#And Grimora soon catched onto what Leshy was thinking

[healerelowen]

Impulse chaoscule fic? Yes. And I made it hurt/comfort instead of just pure angst. 

-Challenger/Reader being revealed to have association with the Old Data-

 Coming back to an angry horde of subordinates was not what you expected upon arriving on your island. Everyone from your partners’ domains was here, even though some of them were far away from your island. All of them were yelling and glaring at you once you arrived, your loves followed close behind, they all were likely just as confused as you were. “What’s going on here?” You asked, having to raise your voice over the noise. “You’ve betrayed us all!” A robotic voice spat, you deduced it belonged to the Melter. “What are you talking about?! They haven’t done anything to hurt us!” P03 quickly retorted. The Trader stepped forward until she was in front of the crowd, “Some of us have discovered something that will alter your truths.” She said, her voice was calm but their gaze was fierce. You swallowed hard. 

The other Scrybes looked at each other with confused expressions. “‘Alter our truths’? What are they talking about?” Leshy turned and asked the others, but all he was met with was silence that said more than a thousand words. All of them looked at you, and saw you start to tremble. “What’s wrong, dear? Do you know something about this?” Grimora asked, and another voice emerged from the crowd. “Yer’ darn tootin’ they know! Why I oughta-” There was a quick snarl from the Scrybe of Beasts, “Silence!” The Prospector went quiet. You struggled to find your voice, for all of your words seemed to be stuck in your throat. You stared at the outraged subordinates, unable to speak. “Show them.” The Trader instructed, and three people from the crowd came forward. The Dredger, Angler, and Kaycee Hobbs all had little parts of code and binary in their hands. 

“What is this?” Magnificus asked, it seemed he was beginning to get anxious. “Corrupted fish.” The Angler then pointed at you, “Same fish.” The Scrybes starred in bewilderment. Then came a worried voice, “Are you sure?” Grimora’s gaze was darting from one to the other, and Kaycee nodded. “What do you mean by this?!” P03 demanded furiously, his voice almost sounded like a hiss of steam. The Dredger shrugged, “He meant what he said.” The rustic bot said dryly, “Ye sent us to find it, and find it we did. All we’re doin’ ere’ is pointin’ out the truth.” You finally shook yourself and snapped back, “It seems a little more than just a simple ‘telling of the truth.’” Then a little shadow-casted bundle bounded out from the crowd. The Lonely Wizard stared up at you, their eyes gleamed with anger and betrayal. You felt your false anger falter as you shrunk back. 

They stood in front of the trio, gaze directed at you. “You! You were supposed to be a friend!” The pitch black wizard said, their voice broken from heartbreak. “Friends don’t lie and hurt the ones they care about!” You hang your head slightly and slunk away more in shame. You averted your gaze, trying to rid the tiny guilty tears from your eyes. “They and the cursed data are one in the same. They’re the ones causing us nothing but trouble, get them out of here!” A voice from the crowd hissed, and others quickly rose in protest as well. Your heartbeat quickened as you stared at the crowd in horror, slowly backing away. You heard the voices from your friends yell and some spat words that rang painfully in your ears. ‘Drive them out!’ one voice retorted, ‘They’re nothing but a curse!’ You turned your attention to your loves, who were all staring at you. Their expressions seemed to be a mixture of shock, confusion and betrayal.                  

Suddenly, Magnificus spoke, “Quiet! We will be the ones to judge that. We will discuss this further privately.” The crowd's protests steadily silenced, and the mage turned to you and your other loves. “Let's go now.” He murmured, pain reflecting in his multicolored eye. On legs that seemed to be made of hard stone, you turned and followed your loves away from your island. There was a loud silence that hung in the air as all five of you walked to the central island. You didn’t lift your gaze from the white bridge under your feet, but you knew that on occasion one of your loves would glance at you. Finally, after what seemed like years, you all reached the island. Your loves stopped and stood in front of you, and you slowly looked up at them, trying to brace yourself for what pain might ensue. They all looked at you with eyes of heartbreak and knowing. They all knew you had knowledge of what exactly the subordinates were talking about. “Why didn’t you tell us?” P03 asked, breaking the silence. You took a deep breath, “I couldn’t.” 

“We understand as much, dear.” Grimora murmured, “But why specifically did you-” You could hardly keep back the guilt and tears, “Because I didn’t want to hurt you!” You snapped, a few speckled tears falling onto the sandy ground. She retracted slightly in surprise. “You all don’t deserve to suffer anymore! And if I told you that it would only break the peace you all needed! That you all still need.” Your own heartbreak quickly washed away the frustration like a cold wave. You averted your gaze again, “Sorry.” You murmured. The flickering light of dusk turned the sky a vibrant shade of orange contrast to the warm afternoon. Leshy took a step forward, not saying anything at first. You noticed P03 and Magnificus glance at each other with worried expressions. They both seemed unsure of what to do. 

That’s when you felt mossy arms engulf you in a hug. Your face was peeking from Leshy’s shoulder, your eyes widened. Leshy still didn’t say anything, and he didn’t need to. Grimora seemed to understand what he was doing and joined him, wrapping her arms around both of you. The other two followed a moment later, keeping close to the bundle of affection. “That data doesn’t mean anything about you.” Leshy finally murmured, “You are still our love, nothing will ever change that.” You finally let out a small sob and hid your head into his mossy shoulder, not really caring about the moss tickling your nose. “While I can’t forgive you for hiding this from us,” P03 added, “That doesn’t mean you should be shamed for something out of your control. Something out of our control.” You could ever so slightly feel the chilling metal of his arm against your neck. “We will always love and care for you dear, with the data or not.” Grimora cooed, and you felt her place a gentle kiss on the top of your head. You felt a slight stir of concern, “What about your subordinates?” You asked, your voice raspy. “Oh, they’ll be angry for a while. But eventually they will seek some sense and try to grow around this sudden discovery.” Magnificus muttered, and you knew better than to question his judgment. 

Once you all let go, you dried your tears before you all made your way back to your island to rest. The next day, the Scrybes had been asked about what was to happen to you. They all responded relatively the same, that you wouldn’t be driven out and would still remain here. This was either met with a grumble or protest but they were quick to silence them. It took a long while to rebuild a semblance of trust with your friends again, as they still were suspicious of you for months after that. But you didn’t let their untrusting stares and harshness bother you, and instead focused on your own duties rather than letting aggression get to your head. Although it was a dragging process of waiting and waiting all the while doing everything you could to prove that you could be trusted, it did happen. Almost a year after the truth was revealed, they all started to slowly and surely treat you with respect again. And you knew it would take longer for them to fully trust you again, but that was alright. 

All that mattered was that they were beginning to grow around this sudden turn of events, just as one of your loves said.