Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Y/N was curled up on their bed, the room around them covered in flames, the smoke clogged their throat as they instinctively took deep breaths in an attempt to get clean air into their lungs to survive, only causing themselves to inhale more smoke, making them cough. The threat of the fire consuming them whole caused them to back into the wall, the heat felt suffocating, like a blanket of pure pain that was there to torture and consume everything in it's wake, tears poured down their cheeks, making their vision blurry, they were screaming for help, yet they knew it was pointless, the nearest fire station would be 2 hours away, they'd be dead by then. The straining on their throat caused their voice to gradually loose it's power, now just coughing and trying to scream as the flames started spreading onto their bedsheets, the fire spreading quickly, the flames started consuming their legs, the pain unbearable, they started crying more, gripping their sheets, knuckles white, the only sounds being emitted from their throat being low gasps and moans of pure pain.

The fire was quick to spread, they curled up into a ball and just cried as the fire fully consumed their body, their last thought being: 'Why..?' as they dozed off into their eternal slumber.

...

Y/N opened their eyes, standing in what looked like a void seeing a blonde boy, they walked over, the boy's eyes weren't visible, they stepped closer trying to see his eyes. "Wake up dumbass." The boy grumbled, flicking their forehead, they jolted awake, their eyes staring directly at a tree, their legs hurt. "I fell asleep outside?..." Their voice was raspy, they stroked their throat clinking it, they sat up and just stared, infront of them were the remains of their house, it had crumbled, the remains were charcoal black, the ground under too, the only reason they knew it was their house it was because they could see the house right across the street, the firefighters and cops were at the scene. They slumped, feeling utterly hopeless, looking down at themselves and they felt like throwing up, their legs looked burned and a semi transparent color. "No, no, no..." Y/N mumbled, looking up and staring right at them was a firefighter, she looked pale, they quickly stood up, stumbling backward, turning around and just running. 'Maybe Ruby might know what the hell is going on?... Please do...'

After running for so long Y/N finally stopped at Ruby's house. "I can't enter through the front door..." So they tried sneaking through her window, their body fazing through it easily, finding her playing on her N64, her back turned to them, her dirty blonde hair tied up into a bun, having a tank top on and some shorts on, her skin coated in a later of sweat 'Why is she sweating so much??' Y/N approached and something felt.. off, like there was something, or worst yet, someone else present...

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Y/N looked at the screen, seeing one of the Zelda games on, it looked weird, but they were certain that's from where the feeling came from, feeling.. looked at? A weird mix of feelings spread across their chest, one was pure and utter emptiness, like a great sadness, just worse, hopelessness, and the other one.. well, that one was tricky, it was something they remembered, it was a feeling of.. curiosity? Remembrance. A feeling that they knew something related to this, yet they couldn't pinpoint what, eitherway they couldn't seem to take their eyes off of the screen, the weird glitched looking game being played by Ruby feeling like a magnet for their attention, after a few weird jumpscare's and a weird sounding song looping for like the 60th time, Ruby's breathing had quickened and her body shook as if she were in the verge of tears, then after a weird death scene she got to the home screen and with shaky hands quickly unplugged her N64, the 12 year old curled up and continued gasping for air, her body trembling as tears rolled down her cheeks. 'Shit, panic attack.' Y/N though, fully forgetting the reason they were there in the first place, just concentrated on comforting their friend.

They knew Ruby was always an anxious kid, so they started breathing loudly, inhaling and counting out loud for 4 seconds before exhaling, for Ruby to follow. Ruby looked up, still gasping for air, seeing the outline of her friend through her blurry gaze, she pressed her eyes closed and through jagged breaths inhaled, listening to her friend's raspy voice count to 4 before she exhaled, repeating the exercise as many times as needed before calming down opening her eyes, blinking away the tears, looking at her friend and... "Oh... God. Oh God..." Ruby dragged herself back, her eyes widening. "What the fuck?!" Y/N defensively raised their hands beside their face at Ruby's shout, Ruby took a minute before quickly raising her hand to cover her face as she quickly stood up and ran towards her desk's trashcan emptying her stomach contents into it, gurgling and splashing sounds filling her small room. "Hey, leave room for me!" Y/N joked, letting out a low chuckle before realizing WHY Ruby was vomiting. "Oooh, fuck-"

(After Ruby vomited like 3 more times, calmed the hell down and Y/N gave a recap...)

