Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Alright...Uhm- I guess we should- uh...Reboot him now? What do you think, Moon?"

"Yea. Lets just- get it over with, hopefully, if his memory chip is broken he wont be the same person. He sure doesn't look like the Eclipse we know either."

"Yea- KC just muttered something about making him less- "Intimidating" and more friendly looking for the children. Didn't think his dignity was going with it."

"Well, at least he matches Lunar somewhat. By the way- did KC give you the note he said Eclipse wrote? He said it was important with leading up to his suicide."

"Oh yea, I got it. Haven't opened it yet, it says its titled to...Everyone. Especially Sun, Moon, and Lunar. Well- that's what it says."

"Okay, Sun, if you can go fetch Earth that would be great. I'm going to reboot him myself while your gone- So if he's still, well- himself. I can deal with him accordingly."

"Okay, uhm- uh- don't get hurt, okay?"

"I'm fine, now go get Earth, she will be a huge help."

"Alright."

"Now...You...Welp, lets get this over with."

Moon leaned down, faz-wrench in hand, and imported it into the slot on the back of Eclipse's head. He turned it with a loud crunch as he nervously inhaled.

Eclipse's rays twitched slightly before he opened his eyes. His vision was blurry and confusing- where was he? He blinked multiple times, trying to clear his vision, everything was a water-color mess. Once everything was clear, he noticed he was looking at someone's- shoe?

"Heyyy uhhh- you." A blue and silver hand was waved in front of his face; causing him to flinch back, but since there was no room, he just bumped into the wall.

"I- what?" Eclipse looked up at- what his scanner told him was Moon, the daycare attendant. Something was off though. He was looking at him with distrust and concern. No, concern for himself. He was nervous. Did he know this person? And- why was he staring at him? Why was he in parts and service? So many questions.

"Hey uhh- do you remember anything before- waking up?" Moon was giving Eclipse a slight glare, which was making him quite uncomfortable.

"Uhhhmm-" Such an odd question, should he remember anything? "Why do you ask?"

"Well, to put it straight-. Your memory chips broken. So, what do you remember?" Moon waved the faz-wrench at Eclipse. "I rebooted you, so you should have- something in your head."

Oh, so that was why. Eclipse did a quick memory scan. What did he remember? Well- a lot. He looked over his character. He was programmed to kill- or, just to have some kind of malicious intent. Supposed to be rude, blunt, and aggressive.

"Uh- I'm Eclipse." He started, glancing up at Moon for help. "Uhhh- I guess I was supposed to be some kind of virus? Or...Was that- uhm...Whats his name..? Killcode- KC. Yes. KC."

Moon nodded, giving Eclipse a deadpan look. "From looking at what memories I have left, I think I had an important role in your and Sun's life. Sun is your brother, and I have four brothers myself. Solarflare, Lunar, Anarchic, and Impulse. And KC takes a father role? But...From what I remember he's not the best role model nor person. A failed redemption arc."

"What are your brothers to you?" Moon placed his hands on his hips, looking calmer.

"Uhm- well, as the oldest, I feel in charge of them. I want them to be safe, even though they can be stupid." He searched Moon for anymore expression, but he gave nothing away.

"Okay- well. Do you know what the newton star is?" A flash of brittle and raw emotion flashed across Moon's face, he was struggling to stay deadpan.

"You said what now? A star- well a star is-"

Moon shook his head. "No. Do you know what the newton star is?"

Eclipse tilted his head, what in the world was that? "If you want a definition of a star I think you can easily search it yourself-"

Moon sighed, he seemed relieved. "Good good, its nothing to worry about, don't think about it."

Eclipse felt awkward, the star was obviously something important, he could easily tell. But he wasn't going to pry. And anyways- Eclipse's relationship with- everyone was bad and rocky. He felt weird being around these people in the first place, he felt- guilty. Eclipse turned his attention to the entrance door of parts and service, he heard footsteps. One set light, and the other heavier. The sound stopped at the door as the people behind it opened it. Two animatronics came in, both who his scanner told him were Sun and Earth. Moon's siblings.

Earth gave Moon a silent greeting, but when she looked over at Eclipse, she gasped. "Ohmygoodness-! He's adorable! You didn't tell me he was absolutely precious!" She rushed over there to him. "My stars, his eyes! Their so pretty! How could this little guy be a murderer? He's adorable."

Eclipse brought his legs up to his chest and nervously looked at Earth. The attention was sickeningly sweet, it was bringing back faint, but uncomfortable memories he couldn't quite grasp. Moon walked over to Earth, giving Eclipse a slight glare.

"He's a murderer, a torturer, and more. I don't trust him." Moon tried to shoo Earth away from Eclipse but she wouldn't move.

"But didn't you say his memory chip was broken? This is perfect! A second chance for the little guy."

Sun gave Moon a questioning look. "Is he-?" Sun's rays slightly retracted. He seemed even more nervous than Moon.

"He's got Eclipse's attitude and personality. But doesn't know what the star is, and he seems to care about his siblings. So- all good news I guess."

Sun nodded, his nervousness just fading to frustration. "Just- keep him away from me, Alright? I want nothing to do with him, he can go hide in a corner for all I care." His tone was tinged with aversion.

"Yep. We understand." Moon took his attention back to Earth, who was excitedly waiting for her turn to talk.

"Can I take him?" She asked, she was obviously trying to hide her excitement.

"What do you mean?" Moon gave her a suspicious glare.

"Oh I just want to take him to see the girls! We've been looking for a new member anyways, and he'll be perfect! He looks like such a doll too." Earth gave Eclipse a glance. "Only if that's alright with you, dear. I wouldn't want to force you into something."

Eclipse was about to turn down the offer, but by how excited she seemed- he couldn't push himself to do it. "Fine- I'll join." He was just about to add more onto his sentence, when Earth quickly took his hand.

"Well come on! You'll love the girls." She smiled.

Eclipse stumbled to his feet, his tail {In which he didn't know he had nor he never remembered having one} frantically tried to help balance himself.

"Oh, wow. That's new." Moon pointed at Eclipse's tail, faz-wrench still in hand. Eclipse looked behind him, and sure enough he had a tail like Lunar's.

"That's new-" Eclipse gently waved it around; almost hitting Earth as he accidently put more force into the wave. "Oh sorry- sorry." He tried to walk backwards, but he just bumped into the wall again.

"Quite clumsy?" Moon deadpanned.

"Shut up you oversized grape." Eclipse huffed, he didn't want to make Moon angry- but he wasn't going to sit there and take insults.

"Really, the infamous Eclipse calls me an oversized grape?"

Eclipse shot Moon a heated glare. "Sorry, but did I ask for your fucking opinion? On me, or my insults? No. So if you'd excuse me, Earth wants to take me somewhere. I'm going to live a fucking life, how about you try it someday?" The words just tumbled out, it felt oddly natural.

"Hey! Hey! Calm down, you two. Insulting each other isn't nice." Earth sighed. "Come on Eclipse." Earth started to lead him away, and out of parts and service.

"Bye candycorn bitch!" Moon attempted to throw the faz-wrench at Eclipse's head, but he ducked just in time to watch it fly by his head.

"YOU-" Earth cut him off as she quickly shut the door. Closing off Moon from throwing more things at Eclipse.

"Goodness...Your quite a riot, aren't you? Well come on. I'm happy that Moon feels comfortable enough to throw things at you." Earth slowly walked through the hall, seemingly very happy talking to a murderer. "So, your Eclipse, right? Well, Sun and Moon didn't tell me much about you, it was a sore spot I guess. But I can't imagine you did something really bad. Because look at you!" She warmly smiled.

Eclipse looked at himself. He was black and orange. Like before- just- really short. Earth was really really tall compared to him. Wasn't he like- as tall as her at one point? Or a little shorter? He was wearing black, fluffy pants with orange stars and a blue colored sweater. Oh, it was one of Lunar's sweaters, he remembered Lunar wearing this once.

"Well...Heh..." Eclipse avoided Earth's eye-contact. She seemed to maintain it every second, and it was making him mildly uncomfortable. "I did...A lot of bad things...Much worse than you can really think of- Its all in fuzzy patches, and some is just- missing. Like, for example. I know I was looking for something- and I got ahold of what I wanted. I just can't remember what that thing was. It caused a lot of damage. So it must be important."

Earth nodded, her fluffy cloud-like hair gently swaying with her movements. Eclipse studied her for a moment. She was a slightly transparent kind of blue, with green spots that seemed to drift along her features. She was wearing a few white bows that were lined with lace, and she looked like she had sparkles all of her. Did she glow in the dark?

"I have a question." Eclipse started, taking a few pauses as something made him a bit nervous.

"Yes?" She turned her attention from the hall to Eclipse.

"Do you- uhm, glow in the dark? You just look like someone poured glitter all over you. But it's like- faded almost? Like glow in the dark stickers."

Earth suddenly stopped walking and went through a door that led to the main lobby of the pizza-plex. "Yes! I do glow. It was a fun little feature my father added! Anytime its dim, or dark my sparkles and eyes glow!"

Eclipse nodded, taking that into consideration. He- would actually like to see that.

"Now, Eclipse. Uhm- I don't exactly know how to put this-. Sun and Moon are a bit- on edge. You see? So, your going to have to stay with me and the girls for a bit until they get settled about you being here. I just got a text, and in which it showed up on my screen-, that Moon gave me some important information. Sun and Moon, and especially Lunar are going to need some time to heal and get used to this. It's kind of like integrating dogs, or animals. If one was abused, and the other wasn't, both dogs are used to different kinds of things. For you, your used to a rough, and hard life-style, full of stress and misfortune. While Sun, Moon, and Lunar are used to taking care of kids, and living with a bit of stress but not as much as you did. So in this example, you would be the abused dog, and they would be the normal dogs. You understand?"

Eclipse just felt extremely awkward. He didn't like being referred to as an abused dog.

"Alrighty! We're here. Now, Roxy can be a little blunt at times, but she doesn't mean anything by it. And Chica is just a sweet girl, she wont hurt ya, just probably offer to pick you up." Earth gave him another smile. But that wasn't helping his growing anxiety. Would they hate him like Sun and Moon did? Would they be disgusted? Because he sure was...

"Now come on, nothing to be nervous about. Everything is fine."

He paused, was he really that easy to read?

Earth stopped at a purple colored door with a printed picture of Roxy on it. She firmly knocked, and waited. As footsteps came towards the door, Eclipse subconsciously backed away. The door opened, and there was- Chica. The white and pink colored chicken. she was wearing a hoodie with a picture of pizza on it. The large white words said "Let's Eat!"

She went to say something to Earth, but her attention suddenly locked onto Eclipse. "Oh....My....Goodness! EARTH! YOU SWEETHEART! You brought us a new member! And their adorable! AWWEE, COME HERE!!" Chica glanced up at Earth when Eclipse didn't respond and just gently pushed themselves into Earth's fluffy hair. A perfect, and comfortable hiding place.

"Oh, sorry! Eclipse is a bit shy, but it's fine, he'll get used to it in his own time."

Chica quickly nodded. "He's adorable! Earth, please, let me hold him! I'm being overwhelmed by his cuteness! I thought Lunar was the cutest little guy, pleaseeeeeeee?"

Earth laughed, and walked backwards, leaving Eclipse out in the open.

"OH MY GOSH- HE HAS A TAIL TOO!" Chica made grabby hands toward Eclipse. She was acting like a little girl wanting a doll.

"You're going to have to ask him first, Chica."

She nodded quickly and gave Eclipse a pleading look. "Please, can I pick you up? Your just like- like- a little slice of pumpkin pie! I love it! Please, please, please?"

Eclipse felt- kind of terrified. But this was his chance, a second chance. To be a new person. And if he couldn't trust people, than how could people trust him? He took a deep breath, then sighed.

"Okay." He nodded, and as quick as he said okay, Chica picked him up. He made a pathetic squeak as he was lifted off of the ground. "Oh my goshhh- can we keep him!? WAIT, I'M GOING TO SHOW ROXY!" Chica swung around, and held Eclipse out at arm length like a wet cat. "LOOK, ROXY! WE HAVE A NEW MEMBER, ISN'T HE ADORABLE!?" She gave Roxy an expectant look.

Roxy turned around from her vanity, lipstick still in hand, and gave Eclipse a half-hearted glance. And turned back to the mirror. "Yea, cool, did Earth brin- wait." Roxy turned back around and took a good look at Eclipse. "Okay, he's pretty cute. Where'd you pick him up at? Did he like- come from a box on the side of the road? Because I've never seen him here."

Eclipse felt frustration bubble up to the surface. "Excuse me? Just because you haven't seen someone doesn't mean their homeless! This is my home! I've been here for longer than you."

Roxy shook her head. "Oh, it talks." She turned back to her vanity.

"YOU-! SET ME DOWN!" Eclipse squirmed, trying to break out of Chica's grip, but she just held him to her chest. "LEMME GO- I'M GOING TO GIVE HER A PIECE OF MY MIND-"

Earth walked in, and took Eclipse from Chica's arms. "Eclipse, no! Your like- four foot five, Roxy is- six?"

