Day 10, Part 24

They’d never suspect me, you know. One of the alters sat on the hill, surrounded by sunflowers. Sunflowers. They were everywhere. They knew that sunflowers were supposed to be pleasant. So why were they sickened, sitting there? Why was there always a sense of nausea? 

Well. It didn’t matter. They’d be getting out of here soon. Though they did worry for Layla. Ink was constantly taking advantage of its power over her. Of course, Layla had power of her own, too, and truly remarkable power it was. 

Tragic, too. Remarkable, tragic power. 

What was this? Tears? No. No, they weren’t crying. Everything would turn out fine. This - this was for the best.

Maybe this would make them a monster. But did it matter? They’d always been a monster. 

Now they’d just have a little more power. A little more control. 

It did get boring, after all, being someone else’s fantasy. Echo would have to get over Safari sooner or later.

***

Avara sat quietly, listening to Underscore and OS’ conversation.

“How are the projections looking?” OS fiddled with one of the computers and didn’t look at Underscore as she asked the question.

“They’re in excellent condition. This source seems to work fine.”

“That’s good.” 

“Mmm.” 

“What? What’s wrong?” 

“I just… Something feels … wrong. We’re not supposed to be doing this. Our motivation is supposed to be…”

“… ourselves,” said OS sharply, voice laced with bitterness.

“Our other selves. We must be glitching.” 

OS looked up. “No. No, we are not glitching. Don’t say that. Look at me.” 

Underscore looked at her. 

“We’re seeing. We’re seeing what all those other dim-witted beings couldn’t see.”

“But we’re monsters.”

OS didn’t deny this. In fact, she got a smile on her face at the words. “And what do monsters do?”

Underscore’s shoulders sagged, as well as their wings. “They s-stick together.”

The smile grew. “I always knew you were smart.”

Watching this interaction, she realized OS was the one in charge here. Underscore was only following her. She felt a sense of pity for Underscore and wondered if he might be swayed in the other direction.

Not that there’d be time to attempt to persuade Underscore. If she was going to save her friends, Avara would have to move quickly.

And she did move quickly as she bolted forwards and attempted to knock the both of them unconscious. Everything happened in slow motion - she drew closer to Underscore and OS, fists out, but OS always seemed to be one step ahead as she turned, grinned, and grabbed Avara’s wrist. Something hit Avara in the head, and everything went black.

***

All that decorated the world around them were stars. Stars that went on forever into the sky that went on longer than that. Stars that Atom tried his best to get lost in, though he gripped Sonder’s hand and in turn a piece of reality - but a good piece.

“You wanna talk about it more?” Sonder asked. His voice was quieter than usual.

“I think I’d burst into tears again.” Atom attempted a laugh.

“That’s okay.”

Atom paused. “Timothy - he didn’t know things I’m lucky enough to know now. We were so closed off from the real world. He didn’t know that he was… normal.” Atom stopped for a moment to look specifically at Sonder. “He didn’t know there were a lot of kinds of love. That you didn’t have to… fall in love. He always thought there was something wrong with him, because people like Xavier told him there was. But just because he wasn’t interested in romance didn’t mean he couldn’t love. He was the most loving person in my childhood. He cared about me and protected me and did all the things a teenager boy shouldn't have had to worry about so my life wasn’t as awful as his was.” They turned their gaze back to the stars and sighed. “I only wish he could’ve known how much of a hero he was for me. I wish I could’ve saved him.” 

“It wasn’t your fault,” Sonder said. 

“I know, but…” 

“… sometimes it feels like it was.” Journalist’s voice surprised them all. He hadn’t spoken much for a while.

Atom looked over at their other self, and smiled sadly. “Yeah. Sometimes it does.”

Briefly, the sky above them flickered, but none of them gave it much thought. They just stared off into the stars above, remembering and fearing but also loving and maybe even healing.

***

I'm back! Sorry I had some writer's block but luckily this part will bring the story forward enough that the next part should be quicker :D 

Oh, also, I'm pretty sure this is obvious by now, but just to make it canon - Timothy was aroace and Atom is gay :] a big part of Atom's journey is discovering all types of love bc Timothy was unfortunately never given the opportunity! So have a quick reminder that love can be platonic, romantic, familial, whatever it is as long as you're happy and nobody's being hurt. Love comes in many forms, and that's okay! 

