Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I woke up in a new world. It was warm. Much warmer than the void. There wasn't anyone around. Was I alone? I couldn't remember the last time I was alone. Even when I thought I was, Banana was always right there Watching. But he wouldn't be there anymore. He was with the other Wumster. I guess I would just have to set out on my own.
I walked around for a bit. The world seemed to show signs of life, there were some floating trees and some mountain sides had been dug into. I just hoped I would see people. Even after the Old World collapsed, Blue was in the void with me… albeit unconscious. I don't think that she was even there, mentally. I guess being around the Watchers so much gave me the ability to see beyond worlds, I guess. But Blue almost certainly didn't know she was there. I wondered if she was here. While I was lost in my thoughts, I walked into a building. It was a nice little house, reminiscent of Shrub’s house in the Old World. I knocked on the door.
“Hello? Who is it?” Came a voice from inside.
“Hey, uh, I'm lost, and I was wondering if… Shrub?!” I said as the door opened, revealing Shrub.
“Yes, I'm Shrub… who are you?” Shrub asked.
“Shrub… it's me, Wumster. Pesky Pets? Chirp chirp?” I said. Shrub looked at me like I had 7 heads.
“I've never seen you before in my life. I hope you find where you are, but please, go away. Goodbye.” Shrub said before slamming the door. I was dumbfounded. Why didn't Shrub remember me? While I was walking away, I saw someone else. Maybe they would be more helpful than Shrub was.
“Uh, hey!’ I shouted. “Could you maybe help me? I'm a little lost.”
“WUMSTER?” the person shouted.
“Wait, BLUE? You’re here? You remember me?” I said.
“Yeah!!! I'm gonna guess that you saw Shrub?”
“Oh thank the turtles, yeah, I did. What's… what's that all about?”
“I don't know. I've been trying to get her to remember me, but… Wumster, why doesn't she remember?”
“Blue… I don't know. Where’s your house? I wanna live close to you, at least. Pesky Pets for life, I guess. Chirp chirp.”
“Meow, I guess. my house is right over here. I need to be close to Shrub, still. Let's go.”

Chapter Text

I was working on my house when Blue ran in.
“I have an idea about how we can get Shrub’s memories back!” Blue said, as she started pacing around my house.
“What? How can you already have an idea? We've- I've barely been here a week!” I was honestly quite confused. Blue had barely even finished their starter home. How in the world did she have time for this?
“Oh, you have no need to worry, my dear friend. I have what may possibly be the best idea in the history of ideas! What if… what if we tell Shrub about Empires?” I wasn't sure how this would help, but I let Blue continue. There was no harm in that. “If- if we go to Shrub and just bombard her with the stories, then the memories will return! I'm sure of it!” I hated to be the bearer of bad news, but I knew this wouldn't work and that Blue knew it as well.
“Blue… Blue. This plan… it's not gonna work.” Blue stopped dead in her tracks.
“No… No, no, no, nononono! Wumster, you don't understand! This HAS to work. I swear, it's gonna work, I know Shrub better than anyone, this is gonna have to work- Wumster this is going to work! I don't care if you don't think it will, I'm going. I'll just do it myself!” and then Blue ran out of my house, into the rain.
I spent about an hour working on my interior. The rain had started really picking up after Blue ran out.
“I should really go out and make sure she's alright, shouldn't I?” I asked myself. I guess spending so much time with Banana always watching had me so used to always having someone there other than myself listening. I grabbed my umbrella- not like I needed it, being a Glow Squid and all- but more for Blue.
“Blue? Blue, are you around- oh.” I said, before noticing Blue curled up in a ball on Shrub’s lawn. “So. I'm guessing it didn't work out? Are you… Blue, do you wanna spend the night at my house? I think that you could use it.” I said. “C’mon, let's get out of the rain. Here, use the umbrella. It's not like I particularly need it.” Blue let out a soft chuckle. I was glad to see her not utterly broken, like she was that first night I was here… after first seeing Shrub. I helped Blue to her feet, and we walked back to my house. I set up a sleeping bag in some of the free space in my house. Blue fell asleep quickly, but I didn't sleep at all that night.

Chapter Text

It was a nice day. I was up early, like usual, and working on my farms. I figured everyone was still asleep, but then I heard some footsteps.
“Mail’s he- What the hell is that thing?!” Said Shrub, looking towards my field. I was a little confused at first, but then I realized it was the scarecrow.
“Oh, my gosh, I am so sorry, Shrub. I forgot that you're… a crow. I’ll take this down.” I said.
“Good, cause if it's here tomorrow you aren’t getting any mail.” Shrub replied. “Well, I won't be held up for much longer. Here's your mail. I've gotta still deliver to everyone else.”
“Wait, Shrub. Are you really sure that you don't remember Empires?” I asked, tailing after them.
“I have already told you. I do not know what you're talking about, nor do I care. Please, just let me deliver the mail.”
“C’mon Shrub…” I asked. I was starting to get desperate. There's no way that she can't remember… the memories had to be deep down, somewhere. “You don't remember Blue and-” Shrub scoffed. “Blue and Sol’s wedding? The one you burned down?”
“Listen, as much as I love arson, whoever did that wasn't me. Would you please just go? I'm already late!” Shrub said, getting very impatient.
“Shrub, please, you HAVE to remember something!” I pleaded. Shrub turned around, pulled out her knife and held it to my throat.
“Listen, squid. I know that Blue set you up for this. Just leave me alone, for the love of EVERYTHING. And please, tell this to Blue as well. I know that she’s the reason that you’re harassing me. Just LEAVE. ME. ALONE!” Shrub yelled. “Now, GOODBYE.” And then Shrub walked off to deliver everyone else’s mail.
I was honestly broken. I couldn’t understand how Blue was able to deal with this, losing your best friend, but not truly. I wasn’t even this broken when Banana took me away from the last realm I was in with Epic… How was I remembering that? I guess mitosis doesn’t transfer Watcher Magic. I went to Blue’s house, to tell her about everything that just happened. But really, I just needed a friend.

Chapter Text

I was spending the day with Blue, just doing some mundane tasks, when she asked,
“Hey, Wumster? Do you know… what happened? After it fell?” Referring to the destruction of the Old World.
“Somewhat… I know that after Banana came in and swooped me… the other me, I guess, out, it was just you and I, at least that I know of. The ground crumbled and we fell into the Void. You lost consciousness pretty quickly, so I was just kinda… alone. With my thoughts, I guess. I had a lot of time to consider everything. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have any existential crises, down there… I had a lot of time to wonder… Am I really me? I’d never actually mitosed before, didn’t really even know that I could. I guess Banana gave me a mental… nudge, I guess? To find out? He knew… he knew how much I cared about you guys. He also unlocked my memories… I had a very different life before, I guess. I was the right hand to the King, my best friend. I had real power… unlike the ‘power’ we had on Empires. I… I had a different name. I was Sailer… I guess I still am Sailer? But Wumster is my name now… Banana picked it out. I… Geez, sorry for the traumadump. I guess… I guess I’m still trying to work all of this out. I’ve… I’ve been through so much loss. Not.. not saying you haven’t… losing your home and your wife in one fell swoop, and finding that your best friend… she doesn’t remember you. I sure hope that… the other me… I hope he finds Epic. I hope he can eventually remember… and find him. I… Banana locked his memories by his request… after Callisto. You- I’ve never told you, have I? Back… back at the wedding- your wedding- when I left during the reception, for that little bit, I went to my empire. And then, that’s when I first saw Callisto- she was a nereid, a sea spirit. She- I felt like she was my only friend. I was lonely… really lonely. But then I became friends with you and Shrub. But Callisto still stayed with me. I… One day, at Turtillism, I was talking to her… and Shrub came over and asked who I was talking to. And… Callisto told me- ‘told me’ that she was just my imagination… and I was in a really dark place after that. I… at least until Banana showed up. He tried to make Callisto… real. But it didn’t work. So I told him to just lock away all of my memories from the past worlds, of Epic, of all the others… But I guess that just stayed with the other me. I… remember it all. I wish I didn’t. I know…I know I’m never gonna see any of them again. I hope that they’re okay…” Blue finally spoke up.
“Wumster… wow. I had… no idea how much you’ve been through… At least I’m sure that Sol’s fine… somewhere, and Shrub is here… I… Do you want, like, a hug? Or something?” Blue said.
“Yeah… a hug sounds nice.”

Chapter Text

I was inside, working some more on my interior. People are right when they say that your build is never done. I was working on the shelving by my bed when there was a knock on the door.
“Who is it?” I asked, knowing that the only person that would even come by would be Blue.
“Hm, I sure wonder.” Blue said, walking in. “I’m bored. You’re gonna learn how to make a flower crown. This is something I’d normally teach Shrub, but we both know quite well…”
“She’s never gonna let you in. Alright. Let’s try this, I guess.” I said.
“I brought all the stuff. I’m already bursting into your house and forcing you to do arts and crafts with me, the least I could do is bring the stuff for it. Alright, you take the wire, yes that wire, and just, like, tie them together at one end? Yeah.” Blue said.
“Y’know, I’m pretty grateful in times like these that I have robot arms. Back before, I just had tentacles and they were so unwieldy, like, it’s crazy how much more I can do now.”
“I always wondered why you had the robot arms. Never bothered to ask. Ok, alright, so now you take the wire and like, measure it around your head so that it will fit- you don’t want a crown that doesn’t fit, do you? Again?” Blue said, referring to my crown on Empires. I never wore it. It was way too big and always slipped down over my eyes. If there was one thing I was grateful for the world being destroyed about, it was the destruction of that wretched crown.
“Ha, ha. Very funny. So, like, once I’ve measured, do I just tie the other end together?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m pretty sure you do that then, yeah. Ok, yeah, once you’ve done that, come grab some of these flowers. Can’t have a flower crown without ‘em!” I went over and grabbed some of the flowers. Alliums and dandelions. “Alright, so now you gotta put some wire down the stem and use some of this floral tape here- yeah, that one- and yeah, just do that for all of ‘em.” We worked in silence, wiring and taping the flowers.
“So. What now?” I asked. I was finished with the wiring.
“You just have to attach them to the crown bit. Use some of the floral tape. It’ll help it stay.” Blue said. I did so, and the crown was complete.
“Well, that was fun.” I said. Blue stood up. Her crown included poppies and some of the pink petals, from the Cherry Grove.
“Wumster, thanks for doing this with me… It felt like back on Empires… before everything. I… what I would give to go back to those days.” Blue said.
“Blue, at least we’ve got each other… imagine being alone here.”
“Yeah… you’re right.”
“Pesky Pets?”
“Chirp chirp.”

Chapter Text

I was out exploring. I find it theraputic, wandering around. No specific destination in mind. Just wherever your feet decide to take you. I had been walking for a while when I came across a house. I knocked on the door.
“Hello?” I asked. “Is anyone home?”
“Why hello, who are you?” Asked the stranger.
“Well, I’m Wumster. Who are you?”
“My name’s Jay. I’m the founder of this world, I guess you could say.”
“I actually knew a Jay. He lived in the Savannah, is that you?”
“Nope, never heard of him. How did you get here- not my house, but this world? I’ve only brought on people that I know, and I can’t recall ever meeting you. Not that I mind, the more, the merrier, but I’m just a little perplexed.”
“Well, I was in this world with some of my friends, and then it started to fall apart, and me and one of my friends- Blue, have you met them? She’s here too- we were in the Void for a while. Not sure how long, but it felt like an eternity. Then, one day, we were just… here. It’s really odd, you’re the second person I’ve met here who has the same name as someone from that world.”
“Geez, I’m sorry about your old world. I do hope that you can make yourself at home here, but what you said… That’s a really interesting coincidence. Who… who else was on that world?”
“Well, there’s Jay, and Shrub, who I know is here, but then there’s also Moss, and Finn, and Sol, and Paddles…”
“That’s… that’s really interesting. There’s definitely a Paddles here, that makes it 3… but I’ve never heard of the rest of them. I mean, I’ve known Shrub and Paddles for a long time, and I dont think that either of them have been moonlighting in a different world… I’ll be sure to ask the next time I see them. I wish you luck on your search, have fun!” Jay said, and closed the door. I was in shock. Could… could everyone be here? There’s… it can’t be them. It has to be a massive coincidence. I ran to Blue’s house. I burst in the door, out of breath.
“You could’ve knocked.” Blue said sarcastically.
“Oh, shush. It’s not like you ever do.” I panted. “Blue… I, Blue I think that some of the others might be here. I came across a guy, Jay, who is the founder of the world, and…”
“Wait just a second here, squid boy. You’re saying that my WIFE could be here? MY wife?” Blue shouted.
“I- I don’t know. This could be just all one twisted coincidence, or even worse, it could be a similar scenario to… Blue. Let’s just believe it’s a coincidence. That’s the only logical explanation. If it is actually a Shrub scenario… Blue, I don’t want you getting hurt again. Let’s… let’s just take this slowly. Jay is gonna ask Shrub and Paddles about this the next time he sees either of them… Blue. I want you to promise me. Don’t go out looking for Sol. She’s likely safe somewhere else in the universe. I don’t want you to go digging and find something you may not want. Besides, Jay has only ever heard of Shrub and Paddles. I don’t even know if that’s the same Jay that we know… he wasn’t even the same species-”
“AND NEITHER IS SHRUB. Wumster. Shrub is literally a CROW. Whatever screwy hell that the universe is putting us through… Wumster, what if Sol IS here? And what if she remembers?”
“Blue, what if she doesn’t. I don’t want you to be broken again. It’s already been hard enough for you… I can’t imagine how finding out that your wife doesn’t remember you would be on you. Blue. Just… stay here. At least until I hear from Jay.”
“Fine. But you’re not getting me to go to bed.”
“Blue, you are going to sleep. It’s unhealthy to not sleep!”
“You can’t make me sleep.”

