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Chapter Text

A cough ripped its way through Rolan’s throat, stinging it as he fell to the ground. He continued to cough, now rested with his hands and knees on the rough, wooden floor. He felt like he had inhaled smoke incorrectly, and he couldn’t catch his breath. After around a minute, he could finally breathe, air suddenly filling his lungs with more ease than he remembered.

“Rolan?” a voice from behind him called.

Rolan flinched at the sound, turning around at an inhuman speed in a ready stance. He sighed at the sight of Kian. Kian stood behind him, looking confused at the room they were in.

“Kian,” Rolan breathed out in relief. “Did we do it?”

It was then that Rolan realized why Kian was confused. They stood in an unfamiliar building. It was dimly lit by a few scattered candles, showing them the variety of old, wooden tables that surrounded them. In the corner of the room there was a bar, alcohol stocked on shelves behind it. The sight of the room reminded him of things they’d see in one of their Dungeons and Dragons campaigns.

However, that sight wasn’t the most worrying thing about the room. In the middle of the room, lying on a table, was a man, and beside him a woman. The man’s blue skin was covered in a black ichor that Rolan could only assume was blood. His hand laid leisurely over his scratched up chest as he spoke softly to the woman at his side. The woman was listening contently, her eyes filled with sadness and concern.

Kian moving toward them alerted Rolan. He stuck his arm out to stop him, but was soon distracted by the sight of said arm. His arm was normal again, he wasn’t clicking anymore. Whatever had happened to them had fixed him.

“Hello?” Kian called out, coming to a stop beside the woman. “Dudes?” He waved an arm in front of her face. “Rolan, man, I don’t think they can see us.”

“What the fuck?” Rolan whispered, stepping forward as well.

“Rachel?” a familiar voice muttered from behind him, causing him to jump back into action.

He paused once more as he turned, spotting Rand lying on his back on the floor. “Rand,” he said, drawing the man’s attention.

“Did we do it, dude?” Rand asked, sitting up, and glancing around the room. “Whoa, are we dead?”

“I don’t know,” Rolan answered honestly, looking back to where Kian was now waving a hand in front of the man’s face. “I think we might be.”

None of them had a chance to comprehend the new information, as a door to Rand’s right slammed open. A younger woman with red hair rushed in the door, wings protruding from her back folded up as she walked inside. She held a brown sack in her hands, that she held out to the older woman.

The dark haired woman rushed to grab the bag, and then moved behind the bar. Rolan was shocked at the sight of her pouring some sort of gem into a bowl and beginning to crush it.

“Yo,” Kian said, the word drawing out as he stepped forward. “Are those diamonds? Why is she crushing them?”

“I’m not sure,” Rolan replied, stepping closer to watch her smash the diamonds.

“I’m not too late am I?” the redhead asked, breathing heavily out of exhaustion.

The older woman didn’t respond, she stayed focused on the task at hand. Once she was finished, she hurried back to the blue-skinned man’s side. She began sprinkling the diamond powder on his chest.

“What is happening?” Rand whispered, stepping up to the table the man was on. He shuddered as the redhead walked through his body. “That woman just walked through my body! Rolan? Rolan! I think we’re ghosts.”

Rolan was too busy watching the scene before them to respond. The soft, golden glow that was exchanged between the woman’s hands and the wounds on the man’s chest.

“What even is this place?” Rand continued, now looking around the room. “Did we even-” he was cut off once more by the door.

A new man rushed in the door, looking breathless and worried. He hurried to the redhead’s side at the table.

“What’s going on?” he asked. “What's-”

There was silence for a long, deafening moment, and then the sound of snoring. The women immediately clung to each other, sighs of relief echoing amongst all three of them. The man had a different method of recuperating, as he walked toward the bar and picked a bottle from the top shelf and took a huge swig.

“Thank you so much,” the redhead whispered. “I didn’t know what to do.”

Rolan stumbled a step backward from the scene, letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He allowed himself to fall back to the ground, pulling his knees up to his chest.

“What is going on?” he whispered to himself.

Rand himself was much past the panic stage of whatever was going on, as he stood next to the brunet man in the corner, mumbling to him although he couldn’t hear him, and attempting to take a swig of the alcohol in the bottle he set on the bar. Kian was watching the injured man on the table, inspecting his state. He tried to poke at the large wound on his chest, but was growing frustrated as his hand kept going through him.

“Guys,” Rolan called, gaining his friends’ attention. “I think we’re dead.”

“Well, obviously,” Kian stated, standing up straight. “Dude, or we’ve been completely possessed by those bug things and this is what the inside of our minds look like.”

