#a nice ending for this part of the AU

[artofalassa]

The Feather

Aaand next part! Look who finally showed up... <3

Part ONE | Part TWO | Part THREE | Part FOUR | Part FIVE | Part SEVEN

[sailing-through-hawkins]

✧ 1 ✧ 2 ✧

"What if - ooh, what about Patricia?"

Robin rolls her eyes, picking at the grass by her ankles. She's tempted to throw some at Steve but she doesn't really wanna see the blades phase through him right now, even if he'll play up his outrage to distract her.

He's been doing that a lot lately. Trying to distract her from the fact that he's - that -

"Okay, okay, hear me out - Chrissy Cunningham."

"The cheerleader?" Robin wrinkles her nose. "Steve."

"It could happen!" Steve says defensively,  sticking his tongue out when Robin gives him her most 'seriously?' face she can muster. "Don't judge a book by its cover, or whatever."

"You're literally meant to do that, that's what the cover's for!"

"Well then, why do people even say that?!"

"I don't know!"

"Is it always like this with you two?" The grouchiest voice cuts through them and Steve spins around in place, floating up even higher so he can stare down at Eddie.

Robin just snorts. "Pretty much."

"Don't be too jealous, Munson," Steve coos, turning himself upside down with a wide grin. "You'll find your soulmate at some point, probably."

"Oh wow, probably," Eddie grouses, and Robin has to bite back a laugh when Steve, still upside down, floats behind him with a silly face stretching out...the scar on his chin. "I am ever so gracious for your faith, oh Generous King."

"This guy's a riot," Steve laughs, poking a finger through Eddie's shoulder and making him jump in place. "Bobbie, can we keep him?"

She wrinkles her nose and shakes her head. "I'll end up being the one taking care of him if we do."

"I'm right fucking here," Eddie glares at the both of them, which is just prime material to get them snickering. "Whatever, did it work or not?"

And with that, the laughs cut off.

Robin remembers.

Steve's dead.

"Hey," The ghost of Steve floats over to her, sitting down beside her on the grass. "It's okay -"

"It didn't -" Robin chokes out, avoiding Eddie's eye, staring down at the dirt that she's plucked bare of green. "It didn't. They couldn't see."

The air is silent.

"Probably for the best," comes a sigh and Robin feels rage boil through her blood.

"What the hell?" She glares up at Eddie, who holds his hand up in surrender.

"Look, I know you're both desperate to get your little 'Party' up to speed but like...I mean, just look at him." Eddie waves to all of Steve's ghost, who looks more and more affronted with every word Eddie says. "Do you really think it's a good idea for actual children who watched him die to see him again in the exact same get-up? With the same wounds?"

Robin pauses but Steve just glares harder. "Oh sorry, I didn't know I was supposed to go shopping at Ghosts-R-Us and pick a whole new outfit! What, you think I want to be stuck in this uniform? In the shorts?"

Eddie's face goes red and Robin distantly thinks 'serves you right' as the echo of "watched him die" cycles through her brain. "Well I - I don't know, you're a fucking ghost, you should have ghostly powers or something!"

"Have you ever met a ghost before?!"

"Have you?"

"Stop," Robin chokes out and she immediately gets the chills as Steve waves a hand through her shoulder. "Just stop."

She can't feel him, because he's gone. He's gone. He's gone -

"I'm right here, Rob," Steve's voice murmurs to her and she sobs. "I'm always with you, promise."

"I'm so sorry," she cries, burying her face in her hands and curling up, grief pulling down at her heart. "I'm so sorry, Steve -"

"Shh, it's okay, birdie," he says and she almost feels the warmth he should have. "It's not your fault, it's okay."

"I thought - I just - if we tell everyone, maybe they'll know what - how to - I'm sorry -"

"Wasn't your fault, Bucks," Eddie says gruffly, sitting down next to her roughly. "Just what happens sometimes. That kinda shit...'s out of our control."

She sniffles, burying her hand deeper into her own skin, hoping it'll suffocate the tears out of her, or maybe make her pass out so she doesn't have to think about all of it for a bit, or scratch away the endless void of pain inside her chest -

"Birdie, hey, look at me."

