Chapter Text
Two Time felt the cool air nip their skin. They’d done it. They’d done what Amarah had been pressuring them to do sooner. Amarah had said that Azure would respawn, that he’d be okay. But it hadn’t happened yet. Maybe they needed to wait a little while longer. Yes, that must be the case. They would sit by his body until he respawned. Two Time sat cross-legged next to Azure’s body, waiting.
Time inched by and they felt themself getting hungrier and hungrier. They ignored the feeling and just kept waiting. They’d be here to surprise Azure when he respawned. They’d hug him and tell him how much they loved him. They’d tell him that Amarah was right and the spawn had found him worthy. But maybe the spawn didn’t. It had been two days. Thankfully a river flowed near Azure’s body so Two Time could drink. They felt themself getting weaker as the days slowly crawled past.
Two Time brushed Azure’s face which was pale, his freckles much more pronounced as the blood had drained from his head. It hurt Two Time to see their once kind and protective partner so sickly but they knew he’d get his former stature back once he respawned… if he respawned.
Two Time rested their head on Azure’s chest, they had kept his clothes neat and tidy but the nightshades in the field around them had clung to Azure’s body, his corpse feeding the desperate plants. At this point Two Time was too weak to even walk. They just stared hungrily at Azure. They were starting to think that he wouldn’t respawn. That he was really dead. That all this Spawn propaganda was a lie.
Another day passed and Two Time was desperate. Desperate people do desperate things. They weren’t proud of what they did next; they pulled the dagger out of their partner’s chest and stared at the chasm it had left, the blood on the dagger was dried. Two Time was so hungry. They couldn’t help themself. They dug their fingers into the hole, tearing at the flesh and peeling the skin off. They snaked their hand into his chest and pulled out the dying muscle, ignoring the maggots. They wolfed it down hungrily. Their stomach churned and they turned, vomiting on the ground beside them. They turned back to Azure’s body and devoured his flesh. This had been the first thing they’d eaten in weeks.
A few more days had passed and Two Time had refrained from eating more of Azure’s body because they didn’t want to disrespect him more than they already had. They had stopped eating entirely. They didn’t know how much longer they could wait. They were stuck. They couldn’t get to their feet and walk back to the camp now, they were too weak to. They could barely move their legs now.
Two Time felt the life seeping out of them. They had accepted that Azure wasn’t coming back. They were lying on their back in the nightshade field where they had sacrificed him. Two Time turned on their side and draped their arm over Azure’s corpse which had been completely covered with nightshades.
***
Two Time blinked, bleary eyed as though they’d just woken up from a long slumber. They saw a pale face with gray hair and what appeared to be a fedora, headphones and sunglasses covering their face. Two Time couldn’t recall a follower looking like this. They had come to their senses and realized that they were lying on their back in what appeared to be a large cabin. NOT the nightshade field. Maybe the Spawn was real, maybe this was the second life they were promised.. They propped themself up on their elbows and looked around after their vision had cleared. “They’re awake!” Shouted the person with the fedora. Two Time blinked a few times. “Where am I?” They asked. What appeared to be a person with a blue pumpkin for a head seemingly levitated towards them and shook his head. “Another lost soul, what a shame.” He said, a person wearing all black robes with yellow stripes on the seams and black markings on those stripes signed something to the pumpkin person. “Ugh, Taph, we aren’t forcing them into this next round, we must allow them to rest and recover. Elliot!” The pumpkin called. “Oh my- Dusekkar! We need to introduce everyone!” The fedora wearing person yelled. Two Time looked from one to the other. Taph signed something to them but they just shrugged. Taph seemed disappointed and hurried after the pumpkin- Dusekkar.
“To answer your question,” The gray haired person started, “Welcome to your eternal damnation!” They said cheerfully, thrusting a white shirt at Two Time that read ‘I was sent to eternal damnation and all I got was this lousy shirt’ Two Time raised an eyebrow. “...What?” They asked. “Chance, did we actually get another one?” Asked a yellow skinned person who walked in from another room. He was average height with long-ish yellow hair pulled back into a ponytail. He wore a red visor that matched his red button up shirt that he wore over a black long sleeve shirt. Two Time noticed the small freckles that flecked his cheeks and the bridge of his nose… just like Azure… “Oh, hey there.” He said, crouching down to meet Two Time’s level. He seemed kind, like Azure. “What’s your name?” He asked. Two Time was still too dumbfounded by the situation to answer. “Not much of a talker, eh? Well, I’m Elliot.” He said, offering a hand to Two Time. “I-I’m Two Time.” They stumbled over their words. This Elliot fellow reminded them of Azure. ‘Spawn, why must you tease me like this?’ Two Time thought, shaking Elliot’s hand. “Here, let me give you the grand tour.” Elliot said, smiling politely, maybe cheerfully?
