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lunarsands · 11 months

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ALSMP Fanfic: Along The Roads To Sanctuary Ch 4

Bonus also Empires SMP S2 fanfic! I just didn’t want to make the title field too long ^_^;

Characters: PearlescentMoon, Scott Smajor, MythicalSausage, Eddie, Joel Smallishbeans, Bubbles the Dog, Hermes, mentions of other Empires S2 characters, including a certain misplaced warlock… Sausage Supreme

Relationships: MythicalSausage/Scott Smajor

Tags: Canon Divergent, fictional religion, scosage, Afterlife SMP meets Empires SMP S2 but in an AU way

Warnings: violence, surrealism via magic auras, humorous misunderstandings about infidelity (tfw your husband cheats on you…with you), kidnapping (although we know how that went in canon)

(Sequel to Echoing Through To You, When The Skies Cry, Until The Blood Moon Descends, Then We’ll Rewrite The Stars, Wherever These Flowers May Grow)

Summary: A happily ever afterlife is interrupted by the distant past; Sausage receives another calling and is sent into a different mortal world from their old one, with Scott insisting on following so they won’t be separated. They both lead brand new lives but only Scott regains memories of the previous one on his own, and he isn’t allowed to remind Sausage about any of it without jeopardizing the mission the angel was sent to complete – a mission someone else was supposed to have dealt with.

(Also available on Ao3!)

[ Chapter One ] [ Chapter Two ] [ Chapter Three ]

[A/N: Two chapters in one day bonus because I’m experiencing burn out and need to forge on ahead.]

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Chapter Four

“This might be an even bigger revelation about where we are, if it can get through that barrier still up in your mind.” Scott held onto him all the way up to the patch of ‘unique’ flowers. “Does anything else about them seem familiar?”

Sausage gazed down at the blue and white flowers, but then shook his head.

Scott took on his second floran form, complete with a starflower in his hair. He carefully watched the aura around Sausage. “This memorial. The flowers. Our flowers, Sausage.”

Just as he had suspected, the silver part of Sausage’s aura flowed up around his head. “St-Starflowers. Angelflowers. Wait… This is THAT world?!”

“Yeah. I thought it was a crazy coincidence when I first realized—”

“Joel is THAT Joel?!” Sausage interrupted. “How did he not— Oh, right. Neither me or you look, uhh, whatever it is you are right now. I don’t remember that either.”

“Floran,” Scott said warmly. “It was honestly one of my favorites. It offered some unique opportunities, and fit right in with our love of beautiful gardens.”

Sausage hummed in agreement, then promptly plopped down on the ground and squished his face between his hands. “This is a lot,” he mumbled into his palms. “And… not all of it is making sense.”

“Sorry.” Scott changed himself back to his human appearance in case someone else happened to come across them, then sat down across from Sausage. “I don’t know what the entire plan is this time. This world now has new, thriving civilizations, built on top of what we did in the past. That other version of you mentioned centuries having passed – so maybe…” Scott pondered for a moment. “Maybe he was around when that corruption struck the land. Maybe he time-travelled to get here. What’s even in that white tower?”

“Oh, that was something I built based on a different kind of dream I had – sort of like being granted a vision by a god of creativity! A tower to greet the morning’s light after a good night’s sleep! There are a couple of special items in there… Um, one of them might have been able to allow entry from another reality, now that I think about it.”

“Let’s start there to see if we can get any clues.” Scott pointed to his left eye again. “We’re probably meant to do something about him, which might also help clear up your head and get you back to normal. I can now see your aura as well as your wings. You look like a bit of a confused mess, so obviously there’s more yet to be done.”

Sausage nodded and moved to get to his feet. Once standing, he cast about himself, checking his pocketspace. “The first thing I should do is ask the magic to give me a new Staff. Something tells me I’m going to need the power. Don’t know what that other guy is going to do with it, but maybe he has magic powers, too.”

They headed back and stopped off at the gifting tree. Upon Sausage’s request, a second Staff of Sanctuary appeared. He gingerly took hold of it, but he smiled when he could feel the magic pulsing through it as strongly as ever. However, he was very quiet as they made their way up through the white, mossy tower. Scott took it to mean Sausage was still processing everything, so he let him be, and meanwhile looked around at all the details inside the tower. Glowberry vines hung everywhere, with plenty of other greenery scattered around, and Scott would have figured it was just one more nature-themed portion of Sanctuary until they reached the landing that contained a pedestal directly in line with a window.

Scott could see it was swirling with a rainbow of different magics, but one that stood out the strongest was a dark gray stream of smoke. On top of the pedestal lay a single wither rose.

Sausage cautiously approached, then picked up the rose. His expression crumbled, and Scott saw wisps of pale blue encircle his head. He quickly stepped in and put his hand over the top of the rose. “Let’s try to stay focused. We’ll unpack anything else later. What is this thing?” Scott gestured to the pedestal.

“Part of it is a lodestone, to act as a guide for different energies.”

“Okay, that explains why I’m seeing every color of magic under the sun around it.”

“Are any in particular standing out?”

“It’s starting to dissipate now, but there’s gray smoke.”

“Gray smoke, black wither rose. That might have been his connection into this reality.”

Further explanations were cut off by the sound of an explosion in the distance. Sausage hurried to the window for a look. “I think that came from the Forgotten Cove!”

“Before he knocked me out of the window, he mentioned something about causing chaos. I’m thinking he has already started.”

“Let’s get after him before he hurts someone!” Sausage hopped up onto the window sill to take off with his foliage-covered elytra, then glanced back at Scott.

The disguised starborne shrugged. “I left mine at home. I can travel long distances without them as a starborne, but…” He gestured down at himself.

“You can borrow one from me! Back to the tree!” Sausage jumped to the floor and grabbed Scott’s hand, squeezing it once as they ran down the steps. He threw a hopeful smile Scott’s way. Scott shifted his hand to interlace their fingers and lightly squeeze back. They were halfway out of this mystery – halfway to returning Sausage’s memories of their life from before this.

The other half, however, was what worried Scott, and he recalled Pearl’s confession that there was something she wasn’t allowed to tell, and it relied on someone else not yet in this equation on his and Sausage’s end.

~*~

They tracked Sausage Supreme by the trail of destruction he left behind, as well as some of the other rulers complaining about Sausage – of the Sanctuary variety – pestering or outright bedeviling them by blowing up projects they had been working on, adding that they weren’t fooled by him changing outfits and pretending to be innocent. Sausage was consternated by the fact no one seemed to notice the difference between him and the other guy, but he wasn’t going to try to explain the concept of this particular case of different realities when he was still grappling in his own head to understand what was going on.

Finally, the two made their way to Chromia, where Scott was dismayed to see everything was overrun by llamas that had been let out of their garden by large holes in the walls. “I’ll worry about rounding them up and fixing that all later. How have we not caught up to him by now?!”

Rather than answer, Sausage took off again and made a beeline for Stratos. Scott gasped loudly as realization hit him.

Hermes was at Stratos. And with the way Joel sometimes left them unattended…

With daylight preventing him from accessing most of his starborne powers, Scott could only hurry after Sausage using his borrowed elytra.

Stratos had not gone undamaged. Wither roses surrounded the lore fountain and the water seemed to have been replaced with mud. But it was the row of signs in front of it that Sausage was staring at. “He’s been leading us on a chase as a distraction this whole time,” he said when Scott landed. He had his fists clenched tightly. “He’s got my boy. He went right back to Sanctuary. Let’s go!!”

Without waiting another second, Sausage flew toward the giant Nether portal in the center of Stratos. Scott followed but wished they had some kind of plan. Having his other scimitar might help, too, but he had forgotten about it with more important things going on. He hurried after Sausage into the portal, feeling the drag of the Nether’s heat and swiftly becoming uncomfortable due to its utter lack of a sky. He lost sight of Sausage, but stuck to the marked off path that led to Sanctuary’s portal.

He always hated going through the Nether, but with no one else to see at the moment he didn’t have a reason to suppress the weight of it on his breathing or have to be casual about how it made him slower. Except, now wasn’t the time to be slow; Sausage hadn’t waited for him and had already gone through the other portal. Scott kept the layout of its exit in mind as he flew into it.

He pulled up short at the edge of the platform. He could see them in the town square below already – Sausage Supreme to one side with Hermes in a cage behind him, the floor lined with copper to counteract the child’s storm-inspired powers, and Sausage was across from him, shouting for the villain to let Hermes go. The two Sausages were pointing their respective Staffs of Sanctuary at each other.

Scott carefully glided down, trying to remain out of sight in hopes of getting the drop on Sausage Supreme. Or, perhaps, he should try to free Hermes so there would no longer be leverage against Sausage and he could cut loose with the magic he intended to use; or maybe even unleash some angel power.

That hope was dashed when he saw Sausage become outlined by a red glow and be tossed up against a building. Not completely pinned though, Sausage lifted his arm and fired a bright blue bolt from his Staff toward Sausage Supreme, breaking his focus and disrupting the holding spell, allowing the Protector to drop to his feet. Then the spell slinging went into a full battle.

As he attempted to get closer, Scott had to shield his eyes. The feedback from his left one was starting to feel like an oncoming headache. He was about one street over from Hermes when Bubbles ran past him carrying a pickaxe in her mouth. She slipped right past Sausage Supreme’s notice and made it to the cage without any trouble.

Scott retreated behind cover. Maybe he wasn’t needed here, after all… But he would absolutely step in if it looked like Sausage was about to lose. Scott’s attacks would be weakened by the daylight, but even just the showy effect of a star strike could distract the villain long enough for Sausage to recover.

That is, if he didn’t end up incapacitated, himself, with how much ethereal energy was being revealed by his left eye. Sausage’s dual-mixed aura was surging and starting to blot out his features, while now Scott could see Sausage Supreme’s aura – itself a roiling combination of red, magenta, and gray. The bursts of magical energy from their spells made him clutch at his head; this was going to become overwhelming very quickly. “Pearl,” he muttered, “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea…”

He wasn’t sure he could keep up with everything enough to figure out where – or if – he even could lend a hand. He put his head down and squeezed his eyes shut, hoping a few seconds of not observing all that magic might help. He was drawn back to the battle, however, when he heard an angry cry.

He was now baffled by a new sight. Sausage’s aura was now split perfectly down the middle, silver on one side and pale blue on the other, which was also the side that held the Staff of Sanctuary. The villain’s aura was still a messy cloud, so it wasn’t as if something had happened that stabilized all the different energies.

