#the page also has a loop that scared me half to death when i found it

[sope-and-shine]

The Right of a King: Pt. 2

-> SFW // Soulmate!AU // fluff, angst // mummy!Namjoon -> Pairing: Namjoon x Reader -> Word Count: 18.7k  -> Summary: Life as the night guard for your local high-end museum was supposed to be simple and easy. The most dangerous part of your job was only supposed to be the middle-aged patrons who insisted they get a discount for a line being too long. Nowhere in your contract did it say you’d be taking care of a 1,000 year old king that had been mummified. Thankfully, for you he’s harmless, but the storm that comes with him is not as welcoming. -> Warning(s): mild language, brief crude humor, misogyny still exists, overuse of the word wench but not by Namjoon, brief mention of death, brief mention of illness, Jimin is STILL that salesman that uses his charm to steal your money and your boyfriends money - but will anyone complain? no. , kdrama ending - if you know you know, mild violence

a/n: Thank you @sakuraguks-main​ for checking this out before posting! You really came in clutch for this one 

also i SWEAR NAMJOON WILL GET A HAPPY ENDING 

Part 1 // Masterlist

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*

*

Who would have thought that your life could turn up like this? You didn’t have any intention of ever falling for the man who literally scared the shit out of you when you first met him, but now you can’t help but blush when you think about him. The look of content he has when he views a new exhibit, the gentle smile he shares with you when you bring him food for the night. Some of his mannerisms are still very annoying, but he’s much more endearing than you initially gave him credit for.

He’s lightened up over the past few days as you’ve grown to know each other more. You’ve put in an effort to not patronize him, and he’s made a much greater effort to not to offend you with comments regarding your gender. Teaching him about misogyny was a night you won’t forget.

You spent half an hour just teaching him how your phone worked. Thankfully, he grasped the concept that it was much like the kiosks around the museum, only the smaller device did much more. You also threw in a quick explanation on the internet and it’s wonders, using that very interesting lesson to segway into your talk about women of power.

The woman on the screen throws another punch into the man’s jaw, cutting up and effectively knocking him back into the cage surrounding the ring. She advances on him and continues to throw punch after punch until a call is made and she steps back into her corner.

“Is he dead?” Namjoon asks, watching the man crumple to the ground through the tiny screen.

You chuckle at his assumption, “Not dead, but he’ll definitely feel all of those tomorrow when he wakes up.”

“She has excellent precision!” He praises, “I can’t believe the women of this era are so fierce.” He taps the screen to try to rewind the video like you showed him before, but he can’t seem to tap the screen just right. He huffs, “Infernal contraption…”

You laugh at him and he glares at you, “You think this is funny?”

“No! Not at all~” You say, all the while trying to hold your laughter back.

Namjoon is unimpressed with your amusement and pushes at your shoulder, “Don’t be so childish.”

He’d usually get annoyed with you when you’d laugh at his shortcomings and achievements. Every huff over the kiosk and every curious press of the button at the water fountain is met with a small giggle from you. You just can’t help it when his eyebrows furrow and a little pout appears on his face, and you’d found it harder to ignore his excited little dance when he did something new. 

“Alright, I’ll stop.” 

Despite annoying the king to no end, he did enjoy your lesson for him. He also learned that he enjoyed boxing and the political diplomats of the 21st century. For some reason, both seemed to go hand in hand for him, but you weren’t going to question his sudden enjoyments of your world. He was known to read and write in his free time before his death - not to mention the battles he faced when the situation arose. Introducing him to women proving their strengths in both probably ignited a fire that he hadn’t been able to experience since before his death. 

As a way to help him, you decide to bring him a notebook and some felt tip pens. It wouldn’t be like anything he was used to, but it would give him an outlet for himself. Sure he had you to talk to, but you weren’t exactly ideal. With a pen and paper, he’d be able to write out his own thoughts and feelings for himself. He wouldn’t have to worry about holding it all in or hoping you’ll understand how he feels.

Handing them to him is a nerve wracking experience itself. This wasn’t just walking around the museum to look at the exhibits as an act of kindness, this was a gift. He didn’t ask for it, and you were so nervous that he wouldn’t even like color.

“What are these?” he asks, taking the bag from your hand. He opens the top and looks inside, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

“I stopped by the store on my way here.” You grab the top of the bag and pull it towards you, letting him hold it open so you can pull out the materials inside. You show him the light blue cover of the notebook and flip it open to showcase the pages, “It’s a notebook so you can write down your thoughts when you don’t want to say them to me.”

“I see.” He nods in understanding. He looks into the bag and reaches in to pull out the felt tipped pen you’d bought just for him. He looks even more confused than he had before, holding the plastic container between his fingers. “This is what you’re using to write with now?”

“It’s called a pen.” You set the notebook back in the bag and take the pen from him, pulling the cap off so he can see the tip. You draw a line on the back of your hand before showing him the mark you made, “They put all the ink inside one part so you can write with this part. The cap is so your ink doesn’t dry or bleed out.”

You hand him the open pen and let him try, allowing him to draw on your hand so he can try it himself. Seeing the black line appear in one clean stroke by his own hand, he becomes mesmerized, “Genius.”

“At the end of the night, you can tuck them away by your feet so you can keep them close. Just make sure the pen clicks when you put the cap on.” You explain. You hand him the cap to the pen and watch him carefully put it back in place, laughing when he flinches at the clicking sound. “Did that scare you?”

“It most certainly did not! It was just too loud!” He argues, attempting to defend his pride.

“Oh, no! The great King Kim Namjoon is afraid of a teeny tiny pen!” You tease, laughing at his expense.

“I am not scared of the pen!” He whines, unamused by your teasing. You continue to poke fun at him, even as he protests against you.

CRASH

A loud, metallic clanging interrupts your small dispute. Before you can even turn your head to see what it could have been, Namjoon grabs your arm to pull you into his embrace. He has your face pressed against his firm chest, a hand cradling the back of your head to hold you close. You can feel his muscular arms through the thin fabric of his shirt pressing against your back to keep you in place and protected from whatever danger may be lurking in the hall.

“What is that?” He asks, more to himself than for you.

“-Ah owno!” You mumble against his chest, unable to properly pronounce your words. You push against his chest and tap his sides until he finally lets you move back far enough for you to try again, “I don’t know.”

Namjoon pulls you over to a display case - the one that runs parallel to the kiosk wall - and presses your back against the wood. He looks around the case before he turns back to you with the most concern you’ve seen on him since you’ve met. “Stay here.” 

“No.” You try to push him off, but Namjoon’s grip is firm. 

He levels his face with yours, “(Y/n), I’m not letting you put yourself into potential danger!” 

“Namjoon, that’s my job!” You remind him, “If someone is out there, then I need to report it! Let me go.” 

You try your best to push against him, not wanting to use excessive force if you really don’t have to. Only Namjoon still refuses to budge, “No. You can’t protect yourself properly, I’m not letting you go.”

“Oh, I can’t protect myself?” You ask. In all fairness, he’d never seen you in action besides when you first met, and you could only manage to scream and back away from him at the time. Now, you were in a real situation that required your immediate attention, and he was mocking you for not being strong enough!

“No, you ca-Ah!” Instead of allowing him to continue, you kick your right leg out and wrap it behind his, pulling it towards you as you push against his shoulders at the same time. He falls to the floor with a thud.

“Now, how about you stay here and I’ll go check out what’s going on?” You suggest, leaning over him as he holds the back of his head.

He tries to sit up and falls back down with a grunt, “Yeah...that sounds like a good idea.”

You leave Namjoon lying on the wooden planks and go to investigate the sound. You pull your flashlight from your belt loop and peek around the entryway. The hall itself is completely empty, no signs of anyone having been in the hall. Making small, quiet steps to the next exhibit, you see that it’s gate is still intact and locked just as you had left it. 

A hand places itself on your shoulder and you don’t hesitate to kick behind you. You turn over your left shoulder to hit your assailant in the neck, but you quickly stop when you see it’s only Namjoon who’s bent over himself behind you.

“Namjoon!” You rush forward to comfort him, holding his arm with one hand and rubbing his back. “I am so sorry.”

He applies pressure to his shin where a patch of dirt is left from your shoe. He looks up, “You are surprisingly good at that.” 

You bend down, leaning over yourself to look at Namjoon on his level, “Yeah, self defense classes come in handy for everyday criminals. They don’t really teach you what to do when an ancient mummy breaks free from his coffin.”

“Sarcophagus.” He corrects.

You scoff, “Is there really a difference?” 

“Ow...” 

You and Namjoon exchange a worried glance, unsure of what to think. The hall was empty and the exhibit was still locked, so whoever spoke had to have been hiding within the exhibit and you’d missed them during your sweep. They wouldn’t be the first to try, but they would be the first success. You’ll be lucky if Hoseok and Yoongi don’t fire you on the spot when they get here. 

You move to the gate, “Alright, you’ve had your fun-” 

You stop.

Looking at the exhibit from the doorway, you don’t see anyone at all. No human being stands anywhere within the exhibit. However, the artifacts that line the room are more than just the usual ‘eye catching’ that patrons would describe them as.  

They’re alive.

It’s truly a scene from a movie, watching the paintings on the wall move in ripples as their paint begins to stretch with every push against their canvas’. Statues along the rooms edges move with ear-piercing screeches and subtle creaks, their bodies slowly moving of their own volition. In the next room over, the statues move as well. Extraordinary and familiar, you can’t help but to stare in awe at the scene before you.

Namjoon shares the same sentiments, only he’s even more amazed, “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” He asks. His jaw is slack and brown eyes as wide as a curious child. Between the both of you, he should be the one that’s used to the scene.

You can’t help but nudge him, “Now you know how I felt.”

He shakes his head, still enraptured in wonder, “It’s amazing~”

“Yeah…” You look over the room, watching the pieces that can move freely begin to roam. Each one is different as they allow their curiosity to take over. They remind you of Namjoon the second night he had been awake; each confused yet determined to learn more about their surroundings.

In the second room over - the one that connects to the exhibit - you find only a few of the artifacts have also come to life. It’s strange, but you don’t question the magic of the supposed moon goddess. Instead, you and Namjoon enjoy the new company given to you through the night, and you ensure they return to their rightful places at the end of the night.

* * *

“He told those children that I rode tigers around my palace in my freetime! I did no such thing!” Namjoon rages, arms flailing about. With each angry word, his arms move back and forth as if they’re constructing an invisible masterpiece,  “I protected and rehabilitated it! I imprisoned many a man that sought those beautiful creatures for such purposes, and I will not accept such ridiculous claims against me!”

Neither you, nor Namjoon had gone to the exhibit next door. He’d been on a tangent about Jeongguk’s inaccuracies since you met him at his gate and he pulled you in. Apparently, he’d woken up during the day, unable to remain asleep. He’d spent quite a bit just thinking in the dark while casually listening to the conversations that happened beyond his resting place. He’d heard a couple argue, two friends making fun of his portrait, and even an elderly woman paying her respects to him. But no conversation he heard was as important to him as Jeongguk’s ‘outrageous’ claims to a group of random school children.

“It’s like he thinks I am a joke! Am I a joke?” He turns to you with such a heated glare, you almost feel bad when your face breaks into a smile. Namjoon seems to pick up on your thoughts when he sees this and his frown forms into a thin line, “Nevermind, I don’t wish to hear your opinion anymore.” 

“You shouldn’t take it to heart. Jeongguk isn’t the most educated person among the museum staff.” You say, attempting to reassure him. However, it only seems to anger him more.

“Why not? He works in one of the most wonderful places in the world, and he chooses to ignore the precious history around him?!” He spits, resembling the same king you had first met. His hardened gaze was nothing but cold and spiteful, “How selfish can he be to not take advantage of such a wonderful opportunity?”

“Woah, chill out. Jeongguk isn’t the brightest tool in the shed, but he’s one of the most hardworking!” You defend. You knew better than anyone that Jeongguk was not the best candidate for the job, but he was always looking to improve. Above everything, he always put his everything into studying the exhibits - even if it wasn’t spot on, “Sure, the information may not stick or he may not remember it exactly as it is, but he’s a nice kid.”

“I just don’t see why he’s perfectly fine with learning it wrong.” Namjoon takes a moment to think, really thinking about what you said before he continues, “If I were him, then I would do everything I possibly could to learn about these exhibits and that my information is accurate.”

Your expression softens and Namjoon sighs, “I just want to know more about this world. If I am to be stuck in this era, then I want to experience it all for myself! I want to know what I’ve missed.”

What do you say to him? A simple ‘I’m sorry’ will only go so far. There’s only so much you can do for him in his current situation. If you could let him leave then you would, but he has no papers, no family, and no experience. He’d be forced to leave without question if someone found him as he is now, but you can’t decide if that would be worse than keeping him locked away in the museum for the rest of his life. If you were forced to, you’d go crazy. To think about being stuck in his position…?

“Namjoon-!” You try to speak up, but his hand raises to stop you.

“It’s alright. I know you can’t do anything to help me.” His smile is bittersweet as he shows it to you, his dimples nowhere near his cheeks. He clears his throat and stands, “I think I’ll stay in my exhibit tonight. I’d like to be alone.”

“Are you sure?” You ask, not wanting him to be alone.

“I’m sure.” He nods his head and hands you his empty food box, “I’ll see you tomorrow as usual.”

You allow him to walk away from you, disappearing to the back of his exhibit with a certain stiffness. It’s like he’s reverted into the shell of the king he was that first night, only this one is choosing to hide from you this time. Even when you leave and wish him goodnight, he doesn’t say it back. He isolates himself, and you’re disappointed to find he’s still by himself when you come back at the end of the night. 

Even after the other exhibit is double checked and the morning shift arrives to clock in, you’re still thinking about Namjoon. Especially when Jeongguk arrives with his morning coffee order. It was hard to not think about what he had said and the experiences he was missing out on. There was so much he could be doing, but instead he was locked away like a caged animal.

You mull over these thoughts as you replace your security jacket with your outside coat. They weigh heavy on your mind even as the break room begins to fill with the morning shift. You’re so distracted, you almost miss Hoseok greeting you.

“(Y/n)! Have a good night?” He asks, unaware of your own personal conflict.

You nod in return, “Yeah! It was as eventful as usual.”

“I bet the air conditioner kicking on really gave you a run for your money.” Taeyang jokes, reminding you of your first shift on the job when he had helped to train you.

“Oh, doesn’t it always.” You reply, a light roll of your eyes expressing your amusement. You set your flashlight on the top shelf and close your locker. Turning back to the table where your things lie, you look at Hoseok, “Did you find anyone for the night shift?”

“No, not yet.” He says. Only this time, it’s almost a relief to know you get to keep Namjoon to yourself for just a bit longer. 

You nod and grab your bag off the table, “Okay, just keep me in the loop.”

“Actually-!” Hoseok stops you before you get too far, “You’ve been working a lot of hours and I really appreciate your hard work. Why don’t you take the weekend off and I’ll cover your shift.”

“Oh!” You contemplate his offer for only a moment, “I don’t know.” 

“You don’t know?” He asks, his head tilting to the side.

You know he means well, but all you can think about is Namjoon waiting for you to show up and being greeted with Hoseok instead. You don’t even bother to think about the exhibit next to his that’s also come to life. If Hoseok finds Namjoon, then he’ll call the police and then you’ll never see him again.

You smile, trying to mask your nerves, “I mean, are you sure? That’s two whole nights-”

“-Three!” He interrupts, “You deserve a break and I’m not taking no for an answer. Go out to a club or something. Stay home and watch a drama. Do something other than sit in the office and have fun.”

You honestly haven’t thought about doing anything fun since you’ve started to appreciate Namjoon’s presence more. If anything, you’d rather spend the nights at the museum with Namjoon rather than at home alone. 

That’s when the idea hits you.

If you take Friday off, then you can sneak Namjoon out Friday morning. You can take him home with you and show him what the outside world is really like, rather than him watching from a window. You could take him to try street food, the Han River, the sea. There’s so much that you could show him, but you only have so much time to do so.

You agree to Hoseok’s offer and wave goodbye, for once walking out of the museum with some pep in your own steps. Later that night when you return, you’ve added a tape measure to your bag of things. Namjoon is more than confused when you accost him before giving him his food for the night.

“Am I having something tailored?” He asks, his body tense as you place the measuring tape against his shoulder.

“No, but I am buying you clothes.” You say, looking at the measurement you got so you can record it as well. 

“What for?” He asks.

You look away from your phone for only a moment, meeting his eyes before you turn back to your screen, “Do you want to see more of today’s world, or do you want to stay in this museum?”

“You’re taking me out?” You can practically see the excitement in his features without even looking at him. It makes you happy to know he’s happy, but at the same time, you know it might mean more to both of you than you’re willing to admit.

“Just for the weekend.” You tell him. You take his food out of the bag you brought and hand it over, “This is just a friendly gesture, so don’t think anything of it.”

“I won’t. Promise.” His smile is taught, and you know he’s disappointed more than anything to hear the words leave your mouth. But at least you’ll be able to make him smile in less than 48 hours.

“Good.” You grab your own food and take the initiative to sit down first, “I’ll figure the rest out later, but I need to make sure I can convince the other exhibit not to move for the next 3 nights tonight.”

“I’ll help you!” He insists.

That night when the both of you finish eating, Namjoon assists you in talking to the other exhibit. He uses the moment to work on his social skills once again, pretending that he’s speaking to other humans of the modern age. It’s both amusing and heartwarming to watch him, the bright smile he offers to every living artifact that he speaks to. Even more so, they each treat him with so much respect and kindness. To them, he is a king, and they have no problem treating him as such.

Even after you’ve talked to everyone and you’ve closed the exhibit for the night, you spend your night walking the museum halls with Namjoon. You let him practice with modern slang sheets you found on the internet while you order clothes to pick up for him, stifling your laughter when he uses words you’d never heard anyone his age use. It’s endearing to listen to him practice, and it excites you to know you’ll get to show him his first real glimpse of the world so foreign to him.

It’s all you can think about on your way home, before you go to sleep, and when you wake up in the afternoon. Waiting in line to pick up his clothes, you can only think about Namjoon waiting in line. You think about the mistakes he might make and the blush on his cheeks when he realizes he made a mistake. Walking along the sidewalk, you think about Namjoon seeing a car up close for the first time. Would he be scared? Would he try to break into one?

You’ll be keeping a very close eye on him around cars.

Your coworkers give you curious stares as you walk in with more bags than usual, but none press you about what you’re doing with them. Everything is moving seamlessly, and even Taehyung gives you an easy time kicking him out of the museum. You thought Namjoon would give you a hard time as well, but you’re pleasantly surprised when the man giddily takes the bags from you.

You leave him to put on the first outfit you picked for him, leaving his exhibit open to come find you when he’s done. The whole night that you spend finishing your paperwork and your rounds for the night, reminding the other exhibit that they have to be still for the next few days. When you finally catch up to Namjoon again, you’re almost speechless to see him in casual clothing. If you’d known a pair of jeans, a white shirt, and a simple green jacket would look so good, you would have bought them for him the second day you’d known him.

“Do I look okay?” He asks, unsure of himself in the new style of clothes.

“Perfect! Now, follow me.” You both leave his exhibit, you locking the gate before leading him down the stairs. You take him all the way to the lower level storage space where new exhibit pieces are loaded from the large dock doors. You find the right key for the padlock and open one side just enough for the both of you to look through. “You wait out here on that bench right over there. Don’t leave that bench.”

“Why not?” He asks.

You shrug, “Because I said so.” 

“I am a king!” He reminds you, puffing his chest more than necessary.

You shake your head, “And I'm the queen of I don’t give 2 shits. Go park yourself on that bench and stay there or I’ll end you myself.” You push him out the door and wave him off, Namjoon stumbling to catch his balance.

“Well, you don’t have to be so violent.” He grumbles, dusting himself off, “I will not remove myself from the bench until you allow me to do so, queen of not giving 2 shits.”

“Thank you.” You laugh, paying his scowl no mind. You close the door, but you open it once more before he gets too far, “I’ll be out soon.”

You lock the dock doors back up and rush yourself upstairs, double checking the exhibit to make sure everything is in place and there’s no trash left about. You return to security and clean up your own belongings, waiting only 15 minutes before your morning shift comes to liberate you. Packing up and clocking out is a breeze, sparing only a moment to say goodbye to those who greet you. All of your focus is on returning to Namjoon before he decides to wander off.

Going through the employee entrance, you walk along the side of the building to get to the back. It only takes you a minute along the sidewalk before you make it to the bench where the king sits in his new clothes. He sits with his usual pristine posture, watching the cars and people pass in front of him. He reminds you of a child - a very overgrown child - watching the world around him for the first time. It’s almost as if for the first time he’s seeing everything in color, and every sight is one to cherish.

“Enjoying the view?” You ask, catching him off guard.

He jumps at first, but his shoulders relax when he realizes it’s just you. He nods, “Yeah. It’s different in the light.”

“Things usually are.” You agree. You let him rake his eyes over the city, allowing him to experience the early morning beauty for just a few moments longer. He looks so at peace with the world seeing a true sunrise for the first time since he last walked the Earth. His lungs taking in large breaths of fresh air instead of the cold museum air that he’s grown accustomed to. Pair it with his new clothing, he looks as though he’s spent his whole life in the 21st century with you.

When you feel a yawn crawling up on you is when you decide it’s time to leave, “Let’s go back to my place to get some sleep and then I can show you everything you’ve been missing.”

You can tell he’s reluctant to go, his entire body tensing as his hand unintentionally grips the bench as if it would ground him there for just 5 minutes more. But instead of voicing his desire to stay, he nods and stands to join you, “I would be honored to be shown to your apartment.”

—-

It’s just past 1:30 in the afternoon when you wake up, the soft melody of your alarm ringing in the small confines of your loft. The rays of sun coming from your apartment windows hits the decor of your loft just right, bouncing off of your mirror and sending a sliver of light to cover your eyes. You’re more than tempted to hit snooze and turn yourself over to catch just a few more precious hours of sleep, but the lingering thoughts of showing Namjoon what your world has to offer him are much more desirable.

You pull yourself out of bed and stumble into your house slippers, your left foot missing the sock you’d fallen asleep with. You allow yourself to stretch your arms above your head before you walk downstairs, finding the King exactly where you had left him on your couch. Though, instead of sitting as stiff as a board, he’s folded over the arm of your couch with one arm clutching the blue koala throw pillow you’d bought online - You can only imagine how long he sat on your couch holding the same posture before he finally passed out.

You decide to let him continue resting and get yourself ready for the rest of your day. You take a quick shower, doing your face routine in between the shampooing, the conditioning, and the scrubbing. You dry most of your hair with a towel before leaving it to air dry while you throw on some jeans and a sweater and some light makeup to enhance your features. When that’s done, you head back to the living room to wake up the peaceful king.

“Namjoon-” You shake his shoulder gently, not wanting to startle him. You nudge his shoulder and call his name a few times before his eyes flutter open and close, “Namjoon, we have a lot to do in very little time! You have to get up so we can get some food!”

“Have the food brought to my room, Jihye…” Namjoon mumbles, his face contorting as his eyes squeeze shut and his arms pull the pillow closer to him.

You giggle at the way his nose scrunches, “I’m not Jihye, your majesty. You’re not in your time period anymore, remember?” 

The king’s eyes open and you’re met with tired brown eyes. For a moment, there’s an air of sadness as he takes in your appearance, but it leaves as quickly as it appears. He sits up quick and stretches his arms above his head, his white t-shirt riding up to reveal a sliver of skin.

You turn away from him, feeling the embarrassment climb to your ears as you walk towards the door, “You should put your jacket back on so we can go and eat.”  

“Yes! I’m starving,” He says. He follows you to the front door where both of your shoes sit, sliding on the laceless shoes you’d bought for him.

You put on your own before you grab your jackets out of the closet, “Here.” You hand him his and unbunch yours to slip it on.

“Let me!” Namjoon drops his own jacket in favor of yours, straightening the article of clothing for you to put on. 

You only stare at him in awe, “You don’t have to do that.”

“I know, but I want to,” he explains, his dimpled smile gracing his cheeks. You let him hold the jacket for you, allowing him to help guide your arms into the sleeves. The whole time you’re trying to hold your breath, as if even one hitch or loud exhale would give away your thoughts or feelings. His hands smooth the shoulders of your coat down before they're gone and he’s picking up his own jacket, “Good?”

“Yeah! Good.”

It’s only a small walk to the cafe a block from your apartment. Upon arrival, you try your best to figure out what drink would best suit Namjoon’s tastes. He didn’t necessarily have a sweet tooth, but he didn’t enjoy the bitter drinks you’d brought him either. You eventually settle on ordering him an americano and letting him choose a sandwich to eat. Neither of you talk much as you eat together, you instead let Namjoon enjoy the new atmosphere and the view from the window as he eats. It’s when he bumps his plate off the table and sends it splattering against the concrete floor that you decide it’s best to leave for the aquarium ahead of schedule.

You pull him to the bus stop as the bus rolls to a stop, only waiting in the line for a moment before you file onto the bus behind everyone else. As you turn your phone to scan the bus pass on the back of your case, you feel a tug on your other hand.

“(Y/n)!” Namjoon whispers harshly.

“What?” You ask, nervously eyeing the bus driver as you scan the pass again.

“Is this safe?” He asks.

“Namjoon-” You laugh. Of course he would think it isn’t safe. Hell, on the right day you don’t either! You pull him down the aisle to find a seat at the back of the bus to sit down before you answer his question, “Of course this is safe. I know it’s loud and it shakes, but I wouldn’t put you in any unnecessary danger.”

“You’re right,” He sighs. He squeezes your hand, his deep brown eyes meeting your own, “I trust you.”

The words alone are enough to make your stomach twist into knots. You feel warm and tingly and you quickly find something outside of the bus to catch his attention instead, “Look-” You point in front of his face, finding an intricate statue in front of a building approaching, “-isn’t that cool!?”

He turns to admire the sculpture and you take in a much needed breath. Keeping him distanced from you was going to be an issue. Even if you do fall for him and you never take him back to the museum, how would you explain where he’s from? How would he get a job? How would he be able to do anything other than live in your home if he wasn’t a real person anymore? 

“Where are we going?” Namjoon asks, pulling you from your inner turmoil.

