Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dedan drifted through the remains of his precious Zone. Specters floated past him. There was a time when he would have fought them, but there was no point now. He was a spectre himself. And his Zone was gone.

All he knew was that he was looking for someone. Someone precious to him.

He wandered through all the areas, from Damian through Alma. It wasn’t until he found it that he realized what he was looking for; an elsen curled up on the ground, covering his head and crying.

“Chester!” he gasped without breath.

The elsen looked up, ghostly tears staining his cheeks.

“Dedan!” he floated to his lover, his legs replaced with a ghostly tail. He embraced as tight as he could, but their bodies remained cold.

“I’m sorry,” Dedan nuzzled his face against Chester’s, “I couldn’t protect you.”

“It’s okay, my love,” he kissed his cheek as an icy tear rolled down his face. “I wasn’t able to defeat him, either.”

Dedan pulled him away to look him straight in the face. “I told you not to fight him!”

Chester looked down. “I’m so sorry. He took you away from me. I couldn’t let him get away.”

Fresh tears trailed down his pale face. Dedan pulled him closer and squeezed his eyes shut.

“No, I suppose I would have done the same.”

Chester wailed, staining Dedan’s overcoat. The ash floated around them like falling snow.

Hand-in-hand, they walked along the tracks. More specters floated past them with nowhere to go.

They reached Zone 2. It was just as desolate and colorless as their home. Specters wandered the white void, eyes glazed over, as though stuck in a trance.

They found their way to the tower of the Library where they found Japhet, the Guardian of Zone 2. His millennial phoenix body now reduced to a small bird. His ghostly form lay on the ground, shivering among the ash.

Dedan knelt and scooped the delicate creature up.

“Dedan,” Japhet righted himself in his hands. “Did you… what about…?”

“My Zone is gone, too,” Dedan said softly.

Japhet buried his head into his feathers.

“I’m sorry, my friend,” the bird said.

Dedan pet his fellow Guardian’s head soothingly with his extended fingers. Chester floated closer.

“Ah, it’s you,” the bird gave him a sad smile. “The little elsen who captured the General’s affections. You died by the Batter’s hand?”

Chester nodded solemnly.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“We must find Enoch,” Dedan said as he stood up. “We don’t have much time left.”

“Let’s go, then,” Japhet settled himself on Dedan’s decorated shoulder.

Once more along the tracks, they entered Zone 3; as colorless and desolate as the other two. It wasn’t difficult to find Enoch. His wails carried the group to his location.

As they entered his office, they found the mammoth man’s ectoplasmic form weeping at his desk. When Enoch spotted them, he wiped his tears frantically.

“Dedan, Japhet! And umm…” he squinted at Chester.

“Chester,” the elsen bowed his head politely.

“Oh yes, my apologies. I guess you never succeeded in becoming a Guardian or else we wouldn’t be in this situation…”

“Enoch!” Dedan snapped. “It’s not Chester’s fault! He never finished his training.”

“Because you’ve gone soft!” Enoch slammed his fists on his desk. “That elsen has made you forget your place, General!”

“You shut the hell up!” Dedan took a step towards the hulking mass. Chester hid behind his lover, trembling.

“Gentlemen!” Japhet twittered. “Now is not the time for petty squabbling. The world will be ending soon. I suggest we use our precious, limited time to apologize to the Prince.”

Dedan and Enoch’s expression softened before facing their comrade.

“You’re right,” admitted Dedan. “Let’s go.”

Journeying into the Nothingness, they found the Room where the Queen lay on the floor of her tower, hair strewn about.

Japhet flew to her and gently pecked her cheek until she stirred and lifted her head. She, too, was now a phantom.

“Japhet, my friend,” she whispered. “You came.” She looked around. “You all came.”

“Of course,” Enoch placed a hand over his heart. “We wouldn’t go into that dark night without bidding our Prince farewell.”

Her eyes fell on Chester. She wore a regretful expression. “I’m sorry it had to end like this, dear elsen. I did not mean to drag you into this.”

“It’s alright, my Queen,” he looked at the floor. “I’m just sorry I could not protect you better.”

“I’m sure in another life, you would have stopped him.”

“Thank you, my Queen. That gives me some comfort.”

They made their way to the Prince’s room. He lay on the bed, the life almost gone from his eyes. He, too, had succumbed to the Batter’s wrath.

They stood in a circle around his bed, hands folded over themselves in mourning.

“I’m sorry, my Prince,” Dedan said.

“We were not able to give you the beautiful world you deserved,” said Japhet.

“Or protect you from the Batter,” said Enoch.

The Prince Hugo smiled weakly at them.

“It’s okay,” he said as weak as his smile. “I accept my death. I wish you didn’t have to go with me.”

The lights of his room began to dim.

Dedan squeezed Chester’s hand.

“We will be here with you, so you don’t have to go out alone,” said the Queen.

“Thank you, Mama,” he said. “Thank you, everyone.”

Then Hugo closed his eyes and the lights went out.

Chapter Text

     He screamed, as helpless and terrified as a newborn. His body felt as though it were being stabbed with needles. He tried to flail, but his limbs refused to work. He couldn’t remember how to move his body. He screamed louder.

     “Oye. ¡OYE! Calm down, guardia.”

     All he knew was to scream, but he managed to settle down enough to hear the voices talking to him.

     “Dear me, he’s more terrified than I was.”

     “You can say that again, tío.”

     He opened his eyes and found two faces staring back at him. One was a man in a dark yellow pullover hoodie wearing a frog mask. The other, a grinning cat.

     “He awakens!” the cat purred.

     “Welcome back, amigo.”

     Dedan felt air in his lungs again. A strange sensation. As though his lungs hadn’t felt the touch of air in eons. Above them was a black sky. No, not a sky. A void.

     He tried to form words, but his voice felt lost. He only made sounds.

     “Está bien, you’re with friends.”

     “Wh… wha…” Dedan struggled.

     “You’re in the Nothingness. Well, not even that. But it’ll be something soon,” spoke the man in the frog mask.

