Chapter Text
Four and X ran through the Playground through the night, laughing and tackling each other. Play fighting like this wasn't abnormal to them, and it felt really nice to get away from everything for the night. X kept running from Four, giggling as they did so. They found themself in the middle of the Playground, Four not in their sight. They checked their peripherals and seemed to lose sight of him, allowing them to stop and catch their breath.
“ What are you doing ?” One’s voice picked up again.
“Just messing around with Four,” X answered softly, their gasping breath in between. “I just need a break… I’ll get onto your deed eventually.”
“ You have such a perfect opportunity, you know that right? ”
“I can’t ditch him…”
“ Just real quick! ”
X sighed, getting up and looking to their right. “Fine, where do you want me to– Ah–!”
The yellow spirit yelped out as they were tackled to the ground, panically trying to shove the body off of them before looking up at it and seeing Four looking at them with a grin plastered on his face. X looked up at them with a shocked expression before slowly smiling and laughing out loud.
“You cheater!” They yelled out, playfully kicking him in the stomach. “You know I'm blind in my left eye!”
Four grunted out, his grin never leaving. “You should’ve done a better job at checking your left side then!”
He wrapped his arms around the variable and snuggled into them playfully despite X’s attempts of pushing him off. Four was giggling gently to himself as he did this, small grunts coming out of his mouth as X lightly hit him. They desperately squirmed, to which he didn't loosen his grip.
“You're not getting away from me that easily!” The blue integer laughed. “You'll have to try a lot harder than that!”
X frowned at him. “Get off of me!”
“Make me!”
They growled, quickly grabbing his face and kissing him gently to catch him off guard. It was quick, them pulling away before he could react. Four stared at them with wide eyes, X smirking and pushing him off of them as they stood up.
“Got you!”
Four smiled and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. “Oh, that was dirty!”
The variable gave a wicked smile. “What are you gonna do about it?”
He growled playfully and got up, stumbling on his feet as he lunged toward X. X yelped, turning to run again as Four chased after them. They laughed out into the night sky as Four sent out threats to them, playfully cursing out their name as they ran. X kept running until they saw a collection of petals on the ground, stopping as their eyes trailed across the plain. There was a small trail of petals that led into the woods, X squinting into the trees to see past them.
“ That’s your ticket, X. They moved me, my body. ”
X gasped as Four tackled them in a hug, giggling gently and spinning them around. They smiled gently, hugging him back and snickering.
“You fool! You let your guard down!” Four exclaimed, rubbing their cheeks together.
X giggled. “Yeah, yeah! I just… Look, doesn’t that seem a bit weird?”
The yellow spirit gestured to the scattered trail of flower petals (and small flowers, X noticed) that led into the woods. The integer hummed, squinting through the dark and looking at the flowers closely. He gently placed them down, crouching down and picking up a petal.
“These look like the flowers from the field that Two and Three spend their time in,” he pointed out.
X blinked. “Should we follow the trail into the woods?”
“What kind of question is that?” Four asked, standing up and turning to face them. “Of course we do!”
They both started following the trail into the woods, both of them keeping their heads down to keep an eye on the petals. It was a decently long trail, longer than X would’ve thought, and it actually started to tire the variable out. Maybe it was because they had already been running around, and it was partly their bad leg making them limp a bit, but they were relieved to see that the trail had ended and it led them to…
A neat, dirt mound that had an assortment of stones, certain ferns, flowers, and, most importantly, the headpiece that Two had worn after One had been attacked. Four eyed it with confusion and curiosity as X looked at it with a bit of shock, thinking of One’s words. They moved me, my body .
“What is this?” Four asked gently, crouching down and looking closely at the grave.
“They buried One’s body,” X answered in a soft voice. “They buried her and made her a little monument out here in the woods.”
They dropped to their knees, partly on the grave, and observed it closely. How deep was it? Should X grab a shovel? They lightly clawed at the dirt, small particles picking at their fingertips as they did so. They needed to do something to scratch this surface, to rid of the layer that separated them from One. A new desperation washed over them as they looked over the grave, their eyes trailing up to the headpiece. They pondered wearing it.
“Maybe you should get off of that, buddy,” Four suggested in a light tone. “You know, to respect our former higher-up?”
X looked over at the blue integer, nodding slightly and getting up. They looked away from the grave nervously.
“Weird that this is here all of a sudden… But it makes sense,” the blue integer kept muttering to themself. “Come on, X, let’s go.”
“Wait–!” X looked back and forth between the grave and Four. “You can go on ahead without me… I wanna stay here and, um, give One some blessings… You know?”
Four looked confused. “Are you sure you want to be in the woods alone?”
“I’ll be fine.”
He hummed in thought before nodding and turning. “I’ll meet you back at home.”
“ Vale !”
X watched as Four left, immediately turning back to the grave and crawling on top of it to look at it closely once he was out of sight. They grabbed One’s headpiece and held it up to their face. It looked almost perfect, and seemed as if it would’ve fit on their head just fine. They wondered why that coincidence occurred.
“ Callidus , my angel. That was a smart move for you.”
“ Gratias ,” X thanked breathlessly. “Am I on the right track?”
“ Indeed you are. I’ll be waiting for you .”
X took that as an invitation to start digging, desperately clawing at the dirt beneath them. They wished that they could have a shovel, but it was too late for that. It would be a slow process but it would get done at least. They panted like they were almost mad, and perhaps they were. One promised them she would get out of their head once they did what she pleased, and by Infinity were they sick of her bugging them over and over and over …
They saw the slightest bit of that deep blueish-purplish color that she was and smiled a bit. Almost there, they just had to get to the bottom of this… Eventually, they had uncovered enough to get a grip on her and pull her out of the grave. They climbed out with her rotting corpse in their arms, grunting and placing her on the surface as they pulled themself out. X looked over the body in anxiousness, quickly placing their hands on top of her and closing their eyes.
“Let me connect with you, One… Let me help you, let me bless you,” X cried out.
They felt themself melting, One’s body accepting their pleas and allowing them to connect with her. It wasn’t before long until they were met with the uncomfortable feeling of a cold chill wrapping around their body like a blanket, fluid starting to fill their lungs again.
The familiar abyss, they met again.