Chapter Text
The cold bites at his skin, the water pulling him ever deeper. A rush of adrenaline runs through his body as his lungs seem to work again. There is still water in them, but he is no longer drowning. It stings, just slightly, but it doesn't hurt like it should.
His vision begins to return, the darkness gradually receding as oxygen returns to his system and the panic dies down. His eyes widen as he realizes why he isn't drowning anymore.
Wifies stares at the being before him. Horror grips his body, his heart thundering with shock. Beyond the involuntary emotion, there's awe and fascination and something he doesn't quite want to put a name on.
The Leviathan is collosal, winding endlessly in the dark seawater. The bioluminescent markings and frills seem to draw him in. It's an array of colors swirling together, predominantly blues, greens, and purples. His eyes glow like the sun, bright and serpentine. Gold markings run along the being's scales, seemingly drawing more attention to the eyes.
It's as if an eldritch god took the form of a sea serpent. Wifies has never been religious, but he thinks he might understand it now. The Leviathan looks divine.
The sight is priceless, a wonder that could never be recreated. He can't help but desire to study it, to dissect it and understand what it is. A voice in the back of his mind whispers that the creature should be kept safe from anything that might mar it's beauty. It— no, Levi is stunning.
He's mesmerizing.
...
..
.
..
...
"...fies?"
"Hello?"
"Hello?"
"Hello?"
Wifies forces his eyes to open, his head throbbing. The light is so unbearably bright. Unfortunately, his eyes adjust and he sees the irritating face of Parameterization.
"Hello?" Para waves a hand in Wifies face, poking his cheek.
Wifies scowls and pushes his arm away, sitting up.
"So, are you going to give me my stuff back?" He asks, seemingly oblivious to Wifies' increasing annoyance.
Wifies laughs shortly, waving his hand in the air and pulling up his system panel. With a press of a button, he disconnects from the server.
The world spins, colors churning into void as he is transferred to the previous server he was in. Regrettably, he had forgotten to choose a destination, and he doesn't have a home world.
It finally spits him out back on Hummer's ship, and Wifies promptly vomits over the rail at the edge and into the ocean. His head still feels like it's spinning, not to mention the pain. He has the worst headache. It feels as through something is trying to break out of his skull.
He swallows, cringing at the taste in his mouth. He attempts to open his eyes. He really shouldn't have. The light of the sun immediately assaults him, sending a stab of pain through his head.
That somehow makes his dizziness worse, and he grips the railing tightly as his stomach continues to try and empty itself. The only thing that comes out is seawater.
It feels like it takes forever before his dizziness begins dies down. He feels awful, and he vaguely wonders if this is how it feels to be sea sick.
Wifies retches again, hanging his head lifelessly over the railing. He forces his breathing to slow down.
The taste in his mouth is awful. It's like salt mixed with battery acid. After a minute of being still, he sighs in relief that he is done throwing up. With one of his sleeves, he wipes his mouth off.
He cracks an eye open, forcing himself to endure the light long enough to retreat to the roofed area. Though there is a wall missing, leaving it open to the sun, it is mostly shaded. He sits heavily on the bed, exhaling shakily.
Wifies finally opens his eyes all the way. He squints against the light, looking around the boat. There's nothing. Of course there is nothing. Why would anything have changed?
He checks the server list, seeing that it's just him. He's alone. But he was alone before, and Hummer was still here. He found it strange then, but he hadn't truly thought about it. There were other things on his mind, such as finding Levi.
He has half the mind to type a message in chat, but Hummer never replied to those before either.
Wifies groans, burying his face in his hands out of exasperation. This is ridiculous. This whole adventure, this whole investigation. It's all been so much. There are still so many questions that haven't been answered. He's never dealt with something so incredibly frustrating, nor something that just doesn't make sense.
The Leviathan should not exist. It— no, he— is clearly not a being of code. Levi shouldn't be able to be in a server. He is of the old world, before the admins took over and created the servers.
And it doesn't make sense that the server doesn't acknowledge Hummer's existence when Wifies can clearly see him.
There's obviously something that Hummer has been hiding from him. Wifies was always the only one doing work, up until the very end.
Not the mention the fact Hummer knew Wifies had potions. Without fail, he noticed. It's strange.
Wifies brings a hand to his ear, gently messing with the feather he wears as an earring. He sighs, downcast. A second perspective would make solving mysteries like this much easier.
