Ripple

by Reflet271

Summary:

"You don't remember? How could you forget who Clover is?!"

"...Who's Clover?"

Ceroba wishes she could do it all over again, and in a twist of fate, finds herself reliving her past mistakes.

Notes:

Oh man I have so many ideas and so little time to write them. Spoilers for all three routes of Undertale Yellow and some secrets.

Chapter 1: Back to the Beginning

"Ya sure you don't want us to come with?" Ceroba smiled at her longtime friend.

"Don't worry about me, you've got this festival to prep for!" she said, slugging an arm into Starlo's.

"Ow! Alright alright! It's just…take care on the way there, okay? And come back soon."

"You act like I'm going away forever or something. It's just a trip over to New Home, relax!" The fox said, gently shaking a device in her hand. "Besides, we got these for a reason, remember?"

Starlo sighed, pulling out his own. "Yeah…yeah I remember. Just, call as soon as ya get there, okay?"

"Promise."
-~-
New Home looked the same as ever to her; drab, dreary, and in desperate need of another expansion. She sighed as she walked through the city, looking over the dozens of other monsters going about their day.

After making a quick stop for some nice cream (she could indulge herself after such a long trip, okay?) she turned her attention to the lone road leading upwards to a secluded part of the city. She looked down at the basket she had brought with her.

Fresh corn from Starlo's family, and a single four leaf clover.

Ceroba stared at the large tree overlooking the rest of New Home, slowly lowering her gaze to the lone gravestone placed next to it.

"Hey, sorry I'm late this year…" The fox said quietly, kneeling before the gravestone and brushing off some of the petals that had fallen onto it. "There's so much to tell you… I don't even know where to begin."

…

"Martlet quit the guard after everything that's happened. She works as an architect now. She's a lot happier with her new job. And Starlo, he's gone back to being a farmer on his family's place." Ceroba reached into the basket and grabbed one of the pieces of corn "He still puts on a show over at Wild East, but I can tell he's starting to grow out of it."

"He's really come into his own, he even managed to get some corn growing in Snowdin of all places!"

…

"....I still haven't really come to terms with everything, if I'm being honest. It's hard to believe things are really how they are until it hits you all at once. Chujin, my daughter…you…" The fox looked forlornly into the basket and pulled out the clover "I…visited his grave the other day. It's been so long I almost thought I was back here instead." Ceroba glanced upwards to the tree "I told him that I was honoring his legacy, the right way this time."

…

"Martlet did some digging, right before she quit the royal guards. Kanako…she's…" Ceroba grit her teeth. "She's alive, but…" She could feel her claws pricking her legs as she dug them into her fur. "I…is it selfish of me? To wonder if you hadn't won?"

…
"I don't even know why I'm telling you any of this. You can't even hear me even if I wanted you to…" Ceroba sighed, laying the clover next to the piece of corn she took out before. "Anyways, I shouldn't bore you too much with our lives. We all miss you, you know."

"Until next time…friend."
-~-
"Hey, how'd everything go?"

"Fine. Was good to get all of it out there again, if only for a little bit." Ceroba said into the phone, watching the monsters pass her by as she leaned against a lamppost.

"Good. It's good to take time and reflect on…everything."

"Yeah…" Ceroba replied, "How are things going back home?"

"Pretty good actually! We're almost done setting things up, just waiting for the star," Ceroba snorted at the pun "to come back."

"Alright. I'll be there by tonight, hopefully. Got a long walk back."

"Not gonna take UGPS back?"

"You kidding? Those baskets are way too small for anyone but a kid to fit in them! No wonder Clover-" Ceroba paused.

"Yeah, I always wondered how they got around so quickly. Come back safe, okay?"

"Sheesh, why does everyone suddenly think I can't fend for myself all of a sudden?" Ceroba said without any bite. "Talk soon." She hung up, pocketing the device before starting down the road back home.
The journey back to Wild East was a quiet one for Ceroba, stopping by the Steamworks to say hello to Axis and checking in on them before retracing her steps back home. The fox breathed out a sigh as she stepped through the large door and onto the dusty path.

"One of these days we'll have to replace this giant hunk of metal. I'm getting sick of how out of place it looks…" Ceroba grumbled to herself.

Continuing down the path, Ceroba made sure to check in with Star's parents, getting a hug from his father and a gentle reminder from his mother to take care of herself more.

"You look thin, dear. You really should come visit more." Ceroba waved her concerns off, but promised to visit more often.

After leaving, the fox trudged along, smiling at the sight of the familiar town.

"Finally back, and just in time too, from the looks of it."

Wild East was always a bit of a remote place, far away from the rest of the underground. So when word had gotten out that a human had traveled through here, tourism was bound to arrive.

In a weird way, Clover had improved their lives in more ways than one, with some monsters even choosing to stay and help expand.

Not to mention the festival that was going to occur soon.

"Ceroba! Over here!"

Ceroba glanced at the sound of her name being called. A squirrel monster waved at her, surrounded by five others. She made her way over, waving back.

"Hey guys, set everything up alright?"

"Sure did. Everything's all set for tomorrow. Gotta say, I don't think we've ever had a turnout as big as this before."

"That's because this is the first time we're doing this sort of thing, Mooch."

The squirrel pouted at one of the other monsters.

"Honestly? I'm still super nervous about doing all this… never really had to put on a spectacle like this in front of so many…"

"I'm sure you'll do fine Moray." Ceroba reassured. "As long as you follow the plan, everything should go smoothly."

"What about you?" Ceroba tilted her head at their words. "You haven't told us what you were gonna do yet."

"Uh…it's a secret! Can't tell you until tomorrow, sorry." Ceroba quickly replied, looking away nervously.

"I'm sure it'll be great, whatever it is." Star said, planting a hand on her shoulder.
-~-
"Home sweet home…" Ceroba whispered to the empty hall. The Ketsukane household had seen better days, but the gang's efforts had begun to turn that around in a remarkably short time. It was still quiet as ever when she came back late in the evening though. Quiet and empty. After a quick wash and a meal, Ceroba yawned as the events of the day finally hit her. Climbing into bed, she took a second to glance at the photo on the nightstand, gazing at the three smiling faces staring back at her.

"...goodnight, my loves…" she said, before turning around and closing her eyes.
-~-
Ceroba gripped her staff tightly, charging one last attack to send at the human. She made the mistake of looking past her arm, seeing pained expression on their face, their soul shaking as it desperately clung onto life. She looked away, steeling herself-

Before firing.

She had seen this many times before, in her dreams. It had haunted her ever since that day. Her greatest mistake. Apart from another, at least. Looking at it from an outside view, she could barely recognize the monster that was willing to kill a child just to get her own back. Her heart lurched when the events played out again. And again. And again.

"Please…stop…no more…" she whispered quietly.

The scene rewound again, ignorant of her pleas.

"Stop it…leave me alone, I can't…"

The scene repeated again.

"If I could take it back…do things over…" she whispered.

A loud crack drew her attention.

Clover hunched over, one hand on their chest. Their soul shaking violently…

Before it split into two, and shattered.
-~-
Ceroba woke with a gasp, eyes wide and panicked. Her heart was pounding at the image burned into her mind. What…was that? That wasn't what had happened. Clover had repelled her own attack, she knew that.

So why did that feel so…real? She gripped her chest tightly, feeling her heartbeat thump at an alarming pace. Taking a few deep breaths, she willed herself to calm down.

"Just a dream…just a dream." she repeated to herself. Sliding out of bed, she had to take a moment when she realized she wasn't in her own home, but the shared house in Wild East.

"The hell?" she said, looking around. Maybe she was still dreaming. She definitely remembered going back to Oasis to sleep, and not here.

Leaving the house, Ceroba became even more suspicious when she saw none of the decorations put up yesterday in sight.

"Something's off…" Ceroba said to herself, looking around.

"Morning Ceroba!" The fox turned to see Starlo walking up to her.

"Morning Star," she said, looking around again. "Where's all the decorations and stuff?"

"Decorations? What decorations?" Starlo said.

"Is this some kind of joke? Did you forget about the festival or something?"

"Festival? I didn't know we were doing anything like that…" Ceroba groaned, rubbing her face into her hand.

"What do you mean, 'you don't know'? You spent all day yesterday with the gang setting it up! You know, for all the new monsters staying here?"

"...what new monsters?" Starlo said, confused. Okay, this was getting old.

"The ones that showed up after Clover-" She thrust a hand out to one of the buildings, only to stop when she noticed it wasn't there. "Passed through here…"

"Are ya sure you woke up right Ceroba? You're actin' kinda funny…" Ceroba turned back around, glaring at the sheriff.

"I'm acting funny? The heck's that supposed to mean?!"

"Woah woah, take it easy!" Starlo put up two hands to placate the fox. "I'm just saying you aren't making sense. Decorations, festival? This is the first I'm hearin' of any of this!"

"This has to be some sort of prank or something. You're seriously telling me you don't remember it at all?"

"There's nothing to remember if it never happened!" Starlo said angrily. "Also, who's Clover?"

Ceroba gaped.

"...what?"

"I said, who's Clover? Friend you met recently?"

"I…you don't remember?" Ceroba felt a chill run down her spine.

"Uh, I think I would remember meeting someone, Ceroba."

No.

No no no no no-

Chapter 2

"Another."

"I think you've had enough Cero-"

"Another!"

Dina frowned at the fox, begrudgingly pouring her another drink. Ceroba downed it just as quickly as the last one, staring at the wooden finish of the counter.

After clarifying to her one last time that Starlo had no idea who she was talking about, the fox decided to drown her sorrows like she used to.

She had somehow traveled back in time. Back to before Clover came to visit. This had to be some sort of sick joke. Her mind was muddied with the taste of alcohol as she silently contemplated why it happened.

Why did time rewind? Why did no one else remember anything?

And…were things going to play out the same way?

Ceroba groaned, why couldn't things just be simple for once in her life? Fighting back the urge to vomit, the fox decided it'd be best to try and make sense of it after she had sobered up.

"Put it on my tab, Dina." Ceroba said in passing, stepping back out of the saloon and into the dusty air of Wild East. Ceroba held a hand to her head and groaned. "Note to self: don't drink when trying to figure out bullshit…" Rubbing her eyes, Ceroba padded down the road towards Oasis Valley while continuing to think about everything.

If she really had gone back in time, then she had to figure out just how far back exactly she was. Some part of her desperately wished it was far back enough that Chujin and Kanako were still alive, but her hopes were crushed when Starlo simply gave her a sad look when she asked.

Her eyes stung with tears that she wiped away as soon as they formed. Not the time to be moping. Going off of that, she could only assume she was right in the time just before Clover came to visit them all. Knowing that, Ceroba judged she had about a couple hours to maybe find Clover before they arrived in Wild East, and…

Ceroba slowed her pace.

"A chance…that's what I asked for, and that's what I got." she said to herself.

Maybe this time, she could save her daughter. Maybe this time, things wouldn't be the same.
-~-
It was dark by the time she finally arrived in the Oasis. Ceroba made a beeline for her home, unlocking the gate and hurriedly running inside. Seeing it once again in a ruined state…it made it truly sink in that she was back in time. She brushed off some dust on one of the tables, looking over the empty home.

"...Still as quiet as ever." Ceroba whispered. Right, time to get to work. Locating the hidden hatch beneath the kotatsu, Ceroba climbed down the dusty steps, walking into the dim hallway leading to Chujin's hidden research room. Looking over the room, she bit her lip as the memories of what happened came rushing back momentarily.

Love you lots.

Love you more.

 

"Damn it…" she said, shaking her head. Now wasn't the time for that. Focusing once more, the fox quickly grabbed all the tapes and shoved them into a box, looking around for the rest of the pieces of evidence that told the truth about her husband's work.

And the evidence of her own attempts to continue his legacy.

She gathered it all into a semi large pile, every last piece…the life work of her beloved, her own work, scattered in the pile…and the final tape she had buried behind his grave all that time ago.

The flames roared loudly as they melted everything down to ashes. She put it out shortly after, cleaning up afterwards. She climbed back up the steps, footfalls feeling heavy with every step she climbed. She felt weighed down, like hands were dragging her down.

Down back into the depths.

…

The heavy slam of the hatch and moving of furniture drowned the feeling out.

Ceroba went to bed early that night. She couldn't afford to wake up late and potentially miss seeing Clover again.

Seeing them again…the thought filled her with several emotions as she shuffled into bed once more.

Elation at seeing that youthful blank face again.

Relief seeing them alive and well.

Apprehension for what she was planning to do.

And…hope, that they would be the one to remember like she had.
.

..

…

"Look at me…" Ceroba's weakly clung onto her staff. "Look at me!" Her entire body hurt. She felt immense pain, her body felt like it was on fire. "Does this make you happy? Are you proud of the things you've done?" She coughed, "Maybe if I beg for mercy, you'll find some reason to stop…but I'm not going to do that." She struggled to her feet, watching flakes of dust drift into the sands. "When you wipe us all out…" she looked up, glaring hatefully at the one holding the barrel of a gun pointed at her "I hope you choke on the dust that fills the underground."

….

The flash of the gun blinded her, and everything went black.

Ceroba woke up with a gasp, body shaking as the nightmare replayed itself in her head. What the hell was that? Some kind of premonition, a memory? Her head throbbed in pain the more she tried to figure it out, so she gave up, flopping back down into the bed.

She idly rested an arm over her eyes, wondering why this was the second time she had woken up like this. Was it a side effect of going back? The feeling of pain shook her body, like it really happened and she was on the verge of dying. And that gun…

She only knew so many that carried them.

Getting up with a groan, Ceroba pushed the dream to the back of her head. She couldn't be thinking about that right now. Today would be the day Clover should arrive to Wild East, and she had to be there.

After locking the gate to her home and stepping back into the center of Oasis Valley, Ceroba took a deep breath, letting it out after a moment.

"No more hesitations. If this is truly another chance… I have to do this."

For them.
-~-
Ceroba watched the saloon doors like a hawk, tapping her foot nervously. She had gotten here so early she was one of the first customers in, surprising Dina. She brushed it off as wanting to pay the tab from the other night, standing in her usual spot.

With every second that passed by, the fox grew more and more worried. Had she miscalculated the time? Was Clover even going to show up?

…Was Clover even alive?

After what felt like an eternity to her, and after plenty of monsters came into the saloon, the two doors shuttered open, revealing the familiar face of Starlo.

"Dina! Growlers of Ice Water on the house for the sheriff! I've got an announcement to make!" Ceroba watched Starlo make his way onto the stage in the center of the bar, followed by Ed. And of course, held in a fireman carry…

"Clover…" she whispered under her breath, watching as Ed sat the human down on the stool chair in the center.

Chapter 3

Ceroba barely paid attention to Starlo's speech about humans. She was too focused on the one right in front of her. Clover kicked their legs back and forth, looking around the saloon in a sort of dazed and bored fashion.

Like they had seen it all before.

Ceroba blinked as Clover's eyes landed on her own. The human stared at her for an uncomfortably long amount of time before their attention was drawn back to Starlo asking them another question.

What…was that?

"Star, you know you don't have to keep this up…because it's all true." Ceroba finally said after shaking off the weird feeling.

"I knew it! I am pretty knowledgeable in this kinda stuff ya know?"

Ceroba smiled; while she knew what she just did was a little misleading, seeing Starlo happy was enough for her.

"Alright, I'll let y'all get on with yer lives now. Clover! Take your time and see what our little town has to offer, then come back here and see me, alright?" Ceroba took one last glance at Clover, meeting their eyes once more before stepping away from the bar and leaving the saloon.

Leaning against the wooden wall of the building, the fox crossed her arms and waited. In a few seconds, she'd find out if Clover remembered her, or if she was going to have to keep it to herself.

She desperately wished for the former as Clover pushed open one of the doors and stepped outside.
Ceroba's breath hitched slightly when they turned to look at her, almost like they knew she'd be there.

"Hello Clover…" she said, getting closer to the human before kneeling down. "Do you…know who I am?"

"...." Clover tilted their head. Squinted their eyes. "Ceroba."

Ceroba's face lit up, a smile stretching across her face. Without warning, she wrapped Clover into a fierce hug.

"You remember! Oh thank god, I thought I was the only one who-"

"North Star said that was your name, isn't it?"

"..." Ceroba shakily loosened her grip on the human, pulling back to see their expression.

"That's…Clover, please…" Ceroba said, placing her hands on their shoulders. "You really don't remember me? The Steamworks, New home?"

Clover shook their head, staring up at the fox with a confused look.

"...I see." Ceroba stood up straight, turning away from the human. "Sorry, this must all be strange to you. A random monster asking questions like this." She gave Clover one last look before walking away. "I'll…let you explore Wild East."

Ceroba made sure she was out of sight and indoors before she collapsed. She let the tears run freely down her face as she failed to stifle her sobs.

Clover didn't remember. No one did. It was as she feared; she was the only one who did. She should've seen this coming, in all honesty. Logically, it makes sense she'd be the only one to remember.

So why did it hurt so much knowing that? That she was once again alone with these thoughts.

"Dammit…dammit all!" she cried, pounding a fist into the ground. It wasn't fair. After everything they went through, everything Clover did for them…

Just to be sent back and do it all over again.
-~-
Clover watched Ceroba walk away, a frown on their face. That was…strange. Then again, everything down here was strange. Talking flowers, sandcastles shooting arrows, not something you'd see on the surface.

