#Ermolai Stone (oc)

[asktheunderrealm]

Memories

The beginning of it all

The creation of her

The death of them

Word Count: 8,520

April 14, 2001

The young lady walked in silence through the woods. She had failed. The six-month old baby in her arms was nothing more than a demon in her eyes. She had gone to every church in the city, even outside of the city. Nothing could save this child. Once she felt she had gone deep enough into the forest, she placed the baby on the ground, glaring harshly into the big brown and red eyes staring up at her in wonder. Without another thought, she left. The baby cried loudly after her.

Meanwhile, a real demon had been walking through the forest when the heart-breaking sound of a baby's cries met his ears. He turned in that direction and followed the sound. By now, the mother had been gone for roughly half an hour. The baby hadn't stopped crying since then. The demon found the baby, crouching down next to them. It was a baby girl. She had tufts of blonde hair going every which way, wearing a green dress and wrapped in a towel. Her left eye was a coffee brown, while her right was ruby red.

The demon looked into her soul, unsurprised to see that she wasn't a mortal. “A demigod,” he thought, seeing the clear godly energy her soul containted. Looking only a bit closer told him that she was a daughter of Hephaestus, but also clearly wanted by Zalgo. The young girl stared up at the demon in amazement, a tiny hand curling around one of his clawed fingers. Without another thought, the demon gently picked up the baby and took her to his mansion in the forest. Lacie Taner was the first.

January 28, 2004

An eight-year-old sat in the forest, shivering as she waited for her dad to come back. Januarys in Canada were always freezing, and at this point, her jacket had lost all its warmth. Her dad had told her to wait here for him, that he would come back for her. Scared to disobey, she did. She ran a hand over the bruise on her cheek, wincing as pain ran through her senses.

The demon had been coming home from a meeting with the other demons of the Council, when he felt a presence unfamiliar to him in the woods. The person felt like a child, and definitely not mortal. He teleported to the area the presence was coming from, appearing behind a little girl. She had light brown skin and dark brown hair, shivering from head to toe. Another demigod, this time a daughter of Demeter. He approached the child slowly, so as not to startle her. "What appears to be troubling you, child?" He asked calmly. Her eyes widened, staring up at this tall, skinny, faceless creature. Anyone else would be terrified, but she felt a sense of calm fill her, as if she knew whatever this creature was wouldn't hurt her. "D-Daddy told me to wait here. But he hasn't come back yet. He will though! E-Eventually." She felt her voice begin to die a bit as the words came out of her mouth. The demon nodded softly, almost sympathetically. "I see. Where did you get that bruise, child? He asked softly. The girl instinctively covered it. "O-Oh, uh...Daddy gave it to me."

"And why would he do that?" The demon kept the same calm, soft tone. "W-Well sometimes I mess up an' he, umm...he gets mad is all." He hummed, crouching in front of the small child. "What is your name?"

"K-Katie. Katie Gardner." It felt almost as if the demon was smiling at her as he said, "You may call me SM. If you would like, I can take you somewhere warm. I can take care of that bruise for you as well. You may wait there until your father gets back." SM said this, though he knew, just by looking at Katie's soul and what she told him, that her father had planned on leaving her out here. Katie seemed to reach that conclusion on her own, and the promise of warmth was hard to say no to. She nodded, taking SM's hand and being teleported to her new home and little sister. Katie Gardner was the second.

July 18, 2004

An eleven-year old walked through the woods. Their memories of their past life had come back half-way, but this is something they remembered very well. They looked around, finally seeing the clearing they had grown up in before. They smiled, sitting in front of the clearing and patiently waiting. It only took a few moments for someone to appear in front of them, a four year old girl with her hair in a small pigtail. "Hello! I'm Lacie! What's your name?" She said with a smile.

"Merida Knowles." They smiled back. They had shoulder-length brown hair and purple eyes, with two neon blue hearing aids in their ears.

"I'm looking for SM?" Lacie nodded, grabbing them by the arm. The mansion they loved appeared in front of them, and Lacie dragged Merida in excitedly. Katie looked up curiously from the garden before shrugging and returning to her plants. "Slendy!" Lacie shouted, running over to one door and pounding on it. "This girl named Merida wants to see you!" SM comes out with a sigh. "I understand your excitement, Lacie, but could you please not bang on my door?" Merida ran over to him, slamming into him and wrapping their arms around him. "You thought you could get rid of me so easily, well think again!" SM chuckled, putting a hand on their head. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Dalia. Or would you prefer Merida now?"

"Merida Knowles's good. I still have like half of my memories to recover, but I'll get there eventually." Lacie looked back and forth curiously. "What's goin' on?"

"Lacie, I would you to meet Merida Knowles. They are a Peculiar, with the ability to come back to life with all of his memories of her past life. In their past life, Merida was one of my Proxies, and it appears you've come back again." SM said all this with a twinge of grief in his voice. Merida nodded, a hint of grief passing over them as well, for what though, they couldn't remember yet. All they knew about how they died came from their fear of betrayal.

"You don't have to refer to me with multiple pronouns anymore by the way. I've thought about it, and I realized that I honestly couldn't care less what you refer to me as. She, him, them, I don't care." SM chuckled again. "Understood, Merida. Come, I have your room just as you left it." Merida Knowles was the third.