     “S… Spaniard…” he gasped.

     “Zacharie. You remember me!” the frog man’s eyes smiled.

     Dedan blinked harshly, not believing what he was seeing.

     “Rest here a minute. I’m sure your body needs time to adjust to, well, existing again.”

     They both walked away from his line of sight. Dedan heard a strange clicking. With great difficulty, he lifted his head and saw Zacharie typing away on a laptop. A giant backpack, like ones used for camping, sat beside him. The ground below was nothing but a white grid.

     After several minutes, Dedan felt enough blood in his veins to lift himself up and walk over to Zacharie.

     “Ah, you’re moving again. Muy bien. I’m not good at this yet. Sorry I couldn’t bring you back more gently.”

     “I… died,” Dedan said, eyes widening.

     “That’s right.”

     “But… I’m alive again?”

     “You catch on quick.”

     “H-how…?”

     The cat stood up with a flick of his tail. “Allow me to explain while my friend works his magic. We still have two Guardians to resurrect.”

     “Gracias, Pablo. This will take a while.”

     “De nada, my amphibious amigo,” the cat bowed his head and turned back to Dedan. “I’m sure your memories are a jumbled mess of visions and fragments, but those will come together in due time.” He led the tall Guardian away from Zacharie so he could work in peace.

     Dedan could see bits and pieces of his past life in his mind’s eye, but as the cat said, they were fragmented and nonsensical. All except one. A man. A man he loved. An elsen. An elsen in a bowtie, suspenders, and glasses. His heart tightened the more he thought about him.

     “Ch-Chester!” Dedan whipped around. “Where is Chester?”

     “Let me explain our predicament,” said Pablo as though he were a parent trying to soothe his child. “Chester is, unfortunately still lost. Since he never became a Guardian, his data is lost with the millions of other elsen. Zacharie can explain it better than I, but my understanding is that, since we are not Puppeteers, we must rebuild the world manually.”

     “How much longer until we get him back?”

     “I cannot say at this time. We’re still in the initial stages of this operation. As you can see, we have programmed gravity and the ground, but not much else. The Room exists somewhere in this void, too. This will be a long, arduous process, and we need to build the base before we can build the tower.”

     “We got one!” Zacharie called from his computer, gesturing with his hand for them to return.

     Dedan and Pablo jogged back to him and saw a glowing figure in front of them. It was small, as though it could fit in their hands (or paws). Contour lines formed the figure, creating a small bird.

     “Japhet!” Dedan absent-mindedly shouted.

     “Right you are,” said Pablo flatly.

     Line-by-line, details formed onto the bird until, POP! Japhet was brought back from the dead. The small bird uselessly flapped his wings and chittered frantically.

     Dedan ran to him and knelt by his side.

     “Japhet, it’s me!”

     The bird’s chest rose and fell as his tiny lungs gulped up air.

     “D-Deeehhh… Deeehhh…” he gasped.

     “Don’t worry, it’ll come to you soon.”

     Dedan scooped up the avian and cupped his hand to give him a warm nest to recover in. Japhet puffed his feathers, most likely not appreciating his helpless state.

     Zacharie took a lot longer to bring Enoch back. But it gave Japhet enough time to recover and get caught up with the situation.

     “What do you plan on doing with us?” Japhet eyed Pablo suspiciously, still settled in Dedan’s palm.

     “Rebuild the world, of course,” Pablo said, though he wasn’t as warm with the bird as he was with Dedan. “We cannot build this world without the Guardians.”

     Finally, contours began to form to create Enoch’s body. It took considerably longer than Japhet. All the while Zacharie typed furiously on his keyboard. The rest watched in awe.

     “He is just as flabby as I remember,” Japhet said, feathers pluming in irritation.

     “And you are just as callous as I recall,” Pablo hissed under his breath.

     Japhet snapped his head to Pablo but said nothing.

     Soon enough, Enoch popped into existence, landing on the ground with a loud, lardy thud. Instead of screaming, he opened his mouth to greedily suck in air, helpless as a beached whale.

     “Give him a minute,” said Zacharie as he closed his laptop, which was being held together with duct tape.

     After about twenty minutes, Enoch finally wriggled enough that he was able to stand and talk.

     “Now that you’re all back,” said Zacharie, now wearing his comically large backpack, “you’re going to help us bring the world back.”

     “What about the Queen and the Prince?” said Dedan.

     “They were the first we brought back, actually. But we didn’t take coordinates into consideration, so they are at the place they died. They’re probably scared and alone, that’s why I brought you back; so we can find them faster.”

     “And where are we, exactly?” Enoch growled. “I can’t make heads or tails of this place.”

     “Ten eyes are better than four,” said Pablo. “Tomorrow, Zacharie will explain how to mark the grid so we don’t get lost. It should serve us to make our journey easier. But for now, I suggest we rest for a while. We can start once we’ve had some sleep.”

     Dedan hated to admit it, but he felt tired and cranky. Perhaps sleep would help with his mood. Though he realized this would be the first night he spent without Chester since they started dating.

     “And where should we sleep, on the ground?” Enoch spat.

     Zacharie rolled his eyes and pulled out his laptop again. A few more floating contours shaped out objects in the air, just like with Japhet and Enoch.

     “How are you creating something out of nothing?” Japhet said.

     “I’ve gathered all of the data from our old world and made a copy of it,” said Zacharie.

“How did you escape before the world ended?” said Dedan.

     Zacharie looked away from his screen and smiled with his eyes. “I have my ways.” He went back to typing. “I’ve spent the last several eons trying to figure out how to get the world back. Unfortunately, since I am just data myself, my abilities are limited.”

     “How have you gained this ability?” Enoch folded his arms. “Whoever heard of a game character creating his own game?”

“Disbelieve it all you want, but it’s true. I’ve been out here a long time, tío. A lot has happened since the world ended.”

Enoch grunted and folded his arms.

“The search on this computer is limited,” continued Zacharie. “I can’t easily find NPCs… pardon, elsen, or non-essential characters. And since your existences are tied to the creation of the Zones, you three were needed to be brought in early. And Pablo… well, I just like Pablo. He’s helped me a lot.”