Taking in the sight of the western town, Clover couldn't help but let loose a little smile. This felt exactly like those old western shows they'd watch back home. Adjusting their hat, Clover decided to go ahead and touch the glimmering star only they could see.

"Howdy!" Clover blinked at the hat that now adorned the flower's head. "Neat, right? Figured this'll help me blend in with the others. And keep me nice and cool!"

Clover nodded, it made sense. Plus his greeting even fits the setting. As the human made a SAVE, Flowey decided to keep talking.

"By the by, don't you think it's a little strange what that fox lady said?" Clover nodded. "Seems like she's hiding something, might be good to keep an eye on her, if ya catch my drift!" The flower winked. "Anyways, don't forget what you came here to do, Clover!"

Flowey popped back underground, leaving Clover to their thoughts. What he said gave the human some things to think over as they started exploring the little town out east.
-~-
Ceroba splashed some water onto her face and sighed. Okay, so no one remembered anything, great. And she blabbed about it to the one person she could sorta trust, also great…

"Ugh, this is why Chujin was the scientist and not me…he could probably figure things out…" the fox bitterly said. Shaking her head, Ceroba stepped back outside the shared house, wondering what she should do next.

At this point, she'd be at the bar minding her business until Star brought Clover over to show them off. Looking around, she spotted The Feisty Five gathered at the town bell, along with Clover. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could see Ace gesturing to Clover. After a brief moment, Star led the human away, leaving the rest to wait where they stood.

"What are you guys up to?" Ceroba asked, watching them turn towards her.

"Training with Clover, that's what." Ed gruffly replied. "Star's getting them some new gear, since somebody thought it weren't good enough!"

"To be fair, that hat looked really old, Ed." Mooch chimed in. The burly monster only grumbled, crossing his arms.

"So they went off to Blackjack then?"

"Sure did. Why you asking?" Crap. She didn't really have much of a reason other than 'Oh you know: I know things that haven't happened yet and want to keep an eye on things' so she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Might finally join your little posse is all."

…shoot.

"Really?!" Mooch said with amazement. "After all this time you wanna join us?"

"Wow, and here I thought you were happy just watching from the sidelines this entire time."

Welp, no backing out of this anymore…

"Well I figured with Clover joining it was about time I did too. Seven's better than five, right?"

"But the name…" Ed mumbled. Ceroba watched the four continue to discuss her sudden joining of the group, slipping away when they were all focused on each other.

"Hope this doesn't come back to bite me…" she mumbled as she made her way over to Blackjack's. As she did, a thought came to her. How was she going to brush off what happened with Clover?

 

"Can I get a yee-haw?" Ceroba's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Starlo's voice. The fox hurried over to where the monster and human were, standing right outside the store.

"...Right, movin' on." The two of them turned towards her, Starlo blinking in surprise. "Ceroba! What are you doing here?" he asked.

Oh boy, time for some more improv…

"Just wanted to see what you guys were doing. Figured it was about time I started joining you on these…missions." Ceroba said.
"Really?! Aw, Ceroba!" Starlo said, hugging the fox tightly. "Welcome to the team, this is great!" Ceroba smiled, patting the sheriff on the back. "Alright, now it's a party! Here ya go Clover," the fox watched in shock as he handed the human a real revolver "time to put your aiming to the test!"

"Star, are you seriously giving that to Clover?!"

"What? What's wrong with it?" Ceroba groaned.

"...nevermind, just…make sure no one gets hurt okay?" Ceroba really hoped Clover knew how to use that…

The fox watched as Clover inspected the firearm closely. Back then, she had never seen them truly FIGHT with it during the time she spent with them. Only at the end of the journey had they used it, and that was against her.

"Now, aim carefully, and take yer shot." Starlo instructed the human. Clover did as he said, eyes narrowed as they lined the gun up with the dummy…

Bang!

Ceroba raised her eyebrows in surprise as Clover fired six bullets from the revolver, all of them hitting the dummy dead on.

"Nice shootin' Clover! One more time!" The human raised the gun and fired once more.

Ceroba had to admit, seeing Clover in action like this was exciting. While she had doubts before everything went down, it was reassuring to know they could hold their own still.

"Nice shot!" Ceroba whistled as Clover managed to shoot the hat off the dummy (Where'd that hat even come from?). "Yer a natural Clover! Almost as good as me!" Ceroba smiled at the flush of color on Clover's face as they rubbed their neck. "Well Ceroba? Still any doubts about Clover?"

"None at all. You were right, this time." Ceroba replied.

"Yes! Score one for North Star!" The sheriff said happily. "Okay, next we need to get you a new hat. Let's see… I should have one back at the house. Mind watching over Clover while I go get it, Ceroba?"

"Not at all, we'll be here."

"Great! Be right back!" The two of them waved Star goodbye as they moved over to the steps of the store to sit down. Clover swung their feet idly, looking back down the road every now and then.

"...answer me, truthfully." the human turned to look up at the fox. "Are you enjoying this?" she asked them. Clover gave her a nod and a thumbs up. "I'm glad…to be honest, I never really understood it myself, but I'm glad Star's enjoying this. You wouldn't believe how much he'd watch and rewatch those human tapes we found about the west." Ceroba watched a tumbleweed roll by. "His parents ask me about how he's doing all the time, you know. They've got a farm a little ways north of here. And the corn they grow? So good. Used to send my husband Chujin-"

Ceroba paused. She was rambling again, just like last time.

"Sorry, I get lost in my memories sometimes. What about you? Care to tell me anything?"

"...it's nice here." Clover said after a moment. "Reminds me of home, just a little." Ceroba blinked. Now that they mentioned it, she never really knew much about Clover outside what little she could gleam from their appearance and attitude.

"Oh? How so?" she inquired.

"Used to watch western films too. Was a nice distraction from…everything." Clover said, looking down at the stairs they sat on.

Ceroba mouthed an 'oh' to herself. Now she kind of regretted asking about Clover's life.

"Well, for what it's worth…I'm glad you're here. Lot of monsters here put on happy faces, but in the end, we're all trapped. It's nice to be distracted, once in a while."

"...yeah."

Chapter 4

"Alright, now that Clover has some proper equipment, it's time for the real mission to begin!" Ceroba glanced between the gathered monsters.

"And…what exactly is this mission going to be?"

"Glad you asked, Ceroba! Me and Clover here are going to dual!"

…

"You mean duel?" Ceroba said with a bit of a smirk.

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"No no, you said it with an 'ua' sound, it's supposed to be 'oo'."

"Oh whatever! Dual, duel, potato tomato! It's all the same in the end, alright?" Ceroba shook her head and laughed. "Anyways, Mooch! Hand Clover the designated weapon, if you'd be so kind?"

"Of course! Here you are, Clover, a BB gun! I'll just take that six-shooter off your hands for now…"

"Moooch? The gun, if you'd be so kind."

"Spoilsport."

"Okay, with that-"

"Hold on, Star. Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What? What else could possibly be more important?" Ceroba raised an eyebrow at Star's harsh words. In hindsight, it's obvious this is when some tension began to bubble between the Five.

"...you forgot the safety glasses."

"Sheesh, boss, ya coulda hurt Clover."

"Er…right. I apologize and take full responsibility for that one, sorry guys."

Ace handed the two identical safety glasses, the only difference being color.

"Alright Clover! Ten paces from here, then when you hear the bell, fire as fast as you can!"

The two turned their backs on each other, walking a fair distance away, and turned back around.

……

It was over in an instant. The second the bell rang, Clover had smoothly drawn the BB gun and fired directly into Starlo's face. The sheriff was sent flying back slightly, landing on his back.

"Boss!" Moray cried out, running over to him. The rest followed suit, surrounding the dazed sheriff.

"Boss! You alright?"

"Not…in the slightest…"

"Who'll inherit your legacy?!"

"Not…you…"

"Hmpf." Ceroba couldn't help but roll her eyes. This felt a little too dramatic for her tastes.

"Alright Star, you've had your fun. Come on, up you go." Ceroba said, pulling the sheriff up and letting them lean onto her.

"Thanks Ceroba…Clover, this…" Star suddenly stood up perfectly fine, "Was your emotional test! Not everything'll be swelterstones and rainbows I'm afraid. Sometimes you gotta live with the consequences of your actions for the rest of yer life."

Ceroba shuddered at his words. The rung scarily close to what would happen soon…

"Anyways, ya passed! Lemme know when you're ready for the next test!" With that, everyone went their separate ways, with Ace handing Clover back their iron.

"Well, that was interesting." Ceroba dryly remarked. Clover nodded, letting out a little yawn afterwards. "Getting tired of us already?" the fox said. Clover rubbed an eye.

"No, just regular tired." they quietly said, closing their eyes briefly. Ceroba smiled, kneeling down and planting a hand on their newly acquired hat.

"How about you come nap at the house then? It's a little cramped, but I'm sure we can find some space for you." Clover readjusted their hat, following the fox towards the house. Stepping inside, Ceroba sighed at the gathered four already in their respective spots. "Well, looks like you've got two options; the bed, or the couch. Pick whichever you feel like."

Clover looked at the two spots to sleep in, staring at the couch for a long while, long enough that Ceroba thought they had fallen asleep standing up. Eventually, Clover slowly walked over to the bed, hopping slightly to reach it properly.

The human sank into the foam mattress, wiggling around to properly rest in it. Ceroba let a smile show on her face as Clover adjusted themselves before finding a position they were comfortable in.

The fox blinked as Clover took off their hat, holding it out to her with an expectant look on their face. She grabbed it gingerly, setting it on the dresser next to the bed.

"Sweet dreams, Clover." she said, placing a hand on their head and rubbing back and forth. Clover leaned into her touch, lying their head on the pillow and closing their eyes. The rhythmic breathing let Ceroba know they had fallen asleep almost immediately. The fox stifled her own yawn.

Come to think of it, she hadn't really let herself rest either…she glanced down at the bed she normally slept in.

"...Couch it is." she whispered to herself as Clover sprawled themselves across the bed.
-~-
"Ceroba…" the fox's ear twitched at the sound of her name being called. She grumbled, rolling over.

"Ceroba!" the voice said again, slightly louder. Ceroba groaned, sitting up and blearily blinking her eyes.

"...what." she grumpily asked. Having what was the most sleep she had gotten the past few days be interrupted like that put her in a mood.

"Sorry! Star asked us to check up on you and Clover. It's been a couple hours." Ceroba rubbed her eyes and sighed. While she still felt tired, it was probably time for Clover to continue their training with Starlo.

"Thanks Mooch, go on ahead, we'll catch up." Ceroba watched the squirrel quickly exit, leaving just herself and Clover in the home.

Turning to Clover, Ceroba padded over to the still sleeping human, giving them a gentle shake.

"Clover…time to wake up…" she said. Clover mumbled something incoherent, slowly sitting up in the bed and letting out a yawn.

"...mornin'." they said, blinking away the last bits of sleep. Ceroba chuckled.

"I think it's actually night, but who can really say down here?" Clover brushed some stray strands of hair out of their face, sliding off the edge of the bed. Ceroba handed them their hat. "Don't forget this." she said. Clover nodded, adjusting their trademark hat back on their head.

Ceroba kind of missed seeing their face in full view, but shrugged it off. As she turned to leave, a low rumbling made her pause. She turned back around to see Clover clutching their stomach, looking up at the fox with a sheepish expression.

"When was the last time you ate?" she asked. Clover shrugged, prompting the fox to sigh. "Come on, let's get some food in you before we head out." Ceroba led Clover over to the small kitchen, crouching down and picking Clover up before placing them down on the countertop. "Okay, let's see what we can make…"

After raiding the pantry for a few minutes, Ceroba looked at the assorted ingredients she was able to find.

"...uh, guess we'll be making popcorn." she blandly stated, staring at the rather large amount of corn sitting next to Clover. Ceroba took some of the corn cobs and placed them onto a pan, snapping her fingers and materializing a small red fireball underneath it. Covering the pan with a lid, she turned back over to Clover, leaning against the sink.

"So…had any dreams?" she awkwardly said. Clover shook their head. Ugh, she really wished Star was here right about now. Small talk was never her strong suit. The popping of corn thankfully saved her from any more awkward silence, and she quickly turned back around to watch the kernels pop.

After making sure all the kernels were cooked, Ceroba removed the lid. The fresh smell of popcorn reminded her of days long gone. Shaking her head, Ceroba quickly dumped the popcorn into a bag, reaching over to sprinkle in some salt before shaking it slightly and handing the bag to Clover.

"Careful, they're still hot." she warned. Clover nodded, reaching into the bag and popping one of the pieces into their mouth. Methodically chewing, they swallowed the piece and smiled.

"It's good." Ceroba smiled back.

"Nothing beats Star's family corn, that's for sure." she said, reaching over to pop some into her own mouth. Unfortunately for her, she underestimated just how many one handful was, and yelped as she felt the roof of her mouth burn. "Ah! Hot hot hot!" she cried out, coughing and patting her chest a few times.

While recovering from her burnt tongue, Ceroba's ears caught the sound of laughter.

She glanced over to see the human giggling to themselves, eyes creased in mirth.

"Well I'm glad one of us is having fun…" she groused, but couldn't keep the smile from forming on her face. Clover kept laughing.

The sound of a child's laughter made Ceroba think back, to happier times. She could almost picture it if she concentrated hard enough.

"..."

"Ceroba?" Clover's voice brought the fox out of her memories. She shook her head, she's been doing that a lot lately.

"Sorry, was thinking of the past again. Come on, you got some more training to do."
-~-
"Where is everyone?" Ceroba said, looking around. Star, Clover, and herself stood in the middle of Wild East, waiting for the rest of the posse to show up. A few minutes had gone by since then and all that came by was a passing tumbleweed.

"Strange, they shoulda been here by now…" Star mumbled. He rang the bell in the square a few times. "Shoot, sorry about this Clover. They should be here sooner or later-"

"Wait…do you hear that?" Ceroba said, perking up her ears. They all strained to hear what the fox was picking up on.

"Is that…a train whistle?" Ceroba asked.

"Of course! Quick, to the west side of town!" Star said, running over to the other side of town. Ceroba and Clover quickly followed, stopping at the fenced off edge. A set of tracks ran through this portion, and on the tracks…

"Hey! I did not agree to this! Get us outta here!" Ed bellowed.
"Shoot! This must be the work of Vengeful Virgil!"

"...who?" Clover asked.

"Don't worry about that now, we need to come up with a plan to free everyone!"

Ceroba rolled her eyes, "Just untie them."

"And risk walking into this obvious trap? That's exactly what Virgil would want!"

"..." Ceroba wondered if Star was hearing himself talk.

"Star, you'll have to choose which track the train comes down on I'm afraid…" Moray said.

"Yeah! Choose Ed!"

"Mooch, you're dead to me."

"Not if Star picks you!"

"..."

"Everyone hush! I can't think straight with all your yappin!" Star exclaimed.

"Then have Clover do it." Ace said.

"Of course! Clover don't got no emotional attachment to ya'll, should be easy!"

"H-hold on, isn't this a bit much?" Ceroba asked.

"Nah, I'm sure Clover can handle it." The sound of another whistle pierced the air. "We're outta time anyhow! Clover, you gotta choose!"

A lever slid itself next to Clover. Ceroba watched with a worried expression. Clover's own eyes darted between the monsters on the track and the lever itself.

"Clover! Come on, you wouldn't let me get hurt, right?"

"Clover! Think about that time we spent together! Pick us!"

"Clover!"

"Clover!"

A loud scream from the human shocked everyone. Clover gripped the lever tightly, pulling it harshly to the left. The tracks squealed as its path was diverted to Ed.

"Clover…?" Ceroba said. The sound of the whistle drew everyone's attention away.

A box with the front of a train crudely drawn on it shuffled forward slowly. Two legs could be seen sticking out from under it. The box collided with Ed's right arm, falling over immediately afterwards.

"Ouch! Aw, man…was this for the way I carried you Clover?"

"Haha! Clover likes us more than you!" Mooch said.

"Now now, this was a tough call for anyone. It's not easy picking between Ed or everyone else, but Clover made their choice. And…they passed!"

"I feel like I should be insulted by that." Ed groused.
"You know, the answer to this problem isn't as simple as you made it out to be, Star. There's a lot to think about with it, more of a gray area than anythin-"

"Ah yer overthinkin' it! Point is, Clover passed with flying colors! I'll be at the usual spot, come find me when yer ready for your last test!" Star said, before merrily walking away.

"...So, is anyone gonna untie us?"

Ceroba sighed, turning to look back over at Clover. They leaned against the lever, breathing erratically and shaking. "Clover? Clover, are you okay?"

Clover didn't respond.

"Clover?" Ceroba said, reaching forward and planting a hand on their shoulder.

"...!" Clover whirled around, knocking Ceroba's hand off their body. Their eyes were blown wide with tears threatening to leak out. Their breath coming out in short gasps.

"Hey, hey!" Ceroba said, quickly kneeling and placing both hands on their shoulders. "It's okay Clover, it's alright!" Clover shivered, eyes darting around wildly. "Clover!" Ceroba shouted, drawing their attention. "Look at me, okay?" The human stared at Ceroba, eyes twitching as they struggled to focus on her.

