to protect them, yelling at the hands to get away, he needed to keep them safe. But their words filtered through and calmed him down as his body, already aching from crying, heaved and forced him onto hands and knees as he shook.

They brought him back to the city, and he stumbled along as they held him up, bloodied and weak and trembling.

He looked up to see Quackity, so angry, reaching out to punch him. Charlie saw stars and made no effort to struggle, and as he laid there he could feel the hands that were on him move to hold Quackity back as he screamed at Charlie, and he didn't have to hear clearly to know what he was calling him. A murderer.

'Its true', he thought absently. 'It's what I am.'

He couldn't hear more of what they said, but he felt like he was looking without seeing, hearing without listening. He doesn’t think he’s ever been this disconnected from his body before.

He didn't even know when he'd stood up, holding onto his own arm as it leaked black ooze steadily. He made no effort to wrap it or stop the black scars from bleeding.

Quackity was pointing at him, face red from yelling and twisted with sorrow, and Charlie could faintly hear 'banishment' and 'traitor' among the many things he said. Despite how distant his mind felt, he got the gist of his fate.

He felt the eyes of Fit and Phil, standing behind him, shocked and appalled. He didn't know if Flippa was around, and he hoped she wasn't. He hoped she would never have to see him again.

He looked around one last time, and he saw him. Mariana. The horror and anguish in her face was enough to make him turn away, more tears to join the ones that were already staining his face. Charlie knew then, he wouldn't ever see her again either. He didn’t deserve to.

They then escorted him away, far away, and Quackity was forcing him along. Everything hurt and felt too far from his body at the same time. Nothing felt real. 

He stood as they all stopped before a wide, open field with forests far beyond, and Quackity pointed towards the setting sun on the horizon. He spoke clearly, and Charlie snapped to attention.

"Never show your fucking face ever again, you hear me Slime? I will kill you, I will fucking kill you if I ever see you again. You keep walking and don't stop, never come back, or else I'll make you sorry. I should've fucking known you'd do something like this. I can't believe I even trusted you." His voice broke as he said it, as if he could still hardly believe what Charlie had done.

Charlie blinked. He was so tired. He said nothing, passing his dead gaze over Fit and Phil. They were tight-lipped and pale and said nothing back.

Charlie turned towards the direction Quackity had pointed, and as he started to walk felt himself fall forward, legs too shaky to keep going. 

'Get up', said the voice. 'Get up.'

He couldn't. But he did anyway. He kept walking.

He hated himself. 

He'd been walking for what felt like months, but it had really only been two days. Ever since then he'd replayed the incident- no, the murder, since it'd happened. He couldn't let himself forget. 

He'd eaten practically nothing, his slime falling off in globs as he stomped through the forest, ignoring the shooting hunger pains and the wounds still oozing lazily from his arms and face. He had no idea if they’d ever heal. They had started to harden painfully eventually, forming cracks against his skin that made him twitch at random intervals. He didn't know what that was about but he frankly didn't care.

Charlie was walking as he was told and he hadn't stopped even once. Maybe his legs would finally fall apart, or he'd collapse from exhaustion; whatever he needed to do to get away was going to have to be enough. 

It hurt more to rest, anyway, because then the pain and single-minded focus of pushing forward would subside just enough for him to remember the vivid details, and then he'd be up again, trudging along as he remembered the warm blood trickling through his fingers and a torn red ribbon.

It didn't really help that the blood had dried and remained. He washed it off eventually, once he remembered that he could. The cold water of a nearby river snapped him out of his trance for a little while before he sunk back into the grief.

He was reminded of his days first exploring the surface as a younger slime. Hungry and alone, feeling the guilt of what he'd done after he’d been disowned by his family and pushed out for good. Arguably this was much worse, but he believed it was deserved. Some small part of him craved for comfort, for some kind of forgiveness, for someone to tell him that it would be okay. But the guilt would push it back into his mind to be forgotten.

The days stretched on, and the imaginary months turned into years. Eventually he'd collapsed in exhaustion, and he accepted the cool, hard forest floor as it embraced his broken body.

He had dreams as he laid there, eyes eventually slipping shut as he gave into sleep. He dreamed of better scenarios, of him and the eggs going home after a fun day, putting them to bed with a silly story or a lullaby. 

Maybe Flippa would help tuck in Tilín as they read a story together and he put on silly voices, and as they fell asleep Charlie could help Mariana clean up upstairs, and they could share jokes and little things amongst each other before they shared one last look and went to their rooms. Maybe if he hadn’t been a coward it could’ve been their room.

Other dreams were just a repeat of all his past mistakes and things that haunted his waking moments, too. 

Killing his siblings. Hurting an old friend. Killing Tilín. Mariana looking at him with those horrified eyes. His friends staring at him with fear or disgust or pity.

It was like a never-ending nightmare he couldn't escape no matter if he was awake or asleep.

The good dreams sometimes felt worse than the bad ones though, because then he'd wake up and realize where he was, and he'd feel his heart get crushed all over again.

“What’s the point.” Charlie finally said to himself, voice dry and cracked after not speaking for days. He had spotted the same fallen oak tree for the third time and was feeling far more numb than he should.

He was just going in circles, he was lost and alone and was probably going to die out here because he couldn't bring himself to hunt or do anything for himself to survive. He didn't want to, and there wasn't anyone out here that could make him.

He kept walking anyway, the day slipped away into night once again, the world kept turning, and nothing mattered anymore.

Chapter Text

It was getting late and Mariana was starting to get worried, because neither Charlie nor the eggs had returned. He had promised to come back early, especially since the eggs had begged him to be let past the wall. They all knew what lurked out there after dark.

Mariana couldn't help but peek his head out of the doorframe, glancing this way and that as the sun began to set farther and farther down past the horizon. It was still light out, but the overwhelming feeling of worry only grew.

Suddenly, a familiar green dragon ran towards her, covered in dirt and face streaming with tears.

“Juanaflippa? Juana, what happened?”

She wailed, and Mariana could feel fear grip his heart.

Before he could get her to explain, she ran downstairs and Mariana could hear a faint slam of a door. He tried to go after her before he heard someone yelling which caused him to turn back around.

Mariana ran outside again, and what he saw shook him to the core.

Charlie, the one he could hardly confess his love to, his friend, his family, the father to their child… he was being dragged along by Phil and Fit, covered in blood and terrible black wounds that marred his body.

His eyes traveled to another, Roier, who was holding Tilín carefully in his arms and weeping openly. Mariana had never seen him so devastated, and he could feel the blood leaving his face as he saw that their body was limp.

Mariana locked eyes with Charlie, seeing the life gone from them. It almost looked like he was dead at first glance. Charlie seemed to see the way she stared at him, and he let his head fall again. As if he couldn't bear to see her.

Mariana held a hand up to his mouth as tears began to fall, and he watched the one he cared most for in the world get taken away for murder.

Eventually everyone dispersed, and Quackity with Fit and Phil returned, each one of them in varying states of anguish and shock. Charlie wasn’t with them. Mariana feared the worst.

Quackity held his child in his arms, taking them back from Roier as he cried, vowing to never let this happen again. Charlie had been banished, forever. Something that had never happened to anyone before, and nobody would be allowed to speak of it. Mariana felt a small sigh of relief that they hadn’t killed him.

Phil comforted Quackity, face solemn and broken. Told him to hold a funeral for the little egg, that everyone would organize it for him while he rested. He refused to let Tilín go even then, and Mariana could hardly look anymore.

Eventually she returned inside to find Flippa locked in her room still. He called for her, and she eventually complied with his pleas to open. Her face was puffy and her eyes red as she clung to her mother.

Mariana did his best to comfort her, but in that moment she had revealed something horrible. Flippa had written down everything that had happened, including the existence of some terrible monster Charlie had tried to kill.

Why was there a monster out during the day to begin with? How could it be? Mariana was frightened by the possibility of a new, egg-hunting monster that could easily roam about in the daylight. She snapped back to Flippa clinging to her leg desperately, and Mariana calmed her down the best he could.

Before too long Mariana heard someone knock on the front door, and he decided to bring Flippa along. She seemed content to hold onto his leg, which he didn't mind. He needed the comfort, too.

He opens the door to reveal Cellbit, his eyes wide with concern.

“Mariana. I heard.”

Mariana’s mouth sets in a firm line as he blinks rapidly. He didn’t have any energy left to cry.

“Y- yes. He was… attacked.”

“By who?”

“A- a monster. Juanaflippa saw it.”

The little dragon, hiding behind his leg, stared unblinkingly at the floor. She didn’t lift her head in acknowledgement; it was if she hadn’t heard them.

Cellbit furrowed his brow. “During the day? That should not be possible.”

Flippa nodded and shrugged, her movements sluggish. She held up her paper detailing the events, tear-stained and ripped in some places. Mariana supposed she had done it to make sense of it all.

Cellbit looked it over, frowning hard at the description of the beast that Flippa had written.

“Black… and green. Fast. No face…”

Flippa nodded a second time.

“I have never heard of it. Maybe my sister will know. I will not bother Quackity with this. Not yet.”

Mariana jerks his head. “Okay.”

Cellbit sighs and looks at them both with pity and sadness. “Charlie was… he was a good man. I don’t want to believe this happened because he knew… too much. You two should take it easy.”

“Okay. Goodnight, Cellbit.”

“Boa noite.”

Cellbit bid them farewell as he turned away and walked down the road, and Mariana slowly shut the door behind him.

Mariana turned back and looked about their home, now one person emptier.

They walk into the kitchen, the remains of their last drink together left on the table. Mariana looked, heart aching, at Charlie's favorite mug sitting there half empty. He would never get to finish it.

Flippa ended up sleeping in Mariana’s bed, not wanting to be alone. She held a small wooden sword given to her by her father, and despite her obvious anger at his mention seemed to miss him terribly. Mariana could understand. It felt as though a large hole remained where his heart was, one he hadn’t known was full to begin with, and his thoughts wandered aimlessly.

He didn't sleep that night. The vision of Charlie, so haunted and broken, and of Tilín’s body, was a nightmare in itself. But it wasn't a dream. It was real.

Flippa could hardly sleep either. She curled next to his side, or tried to sleep at the foot of the bed; she had once tried the floor, but woke up frightened from a dream Mariana could guess the contents of.

The egg seemed to harbor immense guilt about the whole thing no matter how many times throughout the night Mariana tried convincing her that it wasn't her fault, and that she'd never made Charlie or Tilín go out there to play. None of them could have known that would happen; there wasn't anyone to blame.

None, but the mysterious monster who had caused the whole thing.

Mariana promised to himself, to Charlie, to Flippa, to Tilín- that he would get to the bottom of this. He wasn't sure how, but he would do anything to avenge them and seek some sort of justice.

Charlie couldn't have been the only culprit, it just didn't make sense. Something had to have happened regarding that strange creature to make it attack them all in broad daylight. Mariana just couldn't shake the feeling that there was something much worse at play.

Maybe it was just something to keep him going. Mariana couldn't bear to think of living alone again, and if this could help keep his mind off things, then… wouldn’t that be better? To try finding answers that might not even be there?

The next day was a blur. But he had a mission.

Mariana worked tirelessly with Cellbit in the vain hope that he could figure out what had really happened. His sister, Bagi, was able to find some information that the monster could've been the ‘code’ monster described by the Federation. The same ones that were meant to protect the citizens and their children. Mariana narrowed his eyes at that. Charlie had been unrelenting with his concerns of the Federation, hadn't he?

Maybe he was getting too paranoid himself, but too many dots were being connected in his head to ignore it. Charlie said that he knew something, and anyone who knows too much disappears if they don't work for the Federation. They were sworn to secrecy about everything, always keeping their citizens in the dark.

It made him mad, frankly. It would be hard to prove them as the culprits, but it gave him a sense of purpose he’d lost.

Of course, fellow villagers besides just Cellbit and Bagi paid visits to him often throughout the day and the next. Jaiden and Roier, both still shaken by the loss, spent time with him and Flippa whenever she wasn’t hiding in her room and clinging to what was left of Charlie’s belongings. Even Bad, who hadn’t spoken much to Mariana, brought over pastries to try and console them.

Jaiden seemed extremely uneasy, which made Mariana even more suspicious of her than he had been. Quackity and Jaiden had been the two names Charlie had mentioned and they both had history with the Federation. As he talked with Roier, he kept her within line of sight to make sure she didn’t get up to anything.

“Lo siento mucho, tío.” Roier whispered from across the table he and Mariana sat at. She tilted her head at him.

“For what?” Mariana asked dully.

Roier frowned sadly. “Lamento que nunca pudieras decírselo antes de que sucediera. Sé lo mucho que significó para ti.”

Mariana said nothing. She regretted ever telling Roier how much she liked Charlie.

“Especialmente ahora… you know. Now that he is…”

She glared at him, teeth gritted so hard it hurt. “Now that he is what? Say it.”

Roier shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he moved his gaze to the table. “I did not mean it like that.”

Mariana exhaled sharply. “Pero lo hiciste, ¿verdad? You did.”

As they sit in awkward silence, Jaiden eventually walks back over to check on them both.

“You guys okay? Roier?”

He smiles weakly at her before turning back to Mariana. “Yes… just talking.”

Mariana leans back in his seat and scowls at them both. He snaps at Jaiden, already ticked off by Roier’s comment. “None of your business.”

They look alarmed for a moment before Roier frowns and Jaiden casts a guilty look at the ground.

“Maybe we should just um… go. Bobby is probably waiting on us back home.” She coaxes the spider humanoid from his seat, and they cast twin pitiful looks at Mariana before they wave goodbye.

Mariana can’t stand the way people have been looking at her recently. It makes him want to throw up. Standing up, she sweeps away the remainder of the drinks they shared and puts it all in a bucket to wash later. It started to pile up, like most things in the house, but Mariana was too busy trying to figure out what the hell was going on to worry about chores. Some part of him feels guilty for ever thinking Charlie was overreacting about this.

The day passed over into night, and after another visit from Cellbit with Etoiles showing up as an extra confidant. Etoiles had seen something as well, after acting as a guard for his astronomy tower.

The building itself was outside of the wall, he’d said, and he spotted one of the code monsters scratching at it. Etoiles said he’d managed to scare it off, but that alone wouldn’t be enough. Cellbit eventually concluded that there must be more of them, and that they’re much more cunning than they initially thought.

‘It won’t be long until they get inside.’ Cellbit stated, and Mariana’s mind immediately jumped to Flippa and Charlie before realizing with a sinking feeling that Charlie wasn’t with them anymore. He couldn’t protect someone that wasn’t around.

Etoiles agreed to relay this information to Phil and Fit, both skilled fighters like himself. If anyone could help protect the rest of the eggs, it would be them. Cellbit promised to continue researching the beasts in the hopes of finding a weakness. Mariana just nodded, hoping that another sleepless night pouring over Federation records wouldn’t make him lose his mind completely.

After tucking in Flippa, once again into his own bed, he went to a different room lined with bookshelves with a desk at the far end of the room piled with papers and candles. She sits at the creaky chair that she’s spent more time in than she’d like to admit, moving aside some of the papers and scattering them across the floor.

Mariana puts his head in his hands after a few minutes of staring at notes, and before he can stop it feels the tears start to fall. How could everything have ended so fast, how could this be happening? Why must his daughter suffer because of this? What if this was all for nothing and he just risks himself and her by looking into it?

No, he couldn’t think that way. Giving up entirely would be a new kind of defeat and would’ve just added onto the pain already festering. Mariana had to keep trying, for Charlie, for Flippa, for his family.

He looks out of his window, pointed into the street. If he craned his head just enough, she could peer out over the wall and into the fields beyond. Charlie was out there, somewhere.

Maybe it would’ve been easier to forget him entirely. Maybe then her heart wouldn’t hurt as much, and she wouldn’t be leaning over her desk in the hope that maybe he’d spot him in the fields. That maybe he’d come back somehow despite the impossibility. That they could just go back to how it was before, when everything was simple.

But nothing would ever be simple again and it was all a lie she wanted to believe. Another thin thread, another sliver of hope barely managing to keep her afloat. Mariana didn’t want to give up on him, because Charlie wouldn’t give up on them. Maybe she just needs to get him back.

He sighed to himself, alone in his room. He would think of a plan to get him back somehow. It couldn’t end like this.

Eventually sleep caught up to him as exhaustion took over, slumping over the desk and resting against the hardwood. It had been many hours since he’d let himself rest.

She opened her tired eyes and stretched, everything hazier than normal. It was light out, everything warm and comfortable as he made his way downstairs and smiled to himself. It was a good day today.

Mariana spots the one he wants to see. Charlie. Bright green eyes meet his dark brown ones and she approaches him, helping him with the breakfast he was making. Did she ever teach him how to do that?

“You sure slept in today. You work too much.” Charlie’s voice felt oddly muffled and distant in his ears, but maybe it was just because he was still a bit sleepy. Mariana chuckled, “What work? I remember…” her smile disappeared for a moment, brow furrowing. What was she doing again?

“We went on that walk last night, remember? Then we put the kids to bed, you know…”

Mariana’s smile returns but barely. He didn’t remember.

“I am still asleep, haha…” She says.

Charlie turns away for a moment as he cooks, and Mariana gives him a hug from behind, breathing in the pleasant earthy sage smell he always seemed to have.

“Maybe we should go back to bed…” Charlie murmurs.

Mariana rests his head on his shoulder. “Maybe…”

It’s all so serene. “I love you, Charlie.” He whispers.

Charlie turns around as if to reply, but his voice is cut short. As Mariana backs away to look at him, her eyes widen in horror as Charlie gasps at him, large black marks now adorning the side of his face and neck. His glasses are cracked, and his eyes once a lively green have become dull and haunted.

Mariana stumbles backwards as Charlie tries to reach out for him, but she can’t do anything to help him. He couldn’t do anything.

He jerks awake and yells as he falls backwards in his chair, groaning and rubbing his head where it hit the floor. Blinking a couple times, he’d realized that it was just a dream.

Mariana sighs long and deep before getting up and putting the chair back in its place. Looking out the window again, it was still dark outside with no sign of dawn approaching.

Feeling more tired than he had in years he decided to just avoid sleep entirely. Clearly, his own mind was betraying him no matter if he was awake or not.

Deciding to pay a visit to a room he hadn’t been in for days, she went downstairs and took note of the sad bleakness the cellar now had, similar to how it was months ago before Charlie decided to claim it as his own. It was empty and Mariana didn’t think it ever would be again. Life was just full of surprises, he thinks bleakly.

He swings the door open to Charlie’s room and almost chuckles. Still the same as ever, just without its inhabitant. Stray bits of slime were on the ground, as well as some blankets and pillows. How he ever managed to sleep this well on the floor Mariana wishes he knew, but if he had ever asked Charlie, she was positive he’d say something annoying or merely brush it off as ‘a slime thing’. Ever the excuse.

There were also pictures stuck on the stone wall near the boiler, children’s drawings Flippa and Tilín had drawn for him one day. Small flowers, rocks, and other oddities were stacked neatly on a makeshift wooden shelf, as well as a piece of eggshell Charlie must have somehow saved from when he first found Flippa. Mariana had asked about that story, and of course Charlie had to recount it in the most dramatic way possible complete with a rather unfortunate amount of random explosions.

Mariana left the room the way it was and went back to his own. Flippa must’ve woken up at some point in the night, as she was reading one of her storybooks on the floor. Large eyebags had appeared under her eyes from lack of proper sleep, and Mariana wished he could help her. But it was hard to help when he struggled with the same thing.

“¿Has vuelto a tener una pesadilla?” Flippa nodded and Mariana shook his head. “I am sorry Juana.”

She just shrugs and yawns widely, eyes blinking tiredly as she stares at the pages. Mariana sits down on the floor with her, taking his cape off and draping it around her.

“We should still sleep, yes? We need it.”

Flippa shook her head and mimed the nightmare she had, scared that it would happen again if she tried to sleep again.

“I know. But you need rest. We both do. I will sleep beside you again and keep you safe.”

She slumped her shoulders and looked at him. Mariana coaxed her into his arms, and she did begrudgingly. He tucked her in, folding the blanket around her like Charlie had done for her many times.

Flippa seemed to appreciate the gesture as she snuggled in and closed her eyes once Mariana removed her glasses, and he did the same. Too tired to change into comfortable clothing he laid next to her and rested a hand to her head, rubbing a thumb across her forehead gently to relax the worry lines there.

The little dragon’s stern gaze softened as she began to doze off, and Mariana closed her eyes as well. For the first time in days, they both slept peacefully, that was until the day decided to grant them a new nightmare.

Mariana jolted awake when he heard someone screaming outside, and Flippa had been so startled that she got stuck in the sheets and was now profoundly fighting them off. Once Mariana got her untangled, they both rushed to the window on the far side of the room and looked into the street.

Flippa had to struggle a bit to look over the windowsill, but once Mariana saw what was happening, she pushed Flippa back to the ground and shook his head at her frantically.

A code monster had gotten into the city, and judging from the panic and blood curdling screams had already managed to wreak havoc. He could see Etoiles stabbing the creature repeatedly, eventually forcing the thing to fall limp in the dirt. Blood littered the ground, and the screams filled the air even more. Mariana couldn't see who they belonged to, but they sounded frighteningly like Jaiden’s.

“Juanaflippa quédate adentro. Quédate aquí, por favor. Get your knife, lock the door.”

She complied, picking up a small knife Mariana had given her for protection. He pulled his cape back on and once he'd made it downstairs grabbed his axe by the door in haste before running outside to get a better view of the chaos.

Phil was flying about overhead, yelling something as he flew towards Ramón and Tallulah who must've been playing outside. He swept them up and carried them far above to his home on the Wall. He seemed to be sticking to the plan of taking the eggs to his home in the scenario of an attack… which unfortunately had happened.

Mariana looked towards their wooden walls meant to keep the beasts out and saw no points of entry. He swung his head back towards the scene to see Etoiles stabbing the code monster one last time for good measure, face set in a murderous glare before he hissed in pain and held a hand to the new black and green wound that had been scratched across his face. It reminded Mariana, painfully, of Charlie’s own injuries.

Her eyes widened once she'd looked past the warrior to see Jaiden with her back turned, sitting in the dirt and holding a small, limp body in her arms. It couldn't be…

She screamed, and screamed, and only stopped to gasp in-between screams. Bobby hung low in her arms. Roier seemed to only have just arrived, and once he saw them he wailed and collapsed with her, the two of them clutching the other as Bobby laid between them.

Mariana ran to Etoiles, shaking and barely holding onto his axe as his hands trembled.

“It happened again?” He questioned, voice weak. He felt sick, he could hardly look at the scene without gagging. Etoiles looked seconds away from crying himself as he stared at the ground, face contorted in physical and mental pain.

“Bobby saw it first. He ran in front of Tallulah and Ramón… but… these creatures are too strong. It killed him before I could get to them in time.”

Mariana covered his face with his hands, letting the axe fall.

“How, how could it happen again?”

Etoiles stared at the code monster with fury. “I cannot say. But I promise this, I will hunt every single one of them down, and I will destroy them. They will fear me. They shall.”

Mariana shared in his anger, and he took his axe in hand again and tightened her shaky grip.

Two more days passed. Code monsters were seen inside the city on several occasions, and no egg was left unattended again.

Jaiden was anguished, hollow, her eyes so hauntingly like the ones Mariana had seen Charlie wear before he was exiled. Roier was no different, and his laughter was absent as was his advice and friendliness. Not only were they more reserved, but they became less and less seen as they kept to themselves in their home.

Maybe in some ways, they were doing what Mariana had done; searching for some way to enact their revenge, or find out the truth in an attempt to overcome or ignore their loss. He couldn't help but hope for them, and feel guilt over how she had treated them when they’d only tried to help. Mariana would knock on their door and hope for a response, but nothing came from inside that would indicate they’d want to talk to anyone.

Nobody could simply say it was coincidence anymore, nor could they ignore the Federation and their attempts to calm the situation. Quackity made no attempt to try repeating their lies, and resorted to just putting up warning signs and other assorted articles in an attempt to answer people's questions. But it wasn't enough. Even he had become disillusioned.

Mariana knew the truth would be revealed soon enough, but he wasn't waiting around for that to happen. He needed to find Charlie.

Eventually the eggs were all moved into Phil's home on top of the Wall, far above the dangers. The code monsters tried to climb it but they had no luck in managing to reach them so far. Phil had dedicated his waking moments to their protection, and Mariana had to begrudgingly have Flippa stay with him and her siblings.

Mariana visited as often as she could and was proud to see Flippa donning a helmet much too large for her as well as her knife and wooden sword, promising to protect them with Chayanne. Phil seemed pleased at her eagerness to practice defense some more.

As the monsters grew more bold, they eventually began to attack the villagers almost exclusively now that they were unable to reach their easier targets. Etoiles suffered the worst, receiving even more of the familiar black and green scarring as he pushed himself to protect the city. There didn't seem to be a cure for them, but everyone was relieved to see it hadn't spread any further across his arm and face.

Mariana went to visit him after the second time he was attacked, wanting to know everything about the symptoms and what they did. When she finds Charlie and brings him back, she needs to know everything about what happened to him so she can properly help him.

Etoiles mostly mentioned that he suffered more muscle spasms, aches, and numbness in the places he was injured. His eye, which had been nearly gouged out, had become a green hue after a while and he mentioned having a harder time seeing through it.

For treatment, he mostly mentioned that when the spasms and pain grew to be too much, he'd rest and massage the parts that needed it. Mariana may or may have not written everything down in detail, but if he was going to help Charlie, he needed every last one.

Etoiles seemed to gather what all the questions were about and put a hand to Mariana’s shoulder, smiling at her with a combination of worry and hope.

“I wish you luck in finding him. I know he’s waiting for you.”

Mariana had no idea how he even knew, and as flustered as she was, was still oddly grateful to the man. Although he made sure to note that he was scarily insightful. Maybe a little too much.

Eventually Mariana, all packed and ready to go, went to Phil’s house one last time to bid Flippa farewell. It wouldn’t do her good to leave without saying a word, even though Flippa knew that this was coming.

Phil approached her, and he seemed to understand what Mariana was about to do. “Be careful out there. And… I hope you find him.”

Maybe Mariana hadn’t fully forgiven Phil for being one of the people that had dragged Charlie away, but she knew that he wouldn’t have done it willingly if he had any other choice.

He only nods at Phil as the avian retreats and ushers Flippa out of the house. The dragon quickly approaches Mariana, written paper already in her hand.

‘Ojalá pudiera ir con ustedes.’

“Lo sé, flor silvestre. But I need you here. You must look after your siblings. Debes cuidarlos a ellos y a ti mismo.”

Flippa, looking down at the ground, sniffed as she wrote a bit more. ‘Por favor, vuelva. Por favor, traigan a papá de vuelta.’

Mariana shoulders the axe he’s carrying as he kneels in front of her. He smiles as he does, and he brings Flippa in close. “I will. We will both come home.”

His daughter smiles, watery eyed, and clings to Mariana as they hug.

They reluctantly part, and Mariana waves to Flippa as he descends down the Wall. She looks on, watching her mother descend in the hopes that maybe their family can be whole again.

Mariana ignores the darkness of the night and pushes into the field despite the unease that it creates, holding her axe tightly in hand. The knapsack on her back carries the essentials, not knowing how far Charlie could be by now. He was desperately hoping that he was still in the woods somewhere and hadn’t retreated underground, but she was willing to yell his name if it meant he might appear.

She keeps going, killing a few stray monsters along the way. The underbrush becomes longer and more unruly as the light from the city fades behind him and he delves deeper into the forest.

“I will find you, mi amor.” He whispers into the dark, hoping her words would reach him.

Chapter Text

Charlie’s wounds got worse, and he could do nothing about it. 

He was looping the forest again, before realizing he was walking about in the woods around the field near the city. The same woods the code monster lived in. He hoped desperately to find it again, he wanted so badly to squeeze the life out of the damn thing. Really, his anger was the only thing keeping him going at this point.

He swore loudly as his injuries throbbed in pain again, and he clenched the arm he’d tied Flippa’s sash to. Once he started to, he realized he still had it and decided to wrap what was left of it around his arm to help cover the black and green that now consumed it.

He’d forgotten he even had her sash with him that day, but now that he did he couldn’t let it go. His shirt was in disrepair and his pants were no better, scratched from prickles and thorns due to stumbling around in the dark forest for days on end, but as long as he had the sash with him he felt better. It was almost like his lucky charm. Not that he really deserved any kind of luck, he thought to himself.

He tried many times to sink into the earth, to become his original slimy form once again and run away, but whatever the code monster had done to him made it near impossible. He almost cried in frustration and pain from trying several times, but no tears were shed despite it. He’d run out of sadness and was just replaced with apathy and bitterness towards himself.

These days when his thoughts weren’t consumed with guilt, which was rarely, he would think about his family. Charlie could hardly believe he was even able to get a family of his own, and then he’d get angry at himself, because he lost it as soon as he’d realized it. 

“Whatever.” He mutters under his breath, dragging the long black claws that had replaced his right hand along the wood of a tree he passes. The wood splinters, but he can hardly feel it. The black scars feel numb most of the time.

Charlie emerges partially from the treeline to watch the city light up the darkness. He could hardly bring himself to really leave. That city was his first real home. Now he was just another monster, lurking about in the dark, wishing he could get in. 

He stares at his hands, one dirty but whole and human-like, but the other gnarled and disproportionate. He wondered what he must look like to other people now. 

Before he can second-guess approaching the city like he does most days, he retreats back into the forest. Maybe tonight he’d finally sleep. As the night passes over and the light fades, he curls himself up against the base of a tree and his weary eyes slip shut.

Mariana sighs and looks at him like he always does, which always seems to be lovingly. 

Charlie knew it was a dream, but he wasn’t going to wake up. He never had good dreams anymore.

The two looked up at the pristine blue sky, hands intertwined as they laid side-by-side. They eventually met their gazes and smiled together.

Mariana never says anything in his dreams, when he has them. Charlie doesn’t mind, because he knows that as soon as either of them utter the words, “I like you,” the illusion would fall apart and he’d wake up, tears streaming down his face from frustration or regret or some terrible combination of the two.

This time though, he doesn’t wake up immediately like he expects. In some state of lucidity he begins to think out loud in the dream and he talks to Mariana as they hold hands and stare into the open sky.

“I don’t think I ever told you about my life before, uh, before finding Flippa. I mean, not that I’ll get to now but…” He says aloud, feeling stupid. Mariana stares at him intently but says nothing. He doesn’t want her to say anything. It would hurt too much.

“But uh, I was wandering around in my slime form for a long time. Alone. Sometimes I’d spot humans or humanoids or whatever and I’d try to look like them in secret. I’m sure I was spotted a few times but I’m pretty quick. Anyways… I had a family before I met you. It wasn’t nice or patient or anything like ours, though.”

“My parents weren’t great. Like, even by slime standards. Usually slimes just, well they just create offspring and send them off into the world, I guess. They didn’t really do that with me or my siblings though… my uh, my dad made me kill them. To prove my strength or some shit like that.”

Charlie awkwardly clears his throat in front of Dream Mariana. “You can probably guess why I haven’t really told anyone that. Bit of an awkward conversation. Bad memories to bring up too. I have a lot of regrets.”

“And… it’s getting harder for me to not see myself as a monster.” He says, looking at Mariana. “I’m kind of one anyways. I’m sure everyone sees me that way now after everything...I mean… just look at me.” Before, in his dream, he appeared as he usually did before the incident. Suddenly his hand was transformed into the warped corrupted hand and the black scars appeared that twisted up his arm and neck.

“I’d beg for forgiveness if I believed it’d make any kind of difference.”

Charlie lays in silence next to Dream Mariana, who of course hadn’t uttered a single word. “I’m so sorry. I wish I could’ve said something before all of this. I wish I weren’t such a coward. Maybe things could’ve… could’ve been different for us. Now I just… I hope you hate me. I think it would be easier than trying to forgive me or… love me.” 