“Why would the inside of our minds have someone about to die?” Rand pointed out. “And why would we all three be here?”

“Good point.”

Rolan opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. What could he even say? He could ask them how they could get out of this place, but they wouldn’t know either. He opened his mouth again, but this time he didn’t get a chance to shut it. A white light protruded from the back corner of the room, reminding Rolan of what he saw just before he showed up in this place. It danced slowly across the room, consuming the walls and tables and closing in.

Kian rushed backward, but he couldn’t find the words. Rand only watched from the corner, eyes wide with confusion. Rolan didn’t try to run, he embraced the white light without struggle as he had the first time it’d found him.

He closed his eyes, and when they opened again the world around him was different.

Chapter Text

He opened his eyes to the sight of a fading white light. Someone groaned in complaint from beside him. 

“What just happened?” Rand muttered. “Who even were those people?” 

Rolan would’ve answered that he had no idea why those people were important, or why they were visiting them as ghosts, but he was too focused on the sight that greeted him as the light faded out completely. It was nothing like the place they had been in before. 

He was met with what looked like a large, underground lab. Large tubes with gas being pumped into them held six humans, four of which were unconscious and the other two who were yelling to be let out. At the top of some stairs in the back of the room, a man was standing. Or at least Rolan thought it was a man in some way, for he looked more like a lizard that could stand on two legs. On the ground level that they were on, there were three younger boys and a large metal robot. 

Kian stepped backward. “Okay, what the hell?” 

A boy with long hair, nearly a white color, seemed to be hyping himself up on Rolan’s left. In his hands, he held a strange looking book. Rolan curiously reached out to touch it, but his hand went straight through. 

To his right, a dark haired boy in a superhero looking suit stepped toward the other. “Ashe, I think I’ve got a plan, but also I don’t,” he said. 

The other boy, Ashe, turned to him and shook his head, looking grim. “No, I got this.” 

Ashe ran his fingers through his hair, looking stressed. From the inside of his hood, he pulled out a folded sheet of paper. Rolan watched as he opened the strange book, laying the now unfolded sheet of paper inside of it. The paper magically merged with the rest of the book, looking like it had never been torn out. 

The boy beside him looked uncertain. “Hey, that’s not what I think it is, is it?” 

“We’re kind of out of options,” Ashe replied, not needing to answer the question because the other boy already knew the answer. 

Kian walked through the dark haired boy, stepping closer to the lizard man across the room. “What the fuck is this place?” he asked loudly, speaking over the voices of those still living. “Hello?” he called, looking at the tall, dark ceiling. 

“Who the fuck do you think is going to answer you?” Rand snapped, looking frustrated by the whole situation. “We’re dead.” 

Rolan’s eyes were the only ones fixated on Ashe as he began to perform some sort of spell, being the only one to see the pages on the book rapidly flipping on their own accord and runes start to appear on the boy’s arms. He jumped away from him as two twisted, black wings suddenly tore through his clothing and towered over his head. His skin slowly began to turn red, as the grim smile on his face turned wider and more manic. 

Rolan watched in fear, wondering if this is how his friends felt when he started to transform himself. 

“Guys,” he called, gathering his friends’ attention. “What the fuck ?”

Ashe slowly began to float upward, his wings flapping just enough to keep him just off the ground. “I’d let the world burn before I watch my friends die,” he said, a glare pointed at the lizard man across the room, but the eerily wide smile never disappeared from his face. 

Within an instant, Ashe was turning around, and with the wave of a hand a door appeared in front of him. He stepped inside, then both he and the door were gone and he reappeared exiting a door behind the lizard. Ashe pulled a toy gun from seemingly nowhere, aiming it at the lizard. He pulled the trigger and out shot a fist, that slammed into the lizard’s jaw, sending him flying. Ashe let out a shiver-inducing cackle as he watched the lizard fall limply to the ground. 

Ashe flew into the air continuing to go after every enemy until there were none left but him and his friend. During the fight, the dark haired boy had moved through the room to help the two of those in the large tubes that were awake. Once they were free and all the enemies knocked out, they all took a moment to breathe. 

The fight had moved too fast for Rolan’s mind. Super powers and fast moving people all blurred together in his confused state. Having just fought the battle of his life not even an hour ago, Rolan could hardly comprehend yet another battle, especially one he didn’t need to be a part of. Instead, he sat back with wide eyes, only watching. 