Eclipse huffed, and went limp. He felt frustrated with his new look, height, and everything. Why couldn't everything be normal. Just a normal life. He could be a daycare attendant and people wouldn't hate him.

"Promise you wont attack Roxy?" Earth tilted her head, giving Eclipse a questioning look.

"Fine, promise." Eclipse sighed as he was set back on the ground. Finally he had control of where he was standing.

"So cute...But is such a spitfire- awh...I LOVE IT. 'Cli- Wait, do you mind if I call you 'Clipsey? It's a cute nickname to suit such a cute little slice of pumpkin pie-" Chica bent down and went to pick up Eclipse again, but something made him flinch back. Why- why was he doing this? These jerky movements weren't in his control.

"Oh, sorry! If you don't want to be picked up I can stop! So sorry, I just get a little excited!" She sheepishly backed away.

"No no- It's fine, I guess it just spooks me- I keep on flinching, I don't mean to." Eclipse dipped his head in an apology.

Earth walked further into Roxanne's room and sat down in the floor. "Chica, Roxy, and Eclipse can we all come and sit down? I would like to be able to introduce ourselves to our new member."

Chica hurried over there and sat down next to Earth, Eclipse slowly trailed behind. He took his place huddled up beside Earth.

"Roxy, can you come over here?" Earth sighed as Roxy didn't respond.

"Fine, fine, I'm coming. It's not the end of the world." And with a melodramatic hairflip, she got up from her vanity and sat down next to Chica.

"Now, since we are all in a circle- how about we introduce ourselves to Eclipse! And, Eclipse. If you didn't know, we also count as a therapy group! We talk about our struggles and give each other advice on how to deal with them." Earth stated.

Eclipse nodded, his attention was flicking in out, another odd thing he couldn't control.

"Okay, so. I'll start. I'm Earth, I'm Sun, Moon, and Lunar's older sister. I made the group and the buddy system. Sometimes I can come off as a little pushy when I don't mean to be." Earth nodded to Chica, indicating it was her turn.

"Yay! So, I'm Chica. I don't have any siblings, but I hang out with Roxy all the time. We're besties! I uh- I struggle with gluttony and people pleasing- but hey- making people happy is fun! And- sometimes that pizza looks a little too good...No matter in the trashcan or not." She laughed, then turned to Roxy.

As Roxy was gathering her thoughts, Eclipse put his focus on the girls. They seemed so open and sweet-- He felt comfortable here. He could get used to this. And they felt so carefree when discussing their problems? So much trust, it was odd.

"Mmmmm'kay.....So- I'm Roxanne. But people call me Roxy. I don't have any siblings- wouldn't want them," She muttered. "But- Sweet Cheeks over there is my friend. We hang out a lot, sleep overs and what not. Uhh- currently struggling with narcissism and I'm bi-polar- or whatever I was told I was." Roxy turned and expectantly looked at Eclipse. "So, what's your deal, little guy?"

Somehow her blinking felt slightly judgemental.

"Uhh...I'm Eclipse...Yea. Uh- Well- I have four brothers. Solarflare, Anarchic, Impulse, and Lunar. Uhm....No- three. Solarflare is dead- uhh- heh- sorry- uhhhh-"

Chica glanced at Roxy, giving her a confused, and almost nervous look.

"Uhh- sorry, I'm saying "Uh" a lot- shoot- uh- Lunar died- so two? I have a dad, he's--wait- is he dead? I don't remember...Or was it that Moon died- uhm- I died. I killed myself. Don't know why. I have memory loss I think- I don't know who I'm supposed to be? Sorry, I've never been diagnosed so I don't know the terms for feeling this way or the terms for what has happened. Uhhh- yea. " Eclipse looked over at Earth who seemed mildly concerned. "Did I do good? Was I supposed to open up more? Because- looking at what I have in my memories- I want power? I don't know why, again. Uhmm...I feel worthless? Like I can't do anything-- am I doing good? Do I stop?"

Earth choked out a nervous laugh. "Oh, stars...Goodness...Well, Its great to have you as a new member Eclipse. And yes, you did great. You don't have to share what you don't want to by the way." She nodded, seeming to agree with herself.

"Dude- what in the world happened to you? Who the fuck decided to torture this little guy- that just makes me angry. I'm going to grab my fucking lipstick taser and show them who the heck I am." Roxy gently bumped Chica on the arm.

"T-that's all just so sad- what in the world!? I'm going to beat up whoever did this to you!" Chica nodded at Roxy, a silent plan was already being made.

"Wait wait! T-this isn't normal? I'm sorry. I just like- woke up maybe an hour or something ago? I don't really know who I am or what anything is- all I know is this large amount of trauma and I really want a hug from my brother right now. That's all my head is telling me." Eclipse glanced at Roxy, then to Chica, then to Earth. "Please, please tell me I'm not clinically insane-"

Earth sighed. "Eclipse- your in a deep, deep hole here. Your not insane- your just. Very mentally unwell. Stuff like this does things to a person. A-are you feeling okay?" She placed a hand on his shoulder, which wasn't comforting, it just made him flinch.

"And your flinches are- unnatural. Do you know what triggers your jerky movements?" She sympathetically smiled at him, was she trying to make him feel better? Because honestly- it wasn't.

"No- all I really remember that was- traumatic was, I guess my father. He was- lets just say not the best person, I tried to stand up for my siblings and such. I do remember getting these awful headaches and hard to control sections, It's so patchy- I don't understand. It felt like a mass amount of power I wasn't able to control- it burned, but I was so determined? I don't understand..." Eclipse grumbled, he was just going around in circles. Who was he supposed to be? Was he the villain or the hero in this situation? Why couldn't he grasp onto these thoughts? What was wrong with him- was he even himself? Or was he someone else-?

"Eclipse, Eclipse, look at me. Take a deep breath- well- you can't breath we're animatronics but- uh- simulate it. It helps. You're getting really worked up and you need to calm down. It's okay if you can't find out what's happening. You'll get it in your own time." Earth offered Eclipse a hug, which he very hesitantly leaned into. "See? It's okay. You just need to take a break. You just woke up a little bit ago. Stressing over things can really harm you, it can even kill you; so please. Will you take a break? Just relax- get to know people and this place. And I can even bring you to Lunar if you want!" She paused and took a breath. "Lunar has really been wanting to see you- he saw your note before you well...Uh...Y'know. He started running around yelling that he needed to see you-. He started speaking in single words even- he does that when he gets really excited or is just feeling a strong emotion. He's uh...Autistic I believe. But he really wants to see you. In a good way too!" She backed away from the hug, and tilted her head. "What do you say, would you like to see him? I could call him- and if he's not too busy he can come over."

"W-wait-, he isn't dead!? He's alive- living, doing things? Not- in pieces!?" Eclipse shot up, anxiety and excitement was mixing up into a nauseating soup. "I-I need to see him too! I r-really, really want to see him." He glanced over at Roxy and Chica who were still mumbling to each other.

"Okay, okay, calm down. Let me call Lunar." Earth took out her phone from somewhere- Eclipse wasn't paying enough attention to notice if she had a pocket or not. "Okay...Dialing Lunar." Earth waited for a moment until Lunar answered the call. "Helloooooo. Yes, its me. I have a question Lunar. Are you busy? I have someone who really wants to see you-"

A distinctive, and cheery voice came through the phone. It was so sickening to hear Lunar. Earth waited a few moments, listening to Lunar's chatter. "Uh yes, we're in Roxy's room, but we could always come to your room. That might be better-....Okay! We'll be there in a fe- oh. Your coming over here? Okay. Okay. Alright, bye bye." She hung up and set her phone on the floor.

"Alright! Lunar said that he's working with some kids right now, but he'll be able to come over soon. I didn't tell him that it was you- so he most likely thinks its a fan or something. Lunar zooms around everywhere so- he'll be here in no time. In the mean time, is there anything you want to talk about or do? Or is the anxiety getting to you?" She laughed as Eclipse slightly swayed.

"Y-yea. I need to sit down. This is uh- very nauseating. I'm going to- uh, sit down yes. yes." Eclipse sat down in the floor next to Earth; gently leaning next to her.

Chapter Text

"Come onnnn, wake up! You can't be that much of a heavy sleeper!!"

A light and cheery voice pierced Eclipse's auditory sensors, instantly waking him up with a headache. "Ughh....What...?" He groggily opened his eyes and gave a very sleepy glare at whoever was in front of him.

"Morning!" Chica booped him, then set off in a hysteric bout of giggles. "You fell asleep against Earth- but she had to go because Monty needed help so she left you with me and Roxy! You've been asleep for- about two hours?" She smiled, her enthusiasm was practically beaming off her.

"Mmm...Is Lunar here?" He glanced around, searching for the partially faded memory of Lunar, but to no avail.

"No, not yet. It's a bit odd isn't it? He said he would be here soon- but he never knocked...Hmmm..." She closed her eyes, Eclipse guessed she was thinking.

Eclipse heaved himself up, almost bumping into Chica. "Oops- sorry-" He mumbled as he looked behind him. Oh- he was sleeping slumped up against the wall. Comfortable. He side stepped out of Chica's way.

"Sorry sorry- let me just- get out of your way." He stumbled away from Chica, getting a bit frustrated with his clumsiness. He turned around to face Earth- but she was- gone. His rays slightly spun in a small bout of anxiety.

"Uhm- where did Earth go?" He asked, stifling a yawn. He did a small stretch, bringing his arms over his head. He sighed, feeling the satisfaction of a good nap set in.

"Monty called her! She said it was urgent and quickly walked off. She said to watch you." Chica got up out of her sitting position. From where she was sitting, Eclipse guessed that she might have been watching him sleep- that was slightly unnerving.

"Okay- uh- I'm not a child. I can watch myself, but thank you. I'm going to find Earth and see if everything's okay." He turned around and walked over to the door, he was just about to open it when Chica quickly came over to him.

"Uhhh- actually-" She awkwardly laughed. "Your not supposed to- well- leave. She said not to let you go."

Eclipse shook his head, and opened the door to walk out. He felt Chica move to grab his arm, so he hastily and reflectively shut the door behind him. The sound of Chica fiddling with the door knob filled him with satisfaction.

"Sorry, I'll be back! I just want to see Earth." He let go of the knob and quickly ran off. Having- no clue where in the world he was going. Directly exiting Roxy's room, he was placed in the middle of the pizza-plex. But he couldn't just stop and think about where he was going- Chica was going to get him if he didn't go on his way.

He took a few seconds to look around before he remembered where the daycare was. He just had to find the escalator and then he'd find that long hallway...Yes. He nodded to himself and rushed away; slightly confused in why Chica hadn't come out of Roxy's room by now.

It was fine, it wasn't his main concern anyways. Wait- wasn't there an easier way to contact Earth-? He had a phone, didn't he? He searched one of his pockets for his phone, but it was empty. He didn't leave it somewhere- right? No. Someone must of taken it. He'd ask Moon later.

Stopping at the escalator, he gently put one foot, and then the next. He watched as the escalator brought him to the next floor- it was so mesmerizing- wait. Shoot. He was getting off track. He took a small jump off the escalator, and hurried on his way; the daycare wasn't far away.

As he walked through the large hallway that led to the daycare, he tried to push the anxiety away. But honestly, what if Earth wasn't there? Sun didn't want him in the daycare. Moon wouldn't want him there too-. But this was for Earth. Not for him, or anyone else.

He stopped as he came to the automatic doors; there was a picture of Sun and his candy, the sunnydrop. He ducked under the door and walked in as it slowly creaked open. He took a glance around, hoping to see a feminine figure with white, cloud hair. But nope. No Earth.

Stopping by the slide that would bring him down to the ball-pit, he peered in. Nah, he'd take the stairs. Trying to quickly turn around- well, more like sliding, because he was taking advantage of the socks he was wearing- he slipped. He squeaked as gravity took its course; and he fell into the slide.

"Nonononono- I really don't want to-" He tried to hold onto the edge of the slide opening, but he missed the chance. "NO-" He hissed, as he ending up sliding down and face-planting into the ball-pit.

"Ow- what the heck-. " Eclipse tried to pull himself out of the ball-pit, but he was just blindly scrambling through it. Why was it so deep? Oh wait- he was short. "SUN!" He yelled, finally giving up on swimming through the mass of germs.

It took no time at all for Sun to arrive, and pry Eclipse out of the ball-pit. He helped him onto the block walls that surrounded the horrible pit.

"You okay there?" Sun asked as he gently prodded Eclipse on the arm. His tone was deceitfully up-beat. Even though Eclipse could feel the tension against them.

"Yea, thanks. I'm a bit too short for the ball-pit." He huffed; the short disadvantages were getting to him. He gently swayed his tail as he waited for Sun to respond. The silence was growing.

Sun forced a sympathetic smile. "It's okay. At least I'm here to uh- get you out." he seemed mildly uncomfortable.

Eclipse sighed, this was becoming too much of a problem. "You know its fine to hate me, right? I'm fine with it, honestly I kinda deserve it." He was being honest- just- not in the first part. He wasn't fine with being hated on. But, he made this mess, so he was going to let people cope however they wanted.