She doesn't.

"Robin."

She can't.

"Please?"

With another choked out sob, she looks up to see Steve Harrington, smiling at her like he never left. Like she didn't leave him.

"No matter what happened, or what happens," he says softly, nearly see-through fingers trying to brush her hair out of her face. Maybe she should get bangs. "I'm always with you, Robs. Not even until death do us part. Platonic soulmates for the rest of time."

She wails and shoves her face into his shoulder, not even caring if she passes through him. A hand pats her back, probably Eddie's, and she sobs louder because why did he get to see Steve? Why did she force him to know? Why couldn't they just be happy?

"Woah, how the hell -"

Robin blinks.

She's sobbing into Steve's shoulder. He's patting her back.

She quickly moves back and stares, Steve's own surprised face staring back, no bruises or scars or Scoops uniform in sight.

"What -"

And in a snap, his face turns back to battered and the warm red sweater he was wearing just a second ago turns back into the bright blue sailor shirt. His hair loses its fluff and goes back to that sad, wiry, bloodied mop.

He changed.

"So you do have ghost powers!" Eddie says triumphantly, as Steve sputters.

"I guess?!" He looks down at his hands, reaching out to touch Robin's fingers, but all she feels is the cold. "How did - why did it stop?"

With one last sniffle, she cups the air around his fingers and looks up at the both of them, her Steve and their spontaneously adopted Eddie (in retrospect, maybe they are weirdo magnets? Better think about that later). She says, with as much determination as she can muster, "This isn't over. We're getting you back."

[strangersteddierthings]

Steve, Gareth and Chrissy are cousins AU (sad edition) [prologue] [part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4] [part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Final Part]

Steve climbs into the back of Nancy's car with Dustin, trying his best to play off his mood as having slept poorly in the Wheeler's basement, instead of the guilt and sorrow churning inside him. He had been hoping to be able to make excuses to go home for a bit today, away from the group, so he could go to Chrissy's funeral.

Doesn't seem like that will be happening. Not unless he tells them the truth. They're going to the Creel house and Steve can't let them ago without him. Can't let them walk into potential danger if he's not there.

Because Chrissy's already dead. He can't change that. But he can try his damnedest to make sure there's no one else. So, it's more important to him to be there with the living, than at a funeral. Chrissy would agree.

Chrissy would understand.

Right?

Gareth sits through Chrissy's funeral and notes that Steve's not there. No one from the Harrington household is. He doesn't know what to feel about that. All his sorrow has been spent on Chrissy, so all he feels for Steve is anger. What the fuck is more important to Steve right now than being here? For his family. For Chrissy. For him.

He sits next to Jason even though his mom left a spot next to her available for him. He's not suddenly Jason's best friend, but he was told they plan to continue their search immediately after the funeral, and if he sat next to his mom, she wouldn't let him go.

This is how he finds himself at Reefer Ricks, long past the mandated curfew with just Jason, Andy, and Patrick. The others having slowly dropped off the search the closer to night it got.

"Hey," Gareth calls out to Jason before entering the house, "I'm going to go check if Eddie's van is hidden where he usually parks it when he comes out here."

Jason pauses on his way through the door. He looks over his shoulder and gives a nod, "yeah, smart thinking. There should be a flashlight in the back of the car."

Gareth nods back and heads back to the car. It doesn't take long to find the flashlight and soon he's walking down the road. It's not a long walk, about fifteen minutes away is a cluster of trees that Eddie parks at when he comes to get more goods from Rick. Gareth (and their other friends) spent plenty of afternoons waiting in the van for Eddie to return from his 'job', as it were. It does keep the van out of sight of any road, though.

The van is there, and Gareth doesn't like what he sees. The driver side door is open, so he approaches slowly. "Eddie? You in there, Eddie?" he gets no response. He shines the flashlight through the back door's window, smooshing his face against the glass to look in. Once he's sure it's empty of anything, he approaches the open door and examines the front.