Then a new figure’s aura crept into view from a different alleyway: small, diluted purple, and crackling with sparks. Scott tried to reach out but was too dizzy to even try stumbling over to stop them. Hermes. No. It isn’t safe!

The child’s aura crackled brighter. Scott squinted. Lightning shot forth, skewering through the red-magenta-gray conglomeration.

All right. Well. That could definitely be of help.

Scott then saw the hand on the silver side reach out to grasp the end of the lightning bolt. Silver flames erupted around the hand, and it trembled, but then the wrist rotated as if getting a better grip on a piece of rope and began to pull, dragging Sausage Supreme toward him.

The glow coming off of Hermes flickered, then went out as the remainder of the lightning was discharged. Scott could see the child unobscured now, tottering back a step with Bubbles at the side to lean on. Hermes seemed unharmed, merely out of power for the moment.

Meanwhile, Sausage Supreme’s aura shook from the side effects of the electricity. As he came within range, the pale blue hand struck its Staff of Sanctuary against the ground, releasing a pulse of energy; then it let go of the Staff, leaving it to stand upright on its own. Energy pulses continued to radiate from it, while the pale blue hand grasped hold of Sausage Supreme’s arm.

The pulses from the Staff grew brighter. Scott saw Hermes cover his eyes, and Bubbles laid down with a paw over her muzzle, so he knew he wasn’t the only one being overwhelmed by the light. He could no longer make out the difference in the two Sausages so he shut his eyes, placing an arm in front of them for good measure. He heard a sound like the reversed shattering of glass, then felt a final pulse of magic right down to his starborne bones. He hastily looked out across the square—

He saw only one figure now, with a mix of silver and pale blue churning around red, gray, and magenta. Those three colors were soon swallowed up, then, suddenly, the pale blue spread in a burst, forcing out the silver into a splatter across the ground. Scott’s stomach wrenched.

Yet then the silver gathered itself together and rose up into a small pillar of swaying flames. The fully-blue Sausage form didn’t seem to notice it and instead took the Staff of Sanctuary from where it still stood on its own. As he lowered it, the intense magic faded from the area, returning Scott’s vision to normal. He saw… just Sausage of Sanctuary again, no outline of wings or other auras as he crouched and held out his arms while Hermes ran over to him. “Hermes! ¡Mi querido hijo! You were so brave! And so strong! Yeah, no one is going to mess with you ever again!”

The pillar of flame seemed to be watching, then it turned and started drifting toward Scott. He felt a warm sensation on his hand and remembered the other rings he had intended to give Sausage. One of them was now beginning to glow. Scott ducked around a corner. When the pillar reached him, a tendril of flame extended toward him. Scott took off the glowing ring and held the tendril as if it were a hand, then slid the ring onto it.

The pillar shifted and took on a vague humanoid shape with wings. The head turned to look back at the Protector of Sanctuary and Hermes. Scott then heard his partner’s voice in his head, strongly confident without any of the earlier confusion or reluctance, albeit distant and ethereal. “They’re a nice family. I’m sure Hermes will grow up to do great things.”

Relieved that it seemed like his Sausage had emerged with all his memories back, Scott whispered, “You need to explain to me what, exactly, just happened. You weren’t the only one in there, were you? You got kicked out just now. What did I just see?”

“Can we… go somewhere else? I need a moment. It got really weird there for a while but I needed to just stay focused. And, um, I’m not quite myself right now.”

“I can see that! But at least you’re more yourself than you were twelve hours ago.”

As quickly and carefully as they could, they crossed the town square. The Protector of Sanctuary was chatting away with Bubbles as he carried a now sleepy-looking Hermes, probably on the way to put the child in bed for a nap. Having been leaning his head on the man’s shoulder, Hermes could see over it as Scott and the silver-flame version of Sausage snuck past. He raised his little hand and waved. Sausage the Seraph paused and waved back, then hurried after Scott.

Hermes leaned their head back down and hugged his papa.

“Oh, mi niñito tiene sueño. I love you, too! We’ll all go rest and then you can have cookies and pumpkin pie for dinner later!”

Once they had entered the Nether and crossed to Chromia’s portal, the angel-shaped silver flames leaned on the frame and sighed with gusto. “Whew! That was a lot! I don’t think I’ve had to deal with that much magical energy since that time Pearl sent me to the Twilight Forest to try to negotiate with a High Lich!”

“When she— What? Never mind. Tell me how I managed to miss the fact I might have been talking to two different Sausages the entire time we’ve been here.”

“I found out the same time as you – like ten minutes ago, right? Of course, now that I look back, there was a kind of feeling that another soul was there, but like it was half-asleep, or something, through everything.”

“I’m. I’m sorry, like it what?”

Sausage went quiet; Scott wasn’t sure if the crackling-flame sound he heard was coming from his partner or the Nether itself. Then Sausage drew a deep breath. His form solidified a little more, but still resembled an apparition. He held up the index finger of both hands. “Two souls, two versions of me, inside the same body.” He pressed the fingers together. “Living the same life, gaining the same experiences. …Until I started getting my memory back, and the other me’s own memories also started to surface.”

He moved one finger away by a centimeter. “And then a third version from a different reality showed up, but was actually a piece missing from the soul of the other me that I was sharing a body with. Then add the missing piece back in, and there’s no reason for me to keep being there.”

“I think I need a flow chart. Why would this world’s Sausage be missing a piece of his soul that was in a different… reality? What.”

Sausage sighed loudly in exasperation. “How should I know! I’ve got my own memories of the life you and I had together, and now the shared memories of growing up here! Remember how I forgot all about originally being from the celestial realm and being one of Pearl’s angels? The other soul didn’t have any memories I could access to find out, not that I even had time for that when I realized it was there! I was too busy wrangling lightning and trying to stuff the evil soul into the whole mess of Mythical Sausage energy! Look, look – it was like if you’ve got a cup of water that’s two-thirds full, and you need to add the remaining third, but that happens to overflow the cup because it turns out one portion is like a different density than the others. Like mixing oil and water. I was the portion that didn’t actually belong, but the portion also already in there didn’t have the… uh… adhesiveness? Mergeability? To get the missing part to stick. I think I’ve lost track of the metaphor, hold on…”

Scott could only stare at him helplessly, trying to get a grasp of the explanation.

Sausage appeared to scowl, then sighed again, this time in resignation. “I don’t think the other me was strong enough to get the job done. And you saw that other guy – no way could he be allowed to keep running free. Who knows what he would have done – if he ended up influencing Hermes, turn the kid into a demon or something – that would be horrible! And the only way to stop him was to put him back where he originally came from.”

“So,” Scott said softly, “What about Hermes, then? He’s… your son, too.” He gave a gentle chuckle. “A child of a god and an angel.”

Sausage’s expression turned lost for a moment. “I’m not…sure. Technically they’re the son of the me of this world, and Joel. I was kind of… an extra co-parent? I guess that I’m sort of like a built-in guardian angel. And what happened at the end there was me fulfilling that part of a guardian angel’s calling. Stop a demon from causing harm. Demon is gone, threat is over, I move on.”

“Wait, what do you mean a demon?”

“Oh, that guy had some serious demonic vibes going on! There was a bunch of demon power mixed into his soul! Come to think of it, maybe that’s also why I needed to be here…”

Scott gingerly touched Sausage’s arm. “Well, we know how things go when your calling ends. You could always check in on Hermes from the reflecting pool, like you did with me.”

“Yeah,” Sausage said with a bittersweet smile, his tone soft. “I’ll be able to do that much.”

“Plus, since Hermes is a demigod, there might come a day where he ventures into the celestial planes and pays a visit to Pearl’s realm.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s true.”

They stood in silence for another moment, then Scott said, “So I guess we’re done here. We can check with Pearl to see if there’s anything else, but maybe we can go home. Um, but at the very least, let’s get out of the Nether right now. Not a great environment for starbornes.” Scott grimaced, then held out a hand toward Sausage to walk him through the portal out into Chromia.

“I’m done, yes, but what about you?” Sausage asked as they stepped down onto the grass. “You still have a life here. Don’t you have anything you need to take care of? You still have Chromia to look after. Someone else is filling my shoes.”

Scott led the way toward the pond connected to the celestial realm, a little smirk crawling onto his face. “You know what? I think it’s time for the ruler of Chromia to go back to his adventuring days – who’s to say he didn’t simply disappear while hunting for another mysterious treasure?”

Someone called from behind them, “You would leave just like that, without saying goodbye first?”

They turned, both startled to have heard the voice of Sausage – the Protector of Sanctuary variety. He grinned as he trotted away from the Nether portal. “Where do you think you two are off to so fast?”

Scott pointed at himself and feigned confusion. “Us two?”

The Protector gestured toward the angel-shaped flames. “I can see him, too. We did just share a body for over two decades, even though I was asleep through most of it, and had you fill in until I was aware enough. I remember most of my past, now.” He nodded at Sausage the Seraph. “You must have had a similar experience, if they thought you were the one for the job.”

“Actually, I’ve figured it’s because I’m a really powerful angel, and that other guy had some demon energy mixed in! Could be a real challenge for the average reincarnated human, even if it’s a human version of me! No offense.”

“None taken. I’m glad for the help. Things got… messy, at my end. The big issue I now remember, involving my Pearl, well… She… ascended to godhood, but felt so much regret for being unable to help me when I was desperately trying to save her when the world was ending, that after she came to claim my soul at the end of my mortal life, she didn’t want to let me go when my soul was called back to this world. Before all that even happened, I had split the other guy off from my soul and banished him to a pocket dimension where he couldn’t hurt anyone – yeah, that’s a whole other story. But I guess the universe saw he would find a way to return to this reality, and I was needed to put an end to what I was responsible for creating. But Pearl – my Pearl – didn’t want me to have to deal with what was involved. So, the universe needed to balance things out after finally wresting me from her, so that’s where you came in.”

He sighed sadly. “She meant well. She got involved before, when I did something else kind of stupid.” The Protector then smiled weakly. “She means a lot to me, too, so I can’t really blame her. I don’t have a way to talk to her directly right now, but I hope she’s looking in and can see that it all went just fine!”

Scott put a hand on the Protector’s shoulder. “We need to get back to our own Pearl. I think she might have known what your Pearl had done, and was upset but couldn’t let it show. We need to let her know that everything did work out.”

