Chapter Text
Dan stumbled into the tower, crashing into the glass that surrounded his elevator. He gripped his right arm as he felt the tendrils of pain seep down it. He pulled back his sleeve to look at the red vines that were making their way through his arm from his chest. He hissed in pain as he slid down till he was sitting on the floor. Regret filled his head as the promise that he'd made to his new egg son on his new island.
Well, he couldn't return now. Not with this... Curse.
Why was she back? Claire had destroyed/sacrificed her body to finally end Her influence. Dan bit down a scream of pain and frustration.
"Dan? I thought you were gone already, did you forget something?" Dan looked up, meeting the green eyes of his young friend and roommate, Emerald. The American teenager had just come from the top floor of TDM Tower where their room once resided with a bag slung over their shoulder. They must have finished grabbing the last of their stuff. Dan stood back up, trying to minimize the pain in his expression.
"Yeah... I needed some stuff, so it's just a quick trip-" He was cut off by a shock of pain up his arm. Curse Emerald's empathic mind as they ran over, grabbing his right arm and pulling up his sleeve. The red root-like paths wrapped across his forearm, aggressive jolts of pain making the limb twitch in the teen's hold.
"What- This looks like Kindness's effect!?" Emerald's tone was one of confusion and concern. Dan huffed out in pain and frustration. "How?!?!"
"I don't know Em... I was heading back to my new residence and out of nowhere my arm went numb before suddenly I felt like I was being shot through the chest. I pulled up my sleeve to check what was wrong and that's when I saw the red start spreading." Right as he said that that red spread further on his arm and Dan to collapse further on the ground.
"I... Can't go back like this." "You really can't."
"But I have an obligation to go back. Like 'someone might die' obligation." Dan insisted trying to get up but his chest twitched in pain making him collapse again. Emerald whistled a three note pattern and a clatter from the floor above was followed by a blur of white fur colliding with his chest, Panda nuzzled into him as Emerald booked it down to the basement to the brewing stands. But he knew it was too late to do anything to stop it so he carefully reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture.
Him, a man in a black hoodie and an egg with a rainbow spinner hat. Written on the back: "Trump's adoption day!"
His goggles started feeling like they were squeezing his head, so he pulled them off his head. Panda rubbed her muzzle on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, knowing something was wrong. Dan reached over with his left arm and gently pet the arctic fox, feeling the cooling magic woven into her fur to keep her comfortable. Thank gods that Emerald was much better at magic than him, maybe if he'd included them of the cursing plan it might not have gone so awry. Emerald popped back up, potion in hand, and clicked at Panda to call them. They tossed the potion at Dan once Panda was clear, letting the potion take effect. Dan felt only marginally better enough to stand, but he knew it was only temporary.
He formed an Idea, he'd have to be quick. He hugged Emerald tightly, wrapping his arms around their shoulders. Emerald reciprocated the hug, relief that they had remembered the right potion steps. Dan finally broke the hug, hands trailing down to meet Em's and pressed the picture and goggles into them. Emerald looked down at them, then back up to Dan confused at why he gave them these objects.
At the same moment they realized that their sword was missing from its sheath on their back. It was in Dan's hands. They scooped Panda into their arms, their instinct to protect a small "child" kicking in.
"Dan, What-"
"Please forgive me, Emile."
Emerald shut up at Dan's use of their legal name, something only used when trust was needed.
Dan used the sword to cut a portal, dropping the sword after it opened fully.
"I'm Sorry."
Before Emerald could even respond, Dan grabbed the front of their hoodie right above where Panda was being held and Threw them into the portal. The sword shot into the portal right before it closed, following its owner.
Dan let his body collapse prone on the ground. He felt guilt flood his system from the broken promise to his new son but he hoped Emerald could explain.
"Oh, how sweet." A deep, gravelly voice filled his head. "To bad that it won't matter soon enough Danny Boy."
"You can't touch either of them. They're out of your reach." Dan spat out in one last act of defiance. Kindness laughed. Dan felt the world fade away as She took full control.
"As if I couldn't figure out a way to get to the ones you care about."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Emerald much preferred directly cutting into the reality/world of choice than whatever this strange vortex tunnel that was bouncing them around in, Dan of course wasn't attuned to Vorpal magic like they were so this was the end result. Where Dan had sent them, they had no clue.
So they clutched Panda tight as they were spun around like they were in the tea cups in a Disney park. They weren't sick per say, just disoriented and overstimulated by the lights, colors, and sounds. They at least tried to keep themself somewhat upright, willing themself to the end of this horrible experience. That didn't stop the string of curse words that flowed out of their mouth like a hose spray.
Suddenly they were floating in place, no strange sounds and consistent light. They opened their eyes, when did my eyes close?, and looked around. They were between two jagged pieces of a grey wall, looking like it had been blown up. It looked like at some point some one had tried building into one side of the blown wall, but it now sat abandoned. Emerald made the mistake that so many cartoons make and looked down. This caused them to fall to the grown.
Luckily it wasn't too far, maybe 2-3 meters. However, precious cargo in their arms made taking the fall a little hard. Emerald found themself sprawled on the ground, Panda jumping out of their arms to have her own safe landing. Desidedly not dead or in pain, they took a minute to ground themself to their new surroundings. They could feel their comm on their wrist buzzing, so they flicked open the leather screen cover, only to be promptly befuddled by what they saw. So many new names, and many of them were typing in Spanish. Emerald closed the lid, deciding to sit up. Their sword was only a reach away, so of course they re-sheathed it, that kind of magic shouldn't be left out.
"Panda, Here Girl." They called, patting the ground beside them as the fox came over and sat.
"where r we, skulk leader?" Panda asked through their link to which Emerald didn't have an answer. They rubbed Panda's ears as they thought. "y did dad sent us through that noisy tunnel?"
"I don't know pretty girl." Emerald sighed, holding up the goggles to get a better look at them. Panda made some sad fox noises as she rested her head on their thigh, causing them to look down.
That was enough distraction, because when they looked back up there was a sword pointed at them. They froze, raising their hands in surrender, unsure of what to do next as a heavily accented voice spoke to them.
"Why the hell do you have His goggles?"
Chapter Text
Max's first impression on Dan was that he was a bit hesitant, but kind and courteous none the less. He would mostly stay back from the chaos and "playful" fist fights the others would engage in. Max thought it refreshing, a calm pause and someone who wouldn't immediately blow up his lab. When he saw that Dan had gotten the same letter on their tickets, he couldn't have been happier.
But now he is gone...
All Max had was one gold capped elbow pad with snapped buckles. He had found it in the forest, abandoned where it fell, no other trace of the scientist. Max kept his hopes high. Maybe it had fallen off when Dan was running from a mob. But days passed and Dan was nowhere to be seen. Trump asked where his Dad was but Max couldn't give an answer.
EmeraldStar joined the Island
Max was pulled away from his work in his lab underneath his rotating house by the notification of a new person, thinking it was strange. The federation hadn't said anything about any new residents. Others were confused as well, voicing as such in the chat. Max moved away from the lab bench he was working at, tossing his tools on it haphazardly.
"Trump! Acaba de llegar alguien nuevo, vamos a conocerlo."
The rainbow propeller hat popped up from behind a different experiment, and the little egg scampered from around the back, bouncing around his papa.
The two got to the surface, then started the long walk to spawn, having not set up the new waystones that were starting to be implemented across the island.
Max didn't know what to expect when they arrived but one glimpse of the iconic blue goggles in the hands of someone who wasn't Dan was the snap of several days of anxiety and worry. In a moment he stood in front of the seated newcomer holding them at sword point.
"Why the Hell do you have his goggles?"