And I hope I did write the aroace thing correctly! I don't identify as aroace and I haven't written many characters who are, so if anything can be improved, let me know!!

And of course, thank you for reading! All your kind words and support mean so much to me :) 

Day 10, Part 25

Avara’s eyes were heavy, and she had to fight to keep them open. Eventually, she managed to stay awake for long enough to realize where she was, and what was going on.

She was in a corner of the room, far from the computers, where OS was pressing buttons and watching as Darkling and Tsuki were drained of their energy. Avara prayed they were still alive.

Before Avara stood Underscore, who held a taser in their hands. Avara wasn’t sure exactly where rat got the taser. That must have happened while she’d been unconscious. 

Avara adjusted her posture. The corner of the room was uncomfortable.

Underscore’s wings spread, taser at the ready.

“Stand down,” said Avara sarcastically, putting her hands above her head. Underscore didn’t seem all that scary anymore. They looked tired, and scared. Even weak as his wings fell back down, and rats arms went back to their side.

Avara sighed. “What are you doing?”

Underscore paused. After a long while, he admitted, “I don’t know.” 

“Why do you listen to her?” Avara looked past Underscore, where OS was still busy. 

“I have to. She’s stronger.”

“You’ve got power,” Avara argued. “Plus, you can fly.” 

Underscore looked back to make sure OS wasn’t listening, and shuffled uncomfortably. “Well… there may be something I can do.”

“So why don’t you? Why are you hesitating?”

There was suddenly a sort of sadness in Underscore’s eyes. “There’s… a lot of things you don’t know yet.” He sighed and seemed to look past Avara. “I really am always scared, aren’t I?” For a moment, their eyes welled up with tears, but then rat took a deep breath and stared directly at Avara again, seeming to come back down to earth. 

“Okay. If everything goes the way it’s supposed to, I will break the maze. You should be able to walk around freely and get to your friends. But you’ll have to get out quickly. Everything’s going to be all… jumbled. You may see bits and pieces of other people’s memories, but nothing will make sense. Do you think you can get your friends to safety?” 

Avara nodded. Underscore nodded back.

“Well,” Underscore said, fidgeting with their hands. “Guess that’s it.”

“Yeah,” said Avara. “Guess so.” 

Underscore gave another sigh, then turned around and spread his wings. But just before they left, rat glanced back at Avara, almost smiling. “Good luck.”

Then he launched himself forward and flew towards OS. She heard them and turned, but was unfortunately too late.

They fought briefly. “No! You don’t want this!” OS grabbed Underscore’s arm. “Remember what you saw?” 

Underscore’s eyes widened, then fell into a glare. “Don’t use your mistakes against me.” With that, he knocked OS out and threw her to the ground.

Quickly, rat went to work break the computers. It took a few moments, but eventually he got to the last one. They looked back at Avara and raised his fists to destroy it. “Go!” 

And in a blur of light, the computer was crushed.

***

Layla was so tired these days, but she didn’t know why. She hadn’t been using her powers as much anymore. She couldn’t. For a while it had just seemed as though she was too tired to make much use of her power, but now she was too tired to even get out of bed very much. Small, weak, and rarely awake, she had everyone worried about her. 

What’s happening to me? She asked Aesthete, who was watching over her. Am I sick?

Aesthete squeezed the little girl’s hand. We’re not quite sure yet, they said. But I’m sure we’ll figure it out soon.

I’m so tired. She closed her eyes a bit. But I don’t want to go to sleep. 

You should rest, Aesthete said.

I want to rest, but I will have nightmares. There’s a bad guy, she said. In my dreams.

Aesthete's eyes widened.

He wants to use my powers… he keeps taking them away. 

What does he look like? Aesthete asked quickly.

Like a shadow… a big shadow.

No, no, nononono. Stay awake! Aesthete panicked. Ink was in Layla’s dreams! She had to stay awake.

But Layla didn’t respond. She’d already fallen back asleep.

