Chapter Text
It has been a while since TPOT had ended. A while since One had been banished again for the first time in 16 years.
And hopefully, the last time.
That day was as traumatic as the day One was banished the first time around. Just like the algebraliens left in a daze surrounded by the mangled corpses of new-found friends and loved ones, and the crumbs of their home, One was destined to float in the cold void of space, unconscious, for eternity. Letting the vacuum of space float to wherever it desires to bring her to.
Since that day.. the day One was banished to space, nobody dared to think of her. No one grieved her selfish and evil actions against the objects and the numbers.
No one dared to grieve their soul. She was gone for as long as time flies.
--
It was suppose to be the end of their story.
There was no more life to live for her. There was no more give. She had nothing left, only the friend that was space itself. And her imagination that kept her busy for 2 years. Her mind was limited, but she didn't let that stop her. She used it to repress everything that had happened within these last few years. And they went back and indulged in her childhood. They dreamed of them with Three, Two, Seven.. everyone... playing endlessly in her own world full of child-like wonder. It was ideal to her. To forget her sins and to think of what could have been. What should have been.
She could finally live in peace with her fake friends, forever stuck in an idealized dream for decades to come. They can run their adventures over and over again. A never-ending childhood, just for her. Space had other plans however, and drifted her path.
--
9 : 54 PM. The hotel.
A couple rooms glow with light in the tall, gray hotel laying in the grasslands. The fields were silent, the wind lightly blowing the green trees, rustling their leaves.
Up atop the hotel, Two sat by the bathrooms as they quietly watched the stars, shivering from the brisk cold air. They just wanted some quiet time from how overstimulating the guests (residents?) are. Living day to day has become quite the hassle for them. Simply preparing lunch for themself became a chore.
Despite everything being perfect again, Gaty and Four are back, TPOT has concluded, the algebraliens are reunited again, and.. they're.. gone, they can't rub off this depression. They have a lack of desire to do anything in their life now. While they do feel grateful for their peaceful life, and their wonderful friends, they can't help but feel guilty and blame themself for everything that had happened. It was their fault Gaty was kidnapped. It was their fault that the contestants disappeared, it was their fault that Four got trapped in the moon. It was their fault. Their fault. THEIR FAULT. All their fault...
Their head started to spin and their thoughts becoming uncontrollable, they forced themself to snap out of it to the best of their own abilities, and they looked up to the sky for guidance. The dim stars twinkled the best they could, giving Two a little bit of encouragement.
Suddenly, a streak of light came and went across the sky. Then another. And then another. And then a whole dozen.
It was a meteor shower.
Their eyes glowed with excitement and joy as they watched each star fly across the sky effortlessly. One streak after another, like they were taking turns showing Two their beauty. They had an idea come and pass by in their head, and they thought about it for a moment. They had been feeling a bit down lately, so they decide to just give it a try.
They clap their hands together, closed their eyes, and makes a wish. "I wish... for something..." They pause for just a moment, unsure of what to say. They quickly add onto the wish without a second thought:
"...cute."
They look back up to the sky, now thinking about how childish they just were. But they go from feeling a little embarrassed to feeling a bit happy and relaxed, and free, even. They slowly got up and walked to the stairs as the meteor shower came to an end. However, they paused and looked back for just a couple of seconds. They smiled at the sky, but suddenly, one last streak came across the sky. And this time, it was bigger than the rest.
Two watched it go across the sky, only for it to sink lower, and lower... towards the earth.
Their eyes widen.
--
CRASH.
An enormous splash disturbs the waters in the Goiky Canal, now holding an unwanted visitor all the way from space. Someone who was supposed to be gone for good. She sinks deep into canal, still unconscious, water filling her lungs quickly. But they do not struggle. They do not budge. The freezing waters guide them softly, drifting her with care.
After a lot of stalling with the current, she finally surfaces face first on the sand, with the waves coming back and forth, as if they were trying to wake her up.
--
2 : 42 PM. Many hours after the crash.
The fan was the only sound in the room, making its whirling sound over and over.
Although outside the hotel room was a different story. There was a lot of muffled bickering, arguing, and snappy conversation between guests and the hosts alike. The rumor that One was back had spread like an unforgiving wildfire earlier that morning. It was an absolute shitshow, and the algebraliens were desperately trying to get everyone under control.
Meanwhile, the number at the center of these rumors was sleeping.. relatively uncomfortably for the first time in a long while. The water in her lungs swished as she turned and tossed in her slumber, before she started to cough it all up violently. Her eternal dream began to fade away. She hacked and gagged, gasping for air, all while still asleep. Her unconsciousness slipped, barely keeping her from awakening from their fate, their curse.