Chapter Text

I woke up sick. I guess with how much had been going on in my life over the past year, I didn’t realize that my sick week was coming up. Every year, once a year, my immune system needs a week to refresh, and I catch whatever illness I’d been avoiding for the past year. I guess this time it was a Labyrinthulomycetes infection. My skin was quite pale and I was snotting glow ink everywhere. The last time that I can remember having one of these was back shortly after I met Epic… Turtles, that was a long time ago. Just as I was thinking to myself, Blue walked in to my house.
“Blue, I’m sick.” I said.
“Well, ok. That’s no good. I can’t get sick, so, uh… want some company?” Blue replied.
“Sure. Even if you weren’t immortal, I wouldn’t be contagious. I’m pretty sure only squids can get Labyrinthulomycetes infections.”
“There’s no way that’s a real word. You had to have made that up. There's no way that you can pronounce that so easily.”
“Blue, humans get pneumonia. That is a grammatical nightmare.”
“Fair. Y’know, I think I might actually have a book on this, I'll be right back, don't go anywhere.”
“It's not like I can.” I said to no one. Blue has already run out.
Blue came back with a book. I couldn't read what it said because it was in Galactic. I’d never learned to read Galactic, and I didn't really see it necessary to learn now.
“Ok, ok, I have the book. It says, first… check for diaper rash.”
“You are NOT doing that. What next?”
“Well, let me look, uh…. Remove all blankets and pillows from the bed to prevent sudden death. Squid, get up. I've gotta take all your pillows and blankets. We’re not gonna have you die suddenly.” I obliged, very reluctantly. I was cold. I wanted my blankets. But Blue had the book, I wasn't gonna argue.
“What now? You better not take any of my stuff again.” I asked, annoyed.
“Do you want to die? No? I figured. Ok, let's see. Your skin looks pretty pale. Is that eczema?”
“No, I'm pretty sure it's not. My skin's just discolored, not itchy. Blue… what is the name of this book?”
“Oh, uh, ‘Care for Newborns’. Why?”
“Blue, I am an adult glow squid. I don't think that any of these tips for human newborns will be of much use.”
“You can't blame me, Wumster. I’m immortal, I don't know sickness stuff!”
“I know and I appreciate the help, but you didn't think that a book about babies wasn't relevant to me?”
“I don't know how old glow squids have to be before being not considered a newborn!”
“It's 2! 2 years old!”
“Wumster, I don't even know how old you are!!”
“I'm 22!!!! I'm not even a fifth through my life! Average life expectancy for glow squids is 130!!!”
“How do you expect me to know that????”
“Blue you're immortal!! You've had eternity to learn!!!”
“You don't know Standard Galactic!”
“Y'know what, fair.”

Chapter Text

It had been months since I had saved Sailer… but did I really? There was still that other one, the one formed through mitosis. I know that I had told him that I may not be able to find him, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t gonna look. I had been looking, all of these months. When I wasn’t Watching the one Sailer, I was looking for the other one. The Council had assigned me to him. Yes, he was one of my best and only friends, but he was also my responsibility. If the Council found out that not only are there now two Sailers but I had lost one of them? I’d be dead. With how much time I had spent with him, I’d been able to sense him really easily. When he frist mitosised, I’d sensed two of him. But for the past few months, I’d only sensed one. At least, until two days ago. I felt the other one. He was back. From whatever Void he was in, he had returned. I hadn’t slept since then. I couldn’t! Not when I had to find him! I’d scoured every universe I could think of. But then, I had found a universe. It was in the same location as… the Empires world. But… that universe had collapsed. I had Watched it. Surely… surely it wasn’t the same. Surely he wasn’t here. But I had to look anyways. So, I Watched.
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I got the feeling that I was being watched. After not being Watched for so long, it felt odd. But it couldnt’ve been Banana. He was off, protecting the other me. I wasn’t his top priority. It was probably just the dark forest I was in. There’s always mobs in there, some with waaaaay too many eyes. As I sped up, to get out of the forest, I found some ruins. They weren’t ruins I had seen before. It looked more like an old hut, where someone lived before. It was unusually muddy… as was the ground. I guess on my trek I had entered a Mangrove Swamp. The hut also had… burn marks? I was reminded of a story I had heard about Shrub… how they had burnt down a city… in the… Mangroves…
“There’s… there’s no way… right? This can’t… it isn’t… oh my turtles…” I muttered to myself. As I backed away, I noticed other ruins nearby. A whole city. A whole city, burnt down and left to rot in the mud. A whole city… that Shrub burnt down. “Oh, my turtles… what… how?” And then, I felt a presence behind me.
“Hola, Sailer! Betcha thought you’d never see me again!”
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“BANANA?!” Sailer screamed. He looked sickly pale, like he had just seen a ghost. “What?!?!?!? How???!??! Oh my turtles this isn’t really happening this HAS to be a dream there’s no way-” I cut him off.
“This is for real, amigo. I’ve spent months looking for you. You- you didn’t exist for most of them.”
“But- it’s only been a few weeks since Empires…?”
“Time passes differently in the Void, muchacho. You were in there for… say, 6 months? I only got your temporal signal, like, 3 days ago. I’m… so glad I found you. I felt so guilty for just leaving you… At least with you I can talk about our past… the other you doesn’t even know I exist.”
“You… you didn’t tell him? About yourself, at least? And what about Epic? Where’s Epic?” Sailer asked.
“Epic… he’s up in the Watcher Castle. He wouldn’t… mesh with new worlds, after you went to Empires. They just… rejected him. He’s safe and well cared for… but a bit lonely. He… really misses you. You’re his best friend.”
“Well, then let’s go see him!” Sailer said.
“We… we can’t. At least… not until the other you remembers. Once he remembers Epic’s existence… and your existence… then maybe. I… don’t wanna break his brain. Epic’s OR the other you.” Sailer looked really upset. “You… you have other friends here, right? Like, uh, Blue? And Shrub?” Sailer got even more upset after I mentioned Shrub.
“Shrub doesn’t remember us. Blue does, but Shrub… they… they hate us- me and Blue. We’re the only two… who remember the Old World. No one else does. But… I think they might be one in the same. Can you- you’re powerful, can you go and bring Blue here? I think that she’ll be happy to see you.” Sailer asked. He was so sad. I had to help him out. I flew over to where Sailer’s house was- he lived next to Blue, and found Blue’s house.
“Uh, hello? Is this Blue’s house?” I asked. The door opened.
“Yeah, I’m Blue. Who… who are you?”
“I’m EpicBanana-”
“NO WAY! You’re ACTUALLY Banana? I’ve heard so much about you! How did- Wait. HOW are you here? How did- What?!”
“I don’t really have time to explain, squid boy’s requesting your presence. I’ll fly you there. It’s a long walk.” I flew Blue to the swamp that Sailer was in.
“Wumster, what the- what’s the big deal about- wait. This isn’t…” Blue said.
“I think it might be. You… you hung around Shrub’s base more than I did. You know… right? Is this…?”
“It… it is. I… I don't know how it's here… or why… but it is.”
“Hey, uh, sorry to interrupt your existential crises and all, but I think I know why. This universe is located in the exact same region as the Empires one. I think… it may be the same world… but someone more powerful than the Watchers has to have done this. And don't even start about your turtles, we all know that they can't do anything.”
“Banana. What is going on? How…? Why did we remember? Why doesn't anyone else? And does this mean… that everyone here… is the same?”
Blue asked.
“I… I would think so.” I replied. Blue started sobbing. “Wha- what's wrong?” I asked, genuinely concerned.
“That means that Sol- Blue’s wife- is here and doesn't remember her. When- when I first… re-met Jay… I knew. I knew Sol was here. I just… couldn't bring myself to believe it… for Blue’s sake, especially. I… turtles. Do you think there's any way…” Sailer said.
“Not… not that I know of.” I replied. “But seeing this… I think there needs to be a constant Watcher presence on this world… and I can't always be here. Wumster- wow, that feels weird to say. Wumster? Will you… do you want to be a Watcher? I… fully trust you, and I fully understand whatever decision you make.”
“Wow… uh. Turtles, that's a big decision. Will this… will this affect the other Wumster?” Sailer said.
“It shouldn't. You remembered me, after all, when the other one still doesn't. It seems that Watcher magic isn’t transferred throughout clones.”
“Alright, then. I’ll do it.” Sailer said. I started the essence transfer. He started rising above the ground, surrounded by purple Watcher magic. The wind started picking up. His hair tentacles flew back, revealing a floating purple Watcher eye. And then, the wings. They sprouted out through his back. Black-capped petrel wings, it seemed. Fitting, for an aquatic being like himself. Then, the magic faded away and he fell to the ground.
“WUMSTER!!!” Blue screamed.
“Wait, don't touch him! This process is very draining. We need to get him back to his house to rest. Blue, I need you to promise me. Don't tell ANYONE about what happened here. We don't know what this higher power who did this is, or if anyone is a spy for them. I'm sure that if they find out that there's a Watcher here… they wouldn't be happy. You two would be in danger.”
“I promise.” Blue said. “I’ll keep this secret ‘till the turtles come home.”

Chapter Text

I woke up in my bed, lying flat on my face.
“Huh? Wha-” I mumbled into the bed.
“Don’t. Move.” Blue said.
“Your wings need time to adjust. You can’t go moving around much for a day or two, and don’t even try flying for at least two weeks.” Banana said. I tried lifting my head up slightly and was bombarded by visions of what I could only assume were other worlds.
“Woah, what is this- oh turtles it hurts I can’t see but I can see too much, Banana, help.” I said, in pain.
“Oh, yeah. I guess this is your first experience Seeing. It was a lot for me too. You’ve just gotta anchor yourself to the Physical Plane. Think of your house. Think of your bed, see it in your mind. Tether yourself. Is that working?” I nodded. I could focus myself more on this world. I wasn’t Seeing everywhere.
“I… yeah, I think that’s helping. Turtles… Banana, are you still consciously tethering yourself? Cause, like… that’s a lot of focusing… I don’t know if I can do that…”
“Oh, no, don’t worry. I haven’t had to consciously tether since about a week in. I mean, every so often I’ll be really stressed or something and just… slip, but other than that…”
“Wumster.” Blue said. “You’re staying in this house until you can retract those wings. I don’t want people getting suspicious. Banana said that whatever deity… remade… the world, might not be pleased to find a Watcher in his territory. Watchers are only minor deities, after all. Barely even classed above just normal magic-wielders. I’ll just tell anyone who asks that you’re sick again. It’s not like they have a reason to not believe me. I bet that Shrub… will be overjoyed. With… us not bothering them. Banana, are you sure you can’t do anything about… everything?”
“Sailer, you don’t think I’ve tried? You’ve been asleep for nearly a day. Blue’s been hounding me the entire time. I… I would love to. But it… just doesn’t work. I think the Deity protected the world from being changed by lesser beings. I want you to find out who the Deity is. And destroy them. Maybe then, maybe we could fix it.”
“So you want me to kill a god? Sounds cool, I’m going to bed.” I said, and promptly fell asleep.

Chapter Text

“Sailer, buddy, wake up.”
“Bwuh- what time is it?” I asked groggily.
“It's been 3 DAYS, SQUID! AND YOU TALK IN YOUR SLEEP! I’VE BEEN WOKEN UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT EVERY NIGHT TO YOU MUTTERING ABOUT EPIC OR SOMETHING, AND I AM QUITE CRANKY!” Blue shouted.
“Oh… uh, sorry about that, I guess… wow, three days? That's… I've never slept that long before. What's that all about?”
“I'm not exactly sure.” Banana said. “Though thinking about it, I've never seen a non-human Watcher. Maybe because you're a squid, it's taking longer for your body to adjust. I’m sure there won’t be any adverse effects though.”
“You… before I fell asleep, mentioned something about killing gods? How… how in the world am I supposed to do that? I didn’t even know that there were other gods in this area before you came.”
“Well, for starters, you’ll need a weapon. And I just so happen to have…” Banana said, pulling out a Trident.
“Wait, is that MY Trident?? I thought it was destroyed with the Epic Realm!! How-?”
“Did you forget who saved you? I grabbed it from your house before everything went downhill. I did put an enchantment on it, Godslayer. Don’t- don’t use it on me or yourself, you don’t wanna accidentally… remove yourself from existence.”
“Maybe… maybe save it for the gods? And also mobs? I don’t think that thing cares about immortality.” Blue said.
“Alright, fine. But how am I supposed to find said gods to slay?” I asked.
“Well, when I swooped in to save… the other you, I saw someone, like, up on a hill in the Savannah, talking to no one? Could have been talking to a god, maybe. Is that guy here? I know you said that there are a handful of others from that world here. Maybe go talk to him, see if he remembers anything.” Banana said.
“Jay? Well, he did say that he’s the ‘founder’ of the world, and he lived in the Savannah in Empires… did he… did he know? The entire time? Was he lying to me?” I asked.
“Wumster, you’re one of the most emotionally intelligent people I know, and I’m pretty sure that includes knowing when someone’s lying. You would know. And judging by the fact that you don’t believe that he was lying, he wasn’t. Go. Go talk to him. Please. I want Shrub back. I want my WIFE back. Please.” Blue cried.
“I did check out how you’re doing- Watcher-wise, and you seem to be fine. Try retracting your wings?” Banana said. I focused my power onto my wings retracting into my back, which kinda skeeves me out, but whatever, and they did. “And you’re only Seeing this world, right?”
“Yeah. I think I’m good.”
“Well. I should probably go now. I’ve been here too long. The deities… they probably know I’m here. I’ll try to come back soon, but I can’t make any promises. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to See you. Good luck, Sailer. Don’t. Die.” Banana said, and then he dissappeared.
“Well, he was nice.” Blue said. “Go. Find Jay. Pesky Pets.”
“Chirp chirp.”