You can’t help but smile, knowing that this will be one of the best surprises for the King since you’d brought him his journal, “I’m going to take you to see something you’ve never seen before.”

After quite a few stops and many questions from Namjoon, you finally get off of the bus in front of the tall blue building. Over the doors reads ‘Seoul Aquarium’ in colorful lettering, standing out against the plain white of the sign.

“Aquarium?” Namjoon reads, his head tilted in confusion. He turns to you with his skeptical gaze, “What does that mean?”

“Why don’t we go inside and I’ll show you?” You offer, squeezing his hand that’s still connected to your own.

The both of you enter the building and you’re immediately surrounded by a dim atmosphere highlighted by waves of light that glisten off the floor and the walls. The white walls of the interior are decorated by multiple pictures and colorful murals. The ceiling - high and vaulted - holds a large models of different fish suspended, the portion closest to the ground protected by a small fence in the center of the room. Multiple exhibits lay beyond, but a quick trip through the ticket line holds you back.

You guide Namjoon through the roped off line to get your tickets, but his attention doesn’t leave the main room the entire time. His eyes dance over every detail of the room while you wait in line and as you speak to the teller in the booth for your tickets. Even as you lead him into the room itself, his eyes are still trying to catch every last square inch. With the king thoroughly distracted, you take the chance to look at the aquarium’s layout to see which way you should go first.

There were of course the sharks and the dolphins, they would definitely surprise the king to see ‘a beast’ so large. Then again, there were the jellyfish and the underwater walkways as well, mesmerizing and unthinkable for him as a man of another century. But the intractable exhibits would be so much more exciting for him to experience, being able to really touch sea animals you wouldn’t normally be able to. It’s all so wonderful to think about, but where to start is going to really set the stage for him.

And you know just what will make him happiest.

“Namjoon-” He turns to you, his eyes meeting yours, fleeting to the side to see one more piece of art for just a moment before they’re on yours again. You giggle, “-are you ready to see the first exhibit?” He nods and you lead the way to your first stop. 

On the right side of the building is another line of people, all waiting patiently to enter past a rubber curtain maintained by an employee standing behind a podium. As you wait, Namjoon begins to bounce, becoming restless until he can’t stop himself from asking, “Is this another museum?”

“It is!” You nod, “Only the exhibits here are supposed to be alive.” Namjoon’s cheeks darken and you can’t stop the endeared smile that adorns your own features, “I think you’ll really like this, Namjoon.”

When it’s finally your turn to walk through the rubber curtain, you enter a narrow hallway encase in darkness - save for the glow in the dark tape on the floor. You have to pass through another curtain made of rubber before you finally enter the glass encased tunnel that barricades the both of you from the water that rests above you. It’s dimly lit just like the rest of the building, but the most striking difference isn’t the atmosphere.

It’s the various schools and pairs of fish that swim carelessly around the glass.

Namjoon is in awe just watching the vibrantly colored fish go over him, seeing all kinds of fish of different shapes and sizes only mere inches from his face. He reaches his hand for the glass and pulls back upon feeling it’s cool touch, not expecting it to be so cool.

“How is this possible…?” He asks, his tanned skin lit by the soft blue hues that shine through the glass.

You shrug, “I’m not really sure how they do it myself, but it’s amazing, right?”

Namjoon turns to you, a look of pure wonder and amazement painted on his face, “It’s gorgeous.”

---

It took you almost an hour just to pull him away from the tunnels, but you managed to drag him past the seahorses, the sharks, and the dolphins. Each creature was just as fascinating for him as the other, and every laugh and smile he made had your stomach doing flips. He makes it so hard to only see him as a friend when he’s just so incredibly adorable every time he sees something new.

Now, as you exit the small projector room playing the same squid documentary over and over again, you lead him to the interactive exhibit. Just from outside the exhibit’s entrance you can see the dozens of tanks that stand in the room with an employee at each one. Only a few families and couples are in the room, making it the perfect environment for Namjoon to explore something new. 

“What’s in here?” Namjoon asks as you approach the new room. 

“In here are the exhibits you can touch and interact with. Do you want to see?” You ask. 

He nods and takes the first step himself, deciding to take the lead as a way to show you he’ll be fine. You follow him into the chaos, making your way over to a box about as tall as your knee where Namjoon stands peering over the side. Inside the box looks to be a mountain of sand with rocks and grass at the bottom and various logs and sticks piled up to be climbed on by whatever creatures call the box their home.

You stop by his side and he turns to you, “Can we start here?” He asks.

“Of course!” You nod, gesturing for him to look at what else is inside.

It takes a minute for the tanks contents to register with you, and then you see the movement in the sand. Little bubbles that move before a hole - much like a dozen others that decorate the sand - is formed that reveals the small, white and yellow crabs.

Upon seeing the tiny creature poke it’s head out, Namjoon’s eyes immediately light up like a child receiving a gift. He reaches his hands out to touch the crab in front of him, but he quickly pulls them back to himself. Turning to you he ask, “Am I allowed to touch them?”

“You don’t need to ask me, Namjoon. This is a touch tank, so you can touch anything in each of these tanks.” You explain.

Just like that, the childlike wonder of the King is back and he’s reaching down to hold the small crab in the palm of his hand. The sight is so endearing. To see him hold the life in the palm of his hand with the utmost care and adoration sends your heart soaring. It makes you wonder if you can really keep a line between being his friend and wanting more.

*

*

*

It’s Saturday, the day after your aquarium escapade. You’d had so much fun just being able to watch Namjoon enjoy something he’d never seen before, and he practically begged you to buy him a book about sea life from the gift shop before you left - a sight you didn’t think you’d see from the King.

He spent his whole night in between trying different foods just reading through all the discoveries humans had made since his time, and at one point he even tried to use your computer to do his own research. His thirst for knowledge of his new surroundings seemed unquenchable, and you weren’t sure you wanted him to learn anything else in hopes that you’ll be able to watch his constant excitement for something new.

Now, as you both sit in another cafe enjoying your lunch, Namjoon seems to have come down from his information kick. He sits across from you eating his sandwich in a content silence as he people-watches from his chair.

You focus on finishing your own sandwich, enjoying the sustenance as you imagine how your trip to the shopping district will go. You can’t help but imagine Namjoon trying some of the newer fashion trends, or see how good he’ll look in a hat. Or maybe he’ll hate shopping and you can take him to experience karaoke for the first time. He won’t know the songs, but it might still be fun.

“-(Y/n)!” Namjoon says harshly, breaking you out of your trance. You turn to him, a piece of bread poking out of your mouth. Namjoon stifles a chuckle and it takes you a moment to realize why he’s laughing at you. 

Quickly you cover your mouth as you finish chewing, your eyes trained on your drink rather than your companion. Once it’s all gone, you turn back to the man in front of you, him sitting with his elbows rested on the table and his face resting on his hands as he watches you. You take a quick sip of your drink before you decide to acknowledge him, “Yeah?”

He shrugs, “I was just wondering about something.” 

“Like what?” You ask.

“You.”

“Me?” You look to him for reassurance that you heard him correctly and he nods. “Why would you want to know about me?”

“Well, you know a lot about me, and most of that is thanks to your technologies of this time period, but-...” He hesitates, playing with his thumbs, “You don’t talk about yourself.”

“There really isn’t much to say. I’ve had a fairly normal life, I’ve had regular experiences, I have regular friends…” When you think about your life compared to what his must have been like, you can’t help but feel insecure about yours. He’s lived a far more fulfilling life than you, and it’s not easy to expose just how dull yours is. “I just don’t think there’s much of my life that would compare to yours.”

“And why is that?”

You spare him a glance, totally unamused by his obliviousness - playful or not, “I don’t know if you noticed, but my apartment is the size of your stables.”

He shrugs, “So what? Your life is so much different from mine! It’s absolutely fascinating to me.” You can only guess what he would find so fascinating about your life when he compares it to yours, but the way he looks at you makes you want to lay it all out on the table for him, “Can’t I know something?”

So you indulge him, telling him stories of your childhood as best as you can remember. The time that your Dad was helping you bake cookies and you set the oven on fire, the day that the family dog got out and sent the neighbor flying, that one time your brother got drunk with his friends an you had to sneak him into the house without your parents knowing - something they still don’t know about. Any weird, funny memory that you could recall, you shared with him, and each one made him laugh and smile and it only encouraged you to share more.

“Wait wait wait-” He says, stopping you in the middle of your story and his own laughter, “So he really said that?”

“Yeah! I swear I thought our professor was going to end him!” You say, recalling the memory of your college friend who told the professor if his manhood wasn’t the size of a pea then maybe he’d be a much happier man.

“Brilliant!” He hits the table with the palm of his hand, “My friends that I had when I lived weren’t as quick witted as yours.”

“No?” You probe.

“They used their swords instead of words,” he explains. He contemplates for a moment before he continues, “Though, their swords did get them far for my time.”

“I can imagine.” You laugh, taking another sip of your almost empty drink.

“Have you felt love before?” Namjoon asks, changing the topic just like that.

“Love?” You choke, your hand pressing against your mouth to stop anymore of your drink from spilling onto your shirt.

“Yeah. Have you had any love interests?” He inquires, turning his full attention back to you.

“Once. When I was in middle school.” You shrug, feeling the intense heat of his state, “It only lasted for a few years, nothing too long.” You hadn’t thought about that relationship for a while. You really hadn’t thought about anyone at all except for him, “He just wasn’t the right one.”

His eyes practically sparkle when you mention your past love not being the one. He smiles, “You believe in finding the right one?”

“I believe in finding someone that blends well with you.” You explain carefully, knowing exactly where he’s going with this.

“But no soulmates?” He asks. 

You can tell he’s saying it in more of a joking way to mask the truth behind his actions. You know he wants you to believe he’s your soulmate and you’re meant to be together, but you just can’t go through with it yet.

You clear your throat and stand up, “We should get going. The movie will start without us if we don’t.”

“Right.” He agrees, standing up after you.

Though, you know neither of you are really finished with the conversation.

It’s much later in your apartment that you think about the conversation again. You’re working on some of your online work while Namjoon watches some movies much like the one you had shown him. It never occurred to you that he might enjoy superhero movies all that much, but seeing him cheer on Spiderman through the screen like the actor could hear him puts a smile on your face. 

The other patrons at the theater did not enjoy his enthusiasm as much as you.

Then again, they didn’t know him. They didn’t get to see his dimples pop out when he saw Thor appear on screen. They didn’t get to see him parade around your apartment in the Ryan pajamas you bought him with his fourth bowl of popcorn. They didn’t get to hear him recall stories of what it was really like to live in a time where none of this existed. They didn’t get to appreciate him.

But at the same time you realize, you haven’t appreciated him either. 

It’s been almost a month since he first woke and claimed you to be his soulmate. In that time, you’ve done your best to understand him and let him roam, but you’ve only been pushing him away. Keeping him at arm's length in hopes of not catching feelings.

Yet...you can’t help but wonder what it would be like to give into the temptation of accepting your role as his soulmate.

—-

“We don’t need to get on the bus today?” Namjoon asks, the last of his breakfast in his mouth.

You shake your head, “Not today. I have something planned that I think you’re going to really enjoy.”

“Is it more food?” You turn to him with a look that is usually saved for Jimin or Taehyung and he just shrugs, “What?”

You sigh, “We can get food there, but we’re not going there for the food. You’ll see.”

You loop your arm through his and continue on down the large sidewalk, enjoying the fresh morning air as you walk your regular path. It’s when Namjoon sees the flower beds that he realizes where you’re taking him and he stops.

“You’re bringing me back to the museum?” He asks, a look of disbelief written across his features.

Sensing why he’s upset you’re quick to shake your head to dissuade the thought, “Not just yet! We still have tonight and tomorrow before you need to go back. I just want to show you what you miss during the day.” Letting go of his arm and instead your hand to him, you smile in hopes it will make him feel more comfortable, “Follow me?”

You lead him up the large staircase, pausing at the top to show him the view and take a few pictures before you go inside. A line like there had been at the aquarium is off just to the side, but you drag Namjoon in the opposite direction.

“Don’t we need to follow them?” He asks

“Employee perk.” You vaguely explain, more interested in getting him into the museum and letting him meet your friends, “Come over this way! I want to talk to someone real quick.”

Jin catches sight of you before you get the chance to even call out to him. He waves to his departing guests and turns to wave to you, “(Y/n)! I thought you had the day off, what are you doing here?”

“I’m showing my friend around the museum, he’s never been here before,” You explain, not missing the way Jin looks Namjoon up and down in his light jeans, black turtleneck, and brown jacket you’d picked up for him. Thankfully, he seems to approve of Namjoon and the clothes you’d picked for him, “Jin, this is Kim Namjoon. Namjoon, this is Kim Seokjin.”

Namjoon gives a curt bow, “Very cool to meet you.” 

“Yeah, you too.” Jin chuckles. He doesn't seem to mind Namjoon’s vernacular as he continues to tease him, “So, Kim Namjoon? Any relation to the King in our 3rd floor exhibit?”

“No, my mother was a history stan.” The king explains.

You share a look with Jin that screams “don’t you dare say anything” and he nods with a fake smile, “How fascinating.” 

“Well-!” Deciding that now is as good a time as any to get him out of there, you squeeze Namjoon's hand with one and wave to Jin with the other, “We should let you get back to work, but it was nice seeing you Jin.”

“You too!” Jin waves back with his familiar, bright smile. Though it fades into a mischievous one just as fast, “Don’t cause too much trouble with your boyfriend~”

You don’t comment on his words, knowing that Namjoon probably wouldn’t get the insinuation behind his words anyway. You just drag him along to the stairs to bring him to the first exhibit you’ll be visiting.

When Namjoon sees the familiar entrance cone into focus, he gasps in excitement, “This is the European exhibit! I’ve been waiting to go through here.”

“Well, today is your lucky day.” You say. You pull him into the exhibit's entrance and notice the empty kiosk to the right of traffic, “C’mon there’s a kiosk over here.”

You go to grab headphones for yourself, but Namjoon is faster than you, “Here-” He takes them out of your hand and places them over your ears for you, a tender smile on his dimpled face as he repeats the action you’d done for him the other night. “There you go.”

He puts his own headphones on and presses play on the video, but you don’t listen. You don’t let the words process. All you can think about is the soft smile that he shared with you and the gentle touch of his hands against your head.

---

You can’t deny that the museum is much more appealing during the day. With all the patrons that walk around enjoying the exhibits, the quiet chatter is low and welcomed to your ears. More importantly, the ability to watch Namjoon enjoy the presence of humans is a gift itself. He’s really come out of his shell over the past few days. He’s enjoyed getting to know people again, and being able to practice his use of modern slang - no matter how horrendous it is. 

Only part of you regrets taking him around to meet Jeongguk. You knew Namjoon wanted to meet him, but it was only for him to school the younger man in a history lesson. Not a hard feat, but nonetheless. It was still a very interesting encounter. 

“And this is really what they used?” He asks, staring at the chair contraption for birthing behind the glass. It was old and rusted - not much to really look at - but he found it interesting anyways. “Strange.”

From another part of the room, you hear a familiar voice speak up, “-and over here you’ll all see a replica of a French Gillotine from France!”

You weren't going to pay him any mind until you noticed Namjoon tense up beside you, “Namjoon?”

“It’s him.” He mutters ominously.

“Jeongguk?” You ask.

“Isn’t it pronounced Guillotine?” You hear someone ask, only for the young guide to laugh, “No, that doesn’t make any sense.” 

“Yes.” Namjoon assures you.

When you turn to spot the boy in the crowd, you see him only a few feet away with his group around him, “Why don’t you all take a moment to look around at the artifacts of the room and I’ll be over here to answer any questions.”

You are more than aware of how Namjoon feels about Jeongguk, even if he is just a kid trying to get through college. With him being right there, it would be impossible to really keep the determined King away, especially with that look in his eyes.

“Do you want to meet him?” You ask, hesitant to really introduce the two to each other.

“Please.” He pushes up the sleeves of his jacket and you try your best to ignore the action, “I’d like to teach this kid a thing or two.”

The brunette walks away from you before you can say anything else and all you can do is follow after him and redirect the conversation. 

“Jeongguk!” You call out, moving in front of Namjoon before he can say anything, “I want to introduce you to my friend Namjoon.”

“Namjoon? Like the mummy?!” He asks immediately, getting excited at the mention of his favorite dead guy, “Bro! That’s a crazy coincidence! He could be your great-great-really great-granddaddy!”

“Please don’t call him that.” You beg.

Namjoon clears his throat, clearly not prepared to deal with Jeon Jeongguk at all, “Yes, well, there is no relation. I am, however, what you would call a pro when it comes to the king.”

“Really?!” The boy only seems to get more and more excited with every word Namjoon speaks to life, “You know, I actually have a lot of questions if you don’t mind me asking.”

“Uh…” The king looks to you and you shake your head, unwilling to help him, “Sure thing?”

“Okay so is it true that when he was a boy he would run around the castle dragging hanbok behind him?! A few historians found in journals left in his tomb that that was something he would do. Do you believe them?!”

A hot blush creeps onto Namjoon’s face, “Uh…Well, you see-”

Watching Namjoon try to explain why he may - or may not have done - without giving Jeongguk too much information was an experience itself, but it paid off. You’d have never thought Namjoon would actually enjoy the conversation, but that was just a part of Jeongguk’s charm. Though, you could have done without Namjoon trying to use ‘lit’ and ‘yeet’ correctly in a sentence against the kid that uses the words every chance he gets. 

Thankfully, the observatory is Jeongguk-free, and you’re more than happy to take Namjoon to see the stars. You let him choose the spot, a space far enough from a group of kids so that the two of you can talk quietly to the other during the showing.

“So what is this again?” He asks, as you both settle into your seats.

“It’s a light show that shows you the stars and their constellations.” You explain, “They even show you planets hundreds and thousands of miles away from ours.”

“Your technology never ceases to amaze me.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty great when it needs to be.” You agree. The lights begin to dim and you playfully hit Namjoon’s arm out of excitement, “Oh! It’s starting.”

At the center of the room, the projector comes to life, projecting thousands of dots onto the ceiling. Each one shines and glistens differently, creating an illusion of shimmering like real stars in a night sky. The introduction begins to play, welcoming everyone to the observatory and inviting them to spend the next few minutes enjoying the view of the night sky before the lesson begins.

With this being one of your many trips to the museum’s observatory, you turn to Namjoon to see his reaction instead. Just like the other places you’ve taken him to, he’s very invested into what’s going on in front of him. His eyes glisten in the artificial starlight, and he looks so entranced by the holograms that decorate the ceiling. 

A part of you is screaming at yourself to talk to him. To let him know everything about you. But another part just wants you to keep quiet and stop yourself from getting attached. 

But how can you not want to share everything with him?

You decide for yourself, leaning on the arm rest to get closer to him so you wouldn’t disturb anyone else, “You know, when I was younger-“ He turns to you, “- and I lived in the country, I’d spend every night by my window just to look at the stars.”

“Really?” He asks.

“Mhm! I don’t why, but I’ve just always been drawn to the stars and the mysteries of space.” You admit. You look to the hidden constellations above you and let out a pleasant sigh, “Seeing them just makes me feel at home, you know?”

“I think I do.” He nods, “Thank you for telling me.”

Together you enjoy the calm and quiet of the display, happily listening to the narrator while you sit so close together. No one to bother you, no one to interrupt a peaceful moment. It’s something you’re more than happy to share with Namjoon, feeling much more comfortable than you have before.

Then again, happiness and calm can only last so long when Park Jimin runs the museum gift shop. And right now, y could do without him trying to sell Namjoon every item that catches his eyes though.

“This one is a real keeper! I’m telling you, these pens write like they were made for a god. They’re insane!” Jimin insists, showing Namjoon on a scratch piece of paper just how good they really are.

“Really? And they each have these cool designs?” Unbeknownst to Jimin, Namjoon really doesn’t know the difference between a good or bad pen. He could tell him it had a cap instead of a button and he would be in awe.

Jimin nods, “All of them.”

“Perfect.”

“Jimin!” You interrupt. You gain the attention of both of them and motion for Jimin to come to you, “Come here.” He leaves Namjoon to look on his own and jogs over with a mischievous smile, knowing that you’re frown is not good, “What are you doing?”

“My job.” He says.

You cross your arms, “I brought him here to meet you, not for you to sway him with your manly charms.”

Jimin shrugs, completely unbothered, “It’s not my fault if he falls victim to my tactics~” 

“Oh you are a minx!” You huff, “I don’t see how Yoongi puts up with you.”

“He just makes my schedule and signs my checks. After that, I don’t see him at all.” Jimin explains, bragging more than anything as he begins to clean his counter.

“Yeah, I’m starting to see why.” You mumble. You push your angry thoughts about him away to change the topic so something else. Or more specifically; someone else, “Hey is Tehyung not here? Where is he?”

“He’s sick today,” He tells you, “He called me this morning and asked if I’d keep an eye on his exhibits.”

“And?” 

“And what?”

“Have you?” You pry.

“I love Taehyung. He’s my best friend!” Jimin assures you. He picks up his cleaning towel and throws it in the drawer by his register, replacing it with his phone, “But there’s no way in Hell that I will be spending my free time watching over exhibits that A. Have their own security and B. Don’t move.”

You sigh, “Yeah, I wouldn’t either and it’s my job to watch them.”

“I’d like to get this.” Namjoon says, breaking up the conversation. In his hands he holds a closed box, a box that Jimin showed you the other week.

The box with your necklace.

“Are you sure?” You ask, knowing that the price tag on it was a hefty one.

“Yeah.” He sets the box on the counter and then pulls a handful of cash out of his pocket, thoroughly surprising you.

“Wait, where’d you get this?” You ask.

“There was a nice guy that came in while you guys were talking.” He explains, “He asked who I was buying a gift for and gave me the money when I told him it was for you.”

“Did you get his name or see where he went? I can’t just let him pay that much.” You peer around him to see if the man was still nearby but Namjoon places a hand on your arm.

“He didn’t say. All he said was that I should put it to good use, so I am.” The king explains. He looks into your eyes with a pleading gaze, “Please.”

You’re powerless against his gaze and you nod to Jimin who is more than happy to ring up the over priced package, “One soulmate necklace for the handsome gentleman and his lovely lady.”

Namjoon doesn’t let you carry the bag, he doesn’t even let you touch it until you make it back to your apartment with dinner - that he also insisted on carrying. It’s long after the two of you have enjoyed your dinner that he finally lets you open the bag.

“Are you sure, your majesty?” You tease, earning yourself an unamused frown.

“Yes I’m sure.” He says, handing the bag over for you to take, “Open it.”

You do as he says, opening the bag and pulling out the box carrying the replica of your very own necklace. Lifting the lock and opening the lid, you’re met with the familiar shine of grey moonstones and pink gems held tight by a gold strand. Though, unlike the necklace sitting behind glass, this one has a hidden clasp that is better suited for modern tastes.

You take the shining jewels out of the box and hold it up for the both of you to admire, “It really is beautiful.”

“It’s very convincing.” Namjoon agrees. He takes the necklace from your hands  and gestures to yourself, “May I?”

You're confused until you realize he wants to help you put it on, “Yeah-!” You turn your back towards him so he can place the necklace on you, “Yeah, sure.” 

He’s gentle as he moves his arms around you, letting the jewelry lay flat against your collar before he shuts the clasp. When he taps your shoulder and you turn back around, he looks completely blown away, “Wow…”

“It looks good?” You ask.

He nods, “Come and see for yourself.” He stands up and gestures for you to go look in the mirror with him. 

“Oh…” Standing in front of the mirror actually wearing the necklace, you really see the appeal. How it glistens in the light and the way it lays perfectly against your neck, you’re left speechless. “Wow indeed.”

Both of you stand there in front of the mirror, admiring the way the necklace looks. You had no idea a piece of jewelry could look so right, and now you were glad that if anyone gets to see it on you it’s Namjoon.

“I go back tomorrow? Yes?” He asks, his face head peering over your shoulder in the mirror.

You nod, “You do.”

“Could I-...” He hesitates, “Would you do me the honor of dancing with me?”

Any rational side of you would have said no, but you just can’t stop yourself from running with the moment. You turn around so you can look at him face-to-face, “Sure. I’d like that.”

You grab your phone off the table and let him choose a song, knowing he’s quickly made himself his own playlist since being introduced to the 21st century. When you hear the soft instrumental ring through your speakers, you’re not surprised to hear it’s an older western song from the one Avengers movie. He’d fallen in love with it the other day and had been playing the scene over and over again.

“My lady?” He holds his hand out for you, waiting for you to accept his offer.

You accept his hand, placing your own in his, “Your majesty.”

He pulls you towards him, his other hand coming to rest on the small of your back while you rest your freehand on his shoulder. With small steps you sway together to the beat, letting the smooth sound of the trumpet lull you. Neither of you speak, but the silence isn’t unwelcome. 

Eventually, Namjoon begins to hum. He begins to embrace the beat a bit more, swaying you a bit harder - though not in a rough way - and engaging you more into the song. You giggle as he pulls you against his chest and spins in circles, loudly imitating the voice of the trumpet. His obnoxious noises do little to sway the fun you have, especially when he pulls you away to spin only you instead.

“Namjoon!” You laugh, your hand grabbing his bicep to catch yourself.

“Dada da~! What?” He asks, briefly pausing his imitation to answer you, still insistent on swaying you.

“I thought you wanted to dance?” You remind him through stifled giggling.

“La la-!” He pauses, “I thought this was dancing. La la LA~”

You shake your head and pull your hand away from his, confusing him until you throw both arms around his neck with your head resting on his shoulder. You slow down his excited sways for soft, gentle ones.

“It is, but I like this better.” You mumble, just enough for him to hear you without hearing the embarrassment laced in.

This time Namjoon smiles, resting both hands at the small of your back and pulling you closer, “I think I do too.”

And so, the two of you continue to sway for the rest of the song and however many times it plays after. You take advantage of the moment you have. This moment in his arms. Even if it’s wrong, you allow it to feel right just for tonight. 

“(Y/n)...?” Namjoon whispers.

You pull away, still in his arms but enough for him to see you, “Yeah?”