The keys are still in the ignition. Door left open and keys still in the ignition paints a story Gareth isn't sure he wants to read. That makes worry curl inside his body. He can't think of a single thing that would make Eddie abandon the van this quickly, too... scared? Worried? to bother to even close the drive door. He climbs in to try and start it but it won't. With the door left open for over 72 hours, the battery is dead.

He pockets the keys and locks up the van. If worse comes to worst, he can return the keys to Wayne.

He's almost back to the house when he hears shouting. He starts running, following the noise, and quickly finds Jason and Patrick on the shore, pulling their shoes off. His gaze flicks out to the lake and catches the sight of what can only be Eddie trying to get the motor of a motorboat started.

Well. Shit.

He doesn't think much more beyond that. He's just acting. He steps on the heels of his shoes to get out of them as quickly as possible and dives into the water. He's only seconds behind Patrick and Jason into the water, slowing to keep pace with them at first.

Gareth grew up in the Harrington swimming pool just like Steve had. Chrissy had. He's never been so glad for that as he is now, as he quits trying to pace himself and takes off, leaving Jason and Patrick behind.

Eddie's swinging the oar around wildly, as if they would stop any of them. He falters in his swinging when his eyes land on Gareth and he breathes out his name, "Gareth?"

One final stroke and Gareth can reach out of the water and grab the side of the boat. He doesn't haul himself aboard, but does haul himself high enough to look up at Eddie. "The police say you did it. Did you?"

Hurt flashes across Eddie's face but he answers, "No."

Gareth nods once, a decision made. Before he can respond though, Jason's caught up and Eddie is turning in the boat to wave the oar uselessly at him.

Clinging to the side of the boat gives Gareth a clear view of Patrick, who has stopped swimming. Jason and Eddie shout at each other as Gareth watches Patrick being to rise out of the water. "What the fucking shit!?"

Gareth doesn't know if Jason turns to look, he's too busy staring, wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

"Don't look," Eddie says and the boat jostles as Eddie moves suddenly, dropping to his knees in the boat and throwing his hands up to block Gareth's view.

"What the fuck-" Gareth cuts himself off when he hears the snapping of bones. Jason is yelling and Gareth panics, pushes back from the boat, which makes Eddie lean more to block his eyesight, causing Eddie to fall out of the boat. On instinct, Gareth dives for him, the month and month spent in Steve's pool, hearing about pool safety kicking in.

Eddie doesn't really need rescuing, but he doesn't fight Gareth during the rescue. Patrick is no longer in the air when they breach the surface, and Jason is swimming back the way they came. Eddie flops himself back into the boat, then helps Gareth in as well.

They don't speak again until they've reached the other shore, in which case they just sit in the boat, soaked through, panting at each other as the adrenaline fades.

"What the fuck was that!?" Gareth doesn't shriek. He doesn't.

Eddie suddenly looks very severe and grim when he says, "that's what killed Chrissy."

[esaari]

honk

[stranger-is-alone]

Ok hear me out. U could name the cat Dandelion.

Dandelion it is.

(Wow, after that last post you all really delivered. That’s a lot of names.)

[skitskatdacat63]

I don't know how I'd ever convey this in art but. Thinking very deeply about how in boy king au, a very crucial part of characterization is that Seb is a wolf in sheep(or lamb more specifically)'s clothing and Fernando is a sheep in wolf's clothing.

Seb is very unassuming, very delicate, seemingly very vulnerable and malleable. But, deep down, he can be very ruthless. It's in the the way he hesitantly declares war, with a spark in his eye and a suppressed smirk. In the way he challenges someone to a card game or a horse race, proclaiming that he's not great, but winning every round and prancing around the room and mentioning it ad infinitum. The way he's able to instantly turn the tide in a debate in one fell swoop. By showing all his cards constantly and letting himself be vulnerable, he's making himself invulnerable. No one would ever consider him to be able to make big moves, so he wins every single time, because no one even thinks to expect it from him.