The Protector placed his hand over Scott’s. “So… what actually are you?” He looked at him a little sadly. “Are you from another reality, too, and not just some cool star-powered hero from here?”

Scott nodded. “Yes, I’m from his reality. We have a tendency to follow each other around.”

He grinned over at Sausage the Seraph, who came closer to rest a hand-shaped flame on the Protector’s other shoulder. “Take good care of Hermes for me. And if Joel ever gets his memory back, ask him about the two spirits of the forest who came to rest in a bamboo jungle near a rock outcropping. He might be able to explain where those flowers came from, after all.”

The Protector seemed to mull that over, then looked between the two in wonder.

~*~

Scott and Sausage the Seraph continued on their way to the pool by the shed only to find it ringed by glowstone and the light from the water giving off so much supernatural radiance that Scott started to get a migraine within seconds. He covered his left eye and motioned for Sausage to enter the pool. Rather than extinguish his flames, he merely passed through. Scott hopped in after him without hesitation. The glowstone shattered behind him, returning the water to that of a simple decorative pond.

On the other side Sausage stood restored to his normal, solid angelic appearance. He looked himself over and sighed in relief. “Wow, that was convenient! For a minute there I was worried I would need a whole new vessel! How about you?”

He turned to Scott, who was still in his Chromian human form. “Well, I kind of still like this coat, but it clashes a little with the purple.” He waved a hand over his face and head, turning his eyes violet and hair shimmery purple, with the tiny constellation also returning to view.

Sausage studied him for a moment. “Hey, so, what is up with your eye? Is that some starborne thing we didn’t know about before, or just some extra magic you picked up along the way in that world?”

“The second thing, technically. It was Pearl’s doing, to be honest. My, um, eye got stolen by a creepy skull artifact and a wizard tricked me claiming he could get my original eye back from it, but according to Pearl he was going to sneak a fake one in, but she intervened in time to imbue it with magic first, to give me an edge in aiding you. I’m not actually sure how much it helped in the end, since I got overwhelmed by all the soul auras and magical energy around and couldn’t fight.”

“Well, I still think I was meant to handle that final part by myself – er, me and the other me.” Sausage then smirked. “Couldn’t stay away, could you? You followed me.”

“Do you really think I was going to wait decades to see you again? I don’t care how immortal we are like this. I don’t have that kind of patience.” Scott smirked right back at him.

They stepped toward each other to embrace, but then Pearl appeared and got between them. She turned to Scott and pressed the palm of her hand over his left eye. Scott uttered a quiet noise of discomfort as mild pain swelled around his eye socket, but as it faded, he could tell the input from that eye had returned to the way it was before the incident with the skull.

Pearl smiled awkwardly. “Sorry, I had to wait until you came back to this realm for me to be able to fully restore it for you.” She then turned to Sausage with an even more pained look.

“Everything worked out fine, Pearl!” Sausage announced cheerfully. “I mean, that did get a little weird when I started remembering my life and the other me’s at the same time – but it’s pretty cool knowing there’s another me who led a different type of life, all mortal and plain and stuff! Well, aside from the magic. That’s not plain or boring!”

The pained expression on her face remained.

“Uh. Pearl?” Sausage asked, confused as to why she hadn’t even hugged them upon their return.

Pearl walked to the reflecting pool and waved a hand over it, then said softly, “Sausage, do you remember when I told you about my old world, and how I had a friend I had to leave behind?”

“Uhm, yeah?”

The pool resolved into the image of a sepia-toned scene of swaying stalks of wheat. “When he reached the end of his mortal life, I went down to collect his soul before a reaper could come to try to send it to the Plane of Souls…”

“Oh, this sounds familiar! Wait, are you saying you’re the Pearl that the other me was talking about??” Sausage’s eyes went wide. “I thought he meant another, parallel Pearl! Like how I’m a parallel version of him, but I’m an angel instead of a human with incredible magical powers!” He uttered a brief chortle, pleased with the idea of any parallel version of himself being powerful in some way, but when Pearl failed to smile, he stopped. “Uhm. Is there something else to this that I’m missing?”

Pearl glanced toward the pool. “Do you remember when I said you were so much like my old friend?”

Sausage nodded then exchanged looks with Scott.

“It’s… because you are him. I did something similar to that other Pearl. I put that soul into a brand-new angel vessel. I just wanted to have you by my side and at peace here, doing what you loved to do back in the mortal realm. My architect.” She turned toward Sausage again and reached out to gently touch him under the chin, then withdrew her hand. “But you also became angel-coded because of that vessel, so when you received a calling, I couldn’t do anything about it, and had to let you answer it, then wait for you to complete your journey through a new mortal world.”

She took a deep breath. “The other version of me wasn’t so willing to let her boy go. He didn’t get put in a new vessel. She just hoarded his soul somewhere. The threat he needed to face was something you had also dealt with in your original mortal life, but it was properly resolved, and there was no chasing down fractured pieces of your soul. And yet, your soul was similar enough that the higher powers that be enlisted you for this job.”

Sausage stared, dumbfounded. “Uh— Wait— You mean, some of those memories might actually have been mine, and not his?”

Pearl nodded. “I can’t say how much of it was one or the other.” She gave another weak smile. “I don’t have that much insight into what’s in your head.”

“So, Mythland—?”

“Was a kingdom you built up and restored in some places. Do you want to see it?” Pearl gestured to the pool.

Sausage shook his head. “No. I’d rather leave that in the past. I have what I have now.” He took Scott’s hand and held it tightly. “And also, I, um, think I need to sit down.” He started to glance around in distress, but Scott swiftly guided him over to the wicker throne to sit at its base.

The starborne was silently digesting all of this. It didn’t change how he felt, even if this was a whole new side of Sausage that he was finding out about. In fact, Scott let out a little laugh. “Does this mean you’re actually several hundred years older than me?”

“I don’t know,” Sausage mulled it over, the distraction perfectly timed. “Does it count that I sort of started over as an angel, like we started over in that world? Hey, Pearl – did you know that was the same world you sent us to as florans? And Joel didn’t recognize either of us! What are the odds of him losing his memory of the past when me and the other me had our memories sealed away! Can you imagine what would have happened if we all remembered at the same time? Hey, speaking of that – Scott, did you know the whole time, or did you get to have a little vacation from the past, too?”

As he babbled on, Pearl and Scott were both relieved that the revelations hadn’t dampened his spirits any. Pearl even chuckled to herself. Yup, Sausage was the same as always, no matter what form he was in. There might be more to unpack another time, but for now she was happy to indulge his enthusiastic ponderings.

~The End~

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[Post A/N: The story of Sausage of Sanctuary, as well as more revelations about which Sausage, exactly, he is, will be continued in the crossover “Thou, O Kings, Fair Be You All” coming soon!]

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Translations for this chapter:

¡Mi querido hijo! = My dear son!

mi niñito tiene sueño = my little boy is sleepy

#alsmp #alsmp fanfic #alsmp shipping #scosage #empires smp #empiressmpshipping #mythicalsausage #scott smajor #dangthatsalongname #sausage supreme #empires hermes #empires smp fanfic #soul liminality 2 #lunar yarns

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bet-on-me-13 · 5 months

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Metahumans are just Liminals

So! As far as I know, Metahumans get their powers because they have Nth Metal in their DNA (I think? It might be a single continuity thing).

But what if Nth Metal is just Solidified Ectoplasm?

Metahumans are just a different Brand of Liminal. They get their powers from Metalic Ectoplasm in their DNA rather than Pure Ectoplasm in their Soul. As such, their powers are much more based on their Genetics rather than their Obsessions.

A Metahuman is more likely to have children who share the same power. It is Passed On through their DNA, and as such it may not actually fit the users Personality. The upside is that the Power is usually stronger than normal.

A Liminal will get their powers from their Soul. Whatever fits their Obsession the best is what they will get. The downside is that their power is weaker than a Metahumans abilities.

A Ghost is the perfect combination of the Two.

They have a Core made of Metalic Ectoplasm, and a Soul made of Pure Ectoplasm. They have the Power of a Metahuman, and the Fitting Nature of Liminals.

Side Note: Halfas are kind of an even better version of that? They have the Metalic Core, the Pure Ecto Soul, and the Body of a Human to contain the Power.

Thoughts?

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luckyfox3000 · 1 month

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DC X DP PROMT #19

Rising from the depths of fanfics, coming to bring you once again, New promt!

Stranded in another universe with no way home, a tinier then usual Danny Fenton, wandered the streets of a crime ridden Gotham.

With a shadow.

Or two.

Danny did NOT mean to help patch up the helmet wearing weirdo strapped with guns.

He just knew how bad stitches would get if done with really shaky hands so he just. Helped out a bit. That's it.

...Maybe his eyes flashed green for like, a millisecond when he sensed the guys revenant soul, and maybe he mentioned to the guy about having died as well, but that was no reason to stalk what looks like a 6 year old!

Danny let out a huff as he felt the other presence following him shift.

Dont even get him started on the stabby child with katana's.

The kid smelled of somone who's been near death, so like, liminal. Probably.

That didnt explain why he was following Danny though. He just. Appeared?

And muttered somthing about adoption???

Danny swears, if this is another rich Fruit Loop situation, he'll join the shades in hiding and turn into a ghost hermit.

Feel free to add on or use!

Sorry I rushed it. Wasn't sure what to write, but felt like I went too long without it. I'll try to write a long one that makes sense next time. It's like, 2 am where I am now and I haven't slept since yesterday.

#dc x dp #dpxdc #dcxdp #dp x dc #lucky_fox #dc x dp prompt #dc x dp crossover #dp x dc crossover #dp x dc prompt

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hughmanbean · 3 months

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The King is Sealed, Long Lie the Queen!

After Pariah is defeated and resealed, Danny is crowned the new King/Queen. Yeah, he's a guy, but he birthed 2 sentient beings, and that counts as a queen in their books.

After a month long readjustment period, some certain areas of the Infinite Realms feel it's their responsibility to inform the Mortal Realms and uninformed ghosts of the good news!

Anyone death touched past liminality, anchored ghosts and revenants alike, are approached by ghosts and told that they're under new management. The Queen will renew their souls, as long as they can merely be within her presence.

One such revenant, Jason Todd/Red Hood, has been ignorant of this. His fraid, too! That must be fixed.