"I-I- N-no-! E-Eclipse, well-- I- " He sighed. "Yea...You do..." Sun kept his gaze on the ground. Unlike Eclipse, Sun was really good with eye contact, just- not in this situation, Eclipse could easily tell.

"Heh...Yea...I'm uh- sorry for what I did. I really would fix it if I could. I'm going to do my best to fix it now. I would promise- but- if I broke so many promises in the beginning then, what would this one mean to you...?" He spoke with confidence, but his voice faltered.

Sun blinked a few times, then sharply inhaled. "Yep. Your very right. It would mean nothing." He backed away by a few steps; his gaze still trained on the ground. "I don't even know why I'm in a situation where I'm agreeing with you- I shouldn't even have to be talking to you right now- actually, I don't HAVE to do anything. Goodbye." He turned around and walked away.

"Wait! Sun, please! I just want to fix this! I'm not who I used to be!" Eclipse jumped off the ledge of the ball-pit, only to faceplant into the multi-colored floor. "Ow- f- wait-! Sun, stop walking off!" He pushed himself up, and stabled himself. He set his eyes back on Sun and ran after him. Once he was almost caught up; Sun turned around.

"You can't fix this! Just go away-" Sun hissed, venom laced his voice in bitter resentment.

"Y-yes I can! It may take a while, but I will! I may not know who I am- or who I need to be. But I know that I will fix this!" Eclipse took a step forward, it made him feel pathetic by how desperate he sounded.

"Eclipse." Sun's voice dropped, it was just above a whisper. "Shut up. I don't want to hear it. You wont fix it, you can't fix it. Just because Moon is understanding that you aren't even capable of being who you used to be, still doesn't mean that you can convince others."

Eclipse backed away, the truth stung. It was the truth, wasn't it? Should he try- or should he not? Everyone seemed fine on their own. Was he just going to cause problems? Who- was he? So many questions, it was making him dizzy. He then looked up at Sun, and smiled.

"Okay. You're right." Eclipse nodded, and turned around. Walking away was hard- it was- really hard. But, all he had to do was put one foot in front of the other. But- why was that so hard? He felt frozen; stuck. As if he couldn't control himself.

"Wait- I am?" Sun stuttered, his voice full of sudden concern. "No- I was being harsh- I was just hoping you'd walk away and we wouldn't fight- I didn't rea-"

"No." Eclipse turned around; the longer he stayed here the harder it was to fight back tears. By now he was just a blinking mess, trying to stop the cascade that threatened to fall. "Y-you're right. I- I should go now. I'm sorry, I really am." He went to back up a few steps, but Sun came forward, sat down and held his arms out.

"Hug?" All the tension in the room seemed to fall, Sun was already showered in guilt and concern. "I- uh, didn't mean it- I didn't mean to make you cry."

"Oh so you meant everything else but not to make me cry?" Eclipse sniffled, feeling stupid as an uncontrollable amount of tears fell. "You caved in, because you can't stand to see a child cry. And I look like a child, so now your offering me a hug, in which you'd never do, because you feel guilty."

He took a deep breath. "Yea- uh. Sorta- kinda- yea."

"Well, fuck you too, buddy. Because I want the hug." Eclipse walked over there and joined the offered hug. He could feel Sun grow slightly tense as he returned it. But, the tension left the air as Eclipse just melted into the hug. How long had he gone without hugs? Because this felt really nice. Wait- had he even had a hug before?

"I'm sorry."

"For making me cry?"

"Yea-"

"Okay. It's okay."

"Your uh- tears are kind of pretty- are they just normal water?"

"Oh- That's- really random." Eclipse swiped at a few of the tears, and looked at his hand. The remaining residue was glittery almost. "No clue." He muttered. He then watched as Sun got up and backed away, giving Eclipse a reassuring look.

The lingering touch of the hug slowly started to wither. But- it still faintly stayed with him. It felt odd to get a hug after such a long time. Then his thoughts came together- wasn't he looking for Earth?

"Hey Sun?" Eclipse perked up, his tail slightly twitched in anticipation. How could he of forgotten Earth? He needed to busy himself with this anyways.

"Yea-?" Sun piqued as he tilted his head.

"Uhh- where's Earth? I was looking for her but I got distracted and yea- I need to find her."

"Oh- well, she's at the stage I believe- she said she ran into a little bit of trouble, so she's dealing with it her way." He hummed. "Rockstar row is that way." Sun pointed to the door Eclipse just came from a little bit ago.

"Okay. Thanks, bye." Eclipse almost tripped over himself, and his words as he turned around to leave. He was at the door by the time Sun said something else.

"Hey uh- do you need shoes? I don't think socks are going to help you at all-"

"NOPE. THEY'RE COMFY. BUT THANKS!" He called, feeling perfectly fine with his socks. Even if he slips all the time- he'll be fine.

"Okay- just uh- there's a step when you open that door, and you coul-"

"I'm fi-" Eclipse was cut off as he tripped over the door stop, and once again face-planted into the floor.

"Did you change your mind?" Sun sounded amused, which only frustrated Eclipse more.

"NO. I AM PERFECTLY FINE." He snapped as he pushed himself back to his feet. He didn't give Sun another glance as he walked out the door. Now he had to go all the way down the hall, through the top floor, and onto the elevator. And he hated elevators.

Walking through the hallway, he tried to keep his mind blank. But worry was still swarming around. Why hadn't Earth come back yet? She had a problem? Why was she at the stage? Too many questions. Thinking made him dizzy. Why did it make him dizzy? How could he be dizzy? Why did he always feel on the edge? Was he okay?

Eclipse stopped. He was at the elevator now; but it would be hard to stay on his own two feet when everything was spinning AND going up. The neon, flashing lights were NOT helping his case. He grumbled as he pushed his nausea down. Could he even throw up? Because he felt like it. Could he? Yea, he probably could. Fazco was messed up.

He half-heartedly pressed the arrow key and awaited for the elevator to bring him up; but nothing happened. He glared at the glowing button as if that would help anything. Oh- wait. He hadn't pressed a number. "Oh my gosh...What is wrong with me?" He {A little bit too aggressively} pressed "One" and slumped against the wall. Was this the side effects of having half of you missing? Could a human survive with half of their memory gone? Probably not. Did Earth just leave to stay away from him? No. It wasn't about him. Right? It's not like someone was looking for him...

The Elevator jerked to a stop. Maybe a little bit too soon, because contemplating life wasn't horrible-. Eclipse heaved himself up and got out of the elevator. It felt better to be out of there than in. The stage was just through the large doors, through the atrium, and boom. Your there. It was a bit of a long walk, but he'd be fine.

{+^+}

"Finally! I'm here!" Eclipse placed his hands on his hips and he took in the sight of- the stage. Honestly, it wasn't as bad as everything else. It was brightly lit, yes, but it's color palette was still clashing with everything.

Suddenly a familiar voice hit Eclipse- it was Lunar! He looked around- and there he was. A small figure on the large stage. He was with- three other people that he couldn't exactly decipher. Eclipse jumped onto the stage- honestly more of climbed onto it because of how short he was; and hesitantly made his way over to the small group.

Wait- The group was Lunar, Earth, Anarchic, and Impulse! He wanted to go up and greet them, but he kept his distance. Lunar was yelling at Anarchic and Impulse? Earth seemed like she was trying to calm them down, but was failing.

"No! You're not go to keep me and my brother away from our brother!" Anarchic yelled, he was fiercely glaring at Lunar; but Lunar was keeping the eye-contact with his own glare.

"Please, please! You all can see Eclipse! Let's just cal-" Earth tried to walk in between them, but then she stopped. Her sensors must of picked up on something. She turned around, and saw Eclipse. She seemed to be experiencing all the stages of fear and disappointment.

"Oh goodness..." She muttered, and took a few steps back, awaiting for Lunar, and the two red gremlins to see who was there.

"YOU- TALL LADY, WHAT ARE YOU LOOKI-" Anarchic yelled, following Earth's gaze. His mood suddenly lifted "BROTHER! OUR BROTHER HAS RETURNED JUST FOR US!" Anarchic suddenly ran at Eclipse and tackled him. Eclipse couldn't tell if it was meant to be a loving gesture or a vicious one.

"Ow- Anarchic!" Eclipse hissed, trying to push Anarchic off of him. And anyways he wasn't a fan of hugs when he didn't ask for them. But at the same he he was?

"BROTHER! YOUR BACK! YOUR HERE! YOU COULD HERE THE DISTRESS IN OUR VOICES SO YOU CAME TO HELP! Just like you always have!" Anarchic hugged Eclipse tightly, Eclipse couldn't tell if Anarchic was trying to kill him or show his gratitude; but he still melted into the hug anyways.

"Eclipse! Bloodmoon get off of them! Their my brother too!" Lunar hissed, running over to Anarchic to pry them off of him. Anarchic whipped around and hissed at Lunar. Yes, hissed. Eclipse wouldn't be surprised if Anarchic started to swat at Lunar either.

"My name isn't "Bloodmoon" its Anarchic! Get your facts straight!"

"LET GO OF MY BROTHER!"

"HE'S MINE TOO."

"I HAVEN'T SEEN HIM IN LIKE- A YEAR."

"NEITHER HAVE I!"

Eclipse paused to say something, but by now, he was seeing stars. He sharply inhaled as everything was blurring into a watercolor mess. Couldn't everyone shut up for a moment? He was dizzy too- why was everything spinning?

"F-fudge, can everyone shut up-? I-I'm really- re-" Eclipse pulled himself away from Anarchic and Lunar, their attention was concerningly locked on Eclipse. He slightly squinted to see if he'd stop seeing double. "Okay..." He muttered "That's be-" His words quickly trailed off as he felt everything shutting down- and last thing he knew, he had hit the floor.

{+^+}

"Brother! Get upp! You just passed out- your not in a coma. WAKE UP!" Anarchic's voice hit Eclipse like a freight train. He startled himself awake, one again with a headache. He couldn't tell if Chica's voice was worse, or Anarchic's threatening tone.

Eclipse looked up at Anarchic, Impulse, Lunar, and Earth. He took a moment to take in his surroundings- he was sitting in the floor, right where he passed out- huh. Nothing seemed new, except for his vision at least. He could actually see and nothing was spinning.

"Now, you three, back up. Eclipse could still be dizzy, and we don't want to make him feel cornered." Earth gently tried to push Lunar and the Twins away, but they all just glared at her.

"No." Lunar huffed.

"Yea, what he said." Anarchic hissed.

Impulse nodded.

Eclipse pushed himself, and took a moment to stabilize himself. He looked at his siblings. What was he supposed to say? Was he supposed to hug them- he wasn't really sure of himself.

"Eclipse!" Lunar suddenly chirped, and ran over there to hug him. Eclipse stifled a laugh and returned the hug. Lunar buried his face his Eclipse's sweater, and just stood there.

"You missed me much?"

"YES! I DID! I got your note and I was so scared that I'd never be able to talk to you ever again- and then I started to overthink everything and I really wanted to talk to you and yea- AND THEN YOUR DUMB BROTHERS TACKLED ME AND TRIED TO KIDNAP ME SO YOU WOULD BE FORCED TO COME AND SAVE ME SO THEY COULD KIDNAP YOU AND TAKE YOU AWAY!" Lunar kept his deathgrip on Eclipse.

"Anarchic, did you really have to explain our plan to the hostage?" Impulse grumbled, burying their face in their hands.

"Well- I don't know- I like to re-enact those cool movies- y'know?" Anarchic seemed truly disappointed in himself.

"THAT'S WHY THEY ALWAYS FAIL, YOU DUMMY!" Impulse bonked Anarchic on the head before he walked over to Eclipse and gave him a hug too.

"HEY! IF WE ARE HAVING A GROUP HUG, LET ME JOIN!" Anarchic quickly ran over there to join the hug.

Eclipse harshly blinked away the tears that threatened to spill. Was this what it felt like to be missed? Well- of course because it was. All of his thoughts were so silly. He would've never imagined himself going soft for his siblings.

"Oh no- Eclipse, are you okay? Why are you crying?" Lunar loosened the hug and gazed at Eclipse for a moment, he seemed like he was trying to think of why Eclipse could be crying at this moment.

"Shoot- I didn't mean to start crying, I was trying to NOT do that." He freed one of his hands and wiped away the tears that he had failed to maintain.

Anarchic and Impulse detached from the group hug and walked out of ear-shot. They started to mutter to each other; but Lunar just stayed there, taking in Eclipse's presence.

Backing away, Lunar studied Eclipse for a moment, he walked around him a few times.

"You look different, much different." He mused.

"Yea- uh- that was KC's choice. I guess he wanted all of his kids to match somewhat-" Eclipse felt the awkwardness grow. He hadn't seen his brother ever since he well- killed him, and he was wondering- what was in the note that made Lunar want to see him again?

"I'm not his kid." Lunar muttered. "You, and your brothers are."

"Lunar- well, your my brother, right? And so are the twins. So, we are all related. So KC would be your father, and me and the twins would be your siblings."