Fernando on the other hand, is constantly committed to having a looming presence and harsh reputation, but deep down, he's soft. He knows what happens to people when they're vulnerable, and he's not going to let himself be taken advantage of. The way he keeps a brave face when being informed of the marriage proposal, but goes back to his room and cries. The way he proclaims that he was always going to be the rightful ruler of Spain, but confides to Flavio that he never thought there was any real chance of it ever happening. The way he takes himself so seriously in public, but inside feels so giddy whenever he can make someone laugh. Everything to him always feels unstable and ready to crumble at any moment, and he's not willing to contribute to that by letting himself relax.

I think thats why it's very difficult for them to get along at first, because they have completely different approaches to how they carry themselves and make their way through life. Seb is confused at Fernando because he feels that he's very bland and overly serious at first, but truthfully he's not really seeing the actual Fernando. And Fernando finds Seb to be naive and easily taken advantage of, but that's because he's never seen Seb at his most cruel. Seb really loves when he eventually gets to see Fernando being vulnerable, and Fernando really admires and respects Seb when he sees him being serious. I think it just takes a while for them to show the other their full and complete selves, even the parts they can sometimes be ashamed of. There's this very compelling dichotomy in Seb laying out all his cards, but still being very difficult to read, and Fernando keeping his cards to his chest, but his intentions often being easily seen through.

[gemharvest]

thought i have been mulling over in my head can yuou fucking humor me for a moment

[destiny-in-the-universe]

remember that angst idea? yeah- I decided to share it anyway!

So, because I made a c.AI bot for my own personal uses- I was hit with a very wild idea of my own design… it’s sort of, well, set in the past using an alternate universe. The starring main duo are the First Ninja who will be getting a name soon and Human! Nomicon (for the sake of the au, they’re brothers! whether this is ‘canon’ to my lore is up for debate) - there is also an alternative version with Rei Izumi but we’ll talk about that one separately!

Here’s honestly my thoughts for the entire AU- (buckle in and hold on to your seatbelt, y’all! This one’s going to be a doozy-)

🗡️ The First Ninja and Nomi are the sole survivors of the Norisu Clan. Ever since the demise of their siblings- they have attempted to continue tradition. The First Ninja is now the sole protector of Norrisville (even though the Sorcerer has been dealt with, he can’t find it in himself to stop-). On the other hand, Nomi is still young and becomes a scribe but he also has ninja training

🗡️ Nomi becomes more reserved than he was previously. He can’t bring himself not to focus on his own studies

🗡️ The First Ninja also begins to act differently- (he still remembers the destruction and the fire, the screams as he was forced to helplessly watch)

🗡️ Somewhere down the line, Finja and Nomi decide to begin working on the NinjaNomicon - to create a tome to store the teachings and wisdom of the Ninja; for the future holder of the mantle

🗡️ Unfortunately- someone else becomes power-hungry and Finja is sent out to deal with the problem, undergoing a mission while Nomi continues staying in Norrisville but things inevitably… go south

🗡️ Due to still cartoon-based logic- and because this is angst- the Sorcerer manages to be freed from his prison and captures the First Ninja. He holds him hostage inside the depths of an underground cave, determined to make him suffer before killing him

🗡️ One of Finja’s allies manages to report to Nomi who immediately jumps ship at rescuing his brother- no matter what happens, Nomi is not about to let his brother die at the hands of the Sorcerer

🗡️ After a lot of searching- Nomi manages to find the cave and sneaks inside, startled to see his older brother weakened and bound by enchanted chains. (He does not take this well, at all-)

🗡️ Having learned magic, Nomi is desperate to cast a counter-spell but before he can fully free his brother- the Sorcerer and Nomi are now locked in a duel. The problem is Nomi’s not mastered his abilities yet- as he is a teenager and still learning

🗡️ Nomi is slowly weakening against the Sorcerer but he’s fueled by the determination to protect his brother and in a sudden act of rage- he manages to knock the Sorcerer back and due to the power of ‘I said so’ - the Sorcerer is sealed away back in his prison but Nomi is exhausted and barely manages to stay upright