Ceroba took in a slow breath, letting it out after a few seconds. She repeated the motion once, twice, three times. "Deep breaths Clover, follow my lead."

Clover willed themselves to copy Ceroba, sucking in a large amount of air, letting it out in a shaky breath. "That's it, just like that." Clover took in another shaky breath, focusing on Ceroba's calm expression. Bit by bit, they felt their heartbeat slow back down.

It took another cycle of rhythmic breathing before Clover's own breath evened out. They pitched forwards, letting Ceroba catch them.

"..." Ceroba felt their body shiver, and rubbed one hand in a circle on their back.

"It's okay, you're okay…" she whispered.

This was new. Clover didn't freak out last time this happened. Ceroba knew this was too much for a child to bear.

Maybe Clover wasn't as stoic as she had originally thought.
-~-
After untying the monster from the tracks and helping Virgil out of the box, Ceroba took Clover back into the house, letting them rest on the couch as she sat next to them.

"Feeling better?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"...not really." came the reply. Ceroba nodded; after what Star put them through, she doesn't blame them for not being okay.

"Want to talk about it?"

"No." Clover's response was swift, and harsh. Ceroba blinked in surprise. The human clenched their fists, scrunching up their pants. "I just want to leave this place."

"...Soon. I promise."

"..." Clover jumped down from the couch, heading for the door. Ceroba followed after them.

Clover made their way to the saloon, pushing the door open. Star looked up from his spot at the bar, waving the two over.

"There ya are! Ready for your final test?"

"...yeah." Clover said, turning to look at Ceroba. The fox felt a chill run down her spine.

Clover's eyes had lost some of their luster.

"Fantastic! Let's go!" Star said, grabbing Clover by the hand and leading them out of the saloon.

"Wait, Star-" Ceroba began, but they were gone before she could speak up. Ceroba cursed under her breath, following them outside.

"Final call guys!" Starlo said, watching as the rest showed up. "Ready for the final test?"

"Actually, before we start…"

"We need to talk Star, about our current workplace behavior."

"Later, maybe."

"..."

"Anyways, I sorta tricked you Clover. There is no fourth test! Well there is, but you've proven yourself to be a capable person, which is why we're skipping it entirely! I'm proud to call you the new deputy of this here town!"

"What? Deputy? I thought this was just for a regular spot on the team!"

"It was, but you know how it is." Star said.

"No, we don't. This hardly seems fair, Star."

"Life ain't always fair in the West, Ace. Clover passed their trainin' same as the rest of ya."

"You call that training?"

"Uh, yeah? You were there for most of it."

"You forgot to untie us!" Ed yelled.

"Calm down will ya? Yer ruining the mood Ed. Anyways, I gotta pop over to the mines to grab Clover their badge. Got caught up in the excitement that I plum forgot! You guys stay here, I'll be riiiight back!"

Star quickly headed south of the town, hopping over the waist high fence, leaving the six by themselves.

"Well ain't this just peachy. You proud of yerself? Hogging all of Boss's attention like this. How come you just waltz in and Star makes you deputy anyways?"

"Eight weeks. That's how long Star made us train for. Lot's of lasso lessons. Lassons, for short."

"He made me walk around with a snake in my boot! Not a real snake, but the rubber really chafed!"

"You know what?" Ed said suddenly, bringing everyone's attention to him. "If Clover's so good at everything, how about we give them a real test?"
Ceroba felt a feeling of sudden dread in the pit of her stomach.

"Finally, a real challenge!" Mooch excitedly said.

"Wait, what are you guys-"

"Here we come, Clover!"

Clover ducked, avoiding Ed's swing. Rocks flew from where he slammed his fists, flying towards their SOUL. Clover winced as one of the rocks nicked it.

"Nice one Ed! Sorry Clover, I've been waiting for this for a while now." Moray said, twirling their sword before flinging it towards the human. Clover stumbled as they moved to avoid the swirling blade. They cried out in pain as they felt it come swinging back, hitting them from behind.

"Hmph, good luck." Ace stated, flipping through a deck of cards. Clover felt the ground beneath them change, letting out a yelp as their SOUL was zapped by a card suddenly cutting into it. The floor glowed bright red as they scrambled for safety.

They weren't going easy on them, Clover felt the adrenaline rush as they ran from point to point. When the attack finally ended, they stopped to catch their breath.

"Hey, quit hoggin Clover!" Mooch butted in, shoving Ace out of the way. The squirrel flung some gold at Clover, which they deftly avoided. The bag that swiftly followed the gold however, managed to land its mark.

Ed shoved Mooch out of the way hard. "That's for the train insults, Mooch! Alright, round two Clover!"

Clover moved their SOUL out of the way from the grasping hands that flew at them. They weren't so lucky the second time, flung to the ground at the same time their SOUL was. They shakily stood up, wobbling on their feet.

"Don't hold back, hit them with everything you have." Ace said, throwing several cards into the air. Clover watched them carefully, moving side to side to avoid the suits that flew towards them.

"My turn!" Mooch said, throwing the bag of gold directly above Clover. The human covered their head as coins rained down on them, each one hitting their hands as they tried to weave in between them all.

"Moray! Team attack time!"

"You got it Ed!"

Clover yelped as a sword came flying towards them, then another, and another. They screeched to a halt when they realized they were boxed in. Ed's hand came flying in and grabbed their leg, pulling them up before throwing them towards one of Moray's blades. Clover let out a cry of pain as the sharp end nicked their cheek.

"Our turn, Mooch."

"Of course! Let's show Clover who's boss!" A mountain of cards and coins came scattering down towards Clover. Exhausted from the constant blows, Clover could only cover themselves with their hands as the rain of attacks battered their body.

"Still standing eh? Well let's see you handle my special attack!"

"Clover, look out!" Ceroba's voice made Clover lower their arms from their face…

A large fist collided with it immediately after. Clover could feel themselves getting blown back by the force. The wind rushed past them as they flew backwards.

Gong!

Their head collided with something, hard. An unbearable ringing echoed in their ears. Unable to process the pain any longer, Clover felt the world dim around them. Their eyesight blurred, and the last thing they felt was the dusty ground as their vision went dark.

"CLOVER!"

Chapter 5

"Clover! Clover, get up!" Ceroba yelled, grabbing the prone human and shaking them gently. Clover did not respond. Ceroba shook them harder this time. "Clover, please…you can't die here, you can't…"

Ceroba put her head on their chest, straining her ears for signs of a pulse.

…she felt the tension ebb from her as the barest hint of a pulse thumped against her.

"Ed…what was that?!"

"I-I didn't mean to…"

"What in the goshdarn heck is going on here?!"

Everyone turned to look at the returning Sheriff, standing with his arms crossed.

"We…thought you were going too easy on Clover, so we gave them a real challenge."

"A real challenge? Looks to me like ya seriously hurt them!"

"It wasn't supposed to be like that! And it wouldn't have happened if you weren't so clearly favoring them with your 'training'!"

"And just what is that supposed to mean, Mooch?"

"Star…what's gotten into you recently, huh?"

"What are ya on about?"

"This whole time, you've been pushing us to the sidelines while spending it almost exclusively with Clover."

"It's true, none of this has been any fun, for all of us."

"What are you talking about? This is the most fun this town's seen in a long while!"

"For you, maybe. You've roped us into simply doing everything for you and Clover!"

"I miss the old sheriff, you know? The one who could find fun in the little things! This new one's all reckless and arrogant about everythin'. Ain't that right, North Star? Or should I call you by your real name, Starlo?"

"Why you…"

The bickering of the five sounded far to Ceroba as she stared down at Clover. Her hands trembled as she held them in her arms. A slick, sticky sensation dripped from the hand holding Clover's head. She pulled it back, watching the strange liquid pooling in her palm. The smell of iron assaulted her nose.

"If Clover is so great at everything, maybe you don't even need us!"

"What are you sayin' Ed?"

"I'm saying I quit."

"Really. It'll still be the Feisty Five without you."

"...If it means I don't have to put up with you, that's fine with me."

"I…I'm leaving too. I don't wanna work under a big headed sheriff."

"Looks like fate dealt you a bad hand, sheriff. Good luck on your future endeavors."

"...Sorry Star. Please, work on yourself. Forgiveness is only one apology away."

As the last of the four left, Starlo could only grit his teeth in anger.

"Well fine! Who needs you all anyways?! With friends like you…who needs a team…"
Ceroba cradled Clover in her arms, standing up slowly. Starlo turned to face her.

"Ceroba, I…" Star began, before the fox held a hand up to stop him.

"I'm only going to say this once, Starlo. There's no excuse for what you've caused today." Ceroba said, glaring daggers into her childhood friend. "A child…Clover, got hurt because of your insistence on putting on a spectacle, Star. I don't know what you were thinking, but this is not something the Starlo I grew up with would do." Ceroba showed the hand coated in red. "Clover's bleeding, Starlo. That only happens to humans when they're seriously hurt."

"...It's North Star."

"...Get out of my sight. I think it's time you took a long hard look at yourself."

Starlo said nothing, turning to walk away from Ceroba and Clover. The fox watched him disappear behind the building before turning towards the hospital and running inside.

"Clover…I'm so sorry…"

Ceroba stepped inside the building, greeted by the lone doctor working away on another monster.

"I'll be right with you!" they said. Ceroba strode up to the doctor and roughly pulled them away from the other patient. "Oy! I said I'll be…" the doctor began, before the words died in their throat at the sight of the child in her arms.

"Please…help them." she said.

"...get them on the bed, please." Ceroba did as the doctor asked, pushed back by one of their hands. "Tell me everything."

As the doctor began to patch Clover up, Ceroba told them of the events that transpired. The fox watched with mournful eyes as the masked doctor wrapped several strips of gauze around Clover's head after removing their hat.

"I'm no expert in human anatomy I'm afraid, so the best thing I can do for them is give them a shot of my booster." they said, getting up and opening a cabinet before producing a needle filled with a colored liquid.

"Booster? What do you mean by that?" Ceroba asked, taking a seat next to the bed Clover rested in.

"It's nothing harmful, I assure you! Just meant to give monsters a quick shot of energy. Although, I've never tested it on a human-"

"Absolutely not." Ceroba snapped. She couldn't afford to have Clover be a test subject for some medicine.

"...very well. Then all we can do now is monitor their condition as they heal."

"And…how long will that take?" Ceroba asked. The doctor shrugged.

"By my estimates, maybe a day or two. Like I said, human anatomy isn't exactly taught down here."

Ceroba nodded, looking over at Clover. Their breathing was slow, faint. The state they were in made them look fragile, as if the slightest touch would shatter their SOUL.

"I'll leave you two be. If anything happens, call me over."

Ceroba gave the doctor a passing nod, turning her attention back to Clover. She rested a hand on their bandaged head, hearing them whimper in their sleep. Ceroba's heart lurched. Seeing someone bedridden like this…

It brought back some bad memories.
-~-
Pain. That was the first feeling Clover felt upon waking. The back of their head throbbed, each pulse sending a wave of fresh pain. Clover blinked their eyes slowly. Where were they? The last thing they could remember was FIGHTing the four, and then…

Oh. Right. They lost… Clover looked at their surroundings. Wooden walls with some windows and medical equipment were seen nearby. They must be in that hospital they've seen nearby…

A quiet sigh drew their attention. Turning their head, Clover saw Ceroba sleeping next to them, head resting on the bed they themselves were on. Had she brought them here after the fight?

"..." Clover's head throbbed again in pain, and they quietly hissed. Casting another glance at Ceroba, Clover quietly slid out of bed, stumbling their way out of the building. The bright rays of the sun blinded them as they slowly made their way over to the bell and grasped at the glimmering light just beneath it.

"Howdy!" Flowey's voice cut through the silence. "Boy, you sure look like you need some healing Clover." The human gave the flower an unamused glare. "That's what you get for sticking your neck out for these chumps! Anyways, you should get outta here. You've spent enough time in this deadbeat town."

For once, Clover agreed with the flower. The sooner they left, the better. After making a SAVE, Clover trudged eastwards, footsteps slow and uneven as they stumbled towards the far side of town. The dull pain in their head ebbed and flowed as they walked.

Out of curiosity, Clover checked their stats.

…Clover didn't like the look of all the red highlighting the numbers…

The wind picked up as Clover strode past the previously locked gate leading out of town. Up ahead Clover could spot another SAVE point placed right before an old looking bridge. Surprisingly, Clover didn't find Flowey popping his head up like he usually would.

Guess he really wants Clover to get a move on. Holding onto the cracked railing, Clover made their way over the bridge, covering their face as the wind grew stronger. They absentmindedly reached up to hold onto their hat…

"Oh." They said when they only felt hair. They must have forgotten to grab their hat when leaving the hospital. Clover groaned, too late to go and get it back now…

After waiting for the wind to subside, Clover continued on. Eventually, they saw Starlo standing by himself at the very end of a long road.

"...I did everything I could, didn't I? All I wanted was for Ceroba to be happy…to get her mind off of Kanako…trying to honor her memory. Isn't that what distractions are for?"

The ground crunched as Clover took a step forward, drawing the sheriff's attention.

"Clover…" he said, looking at the human with an unreadable expression. "If you're here, that can only mean one thing…let's face facts; I couldn't keep you here forever. You have things to do, don't you?"

Clover nodded. They had gotten so wrapped up in the antics of the Wild East that they nearly forgot their original mission.

"Figures. I suppose it would be impossible to keep you here, considering how long it's been since Feathers reported in." Star's eyes narrowed in thought. "Hold on…Feathers…she's a royal guard. And royal guards get that status by doing the king's work!"

Clover felt their SOUL shiver at Starlo's word.

"Maybe…maybe if I do the same, things'll go back to how they were before. I'll be renowned not only here, but the entire underground!"

"..." Clover tensed. Starlo was giving them a look they did not like.

"Clover…you've been a fine deputy, and I'm truly sorry for what Ed put you through. But just know…I'm doing what's right."

Clover felt the world around them shift, and their SOUL was brought out on its own. They watched as Starlo flung his arm out with a flourish, brandishing a rope and swinging it at them.

Their arms were wrapped up against their sides as the lasso curled itself around them; their SOUL also becoming tangled in its own rope.

"I know I'm better than this, but this is how it has to be, Clover! We both know it couldn't last." Clover's eyes widened at the sound of a gun being cocked. "Don't make this harder than it has to be."
-~-
Ceroba squinted at the sudden light shining into her eyes. Her rest was cut short by the sudden brightness. Rubbing her eyes with her sleeve and yawning, the fox blinked. What was she doing again?

The smell of sterile medical equipment brought her back. Right, that big fight with the gang…Ceroba lifted her head from the bed, glancing over.

Her heart stopped when the person she expected to still be in bed wasn't there.

"Clover?!" Ceroba leapt to her feet, searching around for the human. She couldn't find any trace of them in here. Nothing except for their hat lying right where she had placed it. Ceroba snatched the hat off the dresser and sprinted out of the hospital.

"Clover, where are you?!" Ceroba yelled as loud as she could. No response came. Dammit, where did they go? Ceroba quickly ran across town and into the jail. In the far corner, a blue bird monster sat napping. Ceroba slammed her hands against the bar, causing the bird to let out a squawk.

"I'm awake! I'm…" The bird monster glanced around, eyes landing on Ceroba. "Ceroba? What…what's wrong-"

"Did you see Clover?" Ceroba interrupted her. The bird blinked.

"N-no? Are they alright? Are they hurt?"

"They're about to be if we don't find them." Ceroba said, stepping back and summoning her staff. With one swing the fox shattered the lock on the door, letting it swing open. "Come on, you can fly up and try to find them. We can cover more ground that way."

"R-right!" Ceroba ran out of the jail, turning west and pumping her legs. She mentally slapped herself for letting Clover leave like that. They were in no shape to confront Starlo. With their injuries they might even…

Ceroba shook her head and powered on. 'Focus', she thought to herself. 'Star's too soft to do that. He'd never…' Despite herself, the thought lingered in her mind like a weed.

You don't know that. Things have gone so differently this time around. Star's not in his right mind, remember? Who's to say he wouldn't-

"Shut up!" Ceroba snarled. It wouldn't end like that. It can't end like that.

She refused. The wind whipped her hair as she ran across the bridge and up the road. If she was right, Clover and Star would be just about done fighting.

"One…one left in the chamber. I'll make this quick."

Ceroba hurried at the sound of Starlo's voice. Skidding to a halt, she fruitlessly outstretched her arm to the injured Clover and screamed.

"Star, don't!"

A loud, single gunshot echoed throughout the canyon.

Ceroba closed her eyes. This wasn't happening. It wasn't. Happening.

"...heh, well I'll be darned…" Star's voice broke the silence. Opening her eyes once more, Ceroba let out a quiet gasp.

Starlo's six shooter lay on the ground, his hand still outstretched like it was still in his grip. Clover's own revolver was aimed at Star's hand, barrel smoking from the bullet fired. They blew the smoke away, and twirled their gun on one finger before placing it back in their holster.

It was over. The deputy outgunned the Sheriff.

Chapter 6

The large vault door slammed shut behind them. Darkness chased the last bits of light away. Ceroba held Clover's hand as she guided them through the small walkway. "Let's go, don't have time to wait around." she said.