     As the merchant spoke, the floating 3D mesh objects continued to be built before their eyes. Finally, three sets of pillows and blankets appeared.

     “No bed?” said Enoch, cocking an eyebrow.

     Zacharie glared at him and slammed his laptop shut.

     “Buenas noches,” he growled and walked several feet away where he pulled out a sleeping bag and set up his backpack like a pillow. Pablo followed and curled up next to him.

     The three Guardians spread out, taking their respective blankets and pillows with them.

     Dedan faced away from everyone. He shed his jacket and folded it neatly beside him before laying his head on the pillow. Once more, his mind drifted to Chester. He pulled his jacket closer and hugged it. It was a poor substitute, but perhaps if he pretended hard enough, he could trick himself in thinking it was him.

     Soon enough, they all drifted to sleep.

     Awareness.

He existed but didn’t exist. There were no conscious thoughts, only feelings. Feelings he had no words for, because words were not a concept he understood. But he knew he was missing… something. As though his existence was hanging by a thread. He did not exist but was a concept. A thing that would need to exist. Or had existed but no longer did.

     He felt as though he was surrounded by others who were in the same position as him; existing but not existing. He felt their thoughts around him. Their thoughts were many, oppressing him. Yelling out with their words that did not exist, but he felt them anyway. Millions in a sea of others whose presences surrounded him. There was no escape. They were everywhere and nowhere.

     He wanted to scream, but there was no mouth to scream with.

Chapter Text

     As the Guardians awoke, Zacharie explained that they were going to try to find the Queen and Hugo.

     “How are we to find anything when the entire world looks the same?” griped Enoch.

     “Even if I were to fly up and find something, there’s no way I could find my way back,” complained Japhet.

     “That’s why we have this,” Zacharie said flatly as he pulled out a crudely drawn, unfinished map. It had been extended by taping several pieces of paper together.

     Dedan was too heartbroken to complain. All he wanted was to hold Chester. To tell him how sorry he was for not protecting him.

     “You’re unusually quiet, Guardian of Iron,” said Pablo as he walked up to Dedan. “Are you troubled?”

     Dedan shrugged. “Just wanting to get my life back.”

     “Are you, perhaps, thinking about your lover?”

     Dedan cocked an eyebrow at him.

     “You know about that?”

     “Cats have a way of knowing what others will not speak of.”

     Dedan sighed. “Yeah. I am.”

     “Fret not, General. Zacharie is doing his best to bring us back to the world we once knew.”

     “I know. I’m just impatient, is all.”

     “Patience is a virtue, as the saying goes. We’ll try our best to bring him back. Until then, bear with us. This is going to be a long process.”

     It was decided that the best way to continue was to split up and draw parts of the map. Zacharie copied his map and handed them papers and markers. Enoch walked north until he was a fraction of his size. Dedan traveled south. He found a mark that Zacharie had made earlier: L20, 1150. Zacharie had devised a system where he marked one axis of the grid with a letter by numbers to indicate north and south with plain numbers indicating east and west. Should they get lost, all they would need is to find a marking on the ground to know where they were. It was a simple, but easy way to differentiate the otherwise plain and repetitive grid that made up the world.

     Every ten paces, they would stop and mark the next part of the map. For Dedan, it was L20, 1160. Then L20, 1170. Then L20, 1180. Et cetera.

     Japhet flew overhead and kept a lookout for anything in the distance or relay messages between the group if necessary.

     Zacharie had said once they got to about 10,000 on the y-axis, they would find the Queen and Hugo.

     Once they reached about 1400, Japhet twittered loudly to indicate they should break for lunch. Zacharie managed to manifest food from his laptop the same way he did with the Guardians and their blankets.

     “How are you doing that?” said Japhet as Zacharie handed him a slice of bread.

     “Because our world is made of ones and zeroes, all I need to do is ‘turn on’ the person or object at the coordinates I want,” said Zacharie.

     “Could you create anything, then?” said Enoch before taking a big bite of his sandwich.

     “No, I can only make things that already existed in our world. Only Hugo and puppeteers can make something new.”

     “Still, that’s incredible,” said Dedan.

     “It’s troublesome,” sighed Zacharie. “I can’t tell you how long it took me to figure out how to find the code and then manipulate it.” He lifted his mask to bite his sandwich. His eyes were still hidden. He chewed a bit before continuing. “In fact, I may be older than you now.”

     Dedan looked at him incredulously. The thought of being alone for so long made his heart ache. He thought about not having Chester for a long time. He vaguely wondered if there was someone Zacharie was looking for.

     Words existed to him now. He could have conscious thoughts. He could name the things he was missing. A body. A place. A home. He knew that he was Chester. Somehow that name was his. He wasn’t sure how, he could just feel it.

     He knew he was surrounded by beings called elsen. And specters. But the more words he remembered, the more he could feel himself drifting away from them.

One word haunted him. No, not a word, a name.

Dedan.

The name felt as though it was lost to him, as though there was something significant about it, but his memory was fractured beyond recognition. He only understood concepts from the memories, such as his name, what he was (an elsen), and Dedan was someone important to him.

Chapter Text

Pop!

The inside of his head felt as though the ear drums had exploded. His lungs gasped for air as if they hadn’t breathed in some time. He greedily gulped each breath, aware of his lungs expanding and collapsing.

He could feel each one of his veins pumping with blood and circulating throughout his body, rapidly rushing around as if they were late for some meeting. Every inch of him ached, as if bludgeoned by some blunt object. He was aware of every inch, seething with blood, muscle, and skin. His heart pounded in his head, hearing the blood rushing through his aching ears. He trembled, body getting accustomed to each of its functions once again.

His hyper awareness settled. His mind caught up to him. Feeling as though his time spent not existing, though felt like eons only moments ago, now only seemed like an instant. A single blink in which he no longer was of this plane, now back to the world he knew. 