He doesn’t answer, instead he looks at you. His brown eyes staring into yours. It’s so intense it feels like he’s looking for something, like your eyes are a key to finding a hidden treasure. But you don’t ask him what he wants to say, instead you stare back. With eyes locked, he feels like a magnet just pulling you closer and closer until you finally realize that the two of you have inched too close for comfort. Just a little closer and you could feel his breath, touch his cheek…

kiss him

Without a second thought you pull yourself completely away, faking a cough so as not to hurt his feelings.

“Are you alright?” he asks, a reassuring hand coming to lay against your back and it’s fake convulsions.

You nod vigorously, pulling your body away from his touch and moving towards the kitchen, “I’m fine!” You assure him, “I just need some water.”

“Oh.” He says, awkwardly watching you from the living room. He shifts his weight between each foot as you make yourself a drink, “Did you want to continue?”

“Uh, no! I shouldn’t.” You say without thinking. You curse at yourself before you slowly set your cup on the counter and turn around to explain yourself, “I should really get cleaned up and ready for bed. We have a big day tomorrow.”

He nods, “Right...I’ll get changed then.” He grabs the folded Ryan pajamas off of your coffee table and gives you an awkward, tight lipped smile, “Goodnight.”

“Yeah. Goodnight…” You say back, only the words feel bitter on your tongue. 

You don’t want to say goodnight.

And you definitely don’t want to take him back.

*

*

*

Sneaking Namjoon back into the museum made your return to the night shift that much worse. It wasn’t that having Namjoon back in the museum wasn’t fine with you - you had already come to terms with that. But it was the constant talk of when he could go back that made it unbearable. You weren’t against the idea at all, but your next break would most likely be when it would be impossible to sneak him out.

It was already a mystery to you that Hoseok didn’t have any strange encounters with exhibits coming to life at all. As soon as the sun was down and you made your way back to Namjoon, you could hear their chatter from the other room as well as more chatter from more exhibits. It’s like over the weekend half of the museum just woke up. It didn’t bother you as much as it had the first night, but it’s still a new concept to grasp.

Even throughout the night you only became more and more tired. At one point, you told Namjoon you’d be in the office resting instead of walking around because you just didn’t have the energy. He understood, of course, but it took you a minute to explain that you just needed to rest alone for the night.

You were more than happy to go home after the first night back. You needed sleep and you needed it as soon as you could get it. You even rushed through your morning duties just to get your morning shift in and get yourself out.

It’s much later, when you’re feeling refreshed and ready for a new day that you find yourself walking into work again with a much better attitude. Walking through the front doors of the museum just sends a wave a peace over you and you embrace it wholeheartedly.

“(Y/n)!” You turn your attention to the sound of the voice, seeing Jin jog over from the information desk. You smile at him, but it disappears when you see how worried he looks.

“Are you okay?” You ask, concerned for your friend.

He stops in front of you and grabs your wrist, “You need to see this.” He pulls you after him towards his desk and pushes you into the chair. He clicks away from the Museum’s website to what looks to be security footage of the front stairs. He points at the screen, his finger covering the statue of three giraffe’s that stand at the right of the screen, “Watch closely.”

You do as he asks, watching the video for a few seconds before it looks like the camera glitches and the head moves. Immediately you register what’s happened, though you’re unsure if Jin has come to the same conclusion. You turn to your friend who looks right back at you and feign confusion, “Did the giraffe head move?”

“No! Why would the head move?” He lets out an exasperated sigh and points at the spot of the ‘glitch’ on the screen, “The camera! Someone moved the camera.”

You shake your head and play along, “The only way to move the outside cameras is with a ladder, and I would have seen it on the surveillance system.”

“I know, that’s what has everyone on edge.” He says, “Well, that and the gift shop.”

Your brows furrow in confusion, “The gift shop?”

“Jimin came in this morning and it was ransacked!” He tells you.

“What?!” It wasn’t possible that anyone could get into the gift shop, not even you have a key for the gift shop, “There is absolutely no way anyone got into the museum, let alone the gift shop.”

“I know that and so do Hobi and Yoongi.” He assures you, “They’ve been looking at security footage all day trying to figure it out, but there’s nothing. They don’t know how it happened and Jimin insists that he would have never left it that messy.”

“We’re going to have to upgrade security.” You sigh. It’s not like you haven’t been saying that for weeks, but now you really need it if someone is planning to get into the museum, “If things are happening that we can’t explain, then we’re going to need more eyes.”

Seokjin nods, “That’s what they were saying.”

You shake your head in disbelief, “I can’t believe I let this happen on my watch.”

“Hey, you didn’t do this. We know that. Yoongi actually thinks it’s a ghost.” He laughs.

“What?” You ask.

“Yeah! But I’m not all that surprised.” He shrugs. His indifference, however, does nothing to help you, and he seems to take notice of this as well. The brunette places a hand on your shoulder, “Don’t worry too much, okay. I’m sorry if I scared you, but I’m sure this will all sort itself out.”

“Yeah, let’s hope.” You say, not entirely convinced anything will get solved. You stand from his desk and readjust your things on your shoulder, “’ll see you later.”

You head for your locker first, hearing the news from Jeongguk and Taeyong again before you meet Hoseok and Yoongi in the security room to hear it for a third time. They tell you exactly what Jin had told you, explaining their theories - even the superstitious one that isn’t that far off - and express to you how they don’t blame you for what’s happened. It’s a lot to take in all at once, especially when you have a really good idea of what’s going on. 

Eventually they let you go to get on with your duties, letting you know that they’ll let you know what they decide on. You promise them to keep a sharp eye out, but you know there’s only so much you can do against whatever magic is going on in the museum. 

Namjoon only mentioned that the necklace was a gift and made for his soulmate to bring him back to life so they could spend the rest of their lives together. Not once did he mention he’d be bringing everything else to life too! Then again, he was just as confused as you that first night the other exhibit came to life. If he didn’t know, then you doubt anyone would be able to tell you anything about what’s going on.

All expect for one.

It took you eight tries of running around the museum to find the blonde curator before you catch him fixing his belongings before he leaves through the official employee entrance, “Taehyung!”

He jumps, but smiles bright when he sees it’s you, “Hey, (Y/n), did y-”

You don’t give him the luxury to finish his sentence, however. As soon as you get close enough, you grab his arms to keep him in front of you, “What else do you know about the necklace?!”

“What?” He asks, his attention more focused on your grip than the actual question.

You sigh, “What else can you tell me about it? Is there anything you haven’t told me? Anything at all?!”

He shakes his head, “No! I told you everything!”

“Are you sure?!” You prod, only getting a nod in return. You groan and think for a moment, not letting up on your grip as you think of anything else that could help you, “What was the necklace supposed to do?”

You watch as he tries to recall anything that he hadn’t mentioned before or may have when you were zoned out. His face brightens when he gets something, “The necklace was supposed to bring light and happiness to him and his people! She was to be his light and bring the people to life!”

“Bring them to life…” You repeat.

He nods, “Yeah, that’s what I said.”

“It’s bringing them to life.” You say, sparing no thought to Taehyung as you come to the realization.

“What’s bringing what to life?” Taehyung asks.

“Nothing!” You let go of his arms and brush off his shirt sleeves, “So if the necklace wasn’t with them?”

He shrugs, “I would assume it wouldn't matter. It's love, right? If anything, the special curse on the necklace would need to go away first.”

It’s then that you realize what he’s saying. If you want to get rid of the curse, then you and Namjoon have to destroy the necklace. But if you destroy the necklace, then would that destroy him too?

You open the employee door for Taehyung and usher him out, “I need to go.” 

You try to close the door on him but he stops you, “Are you making questionable choices? What’s wrong?” He’s worried and you know he is, but now isn’t the time to have people worrying about you.

You shake your head and smile, “Nothing at all, I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“(Y/n)-!”

You don’t waste any time closing the door in Taehyung’s face and locking it before he can ask anymore questions. You race to lock every door, double checking doors that aren’t yours just to be sure there’s no chance of any exhibit getting out and causing even more of a mess. You can’t let another exhibit make a mess that you don’t even notice! You didn’t even have access to leave the gift shop open for Namjoon to enjoy. It was completely off limits, yet it was still affected by the power of the necklace like everything else.

When you make it to Namjoon’s exhibit, he’s already waiting for you. Unlike every other night, his smile is replaced by confusion.

“Is everything okay? Why am I locked in?” He asks.

Seeing the confusion on his face only makes what you have to say even worse, “We need to get rid of the necklace.”

Namjoon confusion morphs into anger and his hands grip the gate tighter, “What? No!”

“Namjoon, things are getting out of hand-” You try to explain, but the king wants nothing to do with it.

“I refuse.”

You groan in annoyance, “Can you think about the consequences here? People could get hurt if all the artifacts finally come to life!”

“I’ve thought about nothing but other people for over 1,000 years! I’m tired of taking care of others!” He says, removing one hand to hit the gate with it.

You flinch, but you don’t falter, “Namjoon…”

He sighs, “All I’ve done with my life is serve my people. That’s it. I’ve never had one day to worry about myself until you touched that necklace and brought my soul back to life.” He looks so defeated and heartbroken as he lays his feelings out on the table. You want to hug him and tell him that nothing might happen to him, but you know that’s not what he wants to hear, “I don’t want to lose that yet.” 

You place a gentle hand on the gate where his fingers slip through the bars, resting yours over his, “Things are starting to get out of hand Namjoon. Every night something changes. A new exhibit wakes up and starts causing chaos. The statues outside have been moving too! How long until it all comes to life and stays alive?”

He tries to come up with some kind of explanation, but he just shakes his head, “I don’t know.”

“It’s going to hurt so many people, including us.” You say, hoping if you use yourself as an example he may see reason. But his solemn look is replaced with a dedicated one instead.

“I will protect you. That is my duty as your king and your lover.” He assures you, “The necklace remains the same. End of discussion.”

He removes his hands from the bars and backs away to try and leave the conversation there, but you aren’t willing to let him win, “You can’t tell me you don’t see the problems around us!”

“And you can’t tell me that you honestly don’t feel anything for me!” He cries out, “These past weeks I know you’ve warmed up to me! You can’t call what’s happened between us nothing!”

You know he’s right, but you can’t afford to let him win at a moment like this. Especially when - if you admit your feelings - you have to then admit that you’re willing to give him up as well. “Can’t I?”

“It is my right as a king to be happy.” He says, redefining his position as king with you. He’s set his foot down and he’s making it as obvious as he can.“You won’t get rid of me without me agreeing. Get used to it.”

“Don’t be stubborn, Namjoon!” You scold. 

“I’ll stay in my exhibit tonight.” He says curtly, turning and walking away from you.

“Namjoon!” You yell, hoping he’ll come back. 

But he doesn’t.

He continues past the display cases that divide the room and hides on the other side where you won’t be able to see him. He doesn’t respond, and he doesn’t come back out. The only thing you can do is unlock his exhibit and give him time to think before you come back to see him.

“I’m sorry that we see things differently right now.” You announce to the exhibit, wanting to make sure he at least knows where you stand with him, “I’ll leave your exhibit open for when you get hungry. I’ll leave your food on the information desk on the first floor.” 

No response.

“I really am sorry, Namjoon.” You say, lingering for just a moment longer than you should before turning your back on the exhibit and walking away.

---

Sitting in the security office has always felt boring, but tonight it feels even more so. Knowing that Namjoon is upset with you and not being able to do anything about it but give him space feels like waiting for test results you know won’t come back for a month. No amount of homework or idle keyboard clicking could change that for you, and it just made your night even more unbearable. 

Maybe Namjoon is right.

There’s no way to know that everything that comes to life won’t be friendly or have the ability to calm down. For all you know, they could all come to life and just do their own thing.

But then again, there’s no guarantee that whatever comes to life won’t behave like it does in everyday life. You’ve already seen how the paintings interact amongst themselves and with each other, and there are a few that you’re glad aren’t statues. 

“Ugh!” You groan, slamming the cover of your textbook closed. There’s just too much to think about, and the atmosphere of the security office is too stale for you to keep your thoughts straight. 

You turn your chair away from the desk and stand up, stretching a little before you pick up your flashlight and leave the room. You make your way down the empty hall leading to the main entrance, hearing the soft chatter of exhibits as you go. It’s always normal to hear the sounds echo throughout the museum. You’re used to hearing the wails of children that don’t want to leave the children’s exhibit and the pleas or scolding of their parents. 

You’d rather hear the children over the ominous noises that leave the stairwells.

At the information desk, you see a figure standing where you had left the food. Tall and swaying side to side awkwardly, you can’t help but chuckle at Namjoon as he knocks the pamphlet stand to the floor. He bends to pick it up, and as you get closer you can’t help but notice the clothes he’s wearing. A dark purple hanbok with a hint of blue and white around the collar.

That’s not what you remember him wearing.

“Namjoon?” You call out, closing in on the figure. When he turns to you though, who you assumed to be Namjoon is not even close. Who you thought was your dead king come to life is really a wax figure of a Silla Dynasty soldier you’d seen from an exhibit on this floor on the other side of the building.

“Uh...hi there.” You greet, awkwardly waving to the man inspecting what he’d knocked over.

The man in question doesn’t humor you though, instead he pulls his weapon and points it in your direction, “State your business.”

Your heart races at his demand and you instinctively clutch your flashlight tighter. With a level voice, you do your best to feign confidence, “I’m the night guard. I protect this building.”

“You?” He scoffs. He eyes you up and down before shaking his head, “A woman. How distasteful.”

“Yeah, so I’ve heard,” You mumble, slightly annoyed at the return of misogyny. You take a breath to steady yourself and try again, “If you give me a moment, I can explain where you are.”

“I know where I am!” He yells, scaring you. You see his grip on his sword tighten and you can’t stop yourself from shifting your weight, “You’ve taken my Queen for a chance to replace her, and that’s a sin I cannot ignore!”

“What?” You think to the woman who sits behind the shatter-proof glass in his exhibit, realizing she must be who he’s talking about. You shake your head, “You have it all wrong! She’s not in any danger! She’s no prisoner!”

Now that you think about it, you’re not exactly sure how he got out of his exhibit. You locked it yourself. You know for a fact he shouldn’t be out and about. Yet here he stands in front of you, sword drawn and ready to strike you.

“Oh really? Then why have you trapped her in an unbreakable cage, wench?” He spits. He must’ve already tried to break her out himself, “I will not let a witch like you harm my Queen and not suffer the consequences.”

In the blink of an eye, he lunges forward. You barely have enough time to side step his advances, feeling a breeze as he rushes past you. You run behind the desk, grabbing the umbrella Seokjin keeps there in case of emergencies and running through the other side away from your assailant who follows you. You let out the loudest scream you can manage, hoping that Namjoon hears you as you run around the grand staircase in hopes of losing the man behind you.

You zig-zag in between pillars, running straight and grabbing one to help you make a quick u-turn to throw him off his guard. But no matter what you do, he stays on you. You round the staircase again and hide behind a pillar this time instead, giving yourself a chance to catch your breath.

When you don’t hear his footsteps, you take a hesitant peek behind the marble. Your eyes turn to saucers when they see him right in front of you with his sword drawn back. You turn quick, hearing his blade strike the pillar before he cries out, “Do not run from me!”

“Namjoon!” You shriek, once again hoping the king can hear you from where he is upstairs. You make a beeline down the hall away from the staircase, heading for the children’s exhibit’s in hopes to cut him off, “Help me! Please!”

The entire way down the hall the man stays hot on your trail, cursing at you and demanding you to listen to him. You pass the exhibits, hoping that if his was open one of these would be too. But as if fate is working against you, none look to be open for you. It’s not until you reach a dead end that you realize your mistake.

“This is your final resting place,” He declares, “Take your last breaths with pride.”

“No.” You shake your head, determined to get away from him. You press the button on your flashlight and point it in his eyes, blinding him enough to run past him again. However, you’re unprepared for the beads that litter the floor, sending you careening to the floor and skidding across the shiny tile.

“You cannot fool me, witch!” You hear him laugh from behind you. You use your elbows to push yourself up and grab your flashlight or the umbrella, but both objects are too far away from you. There’s no way you’ll be able to grab one before the man above you strikes. Instead, you turn yourself over to face him, eyeing the Silla Dynasty soldier with a false confidence.

“Your magic tricks are nothing against me, wench. I will be sure to tell my queen as much when I rescue her from your trap.” He divulges, dragging out your imminent death with a monologue. He laughs to himself, “You must think you’re so smart. Too bad your life is mine.”

He raises his sword and you lift your arm, eyes squeezing shut as you prepare for the blow. Only the blow never comes, and instead you hear a clash of plastic rustling against metal.

“Her life belongs to me just as mine does to her. You’ll do well to remember that.” Namjoon growls, his voice much lower than you’ve heard it before. When you open your eyes to see that it’s really him standing above you, you see he’s holding Jin’s umbrella against your attacker's sword, holding it steady to keep it from harming you or him. 

“Namjoon…” You whimper, happy to see him.

Namjoon lifts his leg and kicks the guard back, knocking him to the floor and onto the beads the man had dropped. He turns to you and pulls you to your feet, placing a hand on the back of your head and pulling you in to place a gentle kiss against your forehead, “Run to my exhibit and lock the gate. I’ll be there for you soon.”

“I can’t leave you.” You protest, holding onto his biceps to keep him from pulling away.

Behind Namjoon the man groans as he stands, breaking up the moment the two of you had and pulling you back to the reality at hand. He turns to place his entire body in front of yours and holds his one hand behind him to steer you back, “Now!”

As much as you want to stay and help him, you know you’ll only distract him. There’s nothing you can do to help him any longer, so you do as he tells you and you run. You run as fast as you can and make it to the staircase, running past it to the information desk where the computers lay open and ready to go. You pull up the security feeds and flip through camera after camera until you find the hallway where Namjoon fights the once wax figure with the umbrella. 

It lasts for a few more swings until Namjoon finally backs him into a corner and hits him in the head, knocking the figure unconscious instead of taking him out entirely. Instant relief washes through you as you watch the man fall to the floor, asleep for who knows how long. Just as long as Namjoon is still standing and physically okay, you’re happy for now.

You catch your breath and collect your thoughts as he makes his way back down the hall to you, working on what you’ll say to him in your mind and hoping that whatever you come up with will be good enough.

“(Y/n)?” Namjoon calls from the stairs, surprised to see you at the desk and not upstairs where he’d asked you to go.

You only shake your head, “I know and I’m sorry. I just had to make sure you were okay.”

“It’s fine, I understand,” He assures you, “I actually wanted to say that I-” Namjoon is interrupted by a growl, a low throaty one that comes from the staircase just down the hall, You both turn very slowly towards the sound, and are met with two sharp green eyes of the tiger from the downstairs animal exhibit.

“(Y/n)...” He tries to call out to you, but you shake your head, “Don’t move, Namjoon.”

“I told you I’d protect you.” He reminds you.

You see the way his eyes flicker from the tiger to the opposite end of the hall and you hold a breath, “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Run to my exhibit and I’ll meet you there.” He promises before clapping his hands together and shuffling to his side to run towards the exhibit’s the guard had come from. The tiger immediately locks onto him and takes off, Namjoon sprinting down the hall to lead it away, “Go! Now while you still can.”

The tiger passes you, but you can’t bring yourself to run away from Namjoon. You can’t bring yourself to leave him alone again. So you take off after the two as well, following them down the hall into the ancient jewel’s exhibit. The whole room is stocked full, large enough to run around with an exit gate on the other side. It’s one of the few rooms to have two gates, and right now you were more than happy for that.

Namjoon and the tiger haven’t noticed you yet, the two run in circles around each other with Namjoon trying to outrun and outsmart him. You take that opportunity to close the gate behind you and lock it up, leaving only one exit for you to escape from.

“Namjoon!” You yell, grabbing his attention as he runs past another display case.

He lets out an exasperated yell when he sees you, “I told you to go upstairs!”

“I won’t leave you!” You yell back, “Run to the gate and close it behind you!”

“No! Not while you’re in here!” He argues, making another pass around a display case.

“Do it!” You demand. You run further into the room and grab the tiger’s attention, pulling it away from Namjoon so you can enact your escape plan, “Here kitty kitty kitty~!”

The overgrown feline takes notice of you, giving Namjoon a chance to run to the doors and pull the gates together again. You lead it away just as Namjoon had done for you, doing what you can to distract the tiger and put enough space in between the two of you.

When you finally get an opening, you take it. You make a beeline for the gate where Namjoon is and grab your keys, “Open it!”

Namjoon throws the gate open and closes it as soon as you pass him, holding it shut while you fish for the right key. “(Y/n)...anytime now.”

“Hold on-” You breathe, flipping through your keys for the correct one, “I almost have it.”

“It’s going to claw my hands off!” Namjoon yells.

“I got it!” You cry, shoving the key into the lock and turning it before the tiger can pounce on the gate or their hands.

The two try to catch their breaths, but more yelling comes from down the hall. It leaves the two of you with only the option to run as fast as you can back to the main entrance to get to his exhibit and lock yourselves in.

“Hold my hand and don’t let go, okay?” Namjoon tells you, making sure you understand with a nod before he pulls you after him. 

The two of you run again, quickly meeting more Silla soldiers and dodging them like you had their friend. Birds and other animals far more inviting than the tiger run into you both, but you only keep running to the stairs. Namjoon continues to pull you along, even as he takes the stairs two-by-two in hopes of reaching his exhibit before anyone else can apprehend the two of you.

Even as you run, you’re thumbing through your keys to find his. You keep up with every step and hold on tight to his hand, even more so when you feel his key hit your palm. He pulls you along and into his exhibit, the both of you letting the other go so you can shut the gate and lock it behind you. 

Namjoon takes your hand again and pulls you deeper into the room, hiding behind the display cases as the other’s reach his gate, “You were right. We have to get rid of it!”

You shake your head, “Then I’ll lose you!”

“You’ll lose me anyways if we don’t do this!”

“I don’t know if I can any more…” Within hours the two of you have changed mindsets, but now there’s no time to think of a new plan. The only thing you can do is hope for the best outcome now.

Namjoon takes your face in his hands, gently cupping your cheeks as unshed tears well up between the two of you, “(Y/n), I’ve waited so long to have you, and I’m so sorry that I didn’t listen to what you had to say earlier.” 

You shake your head, “I’m sorry for not listening to you! You were right. Just like you always are. I’ve loved spending every minute with you, and I don’t want you to go.” Your voice breaks and you can see it in his eyes that it’s getting to him too.

“This past month that I’ve been able to enjoy with you, has been more than I could have ever asked for.” He admits, placing a kiss against your forehead, “But it’s time to say goodbye.”

“No.” You shake your head, “No you can’t say goodbye.” You wrap your arms around his torso and hold him close, squeezing as tight as you can in hopes it’ll block out the sounds of the angry mob outside, “Please, don’t say goodbye yet.”

“You’ll see me again.” He assures you, gently running his thumb over the back of your head.

“Namjoon, please...” you beg, hoping that if he hears how much you really care for him that he’ll change his mind one more time.

But instead he pulls back so you can see his face and he can see yours. Smiling his cute dimpled smile with glassy eyes as he says, “I love you.”

Before you can change your mind, you find the display case key on your keychain and unlock the glass. No alarm rings, only the sounds of banging on the exhibit’s gate ring in your ears as you pull the necklace from its place. You turn with it towards Namjoon, but you’re hesitant to hand it to him. Knowing that when you do, you’ll have to say goodbye no matter what. 

Namjoon senses your hesitance, and pulls you in for a hug. Wrapping his arms around you in a tight embrace and holding you close against his body, he tries to convey every thought he’s thinking into one hug and make it last for a lifetime.

With one final burst of confidence, you pull yourself away from Namjoon and press your lips against his for the first and last time, relishing in the feeling of being so close to him as his free hand brushes over yours - the one holding the necklace.

All too soon, he pulls his hand back a tight grip around the necklace, breaking the jewel into a million pieces. You can feel the magic of the necklace burst free from it’s confines as you feel the kiss you share with Namjoon dissolve away. And when you finally gain the courage to open yours eyes.

He’s gone.

The loud banging is gone.

All signs of life besides yours are gone.

You’re left with nothing but a broken necklace and an empty room where the only sounds you can hear are the silence of the building, the shakiness of your breaths, and the pounding ache of your heart.

You can’t stop the sob that leaves your mouth as reality settles in and crashes down on you that he’s left and he’s gone and there’s nothing you can do to get him back anymore. You weep for the love you found and lost in such a short time, and you can’t stop yourself from wishing you hadn’t pushed him away as you had. From wishing you had appreciated him more while he was here. You cry out to the world for them to hear, but there’s nothing but the silent void that calls back.

Then you hear the footsteps.

They’re soft at first, only a patter. And then they get louder and it’s like someone is racing to get to you. Rationale leaves your mind as you come to the realization that Namjoon is still there! He didn’t disappear as you thought he had!

But nothing can mask your disappointment when you see the soft blonde locks of Taehyung run through the door. Nothing but pain and confusion. 

“Taehyung?” You ask, wiping a tear, “What are you doing here? How did you get in?”

“I had to check on you.” He explains. He kneels down to your level and places a hand on your shoulder, “You just lost your soulmate, I couldn’t not comfort you.”

“How did you know? I never introduced you to Namjoon. No one knew about Namjoon.” You ramble on, trying to think of when you’d ever let Namjoon slip through the cracks. Then it dawns on you, that someone had to have let him in here and it wasn’t you, “Did Hoseok let you in.”

“There’s a lot that I need to explain to you.” He says. You’re confused, but you allow him a chance to explain himself. He had to have something good if it meant he got into the museum and knew about Namjoon. But then again, there was also the mention of the burglar messing with the museum equipment to break in. If anything, you’re hoping Hoseok or Yoongi is with him rather than him being a thief. 

“I’m the moon goddess.” He says.

Not what you were expecting.

“But you’re a boy.” You say without thinking. You pause for a moment to think and retrace your steps, “I mean I’m not judging, but I’m just confused.”

“When I first approached Namjoon he mistook me for a woman and I just never corrected him.” He explains. There seems to be more to his story, but you weren’t going to push it at the moment. “I’m so sorry for everything that I’ve put you through.”

“Why couldn’t you tell me?” You ask. If he was trying to help you and Namjoon, then he should’ve just told you that first night instead of this elaborate scheme to bring the two of you together.

He sighs, “I wanted to, but fate is tricky. I can bring you together, but fate has every right to pull you apart. I really thought this was it this time.”