Suddenly, a click snaps through the room, breaking the silence.
"She's right here," Two says quietly, leading Four, X, and Six into the room. They quickly shut the door behind them. "I found her yesterday evening, washed ashore by the canal. She looked so pale and soulless... but they still had a pulse."
"Are you sure she's still sleeping?" X replied with worry.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Bu-"
Suddenly, the slumbering number started to cough up water in a matter of seconds, before returning to their sleep.
"Oookay... I haven't seen them do that before."
Four only looked back at Two with annoyance. "Simple fix. We just take the water out of her lungs and banish her back to space." Two looked uneasy with Four's idea, despite it being the most ideal for everyone in this very hotel. Six looked towards Four. "I second that." Two frowned in response as they looked back towards One. They never thought they would have pity on someone that took away their best friend and almost everything in their life. Why were they having these thoughts? They should be banishing her back to space alongside the other numbers! She deserves to continue living her OWN hell for causing them pain and suffering all those years ago.
But they cannot help but feel horrible about it.
"Someone hold her mouth open. I'm going to lead the water out of her lungs and through her mouth." Four commanded as his blue power surrounds his left hand. X nods as he quickly, yet carefully, walks towards One along with Four, Six following after them. Two stays back, watching from afar, conflicted. "Two, you don't need to be here if you don't want to be," The teal number turned back to them. "No, no.. it's okay. I'll stay here." They said with unease towards Six. They look back, concerned from their response, only to turn right back towards One.
Four's power began to glow a bright blue as he walked towards One. X used his own powers to open up One's mouth.
Two nervously taps their fingers together, wanting to look away, leave the room even. But their legs refused to move as Four carefully guides handfuls of water out of One's mouth. It was a mildly disgusting site to look at, but honestly, they've seen much worse.
Four had to be careful to not cause any gagging or gasping, which is easier said than done. Every couple of seconds, she coughed up the water dragged out of her, before gasping for air yet again, like her lungs were crying. Each time she struggled or made a peep, the room goes silent. And that silence was painful and long, like watching a bomb tick.
"A little more.." Four whispered as he carefully scooped up more water out of her mouth. "Almost there.." The room became even more tense and anxious. Everyone fell silent as Four was getting the last bit of water out of her, to prevent her eternal sleep from being disturbed.
BANG
CRASH!
Everyone was startled out of focus, including Four. They looked towards the door real quick, before the number recognized his fatal mistake.
Two, not quite noticing the situation, quickly went outside the room and speed walked down the stairs all the way from the 3rd floor to the lobby.
--
"What in the world is going on down here?"
Eight looks back towards the stairs, while holding a constrained Pillow who was mocking Fanny at the moment. That seems to be the source of the noise. "Oh, hey Two." Seven walks up to the frustrated fan as Ten gives Two an update while separating Basketball and Snowball with a distraught Grassy on his head. "We're still playing peacemaker down here, Two. We've been at this all day and we don't have much strength to give anymore!" "The energy from these guys are endless, I swear," Seven comments as Fanny looks at Ten with a grumpy face.
In the crowd, a familiar wooden periwinkle object emerges and walks towards the red staircase. "Two, any updates on what's going on up there?" She asks with confusion. "Uhm.." They look away, hand on their chin, unsure of what they can say. Gaty continues to stare at them with a serious expression, expecting an answer. If they don't give an update, hell will still rage on in the hotel the entire day.
Suddenly, a familiar light blue number rushed down a couple steps of stairs, stopping right above them.
"Two."
They turn to look behind them.
--
A couple minutes earlier...
Six watches Two slam the door behind them, before noticing what was happening right next to her. Four watches in panic and aggravation as One begins to violently hurl, squinting her already closed eyes in pain. After a full minute of struggling against her own body, her fate turned for the worse.
Her eyes flung wide open, as Four and X finally release their powers out of shock. Before anybody could even react, She quickly tossed to her side and puked out the last bit of water, finally putting her innards to rest.
She flops onto her back, as the other numbers step away, except for Four. Her eyes are nearly shut, but yet still barely open. Four hovers above her body, but she does not react. "Is she asleep again?" Six askes while walking towards her. "She probably can't comprehend her surroundings, after all they have been asleep for 2 years." The little yellow variable replies. "That didn't fully answer my question, but okay."
Four walks away towards the door. "Where the heck are you going, Four?" She said with an attitude. "Bringing Two back here, and probably the others as well." He said with a low voice, not even turning back towards Six, before shutting the door. X just shrugs towards them, before looking back at the drowsy number behind them.