He's suddenly very aware of himself. Of his throbbing headache, of his hair that really needs to be washed, of the way that his clothes stick to his skin uncomfortably— of the necklace around his neck that was most certainly not there before.
He grasps it carefully, pulling it out from under his hoodie. It's a simple chain, but at the end of it is a heart. A blue heart with a dim, flickering glow emanating from it. He knows what it is. He saw it once, when he was in the temple.
It's the Leviathan's heart.
He saw it before, in the palace in the sky, from the depths of the sea.
Wifies examines it carefully, but there isn't anything else he can find. Though... he can almost feel it beating. It's like feeling the push and pull of the tides under his fingertips.
He glances up, seeing that the sun is beginning to set. It's a relief that the light began to fade sooner rather than later. Even to avoid worsening his headache, he isn't sure he would be able to wait long with how antsy he feels.
Wifies stands and walks out, having virtually nothing on him. There's also very little in the boat, so...
He jumps into the ocean. The waves crash into him, pushing him around. It splashes in his eyes and burns. His head hurts like hell, but as he fights the waves, he notices that they begin to calm down.
The heart on his necklace glows brighter. As if in response to it, the ocean seems to push Wifies forward, carrying him along. It's even quieter.
He heaves a sigh of relief, continuing to swim towards Hummer's house. At any other time he would be trying to figure out why such a thing happened. Right now, though? His head is killing him, and he just wants to sleep.
It seems to only take a short amount of time before he gets to the beach, landing on the shore with a wave. It's odd. He barely had any sand on him when he woke up to see Parameterization as well, as if there was something protecting him.
Wifies cringes at the idea. Him? Being protected? It sounds ridiculous knowing the things he's done. His hand subconsciously drifts to his ear, but he pulls it back. He needs to focus.
Glancing up at the house, he sees that there are lights on. The stars are out, but the moon is seemingly gone. He figures it must just be a new moon, or maybe some clouds are blocking it. It would suck if it started to rain.
He stands, wet hair falling over his eyes. The sand below him is already dark from the water dripping off him. He runs a hand through his hair and pushes it back, flicking his ears to get the water out of them. He shakes out his tail as well.
After a moment of hesitation, he pulls off his hoodie and squeezes out as much seawater as he can. There is nothing he can do about his T-shirt or his pants, so the floor will have to deal with it until he can get a towel. Or, ideally, a shower and a new set of clothes.
Wifies begins making his way up to the door of the house. As he walks, he absentmindedly checks that the feather in his hair is still there. It is, and he lets out a sigh of relief.
Once he's actually at the door, there is a lot more anxiety about actually seeing Hummer again. Then again, he reasons that he has the necklace. It's certainly important, so if push comes to shove, it's an advantage.
The thought is comforting in a sick sort of way.
Wifies' head throbs, and he rubs his temple in an attempt at soothing the pain. It doesn't work.
After hesitating a while, he finally forced himself to knock on the door.
Tap, tap, tap.
It takes about three seconds for the door to open, with Hummer standing there. He certainly didn't hear running, either.
He looks normal. At least, he would if not for the fact none of his skin is visible. Hummer always wears several layers, even in the heat. (Wifies hadn't noticed it before. He isn't quite sure how. Perhaps he simply didn't look close enough.)
They stare at eachother— at least, if you count the moveable cartoony eyes on Hummer's screen— for several long moments before someone makes a move.
"Wifies, you're back! Let me get you a towel. In fact, I can show you to the bathroom." Hummer begins happily, speaking ever so slightly faster than he should. He abruptly pauses in his movement as he notices Wifies pulling the necklace off.
"I think you lost something." Wifies holds up the necklace, gesturing to the heart on it. He can't help but be slightly amused at the way Hummer seems to go through a hundred different emotions at once.
"What do you mean?" He sounds so genuinely panicked that Wifies pauses. It didn't occur to him that it might be a big deal, or he wouldn't have brought it up immediately.
Interesting. He can make this work.
He adjusts his posture to make himself seem more friendly, and perhaps even smaller.
"What do you mean?" Wifies asks, his eyes wide with a faux innocence.
Hummer's screen seemed to glitch slightly, his antennas seemingly shrinking towards himself. Wifies can't help rhe pang the guilt that stabs through his chest. Wiping the expression off his face, he speaks up again.
"I figured you dropped this, or something. I just woke up and I had it." Wifies shrugs, feigning a cool disinterest. Hummer seems to visibly relax.