“This time?” You question. Taehyung freezes, glancing at you and then to the floor in thought. It’s as if he’s having a battle within himself on the inside, something you’ve never seen from him before. “Taehyung?”

“Can I show you something?” He asks.

You raise a brow in confusion, “Show me what?”

“Your past life.”

“My past life?” You repeat.

“This isn’t the first time you’ve crossed paths with Namjoon.” He explains. Gently, Taehyung takes one of your hands and squeezes lightly, sending the room around you swirling in a funnel of blue and gold. When it stops, you find yourself in a wooden room filled with clay pots, water, and rolls upon rolls of fabric. A bed lays in the center of the room, and in the corner is where a woman who looks a lot like you sits with her hands folded in her lap.

“This is your past life with Namjoon.” He says, the thumb of the hand holding yours rubbing the back of it gently.

“I was a doctor?” You ask, taking in the simple clothes you wear as well as the supplies within the room.

“Yes.”

“Miss-” Another Taehyung peeks his head around the corner, only this one wears a woman’s hanbok in a baby blue with his long hair left down to sway free, “-his majesty would like to meet you.”

“Right!” Your other self stands quick, her hands pressed tight against her sides before she follows Taehyung out of the room.

You turn to Taehyung with an inquisitive stare, “Why are you wearing a woman’s hanbok?”

“It’s complicated, just follow me- Well, us.” He pulls you along after him, going through the door that had been shut behind your other selves.

The both of you follow them down the hallway to a room with two guards at the door. When they see Taehyung, they bow and open the doors, letting your past selves enter the room with you following after them.

On a large bed, tucked under satin sheets lay your king, cheeks sullen and heavy bags under his eyes. It doesn’t take a doctor to see how sick he is, and it breaks your heart just to see him in such a state. “Namjoon…”

“Your majesty, the doctor who will perform on you has arrived.” Taehyung’s younger self announces. When Namjoon doesn’t answer, he gently shakes him awake, “Your majesty?”

Namjoon opens his eyes slowly, taking a moment to register what Taehyung’s told him. He sees your other self, and you see a glimmer of the smile he’d shown you only minutes prior, “I-” The king coughs, “I thank you...for coming all this way. I hope-” he pauses, “I hope your trip was well.”

Your past self bows her head in respect, “It was very gracious of you, your majesty. I am honored to ease you into the afterlife so that you may meet your one true love.”

Namjoon gives a subtle nod of his head, “Your words warm my heart...I thank you for your service.”

“It is my honor.” You say, bowing your head in respect, “You should rest now, my king. You need your energy for when you wake again.”

“Yes...I look forward to it.” He muses, eyes closing once again. 

You feel the tears on your cheeks, but your past self doesn’t bat an eye as she turns to Taehyung’s former self, “He won’t make it through the night. Not like this.”

“That’s what we’ve feared.” Taehyung admits solemnly. He allows a moment of peace before a thought rushes to him, “The king! He asked me to make sure you receive all of his items that will be in his tomb.”

“Shouldn’t his servants be the ones to keep track of his belongings?” You ask him, watching as he searches the room for something.

“Yes, but he told me himself, he wishes to have his lover’s necklace with him.” He assures you. He takes a minute, but he finds the box in only a few moments on a chest closer to the door, “I would bring it back myself, but I do not wish to leave the king in his final hours.”

You nod in understanding, “I understand. I’ll take it for you. Anything for his majesty.” 

You watch as your past self reaches for the box to take it back to the medical room with her, but a guard barges in and stops her, “Stop! What do you think you’re doing?!”

“His majesty asked for his belongings to be moved to his operation room.” You explain, your hands quickly moving back to yours sides.

“No one but his royal guards are to touch the necklace!” The guard bellows. He grabs your past self and pushes her towards the door, “Out with you!” Another guard meets her before she stumbles to the floor and the first guard gets in his face, “Make sure she gets back to her room, and don’t let her out until the king has passed.”

“Please, she was just following orders. I heard them myself.” Taehyung’s previous self tries to explain. Unfortunately, for the both of them, the guard wants nothing to do with it.

“When my king tells me what he wishes, then I will his - and only his - orders.” The guard spits, slamming the door in past Taehyung’s face. 

The door closing sends the image into smoke, and when it clears you find yourself back in the museum in the same empty exhibit.

“When they wouldn’t listen to me, I vowed to bring you together in your next lives.” He tells you, his head to the ground. When he meets your eyes, there are tears running down his cheeks, “But I failed again.”

“Tae…”

“I’m so sorry.” He weeps, hanging his head in shame once again.

You only move closer to him and wrap your arms over his shoulders, “I’m sorry I didn’t try harder.”

Together you mourn the loss of a friend

A promise

And a lover.

~ Read Part 3 ~

#fae fic #sope-and-shine #the right of a king #pt 2 #namjoon x reader #kim namjoon x reader #rm x reader #bts rm x reader #x reader #reader insert #fan fiction #fanfiction #angst #fluff #sfw #kim seokjin #min yoongi #jung hoseok #park jimin #kim taehyung #jeon jeongguk #bts x reader #monster bts #bts jin #bts suga #bts jhope #bts jimin #bts v #bts jungkook #bts rm

[starshineandbooks]

Come away with me, One last adventure? Chapter four

In which they open gifts and manage to completely miss Logan’s soulmark

Chapter one   Chapter Two   Chapter Three 

AO3

Spotify playlist for cD roman is given

words - 1644

Roman wakes to a cold bed and a missing Logan, that is upsetting to his gay disaster heart and friend senses. He sits up quickly, to listen for any sign of logan, instead finding a note on his nightstand.

‘Roman, I have gone out on a walk after a series of bad dreams, I will likely be back by the time you wake up but if not feel free to text me. I’ll grab breakfast while I am out.’

Roman does feel free to text Logan, “Hey where are you?”

Logan doesn’t respond, but the door opens two minutes later, revealing Logan holding a drink carrier and a pastry bag, “Good morning Roman.”

“Happy birthday!” Roman smiles, “Did you discover your soulmark?”

“Nothing.” Logan says swiftly, “I woke up at midnight, and I found nothing, no mark at all.”

“O-oh.” Roman blinks, “That’s uh-”

“It’s fine. Just- Don’t touch me right now. Bad sensory day.” Logan sighs, shaking his dark, black hair out of his face.

“Okay.”

“I have caffine and breakfast.” Logan sighs, “And a lack of apparent soulmate.”

“Logan-”

“It’s fine,” Logan shakes his head, “I suppose I am just a little bitter.”

Roman’s lips purse, almost a pout, and Logan can’t find it in himself to chide himself for wanting to kiss those unfairly pretty lips. Logan sighs, setting the bag down and handing Roman a coffee, not meeting his friend’s eyes, careful to make sure he doesn't touch Roman’s hand at all, saving himself the pain for today.

Roman can’t help letting his eyes roe over all of Logan’s exposed skin, he’s never been able to, but he desperately wants to find where someone else will take away what Roman loves so dearly, where a soulmate will mark Logan as theirs forever.

Roman hates to think of that, but he hates even more to think that Logan, who deserves the world, wouldn’t get the exact soulmate he wants. Roman also hates the idea that if likely factual, that when Logan finds his soulmate -because surely the beautiful nerd has one- that he will leave for college and forget about Roman.

Roman knows Logan will promise not to if it was brought up, but Roman also knows that when you fall in love the rest of the world, no matter how bright, isn’t as important.

“Stop your moping Roman, it’s a lack of soulmate, not a lack of soul.”

“That can’t be right.” Roman counters, “Everyone has a soulmate!”

“That’s what Disney says, that’s what the cards say Roman, but this is real life, not everything works out perfect.”

“I know that!” Roman sighs, softening his voice, “I know that okay, God above do I know that L.”

“Well… Good. Now, drink your caffeinated death before it gets cold.” Logan’s voice is distant, as he moves to drink from his own styrofoam cup.

Roman sighs, following suit, “How long were you out?”

“Since midnight.”

“Specs it’s seven in the morning. What-”

“Bad dream, nothing important.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah…” Logan sighs, “I- It wasn’t great.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

“You died.”

“I what?!”

“You died, in my dream Roman. It was rather upsetting.” Logan sighs, shaking his ead, “But it is okay, you are breathing and that- that is enough.”

Roman can’t find the words, but the way Logan looks so upset- he sighs, reaching and pulling a wrapped rectangle of the ground, “Open it for me?”

Logan sighs, setting his cup down and reaching for the gift, before moving to grab Roman’s.

“Wait!” Roman says, then his alarm goes off, “HAppy birthday Specs, welcome to being officially eighteen!”

Logan snorts, “Thank you.”

Roman pulls the gift Logan made for him off the bed stand, “Open them together?”

“Yes, if that’s amicable to you?”

“I suggested it didn’t I?”

Logan does not dignify that with a response, instead nodding slightly, before he turns to the gift as he sits on the bed, moving the blue wrapped object to his lap.

Roman stares down at the red paper, “Go!”

The two begin to tear at the paper, brows knit to see who can open it faster. Competitive as always but in a fun way.

Roman wins, because the gift he’s opening is smaller. He grins, “A CD case specs, did you make me a mixtape?”

“Listen to it and find out.”

Roman just grabs Logan’s laptop, booting it up and logging in.

Logan stares down at the scrap book on his lap, a galaxy print cover and beautiful calligraphy reading ‘Logan memories for the ages Part one of many’. He chuckles softly to himself, “A scrapbook?”

“Look through it, Specs, I spent- a long time.”

“Is that why your hands were covered in blue and silver glitter for a week and a half?”

“Maybe.” Roman pills up the CD room and goes to hit play.

“Wait! Headphones, and- listen to the whole thing first?”

“Uh- sure?”

Logan nods, “After this we should buy tickets to disney for tomorrow.”

“We should.”

Logan turns to rifle through the scrapbook, finidning shades of blues and black, and galaxies, stars, and a nasa logo on different pages. Roman must have spent hours on this, weeks probably longer.

The first page is a picture of Roman and Logan when they were probably five, Roman sits on the counter with a bandaged knee and e teary smile as Logan holds out an otter pop to his injured friend. ‘My hero’ It reads.

A second picture sits on the same page, this time Roman and Logan appear to be sixteen if the blue streak in Roman’s hair is any indicator. Roman and Logan stand arm in arm for homecoming, Roman’s date had ditched him the night before for some pretty boy or other. Logan had stepped in and broken off from the group the nerd had planned on attending with just to make sure Roman had a fun night. The second picture seems to continue the message of the first, ‘Forever and ever.’

Soft silver glitter is on the second page, a large picture of Logan and Virgil takes up the majority of the page, the two are hunched together watching conspiracies on the laptop they’d borrowed from their triplet Bia, said girl in the background threatening Roman with a curling iron.

The message for that page is silly and looping as ever, ‘Except when the conspiracies rot your brain and your sister threatens to straighten my hair with her curler if I scare you.’

Logan laughs softly, turning the page and gasping.

Roman glances over but just smiles at the picture on the third page.

Logan stares down at a picture of Logan and Roman with their moms, the boys are probably eight, and dressed in almost matching outfits. Black pants, dress shoes, and button up shirts in white. Except, they both wear bow ties, Logan’s is a dark red while Roman’s is a dark blue. ‘Sometimes, we steal each other's color.’

The next page is Logan at the planetarium, alone in the shot but looking starstruck as he stares up at constellations, pointing them out to someone out of view, probably Roman or one of their friends. ‘As stunning as the stars you so love.’

The next page is a picture of Logan with his siblings.

Remy stands with his- they were a he at the time of photo- arms about Logan and Virgil’s shoulders, sunglasses ever in place and a smirk. Virgil’s got one arm hanging loseley and the other about the youngest sibling, and the only blonde. Anne, the blonde, smiles at the camera. Logan has his pinkies hooked with his female triplet, the two identical, save for Logan wears glasses where Bia wears contacts. The group stands in matching print swimsuits on the beach.

‘You have more fun and emotion and love than you’d let most people know but you’re a big softie.’

Logan continues to rifle through his favorite memories, most of them with Roman himself or Logan’s own siblings. His eyes sting, Roman put so much thought and love into this project, and Logan is going to keep it forever.

When he is done reading he turns to watch Roman shut the laptop and turn to Logan as well, almost in sync. Logan will miss this, the easy everything he has with Roman.

“Thank you Roman.” Logan says simply, “This means a lot to me, I- It’s beautiful.” Logan manages to bite back the quip Roman would love to hear, just not from Logan. Manages to keep from saying, ‘Almost as beautiful as you are.’

“I’m glad you liked it!” Roman grins, going to ruffle Logan’s hair but stopping as he remembers Logan asked to not be touched, Roman drops his hand, “Sorry I was just so excited I blinked for a moment.”

“It is okay Roman, You stopped and you remembered, and then apologized. That is all I can ask for.”

“I mean, you could ask me for anything.” Roman shrugs, and his voice isn’t teasing like he’d meant, it’s soft and vulnerable and earnest.

Logan shakes his head, “Not anything.” Logan sighs, shaking his head.

“Anything. But uh- Thank you for the music Logan.”

“Of course.”

“I like all of the songs, of course! But uh- they were all love songs?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Roman nods, “Well, Thank you very much, it was- a beautiful playlist.”

Roman stares only a little besottedly at eyes of stormy depth in Logan’s green gaze, and he can’t help but wish the playlist was a confession, but it isn’t, Roman knows this.

Logan wishes Roman hadn't just rejected him so outright with ignoring that the playlist is a confession, but here he is.

“I’m glad you liked it.” Logan smiles as best he can around what feels as if his heart is stabbing itself violently. “We should take a walk around dinner time, after is ideal.”

Master post    Chapter five

#Come away with me one last adventure? #logince #sanders sides #Soulmate AU #Sweethearts soulmates and snarky remarks #SSB Writes

[fullmetaldevil-blog]

Batim: Stitched Au CH. 7

Ok. I actually had this typed up awhile ago but lacked the sufficient time to actually sit and post it properly :p

summary: Benny is gone and is no where to be found. Now a determined Angel is out to find her demon accompanied by her band and loyal husband. Can they find Benny or will someone else find them whom has even bigger plans? 

I hope you all enjoy

On with the show~!

Ch. 7 Bigger Plans for the Band

Bright and early in the morning Allison and Tom piled into Tom's truck and the man broke a few speed limits to reach the studio. They had stayed up all night formulating ways to trying to track Benny down based on what Allison knew of him. The mechanic and actress had placed many phone calls waking much of the band members (and got cussed out by a few) as to perform a thorough search of the studio before the facility opened to the majority of the staff. Tom was taking full advantage of the fact that he was one of the few key holders and had informed everyone to meet at the studio 2 hours before the studio was fully open to openly search for Benny without onlookers. They had hoped that Norman, Aaron and Giovanni's plan of leaving food sitting out had paid off since Benny was known to have a large appetite.

While Tom drove like a madman down the dark road and was thankful no cops were around to pull him over (not like he would have stopped), Allison was silently praying that they would be able to find her little lost toon. Benny didn't really see much of the studio except for the area's she frequented and she had no real reason to venture beyond the animation department and the music department. She had hoped that Benny hadn't ventured further then that due to the studio's maze like infrastructure and it was a common occurrence for new staff to get lost or turned around.  She held her overcoat tightly in hopes that by the end of the day her coat would help smuggle a little friend out of that hellish place.

Tom pulled into the studio lot and was soon joined by another car. The mechanic got out to look at who was the other early arrival hoping it wasn't some random employee and he was relieved to see Norman stepping out and waving at him.

“G' mornin!” Norman hollered from his car, the man stepping out to reveal a tool belt around his waist full of tools, a loop of wire and a small backpack.

Allison looked at Norman wide eyed “What's all that?” gesturing to the belt and small tools.

Norman chuckled as he pointed to his equipment “Well normally I carry these in mah backpack, but I got 'em on mah side on that off chance we find Benny an' I can sneak 'em out with the bag. These are mah tools fer the projectors so I carry 'em all th' time.”

Upon Norman finishing his explanation Allison chuckled and held up her overcoat. “I had the same idea, I brought the coat with the idea of sneaking him out in my clothes.”

While the group lightly chatted, a few more cars pulled into the lot while 2 others came on foot. Tom, Allison and Norman turned to see Earl and Edgar arriving on foot while Leonard, Giovanni and Aaron all arrived by car.

“Huh. I didn't know you boys walked here.” Tom commented while looking at the twins whom were still trying to rub the sleep out of their eyes.

“Ay, We live just down the way from here so it's only a 15-20 minute walk.” Earl yawned while Edgar hung off his brother clearly having a hard time waking up.

Allison watching Edgar having a hard time waking up instantly made her think of Benny. At times in the morning he was slow moving, groggy and not always ready for the day. “I just hope Benny is awake and can hear us while we're looking for him. He isn't exactly a morning toon.”

Leonard flashed a huge grin “Which is why we make as much noise as we can. If were loud by either playin' music or callin' his name I'm sure he's bound to come running.” The man held up his violin to emphasize his point.

Aaron smacked Leonard on the back of the head playfully “Or to go running away, did you ever think about that numskull. Think about it, the room getting trashed was enough to scare him away, he might be edgy and run from any excessive noises.”

“I vote we check were we put all the soup cans first before we wake the dead by shouting all morning.” Giovanni added in. “He's been missing for a full day now, he has got to be hungry by now.”

“Which is why I brought this” Tom heading to his truck and came back with a huge roll of paper and laid it on the hood of his truck prompting the group to come over. “This is a map of the entire studio, even the portions that as still in development. When I was developing the first ink machine Joey had to provide us the original blueprint of the studio then we added onto to it. This is my copy of the blueprint that I'm thankful I took with me.”

The band members had gathered round and everyone stared at the pages in awe at the sheer depth that the studio had gone. None of them could have imagined that the studio was much larger then it looked.

“What's this area?” Giovanni pointed at a large circular area that was labeled ' Belly of the Beast' on the draft.

Tom looked to the spot that Giovanni had pointed to “Oh that is the 'Throne room' as Joey liked to put it. It's where he houses Bendy memorabilia with the purpose of impressing investors.”

Norman's face twisted in confusion as he eyed the area that was brought into question. He followed the only route that lead from that spot to yet another large room but the only entrance was in a corner of the room rather then a main hallway. It seemed odd. “An' what's this 'ere?” He pointed at the second smaller room that served as the only entrance to the 'throne room' gaining Tom's attention.

“Huh? Oh that's the vault.”

“I know that area!” Norman's outburst taking everyone by surprise.

“You do?” Allison spoke up looking at the projectionist confused. Her look of confusion was joined by the rest of the band whom had no clue half of the new additions of the studio existed.

“Yeah. Th' other day Joey was headin' down 'ere and I was gonna check that area first in the hopes that lil' Benny hadn't come that far down. I helped 'em down and then he was askin' me about what Bendy films mah lil sister likes. I told 'em which ones and he told me t' get them out the vault. He told me how to open it and I got the films fer 'em, then we headed back to the office and I had to go back to the music department.” Norman stared holes at the blueprint of the vault on the draft sheet. “When I was in there th' door 'ere'” he pointed to the door mark in the corner of the room. “It was blocked off by a large book shelf an' ink was around the base. I dunno what was beyond th' door but it looked odd.”

“That's where the ink for the ink machine is kept, along with 'the Ink Machine'.” Tom's voice causing the group to look at him and looks of confusion and the emphasis of the Ink Machine . “The Ink Machine not only helps make ink but it also filters and pumps ink throughout the studio like a giant heart. What we see up top is only a small piece of the real thing, that's the 'output' portion where the toons come out. It's 'heart' looks exactly like the one on the upper levels, but far bigger. The blue print for the Ink Machine is so complex it couldn't be all put on one drafting sheet plus along with whatever Joey put inside the machine.”

“So why couldn't you say something sooner? I mean about all that was going on behind the scenes with the Ink machine and Benny.” Aaron looked over at Tom with disappointment on his face.

The man's question made the mechanics shoulders slump “I didn't want to admit it, but I kinda liked the idea of a living toon. A little character who's sole purpose was to make people smile despite the stock market crash and the hardship that followed. That was the reason why I took such a ludicrous job along with the fact that it paid well. The longer I worked here and the more complex the project turned out to be, the more I realized I was in over my head and was too far in to just simply back out. Joey wouldn't let me and then my job wouldn't let me. I couldn't say anything cause Joey had threatened me.” Tom turned to look at Allison. “When I made the prototype ink machine it was only supposed to test on whether or not a object can be turned into an ink copy. The idea being that we can turn Bendy related objects into a physical replica of the toon, a 3 dimensional model if you will. That day I went to Shawn and asked to grab something from the scrap heap and he let me. I looked at the pile of Alice angel toys that were being tossed and saw one lonely Bendy plush that the eyes were accidentally mismatched and had somehow got stained yellow. I liked it on sight to be honest, something about it made me smile. It was unique. So I picked up the toy and brought it to the machine. To be honest a small part of me wished I could have kept the toy and that the process wouldn't work so I can get the toy back. Never in a million years would I have pictured that the toy was turned into a living toon somehow. After that, things got out of hand I was threatened by Joey into silence for if I said something or did something out of line he would go after my wife and have her hurt or worse.”

Allison stared at her husband in horror realizing that Tom was putting himself in harms way to protect her from someone who had no qualms about removing people by means of injury or death. That Tom had no choice but to endure threats to his loved one and carry the burden of the birth and death of the off model toon. She walked over to her cherished husband and gave him a warm comforting hug while whispering a small 'thank you'.

“So what exactly happen' when lil Benny was made?” Norman politely asked.

The mechanic smiled remembering the first day. “Well after I took one last look at the little toy and placed it inside the machine I went through the process of making sure the machine itself was ready. I threw the switch and watched the machine writhe around before a large glob of ink fell out the nozzle. At first I thought it failed and only succeeded in making some really thick ink, but when it started taking form I could only stand and watch in amazement. After a few moments a yellow colored Bendy toon was sitting in the ink and what really shocked me was when it was moving. It was alive. I couldn't help myself. I went over to look at the little new born and got to touch him for the first time, and he was so soft and sweet. A part of me was like a child, all giddy and excited at seeing their favorite character. The little toon was responding the sounds I made and my touches.” Then Tom's face turned bitter and angry. “Then Joey was shouting how the toon was off model and needed to be disposed of. I couldn't stand by and let that happen so I stood up to Joey protecting the toon who cowered behind me. We argued and while and when I was distracted Joey had grabbed an ax and struck me on the side of my head with the handle. I saw the little toon reach for me when I got hit and his reward was a slash wound across his stomach. I grabbed Joey's legs to try and keep him from going after the toon a 2nd time allowing Benny to escape. He hit me on the head again and I don't know what happened after that. The next thing I knew was I was in his office getting threatened into silence.”

The group had an overwhelming sense of pity finally learning Thomas's side of the story. The man had been lured in and used, and when the results came he got stepped on and shoveled over. A simple notion of helping to make something that made people smile got turned against him and brought him only pain.

A chuckle made the group look back at the man “Now I know that my little toon is alive, he is my responsibility. I brought him into this world and I won't let anything or anyone take him out. Though now we have a new problem on our hands rather then just finding Benny” Tom's eyes narrowed as he looked down at the blueprint laid before him.

“What is this new problem? We already have enough with tryin' to find a small toon” Giovanni roughly pointed out.

Tom turned to face the group. “Our 2nd problem is Bendy. The other day when I completed the 2nd ink machine it produced a perfectly on-model Bendy toon. He is alive just like his counterpart and is unfortunately in Joey's hands. The man forced me to come back here with threats to my livelihood if I didn't fix the machine to make a Bendy that 'acted right'. Apparently Bendy's behavior isn't like his cartoon self and according to Joey he is too much like his creator Henry. With any luck Joey didn't kill him, but considering how much he has invested in Bendy already he most likely has him hidden somewhere in the unfinished areas.”

Norman let out a sigh while pinching the bridge between his nose. “Great, now we got 2 lost chi'ren t' look fer.”

Tom gave and apologetic look to the band members “Sorry about this guys.”

“Ah, It ain't your fault Thomas.” Leonard spoke up walking up to the man. “You were doing what you were forced to and in a way it paid off. You got 2 loving cartoon characters and all we need to do now is just get them out., with this many of us it will be a snap.” The young man flashing a large grin. “Besides we're the infamous Joey Drew Studios band, the bane of Sammy's existence, the local terrors, the devil's musicians!”

“Speak for yourself. You, Edgar and Earl are the only ones that hold the title of 'the local terrors'” Aaron chided looking down at Leonard. “The rest of us on the other hand, proudly take the title of 'the Devil's musician's.”

The band all laughed and uttered various forms of agreement at the mans statement knowing that out of the entire group their youngest 3 members were the 'unholy terrors'. Words of cheers and the occasional pot shot was passed throughout the group before they settled down and looked at Tom. Giovanni looked at the rest of the members and stepped forward towards Tom and asked four words that drew all eyes to the mechanic. “Where do we start?”

“All right here's what we do.” Tom carefully folded the blueprint and ripped along the folds dividing it up amongst the group except for Norman and himself. “I want you guys to check each section of the map that I gave you and mark off any points of interest or areas where Bacon Soup cans were deposited. Most of this is reachable by elevator which I'm gonna unlock for you guys so can all go look around. I know we're all used to taking the stairs, but take the elevator. I know its sketchy as hell, but it is faster then running up and down the stairs. If you see something suspicious or think it might be Benny take note, but don't approach. I doubt Benny would deliberately harm anyone, but right now he is scared and alone, he might lash out if you just charge forward. Call out to him if you think its him. If he comes great, if not take note and keep moving we only have 2 hours.”

“'Ey guys we should move our cars so no one sees 'em.” Norman gestured to the small collection of cars in the studio main lot. “last thin' we need is Joey knowin' were 'ere.”

“See I told ya this is a stealth mission!” Leonard's voice piped up. “Instead of 'Escape the Hell Studio' it's now 'Toon Trouble: Search and Rescue.” The man flashing a wide grin at the group as he waved his hands outlining the title as if it were on the side of a theater entrance.

Aaron and Giovanni both looked at each other as to who wanted the pleasure of throttling the kid first. Tom beat them both to the punch by playfully smacking the kid on the side of the head at the same time Norman took a swing. The two musician's lamented that they couldn't get a shot, but smiles graced their faces at seeing a lighter side to their normally grumpy GENT mechanic.