Dream Mariana doesn’t say anything, and Charlie feels like he’s happier for it. Whatever she would’ve said would’ve just hurt more than anything he’d admitted to.

Life used to be like a dream. He just wished he never had to wake up.

It had been almost a full day as Mariana searched. 

She’d looked everywhere, but only found scratch-marks on bark and footprints around the treeline. It was hard to tell if they were evidence of Charlie being there or if it was just more proof that the monster issue was still prevalent. 

She’d already had to eat some of the food in her knapsack, sitting next to a river as she did. It was almost relaxing to be out in nature again, especially with how long he’d been inside the wall. Hopefully the Federation wouldn’t find out where he was and try to track him down. There was an all day curfew now and he couldn’t afford to get in trouble. She’d promised Flippa, after all, that he would find her father and get them both back in one piece.

The day dragged on and with no hopes of finding him yet she settled down next to an old oak tree as the sunset colors filtered through the tree leaves. Maybe one day, once everything returns to normal, they could all come out here and enjoy it together and sit by the streams and breathe in fresh air. 

The scene played out so clearly in his mind he half expected to see Charlie’s joking grin and hear Flippa’s chirping laughter. Honestly, he was probably only imagining those things due to his incredible lack of sleep. 

Mariana could only hope that Charlie wasn’t beating himself up too much over what happened. He knew how much he cared for Tilín. The way he looked that day, so broken and defeated; Mariana would do anything to help him get through this. He just hoped Charlie hadn’t given up yet, because she certainly hadn’t given up on him.

The night set and the darkness returned full-force and a sense of danger filled his being. Mariana stood, wielding her axe in both hands as she stood as a bright beacon amidst the shadows. 

He took deep breaths as he looked around, trying to figure out what was hunting him. He could sense its presence darting between the dark trees, and he clenched the axe and steadied himself. 

The monster- a code monster, lunged from the left. Its glitchy, twisted form barreled into him and snarled, the noise of it piercing her ears as she yelled out. “¡Vete a la mierda!”

The monster had no mouth or visible face, but he could feel it almost wanting to bite as it brought its head close and pinned her into the ground. Mariana gritted his teeth and kicked the creature off, hearing it yelp and hiss. The sound emanated from its whole being, and it was deeply unnerving. 

The code monster slunk back into the trees, still close but now out of sight.

“Sal de aquí, cobarde. ¡O si no, te destriparé!” Mariana yelled, strands of her dark hair falling over her glasses and eyes as she whipped around.

The creature lunged again, more vicious now, and knocked her onto her side, forcing him to scramble for the axe now knocked from his hands. That was until she realized her glasses had also been knocked astray. 

“Maldita sea, ahora no, ¿a dónde fueron?” She said loudly, panicked. Mariana yelled again as the code monster reached out a black and green claw to scratch her across the chest. Barely dodging its swings she backed up rapidly and felt a hand around the fallen glasses, smashing them onto her face and scrambling away as the creature slammed into the ground where he was not even moments before. 

Mariana barely remembered his axe before he began running, trying his best to swing at the beast as it ran after him with animalistic rage. He was able to get a good hit in, and his axe was lodged into the creature’s chest as it yelped and ripped its body out of his blade. Black and green ooze erupted from its torso, but it wasn’t enough to make Mariana stick around as he kept sprinting, pushing aside branches and bushes.

She panted as she kept going, hearing the code monster continue its pursuit. It had barely slowed down, which made Mariana panic even more. How did that hit barely even faze it?

The monster reached its claws out and ripped at his cape, tearing the white fabric and forcing her to be torn backwards. 

He coughed at the force of it tugging his neck and he struggled to get the cape off, but before he could manage to escape a second time another figure leaped over him. It almost looked like another code monster, and Mariana was about to panic even more before he realized the shape wore a very familiar green tunic, and as he looked up, he saw the angry face of Charlie snarl at the code monster now across from the both of them.

Mariana gasped out. “Charlie?”

Charlie heard someone yelling and the sounds of a code monster screeching as he woke from his dream in a daze. 

He got concerned as he stood up abruptly and started to walk quickly towards the source to investigate, hearing the sounds of fighting grow closer as he approached the scene warily. He heard more yelling, and for a moment he thought it was Mariana before shaking his head and continued to weave between trees before he was hit with realization, now more frightened than he’s ever been, that it was Mariana. 

He spots Mariana falling to the ground as soon as he enters the clearing, and she was scrambling away from the monster as it tore at his cape.

Charlie could feel his face contort in rage and anger as he leapt over her and stood between Mariana and the monster, practically growling at it as he fought the feeling of terror and dread grip his heart. He was hesitant, his mind flashing to Tilín’s body and the monster running off into the darkness, leaving him in ruins and a life lost. 

Shaking his head of the memory he swung at it, scratching it with his clawed hand and forcing it farther back as he looked back at Mariana. She gaped at him, eyes widened and looking more shocked than scared. He snapped out of his surprise and grabbed his axe. The two stood together, determined.

Before they could say anything to the other, the code monster rushes at them and they dodge out of the way. Mariana wields his axe with both hands, wedging the blade within the beast again as it screams. The force of the monster running the other way causes Mariana to be launched forward, still holding onto the axe embedded in its side. 

Charlie rushes and grapples it, forcing the creature down into the ground. The two fall and Charlie does his best to dodge Mariana still holding onto the axe lodged in the monster as they fight each other on the ground, scratching and punching.

Mariana eventually gets his axe free and swings once more, yelling, “CHARLIE! MOVE!”

Charlie yelps and rolls out of the way, quickly getting to his feet as he sees Mariana yell angrily and, using all of her might, drives the axe blade directly into the code monster’s head. 

It squeals in pain and writhes around as Mariana puts a foot down on the blade, pushing it deeper into its skull as the code monster falls to the ground. Black ooze gushes from the wound and coats her hands and face, and Charlie won’t think about how incredible Mariana looks.

“Mariana…” He says quietly, as he watches Mariana breathe heavily as she wrenches her axe from the code monster’s limp form. She snaps up and looks at Charlie, hair falling across her face and eyes glistening with a protective rage he’d never seen her wear before.

Mariana’s face visibly softens as his eyes meet Charlie’s. He can’t help but think about how beautiful he is even amidst the chaos. 

“Charlie. Charlie, there you are.” She says breathlessly, running towards him and cradling his face gently like glass about to break. Charlie’s days upon days of exhaustion suddenly hit him all at once as he relaxed in his arms, slumping against his warmth. 

Charlie could feel tears stream down his face, not sure where they’re coming from. It was so long since he’d been comforted, and it was something he dearly missed. 

Mariana thumbs a finger across his face, wiping the tears. He seems tired, too. Charlie feels guilty for most likely being the source of his fatigue. 

“I’m so sorry Mariana. I’m so sorry for everything, for- for doing-” He chokes and pushes himself away, covering his face with his hands. “I don’t deserve you… why are you here?” He whispers.

Mariana moves closer to him, and he can hear the pain in her voice. “No… you did nothing wrong. It was an accident, only an accident.”

Charlie pushes his palms into his eyes and sobs, curling over and letting the grief consume him. It was a very familiar feeling. “I killed Tilín, I don’t deserve forgiveness! I killed them, I promised to protect them. It should’ve been me. Not them. Why couldn’t it have been me? Why did they have to die?” He rambles.

The silence between them is deafening and Charlie almost wishes Mariana would just leave. He deserves better than a murderer. Why couldn’t Fit or Phil or Quackity have just killed him when they had the chance? Why did they even let him live at all when they banished him? Was living meant to be part of his punishment?

Mariana shifts closer and drapes a warm, solid arm around Charlie. He hears him murmur. “I wouldn’t want anyone but you.”

Charlie mutters, “Why?” He finally looks up, sure his face smudged with dirt and slimy tears must look utterly pathetic and disgusting. Mariana’s caring gaze doesn’t waver and a comforting smile spreads across his face in spite of his obvious weariness.

“Because…” Mariana starts, already looking embarrassed. “Because I care a lot about you.”

“I still don’t understand why you would forgive me after everything. I don’t deserve you. I don’t deserve Flippa. I don’t deserve anything.”

Mariana scowls. Charlie wonders how many times he’s seen him make that expression. “Charlie, I have already forgiven you. ¿No entiendes?” 

“It is okay to feel bad. It was a bad thing. But you would have never hurt them on purpose. It was an accident!” He says frustratedly, waving his arms about. “You are not a bad person!”

“Juana has forgiven you too. She misses you.”

Charlie feels more tears spring from his eyes. Wiping them away he turns from Mariana’s gaze. “Even if… I wanted to come back… I’ve been exiled. I’ll be killed if I’m ever seen in town again.”

Mariana sighs. “I can talk to Quackity. Make him understand.”

“I don’t think that will work, Mari. Maybe it would just be better for everyone, for the eggs, if I just stayed out here.”

“No! I- we need you home.”

Charlie gives him an odd look. “Miss me that bad huh?” He can’t help himself.

Mariana looks annoyed but then a gentle smile appears. “Ah, there you are. I have missed you.”

The slime flushes deep green and rubs his neck, now feeling embarrassed himself. “I… I missed you too.”

They stared intensely at each other for a minute, as if they looked away even for a moment the illusion would be broken and they’d wake up from their strangely vivid dream. Before either of them could say anything else, a white figure appears from behind a tree and approaches them with an eerie aura. 

“Hello.” They say. Charlie jumps and Mariana holds up his axe threateningly. 

Charlie faintly recognizes the white figure and their robotic voice, but he can’t put a finger on it. They looked vaguely like a bear, but it was hard to tell in the darkness. The figure steps over the corpse of the code monster, ignoring it entirely as it stared at them both with blank eyes and a wide smile.

Charlie speaks first. “Who are you?”

The figure laughs.

Mariana scowls. “What do you want?”

They laugh again, the sound repeated and warped. It didn’t sound like someone was speaking directly, but rather like it was someone speaking from far-away or through some sort of static. Charlie faintly realizes this as the individual that was talking to Jaiden in secret on the egg-rescue mission. It felt like eons had passed since that fateful day.

“You have committed an illegal act.” The mysterious individual declares. Charlie and Mariana share alarmed expressions.

“You are now under arrest by the Federation. Come with me.”

Two more white figures appear behind them, grabbing them by the shoulders. Before either of them can respond, the world goes dark.

Chapter Text

Charlie’s eyes crack open, feeling like they’d crusted over for centuries as he tries to blink against the harsh light blasting his face. He lifts a single arm in an attempt to sit up, but he’s so fatigued and nauseous he almost doesn’t try to move. Faintly, he realizes that he doesn’t have Flippa’s sash anymore, and that there’s an odd weight next to him.

The floor is hard and smooth and the blinding white light is sickening, and wherever he is right now smells too clean to be normal. Alarmed by his environment he forces his eyes open even more and he sways as he sits up.

It takes him a few minutes of blinking and then searching around for his broken glasses to put on before he can get a good look at his surroundings. It looked like a simple gray box, made of stone but too smooth to be cave walls and too white to look natural. Almost like it had been dyed white or painted to be much brighter than necessary. 

A single strange white light illuminated the room overhead, and it looked nothing like the torches Charlie was familiar with. It must’ve been some sort of technology he hadn’t seen before, which didn’t surprise him; a lot of human-made stuff had been rather eye-opening. 

The weird room housed a few other things, such as a large gray-linen bed placed in the middle and pushed up against the back wall, a weird round metal thing in the floor filled with little holes, a basin, and a shelf with nothing on it. 

What seemed like the only exit was the opening, which had metal bars too close together to fit through. Maybe if Charlie could still turn into his slime form he could easily escape, but as he rattled the bars and tried so hard to transform he saw stars flash in his vision, he could only sigh in disappointment and pain.

Then he remembered something important.

“ Mariana? ” He says, panicked. 

“Mariana, where are you? MARIA - oh. You’re right there.” He says with relief, seeing Mariana’s passed out form on the ground. That explains why his right side was so warm when he got up. Maybe in other situations sleeping side-by-side wouldn’t be so bad, but he was still out of it and a bit disturbed by the new surroundings, so he didn’t think too hard about it.

It takes him a moment to realize that he and Mariana also seem to be wearing matching orange jumpsuits, which doesn’t entirely make sense to him but at least he doesn’t have to look at his code scars as much. Plus it kinda sucked having a half-ripped shirt.

Whatever this place was, he and Mariana had to get out. Something was seriously wrong.

He approaches him, sitting on his knees and gently prodding him awake. “Mariana. Mariana, wake up. Mari. Mariana.”

Mariana’s peaceful sleeping expression contorts into one of annoyance as she groans and swats his hand away. Charlie continues to try waking her up, shaking his shoulders and repeating his name.

“What Charlie, what?” Mariana complains groggily, pushing his hand away again and rubbing his eyes. In the bright light his eye-bags and slightly bedraggled appearance becomes more obvious, and if Mariana appears tired like that, then Charlie couldn’t bear to know what he must look like right now after spending several days starving in the woods.

“Mariana, we’re not in the forest anymore. We’re in this weird… stone box room.” He says, waiting for Mariana’s tired brain to catch up. She blinks slowly and looks around, concern increasing visibly. 

“Qué pasa?”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m sayin’.”

Mariana stands up, slightly unsteady. He walks towards the metal bars keeping them trapped inside and rattles them, staring intently at them and peering around at the outside. She seems to look for something as he moves to the bed and the basin and the shelf before concluding that nothing else could be done. 

Charlie was watching him do everything in rapid succession, and eventually Mariana sits down on the bed and lets out a large sigh. Charlie sits next to him and looks around their room, wondering what was going to happen to them.

They sit, side-by-side in silence for a while and enjoying the small moment of peace that they hadn’t had the chance of sharing in for days. 

Like most things it doesn’t last, as a faceless white entity wearing some sort of strange gray official uniform and dark cap approaches the bars of their room. It spoke in a similar tone to the other entity that had brought them here, but this one bore no expression. It had no face.

Mariana narrowed his eyes and Charlie just stared as the guard spoke to them. “You have been placed under custody of the Federation. You have been imprisoned for being-” The guard seems to almost process the word as they hesitate, “- traitors.”

“Traitors?” Mariana questions, tone laced with annoyance.

“Yes.”

“I can understand what I did but, what did Mariana do?” Charlie asks.

“Traitor by association. Illegal investigation.”

Charlie can’t help but quirk an eyebrow at Mariana, who is still firmly staring down the guard with a cold gaze. The guard remains still and responds simply, “You will be here for the foreseeable future. Please enjoy your stay.”

The guard moves to walk away, but Mariana launches himself at the bars. “Wait! We are here forever?! Answer me!” He yells after the retreating figure, anger compelling him to shake the bars in frustration.

Charlie is still rather numb and defeated by everything, so he just lays down flat on the bed and stares at the ceiling. He still feels funny after being knocked out with whatever Cucurucho had done to them, and Mariana blinks slowly as if she feels the same way.

“Charlie, we must get out of here.”

He closes his eyes and exhales. “Yeah.”

“Help me find a way out.”

“Okay.” He complies, opening his eyes again and standing up. They spend the next 30 minutes or so walking around the room together, with Charlie mostly just staying close behind Mariana as they pace together. 

Whatever Mariana’s looking for he can’t quite understand, but he looks around all the same. Maybe he could magically become a slime again and break them out, but no matter how hard he tried it would just make him go into so much pain his head would pound. 

Mariana sees him trying out of the corner of her eye as he slumps to the floor, hands clenching his head as he breathes hard and kneels on the floor.

“Charlie, what is wrong?”

“I can’t- I can’t become a slime anymore. I can’t break us out, it hurts too much.” He whispers, feeling pathetic.

He can feel his eyes on him, full of worry. “Cuánto- how long has this… been this way?” She asks carefully.

Charlie takes a few more steadying breaths as the pounding subsides and he can actually look up at her. “Ever since that monster attacked us. These scars- I think they keep me from reverting to my natural form. There’s something wrong with me, I don’t know what, but nothing I do helps. It just- hurts .”

Mariana rubs his back comfortingly and the gesture calms him down just enough for him to try standing again. She guides them back to the bed to sit, and Charlie feels his whole body sink down into the bed again while she remains seated next to him, craning his neck to look back at him as he lays. 

“I’m sorry.”

“S’not your fault Mari. This is pretty much what I deserve.”

He stares sadly back at Charlie. “Please, do not say that. It hurts to see you in pain.”

Charlie rolls on his side so he doesn’t have to suffer his pitying gaze. He feels Mariana lay next to him, and he thinks that she must be as tired as he feels. He seems careful to not touch Charlie, but he pushes against Mariana anyway as they lay back-to-back. The warmth is nice after laying on cold dirt for several nights, alone.

“It must be scary.”

Charlie mumbles. “What is?”

“Not being able to be… slime.”

“Well, I mean… I’m still slime . I just can’t go underground or do anything slime-related now.”

“That is what I said?”

He shifts awkwardly. “I’ll be okay, probably.” Mariana rolls around to face his back, frowning. Charlie turns his neck and looks her in the eyes. They’re soft and dark and it makes Charlie think of better things. He turns around and the two face each other, hands almost touching.

“I missed you a lot Mariana.” He’s still too worried to admit it, the full extent of his feelings, but until he feels he can he tells a partial truth. Mariana’s eyes crinkle as he smiles. He takes Charlie’s hand in his own, and replies softly. “I missed you too.”

“Wow, you two are disgusting!” An accented voice says from where the bars are. 

Mariana shoots up so fast he almost falls off the bed and Charlie jolts and twitches painfully, so alarmed that he startles himself and hits his scarred arm against the wall. Mariana looks at him worriedly and puts a gentle hand on his blackened one.

A bee-hybrid with large, blue goggles and light brown hair with blonde highlights at the ends blinks at them with a surprisingly cheerful smile. His long antennae that sprout from his head twitch as he says, “‘Ello new people! Welcome to prison!” He waves at them both, and they reluctantly wave back. “Never seen you before, but Mariana I recognize. What’re you doin’ here mate? You were like the chillest guy back home!”

Mariana blinks before dawning recognition appears on his face. “Oh… Tubbo? You are alive?”

Tubbo raises his eyebrows dramatically, hands clenched around the bars of the cage. “Yeah dude! Missa is too, we’re both here! Then all of a sudden after like, months and months, we get three new peeps in the same week! Crazy stuff. You guys must be gettin’ busy in the city.” 

Charlie becomes confused. “Three?”

Tubbo nods before he locks eyes with Charlie, studying the black and green scars twisting their way up his neck and hand. They’re less visible with the long-sleeved jumpsuit, but the twitching and glitching must’ve been pretty obvious. “What’s up with you? Code monster stuff?”

Charlie gapes at him a little. “How- how did you know?”

Tubbo glances around him before whispering. “Can’t tell you that yet, but I can get you guys out of this room and explain once we catch up with the others.”

He moves to the side where the wall is and types something into an interface, causing the door to swing open. “Come with me!” He says, gesturing at them to follow. 

They stick together as they walk behind him cautiously, glancing at each other often and sharing looks of confusion. Tubbo remained quiet as they passed numerous caged rooms, the floors, walls and ceilings all made with the same white stone. The bright lights and clean smell still bothered Charlie as he squinted against the brightness, headache still present.

Eventually the three of them entered a smaller corridor that twisted and turned, and then after another minute they found themselves outside in what seemed to be a courtyard lined with trees and doorways to other parts of the building. The sky was overcast, the aura no different than what it was inside with the only exception being the lack of bright, overhead lights.

There were a few more people milling about, some of them much shorter than the others. Three of the taller figures approached Tubbo and one of them made Charlie surprised and Mariana sad.

Jaiden was talking with a skeleton man and another winged avian with light-yellow wings, the three of them wearing identical orange jumpsuits. Charlie hadn’t seen Jaiden for a while, so he was worried about her presence, unsure of why she was here. The other two seemed nice, but he made sure to stand close to Mariana just in case.

Charlie looked past them and stared at the smaller figures before gasping and realizing that they were eggs, all of them wearing oversized orange prison clothes. What were eggs doing here?

Before he could ask, the group approached Charlie and Mariana as they stood stiffly. Jaiden came forward first, looking much worse-for-wear than Charlie had ever seen her. 

“Hey Charlie. Mariana.” She says, voice monotone.

Mariana is frowning at her and giving her a look of ultimate pity. Jaiden is awkward under his gaze, and Charlie can’t help but feel like he’s missing some important context.

“Jaiden… what are you doing here?” 

Jaiden kicks some dirt. “Illegal investigation, I guess. I’m not a Federation worker anymore, so when I started investigating stuff around… Bobby’s death… I just… I looked into things I wasn’t allowed to see.”

Charlie’s eyes widened. “Bobby is dead?” He can hardly believe it.

Jaiden’s eyes are hollow and empty. It’s like looking in a mirror. “Yes. A code monster killed him.”

Mariana shakes his head and turns away, like he remembered it too. Tubbo, skeleton-man and yellow-wings all looked morose as the group stood silently. Jaiden eventually clears her throat and wipes away tears that started to form in the corners of her eyes. 

The new eggs approach the group, cautious and curious. There’s five in total and they all look wildly different from each other despite the matching orange jumpsuits.

Tubbo notices them and breaks the silence with a grin. “Ah! These are the eggs! Jaiden said that everyone has their own back home, and we got these guys a few days before Jaiden got here. Bit of an odd coincidence, huh?” He then proceeds to name each one, pointing them out as they wave or nod in acknowledgement. 

“This here is Richarylson!” The bigger of the eggs walks forward with a slight limp. They have big curly hair cascading over his face, his scales luminescent and a mixture of red, green, and yellow. He takes the hand of another egg with butterfly-esque wings combined with blue and red markings on her face with matching eyes. “That’s Pomme, and the other three are Sunny-” A smaller orange dragon with jagged wings adjusts their sunglasses, ”Empanada-” A friendly-looking, pale-yellow dragon waves, “And finally, Pepito!” The last dragon gives a welcoming smile, eyes a bright magenta-red.

Charlie blinks at the eggs and smiles uneasily at them, still unsure. The orange dragon, Sunny, seems the most curious of him out of the bunch and approaches him cautiously. He looks at them and they look back before her face breaks into a toothy grin and takes him by the hand. She leads him to the rest of the eggs and points at him, as if to ask him to introduce himself.

Even from this brief interaction, the way Sunny acts reminds him so much of Flippa it hurts. Mariana follows him and they look at each other as the eggs stare back at them.

“I’m, uh. I’m Charlie. This is Mariana. Mariana?” He waves a hand to her.

“Hola huevos.” He says awkwardly. Pepito’s eyes widen as he points at himself then back at Mariana excitedly. Mariana seems confused before asking, “¿Sabes español, pequeña? ¿Es eso lo que estás preguntando?” Pepito’s eyes widened even further before nodding rapidly and immediately going to Mariana, eager to have another person to talk to in a language he understood better. Mariana blinks in surprise but seems to be rather happy herself as he starts talking to the little egg some more.

Tubbo speaks up again, “We’ve been hoping for someone to get arrested to take in Pepito, honestly. There’s more kids than adults here and it gets a little tiring having only like, three of us to look after them.”

Charlie casts a bewildered look at him. “You were hoping- okay, y’know what, it’s weird that there’s eggs in prison at all. What did they even do? Get arrested for playing tag? Rob a toy store?”

The skeleton man shrugs. “Nothing. The Federation just gave them to us.” Yellow-wings nods, her propeller hat spinning slightly. 

Tubbo seems to notice Charlie’s additional confusion at the new people, so he introduces them next. “Wait! I never introduced you guys! These two lovely people are Missa and Baghera!” They both wave at the mention of their names. Charlie’s head is spinning a little with all the new names and faces, and it's reminiscent of the time he’d first arrived at La Ciudad del Sacapuntas. 

He shakes hands with them and they seem friendly enough so he relaxes a little. Charlie is hit with a sudden realization as he looks carefully at Missa. “Wait… you’re Missa? I think Phil mentioned you once or twice.”

Missa lights up. “Phil? Phil mentioned me? ¡Oh, eso es maravilloso! He has not forgotten me!” He beams, clapping.

Baghera laughs and pats his back. “Why would he?” 

“Oh, it has just been so long… but now we have more people. Now we can escape!” Missa exclaims cheerfully. Tubbo and Jaiden look alarmed. “Woah, Missa, shh!” Jaiden says, putting a hand over his mouth.

 They all look around as if someone had been watching them. A guard on one of the walls had been looking their way, but once they’d walked off they all let out a collective sigh.

“We can’t discuss it here!” Baghera exclaims. Missa gives an apologetic smile.

“Come with me, and we can explain our plan.” Tubbo whispers. He gestures to the group to follow after him and as Charlie hangs back to walk with Mariana (with Pepito riding on his shoulders), he speaks quietly to him.

“This is a lot to take in.” 

Mariana nods knowingly as Pepito rests his head on hers. “Yes. But they can help us escape. Get back to Flippa, get back home.”

‘And maybe explain this code monster stuff,’ he thinks to himself.

Charlie looks at the group ahead of them. Baghera was swinging Pomme along, Tubbo holding Sunny’s hand as she looked back at Charlie periodically, with Jaiden and Missa conversing amongst themselves as Richas walked with Empanada.

“I suppose we don’t have much of a choice then.” 

“Here it is! Secret bunker!” Tubbo says with a flourish, revealing the tiny damp room lit by a single torch on the wall. It was housed under a tree in the courtyard, dug there by someone who must’ve had the same idea as them long ago. A small safehouse that kept them out of view. 

The dirt walls had roughly drawn schematics and papers covering them, with a cramped wooden table somehow stuck in a corner. How it even got down here was anyone’s guess, and before Charlie could comment on it Tubbo proceeded to unravel a large rough drawing of what looked to be the prison layout.

“The plan has been me and Missa’s idea for a while, ever since we first got here. It’s taken a long time, but after we got Baghera, we’ve been able to make a real genuine escape plan!”

Baghera nods and steps forward. “I know the Federation. They have eyes everywhere, except one place!”

Missa chimes in. “The only place they would not look!”

“The sewers!” They all say together, far too cheerfully. Charlie cracked a grin. They must’ve practiced this.

“We managed to find a way down into the sewers a while ago, and we did try escaping once; but there’s a catch.” Tubbo finally says, pointing at the layout. 

Charlie and Mariana lean over and bump shoulders to take a better look. “There’s a barrier, one that leads to an abandoned portion of the Federation building we’re in right now. Baghera told us that the prison is only a small part of this whole place, and we have to navigate the sewers to escape. That barrier door and those rooms are our ticket out of here!”

“So what’s the issue? What happened the first time?” Charlie ponders.

Missa sighs and the eggs all seem to look guilty for a moment. “It was back when we first got the eggs. We only knew we could escape until after, and when we tried, the eggs could not keep up. We got captured.”

Baghera shivered and wrapped her wings around herself. “Solitary confinement was so cold…”

Pomme visibly becomes sheepish until Sunny pats her on the back as they sit together. Baghera sits by them both and gives Pomme a little hug as she looks at the ground guiltily. 

Tubbo clears his throat. “It was nobody’s fault, we know that. We just didn’t have enough of us to really have a chance, but with Jaiden, Mariana and Charlie, we can make sure everyone escapes!”

Mariana frowns. “What do you mean?”

“Well, each of us is gonna have to carry an egg. They can’t keep up on their own, especially when we have to start swimming and climbing. It’ll be easier that way.”

Charlie asks, “What else do we need to do? I mean, there’s no way it’ll be that easy. Like, what’s gonna happen once we get through the barrier?”

Tubbo scratches his head and seems unsure. “That’s the hard part… Baghera knows a lot more about the Federation than most of us, but even she hasn’t been down there.” Baghera frowns, eyes carrying a weight to them that Charlie couldn’t place. She rubbed a strange brand on her arm as she stared at the floor blankly.

“The most that we really know is we’re gonna need some codes. There’ll be a door we have to get through after that barrier, and I have two of them already!” He proclaims. “We have an idea of where it might be, and we’ll for sure need someone who’s really sneaky to get it. Someone who’s really good at slipping through gaps and such, someone small and nimble maybe. I would ask one of the eggs to do it but I… don’t want to risk it.”

Mariana glances at Charlie from the corner of her eye, but neither of them make any further comments. The slime knows that, if he could just get his code infection under control, he’d be able to get the code. He could be… useful again.

“But we haven’t had any luck yet. We’re gonna keep trying though, mark my words.” 

Jaiden, who had been leaning against a wall silently listening, finally asks, “How come Baghera knows so much about the Federation?” She asks it in a curious way, but Baghera still frowns at the question.

“I am an experiment. They told me things, I saw a lot, but then I didn’t cooperate…” Her accent reminds Charlie of Etoiles, and he’s surprised that he finds himself missing his fellow green man as he listens to Baghera. “So now I am here. This city you all talk about sounds… It sounds nice.” She says wistfully. Jaiden puts a hand on her shoulder. “You’re gonna love it there.” The two avians share a smile.

Tubbo claps his hands together. “I think that covers most of it! We should probably head out, before the guards get too suspicious. Plus I think it’s almost curfew time, so let’s get going!”

Charlie had plenty more questions, but he supposed he’d have to wait until tomorrow to get more answers.

They climb out of the room one by one, with Charlie and Mariana pulling each other up last. Pepito let go of Mariana to go with the other eggs, waving goodbye. 

“You like that egg huh?” Charlie asks kindly. Mariana smiles at him and nods.

Tubbo and Missa hang back to talk while the rest of the group walk back across the courtyard to the main building. 

“Hopefully you two lovebirds are up for this. We’ve been planning this for a while, minus Jaiden, so-” Tubbo starts to say.

Mariana sputters and Charlie can feel his brain do a spit-take. 

“We aren’t-”

“I’m not-”

Tubbo raises his eyebrows and Missa interjects, ignoring their attempts to explain. “Wow Mariana, I thought you would never get over Foolish. ¡Estoy orgulloso de ti!” He says teasingly.

Now it’s Charlie’s turn to be shocked as he slowly turns his entire body to stare directly at Mariana, whose face has become so flustered it looked like he’d suddenly suffered heatstroke.

“Bro, what? You were with- he was with-” Charlie says disbelievingly, pointing at Mariana, then Missa.

“They were together for one month!” He laughs. 

Tubbo chuckles. “Oh, I remember that. It was brutal to watch, honestly.” Mariana looks two seconds away from killing something, so Charlie side-steps away from the impending implosion. 

“That- that’s. Really something.” Charlie says carefully.

Missa almost doubles over from laughter, as if the memories and Mariana’s reaction were getting to him. Charlie doesn’t feel like asking anymore questions in front of Mariana at this point, so he resorts to standing in bewilderment as he nervously glances at her. 

Mariana finally speaks, voice full of regret. “It was nothing. Just a one time thing.”

“No, no I remember it being a lot worse than that. Missa, do you remember when Foolish tried giving him flowers that he was allergic to?”

Missa had finally recovered from his silent fit but then collapsed again, wheezing. “Yes, oh it was glorious! Haha!”

Mariana smacks a hand to his face and fumes with embarrassment. Charlie finally approaches her and gives her a few awkward pats on the back in an attempt to console him.

They make a few more jabs and comments before walking away, howling, and as Charlie leans in he whispers to her, “I would’ve never guessed you used to be with Foolish. I mean, I can kinda see it?”

Mariana looks up and gapes at him, humiliated. “You are not helping.”

Charlie laughs and wipes a fake tear from his eye. “Why didn’t you ever tell me dude! This is gold! Do you know how much teasing I would’ve been capable of? You’ve practically robbed me.”

“That is why I did not tell you!” She practically yells.

“You break my heart Mariana. I never knew you could be so cruel to deny a jokester such as myself such a perfect opportunity…” He says wistfully, holding a hand to his chest.

Mariana pushes him away as he snickers. “You are so annoying.”

They walk inside together and Charlie grabs him by the shoulders. “Oh, you know me. I try.”

She rolls her eyes at him, but the smile on her face is unmistakable. “I never thought we would have this again.”

The mood changes so suddenly it makes his head spin. “...Me neither.”