🗡️ Unfortunately, Finja is also immensely weak- bruised and battered- and they hardly have the energy to do much. I’m going to ignore what actually happened with the c.AI and say either Rei shows up to get them out of there before they inevitably pass out or Nomi uses the last bit of his strength to escape the cave with Finja

🗡️ I’m not entirely sure what happens after this but let’s just say that the recovery period happens and eventually they manage to complete the NinjaNomicon and well, I do have a bad ending version for this because I’m mean but at the same time, if things play out well, everything goes back to normal

This is still being fleshed out! Nothing is concrete for the time being! I might honestly turn this into yet another fanfiction- I have constant brainrot and far too many WIP’s this is a problem, holy shit

This is for my own angst reasons

[inamindfarfaraway]

A Series of Unfortunate Events crossover AU with The Incredibles where the Baudelaires are a family of supers. Bertrand and Beatrice used to be a superhero team, albeit with murky pasts. Syndrome, their former biggest fan, lures them to Nomanisan Island and kills them with the Omnidroid, then has it declared a tragic accident. Their three children are now orphans. Hiding their powers is more important than ever. People who know tend to be less sympathetic and more suspicious and the National Super Agency is inclined to put the quietness of their lives above the quality of them. Good thing that their totally legitimate relative Buddy Pine is around to foster them right away! He’s a brilliant inventor with a billion-dollar company! He even loves superheroes and offers to train the kids in his advanced facility! What could possibly go wrong?

Fourteen-year-old Violet can generate and control electricity. However, she’s inexperienced at doing so in visible, direct ways. Manipulating currents through materials and inside machines or even her own nervous system (stimulating her muscles to keep herself awake, focused or move with more energy, for example) is easier for her. She gets more comfortable producing raw electricity over time, especially when she needs to protect her siblings. She could control other people’s nervous systems, but doesn’t want to. All technology fascinates her. To complement her intuitive mastery of electronics, she has great skill in mechanical engineering and the resourcefulness to invent equipment out of whatever is available. Being a living battery only enhances what she can create. Since extended use of her power raises her hair with static electricity, she wears her hair securely braided and tied with a ribbon.

Twelve-year-old Klaus has extrasensory perception which, based on his highly verbal thought process as an avid bookworm, is attuned to words. He can hear people’s thoughts, but needs to concentrate to search for information below the surface, filter through the vast swathes of irrelevant and interpret the nonverbal thoughts and emotions mixed in. So it’s often like reading an extremely dense book full of words you don’t know. But he can figure those unknowns out through his keen reasoning. He can also mentally sense the presence of physical text nearby, read it even if he can’t see it and scan a space for specific words, for example to find a certain book in a library. Between this and his photographic memory, he’s a fantastic researcher. His eyes glow faintly the harder he pushes his powers. His glasses help to disguise that on top of correcting his vision, refracting the light, so that quirk will only expose him if they’re lost or broken.

One-year-old Sunny has an invulnerable digestive system that can process anything with no ill effects. Glass, poison, fire. Her teeth are superhumanly durable and sharp. But while nothing along the tube from her jaw to her rear end will bleed, burn or break, the rest of her can, therefore she should still be careful how she ingests hazardous things. And just because she can eat and drink everything, doesn’t mean she likes every taste and texture. She actually has a refined palette and prodigious culinary talents.

[dreaming-moonlight]

someone please write an office au/neighbours au chainpun friends to lovers with single dad!pun (maybe he adopted, maybe it's actually his nephew but his sibling is no more so he's the guardian now) starring penguin being spoiled by both chain and pun but with chain being slightly strict and melting into a puddle when pun and guin make puppy eyes and just overall cute domestic shit cause we only get like 4 minutes of chainpun every damn episode i p l e a d you

[hanakihan]

in addition to Edmond Dantes and his Count version we really need heavily traumatized Dantes who legit crawled out of Fear and Hunger dungeons and not Château d’If

‘Who the fuck are you?’