"No- you don't understand- I uhh..." Lunar tapped his fingers together. "Wellll- I may or may not of became brothers with Sun, Moon, and Earth- like uh...Legally...It was Earth's idea- she said that she could sign the papers and- yeaaa...So actually you're not my brother..."

"Okay." Eclipse nodded. That was fine, actually- he kind of expected it. It would be nice to have a better family then two demons and a manipulator for an older brother. But, personally, Eclipse liked what he had, he was fine with two demons. You just- had to get to know them better.

"Wait- what do you mean, "Okay" aren't you angry? Or sad?" Lunar tilted his head, he sounded confused.

"Why would I be that way? You have free will, and It would be wrong of me to take that away from you." Eclipse shared the same confusion; just for different reasons.

"Woah...You really have changed." Lunar smiled and hugged Eclipse again. All of these hugs were messing with Eclipse. He couldn't tell if he was liking the physical affection or not, but he seemed to turn into a puddle when anyone touched him.

"OKAY! LISTEN HERE, BROTHER AND BLUE ONE. ME AND MY BROTHER HAVE COME TO AN ASSORTMENT TO TAKE OTHER BROTHER. PEACEFULLY. NO RESISTING, IT'S NOT ALLOWED" Anarchic walked over to Eclipse, grabbed his wrist, and started to drag him away.

"HEY, NO!" Lunar grabbed Anarchic's arm to stop him from leaving. "He's my bro- uh- erm-"

"HAH!" Anarchic hissed, "You were foolish enough to disown your sibling, well he's MY brother and not yours! So you can't tell me that I can't take him! Hah!" He pried Lunar's hand off of his wrist and stepped right out of reach.

Impulse took Anarchic's hand and they started chanting something in a different language that Eclipse couldn't exactly decipher. He could only catch a few words.

"Eclipse, you know how sketchy KC is! I don't want you to go alone!" Lunar's tail was flicking back and forth. He was obviously nervous.

"I won't be alone, I have my brothers!" Eclipse glanced back at the two blood gremlins as they had to restart the teleportation spell due to Anarchic slipping on his words.

"B-but- they- they aren't exactly safe! Let me come with you-" Lunar reached out his hand, attempting to grab Eclipse's free one.

"If KC wants to act up, I'll be fine. I don't want you coming along if he does though. I don't want you to feel like It's your fault if I get hurt though-"

"Eclipse-! COME ON. I'm not the little child I used to be. I won't blame it on myself, just- let me come, okay?"

"FINE." He hissed. "Take my hand, Anarchic isn't going to trip over the spell enough times for you. He just can't get one word right-"

Lunar nodded and grabbed Eclipse's free hand. He still seemed anxious, but he was willing to follow Eclipse.

"Wait- are you all really going- to like- leave?" Earth quickly jumped into the conversation, she had been hanging out in the corner all along. "I'll uh- tell Sun and Moon. Buh bye Lunar, stay safe! AND ECLIPSE! Listen to Chica next time, okay? It's called trust!"

Eclipse was about to respond with a ever-so-slightly rude remark, but Earth, and the stage was suddenly traded with the forest. He felt a wave of dizziness hit him, so he let go of Lunar's hand so he wouldn't drag Lunar down with him as he fell face-first into the grass.

"Pff, you missed the home grounds much, brother?" Anarchic teased, he hadn't even tried to stop Eclipse from falling. Eclipse pushed himself up and gave Anarchic a glare.

"I'm not good with stabilizing myself, I'm in a different body if you couldn't tell." Eclipse looked up at the trees. Well- they were in a forest, weren't they? The trees seemed to stretch on forever! But, he knew that wasn't true. Looking around, and eventually down, he saw a stone path. That must lead to KC's house, right? Yea, it should.

"Okay, so- shall we get going then? I think It might be best if we start now. I don't exactly remember how long it takes to get to KC's house from here- so- let's just get going."

Lunar nodded and started ahead, following the path. Eclipse watched as everyone got in line like ducklings. He made sure to stay at the back so he could observe and watch over his siblings. It made the bad feelings go away. Well- as much as they could. Because- honestly, KC wouldn't harm him or his brothers- right?

Chapter Text

"Woah! Is that the house? It's very cute! Why didn't you tell me you lived in such a cute looking house, Eclipse?" Lunar's hand was intertwined with Eclipses'. Eclipse was watching Lunar and his surroundings very carefully, he only zoned out every once in a while.

"Oh yea- that is. It's changed a little bit." Eclipse nodded, giving Lunar a warm, but deceitful smile. He wasn't going to ruin the little bit of excitement Lunar had gained. Eclipse understood that Lunar knew how sketchy KC could be- but he didn't know all of the layers that were hidden underneath.

"Yes, let's hurry. Father wouldn't be happy if we dawdle." Anarchic picked up the pace. He wasn't running, but he wasn't walking either. Impulse glanced back at Eclipse and Lunar before he scurried beside of Anarchic.

The stone path leading up the house stopped abruptly, it appeared to be unfinished, but still, the other stones seemed polished. KC must of been working on it. They all stopped by the porch, and when Eclipse went to knock, Anarchic pushed him aside and kicked open the door.

"Father doesn't care, he's probably in the kitchen already, he might be making dinner! I hope it's deer meat again-" Anarchic grabbed Eclipse and pulled him inside. "Brother! Do you remember when you would make dinner for us? You would leave the meat uncooked just for us! Oh, the sweet taste of the iron! The freshly cut flesh of the deer! MAKE DINNER! YOUR IN CHARGE OF MAKING DINNER NOW!" Anarchic let go of Eclipse and zoomed away, presumably to the kitchen.

A wave of nostalgia washed over Eclipse, and odd memories he didn't even know he had overwhelmed him. He remembered cooking, and cleaning around the house. When KC would randomly disappear, Eclipse would be the one who would take care of the twins. Even though they could handle themselves- he prefered not to find them out killing homeless people. And he especially hated it when they would just run around coated in , but refuse to wash it off. They were just like that.

"Welp. I'm in charge of dinner now. Come on, Lunar. I need to prep everything." Eclipse led Lunar into the kitchen. It was basically the room you walk into when you come into the house, you just had to go by the doorway, and there you are. Eclipse studied the room for a moment, it was just like he had left it. The counters were situated next to a stove, an oven, and a microwave that was sitting on top of one of the counters.

A wooden, antique table sat in the middle of the room, with exactly five chairs. Eclipse knew that the extra chair was meant for Solarflare. His father didn't bother to put it away, either not wanting to, or he decided to let the memories hang in the air. Well, it was fine. At least Lunar had a chair now. He hesitantly let go of Lunar's hand, and walked over to the fridge that was to the left of the counters.

"Okay- so, Lunar. You can sit down on one of the chairs, it doesn't matter, just stay in the room please." Eclipse waved his hand at the general direction of the table, then took his other hand to open the fridge.

He didn't really know what he was expecting, but he didn't understand why he was shocked by the large amount of uncanned meat in the fridge. Eclipse turned away from the fridge as he heard a thunk- oh, Lunar was resting his head on the table.

"You okay?" Eclipse walked over to Lunar and gently prodded him on the arm.

"No. It smells horrible, and I don't have the switch to turn off my smelly sensor thinggg-" Lunar grumbled. He sounded miserable- irritated- he couldn't tell.

"Oh- sorry, I wasn't even thinking of that-"

"How are you not throwing up!? You were right next to it?" Lunar interrupted

"Oh- well, I guess I'm used to it. I used to make dinner all the time- BUT IT ACTUALLY HAD CONTAINERS THAT THE MEAT WAS IN. AND IT WASN'T A HORRIBLE MESS." Eclipse turned toward the doorway, hoping one of the twins would hear him.

"It was Anarchic-" Impulse came into the room, making Eclipse jump back at his sudden appearance. "I fixed it once, but Anarchic wouldn't organize it, so I gave up. Knew you'd fix it when you came back."

"That's because, when I'm in the house, theirs actual peace and cleanliness. You all only survive because your cockroaches. You can live off of rats and mildew. Disgusting." Eclipse turned back to the fridge to take care of whatever he needed. "THERE IS NOTHING IN HERE. HOW CAN I COOK?"

Impulse just shrugged, and hopped up on the counter; he was watching Eclipse with an unnerving intensity.

"You all forget that me and Lunar don't eat raw meat and human flesh. I CAN eat it. I'm built to withstand it. But that doesn't mean I like it." Eclipse glared at Impulse.

"I don't like the flesh, I like the blood. Anarchic will eat anything he gets his hands on." Impulse returned the glare.

"ECLIPSE, SHUT THE FRIDGE DOOR. I AM GOING TO THROW UP, AND IT'S GOING TO BE ON YOUR SOCKS." Lunar

Eclipse gasped "NO YOU WOULDN'T."

"YES I WILL. NOW SHUT THE DOOR." Lunar lifted his head and gave Eclipse an even worse glare than Impulse had.

"Fine." Eclipse went back to the fridge and shut the door. He then turned around and went over to the counter. He leaned down to open the cabinets, but paused. "There isn't a dead rat in here?" he asked.

"Nope."

"Okayy..." He opened the cabinet, and luckily, there wasn't a rat. All that was in the cabinet was a tray of seasonings, and a few containers with dates written on the top in black marker. "So this is where my tupperware went..." He grumbled, taking them out and setting them on the counter above him.

"Okay- so, this seems like enough to cook and season the meat- for me and Lunar, and you can have a soup I guess- I think I can mix the blood with heavy cream-? Eh, it's worth a try. And Anarchic can eat it raw." Eclipse got up after grabbing the spices he wanted and shut the cabinet with his foot. He placed the spices down next to the tupperware and inspected the dates.

"Okayyyyy...So- Deer meat, this is the freshest one we have. Unless you and Anarchic want to go hunt something and bring it back- AND GUT IT YOURSELVES, then I can cook that." He looked at Impulse, awaiting an answer.

"Well...I like human blood better than deer blood-..." Impulse trailed off, seeming a bit self conscious of his opinion.

"Well, go grab a child or whatever, make it small so I don't have too much left over."

"ECLIPSE NO- " Lunar jumped into the conversation, he seemed truly concerned and worried. "Nonono! Y-your not going to let him take a child! Children have families!"

"Okay, good point Lunar. Impulse, get an orphan. What's it gonna do? Scream for it's parents?"

"Hell yea!" Impulse hopped off of the counter, and ran out of the kitchen, while Lunar just stared at Eclipse, completely perplexed.

"Lunar, calm down, it's not that deep. It's just a human." Eclipse set down the container and walked over to Lunar. "Hey- why is it bothering you so bad?" he tilted his head, awaiting Lunar's answer.

"W-well...I don't know..." Lunar grumbled. "I guess I'm just jealous of the bond you all have...I never got that, y'know? You were just manipulative, there was no kindness...But you made an exception for them! Out of everyone. I just- feel like their a bit undeserving. They didn't do anything to try and gain your appreciation-"

"Wait, wait. Lunar- hold up. You may not of gotten that from me- but you had plenty of attention and care from Moon, Sun, Monty, and Earth. Impulse and Anarchic went through some really bad stuff. I'm not inhumane, of course I was going to comfort them-"

"No! What about me? I went through stuff too-"

"Lunar. Listen, I understand you have trauma, and you have gone through bouts of suffering, but you don't have a say on what the twins went through. It was a lot worse than what I did to you."

"Oh so your saying that I'm undeserving but their not."

"I said nothing of the sort! I'm trying to explain to you Lunar. I grew up with the twins, I had, and have a stronger bond with them than I ever had with you! I watched them go through everything FIRSTHAND."

"So even though you watched them suffer, you decided that "Oh, this is such a great idea, Lunar should feel the same pain! Just not as bad so I can make excuses later on." What the heck!?"

Eclipse sighed. He didn't bring Lunar here to fight, he didn't even WANT Lunar here in the first place, it was dangerous and not Lunar proof. Well- nothing was Lunar proof. He went back to the cabinet, and took out a skillet. He grabbed a container and walked over to the stove. Placing the skillet down, he turned on the stove; the blue flames flicked up towards the handle of the skillet before it calmed down. Opening the container, he turned it upside down and watched the meat slowly drop out.

"I'm sorry..." Lunar mumbled.

Eclipse set down the empty container and walked back over to Lunar and gave him a hug. Lunar sighed.

"Sorry I started a fight..."

"No, no. Your fine. I understand. It's your right to be angry. And hey, guess what? Just because you're Sun and Moon's brother, doesn't mean I don't think of you as my own. Now- uh, I really hate to break the moment but the meat is going to burn if I don't flip it-"

"Okay, you go do that." Lunar giggled, "We don't want burnt food."

Eclipse smiled and turned around to tend to the meat, it was already sizzling. He pulled out a pair of tongs, dusted them off, and flipped the meat. He was already surprised he still remembered how to cook. It had been so long...Maybe two years?

"Smells good!" Lunar chirped. The mood was already lifted and the tension was gone. He ran over there to Eclipse to watch him cook. "Whatcha putting in there?"