They’ve stopped in front of the door to their prison room and grin at each other for a moment before a guard comes around and interrupts the moment.

“Return to your cell.” The guard says in a monotone voice. They both shrug and enter, watching the guard close the door behind them.

“I guess this is gonna be our life for a while.” Charlie says finally after they’d retired to the bed. The lights had finally dimmed, which he was grateful for. Their blinding luminescence was starting to give him another wicked headache, which he was already trying to rub away with a palm against his forehead. 

Mariana was sitting against the bed rather than laying on it like they did before, as if he was awkward about it. She wasn’t going to admit to Charlie that the ‘love-birds’ comment had gotten to her a little bit.

“Yes… but we will get out.” Mariana says quietly.

“Only if I can become a slime again. I’m the one they need for this to get that code. I could get it just like that!” He says with a snap of his fingers. The sharp ache in his arm and neck were starting up again and he groaned a bit as he adjusted himself to try and ease the pain. He sighs. “But I can’t. I can’t do it anymore.”

“You will, you will figure it out. We will figure it out, mi amor.” Mariana says comfortingly, taking Charlie’s unscarred hand in his own. It was warmer without the gloves he usually wore.

Charlie looks at him tiredly, squeezing her hand gently. “What does ‘mi amor’ mean? I don’t think you’ve called me that before.” 

Mariana flushes but says nothing. Charlie desperately wanted to know, but he also didn’t want to assume. Whenever she was comfortable, he’d get his answer. In some ways he wasn’t ready to admit anything either. So they held hands and thought about things, saying nothing for a while. 

At some point, before everything, Charlie would've had anxiety over just thinking of touching Mariana. But after almost losing her to his exile, it felt as easy as breathing. 

He eventually breaks the silence between them. “I miss Flippa.”

“Me too.” Mariana replies. “She does forgive you, you know.”

Charlie sighs again. “I don’t know why she would. She’s… she’s a good kid. And she deserves a dad that doesn’t murder her best friend.”

Mariana holds his hand tightly and stares him straight in the eyes. “She forgave you. I forgive you. She misses you. I promised her I would get you back. Voy a cumplir esa promesa. I will keep it.”

The silence returns for a few minutes before Charlie turns onto his side, letting go of Mariana’s hand reluctantly. He closes his eyes. “You can lay next to me, you know. There’s- it’s okay.”

He hears Mariana rustle and inhale sharply. “Are you sure?”

Charlie sits up and looks at him, puzzled. “Weren’t we doing the same thing just this morning? Of course I’m sure. Get up here, man.” 

She looks bashful, carefully sitting and curling into a ball as she lays on top of their rather sad gray prison blanket. Mariana then firmly shuts his eyes as Charlie stares. 

“So like… Foolish, huh? That’s what you like?”

Immediately his dark eyes snap open and glare at him with no malice. He grins and smacks Charlie against his unharmed shoulder. “¡Cállate, eres tan molesto! ¡Gilipollas! You shut up!”

Charlie laughs loudly and pushes his hands away. “C’mon! You know I’m not gonna let it go! Just tell me why you liked Foolish, and I swear I’ll drop it.”

Mariana gives him a truly impressive side-eye. “You swear?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die, or whatever you humans say.” Charlie makes a vague motion which makes Mariana snort.

“Fine, you want to know so bad? It was a crush. That was all.” He says finally, covering his face like he usually did when mortified. “It wasn’t much. It fell apart easily, and we moved on.”

“Do you… regret it? How it ended?”

She rolls her eyes and huffs. “No. Never. I do not miss what we had.” Suddenly she acquires a very mischievous look. “How about you, eh?”

Charlie blinks. “What about me?”

“Did you like anyone?”

For a brief moment he feels his heart stop and his mind freeze. His mouth opens and closes before he speaks, mouth strangely dry. “Uh… not… in the past.” 

‘You like someone now, though’ the ever annoying ever present little voice in his mind says. He mentally punches that voice in the face.

Mariana seems incredibly disappointed. “Nobody? Really?”

“Nope. No juicy drama from this slime.” 

He looks so disheartened by the news that he wouldn’t have any way to get back at Charlie that he almost pities him. “I mean, if you’re looking for something interesting about me, my father made me kill my siblings in ritual combat to see who was the strongest.”

Mariana stares at him for so long with such a worried face it makes him regret ever opening his mouth. He really meant it in a light-hearted way, but it clearly did not go over well. She holds him by the shoulders, more tender with his hurt one, and says slowly. “Charlie. What.”

He laughs nervously. “Sorry- I thought, y’know, I’d try to uh, to make light of something that happened and… okay maybe it wasn’t the best topic for a joke.” 

Mariana shakes his head. “Are you okay?”

“What? No! I mean yes! I’m… I’m sorry, that really killed the mood.” He says sadly. Mariana opens her arms for a hug and Charlie scoots into it. It’s nice, he thinks.

“Lamento que te haya pasado a ti. I am sorry.”

Charlie sniffs. “I should be the one that’s sorry. You have to deal with all my crap.”

“I want to help you.”

He almost pushes himself away. “I don’t get why, though. I haven’t done anything for you to deserve it. I’ve given nothing in return…”

“You have, you always did. You care about me. That is more than most have ever done.” ¿Cuándo entenderás lo mucho que me importa?”

The slime folds his arms around Mariana and buries his face into his chest. “I think you’re too forgiving, Mariana.”

“And you are too ¡irritante!” She says jokingly. “You are my family. I don’t make the rules.”

Charlie chuckles, then sighs contentedly. “You kinda do. You own the house.”

“Yes… but we live together.”

“Alright, you win.” He says finally, closing his eyes and enjoying the comfort they share. “But I’m definitely doing all the housework when I get back.” 

Mariana sighs too. “Fine.”

A few hours pass, and while Mariana eases into semi-relaxed sleep, Charlie remains awake. He fought against fatigue and while he did his best to rest, he ended up tossing and turning in an attempt to get comfortable but ultimately failed. Plus, it seemed to be bothering Mariana as he slept, so Charlie decided to stay as still as possible while she snoozed beside him.

Occasionally his eyes would slip shut, but then he’d get a burst of pain and try shifting again or he’d stare at the ceiling, the walls, Mariana. Nothing really helped, but he didn’t mind it as much as he thought he would. He hadn’t been this calm in days.

At some point he felt Mariana shift, and as he opened his eyes to glance at him in the dim light noticed that he was in some sort of distress, face contorted in pain. 

“No…” Her words are laced with fear, and Charlie turns his whole body to look at her.

“Déjalo en paz, llévame... Llévame a mí en su lugar.” He says it with such desperation, shaking in his sleep as he seemingly begs for something. “No… take me… instead…”

At this point Charlie has him by the shoulders and has begun gently calling her name. “Mariana, Mariana can you hear me?” 

Tears have started trickling down his face which alarms him as he begins to shake her awake. “Mariana!”

Mariana gasps and bolts upright which makes Charlie let go, watching as he heaves and takes big gulps of air. His eyes shimmer with tears, red and wide with grief.

“Charlie…?”

He cautiously moves closer as he sits up, sliding an arm around her side in a half-arm hug. She shudders but loses the tension as she takes deep breaths. 

“Nightmare?” Charlie asks carefully, studying Mariana’s face closely. He inhales and closes his eyes as he wipes at them. “Yes… just a nightmare.”

“Do you wanna talk about it?” 

Mariana shakes his head and moves to lay down flat on his back, which Charlie copies. “No, it was- I am okay now.”

Charlie tilts his head at him but doesn’t press it. It must’ve been a touchy subject with how fragile Mariana still seems. To his surprise, she moves closer to him and holds him around the middle, ducking her head under his. He hugs back. It seemed like he really needed it.

“You don’t have to talk about it, I get it. I’m definitely no stranger to bad dreams…” 

“It was about you.”

Hardly hearing him Charlie almost misses it due to how quiet and muffled he sounded. “Really?”

Mariana nods stiffly, still not looking at him. 

Charlie isn’t sure what to say, so they hold each other until eventually, slowly, both of their eyes slip shut and finally, they get the rest they’d both been missing.

Chapter Text

The next day they find themselves both well-rested to their combined relief. Mariana still didn’t seem keen on talking about his nightmare, and Charlie didn’t want to pry, so they left it at that. Like most things.

Things progressed as normally as they could, for prison anyway. They were made to do mandated things such as art or chores, but they weren’t as bad as he expected.

After lunch (where the guards watched them in case they shared food, which was a bit excessive in Charlie’s opinion), he and Mariana decided to go to the courtyard and lean against a tree and enjoy just… being together again. The first day in prison was a hectic one, but now all they had to do was wait for the plan to come to fruition. 

A certain somebody sees them from afar. Tubbo approaches the two of them laughing amongst themselves with a smirk on his face.

Mariana immediately narrows his eyes at Tubbo's mischievous expression and Charlie side-eyes her, almost sensing where this conversation was about to go.

“Hey fellas! How’re things going over here?” The bee-hybrid says cheerfully.

“It’s going, I guess. Any luck with that last code?” Charlie asks as he fiddles with his shirt absentmindedly.

“Not yet. But we’re making good progress on getting to it…” Tubbo replies, unsure. Charlie won’t admit how hard he’s been trying to turn back into his slime form, but with the progress he’s been making, he was hoping at the very least by tonight that he could get it for them. Only Mariana had seen him try so far, and it was getting to be painful for the both of them.

Just as Mariana had started to become less suspicious of the conversation topic, Tubbo immediately regains his shit-eating grin. Baghera, who had been observing from afar, decided to join in as well. Charlie braces himself.

“So, you guys really aren’t together? That’s wild. Thought it was like a Fit and Pac situation, y’know? Mariana, c’mon, you know what I’m talking about.”

Charlie raises his eyebrows. “Pac?” He recognized Fit’s name, but didn’t remember meeting Pac.

“Aw damn you didn’t meet him huh? Well, they’ve had a ‘will we won’t we’ for like, forever. Or maybe they don’t anymore, it’s been months since I’ve seen them. Richas constantly bugs me to tell him all about them, it’s kinda funny, actually- but anywho, they got a lot of…” Tubbo vaguely gestures to the both of them, “ That going on..” He says this all rather quickly and it takes Charlie a moment to process.

Mariana is smiling but it doesn’t match his eyes, which are narrowed and reaching dangerous levels of irritation. Charlie almost leans in and sees her jaw clench. He was a little scared, he had to admit. 

Baghera is grinning at the conversation, clearly amused. “Tubbo is right. You two are very sweet.”

Tubbo scoffs. “Hey, I never said they were sweet . It’s kinda gross, if you ask me.” He’s smiling as he says it.

Baghera shrugs and shoves her hands into her jumpsuit pockets. “We should check on the eggs, Tubbo. Leave them alone.”

He sighs dramatically but relents and leaves Mariana and Charlie to stare at each other awkwardly. Charlie laughs nervously to hopefully break the tension between them. “Well that was…”

“Stupid.” Mariana states, grimacing at the awkwardness of it all.

“That’s one word for it, yeah.”

“Hey, Charlie!” Jaiden says, running over to him. 

Charlie had been standing in a hallway after their mandated ‘Psychological Evaluation’ time, which had left him rather disturbed. He’d been staring blankly at the wall as he waited for Mariana to finish his allotted time with the ‘psychologist’ (who was really just a guard that had taken to threatening them repeatedly) as Jaiden stopped in front of the slime.

“What’s up Jaiden?” He says, closing his eyes to try indiscreetly practicing his slime form again.

“I know we’ve been busy with planning and everything, but I just… I wanted to apologize. Or, I dunno, just… admit some things.”

He cracks an eye to look at her carefully and he sees the look of guilt ridden all over her face.

“I haven’t been trustworthy with everyone. I thought I was doing what was best, for us, for the eggs, for my son…”

He immediately sympathizes with her. “I think we all did things we didn’t mean and I’m trying to come to terms with the things I did, too. It doesn’t feel like it’ll ever get easier, but… we have people that care a lot about us. They want us to keep going.” Charlie barely believed his own words. He knew what he’d done wasn’t worthy of forgiveness, but it seemed like Jaiden needed to hear it regardless. 

She smiles sadly and nods.

He goes quiet for a moment, but then Jaiden goes to stand next to him and pulls him into a hug. He accepts and they both share a moment of kinship. “I’m really sorry.” She says finally.

“I’m sorry too.”

Jaiden moves away to look at him fully, and the guilt combines with discomfort in her eyes. “I’ve told the others already, but I found things out about the Federation I shouldn’t have seen. I feel like, out of everyone, you deserve to know the truth.”

Charlie remembers a faint nighttime memory. “The things you talked to about Quackity that night, right?”

“How- how do you know about that?” She asks, hushed.

“Eavesdropped.” He replies simply.

“Well that certainly explains a lot.” She laughs slightly then gathers herself as she continues.

“Anyways… what I saw was what Tubbo and the others already knew when I arrived. The eggs are experiments, and those eggs we found were made at that place, the one we went on that mission for. I think Juanaflippa was too, but she got stolen before they could use her for anything. Without her, or you, I don’t think we would’ve ever managed to find the other eggs and save them from that place.”

Charlie blinks at her, not sure how to reply.

Jaiden takes a deep breath. “I guess what I’m saying is… thank you.” 

“Wait, what? Why are you thanking me?” Charlie asks, bewildered by the sudden switch.

“Because if you hadn’t stayed behind to take care of her in that cave, if you hadn’t done what you did when you discovered her, none of this would’ve happened. We wouldn't have found out about… everything the Federation was doing.”

Charlie stands and processes what she said. 

The eggs being experiments made more sense than anything, but it didn’t answer the most important question; why did they do it? What did the Federation gain from all of this?

“But why did the Federation even make the dragon eggs?” He asks, translating his thoughts into words.

“I feel like the only person that could answer that would be Baghera. She’s an experiment too, maybe she saw some things.” Jaiden ponders.

“Damn, that’s right.”

Jaiden scratches her head as she thinks. “She hasn’t described much of her time with the Federation, and honestly I don’t blame her.” She pauses. “You can ask her about it, but I’m not sure what you’ll really gain from it.”

Charlie frowns to himself. “I guess it’s just my way of trying to make sense of it all. Of why anything happened, and maybe deep down it can… I don’t know, make me feel better about what I did. You get what I mean?”

She nods her head, ear-wings waving. “So you think getting more answers might help with the guilt?” 

Charlie sighs quietly. “Man, I don’t know. Probably not. But maybe figuring it all out can help us put an end to this.”

Jaiden seems hopeful for a moment as she replies. “Do you really think so?”

“Once I ask Baghera, maybe…”

Before she goes to leave, she turns and looks at him one more time. “I really do mean it when I say thank you, you know. A lot of us really believed in the Federation, including me. If we hadn’t found you and Flippa that day, who knows where any of us would be right now? Or the eggs? Maybe it’s like you said, maybe we can put an end to this.”

“Maybe…” Charlie can’t help but feel a bit hopeful himself. “I’ll see you around, then.”

“See you Charlie!” Jaiden says with a wave as Charlie turns to see Mariana walking up to him. Maybe there was a way. A way everything could finally be fixed. Where everything could be normal again.

Days had passed, and nobody was any closer to getting the last code; which naturally had to be at the top of a large tower deeper within the prison, connected to several hallways each with their own guards. When Charlie had learned about that, he could only shake his head; of course it had to be harder than necessary. Weren’t they all just so lucky?

The walls of the structure were cracked and the ground was easily accessible when the group investigated it together, almost to the point it made Charlie itch with the idea of being able to slip through easily and get what they needed to escape. 

He’d tried, day and night, and was only able to semi-liquify his limbs much to Mariana’s dismay. At one point he’d been able to turn half of his face into slime, which disturbed her so badly it made him want to stop altogether. When he’d finally managed to find a mirror he realized that his human appearance, apparently, did not merge too well with his slime form, and it looked like one half had melted into the other like some strange wax figure.

Despite the agony it caused him it would be worth it. He forced himself through the pain, desperately trying to get back what he lost, but after several hours of trying and failing to fully revert to his slime form he had to give in. 

It seemed like whatever strange ‘code infection’ he had, as Baghera and Tubbo had called it on occasion, was not only permanent but seemed to keep him in a suspended state that wouldn’t allow him to turn back into a full slime. 

The thought depressed him, and on the fourth day of their incarceration, he chose to hide from everyone under his and Mariana’s shared prison bed. She had offered to help massage the pain out of his arm and shoulder, hoping to make him feel better, but Charlie turned him away so he could be alone.

He’s been a slime his whole life, only deciding to become human in appearance for the people he’d met, and now he couldn’t even turn back to what he was supposed to be. It hurt too much, and he’d tried so hard to be met with failure that it made him feel like one. What could he even do now? It’s not like he could fight or sneak or do anything substantial for the escape plan, and now his greatest ability had been reduced to almost nothing.

He only perks up once he hears small footsteps approach the room and come up to the bed, tiny claws getting down on all-fours and an orange-scaled face peeking under the bed to look at him. He widens his eyes at Sunny, who is now looking at him intensely from behind their sunglasses.

“Um.” He says simply, unsure of what to say to the egg. Sunny had taken an odd fascination with him, and as scared as he is of interacting with the baby dragons again after… everything, she still seemed rather intent on following him around.

He was positive everyone already knew what he’d done, including Sunny. He’d seen the way they looked at him after Jaiden had informed them of it, and how they’d hold their respective eggs closer to themselves whenever he approached. It stung, but he could only keep to himself and respect their wishes.

Sunny crawls under and hands him a note, but due to how squished it is under the bed he decides to just remove himself from his position and sit cross-legged on the ground next to it. He opens the folded note and reads their scratchy handwriting.

‘What are you doing… are you moping or something?’

“Hey! I’m not moping, I’m just- I’m brooding, okay? Can’t I brood in peace?”

Sunny gives him a judgemental frown then thinks long and hard before writing some more. ‘I just wanted to ask if you and Baghera could help me.’

They get up and help pull him up as well in spite of his reluctance. Sunny takes him by his clawed hand, cautiously, and drags him along to find Baghera. 

“What do you need my help for? Isn’t Tubbo your dad or whatever? Can’t he help you?”

Sunny just raises an eyebrow at him which doesn’t help his confusion in the slightest. The little egg just gestures at him to stand and follow her, taking one of his clawed fingers in her own smaller one as she tugged him to walk.

He wonders what the little dragon even needs him and Baghera for. Baghera he could understand, she was definitely more competent than him.

As Sunny pulled him along despite his best judgment, his mind wandered to the last conversation he’d had with her. Following Jaiden’s advice, he went to ask her about her time as an experiment and why the Federation made her and the eggs; what she’d told him made him stay awake that night.

She was obviously upset about her experiences, so she merely stated that the eggs and the code monsters were, from what she could gather, made for different purposes. The eggs were made for something important, something the Federation needed to exist, while she and the code monsters were made for retrieving the eggs in case they were ever found and stolen. 

At one point she’d noticed an egg, completely white and desaturated in coloration, be used for some kind of odd test. The egg was placed in a tube and something was siphoned from the air around them, which caused them great pain. Whatever was siphoned made machines and lights glow with energy, but in turn made the little dragon exhausted. Charlie could only wonder what it meant… but Baghera didn’t even seem to know herself. 

Baghera then began to have a harder time remembering the events, saying how she tried escaping several times and missed what happened before she broke out and was subsequently captured, landing her in the prison due to her lack of cooperation and desire to work with the Federation.

“I have been here ever since, and now? I wish to see the city you all love so much.” She had said hopefully, and Charlie reassured her hopes with good memories of his time there and it lifted her spirits. 

It made him think (more than usual, he might add); sure, he knew for a fact that the eggs were created, but why? ‘Why’ was the question running laps around his head, and he knew it wouldn’t leave him until he got to the bottom of it. But he wasn’t exactly a detective, so he could only wonder endlessly about the why with no way of getting it. 

“Oh- Sorry Sunny!” Charlie blurts, nearly tripping over her. Sunny puts their hands out to balance themselves and gives him a scowl, and once again he finds himself reminded of Flippa. Ignoring the pain in his heart he bends over to look Sunny over, just in case he’d accidentally hurt her. She swatted his leg in revenge and he laughed. “Ow! Okay, okay, I deserved that.”

Now removed from his thoughts he watches Sunny continue pulling him along by his pant leg until they enter a larger room with a few old tables and chairs. Gray light filters through pristine windows and scattered dust particles swirl through the air as they approach Baghera at the far end of the room. 

“Charlie! Sunny!” The avian beckons them over and Sunny skips over. Charlie walks at a leisurely pace as he watches them both with an amused expression. They both wore odd expressions that he couldn’t place the origin of.

“So Sunny, what was it you needed us for?” Charlie asks. Baghera doesn’t seem as confused, more expectant than anything. 

‘To get the code!’

He frowns. “What, the code? Like, you mean- the code?”

Sunny nods enthusiastically while Baghera watches them both casually.

His frown deepens and his brow furrows. “Uh, we’re not doing that. Sunny, you’re an egg, we can’t let you put yourself in danger like that! Remember what Tubbo said?”

They roll their eyes at him like she’s heard this spiel a hundred times. Charlie diverts his attention to Baghera, who still seems unconcerned.

“Baghera? You’re okay with this?”

She shrugs. “We talked to Tubbo and he said it was okay. Sunny made a good plan, and we will protect her. Plus, the guards won’t hurt an egg.”

Charlie clenches his fist. “You're willing to bet that?”

Baghera rephrases, holding up her hands in defense. “ We won’t let them hurt her.”

“But- okay, but why me? I’m sure literally anyone else would be a good option in, y’know, protecting an egg!” He says, wringing his hands. “I mean, you guys know what I’ve done…” He feels like a broken record as he says it. Baghera grimaces at him as if it hurts her just to hear him say it out loud.

Charlie gives Sunny a nervous look and steps away from them as they look back at him sadly. Despite his protests she approaches him anyway and gives his leg a hug, being the only part of him they can properly reach.

Baghera sighs. “I promised Mariana I would not tell you, but… Eh, Je suis sûr qu'il n'y verra pas d'inconvénient. ”

“Wait.” Charlie is hit with realization. “Was this Mariana's idea?”

‘And mine!’ Sunny writes, puffing out their chest.

“Alright, and Sunny’s- but it still doesn’t explain, why?”

Sunny tugged on his leg to get his attention, handing him another paper.

‘Me and Mariana saw you were sad, so we thought getting you to help with the code thing would help you stop being all mopey.’

Charlie genuinely didn’t know what to say to that. 

“You don’t have to join us. But we could use your help.” Baghera says finally, after noticing Charlie’s sudden quiet. He snaps his head up and lets out a short sigh.

“You guys asked for my help, so y’know what? I’ll help. What’s the worst they can even do to us when we fail, right?” He says with a hollow chuckle. 

“Don’t you mean if?” Baghera asks gently, uncertain.

He laughs again and doesn’t reply. Baghera and Sunny share concerned glances but don’t comment on it further.

“So, Sunny, what’s this grand plan of Mariana and yours?” Charlie asks as he kneels at her level. Sunny makes a motion as if to clear their throat before pulling out a long sheet of pre-written paper from her jumpsuit pocket. He takes it and reads it over, noting the change in handwriting.

‘There are several hallways into the tower where the code is. All we need to do is find the place where it’s written and write it down for ourselves, then get out. Baghera and Charlie will protect Sunny as she slips into the tower, which is guarded with bars instead of doors or windows (that's what Jaiden said) They can be slipped through, but only by Sunny who is small enough to fit. She will have to look for it while you two stand guard. BY THE WAY, this is from Tubbo!! I see you reading this, so DON’T LET SUNNY GET HURT OR-’

The rest of the paper is filled with lots of threats against the reader's well-being which makes Charlie stop reading. He gulped and handed the paper back to Sunny who beams at him. Baghera gives him a thumbs up, and as they begin to make their way back through the door and towards their destination, he starts to feel regret filling his entire being. This was a terrible idea. Why did Mariana and Sunny think him to be competent enough for this?

“SUNNY? YOU SHOULD PROBABLY HURRY UP IN THERE!” He yells, half-shoved through the bars of the tower entrance and regretting everything.

His form had become half-solid but malleable enough to squeeze through the bars in an attempt to get in, but the pain became too much and he was forced in-between and subsequently stuck.

After Baghera had stopped laughing at him to start fighting off some guards who’d heard the commotion, he’d focused entirely on Sunny, who had darted off into the tower and hadn’t appeared since. He had resigned to his fate of being stuck in the stupid bars as he yelled after the egg, hoping they’d show up soon so they could all get out of here.

A guard slips past Baghera and grabs Charlie’s leg, causing him to yelp as he’s pulled back through the bars. His shoulders catch and he clangs against them, causing him to curse at himself, the guard, and the universe for putting him in this situation. 

He kicks the guard in the head and sends them reeling, and eventually Charlie forces himself to liquify the lower half of his body just enough to escape and free himself. 

He almost wept with joy from being freed until realizing he was on the inside of the tower, now unable to get out. He’s hit with immediate dismay as he yanks at the bars, trying to pry them apart or squeeze himself back through to get out.

“BAGHERA!” He yells, and she comes around the corner with a guard in a head-lock. Her eyes widen as she sees him on the other side.

“Charlie?! How did you-”

“I don’t even know! I tried to get out, and I did, but then-” He gestures wildly to his predicament.

Baghera almost looks like she’s about to burst out laughing again until he gives her the best pleading face he can manage, begging to be let out. She tries to pry the bars open, but has little luck.

Eventually Sunny comes rushing up a flight of stairs that were behind Charlie, covered in dust and kicking up rocks as she holds up the paper with the code on it. She had something else written on a separate paper, but Charlie was too worried about his predicament to read it.

“Good job Sunny! Keep that safe with you, okay?” He says quickly and she complies. He then pushes them out through the bars and onto the other side, and Sunny looks alarmed as he does so. 

She points at him then to the outside as Baghera grapples another guard behind them, nonverbally asking why he was now inside the tower through gestures.

“Uh, well- okay, I got stuck.” Sunny slaps a hand to her forehead in exasperation. “Hey, it’s not like I meant to!” 

Baghera pants as she runs over to them and tries moving the bars again. “Charlie, you need to get out of there!” 

He grumbles as he tries to move them himself, shaking them in frustration. “I know, I know! I’ve been trying!”

“Just do what you did before, slip through again!”

He swallows. “Yeah but- but- I got stuck when I did it the first time! It’s not gonna work again!”

Sunny reaches a fist through the bar and shakes his pant leg. He looks down at the little dragon’s fierce expression. He didn’t need any words to understand; he had to try anyway. Whether he liked it or not.

“Okay. I’ll try, but you two aren’t gonna like this.”

He takes in a deep breath and focuses as much as he can on being slime, and he feels his arms and legs wobble and instinctively turn to goo. He feels the skin on his face slip into the slime underneath, the code scars flaring in pain at his attempt. Gritting his teeth he begins to try sliding through the bars and he succeeds, albeit with more pain than he’d like.

Charlie opens his eyes to see Baghera and Sunny both staring at him like he’d grown a few extra eyeballs. 

He tries not to feel too self-conscious as his skin reforms and the solidity of his limbs returns, so he urges them forward. “C’mon! We need to get out of here before they find out!”

They step over the incapacitated guards in their haste as Baghera mutters, “I think they know already.” 

Sunny presses the other paper she had written on into Charlie’s hand, and he puts it in his pocket without a second thought. They could hear guards behind them and they moved faster, running down the hall as quickly as they could.

Once they get far away enough they scatter, which wasn’t in the plan but made sense to do anyway. Baghera took Sunny to find Tubbo, and Charlie ran back to his room in the hopes none of the guards would catch him. 

After he catches his breath, sitting on the bed, he eventually sees a guard pass by the open door of his cell. They say nothing and keep walking, and he lets out a large sigh.

He smiles to himself, before he laughs out loud. “Oh gods, I can’t believe we even did that.”

‘And made it out alive,’ he thinks but doesn’t dare say out loud. Better not jinx it.

Charlie looks to the ceiling as he lays on his back, hoping to relax before he makes a self-realization. He’d finally done it; while not perfectly, he’d managed to actually become semi-slime again. 

Maybe he wouldn’t be able to become a full slime like he used to be, but he’d made some real progress. He helped , even if it hadn’t felt like much. 

For the first time in days he’d felt real, genuine pride for himself, even if it was fleeting. He was definitely going to make this up to Mariana later, he thinks. And Sunny too. He then remembers the little paper she’d given him, and he pulls it out to read it.

‘There’s another way out’

It’s scribbled and hard to decipher due to the speed they’d written it, desperate to get the information across. He puts it back in his pocket and ruminates on it. 

Another way out? 

He shook his head. They had the codes and the plan, so their main method of escape should suffice. Charlie smiles to himself.

They could finally escape. If Sunny was able to get the code to Tubbo, they could finally get out of this place and get back home, possibly by tomorrow. The thought of going home and getting back to Flippa filled him with hope. 

“We’ll be back soon, Flippa. Just wait for us.” He whispers, wishing everything would go well. They would get out. Everything would be okay.

“It’s this way guys! We’re almost there!”

The group trudged through knee-high water, hiking up their feet as much as they could to keep moving quickly through the tunnels. The guards were catching up and they were running out of time. 

“There! There it is!” Missa shouts, urging everyone to the barrier. It was a huge dark iron door with a small interface on the wall next to it, and the door itself encompassed the width of the entire tunnel. 

Charlie was at the very back with Jaiden and Sunny, and before they could turn the corner where the door was in view, they heard splashing as Sunny fell from the ladder they had to climb from to get down into the sewer tunnel. All of the eggs had trouble with it; it was slippery and the scales on their claws would cause them to slide if they weren’t on the shoulders of one of the adults.

Sunny had fallen off and landed in the water, struggling to get up. Three guards had begun descending the ladder right after them, each with batons. How Sunny had managed to get so far back in the group Charlie couldn’t spend time theorizing about as he grabbed the little orange dragon by the arm. She kept a claw on her sunglasses to keep them on as he swung them around.

“SUNNY!” Charlie yells, pivoting sharply. He sprints through the water, spraying it everywhere as he scoops them up and places them on his shoulders. Jaiden had stayed behind and flapped her wings urgently. “Hurry guys! I think Tubbo got the door open!”

As they make it around the corner, they see the rest of the group already running through to the other side with Tubbo feverishly pressing buttons on a different interface on the other side of the door. He looks up and sees them. “Hurry guys! I can’t keep this door open forever, it’s on some- stupid- argh!” He hits the interface with his fist in frustration. “It’s on a timer! I thought it would just stay open-”

As if the door itself had heard him, it slowly started to close. Tubbo then immediately diverted every ounce of his attention to the interface, with the rest of the group calling to them to hurry.

Charlie rushed forward, hoping to reach the door in time so he could at least get Sunny through. She clenched the side of his head with her claws and curled her tail around his shoulders to stay on as he sloshed through the water with Jaiden close behind.

The guards, freakishly fast despite the water, managed to get right behind Charlie in his single-minded pursuit of the door. He whipped around just as he got hit with the baton directly in his stomach and he stumbled as he held his ground. 

Furious, he catches the baton in his code infected claw as they swing again and he wrenches it out of their hands before kicking them. The guard recovers quickly, and as they circle each other, waiting for the other to make the first punch, Jaiden comes rushing in with a well-placed strike to the side of the blank-faced guard.

The remaining two guards approached, one wielding a baton and the other holding a strange metal object, rectangular in shape and hand-held. Jaiden’s face turned to horror at the sight of it, and it made Charlie incredibly nervous. Whatever it did must’ve been bad.

“Charlie! Sunny!” She practically screams, hand outstretched in an attempt to stop it.

The guard raises the weapon and fires, the sound forcing Charlie to clap his hands over his ears. It misses and hits the half-closed metal door, ricocheting and embedding a small hole into it. His eyes widen in fear, and without a second thought he rushes the door as Jaiden turns and begins to fight off the two guards.