They seemed rather calm for someone with a blade pointed at them, their green eyes maintaining careful contact with Max's sunglasses. They slowly raised their hands in surrender, raising a picture in their hands as well. Max would have grabbed the goggles but those had fallen on their lap, also he didn't want to risk a bite from the arctic fox who was now snarling and barking(?) at him.
"Max! Calm down! They probably have an explanation." A voice from above them called out. Philza glided down followed by his egg son fully kitted out in his gear. He looked between the two, feeling a new magic energy buzz in the air. He gently pushed Max back, And reached out a hand to the new resident. "I promise not everyone is like that, I'm sorry if your welcome has been soured by that. He in particular has had a lot of stress and worry the past few days from his partner going missing."
The green clad newcomer took his offered hand and hauled themself off the ground, brushing off their pants and readjusting the strap of their bag.
"I wouldn't know the normal way to greet someone, so no hard feelings. I'm not sure where I am being welcomed to however."
Philza tilted his head in confusion. Everyone had gotten a ticket with the name of the Island on it before they arrived. Others were arriving so Phil asked,
"How did you get here? There was no announcement of any new arrivals." They rocked themself side to side as they seemingly thought of an answer. The spawn area between the split wall was progressively getting louder, which might get quickly out of hand had the eggs not come with their parents. But The Noise...
It was getting too loud...
Phil's paternal instinct recognized the signs of sensory overload and placed his hands over their ears before yelling at the gathered crowd.
"HEY! SHUT UP! LET THE KID SPEAK FOR THEMSELF!"
Everyone went silent, all eyes turned to them. Phil gently lowered his hands, apologizing to the teen for the sudden action.
"Sorry about the assumption of your age, and the physical touch without asking if that was okay."
They shook it off, looking around at the variety of beings that now surrounded them. They gave a little wave, and pushed their green hair out of their eyes, their fingers tracing the scar that curved around their right eye, over their cheek bone and cut down to their jaw.
"Salve, My name is Emerald Star, I'm 17, and I'm kinda confused on where I've just been thrown into? I kinda have no context about this place." The teen admitted, going back to shifting side to side under the weight of the many stares. Everyone started talking again, volume once again rising.
"Wait, You weren't invited? How did you get here without an invitation?" Quackity stepped forward to ask, having sent the invites himself. He had never heard of an Emerald Star, even if the green teenager standing before him gave him a sense of deja vu. Not in the way that he'd met them before, but in the way they match a description he'd heard along ago. Granted he couldn't remember who had given them that description either.
"I think the bigger question is why they have Dan's goggles and not him." Max stated, pointing accusingly at Emerald who held their hands up in a placating gesture, revealing the picture yet again. This time Max snatched it away causing Emerald to flinch away. "Why do you have this?!"
"HE GAVE IT TO ME!" Emerald shouted, taking everyone back. "He shoved that photo and his goggles in my hands, grabbed me by the front of my hoodie and threw me through a portal and now I'm here with no clue where I am surrounded by a bunch of strangers who make a lot of noise, FUCK I need my head phones!"
Emerald reached in their bag, and fished around for a moment before pulling out a pair of blue and silver headphones. What also came out with it were a light blue scarf balled/wrapped around something, a green leather bound book, and a vial of black fluid that fell to the ground. The book bounced away landing at Philza's feet, which he picked up to hand back but paused.
The embossing on the cover was a very simple tulip, highlighted with sparkly blue paint. There was a name underneath the tulip, embossed and painted.
Tulie TDM
Before He could look inside, the book was snatched away with a glare by Emerald. They clutched the book to their chest like it was the most precious book in their life. They reached down and picked up the vial of black fluid, checking in over for any breaks or leaks and stuffed it back into their bag.
"Who wraps up a tulip bulb?"
Emerald let out a noise that sounded oddly like a squawk, and lunged at Foolish, snatching the bulb and scarf out of his hands. Again they cradled the bundle to their chest, wrapping up the bulb again before tucking it and the book back into their bag. They crossed their arms over the chest and avoided eye contact with everyone.
No one knew what to say. It was quiet, no one moved.
Until Trump walked over.
He bumped his shell against the teen's leg, grabbing their attention before turning and placing a sign. Emerald lowered themself to a kneeling position, making Max stiffen.
' how do you know my dad? '
"We are long time friends. A long time ago we met through a game we both played and since then we've hung out together and gone on several adventures."
' do you know what happened to him? he's been missing for a while... '
Emerald bit their lip in thought, eyes flicking back and forth as they came up with a response. Trump looked up at them expectantly.
"He's... Rather sick at the moment. He left because he hoped that the people that helped him before could help him again." They landed on. Trump crouched forward in sadness, to which Emerald put a hand on his shell. "He left to protect you. What is happening to him right now would only cause him to hurt you if he stayed and didn't deal with it. I know he cares about you, because he was trying to get back to you even though he was in pain. I think that's why he sent me in his place, so there would be someone to care for you until he was better."
"I'm doing just fine on my own." Max grumpily said, crossing his arms in disagreement. Emerald glanced up at him once but focused on the little egg in front of them.
"You don't seem confused or freaked out by a large egg walking around and "talking" with you." Badboyhalo noted, Dapper sat beside him, watching the arctic fox that was now curiously sniffing the egg with a rainbow propeller hat. Trump wiggled in the way the eggs did when they giggled as he felt the fox's noise pushed air over his shell. Trump placed a new sign.
' does the pretty fox have a name? '
"Her name is Panda. And she is a very pretty girl." Emerald answered, giving the fox pets as she rubbed against their side.
"Why 'Panda'?" Foolish asked, "She's a fox."
"Dan named her."
Emerald shrugged, eyes glittering like there was more story behind it. They stood from the ground, their knees clicking as they did so. Leo, deciding that the newcomer wasn't a threat, ran up to Emerald who felt a harsh tapping on their bag, right over the genderfluid potion bottle patch on the flap. They turned their head to Leo who placed their own sign.
' YOU'RE GENDERFLUID!!?!!? I'M GENDERFLUID!!!! '
Emerald laughed and nodded, pulling their bag around revealing many more patches and pins.
"Oh I was wondering when you'd show up." Philza quietly said, noticing the white bear-like entity that seemingly popped into existence if it needed something of the islanders. Many of the others did not hear him, including Emerald who was explaining the meanings behind the various pins and patches on their bag.
"What are you doing?"
Emerald spun around and punched Cucurucho square in the cheek.
Chapter Text
Admittedly, punching someone in the face is not the best way to greet them. Pretty painful too. But Emerald had scars, both mental and physical, from too many surprise attacks.
So the knee-jerk reaction to the sudden robotic voice behind them was normal, but to the others, it was a big, most likely fatal choice.
Emerald cradled their hand as they recoiled from the hit, "Gods fucking damn it, don't spook a kid like that. Ow... Got a skull of metal under that fur?"
The strange bear creature righted its head back to the proper orientation, having been knocked to the side slightly. Its blank black eyes stared at them, making them shift and look away. Emerald hated eye contact, it rubbed their brain the wrong way. Phil stepped closer to them, trying to break the eye line and pull the bear's attention.
"You Are Not Supposed To Be Here. Why? How?" The bear asked looking at the green clad teen. Emerald didn't know how to respond to that. They really didn't want to explain in detail how they got here. Going around saying "Yeah so, my friend Dan came back to the place we used to stay at together with signs that a curse we both thought I destroyed, tricked me with a hug to grab my sword that can cut through realities/worlds, used it, and then tossed me through the subsequent hole between worlds." Is just asking for more trouble.
Apparently a clever alibi started forming when their comm dinged on their wrist, the sound of when something got updated or changed in the software. Emerald felt a book hit their chest, which they picked up and opened.
' PLEASE HAND OVER YOUR COMM FOR INSPECTION. '
Emerald drought their left arm up, pulling up their hoodie sleeve and unfastening the leather holder from around their wrist, and handing it to the strange bear.