#dpxdc #dcxdp #dp x dc #dc x dp #dp x dc prompt #dp x dc crossover #dc x dp prompt #dc x dp crossover #good parents jack and maddie #redeemed vlad #Gender is optional for ghosts.#jason todd #red hood #I love guys who are moms #If you get what I mean #danielle phantom #dan phantom #ellie fenton #queen mother danny phantom

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phantom-dc · 1 year

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A deal with the Ghost King

Part2 AO3

Danny was getting impatient.

He had been annoyed at being summoned, then exited when he found himself in the Justice League Watchtower. He was in space! But then the guy in the raincoat begun offering a piece of his soul in exchange for destroying a meteorite, and he had become annoyed instead. He doesn't want a soul! Doesn't this guy get he'd be Danny's slave for eternity? So taking a page off Clockwork's book, he said something cryptic and ominous so no one else tried to bribe him with souls. They had turned white and raincoat guy asked if they could be excused for a moment before pulling the other heroes into a different room. Wich, first off: Rude. Second: Danny couldn't leave the summonning circle unless he made a deal or if he was send back. At first he had been curious what they would offer him now, settling into a more humanoid form instead of the eldritch nightmare being summoned always forced him into. That had been a while ago though, and now he was getting impatient. They better come back soon so he can go deal with the problem. He'll do it for a Pop-tart at this point, as long as he can go break that overgrown space-rock!

Jason was pissed. Batman had ordered everyone to come to the Watchtower immediatly. Jason wasn't even allowed to wear his helmet (he scared the younger Leaguers), having to settle for a domino mask instead. Good thing he had 2, because Nightwing had even brought Alfred! Jason wanted anwsers, why did B rush them here? He hadn't even greeted or explained anything to them, just had Plastic-man bring them to a room to wait. But Jason was done waiting, so he stormed to the main briefing room. He expected B and his Justice club. Instead he found a glowing, floating hero. The floor glowed a bit beneath him, his skin tinted green and his hair floated as if underwater, a crown surrounded by its own northen light. He was beautifull. Anger forgotten, he made his way over, deciding to make some small talk. 'Hello there! Are you a new hero? I've never seen you before?'

Danny was startled. He'd been focussing on the door the heroes left through, trying to will them back. He hadn't even noticed the Liminal behind him until he spoke! He turned around, and was again caught of guard. Even with the Domino covering his eyes,he could tell this guy was really handsome! A mountain of chiseled muscles and a white streak of hair that gave him something mysterious. Oh crap, he was staring. What did he say again? 'Hello! I'm Phantom. It's nice to meet you!' The Liminal introduced himself as J. 'Anyone ever tell you you're drop-dead gorgeous?' Danny laughed. Hot and death puns? Yep, he's going for it. The Leaguers aren't back yet anyway.

Jason was kicking himself. Really? That's the best he could come up with? Thank god Phantom had seemed to like it. 'Well, it certainly wouldn't get a rise out of me if they did!' he said. 'So what are you doing here? I didn't see you at the meeting?' Jason shrugged. 'No idea actually. B called for all hands on deck, so here I am. What are you here for?' Phantom sighed. 'They got me here to deal with some stupid rock, but then ditched me here for an impromptu meeting. I just want to go take care of it, but I can't just leave.' Phantom looked annoyed. Jason asked if Phantom wanted a tour of the Watchtower, surely Flash could get him when they needed him? Phantom looked dejected. He couldn't leave without being dismissed. Jason decided to make a move. 'Ok, how about this: you deal with that rock, and afterwards, we can meet up in Gotham and I'll give you a tour there! Deal?' Phantom looked up, an inhumanly while smile on his face.

'Deal!'

After that Phantom had left, saying the boyscouts had their chance. 'I look forward to our date!' He said and then dissapeared. Jason was exited! He went back to the others, who hadn't noticed he'd left. No matter, he had a date to plan!

Contantine was freaking out. The meteorite had proven too much for the Justice League. Most of their heavy hitters had been off-planet or out off commision. The damn thing was even made of kryptonite! He had no choice but to summon the only being that he knew of that could deal with it and could be bribed. He had offered the mighty Ghost King a piece of his soul, but been rejected! Batman had offered his own soul instead, but again this offer wasn't enough. The Ghost King explained there were billions of mortals about to become his subjects. Why trade that for 1 measily soul? He needed a better offer if they wanted his help. Panicked, Constantine had pulled the other League members into a different room, not wanting them to make a deal by accident. They were all making desperate suggestions. What could be worth more than every soul on Earth? They had made a list of magical and historical artifacts from every members background. It was a long shot, but the meteorite was getting too close. As they went back to the Ghost King they were praying it would be enough.

The King was gone. Suddenly in the distance the meteorite exploded. Someone had made a deal with the Ghost King, and no one knew who. What had they offered?

What could possible be worth more to the High King of the Infinite Realms than every living soul on Earth?

#batman #danny phantom #dc x dp #dp x dc #jason todd #red hood #danny fenton #dead on main #ghost king danny

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thenightwolf51 · 6 months

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What if Alfred grew up in Amity park?

And that's the reason he can handle anything the batfam throws at him, keep the house perfect by himself, has lived for so long.

He grew up during Danny's time, with Danny later on being recognized as the world's first superhero.

Maybe he sends word to Danny the first time Alfred learns about the Lazarus pit but maybe Danny is too busy to deal with it at the time and it gets forgotten for a few years.

Maybe Alfred gets in contact again when Jason comes back. He know a bit about being liminal but isn't too sure how bes to care for a revenant/malnourished baby halfa.

Im not too sure, the main idea is"Alfred grew up with Danny in Amity Park"

This is intended for Old Souls, which is the platonic name for Danny/Alfred friend ship but it could be taken anywhere. Maybe Alfred's has a secret crush on Danny or maybe he fell in love with Jazz at some point pastor present, who's now an elegant old wise woman who takes no shit, secret wife, known wife the bats have just never met, amicable ex wife who's still a dear friend? idk

I kinda want to fit Wanderlust in there somewhere, which is the name for a Dani/Ellie and Bruce ship. I think the name works best if the ship happens or started during Bruce's traveling the world/training era.

Again, IDK. Just wanted to get the thoughts out of my head and am now tossing them to the void, and in the direction of a few particular people

@omnicrafts @hdgnj @percyisawesome @tathartiel @im-totally-not-an-alien-2 @ailithnight

#dpxdc #dcxdp #Amity Park Alfred #wanderlust #possibly?

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redflagshipwriter · 6 days

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Hot Ghouls in Your Area 8

Chapter 8

Masterpost

“You're just now going to campus?” Jazz said. Danny scowled ahead at the sidewalk. Her tone wasn't judgmental so much as mildly surprised. He still hated it. “That's a lot later than usual. Is everything alright?” Danny hunched his shoulders up and consciously reminded himself not to get defensive. He wasn't slacking. He'd gotten home after his class and slept 13 hours. He still felt wiped out.

“Ghost stuff,” he said cryptically. “Ruined my night.” He dodged someone on the sidewalk without thinking about it, used to the crowds by now.

Jazz inhaled sharply into his ear. “They're supposed to leave you alone to focus on your education,” she hissed. “Just so you know, I do have the venomous Fenton electric creep stick-”

“Yeah, I know,” Danny cut her off. She was probably holding it up right now, thumb on the trigger. He couldn't fight off the rueful smile. She had his back, didn't she? Always did. With that in mind… “I think I need help,” he admitted. Oof. Felt bad. Not as bad as failing his classes, though, which was the danger if he got pulled too deep into more Ghost bull honkey.

“Of course!” Jazz enthused. He stepped off the curb and then quick-stepped backwards to avoid getting hit by some asshole running the red light. Danny lifted up his free hand to flip them off as he hung on his heels on the edge of the pavement drop. He dropped lightly back onto the balls of his feet and jogged across the street.

Jazz was still talking, voice clear over the morning meld of honking and running engines. “How about you come over to my place after your classes tonight? My roommate is out for a conference.”

“You just don't want to come to Crime Alley,” Danny accused her. “Even for me, your beloved baby brother.” He dodged a car that was parked on the cross walk and made an ugly face at the driver. “Despite your professed love for crime, when it counts, it's all talk.”

“I don't love crime,” Jazz reiterated with her inhuman patience. She didn't take the bait of his deliberate mischaracterization of her career plans. “But I am exquisitely stabbable." Her tone went lofty with the brag. "So yes, I avoid Crime Alley.”

Danny blew an unimpressed raspberry to show what he thought of that.

He hadn't met anyone in Gotham yet who he thought would really throw Jazz for a loop. She was a 6ft 2 judo black belt, and she was liminally spooky as fuck. “No one would stab you,” he said, making it sound like an insult. His janky ass was more likely to get held up. "But fine, I'll haul my poor broken corpse all the way over there to do you a favor-”

“So I can do you a favor,” Jazz corrected wryly.

“My poor broken corpse,” Danny cut back in, because that was a really relevant factor to him. He put the back of his hand to his forehead and swooned a little. He felt like he'd been in a tumble dryer. Missing a full night of sleep was an insufferable insult to his desperate shoe-string construction of a healthy routine.

“I would so get robbed if I came there,” Jazz argued. “Maybe even kidnapped.” He could all but hear her flip her hair.

He snorted but let her keep her delicate feminine delusions about not being one of the scariest motherfuckers in the crime capital of the country. He wasn't actually worried about her interning at Arkham Asylum. Maybe he'd freaked out a little when she'd moved here, but that wasn't why he was here. No matter what anyone said.

“There's no immediate danger, right?” Jazz checked. “No reason I need to be concerned today?”

“Nah,” Danny reassured her, as the campus came into sight. He had about an hour before class to spend in the lab before his lecture. “It's not that kind of problem.” He felt his face arranged itself into a wry smile. “You might like this one.”

“Oh?” Jazz asked, intrigued. “Do tell.”

“Only after I've sworn you to perfect silence,” Danny shot back instantly. “I mean it, for real, you can't tell a soul living or dead or nonliving or-”

“I think I get it,” she cut him off. Jazz huffed. “As if I can't keep a secret. You think I can't keep secrets? I know the most incredible things that you could never dream up.”

“...Big if true,” Danny snarked, pretending that he wasn't extremely interested.

“You never knew what happened to the Robinsons,” Jazz said airily. “And you never will.”

“...that doesn't bother me at all,” Danny lied. He stopped walking.

“Ahuh,” Jazz said knowingly. “Hey, remember the neon cheese incident?”