Another shot rings out, but he isn’t able to turn and see what happened. Time seems to slow down as the door closes, slow enough to seem helpful but just fast enough to be agonizing as each step brings him closer. 

And with most things in his life, his luck runs out at the worst moment. He feels himself almost break into hysterics as he smashes a fist into the door, a resounding clang telling him he’d failed. The barrier was inaccessible. 

Jaiden had just taken the two guards out as she held her arm gingerly as blood poured from a grazed wound. 

“What the hell was that thing?” He gasps. She grimaces. “They’re called guns. Only Federation workers are allowed to have them.”

“Fuck. What are we supposed to do now?” Charlie says, voice shaking,

Jaiden sighs defeatedly, but before she responds Sunny smacks the side of Charlie’s face to get his attention. He’d almost forgotten he was still carrying them on his shoulders.

“What is it, Sunny? You’re not hurt, are you?” He sets her down, and she shakes her head before pointing at him, then the ceiling as if to indicate above ground. Sunny then pulls out a wad of wet papers and throws them down, frustrated, once they’d realized they can’t use them. She then attempts to try mimicking something with her hands. 

“Wait, okay. You’re… forming… a rectangle with a triangle on top?” She sighs in frustration before gesturing to her hands, as if to write something. 

“Are you asking if I have paper? Hold on.” Charlie pats his pockets and feels a small note, the same one she’d given him the day before. He glances over it before feeling his eyes widen at the words.

‘There’s another way out’

“Wait… Sunny, you wrote this! Yesterday! In the tower!” He yells, waving it around.

Sunny nods excitedly and wags their tail. 

“Jaiden! Jaiden, we have another way out! I think Sunny found an exit in the tower yesterday, when we got the last code! If we make our way there, maybe she can show us the exit.”

Jaiden lights up. “Let’s hurry, before more guards show up!” 

She picks up the gun left over from the guard as well as some little metal things they had stored in their belt before they begin running to the ladder again. Jaiden takes the lead, gun in hand, and waves a hand at them once she’d concluded the coast was clear.

They moved silently through the prison, doing their best not to make a single sound. Charlie was clumsier than usual, kicking over a can or rock and nearly tripping both times before they’d managed to make it to the tower again. 

“Oh no. The bars.” He said quietly, his hopes sinking like a stone.

They were still firmly in place, and there was no way Jaiden could get through them. Charlie didn’t even know if he could manage to slip through them again. He set Sunny down, overwhelmed with a sudden feeling of acceptance about his situation. Even if he couldn’t make it, at least one of them could.

“Sunny, go through the bars like you did before, get out of here before more guards arrive. Try and find the others.”

They cling to him, looking at him through her sunglasses with wide, frightful eyes. She always tried to look so confident, but she was still a kid.

He gave her a hug for what felt like the last time. “Go, hurry. Don’t try to argue about it. I won’t let you get hurt, do you understand?”

Sunny nods, wiping the tears that had started to appear in the corners of their eyes. They had just started to walk through the bars right as Jaiden yells, “There’s more guards coming! It looks like a lot!”

Charlie closes his eyes, and inhales. The sense of peace overwhelms his mind, and as he goes to stand he sees Sunny trying to pry open one of the bars. “Sunny, what are you doing?! You need to go!”

She points at the bottom of the bar, and it's loose. He gapes at it before glancing over his shoulder to see Jaiden shooting at some of the guards.

“JAIDEN! Hurry!” He yells at her, and she looks back. “This bar is loose! We can get out of here!”

Charlie immediately works on prying the bar from its place, using all his strength. His code arm twitches and twists and he yelps from the sudden pain, but then it becomes suddenly numb as the bar moves. It jitters in place as he yanks it, and he grits his teeth as he pulls one more time. A burst of strength from his arm rips it out of place. 

“Holy-” He starts to say before Jaiden comes in from behind, shooting more of the guards coming in. 

“GoodjobCharlielet’sgo!” She says quickly, and they run through the opening. Charlie clenches the metal bar in his hand, prepared to use it as a weapon. 

He gets a chance when, as they descend, he hits a rushing guard in the chest. The strength of his swing makes them fall and slide several feet away, struggling to get up.

As they run through an old tunnel snaking its way under the prison, deeper and deeper, the guards keep coming from behind despite their best efforts. Eventually Jaiden ran out of bullets and Charlie dropped his bar by accident, and they both looked at each other in acknowledgement.

One of them would have to hold the guards back if Sunny would ever have a chance of getting out alive.

As another bullet flew past their heads and hit the stone wall next to them, Jaiden’s face set in a firm and quiet acceptance, an expression he’d worn not even a few minutes ago. She gives Charlie a look so genuine, so honest, and he doesn’t know what to make of it.

“Charlie…”

“No, Jaiden, no, don’t say it. We’re all getting out of this place, we’re going to live.” He says firmly, holding her by the shoulder.

She’s still nursing her injured arm, which had managed to stop bleeding eventually.

“Charlie, please. Take Sunny, take her and go.”

Frustrated, he pushes her ahead of him. “NO! No, let me Jaiden, let me do this, I can’t let you- I won’t- you can fly, you can save Sunny!”

She shakes her head, opening a wing to reveal a bullet-hole had pierced it. Bright red blood was scattered across her iridescent blue wings. She takes a single feather, and hands it to Charlie, who looks at her with a mixture of horror, anguish, pain. Jaiden seemed to smile, and he stared at her, soaking it in. He had no idea if he’d ever see her again. Some part of him knew he wouldn’t.

“Take care of Roier for me. Please.” She says, voice wobbling. Charlie’s face is coated with silent tears, and Sunny hugs her with as much strength as she can muster. 

Before he can protest, another gunshot echoes throughout the tunnel. She runs towards it, picking up a broken pipe off the dusty ground. 

Her wings flare, a bright beacon of color in the bleakness. She doesn’t look back, but Charlie does as he scoops Sunny up once more and sees her attack one of the unlucky guards attempting to intercept her.

He runs like he’d never run before, huffing and puffing as he carries Sunny in his arms. The tears haven’t stopped, and he tried to wipe them away as he made his way through a labyrinth of hallways and rooms, all abandoned. 

Charlie tried to recall the layout of the prison Tubbo had made, and he vaguely remembered this area being part of the way out. It was dark, cold, and had a strange musty smell as he sped-walked down winding, crumbling hallways. His vision was blurred from grief and he had no idea where he was going as he turned this way and that, hoping for some sort of divine intervention to grant him a small bit of luck.

The ever familiar sense of dread fills his mind, and he looks around at the dark, empty doorways lining the hallway. 

He slows his walking, instinctively moving quieter. Whatever he senses, Sunny seems to notice it as well as they bristle slightly. Neither of them make a sound, and as he rounds another corner, he hears sounds from two separate directions.

One sounded like his friends, familiar voices echoing in the distance. Another sounded like a low growl, and was much, much closer. 

Charlie turned his head slowly in the direction of the growling, towards an empty, pitch-black doorway. Dark claws reached out from the darkness, illuminated only slightly by the bright green streaks running up and down the length of the slowly emerging beast. 

It was a code monster, but one that was much bigger, its form almost taking up the entire length and width of the hallway. It was much more dragon-like in appearance and its empty face’s only feature was a long snout and crooked maw, which opened and leaked bioluminescent green liquid. 

The monster came into full view, and its skeletal system glowed the same sickly green, making it visible through its pitch-black skin. It walked on all fours and had an arched back with two, malformed wings sprouting from it. 

Above all, the most notable feature was its smell. Rotting, yet synthetic. The stench burned his eyes as he held his breath, the monster slowly turning its head towards them.

It noticed them almost immediately, and it opened its large mouth and screeched. The sound was painful and distorted, and Charlie seized up in fear. As the code monster began to make its way towards them, Sunny had to shake him to get him to move. He snapped out of his daze, dark memories plaguing him as he forced his legs to run.

The monster shrieked again and picked up the pace, bounding after them and crashing into walls in its desperation. Charlie began hyperventilating, training his ears to hear for the voices of his friends in the distance. He ran in zig-zags, which confused the beast into running into walls head-first as it lunged at him.

Sunny was clinging to Charlie for dear life, providing a weight that helped to ground him. He couldn't, wouldn't stop running. He had to protect them.

They dug their claws into his arm, trying to keep from falling out of his arms as he turned a sharp corner. 

It was difficult to keep his mind steady as flashbacks to bloody nights appeared in his vision, but he pushed forward. He had to keep Sunny safe. He had to get her out of here. There was nothing more important.

In the labyrinth of rooms and hallways he finds himself in a larger hallway, one that seemed much better kept. Dim lights illuminated empty doorways before he spots one with a door, and he immediately flings it open and slams it shut. He holds a hand over his mouth to mask his panicked panting as the monster walks past the room he and Sunny were hiding in, neither of them daring to take a single breath.

After several minutes the code monster moves far enough away that they can get up and look around without fear of being heard. 

Sunny removes themself from Charlie’s arms and walks over to something in the large room they’re in as he peeks his head out, cracking the door carefully. The code monster isn’t in view, so he fully closes the door and lets out a large breath of air.

Sunny approaches him again, face in utter shock as she drags him over to look at something. 

He stands, shakily, as he takes in the room that they’re in. It’s long and wide, with the walls covered in bookshelves and odd beeping machines that click and whir. The wall opposite to the door was actually a large window, and beneath it was a long counter with even more beeping machines laid across it. A few bigger buttons, some of them labeled ‘Release’ or ‘Lock’ were scattered across the panels.

He approaches the window and squints into the dimness, and his mouth falls open in surprise at the sight before him. 

A massive dragon, one so huge it encompassed almost the entirety of the huge room it was held in, was curled up in the middle with massive chains tethering it to the walls and ceilings. 

The dragon itself was pearlescent and glowing dimly, even in the darkness. It bore rainbow scales and sad, blue eyes as it laid motionless in the chamber. Electrical currents danced across the floor, tubes and wires all over the place and connected to walls and braces that kept the dragon in place.

Sunny lifted her sunglasses to get a better view, utterly horrified. Charlie could hardly say a word. A dragon this size? Here? 

“Sunny…” He begins, before hearing a large crashing from behind. The fucked-up dragon code monster had somehow found them again, and it was pissed. 

Without a second thought he scoops Sunny up once again as he darts around the beast, squeezing through the now splintered doorway as it struggles to turn around in the small space. 

He focused his mind on finding the group once more, pushing the dragon and the roaring code monster from his mind as best as he could as he sprinted back down the hallway.

Charlie trained his ears to focus on the voice of his friends and eventually he came upon them still hanging around the outside of the dark iron door. 

From a distance it looked like Tubbo was still trying to get the door open from their side while the others reassured the eggs. 

He then spots Mariana, and his voice finally returns. “MARIANA!” He screams, voice breaking, the monster still hot on his tail. 

Mariana whips around and sees Charlie barreling down the hallway with a terrified Sunny in his arms, and a black four-legged code monster nearly slashing him in two as it lashes out with a twisted claw. 

He eventually lets Sunny run on her own once he realized he’d been slowing down, the fatigue getting to him as he huffed and puffed from the exertion. 

In a split-moment he notices a sharp wooden plank on the ground among some other rubble and he picks it up hastily as the monster bears down upon him. 

Sunny stops abruptly to start throwing rubble and rocks at the beast, which seems to irritate it just enough for it to slow down too. 

“No, Sunny! Just go! Go!” He yells, and the little egg complies as the code monster swipes again, nearly missing his face by a hair.

Charlie holds out his clawed code hand and grapples the creature as it tries flattening him and he throws it off himself with as much strength as he can muster.

The code monster flails and stumbles backwards, and even it seems surprised by the sudden show of strength, which gave him just enough time to fully get to his feet.

He was running on pure panic as he rushed the beast, legs wobbling and arms shaking as he attempted to stab it with his plank. He aimed the sharp edge towards its head, but it side-stepped and sweeped its long tail and knocked him flat on his back.

He wheezed and coughed from the impact as he heard the others yelling, getting closer to him before the monster leaps over Charlie and charges them.

Blind rage fills his body as he looks back, seeing Sunny still running towards the group, not yet having reached them. Why was this hallway so fucking long?

Just as the code monster almost gets out of his reach, he reaches his clawed hand around its tail and yanks it backward, teeth gritted as a terrible, shooting pain races down from his shoulder towards his arm.

Pushing through the agony of it he pulls it back far enough to prevent the monster from reaching Sunny as she launches herself into Tubbo’s arms. 

The group is watching in horror as Charlie grapples the creature, and some primal part of him is almost tempted to sink its teeth into the thing as he scratches and claws at its side and wherever he can manage. Black and green ooze from the wounds he inflicts on it, and it screeches loudly in pain. 

Eventually he gets in front of it again, and as it prepares to barrel into him, he holds the plank still in his grasp firmly in both hands and jabs it forward just as it reaches him. 

The sharp point imbeds itself deep into the code monster, directly under its neck where its heart would’ve been if it had one. 

It gurgles as it accidentally runs itself all the way through the wood, and it falls limp in front of Charlie.

His hands shake terribly as he lets go of the plank, steps over the beast, and promptly begins dry heaving as he leans his full weight against the wall, suddenly nauseous. All his fury had been replaced with exhaustion and anxiety.

It took him a while to really come to, and he had to be partially carried by Mariana as he limp-walked with the group. It was a blur to him. When had he even injured his leg? He couldn't even remember twisting it.

After what felt like eons they’d finally, amazingly, made it out. There was a small broken section of the strange underground labyrinth of rooms that eventually led to the outside, one of the rooms having collapsed after many years of time and erosion.

The outside had never felt so good despite the overcast sky still persisting, the wind blowing through and chilling them all. Only had they made it to the forest surrounding the field where the large, white crystalline building of the Federation sat did Missa eventually look around, confusedly asking, “Where is Jaiden?”

They all turn their heads as if expecting to see the avian pop up from behind a bush or tree somewhere. Charlie felt his heart sink like a stone as he stood to the side. He had to tell them.

His voice, hoarse and broken, speaks up. “Jaiden… she’s- she…” Everyone turned to look at him, and Sunny walked up to him and hugged the part of his injured leg that hadn’t been bruised.

“She sacrificed herself… for me and Sunny. We found another way out and… there were too many guards.” He swallowed back tears, forcing himself to look at the ground and cover his face with his hand so he wouldn’t be met with their gazes. 

He couldn’t bear to see the hatred they must have for him now. Why would Jaiden sacrifice herself for someone like him? Sunny he could understand, she was worthy of it, but him? 

They pile in around him, embracing him in a group hug. They whisper apologies to him, and Mariana specifically cradles his head in her hands. It was a comforting gesture.

Tubbo’s lip wobbles as he speaks. “She was a good friend. I didn’t know her as well as I would’ve liked, but she was kind, and brave… even if she wasn’t always truthful. In the end, she did what was right.” Everyone murmured in agreement as Missa wiped his eyes and the eggs stood together, unharmed but shaken. 

Baghera wipes away tears. “I may not have known her for long, but she was a good friend. Volez haut, ma sœur.” She adds, unable to say anything else.

Missa goes after, quiet and morose. “I did not know her as much as I would have liked even before prison. I wish we were friends longer. I thank her for the kindness she showed all of us.”

Charlie takes a while to think of words to say, still holding the feather she had given him in his hand. He was impressed he’d held onto it this long without losing it in the chaos.

“I didn’t always trust Jaiden, but she was one of the first truly kind people I’d ever met. I wished she hadn’t done what she did. But maybe a part of me is happy knowing… knowing she’s with her son, now.” His voice breaks and he forces himself to look away. Mariana stands by him and holds him in a one-armed embrace. It’s enough.

Nobody speaks for a while, hoping to remember parts of Jaiden they had come to love. Whatever negative things Charlie had felt about her melted away when he remembered the good parts. 

The way she’d always been kind and understanding, even from the beginning. Even when she had no reason to trust him, hiding away in that cave suspicious as anyone. Even after the way he'd seen her and distrusted her, and yet she still told him it wasn't his fault. Like he deserved to be forgiven. If he was worthy of forgiveness, then she definitely was.

The overcast sky fades as clouds break apart, a beautiful sunset parting them and scattering purples, reds, and oranges across the landscape. 

The Federation building glistens in the horizon as they walk deeper into the woods, together, but not whole.

Chapter Text

Mariana was relieved to finally be outside again after days of being in that prison. But he couldn’t say he was happy, especially knowing that one of their own had to sacrifice themselves to save the rest. Maybe he didn’t know Jaiden as well as Roier or the others did, but he’d known her for long enough to miss the avian’s calm presence. Everyone could feel the loss, like a dark rain cloud hanging above them all. 

They’d walked the rest of the night, into the day, and only stopped to rest once the night had begun to set once more. The eggs had run out of energy from exploring the forest and the group decided to finally set up camp near a little cave with which they could sleep in. 

“We were all supposed to make it out alive, that was the plan!” Tubbo had said, voice full of guilt as they sat around their little campfire. The bee-hybrid had been beating himself up about how poorly the plan went.

The Federation building was far away by now but the tip of its highest tower still shone against the sky, gleaming with moonlight. How could such a beautiful collection of buildings harbor such nightmares?

Missa patted him on the back. “We did our best, no point in worrying about it now.”

Baghera sniffled as Pomme laid asleep in her lap. “Jaiden would not want us to be sad. She did what she could for us.”

Richas and Empanada were playing a game in the dirt next to the fire, one that included crosses and circles. Empanada seemed to be winning as she fist pumped and Richas grumbled. The eggs seemed to be happy, at least.

Pepito was curled next to Mariana, and Charlie laid against his shoulder on his other side. It was comfortable despite them sitting on the hard, earthy ground. Far better than the cold stone of the prison, in Mariana’s opinion.

Pepito and Sunny had taken an odd liking to the both of them and Mariana certainly didn’t mind. Maybe when they got home, they could be additional siblings to Flippa… the thought of seeing his daughter again filled him with joy.

Still, he wasn’t happy. They were free, sure to return home once they found a raven to send to Phil alerting him of their freedom, but the weight of the loss and Charlie’s persistent silence left her uneasy.

Mariana had an arm circled around his waist, hoping it comforted him. Charlie says nothing, eyes dim and staring blankly into the flames. 

She wanted to ask him what had happened when they got trapped, why Jaiden had to sacrifice herself and what that huge code monster was about, but he didn’t want to pry. It felt too soon.

Once the moon had risen high enough and the flames grew small, the group retreated into a cave to rest. It seemed like only some of the eggs, Missa, and Baghera could sleep. Tubbo was barely able as he tossed and turned in the night.

Pepito chose to sleep alongside Mariana, which again she didn’t mind. The little egg was quiet but eager to connect with him, so he let the dragon slumber by his side.

Charlie was curled in a ball, clearly pretending to sleep. Too many sleepless nights have they spent together to know when the other wasn’t getting any rest. How many times had they been plagued with nightmares? Far too many times, Mariana thinks sadly.

She lays flat on her back until slowly, carefully, he sees Charlie get up in the corner of his eye. Unable to sleep himself, he'd been keeping an eye on the slime, watching to make sure he wouldn’t do exactly what he was doing now. Which was… leaving.

“Charlie.” She whispers once he’d made it to the entrance of the cave. His form stood out as the moon shone overhead, engulfing him in the glow. He looks back, eyes with a sadness Mariana had hated seeing so many times already. He wished he could just make him feel better, somehow. But he couldn't.

“Please, don’t go.”

Charlie looks confused for a second as Mariana gets up silently to make sure Pepito didn’t wake up. She approached him gingerly, hands outstretched. Mariana couldn’t bear to see him go. Not again.

“I’m not leaving.” Charlie says quietly.

Mariana glances back to make sure nobody heard them before turning back to him. He felt fragile.

“You aren’t?” 

Charlie shakes his head slightly. “No… I’m just getting air.”

She stands next to him and they bask in the quiet of the forest. 

His voice pierces the silence as he looks at Mariana with his light green eyes, still bright despite the sadness that filled them.

The black scars running up his neck and cheek twist as he turns his head, which is hung low. He looks at her through his eyelashes and somehow just the simple motion makes Mariana flustered. 

“Are you worried I’ll go…?” It’s asked so softly, and she can’t bear the way he says it. 

Mariana puts a hand to his own face, almost unable to answer. 

“No lo soporto… when you were gone… it broke me, in a way I never felt before. Fue una agonía.”

“It hurt me too. I thought I would never see you again.” Charlie’s face breaks and his eyes water. It pains him, how much the slime had been through. 

“I would never leave you if I could help it, I swear.” He declares. Mariana believes him.

Mariana nods and leans his head against Charlie’s shoulder. “I know.”

They stay like that for a while before Mariana’s heart begins to speed up. Her mouth turns dry and her hands become clammy as thoughts clutter his mind. When would he ever get the courage to admit his feelings?

She decides to try. They’ve had too many close shaves these past few weeks, and they weren’t safe even now. 

The Federation could easily find them again, and then… who knows what they would do once they got their hands on them. He couldn’t live without saying it at least once, even if Charlie didn’t like him back. He had to try.

“Charlie… I need to tell you something.” He starts, trying to overcome his sudden cotton-mouth. 

Gentle green eyes meet his own, and just as he begins to say it they’re both startled by the sudden presence of Sunny looking up at them curiously. 

“Oh my gods, Sunny, please never sneak up on us like that again.” Charlie says with a gasp, holding a hand over his chest. Mariana un-clenches his fists.

Sunny hands Charlie a paper, and he sighs when he reads it. “No, you’re fine. But aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?” He says sternly.

The little dragon taps their foot and raises an eyebrow at them.

“What?” He asks, and she points at them. “Oh. Well, we couldn’t sleep.”

Sunny points at herself then and this makes Charlie frown. “You couldn’t sleep either, huh? Was it a bad dream?” The egg shakes their head before writing something for him.

As he waits for the response, he gives an apologetic look to Mariana who smiles back, all desire to confess diminished.

“Oh… you’re still thinking about that dragon we saw, huh?” He finally says. Sunny nods.

“Dragon?” Mariana asks, and they both share glances before Charlie begins to explain, now wary.

“When me and Sunny and- and Jaiden uh, got stuck on the other side of the door, we had to find another way out. Sunny knew about this tunnel under the tower so we went there and got a bit lost in the rooms and hallways under it.”

He rubs his arm and takes a shaky breath. “And we found this weird chamber, and it was huge. There was this giant dragon in there, all chained up, and there were these weird wires all over the place. Like… the Federation was using it for something.”

Sunny pokes his leg and holds up another paper, which he takes and reads from. 

“Sunny thinks that- that dragon is her mother. Like, the eggs’ actual, real mother.”

Mariana becomes disturbed at this newfound knowledge and taps his finger to his mouth, thinking hard. 

“Really…”

“We both saw it, but we couldn’t do anything about it with that stupid code monster chasing us the whole time.”

The little orange dragon throws a few air-punches and swooshes an imaginary sword, pointing at Charlie and beaming. This makes him chuckle. “Well, I couldn’t have killed it without your help Sunny. We’re a team now, right?”

They nod and smile widely, showing off tiny sharp teeth.

“And… I never thanked you two for, y’know, getting me out of that rut the other day. Asking me to help get the code and everything. Seeing as it was both your ideas, haha.”

Mariana raised an eyebrow.  “Who said I did it?” The plan to keep it a secret, making Charlie feel like it was more his own idea, had been revealed.

Charlie points at Sunny, the culprit, who looks offended by the accusation. He laughs at her expression and the little egg chirps back. “Just kidding. Baghera told me it was your idea-” Sunny pokes him again. “AND Sunny’s idea to ask me. Even if it was a terrible idea.”

Mariana rolls her eyes. Charlie was truly impossible. “Well, it worked.” 

The slime nods, expression serious. “Yes, yes that’s true. Pardon me for doubting you, o’ wise one.” 

Mariana rolls his eyes even harder this time, and Sunny trills in laughter. Charlie looks at Sunny like he would with Flippa, and the memories of days long past fill Mariana with a sense of ease he’d missed.

Maybe things wouldn’t be normal like that had been, but if they could regain some semblance of it- maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

Mariana still didn’t know what to think about the dragon either of them had seen. To be honest, it made him angry. The Federation had gotten away with too much, but there wasn’t anything any of them could do to put an end to what they were doing now. 

With as big as she had imagined the captured dragon, the odds of even getting back into the building and freeing it successfully was close to none. She looked back in the direction of the Federation building, frowning to himself; would any of them really be willing to risk it all trying to go back in? Especially after Jaiden’s sacrifice?

Well, there was one person he could think of, and he was standing right in front of him, playing with Sunny. 

He wondered if Charlie had been considering it, going back in. It was so hard to tell what was keeping him awake at night these days, with so much having happened to the both of them. 

But if he stared hard enough, she could almost see it in Charlie’s eyes as he looked at Sunny. The possibility was too likely, and it worried him.

“I’m sure you and your siblings will have plenty of time to explore the forest tomorrow when we start moving again, but it’s too late for any adventures right now.” Charlie says, snapping Mariana out of her blatant staring. Sunny pouts but seems to accept this as they head back inside.

Charlie turns back to Mariana. “I might try sleeping again myself.” He pauses and rubs the back of his neck with his clawed hand. “But, uh, what were you saying before Sunny scared the bejeezus out of us?” He asks, obviously curious. Mariana breaks into a sweat.

“Eh… It isn’t important right now.”

Charlie seemed obviously disappointed but didn't push it. Sometimes Mariana could appreciate it when he didn’t pry more than necessary, but it also made him worried if the slime just didn’t care. No, that was nonsense. He practically wore his heart on his sleeve, after all. If Charlie wasn’t interested he wouldn’t even ask in the first place.

They laid down together, and Mariana let Pepito climb on top of him to sleep once he’d returned to his spot. Charlie and Mariana held hands, and eventually he closed his eyes and relaxed. Mariana, however, did not.

She wanted to admit to him, more than anything, how she felt. But it never felt like the right time. He was always interrupted, or something drastic would happen and rip Charlie away from him, and above all he wanted to let Charlie grieve and process everything. Would it really be fair or kind to him to push her own feelings onto him like that?

It just wasn’t the right time. It was frustrating, but it wasn’t the end of the world if he couldn’t. He’d give Charlie as much time as he needed, because if anyone could understand what he’d been through, it would be Mariana. 

He could count on two hands the amount of times he’d comforted Charlie or reassured him about his worries, his guilts, his regrets. Why add more complicated feelings into the mix when everything was just fine as it was?

Unsurprisingly, he only managed to sleep an hour or so before everyone started getting up, and he had to force his tired eyes open. Pepito clung to her side, which Mariana didn’t mind. The little egg had seemed to look up to him as a parent, which he’d accepted. It was a little surprising but it certainly wasn’t unwelcome. He'd missed having an egg to look after.

At some point along their journey, the eggs took to exploring more of the forest as the group hiked through it. Oak eventually turned into birch trees, and Charlie seemed to reminisce as he dragged his hands across their stems. 

Mariana smiled at him as he watched the other, only turning in embarrassment once he’d been caught staring. Charlie tilted his head and smiled slightly, curious but unquestioning. 

Pepito looked between them both.  Letting go of her hand, Pepito gave him something to read.

‘¿estás casada con él?’

“¿Qué? Oh, no, no, no. ¿Quién te dijo eso?” Mariana stutters. Where in the world did Pepito get the idea that they were married?

Pepito points at Sunny, who is running along a fallen log after Pomme. Mariana raises an eyebrow. Sunny was going to be mischievous, huh?

A single thought flits across his mind. ‘Too much like her father’. He shakes his head.

“¿te lo dijo ella?”

Pepito nods, but seems rather disinterested at this point. The little egg runs off to chase Richas around, the two chirping in excitement. 

Mariana, now completely embarrassed, decides not to mention this to Charlie. He couldn’t stand the awkwardness that would ensue. 

The group needed to stop for food eventually, so Charlie and Baghera were made to hunt something while Tubbo, Missa, and Mariana kept an eye on the eggs. Charlie was unsure, but Baghera was encouraging. 

Charlie’s leg was still a bit twisted, but he seemed eager to help despite the uncertainty. Mariana worried, as he usually did. It didn’t matter to her whether or not it would heal faster because he was a slime; it was still an injury, and while Mariana had offered to help hunt instead, Charlie eventually gained enough confidence to insist on going himself. 

At that point Mariana gave in because seeing Charlie eager to do something rather than depressed and hopeless was worth it, to some extent.

The day slowly became more and more gray, with rain starting to drizzle down from the sky and into the forest. Little streams began to form in-between earthly grooves, and the eggs became fascinated with how the rain interacted with the land. Being in the Federation hadn’t given them any opportunities to enjoy nature, so they basked in the sprinkling rain and played in small puddles, splashing each other and laughing. 

Even with the group enjoying the fresh coolness of the weather and the feel of rain, Mariana found himself instinctually scanning the trees for movement. A light fog was rolling in and enveloped the distant treeline in a gray blanket. 

Charlie and Baghera could easily get lost in this haze, couldn’t they? She fidgeted with her hands, trying not to worry so much, but it couldn’t be helped. Something about Charlie being lost in the forest… it unsettled him for reasons that he didn’t want to think about or remember.

No amount of hoping helped to sway his fears, so he approached Missa to ask when he’d seen the others last. The skeleton man only shrugged and continued pretending to have a tea party with Empanada and Pomme, clearly unbothered. They’d all decided to hang out at the base of one of the larger trees, just enough to stay out of the rain.

“Tubbo, where are they?” Mariana eventually asks, the bee-hybrid twitching an antennae as he thought, distracted by watching the eggs.

“I dunno. Thought they’d be back by now.”

Mariana feels a blood vessel about to explode in his brain. “What if the Federation found them?!” She feels her anxiety ramp up, and Pepito and Sunny, the two eggs closest enough to hear, whip around and look at him with alarmed expressions.

Before Tubbo can say something to reassure them, everyone goes quiet.

Leaves rustling. 

They’d all collectively heard it, and their heads swiveled around to better hear where it was coming from.

The sounds of branches being snapped startled the group, with Missa scrabbling to his feet and Tubbo turning his head around so fast the other way it made him stumble. Mariana reaches for a weapon at his side that isn’t there and some of the eggs either cower in fear or jump into action.

Baghera pokes her head out from behind a tree, wings flapping to shake water droplets off as she runs under the tree they’re all gathered under. 

She's dragging along an entire deer as she does so, stretching her back once she'd dropped it in front of everyone. Pomme poked at it with a stick.

“We found food, but-”

Charlie appears from around a nearby tree, soaked in blood coupled with gore. Some of it was splashed across his face and shirt, and his clawed hand had the worst of it. He was trying to wipe some of it off as Mariana ran at him. 

“What happened?” He demands, and Charlie only grimaces as he opens his hand clasped around his abdomen and reveals his side had been slashed by something, a streak of green goo oozing from it. It was a clean mark, like something small had carved away at his slimy flesh. A gunshot wound.

“Got shot.” He says simply.

Mariana grumbles in frustration, not pleased with the answer as he takes Charlie’s hand in his own. She wouldn’t admit how despite how cold and mildly slimy his skin usually was, it was an odd sort of pleasant. It was kind of strange, but far from bad. Not that he could ever admit it to the slime, even if he really wanted to. 

Mariana forces him to sit cross-legged on the ground. Charlie is silent as she tends to the wound, ripping some of her own jumpsuit leggings to tie it around his side.

He eventually speaks up, “Mariana, you don’t have to do this. Don't ruin your clothes.”

“Yes I do.”

“Okay but… like… why?” Charlie had to have known the answer by now, so Mariana just shook his head and kept wrapping.

Mariana gives him a hard stare. “Tell me how you got shot.”

“Well, apparently there’s this thing called a ‘gun’, and they really hurt.” Charlie says thoughtfully. If Mariana didn’t like him so much, he would give him a piece of his mind.

“I know what a gun is! But who? Who did it?” She says, totally exasperated as he finishes tying up the last of the makeshift bandage. 

Charlie moves his body around as if to test it, but Mariana holds his midsection still and scowls. “Don’t move it, you will start bleeding.”