"That's just like Dan's. He has his comm in a wrist holder too." Max commented looking between the wrist guard and teen.
"I made his and mine. His was dyed dark blue leather though. I made three for our family." Emerald responded, placing their hands in their front pocket.
"You made it?"
"Yeah, first time working with leather too. The mods Dan and I have on them make them most useful if on the wrist. Also I have a thing for science fiction."
The Bear handed back the comm along with another book staring blankly at Emerald.
"I am a member of the QSMP Census Bureau. Please answer these questions."
They wrapped the comm back around their wrist, opening the book to read again. It was filled with questions like the Bear had implied.
Name:
Age:
Occupation:
Relation to Island Resident DanTDM:
Species:
Philza walked over and read over their shoulder, muttering that the "questions were different" apparently. Emerald flicked open the cover on their comm, pulling the small pencil stashed there out from its place, and noticed the changes to the screen info.
First, their name now reads EmeraldStarTDM, which it shouldn't. The last time it read that was back when Shady Oaks was new and Dan and her were still working out some issues with the experimental stuff they had been using.
Second, there was a translator text box on the screen. Odd.
Deciding to figure those out later, Emerald started filling out the book.
Name: Emerald/Emile Star
Age: 17
Occupation: Adventurer, Writer, Psychology student
Relation to Island Resident DanTDM: Close friend, Family of Choice
Species: :p, your guess is as good as mine.
Emerald tossed the book back to the bear and started poking around on their comm.
"Wait, I'm not the youngest on the island anymore?" A new voice piped up from the crowd, causing them to look up. A guy wearing a Spiderman hoodie was standing in front of the crowd.
"Seems like it." Phil answered, Em's attention going back to their comm.
"That's a pretty painful scar you got there. How'd you get it?" A different, deeper voice with an American accent asked but this time The teen didn't look up.
"Domestic Terrorism." They answered, tapping the inter-world chat icon and sending a message to James.
To:@Thxcya can you check on Dan pls? I think something bad happened to him wherever he was. Be careful tho... It might be *her*
"What do you mean, "Domestic Terrorism"?" The same voice asked, disbelief heavy in their tone. Emerald closed the flap over the screen and faced the crowd, picking out the source of the voice to be a tall, buff, bald man with his own scars.
"I mean some complete and total self-absorbed, dramatically destructive douche canoes decided that blowing up roller coasters during a busy day at a theme park was the best way to get their opinions heard. I was lucky, I was walking under one of the coasters when its bomb went off, only got hit with a few pieces of shrapnel, the largest cutting into my face. Fucken thing nearly took my eye."
No one knew what to say to that, so Em looked down at their comm when it "blorped" receiving a new message.
To:@EmeraldStar Dan's back? where are u?
To:@Thxcya Not there that's for sure. But Im not kidding, check on Dan. he's probably still at the tower
To:@Emeraldstar Okay I'll get back to you
Emerald finally looked up when another book was tossed at them, leaning down to pick it up after closing the cover of their comm. They silently read the writing on the page, eyes widening the further they read down.
"Oh that's some bullshit reasoning that rivals my own." They exclaimed looking up to the bear.
"I hope you enjoy the island." And the fucker turned around and left on that. Emerald threw up their hands in frustration, slipping into Star speak to twist some rather colorful curses, both of the magical and non-magical kind. Those still around the area looked at them strangely, granted that from their perspective they had just started spouting off gibberish.
"So... What's in the book, if you don't mind me asking?" Philza asked before his attention was drawn to his son placing down a sign. Emerald closed the book, looking back to the others before walking up to Max and handing him the book.
"This affects you too, so you should read it."
Max took the book, reading much slower having to translate the written English. Emerald stole a glance at their comm to see if they had gotten a message back from the bee keeper. There was none. The teen pushed away the little voice in their head that said something was going very wrong.
"The bear can't be serious. You? Taking Dan's place?" Max exclaimed, moving his glasses up to look at the teen in disbelief. Emerald shrugged,
"Clearly, Dan wanted someone to take care of his kid while he couldn't and the bear is agreeing to that." While they kept a calm outside, inside they were freaking out at the prospect of taking care of a little creature, something they were a sucker for. Max tossed the book to Phil, huffing in Spanish and not looking at the teen.
The book said:
' EMERALDSTARTDM IS NOW AN ISLAND RESIDENT. HOWEVER DUE TO THEIR AGE AND THE UNCONFIRMED STATUS OF RESIDENT DANTDM THEY CAN NOT BE AN OFFICIAL PARENT TO TRUMP OR ANY OTHER EGG. THEY SHALL BE CONSIDERED TRUMP'S GODPARENT.
WE WILL BE IN CONTACT WITH MORE INFORMATION LATER. '
Emerald looked down at the little egg in a rainbow propeller hat, their heart melting a little as he waddled over to them.
"I want to make it clear to you I am not taking Dan's place." They said as they kneeled down once again to be closer to him. The little egg placed a sign down and spent some time picking his words carefully.
' It's okay. He sent you so I would know he didn't abandon me. '
' He's thinking about me even when he's not here. '
Emerald nodded reading the signs as they were placed. Their job was now set, so they took the goggles out of their pocket and slid them on their head, replacing their headphones and hood and fixing their hair so it flopped over the band.
' You look like him now. :) '
"So I've been told." Emerald responded, standing up again. "Now, Where was Dan staying? I have some questions I want answers to and that's probably a good place to start." The teen asked the crowd, the backs of their hands coming to rest between their hips and waist.
"I am not taking you back to my house."
James was concerned when a message appeared on discord from Emerald asking him to check on Dan.
The use of discord implied that 1) Emerald was no longer in Shady Oaks and 2) Dan was back from that weird vacation he'd suddenly left for.
Also 3) Something was wrong with Dan. Or something was off enough that Emerald was concerned. He left his little house and walked the path down to the main square. He approached the doors of the tall blue and white tower, noticing the door slightly ajar. Carefully stepping inside he looked around for the inventor, concern growing when he spotted red specks on the gold and white floor.
"Hello Jimbob."
James spun around when he heard the deep voice behind him, only to be hit across the room, head hitting the wall.
Red eyes were the last thing he saw before blacking out.
Chapter Text
Max didn't like Emerald.
It was hard to look at them, especially when they wore Dan's goggles. It just so happened that they were the same height, 5 foot 7 inches, and from the left side their faces were really similar.
He didn't like how Emerald poked around in Dan's things. The inventor hadn't made his own house but instead had taken residence in a small spare room, moving in a day or so after they were paired up and adopted Trump. After being pressured into letting the new resident come back to his house with him, He didn't let them stay in Dan's room but allowed them to look through his things. They analyzed a few things, holding things up and turning them around, studying them. Trump thought they were good, and that scared him, not that he would admit it to anyone.
Emerald scared him because they were an unknown. He knew almost nothing about them, Dan had never said anything about them. (He hadn't said anything about his past really, just that he used to run a casino and lived in a lab before that.) His fear, was his feeling of inadequacy and inferiority. There was something about Emerald, an aura that gave both a familiar comfort and an ominous warning.
"How long has he been gone for?" Emerald asked, looking in the drawer of the bedside table, pulling out some papers and looking them over.
"Tres días. Y ni siquiera puede enviar a otro adulto para que ocupe su lugar." (Three days. And he can't even send another adult to take his place.) Max answered, leaning against the door frame as he watched them investigate. The Teen gave a long laugh reading the translation.
"I'm the oldest of three, about to be four. I don't need to hear anything about maturity when I grew up to quickly for my own good just to be a not-problem." Emerald stood up, walking over to the window and holding up the papers but sighing in disappointment. "Nothing. Damn it. Why the fuck is she back? I get that Dan isn't the best with that stuff but like come on, vanishing is not a curse that reverses."