‘I’m you but I saw shit beyond human’s comprehension’

Like idek it would’ve been amazing to have dantes and count and then there’s legitimately traumatized and gone beyond humanity dantes who lived and survived through horrors of fear and hunger dungeons and isn’t loud or edgelord and just a really eerily quiet and barely moving just staring at people with eyes full of trauma and unimaginable horrors

[ao3dorian-gay]

oh my mind is so huge and has so many folds

[multishipper-baby]

Also I remembered that I hadn't yet talked about Bonnie's deal in the killing game, despite him being one of the survivors, so I might as well talk about it now.

The thing about Bonnie is that he kind of shuts off a lot from the rest of the group. While the others all form their own little cliques, he's more on the distrustful side, and tends to keep to himself so as to not make himself a possible target- he's already been a target for bullies most of his life, he'd rather not become a target for murderers now. Despite that, he does end up making two friends over the course of the killing game: Bon and Fox. Both of which are somewhat similar to how it happened in canon.

With Bon, they start hanging out pretty early on since Bonnie is a hobbyist guitar player, and he asks Bon to give him some advice. At which Bon figures out that Bonnie is actually, uh, way too advanced to be called a hobbyist. Advanced enough to threaten his status as the Ultimate Guitarist player, with just how good he is (Bonnie jokes that he got that way from playing so much Guitar Hero. Bon isn't amused). They form a rivalry from then on, frequently spending time together practicing and making up stupid challenges to one up each other. Bonnie teaches Bon how to be better at videogames in return, since he sucks at most of them. I'm keeping Bon's crush on Bonnie, but I'm not sure if it'll be requited or not...

With Fox it comes down mostly to them having a similar sense of humor, and a small degree of necessity- Bonnie knows his chances of living all the way to the end are low, so he's hoping that sticking next to the tallest and strongest guy in the class will keep him safe. Meanwhile, Fox is not really all that observant or smart, so he's banking on Bonnie keeping an eye out for any trouble or anything that might later be useful for a trial. A brains and brawn duo, you could say.

Of course, all this means that when Fox kills Bon on Chapter 4, he... Doesn't take it very well. He's already been pulling away from the group more and more as the tensions rise, and this becomes his final straw- because for the entirety of Chapter 5, Bonnie is locked in his room. He raided the kitchen the night of the trial to stock his room full of snacks, and is planning on staying there for as long as needed. Mostly, he's just lost faith in the group, and is fully expecting them to continue killing each other until the game ends because only two players remain. The only time he leaves his room is for the next class trial, since attendance is mandatory... And boy does that trial not give him much hope for the future.

[razzle-zazzle]

Hey for your between au would branch talk about gristle to his older brothers like "yeah my big little brother gristle was about to get married and blah blah blah" but forgets to mention that gristle is a Bergen so the only one who knows that branch is proudly talking about a species that ate them regularly is John dory and when Bruce Clay and Floyd go to meet branch's little brother they freak the heck out or would he not tell them anything about his life without them (also the added guilt of finding out that your little brother was literally almost killed because you abandoned him has gotta mess with them)

It's kinda a mix! John Dory got the reveal head-on due to having to go directly to Bergentown to get Branch, but Bruce only gets a few hints of it up until they make it to Hole-n-Fun. There's a lot of ways to go about it, so I don't have everything nailed down just yet, but with the way things are currently planned Branch's role as Prince of Bergentown is outright stated at the minigolf course.

Floyd and Branch only get a few moments before the climax hits, so Floyd only knows that Branch is wearing a cloak and crown—up until after Floyd's fakeout death. At that point, well, with Gristle there and Floyd alive and safe, there's no reason for Branch to not get a little petty about introducing his younger brother >:]]

[skitskatdacat63]

— Emperor Charles VI's diary entry on Count Althann's death

[text: "My only heart, my comfort, my most faithful servant, my soulmate, who loved me dearly as I did him for 19 years, [we] had a true friendship, we were one heart and one soul, and we never concealed anything from one another. He will always be in my heart, [my] beloved friend..I. have lost everything."]