“There were some Federation guards looking for us, I guess. They tried shooting at Baghera but I uh… I jumped in front of it and got hit. There were three of them.” He says absentmindedly, as if it were just an average Tuesday.

Baghera is standing next to him, watching the both of them. “It’s true. I owe him my life.” Charlie looks up at her and beams.

Mariana tries to hold back the sudden shakiness of his hands, so he forms fists and stuffs them in his pockets. They needed to get the hell out of this forest. He would not let Charlie out of his sight again.

Tubbo and Missa share alarmed expressions at the news of guards being spotted. They speak amongst themselves, seeming to agree on something.

Eventually Missa walks towards the three of them, looking more hopeful than he had in days.

“I saw a raven not too long ago, so I am going to find it again and speak to it.” 

Charlie’s face lights up almost immediately. “Wait, like the ones that talk to Phil? We- we’re actually gonna be saved?” Mariana can’t help the grin that spreads across her own face.

Missa shares in the enthusiasm. “Yes! I can talk to them! Especially since the only other person who could was- was Jaiden.”

The mood drops a few degrees as they sit in silence. Baghera wipes her face and sniffles. 

It was still a very sensitive subject for everyone, so they all started occupying their time with other things as Baghera prepared the deer she and Charlie had hunted. 

After walking a bit more, the rain washed away some of the blood Charlie was covered in to Mariana’s immense relief, as the slime had tried numerous times to clean his glasses and failed due to the filth. It was getting to be painful to watch.

Everyone was starving, having gone a whole day with little to eat, so they wasted no time in eating what they could. Baghera even had the ability to find berries for those uninterested in the meat, which some of the eggs had taken gratefully. 

Missa returned from the forest and gave them all a cheerful thumbs up, confirming that he’d managed to send a message. 

Charlie laid on his back, sighing in relief. Mariana joined him and crossed her hands across her chest, looking at him with a smile as he turned his head and smiled back, green eyes crinkled. Oh, how Mariana loved it when he smiled like that. It was one of the many things he’d missed. 

They spent the rest of the day in a different cave, and it was just enough for all of them to squeeze under it to avoid the rain, which became more of a torrent. The eggs warmed themselves by the fire as Mariana showed Charlie how to properly cook the meat. She could see him taking mental notes, his brows scrunched in concentration. It was terribly endearing.

They ate until satisfied, grateful to have something substantial after almost two days of nothing. The rain provided a relaxing sound to help lull the eggs into relatively calm sleep. The adults stayed awake, telling stories and keeping each other company. They had to appreciate each other after everything, because each day could be their last and what else could they do but stay warm and share memories?

It was Charlie's turn to tell another tale of his own and he was incredibly animated when doing so despite it being the third story he was telling that night. How he wasn’t even remotely tired even with his injuries, Mariana couldn’t understand.

He positions himself in front of the fire and uses the shadows it created to his advantage, creating dramatic faces for more compelling scenes and moving his arms about to really sell the scene. The rain was pouring outside, enhancing the vibe of his story with thunder and lightning. 

Mariana watched Charlie’s antics with amusement.

“-and then, just when he thought it was over for him, his friends came to the rescue. Yes, even the wizard.” He added when Missa raised a questioning finger and then slowly lowered it back down.

“They worked together to destroy the dark god, Tommy-”

“I still don't get why his name is Tommy. I feel like it's just not that scary for an evil guy.” Tubbo says. He kept bringing it up every time the name was mentioned, but Charlie pressed on.

“And the dark god Tommy was close to defeat, and after Charles and his friends finally destroyed the last of his zombie army, Charles was able to corner him!”

“Of course the hero is named Charles .” Baghera whispers loudly, leaning over to Mariana who snickers. 

“Hey, it's a distinguished name!” Charlie says adamantly. Numerous times has he had to defend the honor of his story by pausing it often to do so, making the retelling twice as long. It was a bit painful to watch.

“Anyways, once he finally cornered Tommy, prepared to strike with his weapon, he lands a blow-” Charlie pauses for dramatic effect, “And it does… nothing! He strikes again and again, but alas it is for naught.” He lowers the baritone of his voice to enhance the effect of his words.

Tubbo huffs. “Where'd you learn those words? A dictionary?”

Charlie mutters out of the corner of his mouth. “ Maybe .”

Mariana fights the urge to burst out laughing, suddenly reminded of a memory of Charlie reading an actual dictionary, Spanish and English versions, as if it were a normal book. Plus a Thesaurus for good measure. They didn't speak of it again after Mariana decided to spare him further embarrassment by avoiding bringing it up.

“Can I please finish the story now?” Charlie pleads. 

“Yeah, get on with it.” Tubbo replies.

“ Thank you. Again, the attacks Charles did were useless. Tommy realized it too and as he retaliated, Charles used his Ender Staff to teleport away and the evil scientist god chased him.”

“Wait, is Tommy the dark god, or the scientist?” Missa asks, raising a finger again. Baghera interrupts and shakes her hands. “No, no the scientist died! Remember?”

“You guys got it wrong, the Tommy guy is both the scientist and the dark god.” Tubbo states matter-of-factly.

Missa crosses his arms. “I am confused now. If the scientist died but is also Tommy, then how is he alive?”

Baghera shrugs. “Because he is a god?” Mariana, still rather silent, just shrugs.

Charlie is positively fuming, but not with any real heat behind it. He throws his arms up. “Guys! Charles dies at the end! I'm done with the story now! The end!” He says loudly which causes the sleeping eggs to rustle in their sleep from the noise.

Everyone collectively groans after being spoiled on the ending. Mariana shakes his head. “We need a new story.”

“Well, I don't have one.”

“Me neither.”

“Wait, I have another really good one!”

Baghera groans in exasperation. “Please Charlie, no more.”

Charlie looks downright offended as his face falls. “What! I thought- you guys don't hate my stories that much, do you?”

Mariana pats his knee sympathetically as he sits down next to her while Tubbo shakes his head and says in a pained voice, “I will literally never forget The Big Swell. Worst thing you, Jaiden and Bags ever told me. Why I ever included you lot in the escape plan after that I'll never know.” He shudders.

They all laugh at the memory, only stopping short when Charlie and Baghera tried recounting it, causing the rest of them to immediately shut it down. It was then decided that they all try going to sleep instead of attempting any more stories.

“Mariana, d'you think Phil will get that raven soon?” Charlie asks after a while.

Mariana looks outside, turning his head to the side as he lays next to Charlie. It was still raining pretty hard, the cave occasionally illuminated by a bright flash of lightning. The fire had long since been extinguished and the darkness returned with it.

“I do not know.” He replies simply, squeezing Charlie's hand. It wasn't as cold when he held it for a while. Charlie squeezed back, eyes lighter than they had been. 

“I hope he did already. Just so you guys can… go.”

Mariana thought he'd misheard at first. “Do you mean ‘we’?”

Charlie’s hand grips his own, his face unreadable. “Yeah. I did.”

She searched his eyes for something, and he disliked what he saw. Charlie wasn't being honest, not in tone or in expression. 

“Charlie.”

“Mariana.” He says back, amused. The humor of it didn't match his gaze.

Mariana frowns. “Charlie… you are coming with us.”

“Yeah I know. I know.”

“Look at me when you say it. Por favor, mírame.”

“I know Mariana, I'm not going anywhere.”

There wasn't much truth behind his words, Mariana knew that, but she wanted to trust him more than anything. He really did. 

“Okay.” He said finally, hoping to be wrong in his doubts.

Chapter Text

“I see them!” Missa says, waving at the wagon off in the distance. 

They all stood atop a hill, far from the Federation in a distant grassy field. The sun shone above, the dew on the grass long since evaporated by its warmth. It had been a full day since the raven was sent, and a full day had passed as they walked, waiting and hoping that the message would be received. Missa eventually received one back, elated to hear from Phil even if it was through a bird. They were all elated at the news, and they had been walking to the location Phil described to them where he could pick them up at.

Charlie turned his head and noticed Mariana holding a hand over his eyes, squinting to get a better look to see the wagon from afar. Charlie does the same, surprised by how helpful it was to shield his eyes against the sun. He hadn’t known that was a thing he could do, living so much of his life underground and all.

As the wagon got closer and closer the eggs started to get antsy and began to play tag as they waited, running about in the grass and making happy noises as they tussled. Sunny ended up getting tagged, and she chased the others with a look of pure determination before eventually tackling an unlucky Pomme. It took everything in Charlie not to join in as he stood by Mariana's side and waited patiently, fiddling with the hem of his shirt from the anxiety and anticipation. 

It eventually got close enough that they could see who was riding within; a tired Phil, who instantly lit up as soon as he spotted Missa, an ecstatic Roier with bags under his two main eyes and a tired grin, a stoic Quackity and finally Etoiles wielding a shield and a smile. 

Charlie blinks at the new ebony and green scars adorning the warrior's face, and he flexes his clawed hand and reaches up to touch the ones on his own. The scars had finally healed as much as they could and pulled taut across his skin as he moved his head.

Phil jumps down and practically flies into Missa, who yells with glee and returns the bear hug. 

“Missa! I can’t believe you’re alive!”

“Phil! Haha, it has been too long!”

They clutch each other with such a forceful hug they tumble over in the grass, and the eggs that were nearby run over and start chirping in excitement. 

The two of them laugh and Missa gives Phil a quick peck on the forehead which makes the dark-winged avian laugh even harder. Eventually his gaze meets the rest of the group and finally lands on Charlie.

“Charlie! You're okay!” 

He's surprised by the fact Phil was actually happy to see him, especially after their last interaction. Charlie shifts uncomfortably. “Okay as I can be, I guess.” Phil’s smile wavers only a little as he gives Charlie the biggest hug he could manage, wrapping his wings around the slime. He blinks, hugging back with uncertainty. Phil breaks away to go back to Missa, who’s chattering his teeth in excitement. It must’ve been a skeleton thing, Charlie thought absentmindedly.

Quackity eventually climbs down from the cart once it had finally reached to a stop and promptly stomped over to Charlie and punched him square in the jaw. He yelped in pain and stumbled backwards, rubbing the spot as his code scars flared in pain from the impact.

Sunny immediately runs to his rescue, hitting Quackity in the shin with a well-placed kick. Quackity lets out a grunt and stares at them in bewilderment. “Who's egg is this?!”

Tubbo raises a hand and despite the pain Charlie feels tempted to do the same before thinking better of it.

Sunny has started to kick Quackity in the leg some more, forcing him to hop around in pain as he clutches his injured calf. He becomes very annoyed at Sunny as he scolds her, but she ignores his protests and continues the assault on his knee-caps. Charlie steps in and pushes Sunny back who pouts and crosses their little arms in frustration. 

“Sunny, don't hurt him.” He says sternly. Sunny looks befuddled, pointing at his bruised jaw as if to say ‘he hurt you first!’. He shakes his head, not at all tempted to explain why Quackity did it in the first place. Deep down, he knew she knew already or at least had an idea of what he’d done. But he wasn’t going to try reliving it again.

Mariana had only just stormed over and was now holding Quackity up by the shirt and yelling profanities, putting himself firmly between Charlie and Quackity.

“¡No lo toques!”

“¡Mató a mi hijo! ¡Debería matarlo ahora mismo!” Quackity yells, struggling against Mariana’s vice grip. He was a force to be reckoned with when he wanted to be, something Charlie had seen plenty of times before to know not to get on his bad side.

“Sabes que fue un accidente. Amaba a Tilín.” Mariana says carefully. Quackity narrows his eyes.

“Si realmente amaba a Tilín, habría luchado más duro para salvarlos.” He replies, seething.

Mariana punches him in the face and sends him reeling, spitting one last thing before Etoiles finally pushes them apart.

“Tilín era como su propio hijo, y ha sufrido esa pérdida, al igual que tú. Y si tocas a Charlie, te haré pagar.”

Quackity seems to calm down as he steadies himself, still breathing heavily. Mariana glares at him one more time before walking over to Charlie with worry written all over his face.

“He hit you…” Mariana says gently, putting a hand over the darkening bruise. It was taking on a green hue as it became discolored. 

Charlie just sighs. “Honestly I'm surprised he didn't do worse.”

Mariana gives him a sad look. “He still might.”

“And I'd probably deserve-”

Mariana points a finger and scolds him. “Do not. Do not say it, please.”

Charlie hangs his head and averts his eyes. “Okay.” 

The rest of the group had watched the whole scene play out awkwardly before Phil cleared this throat to change topics. “Well. Now that we have… mostly everyone-” Roier wipes his face of tears as Missa pats his back, no doubt knowing now what had happened to Jaiden, “-I'd say we get the heck out of here.”

Everyone but Charlie murmured in agreement as he looked at Sunny, something gnawing at the back of his mind. She seemed unsure, fiddling with her hands as the eggs started to pile onto the wagon.

He walked over to them and gave Sunny a hard look, already sensing what they must’ve been worried about.

“Are you still thinking about that dragon we saw? Back at the Federation?” He asks gently.

The little dragon nods, staring up at him with wide eyes from behind their sunglasses. Charlie gets down in front of them and takes their hands in his own.

His eyes flit about as he thinks, before a dawning realization comes upon him. If there was anything he could do to make what he’d done right, then he was gonna do it. No matter the cost. Hadn’t he promised something like that before?

He looks Sunny in the eyes and says, “Sunny, if I freed the dragon… would you be willing to be friends with my daughter? Help her feel better when I’m gone?” Charlie says it in a way that he hoped would sell Sunny on the idea, and maybe give back to Flippa all at once. 

Sunny chirps at him, confused. She writes something quickly for him to read.

‘What do you mean when you're gone?’

He sighs and smiles gently. “Well, it'll be risky. But I wouldn't feel right if I didn't try going back, now that I know… that there's still someone trapped. Does that make sense?”

They nod slowly at him, unsure, their ears flat against their head in apprehension. 

Charlie isn't sure what he's going to tell Mariana, much less the others. This wasn’t exactly a last-second decision for him, he’d thought enough about it the past two days that he knew he would do it in the end. 

He couldn't stand aside and live with the fact that he should've done the right thing, even if it was hard. And it would be. It would perhaps be the hardest and maybe even the stupidest thing, because there was a likely possibility that he wouldn’t be able to come home and that he would be stuck within the Federation for as long as they wanted him- or the worse scenario of him dying happening and him being stuck there for good. Flippa wouldn't ever see him again.

But could he live with that, too? 

Maybe not. But it's not like it would really be impossible to get over him, would it? If he really did die?

‘You know he won't let you’ a familiar little voice says in his head. 

He'd been thinking so hard that he hardly felt the hand clasping his shoulder. Roier is next to him now and he isn't sure when the spider-hybrid got there, but it's a welcome sight.

“Charlie, it has been a while.”

He nods, watching Roier's expression. It's melancholic yet still upbeat, somehow, despite knowing Jaiden is gone. It makes Charlie wonder how he can keep up the lightheartedness of his demeanor before realizing how often he does it himself; it’s a way to deny the bad feelings and avoid them. Maybe Roier was doing it for a better reason, but regardless he understood what it felt like to keep everything underneath and surface-level.

“Yeah. It's good to see you.” Charlie says earnestly.

Roier clicks his mandibles and smiles. “You look like shit, man.”

Charlie laughs, caught off guard by the comment. “No kidding. You, on the other hand? You’re lookin’ good. Better than me.” He had missed Roier's humor and the part of him that was slowly accepting his own fate made him miss it even more. This felt like the last conversation he might have with him.

Roier waves a hand. “Eh, I've had better days…”

“I'm sorry. About what happened.” Charlie says thickly, trying not to tear up. It all weighed so heavily on his mind still.

Roier’s smile wanes slightly, eyes watery. “She was always so generous. Some part of me is happy she is with our son now, but another part… I do not know if I will truly heal. She was my best friend.”

“I get it.”

Roier just shrugs and wipes his face, sniffling. “At least you are still here. We've all been missing you.” He glances at Quackity, who is adamantly turned away from everyone. “Most of us.”

“I don't expect him to forgive me. I wouldn't forgive me. I… don't, actually.” Charlie replies, trying to keep his voice steady while his shaky hands betrayed his tone.

The spider-hybrid gives him a long, solemn stare. “You did not do it on purpose. You never would have.”

“Doesn't mean it didn't happen though. Mistake or not, sacrifice or not, you can't- we can't undo it. Ever.” 

Roier just sighs and rubs the back of his neck, unsure. “What will you do now?”

“I’m not really sure. Feels like mostly everyone has asked me that, and I never really...” Charlie finds himself really thinking about it as he drifts off. Going back to the Federation felt like his only option now despite the cart standing before him. He couldn't tell if it was because he vowed for justice or wanted to escape the inevitable feelings of guilt that chased him. Maybe both.

He didn't want to die though. The wagon was a tempting escape. It would take him back home, back to Flippa. He could forget about all of this, but he knew it wouldn't be so easy. Nothing ever was with him.

Finally he was the last one standing, Roier having left his side to join the others with his question unanswered. The rest of the group looked back at him expectantly. Mariana was the most concerned, his eyes watching Charlie carefully.

“There is something I can do.” Charlie says to himself before looking back at the group. ‘Big speech time,’ the little voice says. He tells the voice to shut up.

He addresses them all. He has his answer. He knows what he has to do.

“Guys, I uh. I have something I have to do.” He feels awkward as he says it out loud, but not nervous. They all exchange glances and murmurs. He’s determined in his new mission now.

Phil gets down first, staring at him questioningly as he approaches Charlie. 

“I- I know it’s gonna sound nuts, but there's this big dragon, back at the Federation. Sunny and I saw it, and well… she thinks the dragon is the eggs’ parent. Like they all came from it, somehow.”

The group stares at him with wide-eyes, Mariana’s expression the most alarmed of all. Charlie presses on and chooses to ignore his gaze.

“You don't have to believe me, but believe Sunny. Believe them when they say that what they saw was real.” 

He takes a deep breath and scratches the back of his neck, trying to think of a way to continue.

“So, I'm gonna go back. I have to do this.”

Charlie stands with a look on his face Mariana doubts he’d ever seen him wear. One of a quiet, solemn acceptance. Mariana hates it.

“I can’t let them get away with this. I have to do something.” He says slowly. “I need to do this for our kids. For everybody.”

Phil steps forward, hand outstretched. “You don’t Charlie, you don’t. Come back to the city, please.” He pleads, concern written all over his face.

Tubbo and Missa exchange worried looks and Baghera is distraught. “Charlie! Don’t go back!” She had gotten down as well and was tearful. 

Quackity looks down at the ground, expression unreadable, and Charlie can’t help but think how happy Quackity would surely be if the murderer of his child died in the place all this pain had started. He didn’t dare look at Mariana, already knowing the look he would give.

“Listen, I know I don’t have to go back. It’s a death-wish at this point. We worked so hard to get out, and Jaiden… she sacrificed herself to make it so we could. But this isn’t so I can have her death be in vain. I’m doing this so nobody else has to die, or get arrested for- for nothing , so nobody else has to get trapped in that hell. And for the eggs… maybe there's a way to stop that too. To stop all this shit from happening to them, or us anymore.” He says this frantically. He has to get them all to understand, he has to tell them; this is what he has to do.

“If nobody tries, then nothing is going to change! And if I die- well…” Charlie hesitates. “Then...” 

Before he could finish, Mariana had already jumped off the cart and grabbed him forcefully by the hand and pulled him down to eye-level, tears already in his eyes. “Losing you would kill me Charlie. Eres un tonto, un tonto hermoso y estúpido. If you die, I will too.” Her voice shakes and so does his hand, and Charlie can’t stand to be the reason for her pain. 

Roier, Missa and Quackity all raise their eyebrows at Mariana’s words, as if understanding something Charlie nor any of the others could understand.

Mariana's expression steels itself and becomes determined. She holds his hand, gentle but solid. It's warm. A symbol of his consistent, comforting presence, and everything falls away.

“I will not leave you.”

“Why, Mariana?! What did I ever do for you to- to deserve this? Why me?” Charlie exclaims, confused as ever. He feels his voice break as he asks, and he feels his worries creep in.

Mariana inhales sharply. “You were there , mi amor. You gave me a family. Made my… casa, my house, a home. You gave me the world. Hiciste que mi mundo fuera completo.” The earnestness in her voice makes him feel like putty.

He shakes his head, frustrated by Charlie. “How many times I must tell you, I do not know. But I will tell you forever if I have to.” 

Charlie blinked away the tears forming in his eyes. He didn't know what to say. All his life he'd only ever taken away from families, especially his own. Never had he managed to give back, to give someone something they didn't have. 

He rubbed his eyes and nose with the back of his clawed hand, still holding Mariana’s own with his unscarred one.

“Okay. Okay.”

“I am going with you.”

“You really don't have to. It'll take us a whole day just to get back. We don’t even have food, or anything.”

Mariana gives him such a hard, long look it almost makes him reconsider. “Then how would you get back in the first place? ¡Nunca piensas en el futuro! ¡Es tan frustrante! Do you ever think of yourself?”

Phil and Baghera share a look. The black-winged avian stepped forward. “You don’t have to walk all the way back. Not if we take you.”

Charlie quirks an eyebrow. “Not the whole cart, though- right?”

Phil shakes his head and flaps his ear-wings. “Nah mate. I'm saying we can fly you both over. Make the trip a bit shorter.”

Charlie's eyes widened. “Wait, seriously? Wouldn't we be too heavy?”

Baghera steps forward. “I will carry one of you.” She flexes her wings. “It won’t be hard.”

Mariana accepts this and walks to Baghera, already ready to go and somehow accepting of the whole situation. He's holding his axe again, given to him by Etoiles who said he'd found it in the forest around the city after they'd been taken. Phil approaches Charlie and hands him a shortsword, which he hesitates to take.

“I don't know if a sword is a good idea.” He says dully. Phil frowns to himself.

“I'm not sure if I have any other weapons to give you.”

Charlie sucks in a breath and closes his hand around the handle, turning it in his palm and looking over the shiny blade. It didn't have the same weight or feel or appearance as the last one he’d wielded. It was different. “I guess it'll have to do.”

Phil's frown turns into a faint smile before he glances at him and nods. “Well Charlie, this is your last chance to rethink. Are you sure about this?”

Charlie grips the sword in his hand before unraveling the rope around the handle and securing it to his back. “More than I've ever been about anything.”

Before Phil and Baghera begin to grab them to take off, Quackity approaches Charlie with a mixture of emotions painted on his face. Sunny follows suit, still giving Quackity a massive stink-eye as they do.

“Charlie, I hope you… make it back, man.” 

He doesn't know what to say to that, so he just goes in for a friendly handshake. Quackity ignores the handshake and gives him a half-armed hug.

Charlie hugs back, and even though it seems as though he won't be forgiven, this was more than he could've ever asked for.

Sunny then steps forward and sniffs, clearly upset at Charlie leaving. He kneels, holding his arms out for a hug.

“Promise me you’ll see Flippa, okay? She’s the best daughter I can ask for, and she’s always eager for some new friends.”

Sunny nods before holding a paper forth. He takes it and feels a familiar feeling tug his heart. 

‘I hope I can be your daughter too. Is that okay?’

He rubs his eyes of the tears forming there, and hugs Sunny once more. He whispers, “Of course Sunny. Always. Now be brave.”

‘Please come back.’

He isn’t sure he can promise that, but he tries anyway. “I promise… daughter.”

Quackity and Sunny both retreat and get on the cart again as Charlie turns towards Phil once more. “I'm ready.”

He grabs the slime under his arms, and Baghera does the same to Mariana, who looks strangely nonchalant about it. Charlie hadn't flown before, and had no idea what to expect, so he tried taking some deep breaths before Phil took off, his huge ebony wings launching them into the air with one powerful swoop.

He feels himself scream internally before realizing he was actually just screaming, and Phil was practically yelling against the wind that it was okay and he was fine. It took Charlie a while to finally look down after keeping his eyes firmly shut, gasping at the way the forest looked from above. 

He then looked up past Phil’s strained expression and into the sky, clouds high above. The sun was steadily approaching the horizon and turning into the afternoon, which made Charlie uneasy as they all flew along. Night was approaching, and the sword hung around his waist felt heavy.

Mariana seemed to be perfectly content on the other hand, as if he'd done this before or maybe just didn't mind. Charlie had no idea how her mind wasn't being absolutely blown away by how different everything was up here and how tiny the trees and floor below appeared.

He felt compelled to wave at her, which made Mariana laugh and wave back. Charlie felt himself chuckle as Phil looked down at him and grimaced. “You two are ridiculous.”

Charlie can only laugh more at that, because it wasn't entirely incorrect.

After a while they landed carefully in the woods near the Federation, just far enough that they'd have to walk for a little longer to get there, mostly due to the fear of being spotted. Phil told them to get in and out as quickly as possible, and the group would try to find them again if they made it out.

“How will you know?” Mariana had asked. Phil responded that he'd use ravens to check on them. Charlie still found that to be the coolest thing ever even after seeing it happen multiple times. 

Charlie pushes his half-broken glasses up his nose as Baghera and Phil take off once again, but not before Baghera gives him a big hug and Phil a hefty slap on the back before doing so. None of them said much, but just the physical acknowledgements meant more than words could have achieved.

The phantom weight of their touches felt like parting gifts as he and Mariana trudged through the forest once again, heading towards the Federation instead of leaving this time. It felt like walking towards a death sentence he himself set up.

“Are you really sure about this Mariana? You didn't need to come with me.” Charlie says after some time. Mariana sighs.

“I am a bit scared, but I feel better with you.” He admits, shrugging. “Too late now, anyway.”

Charlie takes a while to respond. “We might not come back from this.”

Mariana looks back at him, having taken the lead with his axe in hand. “I know. But I believe your story and what you are doing is the right thing.” Charlie shakes his head, still disbelieving that Mariana would be so willing to follow him into such a place. He certainly hadn’t forgotten what she’d said, but it was more so that he couldn’t believe himself to be that lucky, to have someone that wanted to stay by his side through everything.

They walk in silence for a while as night approaches and by the time they’ve finally made it back to the Federation building standing stark in the darkness, the crystalline white building illuminated by the rising moon, Mariana had finally decided to sit and take a break before they went back in. Charlie approaches him and kneels in front of him.

“You okay?” He asks gently, and Mariana lifts a single hand in acknowledgement. He looks more visibly worried now that the Federation was within view, and Charlie glanced down to see her clenching her axe hard enough that it looked like it hurt.

“I don’t know.” Mariana says finally, and Charlie feels regret consume him. “Mari, you shouldn’t have come.”

He glares at Charlie. “I was not going to let you come back here alone.”

“Maybe I should find a raven and let Phil know to come get you, I knew this was a bad idea. You’re not well.” He says firmly in reply, tempted to press a hand to Mariana’s forehead.

Mariana pushes his hand away as he tries to reach out in consolation. “No! I am staying. How many times do I have to tell you?”

Charlie huffs in frustration, only half-giving up on his attempts to get Mariana to leave. If there was one thing he knew that never changed with Mariana, it was his stubbornness. 

He opts instead to sit next to her, leaning up against the tree. They both looked at each other as their shoulders touched. It was a nice feeling.

Finally, Charlie asks, “What do you think Juanaflippa is up to right now?”

Mariana blinks at him and stares at her hands. “I think… She is with her siblings. Protecting them.”

Charlie chuckles. “I’m sure she isn’t happy that she wasn’t able to come with the rescue team. Phil probably made her babysit.” He was surprised that she hadn’t managed to sneak onto the wagon again, but knowing Phil, he’d probably stationed guards outside her room to make sure she couldn’t leave. 

“Why, because of last time?” He asks, a humorous smile playing on her lips. 

“Yeah! I mean, she literally learned to fly last time just so she could sneak onto our wagon for the mission. I’m impressed they held her at bay long enough to leave!” Charlie replies, laughing and holding Mariana by the shoulder.

Mariana shakes his head, a playful look in his eyes that betrayed his frowning. “I almost died from worry. Ella será mi muerte.”

“Well, you know her, she’s stubborn. Like you.” He nudges Mariana with his shoulder, who smirks back at him.

“And she is reckless, like you.” Mariana shoots back, grinning. Charlie can’t help but grin as well, his smile contagious. 

“I guess it can’t be helped.” Charlie says with a sigh and a shrug. “I’m just that likable.” Mariana takes his hand in her own and rubs a thumb across his palm, a simple comforting gesture.

“She is all we are.”

Charlie stares at Mariana. “She kinda is, isn’t she?”

“Yes.”

The moment was pleasant, but Charlie just couldn’t help but think about Mariana having joined him, possibly sealing both of their fates. He promised himself then, that if it really came down to it, he’d make sure Mariana left alive. 

Flippa needed one of her parents to live, and if it was going to be anyone, it would be Mariana. Of course he didn’t say this out loud; he was sure Mariana wouldn’t accept it. But the both of them were about to dive straight into the monster’s den, and there wasn’t a guarantee that both of them would make it back out.

They stare into the open sky, sitting within the treeline. All is still as they look across the open plains next to the forest, the moon rising higher and the Federation standing firmly tall against the landscape. They only had so much time to spare, but they spent the time together, for who knew how much longer they had?

Chapter Text

He was panicking, but at this point he’d been more afraid than calm these past few days that it was starting to become a natural state of being.

“MARIANA! DUCK!” He yells, watching in fear as a bullet zips past both their heads. Mariana ducks as instructed right as a guard swings their baton, making Mariana turn on his heel and strike them with his axe, lodging it in their chest and wrenching it out of them with force. The guard falls limp as blood splatters the stone floors, and she picks up the pace as more guards turn the corner. 

They’d finally made it back into the building despite their best judgements, deciding to go back through the same tunnel system they had used to escape the first time.

Noticeably, the halls were barren of any bodies from their previous breakout. Charlie was at least expecting to see the corpse of the fallen code monster he’d slain, but there was no trace of it. The floors were clean with the only evidence being the lingering characteristic synthetic smell the monsters always left behind.

As Charlie tried to remember where he had come across the dragon he and Sunny had seen, he was accidentally spotted by a guard who ended up sounding the alarm, alerting everyone inside that they had returned.

Mariana and Charlie made a break for it and ended up even deeper within the Federation than they hoped, traveling down long staircases and dark hallways with no rhyme or reason. There were few, if any indications of where they were headed, with a severe lack of signage or differentiation between all the rooms and corridors.

The synthetic smell was stronger in some areas, which greatly worried Charlie, and it was especially strong in one hallway they had run through.

The walls of it were lined with big test tubes, all empty but full of some sort of strange green liquid, strikingly similar to the ones he had seen on his very first mission all those weeks ago.

It reminded Charlie of the radioactive green hue the code monsters usually appeared with on their blackened skin, and the sight of the tubes sent shivers down Charlie’s back. What made it worse was that they had looked recently used, free of dust or lack of care.

They rounded another corner as Mariana dodged yet another bullet, and they ducked and weaved together to trick the guards into running down a separate staircase as they took another route.

“Wait, Mariana! This area, it’s- it looks like people have been here!” He shouts, noting the distinct lack of rubble and cobwebs that other parts of the Federation were sporting. It was even lighter down here, with the lights staying consistently on instead of flickering or being off entirely. It was a promising sight that they might’ve been heading in the right direction.

Charlie started to poke his head in nearby doorways, bristling as he did so. He wouldn’t forget the last time he’d been near a dark doorway without knowing what was within, shivering from the thought of seeing yet another terrifying code monster loom out of the darkness. He had to remind himself that he had a real weapon this time, and Mariana was with him. He would be okay. He was more prepared than last time.

The farther in they travel, the more guards they end up coming across. By the time they’d made it down yet a few more hallways, they were both out of breath and splattered in blood from engaging with them. 

Mariana had suffered a few blows from batons and was clutching his now bruised side, blood running down his face from a gash across his forehead where he scraped his head against the hard stone floor. Charlie got grazed by a few bullets with bits of slime dripping from his wounds, but he did his best to ignore it.