Now that caught Max's attention, even though it was mumbled much quieter than before.
"What? A vanishing curse?"
Emerald paused, realizing that they'd been heard. They didn't elaborate and put back the papers, shutting the drawer. They made a move to leave, but Max blocked their way.
"What did you mean by vanishing curse? Is that what's affecting Daniel?" He asked, looking over his glasses at the green haired teen. Emerald avoided his eyes, instead crossing their arms and saying nothing. "Why won't you tell me?"
"Because I don't have the full story. Something happened that shouldn't have, and I'm trying to figure out why." Emerald answered, finally looking up at Max with a glare. There was fire in their eyes that made Max step back, letting Emerald out of the room.
The pair left the house, Emerald placing their hand on the waystone outside before turning back to face the Spaniard.
"How is me being his Godparent going to work?" They asked, sliding their hands into their hoodie pockets, and kicking their foot into the ground.
"I don't want you anywhere near him. I am doing just fine raising him on my own, I don't need your help now." And then he turned and shut the door of his house. Emerald stood there for a minute, just staring at the door.
"Well, fuck you too buddy." They quietly said after him, tossing their head back to remove the hair in their face. They sat against the waystone and pulled back their sleeve, flipping the cover off their comm to pull up the holograph map of the world. The only areas that were visible were the path they had taken to Max's house and the "spawn" area. Emerald sighed knowing that exploring could take hours, and really it was afternoon already. Panda rested her head on their knee, closing her eyes to get a few more minutes of her nap she had been taking while Emerald had looked in Dan's room.
Emerald moved her fingers to swipe away the map and pull up the messages to James, only to find no response. Emerald tried to wave off the little voice in their head that was saying that something was very wrong. But there was a reason that it was called the little voice that's never wrong.
Squid was going about his day, stocking up the Kracken's Tavern when a message from someone he'd thought would never contact him again pinged on his comm. It was through discord, so Justin still wasn't back, but the even existence of the text confused him.
to:@iBallisticSquid Did you get any weird messages from Dan or James recently?
to:@Thinknoodles No... y? Wait Where is Dan?
to:@iBallisticSquid I don't know but I got weird messages from both of them but they won't respond and now I'm worried.
to:@Thinknoodles Is this an ask to check on them?
to:@Thinknoodles Because Dan isn't here, but I could check on Thxcya.
to:@iBallisticSquid Please the messages are really concerning.
Squid sighed, leaving his last load of supplies in the cold storage room and walked through the doors. As he crossed to the other side of the main area he paused, looking up at his sign.
He was used to the panel with his eyes turned around, it was almost never in the correct alignment with the rest of the sign. But a thick slash with red edges over his eyes was new. This was major vandalism, not a harmless continuing prank.
The red worried him. Red, specifically that shade of red brought back many bad memories. The voice that once controlled every thought he had now relegated to echoed whispers in his dreams. So to see his sign vandalized with a physical slash and the color of corruption felt targeted.
Squid debated whether it was worth it to tower up and try to fix it when he heard a muffled scream from behind him, in TDM Towers. It was not the right pitch to be Emerald, nor as vulgar due to the American's tendency to turn off her filter when she perceived to be alone. He turned, the door of the tower was ajar, something neither of its residents liked. He cautiously walked over to the door, resting a hand on his trident incase in was just some mob that had wandered in or another resident of the world trying to steal from the basement.
But it couldn't be a mob, the scream would have been followed by really colorful cursing if so, again from-
There's blood on the floor.
Standing out against the bright white and shiny gold of the floor was a few drops of red crusting on the floor. He looked up at the water elevator that had thick scratches in the glass, dribbling a bit of water on the floor. But he saw something much more concerning through the glass.
A splatter of blood on the back wall. He moved around the elevator to analyze the splatter. It was the type of splatter that came from throwing someone at the wall. Following the blood drips down the wall was a path of red to an empty spot on the floor where the blood just disappeared. Strange.
So where did the scream come from?
He only heard a slight shuffle behind him before feeling a cold hand grip the back of his neck, pinching and cutting into his skin.
"Lookie here, my old puppet has arrived. I thought you didn't like ole Jimbob?"
Emerald looked away from their comm when they heard the placing of a sign, spotting the large egg with a propeller hat staring at them. (Presumably, the shell had no eyes) The sign read ' Are you still going to take care of me? ' Their eyes softened, placing a gentle hand on the shell.
"Do you want me to?"
' Papa thinks you're dangerous. Why? ' "He doesn't trust me, and he's angry. Your other dad is missing and now I've appeared with some of his things and saying I know him but I'm "withholding information"." Emerald answered, leaning back against the waystone again. Trump stepped closer pressing up against the teen. Emerald sighed reaching into their pocket and pulling out a hand made bracelet of braided cords with rainbow gem beads woven into it. They gave it to the dragon egg, smiling that it matched the fun hat he wore.
"If you need help, the spell on that will lead you to me. I take it you heard the exchange between your dad and me?" Trump wiggled in place of a nod. "Yeah, he's not letting me stay. I'm going to build a house to stay in before it gets too dark, but you should get back to your dad."
Trump nodded again, running back to the house. Emerald smiled again, picking up Panda gently and standing before walking into the woods.
Chapter Text
It wasn't long before Trump made good on that offer. TO be honest, he was really looking for any excuse.
His dad may have left, but it wasn't of his own volition and he sent someone to take care of him while he was indisposed. And the person he sent was really cool, or at least he thought so. They were genderfluid like Leo, had green hair and a fox friend.
So when Max wasn't waking up and he still needed someone to take care of his tasks, he walked out of the house. When he got to the edge of the woods he pulled out the bracelet and focused on Emerald. The bracelet started to glow before a light construct in the shape of a fox jumped in front of Trump, looking at him with purple eyes. It started walking into the woods, turning back to Trump to make sure he was following. Trump jumped up and followed.
It was a long walk through the Cherry blossoms in the trees, then birch trees, then oak. But He still followed the glowy fox. Then the trees parted, giving way to a lake of calm water. It was deep with a water fall off to one side that fed into a stream on the other side. On the side with the stream was a house, or what would be one, as it looked only partially built. There were the making of a water wheel laying next to the running water, clearly to be used as a power source for the house once completed. The house frame was up laying out the floor plan for the two floors plus some attic space, but there were no walls or roof yet. It was slightly set into the Hill and part of the hill was carved into to make more space.
So where was Emerald?
Well, speak of the devil and they shall appear.
Emerald's green hair was pulled up into a pony tail at the back of their head, keeping it out of the face and making the scar on the left side of their face plainly visible. They carried a different bag, a backpack which was playing music for some reason, they held an ax. Their shirt was dark green with yellow text over the heart that read HW Hotel Valhalla and grey shorts. They walked out of the forest and towards the under construction house, until the Fox jumped in front of them, looking over to Trump before proofing away.
Emerald looked over and stopped in their path when they saw the propeller hat wearing egg.
"Hey buddy, What'cha doing out here? Is your dad around?" They asked, looking around to try to spot the dark clad Spaniard. They couldn't spot him then Trump placed a sign.
' Papa Max isn't waking up. I need my tasks done. '
Emerald crouched down to get a better look at the sign, reading it before looking at the egg.
"Alright then, where do We find where the tasks are?"
' They should be on your wrist thingy. '
Emerald flicked the cover over their comm off and flicked two fingers up, bringing up a holographic screen. After a bit of poking around they pulled up the list of tasks:
Feed the baby a food from a different culture than your own
Play a game in a group (3:00 Spawn)
Plant a garden with the baby
Tell the baby a story of a lost world
"Okay I can do those. What time is it... 12:11 okay that's plenty of time. You can eat fish right, no allergies?"