Danny gritted his teeth. “Can't say I do,” he said. It was bullshit, and even he knew it wasn't convincing Jazz. He was dying to know the truth. It had been the talk of the town for weeks and was still occasionally featured on unsolved mystery podcasts. He'd gone far enough to ask the Dairy King, but even the dead wouldn't speak on it.

“Have a good day of classes, little brother,” Jazz said sweetly. She ended the call.

He rubbed at his temples. Ancients, she gave him a headache. She was fantastic. She was killing him and absolutely ruining his unlife. He couldn't even beg her for answers about the neon cheese, because if he managed to badger it out of her, it would prove she could be manipulated into telling secrets. That would be a loss anyway. It was more likely that either she didn't know anything or that she knew and her lips would stay sealed: Danny didn't have any to waste his breath.

He did a few calming rounds of breathing, now that he was thinking about it, and then went on with his day a bit invigorated by the familial aggravation.

Danny felt a little better about focusing on class now that he knew he could count on Jazz in his corner. She was the smartest person he knew. She could probably get him divorced by the end of the day. Hell, she probably already had a contingency plan for getting him a divorce. She was so ready for him to have a relationship so that he would have relationship problems to ask her about.

When he finished up on campus, Danny cut across town to pick up takeout food as an offering. He presented it to Jazz as soon as she opened the door, head bowed and food theatrically high.

“Oh, come in,” Jazz said, exasperated. She grabbed him by the back of his collar and bodily pulled him inside. “My neighbors are going to think I'm so weird, Danny!”

“My liege,” he intoned seriously. “I come bearing- ow! Stop hitting my- hey, my face!” Danny wrestled away from the horrible pinching grip his terrible sister had on his cheeks, scowling. “That hurt,” he complained. “Have you ever thought that you're getting caught up in the cycle of violence?”

“I don't lose sleep over it.” Jazz lowered herself delicately onto one of the weird puffs she had instead of chairs and made grabby hands at the takeout. “What did you get me?”

“Coal,” Danny snarked. But he handed over the bag without a fight and plopped himself onto the closest poof thing. He fully laid out and let his head flop past the edge to hang upside down.

“Inversion therapy, so chic,” Jazz said absently.

He considered flipping her off, but his balance was really off in this position and it would be hard to defend himself if she lunged at him. Hell, if she picked up his legs he'd probably tip over onto the floor. Danny dug his heels into the side of the poof in defensive preparation. He kept her in his peripheral vision.

“Oh, Malaysian,” Jazz enthused. “I wanted to have this!” She sounded a little too surprised.

He shot her a thumbs up. Two days ago, she'd sent him a screenshot of a text landing from someone else that had shown most of her screen was the active map app she was using to get to an appointment. The Malaysian restaurant had the star mark that she put on the places that she wanted to try.

He'd gambled that she hadn't gone yet because she hadn't had a late night at work. Jazz only got takeout with company or if she got home too late to cook.

“Cool,” Danny said, because he didn't want his rotten sister to think he cared about her interests. “It was on the way and it smelled good.”

Jazz hummed and put the food on the side table. “So I see.” She folded her fingers in front of her face and peered at him over the steeple. “What happened? What ghost do I need to soup with a fragrant combination of turmeric and saffron?”

“Please don't waste that, ghosts taste fine on their own,” Danny said.

Jazz grimaced. “Ew, Danny,” she enunciated carefully. She paused. “Ew.”

He shrugged and accidentally slipped a little closer to the floor. “Just saying. But actually, no one dead was involved, unless we count-”

“We don't count,” Jazz cut him off, serenely unbothered by his attempts to score empathy points off his death. She was a cold customer.

“Boo,” Danny said, because he knew his brand and respected ghost tradition. “Anyway, Jeremy Waters. Remember -”

“How could I forget,” Jazz muttered. She put her hands on her face.

“Hey,” Danny said, offended that Jeremy got that reaction and he got a big fat impassive nothing no matter how annoying he was.

“What’s Jeremy done?” Jazz sounded exhausted by the concept.

“Well… He uh.” Danny stared at the ceiling. He couldn't look at her directly. “Well. You know how he wants the good favor of the god of the underworld?”

“Yup.” Jazz hit the ‘p’ sound hard.

“He uh, hit the idea that uh. Maybe a Persephone of sorts was just the thing to suck up.”

He heard fabric rustle as Jazz sat up. “He did?”

Wow, she had one of the most fascinating ceilings in the world. Danny stared intently up at a splotch that looked vaguely malign. She ought to get that checked out by an expert before it possessed somebody. “Yeah, so he's been trying to vault people into the Ghost Zone as bridal sacrifices.”

“Ahuh.” Jazz sounded a little bit choked up. She wasn't laughing, so he couldn't complain.

“I had Dani get Vlad look into it-” because Dad or Mom would have been mortifying- “and apparently, he told her the odds of some hack wizard managing to send a living human to the ghost zone was laughable.”

He paused. He couldn't go on.

“And Vlad would know,” Jazz said leadingly.

Danny put a hand over his face. “Yeah, see, the thing is that I'm now very concerned that Vlad might not know.” His words came out muffled.

Jazz was so intent on him. He pretended even harder not to know she was leaning in towards him. “Does- does the ghost king have a bride, Danny?” She somehow managed in a professional tone.

He nodded miserably.

She promptly lost her shit laughing at his misfortune.

#red hot ghouls #dp x dc #dc x dp #dead on main #dc fanfic

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demonic0angel · 1 month

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More Jazz Forms (click for clarity)

TW: disturbing content, body horror

1) Head only Jazz

+ She is a head that walks on a bunch of mysterious tentacles. She’s inspired by a CN novel called “Let the Villain Go” in a chapter where a demon pops up and is described as a head that walks on tentacles (I may be delulu and remembered it wrong).

+ Around 900 feet tall. Most of the height is her tentacles, but her head is still around 100 feet tall.

+ Jason is a little obsessed with how huge she is. When he is away, she stays standing over his apartment like a creepy water storage tank. Nobody can see her except liminals and ghosts, so she remains undetected by Jason’s side.

+ She is generally peaceful and doesn’t move much. She is a relatively quiet being with no explicit ability to defend herself or attack. I imagine her to be very dreamy, despite her piercing stare.

2) Celestial Object Jazz

+ She is a quasi-stellar radio source, AKA a quasar :)

+ Impossibly large and infinite. She is so big that her gravitational pull is pulling apart a piece of the universe. Jason thinks that she’s beautiful, and he looks for her every night. He uses special technology to see her on Earth and when he can, he sneaks onto the Watchtower to look at her.

+ The mass of the black hole that she is made of is around 150 billion solar masses. She is located extremely far from the Milky Way within the largest galaxy of the universe. Since she is technically both the black hole and the gas that surrounds it, she won’t be fading for awhile.

+ Her origin is unknown in this idea (but is related to her siblings, who have all become celestial objects themselves). Her existence is extremely old and that is partially Clockwork’s fault.

3) Corrupted Jazz

+ She has become corrupted from years of ectoplasm, death, and generally instability. The tentacles that come from her stomach is actually just pieces of her soul that are trying to reach for others. She calls for help, but no one but Jason has been reaching out.

+ She cannot be around people for too long, or she causes insanity, violent mood swings, headaches, auditory and visual hallucinations, paranoia, nosebleeds, and general weakness, even if they cannot see her. Jason is somewhat resistant to her, but she heavily restrains herself so the effects of her existence won’t hurt him.

+ She tries to stay away from Jason, but bc she’s so clingy, she watches him from a distance. Her presence brings shadows and darkness, so he’s also been getting a reputation of scaring criminals to pissing themselves whenever he comes by.

+ Her body is covered in shadows, but she glows a little from the ectoplasm, so her silhouette can be vaguely seen.

4) Monochrome Jazz

+ Inspired by Lady Dimitrescu and Hachishakusama

+ She dresses in all black and her skin is pale as well. A hat and face mask cover all available skin on her face. Any skin below the neck is also covered.

+ She is around 9 feet tall. She stalks Jason whenever she can and always follows him around. She is extremely hostile and dangerous and does not hesitate to attack when she feels even the slightest but threatened. She is also completely mute.

+ She is both a ghost and an urban legend, hence why she looks like that. Underneath her mask is a mouth of razor sharp teeth like a moray eel.

5) Wolf Jazz

+ Inspired by Jason’s Red Hood motif that is similar to Little Red Riding Hood. That’s also why I associate Jazz with so many canine themes :)

+ Black fur, several pairs of eyes, and two sets of deformed ears. I am debating whether or not she also has 3 pairs of legs.

+ She follows Jason around like a dog, but does not behave like a pet. As such, he can’t order her around unless she wants to listen to him. Thankfully, she likes cooperating with him and the two of them terrorize the criminals of Crime Alley.

+ She is around 4 feet tall when standing on all fours, but when she stands up on her hind legs, she is around 9 feet tall. She is very fluffy.

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sm-baby · 29 days

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I love your freakshow content but I think it's so funny the biggest of Pomni's "downside" of being with Able is being bored in a world where people are regularly getting killed, mutilated, and tortured on the other side. 😂

Its less so boredom, its more so complete isolation... The Manor is also described to be liminal, with rooms multiplying the deeper you go... Its kind of like living in a minimal space... Like yeah, its dope at first, but youre going to lose yourself living in the same place after awhile, man!

Do you remember quarantine? The time where a whole Generation was set back 2 years because they were forbidden from going outside? Yeah imagine that, but it was never lifted.

Humans n e e d stimulation... we n e e d other people to connect with, and the only other people WITH pomni are AI who don't experience emotion other than pettiness.

Able DOES bring Pomni to see the shows, but its sort of like taking your dog to the park. She essentially sold her soul to the guy.

Iike.. its DEFINITELY better than what the others to live with... but thats why able is called a "lesser evil".

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cynthrey · 2 years

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Echoing through to you

When the skies cry

Until the Blood Moon descends

Then we’ll rewrite the stars

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

In honor of the finale of my good friend, @lunarsands‘, fanfic series “Soul Liminality 2: I Would Die For You” have some art about an angel who fell in love with a star.