After a few hours of explaining, Two Time finally understood. They weren’t very happy about their situation though.The shirt Chance had given them was a perfect canvas though. They had found paints in the cabin Elliot had showed them and they’d painted the Spawn’s holy symbol into it. Maybe it could bring Azure back. If not it could protect Two Time. They hung the shirt from the walls and looked around. It would take more than just one lousy symbol to bring Azure back. They reached instinctively for their belt and smiled manically when they felt their dagger there.
Elliot never tried to judge a new arrival by first impressions but this one, Two Time, seemed very jumpy and nervous. It was kind of… cute? It reminded him of a nervous cat. He was personally more of a dog person but he found cats wonderful too. He had shown them a cabin that had seemingly grown out of the ground just last night. Now he thought that he ought to check on them to see how they had settled in.
Elliot knocked on Two Time’s door, concerned when he heard scratching noises through the cedar door. He slipped his hand onto the handle and gripped it so hard that his knuckles turned white. He was honestly scared of Two Time, they had seemed a little wild during the tour Elliot had brought them on. He took a deep breath and turned the door handle.
Two Time whirled around, a wild look in their eyes. They were panting and their hair was messy and small cuts covered their arms, as though they’d just just crawled through every thorn bush in existence. The feral look in their eyes bore into Elliot’s scared eyes. A flash of fear sparked a fire in Two Time’s brain. ‘Am I a monster? Why is he scared?’ They looked back at the wall and noticed that they had carved Spawn symbols into every surface they could find… including their arms. What a vain attempt to bring Azure back.
Elliot tried to rush forward but refrained from doing so, as not to spook Two Time. He just quietly backed away, hand over his mouth. Two Time whipped their head back around. “Wait, I’m sorry. I probably scared you.” They said, Elliot nodded slowly, leaning against the door frame. “We all did at least one crazy thing when we first got here.” He shook his head and waved his hand dismissively. “It’s fine, you’re just trying to figure this out. It’s new to you.” He sighed and motioned to their arms. “But let’s keep ourselves from doing that.” He said. Two Time’s tail flicked anxiously. Elliot noticed it. “I just want you to not get weakness of something during a match.”
He said. It had been a couple days and Two Time had settled in for the most part. They still missed Azure and had carved portraits of him into their walls and desk. But for the most part they had accepted their fate. Rounds or matches against killers were unpleasant but they took Two Time’s mind off of their dead partner. None of the other survivors trusted them after hearing about what they had done. Everyone was scared of getting close to them. Two Time wished that they could understand. They would never hurt someone else they got close to, they couldn’t. They didn’t want to ponder that though. Elliot and 007n7 were the only people who didn’t completely ignore Two Time. 007n7 would pretend that he couldn’t hear them when around other survivors though. But TwoTime was used to this due to this being exactly how one of their friends had acted when they were kids.
Two Time strolled into the kitchen while the survivors chatted in the living room and spotted Elliot humming a familiar tune while making what appeared to be salad. Two Time snuck up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Elliot yelped and whirled around, letting out a breath of relief when he realized that it was just Two Time. “By all the gods, Two Time, don’t sneak up on me like that.” He chuckled, placing a hand on Two Time’s shoulder in a friendly manner.
Elliot smiled at Two Time as he caught his breath. God, they were cute. Maybe. Was Elliot just lonely? He ignored the feeling for now. The somersault and flip his heart did every time he saw them, the way he lost his ability to speak to them as though his words had flown away on a warm summer breeze. He wanted to wrap his arms around them and comfort them, tell them that everything would be okay and ask them about their problems and just listen, listen for hours and hours on end. He noticed that he had been staring at their eyes… their hypnotic black and silver eyes that appeared to reflect moonlight in an almost inhuman way. He shook his head as if trying to shake the thoughts out of his brain. Two Time just stared back.