"Oh, well, for ground venison I'll use salt, garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder; cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, and dried oregano. You uh- cook it with the meat, which I already did on one side, that's why it's so important to tend to it." Eclipse picked up the cayenne pepper and sprinkled some on. He never really measured anything, he just eyed it.

"Woah. You know a lot about cooking, huh?"

"Yep. Took online classes when KC wouldn't give me my tools- or he would randomly lock me in my room. I would just sit down with my phone and learn how to make sauteed shrimp. I would also make pies too. Normally with the guts of humans or animals. Anarchic and Impulse loved it. They would always bring me handfuls of whatever they could find and beg me to cook it into something. The only part I didn't like was when they wanted me to eat it. I never developed the crave or desire for human blood."

Lunar looked disturbed. "That's uhm- uh...Nice..."

"Lunar, it's alright to be disgusted. No normal person is going to disagree with you." Eclipse stifled a laugh.

"I just feel like that'd be rude to judge someone's taste in food." Lunar huffed.

"Well, your being overly kind. I insult their taste in food all the time. I'll be cooking and turn to one of them and blame them for the mess." Eclipse walked away from the stove and stopped by the sink. "Hey, Lu, could ya uh- turn on the hot water? I don't want to touch the faucet if I have seasonings and such things on my hands."

Lunar nodded and turned on the hot water, then stepped out of the way.

"Thank ya Lu."

"You're welcome 'Clipsey!"

"Oh so now everyone is on in the nicknames, huh?"

"Hmmm...I don't know, Cheeto."

Eclipse rolled his eyes and dried his hands with the towel that was on the side of the sink. He turned of the water and walked back to the stove.

"Alrighty, Lulu, the food is ready- can you set out plates? I still have to make Impulse's soup if he'll show up already. It's not that hard to hunt a child."

"How do you know?" Lunar tilted his head.

"Oh...Not important. Now shoo, get the plates from the cabinets." Eclipse turned off the stove to let the food cool.

Lunar huffed and went to cabinet to fetch the plates and utensils.

"Brother. I got the child, I decided to drain its blood for you-. Here you go." Impulse rushed into the room and handed Eclipse a black bowl full of a slimey crimson liquid; a wild look glittered in his eyes.

"Thank you, Impulse. I'll mix heavy cream with it and you'll be all set to go. Can you get it from the fridge?" Eclipse walked over to the table and set the bowl down at Impulse's assigned spot. He glanced over at the larger chair- KC's chair. A cold feeling of dread set into the back of Eclipse's mind. KC hadn't shown up yet- how could he even forget about KC?

"Hey uhm...Impulse- where's K- I mean Father, where is he?" He turned around to face Impulse who was holding out the carton.

Impulse shrugged. "He's probably outside in his little garden. He cares about his flowers more than he cares about us. Don't tell Anarchic that though, he cares about Father way too much. And hey-" he gave Eclipse a sympathetic look. "You don't to call him Father, me and Anarchic do it because well- you know. KC feels as if he has earned the title. He likes to take "care" of things. Honestly, it's more of a control thing."

Eclipse nodded, and took the carton. He turned around and opened the cap to pour in the milk. "How much do you want? Like- 50/50, or 20/80?"

"Yea, 20/80 will be great. I prefer more of a blood taste."

Eclipse nodded and splashed in a little bit of milk. The off-white milk looked quite pretty up against the crimson colored blood. Eclipse grabbed a spoon that Lunar had set out and stirred it up.

"Ta soupe est finie, prends-la maintenant." Eclipse started with the best french accent he could accomplish.

Impulse took the bowl with a slight bow. "Pourquoi merci, oui, je vais, le retirer de tes mains" his accent was fluent and smooth, flowed with his own voice as well.

"Ah yea yea...Shut up. No one cares about your fluent french. Okay, now- if you'll excuse me, I have to call everyone here to eat. ANARCHIC, KC I MADE FOOD!" Eclipse turned towards the door and yelled for the others. Anarchic came running in as quickly as he had called for them.

"YAY! FOOD! GIMME!" Anarchic ran over to his chair and quickly sat down, almost knocking over Lunar in the process. he looked over at Lunar with a puzzled expression. "You're sitting in Solar's chair?" He asked, even though it was kind of obvious.

"Brother- Lunar is sitting in Solar's chair. Is that okay?"

"Yes, it's fine. Lunar is just staying here for a little bit. So yes, it's just this once."

Anarchic nodded, giving Lunar a suspicious glare, but suddenly perked up as the door to the house was heard opened.

Eclipse grabbed some of the raw meat from the fridge and put it on Anarchic's plate, he slightly laughed as Lunar cringed backwards. He turned away from the table and peered at who ever was entering the house.

It was KC.

A strong and glutinous tension hung in the air by his arrival. KC looked just like before. Just different clothes and a bit shorter; and his claws were still sharp...Just not as long. When he spotted Eclipse his expression gave away nothing. Just that still, sharp toothed smile.

He glanced behind him as he heard a thunk, Impulse had almost knocked over Anarchic during the process of getting seated; they were already quietly squabbling between each other.

"So, " The rasp of KC's voice startled Eclipse, he turned his attention back to him. "You're here. I see they fixed you."

Eclipse was frozen. Pure adrenaline, pure fear. He went to talk, but his mind blanked.

"Well? What did you make?" KC was growing impatient. He never was patient, of course he'd want to know what he had made. Had he even made enough for KC? KC reached a hand out to touch him, but Eclipse quickly rushed back into the kitchen.

"OKAY! WELL- I MADE FOOD." Eclipse glanced from between all of his siblings. they all were staring at him, looking quite concerned.

"Come sit down- I'm sure KC would like to serve the food since their the host-" Lunar started but Eclipse cut him off.

"NOPE. I have it. I am perfectly fine." He snatched Lunar and KC's plate, rushed over to the stove, divided the portions, and rushed back to the table to sit down. He handed KC's plate to him, and sat down next to Lunar, handing him his plate.

Lunar took his knife and cut up some of the meat before he scraped it off onto Eclipse's plate.

"You need to eat too! I bet it tastes really good." Lunar gave him a reassuring smile before he took the fork in his hand to take a bite.

Eclipse glanced around for a moment. Impulse was sitting on his left side, and Lunar was on his right. Blocking him from KC who was sitting next to Anarchic. A decently large circle table. It felt- odd without Solarflare, but it felt more comfortable with Lunar here. Filled the empty hole...Somewhat...

He took the fork and stabbed the already cut up deer. Lunar was too sweet; he was kind of like Earth- just...A saint. He popped it in his mouth and looked over at Lunar who was already cleaning off his plate.

"This is really good Eclipse! Like- really good. You weren't kidding when you said you know how to cook! Heh" Lunar smiled again, he seemed like he was enjoying himself. He was happy that Lunar could feel welcome.

"Eclipse. Since you are- not exactly eating your food. I need to talk to you." KC's tone was edging on scary. It was ominous honestly- made Eclipse nervous.

"O-k--" He sharply inhaled and got up, he gently pushed his plate towards Lunar, who gave him a grateful nod. Walking away from the table and his siblings, he followed KC outside, watching him shut the door then walk over towards him.

"I-"

"Eclipse."

"Ye- yes?"

"Do you remember what you said to me, when I found you- well...Dying?" KC spoke in a low, slow rasp. It was just making the tension worse.

"I uh...No- no, I don't. I don't remember."

"You said you were "Done" and "Finished" with the "Game" you were "Attached" to. I could only guess you were talking about my control, hm?"

"I- I really can't answer. I don't rememb-"

"Bullshit. You laughed at me, told me I was pathetic for "relying" on someone like you to do my jobs. You were blessed with the personality you have because of me. I needed someone hardy, blunt, willing to get his hands dirty when needed. I got that, but you lost it. Right when you had the star, you gave up everything."

Eclipse was just getting frustrated, he didn't remember anything! And what in the world was the star? As far as he knew, KC was only an abusive father, not his mentor or anything- what was he missing here?

"You are going to have to retrace your steps because of your slip-up. I'll give you another chance, but you need to find the star, and start the fuck over. Starting with getting rid of the small blue one. You had at first, but they brought it back."

Waitwaitwaitwaitwait. Did he just tell him to go off Lunar? Oh no way in hell. That was crossing a line. Eclipse shook his head, taking a few steps backwards.

"Woahwoahwoah...Calm down. What the actual hell did you just tell me to go do?"

"So I see your still as stubborn as you used to be."

"YOU JUST TOLD ME TO GO OFF MY BROTHER! WHAT DO YOU MEAN "STUBBORN" WHATDOYOUMEAN SECOND CHANCE!?"

KC grabbed Eclipse's arm. He was obviously losing his patience.

"Let go of me- you asshole- get your hands off of me-" Eclipse hissed, it was more adrenaline that was fueling him.

"Maybe, I'll teach you a lesson, the same way I did with your other two siblings."

Horror etched its claws in Eclipse, it stung, he wouldn't- no he wouldn't- fuck it he was.

KC got a firm grip on Eclipse's arm and started dragging him towards the house; he was finding it difficult opening the door while Eclipse was clawing at him like a feral kitten.

"LETGO- I SW-"

He didn't mind the door as he started towards and up the stairs, passing the kitchen, in which Anarchic and Impulse stared in horror, they seemed to know exactly what they were doing. KC paused and gave them a smile.

"Sorry children, and Lunar. Eclipse is a guest, and guests need to be compliant when they're in another persons house. He'll feel better afterwards." His tone was sourly sweet, how could someone be such a monster?

Eclipse was trying to get KC's hand off of him, but his grip was too tight. He spared a fearful glance at his siblings; Anarchic had tackled Lunar, holding him down.

"NO- WHAT'S HE DOING TO ECLIPSE? LET ME GO-"

"You can't! It's all apart of the process you'll make it worse for him!" Anarchic's voice was pleading, full of fear and slight anger. Impulse was just standing by the side; terrified.

KC jerked Eclipse away from the others, and took him upstairs. Eclipse was fighting against him the entire time.

"KC, stop! You wouldn't dare-" He hissed, attempting to bite his attacker's hand; but KC wouldn't budge, he didn't seem to mind Eclipse fighting back. Compared to his attacker, Eclipse was weak.

Stopping at the door at the end of the hallway, Eclipse recognized it as the bathroom. It had been repurposed into more of a storage area. Opening the door, KC pushed Eclipse inside before letting go of his arm. Unluckily, he had let go of his arm at an awkward angle; and caused it to make a small pop- that was entirely unnatural.

"I hope you reconsider our deal, I know Lunar will be quite worried with you gone."

"If you touch him I swe-"

The door was slammed shut. He heard the click of the lock, and heavy footsteps walking away. He was submerged in darkness.

Trying the doorknob, he tried pushing it upwards or just pulling on it, but it wouldn't budge. He went to walk backwards, but he bumped into something and it fell to the floor shattering. Great. There was glass on the floor; and he couldn't see anything. He knew Anarchic and Impulse used to love the dark. But being trapped in here made them claustrophobic and terrified of it. He wondered how long KC left them in here- enough to make them scared of what they liked. He wondered how long HE would be stuck in here.

Gently trying to move away from the glass, he failed; he felt it stab into his ankle. They were pretty large shards. Honestly- Eclipse was like a chicken in the night. He couldn't see anything. Even the faint glow of his eyes didn't illuminate anything. He knew the room was larger, if he could just step over the glass he'd be fine. But stepping over it wasn't that easy. More glass stuck to him as he blindly stepped around the pile of glass.

There were other sharp things in here too- it was a room full of weapons, of course. And the floor was wet? His cuts were stinging- but he couldn't possibly be bleeding that much. He put a hand out to stop himself from running into a wall- but he just dove his palm into something sharp.

"F- shoot...Okay...Okay...Calm. Calm. I'll lose more blood if I panic- I just need to find a nice, CLEAR spot to sit down at. He'll let me out- right?" Trying to convince himself was hard. And trying to move his right hand was even harder.

Feeling around was a horrible idea. More sharp objects sliced ribbon gashes along his wrists and sides. It was horrible- he felt like crying. But that was pathetic, he wasn't a child. He wasn't going to cry over just a few mere cuts.

He found a small, clear area he could stay in; it was enclosed, but it made him feel safe. He could feel his blood start to soak his sleeves and socks. Everything stung like fire. The darkness felt scary. But- it also felt comforting. All he had to do was stay awake, and not let his blood loss kill him. Right?

Yea...The pain would keep him awake. Right-? Yea...Yea...It had to...

Chapter Text

"Ow- s-"

Eclipse jerked his hand back, he had been fiddling with the stupid door knob for minutes now; now he had broke it. He slammed his head against the door. He was exhausted. He'd been in here for who knows how long; but it had felt like forever. He already felt sick and claustrophobic. The dark was no longer comforting.

He froze, he heard footsteps, heavy ones; KC of course. Panic set in and he scrambled away from the door, his arm hurt with every slight jerk.

A knock. Two knocks. Then three.

Silence.

Another knock.

A hiss.

"Eclipse, I know you can hear me, don't play stupid; your already dumb enough." KC's voice suddenly lightened, it was softer. "I just want to talk."