Ruby and Y/N were now sitting on Ruby's bed, the feeling of being watched still slightly present. Ruby's hands were pressed together and up to her lips. "Now, with my stomach empty, let me see if I get this straight... Which I'm not." She inhaled deeply while slowly lowering her hands, pointing the tips of her fingers towards Y/N. "You're FUCKING DEAD?!?" She raised her voice, sounding so confused, then she stopped, seemingly getting an idea. "Wait, I want to try something..." Ruby raised her hand and slowly lowered it, it going through Y/N's head, the feeling to them being soft and slightly tickley, her stopping her hand at their chest, her eyes moving from her hand to their face, it just being blank. "Ofcourse you'd do that..." Y/N mumbled, Ruby wiggled her fingers. "Do you feel that?" She asked curiously. They sighed and nodded. "Ofcourse I do, dumbass."

Ruby laid on her chest, humming in though. "Can you turn solid?" "The fuck?" Y/N responded, confused as to her choice of words. "Turn solid, like a form I can touch or something?" She asked, swatting at Y/N's body, fazing through them. "No clue, let's see..." They threw themselves on Ruby's bed, raising their hand towards the ceiling, closing their eyes and trying to concentrate, feeling tingling on their fingers. "You did it!!" Ruby squealed, Y/N felt their other hand being squeezed, they opened their eyes, looking directly at their no longer translucent skin, a small smile growing on their face, their arm plopping back onto the bed, they turned their head to see Ruby, seeing her happily playing with their hand, squeezing and moving their fingers.

'Why won't that feeling leave??'

"Another?" A frown appeared on his face.

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Y/N though for a bit before speaking. "So, the hell happened with that thing?" They asked, pointing at the dark screen of the unplugged TV, making Ruby stop and look up at their hand, following their finger towards the TV, she let out a low grumble. "Some weirdo was selling 'Majora's Mask' at a pretty decent price, the thing started acting weird.. glitching and the music was so.. weird and loud, and that fucking statue of Link follows Link everywhere, it's so.. weird, I'm not- I'm not playing it again." Y/N listened intently, their brows furrowing. "Shit... You think it's haunted?" They asked, a hint of mischief in their voice. "Well, if ghosts are a thing, who the hell even knows what's going on with that? I don't even want to know!" Ruby lifted her hands slightly, rolling onto her back. "God, if it's possessed by a girl she's mine." She said half jokingly. "Sure take her, I don't care." Y/N shrugged. "You can have them if they're an enby or a.. boy!" Ruby shouted the last part before jumping up and tickling them, Y/N, startled by the sudden surprise attack quickly shifted to their ghost form. "Oh, come on!!" Ruby exclaimed through snorted laughter, her body sinking into her friend. "Psh, cheater..." She mumbled, dropping herself beside her friend, both staring at the sky painted ceiling, both giggling like the dumbasses they were. "Have you had weird dreams lately?" Ruby asked through small pants, turning her head, her light hair falling over her eyes slightly, Y/N turned their head to face her, their E/C eyes meeting her brown ones. "Yeah, of a random ass blonde boy with unseen eyes." "Lucky bitch, mine have only been nightmares..." Ruby shuddered at the thought of those dreams, that pain, the needle pricking her skin, going through over, and over, and over, being unable to talk, much less scream. "Damn, I wish I were high right now..." Y/N said turning their head to face up again, making Ruby so confused. "I'm too tired for this shit..." She grumbled, pressing her eyes shut.

'I love this dumbass' Was Ruby's last thought before drifting into slumber.

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Y/N had been staying with Ruby for a while, being kept hidden from her parents. They would chat with eachother about anything and just hang out, checking out what other cool stuff Y/N could do.