Chapter Text

“Jay? Are you home?” I asked. I had walked to Jay’s house to find him. I knew he had to be around somewhere, on my way I had run into Shrub, who had hand-delivered his mail. “Jay?”
“Oh, hi Wumster!” Jay said from behind me. “Sorry, I was out gathering some stuff. What’s up?”
“Oh, not much. Hey, do you know anything about some gods or deities or whatever? Like, one that would be powerful enough to remake an entire world?”
“No, not to my knowledge. And hey, I spoke with Paddles, and he was incredibly vague about everything? Not sure what that’s about. You may wanna stop and see him. He lives out past your taiga biome, by the ocean. He’s got a pretty nice lighthouse, you can’t miss it.”
“Oh, well, thanks for asking anyways. You’re sure you don’t remember anything about these deities?”
“Like I said, not that I can remember. I mean, I may? But if so, it’s probably just buried so deep that I can’t recall. I-” Jay said, before being knocked to the ground by seemingly nothing.
“Jay! Are you ok? What- what happened?” Jay stood up slowly.
“Wow. It’s been a while since I had a body.” Jay said.
“What in the WORLD are you talking about? Jay, did you hit your head?”
“I am not Jay. Y’know, I thought that a Watcher would be more observant.”
“Wait- how do you know I’m a Watcher?”
“You and your little Watcher friend both give off signals. I can sense you. All of you are just puny mortals who want to be gods. Not like me. I’m the true founder of the world. I’m one of the ancient deities. A race so powerful we can make and destroy worlds. Unfortunately, we still fall under the rule of the gods. You’re still new to this, aren’t you? The gods, the most powerful, and then the ancient deities, like me. Then you puny Watchers, and then immortal magic-wielders. After, comes the mortal magic-wielders, and then common mortals. You understand? You should. It’s really not that complex.”
“If you’re really an ‘ancient deity’, then why are you controlling Jay?”
“Oh, the puny mortal was the one who made the deal with us.”
“Us? Who do you mean, us?”
“Oh, the other ancient deities. We thrive off worship, similar how you little Watchers thrive off emotion. When the world was coming apart- which wasn’t our doing, by the way, we made a deal with the mortal. If he promised to continue to worship us, we’d keep the world alive. Albeit, changed. I don’t particularly understand how you or the girl managed to remember. Maybe it was the other Watcher. But alas, you do.”
“It was you who remade everything? Wow, I thought it would be harder than this.” I drew my Trident.
“Silly Watcher. You wouldn’t dare to hurt your friend here, would you?” The deity said. “Now, I bid you adieu.” The deity left Jay’s body, and Jay fell to the ground.
“Jay!”
“Huh? What? What happened?” Jay asked. I couldn’t tell him what actually happened… not after knowing that he made the deal with the deity.
“I don’t know! You just… blacked out. Luckily you didn’t hit your head.”
“That’s so weird. I… I think I’m gonna go in and take a rest.”
“That sounds like a good idea. See you later.” I said, and started to make my way to Paddles’ house.

Chapter Text

I made my way to Paddles’ house. It was a little bit behind my house, about 300 blocks. When I got there, Paddles was out on the dock fishing.
“Oh, the squid.” Paddles said without turning around. “Not shocked that you’re here. Figured it was only a matter of time. Are you Sailer or Wumster this time around?” I was shocked. I didn’t know that Paddles remembered anything. And I had never told him about Sailer.
“How- How do you know that?! Paddles, I’ve never brought that up! Did Blue tell you, or-”
“No, I haven’t seen Blue since Empires was replaced.” Paddles said dryly. “Now, would you like to buy some diamond gear? Only 3 stacks of logs for one piece.”
“...replaced. Paddles. How do you know that the world was remade? Paddles, I want the truth.” I said, drawing my Trident.
“Put the Trident away.” Paddles said coldly. “I know what that thing can do, and I know that you aren’t gonna be using that on me, ever. I guess I never told you. I’m one of the gods. I know everything. Even things that your mind could never comprehend. Squid, you are such a small cog in the machine. You play your part, yes, but it is miniscule. I could easily accomplish your mission right now. But I won’t. I prefer to stay out of power struggles. I’ve been around longer than you will ever be. I’ve had many forms. And I know how your life ends. All beings, even immortals, eventually meet their ends. Even I. Though that is different from how you mortals live and die. You shouldn’t have to worry, though. You still have a long road ahead of you.”
“How… how am I supposed to trust you? You could easily be lying.”
“But why would I? I have nothing to gain and nothing to lose. Unlike you, squid. Your journey will not be without cost. But it shall not be without gain, either. Now, may I interest you in a diamond chestplate? Or will that be too strenuous on the wings?”

Chapter Text

“Get up, squid. We’re going to the beach.” Blue said, bursting into my house.
“Why? I mean, I’ve got no qualms with the water or anything, but what spurred on this idea?”
“You’ve seemed a little down in the dumps since Banana left. I figured, for all the times you let me stay over when I was sad, I should do something for you!”
“Y’know, that’s very nice. Hold on, get out, let me get into my bathing suit. These overalls take forever to dry.” I shoved Blue out of my house and got changed into my swimsuit. We walked down the path to Paddles’ house to go swim along his coastline. I was still concerned about what he had said to me the last time I saw him. How did he know? And what did he mean, by ‘my journey will not be without cost’? I don’t want to lose anyone. Especially not Blue. I couldn’t imagine being here and being the only one, Paddles excluded, to remember Empires. I’ve always hated being alone. And being alone in a world where I’ve been tasked with killing ancient deities? As in plural? Unimaginable.
“Squid boy. You there? I’ve been trying to talk to you the whole time. What’s going on?” Blue asked.
“Oh, it’s just… When I went to see Paddles… he knows. Everything. Even… the future. I would think that he’s one of those deities I have to kill… but we know Paddles. He… he wouldn'tve done this.”
“Wumster. He wouldn'tve done that.”
“She's right. I wouldn't have.” Paddles said from atop his lighthouse. We had arrived. “I can do a lot of things, but to be honest, as funny as it would be, remaking the world just isn't my thing. And yes, you can go swimming. I don't mind.”
“Oh, uh, well, thanks?” I said, and Blue and I walked down to the shore, and as we set our stuff down, I noticed something in the depths of the ocean. “Hey, Blue. I think there's something down there. I'm gonna go check it out.”
“Alright. Might be a Drowned Temple though, so be careful.” Blue said. I dove into the water. It was pretty deep, about 100 blocks or so, but I could handle it. I was used to the pressure, and being a glow squid, I was obviously able to breathe underwater… but why did it feel like I couldn't? My lungs were gasping for air… this had never happened before… Turtles, why couldn't I breathe? There was no way I was going to make it to the surface in time… I tried to shout for help but all that escaped was bubbles. The last of my oxygen. I felt my lungs fill up with water, and then I blacked out.
***Wumster Drowned***
I woke up in my bed. Turtles, is that what drowning feels like? How did Blue do this on purpose? I could still feel water in my lungs, even though the respawn should've taken care of that. I tried to move and instantly broke into a coughing fit.
“See, boy? This is why you shouldn't mess with us.” A voice said.
“You… you're the one who possessed Jay.”
“How observant. Yes, I am. And now, I’ll leave you with yourself. And the memory that you are never safe.” And the presence disappeared. Blue bursted into my house.
“WUMSTER!!! WHAT HAPPENED?!” Blue shouted.
“The… the Deity. He… he made me drown. For the love of Turtles, Blue, why do you do that on purpose? That was the most painful thing I've ever experienced!!”
“It's the adrenaline rush. Being immortal tends to severely lower the productivity of the adrenal glands. But Wumster, we’re not talking about me here. Are you ok?”
“...no. Blue, being completely honest? No. No, I'm not ok. The water was the one place I felt safe, and knowing… knowing that that can be taken away? I don't know if I can trust the water anymore. What did… what did Paddles say about that? Did he say anything?”
“He mentioned something about cruelty and giving ‘them’ a talking-to. Does he really have the authority to…?”
“I don't know. Blue, can you stay over tonight? I… I'm scared to be alone. I can't trust anything except for you… and maybe Paddles.”
“Wumster, I’ll stay here as long as you want.”

Chapter Text

“Wumster, I'm bored.” Blue said.
“Well, what did you wanna do? Also it's getting kinda late-” I said before getting cut off.
“Mmmm… we should go visit the others. Maybe try to get Shrub's memories back.”
“Y’know, sure. We can try. Again. For the twentieth time this week.”
“OK. So I have this amazing idea…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We ran to spawn. It wasn't really a long walk, but Blue was in a hurry. In such a hurry, in fact, that she fell flat on her face 3 times. At spawn, we ran into Jay.
“Hi Jay.” I said.
“JAYJAYJAYJAYJAYJAYJAY!” Blue shouted.
“Oh, hi Wumster! Hi Blue! What’s up?” Jay said.
“Okay, so Jay, imagine if we got the whole server together and all made flower crowns!” Blue said.
“Oh, that would be amazing. But you look a little tired, Blue…”
“Tired? Me? Never.” Blue said sarcastically. “...I can’t sleep.” Jay sighed.
“Blue, you need to sleep.”
“Oh, JayJayJay don’t you think I’ve tried?”
“Blue you really do, you fell down like 3 times on the way here.” I said. Jay winced.
“Ouch. Blue, are you ok? That had to’ve hurt.”
“I can’t sleep. They will find me. And no, it didn’t hurt.” Blue said, though I knew it did.
“Who… who’s gonna find you?” Jay said.
“Them, Jay. They will find me. They WILL find me.”
“Blue, you’ve been waffling about ‘they’ for hours now, you do know that I won’t let that happen.” I said. Jay looked worried and a bit perplexed.
“Um, Blue? Are you ok? Have you been up late making up conspiracy theories or…?”
“They will find me…” Blue started to nod off but then jolted awake. “AH- They WILL find me.”
“Blue for turtles sake, is this a sleep paralysis thing?” I said.
“I have no idea what that is, squid. They will find me.”
“Um, Blue… have you tried keeping some garlic near your bed? I’ve heard that garlic repels evil, so it should work with whoever… ‘they’ are.”
“Blue, I’m also Watching over you and also-” I realized that Jay was standing right there, and I didn’t want him to know about Banana.” “-there’s no way that ‘they can be that bad.” Shrub walked up and seemed confused as to what was going on.
“Excuse me?” Shrub said. “You’re… kinda in the way.”
“Jay they don’t care about garlic. For what I’ve done my punishment will be worse than the other times.” Blue said.
“I’m sorry but what the hell are you yapping about Blue. Please shut up, no one wants to hear another one of your stories.” Shrub said.
“Shrub why won’t you remember? You would understand!!!” Blue cried.
“Blue, I’m getting the vibe that ‘they’ are from your past. Do you wanna… talk about it?” I asked.
“I think… I think I might go now… You three have fun…?” Jay said, and started backing away.
“”Bye Jay, sorry that Blue scared you off.” I said. Jay ran off towards the clocktower and hid behind it, presumably to keep watch on what was going on. That was one perk of being a Watcher. Spying was so much easier and much less risky.
“Blue, stop making things up.” Shrub said. “I don’t get what you’re talking about. Did you get high off shrooms or something?”
“Shrub, Shrubbb…” Blue said, slurring her words together. Had it really been that long since she last slept? “You don’t understand anymore…”
“Blue. You know that my house is PERFECTLY SAFE and that WE made sure of it.” I said. I was trying to get Blue to remember that Banana and I, after the drowning incident, made sure that no other deities could enter my house.
“I don’t have any idea what you’re saying, Blue.” Shrub said, pulling out their knife. “Maybe you just need a quick respawn, eh?”
“Shrub, NO!” I shouted.
“YOU KNOW WHAT? DO IT. I DARE YOU.” Blue shouted.
“Blue! Stop. Antagonizing.” I shouted, getting inbetween the two to try and keep them from hurting each other. Blue clearly wasn’t having any of it, because she bit me.
“OW! Blue, what the hell?!”
“Dumbass squid, I don’t need sleep or anything no not at all!” Blue said, laughing crazily.
“Wow, language. Ok, I see how it is.” Shrub said, twirling the knife in her hands.
“Do it.” Blue said.
“Shrub, don’t even start. Please just go deliver mail or whatever the hell it is that you do.” I said, getting angry. I was starting to reach my limit, and Blue and Shrub were not helping.
“No, Wumster. Let her do this.” Blue said.
“Blue. You need to stop and go the hell to sleep.” I replied.
“No.” Blue replied with an evil smirk.
“Blue, I’m done arguing. I will MAKE you go to bed if I have to.
“Why should she stop, Wumster? She’s fine. It’s just a respawn, I’ve saved her before. I don’t understand why a little kil would hurt.” Shrub said, shrugging and putting the knife back in her pocket.
“Shrub, I am NOT putting up with your shit right now. Just get out, go away, whatever. I have had it up to HERE.” I said.
“C’mon Shrub, do it. Why did you stop? And Wumster. You can’t make me.” Blue said.
“OH, I VERY MUCH CAN.” I replied. Shrub didn’t seem to have an answer to Blue’s question, but I could tell she was mulling over something. “Shrub, if you even dare lay a finger on Blue I will not hold back.”
“NononononoNONONO Shrub please do it I dare you, come on Shrub please!!” Blue screamed.
“Blue, you need to STOP. This is actually so unhealthy for you and I need you to go to bed.” I said.
“Wumster, I am 514 years old, I can take care of myself!” Blue shouted.
“No you clearly cannot. You are the luckiest person alive to be given IMMORTALITY and you use that gift to literally KILL YOURSELF.” I screamed back.
“MY IMMORTALITY IS NOTHING BUT A CURSE!” Blue screamed.
“Why. Why, Blue? I don’t understand anything thst you ever do. Explain at least one thing to me, please. Because every time you speak, it’s like a new puzzle I have to figure out but that puzzle is missing all the pieces.” Shrub finally piped up.
“Shrub please.” Blue cried.
“I think I should just go home, Blue. I’m tired and my allays are too. If you need me, just knock I guess.” Shrub replied, and then they ran away back towards their house.
“Blue. You say your immortality is a curse? Some of us live out our lives fearing that death will come for us at any moment. But you don’t have to worry about that. Blue. You… gah. I can’t even right now.” I said. Blue was silent. “Blue, I’m taking you back to my house, where you will go to bed and I will go to bed. I’m too tired for this and you’re bordering on the verge of mania. We both need a good night’s sleep right now.”
“For turtles sake.” Blue muttered under their breath.
“Blue, I’m sorry for snapping at you, but we are both going to bed. As tired as I am, I am not going to leave you here with your mania.”
“...do you promise they won’t find me?” Blue said softly.
“Blue I pinkie promise till the turtles come home. They aren’t gonna find you. Whoever… ‘they’ are.” We walked back to my house.
“Thank you Wumster… for trying so hard.” Blue said, before instantly falling asleep.
“No problem. Good night, Blue.” I climbed down the vine, got into bed, and fell asleep.