As his mind adjusted to his surroundings, he heard a sound. A sound that he hadn’t registered, but was always there. A child crying. His words were: “Mama, Mama, where are you?”

With great difficulty, Chester leverage his elbow so that he could lift himself. His head hung uselessly from his neck for a moment before he could gather the strength to look up. Each neck muscle screamed at him from their lack of use. Or perhaps he had just forgotten what it was like to maneuver a body. Either way, it felt like lifting a boulder with a thin piece of rubber.

He finally managed to lift his head tall enough that he could see the bed in front of him. The child was on the middle of the bed in white pajamas, wailing for his mother.

He tried to say something, but needed to wait for saliva to slither down his throat and lubricate his tongue enough that he could speak. Even as words formed, he mostly breathed instead of talked.

“Where am I?“ He said as words finally found their way out of his mouth.

The child stop crying and looked at him, panting his little gasps. After a moment, he smiled.  

“It’s you. The Little Mister who was with the Tall Mister.”

He searched his tired brain. An image of some creature who wore a trench coat and boots appeared. The creature had long, gnashing teeth, but in his mind, looked at him with great caring.

Dedan.

The Tall Mister.

“Where am I?“ He repeated.

“I don’t know,“ the child spoke. “All I remember is Papa coming in with a baseball bat. And then it was dark. Then I was here, calling for Mama. She was here, but now she isn’t. I called for the Misters, but you were the only one who came.“

Slowly, things began to click in place. With a sudden jolt, Chester remembered that the world had ended. The Batter, who had come to purify the world, ended up destroying it. Chester had watched as his lover, Dedan, this fought against him, but was defeated. In a blind rage, Chester had run after his assailant, but he blacked out. He had become a burnt and was defeated by the Batter with great ease.

Chester and Dedan wandered the world as specters before everything was swallowed with Nothingness.

“Please stay with me until Mama gets here?“ The child said, wiping his eyes with his pajama sleeve.

“Of course,” Chester said as he stood up and walked over to the bed. He nearly had to crawl, but managed to gather just enough energy to keep his body upright. Once he got to the bed, he collapsed on it.

The child crawled next to him and curled by his side under his arm.

“The world is gone,“ the child said sadly. “Do you think it will come back?”

Chester pondered on it for a while before answering, “Well, if you’re here, and I’m here, then there’s a good chance that it will be built again.”

The child nuzzled his head into his rib cage.

“Do you want to help me build the world?”

Chester smile at the thought that Dedan was probably out there looking for him.

“Yes. Yes I would.”

They continued their journey after lunch, marking the floor every ten paces. Dedan felt his knees grow weary the more he bent down to make the marks. L20, 1520. L20, 1530. L20, 1540. 1550. 1560. 1570. 1580.

Still, the idea of seeing Chester kept him going. It made him push the pain away to the back of his head. He thought of all the things he wanted to say to him, apologize for all the wrongs he made in his past life. This time would be different, he would be sure of it.

L20, 2200. L20, 2210. 2220. 2230. 2240.

Dedan vaguely wondered if the other Guardians felt the same. If they too wanted to do better this time.

3100. 3110. 3120. 3130.

He was grateful for Zacharie for creating this system so they wouldn’t get lost, but the extra time they spent making markings instead of just walking to the Queen was aggravating.

4400. 4410. 4420. 4430.

Hang on, Chester. I’ll be there soon.

Chapter Text

Chester opened his eyes. Hugo was still curled up next to him. They must have dozed off. Carefully, the elsen sat up and saw the Queen sitting at a desk. She was speaking with someone. A young woman with pale skin and white hair. She wore a midriff jacket and pants. No shirt. Only crosses over her nipples. They turned to him as he sat up.

“Hey there, little guy,” the girl whispered. “Have a good nap?”

“Yeah,” Chester fixed his shirt and glasses. “Pardon, but who are you?”

“Call me Sugar,” she held out a hand for him to shake, which he did. “I’ve heard rumors about you.”

“Oh?” Chester’s eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, the one elsen Dedan fell in love with. You’re practically famous!”

Chester blushed. “I-I am?”

“You have to admit with Dedan’s disposition, it’s hard to imagine him falling for anyone,” the Queen chuckled.

He shrugged his shoulders, scuffing his shoe on the floor. “I guess. I didn’t fall in love to become famous.”

The Queen lifted her fingertips to her mouth and giggled. “Don’t be ashamed. I think it’s wonderful the General found someone. Come, sit,” she offered a chair by them.

Chester sat.

“I’m terribly sorry I was not here sooner,” the Queen continued. “Had I known you were here, I would have come to greet you. You must have been so scared, not knowing where you were.”

“I was, but the Prince is good company,” Chester nodded. “If you don’t mind me asking, where were you?”

“Sugar and I were wandering outside the Room, looking for someone. Anyone. We nearly became lost, but didn’t find a soul.”

“Is it just us four here?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Hugo was the first to come here. He appeared as he is, in this room. Because he longed for his mother, I appeared before him just as I did in the Beginning.”

“I popped into the world not too far from here,” Sugar threw a thumb over her shoulder. “Found this place and nearly scared the kid to death when I barged in. Luckily, Vader found me. Otherwise I might be wandering the Nothingness.”

Chester stood from his seat and looked out the small, high window by the door. All he could see was black. “Wow. There really is nothing out there.”

“I think the world is being rebuilt,” said the Queen. “Hugo created myself and you. Though, where the other Guardians are located is beyond my knowledge.”

Chester’s heart tightened. He desperately hoped Dedan was still out there with the other Guardians.

“You are lucky, young elsen” said the Queen. “Hugo must have desired your presence to comfort him.”

“He said something about how he wanted the other Misters, but I was the only one who came,” Chester added.

“Hugo may be able to create, but he is not omnipotent. If they are in the world already, they will have to find their way,” the Queen said. “Perhaps it would benefit us to stay here for the time being. Chester, would you mind helping us to keep a lookout and take care of Hugo?”

Chester nodded, giving her a soft smile. “Of course.”