The boys all took a moment to let the unconscious people out of the tubes before turning their worried glances to Ashe, who was still in a twisted, flying form. The red of his skin started to spread quicker, closing in on the rest of his body. 

“Hey, Ashe, you good?” a purple haired elf called from the other side of the room. 

“No,” the winged boy replied, his voice wavering slightly in fear. “The short answer is not quite, but I knew the consequences,” he continued, his face scrunching up and shaking his head. “Remember when I mentioned the Trickster, and how he takes part of the body? Possesses it?” 

“Yeah,” the elf answered. 

“Yeah,” the dark haired boy echoed. 

“Yeah, that’s the Trickster. I was just able to control it this time for a little bit.” 

“So, what happens now?”

Rolan turned to look at Rand, watching the frown appear on his friend’s face, as the two of them understood what was going to happen to Ashe. Maybe they did not understand fully, as they had no knowledge of this ‘Trickster’ that was possessing him, but they knew that the real Ashe would soon be lost under the skin of a killer, much like the rest of their town had been. Like Rolan had been. 

Ashe started to speak, but he was cut off by a short, raspberry red haired boy moving up to grab onto his hand. 

“Everybody, come here,” the Red requested. “Grab his hand.” 

The other two boys did as asked, the dark haired one grabbing Ashe’s free hand, and the elf placing his hands on his face. 

“What is this doing? This isn’t working right now,” the elf said, his voice shaking. 

“It’s alright, guys,” Ashe assured. “I had a feeling this would go like this. You guys are safe.” 

“Listen, I didn’t realize you were a hero long enough for this sacrifice shit,” the dark haired boy began, “but is there anything in this book at all that we can use? There’s gotta be something.” 

“Not to my knowledge, but, I don’t know, I might not necessarily be gone. I’ll still be around.” 

“That isn’t right,” the elf protested. “You’re a Prime Defender you can’t just be gone!”

“I won’t be, and I have a feeling that you guys can handle whatever comes next you guys can handle it.” 

“Ashe,” the redhead interrupted softly. “What does it feel like?” 

Tears were pricking at the corner of Rolan’s eyes, the question of why they were watching this running through his mind once more. Who were these people? What was their significance? What were their stories?

“It’s going to take over, and I will be in the back of the mind,” Ashe said, ignoring Red’s question. 

“You can’t fight it?” 

Ashe shook his head, seeming to struggle to do the movement. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to, but it was my only option. I got my time as a hero, and I wouldn’t trade the time I spent with you guys for anything. You guys get to stay alive, and I’m sure you can deal with whatever results in this.” 

“Ashe-”

“Apologies if it doesn’t go well. Remember The Purps for me,” he continues. 

The Purps?

Ashe takes the headphones from around his neck, putting them over his ears as he slowly floats upward, the boys’ hands falling away from him. He leans backward in the air, beginning to air drum toward the ceiling. 

Red frowns, clearing his throat and ignoring his friends’ wish to leave the building. He takes a step forward to say his last words to his friend, tears welling in the corner of his eyes but refusing to let them fall. 

Rolan feels Kian grip onto the side of his ripped up sleeve, holding onto him in search of comfort as tears threaten to fall from his own eyes. Rolan didn’t turn to look at him, too encompassed by the kids in front of them. 

“Hey, man,” Red called up to Ashe, after throwing a couple of the unconscious beings over his shoulders. “I don’t like this, but I know you’re still gonna be in there! And when you beat this devil that’s trying to take over you, don’t forget you have someone to come back to! You’re always a Prime Defender!”

With what little sense of being Ashe had remaining, he yelled out a response. “I’ll buy you as many slices of pizza as you want.”

“Hey, your mom would be fucking proud, man! I’ll see you soon,” he finished, stepping back into the elevator with his waiting friends. 

As the red fully took over Ashe’s body, there was a white glow from the center of the room. The last thing Rolan could see was the haunting smile on Ashe’s now possessed, fully red body, and then they were gone once again. 

Chapter Text

Rolan fell to the ground with the force, dirt covering his torn slacks. Tears still stung at his eyes, but they didn’t fall. He let out a shaky breath as the sounds of Kian crying filled his ears. He aimlessly felt around the dirt in search of his friend’s body, looking to give him some sort of comfort. He found his arm and gave it a squeeze. 

“What is happening to us, dude?” Kian asked, wiping a tear from his eye. “If we’re dead, why can’t we just rest? Why do we have to keep watching these people’s lives fall apart?” 

Rolan squeezed his arm tighter, wishing he could find it within himself to hug his friend, but he couldn’t move from his spot. He squinted as dirt was kicked into his face, finally looking up at their new surroundings. 

