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starlitplayground · 27 days ago

Text

18+, MDNI

Crossed Wires and Corroded Steel (Sun/Moon x Reader) - Part One; 'First Impressions'.

(afab, gender neutral pronouns)

warnings/content; nothing quite yet, but eventual gore, suggestive/potentially NSFW, major character death. i'll keep this properly updated as needed.

word count; 12,570

full chapter below as well!

⋆⁺₊⋆ 𖤓☽ ⋆⁺₊⋆

You didn't really think you'd ever be in the position that you were in.

Hundreds of miles away from home, in an empty parking lot, staring up at the large building containing your future. Uncertainty tries to course through you, but you shake it away. You need this, you told yourself- but that didn't make your reality any sweeter; you stood in front of the newest Fazbear Entertainment location, Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex. It was no secret that the CEO of the company was potentially sketchy as all hell, but it was hard to ignore the 'Advanced Robotics Technician' job opening you found online.

Not many places needed a technician as skilled as you, but that didn't mean you were necessarily short on job opportunities. Were they worth it? No, not really. You made an alright amount of money, but you were downright miserable. You lacked mental stimulation- fixing WIFI routers and cell phones was not cutting it. Maybe moving half-way across the country was a bit of an impulsive thing to do, but you desperately wanted to do something new and exciting. You were most definitely excited- but you were quite nervous, too.

The comfortable night air silently whispered around you as you inhaled and exhaled deeply, rubbing your palms together as you approached the automatic glass doors. They slid open and you walked through, raising your eyebrows as you looked around at the bright, retro 80's themed interior of the building. Sure, you'd done a bit of research on the place- but, it was just that. A bit.

You knew about the Glamrocks and their popularity, but you couldn't find much of anything regarding the animatronics' mechanical structure, so you didn't find a need to do anymore digging. You didn't get a master's degree in Advanced Robotics Engineering for nothing, so you decided to take it as some what of a challenge.

You didn't make it further than four feet into the building when a blur of white came flying at you from the side, and you jumped back with a startled yelp.

"Welcome to Freddy Faz-Faz-Fazbear's Meg-eg-ega Piz-izaple-e-ex, home of the Gla-am-am-rocks! Please-ease-ease head to-o the service-ervice desk for-or admission and par-ar-arty passes."

Your eyebrows furrowed at the small white bot invading your personal space, glitching terribly through it's greeting. "Good god- I doubt that's right.." You muttered and trailed off, looking it over. It was a basic design; likely a part of a set based on the number '16' on its chest in small black lettering.

You walked around the bot, looking at it's back panel. It didn't move, and you began reading the small sticker underneath the base of it's neck. You squinted as you read the small words, but your focus was broken by a slight chuckle from behind you. You whipped around, eyes widening.

Somewhat shockingly, it was William Afton himself.

You'd seen him online before; articles of Fazbear Entertainment locations burning down, and a few missing child articles as well. You also saw him featured in a few robotic engineering forums, so it wasn't too terribly far off to say he was almost idolized by techy 'nerds' like you. It was still a shock to see him in the flesh; his deep purple suit was ironed and smooth, and he wore a bright yellow tie with a Freddy enamel pin towards the top. His hand was in his pocket and he had an amused smile on his face, the purple and blue neon lights reflecting softly off of his hair, which was slicked back.

He looked expensive.

You stepped away from the bot, a nervous smile making it's way to your face. "Ah, hi, sorry." You apologized, but he waved you off. "Nonsense; your eagerness shows. I take it you're (y/n)?" He asked, approaching you. You nodded, looking back at the bot. "Yes, sir. I noticed that this lil' guy had an issue, so I figured I'd give it a teensy look." You replied, and the bot looked from Afton to you.

"Oh? I'm not here often; I'm unfortunately quite busy, and so I entrust management to my daughter. I came to personally meet you and guide you through the innerworkings of my animatronics- as mentioned in the email you received, we've been struggling to find someone capable of doing such intricate work." He said, tilting his head at the small bot. "How long has it been since they've been serviced? The animatronics, I mean." You asked, and he clicked his tongue.

"They have small work done here and there thanks to a program I built to help Vanessa- my daughter- keep things running until we found someone to handle the bigger issues. I've had to drop everything and come fix some more extreme situations a few times now, so your presence is definitely appreciated. Assuming, that is, that you're able to fully understand said intricacies of my work." He added, and you resisted snorting at the comment.

You weren't one to boast, but you definitely weren't one to discredit yourself either.

"I make no promises, but I can assure you that I wouldn't be here if I wasn't confident in myself and my abilities." You said, respectfully, and he gave you a challenging smile. "Well, let's get to it then." He replied, pulling his hand from his pocket, a yellow, bear shaped smart watch in his hand. He gave it to you, and you put it on as he began walking. "That watch is very important; it might as well be your employee ID itself. You'll need it for a lot of things, so make sure you keep track of it. You only get one replacement before termination, for the company's protection." He said, you following him closely.

The two of you approached a door and he gestured to it, dipping his head slightly. You reached out, the sight of the yellow watch around your wrist unfamiliar as you grabbed the handle. There was a small, audible click as your hand made contact and you turned the handle, pulling the door open. "Ah, keycard watch." You said, and Afton nodded as he walked through the threshold. "Basically."

"Well, I can understand the severity of losing them now." You replied, tilting your head expressively.

You followed him into a messy, unfinished hallway with a janitorial cart and a few stacks of boxes strewn about. "This needs to be cleaned by one of the S.T.A.F.F. bots, but this hall is probably going to be one of your most used paths. It's the fastest way to Parts and Services from the building's entrance, and that's where you'll be quite often- though I'm sure there will be other things to work on, such as broken attractions, malfunctioning arcade machines, etcetera." He explained as the two of you walked ahead.

He stopped at an elevator and pressed the call button. The door shuddered open and he walked in, followed by you. He pointed at the button on the bottom of the directional console, which had a small wrench and gear icon on it. You pressed it and the doors shuddered harder as they closed, grinding against their track.

"Tch." Afton clicked in disapproval at the door as the elevator began it's thankfully smooth descent. "I'd like you to do basic maintenance on each of the Glamrocks, the Daycare Attendant, the DJ, and at least one S.T.A.F.F bot- preferably the unfortunate one you've already met- before you're let loose to explore. We like to let new employees familiarize themselves with this understandably overwhelming workplace before expecting them to perform their work well. Although, your position is a bit more sophisticated." He explained and finished with an uplifted tone, but you puffed your cheeks out. That's a bit more work than you were expecting to do on your first night, though it made sense. Best to see how they all work before you're thrown into this job without much help.

It didn't really sound like Vanessa was the most capable.

Afton must've seen the hesitation on your face and gave a small chuckle. "Nothing to worry about- it sounds intimidating, but basic maintenance is quite easy, and fairly quick. The DJ and Daycare Attendant are quite a bit more advanced, but we'll get to that later. We should be done with that all of them by around three." He said, and you glanced down at the watch on your wrist.

11:14pm.

You were pulled out of your thoughts by the elevator gently jutting to a stop, the doors shuddering open once more. You followed Afton out of the elevator and down the hall to the left, continuing down the hall for a moment before stopping in front of a large door. The same wrench and gear icon from the elevator button was above an unexpectedly large, metal door with adequately sized windows. "This is Parts and Services. This door is off limits to everyone except you, the animatronics, and Vanessa. The animatronics are only to be down here when requested." He explained, and you nodded.

You reached out and opened the door, raising your eyebrows as you scanned the room. There was a large, metal and glass cylinder in the middle of the room, an inhumanly large chair inside. Behind the cylinder on a raised walkway were four doors, each representing a Glamrock. On the left side of the Glamrocks' doors, there was a human-sized door with a music note icon on it, and on the far right of the doors was another door, the same size as the Glamrocks', with celestial icons representing the sun and the moon on it.

Must be for the Daycare Attendant.

You walked further into the room, looking to your left. There was a wall of multiple tools, toolboxes stacked beneath it, and a large workbench. On the wall to the right of you, there was a door labeled 'Replacement Parts', and you wondered how big it was inside.

You looked back just as Afton pressed something on the face of his watch, then lowered his hand. "We'll do this one-by-one, Freddy will be here shortly. In the meantime; this is the repair chamber, although it's where all animatronics- save for DJ Music Man- are to be serviced. Except in severe circumstances, you are not to service them anywhere else- for the safety of you and others." He explained as he approached the cylinder.

"Noted, will do- although, if one were to become unresponsive or immobile, how would I get them down here?" You asked, and he gave a small nod. "That would be considered severe, as their systems can overload quickly when in distress." You nodded as he looked down to the computer in front of the chamber. "That's the Quick-Repair and Coding console, but I highly doubt you'll be using it for much. You'll be notified through your FazWatch when any upgrades or repairs need completed and you'll notice that instructions for the procedure via the QRC, but feel free to handle any issues hands-on if you'd prefer." He finished as heavy, metal thumps came into earshot. You bent your neck around the chamber, looking up at the doors as the footsteps got louder.

Suddenly, Freddy's door lifted and the large, golden bear walked through. Your breath caught in your throat, and you suddenly felt incredibly small, and incredibly out of your element. Bright blue eyes landed on Afton, and then you. He smiled, warm and inviting as he walked down the ramp. "Freddy, right on time." Afton said, grinning at the large bear. "It is so good to see you, Mr. Afton. How have you been?" Freddy asked, and your jaw went slack.

Did he just autonomously respond?

"I've been quite well, thank you for asking. This is (y/n), the new technician. They're going to do some basic maintenance on you and the rest of the animatronics. I'm just walking them through a few things." Afton said, glancing over to you once before returning his attention to Freddy.

"Ah, no problem at all." Freddy replied, flashing you a smile. You gave him an awed smile in return, watching as Afton walked over to the cylinder. He pressed a large button and there was a subtle hiss, the heavy cylinder door dragging up slowly. Freddy walked ahead, entering the cylinder and sitting down in the chair. Afton gestured to the chamber and you sucked in a short breath, walking under the door. Your footsteps echoed off of the glass, followed by Afton's as he followed you into the cylinder.

There was another soft hiss of air and the door slowly shut, closing the three of you inside. As the door shut, there were four heavy clinks of metal. You furrowed your brows and looked down to find metal cuffs wrapped around Freddy's wrists and ankles. They restricted their limbs, but their hands were still moveable.

"Don't worry, Superstar; it's to keep you safe!" Freddy assured, his voice uplifted.

You nodded and Afton shifted behind you. He got close to Freddy, who towered over the grown man even in his relaxed position. "There's a small button that opens the chest cavity underneath his bowtie." He stood with his hands resting behind his back and you nodded. You removed Freddy's bowtie, which appeared to be attached by a strong magnet. "You'll need a screwdriver to reach the button." Afton explained, pointing to a small tray sitting next to the chair. You reached over and grabbed the thinnest Philips head screwdriver on the tray, then walked up to Freddy. It felt a bit odd; he was watching you, which was unnerving to say the least, but there was a softness in his gaze that put you at ease a bit.

It kind of felt like you were about to perform a surgery on an awake patient. You might as well have been.

You looked at the small hole just under Freddy's neck, then got up on your tip-toes and leaned over, lifting the screwdriver. Your eyes flicked to Freddy, who gave a friendly wink. You bit the inside of your lip as you pressed the screwdriver into the hole, then you let out a small yelp as his chest plate popped open, exposing his wires and endoskeleton.

"Good. Now I want you to take a moment and observe the wires; familiarize yourself with them. All of the Glamrocks have practically the same wiring." Afton said, stepping back. You did as you were told, but not just because you were instructed to.

The wires were set meticulously, and there were so many. They twisted around each other in a fluid, intricate mess of organized chaos, though it was quite easy to tell which ones were the most important. Most of them connected to a box about the size of your hand, which had its own wires stretching up and into Freddy's neck. You'd seen plenty of those; they condensed large amounts of wires and connected them to the motherboard without overloading it.

There was one cable, however, deep inside of Freddy's chest that was practically hidden by the collection of wires and cables above it. Unfortunately, everything was coated in a thin layer of dust.

"This is.." You let out a disbelieving chuckle. This was going to be fun.

Afton gave a quiet laugh, then stepped close to you. "Tell me what you see, and point out any issues you may find." He said, looking at you. Your brows furrowed as you began thoroughly examining the wires and cables within Freddy's chest cavity. You reached your small hands into the chassis, carefully pointing at a small cluster of wires that were tied into a neat bundle.

"Well, this is the central system." You said, pointing to the box in Freddy's chest. "If I had to guess, I'd say that this is audio processing and most likely attached to his voice box as well." You said, following the wires further up into the animatronic's chassis. A few of the wires from the group split off and twisted underneath a larger bundle of wires closer to Freddy's throat, and you very gently moved them a touch to the left. You nodded to yourself as the few wires you were tracking were fed into a small, black box with a speaker on the surface.

Freddy's voice was very strong for how unexpectedly small his voice box was. The efficiency was unbelievable.

"Hm. Please continue." He said, watching your hands. You pointed at another bundle of wires, furrowing your brows deeper in focus. "I recognize those ones; those are for optics and video processing." You said, a bit quieter now as you focused on task in front of you. Afton didn't respond that time, but you knew to continue.