“Are you okay? Are you okay?” Mariana said frantically, hearing the shots while constantly looking back at Charlie to confirm he was still alive. He grunted in acknowledgement, too preoccupied with finding cover to form words. 

One of the guards wielding another gun intercepts them both, and Charlie grapples with them by holding their wrists and pushing the gun in their hands away. 

They pull the trigger next to his ear, the ringing of it forcing him to clap his palms over them.

Mariana tackles the guard and knocks the gun astray, sliding it towards Charlie as he scrambles to pick it up to get it away from the perpetrator, head still pounding from the loud noise as he shoves it into one of his pockets without a second thought.

They found some shelter in a room that didn’t look occupied and both slipped in as quietly as they could. The guards ran past, with one straggler deciding to poke their head in the room they hid in. 

Charlie grabbed the guard by the neck with his clawed hand, yanking them forward and launching them into a wall. He was still not at all used to the sudden strength his code arm wielded, nor the bursts of pain that would race up and down whenever he exerted himself.

Once they’d confirmed the guard was no longer moving, with Charlie giving them a well-placed kick despite the feeling of guilt over possibly killing someone, they took a better look around the room they’d taken cover in.

“What is this?” Mariana asks quietly, walking across the room to enter through another door. Charlie was just staring at some research papers on a desk, observing the contents before he jerks up and sees Mariana go into the other room. “Mariana?” He asks cautiously, receiving no answer in return. Worried, he starts walking in after him.

The doorway is dim, illuminated only by windows and various machines lining the walls. Charlie is reminded of a similar looking room, almost identical to the same one he and Sunny came across before, with the main difference being the lack of size or the huge dragon for that matter.

Something about this room also felt much worse, and he turned to see Mariana looking through the windows on the far side of the room, still as a statue as she stared through the window.

“Mariana?” He says again, approaching her slowly. Mariana’s face is one of abject horror, and when Charlie finally gets a clear view of what she’s seeing he feels his own face contort in despair.

Several tubes, each large enough to house a person, were standing attached to the wall behind the windows and connected with wires. The ground was covered in dark, miscellaneous stains, and one of the tubes housed what looked like an egg. They were motionless within.

Mariana speaks, the tone of his voice low with anger. “Who did this?” 

Charlie is speechless as he watches Mariana grip the counter that was underneath the windows. “We must free them. Charlie, is there a way in there?”

“Do I- I don’t- I don’t know, I don’t know Mariana.” He finally says, voice hoarse. Mariana is frantically looking for some means to get in, no door visible even within the room itself.

“¡Tiene que haber una forma de entrar! ¡A la mierda esta mierda!” Mariana yells, kicking one of the beeping machines hard enough that it wobbles. He pants, wincing as the gash on his forehead opens again and starts bleeding. Charlie rips up a piece of shirt from his arm and motions Mariana over, who complies, his face painted in grief and defeat. 

“I feel sick.” Mariana whispers. Charlie isn’t sure what to say.

Charlie ties the piece of fabric around Mariana’s forehead, the dirty orange of it stark against his dark hair. Even with her both covered in days-old grime and fresh blood, eyes sagging and more stress lines etched into her face than he’d ever seen, Mariana still looked beautiful.

Charlie thought helplessly, that at the very least if he were to die here Mariana would probably be the last thing he saw, and maybe that wasn’t so bad.

“That egg, is it alive?” Mariana asks eventually, unable to look anymore. Charlie isn’t sure what to say other than the truth. The little dragon hadn’t moved in all the time they were down here, and judging by how barren and quiet it was, nobody was coming for them. 

“I don’t… I’m not sure. But… we should try to get them out anyway, right?” He replies, trying to seem hopeful.

Mariana just stares at him, searching his face for a lie. “How?”

Charlie thinks hard about it before spotting some chairs stacked in the corner of the room. He jogs over to it, wrenching out one from the pile as they fall over. Mariana just shakes his head as she watches Charlie bound over to the window, chair in his hands. 

He raises his eyebrows at Mariana, who almost looks ready to stop him before he uses all his strength to launch the chair through the window, watching as it bounces back haphazardly and hits Charlie square in the shin.

“Charlie! ¡¿Eres estúpido?! ¡Qué diablos!” Mariana exclaims, and Charlie can only hop around in pain.

“I’m gonna ignore that you probably just called me stupid. No, no it’s gonna work! Hold on-” Charlie says frustratedly before grabbing the chair again and flinging it against the glass, and this time instead of rebounding it sails right through and crashes into the other side. 

Glass goes everywhere as the chair makes a distant banging sound in the chamber, and they gingerly step over the glass as they peer into the room.

Charlie goes first, jumping in and narrowly avoiding the sharp glass of the window. Mariana follows suit, and they both approach the motionless little dragon together with their footsteps echoing on the stone floor. 

The little dragon bore no markings, no color, and had no distinctive features like any of the other eggs. They wore white clothes to match their dull eggshell-colored scales, dirty and shabby. A single patch, labeled ‘A1’, is the only indication of how they must’ve been referred to.

The sight of the egg is enough to make Charlie want to vomit as he stumbles back a bit from the sudden wave of queasiness, watching Mariana reach into the open tube and gingerly nudge the dragon as if to test if they really were alive or not. The sight of it all is far too reminiscent of a distant memory, one that clings to him still. 

Mariana notices his sudden change in demeanor as he gently holds the limp body in her arms, his eyes hollow. “Charlie?”

Charlie is gasping and clutching his chest, his code infected arm hurting more than usual. “W- why- are we taking them?”

Mariana gives him an odd look, but it holds no pity. Only sadness and a bit of confusion. “We- they do not deserve to be here… maybe… we could bury them. When we get out.”

“Will you be okay?” She eventually asks, very unsure. Charlie’s breathing has slowed, but the cold weight of the sword in his hand is heavy. “I don’t know.” He replies.

“Let us just find that big dragon. Are you sure you don’t remember?...” Mariana starts before being interrupted.

“No! I don’t remember where I saw it, and if I did we wouldn’t be this lost!” Charlie says far too loudly. The both of them had barely whispered up until this point, and his sudden outburst caught the attention of a lone guard who was inspecting the window they were just about to leave through. 

Charlie climbs through the window as fast as he can, watching them stumble backwards as he leaps through with a quiet anger. He feels no remorse as he cuts them down now that Mariana is occupied with carrying the limp form of the egg and unable to fight. How can the Federation be so much worse than either of them knew? How could they have let that poor little dragon to die alone? 

The guard went down without much of a fuss, and neither of them spoke another word as they continued down the now empty hallways. 

Wherever the rest of the guards were now must’ve been more important, or maybe they thought the situation was dealt with. It didn’t do much to ease their worries, because it was just a bit too quiet for it to be either of those things. Something wasn’t right.

They make their way into another bigger room, not unlike the one they found A1 in. It was clean, evident even in the low lighting. It seemed promising enough, and as they entered through a pair of double doors, they were greeted with yet another area that housed large windows on the far end as a way to observe the secondary room. The biggest difference now was the size of the place, with everything being much, much larger than the previous room. 

“This could be it.” Charlie finally whispers, and Mariana nods at him as they fan out to take a better look at the place. Mariana goes to one of the walls and looks at the myriad of dials, buttons, and levers, still holding the little egg close. 

Charlie instead moves towards the huge windows and he holds his hands over his eyes to better see what was behind them. He almost pushes up against the glass in an attempt to get a better look, and all at once bright lights turn on within the room. He claps his hands over his eyes, pushing his glasses into his face as he attempts to shield them from the sudden bright light.

“Sorry!” Mariana says from the other side of the room, his voice echoing in the vastness. Charlie just gives a weak thumbs up while rubbing his eyes of the black spots that dance in his vision. He hears Mariana walk up next to him after a moment, and they both look through the windows together.

The dragon was there, illuminated by the lights pouring through the windows. It was even bigger up close at eye-level, twice as big as a two-story house and almost motionless as it laid upon the white stone floor. The room it was kept in was barely big enough to house the dragon as it slept. It still bore the huge chains that kept it in place, and wires crossed across its body as huge waves of electricity raced through them with every breath it took.

Charlie points at the glass. “There. That’s the dragon.” He says it in a hushed, awed way.

Mariana turns towards him slowly. “Charlie… It is so big. How- how are we going to-”

“I don’t know, but we have to try. I think I remember seeing some buttons that could maybe unlock the chains around it, or something…” He thinks aloud.

“And after that?” Mariana asks, still rather dumbfounded by how big the dragon was.

Charlie honestly didn’t think they would make it this far. “I don’t know.” He feels a sudden chill crawl its way up his back.

They both look over their shoulders, equal parts shocked and horrified as they are greeted with two very angry code monsters, their malformed ebony bodies stark against the bright white lights. 

They both bore resemblance to the dragon code monster Charlie had encountered, with the strangest thing being that they were bipedal this time. They stretched uneven wings and flexed their long claws, their maws open and deformed. They let out twin roars as they charged, and Charlie and Mariana bolted for the iron door that would let them into the room where the dragon was kept. 

To their combined relief, the door was unlocked as Charlie shouldered into it and flung it open. He quickly shuts it and turns a lever on the other side of it, locking it shut as the code monsters slam into the metal, shrieking in rage. 

Mariana fell as they rushed through the door, dropping A1 on the ground in front of the dragon who was now wide awake and watching them both with curiosity. Mariana recovered just enough to gingerly scoop up the limp egg in his arms again, looking up at the dragon with a pained and terrified expression. 

Meanwhile, Charlie was having a mini panic attack. The code monsters had given up their pursuit of the door and had begun flinging themselves at the glass, and he could do nothing but watch them in horror as they slowly begin to break through it. “Mari, I think this is it. We need to- we gotta find a way to free the dragon, I don’t know- look for a button or something in here, maybe, I don’t know!”

Mariana was preoccupied and didn’t reply as she handed the small dragon over to the much larger one. It looked at the limp form with great sadness, but it didn’t seem angry as it scooped up A1 in an oversized claw.

“Lo siento mucho. Lamento que esto te haya pasado.” She whispers to the dragon, who blinks slowly in recognition. “¿Cómo podemos ayudarle?”

The dragon flattens its ears as the code monsters scream again, the glass unable to hold up any longer as one of them manages to break through entirely. 

It tumbles to the ground but recovers quickly as it immediately guns for Mariana. 

Mariana can barely react as she turns around, his hands grasping onto his weapon. The code monster latches onto him with ferocity and begins tearing into her with a primal desperation, and he screams, and screams, and screams, and Charlie can’t do anything to stop it.

The other code monster runs at him, snapping him out of his frozen state of pure fear. He barely has a chance to grapple it, Mariana’s yells still rattling in his mind. 

The dragon, now alarmed, was thrashing in the chains as it tried to escape; but something in its tethers was keeping it put despite its obvious strength and size. Charlie had to find the button to release it, somehow, but he could barely think as he rolled out of the way of the code monster’s gnashing teeth and claws.

He bolts for Mariana, who is barely standing ends up falling to his knees, overcome by her fresh injuries. Her face is ashen, sweat and pain contorting her expression into one of agony as the code monster circles his fallen form as she struggles to stand again and defend herself.

 Charlie slams into the code monster and he lets his anger take over completely. He was not going to let someone else die for him or because of him. No if he could help it. Not again. No more.

He tears into the code monster with his hands, not even bothering with his sword as he puts as much energy as possible into ripping them apart. Visions of Jaiden, Tilín, and Mariana flash through his mind as he lets his rage envelop his mind. 

The exertion makes globs of slime melt off his body as he grits his teeth and continues to tear, and tear, and tear. The code monster, now shredded in his hands, hangs limp. 

A wave of nausea rolls through him as he throws its now empty corpse aside, black ooze covering his arms and torso. He accidentally presses a hand to his face and spreads it, which makes him reel back. 

The synthetic smell is vicious and it makes his eyes water, but before he can fully recover the second code monster has latched itself onto his back with more anger than he’d ever seen any of them exhibit. It was clearly unhappy that he’d managed to dispose of its companion.

The code monster scratches deep into his back, and he howls in pain as he attempts to throw the beast off. They struggle for several long, agonizing minutes before Charlie is able to fling them off with what little strength he had left, throwing the creature to the ground. It lets out a shrill shriek as it charges him once more, but Charlie bears down and grabs the code monster by the neck. 

He pushes it down into the ground and wraps his hands around what must’ve been its throat, strangling it as it thrashes. He forces his eyes shut as he wills himself to avoid hearing its screams as he kills the code monster. Huffing and puffing, he stands to his feet shakily once the deed is done. 

Charlie stares at his shaking hands, turning them over to stare at his palms now all covered in black and green gore. He feels sick to his stomach again. No matter how much he wants to revel in killing the code monsters, it is never easy. He didn’t feel vindicated in his revenge against them and he doubted he ever would, because in the end he’d taken the lives of other creatures. 

His vision becomes blurred as he stumbles forward and lands on his knees, lightheaded and dizzy from all the exertion. His back stings horribly but he wills himself to try standing once again. He had to make sure Mariana was still alive, that she was even still breathing. The room was horribly quiet now.

The dragon had retreated as much as it could within the range of its shackles and was merely watching in the corner, still holding the tiny form of A1 within their claws. It must’ve understood the situation as it looked at Charlie with some kind of pity.

“ Mariana .” His voice feels hoarse in his throat, and it almost hurts to speak. He collapses next to Mariana, who practically looks dead. The code monster had torn into his chest, black and red fluid trickling from the wounds. Her eyes are shut, her mouth stuck in a permanent frown of pain. 

“Please, gods please, please don’t be dead.” Charlie whispers into his chest, clutching his body like a lifeline. He avoids the injured areas as he holds Mariana in his lap, cradling her head in his hands as he presses his forehead to hers. The black ooze on his face smears on Mariana's. “This is all my fault. Why did you have to come with me, why, why, why?”

He doesn’t get an answer, and he desperately wished he did. He wanted to pray to anyone or anything to even hear just a single word, or capture another glance. He wished he weren’t such a coward and he could’ve said something before it all came down to him holding Mariana’s lifeless body.

Charlie weeps, racked with full-body sobs as he holds her. The pain is too much, both outside and in. In the end, it was always his fault, wasn’t it? 

Then, a short gasp of air. Charlie immediately pulls back and watches Mariana with wide eyes as he coughs, a trickle of blood falling from her mouth. He blinks at Charlie and grimaces before speaking hoarsely, “...what happened?”  

The relief is immense as he clutches Mariana fiercely, the tears flowing still. “MARIANA! You’re- you’re alive! Holy fuck!” He starts laughing hysterically, and Mariana seethes in pain. “Man, your hug- let me go Charlie, I am- ouch!”

Charlie lets go reluctantly. “I thought you fucking died.” 

Mariana holds a hand over his wounded chest and coughs more, wheezing as blood trickles from the gashes. “I might.”

“No, no you won’t. You’re gonna live. I’m- I’m gonna find the button, and we’re getting the hell out of here, and we’re gonna find Phil and the others. Stay right there.” Charlie says hurriedly. Mariana just lies back down, closing his eyes as Charlie runs off. “And don’t close your eyes Mariana! Don’t go towards the light!” He yells back, watching Mariana give him a feeble thumbs-up.

Filled with newfound hope for his situation Charlie leaps through the broken window and tumbles through it before quickly jumping to his feet and whipping his head this way and that. Button, button, button, possibly big, maybe red. 

A brief memory of spotting a button with ‘Release’ stamped on it ran through his mind as he bolted from dashboard to dashboard lined up against the walls. He muttered to himself as he looked frantically. 

“Yes, yes yes yes.” He says hurriedly. The button, in all its glory, stood before him. To think how easy it would be to end it all with a single press.

Charlie hears distant footsteps cascading down the hallway, distant but getting closer to the doors leading to him. 

Without a second thought he slams a fist down on the button, and all at once a single burst of energy races through a tangle of wires beneath the dash, through the concrete walls, and into the dragon’s holding chamber.

In a moment the bindings keeping it in place and the wires tethering it to the walls and ceiling spring loose, and crackles of energy spark and die. He races back into the chamber to where Mariana is still laying, eyes closed and breathing much shallower than it was. 

The dragon had only just understood what had happened and was now flexing its freed limbs and stretching its wings. It looked down at Charlie and Mariana with gratefulness in its clear, iridescent eyes. 

He didn’t know what to say, so he merely held Mariana in his arms again as he looked up at the dragon now standing to its full-height, its large horns scraping the ceiling as it began to flap massive wings. They clipped the edges of the room, but it rose steadily, its body inexplicably lighting up with some sort of strange electricity as it held A1 in its claws.

Charlie didn’t waste a second in picking Mariana up, struggling against the pain racing down his back from the code monster’s assailment. He breathes heavily as he carries Mariana on his back, allowing her arms to fall over his shoulders as he walks as fast as his weak legs can carry him. 

The distant footsteps had turned into more than just that- a whole gaggle of guards had entered the space, all of them angry despite the lack of faces that would allow such an expression. The body language was all he needed to understand that they were pissed.

A huge chunk of ceiling cracks in front of them, breaking and falling to the floor in a huge crash. Everything was shaking, and Charlie stood his ground as the guards looked about in confusion. More rubble began to form as the ceiling broke apart, flattening the guards in front of him. 

The dragon was breaking straight through the ceiling, using all of its strength to do so as it used its energy to break the earth above. The pure force of it was enough to make everything start collapsing, and Charlie wasted no time in making his escape. If he could remember how to get out, that is.

“Mariana, are you still with me?” He asks, receiving no answer in return. He could almost feel Mariana’s breathing, but it was getting fainter. Panic coursed through his body like poison, but it wasn’t enough to make him freeze in fear this time. Charlie felt more determined than he ever had in his life. They were both going to live. They were going to survive.

The floor was shaking more violently now as he climbed a staircase, small pebbles jumping from the vibrations underfoot. Dust was clouding his vision and he coughed before stepping over more piles of rubble, taking care not to trip. 

Guards were running amok as he sprinted as fast as he could through the halls, ducking and diving away from them as they tried to grab at him and Mariana. He’d try for his sword, but he was too occupied on keeping Mariana steady against his back, gritting his teeth through every jump or twist he had to pull as his injuries screamed in pain. 

One guard managed to grab one of Mariana's limp arms, nearly toppling both him and Charlie over completely. He hissed in anger at the guard, surprised by his own weirdly primal response as he ripped his claw through their chest. A jolt of pain made itself known as he staggered back and kept running, holding onto Mariana more firmly as the guard made no attempt to follow.

After many agonizing minutes he found himself in the unfortunately familiar hallway, the very same one they’d made their original escape through. He was greeted with the very same iron doors that were ironically open now, for what reason Charlie didn’t care about. He ran through them, befuddled by the fact that he somehow managed to loop around as far as he did. He pressed forward, remembering the path towards their exit. 

“No. No, it was here! It was right here!” 

The weathered entrance, the very same they had both escaped and came in through, was now collapsed. Rocks and rubble covered it with only small beams of light trickling through. It was old, and it fell apart due to the shaking and rumbling still present throughout the facility. 

He let Mariana down, who was still out cold. Charlie looked at him, thinking hysterically how he was probably just imagining her being alive still as he saw his chest rise and fall slightly. Maybe he’d inhaled too much dust or fumes or something, and this was hopeless. 

But he turned his gaze to the light still pouring through the small cracks in the debris. Approaching the crumbled entrance he begins pushing aside rocks and large chunks of concrete and dirt as fast as he can muster while periodically glancing back at Mariana to make sure he was still breathing.

There had to be some hope left in himself, hope that he wasn’t just making everything up and that they really were getting out, even if it was just a pipe-dream. He was going to make it happen.

“Come on, come on come on come ON!” Charlie pushes aside an especially large piece of debris and lets it fall to the side, waving away the dust that comes up from it and coughing into his fist. The light streams in, and he sees the afternoon sky above. 

“We’re getting outta here Mari.” He says gently to the still unconscious Mariana. He picks her up carefully, making sure not to touch the wounds still stark against his chest. They had quickly blackened and the bleeding had stopped, but that alone wouldn’t stop his worrying.

It takes him a minute to fully get him and Mariana out of the broken entrance, climbing and slipping on the uneven portions as he struggles to keep them both upright. He’d taken to carrying Mariana bridal-style instead of against his torn-up back as the pain increased steadily.

Once he’d made it back to the edge of the woods, he finally let himself slump against one of the nearby trees, putting Mariana down next to him and laying her flat on the grass. 

The Federation was half-destroyed from the commotion, and part of the dragon’s head had now completely emerged. It continued to break through the ground, tearing down the foundation of the Federation building without care. Once it was fully free of the earth, the dragon stretched its beautiful wings, sparkling scales being reflected by the slowly setting sun. 

As Charlie’s gaze follows its ascent, watching the dragon fly off into the sunset, he sees a single, faint shooting star far above streak across the sky.

He’s reminded of a distant memory, of a young dragon looking to him for a story for the first time, and how her only wish was for him to be her friend. Now he’d have a conclusion to that story for her, he thinks, as the dragon finally fades away into the horizon.

The last of the Federation fell apart, once proud spires crumbling and collapsing. It was a beautiful sight, and the heavy weight that had settled on him was lifted as he felt relief surge through his mind.

His eyes hung heavy as he looked down to Mariana, releasing a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding when he watched his chest rise and fall steadily. They were both going to be okay. 

“Mariana, we did it. We’re gonna go home.” He whispers to her, carefully resting a hand upon his warm shoulder. 

“We’re going home.”

Chapter Text

“Just… just a bit further.”

He was panting heavily as he carried Mariana, refusing to stop until he’d found what he was looking for. 

His slime was coming off in globs as he walked, and he could feel himself getting weaker and weaker the longer he kept going. It was night, and he could hear monsters in the distance as he continued his trek, constantly surveying the area with watchful eyes.

“C’mon… Mariana…” Charlie huffs. He wipes his forehead as he keeps walking, only stopping to look over his shoulder at the sight of a lone zombie ambling through the trees. It pays him no mind, so he ignores it and resumes trudging on.

After what felt like forever, Charlie finds what he’s after. A clear pond. It was small, but just big enough for him to drink from, which is what he seriously needed. Taking so many hits, losing so much slime and overexerting himself really did a number on him. As he bends down to cup some water into his hands to sip from, he takes a better look at the little grove the pond was situated in.

It was cozy and well-hidden, so there wasn’t much risk of being discovered unless it was by accident. It would do a good job at keeping them safe and hidden while Mariana recovered.

He takes a drink of water and immediately begins to feel better, so he continues to sip for a while. It wouldn’t beat the hunger he was now experiencing thanks to his thirst being quenched, but at the very least he should start to recuperate. He even takes the time to wash the black ooze staining his face and hands.

He’s exhausted as he scoots over to Mariana, who’s breathing has thankfully returned to an even, deep rhythm. Charlie isn’t sure how humans regenerate, exactly, but he knows it’ll take more than water and rest for the wound on his chest to heal properly.

He racked his brain on how best to approach taking care of Mariana now, so he decides to first deal with wrapping the wound up in some sort of fabric or cloth. That usually seemed to help with the healing process, after seeing how many times Mariana had done it for him.

Charlie looks down at the filthy orange jumpsuit he’s still wearing. It’s practically in rags, what with using it to wrap up previous wounds and getting caught on all kinds of things, such as and bushes and rubble and injury. He sighs and thinks for a moment before just ripping off both pant-legs. He shivers from how much colder it is without them, but he toughens up. Mariana needs it more than him. 

Before he tries to attempt wrapping Mariana’s torso, he does a double-take at the fabric in the dim moonlight. They’re a lot dirtier now that he’s taking a closer look at them.

“Hold on Mariana, I gotta wash these off first. Don’t go anywhere.” 

He laughs at his own dumb joke as he kneels by the pond, looking into the clear depths. He was lucky this pond had a waterfall to keep it from going stagnant and gross, he thinks to himself as he goes to wash off the fabric.

It takes a while for him to scrub the grime out with his hands, but he doesn’t mind. It feels good to do something productive, to keep his mind off the fact that Mariana still hadn’t woken up. He wished he knew more about humans, about how they worked… it made him regret not asking Mariana about it more. Once she woke up, he would. 

“These seem pretty clean, Mariana.” He says to him, and as he goes to try wrapping his injury, he notices that they’re still far too wet to use. Thinking about it for a moment he decides to start a small campfire to dry them faster and to keep both himself and Mariana warm. The night was growing colder, especially now that he’d been using the now freezing water from the pond and gotten it all over himself.

He had to cut down a few zombies as he collected firewood, using his sword to kill them swiftly. It still hurt to twist his body in certain ways, and the dull throb of pain that he’d felt in his back had slowly returned. He tied the sword across his waist, and once he felt satisfied with the haul he quickly returned to Mariana’s side and began to whittle away at two sticks like he’d seen the others do. 

After several minutes of lackluster attempts he huffs in frustration. “This is a lot harder than it looks. I don’t know what to do now, Mari.” Charlie sighs through his nose sharply before he gets up again and starts looking for some stones. “I think I saw Missa start a fire with rocks before. These sticks are a bust.” 

He picks a few rocks up and looks at them carefully. “I have no idea if I even need a specific fire-making rock…” He shrugs anyway and returns to his shoddy pile of twigs and firewood.

A few more minutes of trying and banging various rocks together in different ways eventually rewards him with a tiny flame. “Yes! I did it! I made fire!” Charlie chuckles, eventually evolving into maniacal laughter before he stops himself in confusion. 

“I have no idea why I just did that.” He turns to Mariana for some kind of response, but once again is awarded with nothing.

“C’mon Mariana, you’re not giving me much to work with here.”

No response.

Charlie looks at Mariana, still unmoving. “I really hope you’re okay. I feel like you should’ve woken up by now…”

Trying not to think about it anymore, Charlie returns his attention to the fire and gets the fabric dried. It doesn’t take long, and he nearly sets some of it ablaze, but he manages to make it through the affair without any other incidents. 

It took a while to properly wrap up Mariana’s wounds thanks to the fact that he was still unconscious and unable to help, but Charlie did it with as much care and gentleness as he could muster. Not once did he wake up during it, which only made Charlie worry more. Did she suffer more damage than he thought?

At least now she was protected and would hopefully heal, he thought to himself as he laid next to him. 

Charlie feels compelled to hold Mariana’s hand, and he does as he stares up at the night sky through the tree leaves. A breeze rolls through and ruffles their branches, sending a few leaves tumbling down upon them both. A few fall on Mariana, so Charlie rolls over a bit to brush them off. 

“I hope you’re okay.” He whispers, willing away the tears that have suddenly begun to spring from his eyes. “Please be okay. Flippa needs you. I… I need you.”

Mariana is still out cold, and Charlie wishes desperately that he’d wake up and talk to him. It was misery to be alone in this way, agony to not know if she’d even be alive tomorrow after all this. 

“I won’t leave you.” 

He sidles up next to Mariana again and tries his best to stay awake. He needed to make sure he was still breathing throughout the night. It seemed like her condition had stabilized, but he couldn’t know if it would stay that way. 

The quiet of the night started to lull him to sleep, but he forced himself to stay awake as he stared at Mariana, the sky, the trees. Occasionally he’d nod off, then jerk awake when he heard a noise or realized he was falling asleep again.

But it was hard not to sleep better around Mariana, even if she was terribly injured and still very much at risk of dying. Despite Charlie’s best efforts, he went to sleep anyway. He was tired and worn out from running amok all day, combined with all the stress and bad sleep of the past week. He thankfully had no nightmares to keep him away from it this time. 

Charlie wakes, blinking slowly against the sun pouring through the trees, scattered leaf-shaped shadows dancing across his face as a breeze passes through.

He sits up and brushes leaves off himself that had been blown around in the winds of the night, and he holds a hand over his eyes as he peers into the sky. It’s cloudy, but not overcast. He’s relieved that he got fortunate enough to see another day.

Mariana, on the other hand, might not have been so lucky.

“Mari?” Charlie whispers, bending over to get close to her face. Mariana is still sleeping peacefully, and some tension releases when he sees his slow, relaxed breathing. Still alive, and no worse for wear at the moment.

The bandages that he’d wrapped around his torso still held up, and thankfully hadn’t acquired any more blood. The bleeding had subsided which Charlie figured to be a very good thing.

He feels his body wobble as he stands, so he returns to the pond to get some more water. “Do you think I can give you water when you’re passed out?” He asks after taking a sip, turning his head towards Mariana. Nothing. “Probably a bad idea.”

Still feeling a bit weaker than normal he realizes that he still needs to eat as well. Before he ventures into the woods in search of food, he checks on Mariana another time to ensure he is okay.

“Mariana, I gotta go on an errand real fast. Don’t go anywhere, alright?” He says sternly. No response. “Thanks, knew I could count on you.” He brushes a finger against a stray hair on Mariana’s face before he gets up, and adjusts her glasses for good measure. They had gotten a bit crooked.

He stands and stretches before he begins his trek, and as he walks through the woods he enjoys the sights and sounds of the day. Hearing the birds and feeling the warmth of the sun through the dappled leaves made him feel a little more grateful for everything. He really was quite blessed that they’d both managed to make it out alive in (mostly) one piece.

“Hell yes!” He exclaims upon finding a berry bush. He looks at them carefully before eating, thinking back to when he was younger traveling through the woods alone and eating whatever he came across. It resulted in a lot of finding what was and wasn’t good to eat, even for a slime. Poison berries affect everybody regardless if they were made of meat or goo, as he’d found out the hard way on more than one occasion..

Scratching his head, he wasn't entirely sure what stories he had or hadn’t told Mariana of his past, and he wondered if she would be curious about his life before he was welcomed into the city. Maybe it wasn’t the most exciting life, but it was one of learning and curiosity, two things he didn’t get with his past family. It was something he had to discover himself.

Charlie wanted to know more about the world, what else there was to see; and he wanted his family by his side the whole time. Maybe they could go on new adventures together and make their own stories to tell.

It was a nice thought, one he ruminated on as he walked back to where Mariana was. He kicked the campfire, now cold, and scattered the ashes around.

He took another piece of clean fabric, one too small for him to use for any wounds, and wrapped the berries in it. “I got a little food for you when you wake up.” Charlie says with a cheerful smile. “You’re probably starving.”

He waits expectantly for Mariana to wake up to the idea of food, but it didn’t do much. “There’s water too. But you already knew that. Cause uh, cause I was drinking it.”

Mariana shifted a bit in his deep sleep, but nothing else. Charlie frowned and sat next to him, choosing to hold his limp hand up gently. 

“Mariana, I don’t know what’s wrong. I don’t know why you aren’t really waking up. I don’t know how to help you, I can’t remember… I don’t really remember what I’m supposed to do here. I wish you could help me to help you, but I know that isn’t how it works.”

“Am I doing something wrong? Are you sick? I want to make this right by you but I don’t know how! I knew you should’ve gone with the others. I don’t know why you insist on- on going with me, and doing all these things for me. I mean…” 

He sucks in a breath, furrowing his brow as he tries to think of what he’s trying to say. “I can… guess why. But I don’t want to assume, or get my hopes up, y’know?”

“I don’t want to believe that there’s more there when there might be nothing. I know it’s probably stupid and I’m just holding onto some idea that you just tolerate me but I’m- I don’t know how to do this right.”

He shifts a little, away from Mariana as he keeps rambling.

“I’m probably not making any sense am I?”

Charlie goes quiet for a moment and starts to think some more, sitting with his legs close to his body. Maybe he should just go and say it, say what he’s wanted to for so long. He’s had so many close shaves he isn’t sure if he’ll ever get the chance to tell Mariana. And if he really is just tolerant of him, it’s not like Mariana’s really awake. There’s no real fear of rejection then, right?

“I can’t remember when it really hit me. When I started to… to like you, I guess. I was like, what? Really?” He says it as quietly as possible, as if he already wasn’t to begin with to avoid waking her. “I was always a little drawn to you, I think. Even when it was just annoying you. I just like being around you, more than I’ve ever been around anyone.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I never said it before!” Charlie becomes overwhelmed with emotion. “I’m sorry I was a coward Mariana! I don’t know if you can hear me, I don’t even know if you’ll ever wake up, but gods- I love you. I have for- for months.” He half-shouts before he claps a hand over his mouth in incredulity. 