The cold metal tapped against their feet as they made their way over to a doorway covered in white plants. Entering through the doorway, they came across a ruined generator. The familiar sight gave Ceroba a small feeling of relief.

"Here we are…hard to believe this place used to be a main source of power for the entire underground…" Ceroba placed one hand on the console of the machine. "That's odd…there's no power at all." she said. Ceroba glanced down at Clover. They were looking to the left of where they stood. "What are you looking at?" Ceroba asked. Clover merely pointed to a hallway in the direction they were staring at. "Is there something over there?"

"..." Clover let go of the fox's hand, walking away towards the left.

"Wha-hey!" Ceroba called, following them. It didn't take long to catch up to the human. They gazed up at the gauges full of a mysterious pink liquid. "Is this what you were looking at?" Ceroba said, walking over to the red valve and giving it an experimental turn. The liquids inside churned, with one gauge filling as the other dropped. "Hmm, maybe this is what turns the generator on." she mumbled to herself. Clover gently nudged Ceroba out of the way with a little push, grabbing the valve with two hands.

Ceroba watched with mild surprise as they turned the valve with an almost surgical precision, raising and lowering the fluid levels until they reached an indicator on both tubes.

A loud whirring noise could be heard in the distance.

"...uh-" Ceroba began, but was stopped when Clover ran off. "Clover! Wait up!"
Ceroba ran after Clover. Something was off…what were they in such a hurry for? Ceroba followed them as they ran to the right of the generator and into a long hallway. The fox gave a passing glance to the lockers that lined the hall. Eventually, Ceroba found Clover once again messing with a valve and some more gauges.

"Huff, huff…what's the rush Clover?" Ceroba panted. She really wished she didn't cancel that gym membership now…

Clover didn't reply, too busy staring at the pink liquids going up and down sporadically. With one more turn of the valve, a loud screech echoed back the way they came.

Turning once more, Clover sped down the hallway, only to be caught by one of Ceroba's arms.

"Alright, seriously. What are you running for?" She asked, turning them back around.

"..." Clover looked away, face hidden underneath the bandages still wrapped around their head.

"...look, I know I said we don't have time to dally, but you shouldn't push yourself so hard, Clover. We need to work together on this, okay?"

"...okay." Clover said quietly. Ceroba smiled, patting them on the head. As she did, she suddenly remembered something important.

"Here, you forgot this back at the Dunes." She said, revealing a familiar brown hat. Clover's eyes widened, their hands reaching up to grab it. Ceroba kneeled down and placed the hat onto their head, letting them adjust it to their liking.

"Thanks." Clover said, smiling up at her. Ceroba smiled back.

"Of course. You looked incomplete without it." she said. Ceroba paused as she felt Clover wrap their arms around her waist. Hesitantly, she returned the hug.

It was…nice.
-~-
"Hokay, we are really high up now…" Ceroba said, looking down below where an absolutely enormous amount of coolant lay. Clover peered over the edge, squinting at the heat that could be felt even from so far up. "Careful, wouldn't want you to fall." Ceroba said, pulling them back slightly. The fox took another look down.

"..." she shivered as her vision swimmed. A brief tug on the sleeve from Clover brought her back. "God-don't look at me like that. I don't have a fear of heights, okay?"

"...sure." Clover said with a bit of a smirk. Brat.

"Let's just…keep moving." Ceroba said, grabbing their hand and tugging them forwards. After crossing a far-too-rusty-for-her-liking bridge, the two of them entered a side door, passing by some more white plants. On the wall near them were a bunch of plaques. One in particular caught Ceroba's eye.

You tried in engineering
Chujin Ketsukane

"...He never told me he won an award. I'm proud of him." Ceroba quietly said.

Continuing on, Ceroba slowed to a stop when she realized where she and Clover were.

"...get behind me, Clover." Ceroba said, summoning her staff. Clover tilted their head, but backed up behind her.

Ceroba eyed the door, hand tightening its grip on the staff.

"Come on…" she said. With a sudden slam, the door opened, with a robot wheeling itself out from it.

>AXIS MODEL 014 READY TO GUARD AND PROTECT. TARGETS LOCATED:STEAMWORKS EASTERN BRANCH.

"Easy Axis…we just want to get to Hotland." Ceroba said.

>ACCESS DENIED. YOU ARE TRESPASSING ON UNAUTHORIZED AREAS. YOU HAVE ALSO BEEN TAMPERING WITH MACHINERY

"How else were we supposed to get in?!" Ceroba snapped, quickly closing her mouth.

>SO YOU ADMIT YOU CAME HERE UNAUTHORIZED. INITIATING DROP PROTOCOL. GOODBYE.

"Oh, come on-" Ceroba said, before feeling the ground give way underneath her. Darkness obscured her vision as she and Clover fell.

"Oof!" she yelped, landing on her back. "Guess I shoulda seen that coming…Clover, you alright?"

"..."

"Clover?" Ceroba tilted her head to look over at Clover.

"...ow…" they said, both hands gripping their ankle tightly.

"Clover!" Ceroba cried, sitting up and examining them. She gently moved Clover's hands off their ankle, wincing when the child whimpered. She frowned at the swelling and redness of it. "Looks like you sprained your ankle in the fall." Ceroba gently prodded at the swelling on Clover's leg. Her ears flattened at Clover's cry of pain. "Sorry!" she said. Dammit, of all the things to happen…

Clover shakily attempted to get to their feet, collapsing into Ceroba's arms when their leg gave out on them.

"Easy! You won't be walking anywhere like that." Ceroba said, setting them back down to a sitting position. Biting her lip, Ceroba untied the ribbon in her hair. She felt her ponytail come undone as she wrapped it around Clover's ankle. "There, that should keep it clean at least." she said. Clover looked down at the red ribbon, fiddling with it idly, then looked back up at Ceroba.

"...you look nice with your hair down." They said. Ceroba blushed.

"I…is this for that compliment earlier?" she mumbled. Clover shrugged. "...thanks, I haven't let it down in a while, to be honest." Ceroba stood up, placing her hands on her hips. "Right, time to get moving. Come on, I'll have to carry you for now." She turned around, lowering herself to allow Clover to get on. She felt the human wrap their arms around her shoulders while she held onto their legs.

She could feel the warmth on her back and Clover's beating heart through her kimono.

…it reminded her of days long gone when she did the same thing for her daughter.

"...come on, let's go." she said, hoisting herself back up and walking over to the lone door. Reaching over with one hand, she slowly opened it, peeking out from behind.

…Axis wasn't there.

"Okay, time to move." Ceroba said, quickly sprinting back towards the first hallway they were in before they got dropped. Clover shifted as the fox exited the hallway and back into the walkways above the coolant. "Phew, almost forgot how hot it gets…" Ceroba said, feeling some sweat run down her forehead. She tilted her head back slightly, "Doing alright?"

Ceroba felt Clover nod.

"Good, let me know if you need me to stop."

Waves of heat assaulted Ceroba as she continued on, stepping carefully but quickly across the broken walkways. As she rounded the corner, the fox stared at the ocean of coolant blocking their path.

"Goodie goodie, more life threatening glow stick liquid. Time to find another route I gues-"

Her words were interrupted by a moving manta-bot.

>T-THE FLOOR IS LAVA DEAR WORKERS. I HAVE LOST THIS GAME, UNFORTUNATELY. BU-BUT PERHAPS I CAN STILL BE OF ASS-ASSISTANCE?

"Uh…right. That works I guess. Hold on tight Clover."
-~-
"Great…more air vents." she said. Ceroba maneuvered Clover to her front, setting them down on the ground. "Stay here alright? I'll take care of this."

Clover nodded, crossing their legs. Ceroba steeled herself, whispering a quiet prayer. Power welled up from within her SOUL, and she opened her eyes. She rushed forward, eyes scanning the ground for the hot steam that blew from the vents. Weaving around them, Ceroba quickly made it across the vents, flicking the switch to turn the vents off. Sighing, she walked up the steps and pressed the button.

Sounds of screeching metal reached her ears as she watched the screen raise metal bars.

"Alright, back to Clover." she said to herself, running back in the direction she started from. "Clover, you alrigh-"

Ceroba's heart lurched. A robot was looming over Clover, sweeping dust in their face. Clover crawled backwards while still facing the robot, slipping on a now wet floor.

>DIRTY DIRTY HUMAN. CL3AN CL3AN CL3AN.

"Clover!" Ceroba shouted, drawing her staff and running in to save them. Her legs flew out from under her as she slipped on the floor as well. Using her staff as a crutch, she pointed it at the robot, willing her magic into the weapon.

Clover's SOUL shined with the magic from Ceroba right as it came into contact with a mop bucket. Ceroba felt the magic dissipate as she shakily stood up and made her way over to the fallen child.

"Clover! You aren't hurt, are you?" Ceroba asked, scooping them up with one arm. Clover shook their head, and Ceroba breathed a sigh of relief. She held onto them tightly as she twirled her staff in her other hand. "Right, let's deal with this guy first. Any ideas?"

"..." Clover gestured to the mop of the sweeping robot, mimicking its action.

"Uh…you're gonna have to be more specific." She said, eying the robot.

Clover pointed to her staff.

"Ohhhh." she said. With one hand, Ceroba copied the motions of the robot, straining to do it with only one.

>AHHHH. CL3AN CL3AN CL3AN. NEVER DIRTY, ALWAYS CL3AN.

Ceroba paused as the robot sped off into the distance.

"...okay." she flatly stated.
-~-
Ugh, this heat'll be the end of me.." Ceroba complained, stepping off the manta-bot. Clover nodded, lifting their hat and fanning the back of her head to try and cool her down.

The semi-warm air cooled her, even if only for a little bit. Ceroba slowly made her way through the Steamworks, eyes open for more robots.

Another sector of the Steamworks loomed ahead of them. Ceroba stepped inside, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness of it all.

"I don't like this…" she said, moving forward slowly. Clover tightened their arms around her. Ceroba rested a hand on their own for a moment. "It's alright. We can get through this, together." she said.

Clover nuzzled into the back of the fox's neck.

Steadily making their way forward, Ceroba entered an even darker room. She fumbled around for a lightswitch, cursing at the designers of the Steamworks.

The sudden sound of something rolling drew her attention.

>FOUND YOU.

"Oh, crud. Hang on Clover!" Ceroba said, breaking into a sprint. She could hear the sound of Axis hot on her heels as she ran through the ruined office building. Twists and turns, corners and broken equipment, it all flew past her as she dashed through the area.

Ceroba turned around another corner, squeezing her and Clover past two large server towers, panting.

Clunk!

Axis slammed into the towers, powering off.

"The lockers!" Clover suddenly shouted. Ceroba quickly opened one, stuffing herself and Clover inside. She held Clover tightly to her chest and willed herself to stop breathing so heavily.

….

The quiet hum of Axis' battery grew closer.

>HOW.

Ceroba strained her ears, listening for Axis to leave. When she finally deemed it safe, she opened the locker door.

"I…am never skipping leg day ever again…" Ceroba said, resting against the locker. Clover patted Ceroba's shoulder in sympathy. "Axis really means business I guess. Lemme catch my breath, then we can keep going."

After a bit of rest Ceroba continued down the hallway, looking out for the murderous robot. A large glass pane provided a view of the Steamworks coolant flowing through the place.

Wait…what was that?

"...!" Ceroba yelped as Clover yanked her head away as a large ball of energy collided with the glass window, shattering it.

>STOP RUNNING.

"Fat chance!" Ceroba shouted back, once again sprinting down the hall. Axis easily kept up with the fox, firing shot after shot of energy at her.

Ceroba blinked as she felt Clover fidget in her grip. She looked over her shoulder to see Clover aiming their gun towards Axis.

"Clover, what are you-"

Another bolt of energy flew towards her. Ceroba swore, it was coming right for them-

Bang!

Ceroba winced as Clover fired their gun at the ball of energy. The bullet collided with it, causing an explosion.

"Nice shot, keep that up!" Ceroba said, looking back down the hallway. Multiple shots rang in her ear as Clover continued to fire at the energy balls. Soon enough, Ceroba managed to outrun whatever windowpane space was left, losing Axis in the process…

Unfortunately, she also ran into a dead end.

"Son of a…" she said, turning around. Axis rolled up to them, charging another ball. "H-hang on a sec!" Ceroba said, putting one hand out.

>...ONE.

Dammit, she forgot about Axis' tendencies to take things literally.

"Look, we aren't malicious! We're just-"

>I DO NOT HAVE THE EMOTIONS TO CARE. YOU MUST BE TERMINATED. GOODBYE.

Ceroba sighed as she watched Axis fire.

"Welp, worth a shot." she said, summoning her staff and putting up a reflective barrier in front of her. The ball bounced off it harmlessly and slammed into the robot, knocking it back.

>IT APPEARS THAT YOU WON THIS ROUND.

"I tried to warn you, but you didn't listen." Ceroba chided.

>IRRELEVANT. I WILL RETURN. WITH HANDS.

Ceroba watched Axis pivot on its wheel, dragging itself away.

"Next chair I see I'm collapsing on it."

Ceroba turned around and walked away, exiting the office building. Crossing another walkway, the two came across a sort of break area for employees.

"Finally! I can barely stand anymore…" Ceroba said, quickly moving over to a chair and sitting down while placing Clover on the table. "What a day…" she groaned, resting her head on the table. Clover patted her head, gently moving some fingers through her hair.

She twitched at the feeling of the human touching one of her ears.

"...Human hands are weird." she mumbled to herself, sitting back up. "Wonder what Star and the others are doing right about now…probably on another Feisty Five adventure. That is, if they made up at least."

Clover looked around, fiddling with the belt of their pants.

"...I don't blame them, you know."

"What?"

Clover took their hat off, reaching up to brush some hair away from the bandages on their head.

"For the FIGHT…tensions were high, Ed was…angry." they looked away, an unreadable expression on their face. "I've been through that before."

Ceroba felt her heart ache. The implications weren't lost on her.

"I know I asked before but…do you have any family?"

"...yes." Clover said after a long stretch of silence. "A mom, and a dad… they're probably wondering where I am…" an empty smile formed on their face. "Wonder if they even care."

Ceroba frowned, "Of course they care! You're their kid!"

Clover looked over to Ceroba, eyes scarily dull.

"...yeah."

Ceroba shuddered. She knew she was the one who brought it up, but seeing Clover act like this was…unsettling.

"Wonder how Kanako's doing right now?" she said after looking away. "You haven't seen her before, have you?" Clover shook their head. "Here, take a look." She slid a photo onto the table.

The smiling face of her daughter holding a familiar mask stared back at Clover. "Look at that smile, same as her father's. Smart as him too." Clover looked up from the photo, watching Ceroba's fond expression.

"...she didn't deserve what happened to her. But 'fate' had other plans." Ceroba stashed the photo away. "Sorry for being vague. I prefer to leave the bad memories behind.

Clover nodded, then let out a yawn.

"Getting sleepy again?" Ceroba hummed to herself, picking Clover up and letting them rest against her. "I don't blame you. Everything keeps happening so fast it's hard to keep track of things." The fox let out her own yawn. "We should get some rest."

Clover mumbled into Ceroba's kimono.

"...okay."

The fox watched the human close their eyes, drifting off into slumber. She wrapped her arms around them, humming a tune quietly to herself.

It was a haunting melody, one she sang to her child after waking up from a bad dream. Ceroba's own eyes drooped in exhaustion.

She let herself close them after she finished the song, whispering to the child in her arms.

"Goodnight, Clover."

Chapter 7

"Clover…Clooooover…" Clover mumbled, turning their head to the side and nuzzling further into the soft fabric of Ceroba's kimono. Ceroba sighed, walking down the railways leading deeper into the Steamworks. She had woken up after a brief respite, feeling more refreshed than she had ever been the past few days. Clover was still deep in slumber though, and as much as the fox wanted to let them sleep, they had places to be.

And thus, Ceroba found herself in the situation she was in now. The walkway underneath her feet creaked as she walked across it. Clover continued to sleep peacefully despite the noise.

Ceroba allowed herself to smile at their face. The human had been through a lot, not just these past few days, but even back then…Ceroba idly wondered if Clover would ever remember those events.

Perhaps it was best they didn't.

The hissing of steam drew Ceroba out of her thoughts. More vents, wonderful. Taking a peek down at Clover, Ceroba held onto them tightly as she crossed through the hissing vents. Hot condensation washed over her as she made her way through, making sure Clover wouldn't be hit by them.

Pulling the lever at the end, Ceroba hoped that was the last of them as she continued on. Clover fidgeted in her arms, lifting their head away from her chest and blinking sleepily.

"Morning, sleepyhead." Ceroba whispered. Clover looked up at the fox with half closed eyes.

"...mornin'." they responded. Clover looked around slowly.

"Sorry if things look different. Had to get a move on." Ceroba said, walking down the hallway. Turning the corner, the two found a large door at the end of the hallway, absolutely overgrown with white plants. Exchanging glances, Ceroba walked through the door, letting out a quiet gasp at what she found inside.

"Holy…what is all this?" she said, looking around. Everywhere her eyes roamed, white plants had completely overtaken the gray metal of the facility. A ruined fountain sat in the middle, water long gone from its pool. Ceroba ran a hand around the ring of the fountain, examining the white powder that lingered on her fingers.