April 3, 2005

A twelve-year-old ran through the woods, heart pounding in her chest. Something was chasing her, a creature that had taken the form of her father. Her real father was dead in the attic of the place she had called home, killed by whatever that thing was. She didn't know what else to do but run.

Merida was taking a walk through the woods with Lacie and Katie, telling them fun stories about what had happened in the past, when they heard a scream. They immediately bolted towards the sound, Merida and Katie pulling out their daggers. The source of the sound was a girl with light brown hair and pale skin, a man standing over her. Before their eyes, the man melted into an ink-like creature with glowing white eyes. Merida yelled, grabbing the attention of the creature as they threw their dagger, hitting it directly in the chest. The creature immediately melted into an inky puddle. They walked up to the girl, kicking at the puddle and smirking. "You alright?" The girl nodded shakily.

"What...was that thing?" Merida helped her up, saying, "A sekalal. They're basically just creatures made to serve. Can turn into someone you care about in order to manipulate people. Actually..." Merida looked down at the puddle, crouching next to it and putting a finger into it. They muttered a spell, and the creature came back. The girl backed up quickly. "Don't worry. It's under my command now. Aren't you?" Merida spoke, cooing at the sekalal as if it were their pet. It didn't react.

"Could you turn into a kitty and curl up with Lacie over there?" It obeyed, melting into a black cat and rubbing against Lacie's legs. She giggled picking up the kitten and hugging it tightly to her chest, squealing happily as it licked her arms. Merida giggled, turning to the girl. "Anyway, I'm Merida. What's your name?"

"Uh..." She glanced around nervously. "Emily. Emily Underhill. Good to meet you."

"Same to you. Wanna come with us? I mean, whoever sent that sekalal after you probably isn't on our side. Which means they're bad. And you're probably not safe." Emily frowned. "But...my home. My dad—" She froze, eyes widening. Tears entered her eyes, quickly flowing down her cheeks. Merida's brow creased. They put an arm around Emily. "I'm sorry about your dad. But whatever happened to him is just even more proof that we need you to come with us. I'll explain on the way, okay Ems?" They smiled. "Can I call you Ems? It's a cute nickname." Emily sniffed, wiping away tears that refused to stop falling. "S-Sure." With that, Lacie, Katie, and Merida led her back to the mansion. Emily Underhill was the fourth.

October 2, 2005

A seven-year-old ran with Lacie into the forest from their house, blood staining their dirty clothes. They both stopped a small ways into the forest, panting. They followed Lacie a bit longer walking. Before they could ask if she was lost, she pointed towards a clearing. "The headquarters is over there! But, shh!" She put a finger to her lips. "No one can know about us. Like I said, we're a secret organization. Our leader is Mr. Slendyman, a tall, faceless man who wants to protect people like us from the demon Zalgo's possession!" The child gave Lacie a confused look, but continued to follow her. Even if they hadn't killed their family, they wouldn't have wanted to go back anyway. They weren't going to be a slave again.

Once they had gotten into the clearing, Lacie grabbed their hand and fiddled with a watch on her wrist. Blue mist began swirling around the two of them, and once it had cleared, a mansion appeared, as if it had been there all along. Lacie ran over to the building, forcing the child to run after her and inside. "Slendy! I brought Mr. Haight!" She shouted. Two people on the couch looked over at me. "Oh hey! Another boy! That's new!" Emily spoke, resting her chin on her hands and looking eagerly over at the child. Her eyes widened as she saw the blood on their clothes. "Oh...uh..." Merida quickly stood up. "It's alright. We have plenty of clothes to spare. Want me to show you?"

"Wait, is it normal for kids to show up covered in blood around here?" The child winced at Emily's volume. "Actually...kind of. Kids are easier for Zalgo to manipulate, and he often gets them to kill people around them. It's the main sign that Zalgo wants them and has gotten too close to claiming them. Can easily be taken care of, though. Don't you worry!" They smiled down at the child, who couldn't help but feel warm looking at the kind expression directed towards them. Merida let the kid wash and clothe themself before bringing them down to SM. "Here he is, sir."

"Thank you for bringing them, Merida." He responded, putting extra emphasis on them as he studied the child's soul. Merida made a quiet "oh" with their lips, before smiling and leaving the room. "What is your name, child?" They gulped, looking up at this ten-foot-tall creature, feeling nervous, yet excited at the same time. "Brian Haight." SM seemed to smile down at them. "It is a pleasure to meet you." Brian Haight was the fifth.

May 15, 2006—May 20, 2006

Six-year-old Lacie Taner and ten-year-old Katie Gardner had begun to show signs of special abilities. They had known they would start appearing, but had never known when. Lacie would accidentally summon balls of fire, and would often set objects on fire in her hands. Any plant Katie touched would automatically grow, no matter how close to death it seemed. SM pulled them aside one day to talk to them about it.

"Children, I told you before that you are children of the gods. Lacie, you are the daughter of Hephaestus, god of fire and the forge. Katie, you are the daughter of Demeter, goddess of agriculture. While this mansion is a safe place for me to educate you on controlling your abilities, there is somewhere much safer and more specified for demigods like yourselves." Lacie blinked up at SM, who she saw as more of a father figure than a mentor or master. "You mean Camp Half-Blood? That place?"