“Boi this ain't time fer no games.” Norman lightly scowled. He secretly wanted to thank Leonard for at least lightening the mood since they all had a serious task on their hands.

“C'mon kid. This ain't a game, lets move the cars then find our toons.” Tom moved past Leonard whom was rubbing the spots where he was struck. Leonard briefly stuck his tongue out at the man, but immediately pulled it back in when Norman stood over him smiling before lifting him up by the back of his coat and trailed after the mechanic.

Allison, Edgar and Earl waited by the entrance as  they watched the group one by one file into their respective cars and move them towards the back side of the studio lot out of sight of the entryway. Norman had long since figured out Joey's route to the studio and made sure everyone parked on the side that the man doesn't venture past. The group was more then thankful for the projectionists habit of observing habits. Leonard made a few more jokes about it being a stealth mission and even started playing his violin in a ominous manner while humming a tune calling it his 'theme song'. Thomas saw red and chased the man all the way back to the entrance trying to throttle him with Aaron and Giovanni right behind for backup. Norman being the only one to school his temper quietly followed wishing that the 3 enraged men weren't trying to wake the dead with their curses, the loudest of all being Tom. Leonard coward behind Allison whom scolded Tom for being too loud. The man glared at Leonard and had no choice but to let it go and focus on letting everyone inside.

The dim lights of the studio lot offered little assistance as Thomas pulled out a set of keys and fiddled with the door and the lock,the building seemingly protesting the early entry. The door finally decided to cooperate after the man gave it a good solid hit and it creaked open revealing the haunting interior. Only the emergency lights were on casting long black shadows over much of the studio entrance except for the dull moonlight that shown through the door. One by one the group filed in the sounds of creaking and groaning wood being their only greeting at the doorway. The studio logo's film reels slowly turning their normal creaks and groans sounding less like their mechanics that drove them and more like the moans of a dying creature.

“Ooo Boy it's dark in here.” Leonard spoke up watching the faint outline of the Joey Drew Studio logo reels forever turning round and round.

“Brilliant observation Sherlock” Aaron groaned while nudging Leonard further into the studio so he could enter.

“Awww don't be like that Aaron ol' boy, and here I thought we might be needing these.” Leonard turned to face the group and opened his coat up revealing the internal pockets stuffed with flashlights.

“For a second I thought you were gonna flash me.” Aaron grumbled while looking at the grinning Leonard.

“We'll I am carrying flashlight's, so in a way I already did.” Leonard soon found himself scrambling away from both Giovanni and Aaron as the two men both lunged for him leaving Norman burying his face in his hands and Tom's hands twitching. The mechanic still wanting to throttle the kid for his earlier antics and now this little episode to add on to his list of reasons why to maim the kid.

“Guys! Guys. We don't have time for this.” Earl piped up shaking his groggy brother off his shoulder. “We only got 2 hours.”

“For once it seems like 2 out of the 3 brat trio is using their brains” Tom muttered making Allison chuckle.

Making sure that he wasn't going to be the target of a whooping, Leonard sheepishly passed out the collection of flashlights he carried to the group. Tom turned his down saying he and Allison already had theirs and to give the spare to the twins so they each had one. One by one the younger members looked at their portions of the map and heading towards their desired locations. The dark halls greedily devoured their lights one by one with only the small creaks and groans of floorboards as evidence of their passage leaving the older members behind. The twins volunteered to check out the new park area while Leonard volunteered to check out the new Administration section. Aaron wanted to go back to check the music department just in case Benny came back. Norman wanted to better map the locations of the Bacon soup piles left on the upper levels. Giovanni volunteered to check the toy factory on the off chance Benny hid amongst the production lines. Allison and Tom both were gonna check the animation department before moving on to the depths of the studio.

“Wait.” Giovanni spoke up before  Allison and Tom went down one of the halls the man jogging up to them. “Here take this. I wanted to give it to him, but right now you need it more.” The man held out his hand and revealed a little off model plush Bendy. The toy looked exactly like Benny just minus the stitches. The man chuckled “I found it hidden in the scrap pile, looks like Shawn made a mistake when he was half asleep and didn't want Joey to find out.”

Allison gently lifted the toy out of the mans hand and brought it to her chest hugging it tightly. She then pulled the man in for an embrace “Thank you. This means so much to me.”

Giovanni hugged the woman tightly before releasing her looking her in the eyes “Have faith, We'll find him. He will be going home.” his answer was a small squeeze back and a little 'Thank you'.

Once Giovanni both the embrace he waved slightly before resuming his trek down the foreboding halls of Joey Drew Studios leaving Tom and Allison behind. The couple nodded and turned towards the animation department to begin their search.

---------An Hour Later------------

A low rumble of a engine echoed throughout the studio lot as a Black car pulled into a parking stall with a little placard that read 'reserved for Joey Drew'. The man in question stepping out of the vehicle slowly leaning heavily on his cane while carrying a bucket of ink along with a few papers covered in messy writing and unknown symbols. He looked worse for wear as he had spent the entire night researching methods of extracting souls from bodies and converting it into ink. He practiced on a good number of small animals till he perfected the craft of the conversion. He found that for the best conversion the subject had to be living for the process. The subject needed to be within the circle and with a fresh wound for the ink to enter and consume the subject body and soul alike, a little incantation later and a ink creature is born. Since the subjects were only rodents the inky forms made were mere globs of think ink that screeched and moaned, but they were controllable. They responded to commands, but the things didn't seem to last long and fell apart shortly after creation, but then again they were only small insignificant creatures.

Joey soon learned that controlling the inky creatures came at a price, using the spells gained from the book lead to tremendous stress on his body which was already weak enough from the aftermath of Polio. His joints and muscles tightened every time he cast the various spells and at some points nearly inhibiting his ability to stand entirely. It was draining his life energy as a source of energy for the process and the ability to control the ink. He needed the ink machine. The contraption was an endless energy source and was designed for the sole purpose of making the living Ink for the form, but not the soul needed. He now had a way of giving the ink the soul it needs to truly bring the toons to life.

The director hobbled to the entrance unlocking the doors and let himself in before locking it behind himself. He needed peace and quiet before the rest of the staff started showing up. He readjusted his grip on his papers and bucket and made his way to the reception desk where his wheelchair sat. He hated using the thing, but with the amount of strain he put his body through each step felt like a knife was shredding his muscles apart and he desperately needed a break. Joey placed the bucket carefully between the foot rests next to his feet with the hopes that it wouldn't spill and slowly wheeled himself down the hall towards the ink machine. The mechanical hearts slow thumping it's only sign of life, beckoned the man to it's location. Joey sat before it listening to the rhythmic tune before laying his papers out on a nearby shelf and setting the bucket of gelatinous ink down upon the floor.

A grunt exited the man as he edged himself out of the wheelchair and clung to his cane for balance. He studied the papers on the shelf intensely before grabbing paintbrush and returned to the bucket he laid on the floor. He gingerly dipped the brush into the ink and started to paint the required circle and all it's inscriptions for the conversion at the base of the ink machine. A small chuckle escaped the mans lips. The original circle that lay within the the heart of the ink machine that gave it the ability to create the living ink and in turn make the living toons wasn't that much different then the circle used to extract a soul. One to create the illusion of life and the other to remove a life and repurpose it.

It was only a matter of minutes for the new circle to be completed beneath the ink machine and Joey stood back up on worn legs to admire his work. He had a sense of giddiness and his heart beat loudly with excitement almost in sync with the machine itself. Soon, very soon he will be able to snag his potential candidate for Bendy and perfect the toon. Now all he needed was to set up the true heart of the machine and wait for the staff to start showing up. Yeah sure the young man by the name of Leonard was one of the leading band members, but musicians come and musicians go. He could easily replace him with a new member if it meant that Bendy was no longer a soulless doll.

Joey gathered up his ink soaked brush sliding it back into the bucket and chose to slide it over to his wheelchair rather then carry it gathering up his papers along the way. Once his papers were secured he slowly eased himself back into his wheelchair and  pushed himself to the controls setting the ink machine to lower to it's heart to line up the circles needed for the ritual. He listened to the machine as it whined in protest before it conceded and slowly descended into the darkness to join it's core, a raucous laughter escaped the man as the chains creaked and groaned from the decent.

-----------------------------

“Benny! Beeeeeeennnnny!!” Leonard hollered down the halls bounding with a skip in his step while he played his violin as loud as the instrument would allow. His only answer was the silence of the halls except for a small rumble that begun to emanate from further down the halls gaining the mans attention causing him to slow and listen to the sounds. “Benny?”

Leonard nearly danced down to the edge of the hall with the sound growing louder and peered around it's edge and spotted what looked like a strange elevator shaft lined with 4 massive chains and pipes creating the rumbling sound. Confused Leonard pulled out his portion of the map and saw that the part he was now in was not on his piece of the map. Great. He was lost. He looked up from the page to see a large boxy mechanism being lowered down the shaft. Allison's words played in his head of the description of the ink machine; a large box with a huge nozzle and a catch basin beneath it and the object in question just descended into the depths of the studio.

He knew he should have turned around have gone to go find Tom or one of the other members, but what if it was leading to where Benny was? He couldn't miss this chance and the machine wasn't going very fast. Leonard edged towards the shaft and set his violin down on a crate and pried open the grate knowing that by no sense of the word was what he was about to do safe, but for Benny he was willing to take that risk. Thanking his lucky stars that the chains were large and very close to the opening, he jumped to the chains grasping onto them firmly going along for the ride into the darkness.

The ride down the shaft seemed like it took forever and on occasion an opening would appear in the form of a vent or a grate that allowed a small glimpse into the new floors of the studio that were off limits to the remainder of the staff. He couldn't believe how far down the studio was now stretching to, and could only stare wide eyed at the new renovations. The man signed and carefully slid down to rest on top the ink machine itself as he peered out the occasional openings. One particularly large open came to view and he was able to better view the floor.

Leonard was an instant child clinging to the edge of the machine staring out at the large storage room area of the floor. The area was covered in parts and booths for the rumored 'Bendy-Land' that was being constructed. His mind danced at the thoughts of the finished amusement park, the roar of the roller coasters, the screams and laughter of children and the smell of all the food. By god he couldn't wait! He so wanted to take Benny to the complete park and have him play some games with him, have a cotton candy eating contest, see how many balloons it takes to make him float and so much more! First they needed to find him and get him out of the studio. Once the little guy is safely out he can freely visit him and play as much as he wants without fear of getting caught.

A giddy grin swept across his face as he happily swayed on the chains at all the possibilities when 2 figures moving by one of the booths caught his attention. It was Earl and Edgar. The redheaded twins were' inspecting' the booth by playing the game with Earl clearly winning his round of ball toss in comparison to Edgar. “Earl! Edgar!” Leonard hollered out enthusiastically waving.

The two young men spun in place searching for the source of the voice before their eyes were drawn to Leonard waving beyond a grate. The man and a large boxy mechanism that could only be assumed was the ink machine were slowly descending down a shaft beyond the grate. Abandoning their game, the two bolted to the grate grasping a hold of it's frame while looking down at the grinning violinist.

“Ey, man are ye daft?! What are ye doin' down there laddie?” Earl shouted, he couldn't believe his eyes. What on earth was Leonard doing riding the ink machine like its a horse and left alone where was it going?

“I'm going for a ride fellas, see ya later!” Leonard shouted in return, his voice's echo bounced off the walls of the shaft.

Earl and Edgar both stood at the grate peering into the void that had swallowed their friend and they could only hope for his safety. Both looking at each other wondering what they should do about the situation. Should they give up and get Tom or continue on their mission and look for Benny. The two debated amongst each other and ultimately decided to let one of the games at the booths decide for them. Both rolled up their sleeves while they shot challenges back and forth as they paced to a booth and readied their hands for victory. Each took up a rifle and started up the target practice game forgetting their search.

Leonard stared up at the small light that was his brief window to his friends with a smile. If he were to find Benny first he would so gloat about it and rub it in the twins faces, especially since they were spending their time playing games rather then looking for their friend. His giddiness gave way to awe as his mechanical ride entered a massive cavern descending to a far larger version of itself below. “Holy cow! That thing's huge!” the musician gawked at the true Ink Machine that lay at the heart of the studio.

The smaller ink machine came to a rest on top it larger counterpart clicking in place as bellows of steam exited the machine with the larger one creating such plumes from its base as well. Leonard waved the steam away from his face before taking a look around the cavern. The place looked to be a normal underground cave that had been tunneled into. The walls were lined by scaffolding and other building materials and there were even scaffolding around the base of the Ink Machine. He eased himself to the edge of the smaller ink machine and reached for the scaffold grabbing hold and pulled himself off the machine and onto the platform. He sat for a minute admiring the both the ink machine and the Ink Machine in their entirety. It was one thing to see them on Tom's blueprints, but it never puts them in perspective as to their physical size.

Leonard stood up and brushed off his bottom before he followed the scaffolding that surrounded the Ink Machine until it lead to a ladder allowing him to finally get onto the floor properly which made him briefly want to hug the floor for he missed it so much. The edges of the machine caught it eye as he watched plumes of steam exit it's sides and pipes far larger then he had ever seen descend into what he initially thought was a hole until he realized that it was a lake, a lake purely made of ink. He couldn't believe his eyes, he had always seen copious amounts of the ebony liquid throughout the studio, but never at this magnitude. He drifted towards the shore of the lake peering out at the cavern watching the sinister liquid as it greedily clawed at the edges of it earthen well and seemed to swallow all light that touched it. Leonard audibly gulped as he backed away from the edge of the earthen well back towards the base of the scaffold with something bumping into him.

A yelp escaped the man as he bumped into a small object causing him to whirl around and come face to face with a blank Bendy cutout. It seemed to be freshly made and lacked any black expect for the outline of the devil darling and seemed to be holding onto sign that was oddly blank, probably gonna say 'work hard, work happy' like the posters. Behind the strange cutout was a  door and decided to test his luck by trying the handle. To his surprise the door opened and he followed the hallway leading inside. Unbeknownst to him while he entered the machine and drifted down it's hall, an elevator next to Joey Drew's new office and the man in question wheeled himself out of the elevator and headed directly for the vault. Joey carried on with purpose as he only had a half an hour left till the staff started showing up and it took him a good 15 to 20 minutes just to make the circle on the smaller machine, but the bigger machine will take a little longer and he didn't have much time to waste.

Leonard didn't know what to make of the hallway that was surrounded by large glass tubes with ink cascading within them. Were they to showcase the functions of the ink machine?Or were they part of the ink machine? He lingered at the glass watching to fluid within before pulling his eyes away looking around before he spied a doorway at the end of the hall. He rest his hand on the doorknob turning slowly and pulled the door open slightly revealing that the room within was dark except for the faint flickering of lights. He nudged the door open further and was met by a large circular room surrounded by silver screens with various Bendy shorts playing with oddly no audio. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end at watching the shorts playing with no sounds, they are almost like ghosts dancing on a wall mocking their viewers. Leonard fully entered the room taking cautious strides taking note of the lone chair that was encased by the screens, 'chair' was a poor choice of words as it resembled more of a throne. The chains that hung from the ceiling leading to the chair didn't offer much comfort as the scene before him reminded him of some strange dungeon that was housing a beast, he could only hope this certainly wasn't the case.

“Benny? Benny are you here?” The man nervously called out. The cold atmosphere of the room was not helping his nerves.

His answer was a small soft whistle like whine drawing the mans attention to the imposing throne. Leonard edged around it fearing that the seat was occupied, but the noise he heard sounded so sad and in pain, he was willing to take that chance. He was met with a child sized figure sporting shiny boots and white gloves with a large ring driven through where the buttons would be located on each hand. The rings and a clasp around the  wrists were bound in heavy chains pulling the arms away from the body. A white bow tie sat upon the upper chest area just below the head that was floating separate from the body. The head round and black with 2 small horns and a large white face with black pie cut eyes that bore traces of ink that ran down the sides of the face, and the normally trademark grin was turned into a prominent frown. Before him sat Bendy the Dancing Demon.

“Bendy!?” Leonard shrieked upon seeing the toon.

The man was shocked by what he was looking at, it was none other then Bendy the Dancing Demon the studio's icon. He remembered Tom had said that Bendy had been made, but didn't have a clue as to the toon's whereabouts since Joey had taken him. Leonard shook his away his brief admiration of the toon since he absolutely adored the character to take a closer look at the living toon. His hands ghosted the toons arms to the clasps and the rings that bound the devils hands and arms that still dripped with small amounts of ink from the wound. Since Bendy didn't seem to be responding to Leonard's presence, the man carefully fingered the rings that were driven through the toons hands. He found the little loops that held the rings closed and undid them and slowly slid one of the rings out of Bendy's hand causing the toon to jerk awake and bared large triangular teeth growling at Leonard, his teeth mere inches from his face.

“I-I'm t-trying to help you.” Leonard stuttered out, the man was spooked at his field of vision being filled with sharp teeth.

Bendy's growling continued till he looked at his hand and realized that it was no longer bound by the ring and two holes shown through where the ring were driven through. This man was helping him. A shaky smile crossed the toons face at his rescuer and he let out a small hum of appreciation. Leonard nodded in acknowledgment and started working on freeing the toons other hand and with a slow and steady tug freed the remaining hand of the ring. Bendy wanted to cry at the removal of the rings, but felt relieved when the objects were removed.

Leonard carefully looked at Bendy's injured hands and at the ink dripping from them. “Heh, too bad you're not fabric cause then I can try and stitch you back together like how Benny was.” He pulled out a handkerchief and patted the area around the holes being careful to not touch the actual injury itself. Bendy winced from the touches of his hand, but did his best to relax as Leonard cleaned him up.

“B-Benny? Who's that?” A small voice catching Leonard's attention and he turned to see Bendy looking at him strait in the eyes.

He could have sworn the toon just spoke, but that couldn't be right. Bendy had no speaking roles in the shorts as he had no voice provider. “Did, did you just speak?” Leonard looked at Bendy with confusion all over his face, his answer was a small nod from the toon. The man chuckled and turned his attention back to the chains that bound the toon trying to undo them. “Well the answer to your question is Benny is kinda like a younger brother to ya in a weird way. He's a toon just like you except he was once a plush doll that was made to look like ya and was brought to life by the ink machine.”

“So how come yer all th' way down here?” Bendy quietly asked as Leonard grinned in triumph and loosening up the chains allowing bendy to rest his arms on the armrests of the throne. The toon breathed a sigh in relief at being able to rest his arms rather then having them suspended in the air.

“Well little Benny got scared and fled his room when someone destroyed it, so now my friends and I are trying to find him before Joey does.” as soon and Leonard's words left his mouth Bendy growled softly making Leonard tense up wide eyed at the toon.

“I hate that man.” Bendy growled through gritted edged teeth. “He did this to me.”

Leonard's shoulders drooped while he looked at the toon in pity and understanding, it was only natural for the toon's to despise the man since he has done nothing for them except cause them pain. “Well know you aren't the only one.” Leonard's voice causing Bendy to look at him. “Benny has stitches that run completely across his stomach, a wound given to him shortly after birth by Joey. That's why we are trying to get him out of here, and now that I found ya I'm gonna try an' get you out as well.”

A small smile graced Bendy's face at the thoughts of freedom and the fact that there were people actually looking for him. He thought that no one cared for him and that no one would bother, but to hear that people actually did care and were even looking for him made a warmth bloom in his heart. He leaned his head over as far as he could comfortably go and gently nuzzled Leonard letting out a soft hum. “What's yer name?”

Leonard gently lifted a hand and ran his fingers between Bendy's horns before hopping off the platform and performed a small dace before taking a bow “My names Leonard Burn!” the man looked up at Bendy flashing a huge grin. “I'm a violinist and dancer here at the studio.”

Bendy looked at the man in shock at his performance before a chuckle escaped the toon as his characteristic grin grew on his face, his pie cut eye's locked with Leonard's. “Mah names Bendy. Bendy the Dancin' Demon.”

----------Meanwhile Outside the Throne Room----------

Joey shakily stood up out of his chair to open the vault and pulled on the door just enough to fit his body and bucket between the gap before pushing against the door forcing it to completely open. Part of him hated the fact that the heart of the machine was hidden behind such heavy doors and fortification, but at the same time it was for the sole purpose of protecting his property even if at the moment it felt like the studio was fighting against him. He had no choice but to leave his wheelchair behind as for it wouldn't be able to cross the ink lake making him wonder why a bridge had not yet been built. Taking mental note to maim GENT later about the lack of access. Joey slowly and painfully waded across the ink lake with his muscles screaming with the resistance from the thick fluid, it was certainly harder to cross the stuff in comparison to water.

Upon reaching the shore at the base of the machine Joey strode to the hallway leading to the throne room were Bendy was housed with his bucket of ink and brush. Only one more circle to go.

----------Meanwhile Inside the Throne Room----------

Leonard managed to loosen up the chains that bound Bendy, but lacked proper tools to completely free the toon, but at least the toon was more comfortable in the chair. The sounds of the door opening alerted both Leonard and Bendy as to another guest and the man dove down behind the chair in hopes that he wouldn't be found.

A silvery smooth yet taunting voice floated through the air “Ah, Bendy. How are we doing this fine morning?” Joey slowly strode up to the ink demon as Bendy was not paying the man any attention, his head turned away refusing to look at the man. “Still not very chatty I see.” Joey scoffed.

The man turned away from the toon and started to dip the brush into the bucket of ink and laid it on the floor slowly tracing the outline of the chair and throne. All the while Joey slowly went around the throne laying out the circle Leonard made sure to kept opposite of him using the chair to keep out of Joey's line of sight. The musician and couldn't help but wonder about the strange patterns being drawn beneath the toon's prison. Bendy grew weary at this new outline Joey was calmly adding on and didn't like the looks of what what going on. Each time Joey slowly rounded the throne with Leonard on the opposite side, the violinist would attempt to rub out small portions of the circle causing Joey to look in confusion as to why small portions of the circle were missing. He chalked it up to being exhausted from his 'research', the man shrugged and continued to lay out more of the circle all under Bendy's concerned gaze.

Bendy watched the small spectacle before him with concern and yet at the same time amusement at watching Joey slowly going round and round the throne and with each loop the older man looking more and more exhausted with the young man slowly following and erasing or smudging the strange inscriptions that were being painted on the floor. It was almost like a scene from a cartoon except in real life. Even Leonard flashed a grin as he quietly crept past Bendy trying to undo the marks on the floor gaining a equal grin from the ink demon.

Joey rounded the throne again and stared puzzled at the portions of the circle that he could have sworn he had just painted on. He bent down looking more carefully at the lines and noted a small smear on the end of some of the gaps. The man scoffed and pulled out a small bottle and poured out its contents, the black liquid almost gelatin like splattering upon the ground just past the circle. The man uttering a few small chants before picking up his brush and bucket once more while taking a glance at Bendy with a smirk before fixing the missing portions of the circle and then started to lay out the final touches.

Bendy stared at the questionable fluid just past the circle and feared the worst from it as he could have sworn he saw small spasms and things moving within the fluid. He could only watch as Leonard slowly rounded the throne with the toon making a small whistle like whining trying to warn the man of the impending threat. His whines grew louder when he realized that the fluid was pulsing and was forming what resembled a hand and Leonard was none the wiser.

Bendy swallowed audibly and lightly struggled in his bondage trying to make more noise to gain Leonard's attention, failing he attempted whispering his name while looking at the man. “L-Leonard...Leonard”. The musician too caught up in his sabotaging the circle, he failed to notice the black material reaching for him. The man yelped when black tendrils burst out of the fluid and grabbed him. “Leonard!”

“Well, well, well, look who we have here.” a sultry voice cooed as Joey slowly rounded the throne looking at Leonard who struggled in his restraints. “Why if it isn't my little musical friend I was looking for. I take it you've already met Bendy? He isn't exactly much to look at yet, but he will be.” The man patted the demon in question on the head getting a loud growl from him and bared teeth. “As you can see” Joey slapped Bendy on the side of the face extracting a whine from the toon. “He isn't well behaved and needs to treat his creator with respect.”

“Not that I can blame him.” Leonard frowned getting Joey to turn his attention towards the man.

“What did you say?” Joey lifted a brow as he stepped away from the throne and slowly walked towards Leonard giving the man a cold stare.

Leonard wanted to cower in fear as the mans frigid Grey eyes seemed to stare into his soul, but seeing Bendy struggling to free himself spurred him to stand his ground. “I said; not that I can blame him. You make him with the machine and then you tie him up all the way down here where he should be meeting the staff and most of all the children he was meant to entertain. Do you have any idea how many people and children wish they can meet their favorite little demon?” Bendy looked at Leonard wide eyed and the mans outburst, the musician looking at him dead in the eye before returning his gaze to Joey. “But no. He is forced to stay down here when he has done nothing wrong and you're not his creator! Henry is!” Leonard spat as he struggled in his binds. He was outraged that not only had Joey harmed Benny when he was a sweet little innocent toon, but seeing Bendy's condition and treatment lit the fires of rage in him. How dare someone hurt the cartoon character he loved so much.

“You're similar.” Joey sauntered up to Leonard being mere inches from the musician.

“W-what?” Leonard croaked.

Before Leonard could react Joey grabbed him by his hair and forced the man to look at the director dead in the eyes. “You show up out of nowhere and try to tell me what I can and cannot do like you own the place. I'm Joey drew, director and owner of this studio. I own him as much as I own everything here!” the older man bellowed in his face before quieting down giving a cold smile. “Just as much as I now own you.”

Leonard looked at him confused before a sharp pain radiated from his side. Joey released his hair allowing him to look down at the source of his pain seeing a knife embedded within his side between his ribs. Joey pulled out the knife and waved his hand causing the black liquid that had Leonard bound to drip off him and he collapsed to the floor like a puppet who lost his strings. He coughed and gasped for air as Joey scoffed at him before he cleaned the blood off his knife and slid it back into his cane.

“Leonard!” Bendy screamed at the man crumbled on the ground. “Joey what did you do to him!?” the toon turned his attention to Joey baring triangular teeth and struggled harder in his chains.