Standing up abruptly he backs away, shocked at how easy, yet difficult it was to admit. It was so simple to say it, and he was baffled by how it took so long to even gather the courage; and yet here he was, with a Mariana that couldn't even hear him.

“...What?”

Charlie freezes up and slowly turns back around, eyes wide as saucers. “Mariana? You’re- how- did- how much of that did you hear?”

Mariana’s expression is weary, yet elated, his face more ashen and exhausted than it was in sleep. His eyes, much more alive than the rest of him, are warm brown and wide in surprise. It’s such a welcome sight that it makes Charlie want to jump in joy. 

“All of it.”

“Have you been pretending to sleep?” Charlie gasps out while holding a hand to his face. “That- do you know how long I’d been worried you wouldn’t even wake up again?”

Mariana looks sheepish. “I was not pretending! I was a little awake but then… I heard you come back. And I eh… I just did not reply.”

“Until right NOW!” Charlie exclaims. “Oh my gods…” He covers his face with both hands and sits down on the grass, more embarrassed and mortified than he’d ever felt in his life. 

Mariana, still weak, carefully gets up to sit beside him. He grabs Charlie’s hands in her own and looks him directly in the eyes. Charlie blinks rapidly and swallows hard, noticing how much clearer and brighter his expression appears now that he’s up close. Mariana’s grin grows wider and wider.

“How long did I want to say it too? Demasiado tiempo, demasiado tiempo he esperado esas palabras. I have waited so long. Too long. I have dreamed of it…”

“R-really?” Charlie says with a hushed tone.

Mariana’s hands travel to his face, cupping them with care. It’s a pleasant feeling as he gets closer to Charlie. “I love you too. Mi amor, I have waited too long to say it.”

He gets closer, closer, until their faces practically touch. Charlie can hardly believe it as he watches his face close in, his eyes widening as Mariana’s shut in turn. 

Mariana’s lips touched his own, and he froze. A million different ecstatic, overjoyed emotions flashed through his mind before he closed his own eyes and leaned forward. They embraced, with Charlie being careful not to hug too hard as he wraps his arms around Mariana. All at once everything made sense, and when they broke apart the feeling didn’t go away.

“Can we do that again?”

Mariana gives him a wide, closed smile, the kind that wrinkles the lines around his eyes. He laughs, and it's an uplifting sound. “Please!”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He asks for the third time as Mariana stands up and walks around a bit. He waves Charlie away. “Yes, I am fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes! I am sure.” Mariana laughs again. He’s doing it more often now, and it makes Charlie’s heart skip a beat every time. He hadn’t realized how much he enjoyed being in Mariana’s presence again, especially after dealing with the possibility of losing him.

It was midday now and the two were walking through the forest in the hopes of retracing their steps to the field. It was where the group was picked up, and the duo had hoped that maybe Phil and the others could find them there once more.

“You can lean on me if you need to.” Charlie offers out an arm for Mariana to grab. She takes his hand instead, smiling. “I am okay. You are hurt too.”

He glances at Charlie’s beat-up back, now bandaged a bit thanks to Mariana’s handiwork. They had to scour the woods for some things to help improve the way it stung, but now it only felt like a dull throb on occasion.

“Let’s lean on each other then!” Charlie replies while laughing.

Mariana holds him as he begins to pretend-fall, smirking. “That is a bad idea.”

“Not if you haven’t tried it.” He says with a comical wiggle of his eyebrows.

Mariana just pushes him away gently, still holding his hand in his own. “You are a ridiculous man.”

Charlie just shrugs. “So I’ve been told.”

“Not enough, apparently.” Mariana says right back. Charlie chuckles.

“Oh! Hold on.” Charlie runs forward, letting go of Mariana’s hand for a moment. He spotted a raven from afar and approached it carefully. It must’ve been the third one he’d seen so far and he hoped that he could speak to this one and maybe send a message to Phil. 

Before he could get within good range of it, it becomes startled by him and flies off, scattering leaves everywhere as it shoots through the trees. He sighs, frustrated. “That’s it! I can’t even get close enough to relay a message!”

Mariana had caught up to him, a bit short of breath. He was holding his chest as if he was having a hard time getting good lungfuls of air. “Be patient. Phil has told them to watch us, remember?” He says while taking deep breaths.

“Yeah… yeah, that’s true. But we can’t communicate with him if we can’t get close!” He replies with some exasperation.

Mariana raises an eyebrow. “You can talk to the birds too?”

Charlie stops for a moment. “Oh wait. I can’t. I forgot.”

He laughs again, and then coughs hard into her fist. The slime puts an arm around her shoulder and rubs his back with the other. “Hey, hey are you okay?”

“I will be- fine.” Mariana grits out, wheezing. “I think those- demons hurt my insides too.” The code scars must’ve been starting to bother him more, and this greatly worried Charlie.

“What, so all your inside, people, human stuff is all banged up too? I thought it was just surface level!” Charlie panics. He’s holding his hands to his head as he does, expression full of worry before Mariana coaxes his hair-gripping down. “It will be fine, I will heal. I just need to be careful.”

Mariana puts a gentle hand on his shoulder. “La venda, this you used for me, it works well. You did a good job querido.” He says, a hand over the tight fabric still wrapped around his chest.

Charlie relaxes and appears more relieved as he has Mariana sit down on the most comfortable rock they can find. “I’m glad…”

He sits on the grass by her legs while he thinks, waiting for Mariana to recover so they can continue walking. “What does ‘querido’ mean, by the way? That’s a new one.” He raises his eyebrows. “Thinking about it, I don’t think you ever told me what ‘mi amor’ means, either. You called me that a while ago.”

“‘Querido’ is ‘darling’. ‘Mi amor’, it means ‘my love’.”

The slime looks gobsmacked before he lights up. “Wow. How did I not realize that’s what that meant.” He pauses for a sigh. “I’m kind of an idiot.”

“Yes, but you are my idiot.” Mariana states cheekily.

Charlie sighs dreamily. “Wouldn’t have it any other way… mi amor.”

Mariana smiles widely at him, his eyes crinkled. “Muy bueno.”

“If you’re willing… I’d love to learn more from you.” Charlie says with some hesitation. Warm brown eyes meet his green ones in contemplation. “Maybe after we get out of here.”

“Agreed.” She replies.

They both go to stand, Mariana no longer winded as he does so. Charlie feels half tempted to carry Mariana to avoid more issues, but a twinge in his back and the weakness in his arms reminds him otherwise.

After a while longer they kept walking, with Charlie and Mariana spotting no more ravens. They eventually come across one of the caves they had slept in during their initial escape, and gratefully took shelter for the night as the afternoon turned to dusk. 

They remade the now old extinguished campfire that had been made there, sitting side-by-side and sharing the occasional kiss as they spoke. Charlie felt a peace he hadn’t experienced in a long, long time, despite them not being out of the literal or metaphorical woods yet.

Despite the fall of the Federation, there was still the risk of being discovered, still being found by a stray guard or code monster that somehow managed to escape the wreckage and might be looking for revenge. There was no guarantee that it was even the only building left… but it was enough to put them both at ease knowing they had taken out the larger threat and, for the most part, dismantled the main operation. 

Mariana eventually asked what had happened after he’d passed out. Charlie took pains not to describe it in an over-the-top, excessively dramatic way, and kept it as realistic as possible- if he had to be honest, it was already a pretty dramatic recounting to begin with. Mariana seemed especially astonished by the dragon managing to escape after all, seeing as he’d also missed that.

“It broke through the ground?¿Cómo es posible?”

Charlie thought about it hard. “Well… even after everything, I’m not sure what the Federation was really doing with the dragon, or the eggs. But I’m gonna take a wild guess that maybe it was for some sort of weird energy thing? And the dragon is super strong because of it. So it could just- boom! Break out, just like that!” He snaps his fingers to enunciate it. “That might be a weird assumption, but it kinda makes sense. Why else was it covered in all those strange wires? Or able to make that weird lightning-electric stuff?”

Mariana thinks as well, holding a finger to his chin and tapping it. “I read about that. The Federation had an- what do you call it? Energy source? But it did not say what it was.”

“Maybe the dragon was just that.”

“Maybe. It is good we saved it.”

Charlie sighs and stokes the flames of their little fire with a stick he had. “I just wish we could’ve saved that little egg we found, too.”

Mariana holds him close and kisses his forehead, which makes his face turn a dark shade of green. He wasn’t used to all this physical affection yet, but he was certainly willing to. 

“I know. But we did what we could.” He says comfortingly. “It was not our fault.”

Charlie nods. “Can’t help but feel guilty anyways. But I am glad we could bring them back to the dragon.” 

“It was a good thing to do.” Mariana replies with an inkling of sadness in his voice. He held out an apple for Charlie to take, one they’d gotten from a tree along their walk, but he turned it away. “I’m good. I’m not really sure I like apples anymore.”

“Really? Why?”

Charlie shrugs. “Dunno. Somethin’ about them feels… untrustworthy?”

Mariana gives him an odd look before she shrugs and bites into it. 

The slime’s mind wanders for a while as he also begins to eat, chewing on more berries they’d found. It wasn’t much, but it was something. The crackling of the flames and the distant nightly sounds were calming, and the warmth within their little cave made his eyelids feel a bit heavy.

He leans on Mariana as they stare into the fire silently. It isn’t unpleasant silence, but it's enough for him to start thinking. 

“I hope Flippa is still doing okay.”

Mariana wraps a tender arm around Charlie’s waist and puts her head on top of his. “No tengo ninguna duda de que nuestra hija está bien. You know she does well for herself. She is our daughter after all.”

Charlie closes his eyes and a small, closed smile appears on his face. “You got that right.” He suddenly remembers something as he feels around in his pocket for the hard-cold metal he was feeling for. He pulls out the gun, the one he’d forgotten in all the mess of the day before. Mariana looks alarmed. 

“Don’t worry, it doesn’t have any bullets. I think.” He peers down the chamber of the gun right as Mariana snatches it away and flicks a small lever on the top. “Safety on!”

“Huh?” Charlie says cluelessly. Mariana looks frustrated. “Safety. On. You could hurt yourself!”

“Oh shit.” He replies with a laugh. “Oops?”

Mariana only sighs before handing the weapon back. “Please be careful with it. ”

“I might give it to Flippa, honestly. I’m sure she’d love this.”

Mariana’s expression then turns to one of alarm. “What? Absolutely not! Esa cosa es un arma de muerte. She will hurt herself with that.”

“We can teach her!” Charlie says while waving it around. Mariana puts a hand on his arm to stop his flailing and she gives him a stern look. “Do you know how it works?”

“I can learn too! It’s probably not that hard, I mean, you just click this little thing, right?” He fingers the trigger, which clicks but doesn’t pull back. “Oh the safety is on still.”

Mariana slaps a hand to his face in exasperation. “Oh my gods.”

Charlie pats him on the back with a shit-eating grin painted on his face. “I’m just joking Mari.” Putting the gun back in his pocket, he slings an arm around his shoulder. They had been feeling better, with Mariana doing a lot less coughing and Charlie a lot less grimacing. But the worry for either of them hadn’t subsided.

The slime was especially concerned about the injuries that Mariana had sustained from the code monster. He was already, unfortunately, very familiar with how painful they were. They had hardened his skin, pulling the slime underneath his appearance taut to the point it became twisted. With the slightest jerking movement the scars would erupt in pain, or if he ever exerted himself too much. He dreaded seeing Mariana suffer the same thing, but so far most of the struggles he was experiencing was from just being injured initially. 

‘Still’, he thinks, looking at Mariana as they walked together, ‘It’s going to get worse.’

He put the thought away. Sure, it could, and would, probably get worse. But it didn’t have to stay that way. When it did get worse, it would eventually get better. It would always get better.

“Look! Charlie!” Mariana whispers next to his ear, his breath warm and surprising. Charlie looks at him, then to where he’s pointing. It’s another raven, perched on a stump outside and watching them both curiously. It was hard to spot it in the darkness, but the fire managed to illuminate its jet-black feathers just enough to see it.

Charlie gets up and approaches it like before, but then remembers to do it quietly. “Hey, raven? Do you understand me? Probably not.” He tries not to think about how dumb he looks trying to talk to this bird. “Listen, if you know Phil, please tell him we’re both alive. We’re going back to the field! Can you tell him that? Pretty please?” 

He gives the bird the best sad face he can muster as if trying to convince it by looking pathetic would work. The raven cocks its head at him, staring at him with its small, beady eyes. It squawks at him, does a head motion that almost looks like a nod, and takes off into the night sky above the trees. 

“Do you think that worked?” Charlie asks. Mariana has his arms crossed as he stares at Charlie, uncertainty in his eyes. 

“We will have to see.”

“How are you feeling?”

They’d made it to yet another of the caves they’d stayed in previously, and were now only a day away from the field, give or take. With more hope than either of them had in days, they had laid together in the cool darkness as night fell, talking more about whatever they thought of. 

Mariana seemed to think about the question as she tapped a finger to her chin. “Not as bad.”

Charlie put a hand over her chest, still bandaged tightly. They were both getting a bit dirty from being in the forest on top of all the accumulated dust from their escape, and it seemed due for a change. Unfortunately neither of them had any fabric left to spare between them.

“Has this been feeling any worse?” He asks, referring to the wound. Mariana holds his hand over the one Charlie still has pressed to her chest. “No, just strange. Like… ¿Endurecimiento? ¿Agrietamiento? Just strange.”

Charlie frowns, sitting up just a bit and squinting as moonlight hits his eyes. Small scattering moonlight peeks through the dense trees around the entrance. “Does it feel like it's kinda hard to move in certain ways?”

Mariana nods, and Charlie lays back down, facing the other as he contemplates it. “Does it… get hard for you to breathe more often now?” Instinctually, she starts breathing in a bit deeper and makes a weird face. It would be cute if it didn’t worry Charlie.

“A little. But it is not so bad. I will be fine, trata de no preocuparte demasiado por mí. I will be okay.” Mariana brushes a strand of his hair away, which makes him smile sheepishly. “Well, if there’s anything I can do to help…”

Mariana looks at him lovingly. “I will tell you if I need it, I promise.”

Charlie sighs quietly through his nose and curls up closer to him. “Thank you.”

They lay in relative silence, listening to the owl outside as they think of other things to say. Nothing comes to mind as they subconsciously intertwine and begin to fall asleep. Another dreamless night passes for them both, for they have no reason to dream now when they have each other.

They awoke the next morning famished, and so they set off to find more food; an increasingly challenging task as they attempt to remain on the path forward to their destination.

Charlie, after 30 minutes of walking along and finding nothing, gets frustrated both from hunger and from pain. He’d strained himself by accident again, barely remembering the scars on his back that have proved to be a nuisance. They became numb occasionally, but it didn't last long.

“Gah! This is stupid, we’re gonna starve out here!” He says with anger, kicking a rock and subsequently stubbing his toe on it. He hisses in pain before sitting down in defeat and holding a hand to his forehead. “I can’t even hunt. I’m too hurt to do anything, I can’t- I can’t do anything.” Mariana sits beside him and gives him a firm look.

“We won’t starve. We found food before, we will again.” 

Charlie doesn’t reply, still frustrated both at himself and the world. He isn’t sure where the sudden burst of frustration came from, but he had to guess it was just all the built-up stress of the past few days- or really, the past few weeks starting to catch up more and more. And it confused him. Why now?

“We won’t find anything here.” Mariana says finally.

Charlie just stands up and mutters, “I’ll just go find some. Stay here.”

Before Charlie fully turns to leave he catches a glimpse of Mariana’s face full of fear and worry until it settles into something more somber. He feels guilt fill his body, remembering how hurt Mariana must’ve felt when he’d seen Charlie banished into the woods forever all those weeks ago. It seemed like the pain was still there, somewhat.

He sighs. “Actually, maybe it would be better if we uh, if we stuck together. Knowing me I’d probably get lost and lose you somehow.”

Mariana begins to look more relieved. “I would not want that to happen.”

“We could probably find more food too, with the both of us looking…”

She nods and takes his hand, smiling gently now. His worry had dissipated as well as the frustration. Charlie rubs the back of his neck as they begin walking off the path they were taking, a bit sheepish now that he’d lost his irritation. “Sorry about that. I guess I was just feeling, I dunno, just frustrated with everything. Feels like it's kinda happening more now.”

Mariana just waves an unbothered hand. “Not to me. You are allowed to be unhappy. It only makes sense.”

“I guess so. But I shouldn’t take it out on you.” 

He holds his hand a bit tighter. “Thank you.” He grins for a moment before turning his head around, looking for potential food sources. Charlie copies him and begins looking as well before he stops and spots some.

“See, I told you we would not starve. ¡Siempre digo la verdad!” Mariana exclaims with a cheerful smile. Charlie just pushes him away with a playful shove. “Yeah yeah yeah, you’re the smartest guy in the whole world.”

Mariana nods seriously. “Yes, this is true.”

It’s berries again, which isn’t fantastic, but it certainly is welcome after not having much of anything. They don’t find any sustainable water nearby so they just take what they can get from what little the berries give. The sun beat down on both of them in the open grassy area they’d found themselves in, so they retreated under the trees once again and rested their weary legs.

After a while Mariana dozes off into a nap, still rather exhausted. Charlie just closes his eyes and leans against the tree, but before he too can be lulled to sleep, he hears a faint rustling of what sounded like feathers. He cracks an eye open and sees what seems to be the same raven from the previous day looking at him intently.

Opening both eyes, he attempts to start approaching the bird, but it flies towards him instead and perches on his bent knee while he's still sitting. It stares at him intently and squawks.

“What?”

It makes another noise and turns its head to stare with one of its open, beady eyes. It’s a little unnerving. 

“Dude, I can’t understand bird.” 

The raven doesn’t reply, instead choosing to fly towards the open sky as it launches itself off of his knee with some force, which startles him. After several more minutes he just shakes his head and closes his eyes for a split second before he hears two more noises, and a voice calling out.

“Charlie? Charlie! He is here Phil! Over here!”

He bolts up, eyes wide as he stares at the welcoming form of Baghera. She’s wearing normal clothes now, no longer made to wear the ugly orange jumpsuit as a flowing tunic and black underdress float around her. She looks happier and brighter than he thinks he’d ever seen her.

“Baghera? Is that really you?”

“C'est un plaisir de te voir, mon frère ! I am so glad to see you and Mariana alive!” She says with a blinding smile, running towards Charlie and wrapping him in an incredibly strong hug. He wheezes, the pain in his back spiking. She lets go hastily with an apologetic grin after noticing his visible grimace. “Ah, sorry Charlie.”

Baghera looks him up and down, and then once more as she takes in his ragged, dirty appearance. “Wow. You look terrible.” She says it with pure bluntness, and it makes him burst out laughing.

Mariana wakes up with a yawn, eyes still closed. “¿Qué está pasando?” She says groggily. Charlie pulls him to his feet as he wobbles a little, rubbing his eyes.

“Baghera and Phil are here!” He says cheerfully. Mariana wakes up a bit more at the news and shares in his smile.

The other avian had made himself known, a raven perched on his arm. He too was grinning, giving Charlie a big one-armed hug. “I’m glad to be welcoming you back. Again. I thought that was going to be a real goodbye… I’m so happy it wasn’t. We were all worried to death.” Phil says with genuine relief.

Baghera cuts in. “Tell me about it! Roier cried many times!”

Charlie puts a hand over his chest. “Oh, bless that man.”

The raven still perched on Phil’s arm squawks a few times, and he nods at it before speaking in whispers to it. It flies away into the distance, and eventually he turns his gaze back to Charlie and Mariana.

“We were lucky I managed to find you two. The ravens can be… helpful, to an extent, but direct directions can be tricky to get from them sometimes… anyways, not important!” He claps his hands and flaps his wings. “We’re gonna get you guys back to where we have the wagon kept. Everyone else is back home in one piece, thank the gods.”

Baghera interjects when she sees Mariana’s eyebrows furrow in concern. “We had to take them back. We all wanted to wait, but some guards found us! And a code monster! Very bad stuff!”

Phil nods in confirmation, his face set in a mildly angry expression. “We unfortunately weren't given much choice. We hoped you guys would be safe after we managed to dispose of the last of them, since we figured that it might help you stay alive longer in the forest. I hope neither of you were found?...”

Charlie shakes his head as he rubs his code-infected arm. “Yeah no, we were safe, for the most part. After the Federation collapsed, we figured we’d be mostly in the clear.”

Phil and Baghera exchange wide-eyed expressions of awe. “You… the Federation collapsed? As in… gone?” Baghera says with glee. 

Mariana nods. “Yes. The building is gone now, right Charlie?”

Charlie snaps his fingers. “Ab-so-lutely. The dragon we freed destroyed the whole place when it escaped, so the building is practically rubble at this point. Shame Mari had to miss it, it was kinda beautiful, actually.”

Mariana looks at Charlie with a knowing smile and holds his hand, which he returns with a lopsided grin. They stare at each other in relative silence for a minute while until Phil clears his throat.

“So… you guys are… okay?” He says with some awkwardness. Baghera laughs a little from behind her hands as Charlie looks away a bit flustered. “Mostly.”

Mariana holds a hand over his still-bandaged chest, and Charlie rubs at his own back. “We got a bit roughed up by some code monsters, but I took care of them. Mariana got the worst of it, though.” He gingerly touches some of the fabric, now becoming frayed and dirty from overuse. Mariana puts another hand over Charlie’s and gives him a close-eyed smile.

Phil smirks. “You two seem much friendlier.”

Charlie and Mariana speak at the same time.

“Well, I mean- we’ve always been friendly!” Charlie says with mild panic.

“It is because I love him.” Mariana says with a matter-of-fact manner.

“Mariana!”

Mariana looks mildly offended. “What? I do! I can say it!” She puts her hands on her hips. “I think most people knew anyway.”

Charlie splutters. “Except for me I guess! Damn!”

Phil clears his throat a second time. “Alright, alright you two. You bicker like you’re already married, gods…” Baghera giggles some more, clearly entertained. Charlie tries not to look more flustered than he already does.

The avians eventually look upwards at the sky with the sun slowly beginning to set. “We should get moving. We’ll carry you guys back to the cart, and then we can ride in that all the way home. It’ll be just us four.” Phil states.

Charlie and Mariana quiet their mild squabble for a moment as Phil pauses. “We should be okay. Neither me nor Baghera have seen much of anything except the occasional monster at night, so- gods willing- we shouldn’t need to worry about anything attacking us.”

“Hopefully…” The slime replies with uncertainty. Baghera places a firm hand on his shoulder and gives him a thumbs up. “We will be okay.”

Phil gives them all a tired smile as he flexes his wings. “Well, we should be off. We’ll carry you guys like last time, makes it a bit easier for everyone.”

Charlies swallows thickly and tries to fight off the jitters at the thought of being up in the air again. It was equal parts exciting and terrifying. Mariana was still somehow calm about it all as they rose into the sky, the avians’ large wings fluttering gently in the breeze. They flew away from the setting sun, watching as the sky began to darken and become a lovely indigo spotted with stars.

They were all silent for the flight, and to Charlie’s immense relief they touched ground not even a few minutes later. He felt compelled to kiss the earth, before wondering if Mariana would get jealous about it, before realizing that it was probably a strange thing to think about kissing dirt. To make up for it he gives Mariana a small peck, which makes him laugh. Charlie thinks that this is much better than kissing any kind of dirt.

They walked to the cart nestled within the treeline, climbing into it as Phil took the reins. Mariana and Charlie gratefully took the rations they’d both brought, eating bread and other foods that were much more filling than berries. 

After they’d gotten their fill, Baghera eagerly began asking Charlie the details of what had happened during their break-in and ultimate destruction of the Federation as he wrapped Mariana with some of the new bandages the avians had managed to bring.

As he recounts the events, he has a feeling that he'd be telling this story many more times over the next few days, but as Mariana chimes in with his own perspective, he can’t help but smile. He’s glad that it isn’t just his tale to tell, and that he wouldn’t be alone in telling it. 

Phil can’t help but ask his own questions as he listens in, curious and distraught over hearing about A1 and the condition the dragon was found in. They all discussed their combined hatred for the Federation, and eventually gave Charlie and Mariana their ultimate thanks. Baghera was especially relieved, seeing as she had been trapped within the Federation for nearly all of her life. 

When Charlie asked about how she felt now that she was free, she could only smile and say, “I feel more at peace than I have ever felt. When I first felt the fresh air of outside, it felt nice; but to feel it because I want to, not just because they let me? It is the best feeling in the world. Freedom is much sweeter when you get it for yourself.”

Charlie felt that deeply. When he first left his original home, not because he was made to but because of his own volition, he too felt that freedom she spoke of. He feels it now, laying next to Mariana in the cart as they rode along. 

They stared into the night’s immense blanket of stars moving slowly past as they continued along the path, all of them filled with a sense of serenity that felt long forgotten. 

Maybe not all was well in the world, and not everything would be as good as it was; but who’s to say it couldn’t still be possible with all they’ve accomplished?

Chapter Text

A day of travel had passed with not much occurring, to the group’s collective relief. 

Unfortunately, it did nothing to quell Charlie’s rampant worry. He couldn’t help but be a bit paranoid that nothing was attacking them, and Mariana seemed to feel the same with a less obvious way of showing it.

Charlie could feel it, though, in the way her eyebrows were more firm than usual and how her posture stiffened at every noise or bump of the cart. Phil and Baghera were both rather unbothered, but the concern that they were being followed didn’t leave the group.

Charlie’s worry began to turn towards going back home the further away from the ruins of the Federation they got. He realized that he really was going home after over a month of being banished, imprisoned, and running around trying not to get killed, and it hit him like a rock. 

Some part of himself still felt like he was meant to be fighting something when he knew it wasn’t true, some part still in a permanent stasis of fight or flight despite it no longer being necessary. They were all safe now, and he was going home.

To Flippa.

“You’re totally sure she doesn’t hate me?” He blurts out while thinking particularly hard about it. Mariana turns to stare at him, confused. “What?”

“Flippa. You said she… forgave me. You’re super sure about that?”

Mariana gives him a sad smile and looks down. “Believe me, she does. Before I left she missed you so much. She did not want to lose her friend and her father.” 

Mariana rubs her eyes. “I think she feels guilty.”

Charlie shakes his head rapidly. “How could she? She didn’t even do anything wrong. I was the one- I did… I made that mistake.”

“Maybe she felt like she pushed you away.” Mariana says quietly. “But I can not say.”

He exhales through his nose and looks up to the sky, watching the birds fly around overhead. They were crossing through a scarce grassy field with a few oak trees, the landscape unfamiliar to Charlie. It was a nice place to be, but he knew where he wanted to be more than anything. The homesickness was getting to him more than ever, knowing that they were so close.

“I’ll talk to Flippa when we get back, then. I hope she hasn’t been dwelling on that this whole time.” Charlie eventually says. Mariana gives him a look that speaks a thousand words, none he understands. “Like father, like daughter.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He says with a touch of confusion. 

“You both worry about things.”

Charlie just huffs. “What, and you don’t?” He isn’t annoyed, but Mariana picks up on his tone anyway and puts a hand on his shoulder. “That is not what I meant. You both get worried too much about things you can not help.”

“I- I guess so.” He rubs his neck. “What do I do about that? I don’t want Flippa to worry like me.” 

Phil, who had been listening, interjects for a moment. “Talk to her. Let her know as much as possible that it wasn’t her fault.” Mariana nods in agreement.

He was peeling some oranges as he spoke to Charlie, ebony wings folded neatly against his back. The avian hands him a slice, which he takes gratefully. “Flippa is a brave kid, but a stubborn one. Before I eventually left to find you guys, she insisted on taking care of all her siblings with Chayanne’s help; I couldn’t help but be a little proud. But I knew why she was doing it, so I told her she doesn’t need to push herself too hard… she had just lost her best friend, after all. But I’m sure you know that didn’t stop her.”

Charlie feels guilt, pride, and sadness filter into his mind. He rubs his arm and gives the slice to Mariana instead, who takes it with curiosity.

“Yeah… I’ve been told she’s a lot like me.” Charlie replies with a bit of regret laced in his words. “I kinda wish she wasn’t. I make a lot of mistakes. Like, a lot of mistakes.”

Phil gives Charlie a gentle pat on the back, being careful not to hurt his scars. “We all make mistakes, Charlie. It’s how we deal with them that matters. And trust me, the way you make up for your mistakes is… admirable, if a bit reckless. I’m not worried about Flippa being like you, not in the slightest. She just needs to be careful not to push past her limits. The same goes for you too, just so we’re clear.” 

Charlie gives Phil a hug in return. “Thanks Phil.” He had to admit, the fatherly advice was pretty comforting, despite technically being a father himself.

The avian chuckles and hugs back before eventually letting go and giving him a thumbs up. “I’m no expert, really. Just do what’s right for you and your family, and you’ll all be okay. I know you will.”

Baghera, who was taking her turn driving the cart, turns around briefly to give Charlie a smile of her own. “I may not have known you long, but I am proud to see you as part of my family Charlie!”

Absolutely touched, he gets up to give Baghera a fist-bump. “You really see me that way? I’m honored.”

“Of course! We have fought together, and you all helped to free me and my friends. You are my family now.”

Charlie rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “Thanks Baghera.”

Foregoing the fist-bump he instead chooses to give her a hug as well, which she accepts with a chuckle before the cart begins to veer off the road and they both scramble to grab the reins. She apologizes profusely while Charlie humorously informs her of his own driving misadventures, and everyone laughs, the sound echoing in the vast green fields. Charlie wonders how he must’ve gotten so lucky to have gotten such a wonderful family of his own. To think, if he hadn’t stopped in that cave all those weeks ago.

“I’m proud to be part of this family too.” He says finally, and they all group together for an embrace, with Baghera keeping a firm hand on the reins this time.

The city is within distance, and Charlie can feel his throat clamp up from the anxiety. He tries not to pace in the cart as they get closer and closer, and he constantly sits and stands, sits and stands before Mariana grabs him gently by the arm and pulls him back down to earth. So many parts of himself feel unwelcome and yet, his home was right there. 

Charlie hoped that those he hadn’t seen since before the incident wouldn’t hate him and wouldn't kick him right out again. Just being near these woods made him bristle with nervousness. He could vividly remember being dragged out right here, right over the spot where he was banished. Phil seemed to see it in his face as they looked at each other briefly, guilt filling the avian’s eyes as their gazes met. Charlie isn’t sure what to make of that guilt.

Once they make it close enough, the cart starts to slow and both Charlie and Mariana begin to stand. 

He jumps from the cart before it stops, nearly falling over in his stumbling. He hits the ground running, destroying any sense of fear he had with the thought of seeing his house, his room, his daughter again. 

The city is fully in his sights, the afternoon sun bathing the Wall in beautiful oranges and reds. Mariana isn’t far behind him as they run, panting from exertion. He hears Mariana wheeze a bit so he turns sharply and grabs her by the hand to help him along. They were going back together. He had promised they would, after all.

The gates are already open for the arrivals, so they run straight through them, only stopping once they’d made it in. They both look around frantically, looking for something- or rather, someone.

“FLIPPA?” Charlie yells, cupping his hands around his mouth. Mariana is tight-lipped as she holds his hand, watching him and their surroundings carefully. Charlie and Flippa had not seen each other since the death of Tilín. But that wasn’t enough to stop Charlie as he called out again, ignoring the feeling of dread that he can’t hold down, the dread that refused to disappear. 

What if she doesn’t want to see him again? What if she still hates him? What if Mariana only said she wanted him back as a way to help him ignore the truth? The doubt crawled through his mind like some great beast he couldn’t defeat.

Juanaflippa darts out from their home, turning slowly towards them. 

They all lock eyes, and for a moment everything is still before they run towards each other, beaming. Flippa is chirping, flapping her wings, and how did she already get so big in the few weeks they’d been apart?