Chapter Text

“WUMSTER!” Blue shouted, bursting through my door. “I found a book about YOU!”
“About… me? But I’ve done nothing special, at least that I can think of.”
“Not you specifically, idiot. But glow squids as a whole. It is in Galactic though…”
“What is it with you and books in Galactic? Could you… uh, read it to me? Please?” I said pathetically.
“Alright. Fine.” Blue said, and then she started reading.
“Glow Squids are an interesting species. They have no sexual dimorphism at all. A “male” and “female” glow squid would look exactly the same. Due to this, glow squids have no biological sex. Glow Squids will choose their gender presentation typically at the age of 7. Some youngsters may not decide by then, however, and remain presenting as neither. Glow Squid vocal chords can reach pitches similarly to humans, although with more strain. In wanting to prevent any vocal chord damages, youngsters are recommended to not change their gender presentation again for at least a month after changing gender presentation. Glow Squids reproduce asexually. The two parents must both undergo mitosis in close proximity to each other, in which the reproductions of both of them will merge and become the child.

Glow Squids are comprised of two different species. The sentiens candentis lolligo (Sentient Glow Squid) are a highly advanced near-human species. There is only one known sentiens candentis lolligo population. The lolligo ut fulgeat (Non-Sentient Glow Squid) are unsophisticated creatures acting most similarly to a common squid. The first Sentient Glow Squid population was created nearly 2000 years ago, and has remained in the same location, expanding with the population. The Glow Squids made a deal with human settlers near the coastline, where the Glow Squid would learn about the technology of the humans, and the humans would learn about the technology of the Glow Squid. However, the humans took advantage of this deal and started to exploit the Glow Squids. Once the Glow Squids realized this, they retaliated by destroying the human settlement. The ruins still stand as a memory of the loss to the Glow Squid population.
The Glow Squids have a parliamentary government, run by the Council of Noble Families. The Noble Families are members of the families who helped lead against the humans. There are only 25 known families. However, more may be discovered as time passes. Included is a list of the known families alongside their last known representative. The Head of the Council will be denoted with a *.” Blue stopped reading. “Ok, there's a list of names. I'm going to write them, IN BASIC, and then you can read them out. I think this is the part where you are mentioned specifically.” Blue said, before stealing away to write the names. When she returned, I took a look at the list and read them out.
“The Acquarpus (Ellith V) *
The Aphanliet (Quisil)
The Corveighl (Stalpine)
The Esdee’ses (Sailer)- Oh look, there's me.
The Estelauma (Vitaris)
The Fauglesten (Braekal)
The Gaussaris (Corgelo)
The Hallusk (Jal’ee)
The Honqu’ae (Sephai)
The Iski’a’ak (Raesto)
The Iwe’ola (Falastor)
The Joos’faa (Lioleth)
The Kiaa (Alkanamide)” I paused.
“Ugh, can we stop? All of these guys are complete assholes and were the main reason why I ran off with Epic to the Charlie SMP. They're massive speciesists and isolationists, and when they found out that I was friends with a human, turtles forbid, they all but shunned me. I left the Council and haven't been back home since. I don't even know if I’d be welcomed back. Not like it's uncommon for glow squids to do that. This book was written by Ellith, I can just tell. Of course he wouldn't mention any of the other Glow Squid settlements. But the Council is located in the ‘capital city'- not like the Council recognizes it as that, why would only one city need a capital?- and all of the other cities just get ignored. They all work together so as to not fall to pieces, but the Council chooses to turn a blind eye. I think you can stop reading now. If I could I would kill Ellith myself… but he’ll probably die to his own hubris. Oh, wouldn't that be nice.”

Chapter Text

While I was down in my mines, I got a message on my communicator from… Moss?
Moss: Heya Wumster. Wanna go do a raid?
I was surprised. I hadn't spoken much with Moss since before… Did Moss remember me?
Wumster: uh, sure? I havent rlly spoken with you much tho, what made you dec9de to do one with me
Moss: Shrub’s talked about you a lot. Usually complaining about how you and Blue won't leave them be. But sometimes, about how dedicated you are to protecting Blue and I honestly respect that. Besides, I thought this would be a nice way to get to know you!
Wumster: yeah sure, where a4e you
Moss: Outside the village near Paddles’ place.
Wumster: ok be right there
I started climbing up my ladder, stopping at my valuables chest to swap out my diamond chestplate, as it was almost broken, and hopped on gaming Dan VI to go to Paddles’ base. On my ride over, I remembered the original gaming Dan. He wasn't even a horse. He was Epic’s younger brother’s pet dog. I had found the name so funny that I had decided to name my horse after him. And then my next 5 after they died or went missing or I left the world. Somehow since being here, I had found 5 skeleton horses, who I named after those gamings Dan. I left gaming Dan VI in the guest horse hole I had made at Paddles’ base and walked the rest of the way to the village. When I got there, I saw who I could only assume to be Moss.
“Oh, you're here! Let's get started then!” Moss said enthusiastically.
“Well, alright.” I said, and Moss walked into the Village, starting the raid. We fought off the waves of illagers, and I even managed to get a totem.
“Well, that was fun.” Moss said after it was over. “It was nice getting to know you, Wumster!”
“Yeah, it was. See you later!” I said, and then headed off back towards my house. When I was mounting gaming Dan VI, my communicator buzzed again.
Moss: Wumster!! Do you have any leads???? I had a child and need a lead!!!!
I was only slightly concerned at Moss having a child, but I did have leads at my house
Wumster: yeH I do theyre at my house ill be righr back
I got to my house and grabbed a lead for Moss. I then sent them another message.
Wumster: hey where r you so I can bring rhe lead
Moss then sent me their coords, so I remounted gaming Dan VI and hurried off. I found Moss in a hole with a baby chicken on a mountain.
“Hey, Moss, here's the lead.” I said
“Oh, thank you! Come on, Gablith the Gababa. Let's get you home.”
“Who’s-?”
“My child. Their name is Gablith the Gababa.”
“Oh, well that's a very nice name.” I said.
“Say thank you to your Uncle Wumster.” Moss said.
“I'm an uncle?” I questioned
“Well, I mean, I’d always thought that you, Shrub and Blue were siblings, just from the way that Shrub talked about you two, and from the way that you’re always on Blue’s case about something, usually getting her to sleep.” I sighed.
“Unfortunately, no. There's no relation between us. And wait… that would make Gablith… Shrub's kid?”
“Yeah. And don't worry, you can still be the uncle.” I pulled some seeds out of my inventory.
“Come here Gablith, I've got a treat for you!” I said, letting them nibble up the seeds. “Well, I'm gonna get going back to my house.” I said. “It was nice meeting you, Gablith.” And I started walking back to gaming Dan VI’s horse hole.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some time had passed. I was reorganizing my chests when I heard a large boom. I rushed outside to see what it was. I heard Moss screaming.
“MY CHILD IS DEAD, BLUE! YOU KILLED MY CHILD!” Blue was standing in what I could only assume was a creeper hole, slightly charred and very confused.
“It was a chicken.” Blue said.
“And so are you for not admitting to MURDER!” Moss screamed. I got closer to the scene of the accident.
“Blue, what happened?” I asked. “Why is Moss screaming at you?”
“I was talking to my godchild- I was the godmother by the way- and then a creeper came up behind me and exploded, killing them. It was not my fault in the slightest.”
“IT VERY MUCH WAS!” Moss screamed.
“Moss, I get the fact that your child just died but Blue couldn’t have done anything about it. Creepers are cruel. They don’t care.” I said. Just then, Shrub left their house.
“So. Gablith is dead. Blue, I-” Shrub said. I was preparing myself to defend Blue more, but Shrub caught me off-guard. “I really can’t blame you here, Blue. It wasn’t your fault. Just… help me wrangle my allays. The explosion broke the cage.” I think Blue was even more shocked than I was.
“You… you don’t blame me? No, no, this can’t be right, there’s gotta be something you’re mad about.” Moss was furious.
“Oh, I’M MAD. I am going to KILL YOU, Blue. Wumster, get out of the way. Let me at her!”
“I’m not going to let you hurt Blue. Moss, please, just calm down.” I said, pulling out my trident. I had disabled the Godslayer enchantment, as to not accidentally hurt one of my friends.
“Wumster. MOVE.” Moss shouted. Blue was cowering behind me. I was mad. No one got to threaten my friends.
“I am NOT going to move. Moss. Stop this.”
“I’ll give you to the count of 3 to move or I WILL just plow through you.”
“The only way you’re getting to Blue is over my dead body.”
“1.”
“Moss, please calm down.” Shrub said.
“2.”
“Wumster…?” Blue said softly.
“I’m not budging.” I replied.
“3.” Moss said, and charged at us. I blocked with my shield, but Moss pulled out their axe and shattered it. “You need to MOVE, Wumster. I’d prefer to not hurt you.”
“And I’d prefer you’d not hurt Blue.”
“Then I guess neither of us are getting what we want today, huh?” Moss said, ramming me with the hilt of their sword. I crumpled to the ground.
“Blue, RUN!” I shouted. But it was too late. Moss’ sword had already run though Blue’s stomach. “Moss, you-” I said, absolutely fuming.
“That wasn’t enough. Not fair enough.” Moss said, running to Blue’s house. I got up as quickly as I could and chased after them.
“Moss, PvP respawns are especially hard to come back from-”
“I DON’T CARE. Blue, get up.” Moss said, yanking Blue out of their bed. “We’re going to have a fair fistfight. In the pavilion. Get. UP.”
“Moss, you know that if you disrupt a respawn it can take days to recover! Leave her be.”
“She’s FINE. Blue, are you fine?”
“Yeah.” Blue said, but I knew better. Blue never liked to show weakness.
“Blue, you know you aren’t fine. I know that you aren’t fine. Go back to bed.”
“Wumster, let me do this. You know Moss won’t stop… until they’ve gotten ‘proper revenge.” Blue said.
“Blue, we’re going. Wumster, go get Shrub, she needs to watch.” Moss said. I reluctantly went to go get Shrub.
“Listen, it’s nice that Moss is willing to fight for me.” Shrub said, after I had told her. “But I really can’t blame Blue for this. I guess I’ll still go watch, if Moss wants me there.” We walked back to the pavilion. “Y’know, Wumster… I’m sorry for being so rude to you all the time. I guess… it was just… weird, having the two newbies constantly begging me to remember something that I’ve never been through. And I really shouldn’tve pulled my knife on you that one day… you were probably still… adjusting after whatever you’d been through.”
“No, Shrub, I’m sorry for harassing you. I guess… I guess I was just lonely. Only knowing Blue? I’m very social, I need to be around people. And I love Blue just like a sister, but only knowing one person… I can’t do that. I need friends. And I was really close with… the other Shrub. I… guess I wanted our friendship to be like that.”
“Well, I guess we could… try again? Water under the bridge, or whatever the saying is.”
“I think it’s water behind the ears.”
“No, it’s definitely water under the bridge.” Just then, we were interrupted by Moss.
“WHAT HAS TAKEN YOU TWO SO LONG? Shrub, count us down.”
“Oh, uh- 3? 2. 1. Go, I guess?” And the fistfight began. Blue wasn’t in it at all. I wished I could go in and help her, but I knew that Moss wouldn’t accept that. Blue eventually took one final punch, and crumpled to the floor.
“And… Moss wins, I guess.” Shrub said.
“Shrub, why aren’t you happy? I did this for us! I got vengeance on the killer of our child!” Moss cried.
“It’s just… It wasn’t Blue’s fault. It wasn’t anybody’s fault. I just… I feel bad.” Shrub said. I heard footsteps from behind me. It was Blue.
“Blue, you really should- y’know, I’m not gonna prod today. You’ve been through enough. If you want to be here, you can.” I said.
“You wanna go again?! I’ll go again! I’ll go as many times as I have to! I WON’T STOP!” Moss yelled.
“Moss, you need to go lie down and take a rest. You’re getting delirious.” Shrub said.
“I’m going to go take Blue back to my house. You two have fun, or whatever.” I said, helping Blue to my house. When I brought Blue up the vine to her room, she timidly piped up.
“Do… do they hate me?”
“No, Blue, they don’t. Moss is just in a bad headspace right now, and Shrub… Shrub’s never hated you. Despite anyone’s memories, you two are still the Immortal Duo. Nothing will change that.”