"These are for motor function, and these little ones are for more precise movements on smaller parts, such as fingers or eyelids.." You said, trailing off as you continued your examination. "This is the most impressive, advanced piece of technology I've ever seen." You mumbled, and Afton chuckled as he stepped closer. "These are the harder ones to access," He gently moved a few handfuls of wires to the side, exposing more thinner ones deeper in the chassis.

He took a few moments to explain their function to you, pointing as he talked and you intently listened. Finally, the thickest wire deep within the chassis was visible. "This is the powerline, connected to the motherboards- which is located in their heads. Damage to these cords is-" He let out a scoff, though there was no malice. "they're the hardest pieces of these machines to repair, closely seconded by the motherboards. Unexpected power loss can result in a corrupted motherboard, which risks entire memory loss." Your eyebrows raised and you pressed your lips into a thin line. Definitely take care of those, then.

Once he was done, he walked over to the cart. "Here, take this and carefully get rid of the dust." He said, handing you a small hose. He pressed a small button on the cart holding the tool tray, and a soft rush of air began blowing out of the hose.

You carefully fanned it back and forth over Freddy's wiring, blowing the dust off of his cables and out of his chest cavity. He let out a small, deep laugh and you glanced up at him. He gave a sheepish smile and you apologized with your expression, returning focus to your work.

It must've tickled, you thought.

Once you got the dust dealt with, you removed your hands from his chest to lay the hose on the cart. "Close the chassis, just gently push it." Afton instructed and you did as told, placing your palm on the front of Freddy's open chest. There was a bit of resistance, but after a second it gave a small jerk, and began to close. You furrowed your eyebrows again. "Should I do something about that? WD-40, maybe?" You asked, and Afton's hand appeared next to you- already holding a can of multi-purpose lubricant. It was off-brand, but it worked just the same.

"Thank ya, thank ya." You said, leaning over to aim the can at the slightly rusted hinge on the side of Freddy's chest plate. After applying a decent coating of the lubricant, you placed the can on the tray and grabbed the chest plate, gently moving it back and forth to work it in. It became increasingly easier to open and close, so you slowly pressed it down, giving it a gently, firm press until you heard a heavy click.

"This is the last thing; just a little cleaning." Afton said, handing you a folded rag and a bottle of cleaning solution. You nodded and looked Freddy over, spraying and wiping away any smudges and small, greasy handprints. You also took care to get any residual lubricant from around the near-invisible line where his chest plate opened.

Once you were done, Afton nodded. "Good job; you did rather well." Afton said, pressing a green button on the underside of the chair. The cuffs around Freddy's wrists and ankles popped open and the animatronic sat up, giving you a gentle pat on the head. "Welcome to the team, Superstar. You're gonna do great, I can just tell." Freddy complimented, and you gave him a smile.

"Thanks. Freddy. I look forward to working with you." You said, and he reached out a large, yellow paw. You reached your hand out, and his nearly engulfed yours.

He was exiting the cylinder when another door opened with a quiet metallic screech and the three of you looked over, Roxy walking through the door. You blinked a few times, the wolf animatronic squinting at you as she walked down the ramp with a hand on her hip. "Ah, Roxanne. Thank you for coming, I know you're not particularly fond of maintenance." Afton greeted as the animatronic approached. Freddy waved as he walked back to his designated door and walked through, letting it shut behind him.

"Eh. Not my favorite, but I've been itching for some decent work. Been long enough." She said, a small growl in her voice. "Who are you?" She asked, looking down at you. Afton didn't answer, looking at you expectantly. There was a small pause between the three of you, and Roxy raised an eyebrow.

You realized a tad late that Afton wanted you to introduce yourself this time, which should've been obvious since she asked you directly.

"Oh, uh- my name is (y/n), I'm the new technician." You said, breaking the short silence. Roxanne nodded, tilting her head back a bit as you attempted to read her. The AI's heightened awareness in both her and Freddy was intriguing at best, and unnerving at worst. Her eyes flicked over your small form before she returned eye contact and snickered. "Alright, pipsqueak. Let's do it then." She said, taking her pawed hand off of her hip as she walked into the chamber and sat where Freddy previously did. You followed, and Afton closed the chamber door behind the three of you.

The cuffs shut around Roxy's wrists and ankles, and her ears flicked in annoyance.

Roxy's wiring was similar, although the wires were closer together due to the smaller size of her chassis and there were a few extra wires for her tail mobility that Freddy didn't have. You assumed Monty would be the same, but you quickly refocused as you gave her a good look over, a thorough dusting, and a good wipe-down. It was, as Afton said it would be, much quicker than you thought it'd be.

You also didn't think you'd be able to understand Afton's wiring method as well as you did. It wasn't like anything you'd seen before, but despite the unfamiliarity, it practically came to you naturally.

When you finished with Roxy, she rubbed her wrists as she got out of the chair. "Not half bad, kid." She said, giving Afton a small nod as she walked back to her designated door.

Monty was late by nearly ten minutes, and Afton was not pleased. You subconsciously gulped as the nearly eleven foot animatronic approached the two of you. "My bad, I just got caught up in somethin'." Monty apologized, and Afton hummed flatly. "This is (y/n), they'll be doing basic maintenance on you." He said, giving a sharp nod towards the cylinder. Monty nodded, walking under the door with a small huff.

His wiring was nearly identical to Freddy's, save for the ones attached to his tail- as you'd expected. Despite his initially alarming appearance, he was actually quite relaxed and unphased as you dusted his chassis, his eyes trained on you through his purple, star shaped sunglasses. When you were done, Monty gave you an unexpected head pat. "Thanks, runt." He said, flashing you a sharp grin. You nodded, rubbing the back of your neck as he walked away.

Chica's door opened, and she walked in with an ever-so-slightly noticeable limp. "Hiya, chickpeas!" She exclaimed in a cheerfully lifted voice, though there was a nervousness mixed in somewhere. "Everything alright, Chica?" Afton asked, walking over to her as she made it down the ramp. "Ah, not really? I've had this issue for a few weeks where my foot locks up randomly, and I've almost fallen a few times. It's pretty bad today, let me see if I can show ya!" She explained, the cheeriness coating her probably uncharacteristic nervousness as she began walking in a line.

You and Afton watched her, eyes on her feet as she walked. After about fifteen steps, her foot locked up and she jolted forward from the sudden stop. There was a sharp crack and she went down further as the metal on the back of her right leg casing, near her ankle, cracked and split. She let out a pained cry as her knee made hard contact with the cement floor, the vibration from her weight travelling through the floor and up your calf.

"Woah- are you okay??" You blurted, rushing towards her without much thought. Afton was next to you only a second later. The crack travelled a quarter way up the back of her calf, a thick wire pinched between the gap near the ankle. "That hurt- really back, actually!" She said, though it almost sounded like she spoke through clenched teeth.

"Help me stand her up." Afton instructed, and you walked around her. You placed your arm under her forearm and the other around her midsection, which wasn't too terribly difficult. She was definitely the smallest Glamrock- although she did still tower above you by at least three feet.

Afton was on the other side of her doing the same, and she used the two of you as leverage to stand back up on one leg. Her weight pushed you down a bit, but you focused on keeping your frame sturdy as she straightened herself out. She hobbled and slightly hopped towards the cylinder, Afton and yourself steadying her as she moved. When the three of you made it, she turned her body on one leg and landed heavily in the chair. Despite the crack being on the back of her leg, it was easily accessible from your height as you leaned down and gently pushed the cloth leg warmer out of the way, assessing at the damage.

"There's a wire pinched in this crack, and it's shredded to Hell and back. I'm surprised she's been able to walk this long- you said it's been locking up for weeks?" You asked, initially speaking to Afton. "Yeah, it started after a really fast-paced fitness warm-up, I wanna say it was about three weeks ago." She answered, and you hummed. "There's a good chance that this wire's been the issue the whole time then- especially with how chewed up it is." You replied.

Afton's brow furrowed. "Did Vanessa not try to repair it?" He asked Chica, and she shrugged. "She said the console didn't have a procedure that would fix it and that I'd have to wait until she found a real technician." She explained, and Afton let out a heavy exhale.

"Thank you. I'll need to speak with her about that, though I suppose we can.. use this, for lack of a better term." He said, though the irritation in his voice was evident. You sighed at the shredded wire, then stood straight. "Come with me, we need a replacement casing and a new wire." Afton said, walking towards the door with the 'Replacement Parts' sign. You followed as he opened the door, walking in. You walked in after him, looking around in the large room. Large, steel shelves held the impossible weight of multiple animatronic parts. Each shelf system contained parts for one animatronic, though you were focused on the cluster of white, pink, and green on the second shelf to the left.

You walked over, following Afton as he pointed gestured at the shelves. "I was planning on giving you a coordinated tour of this room, but I suppose this will do. These are the replacement and spare parts. You can put in orders from your Fazwatch if you ever run out of something, and it'll arrive next-day." He explained, then pointed at a white leg casing with a green, leopard print leg warmer. You reached out, unsure of yourself as you wrapped your arms around the leg. It was a little over quarter of your entire body, but it wasn't as heavy as you were expecting.

The weight must come from their endoskeleton, then. You tore your attention from your thoughts back to the leg casing as Afton began to walk away.

You grabbed the leg, following Afton to another door within the room. There were walls lined with wires and cables, and a large glass box with a lock on it. Afton pointed at it as he walked past, "Those are the powerlines. You'll need a physical key to get into that, although I keep it in a different location. You should, hopefully, never need to access that box." He said as he walked to a section of wires. Above it were the icons of each Glamrock, and you nodded to yourself.

The organization would make it easy to find what you'd need for future repairs, so that was nice. Without saying anything, Afton picked a wire from the wall and nodded towards the door, gesturing for you to head back to the cylinder. You carried the leg casing out of the rooms, Afton following as he closed the doors behind him.

You carried the leg into the chamber, placing it on a metal counter attached to the wall. "In order to replace the wire, her foot casing must come off, her chest chassis needs to be open and her upper leg casing needs to come off, as well as the damaged lower leg." Afton explained as he closed the cylinder door, and you nodded. He began explaining what to do, pointing at tiny holes on the sides of her ankle and under her heel. "Wait- they stay conscious? Or- well, awake?" You asked, noticing how odd it sounded to refer to animatronics as 'conscious'. Afton nodded, "Yes, unless the procedure is on their coding or motherboard." He handed you a long, incredibly thin tool with a rounded end and you quickly got to work, pressing the tool into the buttons. The webbed foot casing loosened and you lifted it off with ease, placing it on a metal counter behind you.

You moved onto the tiny holes on her lower leg casing, pressing them all with quick precision. There was a click, and you placed the tool down on the tray. You leaned over, then furrowed your brows. "I need to either disconnect this wire or cut it; it's just going to pull whatever else it's wrapped up with." You said, and Afton handed you a pair of wire cutters. "It'll be easier to cut it; we wont be able to see what's happening in her thigh when we pull the wire through if we can't get the casing off." You nodded, thanking him as you took the cutters and gently lifted the crack, going up under the casing to snip the wire just above it.

Chica let out a small, mechanical gasp as the wire was severed, and your face twisted with worry. "I'm sor-" You started, but she cut you off. "No, no- you're fine, this is totally minor compared to some other stuff I've had done. Don't mind me, sweetpea!" She assured, but you were now very aware that they really could feel.

After you returned the wire cutters to the table, you wrapped your arms around the lower casing and gave it a sharp twist to the left. There was another click and the casing slid off, a short, limp wire still wedged in the crack. You placed it behind you on a shelf, turning back as Afton showed you the release buttons for her upper legs.

After a few more buttons, you removed the other casing to expose her thin, dark steel leg frame. You nodded triumphantly, but the limp wire laying against the rest left an odd feeling in your chest, so you moved on to opening her chest chassis. It was easy, but the wires inside were much more compacted and fit tightly together in the circumstantially small cavity. You let out an inaudible exhale and moved to her lower half, grabbing the loose wire. You traced it with your eyes, following it as it weaved through a few different clusters of wires before attaching to her central system.

You gently grasped the wire where it connected, and then gave a small tug. It popped out of the socket easily, and you grabbed the bottom of the wire as you gently pulled it down and out of the organized wires. Chica let out a small giggle, and the tension in your shoulders that you hadn't noticed was there released. Afton wordlessly handed you the new wire, and you attached it to the central system where it belonged. Without further instruction, you began to weave the wire around the others, the same way the other one was. You gently laid it over the others down the length of her leg, and let it rest in place.

This felt right. This felt like you, and what you were supposed to do.

You reached behind you, observing the tools until you found the one you needed. You turned and began working at the wire attached to the center of the joint where her foot connected with her ankle. Once the severed wire was removed, you replaced the tool on the tray and began fixing the wire to the joint, where the other one had been. When it was attached, you looked up at Chica. "Can you move your foot?" You asked, and she looked down at her foot as it twitched to the left, then right, before finally moving in a fluid motion as she rolled it.

"Feels right to me!" She answered, and you nodded with a smile. Walking to the metal counter behind you, you grabbed her upper leg casing and walked back to Chica. You slid it over her foot and up her calf before setting it in place against her hip with a sharp twist to the right. There was a heavy click, and you tested the connection. Nothing moved at all, so you moved onto the replacement leg.