Ruby grumbled and pulling her blanket over herself as her alarm clock went off, only the sound of her mom yelling her name made her groggily stand up, gathering her clothes and towel and walking lazily to the bathroom. When she got out she was dressed in the school uniform, a short sleeved red shirt and a knee long grey skirt, towel wrapped around her damp hair, she walked into her room and over to Y/N, who was just sleeping on the beanbag beside her bed, kissing their forehead, before putting on her long white socks and black school shoes, she then took the towel off of her head and brushed her hair, taking a bit to take some annoying knots out and then tying half her hair up. She walked down to the kitchen, serving herself breakfast and stuffing her mouth with cereal, every once in a while a piece would get stuck in-between her braces, her tongue fighting to get it out, her mother hurriedly prepared her lunch, packing her bag as she hurried to her bathroom, brushing her teeth as quickly as possible before running to her room, peaking her head in to see her bestfriend, Y/N, who was now just looking through her closet. "Be back soon, love ya', if ya' want to use somethin' then do it, none of my newer clothes though!" She waved before being called by her mother, then as quickly as she came she left, grabbing her cream colored coat from the coat rack and sliding on her bag before running out the door and into the school bus.

Meanwhile Y/N was looking through Ruby's closet for something to wear, since the sleeping clothes they'd been wearing brought back some shitty memories they'd rather forget. They pulled out the least girly clothing they could find: black skinny jeans, a f/c long sleeved button up shirt, a f/c and white hat and a white tanktop. They put it all on, even though it was slightly loose, to hide the burns, the only thing missing were some shoes, so they searched and found some old boots of Ruby from last year, they checked the size, perfect, put them on and thankfully they weren't too big nor squeezed anything, they walked over to the TV and took a few steps back, using it as a mirror. "Look like a lesbian tomboy, but that works I guess..." They mumbled to themselves. "Do these even work if I try to..?" They shifted to their ghost form and thankfully nothing fell off, then they walked to the bedroom window and tried their fazing through, once again, nothing fell off. "Good." Y/N pulled back inside, looking at the sleeping clothes they once wore with the comfort of love and warmth, but now were just a constant reminder of what they lost and now long for, their eyes watered. "It's fine, don't be weak." They scolded themselves, taking a deep breath and drying away their tears. "Great now my mood is ruined..." Y/N grumbled with a scowl.

Walking over to the TV, trying to distract themselves, they connected it, the screen lighting up to the saved games of the N64, they grabbed the controller. "What will hurt if I play a bit?" They started playing a new game, to not confuse Ruby, who had her character as Link, they put Y/N as the name of the character, they started playing, everything was mostly normal, except for this little detail, the characters they talked to would sometimes use the name Ben on them, they ignored it. 'Probably a glitch since Ruby got it for so cheap or something...' they continued playing and then the screen, and everything in the room went dark, literally, all the lights went out. "Are you fucking kidding-?!" Y/N got cut off as the TV screen started producing glitched static and out of the TV came a hand, grabbing the edge of the TV and then another hand, pulling out, the head and upper body of a blonde boy peaked out, eyes black with small red pupils what looked like blood poured out of his eyes and down his cheeks. "Boo." He said, a mischievous grin spreading across his lips. "Nope." Y/N threw the controller out of reflex, hitting the boy straight on the face. "Oww, you bitch!" He cursed, using one of his hands to cover his nose, where the most impact was delivered. Y/N took the opportunity and stood up, grabbing the nearest thing, the coat hangers that once held the clothes they were wearing, getting in a position to throw. When the blonde boy looked up he frowned. "You're not the anxiety ball... Damn it."

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Y/N had lifted their arm in a offensive position, glaring down at the blonde. "Your name." They demanded, ready to throw the hangers at him. "Ben." Responded the boy coldly. 'Ben? Where have I hear that before?' They thought, their mind racing, wondering where the hell did they hear that- until they were pulled out of their thoughts when they felt a small breeze hit their face, Ben had pulled himself out of the TV and floated over, lifting Y/N's hat to look closely at their face, it being barely illuminated by the static from the TV. "Damn, you look like shit. Less burnt than Jeff though." Y/N, totally startled, swung their arm down, hitting Ben on the head with the hangers. Ben, on impact, hissed, letting go of the hat and floating backwards, the hat falling backwards and onto the floor behind Y/N. "Are you kidding me?!" He yelled, covering his head with his hands, his expression a scowl.