They were outside, green grass covering a large, empty plain. An epic tree filled a large space, stretching to the sky, much further than any trees Rolan had seen. Nearby, four figures stood, weapons in hand, seeming to be in the middle of a fight. 

Rand had gotten to his feet, stumbling toward them and kicking dirt at Rolan. Rand seemed almost possessed as he moved quickly. Rolan released Kian, crawling forward in an attempt to grab Rand and pull him back

“Rand,” he called out to no avail. He clambered to his own feet, half sprinting after his friend. “Rand,” he grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop. “What are you doing?”

Rand looked just as confused as Rolan felt. He shook his head. “I don’t know. We’re watching yet another brutal seeming part of someone’s life, what if we can do something about it? What if that is why we’re here?”

Rolan’s brows furrowed. “Rand, I don’t think-”

“Look at them,” Rand exclaimed, pointing to the four figures. “I cannot sit by and watch another person nearly die today, Ro. It's been a really long twenty-four hours, so many people I have known were ripped from our world too early, and I might not know these people, but if there is even a slim chance I might be able to help them, I’d be damned if I don’t at least try.” 

A heavy sigh escaped Rolan, his frown deepening at the words of his best friend. “Yeah, okay,” he said softly. “We’ll try to help. I don’t think anything we can do will help, but we can try.” 

Kian had drug himself off the ground, tears no longer falling as he listened to their conversation. Together, the three of them neared the group. 

“Well, Rumi,” the voice of the lone person filled the buzzing silence. They looked toward a white haired person, with beautiful horns protruding from their head. “If you would see yourself among the gods, then perhaps your friend should see you that way too.” 

Standing furthest from the one called Rumi, was a metallic looking man, with yellow eyes. To Rolan, he looked like a man fully covered in armor, but he suspected that wasn’t quite this man’s deal. The person waved their hand, and the warforged turned to look at his companions. 

The yellow of his eyes slowly changed to a deep red, then, within a second, red flames bursted through his eye sockets, locking on a new target, a familiar one. 

“You will not fool me, I will destroy you and your underlings,” he yelled, his voice coming out much deeper than Rolan expected. 

Within a blink of an eye, the warforged was charging forward, his sword held above his head as he aimed for the attack. 

Rand was running before Rolan could comprehend that he was gone. Rand ran until he stood before the brunet man the warforged was charging toward. He held his hand up, attempting to block the sword, but he felt nothing. With his eyes closed, he only heard the thunk that came as the sword was stabbed into the man’s chest. It hadn’t worked, and this time, someone really did die because of it.

Rand let out a choked sound as he realized what had happened, but his friends were there for him in a second, pulling him away from the people. Rand exhaled shakily as he stared at the man he had tried to protect, a sword lodged into his chest by the hand of his friend. 

“I’m sorry?” the man croaked out, looking at his friend with confused eyes. “What did I do?” 

“Peter?” the warforged asked, seeming to now recognize his friend once more as the spell no longer worked on Peter as his life left his body. “No! Peter!”

“Why?” Peter said, voice hardly coming out anymore. 

“Peter-” the warforged began, but he cut himself off as Peter’s body collapsed to the ground. From the brown bag that Peter wore, a collection of rocks fell to the ground. The warforged picked one up, staring down at it in sadness. “I am sorry, Peter,” he finished, voice falling to a mutter. The fire in his eyes fell slowly, the red slowly returning to yellow. 

“What have you done?” Rumi mumbled, a pause between each word as if they needed time to prepare for the next. “What have you done?” they repeated, louder this time. “What have you done!” they were shouting by the time they finished, sprinting toward the person who had casted the spell. 

They attacked the spell caster, not relenting for a second. The warforged stood as Rumi held the person still. He began to run over to them, getting in his own attacks. The two of them worked together until the person seemed to be on their last line of life. As they were nearly defeated, the warforged picked them up by the throat, holding them up for Rumi to take the last hit. 

Rumi stepped forward, face scrunched in an array of emotions. Blade in hand, without hesitation, Rumi severed their body in half. 

Rolan felt as if he were going to be sick, turning his head to look at Kian and Rand’s grimacing, sad faces instead of the sight before them. He moved his hand to grip Rand’s arm, before squeezing his own eyes closed for just a moment. Upon hearing movement, he looked back to the now two left standing.

The sight of Rumi, now having killed a seemingly important person, walking back to where Peter lay, filled his vision. Rumi got to the ground, gathering Peter’s limp body in his arms and cradling him close. Rumi tried a few spells cursing as they didn’t work. 