--
"Two."
They turn towards them. "Four?" "You need to come back upstairs, now." The numbers look up at Four. Some in shock, anger, and fear. "I'm coming with." "Gat-" Before Four could decline Gaty's request, Two stops him in their tracks. "No, she knows how to deal with her. I trust her." Four sighs as he motions the other algebraliens and tagging-along object to follow him upstairs. Some stayed behind as others followed him to the 3rd floor. For the first time in hours, the lobby was mostly quiet, as the objects whispered and chattered among themselves in groups, theorizing on what could be happening.
--
One flutters their eyes open, completely dazed and confused. They couldn't open their eyes all the way. She started to become more aware of her surroundings, hearing the vibrating hums of the fan and muffled talking from some brightly colored silhouettes just in the corner of her view. It was all blurry, and it made her nauseous.
They couldn't think a single thought, and could only observe. Where did her playground go? Where are her friends? Where was her friend, space, who was supposed to be drifting her across the stars on a never-ending journey? She was then hit with the sudden realization that she was no longer floating effortlessly. She couldn't move a muscle no matter how much she yelled at her body to move. Her head began to pound. Everything started to hurt. But on the outside, no motion, no reaction, nothing came from her. She was suffering quietly, powerless and paralyzed on the hotel bed as she watched the blurry yellow door open.
More colorful characters of many shapes walked in. A lime green figured held the door open, as a very short lavender object walked through. Then came another purple blur, following after them was a blue one, then finally a black one. She didn't put two and two together until they got closer.
Once they were lined around the bed she rested upon, the blurry shapes became more recognizable. Her mind started to wake up again, and tried to remember what happened and who she truly was.
But before it could go too far, she quickly repressed her thoughts, and only looked for the basics in her headspace. The group began to listen in on the blue character who was speaking, and she recognized them as.. Four. She decided to ignore their presence as soon as she recognized them.
She then noticed the lavender shape, who had some clear spikes at the top of them. They were obviously much more smaller than the rest of the group, only being at leg height with them. It was Gaty, the loyal and brave gate. She is a daydreamer and loses herself in her own thoughts, but she finds a lot of good ideas up there.
Then her brain noticed the other purple silhouette in the room. It took them a minute, but they knew it was Five. Like Gaty, they have a sense of justice and order. They make sure things are done right, while holding their friends deep in their heart.
They eyed some of the others surrounding them, not moving her pupils an inch. But someone, all the way by the nightstand, caught her eyes. They were very brightly colored, standing out like a sore thumb. They were a lime green, but that's all they could make out. Was it Two? It probably was.
She wanted to double-check, and tried to forced herself to move, but she stayed as still as stone. They had to do this another way, and decided to calm herself down, and fixated on her mind. She closed her eyes... and began to focus. It only felt like a couple of moments, but when she opened them again, the room was dark, and the group was gone. Hours had passed into the evening. She fell asleep without even knowing she did.
...It was probably a waste of her time, anyways. Maybe...
The only light that filled the room was the orange light creeping through the closed blinds, and the yellow light that emitted from the hallway through the bottom crack on the hotel room door. She watched as people walked pass her doorway for a couple hours, some stopping and looking for a while. Some in groups, others alone. Some algebraliens, some objects. Some of them left on their own, others had to be shooed away by someone else. Why were they so interested in her?
By the time she looked away from the door, the orange light was completely gone and her room was pitch black. Their room became more recognizable and not a blurry mess. They started to gain more of their senses and thoughts back the darker it was.
Darkness never disturbed them. It was more like a cure than a curse.
..By this point, the more their brain became active, the more she wanted to move, to get up. To stretch and yawn. To run.
She started to remember what happened. They could still be a threat. They probably want her gone. Actually, they probably want her dead at this point for just coming back to Earth.
But if they wanted her gone, why did they keep them here? She would've been gone hours ago if they wanted her out. Why did they bring her here in the first place? What kind of plot is this? Why did they keep her here, safe?
She was drowning in her own thoughts and "what if's" and "whys." [I.. just want calm, just calm, no more thoughts.] She reasoned with her own mind, trying to find peace within her thoughts.
She looks back towards the door. Someone was there, and had been for a couple of minutes now. When did they get there..? They were tired of observing, and honed in on her mind. They closed their eyes again... only to be quickly disturbed by the door unlocking. One kept their eyes shut, and listened closely.
The door closed lightly behind the unknown visitor. Their steps were light, but in the quiet room it was like landmines going off every time they made a step. One tried to keep track of their steps and where they were in the room. But suddenly, they could already feel a presence looming right over them.