"Don't. Touch. Me." They hissed, their breath hitching. "Your already dead you dumbass." He grumbled. Then a creek came from outside of the bedroom door. "Shit." Y/N mumbled, turning their eyes to the door, seeing a faint light peaking from under the door, slowly turning brighter with each step- a flashlight. They quickly grabbed Ben by the leg and pulled him into the closet, shutting the closet door, then the door of Ruby's room creaked open. "Did Ruby leave something on?" Ruby's mom wondered to herself as she entered, flashing the flashlight in her hand around, she walked over to the bedroom window and opened it, letting the sun light enter into the room. Ben tried to pull his leg out of their grip. "Let me go!" He whispered aggressively, they put their free hand over Ben's mouth, trying to shut him up, Ben glared down at the other ghost. After some time, Ruby's mom left the room, Y/N kept inside the closet until they saw the small amount of light from under the door disappear. Y/N opened the door and let go of Ben, them noticing the hat that had fallen off of their head on the floor. Relief washed over them since Ruby's mom didn't seem to notice it, they walked over and picked it up, putting it back on. "You're strong for a girl." Ben grumbled. "I'm not a girl." They turned to look at Ben, him floating around in the closet. He looked them up and down, raising a brow. "Soo, you're a boy?" He asked. "I'm non-binary." Y/N responded, adjusting their hat, feeling slightly dysphoric. "Oh, ok." Ben shrugged. "What's your name?" He asked, pulling himself out of the closet. "None of your business." They responded, still untrusting of him. "Ouch." Ben put a hand to his chest, leaning back dramatically, a smile spreading across his lips. "Y/N." They responded, trying to calm down. "Cute." He chuckled, the lights sparking and coming back on.

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Ben floated close, fully invading Y/N's personal space, he grinned widely. "I'm glad to see another ghost my age around here, want to be friends?" His voice was light, not really taking his words seriously, he stretched out his hand for them to shake. "Uh... Sure, I guess..?" They were about to shake his hand when he quickly moved it and flicked their forehead instead. Right then it clicked for them 'Wait.. this is the guy from the game, same game which gave my best friend a panic attack...' Y/N froze, anger bubbling to the surface under the realization. "You were the one to make my best friend cry." They jabbed a finger into his chest, fully ready to cuss him out. "Woah, wait, that's my job!" Ben lifted his hands up defensively. "What do you mean your job?" "It's none of your business, Y/N." He spat back defensively, swatting their hand away. "Urgh! Just don't hurt Ruby." They hissed back, a deep scowl on their face. "Fine!" Ben grumbled with an attitude. "No. Swear on it." Y/N was firm with that statement. "... I swear, I will do whatever I want to that crybaby." Y/N ran over to the console and tugged the cartridge out of it. "I'm going to smash this thing if you don't swear it." His eyes widened seeing the object in their hand. "Fine, fine. I, Ben, swear I won't hurt Ruby." His voice dripped with condescension and annoyance. "Good." They slid the little grey box back into the console.

Right then the lights flickered back on and the quick footsteps of someone were heard making their way to the room, the door slammed open and Ruby barged in, closing the door behind herself. "Hey, Y/N, I have to tell ya'-!" Her enthusiasm died immediately at the sight of the other ghost, her face turning pale. "So.. a-another one..?" She mumbled, Ben looked startled, eyes wide like a deer in headlights at the sight of Ruby. He pointed at Y/N. "I'm here because of them." Their head snapped to look at him. "You bitch." They looked betrayed, brows furrowed deeply. "Is it staying here?" Ruby spoke up, her voice trembled. "'He' and no." Ben corrected, using the hand he pointed at Y/N with to grab the rim of their hat and tug it down over their eyes. "Bye, suckers!" He waved and slid back into the TV. "So.. who was that?" Y/N lifted the hat to be able to see Ruby. "Ben." "The guy from the game?" "The guy from the game."