"Hope this stuff isn't dangerous…" she said, looking down at the human cradled in her arm. Walking through the silent building, Ceroba examined several consoles on the wall as they lit up, reading them out loud.

"So this place was going to be deserted in the end…" Ceroba said, looking at the destroyed robot remains that littered the floor. She couldn't help but feel some sympathy for them. Hostile or not, they couldn't have known their fate.

Walking past some more destroyed robots, Ceroba spied a box sitting out in the open. Curiously, she bent down and grabbed the blueprint sticking out of the cardboard box.

"Here, hold this for me?" Ceroba asked Clover. Clover took the blueprint, unfurling it and holding it out for the two of them to see.

"Guardener…" Ceroba read, looking through the blueprint.

Her memory reminded her of what was waiting for them up ahead.

"Come on, we should go." Ceroba said, placing the blueprint back in the box and continuing on. The fox watched for any obvious patches of roses as she walked across an elevated path, dutifully avoiding them.

A FIGHT now would be the worst thing for them. Carefully making their way across, Ceroba breathed a sigh of relief when nothing popped out from the ground.

"Almost there now, I can feel it." Ceroba said, stepping back out into the familiar gray and red of the Steamworks.

Crossing two bridges, the pair came across two separate paths, both of them locked behind keypads.

"Right, let's go this way." Ceroba said, moving to open the door with the keypad. Punching in the code, the shutters rose, letting them enter.

"...back here again." Ceroba said to herself. Clover glanced up at the fox. "Sorry, just thinking out loud." Ceroba remained quiet for a moment before speaking up again. "Have I ever told you how me and Chujin met?"

Clover shook their head. "It's a little embarrassing to admit but I rolled my ankle while out grabbing food for my family." Ceroba's eye lingered on the ribbon tied to Clover's own ankle. "Must've been stuck in that ditch for hours. Eventually, someone came down to rescue me. And that someone was Chujin. Tied a piece of his robe around my ankle and helped me get home. I was completely hooked by then."

Clover fidgeted in her arms, hand going down to the ribbon tied around their ankle.

"I know, weird coincidence and all that. Honestly kind of scary when you think about it." Ceroba said. Clover merely nodded. "The staff I use used to be his walking stick too, you know. Same bell and everything." Ceroba summoned the staff and held it out in front of her. "Gave it to me as a gift the next time we met. Poor guy was blushing so red I thought he was going to pass out!" The little bell ornament jingled as Ceroba waved it around. "It's one of the few things I have to remember him by." In a blink, the staff disappeared, and her arm came back to hold Clover once more.

"Sorry, I'm rambling again. Point is, I don't think I'll ever really move on. Don't think I can find someone to love like him again…"

"...What about Starlo?"

Ceroba choked on her breath. She coughed to the side, staring down at the human with wide eyes.

"You…you're serious?" Ceroba thought back to when she and Starlo were kids. "...maybe once upon a time, but nowadays…I think that ship has sailed. I wanted to grow up, Star remained a bit of a kid even up to now." Ceroba smiled. "Not to say that's a bad thing. He's much happier than I am, that's for sure. Picked a better outcome for himself."

Ceroba shook her head, not the time for more trips down memory lane. Rounding the corner, the two of them found themselves in a little receptionists' office. A broken robot sat in the chair, one arm holding a very old pen. A note taped to the desk read: 'Please see robot control station in case of unresponsive robots'.

"A control station…that's where we need to go."

"...Axis?" Clover asked.

"Precisely."
-~-
"More locked doors, seriously? This is getting ridiculous." Ceroba complained, looking up at the blockade that barred their path. "Ugh, maybe there's a switch somewhere we can flip." Ceroba already knew there wasn't, she was just dreading seeing that stupid smiley screen again.

Stepping up to the control panel, Ceroba reluctantly pressed the on button, looking up with a bored expression.

>Hellooooooooooooooo~

Ceroba groaned. She hated this already.

>Welcome back, Steamwork employees! Ready for another day of-

"Yeah yeah productivity we get it. Sort items by color and send them through the chute."

>...well look who's eager to get started!

"Not by choice." Ceroba looked down to Clover. "Think you can operate this while I put the boxes away?"

Clover nodded, letting the fox place them down on the ground. They hoisted themselves up to the buttons, leaning against it and making sure not to put pressure on their injured leg.

Ceroba jumped onto the broken conveyor belt, loosening up her shoulders as she watched the items roll in. Honestly, you'd think the Steamworks could come up with a better system for sorting these items and shipping them out…

"Waff!"

Ceroba's thoughts screeched to a halt as she watched a white dog leap out from the chute.

"The hell?" she said, watching it jump off the belt and run off. "Clover, did you see-"

THUNK!

Pain shot its way through Ceroba's foot as one of the boxes fell off the moving belt and onto it. Ceroba's eye twitched.

"Son of a-"
-~-
The door slammed open as Ceroba stomped through it, grumbling to herself. Clover wisely kept their mouth shut as the fox made their way further into the new room they found themselves in.

"...We'll never speak of this again." Ceroba said after a long, long moment of silence. Clover nodded their head rapidly.

The smell of burnt oil hit Ceroba's nose as she walked into the room, looking around. Furnaces lined the place, all of them looking like they haven't been cleaned in ages.

"Bleugh, that's one heck of a smell…" Ceroba said, trying not to inhale the fumes. As she stepped further in, the sound of whirring machinery made itself known.

>FOUND YOU.

"Really, this again?" Ceroba deadpanned.

>YES THIS AGAIN. I HAVE RETURNED. WITH HANDS.

"You know this is just going to end the same way as last time, right? Give up already-"

>NEGATIVE. YOU HAVE VENTURED FAR ENOUGH. PLEASE DO NOT RESIST MY HANDS NOW.

"..." Ceroba watched as Axis pedaled forward…

And tripped on an exposed wire, plunging the room into darkness.

>[SHOOT]

Ceroba darted away from Axis, hiding in a corner.

"Alright, time to find a way out of here-"

>Helloooooo again! Whatever are you two doing-

Ceroba swung her foot into the screen, shattering it with a single kick.

"...God that felt good." she said, putting her foot back down.

Clover stared at the broken screen with wide open eyes.

"As I was saying…we need to figure out how to get out of here. Let's see what we can find." Ceroba snuck around the room, quietly lighting the furnaces with some flames for as long as she dared. Her hands felt clammy as she moved around the room and avoided Axis' headlights.

After circling the place once, Clover tugged on Ceroba's sleeve.

"...I think I got it." they whispered.

"Great, time to leave!" Ceroba quickly moved towards the corner of the room, letting Clover punch in the code. The lights flickered, then turned back on. At the same time, the door slid open. "Okay, now we just have to leave without-"

>GOING SOMEWHERE?

"...Axis finding us." Ceroba finished. She turned around, smiling nervously. "Axis! Juuuust the robot I was looking for! How have you been?"

>COULD BE BETTER. I COULD BARELY SPEAK BACK THERE.

"Oh yeah?"

>YES. MY TYPOGRAPHY WAS LIMITED. IT WAS VERY CONSTRICTING.

>WAIT. WAIT??? ARE YOU DISTRACTING ME FROM CAPTURING YOU?

"...nnnno?" Ceroba scrunched her face and looked away.

>OH. OKAY.

"Hey can I ask you something about the security around here?"

>YES I AM A SECURITY BOT. ASK.

"How come some doors require IDs and some need passcodes?"

>TWO FACTOR AUTHENTICATION.

"...Good to know! Annnnyways see you later!" Ceroba said, running through the doors and closing them behind her.

>GOODBYE.

>

>

>

>WAIT.
-~-
"I have had it with this stupid place." Ceroba said, walking into the office area and sitting down on the least moss covered chair she could find.

Clover couldn't help but nod. Interesting as things were, they were just about ready to leave this place behind.

"Just a little farther now, I think. We're almost there." Ceroba said.

….almost to the lab too, she thought to herself. Standing up, Ceroba walked into the head office, reading the elevator code on the wall. She briefly glanced at the cabinets containing the employee reports, but eventually turned away.

There was no need to wallow in her memories any longer.

Typing in the code, Ceroba leaned against the wall of the elevator.

>Helloooooooo once again! Where might we be headed today?

"Top floor."

>Did you say, "Basement?"

Ceroba whirled around, eyes glaring into the monitor.

"Listen here, you sad excuse of a corporate motivator! I am absolutely done with all your bullshit, so get us the hell out of here, or I will-"

Clover's arms wrapping around Ceroba's neck stopped her rant. She blinked, glancing down.

"Please…stop…" they whispered.

"...Just, get us out of here. Please."

>...Very well! Next stop, "out of here"!

The elevator rumbled as it came to life, rising slowly. Ceroba slid down the wall, sitting down on the cold floor.

"I'm sorry…I think this place is getting to me; I'm not usually this angry." Ceroba said, patting Clover on the head. "Everything has been just, a lot to process."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Clover asked.

"...no, not really. I think I've talked enough about my own life for one day."

The rest of the ride was in silence as the two waited to reach the exit. With a beep, the elevator came to a halt.

>Now arriving at: "out of here"!

"Almost there…" Ceroba said, standing up and exiting the elevator. The doors slammed shut behind her as she slowly walked down the path.

"There's the core. The heart of the Underground." Ceroba pointed out. The red glow of lava gave everything an ominous look. "Once we go through that building…"

"...We find your kid?" Clover asked.

"...yeah." Ceroba said, turning her gaze down to the child in her arms.

Her footsteps felt heavy as she walked down the railway.

"...Clover?" Ceroba said. "I just wanted to say…thanks. For…trusting me on this. Despite my attitude I…enjoyed our time together. Let me forget my worries for a while."

"...me too." Clover said, looking up into Ceroba's eyes. Ceroba looked away shortly afterwards.

Her heart thumped in her chest as she continued down the path.

Chapter 8

"Here we are, the furnace." The heart of the Steamworks. All the energy made from it would be converted and sent all throughout the Underground. And just past that-

"One more push, and we'll be at the lab." Ceroba said, looking down at Clover. "After that…"

Clover looked up at the fox, eyes unreadable to her.

"...After that, we find Kanako." Ceroba finished, closing her eyes. Ceroba felt herself waver as she walked into the furnace. So close once more, to the place where she had almost ended it all.

And, more importantly, where her daughter waited for her. Lost in her thoughts, Ceroba barely registered the door slamming closed behind them. Looking back, Ceroba gently set Clover down, letting them lean against it.

"Stay here, alright? I think we both know who's waiting for us up ahead."

Clover gave her a single nod, unholstering their revolver as Ceroba stood back up and walked forward. The center of the furnace expelled an immense amount of heat up towards the fox. Ceroba wiped the sweat from her brow as she stood in the center of the room, looking around for a switch to open the exit.

>MAIN POWER SOURCE OFFLINE. SWITCHING TO EMERGENCY BACKUP GENERATOR.

>Y-Y-YOU. I AM TIRED OF YOU AND THAT H-HUMAN THWARTING MY PLANS.

Ceroba summoned her staff, steeling herself for a fight. "And I'm tired of this entire place. Seriously, how did Chujin put up with this?"

>I DO NOT CLAIM TO KNOW MY CREATOR'S TOLERANCES. ONLY THAT HE WAS A BRILLIANT SCIENTIST. REGARDLESS, I BELIEVE THIS IS WHERE WE MUST SAY GOODBYE.

"...Can we really not do this?" Ceroba asked. Avoiding Axis was one thing, FIGHTing and potentially wrecking him was another entirely.

>WE CAN. I AM OUT OF NON-LETHAL OPTIONS.

>RUNNING END_OF_THE_LINE.EXE

Ceroba braced herself as Axis began whirring loudly. Beams of energy shot from his hands, all aiming for her. Ceroba simply knocked most of them out of her way with her staff, deftly moving to avoid the others.

>THAT STAFF…

Ceroba raised a brow at Axis' remark.

>IT IS MY CREATOR'S IS IT NOT?

"It was." Ceroba replied.

>...

Ceroba yelped as a massive ball of energy came dangerously close to hitting her. Axis kept up the pressure, firing ball after ball towards the fox. Ceroba growled, batting away one of them straight back into Axis.

>ADHKFFFFEEERRRR

>WHAT.

>WHAT DID I JUST SAY???

>THAT IS NOT A WORD.

Ceroba took Axis' momentary confusion as a chance to try and get in another blow. She swung her staff at the robot, hoping it'd connect with something important.

>IT IS NOT YOUR TURN, FOX-LADY.

Axis swatted the staff away, charging another ball of energy and flinging it at her. Ceroba cursed, leaping out of the way as the ball exploded behind her. The heat from the explosion washed over her as her eyes stared back at the robot.

"Come on Axis! Just give up already! We both know you can't win."

>INCORRECT. MY CREATOR HAS MADE ME INTO THE PERFECT SECURITY ROBOT. VICTORY IS ALL BUT ASSURED.

"Really now. If there's one thing in life Chujin could never do, it was beating me."

>????

>BEATING HOW.

"Er…beating as in…" Ceroba paused to think. "Well, you know…life?"

>....

>OKAY.

Ceroba ducked as another ball went flying past her. She screamed when her back suddenly stung as she felt it slam back into her, shocking her as electricity coursed through her body.

"You…cheap…bastard!" Ceroba shouted, shaking off the sensation and refocusing on the robot.

>YOU SAY CHEAP. I SAY TACTICALLY SOUND.

Ceroba's eye twitched. Axis couldn't express like normal monsters could, but the feeling of superiority and smugness radiated off him all the same.

>PERHAPS NOW YOU WILL TAKE ME SERIOUSLY.

Axis raised one hand towards Ceroba. The fox braced herself, blinking as three tiny lights blipped behind the robot. Without warning, turrets appeared from the lights, firing at the fox. Ceroba darted out of the line of fire, weaving in and out of the shots.

>STAY STILL. I CANNOT MOVE AND SHOOT AT THE SAME TIME.

"Thanks for the heads up, then!"

>[SHOOT]

Another ball came flying at Ceroba. She ducked once more, swiftly turning around and sidestepping it as it came flying back. Ceroba smirked as she heard it explode and Axis glitching out once more.

>NO FAIR.

"We call that 'payback'. Look it up sometime!"

>OH I WILL.

>Warning, energy levels have dropped below minimum recommendations. Please charge yourself at the earliest opportunity.

>OH. I SHOULD REMEDY THAT.

Two generators slotted themselves next to Axis.

>INFINITE BATTERY-LIFE. GOT TO LOVE THE STEAMWORKS, NO?

"..." A fireball to the face was Axis' answer.

Ceroba panted heavily. Axis was throwing out fiercer attacks now that he didn't need to worry about his battery. Her kimono was starting to become dirty and riddled with burn marks as she took more and more blows.

Dodging another sweep of lasers, Ceroba rushed towards one of the generators. Her staff glowed red as she swung it with as much force as she could.

>I CANNOT ALLOW YOU TO DO THAT.

Her staff met metal as Axis quickly blocked her staff…

With a trash can lid.

"You have got to be kidding me." Ceroba said, before retreating slightly as Axis almost slammed the lid into her face.

>I AM NOT JOKING.

"I wasn't talking to you!" Ceroba shouted back. Dammit, now how was she going to break those generators?

"Ceroba!"

The fox looked back towards the entrance, spotting Clover waving at her. They pointed to their revolver, pointing it to Axis and miming the recoil of firing their gun.

The gears turned in her head, trying to figure out what Clover was saying. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two, until it all clicked for her.

"Oh! Right! On my mark then Clover!"

>WHAT ARE YOU TWO TALKING ABOUT???

Ceroba skillfully avoided Axis' attacks once more, eyes trained on him as she waited for the perfect moment.

A lapse in the barrage of attacks was all she needed.

"Now Clover, fire!"

Ceroba heard the sound of the gunshot before the generator nearest to Axis exploded.

>WHAT.

>YOU ARE REALLY GETTING ON MY NERVES NOW. BOTH OF YOU.

>AT LEAST [LEVEL 7].

"Well this wouldn't be happening if you just let us leave!" Ceroba said, leaning away as Axis commanded more turrets to fire on her.

>IF YOU WOULD STOP RESISTING-

The other generator exploded before Axis could finish speaking.

>[SCREW] YOU
>[SCREW] YOU
>[SCREW] YOU
>[SCREW] YOU
>[SCREW] YOU
>[SCREW] YOU

"Language, Axis. There's a kid right there!" Ceroba couldn't help but quip.

>THAT IS NOT A CHILD. THAT IS A MENACE.

Ceroba struggled not to smile at Axis as she dodged more bullets.

>I AM RUNNING OUT OF PATIENCE AND BATTERY. YOU WILL NOT LIKE ME WHEN I AM OUT OF EITHER.

"I don't think my opinion can get any lower at this point."

>VERY FUNNY.

An enormous amount of steam escaped from Axis' body as he raised his arms. Once more, he began to charge an energy ball. But this time, it kept growing.

And growing.

And growing.

Ceroba stared in horror as the crackling sound of the ball grew in intensity.

>LAST CHANCE.

"...Bring it." Ceroba said, bracing herself.

Axis threw the ball, the last of his energy spent.