It took you a moment to realize you'd gotten carried away and did everything- hopefully correctly- without instruction. You slowly turned around, finding an amused Afton. "Do you realize that you just replaced that wire quicker than I usually do?" He said, and your jaw fell slack for just a second. "I- wait, really?" You asked, and he nodded. "It took you five minutes- it takes me about ten." He said, and you really couldn't find a hint of dishonesty in his demeanor.

"Now that, is impressive." He added, and you let out a small laugh. "Thank you, Sir."

After the cylinder door was open, Chica gave you a happy, beaked smile. "Thank you, sweetpea! I feel good as new." She thanked you, and you politely waved it off. "Anytime! I'm just glad I was actually able to help; this is a little new for me." You admitted, and Chica giggled. "You seemed right at home fixin' me up, if I do say so myself."

You gave her another smile as she went on her way, and Afton turned towards you. "You're shaping up to be much more experienced than I expected." He said, and you let out a heavy exhale. "Honestly, I didn't expect it to come this easily to me; these are the most complex machines I've ever seen." You admitted, and Afton chuckled. "We'll move on to the DJ next as the Daycare Attendant is busy at the moment. He's bigger than the rest of the animatronics, so we'll have to go to his maintenance room." He explained, and pointed to the wall of tools.

"That tool bag should have everything you need for his maintenance, but it's always a good idea to double check." He said, walking over to a tool bag hanging on the wall. It was striped with bright colors and there was a large, black music note on the side. Next to it, there were three other bags; one with the Glamrock Icon on it, one with the sun and moon icons, and the last one had an icon depicting one of the S.T.A.F.F bots.

You walked up to Afton as he grabbed the bag and placed it on the work bench. "There's a list for each of the bags so you know what needs to be there. Go ahead and check it." He instructed, and you pulled it closer to you as you opened it. You looked up to the laminated piece of paper tacked to the wall, which was directly under the spot for the bag, and mentally listed off the tools as you shifted through the bag.

Your brows furrowed and you dug around in the bag some more, then leaned back, looking at the tool wall. "It's missing wire cutters and needle-nose pliers." You said, looking to Afton. He let out an unsatisfied hum and looked to the tool wall as well. "I'll need to find those; these bags are to always be correctly stocked, and all tools are ALWAYS to come back to this room." He said, frustration in his voice. It wasn't towards you, but it was unnerving regardless.

He reached over and grabbed a pair of pliers and wire cutters, placing them in the bag. He gestured to it, and you picked it up as he began walking to the ramp for the doors. You followed closely as he approached the door with the music note, and it lifted as the two of you walked through.

The two of you approached another elevator, and you wondered if there was one for each of the animatronics. The building was unfathomably large, you began to realize. This elevator was in much better condition, though there were only two buttons. Afton pressed the button with a small wrench over a music note, and the doors slid shut. "I doubt it'll help much, but try not to be too alarmed when you see the DJ. He can be a lot the first time you see him, but he's incredibly friendly and entirely harmless." Afton warned, and your brows furrowed.

How big is this thing?

The ride was short as the doors slid back open, and it felt as if your heart fell to the bottom of your ribcage.

The animatronic was absolutely massive, easily fifty feet tall with six long, thin limbs that stretched from the sides of his white, spider-like abdomen. The first four limbs had gloved hands attached to the ends, and the last two had shoed feet. His face was locked in some sort of grin- although it looked more akin to a cringe, with his large teeth checkered like piano keys. Large green headphones sat atop his head, and his black eyes- easily the size of your head- flicked over to you and Afton.

"I- wh- holy shit." You blabbered, and Afton laughed. You weren't as scared as you thought you would be when the initial shock hit you, and awe quickly washed over you. "Wow, I- he is insanely cool." You muttered, walking out of the elevator before Afton. The room was almost twice the size of Parts and Services, with six huge metal cuffs attached to the ground. The DJ shuffled his feet as her turned to face you better, leaning down to see you better.

"Hello, little one."

His voice caught you off guard; he spoke through broken, short audio clips of different songs. "Woah- hi!" You waved, and Afton walked up next to you. "DJ, this is (y/n). They're the new technician, but we're just going to do some basic maintenance. Nothing too serious, but have you had any specific issues lately?" Afton asked, and DJ let out a mechanical hum. "Yes. Songs freezing and glitching during performances. Couldn't fix it myself." The gigantic animatronic responded, and you pursed your lips. Afton nodded and crossed his arms. "Alright. Let's get that looked at first, go ahead and lock up." He instructed, and the DJ nodded with a slight metallic grind.

Based on that and the rust around his joints, it was blindingly obvious that DJ had be practically neglected. His movements were creaky as he lay flat against the floor, off center. He brought his limbs close to his body like a deceased arachnid, and rolled over onto his back. He landed in the center with a heavy thud, the floor vibrating from the weight. He stretched his limbs out, placing them in the cuffs. Afton walked over to a control panel with a multitude of buttons next to the elevator, then pressed one with a padlock icon. There was a loud, metallic clank as all six cuffs snapped close around DJ's wrists and ankles. He looked a bit comical stretched out the way he was, but the size of his chest hatch filled you with overwhelm.

There's no way in Hell I'm opening that.

"Come here." Afton instructed, you did so. "This controls the wiring system and helps with repairs. It's impossible to carry his replacement parts and open his chassis by one's self." He explained, then pressed a button with a torso icon. There was a heavy, loud grinding overhead as a metal 'hand' reached down, a thin spike extending from the tip as it pressed small buttons around the animatronics torso. There was a heavy pop, and the large chassis flung open. The hand retracted back into the ceiling, then deep into shadows.

"You'll need a ladder for this next part." Afton explained, and pointed to a button with a ladder icon. You pressed it, and more mechanical grinding from above sounded out as a tall, thin ladder descended from the ceiling. The ladder was taller than DJ, clicking into place on the floor next to him. "Good. Now, climb inside of the chassis."

Your mouth fell open, and you quickly snapped it shut. "Inside?" You asked for clarification, and Afton nodded. "You'll understand when you see it." He said, and nodded towards the ladder. You mentally shook away the doubts nipping at your nerves and walked to the ladder, letting the handles of the bag slip down around your wrist as you used both hands to climb. As you got high enough to see the inside of the chassis, you let out an inaudible, 'Ah.'

There was enough space to walk around inside of his chest, a flat platform underneath a built-in ladder to get to the bottom of the chassis. You climbed off of the tall ladder onto the one built into his chassis, the climbed down into the animatronic's body. You shuddered; this felt much more invasive than with the Glamrocks. As you got deeper, your footsteps on the latter echoed off of the metal chassis. Relatively loud, mechanical whirring filled the air around you as you looked around at the animatronics innerworkings. The wires were as thick as your forearm, suspended just below your head level as you stepped off of the ladder- but, his endoskeleton was absolutely massive.

You walked up his chest, towards his voice box. It was much larger than the other ones, but you expected that everything would be. There was a small set of steps screwed into the side of the box and the floor to keep it in place when DJ was upright and moving. You walked around it, ducking underneath thick wires as you checked their connections. You were checking the last one when you felt someone watching you.

You glanced up and behind you, Afton's small form leaning over the side of the chassis observing you. "How's it looking?" He called down, his voice echoing around you. "Good, really. Everything is connected right, nothing is frayed or split. Unless the issue is inside of his voice box." You called back, and you saw him nod before climbing over, using the ladder the descend into the chest cavity.

He walked over to you, his hands in his pockets. "Take the top panel off, a regular screwdriver will do." He instructed, and you got up on your tip toes, leaning over to check the screws. Small 'x's were etched into the heads, and you sat the tool bag down to dig around and grab a Philips-head screwdriver. You climbed up the small staircase, undoing all of the screws and putting them in your pocket. Once the last one was out, the panel lifted slightly and you were able to wrap your hands around the edge of it. You stood on the edge of the box and gave a strong pull upwards on the panel, grunting as it lifted to the side. It's hinges prevented it from falling to the side and off of the box as you shave another heavy shove.

You let out a heavy exhale, and Afton gave a soft clap. "Nicely done- though there is a leverage tool for future reference." He said, and amused looked on his face as he reached out and lifted a metal bar that flattened into a thin edge at the end to wedge under the panel. It was hanging right next to the staircase, and you let out a sheepish laugh. "Noted, my bad." You apologized, and he waved it off. "No worries; just don't want you to throw your back out at your age." He jested, though it was a real possibility.

You turned your attention to his voice box, and cringed. "Christ, it's a mess in here." You said, reaching into the box. You barely saw the bright red caution icon with the words 'high voltage' as your fingers nearly brushed a wire. Without warning, there was a heavy step behind you on the stairs and Afton's hand clamped around your forearm. "Stop! Don't touch anything yet." He said, his voice loud and concerned. Your eyes widened and you yanked your arms out of the box. "What? What is it?" You asked, though it was rather obvious with the 'high voltage' sign.

"This voice box has significantly more power running through them than any of the other animatronics. Honestly, I should've warned you previously; that's my fault. The outer wires, these ones, aren't a threat nearly as severe." He said, gesturing to the thick wires. "I haven't worked on him in quite some time and nearly forgot. I apologize for startling you." He apologized, and you shook your head. "No, no! I greatly appreciate you not letting me fry myself to a crisp." You said, gesturing to the warning sign.

Afton stepped off of the staircase, waving you down from the box. You climbed down the stairs, then saw the smaller box with a dial pad attached to the side. He reached out and entered a code, the front panel of the box popping open. It was similar to a breaker box, but there was only one switch. "There's a main panel next to the chassis ladder, but this one controls the voice box itself." He explained, flicking the switch off. There was a staticky pop from the voice box as it powered down, and you climbed back up onto it.

The wires were all tangled, with a few mangled and shredding. "How does this even happen?" You asked. "The vibration of his voice combined with his sometimes sporadic movements cause them to move around and rub together, which causes degrading over time. It never should've gotten this bad, though. This is going to need an entire rewire." Afton said, examining the damage from the bottom step. You nodded, then stepped down after him.

"The console will do that, but we'll need to power DJ down to do the repair. Any 'rogue' power through the repair machine can overload it, which is not fun to fix." He explained, and you nodded as you followed him to the main power box. He typed in the code, which was different from the voice box code. Once the box was open, there was another single switch on the inside. "We're going to power you down, prepare yourself." Afton called out, and there was a single, heavy thunk against the ground outside of the chassis. Most likely a knuckle in acknowledgement, since his voice box was currently out of commission. Afton waited about three seconds before giving you a nod. You reached out, then flicked the switch to the left. The whirring faded into silence, almost like he fell asleep.

Or died.

Either way, everything was now much more echoey as Afton began to climb back up the ladder. You glanced back to the voice box, mumbling a curse as you quickly half-ran back to it, grabbing the screwdriver you left on the step and shoving it into the tool bag. You picked it up and ran back to the ladder, where Afton was watching you from the top. You gave a jokingly nervous grin as you quickly climbed up it. He was on the ground by the time you made it onto the main ladder, then got down. The two of you walked over to the control panel, and Afton gestured to it. "Press the one with the voice box on it, then the one with wires." You did as told, and a line of wires popped up on a small screen above the buttons with small boxes below each one.

"Go ahead and check all of them, then press the 'Start Procedure' button." He instructed, adn you pressed the boxes on the screen. When you were done, you pressed the start button on the bottom right of the panel. Mechanical whirring started above you, and the two of you turned around to watch. The hand extended down, a few different tools attached to the end. It reached down inside of the chassis and began the procedure. After a moment of subtle movement, it retracted, a bundle of dull, shredded, multicolored wires in the mouth of some pliers. That hand lifted into the ceiling as another reached down, vibrant wires in it's grasp.

It continued, and the entire process was over in less than ten minutes.

At least the actual repairs are still quick.

Once it was done, Afton pointed at the console again. "The repair arms have already closed the voice box, but basic maintenance is still needed." He explained, then pointed at a button with with a wrench over a heart. You pressed the button and a menu popped up on the screen. There were a few options to click. You pressed the three that said, 'Rust Removal - Joints', 'Joint Care', and 'Cosmetic Work-up'. When Afton didn't say anything, you trusted your gut and pressed the start button.

Multiple arms stretched down at once; one held a large hose, another held a rag, and another had a spray nozzle attached to the end. They began working all at once; the hose began to blow out dust from the cavity while another began to wipe down the outside of DJ's casing. There was a heavy click as the cuffs came undone, and the nozzle hand began to spray a solution on all of DJ's joints, coating them in the liquid. More hands stretched down from the ceiling, grabbing DJ's wrists and ankles to bend them back and forth, working the solution in. When the limbs were bending with zero resistance or grinding, the hands lay DJ's limbs back into the cuffs, which closed back around him.

The hand with the rag moved to the joints, wiping the excess fluid from the joints. Another arm stretched down; a soldering iron . The other arms moved out of the way as another smaller one extended from the ceiling, a thin brick of metal in it's grasp. The two worked in sync as they began soldering over the rusted metal, covering it with a silver plating. After it finished, another arm stretched down. It began filing the rough edges of the solder, then all of the arms retracted as one more came down; an airbrush. It sprayed a layer of white paint over the now repaired joints. You could see how fast it dried, and you let out an impressed, 'Huh.' The arm reached over and the airbrush tool slid into the arm, which changed into an actual hand-like shape. It pressed the chassis hatch closed with a few loud clicks.

