Chapter Text
Scar opened his eyes, his first thought every time after he lost his red life.
What greeted him wasn't void, which would say he's dead, nor a sun in high noon, which would indicate a new life series. But instead, it was florescent lights, which indicated a whole new concept; limbo.
"What is going on here?" He asked the room as he sat up, the bed beneath him clean and made. It was the kind of room you'd see in a hotel, and he checked, there even was a complimentary chocolate under his pillow.
But why was he here? What was this place?
Questions he'd ask the moment he saw the others.
For now, he was wearing a beige, nearly white shirt and a tan shade of shorts, brown gloves and matching boots. He was fine with this attire— but not the shoes on the bed— so he exited the room.
He found himself in a corridor, walls a cool ginger color and floors, diorite tile, as opposed to the acorn brown colored carpet in his room. He took all of this in, as well as name plates on the wall beside each door to indicate the room number, and chose one direction of the corridor to move down.
"Hello?" He raised his voice as he slowly walked, confusion but peace as present as his shirt.
After only about 8 doors, the corridor opened into a lobby area, complete with front desks and everything. He heard a voice as a door shut, both behind him on the left.
"Scar?" Lizzie asked. "Oh! Lizzie ya startled me," Scar chuckled a bit to lighten the mood, "Sorry." Lizzie would apologize, shifting whete she stood.
"Oh good, I'm not the only one here." The two turned to see Grian emerge from black stained glass doors st the end of the lobby. "Grian!-" "Where are we?" Lizzie interrupted Scar, on accident, but Scar wanted to know that anyways.
"It looks like some sort of resort?" Even the blonde himself didn't seem too sure, the one who always knew what rules the newest life series had. "Do you remember anything either,"
"What do you mean?" Scar asked, lighthearted, as Lizzie would idly shuffle behind him. Grian stepped closer. "Well I remember third life, last life, double life, and limited life, but I feel there's something I'm missing."
"Me too." Lizzie openly admitted to the group, Scar just nodding because he had no idea what the thing they were all forgetting was, if it was a life series or something else.
But what else? Grian asked himself. Why couldn't they remember? And why didn't Grian have any base of information to go off of like every life series before? Was this a new life series, or something else? What else would it even be?
He subtly shook the thoughts from his main focus and attempted to excuse himself past the two, "We should wake up the others, see what's up."
Scar moved after a moment, and Lizzie closely followed Grian as he moved past him. "What do you think?"
Grian turned, perhaps overreacting, "I don't know!" He raised his voice, then realized himself and lowered his voice. "I don't know. I usually know exactly what's new, the rules, some grey areas, even, but not in this case.
"So it's not a new season." She said to herself, and Grian had a soft sigh of unknown emotion as he turned his attention to the nameplates on the door.
The first one on the right was Lizzie's, the nameplate told her username. On the left was Ren's. He knocked on the door before opening it. Ren jolted up in his bed at the sound, defensively barking before any thought.
He turned his head to the side in confusion. "Grian?" Lizzie peeked in the door behind Grian as he replied with full seriousness, "Do you remember anything past limited life?"
"..No, can't say I do." Mumbo would answer when he was asked the question. "Why?" Would be Gem's first response before thinking. In conlusion, no oen remembered what they had forgot, just that they forgot it.
Geminitay, the gold tinted nameplate read. Everyone knew who she was, but couldn't remember a single moment with her. Whatever everyone forget, it must contain her, and she must know, right?
After a long interrogation with most of the group, including being yelled at by Bdubs because of his excitable aka dramatic personality, and being questioned by Grian, who belived she had to know something, she was let go and accepted into the group, as they were friends at this point, and at any point.
Groups re-met, unburdened of any hardships they had done in the past seasons, as it always was when awaking in a new season. Defenses were set, resources were gathered, mojitos were made with the bar and tequila sunrises were drank on the beach at sunset, and Ren peed on some trees just outside the beach resort. That was bound to happen.
And eventually, they all sat on the clean sand surrounding a bonfire as the waves crashed only 10 meters (30~ feet) away. They all talked, laughed, joked, and tried to loosen up from this confusing scenario.
And at the end of the night, when eveyone was decently buzzed and/or full on s'mores, something appeared in their vision.
Dark green letters said What do you want to know? "That's new." Ren, almost nonchalantly said to himself. (After all, he was here for 2 months while everyone else wasn't.)
With this vision, Grian was bestowed a familiar feeling again. The one of knowledge that contested no other. He stood up, full faith always rested in the watchers, and walked to a shrine the group denoted when they passed it.
"Grian?" Scott asked as the letters were beginning to fade. "I know." Grian simply replied, immediately elaborating. "I know what to do, like always."
Scott, Bdubs and Etho were seemingly the only ones who were aware of the situation, the others unable to hear through their own jabbering.
Grian walked to the shrine and opened the previously empty book, which was still empty.
"What is it?" Scott peeked over his shoulder, though bdubs beat him to it. "It's nothin." Bdubs kindly raised his voice directly beside Grian's ear; he winced and closed the book.
The blonde turned to the three. "We write something here, press the button, then something happens."
"What?" Bdubs asked, and Grian said, "I don't know.. we learn it I guess." As he finished, most of the others rounded the corner, Pearl leading the charge.
Grian filled them in on how he only now has this knowledge (he doesn't really know), then asked them what they wanted to know.
After little discussion, the question the group wishes to ask was nearly entirely unanimous. Grian was the one writing in the book only because no one really cared, read te question aloud for everyone to agree, then sat it on the lectern.
He was hesitant. Could this be messed up?
"Ready?" His words nearly unsteady, Grian hovered over the button that he already hit the moment he found it, which is why the three were originally confused on it being able to do anything.
The answer was unanimous or the question was ignored, and Grian pressed the button once more.
Nothing happened.
At least, nothing happened immidatiely.
The words he had wrote on the page echoed in his mind in a normal way, and there was little discussion before everyone went to bed, including a scene where the cherrywood button was pressed relentlessly, as to try to force a reaction to happen. Even still, nothing happened.
The question, of course, the thing they most wanted to know right now, was What did we forget?
Asleep, he had a dream of his health getting lower and lower, his max health decreasing, and running from the red lives with Gem. They were beside a stone monument— the "Secret Keeper," it was called.
He was shot, and a lightning bolt loudly played to announce his defeat.
It was Pearl, and this was Secret Life. He remembered.
Scott woke up in a jolt, knowing how real this was, and holding the information and the memories close to his heart.