Trump crouched and uncrouched repeatedly, the closest thing to a nod the egg could do. Emerald smiled, standing and readjusting their backpack. "How does Sushi and miso soup sound for lunch?"
Trump, curious as to what either of those foods were, followed happily walking alongside them. Apparently there was a smaller house behind the one under construction. It was simple, just one room with a kitchen set up on one side, a craft space, three chests and a bed along the other wall.
Emerald put down the backpack by the chests and walked over to the kitchenette, placing a wooden step stool right in front of the counter. If Trump had a face, it would have split into a smile at the gesture. Emerald smiled back, grabbing a bag of rice and summoning a rice cooker out of nowhere.
"I have my secrets."
Emerald showed Trump how to properly prepare rice and set the rice cooker, letting the device work it's magic as they pulled out two cutting boards and knives as well as a whole assortment of veggies and a thick slice of cold tuna.
"Sushi is basically rice and some form a fish, occasionally with veggies, shaped into things that can be shaped into bite sized pieces. It comes in so many styles and forms and variations. We can make a few with these."
With some careful knife work (and help from Trump by washing the veggies) Em sliced everything into usable pieces. The rice cooker beeped a little melody as they were finishing washing the cutting boards and knives.
"Right on time."
Emerald pulled out a set of bottles, mixing some liquids in and fanning the rice to cool it down.
"Makes it easier to work with." Emerald explained, using one hand to grab a pack of seaweed and some bamboo mats. "So here's how it works: First we are going to lay down a layer of the rice in a square roughly the size of the seaweed," They instructed, placing a mat in front of Trump and scooping out some rice onto his mat and then their own."Next, place the square on the rice. Good, just like that. Now pick whatever fillings you like, just not too many or it will be difficult to roll up, and place them in a line about an inch down from the edge you're gonna roll."
Trump picked out most of what was available, which made his roll close to Emerald's.
Tuna, avocado, cucumber, and some sour cream.
Emerald added imitation crab meat, which Trump tried and immediately rejected, much to the teen's amusement.
"Yeah, it's not for everybody. Do you want to try rolling it yourself?"
Trump nodded, watching intently as Emerald demonstrated, then doing it himself. It was shaky, and not as tight but it held its shape, lopsided as it was. But the pride on Emerald's face and the encouragement in their smile, made Trump feel like he was on cloud nine.
His dad had sent someone really great to make sure he was okay.
"Such a great first attempt, do you want to make another while I start work on the miso?"
Trump nodded, moving his roll off to the side and grabbing a fresh piece of seaweed.
Chapter Text
James came to in a dark room. His body felt sore all over, his arms and head pounding with sharp pain. He tried to pull his arms forward but found that they were bound to the wall he was leaning against, another chain wrapped around his chest, holding him there. He could taste metal on his tongue, and partly it was blood but his mask was missing.
A metal muzzle was wrapped around his lower face, a metal bit shoved into his mouth to keep him from talking.
Or Screaming.
James tried to get his legs to move so he could feel them, but he couldn't get them to move without tremendous pain. Gods what happens? He tried to speak around the gag but he couldn't get the words out. Dried blood crinkled on his forehead, the cut from higher in his head.
How long had he been out? Hours? Days?
"Quit your pathetic begging, I will make you feel every bit of pain I so wish."
A quiet, deep voice echoed from down the hall. An all too familiar voice. One that had caused his a lot of pain. One that had almost pulled him and the two people he called his brothers apart, nearly breaking their bonds.
God Damn It! Why was She even back?
Hadn't Claire taken matters into her own hands and jumped off a cliff to destroy the sword forever by its own curse?
Torches around the room flicked on suddenly, giving the room a haunting red glow. He could make out the rough sandstone the room was hewn from. Wasn't Dan's first base in the desert? But he hadn't used it after moving out unless as a hiding place. The sound of something being dragged across rough ground slowly echoed from the darkness down a hallway he couldn't see the end of. He quickly went back to being limp, pretending to still be unconscious, afraid of the thing rapidly approaching from the hallway.
He slowed his breathing, keeping it even and shallow like how Claire had explained how to tell if someone was asleep or faking it. Clever girl she was. James kept his eyes shut as he felt someone enter the room, someone dragging a heavy load with them.
He dared a look when he heard the clinking chains across from where he was. Dark splatter on Squid's yellow hoodie had to be blood. The hybrid was completely limp, a severe head wound spilling his dark blue blood down his front. The figure was chaining him to the wall much like he already was, but didn't place a muzzle on Squid. The figure stood up straight, causing Thxcya to close his eyes again.
"I know you're awake Jimbob."
Thxcya's eyes shot open as his face was yanked up by the figure, forcing him to stare into blood red eyes and bloody smile.
Trump loved the sushi, At least Emerald thought he did with how fast the rolls were disappearing off of his plate. They smiled at the egg, holding their bowl of miso soup in front of their mouth like they were about to drink out of it. They weren't entirely sure about how the egg was eating with no visible mouth(or arms for that matter) but they knew better than to think too hard on things like that.
"Enjoying the sushi?" The hat bounced up and down in a motion close to a nod. "It's one of my favorites, though I can't have it that often, my mom being allergic to the main ingredient in all."
Trump stopped, a piece of sushi to freeze mid way to his mouth. A clear display of confusion for something that didn't have a face.
"I know, it's the weirdest thing to be allergic to, but I'm not lying. Literally can't have a lot of my comfort foods because they either contain rice or have rice flour. It sucks for both her and me."
A sign was placed before spinning around to face Emerald.
' I think Juanaflippa has allergies too. Not to rice but meat? '
"Don't know if that's an allergy or just a preference buddy, but yeah, that's life for some people. I get that it's not very fun, but I make do when I can." They looked down at their comm, tilting the device a little bit to get a better look at the screen.
"Okay it's 2:30 now, that should be just enough time for clean up and then heading to spawn for the group game." Emerald announced standing up and grabbing their own plate and bowl to take them to the sink. Trump quickly shoved the last two pieces of sushi into his stomach (however he ate them) and grabbed his dishes as well. The pair quickly washed up, letting their dishes and the cook ware air dry on the rack beside the sink. Emerald quickly changed out of their shirt and shorts into a one piece green romper that sat off the shoulder and light blue flowers embroidered on the top ruffle. They traded their very dirty hiking sneakers for some less worn black and white (and some rainbow) checkered sneakers and pulled out their hair tie and replacing it with a rainbow tie-dye bandana rolled up and wrapped around their head like a head band to keep their hair out off their face.
"Ready to go?" Trump bounced a nod and closely followed Emerald to the waystone that was sitting outside the partially constructed house.
Emerald's Lakeside Cabin
They both make contact with it and are magically zipped to the space between the broken sides of the wall.
Already there were Philza and his Egg, Chayanne if memory served, the demon in a red hood and his Egg in a top hat, the bald veteran looking guy and his Egg (which had a mustache), a lady in purple with bird traits, the man in a Spiderman hoodie, standing between them was an egg wearing overalls, an egg with a red hat that immediately ran over to Trump, followed by a buff man wearing a open vest and purple pants and black hair.
"Salve y'all." Emerald greeted, somehow slipping into both Latin and their barely there at times southern accent.
"Glad you can make it. We are only missing two more, then we can begin." Philza responded, giving the teen a smile as they walked over to stand by him. Emerald reached into their messenger bag(which they had grabbed before they left) and pulled out a pair of sunglasses with green frames and slid them over their eyes.
"Are you adjusting well to the island? Anything you need?"
"I think I'm doing okay." Emerald responded, keeping their eyes towards the kids. "I've been worse before."