When all of the arms retracted into the ceiling, Afton nodded. "Don't worry about the voice box panel; they've put new screws in it." You hadn't even thought about the screws in your pocket and you mentally facepalmed, though Afton seemed entirely unbothered. "I can imagine he'll feel much better now, thanks to you. Now, be warned; being powered on has an alarming effect on all of the animatronics, but DJ's is arguably the worst." Afton said, gesturing at a small power button. You cringed a bit at the thought of what that entailed, but you reached over and pressed the button.

There was a click from within DJ's chest and he began whirring back to life- then he started violently fighting against the restraints. He lifted his torso up and slammed it against the ground, then stopped.

The entire room shook, and your legs failed you as you ended up on the ground with a heavy clank, the tool bag hitting the floor. Afton reached out a hand, pulling you up. "Welcome back, DJ. You're all set." Afton said, hitting the button next to the lock command. It was an unlocked padlock. The restraints clicked open, which made you just a tad nervous.

Definitely not harmless.

You didn't feel personally threatened in any way, but you stored it in the back of your mind that he was capable of some serious damage. DJ curled his limbs back in on himself and rolled onto his stomach, extending his arms out as he stood up. "I apologize for the fit- it's out of my control. Thank you for the maintenance, (y/n)." DJ spoke, giving you a friendly nod. You smiled, "No problem, happy to help." You replied. "Head back down to your stage, and let them know if you have any more issues." Afton spoke to DJ, who nodded and reached out to the with one of his hands. He pressed a large green button and the floor around him began to slowly descend. "Ooh, helpful." You thought out loud, and Afton nodded. "Yes, very. Now, onto the Daycare Attendant."

You nodded, confirming that the tool bag was in your hand before following Afton back into the elevator. "You can only get to this room through this elevator or the lift, but you shouldn't need to work on him too often." He explained, pressing the button down to Parts and Services. Once back in Parts and Services, you instinctively brought the bag to the work bench, setting it down and double checking the contents before hanging it back up in its spot.

"Good. Now, the Daycare Attendant is different than anyone you've seen yet. They're special; three animatronics in one." He explained, and your interest was immediately peaked. "Three? How does that work?" You asked curiously. "It's a bit hard to explain entirely, but they switch out with each other based on light level. Sun and Moon are very likely the only two that you'll see, as Eclipse is a safety protocol to keep the children safe in the event of a threat." He explained. "Their structure is different as well; when either of them are in control, their chassis will shift and certain components will only be accessible then; such as Sun's rays or Moon's LEDs."

You nodded as a door shifted open, and you looked over. There was a bright yellow, celestial animatronic with poofy jester pants and ruffles around his ankles, wrist, and collar. Large, bright sun rays protruded from his head, which ticked to the left slowly. He looked a bit nervous, if you were honest. He walked over to Afton, who was near the cylinder, softly jingling bells accompanied by mechanical clicking as he took steps. He didn't seem to notice you.

"Hello, Mr. Afton! I saw that you put in an order for maintenance, is everything okay?" Sun asked, his voice uplifted, but quick and hyper with anxious undertones. "Yes, everything is fine, Sundrop. This is (y/n), they'll just be giving you a bit of a check-up, if you will." Afton explained, gesturing to you over by the work bench. Sun looked over to you, and his rays ticked once to the right before continuing to flick to the left. "Oh- a new friend! Hello, I'm Sun!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms up and out in a theatrical pose. He didn't seem too terribly nervous anymore.

You smiled at him and waved, "Nice to meet you, Sun!" You replied. He gave you an ecstatic wave, the bells around his wrist jingling intensely. You chuckled, then walked over towards them. The animatronic was taller than Freddy, who was the tallest of the Glamrocks. He stood at about seven feet tall, and absolutely towered over you. Afton was around six feet tall, that much you knew, but you barely reached five feet and three inches on a good day. You were practically eye level with Sun's stomach, and you looked up at the animatronic.

"Let's get started." Afton said, gesturing to the cylinder. Sun's nervousness came back and he started twisting his hands together as he turned around and entered the cylinder, hesitantly sitting in the seat. You followed behind him, giving him a reassuring smile.

I wonder why he's so nervous..

The cylinder door closed, and you turned around. Afton was on the outside of the chamber, and gave you a thumbs up. You furrowed your brows; was he testing you to see if you could do it alone?

You shook your head and turned back to Sun, who's bright, white eyes were on you. "Nervous, are you?" You asked softly, and Sun let out a forced, playful laugh. "Terrified, what gave it away?" He asked, and you chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be just fine." You reassured. "Go ahead and put your hands at your sides for me, please." You asked, and Sun did so- albeit with a small tremor in his hands. He places his wrists and ankles inside of the cuffs, and you pressed the button to lock them.

Sun flinched at the noise, and your eyebrows furrowed. This was beginning to look like a trauma response.

"I'm gonna open your chassis now, okay?" You asked. You hoped that talking him through it would help ease his obvious fear. He nodded, and you grabbed a screwdriver from the tool tray on the cart. You used the small stepstool underneath the chair to stand up taller, reaching over to find the buttons. They were a bit harder to find, and you were only able to find one. "I'm so sorry- where's your other button at?" You asked, and he lifted his chin up. "Under the ruffles, Sunshine."

You nearly dropped the screwdriver and blinked rapidly a few times. His voice was nervous and slightly shaky, but the nickname caught you way off-guard and you nodded quickly, reaching up to move his ruffled collar out of the way. You pressed the button with the screwdriver and his chest popped open. It didn't open all of the way, so you used your hands to push it open the rest of the way.

The innerworkings themselves were very similar to the Glamrocks, though there were quite a few different wires that the others didn't have. The set-up was similar, but it was definitely more intricate and most likely delicate as well. It was odd, really, to think that there were more than one animatronic in Sun's body- or, 'their' body, since Sun shared it. "I'm gonna make sure everything is connected right before I start, alright?" You explained, and Sun nodded again. You rolled up your sleeves and reached your hands in, a little nervous without Afton next to you.

You felt around the wires, testing their connection. Everything seemed to be in place good, and you gave him a smile. "All good in there. Just a little dusty, but I'll get that taken care of." You said, and grabbed the air hose. You clicked the button on the cart and the air flow started, blowing right at Sun. "Oh, sorry!" You moved the hose away from his face, and he let out a small laugh. "No worries at all!" He said, and you began to dust inside of his chassis. Once it was cleaned out, you placed a hand on his chest hatch to close it, but there was a knock on the window. You turned to see Afton, who shook his head. You tilted your head, but nodded as you grab the rag and spray bottle. You cleaned Sun's casing, removing small, greasy handprints and crayon markings. When you were done, he broke the silence.

"He's going to bring Moonie out, I think. He likes to let the techs see us change on the inside." He said, though it sounded odd and you both grimaced a bit. "I- probably could've worded that better, but you know what I mean." He said, and you laughed. "I gotcha." Your laugh was cut short by sudden darkness, the only light in the chamber coming from a small beam above the chair, pointed at the open chassis. You quickly turned, watching as the animatronics mechanical innards shifted, rotating around the 'ribcage' until an entirely different chassis was exposed. You looked up at Sun as his rays shrunk into his head and the left side of his face rotated, a darker faceplate taking place. He metal of their arms, impossibly, shifted from yellow to blue. You let out a gasp of disbelief, though you saw the way the casing pieces slipped underneath the others, switching out with each other. It was unbelievable regardless.

You instinctively touched the now blue metal, and a dark chuckle came from above you. You dropped the hose, jumping back a bit. "Shi- hi, sorry!" You stammered, putting your hands behind your back like a child caught getting into something. Moon's eyes were bright red- the LEDs Afton mentioned- and his mouth was curved into a sharp grin. There was a starry nightcap on his head, a bell attached to the end. "No need to apologize." He spoke, his voice deeper and more gravelly than Sun's. You cleared your throat, trying to rid yourself of the embarrassing pink dusting your face. "I'm (y/n), the new technician. Just doing some basic maintenance, if that's okay." You said, and Moon used his hand to gesture to himself.

You internally smacked yourself. So, not only do they share a body, but they're polar opposites.

You grabbed the hose from the cart, feeling down to the end of it. The nozzle had popped off when it hit the floor. You knelt down, feeling around for the nozzle in the dark. After a moment, you let out a frustrated huff. "Next to the cart." Moon said, and you nearly jumped out of your skin. Why? You had no idea. The DJ was easily scarier in the traditional sense, but something about the dark and his cool, calm demeanor was just such a stark contrast to Sun's personality just a moment ago. It was like whiplash.

You hovered your hand over the floor, feeling around the cart. Just as he'd said, the hose nozzle was by the back right wheel. "Thank you." You replied, standing up and reconnecting it before placing the hose back into it's spot. You walked back over to Moon despite your nerves, and you looked into his chassis. It was much dustier than Sun's, but everything looked like it was connected well. "Well, everything looks good- but, when was the last time you were worked on?' You asked, your focus shifting back to your job.

"Mm, about two months." He said, and you looked up at him. "Two months? Wh-" You scoffed. "That's way too long. The dust is starting to compact together." You muttered, grabbing the hose. You shook your head as you began blowing out the dust, which took more effort than you'd had to use yet. You were too caught up in cleaning him up to notice that Moon was staring at you, his eyebrow raised at your sudden attitude.

When you finally got all of the dust off of him, you let out a small cough from the particles in the air. "Alrighty, time to close you up." You said, closing his chassis hatch. You grabbed the rag and cleaning solution from the cart and cleaned his hands and arms, then his chest where there were small, greasy hand prints as well. There were no drawings on him, though it wasn't surprising. You'd come to assume by now that he was the naptime half of the Daycare Attendant.

When you were done, you looked up at him. "Good as new, I think!" You said triumphantly. Moon didn't say anything, but his grin widened and he tilted his head. You went to say something as the lights flicked on, and the switch happened. The nightcap spun and slipped into the crevice between the front and back of his rotating faceplate, where rays popped out. The metal shifted back to yellow and Sun grinned as he took control.

"AAAND I'm back!" He exclaimed and you chuckled, pressing the button to free Sun from the restraints. He sat up with a bounce, leaning forward. "Thank you! We feel much better, and it wasn't bad at all!" He said, and you gave him a warm smile. "I'm glad I could help, really. You did great, too." You said, and his rays ticked once to the right. "Thank you, Sunshine!" He responded, hopping out of the chair. You stumbled back a bit, slightly overwhelmed by his height.

The chamber door opened with a hiss, and Afton stood with a satisfied smile. "You did just as well as I thought you would. Congratulations; you're the most capable technician I've ever met."

Your jaw tried to fall slack, but you kept yourself together as you internalized the compliment. "You have no idea how much that means to me." You said, and let out an exhale. Sun grinned next to you, and clasped his hands together. "Sooo.. am I all good? The Daycare could use a little TLC." He asked, and Afton nodded. "Yes, you're free to go. It was good to see you, Sun." Afton replied, and Sun nodded. "You too!" He said before flashing you another grin and skipping off towards his door.

"Last order of business is the S.T.A.F.F. bot, but I've unfortunately been requested in Minnesota by nine in the morning, so I'm going to have to cut this a bit short. The S.T.A.F.F. bots are the easiest; they're nowhere near as complex as the Glamrocks, and you handled them phenomenally. S.T.A.F.F. spare parts are in the same room as the Glamrocks' and Daycare Attendants'." He explained, patting his pockets down as he went through a mental checklist of things that he came with. As if summoned, the broken S.T.A.F.F. bot entered the room through a small door that you hadn't noticed, next to the DJ's door.

"Oh- okay." You replied, looking around the room again. "I do apologize. Again, you'll be notified of any repairs or upgrades via your FazWatch. You can also message me directly from it, but I cannot guarantee that I'll reply in a timely manner, though I'll do my best." He said, then turned to the tool wall. "I cannot believe I forgot- these are keys to access the lifts. There's one on the main stage and one in DJ's arcade. I trust that you've got everything handled, but you can reach out to Vanessa for any help you may need. She's here, though she'll be busy until about 3am. On that night, I've got a plane to catch. Have a lovely night, (y/n)." He explained, and you nodded. "Okay, thank you for everything, Mr. Afton." You said as he left the room, and you exhaled deeply.

You turned, the STAFF bot now next to you. "Heya, little dude. Let's see what's up with you, huh?" You said, and gestured to the cylinder. The bot got the hint, turning and rolling into the chamber. You walked to the spare parts room, finding the STAFF bot parts. You grabbed a voice box, then exited the room and went to the cylinder. The bot was rather short, a bit shorter than you as it looked up at the chair, then to you, back, and then to you again. "Oh, sorry." You walked over, furrowing your brows. It turned towards you, and slightly lifted it's arms.