“Oh I punctured his lung, nothing to worry about.” Joey smiled darkly at Bendy. “Besides I need him alive long enough for the procedure, and not put up a fuss.” The director waved his had and whispered a few chants causing the black material that had dripped off Leonard to pool around him and drag his body off to the side and away from the throne, a trail of red and black following the injured musician. Taking opportunity to finish what he had started, Joey picked up the brush and repaired the smeared sections of the circle completing the initial ritual.

“Joey please.” A voice catching the mans attention as he turned to look at Bendy whom had large tears dripping down his face as he looked desperately at Leonard and the blood collecting under him. “Please let him go. I promise I'll stay here willingly, and do whatever you want if you let him go. He's hurt and needs help. Please.” the toon sobbed and choked on his words each each word growing more desperate.

“See there is a little problem with that Bendy.” Joey walked up to him with his smile growing wider and wider. “I need him to make you complete.”

Joey turned around and removed himself from the throne and drew another circle on the floor just before the throne itself. He made a small motion and the black fluid grabbed Leonard by his arm causing the man to weakly cry out in pain and dragged him setting him atop the circle. He pulled out the “Illusion of Living” and flipped to a few pages within and chanted for the black liquid to gather around the two circles joining the two. Bendy looked up at Joey in fear as the cursed liquid encased the base of his chair and around Leonard. The director smirked and stood off to the side of the circles and cleared his throat.

“An object void of life is merely an object till animated with magic, but it's still and object with the illusion of living. I offer up the soul of the living to bring the object with the illusion of life to life!”

Upon the completion of his words the two circles glowed a blood red and the floor creaked and groaned as the ground seemed to be lurching from the energy of the circles. The room was filled with deafening rhythmic thumping of the Ink Machine itself as the device was responding to it's masters commands. Joey stood against the wall laughing maniacally as pipes descended from the ceiling as if possessed, the machine groaned as ink oozed out the pipes like blood from a wound. Leonard weakly looked up at the pipes descending above him and looked at Bendy whom was looking at him with pure terror on his face.

A small chuckle escaped Leonard as he smiled at Bendy “At least I got to finally meet you.” the man whispered before the ink pooled around him and grabbed onto him.

The black tendrils cut into the man extracting small cries as his punctured lung couldn't allow him to scream. The ink worked it's way into his body making his writhe in agony as it was slowly suffocating him. Bendy screamed and fought to free himself to help the man, but his struggles stopped when Leonard's body stilled and the ink pulled him into the puddle as if he was never there. He was gone. Bendy wailed at the loss of the man who only tried to help him, someone who came to him with the purest intentions was now gone. The toon didn't have long to mourn the loss of his would be friend and savior as the ink that had consumed the man flowed to his circle joining the patterns that encased him. His  panic rose and gave way to sheer pain as the cursed ink rose to form tendrils and each one punctured his chest. The ink that was once Leonard was being forced into his body and he felt like he was being torn apart from the inside out. Bendy's screams drowned out the sounds of the Ink Machine and Joey laughter as the man watched the ritual with glee.

Joey's laughter died down when he watched Bendy's body spasm violently causing the toons screams to cease as if he had been drowned in his own ink. The demon's ink dripped profusely as his body twitched and warped, his limbs and frame contorting to a figure that was more then twice his normal size and looked vaguely humanoid. His frame was skeletal like someone had taken a bucket of ink and poured it on a skeleton topped with a round horned head. His right hand looked like a humans with 5 fingers and no glove while his left hand retained it's tooney appearance and was far larger then his right. His body had spasm so violently that the ink that made up his right leg was bent at a awkward angle resembling a broken limb that healed wrong. The most disturbing part was the toon's face. Ink seemed to be constantly dripping over his eyes obscuring them and only the frown of his mouth was visible. The horrific form only lasted briefly before the toons body fell apart with all the excess ink falling off him in waves revealing a unconscious on model Bendy.

Before Joey approached the throne to check on the toon, he watched the excess ink that had washed off the toon pool at the base of the throne. The ink pulsed and vibrated before it was drawn back to the smaller circle where Leonard had been sacrificed. The ink bubbled and rose to form a vaguely humanoid figure. The creature was curled up and had a very prominent skeletal look and like the previous monster Joey had witnessed, this creature too had ink dripping down it's body. The creature twitched making Joey freeze in place to see what it was going to do, the man grasped his cane tightly on the off chance he had to fight. The creature slowly moved and looked down at its hands which were 4 fingered like a toon rather then 5 like a normal human being. It them began to inspect the rest of it's body slowly before curling in on itself sobbing softly.

The small click of Joey's cane drew the inky figures attention towards him and the man was horrified by what he saw. The face while clearly humanoid, lacked anything distinguishable. The mouth was a gaping maw that seemed to be frowning and there was no nose at all except for 2 small slits. The eyes were the most frightening as they were hollow sockets with small glowing yellow orbs and appeared to be crying.

“W-What did you do to me?” The creature quietly asked. All the color drained from Joey's face as he realized that the voice belonged to Leonard, the man was now some creature made of ink. He watched as the figure that was known as Leonard once again looked at his body before curling in on himself.

Joey stared at the figure. If this was indeed Leonard and he remembers what was done to him then that makes him a witness. If he's able to reach someone then he can expose him for what he did down here, he can't let that happen. Joey chanted lowly and waved his hand. The Ink Machine groaned in response and more ink oozed from it's pipes dripping onto the floor splashing loudly. Ebony Tendrils formed from the ink and wrapped around what remained of Leonard, the inky humanoid cried and screamed as it was dragged down the hall with Joey following behind. The tendrils dragged Leonard all the way out of the Ink Machine and to the ink lake at it's base pulling the tortured soul to it's surface. The shores of the lake thrashed at it's intruder, but was more then happy to consume it's offering. It greedily grabbed the poor soul and despite the man's struggles and effort it pulled him under with ease.

The surface of ink had long since quested while Joey watched with baited breath until he was dead certain the man would never see the light of day. He turned on his heel and hobbled back to the throne room in time to see the pipes of the machine slowly ascended back into the ceiling and the machines thumping died down to a quiet hum returning to it's normal operation. Joey scowled at the unconscious toon in the chair. He failed to find a compatible soul for the toon and needed to find someone else he had many candidates to choose from. Hell, he'll use everyone in the studio if he had to.

The man tucked the book back into his pocket before turning on his heel and strode out of the room turning off the light leaving only the glow of the projectors playing the cartoons on the walls who smiled sadly at the loss of one of the key band members who gave them their joyous music.

#batim stitched au #benny the stitched devil #benny the stitched demon #benny the stitch devil #benny the stitch demon #allison pendle #allison connor #batim allison #thomas connor #batim thomas #norman polk #joey drew #batim ocs #bendy the dancing demon #bendy the devil #bendy the dancing devil #bendy the demon #ink demon #lost one

[zoeyandguys]

Pacifist Herny AU Fanfic (prequel to Aftermatch AU)

I made this awhile back on Quotev as a prequel to my Pacifist Henry Aftermatch AU (I know, I'm lazy with names) Sometime after chapter 5 came out and since Tumblr been on a "mercy route of batim" spree lately I decided to post it on some of my other social medias. Hope you like it. Warning, there may be some Grammer errors cause my phone was a jerk when I frist wrote this and I'm tried my best to fix them.

This is the Backstory to the au of my my @asktheinkandsteinfamily blog. Please check it out.

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Fearing for his life, sweat on his face and hair blinding part of his eyes, Henry place "The End" tape into the projector player on the throne. He turned back to see the ink demon reaching it's giant claw to garb him, only to turn and growl and scream at "The End" playing on the screen. Soon it was evaporating as a bright golden light of what Herny wish was the sun filled the room. And before he knew it, he was back in the entrance of the studio again, as if none of that had ever happened, or in this case,  has yet to happen.

He used the looking glass to see the, to his now broken mind, uncountable number of tallies he knew were left by him. He tried going back out the door, that lead to his reality. Nothing. He garbed one of the nearby small glowing flouting balls of what he could only ever amuse was white-ish yellowish ink and made another tally in the wall, and looking at it all triggered a memory.

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Herny, if he was being honest with himself, wasn't fully pleased when he got the letter form Joey. He hated recalling how Joey made him and others do all the work and claim it all as his own.  But,  knowing how times can change, and people can,  he decided to go.  Maybe Joey wanted to ask Herny for forgiveness of his mistakes. So he told his wife and daughter goodbye and that he be home that night, and if something happens that delays him,  he'll send a letter to let them know he was OK. 

When he had walked into the apartment, the first thing that caught his eye was the post bored flooding with what seemed like overdue bills notice on it, along with two letters form employees Herny remember working with, one of them seemingly married to another worker. One look at the electric bill for the house and Herny couldn't belive how high it was. "Joey must have Someone cross their lines with his so he have to pay for all the power their wasting" Herny thought. He then heard whistling and the sound of someone washing dishes form the next room. After a deep breath, he walked in, and was immediately met by the sight of a now much older Joey, wheelchair to the side of the little Table, as soon as he looked at him Joey spoke up.

"Herny?" Joey ask, back still turn to the person he was speaking too.  "So soon? I didn't expect you for another hour yet, now you're just trying to impress me "

For some reason,  the fact that Joey's voice was so different then he remembered shocked Herny, as his own voice hasn't changed that much form when he worked at the studio.  But he shook it off, staying silent to an old friend you haven't seen in 30 years would be very rude.

"Hey Joey" Henry said with a smile,  even due Joey's back was still turned. "It's good to see you after all these years. Due I do have to a-" 

"I know, I know" Joey cut him off, placing another dish on the clean dish pile. "You have questions.You always do." He turned to the side slightly. "The only important question is... Who are we Henry? "

"Huh? " Herny said as he moved closer to the table, his head tilting to the side. "What do you mean by that Joey?"  he asked. Joey then looked straight out the window on front of the stink.

"Well.... I thought I  knew who I was, but.... The succes starved me..." Joey claimed, earning a sad look form Herny. "Nothing left but lines on a page..."

Herny looked to the side. He heard that Joey Drew Studios had to shut down due to financial problems and because of "The next Big Thing ". It was a shame,  since he remember sending Joey a picture of the Bendy Cartoon's main characters with a sighed congratulations note when they were one of the most popular shows of the time.

Due he can't say he couldn't seen it happening at some point. Karma was gonna come some time.  He not only took credit for other peoples work and claimed it has his own, but he stole Bendy form Herny. He was his original creator, but by the time Herny realize Joey stole him,  since he had to stay home because of illness at the time, it was to late to do anything or prove it was his creation. That's why he keeped the first ever picture of Bendy ever on his desk for the rest of the time working at the studio, along with Joey's "rejection" note to remind him it was to late to do anything about it. He sighed and looked back at Joey, as said man raise his arms slightly up as he began to speak. 

"In the end, we followed two different roads of our own making. You... A lovely family " he said, which spook Herny slightly, not being well known excluding form family and friends, not understanding how Joey knew of his small family. "Me...... A crooked Empire, and my road burned...I let our creations...become my life."

Herny didn't exactly know what he meant by "Crooked Empire". Sure what Joey did while he worked at the studio and may have continue doing after he left was bad,  but he wouldn't exactly call it a "Crooked Empire". He Shrugged it off however, understanding it might just be how Joey felt about what he did looking back on the past. "I'm... .Sorry to here that Joey." he said.  Joey was silent for a moment.

"The truth is,  you're always so good at pushing, old friend" Joey said,  finely turning to face Herny, coming to the Table. "Pushing me to do the right thing." Then his tone change form clam, but saddest tone, to a bit of a more.... Slightly Sinister sounding tone. "You should have  pushed a little harder...." 

That sent chills down Herny's spine, due he didn't show it.  He let his blue eyes looked to the side slightly, slight shame shown in them as Joey land down slightly onto the table. "Maybe he's right...maybe I should have push harder or stay a bit longer to get him on the right path...." Herny thought as he looked back at Joey.

"Herny." Joey said,  breaking the silence. "Come visit the old workshop......there's something I need to show you" He then estures towards the door that seem to be leading to a wall, as Henry thought form the look of the building outside that would be where the building end.  

Herny opened the door and stepped back in shock, eyes widened. On the other side of the door was the entrance way to what appeared to be the studio, but it looked slightly more cartoonish then reality.  He also noticed some kind of slightly glitching, very transparent and almost paper thin, wall in the middle of the door, that seem to be separating both reality's from fuseing together. "Joey, what the-"

"I'll tell Linda and Luna that you never made it, but I'm sure you would have done everything in your power to get back to them."

"Joey what are you sayi-!?" Was all that he had time to say. And then he was pushed in and the door closed and locked itself, traping him.

Herny Panicked and try banging on the door, screaming for Joey to let him out. He wish this was some kind if sick dream or nightmare, but the pain starting to appear in his hands was proving him otherwise. After 3 minutes he garbed a rusty axe he found hidden nearby and tried to break through the door using it. It only got a small hole made before the end broke off,  falling and smashing into smaller pieces on the ground. To Henry's horror, the damage that would have went all the way through only made it half way through the wood, stoping at that froce fild form earlier. Then Henry noticed something written on the wood to the side if the door. It was really small and he had to get as close as he could to it and slightly squint his eyes to make it out.

"When All are not scarred, No Inky Blood marks a "Final Death", and truth of the true Creator is revealed, all by the Perfect Bendy in human skin. Only then can the one with "no soul" break everyone free form the ink of repeating time and again see the sun,  even due ink might forever filled their body's and souls." it read.

Herny was just more confused. What did that mean.  He rolled his eyes and looked around.  He realized Joey may just be trying to scare him and has the door lock, waiting for night to fall or he completes a small task before he let's him out, as some kind of sick joke.  Herny sighed. "Well Alright then Joey......Since I'm here..... Let's see if we can find what you wanted me to see."

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Herny collapsed to the ground, tears in his eyes as he lead against the wall. How could he have fallen for Joey's trick!? What did Joey even want?! He just wanted to be free!  He just wanted to see Linda and Luna again! He missed them so much.....he just.... Wished he could have gone back to when he first got the letter, or first walked into his apartment, or anytime before he walked into that kitchen and just go home! 

After a couple minutes he allowed himself to clam down. He had to remember that he wasn't the only one trapped in here. Everyone he used to work with and even some who he didn't were trapped in here too. But.... His situation was different. They couldn't remember any of the past loops. He could, at times. Sometimes he had the seeing tool with him with the reset,  other times it disappears and he has to get it form Allison near the end of that loop. Sometimes he remembers bits and pieces of past loops, other times he completely forgot. This time was something that only happen very few times before.  He knew and remember everything that happened in the last loop, and even some memories of him writing some messages to himself in the "future". He just,  wanted to go home. He wonder what he did wrong? What he must always be doing wrong? He recalled all he could about the past loops, trying to figure out what he must always be doing wrong. 

Then something hit him. In every loop, he always attacked those he knew by now were once human like him. Yikes, one time he just went full crazy and attack everyone as soon as he saw them, not of fear, but just of pure Annoying and anger due to these endless loops. Yeah, things didn't end to well for him. He still could swear his vision was slightly tainted with his own blood when he popped "The end" into the film player. That's when an Idea came too Henry's mind. "What if I don't hurt anyone at all this time... "

He chuckled softly. It was a pretty stupid idea. Not only would that just be asking for death, but that would mean not letting anyone else get hurt by anyone else. Yeah,  like he be able to stop Tom form taking an axe to Sammy's head. Then again,  It might just be wroth a shot. He like too have Brois a little longer in a loop. He sighed, meantly asking himself why he continued to call him Brois when he knew by now that it was really a memory lost, now near silent Wally.

That question in his mind decided it.  He was, just for a change,  going to try it. He didn't want to treat these poor lost souls like Monsters or just people he pretend he didn't knew any longer. He was going to try and set everyone free, and hopefully get them to remember themselves more while at it.

He got up and went to complete what he learn to call "Chapter 1" Of this endless loop in time. But hopefully now, it wouldn't be endless for long. After 15 minutes, he felled through the floor after he turned on the ink machine and ran form bendy. After he had his 3 or 4 flashbacks he lead against the wall as he was knocked out, ready to start "Chapter 2".

When he woke up, he garbed his axe, chopped down the wooded broads, and went on forward. Soon he was walking through the ink when he saw Sammy walking by with a cutout of Bendy. He quickly recalled Sammy's "Final death" and how he knew he may be helpless too stop it.  Agein the Question went through his mind. "Will I really be Able to Save them all? Or am I just living on false hope?"

Soon he got to where the first people he fought were.  This was it, The moment that would prove if their was the slightest chance this could work. After he turned on the light and and turn back into the room of the music department, the searchers appeard. He could already see them coming to him,  he had to act fast. He quickly drop the axe behind him,  silently praying it didn't fall down the stairs into the ink. This caused the Searchers too stop, the closest one to him tilting it's head to the side slightly.

"H-Hey guys,  I dunno if some of you worked with me When I worked here or not, but it's Me,  Henry. H-Henry Stein? " 

They just seemed to look at him,  confused. Probably didn't understand a word he said, or just didn't know who the man was . Or maybe they were just confused on what he was,  if they didn't have any memories of being human at all. However, they did seem to manage to understand that Henry meant them no harm due. But Henry couldn't be sure. He sighed and looked behind him to grab the axe, but then he faces the searchers.

"How about I make all you a small deal? I won't hurt, or let anyone hurt any of you while I'm around" he said,  picking the axe back up.  "If you don't try to hurt or kill me. Deal?"

The front searcher looked back at the others for a few seconds, then faced Henry and...... Nodded.....then they disappeared. Herny just stood in disbelief for a moment.  Did that really just happened? Was it always that easy? He felt the Guilt climbed up and dig into his back. Did he really hurt them again and again for no reason? He knew the first few times, and all the times he completely forgot the loop and didn't have the looking glass, it was just fight or flight. But..... He shook off the feeling. Feel guilty later,  get going now.

He continued on. After exiting Sammy's sanctuary he saw the man,  well... Former man,  himself starting down at him. Herny looked up with a slight smile. "Hey Sammy, I know your most likely not going to listen to me, I tried reasoning with you for a whole hour once before and at the end you still try to...you know. " Henry said,  not fully sure how to explain it. "I just want to let you know now that, unless you come to reason before you call for bendy to take your "Sheep", you and me are going to meet again where some of the lost ones and searchers live. And what happens if you try to cut off my head.... The Brois with a robot arm puts in axe in yours first. Just some food for thought.  So maybe when we both meet up there inst-woah!" He had lost track of his steps and now the searchers jumpscared him, causing him to fall backwards, just nearly missing his axe.

Gaining an idea as he saw the searchers coming closer, He quickly chuckled, getting up. "Good one guys, you really got me there, but give me a bit of a warning next time." Then he grabbed his axe and speed-walk out of the room, leaving some slightly confused searchers and hopefully a second thinking Sammy Behind.

Soon he got to where Jack's fate would have ended if he did want he did in past loops. But on the bright side, he should be easier to convince, or get him to leave him be. He neverd attacked Herny, he just had the vale Herny needed to move on, and would hide in the ink whenever Herny got closed. This always forced Henry to crush him under a box. But Henry wasn't even going to raise the box this time. He walked up to Jack slowly, not even to try and hide his presence, knowing it would just do him no good. He stopped at least two feet before Jack would go back into the ink. 

"Hey Jack,  sorry for bugging you, but I really need that vale." Herny said.  Jack just looked at him like the other searchers, and slightly tighted his hold on the vale. "It's me, Henry,  remember? We used to work together." Still that confused look.

Herny sighed, trying to think of what he could do to help Jack either remember him or at least trust him enough to let him have the vale. He thought about the audio recording form earlier and meantly facepalm himself for not grabing it while he could. Then he remembered what Jack had said about Sammy's song and why he often came down here before he was turned into a searcher. Then Herny saw Sammy's "Sing with me" Message on the wall in ink behind Jack.  That gave Henry an idea. He looked back down at Jack with a slightly sad smile.

"Sammy still Coming down into your turf and bugging you with?" He ask, bending down a little bit, feeling the ink go slightly higher up his pants and legs. That seem to struck something to the Searcher, as he seemed to back his body up for a second, like how characters sometimes do in cartoons. "Yeah, I remember when sometimes  I would walk into the music department to check on things for Joey, Sometimes it would get so loud form an argument between one of the workers and him that you have to litterly dorp anything you had and Lea just to get some peace" he started giggling a bit at the memory's, trying not to let any tears fall from missing those good old days. "But I Guess even turning into an ink creature you still can't manage to escape Sammy's rants afterwards."

That's when Jack seemed looked a bit shocked, in the memory recalling way,  for a second. He then proceeded to seemly attempt to say something in the moaning-like noises Searchers made, in a slightly questioning manner. After about a minute it hit Henry that Jack was trying to say a Name. Henry's name. 

He smiled again. "Yeah buddy. It's me, Henry." Jack looked down at the ground for a few minutes as it felled silent,  except for the raindrop sounds of the nearby ink. It quickly seemed clear too Henry that Jack was recalling all he could about when he was human. This was only for confirm more when what seemed to be an inky tear fell down Jack's face,  follow by another and another.  Herny bent down and place his hand on Jack's "shoulder" as he looked up at him, tears still slowly yet surely going down his face. "Don't cry buddy. It's going to be OK." he said with a soft smile, even due deep down he knew that might not be the case.

Jack proceeded to nod as Henry try to wipe some of the tears away. After a minute Jack proceeded to give him the vale.  Henry took it, and then Jack dissaperd into the ink. "Alright, see you later then Jack." Henry said with a smile as he left the room.  He was glad, still guilt-full, but glad. His hope of this working was increased.

He put the vale in and continue with the rest of the "chapter". As, sadly, excepted, Sammy stilled tried to sacrifice Henry to Bendy. But as always, Sammy got hurt but not killed and Henry had to outrun the monster version of his creation. He allowed himself to clam down a bit once he blocked off the door so Bendy couldn't get to him. He stepped forward and sure enough the can of bacon soup rolled out of the corner. He smiled and walked around,  to see Brois........to see Wally hiding. He looked a bit shocked and step back, a bit worried. Henry smiled slightly . "Hey Wally, Guess you never got outta here." The mute toon then processed to tilt his head to the side, seemly confused, before Trusting Henry and taking him to his safe house. 

Since nothing too exciting happen between when he ended "chapter 2" and when he started "Chapter 3", he decided to use the days between them to try and get Wally to remember himself. But before he did that, he found a book on sigh language in the safe house and made him and Wally learn and memorize their and others names, Wally still at this point not understanding why he referred to him as "Wally" Instead of "Brois", and other terms to make it easier for them to communicate, since they won't always have a piece of paper and something to more easily write with on them. He hope that if they do get out he be able to somehow find a way to talk. Then Henry started talking to Wally about his memories of when they worked together at the studio before he left and things went crazy. Wally did seem to slightly recall some memories, and when he lost when him and Henry played cards, he started pouting and seemed to mount the words "I'm outta here". But besides that, none of what Henry said of the past made any since to the toon, or it didn't stick with him for long. 

In most loops, The bacon soup started running low and Wally would go to look for more real quick. Lucky for Henry, this was one of those loops. When Wally wasn't looking,  Henry rush out and manage to garb two of Wally's recordings and head back. Later, When the two sat down while they waited for the soup to finish cooking, Henry played the recordings too him. The first one he did acted like he heard, or even remember, those words before, but not really too much change memory wise. It was the second tape that give him the shock look of realization and recalling the past. It may have also helped that half way through Henry remembered he still had Wally's keys and placed them on the table. About 25 seconds after that tape ended Wally surprise hugged tackle Henry. After he proceeded to "talk" at super speed, seemingly forgetting that he was now mute. Henry smiled slightly with a chuckle. "Good to have you back Wally.".

And then came the day.... The day "Chapter 3" started . Henry sighed as he got out of bed. He had two days earlier told Wally about them being in a time loop, just because he needed to talk to someone about it. He didn't go to into detail, not wanting to scare the former Janitor of his fate. But Wally did seem to understand and assured Henry that it will be OK and he has a feeling this may be the last loop, and even if it isn't he has already unlock more secrets to getting them out if their in future loops. Henry kinda didn't want to go, but he knew he had to go. Now that Wally knows of the loop, it's only a matter of time before he forced Henry to get going anyway. Better on time then later, he guessed.

When he walked into the main room, he saw Wally with two blows of bacon soup ready to eat. Henry smiled and sat down, then proceeded to eat his soup. After which he told Wally that it's time to get going. Wally nods and give him the switch to the door. Henry put the switch in, warning Wally that things were going to get messy while he still could.  Then they proceeded to leave the room and so they started the "Chapter". Henry made sure to keep Wally close. He wasn't going to lose him again.  At least, he hope he so. 

When it got to the part where Wally had to go in the vents to turn on the door, he sighed Henry to wait for him. He placed a small Huck of metal nearby in between the top and bottom if the vent and went in. When the vent's door came down it stop at the metal, and Wally manuage to get back to Henry Before it broke it and slam shut. They continue on,  Henry being extra careful of Wally. He had to hide him behind his back when Susie showed, and make sure he didn't stick into the ink when the went through the Demon path. Henry just felt safer on that path, for whatever reason. He could have sworn he was a human like figure watching them due...

When they got to where Wally in past loops prank Henry with the Bendy cutout, the town picked up a pipe and handed it to Henry. "Just in case we have no other option" He sighed to him, it almost sounding like he said normally in Henry's mind. Then Henry met up with Charlie, who he believed to be the toymaker Shawn, him bursting through the poster near the pipe and falling to the ground.  Acting quickly Henry dropped the pipe and softly grabbed ahold of the cartoon's arm, noticing a crack he never saw before in it.  It was only a small crack, so Henry teared off a small piece of his shirt, added a slightly layer of ink in the side that would face the arm, and wrapped it around the crack. "There you go, Shawn" he said with a smile. 

Shawn looked up with slight confusetion and shocked. Then he proceeded to go through the poster he came out of. Henry pulled the lever and headed back to Wally. Then he and Wally walked into the room where all the dead Brois clones were..... Wally showed more emotion then usual. He looked at Henry and while he didn't sigh anything, the look in his pie cut eyes said it all, "Is that going to happen to me?". 