Ceroba willed the magic within herself, conjuring a massive diamond to block the attack.

The two forces collided. Ceroba grit her teeth as the massive ball pushed back hard. She could feel herself being slowly moved backwards as she dug her foot into the ground.

Cracks formed on the barrier, a spider web pattern starting from the middle and moving outwards.

Ceroba felt her SOUL rattle as she poured more magic into her barrier.

A loud crack echoed throughout the furnace as Ceroba suddenly lost her grip on her staff.

The force of the attack had broken it in two.

Ceroba's eyes widened before being blinded by the resounding explosion of the ball and her barrier finally giving in. She felt herself being thrown forcefully backwards, head slamming into the metal railing behind her.

Her ears were assaulted by a loud ringing as she fell back onto the ground. Ceroba felt nothing as she blacked out, the pain overwhelming her as she sunk into the dark.
-~-
Are you sure this is the path you want to walk?

Ceroba opened her eyes. An infinite darkness greeted her as she slowly got up.

You've been given a second chance, and this is how you want it to end?

"Who said that?" Ceroba looked around, hoping to find the source of the voice.

Things can be different, you know. It doesn't have to end this way.

Ceroba stiffened. That voice…it was the same as her own.

Admit it, you can't do this again. You can't kill Clover again.

"Shut up! I don't have to kill them! I just…I just need their SOUL!"

And how are you going to get it? Once they find out, you know what'll happen. They'll never trust you again.

"I don't know that. Things could be different!"

You already have so many sins. Do you really want to add to the pile?

"...what's one more to the list of regrets in a sea of despair?"

…I hope you're happy with your choice.
-~-
"Ceroba! Ceroba!" Ceroba groaned, opening her eyes. Her head hurt like hell, and her entire body felt sore.

"Mmmurgghh…what happened?" she said, lifting a hand to the back of her head and sitting up.

Her body tensed when she felt something hug her tightly. She glanced down to see the brown hat of Clover.

"Clover?" Ceroba laid a hand on their shoulder. She felt the human shiver, and her kimono felt a little wet as well.

"...I thought…you almost…" Clover said shakily.

Ceroba's eyes widened slightly. Had she…

The fox's thoughts were interrupted when her ears picked up the sound of Clover sniffling.

"Hey hey. It's alright. I'm alright, Clover." Instinctively, Ceroba wrapped her own arms around Clover's body, Resting her head on their own. "It's okay…everything's gonna be fine."

"...do you promise?"

"What?" Clover lifted their head from Ceroba's chest, eyes red and slightly puffy.

"Promise you're okay."

"...I promise." Ceroba reassured. Looking around, Ceroba's breath hitched at the sight of her broken staff. Sighing, she willed it to disappear.

Slowly getting off the ground, Ceroba held Clover in her arms as she looked for Axis. "Where'd Axis go?" Ceroba asked Clover. Clover pointed down the way they had come in. Figures. Same thing happened last time. Although…

"How'd you get him to leave?"

Clover simply pointed finger guns and winked at her.

"...right." she said after a moment. "Let's just…get out of here. I've had enough of the Steamworks for a lifetime."

The heat from the furnace diminished as Ceroba walked outside, letting out a deep sigh.

"Finally! If I knew how much hassle that took I would've just gone the long way to Hotland." Ceroba hurried down the rocky path. "Just one elevator ride away…" She whispered to herself.

As Ceroba approached the elevator, she paused. Last time the two of them were here…

…

But nobody came.

Ceroba let out a quiet sigh of relief, pushing the button. The elevator doors opened as she stepped inside, pushing the button to Hotland. Leaning against the side, Ceroba closed her eyes.

Her heart beat rapidly, thoughts swirling in her head. This was it. Everything she had gone through, everything she sacrificed…

All her mistakes, her guilt…

All of it was about to come to an end.

Chapter 9

"The lab…" Ceroba said, staring at the bright white building in the middle of a sea of red. This was it. This is what everything she did was for. One last chance.

Her daughter was in there somewhere, she felt it. All she had to do…was step through the door and find her.

And then…she'd have to take Clover's SOUL.

…

"Let's go. We've wasted enough time already." Ceroba said, pushing the button next to the door. The loud buzzing droned for a few seconds before becoming silent again.

A minute passed, then another. Ceroba pressed the button again.

………

"Alright, forget this." Ceroba said, setting Clover down before willing a fireball into her hand. Ceroba pulled her arm back and flung the fireball into the door as hard as she could, watching as it flew back from the force of the fireball. "There. No more blockades I hope." Ceroba huffed, picking Clover up once more and stepping into the lab.

The bright white floor and walls blinded both of them as Ceroba entered.

"Guess Dr.Alphys isn't in right now." Ceroba said, looking around for the little yellow reptile monster. "Saves us the trouble of explaining you I suppose."

Ceroba strolled over to the lone doors leading to an elevator, pressing the button once. Her mind wandered as they waited for it to arrive. Being back here, once again, it brought with it memories of that awful day.

Stepping into the elevator and pushing the button to head down, Ceroba thought back to everything that had happened in this journey she had taken.

Given a second chance to do things over again, this time knowing what would happen. Burning away the evidence of her mistakes. Going through the Steamworks once more with Clover. Hell, so much changed during their trip through the Steamworks she'd be stupid not to notice how much of an impact Clover really had on her own mental health.

And now, at the end of it all, she'd be throwing it all away for the chance to see her daughter open her eyes again.

…

The feeling of guilt in her stomach lasted the whole way down, and she doubted it'd go away anytime soon.

---

The bottom floor of the lab. This was it. Kanako was here, she could feel it. Her SOUL pulsed in her chest as she tried to discern her daughter's exact location.

For the briefest moment, she felt Kanako's SOUL resonate with her own.

"This way." Ceroba said after opening her eyes. The darkness and silence of the lab always unnerved Ceroba when she first came down here. It reminded her of the same emptiness the hidden cellar gave off when she first found it in her home.

Home…she hadn't thought about it, but once Kanako was back she'd have a lot to do to make it livable once more. For so long the empty house felt like a prison to her. A reminder of her own grief and sins.

Maybe once this was all over it could be a home again.

Stepping into a larger lobby area, Ceroba let her SOUL slowly guide her through the lab. As she did, she could feel Clover shake in her arms. Right, they probably couldn't see in the dark as well as she could. She placed a comforting hand on their head, hoping it gave them some small comfort as she continued further in.

The lab felt unnervingly quiet, save for the clicking of Ceroba's footsteps on the tiled floor as she walked. Ceroba tensed her body, clutching Clover closer. She felt like something was watching them as they traversed the lab. The fur on the back of her neck rose as she scanned the place.

The hallway eventually gave way to a sort of lobby area, with a large metal door adorned with four colorful circles. A small bench was placed adjacent to the door, with a vending machine adjacent to the bench. The path split off into two from there; one left, one right. Ceroba felt her SOUL pulse, eyes shifting to the right.

There, that was where Kanako was. She could feel it. Her legs moved by themselves, propelling her and Clover towards her daughter. Her pace became brisk, then it became hurried.

Faster. Faster. Her mind screamed at her. Her SOUL beat loudly in her chest. Kanako was close, she knew it. She felt it.

Kanako…

"Kanako!" Ceroba screamed, turning the corner.

…

"What the hell…" Ceroba breathed. In the darkness of the room, an unimaginable sight spread out before the fox and human.

Beds, dozens upon dozens of beds. And on those beds…

Were an equal amount of monsters. All of them laid still in their beds, not a single one stirred from Ceroba's shout. Beside all of them, electronic equipment was hooked up to each. Monitors reading out vitals.

A literal town's worth of monsters, right under the lab.

Ceroba felt her SOUL quake at the sight. Her legs felt like jelly. This…they couldn't all be Fallen Down, could they? Some of them had to just be regular patients!

Her mind loudly roared the awful, bitter truth to her.

False.

Ceroba shakily padded through the rows of beds, eyes scanning each one as she passed. In her arms, she felt Clover shake. Her ears picked up on their quickened and short breaths. Her arms instinctively tightened themselves around them.

Ceroba's SOUL twitched, guiding her through the countless bodies lying before her. She could feel the heaviness of the air around her as she walked. Her mouth felt dry as she swallowed nervously.

"She's here." Clover suddenly said, causing Ceroba's eyes to shoot down towards them. The human pointed to a bed in the corner. Ceroba staggered towards the bed, gaze settling on the monster lying in it.

"Kanako…" she said, looking down at the sleeping fox.

She looked almost exactly like she did when Ceroba first brought her here. Her hair had grown a little, parts of it covering her face and one eye. The kimono she wore that day looked a little dirty.

Ceroba reached out and laid a hand on Kanako's face. The briefest feeling of warmth graced her claws.

"My child…" Ceroba whispered. She put Clover down on the bed, feeling like her legs couldn't hold herself up as she collapsed beside the bedframe. Her hands went to Kanako's own, gripping them tightly.

A sob broke out from her lips. For the first time, in a long, long while...

Ceroba sobbed.

Notes:

Bit of a shorter chapter this time. Had a looooot to think through when writing it, but we're almost at the end.

Chapter 10

Notes:

Adults trauma dumping on their thirteen year old tumblr friends amirite?

All the pain, all the frustrations locked deep within her…

All of it came tumbling out. Ceroba sobbed, anguish flowing out from her throat as she struggled to compose herself. The first time she's seen her daughter in what feels like an eon, so frail looking and weak.

It broke something inside her seeing Kanako like this. Ceroba felt a hand brush against her ears, rubbing back and forth in a slow manner. Tear streaked eyes looked up into sorrowful yellow ones.

"It's okay…everything will be okay." Clover quietly said.

Ceroba sniffled, wiping her eyes. "Right…right. Everything's going to work out, you're right." It was a small mercy, seeing how much Clover clearly cared about her. The human who came down here to find the other missing five, of their own volition.

It struck her in a moment of clarity just how young Clover was. They were young. A child no less. To comfort her-an adult, and to go through all of this, for her sake…

"Clover…" Ceroba shakily said. The human turned their gaze from the sleeping fox to her, a curious look in their eye. "I…I have to tell you something."

Clover tilted their head.

"I think, out of everyone, you deserve to know the truth."

Ceroba got up from the ground, scooching Clover over to the side as she sat on the bed.

"...gods, where do I begin?" She said, looking up at the tile ceiling. "I guess where it all began is as good as any." Ceroba shifted one eye to Clover as she spoke. "My husband, Chujin…he was out on a business trip with Kanako…"

Ceroba's voice quivered as she recounted her memories.

"Somewhere along the way, Kanako encountered a human. I'm not sure of all the details, but when they came back home Kanako was…she was in a bad way."

Her hands trembled as her mind conjured an image of that day. How powerless she felt as she held her sobbing daughter in her arms. The look of anguish and pain and fear on Chujin's face.

And the glint in his eyes when he returned with Axis in tow.

"After that scare, life continued on as normal as it could get." Ceroba paused. "Well, up until Chujin told us he was retiring from the Steamworks at least."

"He went on to be more of a craftsman, working on various projects around the Underground. I had to take up a job to cover the costs of living after he quit."

"Then, one day…Chujin got ill. Really ill." Ceroba took in a shuddering breath before continuing. "He was bedridden for a long, long time."

Ceroba blinked back tears as she quietly said what came next.

"He died only a few weeks later. But…not before leaving me with some unfinished research."

The fox swallowed hard, steeling her nerves as she spoke.

"Chujin…had found a human SOUL." Ceroba carefully eyed Clover as she said it, watching as their shoulders tensed. "I don't know how long he had it for, but he had started…experimenting with it, in private. His research led him to discover certain monsters were…different. Some of them had powerful SOULs."

"Our family was among the few who could be considered as such. Chujin…he had been putting himself through hell to infuse his own SOUL with the virtue of the human SOUL. It cost him his life in the end."

Ceroba glanced over at Kanako, resting a hand on her head. "And…in a moment of weakness…I…I subjected my daughter to the same thing."

Clover quietly gasped.

"Chujin told me, pleaded, to keep our daughter out of it. And I was fully on board. But…she had somehow found out about it all." Ceroba grit her teeth. "And like an idiot, I let her convince me to inject…!"

Splashes of water hit her hands as Ceroba sobbed. "Oh god…she was just a kid…she couldn't know any better…!"

Ceroba heaved and shook. Saying it out loud, confessing her own sins, it reminded her that no matter what happened, she put her child through hell. All because she gave in at her lowest point.

"In the end…all I've done is cause no end of grief to those around me. My child, my husband…" Ceroba looked to Clover with grief. "And now…at the end of it all, I'm risking it all on the chance to see my daughter open her eyes again."

"..."

"So…there you have it. My ugly past, all my sins…" Ceroba said. "I have no right, asking you this…But I can't go back anymore." The fox stood from the bed, stepping away from it a little and turning to look back at Clover. "Will you…will you give me your SOUL?"

"..." Clover's piercing yellow eyes stared into Ceroba's own. Ceroba felt a chill run down her spine. The human's eyes felt like spotlights staring her down. Judging her for her actions.

"...Can I ask you something?" Clover suddenly said.

"What is it?"

"Back at the Saloon…when we first met." Clover jumped down from the bed. "You asked me if I remembered you." Ceroba watched the human pace towards her. "Have we…met before?"

"...in a way." Ceroba said after a long moment of silence.

"So they weren't dreams…" Clover mumbled.

"What?"

"Ever since the Steamworks, I keep having these dreams. I see myself in them, from an outside perspective. I see myself dying." Ceroba's breath hitched.

"To Martlet, to Star, to Axis…and to you."

"You…you remember?" Ceroba wished she kept her mouth shut when Clover's eyes narrowed.

"So you knew." They said, hands clenching.

"Wait, that's not…"

"It hurt." Clover's words cut through the fox. "I can still feel it sometimes, you know?" Their hands trembled as they placed one on their chest. "You said you trusted me…but how can I trust you when you continue to hide the truth?"

"Clover…I didn't…we didn't-"

The click of a gun made Ceroba flinch.

"You're the adults…how come everything comes down to what I do? Don't I get a say in this? You're supposed to know better!"

"Clover please…I just…"

"Shut up."

Ceroba took a step back.

"W-what?"

"This pain…this feeling…it's nothing compared to the hell you all put me through."

Clover's eyes met Ceroba's own, a fierceness in them she'd seen only once before.

"Someone once told me my virtue was justice…they also told me it could also mean something else."

Ceroba felt the world around her dim, her SOUL beating loudly as Clover's own came out of their body. "And…what would that be?"

Clover adjusted their hat with one hand, their finger slowly closed on the trigger of their gun.

"Judgment."

Chapter 11

Notes:

Sadness ahead. You've been warned.

Ceroba jumped away from Clover, hastily putting up a barrier as a bullet lodged itself in it. She grit her teeth as she repelled it back instinctively, watching Clover effortlessly sidestep to avoid the ricochet.

"Clover, hold on!" Ceroba pleaded, reinforcing her barrier when two more bullets sunk into it. "Clover, please just-" Three more bullets made their home in the barrier, forcing Ceroba to focus on keeping it up instead of talking.

The fox silently admitted to herself she was afraid. No, she was fearful. They had fought before. Once, in another life. But this was different.

Clover was the one fighting, and she was the one defending. The bullets had practically pierced her barrier. She could see the smoke trails lingering on them as the barrier turned opaque and the clinking of shells hitting the ground echoed in the lab.

"Clover, listen to me will you?!" Ceroba shouted, conjuring a small flame in her hand.

"..." Ceroba couldn't see Clover's expression, covered by the brim of their hat. Their stance was firm, grip on their revolver tight as they harshly jerked it to let the cylinder loose and slammed more bullets into it before pushing it back in. Ceroba flinched as the barrel was aimed directly for her head as she hastily put up her barrier again.

"Clover, please…" Ceroba begged. The only answer to her plea was more bullets. Cracks had formed in the spots they sunk into, spidering to connect to each other. She couldn't keep this up for much longer. She had to do something.

A memory. A brief flash blurred her vision. Clover, running ragged as they sloppily dodged her flames, mouth moving and expression pleading as she swung her staff.

Her mind raced as she tried to process what she saw. That was…that was before. Ceroba's eyes widened a fraction as she lifted a leg to avoid the bullet looking to lodge itself into her.

Tentatively, Ceroba felt out for Clover's SOUL. She hadn't done this in a very long time, so it took a few seconds as her magic wrapped itself around the human.

CLOVER - ATK 10 DEF 10

Justice.

Something inside Ceroba shivered. Whatever state Clover was in, she wouldn't be able to reach them. Talking won't do her any good.

"In that case…" she whispered to herself, looking across to see Clover twirl their gun.

Ceroba let out a breath, concentrating. She spied Clover lowering the barrel of their gun before yelping as a wall of fire suddenly burst out from underneath them. The edges of the fires licked at their jacket as they quickly stamped it out with one hand.

Ceroba felt her SOUL pulse with a familiar feeling. She knew this feeling. It was one she had felt so long ago, when facing Clover for the first time.

Ceroba held onto that feeling as she willed her magic onto Clover's SOUL.

The human grunted as their body and SOUL froze mid trigger pull. The fox felt guilt wash over her as she threw a fireball to collide with their SOUL.

