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The bench was positioned right in front of the sunset, letting the warmth consume them both.
“You know Dark Cucurucho?”
Multi nodded as a reply, letting the hybrid continue.
“One of my conditions was a five-person list of people that I'd make him protect from death and, I guess, despair….” There's a hurt, sarcastic smile on his face, jaw tense and shoulders hunched. “You were one of them. I— I put you on that list, I don't think they should be bothering you much”
“I don’t understand it, but…” Multi trailed off as Quackity turned around to see him, brown eyes shining with the sun's rays. “I trust you, so thank you and…”
There was something almost too vulnerable between them that made them look away from each other, staring back at the sun.
“I will remember this”
“It wasn’t…” Quackity mumbled, breathing through his nose and leaning towards Multi, making their gazes meet again, both still afraid to see what the other might reveal. “It wasn’t that hard to decide. You gave me one last glimmer of hope.”
“How so?” Multi asked quietly, and Quackity smiled, looking a bit teary as he played with his boots, making them hover over the grass.
“You gave me hope that maybe I'd be able to see it come crashing down, all the way from the top. I think you're the only person who's had a real shot at that.”
It’s crazy, the amount of trust he seemed to have in Multi, the weight that the scientist already felt falling on him.
“That bastard has to fucking die…” Quackity gritted out, years of resentment bleeding into every word. “He has to go.”
“I know our paths have taken different directions. I know you’d probably like me to go a different way. But know that, no matter what happens, you can always come back. Because I treat you like family, you know? So, remember what I promised you. And…”
The silence stretched as Multi’s hand got closer to the avian’s knee.
“Quackity, thank you for finally letting me trust someone.”
The hybrid failed to notice, as he shook his head. “Doesn’t matter anymore. I just…” He stood up. ”I just wanted to thank you… I just want to say goodbye.”
As Quackity made his way to leave, taking a few steps away, Multi’s gut feeling kept churning in his stomach. Maybe it was his need to be the last to reply to whatever the avian said, jumping out now.
“Quackity,” Multi called, making the avian turn his head up to face him, a bit surprised. “I think we met too late.”
It came out without an explanation other than it had to come out, a thought that had been roaming around in his head.
Quackity chuckled lightly, dry and melancholic. “Maybe?”
“I just keep wondering,” Multi said, looking at the grass between his shoes. “If we had a clean slate... if we could’ve actually worked out.”
Quackity’s smile softened into something far more tender. “We would’ve been great, Multi.”
“You’re still leaving, right?” Multi wanted confirmation, even if he already knew, the words slipping out quieter than he intended.
“Yeah,” Quackity murmured, pulling his jacket a little tighter around himself. “I have to.”
“Timing was never really on our side, was it?” Multi asked, stealing a few more seconds.
Quackity shook his head gently, a sigh escaping him. “Never was.”
“Then…” Multi hesitated.
He wasn’t sure what he wanted to say anymore. That fate had been cruel, that they deserved better, that Quackity didn’t have to carry this alone.
It was strange. He had known Quackity for so little, yet found himself mourning everything that would never happen. Something that felt achingly hopeless, leaving him waiting just in case he changed his mind, just in case he wanted to come home.
The scientist decided on saying what had been on his mind for a while. “Maybe in another life.”
Quackity let out a watery laugh. “Yeah, maybe in another time.”
The avian wondered whether he should tell him what he’s actually going to do, that he doesn’t think he’ll ever be back. However, as he observed Multi's face, the slight frown in his face made it quite obvious he already knew. He just hadn’t accepted it yet.
As he took out his warpstone, ready to leave the scientist sitting alone on the bench, he heard one final question cut through the silence.
“Have you ever felt like we’ve met before?”
Quackity stopped dead in his tracks, his wings going rigid.
Some memories haunt him.
A cold, white facility, a caring young doctor. Birthdays celebrated in secret, quiet company, and thoughtful touches. Warmth that used to feel so far away, lost in his past, yet lately it had been feeling closer than ever.
Days he had tried to hold on while he was on the first island, nights he waited, sure someone was going to come find him.
He swears a promise was made, but for the life of him, he couldn’t ever recall it. He could never remember the words, only the certainty that someone had once promised him they would come back. Or maybe that they’d meet again.
Regardless of his memory loss, he’s always felt like he's been waiting. The feeling that something was always missing, that the world could’ve been different if he had only had someone by his side.
“Sometimes it feels like I’ve been looking for you for a long time…” Multi kept talking, almost rambling into the quiet sunset. “Weird, right?”
Quackity looked at the moon as it appeared, even though evening hadn’t fully started, as if trying to catch the sun. His time was up already; the plan was about to begin.
“Funny enough, yes. I’ve felt the same.” The hybrid replies with a melancholic smile, as he’s slowly teleporting away. “Goodbye, Multi. I really hope you are the one.”
If it’s not me, then at least… The avian thinks, quickly shaking his head, keeping himself positive about this plan.
It’s his last chance to be free; he’s done everything in his power to keep the people he cares about safe.
It’s now or never.
In the air where he was standing just a second ago, there are only glowing purple particles floating.
Multi is left alone to watch the golden sun slip away from his fingers, his hand instinctively coming up to brush the empty air.
Watching Quackity disappear felt painfully familiar. As though somewhere, sometime, in a lifetime he couldn't fully reach, he had already watched him leave once before.
Multi couldn’t help wondering what kind of person Quackity would’ve become if the world had been easier on him. He wondered what Quackity would’ve been like if they’d met under different circumstances.
Whether, even if that happened, they’d still end up sitting together like this.
And who knows?
Maybe they’ll meet again, when all of this is over, in The End.