Rolan frowned, watching as Rumi held the lifeless body of their lover. Kian moved closer, pulling both of his friends in close as they watched. Tears welled up in all of their eyes once again, this time not holding back from falling. 

“Why did this happen?” Rumi asked, seeming to not believe that it had. 

“You must know,” the warforged began, “it was not my - not my intention.” 

“I don't know- I don’t know why this happened. I didn’t see it coming- this wasn’t supposed to happen. This isn’t real. This isn’t how it was supposed to go. This is not how it’s supposed to happen, Thanatos!” 

There was a beat of silence as Rumi yelled, Rolan’s grip tightening on Rand’s arm. 

“I cared for Peter,” Thanatos informed. “I had no intention of taking his life. This is the doing of the gods.”

Rumi ignored his words. “I don’t think we can do this without Peter,” they explained. “I don’t know why I’d keep going forward without him. It's not how it was supposed to be. There is no point anymore.”

“I am sorry. Peter was slain by my blade, but not by my hand,” Thanatos tried again. 

Rumi didn’t seem to hear his words anymore as they stared at Peter. “We were perfect for each other. Peter’s the most compassionate person alive, or he was. There was no god of compassion that could beat Peter’s heart.” 

“What would you prefer to do with the body?” 

“Just go,” Rumi ordered. “Just get out of here.” They looked at a nearby bag, looking at the fox whose head peaked out of it. “You too. All of you just go.” 

As if the universe took Rumi’s words to heart, a white glow slowly began to fill up the area. The last thing Rolan saw of this plain was Thanatos beginning to walk off, leaving Rumi alone to deal with the death of their lover.

As the white glow fully encompassed Rolan, Rand, and Kian, they felt the grips they had on each other leave. Rolan waited for the white glow to fade away and for a new place to appear before them, showing them the struggles of others once more, and as it did, he greeted the new sight before them with tears in his eyes.

Chapter Text

A sob broke its way from Rolan’s throat as he sank to the ground. They were outside again, more dirt caking onto his slacks and sticking to his sweaty hands. Someone had just died right in front of them, another life lost in this miserable world on this miserable day. 

Fueled by anger, he wiped the tears from his eyes and stood up. He looked up at the sky. “Whatever twisted game you’re trying to play,” he screamed, voice echoing across the field, “we want no part in it! Just let us be! Please, stop this.” His voice dropped to a croak at the end, his throat stinging in protest against his bellowing. “ Please .” 

Rolan wasn’t sure who he was begging. A god he didn’t believe in? The universe? Who was even out there anymore? Was anyone there to hear his pleas, to see the horrid acts happening under their care. Who would allow things like what happened in Galloway to happen, or like what happened to that boy, Ashe, or to Peter? What sort of god would allow such vile things to occur?

Rolan spun around, and the dread seeped in, settling deep within the pit of his stomach. He was alone. It was dark. Kian and Rand were nowhere in sight. He stumbled in a circle, taking in the true sight of the field he stood in. 

It was a baseball field, a full one with empty bleachers lining one side of the field and the four bases placed within a diamond. The view of it brought Rolan back to the baseball field outside of Galloway high school. Galloway might not have been able to afford cool sports such as football, but man did they throw some mean baseball games - not that any of the three of them would know since they never went to one. 

Near the center of the diamond, four figures could be seen. Rolan was sprinting in their direction without hesitation, he wasn’t even sure he had consciously made the decision to move. No one was fighting, but Rolan could only guess that it would start soon. 

“No, no, no,” he muttered between thundering steps. The distance between them closed quickly. “Kian! Rand! Where are you?” he yelled. Able to see more of the vast field now, Rolan searched for his friends again. 

Over the side of one distant hill, a familiar, brunet man ran his way. Rolan’s face lit up, and he half hobbled and half jogged to meet his friend in the middle. 

“Rand,” he exclaimed as the two of them collided. 

“Rolan,” Rand breathed out in relief, gripping the back of Rolan’s shirt. “I thought I was going to be alone this time. I can’t do this alone.”

“Where is Kian?” Rolan asked, pushing Rand back by the shoulders. 

“I was hoping you would know.” Rand’s eyes trailed away from his friend, scrutinizing the field they stood on the outskirts of, looking for their blond friend. He eyed the people in the center of the field cautiously. “We need to find him before whatever is happening there escalates.” 

Rand nodded in panicked agreement, spinning in a circle to scan the field. “Kian! Kian Stone!”