“This is stupid!” Enoch screeched as they met up for the night. “If it weren’t for these markings, we would BE there by now!”

“I don’t know the exact location of the Queen,” Zacharie admitted. “In this way, we can cover the most ground and know where we have been already.”

“I say we just let Japhet find the Queen,” Enoch said.

“Me?!” Japhet’s feathers plumed in irritation. “I would never find my way back. The landscape is too repetitive.”

“Enoch,” started Dedan, “I’m not a fan of this, either, but we should trust the guy who’s been here longer than us.”

“I don’t want to hear anything from you, Guardian of Iron!” Enoch spat.

Dedan’s brows furrowed. “What was that?!”

“You’ve forgotten your place since falling for that little pipsqueak.”

Dedan stood up, fists balled at his sides. “How so, you flabby tub of empty carbs?!”

“I bet if it wasn’t for him, you would have defeated the Batter and this whole thing would have been prevented!”

“You leave Chester out of this!”

Dedan ran up Enoch’s massive body and jumped high enough to kick his face. Enoch grabbed his leg and threw him to the ground, nearly landing on top of Japhet.

“Shut up!” Zacharie slammed his laptop so hard Dedan was afraid it would break in half. “Shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!”

Dedan righted himself. The short man stormed over to them, fists balled at his sides.

“I’m only going to say this once: I’m not bringing you back a second time! Do you know why the Batter came to begin? It’s because you three became corrupted. The Batter is an execution file that appears when the world has gone to shit. If it were up to me, I would have built the world without you, but you’re necessary for the creation of the Zones, so against my better judgement, I brought you back. And if you fuck up a second time, the Batter will appear again and this time you can all STAY DEAD!”

Zacharie panted, trying to catch his breath from his outrage. The Guardians stared in cold silence, mouths gaping.

Finally, the sales merchant turned his heel, grabbed his stuff, and walked away in a huff.

Pablo glared daggers at them before running after Zacharie.

The Guardians exchanged looks. The air was heavy with regret.

“I… I know I’m an asshole,” Dedan said. “But I don’t want to be anymore.”

“It’s alright, my friend,” said Japhet. “I, too, have my vices. I think perhaps we deserved what the Batter did to us, but the elsen, everyone else… they’re innocent in this.”

“I suppose,” Enoch sighed, “I have been quite difficult lately. These past couple of days have been a lot to take in.”

“It has been a while since you’ve had sugar,” Japhet pointed out. “You could be having withdrawals.”

“It’s very possible,” Enoch sighed. “I have never craved sugar so much in my life, but there is none.”

“About that, my friend,” said Japhet. “I always meant to bring up the, um… process in which you obtain the sweet substance.” Enoch eyed him suspiciously. Japhet continued. “Do you not think it immoral to burn elsen bodies as you did?”

“Elsen die. This is a fact of life,” Enoch pointed out. “What else are we to do with the bodies? They would pile up and rot.”

“I suppose,” Japhet sighed. “But you were willingly misleading the elsen so that they would be killed by the specters.”

Enoch flinched. “You knew about that?”

“You’re terrible at keeping secrets,” Dedan chuckled.

“You’re one to talk, Dedan.”

“Please,” Japhet said, “Let us keep it civil.”

Enoch put up his hands up in defeat. “Sorry, sorry.”

“I don’t think we’ll solve all our shortcomings in one afternoon,” said Dedan, “but I’m sure we will figure it out in due time.”

“I’m sure we will still have several missteps,” Japhet nodded, “but I truly love my elsen. I want nothing more than to provide them with the best possible life.”

Dedan and Enoch nodded in confirmation.

“My friends, I have missed you dearly,” the avian Guardian smiled gently.

“As have I,” Enoch scooped him up and pet his soft head.

“Me too,” said Dedan, standing up to shake Enoch’s hand, but the mammoth man pulled him in for a hug instead. “Whoa!”

“You old badger,” Enoch smiled. “I’m sorry for what I said about you and Chester. I suppose I am a bit envious.”

Dedan patted his back. “I have no doubt you’ll find someone.”

“And I?” Japhet’s feathers plumed in excitement.

“They would be crazy not to,” Dedan smirked.

They embraced for a minute before settling back down. Their gazes drifted to Zacharie and Pablo, who had settled into their own camp about fifty paces away.

“Should we retrieve them?” said Enoch.

“No, I’m sure they’ve had enough of us for one night,” Dedan shook his head.

“I suggest we sleep,” said Japhet. “We can rendezvous in the morning.”

“Good idea,” said Enoch.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Dedan, Japhet, and Enoch met up with Zacharie and apologized for their behavior.

“I shouldn’t have yelled,” Zacharie admitted.

“You had every right to be angry,” said Dedan. “We were being ungrateful.”

Dedan saw the man’s eyes smile from behind his mask. “Thing is, I’m not just doing this for Hugo. I have someone I miss.”

“Then we shall help you find them,” Japhet declared.

“Thank you. But we should get going. If we hurry, we can finally find the end of this map.”

With a renewed vigor, they all continued their tasks.

4500. 4510. 4520. 4530.

Dedan mulled over what he wanted to say to Chester when he saw him. How many kisses he wanted to shower him with.

5000. 5010. 5020. 5030.

“I see something!” Japhet chittered in excitement as he flew circles around Dedan. “There is something on the horizon!”

The Iron Guardian craned his neck. Sure enough, they were closing in on a building in Zacharie’s line of sight.

“If we hurry, we can make it by the end of the day.”

“Most excellent news!” Dedan beamed. “Keep that sharp eye, out! We have a Prince and Queen to rescue!”

Japhet chirped in confirmation and flew off to tell the others.

6500. 6510. 6520.

Japhet chirped again, indicating it was time to break for lunch.

“Good news,” exclaimed Zacharie “I think we found the Room, so we don’t need to mark the floors anymore.”

The three Guardians cheered, patting each other on the backs.

“When we get there, you’ll bring back Chester, won’t you?” Dedan asked hopefully.