Chapter Text

“Blue. I just realized I never named my trident. I’ve had it for years at this point, and it doesn’t have a name. How did I never name it?”
“Well, maybe because you ran away from home, and then your new home was destroyed, twice, and then you ended up in Empires without it, and just got it back as you were told you had to kill multiple deities? You haven’t had time to sit for a while!”
“You’re right. Do you… you have any ideas for what to name it?”
“Well, the other day, when you were ranting about Ellith, you mentioned something about hubris… I read a little further in and saw that glow squids have a second language they speak as well, Greek? Is that what it is?”
“Yeah, wow, haven’t spoken that in a while. Let me guess, you wanna know what hubris is in Greek- also, Greek in, well, Greek, translates to Tongue. Because it’s the native tongue of the glow squid. Hubris… well, let’s see… that would be ývris, I think? Yeah, that sounds right.”
“Well, then why don’t you call it that?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blue and I were walking to spawn when I heard some unknown footsteps behind me.
“Sailer, paidí, it’s been so long!” I almost vomited. There was no way that he was here. “Don’t you remember me? It’s me, Ellith. Don’t say that those wretched humans made you forget about me.”
“I could never forget you, and the HELL you put me through! Why the fuck are you here?! How the fuck did you find me?! And please just leave me the FUCK alone!” I shouted.
“Why, that’s no way for a distinguished member of our Council to speak. If you didn’t run away-”
“FUCK. OFF. Any human has treated me better than every single council member combined! Blue, you keep going. I’ll deal with this fucker myself.” Blue started to run, but was frozen in place.
“Idiot child. The human scum stays here. You want to know how I found you? Many, many, years ago, LOOOONG before you were born, a deity came to me and offered me godhood. But only if I would help when I was called on. Are you really that stupid, to not ever question the fact that I’m only Ellith the Fifth when our war-” I scoffed. “-our war against humans was 2000 years ago? Paidí, I’ve been waiting for this day. For nearly a thousand years, I’ve been waiting. And now, I finally get my chance. The To afentiko, the bossman, I’m sure you don’t remember any Greek, told me that when I killed you, I’d be rewarded. You can make this easy for me, Sailer. Just drop your weapon and surrender. I’ll kill you nice and painlessly.” At that moment, I realized Ellith must have been one of the gods Banana had told me about. And that Ývris was currently not enchanted with godslayer. Banana had taught me how to enchant- “Only non-magic wielders need the table to intervene. Magic wielders don’t need that. Just set the weapon on the ground and recite the incantations.” -so I dropped my trident. While Ellith was walking closer to me, I muttered the enchantment incantation and finished by the time Ellith reached me.
“So, paidí. Here I have a poison. Instant effect. More potent than anything a witch could produce. Kólasi, even more potent than the Wither’s poison. You’ll be dead before you can even register pain. Just take it, make both of our lives nice and easy.” I extended my hand. Ellith started to place the vial in my hand, when I shouted “Ývris, to me!” and my trident shot back into my hand, knocking the poison onto the ground. The vial shattered, spilling the poison. The grass around it withered instantly.
“Absolute moron. You really thought I would just lay down and die?”
“I had sure hoped.”
“You're a fucking idiot.” I said, jabbing Ellith in the stomach with the end of my trident.
“You're the traitor who ran away from everything you could've needed to be with a human, of all things!”
“Epic is my best friend and because of YOU, I may never even see him again!!!!”
We continued trading blows, both physically and verbally.
“Well, he deserves it. After you left, the entirety of our civilization fell apart! They're all dead now! Because of YOU!”
“Are you really going to still fucking ignore the hundreds of other civilizations scattered around?! Even if the capital fell, millions of glow squids would still be alive. But no, you'd rather just claim the extinction of your people. But let's be real here, you're no more glow squid than I am. In fact, with how long you've had godhood, I would barely even consider you a glow squid anymore.”
“You- you fucking asshole! I am the PUREST glow squid! I am the pinnacle of glow squid perfection!! YOU ARE GOING TO-” Ellith screamed, before being run through with my trident.
“Y’know, I had always hoped you would die to your own hubris. But I guess it was mine that killed you. Ellith? I hope you fucking rot in hell.” I said, yanking Ývris out of Ellith’s torso. He did not bleed. He disintegrated into dust. Blue fell to the ground. The spell Ellith had cast had worn off. I pulled out my flint and steel, and burnt the remains of Ellith. He was gone.

Chapter Text

“Hey, Wumster, I'm gonna be busy today, so I left you a list of stuff I'd like you to grab while I'm out.” Blue said.
“Oh, alright! Where are ya going?”
“I… I'm going to hang out with Sol. I figured that if we can't get their memories back, then I could at least start up a new friendship.”
“Oh, well, good luck with that! Have fun! I'll go grab your stuff!” I said, looking at the list as Blue ran out. “Oh, Blue- it's- oh, you're already gone. Crap.” The list was in Galactic. Blue had to have done this on purpose. “Ok. Let's see. I can do this… 4 characters and then 6 characters. 4… echo has 4 letters? And then shards? That's 6. Blue wants me to go to the Deep Dark? Well, ok then, I guess. That shouldn't be too hard.” I walked over to Paddles' house.
“You need wool. And you're also incredibly poor. Yes, you can use some. But be wary of the deep dark. There are many unknowns lurking below the surface.” Paddles said as I came into view.
“Oh, thank- by unknowns you mean Wardens, yes?” I replied.
“Yes. I do. Yes. Definitely.” Paddles said.
“Ooooookay? Well, thank you again, Paddles.”
“I suggest you bring more food than you think you’ll need. You don’t want to go hungry.”
“Well, I can't argue with that. Thank you Paddles! I'll make it up to you somehow!” I said, running back to gaming Dan’s horse hole. I mounted up and rode him off towards a mountain range where an ancient city was buried. I made a nice pen for gaming Dan and grabbed my gear.
“I still can't see why Blue needs this, but here we go, I guess.” I ventured into the caves, making sure to light them up as to prevent mobs from setting off any of the shriekers. As I made my way deeper, the corruption from the sculk became more and more evident. Eventually I got to the ancient city, covered in sculk and left to rot in the depths. I started placing wool down as I went to muffle my footsteps and not wake any wardens. I opened a few chests and found enough of the echo shards for Blue. As I was walking back along my path, I slipped and fell onto the ground. Unfortunately, I was near a shrieker, and it was set off.
“Well… at least it was only the first time.” I whispered to myself, and then I froze. There's no way that I was hearing digging. It was only once! I turned around to see oddly human hands clawing out of the sculk, and then-
“Well gosh darn it. That was a good nap. Y’have any idea what time it is?” The creature said. I was shocked, but more importantly, confused.
“Who- what- how- huh?”
“Well, didn't mean ta startle you! You seem to have a pretty firm grasp on Basic… I’m Cowboy in a Suit. Least, what my name translates to.”
“Well, I'm-” I said, and stopped. What Ellith had said really got me thinking. I am a Glow Squid. Wumster was really only a temporary name, anyways. Also, Sailer just sounds better. “I'm Sailer.”
“Well, nice to meet you. Don't suppose you have any food? ‘ve been asleep for quite a while, I'm starving!”
“Oh. So that's why Paddles told me to bring extra.”
“Paddles? Is he kinda eerie and knows the future?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Well, I'll be! Back when this was just a city, he’d come around and do some augury stuff. Supposed he'd be dead!”
“Wait- just a city? How long were you asleep?”
“Say, mmm, 4000 years? Give or take?”
“4000?! What…?”
“Well, see, it's simple. We were all livin’ mighty fine up on the surface, then one day those nasty sculk vines start showin’ up. They eventually started taking people under, and at some point the whole city. I was one of the last to get taken, so I guess I developed a resistance to the stuff? Those warden guys? Blind ones, look kinda like axolotls? ‘m not sure whether that's what the first to go turned into, or if they're just the sculk’s… enforcers, say. Do I've got any… sculky things about me?”
“Well, uh, you've got… tendrils? I guess? And your eyes look a little… sculky, like almost the same color and they've got the little sparklies to them too.” Cowboy reached up and felt the tendrils.
“Well, I’ll be! Antlers! And the eyes, that probably explains why I can see perfectly down here! How peculiar!”
“You’re taking this… surprisingly well. If I was asleep for 4000 years and woke up with new appendages I’d be pretty concerned.”
“Well, ya see, I was always pretty bored livin’ with everyone. I’d’a much rather’ve gone and done somethin’ with my life. My name is Cowboy, for land’s sakes. I wanna be out there wrasslin’ up pigs and cows an’ ridin’ my horse into the sunsets. And then the sculk came and the head honchos were all like, ‘don’t go out of the city, you might accidentally spread the sculk with you’ and that kinda dashed my dreams for the final time, but now I can finally go and live how I wanted’a all that time ago.”
“Oh, so you’re leaving the ancient city?”
“Hell yeah. What, you thought I woulda stayed down here?
“Well, I mean-”
“I hated it here, Mr. Sailer Sir. I’ve waited 4000 years to leave. Now, where’s out.”
“Oh, well, uh… it’s kinda up in the ceiling. I… flew… down? Yeah, that’s a normal thing.” I said, more trying to convince myself opposed to Cowboy.
“Yeah, that is normal. S’pose you could fly me up? I am just very much a human.” Cowboy said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself.
“Uh, yeah, sure!” I called out my wings and grabbed up Cowboy.
“Whoa there, pardner! Easy, easy, you don't wanna get sculky. Should probably take care of that when we surface.”
“Yeah. You're gonna need a place to stay, huh. I have an extra room, if you want to stay there?”
“Well, sure. T’least till I get reacquainted with the modern world.”
“Wait… hold on, something about this story isn't lining up. You've been down here for 4000 years. But… I guess I'm telling you this… the world was reset by the gods mere months ago. How… how did everything stay the same? How are you here? How do you remember?” I asked. If Cowboy was one of the gods I had to kill… that'd be really unfortunate.
“Well, s’pose I should probably tell you. Magic don't work on me, f’some reason. Just, never has. Paddles was also concerned by this. Said it was ‘unnatural’. But I say bullhunkey. It's perfectly normal for a human to remain unaffected by magic. And the living network of sculk… connected me to the city, I guess? S’probably how it's still here.” Cowboy said, unconvinced.
“Well, alrighty then.” I said, and I flew up out of the cave. I flew us back to Pesky Pets Island. “So. This is where I live, with Blue and Shrub. Blue knows about the whole world replacement thing. Shrub does not. Do not tell Shrub, please.”
“Yessir. So, which one is your house?”
“Oh, it's the circular one, with the moss roof. It's up on that hill there, see?”
“Well butter my biscuits, that's a nice house!”
“Oh, thank you. It took me a while to figure it out. Your room will be upstairs, assuming Blue lets you stay there. That's usually hers, for whenever she stays the night.”
“Oh, well, I don't mean to intrude! I can go off on my own, rough’n it. Like a real cowboy.”
“No, I'm sure Blue will be more than willing to let you stay. We’ve gotta stop at their house first, anyway. Gotta drop off some stuff that she asked me to grab.” I landed, putting Cowboy down gently. I walked into Blue’s house.
“Blue? You home? I've got those echo shards you wanted!”
“Echo shards?” Blue said. “I never wrote- oh. Ok listen squid, you NEED to learn Galactic. I asked for an iron shovel. Who- who are you?” Blue asked Cowboy.
“Well, delighted to make your acquaintance! I'm Cowboy in a Suit, and I assume that you're Blue?”
“Yeah. Uh, Wumster? Can I pull you aside for just a second?” Blue said, dragging me into her basement. “Who is this guy and where did you find him?”
“Blue, he's… he's been around for 4000 years, asleep, in the sculk? And apparently magic doesn't work on him? But he seems nice enough. Could he… stay in your room at my house? At least for the time being?”
“Alright. But I want to… study him, I guess would be the word. This is odd. I've never heard of magic not working on anyone, much less a human… or whatever you'd call a human-sculk hybrid.” We climbed back up the ladder to see Cowboy standing patiently in Blue’s house.
“Hey, so, good news, Blue is willing to let you stay in her room. Sound good?”
“Oh, that's mighty kind of you, Blue. How can I repay you?” Cowboy said.
“Well, in the future you could let me ask you a couple of questions. I'm curious about your past and all that.” Cowboy looked uncomfortable.
“Uh. Sure! Yeah. That's fine.” Cowboy said. “Now. Let's get going, I wanna see your house, Sailer!”
Cowboy left, but Blue held me back.
“Squid. Something's up about him. Keep an eye out. And why'd he call you Sailer?”
“...that's how I introduced myself to him. I don't know, I just don't really feel that connection to Wumster anymore. I don't even really know if I did in the first place. I'm still fine with that name, it just… doesn't feel like me.”
“Sailer, y’comin’ buckaroo?” Cowboy said.
“I'll keep you updated if anything happens. I'm sure we’re fine.” I said to Blue before rushing out the door. We walked over to my house, and I opened the door.
“So. Here's my house. Your room is up that vine in the middle there. It's a little unfurnished, but it's got enough.” I said. “You get yourself settled in. I'm going to bed. It's been a long day.” I got myself into bed, and fell asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The squid was asleep. I pulled out my communicator, which was only 4000 years out of date, and messaged Paddles.
¥¢π£×^¢^: Paddles where are you
÷€§£^¢÷~^~°: it's me
%✓]¢÷£°`: cowboy
Pa§d¢es: H∆w? I~π on t^3 c∆£¢|liπ3. £√•^ow =£÷ ∆£th th• squ•| ma√£>
I left Sailer’s house and followed the path. It led me to the coastline, where I saw a bustling city, very similar to… my city.
“How are you here. Cowboy. We both know fully well that your city was destroyed by the sculk… and I see you clearly didn't make it out unscathed.”
“Paddles, last I saw you, you weren't a frog.” I said.
“The hosts rot away eventually. I'm surprised that your meat suit is still the same.”
“Well bless your heart. I guess the sculk has preservatory properties. Like the new antlers?”
“They're quite unique. But back to my question. How are you here?”
“Fine. The squid came to the city and triggered one of the shriekers, and that woke me up. He's letting me stay in his house.”
“Does he know?”
“I don't think so. But the other one is definitely catching onto the fact that something's afoot.”
“Blue has always been the more observant one. Took the squid nearly a month to even catch that I remembered the other world, much less was a god.”
“But what is a god to the Horrors?” I asked.
“You know as well as I do that when you tell them about what you really are, they're gonna be concerned. Maybe scared. But most definitely concerned.”
“Paddles. Did you… model your city after…?”
“Yes, I did. The architecture was wonderful. It was the first place I truly felt home.”
“Well, frog boy, that's where you and I differ. I'll keep you informed.” I said.
“Before you go. I have a gift for you.”
“Oh?”
“A new communicator. I could barely read your messages.”
“You think I could read yours?”