"No Wally, I'm not going to let that happen to you." Henry said, placing a hand on Wally's shoulder, due he couldn't help but feel like he was lieing to him. Of course when the door open he tried to rush to Safe the other Charlie, but as he walked into the room,  he noticed that it was already long dead,  and the jerk movements he saw were just the electric still going through the body.  He really hope if being a Pacifist was the key to getting free, that the butcher gang member in front of him and Wally didn't count. Then he saw that one didn't have part of a shirt around his arm, meaning this was in fact a different Charlie. Then he also noticed something strange, Susie didn't seem to notice Wally, or was just plan ignoring his presence.  Guess she's trying to trick then before....Henry forced the thought out of his mind. Not this loop.  Not ever again. 

While waiting for Susie to finish her speak, Henry decided to lighten him and Wally's mode by using the seeing tool to show him the "Blah Blah Blah Blah" message on the ground Henry wrote once. If Wally wasn't now mute, you could have heard him laughing like a hyena. He did make a slight giggling sound due, due he had to keep it down so Susie didn't here him.  After,  Henry started his "Jobs" for Susie,  not wanting to get on her Bad side. Lucky it was easier for him. When he got to where he could have to fight a Charlie for a gear, It being the same Charlie who he helped, Shawn ran up and willingly gave the gears to Henry. And when he was froce too get ink form the creatures and the searcher and Barley...that Murry guy possibly... went to attack, the same Charlie came and stopped them,  amusingly telling them how he fix his arm and meant no threat. Henry was able to pick up a bit of a accent in his voice, confirming his thoughts. After which the two and some others allowed Henry to careful take some of their ink.

Then he saw Poor Norman though the glass.  Probably the most effectied memory lost wise of all. Henry knew it may be next "chapter" before he be able to save him, as that where his "Final death" took place. But he already had something in mind. When he went to destroy the bendy cutouts,  he sighed, it just felt worng destorying something that looked like his beloved character. When Shawn went up to him, Henry explain what he had to do and why he didn't want to do it. Next thing he knew the Butcher gang was destorying all the cutouts for him so he didn't have to in around 3 minutes and pushed him back in the elevator before Bendy could appear. When he got down to Norman's level he garbed his audio recording and went in,  staying out of his sight. Then.... A few minutes later...as he feared... He elevator dropped. 

When they crashed, Henry was struggling to stay conscience, going in and out of it. Wally was trying to wake him up...susie was on her way to take and turned him into that monster.  Henry tried to tell Wally to run....it was no use.  She was about to walked into the room when for a few seconds the world shooked. A large box or something,  His vision was too blurry to tell at the time, Collapsed to the ground in the entrance way, making it impossible for Susie to get Wally. Shocked,  Henry looked up slightly, to see the Butcher Gang by a lever he never saw before. They saved Wally.....Wally was going to be OK after all.  Henry cried of Joy slightly before blacking out,  finally gaining the happy ending to "Chapter 3". His last thoughts before going fully out were "This idea was the ture may all long, thank God I finally found it."

"You doing well, The deal maker Keanrots wouldn't be pleased, but they'll have to learn to live with it" he herad a voice in his head slightly whlie out. He was confused. Who was it? Why hadn't he herad it before. What was A Keanrot? Why did he felt it had something to do with Joey....

Those thoughts were cut off when he woke up in "Chapter 4" Wally was beside him asleep peacefully.  Henry saw a message written ink near another lever he hadn't seen before. "If you must continue on,  flip this to left the box - The butcher gang" it read. Henry smiled and pulled up the looking glass. He garbed the flouting ink bell and went over and written "Pacifism is the true key" beside it. He knew there was a still sad possibly of him having to fight and end someone, messing Everything up, and the loop will reset agein, so it was best to leave a reminder. Then he looked at the now awake Wally. He then told Wally about what normally happen when the "Chapter 3 and 4" ended. Wally was, of course, horrorifed, but was glad knowing that he should be safe.  After a few minutes of consideration, they pulled the lever and went on,  slightly excited to see wear this new "Chapter 4" will take him. 

For one, Susie didn't mention "Brois " at a the few times she spoke over the loud speakers. But Henry didn't let his guard down. He wasn't going to let Susie take Wally. Speaking of Wally, he helped Henry with the games he had to play in order to continue. Of course the butcher gang was as nice as ever when Henry went to where he normally have to distract them by throwing a can of bacon soup. The two small groups even took a few minutes to have some bacon soup together. It was long enough for him to confirm his thoughts that Balrey and Edger were Murry and Grant, even if they didn't say it drictitly. When they were done he took a small bowl into the room that had the cage where a lost one that he was sure was Lacie. She always seemed so sad and so worried. He manage to get it in through a hole that was a little bit bigger then the others, as some form of comfort.  He had Wally write in Normal ink "We'll be back for you in time." on the nearby wall where she could see it. 

He also had him do it in the room filled with lost ones when they were there. Reason being that even if they do manage to get everyone free,  they might still be trapped in their inky forms.  And whlie he did live on the country side of his town, and have lots of land to the back of his house, he'll need to find some way to buy it so he could get everyone free. While he did have some random guest rooms in his house, surely he wouldn't be able to fit everyone inside the house,  even if most of them are made of ink. Suddenly he felt something cold on his shoulder.  He looked and saw Wally placed an still slightly covered in ink hand on Henry's shoulder, snaping him out of the trace he was in for a few minutes. 

Then they got to where they needed to fight Bertrum, it Henry felt this was where it might get messed up. Of course they had some trouble,  not fully understanding how they can win the Pacifist way. Soon Henry was badly hurt and was starting to bleed. Wally quickly garbed and axe and got him and Henry into a corner, waiting for the next attack.  Henry felt all he could remember of his life flash before his eyes as he started crying.

"Please, just let us pull the lever and leave! I just want to get us all out of this prison! I need to see Linda and Luna agein. How long has it been since I've been trapped here. Maybe a year now? " He shouted-cry unconsciously. There was only so long he could keep all his emotions locked up in these type of situations.

That seem to make Bertram stop mid attack. He shooked his head inside the machine slightly before looking back at Henry in slight shock and slight embarrassment. He started apologizing, claiming that he had the habit of amusing whoever walked into the room was Joey and attacking them before realizing it wasn't. And Henry Brown hair and blue eyes (Joey's we're a bit of a darkish green) and just being a human in general made him think he had him for sure. After a few minutes Henry and Wally left to continue the chapter, letting Bertram know they'll come back for him when they can.

Then they got to where they have to save Norman. Henry told the plan too Wally. He knew it was going to be risky, but it may be thier only shot at saveing him. And he had to get it right, otherwise all they worked for will become hopeless. This had to work. They sat quitely in the miracle station. They saw Norman start to reach his inky hand to the door. That's when Henry and Wally made thier risky move, opening the door and pulled Norman in. Henry thought being cramped in thier with Wally was like being in a can of sardines or other fish. He was worng.

Before Norman could do anything in retaliation, they all fell silent as the ink demon apperd in frount of them. He knew they were in thier, but by whatever froce or logic, he couldn't just open the door and get to them. Soon he left. Once they were sure it was safe, they got out. Norman just looked at the man and wolf toon confused. Then Henry pulled out the recording and played it. Norman seemed to started recalling his own memories the longer the tape played. By the time it ended, Norman was poniting at it and back to him. Then he manage to dim his light so he could look at them in the eyes without hurting them as much. Then he seemed to try talking to them, but it only manuage to came out in staic-like sounds. Whlie they weren't sure whqt he was saying, one thing was for sure when tehy went to complete the "Chapter". Norman wasn't leaving thier side, staying beside them the whloe way too the huanted house, and the 3 got into the cart and went for a ride.

Since Wally was alright, Heny wasn't sure what would wait for them at the end of the ride. When they got to where "Brute 'Brois' "  would jumpscare him, the cart was flipback by the track itself. They heard Susie laugh like a demon (ironic) as Fire and weponds and spikes quicky filled the room. Norman pushed all he could back away form them whlie Wally made sure Heney wasn't getting hurt. He noticed a symbol on some of them. He wasn't sure where he saw it before, but it looked like the shape of a head of someone. It was like they were in the middle of a battle field, only without training and the battle being something out of a horror movie. Only God knows how they surived in the end.

Susie quickly came rushing out. Wally ran and hid behind Norman and Norman brighten his light and got into a fighting pose. Henry garbed Susie arm and pulled her Behind him right before Allison could stab her through the chest. Doing so nearly getting his nose cut in half but Allison stoped in time. Susie looked at where she could have died in shock. She looked at Henry. "H-How did you know she was there? And why save me?"

Henry looked at her and suruged. "When you been stuck in a time loop for you don't even know how long, you kinda know the exact mommet everything happens. And I worked too hard on this "Pacifist round" to give up now."

After some looks of confusion, Allison and Tom too the safe house and locked in the cell room. Frist Henry explain to them about time loop there stuck in. Susie and Norman, being saved before thier second of death, belived it. Tom didn't by it at all. Allison they seem to be unsure of wither she should believe it or not. Henry also did try to remind them of when they were human. They did seem to start remebering. Tom did seem to try and ingore the memories, still not trusting Henry and his little group, even if one of them was also a Brois clone. Allison did talk about her Memories with them when Tom wasn't around. But she herself was unsure if they were memories or vision. And before they all knew it, the Begining to the final "Chapter" came.

Henry woke up to Allison trying to get Tom to help her get the out of there before Bendy came in. And Susie yelling at them wasn't helping. He walked over to the window in the cell and gently place his hand on Allison's shoulder. "You two go on" he said with a slight smile. "We'll catch up" 

Allison was hesitant, then with the look of guilt in her eyes, left with Tom. "Are you crazy!? You just ruin our only chance of getting out of this cell!" Susie yelled at him. He just stared at her as he pulled the spond, got the hidden pipe, and smacked the broods down. "Oh right...endless loop in time..." Susie said, resulting in a face plam from Norman. Then they went to break the loop. Henry did have to keep reminding them that they couodn't hurt anyone. There was just 2 more main people they needed to save now.

After they manage to eascpe the ink river monster thing (he found out the hard way that it wasn't actually anyone, just a true creation of the ink), Henry quicky warn the lost one fishing of what would happen if they didn't mange to save Sammy, and that they mean no harm. Then Sammy came out, ready to attack. Norman and Wally both had to hold Susie back form attacking him with rage.  Henry tried talking to Sammy, but it wasn't working. After a whlie the pipe sliped out of Henry hands, Smaking the mask off of Sammy's face.

"No! Don't look at me! Stay away..." Sammy said as he coverd his face and ran to his usely spot. Henry approached him form behind and placed a hand on Sammy's shoulder, unaware that Allison and Tom were watching.

" Hey Sammy...it's ok...Your face doesn't look bad....what's the need to act all shy about it" Henry said, being carefully not to get to where Sammy could garb him. Sammy didn't seem to respond. "Come on, where's the Sammy the used to be a bit Gurmpy, yet still manage to bring a smile to our faces all the time?" 

Sammy looked at the man, the Same recalling look it his black-gray eyes. "Henry?" He ask. Henry noded slightly. "Oh god....I was just trying too...."

"Hey, it's ok! The ink just messed with your head and memories. Happen to these guys too." He said, estureing too the other Ink creatures. Then Susie picked up the mask and walked over too Sammy, handing it too him.

"Your face doesn't look that bad, but if you pefer to wear this, be my guest." She said. Sammy looked at her before smiling slightly, then putting the mask back on.

"Glad to see you finelly realize it wasn't Sammy's flaut you were replace. I supose it's kinda my flaut due" Allison said form behind them all, seemingly regainimg her Memories too. Susie gave her a look that said "Yeah, it is". Then when the serachers and lost ones didn't apperd, they contuied on.

When Henry felled, Sammy, Norman, and Tom fell down with him, leaving Wally and Susie with Allison. When they got to Tom's adiuo recording form when he was human and played it, Tom's eyes widened slightly when he herad his voice and how he was involved with the Ink Machine and Bendy. He collaspe to the ground, hands over his head like Wally did when he got scared. Only Tom was also crying. Henry could make out the words "It's all my fluat" form what Tom mounthed.

The there others covinve him that Joey tricked him and that it wasn't his flaut, and that things will be ok. After getting the stubborn guilty toon to agree, at least partly, they went on. When they got to where Henry would have to avoid the butcher gang, then just smile and wave at each other if they past by. When the two groups met up agein, Tom hugged Allison, trying to apolgize for getting them into these mess.

Then they got to the lair of Bendy. Still no way for the ink creatures to cross. Allison looked at Henry "I'm not sure how, but we'll find some way to catch up"

"Till then, go tell that false Lord who's boss." Sammy said, slightly makeing a fist.

"If you surive being an errand boy to me, the ink demon should be no problem." Susie said.

The 3 mutes noded, Wally sighing Henry "Go get us outta here."

Henry nodded as he walked through the ink river and into the machine. As he walked through the corrador to the throne room, he thought about all he regain. He just might finalely be able to break this loop once and for all. Suddenly, he recalled the Poem. This turely was the way all along, and he just have to get Bendy to set them all free. He could almost see something smile softly had him in the reflections of glass as he walked past them.

When he walked into the throne room he played the tape. However, he could only re-lestion to Joey's voice giving him flase hope, before he had to throw and smash it agesint the wall.

"Well well well, someone seems mad" Henry herad Bendy say. It wasn't as much of a suprise, he had herad Bendy talk a few times in past loops. He turned around to face the ink creature. "So.....your going to try and end me, Henry, was it?" Bendy seenerd.

"And have the time loop agein?" Henry asked.

Bendy tilt his head to the side, his grin fading to a frown. "What do you mean by that?"

Henry sighed as he looked to the ground. "We done this many times before. Froce to do the Same thing over and over agein, all becuase of Joey."

Bendy walked over to the side of the trone, but still keeping a bit of a distance. "I had have "vistions" before, so I guess we are. Not to surpiseing knowing my creator, why i outta-"

"He's not your creator"

"-What?" Bendy said surpirse. "I mean I always thought he looked differnt then my vision I had of my creation, even whlie the face was blurred." He paused and looked up at one of the screens, a slight sad smile forming.

"Oh Those good old days. Just me, Brois, Alice, the butcher gang, the REAL them. Even if I always knew we were just a show in the back of my mind, it was perfect for me....until I was froced here....to the body of a monster" he said, sounding like he was trying not to cry. Henry felt more sadness and guilt wash over him. This was the little devil darling he created, the real bendy, Joey was just to blind to notice it, only careing about looks. To be honest it seem Everyone else, including him, were blind to that too.

Bendy looked back at Henry, the same look as before. "But Joey was the owner of the studio, and I was it's star creation. And no one else clam to be my true creator, so who else could it possibley be?" Bendy ask, tilting his head to the side.

Henry looked to the side, not sure how to break the news to his creation. Then he looked Bendy in the eyes-er...where he amused his eyes. "Joey stole you form him. He pretended to reject you, but then when your creator got sick and had to stay home, Joey stole you form him And by the time he realize this, it was too late to do anything about it. He left the studio sometime before all this happen."

Bendy just stared at Henry, not sure of weather he could belive him or not. "You seem to know a lot of my creator, how do you? And if you knew I wasn't Joey's creation, why didn't you try to stop him?" Bendy ask, slight distrust hidden in his voice.

"Becuase I'm your true creator."

Silent filld the room as Henry could only amuse Beney's eyes widien. "Y-Your jokeing, trying to play a trick on me.." Bendy said as Henry walked over. Then Henry grabed Bendy's shoulders and pulled him down so they were face to face.

"You said you recalled seeing a blur verison of your creator's face. Whlie I am older now, you still should be able to recognize it. " He said, closeing his eyes and bringing thier faces closer togeter, just barely touching. "And if had known what Joey had done.......I would have come to get you sooner, promise. I would have love you the way you are, I wouldn't have cared how you look. You were mine and you always had a spot in my heart like my wife and child does, you know that, right?" he said, trying not to tear up.

After a small gasp, Bendy, as gently as he could, quickly hugged Henry, remembering him. Then the others, seemingly found a way across, came in the see the Creator-Creation mommet. When the two parted, there seem to be the sound of a finger snap in the background, they all had a vistion simmler to Henry's form "Chapter four". It showed chains all over the walls and trasparent ones around all thier neaks. But then the chains on the walls dissaperd and the ones around thier necks broke.

When it ended they all saw an evalor that waen't there before. The inside had a message written in white sparkling ink.

"Inky forms you may forever be trapped in. But now the outside with the sun is waiting. Go on, creation of the Perfect Bendy in human skin. Set everyone free once agein." It read.

When they head in, they saw a botton coverd in that ink. The pressed it and it lead to the begining of "Chapter 1". Henry saw the sercent poem was now also filled with that ink. Bendy walked over to the door and reached his claw out, ready to break through. Henry could already see him hugging Luna tight in his arms.

Bendy claw went through the whole door, not frocefiled to stop it. While the door muffled the sound, they could all hear the voice of the man that got them in this mess slight screams. That proved it. They we're finely going to be free.

------------------------------------------

Hope you all liked it. I'm sorry if it's rushed or kinda confusing.

#bendy and the ink machine #zoeyandguys #asktheinkandsteinfamily #fanfic #warning : feels #pacifist henry au #henry stein #joey drew #seracher #lost ones #sammy lawrence #jack fain #boris the wolf #wally franks #susie campbell #evil alice angel #alice angel #the butcher gang #chalire #barley #edgar #shawn flynn #grant cohen #murry hill #the projectionist #norman polk #lacie benton #bertrum piedmont #bendy the dancing demon #ink bendy

[lloydskywalkers]

terrorize y’all’s neighborhood

I can’t write short fics, you guys. I tried. 

Anyways, I know DOTD is the canon Ninjago-Halloween-equivalent thing, but I wanted to write about the ninja having a normal holiday, because in what world would Lloyd not love an opportunity to dress up and eat all the candy he wants?

(And the title is completely stolen from Thriller. Completely.)

Hope you guys are having a great holiday!

"Kai."

"Kai, look."

Kai rolls his eyes, glancing skyward briefly before turning.

Sure enough, Lloyd is holding a bloodied, rubber eyeball up to his own tightly closed one, his face screwed up in a grotesque expression. "Agh, my eye fell out!"

Kai leans one arm against the shopping cart, the other on his hip. "What did I tell you about picking stuff up we aren't gonna buy?" he says, even as he suppresses a snort.

Lloyd's expression falls, and he sticks his tongue out at him. "You're not fun," he grouses.

"I'm lots of fun," Kai says. "I'm just trying not to raise the Green Ninja to be a corrupt child criminal who steals bloody eyeballs from Walmart."

"I'm not stealing," Lloyd protests. "Look, I got it from the Halloween section, it's right there!"

Kai looks up and realizes that he has, indeed, made the crucial error of wandering into the Halloween section with Lloyd in tow, when they're only supposed to be getting a few groceries.

"Oops," he mutters.

"Oooh, look at all the fake blood they have…"

Kai quickly makes to drag Lloyd away before he's forever swallowed by aisles of plastic skeletons and cheap ghoul masks. "C'mon, bud, we've still gotta get stuff for meals," he says, as he tugs a reluctant Lloyd toward the food aisles. "We can't all eat rubber eyeballs for dinner."

"Aw, but they have so much cool stuff," Lloyd pouts, watching the Halloween aisle disappear forlornly. "What's the point of Halloween if you guys aren't even gonna let me celebrate it?"

Kai is only half-listening what Lloyd is saying, too intent on the scrawled shopping list he's got in his hand. He brings it closer to his face, squinting. Why do they keep letting Nya write the shopping lists? Her hand-writing is terrible, they should just appoint Zane as secretary from now on.

"-and that's why Halloween is clearly the best holiday in the entire world," Lloyd is still rattling on. "It's way better than those other dumb holidays, kris-ness, or whatever-"

"You mean Christmas?" Kai gapes at him. He shakes his head. "Boy, we're gonna have to change your mind on that one…"

Lloyd shakes his head. "Halloween is definitely the best, because you get to dress up and scare people, but most importantly you get-" He stops abruptly, eyes going wide as Kai desperately tries to drag them to the next aisle.

"Candy, Kai, can we stop, please, please please-"

"Lloyd, I told you, we're only here for groceries."

Lloyd groans, hanging off the shopping cart as Kai struggles to push it forward, kicking at Lloyd with his leg. "Just some of the mini snickers bars? The ones with little ghosts on them?"

"Lloyd-"

"I'll die without them."

"You've been hanging out with Jay too much," Kai huffs, dragging Lloyd up by his arm. "Look, if you're good, maybe I'll buy you a candy bar at the check-out."

Lloyd brightens immediately at that. "Okay!" He says. "What's next? Do we need cereal? 'Cause the cereal's right here. Can we get Froot Loops?"

Kai rolls his eyes, but he can't help but grin at Lloyd's enthusiasm as he practically tears down the aisle, the sleeves of Jay's old hoodie (that's still way too large for him) flopping over his hands again as he does.

The grin slides off his face as Kai glances back down at the shopping list, highly conscious of the tiny numbers Nya's scrawled at the bottom of the page. Those are painfully legible. He drags a hand over his face. They're not scrapped for money, per say, but after everything - the loss of basically all their belongings on the Bounty to the Devourer, the cost of keeping up with rent - they really do need to be keeping an eye on things, financially. They aren't terrible, but it reminds Kai uncannily of the days he spent struggling to support himself and Nya on the blacksmith shop.

It also means he can't buy Lloyd anything he wants - not even cheap little bloody eyeballs.

Kai glances over the list again, chewing on the inside of his cheek. They can't not get ibuprofen, that's a big no-go. Basic medical supplies are a must, obviously, and he can't skimp on the milk or Zane'll kill him. They could maybe skip the anxiety meds this time, but then Kai would feel awful if anyone had trouble-

"What's wrong?" Lloyd says, craning his head over Kai's arm. "Do we not have enough money? Do you owe some to somebody? Are we in trouble with the mob?"

"Are we - what?" Kai blinks. "The mob - no, Lloyd, geez. How do you even know about that?"

"Gene had an uncle in it! He said they would go yank people off the street, then they would like, steal their kidneys an' stuff if they couldn't pay you back," Lloyd says, gleefully.

Kai stares at him, mentally despairing. He finally decides to let this particular one go. "No, Lloyd," he sighs, wearily. "We're not in trouble with the mob. We're just…a little tight on stuff, right now."

Kai winces. How is he supposed to explain their financial woes to a kid? "Sorry kiddo, we probably won't be able to get those snickers today."

"It's okay," Lloyd says, with surprising nonchalance. "I know we're not super rich or anything. Stuff cost a lot. Before I was with you guys, back when I was on my own, I would try to buy food and stuff, sometimes? But it cost so much. Who even has that much money, anyways?"

Kai winces even harder, feeling the same frustrating mix of pained anger he does whenever Lloyd brings up his childhood thus far.

"-anyways, the point is, I totally get why people become bank robbers, because imagine if you had that much money, you could buy, like, so much candy-!"

"And that's our cue to check out," Kai says, a hand on Lloyd's back as he ushers him past the employee eyeing them suspiciously. "Didn't I say we were trying not to turn you into a corrupt child criminal?" he hisses.

"It was just a joke! You're never fun, geez-"

They get through the check-out line mercifully quick, and Kai's total ends up being slightly under budget, so he caves and buys them a snickers bar to split. Lloyd is seemingly pacified, so Kai decides it's a good time to bring something back up.

"Anyways, back to the whole 'we're tyrants who won't let you celebrate Halloween' thing," Kai says, as they pile the now-bagged groceries back into the shopping cart. "Where'd you get that idea? We're obviously going to celebrate. You can even go trick-or-treating with the other kids in Ninjago City, if you want. Or we can hit up Jamanaki, or Cole's hometown, I guess."

Whatever place is safest at the moment, Kai decides, as they head out of the store.

Lloyd, to his surprise, doesn't exactly look thrilled with that idea. "I dunno," he says, dully. "I don't really wanna hang out with the other kids. Can we just watch scary movies at the apartment?"

"What's wrong with the other kids?" Kai says, frowning. Lloyd isn't usually shy - maybe a little quiet around new people, but he's definitely not one to shy away from any opportunity to get candy, regardless of who's around.

Lloyd shrugs, looking down as he toes a scuff on the linoleum floor. "There's nothing wrong with them," he mutters. "It's more kinda...me."

Kai blinks, coming to a halt. "What?"

Lloyd gives a jerky little shrug. He grins up at him, a toothy one that shows his slightly too-sharp teeth, his red eyes flashing. "'Cause I'm the spawn of evil, duh, they all fear me!"

He says it brightly, still grinning fiercely, but Kai catches the slight waver in his voice, the fake edge in his smile.

Oh. Kai's heart twists.

He opens his mouth to give a rebuttal, fully prepared to insist to Lloyd that nobody even notices those things - and stops. Kai hesitates, thinking back to their trip in the store so far. You'd think, living in a place where literal snake people ran around constantly, red eyes wouldn't draw much attention. But living in a place where Garmadon is relatively well-known…

There'd been that shopper passing by who had done a double-take at Lloyd, her eyes quickly skirting away from his. Kai had shot her a death glare, and Lloyd thankfully hadn't noticed, but…still.

Kai's jaw tightens, and he feels about ready to bare his own teeth.

"You just…you just gotta show 'em it's nothing," he opts instead, trying to sound encouraging. Cole is usually much better at this positivity stuff. Or Zane. Or Jay, really, just anyone other than Kai. "Just be yourself," he finally says. "Once they actually meet you, they'll like you, no sweat."

"Just be yourself? What kind of stupid advice is that?" Lloyd glares. "You didn't even like me when you met me."

"Wha- that's not true," Kai says, frowning. "I-"

"You guys hung me from a roof!"

Kai cringes. "Ah, yeah…um….look, in hindsight, that was super uncool-"

"And then you all hated me for like, a month, until you found out I was the Green Ninja-"

"Hey, woah, now that's not true," Kai says, grabbing Lloyd's shoulders firmly, forcing him to look at him. "We definitely liked you before then, and you know it. But c'mon, Lloyd - you acted like a total brat, you know that, right?"

Lloyd huffs, but he nods, looking sour. "Yeah, yeah," he mutters. His expression falls a bit. "But…you guys are different. No one else has ever liked me. All the kids at Darkley's hated my guts."