“Yeah, about that…” Zacharie rubbed the back of his head. “Thing is, I… don’t know how to find him.”

Dedan’s face fell. “What?”

“I was able to find you because you’re all bosses. And since there were millions of elsen, finding one individual elsen is like finding a needle in a haystack.”

“Can’t you find something to differentiate them?” Dedan pleaded.

“I’m sorry, amigo. They’re all just numbers. There’s no way to tell them apart, and I don’t have the computing power to bring them all back at once. It’s why we need Hugo.”

Dedan sat petrified.

“Listen, that doesn’t mean Chester WON’T reappear. He probably will. You just need to wait for him to be reborn in the new world.”

Dedan’s heart sank. The idea of waiting so long to see Chester again made him feel sick.

“I… I need to go…” he got up and walked away briskly.

“Oh, dear,” Pablo jumped off Zacharie’s backpack and followed Dedan. “Guardian of Iron, where are you wandering off to?”

“I just…” Dedan panted. “I don’t know if I want to do this anymore.”

“You’re willing to throw it all away because of one elsen?”

“You don’t get it!” Dedan stopped dead in his tracks to face the Cheshire-like feline. “I was a complete asshole before Chester! If he’s not there with me, then I don’t know if I’ll be able to control myself.” He squeezed his eyes shut. He could feel the tears start to sting, but he willed them away.

“Chester loved you despite that fatal flaw of yours,” Pablo reminded him. “I have no doubt he will love you again.”

Dedan opened his eyes, now bloodshot from his suppressed tears. He felt tired suddenly. “But it would take him forever to be reborn.”

“I understand,” Pablo nodded. “But is your love not worth waiting for?”

Dedan sighed. “I would wait a million years just to see his smiling face.”

“As I figured.” Pablo rubbed against Dedan’s boot. “I, too, have someone I’m waiting for. My brother, Valerie. He was killed by Japhet. It’s why I don’t favor him.”

“I don’t blame you.”

“But the merchant and I have been devising a plan to keep you Guardians in line. It’s no substitute for romantic love, but it should help during those lonely days.”

“What’s that?”

“We want to give you all a feline companion.”

“I thought you couldn’t spawn something out of nothing?”

“No, but with the right manipulations, we can make it happen.”

Dedan sighed. “Chester loved cats.”

Pablo hummed in affirmation. “I remember. He would frequently feed and care for me if I came pawing at his door. He is a good man.”

Dedan looked at the ground.

“Come. The others are waiting.”

Dedan reluctantly followed the cat back to the group so they could make their journey to the Room.

After a busy morning of playing with Hugo, the young Prince finally settled down for his nap. The Queen and Chester sat in the chairs at the end of the room to talk quietly with each other.

Sugar was outside, circling the building to see if she could find any weary travelers.

“I’ve been meaning to speak with you, dear Chester,” said the Queen.

“Yes, what is it?” he leaned forward in his chair.

“I think we should finally turn you into a Guardian.”

Chester nearly fell forward. “Are… are you sure, my Queen?”

She giggled. “I’m positive.”

“But I’m just an elsen! I never completed my training.”

“By helping rebuild the world, you will grow into it. For now, kneel before me.”

Chester slid off the chair and did as he was told, bowing his head.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t do this under better circumstances, but the other Guardians had similar, humble christenings.” She placed a hand on his head. “Chester, do you promise to serve and protect the world and the Prince?”

“Yes.”

“Do you promise to build a world for the Prince to play and laugh in for all eternity?”

“Yes.”

“Do you promise to protect your Zone and your elsen with your life?”

“Yes.”

“Then rise, Chester, Guardian of the Elsen.”

He perked his head up, then stood. “Guardian of the Elsen?”

She nodded. “Someone needs to keep tabs on those rowdy Guardians and make sure they aren’t abusing their workers.” She gave him a gentle smile.

Chester beamed and gave her a polite bow. “I would be honored, my Queen.”

Chapter Text

To Chester’s surprise, there was more outside the Room than he originally saw from the tiny window.

The landscape was a dark reddish brown. Even the grass was a dark greenish brown and trees were a barren gray. The Room sat at the bottom of a hill. A tiny shack sat just within walking distance of Hugo’s room. On the opposite end, a huge hole sat. Chester went to explore the hill, but no signs of life were seen. According to Hugo, this is where the three Misters used to live; Dedan, Japhet, and Enoch. But their shack had been long abandoned.

The rest of the landscape was nothing but a white grid and an empty sky. Nothing else seemed to exist except for their little island.

Chester rejoined Sugar, their focus on the figures growing in the distance. They kept their guard up, not sure if the figures were friends or enemies.

“Vader tells me you’re a Guardian now,” Sugar grinned.

“I guess so. I feel like I’ve cheated a little. I was supposed to work hard and become one.”

“Don’t worry, you’ve got plenty of work ahead of you now that the world has reset.”

He sighed. “Yeah, I suppose I do.”

“It’s not so bad.”

He looked over at her. “I’ve been meaning to ask: are you a Guardian too?”

She shrugged. “I might have been once.”

Chester cocked an eyebrow. Strange girl. But maybe that was a sore topic for her, so he dropped it.

Instead of counting up to the Room, Dedan started counting down.

500. 490. 480. 470.

He had trouble keeping up with the others. They were so excited to see something other than this grid. And sure enough, they were coming up to the Room. The place where it all began.

400. 390. 380. 370.

He could clearly see the old shack he used to reside in with that damned broken clock. He never thought he’d ever miss that old clock.

150. 140. 130. 120.

The figures sitting outside were easier to see at this distance. A girl and… he felt his heart leap into his throat. Could it be…?

90. 80. 70. 60.

He started running. The small black and white figure started running towards him. His heart pounded.

50. 40. 30.

“Dedan!”

He heard the voice he never thought he would hear in this void. He ran faster.

“Chester!”

He could clearly see his face now. No doubt about it. It was him.

His boots pounded harder as he ran as fast as he could.

Chester held out his hands.

8.

Chester was crying.

7.

He would wipe those tears away.

6.

And kiss that face.