“JUANAFLIPPA! Oh my gods, oh my gods it’s you! You’re perfect, my daughter, my beautiful huevo, I never thought I’d see you again-” He’s babbling, he’s crying, he’s a mess. He knows he must look terrible, still wearing the dirty old jumpsuit with stains and dust and dirt in his hair and on his broken glasses. 

But Juanaflippa clutches him still, like he’d disappear if she let go. Her eyes clenched shut, tears streaming down her scaled face. She wails as she holds him around the middle, and he bends down and hugs her right back.

“You’ve grown so much, so much Flippa. Look at you. I’ve missed you so much.” He rubs a hand over her head, and she blinks at him with wide, red eyes. Charlie’s face hurts from smiling, and he brings her close again. He missed her so much it hurt, it hurt more than anything he’d ever faced or experienced. How he lived this long without his daughter he isn’t sure, but he knew it was little more than survival.

Mariana was grinning harder than Charlie had ever seen him, his eyes full of joy. She bends down to embrace them both, and Flippa wags her little tail when she hugs Mariana, the tears flowing strong. “Te hemos echado mucho de menos, flor silvestre. Oh, hija mía, te hemos echado mucho de menos.”

Flippa smiles widely, showing off her sharp teeth. She really had grown a few inches, her wingspan larger than it had been. Instead of just coming up to their knees, she’d managed to grow up to their waists, and Charlie is quickly reminded of the large dragon he’d freed. Would she grow up to be like that? 

But she was still the same, brave, stubborn, playful Flippa she’d always been, if a bit sadder in the way she carried herself. He mourned how their absence must’ve worried her, and as he wiped the tears away from her face, he felt grief at how tired her little eyes were. Was she consumed by nightmares like he was? Did she wonder if she’d ever see her parents again? Charlie hoped with all his might that she wouldn’t ever feel like that again, if she did.

Charlie still held onto her, and she had no intention of letting go, so he let her stay in his arms as he began to stand. He wondered who had been taking care of their home while he and Mariana had been away. They walked to the house together, as a family once more.

They entered, Flippa still adamantly clinging to him as they all walked inside together. Mariana held Charlie’s hand, occasionally sharing a few words with Flippa in Spanish as she chirped at him.

His eyes well-up again as he takes in the scene. The house is empty, but not uncared for- it was as if someone had maintained the place while they were away. Charlie’s eyes drift towards the fireplace mantle, where the first drawing Flippa had made for him still rested. 

She pokes at him to be let down, and he does, watching her run off downstairs to her room to retrieve something while he picks up the frame in his hands, looking over it with love. 

Still holding the drawing, he looks around the room with relief, and Mariana’s eyes meet his own with a similar gratitude. They were home again, despite feeling like they never would be.

Flippa eventually comes padding up the stairs and they all go into the kitchen together. She’s holding a bunch of papers in her arms, all folded up neatly and scrunched only slightly from how she’s holding them. Charlie helps her onto a stool, her still being a bit too short to get on it herself, and she lays out all of the drawings and writings she must’ve made while they were gone.

Mariana picks up one as he moves to the other side of the table they’ve seated themselves at, holding up the picture that shows all three of them sitting together in a forest. Flippa gives Charlie something while Mariana begins to look at more drawings, clearly trying not to cry. The paper Flippa gives him holds only three simple words, but they’re enough to break him all over again.

‘I forgive you.’

He isn’t sure what to say, so all he can do is give her another hug and sob. She hugs him around the neck and chirps while Mariana looks up at them both and spots the words Charlie weeps over.

“I’m so so sorry, Flippa. I’m so sorry for everything.” He whispers as they hug, and Flippa only pats him on the back before giving himself something else to read. Judging by the crinkles on the paper, it must’ve been written a while back as parts had become smudged from countless erasing and scribbling out certain words. But he gets the gist.

‘What you did made me so upset and I wanted to hate you. I hated you for a while too but then I missed you and I got nightmares again but they were about you instead and how you were alone. I wanted to find you but Phil said no so he made me do a lot of chores and stuff to get my mind off it but I was still really sad you were gone and then mami left too and it got worse. But I still love you and I hope you still love me too and I hope you don’t leave again.’

Charlie puts a hand on her shoulder and looks her in the eyes, still the same shade as his own; a significant part of the imprinting she had made on him. Flippa rests a single clawed hand over his own code-scarred one, and he blinks as he realizes that it doesn’t hurt.

“Flippa, listen to me when I say that I will always love you. Everything I’ve ever done, was for you in the end. No matter what. And… and even if I wasn’t always there when you needed me, I never stopped loving you. Not even for a second. Mariana and I love you more than anything.”

“I’ll never forgive myself for making you doubt that I love you.”

Mariana walks around the table and rests a hand across both their backs as they hug once again. After a few minutes they break apart, with Charlie and Mariana locking eyes. There was so much they had to tell Flippa, about what happened since they’d been gone and their appearances. Mariana was still bandaged around the torso, and Charlie’s code scars were still very new to Flippa; but despite her curious and concerned looks at their dispositions, she didn’t ask, and so they decided silently to keep it for another day.

In time, they’d sit down and discuss it all. But for now they could enjoy being together again.

After they’d cleaned up the papers and stacked them all neatly, Charlie offered to make some food. They’d been stocked recently, thanks to whoever had been keeping the house clean, but before he could get started they turned to hear knocking at the door. They move together and open it to reveal several smiling faces. Phil was at the forefront, holding what looked to be food in a basket. Baghera and Roier were off to the side, as well as a grinning Etoiles and Cellbit.

“We thought you guys could do with some food, it’s been a long day for you all and we wanted to help out a bit.” Phil says before pushing the basket into Charlie’s arms. He opens and closes his mouth repeatedly, too grateful to form words.

Mariana speaks for him. “Thank you so much, everyone. You can come in if you want.” She offers, but Roier steps forward and holds a hand up. “We can visit another time, but you all need rest.” The spider-hybrid holds up some bandages and gives them to Mariana before speaking to him directly in Spanish. Mariana gives him a look of gratitude as they remove each other from a strong hug.

Baghera then steps forward and folds in her wings, wearing a new outfit this time and still looking as cheerful as ever. Charlie smiles at her as she speaks. “We all need rest, haha. And you all need to catch up! You have been without each other a long time.”

The slime gives her a one-armed hug, and he’d think he would’ve been sick of all the physical contact at this point, but it only brought him more happiness. To think he could do this again after everything he’s done, and not feel overwhelming guilt. The relief of it all felt like a wave, and so he turned his head to wipe his eyes as Baghera gave him a closed-eyed grin.

Etoiles gives Charlie a handshake when he steps forward, the code scars visible on his face. The slime feels a kinship with him now more than ever. “We can all talk tomorrow, but for now take it easy.” He leans in and points at Charlie’s gnarled, clawed code-infected hand. “I will tell you how to help that later. Quackity helped me find information on it.”

Charlie raises his eyebrows at Etoiles before looking down slightly to see Flippa clinging to one of his legs and brushing dirt off of them. “Quackity helped you? Really?”

He nods slowly. “Yes. He is not part of the Federation anymore, and we are going to decide what to do with him later, but he still knows a lot of their secrets. Especially these ones.” He points to his own injured eye, still marred by his previous interaction with a code monster. “It is hard to forgive, but I am grateful for how he helped me.”

“Yeah…” Charlie says with uncertainty, rubbing his arm as he watches Flippa and Mariana bent down together. Flippa has a small clawed hand on the bandages wrapped around him as he reassures her that it’s okay. 

“But all that we’ll discuss tomorrow, or even next week. You guys take all the time you need, and we’ll do the same.” Phil finally says. “I have a dear friend of mine I need to catch up with. It’s been a long time.” 

Charlie can only nod as they others depart, closing the door for him as they exchange handshakes or hugs and wave goodbye. He gestures to Mariana and Flippa to the kitchen again, where they dig into the food graciously given to them. Charlie was a bit relieved they didn’t have to make anything in the end, as he sits at the table and eats like he hadn’t eaten in days (though to be fair, he hadn’t really eaten all that well).

After eating, Charlie and Mariana tend to each other’s wounds thanks to the bandages and additional medicine Roier had handed over. The fresh change in bandages over the old ones gave them both peace of mind as they looked the other over carefully. Flippa did her best to help, clearly fretting over her parents being in such bad shape.

They head to bed together, opting to sleep in Mariana’s bed. Charlie was a bit wary, seeing as the bed wasn’t that big and he didn’t wish to take up any space, but Flippa and Mariana made him join them anyway. 

So there they laid all together in a curled heap, fighting the discomfort in their current positions as they did their best to get into better sleeping positions. Charlie ended up putting his arms in Mariana’s face a few too many times, but eventually they reached a more comfortable place as Flippa sat between them.

“Are you having trouble going to sleep, Flippa?” Charlie questions. He had been tossing and turning a little bit while Mariana slept peacefully across from him, probably happy to be sleeping in her own bed once again. Flippa just shrugs as she sits cross-legged next to his head, her tail swishing back and forth.

“Do you want a story?” He asks next, and the idea of it makes Flippa light up. He chuckles lightly as she curls into him, eager to hear what tale he has to tell. He thinks about it for a good minute or two before settling on one he hadn’t had the chance to finish.

“D’you remember that story I told you about the dragon and the shooting star?”

She rubs her head as she thinks before eventually nodding. “Well, I don’t think I ever finished it. Do you want to hear how it ends?” She nods again, giving him a toothy grin as they settle in. He has to wrack his brains to remember the story, but once he does he begins with a smile on his face.

“Well, that dragon was pretty lonely. She wanted a friend, even though she had everything she needed in her little valley. But she figured it would be a lot nicer to share it with somebody. So, she waited for nighttime, and when she saw a shooting star, she wished as hard as she could!” Charlie pokes Flippa on the nose, which makes her chirp and push his hand away playfully. 

“She went to sleep right after, and when she woke up the next morning, she looked around to see if her new friend was in sight. She looked and looked and looked, but no matter where she tried she couldn’t find a single friend. A little bird noticed this and asked, ‘What are you looking for, dragon?’. She replied, ‘I’m looking for a friend, and I wished on a shooting star for one! But there aren’t any friends in sight.’”

Flippa is listening avidly, silent and wide-eyed as Charlie continues. “The bird replies, ‘Well, I’m looking for a friend too! Maybe we should look together.’” 

Flippa makes a chirping noise and points at Charlie’s face, which makes him smile. “The dragon agreed, and the two set off to find a friend. Later that night, after a long day of searching and doing all sorts of things together in the hopes it would make a friend appear, they rest and decide to admit defeat before the bird realizes something.”

“‘Dragon, we did a lot of things together today.’ The bird says aloud. The dragon looks at the bird with curiosity. ‘We did!’ She says, and the two look at each other for a moment. ‘Do you think perhaps we were the friends we were looking for?’ The bird eventually asks, and the dragon ponders this too. ‘I think maybe we are.’ She replies, and from that moment forward they decide to wish on something new; they wish to spend every day like the one they had, and to remain friends.” 

Charlie winces at the ending, not entirely happy with it. Flippa seemed to enjoy it thoroughly, however, as she flaps her wings but quickly stops when Mariana shifts in her sleep. Charlie holds a finger to his mouth and cradles Flippa in his arms, watching her yawn widely before snuggling into his shoulder. With Flippa in his arms, he scootches over to Mariana just enough to allow Flippa to sleep comfortably between them.

“I love you.” He whispers to them both, watching their sleepy faces through his own half-lidded gaze before he too slips into peaceful slumber. 

He supposed that little egg really was important, after all.

Chapter Text

Several months later…

“You don’t think it looks weird?” Uh, está- está bein?”

Mariana gives him a look over as Charlie turns around in the dress he was wearing, and gives him a loving smile. “¡Eso está más que bien! You look beautiful as always!”

He flushes green at the compliment and gives her a grin as he turns around in it one more time, enjoying the way it swishes about. The dress itself was a bit of a hand-me-down, and didn’t fit all that well and maybe had just a bit too much green, but he loved it immediately when Baghera was helping him figure out which outfit he wanted. Heart and flower patterns were scattered to the tops of the shoulders and around the midsection as well, which may have influenced his final decision a little bit.

It took him a bit of courage to wear it, but when he initially tried it on a week ago for Mariana to see, he was showered with endless compliments and hugs that had more than caught him off guard, in a good way. Charlie figured he should wear fancier clothes more often when he could manage it.

Sunny and Flippa, also well-dressed and ready, chirp in excitement and run around his legs. They were all fairly excited, though, as Charlie laughed at their silliness. It was a happy day for everyone, but none more so than Cellbit and Roier.

‘You look great, pop!’ Sunny writes, with Flippa giving a double thumbs-up. The two couldn’t have been dressed more differently if they tried, but despite their overall differences they more than made up for it in an undeniable bond. 

Flippa was wearing a flowing dress similar to Charlie’s, except the color was a navy blue and embroidered with little silver hearts and stars that increased in amount farther down the dress. A small red ribbon was tied to her wrist, at her request. She had said how she wanted to honor Tilín’s memory in some way, especially since this special event felt particularly important to do so.

Sunny, after being convinced that wearing an entire suit of gold armor was not good wedding attire, resorted instead to wearing pants and a tunic with a large cape attached, all of it a robust teal and yellow that clashed marvelously with her already bright orange scales. The tunic itself was encrusted with gems and jewels, hand-sewn by her other father Tubbo. Where he got such expensive things Charlie couldn’t even begin to imagine.

Mariana went to get dressed himself, closing the door to his room while Charlie and the eggs waited outside. They had all taken turns getting dressed, and he was lying if he wasn’t eager to see what sort of outfit Mariana had planned for himself. She had already seen Charlie in his, but he’d been kept in the dark on what Mariana would be wearing.

“Hey kids, can you take a look outside and see how things are doing out there?” Charlie asks them, the two stopping their chasing before continuing their game of indoor-tag downstairs to report back. He chuckles at them as he hears them stomp down the stairs and towards the front of the house before turning back and hearing Mariana rummaging around inside.

“Doing okay in there?” He scratches his neck before also saying, “¿Todo bien?” Charlie had been trying to use Spanish here and there, but he felt he still had quite a ways to go. He hears Mariana reply, slightly muffled from behind the door, “¡Estoy bien, mi amor!”

He rubs at his code-infected arm as he waits. It still felt slightly numbed, but the pain had greatly subsided thanks to the help of Etoiles and his tips on how to help it. Resting was the most important thing, but salves and stretching seemed to work just as well. 

Mariana’s scars were a bit harder to deal with, since they were on her chest rather than on a limb; which, unfortunately, made it so she would get short of breath on exertion or get random chest pains that neither of them could really help. Charlie’s back scars had also proved tricky due to how hard it was to reach from behind, but they helped each other in whatever they needed. Flippa was concerned, always worried about them and their scars, and did whatever she could to help out too.

The egg herself came padding up the stairs and pointed downstairs. Charlie turns his head at her. “Are they almost done out there for the ceremony? Where’s Sunny?” Flippa nods, and then shrugs. He sighs a little bit. “I hope they aren’t getting into any trouble. Again.” Flippa just giggles and holds his code hand in her own, looking it over. 

“Something wrong kiddo?” Charlie asks, letting her turn his hand over. Flippa just frowns and points, but when he doesn’t seem to get it she makes a motion with her arm and then a painful expression. “Oh. No, it’s not hurting right now, I’ll be okay.” Flippa just raises an eyebrow at him which makes him chuckle.

“No, really, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

She sighs a bit before going over to the door and pointing at it as well. “Mariana is still getting dressed, but you can go find Sunny and the other eggs while I wait. Go on.” He says, but Flippa just shakes her head and gives him a mischievous smirk.

“What? Why are you giving me that look?” Charlie questions with his own half-smile, clearly amused. She mimes kissing with her hands and points at him, then the door to their room, which makes him go slightly green with embarrassment. “Hey now, I can- I can kiss Mari whenever I want! What are you-” 

Flippa pokes him before pulling out a paper to write upon. ‘You will just get distracted and lose track of time like last time! We missed a picnic because you two were being gross!’

Now it’s Charlie’s turn to point at her. “Hey, we promised to never bring that up again- I’ll never forgive you for telling Chayanne what happened. Phil wouldn’t stop teasing me for days!” He frowns at the memory. You try and spend a couple of hours with the one you love and nobody leaves you alone about it!

She hands him another. ‘That’s what I mean, I want to save you from embarrassment this time.’

“Jeez, where did this kid learn to talk like that…” Charlie mutters under his breath as he hands her back the paper. She has a wide, shit-eating grin on her face as he sighs. 

Ever since she’d discovered that he and Mariana were officially together (although the labels were a bit confusing for the both of them), she wouldn’t leave either of them alone about it. Charlie, of course, regretted indirectly teaching her how to tease others, because it was quite unrelenting towards him after she got past the initial shock and elation of first finding out.

She had even asked when they would be getting married, which confused Charlie because he didn’t fully understand and flustered Mariana enough to make him scold the little dragon in Spanish. Despite how human he appeared, Charlie still felt like had much to learn when it came to certain customs, and that extended to human marriages.

Sometimes he’d wondered if this was all part of her plan from the very beginning from when she had first managed to convince Mariana to let her and Charlie live with him, but it was so hard to tell with Juanaflippa. She was a very mischievous, calculating child indeed, and despite all the grief that came with it he couldn’t help but be a bit proud.

Flippa seemed very adamant on staying with him this time, so he begrudgingly let her as they waited for Mariana. It didn’t take much longer for him to appear, and Charlie couldn’t deny how simultaneously handsome and beautiful she was.

Mariana was wearing a simple yet flattering cream-colored tunic with an array of colorful flowers sewn into the hem and collar of the shirt while wearing a yellow, long-sleeved shirt underneath that flowed. He had on blue pants to help offset the lighter colors, and it was oddly reminiscent of Charlie’s own day-to-day outfit, and he wondered if it was intentional. 

He was also wearing the flower crown Flippa had made him earlier that morning, which he wore to match with her and Sunny as they had already donned their own crowns. Charlie’s hand drifted to the assortment of plants and flowers that Flippa had collected that morning and made into a small hair-piece, and distinctly noticed that they matched the one’s Mariana was also wearing. He supposed that was intentional, at least, and the thought of it made the corner of his mouth twitch upwards.

“How do I look?” 

Charlie feels his throat close up briefly as he tries to find the right words. How Mariana can compliment him without difficulty he wished he knew.

“You look- you’re- you’re stunning.” He eventually gets out, sounding an octave higher than usual.

Mariana waves a bashful hand and laughs while Flippa jumps up and down in excitement. “It’s simple, not very fancy. But I had it for a while and wanted to wear it.” She points to a green broach on the front of her tunic, a simple green gem that shined in the light. “And I got this to match you. Because you’re green.”

He almost wanted to cry, but Flippa interrupts with a few scribbled words. ‘ That’s corny, papa.’

Charlie just sticks his tongue out at her, causing her to blow a raspberry. Mariana just shakes his head with a smile on his face, amused by their antics.

“Guess we’d better get going now. You ready, Flippa?” Charlie says as he takes one of Mariana’s hands in his own. Flippa enthusiastically nods and bounds down the steps once again with her parents following behind at a leisurely pace. Today was an exciting day, but a relaxed one too.

The wedding area itself was astonishingly beautiful as they stepped outside, the venue only a few paces away. Charlie had never seen one before, at least not one quite like this; slime weddings were frankly morose and solemn in comparison. 

Lampposts and candles illuminated the whole area, the entirety of the street taken up for the occasion. Even the houses nearby had been decorated with white cloth and tapestries scattered with roses of all kinds. He had overheard from Phil that Roier chose the type of flower in honor of Jaiden and Bobby, which had been their favorites. 

Foolish had made a beautiful gazebo for the main area where the ceremony would be taking place, and it was a simple structure made intricate through the usage of decor. Vines and flowers twisted around the pillars reaching up to the roof, which was covered in leaves and plants, giving it a flawlessly natural look. 

He had even taken to making chairs to go with it, but had run out of time in making them, so the front row had white-painted and varnished wooden chairs whilst the back rows consisted of chairs everyone had brought out from their homes and shops. It was a hodge-podge of furniture as everyone clambered into their own seats.

Charlie had caught a glimpse of some of the people in the front row, all close friends of Roier and Cellbit. Mariana and he sat in the second row, and he had noticed he was sitting behind what appeared to be an empty seat until he leaned forward and saw that there was a picture frame sitting there. 

He turned his head to get a better look, and saw the image within that hurt his heart. Jaiden and Bobby’s smiling faces as they hugged looked back at him, a detailed painting of them on a sunny day. He had to focus on Jaiden, incredibly saddened that he had almost forgotten what she looked like. He was already beginning to forget her voice, and it hurt more than anything.

Mariana puts a hand on his shoulder which snaps him back to reality. Her gaze was locked on his as Charlie looked up at his serious expression. “Estoy bien.” Charlie whispers. Mariana can only frown, unable to say anything in reply as the wedding ceremony begins. 

Cellbit was already at the altar, wearing a fancy black coat with a white tunic underneath that flowed. Charlie isn’t sure he’s ever seen the cat-hybrid this happy, and as everyone turns to see Roier walking down the aisle with a few of the eggs leading him, scattering flowers everywhere from several small hand-baskets, he notices the lack of eye-bags under Roier’s several eyes and the familiar toothy smile across his face. It had been a long time since Charlie had seen him this cheerful, this carefree. Today was a good day, despite the darkened memories still hanging around.

He’d also noticed Quackity among the many friendly faces in the crowd of onlookers, his wrist wrapped in a red ribbon not unlike the one Tilín used to wear. Their eyes didn’t meet as Quackity smiled faintly at the two grooms sharing vows, and his heart sank a bit more. It had been months, and everyone had forgiven Charlie, including Quackity, but it still bothered him. The memories hadn’t faded much for anyone; especially not him. 

Mariana was eyeing him carefully, and he could feel the weight of her gaze as he looked at his hands instead. 

She leaned into him a bit more, the warmth of his shoulder against Charlie’s grounding him slightly. Even his mere presence was enough to bring him back to reality a bit before he sunk too deep into old wounds. Just in time too, as he blinked and watched the grooms share a kiss and the crowd erupting into applause. 

It wasn’t long after that dinner was served after some careful rearranging of borrowed tables, with Mariana and Charlie attempting to keep Flippa from going under them to tie people’s shoes together. It was thankfully uneventful otherwise, that was until Foolish got up and fell after a laughing Sunny and Leonarda had managed to tie his laces together themselves. 

Flippa was wholly unhappy that she couldn’t join in on the pranking, but while Mariana wasn’t looking Charlie gave her a thumbs-up of approval to let her commence her own pranking once she had finished eating.

After that everyone cleared the chairs away and moved the food and tables to opposite sides of the road, giving enough space to let the real party begin.

“Mariana, we gotta dance! C’mon!”

Mariana chuckles, disbelieving, before he becomes surprised as soon as she’s pulled to her feet by Charlie from his seat on the sidelines. “Wait- wait, do you even know how to dance?”

“Ha! Not at all!” Charlie says with a loud laugh, hands wrapped around one of Mariana’s arms. Mariana laughs too, their combined joy infectious. “This is a bad idea!” She exclaims with a closed-eyed smile as they stumble together into the crowd of people, all dancing and talking together.

“What’s the worst that can happen?” The slime asks teasingly before nearly slipping on a small rock and falling flat on his back. He balances himself by clapping his hands on Mariana’s shoulders, and the two stare at each other before bursting out into more laughter. 

Charlie wheezes as he recovers, clutching his side. Mariana wipes a tear away as he grasps one of Charlie’s hands, attempting a sort-of organized dance before they are quickly interrupted by the disruption of two familiar little eggs.

Flippa and Sunny run over to them and commence doing their own strange form of dancing, when really it was more so them just stomping their feet and moving their arms around chaotically. Charlie joins in on the action and exaggerates his movements, making them fall over each other with laughter. This carries on for a few minutes before he eventually exhausts himself, which seems to delight them even more as he further overemphasizes his facial expressions to humor them.

Eventually, Pomme and Richas run over and drag them both away towards the other eggs, all of them playing together in their own separate crowd. He watches them run off with a fondness in his heart before returning to Mariana’s side, who had just finished a round of fancy-looking dancing with Roier and Mike.

He does his best to follow after, but he ends up stepping on Mariana’s feet more than once. He grins sheepishly and apologizes each time, getting more and more embarrassed about it each time it happens. “It feels like you are sabotaging me.” Mariana jokes after the fifth time.

Charlie scoffs in a humorous way. “Trust me, if I were trying to put a stop to your dancing skills I would’ve tripped you a long time ago.” He says, staring very hard at his own feet as he focuses on not injuring Mariana further.

They do a twirl, which catches Charlie off guard as Mariana dips him afterwards. For a second, all that remains is the two of them, together. The music and sound of all the people around them fades into the background as he focuses acutely on how Mariana’s combed-back dark hair falls over his glasses, how intensely warm and amused his coffee-colored eyes were as they met his own.

“Good luck tripping me then, hombre tonto.”

“Um.” Charlie says eloquently. Mariana pulls him back up, putting a hand on his side and another holding his hand. Too flustered to make any quips, he lets Mariana take the lead as the music slows and the noise becomes more subdued. 

“So uh… you come here often?”  He jokes, trying to ignore the sudden mood-change. Mariana’s constant gaze on him was making him a bit nervous as his eyes traveled elsewhere, eventually spotting Roier and Cellbit slow-dancing together across the way. Mariana’s chuckle is close to his ear as he snaps back, their faces close together. “Sorry, dumb- dumb thing to say.” Charlie adds meekly as they move together in unison. He’s dimly aware that he hasn’t stepped on Mariana in a while.

“It wasn’t dumb.” Mariana says earnestly, noticing where Charlie is looking. She smiles as Cellbit and Roier dance, clearly pleased to see them both as happy as they were. 

“I’m glad Roier is doing better.” Charlie blurts out. “I saw the uh- the proposal. And it’s been so long since I’d seen him so happy.”

Mariana nods, the two doing another turn as they continue their dance. Charlie moves his hand farther down Mariana’s shoulder, their eyes meeting once again. He feels himself mentally counting each time they do.

His mind wanders, thinking about proposals and weddings and other things. He wonders for a moment if those would be things Mariana would want. If marriage could make them both happier that way too, even for a moment. Maybe it wouldn’t change much, but seeing all the happy faces where solemn ones once stood, seeing Roier’s tired, broken-hearted expression finally lift even for just one night; he wondered if, maybe… he could give that to Mariana too. To both of them.

They dance for a while longer in relatively comfortable silence before Mariana starts breathing a little funny, so Charlie takes his hand and leads him away from the people slowly dispersing. It must’ve been late in the evening now as the crescent moon stood high in the sky, its barely noticeable glow lighting up the fields and beyond. 

The people of the city were grateful to be spared of the monsters of the night for the past month or two, the numbers slowly dwindling for unknown reasons. If they were all truly lucky, they would be a problem of the past, just a faint memory of when things were harder. It was almost funny to Charlie that only after the Federation disappeared did the monster problem eventually resolve. 

Lucky as they were, they walked cautiously together into the fields, the sounds of nighttime helping drive away any unease. Crickets chirped in the distance as they walked far enough away to be alone, but not too much so Mariana wouldn’t get overexerted. Charlie did his best to make sure of that no matter what they did together, even if it was something as simple as a chore.

Even a simple walk like this made him more mindful of how he breathed or appeared, and if there was just the smallest sign that Mariana was becoming labored it would compel Charlie to make the human sit and rest. It felt kind of good to be the one looking after her after all she’s done for him.

They laid in the grass together, at ease with their surroundings. This also felt good, Charlie thought with a smile, to no longer be worried about being outside like this, or immediately have bad thoughts swarm his mind. They held hands together and talked about whatever little things popped into their minds. 

“Oh! Charlie, look!” Mariana says suddenly, pointing at a shooting star moving across the night sky. “Make a wish, querido.”

He thinks about it a split-second thought crosses through his mind not unlike the shooting star. “I wish… for us to-”

Mariana quickly interrupts him with a wave of his hand. “You can’t tell me, or it won’t come true.”

Charlie chuckles, thinking back on a smaller Flippa telling him her wish. “I’m not so sure about that.”

“No, I mean it!”

“Well… what if I ask you the question my wish was about? That wouldn’t be the same, would it?” Charlie asks genuinely, propping himself up on an elbow to look at him more clearly. Mariana blinks at him and ponders it. 

“I guess not.” He looks up expectantly at the slime and he feels a self-conscious weight enter his mind. 

How did a human proposal even work? He’d seen how Cellbit and Roier did it- getting down on one knee for some reason, and offering a ring of some kind. Something he definitely didn’t have. Was a ring incredibly important to the process? Did he have to kneel? Could just asking be enough, or would Mariana want it to be something more extravagant?

“...Charlie? No estás mirando nada. Are you okay?” Mariana waves a single hand in front of him, making him blink. “What were you going to ask?”

“I… I don’t think I’m ready yet. I mean, I want to ask, but I don’t think it would be good to ask it like this…” He gestures vaguely to everything, including himself.

Mariana tilts his head slightly, putting his arms behind his head as he lays in the cool grass. The flowers still in his hair shift barely as he looks up at the sky. “What do you mean?”

Charlie scratches his neck and rubs his arm almost simultaneously, like twin motions of anxiety. “Well- I think I should ask it in a more special way, because it’s important, you know? I feel ready, but I don’t think I am ready. Does that make sense?”

“I think so. But I do not mind if you ask here even if it is important. We are alone after all, tenemos privacidad. It’s fine.”

He takes Charlie’s hand, the one that isn’t fiddling with the flowers embroidered on his dress and coaxes him to lay down again. 

 Mariana continues after thinking for a second, holding his hand gently. “Only if you are ready. I do not want to force you to-”

“-wouldyouwanttogetmarried?” Charlie blurts out at the same time. They blink at each other for a moment.

“What?” Mariana asks softly, trying to make sense of what he’d heard. Charlie feels his face go green from awkwardness and forces himself to look away from the tender look on her face.

Covering his face with his hands he asks again, slower and quieter this time. “Would you… want to get married? With me. To me. I’ve never- sorry, first time asker here, haha.” He laughs nervously as Mariana’s careful hands take their place on either side of his face, gently turning him towards her. 

He searches Charlie’s eyes and expression, as if looking for evidence of this being a joke of some kind, like it was too good to be true. “Really?”

Charlie swallows and nods, and Mariana’s face breaks into the widest smile he’d ever seen him wear. She crushes Charlie into a hug despite them both still laying side-by-side, and while it’s not all that comfortable due to their position, he thinks it’s probably the best hug he’s ever had. Mariana whispers into his face, placing a kiss there as he does, “I will. I do. Sí, para siempre, para siempre digo que sí.”

Charlie is breathless, both from the hug and his reaction. “Yes?”

Mariana laughs loudly before jumping to his feet, practically carrying Charlie with her. “Yes! Haha! Yes!”

“Wow…” He says, completely in awe as his own expression turns from one of excited astonishment to elation. Mariana picks him up and swings him around, and they laugh, and laugh, and laugh together.

“Hombre tonto y maravilloso, now that is a wish that will come true!” Mariana yells, and Charlie isn’t sure he’s ever seen this much excitement from him. 

“I am honored.. Excited, to be by your side, forever. I love you, mi amor.” He says finally, holding both hands as they look at one another. The distant sounds of the party have dissipated, everyone no doubt having gone back to their homes. 

“I’d give everything to you if I could. I’m glad I can share the world with you, with our family. I love you more than anything.” Charlie replies in earnest, hoping it didn’t sound too cheesy. It makes Mariana smile all the same.

They basked in the joy of the moment for a while longer, just enough. Life would be hard, times would get tough; there was no doubt about that. The sadness of the past would never truly leave. But never before has Charlie had so much hope for his present, for his future. 

He could chalk it up to luck, in the end; and as he walked with him, the two holding hands in a way as easy as anything, he truly believed himself to be the luckiest one of all.