"Indeed, Lacie. Recently, Zalgo has been claiming demigods from that camp. Not only would it help you learn how to use your abilities better, it would also do us good to have a spy or two there. That way Zalgo won't be able to simply go in and out of that camp and take anyone he deems fit."

"So...you want us to go to Camp Half-Blood and...stay there? That way we can learn and Zalgo won't claim people?" Katie asked.

"Indeed." Lacie and Katie met eyes, Lacie's eyebrows creasing. "But...I don't wanna leave. I like it here. This is home." SM sighed, crouching in front of the two young girls. "You don't have to leave just yet. You may leave when you are ready."

"But I don't wanna leave at all! I wanna stay here with you, an' Brian, a-an' Emily, an'—" SM put a hand on the six-year-old's head, shushing her. "You don't have to leave, either. It is simply an option that I am giving you. I would be happy if you left, but I would also be happy if you stayed, as well. Whatever you deem fit. And even if you decide to leave to Camp Half-Blood, you will still be able to come back whenever you'd like." Lacie nodded, wiping away the tears that had started to form. Katie, on the other hand, was deep in thought.

A few days later, Katie walked down the hall, knocking on the door of SM's office and opening it. "Slendy? A-About the camp thing..." SM looked up from his work and folded his fingers together on his desk. "Come in, Katie. What would you like to ask?" Katie closed the door behind her and ran to sit on the chair in front of his desk. "I...I think I wanna go. I wanna learn more about the gods and how to fight like a Greek." SM nodded solemnly. "I understand. If you would like, you may leave at the beginning of June and stay only for the summers. There is already a proxy of Glaukos staying there, but they have said many times that they could use a bit of back-up during the summers, when the camp is full. Would that work for you?" Katie nodded.

"Do you think Lacie'll be okay with it, though? I mean, sure it's only for summers, but...we've never been apart before."

"I'm sure she will understand. She's quite bright for a six-year-old. Either way, she now has quite a few siblings that will help her through the summers without you. You need not worry about her."

At the beginning of June, Katie had her bags packed, and SM teleported her over to the forest the camp resided in. He gave her a set of rules to follow, such as "Don't tell anyone about the proxy world" and "Don't let them know where you're from.'' Once that was all said and done, Katie hugged her father figure, and ran off down the trail to camp.

May 10, 2007

An eleven-year-old ran into the forest, hands stained red. Lacie ran over, shouting, "Hey! Wait up!" She stopped in front of him, gasping for breath. "Glad that you came to the forest without me needing to direct you. I'm Lacie! What's your name?"

"Uhh..." He stared at her, confusion written across his face. "T-Timothy Sutton."

"Good to meet you! C'mon, I can take you to our headquarters! It's run by Slendy, a tall, faceless man who wants to protect people like us from Zalgo's possession!" Timothy backed away. "Y-You're joking, right? H-How are you so calm? I just killed my parents, and—" He froze, the reality of it all sinking in. "Oh god...I-I killed my parents." His voice shook, tears forming in his eyes. Lacie looked up at him, worried. "I-I don't even know what came over me. I-I just did it, and...oh god."

"That's...I'm sorry. Come on, I can take you somewhere where you'll be safe." Timothy wiped away the tears threatening to spill and nodded. Lacie took his hand and fiddled with her watch. The blue mist appeared, then disappeared, and she led him over to the clearing. The mansion appeared, and she led him in. Timothy Sutton was the sixth.

June 15, 2008

Fifteen-year-old Merida Knowles nervously knocked on fifteen-year-old Emily Underhill's door. They had been waiting for a time to confess to her. They had gone to everyone asking what she thought of them, and everyone had begged them to just confess and get the mutual pining to just stop already. They had even gone to SM, who, while he didn't say anything that pointed either way, had sounded very sly in his answer of "Merida, you know that I prefer to stay out of my proxies' business when it comes to love and match-making." So they took that as a sign. The door opened. "Oh, hey, Merry. Good to see you aren't sleeping 'til noon again." Merida laughed, trying to stop themself from going full-on gay mode as they studied her brown almost pixie cut with blonde highlights, her ocean blue eyes, big lips with some nude lipstick on, and—

They blinked, looking down at the ground. "I, uhh...just wanted to say happy birthday. Here," They brought out a CD and handed it to Emily, "it's the newest Panic! at the Disco album. I thought you'd like it." Emily gasped, smiling excitedly. "You got it for me? Aw, thank you, Merry! I love it!" She then hugged Merida. Butterflies erupted in both of their stomachs. "N-No problem, Ems. I was also wondering if you m-maybe wanna go on a walk together?"

"O-Of course! Sounds good!" Emily quickly put the album away on her desk, then walked over and linked hands with Merida. They felt their face go red, looking away quickly, not seeing how red Emily's was as well. As they walked through the living room, Lacie grinned, whispering excitedly to Brian, who simply rolled their eyes at her. Merida and Emily decided to ignore them.

They had been walking and talking for about half an hour now, and had decided to stop at their favorite spot, a small pond not too far from the mansion. They were sitting at the edge, looking out at the water, when Merida chose to bring it up. "Hey, Ems? Could I tell you something?"