Chapter Text

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~4003 years ago~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Cowboy! Come here! There's a new visitor here!” Korvie said. I had lived with him for years since I came across the city. He knew how much I wanted adventure. And a new visitor could provide that.
“Korv, how is one person gonna change anything?” I asked.
“But that's the thing! He's not human!” Korvie said. “I don't remember what Sarin said, but the new guy isn't human!” I shuddered. Another non-human? The last time I had ran across one of those? Well, let's just say that I have a human skin suit and I don't know how to make one.
“That sounds… mighty interesting. Let's go.” I followed Korvie outside to the town square, where a crowd was gathering.
“Cowboy, why'd you have to go so slow?” Korvie said jokingly. “Now we’re last in line!”
“Oh come on Korv. You know that if you could actually run, we would've gotten here ages ago!”
“You can't blame me! News spreads like wildfire here!” We stood in the crowd, occasionally weaseling our way through a handful of people.
“Oh, I can… just… about… see him!” I said, jumping up to see above the crowds. “He looks… vaguely amphibian, maybe an axolotl?”
“An axolotl?” Korvie shouted! “Cool! I've never seen one for real! Void, I'm so excited!”
“Hold your horses, Korv. Like I said, vaguely amphibian. I only caught quick glimpses. I could be wrong.” We stood and watched the crowd slowly dwindle. Eventually, we made it up to the front of the group.
“Step right forward.” The guest said. He was definitely an axolotl.
“You were right!” Korv whispered, as we stepped forward.
“Welcome. My name is Paddles. I am a wandering augur. I come to towns and cities I find and tell them their futures. Would you like to hear yours?” The augur said.
“Ooh! Yes please!” Korvie said.
“Uh… sure.” I said at the same time.
“Alright. Well, whoever wants to go first…” Paddles said. Korvie raced to the chair across from him.
“So, young man, what is your name?”
“I'm Korvie! The guy over there is Cowboy, he's my friend and he lives with me.”
“Well, pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm your future, I see…” Paddles grimaced. “I see a nice long life, however one plagued by grief. As long as you run, it will always catch up to you.” Korvie’s eternal smile shattered.
“What do you mean by that? What- what's going to happen to me?”
“I do not want to tell specifics. It will only make it worse. Now, onto the other one. Korvie, I wish you luck.” Korvie stood up and ran home.
“I'll meet you at home, Korv!” I shouted, before moving to the now vacant seat.
“You're Cowboy, correct?” Paddles asked.
“Yessir. The one and only!” I replied.
“You are more correct about that than you think. You're not human. Are you?”
“Whaaaat? I'm definitely a human, what makes you think that?.” I asked, shocked.
“I'm not what I say I am either. My magic doesn't work on you. There's only one class of being that magic doesn't work on. The Horrors. Which one are you?” I was shocked. How did Paddles know, and within seconds as well? I sighed.
“Fine. I'm Hastur. The King in Yellow.”
“It's nice to see a fellow king.” Paddles said, although the words didn't come from his mouth. “My real name is Mag’da. This body you see, simply a host. After all, a crown can't do much on its own.”
“Wait, so you're saying-”
“That I am a god? Yes, in fact I am. Now, the body? A host, or?”
“Meat suit that I stole off some monster. It does a good job of concealing my non-human attributes.”
“Fair enough. You need a fortune. I can't send you away without one, people will get suspicious. You're going to have a prosperous life, but one plagued by loneliness. Sound good? Made it up on the spot. Though… that's what I've done for everyone. I trust you to keep a secret. 3 years time, this city and everyone in it will be gone. I saw the same outcome in everyone's fortune. But I'm sure you’ll be fine. The Horrors are strong.”
“Pad- Mag’da, wow. Well, I'll be. All of this, gone? Gee, that's… whoo-ee. And I just have to… know that? Gosh.”
“It's difficult, I know. But I trust you. If you can hide your Horrors, then you can hide this.”
“But- how am I going to just not tell Korvie about this? I’ve been living in his house for years, we’re friends!”
“Hastur, you can't. You have to keep this a secret. You've already been here long enough to raise suspicions. Go. I'll talk to you later.” Mag’da said, before returning to the host. “Now. Go.” I ran back to Korvie's house to find him sobbing on his bed.
“Korv, hey, what's-?” I said before Korvie jumped up and wrapped me in a hug.
“Cowboy, I don't wanna lose you!” Korvie said in-between sobs. “You're really my only friend, and my family is all gone.”
“Korv, you know that for all intents and purposes, you're my brother. And I wouldn't trust that gosh darn fortune teller if he gave me gold. ‘m surprised he didn't charge, to be honest. Usually those dirtbags want something out of it, other than screwing with people.” I said. I hoped that what I said would reassure Korvie, but it sure wasn't reassuring me.
“You're… you're right, Cowboy. I just… was so afraid of losing you.”
“Yeah… me too.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~3 years later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mag’da had left months ago. But I wished he was still here, so I could give him a piece of my mind. It was one thing if the city and everyone inside were destroyed instantaneously, but no. The sculk, which is what we were calling the vines that kept sneaking up to the surface and dragging people down with them, had shown up maybe a week after Mag’da left. Last I saw him, he looked mighty guilty, which was the most emotion I'd seen from him. About half of the city was gone, population wise, at least. Most of the buildings were still here, although they were covered in sculk.
“Cowboy… I'm scared. What if those vines come for us next?” Korvie said.
“Well, then we fight them off. I don't know where they're taking people, but I'm sure as hell not going.” I crafted up two diamond swords. Diamonds were rare around these parts, but Paddles gave them to me before he left. “Korv, take this sword. You'll need it.”
“I've never used a sword before. Cowboy, this isn't making me feel any safer.” Just then, I heard a slight rumbling below the ground.
“Korvie, RUN.” I shouted, and we both started running as the sculk vines shot up out of the ground. “I need you to get to the docks. Now!”
We both made our way to the docks, and I slashed down any sculk vines that popped up. We got down to the docks, where there were a few boats. “Korv, get in one of them. I'm right- behind you.” I said as a vine wrapped around my ankle.
“COWBOY!!!!” Korvie screamed.
“Just GO! I'll catch up to you!” I shouted, and for the first time in years, I unleashed my magic. I sent Korvie's boat shooting out into the distance.
“Good luck, Korvie.” I whispered to myself, and then I was dragged underground.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Present Day~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was out exploring with Sailer when we came across a settlement. It looked to have been abandoned not long ago, but in the last few years, the settlers stopped caring about aesthetics.
“CS, come here! I found some cool stuff!” Sailer shouted from the center of the settlement. I ran over to see him standing by a statue, slightly mossy, but I could tell it was a quartzish color. The same as my city. “It's got an inscription on it. But it's in Galactic. And I can't read Galactic. Could you- do you know how to read Galactic?”
“Well yeah, I thought everyone did.”
“Oh shut it. Could you please just read it?”
I took a look at the engravings on the base. “Y’know, why don't you go on ahead. My Galactic is a bit rusty, and I don’t want to hold you up from exploring.”
“Alright. Just don’t be too long, I’m curious, I wanna know what it says!”
I knelt down and read the full inscription. Without even thinking about it, I knew what it said. And I wept.

Chapter Text

I woke up to a knock on my door.
“Mmmfh- Who is it?” I asked, groggily.
“It’s Jay. Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you, I’ll come back later.”
“No, no, I’m… awake, I’m awake.” I said, falling asleep.
“No, Wumster, you really aren’t. Go back to bed. I’ll come back later. I don’t mind.”
“Huh, I wonder if this is how Blue feels. Fine. I’ll go back to bed.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been about 3 hours. I heard a knock on the door.
“Wumster? You up yet?” Jay asked.
“Yeah, I’m up. Come on in. So. What was it that you wanted to tell me about?”
“Well, I decided that I’m gonna make a prom- have you heard of proms? They’re like these fancy dances and you get all dressed up and dance and it can be romantic if you want but it doesn’t have to be. Do you want in?”
“Sure, it sounds fun. I’ll have to bust out my sewing kit, haven’t sewn in a while.” Just then, Cowboy climbed down from his room.
“Mornin’, squiddy. What’s goin’ on?” Cowboy said.
“Oh, not much. Jay invited me to a prom- hold on, I don’t think you’ve met Jay yet. Jay, this is Cowboy, I found him in an ancient city, he lived there when it was a normal city and got preserved by the sculk so he’s been alive for like, 4000 years. Cowboy, this is Jay, he runs this place.”
“Pleasure to meetcha. So you’re the new king? How many of those have there been since… since Korvie?” Cowboy said, looking downtrodden.
“King? Gosh, it’s nice to know that people see me as important and stuff, but I consider myself more of a… mayor? I guess? I don’t have THAT much power. I really just, like, organize stuff in the community. Us folks in Relics are a pretty tame bunch… except for the various middle of the night screaming matches between people because a certain neighbor of yours won’t sleep for one reason or the other.” Jay said, gesturing to Blue’s house. “And I’ve never heard of this Korvie, who is he?”
“He was… he was my best friend, and when the sculk came for us I… sacrificed myself so he could live, but he died, a long time ago. I mean, I guess I knew it was coming, but it still stings. Y’know, being selfish, I wonder… If I didn’t sacrifice myself, and let us both be dragged down… would he still be there… just asleep under the surface?”
“CS, what did I tell you about blaming yourself for that? For the love of turtles, there is physically NOTHING you could’ve done to prevent that.” I said. Cowboy sighed.
“Hey, so, Cowboy, do you wanna come to the prom as well? I mean, the more the merrier!” Jay said.
“Well, why not. Haven’t been to a prom in millenia, heh.”
“Well, I'll mark you both down. I'm gonna go pop on over to Blue and Shrub, see if they can come. See you later, Wumster! And Cowboy, it was nice meeting you!” Jay said as he left.
“So, you can sew, huh?” Cowboy said. “Y’think if you've got time that you could tailor me up a suit? I’d feel underdressed going to a prom in this. I'm not too picky, but it would be nice if you could get it to be a nice deep purplish color, but you're the fancy tailor man, you get final say.”
“Plum, you say… that would work nicely. I've already planned out my dress, it's gonna be a nice lavender color and that’ll go well together.”
“A dress? Huh, never woulda clocked ya as the dress type.”
“My mom was the youngest of 12 and a seamstress. I got all of the hand-me-downs from my cousins and my mom would fix ‘em all up and I’d wear them. Never been picky about clothes. Dresses, shorts, shirts, skirts, all of it. Heck, one time I had a toga! The only person I'd ever seen wearing one was me! And apparently one of my cousins as well, but it must've been before I was born. Have I ever explained glow squid biology to you?” I said, pulling out my sewing kit and fabrics.
“No, don't think you have.”
“Well, I'll tell you after I get your measurements. Arms up!”