For a moment, there was nothing, then, a faint yell came in return. It was tough to determine a direction as it was so distant, but the sound alone filled them with hope. The two of them walked closer to the center of the field, yelling Kian’s name in unison. The voice replied again. They moved forward until an all-too-familiar man came into view. 

Kian was running full force right for them, almost as if running from something. He sprinted straight into them both, nearly knocking them all to the ground, but the others were prepared for it. Kian gripped Rand’s shirt in one hand and rested his other on his knee in an attempt to regain his breath. 

“Dudes, something isn’t right here,” Kian informed. “Something really isn’t right.” 

“What did you see?” Rand questioned, holding Kian by the wrist to help ground him. 

“I can’t- I don’t,” the musician stuttered. “There was a man, he- I don’t know, but it was fucked up.”

Rolan stepped away from them, the people in the field becoming his main focus at last. There were four beings. One cloaked by an odd cloud of darkness was speaking, his eyes were red, frightening wings sprouted from his shoulder blades, and his face was something straight out of a nightmare. Chills ran up Rolan’s spine. He was speaking to two others, both blond and both with very similar features -twins maybe. The only doubt in his mind that they were twins was the vast contrast between them. One wore an eye patch over one eye, his hair somehow neatly put together and he was trembling. The other was rugged looking, no real order to his hair and a wild look in his eye, but he stood with a calm stillness. They were both young, perhaps in their late teens. The fourth was searching the ground for something, and much like the first man, he seemed more beast than human. 

The sight should have made Rolan turn and run - the Rolan Deep of forty-eight hours ago probably would have - but he found himself moving closer instead. There was no sight that could shock him now he feared, not after what happened in Galloway.

“What about what you said about fighting the beast?” the twin with the eyepatch stuttered out. His voice was frail and accented. “About holding on?”

“Yes,” the winged man said. 

“Can you not just hold on?” he choked out. He was on the verge of tears.

 The man sighed. “I’ve been holding on for a long time. There is too much I have still yet to find. I want to give the two of you a chance.”

The boy’s voice was wavering and pitiful in reply. “But we all can have a chance. We all can get out of here. We can stop it together.” 

The boy’s twin grabbed his arm. “Shilo.” 

Shilo tugged his arm back from his brother. “No, he can’t. Please,” he cried. 

His brother spoke calmly. “The rules were clear from the beginning. We just never thought to look at them.” He looked at the older man across from them. “So, what do we do next?” 

Kian, having caught his breath, stepped closer to them. He was reassured by the presence of his friends behind him now, no longer felt fear as he had upon first seeing him. He stood beside Shilo, observing. Rand came to Rolan’s side curiously. 

The winged, beast-like man studied the two twins for a careful moment. “This is how the cards fell, and you can’t go home anymore. There is no magic that will make everything right.”

Wind swept over the field, blowing sand through the grass. 

“But,” he continued. “If you do not lose yourself, and you take everything that has wronged you and rather than let it use you and let it turn into this vengeful rage like it did to me, and instead, you let it push you to build a new home to break this cycle and find and create peace. Even if it is such a pain, I believe you have that chance.”

Rand leaned close to Rolan. “What is happening?” 

Rolan gave a defeated shake of his head.

For a moment, the beast-like man’s eyes snapped over, seeming to stare right at them, but his gaze didn’t linger. “My family found something holy,” he proceeded. He got closer to the twins to whisper, the three men moved closer to hear as well. “My father died for it. I know it is with the Grim Slayers, and I know they use it to perpetuate this cycle. No different than the kindred of this game.”

The unnamed twin nodded his head in hesitant agreement and looked at the ground. 

“And the two of you are so young,” the man breathed out, as if saddened by the things the two of them had faced in their youth. “So undeserving of this curse. I’m beginning to understand your mother a little, but now you know the worst of it.” He gestured to himself, clearly the worst of whatever it was. “What it looks like when you let this consume you. So I hope when the spotlight shines, you’ll know how to take a different path.” 

Though Rolan didn’t understand what they were speaking of, he could sense deep down what this talk might be. It was a goodbye. He’d seen a good many of them now, done a few himself even, so it was rather obvious. Either this man was planning to die soon, or he would be leaving. Rolan looked between Kian and Rand, remembering what it felt like to say goodbye to them when he left for college.

Kian was leaving town too, his plans to meet Becky in LA set in stone in the musician’s mind, so their goodbye was mutual, it was something that would have happened either way. But with Rand, things were hard. Their friendship had already become strained after what happened with Rachel that night, and after Rolan had seen something horrific and unimaginable and Rand didn’t believe him, so he hadn’t told him that he was leaving for law school until the last possible second. 