Silence.

The knob turned, and Eclipse held his breath. But it just rattled, it didn't open the door.

"You jammed it- fucking smartass. Fine, you want it to be that way, it will. I'll be back."

The footsteps left.

Eclipse sighed, it was more of a shaky exhale- but whatever. He tried to get up and avoid the clutter that surrounded him on all sides. He just needed to hide. If KC didn't find him, he'd think that Eclipse escaped. Which- was part of the plan. Just later.

Blindly stumbling to the left, he found a cabinet, and beside of that, a small table. Feeling the space under the table, it was large enough. Thank goodness for the smaller body. Scrambling under the table, and out the other side, he paused. He must be in the more spacious part of the storage closet. The sound of dripping water accompanied him. Finding enough room to stand up, he followed the sound of water to the old bathtub that was never removed. KC wouldn't find him here, right?

A knock from across the room.

"Shit...Shit...It's fine- I've been in the middle of the forest covered in mud and bugs, this can't be worse." Even trying to whisper the confirmations didn't help, it was disgusting. The layers of grime and dried blood was horrible. Climbing into the tub, he lied down and brought his knees to his chest.

He was starting to grow dizzy, and his body was partially numb. The bathtub was wet too. Dragging his hand through the liquid- is was- flowing, pretty heavily too. But- it was too thick to be water-? Yea- the water was on the other side, where the faucet was. Wait. He took a hand to his side and immediately took it away. Yep. Yep. That was his blood.

A loud thunk. Again, from across the room; but he was sheltered in the dark, he couldn't tell where it was coming from, but from an educated guess- KC had gotten his way in.

"Oh- it seems like you bumped into the glass knife stand...Hm. And you bled everywhere, do you know how hard it is to get blood stains off of- well- anything?"

Silence and more footsteps. Eclipse felt like he was hearing double- he couldn't decipher where KC was, it all felt like he was underwater. A staticy feeling washed over him- accompanied with guilt.

He should of never brought Lunar here. For all he knew, Lunar could already be dead. And he wasn't too far away from it either. He hoped it was short, and not long. Lunar deserved so much more than what Eclipse had to offer. To die just because your sibling screwed up? What the heck Eclipse... At least he wasn't too far behind. Maybe...Maybe he might see Lunar again? Wait no, that's only for humans! He doesn't have a place he's going to go- and even if he had, it'd be hell anyways.

Well. The least he could do was speed up the process, what's the point in fighting back? Closing his eyes; he barely heard the crash of the table, and the footsteps that led up to him.

{+^+}

Opening his eyes, Eclipse blinked, clearing the blurry mess in front of him. For once he didn't feel heavy- just- a little too light headed. KC was in front of him- no- beside? He was moving- yes-. But where was he? Slowly, and very carefully looking around; Eclipse found himself propped up on the kitchen sink. His legs hanging off the side of it. Actually- he couldn't feel his arm- nor half of his body. Only this slight buzzing ache.

"How are you feeling?" KC's voice slightly stabilized him, but it was too sweet- too soft. Deceitful.

He tried to speak, but nothing came out; just a small mumble.

"Good. When I found you, you had been bleeding out for a while. Glad you can even speak at all."

He had been bleeding-? Everything was fuzzy...It was a surprise he could talk? Why was he here? Why was he bleeding in the first place?

Looking down, he was missing his sweater. It was just a wound mixed with bloody wires and framing. Feeling his head reel again, he lost his balance, but KC was there to stabilize him.

"Now, calm down. I suggest you don't look at your wound, you're cut up real bad."

Eclipse mumbled an agreement, leaning into the slight touch he was receiving.

"Hm. I gave you some uh- well, the equivalent to Anesthesia so it wouldn't hurt as bad." KC gently pet Eclipse on the head, amused by the way his rays moved away from the touch even though he was leaning into it.

"I guess the Anesthesia worked in multiple ways."

"Mmmmn...Whachma mean...?"

"You're so clingy...It's quite weird for you."

He thought for a moment, being near KC felt comforting- was that...Different? This was strange, it felt new. He liked hugs didn't he? Yea...No? Which one was it...

"Okay, now, I have to get another towel; this one is soaked in blood." KC dropped the bloodied towel he was using into the sink and left. Eclipse just blinked, confused.

The warmth was gone, disappointment. Why were the thoughts so simple? He was struggling to grasp on to larger thoughts, the whole picture. He was just getting scraps and bits. He felt really, really light headed too.

Looking back at the sink, he tilted his head- there was so much blood- so...

Everything blanked

{+^+}

"Eclipse-! C'mon-.....Get...."

Jerking himself awake, Eclipse squinted at whoever was in front of him- why was everything spinning? He should-

"Eclipse come on! Get up! Anarchic said he'd teleport us out of here...You just have to follow me-" Lunar was shaking Eclipse, trying to wake him up fully.

"Let go...Hurts..." Eclipse pushed away from Lunar, everything ached, his side, his arm- everything hurt so bad...

"Waitwait- how many fingers am I holding up?"

"Huhm...? How many....?" Blinking didn't help, everything was doubled- and spinning- and everywhere and-

"Ffff......FUDGE. What do I doo-- you're too dizzy to walk- why are you dizzy? Yea sure your bleeding but not that bad!"

"Bathtub....Blood....Too much..."

"YES, SHUT UP. LET ME THINK-......UH....."

Looking around, Eclipse tried to identify where the heck they were- it was green...Lots of green...Outside? Yea- they must be outside. Wait- he wasn't outside a few minutes ago- he was on the sink?

"Okay uh...Are you only dizzy? Or is there more-" Lunar shook Eclipse again; this time more violently.

Eclipse gave up and fell over, ending up half-way laying on Lunar. Which caused Lunar to hiss in frustration.

"Eclipse, we can hug later. Right now, I need to find out a way to get you to Anarchic- I think your drugged. Which is bad, because KC is going to fucking kill me! He threatened me at chokehold- but I got away. So GET UP. You should be celebrating my life, MOVE."

Why was he so heavy all of a sudden? His fans were already in overdrive and he felt sick, AND he couldn't see straight.

"Eclipse please- I don't know what to do-..." Lunar wrapped his arms around Eclipse in a protective hug and sniffled. "I just want you to be okay...And you're not okay...Your acting funny, you can't stand up- your like- limp but tense at the same time? Your fans are in overdrive, your eyes are glassy, you can't speak-" He started to sob, burying himself in the hug.

Why was Lunar crying? He was only getting bits and pieces- everything was really blurry and colorful- but he felt funky. Funky? He never uses that word...Funky is a funky word- wait- why was he thinking about funky things?

Everything blanked

{+^+}

Eclipse jerked away as he was suddenly awoken- wait- he was being held- kind of awkwardly? No- it was too tight, this was an attacker? But...They were holding his other arm gently-? Turning to the first instinct he could find- he bit his captor's hand.

"Child. Calm down." KC fixed his claws tighter around Eclipse, holding him like a kitten.

"Let. Me. Go." Trying to sink his teeth into his attacker's casing, Eclipse tried to worm his way out of KC's grip without upsetting his arm. Where was Lunar- wasn't he right next to him?

"You ended up outside so I brought you back in. You were all alone, so I just guessed you walked out there. But still, you can barely walk."

It felt as if KC had just read his thoughts- honestly KC was invasive anyways. He wouldn't be surprised if he had some kind of magic to do so.

"You know, it'd be more productive if you would use your hind claws too."

What? He glanced up his father.

"Don't give me that look, you have cat paws too. Their just covered up by socks. I'm guessing you never took the socks off." KC paused, then gave his son a smile. "Would you like to see?"

Setting him down, Eclipse relished the feeling of being grounded. He was still slightly dizzy. Plopping down in the floor he took off his socks with one hand, momentarily distracted.

And sure enough, cat paws. With retractable claws and toe-beans.

"Whaaaaaaaat..." He flexed his claws- cringing at the unfamiliar feeling.

"That's why you're so quiet when you walk, I know you haven't noticed but you walk on the tip on your paws all the time."

Studying it for a moment, he rolled up the legs of his pants to see his paws better. They blended from orange, to maroon, to black. Then the toe-beans were a pansy pink. This was- really weird...Why hadn't he noticed this?

"This is really weir-" He paused, all words lost as something sharp and thin stabbed him in the neck. Attempting to scramble away, he was grabbed by his left paw and dragged back over.

"Shh..Shshsh...I just need to layer on the Anesthesia; it's wearing off. You're nano-machines will get used to it eventually, it's for the best."

"NO! Fuck! I let down my guard for two seconds- you f-"

KC hummed as he pushed the needle further into Eclipse's neck, keeping a dangerous but gentle vice on him.

"Tsk, tsk, look at me now." Claws roughly grabbed his faceplate and turned him to look at his father. Father? Was that right? "Good child. Look, your pupils already tell me that it's being processed. Soon, it will be a part of your code. You just need multiple frequent doses."

"Nononononononono- stop! I-I don't want to feel that way again!" Eclipse struggled against the other. Trying to get him to let go. He HATED whatever made him feel sick and dizzy- HATED IT. And- why couldn't he change the size of his pupils? They were stuck at a large radius.

"Mm, you kind of look like a cat. Adorable. Come child, you'll get a renewed dose in an hour."

Getting picked up, Eclipse went back to biting. This time he clung to KC like a burr, biting, and attempting to use his claws. Energy was quickly leaving him, the drug was obviously to sedate and calm. It made him more compliant.

"Shh, you're fine." KC pulled him close, in a hug sort of manner. Eclipse was rapidly losing the energy to fight back so he just quietly complied, his teeth still sunk into his captor's palm.

A click of a door.

Eclipse was swiftly set on his old bed and left alone.

The click of the lock.

Looking around, his vision was slightly spinning, his nano-machines were already trying to fight it off. He was in his old room, tools neatly lined up on his desk; his bed that was always made. Everything was as it was.

He hated it.

Bringing his legs up to his chest, he felt vulnerable and scared. Out in the open, an easy target. He went to touch his sweater- to remind him that Lunar was still somewhat here- but he didn't feel the fluffy comfort. It was something he used to wear. A black throw over.

Covering his eyes he stayed curled up. He didn't want to be here- he wanted to leave! He HATED it here. He just wanted to leave to go-.

He quickly got off of his bed- the feeling of it made him sick. He used to read books to Anarchic and Impulse here. They would all cuddle up and he'd read. Nononono- why is he thinking of that?

He would get yelled at, hit even because of it. Anytime he tried to be kind or helpful to his siblings, there would be some kind of consequence. Honestly he could feel it, the phantom pain in his throat and rays.

He had been choked multiple times- cut off from fan air-flow, and normal function. His rays had been replaced too many times to count. W-why did it hurt? Why now!?

Feeling his breath hitch, he sunk to the floor. Trying to hold on to any stability he could find. But everything hurt, his arm, his rays, his throat- everything.

He turned around as the door clicked open, but no one came in.

Now he was paranoid, he'd been crying in the floor and something opened the door but refused to come in.

"Eclipse-?"

It was a whisper, probably from the voices in his head.

"Eclipse- Answer me-"

So it was someone. And sure enough, peeking his head out from behind the door, was Lunar. He carefully shut the door and ran over to Eclipse, quickly but quietly checking him for wounds.

"I'm sorry I left you here- I had to run off because KC came looking for you- W- YOUR NECK- you're bleeding!"

He wasn't listening- everything was so loud- so aggressively assaulting. He just had to push away from it- too bad he only had one arm.

"Brother-" Lunar reached out and touched Eclipse's arm, causing him to jerk himself backwards, fight or flight senses turned up to the max.

"D-don't touch me." He hissed, still backing away. Lunar seemed hurt, and almost offended.

"I-I'm not going to hurt you- I just need to see-"

"No. How can I trust that? How can I trust you don't want to drug me with something?" Talking about it, his legs felt weak. He was struggling to stand up or even walk, but the threat was pressuring him. Wait- threat? Was that right? "You don't need to see it. There's nothing you can do."

"Yes! I can scan it! I have some of Moon and your medical coding in my head! Let me scan it- I can find out what's wrong!" Lunar got approached, slowly but swiftly. "I just need to scan you to see how bad it is."

"No! Get away from me!" Eclipse dodged as Lunar lunged at him, it was taking every drop of energy to run away. He darted for the door, but the other was right on his heels.

"Don't go out there!"

Skidding out of his room, the lighting difference blinded him, causing him to trip and fall. Which made Lunar victorious, tackling him and keeping him on the ground.

"It's not safe out here- KC will come to renew your dose in just a few minutes. I've been lurking around, I know. So come on, we'll climb out the window."

"Stop! Stop- let go- let go let go!" He twisted to fight back, but Lunar slammed his faceplate into the floor.

"Stop fighting me. I'm doing what's best! I'm trying to save you! Asshole." Getting up, Lunar grabbed Eclipse's ankle and dragged him back to the room. "I'm going to trust you to stay here, I'm going to open the window."

Eclipse watched as Lunar let go of him and walk over to the window. Fiddling with the lock, he opened it, seeming to enjoy the fresh air.