Chapter Text

It had been a few weeks since Jay had come over and invited CS and I to prom. I had been busy, putting together my dress and Cowboy’s tux. Blue had also stopped over and asked me to make a few alterations to her wedding dress. It was the nicest piece of clothing she had, and it had been slightly damaged after the collapse of Empires. And besides… this was the first time she had even brought it out since we got here. Maybe it meant that they were coming to terms with Sol’s memories being gone… for now, at least. That’s what I was doing all this for.
“Squiddy boy, how’s it going?” CS asked, climbing down the vine from his room.
“Not bad, not bad. Just making some final adjustments to your suit. Does it look alright?”
“Looks mighty fine, Sailer. Gotta say, you do some great work. Not even the best weavers back then could match your quality.”
“Aw, thanks. I honestly wasn't thinking that these would turn out too good, haven't done any seamstressing in a while.”
“Well, wouldn't you technically be tailoring it?”
“Etymologically, yes. But I prefer seamstressing because I tend to procrastinate and seam-Stress about it.”
“Nice pun.” Blue said, walking in. “You better not be seam-stressing right now, the prom is tonight! You've gotta be finished, right?”
“Don't you worry, Blue. I've got everything under control. Just gotta finish up CS’ pocket square- I've never understood the point of that. Why would you waste a perfectly fine piece of cloth to put in a pocket for aesthetic purposes? And I've gotta work out the floof part on my dress. Your wedding dress should be good as new, Blue. If you don't mind going and trying it on, make sure that it fits and whatnot?”
“Sure. I'll be right back.” Blue said, grabbing the dress and running off to their house.
“Cowboy, here's your suit.” I said, pulling the suit out from the sewing machine. “It should be good now, go try it on!”
“Well golly gee, that looks spectacular. I'll be right back down, don't go anywhere!”
“Not planning on it. I can't get into my dress by myself anyways.” I sat back down at my table and put some finishing touches on my dress. I made sure that the floof at the edge was sewn on tightly enough… it would be awkward if it fell off during the prom. After a while, Cowboy slid down the vine into the room.
“So? How does it look?”
“Mighty dashing, if I do say so myself. I think I did a good job for my first time putting a suit together.”
“Your first time? Well gosh dang it, that makes it even more amazing! How did you even…?”
“Like I said, my mom taught me everything I know. She's really good at this stuff, she could've sewn all 3 outfits at once.”
“3?!?! How???” Cowboy said. I pointed to my hair tentacles.
“Once these tentacles get long enough, they get pretty prehensile. Anatomy is quite interesting, isn't it?”
“Why, I’d say. Wait, hold on. I'm getting some messages from Paddles.”
“Well, that's nice that you've kept talking to him. At least you still have some connection to your past, even if that's a sentient anthropomorphic frog who is honestly a little creepy, but I'll leave you to it, I'm gonna go check on Blue, see how they're doing with the dress.”
“Alrighty, you have fun. I'll be up in my room if you need me.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sailer was gone. I could talk to Paddles without worrying about him finding out about my secret.
Paddles: Cowboy, this prom is going to go terribly wrong. I seriously recommend you don't go.
Cowboy: paddles what about the others
Paddles: I know the squid will listen to me, as well as Blue. Shrub might not, and I don't even know about Sofa.
Cowboy: who is sofa
Paddles: exactly
Paddles: Just try to get everyone to not go. Jay’s been radio silent today, and he's never this quiet. Something's happened to him. If they still insist on going, at least make sure they're safe. I can't interfere with this. I think the ancient deities that messed with the world might be at play again. And I'm not getting involved in power struggles. The squid's Watcher friend tasked him with taking them out. Not me.
Cowboy: paddles blue doesn't trust me I've barely spoken with shrub and sailer is gonna go if the other two go and I don't even know where this prom is
Paddles: I saw Jay digging a tunnel in the Nether through my portal. Follow that path, go check it out.
Cowboy: I'll try and go but like what am I supposed to do
Paddles: Just go and make sure everything is alright.
Cowboy: fine
I left Sailer a note saying that I was going to run some errands and ran off towards Paddles’.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I knocked on Blue’s door. Usually I would just walk in, but I didn’t want to accidentally walk in on them changing.
“Come in.” Blue said. I walked in and saw Blue in her dress, sitting on her bed, crying.
“Blue, are you ok? What’s wrong?”
“I’m fine. It’s alright. I- I’m fine.”
“You aren’t. I don’t even understand why you would bother trying to lie to me. Blue, what’s wrong?” Blue sniffed.
“Sol… Sol doesn’t want to go. They say they will but I can tell they don’t want to. Wumster, why doesn’t Sol love me? I’ve tried everything! I’ve asked her nicely, I’ve begged, I’ve given her flowers! On a weekly basis! That day that you ended up finding Cowboy? When I went to hang with Sol? I was there for a solid 5 minutes before I ended up coming home because they had no interest in talking to me. I saw you running off to Paddles’! I just- I just thought-” Blue said, sobbing.
“Blue… y'know what? Go tell Sol that you don't need them for this. That they can leave you to your own devices. You've got a picture of the two of you on your wedding day, right? I've got a few hours still. I can sew up a replica of Sol’s outfit and we can put it on an armor stand that you can take to the prom.”
“You have enough time?” Blue asked.
“Oh most definitely. I've sewn a suit together in less time than this. Though first, would you help me try on my dress? I need to make sure I don't have to do any alterations.”

Chapter Text

“Cowboy, you ready?” I called upstairs.
“I should be. Be right down!” Cowboy shouted.
“What could be taking him so long? Both of us got into our dresses pretty quickly.” Blue said.
“Blue, you were already in yours, and with your help I was in mine in less than a minute. Cowboy’s gotta do this all himself, boo hoo.” I said sarcastically.
“I can still hear you, y’know. So?” Cowboy said, sliding down the vine. “How’s it look?”
“Stunning, honestly. I’ve never looked that good in anything I’ve ever worn.” I said.
“Is this why your full name is Cowboy in a Suit?” Blue asked.
“Uh, noooooo. It’s a… different reason.” CS said. Blue slightly nudged my arm.
“Oh, alright. So, are you two ready to go? We don’t want to be late.” I said, ignoring Blue.
“Yeah, let’s get going.” Blue said, shooting me an ugly stare. “W, you can take gaming Dan V, if Cowboy and I could each take one of the past gamings Dan?”
“Sure. That works out well. Let’s go.” I said, and we left my house.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We made it to the end prom. It was located in a little pergola an acacia village. There were lights hung around the area and a nice checkered floor for the dance floor.
“Jay really put in some work, huh?” I asked. I saw Jay up at the DJ booth. “Hi Jay!” I shouted, waving at him. He didn’t notice me. “Huh. Why didn’t he say hi?”
“Maybe he’s setting some stuff up?” Blue said.
“Probably. I guess my stress levels are up through the roof. There's just too much going on. I'm sure everything is fine. Blue, why don't you put down that armor stand so we can set up the fake Sol?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The prom had started. It was a nice event. Jay had set up refreshments and was also providing the music. I tried to call over to him and ask if he wanted to come dance with us but he never seemed to hear me. Blue had gone over to hang out with Shrub, and I was really proud. Shrub had come a long way since Blue and I first saw them again… after Empires. They were actually starting to become friends again. And then, it was time for the slow dance. Turtles, the last time I had danced like this… it was with Epic. I missed him. I wished I could see him again. But it was no use dwelling on the past. I was here with my friends. And Blue was dancing with Shrub, so I danced with Cowboy. I can’t really explain it, but it felt like we had been there before.
“Sailer, bud, you ok? You look a little upset.” Cowboy said.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just… missing someone.”
“Oh, I know how that feels. Hey, I think Blue is coming over. I’ll let you two talk, I’ve gotta check something out.” Cowboy left and Blue came over.
“Hey, Blue. What’s up?”
“I miss… I miss Empires, Wumster. I know that it's gone but… I miss it. I miss Shrub. I miss Sol. Wumster, I haven't prayed to the Turtles in months! Is this… is this my punishment?”
“Blue, no.” I said, hugging Blue. “No, Blue, it's not a punishment. The Turtles are very benevolent, they wouldn't do this to you.” I said. Blue started crying and then I heard Cowboy shout.
“Cowboy, what's-” I said, before the floor collapsed from under us. I tried to call out my wings, but I couldn't. And so Blue and I fell.

Chapter Text

“Sailer? Sailer, bud, you ok?” I heard. I couldn't bear to open my eyes… I couldn't bear to see that void again.
“...Blue? Blue, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I could've saved us I could've willed my wings out I could've stopped this I could've saved us this time I'm so sorry Blue I am so so so so sorry can you ever forgive me Blue?” I said, sobbing.
“Sailer, you good? You're spoutin’ nonsense. Neither of you took that fall really well. Blue’s just curled up in a ball over here and you're rambling gibberish.” Cowboy said. I slowly opened my eyes, preparing to see the Void… but it was just a pit. I rushed over to Blue.
“Blue, are you ok?” Blue was barely moving.
“I thought… I thought it was happening again. And I thought I was gonna lose Shrub again… and I thought I was gonna lose you. I don't want to be alone, Wumster. Promise that I'll never be alone, please…” Blue whimpered.
“Blue, I promise, you'll never be alone. I won't let that happen. Cowboy, what exactly even happened?”
“Well, uh… Paddles told me something was gonna happen and to try and like, save y’all? Get you to stay home from it? But I knew that wasn't gonna work, so I came and tried to inspect the place but I didn't see anything wrong until right before the fall, and I like, burrowed? Into the ground and saw it was hollow and then the trapdoors opened up and everyone fell in. Wonder if the burrowing thing has anything to do with the sculk or the Wardens. Interesting.”
Suddenly, Blue shot up.
“SHRUB! Is Shrub ok? Oh turtles Shrub better be ok…” Blue shouted. Then, I heard some footsteps from nearby.
“BLUE? Are you okay???” Shrub said, running in.
“Oh thank Turtles that you’re safe!! I thought… I thought I lost you again.”
“Well, whether I like it or not, it seems I’m stuck with you. Have any of you guys seen Jay? Do you think… you think this was his doing?”
“No, no, it couldn't have been. I trust Jay. I can't imagine him doing this.” I said. I was mentally kicking myself for not figuring it out sooner. That idiot god was possessing him again. This was a trap of some sorts. But how?
“Hey, guys? Found the husky.” Cowboy said, pointing to Jay, lying face down on the ground.
“FUCK. Jay! Jay, are you alright? Turtles… Jay?” I said, rushing over to Jay. Shrub and Blue weren't far behind. Jay groaned.
“Ughhhh… where am I? Sailer? What are you doing here?” Jay said, trying to get up.
“Jay, no. You need to lie down for a little bit. You're safe, you're ok, we’re here. You're at the prom. Jay, I probably should have told you sooner, but you've been possessed. Not the first time it's happened, either.” Everyone’s heads turned to me.
“What do you mean, not the first time?” Jay asked. “Wumster, what the fuck does that mean?”
“Remember that day, that I went to your house, and you ‘passed out?’ No, you were being possessed. I don’t know who it was…” I lied. “...but you got possessed by something, or someone. I think that this same thing happened here, to ruin the prom. What… what was the last thing you remember, Jay?”
“Well… let’s see. Last thing I remember was running into Cowboy while making paths… now when was that…” Cowboy looked aghast.
“That… Jay, that was last week. You’ve been out of commission for a week?! Do you even remember building the venue?” Cowboy said.
“I… I don’t. Void, I’m such a failure. I put you guys all in danger. I don’t know why, but I feel like this has happened before, not by me, but by someone else… Gosh. I… I can’t be around anymore. It’s not safe for you guys. I founded Relics as a safe haven for everyone… Hybrids, Immortals, everyone. And now I’m putting you guys at risk. I’ve failed you. We should… we should get out of here. You guys can all go home, and I can go. Far away. I need to. I can’t trust myself. How can you guys?”
“Jay, dont beat yourself up. It’s not your fault.” I said.
“No, Wumster, you’re wrong. My mind was weak! If I were stronger. If I just..”
“Uh, guys?” Cowboy said. “There’s… uh. I think there’s a stronghold. With the… With the Portal in it. To the End. I think… I think that god did this on purpose.”
“The End? Like… with the Dragon? I guess we’ve gotta go kill it.” I said. “That’s… that’s gotta be what that god wanted us to do… right?”
“I think.” Jay said. “I… If I made you guys come here, we might as well not try to fight it. Cowboy, can you… can you lead the way?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“The portal… it’s already filled. Who…?” Shrub asked.
“Shrub, it had to have been that god.” I said. “We’ve gotta do this. Is… is everyone here?”
“We’re missing Sofa. Must’ve gotten away somehow.” Jay said.
“Huh, wonder how I missed that. So, we going in?” I said. Everyone murmured their agreement. Blue clung onto me.
“Wumster… I’m scared. I don’t… I don’t want to go… The End has so much Void… I can’t… I don’t… What if it happens again?” Blue whispered.
“Blue, I promise I won’t let that happen. You’re my best friend. I would never let anything happen to you.”
“Promise? Till the Turtles come home?”
“Till the Turtles come home.” I said, and we stepped into the portal.
We ended up in a cave in the End. We had to dig out and when we did, we saw the Dragon. She was flying around the obsidian pillars, and when she noticed us, she dove down to attack us.
“SCATTER!” Cowboy yelled, and we all ran. Blue and Shrub ended up running towards the end of the island, while Cowboy, Jay and I beelined for the towers. The fight went as would be expected. We took out the crystals and eventually slayed the Dragon. We all reconvened in the center, and I noticed Blue and Shrub looked… closer.
“We… we did it. We defeated the monster. What more do you want?” Jay said. “I'm not going to leave my friends no matter what. It's my job to protect them.”
“Cowboy, hey, wanna go do some End busting?” I whispered. “We’ll get some good stuff!”
“I reckon that ain't a bad idea.” Cowboy said. “Hey, y'all, squiddy boy and I are gonna go do some End busting, if anyone wants to join.” The rest of the group said that they were just gonna go home, and returned through the portal, alongside the Dragon Egg that had been left.
“I see a gateway over there.” I said. “Onwards, partner!”
“Don't… don't do the cowboy talk. You sound dumb.”
“Well, I reckon I don't.”
“Just… just trust me on this one, pal.”