Bullets whizzed past her as she dashed away from Clover's aim. She barely had time to breath, juking Clover's aim as the bullets continued to rain down on her.

Was Clover always this good at shooting? Ceroba thought back to when she watched them practice with Starlo. Come to think of it, she never truly saw the child fight.

Clover wasn't aiming haphazardly either. They led their shots, delayed them slightly to try and throw off her inner timing. They knew how to try and land a shot on her. Like a hunter leading their prey.

There was more to Clover than she initially suspected. Jumping high into the air, Ceroba rapidly shot more fireballs down towards Clover. They stopped aiming at her to dodge the flames, SOUL rapidly weaving through the fire along with them.

Ceroba felt the air around her shift as she angled herself towards Clover, one hand outstretched towards her goal.

"Clover, stop this!" She shouted, causing them to look up at the fox. Her hand touched Clover's SOUL.

Everything went white.

 

Cold. So cold…

Pain…pain bad. Hurts.

Sticky. Can't feel your arm. It's slipping. Don't let go of it. Or you'll die.

…

"Please…don't hurt me…"
…

R E D

 

Ceroba hit the ground, hard. She had the sense to roll before standing up. Her eyes were blown open as she gasped for air. What…what was that? She had touched Clover's SOUL, and saw…something. Or…maybe felt was a better way to describe it?

"Clover, what was-" Gunshots interrupted her as she scrambled to put up her barrier once again. Bullet after bullet was fired into her protective shield, each one finding a new spot to penetrate. Ceroba screamed in pain as the barrier shattered, sending her flying back and sliding onto the ground.

Her SOUL quaked, chest feeling tight as she struggled to breath.

The clicking of boots on the tile floor made her plant a hand on the ground, shakily standing.

Her eyes strained to see Clover, slowly moving closer and closer to her. Ceroba put a hand out, magic flowing from her claw tips as she feebly willed it towards Clover.

They froze mid step again as Ceroba pushed hard against Clover's pulsating SOUL.

"Clover, stop…I know I've made a terrible mistake. But I don't want to hurt you! Please, stop this…" Ceroba said, standing up straight. She watched Clover's body struggle to move. For a brief moment, Ceroba saw the hand holding their gun quiver.

A loud scream tore itself from Clover's throat as their SOUL glowed brightly. Ceroba felt her magic keeping Clover still waver as they raised their other hand. Her eyes stared in shock as Clover's SOUL pivoted, bottom point turned towards her as it shimmered in the darkness of the lab. Ceroba felt the air pulse around her. Something screamed at her to move.

She leapt to the side as a massive yellow beam of energy tore straight through where she once stood. It only lasted a brief moment, filling the room in a golden glow before dissipating. Ceroba's SOUL beat loudly in her ears as she breathed in and out rapidly.

That…that was…

Ceroba's thoughts were broken by the sound of a sudden crack. Her eyes darted to Clover, one hand gripping their chest tightly. Their SOUL had returned to an upright position, shaking wildly.

Ceroba found herself filled with terror as she noticed the beginnings of a crack starting to cleave their SOUL in two.

"Clover! Stop this, your SOUL can't take this kind of pain!" Ceroba begged, reaching out to their SOUL with her magic. It was happening again. In a flash, she saw the layout of that dark research cellar. She could feel the air choking her as her hand stretched out to grasp Clover's SOUL in some vain hope she could fix it.

Fix her.

Ceroba pivoted her trajectory at the last moment when Clover raised their gun and fired wildly in her direction. The bullets missed their mark entirely this time, hitting nothing in particular as Clover kept pulling the trigger even after the revolver was empty.

Ceroba willed her magic into Clover's SOUL once more, fear gripping her own SOUL as she felt a foreign feeling.

CLOVER- ATK 15 DEF 5

Judge. Jury. Executioner.

Something had changed. Something was stirring in their SOUL. Ceroba wreathed more flames to close in on Clover, praying she was making the right choice as the fires grew closer…

She could never prepare herself for what happened next.

In a move that would be burned into her memory, Clover ran into the flames, Covering their face with an arm as their SOUL took the brunt of the magic. Ceroba's flames rapidly died out as she stood still, mind racing as to why in the hells Clover would do such a thing. She reeled when she felt Clover tackle her to the ground, looking up as the barrel of a revolver was planted in her peripheral vision.

Clover's eyes were wide and feral. Both their hands were tightly grasped on their gun, steadying it as best they could. Ceroba's brain noted the scent of something burnt, eyes trailing towards a scorch mark on Clover's cheek. Just in front of their chest, their SOUL beat rapidly, like it was trying to break free from something.

Ceroba acted on impulse, hand shooting out again to grab at Clover's SOUL. This time, an unseen force pushed the two away as Ceroba's vision went white again.

 

Ears ringing. Body hurts. Tight. Constricting. Smells like gunpowder.

Tastes like iron. Iron in your mouth.

Can barely move. Can barely think.

You dropped it. Where did it go? Did you ever have one?

"P-please…I surrender-"

CHOO-CHOO

 

Ceroba came back faster this time. She could scarcely breathe. Was this what dying felt like? How many times did Clover experience something like this?

A horrifying feeling settled itself into the pit of her stomach. How many times had she killed Clover herself?

Ceroba leapt to her feet, eyes scanning the room before locking onto Clover's-

"...No…"

Ceroba took a shaky step forward. Then another. Then another. Her legs gave out underneath her as she witnessed their SOUL crack again. The line fractured further down the heart. It nearly reached the bottom.

Clover twitched. Their hand closed around the handle of their revolver as they slowly climbed to their feet. The blow had knocked their hat off their head, lying somewhere behind them. Ceroba could clearly see their expression as they reached behind them with their free hand.

Slowly withdrawing it from their back, Ceroba eyed what Clover held in their hand.

A simple toy gun, with a four leaf clover embroidered on its side.

"...Don't do this. Please…" Ceroba weakly said.

"..." Clover raised both guns.

Clover's eyes were filled with tears. Their hands shook and their SOUL vibrated erratically.

Ceroba thrust out a hand, magic surging as she willed a flame wall in front of Clover. She stood up, eyes narrowed as she waited.

The heat from the flames licked at her face as she waited. She could sense Clover's SOUL behind the wall of fire. Everything felt loud as she strained her ears.

She could hear Clover's heartbeat, thumping over and over. She could hear their breath, short, raspy inhales and exhales.

Her SOUL beat once as she swallowed dryly. Her hand shifted, willing the flames to part.

Clover stood still, guns no longer pointed at her as they stared at them in their hands blankly.

Something felt horribly wrong. Ceroba let the flames sputter out, concentrating one final time as her magic weaved into Clover's SOUL.

CLOVER

A Fallen Child.

A feeling of dread consumed Ceroba as she heard the click of the gun. She felt time slow to a crawl as Clover placed the barrel of the gun against their temple.

Her legs were moving before her brain caught up to what she was seeing. Her vision tunneled. Her throat felt dry and raw as she screamed.

"CLOVER!!!"

---

Mommy and Daddy weren't home. Again. The dishes have piled up. Again.

Your favorite show was on. Again.

You're getting hungry. Again.

You're wondering where your parents are. Again.

……………………………

You're crying again.

Big kids don't cry.

Big kids are brave, and tough.

Big kids…..

You aren't a big kid.

 

You want Mommy.

 

You want Daddy.

 

You want to be L O V E D

Chapter 12

Grief makes you do crazy things. The deepest depths of despair was something Ceroba was intimately familiar with. A sea of regrets that pull you down and drown you in sorrow.

Her own felt like a drop in an ocean compared to Clover's grief. Ceroba could feel Clover tremble in her arms as she held them tightly to her chest. She had managed to pry the revolver out of their hand at the last second, sending it clattering off into the distance.

Her head rested itself on top of Clover's own. For the longest time, neither of them said anything. Ceroba stared off into nothing as she rubbed Clover's back. She felt them hitch; once, twice. Their breathing came and went, staccato in its rhythm.

The silence felt like it was choking her. All she could hear was her own heartbeat, deafening in her ears. Her body ached from battle. Her SOUL trembled.

She never felt so exhausted in her life before.

Pulling away from the hug, Ceroba gazed down at Clover. She gently lifted their head with one hand.

Dull, faded yellow eyes stared up at her. Fresh tears pooled at the bottom of their eyes, but none slid down their cheeks.

Quietly, she ruefully felt like she was looking into a reflection of her own mental state.

"Clover…" Ceroba began, searching for the words to say. "I can't begin to imagine what you've been through. What we put you through." She gauged their reaction to her words, desperately hoping something would spark from them.

Nothing, not even a twitch. Ceroba swallowed, mouth dry as the Dunes as she continued, "I…I can't tell you that everything is okay, because that's just giving you something you've heard plenty of already. All I can say is…

I'm sorry. You don't deserve this. We…" Ceroba choked back a sob, "Gods, I thought I could do this…I was ready to give you up a second time…!"

She was spiraling again. Ceroba grit her teeth. Now was not the time to wallow in her self loathing. This wasn't about her, not anymore.

"Please…don't do anything like that again. I don't know what you've been through, and I can't rightly say I know your pain, because I don't. But…there's always a better option. You matter, Clover."

"...Do you mean that?" Clover's voice was raspy. Barely perceptible to her. Their eyes gazed into her own, stoic expression even more dull than anything she's seen from them before. "Adults always say something, but they never really mean it. They lie. They say it's for my own good, but that's a lie too." The briefest flash of light returned to their eyes, gone just as soon as she saw it. "So which is it? Tell me…"

"I…"

"Tell me!" Clover suddenly shouted. "What am I supposed to believe?! Who can I trust?! Everyone around me just wants to use me as a means to an end!" Clover's hands beat themselves against Ceroba's chest ineffectually.

"I hate this…I hate you…I hate…" A sniffle. Clover's body wracked with grief as they struggled to get their breathing under control.

Ceroba's heart ached in her chest. She couldn't begin to imagine the trauma Clover was put through to be like this. Morbidly, she realized that they were like her in a way.

A desperate SOUL weighed down by life's tragedies with no one to help.

But you did have help Her mind bitterly relayed to her. You just shut them out because you were afraid.

"...Clover." Ceroba quietly said. The human stopped their assault against the fox, arms sliding down into their lap. She felt a dull ache where they hit her as she spoke. "You're right. We do lie. A lot. We scheme and we tell falsehoods to keep ourselves afloat. And kids like you are victims of that kind of behavior. But believe me, when I tell you this," Ceroba placed her hands on their shoulders, "I won't lie to you anymore. I promise. You've suffered too much. You're just a kid, you shouldn't have to shoulder this kind of burden."

"I…" Clover brokenly said. "I…" A single tear slid down their cheek. "I just want it to stop…! I want the pain to stop! Please, make it stop…make it stop…"

Ceroba held Clover tightly. She soothed Clover as best she could, patting their back.

"I don't think I can do that for you, Clover. I don't think anyone can." Clover hiccupped. "But what I can do is lessen the pain."

"How…?" Clover asked.

"By reminding you of the good times. The bad times will come, that's just something that'll happen no matter how good life gets." Ceroba's mind wandered to those locked away and forgotten memories.

"But they'll never linger forever. It's a terrible, awful cycle of pain and hurt, but you have to push through it all. You never know what's waiting for you afterwards."

A faint feeling. Warmth. A gentle but firm hand held in her own.

"So live. For the ones who can't go on. But remember, you are your own person. You don't have to give your own happiness up for the sake of others. It's…it's not healthy."
Ceroba idly wondered where she was getting this kind of advice. She could've used it a long time ago-

"I can live for myself…" Clover quietly echoed. Their expression was one of bewilderment, like the very idea of it was something they never thought of.

"You can."

"I don't…I don't have to put others before me?"

"Not if you don't want to."

Clover pulled away from Ceroba's grasp slowly. They looked up at her, eyes shaking.

"Then…then can I ask you something?" Clover's voice wavered mid sentence, like they'd be in trouble for even asking.

"Of course. Ask away." Ceroba softly replied.

"...Can you love me, like a parent would?"

Ceroba let her mouth gape as Clover said those words.

"I…I can't be Kanako. I can't replace her. I feel selfish for asking. But…you're hurting too. And I want to help-"

Ceroba stifled Clover's words with a fierce hug. She blinked back tears.

"Don't ever say that again. You hear me? I don't see you as some surrogate replacement for my kid. You aren't selfish for asking to be cared for, okay? You're…" Ceroba swallowed the lump in her throat. "You're so much more than that, Clover. I'll keep saying it. I'll say it a thousand times if I have to." The memories of her time spent with Clover and the time spent mourning them all blurred together in her mind. It all culminated in a realization of something she should have figured out, a long time ago. Ceroba swallowed the lump in her throat as she spoke.

"I love you, just as much as I love Kanako."

Ceroba felt the tension in her body boil over. Her SOUL felt like it would split in two. She wasn't entirely sure what came over her as she said those words. Her entire being felt like it was warring with itself.

"...Mom…Mommy..!"

Clover buried their head in Ceroba's chest, one final time. And screamed.

The fox held the human in her arms as Clover screamed and screamed. Broken gasps and cries flowed out from their throat as they feebly grabbed at her kimono. Wet tears soaked up by the fabric as they nuzzled deeper into her.

Ceroba held Clover as they cried their heart out. In the recesses of her mind, something came to her. A passage in a book she had read when she and Chujin first had Kanako.

Oftentimes, babies cry because they seek comfort and attention. It's instinctual to seek the source of the crying and soothe whoever is crying. It's the only way for them to communicate to the outside world. To seek comfort and security.

When she thought about it, she realized Clover wasn't crying because they wanted attention or security.

Clover was crying out of sorrow. It was an ugly cry. Filled with broken coughs and painful, choking gasps for air. Nothing like the rehearsed ones you'd see in a show or on tv.

It was a cry that stemmed from repressed emotions and built up anguish finally being released.

A cry for help. One that had gone unanswered for an unimaginable amount of time.

---

Clover sobbed for a good, long while. They cried until their body ran out of tears to release and their throat got sore. Ceroba held them in her arms the entire time, squeezing lightly and whispering softly in their ear as they sobbed.

Eventually, Ceroba felt Clover relax in her arms, causing her to pull away and look at them properly.

Their eyes were red and puffy, and she could clearly see the tear stains that ran down from their eyes. Their body hitched once or twice, trying to get their breathing under control properly.

"I'm sorry…" Clover pitifully spoke, voice raw with emotion.

"What for?" Clover's eyes turned away from her own, looking off towards the side. Ceroba followed their gaze, eyes landing on their revolver.

"...Don't be sorry for that. You weren't thinking clearly, that's all."

"But-"

"Shhh…" Ceroba wrapped her arms around Clover once more, holding them close. "It's not your fault, alright? I put a lot of pressure on you. And you've put a lot more than enough on yourself. It just…it all finally came out, is all. You've bottled it up long enough."

Ceroba's mind flashed back to those brief feelings when she touched Clover's SOUL. It all felt so real to her, in the moment. Like she was the one about to die.

"...Ceroba?" The fox looked down at Clover. "I…I want to go home."

"Home?" Ceroba echoed. "Clover, you can't. Not without a Boss monsters' SOUL.

Clover shook their head.

"No. Not there." They coughed twice, rubbing their throat. "I want to go home, with you."

Ceroba blinked. Home? With her? Her thoughts whirled as she tried to process their words. Ceroba wasn't…she wasn't sure if…

"Please…I want to go home…I want to stay with you…please, mommy."

Ceroba's heart lurched.

"...Okay." Ceroba slowly stood, Clover wrapping their arms around her neck as she did. "Let's go home then."

"Wait," Clover suddenly said "What about Kanako?"

Ceroba froze. Her eyes widened. Her breathing quickened. She had completely forgotten about Kanako. Her daughter. She turned to look at the comatose fox, then at all the other patients down here.

None of them had reacted to her and Clover's fight. It was as if nothing even happened to begin with. Ceroba blinked away the tears that threatened to spill.

"...I don't know." She truthfully said.

"...put me down on the bed." Clover said. Ceroba turned her head to Clover.

"...Why?" She asked.

"Just trust me." They replied.

Ceroba gazed into Clover's eyes. While they were still bloodshot and dull, there was the faintest hint of something else within the yellow pools. A glimmer in the sea of sadness they exhibited.

"...Okay. I trust you." Ceroba said after a moment of silence. She gently set Clover down on Kanako's bed, crossing her arms. Clover crawled over to the younger fox, sitting up on their knees and staring down at Kanako.

They lifted a single hand, placing it on her chest. With their other hand, they placed it on their own chest, closing their eyes.

At first, nothing happened. The steady breathing of Clover was all she could discern from whatever it was they were trying. Then, Ceroba watched as Clover slowly moved their hand away from their chest. Their SOUL popped out slightly behind their hand.

Now that things have calmed down, Ceroba could truly see Clover's SOUL without any distractions.

It was beating rhythmically, in time with its owner's breath. The crack that split it down the middle had regressed slightly. Not all the way, she quietly noted, but it was closer to before it started to crack. The color was more dull, though. Less blindingly yellow and more muted wallpaper yellow.

Ceroba hoped that wasn't anything troubling.

Clover's other hand slowly rose, and Kanako's own SOUL followed after. Ceroba couldn't help but let out a quiet sob when she saw her daughter's SOUL.