Rolan couldn’t stick around Galloway for longer than he had to, so the moment graduation was over, he began to pack. He would be leaving within the week. He wasn’t sure if he would’ve sought Rand out to say goodbye if the man hadn’t shown up at his house that night, but he didn’t dwell on it much, for Rand did show up. Rolan’s parents had let him in, so the boy had no time to hide the fact that he was clearly packing. 

“Hey, man, why are there so many boxes in-” Rand had been saying as he entered Rolan’s bedroom. He’d stopped mid sentence, for the answer was right in front of him. “What’re you doing?” 

“I’m leaving, Rand,” Rolan had replied. For some reason his eyes had burned with the promise of tears.

“What do you mean you’re leaving? Just like that? Were you even going to say goodbye?” 

A stretch of tense silence hung over them. Rolan couldn’t look him in the eye, the answer was clear.

There was a lot of yelling after that, blame tossed back and forth and an eventual parting of ways when Rolan’s father came to check what was going on. Their initial parting had been full of anger and resentment due to the circumstances of the recent incidents, but they’d managed to mend their differences on the day before Rolan set off. They weren’t perfect, they’d never be as close as they had been as kids, but they were still friends.

Saying goodbye was never easy, and it was apparent that this was the truth for this group before them. All three were solemn.

The older man, the one with the creepy wings, looked around, laying eyes on the other beast-like being in the field. This one resembled a wolf more than anything, he was still searching, but when he felt his eyes on him he looked up. 

“Guys,” the wolf man spoke, “I think I-”

He was abruptly cut off by a voice with no origin, sounding much like an announcer at a game. The speaker was accented much like Shilo was. “Well, okay, this fucking sucks. You all just talk about shit. I don’t even know what’s going on. You sit around on the baseball field for some reason, for like thirty minutes, you just speak? This fucking sucks.”

Rolan had flinched when the voice came over the speaker, but as it continued he found himself stepping closer to Kian. He was ready to grab him if need be.

“The circle will start closing. You will start killing . Where is the killing? Where’s the victor?” 

The field was deathly still. Even the wind had stopped. All eyes fell back on the wolf man as Rolan reached out and grabbed Kian by the wrist. Kian resisted his hold, refusing to move away. He hovered a hand over Shilo’s shoulder. 

The wolf man repeated his attempted sentence from before he was interrupted. “Yeah. Yeah, I think I found something. It looks like maybe a cave or something buried over.” 

What they all heard next sent chills through Rolan’s entire body. A couple of clicking noises were torn through his chest, making his heart speed up in a panic and his hand grip Kian tighter. 

A new voice rang through the field in an eerie final demand. “Finish the show.”  

It had an obvious effect on all of the unfamiliar people around them too. Shilo, his twin, and the wolf man lurched over as if they might throw up. They all twitched, anger radiating off the lot of them. The winged man was the only one not affected.

Hands were on Rolan’s waist, pulling him - and Kian by association - backward. Having already tried and failed to save Peter in their last vision, he wasn’t about to let his friends fail to do the same and take on that mental toll. Kian weakly fought Rolan’s grip.

The wolf man began heaving heavier and heavier, words slipping in between breaths that didn’t register in Rolan’s mind. The unnamed twin’s head snapped up, landing on the winged man with unmatched rage settled behind their red shade. With great speed, he sprinted for him. His movement was sloppy with anger, and the man had no trouble blocking the hit before it could land. 

The man took off, flying toward the mound the wolf man had been observing moments ago. Rand tugged at Rolan’s shirt, pulling him in a different direction. The three of them stumbled clumsily away from the fighting and toward a different mound. Kian wasn’t looking, and he should have tripped over it, but his foot passed straight through. That wasn’t just a lump of extra dirt, there was a person disguised under there.

“Holy shit,” Rand breathed. “Holy shit.”

Rolan seconded that. Kian had no trouble tripping over air after the universe's failed attempt to get him with a human being. He collided hard with the ground, arm slipping from Rolan’s hand. He scrambled back, hitting the bleachers behind him and Rolan and Rand joined him. They all turned back to the field. 

Chaos had erupted. The wolf man was standing over Shilo, tearing at the boy’s chest with his claws. The boy’s twin was charging him from behind and cut into his back with claws of his own. The winged vampire was right in front of them then, moving to tear the disguised man from the place he’d been rooted to. 

“The scent,” he was yelling, “the scent’s over here, Taylor.”