Chapter Text

“So. Which way should we go?” I asked Cowboy.
“Straight.” I snickered. “What?”
“I don't know, it will be pretty hard for me to go straight! What?”
“You're gay?”
“Cowboy… you didn't know?”
“I mean, I had some suspicions…”
“Cowboy, I'm wearing a dress.”
“So? I don't judge.”
“Cowboy, I have blatantly stated how I've had a massive crush on a GUY.”
“Well, maybe I wasn't listening.”
“Whatever. Let's just head out.” I said, walking forwards.
“Sailer? Sailer, is that you?” I turned around to look at Cowboy, who just shrugged.
“Hello? Who’s there?”
“...the connection must be weak, let me tweak this. I'll be right back. Oh! Yeah, it's me, Banana.”
“Banana? I thought it wasn't safe for you to be here?”
“The End is the Watcher’s domain. Go, keep doing whatever you were doing. I've gotta work on this… get the projection to show…” Cowboy looked at me funny.
“So that's Banana?” He asked.
“Yeah. He's really nice. A bit aloof at times. And he's a Watcher. Like me.”
“Ah, so that's why you've got the wings. Figured you weren't mortal.”
“Yeah. Might as well bring ‘em out. This is apparently my home turf, apparently.” I willed my wings out… but they didn't appear. “That's… odd. They usually come out when I do that…” and then my right wing burst out, flickering between my wings and what looked like a Canary wing. “Cowboy, it looks like that for you too, right? I'm not just seeing things? Cause it very well could be my eyes not working properly after that attack.” The scars were still fresh. I figured they wouldn't go anywhere anytime soon.
“Well skin my thighs and call me a muskrat, your wings look like they're changing. Do they do that often?”
“No????? Cowboy, this has never happened before! What do I do??”
“I don't know! Why would I know?”
“Sailer, are you there?” Banana said, from seemingly behind me. “Oh, boy. That's not normal.” I turned around to see some kind of projection of Banana standing behind me.
“You THINK?? Banana, what the fuck is going on??”
“Oooh, is that scratch new? That looks like it hurts.”
“It DOES. The dragon clawed me! Is that why this is happening???”
“Could be. It could also just be because of the powers of the End. I'm nowhere near as powerful as the council, and even their powers pale in comparison to the raw magic of the End. Maybe it’s accepting you as a Watcher?”
“Well I sure hope so! I’d rather not die!!!”
“No, no, you shouldn't die. The End is quite accepting most of the time. Cowboy’s doing fine here, and he's not mortal at all!” I glared at Cowboy.
“What does he mean by ‘not mortal’, Cowboy? What does that mean?”
“Oh, uh, well…” Cowboy stuttered. “I mean, I guess I knew? But this is kinda confirmation for me too, that the sculk changed me down to a molecular level. Guess I'm not human anymore. Shame, I guess.” My glare on Cowboy only intensified.
“Cowboy, you better not be lying. I am NOT in a good mood right now and you lying will NOT help that.” I said as my wings continued changing. I writhed over in pain as my other wing burst out, flickering between black-capped petrel and Canary.
“Sailer, what would I get out of lying to you? You're my friend! I don't want to hurt you.”
“You could VERY WELL be one of the gods I have to kill! You could've put me into this mess! My friends don't remember me because of YOU!”
“Calm down, buckaroo! I darn tootin’ wouldn'tve done any of this malarkey!”
“Cowboy you're on thin ice pal! If you're lying now, I don't think I'll ever trust you again.”
“For the last fucking time, I'm not lying!” Cowboy shouted, and I froze. The power in his voice was scary. I didn't want to test him anymore.
“Sailer, are you ok?” Banana said, and my brain decided to register the excruciating pain I was in.
“NO, NOPE, NOT AT ALL!” I screamed. “BANANA YOU'VE GOTTA BE ABLE TO DO SOMETHING!!!”
“I mean, I can try?” Banana said, and then I felt the pain start to subside. “Wow, wouldja look at that? Canary wings! Wonder what those represent?”
“...represent?” I asked.
“Well, yeah, your wings have a meaning! Like mine, eagle wings? They symbolize my freedom! I don't have to stay cooped up in the castle every day! I get to explore!”
“Banana, partner, ‘ve you ever heard the story of the Canary in the Coal Mine?” Cowboy said.
“No…? What… what does that mean?”
“Back in the olden days, before everything happened, the miners would bring canaries down into the mines to make sure that they didn’t get too close to any danger. If the canary… well, y’know… died. If the bird died, then the miners would know to get out of there. But eventually, the canaries all died out… and you know what happened from there. Honestly, I’m not likin’ the symbolism here, Eyes.” I was shocked.
“Does this mean… Banana, am I gonna die?”
“No… Don’t think so at least. Kriffing hell. The Council is calling. I’ll be back.” Banana said, and the projection disappeared.
“Is that… is that really all I am? Some sacrificial victim? Am I gonna die? Turtles, no, I can't die. I promised Blue that they'd never be alone. I can't die, I can't leave Blue. Cowboy, help…” I said.
“Sailer, pal, I'm sure you'll be fine. Let's just… let's just keep going. We've gotta bust some end.”
“Cowboy… I miss him. I miss him so much.” I said, tearing up.
“Who, Banana? He's never that far from you, you know.”
“No, I miss Epic. Turtles… I should've told him before I left. Fucking hell, why didn't I tell him. Now everything’s gone to shit, I may never see him again, and I never told him.”
“Told him what?” Cowboy asked.
“That I loved him! Turtles damn it, I loved him so much. Maybe even too much. And I still do!!! Every night I think of him, his beautiful green eyes, his charming laugh, his nice fluffy hair, and I hate myself for not telling him. We could've been together. I could've been cuddled up next to him, just enjoying each other's company. But no, I had to go out and explore! What an absolute fucking moron I am. I can't even remember what happened. I'm not sure if that's Watcher magic or my brain just suppressing trauma, but I remember leaving him and then I ended up in Empires. And he said he was gonna tell me something when I got back. He was… oh, fuck. Fucking hell. He liked me back. He fucking liked me back. But I was too much of a COWARD to tell him. Cowboy, knock me out. Hit me as hard as you can. I don't trust myself to be conscious right now.” I said, sobbing.
“Squiddy boy, I'm not going to do that-”
“COWBOY. I’m not asking. I'm demanding. Knock me out. Now.”
Cowboy pulled out something that looked heavy from his inventory. I couldn't tell what it was, my eyes were too full of tears. But then, I heard Banana again.
“Sailer, amigo, what's wrong?”
“I'm just a fucking moron and I don't trust myself to make smart choices right now. I'm gonna have Cowboy knock me out and bring me home.”
“Buddy, wait, Sailer, hold on. I've got something you may want to see, just- just give me a second, hold on…” Banana said, with the projection shimmering without him in view. I heard muffled arguments before Banana came back into frame with…
“EPIC?!?!” I sobbed. “Oh fuck, I'm a total wreck. I bet I look like a mess right now.”
“Sailer…? Wow, it's really you… wow. Sailer, I've… I've missed you.” Epic was shirtless, clearly being dragged out of the middle of doing something. He was quite muscular, which only made him more attractive, but I noticed some scarring underneath his chest. I started to worry. What had he been doing since I had left? What if Banana was accidentally putting him in danger?
“Epic… what have you been doing since I've been gone? You… those scars… what happened?”
Epic glanced down at his chest, and ran his fingers along the scars.
“Did I really never tell you? Gosh, how great of a friend am I?” Epic sighed. “Sailer, I wasn't born a man. I transitioned shortly before I met you. The scars are from the top surgery." "What's that?" "Oh, right. I guess you wouldn't know that... Being biologically genderless and all... It's the surgery I had to get rid of my boobs. I- I hope this doesn't change anything… between us.”
“Epic, why would it change anything?”
“It changed things between me and my parents… why do you think I was always in that world? I had nowhere else to go. They… they kicked me out.”
“Turtles, I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I can't imagine why anyone would care about that…”
“You also come from a species with no determined gender. Things are different.”
“You… you're right. Gosh. Epic, I'm so so so fucking sorry for leaving. I was so selfish. I… Epic, I liked you. A lot. I still do. But I was too scared to tell you, so I left, and then everything went terribly wrong. I miss you so much. Epic… do you like me too? Like, that much?”
“Oh thank void. Thank fucking void. Sailer, I've loved you since the day we met. You just… never seemed to show any interest. So… I just never told you. And then when you left… I had finally worked up the courage. But you never came back. I didn't talk to Banana for a week after he told me what he had to do. And then… when he said that he lost you? Sailer, I didn't want to live without you. Banana had to stop me from making awful decisions more than I'd like to admit. The void… it felt like it was screaming my name. It felt like the only option. I almost succeeded a few times, but Banana or one of the other Watchers was always there. I just… I just couldn't live without you. I wish… I wish I could be there. I wish I could be with you.” I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. He liked me back. He actually liked me back!
“Oh my turtles, oh my turtles, Epic, you don't know how happy this makes me. Epic, I would love to be with you. I would love to be your boyfriend. But it's not safe for you here… not right now. I've still gotta kill that last god. Then maybe… maybe you could come and stay with me.” I said hopefully.
“I… I would like that. A lot.” Epic said, blushing. “...I love you, Sailer. Void, that feels so nice to finally get to say! I love you, Sailer! I love you so, so, SO much! Gosh, I should probably go put a shirt on, huh. Wow, we’re both a mess right now!” Epic said. I chucked, sniffing away the last of my tears.
“So… I'll see you soon?” I asked cautiously. I didn't want to accidentally jinx anything.
“Yeah. It sounds like a date. I'll bring Banana back over so you can say goodbye to him. I love you, Sailer. I love that I can finally say that to you now.”
“I love you too, Epic. Wow, you're so right. That feels absolutely wonderful.” I said, as Epic walked out of frame. Banana showed back up soon after.
“So, how did it go for you two lovebirds???” Banana asked jovially, but his words only jolted me back to reality. Birds. Like canaries. The sacrifice, the first to fall. And I was cursed with that.
“Oh, it went wonderfully!” I said, hiding my fears. “I think that Cowboy's itching to get out and end busting, and I don't want to keep him waiting too long. We best be going.”
“Oh, you're right, I forgot about that. Well, I won't hold you up too long. Adios, Sailer! I'll stop by with Epic after you kill that god!” Banana said, ending the call.
“So, buddy, that went better than expected, huh?” Cowboy said.
“Yeah…” I said grimly. “Cowboy, how am I supposed to tell Epic that I'm basically a ticking time bomb?”
“Sailer, I think you're overthinking this whole thing. Don't worry about it.” Cowboy said, as we traversed through the End.

Chapter Text

I was doing some landscaping to clear my mind. When I was younger, my dad would take me to work with him. Underwater landscaping was fairly different, but the feeling was the same. It reminded me of when I was a little girl… My dad really only took me into work after he and Mom fought… Maybe it was my fault. I could’ve been a better child. I started spiraling and crumpled to the ground onto the pile of sticks I was moving. Luckily, before I fell too deep into the pits of despair, Jay came walking by.
“Oh! Hey Wumster! Are… are you ok?” I tried to sit myself up but I couldn’t muster enough strength.
“...no.” I whispered.
“Do you want me to help you into your house? Or do you want me to just lie here with you until you’re better?”
“...don’t leave please.”
“Okay. I’m not going anywhere. Do you want to talk about it?” I shook my head. “Alright. I’m here, Wumster. I’m won’t leave until you’re ready. I care about you, y’know.” Jay and I laid in silence for a while. It was comforting. I hadn’t had anyone ever do that for me. I was always the one to be there for my friends, so I never had time to really think about my emotions until they steamroll me. Jay being there made me feel a lot better.
“...Jay?” I whispered. I still didn’t feel strong enough to fully speak.
“Yeah dude? What’s up?”
“...thank you.”
“Any time.” As Jay said this, I rolled off the sticks and onto the ground right by him. His presence was comforting. “You want a hug?”
“...yeah.” Jay reached over to hug me.
“Dude, I never realized that you were fluffy! You always been like that?”
“Mhm.”
“I think that’s just proof from the universe that we’re meant to be friends.” Jay and I laid in silence some more, with his arm wrapped around me. One day… one day this would be me and Epic. I fell asleep, leaning over onto Jay.

Chapter Text

I woke up in my bed. Jay must’ve moved me inside after I fell asleep. I felt bad, he didn’t need to go through all of that. I sat up to see Jay sleeping on my carpet.
“Jay?” I whispered, watching his slow and steady breathing. He must’ve been sound asleep. I messaged Cowboy to let him know to be careful when he wakes up, and went outside to finish taking care of the sticks.
I was sorting out the sticks into two piles, one of sticks good enough to be used in crafting and one of sticks I would just get rid of when I heard a crunch behind me. I turned around to see Jay, stick in his mouth, with his eyes brighter than I had ever seen.
“G’mornin’ Jay! What’s… what’s up?” I asked tentatively. Jay let the stick drop as he began speaking.
“I love sticks! I love playing fetch! I… I’ve never really felt comfortable telling anyone, but after seeing how much you trust me, I think I can trust you. C’mon, c’mon! Throw another one!” Jay said joyously. I couldn’t help but giggle as I tossed a stick and watched Jay dart after it.
“This is a way better use of my time than spiraling. Jay?” I said, and Jay’s ears perked up.
“Yeah? What’s up?”
“Thank you so much… for just being there. You didn’t have to stay the night. I can’t imagine the floor is very comfortable.”
“Nuh uh, I did have to stay. I wasn’t gonna just leave you alone when you’re feeling like that. And besides! The floor was very comfortable, I may have to stay over more because that was the best sleep I’ve gotten in ages! If that’s okay with you, of course.”
“Jay, you can stay over whenever.” I said, tossing a stick. “Go fetch!”