"You have a crush on me?" Emily smiled slyly. Merida's heart stopped. "I-I, uh...yeah. How did you know?"

"You made it pretty obvious. I mean, come on, Merry, you're staring at me all the time. How could I not notice?"

Merida's cheeks went red. "I thought I was being subtle." Emily laughed, scooting a bit closer to them. "I guess I'm better at being subtle than you." She put a hand on theirs, smiling at them. "Merida, do you wanna be my, uh...boyfriend? Girlfriend? Whatever you prefer?" Merida smiled back, laughing a bit as red burned at their face. "I'd love to be your boygirlfriend."

She laughed, before saying nervously, "Then...can I kiss you?" Their breath stopped as they nodded nervously. Emily licked her lips, before coming even closer, and delivering a gentle kiss onto their boygirlfriend's lips. And then they were one.

December 15, 2008

A twelve-year-old came out of the blue mist with Timothy. Tim led him into the mansion, where everyone stopped for a moment and stared, wide-eyed. "Holy...wow, you look cool." The boy looked down at his shoes, trying to hide his face. "What's your name?"  Emily asked. Merida smirked, shoving Emily playfully. "Ems, can't you see he's nervous?" They turned to the boy. "Ignore this idiot over here. You don't have to answer if you don't want to." Tim put a hand on his back. "He can't speak, but his name is Ermolai Stone. Hoodie, you'll have to teach him sign language." Brian nodded, looking Ermolai up and down. With that, Tim took him to SM. Ermolai Stone was the seventh.

October 10, 2009

A twelve-year-old ran away from the fire and the sounds of police sirens. Lacie followed him, saying, "Come on! I can take you to—" She wasn't able to get much farther as he passed out. Lacie gulped, crouching next to him. The sirens were getting closer. She wrapped one of his arms around her neck and fiddled with her watch. The blue mist appeared, then disappeared, taking her to the right reality. She stood up and pulled out her phone, calling Tim and asking for help getting him to the mansion.

The boy woke up in a soft bed, blankets covering his body and an ice pack on his head. He groaned, opening his eyes. Tim was sitting next to him, reading a book. "Ah, you’re awake. We were starting to worry." He stood up and took the ice pack off the boy's head, studying him for a moment. "Your name is Tobias Rogers, correct?"

"Tobias is a weird name, don't ya think? I like Toby. Toby's a good name." Tim blinked, staring down at Toby. "Uh...Toby it is, then?" Toby smiled. "Good to meet ya!" As he spoke, he felt something weird about his cheek. "Yeah, you, uh...seem to have bit through your cheek while you were running from the cops? I'm honestly surprised you didn't scream out in pain and give away your location."

"Yeah, CIPA does that. Didn't feel a thing." He looked around the room, taking in the emptiness of it. "So...where am I?"

"We'll have our leader explain everything to you. Can you stand?" Toby pulled off the blankets and stood, shrugging. "Everything seems fine to me." He stretched, a few ticks moving through his arms as a curse flew out of his mouth. Tim furrowed his eyebrows. "Do you...even remember what happened last week?" Toby gulped, memories of killing his father, and the look of horror on his mom's face, flooding through his mind. He bit at his tongue, only stopping when he tasted a bit of blood. "I don't regret it if that's what you mean. My dad was a piece of shit, and I'm glad he's dead." He went silent. "I just wish my mom hadn't seen." He mumbled. Tim nodded. "Well...we all have things we regret. Come on, I'll introduce you to our leader." Tim led Toby down the staircase. Toby Rogers was the eighth.

October 20, 2009

A fourteen-year-old was pulled into the mansion, kicking and yelling profanities, being held tightly by Tim and Brian. "Emily! We could use some help!" Tim shouted through the house. Emily rushed down the stairs, followed quickly by Merida. "What's going on?"

"He's insane, that's what’s going on! You can help him, right?" Emily gulped.

"I-I've only really done small cases of insanity. You know, like Toby or Brian."

"Hey!" Toby whined from the kitchen. "I wasn't insane! Not like this guy, that's for damn sure."

"Shut up, Toby!" Tim said, before getting head-butt in the nose. "Just try, Emily!" Emily winced, creeping closer to the teen. She put a hand on his head and concentrated while Brian tried their best to hold his head steady. Slowly, the kicking stopped, and the teen went silent, eyes rolled back in his head, unconscious. Toby peeked out to look at him. He whistled. "Can I draw on his face now that he's asleep?"

"Toby, just go to your room."

"I don't wanna!"

"Well, good to see he's settling in fine." Brian muttered under their breath as they placed the teen on the couch. Merida leaned over, studying the teen. "Geez, what happened to his face? Was he tortured or something?" Tim sighed, studying the chelsea smile carved into his face. "Zalgo must have taken his time with him. Had him go completely insane this time. Then this guy killed his parents, tried to kill his siblings, then went on a killing spree afterwards."

"No wonder he was goin' all cuckoo like that!" Toby stated, leaning over the couch and watching the teen curiously. SM came over right as a groan came from the teen's lips. "W-What happened?" He mumbled, blinking slowly. "How are you feeling?" SM asked.

"Uh..." His eyes widened as he stared up at SM. "What the fuck?" He sat up quickly and scooted away.