The man in the mud rolled out of the way of his hands. “I’m not even there,” he taunted, “I’m in your head.” 

Taylor, the wolf man, sprinted over, digging through the mud to find the man who had been hiding. The man, Edward as revealed in the frantic yelling, was forced to make himself fully known as he dodged the werewolf’s claws. 

The enraged twin came out of nowhere, jumping to slash at Edward, but the latter dodged out of the way at the last second. The winged vampire stepped forward after his failure. 

“I never did anything to you, Edward. We were friends.” 

“Arthur,” Edward choked out, “like you said, we’re friends, man. We can both make it out of this. Not everyone has to suffer for the terrible mistakes that have been made.” 

“I believe the rules were there can only be one winner, so, sorry, Edward,” Arthur replied. “It’s just all fun and games, after all.” 

The rules? Winner? Was this some sort of competition? A fight to the death?

 “Well, alright,” Edward spat. “Let’s see what you got.” 

Shadows all around moved. Under the bleachers, shadows belonging to the different beings that were casted onto the ground from the big stadium lights, they were all pulled from their spots and swirled around Arthur’s feet. They settled there for a moment, and then large tentacle-like arms made of the shadows burst from his chest and shoulders. 

Rand threw an arm across both Rolan and Kian as if he’d made a hard break in a car and were trying to prevent them from hitting their heads. He pushed their backs into the bleachers behind, willing them to get even further. Dried tracks from previously spilled tears still lingered on his cheeks, but his eyes were now full of fear. 

Rolan imagined him reliving the moment his arm had turned into that of a bug’s and wondered what that must’ve been like for him. 

Arthur looked more monstrous than ever, standing over Edward like some type of demon. 

“I think it's time for a,” Edward began, slowly maneuvering himself into a standing position, “very tactical maneuver.” He sprinted for safety, ducking behind the bleachers.

Taylor was enraged by his disappearance and turned to take it out on the closest being, Arthur. Fighting broke out between the three still in  front of them, but Rolan noticed when Edward brought himself back into the game. From the small cave Taylor had been investigating before the fight, Edward pulled out a gun and went to start firing. 

Rolan and his friends ducked out of instinct, but the sound of gunfire never came. From the shadows, Shilo brought himself back into the fight. He had no weapon, no attack at the ready, he merely began to speak. His voice was different, echoing strangely and more confident than the trembling, scared boy they’d first seen him as. 

“You,” he said to Edward. “You are a disgusting monster.”

“Uh, no, I’m fucking beautiful ,” Edward shot back. 

“That’s right,” Shilo agreed. “You are. But you won’t be anymore.”  A single word was uttered then, not one that Rolan could recognize, perhaps not even a word at all, and then Edward began to change. 

In place of his shocking beauty, his clear skin turned to wrinkles as he aged. He turned into a monster much like the way Arthur was. 

Edward sank to the ground, holding his face. “No, no. My perfect cheekbones, my chiseled chin, my beautiful tight skin,” he cried. 

Rolan had never been more disgusted by a sight, and he had been part bug not even a day before. 

“Release them from your grasp,” Shilo demanded. “If you want any chance of getting back what you had, you will listen to me.” 

“No, you don’t understand,” Edward pleaded. “This was all to bring everyone together. And you ruined it, you ruined me!”

“Come closer to me,” Shilo requested, but Edward didn’t move. 

“No, I can’t. You’re going to make me negative ugly.”

“Nothing could make you more hideous than you look right now,” Shilo declared. 

“Shilo, you understand, right? You get it,” Edward tried. 

“I,” the blond began, talking slowly and impactful, “will never understand. This is not fun. This is horrible.” 

“How many lives, Shilo, have you ruined already that you don’t even know about?”

“More than enough,” Shilo noted. “You know that it has to end.” 

“Well,” Edward began in a last ditch effort to do anything. “I’ll tell you what I know, and so many people know, you ruined your mother’s life too. You’re the monster. You’re barely even one of us.” 

“Alright.”

Edward collapsed to the ground in defeat, muttering indecipherable words due to the distance.

“I have something a little more important than you to deal with,” Shilo informed. 

Edward picked his face up out of the mud, speaking more clearly. “Oh, and what could be more important than me?” 

“You probably won’t live to find out.” 

The touch of Rand’s arm across Rolan’s chest felt fainter. A white light began to overtake the scene before them, and Kian yelled out in disagreement. He wanted to see what would happen to these people just the same as the other two, but the universe had other plans for them. They were left in the dark about the future of these people as their worlds turned white once more .