You awkwardly leaned down, wrapping your arms around the bot. You lifted with you legs, your eyebrows raising as the bot rather easily lifted off of the ground. You leaned forward, setting the bot on the chair as easily as possible. It rotated itself, lying on its back as it looked up at you. "Let's see what's up with ya." You mumbled, grabbing the screwdriver. You didn't see any buttons, but there were screws in places where you'd think buttons would be, so you removed the screws. When you were done, you placed the screws on the tray and popped the panel off.

It was definitely simple; there were less wires than any of the Glamrocks and everything was color coordinated. It didn't take you long to find it's voice box, which you disconnected entirely. You brought it out of the bot's chest, then used the screwdriver to take it apart on the tray. It was a generic voice box, and you clicked your tongue. Like you'd thought, it needed replacing, but you knew that wouldn't fix the personal space issue it had. You grabbed the replacement voice box and installed it, placing the wires in the order that they were in before.

"Can you say your greeting for me?" You asked, and it stopped moving for a second. "Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex, home of the Glamrocks! Please head to the service desk for admission and party passes." It spoke fluently, but it's body tried to jolt forward. You'd forgotten the restraints, and you quickly shoved the bot back down with a palm to it's chest. "Woah- okay! Something is definitely wrong with you." You said, a bit snappy from adrenaline, and the bot just looked at you.

"Sorry." It said. Your eyes snapped to it's face, and your face softened. "I- no, you're okay. It's not your fault, I just got spooked. It's my fault, really." It's hands had been sitting in the cuffs the entire time, you just forgot to lock them- like an idiot, you berated yourself. Good thing Afton left.

You walked to the button and pushed it, metallic cuffs clicking together. You shook your head and walked back over. "This seems like a behavioral processing issue, if I had to guess." You thought out loud. You opened the airlock door and walked around to the computer, sitting at the desk. "Alright, let's figure this out." You mumbled, waking the computer. There were three options; Repair, Upgrade, and Code. You clicked the 'Code' option, and a 'FazID needed' message popped up.

You furrowed your brows and looked at your FazWatch, then the computer. There was a small, flashing Freddy icon and you touched the face of your watch to it. There was a beep, and the pop-up disappeared. There was another button, with 'Connect to Animatronic' written above it. You glanced over to the STAFF bot, then clicked the button. There was a small metallic arm underneath the chair that shifted to the back of the bot's head, and then attached itself to the base of their neck. Three loading dots appeared, and then gave way to a large thread of code.

name: S.T.A.F.F. [16]

status: [on]

functionality: [83%]-moderate

program: [STAFF HVEMND]>?[FZBRENT]>?[ARLLC]

task: [greet]>location?>[main entrance]>[8a-10p]>performance?>[failure]

system: >/?[classified]<

behavior: [move.forward]>?[error]>[move.left]>?[error]>[move.right]>?[error]>[move.backward]>?[error]>functionality?>[12%]>performance?>[near-failure]

vocal: [greeting]>performance?>[failure]>cause>[corrupt data]>[solution]?>[recode]>[virusblock]

You furrowed your brows and you began rewriting the code. You didn't know what corrupted the data and you couldn't find any traces of a virus, but you installed a blocker after fixing the code. When you finished, you went over it again and made sure there were no mistakes. When you were positive, you pressed the 'Confirm' button, then the one labeled 'Reboot'. The bot powered down, and the mechanical arm moved away from it's neck.

As it rebooted, you reentered the cylinder and closed the door as it powered back on. Once it looked over to you, you nodded. "Welcome back, little dude. Let's hear that greeting."

"Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex, home of the Glamrocks! Please head to the service desk for admission and party passes." It spoke, and it didn't lunge. "Hell yeah. Alright, lets get you closed and cleaned up." You said, and got to work. When you were finished, you unlocked the cuffs and helped the bot onto the floor. It looked up at you, gave a thumbs up, and then said a small, "Thank you." You nodded at it and smiled, "Anytime, just let me know." The bot nodded slowly and you opened the door, letting it out. It left Parts and Services the way it'd entered, and you cleaned up the inside of the cylinder.

Now that everything on Afton's list had been taken care of, you figured it was about time to familiarize yourself with the building. You rubbed your palms together and exhaled, looking over to the tool wall. Your eyes landed on the brown tool bag and you walked over, pulling it down from its hook. You opened it, shifting through it as you went through the checklist attached to the wall.

You let out a frustrated groan; the vice grips and screw box was missing, but you shook the feeling away. You pulled the extra pair off of the wall, stuffing it into your bag before walking to a different part of the table. You looked at a few boxes of screws before finding the right ones and you put them in the bag, the grabbed one of the few cans of joint lubricant and stuck it in the bag as well. You picked the bag up, humming to yourself as you walked through the doors of Parts and Services.

Let's do this.

⋆⁺₊⋆ 𖤓☽ ⋆⁺₊⋆

aaaaa hi!! i hope you guys liked this, please let me know if you did! reblogs are always hella appreciated<3

taglist; @machopeach, @coolerthemanplz, @missdreamyhead

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elliethejellie · 1 year ago

Text

Tainted Magic, Tainted Blood - Chapter Six

A "The Sun and Moon Show" AU x Reader

Masterlist || AO3 || Chapter Five || Chapter Seven

A/N: This one's a long one, bois! So buckle up - because some shits about to go dOwN.

*****

When the princess opened her eyes, there was a sliver of sunlight streaming through the fabric of the entrance to the tent. She took a moment to allow the sleep to leave her eyes slowly, surprised she wasn't being woken by Sun again. But after a while, her back began to ache, so she decided to leave the tent anyways.

She crawled out of the entrance and blinked into the early morning sunlight while her eyes adjusted. Her eyes swept the area of their temporary camp, landing on the sleeping figure of Sun - next to where the fire had been burning the night before. It was nothing more than a few smoldering lumps now, though. She stepped gingerly over to him, checking to see if he was actually sleeping or just waiting for her to wake up.

His eyes were closed, and his body rose and fell slowly with his even breath. She decided to take advantage of the opportunity, feeling a little twinge of childhood excitement as she looked at her surroundings. She could pretty much go wherever she wanted until he woke up, and he'd be none the wiser as long as she made it back before he did. Had Sun wandered off to find a stream last night? If he had, where had he gone?

The princess scanned the rolling green grass, seeing if her eyes could catch the sight of sunlight being reflected anywhere. But from where she stood, there wasn't much she could see besides wildflower-dotted hills. She decided she needed to get a higher vantage point, so she bounded towards the trees that the tent she slept in was tied to.

The first spot that she could place her foot was a bit too high off of the ground for her to just step onto. She had to jump and hoist herself up, almost immediately regretting her decisions as her body still ached. But Y/N ignored it, laughing to herself as she felt some of the cuts on her body open back up. She could deal with them later. Especially if she found a stream to bathe in.

She continued her trek up the tree, huffing by the time she reached the point where she could see the expanse of green for miles. She took a moment to catch her breath as she just enjoyed the view. The cool, early morning breeze tickled her exposed skin, making her suddenly thankful to still be wearing Sun's cloak. The sight before her was one to die for - the green rolling hills hugged tightly together as the rainbow of colorful dots scattered about gave it depth. The sky was perfectly clear, allowing the sun to beam down uninterrupted over the landscape. She wished suddenly that she had the ability to paint what she was looking at, so she took a moment longer to memorize what she was looking at to recreate later, once she was back home.

Home.

A sadness overcame her suddenly as she pictured herself back within the confines of the palace walls, destined to be queen to a kingdom that she knew close to nothing about. Married to Eclipse, doing boring queen stuff every day. Y/N sighed. She only had these few days of travel left of her freedom. Then she would be trapped in domestic life forever.

She perked up once a glimmer of blue caught her eyes, just at the bottom of the hill they were closest to. Looks like she'd be getting that bath after all. She looked back down to the ground, smiling at just how high up she was. A thrill ran through her body that she hadn't felt in a long while.

She used to climb all the time when she was younger. She knew that. She would be in places she shouldn't have been, constantly keeping her mom on the verge of a heart attack with how much she would pop out from up above just to scare her. There was something she enjoyed about being able to see more from higher up, allowing her to analyze her surroundings better.

After a few more minutes of staring, the princess finally descended the tree, slowly and carefully. She made it back to the ground safely and checked to make sure Sun was still asleep before setting out towards the stream. The walk through the tall green grass tickled her bare feet, making the childish smile return to her face. Before she knew it, she took off down the hill, just laughing up into the air as the breeze grew stronger in her increased speed. She discarded Sun's cape and left it hanging on a tree branch once she reached the shoreline of the water. She then stripped herself of the rest of her clothing, adding them to the same branch, before stepping into the stream.

The water was colder than she expected, but after a moment of standing in it, she grew used to the temperature and stepped further in. She repeated this process until the water was up to her chest and she was standing more or less in the middle of the onslaught of the current. The water felt amazing on her damaged skin, so she sucked in a breath and dipped her head down into it.

She spent the next fifteen or so minutes just enjoying the cool water and scrubbing at the cuts across her body gently. Afterwards, she stepped from the water and did her best to wring out her wet hair. Her eyes caught the movement of something small out of the corner of her eye, jumping when it clucked.

A small, brown chicken was scratching and pecking around at the ground a few feet away from her. She tilted her head to the side in thought. Where there was one chicken, there certainly had to be more. Maybe she could try her hand at making some scrambled eggs to repay Sun for his yesterday? Though she doubted she could successfully make anything that compared in the slightest to his masterpiece.

The princess redressed herself and approached the chicken, hoping to scare it enough that it would lead her to the others. After it realized that it was being watched and walked towards, it lifted its head and clucked incessantly, before walking back around a short, untamed hedge bush. When Y/N also turned the corner of the small hedge bush, she was surprised to see that there were several other chickens, though they were sitting embedded into the bush in their nests. Most of them had baby chicks under their bodies, keeping them warm against the morning chill. She smiled, scanning the bush for any stray eggs. She then saw one and chuckled. There was no way she was going to find more than that right now.

But that was fine. Sun hadn't eaten when he made her food. She felt like she had successfully "regained her strength," as Sun kept putting it, so she would make him food and just settle for not eating breakfast.

Satisfied with her mini adventure, Y/N started the trek back up the mountain and to their little makeshift campground. She collected brush and sticks along the way, hoping to herself that she could get the fire started again, or else she would be stuck giving Sun nothing but rations. And she was sure he was tired of eating the same dry rations every day, if her own souring attitude towards them was any example.

She spent the next few minutes just trying to remember what Sun had said about getting the fire started while he still slept soundly a few feet away. But finally, she figured it out, and before she knew it, she was walking back over to the horse to retrieve the small cast iron pan he had used the day before to make the same thing.

The princess let the pan heat up before cracking the egg into it. It started to sizzle and cook almost immediately, which concerned her for a moment. When Sun had made them, the pan was practically silent. But still, she pressed on, stirring the egg around until it somewhat resembled the meal that she was provided the day before. A thought occurred in her head suddenly and she pulled the pan from the flames to set down in the grass, rushing back over to the horse and pulling out... the last bundle of food rations.

Sun would just have to do with eating the last one. She couldn't eat it now, especially since he had been compromising his own health by skipping meals for her already. So she carried the dried meats over to the fire and broke them into small pieces to be added to the eggs. It smelled heavenly - but that could have also just been her hunger speaking.

Showered, fire blazing, and breakfast made, Y/N squatted down in front of Sun's sleeping body and whispered his name while she reached out to gently shake his shoulder. But she didn't even need to get that far, because as soon as her fingers grazed his skin, his eyes shot open, looking up at her with a confused expression. She smiled and sat back.

"I made you breakfast!" she exclaimed, picking up the eggs and holding them up so he could analyze her work. He still blinked at her in confusion, trying to figure out what was going on. He noticed the princess's wet hair, self consciously reaching to his clothes. His first theory of it having rained was out of the question, considering that he was dry despite being the one that was outside all night.

But then he caught the lovely aroma of the food she held in front of him. "You found more eggs?" he asked, reaching out to grab the food and inspect it. Y/N sat down next to him and hummed.

"Yep! And I started the fire and cooked them all by myself," she said, sounding like a proud child after successfully dressing themselves for the first time. Sun couldn't help the smile that stretched across his face. He took a bite of the eggs and immediately closed his eyes.

Not because the eggs were good.

It was the exact opposite, actually.

But he forced himself to hum as if it were, because he couldn't bring himself to knock down the absolutely ecstatic look the princess wore. She continued to stare at him as he chewed the eggs slowly, pretending to savor them.

Just tell her the truth, Moon said, chuckling inside their shared consciousness. If you don't now, you might have to endure her cooking them again, he teased, laughing as Sun swallowed the bite and... ignored his advice.

"This is..." he started, watching as Y/N's eyes widened in anticipation. "I-I can't believe you made these on your own!" he said enthusiastically, letting out a sigh of relief as she smiled wider and began wiggling around happily. He looked back towards the blazing flames and quickly changed the subject. "And I'm amazed that you got the fire started without my help as well. I couldn't make a fire without help until like- my seventh try."

"It took me a bit, but I just kept repeating what you told me yesterday," she beamed. Moon continued to laugh, finding the entire ordeal rather amusing. It took everything in Sun not to yell at his brother, opting instead for forcing himself to take another bite. He realized that there were bits of the dried meat from their rations in the eggs, making his face fall immediately.