"Uh oh, language." Merida muttered to Emily, causing her to giggle. The teen watched everyone around him warily, pulling out a switchblade from his pocket. "Who are you? Where am I?" The switchblade suddenly went flying in the air, floating right in front of Ermolai. "Can I keep this? It looks cool." He signed.

"Go ahead." Brian signed back.

"What the hell is going on?" The teen asked, eyes wide as he stared at the floating blade.

"Uh oh, that’s two dimes in the swear jar." Emily snorted at Merida's muttering.

"Your name is Jeffery Woods, correct?"

"H-How did you—"

"If you would just come with me into my office, I'll explain everything." Jeff studied SM for a moment, before standing up and following him. Jeff Woods was the ninth.

March 21, 2010

A thirteen-year-old walked into the mansion with Jeff. "Guys! I brought that girl here like you wanted me to!" Everyone turned to look at the teen. He had dark blue eyes and raven hair that had been very clearly chopped off into a bob with a knife. Emily stood up and ran over to him. "Heya! The name's Emily! Great to meet ya, Helen!" Merida ran over and introduced themself as well. Everyone else came over to introduce themselves, before SM came and said, "Children, please give him some space. This is likely quite overwhelming for him." The teen's eyes widened, and his heart stopped. "Him? Oh...OH!" Merida's eyes widened, and they wrapped an arm around the teen's shoulders. "Dude, welcome to trans team! We got all kinds of peeps!" The teen winced, curling away from their arm. "Merida, that is quite enough. He clearly is not comfortable with being touched. Come, we may talk in my office." The teen nervously walked through the small crowd, following SM down the hall. "S-Sir? Could I just ask something?"

"Be my guest." The teen gulped. "How did you know? I've only ever told one person, and he..." He trailed off, looking down at his shoes. SM sat at his desk, studying the teen for a moment, before saying, "Demons are able to see into a person's soul. As such, we know what they prefer to be called, how they are feeling, and even small things such as their name or who they are attracted to, even if the person may not know themselves. I typically prefer to tell my proxies what pronouns they prefer, and have them figure out how they truly identify themselves. I can tell you already have it figured out, however." The teen nodded. "You would prefer we call you BP, correct?" BP nodded. "Th-That would be nice." SM nodded.

"Understood." BP Otis was the tenth.

August 5, 2010

A sixteen-year-old riding a giant bronze dragon fell from the sky in front of the mansion. Lacie's eyes widened as she stared at it, before she laughed excitedly and took off towards it. "Hey! Lace! Don't just run towards it!" Emily shouted, running after her, with Merida chasing after. The teen groaned, crawling out from under scraps of metal, his forehead cut and bleeding. He had curly brown hair and light brown skin, covered in cuts and bruises. "Oh, gods, are you okay?" Merida asked, carefully lifting up some of the metal and having Emily pull him out. The teen coughed. "Never been better." Lacie studied the dragon, hopping with excitement. "I'm gonna try and piece it back together! You take him inside and heal him up!"

"Piece it back together...wait! Be careful with Festus, okay?  Make sure he doesn't get hurt!" The teen said, a pleading look in his eyes as he looked down at Lacie. Lacie nodded as if she was given a mission by the president himself. Merida and Emily helped him up, carrying him inside. "Tim! Grab the first aid kit!" Tim nodded and raced to the bathroom as the two set the teen on the kitchen counter. SM came out of his office and took the kit from Tim as he ran back out. "Allow me to heal him, Emily." Emily and Merida obediently stepped aside. Leo looked up at SM, his eyes widening. "Holy Hephaestus!" He shouted, pulling out a hammer from his toolbelt and lighting it on fire. "Calm yourself, Leo Valdez. I am not going to hurt you."

"Look man, I've dealt with enough monsters already, alright? I literally just died and came back to life."

"I understand, Leo. Please, put your hammer down." Leo raised his hammer to swing, but yelped and dropped it as he felt a badly-placed cut begin to open even more. SM slowly pulled out some gauze and began cleaning the blood from Leo's cuts as he explained the proxy world to him. Leo Valdez was the eleventh.

September 21, 2010

Seventeen-year-old Emily Underhill was walking down the hall early that morning, having just gotten up. She decided to let Merida sleep in instead of waking them up herself. As she passed SM's office, she overheard him talking to another demon. By their voice, it was clearly Aka Manah. "Are you sure it's a good idea to keep Underhill here?" Emily froze at her name, beginning to listen in. "I am certain, Ekale. So long as she doesn't find out, she will be fine."

"Are you sure? What if one of our siblings isn't aware that she's the one they have to worry about? I know you care about your proxies, and I care about mine too, but seriously, she's a bit too dangerous even for you."

"I know what I am doing, Ekale. Just because she has a dangerous ability such as this doesn't mean that she will use it against us. And so long as our siblings keep her in mind, she will not get claimed by any of them even if she does turn against us." Emily's eyes widened. What did that mean? Did that mean she could get claimed by multiple demons? She had a whole other ability that SM hadn't told her about, not trusting her with the knowledge, in fear that she'll turn against him. She felt almost betrayed. She thought SM would tell her about anything she could do to help. He had told her about how she could cure people's madness, and that proved to be a big help to the group. Why didn't SM tell her about this? With this new ability, she could actually be helpful in a battle. Then she realized.