"Ah, no, it isn't mine... Perhaps Levi gave it to you?" Hummer tries to sound cheerful. It comes off nervous, but Wifies doesn't comment on it. He wouldn't want to push too far too soon.
"You think so?" Wifies hums. There's an underlying amusement to his tone. If Hummer notices, he doesn't comment.
"Yeah! I'm sure— I'm sure that Levi would do something like that for you." Hummer clasps his hands together as he exclaims, his voice ever so slightly too high pitched.
"Hm." Wifies stares at Hummer for a long moment.
"It's probably a gift for like... believing! You know...?" Hummer gets more and more nervous. His hands seem to shake even while held together, and Wifies decides he's done messing around.
"Well, I suppose I'll keep it." The brunette relents, putting the necklace back on. He pretends not to hear the muffled sigh of relief.
"It's pretty. It almost matches my earring, too." Wifies gestures towards his ear, and the mostly blue feather hanging from it.
"You— you like it?" Hummer asks, sounding just high pitched enough to give the impression he's flustered. Then, as if in an afterthought, his hands fly into the air and he defends himself. "Ah, not to say that it— that it would be ugly! You just didn't seem to fond of it earlier, is all."
The guy stammers, his antennas practically straight up in the moment of panic. Splashes of pink color the screen, and the cartoony eyes look to the side nervously. Wifies keeps his face still. He does, however, make a mental note that Hummer is easily flustered.
Wifies has half the mind to give him a hard time, but he chooses not to. There are more important matters at hand than teasing the guy. Like, taking a shower. He is positive that he smells like the ocean, and he would much rather not.
"Yeah, no. I get it. I do like it, I just didn't want to accidentally steal something from you, in case you would miss it." Wifies says soothingly. His eyes are soft as he makes eye contact. Hummer adjusts his sleeve, almost looking embarrassed.
As if to remind him of what he should be doing, Wifies' head throbs. He suddenly feels a bit awkward. He's practically soaked, and his clothes are sticking to his skin. His hair is stuck to his face uncomfortably.
He's sure he looks a lot like a wet dog. At the thought, he notices how damp the floor he's standing on had become. He stifles a laugh.
"Do you mind showing me to your bathroom? I don't want to continue getting your floors wet." Wifies asks, amusement lacing his words. Hummer visibly startles as he seems to only just remember that Wifies is, in fact, soaking wet.
"Right, right— this way." Hummer turns, walking down a hallway. Wifies follows behind him.
There are quite a few paintings hanging along the walls, most of them being ocean themed. One of them looks very similar to the beach just outside the house. Another is of an axolotl.
"It's just in here. Do you have spare clothes? I can get you some of mine." Hummer offers as he opens the door to the bathroom.
"Well, I do, but I would need admin access to this server. You don't happen to have that, do you?" Wifies hums, stepping into doorway of the bathroom as he pulls up his system panel.
"I'm afraid not. If it's worth anything, though, the one who did is dead. I am the only one on this server, and now you." Hummer says regretfully. It takes a moment to occur to Wifies that he had just brushed over the fact that someone is dead.
Wifies pauses, his eyebrows raising as he looks up at Hummer. The guy looks oblivious and entirely innocent.
"They're dead?" He questions incredulously. His tiredness seems to disappear for a moment. It's strange to think that Hummer would disregard something like death, as Wifies had taken him to be a relatively wholesome person.
Hummer's cartoony eyes blink, clearly confused about why Wifies seems so shocked.
"Well, yes. I did not know them personally, of course. I've just been using this place as somewhere for me to stay." Hummer answers easily. Wifies makes a noise of acknowledgement, closing down his system panel.
He supposes that it is normal not to care about a stranger. Admittedly, he can't say much. (His typical lack of empathy is almost robotic—)
"Right. I'm going to take a shower now. You don't have to worry about getting spare clothes for me." Wifies decides. If there isn't an admin, it should be easy enough to get access to the system.
He'll remember to figure out what exactly happened later, once be finds a good opportunity. And probably after he sleeps. He already has some theories to play around with, and he's sure he's solved a part of this puzzle today anyway.
"I will be in the living room, then." Hummer nods agreeably, turning and walking back down the hallway. His strides are quick, and he disappears around the corner within seconds.
Wifies watches him go before shutting the door. There are a hundred questions on his mind, and a bunch of mysteries revolving around Hummer that he wishes to solve, but he'll get around to it later. He has time in this universe.