"Did you use the last of the rations on me?" he asked, looking at her incredulously. She looked taken aback by his sudden outburst, speaking slowly as she responded.

"Yeah... But I promise I already feel better, and you've been skipping meals because of me. I can afford to wait a little longer for us to come across food." She stood to make her way over to the tent, Sun watching her with a bewildered look on his face now.

Looks like you can't get out of eating those eggs now, Sunny boy, Moon said, laughing hysterically at his brother's misfortune. Sun looked back down at the eggs and sighed, taking another bite.

The princess attempted to take down the tent on her own to keep her independent streak going, but she couldn't get it to fold up in the same way Sun was able to do so it could fit in the side pack on the horse. So after he finished his breakfast (which Y/N dully noted had taken him a little longer than she expected), he took over the task.

Not long after that was the fire stomped out and the camp packed up for them to set back out on their journey. For the first few minutes, they rode along in a comfortable silence. Y/N was fairly happy now that her cuts didn't sting as badly as they had before. Bathing in the stream really seemed to have helped. But she soon grew bored again of the passing scenery, and her mind strayed to the life she was going back to.

She wondered what Eclipse was doing. Was he worried about her? She had been gone for three days now. How long after she went missing did it take for him to even notice?

She audibly huffed, making Sun tilt his head to look at her. She turned the other way, though, frustration eating away at her mind again. If Eclipse cared so much, why was Sun the only one that seemed to be after her? She would expect someone that cared about her enough to consider it love to send an entire battalion to save her. But it had been three days, and they hadn't even crossed paths with anyone since they started their journey back to Adrastea.

"Sun?" Y/N practically whispered. She was so soft spoken that Sun wasn't even entirely sure if she had said anything for a moment. But then he turned and hummed, waiting for her to continue. "Have you ever been in love before?"

The princess felt his muscles tense the same way they would every time she asked a question with even a little bit of weight. He gripped the reins tighter and stayed silent for a long while. "I'm not sure," he finally said. Y/N tilted her head to peer around his shoulder.

"How so?" she asked curiously, almost completely forgetting the reason why she asked.

"Well..." he started, but then he hesitated. Surely the princess would think him insane if his only reasoning for such a claim was a measly little 'I don't know.'

But that had been the truth. He didn't know if he had ever been in love. There was something deep down in his thoughts that told him he had. But for the life of him, he couldn't remember anything. Moon had expressed that he felt something extremely similar. But there wasn't anyone else that would understand that there were just entire chunks seemingly missing from their memories. Sometimes the two of them could piece together different things that they each remembered, but the harder they thought about their past, the worse they felt.

They would be overcome with the worst dread either one had ever felt.

"Why do you ask?" Sun asked instead, hoping to veer the conversation away from himself.

"Doesn't matter, really," she mumbled, the frustration in her voice rather apparent. She couldn't get Sun to answer a single personal question about himself since they'd met. It was starting to get under her skin, but every time she tried to question him on why he was so secretive, he would just default to some variation of the same response - that he wasn't worth fretting over.

Y/N was irritated by that answer because she felt like he was worth fretting over. He had saved her life! And then there was that feeling inside her that felt like she knew him, although she had been doing her best to ignore that as of late.

"Well, I was thinking about the question you asked me yesterday," Sun said, trying to lighten the mood. "I would choose summer."

The princess lifted her head and smiled softly. "I knew you would choose that," she responded. The two of them spent the next few hours just participating in more lighthearted questions, successfully keeping Y/N's mind from the somber thoughts of her home life. They had been getting rather giggly with their questions and answers after a while, really falling into a silly mood as the scenery around them slowly became littered with more trees.

"So- So you're telling me that if an entire pack of wolves came out from around a corner, you'd simply waltz right through them?" Y/N was saying between giggles. Sun was chuckling heartily in front of her.

"I said I would try," he corrected. "They might sense my fear if I freeze and wait to see what they'll do! Might as well keep going anyways," he explained. But the princess was just waving her hands back and forth, trying to catch her breath in the hilarious disbelief she felt as she silently laughed.

"You're so full of shit!" she finally exclaimed, startling Sun.

"Language," Sun chastised immediately. But then he clasped his hand over his mouth as the princess laughed even harder. "I-I mean- That wasn't- I didn't think-"

"Did you just scold me for cursing?" she breathed, desperately holding her side in how hysterical she found the entirety of the situation. She almost didn't hear Sun when he shushed her suddenly, looking around them frantically.

"No, I absolutely will not shush! You just-"

"Princess, please," he said desperately, bringing the horse to a stop as he continued to scan their surroundings. Y/N stopped, feeling her heart sink at the sudden change of mood. His desperate searching of the trees around them made her anxious.

"What is it?" she whispered, disliking the fact that she had no idea what he was so concerned about. But Sun just shushed her again, and after a moment, she heard a twig snap somewhere behind her. Her head whipped around, trying to find the culprit of the sound, but ultimately saw nothing.

The princess's grip around Sun tightened as fear settled into the pit of her stomach. Was something following them? They had been traveling with absolutely no contact with anyone thus far. But they were getting closer to the kingdom. Did people really live this far out from the city center?

Both Sun and Y/N's heads jolted to the path in front of them as a voice called out to them.

"Looks like we've got ourselves some fresh meat, boys!"

A slim figure with a wild mane of gray hair atop its head slowly stepped out from behind a tree. The person was still too far for either of them to pick out any other defining details about her appearance, but they could tell that she was holding the reins to a horse that trailed closely by her side.

Several other figures slowly stepped out from the shade of the trees, rendering the princess and her savior completely surrounded. Y/N felt Sun suck in a shuddery breath, straightening his back up as the figures stepped even closer. "We were just passing through," he said boldly. The princess felt his voice vibrate her arms that still clenched his abdomen. "We won't cause any trouble."

The lady with the wild gray hair laughed heartily, all of the others shortly following suit. As she continued her approach, Y/N could see that she had a rather large battle axe strapped to her back. Sun seemed to have noticed as well, considering he had now dropped the reins and gripped her arms that still hugged him. But then he tapped on her arms, so she let go.

Sun swung his foot around and dismounted from the horse, holding his hand out to help her down after. Once she was on the ground, she felt a lot more vulnerable to the barrier of what she assumed to be bandits closing in on them. Most of them were in old, tattered clothing and held various weapons. It was obvious that the lady that had been talking was their leader, and as she stepped even closer to them, Sun reached his hand out again to push the princess further behind him.

"Stay behind me," he said quietly before turning back to the woman as she stopped a few feet in front of them.

"I assume you don't know who I am," she said, smiling wickedly at Sun. Y/N noticed that despite Sun's rather lanky build, she was still very close to his height. Her left eye was completely white, a scar crossing over the skin above and below it, almost like the makeup the princess would see on traveling jesters that would entertain her in the throne room sometimes. Her clothing seemed to be the best out of everyone surrounding them, black pants and dark red tunic in good shape. She placed her hand upon her hip as she waited for Sun to respond.

"I'm afraid I do not," he said politely, but his face remained frozen in an eerie smile.

"What about your little girlfriend you've got hiding behind you like a scared pu-"

"Leave her out of this," Sun cut her off, stepping further to the right to hide your frame from the woman even more.

"Aw, someone's in bad spirits," she responded, stepping closer to him. Sun instinctively took a step back, pushing the princess further away from the woman as well. She turned and spread her arms wide, acknowledging her posse. "You hear that boys? They don't know who I am!"

Snickering reached their ears as the men surrounding them found amusement in her statement. She turned back to the two of them and reached behind herself to retrieve the axe. Sun immediately drew his longsword from its sheath. Y/N noticed that it was no longer red with blood like she had last seen it. Maybe he had cleaned it one of the times he went to fill the canteen? Either way, the woman seemed to find delight in Sun's anxiety.

Battleaxe in hand, she leaned the haft on her shoulder and smiled deviously at them. "The name's Roxanne Wolf," she said, earning several cheers and whoops from the men around them. "I'm sure you can guess where I got the nickname from," she added, using her free hand to gesture to her mess of gray hair. She then pointed to their horse. "Whatcha got on you? Any valuables?" When Sun didn't respond she shrugged. "Suit yourself," she said.

The princess felt a hand grab her arm and yank her backwards suddenly. She yelped, garnering the attention of Sun as he turned and immediately swung his sword in the direction of whoever had her in a tight grip. She closed her eyes, fear of being sliced in half now taking over all of her thoughts, but then she felt the grip on her arm loosen, so she yanked herself towards Sun without another thought.

His arms quickly closed around her, keeping her from looking in the direction of the strangled choking behind her. Roxanne seemed to only find amusement in the entire situation. "Aw, that was my favorite guy to torment," she said, mock disappointment practically dripping from her voice. But then the sound of her battleaxe hitting the rocky path beneath them sounded, and her demeanor switched. "You'll have to pay for that."

Sun placed his free hand to the princess's shoulder and forced her to look at him. "Get on the horse," he said quickly, before tugging her towards the animal, now anxiously teetering in the wake of the commotion around it. She mounted the horse and Sun yanked on the reins hard enough that the animal jerked its head in protest and began trotting briskly back in the direction they had come from. Y/N heard Roxanne cry out in anger at the situation, but she was too focused on not falling from the horse to look back.

A few of the men from the group shouted as they mounted their own horses and raced after her. Panic rose in the princess's chest as she grasped the reins and wracked her brain for any knowledge from her horseback riding classes she was forced to take growing up. Her body began acting upon its own volition, pulling on the reins and making the horse come to a stop as she took in her surroundings. She couldn't just leave Sun. There were far too many things riding on him being the one to take her back home.

The voices of the men that had begun chasing her grew louder and she turned the horse around to face them as they rapidly approached. She noticed that none of them were wearing proper horseback riding gear, and all of them were riding without a saddle.

Perfect.

Y/N smiled as she started off in a trot towards the oncoming men, feeling the same level of excitement in her chest she had when she climbed the tree that morning. She reached behind her and pulled out the small cast iron pan, still dirty from the two times it had been used to make scrambled eggs. The men drew closer to her and she could hear the cockiness in their voices now as they watched her horse ease into a run as well.

Something sparked a memory in her mind (maybe the adrenaline coursing through her body?) as she pulled her feet from the stirrups and wrapped them around her ankles before sliding her toes back through them. She could practically hear her teacher yelling at her, but she didn't care. This was a life or death situation, and she was going to need the grip.

The first man on the horse was getting dangerously close, so she held out her arm with the cast iron pan at the last second to hit him square in the face. He hadn't been expecting it, so he fell right off of the horse and crashed to the ground while his ride kept running in the opposite direction. She cried out in excitement, slightly surprised that it had worked as well as she hoped. But the next man was approaching just as quickly, with the third one almost directly at his side.

She swapped the hand that the pan was in and watched as they split to ambush her on both sides. Her thighs instinctively tightened their grip on the horse as she braced herself for what she already knew was coming. She swung the pan harder this time, missing the guy's head but landing her hit on his shoulder with a sickening crunch. He cried out and fell from the horse, but before she could celebrate, she felt the hands of the other man attempt to grip her as he passed.

The force of him being yanked from his horse as her legs kept her on hers jolted the princess backwards enough that she dropped the pan. But the man couldn't keep his grip, slicing her on the way down with a pocketknife she didn't see he had. Hot blood ran down her arm, adding to the plentiful amount of cuts she already had. But this one was deeper than the rest, so she lulled to the side a bit as her horse kept up its pace, rapidly approaching where Sun was still squaring off with Roxanne and a few of her other men.

Y/N stopped the horse to the best of her ability with her one good arm, but cried out suddenly as a jolt of pain shot through her head. Sun's head snapped back to her, eyes widening as he took in her bloodied arm. But the distraction was enough for one of Roxanne's men to get a good blow on his back. He made a strangled sound of pain before quickly turning back and stabbing the culprit straight through his abdomen. The princess closed her eyes then, disgusted by the sight and also feeling the pain in her head grow stronger.

She leaned forward on the mane of the horse, trying to stop the pure agony in her head. She didn't even know what had caused it. Normally she would have to be thinking about her past, but she wasn't.

Y/N cried out again as she pulled her feet from the stirrups and leaned further into the horse's mane. Her vision was starting to double, and she couldn't see what was going on with Sun anymore. Panic settled into the pit of her stomach again as she heard a voice call out to her.

"Blood and kill and maim galore! This looks fun~ Fairly bloody fun!"

She coughed, feeling her entire body begin to shudder violently. Sun cried out in the struggle somewhere ahead of her, but she could no longer see anything but red.

And then she saw nothing.

*****

"Oh, I never got to catch your name, sweet cheeks," Roxanne said, towering above Sun as he lay on the ground clutching his bleeding abdomen. "Guess it won't matter in a minute," she continued, watching as one of the few remaining unhurt men from her posse pulled the reins of his horse towards her. "Oh and your girlfriend just collapsed off of the horse," she added, looking over to the mound of her body convulsing on the ground still. Sun lifted his head slightly, the pain in his stomach almost too much to handle. "Guess getting her arm sliced in the heat of the moment was too much for her. Pathetic, really."