5.

And hold him close.

4.

Tell him how much he loved him.

3.

And missed him.

2.

And never let him go ever again.

1.

Chester leaped into Dedan’s open arms, nuzzling his head into his shoulder. Dedan spun around, laughing and nuzzling him.

“I’ve missed you so much,” Chester choked. Dedan could feel the smaller man’s tears on his bare shoulder.

Dedan stopped spinning and knelt so he could squeeze Chester tighter.

“I’ve missed you too,” he squeezed his eyes shut.

The others caught up with the reunited couple. Enoch was wheezing from running.

Dedan pulled away. Chester was sobbing.

“Oh, Chester. Why are you crying? We’re together again.”

“I’m crying because,” he hiccupped, “I’m so happy to see you that I can’t contain it!”

Dedan chuckled and wiped his tears away with his sleeve.

“Here, dry your tears with my coat.”

Chester chuckled and dabbed his eyes on the cuff.

“I thought I would have to wait so long for you,” Dedan continued. “How did you get here?”

“Hugo um… wished me here, I guess,” he said as he wiped his remaining tears away.

Dedan looked to Zacharie, but he was busy hugging a strange new girl.

“I knew you were here, I just knew it,” Zacharie said, seeming to be holding back his own tears.

“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” the girl giggled.

They let go of each other and Zacharie placed a hand over his heart, trying to regulate his breath, but his next words were joyous.

“This is amazing! If Chester and the old home is here, that means Hugo is creating! He’s the Prince again!”

The door to the Room opened and the Queen stepped out with Hugo, whose eyes widened at the group.

“It’s the Misters!” Hugo squealed.

The Queen put him down and he ran to them as fast as his little legs could carry him. Dedan, Japhet, and Enoch ran towards him and scooped him up as they met, nuzzling the young child.

“Dearest Prince, we’ve missed you so much!” Japhet exclaimed.

Hugo giggled and gave each of the Guardians a hug and a nuzzle.

“The Little Mister played with me while you were gone,” said Hugo.

“Oh, what did you play?” said Enoch.

“We played with my toys and we colored pictures and he read me a book.”

The three Guardians turned to face Chester, who smiled and shrugged shyly.

     “But… how is he here?” said Enoch.

     “I wanted him here,” said Hugo. “So, he came!”

     Zacharie walked behind Chester and gave him a hearty slap on the back.

     “If I had known Hugo was creating, I would have just waited and let him call back the Guardians again. Would have saved you and Dedan some heartache.”

     Chester tilted his head.

     “Don’t worry, I’ll explain later.” Zacharie pulled himself away.

     “I have more news,” said the Queen. “Chester is a Guardian now.”

     “What?” the original Guardians said in unison.

     She smiled before continuing. “I figured the elsen needed their own Guardian, so I’ve hereby designated Chester the Guardian of the Elsen.”

     Dedan beamed, picking Chester up. “Do you know what this means? You’re ageless like me!”

     “Looks like you’re going to have a harder time getting rid of me,” Chester teased.

     “Now that everyone is here,” said Hugo. All eyes were on the child. “We can now build the world!”

Chapter Text

Using the markings they made on the grid, they were able to map out the Zones for the new world. The four Guardians built their houses and began plotting their foundations, covering their markings bit-by-bit until they were no longer needed.

Pablo returned to Zone 0, reclaiming his title as “the Judge.” Zacharie joined him where he built his home base so he could become a merchant again.

The cats came as Pablo predicted, acting as extra eyes for him. The cat given to Dedan and Chester was named Alain. For Japhet, Valerie returned. For Enoch, Jozlyn came to live with him.

Soon, the elsen came. Chester was there to greet the beings to their new homes, distributing them according to their skills and the Zones’ needs.

Now that the original Guardians were amiable with each other again, trade between the Zones was stronger than ever. Sugar was still an important element, but it was discovered that if it was rationed enough, and if the elsen were given plenty of meat, the addiction was nearly non-existent. Since sugar wasn’t in high demand, Enoch had no need to trick his elsen into dying for production. Instead, they were burned after they died of natural causes.

Strangely enough, the Guardians noticed many elsen who had died would reappear a few generations later, same names, same mannerisms, and would vaguely reference events that happened before their birth. It was as if the elsen were being reincarnated every few generations or so.

When the Guardians brought this up with Zacharie, wondering if he had messed with the code so elsen could be reborn, he just smiled and said “You’re getting old, amigos. Your memories must be getting jumbled.”

Japhet built his library, amusement park, and residential areas again. Only this time, he shared his plans for the residential areas so they could exist in the other Zones, creating close-knit communities across the world.

At Chester’s urging, Japhet built schools for the elsen so they could become more productive and skilled no matter what job they chose. Dedan and Enoch created apprenticeship programs for students to get on-site training before getting hired.

Now that the elsen were better fed and well educated, Dedan hardly ever lost his temper as he once did. Now that he trusted his workers, he built a moat across Zone 1 where the elsen could enjoy pedalo rides on their down time. Some even preferred the lax method of transportation over the trains.

The forests outside the industrial complexes became more lush and green, allowing the farmers to let their cows graze.

Small parks were built near the residential areas across all Zones to allow the elsen to walk around the forests, or fish, or camp, or whatever their hearts desired. With the elsen happier, production was higher than ever.

When the days of the endless grid and empty skies were nothing but a distant memory, a certain Queen came with Hugo, dressed in a white shirt and red overalls, to visit the Tall Mister and the Little Mister.

“Hello, little one!” Dedan beamed as Hugo waddled over to him. “You’re looking well today.” Instead of wearing his coat open, he buttoned it up and started wearing his general’s hat again.

“Tall Mister, Tall Mister,” Hugo tugged on Dedan’s jacket. “Can we go on a pedalo ride today?”

Dedan picked him up, cradling him in his bulky arms. “Hmm, I don’t know, have you been a good boy?”

“Yes, I cleaned my room all by myself!”

“What do you say, my Queen? Does the Prince deserve a pedalo ride?”