Was it Four or X, coming to banish her back to an eternal sleep and shoot off to space for good this time? It seems her luck finally dwindled down, and as soon as she arrived here by mistake, she was off again, never to return. This was that moment. At least in her interpretation.
But, instead, she heard the figure walk away, going to the other side of the room to pick something up. It sounded a little heavy. They walked back to her bed, and put down the object. It scootched across the floor, making that annoying sound, revealing it to be a tall stool of some sort. The sound caused the figure to pause for a couple of seconds, before carefully plopping down on the stood, right next to her. One made sure to stay very, very still. To make her act even more convincing, she slowed her breathing and relaxed her muscles.. at least to the best of her abilities. She was still tense, and hoped that her act was convincing enough. They just wanted to be left alone, as they had nothing else to live for. It was incredibly rare for them to want loneliness. But she felt it would make her safe if she was alone for good. But she wouldn't be actually alone, she would have her friends in her head full of adventures. Those friends would never betray her, never outcast her, never leave her side.
Never ever.
But before she could indulge back in her idealistic world, the unwanted visitor loomed over her again, and finally made their presence known.
"I.. don't know if you're back in your sleep again, but.." It was Two. And they were struggling to put out their words. "I, uh, stopped them from sending you off again, at least temporarily." [What?] "I don't know what came over me, you caused me so much grief, I missed a whole year of living my life because of you. You deserve to stay far away from this place. I never wanted to see your face again." "...But I just.. stopped Four. ..Without even thinking about it! And I don't know why, and I'm so angry at myself." [You... are an idiot.]
One suddenly flickered her eyes half-open subconsciously. She didn't mean to, but her mind did so anyways. She saw Two looking towards the door, with a frustrated yet conflicted look on their face. They were completely lost in their own thoughts. Even after all this time, They were still the little emotional Two she knew. But they weren't being avoidant this time around.
"As I said, I held them off, but... they seem insistent on sending you away." Two mumbled. "I feel like I'm the only one who decided to keep you here. I mean, I can't blame them. I want you gone too, but something is stopping me, and I hate that." [People hating me? Yeah and the moon is gray. Old news, Two.] "Ugh, I'm just talking to myself at this point. Even if you were awake, well.. same story. You wouldn't care to listen, even if it this is about you."
Two stared back into space again. "I don- What the- m-MMMOTHER OF INFINITY!" Two slipped out of their seat and nearly fell butt-first on the ground, unintentionally scaring One and making her heart drop. Despite the scare, she still couldn't move, only flinch and widen her eyes. But it was a start to moving her body again. They just stared at each other, making eye contact for what seemed like forever, before it became less frightening and more awkward as they calmed down. Two finally broke the eye contact and picked up the stool while muttering something that she couldn't quite catch.
"It's... uh, been a while. I didn't wake you up, did I?" They looked back at her. She tried to respond, but her mouth did not move. Her throat burned and didn't make a single peep. She did not respond to them, because she couldn't respond in the first place. "Um.. are you here with me? You uh.. alive there?" They kept stuttering over and over. The next best thing she could do was move her pupils and blink to show she was there, listening, and not just an empty husk. "I'm.. going to take that as a yes, I guess?"
She finally smiled, though she half-assed it. Two noticed this, but didn't smile back. She didn't care about it, as it was meant as a response, not a friendly remark. The door clicked again, with One internally grumbling. Great, more visitors.
The blinding, yellow light filled the room, but it didn't bother the lime integer, unlike the other one in the room. "Two? I heard some yelling downstairs, is everything okay in here-" The small variable turned their focus to One, who was staring at them. Two looked at One before redirecting their attention to X again.
"She's awake, and for real this time."
X looked at Two in disbelief, but his expression quickly changed to concern. He shut the door behind him and walked on over to her bed as he had already done many times before today.
Two held their own hands behind their back as X approached the integer. She only stared and blinked, unable to do much.
"One?"
Two looked back at their yellow friend, and made a quick explanation to him. "I.. don't think she can talk right now. Or move, for that matter." He looked back towards One. "She has only made slight facial expressions at me, and that's about it." X nodded in response, thinking to himself. "So she really is awake, and earlier wasn't some sort of temporary.. woken state from her forever-nap, if that makes sense."
The room was quiet yet again, and One just wanted the silence to end already for the last damn time. "What do we do now?" Two asked. X quickly responded, "We let her rest. We will decide tomorrow." One smiled slightly and internally agreed.
It gave her time. But she needed to act quick.
Both of them walked out of the room, X looking back from the hallway, before shutting the door softly and locking it with a click.