#i wanted to draw hands holding and somehow ended with this #how idk #tried to replicate the style of that one witherangel pic i made months ago #scott smajor im never forgiving you for not thinking about making a cameo of your osmp starborne character at the end of your alsmp series #you had the perfect chance right there man XD #my art #alsmp #alsmp mythicalsausage #alsmp scott smajor #osmp scott smajor #<- technically #scosage #calling them celestial husbands as a joke XD #mythicalsausage #scott smajor #dangthatsalongname #soul liminality 2 #soul liminality 2: i would die for you #thanks alsmp for leading me to meeting an awesome person :)

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aikoiya · 2 months

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LoZ: LU - The Chain in the Depths

I just had a thought. How would the Links react to the Depths?

Like, my theory is that it's actually what remains of old Hyrule from before BotW/TotK.

By that, I mean that the Deku Tree did what he said that he would in WW by using trees to reconnect the islands, which is what makes it possible for the Era of the Wild to be at the end of all 3 timelines. This is supported by how there are so many massive roots all over the place. As well as the fact that the map inside the Forgotten Temple shows that there'd been more water in Central Hyrule during Rauru's time.

But, specifically, how would the rest of the Chain react to the sheer amount of Poe Souls, the Shadow Soldiers, whether they all can see the Poe Souls & Shadow Soldiers (because, remember, apparently not everyone can according to a Yiga journal & the only entities to really make mention of the Poe Souls are the Bargainers), the Bargainers themselves, seeing the Heart Island with the green poe & the pink poe, & the Blupee Burrow?

Not to mention the implication that at least some of the Poe Souls belonged to people who died during the Calamity based on the Ancient Underground Fortress in Akkala. Also, how the triple stone mounds seem to correlate with monuments meant to honor & remember soldiers who died fighting the Calamity. All being at what appeared to be places where great battles took place.

I remember a fic suggesting that the Poe Souls were the souls of people who'd died excavating the Zonaite for the Zonai. However, the thing is that while I could see that being the case for a few of them, I don't think that's the whole story.

I think that the Depths are something of a liminal space where the dead of Hyrule just gather before moving on & that it has become a reflection of the Surface. "As above, so below" & all that. This is supported by, as mentioned before, the state of the Ancient Underground Fortress in Akkala.

This liminality can be partially attributed to having been saturated with magical water for millennia before the Zonai drained it.

And the "as above, so below" phenomenon could be due to the fact that in the Downfall & Child Timelines, Hyrule was lower in elevation while the Hyrule that the Deku Tree would've recreated would obviously have been at a much higher elevation. And when whatever it was that supposedly merged the 3 timelines back together (*cough*War of Ages*cough*) took place, plus the land beneath being saturated with magic, could've intrinsically linked the Surface with the Depths in a way that one simply doesn't see anywhere else. (Not that this is the case, but it's a possibility, I believe.)

And if this is the case, then it'd still allow for landmarks from previous games to appear on the Surface.

It's also possible that what actually fasilitated the merge in the first place was that the War of Ages allowed for things from all 3 timelines to also exist in the other 2, which may have allowed them all to create an inevitable outcome: The Era of the Wild. And once all 3 had a major enough event in common, it allowed for the merge to solidify. (But that's honestly little more than hairbrained speculation on my part.)

However, if this is the case, then it's possible that Ganondorf returning in the Adult Timeline could've simply been a very convenient excuse to cause the Great Flood which would've been a linchpin in allowing for the merge to happen at all.

Hell, it's even possible that had this perceived merge not taken place, then perhaps there wouldn't have been an Era of the Wild. Or a Wild, for that matter.

Also something to note is that we don't know how the Depths looked before the Zonai arrived, nor do we know how they looked during Rauru's reign.

Either way, I'd very much like to see someone go into this. Possibly even with Spirit in the Chain.

There's theories that he'd have what amounts to the Mind's Eye unlocked from birth. And I personally hc that the Spirit Train is used to transport the souls of the dead to the afterlife in New Hyrule, so if no one else, I def think that he'd be able to see them all. Possibly even better than Wild.

May even be able to talk to them & the Shadow Soldiers. Or just hear their final wishes if nothing else.

Fudge... imagine Wild learning that one of those Shadow Soldiers was the shade of his father desperately trying to do whatever he can to help his son... Aaaangst...

I believe this is concept art of them.

And imagine the shame of still not remembering him or the sister he once had.

Or, if he does end up getting his memories of them back & breaks down at the realization that he'd failed them. Obviously, it wasn't his fault, but let's be real here. Wild would absolutely take it that way. And imagine how much Wind would try to sympathize with him, but Wild might not appreciate it because Wind, at the very least, had been able to save his sister. Wild had failed his. (I know that it's implied that Wild's family had lived in the Hateno House.

And imagine the shock & fragile hope of learning that last his father knew, his sister was still alive & that this meant Wild might have nieces & nephews.

And now suddenly he feels so very small & strangely desperate to have just one more connection to the life he once had. Because he might not have been the same man as he was & he may even be happier now, but that does not mean that his old life was bereft of joy & love.

Perhaps, he wants a little bit of that love back. Even if only in second-hand stories of the family he hadn't quite realized until this exact moment that he lost.

Just one more thing that the Calamity pilfered from his grasp.

Or perhaps she's still alive, just incredibly old & weak & unable to even get out of bed anymore.

I also hc that FD is the Hyrulean god of death (among other things) & that the Bargainer's Statues are basically very early depictions of him.

That he created the Sheikah, who were tasked with helping the dead to move on & were once the ones who brought the Poe Souls to the Bargainer Statues in the Depths, specifically those who've trained their mind's eye. However, that has obviously changed.

Something else that I'm not sure I've seen. Time & Wind interacting with Wild's Deku Tree.

If anyone has info on the timeline & the order of the Links, it'd be him.

LoZ Linked Universe Masterlist

#loz #legend of zelda #totk #tears of the kingdom #lu #linked universe #linkeduniverse #lu wild #lu spirit #totk link #st link #the depths

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lunarsands · 11 months

Text

ALSMP Fanfic: Along The Roads To Sanctuary Ch 1

Bonus also Empires SMP S2 fanfic! I just didn’t want to make the title field too long ^_^;

Relationships: MythicalSausage/Scott Smajor

Tags: Canon Divergent, fictional religion, scosage, Afterlife SMP meets Empires SMP S2 but in an AU way,

Warnings: violence, surrealism via magic auras, humorous misunderstandings about infidelity, (tfw your husband cheats on you…with you), kidnapping (although we know how that went in canon)

(Sequel to Echoing Through To You, When The Skies Cry, Until The Blood Moon Descends, Then We’ll Rewrite The Stars, Wherever These Flowers May Grow)

(Also available on Ao3!)

[ A/N: Gratitude as usual to Cynthrey for brainstorming and for help translating dialogue lines to Spanish! | Since my sequel title game is getting excessive, I’m noting here that this also follows the events of “Who’s The Unfairest Of Us All”, hence the italicized blurb at the beginning]

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Chapter One

As soon as Sausage and Scott had left after telling her about their encounters with Myth and Smajor, Pearl began to pace around the inside of the royal gazebo, her mind abuzz with thoughts of parallel versions of people. She stopped at one point to wave a hand over the reflecting pool, bringing up a sepia-tone image of a world from the past.

She watched it for a moment, then let out a distressed sigh and returned to pacing around, hands clasped tightly behind her back.

An unfamiliar voice called out from the direction of the pool. “Goddess PearlescentMoon, we need to have words with you.”

Pearl froze, then pivoted on her heel. Rising out of the pool was a bipedal figure made of jittering static. When they fully emerged, they stepped onto the floor, remaining indistinguishable, although Pearl thought she could make out the shape of a pair of closed eyes. “Well, that’s quite an entrance,” she said stiffly. “But – I’m sorry? Who are you?”

“We are one of the higher deities, responsible for matters of the spirit which are involved with all living things. That includes souls. You have something to answer for…”

Behind them, the pool returned to the image of the sepia-washed world just as a figure wearing a crown of red and gold stepped into view.

~*~

Having overseen the settling of night across the mortal realms, the starborne guardian Scott made his way home with a series of mid-air leaps and bounds that left a trail of purple sparkles in his wake all the way back to PearlescentMoon’s realm, where it was also still night. He smiled, thinking of how he and Sausage would have a chance to watch the sunrise together before he took a little rest and the seraph started his daily work. They would still get to spend time together during the day, but night had become very special to him.

“Sausage! I’m back!” Scott called cheerfully as he opened the door. He then gave pause. There was an odd stillness about the place, and he found himself beginning to rush as he went from room to room, looking for any trace of the seraph – a note, perhaps, if he’d had an early duty to attend to. As he entered the bedroom, he could swear he heard the sound of a baby crying, just for a split second – but, no, it had to have just been the creak of the door hinges.

Then he spotted several feathers on the floor, a glint of silver along the tips as the light from the doorway fell on them. “Sausage?” he asked of the empty air.

It was unusual for him to up and leave with no word, regardless of whatever task he had to do. Scott turned, not even entertaining the thought of waiting, and was soon bounding toward the center of the realm where he knew he could find the one person who should definitely know where Sausage was.

The royal gazebo came into view, a humble and rustic structure on the outside that matched its surroundings and had nothing fancy about it that would indicate it was where a goddess held court. She was, at the moment, seated in her wicker throne and chatting with a messenger from some other minor god but her gaze flicked over to Scott as he entered. She held up a hand to pause her conversation then nodded at the starborne.

“Pearl, have you seen Sausage? He wasn’t at home waiting like usual and I didn’t see a note. Was he summoned for something?” He had expected a mere confirmation; he did not expect her look of sympathy.

“I am so sorry, Scott. This is going to be difficult to hear, but he received another calling.”

“What? What do you mean? I thought seraphs didn’t get those anymore!”

“It’s unusual but the situation turned out to be dire. And also complicated. It had to be him.”

“Wait, so… I don’t get to say goodbye or anything?”

“It was urgent.”

Scott hastily considered his options. “So, he’s on some mortal world again… Send me there.”

“I… don’t have that type of power over you.”

Scott tried not to let too much annoyance cross his face. “Then at least show me, please.” He gestured desperately to the reflecting pool set into the gazebo’s floor off to the side.

“There honestly isn’t much to show right now. He only just entered the world, but he’s also starting over – from the very beginning of a new life.” Aware of what he intended to do, and as usual knowing she couldn’t stop him, Pearl added, “You’ll have to do the same if you want to follow him. There are different rules there than the world where you two met.”

Scott’s eyes widened. He hadn’t imagined that sound of a newborn baby. The echo back at their house was Sausage’s connection to this realm. “W-Will he remember me, when we meet again – however many years that ends up being?”