Phil wanted to ask more, but Slimecicle and Mariana showed up, an egg with glasses and one with a red bow following closely behind. Now everyone was here, so how were they going to complete this task? After five minutes, and no freaky white bear showing up, Emerald realized that they as a group had been left to their devices. And others were coming to those conclusions as well.
"I'm guessing that this has now fallen to us... Anybody know any good group games?" The demon spoke up, looking around at the others.
"This or That, What Time is it Mister Wolf?, Uncle Dogar, I name a couple- Well Uncle Dogar might be a challenge cause the eggs can't speak and are much smaller than us. Train Wreck"
"Wait, What's Uncle Dogar?" The purple lady asked, pulling Emerald out of their little brainstorm rant. "I've never heard of that before."
Emerald looked around, now noticing that all eyes were on them, and shifted their bag around to their back.
"Well, it's a tagging game, and it starts with one tagger in the center and everyone else lined up on one side. The runners chant "Uncle Dogar, Uncle Dogar, may we please, please, please cross your wild, wild west?" and the tagger can respond with... anything really. Can be about what people are wearing or things they like. If the tagger calls something that applies to a runner they have to run to the other side of the playing field. If they are tagged, they must freeze in the spot that they were tagged in. Once tagged they are now a cactus on the tagger's team, and now can reach out and tag other runners, but they can't move." Emerald explained, going over the rules from their memory.
"That sounds fun, How about we do that?" The purple lady enthusiastically started looking around to the others. The eggs all stared jumping and clamoring around Emerald who smiled wide.
"Okay, Okay, we'll play, let's set the boundaries and pick our first Uncle Dogar."
Philza watched and the Veteran moved over to him.
"They're something different aren't they?"
Phil nodded in agreement, watching the teen point out where boundary markers should go and laughing as the eggs practically climbed all over them, placing signs wanting to be the first tagger.
"I wonder what their story is?"
Chapter Text
Two hours.
The eggs wanted to play all the games Emerald had suggested, loving all of them. The parents...
There's a reason park benches exist.
Emerald seemed to be fine, running with the kids, keeping the game fair for all. But two hours of running around is enough to make anyone hungry, and soon signs saying 'FEED' we're being held up.
"I think we're all tired out and ready for some food. I think we should head home and make some dinner." Phil suggested, wiping his forehead from running with the kids. Emerald turned to him, stopping mid-run, only to get tackled by a wave of dragon eggs.
"Flippa, Careful With Your Gun!" A voice yelled across the field moments before the crack of a gunshot echoed across the area. There was a look of horror on the adults faces, looking around if anyone had been hit. However the gun was pointing up into the air, Emerald having shoved the pistol up and away from the eggs with one hand.
"Rule One of Guns, Always treat a gun like it's loaded." Emerald stated, slowly moving their hand holding the gun till it was pointing at the ground. "Even if there's no mag and the safety's on, Always treat it like it's going to go off."
That's when the parents decided it really was time to go. They came over and picked up their egg off the back of the teen, saying their goodbyes and heading out. Philza was the last to go, his egg son Chayanne waiting by the side as he helped Emerald stand, making sure they were okay as they brushed themself off. Trump walked over, holding up Emerald's bag for them to take.
"Are you going to be okay? I know kids are a lot, if you need any help I'd be happy to loan you...anything." Phil offered as Emerald pulled the bag over their head to rest on their shoulder.
"Thanks, I'll... Keep that in mind." Emerald didn't accept outright, causing Phil to tilt his head slightly. What has this kid been through? Emerald looked down at Trump who looked up at them,
"Ready to head back to my place? We still need to plant a garden and tell you a story, I should probably get you back to your Pa too."
"Seems like you have a bunch to do, I'll let you get to it." Philza acknowledged, "C'mon Chayanne." And the pair left.
Emerald and Trump headed out, walking over to the warp stone and using it to get back to Em's cabin. Once there the two looked at the frame of the cabin, considering what to do. Emerald walked around the front, occasionally stopping like she was mapping out something in their head. Trump watched her, picking some flowers to replant for the garden.
"Okay, I have a concept. Not a full plan but it will get the job done. Hopefully." Emerald suddenly spoke, clapping her hands together. She ran inside for a moment, returning with a set of gardening gloves and a pair of trowels, passing one to Trump. "Some things we can't plant because it will take over everything, so we'll stick to flowers today. Tulips, Lily of the Valley, Clovers, ones that grow from the ground. I do not have the time or energy to build trellises today."
Trump nodded, holding up his trowel in a salute causing Emerald to laugh.
With careful instructions, the pair began planting a rainbow pattern around the front of the house. Emerald read every sign Trump placed, listening to his ideas and opinions. They ended up going with his ideas more often, letting the rainbow pattern twist and sway like a ribbon, leaving plenty of room for bushes to be added later. Trump liked the squishy texture of the dirt, squeezing it in his invisible grip as he sprinkled it around the planted flowers.
Emerald started humming as they worked, a sweet melody that flowed around the area like a calm stream. Trump didn't know the song but the melody, but it felt comforting. He wanted to listen to it more, so he shuffled closer wanting to be closer to the music. Emerald noticed and quietly began singing properly.
"When my time comes around, lay me gently in the cold dark earth, no grave can hold my body down,
I'll crawl home to her"
Trump thought her voice was very pretty, the song had a very peaceful longing to it. The words made him think of his dad, somewhere else because he was sick. He placed a sign, knowing that it would stop the song but he couldn't let this question go.
' Is dad going to be okay? His is coming back right? '
Em read the sign, her face falling a little as she read. Leaning back on her heels, knees still firmly in the dirt, she removed her gloves and placed her hands in her lap.
"I... Don't know when he'll be back. He sent me here even though the reason we got through it the first time was because we worked together. I'm sure I would have been more help there. But I'm not. And NO one is responding to me, which concerns me heavily." Emerald started rambling, frustration clear in her voice. Trump slouched forward, causing Emerald to pause her rant. She laid a gentle hand on his shell, coaksing him to look up at her.
"Your Dad loves you. I'm sure he's doing everything he can to get better and come back. There's one more person I can ask to check on him but it might take him some time to get to Dan."
' But he WILL come back? '
"Sure as the Stars."
Trump decided that was good enough for now, seeing the world was now awash in gold tones from the setting sun. He walked closer to Em, climbing into her lap. Emerald looked down at him, slowly bringing her arms around his little form. They sat like that for a while, soaking in the golden light, quiet except for Emerald's quiet singing. A different song this time.
"True that I saw her hair like a branch of a tree, Willow dancing on air before covering me, Under garden and calicos, over canopy dabbled long ago.."
He liked the sound, it reflected the area around them. The lake glittering in the distance and the gold light painting the trees all around them. Even the flowers seemed more vibrant with the music, their blooms looking more full. A slight breeze swept through, gently pushing the flowers and tree branches to sway like they were slowly dancing.
It looked right out of a painting. Maybe he should take up painting as a hobby, just to capture scenes like this.
Emerald shifted, but before Trump could move out of her grip, her arms tightened, lifting him as she stood up., She kept singing as she walked back to her house, moving to a chest closet to her bed before pulling out a bundle of blue fabric. She walked back outside, pressing the bundle to her chest right next to Trump. She went back to where she had been before, kneeling in the dirt and grabbing her trowel. Only a shallow hole was dug before Em revealed what was wrapped in the bundle.
A single tulip bulb.
Trump recognized it as the same one from the first day Emerald had arrived. She was so gentle with it, carefully placing it in the soil before covering it with dirt.
"llew peels"
Emerald whispered something Trump couldn't make out but decided to not question it. The green haired teen looked down at the dragon egg, tears rimming her eyes that she didn't acknowledge.
"I think we're done with the garden. Dinner then I take you back to your Papa?"