It was cracked, pulsing weakly and giving off a washed out blue hue. Clover gently brought Kanako's SOUL towards them. They shifted their other hand to allow their SOUL to move as well.

Once both SOULs were right next to each other, Clover closed their eyes again.

Ceroba watched quietly as Clover stilled. She half wondered if they had fallen asleep

Her SOUL felt it first. A quiet thrum of power. Then another. Then another, until she visibly sees Clover's SOUL begin to glow brightly. Yellow enveloped the room, forcing Ceroba to cover her eyes with one arm.

Ceroba's SOUL felt the power emanating from Clover's SOUL. It felt warm. Like the sizzling heat of the fireplace in her home. Or what she imagined the sun would feel like had she been on the surface.

The glow intensified, to the point where blocking with her arm wasn't enough anymore. Ceroba shut her eyes tightly.

---

Dark. Darker. Darkness all around her.

She couldn't feel anything. There wasn't anything to feel.

She tried to scream. To shout. Anything to push back the impending void.

Nothing.

She cried. She cried for Daddy. For Mommy.

She wanted to go home.

She wanted to see her friends again.

She wanted someone to save her.

Someone…anyone…

 

A feeling.

A warm, comfy feeling.

It's getting closer.

For the first time, she can breathe.

She can think clearly.

She looks around, with eyes that can see.

A golden glow, chasing the darkness away with its light.

It floats down towards her, and her eyes try to see what it really is.

A heart. No…a SOUL.

If she squints, she can just make out the faintest hint of a silhouette. A wide brimmed hat.

"Howdy, Kanako." A voice says.

"...Hello…" her own voice echoes back.

"It's nice to finally meet you."

"...who are you?" The heart bobbed up and down.

"A friend."

"...I never had a friend like you." The heart shaked, and she got the feeling it was laughing.

"That's true. But I promise I'm friendly." The heart slowly weaved around her in a circle. "It's kind of dark here, don't you think?"

"Mhmm."

"...Would you like to leave?"

Her heart surged.

"Yes…! I wanna leave, I wanna see Mommy again!" The words poured forth.

"Okay. Then I'm going to need you to trust me on this." The heart glowed brighter. The transparent figure imposed itself over the heart, letting her see it in full view.

A little kid, in a getup similar to someone she knew, holding out a hand.

"By the way… Tell your mom Clover loves them very much."

---

The glow began to dim. Slowly at first, then rapidly as it shrunk back towards its origin. Then it snuffed out.

Ceroba opened one eye. Then the other.

"Clover?" She called out, moving her arm away from her head.

Clover was now lying down in the bed, expression relaxed and breathing softly. Ceroba padded over to the edge, peering down with trepidation.

"Clover, are you…?" She whispered.

"Mommy?" Ceroba's breath hitched. Her gaze darted towards the voice.

With bleary, crusty eyes, her daughter sleepily stared back at her. Ceroba held back a gasp as she stumbled over to Kanako. Her hands trembled as they lifted up to reach out to her.

"Y-you're…You're awake!" She said, watching Kanako slowly sit up in bed.

"...Good morning, mommy." Kanako whispered, rubbing her eyes with one hand.

"...!" Something broke inside the older fox. She wrapped her arms around Kanako's body, and let the tears flow. She sobbed. She cried. Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.

She had her daughter back. Everything, all of the things she did to bring her back…

All of it was for this.

A single arm reciprocated her hug, and she felt Kanako nuzzle into her shoulder.

"I missed you…" Kanako said.

"I missed you more…" Ceroba swiftly replied.

The two foxes hugged for a long, long time. Ceroba's SOUL thumped wildly. She couldn't take this many emotional moments in such a short timeframe. It felt like she was about to pass out.

But she couldn't. She had her daughter back, and she was going to make sure it stayed that way.

Separating from the hug after an untold amount of time had passed, Ceroba let out a sigh. The events of the day had finally caught up to her. It was a harrowing, emotional, and tumultuous journey.

But it all culminated in this moment. She had Kanako in her arms again. She was living, breathing. Alive. And she had Clover to thank for-

"Clover!" Kanako jumped at her mother's sudden shout. Ceroba turned her body to check on the human.

They were sound asleep, one arm under their head. The other clung onto something, and as she traced the length of their arm, she found Clover's hand tightly grasping onto Kanako's.

"Clover, Clover wake up!" Ceroba said, shaking them.

"That's Clover?" Kanako piped up. Ceroba switched her gaze over to her daughter, who was staring at the human.

"Yes. Clover is-"

"I know." Ceroba stared at Kanako in surprise.

"You…know?" Kanako nodded slowly.

"I think…I think they were the ones who woke me up." She said, looking at their connected hands. "They also said I should tell you something."

Ceroba perked her ears up at Kanako's words.

"What…what is it?" She asked.

Kanako looked up at her mother.

"They said to tell you…that they love you very much."

Ceroba felt her lip quiver. Why…why would Clover…

A sickening thought came to her mind. One that she vehemently denied. Kanako must have noticed her distress, as she felt her daughter hold her hand.

"It's okay mom." Kanako said, looking up into her mother's wide eyes. "Clover's okay. They just need some rest."

"How-how do you know?"

Kanako shrugged. "I just know. Trust me, okay?"

Trust. It always came back to that for some reason. Ceroba thought back to Clover's own words they said to her.

Trust me.

"...Okay. I trust you." Ceroba finally spoke. "I think it's about time we all get out of here. What do you say?"

"Yes!" Kanako cheerfully said, flipping the cover over and hopping off the bed. She momentarily forgot she was still holding onto Clover's hand, and yelped when she was tugged back slightly.

"Careful!" Ceroba warned. Kanako looked back sheepishly as she released Clover's hand, letting it fall onto the bed. Ceroba stood up from the bed, gently picking up Clover from it and cradling them in her arms. She fondly brushed their hair from their face, blinking when Clover subconsciously smiled and nuzzled into her touch.

"Mommy!" Ceroba startled as Kanako came running up to her, carrying several items in her hands. "What are these doing here?"

Ceroba peered down at the items in Kanako's hands.

Clover's guns, along with their hat. She held out one hand, gesturing for Kanako to hand them over. As she did, Ceroba carefully put the revolver back into Clover's holster, holding onto the hat. Kanako inspected the toy gun left in her hand carefully, trailing a claw down the embroidered Clover.

Then, in a moment that shocked Ceroba, Kanako expertly twirled the gun with a single claw several times before stopping.

"...Where'd you learn to do that?" Ceroba asked, baffled. Kanako blinked, looking at the gun.

"I…I dunno. It just sorta came to me." Ceroba looked unconvinced, but didn't press the issue.

"Right…well…time to go." Ceroba shifted her hand for Kanako to take, blinking when she remembered she still had Clover's hat in said hand. Kanako looked at the headwear…

Then swiped it out of her mother's hand and gently placed it on her own head.

"Kanako?" Ceroba asked.

Kanako adjusted the hat between her ears a few times, then huffed in satisfaction when she felt it fit properly. She tilted her head up to look at Ceroba. That's when she finally noticed…

Kanako's eyes had the faintest hue of yellow in them.

"I don't think Clover will mind if I borrow this for a little while." Kanako said confidently. She pointed a finger at Ceroba, winking one eye as a little star fired out from the tip of her finger.

…

Ceroba simply held out her hand for Kanako to take. The warmth of her daughter's fur in her hand as they walked out of the room and towards the elevator leading out…

Ceroba realized how much she missed the warmth.

---

The trip back to the Dunes was relatively quiet. Ceroba absently listened to her daughter talk as she guided them home.

Her mind was filled with dozens of thoughts as she stepped out of the Steamworks and into the familiar yellow sands once more.

Kanako was alive. Clover was alive. She held them closer to her chest.

Clover was alright. They were going to be okay. Ceroba placed an ear close to their chest.

The rhythmic thumping of their heart soothed her nerves.

"Uncle Star!" Kanako let go of her mother's hand, cheerfully running ahead towards the three figures gathered just outside Starlo's home.

"Kanako? Oof!" Ceroba teared up a little as her daughter clung to the sheriff's shawl and buried her face in it. Starlo quickly recovered, hoisting her up for a proper hug. "Kiddo, you're alright!"

The other two, who Ceroba realized were Starlo's parents, quickly joined in on the hug, happy smiles and tears in their expressions as they chatted away. Starlo's gaze shifted enough to spot the older fox approaching with Clover in her arms, meeting her halfway with her daughter in his own hands.

"Welcome back!" Starlo said, peeking over to the sleeping human. "Long day?"

Ceroba nodded, smiling. "More than you could know."

Starlo smiled back, looking down at the giggling fox in his arms.

"What're you doin' wearing this hat, missy?"

"I'm just borrowing it. Clover won't mind!" Once more, Kanako did that little wink and finger gun pose. Starlo's jaw dropped.

"...I'm so proud." He said. Ceroba rolled her eyes playfully.

"Alright, as much as I love this reunion, we should be going."

"Oh! Lemme walk you guys back at least."

Ceroba hesitated. But a pleading look from Kanako made her give in.

"Alright, but it's straight home. No detours."

"Yes ma'am." Ceroba gave him a pointed look as he looked away from her gaze. He was totally planning on showing Kanako off to the Feisty Five. She could feel it.

She would be correct.

---

"I'm home!" Kanako yelled into the house. Ceroba winced at the loud echo, looking down to see if Clover had woken up from the noise.

They hadn't. In fact, they haven't stirred once the entire trip home.

Ceroba couldn't help but be worried. She would've figured the human would at least react to the Five clamoring around them, but even they couldn't rouse them. Ceroba placed the back of her hand on Clover's forehead.

No fever…maybe whatever they did took more out of them than she initially thought.

A sneeze brought her out of her thoughts.

"Geez mom, what's with all the dust? It's like you haven't been cleaning this place like you always do!"

Ceroba blanched. She made Star and the others promise to not tell her how long it's been since Kanako Fell Down. She didn't know her mother had stopped living in the manor ages ago.

"Ahah, I just…haven't really gotten around to it, is all." She lamely replied. Kanako squinted at her mother, who looked away with a nervous expression.

"Hmmmmmm…" Kanako hummed, leaning in towards the increasingly uncomfortable fox. "Alright, but tomorrow I wanna help you clean the place up then!" Kanako said matter of factly, before letting out a yawn.

Ceroba used it as an opportunity to change the subject. "Tomorrow, yes. But for now, I think it's time you get some rest."

Kanako whined, "I'm not-" she yawned again "tired!"

"Oh really?" Ceroba said, placing a hand on her hip.

"...okay, maybe a little tired."

Ceroba chuckled, heading into the house proper and through the hallway leading to Kanako's old bedroom. She could sense Kanako had questions, but whether she was too tired to ask or decided to save them for later she didn't know.

Up the stairs, Ceroba gazed upon the little bedroom Kanako made her home in. Everything was just as she had left it all that time ago. From her drawings to the old television and game system.

"...How long has it been mom?" Kanako whispered.

"...A few years." Ceroba whispered back.

"..." Kanako's hand wrapped itself around Ceroba's own. She held her daughter's hand tightly as the two foxes took in the scene.

Ceroba guided Kanako over to her bed, setting Clover down on one end while Kanako hopped into the other side. Ceroba put another hand on Clover's forehead, worry framing her face.

"They're okay, mom." Kanako said, looking over and placing her hand in Clover's. Ceroba noticed Clover's fingers close around Kanako's own. "I promise."

…Something definitely changed. It was like Kanako had matured in the years since she had Fallen Down. Yet she still looked the same as she did back then.

Ceroba let out her own yawn. She'd have to come back to this tomorrow. Tonight was just full of questions, and she was too tired to figure them out.

"Alright. But if anything happens, you let me know, okay?"

"Mhmm!" Nodding, Ceroba stood back up, turning to leave. "Wait!"

Ceroba paused, tilting her head back to look at Kanako.

"Could you…could you tuck me in?"

"...Of course." She had completely forgotten about their nightly ritual in all the events of the day. Ceroba waited for Kanako to get comfy, watching as she took off Clover's hat and placed it on the headboard of the bed. Ceroba leaned in and kissed her forehead, brushing some of Kanako's hair.

"Love you lots." her voice quivered.

"How much?" Kanako whispered.

"...Enough to have room for seconds." Kanako giggled.

"Good night, mommy."

"Good night…Kanako." Ceroba watched her daughter's eyes close, drifting off into slumber as her chest rose and fell. Her hand was still tightly closed around Clover's own.

Casting one last worried look at the human, Ceroba retreated back downstairs. Her body moved on autopilot as she finally processed everything that had happened.

Kanako was alive. She was safe, sleeping upstairs with Clover, who was also still alive.

Ceroba realized how incredibly lucky she was. To get a second chance like this, to do things over…and to succeed in the one goal she had worked towards for so, so long…
Her foot collided with solid stone, forcing her from her thoughts. Ceroba's breath hitched.

A tall, rectangular pillar stood on a secluded cliffside, overlooking some mountains in the distance. Beside it was a lone cherry tree, still in full bloom after all this time. Ceroba placed a single hand on the stone, tracing the words etched into it.

Chujin Ketsukane, the best of us.

Ceroba kneeled down on the stone rocks leading up to the gravestone. She stared at the little fox insignia carved above the words. Then, she spoke.

"Hey Chujin. Sorry for not coming back for so long. Things have been…tough. But, It's gotten better. Our daughter, she's…" Ceroba gulped, "She's doing well. Just tucked her into bed, like always."

Ceroba glanced up at the cherry tree, watching its petals sway in the wind.

"I'm…not going to lie. I've done…terrible things lately. Things that I'm not proud of. But I'm trying to own up to those mistakes, starting today. I…I know how you feel, about humans. But not all of them are bad.

One of them has proven that to me a thousand times over."

Something wet rolled down Ceroba's face, and she gently touched her cheek.

"I miss you…more than anything, I miss our talks. The nights we stayed up late discussing anything until we both passed out. The days we spent with our little fox."

A sob crawled out of her throat. "You won't be there to watch her grow up. To make friends, or fall in love, or…"

Ceroba placed a hand to her eyes and cried. She shouldn't be like this. She thought she had cried all the tears she had left to give already. She should be happy. Having Kanako back was already so much. She should count her blessings.

But it wouldn't bring Chujin back. Her heart would be patched, but it'd never be full.

Ceroba heaved, trying to get her breathing under control. As she did, her ears picked up the sound of crunching sand behind her.

She turned her head to look at who was approaching.

"...Hi mom." Clover said, coming closer until they stood off to the fox's side. "Is this…?"

"...Yes. My husband, Chujin."

"..." Clover crouched beside Ceroba, staring at the gravestone. They clasped their hands together and bowed their head, closing their eyes.

Ceroba eyed Clover as they quietly prayed. They opened their eyes after some time had passed.

"...He must have been a good person like you." Clover said, turning to look at Ceroba properly. The fox wiped away her tears as she nodded slowly.

"Yeah…he was. But he had his fair share of slip ups. Like me." Ceroba said, tracing her hand in the ground. "I wish you could have met him, to be honest. Maybe then he wouldn't…would still be here."

"Maybe." Clover took a seat beside Ceroba, crossing their legs and staring at the gravestone. "But, I think he'd be happy just knowing you're happy."

Ceroba turned away. "Maybe, but we can't really know for sure. I should be happy, shouldn't I? Kanako's back, I don't have to spend my days alone…so why do I feel so…"

"Broken?" Clover's response struck a chord within the fox. She could only nod. "I think I know what you mean. Everything feels like it's complete, but something's missing. And you can't figure it out but it's eating you up."

Ceroba looked at Clover in surprise. They had summed up her turmoil perfectly, almost scarily so.

"That's…that's exactly right," Ceroba breathed. "How did you-"

"You pick up on things after observing the same outcome for a while." Clover said, looking away.

Clover's words made Ceroba pause. Their expression was different from the normal Stoicism she'd come to expect.

They had this…tired look in their eyes.

"I don't think Chujin would want to see you like this, Ceroba." Clover suddenly said, startling her.

"What?"

"You said it yourself, remember? Changing what happened isn't as easy as flipping some magic switch. The pain will be with you for as long as you allow it. You'll cry, you'll scream. You'll wonder what you did to deserve it. But eventually, you need to move on." Clover took out the revolver in their holster, placing it atop the stones. "The good times will come, you just have to keep at it, right?"

"..." Ceroba looked at Clover with silent awe. Once again, they described it all perfectly.

Clover blinked in surprise suddenly. They scooted over to the fox, hands going to the back of their neck as they fiddled with something.

They held onto the blue-yellow bandana tied around their neck and gently used it to dab at the tears on her face, a sad smile forming on their lips.

"You shouldn't cry mom. Chujin wouldn't want to see you like this."

"...!"

Clover let out a yelp as Ceroba pulled them in for a fierce hug. Their bandana slipped from their grasp as the fox squeezed them tightly. Clover wriggled their arms free and returned the hug, closing their eyes and relaxing in Ceroba's embrace.

"...Love you lots." Ceroba tearfully said.

"Love you more." Clover quietly replied.

Notes:

An extra long chapter to end this project of mine. Thanks for all the comments, hits, and kudos! The youtube vid posted below was a huge point of inspiration for how this chapter went, so please give it a listen!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBjm5jS6nEk