“No. He can’t remember right now. His task requires… other memories. I can’t explain all of it right now. I’ll answer you if you call on me, when you regain your memories of life here, but you absolutely cannot tell him. It’s very important. There is… a great evil that he is now responsible for undoing. You can help protect him if the danger becomes too much – I know you could never be stopped from doing so – but you still have to be careful. Promise me, Scott of the Stars. Promise me you won’t interfere with this destiny.”

Scott’s heart ached. It might be a very long time before Sausage returned to the celestial realm if all of this was to play out as indicated. It would be better to at least be in the same world to help, rather than just watch from above. He murmured out loud, “Now I know how he felt, only able to look in on me in the other world after he ascended…” Then he nodded firmly. “If we were destined to be together despite all the other trials, then this is destiny, as well. I promise.”

~*~

The first decade and a half was something of a blur and spent unaware of the power of the cosmos just beneath his skin, but as Scott made his way into his later teen years, he found himself studying the stars, drawn to follow them and see where they led. He began to explore around outside the idyllic town of llama herders and quiet meadows, collecting shiny rocks from the hills and streams, and occasionally even stumbling upon half-buried relics of a long-ago past – well, mainly pottery shards and arrowheads, but one time he found a gemstone that definitely had been shaped by artisan hands.

This gave him a taste for treasure hunting, and when on trips to other towns while accompanying llama caravans delivering goods, he would stop to scour local history books that might lead him to other shiny discoveries.

Some turned out to be in the clutches of people far wealthier than him. Some were squirreled away in general collections, and others were rumored to still be in the ruins and caverns they had been lost in. He wanted to acquire them all, even though he wasn’t always sure what was behind that urge. Stealing probably wasn’t the best idea…

At least, not without some tricks and training first. He practiced with treasures out in the wild, scaling cliffs and navigating ravines, although finding quite a bit of it to be easier than others might. His agility was unparalleled, and sometimes he seemed to have no regard for gravity at all.

The only thing that ever seemed to – if momentarily – throw him off his game was the sound of a bird taking flight. Something about it always caught his attention right away, and he would be compelled to watch as the bird flew away.

~*~

Elsewhere in the world, a young man learning to be a blacksmith in a peaceful town full of magically-gifted people would wander outside in the evening and sit to gaze up at the sky. His surrogate father, Eddie, the blacksmith training him and a member of one of the anthropomorphic peoples in the area, would join him after tidying up for the day.

One evening, after a particularly busy day and needing the extra hand with cleanup but finding him already gone, Eddie went out to retrieve him. He was on the bench out front as usual, making him easy to find, at least. Eddie put on the act of it being arduous to lower his older, aching body onto the bench. “Well, quite a lot to do still today, yet here you are. Sausage, why do you stare at the sky so much? It will still be there after we’re actually done for the day.”

“Sorry,” the young man offered, laughing awkwardly as he realized he was being scolded. “I can’t help it. They’re just so beautiful! I love seeing them appear as the sky gets dark, like a mystery that’s only revealed in certain light – or, well, lack of light, I guess. Lack of daylight, specifically? Anyway, I love to see them. I - I’ll come inside in a minute, I promise. I wasn’t going to not help close up the shop, I just…” He turned his gaze upward again. “I feel drawn to them. Sometimes I wish I could meet a star.”

Eddie scoffed, although it was a gentle sound. “You know they’re just specks of light, and not something you can actually see in person, right? Aside from legends that say otherwise, but those are still only legends. Even the old stories of spirits from the forests are just people who had nature magic. Probably just someone who had light magic, and either they or someone else claimed they fell from the sky.”

“This is unusually cynical of you tonight. I mean, one day someone might tell the legend of Sausage, the man who could talk to animals! I could be mythical, even!”

“I’m unusually tired and sore tonight, son.” Eddie tried to sound grumpy, but he enjoyed Sausage’s idea of whimsy. “Get back inside and help your old man out, then you can run with your imagination later.”

“Yes, sir, on my way!” Sausage hopped up and scurried inside. Eddie heard him a moment later chattering with a mouse before the sound of a broom sweeping the floor followed. He smiled and folded his arms over his stomach, taking a rest of his own as he admired the sky.

~*~

Adventuring and treasure hunting naturally came with a few costs. There were the occasional close calls where Scott was nearly caught stealing, and the ones where he was caught – an incident with a witch came to mind, when he had merely been trying to procure some potions to help in his endeavors, and while she was busy brewing, his sticky fingers just so happened to try to touch a shiny bauble hidden away on a dusty shelf. He figured she wouldn’t even miss it, considering the number of cobwebs around it. Instead, he ended up running out of her hut with neither the bauble nor the potions, and her threatening that the only reason she didn’t curse him right that second was because he paid for the potions in advance, and she at least was honorable in that aspect.

Then there were the physical scrapes and bumps from hastily escaping traps, his agility saving him from worse damage. He managed to avoid any major breaking of bones, although he did sprain his wrist one time. A little bit of rest and strictly adhering to stretching exercises saw him back to his craft again.

He was more careful about inspecting his surroundings when closing in on an item, now expecting pretty much everything to be trapped in some way. Yet one thing he did not heed was rumors surrounding treasures – he only believed in concrete evidence. No, a tomb was not guarded by an invincible warrior clad in armor; it had a redstone system that assembled iron golems when the trap was triggered. No, people were not stolen away by spirits; they bumbled their way into a hidden pit with a sheer drop all the way down to bedrock while the trap reset overhead.

Someone could say that a relic was ‘haunted’, but he dismissed those claims as nonsense. Actual magic had to be performed in front of his eyes, and until then, he remained skeptical. But it was still a good way to get a lead on where a treasure might be.

One such tale sent him on his longest journey to date, to find the entire treasure room of an ancient kingdom. It was said that the people had fled a great calamity, and with their ruler gone missing, not a second was spared toward worrying about what was inside the castle. Among the treasures were rumored to be a magic staff that allowed the wielder to travel to other dimensions – Scott guessed it might allow someone to magically summon portals to the Nether and to The End – and something called the Nether Star Pendant, said to contain the soul of a grim reaper, and whoever carried the relic with them would be safe from all manner of death. For that one he figured it had a spell of protection on it; there was no possible way a mere gemstone could hold such a spirit.

The ruins seemed promising, once he found them among overgrown fields and the crumbling foundations of buildings long since reclaimed by nature. He made his way to the largest footprint and scoured around until he found a way underground, where the lowest levels of the castle might have survived intact. After no small amount of digging, however, he found the old corridors to be impassible. This was not as simple as buried treasure under a beach somewhere.

He hated to leave empty-handed, but this would take some possibly serious excavation, and he didn’t even know for sure if there would be anything in there. Ancient tragedies eventually passed, and in the aftermath other people might loot an area as soon as it was safe – especially an entire abandoned castle.

He camped for the night under the stars. He would explore around tomorrow, maybe do a little more digging – maybe an extra meter further in might yield something to make this worth it. Even just a fancy sword or two would suffice. Although, perhaps the missing king himself had taken the items when he left, intending to cross dimensions and cheat death.

~*~

Elsewhere in the world, a man was running for his life through a village that was engulfed in fire everywhere he turned. He had lost track of his remaining loved ones in the smoke when everyone scattered. At least one of them needed to escape. At least one of them needed to keep the magic safe.

Well, no. Eddie had insisted that it be Sausage who must absolutely make it out alive and flee far, far away. With arrows streaking past him, he continued to run. He tried to use the smoke and flames to his own advantage until he could reach the outskirts of the village and attempt to lose his pursuers in the forest. As he crossed the border into the trees, he whispered a fervent request to those old spirits of the forest that Eddie had once talked about, hoping they might hear him and aid his escape somehow.

Someone answered, although he saw none of it as he fled, eyes straight ahead to find a path. Behind him the brush grew thicker, tree branches closing in to fill gaps, with vines suddenly swinging down to conveniently catch around a soldier’s chest, almost seeming to pull them backward. Giant sunflowers sprang up to block the way as well, and their stems proved too tough for the soldiers to cut them down with any type of speed.

The tyrant king would still want him – and anyone else possessing so much as a scrap of magic – to be found. Dedicated trackers and assassins would have to handle that.

~*~

Scott checked his map one more time. This was definitely the right desert temple. The supposed marble skull had to be around here somewhere. The drawing in the bottom corner was pretty specific, so it wasn’t like he could mistake it for one of the other dozen, mundane skulls laying around. Someone had once had a very creepy idea of décor, or maybe thought the display would scare off thieves. But he still wasn’t about to become superstitious and turn back.

He sidled around a bend in the corridor, very much continuing to be cautious of traps, however. He gasped quietly. There it was, finally. It practically gleamed in the dark, the light of his torch not yet reaching it, but once he had made his inspection of the floor and walls, the torchlight struck the pink jewel in the skull’s right eye socket.

He grinned to himself. It was magnificent. It would look wonderful in his collection. He kept his eagerness in check, however. Picking up a treasure was where the final two traps would be: triggered by touching the item itself, and by carrying it past a specific threshold.

With the utmost caution he removed the skull from its place. There wasn’t any dust around it to have left an imprint…or to hide some mechanism. He remained alert as he retreated to the doorway of the chamber, and watched every step he took on the way out of the temple. He even waited to see if taking the skull a certain distance caused any reaction, but it seemed he was going to get away with it completely unscathed.

That was, until he woke up the next morning and found he could no longer see out of his left eye.

Except that turned out to be because he no longer had a left eye.

Meanwhile, the skull now sported a brand new, shiny green gemstone in its left eye socket.

The shock and realization of what had transpired was enough to keep him stunned for the better part of the day. Putting the skull back was unlikely to change anything. After all, there was someone out in the world – at least at one time, since there was no way to gauge how long the skull had been there – walking around missing their right eye.

It took longer than he would have liked to gather his thoughts and choose a course of action. Maybe someone with more knowledge of magical artifacts could tell him how to get his eye back. Nothing that he could recall mentioned anything about the skull being magic, only that it was pristine and had a beautiful crystal in it.

Quiet inquiries eventually led him to an old wizard in a swamp – a very likely place for someone who would have knowledge of a body part stealing-and-transforming artifact. By that point Scott was more than happy to hand over the skull in way of payment, and he figured the weird potion was pretty much meant to knock him out so the wizard could extract his eye from the skull, change it back to normal, and return it to him.