SM was scared of her. All of the demons were scared of her.

She never asked SM about it, and decided not to try and find a way to use it. Not yet, at least. But, Emily was curious.

March 31, 2011

A fifteen-year-old floated into the mansion behind BP. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared. "A possessed human, huh? Haven't seen one of you guys in a while." Merida spoke, finishing off washing the dishes and handing them off to Emily. "It's good to meet you, too." The possessed teen spoke sarcastically. Emily laughed. "Sorry about them. When they wanna be, they're pretty up-front with stuff." Merida shoved her playfully, before walking over to the teen. "So what's your name? I'm Merida."

"I just go by Puppeteer." He hummed. BP walked over to Emily, whispering into her ear, "You might want to get rid of his insanity. He had some trouble controlling his demon when we first met. Almost killed me, actually." Emily nodded, walking up to Puppeteer and putting a hand on his forehead. "Um, excuse me, what the fu—" He then dropped onto the ground, clutching onto the wall to stay standing. "That should do the trick! Sorry about that, Pup! I just had to make sure you'll be able to control your demon!" He groaned, standing upright. "I feel...weird."

"Understandable. My power kinda does that to people." BP had already gone up to his room to draw, so Merida led Puppeteer down the hall to SM's office. "So...that BP guy...is he gay?"

"Uh...yeah? Why do you ask?"

"No reason." Merida blinked up at him, then smirked. "No reason, you say?" They felt his glare on them. "I could still kill you, you know."

They shrugged. "I'd come back." Merida opened SM's office door and let Puppeteer in, then left SM to explain to him. Puppeteer was the twelfth.

April 6, 2011

Eighteen-year-old Emily Underhill was curious. What she had heard was beginning to drive her insane. She had to know what would happen if she tried getting claimed by another demon. How to do it was another question. It wasn't until the day where Toby had used one of Leo's newest inventions in a prank that she got the idea.

She walked over to the cave nearby where the forge was kept. She had made sure Lacie was in the house with Katie before heading over. She wanted to catch Leo alone. She got to the mouth of the cave and whistled. "Heya, Leo! How's it going?" He looked up from his invention, pulling a welding mask off his face. "Oh, hey, Ems! What're you doin' here?" Emily walked into the cave, looking around at all the high-tech mechanics inside. "Just wanted to ask you for something." Leo pulled the welding mask back on, continuing his project. "Hit me."

"Do you think I could borrow that thingamajig you made? The one Toby used a few days ago?"

"You mean my Valdezatron 5000?" He reached his hand into his toolbelt, pulling out a bracelet of Celestial Bronze. "Exactly. I wanna pull a prank on a friend of mine from another group." Leo snickered mischievously.

"Sure thing." He handed it over, before saying, "Just don't lose it, alright? It's my first copy and I never make blueprints."

"That...sounds like a bad idea." He smirked. "Blueprints take the fun outta inventing, you know? Stream of consciousness style is more fun." She giggled. "Fair enough. Thanks, Pyro!" With that, she ran out to test her theory.

The bracelet disguised her proxy aura and made her look like a completely different person. She walked up to a friend of hers, a proxy of Thoth, and said, "E-Excuse me? I'm trying to find the demon Thoth. I heard he could help me get away from...everything. Do you know where he is?" Her friend saw her as a different person. She was led to Thoth and his proxies' home, and taken directly to the demon. Thoth, thinking nothing of it, simply told her what it meant to be a proxy, things that she already knew. She held out her hand, and was claimed a second time. Thoth's Mark appeared on her hand, a numbing feeling crawling up her arm. It felt weird, but she hid it easily. She thanked Thoth, then was led to her new room in the palace.

Meanwhile, SM was scolding Leo for allowing Emily to leave with his device, while Leo was trying to say that it would be fine. With a bit of reluctance, SM explained to his proxies what her second ability was, how she was a Peculiar with the ability to be claimed by multiple demons at once. How she could become as strong as a god. At this Leo paled, eyes wide. He knew just how dangerous gods could really be. "Sh-She'd use that power to help us! I know she will!" Merida spoke, smiling nervously. SM rubbed his chin, thinking. "We can only hope."

When Emily came back, she was greeted with nervous and hopeful glances. "Ems! It's so good to see you again!" Merida exclaimed, throwing their arms around her. Emily smiled, hugging them back. "It's good to see you too, Merry." When they pulled away, Merida grabbed Emily's hand and studied it. Their expression dropped. "So you did get claimed again." They spoke lightly, softly. I gulped. "Did SM tell you guys?" Brian was coming out of the office with their demon leader. "I did indeed. Emily, I can understand your curiosity but please, don't get claimed a third time. We don't know what it could do to you."

"But...SM! This could really help us fight Zalgo! I won't use it against you, I promise!" SM looked at the ground in thought. "Like I said, we don't know what this could do to you. You could go power-hungry, or even insane with this, Emily. Please don't get claimed again. I beg you." Emily's shoulders drooped. "I...I won't sir."

"...Thank you. Give Leo back his device, and you are excused." She handed it back, and Merida linked hands with her, bringing her upstairs to their room. But Emily was still curious.