"Okay, c'mon. Anarchic is right below us, he'll teleport us."

Heaving himself up, he glared at Lunar, a dull ache was still in his head and ankle.

"We're leaving, Eclipse. Leaving, okay? And I'll stop trying to check your wound. Let's go."

He nodded, walking over to Lunar; giving him a suspicious glance.

"I don't understand why you don't want me to scan it- but eh-" He hopped out onto the shingles, keeping his hands on the window seal. "Okay, do it just like this. Okay Eclipse?"

Nodding, Eclipse watched as Lunar backed down all the way until he could drop off. Anarchic greeted Lunar and waved at Eclipse.

"COME ON BROTHER! YOU CAN DO IT! REMEMBER WHEN YOU GOT ME OUT OF THAT TREE BECAUSE I TRIED TO CLIMB IT? YEA! I DON'T CLIMB TREES NO MORE." Anarchic yelled up there, but gained Lunar whisper-yelling at him about shutting up.

He carefully climbed over the window seal, and nervously looked down at his brothers.

"SHOOT ECLIPSE- BEHIND YOU-"

He went to look behind him, but he was snatched by the waist and pulled back in. He recognized it as KC as claws sunk into his casing.

"Anarchic teleport Lunar! NOW!"

"How funny, trying to escape, huh? I thought we talked about this, child. Bad children need to listen."

"Haha, how funny you moon wannabe. No matter how matter how hard you try- I'm a free person! Free country! Or- whatever they say!"

"You are not the Eclipse I knew. I guess I'm going to have to take you apart until I find it."

He refused to talk, no matter how much it hurt that KC was digging his claws into him, he refused to respond.

"How does that sound? Being taken apart alive. Or maybe I should double your doses? Mm...Choices. What if you choose? Which one do you want? Doubled doses, or without."

He shook his head.

"Better idea, I'll see how much you can withstand without overdosing. Perfect."

Oh nooo. Oh shoot. This wasn't good.

"You can tell me when to stop, okay? Don't feel afraid to say it."

Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar.

"Come on, don't give me that look, your eye color tells me it all."

Stop talking.

Reaching up to the back of his faceplate he grabbed one of the closest wires and pulled it.

{+^+}

Tap tap tap tap

Tap tap tap tap

Tap tap tap tap

The grating noise continued to annoy Eclipse, he was ever so slightly unconscious, but he could still steadily hear.

Then- the final tap woke him up. Pulling himself awake, he looked around- he- wasn't near KC- nor in the house. He was back at the pizza plex? He was sitting on a beanbag, a light blue one. And looking around, he was in a blue room. So it must be Lunar's room. Right?

Trying to find the tapping, he looked to the side, Earth was sitting down at a desk, paying attention to whatever she was tapping.

"Earth...?" He mumbled, groggily spinning his rays, trying to wake up fully.

"Oh, morning, 'Clipsey. I'm glad you're awake, you've been out for a few days-" She turned around to face him. "Lunar came running over Sun and Moon explaining this whole story and that you were stuck in your old Father's house. We got you out though, Moon, Sun, and Frank went as a little rescue team." She paused and took a breath, mirth was painted over her expression. "Frank was the distraction."

"Days?"

"Mhm."

"The last I remember is pulling a wire of mine-"

"Yes, yes, Moon fixed that, and he bandaged the cuts. He also retrieved your sweater, I cleaned the blood out of it, I hope you still want it."

He sprung up, only to sway. "Yes! I do."

"Sadly I couldn't find your original socks, so I just got you new ones. Complements to your paws, they're adorable." She smiled, her positivity was contagious.

"Thanks- they remind me of KC a bit- but uh- other wise I like them."

"Moon did a medical scan, and you had been infected by a drug as well, couldn't find out what it was, but he did extract it."

"Yea...Experienced that first hand."

"Well I'm happy you're back, I'll text Lunar."

He sighed, sinking back into the chair. So much happened when he did that little thing. So much. Listening to the tapping of Earth texting, he let himself relax and drift off. Things were crazy, he wondered if they would ever calm.

Chapter Text

"Yeaaa- I know."

Eclipse was sitting on the floor, specifically in a circle, with Earth, Roxanne, and Chica.

He was back with his therapy group.

Of course.

"Of course! It's great, don't you think, 'Clipsey?"

He looked up at the sound of his name, he'd been zoned out for a while now. Chica was looking at him expectantly, awaiting for him to answer some personal question or just an idea.

"Huh?"

"Oh you silly slice of pie- I was talking about making bracelets! The ones with beads- and all that. I love friendship bracelets! If you don't like bright colors, I can make yours blue- or black, whatever!"

"Oh- cool yea." He muttered nonchalantly, falling back into the sea of thoughts.

What had KC been wanting him to accomplish? "Start over" what did he mean by that? What was the star? Why did he want it so badly- why did HE want it so badly? Well- not anymore, but why had he? Also- why was his mindscape locked? Why couldn't he get ahold of it-? Who had his phone? Where was Monty? Where was Solarflare? Who was he?

"OKAY! Great! I already have the beads in my room- so I can go get them and make bracelets! Eeeee! So exciting! You all better wear them! Or I'll be super duper sad! Even you, " She leaned over and booped Eclipse, making him flinch back. "Even if it seems a bit girly, you gotta wear all the bracelets I make you!"

He nodded, pushing Chica's hand back.

"Alrighty! Great, see you all later!" She quickly got up and left the room, leaving him, Earth, and Roxanne alone.

"Prepare to have your entire arm covered in bracelets."

"Oh it was so silly, Lunar made a few of the bracelets once! But he put them on and couldn't stop shaking them- he's so cute when he stims." Earth laughed, a fondness for Lunar was already in the air. Everyone seemed to enjoy the little blue angel.

"What happened to the Lunar and Helpi incident, by the way? Cassie wouldn't fill me in- she was telling me that she had to "Keep Helpi on a leash" or he'd do something stupid."

"Oh yea- it was so funny. Lunar had a playdate with Helpi, Cassie, and I. We all had so much fun, but he thought it was an actual date. Lunar seemed flustered and confused the entire time. It was so silly, he couldn't find a way to cope with the attention he was getting."

"Was Helpi pushy? I heard a bit about it."

"Yes, yes. He was quite pushy and- obsessive, but we got him to calm down and realize that it wasn't a date."

"Waitwaitwait- my brother went on a date!? And I didn't know- this is important information! Did Helpi hurt him? Force him into anything? Because I will gla-" He jumped into the conversation, a sudden spark of anxiety made the unknown terrifying.

"Nonono! Calm down, it went great. No need to worry."

Eclipse nodded, letting his feelings settle. He was still fully ready to turn Helpi into a mass of wires.

"Okay!" Earth clasped her hands together, she seemed a bit ruffled by the sudden aggression. "Therapy group is done for the day! I'm excited to see you all tomorrow! Goodbye Roxy, goodbye Eclipse. Take what we have talked about today and use it for goodwill!"

Eclipse got up, and with a hasty farewell he escaped the suffocating purple room. He wasn't much of a fan of Roxy's place, it always smelled of an overpowering fluorescent perfume. Bringing Lunar back into his thoughts, he turned away from rockstar row and headed to the lobby. His brother- no- Lunar, was probably hanging out in the daycare.

"Eclipse! Wait!" Earth's cheery and feminine voice split through the air, he slowed down his walking so she could catch up. "Okay, good. You heard me-. Are you going to the daycare by chance?" She followed his pace, occasionally having to slow down due to her having longer legs.

"Yep."

"Okay, why are you going there?"

"Lunar."

"Okay."

"Why do you keep saying okay?"

"Well- o- well." She cleared her non-existent throat. "I was just wondering since you've only been up for a little while. Your arm is feeling better, hm?" She motioned towards him, giving his non-functional arm a pitiful glance.

Feeling a snarky remark bubble up, he didn't know why it was so hard to choke down the insults today. He just felt- irritable. Lunar was his goal, he wanted to see him. He gave Earth a non-committal glare. "Thanks for mentioning it, now I remember the pain..." He mumbled the last part, he couldn't tell if it was phantom pain or real. Oh, didn't his rays hurt too? Well thinking about it made it hurt.

"Well, Moon gave you some heavy painkillers, you shouldn't be able to feel pain-"

"Well I do." He snapped, he couldn't help but lower his voice, trying to convey his irritation. Maybe she would get the hint. "No one asked you, Earth."

"I'm just worried!" She sighed, taking a hand and pushing her hair out of her face. She then took a small nibble out of her nails. "I didn't know what happened out there- Lunar comes back freaking out- the bloodmoon twins just...There! In which they spooked Sun quite badly, and you were gone? Everyone assumed the worst until they heard you were the victim. We all thought KC was nice now! Sun was so ready for your betrayal- Eclipse you really need to put a foot down and explain that you're fine now."

"I honestly don't want to. I'd rather just...Sit here, I'm fine with Lunar."

"You can't just...Live your life...Hiding behind Lunar, Eclipse. Do you think he'll...He'll protect you from Monty-?"

That's when it started to hurt. Something ached- so horribly. Eclipse felt drained, but he faced Earth; sporting a full deathglare. "Yes. Quite frankly I do. I have full trust in him, if Lunar wants me dead, he'll do it. And I'll be fine with it."

She looked stern now, more serious than he'd ever seen her. "Eclipse, I really don't think he'll-"

"Watch me. Really, watch." He was vexed, frustration bubbling up. He felt like- tormenting something. Someone. But, he'd rather not. He had a better idea, if Earth wanted to act like she knew Lunar better than him, he'd win Lunar over. If two siblings showed up, who would Lunar choose? He had the note to his advantage. Something in there really made something stir up, something so powerful Lunar would just- forgive him. It was just a harmless pick at Earth, it was fine. It would be fine. He just needed this, to have some form of control.

Slowing down his walking pace, he stopped by the large doors of the daycare, he was so focused on his thoughts that he didn't hear the voices of Moon and Lunar. Turning towards Earth, he gave her a malicious smile, which made her look concerned and confused.

"Let's see if you really know him as good as you think you do, hm?" The last part was mocking, making fun of the way she would talk down on him. Acting as if he was a child. He'd show her how a petty child acts. Blinking a few times, he dialed his pupils to a larger setting. It would be his first time trying this, but he should be quite good at it. Dropping his tail to the floor, and just lightly retracting his rays he slipped by the closed doors. Giving her a small grin before he dropped into character.

"Lunar!" He rushed over to Lunar, surprising him with a random hug. Lunar gave him a questioning look before he noticed how terrified Eclipse looked.

"Eclipse! What happened? Are you okay- you look like you're going to cry! What happened?" Lunar frantically checked him all over, looking for any kind of wound.

The moment Earth walked in, he broke into tears, entirely confusing her. She stared at Eclipse for a moment, processing what was going on.

"I-I'm sorry...I did so much wrong- I- I shouldn't of killed you- I-I made so many mistakes...I-" It wasn't over the top, but it was perfect. He felt the inward victory as it clicked for Earth.

"Eclipse." She hissed, she couldn't muster much intimidation, but it was obvious she was pissed. "How dare-"

"Earth- can't you tell? You're the person who does therapy! He's unstable-" Lunar turned to Eclipse and started trying to soothe him. "Eclipse...Eclipse, I know you're sorry- I forgave you-! You're okay, it's all okay. Nothing's wrong."

Taking a shaky inhale, he couldn't tell if he actually started crying, and he was clinging to Lunar like a lizard. It was supposed to be fake but- then it kind of just poured out. Did he have that much pent up? "A-are you sure?" He mumbled, his voice was pathetically wavering, this sounded all too real- was it? He was fooling himself now.

"Yes, of course. You have unstable memories, it's okay to be scared. Did-" Lunar looked up at Earth, a small accusing look thrown at her. "Did she bring something up that- hurt you? Or brought up something you weren't okay talking about? You shouldn't feel pressured into doing anything, or even telling anybody anything. That's your business, okay?"

"M-mhm..." The confirmation felt- nice. Even though it was mainly an act. It- gave him a slight tinge of hope. Maybe he wasn't too far gone?

"Eclipse- you-" Earth's tone made Lunar glare at her, a sudden protectiveness was felt in the air.

"No, he's tired. Leave him alone, Earth. Therapy is supposed to help, not stress him out. C'mon, brother. Let's go somewhere else."

Moon, who was standing by the side gave Earth a side-eye. Seeming to want an explanation, but she just huffed and walked away, seemingly going away to calm herself down.

"Eclipse? Did you hear me? Let's go somewhere quiet- like my room." Lunar offered his hand and a gentle, reassuring smile. In which Eclipse very quickly took it, letting the other lead him away. Looking at his paws, he let the rhythm of Lunar's steps and his blend into a calming melody. Just tip, tip, tip, tip, tip.

Tip tip tip.

Tip tip tip.

Tip- tip.

"Alrighty, we're here- it wasn't that far away. You looked like you zoned out though- Come on we can go sit on my rug. If you'd want we can talk about it?"