At one point he heard a strange sort of echoing sound, and then felt the warmth of sunlight, and then could smell freshly turned soil, and then tasted honey.

All that was left to sense, then, was…

He opened his eyes. The wizard, the skull – all trace of everything was gone. But he could see properly again. He still had everything else on him that he had brought, so the wizard hadn’t robbed him; whatever reason he had for disappearing before Scott woke was fine to remain a mystery. He was just glad to have his full sight back.

He pushed open the door of the shack, knocking aside a tall sunflower without realizing that it hadn’t been there before. He passed several more sunflowers on the way to find a clear stream to get a look at his face. He leaned over and was startled to see that it wasn’t his eye, because now his left eye was yellow.

Unless maybe it had been altered by being in the skull and then removed from it? With the wizard gone, he had no way of finding… out…

Something else was strange.

His reflection appeared to be glittering, and not just from the sunlight refracting off the water. He looked down at his hands, then turned them forward and back; his skin appeared to be dusted with pinpoints of light. He brushed at them, then dipped them in the water and splashed some on his face, too – since it also glittered in the reflection.

But, no, it wasn’t something that could be washed off.

A memory stirred. He glanced over his shoulder at the nearest sunflower, then looked back down at the water. As the ripples faded out, he saw himself again, but with violet hair and matching eyes, a purple gradient starting bright at his fingertips then darkening as it went down the bare arms of his reflection.

He stumbled backward and landed pressed up against the side of the low hill. His head became a whirlwind of conflicting memories. His life here, but… a life somewhere else. A life of many creatures, not just human, starting with a small mothling and ending with a shooting star that left purple sparkles in its wake.

He gasped and looked at the sunflower again. “P-Pearl? Pearl?! Can you hear me?!” He jumped up and looked around, frantic. “I – I’ve remembered! I’ve remembered! Pearl, help me – where is he?!”

He reasoned that it might take a moment for his words to reach her. In the meantime, he crept back over to look in the water and gingerly touch his cheek below his left eye.

Perhaps the skull had known exactly what it was doing by taking the eye of a starborne.

~*~

“Scott, just remember – it is very important that you do not remind him yet.”

Scott kept that warning circulating in his head as he made plans. Pearl had responded by coming to him in a dream and giving him a quick briefing. Sausage was somewhere called Sanctuary, building the next phase of his life in this world. Scott would do the same to keep up appearances – a place of his own, rather than simply trying to move into Sanctuary right off the bat. Taking inspiration from the life that had gotten him to this point, he named it Chromia; a small kingdom situated in a flower meadow, which was his own poignant reminder of his home in another world.

It also conveniently gave him a source for trading with local villages, and he made a bittersweet pun out of calling Chromia “a place to dye for”. He looked forward to the day when Sausage might pick up on the second layer of the joke.

In the meantime, he learned that not only did his replacement eye reveal his own appearance, it also showed a glowing aura around magical items; he supposed starbornes could be considered magical beings. Upon this discovery, he tore through his collection, looking for anything of exceptional power that he might use to help Sausage when the time was right.

He found a set of five rings that glowed brightly and one gaudy scepter that had a spell contained within it. Items that had been proclaimed to be special turned out to be mundane, while a few others were, surprisingly, lit up like torches. He soon figured out that with a little concentration he could see the hidden runes floating around things, and he translated a few of them as he went along. The rings all had protection ensorcelled upon them. The scepter held a single fire charge.

A pair of netherite scimitars caught his attention. He remembered fighting with a sword and shield just fine in the past, but perhaps he could start practicing with them. They had a few layers of spells on them, which would doubly come in handy. He decided he would keep them secret, and let everyone think the ruler of Chromia had standard battle skills – more a colorful surface than substance underneath.

When an invitation went out calling on all the rulers of the lands to meet and discuss one big trade deal, Scott saw his chance to finally see how Sausage was faring. At first the gathering was dominated by a very outspoken goblin then everyone began talking over each other, but Scott’s focus was on Sausage, to the exclusion of anyone else. He appeared much the same, having managed to obtain a scar over his right eye again and was… well, honestly, quite a bit more buff-looking than Scott remembered. When Sausage loudly announced that he was trading in every type of wood that existed, it was clear the extra muscle came from lumberjack work.

Scott mentally shook off the distraction and began to analyze the others, just in case. No one seemed like too much of a threat so far… The presence of a pirate seemed a little shady, but that might have just been the instincts of one thief to another.

There was, however, one more shock of the day for him. One person towered above everyone else – literally. As Scott’s gaze traveled up their body to their face, and then as he focused on their voice amid the cacophony, he realized he recognized who it was. He couldn’t help murmuring out loud, “What are the odds of it being this world…”

Joel. It was Joel. The weather god. And he was showing no sign of recognizing him – or Sausage, for that matter – as he turned from his current conversation to look down at Scott. “What’s the matter, little colorful man? I noticed you on that hill near Stratos. You had better stay on your own side of the border. I’ve got big plans, because I’m a big god, and you don’t want to get on my bad side.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Scott replied coolly. “Don’t worry. I planned to just stick to my flower fields.” He turned away to not let the calculating look show on his face. There was no telling how long it had been since Joel had last seen them. Time was always a funny thing between the mortal and higher realms. It was possible Joel had forgotten all about the two florans who had been wandering around his world when he had been a fledgling god. Of course, they were also both decidedly less leaf-covered and not flower-bedecked now, despite Scott’s comment about fields.

A wistful look now crossed Scott’s face as he wandered away from the group. He might have managed to establish Chromia on top of lands that he and Sausage had once worked to repair. The idea was solidified when he wandered far enough for a distant structure to come into view, and he soon recognized it as the Greatbridge of Gilded Ratio – or, the Ancient Capitol, as the archeologist who was studying it called it.

“Hey – Scott, was it?”

His heart fluttered as he heard Sausage call him by name. “Yes, that’s me.” He kept his tone even as he turned to see the founder of Sanctuary jogging over to him. He tried very hard to not stare, for a few reasons. Then he realized something; just because he couldn’t remind Sausage of their previous lives didn’t mean he couldn’t show attraction to him. “What can I do for a strong, handsome man like yourself?”

“Um.” Sausage let out one of his giggles that Scott now realized he missed hearing. “I just, um, I heard you trade dyes? I have some colorful building designs I want to try, but I’m going to need a lot of dye for the concrete. Can we set up some kind of extra deal between just the two of us?”

“Sure. I’m actually lacking tree variety in Chromia. I’ll trade you color for color – I’m thinking regular planks might get too boring after a while.”

“I would highly recommend spruce for a lot of things, though!”

“Oh, that goes without saying, that you would—” Scott caught himself, “…because you seem to know what you’re talking about, being a lumberjack and all. I would assume decorating taste goes along with it, best use of each type and all that.”

“Oh, yes yes yes, architecture is another hobby of mine!” Sausage smiled proudly, perhaps glad that someone was seeing beyond his brawny exterior. “You should visit Sanctuary after I’ve built it up some more, you might enjoy what I have in mind, since you seem to also like a good color combination.”

Scott smiled warmly. “I’d like that. You can let me know how it’s going whenever you come by Chromia with a delivery. And you’re also welcome to stay for a little while, if you like…” He lightly placed a hand on Sausage’s arm and decided to not be subtle as he offered an admiring glance.

Sausage grinned in response, blissfully unaware that it was his own husband flirting with him, but clearly appreciating the interest.

~*~

Upon returning from the gathering, Scott decided he needed a better way to communicate with Pearl other than waiting for her to visit him in dreams. Recalling how Sausage had been able to focus directly on him via the memorial dais in the cemetery of Heaven’s Reach, he disguised a small shrine as seemingly just another part of a patch of sunflowers next to a supply shed, while including a small reflecting pool to ‘fancy up’ the shed itself. He figured it also counted as a nod to the farming goddess.

It took a day or two of visiting and quietly speaking her name over it, but there came a point where he walked past it and caught a glow coming off of it with his replacement eye. He smiled in relief and stopped to gaze into the pool. “Pearl. I can see you’ve connected. Can you hear me right now?”

The surface of the water shimmered, then the goddess’ face appeared. “I hear you and see you. Clever of you to think of this.”

“Well, you gave the suggestion last time. I figured it could work again. I’ve spoken with Sausage. He seems well, and didn’t recognize me at all, so the memory thing is working perfectly. I assume I’m allowed to spend time with him as long as I don’t purposely try to trigger anything.”

Pearl smiled patiently. “Yes, you can be friends with him. I did say you could help him. Just keep your own disguise up.”

“I do have one question, and it’s more for me than him. Do you know what, um, happens if someone gains access to a piece of a starborne? Can it be used to influence the stars in any way?”

Pearl’s expression became sad. Scott’s stomach twisted, now worried he had inadvertently caused a bigger issue – except, he didn’t know at the time he was risking a starborne’s body, nor knew what the skull was capable of. “I don’t know why it took your eye, Scott,” she said, startling him since he hadn’t told her any of that yet. “But I tried to help you as best I could.”

“Wait, what do you mean? Did you read my mind while you were in that dream?”

“No. I had been watching both of you. Dire events were happening around him, so I checked on you, too, to see if anything pivotal was also going on around you. I saw you seeking help. That wizard was only going to give you a glass eye, but I imbued it with power that could help you. Why do you think it’s yellow, and not green?”

Scott touched his left cheek. “Yellow… …like a sunflower. But… then it triggered my memory…”

“Yes. I had something else in mind to give you a nudge to start the process, but I had to intervene somehow in that moment. Now you’ve got a little divine assistance to help out more.”

“So, I can see what I really look like, and I can see a glow around magical items. Is there anything else? Wait, why didn’t I see what Sausage really looks like – I mean, he doesn’t usually sparkle like I do, but wouldn’t an angelic aura count?”

“You’ll be able to see more in time, when and as needed. For now, it’s just an extra edge. Have those magic items at hand, and so on.”

“I figured I would keep them handy, yeah.” Scott tried to think of anything else to ask, but nothing came to mind right away. “I’ll check in again if anything else out of the ordinary happens. I guess you can give me a signal to call me over to this shrine if you need to tell me anything, too. For now, I’ll keep just being Scott, ruler of Chromia.”

Pearl now smiled gently. “Live your own life, too. It’s sort of like another chance at a mortal life.”

Scott gave her a sad look. “Pearl, you know I can’t have much of a life without him beside me. This is like life-adjacent, where I only see him from a distance.”

[ Chapter Two ]

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