Kai is dying, just a bit, on the inside. Like the I-Need-To-Light-Someone-On-Fire-For-This kind of dying, the kind where he goes out and does something stupid-

"Except for maybe Brad," Lloyd mutters, hand on his chin. "I think he sorta liked me, a little bit…"

Kai finally cuts in, his voice only mildly venomous. "Well, the kids at Darkley's were all little assholes-"

"Nya says you're not supposed to use that word," Lloyd says, suddenly very serious. He'd taken his "language learned at Darkley's is not acceptable language if you want dessert tonight" lecture very seriously, it appears.

Kai huffs. "Okay, those little jerks - they don't know what they're talking about. They're a bunch of brainless rock heads."

Lloyd gives a slightly happier giggle at that. "Like Cole?"

Kai gives him a side eye. "Be nice."

"Cole is way cooler than anyone at Darkley's, anyways," Lloyd amends.

"How about this," Kai says. "We all go trick-or-treating together, so if anyone decides to mess with you, I light them on fire."

Lloyd lights up brighter than the flashing electronic pumpkins next to them, and Kai mentally congratulates himself.

"For real?" Lloyd says. "You'll dress up and everything?"

"Cross my heart," Kai draws an x across his chest. "Now hop on," he says, patting the shopping cart handle. "I'll run and push us across the parking lot."

Lloyd whoops, hopping up on the cart.

"Okay," he says, as Kai puts one foot up. "I lied. You're sometimes fun."

"Oh, just sometimes, huh," Kai grins.

"On weekends, and holidays, and-"

Kai never does learn when else he's fun, because Lloyd is too busy laughing as they careen down the parking lot, shopping cart rattling loudly in their wake.

******

Nya thinks them all trick-or-treating a great idea, and she claims that she can make fake blood all on her own - so by the time Zane agrees with her, nobody stands a snowball's chance in hell of saying no to that particular team-up of puppy eyes.

Cole tries arguing that they don't have costumes, until Jay wickedly reminds him that they've still got the pirate outfits from the whole thing with Captain Soto and his men - but by that point, Cole isn't resisting much anyways. Lloyd's excitement is infectious, and it's fun to celebrate holidays with a family this big.

It's something none of them are quite used to, but it's welcome nonetheless.

"We're only sticking to this neighborhood, okay?" Cole tells them, for the hundredth time. "It'll gonna be crowded enough that I doubt anyone will notice it's us, and they're running a haunted house in the middle, so-"

"A haunted house?" Lloyd says, looking up from where he's finishing off the blood splatters on his own costume. "Can I take back what I said about Ninjago City being lame? This is awesome."

Lloyd, economically, has decided to as a ghost, which only requires Nya's old bedsheet, eyeholes, and a good deal of homemade fake blood splattered over it.

"I've gotta be a scary ghost," Lloyd tells Jay, seriously. "The more blood, the better."

"You got it, kid," Jay says, who's getting pretty liberal with the blood himself.

"You're a pirate, Jay, not a zombie," Zane says, ducking the drops of red paint that go flying.

"A zombie pirate," Kai offers.

"A zirate," Jay grins. Cole groans.

Nya's the last to dress up, and she's ended up going as a vampire, to Lloyd's eternal delight.

"You look like me!" he says excitedly, as Nya gives him a sharp-toothed grin.

"Yup," she says, running her tongue over the plastic fangs and making a face. "They feel kinda weird, because they're just lame fakes, but they look super cool, right?"

Lloyd's own fangs (which is a generous term) are tiny in comparison, of course, so they really look absolutely nothing like each other, but the megawatt grin he's got on - Nya's playing the long game here, and Kai has to respect her for that.

This means he's gotta get those snickers bars with the little ghosts on them later, though.

******

Trick-or-treating ends up being a lot more fun than Kai had been expecting - then again, he's never really been himself that he can remember, so maybe it's a new experience for all of them.

Well, except Jay and Cole. They're both far too invested in making sure they hit every single house possible.

Kai grins as he watches them head back from their latest house - Lloyd makes the cutest little terror of a ghost he's ever seen, swamped in the sheet as he is. Albeit a very bloody ghost, fake blood dripped gruesomely all over him. But he seems happy enough, flapping his sheet-covered arms around at anyone who dares get near them.

Well, he had been. Lloyd had discovered, much to his dismay, that it's almost impossible to eat candy with a sheet draped over his face - though there were an amusing few minutes where he had tried vainly to shove several Starbursts through the eyeholes at once. He's finally given up and shoved the sheet back over his head, where it drapes over him like a very bloody cape as he surveys his bag of candy. He's beaten them all by a ridiculously large margin, but that's just because they're all suckers who are slipping half their own candy into his bag the entire night.

"Hey, you got any chocolate you wanna share?" Cole says, reaching his hand toward Lloyd's bag.

Lloyd opens his mouth and snaps his teeth together. "I'll bite you," he threatens. "Like a shark."

"Ooh, Lloyd the Fangfish," Cole pretends to shudder. "Watch out, he's got rabies."

"I do not," Lloyd huffs, but he grudgingly hands Cole one of his Kit-Kats.

"Don't eat too much in one go," Zane reminds him. "You don't want to make yourself sick."

"Aw, c'mon Zane, it's Halloween," Jay says, through a mouthful of his own candy. "Lighten up."

"Hey, Zane can't help being such a mom," Kai says, slinging his arm around him. Zane shrugs at him good-naturedly, not hard enough to actually shake him off. "One of us has to be."

Zane rolls his eyes long-sufferingly. The moon dips behind a cluster of clouds, darkening the streets a bit, and Kai's about to suggest they head home - when a voice echoes across the street.

"Lloyd - hey, Lloyd!"

Lloyd's head snaps up. "Brad?" he says, almost incredulously, as the boy runs up to them, tugging on the hood of his own costume.

Kai stiffens, and he's distinctly aware of Nya giving the kid the stink-eye where she stands off to the side. Sure, Lloyd kind-of made-up with his friends after they lured them all to Darkley's and tried to re-evil-brainwash him, but years of being demon brats don't just go away (look at Lloyd). That, and Lloyd's words from earlier are still pretty fresh in his mind.

Kai narrows his own eyes. Lloyd can handle himself against one little tyke, but just in case…Kai isn't too opposed to shoving some kids in a trash can tonight.

Lloyd and Brad have gone quiet, carefully eyeing each other. Kai holds his breath as they size each other up. Brad was the one Lloyd said might have liked him, right? Maybe this can work in his favor, then. If Lloyd can just be chill for five seconds, then maybe-

"Your fake blood is lame," Lloyd finally says. Nya smacks a hand against her head.

Apparently, it's the right thing to say when you're an ex-evil hellion of a kid, though, because Brad immediately relaxes, jutting his lip out in a half-pouting scowl.

"Is not. Where'd you get yours, anyways?" He gives the ninja a wide-eyed glance. "Did you get it from somebody they killed?" he whispers.

Zane sputters as Cole claps a hand over his mouth, holding back snickers. Lloyd rolls his eyes.

"Nah, they'd never actually kill somebody. They're good guys, remember? Nya - that's Nya, by the way! - she made it."

"Cool," Brad says, looking a little less nervous. "Hey, Gene's over at the playground - wanna help scare him? We still owe him for the fake spider thing, right?"

"Oh - uh, yeah, obviously," Lloyd says, and Kai almost snorts at the gleam in his eye. Gee, you spend all this time trying to reform a kid.

The two fall into easy conversation - mostly plotting an unfortunate Gene's demise - as if they'd never been strained at all, and Kai watches as Lloyd runs off with him to the other kids, feeling a little abandoned and a lot protective.

"Just one little hair," he says to Nya. "I'll just singe one off."

"Kai, he's his friend, look," Nya sighs, gesturing at Lloyd and Brad where they're now tearing around the playground with several other kids (who are, no doubt, equal hellions). "They're just having fun."

"Yeah, well, I don't trust 'em."

"Well, Lloyd can always blast them across town with an energy burst, if they give him any trouble," Jay says, tossing a chocolate bar at Cole.

Zane frowns at him. "That's…not exactly the use of power we should be teaching him."

"What, you don't want Lloyd to protect himself from bullies?"

Zane considers the point. "Perhaps, if the situation called for it…"

"Great!" Jay stands up, linking his arm with Zane. "Then who's up for the haunted house with me?"

Cole takes a step back. "Nuh-uh, you know how I am with creepy houses. I don't do that kind of stuff-"

"You do with us!" Nya says cheerfully, grabbing one arm while Kai wrestles the other. Cole sputters indignantly as they drag him along. "Come on, let's see if Lloyd and his little demon gang wanna join."

******

"Welp!" Jay throws the door open with unnecessary dramatics as they pile back into the apartment. "We're banned for life. I hope you guys are happy."

"Hey, I wasn't the one who drop-kicked the chainsaw actor," Kai mutters.

Cole flushes. "I'm a ninja, I can't help it - it was reflex!""

"Was the high-pitched screaming reflex?" Jay says. Cole elbows him in the gut, and Jay snatches the candy bar from his hand in retaliation. Cole gives an indignant yelp.

"Hey! That was my last chocolate bar!"

Nya roll her eyes as she squeezes past Jay, who's loudly chewing Cole's candy bar in his face. Lloyd totters in behind her, half-buried in the pile of candy he's amassed in his bag. He's giggling manically, and the look in his eyes is genuinely more terrifying than anything Kai's ever seen.

"Pace yourself on that candy, alright?" Kai says, eyeing him. "I don't wanna wake up to you puking your guts out tonight."

"Nuh-uh," Lloyd says, through a mouthful of taffy. "I don' ge' sick from candy. S'impossible."

"That's what you said the last time," Cole says, snatching the bag from Lloyd's hand and ignoring his cry of displeasure. "That's enough for tonight. You can eat yourself sick again in the morning."

Nya strides by them, falling onto the couch next to Kai with a a thwump. Kai watches in amusement as she rubs a hand across her eye, smearing mascara and eyeliner across her cheek in a raccoon-like smudge. Nya notices his stare, glancing at her hand and huffing.

"Remind me not to wear costume makeup again," she mutters, as Kai snorts. "At least I didn't ruin it for the picture."

She digs into her bag, pulling out a slightly-rumpled but still glossy photograph.

"Not that it matters," Nya continues. "This is the worst picture of us I've ever seen." She makes a face, staring at the picture the workers at the haunted house had snapped of them before they went in.

Kai shifts on the couch so he's looking over Nya's shoulder, squinting at the photo. "Is that supposed to be Zane?" he says, pointing at the blurry figure on the right.

"May…be?" Nya says. "At least you turned out alright."

Kai grins at where he's taking up half the picture, Lloyd wrapped in a chokehold around his neck that could be considered a hug if generous, both of them grinning wildly.

"Someone's gotta bring the beautiful," Kai says. He looks up to where Lloyd is being accosted by Cole, having somehow gotten his hands on yet another chocolate bar.

"Lloyd, I said that's enough. Lloyd, don't - no! Stop!"

Lloyd's hand stills, the chocolate bar hovering inches from his mouth.

"Put it down," Cole hisses. The chocolate bar moves half an inch closer. "Lloyd! No!"

Lloyd shoves the chocolate in his mouth before Cole can blink. "Lloyd!"

Lloyd springs from the chair, cackling wildly as he runs. Cole tears after him, seething. "I'll use you as a toothbrush for the Ultradragon, you pint-sized punk-"

"I'm surprised Sensei Wu hasn't come in and killed us yet," Jay says, flopping down on the rug below Kai and Nya, fumbling with the remote.

"He went out for the evening," Zane says. "Which means you can scream as loudly as you want over the movie."

Jay chucks a wrapper at Zane's head. He snatches it easily, tossing it back at Jay. Their worn TV finally flickers to life just as Cole and Lloyd finally wind down, Lloyd looking a lot less gleeful with his decision.

"O-oh, too much candy," Lloyd moans, clambering onto the couch next to Kai.

"You puke on me, I'm tossing you off the roof," Kai says, but he wraps an arm around him nonetheless, pulling Lloyd against his side.

"No you won't," Lloyd yawns, eyelids already fluttering as the movie starts. "You'd miss me too much. Wouldn't ever have any fun without me."

"Oh, I wouldn't?"

"Nope. I gotta…keep you from getting boring."

"No worries on that one," Kai says, grinning. He bites back his own yawn, settling further into the couch as Lloyd nods off, curling up against his side. "No worries at all."

Lloyd is soundly asleep against his side in seconds, snoring softly. Kai's getting all sorts of looks from Jay and Cole, but he masterfully ignores them - for now. Nya's taken to nodding off on his other side, so he's kinda sibling-sandwiched at the moment. Upsetting them isn't worth putting Jay in a headlock tonight.

"Here," Nya suddenly whispers over the movie, waving the picture up at him from where she's using his shoulder as a pillow. "Wanna put it in your modeling portfolio?"

Kai maturely sticks his tongue out at her, but he still snatches the picture. "Nah, but I'll keep it as a reminder of what massive dorks you all are."

They settle back to watching the movie, and he glances at the picture again. It's a pretty cute one - not that he's gonna admit that. It's a keeper, at least. They really don't have a lot of pictures of their team, and hardly any at all with Lloyd and his disaster-haired self.

Ah well. He can take more later. They've got plenty of time.

#my fic #ninjago #taking a break from your regularly scheduled angst to bring you gross fluff #casually hops on the lloyd-with-fangs train

[thetravelersjournal]

UnderGone

Day 2

I had decided to reset again. Meeting my friends and family… it always fills me with a warm sensation. I feel that they are the reason I keep going, the reasoning behind my DETERMINATION. I woke again in the small field of flowers so familiar to me. I slowly got up and made my way to where Asr Flowey always waited.

Except he wasn’t there.

This didn't really bother me, though. He’s never showed his face half of the many times that I’ve reset. What disturbed me was that he wasn’t there even though I performed a true reset.

I continued to make my way through the Ruins, rather upset that Toriel hadn’t found me yet. Usually she appeared first thing.

I had made it all the way to the rock puzzle before I realized that not one monster had attacked me. I hadn’t seen any monsters whatsoever, not even the Mad Dummy’s friend. The only reason I forced myself to come to this conclusion was that Miss. Rock was no longer there either. Not only that, but the puzzle itself was broken, the spikes stuck in the ground. I was scared. I ran to Toriel’s house, a little frantically.

No Napstablook.

No spider bake-sale.

No Toriel.

I didn't know what to do. I got somewhat panicky. I started yelling Toriel’s name. Napstablook’s. Even Flowey’s. “Someone! Anyone! Is anyone there?” I shouted until my throat was hoarse. I shouted for anyone to say hi, give a hug, even fight me.

… … …

But nobody came.

By then I was really tired. I went to my room, turned off the light, and collapsed onto my bed. I fell asleep wondering what I had gotten myself into.

I woke up this morning, hoping it was all a bad dream, that maybe it had been my imagination, but after searching the whole house I found no one.

I’ve decided to set out through the Underground in hopes of finding anyone. I found this diary on Toriel’s desk and figured that I could record my thoughts on it.

...All the previous pages are blank.

Day 3

I arrived in Snowdin a little later than I had hoped. All the puzzles were still activated, and to keep myself sane for a little while longer, I played the crossword puzzle that Sans had left.

Still no sign of anyone.

I had left the house without any food, but thankfully there was a cart full of Nice-Cream bars lying next to the snowball challenge. I felt a little bad about just taking them, so I left some money I had found in Toriel’s desk on the counter, before continuing on to Snowdin. No one was there to announce my arrival.

I looked through all the shops, buildings, and houses. No one was home.

I continued through Waterfall, passing Temmie village, Gerson’s shop, the mountain where Undyne usually waited for me. I got the same results as before. At this point I decided to take the River person’s boat back to Snowdin, and crash at Sans and Papyrus’s. But- surprise, surprise-they weren’t there, and neither was the boat. My only choice was to continue onward to Mettaton’s resort.

On a whim I looked through Alphy’s lab to see if I could find anything useful. I was sadly mistaken. All the lights were off. I didn't want to set foot anywhere near her secret lab when it was pitch black. It gave me goosebumps every time I went through there.

I finally arrived at MTT’s resort, still without having seen anyone. Not even so much as a bug. How could they all have disappeared? All their food was still here. It doesn't make sense.

I’ll try to make some more sense of it in the morning. Right now, I’m tired.

Day… 4?

It’s occurred to me that I have no actual way of telling the time down here. Monsters had never bothered to make clocks, and I didn’t have one on me when I fell down. I was only assuming how much time had passed based on when I went to sleep and when I woke up. I suppose there's no more accurate way to tell.

I continued through the Core, meeting no one. I arrived at Asgore’s castle, filled with dread. Why was everyone gone? Did something happen when I had reset? These thoughts swirled through my mind before being replaced with a more important one; could I leave the Underground? I started running now, my heart pounding. I ran through New Home, past the long hallway, into the throne room, and reached the barrier.

Except it wasn't there.

In its place was a tall dark stone wall. There wasn't an exit. It was like there had never been one in the first place. I slowly sank to my knees. Nothing was here. There was nothing for me to do here.

I consider my options. I could continue, or I could reset. This place is creepy. Maybe if I reset, everything will go back to normal…?

Ok. Here goes…

Day… 4.1, I guess.

I reset, but nothing changed. Not only that, but all my previous journal entries are still inscrebed inscribed on these pages. It was right where I had left it when I reset. As if I had only left the room for a minute.

I cried. For a long time, I cried. I sank to the floor, put my head on my knees, and wailed.

After a while, I slowly got up, and left the castle. I traveled back to the MTT resort to rest. No one greeted me on my way there.

I checked the room to the right of the throne room before I left the castle.

… … …

I…

… No. I don't need a reminder of what I saw in there.

Day 5

I decided to explore a little further today. I went down into Alphy’s secret lab. I wasn’t scared of it now.

Not after what I saw in the castle.

It was empty, as I expected. All of Alphy’s logs of her experements experiments were missing too. Only one monitor lit up when I approached it. I remember the log. It was supposed to say ‘The flower’s gone’.

But now all it says is ‘Gone’.

Day 6

It took a while to backtrack to Snowdin (the river person is still nowhere to be seen), but I finally made it back. I’ve decided to make my base in Papyrus and San’s house, for the time being. The shop seems to have an unlimited number of Bisicles and Cinnamon Bunnies, so I don't think I’ll starve anytime soon. Right now, I have to figure out why I’m here, and how to get out.

I busted into San’s room and took his backdoor key. I went to the back of the house and turned the key in the lock. I opened the door…

But it didn't lead anywhere. A solid wooden wall was where a room should have been. I sat in the snow. That had been my last idea on getting out of here. I was stuck, for the time being. Out of sheer frustration, I yelled out again, hoping that someone would hear me.

… … …

But, nobody came.

Day 7

I decided to try and run an inventory of basically everything edible in the Underground. So far, I have 4 Monster Candies, a dozen Spider Donuts, 5 Spider Jugs, 15 Nice-Creams, 22 Cinnamon Bunnies, 18 Bisicles (about 36 Unisicles), and 50 packages of noodles (from Papyrus’s house). Which I guess means that food isn’t as unlimited as I had thought.

When I went back to the Ruins to make inventory, I stopped at the entrance. Gears spun in my mind. I might be able to use a rope to climb up through the hole to the Underground.

But no light was shining through the entrance. Either it was night, or the entrance was sealed as well. What stumped me was how I didn’t notice this before.

What was also weird was that the small field of flowers I usually landed on had grown significantly larger. I watched it for a little while, and saw a few flowers pop out of the ground and bloom after a few minutes. Strange.

I could worry about it later, though. I still need to find the rest of the food in the Underground.

Day 8

A total now of 90 Nice-Creams (45 of which are slightly melted), 32 Sea Teas, 45 Crab Apples, 2 Astronaut packages, 1 Ghost sandwich, more than 500 Temmie Flakes (which aren’t very appetizing), a package of Instant Noodles, 4 bags of Popato Chisps, 30 Hot dogs, 1 Hot Cat, 30 doggy bags of Junk Food, 134 Starfaits, 121 Glamburgers, 24 Legendary Heroes, 1 Steak in the shape of Mettaton’s face, and 1 Abandoned Quiche.

The food that I’ve found should last me a long while, as long as I ration. I won’t need to worry about starving right now, at any rate.

Day 10

I’m reading my way through the library’s books. Not much has happened otherwise.

Day 15

I’ve been walking around a lot, trying to keep my strength up. Or maybe I’m still looking for an exit. Who knows.

A part of me still wants to go back up to the castle, but… I can always explore there later.

After all, I have plenty of time on my hands.

Day 21

Still not much to write about. I’ve already gotten halfway through the library’s books. Food supplies are ok.

Day 34

I had completely forgotten up till now that Alphys had a bunch of anime in her lab. I’ve never really been interested in it before, but it can’t be all that bad, right?

Day 35

...I… think I’ll skip the anime for now.

Day 45

Ok. I think I’ve finally gained the courage to go back into the castle. Into that room. I grabbed the last Cinnamon Bunnie and I’ve started to head up there. Hopefully it won’t take too long.

Day 46

I need to write this before I forget.

The first time I entered the room with coffins, I was shocked. The walls of the room were covered in… well, what looked like blood. The coffins were all gone, except for one that was standing up at the end of the room. Lit candles adorned the top of the casket. A large star with a circle surouding surrounding it was drawn on the floor. I didn’t understand why the symbol was there, but that wasn’t my main focus. In large letters above the coffin, there were written the words “every reset brings you closer to death. soon this coffin will be home to your corpse”.

It was too much to take in, so I had fled from the room. I didn’t know what it meant, but… It was frightening, to say the least. So when I went back to get a better look at the room, I was surprised to see that some things had changed.

All sorts of methods of torture were now hanging in the chamber. Stakes were thrust into the wall, ropes with loops hung from the ceiling, and I think there was even a guillotine in the corner.

The words above the coffin had changed, too. They now read “CHOOSE A METHOD OF DEATH, HUMAN. IT MAKES IT EASIER ON THE REST OF US”.

It took me a good while to realize I was shaking. Why was this happening? What did I do?

I eventually left the room. While a part of me wanted to be nowhere near that room, I decided to sleep in New Home for tonight. Maybe the room will change again in the morning?

I hope it doesn't.

...But another part of me hopes it will.

Day 47

I’m writing this after a forced reset. I had woken up a little miserably, and had decided to check on the coffin room again. Just as I entered the room, however, spears came from out of nowhere and impaled me.

I made my way back to the morgue from my last save point. The writing on the wall had changed yet again, along with the room. Black goop slowly ran along the walls and ceiling, puddling on the floor. The stench was enough to make me vomit what little was in my stomach. The dark pudding absorbed the contents of my belly, creating an even more intoxec intoxicating smell. The goo was leaking from the coffin, and didn’t show any point of stopping. The words now read “If you don’t kill yourself, Punk, we will gladly do it for you”.

I quickly left the room once again. I ran as far away as I could. I ran, and ran, and ran, and…

Now I’m back in the Snowdin. I think I might rest here for a while. Or…

I could try resetting again. It’s worth a shot, right?

Here’s hoping.

Day 48

I need to calm down.

When I woke up in the bed of flowers again, my first realization was that there were a LOT more of them. My second observation was that vines from the flowers were trying to grab my ankle.

I ran away from the plant life, not wanting to find out what it was going to do to me. I barely made it to the first save point before the vines came up from behind and strangled me. As I reloaded, I dodged the vines and continued through the Ruins. The flowers had grown at an incredible rate, and were growing even faster in their attempt to reach me. I made it to Toriel’s house, jumping down the stairs as plant life burst through the front door. I reached the door to Snowdin, managing to shut it as more flowers tried to force their way through.

I sat in the snow for a while, listening to loud bangs coming from the door. After some time, I finally made my way back to Snowdin. I cried for a little while, before I remembered my journal.

...Why is this happening to me?

Day 49

I haven't done much of anything lately. I still tired from running so much.

Day 60

Flowers have started to spread at the outskirts of Snowdin. I’ve relocated to MTT resort for now.

Food supplies are running low, not sure what to do about that. I know I had more food than this. Where did it all go?

Day 73

Watching some anime to keep me from losing my mind.

Day ?

I’ve lost all track of time now. I haven’t slept for a while. I can’t.

I checked the morgue again. A big dentist chair laid in the middle of the room, attached to a rope that lead to a slightly opened coffin. Sharp dentistry tools sat on the table next to it, as well as unconvi unconventional tools, like a chainsaw and a hammer. The words had changed once again, this time to “Think of it like taking a trip to the dentist”.

Day ?

The flowers are growing rapidly. They’ve almost made their way to Hotland now. Food supplies gone. So hungry.

I’m so hungry

Day ?

hungry so hungry so hungry so hungry so hungry

[Incoherent scribbling]

No food no cinnamonBUnniesnoTemmieflakesNOBisiclesimsOalonetheresnoboDYatallCAnsoMEbodypleasefindmeidontwanttobealone

[Incoherent scribbling]

flowers everywhere THEY’RE EVERYWHERE THEY’RE TEARING ME APART OVER AND OVER THEY’RE GROWING FASTER AND FASTER THERE'S NOWHERE TO RUN AN-

[Incoherent scribbling. The next paragraph is barely legible]

THEY’VE BLOCKED ME IN THE COFFIN ROOM THEY’RE STILL GROWING IT’S OPENING OH [Illegible] ITS OPENING ITS HOWLING ITS HOWLING AT ME, “You are the future of [Illegible] and monsters” THE VINES THEY’RE DRAGGING ME IN I CAN’T MOVE HELP ME HELP ME SOMEONE PLEASE HEL-

[The rest of the journal is blank, except for the inside back cover. Small words at the bottom are burned into it]

DETERMINATION

Greetings, Diary!

I was quite surprised to find a human child laying in the flower bed this morning. I tried to lead them home, but the fall must have hurt them somehow. They seem… well, empty, almost, and they don’t respond to anything I say. Their eyes appear hollow, and they keep muttering about flowers. It’s very disturbing, and I do hope they are alright.

While checking their HP to see if they were injured, I noticed the oddest thing. The human appears to have no soul. How are they alive? It is most troubling indeed.

Nevertheless, as caretaker of the Ruins, it is my responsibility to watch over them. I will make sure they are comfortable living down here in the Underground.

-Toriel

Frisk and Toriel belong to Toby Fox

#journal entry #TFTM #undertale #AU #undergone #happy halloween #friday the 13th #2spoopy4me