May 15, 2011

A fifteen- and sixteen-year-old walked into the mansion behind Brian. The fifteen-year-old was a girl with long brown hair, holding a white cane, one used by the blind. The sixteen-year-old was a possessed human, with light grey skin, auburn hair, and empty eye sockets filled and leaking with a tar-like substance. "Oh, hey! Good to meet you guys! What're your names?" Merida spoke, smiling at the two of them. "Oh, hi!" The girl smiled, waving in their direction. "I'm Brooklyn Franches."

"Jack." The boy spoke quietly. Emily walked over to them, holding out a hand. "This might feel kinda weird, but SM makes me, so—" Jack pulled out a scalpel, his glare piercing into Emily's soul. "Uh...that's not necessary, you know." She laughed nervously.

"What were you planning to do?" Brooklyn sighed, smirking a bit. "You pulled the scalpel on her, didn't you? Put it down, she's probably not gonna hurt you." Jack watched Emily warily, not putting away his scalpel. Emily groaned, holding a hand out. The scalpel flew out of Jack's hand and into hers, and she quickly reached up to his forehead and took his madness. He stumbled, clutching his head once she had stepped away to put the scalpel on the kitchen counter. All the proxies in the room were staring wide-eyed. Merida cleared their throat nervously. "Uh...follow me! I can bring you to SM!" Jack Nicole and Brooklyn Franches were the thirteenth and fourteenth.

May 15, 2011

Eighteen-year-old Emily Underhill lied awake that night. It was so easy for her to take Jack's scalpel out of his hand. She was significantly faster than she used to be as well. She hadn't tried anything involving her new proxy of Thoth powers since SM scolded her. But seeing that display...she wanted more.

May 17, 2011

Eighteen-year-old Emily Underhill stood in front of her boygirlfriend's door. She opened it, sending a smile at them. They returned the smile, putting in their hearing aids and slipping on their boots. "Wanna go for a walk, Ems?"

"Sure thing, Merry." The two walked hand-in-hand down the hallway and out the door. A few minutes into their walk, Emily spoke.

"I've been thinking, Merida." They hummed, looking over to their girlfriend. "The proxy world...and the godly world are pretty cruel, don't you think?"

"I mean, in some ways, yeah."

"I mean, children shouldn't have to fight for their lives. Yet the gods and demons make them. They make us fight for them, when they're so much more powerful than us. That's just not fair, right?" Merida sighed. "We were born into this life. Demons like SM treat us like equals, Emily. It's not like the demons not being here would make our lives a whole lot better."

"...How do you know?" Merida gulped, slowing to a stop in front of the lake they first confessed at. "Think about it. We fight for our lives because the demons had an argument a couple hundred years ago and one doesn't want to agree with the rest! If demons didn't exist in the first place, they wouldn't be here to have that argument. And if demons didn't exist, then Namaal wouldn't have had to be chained up to prevent him from taking over the realities because he wouldn't exist in the first place!"

"There's nothing we can do about the past, Emily. Demons and gods exist, and we have to make the best out of that situation. And honestly? I like what we have here." Emily sighed. "But we don't have any real freedom. Sure we can join the mortal world and try and live normally but monsters will always come after us. And the demons will always be pulling us back into the proxy world to do odd jobs for them. There's no escape." Merida looked down at the ground. "I'm fine with that. It's how I've lived in all my past lives. Or at least the ones I remember. I'm happy with that. And I remember trying. Many times way back when. Trying to avoid being a proxy is only more dangerous. Please, just try to be happy with this. I...I honestly don't understand how you aren't satisfied with this." Emily thought for a moment, then smiled.

"I am. So long as you trust me." She stepped forward and embraced them tightly. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

June 1, 2011

Eighteen-year-old Emily Underhill walked over to Merida Knowles's bedroom, knocking and opening the door. "Merry? Could you do something for me?" Merida sat up in bed, taking their headphones off. "I'd do anything for you, Ems." Emily closed the door, sitting next to Merida.

"Could you get Leo's bracelet for me?" Merida's eyes widened, eyebrows creasing in exasperation. "Emily, come on. Not this again, please."

"I had a vision last night." She lied. "It was the mansion. We were being attacked. We'll need as much power as we can get, and I think this could really help." Merida bit their lips. "Did you really have a vision?"

"I'm sure of it." Emily placed her hands over theirs. "You trust me, don't you Merida?" They looked down at the ground, before nodding and standing up. "I do. I-I'll do it." They smiled, before kissing their girlfriend on the lips. "Meet me by the lake, okay?" Emily nodded, kissing them back.

The lake was a beautiful deep shade of blue. It was the cleanest lake you could find, as the proxies of Slenderman often used it as a swimming pool whenever they were lucky enough for it to be warm enough. Today wasn't one of those lucky days. The air was cold and crisp, and by the look of the clouds, it would likely start to rain in the next hour. Merida ran over, holding the bracelet in their hand. Emily smiled. "Thank you, Merry! Thank you so much!" She went to grab it, but Merida stepped away. "Hang on. Why do you really want this?" Emily's smile dropped. "I told you earlier. I got a vision. I wanna protect our home."

"Do you really?" Merida stared into her soul. Emily faltered.