Mm, he'd rather not lie- but he didn't want to tell the truth. If he avoided the question in general- or- well. He could tell the truth- just- not about that. Hesitantly nodding, he still kept his eyes trained on the ground. It was so weird getting sympathy from such a person. He had done so much wrong- but people still continued to care about him. The contents of the note must of been intimate- why couldn't he remember that?

"Alrighty! This is the room! Sorry- it's a bright blue."

Apologizing for things he shouldn't- Lunar was so- Lunar. Oh how he missed this. Examining the place, he missed the warmth on his hand when Lunar left him to go sit on the rug; expectantly waiting. Yes, it was a bright blue. It had a large bean bag chair, which was probably where Lunar slept due to Spigot, a few blankets, and some pillows laying on it. It also had a slight hint of vanilla- and maybe blueberries? It felt welcoming, which kind of eased down the awkwardness of being alive in general. Him and Lunar were supposed to be dead- not alive, not here.

"'Clipsey, you're spacing out again-"

Snapping back into reality, he couldn't help but be a bit spooked by Lunar- but oh well, what was he to do about that. Joining Lunar on the rug, he fidgeted with his hands until the other said anything.

"Soo. What happened- if I may ask. You're acting more like me, right now. Fidgety, spacing out- that's my job- what's up?" His voice was soft and gentle, more concerned than questioning.

Eclipse knew good and well Lunar had an idea of what had happened. KC had- well, done a lot. Lunar must've been guessing that Earth started talking about what happened with KC, not that Eclipse had well- done something petty. But wasn't this a good opportunity to talk about what happened? Well- he didn't exactly want to. He didn't want to trigger another breakdown like he had did in his old room, but did he have much of a choice? Well, yes. He did have a choice, Lunar wouldn't force him into telling him anything.

"Eclipse really- you aren't keeping focus for even a second- you're just staring into space skeptically-"

He was? Well- did he want to talk? Crying felt good. It felt really nice actually- just draining him of all energy until he either passes out or falls asleep. Was it an act? Was he actually upset? Why did he do that? Why is he here right now? He was so rude to Earth- all she wanted to do was help him. Had he screwed up another chance? Just because he wanted to be a jerk?

"Eclipse- answer me. Say something- at least."

He opened his mouth to say something- anything- but his mind was blank. No files nor thoughts could explain what he wanted to say. He wanted to cry- say he was sorry. Kill himself again, make sure no one could bring him back. Apologize- something- something at least.

"Okay. Shit. Uhm- uhm- Eclipse w-whats this?" Lunar scrambled away and grabbed something- what was it? Why did Lunar walk away? Did he not answer fast enough?

He returned and showed him the object. It was a reindeer, Spigot.

"What's this? Can y-you uh- tell me what it is?"

Sharply inhaling he failed at keeping his voice from wavering. "Spigot- right?"

"Yes! Perfect. This is Spigot-, yes, great. Uhmm-" Lunar rushed away again, this time grabbing another object, and bringing it back.

Eclipse felt confused- why was he showing him things? Did he need to know- was something about to happen?

"Uhhh, this?"

"A-a book?"

"Yes! Perfect, good job, and this?"

"A...Uh-...I don't know?"

"It's a crochet hook- sometimes people call it a nee- actually- nevermind. You don't need to know that. Can you hold it for me?"

Nodding, he took the crochet hook from Lunar, it was smooth with a curved tip. He was silently questioning why he had to hold this.

"Okay-...I have a question. Can you do something for me?"

"Uh...Huh...?"

Lunar seemed a lot calmer now, but he still was heavily focused on Eclipse. "Can you- move your rays? Or- your paws?"

Giving another hesitant nod, he followed the instructions, spinning his rays, and moving his paws.

"Good! Now, one more- can you move your tail? You're doing great."

He moved his tail, curling it up in his lap.

"Now- uhm shoot....Uh...." It took a moment for Lunar's thoughts to click. "Okay. Uhh what do you hear? Can you name three things?"

"Uhm..." He paused, actually- what did he hear? "You, your voice....My fans are- slower now, and the sound of my tail against my clothes?"

"Good, good, you're done now."

"Why did we-"

"Don't worry about it. Just protocol, I'm happy you're okay now."

The tension and nervosity dissipated, they both just sat in silence. It took a moment for Eclipse to notice that he was much calmer now.

"You-" He pointed at Lunar, trying to from some kind of words, he couldn't swim through the gratefulness and confusion quick enough. "How-?"

The other laughed, they seemed to be feeling airy and bubbly "Yea, yea, don't worry about it. I'm just...Glad your episode wasn't- that bad...Are you feeling okay?"

He felt a small, somber smile overtake him. "Y-yea. I feel better, I can speak and my thoughts aren't everywhere. I can think straight."

"Good, good. I'm just happy you're okay now."

"Okay is...A bit of an exaggeration..." He mumbled, going to back to staring at the floor.

"Do you wanna talk about it? I'm all ears, well- we don't have ears. I'm all- audio receptors? Eh- that sounds weird- anyways, you get the point. I'm here to listen."

"Well...Okay." He sharply inhaled, trying to find a place to start. "It well- I guess it started when my ai just...Poofed into existence-? I don't know- I'm kind of guessing I'm just an experiment of KC's, or- Sun's self hatred and Moon's infamous smarts? I'm tricky, cunning, but also just...Code. Angry, evil, malicious code. I don't know who I'm supposed to be- what am I?" He felt his voice waver, he was so emotional too- which, wasn't in the original coding. "When I woke up- I just. Existed. I found- KC, he talked to me about- fuzzy things I don't remember. Soft words, kind reassurances...Telling me I was important-? Part of the "Plan"?

Lunar nodded, intently listening.

"I don't know who I am. Half of my memory chip is in ruins- and half of my coding as been ripped out of me. Who is Eclipse- who am I? When I woke up- Sun and Moon were talking to me, asking me if I remembered- the "star". What is that? Why is it so important- why does...KC want it? KC praised me for being...Well, vile. Told me I was going places, I was going to be at the top sooner or later. Told me I'd have whatever I wanted. But again...Those words were few." His metaphorical heart hurt. It hurt so bad, it felt like pieces were missing- he just wanted to sleep it away. Or...Just stop the pain. Make it go away, and stop hurting him.

Keeping his eyes trained on Eclipse, Lunar carefully scooted closer, gently offering a hand for comfort. In which Eclipse hesitantly took.

"When- I was brought to KC's place- I just got so many memories I didn't know I had. Cooking, cleaning, blissful ignorance. Abuse. I got memories I didn't want back as well. Sometimes...If I think about it too much I can...Feel it...Again...I-" Shaking it away, the creeping tingle of phantom pain made itself known as if it heard its name. "I felt such a strong connection to Anarchic and Impulse- I care about them a lot. They have a lot of respect for me too, I made them a new body after they were killed..."

"Eclipse, if you don't mind, and if it doesn't- upset you. Do you mind me asking what happened- in the kitchen...You were acting funny when I had taken you outside. Later I learned you were drugged...It was scary, but- what else happened?"

"It's all fuzzy...Very fuzzy- ugh...Uhm..." Pausing, he took a moment to think. "I was bleeding out- horribly. It was a lot of blood...He patched up my wound- kind of...Gave me anesthesia to help with the pain. I know it wasn't entirely that though. It had something else in it- I just don't know what it was. I--" He brought out some syllables in a drawl, trying to think somewhat. "I know he later distracted me by my- " He aggressively motioned towards his paws. "My fucking- paws. I don't know who he thinks he is but I swear- Why give me paws? Why paws? That's just stupid."

Lunar snickered, seeming to take much amusement in Eclipse's petty anger.

"Why are you laughing!? I'm angry! Frustrated! He wants to control- ME. Me of all people! The one person who doesn't know who they are- what they're supposed to be-. Ugh! It's stupid- he's a bitch! Yea! Right? You're with me, right? KC is a bitch. That- stupid...C'mon, say it!"

"Fine, fine. KC is a bitch, I know."

"Yea."

"Does that make you feel better? To curse, and call KC a bitch?"

"Yes! Quite frankly, yes it does! KC is a bitch, and no one is going to change my mind about it. Moon called me a candycorn bitch, well, he should go look at KC. Look now, Moon, see who stole the spotlight- UGH. THAT FUCKER."

"You look to silly to be running around calling KC a bitch- please, Sun might come in and tell you to stop cursing." Lunar wheezed, failing to contain his laughter.

"I'm not a child! I can say what I want. If I wanna call KC a bitch, then that's what I'll do. I have freewill, maybe I'll just start a riot- hecking...KC..." Eclipse buried his face in his hands, frustration brimming the surface. "Gonna...Kick him in the...Kneecaps...Or whatever-...Make him feel pain..." He mumbled, kind of feeling like bashing his head through a wall.

"Wanna call him, or- leave an anonymous text calling him a bitch?"

"I don't have my phone! Some- fugly- stupid- person took it from me! It's somewhere- I can't even call people. OR TEXT. Earth wants me to have a social- hah, call that one. Earth is-"

"Heyyy, no calling Earth names. She's our sister."

"Yours."

"Hey! What's up with Earth and you?"

"Her stupid therapy group-...I don't wanna talk about my problem. It makes me cry. I don't like crying in front of people- Earth is- ugh- her fluffy hair- her...Stupid boyfriend..."

"Yea, Monty's an asshole."

"Yea. Wait- you agree?"

Lunar nodded, seeming quite annoyed with even Monty's name. There must've been some kind of problem that happened. "He's a bitch. Fits the category of bitches. First, KC, then Monty. Who else?"

"Uhh...Golden Freddy- that- shit...I'm out of insults..."

"Oh now come on! You can't possibly, you told Sun, Moon, and Earth lots of stuff. Earth was super disappointed in you when you told her to fuck herself."

"I said that?"

"Yep! First time you cursed in front of them. Hehe, it was kind of funny. I found the footage in the cameras. I like to spy."

"Heh..."

"You talked like a chainsmoker."

"I'm aware."

"Now you sound super silly, much different."

"It's not- silly."

"When you curse it is."

"I think I'm putting you in that category."

"HEY! I didn't do anything!"

"I didn't do anything" He raised his voice up an octave in a mocking manner before dropping down. "Yea, yea, lies. Go sit in your seat."

"HEY. PUT ME OUT OF THAT CATEGORY."

"Fine, fine. There, you're out of the non-existent categories." He made a gesture shooing away the categories before he bonked Lunar on the head. "You're weird. Didn't I teach you anything? Take your titles with pride."

"Haha. Dusty cheeto."

"Now, that's just picking fun of something I can't change."

"Dorito."

"Blueberry icee."

Lunar shot up, his tail swaying excitedly. "I love blueberry icees-! Talking about icees- do you like ice-cream, milkshakes, or icees better?"

"Uhmm- never had them?" He tilted his head, trying to think of what ice-cream would taste like.

"Awwww, you need some right now! C'mon! We're going outside!"

He felt panic rise up- outside? He couldn't go outside- "What do you mean outside- I- I can't do that-" He had only been in the forest with Anarchic and Impulse- but that was home grounds. This was different.

"Oh come on, you're just being anti-social. You'll be fine! You need ice-cream, a milkshake, and an icee! AND SO DO I! Let's go!" Lunar grabbed Eclipse's hand and led him out of his room. "We're going on a trip- together. Brother bonding! This is gonna be fun! Sometimes it gets boring having to hang out with your sister all the time- and then your brother is too busy cleaning, and then Moon is super busy- ugh. But now I have you, let's go!"

Eclipse smiled, letting the mirth and childish excitement flood through him. What did ice-cream taste like? Was it cold? Well- ice was cold...So it had to be cold. Did a milkshake have milk in it?

"Are you excited?"

"Mhm!"

"Great! That's the attitude! C'mon this way."

-

"So, here we are- the outside! Sorry, blinding you was necessary, I wanted it to all be a surprise. Now you can open your eyes, do it! Look at this!"

Eclipse hesitantly opened his eyes, why was it dark? It took him a moment to adjust to the setting, but once he did he just stood there, dumbfounded. It was night and a vast expanse of space stretched on above them. The night sky. It was beautiful- so many stars, moving, shining.

"I didn't know it was night..." He muttered, still amazed at how beautiful the sky was at this time. He never really payed attention to it back at his home. The trees mainly covered the sky as well. But this was just a field with long grass, reaching up to the sky, dancing in the light breeze.

"It's pretty beautiful, is it not? A nice change from the pizzaplex, you never know the time there."

"Yea..."

"Comets are pretty common here too, pay attention to the sky. Maybe you'll see one."

He blinked, his vision kind of blurry by how mesmerizing it all was. He turned to Lunar, another thing adding to the dim lighting. The tip of his tail, and magenta eyes were glowing. That made him curious- did he glow too? Giving a glance at his tail, he noticed it glowed a light orange. He wanted to ask Lunar if he glowed anywhere else- but how would he ask such a silly question?

"Hey, Lu?"

"Yea?"

"Thanks..."

"Heh, you're welcome. Sometimes we just need alone time, so- I recommend. Start using this place once you're feeling overwhelmed, okay? I think it might help."

"Alright, I will."