The Queen chuckled. “I’d say so.”

Hugo cheered and Dedan jogged to the river of meat, gently placing the toddler inside the duck-shaped boat.

“My Queen,” Chester approached her, giving her a polite bow. He, too, made slight alterations to his attire, choosing to wear waistcoats and long sleeves instead of his short-sleeved shirts and suspenders. He kept his bowtie, though. He felt a change of outfit suited him in this new world. Just as well, his days of being a young, naïve elsen working for the tyrannical Director were long behind him.

“Ah, Guardian of the Elsen,” she bowed her head politely. “How are things?”

“Very well,” he beamed. “We’ve just gotten settled into our new house. All the rooms are decorated and ready for you and the rest of the Guardians, once they get some free time. The garden is ready for you, too.”

“Most excellent,” she clasped her hands. “Hugo wants to attempt to grow his own vegetables. Should be a good learning experience for him.”

Chester smiled brightly at her before his attention drifted to Dedan and Hugo. Hugo was leaning over the side of the boat. A fish jumped, startling the young boy and he fell backwards into Dedan. The tall Guardian caught him with his monstrous hand before letting out a chuckle.

“You’ve done an amazing job,” the Queen said.

Chester turned his head to her. “Pardon?”

“This world. I’ve never seen it so prosperous.”

Chester smiled, but shook his head. “The other Guardians and elsen have done their parts. I simply pushed them in the right direction.”

“You underestimate your importance. You taught a tyrant how to be empathetic. No other creature has dared to attempt such a feat in this world. Even I was complacent as I watched the Guardians lose their way. But you… you showed us something about ourselves that we had forgotten.”

Chester laughed lightly. “I was just some dumb kid with an unhealthy crush.”

“Perhaps, but you were the missing piece of our puzzle.”

“There’s no telling what the future will bring, my Queen. I, too, am at risk at becoming corrupt.”

“Then we will find the next missing piece before things become too corrupt. Though we are fallible, we’re also capable of improving ourselves.”

They watched for a minute as Dedan peddled the small boat gently. Hugo pushed the pedals with his hands, since he was too small to use his legs.

Chester swallowed. “Do you think the Batter will ever return?”

“As long as there is love in this world, the Batter will never be needed.”

She started walking to the shoreline, looking out towards Dedan and Hugo, now peddling back to them. Chester followed.

“Sounds like a line from a children’s story,” Chester smirked.

She smiled back. “Well, perhaps Hugo’s books have influenced my thinking.”

Dedan and Hugo returned to land. The sun was setting, so they decided to return to Alma.

At Alma, Dedan invited them inside their mansion, just as glorious as it was in the last world.

Dedan prepared them a warm dinner and Chester cleaned up afterwards. They sat and drank tea in the living room for a few hours before retiring to bed. The Queen and Hugo had a room designated just for them, with a queen-sized bed, and a golden vanity. A small bed was prepared for Hugo next to the Queen’s.

Dedan and Chester retired to their own room. They got into their pajamas and sat reading in bed for a while. Dedan wore simple boxers while Chester wore more effeminate pink shorts and a white tank. Alain curled up and fell asleep at the foot of their bed.

Without warning, Dedan scooped Chester up and sat him on his lap, nuzzling their cheeks together.

“Have I told you how much I love you lately?” Dedan said.

“Not since lunch, you haven’t,” Chester said coyly.

“I love you so much I could just eat you up,” he nibbled on the elsen’s ear, making him break out into giggle fits.

Chester struggled against Dedan’s grasp, but he was helpless, succumbing to the light graze of his teeth and breath against his sensitive ears and neck.

“Can you keep it down? I’m trying to sleep!”

The two stopped to face their cat, glaring daggers at the couple.

“Sorry, Alain,” said Dedan, letting Chester go.

“Yeah, sorry Alain,” Chester settled back into his spot.

Alain grunted and curled back up.

Dedan and Chester put their books away and turned off their lamps before Dedan curled his body around Chester’s. The elsen sighed lovingly as he pressed his back to Dedan’s stomach.

They were silent for a minute or two before Dedan whispered: “The Queen said she was very proud of you.”

“She told me, yeah.”

“I’m proud of you.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Dedan. You’ve grown a lot since we first met.”

“Just take the damn compliment,” Dedan said playfully as he tickled his ribs lightly, causing Chester to squirm.

“Okay, okay, I concede! Thank you, Dedan.”

Dedan stopped and squeezed him tighter.

“I still think about when we first met a lot,” he admitted. “It’s almost surreal how different everything was.

“Yeah,” Chester sighed. “I sometimes worry that I’ll become a corrupt and unfair Guardian and the Batter will return.”

“That’s why we have each other, as well as Alain,” Dedan reminded him. “Besides, I doubt Zacharie will allow it to get that bad again. He seems to like being the merchant too much. Even if he’s only selling to elsen.”

“I suppose so.”

“Besides, if you become corrupt, I’ll be sure to knock some sense into you!” he chuckled lightly. “And I’d hope you’d do the same for me.”

“Absolutely!” Chester smirked. “Especially now that I’m a match for you.”

“With your Competence? Oh yeah, you’re not the same weak elsen you once were.”

“Thank the Queen for that. She’s an amazing teacher.”

Dedan hummed in confirmation. They were silent a few more beats before he spoke again.

“Why did you love me back then? Back when I was angry all the time?”

“I’m not entirely sure, honestly. Guess I’ve always had a thing for tall, commanding men. Someone to compliment my weak demeanor.”

“Who knew I had a thing for small, jubilant men.”

“’Opposites attract,’ I guess.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Dedan nuzzled the top of Chester’s head. “Well, I’m glad it was you.”

“Me too, love. Me too.”

They both sighed in unison. The feeling of their warm bodies against each other giving them a sense of serenity and fulfilment. The quiet darkness of the room enveloped them, making them drift into sleep’s peaceful embrace.

In the morning, they would wake in each other’s arms, the feeling of fulfilment still lingering in their hearts. They would arise, ready for another day of building their world together.