"Fine. No, I don't. You didn't convince me last time. I'm not satisfied with this. We're just..." Her eyes widened. "Pawns! We're just pawns in these demons' game. Eventually one side will win, but what'll it cost? How many people are going to die for them?" Merida shook their head.

"Emily, what we have is good. We found a place where we're accepted. Not many places, or at least not many that I know of, would allow us to just walk around and be ourselves in public. Please, just...give me some time and hear me out. I'm gonna return this to Leo, we can head back inside, and just talk. Okay?" Emily looked at the ground, nodding. "Okay." Merida turned around. "Hey, Merry, wait." They turned back around, and Emily closed the distance between them, placing a kiss on their lips, not leaving. Merida kissed back, unaware of the knife being pulled from Emily's belt. When they pulled away, Emily spoke. "I love you, Merry." Merida hugged Emily tightly, unaware of the knife behind their back.

"I love you too, Ems."

The knife slipped through their ribs. Blood spilled out of the wound. Merida coughed up blood, the knife having slit through their lungs. Just like that, they fell limp. Dead. Emily simply picked up the bracelet, sheathed her knife, and walked away. And then there was one.

Their siblings found their body. They wept. They grieved. They punched the wall in anger. Emily was nowhere in sight. All she had left behind was a note, with words written out in Demon.

"O worr glaelea e cliut wjala wa worr socjle ef ima. Umolete."

"I will create a group where we will fight as one. Unity."

SM understood what she meant. He had Katie come home early from camp. SM had all of his proxies pray to Hades, asking him to take mercy on them, and help them find a new place to stay. He did, a bit surprised that they were praying to him of all gods. He found them somewhere underground, somewhere far away from their original home, where they could stay without fear of the newly-named Umolete finding them. They promised to give him offerings whenever they could for his kindness, and he agreed to help whenever they needed it, as well as to keep their existence hidden from the gods. The proxies gave Merida a Proxy's funeral. They each said something about them, chanted a prayer in Demon that they would be born into a happy family in their next life, then said their goodbyes. SM cut open his hand and covered their body in black blood, which slowly melted down their body into the ground. Lacie put down a grave where they lay, and they all walked back into their home in silence.

The next few days consisted of them packing their bags and emptying out the mansion, bringing their belongings to their new home, a multi-story building several feet below ground, in the US instead of Canada. It was all the way across the country from Camp Half-Blood, but at least it was safe, and had several security measures, courtesy of Leo and Lacie. Leo had been silent ever since he had found Merida dead, an unsettling change. Lacie hadn't stopped working.

June 10, 2011

The proxies of Slenderman finished moving everything they had into the new location. Now all that was left was burning the evidence that the mansion had ever existed. SM had told them with a broken heart that this is what they had to do. Several proxies had protested, but Leo and Lacie were the ones who knew they had to do it. Lacie stood in front of the mansion. The building she had called home for all eleven years of her life.

She created a ball of fire in her hand.

"L-Lacie, wait! Not yet!" Leo stuttered, grabbing her arm. Lacie pulled away. "We both knew this was coming, Leo. Come on." She came closer, walking past Merida's grave, forcing herself not to look at it. Leo's body shook, tears flooding into his eyes.

He created a ball of fire in his hand, then went to join his sister.

She looked over to him, then reached over and grabbed his hand. His grip tightened, and he looked down at the ground, tears falling down his cheeks.

The fire burned hot and heavy as it blasted from their palms, gnawing away at the wood of the mansion and destroying the place they called home. The proxies and their leader stared as the fire grew more and more for two long hours, SM making sure it didn't spread any farther than the clearing. Once their home was fully burnt down and nothing but a smoldering pile of burnt wood, ashes, and embers remained, Lacie collapsed. She sobbed, screaming out, clutching at piles of ashes and sobbing into them. Leo dropped down next to her, staring in silence at the black circle of ash. He thought about when he was a child, when he accidentally burned down his mother's mechanics shop, with her inside. His eyes watered again, tears running down his cheeks as he whimpered, choked, and wept. Their siblings behind them broke down as well, some collapsing to the ground and sobbing, others simply staring down in silence, lips quivering and breath shaking. SM looked down at the ground, then slowly approached the two children of Hephaestus. He crouched next to them.

Lacie immediately ran into his arms. After a moment's hesitation Leo did as well. He sighed, running his hands through their hair. Silent, unable to find any words to encourage or comfort them. He picked them both up, and carried them over to their fellow proxies. "Come, children. I...I understand your mourning. But it's time to move on. We have a future ahead of us. And hopefully..." He looked over at Merida's grave. The fourth time he's had to bury them. He took a deep breath, forcing his mind out of that space. "Hopefully we can build a world where no one will repeat what has happened. For now, let's rest. We have a new home, and new memories, awaiting us."

The proxies still standing helped up those still sobbing. Brian sobbing into Tim's shoulder, Brooklyn sobbing into Jack's, BP sobbing into Puppeteer's, and Jeff even allowing Toby to weep into his. Katie stood in silence, crying silently to herself. Ermolai walked silently over to her, leaning against her and hugging her with one arm and signing to her with his other. Slowly, they all made their way to SM and crowded around him. He made sure they were all ready, then teleported them to their new home. A new home, with new proxies, and new memories to be had.