Trump nodded, even though he didn't want this day to end. Em let him go, allowing him to walk beside her as the pair made their way back to the temporary house. Emerald was very tired, which meant one thing, Pizza.
Specifically, frozen pizza. The one she had on hand was margarita pizza, one of her favorites. She had pulled the pizza from the ice chest when she realized that it might not be what Trump wanted. She looked over her shoulder where Trump was sitting at the table.
"How... Familiar are you with Pizza?"
' Somewhat. why? '
"Cool, just keep in mind that this isn't the common depiction of Pizza. I like it, but I don't expect you to like it after you try it. Say you don't like it and I will make you something else."
Trump looked at Emerald in awe. He saw how tired Emerald had gotten but she was still going out of her way to make sure he was happy. Max was the same way and it really made him feel loved, all warm and fuzzy. He would eat anything Emerald made with a smile if he continued to feel this way.
Emerald smiled at the little egg, going about her work making the pizza. Dirt was smeared up and down her legs, tainting her skin a darker shade from the knees down. Trump probably looked very similar, causing him to hold up the Bath sign.
"Ha, Yeah we both probably need one. Should have thought of that before I put food in the oven. Oh well." Emerald laughed, looking down at her legs and arms. "Come on, I'll get you clean. Panda, watch the Oven for me, if you smell smoke get me immediately." She instructed the arctic fox, before guiding Trump to the bathroom. Filling the bath only took a few minutes, but it only took Trump a few seconds to completely soak the entire bathroom by jumping into the tub. Emerald laughed, amused at the antics. "I'll get a wash cloth, lets get you scrubbed."
Reaching under the sink, she pulled out a sage green washcloth before going back to the tub, soaking it in the warm water. It didn't take long to get Trump clean, dirt and dust of the day circling down the drain once Emerald pulled the plug. Her arms had been cleaned as the two had a mild splash fight, so after wiping them dry she wrapped Trump's little eggy body in a fluffy towel, leaving his little legs sticking out the bottom as she picked him up.
The pizza was close to done as they sat at the table, Panda going from standing at the oven, to sitting next to Emerald, rubbing her snout up into Em's free hand. Trump shifted in the towel, rubbing against the soft fabric, before looking up at Emerald. She looked visibly more tired than before, her posture slouched in the chair. It made her look much older, strange.
*Beep!*
The oven timer sounded, cutting the silence. Emerald gently set Trump down on the chair she'd just gotten up from before removing the pizza from the oven, sliding it onto a cutting board to cool slightly before cutting it into slices. Plating it up for the two, she walked back to the table, setting the meal in front of Trump. He reached for the slices, tapping it slightly after Emerald warned him it was hot, but after finding the heat much more bearable, picked up a piece and took a big bite. It was good, even though the cheese was a bit saltier than what it should be, maybe? Trump hadn't had pizza before, he had nothing to compare it to.
"It's pretty good for what it is, but one day we'll make a better version from scratch." Emerald commented, eating her own slice. "When you're finished I'll take you back to your dad's, 'Kay?"
' We still need to do my story ' Trump wrote out on a sign.
"Bedtime. I've got a pretty good one. I think." Emerald reassured, leaning back in her chair. Trump nodded, eating another piece of pizza. Fifteen minutes later the plates were in the sink and the two were outside again standing at the warp stone, zipping back to the cherry blossom forest. Trump let Emerald around to the windmill, showing her his room and the messy bed he proceeded to jump on. The elder looked around the mechanic filled structure, concern written across her face, before turning back to the little egg.
"Your room is pretty cool buddy. Now lie down so we can get to the story."
Trump stilled his bouncing, quickly remembering the last task of the day. Emerald carefully knelt next to the bed, gently pulling up the red blankets over his pale shell as he settled against the pillow. She took a deep breath, fingers ghosting over his shell right down the area where a face would be in a motion that felt too practiced for her to just to try on him.
"Alright, A story about a world that no longer exists... Ah here's one
There once was a land of fairytales called Ever After, and in this land there was a school for all the children of fairytale characters. Now this story starts at the beginning of the school year with two young students who couldn't be more different...
Chapter Text
Blood leaked from the mask as James collided with the sandstone wall, sliding down till he hit the floor in a pile. Squid could barely see through his own swollen eyelid and dried blood clinging to his face, before he forcefully met the gritty floor due to a harsh kick to the back.
"What *cough* What is the point of all this?" Squid managed to spit out, receiving a harsh tug up by the hair. Red rage filled eyes glared at him, giving him a violent shake.
"I WANT to destroy all of you. Destroy you like you destroyed me. Planned it all out and everything. But then this Smuck Decided to Toss the only chance of escape from this world AWAY!"
"Now I'm stuck in this SHitHole With Useless PAWNS!"
He growled, tossing Squid to the side with much more strength than Dan was supposed to have, before punching the wall right under a redstone torch, causing it to be dislodged and fall to the floor, going out. This was painful to watch, sure Dan and Him had their arguments, but they were still friends. Kindness being destroyed had definitely made their interactions much more congenial and very much less aggressive.
Dan's body slouched into the wall, sliding down it till it was sat on the floor, still and quiet. The lighting was a bit uneven now, Dan's body now partially hidden in shadow. Squid took a few breaths, looking over at James who had shifted so he was laying on the floor, taking a moment to recover in the rare opportunity. The silence was eerie, until it was broken by some stilted breathing cut through, followed by sobs. Squid looked over at Dan's form, curled up hands over his face, crying.
Squid had first hand experience with Kindness's possession. The power was almost addicting, and it was poison. When Kindness wanted control, she took it by force, not caring for the limitations of a physical body. The days after those incidents Squid would feel numb, disconnected from his body and mind, barely able to move around his house.
"Dan?"
The alchemist looked up, the dim red lighting making his blue eyes look indigo. The horror in his eyes as he looked at Squid's busted face and blood stained hoodie made said hybrid's heart clench and sink.
"I don't want to do this. I don't want to hurt you."
"I know. I know you don't." Squid assured him, trying to sit up to show the damage wasn't so bad. He immediately hissed as dried blood soaked fabric pulled on open wounds, sending spikes of pain through his chest. Dan immediately flinched again, more tears pouring down his face.
"I should have locked myself up. Or had Emerald Kill me."
James's head shot up, eyes wide when he heard that.
"I just wanted to protect my kid." Dan sobbed gripping his jacket. "He was so small and delicate, I couldn't let him get hurt."
Squid and James looked at each other completely bewildered. Dan has a kid. That was new information.
"Was sending Em away the right thing to?" He whimpered, tightening his grip as he curled tighter into himself.
"You have a SON??!"
A small smile flickered on Dan's face, eyes unfocused. "Little dragon egg with tiny little legs, wearing a rainbow propeller hat, just sitting in a little glass case, waiting to be adopted. At first I was scared of getting attached, they said that we would have to return them to their mother when she returned. But he's such a sweet little thing, loving music and flowers. I couldn't... He's too innocent."
Squid and James listen to Dan's ramble, watching him break down as he continued. James's eyes widened as something clicked in his head. Emerald had asked him to check on Dan after he'd somehow sent her away, that he knew. But Emerald was the only one who could match Dan in Alchemical knowledge, the only one who knew the right potions and magic (And attitude) to fight back against Kindness.
"Kindness really wants to conquer everything She can, She needs To be able to jump worlds to do so. That takes a lot of power and skill."
That was... Informative.
"Kindness said she wants to destroy us."
"That's her plan. Destroy us, then turn to the other worlds. More powerful people to corrupt, the more powerful she gets." Dan explained, shifting further back into the wall.
"She can't leave Shady Oaks though?" Dan shook his head.
"Emerald is her way out. They've got this magic sword that can cut through reality into other worlds. Kindness wants that magic."