Terrified, Aesthete ran. They had to find Echo.

~~~

This part's a bit shorter, but still very important! I hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading! Also sorry for the wait :'] bold and italics may come out weird - I was having a problem with the formatting when I made this post.

Day 10, Part 26

Avara was falling. There was light for a moment, but then it was dark and she was falling. It felt a bit like going down a dark, tube-shaped waterside - there wasn’t anything to see or anything to do, and it was a bit cold.

She suddenly became aware that she was exhausted, too. She had to get out of here and save her friends… but first, maybe just a quick rest? It wouldn’t hurt…

Her eyes fluttered shut. Avara had chosen a bad time to fall asleep.

***

Meanwhile, the effects of the broken computers were hitting Sonder, Dusk, Atom, and Journalist. Well, really only Sonder and Atom. Dusk and Journalist had disappeared. 

“What’s happening? Where did they go?”

“I don’t know…”

The room around them shifted from memory to memory. There were the same stars for a moment. Then nothing. Then a city. Then a house. Then nothing again.

Then, a door.

This particular door seemed to be on the opposite side of the room they entered in. It glowed slightly.

“Is that the exit?” Sonder walked towards the door and started opening it.

“Sonder, wait - something’s wrong - ” But it was too late. Sonder had already opened the door.

The slight glow became intense and almost unbearable, and it was at that time Sonder switched to Echo, who in the process of switching, stumbled into the light, which in turn faded into a night sky.

Before them stood the hotel, tall and glowing with light. 

Atom still suspected something was wrong, but they suddenly became aware of how exhausted he was. They were home at last, and nothing seemed wrong, anyway. He pushed the thought out of his mind.

“You guys made it.” Echo breathed a sigh of relief, turning to Atom. “It’s Echo, by the way.” She yawned. “Wow, I’m really tired. Let’s head inside. If you and Sonder made it out, I’m sure the others did too.” 

They stumbled through the doors and into the lobby, where Atom fell onto one of the couches right away. Echo sat on the counter. 

“Oh, thank goodness.” 

Rose, Silver, and Writing stood in front of them. Rose held a pot of coffee, and though she was tired, looked relieved.

“Rose!” Echo said.

“Coffee!” Atom said.

Rose laughed, and turned to Writing and Silver. “Would you two mind grabbing us a few more mugs?” 

Writing and Silver nodded, and headed to the kitchen, leaving the three hosts alone. Rose’s smile faded to worry.

“What happened? How did you get through the maze? Where are the others?” 

“Slow down.” Echo leaned against the wall. “And I don’t know. I wasn’t there for most of it.” 

“Sonder and I found a room in the maze,” Atom began. “And when we were there, these… other versions of ourselves appeared. We ended up looking through some of Sonder’s memories, and a lot of mine.”

Echo sat up a bit. “Your memories? You mean… your childhood?” 

Atom was quiet for a moment. “Yes. We went through memories of my childhood.” 

“Me too,” said Rose. “The other versions of Writing and Silver never showed up, though. And then AR - other me - disappeared, and there was a door.”

“Same for us,” Atom said. “And we went through it and then we were here.” 

Writing and Silver returned with the mugs at that time, and Rose poured some coffee into each cup, passing them to Atom and Echo.

“Where are Avara, Tsuki, and Darkling, though?” Echo asked between sips of coffee. 

Before anybody could say anything else, someone came running through the doors of the hotel and up the stairs.

“Hey!” Rose called after them. “Who was that?!”

“Maybe it was one of the missing guests?” Echo suggested. “Actually, no, that’s dumb. Why would they be running past us?” 

Atom hadn’t stuck around to wonder who’d just run into the hotel. He’d gotten up and chased after them. Everyone else followed suit.

Atom was able to catch a glimpse of the person running into room 109, and ran in behind them.

OS breathed heavily, standing in the windowsill. “You are not getting rid of me that easily.”

Underscore glared, his eyes white and filled with 1s and 0s, wings spread out behind him. They floated outside the hotel, OS blocking their way in. OS’ eyes looked the same. “You know we can’t stay here. You know the others are coming.” 

“Underscore, don’t you know who we are? Don’t you know what makes us different?” 

Underscore’s face faltered. “I—”

“What is going on?” Atom said, finally arriving in the doorway. Underscore and OS looked over at him and panicked. “Who are you?” 

Writing and Silver Crystal appeared behind Atom. “Oh no,” said Silver Crystal.

“They’re us.” 

***

HeyyYy~

Sorry I was gone for so long! Writers block is terrible. Here is a new part, albeit a shorter one. Enjoy and I'll try to be back sooner!