Just get to the princess, Moon said inside of Sun's head. You can't give up. You have to get to her. Come on, Sun.

He tried his best to crawl in the direction of the princess's body, but Roxanne stepped on his wrist and laughed. "Going somewhere, hun?" she taunted, undoing the side pack on the horse. She then proceeded to rummage through the contents of it, barking orders at the men that still stood around her. "You know, I do have to give you two credit," she said now to Sun, still pulling contents out of the pack and tossing them aside. "I've never had anyone take down this many of my men before." The woman then threw her head back and laughed heartily, her gray mane of hair moving stiffly around her head. "But of course, nobody is a match for me. Everybody knows I'm the best, after all."

Sun's vision was starting to go spotty as he looked back towards where the princess was. But he could no longer see the heap of her body where it had been moments before. Had one of the men dragged her away? Or had she managed to escape without being noticed?

He desperately hoped for the latter.

"Ohoho what have we got here?" Roxanne said, pulling a tiny drawstring bag of coins from the pack. She undid the string and practically howled at the gold coins inside. "Looks like we're eating good tonight, boys!" She called out.

The sound of metal scraping against rock suddenly sounded from the opposite side of Sun. Roxanne was too busy relishing in her find to notice. He did his best to lift his body to face the other direction, but he fell as soon as he turned his head. His eyes landed on a pair of bare feet in front of him, sparking a new flame of hope inside of his chest. Blood dripped onto the ground next to them, and a slow, guttural laugh emitted from above him, clouding his brain with confusion.

He willed his body to lift his head one more time and looked up into the face of the princess. But her expression wasn't one he had seen on her thus far - her smile stretched far too wide on her face and the pupils of her eyes had been replaced with stars. Sun's little flame of hope quickly went out, and his head crashed back to the ground as he proceeded to pass out.

"Roxanne, was it?" the princess's mouth asked, but the voice that came from it was not at all what the woman was expecting. She turned to face the princess and tilted her head to the side, smiling.

"The one and only," she responded, stretching her arms wide at her sides. "What's up with you? Wanted a chance to one up your boyfriend by taking me on now?" She laughed again - seemingly thinking the audacity of the princess as she stood there, Sun's longsword in hand, was the most amusing thing she had witnessed thus far.

"What's up with me, she asks. Oh, brother, I cannot wait to tear her to shreds. What do you think her blood will taste like? Will it be fresh? Sweet, like the princess's? Oh I can hardly wait any longer!"

Roxanne's face contorted for the first time that evening from her amused look to one of confusion. "Looks like shorty over here went crazy from blood loss," she said, trying to ease the low anxiety that began brewing in her stomach. She snapped her fingers, ordering the last of her men to take her down. "You're not worthy of my attention," she said, turning back to the horse to continue rummaging through the side pack.

"The only one that will be experiencing blood loss will be you, dearest wolf lady," the princess said, bringing her bloodied arm to her mouth and licking up some of the blood. She stared at the men slowly approaching her with a deranged expression upon her face. "Fun, fun, fun! Which of you wants to be first?"

Roxanne whipped her head back around as the sound of a pained scream rang out around her. The princess was standing over one of her men's bodies, Sun's longsword stabbed straight through his abdomen. She watched in horror as she pulled the sword from the man and brought it up to her face, inspecting the red mess that soaked it. The other two men that had been approaching her stopped in their tracks, fear contorting their faces into looks of terror.

"Well don't just stand there and watch, get her!" Roxanne yelled at them, but they merely looked at her, then back towards the princess, and promptly took off running into the trees. The gray haired woman growled. "Fine then, if it's a show you want, then you can't have it without the star!" she said, pulling her battleaxe from her back and smiling at the princess.

Y/N focused her gaze on Roxanne, smiling wickedly at her. "We hope you prove to be more of a challenge than that oaf," she mused, allowing the tip of the longsword to drag through the gravelly path as she slowly approached Roxanne. "We will bathe you in red, wolf lady."

Roxanne took a hesitant step backwards. Something was definitely off about the young woman, she could tell that much. The glowing stars she had for eyes weren't there before. But still, she raised her axe and stood her ground, holding eye contact with her. "We'll see about that, hun."

The two of them watched each other at a standstill for a long moment, assessing their options and trying to predict where the other would move first. But the princess grew tired of waiting, so she lunged at Roxanne - just barely grazing her shoulder. She watched as a lock of gray hair fell to the ground in front of her before looking back up at the princess angrily. "Oh, you're so dead!" she growled, lifting her axe and swinging it quickly at Y/N in front of her. The princess seemed to dodge the attack with inhuman speed, jumping to the left and quickly thrusting the longsword at the woman again. She barely ducked out of the way, dropping down to her feet to try to side swipe the princess's legs out from under her.

Y/N jumped to the side, swinging the sword down at her from above. Roxanne shifted her grip on the haft and blocked the sword's blade with it. The princess laughed demonically, the stars in her eyes glowing brighter. "My, my, this is a lot of fun! We love it when they fight back!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Roxanne yelled, struggling immensely at the sheer strength Y/N seemed to have gained. Her grip tightened on the haft, but her arms were shaking desperately as she pushed back against the longsword. The sound of wood splintering reached her ears as the princess snarled.

"Little wolf lady, down on her luck; better find a way out, before you're struck!" Roxanne gritted her teeth and used the last of her strength to push her axe forward, sliding the blade just fast enough to graze the princess's fingers. She yelped in response, stumbling backwards. The gray haired woman used the small breather to bring herself back to her feet and wipe a bead of sweat from her brow.

"Listen, girl," she huffed, standing with her battleaxe resting up on her shoulder again. "We can call this a tie and I can leave with what I've found." A slow, guttural laugh emitted from the princess's chest, shaking her whole body as she stayed facing away from Roxanne. "I'll even let you keep half of the coins," she attempted to barter. But the princess only threw her head back and laughed louder.

"You think us stupid?" she asked, turning back to Roxanne with a crazed look in her eyes. She brought her bleeding hand to her mouth and dragged her tongue across her fingers slowly. "We only want your blood! Yes, yes! Bloodshed! Bloodshed everywhere!"

Roxanne didn't even have a moment to blink before the princess lunged at her again. She turned to block the longsword from piercing straight into her chest, but in doing so, failed to notice the princess's outstretched hand. For a moment, the gray haired woman just stood there, chest heaving as she tried to make sense of what she was looking at. But it didn't take long for the pain to take over her mind in a searing flash of white hot agony. She stuttered backwards, bringing her hands to her face as the princess just laughed. Thick, hot liquid poured down Roxanne's hands as she fell to the ground.

"Poor little wolf lady," the princess mused. "What's wrong? Are you having trouble seeing?"

The gray haired woman didn't have to process what Y/N was saying to know exactly what was wrong. She had felt the same pain once before. She had lived with the consequences on a daily basis.

Y/N had rendered her completely blind by destroying her good eye.

*****

Y/N blinked as her vision slowly came back. Her head was boiling with hot pain, but she couldn't even focus on that as the sound of pure agony hit her ears. Someone was crying. Loudly.

"Why? WHY?!" the voice howled.

The princess's vision finally focused and she felt her blood run cold at the sight before her. Roxanne Wolf - the bandit that she had just been trying to save Sun from - was writhing on the ground a few feet from her. She had her hands to her face as blood dripped profusely on the ground. There was so much of it.

It covered her hands completely, trailed down her tunic, splattered the gravel path in front of her. Y/N felt rooted to the spot she stood, looking down at her own hands and feeling her breath catch in her throat. She stumbled back a few steps, kicking the gravel beneath her feet as she took in the sight.

Her left hand was covered in the same red mess.

"I can still hear you!" Roxanne suddenly shouted. She struggled immensely as she placed one of her hands to the ground to stand up, and suddenly the princess was overcome with fear. She frantically searched around her and took in the rest of her surroundings. She could see Sun's body lying motionless next to their horse, so she rushed over and dropped to the ground in front of him.

"Sun!" she whispered, shaking his shoulder. He groaned and relief washed over the princess in droves. "Come on, Sunny, we have to go, right now." She leaned down and pulled his arm over her shoulder, earning another groan from deep within his chest. She shushed him and quietly counted to three so she could lift him.

"Where are you?!" Roxanne called from where she still stood. The princess didn't even take another moment to look at her - struggling to keep Sun upright as she picked up the bag of coins and reached for the reins of the horse. She dragged them further on the path in the direction they had been heading before the chaos had started.

By some miracle, Y/N, Sun, and the horse all managed to sneak away from Roxanne and continue on their path. The princess continued to mumble words of assurance to Sun as they walked, despite the rising panic in her chest. He couldn't manage to respond - clutching his abdomen and whining.

They walked on for what felt like eons before the sound of music could be heard in the distance, sparking hope in Y/N's chest. Sun's steps were getting less and less coordinated as she picked up the pace, the music growing louder and louder. Soon, a building was visible, peeking from the trees and seemingly full of life.

The princess dropped the reins of the horse and tugged Sun's slowly dying body forwards, determination being the only thing keeping her positive attitude. "We're almost there, Sunny. Just hang on a little bit longer. Please," she pleaded as she pushed open the door to the building.

The inside was less full of life than the princess had expected. A small party of three sat at a round table in the corner playing some kind of card game, while a few people dotted the bar at the far side of the room. Nobody seemed to look up at Sun and the princess's arrival, but she pulled Sun towards the bar nonetheless.

"Can someone please help us," she begged, suddenly feeling the weight of her situation tugging at her shoulders as if trying to drag her down, although that could just have easily been Sun losing consciousness again. The man behind the bar looked up from the drink he had been making and blinked at her for a moment before rolling his eyes. His bright red hair flopped off of his shoulder as he spoke.

"First aid kit's in the back. Thirty coins for a night. Forty-five if ya get blood e'rywhere," he added as an afterthought. Y/N thanked him quickly before turning and tugging Sun the remaining way to the back where an old door stood. She pushed through it, almost falling under Sun's weight again. But she managed to drag him to a chair that was a few feet away from her and set him down before frantically searching the room for said first aid kit. After opening several cabinets and scattering various items to the floor, she finally discovered the one containing the emergency items.

The next few minutes were spent trying to keep Sun from losing consciousness again while she tightly wrapped his torso. After she stopped the bleeding, cleaned the wound, and was positive he wasn't going to slip under, she flopped back onto the other chair, closing her eyes and tilting her head back in anguish.

"I-I'm s-sorry," Sun whispered, making Y/N's heart ache.

"Don't you dare," she started, sitting back up and taking in Sun's physical state for the first time. His blonde hair was a matted mess - sticking to his forehead and dirtied with blood and sweat. The yellow tunic he wore was also covered in blood, ripped to shreds over his wound. Several cuts and bruises littered his skin, making his normally soft, pale skin look sickly. His blue eyes lifted slowly to meet hers, apologetic expression still on his face. "You couldn't have predicted a gang of bandits showing up. Just as much as I couldn't."

Sun didn't look convinced, but still, he sighed. It was a shallow sigh, given that any time he sucked in too much air, he winced from the pain in his torso. Y/N watched his eyes drift down to her hurt arm that she was only just now starting to notice the pain from. He made to get up, earning a sharp protest from the princess. She assured him repeatedly that she could handle it.

"We have to get you to bed anyways," she added, holding her hand out to help him up again. He gladly accepted the help, and together they tackled the staircase up to the inn rooms. They found an unoccupied one and worked to get Sun into the bed - though not without a brief argument about him taking the couch instead because of her status.

The princess briefly left him to fetch a glass of water from downstairs, but by the time she came back up to the room, Sun had already fallen asleep. She felt guilt tug at her heart again as she watched him struggle to breathe comfortably, setting the glass down on the nightstand and brushing a bit of his hair from his face. She decided to disappear to the washroom to fetch a wet rag, and proceeded to clean his face up for him.

After another long moment of just sitting next to the bed and making sure he was okay, she decided to head back down to the tavern and have a drink. The bartender looked up at her as she sat down, drying a glass that she was pretty sure was more than plenty dry. "What'll it be, princess?" he asked, earning a startled look from Y/N.

"W-What?" she asked, fear settling into the pit of her stomach. How did he know who she was so quickly?

"Drink? What kind of drink do ya want?" he clarified, furrowing his brows at her. "Ya do want a drink, don'tcha?"

The princess blinked at the man for a moment longer before shaking her head slightly. "Y-yeah, I'll have a drink. Just make me whatever will put me to sleep," she said, exasperation clear in her tone.

"Long day?"

Y/N scoffed. "Try days with an 's'."

"Well I've got just the drink for that," he said. The princess watched the bartender as he pulled a few glass bottles from under the bar. His movements were precise and calculated, giving small party tricks as he went about making the complicated looking drink. He smiled as he slid the cocktail glass her way, now filled with a green liquid. "I call it the gator."

"Fitting," Y/N responded, lifting the glass to her lips and taking a sip. The drink tasted of somewhat sour citrus, with notes of pineapple and kiwi on the back end. She felt the warmth of the alcohol spread through her body almost immediately, so she sighed and slouched further into her seat. "This is really good," she said, now smiling at the man. She took in his appearance more now that she didn't have a dying Sun threatening to make her collapse to the ground at any moment.