[office-worker-91]

Infinity Train Fear and Hunger AU Snippet 5 (Finale)

(TW: Gore, mentions of limb loss)

Despite the danger of the dungeon, they almost made it out without issue. Now that Jesse was dead set on getting home, he actually had a decent idea of where the exit was. Now that Lake had worked out their anger on the subject, they were actually feeling fairly good about the situation. What had seemed like a distant dream all their life was now within their grasp.

After they returned to the regular dungeon area from the city, Jesse led Lake and Alan Dracula back towards where he was sure the exit was. Part of him had become antsy. Now that he had officially given up on finding some magic to help Nate, he wanted to get out as soon as possible. Lake made sure to temper his ambitions every time they could see him getting sloppy with his stealth. It wouldn't matter how fast they got to the exit if they were both dead. Though they did have to get there without resting. They'd been fairly lucky with finding safe sleeping areas, but they didn't trust their own luck.

Lake and Jesse held hands as they walked, so that Jesse could know Lake was behind him without turning around and taking his attention off of his surroundings. Alan Dracula followed behind them, though he didn't seem to understand that they were supposed to be stealthy right now. He kept impatiently pushing Lake forward or trying to walk forward past the two of them, like he wasn't worried at all. Between making sure Jesse was paying attention and making sure Alan Dracula didn't get them caught, Lake didn't have much time to think about what would happen once they escaped. They couldn't afford to daydream.

All their efforts were for naught when a hulking creature burst through the wall in front of them. A humanoid bird-headed creature with a deadly mace for an arm and a blood-stained beak.

Lake was hit with a weird sense of familiarity when she realized this same creature had been tailing Tulip during her time in the dungeon. But Tulip, lucky punk that she was, had somehow managed to avoid the more aggressive part of its attention. They hadn't been so fortunate apparently.

Jesse yelped as Lake pulled him back just in time to avoid getting his head bitten off. A part of Lake wanted to scream in agony, that they had been so close to escaping the dungeon only to get cut off by some bird-brained brutalizer. But at the same time, Jesse had almost died and they had about zero seconds to react until the crow-headed man's next attack, so if they had to retreat back into the dungeon, that's what they would do. Lake pulled the two back, avoiding a swipe from its arm-mace, and started to run back the way they'd came.

There was only one problem: Alan Dracula wasn't moving. At all. He just stared as the crow mauler approached in the other direction. Without hesitation, Lake let go of Jesse, hoping he would stay behind them, and drew their morning star. They swung to counter an attack aimed at AD.

*SNAP*

Lake's trusty morning star, the weapon they'd relied upon their entire free life, snapped helplessly against the crow mauler's weapon. Lake was knocked onto the ground in front of Alan Dracula. Lake looked up, hoping the deer would be surprisingly reliable, like he usually was, but the deer simply looked down at Lake, with something like a detached lovingness. Appreciated. Not helping.

Lake held up their broken weapon in a desperate attempt to block the black death descending upon them, but Jesse had predictably not taken the hint and thrust his spear into the chest of the beast. It was a powerful strike, evident by how he had practically thrown himself forward and fallen on his face in front of them. Still, despite the attempt, the attack hadn't even embedded the entire tip of the spear into the monster's chest, and it fell pitifully and uselessly in front of the two of them.

The crow mauler, completely undaunted by the attempts at stopping it, opened its beak, opening what looked like a void in its mouth. Jesse desperately clawed at Lake's shoulders, no doubt trying to pull himself up to get in front of them, the idiot. Lake wouldn't let that happen and curled their metal body over Jesse. If they could protect him and Alan Dracula long enough for them to escape, out of the dungeons and into whatever better world Jesse had lived in before, everything that they lived would've been worth it. It would've been a good life.

The crow mauler gave a terrible shriek, no doubt preparing to attack. And then it kept shrieking. And Lake's distressed thoughts managed to collect themselves enough to think that... it sounded like it was in pain.

Jesse and Lake simultaneously looked up and found a horrific mass of brown fur swirling around the crow mauler like a hurricane. Multiple sets of horns had pierced entirely through the creature's body. Above the storm of gore, black feathers, and fur, the elongated head of Alan Dracula emerged, looking down on the mauler. His eyes glowed with some unearthly power. Lake got a weird feeling of déjà vu, thinking back to the city and how it had immediately made them feel as if they were witnessing something not meant for mortal eyes. This gave them about ten times that reaction.