Why was Elliot always looking at Two Time as if they had just crawled out of a story book and was a stunning gem? The mystery was puzzling Two Time and gave them a headache. Two Time simply stared back at Elliot as he gazed at them. They felt something deep within them stir, something that they thought had died along with Azure. Something that they thought had been drowned by their sadness. Or was it all their imagination? Chance burst into the room, ruining the moment, a panicked look on his face. “WE’RE UP AGAINST FUCKING GUEST666!!” They yelped. Two Time was jolted out of their trance and looked over. “Yes? Well, we’ll be able to survive, it is our job, after all.” They said.
Elliot felt something tear when Chance had burst in. He wished for the moment to just last one second longer. He would give anything for it to happen again. Then it hit him. He was head over heels for this crazy cultist, but he didn’t only see them as that, he saw them as someone more, someone who had been pressured into something they didn’t want to do. He saw their shattered heart, he saw them as a whole. Something told him that he’d do anything to protect them.
Two Time was the first to die, Guest666 had grabbed them by the throat and thrown them against a wall. They had laughed as their vision faded to black and all the feeling had poured out of them. They jolted awake once more in the main cabin on the couch and thought. They needed to be stealthier. They were too loud. A thump told them that someone else had died. They turned around to see Elliot who had a flustered look on his face.
“Greetings.” Two Time said, Elliot shook his head and stumbled towards the couch Two Time sat on. “Hey.” He said, sitting down next to them. He stretched and looked over at Two Time who was eyeing him suspiciously. He felt his cheeks getting hot. Chance was right, he was completely wrapped around Two Time’s finger. Shortly before Elliot had died he and Chance were conversing, Chance had brought up how they’d noticed how Elliot eyed Two Time and had pointed out that he was all for the strange person. “Elliot, dear friend, you’re staring again.” Elliot was thrown back into reality by Two Time’s voice. He felt flustered again.
Was Elliot blushing? He had been staring at Two Time an awful lot. They wondered why. This was somewhat similar to how Azure had acted before they were together but it was probably completely unrelated. Two Time shrugged it off and decided to test something. They scooted ever so slightly closer to Elliot.
Elliot felt his heart dance in his chest as Two Time scooted closer. He turned his head away in a vain attempt to hide the blush.
Two Time felt the same thing stir inside as before, but this time it wriggled into their chest and burrowed into their heart, making a nest out of the arteries that spread through their body. It was as if the thing was trying to regain control over them. They forced the feeling away. Elliot must truly be smitten for them. They just didn’t know if they felt the same.
Elliot was terrified. He must be the most obvious person alive. Chance materialized in front of the fireplace screaming. He stopped screaming and turned around. “Ohhhhh my Telamon.” They said, Elliot felt the blush returning to his cheeks. Two Time tilted their head. “What?” They asked. “You two are SO meant for each other.” Chance said, grinning, “Pardon?” Two Time asked, looking slightly uncomfortable. Elliot used every drop of self control to not hug the life out of them. They were so oblivious.
Gah, I'm lazy so timeskip . It had been a week or so afterwards and Two Time just felt the creature growing stronger, taking up their airways when Elliot smiled at them. It grabbed their heart when Elliot touched them, even just a brush of their hands. Every drop of physical contact and every word was stored in the creature’s collection, its library. It felt similar to how life felt when Two Time still had Azure. Thinking about him made Two Time guilty and regretful. They didn’t want to hurt him. They never did. Maybe Elliot was a gift from the Spawn? Maybe he was a reward? For doing as the Spawn had requested? Whatever the reason, Two Time could no longer ignore the feeling inside. It made Elliot fill their thoughts. They just couldn’t tell anyone because they never had anyone to talk to.
Elliot decided. Today was the day. He gathered his confidence and knocked on Two Time’s cabin door. They opened it. They were wearing long pajama pants with the Spawn symbol printed on them and a black tank top. Elliot blushed and opened his mouth but hesitated when he saw the grumpy look on their face. “What is it?” They asked. “Uhhhhhm, nevermind.”
“nooo, no no no, tell me !!” two time whined, grabbing Elliot’s shirt sleeve. he felt his heart flutter and he completely forgot what he was going to ask them as they held onto his shirt. he felt his cheeks turn red. “i-i forgot..” he said. two time groaned, “what the FUCK do you mean ‘you forgot??’” two time grabbed elliot’s shoulders and weakly attempted to shake him but just fell sleepily onto his chest. elliot felt himself blush more and he told his arms to prop them up but they wouldn’t obey. he sighed and two time pulled back on their own. elliot saw a light blush dust their cheeks. “well, uhm, i’m tired. i better head back to sleep.” two time said, waving their hand in the cool night air then turning back towards their cabin. elliot sighed, maybe another day.