The bartender had bright red hair cut in a mohawk at the top of his head, contrasting his dark skin beautifully. The green tunic he wore donned a stitched red star, and his brown eyes had an eerie red tint to them in the dim lighting. There were several dark tattoos that littered his arms and what Y/N could see of his neck, reminding her almost of an alligator's scales. After a moment of wiping down the countertop, he spoke again.

"Wantin' to talk about it?" he asked, peering down at the princess as if he were looking over a pair of glasses. She shrugged, taking another long sip of her drink.

"Don't have enough time to go through it all."

"Try me."

Y/N chuckled at that, wanting so desperately to get out all of the pent up emotions that currently swirled and tugged around in her chest. But she still opted to indulge nothing, taking another long drawl of the green alcoholic drink. "I'd rather not."

"Fine. Suit yourself," the bartender responded, moving down the bar to collect the empty glass from a customer that had just departed. "Want some words of encouragement, at least?"

The princess chuckled. "Sure. What kind of great wisdom can you disclose for a struggling young girl you know nothing about- uh.."

"Montgomery, but most people just call me Monty."

"Okay, Monty. Lay it on me," she said, smiling now as the alcohol began settling in her system.

"Well, given that you came in here with your boyfriend bleedin' out in your arms, I'd say you could-"

"He's not my boyfriend," Y/N interrupted, setting the glass down on the coaster in front of her abruptly. Monty raised an eyebrow at her as she stared at the ice in her drink. "I'm engaged to someone else."

"Hohoho, well that sounds like a problem init of itself," he chuckled, prompting the princess to glare at him. He threw the hand towel he'd been drying glasses with over his shoulder. "Okay, fine. Nothin’ about your love life." The princess rolled her eyes and took another sip of her drink. She couldn't allow herself to think of Sun that way. He was nothing but her savior. No matter how much she liked looking into his blue eyes. Or how much she liked hearing him laugh. Or how much it felt like she's known him for years.

"Maybe what you need is to just stop caring," Monty said, shrugging his shoulders. When Y/N looked at him skeptically, he continued. "From the way you're carryin' yourself and the way you jus' snapped at me, I'd say you've got a lot on yer mind. Maybe you should just... let go."

The princess looked back down at her drink, pondering his words. Let go, huh? Stop caring? Something told her that she'd done that before with some distant memory she couldn't think of. But all she knew was that it gave her a feeling of dread. Still, she shrugged now, and then threw back the remaining bit of the drink. "Thanks for the wisdom, Monty," she said, chuckling. "I'll definitely take it to heart." She stood and attempted to pull out coins to pay for her drink, but Monty stopped her.

"It's on the house," he assured, already cleaning her glass. "You looked like you could use that."

After debating on that matter for a bit and giving up, Y/N thanked Monty profusely before heading up the stairs to the room Sun was hopefully still sleeping in. She continued to think about Monty's words of advice as she climbed the steps, allowing her brain to go over the events of the day for the first time.

Something happened to her earlier. She hadn't had the pain in her head become that unbearable before, and she'd never blacked out from it either. But blacking out wasn't what bothered her the most.

How had she ended up with Sun's longsword in her hands, covered in blood, and standing in front of Roxanne - seemingly having hurt her drastically? She didn't even know if she was the one to do it, but something told her that she was.

And another thing - normally when the princess tried to remember something she couldn't her, head would ache. But here she was - unable to remember what happened in the few minutes after she blacked out, and she felt nothing. No pain, no ache - nothing.

Y/N reached the door to the room with Sun and opened it slowly, trying not to disturb him. She stepped past the threshold and closed it as quietly as she could. But the door was old, squeaking louder the slower she tried to close it. She finally just gave up and closed it normally, then spun around to check and see if it had disturbed Sun.

But her heart quickly dropped into her stomach as she stared at a dark-haired figure lying in the spot she had left Sun not even an hour prior. For a moment, she wondered if she entered the wrong room. But the full glass of water she set on the nightstand still stood in the same spot.

Ever so slowly, Y/N crept towards the bed, eyes wide as she took in the stranger. He groaned, prompting her to stop in her tracks. His eyelids fluttered open, and it felt like the world fell still as they just sat there - staring at each other like deer in headlights.

Y/N recognized those eyes. Those same blue eyes.

"You-" she started, but was quickly cut off by the stranger.

"I- We- This can be explained," he said, attempting to push himself up into a sitting position but then wincing at the pain from his - Suns? - wound. Y/N's compassionate instincts took over as she immediately rushed to his side and gently forced him to lie back down.

"You can explain just fine without moving too much," she said, pulling the blanket back to check the bandages. Surprisingly, there wasn't any new blood from the time that she had left Sun up here for her drink. "Let's start with the question at the forefront of my mind right now." The princess sat down at the edge of the bed, bringing a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Do I know you?"

The stranger sighed. It was just as shallow of a breath as Sun's had been earlier. "Yes, and no," he said. "We have met before. At the ball. I was your masked dancer, your highness." Y/N's eyes flew open at the mocking tone in which he spoke, immediately remembering the beautiful dance she had with him barely even three nights prior.

"That was you-?" she asked incredulously. Her mind spun at the realization, and then a blush quickly rose to her cheeks as she remembered their lighthearted flirting. "How...?"

"Listen, this is going to sound demented, but I need you to just let me finish, okay?" the blue eyed stranger said tentatively, earning an equally uneasy response from the princess.

"Okay..." she confirmed, drawing out the word.

"First, my name is Moon," he started. Y/N blinked at him in disbelief. Sun and Moon? Really? "Sun hasn't gone anywhere. He's just... up here." He brought his index finger to his temple and tapped it a few times. "We're brothers, somehow cursed to the same body. We don't remember how we ended up like this, to be completely honest. All we know is that when the sun is up, Sun is out. And when the Moon is up-"

"You're out," the princess finished for him, disbelief now audible in her tone. She stood from the edge of the bed and paced to the other side of the room and back. "So," she started, but then she closed her mouth and hummed, still not sure what to say.

"I know it's a lot to take in," Moon said, holding his hands up in an attempt to get her attention. "And Sun really wanted to tell you the truth but-"

"What? How would you know if he wanted to tell me anything...?" Y/N interrupted, voice now sounding almost panicked. Her hands were clenching and unclenching at her sides as she processed the information, unsure of whether or not she believed the words coming out of Moon's - and Sun's? - mouth.

"We can sort of... communicate with each other? I really don't know the best way to describe it," he said. The princess just continued to stare at Moon, hands moving in the same pattern as she tried to calm herself down. There was little she could do to slow her racing thoughts, though.

Her masked dancer that night at the ball was here. In front of her. Lying in the bed, hurt. There was nothing about this that sounded real, but there wasn't really any other explanation she could come up with for him having the exact same wound as Sun. So she closed her fists once more and took in a timed, shaky breath. "Okay," she started slowly. "I don't really know what to say in response to this. But I don't really have much of a choice but to accept it, huh?"

Despite the princess's attempt at calming herself down, her voice cracked several times and ended in such a tone of disbelief that Moon felt frustration tickling the back of his mind. Especially as Sun continued to yell at him in their shared mind about how she was never going to trust them now. But still, he did his best to scoot over on the bed and then pat the space next to him. "Come here."

Y/N stared at Moon for a moment, bewildered by his calm demeanor about the entire situation. She walked over and carefully sat down, nonetheless, watching every movement he made with wide eyes. "You deserve an apology," he said, making her brows furrow in confusion. "We should have told you from the beginning. But Sun didn't... want to scare you."

"Why would this scare me?" the princess asked almost immediately. It was Moon's turn to look bewildered.

"Why wouldn't it?" he asked. They continued to stare at each other for a long moment. The more Y/N thought about it, the more his reaction made sense. Why wasn't she scared? She just found out that her savior was two people, cursed to the same body. One that she had already met at the ball and the other that was willing to physically fight off bandits for her. Maybe it was the fact that this was the least surprising thing to have happened in the last few days.

Moon winced again as he yawned, pulling the princess out of her stupor. "You need to rest," she said gently, pulling the blanket back over his torso. "If we want to attempt to make it the rest of the way within the next week, we really need you to recover."

"Oh, by the way," he said, sounding like he was ignoring what she had just said. "I wanted to personally apologize for the way Sun handled the situation earlier. He isn't usually one for violence. That's my job."

The princess looked taken aback. "Wha-"

"Anyways, goodnight!" Moon said, and with that, he turned over and closed his eyes, leaving the princess staring at his dark messy hair. But then she just shook her head and made her way over to the small couch to turn in for the night.

The events of the day lingered in her mind for a long while as she laid there, staring at the ceiling. But she couldn't bring herself to finish any of the thoughts that drifted through her mind, instead finding herself thinking about the ball again. She tilted her head to look at Moon's sleeping body and felt her heart flutter in her chest. Her masked stranger's voice echoed in her head again.

"I could never doubt you, Starlight~"

No wonder Sun had been aware of the nickname. He was there when they danced. That beautiful, majestic dance.

Y/N fell asleep not long after that.

*****

"No! Not like that!"

The princess tripped over her feet as she took another misstep in the routine. Eclipse stared at her apologetically, knowing that she was about to get chewed out by the instructor. She stared at the ground as the man berated her as if she was doing it on purpose. Sun and Moon stood a few steps away, staring at each other as if communicating through some unspoken language.

"Alright, take a few minutes, get water. Afterwards we will pick back up where we left off and hopefully some people can get their feet to listen to their head." The instructor left the ballroom, the violinist following closely behind him.

Y/N walked over to the wall and pressed her back to it, covering her face in her hands. "Why am I so bad at this?" she asked as Eclipse joined her. Moon walked out of the same door the instructor left through while Sun practically skipped over to them.

"I don't think you're bad!" he said cheerily, not even allowing Eclipse a moment to speak. "I believe there are many factors that go into learning how to dance!"

The princess looked up at Sun, rather surprised that he was attempting to comfort her. "You do?"

"Yeah! With Moon and I, there's-"

"It's different for the two of you," Eclipse cut Sun off, rolling his eyes. "You two always know what the other is going to do." He stood and held his hand out to the princess. "Let's run through the steps one more time. Maybe it's the instructor making you nervous?" he suggested. Y/N just sighed.

"I don't think that's it," she said, sounding exasperated. "I just can't dance!"

Sun was the next one to speak again. "Starlight, no! Don't say that! Like I said, I'm sure there's some other factor that's just making it difficult for you to learn!"

Before anyone had the chance to process his words, Moon, the instructor, and the violinist reappeared. The dark haired twin bounded towards Sun and nodded at him, before turning and giving their older brother a sly smile.

"Okay, before we go over the tricky steps, I'd like to see everyone run through what we've already learned," the instructor said. Y/N and Eclipse moved to the center of the floor but paused when the instructor continued. "This time, however, I'd like to see Moon and Y/N try it together."

The princess looked to Eclipse, confusion drawing her brows together. Still, she complied and made her way over to Moon while Eclipse walked back over to the wall. The same sly smile was still on Moon's face as he took Y/N's hand in his and pulled her close. "Hello, Starlight," he mused. "Excited for the change of pace?"

Before she had a chance to respond, the violinist began the same song from the beginning. Moon pulled the princess along, perfectly in time with the three count that the instructor was clapping out. She felt like she was moving more in sync with him almost immediately, accommodating every single shift of weight with him as if they were made to dance together. She felt her body move on its own volition, taking to his steps perfectly and soon enough finding herself smiling as they danced right up to the steps they hadn't learned yet.

"Absolutely beautiful!" the instructor bellowed, rushing up to the pair and showering them with praise. Eclipse stood on the sidelines with Sun, who was beaming like a child that had just been surprised with candy.

"You know," Sun said quietly. His tone was cheerful, but his body was rigid. "Sometimes people just need to realize that the only thing they do is hold others back." Eclipse balled his hands into fists as he continued to stare at the princess. He wasn't going to let Sun get to him that easily. She was already his, he knew that.

Sun then pushed himself off of the wall and approached the princess excitedly. "I want a turn with her! May I please?"

The instructor smiled and agreed immediately. Y/N grinned up at Sun, and even from where Eclipse was still standing on the edge of the room, he could tell that she was elated.

The violinist started the song over once more, and Eclipse watched as the two danced rather energetically - spinning and twirling about but somehow still managing to keep the basic steps the same. The princess actually found herself giggling as they continued on, making Eclipse cross his arms and huff as he looked the other way.

So what if they could dance with Y/N better than he could? He had plenty of other activities that they enjoyed together. His brothers could enjoy the dancing.

Eclipse looked back at his beloved dancing with Sun, feeling his heart twinge in despair.

They couldn't take her away from him like they had done with everything else.

Right?

*****

A/N: So?? How'd you do? Please pLeAsE PLEASE tell me how you feel about this chapter because I am absolutely feral to hear what everyone thinks of it! Also I am SO VERY SORRY it took me so fucking long to get it to you guys?? Idfk what happened lmao but honestly was it worth the wait? Because I think it was hahah

As always, likes, comments, kudos, and reblogs are GREATLY appreciated!!

Don't forget to take care of yourselves and stay sweet, my lovelies~!

Taglist: @jack-o-cel (comment here or message me to be added to the taglist~)