"And Emerald is the only person who knows the enchantment?" Squid asked, looking to James. James shook his head, already knowing the question the Hybrid was silently asking.
"She might be the one who made it. Either way, she's the only one who's good at jumping worlds that was still heRE"
James lunged forward as Dan's head slammed back, an unhealthy "Crack" from the contact. Squid, knowing that it was a bad Idea, grabbed James, pulling him back as Dan's body fell completely on the floor, seizing and twitching as he pleaded and screamed, his voice distorting. Then he stilled, before jerkily getting up, like a puppet one string tug at a time.
"Ah Danny-boy. Always So sentimental. That's what got you into this mess."
Dan's head shot over to them, Eyes glowing red in the dim light. James tried to say something around the muzzle, But all that came out was some incoherent mumbling. Kindness apparently didn't like that, grabbing James by the throat and lifting him up, pulling him away from Squid, who started panicking as the ninja dressed man started struggling to get air. It shouldn't be possible, Dan was the shortest of their group. But James couldn't find purchase on the gritty floor to stand at his full height, the muzzle was already constricting his air intake, the room warping and fading as the grip around his throat, Kindness growling at him.
"A noble Threat Jim-bob, but it's not enough. Your coven's other member isn't here to help is she?"
Squid lunged at Dan, trying to knock him over to free James, but he received a kick to the ribs causing him to double over.
A chime was almost drowned out by James's noises of struggle, but it made Kindness stop, angry eyes moving from James's face to his arm, where the wrist communicator was now glowing with a new message.
*Thinknoodles has joined the world*
Max was sure the federation was messing with him. They had to be. Why else would they have made a task such a mockery of him? This couldn't be fair, Badboy and Quackity didn't have a partner they weren't being harassed. (Well, maybe Quackity did but Luzu barely showed up.)
He glared at the screen, like if he did long enough it would change. But it didn't.
He sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose under his sunglasses.
*Plan a day out for the baby (Both available parents)*
Muttering swears under his breath, he got up and left the house, firmly shutting the door behind him. He didn't have Emerald's warp stone so he had to walk the path through the woods. The last light of the day filtered through the changing trees, before nearly blinding him from reflecting off the lake.
The Cabin was impressive, set into the side of the hill with a balcony jutting over the lake. Large windows to let in light during the day, lanterns by the doors and on the posts on the stairs leading up to the front doors. It was well made, surprisingly aesthetic and warm. It wasn't something that Emerald seemed capable of, but Max really wasn't sure of what Emerald was capable of.
"So you've heard Nothing?"
Max's head swung around at the sound of Emerald's voice, spotting the green haired teen walking from a trellis with an armful of flowers to a shed tucked around the back. Once they disappeared through the door Max stumbled over some roots to follow. But once he got to the shed Emerald was nowhere to be seen. The shed wasn't anything special, tools for building and gardening hung on the walls, supplies stacked along the walls.
But towards the back sat a Gold pressure plate, dusty shoe prints covering the gold metal. Max stepped on it, watching as the floor split into a set of stairs, leading underground. Down he went, ending in a tunnel carved from rock, torches placed every so often. So this was why Emerald had disappeared for three days...
"It has to be some issue with the hardware. Discord is tough so I think She must have done something to their comms."
Okay, they had to be talking with someone. But Who?
"It's... worrying. I thought they would have at least tried one message by now."
"That's the thing, even a jumbled message sent in a panic would be better than silence."
Max followed the torches and voices down the tunnel, ignoring off shoots as he passed them, till he reached the end of the hall. It opened to a big room with a ceiling two stories tall. The bottom floor was in the progress of becoming a full alchemy lab, work stations and tables spread across the room, different devices and projects scattered across them. One area was dedicated to potions, another to weapons, yet another to magic and enchantments. There was a spiral staircase in the corner leading up to the second story. The outer ring of the second story turned into the beginnings of a library, shelves and cases empty waiting for books or other items, one corner was piled with stuff, tossed there clearly to be dealt with later. leaning against the
Massive Floor to Ceiling Window that looked out into the Lake.
Max stood stunned, watching as fish swam lazily around in the lake, unbothered by the glass intruding into their habitat.
Emerald had built an entire lab under their house into the lake. What the Hell.
"Look, I don't think it's a good idea for you to go back there Justin. If this is Kindness, and I think it is, she's gonna want to go after you next."
"But that's a risk I'm willing to take. I don't have Revenge anymore, so it's going to be harder for her to manipulate me."
"I... You're right. Besides this is our Friends we're talking about, I just wish I could come with you."
"Something stopping you?"
"Dan sent me away with an obligation as well as being monitored for some reason. If I disappear now that's going to lead to questions and I really don't want my stuff falling into these creature's mits."
"Seem's bad."
"Yeah, pretty sure Dan wasn't here long enough to have run-ins with the governing body here. They are creepy as heck."
"Knowing what you can get up to, I'm not surprised."
"I punched one of them when I first got here."
"Not even Surprised."
Max took careful steps into the lab, caught between finding Emerald and looking around the nearly complete lab. Not careful enough, as he bumped into a table, causing the items on it to rattle. The conversation halted, causing him to freeze.
"Justin... I'm gonna call you back."
"Okay. I'll call if I need help."
"Over and out Noodles."
"Over and out Star."
Emerald popped out a side room with a pistol raised ready to shoot, only to freeze once they saw it was Max. With practiced motions they flicked the safety on, then slid it into a holster strapped to their thigh. Crossing their arms over their chest they looked at Max expectantly.
"I thought you didn't want me around?"
Max shifted around, uncomfortable.
"The tasks today. One of them requires Both available parents."
Emerald untangled one of their arms, flicking the cover of their comm open then flicking through some of the screens til they pulled up the task list.
"Ah, I see. So was there anything you wanted to do? Any ideas on activities? I'm sure Trump would love to see how the garden is growing, and I could use an extra set or two to set up my net lofts-"
"No le veo el sentido a esto, ni siquiera tienes edad suficiente para ser padre." (I don't see the point of this, you're not even old enough to be a parent.)
Emerald slammed their hand on the table,
"You clearly don't want to risk his life so suck it up."
"Oh really? Maybe I want to trust someone who will be straight with me when I ask for information." Max spat back, anger flaring in his tone, getting closer to the lanky teenager. Emerald stood their ground, but their arms crossed over their chest again.
"If I had answers I would give them, but I don't so I CAN'T. I would love to have answers, but unfortunately I'm scrambling and no one is responding to my messages, which makes me terrified of what might be happening but I can't go back and try to fix it." Emerald got close to Max, causing him to step back.
"I'm also more willing to share with someone who isn't hostile to every action I take. So maybe just be okay with what I can tell you when that information comes in."
"Buddy, What are you doing up?"
Max's head swung around, following Emerald's eye line to the little pale egg wrapped up in a blanket peeking through the doorway. Emerald walked over, kneeling down and picking up the bundled egg, before walking back to Max, holding him close while adjusting the blanket so it remained wrapped around the little fragile body.
"Creí que estabas de nuevo en casa." (I thought you were back at the house.) Max sternly spoke, looking down at the dragon egg. With a bit of shuffling, a sign popped out of the layers of blanket.
' I didn't want to be alone rn. '
"That's okay, We were just trying to get one final task done for the day and good news, it's going to lead into the tasks tomorrow so they gave us a head start." Emerald explained, gently rocking their body back and forth to comfort the egg in their hold. Max watched the two with a layer of something unreadable. Emerald moved and talked with experience, gentle, firm, and oh so warm.
He was so conflicted,
...Maybe he could be less harsh on Emerald, they hadn't expected to be here but they were doing the best they could with it.
Maybe he could to.
Zeveck on Chapter 6 Tue 10 Dec 2024 01:41AM UTC
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