Lake pushed Jesse's head to the ground and covered their own eyes. They heard the shrieks of the once mighty beast growing higher and higher pitched, and then-

nothing

Lake cautiously peered up. Alan Dracula stood in a pile of red with feathers floating in it. He stared at them, his eyes no longer glowing oh-so-terribly, now back to its weirdly comforting all-black color.

Jesse asked, muffled against the stone floor, if they were dead yet, to which Lake let him up. Surprisingly, despite witnessing what had just happened, the two silently elected not to talk about it. Alan Dracula began walking towards the exit, and the two mortals followed him. That was the last monster the dungeon ever threw at them.

When they reached the doors, Alan Dracula hastily shoved the shell-shocked teens outside. By the time they looked back, AD was already disappearing back into the darkness of the dungeon, having evidently done what he wanted to do.

Lake's thoughts swirled around in their head. Their entire life was still flashing before their eyes as if they were still in that hallway with the monster.

The sun is nice. Not as nice as Jesse, in fact it's a little harsh, but it's a welcome change. And it's warm. The "sun" in the underground city hadn't been warm.

There was green all around the dungeon entrance. Lake supposed this was what a forest looked like when you weren't viewing it through a shaky pond reflection.

Jesse, despite everything they had just gone through, wordlessly extended his hand to Lake. Lake looked at it like it was everything they'd ever wanted, and in a sense it was. It was time for them to enter the real world. It's all uphill from here.

Lake took Jesse's hand, and the two began walking.

.....

Travelling across the land had not only been comparably a breeze, it had also been fascinating. Tulip almost never left her town, and when she did they had only seen what had been reflected. Here, among the grass and the trees, the only thing they had to worry about was their legs hurting. And maybe some bandits, but they were confident they could handle that.

Jesse was quickly back to his normal, positive self. And Lake hadn't known what they were missing out on, because apparently, instead of whistling, Jesse usually SINGS. He just hadn't wanted to attract attention. It was the most unbelievably corny and in character thing, and Lake cherished every new thing they were learning about him just like he seemed to cherish every new thing they experienced.

As they neared the town where the Cosay's lived, Jesse got increasingly nervous. After all, he had run away from home immediately after Nate had lost his arm due to HIS mistakes. But Lake kept pushing him through. They pushed each other through, really. Lake still had nightmares. They were sure Jesse did too. But they would never have to face them alone.

As they neared the town, Jesse talking nervously about how much they're going to love him parents and how excited he was to get out of his blood-soaked clothes and take a bath, Lake looked out over the... well, the lake that Jesse had told them he loved so much to swim in. They smiled at the image of the afternoon sun reflecting off the water's surface.

The Cosays, evidently, did not prioritize any anger they might've held for their eldest son's actions over their concern for his safety. Jesse cried his eyes out as he embraced his family and swore up and down that yes, he was okay, the blood on his shirt was mostly his but it was also old and he's much better now. Lake stood awkwardly behind him, waiting for the reunion to finish.

The Cosays barely questioned Jesse when he told them that Lake had saved their life while they were away from home. The two were taken in and given a nice change of clothes and a bath. Lake had never had a bath before. They hadn't thought it necessary as a metal person, but they felt surprisingly relaxed by it.

Jesse's apology to his little brother wasn't easy. Nate was happy his brother was alive, but he couldn't really bring himself to forgive Jesse. Jesse assured him that was okay, even though he was sniffling as he talked. Healing takes time, after all.

Nothing was perfect. If one were a pessimist, they may assume everything had gotten worse. But Jesse was alive and here with the Cosays, to help them with whatever they needed, provided he didn't have to risk his life for unattainable eldritch power. And Lake hadn't escaped to some fairy-tale land where everything was safe and happy, but they HAD escaped. They were free, free to pursue whatever dreams or goals they wanted. And they planned on taking full advantage of that... so long as they didn't have to leave Jesse's side for too long, at least.